Celestia walked serenely down the hallway to her room, which Silver already knew well. She set him down on the bed and sat beside him. "I owe you an apology."
Silver was caught by surprise by this. "For what?"
Celestia ruffled her wings lightly. "It was my decision that you come here and face this danger with me. You have been instrumental to this being handled so swiftly, but you've also taken all of the harm. I've not been so much as scratched, and here you are, my stallion, taking this punishment with that patient expression of yours." She leaned in. "When you aren't being seen to by nubile young mares."
Silver flushed with the memory of the girls, but Celestia continued. "You should be demanding I send you home, or yelling at me, or Amenti, or chasing after your attacker and everypony involved, but you just... accept it and move on, eyes always forward. I can see it in your eyes. You want to just tell me you love me, and that you want me to be happy." She looked away. "I thought such... naked optimism was reserved for Twilight's friendship lessons. I understand now how you two fell for one another." She moved her nose an inch from Silver's. "Don't sugarcoat it. I demand to hear how poor of a mare I've been."
Silver internally grumbled. Why did the wonderful people around him insist he tell them they're not? "If you were alone, my wife, you may have been seriously hurt yourself, or worse. My injuries, well, they suck, but they'll heal. I'll remind you that, asked for or not, you've given me royalty. Your sister gave me a pony body. You all, together, gave me princedom. My life isn't perfect, but I'm not short on things to appreciate, to be thankful for..."
Celestia stood over Silver, glaring down at him. "Why aren't you angry? Stop holding it in!"
Silver considered who he should be angry at. "The assassin was killed. I saw her die. Do you know who sent her? Would it... be wise to try to attack them?"
Celestia suddenly smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do know. Is that something you'd like to know?"
Silver sat up slowly, considering that. "Is it... whoever Amenti is marrying?"
"Astute." Celestia nodded lightly. "His family, at least. They intend to solidify their control over Anugypt. Amenti will be mollified and offered small victories while they take what they want. That little girl has almost no chance, but the region will be stable. Hate me for thinking that's a reasonable course of action."
Silver did dislike the idea. The concept boiled through him and he grunted as he rose up to his hooves on quivering legs. "What if we... attacked them?"
Celestia smiled. "I'm certain we have the raw magic to level their manor and most of those inside it, and what a merry display it would be. The entire world would point and mock me. Look at how the peaceful ponies handle things when it doesn't go their way. Behold the pristine princess with blood all over her hooves." She growled, heat washing over the room from her. "Marvel at her oversexed stud as he proves he can kill and destroy."
Silver could see Celestia had more than enough anger to go around, and reached for her, taking her own trembling body in his forelegs and hugging tight to her. "What do you want to do? You know I'll stand beside you."
Celestia sank to the bed, dragging Silver along with her. "I want them all to stop being so... unreasonable. I want them to treat one another with respect and dignity!" The tension fell away from her as she sighed. "I suppose I wish they were all ponies, and would listen to what I said, but that isn't reasonable, now is it? I didn't even marry a pony."
Silver tilted his head. "I... aren't I a pony now?"
Celestia looked at him with a sad expression and pulled him in, embracing him fully. "You poor thing. Of course you are. I'm just very... frustrated right now."
Her words were comforting, but something in them seemed insincere. Silver let it go as he nestled against her despite the aches of his injuries. Suddenly she turned beneath him, and he was resting belly-to-belly on top of her. "Go on," she said. "Follow your stallion urges."
Silver smelled something particular that had him ready to go instantly, and it made him curious. "Are you copying me?"
Celestia smiled. "What, you think only you and Twilight know any magic? Go on, submit to it, then make me submit."
Silver could feel the urge to claim the mare building as she attacked his new pony instincts savagely with her scent. It didn't help that he thought she was a lovely creature without the urging. He felt tense, painfully tense, all over. "I will make love to you, like the wonderful wife you are," he said defiantly. "Prepare to be loved."
Celestia burst into a musical laughter a brief moment before she angrily kissed him, sealing lips and staring into his eyes with a frightful intensity. He didn't deny her further, moving himself back as quickly as his injuries allowed and rubbing the end of his excitement against her. Having to move so far back parted them and he gasped for air. "I'm really starting to feel like a stud this last few days. Do you prefer it this way?"
Celestia cringed, and poked him right in his sore ring, making him squeal in pain without actually doing much harm. "You're killing the mood again."
