Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat

by David Silver

190 - Praise the Sun

Silver stepped out into the garden. There was Celestia, seated at a table and sipping her tea. She looked refined and proper, as was usually her way.

He glanced away before he advanced.

"When you first arrived, you worried I would fear you." She looked up towards him. "Then you worried you would disappoint me in countless ways... Now you are scared of me." She drew a slow breath. "I deserve that."

Silver perked his ears at Celestia. "N-no! It's not--"

"You're far from the the first." She set her cup down. "You won't be the last."

Silver saw his cushion placed, waiting for him to settle. He ignored it. He trotted towards Celestia directly. "You saved her."

"Do you believe that?"

Silver sat slowly. "Do you truly believe that I failed Samantha? Did you mean that?"

Celestia grit her teeth a moment. "You... You did. I wish you both well, but she needs... What I said was cruel. What I said was savage and wicked... And entirely true."

Silver dipped his head. "She was healing, with a family. She was loved, and loves us. For us, she was changing, slowly. She was changing. You saw that, right?"

Celestia nodded. "There is a truth there, but she attacked." She drew a breath slowly. "I did what I had to. I am a Queen, despite my insistence. I am an angry avenger. You... You fear me." Her head lowered. "I deserve every flinch."

Silver felt torn. The pain that Celestia seemed to feel was very real, but so was his family.

He chose to put aside his own pains. That was just the way he was wired. "Celestia."

"Yes?"

He smiled up at her. "I still love you."

She returned that smile, but hers was far from genuine. "Do you?"

He spread his wings. "You saved her. No matter what, I know that's true. It would have been easy to throw her to the angry mob, to let her be torn apart by ponies that would have felt justified doing it, or to let her rot forever in a cell until she was forgotten. Celestia, you did what you had to do."

Celestia rose to her hooves. "At my word, a pony may be sentenced to death, or stripped of their rights. A pony ceases to be a pony. Who gave me the right to wield such terrible power? Why do they cheer when I wield it?"

Silver rose to his hooves. "You gave yourself that right, so others wouldn't abuse it. Celestia, you did right." He nipped her side suddenly. "Celestia, even if I'm crying, I believe that. You did the right thing."

She quirked a little smile and reached a leg, wrapping it around Silver. "I have not had a prince to comfort me like this." She rolled over onto her back, with Silver hefted up onto her belly. "Would you like to live the dream? Just a little motion, and you could do as you did then. We could become one."

Silver blinked with surprise. He was being propositioned, and quite forwardly. For a moment, a dirty moment, he was awfully tempted. To perform the ancient dance with Celestia, to do... that... "I shouldn't."

"You fear me."

Silver tilted his head. "Not the way you think. You're upset and angry. If I went ahead, you would regret it later..." If he was ever to lay with Celestia, he'd want it done without guilt. It would be a joyous event, if ever it was to be.

Her magic gripped him in a sensitive place and pulled, drawing a gasp from him. "Do you want it or not?"

He did, and he didn't. Not like that! "Celestia..."

She jumped. A bit of moisture struck her and surprised her. Silver was crying, unaware of it.

"This isn't what you want, and I have my promises."

Celestia nodded slowly, but she hugged him all the tighter. "Am I a good pony?"

The question he had asked was turned on him suddenly and he felt lost a moment before he nodded rapidly. "You're the best pony." He leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. He was smaller than her, though he was larger than he had been. "Now help me tend to my family."

Her magic wrapped around him entirely, lifting him and setting him on the ground. "I will speak to Luna, see how things fare..."

Silver glanced around. There was a suspicious lack of guards in the garden. That was... Oh... "Did you plan this?"

She smiled gently. "The offer remains."

Silver flushed a dark red. For a precious moment he wondered how different it would be from his dream. "When the herd is reunited, you can approach Night, like a pony." He looked up at her. "Because you are a pony. No exceptions."

She leaned in and touched nose to nose. "Because I'm a pony..." The thought seemed to tickle her in some way. "In some ways, you aren't one, but those are stupid ways, aren't they?" She sat up straight. "Will you remind me of how much of a pony I am?"

