> From man to mare
>  by The Psychopath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The lone hermit(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m Derry Wilhall. I think myself as a simple guy who isn’t too exquisite. I get what I need and it stays like that. I had a job as a writer once, but my books didn’t sell too well, so I had to stop. Guess people just aren’t into anything interesting anymore. I was never very successful and had a short temper, leading to some...incidents. I’d rather not say what they were. These problems I’ve long since gotten over, and I learned that, no matter where you are, society will only teach you loneliness and uselessness along with violence and insults. I guess they just go hand-in-hand.

Did I really care about society? No. Not at all. I managed to survive without anyone’s help!...Almost. I never had a good connection with my parents, what with my father also barely knowing that I existed. Hm. The only companion I ever had in my life was this stuffed animal: A silvery pony plush about fifteen centimeters big all around.

‘What? A pony? Are you a little girl’ is what I’m sure you are thinking, but no. It was a present for my fifth birthday that my grandfather had sent me. He didn’t know how I was or what I liked, so he decided to send me a plush toy big enough for me to hug. I even find it to have a great style to it. Silver, as I called her -Although not the most creative of names- had been my first and only toy. Because of this, I learned to maintain my plush doll with proper cleaning and sowing. Her body is a radiant silver that is still shining to my twenty-first year, and her mane and tail are still a clean white, although there are some specks of dirt in them that I could never get out. I still combed her hair to have a badass look...well, badass by my terms.

I curled it slightly at the top to bend over her right ear while leaving the left one fully exposed. The curve over her ear spiked at the ends, splitting into three ends. I even got her a mark sown onto her flank; A silver ingot surrounded by two blue petals of crystals that left openings above and below. It was the family crest, and yet I was still so happy with it at the time. Although, people still found me to be weird.

As for my grandfather, he was the owner of an oil company and fabrics industry. He had his time cut-out for him, always preoccupied with work, but I’ll never forget the days I got to play with him when I was little. However, as the years went by, we grew more and more apart, and I felt that it was like a storm cloud separating the two boats we were on. I was caught in the middle of it, and he was caught in the outside, desperately trying to reach me. Eventually, that storm grabbed his boat and threw it against the rocks. He had died at 5:07am on January 1st, 2012. It was a great New Year’s start. I was devastated, but he had one more gift for me.

I was taken to the town hall with my ‘parents’, and I use the term loosely, so that our lawyer could read my grandfather’s will to us. So there we were: My mother with her brown hair surfing over her butt-ugly black-widow dress the color of a sickly person’s snot. She really had a terrible fashion sense and it still continues. Pretty sure that, if I vomited on her, it would improve her taste in colors a lot. Her eyes were green, something I didn’t inherit from her ‘pool’. Instead, I inherited my grandfather’s eyes that were a nigh-black hue.
My father was sitting to my left on an oak chair covered in red cushions, his legs crossed. We all had one, but he had the innate ability to kill the atmosphere with his stupid, smug face and suit. He ‘coiffed’ his hair back with gel to make it look flat. I think it was just to intimidate people. He wasn’t exactly ‘weak’, to be honest. What a waste to see him wearing so much black that went even to his leather shoes. All that monopoly money could’ve gone to better use.

Sitting before us on his giant, rotatable chair sat the lawyer with reading glasses so big they made him look like an owl. He was pretty old and sporting a shaved head and wore a gray suit with a tie. He held up the will of my grandfather and starting reading it aloud.

“To my dearest son, who is quite the successful businessman like I am...or was, since I am now dead.” The lawyer stopped part way and pinched his nose bridge. “I...Moving on,” he said before clearing his throat. “I leave my oil and fabric industries to my son, Gerald Wilhall.”

I crossed my arms angrily whilst the bastard nodded, his smug grin turning into a full on smile. I was expecting him to put a pinkie finger to his mouth and yell ‘One million dollars!’...I should really read more books instead of watching so many movies.

“To my daughter-in-law: You have very bad taste in clothing.”

I muffled a laugh while the lawyer frowned and turned to see my mother keeping her composure but her face turning red.

“So I am giving you a collection of my wares,” the lawyer continued. “They’re from all around the world, so maybe this will help your colorblindness.”

Despite the added insult, that...bitch still had the gall to say that she was grateful for what she was given and how much she loved my grandfather, disregard that she didn’t even know he existed. The lawyer and I exchanged glances, showing that we both knew about her comedic play.

“And finally, to my favorite, and thankfully only grandson; Derry Wilhall...I am sorry that I could not reach through to you during all these years. Unfortunately, it seems that I will never have the opportunity to see you smile like you used to for time has taken me away. I know how rude and dismissive your parents are and how you were treated in school, which led to your aggressive outburts.”

I crossed my arms and looked down. “They aren’t THAT bad…” I mumbled under my breath. “Because of the idiots serving as your parents, I leave to you my personal cash reserves not shared by my companies.” The lawyer’s eyes widened. “Sixteen billion worth more-or-less, and my mansion...I know everyone says that money can’t buy happiness, but at least you can rent it.”

My parents’ jaws dropped and they stared at me silently. I could feel immediately that they were going to try and kiss up, so I stopped them in their tracks in a case of ‘Preemptive striking’.

“You had your chances. Twenty-one years worth of it. And you blew it. Too late now.”

Those two…jerks were never the best at counter-arguments. Great parents, really. I told the lawyer that the mansion needed to be turned into a hospital. All 64 acres of it. A great amount of space to help the patients move about and feel relaxed; and I’d give them two billion to start off. However, until my cabin in the woods was finished, I would be living in it. We shook hands and the lawyer gave me a polite goodbye. My parents just watched me leave the off, but before I left the office, I turned to face them, showed them my middle-finger, then slowly closed the door, letting it creaked loudly.

It barely took five months for the cabin to be made,so I sent a letter to the lawyer and stayed to greet the builders as they came to make the mansion into a hospital. Just because I don’t like to be in public doesn’t mean people have to suffer for my preferences. That’s weakling talk. My new home high in the mountains but still next to a village so I could reach the store and call for help if ever needed. I even managed to get electricity from my own wind turbines and solar panels outside of the forest my home was located in. I even installed some electrical fences too, so any would-be thieves and intruders would encounter a shocking experience. Torturing unexpecting people is the best security system. Ha. I also liked that my cabin was made to make it look like an old fashioned jumbling if Lincoln Logs. It had all the amenities I needed: Bathroom, living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Small and comfortable. Just how I like it.

To pass time, I would go to the village at the foot of the mountain and get some mountaineering stuff to travel around, collecting any rocks that I found interesting as well as observe the flora and fauna. Bears are really frikkin’ scary when they aren’t on a store shelf saying ‘I love you’ when you squeeze them. Just some traveling her and there. Nothing special or overly complicated.

Unfortunately, nature, or maybe even God or older gods, decided that my views on life were bad. I had a rough childhood, only a single friend -Who wasn’t even real, might I add-, and I didn’t believe in ‘love’. How else was I supposed to react to a world that only showed me that side of it? Maybe I was the Luke Skywalker who was tempted by the dark side and succumbed. Oh well!




My alarm clock rang loudly, making me groan in pain, fatigue, and annoyance. It was only five in the morning. Why was I getting up so early when I didn’t need to do anything? Simple: I found a nature pamphlet on the local area that spoke of a blue jewel hidden within range of my cabin, but it would only appear at irregular intervals. I knew just where to go and I loved crystals. What luck! Even if I didn’t find it, I would have still done a nice little trek through the mountainous woods. The pamphlet mentioned that the most common time for the jewel to shine was between seven and nine am. There was the other time, but...meh...I could barely move forward, inching only forward by using my toes.

“This is getting me nowhere,” I complained. “Come on, Derry. Use your inner strength!”

I struggled a lot, but I was already prepared. I had my clothes on, my backpack ready, and I had taken a bath last night.

“Let’s see...I got everything. Have I eaten breakfast?” I burped in response. “Check. Dying from my own oral fumes? Check.” I pondered. “Hmm. It’s also pretty cold this time of the year, so I need a jacket.”

I fumbled through my closet to find my thick red jacket. The kind that makes you look like you’re big and buff when you’re more of a scrawny toothpick, like I am.  It seemed to clash with blue jeans and orange shoes, but I’m not here to please people’s eyes. I’m here to do a mountain climb. After readjusting my backpack again to sit tightly on my back, I noticed that Silver was resting on the counter separating my living room from my kitchen. I stared at her for a while, debating what to do.

“Eh. Why not,” I thought aloud.

I shrugged off my concerns for what other people doing the climb might think, what with a twenty-six year old man carrying a giant stuffed pony in his front pocket, which was quite big for a pocket. I locked my door, turned on the security system, and then went on my way.

The forest wasn’t exactly thick, what with most of the trees looking mostly like matchsticks, and the ground was mostly mud with very little in terms of grass. It was a strange forest, although I could often find large swathes of grass, mushrooms, winter flowers, and the occasional pinecone that would make you slip when stepped on. About an hour or so later, and I finally found the spot on the picture of the pamphlet. There was no jewel in the wall, but I shrugged and plopped down onto the floor regardless to regain my strength.

“Well, Silver,” I said to my plush. “It seems that we might have been tricked.” I wiped my nose and took a deep breath of freezing air. “I bet there are already people trying to get into my home.” A loud thundercrack confirmed my suspicions. “I thought so.”

People had learned about my wealth and heard that I had kept it in my home. This wasn’t true, and I had it looked over by my grandfather’s accountant, Mr. Tierry. That didn’t stop people from trying to get into my home regardless. So, I just sat there, wobbling my boots whilst listening to the cracks, enjoying the ‘music’. Music is subjective after all, no?

“So many today,” I noted.

Before I could leave and smoke some sausages over their smouldering bodies, I found the mist meandering at about ankle-height spread far away from the mountain side in an instant. I turned around and saw a blue crystal slowly grow out of the wall, causing small black bits of rock to tumble to the floor.

I approached it and gazed at the crystal growing from the wall. It’s beautiful! Of course, it was nothing my mother would like considering her tastes. The mist that dissipated came back in the form of a rainbow colored fog after I touched the crystal, causing some concern.

“Uhh…” I looked around and started to stress. “Maybe I shouldn’t have touched that.” I tapped my fingers together. “Time to leave!” I tried to move but noticed my legs were paralyzed. “Why can’t I move?! HELP!”

My body became stiffer the higher the mist went until I couldn’t even move my head. I could still feel it raise me into the air. I wanted to run around screaming, but was more disturbed by the fact I was in a zero-g environment. I looked around as best as I could, realizing that the forest was fading away to a pure white, and even though all that was left afterwards was indeed just that, only the crystal remained, and I gradually felt sensations coming back into my body.

I must be dead, I thought, so I forced my body to grab ahold of Silver who was floating away from me and held on tight to her. If I was dead, then I would at least keep the one gift and memento I had from my grandfather. At least she would stay etched into my mind and soul. The light grew brighter and brighter, blinding me, and although I couldn’t feel my body, I could still feel SIlver somehow, and that was all that mattered. If I’m leaving this world, then so be it. I accept everything that has happened to me and would have, so as a final farewell: ”Screw you, Earth!”
> Floating between worlds(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"....Where am I?" I wondered after what felt like hours of floating in this void.

I was still floating in some super bright, empty area, which was completely white and devoid of any details.

“I’m starting to doubt the possibilities of me being either dead or dying. I’m also starting to think I must have taken some kind of drug.” I scrunched my mouth. “This is extra trippy in that case...How would I have even taken them?”

I felt like a fish in water what with all this aimless floating. This place felt both warm and cold somehow. Empty and full. It wasn’t pleasant, and why was I STILL HERE?!

“I STILL can’t move!” I raged. “This must be purgatory!” I cackled. “Maybe I should have donated the rest of my money, or or or done something else like volunteering.” I looked around, hopelessly trying to look at someone. “Is it because I hate my parents?!” I yelled out. “They never loved me so why should I love them back?!”

I got no answer back and frowned.

“I would have at least like to ‘smite’ Gerald were I in heaven.”

Mmm. Gerald. I hate him. I hate him so much. The first bully I ever met as a kid. He started off a nasally, carrot-top nerd that I would frequently beat up in response to him insulting my grandfather and I, to which I’d get in trouble for. Unfortunately, as the years went by, he started gaining muscle mass, preventing me from attacking him in response to his attacking. Unfortunately for him and his dyed, black sideburns, I was adaptive and started working out to at least develop my own muscles. It was also he who taught me how dangerous anger could be when not controlled.

He got into a gang when I was seventeen and walked up to the school I was at to threaten me. The idiot came up to me, accompanied by three other thugs, with one of the letter-opener knives pointed towards me, thinking he could scare me with such tactics. Tch. So ‘hardcore’. I’d laugh if I felt like it. I brushed his ‘threats’ off and turned my back to him, prompting myself to get stabbed in the back. Putting my hand to my back, I felt that he speared me with his pen knife, pushing one of my buttons, so I ‘exploded’ while he and his friends laughed at me.

With adrenaline going through me, and with my face devoid of emotions during my rage, I couldn’t feel the wound properly and Gerald couldn’t figure out what I was thinking. I was towards him as he taunted me, grabbing his throat and pushing against his esophagus. He panicked and dropped the knife instead of stabbing my arm. I took the knife and used it to attack the others who tried to hit me, striking them in their stomachs and moving the blade across as best as I could. I was hit several times, but the adrenaline protected me, albeit temporarily. I didn't kill them, but they felt pain. Most likely they've killed themselves. Redemption through pain, such a dark train of thought.

I’m not sure what happened after. I just recall waking up in the hospital with grandfather sitting next to my bed. Those other four punks were sent to the same emergency ward as well. Unfortunately, my grandfather didn’t look too happy to see me and slapped me despite my facial wounds. He started blabbering about the laws of survival, and while I knew very well what he was trying to say, I mostly ignored him. As the days went by and he kept adding to his speeches, I started to ponder what he was saying. Although I’m not exactly sure what it is he said, I feel as though I had found a new meaning to the value of life, but that wouldn’t change my behavior anyways.

“Why am  recalling this?” I wondered. I dropped my fist into my open palm. “Oh yeah. Blow up Gerald’s car. Mental Note: Blow up his car once I reach heaven.” I chuckled to myself. My mood quickly dropped. “I feel all depressed and emo now…” I heaved a sigh then looked back up angrily. “HEY! I DON’T MEAN TO BE RUDE OR ANYTHING -except yes I do-,” I whispered under my breath. “BUT CAN I GET OUT HERE NOW? PLEASE?!”

I received no response, but then something started to weigh on me.

“Why do I feel so...heavy?”

I felt like I was under the gravitational pull of Jupiter, and I could barely breathe. Very quickly I felt myself getting pulled downwards and squeezed Silver even closer to my chest. It seemed I wasn’t going to heaven but to hell. Great. Well, those demons won’t be getting my plush. I won’t let them. Even in eternity I won’t let any harm come to her! I yelled when I saw a green spot below, thinking it to be an acid put.

“I’m waitin’ here!” I shouted. “COME ON! You won’t be getting me, my only memento, and you certainly won’t be getting the positive memories I still have.” I challenged the pit. “You’ll never break me!”

I felt myself accelerating, bursting through like a jet at hyper-sonic speeds. That small dot was growing bigger and bigger and getting closer by the second. It turned into a massive circle surrounded by the white space, so I closed my eyes and readied myself for eternal torment. The last thing I remembered was the sound of a loud explosion.

My body ached, and I felt as though I had entered a coma. Adding to this was me only being able to see the blinding white light which I figured were the demons trying to prank me and get me to lower my guard. I hugged Silver closer to me...or at least, I tried. I couldn’t find her. Now, for most people, losing something like a plushy wouldn’t have been a big thing. However, as I mentioned many times, that wasn’t the same for me. There was too much sentimental value in it, so I started to panic and tried to move. Big mistake.

I groaned loudly in pain. “Oh God...I feel like I was hit by a truck. I...I think all my bones are broken…”

As I writhed in pain, I cracked open one of my eyes slightly and saw the blue crystal from the mountain plop right in front of me, its body glowing dimly.

I became suspicious. “How did it-GAH!”

As if it weren’t bad enough that I couldn’t see, the thing blasted my eyes with bright blue light. I mean, I couldn’t really complain seeing as I could only see white, and blue was a nice change...maybe. When the light started to dim, I noticed something...odd.

“But...but...I thought I fell into hell.” I looked around as best as I could. “What kind of hell is this?”

I still couldn't move my neck, but at least I could see clearer now. I was on an open plain during the day with grass as far as the eyes could see. The sun shone a comfortable ray of light and heat, while the wind decided to smack me across the face with a cool breeze to relieve the possibilities of overheating. The plains were accentuated by mounds at seemingly random locations, giving it a very lumpy and uneven appearance. The grass was comfortably long and flew in the wind like a work of art, something I don’t think I’ve ever seen on Earth. Then it hit me.

“Wait a minute...Something you don’t see…” I felt all the blood rush from my face. Oh no. I’m in purgatory!” I shouted. “Wait no...I’d still be burning.”

I spotted that stupid crystal that was definitely the cause of all this, and when I tried to move, I found that my limbs were no longer locked up. My body still didn’t feel right and my back was aching something fierce, so crawling was the best way to go. As I slowly chased after the stone, realizing that it was somehow moving on its own, as crazy as that sounds, it decided to stop above a pond that had formed within a large ‘crater’. It was just a bowl in shape with barely any plant life, let alone animal life, but was too clean to be normal. Hell, somehow, the crystal was ‘standing’ on it. How? HOW?!

“Oh great.” I rolled my eyes. “They said Jesus would be reborn, but I didn’t think it would be in the form of a rock.” I reached out to grab it, then I saw my reflection in the water and stayed there.

I was too confused and angry to notice. My voice had become more high-pitched, like a girl’s. It wasn’t possible. I refused to believe this stupidity! It was too crazy to be true. I saw my pupils shrink when my jaw dropped. I lifted what was once my left hand hand to my face. This was...Illogical. Impossible, even!

“No fucking way...S-Silver?!” I gasped.

I prodded my face a few more times. Yup. I had turned into my toy, and that wasn’t what bothered me the most. The worst thing is that I was not just a tiny horse, but a female tiny horse.

“How am I supposed to deal with this?” I cried. “What the hell even?!”

I fell back on my rear and moved my two ‘fores’, seeing that they still worked like arms...In the movement range at least. Another thing on the surface of the crystal caught my attention, confusing me even more.

“Wh...Is that a trollface?!” I squeaked

I swear that it had one inside of it. How would it even know about that? It moved towards me by sliding along the water and stopped right between my...dare I say it…hooves.

“YOU did this to me!” I accused it. “I was FINALLY living like I always wanted.” I would have clenched my fists hard if I could. “I’m going to crush you underneath my hooves!”

As I shouted with my new voice, my two front hooves slammed upon the crystal. Unfortunately, apart from some resonating sounds, nothing happened. I shielded my face when the crystal turned into a giant bull of pulsing, swirling blue energy. It charged at me, making me glad that I had the reflex to shield myself. It avoided my face completely and charged at my hind legs, and since I couldn’t use them yet, it was free to split in two and crash into my flanks. Since I could see my right one better, I could see what was going on more easily. For some reason, I had Silver’s marks, but the blue crystal leaves were gray like the silver ingot they surrounded.

“NO NO!” I yelled. I didn’t know what was going to happen and got scared.

A brief ‘jir’ noise came from my flanks as the energy fused to SIlver’s marks, making the petals blue again.

“Ow…” I complained. “Well, nothing seems to have happened to me. I don’t feel any different…” I tapped my forelegs on the ground. “All that’s left now is getting up...Come on, Derry. You can do it! IT’S NOT SO HARD!”

It took me, maybe, a few hours to stand up, but I at least succeeded...and then fell down. Annoying. I managed to stand up fully the second time, but my legs were all wobbly from trying. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if I tried to walk with my legs in this state. It was like standing in high heels WHILE wearing high heels. There was the tail as well, but I couldn’t really figure out how to control it, so I’d whip myself in the face multiple times.

