Age of the Alicorn

Chapter 2: A Shy Heart Flutters – Part 2

In the heart of the city of Sky’lem, a growing crowd of ponies, of all ages, was pouring into the streets of the fair capital.

Thousands cheered and waved flags that proudly displayed the colors of Hartoneigha – the silver winged anchor with a crown of gold on a background of sea blue – as a chariot, surrounded by armored stallions and drawn by two of them, was carefully driven along the smooth roads that ran between the extravagant structures lining the squares and boulevards.

Clearing the way, the Captain, with a dark blue mane and tail and a brown body, led the Earth Pony soldiers on the ground while the Pegasi covered security from above.

Seated riding in the carriage of the chariot were two ponies.

On the left-hoof side, the tall Alicorn Prince Gentle Waters was occasionally waving a plate armor-legged hoof at the gathered onlookers, returning their smiles as well.

Comparatively, Fluttershy was barely containing her fright inside the space of the right-hoof side seat as she couldn’t stop thinking about how she was basically being paraded around. She even caught the chatter of other ponies they passed by.

“Who’s the young mare next to the Prince?” she heard a stallion say.

“Ooooh, I wish I was her right now!” a little filly jealously shouted.

“Fluttershy,” the voice of the Prince shook her out of her neutral fear.

“Yes,” she answered lightly, expressing as much confidence through her renewed grin as she could muster.

“I’m so sorry about this,” he apologized while looking directly at her with his royal blue eyes, “I understand if you’re uncomfortable. I was for years after this became procedure following…” he drifted off, staring painfully at the ground for a moment “…well, you know.”

“Oh, it’s fine…” Fluttershy responded.

Gentle Waters beamed at her before facing forward.

“…as long as I’m with you,” she mentally finished her statement.

Once the royal escort marched several steps more, a loud noise blurted across the cityscape, sounding like “PAAAAHH!”, and the whole situation burst into orderly chaos.

The regular ponies stopped their jovial celebration and began pouring into the nearest buildings that they could reach.

The royal guardsponies hurried the chariot ahead to a more open area in a lightly forested park, and soon dozens of soldier-ponies in another kind of armor began rushing through the cleared streets.

Fluttershy was so startled by the sudden change that she had frozen in place instead of reacting as she usually would.

“Your majesty,” a Pegasus stallion in one of the other suits of armor, a combo of light grey clothes topped with plates of silver metal on his chest and upper-back coupled with a black-beaked cap, yelled as he flew close to the royal party, “You’re needed at the harbor.”

“It’s back?” Gentle Waters asked with a neutral frown.

The soldier replied with a sullen nod.

“Thank you, marine,” he returned with a wing-salute.

The marine shot away while the Prince aimed his sights back to Fluttershy, who had recovered in time to hear what had been spoken.

“You have to go?” she questioned him, unknowingly adding a slight pout to her words.

“My subjects are in danger, Fluttershy,” Gentle Waters kindly commented, “Do you remember the creature that attacked me at the beach when I was a colt?”

The thought of the sea serpent from his tale slipped back into her remembrance. “Yes,” she softly answered.

The Prince peered off into the distance, presumably in the direction of the harbor. “Ever since that day, it has attempted to exact its vengeance upon me and everything I have had my hooves involved in. Thus, it has continuously brought harm to the city however it can, whether by wrecking our docks, sinking our ships, or hurting the ponies I call friends.”

The kindhearted mare could scarcely imagine such a level of violence.

Concern claimed its place on the Prince’s face as he looked back to her. “Fluttershy, please let these guards take you to the castle while I deal with this… unpleasantness.”

For a split-second, she almost accepted the offer. But, as Gentle Waters rose into the air and put distance between each of them, the devastating realization of him leaving her came to life.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, lifting herself up to the Prince, right as the Captain and a pair of Pegasi royal guards had joined him.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” the Prince asked of her, hopeful curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Maybe I can help?” she counter-offered.

“Sire,” the Captain attempted to intervene, but was interrupted by a raised hoof from the Prince.

As Prince Gentle Waters gazed deeply into her winking, aquamarine eyes, a spark of warmth lit in his heart.

