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David Silver


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The taxi arrived beside a large and sleek looking ship.

A large and "sleek-looking" ship.

Her smiling expression fell as a richly dressed feline approached with two tails.

Her smile fell as a "richly-dressed" feline approached.

"But I have heard so much about the fabled Prince of the Night, bringer of inspiration." She arched a brow. "Stud of the land, and he who has no past.

If those really are titles, then they should all be capitalized, e.g. "Bringer of Inspiration," "Stud of the Land," and "He Who Has No Past."

Ah well, what was one last fling to harm.

I'd change that to "Ah well, what would one last fling hurt?"

The airspace of the city proved quite busy, with pegasi flitting from place to place quite busily, and a few non-pegasi moving about in helicopters and other fanciful looking devices, pedaling them wildly.

Moving about in helicopters and other "fanciful-looking devices."

He strode inside to find a surprised looking security guard behind his desk.

A "surprised-looking" security guard.

The door peeked open to reveal a matronly looking unicorn female.

A "matronly-looking" unicorn female.

Her apartment felt like an old person's home, though the mare was in her middle-ages at worst, and pudgy.

Though the mare was "middle-aged" at worst.

She approached wielding a stiff bristled brush in her golden magic.

She approached with a "stiff-bristled" brush in her golden magic.

The story rolls on, typos intact for historical purposes., commemorating the start of this journey.

Delete that first period.

6026668 Now this is a pleasant surprise! I was just getting used to mourning the loss of looking forward to daily updates about Silver's life and adventures, and then we get a new story! Needless to say, I'm quite happy. :raritystarry:

One thing that I appreciated right off is the fairly sedate pace that the first chapter sets. One of the cardinal sins that many fics commit is wanting to skip straight to the "good parts," which means that necessary build-up and development get ignored. These fics have rarely had that problem - if anything, they can often go too far in the other direction - but it's nice to see that trend being upheld here all the same. In this chapter, Silver and Celestia make it to the boat in the harbor. That that much time can be spent just on the very first step of the journey is something I found heartening, particularly in light of thinking that we weren't going to be seeing Silver again for a long time.

While it seems obvious in hindsight, I really had no idea that the population of Anugypt were feline in nature. For some reason, the thought in my head was of the ponies of Saddle Arabia, and it never occurred to me to suspect otherwise. That they're nekomata - two-tailed cats - is even more surprising. Given that, there's a surprisingly wide variety of developments that can be made with regards to the felines that Silver and Celestia are going to encounter. Are they all two-tailed, or are there also one-tails, the same way that there are multiple tribes of ponies? Or is getting your second tail (or even first tail; maybe kittens are tailless) the sign of adulthood the way a cutie mark is for ponies? Do they have magic like the nekomatas of mythology (I doubt it though, even among other races, true spellcasting seems to be reserved for unicorns), or is it the subtle, internal magic that non-unicorn ponies (and probably other races, like griffons) have? There's a large amount of creative space to play in here.

Ambassador Doublebrush seems like she has the potential to be an interesting character. While we don't see very much of her here, the impression that I got of her was interesting, in that she seems like the sort of person who actually isn't very ideological, but enjoys the nature of her position nonetheless. That is, she doesn't seem like the type to become passionate about politics unto itself, but enjoys international diplomacy as though it were a chess game. She seems like she plays hard and plays to win, but doesn't take it personally if she loses, considering how she greeted Celestia.

I'm also given to wonder why she's being recalled. While that may sound routine, that seems slightly hard to swallow, especially given the backdrop about her country being in turmoil. Before the days of easy long-distance communication, ambassadors were true plenipotentiaries; that is, they were endowed with the ability to act with the full authority of their home nation when dealing with another country. In other words, Ambassador Doublebrush could enter into a treaty with Equestria, and Anugypt would have to honor it - she may have said that whomever was coming to replace her would be "spewing the demands of the pharaoh," but I'd guess that she was just being circumspect. That kind of position isn't one you send someone into lightly, since they have that much power with regards to your kingdom and whatever other land they're assigned to. Conversely, you don't recall them unless there's a good reason for it.

Clearly, she hasn't lost her touch, since she seems to know a fair amount about Silver...though I suspect that he's quite the hot topic these days anyway! These titles are clearly bestowed by a populace that's devouring any new information with regards to the newest alicorn, both for his unique nature and his myriad changes and adventures. The "Bringer of Inspiration" title might sound like a reference to his magic, but Silver has also come up with several ideas for his friends that have changed their lives (e.g. Tumble's trucking business). Similarly, "He Who Has No Past" sounds like a reference to his just appearing in Equestria one day, but at the same time I wonder how much of it comes from the fact that his many changes since arriving there have caused what people "know" about him to become hopelessly muddled.

