The sun rose across them, and they stirred. Night squinted across the room, but Silver could see what she looked at. Luna was still there, perched like a sphinx, watching over them. Silver tilted his head at Luna. "Thank you, for last night. I was being foalish. You can go to sleep now. You didn't have to wait here."
Luna shook her head and spread her wings, "You are lucid, good. You have invoked a law, a rare law that few across this world would disagree with, diplomat or not." She rose to her slender hooves, "You threw aside your life. It is only through my action that you yet live. You are broken, as you may tire of my saying, but this time, it is very official. Since you have discarded your life, it is mine, until such time that I believe you have the strength to hold dearly to the gift given you."
Night scrambled backwards, falling from the bed before she got back to her hooves quickly, "He did what?" She peered in Silver's direction, "You did what? Why? We still had each other."
Silver's ears fell as his betrayal was brought to light. "I'm sorry... I was being stupid. I don't want to discard anything more."
Luna shook her head, "You say that, but you did not change from a night's rest. I hereby strip your title and possessions. You are too sick to have either." She struck a hoof on the ground, "You are mine, come."
Night threw herself over Silver, moving quite quickly back onto the bed, "You can't have him! He's my broken stallion!"
Luna looked at Night levelly for a moment before she nodded, "Come then. I will have you both. You were once mine before."
Night nodded hesitantly, and soon had Silver up on her back. Silver shook his head numbly, "But... I'm fixed. I don't want to go anymore." He squeezed Night with his legs, "I just want to live, with my wife. My perfect wife."
Luna turned away, "It was a mistake to think to separate you two, and an unkindness to Night Watch, who has done little wrong." She strode away, and Night followed. "We should speak with my sister, lest I be invoking laws overturned. I will not make such a mistake twice."
Night whispered back to Silver, "You are... I don't even know. We have a future ahead of us, how could you think of throwing that away?"
Silver flinched atop her, "Please, I... I'm sorry. I want you. I want our foal. I want to live, and love."
They arrived in the dining hall. Celestia was taking breakfast, but looked up as Luna entered with Night and Silver.
Celestia looked them over, "Sister, you're heavy with something dark, and those behind you look worse."
Luna gestured back with a wing widely, "Our diplomat has thrown himself off the roof, casting his life away. He made no effort to save himself, and it appeared of his own volition. He confessed his feelings to us."
Celestia's expression soured with confusion and a little shock, but Luna continued, "His life is mine, by right of picking up what he has thrown aside. Is this law still in effect?"
Celestia looked to Silver directly, "Come here."
Night set Silver down, and he walked up to her shamefully. She brought down a white wing, striking him across the top of the head, "Life is too short and precious. Lives already pass far too quickly."
Silver brought a hoof to his sore head, "I know that! I'm better now."
Celestia shook her head, "It's far too late to declare yourself cured. The law was never overturned. Silver belongs to Luna, until she decides he is ready to live." She took a deep breath, "You are unfit to remain diplomat. Normally, I would send word to your people, but that is not possible. I blame myself. I should have seen the sorrow you held when you sat just beside us last night. I knew you were upset, but not the depth."
Luna gestured at Night, "I would claim her as well, to keep them together. Their love is true, as true as it can be. It would only hurt them both to be apart."
Night nodded quickly at this, "This stupid stallion is still mine. Just because he gave up doesn't mean I did."
Silver's ears flipped back, "I'm not giving up! It... was a moment. I'm over it. Can't we just move on?"
Luna shook her head, "Nay. Come."
Celestia took a soft sip of her tea, "Be gentle with them, dear sister. They need love, not scorn."
Luna lowered her wings, brushing over both ponies with her primaries, "Then this is good. I have love to give, even to 'stupid stallions'."
There was a rush of teleportation magic, and they were in Luna's chambers. Luna strode to her cushions and sprawled out on them. "I tire. It has been a long night. Come, rest with me." Soon both had curled up in front of her, and she wrapped hooves and wings about them, cradling them into her warmth, "We will make a new family."
Silver perked an ear, "What do you mean?"
