Dear Princess Silver Stars,
Today I found out that my handwriting is as awful as ever. They have typewriters in Equestria, right? Shoot, they're binary keyed ones. I remember them. Oh well, you get scribbles. You asked for them, you get them. So I wandered the ship after you left and tried to introduce myself to some of the ponies working as sailors. They seemed edgy around me until they saw the tail. Apparently that was enough to mark me as 'one of them', and they started talking. Ponies sure are skittish, aren't they?
Anyway, once we broke the ice, they seemed happy to go on and on about what they were working on. I don't really know a damn thing about boats, so I just nodded along as they talked and talked about nothing really. The dog people, on the other hand, they were way different. They weren't like diamond dogs, they were really dog people, upright, clever fingers, talked straight. They thought I was amazing, like their priest, ne-something or other.
Being amazing doesn't make you any better at darts. They seemed nice though, and didn't mind giving pointers. Is it wrong that I think some of them were eyeballing me? Well, you're me, right? You already know my depraved thoughts, so I'll just assume I shouldn't have any shame in these letters. Some of them were pretty hot. The ponies all look like animals, no offense, but the dogs, they're different. I really shouldn't call them dogs, but dogs covers a lot of territory. Anyway, they have different faces, gestures, and, I don't know, looks? The ponies look much more similar to one another in comparison.
I don't trust that priest though. She creeps me out, even if the others seem to think she's the best thing since sliced bread. She stopped by a few times and stared at me when I was just hanging out, and I had to get out of there. Oh right, friends, hm. I made a few I guess? There was this nice mare that worked the rigging, a pegasus. She was fascinated with me, but didn't stare. She would tell me a story, but she'd also prod me for one. I liked the balance I think. Sea Breeze is her name, and she's a good person, pony, human, or whatever else.
Some of the dogs latched onto my tales of D&D and such and we ended up playing an improv session. It was like the old days! I didn't have character sheets or even dice to work with, and we didn't need any. I just made things up, and they reacted, and the story went back and forth and everyone had a good time with it. I think they liked being able to pretend to be a human, odd as that might be. Hell, they practically are furry humans if you ask me. I made a few friends, even if I'm really having a hard time pulling up their names. That never was my, or our I guess, strong point. I'll learn it over time. It's quite a while until Equestria, right?
Your Faithful Student,
You.
Silver rolled his eyes as he folded the paper up in his magic and set it aside. Celestia leaned over his shoulder. "How did it go?"
Silver turned to softly nuzzle her. "His first friendship report."
Celestia lifted an ear. "Oh? I thought you didn't approve of those."
Silver shrugged. "And yet here I am. Actions speak louder than words, they say. He's doing well, my other me. He's made some friends and he's keeping himself entertained. I'm glad."
Celestia raised a hoof to Silver's chest. "You feel responsible."
"Of course I do," said Silver with a quirked brow. "I'm the one that threw open the door for him to wander through. I could have avoided him if I was more careful and less impulsive."
Celestia raised an eyebrow at him in a silent challenge.
Silver thought back over it. "I suppose... it was his choice, in the end. You can't blame me for feeling for the guy. He's literally another me. I know what he's going through."
Celestia smiled gently. "And you're doing what you wish others had done with you?"
Silver nodded quickly. "Exactly. I had to suffer to reach a town, be ostracized and suspected there, then crowded in and ogled at, kidnapped, twice. At least I had Rough Draft, he was great, but he didn't have much actual power when it came to avoiding these things, and that was before I even became a pony!"
Celestia gestured with a hoof down the hallway. "This 'other you' is riding with royalty, playing games with exotic people, and having a fine time, so far. Did he bring any human artifacts with him like you had?"
Silver frowned. "Unless he had something in his pockets, no, and good thing. If he had, he would have been thrown somewhere far away, probably where I'd never find him. He... He trusted me to see to him and came with nothing. That's a lot of faith."
She gently brushed against his side. "A faith you will, without doubt, prove well-invested. For what it's worth, I approve of you looking after him, I just don't think you should do it out of guilt."
A thought came to Silver and he perked up. "Did they ever find anything on my computer?"
Celestia scrunched her brows. "They were still digging through it, last I left them. They've requested permission to pull it apart a few times and figure out the magic inside of it, but I've resisted that so far. It's yours, after all, even if you've let us have it for the moment."
