Silver trotted after the guard. He was fairly sure it was the same night guard as the other times, though he couldn't prove it. They all started to look similar when they wore that identical armor of their office. When he arrived at Luna's bedroom, he strode inside with a purpose.
Luna was upright, looking at him with... amusement? Silver became unsure, "Do you know why I asked to speak with you?"
Luna smiled, a devious smile that made Silver worry. "Speak plainly. Who is the better deceiver, my sister, or I?"
Silver tilted his head, "Is that a trick question? You both hav--"
"Plainly," interrupted Luna.
Silver let out a soft sigh, "Your sister has had more experience manipulating others."
Luna nodded, "And yet, my plan went well."
Silver perked an ear, "What plan?"
Luna moved. Behind her was a heavy and bulging bag. She gave it a kick and it fell over, spilling bits across the room in a small avalanche. "Celestia's fee for such a direct assault is quite heavy. It is only imposed on the richest of ponies, to remind them to mind their manners... This is yours."
Silver approached the coins hesitantly, reaching out to softly bat at one with a hoof, "I, uh, thank you... but, other than presiding at the time, how are you responsible?"
Luna leaned towards Silver, "My adorable little stallion. Who do you think put dreams of the court into both your minds? She succumbed first, head full of revenge and how she could gain it in my court. She was convinced, nay, obsessed with the idea that swift, old justice would be had if she could just get you in my court. I fed it, fueled that wicked hate."
Silver recoiled a little, "But... what if she would have cooled down on her own?"
Luna shrugged gently, "That is unlikely. I watched her for quite some time before this. You were trickier. Yours was a web of curiosity. My little pony, you would wander into a gaping maw if you became curious enough about what was inside."
Her tone was gentle, even affectionate, but Silver did not feel comforted by it. "You put me in the spotlight, again. I was hit... again."
Luna nodded slowly, "But this time, justice is yours. At long last, I have delivered."
Silver tensed, then let out a breath. Luna really did try to put things right. He smiled at her gently, "Please, next time, let embers die, so, uh, how much of her... I mean, is this a spring house she had to sell, or is she bankrupt?"
Luna raised a brow, "I confess, I did not do an accounting of her. She was most upset when she brought it in." With a wave of a hoof, she created an image showing Missus Plate moving forward with the sourest expression, a servant carrying the bag with effort.
Silver shook his head, "That's... Luna, I'm happy that you care for me. Heck, I'd be lying to say she didn't get a little of what she deserved, but this all was kind of mean."
Luna inclined an ear, "Are you upset?"
Silver smiled, moving up to nuzzle at Luna, "Far less than I was a few moments ago... I'm of mixed feelings, but I am... sure you were trying to do right by me, so that counts for a lot."
Luna gently returned the nuzzle a moment, "But?"
Silver huffed, "But... I try, really hard, not to be vindictive, which this was." He wanted to be morally upset about this, but the emotion refused to come to him. No, he kinda enjoyed the prank Luna did, even if it left him with a sore patch for a while. "Say, there was this mare. She was sitting beside me?"
Luna nodded, "I saw her. What of her?"
Silver shuffled, "She made, ugh, not sure how to say this, but she turned me on, OK? I think I smelled my first mare in heat."
Luna shook her head, "Impossible. She did not put out the signals."
Silver tilted his head in confusion, "I'm pretty sure I smelled it."
Luna waved a hoof dismissively, "A worn perfume, to fake a signal. The others were not present, though you do not know what to look for." Luna raised a brow slowly, "Did you accept her offer?"
"No!" exclaimed Silver, recoiling, "I ran out of there and back to my wives."
Luna nodded, "Good. I would have had less faith in you if an obvious trap was enough to seduce you."
Silver leaned forward, sniffing at Luna. He felt a similar reaction begin to rapidly build inside him. "Are you?"
Luna inclined an ear, "We are not here to dally this evening. We will wait until next time, after you have serviced your first wife."
