Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat

by David Silver

132 - Because We Care

Silver and Night were expecting to be greeted by familiar faces on returning to the castle, but this particular one and her expression were beyond their expectations.

Samantha stared at them with wide and worried eyes. "Where were you two? You were out of tracking range, and the readings I received, they were just awful! Are you harmed? Are the foals harmed?" She rushed them to start patting them down with a hoof. "No obvious trauma..."

Silver coughed softly as he began to be patted down. "That's quite alright, Samantha. We're both fine."

That seemed to just be a cue for her attention to focus on the foals, inspecting them carefully until Morning Glory's horn flared brightly and Samantha was tossed across the room.

She rose and shook herself out with a sudden little giggle. "He's alright. Tell me everything!"

Night shook her head slowly. "It's a unicorn thing. Tell me it's a unicorn thing. It has to be. You're all hyper-focused psychopaths." She saw Silver's hurt expression and moved to nuzzle him gently. "I love you for your quirks."

Samantha tilted her head a little. "Is that how you see me?" She rose a hoof and tapped her chin once. "Fascinating. I'm pleased to report you all seem to be in fine physical condition."

Silver let out a little sigh. "We were frozen in crystal, but it was harmless, just annoying and restrictive." He licked his lips as he looked down the hallway they were in. "Right now we're both tired and frazzled."

"Is it true?"

Night raised a brow behind her thick glasses. "Is what true, exactly?"

Samantha waved a hoof between Night and Silver. "Are you letting him look for other members of your herd?"

Night colored swiftly. "N-no! You stop spying on us this very instant." She drove a hoof down in a loud clop. "That was the last straw."

Samantha's manically pleased face turned to utter horror instantly. "I didn't mean to bother you! Question withdrawn." She turned to Silver, nodded, then spun around and fled.

Night put a hoof over her face. "I'm pretty sure I'd go insane if I had to deal... She's still spying on us, isn't she?"

Silver couldn't help but to snort out a chuckle at that. "I would put bits down on it. She's not a bad pony." He rubbed his cheek against Night's gently. "Forget her for now, we have a family to fill in."

They returned to their room to find it crowded. Besides Trixie and Rough Draft, Celine and Sunny were present. Sunny raised a hoof to point at them. "And here they are."

Silver raised an ear. "Were you talking about us?"

Trixie clopped her hooves. "How could we not? Our foals are too brave and wonderful to not speak of frequently. Trixie may also have been prying for details. Who is this unicorn with magic beyond Trixie's? It's bad enough to deal with Princess Sparkle"

Celine shook her head at Trixie. "You are a fine magician, but not the best, Trixie Lulamoon." Her comment earned her a bit of a glare. "The unicorn we speak of has the power to remove cutie marks and the talents that come with them. She is also very driven, and angry."

Sunny smiled gently, as seemed to be one of her favored expressions. "But beneath that angry shell, there is a good pony waiting to emerge."

The smile proved infectious as Silver returned it. "I have to keep reminding myself of that. I wanted to get really pissed at her a few times during that."

Night rolled her eyes as she gathered up both foals and carried them towards the nursery. "I'm glad I was there to support you, Silver, but I won't hold my breath on her suddenly changing."

Celine raised a brow. "Will they use their rainbow powers?"

Rough Draft perked. "Rainbow powers?"

Sunny waved a hoof. "It will be far more personal. She will not be defeated with force, but with friendship and forgiveness, or so we hope. Thank you, both of you, for helping. I'm certain it wasn't easy to do, and you know your part is not yet complete."

Silver knew, but Night seemed less pleased. As she returned without the foals, her head shook. "So now we wait for Silver to either be foalnapped or simply assaulted one day?"

He nodded to her. "That's about the summary. I won't be hurt, I don't think. She's not after me, she's after revenge and so long as she gets what she needs to further that, she won't spend much time worrying about other things." He flopped down onto his haunches with a little frown. "A shame though."

Rough tilted his head at Silver. "What is?"

Silver shrugged a little. "We were better friends, last time. Of course, she also indirectly led to my first death, so it was a bit of a mixed bag. I think she'll become a pony worth being a friend of, but it won't be with me."

