Winds of Freedom

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was nary a cloud in the sky. It was peaceful and quiet, and the tranquility of the scene was astounding to behold. A maid carrying a basket of laundry stopped to enjoy the view through a large, majestic window. She had worked in the palace for a few years, but the mornings here never got old. It was a perfect moment to relax, and she took a deep breath of contentment. Reluctantly, she started on her way again, hoping to finish early so she could enjoy the rest of this beautiful spring day.

     A blue blur went racing past, sending the poor maid spinning in dizzy circles. Once she finally came to a stop, her eyes continued spinning, which caused her to nearly drop the basket of laundry she was carrying. As it was, stray socks had been strewn everywhere, and it would be another twenty minutes before she was sure she had found them all.

     Further down the hall, the speedster screeched to a near stop as he rounded a 90° turn before rocketing off again. He was pulling off tricks, grinding on handrails, and running on the walls. His agility knew no bounds as he leapt, twisted, and spun his way through the intricate halls of the Canterlot Castle. Was there a wall in his way? No problem, he'd just run up it. A group of servants? He wove through them so fast they didn't know he was there till he was gone. Family? Turn around and run the other direction. He felt like nothing could catch him. He was the fastest thing alive! He had wings, and magic, for that matter, but he was most comfortable on the ground. Who needed wings when he had his two feet?

     He had almost reached top speed. He pushed a little harder, hoping to make a sonic boom. He had made one once before, at almost the exact same time that one pegasus had done it, but that scarcely mattered to him. He was so close! Sonic could see the white cone beginning to form in front of him. He could feel the sound barrier beginning to split apart!...when he was brought to a lurching halt. The sudden loss of momentum knocked the breath out of his lungs. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he realized he couldn't move. A strange golden aura surrounded him, holding him just above the ground. A sense of dread filled him as he realized what had happened.

     "Sonic Maurice Nocturne!" called out a familiar voice. Sonic winced. She used the middle name. This was most certainly not good.

     "Ummm... Good, morning, Aunt Tia...?" he said hesitantly, grinning nervously. His grin got wider and more nervous as Princess Celestia approached her nephew. She was one of the few people who knew who his father was, but that also meant that she was extra hard on him, and his brother. She would not allow the sons of her sister to fall to the darkness.

     "What exactly do you think you're doing?" she asked sternly. Sonic knew she was one of the nicest people in his life, second only to his mother, but she did not tolerate his often reckless behavior.

     "Would you believe me if I said gym class?" Sonic asked, his grin failing a little. He had quickly learned how his aunt and mother had retained power for over a thousand years. You just don't piss someone off when they can control the sun and moon. You just don't.

     Celestia sighed. "You and I both know very well you don't take gym class. Or any other classes, for that matter. You graduated the expected curriculum a year ago! Honestly, by the standards of our people, you have matured remarkable quickly, your brother as well, but sometimes you act so reckless! It makes me wonder if you really have matured all that much." Celestia let him out of her magical grip, the golden glow that enveloped both him and her hand disappearing.

     "Maybe if you let me out of this Tartarus-forsaken castle, I could actually do what I want without it seeming so childish! I know that one pegasus that you know does it all the time, but she never gets called childish," Sonic complained.

     "Rainbow Dash," corrected Celestia, "is a grown and responsible citizen of Equestria. She may pull off reckless stunts, but her redeeming qualities far outweigh her bad ones. You simply seem to enjoy causing others trouble." Celestia's last sentence was ground out in a mock growl. Despite her words, Sonic knew he was out of trouble...for now.

     "I don't TRY to cause people trouble," Sonic protested. "They just end up in my way a lot." At this Celestia rolled her eyes, before giving him a friendly push.

     "Go find something to occupy yourself with. I have Day Court to attend to."

     Sonic needed no further urging, and ran off only slightly slower than the speed at which he came.

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     Sonic slowed down to a normal speed just as he reached the door to the room he shared with his brother. He had often wondered why they shared a room when there was plenty of rooms in the palace for them to have their own, but he had never gotten a straight answer. However, he did know that they had grown closer as a result.

