Twilight exploded with magic, throwing everyone in the room against the wall behind them in a chorus of grunts and yelps. Twilight rose up to her full height. "Silver Stars! You have a choice. You can either stand at my side, as a friend, or you can stand in my way, as an enemy. I will go through with this. I have to." She deflated a little, the adrenaline rush ebbing. "Please help me go through with this."
Silver rolled up to her hooves and nodded. "If I can't convince you, then I will help you, as a friend." She licked over her bloody fangs lightly. "Sorry, for biting you."
Twilight snorted. "Easy to say. Prove it." She waved a wing in the direction of her library. "Find every book of law you can find that relates to this. I'm not letting Celestia get away with bending the laws." She stomped a hoof. "Help me. The ponies of Equestria deserve to have truthful rulers, that accept their mistakes. I'd rather be a true failure than a false hero."
Trixie rose a brow. "Trixie will help, if only to ensure Sparkle gets what she deserves." She rose and moved towards the books without another word.
Night tilted her head a little. "I approve of justice, but you do know outright horn removal is one of the options for murder, right? I don't think you deserve that."
Twilight tapped a hoof on the ground. "That is for the judge to decide. All I'm asking is that we arrive at that point with all the facts followed and the laws obeyed. I've gotten away with a lot being who I am, and I won't stand for it anymore. I will be judged as anypony else."
Night slipped off to join Trixie in searching the library. Twilight looked to Silver, who was seated on her haunches. "Your bite has... gotten more intense with your ascension. You should be more careful with it or I'll be presiding over your trial next."
Silver frowned. "Let's not even joke about that. If it means anything, Celestia seemed to be taking this seriously for the moment."
Twilight tilted her head. "How can you know that?"
Silver began describing the dreamwalking she performed the night before, skipping the details like how she and Luna tortured each other or Celestia's hunky stallion servitor.
Twilight gave a light nod. "Fascinating. It seems the time you spent with Luna has bonded you in more ways than you thought." For a moment it looked like her curiosity would be more powerful than her obsession for justice.
Silver tried to capitalize on it. "I can go to your dream tonight, if you want, and 'wake you up' so to speak. We could explore a little, together."
Twilight reached with a wing and brushed it across Silver's cheek. "Nice try. Now get to searching. We can explore dreams after the trial, when I can devote myself fully to study."
Silver rose up and plodded off to help the others, leaving Fast and Rough behind. Rough shrugged a little. "I'm a writer, not much of a researcher. Nice to meet you again, your majesty. Sorry for the timing."
Twilight smiled at Rough. "It's not your fault. Your daughter has been driving me to distraction."
Fast tilted her head. "In mostly good ways, right?"
Twilight nodded faintly. "Mostly good ways. Please, make yourself at home. I have to join them. If you see a small dragon, that's Spike. He's harmless and very polite." Twilight turned away and joined the others in the library.
Fast leaned in and nuzzled Rough's cheek, making Rough squeak and shy away. "I don't swing that way."
Fast suddenly became Trixie, batting her eyes at Rough. "You swing this way for the great and powerful Trixie, do you not?"
Rough's ears spun back. "Uh... Trixie? How did you do that?"
Fast giggled softly. "I can't do this to my wife's father." She became a he again. "Shapeshifting is my talent. Sorry."
Rough leaned in and sniffed at Fast gently. "You looked just like her. Were you... all like her?"
Fast raised a brow. "If you're asking if I was a mare, yes."
"Wow." Rough shook his head slowly. "You have a very powerful talent."
Fast waved a hoof at Rough's flank. "You write things that affects hundreds of ponies easily. I can't dream of doing that. You don't even need to meet any of them! Writing's a fine talent."
Rough blushed softly through his dark fur. "You're just being nice, but thank you. You seem like a very kind stallion. I'm glad Silver found you."
Fast tilted his head. "Even if she was a he when you two last met? That's OK, I was a she back then. Even trade."
Rough blinked and put his face in a hoof. "Not going to even try figuring all that out. I just hope you two are happy."
Fast bobbed her head. "We are. We really are. She makes me happy deep inside, and no matter how sad she is, a good hug from me gets her smiling. I have not a single doubt I found the right mares to be with."