“Well...now what do I do? I don’t know where I am, where to go, how to call for help...AND THIS VOICE IS SO ANNOYING!”

I could understand the voice as being the one I gave to Silver in my head when I was little, but hearing it over my own voice was gravely annoying when I wanted to hear my own. I had a perspective on life as a man, so how the hell was I to fare any different when I was turned into a female pony?! I tried to think of a plan, then I overheard someone speaking in rhymes behind me.

“What is this? A little pony who can resist?
The cold is not a place for a silver pony like you.
Perhaps you would prefer a house and a warm brew?”

It was a zebra with a mohawk talking to me, and that was...pretty cool, actually. I decided to follow her, and that wasn’t because of her hairstyle. Nope...no...maybe…

“Sure?”

“Good!” she cheered.

“Then follow me.
There is a town in view, and Twilight Sparkle might be able to help you.
She is well organized and very smart,” The zebra leaned in towards me. “Although her behavior is a bit worrisome for my part.”

“Intriguing,” I replied dismissively.

Why was she speaking in rhymes? Most of the parts didn’t even sound right to me. Maybe she was just having a rough day?...That’s a ‘she’, I hope. I hobbled towards the pathway, occasionally getting help from her as she quickly realized my issues, and then I saw the village in the distance. Further away I could see...a castle in the side of the mountain?! How? How do you even manage that?!
> Figuring out nonsense (Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So now I’m following a talking zebra in a body that turned into that of my favorite toy.” I thought to myself. “Not sure what benefits this could give me at all.” I huffed. “Too many questions to think straight.” I looked at the zebra sporting a mohawk for some bizarre reason and shook my head. “I want to ask her a question, but I don’t like talking to others.”

I was already having trouble walking, with my ‘hooves’ tripping over each other every few steps. It was like walking in high-heels. It was uncomfortable and awkward. Coordinating was difficult and, even if I thought of it as walking on all fours as a human, those were arms and legs, and none of them -except maybe the arms- were relevant to these legs and joint positions.

“Well...At least I’m Silver and not some random creepy thing,” I thought. I looked at my tripping hooves again. “Not sure if this is cool or creepy. Hm. Let’s go with croopy.” I nodded to myself. “Yeah. That seems about right.”

Hopefully, this zebra was taking me somewhere I could get answers. Maybe a library, but the odds of that are astronomical...probably. Eugh. I don’t want to deal with the responsible doing incessant hushing. That’s just aggravating.

The zebra face...hoofed, and turned to look at me.

“I never asked your name. How rude of me. So what are you called, silver pony?” she asked me.

I started to panic. I didn’t know what to say, so I threw a grenade and hoped it was a dud. “Silver.” I tried not making eye contact, but it was hard.

“My name is Zecora, and I come from a far away land not dissimilar to Equestria.”

“Kinda stretching the rhyming there,” I noted.

Zecora gave me a slanted frown. Judging by her rhyme, I was in a place called Equestria, but what was so special about this place? I need to make a question that sounds like I know about this place but want to learn more...but I have NO clue how to do that.

“So what is that town over there?” I asked her.

“I thought you would be from around here,” she started. “That is Ponyville over there. A small community, but none with a better unity.”

It was my turn to frown. “Now you’re just rhyming words with themselves.” I shook my head. “And Ponyville? What kind of stupid name is that? THe person who came up with that name probably also came up with...I don’t know…” I looked about, trying to find the best pun-made name I could think of. “Mane-hatten.”

Zecora gave me a smirk, but I ignored it. Being in the town let me see its full lack-of-glory. I could see lots of colors worming about from afar, but now I can see them up close. They were ponies that looked like Easter eggs. Some even had horns and wings! Unicorns and pegasis, I think. There were also the ‘normal’ ones around, prompting me to reach for my forehead and sigh. Whatever sent me here didn’t modify Silver. Good and bad, I suppose. I guess my luck ran dry when I was given so much money, and now I wish I still had it. I don’t even know what kind of money is used here.

Walking through the dirt streets of this place made me realize just how feudal is was coming to be. Houses with solid walls, with very few being made from bricks. The surfaces of the buildings didn’t look at all like wood or anything ‘modern’, and many of the roofs were covered in a strange tile whose composition sat between clay and straw. All of these ponies, on the other hand, were disturbingly friendly, with many saying ‘hi’ as we passed.

Maybe they’re saying hi to the zebra? I even saw a weird-ass building that looked like a carousel, or a cake, or both. Ponies came out of it...wearing clothes. The hell kind of mini-horse wears clothing? Is it a standard?

I panicked and clutched my head. ”ARE WE BOTH NAKED BARBARIANS?!” I yelled in my head.

Whoever the ponies were talking to, I really couldn’t care. My fucks were so numerous they were destroying this place like a meteor shower. All I know is that the pony there was white and with a purple mane and tail. Not much else...Although, I think she could teach my mother a thing or two in fashion. She spotted me during my thoughts and looked interested in coming to greet me, but was hampered by a new ponies popping up for whatever service she had. Ha.

As for weird buildings, there was the giant tower...thing jutting high above the town. It was...too strange looking to describe. A few ponies with ties...came in and out. Now they’re wearing ties. Next thing you know they’ll be riding in trains. A town hall or another administrative complex, maybe. No one would wear ties outside of that kind of work environment.And then...deep breath...a giant tree. With windows. And a balcony. How. Even with my eyes still burning from the white light, I could see how ridiculous this looked. The tree was still alive somehow.


"Here we are, Silver.
Now wait here for my call,
I must speak with Twilight Sparkle, if you recall."

I dropped my head. "Yes, I do, although I didn’t know the name.” I looked at her with tired eyes. “And please stop being lazy with your rhymes."

She chuckled and opened a door...in the tree. I rubbed my eyes. I flinched in pain from the hooves and wobbled a bit when I set them back down on the ground. I still think this thing was alive through some kind of zombie virus.

My eyes darted around, and I became wary. “Better not have any zombies around here or else.”

"Silver!" an unfamiliar voice yelled.

I shrugged and went inside the tree to witness that it had been refurbished into a library. Not only was I looking for one, but it's like someone threw me against the wall and shoved a book titled ‘Convenient Plot Point’ in my face and shrieking that I read it. The zebra was there with a few books in her saddlebags, talking to a purple unicorn that appeared to be the source of the voice that called me in. Zecora thanked the unicorn, tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a smile, then left. I was left in awkward silence with the purple pony who stared at me with giant eyes. She had quite the unique hair color too, a dark purple with a pink stripe going through it. She even had her own mark! It looked like some sort of red-pink star with five other, smaller, white ones surrounding it. I just scuffed my hoof on the ground as I tried to avoid any form of contact.

"Wow. That's a weird iguana,” I noted when I saw a lizard come in.

That thing looked pissed at what I said and the purple pony tried to hold in a laugh.

I poked it with one of my legs. "It's even purple!” I aww’d. “The scales feel so real too.” I looked up to the unicorn. “It's not fake is it?" I asked her.

The lizard slapped my hoof off and yelled in my face. "I'M A DRAGON!"

I screamed and lost balance, hitting my head against a shelf and knocking several books onto me. The ‘dragon’ stormed away, his head sticking straight up in a ‘huff’.

The pony, who I now know is a female, chuckled at my reaction. “I know It's weird that I have a baby dragon with me.” She ruffled her mane with a hoof. “Some ponies that I've never seen before also seem to confuse him with some type of reptile." She shrugged. “They seem to think that all dragons are these gigantic beasts with wings.” She spoke with a deeper tone briefly. “But he’s still a dragon...although I’m unsure what kind.”

I expected her to help me up, and when I extended a hoof, I found myself levitating in the air and laid gently on my f…hooves. I panicked internally, although it wasn’t something I hadn’t recently experienced.

"What’s wrong?” The unicorn asked. “You look like you’ve never seen magic before."

"Well, maybe that's because where I come from, the only ‘magic’ that exists isn't ‘real’ magic,” I replied sarcastically.

The purple pony’s face lit up, scaring me a little. "Oh? And where is that?" she asked enthusiastically.

Crap. I said something I shouldn't have. Wait, why would I even tell her? I don't know her well enough.

"I’m not telling you," I said sternly.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know you well enough to share that kind of personal information."

She tapped her mouth with her hoof and ceded."Well, I guess that makes sense. Wherever you’re from has a stricter hold on things like that, then,” she hummed. “So, Zecora said she found you in the plains. Are you lost?"

I scrunched up my mouth."Something like that,” I trailed off. I looked up at the rows of books in the shelves and felt myself get a little bit excited. “I know this is sudden, but can I read some of these books? I need to brush up on my...um...history,” I explained nervously.

While she fumbled through the shelves, she started talking again. I don’t want to talk to you!

“You know, I don’t often see ponies coming to the library. It’s strange.”

“Well, that’s a shame. A book can be a portal to several worlds, some filled with an incredible amount of knowledge and adventure. Others can be…” I trailed off to the side. “An empty hole for ignorants to fall in."

“That’s quite an interesting interpretation of them. Aha!”

She pulled a set of twelve books from the shelves, each as wide as my hands were long. Well, used to be long. And to twelve?! Earth’s history was tucked away in hundreds, if not thousands of books. Why was there so little?

“So...is this the whole thing?” I asked hesitantly.

The pony chuckled and put the books on a short wooden table next to bookcases to my left. “No. There’s about a hundred, give or take a few tens.”

HUNDREDS?! I’m pretty sure I was foaming at the mouth and having a stroke after hearing that. I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge the number of the books, and now I’m regretting it!

I groaned loudly. “Might as well get started.” I struggled to lift the first volume, and that was including me being in an unfamiliar body. “HEAVY!” I screamed.

“Let me help you with that,” the purple pony offered calmly.

She lifted them all with no actual effort and set them in a line along the floor next to me for easy picking, then deposited the first book on the table. I crossed my forelegs and looked away, baring my teeth and blushing. The unicorn must have heard me snort because she frowned.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been a bit grumpy since you got here.”

“I...don’t really want to talk about it.”

I felt her gaze burning through my skin trying to understand me, but I didn’t want to go deeper in it. I still don’t know where I am.

She hummed pensively. “You know, I could show you Rarity’s Boutique.”

“Her what?”

“Boutique. Clothes Store.”

“Oh. Why do you want to show me that?” I asked.

“Because my friend Rarity is talented when it comes to helping others mares calm down. She knows ALL. The. Right. Things.” She bopped her hoof in the air and descended it with every stop in her speech.

Her saying ‘mare’ felt like someone stabbing my brain with a knife. Ugh. What was her problem?! Leave me alone! I just want to read these books and quickly leave this place try to get back home. I brushed her off and opened the first book, but before I could even start, there she was pulling me with her weird shit.

"Come on! She'll help you out!” she insisted. “I know a pony who needs help when I see it. Oh!” She stopped momentarily before resuming her pulling while my hooves dragged along the wooden planks that constituted the ground. “I forgot to tell you that my name is Twilight Sparkle!"
If I had claws, they’d be peeling off long ribbons of wood with them as I was dragged. That’s when it hit me.

Oh right. No fingers. Damn it.

She let me go, and after a bit of back-and-forth discussion, I decided to follow her to that shop she talked about. If I did this, she would leave me alone to my reading afterwards,, and I was sure this Twilight Sparkle character would never relent on the subject unless I did it. The place she took me to was the weird shop I had seen earlier, and it was full of giant mirrors and mannequins covered in outfits too detailed to describe all at once.

"Huh. I didn't think anyone had an artistic taste nowadays,” I noted whilst batting the bits of an unfinished dress.

"Well, she did make dresses for me and my friends for the Grand Galloping Gala,” Twilight stood up proudly, as though that were supposed to mean something to me.

"The what now?" I asked with apathy on my face.

She looked at me, completely baffled, but didn’t have time to comment on it, the white pony from earlier came by and dropped a few pins she had kept in her mouth on the floor. She looked ‘positively charmed’. The pony ran towards me then started to ‘analyze’ me by circling around me and measure every part of me. It’s very uncomfortable you weirdo.

"Uhh, Rarity, what are you doing?" Twilight asked her.

"Such a unique color, and your mane!” She patted it with her hooves. I pulled at such breeching of personal privacy. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Such a strange style too, and yet you haven’t taken care of it at all.” She shook her head. “Where are you from?" she asked me.

"Something that you are not entitled to know. It is personal."

She seemed to take a step back, surprised at my hostility. Silver's voice seemed to make my hostility that much less intimidating, though. I thought that these two ponies understood to leave me alone, but Silver was...unique, shall we say.

"That's quite alright dear. I understand, although I would try to avoid such a hostile reaction next time.” Her eyes lit up suddenly and a massive, open-mouth smile stretched across her face. “IDEA!"

"What?! WHAT’s GOING ON?!” I panicked.

"Relax,” Twilight soothed. “She has an idea for you."

"I've got the idea for a perfect dress!” Rarity gestured towards me.”Come here...what is your name again?" she asked. Her ears perked up to hear me as best as possible.

"It's Silver, Rarity,” Twilight said.

"Wait...a dress?” I backed away, shaking my head fast. “N-no! I don't nee-ah!"

She dragged me to what was evidently a measuring booth and placed me on a pedestal. I dropped my head and growled in anger and frustration. I don’t want to deal with this.
> The inner mare(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was absolutely furious. This pony was keeping me glued to this measuring stool and felt like my anger was great enough to destroy the entire planet. The purple pony...Twilight Sparkle, could obviously see it and looked quite worried.

"Uhhh, Rarity, maybe you should--"

"Not now dear, I'm measuring your friend.” She continued to pamper me and dress me up, much to my rage. “Oh, you'll look simply marvellous!” she cheered. “For such a young mare, you look absolutely divine and well groomed." She stepped back and squinted. “Almost like somepony has been maintaining your for several years every day.”

I laughed nervously. “Funny how that works, huh?”

I was hiding the fact that her saying ‘mare’ when enraging me, but I was doing it poorly, since I broke the wooden stool after applying prefer to it with my front hooves. Twilight jumped back once my ears and my teeth started to show. That white pony just wouldn't drop it.

"I've finished the measurements!" the white one cheered.

My ears.

I felt a huge pressure leave my body like steam from an engine. When I motioned to get off the now cracked stool, I was stopped by that Rarity character who plopped right in front of me. She had a that matched Silver's mane perfectly. While I find that it would’ve fit on the plushy just fine, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the fact that *I* was the plushy now. I scampered away from her.

“N-no! I don't need that. Thank you.” I backed away with a lacking smile.

"Oh! But I insist! You'll look just ravishing in it!" She held up the dress in her...magic field?

"I insist myself. I don't want it."

Her behavior became more...dominant. "You WILL wear it,” she commanded.

"No. I won't,” I replied with the same tenacity.”

"YES! YOU WILL!"

"NEVER!" I yelled loudly whilst shaking a foreleg.

"GET BACK HERE! No customer leaves my shop without a decent dress on them!"

So the game of cat and mouse started, and while I would have found this amusing on a tv show, I didn’t like someone trying to clothe me without my consent...In retrospect, that sounds weird.

"Hah! I said I would get you to wear it!”

I spat out, pulling her hoof off of my face. ”What's wrong with you?! Why would you attack me just for a girly dress!"

"Hmph! Just look at yourself in the mirror. And before you say anything, yes. I thought a bit of galloping around would free you of your frustration energy.” She grinned. “I think it worked, at least a bit.” 

“You could’ve tried another method,” I growled.

Twilight agreed with me. “You were a bit aggressive there, Rarity.”

The white mare nodded. “True, but I get so excited when I see somepony who would be perfect as a model for a specific catalogue.” She bowed to me. “I apologize for my rash and unbecoming behavior, Silver.”

“That doesn’t really excuse what you did,” Twilight disapproved.

That giant vanity mirror of hers floated right in front of me, and I....could not comprehend my reactions. Were they mine or Silver's? If she even had a mind of her own, she seemed to appreciate what she was seeing...I guess? I know I hated it. I was now wearing a dress of mainly silver colors, but outlined with white. There were two blue petals put in the same position of my flank marks and were pulled down across the fabric. Smaller ones were also scattered all over the dress in a well organized manner, creating lines and curves. The white outlines of the dress all seemed to be made of crashing waves and little droplets of water. It was beau-I psychically smacked myself. GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF DERRY! What kind of thought pattern is that?! Let's at least be polite and take it anyways...

"It's...nice," I trailed off to the side.

Rarity giggled in approval at my embarrassment. "Oh, I suppose that’s the best I’ll get from you, but thank you very much.” Her smile turned to a confused frown. “Now then...what were you here for again, Twilight?” 

“Well, first to say that Silver looks gorgeous in that dress.” 

I glared at her, and her smile turned to a sheepish one accompanied by nervous chuckling. That being said, it felt very...strange to receive compliments from someone who wasn’t my grandfather. Most things I heard were basic, derogatory terms that, quite honestly, I had grown bored of.

The marshmallow turned to Twilight with a proud and calm expression. "So, Twilight, you said you wanted help with something?" she asked.

Twilight nodded with a smile. "Yes. I was hoping you could show Silver one of your, ah…” she twirled her hoof in the air. “ ‘Secrets’ to destressing."

"She does look a bit tense." Rarity frowned a put a hoof to her mouth.

“Gee, I wonder why?!” I half-yelled sarcastically.

Rarity gasped and her eyes brightened. "THE SPA!"

"OH NO! SHE'S GOING TO ATTACK ME AGAIN!" I shouted

"What? No!” She spread her foreleg across the air. “I'm going to give you a tour of the spa!"

"Can I at least take this… thing off?" I pulled at the dress, somehow, like it was a gross film of gunk on my skin. It might as well have been. A full-grown man wearing a dress...well, maybe not a 'man' anymore.

"I'll take it and bring it back to the library,” Twilight proposed. “I’d like to talk with you later, anyways." She looked at me with a smile and tilted head.

She managed to phase the clothes off of me, somehow, leaving me freed and in my...somewhat-nudity. I stretched myself, feeling all my tendons cracking with painful satisfaction. I took a peek at Rarity through squinted eyes and saw her display disappointment. Boo hoo.

"You don't want to come with us?" Rarity asked Twilight.

The unicorn shook her head. "No. I have a few things left to do, and I told Spike I would be back quickly. He and Silver..." She looked away and coughed on her hoof. "They had a tumultuous encounter, for lack of a better term."

The white pony eyed me up and down and looked at me with a skeptical expression. I found myself lifting my hoof up for protection. "What did she do?" she asked the unicorn without taking her eyes off of me.

Grah! There's that 'she' again! I wanted to rip everything apart with my bare hands, but I didn't have them anymore...I just had these...stumps. And flexing them while staring at them didn't change them back. I just hope that I don't have any kind of 'attraction' while I'm stuck like this. I don't think I'd be able to take it.

While I had been internally raging on the sides, Rarity was made aware of my exchange with the giant newt. I was stuck in my own self-flaggelating I hadn't realized she dragged me to some tiny building in the street. Not exactly sure how I didn't notice her physically dragging me nor the changes in light. I wobbled inside on these annoying legs and witnessed two mares standing behind a white counter overlooking the sky-blue tiled floors. I couldn't help but stick out my tongue in disgust at the humidity on the floor. Said ponies were mares, which was pretty obvious unless they were flamboyantly fabulous. One of them was baby blue with a bright pink mane while the other had the opposite scheme, and both had a headband holding their hair back.

Rarity placed six gold coins on the counter and exchanged silent glances at them. I was still confused as to where she hid the coins since she wasn't holding a bag, and the two mares looked at me with disturbing smiles.

"We'll be having the deluxe edition, girls," Rarity said.


