Heart of Gold

by CartoonNerd12


Chapter 4

The king woke from his sleep as Twilight came into his grand bedroom along with Pinkie Pie who was carrying in a breakfast tray. He groaned as Twilight said.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead! You got a big day ahead of you!"

He whined as he put a pillow over his head, "Why do I have to do such meaningless tasks every single day?!"

Twilight huffed, "They are not meaningless! Honestly, how in the world did you conducted your duties before I came along to tell what needs to be done?!"

He scowled as he removed the pillow to look at her, "I was doing fine before those meddlesome princesses had to stick their muzzles in where it didn't belong."

"You were abusing your power! They had to do something! In fact, you're lucky that they didn't take your kingdom away from you! That would have been a far worst punishment!"

He rose out of bed in fury, "And you call being stuck in another body an act of mercy?! It's the pits having not being able to transform of your own freewill! Why else would I stay up most of the night to enjoy the feel of being myself?"

Twilight couldn't argue there, how would you feel if you were curse to be something you're not? She sighed, "Look, it's not easy, I'll give you that, but you have to perform these duties with great responsibility or else you will never turn back to who you really are."

"Ugh! Every day you say that and I'm still no closer to breaking this curse!"

"Because you haven't been trying hard enough to carry out the tasks that need to be done! The princesses want you to act like a king but you still refuse to give into the service of your subjects!"

"Well why should I? What have they ever done for me?"

Twilight grunted in frustration and left the room. Pinkie had followed after her after giving the royal pain his breakfast.

"Forget it, Twilight, he is just one tough nut that refuses to crack."

"Well he's going to have to eventually if he ever wishes to break the spell upon him."

"But how long will that be?"

Twilight shook her head, "I don't know. But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna trusted me to handle this and I'm going to follow though, no matter how annoying and upsetting it gets."


Rainbow pounded her hooves together and declared, "Oh, Zephyr is so going to get it once I'm out of here!" she turned to her concern friend, "Sorry, Flutters, I know he's your brother, but seriously! What he has done to you is- is- argh!"

Fluttershy sighed as they sat on the bed together, "I know… I know… I wish he would just leave well enough alone sometimes…"

"You are beautiful, Fluttershy, you always were but Zephyr took advantage of your beauty just to get in good with the king! And on top of that he tells the king you have a talent that only you can do! What is it he said anyway?"

Fluttershy wanted more than anything to tell her oldest friend but she knew Twilight didn't want her telling and would Rainbow Dash even believe a spirit came to her in the middle of the night to help her turn the straw into gold?

Just then Rarity came in with a meal cart and saw how close Rainbow and Fluttershy were interacting together, she asked in confusion, "You two know each other?"

Rainbow motioned, "Heck yeah! Fluttershy was my best friend when I was growing in the village!"

The prim and proper unicorn inquired in excitement, "Really?! How wonderful!"

"Yup." said Dash, "We were very close especially since I had to stand up for her when these bullies were making fun of her flying."

Rarity exclaimed, "How dreadful! I hope you taught them a lesson."

Dash smirked, "I did. I challenged them to a race and I won."

"Good for you!" then Rarity said to Fluttershy, "But that must have been an awful experience for you."

"Oh, it was." agreed Fluttershy.

The unicorn gestured to the cart, "Eat up, you'll need all the food you can get before meeting with his highness for lunch and I just know you won't have an appetite with him nearby."

Rainbow muttered, "I certainly don't."

Rarity agreed, "Indeed, that's why I think you making that deal with him was a smart thing to do. It's your get out free card after you finish whatever it is you have to do for him."

Fluttershy started eating and said between bites, "I wish I could tell you but it's something I can't discuss."

"I understand, dear."

Rainbow shook her head, "It's bad enough your brother boosted about your beauty to him but for him to make you do something against your will is so… ugh!"

Fluttershy assured her, "It's not so bad, Dashie. It's just a task I have to complete while I'm here and he's given me the time to finish it while I get to know him better."

The rainbow-haired mare scowled, "Trust me, Flutters, there's nothing to know about him."

Rarity pointed, "I must concur." Then she smiled, "You know, I had a feeling I would like you from the moment I saw you and you being friends with Rainbow Dash confirms it. As such while you're here you should know all that happens in this castle."

Rainbow smiled herself, "That's a good idea, Rare. It'll help give her a sense of what the king is really like."

Rarity inquired to the butter-cream mare, "Can you keep a secret?"

Fluttershy exclaimed, "Oh yes! I promise I won't say anything."

RD mentioned, "Fluttershy is really good at keeping secrets but just in case, she should do the Pinkie-Promise."

"The what promise?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity explained, "The Pinkie-Promise. Our kitchen maid Pinkie Pie thought of it and it has kept ponies from breaking their promises especially given how many secret marriages we have here in the castle."

Fluttershy gawked, "Really?"

Rainbow found herself blushing, "Yeah… especially since I'm one of those ponies that married…"

"Was it that knight you met?" her old friend inquired.

"Yup."

"Oh! How sweet! But… I thought you didn't want to get married?"

Rainbow blushed further, "Yeah… I did say that when we were kids but well… certain things changed my mind."

Rarity smirked, "Mainly how attractive Soarin' was and the fact he was the only knight to give you a chance despite your feminine qualities?"

Dash glared at her, "That's putting it bluntly, but yes…" she turned to Fluttershy, "Anyway, Flutters, you have to keep this away from the king because he has this huge ban on love so no one can be happy. For if he is unhappy then so should everyone else be."

"That's terrible!"

Rarity sadly nodded, "Alas, it is."

Fluttershy uttered to herself, "No wonder he didn't think love was important to a marriage…"


The king slouched in his throne as Twilight droned on with today's to-do list. He was feeling bored out of his skull until she said.

