Twilight set Silver on the ground, but he could feel and see her magic preventing him from fleeing. He stomped a hoof on the ground, "No! I'm tired of bullshit offers." He pawed agitatedly, as if he may charge, though Twilight's magic made that unlikely. "I think you're wrong. I'm perfectly fine as a stallion, but whatever. You're used to getting your way."
Celestia tilted her head, "Does that mean you accept?"
Silver shook his head, "Not so fast. This time, I want something. This time, I'm demanding the favors. You want to conduct your little 'experiment?' Fine, but you both owe me a favor, and it can be anything short of hurting another pony or breaking Equestrian laws, to be redeemed whenever I feel like it." He clopped a hoof on the ground, "Take it or leave it."
Twilight looked at Celestia with an arched brow, clearly deferring to her. Celestia extended a wing, "Very well. I know you will not request anything too out-of-hoof. It is not in your nature."
Silver grinned internally. This would be an annoyance, nothing more, but favors from the two could be turned into something much better. "Alright, then we have a deal, a favor from you both, and all official records of past misdeeds expunged and forgotten."
Twilight unfurled her wings, "What?! I thought the favors were instead of, not in addition to."
Silver turned up his nose, "My stallion parts come with a heavy price tag."
Celestia simply nodded, moving a wing to block Twilight's view a moment, "Lay down, Silver, and we will begin."
Silver slowly lowered as Twilight's magic faded from him, "Just in case you decide this wasn't a great idea, how reversible is it?"
Twilight smiled with a benevolent energy, "We can put it back if we have to, but I don't think we'll have to. I know we're asking a lot of you, but do you trust us?"
Silver tilted his head, "Can I walk past you and leave?"
Twilight seemed to pause at that, then shuffled to the side, "You may."
Silver raised a brow, "You just gained a point, Twilight."
Celestia glanced between the two, "Will you leave then?"
Silver flopped onto his side, "Nope."
Twilight smiled brightly, "You've decided we're right?"
Silver shook his head from the ground, "Nope, but I am curious, so mare me up."
Twilight raised a brow, "You'll do it out of curiosity?"
Silver looked to Twilight directly, "I said I aspire to your attitudes. Wouldn't you do it, for curiosity sake, just to know? I want to know, and experience. I'm just tired of being forced around like my opinion doesn't mean anything."
Twilight tapped her chin, looking thoughtful, then curious. She looked to Celestia and opened her mouth in time for Celestia to silence her with a hoof, "You will not become a stallion. If you wanted to try that, you should have thought of it before you became an alicorn."
Twilight pouted with a soft grumble, bemoaning the opportunity long removed from her. "Well, fine." She looked Silver over again, "Maybe I did misjudge you. I hope we can become friends." She flapped her wings before she recaptured her calm presence and moved across from Silver from Celestia. "Ready."
Silver perked an ear, "If you start asking before doing, and accept no, then we can be friends." He looked to Twilight, then Celestia, starting to sit up when Celestia's hoof gently pressed in his shoulder, "You must lay down."
Silver settled back down, "Don't knock me out, if you were thinking about it. I'd rather feel it, even if it hurts, a lot. I will not die a man and be reborn a woman."
Neither princess knew exactly what a man or woman was, but context clues proved good enough to grasp the basic concept. Their horns began to glow and a slow series of notes played over them back and forth, like two modems finding the right rate to communicate with. Apparently they found it, as they began playing a wickedly complex spell that Silver had to close his eyes against, a headache blooming from just watching it.
He turned his attention to himself, half-curling so he could watch his body change, especially the stallion bits he'd grown fond of. As it turns, his coltish body wasn't shaped all that masculinely to begin with, so the changes were subtle at best, barely even noticeable to his human eyes, though he assumed a pony would know the difference. Each subtle change came with a soft pop or creaking bend as he was reconfigured under the combined might of the two, but the real show began when they stopped working on the superficial and turned their attention to where his eyes rested. His outtie became an inny slowly. It didn't hurt as bad as he had feared, more like a long steady pinching rather than the explosive agony he had predicted.
