The day had come at last. Silver Stars was dressed in a new outfit 'worthy of a princess' and marched along with wings unfurled and held up high. She understood then that it was a display of her mixed-tribe nature. Sleek of body, long of wing and horn, she had to be the best of all ponies. She marched in the almost-religious seeming procession up towards where Twilight, Celestia, and Luna waited for her. Her crown was freshly forged. Celestia and Luna wore their ancient crowns, and Twilight had her Element's tiara to wear. Silver's was wrought of a fine silver that matched her mane, with a large bejeweled crescent moon in the center front. It settled between her ears, threatening to be just a little large, but Silver kept it in place with those long tufted ears.
Twilight stepped forward. "Today we celebrate the induction of a new and special princess." She gestured at Silver, "A new princess of the night, carrying the lunar blood and reminding us that our lunar brothers and sisters are treasured and wonderful ponies, worthy of princesshood, and kin to us all." She held out a hoof, and Silver stepped into the offered embrace. "May day and night be one, and ponies everywhere grow stronger in unity."
Clopping and stomping drowned out all else for a time before the crowd could be controlled. The flash of bulbs from eager reporters filled the room almost as thickly. Twilight began speaking as soon as peace returned. "With this in mind, I propose that the princesses of Equestria learn from Silver's example. We should be united in heart and body, to stand against all that would threaten Equestria." She released Silver and bowed her head towards her instead. "Princess Silver Stars, do you agree to become first of the Royal Circle? Do you swear to know your fellow princesses as dear ones, to hold and to cherish as you would any married pony. Let no secret be held from them, let no problem go unaddressed. Their hearts are your heart, their pain, your pain. Their triumph, your own."
Silver hadn't been warned of this, and went tense. This was a bold and sudden plan... But it could work. She nodded quickly. "I do. I will guard my royal mates and bid they protect me in turn, against threats physical and emotional. We will always be there for one another."
Twilight turned to Celestia and Luna. "Eldest of the princesses, wise and benevolent. You are both examples that we strive to follow." She brightly smiled. "Will you also join the Royal Circle? We would be lost without your guidance, but so do you also deserve its protection and warmth. Let our enemies know that we stand united as one."
Celestia betrayed no surprise, and Luna would not be outdone by her. As a stoic pair they nodded their heads. "We will stand at your side, Princess Twilight Sparkle. From many, one. Let it be known that the royalty of Equestria stand united."
The room exploded into a fresh wave of pandemonium. Some were confused, but most were simply excited. The noise and light of it all become painful, but the princesses waited patiently through it. Poor Twilight's own announcement of joining the circle was drowned out, but there wasn't a pony in the room that doubted she would join the circle of her own creation.
Silver's eyes darted to an off movement in the crowd. Most of the ponies were standing in rigid rows, even as they clopped and stomped, but someone was moving towards them. They were not wearing gold armor or purple. They moved with a predator's gait. A bolt of energy fired towards them and Silver quickly extended a field around them. Twilight, already close enough to touch, quickly harmonized with the shield, tinting the silver field with pink as it swelled larger and stronger. The bolt crashed against the combined field, which rippled but held. Silver lowered her horn, ready to fire a bolt, but the crowd was too thick. She didn't want to strike an innocent pony.
The crowd went into a new kind of wild. The orderly ranks broke apart instantly and ponies scattered in all directions, wild panic taking hold. Night Watch suddenly descended from the ceiling, landing heavily on a cloaked pony and pinning him to the ground. "Stay." She had him tied and bound quite abruptly, looking quite pleased with herself.
Luna drew a soft breath before shouting, "Peace, my ponies. The attacker has been apprehended."
Peace was slow in coming, but eventually the crowd was calmed. Night Watch took her prisoner out of the room, turning him over to the royal guards on duty, but they were confused. "Did you come down on him too hard?"
The attacker's head hung at a limp angle and there was no life left in him. Night frowned. "He was alive when I landed. Have him checked for magic." They saluted and marched off with the body.
Fortunately, nopony else tried to crash the coronation, and it passed peacefully. At the reception, Silver was approached by a great number of upperclass merchants and nobility, seeking a moment of her time. She tried to be polite to them, listening as they talked eagerly about whatever they considered most pressing. Most were things she knew little about. She just accepted the attention and gave the best answers she could think of, and indecisive ones when she knew nothing.
The first guest to surprise her was a professor, one she knew. "Professor Thetics!" She smiled gently. "I hadn't expected you."
Professor Thetics nodded. "Charmed. So... This is where you ended up?"
