Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat

by David Silver

198 - By Moonlight

Silver blinked and sat up straight as he was addressed by the ghost. "Oh, hello! You're related to Night?"

The aged lunar pegasus nodded. "Her grandfather, passed on, hmm, though I suppose that's a bit of a lie. I haven't 'passed on' anywhere if she can call me any moment." He directed a hoof at Silver. "Did you put her up to this?"

"Me? No, seeing as I only recently figured out what she's doing." Silver stood up and approached the ghost curiously. "It's nice to meet you." As ghosts went, this one seemed friendly, and he saw no reason not to be friendly back to a relation of Night, dead or not.

He rose to his own hooves and spread his wings. "It bothers me I didn't live long enough to see Night's big day, any of them... I missed her becoming a wife, and a mother, and she had so many other victories, but death does that..." He let out a breathless sigh. Ghosts didn't need to breathe. "But I get to meet her husband at least. You're taking care of my Little Watch, yes?" He raised a brow at Silver. "She tells me otherwise and we'll be having a serious conversation."

Silver raised a hoof with a little laugh. "She'll tell me first, and she might even beat me up if I start messing up."

The mental image made the ghost burst into laughter. "That sounds like my Little Watch. Yes... I suppose she can take care of herself." He offered a hoof.

Silver met the hoof, but they passed through one another. Good enough? "Night, you're getting really... good at this. I mean..." He gestured wildly at the elder figure. "Here's a spirit, right here."

Samantha bobbed her head. "You'll figure out how to free my mother properly. I have faith in you." She put a hoof to her chest a moment before she nodded once more. "I still don't understand... Why would Nefertari do this? I thought we were friends..."

Night let out a little sigh. "'Friend' is a tenuous term with her." All ears in the room lifted as a foal cried out. Silver went rushing to tend to the problem.

Luna looked from pony to pony. She wanted to help, but she had learned that throwing her bulk around didn't always result in what she wanted. What would Celestia do? "If there's anything I can do..."

Night glared at Luna, but the expression softened again. "I have to figure this out..." She reached out and touched the onyx that housed Samantha's mother's spirit. "I..."

Luna spread her wings with a flash of insight. "What were you doing?"

Night blinked. "Looking at this rock?"

"No, with the Ambassador."

Night gestured at her grandfather. "Learning how to be a shaman."

Luna reached for the rock herself, nudging it. "Are you not doing that now?"

Night blinked softly. "She... wouldn't?" Or would she? She hopped to her hooves. "This is a lesson?!"

Luna quirked a little smile. "Perhaps she has as much to learn about the subtleties of friendship as I."

Samantha seemed to jump gears instantly. "You can surprise her by learning the lesson faster than she ever expected!"

Silver returned with Clear Twilight perched on his back. "What's the excitement?"

Night sank to her haunches. "Luna figured out Nefertari is probably testing me." She tapped the rock again, then frowned. "I won't fail."

Silver kissed her cheek gently. "No you won't, and we're here for you if you need anything at all." He turned to Luna. "I'm afraid there isn't a lot you can do, unless you know more about shamanism than you're letting on."

Luna cringed faintly. "N-no, but it is day as well. I have no immediate duties. Can I... lend a supporting hoof, if nothing else? I should also like to see more of this... I have only heard of it from visiting foreigners. Our allies make use of it, perhaps to make up for their lack of unicorn magic."

Samantha tilted her head. "Why don't we use it? We could have unicorn magic and this. That would be better, wouldn't it?" She leaned towards Night Watch. "You're smart to take advantage of the opportunity." She clopped her forehooves together. "I'm almost jealous! What amazing new discoveries you'll make. I hope you're taking good notes?"

Night laughed at that. Whatever notes she had couldn't hope to meet Samantha's exacting example. "I'll do my best, now, about your mother..."

Silver shook his head. "Today's been a hectic day. Maybe a moment to unwind and gather yourself?"

Luna nodded at that. "Sound advice. You're a little frustrated right now, which is natural."

Night cocked an ear at Luna. She was being awfully friendly. "Luna, since you're here, when does my husband get his crown?" She gestured at Silver's head. "He's past due to have one, I imagine."

