An Unlikely Prince

I am Alone

Grar had kept to his word, and for the next four years, he attended the academy while also keeping to his other studies. He remained in a friendly rivalry with Shining Armor, and the two continued to have scuffles and even brawls in the middle of the halls of the academy, until they were threatened with expulsion that is.

Grar had also met Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor’s little sister, and personal student of Princess Celestia. And while she certainly didn’t have an imposing size to back up her threats, she quickly swore to the Orc that if he ever beat up her big brother again he would have to answer to her.

For the sake of Shining’s dignity, they kept from telling her about them.

He had grown even taller. Nearing seven feet he was taller than most adult ponies at the age of fourteen, and due to the constant training he had been undergoing, he had burned away much of his childhood fat. His skin had also darkened somewhat in color, and while initially worried about this, Celestia hypothesized that this was just a part of an Orc’s pubescent stages.

One day, when he was about sixteen years old, technically an adult in pony society, Grar was being educated by one of his tutors in geography, overlooking a gigantic map of the known world, which took up an entire wall in the royal library. “Along the eastern edge of the continent is Equestria,” the scholar explained, pointing out the region on the map, before showing the region just next to it, which seemed to be nearly made up entirely of mountains, “And here, are the Gryphon Kingdoms.”

Grar took notes as he followed the teacher’s hand as he pointed out more lands, “Further to the west are the hills controlled by the Minotaur tribes,” he said, going past the mountains of the gryphon kingdoms. “South of Equestria are the Diamond Dog City States, and to the North East are the badlands, home to the Changeling hives.”

Grar finished his notes and looked curiously at the map, “Professor,” he spoke up, gaining the scholar’s attention, “where are the Orc lands?” he asked.

The Scholar’s brow furrowed somewhat as he too looked at the map, trying to come up with an explanation, “well, there are many unexplored lands to both the south and north, it is possible that they are somewhere there,” he said.

Grar frowned, finding the answer less than satisfactory, but he decided he’d look into it later when he had the time.

“Now,” the Scholar began, “If there are no more questions, we’ll move on to the next lesson. Now, Equestria is made up of seven Principalities; Canterlot, Everfree, Manehattan, Germaney, The Cloud Cities, Gallopfrey, and Prance. Princess Celestia rules over all of Equestria, but each of the Principalities are ruled by their own Prince or Princess, all ‘adopted’ as nieces or nephews of Princess Celestia to establish royal ties and family among them all.”

Grar listened to the rest of the lecture, though his attention kept on going back to solving the mystery of where the Orcs lived. Maybe if he couldn’t find anything on his own he could ask Celestia.

“And the Blueblood lineage has ruled the Principality of Canterlot for the last seven generations,” the scholar’s voice seemed to grow tiresome as he spoke of the Bluebloods, “Bringing our fair and noble city much reverence and culture.”

………

Grar had stayed in the library after the Scholar had finished his lecture and left.

Grar actually liked maps, and learning about the history of Equestria, and interestingly enough, he learned that his dear friend Lilac was in fact in line to the Principality of Everfree. He would be sure to ask her the next time he saw her as to why she never told him before.

But all that was pushed aside as he looked through tome after tome of Equestria’s Histories, looking for even a clue as to where Orcs live and where he’s from.

It wasn’t until he came to a book on recent history that he found something.

It wasn’t a large entry, he had almost overlooked it entirely, but it was there.

He read over the words slowly, and he felt his heart stop.

‘In the year 979 of Celestia’s reign, a race known only as Orcs appeared in the Gryphon Kingdoms and, according to the King of The Gryphons, Red Feather, they were a purely savage and barbaric race, raiding and pillaging and murdering to their hearts content.

Red Feather at some point joined forces with a Minotaur tribe and, in an act which was declared barbaric and villainous by the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, exterminated the Orc race to the last. With the exception of an infant saved from the scene by Celestia herself.

In all the known world there is no other race like the Orcs, and little is known of their culture or where they came from. It is at this time believed that the infant under the protection of Equestria is the last of his kind.’

Grar stared at the book in his hand, reading the passage over and over again, reading those last worlds over and over.

‘Last of his Kind. Last of his Kind.’

Slowly, his hands started to shake, and he gripped the book tighter, his monstrous strength crushing the pages and the hard cover with little effort.

He violently threw the book aside, his face contorted in a mix of anguish and rage, not wanting to accept what was written.

He buried his face in his hands, his jaw clenching as his whole body shook, taking deep shaky breaths. He rose from where he was sitting and fists clenched he headed straight for Celestia’s throne room.

…………

Celestia sat upon her throne as she held court; the nobles came by with their requests or grievances. It was happily enough an uneventful day, usually more than a few individuals would be calling for one another’s banishment or execution on some weak claim that they were insulted.

