"Ah! Master Solus, how was your visit to Lady Shimmer?"
"Good. Everything is going well on your end, I hope?"
"Quite! Proper Worth might have been a ruffian, but his staff his irreproachable. I am quite satisfied with keeping things as they are."
I smile.
"Perfect. I had quite enough changes this week."
"An understatement, if I ever heard one. But I will make sure that at least some of it will be good."
"I expect nothing less from you, Count Fancy Pants. However, I would like to go see if Mac's training is proceeding as I wished. Do you know where he is, exactly?"
He puts a hoof to his chin.
"Hmm, a guard would know. Let me send for one that will escort you there."
"Thank you, Fancy."
"Faster, maggot!"
I see Mac running laps, with Iron Rod shouting at him. While I don't like it very much, soldiers back home didn't have the luxury of having their ears spared from such volume. I stay back, out of view, so I can see if he's doing what I asked.
"Annnd...done! Good job, Red."
"Th-thank you, sir!", Mac says, panting.
"Take a break and drink some water. Slowly. We'll resume training in five minutes."
Breaks and good advice? I wonder if it physically hurts him to do so. Anyway. I step out of the shadow and go to Mac.
"Hey Mac!", I say with a smile.
He looks up, startled.
"Master Solus!"
He tries standing up, but I stop him.
"It's fine, Mac. Take it easy."
"O-okay. What are you doing here?"
"I came to see if the Major is doing is job properly", I say with a pointed look to said pegasus.
"He is, don't worry."
"It's my job to worry about your well-being."
A gruff voice cuts in.
"Well, you don't have anything to worry about here, Sire. I told you I'd make him in the greatest warrior the Empire has ever seen and I don't make empty promises!" He says, stomping his hoof.
"I expect nothing less from the stallion the Empress chose to train her son."
He looks a bit surprised at that.
"Ah, of course, she chose me for a reason, after all!"
"Major, do you think I hate you?"
Now he looks positively flabbergasted.
"What? Um, well-"
"I don't."
"You don't?"
"No. I should have been clearer and more assertive. My conduct was most unbecoming of an alicorn, let alone a Prince of Equestria. You always were fair. Harsh, but fair nonetheless. I cannot hate you for obeying my orders, that would idiotic."
"I, um, I'm glad to hear it, Sire!"
"Further, when my training resume, after the Celebration, I don't expect you to go easy on me. You will not have to worry about me pulling ranks or some nonsense like that. I want to be trained properly, not coddled into laziness and weakness."
He grins.
"Of course I won't, Sire! I'll make you in a war machine, worthy of being called an Emperor of Equestria!"
"I'm sure you will, as I am sure I will regret my words tomorrow."
He laughs, mussing up my mane.
"That you will, squirt!"
*sigh*
"Anyway, do your best, Macintosh! I know you can do it."
Mac looks at me with a determination shining in his eyes.
"I won't let you down!"
"No you won't", Iron Rod interjects. " But you will if you don't move you flank! It's been way more than five minutes! Come on worm, get moving!"
Mac stand up and salute.
"Sir, yes sir!"
He then goes back to running laps, like he's not even tired.
"You chose well, Sire. It's just a pity he's not a pegasus."
"Hmm."
More like it's a pity earth ponies can't be real soldiers.
"Major?"
"Yes, Sire?"
"Since I've got nothing better to do, I'd like to join Mac in his training."
"Ooh, with pleasure, Sire!", he says with a predatory smile.
*gulp*
I'm going to regret this, aren't I?
"Urgh...why did I stop training? It hurts, so, so much."
"Shu...shut up! How do you think I feel?", Mac snaps back.
"Sorry. At least we're here."
That we were, which meant we could finally take a bath! I open the door with magic and step inside.
"Solus! You're back!", Shiny shouts.
"Hi Shiny. Where's Cadance?"
"Oh! The new guy, Fancy Pants?", he pauses, waiting for confirmation.
I nod.
"So, yeah Fancy, he took her away for...training?"
"Good. You don't have to worry, I made him swear on Harmony that he'd be loyal."
"You did?" Mac and Shiny ask at same time.
"I did. He shares my goals, so you don't have to worry about him."
Mac doesn't look convinced, not that I can blame him for that.
"Mac, not all noble are irredeemably evil."
"Yeah, right..."
"What about Shiny? And Me?"
"That...fine. I'll give him a chance."
"Don't worry Mac, I won't let you down again. At any rate, bath time!"
