A Hollow in Rainbow Sand

The clearing was pretty, I had to admit. I also had to admit that the two ladies I met, who had turned out to be princesses, were pretty hot.

Anyway, the two of them and I had sat down on seats that Celestia (The white one) had snapped up. Since I had only attacked after being attacked, they were ready to give me the benefit of the doubt.

I found the two to be pretty cool. Sure Celestia was a bit uptight, but Luna...

Well, let's just say I made a friend. She just couldn't stop giggling as I subtly insulted the guards in a way that Celestia didn't seem to pick up for about five minutes. And whenever Celestia asked what was so funny, Luna tried to explain and wound up laughing out loud for her troubles. I think Celestia was seriously concerned for her sister's mental health. I took pity on her and told her to go over what I'd said with a fine-toothed comb. The look on her face when she realized what I had implied about her guards was downright priceless.

What was not priceless, however, was having my head blown off by the captain of the guards after he woke up with a magic blast.

Luna screamed as she saw her new friends head disintegrated by the blast. Celestia turned to berate the guard when she heard a familiar groan of pain.

"Okay, that was annoying..." She heard Jack's voice declare, though she didn't know where from.

"Oh boy...Down here, Celestia." He called, making her look to the ground below, only to find absolutely nothing.

"Look a little closer." Jack said, and doing so, Celestia saw a copy of Jack's face in the sand. She immediately stepped back in shock, just as Luna noticed what her sister had.

"JACK?!?" Luna exclaimed in surprise. Wondering just how this was possible.

"Bingo, Luna." He replied.

Well, this is embarrassing. I guess this is Sandman's power. Well, let's see if I can't fix this.

I focused on moving the sand that made up my head back into my body through my feet. It took a few seconds, but it worked. A few more seconds and I had my head growing out of my neck. Once I was back in one piece, I slowly turned and my head and rolled my neck.

"Well now, that was extremely irritating," I muttered under my breath as I turned to the guard.

"Honestly, I dunno whether to thank you or curse you out," I said slowly in an annoyed tone. "On the one hand, you just blew my head off. On the other, you gave me a chance to test out and learn to use a power that I had no understanding of how it works. However, since Luna seems very angry at you at the moment, I'll let her take over."

'Very Angry' seemed to be the understatement of the century. Luna looked downright livid. I got ready to take notes in case she started cursing him out.

And boy, am I glad that I did, she turned the air blue without a single expletive! Seriously, she may be a princess but her vocabulary downright astounds me!

After about five minutes of Luna tearing into the captain, the other guards were awake and Celestia invited me to the castle.

Okay, I am impressed once again. The castle looked huge from the outside, but it was even bigger on the inside. Luna explained that it was due to rather liberal use of expansion spells, which I was slightly worried about failing until she mentioned that the spells were tied to runes that had been carved into the tops and bottoms of the stone bricks which made up the walls. I had to admit that that was a rather clever way of hiding the expansion and defense runes.

The only problem I could see was that if one of the runes failed, they would have a hell of a time getting to it. When I voiced this, Celestia explained that every brick had the same arrays on it, and only one brick was enough to cover the entire castle. So if one brick's arrays failed, another one would activate.

It was ingenious! If the runes were done well, each brick could last at least 100 years. And by only having one cover the entirety of the castle at a time, they could literally run the castle's enchantments for almost eternity!

By the time I managed to fully process this fact, we had reached the throne room. I quickly shook my head, watching as Luna and Celestia walked up and sat on their thrones. And as they did, their aura seemed to...shift for lack of a better word.

All of a sudden, it became very clear that I was not gazing upon the two ponies that I had talked to earlier. Now, I was facing the judging stares of two rulers of the land. Two rulers that showed that they were not afraid of anything, and are ready to destroy me at any moment. If I showed even the slightest aggression towards their subjects, then there would not even be ashes to blow away upon the wind.

I doubled over laughing. I couldn't help it. So that was how they did it. I had wondered how two beings of such purity could possibly handle the dark world that was known as politics. Now I understood, these two deliberately dirtied their souls in a way that could be washed off in an instant.

This allowed them to reign in the less than savory nobles whilst upon the throne, whilst presenting a loving maternal image to the commoners.

"Amazing!" I said as I calmed down, "You two have truly mastered the art of ruling. But tell me, what would your subject say if they knew that both sides they have seen of you..."

I raised my head with a predatory smirk as I finished, "...Are but masks to hide your true selves."

The guards looked at me as if I had gone crazy, but if anything Celestia and Luna's aura got more intense.

"You hide behind a mask of maternity when amongst the commoners." I continued, "And to the nobles, you present a strong towering wall that stands between them and the throne, one which they could climb or dig away at for 1000 years and never get past. But in reality..."

At this point, I allowed my smile to soften, as I stood up straight and spread my arms wide, "...In reality, you two are the very image of purity. A symbol that represents innocence and love. You both shine so brightly that your true selves could blind the unworthy fools who try to corrupt you. And yet, you darken yourselves intentionally so that those who look up to you with awe and admiration may gaze upon you without harm."

As I ended my monologue, I got down on one knee and lowered my head. Just as a knight would to their king, "Truly, you two have earned my respect. I do not bow to anyone, but to you...You two who sacrifice your everything that makes you who you are, I lower my head. I recognize someone who stands upon a pillar I can never reach. I recognize you both, as true heroes."

For a moment there was silence. Then one of the guards began to clap. And another soon joined them. Soon the entire room, except for Celestia and Luna, were clapping for the two alicorns. Slowly, I raised my head once more to see that the two sisters were completely shocked, their faces as red as a rose.

I stood again and soon began clapping myself. If anything, their blushes deepened.