Rough let out a slow sigh. "I feel that way about Trixie. She always knows just what to say to make me smile. I know she can seem a little... overbearing, but she doesn't mean to be. She's a good pony."
Fast reached out and put his hoof on Rough's nose. "Any mare that can hold onto a nice stallion like you has to be a good pony."
Rough wasn't sure how to react to this overly friendly stallion and the odd feelings his attention brought up, so settled on awkward silence.
When the day had come to an end, with the herd coming together to collapse together, and Rough and Trixie settled into their own room. It was time for sleep. Twilight softly brushed the cheeks of the others sharing her bed. "Thank you all, for helping me with this. This is very important to me."
Silver nuzzled against Twilight's ears. "We're a herd, even if not official."
Fast nodded in agreement. "Which means we stand together."
Night huffed. "Even if we disagree a bit."
They settled together, and one by one, they slipped off into their dreams. Twilight was still awake, and her wakefulness kept Silver awake, who was waiting on her. "Something wrong?"
Twilight softly snorted. "A lot! Are you going to come tonight?"
Silver tilted her head. "I'd like to, but only if you want me to. Just because I can doesn't mean I should."
Twilight shuffled around and pulled Silver in tight, gazing into her eyes. "Why do you still love me? Are you incapable of being angry?"
Silver frowned softly. "It was a mistake... God knows I've made plenty of those. I'd want you to forgive me, if I was sincere, and I didn't do it again."
Twilight reached a hoof and rubbed over Silver's empty womb. "This won't come back with an apology. Hate me a little."
Silver felt pain blossom as she was reminded of the life she lost. "I hate that I was kidnapped. I hate that you were so worried about me. I hate that I didn't think of a more creative way to signal you. I hate that I didn't think faster when I was being ascended!" Twilight kept rubbing, and the pain seemed to deepen. Silver squirmed against her with the building discomfort. "The Text told me, straight up, there was a way I could have gotten out of there with my foal, but I didn't find it. I hate that. I hate that you're hurting so much. I hate that it hurts when you touch me there. I want to love your touch."
Twilight jerked her hoof back, then sighed gently. Her hoof returned, rubbing insistently. Part of Silver wanted to lash out at her as the pain returned. "Twilight... I'll help you through this, but don't demand I hate you. Please. Even if you feel society should get a pound of your flesh, don't insist I do too." Twilight pressed a little more firmly, almost hurting physically from the pressure, but much more so from the thoughts the rubbing brought. "I get it, Twilight! I get it..." Twilight leaned in and kissed Silver on the lips. They hugged silently, and finally sleep came for them both.
Silver awoke in his room on Earth. "Is this where I'll start every time?" She slid to the floor and approached her desk, flicking the monitor on. She had a lot of mail. Curiously she checked the date and saw it read the 22nd. She frowned a little. Is that how fast time was moving? Was she actually on Earth? She rushed for the door and pulled it open, only to find herself in the hallway of doors. "Shoot."
Silver considered where she should go to first and concentrated on Twilight. A door slid into view and she entered to find Twilight working in her lab. She was scrawling wildly on a chalkboard that was bigger than the rest of the room. She suddenly turned around, facing a crowd that wasn't there before. "And that's how you do it!"
The crowd was silent, heads tilting this way and that.
"What?" Twilight turned back to the chalkboard to find it had been replaced with '2+2=a picture of an apple'.
Before Twilight could start to panic, Silver made her presence known. "Hello Twilight."
Twilight jumped before blinking at Silver. "Huh! You weren't fibbing. Hello."
Silver shook her head. "Nope. We're in your dream right now. I can leave if you want me to?"
Twilight considered a moment before she shook her head. "No, stay. Maybe we can continue our discussion."
Suddenly Silver was on the ground, and Twilight was over her, rubbing right in that same spot, bringing back the awful feeling of emptiness. "Hate me."
Silver hissed, baring her fangs. "You didn't want me to force you to do it my way, don't do it back. I'm not going to hate you, Twilight. You don't deserve to be hated."
Twilight bit Silver on the ear, crushing the sensitive flesh. "I deserve it and more. Stop forgiving me and hate me! Punish me!"
Silver suddenly rolled over, wielding a folded belt in her mouth. "Fine! I'll punish you. Bad girls get the spanking." With a shove, Twilight was spread over her lap, flank presented. Silver raised her tail and brought down the belt, somehow stinging smartly despite the fur and bringing a quick blush as Silver struck her several times in quick succession.
