204 - Best of Both Worlds
They retired, and Silver settled beside a re-bitted Night. He waited patiently for Night to slip into sleep before his horn glowed, gently feeling over the network of his partner. Was this entirely an awakening of the mind, or did he mess things up? He gently plucked and pulled, testing the threads that made up Night's network, but everything... seemed in order. Night was a perfectly healthy mare, with stallion parts. Parts she liked, and planned to use on Silver.
That wasn't, by itself, the problem. The change in personality... The fact that she seemed to value his opinion so much less. The fact that she wanted more and more and... It was his fault. He encouraged her to feel out Luna. He...
Silver clenched his teeth. It was easy to blame himself. People change. Did he want Night to remain the same forever? No! Not... quite like this, of course. Where was his gentle geeky mate? Where was the mother of his foals, who now wanted to be a father, of as many mares would submit to her. Silver didn't like it, and hated himself for not liking it. Who was he to tell Night how to feel and act? She wasn't... broken, she just disagreed.
Sure, she could snap a pony in half if she had to, but she didn't want to. She was a good guard, and a great mother, and his wife... But no she wasn't. She wasn't his wife, not in the traditional sense. She was his First Wife... And she didn't want to be anymore. She had said so. Her admission of wanting him to be her first wife was as much a divorce as anything else.
Hot and angry tears stung at his eyes. He would marry her alone, forever, but she didn't want that. The fury that seethed at the very idea... He just wasn't enough for her, not anymore. Was he ever? Was... that part of the reason she accepted being part of a herd so easily?
Why had he? Why had he accepted being in a herd? Wasn't he just as guilty... In a fashion... He accepted it because he thought he was never enough for one person, any person, to find happiness with. He did it out of fear and self-deprecation. If he was just part of a family, then his failing could be missed.
Silver moved to slip from the bed, but Night dragged him back with a sleepy murmur. He was trapped. Trapped with what Night had become. Would he insist she change again, to accept him and him alone? Would he send her away? What of the foals?
He thought of Clear Twilight and Morning Glory and his heart lurched. Unless something dramatic happened, they would be foals from a broken family. Shattered... and it would be their father's fault. Silver shut his eyes and shivered faintly. He could do as Night wanted. Flip the entire thing the bird, let her be in charge, and just be part of her herd.
He saw where that led...
He would become the very thing they hated in his dream. He would be the moral decay they feared, displayed 'proudly' for all to see. Is that really how the first prince of Equestria would be? Perhaps it would be better if Equestria had no princes at all. At least princesses did not allow themselves to fall into such situations...
He was dreaming. He hadn't planned to fall asleep, not yet, but there he was.
His door opened and Luna entered. "Is now a bad time?"
She sounded worried. Silver conjured a mirror to look at himself and he was a mess to see. Red eyes from which tears flowed eagerly. "N-no, please." He patted his bed gently. "Come in."
She moved to join him, sitting gently. "You... Do you wish to talk about it?"
Silver wiped his tears with a fetlock as he took a shuddering breath. "Just reviewing my choices, present and past. What brings you here?"
"I... It's of little import now." She raised a brow. "You will be crowned soon."
"Right."
"You don't sound eager." She leaned forward. "Do you plan to run away?"
"No." He frowned at the idea. "I've done enough running..." He glanced up at Luna. "Did you ever take a husband or a wife?"
Luna blinked softly. "Not as such, no..."
"Would you take Night?"
Luna blinked with surprise. "A marriage between pr--"
"As her mare, her the stallion, me not involved."
Luna's wings spread partially. "That's a curious question to ask..." Then it clicked. "Has she decided to control the herd?"
"Basically." Silver hopped down to the floor. "If it was just us, us and nobody else, maybe I wouldn't care... But I'm far from alone."
"Yes?"
"I have a whole kingdom watching me, and how I behave." He quirked a little smile. "Heaven forfend another prince should come along and have to deal with a mess I leave... I want to do right by Equestria." He rose up, balancing his hooves on the back of his human chair. "You took me in when you had no reason to. I was just a lost alien who had no right to be there."
"You're being dramatic." She raised a brow lightly. "Besides, you have long since left that awkward stage."
"Regardless... Luna, what do I do about them?"
"Them?"
A soft coo was heard as two foals appeared from nowhere, dream figments of Clear and Morning. "Them. My foals... I want my children to be safe and happy. What parent doesn't? Fuck!" His exclamation confused even him. "Here I am thinking about her like she's already gone. She deserves more than that." He thrust a hoof at Luna. "You got more chances than this."
