Silver strode down the gangplank and into the city proper. The cats glanced at him curiously as he passed. Why not? He was a curious-looking figure. He got directions from a loitering feline and made his way to a library. Inside he greeted the elderly tomcat. "Good day. I'm looking for a book on Saddle Arabian magic, several, if you have them."

He raised a brow. "It doesn't do much good for ponies that aren't of the right breeding, as much in their blood as anything else." He pointed at Silver's horn. "Like trying to do unicorn magic without a horn."

Silver nodded. "Be that as it may, call it curiosity. How many do you have?"

He slid up to his paws and quickly retrieved a set of three books. "These were given as payment by a cat down on her luck. Maybe they were meant for you? Twenty-five bits and they're yours."

Silver considered that a moment. If the Text were still watching him and adjusting the paths, then perhaps the books truly were meant for him. He pulled out the coins and set it in the cat's outstretched paw before accepting the books. "Thank you." He tucked them away in his saddlebags and trotted quickly back towards the boat before remembering he had fine wings to use. He took to the sky, enjoying the caress of the wind around him before he came down lightly on the deck.

When he touched down, he felt suddenly tired. A little nap couldn't hurt, could it? Silver sank to his belly and nodded off without much delay, only to awaken on his bed, his Earth bed, owned by his old human self. He looked around, was he dreaming? He didn't feel like he was dreaming. The room looked neater than it usually did.

The door leading into the hallway opened and a human casually walked in, and Silver went rigid. It wasn't just any human, it was himself.

David looked at Silver with a blink. "Who put this here?" He wandered over and began petting Silver across the mane and neck and he smiled. "It's the big plushie I always wanted, and it doesn't look deformed like a lot of the big ones tend to. Aren't you the cutest little hellspawn?"

Silver found himself being hugged by his human self and the confusion only grew. The shield that protected him from view seemed to be working, he was a doll in David's eyes. After a moment of thought, he nodded. "David, don't freak out."

David jumped with surprise. Silver smiled. "I'm making your dream come true today."

David stood straight up. "This is, fucking hell this is cool. What's your name?"

Silver pointed at David. "I think I'm a parallel you. It's a long long story, but I want to make sure you're close enough to me to get the feelings right. Are you a bit lonely?"

David frowned at that, but he didn't deny it, enough of an answer.

Silver softly patted the bed. "Sit with me." David looked hesitant. "It doesn't matter if I'm a guy or a girl. Hell, I'm you. Sit with me. We won't do anything unless you want to, but sit with me."

David slid up beside him and Silver rolled over to expose his belly. He pulled David in warmly on that small bed. To make room they had to get close, which is what Silver intended. He cuddled and nestled with his human self, then let out a bit of a giggle. "I'm not sure what this counts as."

With the ice broken, the snuggling became a bit more enthusiastic. He rolled up on top of Silver, pushing Silver onto his back as David laid belly-to-belly with him. "Can you do magic too?"

Silver nodded at the question. "And, compared to you, I have basically no inhibitions. I don't know how long I'll be here, but if I can make, uh, me, happy, let's take advantage of the moment."

David frowned a little. "Not here to stay? Well..." He ran curious fingers along Silver's belly and chest fur. "Can I come with you?"

Silver smiled. "You already said yes to that offer once, and that's how I came to be. You stay here, do some good. This world needs you, I think." Seeing David didn't look entirely satisfied with that answer, Silver leaned in and touched him with his horn, sending a surge of magic through David. His human self gave a surprised grunt as something changed. "There, now you have something to set you apart, even if you probably shouldn't show it off."

David looked over his shoulder at his back end. "Did you do what I think you did?"

Silver grinned. "If you're me, then I think you'll like it."

David shuddered softly. Again, he didn't argue it. He had the silence that Silver had worked so hard to fight against. Silver leaned in and rubbed noses gently. "You don't need to keep secrets from me. I am you."

He was still silent, but he softly stroked along Silver's neck a moment. "Do you have to go?"

Silver smiled. "As amusing as it would be to live with myself and commit what is either masturbation or incest, I do have a family, a pony family, and I have to get back to them. You'll have to get your own family, and it can't be yourself, that isn't right."

The room went dark, and words appeared beside them, and Silver paled at the snout.

Do you wish to accompany him?

"Yes!" said David without hesitation.

Silver tried to speak up against it, but felt what seemed like a great hand gently holding his snout shut.

You may bring one thing with you. What will it be?

David looked uncertain a moment. "If he's going to be there, I doubt I'll need too much." Silver winced internally. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so nice to himself, though at least...

Since you have taken nothing, I will place you where you wish to be. Good luck.

