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The Silver Stars

by David Silver

Chapter 5: 5 - Shorter than Expected

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Silver stood patiently as a seamstress took his measurements. Even the length of his hooves and horn had to be taken, it seemed. "Can't hurt to have it ready," she said with a smile.

Silver tilted his head, "I'm still growing, by the time I come back, you'll have to do it again."

She waved off the comment with a flip of the hoof and proceeded, "So you're the newest night guard? Never heard of a unicorn night guard before. Easier than being a diplomat?"

Silver considered the question, "Different. I hope it won't be too easy, that would be boring."

She smiled and made another mark on her paper, "Good attitude. Thank you, by the way. The changelings have been quite a boon for the tailors of the city. They all came naked, and soon wanted to fix the fact."

Silver snorted out a laugh, "That must have been a sight, lines of changelings out of every clothing store... How are they doing?"

She shrugged softly, "Industrious sorts when they're not kidnapping ponies. I hear they've put together a new construction company and are going to town, bidding against the biggest and best with lower prices."

Silver considered this, "Makes sense... With the majority of their workforce willing to put in more than a full day's work for food." He jumped as her hoof wandered someplace it shouldn't. She apologized, and the measuring was soon complete.

Silver departed onto the streets just as Luna's voice whispered, ~The human arrives shortly. Proceed to the train.~

He nodded though Luna had no chance to see it, and headed at a healthy trot towards the station, whistling as he went. The city had, as a whole, not changed much since he arrived, but the occasional changeling flittering through the air in addition to the pegasus or two was new. The ponies went about their business, not paying much mind to the small fanged unicorn that moved through them.

He could see the train coming up the mountain. It would arrive in a few minutes. Silver trotted up to a bench and parked himself on it, trying on a whim to sit the way Lyra did that one time. Turns out it's uncomfortable. He slid down to his haunches instead, preferring the ground to the pose.

The train came to a gentle chugging stop, and ponies disembarked. He cast his eyes upwards, looking over the heads of the ponies, but no human came into sight right away. She had snuck up on him mid-yawn, "Hi there."

He jumped in place and looked around, spotting her. She was perhaps thirteen. She was far closer to the key demographic of the show he now lived than he ever was. She pointed at him, "You're the one I'm supposed to find, right?"

He smiled, "If you're looking for Silver Stars, yes."

She looked confused, "I thought they said Silver Lining."

He wobbled a hoof, "That's still me. I've had a few names. I was a human once, you know."

Her eyes went wide, "What?! No way!"

~Did you find her?~ came Luna's soft voice in his mind.

~I did. She will not be serving as a broodmare for a few years yet.~ Silver chuckled softly at his internal monologue, "What's your name?"

She pointed at herself, "Elizabeth." She suddenly reached for him and began petting him. He found it was a lot harder to get angry at a young girl taking liberties compared to Jake, and felt a little guilty for being angry at him for it.

Silver noted, "You should ask the locals before petting them."

She scratched behind one of his ears, making a hind leg thump on the ground, "You don't seem to mind."

Silver shook his head slowly, "I don't, but I'm also a human. You're adorable to me."

She huffed, but seemed to appreciate being called cute, "You look smaller than the other ponies. Are you my age?"

Silver considered that. He wasn't far off from her age, physically, but the whole answer was more complicated. "I have a job, and a cutie mark, that makes me an adult around here." That seemed a safe answer. "Right now that job is to escort you. I will keep you safe, and show you around." They left the train station and began walking side-by-side down the street, "How long have you been here, in Equestria?"

Elizabeth suddenly grabbed him around the neck from behind. He squeaked, then realized she was hugging him from behind. He held still for it, "What brought this on?"

Elizabeth let him go at last, "You're the first pony more around my size. Can I ride you?"

Silver considered that... "I... could try? I'm not the strongest pony on the block. Big Mac I am not."

She stuck out her tongue, "I bet he'd be way too big." When he lowered to his belly, she quickly scrambled up and he raised again. He was comically small for a true mount, with her feet held just barely free of the ground, but she was having a grand time of it, and soon they were trotting along.

Silver swiveled an ear back towards her, "Are you hungry?"

Elizabeth bobbed her head, "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

A glance at the sky showed it was mid-afternoon, "Alright, let's fix that. In case you weren't told by Twilight, ponies around here tend to eat vegetarian. Fish is accepted as a curious delicacy to some, mammals are right out, unless you go to a griffon or dragon establishment, and I haven't seen any of the latter in Canterlot."

She shook her head with some confusion, "That was a lot of stuff. Go someplace that has yummy things."

"Yummy it is," agreed Silver, carrying his passenger along. It felt oddly nice to help the girl. It was his first guard duty, and he meant to do it well. "How did you end up here, in Equestria that is."

