Silver donned his fanciest clothes, walked with wings wide and head held high. His shoe was shined, freshly buffed, and another shoe hovered beside him, equally shined and ready to use. His magic threw open the doors to day court, drawing the look of the guards there, as well as the nobles in the back, but he was not challenged.
Celestia looked up with a surprised expression, pausing mid-sentence with what she was dealing with. "Ambassador Silver Watch?"
He descended towards the princess. "I have come for you," he said, walking carefully to make sure every step was as regal as it could be. "That the royalty of the city, united in our love for our people, would also be united together." He set the shoe on her podium. "Princess Celestia, I will dutifully serve as your stallion, and as a servant to this great nation. Will you serve as my mare, as you serve as princess of this nation?"
Celestia's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't expected this, but there it was. "I would be certain that you know what you're proposing." She glanced past him to the great crowd that stared unwavering and fixated. They had their audience. "I am unaging, and unflinching in my vows. If I accept this, we will be tied until your death, which may be for quite some time. Will you accept an eternity at my side?"
"We will stand together," spoke Silver as he turned a little, offering those watching a better view of them both. "We will serve as the pillars that hold up ponykind, forever and together. We will defend them from those that would do them harm, forge alliances of friendship, and foster each generation so that it is greater than the last."
Celestia turned faintly red despite her control. He really was going through with it, and in such an unorthodox fashion, but it seemed genuine and well-presented. She pulled off one of her golden shoes with her magic and slipped her hoof into the silver one. "I may not always wear this, physically, but I accept the tie it places around my heart as a reminder of our shared devotion, to Equestria, to our ponies, and to the future."
Silver moved around her, to stand beside her, each wearing one silver shoe. "To the future," he echoed. "And to each other. Long may Equestria stand, its people smile, and we with them." He leaned in. She felt a moment of intense trepidation. He was going for it, and it was his action. She accepted it, and they kissed in full view of the court. Silence fell, eyes locked as they exchanged saliva, passion, and solemn promises.
The room erupted into soft stomping as their kiss parted. While there were a few sour faces, as there surely would be, most appeared moved and pleased by the demonstration. Celestia felt an opportunity and brought a wing around under Silver's chin. "This nation is not overseen by one, dear husband. Where the sun resides, so does the moon. Will you stand at her side as well?" The fact that she had said husband made soft murmurs spread. They were eating it up, and her saying it made it even more official than anything else so far.
Silver gave a firm nod. "Even as I bask in your warmth, I admire her cool and enchanting beauty. Together, we will stand for Equestria. She sleeps now, but I will approach her this evening." He turned from her. "As much as I would desire to..."
"Not so hasty." Celestia shook her head. "This must be consummated. Court is adjourned."
There were gasps of surprise. The more bawdy, male or female, gave enthusiastic clops against the ground and cheered for their princess as others stared with wide eyes at the forceful lesson that their ruler even had such parts, let alone seemed willing to use them. Despite this, they began to leave, conversation becoming loud and gossip flowing freely. News that Silver and Celestia had become an item would spread far and fast.
Celestia led the way away from the court. "We're not to be disturbed," she instructed her guards while indicating they should stand a short distance from the door. Close enough that they would still hear that things were going on. Even such acts needed witnesses of a sort.
Silver followed Celestia, watching her with new eyes. She was his wife. She owned him, and he owned her. They were about to... He grew unpleasantly constricted in his fine clothing as they entered her private chambers and closed the door.
He praised the sun in every way he could think of. From the very suns on her rumps to the delicate features of her face, he made it clear that he thought she was a vision of loveliness. He did not feel the powerful suction of life stirring, but it was clear that Celestia approved of his efforts. He held her and was held. They were tired but pleased, and savored being together.
She stared into his eyes. "That was very bold..."
"As bright as the sun I claimed?"
She rolled over onto him. "You may yet be growing, but I am still larger and wiser."
He kissed her chest and pushed against her. "Large or small, I couldn't be happier right now."