Twilight squirmed under the abuse, but it wasn't enough. "Do it like you actually mean it! Your foal is dead Silver, hit like that means something to you!"
Silver brought down the belt, but it became a cane half-way through the strike, drawing out a pained cry from Twilight when it struck her. "I thought we were growing closer together, Twilight."
Twilight grit her teeth. "I don't deserve to be closer. I murdered you. I killed your foal. Hit me!"
Silver spat out the cane and grabbed it in her silver magic, bringing it down all the more firmly on Twilight's exposed rump as it began to bleed from the abuse. "I'm tired of neverending cycles of pain, Twilight. I choose to break it."
Twilight pushed her back end higher, "It's not your choice! Harder! Punish me!"
Silver shuddered, then shoved Twilight onto the ground, climbing over her and hugging her tightly from above. "I want you to pay my pain forward."
Twilight swiveled her ears back at her. "What?"
Silver nibbled at Twilight's shoulder. "Help other foals. Help other mothers. Keep other innocent ponies from ever feeling what we feel right now. You have so much magic, we could save so many lives. We lost one... we could save so many."
Twilight sagged weakly under Silver, starting to tear up. "I don't even know how to do that! I don't know very many healing spells, or midwifery spells. Most mares are treated by midwives and doctors, not wizards."
Silver found Twilight's wing bases and started to chew at them gently, making Twilight squirm. "Then let me figure it out. If I make the spell, will you use it? Will you pay back that lost foal, because that will mean a lot more than a thousand years banishment or having your horn chopped off. Neither of those gets that foal back. If you bring me a smiling little face that would have otherwise faded from this world like mine..." Silver sagged as limply as Twilight, crying instead of speaking.
Twilight squirmed around, turning to face Silver. She brushed away the tears with a fetlock gently. "That... is a very sweet thought..." She snuggled up against Silver, and they were united in their misery for a time before the dream ended. Silver landed properly back in the hallway, tears staining her snout, but no headache pounding in her head.
Pay it forward, now there is a way of thinking I can truly get behind.
5895314 A more sensible way of justice perhaps, yes?
5895330 As long as those that did wrong would truly seek it as redemption rather than an escape, I'd have to say yes.
I just want to say that Fast/Rough as a ship name is hilarious.
Equestria generally seems very pro-redemption, and Celestia in particular. So I think it would definitely get a lot of support as an idea, if Twilight is really convinced to stop trying to implode.
5895410 Silver would be so confused as to how to react if Fast seduced Rough Draft. I mean, Rough isn't her real father, he's kind of... her? Another version of her? There are no right answers!
There are two spaces between these sentences.
Change "Luna and her" to "she and Luna."
Delete the "as," here.
Her "wakefulness" kept Silver awake.
5895460 All fixed! The night will last forever! Or at least the typos.
5895445 I can't imagine Fast seducing Rough without clearing it by Silver first anyways (and probably Night as well, but her objections would just be general don't-sleep-around type objections).
So Silver could well get to experience that confusion without Fast/Rough even becoming an actual thing. :)
5895465 I find myself so frustrated with Silver right now. She's still in-character, very much so, in fact, but I'm noticing that since her ascension, she's changing in a way that I think isn't for the better, in terms of moral development. The fact is, I think that she's becoming very much like Princess Celestia.
Twilight's screaming "hate me! Punish me!" at Silver isn't, in my view, self-destructive. Rather, it's a very immature form of wanting to be forgiven. The thing is, someone who's incapable of anger (the way Silver seems to be) is thusly incapable of offering forgiveness. To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes, anything given too easily is esteemed too lightly; if Silver forgives everypony for everything all of the time, then that forgiveness is never truly earned. Twilight may not be able to articulate that, or even fully conceptualize that idea, but she senses it very clearly.
What's happening in her exchange with Silver is Twilight saying "this is what I need from you! Please, give it to me!" But all Silver is saying over and over is "No. Doing so is uncomfortable for me." Because that's what it boils down to - Silver has no stomach for anger, and so she won't use it, regardless of the fact that it's what Twilight needs to help stop her own pain. Silver, much like Princess Celestia, is refusing to acknowledge how another pony sees the situation differently, and is trying her best to bend the situation in the way that she wants it to go.