“I believe she knows what she’s doing,” he announced.

Although the Captain was aiming a look of shock at the back of the Prince’s head, he merely stated, “Yes, milord.”

“Now, we must hurry,” Gentle Waters declared. “Fluttershy,” he invited her with an extended hoof.

Giggling on the inside, she accepted.

Then, the rest of the Pegasi guards made an orb-shaped formation around the pair and the Captain as they moved on.

Ascending above the spires that dotted the scenery, they were able to take in the true picture of what lay ahead.

Speeding on to their destination, they could see the wreckage of a few of the grand vessels that had previously been sail-worthy, but now were partially sunk into the ocean waters and their crewponies being rescued by Pegasi marines, and an entire length of docking bays utterly torn asunder.

Fluttershy barely maintained synchronized movements with the others after seeing a long, powerful shadow surging under the waters. Thanks to Gentle Waters though, she didn’t have to worry about a thing.

Going at a slow dive, once the group had reached a decently close range from the ground, the formation broke apart to allow individuals to deviate.

While the soldier-ponies individually landed nearby, the Prince, followed closely by Fluttershy, touched down on a strip of pavement that ran perpendicular to the coastline.

“Sire,” a middle-aged Earth Pony stallion in marine garment, which bore a special double bar badge on the chest, stated as he trotted to the royal’s landing zone, “you have arrived in the nick of time.”

“Casualty report, Colonel,” the Prince requested with practiced ease.

“We’ve lost two galleons, a cargo ship, and-”

Before another syllable could be uttered, an explosion of water rocketed into the sky like a geyser as a shape materialized in the midst of the bay. Slithering out of the deep blue, the beast rose higher and higher until its head towered above everything but the clouds.

Its sickly yellow eye-slits stared with murderous intent at the Prince as its mouth split open to reveal rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth, dripping with saliva, and its body, covered in jagged, green scales, wavered back and forth like a snake.

“My old foe,” the Prince whispered, “you’ve grown.”

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was doing her absolute best to not have a panic attack. “It’s not a dragon. It’s not a dragon,” she repeated to herself over and over again.

Putting on a strong face, taking a deep breath, and stepping forward, she said, “Let me try to reason with him. I’m sure that he just needs someone to talk to.”

“Milord!” the Colonel yelled, but was cut off by a raised hoof from Gentle Waters.

“Are you sure?” the Prince asked her with concern lining his voice.

Fluttershy nodded with a light bob of the head and a confident grin on her muzzle.

“Then go ahead,” the Alicorn gestured with a leg aimed straight at the awaiting creature.

From every angle, ponies gawked as they watched the lone mare speed on to the serpent.

Remembering the times she had soothed the chimera and that once she intimidated a dragon, the pink-maned pony was sure that kindness was the answer to dispelling what ailed the creature.

Stopping short of a few hundred meters from the gargantuan beast’s head, she hovered in place. “Hello,” she greeted, looking directly into its glaring yellow orbs.

There was no response besides the panting of its rancid breath.

“Is there anything I can help you with, big guy?” she asked politely, batting her eyelashes innocently.

“You can die,” it hissed abruptly.

Never before had Fluttershy ever heard such hateful words as a pained expression shifted onto her features and her flapping began to weaken.

Then, the serpent let out a guttural roar that outright stunned the young lady, causing her wings to lock up and sending her into a freefall towards the crashing waves.

A gasp of shock instantly rose through the ranks of the marines and sailors who were witnessing the event from afar.

Without a second thought, Gentle Waters bolted straight into the air as his horn shone with magical blue energy, and he teleported to right under Fluttershy. Softening her landing with his magic, he caught the damsel in distress with the underside of his plated front legs.

“Shield your eyes!” he warned her, right as the monster reared back its ugly maw like a cobra about to strike.

Almost forgetting the dire circumstance she was in, Fluttershy gladly covered her face with two hooves.

With great effort, the Prince sent a flash, akin to a star, from the point of his crown, blinding the monstrosity.

As the serpent collapsed into the sea, shrieking the whole way, the Prince retreated, with pony-in-hoof, to his previous position amongst safe company.