The deal had been set, he had added Celestia to his herd without a First Wife to stand in the middle.
Later, Silver settled in his office. He wore his usual clothes, including his saddlebags, and made notes as he read over the coronation notes. "One more to go..." At least, that day.
A knocking made him look up. "Come in." He wasn't expecting anyone, who could it be?
It was a shadow pixie, an umbrum. She had cool blue eyes but was mostly monochrome across the rest of her body. She wore soft red clothing that worked down to a skirt. "Mister Watch?"
"That's me," reported Silver with a smile. "How can I help?"
She smiled nervously. "Well, you see... This is awkward..."
"It's alright." Silver tapped his desk. "Please, assume I won't be offended and just talk." Offending him was usually hard.
"Well alright. Do you know Samantha Watch?"
He nodded as he closed the door behind her. "She's my adopted daughter." He winced suddenly. "Did she do something wrong?"
She looked relieved. "Oh good, so you know. She did... She came to me, oh! I'm Miss Shade Fire. Nice to meet you." She bowed her head. "Anyway, Samantha came saying you wanted to marry me."
Silver went a bright red in his cheeks. "Marry?!"
"I knew she wasn't speaking for you, Mister Watch." She smiled a little. "We don't even know one another."
"I hope she didn't bother you too much. I know she can be pushy at times." Silver fretted at the idea of Samantha shoving her way forward eagerly.
"Oh, no, I mean, besides coming to my house. Once... She's fine, if a little eccentric. Her son is a good student, mostly. I just didn't want... I mean, if you really had... I... Look, you've done us all a great favor, Mister Watch, but there have to be better umbrum than me to go after."
Silver smiled a little. "You're putting yourself down. I'm sure you're a lovely person."
She blushed, ready to argue that, but it would be arguing against herself. "I'm just a teacher..."
"My father was a teacher," noted Silver. "A fine career, and more important than most give it credit for. Every important person, er, pony likely had a teacher behind them. Even the ones that drop out often are shaped by the experience, much more often positively than not. No, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being a teacher."
She began to go more and more red the more he spoke, but he didn't stop.
"Celestia's a teacher, you know. Without her serving as one, we wouldn't have Twilight, who became a princess and so much more."
She shook her head violently. "I work in a rundown school in the middle of the poor part of town. Even among teachers, there are better and more important."
"Why are you so certain in shooting yourself down?" Silver raised a brow. "You teach the children that most need to be taught, to have a chance to elevate themselves. More 'refined' teachers would turn up their noses, but you care more than that, I bet."
"I..." She sank a little. "It was the only position that accepted me... They're not used to umbrum." She glanced away and back at him. "Look, see, why would you even care? No offense! I mean, you're nice and all." She approached cautiously. "Look, I'm like a third your size!"
Silver blinked, realizing his words could be taken as convincing Shade Fire that she was a worthy mate. "Forget me a moment. I'm talking about you." He hopped down from his chair and circled the desk to be with her. "I've heard Samantha speak of her son's schooling, and she's quite happy."
Shade smiling wryly. "I get the feeling she's usually happy."
Silver couldn't argue that. "You're making a difference in the lives that most need it. For some, you are the only adult they can approach safely."
Shade glanced away before looking back at Silver. "Are you really part of a herd?"
There seemed to be no way to avoid talking about himself. "Yes. Night Watch and Celestia are members."
Her eyes widened a little. "So she wasn't lying about that... With great ponies like those, you don't need little ol' me at all." She waved it off. "Night is so fierce and strong, and they're both so bright and wise. Celestia... You don't need me."
Silver didn't need her, or had even planned to approach her, but every self-deprecating comment hurt him. He wanted to help this caring little female. He reached for her, setting a hoof on either shoulder. "Miss Shade Fire. You are a great person. You are doing a job that is worthy of so much more applause than it gets. No matter how small you feel at times, you are a giant in the lives of those around you, even if they don't realize it. Please, be proud of that."
She quirked a little smile. "You're just... saying that to woo me."