As if he hadn't noticed before, her grandfather suddenly took in Silver's wings and horn. "Oh! A prince? I didn't know that..." He rose and started prowling around Silver. "And still knows his place around my Little Watch. A fine prince for my princess." He nodded with a satisfied smile. "And don't you make the mistake of thinking she's less than a princess, and she'd better be treated like one."

Silver held up a hoof. "I swear. She is my treasured beloved. She will never be less than my princess."

Samantha pointed at herself. "That include me?"

Her grandfather blinked and turned to look at Samantha with a strange look before glancing between Night and Silver. "Am I going to have to give a lecture?"

Night heaved a loud sigh. "Before you get angry at either of them, this herd is mine."

He took a slow step towards her. "Why? A normal marriage wasn't good enough?"

Night quirked a smile a little. "I'm not taking 'good enough'. 'Good Enough' would still have you buried in the ground and quiet." She approached him and took him into a hug. Unlike Silver, she could touch him and did. She held him close. "I'm very greedy, grandfather."

He let out a slow rattle of a breath before he kissed her cheek and vanished.

Samantha tried to decipher the interplay, but her ability to read social interactions was lacking at best. "Is he angry?"

Night gave a little smile. "Surprised, I think. Maybe disappointed that his 'Little Watch' would grow up to have impure thoughts. He still loves me though, and I love him."

Luna shook her head. "I... that was another sin on my part."

Night blinked up at Luna. "What? This herd?"

Luna tilted her head. "In a matter of speaking... I sent you to Silver, many moons ago. I played matchmaker, hoping your keen minds would find camaraderie in one another, then more... I... never told him."

Silver hadn't been told before, but then he had. Did that change how he felt? Hardly. He reached with a wing and pulled Night close. "You did quite well. We're both happier for being together, I think."

Night nuzzled with him as he cuddled her. For a moment they knew only each other, and they were content.

Samantha wasn't, frowning a little. "How is that a mistake?"

Luna gestured to Night. "I interfered with her life. I sent her to be partnered without asking if that's what she wanted. Whether or not it worked out, it was... perhaps a bit brash of me to assume."

Night turned to Luna. "Why are you like this? This isn't like you, going over every mistake."

Luna dipped her head a little. "Do you forgive me?"

Night tensed. That was a large order. "Even if I did, that wouldn't... Luna..." She glanced at Silver, then Samantha. "What if I told you that you would be the lowest mare?"

"What?" Luna sat up, confused.

"If you joined now, you would be the lowest." Night nodded. "I'm the highest, the First Wife. Samantha is trusted and loved by everyone. You... You have a lot of mistakes to get past... You would be lowest."

Luna clenched her teeth but remained erect. "Does that mean you would permit this?"

Night expected Luna to balk at being the least of them, but there she was... Surprises were in plentiful supply it seemed... Ah, there was still an angle that might shake Luna free. "Your sister has expressed interest in joining."

Luna blinked softly. "We thought she abandoned that pursu--"

"She changed her mind, much like you." Night raised a brow at Luna. "Would you be happy, being under her? You weren't serious, before, not really. Would you really be happy being in the same herd as your sister, with her being above you?"

Silver sucked in a harsh breath. "Night!"

Luna lifted a hoof at Silver. "She speaks the truth... It would be... There are political ramifications to consider. To have the highest princesses of the land rush to the side of the newest prince... Do you wield power over us, or would we be seen as claiming you as our own in our own desire?" She let out a rough little laugh. "The public knows little of our tangled past. They would know only that an alicorn prince is crowned, and that the princessess herded with him, perhaps to keep him away from something, or will they expect royal foals?" She colored faintly as she spoke, but she did not pause. "Either way, it will create quite a stir. I should... speak to Sister." She rose to her hooves.

Night rose as well. "Silver?"

"Hmm?"

"I have a favor to ask." She gestured up at his horn. "Cast that spell of yours."

That spell? Oh! "I don't think that's a good idea!"

"I didn't ask if it was." She faced Luna. "You said I could. Has this changed?"