"Bath time?", Shiny asks, before smelling in our direction. "Ew, bath time."
Shiny and I arrive at the Ballroom, decked out in our best outfits and ready to face the nobles, one last time. This week.
I hate my life. Anyway.
I sweep the room, looking for Sunset...
Ah, there! With her Mother. Wonder if she's as bad as Velvet...
We go to her, though Shiny seems hesitant.
"What's wrong, Shiny?", I whisper.
"That's Sunset Shimmer!", he whispers back.
"So?"
"So? Our families hate each other! She hates me!"
Oh. Crapbasket.
"Don't worry, you're my knight now."
"She's mean! And a liar! She blamed me for something she did and she always picks on me!"
She did? Fuck damn it.
"I...don't worry Shiny, she won't hurt you. I won't let her."
He looks uncertain but he eventually nods. Not a moment too soon either, considering we arrived to where the Sunsets are seated.
"Prince Solus! To what do we owe the honour?", Sunset Satin asks in a sweet tone.
"I am simply here to greet your daughter, my friend."
"Oh, but of course! I am so glad my little Sunset became your friend! She always was such a sweet and talented child!"
"Mother, stop embarrassing me!", Sunset says, blushing.
"Now, now, dear, I am only stating a fact!"
"Mooom!"
Satin titters and look back at us.
"Still, I am happy you consider her worthy of being in your presence, Your Highness."
"The pleasure is mine. Sunset is smart and mature as well as being fun to be around, what is there not to like?"
Sunset becomes even redder and ducks her head.
"Oh-ho, is she now? Well, I will make sure to give her time to spend with you, Your Highness."
I incline my head.
"Much appreciated, Duchess."
Gong!!
"Ah! The feast is starting! You should go, Prince."
"I shall see you later then, Duchess Satin, Lady Shimmer."
We proceed to the head table, and lean toward Shiny.
"See? Not that bad!"
"Pfft, you haven't seen the real her yet."
Hmm, that could be a problem, if Sunset turns out to be an Element. It's unlikely, but still. The only Elements she would fit would be Magic or Kindness, considering Word of God said her Element was Empathy, which is closely related to Kindness. Since I already have Cady...
Consideration for another time.
Celestia rises up and the assembly falls quiet.
"Dearest subjects, We are happy to have you here to celebrate the final day of the Realization of Contentment of Our son and heir, Crown Prince Solus. We celebrate his sixth year of life as well as his first step to becoming an upstanding member of society."
She raises her goblet.
"A toast for our Prince, who just stepped onto the road to adulthood! For the Prince! Long may he lives!"
"Long may he lives!", the nobles exclaim in unison.
Long may I live! That's a sentiment I can get behind!
Ah, bed, oh sweet bed, take me away to the Land of Dreams 'till tomorrow!
"I still don't trust her.", Shiny says, pouting.
Though I'll have to take care of that first.
"Come on, Shiny, just give her a chance. She probably just acted that way because of your mom and her rivalry with her mom."
"So? I was never mean to her because of that! And it doesn't make it right!"
"Nooo, it doesn't...I...look, just entertain me, okay?"
"Fine, but when she let's you down I will say 'I told you so'."
"That's your right, though it will hopefully won't come to that."
"Hmph!"
"Stop pouting and get in bed, you silly pony!"
"Okay, okay."
He climbs up in bed and I use magic to place a chair by his bedside. I climb on the chair and tuck Shiny in.
"Y-you really don't have to do that..."
"Does it make you happy when I do it?"
"...Yes."
"Then that's enough reasons to do it."
"But-", he starts, but is cut off by a yawn.
"I don't think you'll a bedtime story tonight", I say with a smile.
I lean over and kiss his forehead, which causes him to blush and squeak.
So adorable.
"Goodnight, Shiny. Have sweet dreams."
"Goo-goodnight, Solus!", he replies, clearly flustered.
I jump down and leave his room, heading for my own. I enter and see Cady and Mac in bed, staring at me.
"Did you stay up for me?"
They look at each other, Cady biting he lips before she answers.
"Y-yeah."
I let out a small laugh and step beside their bed.
"You shouldn't have, but still, how did your day go, Cady?"
"It went well! Fancy is real nice!"
I use my magic to place the covers over them before replying.
"Is he now? Does that mean training went well?"
"It did! I learned so much from him! It's like he doesn't even notices I'm a pegasus!"
"Oh, he does notices, but he doesn't care. That's why he has my trust."
