With the near-disastrous return of winter, Silver wandered away from the racetrack. It was nice to be free of that small room, and she saw no reason to rush indoors just yet. The soft crunch of snow beneath her hooves gave her a feeling of nostalgia. It had been over twenty years since she had last had the pleasure of snow. "You should always get enough snow each year to get tired of it." She giggled a bit at her old saying, and looked forward to getting tired of the snow.
A pair of eyes followed Silver’s movements, wondering just how to approach the mare. From her spot in the forest, she was well hidden, the last thing she wanted to do was raise attention. She watched the grey pegasus take off, leaving Silver all alone. This was her chance, she thought to herself. “Hmm, aren’t you just a pretty little thing now?” Glimmer softly spoke, stepping out into Silver’s view.
Silver drew up short, chest tightening as she realized who was in front of her. "Um…" She wasn't sure how to react. "If you're planning on trying to take me again…" She hunched down a little, as if ready to battle if need be.
“Oh relax, Princess, I’m just here to look today,” Glimmer responded with a smirk, taking another step forward. “I’ve set aside that job for more personal pursuits.”
Silver perked up a little, ears directed at Glimmer as caution turned partially to curiosity. "You gave up the job? So… who was asking anyway?" She spread out her wings a little, ruffling them in a nervous display.
With a small chuckle, Glimmer shook her head. “That’d be unprofessional of me, even if I’m no longer on the job," she began, walking up to Silver, that smirk still on her face. “But, for a price, I might be willing to divulge that information.”
Silver's nose flared softly. "Price? I haven't actually been paid yet…" She became a little shy at Glimmer's approach and tried to counter it with her own movement, circling around Glimmer. "I only just became a princess."
A tail flicked upwards, brushing at Silver’s face. “Oh, it’s not bits I’m after… are you certain you don’t want to give up that nasty cutie mark and come with me?” Glimmer asked in a seductive tone. “I’d love to be corrupted.”
Silver went red quickly, her rump shaking a little with her tail swaying. "I've felt your magic before… I'm sure it's perfectly lovely for somepony, but it… it's just…" She stomped into the snow with a crunch. "It's kind of horrible. I can't think… You know?"
“Oh, I do… just looking at you, my mind begins to draw a blank,” Glimmer continued teasing, winking at her, sitting down and looking at Silver. “But, it’s not bad… should you ever change your mind, just let me know. You don’t need to think for what we’d get up to.”
Silver suddenly recalled something and sat in front of Glimmer. "I have a question and I need a forthright answer. When you first attacked us, who did what in the dark?" She raised a brow high.
“My associates worked on distracting those around you while I zapped your fine flank,” Glimmer replied, however there was no longer any hint of seduction present. “I didn’t stick around beyond that, I had a cutie mark to take care of.”
Silver gave a slow nod… "They hurt one of my herd members. Did they… survive Twilight's outburst? They said they didn't find anything there, but I figure you would know better."
An involuntary shudder ran down Glimmer’s spine. “Fortunately, I had sent them ahead to the camp… once they heard what had happened though, who knows where they are now?” she finished, taking in a deep breath. “That is mostly the reason that I have no desire to chase after your mark anymore. You, however, are far too interesting to just leave be.”
Silver tilted her head a little, looking a bit more relaxed. "Well, alright." She took a slow breath. "Look, why don't we try this from the start? If nowhere else, Equestria is a place for second starts and chances, so…" She thrust a hoof towards Glimmer. "I'm Silver Stars."
“You’re quite the odd one…” Glimmer trailed off before taking Silver’s hoof with her own. “Starlight Glimmer. However, I think your purple princess would be more than happy to lock me up and throw away the key.”
Silver smiled gently. "They forgave Discord. You can't be as bad as he was starting out, right? Nice to meet you, Starlight. That's a lovely name." She canted her head a little. "Sorry about the scare. You should have… seen it from my angle. Twilight gave us both a fright."
“A fright? Somewhat of an understatement,” Glimmer was quick to reply, shivering once more. “I should have hidden her cutie mark far, far away when we first stumbled upon each other had I known what would happen. I was honestly surprised to hear that you had survived…”
"I didn't," replied Silver flatly before she raised a hoof. "But you can't go hunting Twilight for that. She's important, and good, even if she does make mistakes. You want to be forgiven, right? It goes both ways."