Or perhaps Silver's acting more like Luna. After all, Luna refused to come to Silver's aid when Silver was under attack from Twilight and Princess Celestia despite Silver having begged her to do so, since doing so would have made life difficult for her (Luna). Now, Silver is refusing to help Twilight in the manner that she needs, despite Twilight begging her to do so. Silver simply can't bring herself to step outside of her comfort zone for the sake of another, even when it's someone she loves. Worse, she doesn't even realize she's being that self-centered, which means that she's going to learn nothing from this entire exchange, simply convincing herself that Twilight is the one in the wrong.
So...at least Silver is going to fit right in with the other princesses of Equestria.
I recognize that that's rather harsh. In fact, if Silver could convince Twilight that her forgiveness is genuine, then the entire point would be moot, but I don't think that that's ever going to happen. Forgiveness must be earned, and earning something takes effort, which means time and dedication. Silver tosses it out far too cheaply for that, and that's because of whatever pain from her human life is making her too scared to embrace anger outside of self-loathing anyway.
Instead, they're focusing on the whole "pay it forward" idea, which isn't one that I care much for. The entire point of taking an internal process like finding catharsis and externalizing it to something that someone else bestows on you is that, once you put in the requisite effort, you have someone who'll give you what you need (or rather, their forgiveness is the signal that you can forgive yourself). "Paying it forward" removes that signal from some other specific individual, but it keeps the process as something external, making it something diffuse instead where you try to find forgiveness by helping others. That's noble, but misguided, simply because then you're still searching for an external trigger that you've attained forgiveness, but the people you're helping aren't likely to give that to you; they don't know your motivation for helping them, and they're not close enough to you to look at you and say "you've done enough now; you're forgiven for what you've done." It turns forgiveness into a phantom, something that people chase after as they keep "paying it forward" for year after year, which is why someone can spend their entire life trying to feel like they've atoned without ever having achieved catharsis.
Silver's idea wasn't to have Twilight do something constructive with her pain; it was to have Twilight go look elsewhere to find somepony to help her be forgiven, because Silver was too scared to face her own demons to help Twilight.
Silver may have more power and more responsibility now, and her body may have changed radically (again), but she's not growing in the truest sense of the word. She's still not dealing with her deepest, most fundamental problems, and she's not making any real headway as a good pony because of that; instead, she's Fluttershy with more humor and a higher sex drive. Her issues are something that she needs to dive headfirst into and overcome, rather than try and walk away from. You don't reach acceptance until you go through the anger, the guilt, the depression, and the other awful steps on the journey. Until she confronts her own inner sense of worthlessness, and all of the fear that creates in her - fear of being unworthy of love, fear of driving everypony away if she gets angry at them, fear that she'll be alone and deserve it - then she's not going to be able to help anypony very much.
...the same way she's not helping Twilight here.
5895535 Bah, you've incited the rage within me again. Silver didn't just toss aside her request for anger. She tried. She even went to progressively harsher pains trying to display some anger at Twilight, just for you to brush it off as nothing. Silver didn't even send Twilight off to never get her forgiveness. She asked Twilight to bring back a child that would have faded away without intervention, some soul that she saved from the edge. If she could replace the lost foal with another, that some other mother could be spared that pain, Silver would forgive her, and mean it, in her heart of hearts.
I'm kind of annoyed that it came across as so flat, that this whole chapter just read as Silver being a weak jerk that isn't doing anything productive at all.
Additional edit:
There should be a period at the end of that sentence.
5895584 I did warn you the typos would last forever.
Silver has a good idea here Pay it forward will it work?
with Silver making the spell and twilight fine tuning it this should be one of the strongest healing spells ever.
now we still have the trial to deal with.
will Silver give princes celestia a heads up on what her and twi have come up with?
so much going on.
a good chapter I will be watching vary close for the next chapter.
Harts Fire
5895581 My apologies if you found my review upsetting, that certainly wasn't my intent, but I just don't see Silver as doing what Twilight wants and needs her to do. Yes, Silver did give Twilight a spanking, but that attempt to give Twilight the punishment that she wanted struck me as, at best, a halfhearted farce. The physical actions are meaningless except as an expression of the emotion behind them, and Silver made it very clear that she wasn't emotionally available in the manner that Twilight wanted. It's like watching a child (e.g. Twilight) deliberately misbehave because they want their parent (e.g. Silver) to punish them - and in doing so signal that they care - only for that parent to brush it off. It's maddening.
