[PAGE 0991 - CHAPTER 8]

The Gryphon conflict was not because of their greed and hunger for more land. They eventually retaliated because the Queen's Guard personally kicked the hornet's nest one time too many.

Ever since we established relations with them, the Queen had antagonized them under the table. No pony ever found out, except me.

I know why she did it. She conceived the gryphons as a potential threat- what with their relatively imposing size and weaponry. She might as well show them She did that because she knew that ponies, despite their degraded combat nature, had beaten the infinitely worse Rhinos for a reason.

The gryphon conflict you all look back on as a symbol of Equestrian pride, was an immature display of citizen relations. I had gryphon friends for Celestia's sakes!

Anyway, I decided to leave one day. They gave me some wine as a farewell gift. They were so kind back then- back before we pissed them off.

I don't remember much after that. I think there was something about ponies trying to develop "escapism."

One night, on the way to Everfree Palace, I discovered this true beauty sitting atop a hill on the side of the road. She had the sure signs of a unicorn. Her mane blended with the night sky- almost as if she was the source of the glimmering blackness.

She was more beautiful than my previous descriptions of Galaxia.

"Hail, fair mare," said I... MAN, that looks like some overly-chivalrous crap.

"And to you," she replied, "What are you doing awake?"

I told her the truth: I rather like the night. A much deeper truth was that it was safer for an immortal like me- with the knowledge I have- to travel at night.

She looked rather... stunned, actually. I couldn't figure out why. After all, I did tell the truth- that was something the Guard trained us in even back in the disorganized militia days.

"You enjoy the night?" she asked disbelievingly.

"More so than the day time, to be honest."

She smiled. To me, it shone brighter than Celestia's sun.

"What's your name?" The mare asked.

"I'm Frozen Waters," I replied, hoping I had a chance this time around. I was rather lonely, and it had been a while since my most recent old friends passed away.

"I am Luna, Princess of the night," she replied in an overly dramatic, yet hushed tone. Her wings appeared. In the darkness of night, I did not notice her gift of flight.

I immediately dropped in a respectful bow everypony does to royalty. This wasn't Galaxia. I could not judge her children by their parent.

"Rise, Frozen Waters," Luna ordered rather softly.

As I complied, she asked "Why do you enjoy the night?"

"Mostly the sky," I replied as I looked straight up, "When you look up while lying down, you get a studded blanket, and it's like the ultimate connect the dots project."

"Mostly," Luna repeated. She expected more, smart mare.

"I find it safer," I continued.

That was the point where she was confused. "Safer?" she asked.

Indeed, night time was safer. I couldn't die.

"Are you hurt?" Luna said.

"What?" I asked. I hadn't looked in a mirror in ages, but he didn't think he looked that terrible.

"You have scars."

"Oh, these," I replied. Even with my rapid regeneration, the wounds left permanent marks to prove I had been damaged there at all. "I'm fine."

She was a beaut... She asked me how I got them. I told her about the Rhino War, my immortality.

"We cannot die either," Luna suddenly said as I was telling her about the time Kurgan Indrik captured me. "Tia, Mother, we can't die either."

"I'm certain winged unicorn are different," I said.

"Then what made you so special?" She asked.

I had no answer. I was just an earth pony from a town that had faded away. I was the last of my family. Everyone else had become genetically diverse to the point where proving my relations to anyone was impossible.

I've lost count of the years at this point, but I still remembered what one of my drill sergeants said. He said "Rhinos threatened the peace of Equestria, like Wendigos did before Equestria. If you pukes lack the proper motivation, you will not save Equestria. You will allow Equestria to burn, and you will be dead ponies. Then you will be in a world of darkness, because ponies are not allowed to die without permission!"

Here I sat, unable to die even with permission, in a world filled with darkness, sitting next to the Princess who ruled said darkness.

"Are there others like us?" Princess Luna asked.

"Kurgan Indrik," I said. I knew of no others.

"Kurgan Indrik," Luna repeated, "That explains it."

I agreed. Of all the creatures who existed on the planet, Kurgan Indrik had to be unable to die. I sat down where I stood. We both looked at the stars. I had counted them all. "I'm jealous of my sister," Luna suddenly admitted.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Everypony sleeps through this," She indicated the very sky we looked at.

"I don't."

She looked at me. I didn't turn my head to see, but somehow I knew.

She was a real beauty... an immortal beauty...

I pondered what exactly would result from the relationship between a winged unicorn and a non-winged unicorn. I wish I could have children... They would have been strong and fine.

---

Silver woke up for the seventh time in Ponyville. A week had passed, and the rooster out at a nearby farm blared its natural foghorn to indicate Celestia's handiwork a success.

His eyelids had a difficult time staying open. He was up for a fair portion of the night reading through the thousands of pages. He checked his current marked page, finding he had reached almost five thousand.