Of course, the big title is "Stud of the Land." Rather ironically, Silver has barely done any studding at this point, so it's fairly clear that Luna has put the word out that Silver is looking to stud for one and all mares. That's not too surprising, since she wants so badly for her lunar unicorns to become a full segment of society. Still, I have to wonder how she's conducting her selection process...I can understand Starlight Glimmer (I suppose), since she's a powerful spellcaster and has quite a bit of notoriety to those in the know. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are self-explanatory (even if that fell through), but this new mare...what's her claim for being so close to the front of the line?

As it was, I initially had mixed feelings about Silver getting it on with some older mare that was clearly past her prime, and not exactly a paragon of femininity either. However, I remembered something on the second read-through, and the entire sequence suddenly made a great deal more sense: this is a job that Silver is performing, not an indulgence. That is, this isn't meant to be "Silver's super-fun sexy times." This is him breeding a new tribe into existence, and that means that he has a literal duty to fulfill, and that in turn means that he's going to need to do it with any number of mares, and they won't all be young, sexy-types.

In fact, it was notable that Silver never even learned this mare's name. That really took a lot of the intimacy out of the encounter (at least for me), since even if he wanted to he likely couldn't find her again (once he forgets the details, like where she lives), and so couldn't see their child even if he felt like doing so. This was, in other words, an encounter that was entirely about business...which brings us back around to the ever-present question, how in the hay did she conceive if she didn't love him? Because there's no way that she felt love for him, which is a required component for a mare being receptive. That's going to need some explanation.

Besides that, I should note the tenor for this story. It's honestly not nearly as raunchy as I thought it'd be. While the act itself does get more description, it's nowhere near the XXX-rating that I thought it'd be; for that matter, this doesn't even seem fully X-rated, so much as a hard (pun intended) R-rating. True, we are getting a bit more details than before, but not that much more, and the coupling is still described in rather poetic terms. If the Text wants this to step up to being at the level that it'd "make a whore blush," then it still needs to crank the dial. That said, I'm perfectly happy with how much description is being given to Silver's conquests...though as he noted, this might be the last time he gets laid for a while anyway. (Though I think we're all expecting him to "bag" Celestia at some point on this trip, especially since they're going to be sleeping in the same bed.)

Speaking of which, I was a little surprised by how Celestia treated Silver when he got back. Did she not know that he and Luna were conspiring to stud the lunar unicorns into existence? I can understand her teasing him about getting around so much, and I can understand his retorting that it's something that he needs to do...I'm just not sure why she was so visibly rebuked. It's like she hadn't considered that angle before, which seems a bit odd. I can't figure out her reaction there.

Either way, they're all on the boat (everybody look at him, 'cause he's sailing on a boat!) and ready to make the trip to Anugypt! Here's to a new adventure with Silver!

6026702 Celestia's reaction was in large part just to how badly Silver took it. She meant to do a little light-hearted ribbing and he clearly took it a bit closer to heart, and she backed off. She is trying, in her own way, to forge a few friendly roads with Silver, some more successful than others.

The mare wanted Silver, even if Silver was lukewarm about the encounter. This is also why the first, quick, time didn't trigger it at all. When Silver went back for seconds and showed -some- warmth, she got her engine humming at least hard enough to hit the threshold. She wanted the foal, and she did want Silver, or Luna would not have sent him.

I hope that makes some kind of internal sense.

"Lady's first."

That should be "Ladies first."

He nuzzled her from under there, rubbing his snout along her ribs a moment before he came back up for air. soaking wet but smiling.

Change that first period into a comma.

She rose out of the water and grabbed several towers with her magic.

She grabbed several "towels" with her magic.

They navigated the halls of the ship and arrived at the stately dining hall, where one Ambassador Doublebrush sat at an otherwise abandoned table.

Ambassador Doublebrush sat at an "otherwise-abandoned" table.

If you see a grown cat with one tail, they are Baastian.

Since "Baastian" is just a term for their race, it's not technically a proper name, and so shouldn't be capitalized.

They ate breakfast in good spirit, then went to see the day go by.

They ate breakfast in good "spirits."

The trip continues! Silver and Celestia spend some time together, and Silver gets some lessons in how to act like royalty, both in terms of direct instruction and in experiencing a breakfast meeting with a foreign politician. Maybe by the time they reach Anugypt, he'll be a halfway-decent prince, even!