When there was no sign of having been male, the magic intensified, and his body warmed as things were changed deep within him. Unseen by him, his net become more complex, ready to support young of any tribe, but also smoothing out as its more intricate network bonded and forged through the frayed portions of his...her magically-abused form. Silver let out a soft sigh as a pressure she never noticed faded away, and the magic began to settle within her, leaving her a healthy young mare. "Well... how do I look?" she asked, perking ears at her strange voice.
Twilight smiled, "You look like a healthy mare that has just entered adulthood."
Celestia nodded in agreement, "The transition was a success. Do you feel better?"
Silver rolled up onto her hooves and took a few experimental steps. Her center of balance hadn't shifted too much, though there was some change there. "Nothing a few sessions with Meadow won't figure out. I'm not changing names again, by the way. Silver Stars works fine for a mare or a stallion."
Twilight tilted her head, "I suppose so. So... do you feel relaxed?"
Silver frowned in thought, "I really can't answer that. I just lost a piece of myself, and got a new one. Give me some time, egghead."
Twilight frowned, "Don't call me that."
Silver bared her teeth, "I'm messing with you, and you deserve it, tying me down like that. This is not how you deal with troubled ponies, or humans that look like ponies, seriously." She shook herself out, "Now, assuming I'm still me, and I go back to making spells, how will being a mare help?"
Celestia extended a wing, brushing Silver's barrel, "I have doubts you will avoid the desire to have foal for long, and when you do, you will learn a new respect for life."
Silver blinked softly, flopping down on her haunches. "I didn't want to hurt... anyone to start with." She raised a hoof at Celestia, "Do you really think I'm out to hurt ponies?"
Celestia glanced away, then back at Silver, "It will be a learning experience regardless. Few are well-supported mothers who condone violence."
Silver stood up again and trotted up to Twilight, almost nose-to-nose with her, "Twilight."
Twilight tilted her head, "What?"
Silver bumped their noses together, "Boop." Twilight looked baffled, and Silver took her leave, content for the moment. ~Luna, are you still there?~
~You had gone quiet,~ came Luna's reply. ~Are things resolved?~
~In a matter of speaking. I have a favor to ask. I want to visit the Crystal Empire. Cadance is the only princess that has been entirely legit with me. She's never tried to force me into anything, and I want to talk to her before we go,~ thought Silver in a firm tone. At least her mental voice was the same, though it didn't help that she thought in the voices of fictional characters more often than not.
~Are you desiring revenge against Twilight, or Celestia?~ asked Luna.
~Amazingly, no. Twilight backed off the 'Do whatever I say and like it' thing at the last second. They were willing to let me walk out. That doesn't mean I'm happy as a clam with them, but I'm no longer imagining ways of inflicting horrific damage,~ explained Silver.
~I will remind,~ thought Luna, ~she is still my sister. Do not envision harm upon her, even if she acts poorly.~
~You may be princess of dreams,~ thought Silver with a huff, ~But I'll think what I want, so long as I don't act on it. Don't pull a Twilestia on me.~
~A what?~
Silver didn't reply, instead moving for the front of the castle. ~I'm going to catch a train. I presume that's alright.~
~No, take Night Watch with you at least,~ came Luna's voice, ~And be back within the week.~
Silver had no problem with Night Watch, and waited beside the gate. She came trotting up but slowed to a halt, peering at Silver.
"Yes, it's me," she said in her new voice, "We have a train to catch." She turned and led the way through the city. Movement as a female was odd. She had less things dangling about, which she missed the presence of more than she'd have imagined.
Night perked an ear at him, "Are you alright? Shouldn't we be laying down, not headed for the trains?"
Silver huffed, "What will that change? I want to visit Cadance, now."
Night shrunk a little, then moved to catch up, "Did they force this?"
Silver glanced at her, "No, they just started with the heaviest sales pitch they could. How many times do I have to say to at least try asking first? Is it that hard?"
Night held up a hoof, "Peace, Silver. I'm not forcing anything. You're not angry at me, are you?"
