//------------------------------//
// Interlude - An Echo from the Past 
// Story: The Silver Stars 
// by David Silver 
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It was late afternoon when a loud knock came to the castle’s door.

One of the guards that stood before the castle entered, looking for a resident. Happening on Night first, he directed her towards the entrance. "There are two ponies seeking audience." He didn't know too much more, and so didn't offer. Night nodded to him and moved at a light trot to see who it was.

Outside awaited a pair of pegasi. The stallion was in the lead; a sky blue pegasus with navy mane, wearing a simple black tie and a black hat with a card tucked into the rim. The card had some writing on it, but it was cut off by the fabric it rested in. His cutie mark depicted an upside down compass. The mare, a yellow pegasus with flowing curvy lines as her mark, sat a few steps behind him and to the right, wearing nothing but an irrepressible smirk.

Night tilted her head slightly, looking them over curiously. "Are you looking for Princess Twilight Sparkle? Who should I say is waiting for her?"

"I am South Wind, and this is my associate, Wind Chaser," the stallion began, talking quickly. "We are with the Itinerant Kingdom, an up-and-coming magazine on news and political commentary with a focus on social engineering. We actually were hoping to get a chance to interview Silver Stars, if we could. She has just the sort of unique perspective to really set our organization apart and help us reach our goals. May we come in?" To his credit, despite the haste in his voice, at least he waited patiently rather than push his way in.

Night adjusted her glasses as she looked over the two with some clear suspicion. "Silver's had her share of snoopy media ponies. She isn't really involved in social engineering." She plopped down on her haunches, blocking the door as if the guards weren't already present to help. "What do you need with her?"

The pegasi traded glances, Wind Chaser commenting “I like her already.”

“I didn’t want to do this,” South Wind said as he sat down, glancing around the street to make sure no one else was snooping. Lowering his voice, he added “can you just tell her the Text sent me. I’m sure she’ll be willing to talk.” 

Night furrowed her brows. "Text." She glanced left and right at the two guards before gesturing inside, "Come in." She turned away from them, her wings ruffling as she stepped at a leisurely walk towards the dining room and pointing at the table there. "Sit, wait. I'll be back." She departed without waiting for much response, trotting into the depths of the castle.

The pegasi nodded and took a pair of seats. The stallion took off his hat and tie, and passed a pair of bits to the mare wordlessly. They didn’t look at each other or talk as they waited, instead keeping an eye out in opposite directions as if half expecting an ambush, though it seemed more a matter of habit than circumstance.

Night returned shortly with Silver and Fast trailing behind her. She pointed with a wing at the pegasi, "There they are."

Silver trotted ahead of Night, ears perked forward. "Did the, uh, Text send you, or are you also a former-human?" Her ears quivered slightly as she looked them both over.

“The Text sent me here, in so much as I am a former human. Though.. I’m not so sure how ‘former’ to take the formerliness.” The stallion shrugged. “Actually, that was the main thing I wanted to discuss with you. If you don’t mind my asking.. what did the Text say to you when you first came here?”

Silver tilted her head a little, looking at the other maybe-human curiously. "After I arrived? Before? He… It? They didn't start talking to me for quite a while after I arrived. I did see them beforehand, just to ask where I wanted to go, and what to bring with me." Silver wriggled a bit in place. "Becoming a pony was my idea, way after the fact, if that's what you're asking? What's your name?"

“Daniel Holden,” he said, offering his hoof. “And, no, Wind Chaser is a native, more or less. If I might follow up.. did you want to come here then? Equestria, that is? And what did you bring?”

Silver reached out, bumping hoof against hoof lightly. "Silver Stars, formerly David Silver. I came looking for adventure and purpose, and I got it by the armful." She turned towards the two flanking her. "This is Fast Change. And she's Night Watch. They're my better halves and keep my head on straight, besides both being enchanting creatures."

Fast Change flashed a smile before he reached for Silver, drawing her in close to himself. "So you were a human too? Seems only Jake kept his naked skin."

Daniel laughed happily. “Yes, this world is quite full of adventure for the adventurous, and I felt that bearing skin was too much of an attention grab. A changeling taught me some fun tricks early on, and to be honest I haven’t spent enough time in my own form in years to be sure I could walk without falling over.”

Silver perked an ear as the other fell off to the side. "Wait, so are you a… human with changeling magic? I didn't think I could do that. I mean, any magic, as a human." She lifted a hoof to tap at her horn. "All my magic goes through here. Will you show us your true self then? Wait… that was impolite. Your old form. This is your true form, right?"

