147 - Guarding Bodies
Silver began moving towards his office. Though he tried to move as if nothing had happened, Night could see he had pains that would linger for some time. Despite this, she did not rush to support him. "Go on ahead. You can get some paperwork done today, I have to check on something."
He raised a brow a bit, but he didn't voice his confusion. He wasn't helped by his mother, who gladly nudged him along while still gushing about his display of magical skill and bravery. "You simply must show her a few of these spells. They're much better than your old ones."
Night left at a trot through another door. She prowled the hallways purposefully, seeking her prey.
Nefertari slammed a hand down on top of her desk only to wince at the pain it brought, but the pain it brought was nothing compared to the war in her chest. "Not even just a pony, but one that seeks peace..."
A soft knocking on the door brought her head up. "I'm busy!" she shouted with a fierce scowl.
"Oh this will only be a moment," came the voice of Samantha. "I received some curious readings, are you alright?"
Just how did that doctor keep track of her so easily? Nefer frowned a little before she let out a little sigh. At least that little pony she owned. "Come in."
Samantha nudged the door open with a smile on her snout that turned quickly to abject horror when she saw the condition Nefertari was in. "W-what? Did he catch you with a fireball? He did that once in a school, you know. Instant expulsion. It was much flashier than mine." She hurried towards Nefertari as bandages and little jars of ointment popped into existence around her. "Now you just lay back and let me take care of you. Samantha's here and I'll make everything alright again."
Nefer raised a brow lightly at her minion. She did not lay down, but she did sit. "You also wield fire magic?" She winced as Samantha began carefully clipping at fur around wounds. "Mind yourself..."
Samantha nodded. "Of course. You're a star subject. Your health is very important to me, now what was I saying? Oh yes! No! I don't do fire magic." She tilted her head. "When did I say that?" She began dabbing the burns with soothing gels. "You're a brave girl. This has to hurt. It's burnt just enough to hurt. Was he trying to do that?"
Was he? Nefer frowned. A painful lesson, but also one that would likely heal unlike a deeper burn. She watched as Samantha slowly applied bandages to the open wounds where burns had opened and her many cuts along the injured hand and arm. She would survive, but she wouldn't forget what had happened. "I'm surprised you aren't seeking him out as well."
Samantha perked her ears. "I will, but I can't be in two places at once. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! He can't treat my subjects like this, even if he's a subject too." She tilted her head a little. "It's just rude."
Nefer held up a finger. "I will thank you to not speak to him about me. I'm fine." She lowered the hand to Samantha's head and gently scratched around her ears. "With such a... skilled... doctor at my side, how can I be anything but fine?"
Samantha practically glowed at the praise. "O-okay, sure. I'd better go see how he's doing though." She smiled a little as she backed away. "Come find me if it bothers you at all. Don't worry about interrupting me. Remember, star subject!" She turned away and trotted off, the door closing quietly behind her.
Nefertari rose to her feet and moved to the mirror in her room. With a wave of her uninjured hand, her vision vanished from it, replaced with a purplish realm of shifting forms and faint murmuring noises. "You have guided me here, spirits. You have warned me he was... interesting... What now?" The dark figures made their faint noises. "I will heal without your advice, but my wounds are only the start."
A figure rose, clear, if darkened. She looked much like Nefertari, and sounded similar as well. "You know the law."
Nefer scowled at the figure. "He doesn't. He is wed besides, and he isn't even one of us."
"Regardless, he has denied you victory three times, once by surprise, second by your misjudgment, and a third by endurance. He has proven a willing warrior that can stand at your side."
Nefer slammed a hand down on either side of the mirror. "Ancestor! What use is the title of Nefertari if it is tainted in this way? What will people say? Our people. They would laugh without end to know."
The figure was unmoved by Nefer's outburst. "We have suffered worse things. We have endured. Will you crumple at this inconvenience?" The figure suddenly had a bright spot, her teeth on display. "Will you not see what he thinks? It is his choice now, or perhaps that is what you fear most, that he will deny you victory a fourth and final time by spurning your hand."
Nefer brought a fist back, ready to smash the mirror and the phantoms within when a clopping knock came from the door. She took a slow breath, calming herself. The visions faded away as she turned to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Night Watch. We need to talk."
Nefer hissed softly through her teeth. The wife, likely there to rebuff her thoroughly and try to keep her away from her husband. The spirits weren't entirely wrong... She had to face her battles. "Come in. We do have things to discuss."