Silver frowned as he rubbed against her. "Then make love to me, for once, as Silver, not a faceless stallion, or even your stallion. Not as a husband, but Silver Stars."
Celestia's jaw went tight, "Perhaps... you have a point, Silver... Right now I want to pretend nothing matters but the two of us. I want to rut like a wild beast for the night, and maybe tomorrow we can figure out what to do, or just leave and accept what we've managed so far."
Silver nipped at her long neck, nuzzling into it. "We are not wild beasts. I know being in charge sucks sometimes."
Celestia frowned a touch. "There are few breaks. Even at sea, the sailors expect their princess. You won't even give me this one moment. Is this your subtle revenge? Must I be a princess for you too?"
Her words seem to touch something in Silver, and he slipped into her. Rather than starting to rut, he tried something different. Letting her work at him, her tunnel wetly gripping and stroking at him, he focused everything on working up the energy within him. He put his forehooves at her belly. "Are you still heavy with our attempt?"
Celestia perked an ear curiously. "I am... why?"
Silver thrust against her, making sure he was fully embedded. "I am going to try to quicken it, and give you what you wanted. What we want."
Celestia frowned. "I... don't think it works that way." She held him close and her passage became all the firmer, pulling at him urgently.
"Can you say it doesn't?" he challenged as he felt his orbs swell almost-painfully. "Do you or don't you love my willingness to try?"
Celestia's frown melted as she nodded. "Please... Go ahead. I will be here to catch you, succeed or fail."
The increasingly erratic pulls at his shaft drew him ever closer to the edge without any further thrusting on his part. He had worked himself as hot as he could get, entire body burning with his magic, and head swimming in the sweltering heat of it all. When he fell over the edge, his shaft was painfully swollen from the inside, seed trying desperately to escape from the pressurized confines of his body.
Celestia made the most delicious sound as she felt the intensely fired seed spray into her, hosing her down. He could feel her tremble under and around him, driving her to climax as he came what felt like literal buckets, and he wondered how it wasn't backwashing out over the both of them in a sticky display of over-sexed masculinity.
Silver lost track of time, of Celestia, and even himself. It was some time later that he realized he was laying beside her, weakly gasping for air. His entire body felt drained, but he was still alive, making it better than his last attempt considering he hadn't gotten an emergency boost, or attempted to drain Celestia.
Celestia let out a little pleased noise. "That will do, for now... When you are healed, I will show you how to behave properly."
Silver wriggled a little, catching his breath slowly. "Was I... bad?"
"No." She nuzzled him gently across the snout. "You were just fine."
"Did it work?" Silver tried to feel between them, as if he could feel the quickened life through his belly.
"I couldn't say, not so soon." Celestia smiled deviously. "Of course, we can always try again, once you're rested." Her magic pulled at his bracelet just firmly enough to be felt. "How are you holding up? I've seen you trying to do magic. It must be awful."
Silver squirmed a little at the tug at his still slightly engorged balls. "If it lets me give you the foal you want, I'd keep it on long enough to give you and your sister what you deserve, but after that, it needs to come off. Not being able to use my horn, ugh... It's like I lost my fingers, again, without the promise that I'll get something equivalent back."
Celestia's magic tickled and teased him, and he felt ready to go despite the general fatigue, but thought better of the idea. "We'll figure out how to get it off of you. You deserve better than this, and my selfish needs don't qualify to argue. The Saddle Arabians are talented in their own, different, ways. We'll bring you to a specialist and see if they can't liberate you."
Silver moved to rise up when he caught a powerful wiff of something different, more potent. He had difficulty even thinking of anything but servicing the mare beneath him. The intensity of the urge was... horrifying. "Nova."
With a gust of wind, the scent was banished, and Celestia tilted her head. "I thought you were enjoying yourself. That's the first time you used it."
Silver sank against her, erection pinned between them. "I... couldn't think for a moment. What was that?"
Celestia smirked a little. "That's my secret. But it was special. Good to know it works on you. I was slightly afraid it wouldn't. Does being a mindless stallion frighten you that much?"
Silver couldn't help but think of the handsome stallion in Celestia's dream, there to service and look nice and nothing else. "If you don't love me for my stupid thoughts, then you don't love me very much at all. I don't mind being turned on, but that felt way too far. Is it that bad when I do it?"
Celestia shook her head. "It, as you says, turns you on, but my faculties remained. Come then. Let us get some sleep."
They curled together, and eventually drifted off. Perhaps better answers would come with the morning light.