Luna watched Silver patiently. Silver looked back at her. She was regal, tall, proud... Silver felt the familiar stirrings of sympathy. "I want you to be happy."
Luna tilted her head. "I was happy. You did your part."
Silver pointed at Luna. "You were right, before, that I had a lot of agony in my life, but that doesn't change yours. You chose to peer into my soul. You chose to fight for me, in a variety of ways, often without my asking. You chose to let Celestia have her way. Well, she did, and now I'm a mare... A happily-married mare, with a family... I... think I love you, Luna, but I can't hurt them."
Luna reached with her wings, drawing Silver closer. "What if I could make you stallion once more?"
Silver tilted her head, "There is a foal in me, that I have learned to love. I won't risk it."
Luna turned Silver over, who offered no resistance. Soon Luna was rubbing her undercarriage and across her belly. "I heard of your battle in the north, defending the Crystal Empire... You are a true warrior."
Silver closed her eyes, enjoying the petting as she nodded. "I did what I had to... to protect ponies around me."
Luna perked an ear. "That is exactly what a true warrior does." She gently poked the forming foal. "Are you happy as a mother?"
Silver sighed gently. "I think I am?" She opened her eyes and looked at Luna. "This is better, for us."
Luna tilted her head. "For us?"
Silver smiled and held Luna's hoof in two of her own. "Talking... You don't need to read me like a book, when you can talk, as a friend, and... more."
Luna frowned. "Don't tease me! You just said you were loyal to your herd, which does not include me..."
Silver pulled at the hoof she held. "You asked me to see you as a mother. Did you mean that, or were you playing with me?"
Luna clenched her teeth, tail lashing as she delayed in responding. Silver nodded a little. "I know that feeling. You want more, but you're afraid to let go of what's offered."
Luna pulled her hoof back, slipping it out of Silver's grip. "I want you, entirely, as my own."
Silver rolled up onto her belly. "That ship has sailed. I belong to my herd. If you hurt them, I would never forgive you." Silver rose to her hooves.
Luna tilted her head. "Are you leaving?"
Silver advanced on Luna instead, nudging her over. She lacked the strength to force Luna, but Luna went along with it, peering at Silver curiously. Silver nuzzled at Luna's underside until she found what she was looking for. "Will you watch over me? You can have me, in a fashion, but not as it once was."
Luna began to voice objection, but was cut off when Silver attached to her like an overgrown foal. She settled limply and they were silent together for several minutes of companionable quiet. "This is hardly an answer," spoke Luna at last. "But it will do... Do you still love me?"
Silver sat up on her haunches. "As a foal. I want you to be happy, and I love you, but we aren't mates."
Luna nodded slowly as she sat up. "Very well... As your mother, I bid you to return once a moon. We will share stories, and be together."
Silver smiled gently. "That I can manage, gladly. I really do like you, Luna. I don't want to... drift apart more than we already have."
Luna kissed Silver, on the lips. The passion was a bit much for 'motherly', but Silver let it slide. "I should see what Celestia wants. Please, be well. I want to hear about other friends you make beside myself."
Luna's expression went bitter swiftly, and she waved Silver off. "I would still like to see you, all of you. Perhaps another time."
Silver emerged from Luna's quarters and found her way back towards the Day Court. On the way, a guard stopped her. "Celestia wishes to see you. Follow me." Silver followed without objection, finding herself in a small room with a single table and a few cushions for seats. Silver placed herself on one and curled comfortably to wait.
Celestia arrived as Silver began to nod off. Silver didn't know Celestia was there until a hoof patted over her smoothed mane. "I see you've started minding your appearance."
Silver jerked upright, sitting up to face Celestia. Celestia smiled gently. "You look better for it. Do you still miss your masculinity?"
Silver's expression darkened. "That's... just an unkind thing to start with."
Celestia nodded and reached out, petting Silver's mane. "It was, my apologies. You are adapting well to life, and I find myself proud to call you one of my little ponies."
The mere presence of the sun princess made Silver feel somehow relaxed and sleepy. Like Luna, Celestia felt like a mother or grandmother she could curl up in the presence in, if not for... "Don't you feel guilty at all? You stole a huge part of me, then you insist I thank you for it. I was not an unhappy male, or a violent one... You have to know that."
"Are you angry?"
Silver searched for that answer, pawing at her cushion with her hooves. "I'm pretty awful at holding grudges... I've adapted, as you said, but that doesn't make it... right. How can I trust you when you trust me so little that you'd rip pieces of me away?"
Celestia leaned in, nose-to-nose. "You frighten me, little pony. Seeing you swell with life, and surrounding yourself with loving ponies, this puts me at ease. Have you been kind to Twilight?"