Trixie waved the whole thing off. "Who would want to be friends with an egocentric unicorn bent on revenge?"

The room became quiet a moment.

"What?"

Rough coughed into a hoof. "Yes, well, it's becoming late. We should all get some sleep and be ready for tomorrow."

Tired ponies climbed up onto beds and got comfortable even as Trixie tried to get an answer as to what everypony was being quiet about to no avail.

Silver and Night were mutually surprised to find other bodies in bed with them. Celine had slid in beside Night and Sunny with Silver.

Night raised a brow lightly. "One of you is still on trial, and the other isn't even that far. Why are you sharing our bed?"

Celine gently nuzzled Night's shoulder. "We will do nothing untoward. May we rest here?"

Sunny smiled gently and nestled in closer. Her eyes closed and she was soon asleep without words.

Silver felt himself growing warm, but didn't have the heart to banish either of the royal simulacrums. Night seemed more ready to do so, but either she enjoyed the company, or was too tired to fight it. She dropped the argument, and soon the entire suite was peaceful and quiet. Sleep came to them.

"I do not agree with my sister."

Silver sat up on his human bed to see Celine seated across from him. "Oh, hey there Luna."

Celine perked her ears. "I am Celine."

"Who is Luna, I hope?"

She huffed softly. "Keeping separate names helps me keep things straight. Being in two places is harder than it might otherwise appear to be." She pointed at Silver. "You are too eager."

Silver blinked. "I haven't made a move."

She blinked in return then shook her head violently. "Not that! You are too eager to do what is right. This is not some whimsical narrative waiting for you to simply select the right path. This pony who may yet be redeemed? She certainly isn't yet, and could harm you, or those you love, quite terribly."

Silver sat up slowly. "Night knows what to expect. If Starlight comes for me, we'll let her have what she wants so she can do what she has to do."

She frowned a little. "And if Starlight decides Night may be a challenger despite this and moves to attack beforehoof? You and sister are too trusting! It infuriates me..."

Silver licked his lips as he looked over Celine, thinking back to the first time he knew Celine, his first romantic partner. Those were good times... "Do you love me?"

She started. "W-what?"

"Do you?"

Her cheeks colored as she glanced away and back. "Such a sudden question... I came to question you, impertinent foal of a stallion..."

He waved a hoof at her form. "If you don't, you're putting in a lot of effort for a pony you don't love. What do you want, Celine? Let's just pretend a moment everything went perfectly, where would you be?"

Celine sat up and looked tensed to flee, but she visibly fought that urge and slowly sank back down to her belly. "I can feel her love, still echoing through me. She loved you so much, so fiercely... I want to know that love."

The dreamscape shifted suddenly. Silver was on top of Celine, belly-to-belly. "Was it physical?"

Silver colored a little at their position. It would be so easy to... "Partially. I loved her physically, and mentally." He leaned in and nuzzled Celine under her chin gently. "I loved all of her, and now you have all of her. It's left me a little lost."

Celine smiled gently. "And if I surrendered to this feeling... If I threw my hooves wide and gave it all up, and accepted you as part of me, would this please you?"

This felt sudden, and fast, to Silver. He pushed down, his hooves on either side of her and allowing him to stand up instead of being pressed to her so intimately. "This isn't about me. You already know how I feel." He smiled a little. "I will accept you, as a friend, or more. I would even accept you as less, though more sadly." He tilted his head. "I..."

She put a hoof to his snout, quieting him. "Friend or lover, may I have you tonight?"

Silver felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over him. Having Celine again, it was so very tempting. Was dream-sex infidelity? Would he be betraying Night? "We shouldn't."

Celine gave a slow and quiet nod. They were seated facing one another again. "I'm pushing too hard, again."

Silver smiled a little. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't." His tail flicked as he looked over her. "I'm not mad at you, heck, that was very very tempting... but I think I can't use dreams as an excuse when I know exactly what I'm doing in dreams. If you become part of the herd, I will try to be the best husband I can be."

She quirked a smile. "Then it is up to me to win my way into it, or accept my failure. As for this Starlight Glimmer, I continue to have my reservations about this entire plan." She reached out a wing she didn't have an instant prior. An image of Starlight appeared balanced atop it. "She could visit great harm on you and yours, and you accept it without hesitation."

