Silver stood patiently as a seamstress took his measurements. Even the length of his hooves and horn had to be taken, it seemed. "Can't hurt to have it ready," she said with a smile.
Silver tilted his head, "I'm still growing, by the time I come back, you'll have to do it again."
She waved off the comment with a flip of the hoof and proceeded, "So you're the newest night guard? Never heard of a unicorn night guard before. Easier than being a diplomat?"
Silver considered the question, "Different. I hope it won't be too easy, that would be boring."
She smiled and made another mark on her paper, "Good attitude. Thank you, by the way. The changelings have been quite a boon for the tailors of the city. They all came naked, and soon wanted to fix the fact."
Silver snorted out a laugh, "That must have been a sight, lines of changelings out of every clothing store... How are they doing?"
She shrugged softly, "Industrious sorts when they're not kidnapping ponies. I hear they've put together a new construction company and are going to town, bidding against the biggest and best with lower prices."
Silver considered this, "Makes sense... With the majority of their workforce willing to put in more than a full day's work for food." He jumped as her hoof wandered someplace it shouldn't. She apologized, and the measuring was soon complete.
Silver departed onto the streets just as Luna's voice whispered, ~The human arrives shortly. Proceed to the train.~
He nodded though Luna had no chance to see it, and headed at a healthy trot towards the station, whistling as he went. The city had, as a whole, not changed much since he arrived, but the occasional changeling flittering through the air in addition to the pegasus or two was new. The ponies went about their business, not paying much mind to the small fanged unicorn that moved through them.
He could see the train coming up the mountain. It would arrive in a few minutes. Silver trotted up to a bench and parked himself on it, trying on a whim to sit the way Lyra did that one time. Turns out it's uncomfortable. He slid down to his haunches instead, preferring the ground to the pose.
The train came to a gentle chugging stop, and ponies disembarked. He cast his eyes upwards, looking over the heads of the ponies, but no human came into sight right away. She had snuck up on him mid-yawn, "Hi there."
He jumped in place and looked around, spotting her. She was perhaps thirteen. She was far closer to the key demographic of the show he now lived than he ever was. She pointed at him, "You're the one I'm supposed to find, right?"
He smiled, "If you're looking for Silver Stars, yes."
She looked confused, "I thought they said Silver Lining."
He wobbled a hoof, "That's still me. I've had a few names. I was a human once, you know."
Her eyes went wide, "What?! No way!"
~Did you find her?~ came Luna's soft voice in his mind.
~I did. She will not be serving as a broodmare for a few years yet.~ Silver chuckled softly at his internal monologue, "What's your name?"
She pointed at herself, "Elizabeth." She suddenly reached for him and began petting him. He found it was a lot harder to get angry at a young girl taking liberties compared to Jake, and felt a little guilty for being angry at him for it.
Silver noted, "You should ask the locals before petting them."
She scratched behind one of his ears, making a hind leg thump on the ground, "You don't seem to mind."
Silver shook his head slowly, "I don't, but I'm also a human. You're adorable to me."
She huffed, but seemed to appreciate being called cute, "You look smaller than the other ponies. Are you my age?"
Silver considered that. He wasn't far off from her age, physically, but the whole answer was more complicated. "I have a job, and a cutie mark, that makes me an adult around here." That seemed a safe answer. "Right now that job is to escort you. I will keep you safe, and show you around." They left the train station and began walking side-by-side down the street, "How long have you been here, in Equestria?"
Elizabeth suddenly grabbed him around the neck from behind. He squeaked, then realized she was hugging him from behind. He held still for it, "What brought this on?"
Elizabeth let him go at last, "You're the first pony more around my size. Can I ride you?"
Silver considered that... "I... could try? I'm not the strongest pony on the block. Big Mac I am not."
She stuck out her tongue, "I bet he'd be way too big." When he lowered to his belly, she quickly scrambled up and he raised again. He was comically small for a true mount, with her feet held just barely free of the ground, but she was having a grand time of it, and soon they were trotting along.
Silver swiveled an ear back towards her, "Are you hungry?"
Elizabeth bobbed her head, "I haven't eaten since breakfast."
A glance at the sky showed it was mid-afternoon, "Alright, let's fix that. In case you weren't told by Twilight, ponies around here tend to eat vegetarian. Fish is accepted as a curious delicacy to some, mammals are right out, unless you go to a griffon or dragon establishment, and I haven't seen any of the latter in Canterlot."
She shook her head with some confusion, "That was a lot of stuff. Go someplace that has yummy things."
"Yummy it is," agreed Silver, carrying his passenger along. It felt oddly nice to help the girl. It was his first guard duty, and he meant to do it well. "How did you end up here, in Equestria that is."
He felt her drape over his back, "I was being dumb..."
"Oh?" asked Silver, "How so? I won't laugh, promise."
He felt an ear be pinched between fingers, "You better not! My mother sent me to bed without dinner because I wasn't doing my homework and got a bad grade. I was so mad, I wished I could run away, and it... kinda came true."