Silver tilted her head. "I love her. I think she loves me. We... understand each other. We've both been changed." Silver rose a brow. "Come to think of it, we've both been changed at your hooves. Do you ever regret changing her either?"
Celestia shook her head. "It was her destiny, and she is better for it. Why should I regret that?"
Silver sank a little. "She hides her sadness behind her neurotic behavior, but she was hurt. You never warned her, just foisted it on her, as if it were the natural state of things."
"It was." Celestia rose to her full height. "It may yet be your destiny as well."
Silver's guts clenched as she shrank back from Celestia. "I'm so very much not princess material... There are other, more worthy, ponies."
Celestia nudged Silver over with a gold-shod hoof. "It was no coincidence you've found yourself at Twilight's side. You were meant to stand there, beside her. Magic without innovation is stagnation. You can help Twilight, be a key for her to unlock her full potential." Celestia leaned in over Silver. "You do like Twilight, don't you?"
Silver nodded and moved to roll over, but was hefted up in golden magic and brought towards Celestia. "Then be the best wife you can be. I ask no further. If your herd can bring happiness to Twilight, without distracting her, then you are doing me a great favor." Celestia clucked her tongue. "This reminds me. Don't taunt my little sister any further. She's been hurt enough as it is."
Silver frowned at the suggestion. "I have not teased her. I've tried everything reasonable to be kind to her, and to have a healthy relationship."
Celestia waved a hoof lightly. "I will see to Luna's happiness. You're just complicating things. Focus on Twilight. I should think one princess is more than enough for a pony to concern themselves with." That hoof moved and cupped Silver under the snout, raising it to look her in the eyes. "Are you happy as a pony?"
Silver nodded, tail swaying. "I... am. I like... most of it at least. I like having fur. I like the tail. I like the twitchy ears. I like having my purpose right there on my butt."
"Flank."
"Sorry, flank. I love my herd." Silver glanced away from Celestia. "I want to like you, but you refuse to concede you did anything wrong at all."
"I haven't." Celestia raised Silver up and kissed her pregnant belly. "You are objectively better as a mare, both to others and yourself."
Silver squirmed in the magic grip. "Why do my feelings count for nothing?"
Celestia lowered Silver and kissed away a tear. "Is that how you feel? I care how you feel, Silver Stars." Silver could feel Celestia growing warmer, and began to feel more drowsy, as if she were laying out on a bright sunny day. "You look happier than you were before. I know it seems cruel when you are pulled from the comfortable bed you once knew, but you are in a better place."
Silver suddenly smiled. "Alright. I have it. Would you let me go back to being a stallion after I've birthed my foal?"
"I don't think you'll want to."
"Humor me." Silver held up a hoof. "If I wanted to, and made that decision, would you respect it?"
Celestia looked genuinely thoughtful. Seeing her consider it bolstered Silver's spirits. "If you truly wished it..."
Silver perked her ears up. "Really? You promise it? Swear it?"
Celestia held up a hoof. "I swear on my crown. If you request to return to being a stallion when you are not with foal, I will respect your wish and do everything in my power to make it so."
Silver gave a nervous giggle, wriggling in the golden magic. Everything seemed a little brighter. "Thank you... That's all I ask. It's my body, I should have a say in what happens to it."
Celestia's snout rubbed against Silver's pregnant belly. "I still believe you will have no such true desire. You will enjoy being a mother."
Silver flushed softly. "That may happen... but it's still my choice. Is that unreasonable?"
Celestia shook her head. "I suppose it isn't. You've been a model pony, for the most part. Do you know that I love you?"
Silver found that easy to believe on reflection. "Not like a lover, or even entirely like a mother."
Celestia nodded. "You are my little pony, growing into a fine mare. Perhaps you should write me friendship letters, as Twilight once did."
Silver snorted loudly. "No thank you! But if you're so interested, I'll tell you the last friendship lesson I learned." Celestia tilted her head curiously, so Silver continued. "I learned Twilight and I share a little hurt, and we understand one another. I learned that our friends can have deep hurts that they don't make obvious. This doesn't make them bad ponies, just alive. As friends we should be there for them."
Celestia lifted an ear. "That was a bit more mature than I've come to expect."
Silver shrugged, "You are speaking to a middle-aged person turned young again. I didn't become a kid along the way, at least not mentally."
Good chapter! Luna is the mother figure? Does that make Celly the dad? Keep up the good work!
Silver is a "happily-married" mare.
There needs to be something after "forgive." Probably "you."
She's started "minding" her appearance.
5878619 Tweaked! Thanks for the extra eyes.
I love how Luna and Celestia are portrayed in this universe.
