Samantha returned home, without Moonbeam. He was a member of that school and having his first day of class. She couldn't help but smile at her victory. She was being a good mother figure, and her son would grow up to have all the opportunity to be what he wanted to be. Filled with positive energy, she bounced up the steps towards the castle, past the guards that would have ejected her once upon a time.
She saw Celestia moving along with a crowd of guards and raised a hoof. "Hello, future mother-in-law."
Celestia darkened faintly, her marriage plans far from public yet. That had to be remedied... "Samantha, how fare your new duties?"
"I have initiated several projects that should improve the lives of many ponies at once," reported Samantha with a smile. Everything she'd done lately was turning out quite well so far she could see. "They will take time to result in measurable consequences, but the ponies involved are already improved from working on them. It is a pleasure to have this position. My other new position also is turning out well."
"Oh?"
"My son is enrolled properly and is again attending school. I am very proud of him and look forward to seeing his academic progress." She nodded firmly as she spoke. "I don't know what he will pursue as an adult, but I will endeavor to be sure he is prepared to do so."
"That is a very mature stance for any parent to take." Celestia gave a gentle nod in kind. "That's what school is for." One of the guards whispered to her and Celestia nodded. "I have to be going. Samantha, please take care."
"Goodbye." Samantha dipped her head and moved on, smiling radiantly. Even her chat with Celestia went well.
She opened the door to their communal living suite and... something was off.
Night was there. She nodded towards Samantha. "Ah, there you are. Are you busy?"
"No." Samantha raised an ear, and her readiness. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't put a hoof on it.
"Would you like to speak to Nefertari?"
Samantha blinked. "Is she ready to apologize for her many infractions of the Golden Rule? I would like to discuss that." She turned right back towards the hall. "Let's go."
Night glanced towards her bedroom before following after Samantha. "Let's go."
They went across the hall, Nefer's room not that far away. Samantha reached the door first and knocked softly. "Nefertari? Can we speak?"
The door slid open, revealing the biped peering at Samantha curiously. "I would think you have very little to say to me."
"Why would that be?" Samantha tilted her head. "I liked having you as a friend. I would like to return to that, but you have violated the Golden Rule."
"Hmm?" Her eyes darted past Samantha to Night. "Was this your idea?"
"It was," admitted Night. "But I just said the idea, the rest is Samantha."
"Very well, what is this 'Golden Rule'?" she asked with a roll of a paw-like hand.
"Do to others as you would want them to do to you." She tilted her head. "You wouldn't want me to kidnap your parents, would you?"
"I should think not." Nefertari dropped into a squat, on Samantha's level. "Very well. I failed in that task, and it was one I should not have taken. Accept my apology."
"Accepted." Samantha came forward, smiling brightly. Could that day get any better?!
They met in a hug and Samantha hugged her renewed friend eagerly. "We have so much to catch up on," gushed Samantha.
Night rolled a hoof. "Nefertari, why was what you did wrong?"
Samantha blinked and turned back to Night. "It's not obvious?"
"I want it in her words." Night gestured with a flick of her head towards Nefertari.
Nefertari snorted softly. "If I wanted a spirit, or to test you, a spirit not quite so related to either of you would have been wiser." She got her spirit, and hurt neither of them. That was certainly better and less difficult. "Samantha, you forgive me, hmm?"
"I do," agreed Samantha. "You are NefNef again." She kissed her friend on the cheek and backed up a step. "NefNef, how are you? It's been a while."
Nefertari rose to her full height. "I shall call you Sammy."
Samantha's eyes went wide. She had been nicknamed. She began to giggle, overwhelmed with how well the day had gone. "I will proudly be your Sammy. Did you know I have a son now?"
"Do you now? You didn't even appear pregnant, though I have not been around ponies that long..."
Night shook her head with a wry smile. "She adopted a colt under our nose. They're getting along at least."