My attempts to sneak out were foiled by the blue one grabbing me and dragging me towards a wooden, circular hot-tub full of boiling mud. Rarity had already dipped herself in it like the head of a cupcake in icing and was hanging on the border. She seemed satisfied, and I could see her chest slowly raising up and down with her slow breathing. Her mane was wrapped in a deep blue towel. Although I wonder if she did the same with her tail and how that would even work.

I kept myself out of the mud by using my hooves to cling to the edge of the tub protruding from the pit it had been buried in. Despite my protests, the pink one grabbed my forelegs and hucked me in the pool, splashing Rarity with mud and leaving me to blow bubbles out of my long nose under the mud. Rarity looked at me after flipping the cucumber slices on her eyes up with...nothing. I don't know how they were floating. I glared at her and narrowed my eyes even further, sinking deeper into the maw of this disgusting swamp beast.

While I moved about the mud pool, Rarity kept telling me to relax and that this was all 'very relaxing and refreshing' if I just did like her. Since I only moved about the mud like a crocodile, the two brightly colored mares tended to the marshmallow while occasionally looking at me with what I think was disappointment. No touchy. Plus, there were too many other people here. Very uncomfortable on multiple fronts. Yet it was broken by us being taken to a cleaning room where showers were abundant. Tinted windows let through it a filtered light worsened by the steam here. Steam which was a foreshadow to the sauna we were going to.

"Oh no," I groaned.

"What's wrong, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I hate sweating," I said with my head drooping.

She nodded and put a hoof to her chest. "Oh, I know what you mean. Sweat is bad for my complexion AND our manes. If anything, I could say it's very 'unladylike'." She looked at me with a smile, expecting me to chuckle.

I glared at her through a squint and ground my teeth together at the word 'lady'. It felt the same when I heard 'pony'.

She continued on, ignoring my lack of a response. "There's no need to worry. We have a cold shower waiting us after this. And then!" She clapped her hooves together. "A massage!"

"Massage?" I felt my ears perk up.

"Why yes. Aloe and Lotus are the best masseuses in Ponyville. Dare I say, in all of Equestria?" She silently chuckled. "I see that at least SOMETHING here has caught your interest, at least."

So this building was called the 'Aloe and Lotus Spa', apparently, and now Rarity is speaking french, which I barely know. I only recognized it because of the strange sounds that came from her mouth. The cold showers sprayed a mixture of water and soap, letting me dig into this obnoxious fur and get the sweat out. Again, the marshmallow was bragging about the soap in the water, thinking I cared. I wish I had Silver to hold right now. Ha. A grown man wanting to hug a plushie. How embarrassing.

Unfortunately, my envy for a massage was ruined by the aspect of the massagers: Two burly ponies. They stood next to the tables, their faces apparently in a permanent scowl. I decided to give them a chance, but learned quickly that that was a bad idea, specifically when I felt them piledriving my back. I was half expecting them to sweep me up, supplex me twice, then jump into the air and crush me face-first into the ground. That would be an atomic buster for sure.

Instead, the one massaging me stopped, put a hoof to his mouth, and looked at my back with some horrifying expression. Distraught, maybe? He rushed away, causing Rarity to ask me what I did. I shrugged and watched the pony...maybe a stallion, come back with the blue mare. I felt her hooves press into my back at several areas before she grabbed my head and stared into my souls. It was like she was attempting to stare into my soul. She started talking with a weak Chinese accent. She could at least try in her attempts.

"You are extremely tense. I've never seen anything like it." She rubbed the back of her head and looked at my back again. "Even my masseur has never seen the like." She backed away and limbered herself up by jogging in place. "I'll have to get Aloe for the special massage."

"Special...massage?" I repeated. "You aren't going to walk on my back, are you?" 

The mare gestured the nervous massager to go get 'Aloe' then turned to me and shook her head. "No. Nothing like that."

The pink one arrived, as though on cue. These two were Aloe and Lotus, apparently. Sounds like a brand of shampoo, honestly. They took their time talking about my back, so much so that I just wanted to get up and wobble out of here. The two walked to my sides, stretched their hooves, and pushed haaaaaaaaaaard into my back!  I have no idea how I couldn't feel anything, unlike their own muscles.

"Amazing," the blue one wheeze. "I've never had to work with such tense muscles, Aloe.

"Me neither, Lotus," the other responded. She looked at me. "What HAVE you been doing to yourself?"

I exhaled loudly. "Well, I've had YEARS to perfect my back," I chuckled.

"That would explain a lot," Lotus said. 

I heard a loud crunch and bounced on the table, thinking they broke my back or something. The fear dissipated as quickly as I felt my body lightening.

"Found it!" the pink one congratulated herself. "It was near her heart..."

"Is that bad?" Rarity asked.

I forgot she was here.

Aloe shrugged. "Not sure. It's still a unique case."

For some reason, I was smiling like I was taken to Heaven to rest on its fluffy clouds. I could finally appreciate the massage I was given. I couldn't help but slowly drift off into a daze: Half awake and half asleep. Rarity woke me up some time later, telling me the massage was over. Still sluggish from the sudden awakening, I hopped off the table and followed Rarity outside. I had never felt so full of energy in my entire life. So, while the moment had ended, I got to continue savoring this sweet 'champagne'.

"So it seems you liked the last part there," Rarity told me with a sly grin.

"N-no," I responded nervously.

Rarity scoffed. "Everypony could see you loved the massage." She a put a hoof to her chin and appeared concerned for a moment. "Although I must admit that crack was...frightening. Are you sure you didn't feel anything?"

"Surprisingly...no." I shrugged. 

"Hmm. Interesting, but also slightly disturbing." She chuckled nervously.

"I think I'll just go back to the library," I said. "It's down there, right?"

Rarity nodded. "Have a good rest of the day, Silver."

I was expecting her to want to change Silver's hair style, but it's been this way since the start and I'll never let anyone change it unless I decide so. I suppose it was for the best that she not bring it up. As for the giant tree serving as a library, I still didn't know how it worked. Entering it just added to the illogic functionality of it. Twilight was rearranging the books with her magic while the angry iguana passed me without looking at or greeting me.

"Silver?" Twilight called out. She turned to see me, and her face lit up. "How did it go with Rarity?"

"It was...okay..." I trailed off.

"Well, it looks like you softened up a bit, at least. A mare like you shouldn't walk around so tense all the time."

"What's it to you?" I said angrily.

"It's to me that I'm worried about you, is all. You're a pony that came from nowhere with apparently nothing to your name." She picked up a book with her...telekinesis and floated it up and down. "I tried looking you up in as many records of as many towns and cities that we had access to and found nothing." She put it back in a pile on the floor and frowned. "Since you don't want to tell me anything, I'll help you out as much as I can." She looked at me with a warm smile. "That's just how the ponies in Ponyville work...most of the time," she chuckled.

I don't know why, but what she said didn't...work for me. It's like my brain received the package she said but the address wasn't for it. No. What she said wasn't true. People weren't just nice for the sake of being nice. They do it if they want something in return, like those two ponies at the spa, and Rarity. The spa ponies do that to attract new customers and get more money, and the marshmallow likely did that to get me to come model for her crappy dresses or something.

I grabbed my head and heaved a long sigh. "I have a headache...I need a book to read and a bed to rest in while I do that. Can I just borrow some books?"

"Of course!" Twilight agreed energetically. She levitated some books down as to the preferences I shared with her. "Also, since you don't have a place to sleep, I've arranged an agreement with the mayor so that you can stay here until we find you a house and-or your family."

I held the books under my bent foreleg. Walking with four was hard enough, but three? I snorted at the prospect of finding my 'family'. "Don't bother. They're all dead," I told her dryly.

"Wh-what? That can't be true!"

"Let me correct myself." I cleared my throat. "They're dead to me."

She frowned. "That's not a very nice thing to think."

"Too bad." I scratched the back of my head with my hoof after placing the books gently on the floor. "And I can't just mooch off of you here without contributing."

The unicorn waved a hoof at me. "Nonsense. You don't need to worry about a thing. I'm given more than enough." She tapped her chin. "Well, when you get settled in, you could try helping around the library if it really bothers you that much. Until then, you'll have to sleep next to Spike."

"Spike?" I asked.

"My baby dragon. Did you already forget?" Twilight wondered with a raised brow.

"Oh...I did."

She shook her head and walked away. "I'm going to bring you a mattress and its amenities. I hope you don't mind too much. It's better than sleeping on the floor."

I had to agree with her there. While I waited for Twilight to come back and set up the mattress, I sat at a small table and started to read them. I didn't really know what time it was, so I just looked at the sun in the sky and assumed it to be one p.m. . It was one of those situations where something useless learned in school had its one and only use in life used up. Lots of using there. By the time I was done reading, I realized it was night time and everyone was going to bed. I had been so embroiled in the reading that Twilight lit a few candles around me. 

I did learn of something...interesting in these books. What were they called again? Pegasi? Unisi...No. Alicorns! Two of them! One representing the sun and another the moon. The moon's tale was a tragic one for sue, but imagining that they actually existed? That brought a strange tingle of fear along my spine.

I decided to take a break and lie down on the mattress Twilight set out for me on the library floor. Getting the blanket over me was a struggle all its own. I still couldn't believe my predicament. This was like some kind of strange and horrible nightmare. Because of the niceties I was being given, I decided to apologize to Spike.

"Spike? I called out." 

"What is it?"

Seems he wasn't asleep after all. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier."

He rolled over to face me. "Well, I don't like what you said nor how you acted, but I suppose I can forgive you...for now." 

There was a long, awkward silence. "So are you really a dragon?"

"Of course I am! What else could I be? And don't say 'lizard'!" he blurted. 

I closed my mouth. "I don't know, but where I'm from, dragons are awe-inspiring monsters of might and power, and there can be many different types. Without wings, and walking on two legs, I couldn't figure out what you were."

He seemed full of pride after what I said. "I'm going to grow my wings in the future," he corrected. 

"Can you breathe fire?" 

Spike nodded. "Only a bit, and it's magic fire, too. I use it to send messages to the princesses."

We both exchanged a few more words before Spike went to sleep, leaving me to stare at the ceiling, and then my hooves.

"I still don't understand why I'm here. What should I do? Try to go home or stay here if they really are different from...home. Well, I've always trusted you, Silver. Let's see where you take me."
> Disturbing thoughts(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight leaned over the ledge of her 'room'  and called out to me. Her yell startled me awoke, letting me see the early sun right behind her and the tired eyes she was sporting. Apparently, I was throwing myself about in my sleep, as attested by the blanket strewn around me in twists and bends. Spike thought it funny to fall asleep on my stomach, with his smelly feet in my face.

"Ew!" I complained as I pushed the li...dragon off of me.

He woke up in confusion, looking around for what the cause was while Twilight laughed at our predicament, making me furrow my eyebrows into a near monobrow.

"Looks like Spike found a place to rest his feet after all," the unicorn spoke behind a stifled laugh.

Spike looked to his feet, then me, and gave a sheepish smile in return. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright. I'll just...go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out." 

I looked around, and the two pointed to a wooden door on the side of a wall next to a bookshelf. I walked towards it as calmly as I could, but I realized I hadn't gone since yesterday, so my bladder felt like it was about to explode. I don't want to remember how it worked, but I had trouble figuring out how to even go to the bathroom in this bizarre body. After what felt like half an hour of trying to just sit on a toilet, I went to the kitchen, hoping to make myself a sandwich or something. My damnable curiosity got the best of me when I saw the two packing food in bags hanging off of Twilight's back.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh! That's right! I didn't tell you. Spike and I were invited to Applejack's house for breakfast."

I narrowed my eyes. "Applejack? Isn't that some kind of alcohol?"

"What? No," Twilight said. "She's my friend."

"Oh...And?"

"She's a farmpony that lives on the edge of Ponyville. Her grandmother makes the BEST apple pies." She started drooling.

"Watch your bodily fluids!" I shouted at her.

Twilight broke from her trance and wiped her mouth while I backed off, disgusted. "Sorry. Well, she's also one of the most honest ponies I know, and she's pretty tall for a mare, too."

I sat on my butt and pretended to hold onto shirt straps. "Ah suppose she's one of them, hardworkin' types wot done carry a large hat 'pon their cranium and don't want no folk ta be divided."

Twilight looked at me as though I was crazy. "Th...that's right, but why are you talking like that?"

I slumped back onto my forelegs. "Oh great. The reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln is a farm pony in another dimension. Nothing. Just having my fun."

"We're going to eat with her family, not just her." She started counting off her hoof...somehow. "There's Granny Smith who I just talked about, her big broth Macintosh, but everyone calls him Big Macintosh, and her little sister Apple Bloom."

"Gee, sounds like they have an apple theme. That'd be CRAZY though," I thought to myself sarcastically. "Soooo, you're going toooo..."

"Their farm. If you want, you can come with us," Twilight suggested. She scratched her chin. "They even have zap apples, but I don't know if they're coming up now or later."

"Zap...apples?" I repeated. "What, you have apples made of lightning now?" I shook my head. "Weird-ass world."

"N-no. They actually just looking like lightning bolts, to an extent." Twilight started drooling. "But zap-apple jam is sublime when you taste it for the first time." She sighed. "It's a shame there's only a specific time of the year that they're available, though." She looked back to me. "You should come with us and try them at the very least!"

I know how this works. The person insists until you abide and keep adding more and more seemingly 'positive' aspects until you give in. It's as much of a convincing tale as saying a fictional beast presented incorrectly is 'correct' because that's how they would be in reality. Forgetting 'fiction' seems a common trait in my life right now, though. That being said, the characters in this world weren't fictional doodads I could modify on a piece of paper, and I would never manage to get Twilight to leave me alone. With a nudge from Spike, I relented and growled my acceptance.

We left the tree-library-house...and possibly many other roles I wasn't aware of, with Spike tugging my foreleg outside into the bright sun. He let me go when we were outside, letting Twilight lock the door and put up a sign stating they were closed for the day. Not sure she would need to. No one goes to libraries nowadays. Ha. Spike and I started talking about dragons and the like as a way to pass the time on our way to the farm. He seemed to like my imaginary dragons, and I found it a good way to forget the situation I was in. Pff. I'd always be brought back to this perverse warping of reality eventually.

"So, say that I had fins, but also wings, that I can manipulate water, but can't stay out of it for a long time. What kind of dragon would that make me?" Spike asked me.

"Well, for you to dry up out of water, you wouldn't have scales. Soooo..." I looked up while thinking. "You'd have a thick, flexible skin. Not sure what purpose the wings would have other than to just move from home-to-home or hunting." I shrugged. "Aquatic sky dragon? Maybe they were removed because they endangered both the sky and seas."

"But dragons eat gems," Twilight retorted.

"You can't sustain yourself on pretty rocks alone," I stated in bored monotone. She scoffed and looked at me sideways. "Hey, is that the farm?" I asked.

"That's it," Twilight confirmed.

What a farm! Trees as far as the eye could see, and farther still! I never saw such a massive plantation before. At the entrance of the farms, in front of opened wooden gates and under an arch, stood an orange pony. For some reason, she was wearing a cowboy hat. I...suppose they could wear those hats if they wore clothes? How was that even relevant? Do they use tiny dragons as their cowboys or do they ride another creature for that sort of thing?

"Howdy, Twi!" she greeted the unicorn. And she has a country twang. I can already feel my head being attracted to a deep hole to hide in. "Howdy ta you too, Spike." She rubbed his head rather violently, then looked at me. " 'N who might you be?" she asked.

"This is Silver," Twilight said. "She's living with me until we can find her a place to live."

The cowpony...that sounds stupid. The...Ugh, cowpony grabbed my foreleg and shook it enough that I thought I felt like I had shell shock afterwards.

"Pleased ta meet ya," she said.

"So where should we go, Applejack?" Twilight asked.

Applejack pointed to a slight elevation further away. "Granny Smith 'n Big Mac 're over there on that small hill. Best place fer seein' the sun when it rises over the hill." She adjusted her hat. " 'Course, it's already gone up, but still."

"We're eating outside?" I asked.

"Yup!" Applejack answered. "Best place ta eat. The fresh air gives the food a better taste and brings out the flavor of the apples."

I followed after the group, struggling to get up the hill and falling on my face quite a few times in the process. I reached the picnic with a grassy face full of grass. An old, wrinkly pony was waiting on a large, plain white sheet on the ground. It was overtaken by a huge variety of apple treats. Pies, pancakes filled with applejam or applesauce, apple muffins, apple scones...they seem a little too addicted to apples. Anyways, I started eating after we sat down, with everyone but me exchanging words. However, since I hadn't eaten since yesterday, I had some extreme cramps, and Applejack laughed at me when I scoffed everything down.

"Ya sure like yer Apples, Silver," he said.

"I haven't eaten since yesterday," I said between gasps. "I think any normal person would be stuffing their face like a hole in this scenario."

Twilight stopped midway into a piece of pie, choking on it in realization, and the two apple ponies looked at her.  "Whoops...I'm so sorry, Silver. I hadn't expected company. It completely flew past me."

Someone...apologizing to me? Unusual. "It's...okay," I said.

There were a few more minutes of silence before Twilight broke the silence. "Where's Big Macintosh?" she asked.

I choked on my salad when she said 'macintosh'. Spike tapped me on the back and asked if I was okay. I nodded and waved him off. I suppose Applejack has a cousin or someone called 'Small Windows'. Hyuk hyuk. That thar's a knee-slapper.

"He's in the orchards. Said somethin' about finishin' his work yesterday." She wiped her mouth with a foreleg. Use a napkin, you country bumpkin. "Should be gettin' back later."

I was taken out of my apple-induced semicoma by loud stomping far different from the light steps these tiny ponies would do. Every step became louder and louder, shaking the hill violently. I shot up, looking around everywhere, thinking that I'd be seeing Godzilla roaring past the horizon. Its theme even started playing in my head with every step.

"Ah, there's Big Mac!" Applejack said.

A massive red stallion wearing a harness popped up from beyond the hill's lower angle. He was truckin' a wagon full of apples behind him for some reason. I felt...strange looking at him.

Applejack sighed and rubbed her temples. "Big Mac, ah told ya ta get some barrels with ya. Now they're just exposed ta the elements. Can't survive if they're rottin' away from the tree!"

"Ah know, but ah couldn't find none."

"Feeling sweaty."

"Couldn't...they're all over the place!" the farm pony berated.

"So ah felt a little lazy taday. Ah still got the apples!" the red pony replied.

"Having trouble breathing."

"Uhhh, SIlver? Are you okay?" Twilight asked me.

"Heartbeat tripled...Ow...Ow...Ow...Wait a minute...Sweaty, sore through, and increased heart rate.

Silver_Brain.exe has encountered an error and must shut down.

"Silver? Hey, Silver!" Spike yelled as he snapped his fingers. 

With what Spike told me, I was apparently frozen as a statue and staring into the abyss. I was also frowning with my eye twitching. Afterwards, I bolted upright and rushed back to Ponyville, kicking up a path of dust and dirt on my way out of the farm.
> Rage will engage(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found myself in the middle of a forest, my mind's cogs still impeded by some random obstruction. I laid down against a tree and balled myself up like a cat against it. My face became damp, and I quickly realized I was crying. I hadn't cried in years. I was certain my tear ducts had packed up and left for more fertile lands. Who would have guess I would hate my situation? I was content where I was. It was my life! This wasn't it!

First, I'm turned into Silver; A FEMALE pony. Then, I'm thrown into this horrid world, and now I'm starting to find...stallions attractive. I grabbed my head and shook it as tears dripped from my overly damp face like a towel imbibed with too much water. Was I losing myself to some errant, warped manifestation of Silver? This isn't how I imagined her, and I WOULDN'T LET THAT HAPPEN! I decide my path, and I've come too far to disappear now.