Luna smiled, "If you are no longer diplomat, and you are mine, I can take you as I wish, and her as well."
Night perked her ears, then shivered, "You're going to take over, aren't you?"
Luna bit Night's ears softly, "Enough competition. Let us be a herd of equals, all mares side by side, equal in their superiority over their foalish husband."
Night flicked her ears back, "But... no? You are royalty! How can I stand beside you? Even if you bow to my word in private, the scandal and confusion in public would be overwhelming."
Luna bared her teeth, "I care little for politics, but we will not stand as such where others can see. We will be bonded in private, as creatures of the night should."
Silver rolled to his belly, "I'm not a creature of the night."
Luna looked at him pointedly, "I will fix that." Her eyes turned to Night Watch, "But I will have agreement. I will not override you now, not as I speak of unity. Let us share our love for him, with all his breaks. The public need never know."
Night flushed gently. To have the all-mother as a lover was a dirty dream, a taboo fantasy, yet, there it was, just... offered up. "I..." She frowned in thought. What would it mean to be secret herd mates? Could Luna be trusted to remain as equals, and could she trust herself to not bow before her whims as she felt the urge to do even then. She scuffed the ground. Being the rock was hard. Casting caution to the wind, she decided, "I agree."
Silver pinned his ears back, uncertain and a little frightened. "Night, that didn't sound like you. You're the center, my rock."
Night shoved him suddenly, "What if I'm tired of being a rock? I want to be loved fiercely. I want to not always be the one decisions hang on. I don't want to be the 'mature one' forever. Luna can be the mature one for a moment. Shut up and kiss me." She tackled him to the ground and they began to kiss. Despite the turmoil within him, her presence, her scent, and her passion woke up deeper parts within him, and he kissed her back, and hugged, and did a little more than that, until they fell asleep beside Luna.
He had thrown away his life, and Luna caught it. Now would begin a new chapter, written by her hooves.
Silver truly is broken and no matter how much he denies it, he still is broken....
5784969 But will Luna have the balm for what's broken?
5784983 Depend on what you have instore for him...you are de godz of dat world.
You know, I am usually pretty ambivalent on Luna's actions in this story. They're usually one part sweet one part bad idea one part arrogant.
This, I don't think, is the latter two. Claiming them as her property seems like it would normally be a bad idea (and arrogant to boot) but it doesn't seem like she's doing it because she feels she is entitled to owning Silver or because she is trying to hide her emotions behind a facade of arrogance, but out of genuine concern for his well-being. Similarly, she even accepts Night Watch as an equal (in the relationship, at least) and rejects the concept that society would reject this relationship.
It is a little... odd, though, that she would apparently say this after the trouble that I suspected Luna had with not being the one in charge of the relationship. I suppose that could be chalked up to character development, or Luna deciding that because previous attempts at a harmonious relationship, healthy for all, failed, she would try something new.
Silly pony, everyone human or otherwise is nothing but a doll of porcelain or glass, perfect and whole only when kept apart and on its shelf where it may smile in lonely stasis and ignorant of it's neighbors. Life takes us -- these little perfect dolls of such similar features and forms -- and brings them together. Soft taps clink, hard meetings crack, and sometimes we shatter or break, leaving behind a shell that can at best be ground away and patched to be made to look like it may be whole, if one does not look too close.
To live is to be broken and patched, and for us to be known for our cracks and imperfections. We are all broken, because we are all meant to be.
5784999 Her decision to keep it all secret also plays a part. There is no shame to be had, publically, if it never becomes public. The extent of Silver's quirks has reached the level where he is not just curious, but severely troubling, and yet she would not wish to see his fragile life ended so soon. She will take the matter into her own hooves, perhaps as she should have from the start.
5785001 A very fitting bit of imagery there. Did you make it up yourself?
5784983 I think not. Luna has mostly been part of the problem so far, not part of the solution. She did catch him, and kudos for that, but her meddling and toying with him is partially to blame for his tumultuous mental state.
5785016 Oh but how she will try. She will work so hard until she can get this right. Surely she deserves a big E for Effort.