Silver shook his head, "No, and I plan to show you just how not-angry I am later, on the train."
Night flushed as she followed him, "I'm glad your appetite hasn't changed with your... parts."
Silver perked an ear, "Did you already forget Fast Change's gift to us? I'll be on top, have no fear." She clucked her tongue, "In fact, I think I'll just leave it on, confuse everypony."
Night scrunched her nose lightly, "That... would get attention. Do you want that kind of attention, being a mare with stallion bits on display?"
Silver shook herself out, "I'll decide after we get out of this city. I need to not see Canterlot for a bit." She moved up alongside Night and nipped at her shoulder, "It's not you. Thanks for coming."
They arrived at the station and waited for the next train peacefully. Twilight went soaring overhead, to the pointing and gasps of others. Night frowned up at her. Silver gently nuzzled into her neck, "She's adorkably dense. Save your anger."
Night huffed, but accepted snuggling against Silver as an acceptable alternative to scowling at Twilight, "We haven't had some 'us' time for a while."
Silver perked an ear, "You're right. With First Star hogging up the room and our jobs keeping us going... let's look at this like a second honeymoon, just us, enjoying each other."
Night pressed warmly against Silver, "I like the sound of that. Let's forget everything that's not us for a little while."
5803211 Does that mean you liked or disliked this chapter?
In an alternate universe (read: other stories) she has.
5803213 I haven't read this one in time with my previous comment. Now I think I'm a but more calm. Still hate Princesses though. So far only Cadance acted like an equal sapient being to another equal sapient being, without treating him like an alien and/or ordering him around because somehow being a mix of all 3 tribes suddenly makes you superior.
And I just came to conclusion that Twilight is unfit to be the princess. Unfit to have any sort of power over others. And from time to time is unfit to bear magic. When Lyra screwed up, but was forgiven by her victim, she was sentenced to wear the blocker for years. When two "superior beings" act worse they're somehow right and just in their actions.
Also that "princess majority rule" makes no sense. Luna is supposed to be equal to Celestia, but she isn't. Twilight and Cadance shouldn't have a voice at all, especially Twilight.
It looks like my TwiHate reservoir started leaking again.
Celestia is a hypocrite and an idiot.
Luna is an egoistic "better than thou" asshole and an idiot, too.
Twi is borderline in need of a good long loony bin visit.
This sentence, with it's numerous commas, is difficult to parse at first read.
Maybe try: "If you start asking before doing, and accept no, then we can be friends."
Would that spell that Silver made work on Twilight? It doesn't remove the mare aspects, after all, it just covers them up.
5803286 Ultimately, they didn't do the crime. They made noise, but when push came to shove, they backed down. The only thing they're 'guilty' of is trying to guilt-trip Silver into saying yes, and tis a strange monarchy when it's unusual for the monarch to attempt brow beating someone into compliance, and by unusual I mean entirely standard.
5803291 She has to earn the right to that spell, heck if Silver's just giving it to her after she acted like that. Book horse gets to wait.
5803322 Still hate all three of them.
5803287 Tweak applied!
5803331 Hate isn't good for you. What will put a smile on that face?
5803339 Emotions are good. Just need to remember that you control them, not vice versa. I just probably need to sleep, it's 3:14 am.
5803347 Where are you?
5803351 Moscow, Russia.
woo updates \o/
I'd make that "...were instead of," there.
That should be "a headache blooming."
He was "half-curling" to watch his body change.
Also, change the "to" to a "so" instead.
"Magically abused" should have a hyphen.
For that matter, it also needs a period after it, separating it from the next sentence.
Which "she" missed the presence of.
That second sentence should end with a question mark.
5803378 Tweaks applied! Your comment definitely played a part in this chapter.
5803358 Do you like?
5803410 yush :;o, going to get a lot more interesting
5803409 I'm a little surprised to hear that, because this is a far cry from what I was advocating. Reading this chapter over, what I feel most strongly is a sense of...disappointment.
