Celestia's horn glowed as she gently raised the sun. Beside her, Luna eased the moon to bed. It was their most basic function in Equestrian society, and one that still brought them some measure of joy.
"You cannot be his peer, you realize."
Celestia raised a brow faintly. "And why is that, sister?"
"He is in your employ, to say nothing of being your subject." Luna sighed gently. "Though we suppose the latter is true for ourselves as well."
Celestia rolled a hoof gently, showing no sign of being particularly disturbed by her sister's words. "And you think that is improper?"
"We know it is." Luna perked her ears. "Unless he is made truly a peer, and that would make his family unhappy. His wife would have to be elevated to royalty alongside him."
"But he is not with 'us'." She glanced aside at Luna. "He is with our diminutive counterparts."
Luna tapped at the ground. "And you know as well as I that those are us. There is no difference outside of physical stature. If he displeases us in some grand way, we can have him punished just as easily. No. This is a most unfair courtship."
Celestia gave a little nod as she turned to head back inside from the balcony. "So you no longer desire him?"
Luna glanced away a hot moment. "I didn't say that, but we don't always get what we want. As... adults we should let him be. That would be the responsible action. Alien or not, he is a pony, and a citizen of our nation. He trusts us to do right, so let's do just that."
Celestia reached out a wing, folding it around her sister and drawing her close suddenly. "Then we'll do that, but you musn't hide yourself away. I know some ponies you may wish to meet, after this has calmed down in your heart."
"Sister..." Luna shook her head. "You're not attempting to play matchmaker with me, are you?"
"And if I am?" Celestia smiled gently. "I love you, I hope you realize that. If you want a stallion at your side, I will search all of Equestria and beyond until I find the right one."
Luna leaned in against Celestia. For the moment, words faded away between them.
The piercing alarm call of a disgruntled Clear woke Silver from bed. He half-rolled/half-fell and began making a messy trot into the nursery with bleary and mostly shut eyes. "I'm coming..." It was the unfun part of being a parent, but he'd babysat before. It wasn't an entirely new experience, just a far more personal one.
Silver's horn began to glow as he lifted Clear from her crib and nuzzled the little lunar earth pony in greeting. "Hello there. My, look at you, getting bigger every day." He smiled. His foals always made him smile, even when he was tired. Clear bopped his nose and got him back to work. He had her changed and fetched one of the bottles Night had set aside. "These things still confuse me..."
Was Equestria so sanitized for such a basic bodily function that mares could just summon milk bottles and didn't even realize how magical that was? He shook his head as he slipped the bottle into the waiting hooves and snout of Clear, who sank back into a half-curled position and began nursing it eagerly.
Silver looked at Morning just in case, only to find the colt was already looking back at him. He was quiet. There were no stinky smells and he seemed perfectly calm. Silver leaned in and kissed the baby unicorn on the forehead. "You remind me of myself a little..." Silver had been a very quiet child at times. It annoyed some people when he would just... stare... He had a lot of thoughts, and not a lot of practice focusing those thoughts onto anything.
He had no fears for Morning Glory. He would speak when he had something to say, and that was fine. With both foals settled, he trotted back to bed, but he wasn't ready for sleep anymore. Besides, the sun had already risen. So he grabbed his book of telekinesis tricks and set it out, ready to get some practicing in while the others slept. Before he could get started, a letter slipped in under the door.
He snatched it up with his magic and tuned his magical senses carefully with spells he was still working on mastering. He could smell somewhat with a supportive spell. It smelled like... Celestia? He undid the seal and began reading.
Dear Ambassador Silver Watch,
It is with some sadness that I withdraw my attempt at courtship. It is not with bitterness or anger, for I do hope we can remain friends. Enjoy your family, as they are all very pleasant ponies and they love you very much. You know how to find me if you have questions or concerns.
Looking Forward to Seeing You at the Gala,
Princess Celestia
Silver perked an ear. Is that where Sunny and Celine had gone off to? On one hoof, he was sad to see them go, on the other, that was the least dramatic way he'd been broken up with by far. He just couldn't quite muster any real anger towards Celestia. She had given it a try and had been honest from start to finish, and he did want to be her friend. He set the letter down on the dresser. "Night... might be happy."
"About what?" Night slid off the bed with a ruffling of her leathery wings. "Who's the letter from?"
Silver only considered trying to keep the letter obfuscated for about a second before he revealed it entirely. "Sunny and Celine have gone back to being royal sisters. No hard feelings."
Night twitched a tufted ear as she moved over to claim the letter and see it for herself. "She doesn't say a thing about Celine. What makes you certain she's involved?"
He glanced around. "Well, if we see her again, we can ask, but they both vanished about the same time, so I kind of assumed they were together."
"You're probably not wrong." Night kissed his cheek. "Thanks for handling the foals last, I needed a few more minutes."