You say that Silver didn't send Twilight off on some quixotic quest, but rather wanted her to do something meaningful, and would forgive her when that was done. So in other words, that Silver brushing aside the parameters for forgiveness that Twilight has set for herself (e.g. "hate me so that I can earnestly work to make you forgive me") and instead is replacing it with her own parameters (e.g. "go save a child"). That's no different than Celestia brushing aside Silver's parameters for being happy ("let me remain male") and replacing them with her own ("be a mare").
Silver likes to go on and on about how much she loves Twilight. Love, real love, involves sacrificing for the one you love; sacrificing means doing something you find unpleasant or uncomfortable - it means doing something you don't like. Silver is utterly unwilling to do that, despite the fact that Twilight has begged her to again and again. This is a chance for Silver to demonstrate that she understands what love really means, that she's willing to do what Twilight needs even if it hurts her to do so. But instead all she's doing it tossing out catchphrases like "pay it forward" and trying to deflect Twilight's desires into something that Silver finds more palatable.
Love is painful, and all Silver knows how to do is run away from pain.
5895668 Whelp. I'm lost. I really don't even know what the answer is. I suppose that's a risk of writing yourself into a story. We're both equally adrift in this, not understanding half the words you're saying. Twilight demanded help with something Silver doesn't want, in the waking world, and everyone pitched in to help, including Silver. Her request for anger is just...? I don't even know man. Silver is sad, not angry. Silver will do what Twilight wants, but 'hey, feel this specific emotion I want you to feel' is never a reasonable request in my book. Should Silver feel as Celestia requests, or Luna, or anypony else? Twilight wants Silver, she gets Silver. She doesn't get to dictate what Silver feels. Fuck that. Fuck that entire thought. She wants Silver to help her prepare for the case, she gets it. She wants her to be there at the case, she'll get that. If she wants her to pull the god damned lever at the gallows, she'll get that too, but she can't tell Silver what to feel while she's doing it.
How is this any better the other way around? Silver wants Twilight to just stop being self hurting. Twilight loves her, why isn't she obeying the command to change her emotions? What a bitch.
Or people just don't work that way. I really don't understand.
5895703 That's because Twilight isn't demanding that Silver change her emotions; she (Twilight) is telling her (Silver) what she (Twilight) needs from her (Silver). She's saying "this is what I need from you in order to find fulfillment," not "I demand this of you." That's not unreasonable - the entire point of relationships is finding someone who can fulfill your needs while you fulfill theirs, ideally while you each openly and honestly communicate what your own needs are and what you thusly want and expect from each other.
Now, I'm operating under the presumption that Silver is unwilling, rather than unable, to give Twilight what she wants. That's because Silver not only has a history of being utterly unable to deal with her own anger except in the most extraordinary of circumstances (e.g. Celine's death causing him to attack Luna), but because I simply and utterly cannot fathom Silver not being even a little bit angry at Twilight for the death of her foal. Just because it was an accident doesn't mean that Twilight doesn't have a degree of culpability; someone hurting you unintentionally doesn't change the fact that they've still hurt you, and anger is not only expected, but understandable.
To that end, I think that Silver is still stuck in the very first stage of grieving: denial. She's denying that anything is really wrong. She had a good cry, and she pet Twilight's head, and now she's fresh as a daisy and ready to move forward, except that Twilight's being so gosh-darned stubborn. That's not letting go of negativity and moving on, it's denying that such a massive loss has taken place at all. Anger is what comes next, and Twilight knows it's there, and she's begging Silver to let it out because that's what Twilight needs to help move on. Maybe it's not about finding forgiveness so much as it is that Twilight is trying to get past denial...she's already exhibiting her anger at Silver, and working towards guilt, which are the next few stages of grieving. But she is absolutely not dictating Silver's emotions; she's saying what emotions she needs from her intimate partner, and that's not a bad thing to do.
