Twilight looked over herself in the mirror provided in the train car before glancing along at Silver. "Are you ready?"
Silver nodded. "I'm going to try not saying too much."
Twilight quirked a smile. "That's one way to not say the wrong thing. Seriously though, we're both royalty. We should be expected to say things. Hay... You know these ponies. You lived in Canterlot before."
Silver thought back to her time in Canterlot. She was a colt, learning magic and facts in school, as well as the pleasures of being bullied.
She was an eager student that almost exploded the school he was attending at the time.
Oh, and Tirek had stormed the city while he was there, leaving Silver to try and do his best to help the city.
Then he joined the warlocks for a short time. He learned a lot of magical control, and performed a mission against the changelings. That was frightening, and exciting.
He tried to kill himself.
He embraced the night.
He killed...
Celestia ripped him apart for it, and left him a confused mare.
Silver shuddered softly, thinking about how eager Twilight was to play a part in that. She was so certain she was doing the right thing. Silver shoved it aside forcefully. Twilight had grown. They'd all grown. She suddenly pulled Twilight close and hugged her.
Twilight smiled into the hug. "Um, thanks, but what brought that on?"
Silver nipped softly at one of her ears. "My favorite scientist hasn't done a single study on me in such a long time."
Twilight colored softly. "O-Oh! Seriously, Silver, do you want that? Don't just say it because you think it's what I want to hear."
Silver spread her forehooves, standing upright, her undercarriage bared. "I want to trust you, completely. I want you to study, and learn. I want you to experiment, and test and make me feel good, and awful, and everything else, but never abused, not ever again."
Twilight licked her lips softly. "What if an experiment hurts you, Silver?"
Silver smiled gently. "Then you stop, and you hold me. You hug me tight until the hurting stops, and we never do that again, but we both learn, and you never push past that." She fell back to all fours, her red cape covering her much as it had as 'Prince' Silver Stars. "You never forget we are friends, and more than that."
Twilight nodded a little hesitantly. "But... why?"
Silver tilted her head at Twilight. "You know things, and how to learn things. You're very smart, and this is your world, not mine. I want to help you learn more. I'm... Well, I'm a freak. I'm a boy, girl, human, pony. There's even human still in me, after all this time." She put a hoof to her chest. "Reach in here, and learn. We both want to know it."
She snorted softly. "Where else are you even going to find a test subject for this?"
Twilight ruffled her wings. "You are no freak."
Silver rolled her eyes. "Call it what you like. I'm not a normal pony. Now come and hug me."
They embraced gently and forgot about the troubling things for a time. Twilight jumped as something nudged her against her belly. "Silver!"
Silver grinned. "I do still owe you, my most learned of wives."
Twilight rolled her ears back. "Can't that wait until we get back home? I... Celestia has eyes."
Silver gave a soft snort. "She can watch if she likes. It won't stop me."
Twilight recoiled. "It's stopping me, right now! Speaking of which... Luna or Celestia may try to make a pass at you, especially if they hear you're fixed."
Silver tilted her head. "I am yours, in that way. Should I follow after them if one invites me to follow, or tell them they're not allowed?"
Twilight frowned a little. "First, tell me what you want. I've been watching you, and asking about you. You've come a long way, making decisions for yourself. I won't let you backtrack now."
Silver tapped at her chin. "Well... I never stopped... I wouldn't say no to Luna, right away. She stopped doing the things she shouldn't, and even at her worst, she loved me fiercely. She's learning what that means, and how to be a good lover, emotionally." Silver frowned at Twilight. "I'd love to hear what that meant, to you. You are my wife. She is only in via the princess circle thing."
Twilight held up a hoof. "I know what you're getting at, and thank you for putting me ahead, but no, I don't disagree with you. As long as she doesn't... try that again, go ahead."
Silver nodded. "I wouldn't say no to Cadance."
Twilight sputtered. "What?!"
Silver smiled a little. "It's unlikely to come up, but she has been nothing but kind to me. Denying her... It just won't come up, but I'm covering all the princesses."
Twilight gave a little nod. "Right. She's happily married, to my brother. Don't you dare even look at her, got it?"
