Silver looked up from his desk to see an unexpected face. "Celestia."
"That's Princess Celestia," she said in a gentle tone, like she reminded a friend of something needed rather than being offended. "You will need to learn that habit for public moments." She stepped into the room and closed it behind herself as she looked around. "Neither of your wives are with you, nor your foals? This is a rare moment for you. Is this a bad time?"
Silver realized with a start. "Wait, one of them isn't--"
Celestia put a hoof on Silver's snout. "I have faith that she will be reformed, and rejoin you. In fact, it would come as a far larger surprise if she did not join you. The way you look at her... Either she will become your wife, or your daughter."
Silver's wings unfurled without any permission given by him. "My daughter?!"
"Well, if she cannot be reformed fully, you will not leave her to the life of a madmare alone." She leaned forward. "I should imagine you will adopt her eagerly from my sister's hooves and hold her close, even if the title of wife is kept from her." She saw Silver's confused and worried expression. "Oh, I know you wouldn't force yourself on the mentally deficient." She sat down in front of his desk. "It's not consent if they don't know what they are agreeing to."
Silver cringed at the statement. His being a pony could be qualified easily as that. Every interaction with the Text seemed to boil down to that, consent given without full understanding. "What brings you here today, C--Princess Celestia?"
"Very Good." She smiled gently. "It's time." She pointed a hoof at Silver's head. "We will announce you to Equestria, and the world, as our newest prince. You are relieved of your duties as ambassador while you learn the proper steps for the ceremony and until it is complete. It is of the utmost import that this be done properly, after all. For many, this will be the only time they see or hear of you, so getting it right is all we have to leave an impression."
Silver slipped to the ground and circled the desk. "Of course. I'll do my best." He paused as a weight fell upon his brow. He was wearing a crown. He gazed at his reflection as Celestia held up a mirror for him.
Playing off his name, silver was its primary metal, with large jewels that sat on the sides and front. Like his watch, each jewel was held aloft by a species he had helped bring to peace.
He quirked a smile. "This is a nice crown, but one that will need updating if I keep it up."
"That is a price we're willing to pay." Celestia nodded. "You like it then?"
He tilted his head left and right, watching as the crown moved with him right between his ears. "It's nice..." But did he deserve it? Deserved or not, it was his. He would... "I'll earn it."
"I never finished earning mine." Celestia raised a hoof to her crown. "I work every day to try. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear you say that."
Silver softly cleared his throat. "Celestia." She looked at him, ready to admonish him, but he cut her off. "Celestia, as a pony, not as a princess, I want to speak to you."
She looked surprised at the request. "Of course. We are peers." She sat down gently and rolled a hoof. "What's on your mind?"
"Your sister." He gestured in the vague area Luna was. "I'm damn near certain at this point she will win over Night, and be won over. She will--"
Celestia heaved a soft sigh. "That brings us to a topic I had been trying to delay, but since you bring it up now..."
"What?"
"Your marriage. It is not unusual for a person of great standing to be married, of course. Cadance is well-loved, princess of her own kingdom, and married all the same, but... that is a modern marriage. The marriage most ponies are used to seeing." She shook her head. "Herds are a relic of the past to most. Perhaps why my sister is so fond of them, and why she introduced you to them, and then you taught it to your wife. Having our first prince be the stallion of a herd..."
"Is it that bad?" Silver sat up. "Will it cause trouble?"
Celestia raised a brow. "Let us assume not. It will be awkward, at the least. You will have petitioners come before you in court, all dressed and with proper rituals, just to ask you to lay with a mare, to borrow you as any stallion in a herd might be. A married stallion? Well, he is promised to one, to ask would be an insult most dire. But a stallion of a herd, he's already shared, and there are rules and etiquettes to ask for it... The older you become, the more legends are spread of your deeds, the more the average ponies will seek it. A vanishing few to start, just the most bold or depraved, but that will change with time..."
Silver let out a slow breath. "Alright. Let's assume you get what you want. What would you want me to do?"
Her wings came in and gently cradled his face. "You would live long and well. You would love and be loved and be happy. You would escape these things entirely and just be what you want to be." She quirked a smile. "Neither of us has that option, do we?"