I'm so disappointed in Silver for allowing that to happen to him. It's not much of an exaggeration when I say this will quite possibly leave an indelible mark of victimhood on him, at least for me.
Yes, he had an opportunity to walk out of there, and by not taking he - supposedly - changed it from a forcible violation to a consensual alteration, and even got promises of future favors out of it. But here's the thing; that changes it into a conditional surrender, rather than a complete defeat. It's the equivalent of, when your rapist has a sudden attack of conscience just before doing the deed and offers to let you go, leaning back and telling them that they can go ahead and do it anyway, so long as they buy you dinner afterwards. Suddenly deciding to allow a bad thing to happen to you, even if you get something out of it, doesn't mean that it's somehow not a bad thing anymore.
Sure, Silver was curious about what it would be like to have sex as a female...at least, with another female. But it's not like this was the only way to do that. Even if he didn't have the magic necessary to do that already, between his mastery of spell-crafting and Fast Change's knowledge of (faux-)gender-shifting magic, he could have had that anyway. He could have had that in a manner of his own choosing, by his own volition, when he felt that he was ready. No, it wouldn't have "fixed" whatever magic was tangled up inside him, but other than the fact that he "felt a release of a pressure he hadn't been aware of," I'm not seeing what practical impact that had. Certainly not enough where he had to be coerced into going along with this.
And make no mistake, he was coerced. Twilight may have had a sudden attack of conscience at the last moment, and even gotten Celestia to go along with offering Silver a choice, but there was very clearly pressure being brought to bear on him still (and he admitted as much with that "strong sales pitch" comment). The fact that Celestia's offer meant that his "crimes" would be expunged carried the very real, albeit silent, implication that if he walked out of there then they wouldn't be expunged, and I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't be aware of that. Even Twilight suddenly changing her tune was so sudden and so mercurial that it felt hard to trust it (especially if Celestia objected, since Twilight was clearly deferring to her the entire time).
That's leaving aside the utter gall that Celestia had when she proclaimed that Silver would soon be unable to resist the urge to bear young. Good luck with that, Celestia; gender identity is not tied to physical sex, which means that Silver won't be attracted to males anymore now than she was previously. Silver has gone from being a heterosexual male to being a homosexual female - hormones be damned, being in a state of heightened arousal does not alter who you're attracted to. That's to say nothing of the fact that I'm having a hard time seeing how being pregnant and giving birth would not be a fatal blow to Silver's sense of masculine identity.
Even more galling than that was Celestia's implication that childbirth would somehow give Silver a more proper appreciation for the lives of others. You self-righteous nag, Silver is not culpable for the death of that mare! Her death was an accident that was utterly impossible to predict; yes, Twilight, your sarcastic remark of "you bit somepony and you're surprised they died?" is utterly moronic; of course it's a surprise, ponies have no major blood conduits to be pierced, so as long as no vital organs were punctured - and there are no vital organs in the throat - then it's a pretty freaking big surprise that she died, particularly since Luna admitted that she was at fault for not informing Silver as to the existence of this ability.
The very idea that Celestia thinks that eradicating Silver's masculinity will somehow result in his no longer being placed in situations of violence has become so bizarre, so utterly divorced from the facts regarding the two situations that Silver has been in where he ended up hurting other ponies, that I'm honestly starting to question her cognitive functions at this point. Either she's revealing some sort of heretofore-repressed bigotry where she's conflated violence and masculinity as being intrinsically linked, or something has happened to corrupt her thought processes. I seriously would not be surprised at this point if we found out that some extremely subtle force has compromised her thinking with regards to Silver, for some insidious reason.
As it stands, the only way I can see Silver recovering from this irreducible attack on his sense of self is if he's going to Cadance to have it reversed immediately. If that was his plan all along, to suffer this penalty for no more than a few hours, while still reaping the benefits of demanding favors from Twilight and Celestia - and more importantly, allowing for there to be no practical impact to his time spent as a female, in essence making it "not count" (and his having sex with Night in that regard is pushing that significantly; it's mitigated only by the idea that he had the magic and curiosity to say that he probably would have done that on his own at some point anyway) - then I can see this being an end-run around everything that's happened and calling it a victory. But otherwise, this is a loss, and a major one, no matter how it's sliced.
