8 - Around Town
Silver trotted through the city, with an equal-sized pony beside him. He glanced sideways at First, "You sure you don't want to go to school?"
First snorted, "Has it been that long since you were in one? I'm not in a hurry. What would pony school teach anyway, how to chew oats?"
Silver let out an exasperated sigh, "Well come on, we're teaching you something." He turned off the road into Meadow's gym. There were about six ponies already inside, making use of the facilities. His expression brightened when he saw Tumble was one of them trotting heavily on a treadmill.
Silver raised a hoof at him, "Hey Tumble! Good to see you up and about."
Tumble stumbled at his voice, turning his head about until he spotted Silver, "Hey! ... Did you get another one?" he asked, staring at First.
First tilted her head at him, "I'm his sister."
Silver hesitated with surprise, which was already too long. Tumble nodded, "Oh yeah, you two do look alike. What brings you this way?"
Silver shook himself out, "We're looking for Meadow, for a workout. I meant it though." He smiled, "You look better already, outside, with ponies."
Meadow seemed to appear out of nowhere, popping up beside First, "Who's this pretty filly?"
First tried to jump back, and ended up flopping over as Silver had done many times. Silver moved around her, "This is First Star. I was hoping you could train both of us."
First climbed back to her hooves, "Who are you?"
Meadow Leaper pointed at himself, "Me? Meadow Leaper! I run this place, and show ponies how to move their flanks. And you're my newest client." He circled around her, looking her over intently.
She blushed brightly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
He pointed at her with a hoof, "You look like you have all the parts in the right place, we just have to show you how to use them. This way," He began to lead her away, leaving Silver and Tumble behind.
Silver hopped up onto the treadmill beside Tumble and soon had it rolling underneath him, keeping him at a steady trot. "Meadow made a nice place for himself, yeah?"
"Yeah," replied Tumble, seeming to face forward pointedly. "You were right, this place does help."
Silver nodded as he used a silvery hand to make his go a little faster, testing himself. "A little movement can help shake loose the cobwebs. So... how's work?"
Tumble frowned, "Not so good. Stupid changelings are chasing away business."
Silver winced, of course... "Well, you know how to drive now, right? Why not, say, delivery?"
"Delivery?" asked Tumble, peeking at Silver before looking straight forward again, "What do you mean?"
Silver shrugged, "Don't any big trucks go from city to city? How do they move big heavy things that a pegasus couldn't carry?"
Tumble frowned thoughtfully, "I don't... think so..." He glanced sideways at Silver again, "You did it again."
Silver blinked, looking at Tumble with less shyness, "Did what?"
Tumble snorted loudly, "Ideas! You keep coming up with ideas!"
Silver wasn't sure how to explain he was just saying what came obviously as a product of his civilization, so he shrugged, "Just comes to me. So... you going to be the first?"
Tumble raised a shaggy brow, "Do you think I could?"
Silver smiled, "Of course! And the changelings wouldn't be competition for that."
Tumble looked thoughtful as he ran along, and the two fell into a companionable silence. He broke it first with a musing, "Getting a big truck isn't free."
Silver almost asked if he could ask his family for help, but remembered how unlikely that was. "How much would it be?"
Tumble frowned, "I'll have to ask around... Wish I had the one you gave me before. That woulda been perfect."
Seeing Tumble's spirits sag, Silver spoke quickly, "I'll help! I mean, I'm not rich, but being a Night Guard isn't a volunteer position. I can help with a down payment?"
Meadow appeared suddenly, as is his habit, "Down payment on what?"
Silver stumbled, falling and being carried by the treadmill right to the ground in a pile. "Meadow! You... amazing stallion! How do you do that?"
Tumble answered Meadow, "We wanted to get a truck, to do deliveries between cities, for money, be the first, uh, inter-city, delivery company."
Meadow brightened, "They don't already do that? I'll help with that! I'll send some letters out to the pals from school. I bet they'll help too."
Silver recovered from his fall and stepped back onto the traitorous treadmill, resuming his pace, "See, you have friends, Tumble."
Tumble looked happy, a sort of uncertain happy. "I don't even know what to say... Thanks, both of you."
Meadow looked to Silver, "No problem, hey, First is doing some laps. How hard do you want me to be with her? She's just as bad as you were when you started, worse even. It's like she wasn't even born a pony or something."
