Verse Zero - Fuelling the fire
~ Verse Zero - fuelling the fire ~
Deceit. All it takes to fuel the fire of distrust. Some relish in the thought that, someday, a cruel and selfish turn of events in their lives would ultimately set an epic adventure into motion. However, all these thoughts are too 'magical' for this world and remain as that; thoughts. It's a cruel world. They always said you had the power and magic to create anything your imagination desired or craved. However, no such thing exists, existed or ever will exist in our lifetime. That's the sad and earth shattering reality that we're forced to come into acceptance to.
This is where my story starts off. In a faraway and seemingly magical place. I was young and quite foolish back then. Though, with my upbringing, who could really blame me? My 'father' being the pompous idiot that he was never brought about any concerns for me or my supposed 'behavioural issues' I had and always rooted the icy and convex issue to me being 'myself'. My brother however, saw right through his bullshit. He however also fell short in his efforts to try and 'tame' me. His was with laziness. He ALWAYS found an excuse to try to place the hoof of blame on me; to which I’d fight fiercely back and, to tell the truth, would win most of the time.
I suppose I really can't blame them though, after my mother passed away, father began to rot away and 'shed himself' so to speak. Meaning he lost his old self in grief and depression. My brother also took it hard since his only REAL comfort in life disappeared. I never really knew our mother. I did however know that because of her my father cared for me and kept me in the correct shape, mind and places. He always said that she was 'one of a kind' and 'my special somepony' along with other icky and cringe worthy statements about her.
It always occurred to be odd to me as to why they seemed too discordant as of the present years, and every time I asked they always came up with the same two excuses. The grief of losing my mother and the stars; whatever that meant. Though it did hold a slight relation to my love for astrology. For you see every night, far beyond my bedtime, I snuck up to the observation tower to where my father studied the astrological signs and rotations. Being as old as he was he had experienced several cosmic phenomenon and occurrences. His age you might ask? 3000 years of age. His traits from the lost Alicorn race gave him immortality from the death of anybody failures or age. However, that didn't mean he was invincible.
Now, being 3000 years old, one wonders often how he had survived that long whilst he watched his friends and family die out and rot in the war against time. The truth was; he didn't have any. He decided it were to be better secluding himself from society and sticking with the stars. He came across some very interesting discoveries in his time too. Writing papers on all of them such as 'The Harmony of Disharmony: Molecules and cosmic favours', 'A distant relation between magic and a civilization ages past' Which described an ancient two-legged race that died out due to global and thermal changes. One of his final papers 'Magic and the source of it all' also specified on where magic came from and, like a tree, where magic will end; predicting that, if our races use magic so often without any major occurrences, the molecules and mental energy known as magic will cease to exist within the next five googol years. Though Googol years are hundreds of quintillions of hundreds of trillions of hundreds of billions of years, this would still mean magic would, eventually, have an end.
His age also meant he was also, coincidentally, the only living relic of an era long past. He always had a secret vault made from the harmless, yet seemingly indestructible Palladium (It seemed like a modified version of the material anyhow) to which, when opened, held immeasurable secrets of the Alicorn race. These included old tomes, notably one such as a recently recovered tome called 'end all be all; the fortunes of past, present and future' that he had shoved into his vault straight away. Another such type of secret that he held in his vault was scrolls upon scrolls of ancient spells that the ancient Alicorns used in rituals and such. One of these spells, as my father described to my brother with myself overhearing, was one that, if successful, would summon a void in the very fabric of space that would consume it all until no life nor particles existed. I believe he called it something stupid in the ancient alicorn language called 'Nogh Mohr Liyph' which roughly translated to 'No More Life'. One of the final secrets he held in his 'super secret vault' was those of ancient gemstones and other such materials. One of these he wore as a symbol of his heritage. A ring made from a lost metal known as 'Gerylium'. An illustrious cyan tone of metal. Even though the ring held no purpose and was just an accessory, other such materials such as a solid form of magic known as Ledious was crafted into the core of most weapons of the age and these often gave the weapons enhancements. One such common enhancement my father went on about was the enhancement of ranged attack: To where the user would be able to attack at a wider range than the weapon reached. The material Ledious struck the eye as an, apparently, illuminating purple material which was only originally discovered at the near end of the Alicorn era.
