1 - Reporting for Duty
A soft rapping on the door made Silver look up. His magic felt past the door, unseen by most in its silvery haze as he felt who was waiting for him. A pegasus, male, quite large... He knew that shape. Not with intimate familarity, but they'd met a few times. "Gaia?"
"Gaea, but you can just call me Shield," corrected the pegasus as he entered. "Sir. Prince Silver Watch, I'm here as requested."
Silver hopped down from his chair to his hooves smoothly, his wings ruffling on his back. "A pleasure, sorry about the name. No offense intended."
Shield respected Silver, as he did most of royalty. It was hard not to. You didn't become royalty without earning it, unlike the nobles... "I've been briefed."
Silver flushed at that. His weakness with names was famous enough to warrant briefing? He shook off the awkwardness. "Yes, well, you're aware of the changeling situation?"
Shield nodded quickly. "Public opinion is divided and running hot."
Silver let out a little sigh. "They're just ponies."
Shield raised a brow. "Not exactly 'just' ponies."
Silver pointed at Shield. "You're not 'just' a pegasus, but you are a pony, and deserve to be treated fairly. All thinking and reasoning beings do."
Shield wondered a moment, then dared to speak it out loud. Silver was known for being slow to anger. One could even say lenient, but he didn't have to serve under the soft-hearted diplomat. He was a proud servant of Luna. "Is this because of your aborted plans to wed the changeling princess?"
Silver darkened all over again. "It's... I was married to her before she became that. I miss her, she misses me." He turned to the window. "But no, it's not just that. That wouldn't be enough reason to upset things... We're both royalty. The country... has to come first."
Shield smiled internally. It was good to hear royalty acting like proper royalty. "What do you need done, sir?"
Silver turned back to him. "I need someone on the ground, ferreting out the sources of the worst rumors. I don't want anypony jailed or harassed, but gently?" He flashed a sudden smile. "I know the lunar guard isn't specialized in gentle changes."
It was Shield's turn to darken. "I can handle it, sir!" It didn't help that it was accurate. Lunar soldiers are trained how to act decisively first. "If you believe that, sir, why did you call for me?"
Silver pointed a hoof at Shield's flank, where changeling wings were spread behind a shield. "I trust you to handle this with proper respect for the changelings. They are trying to be good citizens, to be good ponies."
Shield glanced back at the mark and then at Silver. "I'll do my best, sir. Do you have any information?"
Silver's magic grabbed a folder and slapped it down on the desk. "Here, take it. The original source is... gone, but where the fire is gone, it all still smoulders, waiting to erupt in a fresh wave of resentment. They deserve better than that."
Shield nodded firmly. "They do, sir." He stepped up and snatched the folder with a dexterous wing. "I'll get on this right away."
Silver gave a gentle smile. "Thank you. If you hit any trouble... don't feel bad telling me."
Soft hearted. Shield nodded at the gentle royal and moved to depart, knowing he wouldn't be censured for doing so without being formally dismissed.
"Good luck," came Silver's voice before the door closed softly.
Night Watch, the lunar pegasus wife of Silver Watch, crept up on the door not far away from where she lived. She eyed that door as if expecting it to explode at any minute. Her body softly pulsed with quickened spiritual energy. Her grandfather was with her, in her in fact. She was ready for a fight.
There were... proprieties to observe. She let out a slow breath as she straightened herself. She couldn't just creep up on a foreign ambassador's room. She strode instead and rapped twice on the door with a clop of her hoof.
The door cracked open, revealing a figure that many might struggle to see, but was quite clear to her eyes. Night rolled her eyes. "Get Nefertari."
The jackal snarled at Night. "Don't think you can order me around!"
Night waved away the spirit's irritation. "We've already tested our mettle. Get her."
The spirit gave a loud grunt, clearly displeased with its status compared to Night. The door closed with a thump.
It was scarcely a moment before Night felt a hand settle on her withers and Nefertari's voice speak. "To what do I owe this pleasure, former student?"
Night backed away from the hand. "I have reason to believe you are in possession of something that belongs in Equestrian hooves. I'm hoping you will surrender it without trouble." The energy within her flared, ready for battle. "Let's remain civil."
Nefertari raised a brow. "My time has not been spent idle, concubine."
Night darkened with fury. "That is not my title!"
Nefertari rolled a hand slowly. "As far as royalty, that's as close as you come. Prince to the left, princesses to the right, and here you are... The question remains."
Night thrust a hoof towards Nefer's closed door. "Yes, will you give it up?"
"And if I do not?" Nefer raised her shoulders. "Will you send me home and threaten that stability over such a little thing, not to say that I do have whatever you are alleging."