Silver gave a nervous laugh, "Yeah... feels like that. Be firm, but don't break her. She's still a filly."
Meadow snorted, "She's the same size as you. She just has to find her cutie mark. Maybe she'll find it in the gym? That'd be pretty awesome! By the way, are you two really sibs? She doesn't talk like you at all, and she doesn't talk about you like a sister."
Silver tilted his head at Meadow. That stallion was more perceptive than he gave credit for. "She was adopted into my herd, you know, extended family?"
Meadow nodded once firmly, "That makes more sense. She's a little firecracker! Glad you didn't teach her magic yet. Uh oh, she's almost done, bye!" And he galloped off.
Silver stepped off his treadmill and shook out, "Tumble, when Meadow's done, can you ask him to walk First back up to the castle?"
"Sure thing," he said, still trundling along.
Silver slipped out of the gym and went for a walk. A treadmill was nice and all, but actual movement had that something... extra. His content walking was disturbed by a glint from directly beside him. He quickly leaped aside as an earth pony lunged out into the space he had been. He glanced around, realizing he had wandered into a side road between the main thoroughfares.
The earth pony was flanked by two unicorns. "We haven't forgotten you, 'Ambassador'," came a voice from above. Silver peeked up to see a pegasus hovering there with a malicious look. "You've made fools of better ponies one too many times."
The earth pony stallion charged at him and Silver quickly summoned his hands, burning with the extra power he'd learned to tap from Nightwing. He brought the hand in a crushing slap, knocking the pony aside and sending him into a rough tumble across the ground. Feeling giddy in his victory, however partial, Silver cried, "The night guard won't be beat up that easily."
One of the unicorns lowered her horn at him, playing magic across it. He grabbed for her horn, tugging her by it. The spell fizzled as she gave an almost-bleat, falling forward. Suddenly he was lifted, held in the second unicorn's magic. The pegasus flew up to him, flipping a ring out into her mouth, "Hold still."
Silver played the first spell that came to mind, and illuminated the area in fireworks. Thinking they were far more dangerous than they were in reality, the pegasus veered away from him. The first unicorn had regained her stance and scowled at Silver, sending a quick horn blast into his belly. He grunted and wriggled his hovering hooves in the air. That hurt more than he gave it credit for on the show.
The second unicorn suddenly released him, letting him topple from the air onto the ground in a heap. The earth pony, having recovered from his fall, was on Silver in a flash, driving his hooves into exposed ribs, "We own this city!" he shouted, "You stay out of our way!" The pony rose a hoof to strike again, but Silver played a defensive spell. His hoof struck the brightly-glowing silver sphere, and his sneers turned to screams as his foreleg exploded violently on contact. Silver could feel the power within him being drawn almost as abruptly away, fueling the destructive magic as it incapacitated his attacker.
Silver rolled up to his hooves, "You can surrender now. Celestia is well-known for her mercy." The pegasus pointed at him frantically and the two unicorns nodded. Their magic combined silently, reaching out and ripping his spell apart. The bubble popped and the pegasus dropped, slamming the ring onto his horn with a kiss.
His magic couldn't escape, his horn was useless.
He still had a weapon. He lunged forward, tackling the pegasus out of the air to the ground, then bit into her neck with a ferocity to do any vampire proud. She screamed a wail of utter torment. He could feel her heart thundering under him as he closed his jaws. Suddenly... it stopped. She went slack. Surely he hadn't choked her that quickly? He had no time to consider that as he wheeled around to face the two unicorns, fangs dripping with his recent score.
They took a slow step away from him, eyes wide and full of fear.
"Remove the ring," he ordered in a growl, tail lashing.
The first unicorn's horn glowed, and he could feel the congestion leave him. "Good," he said, "Shall we visit the princess?" They chose to flee instead, running off in two different directions. He decided to leave them be, instead inspecting the two he still had. It only took a moment to confirm the female was quite dead, though he still wasn't sure what killed her. The male was alive, but in shock.
He ran off to get help, holding the stallion up despite the strain of it. The nurses took him away quickly once they arrived at a clinic. "He is not to leave. He is a witness." They rushed to obey, and Silver had a moment to himself, breathing heavily. He had defended himself. He had killed. Still confused as to how exactly he had killed, he returned to the scene of the crime. The body still lay there, cooling and abandoned. He lifted it gently. Pegasi were much lighter than earth ponies.