Samantha bobbed her head. "I'm doing the best I can to be a good mother. I'll bring him to meet you. You'll like him!" Not that she was any authority on who would like who, but why would her son not like one of her first friends?
Nefertari looked past Samantha to Night again. "Have you come to speak on our... last conversation?"
Night grimaced faintly. "I do need to talk to you, about that. May I come in?"
"With or without Sammy?"
Samantha blinked in confusion. "I thought all three of us were having a conversation."
Night clucked her tongue. "With Sammy, she's involved too, even if she doesn't know it."
All three retreated inside and Nefertari closed the door. "Very well, what do you wish to say?"
Night pointed at Nefer with a hoof. "Even if we accept you, I don't think you understand what you're getting into. We are a family, all of us. Even Celestia and Luna know this, and are ready to be part of that family. That means we all care about each other. If Celestia has a rough day, she can turn to Silver or I and vent and expect us to listen and care. If Luna wants a hug, she's getting a hug."
"I'd hug her," reported Samantha with a happy smile.
Nefertari gestured at herself. "And if I have a troubling day?"
"Then we'd want to hear about it, and to offer comfort. That's what a family does, because we love one another. If this is entirely for politics..."
Nefer sneered faintly. "Silver and Samantha would show me love just the way I am. Why would that change?"
Night flared her wings out a moment. "They are not the only members of this family. Celestia, Luna, and myself, are not ready to love anyone who doesn't really love us back. You don't love me. I'm not even sure if you tolerate me, currently."
"Why should I?" Nefertari raised a brow. "I served well as your teacher, and you threw that away when you were slighted. I did all that I was asked to do, and you are a fine shaman, as I doubt you will argue."
Samantha looked back and forth between the two as they discussed heavy things. "Night knows about spirit things, like you, NefNef. That gives you two something to talk about. I don't know much about them...."
Nefertari crooked a finger at Night. "The ball is in your court on this, night pony. It is not I who cast you out."
Night scowled softly. "You're the one that broke that bond!"
"Did I? I challenged you, and you met it. You succeeded over it and grew for it. Is that not what any teacher should hope from their student. I have apologized for making it too... personal, but you cannot argue the results."
Samantha flashed a bright smile at her renewed friend. "Are you joining the herd?"
"That would be the idea, Sammy. I would stay apart and out--"
"No." Samantha shook her head. "That would make you my mother-in-law as well. We would do many things together." Samantha clopped her hooves with building joy. "You should show me some interesting spirits and I could show you some reports I've written up and we could share lunch and talk about Moonbeam and--"
"Moonbeam?"
"That's the name of my son," explained Samantha patiently but excitedly. "We'll be a family!"
Night gestured at Samantha. "You can pretend you're just adding to your resume, but it's not that simple. Are you ready for this challenge, that can't be shouted at, beat up, or otherwise intimidated? Is this what you want?" She raised a brow. "If you want to back away from this, that's fine. I'm willing to let it go entirely. I'll even let our past... differences... go."
Silver slept. He knew this as fact. He was always aware of when sleep held him. Adrift on his wings across a great open gulf of nothing at all, he tried to cross the void that was the ocean, to see the dreams of those who lived across the world. The water, alas, was a buffering agent and slowed his trek the further he went, and he found himself snapped back to Equestria. He would visit no Anubians that day.
He heard soft flapping and turned to see Luna landing beside him. "Greetings. I expect my sojourns to be lonely, but here you are. Will you accompany me this evening?"
Silver blinked in surprise, but rose to his hooves. "I'd be glad to help, but you know I'm not tied to dreams, not like you."
"Talent and skill are two separate things." She wobbled a hoof. "You have chased me in this realm with enough skill that I would not question it. Come, we will see to the needs of the ponies of our kingdom, and perhaps talk."
Together, they chased away nightmares, and brought comfort and advice to ponies that needed it, but she also had words for him. "Are you truly happy?"
"Hmm?"
