"What proceeds here?!" Luna drove a metal hoof to the ground before stepping forward, fury in her eyes, and her personal guard right behind her. "Night Wing, stand and report!"
Night Wing rose to her full height, even if trembling, and moved forward towards Luna. "Don't believe wha--"
She waved it away. "Enough. You have assaulted an ambassador. You have assaulted a member of royalty. You have assaulted a royal consort. You falsely testified to your position in a government agency. Even were you working in your former capacity, you turned an attempt to defuse a situation into another excuse to continue an assault. You stand charged with many grave crimes."
Night Wing sank in place, trembling and sniffling, defeated.
"I was not able to get justice for you previously, Silver, but this time, nothing stands in my way." She sat, wings spread and a confident look on her face. "This time it is entirely within my court."
Silver scrambled up to his own haunches. "Wait! Wait, please."
Luna raised a brow at him. "Neigh. Even if you forgive her, I do not. Your soft heart will not stop the flow of justice this time. Nothing you say could change this."
Silver reached a hoof. "Give me a chance, and her too. She did many things wrong." He still felt the bleeding wounds he had suffered to his chest and undercarriage to make that clear. "But I think there's a reason."
"There's always a reason." Luna looked to Night Wing. "Go ahead, tell us your reason."
She trembled and squirmed in place, her words robbed from her for a moment before she swallowed thickly. "I... I want you to be happy..."
Luna raised a brow. "And you thought it would please me to attack a friend like this?"
"He is no friend of yours!" she shouted in fury before she sank back down. "He doesn't love you..."
Luna blinked softly. "We were not aware love is a requirement for frie..." It came to her. "I..." She saw Night Wing a little differently. "You are still guilty. What you did was wrong."
Silver looked over Night Watch for injuries much like his own. "So let's make it right. Hatred and vengeance, those aren't what we want from her, and it shouldn't be what we want either."
Luna sucked air through her teeth and let out a gust of a sigh. "He isn't wrong... Not entirely."
"Don't..." Night Wing staggered to her hooves. "I'd rather be crushed at your hooves, m'lady, than hear you say such soft things. Let the last thing I see be the powerful mistress I swore myself to."
Luna glanced at the guards that watched the scene with stern and ready expressions, then over at Silver and Night Watch, quietly tending to themselves as a result of the attack. She clenched her teeth. A simple case of justice being meted out, ruined by that human. "Night Wing."
"Yes, Princess?" Night Wing dipped her head, her body tense and ready.
"Your retirement is hereby annulled. You owe us twenty years service, the first to be spent in service of the one you wronged."
Her eyes went wide and pupils contracted dangerously. "What? No! You wouldn't!!"
Luna gave a single firm nod. "You will protect the very same body you thought to harm." She leveled a hoof at Night Wing. "Protect and serve him well, and then you may return to me. We have things to discuss, after you have completed your duty."
Night Wing trembled, her face a battleground where hope, despair, and fury fought bitterly. "I... will make you proud." She sank completely to the ground. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Luna demanded.
"Disappointing you."
Luna pointed to the Watches. "Save your apologies for them. They are your master and mistress until the year is complete, and I had better not hear report of dereliction in this duty, or even Celestia herself will not stand between me and justice." She snorted softly and turned to Silver. "We trust this satisfies?"
Silver gave a little smile. "You didn't have to make her work for me, but yes." He looked to Night Wing, clucking his teeth. "To make it perfectly clear from the outset, I will only expect you to be a good pony, and a guard. If you wish to help me be a better prince, with advice, I won't stop that."
Night Wing raised a brow. "You're not going to press me into that all-consuming herd of yours?"
Night Watch rolled her eyes. "Denied."
Silver nudged against Watch. "She is my first wife, and she already declines the idea. Besides, you are a Warlock. I plan for you to act like one. Help me against the real enemies of Equestria."
Wing rose to her hooves, still shaking. "Very well. Call if you need me then... I'll have my eyes open." She darted into a shadow and was gone.
