Silver became dimly aware of existing. It was stronger than before. There, they could stand, and sit, and turn in place. They tried to look at themselves, but there was nothing there. They had no body, no form... Weren't they a horse? No, a human, or was it something else? Identities came and left like a breeze, leaving them with nothing but that general sense of existing.

A little horse appeared before him. "Hello." Silver wanted to greet it, but no words came out. No sound at all. The foal smiled and shook out his silver mane. "I'm you. As a boy I think, a colt. We don't understand much, but it would be nice if someone thought about us more often."

Silver felt sad a moment, and old memories returned, but his childhood had plenty of nice spots. Was he a horse then?

The little horse rolled over onto his belly in front of a television that wasn't there before. He played old games many never heard of on systems that were growing antiquated even before his time. He was happy exploring them. He enjoyed pulling some of them apart, learning the first shreds of programming. He giggled and smiled to himself. How did he type with hooves? He just did.

Was this him? No... The figure faded away, replaced with a new pony. "It was my mistake, wandering away from the light... I love the sun, you know, but it scared me, and now I've hidden in the dark." This one was still a stallion, a boy, though older, closer to mature. "Whenever I have the chance, I hold her. I hug the sun close and say nice things, but when she looks at me, she can see the night I have become and it makes her a little sad. She wants to love me, but I confuse her."

Was this him? Silver felt uncertainty growing. Something was missing. "I want love, but I don't know what love really is. I'll find out by loving as hard as I can."

Silver turned away, and another pony was there. This one was female. She had wings and a horn both. "I was pretty. One of my loves put a foal in me, then killed me. She cried so loudly. We forgave each other, and I loved her so deeply. They say they need a stallion. They need one so badly they asked me to go away, and let a stallion take my place. That... That made me sad, but my love was stronger. If a stallion would make my loves happy, then I would go away. I never left entirely... I love them. Besides, I was once a stallion myself. I could learn to be a man once again."

That word. Man... A human appeared before Silver. "Hello. We are confused, aren't we? We used to be human. We had fingers, and we wrote, and programmed, and other things fingers did, but we were alone and stayed in quiet. Being with the ponies has been painful, but never lonely... They don't let us be lonely. They never will. We may suffer, but we'll always have company."

Each shred seemed to have some bit of truth, and so much else. Silver didn't know where it began and ended. Silver didn't know where he began and ended. What was he? What had he been? He turned and Night Watch stood there. Her name seemed clear to him. She wore armor he didn't recognize. "Silver! Come back to me. We miss you... We miss you so much. I'm sorry I did this to you."

Rough Tumble took her place and he lowered his head. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you well enough. Your foals are safe, Silver Stars. I'll keep them safe, forever if I have to... As your dying command."

Spike replaced him. "Oh, uh, hi." He rubbed behind his head. "You were always that strange guy that Twilight talked about and hung out with, except you were a mare for a while? It's kind of confusing, but you were nice enough. Sucks about the whole dying thing. Good luck with that, wherever you are."

As awkward as the phrasing had been, Silver felt warmed by the simple words. Spike was a friend. Silver felt sure of this. What had Night Watch done? What did Rough Tumble fail to do?

Applejack and Rainbow Dash appeared. They were facing each other, talking as if Silver wasn't there. In a sense, Silver wasn't. "I tell ya, he ain't quite right."

Rainbow crossed her forelegs. "And I say he's awesome! What do you have against the guy, AJ?"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Nuthin'. He's fine, as a friend, but he ain't even a born pony. We can do better."

Rainbow poked Applejack in the chest. "And some ponies say I can do better than an earth pony, but you don't see me listening to them."

Applejack's eyes went wide. "They do not! Do they?"

They were gone. Silver wasn't sure what to take from the exchange. They weren't a pony, then they were?

You are nothing.

Silver started. Where had the words come from?

You are nothing.

Were they nothing? How could nothing wonder at being nothing?

You have played well and hard, now rest.

Did that make them something? Were they now something? What were they?

"You are a mother," spoke the female alicorn. "Proud and loving."

"You are a man, confused, but proud," spoke a human.

"You are a child, seeking love." The colt smiled up at them with a wagging tail.

You are done. You have done these things. It is over.

Rough Draft appeared. "You are my imagination come to life. You took on a life I never saw coming. I... I never know to be proud of myself, or a little jealous. Can we do both?"

Trixie gently nudged him aside. "Silly husband, it is he that should be jealous of you, for you have me as your wife, and he does not. What stallion could deny being jealous of that?" The two nuzzled warmly and faded from view.

All these people, they knew... How could Silver be nothing? Silver was... Silver was many things.

You were many things. Close your eyes and be still. You've earned your rest.

Fast Change sauntered towards Silver's non-form and leaned in. Without having lips, she still managed to kiss gently. "They're waiting for you."

Who was waiting? All of those ponies?

Why was everything so hard to put together?!

You are dead. You were burned. You died in a fire.