     Very often, any mischief at the palace was instigated by the two expert pranksters, though half the time the more dangerous pranks were Sonic's doing, and not his twin's. His brother (who was older by about two minutes) often exercised more caution, and was quieter as well. That didn't mean he was shy, though, and many arguments were caused by Sonic trying to boss him around. It never ended well for Sonic, who wasn't quite as accomplished at close-quarters wrestling as he thought he was.

     He was, however, a natural leader, and when Sonic's advice made sense, his twin was willing to go along. They considered each other equals and partners in crime as much as they considered each other brothers. Therefore, on most days, they got along just fine.

     This was not one of those days.

     "Good job, Sonic Maurice," Sonic's brother taunted from where he sat, reading. His gaze never left his book, and he didn't move from his beanbag at all, but the mocking tone in his voice said it all.

     "Oh, shut up, Shadow Tiberius," Sonic shot back. Shadow hmmphed in response and fell silent. Even when they disagreed, they could agree on one thing. They both had stupid middle names. Sonic personally felt that Maurice was worse than Tiberius as far as middle names go, but he wouldn't tell Shadow that. Sonic ran a hand through his spiky blue hair. His emerald green eyes looked exasperated, but he didn't say anything else.

     Walking forward decisively, he opened the large window in his room and hopped out, carefully bracing his feet against the slanted roof so he wouldn't slip. He climbed up to the top of his window, above which was an eave that was relatively flat. He pulled himself up and sat there, his legs dangling, gazing over the city of Canterlot. Moments later, Shadow joined him, and they didn't speak a word as they looked at the great big world that they were denied access to.

     "What do you think it's like down there?" Sonic asked, breaking the silence.

     "Why are you asking me? I know no more than you do."

     "I know that! But what do you think it's like, meeting new people every day, getting to go and do whatever you like? What would it be like if the life you led was your decision?

     "... I suppose it would always be different. Every day would bring new experiences and new people into your life. You would never know what to expect. Even when you followed a routine, something would happen that makes it new."

     "Yeah. Sounds like a lot of fun. I bet we could do so much! But..."

     "The life we lead is not our choice. We cannot meet new people or go where we please. We must remain in the castle, away from the eyes of the public."

     "And no one will give us a goddamn reason why." Sonic swore. Shadow looked at him, surprised. He had never heard Sonic resort to profanity before, as "royalty" were supposed to remain refined. Sonic often tried to take these lessons to heart, but Shadow knew Sonic felt he wasn't cut out to be pampered royalty.

      The more Shadow thought on the matter, though, the more he realized that he felt the same way. There was no need for princes in a government with immortal rulers. They didn't even know who their father was, and the public didn't know they existed. The castle staff had been notified that any leak about their existence would be met with harsh punishment, so they hardly knew more than anyone else.

     Shadow looked over at Sonic, his blood red eyes filled with confusion and doubt. Sonic didn't notice, being too busy watching all the people in the streets below. They had considered running away more than a few times, but the sense of guilt and betrayal in their hearts had always stopped them. Now though, every day brought them closer to the breaking point.

     Shadow knew it was only a matter of time before Sonic snapped.

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     Six hours later saw Celestia and Luna drinking tea together, soon after the close of the Day Court. While their duties as ruling princesses took up most of their time, the evenings they reserved for a little R&R. They might be immortal, but that didn't mean they couldn't go without any time to themselves.

     "I'm worried, Luna." Celestia caught her sister's eye and held it.

     "Worried about what, Tia?" asked Luna, her curiosity peaked at Celestia's serious tone.

     "About the twins. They've grown more and more independent, and Sonic in particular talks a lot about wanting to leave the castle. I've managed to dodge the subject so far, but I fear we can't keep him cooped up much longer. As for Shadow, he's still difficult to read, but I get the feeling he thinks much the same way."

     "Tia, we both knew we couldn't keep them hidden away forever, but we wish they'd given us a bit more time. But why should we expect any less from them? They are certainly the children of their father." Luna sighed in regret. She hadn't seen Sombra in seventeen years. He had disappeared after rumors of him being in the castle had circulated through Canterlot. The two princesses had searched for the culprit who leaked the information with a vengeance, but had never found them. She had never heard from Sombra again, and had no idea what happened to him.