Although other ponies were cheering and congratulating the Prince, Gentle Waters’s attention was solely set on the mare he just saved and allowed to land on her own.

“Are you alright?” he questioned her worriedly.

“I’m fine,” she answered aloud, completing her words for herself with, “thanks to you.”

“Fluttershy, I know you have a kind heart,” the Prince complimented the softly-spoken lady-pony, “but some creatures do not appreciate kindness, and a few have no place in their hearts for good.”

Fluttershy formed a saddened face at the Prince’s statement.

“Still, remember this, don’t ever stop being kind just because somepony, or something, else isn’t to you.”

Hearing those words warmed her heart as she smiled in return.

The moment of peace was shattered by an uplifting of water in the bay and sharp screeching as the serpent reemerged in much closer proximity to the Prince’s point along the coast.

Prince Gentle Waters stepped in front of Fluttershy as he readied his horn and spread his wings, as if he were going to jump right at the beast.

But then, while the serpent drew near to its prey, a roar sounded from above and a stream of what appeared to be white fire slammed into the barbaric behemoth.

Instead of watching the horrible being be pushed back into the ocean waves, Fluttershy followed the path of the fluorescent blaze. Her heart nearly gave out at the sight that was before her eyes.

“Dr-uh…” she muttered right as the embrace of darkness washed over her senses.

Ever slowly, reality began to return to Fluttershy.

She stirred, barely squeaking a light moan.

“Hey! She’s waking up!” she heard a familiar, yet blurry, voice from nearby.

Although the boyish undertones caused her mind to drift into curiosity, her focus was mainly stuck on her surroundings. From what she could feel, she was laying on a cushioned surface, probably a bed.

“Gentle… Waters…” Fluttershy whispered, beginning to part her lids to readjust her sight as she took in the fuzzy picture that was around her.

“It’s me, Fluttershy,” the other individual corrected.

As the fog that clouded her thoughts began to clear, the dazed pony could only think of one being. “Spike, is that you?”

“Yep,” he cheerily stated.

“But, how-” she began to ask, sitting up only to be startled by an unbelievable image. “Spike! Is that REALLY you?!”

Seated on a chair next to the plush furniture piece, there was a dragon with purple scales, yes. And yet, he was certainly not the same little baby Spike who Fluttershy knew.

From the looks of it, he was a pre-teen, but he appeared nothing like the one time Spike began hoarding things and became a greedy monster. Starting with the gem-like scales along the purple hide, to the height easily reaching Fluttershy’s own, and even more so the wings that were draped on his back, she wasn’t sure if she should scream and run or hide under her quilted blanket.

“Oh yeah, it is!” the proud pre-teenage boy rejoiced. “It’s a new look, I know.”

“How…” she breathed, squinting her eyes.

“I’m going to become a Dragon of Light!” Spike declared with a smirk.

“Huh?” returned the confused mare.

“Uh, long story short, I met a really nice older dragon who’s going to teach me to be a truly good dragon.”

“Oh-kay,” Fluttershy answered, haphazardly smiling. Suddenly realizing something, she posed the question, “If you’re here, then where are the rest of the girls?”

“Oh, yeah, that…” Spike muttered, awkwardly rubbing a claw across one of his forearms, “Well, you see, you’re the first I’ve seen.”

“Oh,” she groaned delicately, her ears drooping in a disheartened display of despair.

“Which reminds me,” the colorful draconic child thought aloud while tapping his jaw, before aiming the digit at his friend, “how did you get here?”

“You mean in this bed?” Fluttershy asked in reply, similarly unsure.

“No, you’ve been asleep here for the past three hours after the Prince brought you here,” Spike admitted.

The mental image of – the brave, kind – Prince Gentle Waters sweeping her off of her hooves and delivering her all the way to her place of rest brought a blush to her cheeks that she tried to hide with her mane swept over. Her rosy complexion only grew when she noticed the flowery swirl in her pink locks.

“What I mean was,” Spike restarted, regaining Fluttershy’s attention, “how did you, and I for that matter, even get to be in Hartoneigha?”