"Luna's socks," he cursed as he hoisted himself up onto the edge of the admittedly comfy bed. He accidentally slid off the side and slumped onto the carpeted floor like a sack of potatoes.

He groaned a tired blather and pushed himself up again. With a stretch on his hind legs, he approached the closed door of Room 6.

Kurt stood outside. His head turned to the scriptwriter as he opened the door.

"Good morning," Kurt said.

"Morning," Silver replied.

"I'm going for a morning gallop," the giant said, "I'll be back in an hour."

Silver nodded, but he didn't really listen. Kurt nodded in acknowledgement and trotted downstairs to the front double doors.

Before he closed the door once more, he spotted Trixie exiting her own room. She appeared equally as tired.

"Good morning, Trixie," Silver managed to call.

Trixie waved a hoof. She looked fatigued, and unkept. There was a subtle sheen- dried sweat.

"What were you doing last night?" Silver asked.

"Training," Trixie said, the only unslurred word she's said this morning.

"Training," the scriptwriter repeated.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does this to stay great and powerful," She said.

Silver nodded. No point in arguing.

"What about you?" She asked as she approached Silver.

"Reading that book as usual."

"What page are you on?"

"Five thousand and nineteen," Silver replied.

"Anything happen?"

"Frozen Waters met Princess Luna," Silver started. With a pause, he continued. "And... I'm starting to see why they don't want this book out in public."

"How so?" Trixie said.

"I can't describe it." Silver looked at the other doors on the floor, before he remembered Mirra and Max had left two days ago, and no other guests had arrived, "You know that breakthrough medicine that beat the Green Hoof pandemic?"

Trixie paused, then shook her head.

"It's one of those things that some schlock science fiction films often take on as a backdrop- namely the return of it. Mostly the re-purposed disease created pony zombies."

Trixie maintained her confused expression.

"But a long time ago, it was a real disease that struck Equestria, and almost killed us outright."

"But the medicine saved us." Trixie said.

"In the history books, they thanked the efforts of Thadius Von Trottingham- the same pony that my town was named after."

"Well that's pretty coo-"

"The medicine was stolen from a zebra tribe. Thadius didn't do a single thing."

Trixie blinked, absorbing the information.

"Could I ask you to take out a book from the library?" Silver asked.

Almost immediately, and suddenly awake, she shook her head.

"Why not?" The scriptwriter asked.

Trixie failed to provide an answer.

"Okay, nevermind. I'll get it myself," he said as he closed Room 6's door behind him and followed Kurt's previous footsteps. Trixie remained on the side, but then reluctantly started to follow.

"Wait a sec," Silver said before he galloped back to his room. He made sure his page was marked and shoved the massive tome into his saddlebags.

Trixie waited for the scriptwriter by the double doors. Once he caught up, the duo left the bed & breakfast to take in the morning air.

---

Ponyville was as familiar as Trottingham at this point. An entire week spent here- albeit mostly spent in Room 6, reading Frozen Waters' magnum opus.

"He's losing his mind, so he's writing down everything he can remember," Silver continued to the street magician, "All the proper procedures in carpentry, masonry, herbs and potion-making, Earth Pony magic potential, martial arts- he's even drawn pictures to go with them. It's made this book a rather fast read."

"Well, a fast read is good," Trixie commented, "Especially since we're still on a time budget."

Silver almost wanted to ask what the magician's problem with Ponyville was, but a distraction arose in the form of a pink pony with crazy hair.

"Hi!" the pink one called cheerfully to Silver.

"Hello," Silver replied.

"I don't think I've seen you before," she said, "That means a welcome party is in order!"

"Actually, I've been here for about a week."

The pink one gasped, as if that were an inequine crime. "I'm late! I just got back yesterday!"

"What about Trixie?" Silver asked.

The pink one seemed to ignore the question. Instead, she grabbed the skinny indigo scriptwriter and yanked him away from the library, and toward what appeared to be a gingerbread house.

"Trixie!" Silver called. This pink one scared the crap out of him.

Trixie attempted to catch up, but even carrying a pony, the pink one was abnormally fast.

Suddenly, Silver felt his head impact against the top of a doorframe. He face-planted on the floorboards of the gingerbread house.

"Oop, sorry!" the pink one sounded genuinely regretful... but then that aura passed like lightning. "I know what will fix that!"

"No!" Silver shouted as he scrambled to his hooves.

He then spotted a spontaneous crowd all shouting. "Welcome!" Silver cringed at the loud noises he wasn't at all used to. Trottingham was a rather silent place now that he thought about it. His head started to ache.

He leaned to the side. His fatigue, coupled with the hit on the head and the loud welcome. He couldn't take it.

"Silver," Kurt's voice pierced the rest.