     "I just hope they don't do anything brash. Of course, we need time to set up a way to introduce them to the public, if it comes to that. But will they give us that time?" Celestia worried. The twins were quite dear to her. How could they not be, as the children of her beloved sister? If anything happened to them...

     Luna noticed the pained look on the Sun Princess' face, and immediately understood what must have been going on in her head. "Tia, thou knoweth that Nightmare Moon twas not thine fault, and neither is anything that might happen to them. Even if they do end up going out on their own, they can take care of themselves. If need be, we can even sic Discord on them." The thought of Discord handling her admittedly chaotic nephews made even Celestia giggle a bit.

     "We both know that it's impossible to contain those two when they set their minds on something. For now, all we can do is to start setting up a public relations meeting where we introduce them to the world. On the down low, of course." Luna looked kindly at her sister. "Please don't blame yourself."

     "I'll try."

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     That night, dinner was uneventful, ending with Sonic and Shadow finishing quickly (as always) and then heading to the practice room. Celestia and Luna shared a look, having barely finished half of their supper. With little else to occupy them, the two boys had turned to martial arts to give them things to do. Over their years of practice, including with battle magic, they had become skilled fighters, but they had no experience of what a real battle was like. Even so, everyone who had seen them sparring knew that whoever crossed them would rue that day.

     Sonic was more accomplished in the acrobatic part of fighting, using his innate speed to give him an incredible edge. While Shadow was not quite as fast as his brother, he was a brilliant strategist, and he knew his brother quite well. Their battles, when they got serious, were close every time, and they had never truly declared a winner.

     Battle magic was a similar story. After asking their mother to teach them, and very quickly being shut down, they had figured it out on their own. Shadow excelled at it, especially teleportation, which he could do instantly. Otherwise, his battle magic was quite simple, mostly consisting of unrefined beams of energy. Even as crude a strategy as it was, they were incredibly powerful. He also had figured out how to slow and even stop time, which Sonic found very hard to counter until he figured out how to do it himself. Even so, he wasn't quite as good at it as Shadow.

     Sonic was better at using battle magic to augment his own powers. He would curl into a ball and cover himself in a shield of rapidly moving blue magic, giving the impression he was spinning. By using this technique, he could hold himself in the air indefinitely, which was handy for targeting what he planned on attacking. It also helped him to pack quite a punch, as he could shear straight through metal. As refined as it was, that made it incredibly hard to predict, as he could manipulate his mid-air trajectory to confuse and track targets even when they dodged.

     He also had a good handle on his pegasus magic, and used it to manipulate the winds. His kicks and punches were already lightning fast, but by bending the air around him, he could reduce drag and move even faster. He was also fond of shooting out vacuum blades, which were blades of incredibly densely packed air. As they moved, they created a vacuum around them, which made them visible to the naked eye as they distorted light rays.

     All in all, Sonic's arsenal of tricks was much more varied than Shadow's, but even so, they were on equal ground. There was only one thing that Sonic was the undisputed champion of: sword fighting. They had taken up this particular hobby only a few years back, but in those few years, they had learned so quickly that even their mother, who constantly held them to high standards, was astounded at their progress. Shadow was extremely good at it, and had copied Sonic somewhat in using agility to complement his fighting style. Sonic beat him hands down every time, though. Even Captain Shining Armor (who knew of their existence for security reasons) had fallen to Sonic's might with a sword. He could even be argued to be the best swordfighter in all of Equestria.

     This was one thing that Sonic didn't brag about, though, as he felt that would've been wrong. Between the two of them, Sonic definitely had the greater sense of justice. Even though he was a prankster, and incredibly reckless, anytime he heard about someone suffering, he wanted to go out and fix it THAT INSTANT. Shadow, of course, wasn't cruel, but he stewed about such injustice in a much quieter way.

     Such powerful might held in the hands of such inexperienced young boys often scared the maids and man servants who saw them. Celestia and Luna had weathered many complaints about how "dangerous" they were.

     They did worry about their use of battle magic, though. Figuring out how to use it on one's own was unheard of, and yet these two boys had figured it out in the matter of days. Not weeks, not months, DAYS. When you put together incredible power and two hot headed young boys, it didn't always end well. But, then again, not much did when it involved those two.