As her memories came back to her, Fluttershy shuddered to think about the startling separation that took place just that morning. “W-well,” she stuttered, “we were talking, and then these… balls of lightning trapped each of us.”

“Whoa,” expressed the shocked dragon, “And then what happened?”

“They zapped us away,” she replied in a pained manner.

“Sooooo,” Spike drew out with a long breath, “you’re saying everypony was taken to who knows where?”

“I… guess so,” she stated. Then, her mind drifted back to an earlier statement. “Wait, did you say ‘three hours’?”

“Yeah,” he curtly nodded his answer as he spoke.

That revelation was almost earth-shaking as she realized that the Prince was nowhere in sight.

“Wh-wh-where is Prince Gentle Waters?” she nearly shouted, in her own unique quiet fashion.

“Oh, he’s busy having to attend to his royal duties,” Spike revealed.

The depressing idea that the Prince willingly left her on her own began to creep into her thoughts.

“But,” he continued, curbing the saddening train of imagination that was beginning to rule the pony’s whole being, “the Prince did leave a guard to bring him back to here as soon as you were awake.”

Fluttershy just about squealed in delight as she longed for the time to fly on by.

“Excuse me, Sir Spike,” intruded a deeper, and vaguely familiar, voice.

“Yes?” the addressed dragon responded while he and Fluttershy turned their eyes in the direction of the newcomer, namely the room’s main entrance.

Standing there, with his feather plumed-head held high, was the Captain of the Royal Guard.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized, not budging a brown hoof from the doorway, “but Sir White Fang has requested your immediate return. He says that your lessons must begin today.”

“Oh, right, thanks,” Spike concluded with a mischievous smile.

The Captain proceeded to back away from his position into the hallway beyond.

“Fluttershy,” the young scaly-skinned individual exhaled softly as both of them were left by themselves.

“Yes, Spike,” she implied him to go on.

“Could you do something for me?”

“Mm-hmm,” she agreed, nodding lightly from her cushioned spot.

“Please, remember that you and the other ponies are and will always be my best friends,” the purple hided pony-pal hurriedly requested, before standing up on his own two feet.

“Okay,” Fluttershy gladly, if not with a dash of confusion, remarked.

“And,” he added, removing a shiny crystalline dragon figure from a cloth in the grasp of his claws, “could you give this to Rarity to remember me by?”

“Of course, Spike,” she assured him.

“You promise,” he begged as he moved close to the bed.

“Cross my heart, and hope to fly,” she chanted out the motions, “stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“I can always count on you,” Spike graciously gifted her with a compliment, pawing the statuette over into extended hooves.

“But, wait,” Fluttershy stopped him as he turned to go, “why are you telling me this?”

“I’m…” he paused, thinking over his options with a sad sideways glance “…not going back to Ponyville.”

“Because you want to become a Dragon of Light,” she repeated his earlier stated words.

“Yeah!” Spike excitedly confirmed, before his guilt returned. “I might not see you or any of the girls again.”

“Well, I hope you do well,” Fluttershy said, hoping the best for a good friend.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” he grinningly replied.

She returned his smile while carefully placing the statue into the folds of her crumpled bed sheets.

“Bye!” Spike waved farewell as he left the room.

Unable to reply in time, she remained quiet.

Then, she finally noticed just how nice of a chamber she was within.

Rectangular in shape, it was small but spacious, and its walls were made of white stone bricks, but its floors and ceiling were a fine red wood. Adorning the space was a full suite of furniture of a lighter shade of wood, and there were potted plants of beautiful varieties set all around. Accentuating the atmosphere was the natural sunlight that beamed through the open glass doors of a nearby balcony along with the breeze that accompanied it.

“Pardon me, Lady Fluttershy,” the Captain’s gruff voice penetrated the air once more.

“Huh,” she muttered, snapping out of her appreciative observations.

“May I have a word with you?” he asked from his position inside the wooden doorway.

“Umm… sure, I guess,” she permitted anxiously.

“You are most kind,” the silver-armored stallion voiced his gratitude, stepping into the room.

