Who are you?

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"I think this will be the greatest Nightmare Night ever!" Twilight exclaimed, her wings fully opened. The six best friends she could ever ask for all giving her funny looks. "What?" she asks.

"What's so special about this year rather than any other normal year?" Spike asked.
Pinkie of course interjects with, "It's because there's gonna be cake and balloons and games and- " she stops, "yeah actually I can't see why its different either."

"Well, Princess Luna said that she wants to start making Nightmare Night a regular holiday for herself so she can visit one town in Equestria each year!" Twilight answered. "Oh my goodness! I haven't finished my costume yet either!" Twilight grabs Spike and runs upstairs to continue working on her costume. The rest of her friends stay and talk among themselves.

"Does she know it's not here in Ponyville?" Applejack asks.

"Dear, I'm sure she knows, and I imagine Princess Celestia has asked Twilight to go with Princess Luna to help her with the locals that still might have their doubts." Rarity tells Applejack with assurance. Applejack looks outside the window to see the ponies finishing setting up for Nightmare Night in Ponyville.

"If she gets the resistance she got from here, she'll need all the help she can get." Applejack replied with a sigh. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all nodded their heads in agreement. Applejack looks back towards the staircase, "You know Nightmare Night is tomorrow night, right? And Princess Luna is going to Las Pegasus! That's a day's trip itself," she yells to Twilight.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight looks down the staircase, confused.

"Well aren't you going with Princess Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No not at all. She's beginning the celebration here then heading straight for Las Pegasus when she finishes up here, and I'm helping her set it up!" Twilight had a huge grin on her face. She had trouble keeping her excitement in. Speaking very loudly when she talks and she has a smile on her muzzle from ear to ear. She did not want to give too many details because she wanted to keep it a surprise.

"Hold on just a moment," Rarity spoke up, "How in the wide world of Equestria is she going to be there on time?"

"Well she's a master of magic, too, Rarity. I imagine she can do a simple teleportation spell to get there quicker than any train. Or maybe even fly herself."

"I suppose you're right," Rarity replied. "Oh I just remembered I have costumes of my own to finish up! See you girls tomorrow!" Rarity left in a hurry, Spike trailing behind her before the door nearly slammed in his face. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight all laughed at Spike, who then proceeded to shamefully walk back upstairs. Fluttershy ran straight for Spike and gave him a hug.

"Oh it's okay they just don't know love when they see it," Fluttershy consoled Spike. He then pushed her hooves away, angrily embarrassed.
"I'm not in love!" Spike blushed, "I just thought she might have forgotten something is all." They all laughed. A few minutes of silence then passed when suddenly, a bright flash of light filled the already lit tree house. This light was much brighter and it was coming from outside. "What is that? I thought the sun already set" Spike said with a curious gesture then he turned to look behind him, "Twilight, please tell me you know what this is."

"I'm sorry Spike I have no idea, but its worth investigating. Rainbow Dash will you and Applejack come with me? Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, could you go get Rarity?" They all nodded their head in agreement, then ran outside

"Hey what can I do?" Spike said tugging on Twilight's tail.

"Go with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and meet us near the old castle ruins. It looks like that's where the light is coming from," she looked out toward the Everfree Forest and squinted her eyes, "but it's too bright for me to tell exactly where." Twilight then headed off toward the forest. "Come find us as soon as you can," she said before Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy turned to Rarity's boutique.

In the Everfree Forest, the blinding light only got brighter as they continued deeper into the forest, as if it were shining brighter as they traveled closer. "It's getting too bright Twilight!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I hope you see something 'cause I can't see a thing through this-" the light suddenly disappeared. Twilight flew down to Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed.

"Did you see anything?" Twilight asked Applejack.

"Heck, I still can't see!" She answered.

"Uh, Applejack," Rainbow Dash said giggling, "we're over here." Applejack turned around.

"That's what I mean! I can't see!" Applejack sounded worried. Twilight waved her hoof in front of Applejack's face. She did not even flinch. It was at this moment that Twilight had a scare. Her heart was racing and her hooves started to sway beneath her. She was worried about Applejack. She wondered if this might be permanent.

"Dash, take Applejack back to Ponyville and I will stay here to meet up with the others when they arrive."

"Gotcha! I'll be back before you know I'm gone!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"No, don't," Twilight replied. "I want you to stay with Applejack and make sure she's going to be okay." She looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes, "As soon as you get back, put a blindfold over her eyes so hopefully her eyes will adjust quicker, and if she needs anything, go get it for her, okay?" Rainbow Dash could see worry painted all over Twilight. Rainbow Dash began walking Applejack back to Ponyville.

"She's gonna be alright! She's too awesome to let a little light ruin her eyesight!" Rainbow Dash tried to be reassuring, using her confident smile.

"Rainbow's right, I'll be fine, now go!" Applejack reiterated. Twilight nodded and hesitantly flew above the trees to look for that light, but it seemed to disappear as quickly as it appeared. She remembered she thought she saw it at its brightest at the old castle ruins. She quickly flew to the ruins as fast as she could, but on the way, she saw what appeared to be scorch marks on some of the trees. The most concentrated of the scorch marks was about three or four hundred yards from the castle so she decided that whatever caused the light had to have caused the scorch marks. She glided down to the ground, which looked much worse than the trees. The darkest burns looked almost like hoof prints. No, they were exactly like hoof prints, like whatever caused this was on fire at the time.

On fire? What poor pony was on fire? And what made the fire go out of control like this? It's almost like a wildfire, but then it just disappeared. Magic obviously put the fire out, Twilight could also sense the use of a very strong magic, though it was tough to tell whether it started the fire, or put it out. She did have a lead though, and it seems that the further into the forest the tracks go, the more profound the burn marks seemed to be. She began to hear bubbling coming from a nearby pond. She looked in its direction, and the trail marks led straight to it. "Okay," she said, "this might be a hurt pony in need of medical attention." She then looked around in confusion. "But if there are tracks that lead to here, then," Twilight bolted for the water when she realized what was in the water. "Hang on! I'm coming!" She yelled at the bubbles, but she noticed something. She did not want to get any closer to the bubbles; she could not. The water was too hot. "Okay so there' a pony under there that was set on fire magically and he's trying to put himself out. Think, Twilight, think! What do I do?" Then she remembered a spell that turns water into ice. Quickly she used the spell and the entire pond turned to ice. The ice seemed to work for a second or two, then the entire icy pond shattered.

"Cold!" a voice shouted from below the broken ice. Then suddenly, a there was a flash of light over the pond. Now a graphite colored unicorn with a fiery blue main stood on top of the ice. "Wow! What a rush!" He looked to Twilight, "Quick thinking on your part. I'm glad you happened to be around, I could have burned down the whole forest if it wasn't for that spell. Should lower my fire's temperature long enough to find this purple unicorn to take me to see-" He noticed who she was and his eyes widened and then he bowed. "My apologies Princess, but I am unacquainted with you. I assume, however, your status means you know where my princess is. Could you tell me where Princess Celestia might be? I'm in a bit of a pickle and I think she could help me."

Twilight was at a loss for words. She stood frozen in place, frightened. She tried to speak. "Who, who, who are, who-are," The mysterious stallion's eyes widened and he let out a chuckle.

"Oh goodness princess, you sound like an owl. Mighty good impression might I add." He slowly walked to her, ice cracked beneath his hooves as the fire melted away at the ice. As he walked, he slid, then his hooves gave way to gravity and fell. "I meant to do that!" He stands back up and shakes himself off. "I guess if I'm going to ask questions I should at least introduce myself shouldn't I?" Twilight nodded, her mouth still open as if she was trying to say something. "Right then, I am," He stopped for a moment "wait a minute who am I?" He began pacing back and forth, "What's my name again? Something like fire or something like that maybe. Chariot boom? No. Too weird. Quickilver? Yes! No, but I like that! It's catchy. Oh well! Just call me Burns for now."

"Wait a second, you expect me to help you and you don't even know your own name?" Twilight exclaimed.

"It's been so long since I've used a name." The stallion looked down at the ice pond and ran ran his fiery hoof over the ice. It cracked and melted. "My apologies again Princess. May I ask your name?"

"First, how do you know I'm a Princess, but not know my name?" She looked at him, confused, yet intrigued.

"You're an alicorn, correct?" He looked back to her, examining her horn and wings.

"Well, yes, but how does that necessarily make me a princess in your eye?" She snapped back at him. She looked frightened, yet confident. Standing her ground with a sort of elegant pose, and beaming eyes.

"The anointed," he answered with a smile. "Of course, it has been quite some time since I have been looking after them." He stopped and touched his hoof to his chin. "Come to think of it I don't know how long it's been, but I still know the special ones when I see them." Twilight's face went from confident and calm to confused and bewildered, then she spoke with a shutter.

"Watching over who?" Her eyes widened and she gasped. She realized what he meant. He knows what she is because it was not the first time he had seen a transformation. "You're-"

"Just like you?" He interrupted her, "Yes and no, but I am by no means ready to become an alicorn. Now can you tell me your name?" She nodded her head and began to speak but before she could, she heard shouting in the distance. It was Spike and the others, rushing toward her, calling for her.

"Over here!" Twilight shouted. The others ran to her, looking at all the scorch marks on the trees and on the ground.

"What devilish creature did this?" Rarity exclaimed in disgust. "It's simply dreadful to see all this black everywhere. It's too last season anyway." Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Spike all rolled their eyes.

"What about all the woodland creatures that lived in these trees?" Fluttershy spoke up, "Are they okay?"

"I don't know Fluttershy," Twilight answered. "Burns, did you harm any woodland creatures?" She then turned to find that no pony was there. Nothing was there. With him gone, it seemed empty and dark.

"Don't demean Fluttershy like that, Darling. She just wanted to know everyone was safe and sound." Rarity snapped at Twilight.Twilight just stared at where the mysterious stallion stood and then mysteriously disappeared. Rarity was already upset that she had to leave, though she knew it was an emergency, she still does not like being pulled away from her work. Hearing Twilight's demeaning tone only infuriated her.

"But he was right here," Twilight stuttered. "He was right there, and he didn't even say goodbye?" Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike gave Twilight puzzling looks.

"There's no pony here other than us, Twilight." Rarity answered.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie shouted. "You mean the one that set the fire and then ran into the pond that you turned to ice?" The four others' mouths dropped. "And he talked to you about something important, but we probably should talk about that, huh Twilight?" Twilight merely stood amazed at Pinkie Pie's ability to somehow know everything and nodded.

"How did you guys find me anyway?"

"It was hard not to see you Twi. You were lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree." Spike answered.

"It was almost like you were shining," Fluttershy added.

"Ooh! Like Princess Celestia!" Pinkie shouted.

"You were absolutely radiant," Rarity admitted with excitement."I believe it's inspired a whole new line of clothing I should get to work on as soon as I get back. Which now sounds great since there seems to be nothing wrong." Rarity then looked at Twilight. "By the way, who did this Twilight?"

"A unicorn stallion that apparently has no idea what his name is," she answered.

"How can any pony not know their own name?" Spike asked. The other three giving Twilight mixed looks.

"He said it had been a while since he had ever used a name," Twilight continued to tell them what had happened, but left out the part about him calling her princess without actually knowing her name.

As they began to walk home, Rarity noticed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were not around. "So where are our other two friends?" When Twilight answered, they all gasped.

"The light was much brighter on the ground and Applejack caught the brunt of it. I asked Rainbow Dash to take her to the library and take care of her until we can get back. I'm sure she's okay though, she'll just need to be blindfolded for a day or two to let her eyes adjust."

"I am dreadfully sorry about that too you know. She surprised me and I was already in a poor mood from-" Twilight turned to see Burns standing right next to her. He had a sorrowful look on his face. "Is she going to be alright? Is there anything I can do?"

"Wait, you did this?" Twilight shouted. "Hey where are they going?" Twilight looked to Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike still walking as if they had no idea Twilight had stopped. "Hello!" She shouted.

"They won't hear you," he answered.

"Why not? What did you do?"

"To keep everything simple: magic, and they do not know you have gone. Do not worry, they are still going where they are needed, and you will meet them there. I just have some questions that I hope you can answer." He looked her in the eyes. "Will you help me?"

"So let me get this straight," her voice raised with accusation. "You want me to help you," he nodded his head, "even though you started a huge fire in the Everfree forest, blinded one of my friends," she began yelling and pacing back and forth, glaring at him, "and then you disappear when you're needed for an explanation, then you just show up out of nowhere and cut me off from my friends, and you still want me to help you?!" Burns lowered his head, then raised it again, his face was expressionless, but Twilight did not feel threatened. She knew that look. It was not just an expressionless face, it was a face in constant thought, just like her mentor.

"I know I do not deserve help, and I understand if you choose not to help me. Tell me where you are supposed to be and I will take you there before you are missed and you will never see me again. You have me word." He held out his hoof, but Twilight had no intention of shaking or even touching the fire on his hoof. She now looked him in the eyes.

"You really do need help, don't you?" Twilight asked. Burns nodded his head. "Okay, what do you need?" Burns thought for a moment then looked around.

"Does Princess Celestia still rule here?"

"Yes"

"Can you take me to her?" She nodded her head and his face lit up. "Oh thank you so much! Quickly now, I must take you to your castle so your friends can know where you are." His horn lit up and his head rose, then he lowered his head and the glowing stopped. "I have no idea where we are going," he said with a smile. Twilight let out a small chuckle.

"I will take us there." Her horn lit up and with a flash of light, they were gone. With an instant, they were standing in front of the library. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike were still not back yet. "Looks like only Rainbow Dash and Applejack have made their ways back. Come in and I'll show you around." Burns was confused and his face said it all. "What's wrong?" Burns did not answer, he was still staring at the library in a mixture of awe and another emotion that Twilight could not quite make out.

"Have castles become smaller since my leisure?" he asked. Burns was a little underwhelmed at the tree house and did not quite understand that this was Twilight's choice to stay there.

"No, this is my home, the library in Ponyville. Anytime I don't have to be at Princess Celestia's castle, I come back here to Ponyville to be with my friends." He smiled and nodded his head.

"That is very noble of you Princess. I know your friends called your name earlier, but could you tell me your name again?" She nodded.

"Twilight Sparkle," said a voice from behind Twilight. It was Rarity, beaming at her again. "Just who is this strange stallion, and where in the wide world of Equestira have you been, and how did you manage to beat us here?" Twilight looked to Burns and he nodded.

"Let's go inside so I can explain this to everypony." As they entered the library, they noticed everything was a mess. books were strewn out all over the floor and Twilight's desks were on their sides. The horse statuette that sat in the middle of the library was now missing, and probably downstairs. They all gasped. "What happened here?" Twilight was worried somepony or something came and took Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but then Rainbow Dash flew down from the second story.

"Sorry about the mess Twilight, Applejack is being stubborn," Rainbow Dash said.

"Am not, you just don't trust me," Shouted an angry blind-folded Applejack.

"You nearly destroyed the library!" Rainbow snapped back. "Hey who's that?" She turned to Burns. "And why is he on fire?" Twilight began to tell the story and when she got to to the part about Applejack, Rainbow Dash nearly destroyed the library chasing Burns. "So you're the one that caused all this trouble and blinded Applejack?!" She kept coming at him, and he just ran while Twilight tried to calm Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, he didn't do it on purpose. That's why he's trying to get help!" Twilight shouted.

"Oh," she answered, and then glided to the ground. "I guess you're off the hook for now," Rainbow Dash glared at Burns, her eyes were like daggers piercing into him.

"So why is he on fire?" Fluttershy hesitantly asked. She was almost hiding completely behind Pinkie Pie. She was not the only one who looked afraid of him. The others were just as frightened of his appearance. Except for Applejack, who still could not see too well.

"Who's on fire now?" Applejack asked.

"Ooh ponies are scary when they're on fire!" Pinkie Pie shouted in her normal playful tone.

"Please do not be afraid," Burns answered, "I am merely seeking help to extinguish the flames on my body. Princess Celestia has a tool that could do the job, but that is all I can say without her permission." He turned to Fluttershy, who was barely visible behind Pinkie Pie. "You can come out," he said as softly as he could. "I mean no one here any harm." She stepped out into view and a light clicked on in his head. "You look oddly familiar," he said squinting at her.

"Oh I'm sure I've never met a pony before that was on fire," she said quivering back behind Pinkie.

"It's very doubtful you have ever met me," he smiled, "but I imagine you have met a very good friend of mine." They all stared at Fluttershy now wanting an answer. An answer she did not have. "You showed a frightening monster kindness when others only ran or wanted to fight it." She still looked confused, as did the other six. He slowly walked to her and actually bowed to her. When he stood again he spoke, "I would shake your hoof, but it may not have been my best option," he said chuckling, looking at his fiery hoof.

"That's nice and all but I really do not know who you are talking about." She said, backing away even further.

"If you are the one in his memories, you should be the one that was with Cerberus in this very town, are you not?" he was being quizzical.

"How'd you know that?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Memory transfer spell," he turned back to Twilight to face her directly. It was then he also made the second connection. "Celestia you farceur!" he shouted and clopped his hoof to his head. "You were seriously hoping I would return near here weren't you?"

"What?" Twilight responded.

"Forgive me Princess Twilight, it seems I was searching for you this entire time," he said with a surprised tone. "So you were the purple unicorn who led Cerberus back home." Twilight nodded. "Well, thank you for leading him back."

"That's great and all, but what are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"I've agreed to help him so I am going to leave on the next train to Canterlot." Twilight announced.

"Then we're going with you!" Rainbow Dash walked to Burns, still glaring at him. "So everypony can keep an eye on this guy."

"No I would rather you stay here and help Applejack out."

"I don't need no help!" Applejack shouted even though she was right next to Twilight. "I'm just fine on my own!"

"If you could see all the damage you've caused Twilight's library you definitely wouldn't be saying that," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Why can't somepony else watch her?"

"Because you're the only one who could actually hold her back if you needed to." Twilight told her. Rainbow Dash smirked at the comment then nodded her head.

"You should still have someone come with you, Dear." Rarity interjected. "He may still prove to be trouble."

"Then I'll take Spike." He's resourceful, and if Burns accidentally starts another fire, Spike can take the blame to avoid a panic." Spike grimaced at Twilight.

"Glad I can be so much help." He said sarcastically. "But Twilight, if you're going to leave on the next train, it leaves in the morning. We'll just have to wait until then to get to Canterlot."

"Alright then."

"Do you have a basement?" Burns asked. Twilight nodded and showed him the way. "Thank you. Since we will not be leaving until tomorrow morning, I believe I will stay down here to hopefully keep from catching anything else on fire. That is, of course, if it is okay with you." Again, Twilight nodded. "Then until morning." With that, he left downstairs.

"Do you need a pillow or anything?" Rarity asked. "I'd be more than happy to get one for you." Burns smiled, but shook his head.

"I think it would be best to keep anything flammable away from me at the moment, but thank you for the gesture."

They all decided to spend the night at the library, except for Rarity who went home to finish her costumes before tomorrow's Nightmare Night celebration. The others stayed to keep an eye on Applejack, and more or less an eye on Burns. Twilight pulled out cots for everyone and then after, went to her own bed. Pinkie Pie literally jumped into the bed then pulled gummy out of her mane and kissed the alligator goodnight.

"Did you have Gummy with you this whole time?" Fluttershy asked.

"I had a feeling we'd be staying here so I didn't want Gummy to be alone. Plus he needs to be fed extra early so I brought his food along too!" Pinkie pulled the food for Gummy out of her mane to show Fluttershy before stuffing it back inside. Fluttershy gave Pinkie a weird look before laying her head down and then falling to sleep. Pinkie Pie petted Gummy and then laid down, and soon everypony was asleep. Burns, however, was still awake.

Still in the basement, he sat. There was a small window near the ceiling to which he looked out. He just stared outside, and waited. He waited for the sun to rise, and when it did, he rose with it. "Good morning," he said quietly to himself as he bowed to the sun. "I've missed you." Then he heard the clip clop of hooves coming down the stairway. It was Twilight, all packed and ready to go.

"Burns," She says quietly while still going down the stairs, "are you awake?" he waited for her to be visible to nod to her and then walk closer. "The train leaves in about an hour so we should get moving soon." Again, he nodded. Twilight walked back upstairs and Burns followed. They both walked to to the ground floor to find a half asleep Spike with his head on the door. Spike then crawled on Twilight's back and fell back to sleep. The others were also still sleeping so Twilight and Burns stepped lightly to avoid waking them. Without a sound, they opened and closed the door and went on their way. Twilight left a note on the door that read: Make sure Applejack keeps her blindfold on to avoid premature exposure to the light!

The walk to the train station was long, quiet, and awkward. Twilight kept opening her mouth to say something, but then quickly decided not to say anything. Burns was not looking as cheerful as he was last night when they met. He almost looked scared. His eyes kept wandering all over, his heart was beating so hard Twilight could almost make out the pattern. Then the silence was too much for her to bear. "Do you know Princess Celestia personally?" she asked him. He nodded his head but still said nothing. He did not even look to her. he just kept looking ahead. "You look nervous," she continued, "How long has it been since you've seen her?" He looked at her, looked back ahead, then back to her.

"What is a train exactly?" Twilight nearly choked she was laughing so hard. She threw the sleeping Spike off of her back who proceeded to groan and stare at Twilight, who was still laughing.

"You were waiting for the right moment to crack a joke weren't you?" she said wiping a tear from her eye. He had no smile on his face. He was confused by her humor in his question. Twilight's smile quickly faded. "Wait, you actually don't know what a train is?"

"How new is it?"

"Not new at all really. We've had them for centuries now." Twilight then picked up Spike and positioned him back on her back, and they began to walk again. "You don't live around trains then?" Burns shook his head. Twilight smiled, "So you're not from Equestria, are you?" Burns began to say something but then sighed and shook his head and said no. "Where did you come from?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," he answered.

"Try me," Twilight said with a confident smile.

"Tell you what, if you wait until we reach this, train, I'll tell you a little more," he looked at her and smirked. Twilight reluctantly agreed. Burns was looking for more time to stall to answer her questions. She could tell, but she knew she could ask Princess Celestia for the answers she was looking for.

The train was just arriving when the three of them walked through the doors of the train station. Burns eyes widened and he marveled at the sight of it. When the whistle went off to sound its arrival he whinnied with excitement. Twilight only giggled at him, then she remembered he was on fire.

"Try to keep your excitement to a minimum. You're going to cause a large scare if you're seen."

"You're the only one who can see me, Princess Twilight," Burns smiled. "I did think ahead and cast the spell before we left." Twilight was not used to knowing anypony that knew just as many spells as she did. It had been a while since she had been to school with other ponies just as gifted as her. "Shall we proceed?" He was smiling, but he did not look happy. He still looked worried. They boarded the train, and sat in an empty car. Twilight locked the doors and Burns lowered the window curtains. Twilight then began staring straight at Burns. "Is there something the matter, Princess Twilight?"

"You are supposed to give me answers now."

"Where should I start?"

"Where are you from?" He frowned then looked to the door. She quickly changed her mind "Scratch that. Why are you on fire?"

"A spell that increases my flow of magical energy," he said calmly.

"Well why can't you control it?"

"Fire is an easy spell to begin with, but fire can become uncontrollable if the user is not focused," his voice lowered, "Sometimes a spell can turn into a curse, one that curses the user. Fire can just as quickly corrupt the user as it can benefit the user." He then looked to Twilight, "Control that you seem to have, but it looks a little lacking."

"I'm not the one that set a forest fire," she quickly came back. Burns only smiled and nodded.

"True, but you are still young. One can always improve," he let open a window blind and looked outside, "Even the sun must practice everyday to avoid being controlled by her magic. Never forget that, Princess." There it was again, the face she saw last night. Burns's emotionless, yet wandering, look.

"You said you know about me, and you have been anointed." Twilight stated. Burns nodded. "What does that mean exactly?"

"I'm not a unicorn," he said, "I was an earth pony." Twilight was shocked to hear those words, though she expected to hear them. It was just surprising to really hear him say it aloud. "I imagine your next question will be how, so allow me to explain," he stopped for a moment, then his horn glowed. Twilight could see the world around her disappearing. She panicked for a moment, but then realized he was showing her his memories. Fire began bellowing all around them. They were inside a burning room, and alone stood a young hornless colt, Burns, fire raging all around him. The young Burns began yelling at the fire. No! This isn't nice! This is my home! Stop it! Stop laughing! Twilight obviously thought Burns was actually just a crazy pony. Then his eyes began glowing. While the fire around him did not stop, it did however, begin swaying. No longer burning, just existing. Now go somewhere else and stop causing trouble! The fire dissipated, and the room quit burning. Twilight, before unimpressed was now in complete awe of the young colt that stood before her. Then suddenly, he disappeared, and the memory ended.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Same thing that happens to all of us," he answered. "I met the two that changed my life forever, at least that's the short version."

"Two?" Twilight remembers Celestia, but no other pony was with her then.

"Yes, the princesses of Equestria."

"You mean Princess Luna was also there?" Twilight seemed confused.

"Well it is a place for alicorns, and the few selected to move forward in other ways. Luna's presence should be no surprise to you. Speaking of surprises, how long until we get there?"

"Maybe a few more minutes?" Twilight said unsure. She was not paying attention to how long they were on. Also the memory could have lasted much longer than it seemed. "I'll look outside." Twilight opened one of the blinds. The train was nearly at the station in Canterlot now. "On second thought, we're here," she sounded a little surprised. "How long did that memory last to us?"

"I have no idea, Princess," he said. "Memory spells can sometimes have a lingering effect that leaves the host stuck in a moment for some time. Not something I recommend for daily use."

"Well you're going to have to put on another invisibility spell if you want to make it through Canterlot unseen." Burns then used his magic to turn himself completely invisible this time. Even Twilight could not see him. "Why did you make yourself invisible to me this time?"

"It is more powerful if it is nondiscriminatory. It is much harder to see through or detect. A palace guard could most likely see through it if I am not careful so let us not talk until after I can lift the spell so I can keep my full concentration on it." Burns lied a little to Twilight. He did not need to be quiet to remain focused, but he was trying to avoid any more questions.

The walk through the city of Canterlot was easy enough. Spike now walked beside Twilight and other than a few passer-byes saying hello, they went nearly unnoticed. When they arrived to the castle doors, the guards immediately let Twilight in, never suspecting another pony was walking right beside her. They walked with Burns completely unnoticed, however he did leave the occasional scorch mark on the ground. Twilight could only hope that they were not seen at least until they could get to Princess Celestia. They did pass by Princess Luna, on her way to bed. Luna said good morning, then went on her way. Then, she stopped and turned back to Twilight. Burns also stopped, but Twilight kept walking. Burns and Luna stood and stared directly at each other, then Luna shook her head and kept walking. Twilight did not notice Luna's suspicion, but she never looked back. Neither did she wait on Burns to catch up to her.

Twilight then went to the room where she normally meets Celestia, "Wait here," she whispered silently. Twilight went inside, but Celestia was not there. "Excuse me," she said to a guard, " do you know where Princess Celestia is?" The guard nodded his head and gestured for them to follow him. They went up two flights of stairs and down a corridor that lead to a small office filled with books and at the end of the office was a desk with papers piled so high that only Celestia's horn could be seen.

"Princess Celestia," the guard said, "Princess Twilight is here and wishes to speak with you." Celestia did not answer, but the guard began to leave anyway. When the guard left the room and shut the door. The papers on the desk were moved and there sat Princess Celestia herself.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Celestia demanded, her eyes looked enraged. "How late it is?" she asked again. Twilight was taken off guard by this unusual tone from Celestia, especially towards her.

"Princess I'm sorry but I was unaware I-" Celestia cut her off.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you, Silver?" Twilight gasped and turned to Burns who then lifted his invisibility spell. Celestia slowly walked to Burns, and he slowly to her. "Do you know what it's like waiting day after day looking everywhere possible, hoping that you would come back, then just having to give up?" Celestia's voice remained calm, but Twilight could see a single tear stream down her face. She then proceeded to hug him tightly, and he hugged her back. His mane, tail, and hooves began to extinguish. Now Twilight could see a blue mane and tail where the fire originated. "Where have you been?" Celestia softly asked.

"I ran away," Burns said, slowly. "I was upset. I'm sorry."

"You had better be because there are no words to describe my absolute fear that I had lost you." Celestia was squeezing Burns so tightly that Twilight could hear his neck and back pop. "Don't you dare run off on me again, Silver. I don't know what I would do if I had lost you a second time."

"I know mother. I promise I won't leave again," he answered.

Son of the Sun, Prepare Thyself

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"Mother?!" Twilight shouted with utter denial. Princess Celestia let go of Burns and immediately the blue flames rekindled around his body. Celestia walked to Twilight and then hugged her ever so lightly, but it was comforting to Twilight. Of all the ponies in Equestria, no the world, Celestia never even had to try to make somepony feel special. She never had to try to bring Twilight up even if she was having the worst day ever. Celestia was like the sun, warm, comforting, and lively. She always somehow knew what was best. Twilight never really thought about it, but could always sense a motherly side to her. Then again, to actually think she was a mother was a whole new concept to Twilight.

"Thank you for leading Silver home, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight could almost feel the shakiness in Celestia's voice. She could tell that the good news was almost too good to be true for Celestia. Celestia now let go of Twilight and they were facing each other.

"Princess Celestia, how come you never-" She was cut off by Celestia

"I know you must have a lot of questions, but for now, could you leave us alone? If you would like, I can arrange for your brother to take leisure from his duties today."

"Shining Armor is here?" Twilight gasped.

"Yes, and he had a lot of work to attend to, but one day shouldn't be a problem." A guard walked in and Celestia took a piece of paper and wrote:

Shining Armor,

It would do you some good to take the day off today. I have arranged for you and your sister to have a day to yourselves. After which, could you please come to dinner with us at 7 P.M.? Your presence would be most appreciated.

Signed,

Princess Celestia.
She left her signing mark and then gave it to the guard. "Please give this to Shining Armor," she used her magic to give the guard the note, "and tell him that its urgent. Take Princess Twilight Sparkle with you as well." He did as she asked, and then the only ones in the room were Burns and Celestia. She turned to him. "Where have you been?" She sounded angry when she asked him.

"I've been around," he said, avoiding the question.

"Don't lie to me. You and I both know that you even being alive is impossible."

"Wait, so Luna," he paused for a moment, then began to speak again when Celestia interrupted him.

"This is not about Luna, this is about you and where you have been for nearly the last 1100 years." She stood very tall, and stared down to the stallion. "You left, and never even said goodbye. You left your post and in place stood a demon with a note attached to him saying that he could do the job we entrusted to you!" Burns now lowered his head. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," Celestia demanded." You have no idea the pain you caused me, and why are you on fire?"

"I know," he said lowering his head again, " and I have done things that I wish I could take back, mother. Things I thought you were already aware of, and I was unsure that I could ever face you again." He looked back up to her, "I turned myself into a monster, so I left to the only place where monsters are welcome." Celestia looked a little confused. She knew where he spoke of, but his youth and reason still made no sense to her. Then a stunning dark blue alicorn entered the room.

"Sister, I can't sleep for some reason, I get this uneasy feeling that-" Luna noticed Burns sitting behind Celestia. "You!" she shouted angrily. Burns only looked down in shame. "You dare show your face here again? After what you have done?"

"Luna calm yourself, he knows what he's done." Celestia said calmly herself. "It seems I am the only one that does not."

"I came here to try to repair the damage I have done," Burns said with his head still lowered. "I cannot look you in the eyes until I have been absolved of my past actions. I know I have hurt you, Princess Luna, you of all ponies should have the right to permanently do away with me-" then he was interrupted by Luna

"But I cannot. Even if I wanted to," she said still angry. "You of all ponies should understand the meaning of balance and harmony, but you chose to ignore balance when it mattered the most."

