It smelled like fresh earth, wet grass and hay. The field was empty and no sound could be heard, except those of the hooves stamping the ground. She liked it fast, really fast. As fast as it was possible to go with a mare. And nothing could compare those late afternoon training sessions, when all the other students were gone and Rainbow Dash was all alone with Salt. Just her, the air, the earth and the speed.
She clenched the reins a little harder and pulled as the obstacle of logs came closer. Like very often, she stuck her tongue between her two lips in anticipation and when finally, the jump was done, she felt that familiar shake of the heart that she enjoyed so much. The thrill of the height, of the possibility of falling and the pride of observing that she had made it, and brillantly.
If the University of Berkeley in California didn't approve of her application, they were of bad faith, or crazy, she thought. Yet there was no doubt that the competion was rude, especially as the United States were a country where the infractutures and the way of life were among the best in the worlds. But she believed in her chance. She could take the Americans. They would see. Even a girl from an island no bigger than the state of Vermont - with much better weather conditions - could beat them at their own game.
Once she completed her race around the field, Rainbow Dash took her grandfather's pocket watch from inside her jacket and tried to spot where the small hand was. Not bad. She hadn't beat her own record but she was very close. A little more of training sessions like this and it would be nothing but a mere formality.
To get back to the stables, she chose to walk a little. That was one of her favorite moment of the day, when she and Salt were enjoying the fresh breeze of the night falling, with pink and orange hues slowly ascending the horizon. An air of serenity was floating all around, the serenity of a work accomplished and well-done.
It really was a chance that she had been able to find back her mare when she entered the steeple-chase team of Canterlot University. When her parents told her they had to sell her, her heart had been broken. That horse was more than a horse. It was friend. A companion through all the things of life. Together, they grew up, they knew their first victories, their first failures as well and they learned to keep the head high, to get back on track and try harder. Until they reached the highest grounds.
All that happened because her father lent money to his best friend, who swore he had an infallible way to make it fructify at the stock market. Bad decision. After that, her family had almost bankrupted and sadly, it was her dear grandfather's death which saved them from ending up completely ruined. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have gone to University. Or at least, not to such a University. And she would never have met Salt again.
As they reached the stables, Rainbow Dash hid a yawn behind a hand, even though there was no one around to see her. What she was dreaming now was a good meal, a bit of boxing, a shower and slipping herself in her bed with a Daring Doo book.
It had been a busy day.
The front door of the stables was ajar. It was a huge wooden building, with at least a hundred of stalls, at the back behind the running field. In the day, many people came and went, with buckets full of water, of food, with reins and saddles. It smelled hay and droppings but she liked that place. It was a place of passion. None could enter the stables without that passion, that desire to be as one with your horse, to feel the speed, the exhilaration...
"Well... I wanted to ask you something..."
Rainbow Dash jumped as she heard a male voice coming from inside. Who could be there that late? It was her habit to run when everybody else was gone and she had never noticed anyone who did that, nonetheless not at the same time as she.
Still holding Salt's reins, she kept her a little far from the ajar door and took a look. Just to see.
Her eyes widened and she jumped back, hopefully not enough backwards to scare Salt and take the risk of being noticed so stupidly.
There was Prince Soarin in there, in the flesh and he wasn't alone. In front of him stood a girl Rainbow Dash knew by sight, for she was part of his little clique and more or less belonged to the Regal Family. Which meant she was some sort of cousin by marriage or something like that. Her hair were like fire and sun and she had piercing blue eyes, like the sea of the coast.
Something told Rainbow Dash she shouldn't be there and would better take her mare and run away. That conversation had nothing to do with her. Usually, she wasn't even curious about anything concerning the Regal Family, apart from political news. But there was something unknown, like tugging her from inside and pushing her to stay and listen. Carefully.
"You know my mother's sick," said Soarin while scratching the ground with his shoe.
"Yeah, I'm very sad for you."
He could have thanked her for the kindness but instead, he brushed away her concern with a shrug and continued his game of scratching the ground, never looking into the girl's eyes. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure because the place was dark but he seemed to be slightly blushing, which was a funny sight, even for her.
"Because of that, well..."
Pause. He breathed out.
"I have to get engaged as soon as possible. If the Ruling Princess dies and there's no married or engaged prince, the access to the throne would be impossible and you know what it implied..."
Rainbow Dash tried to remember her distant lessons about the history of the Regal Family and the conditions for being crowned. She wasn't quite sure. That was a class where she used to snore a bit too much.
