From Prince to King

“Your son seemed… awkward today. May I ask why?” Celestia situated herself in her seat and crossed her legs.

“He’s just rebellious. Czar doesn’t want to do anything, so he just keeps quiet and refuses to speak to anyone,” Caesar replied, writhing in his seat.

“You look uncomfortable. Do you not wish to talk about him?” Celestia asked.

“It’s not that. it’s just…” Caesar paused. He scratched his nose with his thumbnail and sniffed. “I’m worried that he won’t be a suitable enough heir.”

“Ah, I see,” Princess Celestia sighed, “Give him time. You never know what he’s capable of.”

“I don’t, but he shouldn’t leave me in the dark. If he wants to become king, he needs to show me he can!” Caesar argued.

After a few moments of silence, Celestia responded “What if he doesn’t want to?”

Caesar looked at her, perplexed. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

“I’ll think you’ll come to believe I can,” Princess Celestia retorted with nerve.

“Well, either way, he needs to. Speaking of him, I must go find him. He’s been gone too long. Stupid child probably went and gotten himself into trouble.” Caesar stood and went to exit the room. “I shall return, Your Highness. Until then,” he bowed out of respect.

“Until then,” she replied, sharing a bow.

“Do you even worry about his well-being, Caesar?” she whispered to herself.

***

"You can't just sit here all day, staring over the city. Get back to the castle, Czar. You shouldn't walk about the streets; you're royalty.

"There's nothing waiting for me there, Father. I'd just be sitting at a table filled with more politics and other boring riff-raff."

"Well, that 'boring riff-raff' is what controls what happens in Equestria!"

"Yeah, you've told me before," Czar sighed as he cast his eyes back towards the city. He watched the residents of Canterlot, all prim and proper, go about their daily business.

"Listen here, you'll be back to your quarters at five. Do you hear me, Czar?" Caesar pointed his finger authoritatively at his son. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir, I'll be in my quarters at five." He responded, not making eye contact. Caesar, realizing that taking this any farther wouldn't solve anything, sighed, and made his way back down the stairs of the abandoned building.

Czar stared at the city for a long time, not fixing his gaze on anything else. He thought on why he was here, and its importance. To learn what it's like in another country, to gain ideas when I take rule. Sounds like a grand idea to me. Czar wished desperately to be back in Marvalia, back to where his father wouldn't be on his case about every single thing he would do. At least there, he could have some peace...

"Who are you, mister?" A child's voice called out. Czar turned around to see a child, about three feet tall, staring at him. He had very short, almost crew cut, hair and dark green eyes.

"I'm, uh...I'm a newcomer. I just moved here,” he responded. Czar wanted to stay a little low, for his political status might inspire some people to do some horrid and cruel things to him.

"Are you Prince Czar from Marvalia?" the little boy asked.

"H-how did you know?" Czar asked in shock.

"I stay at the castle, too. I'm a soldier's son, and I'm going to be a soldier when I'm older. I heard that you came here, but I barely saw you around the castle, so I came to find you. I'm Tactic." The child held out his hand, the common gesture for a handshake.

Well, isn't he just the formal little bugger. "Nice to meet you, Tactic. And apparently, you already know me."

"Yeah, sorry about that. But, I think it'd be best if you came back to the castle," he said bluntly.

"Uh, what?" Czar was confused. Is someone uncanny prowling about, someone that wants to harm me?

"Your father will be angry if you don't return.” Oh. Just Caesar.

"I don't care if he gets mad or not," Czar sighed.

"Why? He's your dad, you should listen to him." He said

"Look, I don't know how you've been raised, but," Czar looked around, and sat up off of the edge, walking closer to the boy, "just because your parents tell you something, doesn't mean it's always right."

"Are you saying...your dad's wrong?" Tactic tilted his head, like a dog.

"Er, yes and no. It's just," he rubbed his forehead, just below his horn, "what he wants is different than what I want. He wants me to be this great king, and...I don't."

"Well, he wants what's best for you; that's why he does that."

"Does he? Marvalia isn't like Equestria. Celestia is immortal. She will live forever."

"I know that," he said defensively.

