Wajdi guided Silver through the halls. "Now tell me, what do you think of them?"

Silver tilted his head. "Them?"

Wajdi bumped against Silver. "Don't be shy. We're both stallions. The lovely mares that were seeing to me. Did one of them... catch your eye?"

Silver flushed softly. "No! I mean, they're yours, aren't they?"

Wajdi raised a brow. "That doesn't stop a stallion from looking and appreciating. You are still young, are you not?" He raised a hoof to Silver's chin and turned his head one way and the other, looking Silver over. "It's difficult to tell, I admit. Equestrian royalty becomes large enough to rival Saddle Arabians. Is that how they have you? A young prince watched over by well-meaning but controlling princesses?"

Silver wasn't sure what the proper reply was, especially with it not being entirely inaccurate. "Aside from being enlisted for this trip, I have been allowed to do what I want, and learn for myself what my place is." He smiled gently. "They have been kind, and I have my own strong feelings for them."

Wajdi clapped Silver on the withers. "You don't need to convince me, and don't look so sad to come here. This is a wonderful country, full of wonders and mysteries enough to keep a pony busy all their life and not see half of it. Come, there is someone very important you should meet."

He led Silver along and nudged open a door. Inside was a female horse dressed in commanding attire and a clear crown. She nodded at Silver, then again at Wajdi. "You brought him?"

Wajdi lifted his shoulders. "The rumors appear to be just that. Silver Stars, meet my wife, the gem of my life, the holder of my own leash, Queen Jawa. May her reign be long and prosperous."

She cuffed him lightly. "You knave, introducing me like we aren't wildly in love." She kissed him gently and they nuzzled before turning to regard Silver as one. Jawa looked him over curiously. "Hmm, their first true prince, and a bat pony as well. A pleasure to meet you, Prince Silver Stars."

Silver extended a hoof. "Nice to meet you, Queen Jawa." Internally he repeated their names over and over, not wanting to mess it up. "I've been enjoying your country. It's really a very nice place."

Jawa accepted his hoof and they shook lightly. "Compared to Anugypt? I should think. If even half the rumors are true, we're lucky there hasn't been a declaration of outright war, but that situation seems to be calming."

Wajdi nodded at Silver. "Tell me, what do you see as the next potential issue in the area?"

Silver frowned a little in thought. "Well I heard there were attacks? From the south? Anu... Anubian, that's it. The Anubians."

Wajdi smiled. "Precisely so. They have been an irritant in the region for quite some time. Direct military efforts only have short-term results, it seems. Princess Celestia insists patience is called for. What do you think?"

Silver tensed. He was being baited into agreeing or dissenting with Celestia, and he didn't much like that proposition. "I think... I don't know nearly enough about the situation to give an educated response."

Jawa perked an ear at Wajdi. "I told you he'd say something like that. He may be young, but he isn't that naive." Her eyes locked onto Silver's. "Is it true, that you have a herd large enough to compete with my terrible stud of a husband?"

Wajdi burst into a rough laugh. "Did you not hear? He is called 'The Stud of the Land'. He captured an entire vessel of pirates, only to leave every nubile female he could find on it heavy with foal and set them free, if the rumors are to be believed." He flashed jeweled teeth. "Which I am inclined to do, seeing as one of my stallions now captains the ship."

Jawa gasped. "You should have informed me of that. Really, an entire vessel?" She peered at Silver skeptically. "He must use his youth, all bang, no endurance." She turned her nose up, drawing a fresh laugh from her husband.

"Don't mind her, she's defending my honor. I'm not sure I could take on an entire boat full of salty mares all at once."

Silver shook his head quickly. "I didn't do it all at once, they didn't all agree right away, so I kept coming back over about a week." It was only after he said it that he lit up red, realizing he had just confessed to the entire thing and revealed more than he intended.

Wajdi raised a brow. "Oh ho! Perhaps you did earn that title after all. Tell me though, why did you do that, and why release them all? Surely you had no particular feelings towards the stallions."

Silver took a slow breath and nodded. "Well, they're a family. Now they're still a family, doing better things. I don't want to see them hurt, or killed. Hurting them won't undo the harm they've caused before. Killing them won't bring back the ones they hurt or the things they stole."

Wajdi smiled faintly. "And the foals were just a positive side effect?"

Silver glanced away. "Sort of... It also made them more of a family. They couldn't ignore the future with foals in their bellies, and it drew their coltfriends closer." He glanced between Wajdi and Jawa. "I... did what seemed to be best, for everyone."

Jawa rolled her eyes. "Typical stallion, thinking a mare can be put in her place with a foal or two."