Silver stomped a hoof on the ground, "That's kind of sexy, but I am more than a pair of balls with a loud mouth attached. When were you even going to ask my opinion?"
Luna shook her head, "If you said you didn't want it, you would be lying to me."
Silver raised a hoof, "And yet, as friends, you should still ask, because that's polite. I don't want to be a 'donor'. I'd want any life I made to be a willing and conscious act, to enter with love, for the mother and child, or children." He approached Luna, trying to nuzzle at her, but she danced out of the way.
Luna snorted, "For one who lived his life without love at all, you have the most romantic notions!"
Silver sat on his haunches. "Making up for lost time? Is it really that bad that I want us to be together, and not just rut?"
Luna scowled a moment before her expression returned to a more neutral form, "You should collect your money."
Silver conjured up his hands to start scooping the coins into the bag, "I will, but it doesn't change anything. I still want us to be equals, fuck politics."
"You can't breed politics," said Luna before her expression changed, perhaps finding that bit of memory, "Ah. You will not let this die, will you?"
Silver smiled then, "Like you let Misses Plate go away? We both have our stubborn streaks. I still love you despite yours."
Luna frowned thoughtfully, "Yes... Consult with your herd. Would they be truly happy to know their stallion courts me not as a consort, but actively chases after my hoof, trying to extract a confession of love?" Silver dug out a scrap of paper, and Luna snatched it from his mental grip, "What is this?"
Silver winced softly, "A spell..."
Luna raised a brow, "What manner of spell?"
Silver considered his options before saying, "One that, if it works when you use it, you wouldn't want to use it."
Luna peered at Silver a moment before moving the paper back where he could take control of it again. "Is this a spell you planned to use on me? Now is not the time, if you treasure your herd."
Silver quickly tucked the paper away before digging out another, "I'm not that organized. That is far from my special talent."
Luna looked at Silver with amusement, "When next you visit, come with a note from both your wives. It should explain their thoughts." A brow raised, "You will see that you are chasing... the moon, if you mind my saying. Go." She waved him off, "And take your money."
Silver stuffed the new paper away before turning his attention to the bag, It was heavier than it looked, and it looked pretty heavy. He managed to heft it up barely after some effort. Luna shook her head and opened the door with her magic, "Assist him with this."
A night guard stepped in and lifted it with frustrating ease. Silver followed after him, and soon they had returned to Silver's room. When the bag was set down, both Night and Fast peered at it.
Night approached curiously as the guard departed, "Is that what it sounds like?"
Silver nudged open the bag with his magic, exposing the countless coins within. "We're rich, I think?"
Fast rolled off the bed and hurried up beside Night to have her own look, "What on Equestria do you plan to do with it?"
Night frowned, "Where did you get it?"
Silver gestured towards the door, "Luna's work. She got it from the noble that was angry with me a while ago."
Night reached with her wings, digging through the coins, "You could buy a house, right here in Canterlot. You could do a lot of things." She plopped down, "What do you plan to do with it?"
Silver approached Night, rubbing his muzzle along her snout, "Whatever you suggest."
Night brightened, "That was the correct answer."
Fast giggled softly, "The stallion can learn. We should reward him so it sticks."
Silver held up his hooves, "You two know more about the Equestrian economy than I do. If this was my world, I know what I'd do with a ton of cash, and none of it applies here. I didn't really work for this money, so do what you want." He reached and poked Night in the side, "Just think of the future..."
Night flushed gently under her dark fur, "Of course I will... It's nice to know you're thinking about that."
Fast leaned in, whispering in one of Silver's ears, "She'll be ready in three days."
Silver went rigid as Night slapped Fast with a wing, "I was going to tell him, you awful pony."
Fast danced away with a laugh, "You're going to monopolize him for a day, consider that my payment."
Silver considered a moment before he nodded, "Related to that... I give full permission to smack me one if I say something hurtful."
Night raised a brow at Silver, "What'd you do now?"
Silver shook his head, "I didn't do anything, yet. I was talking with Luna, and she said to talk to you both. I've... been trying to pull her out of her shell. She really is a good pony under that rough exterior."
