Silver awoke in a field of black. He rose to his hooves and shook himself out. "Text? Are we in your place?"
Words appeared, hovering in the air silently. 'It has been quite some time. Look at you.'
Silver looked down at himself. He had a thick collar, the necklace. He also had the smaller bangle around his jewels. All other clothes were simply gone. "I found the whole set."
"No."
Silver frowned a little. "What do you mean, no? Doesn't the necklace go with the bangle?"
"It does. It is not done."
Silver focused and teleported a few feet ahead. A rush flowed through him and he shivered. Casting magic felt good, but he didn't get hard or feel the urge to find a mare. "It seems to be working? What's the third part?"
"I didn't bring you here to discuss that. Now that you are free enough to think, tell me, are you happy?"
Silver perked an ear at the words as he read over them. "In what way?"
"In every way. Are you happy? You have more wives than you can shake your horse dick at, and servants waiting for the command to lift their tails. You are renowned through the world in admiration and fear. Are you happy?"
Silver clenched his teeth, unsure how to answer the question fully.
"Tell me."
"I..." Silver glanced into the dark. "I miss my original wives. I want to hug Night Watch, and read with Twilight Sparkle, and play a game with Fast Change. Night Watch protected me when I couldn't protect myself, but she had to give birth without me, and that feels awful. I'm being a selfish husband."
Silver felt a ticklish sensation before it erupted into full-on pleasure as it became as if he was being stroked. Fully erect without remembering the act of going erect, he grunted softly as new words appeared. "Are you not enjoying yourself?"
Silver tried to fight it, but there were no hands, just the pressure of being stroked, faster and faster. He began to pant with building pleasure and tension. "I took back my destiny! Stop teasing me!"
"Did you?" The sensation went to his balls and tickled along the underside, making Silver almost jump in place. "You let a lost desert monarch take it from you again. You let Celestia take it from you before that. Your life is far from your own. Perhaps a challenge?"
"What kind of challenge?" Silver pulled away, and the sensations stopped, leaving him stiff and throbbing, but no longer actively teased.
"Here." Suddenly Applejack appeared, except she was larger, with wings and a horn.
The Applejack alicorn looked around. "Oh, Silver. It's mighty fine ta see ya!" She closed with him and kissed a cheek. "Ah've been thinking about our time together, and ah never shoulda turned ya away. Will ya do it now, seeing as how we're bonded by the circle of princesses?"
When did Applejack become a princess? Silver was baffled at it, but her scent, her appearance, and her affections were not playing nicely with his already aroused state. "Ah'm in heat right now." That explained the scent. "So let's do it." She turned away from him, waving her powerful flank at him.
Silver took a single step towards her before he hesitated. "No. I have enough attachments. I don't need anymore mares."
Without warning, Applejack's snout was wrapped around his member, nursing it eagerly. He shuddered, eyes closing against the pleasure. "You can... take her away now..." If the Text replied, he couldn't see it. He did know that she kept right on nursing, and he exploded powerfully into her snout as she drank down his offering.
She nuzzled at him then turned away again. "Come on. Ah ain't ugly, and ah got that horn ya wanted me ta have so darn badly."
Silver snapped open his eyes. "What? You didn't need a horn to catch me, Applejack. You're a powerful and amazing mare, without wings, or horn, or anything besides being Applejack."
Applejack smiled, and was gone. Words appeared where she was. "You do want her then?"
Silver clopped the ground. "I want every flavor of ice cream, but I can be happy with less than that. I want her to be happy, and she won't be, if she's just one mare among so many."
Lyra appeared. No special effect or lights, she just came into being. "Silver! Thanks for being such an amazing friend." She kissed Silver's cheek. "Me and Bon Bon have never been happier." She vanished. The lack of any prepositioning surprised Silver.
"Is that what you want? Happy ponies that do not desire you?"
Silver nodded. "If it's that or unhappy ponies, yes, a thousand times yes."
Starlight Glimmer appeared, her face distorted in a scowl as she worked over a book. Tears streamed down her face.
"Starlight? What's wrong?" Silver's question was ignored by her as she slammed the book shut and got a devious smile. "I'll have my revenge." She vanished.
Silver clopped a hoof. "What's going on!? I reformed her. We were friends..."
"She lost your foal. She blames Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and perhaps you, but mostly them. She has assigned all the pain in her life to them."
Silver cringed. "She's a good pony..." He didn't know how to rescue her, and the loss of his foal made it all the more terrible.
"If not for Twilight Sparkle, she could claim you for herself."
