“Thanks to you we know have a few forward outposts to use for defense.” Spitfire seemed a bit distracted.

“No problem. Now I think you have a payment for us.” Silver put a hoof on Spitfire’s desk.

“Yes I do.” She reached back and grabbed a bag. “Four bases that we can still use means four hundred caps for you.”

Silver grabbed the bag. “Thanks. We’ll be on taking the rest of those bases for the next few weeks. So I suggest making sure you have enough caps to pay us for our work.” Silver tossed me the bag of caps.

“I always pay my debts Silver. All of you are dismissed for today.” Spitfire turned away from us.

We all started to leave except for Silver. “Silver are you coming?” Spitfire mouthed something but I didn’t quite catch what she had said.

“I have a few things to discuss with Spitfire. You go on ahead. I’ll be back home in ten to fifteen minutes.” Silver turned back towards Spitfire.

“Ok then. Bye Silver.” I waved.

He said nothing more and walked into Spitfire’s office.

“Did something seem off to you?” Harmony and I were left to ourselves.

“Yeah. Something is troubling Silver. I’m not sure what it is but I know that something is bothering him. Do you think we should ask him about whatever it is?” Harmony seemed really worried for Silver.

“For all we know he could be staying back to buck Spitfire. We could try to convince him to talk to us about what is wrong but that could be harmful to his trust for us. I don’t think he trusts us completely yet anyways so it’s probably best to just leave it be.” I turned my gaze forward as we reached the door.

Harmony shrugged and we continued walking. The house was a short three minute trot from the center of town hall.

The sun was setting as we entered into our home. I was surprised to see a mare standing next to the oven.

“Who are you?” I reached out with my magic for one of my guns.

“I’m Rose. It’s nice to meet you all.” Rose had a way of putting me at ease.

“It’s nice to meet you too Rose. Now I would like to ask how you go into our house.” I still had ahold of my gun.

“Does a stallion named Silver not live here? I was told that he lived here and that if I wanted to surprise him I should be waiting here for him.” Rose stood up.

“He does live here but he never mentioned you.” I let go of my gun and stood in a normal way.

“Let me guess you’ve only known him for a few days haven’t you?” Rose sat back down.

“Yeah we have. How did you know that?” I was still quite suspicious of this mare.

“I know Silver really well. I knew that if you had known him for longer he probably would have told you about me.” Rose motioned for us to come closer.

“Well I suppose I should introduce the rest of us. That’s Harmony, Onyx, Demo, Stone, and I’m MIdnight.” I extend a hoof to her.

Rose reached out with a hoof of her own. “Well it is a pleasure getting to meet the ponies that Silver calls friends. I hope you don’t mind I made some food since I had the time.” She waved a hoof over the food on the table.

“It’s fine. Thank you for cooking for us.” I took a seat on one of the stools.

“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being rude since I am in your house without your permission.” Rose waited for all of us to join her before she grabbed some of the food.

“It’s fine Rose. Welcome to our home. How long do you plan on staying?” I was tearing into a couple of biscuits.

“Well I hope to stay here as long as I can. I don’t have a place of my own to return to. I came looking for Silver because I knew if I could find him he would have a place for me to stay. He made a promise to me over a year ago that if I were to find him he would let me stay with him.” She was taking small bites as she spoke.

“Well I wouldn’t have guessed that he made a promise like that but if he did you are welcome to stay here.” I tossed the rest of a biscuit into my mouth.

She smiled before turning back to the oven. “The pie is ready.” Her voice was a little sing song.

“Where did you get the ingredients to make a pie?” I continued to eat but slowed way down knowing there was desert.

“I looked around town for the best of what little food they had left. Eventually I found enough apples that were in good condition to make this pie. Silver loves apple pie so I figured it would be a great thing to go along with me returning.” She levitated the pie out of the oven.

I smiled at her. She was a earth pony. Her coat was a light purple color and her mane and tail were burgandy. She seemed a little too happy to be just an old friend of Silver’s. Silver walked through the door and immediately stopped.

“Rose.” I saw something I had never seen before at that moment. Silver was on the verge of tears. It was an odd sight to see this stallion who was always putting on a tough face actually break down and prepare to cry.

“Hello Silver. Long time no see huh?” Silver had jumped into the air and soared towards her. He was currently holding her in midair.

“So what’s going on here?” I was watching them twirl around in the air.

“Silver honey put me on the ground we have a few things to tell your friends.” He said nothing as he set her down. He never let her out of reach of his wing.