Luna let out a little sigh. "I never knew..." She brought up a hoof to her face. "The things I told her... They must have driven her mad with despair. Such a talented pegasus, she must have thought I would groom her for it... Her loyalty is what made it impossible. She never pushed the envelope. She never reached out of her safe zone. She would never ascend... But that doesn't mean... I must think about this." She turned away. "Excuse us." She departed with her guards, leaving Night and Silver in the dim hallway.
Night poked him. "You did it again."
"What?"
"You got another mare in your life."
Silver frowned a little. "This is different and you know it. She's a soldier, and I'm pretty sure she still kinda hates me."
Night shrugged softly. "I was a soldier when we met, and I thought you were insufferable."
Silver blinked at that confession. "I... really?"
Night wrinkled her nose. "It was my loyalty to Luna that kept me at your side at first. You won me over bit by bit, until I was caught thoroughly in your devious little net."
Silver glanced away and back. "Are you... worried that will happen with Night Wing?"
Night Watch let out a sigh. "Chances are low, 20%? She still carries the biggest torch for Luna, and if Luna shows any interest back, she'll forget you even exist by comparison. Damn mare should be grateful. Luna looked ready for an old fashioned execution, the kind Celestia wrote out of the books hundreds of years ago."
Silver nuzzled under Night's chin gently. "I'm glad we avoided that. Look, nopony got hurt."
"Speak for yourself." Night rolled her eyes at that. "We're both still bleeding. We should let Samantha look us over, just in case."
They could agree on that, and began heading back to their room. As they went, Silver asked, "So, about that secret..."
"Still a secret."
"Why?" Silver nudged against her. "Is it a surprise for me?"
Night smiled. "That's a good way to think of it. Don't ruin your surprises. I'll show you when the time is right, promise." She nibbled softly along his neck, making him shiver with delight. "I think you'll like it."
Emerging from the shadows, Night Wing dipped her head at Silver. "I could say, if you request it."
Silver blinked at Night Wing's appearance, but Night Watch reacted faster with flared wings and a grunt. "Don't you dare! It's mine to say or not."
Night Wing pointed at Silver. "He has more say than you, consort. If he wishes me to say, then I must."
Silver shook his head. "I would want her to tell me, not someone else, unless someone is getting hurt, she can have her secrets."
Night Watch smiled gently at that. "Nopony is getting hurt, promise. I'll tell you."
Night Wing nodded once more before fading back into the darkness, gone.
"Of all the females, you get another lunar pegasus..."
Silver blinked at that. "You don't like other lunar pegasi?"
"Of course I do... But not here, not like this." She folded her wings tightly and resumed walking. "She's going to be interesting to have around... I hope she realizes you're about as harmless to Equestria as a daisy."
Silver shook his head. "Stop acting like I'm some kind of saint, because I'm not." He spread his new wings out slowly. "I could cause a lot of problems, in theory. I'm trying not to, of course. Oh! There should be a flying instructor stopping by soon. I won't be joining the class."
Night raised a brow. "Why not? I thought you picked one out and everything."
Silver rolled a hoof. "Apparently I have a lot of things wrong, so I need to be taught from the ground up, so it's one on one time instead of slowing down a class just for me."
They arrived at their room and opened the door to find Samantha parked with the foals, all three watching them intently. Samantha saw their wounds quickly and hopped to her hooves. "Lay down on the bed, bellies up. I'll have you taken care of before you even know it."
The foals moved, imitating Samantha and making little gestures as if also ordering their parents up onto the bed, even if they said nothing more intelligent than random coos. Unable to resist the commands of all three, Silver and Night climbed up and laid down, their injured undersides exposed to the air and Samantha's quick care.
Samantha's hooves were gentle, caring, and a little wandering. Silver gasped when she brushed something sensitive. "You're larger everywhere."
Silver turned bright red at the observation, but Samantha continued, "When we engage in breeding procedures, you will have to exercise greater caution to ensure maximum compatibility."