Night grunted softly. "Let's not trade insults and threats--"
"That is half the requirement of my task." Nefertari's fingers crooked to display their sharp claws. "Speak what you want clearly."
A spectral figure appears, with fluffy hair and a green tone. "Give back my Charlie!"
Nefertari crooked a wicked smile. "Now it becomes clear. Hmm, he has spoken that name among so much rambling. Why would you want such a thoroughly damaged soul? He's a danger to everyone if he's set free."
Night fought her first impulses. She tried to take a different tack. "That will be our problem. He deserves at least a chance."
Nefer's expression turned to amusement. "Oh?" The jackal licked across her lips as her arms crossed under her human-like breasts. "You're ready to accept that responsibility, should it go into a wild frenzy? It may hurt many, kill some... Are you prepared to handle that?"
The green spirit scowled. "My Charlie wouldn't ever do that! Once you stop holding him, he'll calm down."
Night glanced between them. Trusting the word of a spirit of another spirit that knew each other in life? Chance... "We'll take that risk. Release him to me, and I will accept all responsibility."
"On your head be it." Nefertari clucked her tongue. "I've examined it as far as I will. He's too shattered and broken for much more." She leaned forward. "But first, a proposal."
Shield walked along with that folder. He pulled it open and began to skim it as he went along. There were mentions of some 'nopony', but it was also thoroughly noted that that pony was deceased. The initial cause of the trouble, it seemed. He had his work ahead of him.
"Gaea Shield," came a stern voice.
Shield snapped the folder shut and tucked it under a wing to see a lunar pony in proper lunar guard attire looking at him. "The Princess requests your presence." Among Lunar guards 'the' princess was always Luna.
He nodded at the fellow guard. "I'm on my way." He always got mildly touchy looks from true lunar ponies. They think they're closest to Luna. Shield rolled his eyes as he went, a wing adjusting his glasses. He was completely loyal, and competent enough to earn some rank. Luna saw his potential, even if the lunars were too busy playing racial purity cards instead of serving the country, and Luna.
Shield strode into the subtly darker corner of the castle that heralded the hallways that belonged to the Princess of the Night. He nodded towards each lunar guard he passed. He knew most of them by sight, even with that armor that made them all seem so similar.
One extended a hoof, barring his way. He knew that one. He smiled at Shield. "Did you really get called to Prince Silver Watch's room?"
Shield nodded. "I'm being sent out."
The guard shook his head. "He can give orders to lunar guards?"
Shield shrugged a bit at that. "He is Luna's husband, and they've yet to argue about it. By all accounts, he does want to make things better."
The guard shrugged. "So long as he remembers Luna is your mistress, not him." He darkened faintly as he realized how what he said could be taken. "Not that he can be, a, uh, mistress, being a... stallion and all."
The guard beside the first burst into laughter at the awkward words and slapped his partner with a hoof. "I wouldn't stress about him very much."
Shield had to nod at that. He doubted he'd get much static from Silver from what he'd seen. "Be that as it may, I plan to do it right. I have to go, Luna's waiting for me."
Both guard snapped to attention and didn't stop him from proceeding. Luna's desires were a high priority.
When he reached her personal room, the guards nodded to him as one turned and tapped gently. "Princess Luna, Gaea Shield has arrived."
The door opened moments later, and he was waved inside. He trotted past the guards into the room gently bathed with silvery light. There was Luna, radiant as always on a cushion, papers spread out about her. Luna nodded to Shield. "I trust my husband hasn't bothered you too greatly."
Shield quickly shook his head. "He gave me an assignment, Your Highness. I assume I should give it my full attention?"
Luna pointed to the folder tucked under Shield's wing. "What is that?"
"Intelligence, Your Highness, concerning the recent changeling activity and public backlash."
She frowned faintly. "Yes, do continue, but keep me appraised. I want to hear all that you hear." Her magic wrapped around the folder. He wasn't trained to see magic, so it was invisible to him, save for the effect of the folder lifting up and moving to her to browse. "I will read this first. Come back in an hour and it will be returned. Thank you, dismissed."
Shield gave a sharp salute at his mistress. "As you command, Princess."
Luna smiled gently. "You will be my eyes and ears in this. Don't let me down." She waved for him to depart, and the meeting was over.
Shield stepped out, minus one folder. He'd have to wait for its return if he wanted a full briefing, but he wasn't sure if he planned to do that. Time was an asset he didn't have infinite supply of, and he intended to do well by Luna and Silver.
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Ohh new story! will def check it out latter tonight.
Yeah yeah yeah, flavor text. [click through] [check objective log] Talk to changelings. I can do that!