Silver rose to his hooves and stepped closer. He hugged her gently. In the silence they held one another. They didn't break any vows. That moment, hugs were enough. It was a very pony moment of closeness.

Celestia let out a little sigh. "You know it was all a performance, I hope? You've... been a good stallion for your herd, as unconventional as it and its members may be."

Silver smiled hopefully. "Can I keep it up? I want her back... Even the foals want her back. She's a part of us."

Celestia nodded. "Easily done." She tapped Silver right on the nose. "You'd realize it if you took a step back."

Silver blinked at that and thought about the situation. "It's... up to Luna."

"Precisely so."

He rose to his hooves. "I should ask her then."

Celestia reached with a wing for him. "Is that the only reason you came?"

He could leave. He could leave and put another chink in her heart. He settled down. "How much did it hurt?"

"Hmm?"

He met her eyes. "To play that part."

She gave a wan smile. "I didn't want to..." She leaned forward. "You can't know. You're still learning the first timid steps of politics. I'm very proud of you, mind. You made good inroads with the local movers and shakers, and that will serve you well in the coming years."

Silver waved it off. "Thank you, but I'll be fine."

She suddenly knocked him over with a powerful swat of a wing. "It's alright to speak of my actions, but not yours?"

Silver rolled upright, blinking. "No, you have a point there... I ran into Fancy Pants, who was already a friend, and he..."

"--Introduced you to his friends, yes, I did hear." She offered the same wing but in a gentle stroking instead of a swat. "I'm certain you felt awkward."

"I did..." He glanced away and back at Celestia. "Not nearly as badly as I imagined you felt though."

She tilted her head. "And you met a zebra."

He blinked at that. "Y-yeah?" He didn't expect that to come up.

"Sharp creatures, those zebras. They can often see what we miss. He seemed pleased enough with you." She smiled gently. "Not that I doubted you."

Silver sat up. "You seem to have your ear close to the ground." Should he ask, should he ask... "Night isn't doing anything that'd hurt her, is she?" He asked.

Celestia perked up at his request. "She is... playing with things beyond the reach of most ponies, but not all. It is quite popular outside my kingdom."

She knew! "Is it safe?"

"Is power ever safe?" Celestia extended her wings wide. "You saw me wield power, true and terrible. Did you feel safe?"

Silver set his jaw a moment. "I was worried... But if anyone was going to wield that power, I trust you."

Celestia raised a brow faintly. "Do you trust Night this way?"

He frowned with thought. Didn't she deserve the chance? Wasn't he... "I do. I just wish I could support her. She's keeping it a secret."

She poked him in the nose. "She wants to impress you, just as you hope to impress others. She will reveal her efforts in time."

He gave a smile, spreading through his whole body. "I'm sure I'll be impressed."

"Be so, even if you feel otherwise." She brushed his side with a wing. "She wants to be a pony worthy of you."

"She is!"

"Prove it." She smiled a little. "And don't run to her now."

Silver understood what Celestia meant, at least good enough to relax in subtle ways he had been coiling up in, worrying for his beloved lunar wife. "I'll wait for her. She's a clever pony, and wickedly smart. She'll have something worth seeing, I'm sure of it." He rose to his hooves. "I'm glad we met today, Celestia."

"Tia."

Silver perked an ear.

"Call me Tia, when we are alone... if you would."

Silver felt a burning rise quickly in his cheeks. "You're being... familiar." Familiar was a polite term. How much of it was Celestia dealing with her own pain? "Tia."

She extended a wing under his chin. "In your dream, you enjoyed our time together."

Silver swallowed heavily. "In my dream, I did a lot of things, including die in a fire." He turned towards the exit. "There is no grand sterility." That would be a reason for it, but it didn't...

"It feels like it." Celestia smiled her sad smile. "Those that would accept my invitation easily are exactly the sort of pony I would want little to do with."

Was his refusal only encouraging things then? Silver nodded at her. "Please, be well, Tia. You're a good pony, a fantastic princess, and a good friend beside." He fled before she could ensnare him with another silken thread. If he let her, he would become her captive in a prison of the softest materials.