Silver tilted her head. "I'm surprised you can recognize me."
Thetics pointed at Silver's cutie mark. "You're not that hard to spot. Congratulations are in order."
Silver smiled gently and nodded. "Thank you. How is the school?"
Thetics sighed softly. "It's fine, but... If you have a moment, I was hoping you would have time to discuss something about Equestrian education?"
Silver perked her ears. "You have my attention." She held up a hoof. "I did mean what I said a long time ago. I am sorry I mistreated you that way back then."
Thetics waved it off. "You were a colt, but you are far from alone. You are proof that our system is broken. How many other bright unicorns desperately want to learn and contribute to the fields of magic but are held back by one learning disability or another? You, who has yet to memorize the basic alphabet, have accomplished more than many of our students." He raised a brow. "That isn't just, is it?"
Silver shook her head quickly. "Not at all. It isn't fair. The tests were harsh and the test-givers often cold and distant."
Thetics gave a soft nod and produced a pamphlet. "Here. My proposal. Read it at your leisure."
Silver accepted it and tucked it away into her dress as she looked Thetics over. "Weren't you angry that I was intruding on your school once?"
Thetics huffed. "Are you the only one capable of change? I became a teacher to spread knowledge of magic, and to help others expand it. Help me do that." He turned and trotted off into the crowd.
Tumble approached from where he had been standing close by. "Who was that?"
Silver smiled gently. "An old friend. I think we grew up together."
A sudden tapping on the shoulder made Silver spin around to find no one. It happened again and she just turned her head left and right before looking up. Discord was floating over her head. "Nice crown."
Silver smiled. "Hey there. I didn't think you'd show up."
Discord landed beside Silver. "Welcome to princesshood and all its dreary boring responsibilities. Here, you get one." He snapped his fingers and Silver was wearing a large red cape with white trim and a cane with Silver's face done in a goofy way at the end.
Silver giggled at it and held the cane close. "I will treasure it forever."
Discord chuckled softly. "I just can't seem to get under your skin. So, tired of the line of petitioners yet?"
Silver shrugged. "I'll get boring to them when they get it through their heads I haven't learned how to do half the things they hope I'll do."
"Oh will they?" Discord hiked a thumb at Celestia across the room. "You're tied up with Sunbutt over there, so if anypony whispers in your ear, you might pass it on to her."
Silver sagged a little. "I hadn't thought of that, good point. Oh well." She straightened herself out. "I agreed to this, I'll make it work. Have you tried the little radish crackers? They're delish."
Discord suddenly held a tray full of them and took a nibble of one. "Not bad. Not bad. Sorry I can't stay, but the work of Discord is never done!" And he vanished without fanfare.
Tumble took the scepter carefully and the cape to go with it. "I'll hold onto these for you."
"Thanks." Silver smiled and looked around. "Let's mingle."
And mingle they did. They ran into Fast and Night and roamed together through the party, saying their hellos to each pony in turn, and a few foreign dignitaries as well.
The regally bejeweled diamond dog alpha nodded at Silver. "Bold move."
Silver perked her ears. "Thank you, but what?"
He gestured at each alicorn in the room in turn. "The world already knows the power of one alicorn. To amass them together like that. You are more powerful, perhaps, but a bigger target as well. A bold move."
Silver snorted softly. "I suppose that's true. I'm Princess Silver Stars, you are?"
He offered a large paw. "King Max." Paw and hoof shook. She could feel him squeezing powerfully, but hooves were good at resisting that sort of abuse. "A pleasure. We'll meet again in the battlefield."
Silver tilted her head. "Are we at war?"
"When are we not?" He laughed softly. "Battles do not always end in bloodshed. There will be treaties to argue over, trade routes to negotiate, laws to be hammered out. The only true peace is an unending war of loud people. When it becomes quiet, you know war has reached us. Good luck, new princess."
Silver ran into Luna next, who looked a little distant. "You alright?"
Luna looked down at Silver. "Are you certain you are not an agent of chaos?" She huffed. "I jest in part. I am aware you did not prompt Twilight Sparkle, but her actions..."
Night stepped forward timidly. "I know the circle Twilight made up is for princesses only... but... You are welcome in our number, Luna."
Luna smiled brightly and leaned in, rubbing snouts with Night and she looked more relaxed. "I am so very happy to hear you say that, cherished one. And what of your herd-mates? Are they also so eager to have me?"
Fast gave a quick nod, grinning. Silver reached out a hoof. "You know you're special to me, Luna. You saved me from myself, and helped put me on the right path, even if I had to walk it myself. I will always be happy to see you."