It was all fascinating to me. Being the descendant of a, potentially god tier, race I wanted to see how they lived and how they handled their important traditions and other such stuff like that. However, my father being the overprotective idiot that he was, placed several of the ancient spells he had acquired over the years around the very area of the vault. Thus, every time I tried to enter it, the spells would blast me far away from the vault and would then, after making me endure the pain, alert my father. Who would then throw me out of the castle for a few hours. After I got back from the exclusions, he'd always badger on about the 'facts' about trying to enter his secret vault (Most of which in case you were curious also involved several hindering spells and curses placed on me to stop me using magic or my wings temporarily).
In my modern life however, this rarely comes to me in thought. The bustling streets of the city I currently reside in often make it hard to find your thoughts and concentrate. Honestly, I don't know how the unicorns do it. With all the noise emitting from their peers and fellow ponies, I would've certainly found it hard to perform magic. Though I suppose that little problem would be obsolete if you were to be just levitating your belongings around like free cattle. It does make for a light show at night though; with all the magical aura's illuminating the modern and magic inspiring street lights. Along with the clashing of the gigantic screens and building lights. It almost gives me that lost trait. The trait of inner peace.
But let's rewind some several months to the day of which I was enlightened… As I’d call it. Allow me to tell you of that one fateful day… My coronation day.
My eyes blurred in and out of that putrid reality of which I was stuck in. My body feeling heavy after the sleep I attained (all ten hours of it), it was a struggle to get out of the warm and, profusely warm, layered fortress of fabric’s. It wasn’t until about ten minutes after struggling with my, eventually awakened, limbs that I managed to win the internal war of staying awake; although I could’ve sworn I woke up earlier that day at around six and drifted off again, but nonetheless. My muscles felt like fragile card houses as they influenced uncontrollable groans and moans that my mouth outputted into the world. My nostrils filled with the salty aroma of the sea as it wafted towards and around the room from the spacious balcony outside of my room. The gentle pale topaz hue of my room gently fused with the sky blue and white emitting from within the atmosphere. Whilst inside, the secluded blues and lavenders merging together formed a dreamish type of scene. If it weren’t for the bedroom necessities such as the bed and the wardrobe, I probably would’ve been convinced that I was inside a dream world of sorts. It also didn’t help that my carpet (woven from the finest of cotton and fabric) resembled some sort of island in the sky, as I often got confused at what reality was.
After making my way across the perfectly organized room, I opened the pristine and darkened oak door. It creaked slightly as it opened; obviously showing its age. I walked out into the stairway, with its cold and medieval interior. It seemed as if it was purposely preserved however, because why of all the towers and area’s in the castle, would this specific tower be left as an old and crumbling tower? It didn’t seem right in the slightest. However, I didn’t have to sleep in that tower all the time… There was the street. But that place was cold at night. I much preferred staying in the warm confines of my home; as would any other pony I’m sure. So, after walking down the unstable stairs, past the cold air and off the musty old carpet, I shook it all off. I laid the first hoof of the day onto the newly branded royal purple carpet and stepped into the, much cleaner and updated, castle.
It felt much fresher than the cryptic cold atmosphere of that tower I’ll admit. Though, it was slightly less decorative. It just felt… limited. From the plain white curtains all the way to the mildly interesting candles that hung from the quartz walls. It was nothing short of uncreative in terms of design and colour choice. The only thing that really stood out to me at all were the frowning facades of the bronze-armoured guards that patrolled the hallways from time to time. They would occasionally grunt or look away in fear that I would’ve shouted at them or got them fired for even gazing upon me. The only part of the royal guard I couldn’t touch was the head guard himself; My brother.
