Silver trotted around the tower, looking to touch bases with everyone, but couldn't find the Windsongs, or Rough Tumble. Becoming agitated, she went for Twilight, who was busy chatting with Starlight while arguing over a chalkboard full of arcane runes.
They looked up with Silver stepped in. Twilight spoke first. "You look upset. What's wrong?"
"Where's Shei, Patty, or Rough?"
Twilight's expression shifted to bewilderment. "Who?"
"W-what do you mean, who? The ponies I met in Anugypt? My colthood bully turned friend? These are not ponies you just forget at the drop of a hoof." Silver stomped one of those hooves to the ground. "If this is a joke, it's in very bad taste."
Starlight approached Silver with a little smile. "Dear friend, calm down. Use your head and take deep breaths, we'll figure this out."
The soothing tones of Starlight in maternal mode did calm Silver's nerves a little and she took a slow breath. "Right. Twilight, please. Who is my guard?"
Twilight blinked softly. "You don't have a guard."
Her moment of calm shattered. With a thumping heart, Silver began to tremble. "Where is he?!"
Twilight licked over her lips. "I didn't know you were that eager to have a stallion, Silver. I thought this would come from--"
"No! He's a dear friend, who went through so much to get here, and now everyone, er, pony's just forgotten him?! No!" She spread her wings and launched from the room, finding Night Watch out on the balcony. "Night! Please. Tell me you know who Rough Tumble is."
Night frowned. "No, but I can see it's upsetting you, a lot. Come here." She held out a hoof.
The offer was too good and Silver crashed into the offered embrace, starting to sniffle. "Three ponies are gone! Gone without a trace!"
Twilight and Starlight trotted in with Fast. Starlight looked especially guilty. "I have an idea why this may be."
Silver looked over her shoulder at Starlight. "What?" Spotting Fast she flashed a hopeful smile. "Fast! Tell me you know who the Windsongs are?"
"Nope." Fast shook her head slowly. "Should I?"
Starlight pointed at herself. "It's my fault..."
"What?" Silver sat up and turned around, no longer clinging to Night. "Why? How? Bring them back..."
Starlight shook her head, trembling a little. "I... don't think I can. I'm so sorry... Please don't hate me forever."
Silver grit her teeth as she took another slow breath. "Please, tell me what happened."
Twilight suddenly took a step forward. "I think I know. I was involved. Starlight changed time, and I tried to change it back. We were locked in a competition. We eventually stopped, and I thought everything was back to normal, and most things are..."
Starlight hung her head. "But maybe not everything..."
Blood drained from Silver's face, especially her nose and ears in the most visible fashion. "Then where are they? Why do I even remember them?"
Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, your involvement in the timeline is... muddled. You only joined Equestria recently, compared to when we were interfering."
Night raised a hoof. "She's also not all pony, and can see other things we can't."
Silver gave a numb bob her head. "R-right. Alright. I need to find them. I have to--"
Twilight put a hoof on her chest. "They have their own life. They won't know you."
Silver paused, then slowly sank to the floor. "She's... alive..."
"Who?" All ponies in the room stared at her curiously.
Silver shook her head. "You wouldn't know them, but I got them killed. They're alive. If they never entered my life, I didn't get them killed." A little quirk of a smile appeared before her expression fell to horror. "Oh god... I need to find him! He could still be with his parents even now!"
They didn't know what she was talking about, and couldn't. She spread her wings and took off the balcony, soaring out into the darkened sky. Night drew up beside her, with Twilight on the other side. The presence behind her she wasn't sure of, and turned to see Starlight lifting herself along. "All of you?"
Twilight shrugged. "You're part of our family, deal with it. Fast drew the short straw and got stuck foalsitting."
Night snorted with a smile. "Now, who is this pony you're rushing to save?"
Silver tried to explain, thinking over her time with Rough, time now erased so casually. "He was a big fat bully, at first. He... wait, how did we meet, Night?"
Night tilted her head. "You were being mugged, and I rescued you."
Silver faltered in her flight. "That's not right at all! I was fighting for him, against his parents, and you showed up, right when I needed you. He's a colt cuddler, but was in denial at first, but his marefriend was manipulating him. Hay, she tried to manipulate me."
"Carrot Plate?" asked Twilight. "That was an ugly affair."
Silver grunted softly. "Alright, she's where she should be. Alright..."
Starlight flew ahead suddenly, floating ahead of Silver, sheathed in her magic to keep her up. "Look, I can't imagine how upset you are right now. This was all my fault, mine. Don't blame Twilight."
