Celestia never had the chance to spend much time with her father, she never had a coltfriend and the only stallion in her circle of acquaintances was the professor. She was smart and read all about reproducing, so she knew what Mother Nature want her to do with stallions, but she never had it on her mind when she saw a male. She had to think about this now and a lot of other things when she walked through the woods together with her sister and prince Sombra. But why did they do this?
When Sombra appeared the first time, Both mares were ready to fight the unknown unicorn. It seemed like he had an advantage in size, experience, and knowledge of the battlefield, but the two sisters would never surrender. The black stallion did not start a fight. He smiled at them and Tia had to look at his eyes, they were green and remind her of a deep forest, it calmed her down. His deep voice made her knees a little bit shaky and when he winked at her, it felt like her face was on fire. She never had such feelings, what was that? Some kind of magic? Mind control? But his horn was not glowing and she could not sense any magic. What kind of witchcraft did he use to make a mare feel so strange, just by looking at her?
“I am not your enemy.” His light smile made the mare's heart beat a little bit faster “I want to help you because it is my duty as a prince.” He took Tia's hoof and she had to gasp, his touch almost took her breath away “And in this case, it is a huge pleasure too.” When he plant a kiss on her hoof she almost fainted. “It is nice to meet not one but two beautiful mares.” He also kissed Lulu's hoof, Tia did not know what her little sister felt about that, but her wings did a little flap. “Please allow me to lead you to my village. I don't know what my ancestors did with your town and your royal couple, but I can confirm you, that this is all in the past, we could never hurt such marvelous mares like you. Just look at this pure white fur and this magical pink of your mane. Oh! And this mystical black coat and the majestic wings! You two earned nothing else but the treatment for princesses and such.” he winked again and Tia led out a little gasp “So please allow me to escort you.” he bowed down his head, his horn nearly touched the ground.
Tia shook her head to clear her mind “Why should we trust you?”
“I think we should risk it, Tia.” Lulu seemed certain like always “I mean, we are two and he is alone, we can handle him.”
And so Lulu and Tia were walking through the wood together with a stranger. The prince walked between the two mares. Luna explained to him why they had to leave the town.
“This seems like a cruel law.” Prince Sombra said with his charming little smile “I could never banish a beautiful strong Mare like your sister.” he gently rubbed his flank at Tia's. Normally she would punch his face at this moment, but somehow it was not awful, it felt somehow good. “I mean you did not create this crystal, but your magic destroyed a big building, a building designed and build to hold powerful magic! I am really impressed about that! In our village, we would not banish you, but work with your marvelous skills! You could be one of our high rated wizards!”
“Oh no!” Tia had to hide her blushing face behind her mane “I am really not good with magic, professor Starswirl said I need more control.”
“Starswirl? This stallion is a ninny!” He had to snap.
“You knew him?”
“Maybe we live in a hidden village, but we stay up to date. Starswirl is talented with magic and witchcraft and has a lot of wisdom about the theoretical application of the mystical arts! But he has a huge lack of instincts and practical experience, otherwise, he had noticed your natural talent.” He looked at her at she could see in his green eyes, somehow she believed in his words.
They arrived at a huge tree, surrounded by some stones and a little altar with a single glowing candle. Tia saw the old characters that were graved into the stone “are these dragon cravings?” She asked curiously “I never saw such old ones, are these for real?”
“So you noticed them? The ancestors of our friends used this characters and language a long long time ago.” Sombra did not look at the stones.
Tia looked at the stones, she was all absorbed by this characters, her eyes were glued to it. “It is about the time before the time! Before the sun's light fell this lands and dragons were the guardians of the world, but they had to bow and retreat when the power of light forged the new life.” The white mare was excited and clapped her hooves together. "It is also about the Power of sun and moon, and the force of chaos and a think called the elements of harmony?"
“You can read that?” Sombra seemed confused, his jaw went down for a second. He wanted to ask something else, but Luna interrupted.
“Yes, yes” Lulu frowned “these are really fascinating stones and this is a pretty tree. But you promised us a hidden village full of dragons and griffin ninjas!”
Sombra shook his head and but his charming smile back in his face “You are right, this is not the time for history. With the right spell you can enter the village from a lot of places, but here is the official entrance, watch for it.” He raised his head and his horn begun to glow in a light green, when he bowed his head down it seemed like his blade-shaped horn cut through the air and opened a new passage of pure light.
"It's a magical portal!” Tia gasped “Your village is hidden in a similar dimension!”
“Now please enter.” said Sombra “be my guest.”
Tia was holding back, this was fascinated, but she was also in fear, she did not know what was behind this portal. “Lulu? Maybe we should wait a bit.”
Sombra walked past Tia “You don't have to be afraid.” he jumped through the portal.
“Common Tia, this is a real adventure!” Lulu was smiling excitedly “we can't miss that!” she jumped after Sombra and Tia had to follow her, the portal closed behind them.