Silver smiled a little and leaned forward, touching his nose to Celestia's. "Don't get sad about it. Even you have your fun. I'll manage. So, perfect utopias aside, what do you want me to do?"
Celestia let out a slow breath. "Well, option one, you pick a mare, get married, the new sort, and be done with it. You'll be tied to that mare until death do you part. Option two, you sever all bonds of marriage entirely. Then you're just a bachelor doing as a bachelor wants to do, which, while a little morally grey, is considered... acceptable... from one of your station."
Silver hiked a brow. "Wouldn't I still get ponies after me?"
"Oh, certainly." Celestia nodded. "But it will be considered an informal social request. No courtly approaches about it."
Silver suddenly went red with a thought. "Do you--"
She put a hoof on his snout. "We both know the answer to that. Requests of a mare are considerably slower in coming, considering how long it takes a mare to fulfill such a request, but they aren't zero. Neither I nor Luna are wed."
The blush only grew worse. "I... imagine neither of you said yes to such things, or I would have heard about it."
"Oh?" Celestia perked an ear. "You would imagine incorrectly... I am no virgin, and I am a mother, and grandmother, and... That was long ago, I admit. Agreement did not often leave these lips, but they did at least once... Luna as well, and you are well aware of it."
"Before I go making any decisions, I want to know everything clearly." He sat up tall. "Celestia, do you have any feelings for me?"
"Do you?" she retorted without a moment of pause.
She was large, powerful, kind, and just about every positive adjective that leapt to mind. He would be lying if he didn't say, "Well, yes..."
"You have your appeal." She smiled gently. "You don't see me quite as a sun, to be admired, from afar. To never be looked at directly for fear or burns and injury. To be handled with such care..." She suddenly pushed up and back, over him and looking down. "If I said I wanted you to sever your herd, sever it and marry, but to no simple mare. You will marry me. You will be the prince of the kingdom completely."
Silver felt his heart thumping angrily in his ears. "N-night would be so sad... And Luna!"
"I was just testing you." She slid back, giving him room. "It is a pleasure to serve Equestria at your side. We don't need to be wed."
Silver felt he was slow by human comparisons, quite a lot, but he felt that Celestia wouldn't say no if he went along. Was she testing? That didn't mean she would refuse whatever answer he gave. He took a slow breath. "You read my book."
"I did."
"Then you read how I... we, you know..."
"You effectively bound yourself to all the princesses, thanks to Twilight's clever intervention." She raised a brow a little. "Is this something you wish to happen again?"
Before Silver could answer, he was tweaked somewhere sensitive and squeaked, hopping in place. Celestia looked completely innocent, but there was no other pony present. "Look, Celestia, please. Can we be forthright about this? Like, all the cards on the table?"
"Knowing more can sometimes close paths instead of open them up, and leads to further heartache." She gently rested a hoof on Silver's nose. "I will gladly be your friend and peer no matter what you decide. Now, I will be sending some ponies your way to go over your parts and have you measured for the formal attire you will be required to wear for the big day. I apologize now, but you have to make a decision before then. If you're married, be it in a herd or otherwise, they will be involved in the coronation."
Didn't know it for sure... But now... Celestia wants the "Silver" cake too and all for herself... The only thing holding her back is Luna... Damm Night and Samantha... He shall be mine! All mine! ... Wonder when she starts feeling him up in public... And I think that she is going to have him anyway in the end...
face
Typo to feed to the beast.
this reads odd, should it be ', and you to your wife.'?
close
What does the Kittie say?
Meow?
7312405 Typos fixed, but what should Silver do?!
unexpected place - unexpected face
on the side - on the sides
pushed up back - pushed up and back --or-- pushed back up
but no simple mare - but to no simple mare
quite much - quite a lot --or-- very much
*****
Any chapter with Celestia is a good one by default, by my reckoning.
With the current turn of events in their family life I can imagine one possible path that does not hew to the choices that Celestia laid out.
Night Watch as herd stallion?
Granted that would turn things on their ear just as much...
I thought it was a figurative crown at first.
I think that's what she just did.
7312463 Typos fixed! Night Wing as herd stallion would be thoroughly confusing to everyone. That their new 'prince' was in a herd is one thing, not as the head stallion? What?