I've gone through trials that Olympians couldn't pass, and I've been attacked by nearly everything in existence and came out stronger for it. I'm also not exaggerating at all. I still don't know why I'm here, and I don't know why these ponies are being so 'nice'. Is it a ploy against me? Do they want something from me? If I was a paranoid conspiracy theorist, I'd say the two who brought me into this...er, my 'old' world had something to do with this. Worse was my heart racing and the shuddering I would get when I'd think of that giant red pony. It was a feeling of disgust and warmth. As a man, I found this form of 'attraction' disturbing and repulsive, especially when it wasn't my kind of thing. 

I smacked the sides of my head and took several deep breaths to calm my nerves. Staying in the forest would be a good idea, I reckon. Maybe it'll keep Silver's body from affecting me further. I screamed, and several creatures ran away from their hiding spots under the rotting leaves and branches. Some leaves fell in my hair from the trees flying out of their nests as well. What could have caused such an reaction from me? My damn brain thought it'd be funny to create a scenario where I was married with the tomato. Disgusting.

With tears finally petering out and my body shaking life a leaf in a storm, I tried to stand. I didn't get to without something moving near me. A thorn caught my attention, and as I followed it, I realized it was attached to some semitransparent branch with star-life dots sprinkled in it. It was the tail of a freakin' giant scorpion! It pulled its tail back to impale me but missed just barely, scraping a large chunk of my fur off my body. It roared, deafening me briefly and prompting me to get the hell out of there. Of course, it had to chase after me, uprooting trees and the like in a rage while I still fumbled about with my new feet. Like an idiot, I ended up trapped against a massive boulder, but did the scorpion care? Noooo!

It found it more fun to grab me and body slam through the rock, turning it into rubble and large chunks. That hurt a lot! I could feel blood leaking from my head and saw it drip and stain the transparency of the weird monster. Thinking it would kill me when I'd only been here for two days likely put me in a rage. I stomped hard on the claw, many many times, but it did nothing. That's when it pulled me to its face, like an idiot, so I punched it in an eye. It yelped in pain then launched me at a tree, but I couldn't feel much of the pain from my rage and frustration. 

Adrenaline coursed through me, impairing my perceptions of pain and fear. I inched slowly towards it to aggravate it, and it worked. The scorpion roared at me, struck at me four times with its stinger and ended up stuck in one of the boulder's pieces. Angry, I punched its tail to the same efficiency as earlier, so I took a rock to my mouth, put it next to the stinger, then kicked that sucker really hard several times until it broke the stinger off. The creature retracted its tail instantly, screeching in pain. I could see blood and some type of misty substance leaking from the wound, distracting me to the scorpion grabbing me again and slamming me against the ground. It must've broke something or several somethings, but I didn't care. I just needed to kill it. All that went through my mind at the moment was 'kill, kill, kill'! 

I hopped onto its face, narrowly dodging most attacks by the wounded tail and sharp claws, but it kept nicking me and cutting me. I'd rather that than getting crushed into a pulp or chopped up like a salad. I punched and punched as hard as a I could, likely hitting its eye or eyes several times since it threw me off, covered its head with its claws, and rushed off in a hiss. I blacked out shortly thereafter, forgetting that a giant bug-spider still has venom. Idiot. When I awoke, I was within another tree-turned-house surrounded by the rancid odor of litter and animals. 

I had been tucked into a couch and I found it to be...rather comfy. Checking around, I noticed a bunch of birdhouses, cat trees, and an assortment of wooden planks and tiny cabins housing a bunch of different animals. Sitting across from me was a...winged pony...a pegasus, maybe? I don't know. They're likely stupid enough to call themselves like that. I wanted to get out of there sneakily, but the adrenaline had long since worn off and I could feel severe pain aching through my body, grunting loudly from it. The yellow pony noticed while she had a bag in her mouth, dropped, and flew towards me with a worried expression plastered on her face. I wanted to push her away, but I felt something sting me in the heart and render my body numb. It almost felt like someone was pouring oil over my bones. It wasn't even a pain. Whatever had caused this was not something I could understand.

"Why do giant bug-spiders still have venom?" I groaned loudly through clenched teeth.

I blacked out again from the pain, and the next thing I know, I'm on a pile of pillows of various colors and sizes...and smells. Thick wooly blankets were draped over me, and on them slept a few cats and rodents. On a wooly blanket. The itchy blankets. The scratchy blankets. The ones I hate above all. I was about to throw the covers off of me when I saw two eyes invading my person space.

"AAAAAAAH!" I screamed. "What's wrong with you?!" I shouted.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I was just worried is all," the yellow pony said. I slid back from her slightly and felt the animals sleeping on the bed shift in discomfort. "You were in such bad shape! I had to clean you up and keep you immobile so your..." She cleared her throat. "Bones would set back in."

"Where am I?" I asked. "And what's with all these...ssss...creatures?"

"I forgot to introduce you. You passed out again really quickly." She lowered herself then raised a tiny scorpion on her hoof. It waved to me and I freaked out.

"Keep that thing away from me!" I shouted.

"No no! It's okay! He and his family helped me make the best antidote I could to help you with that...um, exchange. It didn't neutralize the problem, but it helped let your body fight it." The yellow pony smiled and lowered the scorpion. "As for where you are, you're in my home, and the animals are because I take care of them."

"How exactly did I get here, anyways?" I pushed more of the covers off of me, the more I could move. "I don't imagine you were wandering about looking for giant scorpions."

"You don't remember? You wandered out of the woods yourself, but you weren't responding to me when I called to you." She turned around and fed some of the squirrels with nuts from the bag she dropped earlier. "She brought a doctor to help you out, but they left you here since moving you would be too dangerous. The doctor said it's a miracle you survived the scorpios at all."

"The what-pios?" I repeated to an extent.

"A scorpios. It's like an ursa major."

I blinked several times. "What, like the constellation?" 

She nodded. So, constellations are monsters now. Do the Greek gods wander around, too? What's next, Cerberus?

"You scared us quite a lot," someone said from the entrance of the house. It was Twilight. "After you ran off for no reason, Spike and I chased after you. I thought somepony with mobility problems like you would only be able to waddle off, not bolt away like an arrow!"

Spike ran up to me to see how I looked. He poked me in a bandaged side, making me yelp in pain. "Wow. You're really hurt," he teased.

I swiped a leg at him, but he dodged it, unfortunately. Would've liked to see him reel in the same pain. Would've really helped with the throbbing headache I have, headache which was amplified by Twilight talking to me in some kind of 'concerned' tone.

"Silver," she started. She looked away then gulped. "You were...crying while you were asleep."

I looked away. "Because I was in a lot of pain."

"You were unconscious," she said. "You wouldn't have been crying the way you were from just pain."

"It was the pain," I insisted.

"But--"

"STOP DIGGING!" I yelled.

Twilight retreated from me. I despize when people try to use psychology on me. I had many approach me when I was in school, always saying the same things, and Twilight's approach was no different. I won't let her 'reach' me because there's nothing for her to reach! She kept trying to reach out to me while I kept my silence, but after a while, I just couldn't deal with her attempts to pry into my private life anymore.

"I'm sorry that I'm making you uncomfortable, Silver, but I want to know what's wrong. It's part of, what I believe is, my duty to help out anypony I can." 

I stared her in the eyes, and her 'warm' and 'caring' smile boiled my blood even further. "There's nothing wrong," I started quietly. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I bellowed.

Spike and Twilight both scurried out of the door, terrified of my yelling. I winced in pain from it. My lungs pushed against my broken bones when they reinflated. I didn't regret what I had done. Not in the slightest. She was prying where she wasn't wanted, and continued to do so when I told her to stop. I hate people who insist on annoying you when you tell them to to stop. Through my anger I noticed the yellow pony in the corner of my eye. The one I took for a fraidy wuss actually stood her ground and didn't react to my yelling with anything more than a scowl.

"What do you want?" I grumbled at her.

"Nothing. You can still stay here until you feel better, and while I don't approve of the way you talked to my friend, I understand that you're frustrated and have problems." She ruffled her wings. "And you have the venom still going through your system."

"I don't have any problems," I grumbled when I looked away.

"I forgot to mention, but my name is Fluttershy." She bowed a little. "I'm pleased to meet you and hope we can at least become friendly acquaintances in the future." She cleared her throat. "You'll have to thank Twilight for saving you in the future as well. After all, she helped pull out as much of the poison that hadn't been absorbed by your body as she could."

She returned to tending to her animals and humming, as though nothing had even happened. I squirmed to get back underneath the covers, content that my yells scared off the animals as well. I had as much room as I could, letting me slip off into a comfortable sleep, my fur still matted in tears.
> Pink Baloons(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hoped I would wake up in my cabin, but I was still in Fluttershy's house. Crap. I was expecting her to kick me out afterwards, but the only thing welcoming me were a few birds and a bowl of colorful fruit salad. The bowl was emptied in seconds, and yet my hunger was still digging through my stomach, unable to be sated. Everything was illuminated by the sun outside, so whether I had slept only a few hours or a whole day was known by the pegasus only. I tried to move a bit, wary of my wounds, but they seemed to have disappeared. Maybe things heal faster in this world? It was becoming interesting...b-but I still hate it! That won't change!

There were still some tinges of pain in my body when I moved, but there was something suppressing the pain to a minimum. It couldn't be adrenaline. That'd make no sense, right? The wooden door opened with a loud creak, but nothing around seemed to notice, letting me scout around. There was only a stone bridge vaulting over a slow river beneath it, and the dirt pathway leading to and from it would get me away from this weird cat lady. I took a peek behind the wall to see that the yellow pony was tending to a lion...A lion. What. Two eyes met with mine when I turned my head. They belonged to a blue pegasus hovering in the air and looking at me with a frown.

"So you're 'Silver'," she said.

"What's it to you?" I asked in return.

"I heard you yell all the way to Cloudsdale!" she complained loudly.

I furrowed my brows. "Clouds...dale? Is that a restaurant?"

Her wings stopped flapping for just a microsecond, and she stared at me, slack jawed. "What? No! It's the city up there!" She pointed to a large mass of clouds. I squinted at them and put on a fake smile.

"That's a very nice cloud," I say mockingly.

The color-loving pony stared at me with a bemused expression. "Look closely, numbskull."

I stared for a moment, and right when I was about to look away, COINCIDENTALLY, some clouds poofed away, and I see a bunch of the pegasuseses flying about towers of clouds floating slowly through the air. That's impossible.

"How can you live in clouds?" I shouted in disbelief. "What is that?!"

The pony shook her head. "Pegasi can live on clouds." She flapped her wings quickly for a moment. "How do you NOT know that?!" she yelled. She acted like it was obvious to me. "Everypony knows that." 

Again with that stupid 'ponyism' thing. "I've no idea how I was supposed to know. Excuuuuuuuuuuuse me," I answered.

Somehow, I felt that this one was a snooty egocentrist, and yet... "Well, you don't seem like you could be from around here." She rubbed her chin. "I'd say it's a stretch, but you're probably from someplace with no pegasi." She flew onto her back, hovering in that position somehow, with forelegs behind her head and hind legs crossed. "But I don''t know how anypony could live somewhere without us."

Fluttershy flew over to us and greeted the blue pony. Looks like we were too loud. "Hi, Rainbow Dash," she said.

"Hey," she said. "So who's this supposed to be?" she asked while pointing to me.

The yellow pony looked up and hummed before giving my name. "This is Silver."

The blue one stared at Fluttershy and readjusted herself. "What, that's it? Just 'Silver'?" She shrugged. "Alright."

I really want to hurt her. "And your name?"

"Rainbow Dash!" she touted. "Best flyer in Equestria."

Eyhhch. Egocentrist alright. "Yeah. Sure. A bold claim," I emphasized with narrowed eyes.

She became annoyed. "What? I'm totally the fastest!" Her tail flicked every which way erratically.

"Rainbow, you don't need to--" Fluttershy started.

"No! I'm going to prove that I'm the best! Rainbow Dash doesn't make empty boasts!" She looked around and smiled. "You see that giant cloud up there?" she asked me.

"Yeah? What about it?" I asked.

"I'll get rid of it in ten seconds flat." She clapped her forehooves together and rubbed them. 

"Impossible!" I said. "You can't--"

My mouth was left in its position when she took off in a streak of colors. I don't know how long it was, but she certainly cleared it in seconds. I've seen massive clouds, and to see her take them out so quickly was...

She bolted in front of me, her chest heaving with effort. "Ha! How's that?"

"But how--"

"Fastest flier," she interrupted. "That's all there is to it." She finished with a big smile.

I was annoyed with her attitude and ground my teeth against each other audibly. Unfortunately, my want to yell at her was interrupted by my thoughts on what I did to Twilight and Spike. But...why do I care? I couldn't care less if someone hated me or not. That wouldn't change from how I always grew up. And yet...it just didn't feel...right.

"Are you okay, Silver?" Fluttershy asked.

"I...need to find Twilight and Spike," I trailed off.

"Why?"

"Because I yelled at Twilight earlier."

"Why would you yell at her?" Rainbow asked.

"It's...complicated."

"Oh really?" She crossed her forelegs and glared at me. "I'd like to hear this story where you yelled at my friend."

I could feel my blood boiling. She was really starting to irritate me now.

"Rainbow, I think it's best that you leave her alone," Fluttershy suggested from the side.

The rainbow mare shrugged. "Fine. I'll drop it, but I don't want her hurting my friends."

There was a pause between speech, with the sounds of nature and Rainbow's wings flapping being the only things to reach our ears.

"Do you know where Twilight is?" I asked Rainbow.

She casually started cleaning out her ear. "Yeah, she's at--" Her eyes shot open. "Oh no!"

"What?"

Rainbow ignored me and pulled a white card from thin air and handed it to Fluttershy. "Here, it's an invite by Pinkie Pie for her party."

"Oh, well, thank you, Rainbow Dash. If you're going there right now, please tell Pinkie Pie I'll be a bit late."

"What do I do, then?" I asked. Rainbow looked at me, then a sinister smile grew across her face. "I'll help you there since you want to apologize to Twilight!"

"WAIT!"

My cry was met with deaf ears, and I soon found myself flying through the air like a bullet, with my eyes watering and my lips pushed away by the gale. I thought I was getting compressed by the speeds, but instead, we stopped in front of...a gingerbread house. Where's the evil witch and the two fat kids? It had a bunch of patterns made from frosting all over and its windows and support pillars seemed to all be made from pastries. And tons of ponies were going in it. Ugh. I hate crowds. While Rainbow lowered me, I got intercepted by a pink pony that just injected itself with sugar. Nothing gets you rushin' like sugar injected DIRECTLY INTO THE BLOODSTREAM!

"Hiiii! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she shouted at me. She waved her foreleg enthusiastically. Her eyes widened and she gasped hard enough that there was no more air for me to breathe in. Many a coughing fit. "I didn't know there was somepony new yet! I'll have to throw you a party after this party! A welcoming party."

Before I could say anything, Rainbow Dash flew between us, literally. "Pinkie Pie, she just wants to talk to Twilight."

"Really?" Her mane fluffed up on its own several times while she thought deeply...probably about sniffing sugar. "I think she's inside eating cake with Spike near the counter."

The pink one dragged me against my will, once more today, and tossed me over the massive crowd to land triangularly near my two targets. My fe...hooves waved about and I banged against the counter painfully. That hurt, especially considering my wounds! The loud music and cheering filled me with contempt. The only time I had ever been invited to a party was for mockery, but I expected such a thing. I grabbed some castor oil I had purchased earlier that day and dumped it in their car engines. I still remember that night fondly when none of them could start their cars.

I did my best to imitate Fluttershy, using those big eyes these monstrous bodies have. It worked for her animals, so why not on talking animals? They said nothing and continued eating.

"I...wanted to say 'sorry' for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have yelled at you two." I kicked a few crumbs on the floor. "My only excuse, if it even is one, is that I've been going through some rough times recently. And...well, I'd rather leave it at that."

Twilight the last piece of cake and wiped her mouth with a tissue. If she was going to act high and mighty, then I was leaving.

"Silver, I accept your apology, but I'm partly to blame as well," she explained.

"I know, b-What."

She nodded to herself. "I pushed questions on you when you were in a very bad state. I should have been more considerate of the situation." She coughed a few times. "Anypony in your situation would have done the same thing."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "I still shouldn't have acted the way I did. It was...unfair. "What is wrong with me? Why am I acting this way? This is VERY out of character for me."

"So," she started. "Will you accept my apology and, possibly, friendship?"

I felt my brain hard reset. Friend...ship? What was that? No one wanted to be my friend before. There's foul play at foot here! But...what if she's sincere? She couldn't be. I refuse such a thought!

"I...y...Sure."

I couldn't understand what I was feeling here. Joy? Contempt? Constipation? Probably constipation.

Twilight chuckled. "We'll have to work on your side of 'friendship', though."

"We can be friends too, Silver," Spike suggested nervously.

I remained stiff, my eyes wide. "Uhh, s-sure."

Should I start using 'pony' now? What if I kept using correct words and get found out for what I am? How would they even react to a male turned into a female pony? They wouldn't take it lightly and I wouldn't be able to live it down. That's one of the reasons I refuse to tell anyone. That and the almighty 'princess-gods' of their whom I know nothing truly about. It was already tough enough getting used to every single thing about this body, even the more repulsive bits, but if they learn about me, what'll happen? And of course, I had to be taken out of my thoughts by Pinkie Pie grabbing my tail and pulling me towards a game she liked. I think it was...pin the tail on the...manticore? What kind of stupid game is this? It's for kids!

"Why is this here?" I asked Pinkie while pointing to the game on the wall.

"Duh! No Pinkie Party is complete without a few games, and this is a simpler party." She winked. "Why not try it? Here, I'll help you!" 

She took a blindfold out of somewhere, covered my eyes, put a tail in my ha...hoof, spun me around, then directed me to the wall. I was more trying to find my way around than play that stupid game. When I slammed my hoof into something solid, I pulled the blindfolds off to see I stabbed the manticore in the head. Oddly satisfying.

"Awww, you were so close!" Pinkie Pie said. "How about a dance to feel better?"

"A what?" I said with disgust.

"A dance, silly! Look."

She started moving around strangely with her weird body, things that I refused to do. After a while, and unluckily for me, this pink pony grabbed me by the fore hooves and started to perform a duo dance. It was hard enough to walk, now I had to dance on my hindlegs. It was...discomforting, but not unpleasant, somewhat. The other guests joined in, and I was stuck between groups of dancers. A bizarre world to be sure. Silver came into thought all of a sudden. I wonder if she planned this for me all along. Soon, but not soon enough, Pinkie let go of me and brought us outside to watch her fireworks since the night had settled in. I never like those things. They always made sudden and loud noises that scared me, and I would have gotten used to that had a firework not landed near me and explode, burning me some. Sure, it was small, but even at the distance thereof it hurt like hell. Just to be absolutely sure it wouldn't happen, I sat next to Spike and Twilight nestled in a patch of ankle-high grass. One of the fireworks caused me to flinch, and it faded with a loud crackling.

A thought crossed my mind and I silently giggled to myself. "Twilight Crackle."

The fireworks became brighter and bigger or more numerous, the simple blasts of color turning into more elaborate shapes with no realm form. The colors would go from a blazing blue to a dim red as the sparks ran down. The last firework...scared me. It took the shape of my-no. Silver's head.

"How did she do that in such a short time?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"That's Pinkie Pie for you," Spike noted dismissively. "She's really fast."

"Maybe too fast," I thought aloud. I was suspicious.

"Trust me, Silver. You DON'T want to try and understand how she works," Twilight suggested. "You'll end up bruised and crazy in the end."

"I'll keep that in mind," I muttered. I noticed some yellow dots shining in the sky on the horizon and narrowed my gaze. "What're those yellow fireworks?" I asked.

"Yellow? Those are...wait, those aren't fireworks. That's Princess Celestia's royal guard, and there's a lot of them!"