My brother, as stated before, always tried to ‘one-up’ me in a sense. He’d always try and, would succeed, at catching me at the wrong time and the wrong place. Thus, he’d get the pleasure of reporting it and scolding me. After, he’d throw me down into the catacombs of the obsidian dungeon and proceed to mock me; throwing out several desperation lines I used when I first got the punishment of the dungeon. Who knows, maybe that was the reason my tower was the only medieval-looking tower? Either way, I couldn’t do anything to him.
And, there he was. Walking up the same hallway and looking directly at me with that same, disgusted look he had after he found out (about two years ago mind you) that I was chosen to rule instead of him. Looking back at myself, I can see why to be honest. He stopped me as he waltzed towards me. As I look up at that mythical aquamarine mane and his pale red body, he mumbled some simple words.
“You’re a spoiled prick. I don’t see why YOU out of us BOTH were chosen to become the new ruler! You don’t deserve it! You take advantage of father AND you don’t even have the correct moral alignment! Honestly!”
Yes. Simple. At least, as simple as he could probably put it for the last two years. It honestly seemed like he lost the battle and was, reluctantly, giving in. At the time I’m sure I was probably happy, and I remember sneering at him with that shit-eating grin.
And then I responded with an assholeish tone.
“Honestly, brother you should stopped getting triggered. You’re too busy- “I’m sure I laughed at this point. “-And you can’t even properly discipline me. Whereas on MY SIDE, I can strike fear and potentially order into the strongest willed of ponies! You HONESTLY think- “At this point I know he was getting angrier. So, I OBVIOUSLY carried on… “- You’d be fit to RULE? Oh PA-lease! You wouldn’t scare a chicken with your attitude! At least I can make ponies do what I want without getting to my boiling point-!”.
At this point, he punched me. The shock was surprising, but given the big, constant and numb bruise he seemed to like updating, I’d say this was just an update. Of course, it’s gone now. But at the time it covered most of my face. To tell the truth that’s probably why I didn’t want the guards or, even any pony, looking at me. But enough of that, back to the story.
So, at this point I try to (and miserably fail) punch him back. Too bad for me because he just grabbed my hoof with his Sunrise coloured magic and slammed my down on the ground. The purple carpet started becoming some form of rutile red as blood from my scalp dripped down and became absorbed in the carpet. Yeah, he slammed me so hard it nearly broke my skull. If I’m perfectly honest, that was the hardest he had slammed me. I started to cry on the outside and was about to throw my next insult out (because I was a little shit like that). But as I got my first word out (that being “For!” and you can guess what would’ve said then) our father stumbled upon our… Mess.
As we both turned around and looked up, his (slightly angered and slightly confused) face told us all we needed to know. He was about to punish us. It was odd to see him in a suit though. One of those white ones with the country’s emblem on it. What was more confusing is that it didn’t match his burnt umber coat or his scarlet mane (His name was Crimson Morning… Go Figure). More obscurely, being alicorns (yes, we were and still are alicorns shut up), I couldn’t see his wings ANYWHERE. It was like they were clipped! I thought he’d at least proudly spread his wings for this day! But it appeared, he too, after careful consideration, also regretted the choice. But did I care about them lamenting? Absolutely NOT! This was MY DAY! (Or at least it was supposed to be).
“For the love of- “Our father started as he shook his head slowly. His eyes also closed in slight disappointment. “-Can’t you restrain yourselves from murdering each other for just ONE DAY?!”.
His voice, by the end of it, boomed through our ears and around the castle. Accompanied by it, was an aura of anger and fear. We froze. Stardew’s face remained somewhat calm whereas mine?
I was, almost literally, shitting myself.
Stardew, after a moment, finally responded. It was… Rather… Long winded if I say so myself. He stood up after resisting the aura of emotion. “Father… I-I’m not putting up with this! He shouldn’t be the next in line! You’ve seen him! He’s a menace! He’s NOTHING like us! He isn’t even my proper brother! And yet you seem to think this is a good IDEA?! You’re crazy! How can you doom your kingdom like this! I won’t stand for it! This is madness! Have you gone mad? You have haven’t you! -“
At this point I turned away and rolled my eyes. All the usual reasons were coming out. My not being a full brother; and instead a half-brother. All the wrong things happening as I was born. Me being a spoiled brat. It was all coming forth.