"Does anypony mind filling me in here?" Celestia said. "You know I pride myself with being in the loop of most things, but it seems this one escaped my wandering eye."

"Mother," Burns now stood tall, but it was easy to see that he was broken. "I will show you, but first, I need to know two things."

"And those two are?"

"One: that you will not treat me differently after you have seen what I have done." Burns tried to sound dignified.

"What is your second request?" Burns then again looked down, blushed and smiled a bit cheesy.

"I forgot my name, could you tell me again?" Celestia laughed, but Luna only stared.

"Silver Radiance, is the name I gave you," she said, "because you had the ability to shine day or night." She looked at him again, "Though now it looks like that silver coat could use a bath." He only grimaced.

"Actually I thought of one more thing that is a bit more important," he said. "Can you turn this off? I can't hardly go five steps without scorching something because of it." Celestia's horn glowed and the fire lowered and dissipated once more.

"Your fire is uneasy and will appear again if you cannot control your mind," Celestia said worriedly. "This kind of magic should not even be used in the most dire of situations because it can harm the user so much more than he realizes."

"What about the Elements of Harmony? They should be able to remove this," he spoke confidently.

"I'm sorry Silver, the elements are no longer with us."

"Oh," he looked down, "I see."

Now it is your turn, Silver, but before you show me, you must agree to tell Princess Twilight Sparkle as well. You will also teach her how to use the fire magic you use."

"You want me to teach a princess?" Burns laughed, but Celestia only stood there. "Wait, you are serious?" he now looked confused. "Does she not know fire magic?" Celestia shook her head. "But fire is the easiest spell to learn, she should know that by now."

"While it is easy, even the unicorns can acknowledge that something easy is not always so easy to control," Luna walked away from the door and closer to Celestia. "Again, you of all ponies should know that."

"But why?" He sounded dumbfounded. "I am no master and she is certainly in no need of education," he protested.

"She knows her specialty magic, the magic of friendship,-"

"But this coming force may prove that while friendship is indeed great, knowing self defense could be vital to survival," Luna interrupted."

"What force?"

"Pandora's new puppet," Luna answered. "She found King Sombra, and she has either taken his body, or they are planning together."

"How did you come across this information?" He was suddenly in a panic.

"The Crystal Empire returned two years ago."

"What of its citizens?"

"All fine, Silver," Celestia answered calmly, "You need not worry about this now."

"No!" he protested. "This is cataclysmic, Mother," his mane and tail began steaming up, "And that monstrosity I allowed to disencumber her from her prison," he was pacing. "It cannot happen again!" Fire enveloped him which was quickly extinguished by Celestia's magic. "Sorry," he sat down and looked to the ceiling as if he were looking for answers. "Mother, she is the reason I lost control of my fire," he looked back to her. Celestia noticed the books behind him beginning to smoke. "The magic itself was easy to control, but I was convinced that there would never be another that could take my place. A draconequus saw my struggles and agreed to help me if he would be allowed passage to Tartarus, and then-"

"Then you did your best to correct your mistake," Luna interrupted. "Though it was foolish and naïve."

"Okay," Burns said standing himself up. "I agree. Are you prepared?" He looked to Celestia, she nodded her head and he walked to her, his horn glowed a bright orange, then turned white as he touched his horn to Celestia's. Mere seconds pass by and the princess that once stood tall, sat down and tears fell down her face.

"Luna," Celestia said with a quiet voice, "leave us."

"But Tia-"

"Now!" She shouted. Luna left and closed the door softly. She now turned to Burns. "Why?" she asked, her eyes almost squinting at him.

"I thought you would want it," he tried to start explaining himself, but Celestia cut him off.

"I don't care why you did it," she said in a menacing tone,"but why did you run away? I could have helped you; we could have helped you!"

"I know," He left for the door. "It took me a few years to learn that, but I know now." He opened the door, "I know I have some apologies to make, and I will hopefully make this up to you." He looked back up to Celestia one last time before saying, "I know you are the one who was hurt the most, and I can only hope that my actions will ever be forgivable." He closed the door and left Celestia.

"As do I young stallion," she said as she walked back to her desk.

Silver wondered around the castle looking at all the intricacies to the castle's halls and rooms and doors until he came to meet a group of six guards around a door. All them stared at him, then looked at each other and spoke among themselves. A few seconds later a guard walked up to him. "Are you him," he asked still walking to Silver. "Are you that pony that has the," he stopped and looked at Silver's cutie mark, "Yep that's you. Boy," he chuckled, "I feel sorry for you pal." Silver looked curious. The guard turned and sat next to him. "That's Princess Luna's room. She ordered us to maul you if you found her room." The guard looked at him and smiled. "What in the world did you do to her to make her hate you this much? Are you like a crush of hers or something?" Silver looked at the guard and cocked his eyebrow.

"I only wish it were that simple," he laughed and then the rest of the guards laughed along with him. "Well tell her I said hi, and also can you direct me somewhere I can clean up?" Silver looked at his body, "I think I am a little overdo for some water and soap."

"Follow me and I'll take you there," the guard said still coughing a few laughs as he spoke. They walked for a while and Silver told him of some journeys he had been on through the years and the guard was nearly mesmerized by his tales. "You know you could definitely make a living off of telling stories," he said looking at him in awe.

"Actually you may be on to something," Sliver remarked looking back at the guard. "The tales of Burns the fire mage!" Silver shouted to the ceiling. "Ooh hey that is catchy, maybe I can add you in there somewhere." They both laughed and continued walking. The walk lasted for a little while longer until they reached the bathing area. He thanked the guard and he went inside. He walked to the bath, then turned back to where the guard was standing. "So where's the," he stopped and noticed the guard was no longer there. Silver stood there and now marveled at the nobs over the bathtub. What are these?, he thought to himself. He moved one of the nobs and hot water came down from the spout. He laughed. Indoor pluming was not a surprise to him, but running water and hot water were new to him. He turned it back off, then back on, and off again. He repeated the process until he accidentally broke the nob off. He panicked and then decided he would clean himself up and leave. When he left he spoke to a guard walking by. "Hey somepony broke something in there and if I were you I would check it out." The guard nodded and Silver ran off, still dripping wet.

A few hours passed and it was time for dinner. Princess Celestia was there extra early sitting in her normal seat, waiting on the others to arrive. The next to arrive were Twilight and Shining Armor. They both proceeded to sit next to Princess Celestia. A few minutes passed and no one else arrived so Princess Celestia asked the servants to begin the meal. They ate in an uproar of silence until Twilight could no longer take it.

"So where's Princess Luna?" Twilight asked, taking a bite of steamed hay.

"I don't expect she will be here tonight, she did have her Nightmare Night to attend to," Princess Celestia smiled and winked to Twilight. Then Twilight made the connection.

"Oh no," she gasped. "I completely forgot!" She stood up and ran for the door, but as she ran towards the door, Princess Celestia stopped her.

"There's no need," she said quietly and comforting. "I informed Princess Luna that you were with your brother. She agreed it would be best to let you two have your day so she left for Las Pegasus earlier today."

"Oh," Twilight sounded a bit disappointed. "Well I hope she has fun." She walked back to her seat.

"Twily," Shining Armor shouted, "I think you would understand the Princesses' logic behind their decision." he turned to Celestia. "After all, they did spend a long time without each other." Celestia smiled and nodded.

"Shining Armor," she took a drink allowing time for him to look back to her, "I always admired your astute observations." He smiled. "How is Princess Cadence?"

"Lately it's a miracle if I get her to sleep," he said smiling.

"And why is that?" Celestia asked.

"She's started planning for the Crystal Fair," still smiling, Shining Armor took another bite of his food.

"Isn't is a bit early?" Celestia asked.

"Well we seem to be expecting someone very special around that time and we want to make sure it's ready before then."

"Who?" Twilight asked perplexed. "I know the fair is popular with the ponies here that know of it. Is it a celebrity?" Shining Armor simply looked at Twilight with a huge grin on his muzzle.

"Not yet, but I'm sure-" Shining Armor was interrupted by Celestia.

"You don't mean?"

"Yes!" He shouted loud enough it echoed.

"Congratulations!" Celestia shouted after him.

"What?!" Twilight shouted angrily. Celestia and Shining Armor both still smiling.

"Twily," Shining Armor scooted closer to Twilight, "You're going to be an-" he was cut off again by a door throwing itself open.

"ANTS!" The pony shouted, his body covered in little moving dots. He begins to yell at Celestia, "Who has a room full of ants?! Get them off, get them off, get them off!" There was something familiar about him. Celestia gave an uneasy look toward the pony and then Twilight could see her trying to hold back a laugh. "I see you laughing at me," he shouts. "This is in no way funny! She did this to me!" Then Shining Armor began laughing hysterically, followed by Twilight and Celestia herself. Shining Armor, wiping a few tears from his eyes, lit his horn and cast a spell to make the ants disperse from the pony's body. The pony then tried to look dignified as he straightened his mane and then he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I got lost and apparently found a few places in need of renovation." He began dusting himself off. "Well this shiny coat is not going to last long." Twilight then made the connection.

"Burns?" she said squinting her eyes.

"From what I've heard, my name is Silver Radiance," he stood tall when he said his name, "and if it is okay with my mother, I would like to continue going by that name." Celestia nodded her head, still chuckling. He certainly was his namesake. Silvery coat with a deep blue mane. With the lights around him, he truly was radiant. It was almost as if he were lighting the room himself. "I think a few more baths are an order once I figure out how they work," he looked at his coat, then he walked to a seat on Celestia's right side.

"So what were you saying Shining Armor?" Twilight asked.

"Well Silver pretty much finished my sentence for me," Shining Armor said trying to keep from laughing again.

"What?" Twilight thought back for a moment. Then her eyes widened. "WHAT?" Twilight jumped out of her seat. "No way!" Her eyes were brighter than the sun thinking about it.

"What did I miss," Silver asked.

"I'm gonna be an aunt!" Twilight shouted. He could see how elated she was. He smiled and nodded to Shining Armor.

"Congratulations," Silver now began loading his plate with food to the point that there was no clear definition to where the plate ended and the table began. Twilight simply smiled to Silver and Shining Armor's brother instincts kicked in.

"Well you certainly have an appetite," Shining Armor scoffed, "And what gives you the right to interrupt us anyway?" Silver looked at Celestia with that Do I really have to put up with this face and made gestures toward Shining Armor.

"If you were listening earlier," Silver grimaced then mumbled, "rather than laughing, you would have heard me apologize for being late." He began stuffing his face. "Forgive me," he said with his mouth still full of food. "It has been a while since I have had food." Shining Armor only shook and lowered his head.

"Who are you?" Shining Armor asked impatiently.

"I'm Twilight's new teacher for the time being," Silver then took another huge bite off his plate. "Or at least until mo-" he stopped himself, swallowed and cleared his throat, "Princess Celestia sees fit."

"Silver," Celestia looked down on him. "Wouldn't it be more polite to finish your food and then explain?" He wiped his mouth looking at Celestia with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Yes ma'am," he said and then looked to Shining Armor. "I apologize for my ignorance. It has been sometime since I have been in the company of others." Shining Armor nodded and then finished his plate, and the others all ate in silence until plates were cleaned and the table was as well.

"Well this has all been fun," Shining Armor stood up, "but I think it's time for me to check on things with the new captain of the guard."

"Sit down Shining Armor," Celestia said without raising her voice. "We need you to stay here. Twilight, I'm sure your friends are missing you." Twilight looked to the door.

"Do you want me to go?" she asked. Silver stood and spoke up.

"Only for now, but come back at the start of the week, and be here no later than four in the morning." She nodded and left.

"Watch your order barking around my sister," Shining Armor stood again from his seat. Silver mirrored him. "She is a princess after all. You have next to no power in comparison to an alicorn," he leaned over the table and spoke softly, "or me."

"Actually that's why Princess Celestia asked you here," he smirked and glared. "You need to know some things, and why I am going to be her teacher is at the top of that list." Shining Armor stood waiting for an answer. but Silver only deviously grinned. Then he turned his sight to the doors and walked to them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shining Armor shouted to Silver. He continued walking.

"To soothe a young one's mind," he said still walking towards the doors. "There's a young filly outside spying on us." He opened one door and there stood Twilight trying not to look suspicious. She even gave a silly smile and started to speak, thinking of an excuse to say. "Come on," Silver said. You'll miss the train if you don't hurry." Shining Armor began running after them, but Celestia stopped him.

"He'll be back quickly," she said. He sat back down and pouted for a moment as the door closed.

"So why are you my new teacher?" Twilight asked.

"Well I was told you are not familiar with fire magic," he said without looking at her.

"I know fire magic!" Twilight scoffed.

"Yes, probably, but not true fire." Twilight glared at him. "Fire magic is very powerful, and very easy, so I doubt you will need long to master what I have to teach." Silver gave a comforting smile. "Hey look at that, we're already at the front door," Silver smiled again. Twilight looked at the large double doors and then realized what Silver did, reality bending? , and when she looked back to him, he was already gone. She tried to teleport herself back, but every time she tried, she only ended up closer to the front door. She eventually gave up and left for the train, wondering how she was going to tell her friends about the news.

Back inside the castle, Celstia, Shining Armor, and Silver sat in the dining hall, doors locked and the room magically sealed. A bright flash of light appeared and Luna walked from behind Celestia, she stood next to her sister while Silver ad Shining Armor took turns shouting at each other.

"You need not bring your wife into this.War would be too dangerous for a pregnant mare. " Silver spoke.

"She should at least know," Shining Armor replied, angrily.

"Indeed she should," for she is in the most danger, especially being alone," Silver's horn lit and he collected the fire from the lanterns above. Then, he projected the flames onto the table which made figurines of ponies that appeared like Silver, Celestia, Luna, and Discord. "A little over 1,000 years ago, a draconequus asked a favor of me," the figurines that looked like Silver and Discord appeared as though they were talking to each other. "He asked to be let into Tartarus, and if he were granted passage, I would have a reward."

"What was so rewarding that you would allow such an evil creature into the gates!?" Shining Armor shouted.

"Honestly at that time, he was one of my only friends," Silver changed the subject and looked to Shining Armor. "I trusted him, and he betrayed my trust by enslaving me," the figurines showed Discord holding a box, then the Silver figurine opened it, "and when he opened it, I was overcome by its creator, Pandora." The tiny Silver doppelganger turned into a smoky black figure with a strange form of purple and red flames shooting out of it. Luna trembled as she reached her hoof to the figurine that looked like her. "However, I did not remain Pandora's target for long." The now dark Silver and Luna stood next to each other and the smoke enveloped the both of them, then there was a familiar nightmare that everypony could recognize. "Pandora loved the prospect of power, and when she found Princess Luna, she had all the power she wanted," Luna's figurine turned from her normal color and the fire faded to smoke. Silver saw the agony in Luna's eyes, he cut to the next part.

"That's a great history lesson with the fire and stuff, but what's that got to do with us, or Cadence?"

"Do you remember Sombra?" Celestia asked.

"Of course, scary how I lost my power to his crystals, but in the end, he wasn't so hard to defeat."

"That was not him," Silver answered. "Sombra had an entire army at his beckoned call and while he and the Crystal citizens had reappeared, did you not find it strange that there were no guards, or any militant forces at all?"

"Now that you mention it," Shining Armor put his hoof to his chin, "it did kind of bug me that we never encountered any resistance once there," he then looked up, "Oddly though there was a library, intact even."

"And why would an evil dictator have libraries?" Silver saw the gears turning in Shining Armor's head.

"The real question is why would there be any information about the Crystal Heart, or why he would allow slaves to read."

"Perhaps it was not his slaves doing the reading," Silver answered. "Maybe he was keeping his army educated."

"But if he had an army, where would it be?"

"Well if the soldiers were granted the same dark powers as he, then they might have shared the same fate after the Elements of Harmony brought back the balance."

"Causing their form to disperse," Shining Armor answered.

"Which would mean they could retake any form for probably a certain amount of time," Luna finished his sentence.

"In which case, that would mean that was a recon mission, not a takeover," Shining Armor's voice trembled. " There could have been thousands that day."

"Or just a few," Celestia added.

The figurines dispersed into black smoke showing an army of dark magic soldiers. "That means this could be waiting at any moment."

"And you asked me here!?" Shining Armor raised his voices. "I need to go now!"

"No," Celestia answered. "Cadence will be fine," she looked to Silver. He nodded and a bright glow of orange came from his horn and then he disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Shining Armor spat.

"To warn your wife about the coming dangers," Celestia answered calmly.

"She needs to be here!" Shining Armor shouted worried and impatient. "Wait, he teleported to the Crystal Empire?" He found himself asking the question aloud. He received a nod from Celestia.

"The Crystal Empire will need a ruler to keep things calm even when they're not," Luna replied. "Who better than the Alicorn of Love?" Shining Armor dropped his head and nodded, dissatisfied, but he knew they were right.

"Your train will leave in a few hours," Celestia comforted him. For now, what is the current situation of our security?"

"If a pebble drops in the next ten miles in any direction, you will know about it," he sadly looked up to them, "I'm sorry, I'm just worried."

"We prepare for a war again sister," Luna said looking out to the guard.

"Only this time we will face it together," Celestia assured Luna.

Lesson One

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Upon leaving the train station, Twilight and Spike were quickly greeted by the most excited pink pony in Equestria. "Twilight! Where've you been? You missed all the fun," Pinkie Pie tackled Twilight and pinned her to the ground. "Scariest. Nightmare Night. Ever!" Pinkie had a huge grin. "I can't believe you missed it!" She quickly scooted off into a huge pile of candy and began devouring it without so much as taking a wrapper off. Twilight cringed watching Pinkie Pie eat like she did.

"Pinkie," Twilight started, "How did you bring all that candy this far without making several trips?" Pinkie popped out of her candy mountain.

"Oh me and Applejack used one of her carriages to greet you when you got here because we didn't see you or Princess Luna so we thought that you guys might had needed to stay so I was going to bring you some of this candy when the wheel broke and we just piled the candy right here," Pinkie took a breath, but before she could start again, she was interrupted.

"Hey pumpkin!" A familiar apple bucking voice called from behind. It was Applejack, wearing a pumpkin suit of all things.

"Look who's talking," Twilight and Applejack both laughed. "Wait, your eyes," Twilight looked at Applejack's now dilated eyes. "Are they alright?"

"More or less. Things are a bit fuzzy here and there, but nothin' to worry about," Applejack smiled and winked at Twilight. "So, how was that trip to the castle with your 'hot date?'" Applejack giggled trying not to laugh at her own pun. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at Applejack.

"Actually I feel more in the dark now than when I took him to the castle." Applejack's eyebrows rose. "I need all of you here," Twilight started walking to the library. "I'll gather everyone tomorrow," Twilight announced as she continued walking. "I still need time to process this," and with that, Twilight walked and Pinkie and Applejack watched her until she disappeared behind a hill.

Bright and early in the morning there is a knocking at Twilight's front door. Twilight groggily slips out of bed trips over Spike, not paying any attention. Spike merely shrugged it off and was not really even woken by it. Twilight then realized she was walking the wrong way to the stairs while the knocking becomes more frequent and obnoxious. "Hang on I'm coming!" she shouts as she nears the door. The knocking continued. She sighs and uses her magic to open the door, but as soon as a fleck of light had shown through the door, it burst open with Pinkie tackling Twilight, again.

"Twilight! I know you said you'd gather everyone today but I couldn't wait so I got everypony up extra early so we could talk about the important things you wanted us to talk about like how that pony we met the other day looks old, but not, and hey did you notice he has an earth pony look to him?" Twilight, too tired to realize what had really happened just pushed Pinkie off he and shook herself awake.

"Pinkie Pie you said this was important," Rarity yawned. The other four also looked tired, and they should, the sun has barely risen. Morning's frost still on the leaves outside, and a cool breeze swept into the library, Twilight ushered them all to go inside. As the door closed, Twilight walked back upstairs and woke Spike. He sleepily followed downstairs and joined the crowd. Now all seven of them sat in the middle of the library, quiet and wordless. It was obvious that it was still too early. Applejack yawned, which broke the silence, but not for long because Rainbow Dash could no longer stand the silence.

" How much longer are we gonna sit here?" Twilight looks up to Rainbow before sighing and walking back to the group.

"I honestly don't have a clue or an explanation of what's going on," Twilight said. After she finished speaking, she gave a yawn, and began again, "Burns is not his real name," they all stared at her, perplexed, "He forgot his name when we first met so he just gave me a name that seemed appropriate," she shook her head. "Anyway, his real name is Silver Radiance, and he is Celestia's son." All of them seemed to be fully awake enough to simultaneously scream WHAT?!. The news sparked up so many questions at once that Twilight couldn't make out who was asking what. Why haven't we heard of him? Who's his father? What's his story? So many questions echoing from pony to pony and into Twilight's head, not knowing any of the answers she yelled, "I don't know!" Everypony stopped, and quietly stared.
"Since yesterday, I've had more questions than answers. My brother shows up out of the blue, and doesn't tell me because the security is tightening for some reason, " she began pacing, "I have a new mentor to teach me magic I already know, and he's the son of someone I look up to and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Twilight stopped and knocked her head against the center table. "I'm just so confused right now."

"Wait a second," Rarity interjected. "He's going to teach you, and it's magic you already know?" Twilight moved her head off the table and looked to Rarity and nodded. "What magic is it?" She asked.

"Fire magic," Twilight gave a wincing face.

"Well that should be easy considering that's one of the first spells we unicorns learn. It's pretty simple I wonder why he feels he needs to teach you."

"That's just it," Twilight moved back to the group, "It was Princess Celestia's idea, and he even thought it was silly, but he says that we only used enhanced lighting spells, whatever that means."

"Well when are you supposed to start?" Applejack asked.

"Two days from now, and I probably won't be seeing a lot of you guys in that time." Twilight looked down at the floor. It had been a long time since she had left the company of her friends and when she did, she missed them almost more than she could handle. They were rarely apart. She thought that maybe if she asked, he would let her visit them, or them visit her in her off time, but that would have to wait until she saw him in a couple of days time. "I have to leave the night before if I even want to make it there on time," she said rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. Everyone else nodded and looked to Twilight waiting for an answer.

"I have to be there at four 'o clock sharp." Twilight walked away from the group and began looking at the bookshelves.

"Whatcha looking for Twilight?" Pinkie hopped over to inspect.

"Fire magic spells," she answered unsure. She wanted to know the reason she was being taught beginners' level magic. Pinkie shows her a book that read: Elemental Magic Book 1: Fire. "Pinkie where'd you find that?" Twilight snatched the book away from Pinkie Pie and began searching through its contents.

"Well you didn't have one of these in your library so I thought we should give you something for your going away party, but I guess now is a good time as any to give it to you since you wanted to look at fire magic." Twilight merely looked up at Pinkie Pie in disbelief.

"You knew I was going back to Canterlot before I did?"

"Nope," Pinkie replied with a smile. Twilight, eyebrows raised, almost speechless as she looked back down to the book. "But you're a princess now and some of us have to prepare for those times you have to leave a moment's notice, duh."

"You know," Twilight started, "One day I'm going to figure out how you do that." Then she dug her nose in her new book.

"No you won't," Pinkie Pie sang aloud and hopped away to let Twilight read. Twilight, eyes widened and read faster and faster, surprised by the knowledge she had just acquired. All of the magic in the book consisted of spells she had never seen before, which was not the surprise. The real surprise was that these spells were precursors to magic involving celestial bodies, or at least that's what the book said, then she turned to the beginning pages to find the author's name. She gasped when she found the name Starswirl with his signing marks on the front of the book.

"Pinkie Pie, where did you say you got this book?" Twilight was now all ears.

"Well," Pinkie started, "remember the last time we all went to Canterlot?" Twilight nodded, "There was this old guy who was selling some really rare books and he said he'd only be here for a few days so I had to get one for you so I picked up the closest book and asked him how much and he said to just take it and then I said that I couldn't just take it then he said-" Applejack stopped Pinkie Pie before she exploded with words.

"Okay sugar," she said, "I think Twilight gets the idea," then she turns to Twilight, "So what's it say?"

"There are lots of spells here that I have never even heard of before," Twilight closed the book and looked set it down on the table. "These are all spells that Starswirl the Bearded had used at one time, and they aren't even in the Canterlot Archives." She looked back down to the book, staring at it, analyzing it, "Judging by its state it's probably a first edition, or the only copy, and it could have been one that Starswirl himself kept on hoof, which means that Princess Celstia herself may be the only other one that knows these spells, but there's something strange about the book and I can't make heads or tails of it at the moment. I should really study these to get as far ahead as I can while I can."

"But Twilight," Spike spoke up, holding the book. "It says that beginners should have somepony else looking over them while they attempt these spells." Spike held the book up and showed Twilight the page.

"Relax, Spike," Twilight said with confidence. "I'm not a beginner you know."

"But what if these spells are dangerous?" He sounded concerned.

"They won't be dangerous in the hooves of somepony with my experience," Twilight again answered with confidence.

"Okay," Spike tried to sound supportive, "as long as you're sure you can do it."

"Well dear," Rarity walked up to Twilight, "As much as we would all love to stay and chat, I need to have an ensemble ready by tomorrow morning." Rarity made a gesture toward the clock for the others and cleared her throat.

"I also need to get to the southern fields to get a couple of bug problems taken care of," Apple jack followed Rarity. Then the others followed.

"I have to move in the clouds for the rainstorm next week," Rainbow said as she walked out.

"I need to feed my animals, Twilight. Sorry I can't stay," Fluttershy quietly said as she followed Rainbow.

"And I gotta go get some streamers and balloons and then I need to ask the Cakes what kind of cakes I can get for-" Pinkie was stopped before she could finish by Applejack.

"Come on Pinkie," Applejack said elbowing Pinkie Pie. Then she grabbed Pinkie and drug her out. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes at her friends. She knew what they were really off to do, but she figured she'd let them keep it a surprise. She wanted to get started on the new book of spells she just received.

"Now I can really see what this book is about," she said also walking for the door. "Come on, Spike."

"Wait Twilight!" Spike shouted.

"What is it?" she answered.

"can we at least have some breakfast?" Twilight nodded and Spike sped off to the kitchen. After they ate Twilight grabbed the book and headed to the door. Spike hopped on her back and Twilight closed the door. They walked through Ponyville and Spike waved to everyone they passed as Twilight walked barely paying attention to the path ahead of her, muzzle deep in her new book. Spike tugged on her main if she veered off course so she could keep walking without needing to look up. They walked to a secluded area, about a mile outside of Ponyville, since she was about to practice fire magic it was best to think about not accidentally setting a house fire.

Twilight set Spike down from her back and gave him the book. "Keep it open to this page," she said as she read the spell on the page. The spell itself was very intricate, even for as high of a level in magic that Twilight was. She studied the spell very carefully then her horn lit up and glowed her normal purple glow, then the tip of her horn began emitting sparks and when they hit the ground, they ignited large, yellow and orange flames that formed a circle around her and Spike.

"Twilight that's amazing!" Spike shouted excitedly. Twilight looked around her to see the flames dancing in the light breeze. She had a cocky smile and wore it with pride.

"See Spike, I told you I can do this." Then Twilight began to hear whispers. "Did you hear that?" Spike looked around.

"I don't hear anything abnormal if that's what you mean." He said, confused. Twilight was looking all around to see where the whispering voices were coming from. It was as if they were coming from all around her and closing in.

"You don't hear those voices, Spike?" She looked around, "Hello? Who's there?"

"Okay," Spike laughed, "I see what you're doing Twilight. Just because you missed out on Nightmare Night doesn't mean you get to have a late scare on me." He smiled with confidence. Twilight was now panicking. The voices were getting louder, but they were still not making any sense. She could not make a single word out. "Twilight?" Spike tried to get her attention, but she was deaf to his voice. She screamed and buried her head in the grass, putting her hooves to her ears. The fire picked up, she was no longer keeping her thoughts on the fire, and it enlarged and began engulfing the surrounding area, burning brighter. "Twilight!" Spike tugged on her mane. "This isn't funny anymore! Stop the fire so we can go!" Twilight still did not hear him. She was crying, and the fire began to steady for a moment.

"They're so loud, Spike," Twilight said sobbing. "It sounds like they're laughing at me." She looked up and her eyes were glowing, "Stop it!" She shouted, and the flames burst. There was a thundering sound to the fire as it completely engulfed the trees, bushes, grass, and anything around her. Spike was pushing on Twilight to get her to move.

"Come on Twilight we need to get out of here!" He said hopelessly tugging on her mane. She just laid down a cried. "Twilight we need to go!" He shouted to her again. Then he looked to the sky hoping for a miracle. Looking back to Twilight he picked her head up, her eyes still glowing and tears still flowing from them. "You're not gonna like this Twilight but it's for your own good!" Spike slapped Twilight on the side of her face. Her eyes quit glowing, and the tears stopped. "That actually worked?" Spike, surprised but happy, hugged Twilight.

"What happened Spike?" She was looking all around at the fire devouring the landscape. "Did I do that?"

"Yes!" He shouted. "Now can we go?"

"Hang on," Twilight took a second look. "We need to get this fire put out before anyone gets put into danger. Twilight's horn glowed and condensation began trickling from her horn. Then everything froze around them, including the fire, but for only just a moment. The flames soon broke from their icy shells and continued burning, and the whispering began again. Voices she could make out, but not understand the language.

"Twilight we should go and warn everypony about this," Spike tugged on Twilight's mane.

"No Spike we can't just leave this," Twilight said shaking her head.

"But we need to," Spike started pulling on her leg. "Look I have a bad feeling, okay?"

"Spike, I've got a handle on this," Twilight said confidently, "I just need to find the right spell."

"Twilight if you don't go you might get hurt!" Spike shouted. He looked serious. "Now don't make me actually drag you away from this," he said tugging on her leg again.

"Spike you can't-" interrupted by a sudden fall to the ground, Spike was actually dragging Twilight.

"Don't you doubt me Twilight," Spike shouted at her again. "This is something we shouldn't be messing with," he looked back to her. "You in particular," he said letting go of Twilight. "This is dragon magic. Real element magic," Spike looked to her, "This is how I can transport and receive messages from Princess Celestia, and it's also how I can accidentally burn your books in the library. This isn't something we can take lightly Twilight." He pointed to Ponyville, "Now I've let you ignore me before, but those ponies in that town matter more, so lets go warn them and get them to safety." Twilight looked at Spike in awe. Spike always had wisdom even for a young dragon, but he had never displayed his courage like that to Twilight before. Twilight nodded her head and they both began running for Ponyville. As they ran, the fire followed them like a pack of timber wolves, and before they could make it to town, a bright flash of light had nearly blinded them, and a shadow appeared, but then the shadow brightened up, and as it got brighter, a familiar figure stood where the shadow once was. It was a nearly shining Silver Radiance.

"Where's the dragon?" He said excitedly. They both stared, confused. "What? Did I come at a bad time?"

"No actually you could help us get all the ponies to safety," Twilight looked down while saying that. And then the whispering turned into voices, still unable to understand the gibberish, Twilight turned around to see if the voices were actually somepony playing a joke. Then Silver took notice of her.

"Oh," he said disappointed, "It was just you." The talking grew louder still. "Hey," he shouted to the air behind Twilight, "You mind? We are trying to have a conversation." More nonsense came after he spoke. "I know as well as you do, but a raging inferno is no way to get your point across." He smiled and looked back to Twilight, then back behind her. "You know, I think she did well to realize her mistakes and at least try to set things right." The voices followed. "Oh he's? But how?" More voices. "So they did find a way," he said looking at Spike. "That's amazing. Alright," he looked back behind Twilight again, "I think you guys had your fun, go on now, dissipate and go somewhere you'll be less hurtful." Just like that, the fire was gone. Silver looked at Spike and smiled, "You know I thought there was something familiar about you, but I wrote my first guess off because I thought it was impossible."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked,

"You're a dragon right?" Silver asked. Spike nodded. "See before I left, dragons were all but extinct," he turned around to look at the town, then back to Spike. "By the way, how come you didn't stop the fire from spreading?"