I confess that the opening scene, with Celestia explaining the specifics about her moving the sun while on a trip abroad, were rather confusing to read about. For one thing, I'm not sure that I understand the entire idea of Celestia's sense of time being tied to being in Canterlot. What sort of zeitgeber requires her to stay within her royal city in order to perceive it? The only thing I can think of that would throw this off is that her internal chronometer is messed up by them traveling far enough that "time zones" (essentially) are coming into play...and even that, that's not so much about Canterlot as it is about the sheer distance they're traveling from Equestria.

However, this brings up another problem. Celestia said that Luna is giving her her cues for when to move the sun, but how is Luna communicating those cues to her in the first place? One of the major aspects of this trip is that Silver and Celestia are isolated from everypony else that remained in Equestria - other than Silver and Luna barely being able to meet each other, due to them both being dreamwalkers - so it's rather odd that Luna would still be able to communicate with Celestia like this. It might be fun if it was something like having certain stars twinkle in a certain pattern at a certain time, but that would require that Celestia be able to view them in the first place, which clearly wasn't the case here. As such, the mystery remains.

The scene of Celestia and Silver in the bath straddled the line between suggestive and sensuous, and I get the feeling that that was by design on Celestia's part. We know that the royal sisters would periodically take lovers, but I suspect that it's been much, much longer since Celestia has had anything more intimate, that included things like flirting. Of course, she has a nascent romance with Twilight, but that's currently on hold, to say nothing of the fact that Twilight was getting into that reluctantly. For the moment, she seems quite happy to play the coquette with Silver, and I get the impression that she's in no rush to have things get physical. Being coy is something she does surprisingly well, and it's not hard to see her amusement at flustering her new husband. I wonder if he understands that she'd probably like it if he was a little more aggressive back (though I suspect that anything more than a mild increase in this fashion wouldn't be welcomed).

Ambassador Doublebrush's scene was exceptionally well-written, as it played her exactly in the manner that I was picturing her. Namely, that she's cordial, and informative (especially since they were taking a meal together, where politeness is even more important), but still probing for information. She's clearly mastered the art of being civil while simultaneously conducting an interrogation, all the better to put the other person at ease so that they don't realize they're turning over exactly what she wants from them. It was notable, for instance, that she only turned over information that was general knowledge regarding her homeland, but asked questions about Silver personally.

Moreover, she tailored her attitude to him. Her comment about "I don't bite, unless you like that," had an obvious sexual undertone; that sort of flirting was clearly done because Silver has a reputation as having a large sexual appetite - the "Stud of the Land," after all - and I'd bet quite a lot that she was trying to appeal to that to get him to let his guard down...though she had the good manners not to press that angle in front of his wife. I imagine she'll be waving her tails at him a little more throughout the trip, but I'd be very surprised if it was ever to do anything besides get him (pillow-)talking...though to be fair, I doubt she'd go so far as to sleep with him. After all, there's nothing to suggest that ponies and cats are interfertile, and Silver's sexual liaisons only extend to studding...that, and putting out just to gain an advantage is a bit more whore-y than I see her being. Hence why (as noted last chapter) it's not likely that he'll be getting much action in Anugypt (notwithstanding more scheming politicians hoping to use sex as a tactic)...or so it seems now, at least.

The explanation about the types of cats was interesting, giving us a good background for what to expect when the ship reaches their destination. So there are one-tailed cats that are physical, and two-tailed cats that are magical...plus plenty of lesser types as well. I'm glad that last caveat was thrown in there, since there's still a great deal of feline archetypes that this story can avail itself of. I still don't expect to see nekomata using true spellcasting the way unicorns do, but that's purely a conceit on my part; maybe the second tail is a magical organ the way a unicorn horn is (though I'd still expect it to be so different that the two types of magic are near-impossible to "translate"...unless Silver's special talent lets him do just that).

So many possibilities! This journey is just getting started.

6028431 Typos left out in the sun to bake into something more appetizing. Picture has been ordered from the talented Sita Duncan to get our first peek of Prince Silver Stars too, woot!

Their scene together was muddled by both sides not really being 100% sure of themselves. Celestia kind of wants to be with Silver and to enjoy his company, and yet she hasn't magically forgotten the bad times of the past, though she's trying to let it go, as the song goes.

Silver never really disliked Celestia, though he's been angry at her plenty of times, and still finds her a bit intimidating. They're both peeking out of their shells at one another, making their awkward signals that they're OK with the other. while exchanging information that really needs to be shared for the trip they are on.

Doublebrush was fun to write for, with her new feline nature countering the pony one. She is not a pony, and I try to make that clear. Even when she walks it becomes obvious. As for pony/cat hybrids, we'll leave that mystery to the reader for now. We know what pony/griffons look like at least.

Thanks for being a pre-reader!

"I do,"

Change the comma to a period.