Night raised a brow at the warning. "That was the most clinical come hither comment I ever heard."
Samantha tilted her head. "Did I do it wrong?"
Night gestured with her head. "Whatever he says, his body says 'I liked hearing that.'"
Silver's deep blush spread over his neck as he brought his legs together. On the bright side, his pain was completely forgotten about, all the more so when he felt a small object fall onto his exposed belly. It was his son, Morning Glory. He smiled brightly and flopped onto his side, hugging the little foal closely. "I can't wait until you start talking."
Night rolled over with him, trapping Clear Twilight between them. "We have a while yet, but they're perfect already."
Samantha slipped in behind Night, and the room grew quiet, with the whole of the family content to be beside one another, at least until a belly rumbled.
Rest time was over.
Silver slipped from the bed. "I'll make something. You two spoil me with how often you make food." With a smile, he set to preparing something delicious for all his family, big and small.
He'd suffered through much worse days than that.
Wounds?
You falsely testified to your position in a government angency.
Heh, I caught one.
Oh, hello there Kaiser Oblivion.
Nightwings thoughts are like a returning interplanetary spacecraft skipping along the top of the atmosphere. One slip outwards and her thoughts will feed on themselves until shes gone, the other way and her thoughts will consume her in such hate as to destroy that which she beleives put her in such a position, thereby releasing here, even if to her doom.
a vary good chapter and now the watch family has a full time guard for the next year at lest.
A daisy powered by a nuclear reactor and the mind running it likes to occasionally experiment with the flow pipe controls... just to see what happens.
7237404
7237400 Typos executed. Luna finds them a reasonable replacement.
7237477
Nah more like a universe reactor plant.
robber of her - robbed of her
making little gestured - making little gestures
fall on his exposed belly - fall onto his exposed belly
*****
Once more you surprised me in the best possible way with the direction you've taken this. I couldn't have called it all in my wildest speculations, and that is awesome.
It will be interesting to see now how Night Wing integrates or fails to integrate into the Watch's daily routine. I daresay they are safer than they have ever been, especially in this crucial period surrounding Silver's ascension and pending coronation. If he ever needed another set of eyes not influenced by feelings of affection it would be now.
Just... why.... granted I understand that this is arguably a worse punishment for Night Wing, being forced to serve the one she hates for at least a year and forced reinstatement for 20 years. But Silver as a victim arguing for her Lessing of a sentence... I guess I have a different mindset than Silver, I would have let Luna deal with her ex warlock but that's me.
Interesting. Shall Wing become an echo of Nefertari? Surely the two shall have words with one another....
It might be interesting if Luna took serious attention to Wing's ascension but we think she might be too old to adjust her thinking too much... Time will tell?
Keep going! ;)
7237648 Typos shooed out of the castle. Silver got a chance to be the ambassador he's grown to be, and Night Wing has to pay for her crimes, but in a way that results in friendship lessons in the end. Hopefully she will emerge as a better person, and maybe a friendship can be forged from this perilous start? Even if not, at least maybe some of that bitterness can be let go.
7237734 He could have grabbed her and started smashing her against random walls until everything was quiet. That's hardly an action endearing of other ponies to him, or satisfying to himself. He tried mega violence in his dream, and all it really resulted in was piles of injured and dead ponies.
Is that really the path he wants to walk? He would rather a new friend, if that is an option, or at least a surrender of all that hate. Hate is such a wasteful emotion...
7238049 Agreed!
So Silver has another individual in the shadows following him around in Nefertari's place or they'll run into each other after a while.
Also, Samantha continues to be adorkable, even when she's being flirty.
Agency
7238503 I spelled it right, have no fear!
As if I would create typos.
And now we wait for the inevitable confrontation between Nefer & Wing.
7238519
*Snorts*
Heheh.
it."
7239454 Typos arrested!
Okay, it's a little late but let's go over this chapter.
