A Tale of Two Princes

"Celestia, it feels good to be home!" Dusk Shine groaned, propping his feet up on the coffee table, the Element of Magic crown in his lap. The two had just returned home to Golden Oaks after a rather...interesting adventure at the Crystal Palace.

"Tell me about it." Spike replied, slumping into a chair as soon as the door closed, "Three days in an alternate reality and dealing with a transformed Sunset Shimmer to get that crown back. Personally, I'm just glad to be walking on two legs again."

"Aw, come on, Spike. The girls thought you were adorable." Dusk chuckled at the look his unoffical younger brother gave him.

"Flare Warden ring a bell?" came the response. Spike smirked in triumph at how Dusk quickly froze up.

Flare Warden; the girl Dusk had ran into at Canterlot High who seemed to take a swift liking to him. She wasn't all that bad, but...

"I believe you were campaigning to be the Fall Formal 'Prince' to get the crown back?"

"Hey! There's no reason why a guy can't want to wear a tiara...I-I mean, a crown and be treated like royalty for a night!" Dusk tried his hardest not to pout, "Why should girls get all the fun of being pampered a little?"

"And that outfit Flare wore to 'show her support' as she put it?" Spike raised an eye in amusement. The girl looked like she would've been more at home on the beach than a Formal with what she had on.

"Oh, yeah..." He gulped. While she honestly meant well, that cheerleader uniform she had worn was a tad too revealing for that event. He wasn't a prude by any means, but the hug she gave him put him into contact with far more bare female skin than he was really able to handle. "Y-yes...but I still won 'Prince, and by a landslide! Of course, since Sunset was the only one there running for 'Princess', that meant we had to to dance together."

"With you wearing the tiara." Spike added

"The crown! Anyway, given that she was once Princess Celestia's student, I shouldn't have been surprised that she was as smart as she was...well, attractive." Dusk blushed when he said it, "Even though she was evil, we had rather enjoyable discussion on theoretical magic during it. At least, until she swiped the crown and turned into a demon..."

"Then she tried to turn you into her Demon King to 'rule by her side'."

"There...there is that." He conceded the fact. If it hadn't been for the girls coming to help, she might've succeeded. Thankfully, with a bit of teamwork, they managed to stop her and free everyone from the spell she'd put the school under. "At least she's decided to try and make up for all the trouble she'd caused."

"Yeah, all's well that ends--URP!" Spike belched loudly before he could finish, the smoke and flames coalescing into an elaborately sealed scroll.

"A letter from the Princess?" Dusk asked, catching it with his magic before it hit the floor.

"Must be pretty important." Spike smacked his lips, "She used the fancy ink for this."

Dusk quickly broke the seal and unfurled the letter,

'Dusk Shine and Spike,

First off, I'd like to say well done on recovering the Element! When I heard that my former student had taken it, I almost feared the worst. You both performed admirably.

Which brings me to the main reason for this letter. There is a matter of utmost importance I need to discuss with you both. Please come to the castle as soon as you are able.

Signed,

Princess Celestia

The duo looked at each other after reading it.

"Should we go now?" Spike looked at the clock then out the window, "We still got a couple hours of daylight still."

"We better. She wouldn't send for us if it wasn't really important." With that, the two of them stretched and headed out to make the trip.

"Hope it's 'important' important. Ever since Aunt Luna got over the whole Nightmare Moon spiel, those two have acted like a pair of little fillies more often than not; roughhousing, swiping each others desserts, prank wars. It's great that their catching up on a thousand years, but I'd rather stay out of the mayhem those two can think up."

Canterlot Palace

Celestia chuckled, "Well, I must admit I didn't expect you two to be here so soon." She said, hugging Dusk and giving Spike a kiss on the cheek, "It's good to see you again, sweetie."

"Hey, Mom." Spike hugged her, "So, what's the matter? This isn't another incident like the salted donuts, is it?"

"Oh, nothing like that." She waved it off, "We just recently managed to get the dining table out of the ceiling. This actually concerns your recent ascension, Dusk."

"My ascension?" He noticed her looking at his wings, "You mean me turning into an Alicorn?" Worry began creeping into his voice, "What is it? Did something go wrong!?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong!" She said, quickly heading off his panic attack, "I have good news in this case. For your ascension, and getting the Element of Magic back, it is my privilege to declare you as Crown Prince!"

Dusk blinked, his ears flicking a few times, "C-Come again, Princess?"

Everyone inside the throne room could see the mare was thoroughly enjoying the situation, "Like I said, 'Prince' Dusk Shine, with your ascendance, you are now officially recognized as Crown Prince of Equestria." Her smile widened considerably, "And as such, you are required to select your consorts.

"C-Consort!?" He yelped, his wings flapping in shock.

"Plural, actually. It's an old law that Clover the Clever suggested due to male Alicorns being so rare it was thought they didn't even exist. Don't know why she picked three as the minimum." She giggled, "But she was a bit of a perv."

Dusk could feel the color draining from his face, "T-three!?"

She nodded, "At least."

Spike took this moment to speak up, "So...Dusk's gotta hook up with a few girls?"

"Actually, both of you do."

Spike stared at her, "Wattadowhat??"

Celestia giggled at his expression, "Come now, Spike. You din't think my adopting you wouldn't come with a title of SOME sort, did you?" Besides, she added mentally, doing a little happy dance in her head as well, seeing your reactions when I sprung it on both of you was WORTH IT!

Spike just stammered, "B-but I..we..we don't..."

"Nonsense," she simply waved it off, "You two will be fine. Just use your best judgement in selecting them."

They could only stare at her, a mix of disbelief, shock, and a small bit of fear on their faces.

Outside

They had just exited the castle gates when Spike spoke up, "This is all your fault, Dusk."

"Mine!?" Dusk almost tripped when he heard that, "How is any of this MY fault!?"

"You're the one who turned into an alicorn! A MALE one, mind you! And now we gotta find consorts! Either one of us can barely talk to ONE girl when it comes to dating!"

"How was I supposed to know this would happen!?" he sighed and put up a hand, "Look, there's no sense arguing over this; it's all said and done now.

"Yeah, you're right." Spike shoulders slumped, "But, what're we gonna do about this? You saw Mom. She was ITCHING to drop this on us for who knows how long!"

"Maybe there's a loophole somewhere we can use to get out of this situation."

"You think there is one?" Spike asked, a tinge of hope in his voice, "I mean, Clover the Clever thought this thing up."

"Clover the Clever was a smart mare, but there's bound to be an angle she overlooked. It's just a matter of finding it."

"Yeah, but what about the others? What happens if they find out?"

Dusk simply smiled, "We don't say anything about it. Just tell them Celestia gave her congratulations and leave it at that. We don't say anything about being declared princes, and definitely NOT about having to find c-consorts!"

"I hope you're right, Bro. I hope you're right."

With that, the two resumed their trek to the nearest carriage for the trip back home. Neither of them saw the shrouded pony that had been eavesdropping from a nearby alley.

"Interesting." The figure murmured to itself.