• Published 25th Sep 2018
  • 8,437 Views, 510 Comments

Something Missing (Old/Cancelled) - Lazy Coyote



A Nerd is reborn into the life of a young colt, promising to do things better this time, to enjoy this world he loves so much. Only... something is missing, something important.

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Chapter 4: Meetings

Silver groaned as he felt someone rock him slightly, cracking open a bloodshot eye to scan his room, grumbling when he didn't spot anything and wrapping his hooves tighter around his pillow, digging himself deeper into his blanket.

"Big bro, you told me to wake you up when the sun came out." A voice whispered, and Silver cracked open a bleary eye again, this time lowering it towards the ground, stopping when his eyes locked onto a blurred tiny purple form holding an even smaller purple form.

"Spiiiike..." Silver groaned miserably. "Spike, it's like... like... I don't-" Silver let out another miserable groan, using a hoof to lift up a bit of the blanket. "Just- just come up here into bed okay? We'll sleep in together."

There was an excited gasp from the tiny drake, before Silver felt him scramble up onto the bed, crawling his way under the blankets and wiggling in between Silver and his pillow, settling down soon after, and Silver sighed as silence reined once more in the room.

...

"Mom is gonna be mad."

"Go to sleep little bro."

"... You did that thing where you speed up time on the bed didn't you?"

"Don't tell mom."

"I won't, promise."

...

"... Does that mean I can take longer naps?"

"Sure."

"Yes!"


After what to anyone else was just half an hour, Silver got up along with Spike, carrying the tiny drake on his back as he all but skipped his way towards the castle kitchens, giving his fellow not-so-early risers a jaunty wave of his hoof, smiling at the halfhearted glares he got in reply.

Maybe one day he would do them the ultimate service and use his haste spell on their beds, letting them sleep in as much as they want.

...

Nah, watching them all suffer was too fun.

Silver used his magic to grab a muffin from the kitchen as he walked by, breaking it in half and floating one bit to spike, who started nomming on it happily as Silver bit into his own piece.

Silver gave a hip bump to a familiar white-furred blue-maned future prince, Shining Armor looking just as confused as ever while Silver walked past with a knowing wink, Spike looking between the two in confusion from his place atop Silver's back while he finished off what was left of his muffin.

"Why do you bother him so much again?" Spike asked as he leaned into Silvers view. Said pony blinked, glancing back at Shining as an amused smile spread across his face and he shook his head.

"It's a private joke, doesn't really matter." Silver said.

Spike shrugged and returned to his spot on Silver's back, waving at a nearby guard as they walked through the castle entrance into Canterlot proper, smiling when they discretely waved back. "So big bro, where are we going today?" He asked.

Silver hummed. "We're heading to see a few people I... looked up. At least the ones in Canterlot. Need to remind myself of why I'm... doing something." Spike blinked, before shrugging and returning to just looking around.

Silver took a turn, nearly knocking Spike off as he headed into the residential area of Canterlot, stopping once he arrived a relatively large building with a sign that had Spike looking at him oddly.

"Why would we need to visit a library?" Spike asked, confused.

Silver got his confusion, really. There was next to no chance that a library would have any books that he couldn't just read in the castle archives, but it wasn't the books he was here for, but the pony who took care of them, only a few years older than Silver himself.

It was a small building, but it had an appearance that showed it was being religiously cared for, even on the outside, and a sign that hung above the door with a picture of a book on it said everything he needed to know.

He trotted forward, rearing up and butting his head against the sign above the door so that it started swinging, as was habit, much to Spike's bafflement, and the sight that greeted Silver as he entered put a massive smile on his face.

A mare he was unfamiliar with smiled at him as she levitated some books into position. "Hello and welcome to the Light Library. How may I help you?" She asked politely.

She was a unicorn who had off-white, almost grey fur with an alternating purple and white mane and tail. She looked like she was getting up there in years, with clearly visible stress lines and crows feet around her eyes, but it wouldn't be a stretch for someone to call her pretty, or at least Silver thought so.

Apparently, that showed on his face, because Spike was giving him a confused look and the Librarian's smile widened marginally, causing Silver to blush and Spike's eyes to narrow as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"You're like four, you'll understand when you're older." Silver hissed. Spike just shrugged like the little ball of laziness that he was, the Librarian giving them both a knowing look.

God he hated hormones.

"I'm looking for a book about old Equestrian legends. Like, old ones." Silver said, desperate to change the subject.

She nodded, taking out a little notebook and flipping through it, before tapping her hoof on a specific line of text, mumbling to herself, before smiling at him. "Bookcase four, row second from the bottom."

Silver smiled back and nodded, heading over towards the bookcase with a big 4 at the top, leaning down and scanning the second row from the bottom, looking for a very specific book to tickle his memory.

"Aha! There!" He used his magic to grab the book, pulling it out of the shelf and smiling at the little brass pony imprinted on the front.

He floated the book up into Spikes waiting claws, who scrutinized it with narrowed eyes, before nodding.

"There's like fifty of these in the Archive." Spike stated. Silver pointedly ignored him as he walked back over to the librarian, floating the book out of Spike's grasp and onto the table.

"I'd like to see about purchasing this book." He said. The librarian nodded, lifting up the book in her magic and looking at the front.

Then she flipped it over and looked at the back.

Then she turned it to look at the spine.

Silver tapped his hoof on the counter, causing her to look over. "Uhm... is something wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She let out an embarrassed laugh. "I'm terribly sorry about this, but im afraid I'm not quite sure which book this is listed as, could you wait here please?" Silver blinked, looking at the book before nodding, watching as the librarian trotted off, before picking up the book and looking it over.