“- And furthermore! He doesn’t even know how to use most of the efficient spells in the BASIC SPELLBOOKS! Made BY our race mind you! Sure! He knows some of Starswirls! But here in Coltney?! They’re almost laughed at! Manestralia can’t be placed in HIS hands! He’ll be like HIM! You remember HIM don’t you!? You always told me he ruled with an iron hoof! His tyranny led to the downfall of-!”
That was the last straw. My father bellowed and almost deafened the pair of us.
“I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR SILLY BABBLE YOU STUPID LITTLE COLT! -“
He started to inch closer to Stardew, giving him the slim, disgusted eyes.
“- IF IT WERE IN YOUR HOOVES, THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE A SACK OF FAILING OATS! YOU DON’T THINK I HAVEN’T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT POSSIBILITY!? ABOUT HIM BEING LIKE THAT TYRANT!? OF COURSE, I HAVE! FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUNRISE!”
Stardew at this point stayed in his place; ears down and all.
I finally piped up with my cocky, immature mouth and added more heat to the pan.
“Good on you father, you’re learning!”
It was the worst mistake of my life. He became enraged and concentrated some sort of spell on me. It immediately made my mouth close and stay silent.
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”
Whilst the feeling of fear still resonated within me, most of it was concentrated at Stardew once more as father continued.
“YOU WERE GIVEN ONE SIMPLE TASK! TO LET THIS CORONATION, GO SMOOTHLY! IT WILL DETERMINE HOW HE WILL BE DURING THESE COMING WEEKS AND, IF ALL GOES WELL, HE’LL BE A GOOD RULER! NOW FOR MY 3001st YEAR IN THIS WORLD BE QUIET AND STOP!”.
It felt like, for a moment, all the air currents had stopped. Whenever my father shouted, it wasn’t to this scale. But for once, I’m glad it wasn’t on me. Stardew started stuttering in his sentences. It made them inaudible so I’m not going to tell you the gibberish he spouted. The long version was, he became so afraid, he trotted back to his post as head guard without any backchat at all. Although I could’ve sworn he insulted me whilst on his way out.
After the shouting fiesta my father had just performed, he looked down at me. I was expecting a smack in the face, however what I received was a damp towel and an ice pack thrown down at me.
“You need this. Otherwise, you won’t be able to attend your own coronation… Unless it’s in the hospital.”
And with that, he slowly disappeared around a corner behind me. I wasted no time at all levitating the towel and ice pack towards me with my bronze-orange magic and, within a few seconds, the seeping coldness numbed any pain I had. It also helped seal up some of the cut on my forehead; albeit not by much. I proceeded to walk down the repetitive hallways down into the bathroom (well, one of the three on the fifth floor).
Opening the lightly shaded Pearl hued door, I quickly became overtaken by that morning relaxation feeling. You know, the one where you don’t want to get out of bed? That was personified in me. The only thing that kept me awake was the blinding whites of the bathroom. From the howlite toilet, sink, and the bathtub itself, all the way to the tiles on the walls. It legitimately was worse than having sand in your eyes.
I tried to ignore the repulsive overexposure of white and proceeded straight to the bath; filling it up in the process. I waited for what seemed like an age before it finally filled up. To which, I finally got inside. To be honest, the scalding water felt sort of… Nice. As if I were at home in the fiery liquid. I submerged my body completely and closed my eyes. It felt a little painful on my face to start with (especially on my eyelids), but once I was in, I became numb to everything around me. I drifted between reality and my own dimension and, after a few moments, I fell into the realm of dreams.
[The dream scape]
The world began to take form as usual. The rustic looking forest of my memories never decreased in any size. On the contrary, it was expanding evermore. More branches covered the roof of the forest than usual. Probably from the recent… Scolding… Both me and Stardew received. These branches seemed to be frail and delicate. However, from experience, I knew they’d become stronger; it was more a case of growth and time.