Glimmer stood back up, her magic coming to life and teasing the very tip of Silver’s left ear with that smirk back on her face. “Do I? Perhaps I have other reasons for approaching you, all alone, nopony in sight or hearing.”
Silver's ear twitched wildly at the rubbing as a little shiver ran through her body in the subtle pleasure of it. "Are you playing at something?" Click. "Oh wait." She raised to her hooves uncertainly. "I'm… I have a herd."
“And?” Glimmer slyly asked, her magic fading from Silver’s ear, this time moving to the small saddlebags on her back, a silken-wrapped small object coming into view. “A gift for you, Silver.” It came to a stop just in front of her at eye level.
Silver went cross-eyed for a moment peering at the sudden object hovering before her. She flopped back onto her haunches and reached for it curiously, forgetting for just a moment her objection in favor of discovering what was hidden inside. "What is it?" Not that she paused her attempts to open it and find out.
“Just an object that will forever bind your will to mine that if I were caught would no doubt have me banished from Equestria,” Glimmer seriously replied, letting her magic drop it onto Silver’s hoof. “Go on, open it!”
Silvery magic wrapped around the package before Silver thought to concentrate on her old missing hands. She gently began to unwrap the package with the magical digits, eager to discover what was inside. As the purple sphere came into view, she smiled at Glimmer. "You are very kind. See… that was just nice. You could have done all kinds of things with this I bet." She moved to hastily put it back around her own neck.
Glimmer rolled her eyes for a moment. “Not even a remark? I must be losing my touch.” She pouted for a moment before sighing. “Yes, there are all sorts of nefarious things that I could do to make you mine… but then I’d have a rather powerful princess chasing me, and one brush with death was more than enough. But don’t think I’ve completely given up on my pursuit,” Glimmer finished, voice raising at the end as the smallest hint of seduction came back.
Silver flushed a little, but her eyes didn't leave Glimmer as thoughts raced along all too-predictable lines. "Why don't you stay a little while? You sound ready to run off?" She rose up to her hooves and approached Glimmer with a happy smile. "I'd like to get to know you, the real you… The one not running around trying to snatch things." She reached out a hoof, trying to wrap a leg around Glimmer's neck in a hug.
Ducking underneath the hoof, Glimmer came up and nuzzled at Silver’s cheek. “I think that I’d like that, you becoming an alicorn has only drawn out even more of that beauty… to think, you’re not done growing yet, either,” she slyly spoke, shifting gears a moment later. “However, I believe there are three mares of yours, not to mention the princess’ friends, who would just love to get their hooves on me for the wrong reasons.”
Silver's cheek was quite warm, kept softly tinted red by the affection. She frowned at Glimmer's words and shook her head. "I will defend you if I have to. You showed me real trust today." She gently brushed the heart crystal. "You deserve a chance to be good… I know what that's like, being the bad pony, having people look at you that way…"
“Still, I think it best I see to… other matters first, give things time to cool down,” Glimmer responded with a smirk, her magic teasing Silver’s ear for a few, short seconds again. “However, before I leave… perhaps you’d like to know who is after that lovely little flank of yours?”
Silver couldn't suppress the shiver at the ear attention. "Uhn, yes, please?" She blinked softly before leaning forward towards Glimmer, flashing her fanged teeth. "I… You know, most ponies are put off by the whole lunar appearance, especially on a unicorn, or, uh, alicorn now, but unicorn when we first met."
Moving forward, Glimmer only stopped once their lips were nearly touching, every puff of breath of Glimmer’s felt by Silver. “I’m not most ponies, now am I?” she softly and arrogantly started. “The night is just fraught with danger… and there’s nothing sexier than danger. So… for a kiss, I might just tell you who it is.”
Silver tried to be slick and leaned in quick, aiming to press her lips to Glimmer's left cheek in a chaste exchange. "Maybe I'll visit you in your dreams." Her words lacked the usual sarcasm one might have when saying the phrase.
“Oh, now that’s tempting…” she curiously replied as Silver’s soft lips touched her cheek. Taking a step back, Glimmer winked at Silver before darting in and bumping noses for a split second. “Look to the mail, it’ll come eventually… shame I didn't specify where that kiss should be.”