“I feel it would be pretentious of any of my forms to call themselves ‘true’,” Daniel said as a wave of green magic flowed over him, and a human form resolved. The green magic assembled clothing over him, a white pressed shirt and black slacks, perfect to match the hat and tie discarded on the table. He was lean, with toned muscles, fair skin and unkempt, curly blond hair, which he promptly hid under the hat. “The trouble with humans using magic is it’s impossible for us to learn it without using it first, at least as far as I’ve seen. Crossing that hurdle is always an interesting feat.”

Silver tilted her head one way and the other. Night leaned forward. "You look much more presentable than Jake. So what is your purpose? What brought you to Equestria? Were you also seeking adventure?"

Fast bobbled his head. "Good question. Looks like you found yourself a nice little wife there." He pointed at the quieter pegasus, looking her over a moment.

Silver perked an ear at each of her wives. "Uh, nice to meet you, again. Huh… do you use a heart crystal? I don't see one?" She brushed her hoof against the lavender glowing orb around her neck.

Daniel answered Night, then Silver. “Thanks, though I don’t think I looked much better when I first arrived. A life of adventure has done me well, though from what I’ve seen Jake seems much improved himself. By the way, do you think him any less harmless than he appears? As for my own reasons for coming here.. I was actually hoping for Risa, personally, but now that I’ve been here I don’t have any desire to leave. The Text and I had a, umm.. bit of a talk about all that though, not long after I arrived. It’s actually why I’ve been hoping to check up on any humans that arrived since, to make sure its keeping with its side of the agreement. As for heart crystals.. nope. I don’t use any kind of crystal since the Text and I exchanged challenges, even though I know a heart crystal wouldn’t really be breaking the rules. Changelings don’t need heart crystals, and so emulating one doesn’t require it.”

Meanwhile, Wind Chaser spoke aside to Fast Change. “Thank you for your compliment, Fast Change. I would also like to thank you for your actions on behalf of the changelings of Canterlot, since I have a moment to speak to you personally.”

Fast nodded his head with a smile, "It was my pleasure, well, my duty anyway. They needed my help, so I gave it. They're doing better now, I hear?"

Night shook her head at Daniel. "That raises as many questions as it answers. Does that mean humans have something in common with changelings?"

Silver shrugged softly. "Maybe? I… don't know…" She leaned forward a little, only to have Fast softly pull her back a bit. Silver snuggled back into Fast, eyes half-closing. "Well, you're here now. Were you looking for Jake too? He's a human, still is all the way. He's doing pretty well. The ponies of the town are getting along with him, and he likes it here."

Wind Chaser answered Fast, “I confess that I do not keep close contact with them. Still, I was quite saddened by their fate under the Queen’s mismanagement, and so I am quite glad they have gained another chance. Perhaps we will check up on them next.” She traded glances with Daniel as if silently conversing for a split second before continuing. “We have some ideas of how they might be further integrated into pony society, and perhaps it would be good to have you or Silver pass them on to the changelings later.”

Daniel continued his own conversation, “I have my own theories, but I can’t say I have the data to prove or disprove them. I think we work as sort of.. magical conductors? We don’t have any energy of our own, normally, which makes it really hard to get started. But we can pick up things with enough exposure and practice. Getting up from zero is really hard, as it’s kind of hard to practice the impossible, but after that it gets a lot easier. Still, even after years I find myself outmatched by unicorn foals, so, it never really gets too easy. As for Jake.. brony who bumbles around being friendly to ponies? Nah, I’m not really worried about him. You,” he pointed to Silver, “were cause for investigation, but I’m convinced that all your abilities are native to this world, so I can rest easy.”

Silver nodded her head lightly. "Do you think, maybe, that's why ponies always seemed eager to throw magic at me? Never particularly maliciously, mind you. The first time was a…" Silver paused, frowned, then looked up. "Changeling. The first one I met. I hope she's OK… Anyway, she did some magic on me at a friend's request. Then I got turned into a pony, then half-pony. The list kind of goes on and on. It's been better recently, but then I feel more like a unicorn than a human lately."

“Excuse me,” Daniel said before shifting back into a pegasus and stretching his wings. “As I said, I’m not as comfortable in my own skin anymore.” The clothing was gone except the hat, and discarded tie, though his coloration was more lime with forest green mane this time. The cutie mark remained the same, but tilted at a different angle. “I tend to assume ponies throw magic around because they’re magical creatures in a magic rich world, and that’s just what they do. Do you think they’ve been targeting you preferentially? Aside from what the situation may have demanded?”