She hardly seemed the, uh, prime breeding stock.

I'd change "the" to "like."

"Nay."

There's no error here. I just think it'd be really funny if Luna said "Neigh" instead (like Trixie did that one time in the show - "Neigh-sayers").

Silver tried to slow his breaths, counting four heartbeats her exhale and inhale in an old meditation he had learned long before coming to Equestria.

Counting four heartbeats "per" exhale and inhale.

The drowned looking pony fixed its lack of eyes on Silver.

The "drowned-looking" pony.

When the creature tried to press past the ring of fire, fire magic crashed into it, engulfing it in a violent fireball. It barely seemed to notice it, still reaching even as its flesh melted and cooked.

There are two spaces between these sentences.

Silver suddenly came to, throwing off the malignant force in his mind with a burst of Silver and dismissing the ring of fire. Celestia closed the distance when the flamed faded.

There are two spaces between these sentences, too.

Also, change "flamed" to "flames."

She drew back and nuzzled.

She drew back and nuzzled "him."

6030644 Typos sent sent to the bottom of the ocean.

6030681 What in the heck was that?! Seriously, from out of nowhere comes a force of great power and greater malevolence, endangering everyone on the ship in general, and Silver in particular. It was incredible! Seriously, this chapter was a completely unexpected shift in tone, and the result was spectacular!

Before I go any further in the review and analysis, I'm going to say that I hope that this particular plot-line isn't continued, despite the chapter title. I say that not in spite of how much I enjoyed this chapter - and make no mistake, I liked it a lot - but rather because of it. This chapter struck a very high note, and I'm of the opinion that it should end on it. While there may be some resolution next chapter in terms of the characters trying to make sense of what just happened, I think that this would be more powerful if there were no further revelations regarding what that unknown entity was, what it wants, etc.

This may come across as odd, because I'm normally very much against dangling plot-threads, but in fact there's a key distinction to be made here: this isn't a plot-thread. Rather, this was a world-building sequence. That might sound arbitrary, but the salient element here is that this particular aspect of the story doesn't begin with Silver (this thing has been there a long time, as the sailors' having tales about this part of the sea indicate), doesn't revolve around him (he may have intrigued this thing, to the point of having several attacks directed against him personally, but that all seems to be happenstance, rather than part of some larger plans it has), and won't end with him (whether Silver is there or not, that thing is going to be down there).

Instead, what's happened is that Silver has stumbled onto one of the truly terrible parts of the wider world beyond Equestria. In that regard, this is like rolling terribly on the random encounter tables. This helps to further paint a picture of how the world looks, and in doing so paints a further picture that it's not all rainbows and friendship. That, to me, is the big take-away from this chapter, and it needs no further underlining. Indeed, bringing the monster into the light after this would, I think, rob it of its narrative power. We may see another demonstration of its abilities, but its ultimate nature, goals, full complement of powers, etc. should be undefined. I have my own thoughts on what this could be, and I'm sure everyone else will as well - that's as terrifying as it gets.

Having said all of that, let's go over the chapter proper.

It was a bit amusing to see that Silver was finding himself bored as the trip progressed, simply because of how little we usually see the protagonist sitting around with nothing to do. Of course, that makes for a poor story, so things quickly move on from there. Still, it was rather odd to note that Silver wasn't designing new spells purely for the fun of it. He's got nothing but time, though I suppose he didn't bring his books with him, so there's very little references to work with. Still, one wonders why he's apparently putting all of that time to no constructive use at all.

I frowned a bit at the idea that Silver woke Luna up to summon her into the dreamscape. That sounds very counterintuitive, since one would presume that you'd need to be asleep to access the realm of dreams...just like Silver did in this chapter, when he found his way there while taking a nap. So having Luna be there because Silver awakened her might need to be tweaked a little.

I would chastise Luna for not warning Silver about that thing, but to be fair she has no idea where he physically is at this point. Still, one might wonder why she didn't give a general warning of "I once touched a powerful, evil mind there...something slumbers within the sea that was never a pony. Do not try to view its dreams." Did she just forget? That could have saved Silver a lot of grief.

To be fair, Silver has only himself to blame. While the sailors seem to view that leg of the journey as morbid, if not cursed, Silver's curiosity seems to have aroused that thing's attention, to the point where it's actively attacking him. Between the undead minions it sent to kidnap him, and the psychic attacks - which he seems to be uniquely vulnerable to, due to his dreamwalking powers - it's making quite the play for him. The implication is that this is entirely coincidental, however; that if Silver hadn't tried to look into this thing's dreams, it would never have known he was there, and so probably would have let them pass by without being molested. Now, however, it's found a new plaything...