David came into view, being followed by Bottom. Bottom was sniffing at David curiously as they talked. "I was a human once too! We're... related, in a way. Not like cousins or brothers, but..."
David seemed uncertain, and Bottom's little nuzzles made him both smile and be nervous at once, and Silver knew what was going on. He coughed into a hoof, getting Bottom's attention.
Silver looked between the two of them. "Be gentle with him. David, this is Bottom, and she is entirely harmless. If she wants to be friendly, I'd vote to go with it."
David darkened subtly with his dark flesh. "Isn't she yours?"
Bottom looked over at Silver, then back at David. "I'm his servant, not his wife."
In an attempt to be subtly redirecting that Silver saw through instantly, David asked, "Did you get my letter?"
Silver smiled gently. "I did, it was very nice, but I think you've made another friend. She isn't wrong, she isn't my wife. If she wants to do things on her own, she's free to." He raised a brow. "Besides, you're practically me." He turned away from David pointedly and strode away, with Celestia trailing behind with a curious expression.
Celestia caught up with Silver and nipped at an ear. "You are aware what you're setting up?"
Silver flickered that ear. "Hopefully a good time between them, but, most likely, he'll be too shy to actually do anything, but they may talk, and she may force it, which he'll allow, and if she's as nice as she always is, he'll enjoy himself."
Celestia looked like a child that succeeded in getting the cookie away. "So you're going to force him, for his own good then?"
Silver went rigid. "It's not the same! Don't even joke..."
"Who's joking?" She circled around him. "But you admit it. You do need a little pushing."
Silver lifted his shoulders. "Don't we all, even you, at times. That doesn't translate to pinning me down, making me feel powerless and loathed, again, and stripping away part of me. You never even found out who attacked me, that didn't matter as much as how I lashed back at them." His wings ruffled on his back. "That part? You're still wrong."
Celestia's playful expression fell slowly to concern. "Does it still hurt you so much, after everything has come and gone?"
He shrugged as he moved into their room. "Every time I see you, in your heart of hearts, think it was the right thing to do, justified on some level." He looked over his shoulder. "You should have asked, and you shouldn't have heaped such scorn on me for defending myself, as if that was wrong to do."
Celestia bumped against him. "We did find them, by the way, your attackers. I had them quietly dealt with, and they aren't troubling you, or anypony else."
Silver exposed his fangs. "You didn't even tell me? I know you prefer a soft touch on your little ponies. You could have told me and asked me not to do anything. Why don't you trust me?"
Celestia sat down in front of Silver, blocking his path and spreading her wings to make going around her troubling. "You're not being fair. That was then, this is now. We've been through a lot, David, then Silver Lining, now Prince Silver Stars. I'm telling you now. I can't change what has been done, only what is done going forward."
Silver chuckled softly. "You forgot Princess in there. But, yes, that was then... Are you saying now is different?" She nodded gently and he sighed. He leaned in to nuzzle against her snout. "I refuse to be my father."
The statement made one of Celestia's ears raise. "Your father?"
Silver sat back. "He could never truly forgive anything. The past haunted him, like a ghost. Every bad thing, ever, it always stuck around, picking at him. I tried to be the opposite, letting insults be forgotten, actively trying to toss away grudges and slights. I don't want to be like him that way. I want to be able to forgive, forget, and move on."
Celestia looked him over quietly. "Your philosophy perhaps extended too far."
Silver flashed a fanged grin. "A little. Time tempers all things. Some hurts are worth remembering."
Celestia moved up and gently tugged at one of Silver's ears. "If I offered it again, now, as a wife and friend, what would you say?"
Silver flicked his ears. "What? To be a princess again?" She nodded slowly. "Who's going to sire the foal you want? Didn't Twilight say going back from this is basically impossible."
Celestia gave a nod at each point. "Fine things, but I notice you're not saying 'I don't want to' as a reason. Why is that?"
Silver clenched his jaw a moment. "I've gotten used to doing what's good for everyone around me."
Celestia gently nudged him in the shoulder. "I want to hear what's good for you, and not a pony else."
Silver sagged to the floor, his fight deflated like so much hot air. "I just want to go home."
She rose an ear. "Home, to Earth?"
Silver looked up sharply. "No! To Night Watch, to Fast Change, to Twilight... I want to see my children, to play with them and be, I dunno, a father. I want to be the father of the house, big, strong, but loving always. The kind of father anyone would like to have."