"About me, joining you. You clearly have some physical attraction... but is it mental? I can't... peek at your dreams and see."
Silver flushed faintly. He was a mystery to Luna, and he wondered if that didn't enhance his appeal to the mare of dreams. "Luna."
"Yes?"
"I'm looking forward to publicly welcoming you to my herd, to hugging you, both in public and private." His wings spread just to wrap around her as he nuzzled into her neck. "We both fought hard to reach this place. We both made mistakes, but we're here, and I couldn't be happier."
She quirked a faint smile. "You're holding back something."
He licked over his dreamed lips as he nodded. "There is another that wishes to join us."
"Oh? Are they a friend of yours perhaps?"
Silver thought back to all his pony friends, but they were not the issue. "Not quite. Nefertari, ambassador of the Anubians."
"That carries heavy political consequence. Turning her down or accepting, both could sway the tide of diplomacy with their people." She frowned faintly. "That would make her my herd-sister as well, would it not?"
"It would," admitted Silver, surprised that Luna was looking at it from that angle without many personal hangups about it. "Are you alright with it?"
"Should I not be?" Luna tilted her head. "If we hit it off, great, if not, I will avoid her, and she will do the same, but we will respect the institution we are part of. Being able to drag her people into the fold, to show them that peace is a fine way of dealing with things, that would be lovely... No, I won't stand in the way, if you wish to move ahead."
I don't wanna see NefNef in Silver's herd... Messing with way too many souls both alive & dead and mostly non-consent without even feeling bad about it and not even to serve some greater good...
Nice idea about the ocean buffering dream walkers like Luna from peeking readily into other countries. However, there are neighbors to Equestria that don't have an ocean, just distance over land. And what of dragons sleeping away centuries at a time? Do they dream at all or is it more like a suspended animation thing?
7411476 I never said she couldn't, or could, peek in on landlocked neighbors. Silver never tried. Ditto dragons.
If I were Silver, I'd be really damn edgy about going anywhere NEAR that ocean in dreams. I mean sure the Thing that Dreams might have been a metaphor but it also might not. He really should check with Luna about that...
Ok I like this chapter this was great
from
Hmm, guess Silver wanted to see if he could visit the dreams of those across the sea like Luna did in the dream reality. And it's interesting to see the other perspectives on Nefertari's potential as a future member of the herd.
It it a pleasure - It is a pleasure
Good bye. - Goodbye.
ambassador of the anubians - ambassador of the Anubians
otherwise intimidated. - otherwise intimidated?
without much personal - without many personal
*****
Interesting developments. If Nefertari is being honest then I think I'll reserve judgement for the time being. Getting a sense of her character is like trying to grasp at curls of smoke.
What an excellent chapter! This did a great job of showcasing that everyone is approaching the issue of the herd from different angles, and is bringing their own viewpoints to the fore in doing so. Unsurprisingly, the end result is a mess, which is eminently believable. In that regard, there are several points that I want to bring up.
First, things seem to be going well for Samantha. I'm trying not to be cynical about this, but I have to wonder if her recent string of successes are perhaps a bit too much. That is to say, she's beginning to epitomize the whole "pure intentions will solve the day, regardless of external issues" schtick. However, I'm uncertain how much this complaint can be leveraged against her, because Equestria is such an idyllic place to begin with, and its inhabitants really are all operating under the best of intentions...except for when we run into latent racism. Nevertheless, Samantha's utter lack of serious obstacles in the face of her "supremacy of the Golden Rule" attitude serves to minimize the issues that are driving her particular sub-plot. At some point, I'd like to see her run into an issue that can't be solved by simple pure-hearted innocence.
Insofar as Nefertari's apology to Samantha goes...Samantha accepted it, so I suppose that technically there's no need to harp on that, but that seems a bit too perfunctory. There's a fairly common understanding that simply asking to be forgiven isn't enough; you need to act in order to make restitution. In this case, I'm not sure what such an action would be - and it's not surprising that someone as canny as Nefertari wouldn't volunteer more than she had to - but I doubt that escaped her. One would think that a culture where resources are inherently scarce would place a premium on having to make a sacrifice (whether or items, servitude, or something else) in order to make things right.