Now, maybe I'm wildly misreading the situation; maybe Silver honestly has no anger anywhere at all whatsoever about what happened. That just means that she can't give Twilight what she needs. That's fine, there are plenty of relationships where that happens, but here's the thing: that's the hallmark of an unhealthy relationship. When it's a deep, raw emotional need, and your chosen life-partner can't fulfill it, then it's time to seriously reconsider your relationship with that person. Because what I see right now is Twilight asking Silver to do what's hard to help her, and Silver saying over and over that she just can't, and that breaks my heart for Twilight.
...and did you just call me a whelp?
5896015 I think one big thing missing from all this is that Silver really does not see this as Twilight's fault. Her foal died because she couldn't solve the riddle. Her foal died because she couldn't find the path. She has more anger at Celestia and Luna, who were there with her and offered not even one idea for how to save the foal. They just watched her struggle until it was too late, then nudged her right along. Being blown up? Nothing compared to that. She didn't even feel being blown up. It happened so suddenly she only knew it happened after the fact.
She's especially furious at Celestia, smug little sun princess. She thinks she knows so much, but where was she? Where was her amazing knowledge? If Twilight is culpable, Celestia is more so, because she was there in the void. She knew what was happening. She could have acted, but just sat there and smiled that smug smile as the clock ticked.
5896072 That strikes me as being more displaced anger than anything else. Being mad at Celestia is safer than being angry at Twilight, because Silver isn't in love with Celestia, and so Celestia can't leave her if she gets mad at her. Obviously, there's blame to go around, but Silver really can't put any of it on Twilight at all? She can be mad at herself, mad at Luna, mad at Celestia, mad at Starlight, and probably mad at the Text, but she finds absolutely no fault with Twilight's actions at all because they were unintended? Obviously everyone is going to have their own takes on these sorts of situations in general, and how Silver as a character would deal with them in particular, but I'm having a hard time seeing how Silver can come to the conclusion of "well, you didn't mean to kill my baby, so it's okay. I'm more mad at myself because I couldn't clean up the horrible mess you made of things."
5896113 But she didn't kill it. It was alive. Silver felt it die and it tore her a new one. That was not in an explosion. It was alive. She could have come through that with the child intact, if she was clever enough, or if Celestia or Luna had an idea, or if the Text actually said how to get through a path instead of just toying with her to say they're there. Ultimately, Silver suffered her loss in an entirely different plane than Twilight, knowing nothing of Twilight's involvement until she was already torn apart. She didn't even learn of Twilight's involvement until afterwards. The trauma was inflicted. Finding out someone else might have been involved afterwards does not, I'd argue can not have the same impact.
5896169 I have to disagree with you here (I mean, more than I've already done up until this point). Twilight did kill it; her blast tore Silver's body apart and killed her - it's right there in the story: "Silver died. She was barely aware of the happening, it was over so quickly." Yes, that refers to Silver specifically, but given that her unborn foal was still gestating inside her, it's kind of impossible for that not to be the case for her foal also. What Silver, Luna, Celestia, and the Text failed to do was come up with a way wherein Silver's foal could be resurrected also, instead of only Silver being given another chance.
Now, I'll grant that Silver didn't realize that it was Twilight's fault immediately until the Text told her, but she did know about Twilight's part in what happened before she ascended and lost her baby, phantom giggle and all. Moreover, I don't agree that finding out about someone playing a part in a tragedy you suffered after the fact cannot have the same impact. I believe that it can; you can be victimized by someone who is hiding their identity, and still hate them deeply even if you only find out their identity long after the fact (as an example).
5895535 ...Most of your respones are DEEPPPPPPP...man, how did you get all that DEEP?
Um...That ending...
media.giphy.com/media/CAkv10KkqFfuE/giphy.gif
I'm tired of all the blames, sorry's & forgive me's. i hope that all 6 of them (herd & skybutts) have it out openly & with full honesty in front of the public court. This needs to come to a climax quickly or the nation will suffer, as tempting as it is to seek to blame a single pony, they should not. There is only one vindictive culprit in this tawdry mess that they should be targeting, THE TEXT!
1.) Silver began describing the dreamwalking she performed the night before, skipping the details like how she and Luna tortured each other or Celestia's hunky stallion servitor.
Dream walking is two words
\2.) Twilight reached with a wing and brushed it across Silver's cheek. "Nice try. Now get to searching. We can explore dreams after the trial, when I can devote myself fully to study."
