32 - The Long Train-Ride Home
They were soon comfortably settled onto the train. Trixie had arranged for a private booth, and Rough Draft had paid for it, and now they sat together in the cozy and private chamber. Silver Lining bounced on his bed a little, still testing the limits and function of his new equine form. He felt so... alive. All the little kinks and pains gathered over life were simply gone, and he found just bouncing in place on the bed to be inordinate amounts of fun, until Trixie sat down beside him.
Trixie nodded at him, "Don't let Trixie stop you."
Silver shook his head quickly, "Since you're here, can you show me some magic now?"
Trixie smiled gently, "So eager. Perhaps you will make a good student yet. Very well, Trixie will give you your first lesson. The most basic tricks that all unicorns learn are being able to move things with our horn, and to channel enough magic to create light. Just about any unicorn, even those untalented in magic, can eventually master these techniques. Let's try light first. That will give Trixie an idea of how well you can channel magic." She patted the bed with a hoof, "Sit down and relax. Imagine there is a flow of something warm and powerful inside of you. Let it begin to pump through you faster and faster, and relax the base of your horn."
"Base of my horn?" repeated Silver. He tilted his head and tried to feel for this muscle internally, though that was easier said than done. His brows waggled as he tried to find the right mental connection that would lead to it. Little grunts of effort came from him before he flopped onto his side, panting a little but with no magic to show for it.
"Trixie will help. Pay close attention to what this feels like," she said as her magic wrapped around Silver's horn. He could see it, which surprised him. The last time he was a pony, magic was invisible. Trixie saw his startled reaction and shook her head, "Trixie will not hurt you. Relax, and focus on what it feels like." Her magic squeezed around his horn, then seemed to seep into it a little. Suddenly he felt a muscle he never felt before as it was gently nudged to open. Warmth rushed from his body up into the horn with a faint tingle before Trixie released her grip and her magic vanished. "Now do that on your own."
Having felt the muscle move, Silver was much more easily able to focus his thoughts on it, making it quiver and jerk at first. The lesson became one of learning how to flex and feel the muscle and little more, but they agreed that this was a valuable lesson to learn. "Trixie admits, she forgot about learning to use that. It has been some time since Trixie learned magic from the start." Silver Lining nodded at her, wagging his tail.
"It's OK. This is progress. Thank you." His control was less than perfect, but he could move that sphincter, and that was good enough for a first lesson. Trixie excused herself and trotted from the room, leaving him alone with Rough Draft. Silver looked over at Rough and saw a thousand tells. His ears were down, his head was down. He looked anywhere but at Silver, and he would sigh so sadly once in a while. Silver launched himself from the bed and trotted towards Rough, still uncertain on those legs, "Rough?"
Rough Draft jerked up and looked down at Silver Lining, "Huh? Is your lesson over?"
Silver nodded quickly, "Yea. Trixie went off to get a drink or go to the little mare's room. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," replied Rough even as his ears fell again.
Silver shook his head, "Something's wrong. Come on... we're friends, right?"
Rough Draft reached down and grabbed Silver by his scruff, placing the colt on his table where they could look eye to eye, "I thought you liked me, as I was."
Silver looked confused at this, "Huh? Of course I do."
"Then why a unicorn?" asked Rough. "You could have been anything, and you picked a unicorn."
Silver realized the problem and those pony tells overwhelmed him. His ears fell and he shrunk towards the ground. He struggled against them, forcing his body towards a more neutral stance instead of laying his feelings naked to the world, "It was Luna's idea, to replace my fingers. I was barely thinking about it when she brought up I could be young again." Rough didn't look comforted and Silver approached, gently nuzzling one of Rough's forelegs, "You are perfect the way you are. I picked you to be my guardian, not Trixie, or Nicky, or Lyra."
Rough snorted out a laugh, "I don't think Luna would have allowed you to go with Lyra after all that, or a changeling, even a nice one like Nicky." He suddenly grabbed Silver in his forelegs, hugging the little colt close, "Are you really OK with your, uh, guardian, being an earth pony?"
Silver found a squeak escaping him and laughed a little at the noise he had made before he could reply, "Of course I am. I want you, nopony else." Silver began nestling against Rough, curling in with him, "My big strong guardian. My clever, creative guardian." Rough began to relax, and they sat together, enjoying one another's warmth until Trixie returned. Trixie smiled at the two cuddled up before moving to the free bed.
"Trixie is taking a nap. Wake her when it is dinner time." She climbed up and was soon asleep.