They were still in the same forest, the same trees and rocks and even the same smell, but anything had changed. Tia could now see all the houses which were built in the trees, all the bridges between them and the locals. The two sisters from Sunspeek were surrounded by a lot of unicorns in plate armor and flying Kirins. It was the first time Tia saw real Kirin, but she recognized them from her books. They were half pony and half dragon. Kirins were walking on four hooves and had a mane and face like ponies, but instead of a coat they had scales and the tail was very long, like a snake and they also had antlers. But the most obviously were the flames that cover them and the ability of free flying without wings, they walked through the air.
Tia counted at least 20 Kirins and 30 Unicorns and all oft them seemed ready to battle. “Are you still sure we could handle them?” She asked her sister.
“Calm down everybody.” told prince Sombra “these are my guests, Celestia from the grand magical academy and her sister Luna, from the Moon Guards. I want to introduce them to my father.”
The Unicorns and Kirins were whispering and mumbling to each other in different languages, too quite to understand all of it, but Tia was sure she could hear something about enemies, traitors and death sentence. “I think I can open the portal,” Tia whispered to her sister, she was not sure if she could really open the portal or just make a new explosion, but she had to try “so let us jump through it when I count to three.”
But there was no need for that, the Kirins and Unicorns put down the magic and they flames, opening a path for the prince and the two mares at his side. “Please understand them,” said Sombra while taking the lead “visitors are quite rare for us and my people are easily scared.”
He leads them to the palace of the hidden village. The palace was forged into a huge black tree and it had easily the size of Sunspeek's palace. On the way, Lulu and Tia could see more Kirins and Unicorns. All Unicorns had blade shaped horns like Sombra, some of them were even wearing sheaths on it. They could see mares and stallion and foals, these Battleunicorns seemed to have families like any pony else. The flames of the Kirin did not hurt any of the unicorns, even when the foals were playing together, but some Kirin used they flames to enlighten torches and campfires. Tia made a little mental note, that it seemed like the Kirin had full control about the fire, they could use it like they want.
The inside of the castle was lighted by torches and candles, Tia could not see any magical crystals or flee flowing sources of light she knew from Sunspeek. “Are you sure your father want to meet us?” She asked Sombra while he guided them through the long floors.
“Of curse” he answered with his charming smile “visitors are so rare and he will be amazed by you two. Please just trust me.” And when Tia lost herself again in his deep green eyes she really trusted him.
The throne room was big. Tia's and Lulu's house would fit inside this single room. In the middle stood a giant throne and it was surrounded by tribunes. Tia saw 10 Kirins and 10 Unicorns at each side of the throne “These are my father's counselors, each of them is very wise and has knowledge of history, magic, and tactic.” When the three of them stood right in front of the door the torches start to flicker. It became really cold around them and Tia could feel a huge source of magic, by far not as big as the royal couple, but equal to professor Starswirl, but this magic was cold and scary. Black clouds came from the ground, surrounding them, floating through the whole room and scary glowing green eyes appeared out of nowhere.
A loud voice was shouting “I am king Jupiter!”
The dark clouds were gathering and falling down like a bomb, an explosion of smoke filled the room and it took a while till Tia could see something. The black smoke was still there, floating like fog, but now she could see three new unicorns. All three had deep black coats, heavy plates, blade shaped Hornes and green eyes, like prince Sombra. But all of them seemed older and way scarier. The biggest and oldest was sitting on the throne, his mane was already slightly gray and half his face was covered by scars, it looked like he was wounded by a huge amount of fire. His plates had goldenly engraved and he was wearing horns around his neck. The other two Unicorns stood left and right of the throne, one of them had a light red in his mane and some rubies on his silver plate, the other was wearing a blue cape and had a sword at his side.
Sombra was clearing his throat “Allow me to introduce you to my family, my two elder brothers Mars and Saturn” he pointed at the two younger stallions “and my father, King Jupiter.” Sombra bowed down and Tia and Lulu did the same.
King Jupiter was huge, at least three times of the size of a normal pony. He was looking at the two young mares. Tia had a lot of fear, she was expecting a lot of cruel things and was sure that it was a huge mistake coming to this place. This cold aura of the king and his other two sons was fighting her like nothing else she ever had to feel. Tia could sense the magic around them, the counselors and the king were using magic to communicate without words, but why? Maybe because it was faster? Maybe because they want to intimidate the young unicorn mare? Maybe because they don't want her to hear them? Tia tried to understand them, but she was to frighten to concentrated.
Finally, after a few minutes, which felt like hours, the loud voice of the king was audible again “Prince Sombra told us about you, and the way your own folks treated you. Be my guests.” A few Kirin mares came from the side, they flames did not burn when they were at Tia's side, but made a fine warm feeling. “You can stay in the palace and look through the village as much as you want if you want to leaf the town talk to prince Sombra.”
“We will show you your new rooms.” said one of the Kirin mares with a soft tune.