Silver returned with a nosebump. "Are you happy?"
Night blinked at the question as a wing reached out to fetch her glasses. "With you? Yes. With the foals, of course."
Silver stuck out his tongue a little. "With this." His magic shook the letter a little. "I know you had... ideas."
Night suddenly advanced on him, nuzzling his throat and nipping at the soft fur and flesh there. "Royalty is too complicated. I..." She settled to her haunches. "I think becoming a mother is a transforming experience." She adjusted her glasses a moment. "I was being immature, a foal... I didn't know Luna. I was in love with the idea of it. So if she's happy moving on, then I will be too."
Silver smiled back. He pulled the other two marriage shoes from his pocket and set them on the dresser. "So are we wearing those?"
Night licked her lips. "You probably think I'm being as foalish as they come, but it doesn't feel... right."
Silver waved the one shoe he wore. "We're already wearing one each."
Night raised her clad hoof. "We are, but I feel like those two belong to somepony else. It's just a feeling. You know how I am. There's a forty percent chance it belongs to somepony we haven't realized yet."
He tilted his head towards her slightly. "And the other sixty?"
"Twenty percent it instead belongs to two ponies, thirty percent chance I'm being silly about the whole thing." Night tapped him on the shoulder. "You won't make fun of me about it, right?"
"I wouldn't dream of it." He leaned in and they kissed gently. Their marriage was left with the door cracked, just in case.
Silver stretched in place before pointing to the door. "How about we go on duty today?"
She blinked. "As an Ambassador?"
"That is my title." He smiled at her. "We can start by catching up on the mail that's probably piled up. Bring the foals along. I doubt any visiting humans will be that upset at those adorable bundles of fur."
Night nodded and smoothly walked into the nursery to fetch the foals. While she was gone, Silver snatched up the two shoes that had no hooves to match them, and tucked them away in his pocket.
Together, they moved to slip out, only for Rough Draft's voice to interrupt. "Where are you all headed?" He was watching them from his and Trixie's bed. "Everything alright?"
Night nodded at him. "For once, yes. We're going to get back to work. The office isn't far, do you remember where it is?"
He did, so with a final parting wave, they stepped out and started down the hallway until their way was stopped by a figure that hadn't been there a moment before. "Good day, Ambassador."
Silver looked up to Nefertari. "Good day, Ambassador."
She flashed a bright smile. "Are you returning to active duty? And these are your pups? Adorable." She reached, even as Night tensed, and gently scritched each foal behind their ears. "What are their names?"
"Yes, yes, and--" Silver pointed at each in kind. "Morning Glory and Clear Twilight."
"How poetic." Nefertari looked between them. "The day's start and end on an undisturbed day. It is a scene I can savor. Have you a moment, Ambassador? I wished to test myself against your magic. Last time you caught me unawares. That stung quite a bit, I will admit, but with pain comes lessons. I will not be fooled so easily again."
Night blinked up at the jackal. "You will not harm him." She moved to put herself between Nefer and Silver. "He's my husband, and my client. You'll have to go through me first. What kind of Ambassador ar--"
Silver set a hoof on her shoulder. "Night, relax. I think she means in a friendly way. A spar."
"Exactly so." Nefertari seemed pleased that Silver understood. "We are both ambassadors, after all. If this were a matter of officiality, we would duel with words, not claws and magic. I understand my position well enough for that. Now, what say you, Ambassador of Ponies?"
Silver seemed to consider it a moment with a frown before he nodded. "I have new magic I want to practice."
Night raised a brow behind her magnifying glasses. "Really? You want to face her?"
"Pain brings lessons," echoed Silver of Nefer's own words. "Let's just keep it friendly. I don't want to have my return to duty cut that short by being sent to the infirmary. Any blood, any at all, and we stop."
"Deal." Nefertari exposed her sharp teeth. "Show me this new magic of yours."
On an off an on again, on an off an in.. Now if only I could remember the name of that pop song. Sounds familiar for some reason.
Two alt powered human mentalities want to have a happy easy slap down? good thing the Guard Sparring grounds are so heavily reinforced. Wouldnt was Silver to accidentally use somethng like Conversion.
7119388 Conversion?
Alright, looks like acceptance is at hand.
Let's see if Nefertari is as cunning as we hope. I wonder that with Night's words in his mind he would even consider her for the potential mate? That would be... Complicated.
Keep going! ;)
7119413
Silver used Conversion! It was super effective!
7119413 remeber, he still has not truly told her how he knows her
yay for being featured... agein
40% it's another pony (assuming it's a pony) to join their herd? Hmm. Pretty sure it'll never be Nefertari as she does not strike me as the marrying type... unless Silver somehow trounces her in combat so thoroughly. That sounds awfully Griffon-ish too.
Heh, it'd be a hoot if it was a changeling.
7119462 ... ... My money's on Starlight Glimmer.