"Does he really?", Mac asks.
Hmm, he really doesn't like unicorns...I'll have to change that. Being a victim of racism is no excuse to be racist.
"Yes he does. He swore an oath on Harmony."
"...Fine, but I'll buck him if he tries anything."
I roll my eyes.
"Be my guest, but it won't happen."
I lean down and kiss the both of them on the forehead.
Mac don't seem to appreciate much.
"I thought you said you didn't want to kiss me?"
"Shut up and take my show of fraternal affection, Mac."
He grumbles something under his breath, but I still see a smile tugging as his lips.
"Goodnight, you too. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Solus.", Mac says, still not looking at me in the eyes.
I wait for Cadance to say goodnight before I look over Mac to see that she's already asleep, with a soft smile on her face.
Mac soon lay down his head next to hers and follow her to the Dreamworld. I go to my own bed and lay down.
That was one fucked up week, but at least I've got them, now. I've got a family, people I want to protect.
Tomorrow awaits, with promises of good and bad things, but for now, I'm happy, truly happy, for the first time in long, long while.
Next chapter: fan meet shit. Shit meet fan.
hopefully there is a time skip to interesting stuff. I am unsure how much more noble faffery I can read. It's interesting, sure, but seems somewhat samey. Still, I'll likely read it anyway, as it is to good not to XD. Can't wait for more!
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I can't help but agree. In some ways, these chapters are sort of the same in that it is just noble stuff that Solus is dealing with and it would be interesting to see some change in pace or event...
And with those parting words the dark god Murphy snorts awake and stares off into the aether
*someone's life is entirely to good right now I must rectify that* grumbling something about too much sunshine and rainbows.
Yep, Solus jinxed it.
But it would really be interesting to see Sunset turning for the better before she does something really stupid and becomes one of his elements instead. Helping Solus in his quest.
And I find it hilarious how he acts as a father figure around his "little Ponies". Only Sunset is to old for such a thing.
Next chapter will either be a sizeable timeskip (because I seriously doubt we can keep going on at the rate of thirty thousand words per week), or as others have mentioned, the shit shall hit the fan. Possibly both will happen! We shall see.
*Author begins dice roll phase*
Now let's see how we can turn that smile, upside down
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i laugh harder at that then i probably should have
Anyone else read Sunset Satin as Sunset Satan, anyone?
Also
Is it supposed to be lives and not live?
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I read it as satan. Maybe her evil genes passed in sunset to make her greedy and take over the school? Idk
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...I thought it was supposed to be just live. You know the whole "long live the King/Queen" thing.
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I wonder if he'll notice it.
Woot. Good chapter!
And now we wait until all gets turned 180 degrees.
I wonder if other factions and nations will try and manoeuvre against him. Or if someone else will try and frame him or kill him, like griffins or changelings. maybe deer. deer sounds like they'll be somewhat egalitarian.
ha hah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Whatever you say Geoffrey (I know 'entertain the possibility' was intended)
Is he missing an eager __want__ for some reason?
Oh my, this goes beyond Tsundere syndrome. That's straight up Yandere right there, and I don't mean Ouija-Dere where the character insists on being treated like a prince to the point he seems possessed by the antichrist.
Naturally, I'm teasing you. But, Solus sounds very possessive internally. I'm always concerned if my motives are misinterpreted, or if they can be reframed negatively, so I assume others are as well.
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So, he's already reincarnated, right? Now I can't stop imagining that as being a standard part of the alicorn lifecycle. Maybe they die and spring right back to life, or maybe it works like phoenixes? Can't really imagine it being straight-up repeated reincarnation (a la Dalai Lama), though. The imagery of the two sisters is too culturally ingrained to suggest they ever had different bodies.
So in this case, they are improperly using the plural of 'life' rather than improperly using the he/she/it present form of the verb 'live'
Why I thought the statement was funny...
This made my day today, thank you. I am still laughing.
Words to live by. A shame a huge chunk of humanity ignores them.
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I think the pacing for the last few chapters are perfect if you consider the length of each chapter and read it all in one go, like I have. Pacing only feels slow because you have to wait for each tiny chapter. Would feel a lot better for everyone if each chapter was around 10k words or so, or at least that is my opinion.
Doesn't that make your blood boil? I'm kind of glad the nature of those enchantments are not mentioned.
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probably, it starts to get kind of predictable in some stories.
*Reads chapter title* That's a lot of C-words.