Not knowing where else to go, he trotted towards the castle with his grizzly prize. The ponies afforded him a wide berth, not wanting to be anywhere near the dead pegasus. When he arrived at the steps, the guards didn't allow him past, "Put that down! What are you thinking?"
Silver glanced around, "I don't know what to do. She attacked me, I defended myself, and now she's dead."
The guards shared a look before one of them trotted to the side of the castle, leading Silver along. They placed the body in a small dark room, "I will summon the doctor. Stay here, you need his attention as much as she does."
Silver sank against a wall, letting all the tension leave him. There would be questions to answer, soon.
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ok now this is just being nasty, I know cliffhangers are good but horsefeathers this is just cruel.
did Silver Stars just kill a pony in battle or is this some kind of set up.
equestrian law murder is banishment.
Harts Fire
Oh "yeah" they look alike.
Meadow made a place for himself, "yeah."
Stop dropping the "h" at the end! It's "yeah!"
There are two spaces between "deliveries" and "between."
He said "yeah" after his nervous laugh.
She gave an "almost-bleat."
The silver sphere is "brightly-glowing."
Also, his "arm" should be "foreleg." For that matter, did his arm literally explode? Because if not I'd say something like "power exploded violently against his foreleg as it made contact."
Not a true error per se, but he needs the doctor "as much" as she does? Because I really don't think a doctor can do much for her in her current state.
5794362 Fixed! She needs to be examined. How she died is very important, since there was another pony (Silver) involved. Accident, or murder?
I am a bit confuse
at how the fight started, it seem that Silver was just gang-up all the sudden and threaten with-out the chance to diffuse the situation, before he started to use magic on them. It is obvious that that was the plan sens they had a magic suppress ring, but still I think Silver was too egger to use magic on his aggressors instead of running away from them. Plus, I don't think he is authorizes to attack others ponies with out a mandate or on a mission. at lest that is the general rule when a civilian is confronted in this that sort of situation. Plus, the strict rules about using magic to harm an other pony should dissuade Silver of doing that.
5794481 Silver annoyed more than a few nobles on his way to the top. There was the Plates, Tumble's parents, the students he got burned, anyone upset by his trial (x 2), and so on and so on. Whether they intended for him to fight back or not is a bit fuzzy.
5794379 This chapter was very good simply for how much it managed to accomplish. We managed to touch base with First, Meadow, and Tumble all at once, in a way that was excellent for how natural it felt - this was a great example of various plot-lines intersecting in the way that they should when they all have major factors (e.g. Silver himself) in common.
Silver's interaction with Tumble was limited, but that limitation felt cprrect, mostly because the way Tumble couldn't quite bring himself to be at ease around Silver. As much as Silver might want to relate to Tumble the same way that he does, say, Meadow, Tumble recognized that there are still unresolved issues between them, and he's not sure what to do until then. At the same time, Silver is trying to be a good friend, helping Tumble make a career change when the construction gig seems to be falling through for him (though the idea that the changelings are undercutting ponies that work heavy machinery stretches that idea somewhat - working a dump truck or a crane takes special training, or I suppose a natural talent, both of which Tumble has by this point. If anything, the changelings should be eager to hire Tumble to round out their construction skill-set).
It was predictable, but amusing, to see the hints that there might be something between Meadow and First. Meadow was clearly interested in her (though he seems to have a bit of a roving eye, since I seem to recall him being interested in Lily Jump too), and the way that First blushed under his gaze was cute, although perfectly natural since he was examining her rather closely.
That said, I'm of two minds about the idea of shipping Meadow and First together. On the one hand, it seems more "realistic" if not every female around Silver falls head-over-hooves for him, and this might be a fun way to give Meadow a larger role in the story, since he'd be dating Silver's sister. But on the other hand, shipping First and Silver has the potential for all sorts of fun drama/tension, in that "will they or won't they" interplay. That can be difficult to pull off, since Silver's going to have decidedly mixed feelings (at best) about getting involved with a girl that young, and I honestly can't imagine First being too comfortable with the whole "harem" idea ("Wait wait wait... mares run everything here, but somehow it's cool for a stallion to have a bunch of mares, but not cool for a mare to have a bunch of stallions? How does that make sense?"). Of course, all the while Luna - for all her "I'll let it happen naturally over time" attitude - probably won't be able to resist trying to nudge things along ("I'm sorry, First Stars, but we just don't have any more rooms in the palace wing right now. You're going to have to make peace with sharing a room with a healthy, married young couple.")