She sounded quite serious. Silver waffled a moment before looking to his possible out, that being Samantha. "Would you be alright with Night--"

"I trust Night." Samantha nodded.

So much for help from that direction... He focused his power and played the song as a musician would a song along a flute. Night altered in that way both subtle and obscene. She was neither fully mare nor stallion.

Luna saw it and recoiled in surprise. "What do you mean by this?"

Night approached Luna with the slow confident swagger befitting a stallion. "I don't think you know what it means to be under another pony. Luna, go." She pointed to their bedroom. "You can't leave until I say you can."

Luna's gaze wavered between Night's intense eyes and her other means of staring at Luna. "Y-you aren't--"

"I am the First Wife. In this herd, I am Queen. Luna, go." She pointed at the bedroom with finality. "Go or leave. We don't have to be enemies, but you'll have proven that being under another just isn't for you."

Author's Note:

Well, that skewed off in a direction...

Is this a typo? I'm not even sure anymore.

Comments

[Morphy]

Well, that escalated quickly. [obligatory gif]

[Boulder]

OK did Silver slip into another dreamworld again?

[Daremo]

recently figure out - recently figured out

A ghosts went- As ghosts went

princessess' - princesses
*****

Oh.

Um.

Oh... wow.

This can't possibly be going where my mind is insisting I take it.

[Boulder]

7297399 ponythinktank.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/omg.jpg

[Bernkastel988]

Should not Silver be King then should not both join Luna in that bedroom? or all three of them

[David Silver]

7297564 Night is issuing a challenge quite strongly. If Luna rises to that, then they can consider who will share that bed.

Will Night succeed in scaring away Luna with finality, or will they go headfirst into a new dynamic?

[Bernkastel988]

7297585 I hope it goes well so they can go above petty stations and titles and just be family that loves each other all of them together

[Booster Spice]

Luna is having a very intensive treatment to try and bring her up to date with how things have changed in teh last thousand years, by taking the best bits, so reversing so much?

[Daremo]

Silver rose a hoof - Silver raised a hoof

him in a hug - him into a hug

her other mean - her other means

*****
Ok, I'm ready to be an adult and comment a little more maturely.

I would not have expected quite as much a domination play by Night Watch, but it was all set up when she got a taste of what it can be like thanks to Silver. In a way, he is directly responsible for this, due to the decisions he made earlier in the week. One might say that he opened this path.

Night altered in that way both subtle and obscene.

It's hardly obscene, though I'm sure there would be high-society unicorns that would disagree.

I trust Night Watch's character that she will do nothing demeaning to Luna, but will certainly make her point and test her mettle.

*****

Samantha tilted her head. "Why don't we use it? We could have unicorn magic and this. That would be better, wouldn't it?"

I imagine that the answer to this is that it would radically shift the balance of power, both in Equestria and the world at large. Celestia has done an amazing job of creating a mostly idyllic land for her little ponies to live and thrive, adding in another power element on a large scale would be... complicated and disruptive. The same would go for an industrial revolution.

He directed a hoof at Silver. "Did you put her up to this?"

Not directly, but his ascension did have a part in Night Watch deciding to walk this particular path.

[David Silver]

7298337 The next chapter could so easily be unfit for the rating this story has, hm. Typos shood out of the room.

Also, I'm lying, since I wrote the next chapter, muahahaha.

[Daremo]

7298414

This one escaped.

the princessess' herded - the princesses herded

[David Silver]

7298576 Oops, fixed.

[harts fire]

love the twist but now how will Luna react and I am super surprised at Night for this but she is first mare after all.

[tsaukpaetra]

Bold, tests abound recently!
Keep going! ;)

[Shachza]

As sudden and extreme as this confrontation seems - and decidedly half-baked, considering Luna's recent actions surrounding Samantha - I think it does one very good thing: Luna has to make this decision for herself, without Celestia's input. This isn't about the suggested path, or the "best" for all parties involved, it's just about Luna.

(But, man, I hope they can deal with Luna's extremes without anyone getting bitten in the butt.)

[lainverse]

I'm grinning madly right now.