Luna flinched as he spoke. "Be that as it may..."
"No! It's true... I should... talk to her. That would be the responsible thing to do." He fell to all fours. "One fight isn't nearly enough to even be considering this."
He awoke. By the light, he could see it was morning already. Night was in the shower, or was that Samantha?
Silver slid to mildly-shaking hooves. He had to talk... He went off to the nursery to confirm the foals were there and safe and let out a little breath when he saw them. That was one part of his family he could be sure was safe. Spotted.
Morning waved a hoof at him silently for attention and Silver gently hefted him up with magic for nuzzles and a bottle. "I'll do my best," he whispered as he put the foal down and returned to the bedroom. Night and Samantha were there. He hadn't heard the door to the hallway open, so... "Were you together?"
Samantha nodded. "Night insisted on testing the effects of water on the breeding process." A notebook appeared beside Samantha, slick and seemingly covered in plastic or some other similar thing. "I took a lot of notes."
Silver drew a soft breath. "Night?"
"Hmm?" She was brushing her mane with motions of her wing. "What? Good morning, by the way. Sorry I yelled at you last night."
"I... that's okay." He'd forgive that, but... "Night, you're pressing too hard."
"Hard?" She raised a brow. "I'm not even pushing. If you don't want to be like that, that's fine. We have our limits."
"You're not being yourself." Silver rose to his hooves. "Would Night Watch ever lie?"
"If I had to," She replied. "What are you getting at?"
"To a herd member?"
Night blinked. "What? Of course not."
Samantha tilted her head. "Did Night break the Golden Rule?"
Silver smiled at Samantha. "Sam... When you were first with her, what were you doing?"
"First with her?"
"Breeding."
Samantha's eyes widened faintly. "Oh! Well, that experiment in female to female breeding was quite fascinating. Did you want to see the notes?"
He glanced towards Night. "Night, what did you learn from it?"
She blinked softly. "What are you getting at? I was just coming onto her."
"Pardon?" Samantha tilted her head faintly. "What do you mean?"
"Samantha." Silver drew a slow breath. "Would you have bred with Night for non-scientific reasons?"
Samantha looked lost at the idea. "Well, no. You're my stallion. Any foal I produce should be yours in accordance to the social contract we agreed to. As your mare, I am duty bound to bear foals for no one else." She pointed a hoof at herself. "Even I know that! Is this a test? Did I pass?"
Night scowled softly. "What did we do then?"
"A scientific experiment, of course." Samantha nodded with confidence. "Did you want to see--"
"--I don't need to see the notes!" cut in Night. "I thought... aren't you attracted to me?"
Samantha tilted her head with confusion. "You are a fine female specimen, if that's what you mean?"
Silver put a hoof between them. "Samantha... Look, Night, she has her own way of thinking, you know that."
"Did I fail the test?" Samantha's ears wilted and she shrank, getting the idea that she had fouled up somehow. "Please tell me what I did wrong..."
Silver felt the urge to comfort Samantha, but it wasn't the time. "Samantha, Night and I have to talk, alone, and with your trackers turned off and not recording."
Sulking, she did leave them.
Night glared at Silver. "This is about her, isn't it? You can't take a mare that actually looks you in the eye."
"What?"
"You want a mare that won't challenge you." She rose to her hooves, legs shaking. "Well, fine!"
Silver took a step towards her. "I know you're angry right now, but please don't do this."
"Don't... do what?"
Silver's ears went back on their own. What did he say? Did he say leave? That sounded lame in his ears. "We can work it out, together, like--"
"No." She pushed past him abruptly. "I'll tell Fast Change you don't care about her anymore." She looked over her shoulder. "Well, go ahead, take it back if you want to."
Her words were harsh, but they were both shaking. Neither of them wanted this. Silver glanced around in a panic. "I'm not trying to bribe you. If that makes you happy, fi--"
"I'd be happy if you didn't turn around on me!"
"You're the one turning on me!"
"I don't understand you anymore." Night stomped a hoof angrily and moved for the door.
She bore her sharp teeth and left. The door slammed behind her and both foals cried out at the noise. Silver let his head hang and moved to placate them, but there would be nobody around to placate the feeling in his heart.
