Silver held up his foal in his magic while he nuzzled it, then his sister. Two foals. His mind reeled at the thought of being a father twice so quickly, where once he had been nothing but a stud, a toy for so many... "Clear Twilight." He kissed the little filly gently. "You will rival the bearer of half your name for charm soon, I imagine. And you..." He nuzzled the little colt. "You're already breaking my heart. My son, my perfectly... perfect son. I can only hope the name will fit you as well, Morning Glory. A curious name for a lunar foal, perhaps, but you have no normal father, do you?"
Morning reached out and grabbed Silver by the snout, making him snort in surprise. The little one drew himself against Silver and hugged his muzzle warmly and Silver felt his heart melting. "I can't even describe it..."
"You sure you don't want a break?" Twilight was in the doorway into the room. "I appreciate you taking charge and offering to help with the foals, but you don't have to spend every moment in here."
Silver gently pulled Morning free of his nose, just to nuzzle him. "As if I regret even a moment of it. Only time with my lovely wives could compare to it." He carefully set Morning Glory down in a crib he shared with Clear Twilight. "Now be good for me. I'm going to talk with mommy a bit." Pony foals seemed quite observant, and he even nodded at Silver, allowing him to trot over to Twilight and share affectionate nose rubs. "What brings you this way?"
Twilight nipped at one of his ears gently. "You, silly. I love how... How fatherly you've become. It's a new side of you, and it's incredibly adorable, but you should have some life outside of it. Besides, we're a team, right?"
Silver flicked his ears in slow circles and looked around. "Where are Night Watch and Fast Change hiding?"
Twilight suddenly wasn't Twilight. The other unicorn grinned at him. "In the flesh." Silver rolled his eyes at Fast Change, but didn't have ire towards her. "I am serious though. Twilight and Night Watch are too pansy to say anything, but they're worried for you."
Silver extended his wings and gently enfolded Fast Change as he leaned in and kissed her nose. "If you watch the little ones, I promise to go hunt them down. Sorry, It's, really... It's really just wonderful, and I'm enjoying this. I like being a father, a parent..."
Fast Change slipped past him, bumping against his side along the way. "Just remember being a good father means being a good stallion too. We miss you too."
Silver watched her go, especially the sway of her hips. Fast Change was doing it on purpose, or so he was convinced. A small part of him wondered exactly when he'd learned to see the carnal charm of ponies, to see that subtle gesture... Her posture, her motion, everything said 'Come, claim me. I am your mare', and he felt his body responding to it with a rushing of blood. He wanted to agree to her unspoken invitation. "Tell me, Fast, have you considered if you want a foal of your own?"
Fast looked over her shoulder. "I'm in no hurry. I have two foals already." She lifted Clear from the crib and nuzzled the foal in the tummy. "And they're adorable."
Silver smiled at the exchange. "You can be pretty cute yourself... If you're happy, than I'm happy, but you know, I am your stallion too."
She set Clear Twilight down and turned to Silver. "I haven't forgotten. If you plan to not chase your other mares, I'll take you up on that offer, but it isn't right to do it in front of them." She grabbed a blanket in her magic and threw it over him. "So stop dangling in front of them, you stud."
Silver shook off the blanket and chuckled as he turned to leave. "Later. I owe you." He almost got out before she pinched him on the flank with a quick bit of magic. He loved that unicorn.
He trotted through the castle to run into Spike, who threw up a claw. "Woah, man, seriously..."
Silver tilted his head a little. "I'm looking for Twilight or Night, seen either of them?"
Spike pointed upwards. "They're both in the observatory, looking at something and being big geeks about it."
Silver spread his wings and took off smoothly. He sailed up the stairs with powerful flaps, and soon arrived at the door leading to the observatory. He remembered when he went on a date with Twilight there, and smiled at the memory. He clopped on the door twice. "Twilight, Night? Is it alright to come in?"
Night threw open the door with a wing. "Silver! I didn't expect you. Is everything alright?" She adjusted her glasses as she peered at him.
Silver replied by stepping in at her and moving for a kiss, only for the world to abruptly spin around. Night easily flipped him over onto his back, then kissed his prone form gently. "I'll take that as a yes. Who's watching the foals?"
Twilight turned from the telescope she was seated in front of. "If I had to guess, it was either Spike, or Fast Change."
Silver held up a hoof in the air, still upside down. "Fast. Sorry I've been distracted lately with one part of my family that I haven't been there enough for the other part. What are you two up to?" He rolled up onto his hooves.