Luna nodded slowly. "I must think over this... Thank you." She walked off into the crowd, expression heavy with thoughts, but a little less burdened than before.
By the power of Silver Twilicane I will banish all typos to the Moon or whatever the next best thing would be.
I think you mean her crown was freshly forged. I'm not sure forging a horn would be a pleasant experience for any of the princesses
I have decided to dub the assassin the "Suicide Photobomber". Now rather than a successful assassin, he is a character assassin (whose success is yet to be seen). No doubt at least one newspaper will have an article on the overuse of force against this poor soul, especially given Night Watch's tight ties to both Silver Stars and Luna.
Extra! Extra! Lunar Princesses deploy lethal force too easily! Could you be in mortal danger if you jaywalk?! Read page 11 to find out!
personal note. I was just thinking early this morning it was time for Silver Start coronation and behold it is here.
before I even started to read this chapter I watched the video behold behold it just made this chapter mean so much more to me.
the mystery attacker? and I know Night did not hit the pony any ware near hard enough to kill, I am laying 100% we have a new bade pony.
dang Twilight a little warning next time talk about drooping a boom in the mix forming a royal herd. supper powerful but you just panted a hug bulls eye on every one in the herd. think of Fast and Night they do not have alicorn powers to defend there selves.
ok I am supper happy so I am going to go watch Twilight be killed at the end of season 3.
Harts Fire
5947907 Fixed, oops. Horns don't like being forged.
5948444 yeah. Awesomeness
5948466 What chapter be ye on?
5948497 chapter 34 or more.
5948603 das wierd.
5948608 if you reply from the front page of the story, it will reply on the last chapter.
5948654 last words for somewolf to say:
I my fellow wolves may be leaving but...... fuck logic I'm god *heals self and flys away*
I'm not sure but didn't silver have two other friend girls I forgot about them
Holy. Shit. Potatoes are best food
5948719 Potatoes are great, but what brings them up?
5948737 I don't even know. I'm confused by myself sometimes. I guess I just say random things to be funny. And people just get annoyed. Most of the time even silver blood.
5948745 wait a sec silver blood sounds like what silver stars would be called if he was a vampire. Lol
5948751 but silver blood is not a vampire version of silver stars. Wait a second he's already kinda a vimpare. Silver stars i mean
5948807 If you look the right way.
Her "mixed-tribe" nature.
A large "bejeweled" crescent moon.
Capitalize "she."
The use of "field" twice is cumbersome; change the second instance of it to "shield."
The "test-givers" were often cold and distant.
There are two spaces between "tucked" and "it."
Looking much "more" relaxed.
5948825 All fixed for a chapter fit for royalty!
I am best Half human half wolf person thingymabob
5948895 I can't argue this.
I comment way to much
5948901 I've seen worse, I think.
5948901 oh sure tiết nhé lồ sẹm
5948938 what the fuck?
5948863 After several chapters of the characters dealing with personal matters, this chapter returns the story's gaze to the big picture, and with notable gusto! Silver's coronation unexpectedly turned into a group marriage, and I have to admit I was impressed with how profound that unexpected turn of events was!
I suspect that I come across as preferring character development to adventure, but it's more correct to say that I prefer both at the same time (but if I can only have one, I'd rather have character development). This was an excellent example of that, as Twilight's unexpected actions married (pun intended) the personal and the political together in one fell swoop. From how things were described, it wasn't just Silver who was caught by surprise - very sneaky, Twilight, and rather risky to boot. But I have to say, I'm actually quite pleased with her actions here - after so much equivocating and nervous anxiety on her part, she acted decisively, rather than recklessly, and moved things forward, for the benefit of her loved ones as well as the ruling powers of Equestria. It was excellently done.
Even more notable was the presence of a new enemy, one bold enough to attack four alicorns all at once, right in the heart of their domain. The implication, that the attacker was dead despite Night Watch's less-than-lethal takedown, is a grim implication, since (to my mind) it implies that the attacker was a corpse-puppet, which makes the attacker some sort of necromancer.
While it is morbid, I can't help but wonder if the corpse is one that could be traced to Silver somehow. Officially, the only pony that Silver has killed was a pegasus mare, and the corpse was described as a "he," so that connection seems out, which is a shame. If it were the body of a pony that Silver had wronged, that alone would send a very powerful message...though that's presume that the new enemy is someone that has a personal connection to Silver. At this point, it's hard to imagine who that could be. She shadows are still confined to the north (and since Cadance and Shining Armor weren't there, it's unlikely that they slipped that far south), and this really isn't Starlight Glimmer's style, so who does that leave? Possibly whomever hired Starlight to begin with (has her letter ever arrived?), but even that's just a shot in the dark.