Tia was some kind of relieved, it seemed like her magical instincts were wrong and it was not the first time that happened. Maybe she was just too exhausted by the day and the epic fail she delivered at the exam, she could not trust her magic. But it seemed like she could trust the Prince. He was escorting them to they rooms.
Tia looked with bright eyes at her room, it has a big soft bed, a wide window with balcony and a lot of decorations, that seemed to grow out of the tree the palace was forced into. It looked so peacefully and natural and she could feel all kind of different magic around her, good warm magic. But the most impressive thing was the bookshelf, full of books and covering a whole wall.
“This is the library guest room.” Sombra explained “I think this would be the best room for a smart mare like you.” he smiled at her “I already told the servants to bring you something to eat and prepare a nice bath and if you need something else, please just call me.” He smiled at her and bow his head.
“This...” She was looking for the right words “This is just like a dream.” Tia was looking around, she had to think about how Lulu's room had to be “How do we deserve this?”
“Because here in the hidden village we can see your potential and want to give you a fair chance, it's our way through life.” he smiled at her and came closer. Tia was not going back, even when he was so close to her “and besides that, a pretty smart mare like you, just deserve the treatment of a princess.” he came real close, she could feel his breath on her neck. And before she could say anything he planted a kiss on her lips.
It was Celestia's first kiss and she never felt something like this in her live. Her heart was beating fast and her mind became numb, she did not know why, but she wanted to enjoy this moment, anything seemed so perfect. She found a new home, maybe even a new destiny and this handsome stallion, a prince, kissing her. Live seemed to become better.
When they parted, Celestia don't know what to say, was she in love? Maybe.
“P-prince Sombra, I...” she could not speak because he planted his hoof gently on her lips, smiling at her and looking at her with these trusty green eyes.
“Just Sombra, that is enough.” he said with his deep voice “anything I want from you is your trust, I am here for you Celestia. One look in your eyes and I saw the pain you had to suffer and I want to take away this pain.”
Tia had to blush and smile, she spoke very quietly “Thank you, Sombra.” She looked up in his eyes “And just call me Tia.”
He smiled back “Will I see you tonight, to dinner, Tia? Just the two of us?”
Tia had to gulp down, anything goes so fast, was this real? “Yes.” It was like the word came out of her mouth before she could think about it. Maybe it was time for her to get a coltfriend? Maybe Sombra was the right one.
“I can't wait for it.” He said with a smile “Now I have to look for your sister. The little filly is almost like a little sister to me. Please enjoy your snack and your bath, Tia.”
The stallion wanted to leaf the room, but Tia called for him again “Sombra!” She walked behind him “I trust you.” she said with a happy smile and he looked back in her eyes.
“This is anything I could ever wish for. I see you tonight.” then he left.
Tia counted to ten after the door was closed then she jumped on her new bed and let out a yell of joy!
Luna was looking around in her room. It had more space than her last room and she could look through the window and see the palace guards training. It has this big soft bed and a table with a lot of snacks, just for her. She was thinking about what she should do first, eat something? Take a nap? Fly around the village? Challenge the guards for a race? But she was interrupted by prince Sombra when he entered the room. “I hope this room matches your preferences.”
She looked at him, with a light honest smile “yes, I think it is pretty cool, could be around thirty percent cooler, but it is good for the moment.”
He had to chuckle “Oh Luna, I am so happy that I meet up with you and your sister. I really felt lonely. My brothers are older than me, but they never matched my skills in combat or magic, my father has to look at them all the time and sometimes I think they don't like me, sometimes I think they are very envy.”
Luna looked at him “yeah I am sorry about that.” Luna knew this feeling and had to look away, maybe she and Sombra had a few things in common. He stood at her side and looked at her with his calm green eyes. “I knew this feeling, but I also know that Tia loves me and I love her.”
“And she has to be a very happy mare with that.” He spoke in a soft manner “You are a really skilled pony Luna, I saw it in the way you move. You told me, that you are a Moonguard, this is impressive. Maybe your sister is envy, because of your youth and your accomplishments, but I understand why she loves you, Luna.”
Luna was surprised how close he was to her, she did not notice till now. But somehow it felt good to feel his warm body next to her “you can call me Lulu.” she said, and when he answered her with that name they booth sealed it with Luna's first kiss.
Prince Sombra meet up with his father in his room about half an hour later. Sombra was sitting in front of two magical mirrors, that was showing Luna and Celestia, sleeping in they rooms, not aware of they monitoring. “You are full of surprises my son.” the dark fog of King Jupiter was floating around Sombra “How you could watch through these two, how you could analyze them and make such a good plan in such low time and how you wrap those fillies around your hoof.” He put a hoof on his youngest son's shoulder “Your brothers are masters of combat and wizardry, they sword and magic are powerful weapons of mine, but nothing compared to your sharp tongue. Our final victory will be all thanks to you, my son.”
Sombra was smirking and his eyes were glowing in a poison like green “Thank you, my King.”