I decided it would be best to make my way towards the gigantic tree in the centre of this dreamy, unrealistic and odd forest. Some of the forest I passed seemed to be filled with the common spruce tree’s (towering above me mind you), whilst other parts held a plains-like area with about four floating isles. These Isle’s had windmills on them and other little structures. I enjoyed this scenery. It gave it an air of uniqueness. A feeling of identity. I’m sure if my father had a dream world, his would be in the cosmos; with the planets floating around as memories or what have you. Whilst those like my brothers would probably be a huge library of knowledge he had collected over the years. I often wondered if normal earth ponies, pegasi, or unicorns could enter their dream world. If they could, I would imagine it all being fascinating. If they couldn’t, well… I wouldn’t really care.
After finally deciding to flap my wings and fly straight to my destination, the tree stood towering over my tiny body. At first, it seemed just like a normal tree. However, the central hub of the dream world often needed to be opened. Whether it be a phrase, or song, the door to your earliest memory would open. For me, it wasn’t a song, but a feeling that I often had to have to go through life at dire times; the feeling, of persistence. I couldn’t really explain it to you even if I tried, but it can be described as breaking through an impossible barrier in some dark abyss in order to reach the light.
I summoned that feeling in me, and within a few seconds, a door appeared (literally). It was unusually made of the gemstone called Sardonyx. It’s white and brown mixture felt… Right to me. It felt like it represented me. What was more fitting was the fact that my coltie mark (carved out of a Peridot) was engraved at the centre. As I ran my hoof down the surface of the door, it gave me a smooth and solid feeling. I was ready to enter this memory again. Ready for the blurred vision and the lack of proper environments. I opened the door and took my first step inside…
And it all appeared before me again.
The blurred greys and the vivid red triangle up above me came into view. Heavy breathing was all I could here. I seemed curious at the time; from what I could tell. The pony carrying me with his magic had an… Interesting magical aura. I comprised of complete obsidian black, with some green swirls accompanying it. I couldn’t see the pony’s face however. Perhaps this pony knew of the dream world to some extent? It couldn’t be possible, but I felt like they indeed knew of its existence.
We entered a cave of sorts just as the rain began pouring in. The pony looked behind themselves, then around themselves, and then proceeded forward. From what I could tell, they looked quite worried. Not only that, but quite monstrous. With a jagged horn sticking out of his head and, from my perspective, what appeared to be just a shadow of a body… At the point of which I noticed all of this, my past-self began to cry out loud. It was always irritating to me at first, but when the pony managed to sing a lullaby, I fell straight back to sleep.
The lullaby? Well it’s this.
‘Hush little one, may dreams take you far’
‘Slip into the world of peace ajar’
‘flying over the land and through the night’
‘may the moon that watches bring you light’
It had always been stuck in my head if I’m honest. It soothed me even now as a colt nearing the age of a stallion. It is surprising though. How a gruff and rough voice like that managed to calm me down.
A few moments after setting me down into what I can only assume to be some sort of cot, the pony, whom I’m assuming was a Stallion at the least, started chanting indescribable words. I could never figure these words out and, still to this day, I’m honestly still confused now as to the words he chanted. It was like an alien language; neither pony or divine language. I almost had a yearning to look the language up in the Coltney library (though I doubt I’d have time for that). To tell the truth, I always had a yearning for knowledge. Something that hasn’t changed since the day I could read and write.
As the final words were being chanted, I immediately noticed that some sort of Rose coloured crystal was forming. With his magic aura (albeit a strange and disturbing one), I was levitated inside the crystal. The stallion then charged a beam out of his lethal horn and froze me. However, it wasn’t the ‘oh my god I’m frozen in ice’ kind of frozen. Instead, it was freezing time around me and inside of me (so basically, he put me in suspended animation). The crystal then froze over and boom. The memory ended. Though, I could’ve sworn he said something… At the end before I was completely frozen. It got me thinking. I always assumed he said “See you later” or some other generic goodbye. But, looking at it after a few months of not looking at it, I almost heard something… different… I could’ve sworn he said, “Sleep now my little Dreamdrop.”.