Night reached over to nudge at Silver. "I bet she practically invited it without knowing, and enjoyed it even when it was uncomfortable."

Silver flushed a little. "That may be true. Knowing someone, or somepony, was interested in me was very nice, especially so far that they wanted to make me into a better physical match for them. It was all very flattering on one level or another. So, are you a brony too?" She perked an ear, "What season did you see up to?"

“Eheh.. I barely made it past the pilot, and arrived before Season 2. May be hard to believe, but I actually got to see some of the later episodes here on Equestria after I arrived. It was... kind of disconcerting seeing the future play out, especially with some of the... uh... temporal shenanigans I have been privy to. I ended up avoiding most of it by leaving Equestria and touring the world for a few years.” As an aside to Wind Chaser, in a loud stage whisper he asked “how did we miss half-pony?”

Silver shook her head, "Becoming a pony satyr wasn't fun at all. Twilight basically stretched the pony out of me, leaving a pony-free upper half that was my old self, with pony hips and down. It was quite painful, and I'm told it left my innards in a wild disarray that took a princess sitting down and working out to undo. It was… still kind of fun, outside that. I had hands and some fur." She wobbled a hoof, "Getting back to the other, that sounds confusing and I think I won't pry into it much, but huh, not much of a brony then? Surprised you picked here to come then, instead of some other world."

“I didn’t pick here.. the Text was.. much less constrained in those days, and I would say downright cruel in our case. It brought a dozen of us here against our will and challenged us to a ‘game’. After a great deal of effort, and very nearly breaking the world, my glorious guardian angel arrived and wiped away all of our pain and fixed everything.” Wind Chaser blushed visibly at the compliments, obviously directed at her. “We managed to get all of the others home, but I chose to stay behind. I challenged the Text to only bring those who wanted to be here from now on, and to not give them anything that didn’t belong here. And it in turn challenged me to... live by some perfectly reasonable constraints. So far it appears the Text has held itself to my challenge, but I do occasionally stay up at night wondering if I’ll know in time if the Text breaks the rules before things go too far sideways.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Wind Chaser added, “he stays up at night regardless.”

Silver and her herd looked confused together a moment. Night adjusted her glasses before asking, "So, what? Destroyed the world? Could you rephrase that a little? Unless you summoned Tirek yourself, I'm not sure how that happened."

Wind Chaser started listing off, “Created pockets of low magic where anypony present lost the ability to use magic, including pegasi losing flight midair, got Luna killed, and very seriously threatened the stability of international politics by using the sun as a super weapon, to say nothing of the sheer number of casualties. As I understand it, at some point in the sequence of temporal shenanigans the state of the world was objectively worse than that, but I can only confirm the one alternate timeline personally. On an unrelated note.. who or what is Tirek?”

Daniel laughed nervously, “I think we should have stuck with the not-prying plan on that one. What happens in the alternate timeline, stays in the alternate timeline, am I right?” 

Silver shook her head slowly. "I read somewhere that Star Swirl himself basically wrote himself out of existence by messing with too much time magic. I don't plan on following in his hoofsteps, no matter how otherwise-glorious they may be." She glanced between Daniel and Wind. "I admit it's kind of surprising to hear the Text being outright cruel. It's been distant, cold… Recently, I'd even say it's almost warming up, but never outright taking any pleasure in misery."

“That’s right, you hinted at it earlier. You are still in contact with the Text?” Daniel asked.

Fast leaned in, whispering in Silver's ears, "Do you believe half the things out of their mouths?" Wind Chaser looked about to reply, annoyed by Fast’s quiet comment, but Daniel silenced her with a glance.

Silver shrugged softly. "I don't get to choose when I see him. I just appear back in the darkness, and we talk. He seems to prefer dramatic times. I have a few theories on that…"

“I’d love to hear your theories. I’m just happy to hear it’s softened up a bit.” Daniel replied. 

Silver perked an ear. "A question first. When was the last time you spoke, relatively speaking, with him." She suddenly rose up. Fast tried to pull her back, but Silver wriggled away, nuzzling Fast's cheek before dancing away, trotting in a wide circle.

“It was shortly before Discord was first set free, months before Cadance’s wedding.” Daniel sat mostly still, turning his head to watch Silver’s movements curiously. “Does that affect your theory at all?”