"Can I actually do that?" Spike asked looking to Twilight for an answer.

"Well," Silver held the "l" sound for a while, "probably not, but it would have been worth a try to talk to them."

"Them?" Twilight looked to them both, bewildered.

"Where did you learn that spell, Princess?" Silver changed the subject.

"From this book," Twilight said hesitantly. Silver took a look at the book and then made a few questionable faces then turned back to see the author.

"Oh," he said unsurprised, "this guy." He gave the book back to Twilight. "Princess, I would advise you not to try and utilize this book until you have completed my training. It is clear you are unfit to use these spells," Twilight looked down, ashamed. Silver raised her head back up, "However, you have proven that you are anxious to begin," Twilight smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown as Silver continued, "so anxious that you started a fire that could have burned down an entire town. Have you not learned from my previous mistake?" Twilight was at a loss for words. "Time for your first lesson," Silver's horn glowed, then he Twilight, and Spike all disappeared.

Twilight began looking around at her new surroundings. There were rocks buried in the sand that they were standing in. The sand itself expanded for miles through the horizon in every direction. Silver was looking around at the rocks and kicked them, but they didn't sound like rocks. The chinking sound it made sounded like glass.

"This is the place," Silver said still kicking the glassy-like rock. "Hold on." His horn glowed again, and the wind picked up, but they weren't being hit by sand. Silver had put up a shield to protect them from the sandblasting he was doing. They began to fall as the sand level decreased. Twilight looked around and watched the sand go over them like water waves crashing against a rock. They kept falling until they hit a solid surface and waited a while more for the sand to settle and the dust to clear. Only, there was hardly any sand around them. The ground was dark black and gleamed into Twilight's eyes. The rocks that she had seen when they first arrived were now looked liked misshaped columns all in a circular formation, though a few of them had seemed to be worn off. "Have you ever seen what happens to sand when it is super heated?" Silver asked Twilight.

"Not really," Twilight answered, "but I assume this is what you mean." Silver nodded and kicked the ground.

"It's glass, and there's a lot of it." He walked back to Twilight. "This used to be a forest."

"What happened?" She asked.

"To put it simply, me." Silver looked around at the pillar looking rocks.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked curiously.

"This is what happens when you truly lose control," Silver looked back to Twilight. "Something that could have happened today. Thankfully my mother saw the flames from afar and asked me to intervene. She and I thought that a dragon might be behind it considering that only she, I, and dragons are the only ones around with that kind of magical knowledge. Princess Twilight," He said gazing back to her, "I do not wish that you end up like me, and I hope that you exceed my expectations like my mother says you will. But please be careful when using this magic. Something easy to start, like a fire, is not always easy to keep under control. It takes vigilance. That is what I am going to teach you." His horn glowed and they all popped into the castle. Twilight looked around, amazed at his teleportation skill. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I did have a small breakfast," Twilight's stomach rumbled, "but I guess another breakfast won't hurt."

"It's the magic you used," Silver laughed. "It normally takes a great amount of energy."

"That explains the plateful you had last night," Twilight laughed with Silver. They both walked to the castle's cafeteria where Silver asked Twilight to get anything she wanted saying that she should not skimp on the account of being in public. She got a few things and went on while Silver piled his plate a few inches high. Twilight just rolled her eyes and laughed. Spike asked the servers if they had any gems. They merely frowned at him and he walked away with Twilight and Silver empty-clawed. "Hey how come you can teleport so much and not get worn out or dizzy?" Twilight asked as they sat down at a table.

"Years of practice malady," Silver smiled. "I liked to live in the castle, but I worked a good half day's journey away, if I remember the distance right." He held his hoof to his chin. "Anyway I figured I would simply learn to teleport long distances. So, after several dizzying attempts, I finally was experienced enough to where I could teleport just about anywhere in Equestria, and a few places outside of it, in a moment's notice." Twilight contemplated what he said, then she gave an approving nod while she took a bite of a muffin. Silver, however, was not as polite when eating. He stuffed half of his plate in his mouth. Then before even swallowing he said, "I must say it is my favorite spell."

"Not your fire?" She asked wondering if he was telling the truth.

"Well, honestly, if you were on fire all the time, would you not also get tired of all the heat?" Twilight nodded her head, confused, but she nodded. "In truth, I first used the spell to warm myself in the mountains, especially when it was winter time, but when I was referred to as the Guardian of Fire, I figured I could use that to ward off Cerberus since he and fire did not exactly agree." Twilight's eyes widened.

"Wait Cerberus?" She asked. Silver nodded and used his magic to lift a cup full of tea. "Cerberus guards the gates of Tartarus, what would he be doing outside of that area at all?" Silver looked at Twilight for a moment, puzzled, eyebrow raised. Then he spoke.

"Truth is he was trying to get outside of the gates."

"But he guards the gates," Twilight raised her voice.

"Not before I guarded them first."

"What?! " Twilight shouted and slammed her hooves down on the table, the entire cafeteria quietly staring at her. Now she was embarrassed, and sat back down. Everypony else went back to doing what they were before.

"Look if you are going to act this strange after every word I say, I might as well be quiet." Silver stated crossly.

"No. No," Twilight replied, "I'm fine. Just a little confused is all," she finished the last bit of hay on her plate. "Why hasn't Princess Celestia ever told anyone about you? For that matter, why hasn't she told me?"

"I asked her not to." Silver answered while picking up both their empty plates and set them with the dirty dishes at the back of the cafeteria. Twilight and Spike both stared at Silver, unsure of what to think of him as he walked back to them. "Come on I'll walk you back home now." Twilight nodded and all three of them left the cafeteria.

As they left the front door, Twilight spoke up with a question, "So how long did you guard Tartarus?" Silver looked up to the sky, then at Twilight.

"Not sure, Princess. I believe it was ten years or something like that. I began barely out of my colt years when I asked to do it after our previous guard had retired. I was much more headstrong then I am now, but much less experienced." He smiled at Twilight, "But that had no matter since I came up with a trick to keep most of them away from the gates."

"And what was that?" Twilight asked.

"I mimicked the sun's brightness to make them think it was day," Silver had a confident smile while Twilight remained confused. "Creatures of the night are strongest in their element," he said hinting to Twilight.

"Oh okay," She said finally understanding. Then she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide looking at Silver.

"Is there something wrong, Princess Twilight?" He asked, concerned. He could see the look on her face, but he did his best not to laugh at how silly of a face it was.

"Silver," she started, she was breathing so heavily it almost sounded like she was panting, "how old are you?"

"Ah," he answered, "You took a little longer than I expected to notice." Twilight stared at him, waiting for an answer. "From my knowledge I am 1127 years of age."

"No way," she spat with disbelief.

"It is entirely possible Princess," he answered. His horn glowed and they were back in Twilight's library.

"But how?" She asked, still trying to process the information.

"Another time, perhaps Princess," his horn glowed again. "I will return tomorrow evening to pick you up so you can settle back in before your curfew."

"Curfew?" She asked, but he had already disappeared. She looked to Spike as if he had an explanation, but he only shrugged. "Well that was interesting to say the least," Twilight said heading upstairs.

"Where you going Twilight?" Spike asked.

"For a nap," she answered. "I'm feeling a little tired. Wake me up in a little while?" she asked. Spike nodded and with that, she went on to bed.

A few hours later, she awoke on her own to notice that Spike had followed her hoofsteps and went to bed as well. She only smiled and gently woke him from his nap. "Time to get up Spike," she said. "I imagine our friends will be waiting on us soon." She and Spike both walked outside and into town. They noticed that the town was peculiarly empty. She stopped at the bakery, and nopony was there. Strange she thought as she and Spike both walked on. She began stopping at every store, with the same luck as the first store. No one was around. "Hello?" she spoke to the wind. Her voice echoed through the empty town. It was strange, scary even. She looked back to Spike. "Let's go to Zecora's. Maybe she knows what's up."

The Everfree Forest even had an eerie feeling to it. Maybe it was the fact that no pony was around in town that made the Everfree that much scarier. They reached Zecora's hut with no problem, but when they knocked, there was no answer.

"Well, this is odd," came a voice from behind. Twilight and Spike both nearly jumped out of their skins. It was an older stallion, wearing a cloak that hid most of his face. He was blue and definitely a unicorn. Something was also very familiar about him.

"Who are you?" Spike asked.

"Lost at the moment," he answered. He looked at the hut. "Is this your place?" They shook their heads.

"It's a friend of ours," Twilight said cautiously. "We came to see if she knew why everypony had disappeared."

"Disappeared?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Spike shouted, "Back in Ponyville, it's like a ghost town."

"Oh really? Can you show me?" The stallion looked excited.

"Do you know what's going on?" Twilight asked, hoping for an explanation.

"Not a clue," he smiled. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"It's this way," She sighed, annoyed. They walked back to the seemingly deserted Ponyville, still no pony in sight. He headed straight for the town hall. "Where are you going," she huffed.

"This place looks worth looking at, so there we go!" Twilight could not tell if he was excited or just plain nuts, but she followed him anyway. He stood at the front door an waited for them both to walk up the stairs. "Go on," he gestured, "see if I'm right." Twilight opened the door and was greeted by the entire town yelling Surprise! Again she and Spike nearly lost their skins.

"That's not funny you," she turned to see that there was no pony there. "Where'd he go?" Before she could receive any sort of answer she was pulled inside by Rainbow Dash and greeted by the rest of her friends. That's right, there was a "surprise" going away party for Twilight. Predictable, but somehow still managed to take Twilight off guard. Pinkie Pie was good at doing that.

"Did we surprise you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah you did, nearly scared Spike and I both to death," Twilight answered.

"Oh I'm sorry," Fluttershy responded and quivered thinking Twilight might be angry.

"No it's a good kind of surprised," she reassured Fluttershy. "Just caught me off guard is all."

The party was fantastic. All of Twilight's favorite games, food, and music made the party so spectacular. Only, Twilight could not get the image of the cloaked pony out of her head, or Silver's surprising age. It all kept Twilight from really taking in all of the joys that Pinkie Pie had put together.

"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled from across the room. "You need to stop worrying and start partying! WOO!" She screamed as she danced by Twilight in a conga line. Twilight laughed and decided that Pinkie Pie was right and she joined in. After the dance was over, Twilight went to the games, and lost herself in the sublime feeling of being with her friends who all were also thoroughly enjoying themselves. Applejack kept the snacks coming while Rainbow Dash showed off her enclosed aerial skills. Rarity danced with every colt in town and Fluttershy talked with Spike through nearly through the evening. Whatever it was, they were definitely enjoying themselves. Pinkie of course was leading every game, dance, and song with her own rendition that made everyone want to join in.

"Oh wow what is this?" Twilight had about enough scares today after this one had made her jump a few feet in the air. She turned to see Silver standing, looking in awe of the ponies having a great time. He looked back over to her, "What is this lovely conjunction of ponies?" Twilight looked at him oddly for both the language he just used, and the fact that he had never heard of a party. But first, the language.

"Could you run that by me again?" Twilight asked. Silver looked at her kind of funny then he realized what she meant and what he had said.

"Oh, sorry Princess," he chuckled and put his hoof to his face, "Mother, has been trying to get me accustomed to the new lingo, but I still have my," he paused for a moment, thinking of a more modern word, "quirks?" he said as he thought he might be trying to finish the sentence. "What is this anyway?"

"It's a party," Twilight answered, "for me." Silver gave her that look again. "It's my going away party."

"Oh a farewell party?" Silver asked to make sure he was correct. Twilight nodded. He looked back to the dancing ponies. "I suppose that is a waltz?" he asked. Twilight shook her head.

"Nope, just a dance," she smiled. "You want to try?" He backed quickly away.

"No thank you, Princess," he answered, eyes widening at the thought. "I have four left hooves, and I do not plan on showing that to these lovely folk."

"Oh come on," she nudged him. He backed away further and shook his head. She grabbed him, "Come on," she smiled as she drug him to the dance floor. He only teleported back where they were originally. She gave a cocky determined smile and said, "By the order of Princess Twilight Sparkle, I command you to come dance." She had never used her authority on anypony before, she just wanted to make him come dance, and judging by his respect for the princesses, she figured that would surely bring him. He only laughed at her.

"Sorry, Princess Twilight Sparkle," he chuckled. "As your mentor, I say no." He sat down and smiled. Twilight teleported to him and grabbed his front leg.

"You're not officially my mentor until the day after tomorrow," she teleported them both to the dance floor. He sighed and gave in. He had no idea what he was doing, he practically trampled the ground every step. He reminded Twilight of a foal trying to learn to walk. it made her giggle.

"My apologies, Princess," he began, "I have never been accustomed to dancing, and while I had learned while I lived in the castle, but it was hardly my favorite subject." His dancing began to smoothen and he relaxed a little more.

"You know," Twilight looked up to Silver, "You are a prince, so a casual meeting would not require you to call me by my full name." Silver smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Princess Twilight, I am no prince." Twilight looked at Silver nearly disappointed in his lack of pride of being related to Princess Celestia. He continued. "I do not deserve the title, and I feel I may never."

"But Prince Blue Blood-" Twilight was stopped.

"Is a child with little to no understanding of the honor he has," He looked angry, but Twilight was not sure. "He will continue to call himself Prince, but will never earn the right to rule anything." He looked outside and noticed the darkness quickly consuming the sky. "I have arrangements to meet elsewhere, Princess," he backed away and smiled, "so enjoy yourself and have a splendid night's dream." He walked to the door, opened it, and walked away, the door quickly closing behind him.

Princess Luna's Lullaby

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The clouds nestled on Canterlot's mountains, overlooking Equestia in majesty. They sparkled in shades of blue lined with silver as the stars gently twinkled in the background, barely visible through the thinnest clouds, but the moon shone brightly, watching over the world from above. A benevolent specter of the night, it gave light to those stuck in the dark. Atop one cloud stood the true night, watching the castle as the changing of the guard took place, each stallion took his place before the entire Lunar Guard saluted to the Celestial Guard and vice versa, signaling a job well done and a job left to do, before the synchronal change. The clock bell rang, signaling the change, and each party moved like a well-oiled machine all at once without a single misstep or stallion out of place. Each of the Celestial Guard turned toward the main path to the main entrance and the furthest away in every direction marched straight towards it with every next stallion following in succession. The doors opened and once the last of them had made it in, the giant doors closed and it appeared as if nothing had ever happened.

Of all the things in Equestria, this was her favorite. Watching the changing of the guard was like seeing the start of a new day, or night in her case. She always went out of her way to watch just this one event, no matter the occasion, she would watch in awe of the synchronization and fluid motion of an entire military force moving as one body.

"Multis equis, unum regnum" she heard a voice from behind her. She looked at the radiant blue color of the night shining off the silvery coat of a unicorn who had joined her on her cloud.

"Many horses, one nation," she replied. The stallion bowed to her. She gave him an approving nod and he walked towards her, cloud dust dancing off into the air as he softly ran his hooves over the top of the cloud. "My sister was right," she said examining the stallion, "Thou can truly shine day or night." He gave her a silent nod as he took a seat next to her. "This does not mean you have been forgiven," she said. It was snappy, but soft, like friends after a feud, still friends, but not right now.

"I am glad to see I am not the only one struggling with the modern day language," he smiled at her.

"I am not struggling," she sniffed, "It is simply to my own preference. Dost thou still use your large words?"

"Forsooth," he winked and chuckled, "My words are indeed my greatest attribute," he stopped because he began to laugh, "except when the burden of necessity becomes my greatest enemy for then I am at a loss of words." They both began laughing. It was a good laugh that they both needed. Then Luna turned her gaze to the sky, and Silver followed.

"Common language would suit the both of us well, tener frater," she said gazing at the starlit sky.

"As would the elimination of both our previous languages," He turned towards her, "You could start just by calling me by my name you know."

She gave him a menacing look, "I will call thou as I please," she stood, "and for you to be called by the blessing my sister gave you would be an insult to all she did for you." Silver looked disappointed, but understandingly nodded, saddened by her refusal. "As such, thine original name is no substitute so I will call thou Burns until I see fit." He had a dissatisfied expression on his face. "Well it is what you called yourself before you were reminded of your name. Was it not?"

He sighed, "Fair enough," nodded, then stood and looked down at the castle. It looked peaceful, like the beautiful night was supposed to make it look. The moonlight gently kissing the tops of the buildings while wind remained still, allowing the cloud cover to nestle the moon's light while showing a few constellations in the sky.

"Oh," Luna spoke up. "How did you like the ant colony I released on you?"

"So it was you! I knew it!" Silver was shouting. Luna gave an evil smile before nodding. "That was not humorous in the slightest degree."

"Oh, I disagree," she smirked, "though I was not around to see it, I heard from my sister that it was a very good laugh." Silver rolled his eyes, actually giving Luna a smile. Then he looked back down to the castle and took a happy sigh.

"This reminds me of the times before I left, the good times."

"Like when you burned down that forest?" she snickered. He never even looked her way.

"You know what I meant," he stared at a lit room in the castle. A shadow was pacing back and forth. "The times before she did that," he pointed. Luna walked up to see where he was pointing. "You know the night you," she cut him off.

"We will not speak of it," she appeared upset, "We both made mistakes, and we will leave it like that." Again, Silver sighed, then nodded. Luna then turned to him, "I missed you as well," she hugged him, "and I too am glad that you are safe." This reminded him of the times when he was a colt, waking from his nightmares, Luna would always be right there beside him when he woke, comforting him. She would sing to him the most beautiful voice, and when she did, his eyelids would fall closed as if it were only natural. Though Celestia and Luna are sisters, Luna was just like a sister herself to Silver. He began reminiscing over his colt years, looking back over his most cherished memories. It put a smile to his face, he shook his head, still smiling. "What is it?" Seeing him smile, Luna could not help but do it herself.

"I was thinking about the time you sang your lullaby, and I tried to sing along," he chuckled. "I utterly ruined it that time, and I swore never to sing again," he was now laughing at himself.

"It was not that bad I do not think," she smiled, "though your singing did need some work," she nudged him. "You know we have not flown in a while either," she giggled.

"I believe it would be much more difficult considering my size and weight now," he responded. He thought back to when Luna placed him on her back and took him high into the sky. It always made Luna happy to see the young Silver's eyes lit up with excitement seeing the night from above like his maioris. He would look in awe while Luna stood on a cloud, watching to make sure Silver did not try and jump off on his own. He did on one occasion and it took Luna's quick thinking to catch him in time before he hit the ground.

Mother's light is great and all, but this is like seeing an entirely different Equestria, she remembered him saying. His orange eyes lit up every time they went out, and he would constantly beg Luna to take him again, Just one more time, he used to say. The thought put a happy smile on her face, but as he got older, he could no longer be taken up on Luna's back, nor could he fly himself. Celestia asked Starswirl to make a spell especially for the occasion. Starswirl had a number of ideas and only a few of them worked, but Silver learned carefully and copied Starswirl to the "t" and eventually he was cloudwalking with Luna again.

"Sadly you are correct," she almost sounded disappointed. Silver took notice, and thought of something that might brighten her spirits.

"Remember that nimbus spell Starswirl was working on?" he said with a smirk.

"I actually do not remember much of Starswirl, frankly," she replied.

"Well," he held the " l " sound again, "I started working on it a few years back, when a cloud appeared in the Rift, and managed to get the spell to finally work!"

"That sounds great, but what does that have to do with anything?" Luna sounded curious, but doubtful of anything impressive.

"Oh," he sighed, "You know your excitement is quick to pass," he said walking to the other side of the cloud. "I guess that means I should go," Luna turned to watch him as he jumped off the cloud.

"No! WAIT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Silver's head popped out of the cloud Luna was standing on.

"Did you need something?" he smirked.

"Not. Funny." she pushed his head back through the cloud. He then rose to Luna's height on the other side of the cloud, standing on a nimbus cloud, or at least a piece of one anyway.

"Sadly I have only mastered basic up, down, left, and right maneuvers, but I hope that now I can have some real practice," he gave Luna his puppy dog eyes and tried to convince her to fly with him.

"Perhaps on another night," she sat back down on her cloud. Silver simply smiled and joined her back on her cloud. Both of them, now looking at the stars, Luna asked, "What was it like in Tartarus?"

"Honestly, horrifying would not even do its justice," he responded. "I spent nearly twenty-five years, completely motionless."

“Why?"

"In Tartarus, your gravity is the burden you bear here," he lifted his hoof to show it was a little crooked. "Broke all my bones a few times just making an attempt to move, luckily my magic was unhindered and I was able to defend myself as well as get food and water, though I would not have lasted much longer if I did not move, so little by little, I got the ground under my hooves and my body above, and I walked, but enough about my adventure. What about the moon?"

"I was not awake to feel the burden," she replied. "My nightmare was being trapped inside a body I no longer had control over."

"You were much stronger than I was from what I saw. Did you two converse much?"

"No, I refused any words to that shadowy demon," she looked away from Silver's face, "except, when I thought I had changed her. Instead, she changed me," she ran her hoof through the cloud.

"Deception is a skill she had a very long time to master," he spoke from experience remembering when he was deceived by both Discord and Pandora. "I, however, gave in and lost all control," he turned his gaze to look down at the pacing shadow. "If not for your actions, I would have burned the entire world to ashes."

"Why do you think so?" Luna saked. "We would have come down to using the Elements of Harmony to do something to help you."

"But I liked the power I had," he looked down in shame. "I loved that release and loss of control. That is how I was conned into being her slave," he laid his head on her shoulder, "but you reminded me that I am me, and becoming a monster was my choice."

"We all make decisions we regret Burns," she stared out into the distance. "All we can do is hope that the ponies affected by our mistakes will be willing to forgive us and move on."

"I remember Lulu."

"Oh, and thou shalt address me as Princess Luna."

"Aw! Seriously?!" Silver lifted his head and saw the smug grin on Luna's face.

"Until I have decidedly forgiven you, you will do as I say as your older sister and your princess."

"As you wish Princess Luna," he bows and sits next to her again. In truth, Luna had forgiven him long ago. She knew blaming him would be like the pot calling the kettle black. However, she felt it necessary for this colt to learn responsibility, though it did seem like he took an awful lot already.

He never disagreed to Luna's requests, though he did show distaste for them sometimes. Earlier that day Luna made him clean her room before she went to bed. She was surprised to find the room completely spotless. Her room was the largest bedroom in the castle. Designed by Celestia herself for only Luna, all of her possessions and things Celestia added in to do her best to make Luna feel like she was home when she returned.

“Why is she so dithery at this time?” Silver asked, staring at the pacing shadow.

“She’s never faced a threat like this,” Luna answered. “He did well to evade our every move until we were forced to use the Elements, and the last time they faced each other-” Luna caught herself thinking about the last chance Sombra was given before the Elements of Harmony were used against him. “I wish it had not come to it.”

“You speak of it as if it were deplorable.”

“Has thou ever been struck by the Elements?”

“No,” Silver looked back down. “You protected me from that fate,” his eyes shuttered. “It would have been favorable in hindsight. I should have been the one imprisoned on the moon. I should have seen it coming. I-“

“And what is with all this ‘I’ nonsense? Hmm?” Luna strikingly protested. “We did not know the effects of your entrapment, and I ended up on the moon because everypony was fooled.” Silver was looking up at Luna, eyes shining with tears welling up that he would not allow himself to cry.

“That is exactly what I meant,” He started pounding his hoof on his head. “I knew these creatures, Princess Luna, and I allowed them to convince my foolish pride that it was for the better and I-”
SLAP

Luna hit Silver with a hard horseshoe to his muzzle. He was caught quite off guard. His eyes widened, he shook his head and dried his eyes. Luna was staring angrily at him. “You’re right,” he said now as he turned his head to the cloud he was sitting on. “Thank you,” he laid his head back on her shoulder. “Why didn’t you ever tell her?” he asked still looking down.

“Your heart was in the right place, you just needed time to sort out a correct course of action.”

“And you decided banishment was the most appropriate option?”

“Honestly, I thought you would protest sooner,” Luna was now looking at the pacing figure. “She needed the both of us, and I thought you would learn something valuable if I forced you away from home.”

“I did,” he stood up and walked to face the moon, “When I saw the eclipse, I finally understood my insignificance.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Luna spoke softly and aggravated.

“And I was not finished,” Silver turned his head. “I rushed to the castle as fast as I could,” he turned his entire body to her, “and four days had passed, I saw my beloved mother, crying her eyes out in your room, her face was as pink as her mane. It then occurred to me that in all my years of magical training, all I learned was how to block and attack. It was all I chose to learn. I did not know how to mend a broken heart, nor did I know how to comfort. All I knew were monsters and evil and this thin line between the two forces of light and darkness.” Luna only grimaced at his words. “I wanted to be just like you and Mother, but I was mortal, and foolish. I ran because at that very moment in your room, I realized I had no idea who I was, or who I wanted to be, and it frightened me.” Silver raised his voice and he pointed to his cutie mark. “I thought this stupid thing meant I was a protector, somepony who could at least protect those he loved no matter what the danger, whether it be physical or emotional! But I failed everypony and managed to hurt them all instead!” Now he was shouting. “WHY?! Because I wanted power because I thought it was the only way to do what was right! You know what I learned? I learned that I failed as a protector, a brother, and a son! This thing was wrong!”

“Then why do you have it?!” Luna shouted back at him. As she rose, she unfolded her wings. Towering Silver, she continued, “My mark has a moon on it, but Celestia knows that I do far more than just raise the moon, just as you did far more than be a shield.”

“But I was never a shield! Just a sword who,” he stopped and lowered his voice, noticing his own tension, “committed crimes against the ponies I swore I would protect.”

“You had no idea your mind was being poisoned by the shadows,” Luna walked towards him, clasping her wing around him. “It could have happened to anypony. Even the best of us can fall.”

“Fantastic pep talk coming from the princess still angry with me,” he said mockingly as he shoved her away.

“Angry, yes. But I am giving you a chance, just as Celestia gave me a chance. However, I gave you your chance long ago as well, and you chose to run instead, like a coward,” she bumped her head onto Silver’s. “We both know you are no coward,” she walked back to her spot on the cloud. “So here’s your real chance. Prove to me you are a protector. Prove that you can be a teacher, a brother, and a good friend.”

“You left out son,” he murmured, looking down at his hooves.

“You do not have to prove that to me,” Luna appeared to be shining while she said that. Silver looked and gave it some thought while she continued. "You will have to tell me why you decided to run however."

"I decided that my punishment was not severe enough, Princess," he laid back down, "Of course, long did I wait to even move several feet from the gates, and at the time I had no idea what was happening. I cried out for help, but only danger came my way. Then something interesting happened," he laughed under his breath, "some outrageous blue-gray pony told me to stop being such a crying foal. I swore I was hallucinating, and I probably was. We all went to his funeral, but there he was clear as crystal and right in the middle of everything, he kicked me," he was now laughing. When he caught his breath, he looked back up to Luna, "Starswirl was always amazingly gifted, but I never would have imagined he would have put it all together for me. That was when I figured out who I wanted to be, and I stood and walked deeper into the Rift, learning the old magic found there. I thought I might be able to turn out the fire. Obviously no such luck, but all that time, everything seemed to pass so quickly, then one day I decided it was time to come back and face my punishment."

"Noble of you," Luna smirked, "But my punishment is the worst thy will receive. Celestia is just happy to have her family back."

"Yeah it's nice th- AAAAAHHHHHHHH," Silver's spell wore off, and he fell through the cloud and was now falling to the ground. Luna quickly jumped off the cloud and dove after him. Faster she flapped her wings to catch up with the falling stallion, and when she did, she realized she could only stall the inevitable. She spread her wings out to gently catch him so they would both fall smoothly to the ground. Silver had another idea however. As soon as they slowed down, he teleported them back on top of the cloud and cast the spell to allow him to cloudwalk again. Luna kind of threw Silver down and then collapsed after letting out a sigh of relief. Silver looked at Luna grinning from ear to ear, crackling and they both began to hysterically laugh.

"You do not have wings you silly stallion," Luna giggled. "Try to keep a closer eye on your spells."

"That would ruin all the fun," Silver smiled back at her.

"I think we need to help you define fun," she said still smiling and coughing out a few more laughs. "So," she began to say after she finally gained her composure, "who do you want to be?"

"I want to be the third light of Equestria," he smiled. "Time permitting."

"Time permitting what?" Luna asked curiously.

"I guess I just want to be given the chance to be looked at just as great as you two are. I am in a bit of a hurry."

"What's the rush, hmm?" Luna thought he might be serious for a moment, then he turned to her and smiled.

"You thought I might mortal again, didn't you?"

"No!" she shoved him. "In any case, thou are most annoying when thou speaks in riddling tongues."

"Coming from that mouthful?" Silver chuckled at Luna. She grimaced and grit her teeth to keep herself from saying anything ill of the stallion, mainly because she did not want him turning her sentences around. Silver changed his attention again to the moving shadow on the window of the castle. "Can you help her?" He asked Luna without taking his eyes off the shadow.

"I can," Luna answered as she walked forward, horn glowing. The moving shadow's pace began to slow.

"No!" Silver protested. "The right way."

"Do you not like the way I cast my sleeping spell?" Luna quickly snapped back.

"Only if you choose not to sing to her." Silver wanted her to sing more for his benefit than the pacing shadow's. Hearing Luna sing to him was like going to a concert for any other normal pony. Except he got to hear the best singing voice in the world, in his opinion.

"I should have known you were going to ask that," she kind of glared at him, yet it was soft, ill-intentioned. She motioned for him to come closer to her. He did and laid down right beside her as she put her left wing over him. It was odd for Silver to be acting like a colt again, but for some reason, it made him feel like he was truly home again. His big sister, putting her wing over him and making him feel safe. He quietly chuckled to himself when the thought crossed his mind, somepony making him feel safe. He had stood down demons, and was never afraid, but this made him feel safer than he had felt in a long time. With his head down, Silver waited patiently for song to come. Luna had to remember her old lullaby, and when it came to mind, she took in a breath.

Don't be afraid
I am right here
The darkness will fade
And so will your fears

The nightmare is gone and you're safe and sound
Somepony is watching and she has you now

Don't worry dear child
The danger is gone
Wipe away your tears
And close your eyes until dawn

Sleep little pony, rest your little head
No one can hurt you here safe in your bed

To all your scares say adieu
There is nothing to fear
The moon will watch over you
I'll always be near

So sleep little pony, rest your tired head
You are safe now, my dear, there's nothing to dread
Sweet dreams, till the morning
I'll still be here, adoring
My little one who sleeps soundly in bed.

SNORE
Silver, had fallen asleep at Luna's hooves; as had the pacing shadow, who's figure now could be seen laying down, peacefully motionless. Sleeping her troubles away.

"Good night, sister," Luna whispered.

Twilight woke up all alone, darkness all around her. She could barely make out her own hooves. Wait when did I go to sleep? She thought to herself. She remembered a party, and then nothing. Now she was alone in this dark-

"Hahahaha!" A hideous voice laughed in the distance and it felt as though the voice itself ripped into Twilight's heart.

"Who's there?" She asked, only to be followed by more laughter, more like a maniacal giggle this time. Slowly, light began to appear from behind. It was easy to notice in the dark, and Twilight quickly ran towards it. As she got closer, she felt an intense heat, and she knew what the light was. She stopped, but the fire came to her instead, and soon she was surrounded by brightly colored flames. Off in the distance she could see a shadowy figure walking through the fire, a stallion, blue fire gushing from his body and his eyes glowing. Her first thought was to run to him. "Silver!" Twilight called out. The figure kept walking. "Silver," she called out again, "where are we?" As she closed in, the figure stopped and slammed his hoof down. It made a thunderous sound, and the figure faced Twilight and opened his mouth, from it came a blood curdling scream and the fire on his body turned from blue to pink and purple, all of the fire mirrored him, and this shadow Twilight could now see was not a shadow, but a jet black stallion with his sights set squarely on Twilight.