Pfff. Of course. I should've predicted this cliché. Guy comes from another dimension or something, and I do mean GUY, mingles with the locals, and then the leading powers get a word on him and come to capture him. I would expect to die, well, but I refuse to be captured! I'm learning to much here to die already!
> Torn Fabric(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now I have to deal with giant pegasi that have the emotional range of a beach. One of them, which I found rather ironic, was glad in silver armor, contrasting with the golden ones around him. Looks like he wanted to stand out. Probably the bossman or something. Everyone watched him look about for something and caused a few ponies to jump from his sudden yelling.

"Is the mare called 'Silver' here?" he asked the crowd.

Everyone but the six I had met in unwanted personal contact pointed to me with their...hooves. The stallion walked towards me, his white fur chaffing against his rather ugly armor. The closer he got, the easier it became to see the blue jewels encrusted into the chest and helmet of his armor. His eyes were even bluer than the...jewels...though. 

"Oh no. It's happening again."

"By order of the princesses, you are placed under arrest and are to be escorted to Canterlot," he said with professionalism.

The ponies present gasped, but Twilight stepped up. "What did she do?" she asked.

The silver-armored pony shrugged. "I don't know, but the princesses gave us the direct order to take this mare to them." He stepped forward and applied his size to laud over Twilight. "So I suggest you stand down, Twilight Sparkle."

She gulped nervously and did her best to stand up straight. She was still too small to look at the stallion eye-to-eye. "I can't let you arrest her. She's done nothing wrong." I saw her lose her composure then look at me and scratch the back of her neck. "She might be a bit obtuse," she chuckled sheepishly. "But she hasn't harmed anypony so far."

Her defending me, albeit a bit weak at the end there, caught me by surprise. Only my grandfather ever stood up to me. Why would she protect a complete stranger who has been anything but polite to her and her friends?

The stallion sighed and shook his head. "That's not your choice to make, student of Celestia," he groaned. He was getting annoyed. "I have my orders, and you and the other elements are not to intervene."

"But--"

"That's enough!" he shouted. He glared at her with wide, angry eyes. He looked to the others that had accompanied him and nodded towards me without taking his eyes off of Twilight.

He clearly had a short temper, and with twenty-five of these armored ponies here, I had no way of properly escaping. But, I never said I'd let them take me away so easily. Give of them approached me with a rope in their mouths. One went behind me, giving me all the time I needed to kick him with my hind legs and send him flying! 

"Ow!" I shouted. "Armor hurts a lot!" My hooves were shaking from the sudden jolts of pain.

These ponies were going to become black-and-blue ponies if they wanted to cart me away! I should have been a bit more prepared or done martial arts, because the second they realized what had happened, they started behaving like Chinese acrobats. Hopping and bouncing everywhere, I was caught off-guard by two being launched forward by two other ponies being used as anchors. They hit me hard, and I flew against the wall, likely breaking whatever was used as the surface material. This gave me the perfect position to defend myself. I still managed to strike one in the gap under their neck, collapsing their esophagus and crippling them temporarily. That being said, two pegasi pulled out their wings and straightened them like...

"Did their wings just do that 'schwinging' noise like a sword on television?" I wondered aloud in disbelief. "That's stupid!"

The rainbow pony was clearly enjoying the sight and was cheering me on, and while that filled me with energy, it didn't stop the sudden, sharp pain I felt in the back of my neck. A hard sudden strike. I stumbled forward like a drunkard and fell against a table.

I tried speaking normally, but every word came out lazy and slurred. "Lemme guess: The silver armor guy."

"You guessed right," he answered angrily.

I thought I could anticipate his attacks, but skill trumped imagination here, and he was quick to punch my face and knock me down. Rolling out of the way was easy, but getting up? Well, I had trouble doing that...Before that stallion could attack me again, Rarity stepped in front while I wheezed through my wounded nostrils.

"Listen here, you brute!" she yelled. "You can't treat a lady that way!"

I felt my muscles contract from her calling me a 'lady'. At least, in this instance, it didn't really feel as annoying as before. Perhaps I was getting used to Silver's body.

"She attacked my guards when we were attempting to arrest her." The guard said. He leaned forward, pushing against Rarity's muzzle with his own. "That gives me more than enough justification to employ force." There was a long moment of silence where the two exchanged aggressive looks. "Now step aside.

Rarity stomped her hoof down. "I will not!" she insisted. "Since you must really take here, then I insist that you do so without harming her." She looked to me and became concerned. "At least, no further than you already have." She got one of those shit-eating grins I'd seen on the internet so much. "Or would you rather explain to the princesses why a civilian got hurt during arrest?"

The guard didn't seem to react. I don't know why he just stared at the marshmallow with a blank stare, but I assume he was stuck between the rules he had to follow and the princesses he was meant to serve.

"Guards. Arrest her properly this time. And when we get to the castle, report the wounded to the infirmary," the silver guard ordered.

I was exhausted. I just couldn't find the strength to move, so the unicorns had no difficulty wrapping me up in rope like a cow during a rodeo. I was dragged outside and thrown aggressively into a barred cage. If they were still going to throw me into a cage, then what was the point of tying me up in a rope. Really redundant! The pegasi attached black ropes built into the cage's roof onto their harnesses while the few unicorns here did something to the cage itself. I saw their horns glow then engulf the cage in a blue light before dissipating. My slow ascent became far quicker afterwards. Not sure what they did.

Well, at least from up here, I could see what the world looked like down below. I saw Twilight and Spike run towards my cage, but by the time they wanted to say anything, it was too late. I couldn't hear them. Oh well. The lands below were just hilly swaths of grass and trees, but very few forests were present aside from the one I saw when I was taken to this world. I could swear that thing was moving on its own. Inching ever closer to Ponyville. Moving when no one was looking. Mmm. I could use that in a book.

Then we started approaching a mass of mountains sticking out of the land like silver-tipped fingers sparkling under the dim moonlight. I could see ponies waltzing about immediately below me, but I really have no idea what the hell they were doing at all. Worse still was some black figure that vanished into the mountain tops as soon as I spotted it. An adult dragon?! Were they dangerous or were like Spike and complete potatoes? 

Shivering was all I could do in this face of the taunting cold. Stupid air! Why does it have to be so cold up there? I don't even know why the princesses wanted to see me to begin with, let alone how they even knew about me. Were they upset that I hadn't paid my taxes or something? What taxes? I just got here. Bad ID? Hm. That would make more sense. The cage rattled, taking me out of my thoughts and letting me see a plethora of spires dug into the side of the mountains. How could they even make something like that? Wouldn't gravity just pull it down?

"Welcome to Canterlot," the silver-armored bastard announced. He sounded so arrogant. "We're approaching its castle as we speak, where you will be taken directly to the throne room to meet both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."

"I'm totally ecstatic about this impromptu meeting," I said sarcastically. 

He frowned even further, even baring his teeth some. I stuck my tongue out at him, but...When he looked away, I saw some strange glint in his eyes. A blackish-purple flame. Must've just been my panic causing hallucinations. A warm energy flowed through me from my torso and invigorating my limbs. What was that? What was causing it?

We finally landed in what I assumed to be the gardens, judging by the swaths of bushes trimmed into the shapes of pony musicians and warriors. Trees towered above them with swaying leaves and trembling branches leaving frightened shadows beneath them. 

I'm on a roll here!

I was taken out of my cage and dragged past the wooden doors of the castle entrance. The inner walls were a pure and clean white. Several ponies were cleaning everything with cloths and buckets and feather dusters. I scoffed at the sight. Just use mops and vacuum cleaners. Not hard. My little group went up two stretched steps to reach the main hallway where multiple rows of ponies could stand side-by-side in. Armor, old sculptures, plants made from shiny metals, and portraits decorated the walls and floors here. Very fancy. Too fancy for my tastes.

I was held in front of two red doors about three ponies wide and twenty tall. There was half a sun and half a moon in the middle of the two objects. It was...creative, I had to admit. Two giant ponies were waiting for me within the throne room. The two were standing atop a pedestal of sorts that took five steps to reach. Flanking the room were support pillars. Those, coupled with the stained-glass windows on the sides and in an indent at the end of the throne room made this place look like a cathedral.

"Leave us," the white one ordered sternly.

The guards bowed and moved away, closing the door with a loud creak and thunk. So these two giant turkeys were the 'alicorns' I was told about, then. Pretty sure the blue one is Luna and the white one Celestia. Pretty convenient to have such simple names. Makes everything easier to remember. Luna was going to say something until my loud grunts interrupted her thought pattern. With some effort, I finally managed to sit onto my rear and look at the two smugly.

"Lemme guess," I started. "I'm a threat to Equestria and must be destroyed? Or or maybe I'm your only hope at stopping some giant threat of one-dimensionality?" I petended to think deeply. "Or you want to imprison and-or banish me because some fish guts told yo that the future was dim with me in it."

I saw the blue one shrink a bit when I said 'banish'. The white one, however, glared at me even further. I could see her tensing up.

"No," she said.

"I take it you're Princess Celestia, right?" I looked to the pony next to her. "And you're Princess Luna?"

The blue one sighed and shook her head. "The adoration your little ponies have for us is disconcerting, sister."

Celestia rolled her eyes. She jumped, using her wings to gain more ground and landed in front of me with a loud thump. It was quite a far jump. Ten-outta-ten. "Don't play games with us, outsider," she warned. "I know you aren't of this world." She poked my chest. "And that you have something within you that doesn't belong in our world anymore."

I blinked several times, each blink an attempt at jump-starting my brain. "What are you talking about?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "There is no point in trying to hide it. We detected it and know you have it in you."

I shrugged as best as I could with this rope tied around me. "Okay. What do you want with it?" I mocked. "Planning on isolating me from society or something if I don't give whatever it is?" I asked with a raised brow.

"No," the blue one interjected. She was slowly walking towards her sister as she spoke. "The flow of magic through Equestria has been disturbed. Interrupted. Damaged. We had trouble figuring out the source until one of our spells finally functioned properly and we found you."

"We don't know who or what you are, exactly, but we know that your presence here is destabilizing both worlds judged by the effects you're starting to have on this one," Celestia added.

"Yeah. Sure," I laughed. "I'm the source. Just me. Someone who can't do any kind of magic or whatever mumbo-jumbo you keep talking about." The bruises on my body caused me to wince, but I still needed to laugh at them. For the greater good. "So what now? I think I exhausted all my ideas on what you'll do with me."

The two ponies looked at each other. "We need o kill you," the blue one announced.

The blood rushed from my face and turned cold in my body. "What?!"

"Since whatever you have seems fused to your soul, the only way to save both worlds is to destroy you completely." She raised her head, pooling energy into her horn. "And then we will be free to capture whatever thing is within you that is causing these disturbances.

"B-but, you don't have to kill me! There's other ways, isn't there. Whatever the problem is, I'm sure we can find a solution to it quickly."

"I am sorry, outsider, but all our attempts at separating you two have been met with failure," the blue one lamented. "No spells work, and those that managed to reach you were rendered inert by the thing within. Our power is not strong enough with these disturbances." She frowned. "We are truly sorry for this."

Scooching towards the doors was pointless. I wouldn't have been able to open them anyways. I just watched the two tyrants focus the light into their horns until it became bigger and bigger, the emissions blindingly me completely. I was starting to get used to this life. Having friends would have been an experience I would have learned to appreciate with time! If only that stupid silver armored guard had left me alone! If only those traitorous bastards hadn't ousted me at the party! I sighed and closed my eyes, mentally imagining that I was embracing Silver again as the princesses released their spell and I was engulfed in a white light once more.
> Restart button(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh boy. The sensation of death creeping on me for the second time. Soooooooo enjoyable. That feeling of my soul leaving my body as a hand on my shoulder pulled me away. Fun. Before I was taken away, the hand decided to slap me hard across the face and fly away laughing! How does a hand laugh?! My eyes shot open to see that a blue dome was blocking the magic of the princesses. The dome jittered like static while the beams of magic from the princesses did their best to pass through. The beams got so big that they looked like they were currents of colorful, toxic waste shot out from gigantic hoses. The magic was 'splashing' everywhere, damaging the stone and burning what resisted the pressure. My terror eventually went away, and I was left sitting and frowning at the scene before me.

"The fuck is this? A deus ex machina? What kind of shitty story-telling is this?" I complained. 

Another glow caught my attention, and I looked around until I found the source to be my flanks. The blue petals of the mark were gray again. The dome had expanded slightly more, pushing the princesses back. Looks like I had nothing to worry about if they can't even get through whatever this is. Although...my confidence is starting to wane. I didn't do this myself, and the sparks of their spells pounding against the shield are destroying everything around me and them. Finally, they gave up and stopped their spell. I could see they were breathing heavily, but not yet tired. Were they preparing another spell? A more powerful one?

The dome surrounding me started shrinking, and despite my protests, turned into some amorphous, glowing globe that waited in mid-air. I'm not sure, but I believe it was warning the princesses off, whatever it was. That...thing flew around me then hit me on the butt, making the petals blew again and disappearing in a puff of icy mist.

"What was that?" Celestia blurted.

"I don't know..." I mumbled. I suddenly remembered what had just happened and pointed at the two with a hoof. "You tried to kill me!"

"We had no choice!" Celestia replied. "You're a bundle of dynamite ready to be set off at any moment!"

Luna stepped in. "We tried every possible solution and nothing worked!"

I frowned. "So, instead of trying the solutions on me or trying something else, you would've just killed me?"

Celestia stood straight and glared at me with narrowed eyes. "And you would have let us experiment on you I imagine?" She leaned in closer. "Or you would have let is potentially kill you with them?"

I scoffed. "You're saying that you didn't want to try your solutions on me because I would die, when you just now tried to kill me?" I shook my head. "So the end result would've been the same regardless, then."

Celestia opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly and looked up. "I think we are caught in an impasse," Celestia said after facehoofing.

"It would seem so," Luna croaked.

"So what now? Are you going to try and kill me again?"

The two princesses hummed and cleared their throats while fiddling about in place.

"We are going to let you go and leave you in the care of Twilight Sparkle," the blue one explained.
"But," the white one started. "I will notify her of your chaotic properties. We don't need another god of chaos to deal with."

"God of chaos?" I repeated mockingly. I smirked. "I'm supposed to believe that gods of chaos wander your world?" The two just stared at me seriously, and my smile faded. "Wait what?!"

"On the side, I don't believe our spells managed to reach you." The blue one leaned forwardand rubbed her chin with her wing...somehow. "How did this happen?" she asked me.

"Your silver armored guard tried to kill me. That's how this happened," I explained while gesturing to my whole face with a hoof.

"Cyclon Opal?" Celestia said. She seemed socked.

"I suppose, if that's his name." I snorted inadvertently. "What a stupid name. A precious material. Ha ha! ...Now hold on just a sec there."

"Guards!" Celestia yelled as loudly as possible. 

I have no idea how she managed to yell so loudly that the whole room shook. "Why are you calling for them?"

"To have the guard in question explain himself."

I scoffed. "Why is this important to you? You both just tried to kill me!"

"It's a matter of principle," Luna replied. "We can't have a guard beating up an innocent. Those actions can run to us, and the ponies will start thinking that my sister and I are becoming less than ideal as rulers. We server the people. The people do not serve us."

A whole battalion...probably, rushed in, clinking and clanking and shining brightly. Celestia bellowed at them with the same strange voice she called them in with. Even Luna added in her own booming voice. I have no idea why there were so angry, but four guards hurried towards me and carried me to a wagon inside the castle grounds. My little chariot was flown off into the air, pulled by two pegasi. Only the pegasi didn't seem so stressed compared to the others that were being yelled at. I caught sight of some worm-goat statue in the gardens. An ugly thing for sure, but my flanks started stinging me when I noticed it. 

The cold wind soothed my aching button, although I think it would be more accurate to say that it was numbing it instead. I saw a large, white building grow bigger on our approach to Ponyville. The airspace around it was becoming more and more occupied, or my sight was just terrible and it was only now that I noticed so many ponies fluttering about like multicolored flies. I was hurried inside on a stretcher and placed into a room with a nurse to watch my every move. She was a jungle-green with a black mane kept in place by a hairband. The white gown she was wearing was red in some places, but most of the nurses had gowns like that, so the reasons for those splotches are numerous and worrisome. Not much happened here aside from the nurses and doctors poking and touching me. They held me down after I slapped the doctor and the nurses about twelve times each. They can hold me down, but they can't hold down my spirit!



The princesses were in the restricted part of the library, hidden away by the darkness and the dust floating through the air. They used tiny balls of light produced at the tip of their horns to create the light they needed for reading and seeing the walls of filth before them. On occasion they would have to swat away cobwebs.

"That even the spiders would leave this place says a lot to the contents within," Luna said after sputtering a web strand from her mouth.

"That may be, but we still need to figure out what is bonded to that mare." Celestia sat next to a table and dropped a plethora of heavy books down, disturbing the gray cloud from its rest and prompting many a coughing fit. "I've never seen anything like it." She looked to her sister. "I think we were wrong in our assessment, sister."

"What do you think it could be?" Luna asked whilst flipping through a book titled 'The Blood Magic's Creatures'. She was visibly displaying her disgust. "I have to share that, during my time as Nightmare Moon, even I have never seen such a creature."

Celestia paused. Silent. Then she sneezed loudly, startling Luna. "I'm not sure, but I think it might be...a being of pure magical energy."

The moon princess stared at Celestia slack-jawed. "Impossible. Such creatures haven't been seen in the world since before even our grandparents were born."

"Possibly because our ancestors destroyed them," Celestia pondered.

"And yet the bits we know of them seem to have portrayed them as having a more..." Luna looked up, trying to find the appropriate term. "negative traits."

Celestia nodded. "I don't understand how one can survive and be here! and linked to that mare." Her anger gave way to concern. "It didn't feel right, though."

Luna nodded. "The shield felt like positive magic, and worse is that it protected her."

"A parasite protecting its host, maybe?" Celestia shrugged.

"There must be more to this Silver than we can see," Luna said. "We should gather as much information as we can on your theory."



I awoke in the hospital, dazed from the sun burning through the blinds. It was so hot it felt like my face was burning off. Grunting, I averted my gaze and looked towards the door. Instead I was met with Twilight's creepy grin and bellowed loud enough that I ruffled her mane.

"What's wrong with you?!" I shouted.

"Sorry!" she blurted. "I was just really worried about you is all!"

I stared at her in disbelief. I couldn't brain correctly. "Why would you worry? All they did was beat e up." I waved a hoof away at the situation. "I've been through worse."

"Ya say that, sugarcube, but ya were more bruised than an apple after a tornadah," Applejack said.

"A country metaphor," I groaned. I leaned to the side to see that the other five had come, too. "What're you all doing here?"

"We figured it would be best to look up on ya," Rainbow chimed in. "Twilight was worried so we followed her."

"I assume the princesses gave them a fine thrashing for their uncouth behavior," Rarity said.

"I think so..." I trailed off. "I still don't know why the rest of you are here. I know Spike and Twilight, to an extent, but not all of you."

The pink one bounced around the room, releasing balloons into the air to hit the ceiling and stay there. I hate balloons.

"Rainbow just told you, silly," she laughed. "A friend of Twilight's is a friend of ours."

"I wouldn't exactly say we're friends," I mumbled under my breath. I stood up straight and looked them all in the eyes. "I need to speak to Twilight alone."

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"Because it's very important." 

"Well, I'm sure that we can talk about it together," Fluttershy suggested with a meek smile.

I stared at her eyes and gave in. "Fine! Just shut the door."

Oh, I wasn't about to tell them about my current predicament. No. I still have some trouble walking, not thinking. I can't trust them yet.

"I have no family anymore," I said flatly.

The atmosphere became cold and depressing. A pleasant sensation sometimes, but not here.

"What?" Twilight said. "Are you sure? What about cousins? Aunts? Your parents?"

I shook my head. "All gone." I looked away and sighed. "All I had left was my grandpa. We were very close, but eventually, as I got older, we drifted apart, and he...died. His last letter was filled with so many regrets..."

"Silver...that's..." Twilight couldn't find the words to express her thoughts. Good.

