The Silverfox Chronicles

Short Story- Prince of Dusk

"Miss Goldenbell, can you come with me for a moment?"

Goldenbell turned around in surprise, seeing the very Prince of Mystic Falls behind her. She couldn't help but gape. Sure, Goldenbell had heard that the Prince was friendly, but he had never directly spoken to her.

"Ah-uh-yes sir?" She gasped, falling in a clumsy bow, her streaked mane flopping in her eyes.

"Good! Follow me." He chimed, trotting gleefully down a decorated hall.

Goldenbell meekly trotted behind him, feeling rather confused. Was she in trouble? Would Taijitsu act happy even though he was about to explode on the inside?

"You are probably wondering why you are here, right?" The alicorn turned his head, a bright smile on his face.

She nodded.

"Well, I hope you are aware of my youngest son, Embane.."

She knew Embane. Her mother was there to witness his creation ceremony- something that only happened when an alicorn was greatly needed for a certain purpose. Alicorns are produced asexually, a product of magic. It was a grand and intricate thing- Taijitsu would come in front of the gathered population of Mystic Falls in the throne room; runes already inscribed on the floor. He would place a feather, for pegasi, a small amount of soil, for earth ponies, and unicorns were represented by the runes made on the floor. Next, Taijitsu assembled a cutie mark, a purpose, for his offspring in the center of the runes. Lastly, Taijitsu would chant a spell and fire large quantities of magic into the scene, merging the symbols of different ponies together and a new born foal would appear out of the smoke. Usually, the servants took the foal first, because Taijitsu was too exhausted to do much else. This was why he could only create alicorns every couple hundred years- it was draining.

"What is wrong with Embane, sir?" Goldenbell asked, breaking out of her thoughts.

"Nothing is wrong," Taijitsu murmured, "But my son has finished his training." They arrived at a door decorated with crescent moons and stars. "And I believe he should take on a apprentice."

Taijitsu gleefully opened his son's door, unaware of the now very shocked unicorn following him.

Embane was sitting on a dark colored bed, absorbed in a book. Apparently, he didn't even notice them, not bothering to look up or anything.

"Oooohh, Eemmbaanne!" Taijitsu said, prancing into his son's room and disturbing him from his book.

Embane closed the book, sighing deeply. "Yes?"

Taijitsu's wing was wrapped tightly around the much younger, frowning alicorn. "Remember how I said you finished your magical training? And you needed to take the next step?"

"Yes."

The black and white alicorn stuck out his hoof and waved it wildly at Goldenbell. "Here is your next step!"

"What do you want me to do?!" Embane cried, aghast.

"Take her as an apprentice, obviously." He paused. "Wait, what did you think I meant?"

Embane frowned. "Er, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Anyway," Taijitsu said, averting away from the awkward moment, "This is Goldenbell. She has some good potential, and I would like you to mentor her. Then I can truly declare you have finished your training to the public."

Embane came off his bed, trotting to Goldenbell and looking her over.

Goldenbell shuffled under the Prince's unwavering grey stare.

"Alright. I guess I can." He said, simply, going right back to his book.

~

"Goldenbell, turn to the five hundredth page of The History of Equestria."

The unicorn looked at her mentor, who was pacing back and forth along the floor, watching her like a hawk. Taijitsu had let them use the old study in the back of the castle, providing a dark, dusty place to work. The room was small, too, the multiple statues and odd specimens in jars making it seem even smaller.

"Why?" Goldenbell said, keeping her eye on Embane.

Embane sighed and stopped directly behind her, opening the book before his apprentice with magic. "Because I told you too."

"That's not a valid excuse." Goldenbell said gently, trying not to spike his temper.

Embane was shaping up to be a mediocre mentor, frequently using the above to answer every question. He snapped if she asked too many questions, but when they actually got to study, Embane truly knew his magic. Goldenbell never thought there were so many spells she could learn.

"I wanted you to learn about my

siblings." Embane said quietly. He pointed at the illustration with a quill.

It was of two alicorns, one white and the other dark blue. She read the page, hoping to satisfy her mentor.

It told of two sisters, born to save Equestria from a menace named Discord. After turning him to stone with the fabled Elements of Harmony they received from Taijitsu, they ruled together from a city named Canterlot. However, the sister of the night was corrupted by her own greed and jealousy, transforming into the villain Nightmare Moon. The day sister was forced to banished her kin to the moon, but eventually she was brought back to the light by the very weapons that banished her.

Goldenbell looked at Embane, feeling pity for him. Something that wasn't in the book was that both had been killed by Nightmare a couple years ago. She assumed the grief was still fresh on his heart.

"Did you ever get to meet them?" She whispered.

Embane averted his eyes. "After Luna returned from being Nightmare Moon, she and Celestia came to visit me. I was very young, so I don't remember much about them. Father told me so many stories about them... I told myself I would become as successful as they were."

"It must be odd," Goldenbell murmured. "to be born for a certain purpose, not because Taijitsu wanted a foal."

Embane sighed. "You get use to it. Still, sometimes I kinda think what it will be like to fight Nightmare, to defeat him in combat. It's sorta scary."

He shook his head. "We should get back to studying. Turn to page three hundred ninety four in your spell book..."

~

Goldenbell trotted into Embane's room, as the Prince hadn't showed for their study time today.

The unicorn mare was carrying the book Embane had told her to read for homework at her side, ready to give him a vocal report on it.

She found her mentor lying on his bed, deep in sleep. A book was sitting directly in front of his face, so she assumed Embane had fell asleep reading it.

Goldenbell smiled softly, moving to the end of the bed to get a closer look at her mentor.

His dark mane hung in his eyes, curtaining his sharp cheekbones. Embane's slender sides slowly moved up and down in a rhythmic patten, likes waves washing against the shore. One of his long legs twitched in sleep, which made Goldenbell laughed a bit. He must be dreaming, she thought. She leaned in, hearing the breath escape from his nostrils. He looked so vulnerable laying there, the opposite of the stern mentor he usually is. In a way, Goldenbell found him beautiful, like she could just...

Goldenbell jumped back, skin hot under her fur. She shook her head wildly, trying to clear whatever she had been thinking out of her head. That was her mentor! She couldn't like him like that! She gritted her teeth, practically steaming. She had come for class, not to ogle over her mentor like the heroine in a romance novel! But then again, they were the same age...

She stifled a yawn, realizing why Embane was sleeping on the job. If Goldenbell thought she had long nights doing the work Embane set before her, he had prepare the lesson plans and figure out what for her to study.

Turning to leave her mentor at peace, Goldenbell levitated a blanket from the closet and draped it around Embane's shoulders.

"Good night." She whispered.

End of short story