Insofar as the matter with Night Wing is concerned...I suppose justice was served. I'm a little concerned about the line, apparently narrating Luna's thoughts, that said "A simple case of justice being meted out, ruined by that human." That's quite possibly the most upset we've seen Luna with Silver in quite some time, and in all honesty I'm glad for it. Luna is right, to my mind, to think that Silver was being too lenient; what's more notable though is that it was only "ruined" because she allowed it to be. She could very well have overridden his objections and declared summary judgment right there. That makes me suspect that she thinks he was right, but didn't like it very much.
To that end, I'm aware of the blog post that talks about how the justice that the human readers so often call to see is so different from the much kinder justice that usually happens in Equestria. However, I think that that blog post is something of a bait-and-switch; justice in Equestria as depicted in the show can afford to be such a light touch because offenses that require corrective/punitive action are so few and far between. There's at least one police officer in Manehattan, and a sheriff and a couple of deputies in Appleloosa, but other than a recurring private security guard that's about all we've ever seen of pony justice, notwithstanding the major villains that periodically crop up.
This fic, by contrast, has introduced wider problems into the fabric of Equestrian society, such as ethnic tensions and racism, discrimination against homosexuals, attempted murder and questions of killing in self-defense, etc. As such, there's some legitimate grounds for saying that calls for more harsh punishments are warranted, since these represent more heinous actions than we find in the source material; moreover, they're often ones that are systemic (or at least wide-ranging) in pony society, and so can't be easily solved with good feelings and forgiveness, since otherwise these problems wouldn't have become so ubiquitous in the first place.
As such, Silver is clinging to the ideal from his knowledge of the TV show that no longer perfectly matches the reality that he's living in. That might still represent the pinnacle of Equestrian ideals, but the nature of idealism is that it tends to run face-first into problems of practicality and pragmatism. Just because he wants things to turn out well with Night Wing doesn't mean that they will, and could very well result in wider precepts of justice failing to be implemented (e.g. deterrence).
Beyond that, I have to wonder just how reliable of a servant Night Wing will be. She's already shown that her first priority is to, not what Luna wants, but rather what Night Wing thinks are in Luna's best interests. As such, given that she's convinced that Silver runs directly contrary to those interests, she's likely going to be looking for instances where she can at least pay lip service to Luna's order to serve Silver, while still trying to undermine him in practice. Silver's goal, quite clearly, is to get her to change her mind about him, but even increasing her exposure to him in hopes of her taking in enough new information to change her mind might not be enough, since that presumes that her mind is open to being changed in the first place.
Given that, I think that Silver is going to need to be more proactive if he wants to challenge Night Wing's perceptions. Just letting her increase her surveillance of him - since I seriously doubt that he'll ask very much of her (I think that he'll think that that's too much like slavery) - won't be enough, and trying to engage her in dialogue is likely to be of limited use. From what I can gather from his conversation with Luna, Night Wing was apparently under the impression that she (Night Wing) was being groomed to become the first lunar alicorn, and by extension Luna's lover. Silver might need to talk to some of her peers in the warlocks to try and gain some further insight into her if he wants to know how to better deal with her going forward...at the very least it couldn't hurt.
Moving on, Night Watch continues to play coy about her training with Nefertari. I'd be more inclined to like that if it wasn't clearly due to her insecurities taking over her, as we saw a few chapters back when she had a breakdown about not being useful enough. Where exactly that degree of insecurity is coming from, much as with her persistent need to not have a monogamous relationship, remains unclear. However, it seems rather unfair of Night Watch to chastise Silver for "suddenly having another mare around" when she's the one who kept saying "let's keep polygamy on the table" without saying why. At least here, she's being somewhat transparent: Night Wing, as a lunar pegasus and a warlock, is quite clearly threatening to Night Watch; after all, she's everything Night Watch is, but better (since a warlock is more than a mere guard).
...so, in short, this is turning into quite the romantic cross-tangle!
7240001 Romantic entanglement, in my story?!
It's more likely than you think.
Silver will indeed have to work if he plans to make friends with Night Wing. Just hoping she'll change her mind seems terribly unlikely to succeed.