Wajdi looked perpetually amused. "And that a stallion can be put into his place with a mare or two. It is the way of things. You were far kinder to them than most would have been, having bested them. Tell me, whatever became of their captain? Did you kill the stallion in the struggle?"

Jawa watched Silver's reaction. "I don't think the captain was a stallion, dear."

Silver gave a hesitant nod. "She came with us. She should be in our room, where you took the rest of our servants."

Wajdi grinned. "Oh? Was it that comely mare that looked like a dancer? Or that slender one that looked so shy, but so happy when she was around you?"

Silver shook his head slowly. "Actually, the unicorn."

Jawa gave a soft hmm. "Princess Celestia mentioned you were a unicorn first. The curve of her horn catch your eye, young prince?"

Silver felt like he just kept giving and giving without getting much in return. "So, about those Anubians. What do you think should be done about them?"

Wajdi wobbled a hoof. "Uncultured hooligans that are unfortunately good at hit-and-run tactics and know which end of the sword to poke in things. They also have hands, a subtle but persistent advantage. I think we should find their holes and burn them out, and be rid of a blight on the region once and for all."

Jawa huffed at her husband's words. "Better stallions than you have tried that, and lost the lives of countless innocents for their trouble. So long as their people can't provide for themselves, they'll keep raiding and pillaging. Fix their dependencies on raiding and it'd stop."

Wajdi clopped a hoof on the floor. "And are we now forgetting the fate of Na'imah? She carried her peace with her to the grave, and the region is no better for it. How do you propose we 'fix' it when they don't want to be fixed?"

Silver felt mildly accomplished, getting the two to argue with one another instead of peeling off the layers of his past like an unprotected onion. His pride was short-lived, as Wajdi was staring at him again. "Did I miss a question?"

Wajdi shook his head. "No, but we've monopolized your time enough for one day. Go, join your motherwife and enjoy the hospitality of the palace. We'll meet again for dinner, and I'll show you how Saddle Arabians enjoy a feast!"

Silver departed, musing over the term 'motherwife'. A guard outside gestured for him to follow, and led him to what appeared to be their room for the time being. Celestia was there, and the others, most looking relaxed.

Celestia smiled at his return. "I trust your discussion went well?"

Silver nodded. "He was friendly enough, but he never stopped prying."

Bright Eyes snorted softly. "Of course he would. He'd be a terrible sultan if he didn't. Did you get anything out of him, or did he have you against the bannister like a swordspony that forgot his blade?"

Silver frowned at Bright Eyes. "Don't look at me like I have no idea what I'm doing. I met his wife, the Queen, and we discussed their issues with the Anubians. It seems that's a shared problem from Anugypt, for the entire region. From the way they discussed it, it's been a recurring issue for quite a long time. Generations I'd say."

Celestia nodded, looking displeased. "I tried, once, to intervene long ago, before Equestria as you know it today was even formed. It didn't turn out well, and it remains a reminder that I can't just wave a wing and make problems vanish. They are a stubborn and resilient people. If they put their efforts to positive ends, they could accomplish so much. They refuse the touch of destiny, or the peace of harmony." She raised a brow lightly, looking at Silver. "You didn't agree to anything, did you?"

Silver quickly shook his head. "No! No, I'm not qualified to start getting involved in matters quite that big. He sent me to my 'motherwife' and said to expect a big dinner."

Celestia snorted softly. "He must think me the fool to believe I could be your mother."

Silver didn't entirely dislike the idea of having a pony like Celestia for a mother, and he remembered that Luna had offered that, a chance to be her foal. That was no idle gift. "No, but wife you are." He looked around and spotted Patty talking with Shei quietly. He wandered towards them with a smile. "How are you holding up?"

Patty perked an ear. "I understand what happened. Ghastly... She deserved better." She pointed a hoof at Silver. "I hope you understand this was your fault."

Silver flushed, tingles ran painfully across his flesh. "I'm sorry..."

Patty nodded. "I know you are. The least you can do is make sure her sister is well cared-for."

Shei hopped to her hooves. "He is already doing that. Auntie... Don't needle him so. Can't you see how hurt he is? He is the only one beside myself that sheds so many tears for her."

Silver leaned in, slowly pressing his forehead to Patty's. She was slightly cooler, and a little wrinkled. "I will never forget my mistake with her, and I promised her Shei would always be protected, and I will succeed with her where I failed with Aila. She will never want for my shelter, unless she chooses to leave on her own."

Patty nodded with a slowly-forming smile. "That's a good colt. I knew a good heart when I met one. Now what's this about dinner?"

Author's Notes:

Silver meets the royal couple, then reunites with his retinue. What's Bottom been up to? We didn't see her this chapter.