It was nice to meet the ruler of a foreign nation at last; for a story with this much national politics, it's high time we met a foreign dignitary! King Max was impressive for his acumen of all international relations being a war in some regard, though it's more aptly described as a competition. He seems like the type to enjoy the challenge, even if he's simply a fan of competition rather than violence. It was also a nice callback to see Professor Thetics return, apparently having found his composure at last...though having Silver be royalty now seems to have helped that particular transformation along.
Most rewarding, in terms of personal relationships, was seeing Luna and Night Watch greet each other again. It's funny that, for how much has been made of Luna and Silver's relationship, we've also had it quietly demonstrated how Luna has almost as much heartache for what she lost with Night Watch as well. Even if it was tentative, seeing the two of them share a tender moment was beautiful. Luna may have said that she needs to "think it over," but I suspect that she's simply unsure if her dearest wish - to be reunited with the ones she fell in love with - is really coming true. Once it sinks in that she's finally going to be able to move forward with Silver and Night, I suspect that it will be an emotional reunion. In fact, there's going to be (at least I hope there will be!) quite a bit of that going around, since we should also get a scene of Twilight and Celestia having a serious talk about their relationship.
In fact, that should be the next chapter(s), since it's pretty clear how things are going to be divided up: 1) Twilight and Celestia, 2) Tumble and Fast, and 3) Night, Luna, and Silver are all going to be spending time figuring out what they mean to each other in the near future. This will be one hell of a honeymoon!
...maybe after that, they can go on that long-delayed trip to Anugypt?
5948938 motherfucking potato hating piece of shit.
5948944 For better or worse, Silver and Twilight have set a firm hoof into the global arena. Intrigue and danger levels increase!
On the plus side, by Twilight not using the 'herd' word, they've sidestepped around the legalities concerning such while getting the parts she wanted. Clever girl...
Thetics was nice to bring up. He's not a bad pony, and he got a chance to show that nicely.
Overall, a fun chapter to write.
Sorry. It's a guy who keeps hacking into my account and saying random things in Vietnamese.
5949331 You should change your password?
5949168 So Twilight is planning on sidestepping the legal problems by calling it a civil union instead of a marriage? That idea doesn't necessarily lack viability, but if the nobility wants to update the laws regarding alicorns to cover "a circle" as well as a herd - or even just declare that a circle is a herd - they can do that without undue difficulty.
By the by, I liked that you had expository dialogue about how the characters felt about things in this chapter. That was encouraging to see the story be that forthcoming.
5950561 Hmm? I'm not sure which part of the chapter you're referring to there with the exposition?
5950608 Mostly the beginning, where we get quite a bit of insight into Silver's state of mind as she's being crowned and married all at once.
5950623 Ah. The 'camera' as it were was always focused tightly on Silver, to the point of boring through her skull. Heck, I've slipped into first person a few times while writing her lines and had to fix it afterwards. This is Silver's story quite intimately.
hasn't her element been returned to the tree?
or are you talking about the tiara without the element jewel
5950923 Correct, just the tiara. She never shoved that in the tree.
King max you sonuffa bitch
5965305 A fact he cannot argue.
5950966 I think all six received standard jewel replacement for their element mounts. Doesn't hurt to look the part on special occasions.
5949331 Yes it translates as
Sounds like some Vietnamese refugee has teleported into Cloudsdale?
Maybe she can have her own #1 assistant. Like her own baby dragon, and her name will be Barb. What you think? Good? Bad? Too late for it to happen, not to be?
Oh man, a 4-way marriage to boot? This evening is going to be awkward. I'm sure Sunbutt is looking forward to dragging Bookbutt across the threshhold, as is Moonbutt for Humanbutt, but that leaves out two other viable, as yet unrealized pairings that would also need to happen. And making it harder is the one pairing that can't.
So juicy.
And even with that consideration, are Humanbutt and Bookbutt really ready for Sunbutt?
Butts!
Dude I think it's time for me to give this story a break, I'm emotionally overloaded but I'll be back in a month or two.
10319030
You chose a dark and turbulent path to walk alongside him. He appreciates the company.
A little surprised Cadance didn't show up for the coronation.
I'm guessing she's too busy with the troubles of getting her own nation developed.