It didn't help that he got the impression it was working solidly. "I'm not." He really wasn't! Darn it, wasn't there a way to make this straight without crushing her feelings one way or another? "Look, let me ask a tangential question. Are there umbrum princesses, mayors, or such?"
"There's Lord Sombra?" She tilted her head. "He has eyes only for one, and I would imagine that's not you, um, sir, no offense. We don't really have anyone besides that."
So much for that... He was speaking to one of the higher ranked umbrum by merit of their not really being any ranks yet. They had been freed too recently. "Shade Fire, I mean it when I say you are perfect the way you are, and I would really be happy if you would be happy. Stop selling yourself short."
"Do you really like sharp minds?"
Silver winced internally. This was all headed in the direction he hadn't planned. He let his eyes roam over his monochrome suitor, finally looking at her as a female instead of just a person. She was small, but she had a brightness in those blue eyes. She would... What was he thinking?!
Shade Fire sounds like a delightful mare but this all feels like one of those mail-order bride setups. Is it love at first sight? Apparently not. I'd be real surprised if he does marry her but crazier things have happened before.
And if this marry one of each rule is taken too far, what about Draquoni? Is Silver supposed to marry Discord into the herd?
Oooooh lordy! I can see Discord taking that and turning it into a running joke (until someone catches it)... and playfully acting the resisting target of Silver's non-existent wooing. At the very least, it'll give everyone a laugh and maybe even Silver could get into the fun of it and turn Pepe LePue on Discord, pronking all over while spouting lovey-dovey drivel in a horrific Prench accent-- scaring him off like Prinkie did when she was chasing Rainbow Dash all over the place. (I dunno, maybe save it for a April Fool's joke chapter? Dream sequence?)
7423483 Being completely serious, Discord doesn't represent a 'people', so he's disqualified. There's only one of him. Some would say this is good.
7423487 Discord could subdivide himself until there were enough of himself to qualify...
7423533 They would all still be Discord. One person, many bodies.
Quite the conundrum. If Silver refuses her outright, it could very well be taken as a slight by the umbrum, and would certainly embarrass poor Miss Shade Fire, who can't really afford to pass up this chance to legitimize her tribe ("Of course umbrum are ponies, there's on in the royal herd!"), even if she may have no personal interest at all.
Did not expect Silver to do that so openly nor for Celestia to adjourn court like that. Guess the ability to pick and choose candidates for the herd on his own seem to have boosted his confidence and ego though as with all ego boosts, they blind them to the repercussions of their actions.
And Shade Fire's appearance here threw me for a loop though I guess she was there mostly to satisfy her curiosity, which I can understand. I mean, if you were suddenly invited to be married to a famous individual, you'd be curious as to why they want to marry little ole you.
Hm, so Silver finally took the plunge with (and into) Celestia. The long-laid arrangements are finally coming to fruition!
I have to applaud Silver's idea of making his proposal to Celestia public, as doing so allows him to take control of the public discourse. In that manner, he gets to - at least in part - actively shape public reaction rather than simply react to it. I have to wonder how much of that was put in his head by what John Smith tried to do.
That said, I'm slightly less clear on exactly what Silver is trying to achieve by making his proposal a public spectacle. The best bet here seems to be that he's declared his independence from needing a First Wife's nomination before he can claim a new wife - the story does kind of out-and-out say that, after all - but I'm not sure just how well-known, and how highly esteemed, that tradition was to begin with. When John Smith tried to manipulate public opinion, he used the opportunity to explicitly frame what the status quo was, and why, before he declared himself an agent for change. In this case, Silver isn't being quite so forthright with what he's doing - besides declaring his love for Celestia, and intention of taking her sister as well - and so the idea that he's deliberately breaking from herd tradition strikes me as somewhat uncertain, despite that last sentence.
Similar questions can be raised about Celestia, who took the opportunity to explicitly frame their union in carnal terms. In this case, I don't think that she had any greater plan in mind besides snubbing public expectations that she be above such desires, since she's previously alluded to finding living up to her public perception to be cumbersome and isolating. This is her way of saying to the public at large "I have needs too; deal with it."