Time is of the essence, but knowledge even more so.
Action without Knowledge is where the pebble that strikes the rock that causes the avalanche that blocks the river that causes the flood that triggers the earthquake that makes the volcano erupt, go down teh side of the mountain which ends with the volcano being hundreds of miles from anywhere, and being under the middle of a city.
i hope people will like this fic
if anyone wonders... this is his mark
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11012971/MLP/12210974_909505155792837_451705033_o.jpg
of this, depending on the variation
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11012971/MLP/markB.png
As a person who has had to prove they were sentient, not sapient, multiple times I do not approve of the just world hypothesis, the mythical norm, myth of arrival, or the myth of the middle class. Unfortunately, not everyone uses logic, common sense, calculus, or some other objective philosophy based on rules, laws, or facts to determine fairness. . . And then there is the matter of executive functioning and propaganda which makes an unfair justification seem reasonable, forgivable, or pitiable when it really isn't becasue relativism (in theory).
So, the night watch's jackal is like a fetch or like a silhouette of Peter Pan type thing? I realize this is a sequel, but as a fresh story some people might read cold and have no idea of the metaphysics or cosmology involved. I had no idea the one character wasn't alone until she was like "do this, do that, bla bla blah." And then her encounter with the 'harkonnan' (for lack of a better term) was just a whole bunch of meaningless posturing in my opinion.
What's this? A new Silver story, and one that promises political intrigue?
It's like I'm being explicitly called back! Let's dig into this and see if the fic can make good on its promises.
Okay, so the story seems to revolve around newcomer Gaea Everf-, er, Shield. I'm not sure how "Gaia" is pronounced differently from "Gaea," but apparently Silver has a habit of mispronouncing names that's bad enough to merit a briefing? That's...odd. But that's less noteworthy than how, right from the get-go, I'm not sure what "the changeling situation" is. Is the fic trying to tell us that the events of To Where and Back Again have happened in this fic? Or is this in reference to the (still relatively) recent happenings in previous fics where the changelings were accepted as fellow ponies and given a place in Canterlot? The story isn't making this clear, and that's leading to it stumbling right out of the gate.
I also have to protest Silver's saying that the changelings "are just ponies." No, Silver, they're not. I get that they (want to) identify as ponies, and that you and fellow sympathizers think of them that way - heck, even Spike identified as a pony at the end of Dragon Quest - but that doesn't mean that they actually are. That's because ponies, at least when they become adults, have an intrinsic aspect to them that differentiates them from non-ponies, that being their cutie mark. Changelings don't have cutie marks; the closest they can come is to disguise themselves as ponies that do, but that's just cosmetic. Changelings aren't ponies, the same way that Gabby and other griffons aren't ponies. They do deserve to be treated with the same level of dignity and respect, presuming that they don't betray that goodwill, but that doesn't mean that they're the same as ponies.
And then we come to the bomb that's so casually dropped in this chapter: Silver's "aborted" plans to wed the changeling princess? His aborted plans? What the hell?! Gaea had freaking better be showing his ignorance here, because last we heard Silver was planning on making things up to Fast Change as part of his plan to marry a representative of each of the races he'd helped - to say nothing of the fact that, you know, they're still in love with each other - and that seemed to be going forward. So if something happened to throw that off then there had better be a damned good explanation for it!
It's after this point that the story begins to make it clear that newcomer Gaea is going to be a main character in this fic (notwithstanding the title, I mean). Again, I have to critique the way we're being introduced to him. It's not so much that Silver casually notes that they've met before without giving us any exposition to help make it clear how that was, but rather that we're casually told that he has a cutie mark that has something to do with changelings and doesn't then go on to explain this rather odd feature. I can understand him being a pony with a rather figurative cutie mark; after all, things like "magic" are hard to represent pictorially. I can accept that Gaea's name isn't (apparently) related to his special talent; names like "Rarity" don't expressly connect themselves to making dresses or being generous, after all. I can even deal with the fact that his job doesn't seem to have much to do with his cutie mark, though I think that we do need an explanation there.
Rather, what I don't like is that his cutie mark - and therefore his special talent - is so unusual (e.g. it specifically has to do with changelings, of all things) and yet it's casually thrown out there with no explanation or exposition. So it's intimated that Gaea has a connection to the changelings, but we're not going to be told what it is? Moreover, he quite clearly doesn't seem to have any particular affinity for them, so why does he have that cutie mark? There's simply too much that's being assumed here, with the audience being completely left in the dark. It's keeping us (or at least me) from being able to immerse ourselves in the story.
