Silver stretched his wings out as the train arrived in Manehattan. It was only a little over a month since last he was there in that bustling city, but he already looked forward to seeing it, even if in passing. He reached for Celestia and shook her at the shoulder. "Wake up, we're here."
Celestia stirred herself swiftly. "Oh? Good. There should be a chariot waiting for us just outside the station." She rose to her hooves and they both disembarked the train, carrying precious little.
Silver perked an ear at Celestia. "Aren't you bringing anything?"
"Anything I brought could be lost. All I truly require is myself, and you."
Silver felt warm at her saying it. "I'll do my best to be worth bringing along then."
Celestia smiled. "Just see that you don't get lost. There they are." She moved for a relatively plain-looking taxi, though its drawer wore the golden armor of a royal guard.
He saluted when they approached. "Princess, Prince. Ready to depart when you are."
Silver nodded at the guard before stepping up onto the wagon. Their departure from the train and boarding of the taxi did not go unnoticed. It was difficult for a pair of alicorns to move anywhere without some eyes, and the terminal of the train had many of them available. Soft murmured whispers spread as ponies gawked at the two of them, but none barred their way, and they were soon out onto the street, being pulled swiftly towards the docks.
Celestia glanced aside at Silver as his eyes wandered the city. "Do you miss them already?"
"Who? Oh... yes." He shuffled a little, trying to sort his feelings. "I've gotten so used to them being available whenever I wanted their company. The thought that I can't just fly off and find them is..."
Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. "It's OK to be sad. I'd be more worried if you insisted you were fine. Do you understand our mission?"
"Not really," confessed Silver. "Besides going to Anugypt, not dying, and trying to give a good impression of Equestria."
Celestia gave a light smile. "You understand perfectly. We'll go over more specifics on the sail there."
The taxi arrived beside a large and sleek-looking ship. Celestia waved at it. "Behold, the Crest of the Sun. It's built to impress, which will make our lives just a tiny bit easier." Her smiling expression fell as a richly-dressed feline with two tails approached.
"Good day and well met," she spoke with a soft purring sort of voice. "I know we have not met." She looked at Silver as she spoke. "But I have heard so much about the fabled Prince of the Night, Bringer of Inspiration." She arched a brow. "Stud of the Land, and He Who Has No Past. You have many titles, hmm?"
Silver hadn't heard many of those titles, and flushed a soft red at hearing them. "The people like to talk about things they don't know."
Celestia gestured at the feline. "This is Ambassador Doublebrush. She has represented the people of Anugypt for five years."
Doublebrush dipped her head. "I'm afraid that time is at an end. I have been recalled, and a new mouth will spew the demands of the pharaoh. It has been a pleasure crossing verbal swords with you, Princess. I am told we are going in the same direction. May I?"
Celestia nodded lightly. "Please. There is plenty of room for the three of us. Silver, I believe you have a message. Meet me on the boat when you're ready."
Silver turned to spot a lanky male earth pony wielding a letter in his mouth. Silver accepted the letter in his mouth and unfolded it quickly.
My Prince,
It will be trying taking on the full responsibilities of the night once more. I will miss your comforting presence in the dream world, but know that I will seek you out, no matter how far you roam. The night is our time, even if a world separates us. I know this is poor timing, but it remains the last possible moment. I know you have studded for a few mares already, and I thank you for your work, but if you would see to the needs of one last mare before you go? If not, I will not hold it against you. Your trip must weigh heavily on your mind.
Your Princess of the Night,
Luna
Included was an address in Manehattan. Silver huffed and rolled his eyes, considering it. He'd rather spend his last moment in Equestria with one of his beloved, but that was an option long since past. He briefly considered asking Celestia, but feared soft mocking joking would await him. Ah well, what was one last fling to harm. It may be the last he'd get for a while.
He spread his leathery wings wide and took to the air. The airspace of the city proved quite busy, with pegasi flitting from place to place quite busily, and a few non-pegasi moving about in helicopters and other fanciful-looking devices, pedaling them wildly. Silver pondered the mechanics of such devices as he passed them by, to find the address he'd been given.
What he found was a simple apartment building. He strode inside to find a surprised-looking security guard behind his desk. He tilted his head at Silver. "Oh, uh... Hello, sir?"
Silver nodded as he walked past, stepping into the elevator. It was just a little cramped, and he wondered how troubling life might be when he finished growing. He pressed a button with his magic and was carried up to the fourteenth floor. 1417 wasn't hard to find, and it had a little strawberry hung on the door with the number repeated. Silver smiled a little and knocked on the door, wondering who would answer.