Why/what is Twilight saying "Nice try" to Silver for?
Thought of this scene from "Suite Life of Zack and Cody" grounded on the 23rd floor. Aka season 1 episode 5.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x311n7g
Starting at 21:38
\3.) Fast nodded in agreement. "Which means we stand together."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yq_pgl-dUgM
4.) Suddenly Silver was on the ground, and Twilight was over her, rubbing right in that same spot, bringing back the awful feeling of emptiness. "Hate me."
5.) "I'm tired of neverending cycles of pain, Twilight. I choose to break it."
Misspelled: Never ending is two words
\6.) Twilight sagged weakly under Silver, starting to tear up. "I don't even know how to do that! I don't know very many healing spells, or midwifery spells. Most mares are treated by midwives and doctors, not wizards."
Your a wizard Twilight.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IsetyKPspNE
7.) Silver found Twilight's wingbases and started to chew at them gently, making Twilight squirm.
Misspelled:Wing bases is two words
8.) Silver landed properly back in the hallway, tears staining her snout, but no headache pounding in her head.
She had a headache? I might have missed that. When did she notice it first?
7126387 Typo fixed, and it said 'no headache', if she landed poorly when thrown from a dream, migraine central.
5896169
I know this is all so very old, but I have to agree with Alzrius. Twilight was the one obliterated Silver, and such a killing blow couldn't have failed to hit their unborn foal. Even if for some reason the foal wasn't killed outright, Twilight is still the one who made the killing blow and put Silver in that situation.
Silver trying to completely absolve Twilight of any guilt seems unhealthy. (But then, so is Twilight's desire to be punished, even if directing it at Silver may further Silver's recovery process in a twisted way.)
The other part is, bottled anger like Silver has - even if she's trying to save it for the more "worthy" targets like Celestia - fights for ways out. It's unreasoning and can be quite powerful. If Twilight makes herself a target by pushing Silver, it's a perfectly natural response for Silver to lash out. That should be the danger here; Silver should not have perfect control over her anger.
Somehow this feels worse than the actual deed. I guess that makes sense, its the aftermath that hurts after all. Twilight is at least right that the citizens deserve the truth from their leaders. Personally I'd think they would all be more interested in hunting down the first cause, Starlight, who has attacked Silver twice now. I'm just going to assume that was passed to the authorities in the background and not mentioned.
Wanting absolution through punishment makes sense for Twilight. Maybe it could also be a way to deal with the grief. Seeing Twilight in pain hurts Silver, never mind asking her to be the one inflicting it. There's some interesting ethical lines buried here. If punishing the perpetrator hurts the victim(s) that were originally harmed further, is that still justice?
This is an interesting point in meeting the needs of a partner in a relationship. Silver is also grieving and hurt, and her needs certainly involve not adding more pain and regret to it. Maybe giving in and helping Twilight martyr herself in court is a slightly better compromise than my first impression. Quite a terrible set of choices there. Help someone you love and destroy the relationship, or actively help them harm themselves to save it.
I would say its pretty apparent Silver is quite capable of anger, most of her personal disasters are tied to lashing out in anger. From her character I wonder if Silver's almost instant forgiveness is instead tied closer to empathy and understanding. If you understand someones motivations it can be hard to hate the person so long as that motivation isn't malicious, while being easy to hate their actions and the events.
Just some random thoughts about character development and planning.
11136591
I love how you're looking at this. Very thoughtful. You're an insightful soul.
11136651
Thanks. I have been trying to work on character viewpoints and characterization in general, its a weak area when trying to write. My personal viewpoint gets in the way of what a character would do.
11136680
Curious thing there, when the person in question is, or was, me, frozen in that instant and branching off into their own things.
11136683
That, is a good point. I guess in my head I just think of Silver Star as a character in the story. With the name shape and gender changes the self insert angle faded away. Great, now it feels even more awkward I keep getting Silver Star's gender pronouns wrong and have to edit my comments. Just in case, I meant that characterization is a weak point in my attempts at writing, not yours. So I figure examining potential motivations still helps.
11136716
As I said, I enjoy your thoughts quite a bit. They even make me think about me a bit. Writing is exposing yourself to the world. I just went and took it literally.