“So Silver do you want to explain who this mare is?” He was trying to stop his tears. It was a losing battle.

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll be better in a few minutes but for now I will tell you about who I am. Any question you want to ask before we start?” Rose put a hoof over Silver.

“Just one.” I had raised my hoof like I was in school.

“Ok.” She smiled as she patted Silver.

“What exactly is Silver doing right now?” I was referring to his wing being wrapped around her.

“Oh he’s just not letting go of me. Wrapping a wing around somepony is one of the best ways a pegasus can show that they care about you. Anything else?” She stopped patting Silver.

“No other questions.” I sat and watched them silently.

“Well as you know I’m Rose. I have been looking for this fine stallion for a year now. He has been a hard one to find but I’m glad I found him.” She nuzzled Silver.

“Rose.” Silver’s voice was very shaky.

“Yes honey.” Rose kept her muzzle at the base of Silver’s neck.

“I’m so happy to see you.” He wrapped his head around hers.

“I would never leave you on purpose but when you took off I couldn’t begin my search for you until my service was up. I would have come sooner but.” She was cut off as Silver kissed her. “I thought you had problems with that?” She was barely an inch away from Silver.

“Not in situations like this.” They both laughed.

“Do you two want to sit down and talk? Seems like it might be more comfortable for the both of you.” I got up from my stool.

“Lead the way. Do you have a couch? I don’t think you’re going to get Silver to let go of me.” As much as Rose tried she simply could not get more than a foot away from Silver.

“Yes we do. Follow me.” I lead them to the livingroom and sat down in one of the chairs.

Harmony sat next to me. Demo, Onyx, and Stone sat anywhere they could.

“So Silver do you think you’re up to talking?” He didn’t respond. He had buried his face into Rose’s side. “I’ll take that as a no then. So anything else you need to know?” Rose put a hoof on Silver.

“Yeah what was with him breaking down and crying when he saw you?” I scooched my chair closer to Harmony.

This time Silver actually responded. “I didn’t think I would ever see her again. I up and left her alone one day and didn’t return to find her. I thought she would be pissed at me and not take me back.” He returned his face to her side.

“Well I was pissed at you but I couldn’t just let you go out on your own. I had made a promise to you not to let anything separate us if I could help it.” Rose just let him be.

Silver was resting his head on her flank. He looked like he might fall asleep at any moment. He was just like a little dog with his owner.

“Are you two married or something?” Harmony grabbed my hoof.

“No we never did get married. I wanted to but we couldn’t do so in the position we were.” Rose looked back to Silver’s smiling face.

“So you two were dating? Did you ever?” Harmony liked trying to make ponies uncomfortable.

“Harmony that is not an appropriate question.” I gave her a small tap on the shoulder.

“I don’t mind answering. While we grew up together Blaze and Ace were always making rude comments on stuff like that. You just get used to it after a time.” Rose laid her head down on Silver’s wing.

“So did you?” I was about ready to punch her for real.

“To put it simply yes.” Rose raised her head as Silver started to move.

“Can we not talk about this anymore. I am very uncomfortable with this.” Silver pulled Rose as close as he possibly could.

“You always were.” She laid a hoof on Silver’s chest.

“Yes but I knew those ponies a whole lot better than I do this new group. I would much prefer to wait for enough time to go by that I actually know these ponies. Where did Onyx and Demo go?” Silver made us all look around.

“I have an idea of where they went but I think we should leave them be.” I looked down to Stone watching as he pointed towards the stairs.

“Why is that?” The floor above us started creaking. “Oh that’s why.” Rose snuggled up closer to Silver.

“Yeah. I bet they thought it was the perfect time to do this. So as not to interrupt Harmony and I tonight.” Harmony lifted my chair and brought it closer.

“Silver and I need some time to talk. Honey do you have a bedroom?” Rose lifted her head just as Silver put his down on her flank.

“Yes I do. It’s upstair but I would like to stay here for a few more minutes.” Silver kept his head down.

“Silver after we get reacquainted you can spend all night with your head right there.” Rose giggled.

“Not funny.” Silver opened up one of his eyes.

“Yes it is and you know it.” Rose poked his nose.

“Whatever let’s go upstairs.” Silver jumped off the couch.

She said nothing else as she followed him upstairs.

“Well that was interesting to say the least.” I was still trying to figure out a few things about Silver and his marefriend.

“Well I’m happy for them. Now I think it’s time to go to bed.” Harmony dragged me out of my chair.

“Sounds good to me.” I caught my hoofing and we went upstairs