Quickly she turned to run but as soon as she turned around he was already there to meet her. He had orange dragon's eyes and he was smiling rather deviously. Even his teeth were dragon-like. It was all too familiar of a sight, one that left Twilight stone cold in her tracks. Twilight could do nothing but stand still as a statue, paralyzed with fear as the stallion reared back, another bone chilling roar came from him. He was going to stomp down on Twilight and she just watched as his hooves came down on her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH," She awoke screaming, Spike was holding her hoof.

"Twilight! You were tossing and then you were yelling and then you woke up and I was so scared," Spike said trying not to whimper.

"I- I'm fine Spike, th-thank you," Twilight said shakily. She looked out her window. It was late morning. Frost had built up on the window sill. "Oh! I need to get packed for Canterlot!" Twilight quickly hopped out of bed, and as quickly as she leaped out of bed, she soon found herself dizzy and fell to the floor.

"Twilight!" Spike stood in front of Twilight, picking up her head, trying get her to stand. Twilight opened her eyes and groaned and put her hoof to her head.

"Got up way too quickly is all Spike," she said reassuringly. A few hours passed and Twilight was now completely ready to go. Her friends were due to show up any moment and she wanted to make sure she was completely ready to spend the rest of her last day in Ponyville with them.

"Oh Spike," she asks, "what am I going to do?" Twilight has been worried the entire weekend about leaving her friends behind. Thoughts that she may never see them again crossed her mind as the last couple of days progressed. Spike always did his best to reassure Twilight that she is not leaving her friends forever.

"Twilight your friends are your friends for a reason, and leaving for a while isn't going to change the fact that you guys are still friends," Spike smiled and pat Twilight's side. Twilight was still shaking from the thought even though Spike was doing his best to make her feel better. Spike had been invited back to Canterlot with Twilight though he could not be with her during her lessons, but that was normal and expected since he did not attend Celestia's private lessons for Twilight. Spike did feel an urge to stay however. He felt that it might be best to take care of the library while Twilight was gone. Twilight had since convinced him to go along with her because she felt that she needed at least one familiar face with her in Canterlot.

Suddenly the library door flew open. Pinkie Pie stood in the doorway with tears in her eyes. "Twilight!" she shouted. "I know you're not gonna be gone forever but I don't want you to go now!" She bolted for Twilight and gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Pinkie," Twilight gasped for air, "I can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry," Pinkie giggled. "I'm better now." Twilight could not help but to smile and she then proceeded to hug Pinkie back.

"I'm going to miss you too Pinkie Pie," Twilight let go of Pinkie. "But you know, when I get back someone is going to need to plan a big party to get me back into Ponyville." Pinkie's eyes brightened and gleamed when Twilight told her that.

"Well you can count on me!" She shouted happily.

"Where's everypony else?" Twilight asked curiously looking around Pinkie Pie to see if they were hanging around the door. Nopony was there after all.

"Oh I don't know where everypony is. I decided I wanted to get here early as possible so I could spend as much time with you as I could," Pinkie Pie said with a grin on her face. "Hey did you like the book I gave you?"

Twilight hesitated for a moment when the thoughts of the fire came to her mind, but she put on a straight face and said, "Yes Pinkie it's very helpful and I think it might be the most interesting book I've read so far." Twilight kind of put on a half-baked smile.

"I knew you'd love it!" Pinkie shouted. Then a knock came at the door. Twilight rushed to it thinking it might be one or all of the rest of her friends. She quickly opened it to find somepony else, however. Not that it was bad, it just did not come to mind that Zecora would show up.

"Twilight Sparkle are you busy?" She asked. Twilight shook her head. Zecora reached for a bottle inside her saddlebag and allowed Twilight to pick it up with her magic.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"I brought this in case you get dizzy. It comes from a fruit bearing a rind, and it will help to ease your mind."

"Thank you Zecora," Twilight said putting the glass bottle into her own saddlebags. "Would you like to come in for some tea."

"As much as I would, I must go, I have a meeting with a crow. I just dropped by to give you this glass, in hopes that it might help you with your class."

"Wait," Twilight said with an odd confused look on her face. "A crow?"

"Yes, we must discuss some things, on how he would like to fix his wing. He broke it one day flying through the woods, and not paying attention he flew where a tree stood."

"Sounds painful!" Pinkie Pie shouted from the back. Twilight nodded in agreement.

"Well I hope you can make the crow feel better," Twilight said. With that, Zecora left and Pinkie and Twilight were back to conversing while Spike fed Owlicious.

"Get up!" a voice called. It was Shining Armor. Silver quickly raised up and looked around. He was not in his room, but that was not important. The important part was that Shining Armor looked worried. "He's made his first move," he said. It sounded as though he were accusing Silver.

"Already?" Silver was surprised to hear that Sombra had made his move so quickly.

"He took a scout troop and they made a second attempt for the Crystal Empire," Shining Armor continued. "We stopped him but he got so close to the empire's outer bounds."

"You are sure that he was in command? This was not another projection?" Silver asked.

"No, I am not, but I am not willing to endanger my wife's safety over whether or not I am sure of something!" Shining Armor yelled at Silver.

"Calm yourself," Silver said in a comforting tone.

"How can I be calm in a time like this?" Shining Armor asked demanding an answer.

"We have your sister who could very well be the key to all of this," Silver replied with a smile.

"So you're going to put my little sister in to battle?!" Shining Armor pushed Silver, and Silver fell over.

"Like I said, calm yourself. I will not be putting Princess Twilight Sparkle into any danger," Silver said putting a heavy emphasis on her name. "She will more than likely not be battling at all." Shining Armor let out a relieved sigh. "However," Silver stepped forward, "I am preparing her for the likelihood of a battle in case she might be in the need to defend herself."

"I can accept that," Shining Armor responded a bit heavy-hearted. "I'm leaving later to the Crystal Empire to make sure that everyone is safe. I expect that when I return, my Twilight will be able to take down Sombra if the chance came by," Shining Armor left for the door. Silver followed him.

"I am departing soon to take her back here," Silver said while walking behind Shining Armor. "Would you care to join me, or would you rather be with your wife?"

"I can go if that's what you're asking."

"Fantastic! Let us leave for the train!" Silver shouted happily.

"You can just teleport us there can't you?"

"I can, but I would like to take the train," Silver answered. "It will give Princess Twilight time to say her farewells to her friends. I imagine she will deeply miss them while here." Shining Armor simply shook his head and they both turned to the door. Silver finally realized where he was. It was Princess Celestia's room. She was out most likely conducting business with other countries in hopes of gaining knowledge on their new foes. Silver thought for a moment as last night came to mind. He smiled and whispered Thank you Luna under his breath.

A knock at the library door had Twilight springing toward it like a cat chasing a mouse. When she opened it, she saw Applejack standing, smiling. "Hey Sugar," she said happily. "Wanna come down to the farm and grab some lunch?"

"That sounds great!"Twilight quickly nodded and Pinkie Pie followed her out the door. Spike stayed behind to "finish cleaning the library". In truth he was worn out from Twilight's constant OCD organization of the library and he wanted a nap. Of course he was not about to tell Twilight that because he wanted to make sure that Twilight left no regrets when leaving Ponyville for a while. So, as the door closed Spike waited patiently to see if Twilight was going to come bursting back through the door thinking that she had to take another look to make sure the library was in perfect condition as always when she left. When she did not return, Spike bolted for the stairs and his little cozy bed calling his name.

"So you ready to go?" Applejack asked. Twilight was hesitant to answer.

"I'm really nervous about going back," she said. "I know I'm just probably overreacting, but I just feel like if I leave, you guys will just forget about me."

"Forget you?!" Pinkie shouted. "You're a princess Twilight! Not mention we got to do tons of fun stuff together!" Pinkie always seemed to be happily shouting about anything when she was talking about her friends and it always had a positive effect on her friends and others around her. One could almost say that she was Ponyville's own personal smile. Just as it had done so many times before, it made Twilight smile.

"Pinkie Pie is right, Twi," Applejack followed up. "You're the one that brought all of us together, and we've gone on so many adventures together," Applejack nudged Twilight, "I doubt it be easy to forget any of that."

"Thanks you two," Twilight said smiling. "If I get to come back sometime, I'll be sure to get here as soon as I can just so I can spend as much time with you guys as I can."

"Aw shucks Twi," Applejack giggled, "you know we'd do the same for you too so don't be too surprised if we just happen to be in Canterlot visiting you one day." She winked at Twilight. They made it to Sweet Apple acres with no distractions other than each other's voices as they began to recall times they shared. The three were happily greeted by Granny Smith and Applebloom. Big Mac was on his way from the western orchards finishing up his morning chores.

When Twilight entered the Apple family house, she was greeted by three other smiling faces, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity sitting at the dinner table, which had just been set. All of the famous Apple family apple themed dishes were out. Apple fritters, apple crisps, caramel apples, there was so much food; and Twilight's favorite of the bunch, the apple cider. She took a seat next to Rarity and they all waited for Big Mac to come in. It was not long until he showed up, food was a heavy motivator to come on home for Big Mac. Now everyone was ready to eat.

Hours seemed to pass like minutes. Twilight was having such a good time reminiscing over the adventures they had, from Nightmare Moon to Discord to ultimately giving up their Elements of Harmony to the Tree of Harmony. Twilight recalled several other moments of her friends that made her smile when she thought about it. Applejack's triumph over the Flim-Flam Brothers, Rarity's fashion shows, Rainbow Dash's famous sonic rainboom, Fluttershy's moment in fame when she was a fashion model, Pinkie Pie's, well it it Pinkie Pie. Twilight would have to lose her memory in order to forget Pinkie Pie. All together, it was a day that she needed and never realized she needed. It was calm, and nothing could go too wrong for her normal standard. All in all, it was a great day, but like all great days, it will come to an end, and Twilight still had to get home to her library and finish getting ready to leave. So she began her goodbyes.

"Hey, before we all head out we have some gifts for ya in case you get lonely or wanna feel nostalgic," Applejack announced.

"Again?" Twilight half smiled half grimaced.

"Here. So you know I'm still going to be the best flyer around." Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a small figurine that had Rainbow Dash's likeness with a Wonderbolt uniform.

Twilight took only a quick look at it before Pinkie Pie pushed Rainbow Dash out of the way and shouted, "Me next! I know I already gave you the book, but I figured I'd give you my patented Mini Party Cannon, just to make sure you get plenty of smiles!"

"I got you this picture of all of us." Fluttershy gave Twilight a framed picture with all of their cutie marks on the wooden frame.

"And this is mine," Applejack smiled as she pulled out a golden apple. "It's been my good luck charm for years now, and I hope you get good luck as much as I do."

"Here's mine deary, I've left mine open for you so you can take all of them with you comfortably," Rarity expressed happily using her magic to show Twilight a set of saddlebags that she had made. "Now I know it's not my usual type of work but I wanted to make something creative that you could use all the time." It was just like her old saddlebags, with her cutie mark on it and everything. Except, it had now been accompanied by five other cutie marks, her friends' cutie marks which surrounded Twilight's at the bottom. It almost looked like a smile. There were also beautifully indescribable embroidery designs. "You do like it, don't you?" Rarity asked. Twilight, however was a loss of words, she had nothing to give and yet here her five friends were giving her presents to remember them by. She felt terrible about it, and almost wanted to cry. "You don't like it do you? I knew I should have gone with the red dress." Rarity stamped disappointed in herself.

"No I love it. I love them all." Twilight exclaimed, "It's just," she looked down, disappointed with herself. "I didn't think to bring anything for you guys to remember me by."

"Twilight you got it all wrong!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Rainbow's right," Applejack continued for her. "We made these gifts so that while you're up there in that fancy castle learnin' fancy new spells, you can't forget us." Twilight looked around at her friends agreeing with Applejack.

"You're the one who brought us all together," Fluttershy quietly expressed.

"We had lots of fun together!" Pinkie Pie enthusiastically shouted.

"And we'll always be grateful for that," Rarity smiled as she used her magic to collect everypony's gifts and put them into Twilight's new saddlebag and put the bag on Twilight's back. Twilight's mood had shifted vigorously now that she knew her friends were not going to be disappointed in her. She smiled and hugged everypony.

"How could I forget you guys?" Twilight happily hugged each of her friends.

"Not to mention my gift is way more awesome than any pony else's," Rainbow Dash huffed with pride in her gift.

"Thank you all so much," she said. "I promise that I'll-" there was knock at the door. Applejack opened the door to find two very familiar unicorns standing in the doorway with a nervous Spike behind the two of them. It was Shining Armor and Silver Radiance.

"Come on in y'all," Applejack happily let them all in. Shining Armor was carrying Twilight's other saddlebags that were stuffed plum full of things she did not remember packing. Probably her brother's doing, trying to make sure she really does have everything. Twilight, while surprised the two were there, she was more surprised that anything else could actually fit in her old saddlebags.

"What are you two doing here?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Do you not remember when I said I would be back to pick you up?" Silver asked. "Your brother came along to help and to see you again while he's here."

"And also to make sure he's not trying anything funny," Shining Armor shoved his way forward. "Are you all ready to go?"

"Well considering you have all my stuff," Twilight sarcastically asserted, "I guess so." She knew she had to go, but she was still not ready to leave her friends for who knows how long.

"Come now," Silver spoke, "It's nearly five, you have your first lesson at four."

"Well that's a whole day away," Pinkie said.

"In the morning," Silver reiterated. "It's important that you get your rest when you can Princess, and I imagine it might take a while to get settled back into your old room in the castle."

"You know about that?" Twilight was strikingly surprised that he knew so much about Twilight so quickly.

"Frankly if I could ever get Princess Celestia to stop talking about you, I have no clue what she might actually talk about," Silver replied. "Now, we must go."

"Hey, watch your tone," Shining Armor scoffed.

"Or what?" Silver challenged.

"Or I'm going to be angry at you both," Twilight interrupted them. "Now everypony get along so we can go." Twilight gave everypony one last hug before they departed. "I'm going to miss you all so much," she said wiping a tear from her eye. "I promise I will be back as soon as I can." And with that, Silver's horn lit up, and he, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Spike all disappeared in a flash of light.

They all teleported to Twilight's room in the castle, of course everyone except Silver was a little dizzy so no one actually noticed for a moment. Silver was used to the drain by now and was not very affected by its drain, however with the addition of Shining Armor, he needed considerably more magic than when he even teleported Twilight and Spike to that forest outside of Equestria. When Twilight finally recovered, she noticed everything was where she had left it. Every book down to every last quill in their designated spaces and holders. Twilight immediately began unpacking by taking her saddlebag off of Shining Armor and putting everything in its new proper place. New quills by the old quills on the desk by the window. Her bookshelf still had a few places for the books she took along, and Zecora's potion to help ease Twilight's mind if she ever felt stressed. She had no idea where to put it, so she set it on the desk to later have a place. She already knew where to put her new belongings. They would be right next to her before she went to be so she knew that she could remember her friends every night.

"Is everyone alright?" Silver asked.

"Fine." Shining Armor answered. "Hey look next time warn me when you're going to do that."

"Whatever you say Captain," Silver mocked. "In any case you're going home the same way. So when you are ready come find me."

"I'm staying a few days," Shining Armor replied. "Cadence suggested I stay and make some preparations with the guard."

"In which case, I have some other business to attend to."

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"A surprise for tomorrow's lesson," and with that, he left through the door. He walked through the corridors to look for Celestia. He wanted to make sure that his surprise actually worked so he was going to ask Princess Celestia a very important question. One that might leave her a bit dumbfounded, but she might let him do it. After all, he is her son. That and there was something else that troubled him. The train ride. It took nearly the whole day to get to the Ponyville Station, much longer than he remembered it being when he was on it for the first time with Twilight.

When Silver found Celestia, she was signing and overlooking papers. They looked to be official diplomatic works, but it was hard to tell what they said since Silver was on the other side of the paper. The sun was finally beginning its decent upon the horizon as its bottom reached the hill that Silver could see outside the window. A fireplace was lit up behind Celestia, and its golden glow stretched out through this smaller room. It was Celestia's work study, the room that they met again for the first time. And just like the last time, she knew exactly when Silver had arrived.

"Interesting day?" She asked without even looking up.

"Yes indeed," he replied. "I had quite the adventure on the train today." Slowly he walked to Celestia's desk.

"Not enjoy yourself on your second train ride?" she asked curiously. Silver shook his head.

"I found something rather interesting today on that train," he said as he sat down in front of the desk. "It took nearly five hours to arrive in Ponyville, and we were headed downhill unlike the trip here, obviously."

"Yes," she said in a questioning tone, "what is your point?"

"The point is Twilight was asking questions about my past, and I chose to show her a couple of minutes of my younger life with the memory share spell, which took the entire train ride to wear off."

"Oh," she said with a smile. "Getting a little rusty in your magic I see." Celestia giggled, but Silver seemed unphased.

"Mother," he said trying to keep his calm, "what are you hiding from her?"

"I would not hide anything from my most faithful student," she said backing away from the question.

"It seems something was being hidden from her," Silver accusingly stated, "and you and Luna are the only ones I know that she knows who can use that spell."

"And what if it was just the linger effect?" She was quick to get back.

"Would it have lasted that long?"

"It has been known to last for long periods before, my son, because sometimes one can find the truth hard to see, and harder to reveal," Celestia wisely chose her words.

"So you believe it was my hesitation?" he asked. Celestia nodded and looked to the window which reminded Silver of his next question.

"Do you mind if I borrow that tomorrow?" he asked pointing out the window.

The Real First Lesson

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BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Twilight awoke to the sound of her alarm deafeningly drowning out even Spike's heavy snores. It was 3 A.M. Time to get ready for her first lesson. Twilight had a mix of excitement and anger as she slowly crept out of bed. It was still so dark outside. While Twilight would quickly leap at her first opportunity to learn, why did it have to be so early? Spike still lay in bed, not even bothered by the alarm from Twilight's clock. So, quietly she tip-hoofed away to brush her teeth and mane before heading down to her lesson. It was slow, so slow she could have passed for a zombie, droopy eyes and all. Good thing she got up so early, otherwise she would not have had time to wake up.

When she finished it was almost half past and she headed to her door. There was a note on it written obviously in magic because it was neat in some places, too neat, and really terrible, almost illegible in others, showing that the pony who wrote this was obviously not paying attention while writing. It read:

Twilight, come to the back entrance. There you will find a small building that will serve as your new classroom. Please do not be late.

Twilight rolled her eyes. How could anyone expect her to be late? She is always on time if not early. She threw the note away and trotted for the back entrance. It was a good five minute walk from her room to the main floor so being in a hurry should be a priority, just because she wanted to be early. The castle was rather creepy at this time of morning. Twilight could hear the night guards' hoofsteps loud and clear even though they were nowhere near her, making it hard to tell where anypony was. Twilight thought that it was a great motive against thieves and possible assassins. They might get scared of the constant hoofstepping and retreat before ever meeting a goal. That is, if they ever made it inside. Twilight remembered Shining Armor's fortifications that he had for each of the castle's checkpoints, and the secret places that he would not even tell Twilight just to keep anypony from knowing exactly where anypony was at any given time. It brought a smile to her face, even though it was nearly four in the morning.

When Twilight reached the back door to the outside, she was greeted by two door guards who hastily opened the door. Twilight walked through, a little trudgingly with her sleepiness catching back up to her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could quickly make out a building clearly lit up, which was obviously where her new teacher was. She shook off the rest of her sleepiness and quickly trotted to the building. When she opened the door, she noticed that Silver was making some final preparations. The building itself was just one room ,and with a quick look, she turned to see that the building's source of light that she saw from the outside was an expanse of candles that made a ring all the way around the room. There were also five in the middle, which stood much taller than the others. Silver was lighting the last few when Twilight had arrived.

When he finished he turned to her and spoke. "Princess Twilight Sparkle," he said without a bow this time, "you will be under my care for the foreseeable future until I have deemed you worthy of true fire magic. Will you accept that as my first term?" Twilight silently nodded, then he continued. "Princess Celestia has asked me to also show you my past story, mainly that concerning my," he paused, "not so perfect parts," he seemed at a loss of words for once. "At first I thought that was an outrageous deal, but I have come to realize that showing you control can be best shown by example of both control, and the loss of it," he stood tall. "You will bear witness to horrors that will shock you, and could very well change your complete opinion about me. Will you accept my second term?" Twilight again nodded siliently. "Now, as a formality, you will call me Master while in the presence of this building, and you must also say it in a British accent."

"Uhm," Twilight tilted her head, "Okay?" Silver laughed.

"I was only joshing. I wanted to see if you were really awake, but it seems you need some time to adjust."

"No," Twilight quickly protested. "I'm fine and I'm ready to work." Silver sort of did a mini-trot on his front hooves without making them leave the ground.

"Fantastic," he said. "We will begin immediately," he said with a smile. With a whip of his tail, the candles ringing the inside of the building all seemed to simultaneously go out, leaving the five in the center of the building to ineffectively light the room. "What is the first few words you can think of when you think of fire?"

"Hot, burning, bright-" Silver stopped her.

"Bright," he said still smiling. "A marvelous choice, Princess." He began pacing back and fourth in front of Twilight, but not a nervous type, an excited type. It looked like he had just heard that he was going on a summer beach vacation or something to that matter, and he could barely keep his excitement in. "Fire, while destructive is a fantastic source of light. Giving it a purpose greater than just burning things." Twilight wanted to make a witty comment about the Everfree forest, but stopped herself to allow Silver to continue his speech. "As a fire magic user, your job will be to put that light into the world."

"By making flames?" Twilight asked inquisitively.

"Well aside from the obvious," Silver sounded a little more than annoyed by the question, "Being trapped in the dark will leave a pony to look for the light, and sometimes that light is not always there." He flicked his tail over all but the middle of the remaining lights, stifling them leaving the lone candle to give out what meager light it could. Silver's face was barely illuminated by the single burning candle he was standing so far away. "One light can make a world of difference in the darkness, whether it be a spark, a flash, or a flame." He gestured Twilight to look down at the single burning candle flame, it was burning through the wax rather quickly, and though it was taller than the others surrounding it, it was quickly approaching their height. "A single, tiny flame," Silver paused for a moment, then continued, "can ignite a conflagration of light and change," Twilight now realized what the pause was for. The center candle had reached the surrounding candles' heights and its residual heat had re-lit them.

Twilight sighed in admiration. "That's actually pretty amazing," she said, fixated on the five flames burning together. She was utterly fascinated with the way the candles were set closely together to perfectly fit Silver's analogy. She welcomed his wisdom quickly, but as she looked up, his expression changed.

"But you must always remember that fire is still destructive, and its heat will eventually burn you out if not properly regulated." The candles she was looking at were now nearing the ground at an alarming rate. It was so quick that she barely had time to realize that they were about to go out. There was a quick flash of light and then complete darkness. Twilight could hear a hollowed voice call out, but she could not make out the direction. Its' owner, however, was more obvious.

Be that light Twilight Sparkle. it said. There are one thousand twenty two candles in this room. Light them all for today's beginner's lesson. The voice sounded a bit too cocky for Twilight's liking.

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Twilight snapped back.

"Don't you know a lighting spell?" Twilight leaped for the ceiling after Silver had somehow maneuvered himself in the dark directly behind Twilight, easily scaring her out of her wits.

"Yes I know some, but I thought you were going to teach me something new," Twilight shakily protested, trying to calm herself from her most recent heart attack.

"Collect your bearings," he answered. "Sometimes the easy is not always the best. You should learn to do this spell without even thinking. Then we may move on."

"But how am I supposed to find the candles?" She asked.

"You find a way, Princess," Silver's voice again dissipated to where it sounded like it was coming from everywhere. "From what I have heard of you, you are exceptional at that." Even though Twilight could not see his face, she could tell there was an anticipant grin on Silver. She could hear it in his voice. Confidence reassured Twilight began walking to the outer edges of the room, looking for her first candle.
UMPH

Twilight cried out finding the wall with her nose. She quickly realized she probably should have been feeling around for the wall with her hooves. No, instead she planted her muzzle on it and was too wrapped up in the moment to think she might actually need to worry about bumping into the wall. Nevertheless, she found her first candle and lit it which illuminated a few candles around it and as she lit those, she found a rhythm. It took a good hour and a half to finally light all the candles. Silver was still nowhere to be found. Twilight found it odd that her teacher would not watch her.

"Okay, I finished," she said merely talking to the ceiling. "What's next?" Suddenly the candles went out.

Try only using one light. Silver's disembodied voice called out. Twilight shook her head.

"That's ridiculous," she shouted.

Just try. He said try, but all Twilight could think of was how long it took her to light all of the candles on her own. Her first try ended with her just putting the candle out herself and trying to think of another idea. Her second idea, she thought she would try to make the lighting spell expand and light all the candles at once, failure again. Then she thought about using the residual heat from the tallest candle, just like Silver had shown her before with the five in the middle.

Quickly she lit her horn and looked for where she ended her stream of candle lighting. She found her tall candle and lit it, and waited. Sure enough the candle had lowered onto the next candles, and they were close enough to light. Then the next two, then the next four, then eight, then twelve.

"That was amazing!" Again, Twilight found herself trying to make friends with the ceiling after Silver's excitement scared her, his happily surprised expression as he looked at how the candles were lighting each other.

"You have to quit that!" Twilight shouted.

"Quit what?" Silver asked. Twilight could not believe he was acting like he did not know. Of course he knew; he was just being a jerk about it.

"You always pop up right behind me and scare me half to death!" Twilight shouted again. Silver laughed.

"I am sorry Princess. I allowed myself to get a little carried away," he turned to the candled. "You must understand how amazing this is though!" He was ecstatic. "It never crossed my mind to use that technique. Princess Twilight," he turned back to her and calmed himself, "now I see why my mother thinks so highly of you." Silver was beaming his happiness whether or not Twilight wanted to hear it, even though she did love the praise. "Oh what am I saying?" Silver laughed to himself. "This is going to make me an awful teacher if I keep praising you that much," he laughed again. "Come, you've earned a break." He gestured for Twilight to follow him out the door. A chilly wind brushed her face as Silver opened the door. The calm and cold night could be seen outside, but so was the beginning of morning, just barely peaking over the horizon, the gorgeous pinkish-orange glow.

"Princess Celestia will raise the sun any minute now," Twilight said looking around for Celestia to see if she would be out to lift the sun yet.

"Would you like to watch the sunrise?" Silver asked. Twilight quickly responded with an excited nod. Sure, the sun rises everyday, but sometimes, an early accomplishment just makes it so much better to watch. Twilight felt like she could do anything now her confidence was so high. Silver took a seat on the ground while Twilight sat next to him. They saw the light of the sun gradually getting brighter and then, there it was, bright and beautiful and radiant. Then something strange happened. The sun just fell back down, quickly too.
THUD

"Ow," Silver said, his entire body now completely on the ground. "It seems I made a slight miscalculation in weight," he said getting back on his hooves and then rubbing his muzzle.

"Miscalculation?" Twilight hesitantly asked. He nodded back to her then looked back to the East. "You don't mean-"

"I do," Silver said.

"But Princess Celestia-"

"Gave me permission," he interrupted her again. "Though I guess it may take a lot more magic than I initially thought." He stood and walked in front of Twilight as his horn glowed, then a familiar flame began shooting from where his mane was. His hooves also began to catch fire. Now, he looked exactly like he did when they first met; he was again that stallion on fire. His knees buckled for a moment, but he quickly recovered as he began to walk backwards. His head came down next, but he did not waver as he began moving his head side to side, gradually pulling himself back up, the sun was rising again. He was digging into the ground. Twilight could see his hooves getting deeper into the dirt as he planted himself to the ground and began to raise the sun even further. Then with a whinny of pride, he reared back into the glow of the sun he had just risen. He had done it, a single lone, unicorn had risen the sun.

"Phew!" he gasped as he wobbled around. "That was- that was," he fell to the ground, his fire extinguished. Twilight quickly rushed to him.

"Silver!" She called out. She stood over him where he lay. He looked comfortable, not in pain or worn out. Then she heard him quietly laughing.

"Note to self," he said chuckling, "never do that again, okay maybe once more for fun, but then never again." Twilight, who was concerned, now rolled her eyes at Silver as she helped him up.

"You are absolutely crazy," she said half astonished that Silver could even stand. Silver happily nodded, which seemed to annoy Twilight for some reason. He began to walk back to the building without so much as a word or anything. He just left. So Twilight followed.

"Well that was my one and only inspirational trick," he said giggling under his breath. "I do hope it works."

Why would anypony think that they could just raise the sun all by themselves? She thought quietly to herself. For that matter he definitely had to practice at least some before attempting this. She thought a little longer then she just had to ask.

"That was all just a show wasn't it?" She said confidently. Silver looked at her, eyebrow cocked, indicating that he he no clue what she meant by that. "You said you didn't know how much the sun weighed," she explained, "but it takes practice to learn such heavy spells like that and you being the son of the Princess of the Sun, you had to have practiced with her at some time, right?"

Silver laughed. "Oh Princess," he chuckled still, "Unlike you, I am not one to practice." Twilight gave him a half skeptical half impressed face while Silver expanded. "I simply improvise." Twilight frowned at his answer. It was not what she was hoping for. "Though I did get to practice with the moon once. No stars, just the moon." This kept Twilight's attention.

"Why no stars?" Twilight curiously asked.

"Did you not see how much trouble the sun was?" Twilight nodded to Silver's remark. "It is the same principle, except it is a little lighter," he said poking out another grin. "I gave my best to get the stars, but I only succeeded in keeling over."

"Wait, you died?" Twilight asked concerned.

"No, Princess," he bickered at Twilight's misunderstanding. "What is a newer term for that?" He paused for a moment, thinking it over. "To pass through? No that isn't right."

"Pass out?"

"Yes!" he said brightly. At that moment he lost his balance and nearly fell over. "Seems I may be headed for that again.See if they are making breakfast, I will join you shortly."

"Where are you going?" Twilight turned to see he was already gone. How? was the only thought that could come to her mind when she wondered how he left without a trace of hoofsteps or magic. However, instead of listening to her head, she listened to her stomach, which was growling profusely. She quickly trotted to the cafeteria to find food. She had not realized how hungry she was until Silver had said something. She had nothing to eat before her lesson so it was probably best that she ate before the next lesson.

When at the cafeteria,it was almost seven. She sat at a table where a few guard ponies were eating before they left for work. She quickly became the talk of the table when she walked over.

"Well, well Princess Twilight Sparkle," one of them said. He was a pegasus. "It's been forever since I've seen you around. I think you were this tall the last time I saw you." He made a quick scale from the ground up, just barely reaching the bottom of the table. "It's nice to see you all grown up for a change."

"What's your name?" She asked. He looked appalled to even be asked that question.

"Oh come on," he said gingerly. "You really don't remember me?" He had a half smile on his face. Twilight had no response, so he gave up and finally told her. "It's Lightning," he said half expecting her to realize it was him. "Lightning Luck? Your brother's best friend and second in command?" Twilight was still trying to piece things together. Her nose was scrunched up and her face looked like she ate a bad apple she was straining so hard trying to figure out who he was. "Here, let me take this off," he removed his helmet. His sandy mane matched his sandy coat, but finally, it clicked in Twilight's head.

"Oh!" Twilight shouted. "Lightning!" She quickly dashed over to hug him. "I'm so sorry, it's been so long since-"

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said waving a hoof in the air. "I would have forgotten me too after being gone for so long."

"Where have you been anyway?" she asked.