"Right. There's no stress over an heir, because she doesn't need one. Marvalia...my dad doesn't have too many years left in him: maybe twenty. And to a kingdom, twenty years is like a day. If I'm not a suitable enough ruler, Marvalia will fall. Father doesn't want that at all. he wants me to be amazing, and just as great a ruler as himself."

"Well...you never know."

"Huh?" Czar gave the child a strange look.

"Maybe it's his way of looking out for you." Tactic began to slowly stride around as he talked. "If you becoming a great king will protect you in the near future, maybe that's what you should do. Or maybe... Maybe he's just confused of what you want..."

"You have a point there," Czar sighed. "But, you don't know him. I've seen him, and all he cares about is his kingdom. Spend your life with him, and see how he acts."

Tactic stayed silent. Czar wandered what was going through his head. He just stood there, staring at the sky, at Celestia's radiant sun.

"I see where you're coming from," he finally stated. "But...you don't want to disappoint Princess Celestia, do you?"

Czar's heart skipped a beat when he heard that name. "N-no, I guess not," he sighed.

"Good. Now, please come with me, Prince Czar," Tactic said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," he sighed.

***

Czar obtained a myriad of strange and spiteful looks as he and Tactic returned to the castle. It looked suspicious, what with someone as shady-looking as Czar traveling with a young child.

Don’t you have better things to do than gossip over stupid shit like this? Czar thought to himself as he walked. Tactic carried himself as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Since, apparently, he was only eight, that might be the exact truth. He had no idea that half of Canterlot thought that he was going to get molested and murdered in a back alley somewhere.

“Hey, kid,” Czar whispered.

“It’s Tactic,” he responded quickly and incensed.

“Sorry, Tactic,” he repeated, “how long exactly is it until we get back? I took a different route to get to the building..."

"This isn't the quickest way back, but I know the path well, so we won't get lost. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Czar glanced around, "we're getting a lot of weird looks...who knows what they're thinking?"

"I know they're looking," he replied, "but who cares? It's not like we live to impress them."

Damn, this kid's full of surprises, Czar thought to himself. "True, true..."

"You have to learn to not worry about what others think about you. As long as you know the truth, you don't have to worry."

“Uh…huh… So, how about you tell me a little about yourself? You seem like an interesting young fellow.”

“There’s not much to tell,” he replied, “my mother was an average citizen here; she worked at a bakery, selling bread and sweets. That’s how my father and my mother met. Every day, after training, he would stop by the bakery and buy bread. After a while, they talked and after a few more details, they married. They had me after she’d moved into the castle with my father. I’m preparing to train to become a soldier, just like my father.”

“Sounds a hella lot better than my life…” Czar sighed.

“Well, why don’t you tell me about yourself,” Tactic suggested.

“Alright. You know about my royalty, so that’s out already…I was born and raised in Marvalia, and this is the first time I’ve been outside my country. My birth was an unexpected one; my mother found out she was pregnant with me after her time of the month didn’t roll by-“

“The time of the month? What’s that? Is it a gathering?” Tactic interrupted.

You dumbass, he’s seven! He doesn’t know what a period is! Czar thought. “Uhm, it’s not important. Anywho, she told my father, and, since he was against abortion, decided to keep me. In a way, I wished they had never met.”

“Wh-what! Why? You didn’t want two people to fall in love? That’s horrible!” he shouted, horrified.

“No, they weren’t in love…you know where, um, babies come from, right?” Czar stuttered.

“Yes, the man p-”

“Okay, good, anyways,” he hurriedly interjected, “well, they just ‘did it’ because for the pleasure. They weren’t planning on having a baby, and they weren’t even married. After she gave birth to me, she left me at the palace and ran off. I…still don’t know where she went. She left the country, so it was thought she was killed by Segavas that live in a canyon to the east of Marvalia’s walls. But, I don’t believe that, she knew where they were, and she didn’t have any companions to help her fight them off. I…have no idea where she is.”

“That’s…rough,” Tactic sighed, “so, why don’t you wish they never met?”

“Because…look who I am. I’m nobody; I’m a useless prince who isn’t even going to take rule. I have no use in this world. I have to live every day knowing I have so much in my hands…l-let’s change topics, okay? There’s no use talking about it.”