This has always been a staple of these fics, of course, but I find this frustrating for a fic that is promising political intrigue right out of the gate. Politics is not, as a rule, intuitive. The very nature of intrigue is that it deals with subtlety, subterfuge, manipulation, and quite a few other areas where the machinations are anything but obvious. In such instances, the story needs to walk us through the details, because the readers will almost certainly not be able to fill in the necessary blanks on their own. Even if you dislike narrative exposition, the background details and explanations need to be given somehow, otherwise they won't be made clear to the readers. This is why so many fics that deal with these often have a "Dr. Watson"-style character, so that they can function as a proxy for the audience in asking the main character to explain it to them, creating an in-story justification for why the person who's in the know would explain things out loud.
Ironically, the story then moves on to another area where it does start to get into political machinations, although I'm unsure if it realizes that it's doing it or not. Specifically, that's in Gaea's pointed observations of the tension between the lunar and solar ponies in Luna's guard. This is the sort of point of which a lot of hay (pun intended) can be made, because this is a point that can be a source of drama. One might wonder why it is that Gaea, a solar pony, is in Luna's guard to begin with, but that's not that hard to understand: if you revere a particular princess, it's understandable that you'd want to devote yourself to them, issues of "racial purity" be damned. I take that as Gaea's motivation, though that's an assumption at this point. I do expect, however, that there's a subtle bit of friction over the fact that, while Luna is the progenitor of the lunar ponies, she isn't one herself, which ironically may be a point that some of her solar guards mention when they're being less than completely polite to their lunar fellows.
Delightfully, the fic then moves on to another source of drama, and this time it's quite clearly intentional: that Gaea, as Luna's guard, answers to Luna first, and has no problem letting her stick her nose into her husband's business. Now this is an area that's rich with potential for dramatic conflict. Silver may be married to Luna and the other princesses, but there are still demarcations as to whose political authority extends where, and how much. While Silver and the princesses may freely mix the personal together with the political, those who work for them don't have that same level of informality between them, and so it's entirely plausible that they end up working as cross-purposes as the ponies they control struggle to figure out what to do when they're in the service of two masters.
All of this underscores what I see as being one of the outcomes of this fic: that Silver needs his own royal guards (or other agents), who are beholden to him first, rather than second. He might be too easy-going to care, but someone (probably Night Watch, since the princesses are less likely to see the problem to begin with; why would they be upset about guards that report to them above all?) needs to sit him down and explain to him that he needs to have his own political apparatus, rather than borrowing his wives' (even Twilight has her friends), and that there's nothing disloyal or disharmonious about that. It's just the nature of the beast. I can already see Night Watch volunteering for that position, since it would give her back some of the authority that she's had stripped away from her. If anyone's fit to be "captain of the Silver Guard," it's her.
This was made somewhat self-evident by her deliciously-tense conversation with Nefertari. I have to admit, I very much enjoyed their little tete-a-tete, particularly with Nefertari casually calling Night Watch a concubine. That's the catty, combative Anubian we've come to know and love! Particularly since Nefertari is on the roster to get married (and probably have that baby that her honor demands), which is quite the role-reversal from when Night was Silver's wife and was keeping Nefertari from attaining that same status. Now the horseshoe's on the other hoof (albeit not literally), and it's entirely believable that Nefertari would be rubbing it in every chance she had. It was almost enough to make me overlook the issue with her keeping "Charlie's" spirit. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that that dangling plot-thread is being resolved, but at the end of the day that still relies on having read another series of fics that I haven't perused, and without any explanation given here, that remains well nigh incomprehensible.
Getting back to Gaea, I'm hoping that whatever's in that folder has something more concrete in it than what Silver said, since otherwise his job was "take the public's temperature, and let me know if you hear anything bad." That's rather vague, and not a lot to build a story on, since without something more specific it relies on him essentially stumbling around in the dark until he happens to find something.
For all my complaining though, I'm really happy to see Silver and the gang back! Here's hoping this fic goes on for a long time!
7683398 Phew, alright, done reading that. A lot of it kind of boils down to one simple fact. This is chapter 1. You know how my stories go, or should. Why are you even surprised that, at chapter 1, you don't have all the pieces yet. You've been given a few from the jigsaw puzzle. You know more's coming. Why bemoan the lack?
As for Charlie, you already know what needs to be known.
Surprise is dead. Surprise is a ghost beside Night Watch. Surprise clearly wants this 'Charlie' returned safely and has some feeling towards them. Night is clearly willing to help make this a fact.
That's all you need to know.
You're taking delightful mysteries being presented and lamenting you don't already have the answers. That's boring. Relax. It'll come, promise.