Finally, the issue with Silver killing that mare has the potential to be explosive. For one thing, she clearly didn't die from him biting her neck - not from the physical wounding, at least. So something else happened, which I'm betting is related to his being a lunar unicorn. Though if that's the case, it makes me wonder if Luna either didn't know about whatever weird power Silver has, or if she didn't tell him. Heck, do even know that that mare is really dead? Maybe she's in a deep coma...or maybe she'll rise from her grave in three days, as a vampire pony (and not like the one Twilight accidentally turned Fluttershy into).
It's interesting to consider that this might be beyond Luna's magic entirely. Silver is unique, not just in that he was a human who became a unicorn, but that he's had his essential nature changed by magic so many times. The strength spell Rough had that doctor cast on him, Lyra's pony satyr spell, Luna's ponification and de-aging...all of those seemed normal enough at the time, but that's a lot of strain on his aetheric net. We got a hint that something was wrong when he somehow absorbed Tirek's power, and now that he's taken on some of Luna's might (after he absorbed it totally for a brief time), well...would it really be that surprising if the normal rules didn't apply to Silver anymore?
EDIT: I forgot to add, that fight scene was also cathartic, both for the readers and, I suspect, for Silver himself. Being able to stand up for himself in a fight, and against superior numbers at that, and then win should give his confidence a big shot in the foreleg. Even if a pony did die (?), he still fought very well, using his magic and his new nature to its fullest. He should be proud - he's not the weak, ineffectual pony, or human, that he was before.
My only complaint is that a coordinated attack like that feels a little too well-executed to be random. How did those nobles know that he'd be in that place at that time? They were all right there, together, with a horn-blocker ready. It'd be nice if this wasn't some sort of one-and-done event...but then, there's a prisoner at the hospital already, so we might find out more very soon.
5794601 Oh no, the changelings win out in pure numbers and willingness to work stupid hours to get a job done. Even with limited training on heavy equipment, they can get a job done a lot faster, hire a few ponies for the 'harder' parts, and still finish the job for less than an all-pony company. Drones provide a staggering amount of pure work hours. It's hard to compete against a workforce that cheap. Mind you, this is temporary. In my mind, the drones will learn the wonders of being a pony over time, and start asking for actual pay, and weekends off to hang out with friends, and other such things. Their advantage is temporary, but powerful.
None of this helps Tumble, who's work is drying up rapidly as the company he worked for flails in the suddenly upset economy. I wasn't trying to be contrived. I really thought it came together quite well between the various plots going on. Juggling, as you said.
I almost feel like I should do a poll about First Star! In fact, I'm almost certain I will...
I can't say much about how the pegasus died that wouldn't be spoilers everywhere. Mind you, it's not cemented in my mind, but I have a strong inclination.
5794634 I didn't think it was contrived at all, I just wondered if it'd really be that bad for Tumble personally, and it certainly could be; I was musing, is all. But I thought the way everything intersected at the beginning of this chapter was very neat.
5794689 I often worry about my description of combat, when it breaks out. Exciting, not exciting? Made sense? Big chaotic mess?
5794719 I didn't find it hard to follow the action there at all.
5794719
berth I think.
5796781 Fixed, what think ye of the chapter?
5797073 He got some balls. That's good.
He accidentally killed someone in a selfdefence. Not that good.
He killed a female in self-defense. That's kinda bad, cuz I love females.
Don't really like the First Star, but I already said about my thought on more humans in equestria. Silver is enough, Jake is tolerable because he's far away. The girl is shifting focus to her and away from Silver.
5797245 Did you vote on the sudden poll of doom?
And this is why I shared that special spell with you, that it may be used in moments like this.
5817868 Necromancy is rarely a good answer!
Reread this. Every other time, you call her "Fast" instead of "First".
6242111 This isn't fast change.
slamming the ring onto his horn with a kiss.
His magic couldn't escape, his horn was useless.
I would be saying this...
"My magic is not impaired."
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=byoumsz4RvU]
Should be First?
First.
7206073 Fixed!
7206535
Running joke.
KILL THE TYPOS! WITH FIRE!