Other than the pony on the front, there was no identifying features, so he could understand the confusion.

Actually, come to think of it, did he know its name? He thought it over for a bit as he waited, before an upside down purple head appeared in his vision.

"Okay, seriously, why are we here?" Spike asked.

"We're here to get a book Spike, don't you know?" The drake narrowed his eyes, pointing two claws at his eyes, then pointing them at Silver in the universal 'Watching You' sign, before going back to sitting.

"Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting!" A voice said. Silver turned, a 'No problem' on the tip of his tongue, before he froze, a megawatt grin spreading across his face

She was wearing glasses, and her hair was in a bun, but standing before him was unmistakably Twilight Sparkle, closely followed by the librarian from before, who he could only assume was her mother.

Wait, she was waiting for a reply. "Oh! Uh, it's no problem." God, she looked just like he remembered, which... actually sounded a bit creepy in his head.

She smiled and wow did that do weird things to him.

"So I see you're looking to buy Equestrian Legends: Solar Sisters." She lit up her horn and floated the book over. "If so, that will be six bits."

Silver nodded, reaching a hoof into his mane and pulling out a tiny bag that he opened and upended onto the table, sliding forward six bits.

Twilight floated the bits into a jar sitting on the counter, before sliding the book forward and smiling at Silver. "Here you are! Please enjoy your read!"

Silver nodded, floating the book up in his magic and trotting out the door, gently closing it behind him and slowing to a stop.

He stood there, closing his eyes and letting out a breath through his nose as he tapped his hoof against the cobblestone beneath him.

"She looks happy." He whispered. Spike looked at the back of his head oddly, before letting out a yelp and latching onto Silver's mane when he started trotting away.

"Where are we going now?" Spike asked incredulously. Silver said nothing, trotting through the crowd before stopping again, Spikes confusion just rising.

"A vet? What in Celestia's name are we doing at a vet?" Silver just shook his head, bringing a hoof up to his lips and shushing Spike as he walked over to a window, peeking in, and Spike leaned onto his head, looking in as well.

"Well aren't you just the prettiest little thing!" A voice said, and Silver traced it back to a Pegasus with short pink hair who was fiddling with a ferret, wrapping one of its tiny legs in bandages.

He almost looked right past her with how different she was compared to his memories, double taking and doing his best impression of a goldfish as he watched her go about her job.

It was her, the Cutie Mark didn't lie, but it was such a stark difference that he'd almost passed her by completely, her hair being cut short was just one of a hundred subtle changes that stood out to him.

For one she walked around like she owned the place, which considering how much she loved animals was a distinct possibility, and he watched as she talked to what he could assume was the ferret's owner, all normal enough things.

it was what wasn't there that stood out the most.

There was no shyness, no stutter, no hiding her face behind something or avoiding eye contact, it was- it didn't feel right, because as far as he remembered that was the basis for her entire character.

He narrowed his eyes, running a hoof through his mane and starting to walk back to the castle, deep enough in thought that he didn't notice any of the greetings from ponies he passed on the street.

Soon enough he was walking through the door to his room, kicking it closed behind him and walking over to his desk, grabbing a journal and walking over to a trashcan, tossing the journal in and lighting it up with a quick fire spell,

Spike hopped off Silver's back, looking between him and the burning trashcan with a worried expression on his face.

"Uh, bro? Why are you burning your journal? What... what was in it?" Spike asked hesitantly.

"Plans... things to say and do, who to say and do them to." Silver smiled softly, reaching out to pat Spike on the head. "Nothing important anymore."

Spike tilted his head. "But why burn it?"

Silver's smile turned distinctly less happy. "Some of them weren't very nice plans." He said after a moment.

Spike blinked. "Oh."

They both sat there in silence for a few more moments, before Silver turned away from the fire, smiling at Spike. "Why don't you go see your aunt Celestia for a bit, okay Spike?" Said dragon shrugged, muttering an affirmative as he walked out of the room and climbed on the back of a guard, who started to trot off towards the throne room in a long practiced routine.

Silver waited a minute to make sure Spike was gone before he sighed, running a hoof through his mane and turning back to the burning trashcan.

"Just has to ruin my plans, huh?" He whispered. "If those two were that different, then the others are probably just the same."

He groaned and laid on the floor, watching as years of careful planning turned to ash.

"I can't do it." He muttered. "I'd have to drag them away from lives that by all means would leave them happier than the original story."

He shut his eyes and sighed as the fire petered out, just letting the smell of smoke settle his nerves, before he opened his eyes and pushed himself to his hooves, trotting over to his desk and opening the drawer.

He floated out a little notebook and a pencil, opening it to the first page and getting ready to write, before he paused, looking down at the notebook.

He narrowed his eyes, setting down the pencil and letting out a breath. "This isn't gonna work, is it?" He asked himself quietly. "Every plan I come up with isn't gonna work, because I just... don't have enough information."

"Nightmare Moon is the only villain I have any info on, but after that first hurdle, I have nothing, just names." He sat there in silence for a minute, before he blinked.

Then he smiled.

"Guess I'll just have to wing it, huh?" He walked over to his room's door, a new pep in his step as his mind wandered to other, more important thing, like what to get Spike for Hearthswarming.

Besides, from what he knew, things in this world had a way of always working out, and a few ponies living different lives didn't change that.

Silver gave his room one last look, before snorting and shaking his head as he trotted his was through the castle.

He really needed to chill out more, he was in magical friendship pony land. I mean really...

What could go wrong?

Author's Note:

Alright, one more chapter before the REAL fun starts.

Fun fact: I wrote a good chunk of this at 4 in the morning. I distinctly remember talking to my Twilight plushy and watching a documentary about lemurs while I did it.