“Um…okay, er…Ah, we’re here!” Tactic called out. He pointed to the castle they arrived at. “Let’s go meet my parent’s, they’ve been wanting to meet you ever since they heard you’d be arriving.” He ran ahead into the castle steps.

Ah…so that’s why he followed me…his parents wanted to meet me. Czar followed the child into the castle.

***

A corridor stretched forward, decorated with ornamental suns and moons. A twilight sky was painted onto the ceiling to recreate the feeling of gazing into the beautiful mix of night and day. A large door, about half the size of the throne room’s door, was present to the left wall. Inside was a small, apartment-like room, only a lot larger and more decorative. A couch and table sat in the middle, with a sliding door, leading to a balcony overlooking a courtyard within the castle. The walls were a different color than the halls, mostly due to the of the resident’s status. A door, most likely leading to a bedroom was just out of sight, due to being in a hallway that was adjacent to the den.

“Mother, Father, look who’s here!” Tactic called out. Footsteps sounded from a room somewhere, followed by a door opening.

“Who is here, son?” A gruff voice said. Soon after, a large, muscular man stepped out from the hallway. He had short, crew cut hair, and green eyes, much like his son. He wore a black vest, connected by an entropic pattern of strings, much like a shoestring. Under that was a plain cotton-looking shirt of same color. His pants were brown, and looked to be something of a casual wear. Not a trace of stuck-up aura about him at all; he seemed to be a decent, modest man. “Who is this?” he gestured to Czar, who froze when he saw Tactic’s father’s size.

“This is Czar! I found him in town,” he explained, “I told him that you wanted to see him, so he agreed to follow me. Besides, he was expected to return soon anyway.

“A-are you serious?” he responded, astonished. “N-nice to meet you, Prince Czar, my humblest apologies, I should’ve given you a proper welcome,” he bowed out of respect.

“Nice to meet you, as well. No need for formalities, I’m much rather comfortable with casual conversation. Actually, I’m comfortable with no conversation, but I’ll deal with it for now.

“As you wish, Prince Czar,” he replied.

Yeesh, I hate it when people do this. “Please, just Czar. You have a royal status as well; I don’t see why you need to be so formal. We are equals here.”

“I-It’s always good etiquette to be kind to royalty, whether it be your own or from another country,” he said awkwardly.

“I guess, but still, calm down. I’m not going to crucify you or anything if you act anything less than charitable. So, sir, what is your name?”

“Stratagem, Praetor of the guard,” he said. “Are you finding your stay enjoyable?”

“Of course,” Czar lied.

“Um, where’s Mother?” Tactic asked.

“She’s closing the bakery now,” Stratagem answered, “she’ll be home any minute.” He turned to Czar. “So, what do you think of Equestria so far? How different is it to Marvalia?”

“It seems…peaceful.” Czar was fishing for words that sounded kinder than dull. “It’s quite different than Marvalia. The weather controls itself; I’ve never seen pegasi control the weather before…”

“Interesting. Er, I’m sorry to sound rude, but Tactic and I need to talk.”

“About what?” Czar asked. “Is it about his training?”

“How did you know?”

“He told me about his hopes of being a soldier like you,” Czar explained. “He’s seven, isn’t he? Is that old enough to begin physical training here?”

“Yes, but he won’t actually pick up a real weapon until he’s thirteen and passes the exam.”

“Well, I’ll be leaving. It’s almost five, and I need to head back to my father.”

“Best wishes, I hope to see you later,” the two bowed in respect, and, after saying goodbye to Tactic, Czar left the room.

Ugh, that was hell and a half, he thought. He didn’t want to have to deal with that again. Something was different about those two, though. They seemed…simple. Even though they were overly formal, they seemed to know how to carry on basic conversation. The kid himself, though, he was interesting. He appeared to be able to carry on a thoughtful conversation. He was overly intelligent. He even had something to shoot for, even though it was sort of already decided for him. Regardless, he went for it, so he must’ve wanted it himself to some extent…

Czar walked back to his quarters casually, passing by no one in the process. As he tumbled into his bed once more, he examined the clock on the wall.

4:17. He had at least forty minutes to rest before having to do whatever his father wanted. He spent those minutes on blissful rest, thinking of nothing, not knowing what was to come.