Of course, the flipside to this is that I don't think that this will progress much further, if it even keeps up at all. That's because, if this thing does regard Silver as something of interest, rather than anything truly vital, it's only going to go so far to try and acquire/torment him. More than that and it will likely become more effort than it's worth, hence why it didn't go to personally collect him. There's simply no purpose in revealing that much of itself, and be vulnerable to attack in return, for what it would get for it.

I also appreciated that this thing has its own brand of psychic powers. Silver may be an intuitive dreamwalker, but it's nice to see that powers along those lines aren't unique to him and Luna. This thing has its own set of mental powers, clearly with some similarities to Silver's, and it's not only more adept at using them, but can also turn them against Silver with stunning effectiveness...especially in conjunction with sending its undead minions.

It's iffy if this chapter will be the end of it, but I hope the monster never comes out from behind its metaphorical curtain.

6030817 More detailed reply pending. It's Everfree NW time!

6030817 So, this chapter. It kinda just flowed out of me as things happened. Silver gently poked a cthulu-esq entity and discovered that the mind is not always a safe place to be, a good lesson. Why did Luna say nothing? She probably didn't prod the door, and that was a long time ago, and she was half-asleep when she was most likely to give the warning.

Silver did not specifically wake her up, prodding Celestia's door summoned her, likely a trap/ward she set up to protect her sister.

Fun fact, only the first fever dream was actually edited by the thing. The rest was it simply gazing at an alien world.

Ah, so now you give your story a Mature rating. I'm guessing there's more innuendos in this one?

6045834 And maybe an actual clop scene somewhere, but I'll warn if a chapter has that hiding in it. Welcome!

6045845 I've been griping about how this series doesn't have a Mature rating even though it has clop -- though admittedly it isn't even remotely good -- and allusions to sex for.... I forget how many stories.

Anyways, you don't have to say which ones have clop if you want that to be a surprise. That's the beauty of the Mature tag; you can put whatever you want as long as it fits the tags you have.

the story coming long nice. keep work up.

Comment posted by Phobos deleted Nov 17th, 2017
Comment posted by Phobos deleted Nov 17th, 2017
Comment posted by Phobos deleted Nov 17th, 2017

I am happy to see that you have continued this story. I do hope to see a lot more of it be for you are dun with it.

Dragonfox

So the saga continues. May whatever celestial beings you believe in bless you 'cause this is an awesome story. Keep up the excellent writing!

Just going to track this, so when i finish the last one, i know where to go.

I am surprised to see the story continued this quickly. It is a vary nice surprise as I was having Silver withdraw.

I am seeing something here that is also surprising if my memory is right at some point in the past Celestia told I thing it was Silver she was going to allow Luna the first try at a alicorn foal, but with this trip and her heat coming close will she partake with Silver?
and a even bigger question if she does will silver be able to quicken her and will he survive it?
a normal mare / pony loses her self to the craving of heat.
now before I get a pm from our author about Celestia having total control of her heat for the most part he is right she can block the drive but if she gives in to it with silver it will be 7 to 10 days of heat driven lust and I am guessing her body will demand to be quickened when she loses control to that lust.
I am guessing that if it happens it will be several chapters away.
I am really liking how the new Silver Stars story it going more intrigue bigger plots sorry Celestia but I like that sun but.:facehoof:

Harts Fire

What mare am I?"

This isn't an error per se, but it feels like it should be "What kind of mare am I?"

Lunar, Solar, I'm just Silver Stars."

"Solar" shouldn't be capitalized there.

Silver's eyes wandered across the carpet of brightly colored felines.

The carpet of "brightly-colored" felines.

She was quite tall, rivaling Celestia for size, and built with long legs and defined body.

She was built with long legs and "a" defined body.

They followed her a half-block away to a plain looking edifice that gave way to a grand-looking interior.

They followed her to a "plain-looking" edifice.

Soft music spilled from a harp being played by a blue baastian while another saddle arabian stood behind the counter.

Capitalize "Saddle Arabian."

The one leading us pointed to the counter.

The one leading "them" pointed to the counter.

Celestia advanced on the counter and had a polite sounding conversation with the horse there.

Celestia had a "polite-sounding" conversation.

"Thank you for dealing with my likely ignorant sounding questions.

With his "likely-ignorant" sounding questions.

6045865 I'm a little curious what you mean here, since you're saying that the series has had clop - that is, explicit sex scenes, so far (leaving aside that "remotely good" is a personal opinion presented as an objective judgment) - but I've only seen allusions to sex happening on-screen. In my opinion, that alone is not enough for the mature tag.

Do they get charged extra for the typos in their room?