Today was quiet at least, and Celestia was enjoying it while she could.

That was until the large doors to her throne room were pushed open by a young, and identifiably angry Orc who marched straight for her.

Two of her guard intercepted him and each held him by a shoulder, keeping him from getting closer. He ignored them as he glared with rage at the ruler.

“Celestia!” Grar growled, “How Long, Celestia? How long were you not going to tell me?” His teeth clenched as the guards struggled to keep him from getting any closer.

Celestia’s eyes were wide, “What are you talking about Grar?” she asked, standing up from her throne and coming closer. “Please, calm….”

“Shut up!” Grar shouted, echoing through the room, even Celestia was stunned, “The Gryphons killed all my people, why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.

Celestia’s eyes were wide, and her body stone still, she looked to the ground, somewhat ashamed, “I thought you were too young,” she said.

Grar stopped struggling against the guards, but they kept hold of him still as he was shaking with rage, “And so you’d leave me sitting around, never knowing that there is no one else like me in this world?” His eyes narrowed, “Why did you bother saving me Celestia?” he asked in a growl once more. “What am I Celestia?!” His shouting grew louder and sounded like they could shake the foundations of the castle.

His body relaxed somewhat as he looked down at the floor, unable to look at the Princess anymore. “Am I just some exotic pet you keep around?” his tone was softer, though there was still an angry growl behind it.

Celestia shook her head, getting face to face with him, and gently lifting his chin so he would look at her. “No Grar,” she said firmly. “You are not a pet, you are an Orc, and a Prince, and an honored guest, as you have always been.”

Grar was quiet as his jaw clenched, and he relaxed as the guards let him go, though they were still ready to jump in should he try anything.

The Orc just backed up, looking Celestia in the eyes, still filled with anger. “How can I ever know what it even means to be an Orc?” he growled, before turning around and leaving the throne room, the silence he left behind a stark contrast to the thundering ruckus he had caused.

Celestia reached out for him as he left, but couldn’t find any words that would answer his question. She sighed to herself as she went back to her throne, her true age seeming to weigh down on her as she looked at the stunned expressions of those who were still present.

She waved them off, “Court is adjourned for today.”

……………..

Grar stalked the halls of the castle, his anger boiling inside him as he looked for something, anything that he could break.

He wasn’t even sure what part of the castle he was in now, it didn’t even really matter. He rounded the corner and found a small circular room, and the way it was decorated it seemed like it was just a nook which would occasionally entertain guests, with rare and expensive pottery and paintings and furnishings.

He quickly grabbed a flower pot off of a marble stand and smashed it into the floor, before knocking over the stand itself with his fist. He grabbed one of the wooden dining chairs and threw it at a large mirror, shattering both to pieces.

He flipped the table and threw another chair out the window, grabbing up what was left of the teapot and smashing it against the wall.

Reaching up, he pulled down a tapestry which was hanging off the wall, and tore it.

He was blind to everything else. He just wanted to smash and break anything that could be destroyed.

Another clay pot was smashed against the wall, and another thrown into an old painting of Blueblood the second. His fist smashed another flower pot, cutting into his hand.

Suddenly he felt a hand take hold of his shoulder, and he wheeled around.

He sent his fist into the face of whoever it was who would try to stop him.

Shining Armor took the full impact of the blow, and was sent backwards, his head hitting the wall, making his vision explode with stars. In only took a moment to clear his vision, but he saw a large green fist coming towards his face.

Closing his eyes tight, he heard a loud smash in the wall next to his head.

He slowly opened his eyes, to see the anguished face of his friend, the Orc’s eyes were also clenched shut, and his teeth baring an angry grimace.

He stared at the Orc, who continued to shake, Shining slowly reached out to put a hand on Grar’s shoulder. “Grar….”

“I am alone, you know,” Grar said his voice trembling, though if it seemed less angry.

Shining Armor wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he stayed quiet.

“I feel robbed, like I had everything about myself stolen from me long before I knew I even had it to begin with,” slowly, Grar pulled his hand back from the wall, leaving a large crater behind, his hand glistening with thin lines of blood coming from the bruised knuckles.

He remained knelt down on a knee, staring at the ground, “My people are gone, because of that damned Gryphon King,” he sighed, and brought his bleeding hand to his face, as his lips curled in a grimace, his body shaking as he sobbed, his anger burned out.

Shining had never seen the Orc cry. He had seen him take hits that would cause even the toughest of colts to howl in pain with little more than a growl, and now here he was, crying.

The older colt put his arms around the much larger creature, and let him cry, knowing that was all he could do.

Hear a footstep, he looked up and saw Celestia standing in the doorway, watching sadly.