I'm also rather surprised that Nefertari didn't laugh in Samantha's face when she told her what the Golden Rule was. That's because that particular maxim - designed to encourage reciprocal altruism - isn't one that's likely to be held in such high esteem in Anubian culture. After all, these are a people for whom their homeland is so barren in natural resources that they need to compete (with neighboring countries, and I suspect with each other at the clan-level as well) in order to survive. Treating others the way you'd want to be treated doesn't work when you have no expectation that the other person will also honor that particular commandment. Yes, it represents an ideal, and Equestria puts a premium on that ideal and naturally wants to export it, but that tends to run face-first into the reality that - so long as there is more demand than supply - competition, at least on some level, will be the order of the day.
As for Night Watch...
Night Watch seems to be utterly bound and determined to see being in the herd as a matter of emotional bonding only, without any consideration (other, perhaps, than disdain) for the political dimension that it brings with it. Because of that, she can stand there and arrogantly talk about joining as a matter of family rather than a matter of contractual give-and-take between rulers and plenipotentiaries for mutual benefit. I find this to be absolutely galling. She actually has the arrogance to dictate that joining the herd not only requires that any potential applicant be an object of romantic love for all existing members (which will naturally present an obstacle of ever-greater proportions for each new member...which might be what Night Watch wants, since that would self-limit the herd's size), but that they also express and receive that love in the manner that she dictates (e.g. being available to give comfort and support whenever it's asked for by any other member).
Even Samantha is guilty of this, since when Nefertari started talking about her vision for how she would conduct herself after joining, Samantha immediately cut her off and started telling her how their relationship would go. Does she not realize it's a Golden Rule violation to tell someone how you want their relationship to progress without taking their desires into account?
But returning the focus to Night Watch, I can understand where she's coming from. Really, I can. If there were no political aspect to this, then I'd find her attitude here much more sympathetic. After all, Nefertari is the one who wants a relationship with them, so it would seem to make sense that they'd get to dictate terms to her. But this isn't just about Night Watch and Silver, or even the other herd members, and Nefertari. All of their actions have repercussions on the world stage, and that has to be taken into account before they act. At this point, it's not wrong to say that Nefertari represents the entire nation of Anubians, and is asking to more closely cement their nation's ties with Equestria. This has huge ramifications, not just for Equestria but also for nearby regions such as Anugypt or Saddle Arabia. If we presume that the details we got from Silver's dream were accurate, then imagine how the Anugyptians or Saddle Arabians would take it when they find out that Equestria, their ally, had a chance to help end the conflicts they've had with the Anubians, and turned it down because of Night Watch's personal feelings? Not taking the politics into account here isn't romantic of Night Watch; it's narrow-minded.
I'm not even going to get into the rather insulting way that Night Watch framed her ultimatum as a challenge, mostly because of how incredibly petty that was of her. You can't say "I challenge you to modify your behavior and beliefs in accordance with what I want; are you brave enough to do so?" and expect that to be taken seriously. If you do, then that just means that you think so little of the other person that you honestly believe that they can be manipulated by phrasing everything as an affront to their bravery/honor. Imagine if that actually worked..."You don't want to take out the garbage? Well, I guess you're not up for that challenge. After all, that's a situation that can't be beaten up, shouted at, or intimidated...if you want to back away from taking the garbage out, that's fine."
Luna, at least, understands the bigger picture. She knows that this isn't a question of love in the first place...or at least, that questions of love take a back seat to the fact that each individual acts as a representative for a nation, at least in part (save for Night Watch, which I think is at least part of her problem). Her words to Silver in that regard were very wise, as she recognized that - for the arrangement they're participating in - demanding that everyone be happy together is going too far, and throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater insofar as the potential good they could do in the international community is concerned.