Halting a few steps from the bed, he removed his helmet and held it in the nook of his upheld right foreleg. “I am truly sorry for not properly introducing myself when we first met. It was merely protocol.”

Grunting to clear his throat, the Captain stood tall, as if at attention. “I am Captain Gilded Hooves of the Hartoneighan Royal Guard, protector of the crown, and… godfather of Prince Gentle Waters.”

“You’re-” Fluttershy gasped in utter surprise.

“The Prince’s legal guardian, yes,” he answered for her.

“Then,” she gave voice to her thoughts, “that means-”

“I have been responsible for him since that dreadful day we lost his parents...” he shuddered “…and my best friends.”

Fluttershy was really starting to understand just how much the previous rulers of Hartoneigha meant to their people.

“In fact,” Captain Gilded Hooves pronounced, “that’s the reason I wanted to speak to you.”

Fluttershy was curious as to what he could want to discuss with her as she kept her attention upon the imposing, yet well-mannered, figure.

“You see, I wanted you to know that I am glad in many ways that you so ostentatiously were on the beach so that the Prince could meet you.”

“Me too,” she added in her own mind.

“You must be a very special pony for him to be so open with you,” he cheerfully stated.

As Fluttershy paid attention, she realized it was the first time she saw the old veteran ever beam a grin.

“To tell the truth,” the Captain said further, placing his helm at his hooves, “Gentle Waters has never talked to anypony else about that day, not even I.”

All of a sudden, the tenderhearted mare felt real special.

“No matter what happens, I want you to know that you have my blessing,” the Captain concluded, straightening his face and replacing his feathery-topped headpiece.

A clattering and a muffled “Excuse me!” sounded from the hallway.

“That would be my cue,” Gilded Hooves announced, almost as if according to a script, “Good day, Lady Fluttershy.”

As the Captain trotted on to the exit, in came Prince Gentle Waters, panting heavily.

“Your highness,” the Captain greeted the Alicorn while he caught his breath.

“H… hey,” replied the Prince to the brown with blue-maned stallion, who left shortly thereafter. Sucking in a long snort of fresh air, he laid his sight on the reawakened recipient of his concerns. “Fluttershy.”

“Hi,” she shyly, yet eagerly, welcomed the Prince.

Grinning from cheek to cheek, he stepped forward, wearing the same royal duds he had before, but minus the leg-plate armor.

“Are you alright?” he asked, approaching the cozily-cooped Pegasus.

“Oh, I’m… fine,” Fluttershy gingerly agreed.

“I’m sorry about before,” he apologized, rubbing his left foreleg with his front right hoof, “I wish I had known you were so frightened by dragons.”

“It’s not your fault,” she affirmed.

“Thank you for saying so,” the Prince delighted, “But if it wasn’t for Sir Spike, I wouldn’t have come to understand that when I had.”

“Spike?” Fluttershy pondered rhetorically, cringing slightly. “He told you?”

“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled happily, bobbing his head and wavy gold and blue mane, “He also told me a lot more about you, your friends, and Ponyville. Although, I would have preferred to have heard it in your own words instead.”

Blushing brightly, she straightened herself, her muzzle displaying a curve.

“Would, if you’re up to it…” Gentle Waters anxiously began “…would you like to take a tour of the castle with me?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Fluttershy whispered her gratitude.

“Would you like a saddle-bag for that?” he offered before she could take a step off the bed, and aimed a pointed hoof to a spot next to her.

Looking to the object of his attention, partially hidden in the folds of the covers was the dragon statuette, which reminded her of her promise.

“Yes, please,” accepted the pink-haired mare.

With a smile, the tall, many-blue hued Prince shot a pulse of magical energy from his spiral-pointed horn, and a drawer on the side of a long dresser jutted outward. Floating up into the air, a single-sided saddle-bag, with the bold Hartoneigha emblem on its flap, levitated to the lady Pegasus.

“I don’t mean to be overbearing,” Gentle Waters said while Fluttershy caught the bag with her wings, “but would you like some help with that?”

“Okay,” she voiced her approval.

