The hallway went blood red as alarms sounded. Turrets sprang up from an alarmingly vast amount of directions, pointing at them with deadly intent. Without even fully thinking of it, Silver reared up and became more human as she moved, dodging around the first bullet aimed at her to dance over the next several. She grabbed the barrel off a gun and bent it in on itself, then swung with it to smash the next with her hooves.
Everything seemed to flow in slow motion as she set eyes on the next target, ducking and rolling through the maze of angry bees. One struck her in the belly in a hot flash of pain, but there was no time to stop. No time to feel the pain. She waved violently at the machine that hit her and it ripped free of its base, thrown down the hallway past Starlight and Spike, who were desperately battling for their own survival.
She felt a weight on her back. "I caught her!" It was Silver Sky, little Silver Sky, perched on her back, hugging to her as if he could stop her. She couldn't help but find the idea laughable and a little adorable. She ignored him and felt space itself warp between herself and the largest gun in the hallway as she moved faster than she ever had before without teleporting. Was that how Nefertari felt? She grabbed one of the barrels and could feel a huge bit of metal moving down it. She heaved it against the other and the bullet came out, exploding violently and destroying both barrels.
She was death. She was destruction... She was...
Time resumed suddenly, and she collapsed, panting for breath. The hallway was silent, and fur grew back over her body as she became a pony once more.
The area around her dimmed and went dark. The weight on her back faded. It all faded.
Words appeared in the darkness.
Dave the Destroyer. You live again.
"No!" She forced herself to her hooves. "Fighting to defend my friends is not the same thing at all."
Dave the Destroyer.
"Stop that!"
I'm only speaking the truth. You are a de--
Silver blasted a hole through the letters with an angry bolt of magic.
Destroyer.
Silver recoiled from them. "Why? Why are you torturing me? Are you that bored?"
Tell me, with all the power you've come into, what will you do with it?
"Protect my friends, my family, and all of Equestria." She stood tall. "I will do what's right."
What if Equestria decides you are wrong?
Silver's mouth opened and shut a few times. "Then... I'll find out how to change, how to be right, and good... I won't give up on Equestria, and I hope she never gives up on me." She sat on her haunches. "I choose this world. I'm not running again!"
The darkness pulsed, and a brightness emerged from it. Celestia stepped free of the darkness. "What if I told you the only way Equestria could be whole and safe, was with you gone from it?"
Silver scrambled backwards, falling over herself. "Why would you do that?" She reached out a hoof. "I'm trying to live a good life, to be a good pony... Am I that bad?"
Celestia smiled a little. "No... I am." She sat before Silver and let out a slow breath. "I have committed sins most foul against you. I have... I don't know how to fix it. I would... I am the true traitor, Silver Stars. When you know what I have done, you may wish Equestria without me, and there is little I could argue."
Silver shivered with a building fear. "Tell me what you did. Tell me and let's look at it, like adults. No games, no misdirections. Out with it."
Celestia gave a wan smile. "This is not something you can dismiss. Forgiveness is not deserved for this."
Silver frowned. "Ponies tell me that a lot. Let me decide."
Celestia wobbled a hoof. "I should have done that from the start..." She locked eyes with Silver. "We never went to the East."
Silver tilted her head. "Is this another time skip?"
Celestia shook her head. "We never went to the East, ever. That was a fabrication. It was designed to stress you to the breaking point, to tear you apart and see what your pieces looked like... You met them, the ones that suggested it to me... They convinced me you posed some threat..." She looked away. "I... You were filled with lies, and pain, and more pain. Mostly lies..."
Silver took a slow step back, rising to her hooves. "Celestia, tell me straight, what isn't a lie?"
Celestia smiled gently. "We were headed to the boat, on the train. You may have felt a moment where everything came to a halt. That was when we took hold of things, and it all became a lie... Nothing beyond that happened." She reached for Silver, who shied away. "I'm sorry."
Silver suddenly blinked and looked down at herself with new eyes, and she was a he. A strapping prince. "I... So I didn't..." He stomped a hoof. "Text! It's all a dream is the worst escapes!"
"This is not his fault." Celestia stared at Silver. "Not this time... It was all my decision. You took every test. You took every challenge. I murdered your new friend, then tempted you to revenge. I set you loose on those who could not defend themselves, and gave you chances to show how high you could soar and how low you could sink. We ripped you apart... We picked through the pieces." She drew a slow shuddering breath. "It was supposed to end with your return to Ponyville... It was supposed to... But then I'd have to admit it. Admit I lied. Admit nothing you experienced was true... I couldn't, and it just got worse. I tried to walk away from the whole thing, and it got worse." She scowled a little then gestured with an odd motion with her hooves. Another Celestia appeared beside her. "My 'doppelganger'. She is someone you know quite well."
His old trainer from the warlocks appeared with a crooked smile.
Celestia sighed softly. "This is all... a dream, basically." She raised a hoof quickly. "Luna was not party to this! Be as furious with me as you wish! Hate me if you desire, but she didn't know..."
Silver put a hoof to his thudding heart. "How much time has passed? How much of my foal, my wives, of everyone's life have I missed, playing in your dream world?"
Celestia gave a little smile. "At least this I can give you. You were only out for a few weeks. You've been living much faster than those awake. Your friends and family think you are on a trip, with me. If you don't tell them, they'll never know of it."
Silver looked between the two. "Did you see everything?"
Celestia lowered her head. "Everything."
Silver drew a shuddering breath. "Tell me... Tell me this..." He reared up, putting out his forehooves. "Am I a good pony?"
Celestia smiled gently. "You are a good pony."
Silver awoke with a start, sitting up in a comfortable bed. There was a smell of salt in the air, and the distant call of gulls. He rolled to his hooves to find his legs weak, and he collapsed where he had tried, only to fight his way back up again, heart thumping weakly. He felt small and weak. Looking himself over, he could see he was his old self. He was a stallion. He had no jewels or armor, save Twilight's precious gem, which he pulled close and took his quick breaths, trying to calm himself.
When he could, he made his way to a closed window and threw it open with his silvery magic, revealing a beach in the distance, and many buildings in the way. He was some stories up, looking over it all. He had never gotten on that boat, just knocked out on the train and stored here... His entire... This entire chapter of his life was one big...
Silver pressed his head against the glass, angling to avoid ramming his horn against it as he panted slowly.
He needed to go home, to Ponyville, and see his wives. They would know what to make of his life, and to help him piece it all together.
"Silver!"
He turned to see Luna stepping through an open door. "We have been eager to see you returned. We did not expect you to appear so suddenly." She grabbed him up in a hug, unaware of his turmoil. "It's so good to have you back. How was your journey? It must have been very good or very bad for it to conclude so swiftly. Silver? Why are you crying?" Her questions slowed as she realized she was holding an injured pony. She held him gently, and he nestled into her, nuzzling into her dark pelt and caught without words for the moment.