Silver shook her head as she continued walking, seeming to not want to be still any longer. "No, just curious. I think I amuse Text. They… kind of pet me last time." She snorted softly. "Kind of odd, thinking back on it, but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. It was very supportive, thinking about it, even if it didn't really give direct help." She stopped and turned to Daniel. "My theory, and this could be wrong, is that our lives are kind of… its show. Not the wide world of ponies. Think of it like a director or an author, and it wants to see us challenged, and do interesting things, but also, usually, come out better for it."

Night shook her head quickly as she flipped a hoof in a dismissive fashion. "That's extremely self-centered."

"Maybe," agreed Silver, "But I don't see Text talking to too many other people, so forgive me for thinking that way."

“That fits with my experiences as well. It definitely wanted to see what we would do with what it provided us with. I’d like to think it can be influenced as well, and that my challenge to it made a difference. It seems intelligent and self-aware, and that more or less means influence is inherently possible.” Daniel shrugged. “It sounds like you’re a good influence on it yourself. Which... makes me all the more happy to offer you this.” He looked to Wind Chaser, who pulled a small wrapped gift box from her mane, about a hoof-width to a side, and offered it to Silver.

Silver paused in her pacing when a box was held up to her. She grasped it in her silvery magic hand, a second approaching to curiously tearing it open. "We just met, it's a bit early to be offering gifts isn't it?" The faintest flush showed through her brown fur as she unearthed the gift.

Within the box was a small round rubber ball, with small slits cut in the sides. It was a little heavier than it looked.

“Consider it a belated congratulatory gift for your appointment as human ambassador,” Daniel laughed. “Actually, it’s more a practical matter, given our itinerant lifestyle. It’s a radio transceiver. If you squeeze it, it will allow us to hear what you have to say, and if you shake it you should be able to recharge the battery as needed. I’d like to offer our services in anything you need, especially anything that... shall we say, princesses should not be the least involved in. Or, if you just want someone to talk to that has a common perspective. Just... be aware that travel times may be somewhat prohibitive if you need an urgent rescue or the like. I’ll try to keep options open, but you can be a hard pony to keep up with, even when we aren’t busy with our own matters.”

Silver gave the ball a squeeze to test it as she spoke, "Oh, that's actually kind of cool. I didn't think I'd be getting a walkie-talkie at this point of things. I'm going to hope I never need to use it for emergencies, but a friendly voice couldn't hurt anything."

Night pointed at it. "Exactly how do we know you're not tracking Silver with it?"

Fast bobbed her head. "Good thought. Don't be so eager to accept gifts from world destroying time-travelers, Silver. I swear, you'd throw yourself down a dragon's throat if they asked nicely."

“Well, it’s always good to have a line to a friendly neighborhood world-destroyer if things ever pass the Godzilla threshold,” Daniel winked. “We can track its location when it’s activated, by triangulating the source of the signal, but otherwise it’s inert. Put it where you don’t mind us knowing its location, or don’t use it. Whatever. Silver generally shows up on the public radar eventually anyways, but we can be dreadfully hard to find at times. And I’d honestly rather not commit to showing up in person on a regular basis just to be assured a chance to talk.”

Silver tucked it into her saddlebag for later as she nodded. "So, leave anyone behind?" Fast and Night both winced a little at the bluntness of the question.

“How do you mean the question?” Daniel asked, cocking his head. “On Earth? No one worth going back for, though I do miss my parents and siblings. It was time to be off on my own, anyways, and I have done so much better here than there. If I could, I’d keep in contact with them, at least by email or something. But... that option is not presently available to us. I don’t know if the others brought word of my survival back when they returned, but I honestly doubt they told anyone else where they had gone. If you mean when we came to give you a visit, well, I didn’t want to overwhelm you with the whole Itinerant Kingdom, and especially not our foal.”

"Speaking of our foal," Wind Chaser interjected. "We really ought to be going."

"Before we go though... Night Watch. I had this whole big speech prepared about how you need to keep more situational awareness, but you pleasantly surprised me by cutting through our little social engineering trick. I am glad to know our little 'ambassador' is in such good hooves. I know you're all quite skeptical of all we had to say, but it really is a simple pleasure to have someone I can be open with and just... talk."

Silver broadly smiled at that, "Night is my guardian with the glasses. She sees what I miss." Silver trotted over to kiss Night on either cheek. "Be well, wherever you end up. You can call us too, I think? So go ahead if you need an ear."

Night flushed gently at the kiss, nodding. "Travel safely."

Fast rolled her eyes quickly before joining the nod. "See you when I see you. Good luck."