Silver roused from his sleep to find Luna pressed nose-to-nose. This pleased him, and he gently rubbed noses with her, only to find he was rubbing noses with Discord instead.
"Good morning," he said, "Was it good for you too?"
Silver scrambled up to his hooves, looking around for the real Luna, or Night Watch, and seeing neither, "Discord? I mean, man, that was kind of rude. I thought we were buds."
Discord rose up fluidly, then began to stretch, "And friends play little jokes. Don't tell me you're a spoilsport."
Silver let out a huff, "Fair enough." He sat on his haunches and looked over Discord, "Sorry, you just woke me up." He felt no lingering anger towards the chaos god. He was doing what he should. "Nice to see you. Where have you been?"
Discord shrugged, "Twilight needed this and that, you know how it is. Look at you!" He pointed at Silver, "Sleeping with one of the princesses, with another mare too. So you do have those urges... So, how was she?"
Silver flushed gently, "She was great, but I don't really want to, you know, kiss and tell?"
"Oh pshaw," laughed Discord, "She has nothing I haven't already seen."
Silver sat up a little, "Bet you never gave her a foal before."
Discord raised a furry brow, "You haven't either."
Silver looked confused, "But... I felt it. It was pretty hard to miss!"
Discord shook his head slowly, "Sorry, m'boy, hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, but Luna does not work that way. Unless you get the full alicorn package, and remain a guy, you are not giving her any foals."
Silver wanted to feel upset, but curiosity was the stronger force, "So, what happened then? Do you know?"
Discord tapped his chin, "She took some of you. I didn't feel anything out of her, so I think she already did something with it." He looked over Silver a moment, "I think I found it."
"Found what?" asked Silver.
"Oh you'll figure it out," assured Discord, "Or not, but telling is boring. So, I heard you've been a very bad pony. Tsk tsk, I really expected better from you." He rubbed one finger against the other in the classic motion of shame.
Silver flipped an ear back, "I was attacked, and defended myself. It's not exactly my fault Luna didn't warn me about killer fangs."
Discord wagged a finger, "Things die when you bite them? When did that start?"
Silver felt aggravated a little and grunted to show it, "I didn't mean to, and you know it."
Discord shrugged softly, "Hey, not my problem. You just stay away from Ponyville."
Silver raised his brows, "I hadn't intended on visiting...?"
Discord nodded, "Good. At least that Jake fellow is harmless. A little clueless, but he couldn't hurt a fly. You, my friend, are dangerous. You think dangerously, and now you're living dangerously."
Silver rose to his hooves and stretched out, "I'm still just me. I'm just less of a pushover." He flopped onto his side, "So, want to hang out today?"
And so they did, playing Equestrian version of boardgames he knew. They were eerily familiar, including one that hadn't even bothered to change names, Apples to Apples. Several hours had passed in relative peace and shared, if slightly odd-tasting and conjured, tea. Discord checked a watch he hadn't been wearing before, "Oh look at the time. I really should be off. We should definitely do lunch some time. Oh, good luck with that other human. She was making eyes with the sports pony." Before Silver could ask about any of that, Discord was gone, leaving a tray of cookies behind.
The cookies proved to each have a different taste, but they were all good tastes, so Silver accepted the gift with a smile and some crunching. Snack enjoyed, Silver rose to wander the castle, wondering where First Star had run off to, or Night Watch. Looking out the window he could see it was still dark, so he guessed Luna was in court, and perhaps Night was with her. He sped up to find out, nudging open the door to see Luna seated in deliverance of a stern talking. The target of the dressing down was a unicorn stallion that kept adjusting his bowtie.
Silver looked around for Night and found her lurking in the mid-back, watching him in return. They exchanged a smile, and he moved to join her. "Hey." He went to smooch her on the cheek but she gently rebuffed him.
"On duty," she reminded, "But it's nice to see you."
Silver nodded in kind, "When do you get off?"
Night glanced towards the windows, "Another hour. Want to do breakfast?"
Silver smiled brightly, "I would be delighted." He paused then, "Am I under any kind of house arrest?"
Night shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of." She took a moment to adjust her glasses, "I would hope they'd tell me about that kind of thing. You're as free as a bird. See you in an hour in the dining hall." She nudged him with a wing, sending him on his way.
Silver trotted out into the halls and turned a corner to spy the other mare, er, filly he had on his mind. First Star was gazing at a painting that was hanging on the wall, showing Celestia reclining in a very Victorian-like painting. First looked enraptured with it, licking her lips and staring without moving.
Silver began to step towards her when he noticed movement. His eyes dropped to her flank where a picture frame faded into being. Was it going to be that easy for her? He felt just a little jealous, but suppressed that emotion to approach her, "Hey, First! What's on your mind?"