"She could." Silver sat up tall. "I've seen her, at her best, and at her worst. If I can help nudge her towards the best, then I will." A little quirk of a smile spread on his snout. "I got to return our first meeting."

"Hmm?"

Silver shook his head. "In my dream, she had me captive and made a very... forward pass, confusing me at the time. I didn't exactly mean to, but I flipped the tables around and left her confused and reeling."

Celine blinked softly. "When will you tell me of your dreams? Mine sister has already seen so much. It isn't fair... You claim they were at least half formed from my own mind as much as your own."

He frowned a little at that. "I didn't mean to share with her. She came and took it while you had me locked up, I'll remind. You both did something wrong, though in that particular case, I'd rate yours a little higher." The frown broke into a little smile. "We're not here to yell about that, again, but you don't get to be mad at her. You basically gave it to her."

Celine pointed at Silver. "I am more irate at you than her. I want to know." She reached for him, poking him between the ears. "What secrets lurk here? What things have you seen?"

Silver dipped under her hoof and gave her a quick smooch on the cheek. "Ask me after you've settled things with Night Watch. I'll feel so much less tense about the whole thing once we're past the point I've seen. I'm very tired of living 'in the past' as it were."

Celine narrowed her eyes a moment, a hoof raising to touch the spot where she had been kissed. "Sleep well."

She was gone.

Silver slid from his bed and sat at his computer, ready to idle the hours away until the morning.

Author's Note:

Debriefing has occurred, with a bonus round for good luck, one might hope? Luna, stop acting like a typo.

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Samantha seems to be interested at joining the herd...or at least simply curious of the idea of being part of a herd. Either way, at least she seems to be becoming more tactful...in a way.

[Snow]

... ... ... So, I think that if I was in Silver's position with a talent like his, I would bring a few human things over from our fantasy and media during his time asleep. And no, not the obvious cool destructive things.

I mean something like... a medical sonic imaging spell (sonograph) mixed with a generalized medical or magical diagnostic and just keep expanding upon that until I had the magical equivalent of a motherbucking sonic screwdriver on my noggin. Bonus points if there's a secondary spell for those things that will decipher the signals for you.

Other interesting things worth making up for sheer entertainment value or utility: Transmutation spells which alter the physical properties of an object or subject, such as giving something the properties of a rubber ball (flexing and expanding just enough to be super bouncy and retain a shape) combined with either a force multiplier or dampener, for when you simply /must/ bounce off the walls to out-hyper Pinkie Pie, or survive an implausible impact respectively (If there exists a technique to turn kinetic energy into magical potential the latter effect might, in fact, be able to power the former). I mean they're in a cartoon world, this'd be taking cartoon physics to a logical extreme.

Design (even if the magical demands of casting are extreme) a mix of a sustained teleportation effect combined with a divination viewing window tied to the same location as the teleportation effect which rebounds on the other end, and you've got a Portal Gun for a horn. I mean you wouldn't have to do all of the wonky math for teleportation if you fixed that as a variable that was set upon the first half of the spell being cast on a surface, so all you'd really need to do would be powering it like a battery which... you could probably work out an enchantment for, or have worked out. So this could actually be installed as a form of public transit between major population centers, or countries, depending on how demanding the power cost is and if teleportation is actually more draining the further it is, or if the strain is mental from calculations.

A simple illusion of light and sound combined with an incredibly low-power electricity spell maintained in a shaft and you have a lightsaber that makes ponies poof out when you touch them with it. Bonus points if you include something that lets you sword fight with it. Basically you create Equestrian laser tag mixed with swordfighting.

[Alzrius]

Okay, wiping the egg off my face from last time, let's try this again:

Having seen Samantha for a few chapters in the "real world" now, I'm struck by how she seems more schizophrenic than she did before. Dream-Samantha was hyper-focused on her work, but didn't seem to have the periods of mania when going about her business (or depression when kept from it) that she seems to in the real world. It's a little odd, and it contrasts with her previous attitude of depraved indifference in a way that doesn't quite seem to fit. I'm only half-convinced that this is caused by Celestia's ongoing attempt to socialize her via being kept in contact with ethical medical practitioners, but I'm willing to suspend judgment on that until we get a chapter that puts that squarely in the spotlight, rather than keeping it as a sub-plot.