Rough took Silver by the scruff and stepped towards the other bed. Being held by the scruff was far less painful than Silver Lining would have imagined. It actually made him drowsy. Thinking back, he seemed to recall kittens had a similar built-in reaction to it. Rough set Silver down on the bed after he had put himself on it, and curled up with the colt, seemingly ready to take his own nap. Soon only Silver was awake in the cabin. Not feeling particularly sleepy without that pressure on his scruff, he passed the time with practicing that magic.
Once he could open properly, he could feel the flow within him, and he focused on that feeling. It seemed leaving it open for too long made it a little sore, so he had to do it in little bursts. He tried to hasten that feeling, to focus on the flow of power through him. His little form began to grow warm as the flow picked up and the tingling slowly became more and more intense. Once it built to an almost burning intensity, he opened it. Silver light burst from his horn, not as a glow but a fountain of sparks. He tried to close it again, but all the magic he had gathered needed escape, and he could not deny it. He aimed his betraying horn away from the other ponies, hoping they wouldn't set anything on fire. The feelings of this little magical overdose were dizzying and yet just a little pleasant. Fortunately, it faded away after about ten seconds. He let out a relieved sigh, only to see Trixie staring at him from across the bunk.
"You gathered too much," she said in soft admonishment. "But you did make light. Trixie congratulates you. Now do it without sparking it. You won't impress anypony with those."
Though her tone was so smug and self-confident, Silver could find no ire towards it. He liked Trixie, ego and all. He nodded quickly at her, "First step's first. I'm not going to be happy until I've replaced my fingers." A bit of a lie. He felt pretty happy already. Learning magic, any magic. Who couldn't be happy? He calmed himself and reached for that rush, but instead of letting it build to boiling, he opened himself just a little. His horn began to sputter with weak silver light. He spent the next few hours practicing the balance between the internal rush of energies and just how he flexed his horn. By the time dinner rolled around, Silver was proudly wielding his weak, but steady, light. It took a lot of concentration to hold that internal muscle just right, but he tried to keep it going even as he walked along with Rough Draft and Trixie Lulamoon towards the dining car.
They seated together, Silver's light sputtering as he struggled with climbing into his chair along with the trick. Rough leaned over and grabbed him by the scruff. The moment he had a grip, the magic went out like a snuffed candle. The internal muscle relaxed without asking Silver's opinion. Rough set Silver on his chair with a smile. Silver smiled back, even if he had to reignite the light. Practice was practice, after all. He let out a little breath, "What are we eating?"
Rough nosed open the menu, "Well, since you're a pony now, you can eat like one. Tonight, you try some flowers."
Flowers did not sound appealing. His rebellious new body broadcasted this fact without his thinking about it, and he found his tongue sticking out in distaste. He reeled the betraying tongue back in quickly, blushing through his fur. Rough Draft folded his menu shut, "I'm going to feed my new little colt right, whether he likes it or not. Luna trusted me with this responsibility."
Trixie nodded a little, "Trixie agrees. Using magic is a tiring activity. While great unicorns like Trixie make it look easy, a healthy diet is the basis of healthy wizards." She directed a blue-furred hoof at Silver, "So eat what your father tells you, and be happy you have a father that cares so deeply for you."
Rough and Silver both blushed at Trixie's words, going quiet together in shared social awkwardness. Trixie snorted and began to laugh, "If Trixie did not already know better, she would be hard to convince that you two are not truly related." Her eyes settled on little Silver Lining, "You chose well."
Rough Draft squirmed a little before he spoke, "We are related, in a way."
Trixie perked an ear. "Oh? Tell Trixie more."
Rough clopped his forehooves together lightly in thought, "I imagined him, and he imagined me. We were a world apart, but we both knew about each other. We both wanted to meet the other, just a little. It was a fantasy for both of us, a passing thought... but then it happened. He was there, in front of me. We surprised each other so much."
Trixie shook her head, "You imagined a, what was it, human? And it was Silver Lining?"
"David," said Silver Lining, "I was David back then. David's the human, Silver Lining is the pony." His concentration lapsed and his horn glew brighter a moment before he could rein it back in.
Trixie reached across the table and put a hoof on his horn. The magic cut off, the muscle contracting the moment Trixie touched his horn. "Don't overextend yourself. You're just learning. Besides, you need to eat."
The food arrived, though Silver missed the part with the waiter. Did he space out during that? Either way, a plate of hay fries and a sandwich with flowers, whole flowers, even some stem, in it. New body, new taste buds, right? He hoped this was the case, as the food smelled appetizing and his little belly was urging him to sample it. He tried to pick up a hay fry with fingers he didn't have, doing little but nudging the top fry off the pile. Not wanting to ask for help eating, he tried throwing magic at it, but he had no idea how to direct the magic yet, just release it. This didn't stop him from trying.