7312434 I thought the herd was officially a sanctioned marriage but if not maybe it needs to be post haste before any coronation. To stop the borrowing of stallions from a herd, which I find a bit immoral, maybe Celestia and Luna need to create some new governing laws forbidding 'borrowing' from a herd on the grounds of causing disharmony in the community at large as well as the herd. This disharmony factor should be enough to keep away even the most crazy ponies (hopefully Carrot Plates father included). I might be out of line here but I think Tia's suggestion of breaking the herd & marrying only one mare sounds like she's trying to worm back in again, still think her honesty level needs a good kick up the sunbutt. But she'd lose anyway as Silver couldn't throw away his devotion to Night, let alone his 2 foals, that would be low for him or most any decent folk for that matter. There's also Nefer's hope of joining the herd to consider too, not to mention what Night got up to with Sam in case there be another foal on the way? My belief is the herd should keep on. (you asked)
7312559 Oh, it is, but what a random pony does and what a prince does is different, hence the bringing it up.
I didn't really think of it before this chapter, but Night actually did unintentionally take advantage of Samantha a couple of chapters ago. While Night wasn't trying to be misleading, Samantha would have taken her "pick up line" as an actual proposal to perform an actual experiment. There's every chance she would be genuinely hurt to find out that Night had absolutely no interest in science at the time. From Samantha's point of view it might seem like Night used sacred science to trick her into something.
7312487
Well, the other half to this solution is that Silver becomes a Princess again. Granted, that will complicate things with Luna and Celestia again... but it will be like putting on familiar clothes for poor Silver.*
*The preceding comments are hyperbole and not intended for more than silliness and chuckles.
Options, choices, futures...
Keep going! ;)
Ugh, it seems like a catch-22 to every choice laid out before Silver. If he sticks with a herd, every gold digger of a pony will want to join by hook or crook (and Night/Samantha/foals would be perfect targets for some stupid plan). If he goes single, Night will feel betrayed and have two illegitimate foals but any fooling around the bedroom with other mares won't have any real consequences (I recall unwed Princes of history sired quite a few on the down-low). And if he just marries Night, what of Samantha, Neferiti, Luna, and anyone else that's trying? The alicorns can just wait till those mortal ones pass and catch Silver on the rebound (to be crass about it). And going mare? I really don't see that happening, and Silver would still have two foals to raise along with all the other baggage up to now to keep carrying.
Found a couple more as I was re-reading.
*****
Neither of us have that option - Neither of us has that option
that lept to mind - that leapt to mind
7314171 Surely not the last typos involved in this building affair.
7314202
Affair... Now I wonder if Celestia commissioned the Thomas Jewelers to make Silver's crown.
This was a terrible attempt at a pun amd I feel ashamed.
7314210 If she wanted a kiss, she had but to ask.
a vary good chapter and like Silver I need to think about this chapter and there is so much to think about.
David Silver get well soon..
I don't know where to begin unknotting this. The first sentence is a fragment. There is no question mark nor proper question. The latter sentences are not properly tied into the hypothetical, just turned to future-tense indicatives.
That's very suspiciously avoiding as a wording, Princess.
Why is this choice even coming up as an issue again? It's not like he'll oppose Watch. Where is Cadence and why is she not suggesting new ways to counterbalance Princess Immovable Plot's conservatism?
Y'know, Silver, as a Prince, you will have a lot of authority when it comes to the rules governing herds. Set up an elaborate vetting process under the direct control of the stallion or first mare in question (probably both).
Also...
Princess...
Would like foal now, plox. You game?
wait so night all of a sudden wants to leave him?
Celestias statement that him being in a herd might cause him problems like mares asking to borrow him for breeding sounds kind dumb. While the suggestion that he should be married to 1 wife or not be married at all sounds dumber. It would be like workers on a dairy farm trying to solve the problem of a cat drinking the milk they have stored in a room by removing all the containers of milk from that room. Just move the frikin CAT! In Silvers case just say no to any such requests or better yet make some new rules regarding herds like Shachza Said!
7838525
These other plans just make more problems than they solve.
All requests to use a herd's stallion for breeding by individuals outside the herd must be approved by all members of the herd. Do you see any loopholes in that Celly?