Silver woke up on her familiar bed. She was back on earth, though she was clearly a pony, a princess, and female. She giggled a little to herself. "If Mother could see me now."
The door to her bedroom opened on command, revealing her mother. She looked pallid and wane, practically one foot in the grave. "How could you just leave me behind?"
Silver recoiled back, scrambling up to her haunches. "Mom? Mother... How are you?"
She scowled with a terrifying grimace. "I'm doing fine! Why would you even ask something like that? You ran off to your fantasy world, got married, had adventures... Is everything fine for you now? I needed you. Jazmine needed you..."
Silver licked over her lips. "Old habits... What happened, after I left?"
She threw up her hands. "What do you think? I spent weeks crying, months worried, years bitter. Jazmine mentioned she saw you once, even if she thought it was a dream or something. Why did you come to see her, but not your own mother? Why did you abandon me?"
Silver had a lot of words to say, but they were locked up in her head. She ground her teeth together as her mother advanced on her. "I'm talking to you, David. Please give me the respect of answering me."
Silver tried to talk, but nothing wanted to come out. She felt torn and horrible. She wanted to hug her mother, to banish the hurts from her. She was angry at her mother. She hated her mother. She...
She put out a hoof. "Mother."
"What?"
"Do you know what I am?"
She seemed confused by that question, as if she only just then noticed Silver was a pony, and not a person. She stammered and looked lost as she glanced around. "Is this... Am I dying?"
Silver put the same hoof on her chest. "Don't say that. Live long, and happy. I love you."
Darkness.
The child pony emerged and nuzzled right at Silver. "Hiya!"
Silver smiled, the event fading quickly. "Hello there."
"Want to play some Contra?" He pulled out two controllers and offered one to Silver, which she took with her magic. There was a television there. It had always been there. They both did the Konami code as it loaded and giggled. Armed with thirty men apiece, they tore through wave after wave of enemy soldiers and eventually aliens and other odd things.
When the game lay defeated before their teamwork, the colt raised and stretched. "That was a lot of fun. I'm glad I'm still a part of you."
"I am you," replied Silver with a little smile.
They hugged gently, then there was only Silver.
The human strode out from the darkness. Silver recognized him right away that time and waved at him lightly.
He smiled at her. "I remember when we had hands. They were very useful for things. To say nothing of googling answers to questions."
Silver nodded. "We had a lot as adults, human adults. We had so much, but company. We were so alone."
He frowned a little, then reached out and tapped her nose. "As part of you, I am part of a loving family. We don't get to do web searches as often... But I think that's worth the trade."
Silver leaned in and rubbed noses with the human version of herself. "I am happy to have you. Are you happy to be part of me?"
He smiled and hugged her fiercely, if briefly. "I am. How did that go? I am you."
Silver nodded. "I am... you." The human was gone, but neither he, nor the colt, were truly gone. They were all part of a single wondrous whole. Every time she came to this dark place and met them, she felt more at one with them. "Come on out. I know you're next."
The female alicorn stepped gently into view. "You're healing."
Silver gave a gentle smile. "I think I am. You are the closest to the surface. I practically am you, in a more literal sense."
She nodded at that. "Which is why we must not do the next part just yet. He needs you, us. We must rescue him."
Silver tilted her head. "Are you happy to be a part of me?"
She reached out and tapped Silver on the shoulder. "I always have been, even when you suffered or did something wrong. We will learn, and get better. So long as we're not dead, there is time to put wrongs to right, and improve."
Silver shook herself from head to tail. "When I look at you... You seem like the Queen I'm not."
She tilted her head faintly. "If you see something in me, then you see it in yourself. Perhaps, in time, you will become a mother to the ponies you love. I would be very happy to be a part of that." She flashed her fangs. "Just don't let Celestia hear you're eager to replace her."
They shared a little titter, then turned as one as the tattered remains of Prince Silver Stars drew closer. His every step was slow and painful, as if his joints ached and his hooves were made of lead. He glanced up at them before looking to the ground.
Fluttershy appeared in a snap. "No! Don't talk to him!"
Another Fluttershy appeared and got in the first's way. "It's okay..."
The first looked uncertain before she clopped a hoof. "She'll become a monster again! She'll hurt Twilight!"
The second reached out a hoof to the first. "Twilight will always be our friend. We'll protect her."
The first shot a withering glance at Silver. "I will protect her..." They both vanished into the darkness.
He licked over his dry and split lips as he dared another little look up at them. "I can... I can feel it. Soon I'll stop hurting."