He released the silver magic and tried to direct it at the hay fries, doing little but making the light sputter and dance oddly on his horn. Suddenly the muscle snapped shut. He glanced up, cross-eyed, to see Trixie had her magic wrapped around his horn. She waved a hoof in a 'tut-tut' fashion before she lifted a fry and held it in front of his snout. David blushed softly, but accepted the help. He snapped up the fry and chewed it quickly. Mmm! His new palete agreed with the salty snack and he eagerly ate each one that Trixie held up for him. Suddenly the sandwich was there instead of a fry.
A flower fell out of the magic grip and hit the plate. Silver leaned in past the sandwich and snapped up the rose-looking bud and chewed on it. Intense flavor burst in his mouth. The closest he could describe it was like raspberry with a bit of romaine lettuce. He liked it, and was soon tearing into the levitating sandwich. It was all too soon that his plate was clean of any sign of food. Thinking back on it, he wondered aloud, "How did I eat so much with a little body?"
Rough Draft perked an ear, "Even I know that. Unicorns use a lot of energy with their magic, and you've been practicing a lot."
Trixie nodded in agreement, "With practice, you will learn when you need to eat, and you will become more efficient. Some unicorns just make a slob of themselves." She leaned over the table a little, "Have you seen Princess Twilight Sparkle? She eats like a starving pig. It amuses Trixie to no end. Trixie prefers oat shakes when she is performing great feats. She can sip on them without making a mess and they are filling."
Silver remembered the shake Trixie was sipping, back in that episode, when Snip and Snails were harassing her. "Alright, as long as I'm not overeating. I don't want to get pudgy all over again."
Trixie waved a hoof, "Only a truly gluttonous, or magically lazy, unicorn can get obese, though Trixie has seen a few." Trixie went quiet as she focused on her own food, nibbling delicately on her salad.
"So," asked Silver, "Will I be going to a magic school when I get to Canterlot?"
Rough Draft shook his head, "Trixie is your teacher, at least for the basics. The school you're going to is for foals in general. You have to learn about Equestria, and laws, and learn to live with other ponies your own age."
Silver shrank a little, "Oh. I didn't do so well in school when I was young the first time. I thought it was going to be a magic school."
Rough Draft reached over and ruffled Silver's mane gently, "You chose to be a colt, you have to deal with school. No colt of mine, even a friend, is getting to skip school."
Trixie finished the leaf she was working on and spoke up, "This is true. You must have a basic level of general education before you can apply to any magic university. This should not be difficult for you?" She looked uncertain a moment, "How much do you know? You knew Trixie before you met her, but Trixie is not on the test. Do you know math?"
"Two and two is four. Six minus three and a half is two and a half," started Silver, "A squared plus B Squared equals C Squared to figure out triangles. Three to the second power is nine. The square root of sixteen is four."
Rough Draft whistled softly, "You have math down pretty well. What about... spelling?"
"Are the letters called the same?" asked Silver. "I'll assume they are. Silver Lining. S-I-L-V-E-R-L-I-N-I-N-G."
Trixie nodded, "Trixie does not predict general education will be that challenging for you, at least on the technical side. There are nuances of pony society you should learn, so pay attention during those lessons, no matter how foalish they seem."
Back to grade school, thought Silver Lining, at least this time he'd be coming in pre-armed with more knowledge than would even be fair. This should be a snap. David Silver was done, now it was time for Silver Lining to do it all right, the first time. Looking between his two caretakers, a bright smile overtook his new snout. Things were looking up.
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woooooootttt a supper chapter I just can not get enough of this story.
sequel I am all over this.
Unless Rough has taken on a humanoid form to compensate for David's loss of his own, I think that he should be gently nuzzling one of his forelegs instead.
Forelegs. He suddenly grabbed Silver in his forelegs. It's beginning to freak me out a little.
"Blue-furred" has a hyphen. Aw yeah.
The first letter needs capitalization.
I suspect that "hay fries" should be two words, like "french fries," but there doesn't seem to be a consensus in the story itself.
The "rose-looking" bud.
Super hyphenation here. Typically, when a character is spelling something out, there's a hyphen between each letter.
5689510 All fixed! What'd you think of the chapter?
5689529 As a chapter, this was good; it accomplished the goals it set for itself in showing Silver adapting to his new life, both in terms of what he can do and in terms of relating to his new "parents." In that regard, it was quite solid. It was also rather sweet the way he's bonding with Rough now (and kudos on the foreshadowing regarding still being able to see magic auras).
