Celestia entered the castle past the bowing guards. Luna strode beside her, overwhelming the area with their combined force of presence. They had not come as smiling benefactors, and made no attempt to counter their natural force. "She expects us?" asked Luna. "I have gathered everything I could think of. If we are to do this, the sooner, the better."
Celestia nodded. "I have a few things to gather, but then we set off. Come." She walked with purpose, but didn't break into trot. It felt important to not rush, even if time worked against them. They entered the hall of forbidden magics, where Twilight had come several times, seeking answers to questions ruled not worth following. The very laws of nature were laid bare here, stripped to their core by ponies long ago that had ignored the warnings, and tried to turn the universe itself to their whimsy. Sometimes they even succeeded.
Celestia stopped and lifted a golden horn. "Do you recall this?"
Luna paused and looked at it. "Long before we had our argument, one stallion thought an eternal summer would be wisest, where ponies savored nothing but carnality of one another, to live knowing nothing but the act of creation and rearing the next generation to do it again."
Celestia set the horn down. "He almost succeeded. It would have been very boring." She moved onwards and stopped again, hefting a heavy lance. "To destroy all that would threaten ponykind, to leave the world empty, save our people, to eventually spread and take it, alone, but safe."
Luna frowned. "Why are we looking at these? We have a task clearly at hoof. This is not the time for reflection."
Celestia wheeled on Luna, the spear coming dangerously close. "I disagree. We are about to join in these ponies' steps, to defy what we know to be the natural balance." She tossed the spear and it landed where it began. "We should learn from them."
Luna shook herself out. "You have already interfered, if perhaps less grandly. You have unleashed a terror on the land, that has not yet come to make us regret. She hates your student. Her heart is broken, and she is no idle threat. You are no innocent, first come to interfere, dear sister. You are the grand orchestrator of so many things. This is but one more."
Celestia frowned a moment, then proceeded into the depths of the archives. She gathered up four books, floating in her magic, and a chalice that she ran her hooves over reverently. "You are right... Come closer. We'll be there in a moment." As Luna drew closer, Celestia wrapped them in brilliant magic, and they vanished away with the artifacts she had instructed her guards even she should not emerge with.
Twilight looked up at the bright flash of magic. "Princesses!" She bowed towards them. "I'm glad you're here. I've been thinking about the problem, with the others, and it came to me. We have a template, of sorts."
Celestia stacked the books she held and set them aside, and the chalice atop that. "Do tell?"
Twilight nodded excitedly. "The other, David, he has huge pieces of the missing pattern. Not all of them, mind you. They are not the same pony, just similiar, so very similar." Twilight sat. "He's not even a pony, except a little bit, but he has so much more than we started with."
Luna smiled. "This is well and good, but I have another plan to assemble him, where he rests most securely. I would gather his closest friends, lovers, and wives, and draw forth the copy of him that resides within their memories. Each will be different, but their similarities are what matter. We can draw them together, and let those similarities build."
Night Watch suddenly descended from above and landed beside the three princesses. "We'll do both. The more we have to work with, and compare, the better. What will we do with this? I don't want some composite simulacrum of Silver."
Celestia tapped at the stack of books she brought. "These will explain. His body... Trying to perfectly simulate him will result in failure. The very universe knows the exact pattern of him is gone, and will reject it. Fortunately, for us, he has several forms that we know him as."
Twilight perked her ears curiously. "W-wait, are you saying he can't be a prince?"
Celestia nodded. "We have lost Prince Silver Stars. He is dead, and must remain so, if we plan to not rend everything asunder. But... he has been other things. A human male, a unicorn stallion, a lunar unicorn, a lunar unicorn mare."
Nefertari appeared with a smile. "A blend of human and stallion."
Luna frowned at Nefertari and looked her over. "So this is she? The 'shaman' that bears one of his children?"
Nefertari perked her ears. "What is this? I am believed for a change? A pleasure to meet you, little ruler of this land."
Night Watch ruffled her wings fitfully. "Twilight... When was he happiest?"
Twilight looked overwhelmed with the question. "When he was with us, I suppose."
Night Watch nudged Twilight. "He'll have us no matter what he is." She smiled suddenly. "I think... I think he has sired enough foals I think he would like to come back as one of us."
Twilight tilted her head. "One of us? I don't think he wanted to be a copy of either of us."
Night Watch snorted gently. "So little you know. To be looked at with fondness, and not a shred of fear. To be thought of as attractive and desired after, but not as a tool. As a stallion he was a stud, passed from mare to mare to satisfy their cravings, and thought less off for his ideas, which has to be thought of first as a stallion's ramblings before anything else."