He had another princess to visit, and a wife to rescue, even if his official tie to Samantha had been rudely severed.

He had managed to survive Luna's 'rehabilitation' and be restored to full legal status, and he intended to ensure Samantha did the same. She would come home. "I promise," he spoke to nopony in particular as his hooves carried him in an energetic stride, consuming the distance between him and Luna's quarters in little time at all.

The guards nodded at him as he approached and didn't make an immediate move to stop him. A step up...

Author's Note:

So many typos of conduct in this chapter. Can you find them all?

Comments

[Snow]

"Your being... familiar."

You're

[David Silver]

7274751 Fixed!

[HoneyBadgerr]

Wow. What an amazing chapter. I don't know where you're pulling these ideas out of, but keep pulling.

[Not so New Brony]

A step up indeed, in more ways than one.

Now I'm expecting Silver to gawk a little at Samantha carrying a one-sided conversation with Mister Happy. This scene is too adorable to not imagine.

[LunaEpona]

Now all you need is a pony guard named Garrison to watch over Samantha as she talks to Mr Happy.

[cosmic flash]

and quiet forwardly

quite

[David Silver]

7275292 Fixed!

[harts fire]

I like this chapter a much needed talk with Tia and it turned out rather good.

[Booster Spice]

Celestia has, Its Lonely At The Top Syndrome, badly?

[Daremo]

Celestia nods - Celestia nodded

choose to put side - chose to put aside

*****

What a beautiful chapter!

Lots of Celestia character development that I'm going to take at face value and not wonder about how much was planning and masterful manipulation of circumstances. Celestia in the canon series, and the fans reaction to her, seems to be the deus ex machina that has mechanical difficulties on her way to save the day. Here it is a lot clearer that she chooses to let her little ponies deal with things first, and only steps in for the direst of circumstances.

*****

He nipped her side suddenly...

She quirked a little smile and reached a leg, wrapping it around Silver. "I have not had a prince to comfort me like this." She rolled over onto her back...

Celestia liked being nipped in the dream too, or at least she responded similarly. Silver may have forgotten about that when he woke, or in the months that followed.

How much did it hurt?

I may be bound for Tartarus now, but I faintly expected the other half of the old pickup line when I read this.

She poked him in the nose.

I suppose the cute sneezing days are over. I could speculate endlessly as to why...

In my dream, I did a lot of things, including die in a fire.

For most this is only a figure of speech, but Silver Watch née Stars has never been one to do things halfway.

[Daremo]

seated at the a table - seated at the a table

from the the first - from the the first

Missed a couple.

[David Silver]

7276301 Typos kicked out of the garden. I was very nervous about this chapter, with Celestia making such... direct advances that could have easily turned to something that'd blow the rating of the story up (and could be hidden behind a few clever words). There's a reason Silver fled. If she kept pressing, he isn't without feeling for her. He wants to be a good stallion, and a good person in general though. Better to not break his vows, or take advantage of a female, no matter how powerful, when she's hurting.

Not that he ever promised that specifically, but he is a stallion of a herd, and he sure doesn't have his first wife's permission for this. He knows the scowl he'd get, rightfully so.

[Daremo]

7276334
I think you did a solid job of showing that Silver Watch has developed the strength of will to resist his urges and think of the larger picture in situations like this, whereas Silver Stars would have leaped on for the opportunity.

You capped it nicely with Princess Celestia's words. It wasn't a test, but any pony that would have taken advantage of her in that moment isn't a pony she would have wanted in the first place. She is not above playing the moth that dances around the candle flame from time to time, it would seem. She never seems to get burned, and I certainly would not wish that upon her, though it has happened at least once if the comics were canon (and we know they aren't if the animation teams decides it's not convenient), with Sombra.

[tsaukpaetra]

Wow, Celestia was coming on pretty hard there. Pretty crazy stuff...
Keep going! ;)

[Ponyess]

Silver stepped out into the garden. There was Celestia, seated at the a table and sipping her tea. She looked refined and proper, as was usually her way.

seated at the a table
A or The, wich is it?

[David Silver]

11226415
Fix! Over 2000 other readers didn't notice it over the years, but finally, it is laid to rest.