I dismissed the thought out of my mind and exited through the reappearing door. It closed itself after I came back into the forest. I sighed. I wanted to know who that pony was so badly, it was almost eating me on the inside. He felt so strange… Yet so familiar. I decided it would be best to return to the waking world and play it off as another accidental snooze. Though, I’m honestly not sure how long I would’ve slept for. My coronation was at two; and when I fell asleep, it was ten o’ clock in the morning. That left me with either one or two hours of prep time. Far less than I needed. I started crumbling the world around me until it all faded to black…
[The Waking World]
I emerged from the water, my mind keeping that memory within my suppressed conscience. I stepped outside of the bath and grabbed the, freshly laid, cotton towels over my body and mane and allowed myself to relax from the tense feelings I had from the dream world. Slowly, but surely, I exited the bathroom and proceeded to my bedroom. Going through the cold airspace and the crumbled stairways, I finally reached my bedroom. There, I waited for five minutes and read a book whilst waiting for my body at least to dry off. The book I was reading was one that, even though my father suspects it, had never been able to say I stole it from him (even though I did so checkmate old man). It was one of the ancient books he had in his secret vault named ‘The history of Hystiopahn’. This book contained a complete timeline (constructed by my father himself) of the ancient alicorn race. It smelled musty; though the smell of old leather-bound books always smelled like that. I read through one of it’s chapters. That being the middle era of the book detailing the Alicorn race’s sudden abolishment of an old art simply labelled as ‘fusion’. It described representing a bond with other alicorns to show stability in a relationship or a battle. However, they were treated as tools of war and started rebelling. This lead to the complete termination of the art itself.
Whilst it was all good that I was learning from the book, my body had already dried, and my mane became fuzzy and dried up. I forgot about time and, when looking at the time, I saw that I only had forty minutes to get ready and waltz on down to the grandiose hall of the castle. I put the book back into its storing place and proceeded to put on my coronation outfit. After some minutes of struggling due to the tightness of the old-fashioned, yet stylish suit nonetheless, I stood up and checked myself out in the mirror beside my bed. What I wore matched my orange hue of coat with a nice, darkish cyan fabric. It also had a crimson sort of strap that went around and joined up to form my own coltie mark at the centre. A blue teardrop made from blue diamond; with white diamond stars surrounding it. It was truly a sight to behold to be honest. If it weren’t for the fact that I could only wear it once, I would wear it every day.
Next, came my mane. It took nearly half an hour to style my mane to what I wanted as well as do my tail. In the end, I chose a clean surfer style given as to how long my mane and tail were. I also took the time to use some simple hair colour changing magic to spice up the look. What I had on for show, was an elegant sort of red; accompanied by a dark neon blue. I thought, at the time, that it was marvellous. But obviously now, I think otherwise.
With ten minutes to spare, I trotted off out of my room, through the hallways of the castle, down the staircases, and into a waiting room of sorts. There, my father was waiting (and worried as well from what I gathered). He immediately noticed me and walked up to me after I shut the door. The guests started piling in just as I arrived so I’m guessing the noise I heard outside was the crowd.
“This is it. Are you excited?” He asked me in a gentle tone from earlier.
“Of course. I’m glad Stardew won’t be around to see it if I’m honest. He’d ruin the whole thing haha!” I laughed back. My father closed his eyes and sighed before replying with, what I feel like, was an essay.
“Son, your brother is right in multiple ways. You are… And forgive me for this… a brat so to speak. You’re inconsiderate of others and you often get too cocky for your own good-”
I looked away slightly out of anger as I knew that it was true to some extent.