"Well, you can still be part of our family!" Pinkie shouted.

"Pinkie, now ain't the ti--" Applejack started.

"It's always the time for friends and family!" the pink one interjected. 

She gave me a hug, amplifying the pain from my bruises. The others followed suite, although they felt a bit awkward while doing so. A nurse eventually came in with sheets of paper in her hoofy grip and stared at it in disbelief. I was free to go. Apparently I had healed all the fractures I possessed, but they didn't know how, and Twilight hadn't done anything herself. Might've been that green mush the guards put on me while we were flying back here. No one even asked why I was arrested by the princesses, but I'd rather that and get out of here quickly than have to deal with those annoying questions.

"Silver, why were you arrested by the princesses?" Fluttershy asked me the second I stepped out of the hospital.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!"
> Silver Bullet(Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, it was so much better to be back at Twilight's library...tree...house...place...than to be in the hospital, I guess. My attempts at making them go away backfired hard on me. Damn ponies are too empathetic. I suppose I'll have to deal with them wanting to be all caring for me or something like that. Applejack said she wanted me to race against her and Rainbow Dash. 'Exercise helps pump the good blood to yer head' or something like that. Probably just wants me to take my mind off of the negative things in question. Rarity had no knowledge of personal space though, considering poking me with her big nose and saying that my colors were very rare. I don't know what that kind of information means to me.

Spike had prepared me a salad in the evening, which I found...disturbingly delicious. I've always loved meat, though. The tender deliciousness of it all. The juices that spilled out when you bit into the cooked meat. But now, just imagining the flavor on my tongue made my stomach churn. Curse this body! Next thing I know, I'll want to gnaw on salt blocks. Spike and Twilight were pleased that I was enjoying something as mundane as a salad, although I'm certain that they were secretly shocked at my reaction, as though I hadn't eaten in weeks. Naturally, following their pattern of 'too kind', Twilight had to examine my joints and the dark spots in my fur where my wounds used to be. She just kept poking and prodding me, trying to understand what exactly had caused me to heal. She was doing it after every little thing I was doing. I just wanted to supplex her into the ground every time she tried to touch me! I bet she was being so thorough that she could see my molecules, too. So obsessive!

After doing my taxes in the bathroom, and still trying to cope with my weird body and its functions, I went to bed and made myself a little fort with the blankets I had. Spike was already asleep, and I could hear Twilight imitating a motorcycle above the bookshelves. I wasn't sure if I could sleep with that noise in my ears.

Rainbow Dash found it funny the next morning to wake me up by throwing a plethora of pillows at my face, burying me under a mountain of feather pillows. Twilight and Spike were taken out of their slumber as well, although Spike seemed to be stuck in a daze.

"What's wrong with you?!" I cried.

Rainbow stifled a snort and blew air at me. "Oh come on. It was just a harmless prank."

"Little?!" I shouted in outrage. "You bludgeoned me with a dozen pillows!" I threw one back at her, but she deftly dodged it.

"They're just pillows."

I was about to yell again but just groaned in response and dropped my head. "Never mind."

Twilight leaned over the bookshelf, wiping her eyes with an ankle. "Rainbow? What are you doing here so early?"

Spike looked at the scene before and buried himself with some of the pillows. I heard muffled laughing underneath his new nest.

"I'm here to take Silver for the race, remember?" Rainbow asked Twilight.

Twilight looked drunk while she was trying to process what she was told. "Oh. Oh! Of course! I had completely forgotten." She stood up and stretched herself. "Okay. I'll let you be, then. I have some things to take care of over here first."

Rainbow grabbed me by my foreleg and tried to rush me outside, but I didn't want to go yet. "Can't we have breakfast first?" I pleaded.

"No way!" Rainbow protested. "You burn way more calories if you work out once you've woken up. Now come on. Let's go!"

"But--"

I was whisked outside and towards Applejack's farm, where the cowpony had prepared a little route for us. I didn't much like this situation, but I played along with it. Just outside the orchard, the farm pony showed us a map with a red tracing going along the outskirts of the town then back to the farm. I watched the two mares discuss the path together while limbering up at the same time. Obviously, we would start at the farm, go through the orchards, towards a school, run to the town hall and circle it once, then go back the same way. Problem was, I was never a very good runner. Someone who stays cooped up in their own home doesn't exactly get much exercise in endurance. 

"Hmph. So this is going be a 'slow news day'. Might as well enjoy it," I thought to myself.

"Ya got yer belt on, Rainbow?" Applejack asked her friend. The blue pegasus struggled with a strap compressing her wings against her body. AJ nodded then looked to me and frowned. "Y'okay, Silver?" she asked.

"Hm?" I cleared my throat and regained my composure, smiling nervously in the process. "Y-yeah. Just trapped in though.

While Applejack and Rainbow Dash talked about some races they had in the past that didn't work out too well, I was stuck looking at Big Mac holding the flag in his mouth. This sensation was very unpleasant, and I was biting my lower lip in an effort to free myself of the burden of such thoughts.

"Alright! Let's get ready to go!" Rainbow cheered. She looked to me then laughed. "She's afraid of losing!" she taunted. "No need to worry, Silver. We're just doing this for fun this time." Her tone took on a sarcastic and intimidating tone, which she accentuated by looking at AJ through the narrow slits she turned her eyes into.

Big Mac started the countdown once we reached the starting line, and Silver was really starting to enrage me with these feelings she was forcing me to have. Had to...keep myself...Away!

"Y'all 're ready?" Big Mac asked. He was surprisingly easy to understand despite having a flag pole in his mouth.

We all yelled 'yes' at the same time.

"Get ready," Big Mac said. "And go!"

All three off us sprinted away, and I felt much better now that I wasn't near that red guy anymore. We flew through the orchards, and Rainbow thought it entertaining to kick a few trees on the way so that apples could fall on my head. Constantly cheating through the whole race. But...I was enjoying it regardless. It was a new experience that I never thought I'd get to experience at any point in my life. It was hard to even keep up with the tips of those two's tails, so I just enjoyed the rushing feeling I was getting. The sweet smell of the trees and the smashed apples was invigorating me, much to my advantageous enjoyment. I smiled widely and felt energy boiling into my leg muscles.

"Time to go up a level!" I thought to myself.

I thought the only satisfaction I would ever have in life would be beating someone at their own game, and yet here I am, taking advantage of the endurance of Silver's body to race. I was getting closer to the two pros, and I wanted to beat them. Although I found it strange that they were trying to avoid looking at me, I realized by the glints on their fur that my body was shiny enough to reflect the sunlight, and thanks to the angle, it was going directly into their faces. I laughed at them and managed to rush past them. It's not cheating if it's a natural part of your body. Feeling a little daring, I kicked off a tree at a crossroads to take a sharp turn and almost slipped and hurt myself badly. Here, we needed to pass by a school...school...

Anger welled up inside me after the realization. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had caught up with me and were leaving me behind, so I would use my hatred for school to give me the speed boost to get past them. Surprisingly, some ponies that I assume had heard of our race were cheering us on. Or they just saw us running around. Not sure what was happening here. I could get used to this. And as we sped by, I saw a tiny little pony with a big-ass bow in her mane...She was so cuuuuute!

WARNING! Manliness compromised! Prepare self-termination!

QUIET, YOU!

I'm not sure who it was. Never noticed her before or I already forgot about her existence. Maybe Twilight mentioned something about her? Who knows? I just wanted to enjoy what I never really got before: Positive reinforcement. It was worsening my rage, actually. Have to concentrate! I growled as I forced my anger through and pushed Silver's body to its limits. Thanks to it, I was slowly catching up to the two ponies in front of me.

"She's catching up," Rainbow shouted.

"She can gallop as fast as she wants, but she ain't gonna beat me!" Applejack declared.

Rainbow shot her an insulted look. "Are you implying I'm not a challenge for you?"

Applejack only gave the pegasus a sly grin as a response. I found myself bursting out in laughter at Rainbow's reaction then quickly closed my mouth. I felt myself growing red from embarrassment. 

Still, I was finally in a friendly competition done only for fun rather than for some advantage over the others. For something that didn't involve a lot of negativity. I had almost reached them when my body started to tire. Still, I carried on. I had almost reached them, so there was a chance I could beat at least one of them. We all reached the town hall, and I still frowned at its atrocious design. They really needed to bulldoze that thing and rebuild it as something more eye-catching.

"Gotta keep pushing Gotta keep pushing!" I encouraged myself mentally. It wasn't working that well.

The other two seemed to be tiring themselves out as well, though. Finally, the farm was coming in from the horizon and grew bigger and bigger the further we went. We must've torn off leaves from the trees hanging over the pathway when we passed them by due to the sheer speed we were going at. Finally, the finish line came into view. A red and white ribbon. I wanted to stop running so badly! Twilight, though, was watching the whole time, and when we passed, I collapsed on the ground and slid forward.

Rarity and Fluttershy hurried to my aid, not that I needed it. Seeing that everyone was intact, Twilight announced the winner.

"Well," she started. "Rainbow and Applejack tied...again," she trailed off despondently. "And Silver, you were close, but you didn't tie with or beat them. I'm sure you'll do much better next time," she smiled.

I rolled onto my back, gasping for air, but I felt a smile on my face. Rarity shared a toothy, mocking grin in return.

"Oh look, she's smiling for once," she teased.

Fluttershy was taken aback. "I thought she didn't know how." She clearly tried to make a joke, but I could hear her voice faltering at the end. Too shy, maybe?

I stretched my legs out and groaned in satisfaction. "That was fun! What else is there to do today?"

"Well..." Rarity held her muzzle...somehow, to clench her nostrils shut. "You could clean yourself. You smell ghastly."

I pouted. "You ruined the mood I had," I complained. Then a sudden realization came to mind. "What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were working or something?"

She chuckled. "I'm the boss of my own boutique, and what I create needs time and inspiration," she said. She portrayed drama by way of spinning and various leg positions over the head or under her chin. "Speaking of which, I finished the dresses, and today is my spa day." She smiled kindly. "So I thought I could bring you along to be treated by Aloe and Lotus again."

I leaned to the back so that Applejack could hear me. "Applejack, mind dragging me away from here?"

She shook her head and continued using her hat to wave cold air at her face. "Sorry, Silver, but ah'm plum tuckered out. Ah reckon RD i'n't gonna be much help either."

"T-Twilight?" I pleaded.

She shrugged. "I think that, considering how much you're gasping for air, that this could be exactly what you need to get into shape." She nodded to her own words. "Plus, the spa might keep you from cramping up afterwards. You did run a lot and pushed yourself really hard.

I sighed. She was right on that point. A massage after a workout could potentially help against the pain. Then Big Mac had to stand right next to me, and drape a yellow string around my neck with...a hoof-carved...yes, hoof-carved apple painted silver as the medal. Nuh. Get away from me! You're making my heart want to burst!

"there ya go, Silver. Ya earned it," he said.

"But I didn't win."

"Ya still managed to keep up with mah sister, and that ain't no mean feat," he laughed. His smile faded to an apathetic expression. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gots ta help mah sister. She ain't run around that much since I got sick 'n she tried to take over the whole o' the orchard on her own."

I watched Big Mac stroll away, then my vision was engulfed by a marshmallow. "Time to go, Silver!" 

"Wait, I changed my mind! I don't want to go!" I protested.

"It's too late for that!" Rarity said sternly. "You're a mess and you're going to be in a lot of pain when your body cools off." She looked at me with caring and worried. Eyes. Repulsive. "I'm forcing you into this for your best interest, even if that may seem out-of-character for a lady. You'll thank me afterwards for this 'tough love' I'm giving you."

Back at the spa, I had rage coursing through me, but it was a more mellow anger than before. Instead of taking it out on anyone, I just wanted to soak in the mud bath. This time, I had something to talk about at least.

"-and did you see how fast I went? I never got to do something like that before! What should my nickname be? Lemme see, Silver Bolt, Blur, Flash... Bullet! I'll be the Silver Bullet!" I proclaimed with stretched out forelegs.

"Bullet? What's a bullet?" Rarity asked me quizzically.

Oh yeah. They don't have technology here, the bumpkins. "They're very fast objects that sometimes you can barely see."

"I see," she said absent-mindedly before sinking back into the mud."

I followed her lead and sunk back into the mud, letting myself relax further in the process. I was just enjoying the fact that I got to participate in something fun for once in my life rather than the of the sensation of brown vomit-goo soaking and drying into my...coat. Rarity broke the almost monotone silence of the room, her voice overtaking the popping of the gurgling mud bubbles. She was going to ask me something horribly uneasy, I bet.

"Silver," she started.

"Yeah?"

"Do you like Big Mac?"

I shrugged. "Sure. He's a good person like Applejack, but I don't know him enough to consider him a friend." We remained quiet for a moment. "Kinda silent, though."

Rarity shook her head, throwing some drops of mud clinging to her mane in several directions. "No. I mean, do you like him."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why the emphasis on 'like'?" I hissed. My brain glitched. "Noooooooooooooooo! I just like him!"

"Oh, come now. You're clearly falling for him."

"No."

"You become frantic when he gets near you," she insisted."

"No," I insisted.

"You can keep denying it, Silver, but it's only going to make you feel worse for it. Frankly, I'm surprise the others haven't noticed yet." She lowered a hoof. "Big Mac is rather naive, so it's not surprising that he didn't notice, but I--"

"Rarity, drop it. It's not a subject I want to discuss," I told her.

"Ah ha! So I am right!" she declared victoriously.

I didn't want to waste my time with that kind of 'fight', so I shook my head and kept silent. I was too tired for this. We cleaned ourselves some time later and skipped the sauna. Rarity's reasoning was that I had dehydrated myself enough today, and a tall glass of cool water from the sauna would be enough. That yellow pony from before gasped in shock when she saw me approach the massage parlor and scampered deeper into the spa. Aloe and Lotus rounded a corner shortly after, a soft smile adorning their happy faces. Rarity was in heaven again, anticipating what she enjoyed above all else...well, maybe not above making clothes. I wasn't going to enjoy this.

"Back for another special treatment, Miss Silver?" Aloe pondered quizzically. She had lowered herself and raised towards me, taking the tone of her voice with her. That pony might have had an apathetic face, but she was clearly begging for me to say 'yes'. Her saying 'miss' tore at my insides. "Maybe you released some 'chi' points to get your magic flowing correctly?"

I shrugged. I didn't know what they meant. I only had a base understanding of 'chi', and that was from kung-fu movies and cartoons, so I'm not exactly sure I have an actual understanding of it... I lied down on a table and let them torture me, but I felt hooves digging into my ribs, nothing happened.

"Aloe, the magic around her heart is mostly freed, and the chi is flowing quite nicely around this area," Lotus commented.

Rarity gave me the 'I told you so' look. I, in turn, looked away from her.

The two spa ponies sat on their haunches and started analyzing me, wondering where to poke and prod next. 

"Where shall we try next, then?" Lotus wondered.

"We could try her soul points," Aloe suggested with a shrug."

"A fantastic idea!" Lotus cheered.

"Soul points? Wait, that mea--"

My thoughts were torn away from my mind thanks to those two psychos snapping my body in several places. The pain was tremendous, but it started to make way for a sensation of comfortable melting. Something was squirming inside of me. Some form of evil and vile fury trying to free itself from my being. Apparently, the spa sisters could feel it too since they were having a harder and harder time trying to liberate whatever points I had left. Why did they persist?  Were they so adamant about being the best Ponyville had to offer? Well, one can't say it was for nothing, since by the end of it, they were laying on the floor, panting, while I felt...joyous. I was full of energy and life. 

Rarity paid them once again on account of my lack of funds, but she didn't seem to mind, strangely. "Well, it looks like I was right to trust them again," she said. "You look simply marvelous, my dear."

Once I noticed it, I stomped my hooves down in place. How had I not noticed that I was dancing?! So embarrassing!

"How about I get you a dress for the upcoming Gala, Silver?" Rarity suggested. "Something to take your mind off what you just did right now in public." I could only lie down and hide my head with my legs. I wanted to die. "Oh, don't be such a drama queen!" she complained.

I muffled a protest "But I already have one, and I hate dresses." 

She scoffed. "It's not good enough for the Gala, darling. That dress is for normal celebrations. The Grand Galloping Gala is a place where all sorts of very refined gentlecolts and mares go to mingle with the princesses." She looked at me with accusing eyes. "You should feel honored and excited that the princesses invited us."

I tilted my head. "When did they do that?"

"Oh, when you were racing. Spike burped out a list of invitations. Yours was included." She cleared her throat. "They should still be with Twilight." I looked away from Rarity and scoffed. "Big Mac might be there. I don't know," she shrugged sarcastically.

"Shut uuuuup!" I yelled at Rarity.

I chased her towards the boutique, a trap that I had not anticipated.

Another day, another undeniable fact that I was slowly turning into the 'mare' that Silver was. I didn't want to see the new dress nor did I ant to see the princesses again. Not after they tried to kill me.
> Silver and Gold (Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Grand Galloping Gala was in two weeks...such a stupid name. The others already had dresses, so they knew what to wear, but mine -How I loathe it- was constantly worked on by Rarity. I tried to keep her from touching my h-mane, but she would go into her psycho-mode and fanatically work on every which way possible to suit me to her tastes. The little, spiky curl of Silver was flattened against my forehead. Irritating, but normally, it was a natural thing. It'd certainly get back to normal afterwards. Rarity added some type of headband or hair pins with blue petals on them into my hair.  They meshed well with the 'motif' of my dress following a blue flower on the back, stretched out across my sides and dropping several of its petals into the sparkling, silver base. The background unhindered by the petals was a faded white, likely to prevent it from being confused for my body. Just because I liked white and blue didn't mean this wasn't...overwhelming!

A few other things happened during the week, such as my attempt to learn how to take care of animals from Fluttershy. To 'tame' them, in a sense. She called it befriending, so I tried to 'befriend' a bear. No. I wasn't screaming when I was being chased by it. Er, I wasn't screaming loudly. Shut up. 

Pinkie Pie had also decided to follow me everywhere, blabbering non-stop! She was so annoying! Even when I thought I lost here, she was right around the corner. I know she's not mean, but she doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'personal space'. At least she was saying nice things to me rather than berating me. It was a nice change of pace. I almost felt like my inner wounds were healing. No, not wounds like internal wounds! But, while I was really happy, I was still very scared of the princesses. They casually tried to kill me then switched to negotiations when they realized they couldn't. What exactly were they going to do at this gala?

I enjoyed my stay at Ponyville despite Rarity's insistence on my 'getting closer' to Big Mac. I helped everyone around here, especially Twilight. I don't want them to just kill me and send me back to where I was...I think.

Pffff. The gala was starting tonight, though. I had just now gotten used to these gummy ponies and now they wanted me to go with them to the celebration or whatever it is. Everyone was dressed in their gaudy lanks of cloth, although I found Rainbow Dash's dress to be...cool. As for my...dress -blech- everyone seemed interested in the motif that Rarity had used. The flower especially attracted attention.

The nerd circled around me, taking in everything she could. "You really outdid yourself this time, Rarity," Twilight congratulated her friend.

The marshmallow put a hoof to her chest and smiled affectionately. "Thank you, Twilight, but it's just one of the lighter things I've created. I needed elegance and some haute couture to make it attract the eyes, but not blind them." she danced her forelegs around. "Enough that she stands out, but not to steal the spotlight from anyone else when she walks into the room." She opened her eyes and blinked several times, then leaned towards Twilight with worry. "You...understand what I'm trying to say?"

Twilight giggled. "Don't worry Rarity. I understand."

Applejack jabbed me in the back of the neck, knocking the air out of me. I grabbed the spot she hit and glared at her with bared teeth. 

"Ya look amazin', SIlver. Just as good as an apple polished fer a week to look like a red diamond!" She had the biggest smile saying that. Her cowboyisms were grating.