5785013 I did indeed! It occurred to me last night when I was falling asleep but I didn't have the energy to write it down. It was originally much longer but I can't remember it all.
Still "I want", and still making things worse for Night Watch. Silver isn't the only person to suffer the consequences of his actions. Now, regardless of what Luna says, Night gets to play second fiddle, which she was worried about from the start.
5785020 Yes...but E isn't a passing grade.
5785016
Hm... I hadn't considered that Luna, despite her good intentions, still might hurt more than help. I still think this is a significantly better idea than grabbing his memories, or giving a part of herself to him before she sufficiently examined his memories to determine whether or not that person would actually be able to stay, given Tirek's impending attack...
the last 4 or was it 5 chapters have so much to think about. I just need time to think.
so much going on good and bad broken spirit's and the worst pan of all broken harts yes even night is going to need help with all this.
will Luna be strong enough to help, this her little herd, will love be strong enough, so much to think about.
Harts Fire is going to reread the last several chapters before he goes farther with this story.
5785054
5785016 If enough magic and love is piled on the problem, it will be cured! That is how this works.
I wonder if "the opener of ways" opened the immortality path anyway... or if it was already open!
5785125 Most paths to that are guarded by very stern-faced readers, who start growling any time I look in that direction.
5785128 It's not like its imposible to write immortality well, I've read some really good ones! In stuff that isn"t fanfiction, Goku from DBZ is basically immortal, right? People like Dragon Ball Z!
5785152 Heh, I think those might be fighting words to many. I don't think DBZ is what I aspire to when I think of writing well.
It's an unkindness "to" Night Watch.
"Allmother" should almost certainly be hyphenated.
...and that's about it, or at least all that I can find on a casual review.
5785353 On the road, will slay typos ASAP.
Well, it was fun while it lasted. This chapter showed us the practical after-effects of Silver's unsuccessful suicide attempt - that being that everything he's accumulated for himself, notwithstanding Luna and Night, have been stripped from him. It's a shame...I did so enjoy the political shenanigans.
It's not too hard to see that this makes things tabula rasa for the next story, but it does make some degree of sense. Silver is clearly buckling under the pressure of his life in Equestria, so it's understandable that some things need to be taken off of his plate. If you can't stand up to the pressure of making decisions, then decisions will be made for you. Hence why Luna is saying that she and Night will be equal in their superiority over their now-shared husband.
However, this does make Silver seem to be a somewhat-pitiful character, which makes it harder for me to empathize with him. If you can't handle anything more than a token amount of responsibility - and that's basically what Luna declared - then you don't deserve anything more than a token amount of respect. While it's clear that Luna and Night love him dearly, and he them, I wonder if they'll have a hard time respecting him - or him learning to respect himself - when he's basically been declared to no longer be competent enough to function on his own. It's rather ironic that, since he won't be able to own property or make binding legal transactions on his own, that Silver will be in much the same state as married women were a hundred years ago in this country.
Of course, that's a private matter - only Silver, Night, Celestia, and Luna know of it - but I have to wonder just how much this is going to stay private. Luna alluded to the fact that she's going to publicly take both Silver and Night as lovers, which will presumably be in the usual way that she and Celestia usually take consorts, and while I'd guess that this would normally cause some eyebrows to be raised among the nobility, with Silver having just successfully negotiated peace with the changelings, I imagine he's gained enough status for this to not cause any scandals.
Of course, Luna's announcement that Silver will be a creature of the night makes me wonder if she's going to go ahead and terminate her own pregnancy in order to use their unborn child as a catalyst to turn Silver into a "lunar unicorn." What that does to him is anyone's guess, but since it'd involve using their child to essentially remake him, one is given to wonder about how awkward that'd be if he becomes her genetic child (though Night, as a distant descendant, seems to be rather turned on by the thought of doing it with her ancestor).
Still, this does strike a balance between wiping away the baggage of previous events without completely eradicating everything that we, the audience, have grown invested in up until now. So I suppose we can look forward to seeing Silver's future misadventures; hopefully he'll start building himself up now.