What we really need is for Luna (and/or Celestia), who has experience with politics, to go to Night Watch and talk some sense into her. Hopefully that will get the point across before Night Watch chases Nefertari away completely, and a chance to build closer bridges with the Anubians is gone forever.
7411521 Even Luna could only visit Silver, someone she knew and was a dream walker.
7411529 Typos munched, but I will say that she gave apology to Samantha because doing so was an easy fix, and she would rather an ally of Samantha if possible. She is so easy to manipulate...
7411578 Let her enjoy her rainbows while it lasts. It surely won't last forever, but she will savor them while they hang in the air.
We just noticed that Samantha's speech pattern is much more... assembled than everyone else. It's almost like she's only recently finished learning the language and all of her expressed thoughts have been clear and distinct boundaries. It's kinda cute!
Nefertari seems to be slowly starting to see the bigger picture, but I agree with Night a little in that there will need to be something more substantial than mere obligation holding that bond.
Keep going! ;)
7411578 Agreed on a majority there. Even on emotional value I found what Night did quite disgusting. At this point, I am not too positive of her actions. Despite the brief talk with Silver. INcluding where the supposed 'golden rule' would be concerned, which makes this somewhat ironic of a situation.
7411868 What I find really fascinating is how Night's character has evolved over the course of the story. Typically, characters start off relatively weak/flawed and then become better as things progress, which is how it's been for Silver.
Night Watch, by contrast, has gone in the opposite direction. She was initially the one who could be counted upon to keep a level head, serving as both an intellectual and emotional anchor for Silver and Fast Change; this got to the point where she was openly referred to as being the rock in their relationship.
But when the stakes got bigger, she started to change. We saw her grow uncomfortable with her own role in things not scaling in proportion with the larger and larger stages they found themselves on. While some of that turned out to be part of the dream world, it was absolutely true to what we've seen before and since. This has culminated in her sudden eruption of wanting to dominate and control those ponies around her, something no less ugly for the fact that it's borne out of the very best intentions. At this point, she's essentially struggling not to be eaten alive by her own insecurities.
While it's interesting to posit this as her simply reaching a stumbling block to overcome, either in personal capabilities or in self-esteem, I think it's interesting to consider that this might simply be an area where her personal talent is weakest. If everyone has places where they excel and where they stumble, Night Watch works best on a small scale, and flounders on a larger one; it's not a coincidence - at least to me - that she hasn't been predicting the odds nearly as much lately. It's harder to do that when there are so many more factors to deal with.
If I'm right, then I suspect that she knows on some level that she's out of her element, and is trying to compensate for that, but keeps having her efforts go sideways. Ultimately, I suspect that there's little she can do but make peace with the fact that she's a bit player surrounded by movers and shakers, and that that's okay, because it doesn't impact the small-scale areas that she values the most (e.g. her relationship with Silver and her foals, her abilities as a guard, etc.).
Does NefNef actually mean what she says, or is she such a consumate innate ambasadorial diplomat that she has not only forgotton what truth and help is, but the behaviour is painful to her through being so different?
She can deal with Samantha as a well meaning pet animal.
Nights looking it because her prediction ability, easy in small groups, is so far into the chaos region that Discord is dancing through her head.
Wonder what sorts of rumors are passing through the barracks and Noobs now?
a good chapter and I see so much political maneuvering in the background I am not sure this is going to work out with bringing Nefertari in to the fold.
i don't know how to fix this bit i know that is improper grammar.
same here.
That sentence needs some rearranging.
or
7416107 Fixed!
7411503
Oh yeah, that thing.
Nefertari, why was what you did wrong?
I never thought of this before but when I read Samantha's words I hear the voice of Android from Dark Matter ... They are eerily alike ...
Silver really is shaping up to be the alicorn of family.
oops misscorrected before
You forgot quotations thee
11762318
Years later, a typo dies.