"Well actually I've been here," he let out a big sigh, "I just have been busy keeping our flyers in top shape," he said elbowing one of the pegasus next to him. "This here is Airpony First Class Arid Mist. Top of his class and I'm actually proud of this pipsqueak, so I just call him Mist." Lightning slapped him on the back, pushing Mist forward. He choked on his food and coughed a bit. "Sadly I had to quit training my recruits because of your brother," he said sadly, but did not actually look sad.

"How come?" Twilight asked.

"Well your brother is about to move full time to the Crystal Empire, meaning a new Captain of the Guard will soon be appointed."

"So I guess you got the job?" Twilight kept him going. He nodded.

"So I have to go through this whole appointment process and then I have to appoint my successor as the General of the Airponies," he continued. "After which, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have come to the decision to allow your brother to become Captain of the Crystal Guard since the ponies still need leadership there."

"So you get to appoint your successor?" Twilight tilted her head to the side. "I thought it just went by rank."

"Well normally it does," he followed up, "but the princesses feel as though the decisions should be left in the commanding officers' hooves to appoint a trustworthy, dependable pony to fill the position. That's why I've been at the training grounds for the past couple years."

"Sir," Mist quietly spoke up, "It's been almost four years."

"You're kidding," he said leaning away from Mist. Mist shook his head. "Well no wonder no one remembers me around here. I need to put my hoof back down and start making myself a little more known," he snickered, then something else caught his eye. He looked up. "My goodness boys, we've been here too long. I'll try to keep us out of trouble this time, but somepony's gonna have to keep an eye on the clock. Let's fly." He, Mist, and two others stood and walked to the door on the other side of the room. Twilight took notice of Lightning's leg being bandaged.

"Lightning, what happened?" Twilight asked, Lightning stopped.

"Oh this?" he asked looking at his bandage. "This is nothin'. You should see the other pony." Twilight grimaced and cringed at the thought, then Lightning broke the silence with a laugh. "Just kiddin, I was unfortunate enough to be in the path of some timberwolves on a ground patrol. No biggie," he said with a smile. "Enjoy your breakfast Princess," he bowed, and the other three mimicked him. Twilight stood and bowed back and then the team hastily left. "Oh yeah!" Lightning called out turning around and walking backwards. "See you tomorrow!" With that, they were gone. Twilight had no time to respond, but she quietly waved with their backs turned to the door already.

Twilight sat for an hour, waiting on Silver to return, two hours, three hours. Where is he, she thought to herself. Finally, eleven thirty rolls around and he walks through the cafeteria entrance, collecting a plate, then a pile of food. He took his time getting to Twilight's table, which had now been empty for some time now. She tapped her hoof on the table, watching him, impatiently glaring at him. Then he had finished stuffing his plate, paid for it, then looked around for Twilight. When he found her, he quickly walked to her, plate levitating beside him. He sat down with a plop and his plate made the same noise when he dropped it on the table.

"Where have you been?" Twilight asked frustrated. He put a hoof in the air, stuffing his face. Twilight kept opening her mouth to scold Silver's lack of punctuality that was obviously written on her note from him, but he kept cutting her off. He would not let her make a sound until he finished eating, which was relatively short for the amount of food he had on his plate. His awful manners were to blame, but he finally finished and moved his plate aside.

"I apologize for my tardiness, Princess Twilight," he began, "Some," he paused, "things came to my attention and I needed to tend to them immediately."

"Is that why you left in a hurry this morning?" Twilight asked convictingly. Silver twitched out a nod. Twilight got the strange feeling he was hiding something, but decided not to pursue. Silver generally gets to his point eventually. "So what was so important?"

"I had an idea as I suggested breakfast," he explained, "but I am not the best potions stallion around and I needed a special potion. So I asked Mother which to use and make. She actually sent me to a zebra somewhere outside of Ponyville."

"Zecora?" Twilight quickly interjected.

"I believe so," he answered. "I asked for a considerable amount, hence the time," he pulled out a small bottle. "After, I enchanted it with my thoughts and knowledge." The bottle was now more noticeable. The liquid was white and Twilight instantly realized what it was. Instantly thoughts of the princesses battling it out when Luna was Nightmare Moon poured into her head. She remembered the sadness, and the triumph. She sat there looking at it for a few minutes, leaving Silver to awkwardly hold the bottle in the air because he thought she was inspecting it.

"I've seen that before," Twilight finally quit looking at the glass of liquid and answered Silver. Taken off guard, he gestured for Twilight to continue. "Once, the princesses disappeared and Zecora said it might be the only way to help get them back."

"What happened to them?" His ears shot up, worriedly.

"Discord planted seeds over a thousand years ago that finally sprouted and trapped Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"Oh?" His worry turned to anger. "If I ever see that ugly monstrosity again," but before he could finish, Twilight interrupted him.

"You know him?" Twilight asked. Silver sighed and answered with a nod. "What happened?"

"You shall see soon enough." Silver put the glass bottle back wherever he had it before, then he took his plate and set it with the other dirty dishes. When he returned, Twilight stood with him. "Come," he said, "it is time for the second part of today's lesson." The both left to the building at the back of the castle.

As they walked Twilight had a question that has been embedded in her mind almost since the first time she and Silver met. She figured she should ask now before she ended up pushing it out to the side and forgetting all about it. "Silver," she started. He turned to her waiting for her to begin her question. "Why didn't you turn full Alicorn?"

"That's been something bothering me as well," he answered without missing a beat. "Mother said that even she doesn't know why. Usually the transformation is absolute. It's bothered me ever since." It bothered Twilight, too. Something that even Celestia has no knowledge of. That truly is frightening.

"You mind if I ask you another question?" Twilight hesitantly asked.

"Not at all Princess," Silver smiled.

"If Princess Celestia is your mother-"

"Who's my father?" Twilight was interrupted. She nodded. "Not too sure anymore," he said stopping and squinting his eyes looking up to the ceiling and putting a hoof to his chin. "I think I used to know, but it has been so long now."

"How can you remember your mom, but not your dad?" Twilight almost sounded disgusted.

"It isn't like they were exactly lovers, or even together," Silver brushed Twilight's comment away without missing a beat. Twilight however, was now boiling.

"WHAT?" She furiously shouted at Silver.

"Princess Twilight, keep your temper under control," Silver calmly answered.

"How can I be calm when you are telling me that someone that I admire most is-"

"Everything you already know she is," he put a hoof to her mouth stopping her from saying anything else. "You can keep your pure thoughts about my mother," his smile glowed. "We are not actually related."

"You're," Silver again put a hoof to her mouth. He already knew the question, so he answered with a nod. Now, of course, Twilight felt like a class A idiot and wanted to face-hoof herself until she passed out from exhaustion. Then she remembered what he said in the train about meeting the princesses. She had just now made the connection that it was the first time he had met Celestia.

"Now, I wore myself out a bit from this morning, so I believe we will break for today," Silver had a little smirk as he turned back to Twilight. "Of course, I thought we were going to be in there all day learning that one spell, good thing you decided to prove me wrong."

"By the way," Twilight had another curious question she was about to ask. It was about this morning. "Why did you choose to raise the sun this morning?" Silver looked surprised, maybe even a little insulted that she was questioning his teaching methods.

"Well, fire magic is powerful," he answered, "and the fire magic you will practice will be the most powerful," he stopped to look out a window and point to the sun. "That powerful."

"But Princess Celestia raises the sun."

"And what if Celestia happens to be unable to raise the sun?" Silver quickly came back. Twilight took a second to think about his words.

"Then you could do it," She answered. Silver shook his head and kept walking. Twilight followed quickly behind him. "Why not?"

"Did you not see how easily I was worn out from just raising the sun to morning? You were there, or was that just a decoy?" He smirked and winked at her. He knew Twilight would never have it in her to miss out on a lesson. "You are an Alicorn. Much more powerful than I could ever dream to be."

"But-"

"No buts, Princess," Silver kept going, "In the event that the Princess of the sun and/or the Princess of the moon is unable to perform her duties, I would like to make sure there is one other Alicorn able to raise them."

"Would that ever be a possibility?" She sounded concerned.

"While it is unlikely, there is always a possibility, Princess. So, I will teach you what I know, in hopes that you will be able to raise them."

"Wouldn't it be easier to learn from Princess Celestia or Princess Luna for those?" Twilight had a valid point, but Silver acted as though her question was so easy to answer.

"It would," he answered, "but they wouldn't be as much fun as me," he made Twilight laugh. He laughed along with her. "I also feel it important, even though Mother never asked it of me, to include all that this magic can do." They rounded a corner to the back door.

"So how can it raise the moon?" She asked. Silver opened the back door.

"Oh," Silver was caught off guard this time. Somehow he hoped she would decide not to ask that question. Sadly, all the words he could manage were, "It doesn't."

"How did you do it?"

"I happened to be lucky." Another vague answer. "It will be some time, if ever, that I show you how to raise the moon," he finally added. "Now, I am going to my room and will be retiring for the day. If you wish to go down and visit your friends you may do so, but tomorrow's lesson begins just as early." Twilight nodded.

She and Silver parted ways. Twilight wanted to go see her friends, but she knew that would be a wasteful trip, she needed to stay focused and the taxing few hours would definitely take its toll on her. Twilight yawned. She had not realized how tired she was until now. She decided to head to her room for a short nap.

On the way, Twilight's trot came to a walk, which then further degraded to a trudge. She was drained, and it only got worse as the time went by. She made it to her room what seemed like hours later, though it was only twenty minutes. Spike sat in his bed, just woke up, reading a new issue of power ponies. He looked up and waved to Twilight.

"How'd it go?" He asked excited. Twilight gave an inaudible murmur which made Spike ask, "What was that again?" Twilight looked to him, her eyelids slowly drooping further down. She plopped onto her bed and sighed loudly.

"I'm wiped out Spike," she said, "and all I did was light some candles today."

"How many?"

"One thousand twenty-two," she paused for a second, "twice." Spike cringed even at the thought of that many candles.

"That's a lot Twilight."

"You don't say?" Sarcasm was enveloping the sleepy Twilight Sparkle, a sign that she was ready to pass out. "I'm gonna get some sleep Spike. I'll talk to you about it later." No more than five minutes and Twilight was sawing logs so loudly that Spike had to find a new place to read his book.

Twilight awoke to the sounding of her alarm. It was 3 A.M. Already? she thought to herself. Spike lay in his bed in an uncomfortable looking contortion, snoring his earsplitting snore. Twilight shook off her sleepiness and got ready for her lesson.

When she arrived at the building, Silver greeted her with a good morning and once again asked her to practice lighting all the candles. He said that then they could move on to the next step. It took much less time than yesterday. She managed to light all the candles within twenty minutes, and the impressed Silver Radiance gave his congratulations. Twilight herself was pleased with her efforts, and did not even feel drained of her energy this time.

"Since you have completed part one of your training so quickly, we have some extra time," Silver said with a smile. "Would you like to learn something new?" Of course Twilight violently nodded as if she could not say yes enough times. Silver's mane lit into its blue flame, his hooves and tail following suit. "I suppose you recognize this magic, yes?" Twilight nodded. "Do you know the name of this type of magic?" Again she nodded. Silver waited for her to say the name, it was a long, awkward silence that led him to break it. "Why don't you tell me then," Silver asked, still waiting for an answer.

"It's called Shift," she said still grinning.

"And do you know who invented it?" Twilight again nodded.

"Starswirl."

"Wrong," he stomped his hoof. "It was originally invented by King Sombra, and then later reincarnated by Starswirl after an unlikely visit between the two. Neat right?"

"Anyway, have you ever used Shift?" Twilight nodded

"Just once," she answered. "I was frustrated with something and,"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," Silver sounded disappointed, "one must never use magic in anger, or the repercussions could be catastrophic. It is commonly referred to as Rage Shift for good reason, Princess. Shift often relates to one's most extreme feelings and then amplifies them. Rage itself can amplify your magic, but a Rage Shift, can leave you with regrets." He looked down for a moment. Then he looked back up with a short smile on his face. "Would you like to hear something scary about Mother?" Twilight, always curious, of course nodded. "Like I said, shift amplifies your magic through your emotions, rage being the more common. However, my mother does not."

"Is it because she's calm and collected?"

"Close, but her emotions when she uses it, tend to envelop her enemies with fear. The first time I saw it, I had nightmares about it for weeks," Silver looked to the window, brushing off a cold chill he was experiencing. "Starswirl and I decided to coin it as Terror Shift since terror is what she instills when you look at her in that state."

"What about yours?" Twilight curiously asked. Silver gave her a confused look before she elaborated."You don't seem to go under any physical change other than your mane catching fire, and you seem fairly calm when you use yours. Is that what it's like to use normal Shift?" Silver shrugged.

"No idea," he said with a sigh. "Actually it has always been that way, and generally when I use Shift, I am emotionally distraught and fairly easy to take advantage of. Personally I would not call it normal. No my reasons are a small bit different, and words for another time. Just remember that Rage Shift can leave those you call friends hurting."

"I know," she sighed. "I let some things get to me and I just used it to let off steam." Silver thought about her words, then turned his back to her.

"Did you hurt anyone?" He asked, still facing away from her.

"No, just myself. Like I said, I was just letting off steam." Silver examined her with piercing contempt. Twilight tried to justify herself after seeing his stare. "But when I do it, the flames don't catch anything on fire. It's just a quick burst of energy, and I can't do it for long."

"Let's see then," Silver demanded.

"But-"

"No buts, Princess Twilight," Silver interrupted.

"Fine," Twilight sighed. She stood and thought for a moment. She was not going to be able to do it unless she thought of being mad. So, she thought of everything that ever upset her. Spike burning her books, Pinkie Pie's apparent supernatural power that targets Twilight. The more she thought, the less anything happened. She became frustrated with herself. After a few minutes of nothing, Silver called it to an end.

"If you cannot do it, then there is no shame in admitting it," his words sounded cold to Twilight.

"I just need motivation is all," she tried to defend herself.

"Such as?"

"I don't know," Twilight huffed, "I can only do it when I'm mad." Silver again looked appalled, but he soon collected himself and extinguished his own flame.

"Tell you what," he said. "We shall try again later today. For now, lets go get breakfast." Twilight nodded.

Breakfast was boring and not very talkative. It was almost 7:30, and Twilight was curious about the day's later lessons, but anytime she asked, Silver would just tell her that she would soon see. As if that were not irritating enough, he would say it with his mouth full of food almost every time. It is very clear that his lack of contact with the world gave his table manners a bad reputation.

After breakfast, they slowly and silently walked back to the makeshift classroom building. Neither of them uttering so much as a word to the other. It made the walk much longer, and if that did not raise the tension, the wondering eyes of Silver Radiance and his blank face would definitely do the trick.

They entered the building and two others were inside. By what they were wearing, Twilight could tell that they were part of the guard. They were wearing their full armor and facing the window opposite to Twilight and Silver. "Ah," Silver began, "You beat us here." One of them turned around to greet Twilight and Silver. A familiar face. Lightning.

"Oh we were just wondering if we had the wrong building," he chuckled. Silver and Lightning walked to each other, tapping their hooves together when they met. The other stallion had now turned around and Twilight noticed that he was an earth pony. He had a golden coat, like a golden delicious apple. Assuming he had the same color mane as his tail, she could see that it was white. "Hope you don't mind, but I brought him with me."

"Not at all," Silver smiled. "What is his name?"

"Steel Lance," the pony said. "But most ponies just call me Lance."

"Pleasure," Silver greeted Lance just as he had greeted Lightning.

"What are they here for?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Part-two of three in your lessons," Silver answered. "Now it is important that I know how well you can keep yourself together in a stressful environment." Silver looked to his guests. "Meet your stress inducers." Lightning had an evil looking smile. While Twilight knew he would not actually hurt her, the thought still crossed her mind after seeing his face. "You will be introduced to combat and well," Silver then also smiled devilishly, "we shall see how it goes." Twilight kind of caught on that he was trying to provoke Twilight into using shift. Since it was part of his lessons, she was not going to object, unless she got hurt of course.

"This doesn't seem too fair," Twilight said. "I can just put a shield up and then nopony could get in."

"Then just keep it up and we might end our lesson sooner than planned," Silver replied. Twilight could tell there was some sort of confidence in the magically lacking ponies that she obviously could not see. "Now," Silver again disappeared, "let's begin."

Twilight immediately brought up her shield and no sooner did Lance begin tackling away at it. He was making no progress to his attack and each time he hit the shield, he flew back several feet. Somehow he kept coming back for more punishment.

"He's pretty tough isn't he?" Lightning said.

Wait, Twilight thought. She turned to see Lightning standing right next to her inside her shield. "Ho-how, how," Twilight paused and took a breath. "How?" She said again. It seemed to be the only word she could utter in her amazement. Lightning simply laughed then lifted his hoof and touched her nose.

"Boop," he giggled. "We win," Twilight let her shield down as Lightning walked away. "Keep in mind all of your surroundings, Twilight," he stopped and hesitated, "I mean Princess Twilight," he reiterated his last sentence. "Don't forget there are two of us and one of you. Being confident in your abilities is one thing." He now pointed to his injured leg. "Being cocky can get you in trouble."

"And," Twilight shot for the ceiling. Silver was again standing right behind her, and again managed to scare her wits from her. "Sorry," he chuckled. "You should always remember who you are up against."

"But how did Lightning get in?" Twilight panted when she asked. She was still recovering from her recent scare.

"This armor that we wear doesn't just change our appearance," Lightning spoke. He was then proceeded by Lance.

"This metal is made by hoof because it is magic resistant. Some, less than others." Lance pointed to his armor. "This is a very early model that can only repel spells aimed directly at the armor," he pounded the armor at the chest. "Go ahead, try it."

"No, I can't," Twilight bashfully leaned away.

"Oh come on," Lance said with confidence. "It won't even hurt."

"I just can't," Twilight just would not feel right about purposely shooting someone with a blast of magic that could potentially hurt them, whether or not it was intended to. While Twilight knew that she could dilute whatever spell she used to make sure it was harmless, the whole idea made her feel uneasy.

Suddenly a whirl of magic swept across Twilight's view, hitting Lances armor, throwing him backwards and the spell rebounding into Silver, knocking him off his hooves as well.

"Sorry!" Silver shouted. "I could not resist," he said, laughing while getting back up. Lance shakily stood and shook off the minor annoyance that was Silver's magic bolt.

"Haven't felt a blast like that since some rookie took a cheap shot at me from behind, but even that didn't knock me off my hooves like yours did," Lance walked over to Silver and put his hoof around him. "Is this why Princess Luna doesn't like you?" They both laughed.

Princess Luna doesn't like Silver? Twilight thought to herself. She never imagined that the son of Celestia would have ponies like Princess Luna not liking him. Maybe other ponies who might be jealous of his power or of his stature, but just not liking him? Twilight agreed that he had some undesirable characteristics, but he was not easy to dislike, at least in her mind.

"Alright," Silver said now facing Twilight. In fact, Twilight was caught up in her thoughts for so long that she never realized that the other two had disappeared. "Since you failed part one, lets move on and we will just see how well you do until then." Silver's devilish smile cut across his face again. Twilight was a little concerned about how this was going to turn out. Of course she should have been a lot more concerned. Silver's horn lit and the window shutters closed, leaving only the candle-lit chandelier to light the room. Then its light dissipated and Twilight was once again in complete darkness.

She could hear a hollowed voice call out, Begin, and that is when the frustration really started. Twilight was being tossed around like a rag doll. She would be pushed in one direction, then another set of hooves would push her in an opposite direction. She eventually caught on and tried to stop herself short of being pushed again. She thought she might have the upper hoof if she flew so she used her wings to fly straight up after she had stopped herself. She quickly found the chandelier and then fell to the ground. She had no time to stand because as soon as she hit the ground, she felt herself being lifted into the air again and dropped onto what felt like somepony's back, then to the ground.

Twilight began to run and tried to light the room with her horn. No such luck. She was reacquainted with the floor, breaking her concentration. "Stop it!" She shouted. Obediently, the beating stopped, the shutters opened, and the candle-lit chandelier was once again burning. The three ponies were circling Twilight. "This isn't going to help anything!" Twilight shouted.

"I thought you needed to be under stress to coax your shift," Silver calmly replied. "I am merely providing a catalyst."

"One to keep me from coming back," Twilight shot dirty looks at Lightning and Silver. She might have also done it to Lance, but he was behind her.

"In which case, you are finished," Silver stopped when he answered. The other two followed his lead. "It was nice to see you at least try. The train leaves in about half an hour." He, Lightning, and Lance began to walk outside of the room. Silver held the door for the other two.

"Wait,"Twilight called out. Silver turned to listen to her before he also left. "What do you mean?"

"If you object to my teaching, then I will not continue to teach," Silver firmly answered. He turned towards the door. Before he walked out the door, he turned back to face Twilight. "It seems my mother was wrong about you after all. You are not fit to learn this magic." That easily struck a nerve in Twilight. She grabbed Silver with her magic, throwing him back inside and slammed the door shut. She knew what she had to do, but she was too angry to care at the moment. Silver stood. "Princess, I am not going to stay here all day. I do have other matters to attend to especially since our lessons are over."

"That's not good enough," Twilight shouted at him. "I am not going to let you let me give up that quickly, and I will make sure that we will continue my studies if it kills me!"

"However," Silver's voice sounded aloof to Twilight's anger, which only angered her more, "your studies require that you are able to control shift, but if you cannot even do it, then I see no point in continuing your studies."

"YOU WANT TO SEE IT," Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs, "FINE." Twilight's mane quickly changed to a bright burning white color and her mane and tail erupted in flames. Her burning red eyes matched her wings which started as the same color as her body, but faded into the red that matched her eyes. Silver smiled. "HAPPY NOW?"

"You can come back in now," Silver shouted to the outside. Lightning and Lance both walked back through the door. "Now I know," Silver walked to Twilight. Twilight was not in a mood to calm down, however.

"I know you were trying to coax it out of me this whole time, but this is ridiculous," Twilight's fury showed in the fire coursing out of her body. "As much as I love to learn, Princess Celestia would not like to know that you and two of her guards attempted to beat me up!" Silver was unphased, but he allowed Twilight to vent. He knew he was in the wrong, but he also knew the magic better than anypony else. He just needed to find Twilight's trigger, however rashly it ended up.

Twilight was still yelling at Silver and the other two, but Silver had blocked her out, examining her. He was making sure that she did not eventually-, suddenly Twilight's rant had stopped, and she had passed out and fell to the floor.

The Lies, Truths, and a Mystery

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Twilight awoke in her bedroom, Spike sitting over her, panicked. From what she could tell, Spike had been sitting next to Twilight since she had been taken to her room.

"Twilight," Spike shouted, "you're awake!" The excited dragon hugged Twilight tightly. "Silver brought you in and he said to make sure you get plenty of rest. He wouldn't tell me what happened, only that you wore yourself out." Twilight could not remember much. She only remembers being furious with Silver. She was still furious with him. She just did not have the energy to express it. She tried to sit up, but could hardly move. "Oh yeah," Spike said with a small bit of enthusiasm, even thought he thought Twilight might despise his news, "Silver said that you won't be doing any magic tomorrow."

"Why not?" Twilight's words were slow to come from her head to her lungs to her mouth. Everything worked in such slow motion. She could not even tell if she were sore. She was too tired to sleep, too hungry to eat, and too anxious to move. Shift had really done a number on her body.

"He didn't say," Spike replied. "He only told me to make sure that you were taken care of while you slept and if you needed anything to get it for you. Of course," Spike smiled with pride, "he never really had to ask me. I'd do it anyway."
BAM

Twilight's room door swung open with such force it hit the wall and bounced back almost shutting again, but before it could, five mares stormed into the room.

"TWILIGHT!" They all shouted at once. Her friends whom she had missed since she left only two days ago, or was it two days? She had trouble remembering how long she had been gone. Her memories clouded by exhaustion. Her friends quickly ran to her and wrapped themselves around her.

"You feel better yet sleepy head?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight nodded, slowly.

"You had us all worried for a bit there," Applejack walked from behind Pinkie Pie to meet Twilight's gaze.

"Well, you had them worried," Rainbow Dash interjected, "I know you're way to tough to let a little spell take you down so easily." Rainbow's reassuring words made Twilight want to sit up. She turned to get her hooves underneath her, and tried to push up, but could not find the strength, plopping back down like a rag doll. "Whoa whoa there, I didn't mean you could just stand up though," Rainbow Dash put her hooves back on Twilight to keep her from getting back up.

"Silver said you should drink some of this tonic," Rarity used her magic to pour from a glass bottle into a cup. Applejack had set Twilight up so that she could take a drink of the tonic. Twilight tried wrapping the cup in her magic, but could not find the strength. She reached for the cup with her hooves, but Rarity would not allow Twilight to take the cup. "Now Twilight," she said, "how can I expect you to hold this cup if you can hardly move?" She moved closer. "Now, drink up." Twilight obeyed, drinking all of the liquid inside the cup. When she finished, Rarity sat the cup back down.

"How long have you guys been here?" Twilight asked.

"Four days," Fluttershy answered. "We came as soon as Silver told us about what happened."

"Truth be told," Applejack continued for Fluttershy, "we weren't exactly given a choice, he teleported us right here in your room."

"He may deny it," Rarity walked in closer to Twilight, holding a hoof to the side of her mouth, quieting her voice, "but he has been sitting outside your room all this time, and has hardly even moved. If he had to move, he made sure there were two guards present while he was gone." Twilight remembered Silver making her very angry, acting as though he could not care about something, but that was as far as her memory would let her go for now. If she thought any harder, her head might explode from the pressure she was feeling.

"Why?" She asked.

"He wouldn't tell us what happened only that you were not feeling too well and that he had caused it," Rarity answered. "Well," she rethought her last statement, "he didn't actually say that he caused it, or that he even felt bad, but that doesn't mean he had to say it. It was easy to tell." Rarity smiled. Twilight could not help but to feel doubtful. She had no clear reason, but that was because her mind was too cloudy to think.

"He's been too nice if you asked me," Applejack said as she stared to the floor and ran a hoof back and forth. "He kept askin' if we were alright, specifically me, and it's been a bit weird for me." Twilight could see her blush a little, not perhaps from liking the stallion, rather than just being embarrassed about it. Twilight finally got it. Silver legitimately felt terrible for blinding Applejack and for whatever he did to herself. She was still too hazy to remember exactly what it was, only that she was angry with him.

"So," Twilight was still slow to speak, but her friends waited patiently, "any chance we can get some food?" All six of her friends laughed at her. Twilight did not see the humor in what she said. She was starving. Of course, who would not be after sleeping for four days?

"We have some toast and jam," Rarity used her magic to spread strawberry jam onto a piece of bread. It was not toasted, or if it was, it was no longer warm. Twilight seemed not to mind, however, scarfing it down.

"How's your training going?" Applejack asked. Twilight shot her a look. "Oh yeah," she sighed, "that good."

"Well now that we all know you're alright, we can go back to Ponyville this evening," Rarity said as politely as she could. The rest nodded.

"You guys aren't going to stay?" Twilight asked, almost hurt by her friends leaving her so quickly.

"My dear, we've been away for nearly five days. We do care for you, Twilight, but we also have our jobs to do," Rarity again did her best not to hurt Twilight with her words. "As much as I want to stay, now that I know you're alright, I have four ensembles to get ready and I'm already four days behind schedule," Twilight understandingly nodded, still hurt, but nodded. "But don't think I won't be back. As soon as I'm done, I'm going to make sure you're completely back to health before I leave again."

"Us too," Applejack interjected.

"Ooh! And I can throw a party and invite everypony in the castle!" The six were giving Pinkie Pie mixed looks. "What? Parties make everyone feel better! Oh I had better go home and plan this right away!" Pinkie Pie darted for the door, but she was stopped by Rainbow Dash.

"Whoa there Pinkie Pie," she said with a chuckle, "we gotta wait on our ride anyway."

"Oh yeah! He'll be back soon though right?"

"Yeah I'm sure," Rainbow had a confident smile.

"Besides," Applejack reached to her friends and pulled them back around Twilight, "we need to give her a proper goodbye anyways. They all hugged Twilight, and suddenly, she felt much better, stronger, and as they let go, she rolled out of her bed and onto her hooves. She stood feeling much better and she smiled as she hugged her friends back.

"Oh," Pinkie Pie said looking at her right hoof. "Jittery hoof. Someone's about to let their bladder go." Twilight's eyes were suddenly shocked, and she disappeared quicker than a lightning bolt to a room that connected to hers, the bathroom. Pinkie Pie laughed at Twilight, as did the rest of them. Twilight came back, relieved, embarrassed, but happy.

A few hours had passed and the seven of them were all enjoying themselves, telling of the last few days' adventures. Silver had just walked in.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Five of them nodded. "Princess Twilight, are you also ready?" Twilight was not too sure about the way directed the question towards her.

"Yes," she said firmly. "I think I've been in bed long enough. Same time as always?" Silver shook his head and walked slowly toward Twilight.

"No, I'm afraid not. Your lessons have concluded for the foreseeable future," Silver grabbed Twilight's packed saddlebags and put them on his back.

"But I'm not finished," Twilight muttered.

"I'm afraid you are, Princess Twilight."

"But I just started, I can't have learned anything yet!"

"Precisely," Silver's words pierced Twilight's heart like a needle through cloth, her knees felt wobbly. "I'm not willing to teach you new magic if it means risking your safety."

"But I'm fine."

"You are obviously not fine," Silver stomped, floor cracking beneath his hooves. He looked down. "I- I'm sorry, Princess, but I cannot allow this to go on any further if it means you-"

"She'll be fine, Silver," a voice came from behind. It was Princess Celestia. All of them bowed, except for Silver.

"She is barely standing now," Silver scolded. "What makes you think she can continue?"

"When I asked you to teach Twilight," Celestia began to scold back. "I thought you might have the foresight to show her or at least tell her the consequences of this magic before actually attempting it."

"But we do not-"

"What did I say?" Celestia cut Silver off without missing a beat. She glared at him, and while Silver himself knew that he would stand down an army of monsters a thousand times Celestia's size, he would flinch and quiver at the sight of his mother glaring at him.

"Show her," Silver lowered his head in defeat. "I understand."

"She is a great learn-by-sight student, Silver. This could prove beneficial to both you and Princess Twilight."

"As you wish, mother."

"Well now," Rarity spoke up. "This seems to be the part where we leave you to your studies, Twilight, and we get home." She gestured for Silver to come closer. He walked to the middle of the five mares standing directly in front of Twilight. "Oh, wait, a proper goodbye first." She hugged Twilight, and the rest of her friends followed.

"I really miss you guys," Twilight hugged back.

"Nah, don't miss us Twilight," Pinkie Pie said in her usual cheerful tone. "It's not like we're goin' too far. I mean yeah it's Ponyville, but when you have instant transportation c'mon we can party everyday!"

"Not quite," Silver muttered. "It would be rather taxing to teleport all of you here everyday, or even once a week."

"Guess you'll have to get used to it at least once a week!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Silver's astonished face looked back to Celestia to try and convince Pinkie Pie that he was not doing that. Celestia nodded in approval, however, in Pinkie's favor. Silver stomped his hooves in a small fit with a humph and teleported Twilight's friends back to Ponyville before they could make another wild request.

Silver and Twilight arrived at the makeshift classroom building and the first thing Twilight noticed was that all of the candles and candle wax were completely cleaned from the room. She could only think about the maids in the castle somehow expertly cleaning every nook and cranny of every part of the castle, including this one-room building. Silver stopped at the center of the room.

"Take a deep breath Princess Twilight," he said as his horn glowed. Twilight's entire world evaporated into darkness, then into light. The room had disappeared and was replaced by a seemingly endless azure haze, with a familiar feel to it. "Like it?" he asked, turning to Twilight. She nodded but was not too sure she actually liked the new mysterious place.

"Have I been here before?" Twilight asked curiously.