The nose bump only seemed to make Silver happier. She bobbed her head. "I'll keep an eye out for it. Don't be a stranger… If you let me know before you come, I'll settle the others down, and maybe we can talk it out? I meant what I said, about everyone deserving a chance." She didn't mention the kiss, thinking better on discussing that part.
“Oh, I will, trust me,” Glimmer took a few steps back, grinning at Silver now. “If I’m really lucky, I’ll be on your mind for some time now. But, it’s time for me to split, things to do, bits to be made before I come back around, you know how it goes,” she humorously remarked, turning around and starting to canter away, her tail swaying rapidly to and fro.
Silver watched her go a moment before raising a hoof in a wave. "Be well." She turned herself then and spread her wings. She launched to the air and made her way home, wondering how everyone else handled the day, and wondering about Glimmer along the way. Perhaps they could become friends?
Luna pointed at Celestia. "You."
Celestia frowned sharply. "That is not amusing."
Luna nodded with a sure expression. "All of the worst things have come from your action or inaction. You kept Silver always at hoof's length at best. When she needed you, you turned away. When she slipped, you punished and berated her without hesitation. You always kept your eyes set to the far future, where there was no room for the pony right in front of you that needed your warmth today. This isn't about Silver, not specifically."
Cadance nodded softly. "We should put her aside for now. This is a larger problem. Little problems today can become the great trouble to be solved in the future." She gestured northwards towards her own kingdom. "The Crystal Empire is well on the way to reconstruction. In the long-term, we will almost assuredly succeed..."
Celestia nodded at Cadance. "This is good. I have read your reports."
Cadance smiled gently. "But in the short term... My people are badly undersupplied and lacking horsepower. We're doing everything with painful slowness, and that hurts morale, which slows things further. Hurt morale also opens us to shadow attacks." She raised a brow. "Which I think is a large part of why we were besieged when we were. It wasn't a 'beacon of chaos'. We created that trouble for ourselves. You decided how much we would get, and we're doing our best with it... But..."
Shining Armor interjected quickly. "Not that we don't appreciate what you have sent! Every shipment is a lifesaver."
Celestia put a hoof to her head. "I am sending what I can. Where can I divert more without causing shortages in Equestria itself? You know I've done the numbers, both of you. Sending more will tip the economy towards a downfall, with severe long-term effects. As you said yourself, you will pull through this."
Luna rolled a hoof. "There must be a compromise..."
The debates went on.
5907458 Afraid I'm going to have to leave the story as of...Chapter 14 or so. On a personal level, I'm not a big fan of gender-benders -it just isn't my thing- but I trekked on a bit longer, thinking it might clear itself.
Outside of the personal level and as a reader, it felt incredibly out of place. Perhaps I missed it, but I saw no real evidence before Twilight's sudden claim of him being more mare than stallion; it just felt sudden and honestly forced. It felt like we were just checking off a list of ways we could fuck with Silver.
I appreciate the effort you've put into your fanfiction, and I absolutely adore the two stories prior to it, but this is no longer for me; skimming forward a half-dozen chapters didn't provide any results that it was getting resolved, and so I wipe my hands of it.
I hope you continue on with it and stick to whatever your original ideas for it were, I'm just sorry it's not for me. I'll not rescind my likes, though I will pull it off of my favorites for personal {OCD-type} reasons.
Best of luck mate.
Love the arguing princesses over issues that took Silver how long to fix with minimal efforts even if it was only a couple things?
I really wish you will make it more worthwide for Silver...She has suffered quite a lot and yet no true relief have been laid out yet. It's getting a little depressing.
5907670
Vote Silver Stars for Princess of Depression. :p
In all fairness, being an alicorn hasn't actually done her any favors yet. She threw more magic around as a unicorn, and her flight and earth pony magic haven't been really relevant yet. Her political power is arguably less than it was as an ambassador, at least for now. And as someone who more or less wants to be left alone by the average pony, she's now aninstantly recognizeable figure to all those who know her for nothing but negative rumors.
Someday, rainbows.. someday!
5907703 Somewhere over the rainbow....She will rise! IF not than screw this imma go killing Celestia for she is the reason all of this happend in the first place.