6047389 And the looks, oh the looks...

The sea voyage comes to an end, and the characters eventually arrive in Anugypt, bring a close to what I consider to be this story's prologue. From here on out, it moves into the actual meat of the tale, which is the political machinations that Silver and Celestia experience while abroad.

I had mixed - but mostly positive - feelings with how this chapter brought the sea voyage to an end. I say "mixed" here only because I quite enjoy that this story is taking its time with the actual plot progression, and to that end I honestly didn't mind that several chapters were being spent at sea, to the point where I found myself wondering if the sailing portion of the story needed to be brought to a close.

In this regard, however, I suspect that I'm fooling myself. That's because I quite liked that the previous chapter - with its sudden horrific turn of events - was treated as an isolated incident with no larger impact. Not every metaphorical dragon needs to be slain; sometimes it's enough just to survive a run-in with them. As such, it feels hypocritical of me to be glad that particular episode wasn't followed up on while at the same time wondering if we could have spent more time with Silver and Celestia sailing...simply put, what else would there be for them to do? As such, I'm fairly positive overall that they've finally reached Anugypt proper.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the interaction that Silver and Celestia had at the start of this chapter. The back-and-forth conversation that they had here felt like it was, to put it bluntly, all over the place; the tenor of their conversation was wildly careening from romantic ("I've never felt more love for you") to teasing ("I'm no longer a great and terrifying mare?") to sensuous ("I am the time of passion, when people turn their thoughts to those who captured their heart and express it physically") to rebuking ("That would destroy your sister, utterly and completely. I will not abandon her like that, and you shouldn't ask me to") to outright lustful with an air of dominance ("You would never see my sun again unless I cared to show you off"). The changes are going on so fast that it's almost impossible to keep up, and it makes the entire conversation have a surreal feeling about it.

It's clear that the story is trying to lay down a plausible reason why this would happen, since Silver was unable to quell his anxiety unless Celestia was embracing him. That's clearly an exceptionally intimate idea, especially when it's something that goes on for days, or maybe even weeks. The problem is that the presentation doesn't give this idea the time or the gravity it needs before ushering us towards the consequences of that, which is their very charged conversation. There should have been some scenes of Silver and Celestia "snuggling" (for lack of a better word) where we get to see that intimacy developing. When I go on about a lack of exposition, what I'm referring to is direct presentation of the characters' thoughts, emotions, and overall state of mind...however, I suspect that this sort of scene is what people think of when they hear the term "exposition" - being told about something happening, without it being shown.

The weakness of the presentation aside, we did get quite a bit of insight with regard to Celestia, here. Most notable was the hint that, when she becomes aroused, she becomes aggressive and dominant. That's not at all unbelievable, since how people react to sexually-charged situations can vary wildly from how they present themselves in polite company. Being a (largely) benevolent ruler, Celestia understands that she needs to put her best face forward, both for her subjects and to other nations. However, both within the context of this fic in particular - and for somepony with that much raw power and great authority in general - it makes a certain degree of sense that she'd have a much more dominant side. Celestia has the ability and the authority to take what she wants...so I can see her indulging herself when she lets her passions rule her.

Rather ironically - and yet entirely appropriately - this makes her the polar opposite of Luna, who is austere, and even severe, in her public persona, but is not only gentle and romantic when she's with a trusted lover, but appears to become almost submissive in her desire to be taken by a "true warrior."

In that regard, I think that Silver was wrong to chide Celestia for her statement about keeping him as a sex toy. That struck me as her paying him a compliment rather than an honest statement of how she wanted to treat him; it was her way of saying "you turn me on so much that I'd ride you ceaselessly," - essentially saying that he made her desire him greatly - rather than saying that she saw him as an object for her enjoyment. On the other hoof, Silver was right to chastise her for asking if he would change back to being a solar pony...he even let that statement go the first time (which was notable enough, since Celestia's statements about how he "wasn't sneaky" and was "forthright" seemed rather racist against lunar ponies), only slapping that idea down when she brought it up a second time.

As it was, I was glad to see him flatly refuse, since he was right about what that would do to Luna. What he didn't seem to notice, but I remain convinced that Celestia did, was that his giving up being a lunar pony would mean that he'd no longer be studding...at least without the same social impetus, since he wouldn't be the progenitor of lunar unicorns any longer. Of course, that'd leave more of him for Celestia, which I doubt she was unaware of.