He put barely any effort into the task as he used his magic to bring the straps to wind across her back and under her waist, latched into place, and then lifted the figurine up and into the safety of the satchel.

“There,” the Prince stated satisfactorily, “Now, shall we?”

Once more, for the fourth time, Fluttershy watched as he offered his hoof to her. Honestly, she found herself enjoying being treated like a lady, especially by this particular stallion.

Taking Gentle Waters’s extended limb, the delicate flower of a girl tiphooved down from the point of elevation and then followed after the Prince as he moved to the doorway.

As she exited her place of temporary residency, she could now witness the hallway beyond.

Stretching out in two directions, from the corner that hosted the door to the previous room, were brightly-colored, wide-gapped, stone halls topped with high ceilings and filled with pictures of different ponies along the walls.

Turning left, the Prince and Fluttershy walked across a red carpet that ran along until the end of the space.

Passing through, without either of them saying a word, the ponies could see paintings of many past ponies, all of them appearing very important.

But the one that caught Fluttershy’s eye was a portrait of two special figures.

Seated, side-by-side, were a mare and a stallion. Dressed in a simple, yet elegant, light blue dress, with a golden tiara complemented by polished white pearls, was a white-bodied, golden-haired Earth Pony, whose peepers glistened with amber irises. Set next to her, with wings spread in the background, was a silver-maned and sapphire blue Pegasus, in an outfit similar to Gentle Waters’s.

Taking another hoofstep, she suddenly realized that it was exactly like Gentle Waters’s suit, including the crown.

Looking back at the Alicorn, she could definitely see the resemblance and wished she could have met them. At the same time, her heart reached out to the Prince for his loss.

“We’re almost there,” Prince Gentle Waters abruptly announced.

Blinking away her confusion, she followed him around a curb into a hall that continued to an open passage that was brimming with light.

“Fluttershy,” the Prince called to her as they drew closer, “welcome to the Royal Gardens.”

A gasp escaped her lips as her aquamarine sights gleamed with sunshine.

Through the opening and over the railing on the edge of a roomy walkway, an expansive series of garden plots, ranging from semi-forested patches of land to open fields to the ponds that streamed in-between it all, lay in the midst of a walled-in environment.

Skittering about were critters of every kind, including cranes, herons, bunnies, and so much more.

“This is… amazing,” she breathed, unfurling her wings from her sides and flapping them at a slight pace.

“Indeed,” gratified the Prince, “I’m so pleased that you think so.”

Folding her feathered flaps back into their resting positions, Fluttershy began blushing a fierce pink across her face.

A high-pitched squawk sounded, drawing the attention of the two ponies to a high-flying bird of prey.

“Ah, here’s the bird of the hour,” Gentle Waters started to introduce, holding his right foreleg out, “Fluttershy, may I present Horatio Hawkington, Keeper of the Gardens.”

With an expert-level of finesse and control, the silver-on-ember feathered friend carefully latched onto the limb.

“Oh,” the lovely lady said admiringly, “he’s incredible.”

From the hooked talons that were snuggly wrapped along the Prince’s leg to the sleek, yet broad-beaked head upon his thin upper body, Horatio truly was a sight to behold. And yet, there was something vaguely familiar about the bird.

Then, it struck Fluttershy – the tall, majestic creature reminded her of Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix Philomena!

“He’s something special, alright,” Gentle Waters stated with a knowing grin at the perched perp, who was grooming himself and acting like there wasn’t a care in the world.

“Is he really a hawk?” the mare mumbled curiously.

“As far as we know, yes,” the Prince admitted.

“As far as you know?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, letting Horatio hop onto his back so he could lower his hoof back to the ground, “You see, I found him shortly after that… horrible day when he was nothing but a hatchling fresh from the egg.”

“What about his parents?” Fluttershy questioned with worry in her words.

Directing her to a path that ran along the inside of the wall, and overlooking the gardens, the Prince began to walk. When his guest caught up with him, he made sure to synchronize every hoofstep for hoofstep.

“He was all alone, wandering through the dense, foggy forests that cover a third of Hartoneigha’s territory,” Gentle Waters elaborated. “So, I took him in, cared for him, and he became one of my closest friends.”