The door swung outwards, knob held by Night's wing before she closed it behind herself. She looked Nefertari up and down. "You were taken care of quickly. Does it hurt?"
Nefer raised a brow. Was that pony sympathy, or was she there to mock and celebrate Nefertari's defeat? "I will survive. What did you wish to discuss?"
Night approached on quiet hooves. "No more challenges. My idiot of a husband doesn't know how to say 'no' sometimes, and this is one of them. You two could seriously hurt, or even kill, one another. Nopony wins then. So I'm making it clear, no more. As his wife and bodyguard, I forbid it."
That was far better a reproach than she had been expecting. Nefertari reached forward and Night shied away. That pony would not submit to her. "It must be trying, to be married to that pony. I am told he has a talent for being at the center of difficulties."
Night raised a brow then. "It's one of his talents, but I love him, which means protecting him, even from himself." She thrust a hoof at Nefertari. "That includes others eager to hurt him."
Nefer smiled and leaned back a little. "He has a powerful destiny. His eyes shine with more years than his body implies. He is special, in the good and bad ways it could be used."
Night advanced, scowling a little. "Good, so stop hurting him. Enough challenges."
Nefer held up a hand. "There is one more to be had." Night's scowl deepened. "Worry not, fair wife. This one involves no combat."
Night's frown eased a little. "It doesn't? What challenge is it?"
Nefer reached up to a dangling bit of jewelry at her neck. "There is a law among our people. If a female challenges a male three times in succession without victory, the male is worthy of her, and she must offer her hand."
Night started a little. "And if a male challenges a female?"
Nefer wagged a finger. "Not the same. Males are larger. If they could just challenge females whenever they wished, it would be chaos. The female issuing the challenge is considered either confident, or seeking him."
Night adjusted her glasses with her wings. "You were confident."
"I was... Three times I challenged him, three times without victory." Nefer snorted softly. "You must think me a fool of the highest order."
Night gave a little smile. "Actually... thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me instead of hiding and trying to get at him around me." She sat on her haunches. "Do you want this, or are you just following tradition? This isn't your home, and that's not a pony law."
Did she? Nefer frowned with thought. "Your husband... Tell me, I'm fairly certain, but pony females, they don't grow these, do they?" She referred to her chest.
Night raised a brow. "Not to my knowledge. What are those for anyway?"
Nefer waved it off. "Your husband reacted to them in the midst of the battle. A curious reaction for a pony, wouldn't you say?"
Night let out a little sigh. "Curious, that's one word for Silver. You didn't answer my question. Is this an obligation?"
"It is." Nefertari pushed to her feet. "But I don't do things casually. If I am to pursue this path, I will do so completely. Which brings us--"
Night held up a hoof. "I'm not accepting any challenges."
Nefer scowled a moment. That would have solved things, though there was another way. "Will you challenge me then?"
Night took a little step back. "Why? You won't steal him away from me..."
Nefer shrugged her shoulders then pointed down at Night's hoof with its wedding shoe. "You both wear one of what is clearly a set of four. Where are the other two?"
Night froze like a deer in headlights. Had she been found out so easily? "Silver has them..."
Nefer smiled. "I read long ago that ponies used to have such family groups much more often, but that it was basically abandoned in the modern era. Still, here you are, giving all the signs of desiring it."
Night took another small step away, only for Nefer to appear at her side in a burst of speed and a wince from muscles that didn't want to move that quickly. Night hopped away with a new fear.
Nefer grabbed for the mare, getting her by the cheeks and holding her. "I am also told that ponies are ruled by the females, which makes you the one in charge of your family."
Night stopped trying to flee and instead frowned at the source of her fear, facing it. "I am. I will protect him and our family."
"Good." Nefertari smiled. "Then I petition you. I would join this family of yours and win the right to wear one of those shoes."
Night snorted which turned into outright laughter.
Nefer's expression turned into fury. "What are you laughing at?!"
"Sorry, sorry... I'm just imagining one of your feet trying to fit into that hoof-sized shoe." Night shook her head. "I don't think that'll work."
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Nefer is going to steam at all the Dog And Pony jokes?
But, is Dash fast enough to dodge?
his mother who gladly - his mother, who gladly
about what me - about what me
she was expecting - she had been expecting
Which bring us - Which bring us
*****
They do, but not in the same... configuration.
*****
Excellent! The plot moves forward into the next conflict.