Stats
Page generated in 0.047 seconds
Total duration
1,023 users online
1,433,467 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I hope Luna didn't come into that dream to say that she choose night wing instead of Silver but that's just me
I think I can see two ways myself this can go, assumng the authour has a coherent tird, fourth etc.
Night has changed so fast because Tantabus/Nightmare has reinfested.
The second I could probably write down in a mix of code and diagramtical hardware but I cant describe it except as a severe conflict of intrests socially and neurologically.
Umm...I'm not sure how to proceed with this one since it felt disjointed.
Well, there goes my theory of Silver's spell having side effects though I can't recall if the 'threads' refer to physical balance as well or it's just shows magical balance alone.
I'm not sure what this is trying to communicate; something feels like it's missing. I sense a typo, but I can't quite find it.
mirror took at himself - mirror to look at himself
prince should along and - prince should come/happen along and
when we saw them - when he saw them
panick - panic
*****
Good chapter, sad feelings.
Things have certainly escalated quickly. Night Watch wanted power to match Silver's and learned shamanism. Silver showed her some of what it feels like to be a stallion and now she can have that whenever she wants. Despite having everything she desires and more, Night Watch is still dissatisfied with the situation for some reason.
It would be easy to blame the hormonal imbalance of testosterone on her thoughts and desires, too easy; I suspect and fear that there are no easy answers in store for Silver and Night here.
Her jab about Fast Change feels important. Why even bring her up? Why declare that he doesn't care for her anymore because he wants only Night?
But, perhaps this is an all too human a way to consider the situation. Perhaps, it's simpler than it seems. If Night wants control of the herd, then she needs to challenge Silver for it physically. If Silver wants to be the stallion then he must, within reason, step up to that challenge and be the stallion, or he must concede and submit, and leave the herd. Being stallion to the herd doesn't have to mean total domination, but it does require that he step up into the role of leader, a role he is clearly uncomfortable with.
I know that conflict is important to a good story, and this has been a fantastic story in all senses of the word, but... fuck.
7318516
Don't feel bad, I was hoping it was something as simple as a messed up aetheric net, too.
7318547 Typos of the grammatical sort fixed, but there are still so many...
Wouldn't it be nice if we could always blame arguments on magic?
7318553 As David once said about Silver's story: 'Nothing is ever simple' and if I recall correctly, it was followed by this
That sex organ augmentation spell needs dropping down a deep dark hole & burying forever. I'm sure Night is conflicted with male & female emotions all at once confusing the hell out of her. Maybe Luna needs to step into her dreams a little more often when Night isn't extra endowed & try and sort out the mess.
7318586 Night's issues are much larger than any one spell.
7318606 Wouldn't be a shaman thing would it (don't reply if I'm spoiling it)?
7318662 Read back over her actions, long before now. Searching for the ONE stone that made this road is a fool's errand.
The problem seem to bee that night always wanted to lead but beeing a mare she was stuck following. And then silver walks in, he doesent want to lead he wants a partner, Someone to stand beside him not beehind.
2 different ways of thinking that has to do with 2 different cultures look upon family and marriage
7318667 Ooh I liked that one, deep & meaningfuls.
I'm going to stop guessing & keep reading, more fun that way. Trying to follow her emotions is like an Indian cricket commentator said on a game here in Oz once "He is being hitting the balls all over the field, they have been going left, right and di-agony-aly" (must be read out loud in Kwik-e-mart Apu voice for best effect)
Night poor Night. Why so insecure?
Keep going! ;)
They're ponies. That can have a very different meaning.
Gee, the one who runs the odds said "this is wrong" and you didn't stop and reverse course immediately.
Stop being delusional. The first part of this quote obviously contradicts the second. And also stop sitcomming, and take the advice you give everyone else, and actually talk about your problems. (Oh good, he does.)
I am suddenly reminded that canon Twilight was okay with mindrape.
were
she
this is a sad chapter for me as I have watch a few copal's fall apart in the past for no reason and a few stay to gather when that should have not.
divorce sucks but I can say at times it is truly needed.
The moment Silver can step up and be the leader of his herd is the moment he becomes ready for being a leader of a nation.
Well damn. Outside threats are always a nuisance with this family, but this? That said, you could argue that this is really Celestia's fault. She's the one who instructed him to take the ridiculously dangerous gamble of letting a crazy pony mess with time which resulted in his ascension. Silver would be fine with Night's choice if only he weren't a prince expected to hold to a standard.