Unless he can manage to pull off some sort of sudden reversal - quite literally, in terms of what just happened to him - then this is a major leap back into victimhood.
Welp... I'm done im a man of my word
Hmm, it's not the meeting of Cadance that could get interesting but Silver meeting Shining Armor. Wonder what the first thing that will be said. 'Your sister is CRAZY!'?
5803534 Gah, the words! It was stated flatly that going from male to female would require a great big heap of ze magicks, the sort that Celestia and Twilight together were perfect for. The 'trick' adds the less complex (but still demonstrated to be pretty taxing, but within Silver's grasp) male bits while not messing with the more complicated female ones.
Alright, so... Twilight did stuff to 'fix' things, Celestia said a lot of female-biased stuff, and Silver is headed off to visit sane-princess. Whether true or not, Silver feels has has won the confrontation, since the sex change can be undone if he dislikes it, or not , if it ends up working out. Who's to assume? He didn't start life on hooves, and that's grown on him. Even if he does get it reversed, he still has the favors to ask later, though he's not entirely sure what he'll ask for. Considering Celestia outed herself as favoring females over males, which sorta makes sense with the culture she's fostered, maybe sticking female for a while would be a better position, assuming he can still hop on his favored mares like he could before and go standing up, an extra... part shouldn't be near as confusing as hooves and a horn. Right? Right?!
Is he right? Probably not, but that's how he feels right now, like he won the battle and took all the prizes and even gets to go on a vacation with his honey pie away from the whole mess to think it over, get away from douchey nobles, and just 'be' without pressures.
He certainly has a lot to puzzle over. Perhaps just not coming back would be the best course of action. Is Cadance hiring? She's pretty cool, and doesn't seem likely to throw him to the dogs (See Celestia and Twilight) immediately.
5803609 I suspect that Silver "feeling" like he won is a defense mechanism; if you were a willing participant, you can't have been victimized, after all. Yes, he's already gone through some major alterations to his body, but none of those had any major sort of coercion behind them (the pony satyr one is arguable, and even then a major component of that arc was that he had been magically beguiled). Moreover, I have to wonder if sexual identity is more fundamental than humanity per se - the latter is what you are, but the former is part of who you are.
I also realized that I forgot to indict Luna in my last comment, and make no mistake: she deserves to be indicted for her utter lack of concern regarding what Silver was facing. It wasn't so much that she couldn't have made a difference as it was the way that she couldn't even become remotely upset over what was happening to Silver. Her entire reaction can be summed up as a Seinfeldian "that's a shame."
It's enough to completely sour me with regards to how Luna is shaping up in this story so far. Simply put, she hasn't reformed at all with regards to how she's treating Silver. She's supposedly embarking on a new, more intimate relationship with him (now her), but she's committed multiple breaches of the respect that one is assumed to have for an intimate partner.
She's declared him to be unfit to own property or function on his own, with no indication that she intends to restore his status as an independent adult anytime soon.
She's lied to him about being pregnant, using word games to technically avoid having deceived him while still having clearly misled him.
She gave him a potentially deadly weapon, and then simply forgot to mention it to him until after he'd accidentally discharged it.
She couldn't muster up any reaction to his impending feminization besides "you can still fulfill my plan to breed a new tribe."
It's clear, at this point, that Luna is still using him as a pawn. First strip away his rights (what little he had) and then maneuver him to be breeding stock, regardless of whether it's as a stallion or a mare, using lies about pregnancy to keep him emotionally in check. Oh, and make him able to double as a weapon too, as an afterthought.
Maybe Luna simply isn't able to treat Silver as an equal the way Night is. Maybe being an immortal demigoddess is simply too different a perspective to bridge the gap. Either way, I'd say that she's run out of chances. There have been too many breaches of trust, too many lies and manipulations, too many instances of Silver being her victim or her pawn for things to work out between them.