Twilight pointed at him. "You, actually. Those artifacts you're wearing are very interesting, and only parts of a set. You know that, right?"
Silver nodded quickly. "Oh, yes. It was terrible when I only had one of them, but the more I find, the easier it is to balance them, and the more power they seem to have when I focus them. What'd you find and what does a telescope have to do with it?"
Night gestured towards the bright noon sky. "We think we found another piece of it."
Silver nodded hesitantly. "In the sky?"
Twilight bobbed her head. "In the sky. If you want to find it, that is. You won't be able to take any of them off until you have them all, I'm reasonably sure on this."
Silver moved over to the telescope and looked in, and got a lot of bright light in return that sent him staggering away with a hoof over his abused eye. "What can you even see in the middle of the day?"
Night shook her head. "Us lunar ponies, not much, but for day ponies..." She looked at Twilight.
Twilight smiled. "Even I have a hard time picking it out, but it's only visible for a short period of time each day, usually when the sun is about at its highest. It's a little planet, smaller than the moon, if it's even... a planet. I'm not entirely certain it is. Whatever it is, it's far away, and in the sky."
"Ah yes, I can see it." Nefertari leaned over the telescope, peering into it, though she had not been there a moment earlier. "Fascinating... And here I thought you were chasing the dust of old books again."
Twilight grunted. "That is such a terrible way to describe entirely legitimate research!"
Nefertari pointed to herself with a thumb. "So, have you figured us out yet?"
Twilight looked away. "Well, no. I'm still working on that. Research isn't an instant thing!"
Night's wings spread. "Why are you here, anyway?"
Nefer smiled at Silver gently. "I heard our stallion moving around and came to see."
Night moved between Nefertari and Silver. "He's our stallion. You're not part of our herd. You're not even a pony!"
Nefertari shrugged gently. "Neither is he, technically, and yet you love him all the same. I can't blame you, mind. He is a fierce warrior, stubborn too, and hung like, well... a horse."
Silver colored softly. "Nefer, please, don't tease my lovely wives. You're not here to be my partner that way and you know it."
Nefer flashed a toothy grin as the jackalwoman leaned towards him. "Why don't you force me?"
Silver rolled his eyes. "Because you'd enjoy it, win or lose, and take either way as a sign that mating season has begun."
Twilight coughed softly. "Be that as it may... Do you want to see it? I, for one, am very curious to see the completed set, and what it may be capable of. Besides that, once you have all it, you'll have the option of removing it."
Silver pointed at the telescope. "What does it look like?"
Twilight put her eye to it and peered a moment. "Kind of silverish, funny enough. Like the moon, but flatter and wider instead of round all the way across. I don't see any craters or holes from here, but it's a blurry image at best."
Night Watch spread her wings. "If you go, we're coming. This time we'll all face the unknown, with you, and defeat it as a family."
Silver sat down on his haunches. "I'd rather the foals were older. What's the rush? I spent long enough adventuring."
Twilight moved up and poked him in the chest. "You're my stallion. Adventure? We're going to have that. If you didn't want a life of adventure, you should have stuck with Night Watch and called it quits before."
Night nodded lightly. "I wouldn't have phrased it quite that way, but she's right. You could have had a quiet life before, but I doubt that's an option now. We do have the choice of taking it on, together, as a family."
Nefertari gave a soft chuckle. "Don't be weak, Silver. That's an awful habit of yours. You know what you want, take it."
Silver rose to his hooves and looked to the telescope, than the three females in the room. Before he could speak, Twilight spoke up, "That reminds me! I wanted to see your 'war' form, Silver Stars. I've seen Nefertari's a few times. I'm given to believe it's a racial ability among her people, but you're not an Anubian. You're not even Equestrian, to start, but you qualify for a few things that are not Anubian."
Nodding softly, he assented. "I'd be glad to show you. Celestia proved it can be used for love as well as anger. I'm pretty sure it can be used for any strong and volatile emotion, which love definitely qualifies as. Let me stare at your wonderful bodies for a little while and I'll work myself up into the right state of mind."
Night Watch pushed her glasses up. "You're joking. You're just going to look at us and rouse yourself until you go into a battle trance, of love?"
Nefertari pinched her nose. "If I hadn't seen Celestia grind the point in my face, I'd be just as doubtful. I've seen them do it, together."
Twilight got a dirty look on her face. "I plan to get all the details out of you, Silver. Don't think you're getting away without saying what you did with Celestia while you were gone."
Silver warmed at the idea with embarrassment, but couldn't help but feel happy too. This shame he'd gladly bare, with his wives there beside him.