//------------------------------//
// 46 - Silver Meets an Adventurer 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Silver fussed with some of the roleplaying trophies he decorated the room with. "How's the changeling hive coming?" He looked over his shoulder at Night. "Do you think Fast will come back soon?"

Night raised a brow. "Soon? It seemed rather permanent at the time, why would there be a 'soon'. Besides that, they're doing fine last I heard. I didn't want to bring it up since it bothered you so much last time."

Silver waved it off. "We're past that, really." He fell back to all fours and turned to her. "Do we have another for today?"

"You know we do."

Silver smiled. "I like hearing you say it. We're a team. Reading on a paper is not the same as a conversation."

Night smiled in kind. "Then, yes. The first should be here any moment. I believe his name was Chris?"

As if on cue, there was a quick knock on the door, followed by a voice with a slight twang saying, "Hello?  Anyone in there?"

Night turned to the door. "Right on time." She trotted quickly over and grabbed the handle in her mouth, pulling it open. "Welcome," she began before she even had a look at who was knocking. "The Ambassador's expecting you."

Standing in the doorway was a rather young looking man; brown hair sat in a curly mess on top of his head nearly covering his vivid green eyes as they looked about the room as he stepped inside. 

Silver tilted his head a bit. "Welcome! I'm sorry for bringing this off the bat, but it really shouldn't surprise me that the humans falling into equestria match the demographic of the people that watched the show." He hopped up onto his chair, spinning around once before his silvery magic arrested his momentum. "I'm Silver Lining, and I'm here to help. Who might you be?"

“Christopher Mulvany sir, but you can just call me Chris if you'd like,” the human said simply as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. With that he held out his hand to Silver, “it's a pleasure to finally meet another human here even if you aren't one anymore.”

Silver lifted his ears. "Oh, you heard about me? Even a lot of the ponies here don't know the full story." He smiled gently. "Silver's fine, Ambassador if you have to be formal." He waved a hoof off. "Nice to meet you, Chris. My best friend was named Chris, a long time ago. I'm sure we'll get along fine. How's Equestria been treating you?"

“It's been treating me alright,” he shrugged, “aside from the occasional odd look the ponies here haven't treated me bad.” He paused for a second before laughing a little, “even if my best friends here are an albino and a griffin.”

Night twitched one of her tufted ears. "An albino pony?"

Silver nodded to her. "Or did you mean an albino griffon?"

“Albino pony named Blank Tag. He works for the Manehattan Library actually,” he started pushing, “and Hispano is kind of, in a way Silver would understand, the Riker to his Picard as it were.”

Silver chuckled. "Alright, I get that." He pushed forward a bowl of little chocolate balls. "Want one? So, how'd you end up here anyway? Each person's their own story, and I'd like to hear how yours started."

“I was actually out on a hunting trip when I got the message,” he sighed a little, “I'm actually from Texas back home and where my family rented to go hunting was, well, fifty miles from being fifty miles from anywhere. Hell, you could see Mexico on the horizon from where we hunt but that is beside the point. So I'm sure you could understand my surprise when my phone got a text out in the desert far from the nearest cell tower? And the weirder part was the fact that the text came from my own number and according to the date was from five years in the future.”

Silver raised a brow quietly a moment. "That sounds just like The Text to do. Texas you said? I had a friend out there." He leaned forward. "So what did it offer, or ask?"

“It simply said ‘where would you like to go?’,” he said, doing finger quotes, “and in my infinite stupidity at the time simply replied somewhere cooler.” Chris chuckled to himself a bit, “it was the middle of summer at the time and Texas summers were bad enough when you weren't in the desert on a cloudless windless day. And when it asked what I’d want to take with me, I said my backpack back at the cabin. It had all the usual teenager crud in it: chargers, laptop, a bottle of coke, a few books and few other things.”

Silver tilted his head left and right. "A laptop? I imagine that got you dropped in the middle of nowhere at best. Where did you pop into things? Were you in danger?"

“I was dropped somewhere cold so the text kept it’s word at least. I had found myself in the mountains of the Griffin lands as I would soon learn. As for danger, I still had my granddad’s rifle over my shoulder so I was somewhat safe… if freezing cold at the time.”

Silver looked to see if he had managed to miss an entire gun during their conversation. "I can't imagine you still have bullets left for it, but you're beyond lucky to have been caught armed like that. I wonder if he planned that… Anyway! You made it, and you deserve a hoof for it." He clopped his forehooves. "Do you have a job already?"

He nodded. “Yes to the job and lack of ammo. I work with Whitey and Hispy as rare book finders for the library. Pays way better than my last job on earth did,” he added with a laugh, “though I don't know how the conversion rate would work so I could actually be making less for all I know.”

Silver rolled one of his hooves. "Easy to see. Can you get everything you want to have? Do you feel nice about where you live, if not, could you afford better? It's the little stuff. That's the real value of things anyway."

“We are actually almost always on the move from one locale to another. In fact, we leave for Stalingrad… Stalliongrad tomorrow morning actually. Something arcano mumbo-jumbo was thrown about so I don't understand what it really is that were looking for.”

Silver's ears twitched at Chris curiously. "It sounds like you're researching, or acting for somepony? Who's paying your bills?" He sat up a bit. "Are you alright with all of this?"

“I'm a-okay with this,” he nodded, “I kind of enjoy the adventure of it all. Delving into musty old abandoned catacombs and temples in search of forgotten knowledge. I'm kinda like Indiana Jones now minus the Nazis and horrible fourth movie,” he said finishing with a stupid grin, “though my compatriots are a bit annoying at times with Whitey’s uncontrollable punning and sleeping arrangements.”

Silver waved that off with a soft laugh. "It sounds like you've really gotten used to your new life, and I'm glad to hear that. Look, no matter where your adventures take you, I want you to know I'm right here, and that's just one letter away. You need anything at all, you write to me, tell me about it, no matter how stupid it feels at the time."

Chris nodded, “I appreciate the offer Silver. This last year has definitely been interesting that's for sure.”

Silver gestured around his office. "My last year landed me here, and felt like a decade or two. Equestria's good for keeping you on your toes, if you even keep your toes." He wiggled his forehooves. "Oh, I don't think I need to say it, but staying human is entirely alright, so don't feel pressured by anyone to change that."

“I don't plan on changing,” he shook his head, “I'm fine with my current species… though I will keep the option open.”

Silver snorted softly. "Well, being a pony ain't all bad, but neither is humanity." He offered his hoof over the table. "I hope the two continue to get along, just the way they are."

Chris took the hoof and shook it before standing back up, “It's been a pleasure Mr. Silver.”

Silver let him go and looked to Night. "He seemed to have his affairs in order, by and large."

Night nodded quickly. "Already an adventurer. I can't help but feel he came to the right place. I wish they were all so well acclimated to their new homes." She tilted her head lightly. "Maybe we can help some reach that level."

"I can only hope." Silver hopped down and moved for Night, hugging with her gently.