“Yaaay,” Fluttershy cheered softly.

“Kaaaw!” Horatio followed her example, only more adamantly.

Grinning at the gleeful display, the Prince thought of something more to say, “And soon enough, I was inspired to work with my pony friends to establish the Hartoneighan Royal Preservation, which, to this day, my friends help to keep running as the Royal Preservation Rangers.”

“Wow,” she expressed with sparkling stars in her eyes.

The more Fluttershy learned about Hartoneigha, the more she found that she liked.

But, as her mind drifted back to an earlier conversation, she wondered about something that disturbed her.

“Umm…” murmured the instantly unsettled mare.

“What’s the matter, Fluttershy?” Gentle Waters inquired.

Trying to avoid a frightful subject, she decided to ask, “Who’s White Fang?”

Staring blankly ahead for a moment, the Prince returned his gaze to a nearly distraught Fluttershy. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Gulping lightly, setting her face straight, and breathing in deep, she made her choice. “Yes.”

“Well…” he began “…he’s the dragon who saved us.”

Although shocked at the prospect of being saved by a dragon (excepting Spike, of course), Fluttershy was more surprised by the fact that the Prince seemed to be familiar with such a ferocious creature.

“Do you… know him?” she voiced her contained suspicion, with a shade of worry.

“Actually,” the Prince continued his answers with a confident, yet considerate tone, “he’s a friend of mine.”

“What?!” she uncharacteristically yelped, stopping in her tracks.

Sighing heavily, Gentle Waters also ceased walking and rotated around.

Keeping a tender face, he focused his complete attention on the now wide-eyed lady Pegasus. “Fluttershy, White Fang saved my life, and the lives of my subjects, and since that day he has pledged to defend Hartoneigha for the rest of his natural days.”

“Really?” she squeaked, hoping it to be the truth, but still unsure.

Nodding, the Prince hummed “Mm-hmm” while grinning and maintaining eye-contact, steadily soothing the tensed pony.

“In fact,” Gentle Waters expanded upon his explanation, “he’s had me over for tea…”

“He… does sound kind of nice…” she commented.

“And, he protects the Hartoneighan Royal Treasury,” the Prince finished.

“Treasury?” Fluttershy noted. “As in, jewels?”

“Yep,” he responded. “White Fang personally hates them, but, to help our nation, he protects them.”

“A dragon hating jewels?” the dumbfounded filly pondered rhetorically.

“He said it has something to do with being a ‘Dragon of Light’,” Gentle Waters revealed, using the tips of his wings to motion quotes in the air.

“So that’s what Spike meant,” she corrected herself.

Tapping the stone walkway with her hoof, Fluttershy felt ashamed of herself, but did her best to hide it from Prince Gentle Waters.

“Come now,” the Prince re-invited her, “there’s still so much to see, and the day is almost over.”

Bobbing her head in approval, the pink-haired mare joined the generous Prince in returning to their brisk trot down the path.

When they neared the end, reaching a pair of stained glass doors colored with patterns of roses and hummingbirds, Horatio bellowed a boisterous “Kaw!” before soaring off of Gentle Water’s back and diving down to the gardens.

“Always one for dramatics, that one,” the Alicorn Prince uttered as he swayed his head from side-to-side with a chuckle, before opening the double doors with a glow of his horn. “After you,” he gestured to Fluttershy as he side-stepped.

Blushing, yet again, she reluctantly entered.

The two ponies continued onward, passing through many chambers and rooms, such as the main dining room, the kitchen, the throne room, and the Grand Ball Room.

It had all been magnificent, or, at least, that’s what Fluttershy could see Rarity saying.

But what truly stuck out in her mind were the Ponies who the Prince introduced her to. Every guard, maid, and servant was so down to earth, and, even more so, they treated Gentle Waters like family.

She could see now that they loved him, and he reciprocated that love in full.

Finally, the pair exited from the castle proper onto a balcony, which gave way to the outside.

From the banister that edged the platform, a pony could see an outstretched plain, intersected by a couple of dirt roads that connected to a courtyard at the feet of the castle, which in of itself stood several stories tall.