Silver's eyes were locked shut to drown out the pain that rushed into his noggin. The loud noises that thumped at his head made minutes feel like hours.

Why did that pink one have to hit his head on the door frame. Check that, why did he raise his head in the first place to call to Trixie? She had no point to be with him and Kurt in the first place.

"Hi Kurt! Long time no see!" the pink one replied. "I brought tulips!"

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie," Kurt said as he hoisted the scriptwriter onto his back, "But no thanks."

"Aww," Pinkie said, "But you love tulips!"

"Yeah, and I'll be back for some, but Silver is in no shape for a loud party."

"Why's that?"

The music dropped in volume. Everypony started to wear concerned expressions on their faces. They appeared to just notice the scriptwriter was in agony.

Kurt didn't answer. He simply left with Silver in tow.

Trixie finally caught up. "What happened?"

"Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie... I guess," Kurt replied.

Pinkie Pie caught up in almost an instant. "Oh, did I do that?" She asked. Her voice sounded genuinely apologetic. "I'm so super-duper sorry!"

Silver could barely keep consciousness at this point. Sure a knock on the head and loud noises was be as pleasant as pleasant as a rock to the eye, or a bear claw to the face... or something less lethal, but still quite annoying.

Eventually, amidst Kurt trying to get Pinkie Pie away from the scriptwriter, Silver finally dropped into an unconscious state.

---

Silver awoke in his bedroom once more. The headache was gone, but he could feel the goose egg on the back of his head. With a gentle rub of the bump, he rose.

It was later in the afternoon, judging by the light pouring in from the rather small windows.

The scriptwriter glanced to the right. Nothing of note, save for the decorative doodads atop the functional dressers and desks. On the walls are generic print pictures framed by ornate-looking frames. On further examination, anypony would notice the ultimate cheapness of the setup.

Well, Silver thought, something needed to be sacrificed to make budget for the building itself.

He turned to the right. Pinkie Pie was there.

"Luna's Socks!" Silver cursed as he fumbled his way to the opposite edge of the bed.

The pink one was holding what appeared to be an opened box- which revealed a decorated cake. Candied sauce of some kind was drawn into an almost generic-looking "I'm super-duper sorry" message.

"I'm sorry about that bump on the head," she said with the most unbelievably adorable eyes the scriptwriter had ever seen.

Reluctantly, and silently, Silver accepted the cake-filled box.

The younger, bouncy young mare continued staring at the scriptwriter.

"Um..." Silver said after a few seconds of silence.

"Don't worry. The cake is free! That's a sign of a good society! Free cake!"

"Thank you," the scriptwriter finally said.

"I wanted to throw the party for you because you're new to Ponyville, and anyone new to Ponyville makes friends with everyone in Ponyville!"

"Yeah," Silver replied, "I had a hunch that was happening from the surprise party."

"Ooh! You did see it!" Pinkie Pie started hopping on the spot as if she was on a permanent sugar high, "Were you surprised?"

"The hit in the head kind of ruined it," Silver replied candidly, "Sorry." Deep down, he wondered what exactly this pink ball of consistent excitement was going to do.

Miraculously, Kurt entered.

"Silver, we've got a problem," he said.

Silver's heart stopped for a few seconds. A problem even compared to the goose egg? The burgundy giant had to be kidding.

Pinkie Pie's hopping stopped at the mention of a problem. "There's a problem? Ooh! I love solving problems!"

"The Tux ponies have arrived."

Silver cursed and looked around for the book.

"Where is it?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know!" Silver replied in a panic.

"Where's what?" Pinkie asked.

"The book!" the giant and scriptwriter shouted at once.

"Oh, that heavy thing? I gave it to Twilight. I thought it was hers."

Kurt's eye twitched. Silver was about to rant at the pink one... but this could serve to their advantage.

"Twilight," Kurt repeated.

"Yep!"

Kurt sheepishly looked to the carpet-covered floor for a second or two. His gaze then shot back up to the two ponies.

"Pinkie, you know this building well?"

"Well duh!" the pink one replied, "I know everypony in Ponyville. I have hiding places everywhere in case of an emergency!"

"Good. Find one in this building that Silver can hide in."

"What about you?" Silver asked.

"Don't worry about me," the burgundy one shouted back as he bounded out the door.

Silver closed the cake box. Pinkie Pie gestured the scriptwriter to follow to the cheap, yet functional dressers.

The Pink Pony appeared to press something, which caused a few floorboards to swing open. Within was a surprisingly well-kept cache of... random widgets. There were balls, toys, umbrella hats, black suits, camo gear, and canned sweetgrass.

Pinkie gestured the scriptwriter to get in there. He personally didn't need telling twice.

Once he got comfortable, Pinkie closed up the cache. Darkness reigned from there.

Silver didn't dare make a sound... but the cake smelled so delicious.