I am really starting to like the way this story is going Silver is starting a new life after ascending and is facing all kinds of new threats to her life and her herd's safety.
at the same time Silver is trying to be a good pony and trying to help other pony's.
Starlight Glimmer, I am not totally sure I trust her offer of giving back Silvers hart crystal, Silver better have Twilight check it over really closely.
I will say it is time for a chapter shift how is night & fast doing?
how is nights foal doing?
with all the stress we seam to have forgot about rough and Trixie staying at the castle, are they still there how is Trixie doing with her foal ?
maybe a chapter or too to fill in a few holes.
Harts Fire
This isn't an error per se, but you keep using her last name when referring to her. That's rather awkward; I'd use either her first name or her full name, rather than just her last name.
There needs to be a closing quotation mark after "job."
Capitalize the first letter of the first word.
In the "long-term" they will succeed.
I'd pluralize "attack" there.
With severe "long-term" effects.
5908924 All fixed, except the glimmer thing. I'll consider on that. I blame the typos on the collab author, of course, even if the typos in the princess portion were my fault. Wait... I'm not good at casting blame.
Bleck, Starlight Glimmer!
I wouldn't trust a single hair on her head. Silver is going to regret accepting her crystal back.
5910027 Being a pony, she has many hairs to pick from.
5909349
5909579 Alright then, if both authors want me to say what I think about this chapter in general, and Starlight Glimmer's portrayal in particular, I'll ease my own rule and do so.
Simply put, I didn't care very much for how Starlight was portrayed here. The first issue for me was her continually being referred to by her last name alone, as simply "Glimmer." The first instance of it was enough to cause me confusion for a few seconds regarding whom the name was referring to; that's because the neither the show nor the fandom makes a habit of referring to characters solely by their last names (for characters that have two names). I've never heard of Twilight Sparkle simply being called "Sparkle," nor Pinkie Pie as just "Pie," so why would Starlight Glimmer simply be called "Glimmer"? It was awkward enough to disrupt my immersion into the flow of the story.
Unfortunately, that's not the last of my critiques. I also found Starlight to be far and away too sexually suggestive here. Now, there's some degree of prior justification for this, as her earlier appearance - where she was talking to Silver about possibly letting her sleep with with her in a more comfortable wagon instead of the caged one - was loaded with innuendo. But the thing about innuendo is that it's prone to multiple interpretations, rather than being blatant. In that regard, it was possible to understand Starlight's earlier offer about "sleeping with her" in the more comfortable wagon as being innocent, rather than sexual. That way of looking at it played into Starlight's original appearance in "The Cutie Map," wherein she was promising an improvement to overall quality of life for those ponies that did as she said. In other words, the non-sexual aspect played into Starlight's character in terms of portraying her "do as I say, and you'll find yourself happier."
There was none of that here; Starlight was practically oozing sex, to the point where I was half-expecting her to cross her legs, Sharon Stone-style. That's not who Starlight is - she's seductive, yes, but her seductiveness is philosophical, not sexual. She's convinced that she knows the way to harmony, the highest value in Equestria, and that it's through conformity to the lowest common denominator, all under her supervision. In that regard, this chapter presented a missed opportunity.
What should have happened is that Starlight should have noticed how Silver was being discriminated against, and how she had to throw the race, and used those instances to try and convince Silver that becoming an alicorn and being a princess was a mistake, that it had only separated her from everypony else. Starlight should have been feeding Silver half-truths about how being so special had only made her (Silver) more unhappy, and that she (Starlight) could help her fix that, by taking away the things (or at least some of the things, since I doubt she could undo Silver's alicorn ascension) that were making her so different from everypony else, starting with her cutie mark.
Instead, what we got was Starlight shaking her flank at Silver, who blushed and shivered and basically sent every signal she could that she was interested, even as she tried to back off. In that regard, Silver was being somewhat true to character - playing the shy, sexually-submissive filly is right up Silver's alley. While she is willing to initiate things with her loved ones, she's not self-confident enough to be that coquettish with anypony else (at least not credibly). I bring that up because it assuages what would otherwise be a crippling irony in this chapter: Silver has had sex with several mares as a stallion, as well as as a mare. Moreover, while a mare she's let a stallion - or at least, Twilight with stallion bits - mount her, and on one occasion she and Twilight practically dry-humped while they both had stallion parts. What's my point? That Silver has almost certainly had more sexual experience than Starlight, at this point, and probably more than most other ponies in general. Hence, it was rather amusing to consider that Starlight was promising carnal pleasures, when in fact Silver could probably leave her a quivering mass of a mare without undue difficulty.