Silver recoiled from the floating words. "Damn it! That isn't what I want!"
"Life is about choice, and not always the ones we wanted to have."
Night Watch appeared, holding a foal and looking at Silver with harsh eyes. "It won't work anymore. I'm leaving. You've... You've become bigger than me, bigger than both of us." She turned away from him. "I'll always hold you in a special place in my heart, but I can't live with this." She began to walk away, only to fade a few steps away.
Silver's breath was stolen away for a moment and he sank to the floor of the void. "Is that what must be, or what could be?"
"Do you want me to have that much control?"
Silver felt his tears flow bitterly. "Why do you enjoy this so much?"
"I am what I am."
Silver grunted softly. "Luna was supposed to make her happier!"
The void shifted. Night Watch was enjoying a dream of guarding the town of Canterlot with skill and talent, when new thoughts intruded. She began to think of Silver, and a great herd that he would amass, and how proud she should be about it. It worked, at first, but Night Watch was a clever bat. "Luna!"
Luna appeared before Night Watch, and the truth was revealed. Night Watch sent Luna away in tears.
Silver was returned to the void, shaking. "She... She saw through Luna's magic..." And she became angry and hurt, as well she had a right to be. He should have stopped Luna from doing it, but he didn't.
"I can only make paths, you are the one that walks them."
Silver pulled himself together, rising to his full height. "I will walk my own paths. Send me back."
"I will when I am ready..."
Spreadfeathers fluffed up at the collapsed prince. "Oh my! He's been killed!"
This set off several other birds in the area, who squawked and began to flee in terror from the scene of the crime.
Though the group left swiftly, news ran faster, and birds were in a panic in almost every direction. They pointed at the limp form of Silver and rushed past with growing alarm.
Master Stroke let out a sigh. "You'd be safest just withdrawing to your boat for a few hours until things calm down."
"Rutherford!" A lightly-colored turkey landed on a perch above the group. "Get away from them! That one has a deadly disease! You might have already caught it! Oh dear, have to go!" She fled.
Stroke put a wing over his eyes. "That was my henfriend, but I doubt that will remain true, now that I've contracted 'horse flu' or whatever they want to call it."
Celestia frowned delicately. "I'm very sorry... Rutherford is it?"
Stroke shook a wing. "Bah. When I want to be at my most brave, I use my pen name, Master Stroke, so just Stroke will do for now. Rutherford's more fit for a scared bird, and I'm the bravest one around for miles."
Shei gave a gentle smile. "You are a very brave turkey. Thank you, for all the help you're giving to us."
They made their way through the street quickly and were soon on their boat. Silver was set carefully on the bed.
Celestia nodded lightly. "He's fine, just asleep, as far as I can tell. We just have to wait for him to wake up."
"Where am I?" Aila looked around in the void before spotting Silver. "You!"
Silver recoiled. "Aila? You're alive?"
Aila snarled and punched at Silver. She struck him on the chest with a hoof with a dull thump. "No! Where are we? You killed me! You're breaking my sister!"
Silver frowned. "Enough. This is crossing several lines. Text, take this would-be Aila away."
"You don't want to talk to her?"
Aila looked where he was looking. "What?"
"No," said Silver. "She's gone. I know that. Enough."
Aila vanished without fanfare.
Silver huffed softly. "Stop pretending you don't understand anything. You knew that would be cruel, but you did it anyway."
"Did I?"
Silver sat on his haunches. "We were friends, once. You brought me to Equestria, and I'm still thankful for that."
"Are you, even with all the pain you've experienced, at your own fault and otherwise?"
"Even at its worst..." Silver took a slow breath. "I am not angry to be alive, with this life."
Fiddah knocked softly on the door before poking her head in. "M'lady Celestia, lunch is ready for you. Is he looking better?"
Celestia smiled gently. "I think he's fine." She slid to her hooves and approached the door. "He'll awaken when the time is right, and likely be hungry, so be sure to save some for him."
She arrived at the dining hall to find Shei and Bottom practicing something with Oman. "You must find your center. When you find it, you will know it, and so will I, but first, breathing." He lashed a hoof out at Bottom, kicking her. "Too fast." Bottom squeaked, but adjusted her pace. "Better... We may get through the first step before I go away."
Celestia raised a brow, and Fiddah answered without the question being said, "Oman is offering magic lessons to Shei and Bottom. He is not confident they will learn any practical magic, but has graciously agreed to show them what he can while he is here."
Shei nodded a little as she tried to keep her breathing even. "We're trying our bes--" A kick made her adjust her breathing. There was no time for chat.