In fact, that plays into the larger theme that's emerging over the last few stories: that the ponies in power, both the nobility and the princesses, are entirely corrupt and have set up a system that serves only themselves while paying lip service to actual justice, and will penalize anypony that rocks the metaphorical boat. It's seriously time for Silver to leave Equestria's range of political influence entirely, and never return. Bring Night along, send word for First to come meet you there immediately, make sure to invite Fast after you settle in at a new, safe location (and her hive, if she'll be staying), and write letters to Rough and Trixie (and Meadow and Tumble, for that matter) explaining what happened and where they can find you. But get out of there, for your own sake.
5803757 'ever return' -> 'never return'
Sorry, I had to return the favor at least once.
Running blindly into the hills is a rash decision. Going to a known safe harbor seems a lot wiser of an option, and he can survey the field from there. There are no nobles in the Crystal Empire that he is aware of, just Cadance, and the emotionally recovering crystal ponies, who seemed nice enough, if undefined. Of course, being undefined in the show means they could be anything, but anypony that Cadance is guiding isn't likely to be too awful, or so he figures.
Trying to smuggle everyone else out would be similarly rash, even selfish, from his PoV. The system is working for them quite well, why would he suggest they depart it because it's messing with him? Rough Draft and Trixie are happily married and cozy in their little town, why would he want to bother that? It's unlikely the princesses will rain on them randomly.
5803801 Fixed!
5803801 I should mention that - with regards to Silver leaving Equestria (but not with regards to Luna) - I was being largely hyperbolic. While I think that it might be time to seriously consider quitting it altogether, and even think about if he could bring his friends, family, and loved ones along, I don't think that it'd be practical for them all to flee the country, The Sound of Music-style.
5804570 Happy birthday!
it would be very amusing and a major shock to the princesses if silver becomes the first male alicorn X3
Didn't Cadence magic Silver while he was unconscious? I know she did Rough and Trixie, resulting in their marriage. While he would approve the ends, he would certainly not approve the means.
Though Silver has little to no knowledge of Cadence's manipulation of his life, it doesn't leave her truly innocent. In some ways her power would probably be scarier to him if he knew what he was dealing with, as she essentially wields a (noticeably limited) mind control magic.
5907452 You would be part of a not-insignificant herd of ponies. Silver has a hard path to follow, but they grow with every kink and bend in the path. I hope you'll go along with them, but you like what you like. Thanks for reading.
so what just happen? I am so confuse.
6011390 Silver became a mare. Do read on. His/her adventure has only barely begun!
twilight is dense? so am i! in a more literal manner however and yet somehow i am underweight for my current height which is odd.
Silver perked an ear, "If you start asking before doing, and accept no, then we can be friends." He looked to Twilight
Ha! Good luck with that.
His outtie became an inny slowly. It didn't hurt as bad as he had feared, more like a long steady pinching rather than the explosive agony he had predicted.
Wouldn't it be the same kind of feeling a button feels as its being pressed?
Alright I'm done. You have taken to many turns that I really don't approve of. The fire ball was one. That was incredibly OoC, and really just unnecessary. The sex change makes me sick to my stomach. Maybe that is because I would never agree to it and the idea that the princesses would pretty much force the decision anyways (he's owned by Luna so he has no real choice) really disturbs me.
You were good, but some things just really made me cringe.
6947759 Then awaken, sweet dreamer. Go back to Wearing a Silver Wizard Robe and Hat.
Awaken!
I am being entirely serious. The story's over there. You're missing nothing here.
Not gonna lie. Celestia pisses me off here. I'd kill a pony just to prove her wrong. Ofc, I'd be using a spell that only imitates death. Not going to actually kill them.
Gah! That rule 64 shit no thanks this was going petty well until ya did ze rule 64 that makes me feel sick...never liked that crap if that's ze case back to silver robe an hat!
P.S. Ze way ya set up these stories are confusing as hell XD
8716134
Feel free to skip back to Silver Robe and Wizard Hat. Not all wish to endure this nightmare.
I am so tired and there is not enough alcohol to put me to sleep.