Rarity leaned in, a little concerned, and spoke in a not-so-subtle whisper. "Um, I think you mean a ruby, darling."

The cowpony frowned and straightened herself out. "Ah know what ah said, Rarity," she declared dryly.

Ignoring their exchange, I shrugged. "I don't know what to say...You all look nice too?" I said in a confused tone.

"You might've said that a few times already," Pinkie bounced.

"Guess I'm nervous," I chuckled nervously.

"You don't have to be nerrrrr~vous," Rarity coo'd. "Big Mac came along too."

You squishy bitch!

Big Mac wasn't the most stylish pony around, but he had a knack for pulling off red and yellow in his suit. Just because I'm living as Silver doesn't mean I need to accept herfeelings. I'll do this in my own way.

"Good evening, Big Macintosh," Rarity started in regal vocals. "Would you be so gentlecoltly as to accompany Silver and I to the carousel when it arrives?" she asked.

She was likely expecting some kind of fresh, prince-like response. Instead, she got an 'eeyup!' and frowned with disappointment. I heard her grumbling away. Clearly, she wanted to approach me about some manner of infatuation I have for that horse, but the reaction seemed to have rendered her bitter and dissatisfied.  And so we waited until Twilight came by to create a carriage for us. One of magic. She seemed insistent on reassuring the others that it's only a temporary spell. Not sure why. Something something business. Pegasi were pulling it this time. Armored ones from the princesses' castle. They had apparently come on their own to bring us to the gala just because said princesses told them to. Pffff. I'd rather go back to that astral scorpion residing in...what was it? The Everwhee fortress? Something like that.

I waited in the carriage with everyone while we were taken to the castle, and although I felt it to be kinda boring, at least we weren't bouncing everywhere like jelly. Spike was all red and flustered, but I'm not sure why. Must've been some embarrassing memory that came up suddenly. Those are fun. It looked like everyone was inside, and Rarity thought it cute to at least get Big Mac to sit next to me, but...where was Pinkie Pie?

"Woohoo!" I heard shouted from outside the carriage.

"What was--" I tried to say, but was cut off by Rainbow.

"That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie," she deadpanned. I stared at her blankly. "You'll get used to it if you stick around with us."

I sighed. I figured she was somewhere outside, crazy as she is. That said, being next to Big Mac made me feel uneasy, and the sides of my hind legs felt unusually warm. I think the marks on them were protesting the proximity. Could they even do that? Worst of all, I'd have to deal with this for fifteen minutes more-or-less. Actually, that wouldn't be too bad. Pegasi sure are fast, even when they're carriage a magical wooden carriage that shouldn't be floating about in the first place.

Their incessant chattering and the cramped positions were about to make me burst in anger and frustration when we finally reached the castle grounds. I was the first to literally tear down the gates and startle the pony meant to open it for us. Oh! It was so good to have some fresh and space. The others were shocked at my behavior, but what do I care about what they think about me at this point?

Once my stress subsided, I got to marvel at the sight of the castle from a perspective not behind bars. The white walls shown in the dark thanks to the blinding lights bursting through the many door-sized windows everywhere. Some above the large, brown wooden entrance doorway, others leading directly to the main hall. Lots of colorful flowers and tinsel-like vines wrapped around each other as they grew above the walls. Several guards were patrolling the grounds, and some were dragging unwanted guests out, ignoring the kicking and screaming. Most of this entrance was entrapped by tall, trimmed walls of green and brown bushes. A natural wall makes things cheaper, I suppose.

Twilight forced me out of my contemplating by pushing me and gesturing to follow her. I could hear people greeting Celestia from behind the doors, making it all the less surprising when I saw her and her sister standing on a one-step-elevated platform blocking the way to doors leading to the rest of the castle. There didn't seem to be many people here, though. I was half-expecting a massive line or something. Twilight and the others went to greet the princesses, giving me the opportunity to slip away into the yard and go around back...where light was glaring behind the corners and voices were getting louder. But I snuck away successively anyways. Nyahaha! Now to leave...somehow. They only said they wanted me to come, not to stay.

This place was where all the guests were, and where all the people were eating meals like prissy wusses they were. Teeny weeny platters with nothing on them. I felt my face contort into pure disgust when I watched them eat. I'll look for the exit here since the guards are all blocking the one we came in from, so I'm going to have to suffer through this crowd. During my sneaking, some idiot decided it'd be 'cute' to block me off. He was wearing golden armor without a helmet, and a suit underneath it...for some reason. It was blindingly bright, and his shitty smirk made me want to punch him in his face super hard.

"Woah woah woah!" he pressed. "Why do you want to pass by me so quickly?"

Judging by his tone, he was clearly full of himself. A type of 'ladies man' like back on Earth. His brown mane had a yellow tint to it, but it was too poorly done to be unnoticeable. Clearly compensating for his ugly, and it being smoothed back against his skull made him kind of look like a fancy mushroom. Following his armor color, his eyes were blindingly golden as was his coat, although I couldn't see much of it through his suit and armor. Is he using magic or just diving into pools of yellow ink? I'd say he's just about stupid enough to drink the ink seeing how yellow he was. Hell, he was so full of himself that he had his own armor encrusted with rubies and some type of orange gem, and his butt mark was a golden trident surrounded by a circle of white. Really exaggerating at this point. 

"I wonder if his blood is gold?" I thought as images of bloodletting entered my mind.

My muscles were tensing up. I had to. Resist. The Urge. To. Strangle him!

His friends, or rather, his colleagues -as I'm sure he had no friends- stood by, expecting some fancy trick to woo me. Let us play along while I pretend to stroke my evil mustache.

"You are splendid looking tonight, young filly," he cooed. I held back the need to vomit. I could see some red on his cheeks, though. Was he drunk? "What is your name?" he asked me.

"Silver," I said bluntly. 

"Really?" He pretended to be taken aback, then leaned forward with a toothy grin. "Such a coincidence. Mine is gold!" He walked about me, displaying his drama school studies. "Our meeting was fate, not coincidence! Silver and Gold!" He grabbed my hoof and stared into my eyes. "I can see our future together, with you illuminating every day of my life! Would you--"

I used his hoof to lock his foreleg and flip him onto his side, then I laughed at his face, attracting the attention of the other people around.

"That's so adorable," I mocked. "You expected a cheap wooing tactic like that to work at all?" I shook my head. "That's...actually pretty funny." My chuckling apparently shocked him, and I saw his face turn pale. Somehow. What is this fur made out of? Octopuseses? "We both know what you really want, don't we?" He frowned, insulted. "Good. Now piss off," I chided him.

He did as he was told, undignified, and returned to his colleagues who mocked him for his failure. I pointed my head up to look down at him, and harumphed. I overheard something about a challenge, but I decided to ignore it.

There was some charm to this place, honestly. Sure, it was filled with other people, but the mixture of classical music and the soft, sweet aromas of the dishes were quite soothing. Everything come from the inside of the castle, kept accessible by wide doors left open. Just the typical 'ballroom'-like area with yellow tiles on the floor, a podium for the musicians to work on, and tons of people and tables covered in treats. Fatties. I refused the offer from one of the servants going about with their smug expressions. 

Applejack was here with Twilight, and they were talking with...Luna? Is that the blue one's name? Before I could make another tactical withdrawal, Twilight saw me and called me over. As much as I am loathe to say it, at this point I can't just brush her off and continue on my merry way, so I went to her. I went to her while suppressing the anger in me as much as I could. I didn't want to get close to that would-be murderer.

"His Silver," Twilight started. She coughed and smiled sheepishly, her eyes darting between me and the blueberry. "You've met Princess Luna, but not on good terms, I think."

"No. Not good at all," I hissed.

There was a long moment of awkward silence where I glared at Luna, but she didn't budge an inch and gave me a silent, displeased stare in return. Then Twilight's almost imperceptible whispering to Applejack broke the silence.

"Soooooo...Applejack. What were we talking about?" she forced herself to say.

That farm pony looked around nervously, her lips flopping around but releasing no sounds. "Ah uh...can't remember."

Twilight jabbed AJ in the side, making her growl in pain. "C'mon, Applejack. We have to do something to change the situation. Look at her! Silver wants to kill the princess!" she whisper-yelled.

I saw Applejack nod. "Ah can see 'er twitchin' already."

"But--"

"Silver, my hard-to-reach-treasure-chest!" a voice cried out. My anger flared out, distracting me from the initial problem in front of me. The golden ass was rushing to me. "Why must you attempt to douse these flames of passion when they burn at your sight?! This flame, even if extinguished, shall be relit on but the smallest of candles, and still it shall burn brightly, like the eternal stars in the sky!"

Doesn't make sense, but okay.

"Actually," Twilight chuckled. "Stars only last for billions of years, not forever."

"I'm surprised you know so much about our stars, Twilight Sparkle," Luna commented with a hint of satisfaction.

"Oh, I just know a bit of astronomy," she blushed.

Gold on the other hand, or hoof, I don't care, was shaken by the presence of the princess, and annoyed by Twilight, but he tried to keep his composure and continue applying his false étiquette. 

"May I accompany you for the evening?" he asked me with an extended hoof.

It was slapped away by a white hoof, and Rarity stood beside me. "No, you may not, sir," she declared.

"Oh great. Not only do I have King Midas to deal with, now I have a living marshmallow here as well."

Gold was rubbing his wrist against his chest and looked to Rarity with childish contempt. "And who are you?" he asked.

"I am Rarity," she stated hautily. "And this mare is already accompanied by somepony."

"Yes, me!" the ass insisted.

Rarity huffed at the claim before I could protest. "As if somepony like you, a noble no less, has the character for her." She looked him up and down. "And your colors aren't even real. Anypony can see that," she snobbed him.

"Yes, and your character isn't obsessed with appearance by wearing twelve gallons of make-up. Are you not happy with your appearance?" he asked her with a heightened tone.

"I could say the same about you!" Rarity countered.

The two continued attacking each other with words, and that ass kept bringing me into it. I was so embarrassed, turning red right on the spot!

"You are exactly like Prince Blueblood!" Rarity shouted. "Arrogant, stubborn, egotistical!"

Gold mellowed out. "Prince Blueblood you say? I know of him. Quite the arrogant pony, it's true." He shrugged. "Heard that he became depressed when some allegedly, mmm, attractive white mare rejected him and insulted him in front of the whole castle.

"Attractive?" Rarity blushed. "Well, maybe that's--" This vapid idiot was interrupted by Gold.

"But I don't see her here." He shrugged.

Rarity was appalled. "Why you-What cheek!"

"Twi, can we get Silver and skidaddle? This whole exchange feels like holdin' bruised apples."

"Allow me to help you with that problem."

It was Luna she spoke. She didn't even blink before her horn flashes and we were elsewhere in the castle, most likely the dining area judging by the smell of cooked food and the surprised chefs waltzing about. Big Mac and Rainbow Dash were here, but the rainbow pony was darting about, trying to talk with some ponies in blue uniforms. I took a step back once the shock had gone away, and I started feeling sick. I don't think I like teleporting. A funny thing I noticed, was that many of the cooks around were outright terrified of the blue pony, and why wouldn't they be? Bitch.

"Hey Applejack!" Big Mac called out. He wiped some food from his mouth.

AJ laughed. "Eatin' a 'snack', Big Mac?" she shouted at him. He nodded silently.

Snack?! That plate was the size of a table, which was easily the diameter of ten Big Macs. How much did he eat?

"Hey Twi 'n Silver," he called out between chomps. 

"Um...H-hey, Big Mac," I stuttered.

Luna stepped next to me and placed a wing above my back. "Please excuse us," she started. She looked down at me, a darkness in her expression of anger mixed with disgust. She looked at me like a parent would a murder of their child. "I must have a private session with Silver here."

Before the others could say anything, I found myself back in the throne room, clenching my stomach and holding back the need to beat the world-record of furthest vomit.

"What do you want?" I asked between involuntary heaving. "To try and kill me again?" She remained silent. "Well, I've got news for you: I'm not going to let you! This time I'm the one who is going to be avoiding you! I'm not going back to my world. I'm quite happy here! Just because I'm this thing doesn't change anything. I even made my first friends! Friends!" I started laughing. "I never even had friends before! Now I know what I was missing in life. No family to go through. No one to visit!" Luna stared at me, her face unchanging from her scowl, but I could still see pity in her eyes. "My parents didn't care about me, and my only family member is dead. I'm staying here! And there's nothing that you can try to do that will get me to return!" I stomped the ground angrily.

I was panting heavily. I felt like I just ran a marathon. Luna, however...her expression was changed. It was lighter. Calmer. I turned to go towards the doors, but something pulled me back. I struggled for a moment, but noticed it was not aggressive. Luna was holding me in her wings, then she let go.

"I know your feelings of loneliness, Silver. I had similar circumstances..." She looked away, apparently trying to repress a memory. "Even when I was banished to the moon, I could still feel her. Even after all that, even after all that has happened and the ponies came to despise every bit of me, she still loved me, and she was still here for me afterwards." She looked to me sternly. "But I did not bring you here for tales of shared strife in our lives. My sister believes she might have a solution for the dangerous magic within you and the creature that produces it. We will go to Twilight Sparkle's abode tomorrow and share it with her." Ger tone took on a more disturbed volume with regret. "I...don't really wan to go there. Her obsession with understanding how magic functions bothers me, but I trust that you will be ready for our arrival."

"Maybe," I doubted. "Will I...Will I have to return?"

Luna shrugged. "You will know that tomorrow. For now, I believe someone owes you an apology. Let us met with my sister."

Another teleport, this time in front of a large crowd. I didn't know where we were. I threw up finally. People were sickened, and then Luna teleported my melted innards away without looking, then she flew to a balcony overlooking this area. We were outside, apparently. Unsure how I missed that, but the combination of artificial lights from the light posts and the darkness of the night gave them a rather impressive appearance. Scary, mostly, though.

"We have gathered everypony present at this gala to present an apology to Silver. While the circumstances are too important to be shared amongst you without reason, I still must give my apology before you all." She bowed. "Even a ruler must know humility to rule."

Luna followed, then began speaking as she raised her head. "However, one guard disobeyed our orders and acted far too aggressively in the line of his duty. His punishment has already been meted, but he must present his own excuses, in front of you all, to Silver. "Come, Cyclon Opal."

That silver armored bastard came out from behind a line of guardsmen...ponies...whatever. A line of guards with his head held low and stopped right in front of me, mumbling incoherently."

"Come now, Cyclon. Act not like a foal," Luna chastized.

He looked like he was physically in pain and clenched every muscle in his body. "Mmmgrbl...I'm sorry," he muttered.

The perfect opportunity. "I'm sorry? What was that?" I mocked him. I leaned in with an open-mouthed smile and a hoof to my ear.

"I said I'm sorry," he said more angrily.

"I can't quite hear so well in my old age," I mocked.

"I said I was sorry! I apologize for my behavior, but something overcame me at that moment." He sat down and looked at his trembling hooves. "I don't know why the rage and fury enveloped me, but--"

"That is enough, Cyclon," Celestia interjected. 

He looked down, pensively, then to me. "Do you accept my apology?"

"Yes, but!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"But what?"

A loud 'bam' filled everyone's ears and caused the crowd to gasp. "Ow! That hurt a lot!"

"You deserved it," I said stoically whilst placing my hoof back down upon the grass.

His head bobbed left and right with his hoof on his swelling muzzle. "Fair enough."

"Eeeh...you deserve a bit more, but I'm feeling forgiving today," I said. "So, I'll let you get off easy this time."

He walked away, rubbing his nose, and the sisters just watched the scenario silently. I don't know what they were expecting from me, but I returned to Twilight and the others who had been watching whilst conversing together during that whole scenario. Another satisfying moment, and now I could maybe enjoy the evening. It would probably be my last in Equestria.
> The Farewell (Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, after that scenario, I guess I could say the Gala went better than I thought. Only a few except those six talked to me, and I'd rather forget about 'Gold'. Ironically, despite Rarity pissing me off with the big apple, she was the one stopping him each time he came back, although I think it was because she wanted me to be with Mac. I did enjoy seeing Applejack punt Gold's head in after the twenty-fourth or seventy-eighth time he came back. The others just wandered about, taking care of whatever business they wanted to. I wasn't really paying attention. We returned home some time later, said 'good night', then finally slipped into a comfortable bed. While Twilight and Spike had both pretty much collapsed into slumber, I was having trouble just closing my eyes. The only place that I was getting entertainment from was being taken from me. How was I supposed to react in such a situation?

Knocking reverberated through the library, and I was the first to bolt up, getting blinded by the morning sun and stumbling to the entrance.

"Who is it?" Twilight shouted groggily.

"I didn't open the door yet," I shouted through clenched teeth.

It was Celestia.

"It's time, Silver. Come," Celestia told me.

"Princess Celestia?!" Twilight said half-dazed. "Whats wrong?"

"It's none of your concern, my student. Please. Return to your bed," she asked her.

The mare shook her head. "Did Silver do something wrong? She couldn't have. We've been watching her this whole time. She's never left our watch."

"Our watch?" Celestia repeated with a raised brow.

"Well, yeah. The others and I," she said. "The other elements."

Celestia nodded. "Ah. Yes! Of course! But, it is still none of your concern. Do not worry, we won't harm her, and she will be right back." The princess looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Perhaps with something extra in tow."

Twilight hesitantly agreed, then Celestia teleported us to the plains I had popped up in. Even the pond was still there. And look! There's my vomit I just now heaved up several times! Luna had been waiting for us as well, apparently enamored by the pond. She turned and walked towards us, her face a mish-mash of confusion.

"I think there's a prankster sprite in that pond. It's been doing weird faces to me," she said.

"I knew it!" I accidentally blurted. I shrank under the surprised gaze of the two alicorns.

Celestia cleared her throat. "In any case, we have discovered what the creature linked to you is, and why it feels so dangerous," she said. 

"It is, aptly named, a Giga Sparkle," Luna added.

"A what? Are its powers over a million?"

"Not...really?" Celestia hesitated. "Apparently, these creatures have existed long before we were even part of the world. They were destabilizing the flow of magic through the world. Because of the danger, the ponies of before destroyed them."

Luna stepped in. "If you were to ask my sister's student, she would likely mention that no pony has ever seen them before, and that is normal. We found mention of them in the oldest, most protected documents of our archives, requiring delicate magic to read."

I looked back to Celestia. "So then how do I have one with me?"

She shook her head. "I don't really know. The fact that one has come into your possession, let alone fuse with you, is completely foreign a concept to us." She leaned forward. "The Giga Sparkles were not know for their kindness, let alone crossing into other worlds."

"They were metaphysical manifestations of the most negative thoughts and emotions of all creatures in our world, but they still needed many to procreate," Luna explained.

"So what then? I am big evil?" I mocked with hooves at the sides of my mouth.

"Nnnnot really. What we felt from you seemed to just be your negative emotions inflated on the bubble of good magic the sparkle is emitting. It seems to care a great deal for you," Luna continued. She was clearly perplexed.

"I think that it accumulated such a tremendous quantity of magic from both worlds that it somehow broke the barriers, but how it came to be is a mystery that will be forever unresolved," Celestia continued.

"And it looks like your student didn't listen to you, sister", Luna giggled.

"Twilight Sparkle?!" Celestia shouted.

She had overheard the whole conversation. I explained to her the truth of the matter and what I was, although I couldn't mention what I actually was. I wouldn't mention what I actually was. I told her about how I came to be here, about my parents and how they were little shits. About my grandfather and how he was the best parent I ever had, and that he was also a troll, mocking my parents even in their deaths, but during the discussion, Luna stepped in.

"Silver. We can delay no longer," she urged.

I dragged a hoof across my face and looked to Twilight with a frown. "Do you want a...last hug?" I forced myself to ask behind clenched teeth. She immediately grabbed me and started crushing my bones. "Twilight, let go. Let go! Twilight, this is very uncomfortable! You've been hugging for too long!"