Fast flashed a grin, "Is she half the lay she looks like she is?"
Night rolled her eyes at Fast, "I know she is good. I served under her for some time. What do you mean?"
Silver wobbled a hoof before he circled around Night and Fast, "She seems to want a foal as bad as you do, Night. She's fine waiting until after you, but she eyes me like a source of the foal instead of a person. Any child I make, I want to be a father of, but she's all caught up on being princess of the night."
"She is princess of the night," pointed out Night Watch, adjusting her glasses, "She can't really change that."
Fast shook her head, "But she doesn't have to be, with Silver. He's not even a pony, up here." She tapped at her own head, "I bet he just sees a big sexy mare."
"I see a big, sexy, lonely mare," corrected Silver. "We were lovers once, as Celine."
Night let out a slow breath, closing her eyes a moment, "I know you loved Celine. But is Luna really Celine?"
Silver flopped over, his head resting at Night's hooves, "A little. I can see she really... wants to, but she keeps holding back. I think she's just afraid. I mean I'm afraid too! She can break me a dozen ways without trying very hard, and she has a temper."
Fast snorted as she tapped at Silver's noggin, "So why are you so hot to trot after her?"
"Because love is stupid," was Silver's reply. "I want to be her foal's father, not just her donor. I want to be her lover, not a servi... is stud a word?"
Night blinked through her glasses, "It's not often used in the way you just used it, but yes. She is using you as a stud."
Silver rolled over onto his back, legs in the air, "Well I don't want that. She can have that, but she has to have all of it. Am I a terrible husband?"
"Yes," said Fast, "But I forgive."
Night snorted at Fast before looking down at Silver, "It is grossly irresponsible. Luna will never consent to--"
"I'm not a commoner," said Silver, waving a hoof from his upside-down position, "I'm a diplomat of a foreign country."
Night frowned, "That may be good enough for other nobles, but Luna knows it's nonsense. You're asking her to be a secondary wife. Think! She already bristles under Celestia's shadow, and now you invite her to be shadowed in a marriage?"
Silver hadn't thought of it that way, "Oh..."
Fast looked upset by Night's words, "I wouldn't mind having her as a co-wife."
Night rolled her eyes at Fast, "Oh, that's good. You wouldn't mind Princess Luna being on equal hoofing with you. How magnanimous." She tapped Silver on the nose, "You are only one stallion, no matter how big your dreams. You plan to keep three mares happy, one of them bucking Luna?"
Silver flopped over, "I'd try."
Night took her glasses off, setting them on a dresser, "I'm sure you would, you dumb stallion."
Silver smiled nervously, "Will you let me try?"
Night leaned in over Silver's prone form and kissed his exposed cheek, "Big dumb idiot. You're going to get yourself hurt, again."
Silver turned his head to turn the cheek kiss into a proper exchange before he asked, "Will you help me?"
Night frowned, "I don't know how to do that. I'll let you throw yourself off this cliff you refuse to stop considering, but how can I help?"
Silver considered a moment, "How about you talk to Luna, mare to mare? Convince her we're not judging her, and that we respect her."
Night's wings extended, "I respect her enough not to ask her these questions."
Fast nudged up against Night, "Come on. Look at him. He's like a hurt puppy and we can help."
Night huffed, "Fine. I'll talk to her. I don't think this will work out as well as you hope, but I'll try. I'm seventy percent certain she'll ask me to step down to a secondary wife and let her take over." She nudged Silver, "You gave me that spot. You told me I was special."
Silver winced, suddenly feeling and looking awful, "I didn't change my mind. You're wonderful."
Night shrugged, "Then why put me in this situation? Luna won't be happy being secondary. You know she will ask, and what do I say? Do I say no? Because then she'll say no. Do I say yes? Then she takes over this herd."
Silver felt a pain growing in his chest. He didn't want to hurt Night, or Luna, but it was looking like a one or the other situation. How could he get both to be happy? More evidence of why herds faded in popularity, he decided.