As it is, I suspect that her interest in joining Silver's (not-really-but-not-totally-ruled-out-yet) herd is purely self-centered, in that she's interested only in bypassing social restrictions so that she can experiment on her favorite specimens. I can already foresee this being parleyed into some sort of romantic/erotic game - much like how Silver liked to be "experimented on" by Twilight - should she manage to pull this one off. Sexy, perhaps, but I have a hard time seeing Night Watch ever signing off on this. Of course, I think that Samantha should have been able to run rings around Celestia's ethical quizzing about the rightness or wrongness of what she was doing, but c'est la vie.

I rolled my eyes a bit at Silver and Sunny's co-enabling - er, self-congratulating - each other about Starlight being a "good pony." That phrase gets thrown around a lot, and is starting to wear a little thin. They seem to be using it to refer to any pony that doesn't have mens rea ("guilty mind") - that is, isn't deliberately acting with malicious intent - but that clearly doesn't apply here because Starlight does have malicious intent; she's outright said that she wants revenge on Twilight! Because of that, I'm honestly not sure what they mean when they refer to her being a "good pony." It's intuitive that they're referring to her being able to be redeemed, using Silver's dreams as proof, but that brings us to the relatively-uncomfortable realization that they're using the term as shorthand for "can have her mind changed so that she agrees with our values." This works only because we have meta-knowledge that Starlight's philosophy is a coping mechanism for her childhood trauma, and not something she genuinely holds as being true. If that weren't the case, then we'd have a far less cut-and-dried situation, wherein there were ponies who had philosophies, ones that they had a good faith belief in and held were important, that were so different that it brought them into conflict without possibility of compromise...or at least, without a compromise that was painful for both parties.

That may be a bit much for this story, of course, but I can't help but continue to hope. Silver's continuing appeal to raw, naked empathy strikes me as being unbelievable, even for a world where friendship is a literal force of nature. At some point, it should be okay for there to be a middle ground between portraying negative feelings as being indicative of personal failure and showcasing that good faith efforts to understand others will push anyone but the hopelessly corrupt into a state of communal harmony.

The irony, in this regard, is that Luna, er, Celine, is correct. Letting a powerful maniac who has openly stated her intent to cause harm - particularly with something as dangerous as time travel - operate freely is nothing short of madness. Yes, the ultimate rewards are the rehabilitation of the perpetrator while sustaining no major damage to anyone or anything else, but this must be held against the risks, which in this case include (as the fan community has pointed out on more than one occasion) the potential end of the world. True, Starlight has no idea just how much damage she could potentially cause, but that's no reason to let her do as she pleases and just hope for the best. This is still the case even when the future is known, since it's been established that Silver's visions of the future are imperfect. Gambling everything for the sake of one pony might be in keeping with the virtues of Equestria, but anything is bad when it's taken to an extreme. All that's necessary for Starlight's rehabilitation, when you get right down to it, is for her to open up about what happened with her and Sunburst, and for Twilight (or, really, anypony else) to talk her through it, particularly considering her hairpin turn away from the proverbial dark side that she performs in the source material. It's unnecessary to allow her to tamper with the fundamental forces of the universe to achieve this. (This makes it doubly ironic that Silver is allowing this to go forward, since that sort of appeal to emotion is his raison d'etre in the first place...maybe he'll do this when she comes for his cutie mark?)

Beyond that, it's clear that Celine is pretty clearly still pining for Silver, and doesn't know how to deal with it. Luckily, Silver had the presence of mind to be mature about it, and wisely called off any dream-trysting that might have happened. Let's see if the good judgment can continue on his part, and Celine's part for that matter. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Night Watch turns down either her or Sunny's application to join the herd, which lest we forget, she might very well do. Unfortunately, unless we've established exactly why Night left that potential door open in the first place (what with the wedding slippers and all; I know that's not their name but that's how I think of them), then that might be tricky. If I recall correctly, her only motivation for entertaining the notion at all is because she knows how much Silver likes the idea, but I'm actually rather glad she isn't just throwing that door open, particularly since this time around she isn't just magically discovering that she's bisexual the way she did before. Something like having multiple wives, in contrast with a character as deep as Night Watch, is something that needs to be addressed more thoroughly than it has been so far. Hopefully the story will give her her due there.