But that's far less egregious than my main complaint about this chapter, which is the utter unbelievability of Silver being so casual with Starlight after what she's done up until now. Let's leave aside the fact that Starlight is most certainly a criminal after the events of "The Cutie Map" - while lying to those ponies and removing their cutie marks might not be a crime, attempting to steal the Mane Six's cutie marks and almost blasting her former subordinates absolutely were - Starlight has also been involved in TWO different attacks on Silver, both of which were indirectly responsible for almost killing her unborn foals. But apparently, that's no big deal, because everypony deserves a second chance...despite the fact that forgiving Starlight now would be her fourth chance.
While it is laudable that Silver did at least bring up the issue with what happened to Night's foal, she let Starlight wave that away far too easily. For one thing, Starlight is known to be a liar (e.g. pretending to have given up her cutie mark), so her saying she had nothing to do with what happened is suspect at best. But more germane is the fact that even if it was an accident, Starlight is still culpable, something that also holds true for what happened with Twilight accidentally killing Silver. If you deliberately engage in a criminal act, and things go sideways during it and result in unintentional harm being inflicted, there's a strong case to be made that you nevertheless bear some degree of responsibility for the ensuing circumstances, since you engineered the situation in the first place. Silver might not be able to articulate the legal argument point-by-point, but she should be extremely cognizant of the fact that every time Starlight has appeared one of her unborn children has come within a hair's breadth of dying. That she could forgive that so easily doesn't strike me as kindhearted of her, it strikes me as horrifying.
So overall, this wasn't one of my favorite chapters.
5907703 I think Silver Stars would make an OK Ronson, with practice, of course!
Also remove Glimmer's face with a chainsaw!
Free face removals for everyone!
Darn it Silver! She literally out and right told you your mind would bind to hers with that gift, you mentioned how many possible nefarious things could be done with it, yet you immediately PUT IT ON! WTF girl?
6087603 Silver has a lot of faith in the ultimate goodness of ponies.
6087942 I know, it's one of those "endearing faults"....
6088712 It was, in some ways, part of what broke Glimmer.
I can't help but think the scene with Starlight would have gone much better if my character Fel were present. First he'd ask her why he shouldn't remove her horn. Then he'd come up with a more ironic plan, stripping her of her hypocrisy by taking her cutie mark.
6313074 Goodness, she was doing nothing wrong.
fraught with danger
5910599 Small point of order on the name thing. I believe Twilight Sparkle's mother is Twilight Velvet, but everyone refers to her by her last name Velvet. As the mother you'd think she would have the honour of being called by Twilight and her daughter by Sparkle (or Sparx maybe). So naming conventions in Equestria may vary quite a bit. Again as before I'll state "This is another universe with different rules than our own."
This is Starlight Glimmer right?
Never mind!
Is that the magic web crystal thing from the first book?
how? If I were Silver and I found Glimmer I would cut her up piece by piece until she told me who hired her
10318976
But you are not Silver. He is his own pony.
This story isn't dark in the same way 'Mated for Life' and its ilk are, yet, so I don't actually think this is right. However, the first thing that popped into my head was how sinister it would be if it turns out to be Celestia. She has wanted Silver removed as a threat for a while now, stealing his cutie mark would be a big start. She has also indicated a certain distaste for Luna's little breeding project as well. It would be easy enough to order the unicorns with Starlight Glimmer to specifically target Night's unborn foal. Then at the end of the chapter we get a confrontation with Celestia. Innocent side story, or foreshadowing of looming doom?
Now that that is all out of my poor traumatized brain, I have to agree with other comments. The reaction to Starlight Glimmer is... odd, barring some kind of interference. Silver seems to be not just forgiving, but overly attracted to her given their history. Starlight is largely responsible for both of Silver's unborn foals being, at least technically, killed. Since Silvers knowledge of the show doesn't extend to Starlight's first appearance there would be no reason for any influence from that direction either. I wonder if that crystal was being used to affect him before they even met up.