While Gentle Waters closed shut the exit that he had cleared for Fluttershy and himself, she had stepped away from him.

A drop hit the ground, drawing the Alicorn’s attention to the mare, who had her back turned to him.

He watched as a few more drips fell from the face that was hidden by the wavy pink mane.

“Are you alright, Fluttershy?” the Prince partitioned, worried about her well-being as he approached her from the side.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, aiming her visage in the opposite direction.

“Sorry?” he questioned in a gentle tone.

Whipping her head around, a flood of tears was pouring from the corners of her eyes, drenching the floor at her hooves as her lower lip quivered.

“I’m sorry that I ever doubted you, even for a moment,” Fluttershy apologized vigorously, her voice cracking sporadically.

“Oh, Fluttershy,” Gentle Waters tilted her head back up with a hoof after she shifted it downwards in guilt, “you don’t have to be sorry. Everypony makes mistakes, especially Alicorn Princes.”

The warmth of her heart was revived as she stared deep into the royal blue pools that glistened with the bright, shining tenderhearted kindness of the Prince’s soul.

As her tears dried up and she wiped away the moisture with a hoofkerchief that the Prince produced from thin air, he paced over to the balcony’s side.

Finished with her task, Fluttershy put a smile on her muzzle and gracefully slipped herself to right beside him.

They both stood there, as still as statues, watching the sun begin to fade under the horizon as its tint of red light washed across the sleepy land.

“The dusk is breathtaking here in Hartoneigha,” Gentle Waters recited poetically, “but so is the dawn.”

He peered at her, and, as the sunlight bathed the sweetly conservative lady-pony in its radiance, a spark kindled a fire in his heart.

“Fluttershy,” he called her name, earning her undivided attention, “may I tell you something?”

“Okay,” she replied with her ever-strong grin and a batting of her naturally lengthy eyelashes.

“I want to say that,” he paused, contemplating the route he could take with his words, “although under strange circumstances, this has most certainly been the best day of my life.”

A sea of stars glittered in her eyes as Fluttershy knew that there was more to his expression of withheld feelings.

“And… I…” the Prince’s voice waned, struggling to portray what was bubbling inside of his heart.

“Yes,” she urged him on, almost bursting into a fit of excitement as she edged closer to Gentle Waters.

Not straying or retreating from the mare’s advances, the stallion was strengthened in his resolve as his eyes locked with hers. “I love-”

A flash, followed by a thunderous crash, cut in as a ball of energy phased into existence, trapping Fluttershy in the confines of its orb-shaped field.

“Fluttershy!” the Prince cried, searching for a way to free her.

“Your highness!” Captain Gilded Hooves shouted as he burst through the glass doors, leading a small entourage of the castle’s staff out onto the balcony as they frantically panicked in reply to the nightmarish twist in destiny.

Giving no response to the Captain’s outburst, Gentle Waters tried his best to dispel the sphere, but his magic failed him.

“What’s happening?” the Prince begged to know.

“It’s taking me away-ay-ay,” Fluttershy whimpered, cowering at the center of her luminescent cage as her renewed sorrow swelled up in the form of tears.

Staring into her eyes, Gentle Waters said, “Fluttershy...”

Sobbing as she returned his gaze, all that she could vocalize was “Mm-hmm.”

“...listen to me,” he instructed peacefully. “I need you to be strong.”

As those words registered in her brain, the meaning took ahold of her, and she forced her tears to stop from flowing forth.

“Know this,” the Prince spoke with a passion burning in his tone, “even if I have to fly to the ends of this world, and the next, I will find you!”

It clicked.

A fire, lighting up like the sun, blazed in her spirit, and a connection triggered in them both.

Prince Gentle Waters lifted a hoof and brought it closer and closer to the bubble.

Fluttershy then repeated the motion, sending her own limb on a collision course.

Centimeters apart, they couldn’t complete their bonding ritual, ‘cause in the passing of a breath, she was gone, leaving a determined prince to begin his search, and a whole kingdom to support his quest.

And so, two hearts longed to become one.