She sat and looked at Twilight. "Besides... he knows that spell if he wishes to be a he, for as long as he needs."
Twilight colored softly. "I doubt he does, with his book turned to ash, but he would learn again, the moment we let him at a library. I think you're undervaluing how much he liked being a stallion. He was born as one, don't forget."
Night spread her wings. "He can't be a prince, but he could be our princess. If you make him a lunar unicorn stallion, he will never again ascend. You will never have him at your side, truly."
Twilight seemed to grasp the gravity of things and turned to Celestia and Luna, who watched the exchange. "What do you think?"
Luna licked her lips. "I no longer require him as male or female. I would desire their company... Male... female. I want Silver back among us. He died trying to do right, for all of us. If he comes back as a phoenix, I would do what I could to remind him of the love we once shared so fiercely."
Celestia smiled gently. "He showed me many things during our trip, almost threw his life away several times, trying to do what I asked." She turned her eyes onto Night entirely. "Do you think he will be happy?"
Night looked ready to confirm this hotly, but shrank before she said it. "I killed him..." all eyes were on her. "Not in theory... I put it into action. I did what made that ship angry, and made its target him and no other. It destroyed him, for me... Then it gave me this suit, still dusted with his burned ashes... I need to see him. I need to see him at least one more time, and for once, I'm the one that has to roll onto my back and beg him to forgive me, and I won't accept one of his easy dismissals. This suit... I feel like I have a long time. A very long time to make amends. Whatever form we choose, he is clever. He will find a way towards what he wants. He just needs a chance to live."
Celestia took the chalice from the stack of books. "To create a new life, we draw on the well of the universe. It comes naturally as we are quickened by our mates. To do it for a spirit that has already tasted life, it is more complicated. Before any body we create will be quickened, we must power the spirit to inhabit it." She ran a hoof over the edge and its edge cut into her frog, allowing her blood to run into the cup as she winced. "It will leave us weak, but... This is the only way to gather enough." Night reached for it with her wings, but Celestia drew it quickly away with her magic. "No. For those not unaging, this will damage them terribly. While Luna and I will feel weak for a time, you would lose years of your life."
Luna grabbed the chalice in her magic and brought it to her hoof, offering her vita blood next.
"Ahem." They looked up to see Discord standing there with a big grin. "My turn?"
Celestia and Luna shared looks, but what other unaging souls did they have to draw from? They offered him the chalice, and he swiped a finger, bleeding for it, lacing it with a little of his inherent chaos. He wished well for his friend, whatever they came back as, but their life would not stop being 'interesting'.
Celestia set it aside on the table that held the books. "It must steep. While that prepares, Luna can begin gathering dreams. Twilight, these books, you must read them." An assignment more appropriate for Twilight could not be known, and Twilight picked up the first book in her magic, starting to devour it eagerly.
As Twilight read, Night Watch closed her eyes and tried to calm herself, but she saw words behind her eyelids.
This isn't what I want, and if I don't want it, you can't have it.
Night sat up, but kept her eyes closed. "Who are you to say that? We want him, and we'll have him."
He was mine first, and always was mine. Who are you to talk? You killed him. He is safe from the pain you bring with me.
Night drove a hoof down into the floor, splintering it with frightful strength. "He would rather live and suffer with us, than languish in the void."
He never was a good judge of what happiness was. He is safe from pain, discomfort, and trial. He has finally finished his walking. Let him rest.
"No!" Night exposed her fangs. "He might be done walking, but he has family now, and we'll walk for him if we have to. If he has peace, it'll be in the warmth of loved ones, not inky darkness."
You are burning a path through the brambles, even as they cling and cut at you. Do you have the strength to walk this path? Do you even understand what you may be giving up to reach the end of it?
Celestia set a hoof on Night's shoulder. "Who are you talking to?" She sounded tired and worried.
"He laid down and died for me. His last words..." Night drew a trembling breath. "He asked us not to hate ourselves for it."
And yet, here you are. Why can't you accept it, like he asked you to?
Night smiled gently. "We never were good at listening to him when he asked us to ignore his pain. We will walk this path to the end." Something clicked inside of Night and she scowled. "Wait, were those his words, or yours?"
He would have said them.
"Would have, or did?" No reply came. "Damn you. We're dragging him out of your grasp. Why do you hate him so much?"
He deserves rest, and peace.
"He deserves..." Night opened her eyes, losing sight of the words. "He deserves his rainbows. He will have his happy ending."