Silver chuckled. "Not really. You have been to my mother's version of this," he turned to her. "You know, oddly enough, she didn't make hers." Twilight was stunned by the revelation Silver had just given her. It never occurred to Twilight that a place such as that needed to be created. Rather, Twilight merely thought the Celestial Zone was just there. "Or at least," he elaborated, "I think." Twilight was giving him puzzled looks now. "She and Princess Luna both have been connected to it longer than they can remember. Somehow, they are the only ones who can unlock its secrets though."

"So if nopony knows how to make it, how did you?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Arcane magics in the lost world. Tartarus gave clear instructions on how to create such a remarkable work." Twilight had to shake her head a couple of times. She forgot he came from Tartarus, and that he was there for an awful long time. "Now," he said cheerfully, "We are going through my memories bit by bit, and I felt as though I did not want to be held back by whatever is holding either of us from revealing our memories," Silver thought back to the train ride. "I would much appreciate not waking up three years later from a ten minute memory. So, I made this place so that I could intervene and explain when needed to. When you drink the potion, you will be transported to the time, while I will be able to give background upon your asking. Now, are you ready?" Twilight nodded.

The potion tasted as terrible as she remembered it. Quickly she sat the bottle down and her eyes began to glow. Everything was spinning, she could make out a faint voice in the background. Think about the beginning, it said. With that, Twilight was now in the Crystal Castle, Sombra's crystal castle. Sombra was shadowing a small, grey unicorn. He was maniacally laughing at the poor colt.

"No!" The colt cried out. "This isn't nice!" Sombra just stood, laughing at him. "This is my home." The crystal around the floor being turned black.

"No this is our home my son," Sombra said as his horn glowed, a family of ponies crystallized being lifted by his magic. One was a green Alicorn, the other two were pegasi, the older one a light tan color, and the younger, a very familiar pink. "Aw look at them," he spat, his eyes misting the purple glow as he threw the block away. "If only the great Emerald would have seen this coming. Trapped within his own creation by his most trusted constable," He turned and blasted away at the crystal, laughing. The crystal had broken into many pieces, leaving only one pony still whole, the small pink pegasus. Which seemed to spark Sombra's humor even more as he hit the floor laughing. Then he stood and took aim again, still chuckling.

"Stop it! Stop laughing!" The colt tried to stop his father from destroying what was left of the family, pushing on his front legs.

"You will understand one day, now leave me to my business!" he shouted and kicked the colt halfway down the room. The colt did not give up that easy, next came a bolt of magic, hitting Sombra's face. Sombra turned and picked the colt up with his magic and through him further, this time he hit a wall. "You are pushing my patience, Thirteen," he snarled. "I may have kept you because of your potential, but don't think you can't end up like the others!"

Suddenly the colt's mane and tail flared up in a blue flame. This was Silver? Twilight thought to herself, but she had no intention of asking just yet, she wanted to see what happened. His eyes glowed and then he spoke. "I said STOP!" The colt shouted and his mane flowed away from his body, picking up Sombra and throwing him across the room this time. The colt Silver ran to Sombra, his flame now quickly engulfing his body, then it shot back to Sombra, pushing him out of the door. "Now go somewhere else and stop causing trouble!"After he was sure Sombra would not be coming back, the colt quickly ran to the young pegasus who Twilight could now tell was a filly. He began hitting the crystal as hard as he could, not even getting a crack out of this seemingly invincible crystal.

Sombra ripped the double doors off their hinges, enraged, horn glowing black as night, then blacker. Silver stood no chance, but he still stood between Sombra and the filly encased in crystal. His mane and tail still ablaze. Sombra shot his magical energy at Silver, but a flash of light stopped the beam from ever reaching Silver. Instead there was an Alicorn standing between them now, glowing to where no visible characteristics could be made to distinguish which one it was. The Alicorn lowered its head, and a bright beam shot from its horn, blinding Twilight, and then the Crystal Castle was empty.

Twilight quickly saw the world disappear and the building she was originally standing in took its place. She looked around for Silver, but he was gone.

Celestia's throne room had been thrown violently open. A furious Silver Radiance stomped to Celestia. "Why didn't you tell me?" Silver shouted with a boom to his voice. Celestia tried to ask what he meant, but she instead was cut off before she could finish an audible word. "You ran into that castle over a thousand years ago and lead me to believe that my family was dead and I was originally an earth pony! What a foolish story and I even believed it," he knelt to the ground, collapsing in a defeated state.

"Silver, I did not save you from the castle," Celestia rose from her throne and walked toward Silver.

"You are a lier, and now you are continuing your lie as though I have no idea about my past," he shouted back at her. "I saw you! I saw everything! King Sombra is my father!" Silver cried out. "Now it all makes sense," he stood and angrily stared into Celestia's eyes, "you only kept me here to make sure that I did not become the monster that he did."

"Silver," Celestia tried to interrupt, but he continued.

"But you even went so far as to hide and change my memories!"

"Silver."

" Who am I really, Princess Celestia?" Silver asked but he had no intention of letting her answer. "I'll tell you who I am, I-" this time Celestia used her magic to forcefully close his mouth.

"You are my son, Silver Radiance," she firmly answered, "nothing less. My lies have been hurtful, but not without reason. Your memories had already been altered by the time you reached me." She turned to all who were in the throne room. "Give us some time." Obediently, they left without a word, and they were now alone. Celestia lit her horn and touched Silver's. They were in one of Celestia's memories. "I found you on my balcony as I was about to lower the sun one evening. You were next to a pegasus filly, who was trapped in some form of crystal, and you were just beginning to wake. There was an orb next to you as well. It had a voice recording telling me all of what had happened, and who you were. The voice instructed me to keep your true origin a secret. It also had instructions on releasing the pegasus from her crystallized prison," images changed from Celestia looking at the two foals from her balcony to a dark room with only two torches to light the room, "I had begun the process immediately, but the voice said the crystal would not break for nearly a thousand years." The world devolved and the throne room reappeared. Silver looked at her in disbelief.

"No lies?" He asked, "That was the full truth?" Celestia nodded. "I saw an alicorn, explain."

"I gave you all that I know, Silver," Celestia answered.

Silver teleported out of the throne room and then straight to Luna's room. She was sleeping, but the teleportation had alerted her, and as soon as Silver had made it into her room, she was standing, ready to fight. When her gaze finally reached Silver, she looked relieved.

"Oh, tis only you," she sighed.

"Yes," Silver walked forward, slowly approaching Luna "and I need answers."

"Whatever do you mean?" she curiously inquired. Silver shot her an angry look before calming himself before he spoke.

"Did you take me from the Crystal Empire?" He asked. She shook her head. "One of you is lying, and I want the truth," he stamped his hoof down and the floor cracked beneath it. He looked at the cracks, then back up. "I apologize for my anger, I did not mean-"

"As you should," Luna stood before Silver. Now Silver backed away. "You barge into my quarters whilst I sleep and then crack my floor that my sister designed herself specifically for me." Silver now began to quiver and back away more quickly. "Don't you dare leave now," she said walking to him. "If you want answers, then sit down." He did as commanded. Luna walked to her dresser, and lifted her breast plate onto her body. "I never appreciated the lies we had to tell you, nor did my sister, but there were reasons for them," Luna touched her horn to Silver's and they were transported to Luna's memory of the day she first met Silver.

"What does it say?" Luna asked, staring at the orb. Silver noticed the room they were in. It was Celestia's room in the Everfree Castle. A younger, much less intensified Celestia was staring at the two foals now in her care.

"An empire has fallen to a dark power," Celestia spoke softly, "and these two are the key to stopping that power. The filly can see the love in all of the hearts of all the creatures, and the colt has a desire to protect what is right."

"What does that mean? Protect what is right?"

"I am not sure yet, sister." Celestia turned to the filly, "Her trap could leave her in crystal for centuries, but it will drain her life force. Alicorn magic can heal those bonds, but the crystal has to wear on its own."

"Such a terrible fate to put on a child," Luna was appalled and was showing her distaste for whoever had done this awful deed. The colt turned and sat up, his gaze turned to the two beautiful alicorns standing before him, looking down on him. He winced and cowered away, trying to hide behind the crystallized filly. "Come out little one," Luna's voice had boomed and echoed throughout Celestia's chambers. It only made the colt cry. "Oh, no! Thou dost not need to be frightened!" Luna's voice had lightened, but the scared colt was not going to be moved by her words.

"Dear child," Celestia's gorgeously sweet voice radiated and even made the room feel as though it had brightened itself, "please do not be frightened." The colt could still not be moved.

"Wh- where's my mother, a-and my-my father, where a-am I?" The colt sheepishly asked still behind the crystal protection.

"Dost thou remember where thou came from?" Luna asked. There was no answer.

"Let us speak as commoners," Celestia whispered in to Luna. "His dialect seems different." She turned back to the small, timid colt. "Tell me little colt, what is your name?" Celestia's sweet voice had coaxed him out into the open, sort of. Some of his body was still hiding behind the crystallized filly, keeping an eye on Luna as he slowly looked around, finally meeting Celestia's eyes.

"Th-Thir-teen," he finally answered. As soon as he answered, he cowered back behind the crystal.

"That is no name for a handsome looking stallion as yourself," Celestia's smile glowed, and her voice again coaxed the little colt out from his hiding spot. His coat was shining silver, a crystal pony silver, and while the crystal look to his coat had worn off, its glow had not. He was practically a light of his own, and the dusk was giving his coat a beautiful sterling silver shine. Then the name had come to Celestia. "I know the perfect name for you," her smile now widened, "Silver Radiance."

The dream faded, the two were back in Luna's room. She sat on her haunches, waiting for a response from Silver. They sat in silence for a very long time, neither saying or doing anything. Silver was doing his best to soak in everything he had just learned about his past.

"So what was so important that you needed to keep secret from me and my past?" He finally asked.

"Your fire," Luna quietly answered. "At the time, we had no inclination as to what we were supposed to hide from you, and it escaped us until I caught you one night, lit up like the morning sun, and," she hesitated, "more."

"Oh," Silver looked disappointed, "that night." He remembers it clearly. Luna had seen his fiery form, and she nearly had him banished immediately to Tartarus before she realized who he was.

"Yes," Luna continued seemingly unphased by Silver's mind being sidetracked, "and I hope you are not still holding ill will from that encounter."

"I believe I should be the one asking," Silver turned to face the window, the looked back at Luna. "I believe I was lucky one since you were far enough away."

"I was not quite in the mood for a roast," she tried to be humorous. Silver instead was now furious, then depressed, on the verge of tears. Her words had dejected Silver.

"Yes," he walked towards the door, "nor was I."

"I'm sorry Silver," Luna reached a hoof out to Silver and tried to gently hold him back, but he continued. "I di-"

"I know, Princess Luna," and he left without another word.

Twilight caught Silver sitting on a bench inside a large greenhouse in the castle's garden. When she reached him, it was like he was staring at the flowers, not looking at them. He was lost in thought, and was away from anypony who could interrupt his thoughts, anyone except Twilight of course. She got closer, and closer, but Silver did not move. He remained unphased, like he had tunnel vision. Twilight thought he might be purposely ignoring her, but when she waved a hoof in front of his face, his eyes did not even shutter. He remained still as a statue lying on the bench. An hour had passed and he had barely moved an inch if at all. Twilight finally became curious and stood again, examining Silver. Still no motion from him. She poked him, then quickly backed away. Still no movement. She moved to face him, eye to eye. His pupils were dilated. She had not taken notice of this before, but now she sees that his entire body seemed to be relaxed, almost as if he was asleep. Now it made her tired, and she yawned. The grass was very soft, very comfortable. It was to be expected though. This garden was the most well kept garden in Equestria, and all of its plants from the grass to the trees to the foreign plants were all in perfect condition all year round. Soon Twilight had fallen asleep.

When Twilight had awoken, the sun had just set and the moon and stars were now beginning to glisten inside the deep dark blue sky. She looked over to an empty bench where Silver was before. A small torch had also been lit and was levitating above the ground about a foot from Twilight.

"You sleep very well when you are no longer bothered with book studies," a sweet voice had called from behind Twilight.

"Princess Celestia," She turned to see Celesita smiling at her. She was not wearing her usual golden shoes.

"How are you fairing, Princess Twilight?" Twilight quickly stood and bowed to Princess Celestia. Just as quickly, Celestia caught her and stood her back up. "Now Princess Twilight this isn't a formal meeting, you should know by now you have no need to bow to me."

"Sorry," Twilight blushed, "habit."

"Perfectly fine," Celestia remained smiling to her former student. "Now, how are you fairing?"

"I'm okay, thanks," Twilight replied. "And thanks for the blanket," she said holding it up with her magic, folding it up and putting it on her back.

"Tell Silver," she said with a giggle, "I was merely here to admire the lovely lilies that only bloom at night. They are quite a sight when the moon shines as brightly as it should." She looks to the moon as if she were hoping it would hear her, or that maybe Luna was in its direction. "I used to loath bringing up the moon and stars every night. Did you know?" Twilight shook her head. "It only reminded me of how I had to banish my sister, and I refused to raise them for some time. I tried desperately to get my sister back, but the Elements of Harmony saw my action as a betrayal to the natural balance, and would no longer allow me or my sister to ever use them again."

"Princess Celestia," Twilight quietly approached, "not to sound rude, but why are you telling me this?" Celesita turned to Twilight, smiling, but Twilight caught Celestia's gleaming eyes.

"That was the night my entire family had disappeared," she turned and laid down next to the flowers, "At times I'm afraid this is just a dream, and at other times," she paused, "I wish I would wake up. This unbound stress that has come with the return of my family keeps me from fully enjoying their return."

"What do you mean, Princess?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Oh my," she chuckled at herself. "I believe I've said too much. For now do not worry yourself, Twilight Sparkle, but talking with you has cleared my mind for the night." She took a few more moments to admire the lilies then stood again and walked to the greenhouse door, slid on her shoes she was not wearing earlier. "Perhaps I can get some rest now." The door closed and the torch had gone out.

Twilight decided to take a look at the flowers Celestia had mentioned before. They were very beautiful. There were orange flowers, pink flowers, white, yellow, and red, all meshed together and it looked like one big paint blob. Like a modern art piece, it was beautiful to take in, though if there was any meaning behind how they were planted or how they bloomed were in question. Regardless, it was a marvelous sight, and it captivated Twilight's senses. The sight combined with the smell of the flowers made it feel warm and bright all around her.

The door opened behind her and her admiration flipped and was now staring at Silver. "How are you feeling Pri-"

"Stop right there, Silver," Twilight demanded. "Look if we are going to be around each other this often, I think you should just start calling me Twilight."

"Princess Twilight," Silver smiled back. "It is merely a formality to address those with authority properly."

"Whether or not I have authority," Twilight walked closer to Silver, "We are not on business, or any diplomatic meeting." She stopped in front of him and hugged him. "I would prefer that my friends call me by my name, not my title." Silver was surprised. Even as Twilight let go of him he stood motionless and speechless.

"A friend?" He asked,

"Yes, of course," Twilight smiled. "What's wrong with that?"

"N-Nothing, I just," he paused for a long while. "I am truly at a loss of words."

"Well all you need to know is that I'm here for you if you need to talk about anything," Twilight sat back on her haunches. "I read about memory alteration spells and their effects."

"You have nothing to worry about, Prin- I mean Twilight," Silver blushed. "Mother and I conversed about the previous misunderstanding." He sat down beside her. "I have come to apologize for misleading you as well." Twilight cocked her head and gave Silver a puzzled looked, egging him on to continue. "You have been worn out by doing simple spells, and I have only had you practicing for a couple of days. I have been trying to rush you, and I am sorry."

"Rush me?" Twilight asked, still confused. "How?"

"In the room we practice in, there is a trap door with an escape tunnel, I cast a charm in that tunnel to focus your magical abilities. I made you use twice the magic you actually needed to use these spells."

"I- didn't even know that was possible," Twilight said sounding dumbfounded.

"When you live a thousand years," he smiled cheekily, "you tend to pick up on a few things." His smile quickly turned as he went back to being serious. "As it is, that is the first thing I need to apologize for."

"There's more?"

"Yes," he replied with a sigh. "The Princesses and I have both been deceiving you for some time, and regardless of what they feel on the subject, I believe it is time that you know."

"Know what?" Twilight was trying to wrap her head around where Silver was attempting to go with his story.

"Well obviously by now, you know that there is at least one better teacher than I to teach this type of magic to you. However, she cannot because she is busy preparing for what I am preparing you for."

"What is that exactly?" Twilight asked, still confused.

"War, my dear," he looked to the flowers. "You will be our last hope, Twilight. You will be the guardian of Equestria if our princesses fail. I am training you to have the magical ability to raise both the sun and moon, in case worse comes to worse." Silver's words struck Twilight in an odd place she had not felt before. It was like a pain in her stomach, but it also made her sick all around her body. She felt dizzy and while already sitting down, she nearly felt like collapsing to the ground.

"W-what do- you mean by fail?" She asked, dreading the answer she was sure to come.

"If they fail," he reiterated cryptically, "you will become the ruling princess of Equestria, and as such, I am teaching you to be able to not only defend it, but also to move the celestial bodies around it," he laughed at himself. "However, I cannot actually teach you to move them, but you will know how when the time is right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight now thoroughly confused, was hoping for a straight answer.

"No idea," Silver smiled and laughed. "Isn't it strange?" It nearly sounded like he was excited. Twilight did not seem to share the same enthusiasm, but she nodded. "Oh, let me get that for you," Silver took notice of the blanket still on Twilight's back. He took it in his magic and put it on his back and his horn glowed, intending to quickly put the blanket away, but he stopped and his head was now turning about the garden.

"Can you hear that?" he said quietly, trying not to raise attention.

"I can't here anything," Twilight remarked, also keeping her voice down. Silver looked around, then walked closer to the lilies, still looking for something. Twilight was tired of being lost. "Will you tell me what's going on?!" she shouted. Her voice did not even merit a response from him. "Silver?" She quickly trotted over to him. His eye were rapidly pacing back and forth, a small film over his eyes. "Hello!" she waved a hoof in front of his face. Again, no response. Okay let's try this, she thought to herself as she lifted a hoof to try and poke him. Suddenly his horn shot out a bright orange glow. Twilight tried to pull away, but it was too late, her world was now being turned inside out and then reshaped like a pretzel, then torn apart again.

Silver had teleported them both somewhere, but Twilight had no idea where. She was still too dizzy to tell which was was up at the moment. The only thing she knew for sure was that it was lightly sprinkling. As things came into focus, she noticed a large black figure directly in front of her, and Silver was standing over it.

"You're here?" a croaking mare's voice choked out. "So it is happening," she looked scared; sounded scared. "It- d- doesn't hurt, does it?" Twilight could hear a small sob as Silver was welling up with tears, he knelt down. The mare was fairly large, but it was too cloudy outside in the dark to make out what her true colors were. It was too dark for her to focus on where the ground really ended and where the body actually began.

"Do not worry," he smiled and tried to calm her. "Just," he whimpered, "try to rest now." He now turned his gaze to Twilight. "We have to help her!" he shouted desperately. "Help me!"

"Who is it?" Twilight asked.

"What does it matter at the moment? She needs our help!"

"But I don't know what's wrong! How can I help!"

"I," he stopped, "I don't know." He sat and thought for a second. Then he lifted the mare's large head and he touched his horn to hers. "Please work," he cried out desperately. His horn glowed an eerie green color and it soon enveloped the mare's horn, and as the two glowed, it became painfully clear who it was. Twilight would notice that twisted horn from anywhere.

"What are you doing?!" She shouted at him. "You know who that is, don't you?" For the third time tonight, Silver again ignored her. Then the mare's eyes opened, and she took in a huge breath, but the magical transfer had not stopped. She stood, and Silver slowly fell. The mare now at full height rivaled Celestia's height, eyes glowing, bug-like wings outstretched, slowly taking in another large breath; her hair, regaining depth, the liver spot on her neck now disappearing, and the holes on her legs becoming less rigid. A few more seconds and the glowing from Silver's horn stopped and he hit the ground, smiling.

"Are you completely insane?" The queen now looking down at Silver. He nodded.

"Sorry," Silver's consciousness slipping, he began to hallucinate, "I had to use you, Mother." He quietly passed a last look to Twilight, thoroughly shocked and confused, and then closed his eyes.

Chrysalis turned to face Twilight, and walked to her. Twilight tried to run, but she was quickly taken up by Chrysalis's magic. She turned Twilight to face her. "Sorry, but-"

That was all Twilight managed to hear before she was out cold.

The Benevolent Queen of the Changelings

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Twilight awoke with a pounding in her head like a series of miniature explosions going off inside. She was in a cave, alone. The darkness was only broken by a single torch a few feet from her. She enveloped it in her magic and began to walk around.

"If you wait, I can just turn the lights on," a voice called out. Not long after, the room seemed to light itself. It was dim, but enough light to see. Some of the rocks were not just rocks, they were light gems, and they lined the cave walls. Twilight gave into her senses and dropped the torch. She looked around admiring the greens and blues that filled the now large looking cave.

"Where am I?" Twilight asked to the air, hoping the strange voice would answer.

"A hideaway," the voice answered. "I was forced to leave the Colony when the shadows came," it continued, and now sounded like it was moving. "I tried to save as many as I could before even I had to leave. Whatever it was, we were no match for it." Queen Chrysalis now walked from behind a large glowing gem. Twilight was quickly on guard and her horn sparked light. She meant business and did not want to take any chances. She remembers. Same legs with holes and turquoise mane and tail and even her wings, but somehow something felt different.

"What do you want?" Twilight shouted, slowly taking steps to avoid Chrysalis from getting closer. The queen merely smiled devilishly and began to circle Twilight.

"What do I want?" Chrysalis chuckled cruelly, then gave Twilight a stern look. "I want my kingdom back from whoever took it! It wouldn't happen to be those menacing princesses of yours, would it? Or maybe you decided you would try and take my kingdom and stage an act using black magic, hmm?"

"Why would I want a your-"

"Shut your mouth, foal!" She shouted at Twilight before she could say anything about her kingdom. "I will not have some goody-four-hooves slandering My Colony." Her horn began to light a devilish green which caused Twilight to take stance against her. Chrysalis's horn beamed around her, and Twilight put up a shield. The beams were not in Twilight's direction, however. Instead they were lighting the gems behind Twilight. There was a makeshift bed behind her and laying on it was Silver, unconscious. Chrysalis walked to him. When she reached him, her horn once again glowed its sickly green glow, and it enveloped Silver.

"He's helped you enough," she shouted. "I don't want you hurting him like you hurt my brother!" Twilight teleported to Chrysalis and pushed her away from Silver. Chrysalis then proceeded to pick Twilight up in her magic and throw her against one of the cave walls and walked back to him and continued her work, enveloping Silver in her magic again. Silver woke, eyes green as grass. He looked up to Chrysalis.

"Mother, you're back," he smiled.

"Yes," she hushed him. "Now go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." Silver happily nodded and obeyed, laying his head back down.

"You poisoned him like you poisoned my brother!" Twilight accusingly shouted at Chrysalis. She paid her no mind, continuing her work on Silver. "Stop it!" Twilight shot a magical beam from her horn. Chrysalis took it full on. Her knees buckled, but she kept her concentration on Silver. Twilight charged toward Chrysalis. Chrysalis responded by turning and kicking Twilight away.

"He is very sick," Chrysalis finally spoke to Twilight with a booming voice, "and if you want him cured, I suggest you allow me to do my work." She turned back to him, concentrating once again.

"Likely story coming from the queen that doesn't care for anypony. Now stop it, or I'll stop you!"

"Believe me or not, but what I am doing right now is the only thing keeping him from going insane," Chrysalis said, keeping her focus on Silver. Twilight caught a glimpse of the concern the queen was showing for Silver."He did a very stupid thing trying to save me like he did." She gently nuzzled him, pushing his head in a more comfortable-looking position. Twilight allowed the glow from her horn to evaporate.

"What did he do?" Twilight now calming herself, walked closer to Chrysalis.

"He used his love of his mother to save me," Chrysalis quietly stated as if she were worried someone might hear her. Then she turned to Twilight. "All of it."

"What does that do?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"It can drive ponies insane, or-" Chrysalis halted her thoughts as if she were pondering an idea that scared her. She took a deep breath. "Has he been in Canterlot all this time?"

"Well," Twilight began to answer, "ever since he came from Tartarus, yes."

"You mean he's been at the gates for a thousand years?" Chrysalis loudly inquired, surprised by Twilight's answer.

"More like inside them." This caught her attention.

"Inside?" Chrysalis yelled. Twilight nodded.

"He's been in Tartarus for a while now."

"So, you know?" Chrysalis asked cryptically.

"Know what? His age?" Chrysalis shook her head. "Then no. He hasn't said much about his past to me, other than he had done some things that he regrets."

"Indeed he has," Chrysalis's more regal tone was coming out. "He's also accomplished a variety of good in his life, so don't let him fool you," she again turned to Twilight. "He's very pessimistic and quite shallow minded when he thinks about himself." Twilight was caught off guard by Queen Chrysalis's sincerity. For a moment it seemed like she actually cared for Silver. The green aura around Silver's body dissipated. "I think that might do. Now I need some rest. Go guard the door." Twilight gave Chrysalis a surprised look.

"Why should I?" She protested.

"Well I would most certainly like to live to see tomorrow," Chrysalis remarked, tired eyes drooping.

"Then why don't you do it?" Twilight said standing her ground.

"I'm very tired, if you haven't noticed, and I've been watching this whole time. You owe me."

"You hurt my brother and tried to take over Equestria," Twilight answered. "You owe me."

"Look," Chrysalis sighed, "if you want to sit here and argue, we can, but I'm having trouble staying awake as it is and I will probably pass out soon." Twilight could tell she was telling the truth. Twilight could hear the exasperation in Chrysalis's voice. She just had a hard time attempting to like the idea.

"Fine," she huffed. "I'll go." She walked a few steps then stopped and turned back around. "Where is the door exactly?"

"Past the large light gem then take a right," Chrysalis then rudely remarked, "It's hard to miss since we're in a cave." Twilight rolled her eyes and walked to the cave entrance. Surprisingly, the cave actually had a door. It was probably magically hidden from the outside, but Twilight would not be able to know for sure unless she went outside. She did ponder on the thought for a while, but decided against it after hearing Chrysalis's story.

Watching the door was extremely boring and Twilight had nodded off several times, quickly waking herself back up in case Chrysalis just happened to change her mind about letting herself and Silver stay, or maybe there was a true threat outside the cave and Chrysalis was unwilling to risk letting in whatever may lie beyond the door. Either way both thoughts made Twilight feel uneasy. Hours passed but they felt like days to Twilight who was merely sitting next to a door where her only true excitement came from having to recharge the light gems. Eventually her eyes took charge themselves and closed on their own.

Twilight was suddenly awoken by a strange sense, her eyes slowly opening, then she realized what she was in. Fire with a sickening presence surrounded her. It hissed at her every which way she turned her head, and the whispering had returned. She tried to run, but the fire kept her stuck in one place. She tried to use her magic, but the fire simply broke free of every spell she could toss at it. The whispering grew into laughter as Twilight's feeble attempts to put it out were put to shame. Then the laughter became more apparent and familiar.

Then the fire kicked up, towering over Twilight. Its pink and purple glow forced itself higher even and eventually formed a dome over Twilight, laughing growing more intense.

"Stop it!" She shouted. The fire enclosed on her and she made a desperate outward expansion of her magic, forcing the fire outward and causing it to ignite further around her. She could now tell she was in Ponyville, and every part of it was on fire. She looked around for anypony, but it looked as though it had already been deserted, leaving just her, but as she began to run, she noticed Applejack and her other four friends stuck inside Sugarcube Corner, they were trapped inside, banging on the windows with not luck on getting them open. "Girls!" Twilight shouted. "Hang on! I'm gonna get you out of there I promise!" Twilight was banging on it incessantly with no luck, even her magic was useless against the window. "No!" she cried, helplessness taking over her. "No," she said beating the window hopelessly. Rarity and Fluttershy holding each other, and even Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were now tearing up. Applejack tried to speak to Twilight, but the whispering was louder, keeping her from being able to hear Applejack. "I'm so sorry," she cried, still clawing at the window, tears running down her face.

"Aw dear child, do you need help?" A familiar voice called from behind Twilight.

"Silver?" She looked up and around, but no pony was there.

"Not quite," the voice answered, and the whispering seemed to grow more excited. Twilight turned to her right and saw the fire parting, curling at his hooves as he walked forward, a black stallion, the pink and purple fire protruding from his mane, tail, and hooves. Twilight immediately recognized him when she saw his eyes, his devilish orange dragon eyes. She watched in awe and fright as he walked forward, terrified of what he might do. Twilight's friends still sat in the burning room, also stunned by the unicorn stallion.

"You would help?" Twilight cautiously asked.

"Of course," his eyes narrowed and he gave a wicked grin as his horn lit up. The entire Sugarcube Corner was ignited in bright, sickeningly hot flames, and he was hysterically laughing.

"No!" She cried. "No!" She fell into tears on the ground. "No," she could only find that single word as she cried. The stallion gave her a pitiful look before kneeling closer to Twilight. She looked up and saw him pitying her. It angered her, and she snapped and stood, powering all of her magic she could muster while he stood laughing at her. She shot every last ounce she had into the stallion, and he absorbed it all. Twilight fell, exhausted of magic and now completely defeated. She could only watch in frightful horror as he reared back and began to come down on her, ready to crush her with his hooves.

Suddenly before he had stomped down on her, he had flown from his hooves and landed almost a block away. The Princess of the Night stood bearing over him as he stood and began to fight back, but she was far too quick for him. She bucked him away and shot him with a beam of magic, freezing him instantly. Then she reared back and crushed the icy statue under her forehooves. She turned and the fire dissipated.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," she said calmly as she gracefully walked to Twilight.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight shouted.

"This is frightening," Luna stated as she looked at the now scorched Ponyville. Though she said it, her voice made it feel like she had either seen it before, or was doing her best not to be emotional. She walked around looking at all of the blackened buildings. "Your mind wanders quite excessively lately," she said as she walked back towards Twilight.

"So this is a dream?" Twilight asked.

"Luckily, yes." Luna closed the gap between herself and Twilight and sat down on her haunches. "I had just awoken myself when I heard your cry for help."

"Is it nighttime again already?"

"Not quite," she answered. "Early evening. The sun is beginning to set at the moment. We should converse about this later. Meet me when you return to Canterlot, but for now," Luna began quietly laughing.

"Now what?" Twilight asked.

Luna was still chuckling when she said, "Awaken."

Twilight awoke to laughing in the background. Her first thought was that Chrysalis had changed her mind and decided to get rid of the two of them, but as the laughing grew louder and more distinct, she could make out two voices and one of them was definitely Silver's.

"Wait a second, where is Princess Twilight?" Her body soon leapt up at the sound of Silver's conscious voice and began to gallop towards him, however Silver apparently had the same plan without the intention of galloping.

"Twilight! You're okay!" A bright light had nearly blinded Twilight as Silver had popped up directly in front of her. He proceeded to tackle her and hug her as tightly as his forehooves would allow, which gave Twilight breathing issues.

"Silver!" Twilight gasped for air. "You're crushing me!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Silver then let go of Twilight and backed away. "I was concerned, but now I think I am fine," he stood smiling for a second and Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Silver quickly cut her off with another hug. "Oh who am I kidding? I was worried sick about you for a second!"

"Why?" She asked, only knowing that some cryptic answer that she would have to decipher later would be given.

"Well, Chrys told me she and you do not exactly get along, so I was worried you had left." Silver actually answered the question.

"I didn't really have much of a choice," Twilight replied. "Wait," she gave Silver a funny look. "Chrys?" He nodded, which struck Twilight's funny bone and she burst into laughter.

"What is the humor behind this?" He asked.

"She's the queen of the changelings and you call her Chrys?" Again Silver nodded.