Silver recovered the ear with a soft twitch before he looked over his shoulder, seeing Elizabeth across his back, her head about equal with his own, though held up. "Regretting it? I can't help you get back, but this isn't so bad a place."
She made a noncommittal noise. He trotted up to a small stand offering carrot dogs and oat burgers, but they moved past, deciding the girl deserved a treat. He ended up soon at a place called 'The Eagle's Meow', a griffon eatery. The waitress was a pegasus mare who smiled at them brightly, though some confusion and curiosity played in her eyes. "Table for two?"
Silver nodded, "Please. If you have a private area, I'll take that."
She seemed to check a small board, "Not taken at the moment, but there is an extra twenty percent fee for it." When Silver nodded, she snatched two menus with her wings and led the way. The private area was cozy, with a single low table with four large cushions around it. It was lit by a candle with three tops.
Silver settled onto one of the cushions and shook himself a little. "Ride's over. Take a seat."
Elizabeth dismounted and patted him on the head before moving to sit across from him, "You are a fine steed."
He wasn't sure how to take that, but decided to accept it as a genuine compliment. "This is one of those griffon places I mentioned."
The pegasus, still there, nodded in agreement, "That it is, best in Canterlot!" She offered a menu to each of them, "I suggest the linguine with meatballs, seasonal special."
Silver tilted his head at the pegasus, "How do you... deal with serving so much food you don't eat?"
She wrinkled her nose, "Says who? Just cause ponies don't normally eat it doesn't mean they all can't. Besides, my father's a night guard, like you, with wings. I'll be right back with some water." And she was gone.
Elizabeth looked at her menu curiously a moment, then shrugged, "I'll take what she suggested. Can I have some ice cream after?"
Silver smiled, "My treat, yes. I'm not the human ambassador anymore, but that doesn't mean I stopped caring about my fellow humans."
Elizabeth was easily cheered, "You're the best." She flipped the menu over to where a dessert selection hid and pointed, keeping her finger on it as a reminder. "So why did you become a pony? Will I turn into a pony? I hope it's a pegasus!"
Silver held up a hoof, "A question first. How far along did you see the series?"
"MLP? Uh... I just kinda watched it once in a while..." she confessed guiltily.
Silver huffed, "Alright, so you're flying blind, but you have friends. You will not become a pony unless that's something you really really want and you have to earn it." He waved a hoof, "Nothing wrong with being human. I chose to be a pony, and it's been a long hard trip. It has its perks though."
He pulled out his book of spells just as the pegasus returned. She set out two glasses of water and a large pitcher, "Have you decided what you want to order today?"
Elizabeth eagerly ordered her pasta dish, which Silver echoed. It'd been a while since he had the dish, and he looked forward to it. The pegasus smiled and departed after that. Elizabeth took up her glass, drinking deeply a moment before she looked over Silver, "Unicorn huh? Can you do spells?"
Silver tapped the book he had pulled out, "Exactly why I took this out." He flipped through it with his magic, looking for the less offensive spells he had tucked in there. Ah, there was one, one of Trixie's. He played the magic quickly and small fireworks exploded around him harmlessly as a short introductory blare of music played on instruments that were not there.
Elizabeth clapped her hands, a sound he hadn't heard in a while, "Is that your specialty? Are you like Tricky?"
Tricky? Oh... "Trixie is my adoptive mother, actually. I copied her spell." He stuck out his tongue suddenly, "I'm a boy pony, so I blow more things up."
She rolled her eyes, "Boys."
He grinned at her, "I'm joking around. My cutie mark isn't an explosion."
She leaned off to the side, peering at his scribble of a cutie mark, "What is it?"
Silver tapped at his book, "I make spells. Combining them is fun and fast, but new ones I can do too, but those take a lot longer. The best part is, once I make the spell, other unicorns can use them."
"That's really handy," she agreed. "What do you think my cutie mark'd be?"
Silver shrugged, "I don't know you near well enough. Humans don't have any, and we manage just fine."
Their meal arrived, a large plate with a generous portion on each. Silver made a note to frequent this place more often as they began to eat happily. If nothing else, having another human around was fun, even if she was a bit young.
period instead of comma after measurements.
taken in not taken it.
5790360 Fixed, thanks!
All you need is a "They're Icky!" in there.
That awkward moment when you're reminded that it's actually a show for girls age 2-11, and not your "expanded universe" with headcanons and fanons.
Silver's life is starting to look up.
his benign a night pony seams to suet him well.
A really good chapter good work David Silver.
and the name Silver Stars seams to work for the better. I like it.
5790578 An awkward remembering indeed.
THIRTEEN, she is rely young to be taking away from her parents like. I hope that the chock, ones it stets in, won't be to hard on her. also, I don't think that hes is old enough to make the decision of becoming a pony unless there is rely no immediate feasible way to get home soon. All do she will certainly need to have a caretaker and go to school in the mien time.
5790598 No way out has been found yet, but she's in a, usually, safe city and Silver's feeling mighty protective. His Niece is her age!
There should be a space between "yet." and "~Silver."
There's no hyphen in "hind leg."
They were walking "side-by-side" down the street.