With regards to this as the final chapter to this fic, though, I felt that it lacked a certain rhetorical flair. The final piece of a work should be a coda, having a sense of closure (and, possibly, summary as well). As it is, things just sort of stop, rather than taking the time to appreciate where Silver has come from and what he's gone through. To my mind, even if it has a sequel, a story should be able to stand on its own, which includes the ending feeling like a conclusion; this doesn't quite measure up to that.
that
5689647 Oops, fixed! I do hope you enjoyed the chapter.
5689652
Technically, the Pythagorean theorem only applies to right triangles, but close enough for a foal.
Interesting guesses about unicorn biology.
5689670 Since there's no show information to counter me, I am liberated to make it up. I do hope it made sense.
5689677 It seems plausible. As you say, they have never specified in the show.
5689705 What did you think of unicorns regarding eating habits crossed with the shown examples of Twilight and Trixie eating?
5689608 Tweaked the last paragraph a bit. I think that's a better note to leave on? I admit I'm not well practiced in story transition from one to the next.
5689712 Well if appetite scales to magical output it would certainly explain Twilight's eating habits in "Twilight Time". It reminds me of some depictions of the Flash. Trixie favoring nutritional content over flavor also seems pretty in-character.
5689787 Oops, fixed! Thanks for digging around for horrible typos. We can't let them breed.
5689738 That helps to close things out. A sense of "it's been a long road, getting from there to here" is usually read with a tone of finality, so that definitely moved things in the right direction.
5690336 I don't plan to stop grinding out 2000 a day, but I can't predict the speed of Fim Fic's moderation.
5690379 1-3 days, I imagine. I'll be sure to post one final chapter pointing at it when it's ready.
... Following.
5690483 Glad you liked it! ... You did like the last chapter, right?
5690544 if I didn't I would tell you and I wouldn't have followed you. And I wouldn't have placed this fic in my faves.
5691693 Well thank you for that! My artist (Sita Duncan) came through and made a picture for the next story! Silver Lining has a snazzy picture.
5689442
5690544 The typos are filtering into the comments!
We must not let them escape!!!!!!
5691700 can't wait to see it, along with the first chapter of the sequel
5691712
such is life I am 51 years old and to tell the truth my spelling has ben a chaligon all my life so at this point i really only have one thing to say and this is a small joke D I L L I G A F.
this is a vary old saying that was told to me back around 1981.
5691797 I am not familiar with that one.
5691797
5691813 GOOGLE IT!!!!!!
................................................... fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/146/b/5/bahahahahaaa__rainbow_dash_laugh_by_misteralex-d515muw.gif
5692895 You may be pleased to know the sequel is posted! Pending FimFic approval queue.
I will be watching for it
5771393 The Awkward is real!
5773646 i think i understand
Nothing overtly objectionable, well written characters, maybe a hair of wish fulfillment, but a very interesting situation with the pheremones and the concept of 'compromised' thought processes. As with your other story, I enjoy this.
In particular, I think this is one of the better self inserts out there.
5782592 It was some very literal wish fulfillment, but wishes rarely work exactly as planned.
5782592 Just finished the story myself and pretty much agree with this. Not bad for a story that I had added on a whim (I can't even remember how I found it - either this or a sequel was featured or it got added to a group and I saw it in my activity feed). I'll admit I'm always wary of HIE + self-inserts, but it was a good story. I can't wait to read the sequels, though I do have a big backlog of stories and limited time so I'm not sure when I will get to them (I did enjoy it enough though that I will try to add it to my kindle asap so I can read the next story soon).
5782701
5782592 You two are making me blush over here! I try to make it an interesting story, and wrote out 'destined one' or 'super powers' from the start, to try to keep things grounded, which also means the protagonist gets to suffer.
not a bad fic. there are far worse HiE/self-insert. this one does it good. you haz got like
5825581 Thanks kindly!
Right at the start:
Surprised nopony caught that fourth word by now. :)
5896603 Tweaked.
Time for reread.
holy fucking hell yeah
6037933 Does it make more sense the second time?
6038323 very probable.
Why da crap did I listen to sad world right before reading this. I cry errtime
I did not expect this story to go in the direction that it did.
I still like it though, and though I disagree with your choice of turning David into a pony, I'll take a gander at the later stories.
6049957 David becoming human was definitely his first mistake. What were you thinking, Dave?
I'm joking of course. Glad you enjoyed the story! I'd like to say it's the last of his trauma, but we've barely begun.
6049972 Sorry. I meant pony.
That was a hell of a typo.
Fun adventure overall!
My tagline doesn't make much sense since it appears you're doing so anyway, but....
Keep going! ;)
6061873 This story's barely warmed up!
6192944 Well aren't you just the over worker?
Great story, by the way! I'm looking forward to indulging my reading habits further on your tetralogy
On your? In your? I don't even know anymore...damn you English language.
6193003 I blame [unpopular social group]!