Silver advanced on him. "That's true, but not the way you're saying it. You'll stop hurting because I'm going to haul you back into the light."
He recoiled from her presence. "No! No. I failed. I lost and I died. You can go on, if you want, but I'm definitely dead and gone."
Silver snorted. "Listen to yourself. If you can argue about being dead, you aren't."
He looked confused a moment. "I... Oh..." He sank slowly to his belly. "I don't want to whine... but everything hurts... It hurts more than I ever remember it hurting before. When Luna made us feel Twilight destroying us? That was nothing..."
Silver moved to lay on her own belly beside him and leaned, feeling his emaciated form almost creak under her light pressure. "We're here."
The other princess took up his other side and leaned against him gently. "We're here."
He went quiet a moment before he shook his head. "Why do you want me back so much? What do I have to add?"
Silver nuzzled gently along his snout. "I want your passion."
The other princess kissed him on the cheek. "I want your experience."
They nuzzled and kissed up alongside either side of his snout until they met at the end and kissed him, side-by-side. "We want you," they said in sync. "We are you."
He shuddered powerfully and squeaked in pain. "It... It hurts... Every time you say that... You're just... another mare that doesn't care how much you hurt me."
Silver wrapped her forehooves around him and pulled herself closer to him. "No. I want the pain to stop. I want you to get the reward you worked so hard for... Don't you want to see your lovely foals? Don't you want to feel the touch of your wives? They miss you. I'm not complete without you."
The other princess began to nip softly at his back, pulling up a large fold of flesh each time from his emaciated form. "We want to nurse you to health, but we can't until you decide you want to live."
He sunk to the ground, crying breathlessly and banging his hooves on the ground. "Of course I want to! I do! I want to see them all! All I see are you two! You won't..."
Silver suddenly kissed him, pressing her lips to his chapped ones for a moment. "Drink." She nuzzled past him and offered her neck. "No matter how much it hurts, it's time to get better."
He licked over his dry lips fruitlessly. His tongue was swollen and dry as well. He nosed her neck a little, looking uncertain.
The princess nodded. "Go ahead. She offered it. Drink."
He gave a little quivering nod, then pressed his fangs to her. He was so weak he could only slowly push in. She squeaked softly in the pain of it. Being swiftly bitten was one thing, being slowly impaled was another thing. His every shudder and adjustment was a new agony, but she grit her teeth and stayed still for him.
Her blood flowed up into his mouth and he suddenly spasmed in a terrible coughing fit. He drew back from her, his snout specked with the blood he had failed to drink, at least in part. Some small bit of it made its way to his belly and he squirmed. He felt it... He felt some small bit of it. "I'm better... I can... do this..."
A window appeared in front of them. Twilight set them on a bed and pulled up the covers. "It's alright, Silver, we're all here for you." Night was there, and Fast, and Fluttershy. They were all gathered around the bed, waiting patiently for response.
The princess nuzzled him gently. "See? They're waiting for us all. Let's go greet them. Drink."
He gave a little nod, then flashed his fangs. "I'll try." He found a new spot on her neck even as she cringed in preparation for the next bite. He bit her swiftly and deeply.
The princess smiled. "You are ready to live."
He was ready to live! He drunk from her. He drank and he drank. He drank and gorged himself on that sweet blood until she weakly pushed him back. She flopped over, tired but alive.
He licked over his lips, still dry, but the new power was flowing through his hardened veins. He was healing. He was... "I am you."
The princess smiled gently. "I am you."
From the ground, Silver took a slow breath before nodding. "I am you, both of you."
They moved to hug her but she put up her hooves, warding them. "Wait! I... I don't want you two to be lost. We've become friends, of a sort..."
The princess gave such a tenderly understanding smile. "We are you. It's not healthy to keep us apart."
Silver squirmed. "Do I have to lose you?"
He rose to shaking legs. "I am you."
"I am you," agreed Silver. "But does it have to be this way?"
The princess gave a slow nod. "It does. We are with you. We will be rooting for you, because we are you." She held out a hoof for Silver to accept. "It's time to awaken."
Silver sat up with her help and hugged them with legs and wings, but they were gone. There was only herself.
She felt whole, but she felt sad. She could feel... something in that princess. Something that wasn't in herself. It was too late to ask her more about it. She took a slow breath and felt blood on her breath. Her own? She turned to the window and reached for it, trailing a hoof gently along the image of each pony that cared for her. "I've kept you waiting long enough."
The darkness itself faded. It was time to awaken.