There's no need to capitalize "linguine," and it ends with an "e."
5790912 Fixed, except the ~ one, which I do not understand at all. Why would there be a space there when it serves the purpose of a "?
I would like to complain that there isn't a double thumbs up button
5790932 Whoops, that was my mistake there. It's been a long day.
5790956 No worried, thanks for the edits! Have the energy for a review?
5790951 Thank you for the kind words.
5790965 Looking back over this chapter, I'm not quite sure what we're supposed to take away from its introduction of Elizabeth. She seems like a much more pleasant character than Jake (who is kind of a creep for his "I get to populate Equestria, haha!" and "I think she likes stallions more than guys" comments about a girl that young), but I'm uncertain what her role in the story is going to shape up to be.
In this case, I think this is at least partially my own fault. Like Silver and his herd, I immediately went to a place of "new woman, therefore, Silver's new love interest." That this was subverted felt very much like a bit of egg on my face, but in a good way - it was like the story was playing a joke on me. Fair enough, but unless she has another role that she can fulfill that lets her be an active part of the story, at least for a little while, then it starts to feel like a bait-and-switch. (Of course I'm presuming that Silver and Elizabeth won't be getting it on...since it's fiction, I suppose you could go there anyway, but somehow I don't see you doing that.)
Following that line of thought takes me to the next logical question - what does Elizabeth's character bring to the story? Obviously, she'd need to be a supporting character, which entails having her hang around Silver for some reason, since he's still the central character, but I'm drawing a complete blank on what she contributes (especially since it doesn't seem like she'd be taken on an imminent foreign trip where it's been intimated that there's going to be some element of danger). The only thing I can come up with in this regard is her ignorance of MLP and Equestria - usually ignorant characters are there to serve as a mouthpiece for the audience, giving other characters a chance to explain what's going on and why, but we don't really need that. This fic presumes that it's audience will already know the source material, and after that we've been along with Silver on his journey from the beginning.
Perhaps she'll serve her "fresh set of eyes" role in some other regard - some precocious remarks on Silver's love life, maybe? - but that seems to be the sum total of what she brings to the table. At this point, Elizabeth is a big question mark, and I'm not at all sure what she's going to turn out being.
5791020 It's ok, Silver was just as surprised, and yet should he have been? I have a few ideas where this could go, though discussing them feels like throwing spoilers everywhere, and misinformation if I decide to go somewhere else, leaving me feeling awkward. While Silver would be in no rush to draw Elizabeth along for danger, I could see her tailing him. As the instigator, she has a great deal of power. She could start many things that Silver may not intercept or block effectively. While he may seek to defend her from Equestria, who will protect him from her, or her from herself? The first meeting of her and Luna is sure to be uncomfortable, though Night is not likely to be much better, since it's implied a pony Elizabeth's age could very well be an adult if she's found her purpose in life and started towards it.
5791052 No need for spoilers; I'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised.
5791116 Bah, but I like gabbing about ideas! Oh the woe of writing. I'm pretty sure there are tangible limits around Elizabeth for instance. No matter how awkward it is, I don't think it's even legal by site rules to do certain things with her.
5791121 I hadn't checked, but this site having rules like that wouldn't surprise me. I personally don't agree with them, since I'm of the opinion that so long as no actual people are involved - and when it comes to writing about fictitious characters, that's always the case - then writing about anything and everything is fair game, with individual readers taking it or leaving it as they wish, rather than anyone objecting to a particular work of fiction on principle. That doesn't seem to be a very popular opinion these days, however.
But otherwise, yeah, going on about ideas is a lot of fun.
5791161 Checked them rules, if they're anthro or human, age limits everywhere!
The answer to that is obvious, but only if the story actually calls for it, which it very well may never. There's nothing wrong with a perfectly platonic contact for a change, right? Heck, I was wondering what exactly is wrong with her being 'a thing that happened', considering her presence did let Silver show a few things he wouldn't normally get to show.
5791180 Oh there's nothing wrong with her being a platonic character with regards to Silver (or any other character, for that matter), but it's just that not being a member of his de facto family undercuts the most obvious reason for her to regularly remain in his presence on a continual basis. That doesn't mean that there can't be other reasons for her to be around him fairly closely for some time to come, just that the story will need to work a little harder to create and justify them - that's not a big deal though, since good writing can find a way to justify anything.
Insofar as her being "a thing that happens," the only issue there is that there's an expectation of plot and/or character advancement in any given chapter - if something is "filler" in that it contributes absolutely nothing in those regards, then it's harder to explain to the readers why it's worth their while to consume a given chapter. That doesn't mean that there isn't necessarily an alternative reason, just that it's not something with narrative impact.
5791161 I do object-rather hotly- on incestuous or underage content.
6559432 Okay. Everyone has their own opinions about what kind of fiction they do or don't like. But so long as no one is saying that X fiction shouldn't exist in the first place, instead of recognizing that it's all just a matter of personal opinion, then it's not a big deal.
This girl's supposed to be thirteen? She sounds more like she's eight or nine. Maybe ten.