Good lord... this story seems to have devolved into nothing more than your personal torture-porn story. I was hoping that Silver's improved personality from Tirek's horn would stay, but instead you've just downgraded him back to whipping-boy status. I'm going to keep my favorite for the time being, but if Silver doesn't actually improve in any way, I'm going to leave and not look back.
5785353 Fixed!
I really hope this isn't turning into Princess Luna's Suicide Solutions.
5786914 Never read it, and the story's over! Check out the sequel, already released.
5806787 What do you mean? I was just approving of that idea.
5806816 I meant it's a bit late for Silver to join the 'to never have' camp.
5806835 Oooohhhh. A wasted opportunity.
A moment if thee can spare it. Thine character needs, as This One has heard it, 'a spinal transplant.' From the beginning This One has read Thine story with the belief that thy would change thine character. Twould aggrieve This One most harshly, should thine character exhibit no growth (as like the supposed age being mature but the character displaying a shockingly immature mindset). This One only means that This One can not find more than an ounce of being in which there is a connection with Thine character.
There was a section This One felt very insulted. If curious This One will explain some of what that means to those deemed fit to know.
Before This One reads on there is a much needed reassurance that there will be a change in thine characters 'choice of action' for so pathetic a cause.
5919493 Silver shall suffer many slings and arrows, and walk a very twisted path, but slowly shall they find their place in things.I couldn't say too much more without spoilers, but, yes, Silver gets into a lot of trouble, much of it stemming from a core self-esteem/confidence issue that works its way, sometimes subtly, sometimes very not, into decisions.
Ok just finished this story moving onto the next which shouldn't be to long last time i checked...
*checks story*
Come on!! Curse my reading skills!!
5964749 You can do it!
6225754 I hope somewhere down the line we get to see what happened to Tumble and that one bitch who nearly raped him.
6316274
By himself or perfect for the song?
Why didn't you put a link to the next story in this chapter?
6319864 The next chapter didn't exist at the time? Also Fimfic links to it.
6319938
welp, it's 3 am, and I just finished plowing through these amazing stories. Done for now. Cheers for the amazing stories, David Silver.
6395028 This isn't the last in the series, did you get them all?
6395045 It was 3am, gonna read the rest now that I can stay awake.
6395916 You can do it!
6559134 it was come little children
6574549
That does not logically follow. They would have to deliberately change their stomach, which would be stupid, since there would be no food. The changes are depicted as depending on the changer's understanding of the target form, implying that an herbivore who changed into a wolf would still be an herbivore.
There aren't any griffons. That was my point when I said "unicorn-only school."
6574689 Proving your understanding is sufficient to get a different digestive system sounds pretry legit. Would also make for more 'complete' forms, instead of wolves with grinding teeth and herbivore system.
6574695 Turning yourself into a meat-eater would be like imagining what vision was like if you were born blind; there would be no reference point. Beside that, there would be no conceivable benefit for someone in a pony nation to learn to eat meat. Sharp, biting teeth do not require eating meat, so the only effect of being a carnivore would be difficulty finding food and social ostracism.
My question isn't how could it be done, but rather, why would anyone ever do that? Let alone plan ahead for someone else doing it.
6574736 Greater understanding. You far undervalue complete knowledge. Not practical? Griffons and presumably other intelligent not-herbivores.
6574736 thinking on it, I also think you undervalue unicorn egos. They are very proud creatures, mages especially. Doing something to prove they can is not beyond them.
6574771
The occasional obsessive scientist is not worth serving meat in the cafeteria on a daily basis. That would not be justified unless there were several people who ate meat for every meal for the whole school year.
You said it's a unicorn school; there aren't any non-herbivores.
6574864
That's racist
Didn't we already have this discussion when you published that chapter?
You flip-flop the direction this story is taking far too often...
6608680 You mean 'bad things keep happening to this character', then yes. The theme of this story has never wavered.
What will happen next? Will he begin to face his basic faults? Will he find happiness, even fleeting?