[Istaran]

7097949
I'm not convinced she actually wants to join, so much as to observe the rare herd in action, and scientifically study all the interplay among the members. In that regard, she'd probably be interested in cohabitating, even without any particular desire to be a member.

[David Silver]

7098071 Neither of them claimed Starlight is a good pony, only that she will become one. She is pretty clearly not being a good pony at the current, and neither had any particular delusions to the otherwise.

The inner workings of Night's troubled mind remain a mystery to us and Silver both, much as he'd like to know what's going on in his beloved's pretty head.

[Booster Spice]

If your tracking spell has a range, you forgot the, attach to this reality option in the structure, and the Get ID By Reality when said relative ID is non local.

[Boulder]

Morning Glory already showing powers!?!

[harts fire]

in my eyes Luna is still learning how to act well like a pony we all must remember she was away for 1000 years and so much has changed she is not only behind the times so to speak but she has Celine memory's of loving silver she is trying to deal with.

[tsaukpaetra]

Recalling what happened when they.... played in by dream world.... Night would definitely not be happy.

[David Silver]

7098840 It happened to once to Celestia if you recall. She was not pleased.

[tsaukpaetra]

7098929 yes, this was what I was referencing. Though, how accurate was it? Considering it was the results of a dream within a dream affecting the dream....

And now our head hurts...

[Daremo]

bent on revenge. - bent on revenge?
*****
Great chapter! More progress on the Luna/Celine front, and a visit from Samantha.

Samantha seems balanced on the knife's edge. She's making some progress towards socialization, but I get the sense she can still lash out with little or no working if she feels threatened with the loss of something she values, like her prized test subjects patients.

Really enjoyed the almost frank conversation between Silver and Luna. Finally we get a somewhat more honest answer about her feelings than we have up until now. She seems to be taking Celestia's example to heart even if it is not how she is used to working. Progress!

[Morphy]

7097949

Sam strikes me as a combination of Twilight and (fun!) Pinkie. She might be thinking of "herding" as nothing more than an interesting (fun!) intellectual exercise. But I'm more inclined to feel Samantha just wants friends.

[Not so New Brony]

7100379 That sounds about right, Samantha was probably grew up apart from other ponies for most of her foalhood due to her unique heritage so her desire to learn might have stemmed from the desire to know other ponies though this left her with a skewed understanding of how she should interact with others....of course, this is based on how I view her so I could be wrong later on.

[David Silver]

7100005 Honesty is the bane of deep drama. If everyone involved starts being honest with eachother and themselves, they'll work everything out and then where will we be?!

[zalla661]

I can see the power of friendship failing the first few times, but maybe next time will be different. This Starlight seems more in tuned with Applejack with her stubbornness and views.

[Ardwolf]

7098513
Unicorn flare.

[Vutava]

7098513 Would you expect any less from Trixie's grand-foal?

[Cursed Quill]

Sparkle"

Sparkle?"

luna, stop acting like a typo

Only showing up when people with a mind to it look for her, while being…let's not finish this analogy.

[erictheblue]

Trixie waved the whole thing off. "Who would want to be friends with an egocentric unicorn bent on revenge?"
The room became quiet a moment.
"What?"

wow, Trixie sure is egocentric...

[Warrior Kitten]

I wonder what would happen if Starlight tried to remove the Cutie Marks of Celine and Sunny.

[redmar]

Trixie waved the whole thing off. "Who would want to be friends with an egocentric unicorn bent on revenge?"

I like how Trixie describes both herself and Starlight in that sentence. Both as the friend and the egocentric unicorn.

[Luna is back]

Trixie waved the whole thing off. "Who would want to be friends with an egocentric unicorn bent on revenge?"

HA! I'M SOOO DONE...