Luna is very complicated. Most of all, she doesn't know what she wants. Or rather, she wants many things, but they conflict with each other. She wants Silver's absolute devotion but won't return it herself. She wants to treat Silver as an experiment. She wants to treat Silver as her legacy. She'd rather read someone's mind than just talk to them. She's not a bad pony, but at the same time I'd be hard pressed to call her good. She has good intentions certainly, but the follow through needs work.
Celestia on the other hand is very controlling. She really believes she makes no mistakes, that ends justify the means. But the ends are the happiness of her ponies, and if she has to trample on the free will of her ponies to get there, she will. She also believes in destiny, perhaps too strongly to be healthy, but as an absolute thing, and uses it as an excuse to excuse her other actions that don't have the 'ponies be happy' end. She's not unreasonable and she really does care, but she is firmly on a Blue and Orange Morality scale where her entire mode of thinking is fundamentally different from normal ponies.
I would be all day saying all the things I liked in this chapter. there are even several thing that really stood out.
there is one thing that really stood out and it shocked me as I never guessed in 1 million years that David Silver is even thinking this.
do I like the idea with time and lots of growth, buck yes,
this code be so good in many different ways, and at the same time it may bring Silver Stars world to a crashing end.
only time will tell.
O I guess maybe I better fill every one in on what I saw.
" Celestia rose to her full height. "If may yet be your destiny as well."
Silver's guts clenched as she shrank back from Celestia. "I'm so very much not princess material... There are other, more worthy, ponies."
Celestia nudged Silver over with a gold-shod hoof. "It was no coincidence you've found yourself at Twilight's side. You were meant to stand there, beside her. Magic without innovation is stagnation.
Harts Fire
5878688 I had to click that link to understand, but now I do! I think Celestia and Luna both suffer from an alien view on things, though Celestia is far better at smiling about it. If Silver did throw herself at Luna's hooves, it wouldn't be a miserable existence, but it wouldn't be a human one either, as human as Silver can be of late. Conversely, giving into Celestia may actually get Silver several things she wants anyway, but the baggage... She tries to keep both sisters pleased, or at least not angry. This is easier with Celestia, who is very rarely 'angry'. She gets... disappointed... which could be said to be as bad.
5878762 You don't specify which idea specifically, though your quotes give a good hint. It's been suggested at many times through the series that it is a possibility. The Text said it would only come through pain, hardship, and grave danger, which Silver continues to push through.
5878662 Silver seems to be trying to split the difference where Luna is concerned, and I get the feeling that she accepted that only because - as Silver noted - that puts her closer to what she really wants, while still keeping it out of reach. Silver doesn't seem to realize that Luna (not incorrectly) perceives herself as having been abandoned by the one she loved, abruptly and without any chance to try and fix what she did wrong, and that she's still pining to have Silver back. Her real answer to the entire idea of being Silver's "mother" was given in her kiss, rather than her words.
Given that, I'm a little surprised that Luna hasn't resorted to her original idea of having a running affair with Silver in their dreams. That would open up an entire host of issues ("what ponies do in their dreams is not truly infidelity") about whether it was right or not, and it would absolutely be in keeping with Luna's nature. I doubt Silver would necessarily go for it, but if Luna was able to play off of her guilt - such as by saying how lonely and heartbroken she was - then I suspect that she could maneuver Silver into it.
Either way, however, I don't see Luna as being very satisfied with this deal. As I noted above, this is a stepping stone for her, rather than a satisfactory solution. I have to wonder if she'd try and pin down Twilight, since at this point she's the only member of the herd that doesn't have a bad history with her, in order to try and warm her up to the idea of letting her have some sort of running-affair with Silver (that's what the entire "ambassador and consort" scheme was about, after all). Fast might also go in for it, since he was openly stating his desire to bed Luna.
...none of the above are good schemes, of course, and aren't very likely to work, but that's not the point. Luna's hurting, somewhat desperate, and likely sees Silver as not being entirely opposed to the idea. She's made some progress here, and so she's probably not ready to write her old lover off as a lost cause just yet. Of course, that's all completely aside from her schemes to have Silver breed lunar unicorns, but that's sort of the point; Luna hasn't given up on the idea of having it all, despite how much she's lost. It's that sort of "I can still get everything I want" attitude that cost her so much before.
It's also an attitude that we see in her sister. Celestia has finally come out and unabashedly said what we all know to be true - that she admits to no wrongdoing whatsoever. She honestly doesn't seem to understand - or, more likely, rejects out of hoof - that Silver isn't complaining about the results so much as the process by which they were achieved. However, that's not going to work, since Celestia has made it clear that she has her own criteria by which she judges her actions, and that Silver is too "alien" to take her viewpoints seriously.