"I do not laugh at your friends' names you know," he said with a huff. This quickly sobered Twilight's humor.

"Wait. Friend?"

"Yes!"

"Her?"

"No the other queen of the changelings," Silver grimaced. "You cannot be serious."

"No you can't be serious," Twilight shot back. "How can you even think that you could be friends with such an evil creature?"

"Evil?" Silver shot her an angry look.

"Yes! Evil!" She stamped the ground.

"How?" Silver asked, eyes beaming at Twilight.

"She kidnapped Princess Cadence, put my brother in a trance, and tried to take over Equestria so her minions could feed on our love!" Again, Twilight stamped and added an extra huff for good measure to get her point across. Silver, however, remained steady and was quick to answer Twilight.

"So, she is evil because she wanted to find a sustaining food supply for her colony?"

"Yes!" Twilight shouted back at Silver. He rolled his eyes at Twilight and sighed rubbing his forehead.

"Are dogs evil?" He asked with his usual cryptic wording.

"How is that relevant?" Twilight snapped. Silver simply stared her down and waited for an answer. "What?" Silver still stood quietly and patiently waiting. "No, okay. They're not evil."

"How about dragons?" Silver continued after Twilight finally answered him. "How about Spike?"

"Of course Spike isn't evil. And dragons aren't evil just because they're dragons either." Twilight kept staring at Silver, confused. "But what does this have to do with anything?"

"Dogs are carnivores, as are dragons," he mused. "You do know what carnivores are, right?"

"Of course I do," she huffed, angry that somepony would insult her intelligence. "They eat meat."

"However, you accept them as they are, do you not?"

"I do."

"But a queen performing actions that could quite possibly endanger herself and her kingdom for the sake of the continuation of herself and her species is evil?" He whinnied.

"She also hurt your mother," Twilight again shot back. Silver stopped for a moment to consider the facts as Twilight gave a smile knowing that he would finally side with her.

His lips gave a sarcastically impressed whistle. He then looked behind him and shouted, "Hey did you know you are evil?"

"Yeah yeah," Chrysalis shouted back with melancholy. Then Silver turned back to Twilight.

"I know she hurt my mother," he smiled and bent down, "and while I was upset and I did have words with her about it, we sorted it all out." He chuckled a little, "Actually, I am very surprised that you did not come gallivanting our way when I was shouting earlier."

Twilight answered with a nervous chuckle of her own. "You see, I kinda fell asleep once or twice."

"Oh," Silver's voice gave rise to a sarcastic tone that Twilight knew she was not going to like. "So I risk my life to save somepony who in returns risks her entire colony to save me and asks you to watch the door for a measly few hours so that the two of us can rest and rebuild strength. You then proceed to come here and take a nap. Am I correct?" Twilight felt belittled by his accusation and made herself smaller as she looked down to the ground and nodded. "Look at me," Silver demanded. Obediently, she looked up the now glaring Silver. His eyes were daggers piercing into Twilight's insides. She remembers this look. Celestia has given her that look once before, and it scared her as much as it did now. "You are unreliable."

"But!" She looked up to Silver, but he cut her off. Even his words were just as piercing as Celestia's when she was angry. It felt like the time she was stuck in the doorway back in the Crystal Empire when Sombra's black magic had enchanted her and led her to one of her darkest fears, disappointing Celestia. This was a reality, however, and it was a crushing reality at that.

"See how depressing it is to be labeled, Princess Twilight?"

"But," Silver cut her off before she could say anything more, shaking his head and walking back to Chrysalis.

"When you are prepared to accept the truth, you may come learn the whole story," He said turning the corner as he disappeared. His hollowed voice continued, "I believe my mother would be upset at your judgment." Upset indeed. His mother radiated from Silver's aura as he walked and talked. His seemingly all-knowing and all powerful side even gave the idea that he is actually the son of Princess Celestia whether by blood or not.

Minutes passed and Twilight finally decided to walk over with Silver, still being cautious of Chrysalis. Silver grinned at Twilight and Chrysalis both eyeing each other. Chrysalis was sitting a few feet from Silver, her body not moving, but her head was locked on Twilight's body. Twilight, on the other side of the cave room was slowly circling her way towards the two. When Twilight reached a point where she decided to sit down, the three sat for a while. Silver was still smiling at Chrysalis and Twilight eyeing each other.

"So," Silver broke the electric atmosphere. "Have you reconsidered yourself?" Twilight nodded.

"Only for the sake that I think you're crazy," she answered.

"Well then, instead of answering your next questions, I will show you." He turned to Chrysalis, "Can you watch us? It may be a day or two until we return."

"Are we using the place like the Celestial Zone?" Twilight asked. Silver shook his head.

"That would require leaving all together," he stated. "I would rather we at least physically be here so she if she needs it, she can wake us so we can help her."

"I will be fine on my own," Chrysalis hissed.

"And what if they return?" Chrysalis grimaced, then she stood tall, towering both Twilight and Silver.

"It's probably about time that I try to get back to my colony."

"At least allow me to check and see if it is safe," Silver insisted.

"As if you're strong enough to handle it if they were to find us," Chrysalis spat.

"You know better than to challenge me," he said with a cocky grin. "Now let us go." Then Silver's horn lit and flickered three times at the tip. He looked up in surprise. "I guess Mother gets reception nearly everywhere. Ladies, if you will excuse me I am getting a call. I shall return shortly." He vanished in a bright flash of light.

"Princess Celestia!" Spike shouted. Celestia turned to see the little dragon panting from running. "Twilight! I can't find her!" Spike was panicking, even as he reached Celestia, he continued to pace back and forth. "I looked in the garden, in her room, in her library, and even knocked on that building door where she and Silver usually are and nothing! She never goes anywhere without telling me!"

"I see," Celestia answered. "This is serious indeed," she felt a shock in her heart, already fearing the worst, then lowered her head to Spike. "Have you tried to find Silver?" Spike shook his head. Celestia then raised her head again and simultaneously lit her horn, a small orb of light glowing from the tip. It flickered quickly three times. A little over a half minute later a bright flash of orange light was followed by a tall standing stallion.

"Yes ma'am?" Silver asked, a little shrewdness flowing from his voice.

"Are you with Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia demanded.

"Yes," he calmly answered.

"Where are you?"

"In a cave," he answered walking slowly towards Spike.

"What are you two doing in a cave?" Celestia asked confounded. Silver took his chance with an evil smirk.

"Learning," he said with a wink. Spike and Celestia both took a step back, again taken by surprised.

"Learning what exactly?" Spike asked anxiously.

"The difference between good and evil and doing the right thing versus going to the extremes," he shrugged. "She happens to have quite a bit of bias when it comes to decision making, and I intend to correct it."

"How does the cave fit in?" Spike retorted, scratching his head at the idea.

"Yes," Celestia supported Spike, "Do tell."

"Well," he started, "if I am to teach her fire magic, then what place better than without a light source?"

"I see," Celestia's eyes narrowed, beaming at Silver. "If you plan to do this more often I would appreciate you contacting me first." Silver nodded.

"But why couldn't I come?" Spike asked.

"I do apologize, Spike," Silver lowered his head to the baby dragon. "It was my idea and I had neglected to think to tell you she needs to be alone for this, hence the cave."

"Oh," Spike looked heart broken, "I see." Celestia then put a hoof on his small shoulder.

"I'm sure that Silver has a perfectly good reason for his methods," she turned her beaming gaze back to Silver. "Right?" Silver, startled this time by his mother's glare, cringed at first, then squeamishly nodded with a smile. "Then you may continue." Silver again stood tall and nodded, his horn lighting up then his body disappearing in a flash of light.

Silver returned to find Chrysalis and Twilight completely unmoved from where he had left them. The two did their best to even avoid eye contact. Silver found humor in it and chuckled to himself.

"What are you laughing at?" Chrysalis asked hearing him. He turned with a smile still on his face and walked towards her.

"Oh," he started and paused for a moment, "nothing," he said again chuckling to himself. "You did wait for me though," he winked. She huffed and looked opposite to Silver. "One more moment to see if the coast is clear for you Chrys. Would you walk with me?"

"Fine," she said, again huffing. She and Silver left Twilight on her own. Twilight decided not to follow to avoid Chrysalis.

While outside Silver and Chrysalis gazed as the sun setting slowly disappeared into its otherworldly bed. “How did it find you?” Silver asked as the last bits of light faded to darkness.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It was like a shadow, silently striking us from behind. And when we had finally noticed its presence it was far too late.”

“Would you mind,” Silver’s magic began to lift what was left of the potion from Zecora, “if I asked to see what happened and share it with Twilight? I would like to know if I can find any subtle hints at how it works and what to do to beat it.” Chrysalis stared at Silver like he was crazy.

“Still trying too hard, I see,” she let out a soft chuckle and took the bottle from Silver, and enchanted it. “Regardless, it was good to see you,” she hugged him and he hugged back. “Don’t wait another thousand years to come find me.”

“Only if you can promise to keep Equestria off the menu,” he smiled back. She nodded.

“Thank you again, you crazy stallion,” she said as she spread her wings and took off.

A few minutes later and Silver returned, happily trotting to Twilight. "Now we go," he said a little excited. His horn lit up and the azure haze began to fill the cave, then it replaced the cave entirely. Twilight had trouble readjusting to the new surrounding she was in. She could see Silver standing a few feet away.

"Now, I imagine your first question will be how we met," Silver spoke. Twilight nodded. "However, I will need to show you your more pressing matters first. I have a memory from Chrys that I am about to show you," he pulled out a small elixir bottle, "and I hope you see that my friend may have made bad choices, but is not evil." He handed her the bottle.

"Where did you get this?" Twilight asked curiously as she took it in her magic.

"Canterlot Castle, of course," he answered bluntly. Twilight violently shook her head wondering how he could have teleported from an unknown location. She quickly dismissed the notion figuring he had known where they are the entire time. "Hey," she raised her voice crossly, "if we could have gone back this whole time, why haven't we already gone?" Silver gestured for her to drink the bottle and said as much. "I want to know first!"

"If you want to know, drink up." Twilight rolled her eyes and gave in. The azure haze faded to a dark black coloring, then rock formations came to replace the empty spaces. A castle focused into view in between the large rock formations, revealing a mountaintop that had been carved into to make the castle. Bug-like creatures, changelings, were running a muck around the grounds. They were being chased by what looked like an expanse of dark clouds. Twilight suddenly saw Chrysalis jump in and blast the shadow. Initially, it dispersed, but it was only temporary as the shadow-like substance reformed and began its charge once again.

"Run!" She shouted to the few she had just saved. "Disperse among Equestria! You'll be safe there if you don't reveal your identities!" The changelings flew away as quickly as they could. However, some were not lucky enough to escape. The shadowy cloud enveloped the unfortunate changelings and then under cover of the blackness, the changelings fell to the ground. "No!" She shouted tears beginning to run down her face. She quickly ran to the fallen ones, cocooning them with magic unknown to Twilight. The fallen changelings would then get up and run again. One, however, stayed back to help, but Chrysalis urged her to go.

"My queen," she shouted, "what if you lose?"

"I will send a beacon to you and to those still left," she answered without turning to her, keeping her eyes on the shadowy cloud. The smaller changeling was still hesitant. "Don't just stand there!" Chrysalis shouted and turned to the small changeling, tears welling up in her face. "Go!"

"Yes my queen!" The changeling's wings beat and took flight as Chrysalis remained, her horn glowing its usual green color. The ominous cloud was now bearing over her, towering even her castle, but she remained steadfast ready to defend her kingdom.

"You've hurt my children," Chrysalis spoke. The cloud gave an windy howl in response. "This is MY colony!" she screamed to the cloud, beaming it with magic. It did very little now that its size had nearly quadrupled. The cloud had begun to collapse upon the entire castle.

Then, the memory ended. The azure haze had refilled Twilight's vision. Silver was sitting on his haunches, looking upwards into the nothingness. Twilight walked over to him. He noticed her walking and refocused his gaze on her.

"Do you understand now?" Silver asked, his voice quiet. Twilight shook her head.

"I still don't understand how this would not make her evil," Twilight answered.

"Do you think an evil anyone would sacrifice for those in need of help before their own needs?" Silver answered with a question. Twilight pondered the thought for a moment. "She made the distress signal to me by mistake, exhausted from the failed attempt to save her colony."

"So that's why you wanted to stay," Twilight asked. Silver nodded. "You know if you would have said that to begin with, I wouldn't have been so mean earlier."

"Would you have believed me?"

"No," Twilight answered after a long silence. She thought about how rudely she had been to Chrysalis. She began to think of ways she could have acted, or if she should have acted any different at all. She did try to use her brother and future sister-in-law, at the time, to take over Canterlot, then Equestria. But she was doing it to help her kingdom, her colony, her subjects. Twilight thought so long about it that it made her sick to her stomach.

"I do not blame you for your actions if that is what you are thinking about," Silver spoke, seeing the turmoil Twilight was experiencing. "Neither does she. We both feel that anypony would have reacted the same way given the circumstances." Twilight looked up to him, "Though she does hate you for thwarting her plans if that makes you feel any better," he whinnied. Twilight only grimaced.

"So how did you two meet?" Twilight asked.

"I volunteered to be her slave hoping that doing so could serve as part of my punishment," Silver answered.

"By the way," Twilight replied, "you still haven't mentioned what exactly you did."

"Right," he sighed. "I will, but allow me to finish." Silver's horn lit up, and the blues around her faded to black and dark colors alike, and things began to come into focus. "Since I can project my memories directly to you now that I know the source of our previous, misunderstanding, I can show you without the use of that," he pointed to the bottle.

"What misunderstanding?" Twilight asked as a town block began forming in front of them. Twilight watched as the road and buildings became clearer and shadows were more present in the windows of the lit buildings.

"Remember Sombra?" Silver asked. Twilight nodded. "My memories had been changed for somepony's benefits, and I have yet to know, however, I know now the truth."

"Oh, memory spell failsafe."

"Indeed," Silver gave a nod and through him walked a tan colored earth pony holding a bouquet of an assortment of flowers. He was walking in Twilight's direction. She stepped out of his way. When she turned her head back to Silver, she noticed two of them. One looked a little antsier than the other as he followed the stallion.

The earth pony stood at a corner under a candlelit streetlamp waiting for obviously somepony special. The younger Silver stood a block away, hiding in the shadows watching the stallion as he slicked his mane back.

“What are we looking at?” Twilight asked.

“This is where I first met Chrys,” Silver answered with a hushed tone. “Ponies in this now old town had been disappearing. I had taken a job to discover who or what might be taking them. This is the night I found out who. The stallion standing under the streetlamp is a decoy I had set up.”

“He definitely knows how to act,” Twilight said looking impressed at the way the stallion was trying to spruce himself up for a decoy job.

“If he were acting, the job might have been harder,” Silver’s voice answered. A few seconds later a gorgeous red earth pony mare with a darker red mane and yellow eyes walked into view and towards the stallion. He smiled and ran to her to give her the flowers he had been holding. She gave them a quick sniff and smiled. She said something that may have been thank you but Twilight was too far away to hear exactly what it was.

“Is that her?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed it is,” Silver answered. “The decoy and Chrys had been dating for some time before this incident as well.”

“That’s cruel,” Twilight bluntly stated.

“Yes,” Silver answered, “but it was necessary for her survival.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“True.” The mare had wrapped her tail around the stallion and started whispering things into his ear. The stallion’s eyes widened and a grin from ear to ear showed his excitement.
“What’s she saying?” Twilight asked with a curious look on her face as she tried to get closer, but somehow she wouldn’t let her legs move.

“It’s his birthday and she’s telling him that she had tickets to a popular musician that he happened to like,” Silver answered

“Sounds exciting,” Twilight said turning her eyes back to the couple standing at the streetlamp. However the excitement was ending for the stallion, but just beginning for Twilight as the mare rubbed her head beneath the stallion’s head and her body began to glow green and the stallion fell to the ground. Chrysalis’s body now began to form in place of the red mare she was impersonating.

“Oh you poor ponies are just so vulnerable,” she said now standing tall giggling in her awful voice. She took another look down on her victim, “And gullible.” Her face changed expressions, now looking the part of being in charge as she said, “Now, you know where to go so make sure you are there before me.” The stallion stood and nodded. His eyed glowed the same green that her brother’s and Silver’s eyes glowed after they had been under Chrysalis’s spell. He turned and walked away.

The stallion did not walk too far before he fell to the ground. Then his body was surrounded in an orange aura as he floated from the ground into a dark alley completely out of sight.

“Excuse me,” the younger Silver said as he walked out from the shadows behind Chrysalis. “I believe kidnapping is against the law in Equestria, and those who choose to commit such heinous deeds would be severely punished by Princess Luna herself.”

“Oh,” she said turning her gaze to the young Silver and slowly walked forward with an evil looking smile on her muzzle, “and who are you to stop me?”

“I’m,” Silver took a step back, seeing that his plans may be backfiring. “I’m,” he stuttered again, unable to continue his train of thought, like a broken record.

“Silver,” Twilight started, “why were you so afraid of her?”

“She is as tall as my mother if you happened to have missed that, and my mother could be intimidating with her height alone. As you can see,” he pointed to Chrysalis, who was bearing over the young Silver Radiance, “this is how she handles being surprised.”

“Now,” Chrysalis spoke as her horn lit up and a short smile began to split her muzzle, “who do you love most?” Her eyes began to glow and the rest of her body followed as it changed form from her changeling self into a red pegasus with a striped light brown and creamy white mane and tail. She examined her new body and gave a twisted giggle as she looked back up to Silver and blinked her eyes. “It would be a pity if anything happened to this gorgeous, delicate mare, would it not?”

“You,” Silver stuttered again, “You,” he sighed. “Please, not her.” He lowered his head in defeat.

“I must know,” Chrysalis asked, still in the pegasus form, “How did you manage to meet a pegasus such as this one?”

“Canterlot,” he answered with a mumble.

“Oh I see,” she smiled, “A maiden?”

Silver shook his head, “A noble. Lady Daisy Cloud from Cloudsdale.”

“Ooh the granddaughter of the city’s founder, I presume?”

“The same,” Silver answered beginning not to like the fact he had just answered all her questions.

“You do realize what will happen when they find out about this? The Cloud family are purists, are they not?” Chrysalis tilted her head to one side. Silver answered with a nod. “Tis truly a pity that I cannot read your thoughts,” her smile again sneered across her muzzle, “or perhaps I would regret looking into your thoughts.” She let out a sinister snicker as she walked closer to Silver. He mumbled under his breath. “What was that?” She asked.

“You have no idea,” he said looking back to Chrysalis, emotion now drained from his eyes. “That is why I am here.”

“What?” Chrysalis took a step back, now reverting back to her original form.

“I have come to offer my life to the benefit of yours,” Silver took a gracious bow. The queen, taken off guard, was quick to recompose herself as she watched Silver stand back up.

“Have you thought about this? You will never see that lovely mare again.”

“With the monster I have become, it would be better to be with monsters,” Silver answered with a disgusted tone, looking to the ground for comfort. However, Chrysalis did not share his feelings.

“I am not a monster!” Chrysalis shouted. “You will do well to remember that I am a queen, or this agreement will end with your love-“

“No!” Silver shouted, “I understand.”

“Good,” she retorted, as her horn lit up and immediately fired at Silver. Then the memory ended, and the azure haze came back to focus. Twilight had questions buzzing inside her head, anxious to ask them all, but weary of the answers. Silver’s eyes were an assurance that Twilight could ask her questions, but she could tell that she would not like her answers.

“Where would you prefer to start?” Twilight asked Silver finally.

“What are you most curious about?” Twilight thought for a moment before she answered.

“What are purists? In all the history I have ever read, I’ve never heard of a purist.”

“Unless you were as old as I am now, you would not,” Silver answered. “I was asked not to speak of it, but I am beginning to think it may be necessary to tell you. Purists are, or were, groups within the different ponies that believed that their race was the more dominant behind Alicorns. There were two especially powerful groups within the earth pony and unicorn races. The earth ponies’ group was known as the Ironclads Clan, and the unicorns’ group was known as the True Horse Clan. It took a little under a score to drive them out and purge the records of such groups, but they did exist.”

“What about the pegasus group?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Heaven’s Wings,” he answered. “Each one believed that their unique qualities made them stronger, better, than other ponies. They also hated the other ponies and would frequently fight over who was better.”

“Why purge this history from Equestria?”

“Sometimes it is better to eliminate the problem by eliminating its history. It would keep the idea out of ponies’ minds.”

“So you justify destroying history for the sake of the future generation? But it’s history that teaches us lessons about how things worked out and why they didn’t work out. How could Princess Celestia think that was right?”

“I’m sure my mother had her reasons, however it was much longer after my absence that she had done it, and while I used to, I no longer question my mother’s motives.”

The azure haze faded to black and suddenly they were in what appeared to be a darkened throne room. Strange light fixture arranged on the ceiling gave an eerie green glow to the room. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Twilight could see the outline of the younger Silver out cold on the floor. “We should continue,” the older Silver said, standing next to Twilight. “This is the most important for you to see.” The younger Silver had awoken and began to look around before moving. Twilight also took the time to look around at the strange new place.

“This is Chrysalis’s throne room, isn’t it?” she asked. Silver nodded. The throne room looked smaller than Celestia and Luna’s throne room, but sizeable enough. There was a single chair that almost looked like it was carved into the room rather than just placed. Its rugged bottom did not match its elegant top, yet it complimented its entire form. The red cushion was embroidered with beautiful leaf-like structures. Twilight was sure Rarity would love to get ahold of it. There was no red carpet in the room. However there were two rows of torch stands with long extinguished torches. Twilight could only imagine that they were enchanted torches and would burn green when lit. However, the torches were not too necessary. Other than the dim light fixtures at the top, which now looked to be light gems, there were a series of windows with no glass to one side of the throne room that let in natural light of the moon.
The young Silver tried to stand. He was wobbly to say the least as he walked to the single, large wooden door at the front of the room. He tried to open it using his magic, but he was not strong enough to and wound up wearing himself further out. He put his hoof in the ring handle of the door and pulled it open. It looked taxing on him to merely open the door. After letting go, he stumbled out into the hallway, brightly lit with torches all down the corridor.

A small sound gave the young Silver a scare as he turned around to see what it was. Nothing was there. After a minute of getting back to his senses, he could tell that the sound was pervading down the hall from him. He went to investigate.

A long trip down a very long corridor made him come to a stop at a now much louder voice which was now obvious that it was Chrysalis. She sounded excited. The young Silver opened the door and peaked inside.

“And the Ursa Major lifted her giant claw and pounded the rock in front of her,” Chrysalis was happily smiling as she reared back on her hind legs and transformed into a smaller version of an Ursa Major and stamped back down just as she had described. All of the smaller changelings quivered after her display. Silver himself had jumped back and fell on his haunches with a loud thud, which caused every wandering eye to look back at the open door with a shining grey unicorn sitting like a buffoon.

“Come in,” Chrysalis said, “You’re just in time for shadow puppets.” Silver obediently walked in and sat down in the back and shut the door. Now,” she spoke to the room, “which story do you want to hear?”

“We want you to finish the story about the Ursa Major Queen Chrysalis!” One of the littler ones called out.

“You’ll just have to wait until next week,” she giggled and picked up the small one. You don’t want to spoil the surprise now do you?” The little one looked down and shook her head. “Good,” Chrysalis set her back down. “I promise you won’t be disappointed. Now, I think I have a good one in mind.” She walked to the back with Silver. “Unicorn, could you give me some light?”

“My name is Silver,” he huffed, “and I am not sure I am strong enough to perform any magic right now.”

“But if you don’t, then I guess we’ll have no shadow puppets,” Several AW’s came from the audience. Even Chrysalis gave Silver what would qualify as puppy dog eyes for her.

“Fine,” he huffed out a sigh, “I will try my best.” The younger changelings shouted with excitement as Silver’s horn began to glow and Chrysalis put her hooves in front of the light. Twilight for the first time noticed the lack of holes in her hooves. Her first object was a heart.

“Now we all know the story about two halves of a heart.” She split the heart in two and as she lowered her hooves two figures took their places. Twilight glimpsed over to see that Chrysalis was shaping her mane to look like two ponies and make them look like they were walking towards each other. “When a stallion meets a mare and they both have a strong connection between the two of them, it is known as love.”

“That’s our food!” one of the little ones shouted and jumped up into the air.

“Yes,” Chrysalis gave a chuckle to the small changeling, “but love has many forms. This is just the most basic one. We do feed on the love one pony feels for another, but we can never feed on the love a pony has for us. Do you know why, Teni?” She spoke to the same little changeling that spoke up earlier. She shook her head. “Our magic that allows us to feed on others’ love makes them slaves to us. But when somepony willingly loves one of us, the spell is no longer useful.

She demonstrated again using her mane as the medium as the stallion that she had formed bowed to the mare and when the mare used her magic, provided by Chrysalis’s horn, it was useless.

“She’s amazing at shadow puppets,” Twilight said thoroughly impressed.

“Indeed she is. If you could wait until she got older and the holes formed in her hooves, it only gets better from there,” Silver said with a smile. Mimicking his younger self who was also smiling, looking giddy as a young colt.

“I think I understand what you mean now, Silver,” Twilight announced, but it fell on Silver’s deaf ears. He was lost in his memories watching Chrysalis comfort and entertain her subjects.

Chrysalis continued her show and Silver and Twilight just watched the shadows as the moved, paying no attention to what Chrysalis was saying anymore and simply focusing on the shadow puppets.

“It’s like they’re really alive.” Twilight said still watching Chrysalis. Silver stopped smiling and looked back to Twilight with a bewildered look on his face.

“What did you say?” Silver asked as his face began to look more and more shocked.

“The shadow puppets,” Twilight stuttered, “They look like they’re alive.”

“You’re a genius!” Silver shouted and the memory ended and everything around them swirled around until suddenly Twilight’s room at Canterlot castle appeared.

“What!?” Twilight shouted ad woke Spike sleeping in Twilight’s bed.

“Twilight!” he shouted. “You’re back!”

“I guess so,” Twilight said confused.

Unanswered Questions

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Princess Celestia lied peacefully in her bed for the first night in quite some time, asleep after Luna had once again come to her aid, helping to ease her mind. For the first time, Luna was now the one to take care of her sister, instead of the other way around, and she felt proud to do so. For once, Princess Luna felt herself as something more than just the alicorn who raises the moon. She sat next to her sister, shining in the firelight from the fireplace, overlooking her sister both as a caring sister and as a watchful guardian. As sleep would seem so mundane to other ponies, Luna saw it as the one escape from reality, a peaceful realm where one could drift softly down a river, listening to the sounds of nature after a troubling day.

It did not last long, however when a light grey unicorn burst through the door to Celestia’s chambers, and what felt like screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Mother! I know how Sombra is going to attack!” he shouted, quickly waking Celestia and angering Luna.

“If so, can it not wait?” Luna angrily retorted.

“No! He could come at any moment! Is Shining Armor still here?” Silver began to look around hoping to, but not expecting to find Shining Armor in the room.

“He is back in the Crystal Empire,” Celestia quietly answered. “You can tell us, and then tell him later. I’m sure he is busy making his own preparations.”

“You recall that you banished him to the shadows?” Silver asked. The two nodded. “What if he had turned his shadows into a teleportation device of some sort that allows him to be at or in any shadow at any time?”

“He could quickly gain entrance to Canterlot by merely phasing through as one of the shadows of even a guard,” Luna answered with a stressed tone. Silver nodded.

“Then he could come straight for you from your shadows.”

“I am the Princess of the day, my shadow can be over shone by my own magic, even at night,” Princess Celestia answered.

“And I am like a living shadow cast day or night already,” Luna followed. “Finding my shadow would be as if finding a hay in a hay stack.”

“You mean needle in a haystack?” Celestia asked politely.

“No,” Luna answered, “I know what I said.” Celestia quickly sat up out of her bed, eyes now wide with fear, body trembling. “What is it sister?”

“Silver,” Celestia turned her gaze directly to him, “Go to Princess Twilight Sparkle, and never leave her unattended. Have your fire on at all times, understood?” He nodded, but with hesitation. “What is the matter?”

“If I continue with this-“ Celestia stopped him.

“I know what will happen, yes,” she answered him. “You should have enough rest in between teachings to recharge most of your magic.” Silver did not look appeased. “I will make preparations just in case.”

“Thank you,” he bowed his head. Then, his horn lit up and his fiery self took form.

“Rest for tonight,” Her voice tried to sound as reassuring as a tired voice could. “Sombra has not made a move yet, and I doubt he will he so surprising.” Obediently he allowed his fire to quell. “I will tell Twilight about her new arrangements, and we will have your bed moved to Twilight’s room.”

“No. Have her bed moved to my room tomorrow evening. My room is smaller and there are fewer objects to cast shadows. My room will be fully prepared by tomorrow morning,” Celestia gave him an approving nod, then he slowly walked to the window to peak out at the Everfree forest. “Do the wisps still gather there?”
“They do.”
“Considering our shortening timeframe, would you mind if we studied there from now on?”

“What are you planning?” Luna asked intently. She walked from behind Celestia’s bed to the front. “Surely you cannot hope that we would approve you to do unto her as you did to yourself.”

“Never,” Silver’s eyes narrowed angrily. They burned with resentment. “It’s hard to fathom that you would even assume that as a possibility.”

“Well, Burns, I wouldn’t have eleven hundred years ago, but considering your past actions, I believe I have a right to question your current motives,” Luna spat back.

“You’re right,” Silver gave a sad sigh and knelt his head. “She has one of Starswirl’s unpublished works.” He raised his head again, “I hoped showing her this magic would be helpful.”

“One of his unpublished works?” Celestia inquired. Silver nodded.

“But they are supposed to be under lock and key in Celestia’s personal wing,” Luna began to sound startled. She began to fear that the castle had already been infiltrated and the sisters’ most valued secrets would be available to the public.

“Calm yourself, Sister,” Celestia laid her wing on her sister, “Starswirl had many unpublished works and there is a possibility that this one simply escaped my grasp.” Her eyes focused on Silver. “What series?”

“Real element magic,” Silver answered without hesitation.

“He still wrote it,” Celestia whispered to herself. She ran through her thoughts trying to remember what books she had and what ones she did not.

“If he wrote this, there has to be a continuation,” Silver interrupted Celestia’s thoughts.
She pondered the idea for a moment. “There is a possibility, yes. I will look through my collection tomorrow and see if I come up with anything.” She then turned back to Luna. “Tell the guards of Silver’s new findings immediately and make sure that all areas are properly lit.” Luna with a nod walked toward the balcony and opened her wings. “Be careful,” Celestia anxiously tells her Luna before she disappeared underneath the balcony railing.
Silver gently closed Celestia’s balcony’s glass door and walked to Celestia’s bed. Celestia was now sitting on the edge of her bed. Silver took a seat beside her. They were alone for the first time since the first time he had arrived in Canterlot.

“Your mane is so long now,” Celestia spoke up. “I do realize that there are no barbers in Tartarus, but why not get it cut now?”

Silver shrugged. “It feels like a personal reminder,” his orange eyes turned to Celestia’s, glowing in the firelight. “Almost like a battle scar,” he chuckled to himself. “I did have it cut. It wasn’t much, just enough.”

“Oh?” Celestia smiled at him. “So you like having a long mane?”

“And when the wind blows just right, my mane looks just like yours.” He made Celestia laugh, and he laughed along with her.

“I see you’re getting more control of your fire,” she started. Silver nodded. “So why do you worry?”
His response was hesitant, carefully trying not to open old emotional wounds. “I thought I had control once before, and then,” he hesitated again. Flashes of his past came rapidly and nonstop like a locomotive running through in his mind.

“And then?” She tried to help.

“I lost everything,” he said, his eyes still rapidly moving side to side like he was looking for something. “You, Luna, Daisy,”

“Daisy?” Celestia asked.

“Cloud.”