Silver blinked softly. "I'm not, either of you. Shouting at you won't fix it. Being angry at either of you won't fix it. You did something stupid, fine. Lord knows I've done stupid shit before. Being a unicorn just means it can get stupid in new and exciting ways and please just help me find him and we can play the blame game later if you want. Speaking of which, remind me why we can't just undo this?"
Twilight sighed. "Well, the spell that was used kind of got rid of itself after we finished with the timeline. Starlight modified it with your talent to drag herself and me back to the same point in time. Even if we did have the spell, who knows what other effects could be had, trying to get everything back to before we interfered with it."
Silver's ears fell. "I get the idea... You could go through it a dozen times with as many different problems. Look, seriously, if the sisters are alive, and together, I can chalk that up as a good thing, hell, I'll send them a big bag of bits they won't understand to make their life better. Fine, whatever. I'll miss her, but fine, I can put that down."
"But this stallion?" Night raised a brow. "Why is he so special?"
"He's the product of a broken home. His parents hate him, and crushed him. It was only through running into me that he escaped that, even a little, and began crawling his way free of that hole over years of work, to become a royal guard worthy of the title." Silver kicked, but there was no ground to strike, just punching the air. "I can't even imagine what happened to him if we never met at all..."
They arrived in Canterlot, soaring over it. Night pulled closer. "Silver, there is the possibility he's found another way, or he hasn't, but storming into his life this way... There's no way this can have a happy ending."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "How old was he when he was, uh, just here?"
Silver frowned. Exact ages were so hard in pony land. "He was an adult. He had his business, which he mostly set aside to be with us, and be the best guard he could be."
Twilight rolled a hoof. "Then, best case scenario, he's back to running that business, and meeting you will be alarming and surprising, maybe in a good way, or not. Worst case scenario, he's still living under his parents, and he won't be the pony you remember, not by a long shot."
Silver drew to a sudden halt, the others circling around him. "So, what? You think I should just abandon him?"
Starlight tapped her chin. "He won't be the pony you remembered. That pony is gone."
The more they said it, the less it seemed to sit well with Silver. "There has to be a solution! There's always a way out of these things. We just have to figure it out." She spun on Night. "You can see almost as well as I do, and pull it all together. What can we do?"
Night frowned with thought as she hovered there. "If he's being abused... We can at least see if this is the case, and bring it to Celestia's attention. This is her city, and her ponies, and she has more experience than either of us handling this delicate situation. Charging in with hooves swinging would be a really bad way for a princess to act."
Silver trembled before she brought her wings in, lowering towards the city as she sped up towards where she dimly recalled Rough being. "Then let's look."
The house they found was empty and abandoned. There were no ponies there, known or otherwise. It looked dilapidated and neglected, on the verge of collapsing. Silver insisted on entering and blinked past the door, appearing with a burst of silver light in the darkened halls of the house. The smell of rotting wood and building dust pressed at her nose as she searched. Most of the papers left were just as rotted as the wood, but in a drawer, there was a diary.
Hello Mother, Father,
I'm sorry, but this is the only way out. I'm leaving you both. You don't own me anymore. I'm going to become a pony worth knowing. I still love you, even if you hate me. I'm a colt cuddler. I always will be. I'm sorry this bothers you so much.
Love,
Rough Tumble
Silver let the journal fall back into the drawer as hoofsteps came up behind him. Twilight asked softly, "Did you find anything?"
She smiled gently. "He got out, at least. Brave colt, he didn't just stay and die under them." She turned to face the concerned-looking Twilight. "I miss him. I didn't spend enough time with him, and then he's gone. This isn't..." She pushed Twilight back when she was drawing close. "Text!"
"What?" Twilight tilted her head. Starlight and Night came in shortly thereafter, both looking similarly confused.
Silver drove a hoof into a wall. "Text! Come out here!"
Starlight raised a brow. "Do either of you know what this means?"
Twilight perked up. "Celestia mentioned there was some kind of extraplanar entity that spoke through text? I think Silver's met it before." She looked to Silver. "Why are you calling it?"
Silver lowered her hoof to the ground. "It's the only thing that could have planned this so perfectly." A tremble ran through her. "Oh... oh fuck..."
Twilight gasped. "Language! When did you start talking like that?"
"Sorry." Silver took a slow breath as she rose to her full height. "I need to think about this... Thank you, all of you, for coming with me." She felt the urge to storm past them, angry at everything, but she fought it, and slowly approached each in turn, kissing them on the cheek. "Thank you."