Silver trekked through the sand for several days. He learned swiftly to sleep during the day, which is when he left little notes in Celestia's mental realm, letting her know that he was safe and still traveling. While he walked, he read, and he felt whole. He wished he was back at Twilight's library, not just for Twilight's company, but for access to her many books to mix and match spells from.

It was on the dawn of the fourth day, when he was walking slowly and working out the kinks that developed from sleeping, that a heavy spear landed in the sand before him. Acting reactively, a shield sprung up around him, ready to turn back the force of any assailant on themselves and destroy them with their own aggression.

Several bipedal jackals stepped out with finely-made weapons at the ready. They wore necklaces of jewels, trinkets, and bones, and had loin clothes that protected their groins from view. They had hands, that gripped at their weapons. One had a wickedly sharp-looking sword, another a long spear, and a third a trident.

With the sound of something striking the sand, Silver turned to see several more of them aiming at him with longbows. A warning shot?

"Are you lost?" asked the one in the front, staring at Silver. "Wandering the desert, alone, with no trade goods?"

Silver dipped his head a little and banished the shield. "I am a little lost. Can you help me?"

The jackal laughed and stepped forward. "Give me that and I might." He grabbed for Silver's necklace, but found the band wouldn't so much as budge on his throat.

Silver dipped his ears. "I'm afraid that's cursed. I'm stuck with it."

The jackal frowned. "We could cut off your head, that might work." He reached past to Silver's wings and examined them as his eyes went to his horn. "Who are you?"

Silver rose to his full height. "I am Prince Silver Stars, of Equestria."

His hand pinched at Silver's wing, which brought a wince out of him quickly. "A prince?" The other jackals began to laugh and leer.

One pointed at Silver. "Equestria is soft. They will pay richly for his safe return."

The one in front nodded. "You heard him. You're coming with us. Don't fight. We'd rather you in good condition, but we'll cut you if we have to." He pulled Silver along by his necklace, but Silver didn't plan to struggle, and they were soon walking side-by-side instead. "You're a curious one, bat pony. Why aren't you frightened?"

Silver perked an ear at him. "I'm giving you what you want, why would you hurt me?"

He laughed at the words. "Spoken like a true Equestrian. So soft and meek. And this is their prince? No wonder they have never been a true threat to us."

They took Silver through the sands for another few days of journey. During their sleeping times, one of the Anubians always slept practically on top of him, keeping an eye on him, but Silver never tried to escape or gave them trouble. He watched and he listened.

The Anubians that escorted him were all male. They all seemed to defer to the one that spoke to him at first, but they would occasionally try to lobby for positions. They would argue, or fight, but it was short-lived, and the loser accepted it well enough and they resumed whatever they were in the middle of before then.

"Do you have females?" asked Silver as they walked along.

The one closest to him burst into laughter that drew the leader over. When he was told what the question was, he huffed. "You'll meet some soon enough. Considering the uses we've had for stallions in the past, some may 'borrow' you for a while. Is that why you came to us, hoping for a fine evening with one of our women folk?"

Silver feared he had asked the wrong question. "Oh, no. I mean, I'm not here to do that."

He tugged Silver by his necklace. "You're here to do whatever we want. If one of them tells you to follow, you damn well better do what she asks. They know how to fight too, and they won't hesitate to beat down a little soft pony if it back talks her."

The other Anubian who had laughed died down to little snickers. "The leader of our band is a bitch. If she wants you, you better not keep her waiting, or she'll mess you up good, pony."

Silver softly cleared his throat. "I was just curious. You're all males, so I wondered."

The jackal raised an ear. "Other bands are different. Luck of the draw. I've fought alongside bitches before. What about you, pony? You ever fight a bitch?"

Silver considered that. "Well, I assume you mean any female. I've fought one before, and fought alongside one before. I prefer to be on their side most of the time. I remember one that almost killed me recently. She wouldn't stop stabbing me."

The jackal broke into a new fit of laughter, and the conversation died with his amusement over Silver's painful encounter.

They arrived in the dark of night. The camp had a few lanterns set out, but even those were covered to keep the light they spilled out to a minimum. It would be hard to spot this camp from afar, which Silver assumed to be the point. He was led to a tent that had heavy bars going through the middle, and locked in on the far side. They didn't bind his hooves, but they did slip a horn blocker on, creating that annoying stuffed feeling.