“Oh,” Celestia gasped. “That wasn’t-“

“It was,” Silver answered grievously. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as if a void had been filled in his head. He started to speak and could not stop himself. “She and I were taking a night picnic. I put lightning bugs in jars for light. Everything was going so well; then we were attacked and,” he looked up to Celestia, barely finding his voice as he swallowed and took a breath. “They were not even a challenge, but I was so infuriated, I used my fire to its extant. Now, you know what comes next.”
His body began to tremble and he even grew cold. “She refused to leave even after I had gone as far as threatening her,” His eyes welled will tears now. “Then she was gone. She,” he whimpered, “she,” he could find no words to express his torment and sadness any longer. Finally, he broke down and cried.

“There, there,” Celestia shushed him as he cried into her breast. She caressed him in her wing, nearly fully engulfing his body. She looked at him with sad eyes, not pity or even remorse. She understood his pain, and it hurt her to see her son like this. But she knew that this was what a mother was for. Careful and comforting when her little colt needed her the most, and she hugged him tighter.

“The last thing she said to me was ‘I don’t believe you.’ I don’t want to lose you, too,” he said sobbing. “I’m tired of losing.”

“I’m still right here, Silver,” she answered, “and I promise it will be that way for a long time.” She lifted his head with her hooves. “Now dry those eyes, my child. You have a student who still needs you, and she needs to know. It’s time to show her.”
He obeyed and dried his eyes. “When you show her, you will have my blessing to teach where you see fit.”

Silver sat up and shook off his sadness, trying to reacquire his calm. The fire behind them was beginning to die. The light beginning to dim, Celestia used her magic to light the entire room. As she mentioned before, not a single shadow existed in the room, yet it was not too bright inside.

“If we are to continue, can you tell me more about Princess Twilight?” Silver asked. “I should have asked before, so I could properly utilize our time.” Celestia giggled and quickly perked up at the chance to discuss her two favorite things, minus Luna and Silver. She began to tell Silver of how she met Twilight Sparkle and the amazingly exciting journey she has been on.

“What happened Twilight?” Spike asked. He had been worrying the last few days about Twilight being gone. She was unaware of her longer absence, but Spike was sure to let her know. “You had been gone for three days. I thought you’d be gone longer.”

“Actually Spike,” Twilight began, “I’m not sure all I can tell you,” but Twilight explained the best she could. She left out Chrysalis’s name and the specifics of the events. When she finished, Spike laid on a barrage of questions.

“Why the cave? Where did he take you exactly? How come your stay was so short?”

“Spike.”

“Did you get everything right?”

“Spike.”

“I know you’re pretty good at magic so that’s gotta be it, right?”

“Spike!” After Twilight shouted, Spike finally ended his questioning and allowed Twilight to speak. “I don’t know what exactly is going on. I didn’t originally go there to learn anything. It was an accident that I was even there. When I finally started to understand, he took us both back here.” Twilight appeared uneasy at the realization of her conversation with Silver prior to meeting Chrysalis. The word kept creeping into her mind since he mentioned it, and after seeing Chrysalis’s memory, it remains etched into Twilight’s mind.

[War, Princess. It kept clawing at Twilight’s attention. She had no idea what to think of an actual war in Equestria. There were many books on the subject, but well-read readers know the difference between books and experience. This was the thought that made Twilight the most uneasy. So much so that she had drowned out any further questions by Spike, who kept asking more questions.

Thoughts ran through her mind so quickly, even she had no time to process everything. She thought about Chrysalis and her changelings, then Nightmare Moon and how she wanted to make the world bask in her eternal night. Then her dream of the strangely familiar looking black unicorn with those same eyes as Nightmare Moon.

It took her a moment to realize that they were no longer alone. Princess Luna had joined them, waiting patiently for Twilight to come to her senses.

“You look worried, Twilight Sparkle,” she walked as she spoke. “Is something the matter?” Twilight nodded, but she could not verbally answer. She was afraid to ask questions.
“I came to discuss your previous dreams,” she continued, “more specifically the one you had this previous night.” She came to a stop now directly in front of Twilight. “What do you know of Silver’s past?”

Twilight hesitated. “Don’t be afraid to tell me what you know,” Luna spoke softly. “I have seen his bitter half. Now it seems he may be passing those dreams to you, though he may not be on purpose.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight curiously asked.

Luna sighed and dropped her head. “Dreams are very powerful. Sometimes they have the ability to pass on to the dreamer’s consciousness. Others, have the ability to affect the ones around them, if the weight the dreamer bears is great enough.”

“How’s that work?” Spike asked. Luna gazed down to the young dragon and shook her head.

“I’m afraid I have no answer. It is a mystery even to me,” her eyes returned to Twilight. “Do you remember the dream I speak of?” Twilight nodded. “Do you recognize the pony?” Twilight again nodded.

“But he’s taller and black with purple flames. I thought it might just be something I imagined up.”

“Unfortunately, no. That is his nightmare self. He called himself Pitch Black, and he is worth fearing. While I only fought him once and defeated him, I was badly wounded. It was my first near loss in over a hundred years.”

“How did Silver take it?” Twilight was quick to ask.

“His loss?”

“No, hurting you.”

Luna’s expression changed. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth gritted tightly trying to hold back something, but what Twilight did not know. “He didn’t.” Luna finally answered. I did my best to hide most of my injuries to make it seem as though I had one-sidedly won. It was then that I banished him from Equestria, for the greater good of the kingdom.” The tension in her face had released, and her eye contact with Twilight had been broken as she looked to the ground. “I still haven’t forgiven myself for it, either.”

“What did he do?”

“He destroyed anything and everything in his path. He wanted Equestria and its surrounding lands to be bathed in fire and be reborn from its ashes, but in dark agony only. This darkness that he and I experienced is known as Pandora.”

“Pandora?” Twilight asked with disbelief. Luna closed her eyes and slowly nodded.

“It is an event, long before written pony history, an awakening of the darkness inside all creatures before any sort of harmony was made. We don’t know the entity’s original name, nor do we really know its true purpose. It was sealed away inside a box and hidden in Tartarus where it stayed until a little over a thousand years ago.”

“Then Silver found it?” Luna nodded.

“It was a gift,” added Silver, who just walked into Twilight’s room. His eyes were a little puffy but his composure was back to his normal distant self. He positioned himself next to Luna. “I had allowed Discord entry and in exchange he showed me what he was searching for. Unfortunately, the box was cursed and the first to open the box received the curse,” his eyes narrowed. “I was tricked, but by the time I realized it, it was too late.”

Silver now was directly in front of Twilight. “Tomorrow, we will begin a full decent into my past. While we are gone, your things will be moved into a new room.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “Is it because of what we saw?"

“Yes,” he answered, “but there is more to it than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mother requested it. It’s a bit of an intuition she has. Personally I believe that it is a pointless waste of time; however, she feels differently.” He lied a little to try not to give Twilight any worries. Then he faced Luna. “Have all the guards checked in?”

“Yes,” Luna answered. “The night guard has successfully been informed.”

“And what about the day guard?”

“Most of them were informed before going home,” Luna answered, she looked to one side as she said it.

“Informed about what?” Twilight curiously asked.

“Our new state of things,” Silver answered. He looked to Luna for assurance he could tell her the full story. Luna nodded, and he continued. “For the past few months, a mix of dark magical energies have been brewing a few miles North-East of the Crystal Mountains. Though there were many, Mother sensed two distinct energies: Sombra and Pandora.”

“So they are forming a bond like you guys did?” Twilight asked.

“We believe so. That is why I have been doing a terrible job at teaching you anything to do with self-defense.” He made Twilight laugh because she agreed. “So beginning tomorrow, I will attempt to give you an understanding of how real element magic works, by showing you how,” he paused, “how not to use it.”

“For now, you should rest,” Luna smiled. “It will be a rather long day for you tomorrow.”

“Oh come now,” Silver argued. “Just because she will be with me does not automatically make it a long day.”

“It is not a short day either,” she mocked with a giggle. “We will leave you two to try and sleep for tomorrow,” she said turning to Twilight, bidding her goodnight, and then leaving, Silver following close behind.

“Oh and Twilight,” Silver looked from the corner of his eye to Twilight, “keep the lights on.”

As Silver closed the door, Luna gestured for him to follow her. They walked down the now completely lit corridors making the nighttime appear to be day. Their hooves echoed throughout the chambered hallways as if they were the only two in the castle.

“So who’s missing?” Silver asked.

“What do you mean?” Luna replied, trying to push off the question.

“You lied when you said everyone had been notified.”

“I said most of them,” Luna snapped and glared at Silver. “I did not lie.”

“You’re still hiding something,” Silver stopped in front of Luna and faced her. He may be shorter than she is, but height is not as intimidating as somepony who has lived in Tartarus for a thousand years. Luna looked down, bit her lip, and backed away. “Who is missing, Luna?”

Luna sighed and gave in. “Lightning and his squad went missing in the Everfree forest.”

“The Everfree?” Silver asked loudly. Luna nodded. “How do you know?”

“We have been regularly sending his squad into the Everfree to keep watch on the dark creatures that inhabit it. In case they decided to side with Sombra.”

“So we have no idea where he is.” Luna shook her head. Silver thought hard for a moment. “This will take priority.”

“Silver, no,” Luna stopped him. “If you get hurt or-“

“If I get hurt, something extremely powerful is coming and we may all be in trouble.” He smirked.

“A bit brash, don’t you think?” Luna smiled back.

“Only if one cannot back it up,” they continued walking.

“Still I would like to make sure you are safe, especially since I presume you will take Princess Twilight with you whether or not we permit it.”

“I just had the idea to teach her about the wisps while we were there.”

“Fine,” she sighed, “I will permit it, but talk to Celestia first about who to take with you.”

“Do you think she would let me choose?”

“Oh?” Luna looked down at Silver and smiled. “Who did you have in mind?”

“Well I thought about maybe getting to see one of the two leggeds.”

“Now that is bold,” Luna laughed. “I’m sure she would let you, but if you are so sure of yourself, why one of them?”

“Why not?” Silver gawked. “They are possibly the most unique group of soldiers we have.”

“Point taken,” Luna giggled. “Now, let us go and speak with my beloved sister.”

“Can it wait until the morning? She just went so sleep.”

“Silver,” Luna was showing concern in her eyes, “I know everypony who is asleep at this very moment. My sister is not one of them.” Silver looked half shocked. The other half made him think he should have seen it. “Still want to wait?”

“No,” he answered after a few moments of thinking, “It is probably best to quickly get this over with.”

They walked to Celestia’s room and explained the situation. She did not share the two younger ponies’ ambition. However, she did listen and wait to give her thoughts. Celestia’s thoughts, however, are law.

“I cannot condone this,” she spoke with a firm voice. “Silver, I told you your condition and I will not break my condition.”

“But-“

“No.”

“If I may, sister.”

“I said no!” She shouted and stood, raising her wings, fury burning in her eyes.

“What about Lightning?” Silver yelled back, doing his best to stand down his mother. “If we do nothing to find him than we give up a good captain and give up a chance to stop Sombra before anypony loses a life.” Silver looked a bit awkward trying to make himself taller, but still only came to the bottom of Celestia’s chin on the very tip of his hooves.

“And how do you know it’s Sombra who attacked?” She yelled back, angrily staring down Silver. “If it were timber wolves or one of the celestial creatures there would be nothing to search for. Have you stopped to consider that?”

“A military expert with eleven, hoof picked soldiers which, in his mind, are the best soldiers in the entire royal military does sound pretty easy prey to a wandering pack of timber wolves,” Silver sarcastically answered. “And if it were a celestial creature, it would be the summer, not the winter that the attack would be most likely, so any provocation would be cause to search for answers.” Silver lowered himself to his normal level, about a foot over Celestia’s shoulders. “I need to talk with that zebra again also. Prolonged memory transfer can have debilitating effects on both of us, and zebras are world renown for their brews against magic debilitation.”

Celestia sighed and sat back down. Silver was right, but taking Twilight along was too dangerous at the moment. She could see that the stakes were high if she were to go. If they were found and caught by Sombra’s ponies, he would surely have an upper hand and possibly use Twilight as the new host for Pandora.

Then again, Celestia knows magic better than anypony else. She could see that Silver’s magic could nearly rival an alicorn’s if necessary, and taking along one of the Two Legs would be just as effective as backup as Twilight herself if the situation were ugly. But Silver’s magic is not normal magic. Ponies should not have the magic he does, which makes him just as much of a liability as a benefit.

She sits and thinks for a few more moments and finally comes to her decision. “I will allow it this once,” she now glared directly into Silver’s eyes, “on one condition.”

“Ask,” he said without breaking eye contact.

“When you return, you will immediately start the transfer.”

“Done.” Silver smiled at his triumph. Celestia remained unmoved, her glare still piercing through him.

“I expect you back by the morning after tomorrow.”

“Not a moment later,” he answered with a half-cocked smile.

The next morning Twilight awoke refreshed from her night’s sleep with an unexpected guest waiting at her bedside. As she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she said good morning to the still sleeping Spike before returning her gaze to in front of her where her visitor awaited.

Then she finally realized she now had somepony staring directly back at her.

“Good morning,” Silver brightly said to Twilight. She jumped back and let out a frightened yell. She lost balance, causing her to fall backwards onto the backrest of the bed. “You didn’t leave the lights on, Princess Twilight. That’s very dangerous.”

“It’s just Twilight,” she answered still with a tired voice, “and why is it so dangerous?”

“Because the shadows are now alive. You said it yourself, I thought a mare with your intelligence would have realized by now.”

“I don’t under- HEY!” She shouted at Silver, realizing now what he was implying. “How was I supposed to know? You just said leave the lights on and left!”

“And you’re supposed to trust your teacher,” he answered without missing a beat. “That’s not important now. Come, we are about to depart to the Everfree Forest.”

“Are we taking the train again?”

“No, my way is much faster,” he grinned. “But before we go, wake Spike, and I will get our attendee.”

“Attendee?”

“Just another word for escort. It was the only way I was allowed to bring you along.”

“To do what?”

“You’ll see.” Silver’s horn lit up and he disappeared in a flash.

Twilight turned to the sleeping, and heavily snoring Spike. She nudged him, nuzzled him, pushed him, and even shoved him but could not wake him. She quickly drew to her more creative side and stroked her chin to think of a clever way to wake Spike.

“Oh Spike,” she sang. “I have a large pile of jewels with your name on them.” It was not a moment later Spike was up and running around trying to figure out where the pile of precious, delicious gems were. He soon gave up after realizing it was just a ploy.

“Twilight that’s not nice,” he grimaced.

“Well I had to get you up somehow didn’t I?”

“What for?”

“I don’t know,” she answered already being stumped by Silver’s confusing methods of relaying information. “Silver just asked me to wake you.”

“What for?” he asked again.

At the same time, a bright flash of light followed by Silver and somepony else. Or was it somepony at all? She looked like a pony. She had hooves like a pony. She even had the face of a pony, but she stood on her hind legs. She was peach colored with a short, blond mane combed over to one side and blue eyes. She had a cutie mark, but it was covered by a rather large belt that had two blades on both sides of her flank. She also wore two golden gauntlets with complex looking gadgetry on the outside edges.
She walked to Twilight and bowed in an odd stance; still completely upright, she put her fore hooves to the sides and bent over. Twilight, bowed her head in response, but not sure if it was the right thing to do. Silver looked over to her and smiled and shook his head.

“Stop showing off and introduce yourself,” he said with a chuckle. “They’re gawking.”

“Pfft, like you didn’t,” she retorted. She finally came down on all fours. “Sorry about that Princess Twilight, I’m Colonel Amber Jewel and leader of the Two Leg Brigade.”

“Amber?” Twilight asked, looking at the peach colored pony’s coat.

“Yes?” she answered.

“Okay then,” Twilight hesitantly responded. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“Is everypony ready?” Silver stepped in between the two mares.

“Ready for what exactly?” Spike asked.
Before he knew it, he would get his answer. Silver’s horn glowed its bright orange and suddenly they were in an entirely different setting. The dark twisted trees replace Twilight’s bedroom walls and grass replaced the floor. The only two still standing were Amber and Silver while Spike and Twilight fought to remain balanced.

“Take your time,” Silver calmly spoke to the two, “I wanted to leave early for this purpose. I wasn’t sure how well you had adapted to long distance teleportation.”

“Wait,” Amber said standing back up on her hind legs, “Are they new to this?”

“Well, no,” Silver answered. “But it is only their fourth time.”

“How’d they take the first one?”

“Actually pretty well, like most ponies,” Silver chuckled. “You know it’s never dizzying until they realize that the distance is further than they thought.”

Twilight finally came to her senses. Fully balanced, she took Spike with her magic, who was still having trouble standing, and put him on her back. Silver gestured for her and Amber to follow him.

For what seemed like hours, they wandered around the Everfree forest. They circled, zigzagged, and circled again through the vast forest. Silver would stop every few minutes and look around, then give Amber a look to whence she nodded or shook her head. Twilight quickly grew tired of their silent secret language and began to ask questions.

“So where are we going exactly?” Twilight asked, “And why am I here?”

“I am going to teach you about wisps,” Silver answered in a cheery tone.

“Like will-o-wisps?”

“Well wisps in general but more specifically the ones you summoned the day you tried to burn down Ponyville.”

“I did not try to burn-“
Silver hushed Twilight. “Don’t raise your voice,” he said. “We’ve been invited.”

“To what?” Amber asked looking around.

“A very old tradition.”

“How’d you manage that?” Amber asked in surprise.

“It requires a payment,” Silver whispered.

“Like what?”

“Knowledge,” he turned to Twilight. “They want proof we can understand what happens.”

“Like what?” Twilight took a step back.

“You, Amber, and I have already paid,” Silver answered. It was now clear that Silver was not looking at Twilight, but at Spike who was still sitting on Twilight’s back.

“M-me?” Spike pointed a claw at himself. Silver nodded. “But I’m a baby dragon, what can I pay?”

“You can offer yourself as a payment.”

“That’s not funny!” Twilight yelled back at Silver.

“It was not meant to be,” Silver walked to Twilight and Spike. “It is your choice, but it could be to your benefit if you choose to go with them.”

“Will I come back?” Spike sounded scared. Silver nodded.
“Wait, Spike!” Twilight got defensive. “You don’t have to go anywhere!”
“But Silver said I would be okay.”
“I don’t care what he says. You’re still just a baby!”
“It is your choice, Spike,” Silver interjected. “But time is short.”
Spike took a few seconds to think. “O-okay.” Spike jumped down from Twilight’s back and walked close to Silver.

“Walk with me, Spike,” Silver said in a calm, hushed tone.

They began to walk towards a darker area of the forest when Twilight heard the whispering again. As Spike and Silver disappeared, the whispering grew louder.

A few seconds later, Silver returned alone. The whispering continued to grow louder.

“Where’s Spike?” Twilight confronted Silver, tensing her wings and keeping them just unfolded enough to let them be seen from the front.

“Don’t worry,” Silver replied completely relaxed, “he’s fine. I would not have let him even consider this if I thought there were any danger.” He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Trust me.”

“Why were we so special,” Amber asked, walking upright towards Twilight and Silver.

“Each of us has our own unique skill. Yours is the most obvious,” he gestured to her body as a whole.

“So what exactly is mine then?” Twilight sounded offended.

“You’re an alicorn. The level of understanding it takes to become an alicorn is proof in itself that you will be able to comprehend what is happening.”

“So what’s yours?” Twilight asked.

“And what exactly is happening?” Amber asked quickly after Twilight.

“What you are about to see has happened to ponies before, but it is very dangerous. The same has been done with me, several times.”

“What is it exactly? And what is with the noise!?”

“Try to tune it out,” Silver’s horn lit up and suddenly the whispering dulled.”

“What noise?” Amber looked around for something she might have missed. “You guys aren’t playing tricks on me are you?”

“It is Whisper: language of the wisps,” Silver answered. “Only ponies who have been touched by their magic can hear them. For instance,” he turned to Twilight with beaming eyes, “trying a spell without proper knowledge of its uses.”

Suddenly the darkness that Spike and Silver walked into glowed brightly and Spike stood I plain view surrounded by a fiery blaze. The fire inched closer and closer to Spike until it fully encased him.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, leaving only Spike, glowing in the distance. Spike nodded and returned to Twilight, Silver, and Amber. Twilight and Amber were both awe stricken at Spike’s glowing presence.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked before she thought about it. Amber, jaw wide open, lost her balance and was forced back down on all fours.

“That was awesome!” Spike paused between each word, shouting even louder for each word.

“Spike received an anointment, and now he has a wisp living inside him.”

“And that’s not at all creepy or dangerous?” Amber hesitantly spoke up.

“For dragons, a mutual respect is given between them and the wisps. They were the ones who taught the dragons the magic of fire.”

“But haven’t they always had fire?” Twilight was getting more intrigued.

“Yes, but,” Silver stopped and sighed trying to think of a better explanation. “Spike can send messages via his fire, correct?” Twilight nodded. “That is the magic, or one of them at least.”

“So this ritual intensified his magical abilities?”

“Yes.”

“So, I have to ask,” Amber stood back on her hind legs. “That was your original plan wasn’t it?”

“Well,” he held the “l” sound, “yes.”

“And we wouldn’t have seen it otherwise?” Silver shook his head.

“Well,” Twilight snorted, “how sneaky.”

“Okay. Blame me if you must, but I did it to make sure that you had as much protection as possible with as little resources as possible. We may encounter some creatures that decide we’re tasty and I want to make sure that the most important pony is not lunch, or worse.”

“Or worse?” Twilight gulped.

“This is the Everfree. It is dangerous enough without the threat of the Equestrian Empire being torn apart by some mad pony with a plan to throw everything into darkness.”

“Hey,” Amber lowered herself to four legs again, making eye contact with Silver, “you said this happened to you.” Silver nodded. “What made you so special?”

“I was not special,” Silver looked down and away from both Amber and Twilight. “I stole my power from dragons,” then he looked back up with a humble look in his eye. “I stole their secrets in order for my own gain. However before you think any less of me, I would like to say that I was also born with a wisp.”

What? The three asked at once.

“I found out the hard way as well,” Silver answered along with a nod. “When I was eight, I disintegrated my room. With the one wisp, my magic did exceed that of a normal unicorn, but it was also unstable, and at times, uncontrollable.”

“Is that why your fire is blue?” Twilight asked. Silver nodded.

“I thought that if I were to use the dragons’ secrets, my problems would be solved.” He shook his head, “It was foolish, and those I loved most paid the price for my actions. That is also why I asked you not to read further into that book. And I’m most glad that you listened.”

“Well you were kind of convincing when you showed us that glass desert,” Twilight lifted Spike onto her back with her magic and began to walk tangent to the other two. “If that was all you wanted to show us, then let’s go back now.”

“It’s not,” Amber answered. Twilight stopped and moved her head to face Amber. “Lightning’s gone missing and we don’t know where he is. We came here to hopefully find him or clues to where we might find him.”

“Oh,” Twilight stared at the ground for a moment. “Is that what all that stopping and nodding was?”

“Yeah,” Silver rubbed the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle. “Sorry about not saying anything.”

“Why didn’t you say anything!? Does my brother know about this yet?”

“Not yet.” Silver looked up and around, eyebrow cocked to one side. “We still need to visit that zebra that lives here.” He spoke, but never made eye contact with anyone. He kept scanning the area looking around with a peculiar expression on his face.

“What are you looking for?” Amber asked.

“Hopefully nothing,” he answered, still not even giving her a passing glance. “We should go now before it starts to get dark.” Silver began to walk in the direction of Zecora’s hut. Amber and Twilight quickly rushed to his side.

“Aren’t we going to teleport there?” Twilight curiously asked.

“It’s a bit rude to show up unannounced as is, and you would like us to teleport straight to her home?” Twilight gave Silver a confused expression. “I want to at least give her the time to prepare for our arrival.”

“But she already doesn’t know we’re not coming,” Twilight quickly answered. “The time we come doesn’t exactly change anything.”

“True, but I think she will notice what is about to come,” Silver looked behind him, again looking for something, “or maybe she won’t.”

“What does that even mean?” Twilight shouted.

“I hope we don’t find out,” Silver walked forward slowly, but kept checking over his shoulder. “Come. Let us not doddle.” They followed, mimicking Silver as he kept walking, stopping and turning around, then continuing walking again.

A slow hour had passed and they had barely moved a mile. Silver could barely walk five steps without turning around and checking behind them. Then Twilight made a realization, there was no ambience. No birds chirping, no bugs buzzing, and no occasional moving bush, like the normal Everfree forest.

“Silver,” Twilight started, but before she could finish her sentence, or even get a response, the trees behind them were quickly bent over and a towering blue bear with a large star on its head was bearing down on them. “An Ursa!” Twilight fearfully shouted.

“Thank goodness,” Silver happily sighed. His three companions did not seem to share his enthusiasm and refused to remain as calm as he was.

The ursa roared and stood on its hind legs and slammed back down on its front legs, then it charged towards the four of them. Amber quickly pushed Twilight in an effort to get her to run. She quickly got the message. Silver remained in his place, however.

“What is wrong with you?” Amber scolded Silver. “Run!”

“It’s only an ursa minor,” Silver said casually and glanced back at Amber and Twilight with a smirk. “I can scare him off.” In no time, flames began to spread from Silver’s hooves to his surroundings, turning from blue to orange to yellow as it spread further out. The ursa stopped dead in its tracks, eyeing the fire as it spread further outward. Silver then projected his shadow onto the fire, making the glowing-eyed stallion appear larger than even the ursa.

The ursa finally turned tail and ran after a few more seconds of staring. Silver’s eyes stopped glowing and the fire died. Twilight, Spike, and Amber looked around, jaws dropped and completely astonished that nothing was burned. Silver slowly turned around sporting a huge over confident smile on his face.

“See, I told you-“ A very loud, blood curdling roar that shook all the trees and made Silver’s mane fly up and into his face.

Shakily, he turned to see the much larger ursa major standing where the ursa minor had just disappeared. He smiled weakly and bolted in the direction of his companions without so much as saying a word. However, he needed no words for the other two to run along with him. Spike had to hold on tightly to Twilight’s mane so he would not fall off.

However, the ursa’s strides were ten times the length of the three ponies’ bodies put together. It was not long until it was nearly walking on their back hooves.

“It’s already caught up to us! We should have run when we had the chance!” Amber angrily screamed at Silver.

“I know, I know,” Silver said slowing down. “Just keep going towards the zebra’s hut! I’ll buy us some time!” As he slowed to a halt, so did the ursa who was now standing right over Silver. It raised its right paw and quickly smashed right on top of Silver, his shield barely holding its own against the ursa.

As the ursa hammered away at Silver’s shield, he concentrated on its back legs, encircling them in his magic. His magical field around the ursa’s legs was getting stronger, but he was getting knocked further into the ground. He still needed to build his magic, so he waited patiently as he inched further down from the bearlike creature’s attacks.

As the bear pounded on the shield, it became closer to level with the ground. A second ring circled around his horn and he fully grasped the bear’s back legs. Lifting them became the real problem now. He was running out of strength.

“Of course I have to drop my shield,” he shouted angrily at the wind. “Why would this be easy?” He waited until the ursa major was rearing back for another strike. When he finally got his opening, he dropped his shield and used his remaining magic to finally sweep its legs out from under itself.

It landed on the ground with an earth shattering crash. Dust and debris exploded into a large cloud, giving Silver a chance to run.

“Silver!” he heard from behind. Quickly he turned to see that Twilight had come back to help.

“Run! This is,” A large, purple paw had come as Silver had his back turned and knocked him nearly fifty feet away into a tree. Twilight ran to his aid. He coughed and opened his eyes. They had gone completely white and had begun to glow. His fire flared up on its own as Silver whined in agony.

The ursa ran towards them with a furious roar and raised its right paw for one final blow, but it never came. Instead, an overpowering gust of wind had blown the creature straight backwards.

“Twilight,” Silver sat up and then stood up as if nothing had happened. Twilight looked at him with disbelief.

There’s no way he should be able to speak, let alone stand, Twilight thought.

“Twilight, listen to me,” he snapped her out of her awestricken state. “Get out of here. Go to your zebra friend’s house. You’ll be safe there.”

“But,”

“This is not debatable.”

“You don’t know where to go.”

“I’ll be fine. Duck!” The ursa had lunged itself forward in an attempt to get ahold of either one of its current prey. Silver quickly reacted and sent another gust of wind, hurtling towards a line of trees. It quickly stood back up and made another attempt, but this time, screaming air had knocked it into the trees so hard that they all had bent backwards. The creature roared in pain.

“You hurt it! That’s enough!” Twilight shouted, but Silver was no longer listening. His gaze was fixed on the ursa, beating it back down each time it stood. “Stop!” Again, no response, only cold eyes that would not even face her. He just stood there unmercifully pushing the beast back down.

Then finally, the trees gave in to the pounding, throwing the ursa on its back. It whined, rolled over, and took off opposite of Silver and Twilight. Silver’s eyes faded back to normal, but his mane stayed ablaze. He turned to Twilight and smiled so innocently, it infuriated her.

“You could have killed it! It was only protecting its baby!” Twilight shouted.

“Please Twilight, do you know nothing of these celestial creatures?”

“I know enough that you could have seriously injured it! And what about you? You shouldn’t even be standing!”

“That’s what you were worried about?” Silver laughed. “Twilight even if I wanted to hurt that ursa major, there is no possible way I could. I just needed to show that it was futile to keep following us.”

“So you’re saying that you weren’t trying to hurt it?”

“Twilight, tell me honestly, do you think you could have hurt it?”

“I wouldn’t!”

“That was not my question,” he pointed to the broken trees, “Do you think in the event that it was necessary, that you have enough magical ability to hurt that creature.” He kept pointing to the trees, making Twilight look. “I used all mine just to stop it.”

“You mean,” Twilight gulped, “that everything you did, didn’t even hurt it?”

“Well I may have scared it, but I in no way caused it harm, it’s too strong. I just managed to catch it off guard.”

“So in other words, you could have been seriously hurt,” Twilight shoved him.

“Okay, yes,” he gave Twilight a weak smile and put up one of his hooves, “but you must understand that your protection comes first.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“True,” Silver laughed. “Where are Spike and Amber?” He looked around.

“We found Zecora’s not too long ago. We were surprisingly close.”

“I doubt close,” Silver let out another chuckle. “We did run a long way.”

“Yes,” Twilight giggled with him, “we did, didn’t we?”

“Come now,” Silver gestured for her to walk with him, “show me which way we should go.”

“Turn around,” she said with a smile. “It’s this way about a half mile.”

“Oh?” Silver deviously grinned and he disappeared with a flash, leaving Twilight alone. She rolled her eyes. She started to take one step when Silver returned and then took her with him. “Less than a half mile,” he said walking towards Zecora’s front door.

“What? You trying to show off?”

“Perhaps a little?” he said still sporting his devious smile.

“Hey! Your fire, you haven’t turned it off yet,” Twilight pointed to his back, engulfed in blue flame.

“I thought I,” Silver, to his surprise was still on fire. “Fantastic,” he said with a grimace. “Go on inside I’ll return momentarily. The potion should take a while. In the meantime, you do not leave this zebra’s home for anything, understood?” Twilight nodded, but she was unsure of what he meant by that. “Now go on. I will be along any moment.”

Twilight obediently walked towards Zecora’s door. “Oh, and Twilight,” she turned back around. “Make sure she makes the tonic for prolonged magical exposure.” Twilight gave him a funny look, but nodded and went inside to join Spike and Amber, already inside.

Guardian of Fire

by googolplex

Prologue

Who are you?

Son of the Sun, Prepare Thyself

Lesson One

Princess Luna's Lullaby

The Real First Lesson

The Lies, Truths, and a Mystery

The Benevolent Queen of the Changelings

Unanswered Questions