Time to hit the royal library for all sociology texts on anubites. A letter to a particularly professorial purple pony Princess probably would not hurt in the least, as well. The penalties for declining a betrothal would be especially helpful in the immediate short term future.
There was a lot of information doled out in this chapter that will require careful scrutiny. I really should start a spreadsheet to try and track all the information that has been floated to us in the course of the narrative. Perhaps when I have a spare year to devote to it.
As for the beautiful companion - What if... indeed.
I don't see any rule saying she couldn't wear the horseshoe around her neck as a necklace.
7143649 So much information, you didn't even comment on her little... discussion. So many things revealed.
I hope I did it properly and without a hamfist.
I got a new -1 today it seems. I don't know what for. I rarely do.
Typos destroyed!
7143665 That would be a curious accessory, but no rule indeed.
Courtship ritual through combat...and here I though Nefertari's role as a member of Silver's herd was only part of the dream world alone. Go figure.
7143681
To be fair, Nefertari had three separate discussions in this chapter:
With Samantha - Discreet surveillance, by magic or by some other means, aside, Samantha is moving away from creepy/dangerously unbalanced and more towards adorkable, but she has a ways to go yet and she still slips from time to time.
With her spirits and one ancestor in particular - 'Nefertari' is a title rather than a name. That, along with her discussion with a particularly toothy ancestor were very interesting to me, given my comment from the previous chapter. I don't wish to blow my own horn (had I a horn to blow), as it remains to be seen if I'm barking up the correct tree or just head-canoning the possibilities.
With Night Watch - Both handled this very maturely and I hope Night pays that visit to the library or finds a living resource to close the knowledge gap on anubite culture and customs before things go completely upside down.
7143689
Seems like most of the herdmates from the dream at least court Silver at some point, even if they don't all get in. Twilight is the most obvious exception, but Silver very explicitly minimized contact with her to avoid it.
I still love Nefertari. Her character is a complex one, and we rarely see an in depth look at her, just bits a she slips in an out of scenes. This is one of of few times we've seen an in depth on her since the dream. And we learned a lot about he culture in it too.
And she noticed Silver's thing for me boobs XD
7143846
I was kinda hoping for this, I like Nefertari's strong will and will enjoy her character developing more. And also all men like boobs. So she has that for an advantage.
7143665
Or melt it down into a bracelet.
••••••••••••••
Did anyone notice that Night didn't say no?
7143665 Could be a hair accessory too.
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7143936
Can I call it or what?
As expected, Nefertari is - in the wake of her third "not-victory" to Silver - struggling to deal with a cultural (and, apparently, somewhat religious) mandate that she now needs to marry him. Romantic shenanigans are the best shenanigans! Especially when they're about our fiesty Anubian (when the heck did it become "anubite"?).
The interaction between Nefertari and Samantha was fairly amusing, mostly because (although the narration was focused more on how Nefertari viewed the situation) it was pretty clear that each of them was viewing the other as a thing that belonged to them. Insofar as Nefertari is concerned, she's cowed/tamed Samantha into submission, and can easily manipulate her with honeyed words and a few caresses (though oddly, this doesn't seem like a seduction, even if that's what it is). By contrast, Samantha views Nefertari as an interesting test subject to be handled. To be fair, Nefertari has the upper hand in the relationship, as it's her will that usually wins out in the event that the two come into conflict, but it's clear that the two are in a relationship of mutually using the other...it's funny how well this lets them get along.
More interesting was Nefertari's conversation with the spirits. This, I felt, was the strongest part of this chapter, by a considerable magnitude. After all we've seen of her in her role as a shamaness (which largely seems to define her), having the proverbial curtain pulled back on these spirits that she talks to was a very good idea. I did frown at the thought that she needs a mirror to communicate so directly - coming from a culture of desert raiders, mirrors are likely to be in very short supply - but it was very interesting to see that the spirits she's taking her direction from are ancestral ones. That's a tidbit that we haven't seen before, and it paints a lot of subtle implications, such as the idea that, if she lives her life well, Nefertari will join them in the afterlife.
The high point here was the reveal that "Nefertari" is a title rather than her personal name. That's actually incredibly appropriate for the current circumstances, since "Nefertari" literally translates to "beautiful companion," which would define her role as attaching herself to someone (hence the "companion" part), presumably to give shamanistic guidance. My guess would be that each Nefertari becomes the companion of their tribe's leader (perhaps, via this ritual of challenging, that's how the leader is chosen), and in this case the curve ball is that her chosen one is a pony...though this brings up questions of why someone with such an important position left her tribe to begin with (I'm guessing that this will be hand-waved with that comment of the spirits having led her there).