7119413
Energy Conversion.
I was only aiming for the breaking of chemical bonds.
7119523
No.... Just no.
7119531
Just use a magic nuke.
Finally! Some action! He said no blood.... But well placed TK to bones shouldn't draw blood...
So Luna tries to do the grownup thing, but this leaves an open question as to whether or not she's acting responsibly or simply running away from her feelings.
On the one hoof, she's not wrong to point out that there's an inherent conflict involved with trying to be royalty while developing an actual relationship - not just trysting - with a commoner under your reign. That conflict is that relationships are based on the participants recognizing each other as equals, whereas their political positions are decidedly unequal (this is a magnified version of why relationships between people who work together usually fail). To that end, since Luna can't (and won't) give up being royalty, the proper decision is indeed to end things. As she cogently noted, the existence of "Celine" and "Sunny Days" was entirely a fiction designed to deflect, rather than solve, this problem.
Unfortunately, feelings don't really work that way. Luna can resolve herself to putting her feelings behind her, but the real question is whether or not she actually can stick to her metaphorical guns and not backslide into things. Simply put, I don't have a lot of confidence in her ability to do this. This fic has made it very clear that Luna tends to suppress her feelings when she finds them uncomfortable or inconvenient, which only serves to make them come out in other ways (e.g. the Tantabus). It also doesn't help that Silver lives there, in the castle, and has an official function within the government; at some point, probably sooner rather than later, he's going to run into Luna and things will get awkward. Knowing Silver, he won't leave well enough alone if he thinks that Luna's avoiding him, and the entire issue will be stirred up again (that and the whole "they share the same dream-space" issue).
What compounds this is that, at this point, Silver is the single best pony that Luna could hope for. There's literally no one else in Equestria, or the rest of the world, who understands her as well as he does (Celestia notwithstanding). Not to mention can join her in the dream realm (without her fetching them). At this point, it's almost like they've become too intimate not to have a relationship. They are, in a very real sense, like longtime lovers who've broken up, but still live in the same town; being together, in some regard, is closer to "normal" than not being together. Of course, the circumstances are a mess for both of them, but if Celestia thinks that she can set Luna up with someone else, she's likely to be disappointed (unless she's trying to get Luna a rebound-stallion to help her take the edge off, in which case that might work). To that end, it's notable that "Celine" has not officially broken up with Silver yet (though I'm rather irked that this is now the second time that Celine has vanished without so much as a goodbye...are we really going to say that that isn't going to reopen some old wounds?).
I'm also slightly miffed at Celestia. Breaking up with someone by a letter is something you do when you can't (bear to) see someone to tell them in person. Breaking up without telling them why you're doing it is just cruel. Even if they already know, you do them the courtesy of explaining your feelings regarding ending the relationship. Conversely, I can't be too mad that she broke up with Silver (and Night) at all, because that was never anything but a feint to draw Luna out more, but still...is manipulation an okay thing just because you do it openly? Celestia may be used to leading by example, but I'm honestly beginning to feel like she's going a bit too far. At some point she needs to recognize that Luna is a big filly, and is the one pony that isn't under Celestia's jurisdiction, and just let her make her own mistakes.
Moving on, I'm very surprised (not unpleasantly so) that Night Watch is actually being assertive about not excluding the possibility of expanding their marriage. That's a bit of a welcome change, but her reasoning left me wanting to know more about why she felt that way. To be fair, she's being pretty clear that she doesn't know why she feels that way, but she made two statements that I think are somewhat significant. The first was, "it's just a feeling." Nothing is "just a feeling," unless you're a psychic ("Night sense"?); rather, this is an expression that says you're unsure of or don't want to disclose your feelings. It honestly sounds to me like she doesn't want to explore why she's so set on this.
The second statement was the one immediately following the first: "You know how I am." Yes, Night, we do...and how you are is decidedly not a mare who just "gets a feeling" and runs with it. Quite the opposite, given her eminent logic and practicality. This statement, alone of everything, struck me as being disingenuous. This was her trying to conclude the topic as quickly as she could, and it makes me all the more curious as to what's really going on with her. Is she insecure about being in a marriage with "only" one other pony (since Fast used to be there)? Is she having lesbian urges and feels ashamed to tell Silver about them (don't forget, she and Fast were comfortable together as lovers, even if that particular transition of Night's was rather hackneyed for how quick it was)? Or perhaps that's too specific; maybe it's just something else - not necessarily sexual, but perhaps emotional or physical or even intellectual - that Silver just isn't (capable of) giving her, and she's too upset with herself to say it? Something is going on, of that I'm sure, but she's seriously avoiding the issue.
Ah well, it's something to deal with after the duel. But seriously, Silver vs. Nefertari? I feel like the only bet worth placing here is how many seconds Silver will last before he loses.