7683900
Typo detected! You've misspelled, "It's great to have you back! Thanks so much for writing all of that; I really love reading your in-depth coverage of my work!"
If I thought that these were being deliberately presented as mysteries, I wouldn't be bemoaning them. As it stands now, several parts of this chapter didn't read like they were teasers of things to come (at least not to me); rather, they just felt unclear. I suppose that issues of how Silver knew Gaea, what Gaea's schtick is, and what happened with the changelings might be things that are being deliberately kept in the dark, but the presentation here doesn't abet that reading of things, at least not to me.
Also, on an unrelated issue, why is there no author's note at the end? That's rather unusual for you.
7683940 When have I ever held a sign over mysteries? If it isn't said, it probably will later. Asking the question, sure, but don't be sad that I didn't.
The story started in the middle of an action. Such stories rarely have all the pieces right there. They come up as the story goes on, with things happening and people talking revealing those missing clues.
7683954 Again, I don't have an issue with stories that start in medias res; I just don't think that it was entirely clear that that's what was going on here. For example, I wasn't at all sure whether or not "the changeling situation" was supposed to be a mystery to begin with, since there was no clarification as to whether that was in reference to To Where and Back Again or something else entirely - that creates a problem, since the former reading (e.g. that it was in reference to those episodes) would tell us that it's not a mystery, whereas the latter reading (e.g. that it was in reference to a heretofore unspecified incident) tells us that it is. Hence my confusion.
A mystery, when presented, needs to be obvious that that's what it is in the first place. It's one thing to have missing pieces; it's another to be uncertain whether or not they're missing at all.
7683978 You sure sound mystified.
I could be misreading.
7683978 Missed a part. I could be wrong, but Gaea, to me, is 'gay ah' while Gaia is 'guy ah' Subtle, but different. Silver's poor ability to remember names has been kind of a constant in the story, not to mention my RL :p. I know I've mentioned it a few times.
back after some army brake...
well wow... that is long
7683398
as for Gaea Shield, as my oc i can explain more about him, i posted his mark in the comments
he is from another fic (born in the fic verse and adjusted to more normal fics)
his mark is a Shild, Hammer and a pair of changeling wings, there is more to the story around it but it was downsized to the idea he protected a changeling because he didn't care it was a changeling he cared that it was (as david said in fic) just another pony to him, this is more of a general idea. he protected something he thought deserved it without caring who or what it was. this also made some trouble because as you said its a specific mark aimed on changeling. but again... long and a different story here.
the idea is he protects and defends those he deem worthy of it without the mindset of a normal pony that is more or less xenophobic
7692678 Long comments that (overly) analyze things are kind of what I do.
Thanks for the explanations about Gaea's character!
Yay. more stuff revolving close to the important characters!!!!
is come right or is it calm?
So Gaea is solar pony in the lunar guard with naturally dark coat (like my own avatar) yes?
7695949 Calm, fixed, also a reply came but in the wrong chapter, do look for that.
Alright, boom chapter one and we have three threads! We have a feeling at least three months have passed, but not everything seems to align with that sentiment...
Hm. Time skip, or did I overlook a story between the coronation and this?
7704952 Nopony promised it wouldn't abuse time.
ok I am hoping around in my char Prince Silver Watch is back in a way even if the story will not focus on him and his family directly.
Wait, Surprise is dead!?
It's been so long I might have to refresh myself and reread everything xD. I don't remember all the details of the older stories anymore so that's as good an excuse as any, that and I get to go through the Fast Change moments again
Corrections offered without malice.
tack
have in infinite supply
8169898 Typos fixed!
That should be her grandfather. Far as I know her dad is still alive.
8903250
Fixed!
7683900 7683978
When the hell did surprise die?!
also I can't help but feel that a lot of context is missing.. I just came from Silver's coronation and then bam, Silver isn't going to herd with fast change, there is a new character that we should have known but didn't. Surprise is dead and when did that happen, I thought only charlie died in the fire due to him going back in and saving Diane and/ or Z- 895(?). honestly, i've been binge reading every chance i get with this silver verse and its been a wild ride, and now that i am almost caught up... my brain is fried... what the hell happened, and what is Thorax's impact in this verse? etc... like can i get an easy summary of what happened in this story? As much as i love this verse, i just cant bring myself to re-read this again..
9616089
9616089
The stuff with Surprise all happened in Kiki's story, so it is not your fault that you don't remember it.
I got sent here from 'Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat', wtf happened. Do i need to go read everything else to understand what's happening here and before i go back to the main stories?
10569631
Nah, this is more of a side story rather than the main dish. Up to you!