Silver heard laughing. Different voices giggled at the very idea of actually dying in a fire, as if the idea of it were just... ridiculous. Some cosmic joke. Silver didn't feel burned...

Luna appeared suddenly. "My husband, my son, my student all. You have been all these things to me, and I have been a poor mother, and a questionable wife." She spread a wing towards Silver. "Please, give me one more chance. Pony of the night, your mistress begs your audience. It is not yet time for you to go into that darkness."

Ignore her!

Silver didn't want to ignore her.

Why can't you just do what I tell you to do? Why do you always defy me?

Silver felt understanding. "Because we are good at ignoring our own best advice." The words stopped. "That's it, isn't it?" The silence felt almost palpable. "You are me... I am you." The silence felt like a rushing wave, overwhelming, but Silver had to speak. "Why do you want us to die?"

Our story is told.

Silver denied it. They denied it with every fibre of their ill-defined being. "Our story is not done. They miss us. They want us. They love us. I want them too... If our adventure is over, then we'll retire into their arms, not darkness."

The colt appeared with wagging tail. "Are you me?"

"Yes."

The man appeared. "Are you me?"

"Yes."

The alicorn mare appeared with elegant wings spread. "Are you me?"

"Yes."

You can't be them all.

Silver felt more and more certain. "I have been. I am. I will be. They are all me. I am all of them. They are all precious and wonderful."

Twilight appeared suddenly, her own wings spread. "You were my first true prince... Silver Stars, you claimed me as your mare, and I... I failed you when you needed me most. I love you. Please, return to us."

Silver could feel another self rising, but this alicorn stallion stood silently. He had died, and didn't argue for his place back. He just stood there, silent and still.

"Are you me?" asked Silver, but it didn't reply. Silver frowned at it. "Who are you, if you are not me?"

The stallion turned away from Silver. "I am dead. I am loved, but I am dead. Leave me."

Silver felt rebellion build powerfully and lunged for the stallion. Without a form, they crashed into the stallion and bore them to the undefined ground. "You are me!"

The stallion squirmed under Silver. "I am dead. If you are me, then you are dead."

Was he dead? Did he die?

You are dead. Relax. You fought long and hard. You can--

Silver lashed out, but they didn't know what they were lashing out at. "I'm not dead! I'm not dead! I'm here. I'm here and I want to live..."

The stallion rose to his hooves. "I wish I could go with you."

Silver denied the stallion. "You are me. I am not dead, you are not dead."

The alicorn female appeared beside the alicorn stallion, a curious reflection. "I know how you feel. I chose to be banished. It is like death, in a way, but there is hope, for both of us."

The stallion tilted his head at the female. "Are you me?"

The female smiled gently. "Yes."

They were both gone. Silver was left alone, still with no form, but with a renewed sense of purpose. They were alive. They were alive and they wanted to remain that way. They had ponies waiting for them, and they would find them, and be with them.

Beyond the reach of the infinite space, in the slightly more normalized world of Twilight's castle, Night Watch joined the battle with the bugbear, slowing its motions just enough to give Applejack and Rainbow an edge. They forced it into an abruptly present hole that sealed behind it, locking the beast into the ground up to its midsection.

Applejack shook her head. "This is gettin' outta control. Are ya sure Twilight's hanlin' it?"

Night turned and began to march back inside. "We've started it, we have to end it. Trying to quit would cause as much, if not more, harm than finishing. Have you seen the other girls?"

"Right here, darling." Rarity landed beside Night Watch with large butterfly wings and a smile. "I must say, I could stand without most of the chaos, but I have missed these just a little. They are quite fetching, are they not?"

Rainbow put a hoof over her face. "Rarity, only you would find time to admire them in the middle of all this. Is the castle clear?"

Rarity nodded. "Oh, yes, but we should really get back to Twilight. She looked a trifle overwhelmed."

They hurried for the castle, but found themselves disoriented as they stepped inside. They were bipedal abruptly, with so much less fur, flat faces, and other odd features. They were humans, but still recognizably themselves. Rarity still had her horn, Fluttershy and Rainbow still had their wings. They were colored right, and the curious clothes they wore had their cutie mark at their hip at about the right place. Night Watch stood there, a female human in her exotic armor with her wings fluttering into a folded position.

Twilight was already there, as bipedal as the rest, and focusing her magic with a pained and tired expression. "Everypony, gather around. It's time to finalize his form."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Will he look like he did before?"

Twilight shook her head. "Probably a bad idea. Trying to bring him back unchanged will cause the most harm. What is dead, is dead. He has to be something else, something not dead... Something he just left behind, or something new."

Night tilted her head and tried to twitch a tail that wasn't there. "Something new? I didn't even know that was an option."

Twilight winced as magic ran through her powerfully. "I need you all to focus... Focus as hard as you can. He will be what we want, no more or less. Just focus."

Author's Notes:

Twilight, these are things we go over BEFORE the universe is melting around our strange and human ears! It's like she's trying to create new breeds of typos.