“-Even when you’re calm, you’re still too demanding. I know as a prince, or soon to become king, you need that attitude but tone it down. -“
This got me confused. I thought, at the time, that being a king meant you needed to install order and fear into your subjects. Not be light-hearted and considerate. Heck he wasn’t like that. He was far too short a fuse.
“ -You’re just too much sometimes. You also tend to fire the guards that even gaze upon you; as if you’re an ancient treasure that no mortal may touch…- “
This was true. It still is true. I am a treasure that everyone will gaze upon in awe and become jealous of.
“- It’s wrong. You need to become lenient. Whilst you may not like being looked at, all eyes will be upon you at all times. You’re going to have to deal with it because if you have that attitude after I put the crown on your head and proclaim you king, you’ll slowly crumble this nation into nothing. –“
I raised my eyebrow at this point. I didn’t see what this abysmal speech was even for at the time.
“-I know what it’s like, to have all the power in the world. Heck I even know what it feels like to yearn knowledge and power. However, as a ruler, you cannot have that mentality. You must remain focused on the good of your subjects and not fall into temptation… Or lust… For complete domination and power.”
He finished and slightly frowned. It was clear to me that he wasn’t fully trustworthy of me. It was also apparent that he chose me as a last resort. I decided to speak back and started getting annoyed.
“Oh, please old timer. You don’t trust me at all. Just because I’ll have that crown on my head doesn’t mean anything to you does it? You’ll just continue to rule from the shadows like a virus. Controlling my EVERY move. It’s like you think I’m too unfit to rule!”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words flowed from it. He looked down, tensing up as he did so before he sighed. He proceeded to exit into the main hall and, before I knew it, he was talking to every pony. I peered in from the slightly ajar entrance door and overheard the last parts of his speech.
“-As you all know, I have had a hard time deciding which one of my sons I should make the next ruler of this nation. –“
“No kidding” I whispered to myself as I recalled his isolation for a week in his study.
“- Eventually as most of you know, I chose my younger son, Covet ‘Eclyus’ Dreamdrop. –“
I’m sure he meant the better son.
“- A prince whom, after countless hours of worrying about what he may do to this nation, has rightfully earned the crown upon my own head. It is of great pleasure for me to now bring him out and in front of you all.”
That was my que! I advanced outwards after opening the door wide open. I trotted and pranced forward, getting looks from all individual angles, and before I knew it, I was facing my father; King Crimson Sunrise of Manestralia. He looked at me with a sort of reluctant look about him. It was clear that he’d much rather have Stardew become King. However, he knew he had no choice anymore. Every pony was watching him. He cleared his throat and spoke directly to me.
“Prince Covet. Throughout the years I’ve had you in my awfully long life, you’ve filled it with a great deal of interest. By taking this crown, you agree to withhold, forever until you either die, or have a child, the title and responsibilities as a king…?”
I looked up as I began to kneel.
“I do indeed my father. I do indeed.”
He gave me a distant look. By now, even the audience was whispering about his doubtful looks that he provided. But nonetheless, he proceeded.
“Then by the power vested in me… I now place this crown atop your head and pronounce you-“
His words were cut short as he noticed something. Or more directly, somepony. His focused gaze caused many to also look, including myself, behind them and at the pony that had emerged from the shadows.
This pony, whom I had never seen before, began charging his magic at me. How do I know this? It’s simple. I got hit with the bolt of stunning. I fell backwards and onto the ground as the crowd panicked.
My father, from what I could tell, sprang into action. However, not even he could match the power of the pony. I heard many clashes of swords and shields, however at this point, I was dazed and couldn’t see well at all. All I can retell is that my father failed to stop the pony and within mere seconds, my vision was split into three and my conscience disappeared. What happened next…
Well, you’ll find out soon.
Author's Note
So hey, first time actually committing to something. I've had this in the works for a while now. It originally started as a story named "Dusk's Perilude". A short little incomplete and deleted piece of crap.
Now, it's gone from about 1000 words, all the way to 6000 words. Just for chapter one.
I know it's not a big feat but, if you could leave a like and possibly comment, i'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
~ Sour Lemon