That makes Celestia still dangerous, at least in terms of her not respecting Silver's value system. Worse is the idea that Celestia might have internalized the "I can do no wrong" mantra (though she doesn't seem that far gone, since she has acknowledged that things like violating diplomatic immunity were ultimately a bad idea). Even more so than Luna, who wants Silver's love, Celestia wants Silver to end up the way she wants her to end up. That Silver has come around to the same conclusion is a coincidence, not a vindication. That means that if the two of them ever find themselves at cross-purposes again - such as, say, Silver's relationship with Luna - then things can still get very ugly very quickly.
5878972 You probe deep and hard, as you tend to do. I notice you avoided speaking on the specifics of Celestia's words, or their agreement?
Luna's agreement was a much milder one. As you mentioned, it's not likely to satisfy her. Approaching Twilight to 'borrow' Silver is an interesting idea that hadn't occurred to me, but makes sense in retrospect. If she phrased it as some kind of ongoing study, Twilight probably wouldn't think twice about it.
There can be little good that can come from this. On the plus side, Silver made it through a meeting with both without being grossly violated, altered, or otherwise really messed with.
5879015 I would have spoken more about Silver's deal with Celestia, but I was rushing to finish my review before going out (which I still am; thank you smart phone).
5879928 Aw, I'll have to wait impatiently then. Have fun!
5880069 Having re-read that section, and given it some thought, I'm not sure that the wording of Silver's agreement with Celestia (to restore her masculinity if she truly wishes it) is actually that important. While I suppose that one could play word games with terms like swearing "on her crown" or her doing" "everything" in her power to make it so, I can't see that as something Celestia would do.
To reiterate, I don't see Celestia as being the sort of pony that would play word games with a promise in order to fulfill its letter while ignoring its spirit. Most deals in Equestria, regardless of importance, are held on the honor system, without any sort of formal contract law being needed. Virtually the only thing that would make anything like this come up would be if both parties had an honest misunderstanding as to the common terms of their agreement - and even then, a judgment would likely be moderated by a princess.
In that regard, both points seem to be moot here. Celestia and Silver seemed to have a genuine meeting of the minds regarding Silver's deal - that after she gives birth, if she asks to become male again, Celestia will honor that deal. Since the terms seem to be plainly understood, there's no genuine point of disagreement, at least not without technical maneuvering that neither pony seems likely to engage in; likewise, Celestia is the final authority for Equestria anyway, so in the event of a disagreement, she'll have her interpretation enacted.
As such, I don't see Celestia not making Silver male if she comes back to her and says "restore my masculinity." At least not without some other, major point of consideration becoming relevant between now and then. More than likely, however, is that Celestia was right - which doesn't help the situation - and Silver simply won't want to. Silver seems to want Celestia to simply say that she would do it if Silver asked; that and Silver honestly seems happier as a mare - heck, Fast change has already called dibs on getting Silver pregnant again!
Hence, I'm not sure how much "contractual drama" will come up later. As I mentioned before, it seems like there'd need to be some new wrinkle that develops in order for that to become an issue.
5879015
You know, I'm sure you made that comment half in jest, but it occurs to me that that statement right there summarizes just how bad things are between Silver and the alicorn sisters. Really, when it's an accomplishment worthy of note that Silver was able to meet with each of them without being "grossly violated, altered, or otherwise really messed with," then that right there tells you that things are not just not okay, but very, very bad. If not for the fact that Silver is simply letting almost everything slide, I suspect that things would have devolved into outright hostility by now.
As it is, Celestia tipped her hoof with regards to First Stars. Part of it might be that she's a teenager (in that she's seeing Celestia as an authority to rebel against, especially since they're both of the same sex), but the fact that First is "testing" Celestia is notable. She already seems like the sort of dynamic, headstrong person who won't take Celestia's crap lying down, and would probably be very upset that all of the other ponies do. If anything would drive a wedge between her and Meadow Leaper, it'd be that. I can imagine First seeking out Silver simply to complain, hoping that another human-turned-pony will be more sympathetic. In that regard, she might (once she gets over her shock at seeing that Silver is a mare, and a pregnant one at that) be satisfied, in that Silver agrees with her, but also be frustrated that she won't do anything about it.
That's presuming that we ever see First Stars, again, of course.
Minor typo spotted:
It
5882781
As I am reading this story and your five-year-old comments, I find myself agreeing with most of them. In fact, you bring attention to details that I often skip over.
I dont like the forceful TG element of this story. I dont like either Celestia or Luna. There's so much I dislike with this. But as you point out and as the author hints, this is intentional. Silver stars is a broken person, being manipulated by those he cares about. Like watching Game of Thrones' Red Wedding, this is like a masterful train wreck that I cannot look away from.
10270809 I'm extremely flattered to find that my old comments are still enjoyable for others now. Thank you for saying so; you've really made my day.