Is that, then, why there "surely would be" a few sour faces in the crowd? Or is it just some uppity nobles who aren't happy that some outsider has just vaulted to the top of Equestrian society? Why there would be any ponies unhappy as Celestia's marriage is presented as being self-evident, but I don't think that it is.
Insofar as "he didn't feel the powerful suction of life stirring" goes, is that true outside of the dream-world? I thought there was something about, unlike what he dreamed, Celestia and Luna had had children before, and so that entire bit about what it takes to knock up an alicorn mare isn't a truism in the real world.
After all of that, we see Shade Fire come back onto the scene...I'm a bit surprised at that, but I really shouldn't be. After all, the previous chapter casually mentioned that Shade Fire played tabletop RPGs, and that's as big a hint as they come that she and Silver are going to end up together. But putting that aside, I do like that she made an appearance here, because I find that to be the most plausible thing for her to do. While someone knocking at your door to announce that you've won at life (e.g. that royalty wants to marry you) is likely to initially beget only disbelief, once the shock wears off it's not at all surprising to want to investigate that claim and see if it's really true. In that regard, her going to Silver's office makes sense.
Beyond that, there's the issue of Silver's flirting with her, and there's no denying that that's what he was doing. Heck, he himself recognized it, even if he didn't use that word. I snickered at Silver's losing control of the conversation in that regard, trying to figure out how to be nice to Shade Fire without making it seem like he was interested, and being so caught up in that that he didn't even realize that his male instincts were kicking in and evaluating her as another potential mate. In other words, his psyche is at war with itself, his id saying "she has potential as another mate," while his superego is chastising him with "it's imperative that we not hurt her feelings," and all the while his ego is trying to butt in with "er, this is all a misunderstanding that needs to be corrected." At least this will be good training for when he's approached like this in the future.
Also, nice move on establishing that there are no umbrum princesses or nobility, and in doing so establish that Shade Fire has - from a political standpoint - as much right to be considered as any other umbrum mare. It's too bad for Silver though; he clearly knew that that would have been the easy way out, and was hoping to avail himself of it.
...oh well, at least Samantha will be happy that her experiment with matchmaking bore unexpected fruit!
7423598 You can now picture Samantha giggling wildly to herself as she does her work, casually listening in as her 'father' and Miss Shade Fire get together after she thought she had failed. She has no idea how she managed to turn it around, but it worked! It worked! They sound so happy!
Some ponies were sour because A: anyone became a thing with Celestia. B: Celestia wants to be a mare and not just a Princess?!
Silver hopping up is a bit old news. Though the coronation has yet to occur, he is an alicorn, and a known one. They know he will be crowned prince, so that part is much less a shock so much as Celestia's involvement and Silver's temerity in approaching her. That he's married to Night is also far from a secret, but she's not there, nor was she any part of this.
Was it perfect? Pfft. Silver Verse rarely does perfect. But it was good enough perhaps?
7423662 Oh, it was absolutely good enough. I was hoping that I'd conveyed that, rather than harping too much on the imperfections.
7423680 I didn't mean to sound defensive :) I appreciate your feedback and I hope the chapter was fun to read.
7423483
Oh Mon Cheri, Beep, Beep
As for Shade Fire being in the herd, well, it might be a stretch, but Im sure she is accomplished in accomodating the efforts of others, and enjoy their advancement as they grow and learn.
Teachers don't fix typos, silly! They just point them out and make the students fix them.
7423757 Lol that's brilliant
Does anything not bring typos lol
Sometimes we like assertive Silver!
Sometimes all it takes is talking and getting to know one another... Night will be so flustered I think it would break her mind!
Keep going! ;)
His shoe shined - His shoe shone/gleamed
equally shined - equally shiny/shining
He set the hoof - He set the shoe
little ole me - little ol' me
or even planned - or had even planned
in the direction he didn't plan - in a direction he hadn't planned
*****
Quite the chapter here. Can't say if it's good or bad yet.
