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// Interlude: The Crystal Prince 
// Story: Solid Script Equestria 
// by Garnet Naturea 
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Sonbāsutā was a street urchin after being abandoned in the empire at the age of two. He survived on the kindness of other homeless ponies and other creatures who were down on their luck at the time. He got his name by a Griffin named Jade Talon, a former guard, who lost an arm in a fight with a bugbear. He said it was because he could see a star shining in the young colts soul, despite the less than great situation he was in. Jade passed away not a month later from malnutrition. 

Sonbāsutā survived by taking what he could from bakeries and stands, before turning to stealing, but not just for him, for other homeless creatures. At seven years old, he tried to sneak into the royal palace to steal from the royal treasury. He actually made it to the vault door from his knowledge of gem composition before being caught. He was brought before the queen of the empire, Queen Peach Topaz, for his crimes and for punishment to be handed down. 

The queen found the colt fascinating for being able to make it that far. She looked in his eyes and said the same thing as Jade Talon. A strong star was burning in his soul. After that, the queen actually made it so Sonbāsutā would be staying in the castle as her personal assistant. At first he and the guards were hesitant, but the queen and Sonbāsutā eventually became close. They were friends and after a few years, on his tenth birthday, the Queen surprised him with adoption papers. That was the first day Sonbāsutā had cried in years, but not tears of sadness, of joy. 

The newly adopted prince was welcomed by the guards, while many nobles were outraged. They were silenced suddenly, when many of the homeless creatures that helped Sonbāsutā came to the palace and pledged themselves to him, because they were all family from his time in the streets. This made the queen proud that her new son had already touched the hearts of so many.

Most of the homeless creatures became guards, maids, or butlers for the castle, many becoming some of the best because of their determination to make the prince proud. After a few months, the prince was playing in the snow with some of his friends when he found an odd, large egg. Some of the guards and doctors assumed it to be some kind of dragons egg and suggested it was abandoned during the dragons migration a couple days back. The prince felt sorry for the egg and wanted it to be kept safe until it hatched. The queen then suggested that Sonbāsutā hatch it himself so he can have an assistant/little sibling of his own. He agreed wholeheartedly and did all he could to take care of the egg.

He would spend his days studying what was assigned by his tutors and the queen, and on his free time he would take care of the egg, keeping it warm, reading stories aloud and just being like a brother. After nearly six months, the egg hatched, but it wasn’t a dragon that came out, but a small purple cat with white wings. The scientific community was baffled by this, while the prince was overjoyed for a new addition to his family. The cat was soon named Echo, because she would try to mimic what the prince would say.

Time marched on and the young prince and his assistant became beloved by many in the empire, but of course, there were those that tried to use them for their own gain. Luckily, the prince was taught well in the ways of politics by his mother and surrogate uncle, a politician named Emerald Blizzard. He was cold with the ways he worked with other politicians, but behind closed doors, he was kind to not only the royal family, but many ‘commoners’. 

With their training, the young prince and his companion we unbeatable in the game of politic. They studied every inch of each document given to them, they made sure there were no exploitable loophole, they made the queen proud. 

Their happiness was not to last long. When the prince was seventeen and a half, the queen began ill with an unknown disease that the could not cure. In spite of this, she placed her faith in her son. She ensured her son would be crowned the new king and made sure only her most trusted allies would be there to help guide their new king. After over one month of the sickness staying in her system, the queen passed peacefully in her sleep.  

Soon after, on his eighteenth birthday, Prince Sonbāsutā was crowned the new Crystal King.