7119660 Oh goodness, you really sunk your unicorn teeth into this and wrenched it back and forth!
Luna is trying her best, I think, to do the right thing. How well she'll deal with it internally remains to be seen.
Could Celestia have brought them over for a face-to-face heavy discussion about it? She could have, but they never got past 'oh hey we can hug, and sleeping, without hanky panky, isn't so bad!' She never became their girlfriend. She entered formally and left just as formally. She had no malice in it, and Silver and Night didn't take it as a barb to the gut, just royals being royals.
You are right, however. Luna never formally applied to court, nor left. Her place is much less formally declared. We'll see how that turns out.
Meanwhile, Silver wants to try out some new magic! He's got a shiny new honed shield and a toolbelt of enhanced telekinesis to try out.
that mares can just summon milk bottles and don't even realize how magical that is - that mares could just summon milk bottles and didn't even realize how magical that was
match them and tucked - match them, and tucked
She reached even as Night tensed and gently - She reached, even as Night tensed, and gently
*****
After a long day at the office with no breaks to sneak in a dose of my favorite daily
soap operaserial narrative, this was especially enjoyable, the end of the sweetness with Celestia and Luna sharing time with Silver's family notwithstanding.I get the strong feeling that I'll have to simply live with the fact that life is imperfect and there are sometimes no perfectly tidy and happy solutions to difficult dilemmas. I resolve to continue reading with no expectations and just enjoy the story for what it is and trust the author to continue this thoughtfully written ongoing adventure.
The Beautiful Companion makes another appearance as well. Interesting events will no doubt spawn from this, but in all honesty Silver, clever and resourceful pony that he is, is still no match her. If Penny Farthing is still part of the inner Silververse, I wonder if she mentioned to him what she learned about the type of information that Nefertari is seeking.
A couple of thoughts that struck me as I read:
And what are the odds that Princess Luna is happy moving on, Night Watch?
That leaves 10 percent unaccounted for, Night Watch.
7119658
I read a novel by Dan Cook once had a pretty smart use of simple magic in a very unconventional way.
Take a shield spell, and use it to hold a variable volume of water. Then shrink the shield instantly to a size where the water is compressed to the point that the hydrogen atoms fuse into helium, and cancel the shield. Instant H-bomb.
7121090 Typos fixed! Night Watch always leaves some percentage undefined. Discord's luck, that is the chance that she is entirely wrong! Silver ends up married to an entire town of ponies. That'd qualify.
Or he gets murdered in this spar...
7121489
Based on what we've seen of her in the dream, more than what we've seen in the waking world, I seriously doubt Nefertari would allow that to happen. She strikes me as the kind that doesn't have that type of accident. Any killing is by intent.
im stalking this and i swear that the second i look away a new chapter will apear like hudiene
7122226 Once a day.
7122282 yep, pulse i have nothing better to do, your new chapter usually comes out about now and 30 minutes from now, i need a life
This is screaming that it's a dream again.
Wait, other things have been "sanitized"…
It strikes me that, in Equestria, this is factually and grammatically incorrect, as the sun does not rise (intransitive, on its own). The sun had already been raised (by Celestia).
7220679 Our main viewpoint into the story still sees the sun as a thing that rises until reminded that, no, really, this ain't earth and look, that smiling alicorn did that.
That whole conversation between Celestia and Luna? I hate it.
Celestia and Luna have no peers on this planet that we are aware of. If they are going to engage in any sort of relationship, they either need to step down to someone else's level, or bring that one as close to theirs as they can. And even then, "close" is as close as anyone else can get simply because they're Celestia and Luna.
They just have to deal with not having any peers. And in that vein, they can choose to be lonely or not.
It is exceptionally saddening to me that the two of them seem to be choosing to be lonely. (Well, Celestia may not be. Luna doesn't seem like she can go for the same withdrawal.)
And second, the sudden shift from "I want to court you" to "I don't want to court you" with no listed rhyme or reason, and with so little time between the two, just really bothers me. Did she not really want to in the first place? If so, then why did she? None of the answers there speak well of her character. If she initially did, then what changed? Why isn't she talking about it? Like the previous ones, those questions also seem hint to at some kind of negative character trait.
No sir, I don't like it. Their positions and reasoning doesn't speak well of either of them to me.
7826257 Fear is a powerful emotion. Love is also a heady mix. Combined, they drive men and women to outrageous acts of insanity.
7826270
Celestia is scared but also in love? It's going to her head in all the wrong ways? (that came out wrong...)
Now I want to hug her and make it all better. Somehow...
(We already knew about Luna. She gets comfort huggles too.)
i might have mentioned this before, but there's several amusing stories involving an Earth pony named "morning glory". the shortest one is "the moon, the flower, and the door".
Make up your mind this is just getting frustrating
GODDAMMIT LUNA (That was ironic given my username, but still )JUST BE HAPPY!