First jumped in place before looking at Silver, then pointing at the painting, "I was just admiring this picture. Look at it..." she began going into the artistic technique used and what the artist may have meant or been thinking about while drawing it, "Celestia's more white than this. She looks almost pink..." she kept going on and on, describing the picture and its making with seemingly endless energy. "I really like it," she concluded.
Silver pointed down at her flank, "I think you more than like it."
First Star glanced back and hopped to her hooves, almost doing a circle in place trying to get a good look at it, "I did it! Wait, what'd I do? I don't get it! It's just a frame. I don't even see a picture in it."
Silver reached a hoof to steady her, "I think you're an art critic. You can analyze art really well. I didn't know half the things you were going on about or how you noticed the other half."
First tilted her head a little, "Can I get a job doing that?"
Silver shrugged, "Knowing that Quills and Sofas exist, I'm certain there's room for anypony. If nothing else, you could work at an art gallery, explaining pieces to ponies. I bet that pays well."
First clopped her hooves together, "Ooo, or I could teach an art class in college or something!"
Silver shook his head, "They don't have that kind of college here, but you could offer classes on your own, sure. Hay, you could do both." He was suddenly bowled over as First pounced him.
"Thanks, you're the best!" He got a smooch for his trouble, but she ran off after that in an excited gallop.
Silver rolled back up to his hooves in time for her to come rushing back in, "Hey! I forgot to bug you about magic. I've got a cutie mark, so no more excuses. Magic me."
Silver looked over the filly, er, was she a mare now? Close. She didn't get a job yet... "Well, I have no objection to a lesson or two, so come here, sit, and listen." He began going over the basics of using a horn much like Trixie had with himself. He explained how it should feel from a human perspective, which seemed to help, and soon her horn was glowing proudly with her burgundy-shaded magic. "Great job! Now you just have to keep practicing that for a while, say... until the end of the week."
She frowned, but kept glowing, "Why so long?"
Silver rolled a hoof, "Being able to push magic through your horn is the most basic, but important, skill, and there are two parts. This is the first one, and how you get raw power through there. You have to have it down before we move on. I'm not jerking you around, promise."
"You better not be," warned First. "Oh I'm going on a date with Leaper, K?" she rose up and moved to walk away as if she had said nothing.
Silver raised a hoof quickly, "Hold your horses!"
"Ha ha," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously," insisted Silver, "A date? I mean, you can do that, I guess, but no, uh, sex, please?"
She wrinkled her nose, "You're not my boss!"
Silver sighed softly, "I'm not trying to be a random bossy adult. You like him, great, but get to know the guy first? You'll have plenty of--" He suddenly had a hoof shoved in his mouth.
First Star scowled at him, holding the hoof there, "I wasn't planning on it. Stop assuming I don't know anything! Jeeze. I'll be home before nine, bro." She withdrew her hoof and stood up, "Thanks for the lesson!" And off she went.
Silver rubbed his cheek a moment, missing the innocent human girl that rode his back such a short time ago. It had felt good being a knight for her, but she was adapting to Equestria faster than he had, and was in no shape to be given rides anymore. With a soft snort, he pressed on. After he passed two solar guards standing at attention, a faint whisper caught a sensitive ear.
"There he is, the throat-tearer."
"Did he really kill a pony?"
"With his bare teeth. He took on four ponies on his own without a scratch."
"And they just let him roam the halls?"
Silver soon walked out of range of them, but felt... "Damn it." He sat on his haunches and raised a hoof, poking one of his sharp teeth. "I don't want ponies to fear me."
Twilight's voice echoed from down the hall, "Then why did you become a bat pony?"
Silver looked up to see Twilight approaching with a smile. He tilted his head at her, "My favorite book horse, hi! But I'm not a bat. I don't even have wings."
Twilight leaned left, then right, "I suppose that's true." She lifted him bodily, wrapped in her pink magic, "Wings or not, I have studying to do."
Silver wriggled a bit, but was held securely, "Um, Twilight? Why are you carrying me away?"
Twilight walked along, carrying him along in her pink magic, "I need to examine you. You don't mind, do you?"
Silver shook his head, "I would be lying to myself if I said I'd object to spending time with you, Twilight, but you could... ask?" He played a spell over his horn, and the magic around him wobbled dangerously.
Twilight peeked over her shoulder, "You didn't cast that correctly." Then she continued along. He was being kidnapped by Twilight Sparkle. On one level, horrifying, on another, exciting. He decided to opt for exciting and let her carry him where she wanted to. He doubted she wanted to do him harm.