The darkness faded and they were on the boat. Silver was holding his human self, and the ponies in the immediate area were peering at them curiously.

David looked around from on top of Silver, eyes wide with wonder at the new world he was in.

Silver let out a little sigh and gently wriggled out from under David. "Welcome to Equestria, at least the world. Please, stay close. We should go talk to Celestia."

David looked shocked. "She's here, or can you send a letter, like Spike?"

The question was answered as Celestia walked towards them from across the deck. David somehow managed to look more surprised than he already was, and hid against Silver.

Celestia glanced between Silver and David. "I trust there is a story coming shortly?"

Silver smiled sheepishly. "There is. Care to retire and share it?"

She led the way for the human and her stallion to the dining room and closed the door with her golden magic. "He looks just as Luna described, if I hadn't seen Jake, I would think all human males looked this way."

David raised a brow. "There are other humans here?"

Silver pointed at himself with a hoof. "Besides me, who is you?"

Celestia shook her head. "He's you?"

David had put the pieces together. "Another version of him, from another Earth I guess?" He looked over Celestia and Silver, finding plenty to marvel at in both. "And we're both in Equestria?"

Celestia shook her head. "This is Anugypt, but we're setting sail for Equestria shortly." She smiled gently. "Do you share his good heart?"

David stiffened a little. "I try to?"

Silver sighed softly. "This is partially my fault, and Text's. Well, you're here, I'm not going to abandon myself of all people."

Celestia circled around David slowly. "This is what you looked like then? I am Celestia, as I assume you know. Since Silver has accepted responsibility for you, I will as well. I'm sure you must be full of questions."

David looked to Silver. "How much of what I think I know is true?"

Silver laughed. "That's a loaded question, but a lot of it, if your show's the same as mine. We have earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns." He pointed at Celestia. "She's all three, just like me, and there's Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, and Luna."

David nodded slowly. "Alright, and there's a human around? Still a human, or do they all end up ponies like you?"

Silver tapped his chin. "Two at least. Jake's friend. I saw him at a convention and he was doing quite well with some pony friends."

David chuckled a little. "I guess I would be the person to rush into being a pony. Speaking of which, you kind of nudged me along." He reached for his butt and worked down his pants, letting a luxurious tail of brown fur pop free.

Celestia frowned. "Silver, you know that's not right. What would he do if he had stayed on his world, as the only human with a tail?"

Silver shrugged softly. "Been famous?"

David smirked as his other self's humor. "There is that." He made a placating gesture at Celestia. "I'm not mad or anything."

Celestia stomped the ground. "Sun above! Now there's two of you!"

Silver leaned in and whispered to David, "I'm not good at getting angry either. You might want to at least act a little miffed when people deserve it. Which I do, I should point out." Silver sat down in front of David. "Are you upset, being dragged here?"

David shook his head a little. "It was my choice, who would I be mad at? Is it that bad around here?"

Silver perked an ear. "It can be."

The motion of that ear caught David's attention. While he seemed to defer to Celestia's imposing presence, his other-self seemed to hold little intimidation over him, and he began rubbing one of those furry ears. Silver tensed in surprise, but quickly began to relax. "This is one of the stranger things I've indirectly caused."

Celestia let out a little sigh. "Introduce him to your servants. We don't need them being surprised by him. I assume he'll be with you for some time." She didn't try to approach the still-timid version of Silver, and instead excused herself.

"You have servants?"

Silver nodded. "Three mares."

David raised a brow. "Are you sure you're me?"

Silver smiled at the skepticism. "Even you can learn to have company. They're all pretty nice, come on, I'll introduce you to them."

They went off together and came across Bottom first. Bottom looked surprised to see a human, but smiled and bowed to Silver.

Silver gestured to David with a wing. "Bottom, this is David. He'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future."

Bottom nodded at David. "Nice to meet you, sir." She leaned to the side a bit. "Do humans normally have tails?"

David blushed a little through his dark skin. "That was a gift from Silver." He leaned towards Silver. "And really, Silver? You couldn't come up with a better name?"

Silver fluffed up a bit. "What's wrong with Silver Stars?"

Bottom looked between the two. "There's nothing wrong with that name, sir. Are you looking for the others?" Silver nodded. "Fiddah is down below, and Shei is up in the ropes."

Silver wondered what Shei was doing there, but decided to go to Fiddah first. Soon David was introduced to all the mares, and seemed a little relaxed, even if he insisted he would forget their names shortly.

Author's Notes:

Could this story get more confusing? Say hello to the living typo that is David, not to be confused with Silver, his other self. At least they're getting along.