The two princesses had to intervene to pry her off me like a corpse with rigor mortis. 

"Calm down, Twilight," Celestia comforted. "She might not have to leave at all."

"We haven't always been right after all," Luna added. She glared directly at her sister with bulging eyes and lower lip. "Right, dear sister?"

Celestia's only response was avoiding eye contact and very nervous laughing. I bet she would've tugged on her collar and talked like Rodney Dangerfield if she had the chance. "You say that, but the spell is certain to destroy the Giga Sparkle. Why would she remain here?" 

Luna shrugged in response. 

I waved Twilight goodbye. I wanted to stay, but if I did, it's possible that this thing would cause tremendous problems in this world and threaten the lives of all of those living here. They didn't do anything to me, so I have no ill-will towards them. At least I'll have the good memories of this place...unless it was all a dream. Stupid clichés. The princesses drew strange shapes in the air. Angled lines overlapping each other with dots and hollow circles in their gaps, each glowing a few seconds after they were drawn into the air. 

"Silver, your cutie mark!" Twilight shouted to me.

The sparkle left my body and floated about me while the colors of that...mark started to die out. I saw the Sparkle emerge from me and dart about aggressively in the air, although it wasn't attacking anyone. Its behavior caught the princesses off-guard, judging by their shocked and confused faces. At least mine was the unique one and not the ones they mentioned that used faces as mug warmers or whatever those things are called.

I looked to Twilight with a melancholic smile. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then."

The spell of the princesses sputtered into overdrive, causing the sparkle to take on the appearance of an urchin. It started to jab the air around it frantically. I could feel myself losing my connection to this world and fully expected to be back in the forest with Silver in my arms again, but then I felt something tug at me. Then dozens of things. Then hundreds! I was suddenly thrown back -we all were- by the banshee screech of the sparkle. Its voice was deepening as the seconds went by, then the Sparkle seemingly 'looked' at me despite its lack of a face, and exploded, sending tremendous blue waves that spread out in all directions. The waves kept pulsing outwards, pushing all of us back further and further from it. Once they started lessening, Twilight called out to me.

"S-Silver?"

I tapped myself with my damnable, fingerless hooves with my eyes kept closed. "What? I'm disappearing, no?"

Twilight shook her head. "You're still here, and...and..." Her face paled and she shakingly raise a foreleg to point at something in the air. 

Took me a moment to find what she was pointing at. It was a blurry, floating, transparent head of...Silver? Its eyes were fully white, and it was giving me a warm smile. Even after the waves completely ceased it stayed in place. I heard the princesses get up and get ready to destroy them, but I think Twilight stopped them. I didn't hear her say anything or know if there was any exchange at that moment. Silver's head floated down and expanded into the form of a ghostly, wispy version of what I am now. I think the sparkle was expecting something from me, and I know what.

"Thanks for keeping me company all these years," I started. "If it wasn't for you, I would have been wallowing in despair and solitude." I smiled. "I learned quite a lot thanks to you." I looked down at my body and frowned. "But did you have to turn me into Silver?"

The sparkle smiled at me, teasing me. I guess I got my answer. Although, she wasn't...done. She turned to glare at the princesses. I think we all felt the heat and seething rage coming from her at the time. I should've known that she was going to do something drastic in the future to get back at the princesses for trying to kill me, but it didn't cross my mind. She had died. 

The sparkle jumped to me and have me a big hug. I felt an exchange of something...familiarity? I had spoken for...both of us. The exact words reflected through both of us, but only with one mouth. It opened an eye, smirked at me, then dissolved into a rising cloud of fog. Somehow, though, the light particles that came from me returned to my cutie mark giving it color once more. Just as the color was returning, many question filled up my mind.

"Well, I guess I'm going to be filling out your tree a while longer," I told Twilight.

She grabbed me again happily, but that was enough! "Let go of me! What's with all this hugging?!" I yelled whilst trying to pry her off.

Twilight let go and smiled meekly. "Sorry."

I turned towards the princesses. "You lied?" I asked them.

"Lied about what?" Luna replied. She was giving me a prideful, almost disdainful expression.

"About me getting sent back," I grumbled.

"N-no," she stammered. "We said that you might have to go back." Luna looked to her sister then back to me. "Honestly, I have no idea what's happening. It feels like the flow of magic is returning to normal." She sighed. "It has a been a long morning, and it seems that everything is fine now once again. I just want to go to bed."

"Then we should keep this a secret?" Twilight asked.

"Definitely," Celestia replied with a nod. "No pony would understand what happened and is happening currently I would rather panic not break out in my-our lands," she corrected herself after looking to her sister. 

Twilight and I returned to Ponyville, leaving the two princesses in the dust.




"Well, it looks like that creature is going to be staying here a while longer." Celestia tilted her head to her sister. "What do you think, Luna?"

The blue mare shook her head. "I don't know. That sparkle was protecting her mind from me, but maybe now I'll be able to see?" she wondered with a shrug. "She seems happy, but I have no idea about that Giga Sparkle."

"I agree that its behavior made no sense, and the glare it gave us," Celestia spoke with deep concern. "It's the most concerning thing. In the centuries I've lived, no creature I came across that gave a face like that ever disappeared forever." The two remained awkwardly silent on the plains. "Luna, have you ever heard of somepony loving and caring for an object so much it came to life?" Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head. "Can't say that I have."

"Neither have I, but I believe that the creature that is now Silver must have poured all he love they had into whatever caused that sparkle to manifest in their reality."

"Wouldn't that logically mean that they only ever loved that object?" Luna asked. Celestia nodded silently, leaving her sister to ponder a little longer. "Then it felt compassion towards whatever issue they were living and sent them here for a better life?"

"It's possible, but there's no proof of my theory being true." Celestia took in a deep breath and stretched her wings. 

"Let's just hope nothing bad occurs after that fluctuation," Luna worried. She looked to the cloudy sky for something. 'That was an extremely powerful one."

"For now, let us simply be cautious and finally relax," Celestia suggested. 

"Well, as much as we can," Luna chuckled. Celestia groaned in disapproval.
> Stone Plants
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna and Celestia stood near a twisted statue in their gardens, concerned about its wear and tear, but this wasn't why they had decided to meet up within the green fields and artistic clippings once more.

"He already broke out once," Luna warned.

"There's no chances of him doing it again, even with ponies arguing around. The spell is tied to the new elements, and he was just recently imprisoned again," Celestia said.

Luna looked to her sister, distraught. "But you felt what boiled within that mare." Luna started to whisper, making sure the gardeners and patrolling guards could not overhear her. "She was filled to the brim with chaotic energies."

Celestia grumbled and rubbed her face with a hoof. "It wasn't true chaos energy, sister. I believe it's a byproduct of that gigasparkle within her."

"But even so, we can't take a chance of her corrupting everything around her." Luna looked into the distance towards Canterlot. "I fear what her fractured soul could create."

The white alicorn nodded. "I understand fully, Luna, but I think that thing within her is holding it all at bay...or is the source of her energies."

Luna shook her head. "We looked over as much as we could. Gigasparkles are created and empowered by darker emotions, not positive ones like the one who protected her." The lunar princess groaned loudly and dropped onto her rear. "This is so aggravating! I hate not knowing anything! There's too many confusing factors at play, here. I couldn't even scour her dreams," the princess shouted while throwing her foreleg in the air. "The stupid blue thing kept pushing me away whenever I got closer." She looked at her sister with fierce eyes. "It was like trying to get through a mountain gale."

Celestia clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I see. That is a problem, not getting information on her."

"So how do we deal with her?" Luna asked. "Clearly destroying her outright is out of the question."

Celestia sighed and looked around as she thought. "We can't just imprison her like we did others. That thing is protecting her, although how it has so much power is a question for another time."

"Can't we just rip it out of her?" Luna asked while gesturing the motion of tearing out an object. "If it really is the source of such energies then we could definitely find a spell to pull it out of her then either dissipate or imprison it so the chaotic energies it's emitting don't affect the world."

Celestia clenched her eyes and ground her teeth. "But what if it's the only thing holding those energies back somehow? It's not malicious, so it's possible it only attached to her to prevent all those energies from spilling out into the world." She looked to the statue they stood next to and glared at it, her eyes spitting venom. "What would happen to other chaotic entities if so much energy started spilling out everywhere all at once rather than it being gradual? Even if there's always been energies of chaos and order floating everywhere, we have no idea what might happen."

Luna nodded and put a hoof to her chin. "That's true. In the worst case scenario it might birth more chaotic creatures or warp the very fabric of some area if it all stagnates there." The lunar princess opened her mouth several times to try and figure out another idea, but nothing came to mind. Annoyed, she stomped the ground with her front hooves in frustration. "I can't find a solution!"

Celestia squee'd. "Oh, you're so cute when you get angry like that."

The blue pony's cheeks puffed up and she turned away. "Don't patronize me, sister."

The white alicorn chuckled to herself. "In any case, we need more information, and we have her living with Cyclon Opal while she recovers. This will give us more than enough time to look into any information we can gather from the other lands."

"And for Cyclon to tell us more about her behavior and personality," Luna added. "In the best case scenario we won't really need to do anything about her. After all, that gigasparkle didn't do anything until we confronted her. We didn't even know she had it." She nodded to herself. "And if it really was ill-intentioned, then it would have likely itself far earlier."

"It could always be planning something in the long term, but let's not dwell on such things for the time being," Celestia said as she stood up. A wide grin crossed her face. "I think it's time for us to start exploring the new cakes that were imported from Prance and Eguable." Her face turned into a frightening grimace coupled with drool.

She rushed off, leaving Luna behind who was quick to protest against her sister's addiction to the layered treats. The statue they left behind shook, chasing off some of the rubble on its body.

"Chaos?" a muffled voice whispered in joyful baritone.
> The lone hermit (obsolete)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Hydra And Samaru163 reviewed my story and made tweak and changes instead of the usual grammar fixing. This is to test how you all see the change and if you still think it's me with this chapter. Be warned, there might be...BRITISH ENGLISH! *vomits* :D Feel free to reread the original chapter)

I am Derry Wilhall; a simple guy, not too exquisite. I was also a pretty decent writer before things went south; although the measly royalties from my book sales would tell you otherwise... Heh...  Guess people just aren't into interesting stuff anymore. Most of them would prefer to go online and search up cat videos to pass the time instead.

I was never the most intelligent guy at my school.  More of the quiet loner that was known for "raging," as the guidance counselor called it, whenever someone annoyed me too much. There was even a case where I nearly killed someone for cutting me.  Go figure that some jerk pulls a knife on me and the anger-management kid gets all the blame for starting a fight.  Typical.  So I had problems; Silver was my only friend, and wasn't even real I might add, and I didn't believe love was real, only another way to manipulate others.  How else am I supposed to act if the world taught me about its dark side.  I guess I was the alternate reality Luke Skywalker who got tempted by 'the dark side' and succumbed.  Society had only let me experience loneliness and uselessness, along with violence and insults.  Pretty much dumb jock 101 every hour, on the hour. 

So did I care about society?  Hell no.  I managed to survive without anyone's help...well...I almost did. You see, I never had a good connection with my mother, and my father barely knew I existed.  The only companion I ever had in my life was this stuffed animal; it was a silvery pony just a little bigger than my hand, with only a little wear showing for its age.

"Seriously, a pony. What are you, a little girl?"  is what I guess you're thinking.  Well maybe if you can say that to my face, I'll give you an answer... jerks.  It was a present from my grandfather and he didn't know what I liked, so he decided to send me a girly toy, but with awesome style.  Silver, as I called her, had been my first and only toy since.  Looking back, it wasn't the most creative of names, but lay-off.  I was five and at least knew how to pronounce words longer than one syllable.  I took good care of her and learned how to properly clean her up. Her body was a radiant silver color, still shining after these 21 years, and her mane was of a pure, majestic white. Most normal people would've simply combed that mane so there weren't any tangles, but I took the scissors to it and gave her a badass do; well, badass by my terms.  It was slightly curled on the top, bending over her right ear, but showing the entirety of the left one. That patch going over the ear kind of spiked slightly at the end.

The front legs seemed lame, the chest was too visible, but the rear legs were perfect.  I even went and got her a mark sown on both flanks of her legs.  It was the family crest; a silver ingot surrounded by two blue crystalline leaves, but with a small space up top and below, sewn there. I was so happy at that time but people still found me weird, even though I was just six. 

My grandfather was the owner of an oil company and fabrics industry at the time.  He had his time cut-out for him, but I'll never forget the days where I got to play with him when I was little. However, as the years went by, we grew more and more distant, and this distance can be summed up like this;  There was a storm cloud separating the two boats we were riding.  I was caught in the middle and he was outside, desperately trying to reach me.  Eventually, that storm grabbed his boat and threw it against the rocks.  He had died at five o'clock. on January first 2012, right after new years eve.  I was devastated when we got the news, but even in death it seemed that he still had one final present to give me.

So there we were, my mother, her long brown hair surfing over that ugly ass black widow dress that she loved so much, sitting next to me as she pretended to cry.  I just wanted to poke the back of my throat and vomit on her, that would've developed her taste in fashion.  Her eyes were green, strangely, while mine were nearly black, just like my father's.   It was something I only took pride in, only because they were the same eyes as my grandfather. On my left was the good for nothing that called me his son, sitting lazily on an oak chair covered with red cushions.  We all had one, but the way he lounged made the atmosphere feel empty and soulless.  He'd 'coiffed' his hair back with gel, making it look greasier than normal, along with wearing a black tuxedo with matching leather shoes.  Pah! Such a waste.  All that monopoly money could have gone to those who needed it.

But I digress, seeing how we were in the lawyer's office not to discuss their crimes against fashion, but my grandpa's will.
Sitting before us on his giant swivel chair was Jasper, gramp's lawyer.  He was pretty old, with a receding hair line along with a gray suit and tie.  From the way he even held the paper to read, you could tell he needed some reading glasses.  I'd almost thought Larry King was talking to us.

"To my dear son, who has shown himself to be quite the aggressive businessman, like I was in my youth, I leave the management of the Wilhall oil industry ."

The bastard had simply nodded with a smug grin on his face.  At the time I wasn't sure what my grandpa was thinking, leaving his life's work in the hands of such a slimy, cruel jerk.  I had almost expected said jerk to put his pinkie to his mouth and yell, "one million dollars," in a foreboding tone.  Sadly his joy was less humiliating, mostly twisting his mustache between his fingers and giving my mom a flippant look as Jasper continued.

"To my daughter-in-law, I leave you as key designer managing the Wilhall designer brand.  I expect you to do great things, especially with your fabulous fashion sense."  Returning my dad's look, she'd started to shed crocodile tears into her handkerchief as I rolled my eyes.  It was difficult enough dealing with these two on a daily basis, but seeing them so pleased about my grandfather's death had me digging my nails into my chair.  I'd almost jumped out of my chair in order to call bullshit on the whole thing, beating that lawyer until he told me how much the two of them had paid him; however, both my gramp, and his lawyer, seemed to have a similar sense of humor.

"And finally, to my favorite and only.  Thank god.  Grandson..."  My parents had gone stiff at that, but he calmed them with a quick wave of his hand and a cheesy excuse,  Bitch and Greasy quickly settled back into their sham sadness, sneaking some smug looks in my direction, probably thinking that I would inherit a car or something insignificant compared to their inheritance.  Apparently they hadn't noticed him flash me a quick thumbs up.

"... Derry Wilhall. I'm sorry I could not reach you after all these years. My heart ached knowing that you were all alone and being picked on at school.  I hope you can understand why I left your insufferable parents with important roles in your new empire but I'm sure you'll put them to good use as the new boss of Wilhall International Inc..." I was just as surprised to hear the lawyer, but the look of utter, idiotic, disbelief on my parents' faces best expressed.  Their stunned silence also made it easier them to hear how everything granmp's owned was to be put under my name.

I understand they say revenge is like ice cream, but I'd just been handed a lifetime supply of chocolate mint chip, while giving my two 'favorite' people in the world all the frozen yogurt.  And not the tasty kind, more like the disturbing tapioca flavor.

To avoid the boring details, the rest of the day was spent in pure bliss.  Not only did I get to give my parents the ultimate 'fuck you', security also dragged them out of the building when they started to harass me and gramp's lawyer.  The next few weeks flew by as I tried to build a reputation as the proper heir of Wilhall inc.  There were interviews, conspiracy theories; probably due to two disgruntled employees; and even meetings with the other influential members of Wilhall Inc.  Those were mainly to save face but I soon returned to my familiar solitude, leaving my home only when an important meeting took place.

During that period of peace, I had a small cottage built on the mountain bordering my inherited property, close  to the village nestled in the valley.  My cabin looked like it was made from Lincoln logs. Tree trunks that were sawed on a small portion of the end, just to stack them atop each other. It had a bathroom, a small living room, a kitchen, and my bedroom.  Of course, I built it to be self-sufficient with its own internet connection, environmentally friendly turbines and solar panels, and a big-ass backyard that I wouldn't need to mow.  I also jerry-rigged a security system to keep the locals out of my territory.  It would be a 'shocking' experience for them... What can I say? I like small buildings and dislike human contact, but only on my terms.

Living by myself, it seemed excessive to move into grandpa's mansion, so a builder was hired to convert it, and the remainder of the inherited property, into a hospital with a low-rent housing community for long-term patients and their families.  Along with investing an additional billion for start-up costs, I even got a lab built on-site for common antibiotic production.  That was a little idea of my own, hopefully making prescriptions more accessible. It wasn't until after the construction was finished, and the grand opening celebrated, that I delved into my new lifestyle.

To pass the time, I would go to the nearby village at the foot of the forest and get some mountaineering (Is that even a word?) gear to explore the surrounding wilderness, collecting the occasional rock I would find while observing the fauna and flora.  Besides nearly falling to my death that one time, this soon became part of my daily routine.  A little money donation here, a little travelling through the forest over there, and that pretty much summed up my new life... or what the majority of people knew of.

Besides trying to forget my past in an eccentric lifestyle, there was another reason gramps had left me his mansion, instead of making Jasper setup the necessary preparations.  He had left me with a request to find an artifact that dotted the area's history

Being known as new money was aggravating, especially with all the solicitors looking for a hand-out and the thieves hoping to steal the supposed millions I kept in my cottage.  Well the jokes on them, my money was still being managed by my grandfather's accountant.

Annoyingly (Or luckily, if you're a complete idiot), it was thanks to my self-made alarm system, for what I thought was another 'guest', that I was wandering the mountain in the wee hours of the morning.  Admittedly, I'd had difficulty pulling myself from bed to go see who was stomping around my property, but I was nothing if not stubborn.  Having managed to raise the dead, figuratively speaking, I had donned my coat and nestled Silver in the front pocket before heading out the door.

Fog still clung to the ground as I started my round, walking beside the electrically charged wire that formed my security system.  It took only a few minutes before the source of my rude awakening came into view, although it wasn't what I had expected.  Jutting out of the ground, tangled in part of my security system, there was a blue crystal.  Such beauty!  It seemed to glow with an inner light as I stepped closer with my arm outstretched.  Note to others, don't try to touch strange crystals bare handed, especially ones covered in electrical lines.  I almost missed the spark before feeling the electricity run down my arm.  The fog turned a rainbow color as my body tensed, a side effect of getting shocked I had thought  To my surprise, and horror, this 'side effect' started raising me into the air and pulled my hand from the crystal.  Slowly, the surrounding area started to turn white as my backpack and jacket seemed to phase through me.

I was certain that I had died and that I was going to the after-life, but even though everything had turned white that blue crystal was still there. Reaching out instinctively, I reached for the only source of comfort I had.  Even as I wrapped my fingers around Silver, the jacket dissolved as I held her close to me.  At least the memento of my grandfather would stay etched into my soul and mind.  The white light grew brighter and brighter until there was nothing left in sight; I couldn't even feel my body in the blinding light 
But I could feel Silver, and that was all that mattered.