Also, her having a desk felt rather inappropriate. Even if that is an office that the ponies gave her, I can't see her seeing that as anything other than a waste of space.
Insofar as her conversation with Night Watch went, there were no surprises there. The brief reference to Nefertari potentially challenging Night wasn't handled very well, since Night shot that entire idea down before it was made clear to the readers what exactly was being discussed. Presumably Nefertari was saying that, if the one who denied her victory three times was already wed, then she could challenge the current wife to become the new wife, but that wasn't said before Night seemed to intuit it and closed off that avenue of discussion.
That awkwardness aside, I was also a little surprised that Nefertari was able to zero in on the issue with the marriage-horseshoes. That felt a little too plot-appropriate, simply because it's a tradition that's largely considered antiquated even among its native culture. The idea that a foreigner from a far less developed culture would have just so happened to read up on this particular old-fashioned custom stretches my suspension of disbelief. But still, this is where the plot was quite clearly going - and, to be honest, where I was hoping it would go - so I can't bring myself to be too upset over this. As it is, Nefertari's considerable powers of insight (likely augmented by the spirits) was sure to pick up on the uncertainty that Night has been exhibiting anyway, so this seems almost like a foregone conclusion.
Notwithstanding the amusing idea of Nefertari wearing a horseshoe, the ball is now firmly in Night's court. Having been formally asked to let Nefertari become Silver's second wife, she's got some thinking to do. While it might seem like an obvious "no" to the violent creature, there's actually a lot more to consider. Politically, a marriage between two high-level functionaries of different nations is a huge boon to both. Silver might not be a prince, nor Nefertari a princess, but both occupy important spots in their respective nations. A marriage between them would be a huge step towards some sort of formal agreement between them, perhaps a trade agreement or even a military alliance. That's leaving aside that Silver, who loves to pick apart magic, would possibly get access to Nefertari's shamanistic training...though that might stretch the limit of what he can do, since Nefertari doesn't seem to use "spells" per se. And of course, Nefertari is a powerful warrior, which I suspect Night would appreciate. And of course, as Nefertari indicated (and Night missed), she has "assets" that Night doesn't and which Silver appreciates.
Of course, this all leads us to speculate...with Silver being married to Night Watch and Nefertari, this surely means that a potential third wife's name would need to start with "N" also!
7144111 Don't be sexist! They don't have to be the mare's name. What's wrong with S?
Night being a sharp cookie is part of her character. She spotted the challenge coming and shot it down, but that's exactly what she should do. That's her character. She did miss the completely alien mammary comparisons, ah well, not perfect.
Nopony said Nefertari needed a mirror, but she had one, and she made use of it. One imagines pools of water, the crackle of a fire or even gazing into the night sky might also be channels into the world between worlds. The routes of shamanism are deep and varied. Zecora would understand.
Night has been living in an uncertain place. She clearly wants some of this, but how much, and is Nefertari the one to fill that hole she's been scratching at? She hasn't outright denied the jackal. What was Night hoping for, in an ideal world?
7144134
I feel certain that when Night Watch knows, the rest of us will know too.
7144111
Sounds all a bit like an anime, eh? I can see the push for Nef' and Silver to get hitched, the political ramifications are powerful motivators. As for her knowing about the four shoes, I can chalk it up to Nef' simply being thorough in her study of potential husband.
And about the names starting with "N", that is rather curious. Who's next? Are there any more that start with "N"? And no, we already shot down Luna so it won't be Nightmare Moon... as silly, yet awesome, as that would be. Hah!
The Spirits are just as troll-ly as Celestia!
Which leads an interesting question: is this really the equivalent Nefertari from the dream, or is the one we just saw in the mirror the one he actually courted? It would make sense, considering what we found out about the Windsong sisters...
Oh, and totally called Nefertari out. She must be so conflicted right now, but if she is to solve her questions about Silver, this would be a great step....
Keep going! ;)
The power of uncensored humanoid anatomy?
I'm excited by this possibility. Princest fell through, so here's hoping for some dog lady romancing.
So my least favorite paramour of Silver's is the one that seems to have the best chance to join the herd...
I suppose it's some small consolation that the story hasn't allowed anyone else to work out yet, so I can always hope the trend continues.
7828041 Read on, dear dreamer.