He felt her drape over his back, "I was being dumb..."

"Oh?" asked Silver, "How so? I won't laugh, promise."

He felt an ear be pinched between fingers, "You better not! My mother sent me to bed without dinner because I wasn't doing my homework and got a bad grade. I was so mad, I wished I could run away, and it... kinda came true."

Silver recovered the ear with a soft twitch before he looked over his shoulder, seeing Elizabeth across his back, her head about equal with his own, though held up. "Regretting it? I can't help you get back, but this isn't so bad a place."

She made a noncommittal noise. He trotted up to a small stand offering carrot dogs and oat burgers, but they moved past, deciding the girl deserved a treat. He ended up soon at a place called 'The Eagle's Meow', a griffon eatery. The waitress was a pegasus mare who smiled at them brightly, though some confusion and curiosity played in her eyes. "Table for two?"

Silver nodded, "Please. If you have a private area, I'll take that."

She seemed to check a small board, "Not taken at the moment, but there is an extra twenty percent fee for it." When Silver nodded, she snatched two menus with her wings and led the way. The private area was cozy, with a single low table with four large cushions around it. It was lit by a candle with three tops.

Silver settled onto one of the cushions and shook himself a little. "Ride's over. Take a seat."

Elizabeth dismounted and patted him on the head before moving to sit across from him, "You are a fine steed."

He wasn't sure how to take that, but decided to accept it as a genuine compliment. "This is one of those griffon places I mentioned."

The pegasus, still there, nodded in agreement, "That it is, best in Canterlot!" She offered a menu to each of them, "I suggest the linguine with meatballs, seasonal special."

Silver tilted his head at the pegasus, "How do you... deal with serving so much food you don't eat?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Says who? Just cause ponies don't normally eat it doesn't mean they all can't. Besides, my father's a night guard, like you, with wings. I'll be right back with some water." And she was gone.

Elizabeth looked at her menu curiously a moment, then shrugged, "I'll take what she suggested. Can I have some ice cream after?"

Silver smiled, "My treat, yes. I'm not the human ambassador anymore, but that doesn't mean I stopped caring about my fellow humans."

Elizabeth was easily cheered, "You're the best." She flipped the menu over to where a dessert selection hid and pointed, keeping her finger on it as a reminder. "So why did you become a pony? Will I turn into a pony? I hope it's a pegasus!"

Silver held up a hoof, "A question first. How far along did you see the series?"

"MLP? Uh... I just kinda watched it once in a while..." she confessed guiltily.

Silver huffed, "Alright, so you're flying blind, but you have friends. You will not become a pony unless that's something you really really want and you have to earn it." He waved a hoof, "Nothing wrong with being human. I chose to be a pony, and it's been a long hard trip. It has its perks though."

He pulled out his book of spells just as the pegasus returned. She set out two glasses of water and a large pitcher, "Have you decided what you want to order today?"

Elizabeth eagerly ordered her pasta dish, which Silver echoed. It'd been a while since he had the dish, and he looked forward to it. The pegasus smiled and departed after that. Elizabeth took up her glass, drinking deeply a moment before she looked over Silver, "Unicorn huh? Can you do spells?"

Silver tapped the book he had pulled out, "Exactly why I took this out." He flipped through it with his magic, looking for the less offensive spells he had tucked in there. Ah, there was one, one of Trixie's. He played the magic quickly and small fireworks exploded around him harmlessly as a short introductory blare of music played on instruments that were not there.

Elizabeth clapped her hands, a sound he hadn't heard in a while, "Is that your specialty? Are you like Tricky?"

Tricky? Oh... "Trixie is my adoptive mother, actually. I copied her spell." He stuck out his tongue suddenly, "I'm a boy pony, so I blow more things up."

She rolled her eyes, "Boys."

He grinned at her, "I'm joking around. My cutie mark isn't an explosion."

She leaned off to the side, peering at his scribble of a cutie mark, "What is it?"

Silver tapped at his book, "I make spells. Combining them is fun and fast, but new ones I can do too, but those take a lot longer. The best part is, once I make the spell, other unicorns can use them."

"That's really handy," she agreed. "What do you think my cutie mark'd be?"

Silver shrugged, "I don't know you near well enough. Humans don't have any, and we manage just fine."

Their meal arrived, a large plate with a generous portion on each. Silver made a note to frequent this place more often as they began to eat happily. If nothing else, having another human around was fun, even if she was a bit young.

Author's Notes:

Introducing Elizabeth! You know, the kinda girl they made the show for in the first place?

They do exist, really! I didn't just make it up for this story! I did make up the typos. Sorry.

PS: If you've read this far into the series, and haven't already, take a moment to slap the little thumbs up on the stories up to here! I appreciate the support.

Next Chapter: 6 - To the Castle Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 4 Minutes
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