Well, ok then. A chaste peck would have been enough, but points to both for going all in.
What, indeed?
At a guess, I'd venture that in proposing to Celestia and being accepted into the role of stallion, Silver is now subject to the full force of Harmony in Equestria. Would that mean that his fate is sealed?
Interestingly, as I write this I'm eating lunch. My fortune cookie says: All the world may not love a lover, but they will be watching him.
7424350
I thought of that too, but wouldn't that be reflected in his cutie mark, which is still themed as being spell-creation?
7424373
What makes you think his cutie mark would change?
The silly person that I am pictures an alternate set of events where Silver and Celestia conjure a foley studio the moment the door closes and begin making odd sound effects and flashing lights under the door and out the windows as a prank on the guards.
7424385 I'm saying that I don't think that studding for the sake of Equestria is Silver's "fate" (e.g. the "full force of Harmony") because that's usually what's indicated via a pony's cutie mark, and his is spell-creation.
7424403
You know, Celestia is just playful enough that she might do that. Sadly the opportunity has passed, unless they're saving it up for an April Fool's chapter.
I just thought of something too. Silver's an alicorn and he's gonna start growing. Won't that make him, eventually, a bit... well... you know, too big for his pony-sized wife?
7424875 A: Being careful.
B: Magic!
C: Friendship, which is a form of magic,
D: Apply more magic!
7424935
I do hope the mares realize there can be too much of a good thing. But you are correct, there is magic. I bet Celestia and Luna know a few "backroom" spells for the bedroom she could teach Silver.
At least Fast Change won't have any complaints.
7424776
Ah. I see where we diverge now.
I meant only that since the most recent iteration of the Royal Herd was conceived () on the notion of one of every people that Silver has aided, the magic of the land is going to hold him to it. Whether he goes all the way into Stud of the Land territory is, in my mind, separate and not included in my original remark.
7424979
7424776 Has anypony's cutie mark ever changed?
7425076 Oh sure, plenty of times; it's just always been in response to some sort of external stimulus:
Apple Bloom gets the cutie pox.
Twilight miscasts a spell that makes her friends swap their cutie marks.
A side effect from a spell makes Fluttershy become Flutterbat, with her cutie mark changing from three butterflies to three bats.
Ponies drained of their magic by Tirek lose their cutie marks altogether.
Starlight Glimmer casts a spell to remove a cutie mark and replace it with an equals sign, suppressing their special talent.
That's leaving aside alterations that seem inherently temporary, such as Coloratura's cutie mark glowing when she sings passionately, or the Mane Six's cutie marks flashing when the Cutie Map summons them.
7425155 Kind of a binding theme there. They are all temporary.
7425170 Notwithstanding those few I mentioned at the end...yes and no.
"Yes" in that none of those alterations are irrevocable; they're all caused by some sort of external condition that is cured, reversed, or otherwise undone. "No" because they wouldn't have worn off on their own after taking effect; without deliberate action to ameliorate the effects, they would have remained indefinitely.
That said, what I think you meant to inquire about was if anypony's cutie mark had (permanently) changed under "natural" circumstances; that is, without any sort of external meddling. In that regard, not that I can think of.
Silver has a nether huge herd growing and he does not want it.
ol'
7425182 On the subject of changing cutie marks, I've toyed with the idea of having the sun on my OC Tempest's cutie mark become more or less prominent over time.
7425395 Repairs made!
7425403
Did my typo hunt get lost in the noise?
7425395 That sounds like a cool way to make a character unique (and for bonus points, it doesn't go for uniqueness by way of heaping additional power onto the character).
7424350 Typos fixed!
7426457 Yeah. Right. I mean, it's not like she has emotion-powered weather magic that she barely has a lid on or anything. That would just be a ridiculous level of OP OC shenanigans.
there
OR
their not really having any ranks
You forgot to brig up O&O!