Moving on, the situation in Anugypt is already layered with political intrigue, and they're barely off the boat yet, much to my delight. Celestia is right that the pharaoh's absence, and the instruction that they wait, is rather insulting. I suspect that this is not an accident, but rather is a power-play (albeit a bit of a petty one) to show them just who is in charge here. By contrast, Celestia was quite insightful in pointing out that they can't be rude to their host by staying on the boat. I really hope we see more of this in future chapters, since this is exactly the sort of grandstanding and symbolism that high-level diplomacy is supposed to have.

I feel like I should comment on the Anugyptians, but there's very little for me to mention so far. Twinstreak, unlike some of the other characters we've met so far, didn't really stand out from the crowd. Indeed, Silver's asking him for his name felt very much like it was operating at a meta-level; I half-expected Twinstreak to say "My name? But sir, I'm just a background character!" We did also get some interesting insight with the addition of a winged cat (to use the old D&D lingo, a "tressym"), but so far the cat-people of Anugypt remain firmly in the background with Doublebrush exiting the stage.

Ironically enough, the Saddle Arabian pony that they met had much more screen presence, despite her not having a name (yet). Her interaction with Silver revealed quite a bit about not only her kind, but her herself, since she was amusingly embarrassed over treating Silver like he was just Celestia's consort. Did she not see that he was a male alicorn, something that was heretofore believed to be a myth?

More interesting, however, was how she rubbed against him...despite his saying that he and Celestia were herd-mates (that is, married). She did that practically with Celestia there, and without knowing anything about him (such as how he's the "Stud of the Land"). That means that she either knew more than she was letting on (unlikely, but not impossible in this intrigue-charged situation), that the gesture meant nothing at all (possible, but I hope unlikely due to being boring), or that she was flirting with him. Since she was just bowing and scraping to Princess Celestia herself, this would be highly improper...but I have to wonder if there's something we're unaware of, here.

When Silver was a mare, she was almost intoxicated by the scent of stallions. Even when she was already pregnant - and so not in her season - she was swooning over Flash Sentry and Big Mac, without them doing anything. Indeed, since stallions don't have a season, unlike mares, this suggests that stallions are almost always presenting a favorable scent to nearby mares, who simply have to learn how to deal with it as they mature. If that's the case, then what sort of scent is Silver - a never-before-seen male alicorn - putting out? Is he unknowingly seducing mares (and possibly females of other species?) simply by being around them? Could that be why not only this mare was so forward with him, but why Celestia was suddenly being so aggressive?

It's an interesting idea, and one that Silver won't be able to help much (unless he drowns himself in cologne). It'd certainly make Luna's remark about Celestia not being used to the scent of a stallion much more pointed. It'd also explain why he's getting so much action lately (though that was true before he became a male alicorn)...and a lot of what might happen going forward.

6047353 Typos thrown out into the desert to bake.

6047551 Apologies for not going into greater detail in the snuggles. I didn't think too much of them beyond what I wrote (they happened and Silver enjoyed them and minds were calmed down) and pushed right to the Anugypt portion of the chapter.

The conversation with Celestia felt all over the place? Well, yes, it was all over the place. Celestia and Silver are both feeling where the other stands, and that poking and prodding sent their conversation all over the map. They came out of it a little more understanding than they went in.

Silver, perhaps for a moment, considered Celestia's proposal, but he is satisfied with his image, and he knows it would be devastating to Luna, who he cares for a lot. Turning the conversation to romantic poetry probably sealed his fate with Celestia, and he should expect a rough time of things ahead, though likely not an unpleasant one.

Twinstreak was a background character, ICly. He's handles red tape, and that's what he does. He is paid to be in the background.

The Saddle Arabians, on the other hand, are not, and made their presence known. Is that Saddle Arabian hoping to get some royal action despite their bond? Well, who knows what the specific rules and traditions of the Saddle Arabians are, to say nothing of this specific individual. Would Luna be upset if a bit of lunar unicorn was added to the Saddle Arabian population?

Random query to end, what do you think of the pic?

6047591 Given that Luna's mandate seems to be for lunar unicorns to exist in notable numbers, I can't see her being too upset if Silver studs them wherever, whenever he has the chance. Remember, Night Watch predicted that if Silver didn't set limits, Luna would be bringing a constant stream of mares for him to breed. As such, I doubt she'd be upset if they were of other ethnicities...though I admit that I'm presuming that all ponies that aren't lunar are solar by default, and that might not be true. Crystal ponies, after all, seem outside of that distinction (and now I want Silver to stud some crystal ponies; imagine the dusky jeweled colors that would create), so maybe Saddle Arabian ponies are too.

That's not even getting into possible (or not) cat-pony hybrids. What would those even look like?

