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// 118 - Freedom of Speech 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Silver scowled at where the unicorn had vanished from. He considered his various spells to pursue the pony directly, then thought better of it. Was there freedom of the press in Equestria? How was it phrased? Would he be the criminal in chasing after a paparazzi? He wasn't sure, but he had a few options to find out.

With a growing smirk, he decided to hedge his bets. He approached the place where the unicorn once stood and directed his horn at the spot, drawing in the faint residues of the considerable magic involved in teleporting. "Won't be perfect, but it doesn't have to be." With a few notes on his horn of increasing complexity, a new slime emerged and landed on his head. It didn't seem as eager to be close as the first one.

"Of course, it wouldn't be..." Why would it, it belonged to the camera-wielding pony. Silver held up the magic aetheric slime in his silvery magic. "But you'll do nicely for collateral. With any luck, I won't need you."

With his bargaining chip secured, he trotted for the castle, head held high and a smile on his snout. For once, he felt confident about handling the upset of the day.

"Ambassador." One of the guards nodded at him.

He nodded back in kind before realizing they may know. "A question for you, good pony. What are the laws concerning the rights of the press?"

The guard looked confused. "Rights of the press, sir?"

Didn't they have any? "Well, let's say somepony went and wrote something unkind about some other pony, or even Princess Celestia. What would the precedent be for handling that?"

The guard snorted softly. "No disrespect to the Princess, but I doubt she would do much about something as petty as that. She tries to be above rumors, coming or going."

It's good to be Queen, or so Silver thought. "And if a lesser pony was worried about it?"

He wobbled a hoof. "He could take the other pony to a local authority, be it a mayor, or the Day Court. Every city has an authority for just these emergencies."

Silver nodded a little. "And they would decide on the specific case?"

"Precisely, sir."

There were no precedents, it was all just made up as they went. Equestrian law was a strange thing indeed. "Alright, thank you very much. I won't bother you further."

The guard raised a brow at Silver. "Someone badmouthing you, sir?"

Silver tensed as the focus was thrown back at him. "N-not yet. I hope not."

"Did you do anything wrong, sir?"

That guard was being rather inquisitive for a guard, but Silver supposed he owed an answer for all the answers he had received. "No, but viewed from the outside by a peeper? They could get a thrilling, and false, headline out of it if they wanted to. I don't want my friends harmed over nothing."

"Understood, sir." He raised a brow. "You know, sir... I was a guard at that university."

Silver took a step back without even thinking of it. "W-what?"

"The one you were kicked out of." He looked Silver over with the impassive eyes of a guardspony. "You've grown since then."

Silver allowed a little smile. "Some naturally, some painfully, though one doesn't negate the other. I trust all the ponies involved in... that... are doing well now?"

"So far as I've heard." He tilted his head faintly. "That's quite a change, going from a near-murderous arsonist to one of the Princess' trusted aides."

Silver cringed. "I hope you don't really see it quite that way. I never wanted to hurt ponies."

"But you did." He tilted his head. "I'd wager my station that you'll do it again." He raised a hoof. "Hopefully, they'll deserve it."

Silver flashed a bright smile. "If I had to, I'd hope so."

The guard pointed at Silver's backside. "I always wondered, what does that mean?"

Silver glanced back at his cutie mark. "That's getting a touch personal, I think."

"It looks like a spell."

"It is."

The guard raised a brow. "How does a pony with a spell for a mark end up as an Ambassador?"

Did he know the guard? It was hard to tell. They all looked and sounded the same, but it was getting far too involved. "Destiny is a curious force. I would get going. Problems won't fix themselves." He trotted past the guard and into the castle proper.

Silver found Night in her room with Rough and Trixie. He greeted them all with a wave, but Night spotted things quickly. "What's that?" She pointed at the slime on his back. "Did you make another one? You promised not to."

He shook his head quickly. "This one isn't mine." He lifted the bright yellow slime in his magic. "This one belongs to a reporter who decided to snap a shot of me leaving Surprise's new store. I'm not sure what press he'll try pushing, but it worries me."

Trixie leaned forward, eyeing the slime. "Are you going to do something tricky with the poor pony?" A bright grin erupted across her snout. "Trixie wishes to see this."

Rough put a hoof before Trixie. "Calm down. I'm sure Silver just wants to know what the pony plans, not rush to revenge without a clue."

Night nodded. "I think Rough's right." She reached with a wing, taking the slime. "So can you track him with this? Was it a him or a her?"

Silver rolled a hoof. "Him. I didn't want to go rushing after him blindly before I knew what laws surrounded that, if any."

Night spread her wings wide. "And not without your backup."

Trixie stepped forward, head held high. "Of course. Well, now you have it, so let's go. We'll get to the bottom of this before it gets out of hoof."

It was hard to not feel a bit better about the situation with his family assembled and ready. Silver smiled at all three. "Thanks."

Night gave him a poke. "What do you think he'll write?"

Silver snorted at that. "I had an emotional moment with Surprise. Hugging was involved as we discussed the past, and I probably looked flustered as I left. Depending on how many pictures he got and when, he could make it look like we were up to something we most assuredly were not."

Night scowled. "Well, let's find out just how many we have to worry about. Go ahead and do the magic airplane."

"Magic airplane?" Rough raised an ear. "What's that?"

Silver grabbed a scrap of paper and folded it quickly into an airplane before giving it a toss as magic played, shimmering with input from the slime and gaining its target. The plane began to fly lazily but unerringly through the hallways, leading the entire family that trotted to keep up with the bedeviled construct.