Silver put a hoof over her snout, giggling a little. "You got it, Twilight. I won't get between them. He's a puffball, a lovable one. I want them both to be happy."
"He," said Twilight firmly, "is my brother. Show them both respect."
Silver pointed to the sun beyond the window. "And the most powerful for last. Celestia."
Twilight twitched her ears back, then forward again. "I don't even really understand the relation between you two. Do you even like her?"
Silver snorted softly. "I rescued her several times. She rescued me a few times. We fought together. We fought... I killed and maimed for her, and karma was brutal and swift."
"Woah woah woah, rewind that a little." She rolled a hoof quickly. "Killed and maimed for her?"
Silver tilted her head. "I hadn't told this story? We tried to exact revenge on our political enemies... We branded them, scared them, killed some... It was all quite showy. They acted cowed. They showered us in gifts and praise. The chocolate they gave was some of the best I ever tasted, shame about the poison..."
Twilight winced. "Well, uh, you're both still here. It couldn't have been too bad?"
Silver frowned. "It was strong enough to kill a normal pony. One... I lost someone..."
Twilight's expression fell. "Oh... I'm so sorry..."
Silver grunted softly. "I carried her coffin for months... She was always there, silently railing against the injustices of fate. She had a whole life ahead of her, lost, because Celestia and I wanted to act immaturely."
Twilight started to lose her color. "S-Silver! Enough! Please... How terrible... That doesn't exactly answer where you and Celestia stand right now."
Silver tilted her head. "No, it doesn't. I suppose that's a bit of an open question. When we last left, it was on good terms." She tapped her chin. "Tell me, how did Celestia react to my crippled state?"
That was a question Twilight didn't want to answer.
Her hesitation was answer enough. "I thought so. She still hopes I'll become some docile little mare? I thought we were past that... I thought... I dared to dream, she had learned to love me, as a strong stallion. As a warrior. Male, but not heartless or cruel."
Twilight put up her hooves quickly. "Hold up there. She was just as surprised as the rest of us. Let her explain it herself instead of jumping to conclusions."
Silver leaned over and kissed Twilight's cheek. "Your faithfulness and adoration of her is simply adorable... For you, I will say yes to her, if she wants to speak to me alone."
Twilight colored lightly. "T-thank you. Just don't agree to anything. Remind them that you're only there at my permission, and only the one time, unless they ask."
Silver nodded. "And if they wish to try again?" When Twilight looked confused, Silver continued, "Breeding. Them specifically. Luna and Celestia are very hard to do that properly with."
Twilight snorted. "You don't even have that ring. You know, the one hanging from Night's tail. Is that a wise idea?"
Silver ruffled her wings. "I think, with Luna, there may be a chance, even without it. I'm already tuned to her aspect. I have a much better control over my general flow. If she wanted to, I could give a mighty effort."
Twilight raised a hoof. "So long as that 'mighty effort' didn't result in you being hurt. Wait..." She frowned at Silver. "Are you saying I'd be a better option for Celestia?"
Silver flashed a smile. "I didn't say it, but I did think it. Faithful acolyte of the sun, you could learn to give her a gift most precious."
Twilight went red from her snout back to her neck. "I'll consider it." The tone implied she was already trying to forget she heard it.
Silver nuzzled her cheek gently. "Celestia would be overwhelmed with joy, to know she could get a foal, and it would be yours, of anypony here. She would give a lot for that."
Twilight nodded slowly. "Maybe we'll save that, for when we need something big. For now, I'm going to focus on being a princess, and princesses do not ask other princesses to stud for them." She winked at Silver gently. "Good thing you're a prince."
A soft knocking came from the door to the next carriage before a conductor's head poked in. "Excuse me, your majesties, but we'll be coming in soon. Do you require anything before disembarking?"
Twilight looked up a moment. "Ah, do summon a royal coach for us, and inform us when it's arrived."
"Of course, ma'am." He ducked back out the door and slid it shut gently behind himself, leaving them to their privacy.
They would go through Canterlot, heads held up high.
Like the royalty they were.