"And by the end of the day you'll have to prepare a speech for the Royal Summit in a few days."

He groaned, "Not another Royal Summit! We already had one this year!"

"This will be a follow-up from the last one." Twilight stated.

"But it'll be utterly miserable! I'll be force to see those interfering alicorn sisters! Not to mention those dull Canterlot nobles that only talk about profit and fashion. Even gloomy old Sombra will be there and I don't need to tell you that we don't get along so well."

Twilight rubbed her temple, "Yes, I know you and King Sombra have had your differences in the past but maybe just this once…"

"Absolutely not! I refuse to bargain with that shadow of a king!"

She sighed, "It's always a power struggle between you and him but for the sake of diplomacy you have to cooperate with him."

"Well I just find it rather unfair that the sisters would punish me and not him when he had also abused his power!"

"But he made up for his deeds unlike you and his wife, Queen Radiant Hope is currently keeping him from overdoing it like before."

He twirled his hoof as he sarcastically replied, "Oh, whoopee for him."

"As such, while you're away at the summit you will need to leave matters of state to Marquis de Fancy Pants."

The king waved his hoof dismissively, "Yes, yes, I'm well aware of that. Fancy has always handled things whenever I'm called away on business." then he muttered, "Though I question on how well a job he does…"

Twilight heard that and she knew for a fact that Fancy does do a good job taking care of the castle and the village whenever the king was away. Mainly thanks to Spike's reports and the rest of their friends had made glowing references on well he treated the servants. Yes, if she had been in Celestia or Luna's place she would have handed over the kingdom to Marquis Fancy Pants when the king had gotten cursed, but the royal sisters knew best so she obeyed their orders without question. She looked at the king's bored expression as he was handed papers for him to work on. She looked over his shoulder to check his progress and frowned at the mistakes he was making especially since she couldn't tell if he was doing it to annoy her or he just didn't care. Yes, as much as she would follow the princesses' orders she sometimes found those orders to be questionable…

Oh, Princess Celestia… Princess Luna… I really hope you know what you are doing…


Once Fluttershy had finished eating, Rarity and Rainbow Dash decided to give her a tour of the castle so she can move about the place without need of an escort; they were passing a grand hallway with suits of armor being on display as Rarity said, "As you can see the pseudo-façade was stripped away to reveal a minimalist rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the late neoclassic baroque period…"

Rainbow complained, "For pony sake Rarity, like she's going to remember boring facts about the castle, all she needs to know is where everything is and which rooms are forbidden to enter in."

Fluttershy questioned, "There are rooms that are forbidden to enter?"

Rarity nodded, "Quite. Like the king's chambers for example, only Twilight and Pinkie Pie are permitted in given Twilight is the royal vizier and Pinkie serves him his breakfast every morning. Everyone else can't go in. And there are certain rooms that only the king uses."

RD pointed, "Don't worry we'll show you where they're at so you can avoid them."

They kept walking down the hallway as Rarity pointed to the various rooms they passed, "Over there is the library, the drawing room, the lavatory, and that over there is one of the rooms of which you should not go in."

Fluttershy saw a door that was bright orange and inquired, "Do all the forbidden rooms have colored doors?"

Rainbow nodded, "Most of them do, but some actually have a secret panel in order to reach it."

Fluttershy wondered, "Have you found any of the rooms with those?"

Dash answered, "Only one of them, I was dusting up on the third floor when I accidently bumped into a vase and I was expecting to smash right away but instead it triggered a secret door in the wall."

"Goodness!" the pegasus exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I would have gone in were not for the force field that prevented me to."

Rarity added, "Indeed, the king likes to keep things to himself so even if we had found a secret room accidently, he keeps it a secret at all cost."

Dash gestured, "Which is fine with us. He has his secrets and we have ours."

Rarity motioned, "Now if you follow me down this hallway, we'll be in the kitchens where you'll meet other servants of the household; ones in which share with Dash at being secretly married."

Fluttershy smiled, "I'm very honored that you would trust me with this valuable information."

Rainbow stated, "Come on, Flutters, you're my oldest friend, if I can't trust you then who can I? Other then my husband, of course."

The unicorn agreed, "If Rainbow trusts you then that's all I need to tell you what I know."

Fluttershy asked, "Are you married?"

Rarity sighed deeply, "If only… No, I had not had the pleasure of wedded bliss," then she smiled, "But, I do have a beau that writes to me and sends me sweets and flowers while he travels the country."

"Have you been on a date?" the yellow mare inquired.

Rarity shook her head, "Heavens no. It would be socially inappropriate."

Fluttershy looked to Rainbow with a questionable look.

RD explained, "Rarity is in love with the Marquis de Fancy Pants. They met last year when the king had to be called away on business and the Marquis had to take care of the castle while he was away."

The unicorn maid sigh lovingly, "It was love at first sight…" and hearts popped around her face.

Fluttershy started, "Then why…?"

Rainbow quickly answered, "It's unacceptable for a Marquis and a maid to get together so they have to meet in private whenever they get the chance to."

Fluttershy was confused. If a king could choose an ordinary mare as his bride couldn't a marquis do the same?

Rarity sighed as she dramatically proclaimed, "I know it is foolish to do so but whenever I see him, I feel so light and happy. He is my true love but we forever doom to be apart forever!"

The butter-cream mare interjected, "Oh, but if you really love each other surely there must be some way for you two to get together."

The unicorn sighed sadly, "You would think so…" and dramatically declared, "But I could never burden him with such shame!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes while Fluttershy looked on in empathy.

Then Rarity cleared her throat as she got back to business, "Now then, I do believe we have very little time before you have lunch with his highness, so let us hurry with our tour before we head back to your room to get you ready." she said as she took the lead with Rainbow and Fluttershy right behind her.