He drew his magic away from the horn, minimizing the feeling as he felt out the other parts of his inside. Being horn blocked wasn't as terrifying as it once had been. He had a lot of other places to use magic from. Even his dick could become the focus of magic, though of a sort rarely useful in combat.

He decided to give a subtle message of his power and potential usefulness. He moved to the center of the sandy room and started pawing at the ground while envisioning the lush greens of Ponyville. Grass started to emerge. It was hesitant at first, but the more grass there was, the more grass wanted to come in to join it, and soon Silver settled down on a plush carpet of grass that spread out several feet in all directions. He sprawled out on the comfortable patch while feeding the vegetation with the stuffed up flow that would have idly powered his deactivated horn. The grass became bright and healthy, but he didn't encourage any further growth in it.

There he lay, king of the grass, until the flap of the tent was pushed up and a new Anubian entered. This one was clearly female. She had breasts, large and round and only partially concealed by her jewelry and decorations. They were the same sort the males wore, with gold and bones and other things that Silver had determined noted her achievements in life. Her hips were also covered in a loincloth, providing some modesty. His eyes were drawn to her furry breasts. He hadn't been in the company of actual breasts in...

She interrupted his thoughts with a quizzical noise. "Who put the tent on top of grass? Get up."

Silver rose and drew some of the vitality of the grass as he went, making it look like the grass was only green with his presence, which was true in a sense.

She raised a brow and gestured back down. "Down!"

He sank slowly to his belly as he fed power back into the grass, causing it to bloom green and vibrant. "Nice to meet you. I'm Prince Silver Stars."

She smirked at him. "Hello, pony prince. Are you prince of grass? Plants? You don't look like it."

Did she know something? Silver became quite curious. "Not precisely, but it's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

She moved to the door and unlocked it. "Come out."

Silver stepped from the room to stand before her, looking her over curiously. She was as tall as a human should be, which put her close to eye-to-eye with his alicorn self, though he was still a bit short with youth, which made her taller than he was. If one ignored her soft fur, ears, snout, and, tail, she was a woman. He felt a little odd being so close to something that even reminded him of a human female, though clearly not.

She seemed to notice his inspection. She brought up a grey-furred hand to cup his snout and turn his gaze to her eyes. "You clearly do not fear us. Are you here to sermonize us? Tell us why we've been bad?"

Silver decided honesty was a good tactic and smiled. "I want to see how I can help. I'm not here to lecture anyone, promise."

She frowned at him quizzically. "I see... And how could you help?"

Silver tilted his head, only to have her pull his head upright easily. "Mmf, I need to see more. I mean... I want to know why? I want to be a friend, and I can't help without knowing what needs help."

She cupped his face with both hands. Her claws scratched through his fur and felt kind of nice. "Weak little pony, you're really here to help? I can see the truth of your words. You hope to change our hearts, not through words, but actions."

Silver tensed a little, but nodded. "If I can have a chance? If you don't like what I say or do, you can kick me out. I want to be a friend though."

She smiled brightly, showing off her sharp canine teeth. "What a curious little pony you are. The spirits speak so very kindly of you, did you know?"

Silver perked an ear. "You can talk to the spirits?" There were spirits at all to be talked to?!

She nodded slowly. "They are sharing the most fascinating tales of you, pony. I am intrigued. You may call me Nefertari, and you are mine for now, pony prince." She pulled him down until he was sitting on his belly. "If you are good, you will have your chance. If you offend me, I will have you quartered and left to rot in the sun, damn the bounty we might have gotten from your return."

Silver felt nervous, but good. He smiled at her. "I will try to be a courteous guest then. Nefertari was it? I'm Silver."

She tapped his nose lightly. "You are my pony. Perhaps you'll earn your name back. Does that bother you?"

Silver spun an ear back. "Very well. I will be your pony."

His acquiescence seemed to please her, and she pet him as a reward. He felt a little guilty that her fingers working through his fur felt so damn good. Even as he soaked up the pleasure of her attention, he wondered about the spirits that she claimed to speak to. How much did they know about him, and would share with her? He had no magic that could reach a spirit, beside that one ghost he had managed to entomb.

"Pony, come." She gestured upwards. As soon as he stood up, she led him out of the tent and through the camp. Other Anubians watched them with a mixture of emotions. Curiosity, jealousy, and amusement were the dominant ones, but none stopped her from taking Silver to a larger tent. Her tent.

Author's Notes:

Silver encounters the enemy, but how will he turn them into friends?

Gift baskets full of typos seems like a bad idea.