The door peeked open to reveal a matronly-looking unicorn female. Her expression brightened on seeing him. "My dreams were answered!" She reached for Silver, and he let her lead him inside. Her apartment felt like an old person's home, though the mare was in her middle-ages at worst, and pudgy. Not the most ideal example of pony, but Silver felt he was a poor one to judge. She fussed around, clearing a space on a soft couch and gesturing for him to sit. "Do you need anything? I have some tea, and I just got some honeydew, I could cut one for you?"
Silver shook his head a little. "No, no, I'm fine, though some water wouldn't be bad. Uh... Am I here for what I think I'm here for?"
She vanished at a quick trot, returning with a tall glass of water held in her magic. She set it down in front of Silver and nodded her head. "I hope so? I've wanted a foal forever, but I could never get the courage to go find a stallion, and here you are."
Silver's ears fell back a little. "I'm not here to start a relationship..."
She nodded. "Oh I know that. You're just a stud, but a fine one at that."
Silver felt shame and pride mix uncomfortably at her description. "Well, yes... I feel I should point out that your foal, colt or filly, is likely to be lunar, as I am."
She waved a hoof. "Pointy ears or not, they'll get love out of me."
Silver drained his glass and set it aside. She wasn't the prettiest mare, but she was willing, and she was receptive, he could smell it, trapped in the small space of her apartment. Dropping into ready position, he brought his tool to ready, and tried to be gentle and loving for the mare, even if she didn't ask for it. The act itself proved quite short. He slipped into her ready body and drove into her, only to spill hotly all-too-quickly. He was getting ready to warm up for a second round when she gently tickled him under the chin with her magic and pulled forward. He hugged her softly. "Not yet. You're not finished."
"I'm not?" She sounded baffled, but settled in place and let him resume, the second coupling lasting much more satisfyingly longer for them both, and ended with that powerful suction that Silver learned was the pull of a mare for the masculine magic that would quicken her. He yielded his virile spark to her, hoping to create a happy foal for her, and she slumped beneath him. "Oh... now I am..." She fell asleep right there.
Silver gently dismounted her and shook his head, unsure how to feel about that particular conquest. If she hadn't been so happy to see him, he'd... He wasn't sure. He grabbed a towel and cleaned himself off. Once presentable for the world, he went out onto the balcony and took off from there, sailing back towards Celestia's boat. Now that he knew where it was, traveling by air was much faster, and soon he landed on the deck of the ship, ready to begin the journey.
Celestia was on the deck, wings spread as if to better soak the warm sun of day. She walked towards him as he landed. "Everything in order?" Silver nodded as she looked him over. "I didn't think you were that sort of stallion."
Silver went red as he realized she somehow knew what he had been up to. Was it scent? "Uh, just fulfilling my royal duties."
Celestia raised a brow at him. "Are you now? I thought those were limited to the circle of princesses. Such a heavy burden you must bear. I can't imagine any stallion handling it with dignity..."
Silver pawed at the deck lightly. "Don't tease me about this, kindly. Your sister wants there to be a lunar unicorn tribe, and I'm the only male she has for the job."
Celestia's taunting expression fell to mild sorrow. "I see. Sorry, I was just trying to..." She extended a wing and brushed it against Silver's face, making him sneeze. She smiled. "You're still adorable when you sneeze, alicorn or no. I am sorry. I won't tease you about that again. All set?"
Silver found it easy to forgive, he usually did. Celestia tickling him like that brought a smile to his face, even if a sneeze came along for the ride. "All set."
The ship soon pulled anchor, and was on its way. Celestia led Silver below, to a large bedroom big enough for a party. "This is our room."
"Our?" silver looked about and only saw one bed.
Celestia smirked at his expression. "Relax. We're supposed to be a royal duo, a married couple, not an estranged pair. The trip there is a fine time to get used to the idea of it. I don't smell that badly, do I?"
Silver quickly shook his head. "No! No..."
"Good, because you do." She pointed at the bath, already full of soapy water. "After you, Stud of the Land."
Silver walked past her silently, save for the clops of his hooves on the floor, wondering how long that particular title would last. It was hardly the thing he wanted to be remembered through the ages by, but it felt like exactly the kind of thing people would latch onto, despite any other achievements in life. With a soft sigh, he sank into the hot water. His muscles began to relax, and he felt especially lazy, like he could just soak the day away.
Celestia dispelled that notion. She approached wielding a stiff-bristled brush in her golden magic. "I'll get you presentable."