With regards to the picture, I like it well enough (I can't draw at all, so talent like Sita's always leaves me impressed), but there are a few things that I didn't care for. The presentation of Silver's body and expression are notable - he looks impressive, even intimidating, with his wild mane, fangs, and near-glowing eyes. However, his crown seems to be lopsided, since we can see most of it, whereas his face and his horn are in profile.

Likewise, she did a good job with the red interior on his cape (is that a cape?) and...is that jewel on his chest glowing? That looks impressive! However, his remaining clothes leave something to be desired. While the ruffles/frills on his cloak and at the end of his sleeves surely took technical skill to draw, I feel that they detract from his appearance, making him look a bit too much like a dandy. His body type, mane, and face all lend themselves to a very "badass" look (even if that's not how he acts), and trying to soften it with the frills clashes with that. In fact, those "sleeves" on his legs aren't even attached to anything...they're separate, which makes them look like hosiery.

Overall, the picture paints a somewhat mixed bag for me. Silver, with his natural black and silver-white body colors, should have similarly stark colors presented against him. The red works, but the purple is only barely accentuating his natural presentation, and the frills aren't helping at all. I feel like she was trying to play up a "pony Dracula" image, but it's not working.

6047626 :pinkiegasp:

Wow...I have no idea what to say to that, other than it wasn't at all what I was expecting a pony-cat hybrid to be.

6047674 Heh, as for the crystal glowing, I'm surprise you didn't recognize the heart crystal Silver's had since back when he was David, glowing with its Twilight resonance.

6047684 D'oh! :facehoof:

It's so easy to forget about that thing, since so many chapters can go by without it being relevant, or even mentioned at all.

6047759 Wow is that a major difference! :pinkiegasp:

Seriously, now Silver looks freaking scary! Anyone who saw him decked out like that would be likely to gasp in fear and reach for weapons, he looks so fearsome!

6047360 It is for me.

But that might just be because I have a slightly old-fashioned view.

6047815 The FAQ of the site says teen/sex is enough for allusions, and mature/sex is for actual descriptions of the act. I wasn't trying to make judgment calls, just follow the rules.

Seems like this installment of the Chronicles of Silver is more for the purpose of re-introducing Celestia and showing that her attitude has improved towards Silver. Totally excited about that!

And at least Night won't get too lonely with Luna still there to make her still feel wanted and loved. :yay:

yup I was right the room came with typos. That will be an additional %10 to bill. Oh the assassination attempt is not covered by your life insurance since you are your not in your network area. That another 15% to your premium
Additional charges:
5% for the mice
2% for the looking in the mirror twice
3% for the windows shut
etc etc......

6049846 I knew I should have checked the fine print...

ok I don't really have much to say after the author notes David Silver pretty much summed up the chapter.
Author's Note:
Talk about alicorn breeding, and then intrigue! It's all you need for a chapter. Oh yeah, and some typos, for flavor.
alicorn breeding I am starting to get scared for Silvers Life.
yes Twilight is with there foal but the foal was part way developed witch gave him a huge boost so that alicorn breeding does not really count.
Harts Fire

Found some errors.

Celestia stirred herself swiftly. "Oh? Good. There should be a chariot waiting for us just outside the station." She rose to her hooves and they both disembarked the train, carrying precious little. Silver perked an ear at Celestia. "Aren't you bringing anything?"

Need to separate when two people, (ponies), are talking. You can tell when you read the next couple of lines after that one.

"Anything I brought could be lost. All I truly require is myself, and you." (Tia)

Silver felt warm at her saying it. "I'll do my best to be worth bringing along then." (Silver)

--
Sorry if I'm picky but here's another one:

Celestia smiled. "Just see that you don't get lost. There they are." She moved for a relatively plain-looking taxi, though its drawer wore the golden armor of a royal guard. He saluted when they approached. "Princess, Prince. Ready to depart when you are."

That last sentence needs to be separate from Celestia's speaking because the guard speaks.

6050687 Oops! I know better than this. Thanks for pointing it out.

Silver found himself in a bedazzling center of jewels swirling around himself, each holding the dreams of another Anugyptian.

The use of "himself" twice is cumbersome reading. I'd change that to "Silver found himself in the center of a swirling array of bedazzling jewels."

He turned his thoughts to Luna and gem came through the collection from deep inside, colored a deep night blue.

He turned his thoughts to Luna and "a" gem came through.

Celestia said you mentioned it before"

There needs to be a period at the end of this sentence.

The pharoah's come off as a giant jerk that's making us wait to make himself feel better about himself."

Another use of "himself" twice in the same sentence.

Your fear of being dishonest or disloyal restrain you, not any lack of base attraction, unless you wish to let me see your dreams and are confident enough that I will see nothing?"

You need to put an "s" on the end of either "fear" or "restrain."

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