They followed it out of the castle and through the streets of Canterlot, at least until it bumped into the side of another pony and fell to the sidewalk.

The pony turned before his eyes went wide and he spun away. It was too late to avoid their notice. Silver and Night's attention was focused. She leaned in towards him. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Pretty sure." Silver approached cautiously. "Rough?"

"Behind you." Rough Draft smiled.

Silver laughed at that. "Not you, Dad. Rough Tumble, is that you?"

Rough Tumble slowly turned towards them, his face red. "W-what do you want?"

Silver suddenly sifted through his memories. Had he ever reconciled with Rough Tumble? He supposed he hadn't. "How have you been?" He smiled brightly. "You're on your own by now, right?"

"Yeah..." Rough reached with a hoof and picked up the downed paper airplane. "This yours?"

"Sorry about that." Silver picked it up with his magic. "It's good to see you. We're chasing somepony down right now, but we should talk sometime. It's been a while."

Night advanced, a card held by a wing and offered to Rough Tumble. "Here, our card."

"Oh, uh, thanks..."

He felt subdued, and Silver wanted to figure out what was wrong exactly, but they were mid-mission. "Be alright until then, okay?" He smiled. "You're not alone."

"Says who?" Rough Tumble scowled at Silver, then dashed away with the same abruptness of his emotions and vanishing into the crowd.

Trixie shook her head a little. "That was curious but gets us no closer to that reporter. Get that airplane moving again, my Clever and Resourceful son."

Silver looked in the direction Rough Tumble had dashed off a moment before he nodded and they began chasing after the enchanted airplane as it led them through Canterlot. It crashed once more into a building, falling to the ground limply.

Rough Draft's eyes wandered upwards to the sign. "Snap Shot's Minute Report..." He tilted his head lightly. "Sounds like the right place."

Trixie strode to the fore, her magic throwing open the door to the inside as she proceeded unhindered. "Good. Trixie hopes they are ready to face the Great and Powerful Trixie."

A bright flash filled the room and left Trixie rubbing at her eyes. Night perked an ear. "Broken window, in the back." She spread her wings. "I don't care how fat I am. I'll catch him." She took to the air and was over the building almost instantly.

Rough Draft moved to assist his wife, leaving Silver to his own tricks.

He brought out his new slime with a little smile. "Time to slow down." He played a spell through the slime, attaching directly to the network of the pony to which it belonged. A surprised yelp came from behind the building.

"Got him!" came Night's triumphant cry just moment's later.

Soon they had all gathered inside, with the newspony between them. Trixie leveled a hoof at him. "You have several things to answer for. Where do you get off trying to blind Trixie?"

"This is my home and office! What are you doing here?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "She walked in the front door. Is that strange?"

The stallion shrank a little. "Maybe a little..."

Rough Draft approached with a shake of his head. "We're not here to hurt anypony. Please, relax. We understand you took some pictures of Silver Lining here?"

"Watch," corrected Night with a raised wing. "Why are you chasing after Ambassador Silver?"

The newspony seemed to spy an opportunity and perked up with hope. "Ma'am, I have proof your stallion's seeing another mare behind your back!"

Night squinted behind her thick glasses. "Is that so? Well, let me see it."

He rose to his hooves. "Only if you can keep the others away." He glanced nervously at Silver and Trixie. "They don't play nice."

Night's wings spread, partially obscuring the sight of the two unicorns. "I promise, I won't let them stop you from showing them to me."

"Right, uh, one second..." He trotted into a small room bathed in red light, looking around manically. "Here we are." He grabbed one with his magic. "It's right here! You can see with your own eyes." He returned, looking much less stressed and more confident with every step with the picture he carried.

The picture was taken at a perfectly chosen angle that made it look like Surprise might have been enjoying Silver's horn like a lollipop.

Silver went red at seeing it, burning in his cheeks. "She gave me a little peck!"

Night shook her head, wing reaching for the photo. "The evidence is pretty damning..."

Snap Shot grinned, looking all the more confident at Night turned to his side. "See? I have other pictures, um, ma'am."

Night threw one wing over Snap Shot. "I'll take care of him, personally, but I don't want this making a stink. How much to have these pictures burned and never seen again?"

"W-what? But... I'm a reporter. My readers..."

Night raised a hoof to her gravid belly. "Please, think of the foals. Just this once..."

He licked his lips as he fidgeted in place.

Trixie raised a hoof much more menacingly than Night's gesture. "If she were in your place, she would take Night's generous offer before we resorted to other methods."

Snap Shot cringed. "You can't do this! I have rights!"

Silver stepped forward. "You have the right to be taken to court. I'm sure Celestia would be interested in the case. Did I already mention we talk, in private, more than most ponies get to see of her in their lifetimes during holidays?"

Snap scowled at Silver. "You're hiding behind the Princess!"

Night moved to put herself between Snap and the others. "I made you an offer, as a mother. We don't need this kind of news in our papers." She smiled gently. "You're better than this, posting smut in a Canterlot newspaper. What will ponies say?"

"S-smut?" Snap Shot sank to his haunches, looking at the photo with new eyes.

Rough Draft nodded. "That's a pretty indecent picture. You'll have to make sure no foals get their hooves on it."

"W-what... I mean..." He threw the picture at Night, flopping against her. "Fine, take it! I don't need that kind of reputation."

Night snatched up the picture from the ground. "I knew you were a reasonable pony. Thank you."