"So, what if we get engaged? I know we're not in love and we're not a couple but I'd rather be with a girl I know well and who's a good friend than with some strangers that my grandparents appointed for me before I was even born. Because if I can't bring a fiancée to the palace, this is what's going to happen."
Oh poor kid, thought Rainbow Dash, before remembering that she was listening to a private conversation, but most importantly, a private conversation that could change the future of the whole country. It would be best if she just turned back and waited farther for them to be gone.
She knew it. She knew it and yet, she couldn't move. It was like watching a suspenful movie. That was something too big, too important.
The girl stood there, looking at Soarin with big eyes for a while before she let out the most heartwrenching sigh Rainbow Dash had ever heard. Just when he had gathered enough courage to finally look at her. It was like being the witness of a Shakesperean tragedy reproduced in real life.
"I'm sorry, Soarin, I can't do that. That would make me a princess and a princess isn't free. There's the protocol, everybody's watching you all the time, you can never freak out, you can never show you're angry or bothered or embarrassed. And you know that I want to be a painter and have my own art gallery. It would be impossible if I become a princess."
Were she in the girl's shoes, Rainbow Dash would probably have the exact same reaction. Being a princess was not every girl's dream, conversely to a common belief. Some loathed the too many constraints that came with it and the shortage of freedom. Of course, there were the galas and the champagne and the luxury and the beautiful dresses but it wasn't enough to justify such a sacrifice. That girl was smart.
Now, the prince probably was disappointed but if he had a little respect for his friend, he should be understanding and accept. Sure, that would mean he would have to marry a stranger but... If that was what it took to save his country and to keep his family on the throne, he had to accept.
On the other hand, Salt had grown impatient of being held back at the door of her own house. Because of the girl's answer to Prince Soarin, Rainbow Dash forgot to hold her reins tight and the mare made the most of it to show herself, opening the gap of the door with her muzzle and a neigh.
Immediately, the two students in the stables turned their heads and understood that if there was a horse behind that door, there was someone too.
Rainbow Dash's heart suddenly raced like crazy and as she saw the prince was coming her way. She pondered for a second what she should do before getting back on her mare, and flapping the reins so they would get away as fast as they could.
Just before she left, she could hear the creak of the wood at the back of the stables and understood the girl with fiery hair ran away as well. Now, the prince was behind her, running and screaming, trying to make her stop. If he thought he would be fast enough to catch her, then he was a fool.
She shook her reins a little harder and increased her speed, soon losing the prince far in the back, out of breath. As she got back at the racing field, she glanced beyond her own shoulders. He had stopped running and was panting in the middle of the grass but she was too far to see his expression.
She had no pride in acting like such a coward but what else could she have done? After all, the image Prince Soarin gave of him, someone calm and reserved, who didn't like fuss or to be treated in a special way, she didn't know whether it was his true self or just a construction to make sure the people would love him and want him for their Ruling Prince. Even if the little scene she had witness led her to believe he coudn't be a bad person.
But now it was too late to turn back.
***
They had a code. He would let the phone ring until he reaches the answering machine and then call again. But this time, Sunset Shimmer didn't answer.
Soarin swallowed a groan and put his phone away in his backpack. Surely, she would send him a message or try to get in touch with him by the end of the day. Or so, he hoped because otherwise, tomorrow would be awkward.
The big sedan approached the gates of the palace, the ones at the back of the garden, where no one can never get access to unless they were part of the staff or the family. Within a few minutes, he would be "home" and he knew what was going to happen. Time had ran out.
His bedroom was situated in the West wing of the Palace, in the private apartments of the Regal Family, the ones the visitors never actually saw. Right across the corridor, there was huge sliding door decorated with gold-painted moldings, the only other bedroom of the that wing. No one lived there for now but very soon, that would be occupied by the girl he would get engaged to and later marry. That was the tradition - the fiancée to the Prince was legally Princess from the Night of the Engagement. Of course, she could become the Official Consort only once the vows of marriage were pronounced. But the status was already established by then.
It was hard for Soarin to imagine anyone sharing his life here. For as long as he could remember, once trapped behind the walls of the Palace, he had always been a solitary. He liked the quietness and the so-called freedom given by this loneliness. There, finally, he could be himself and stop acting according to the protocol. But with a fiancée by his side, especially one chosen by the Regal Family, this would be impossible. They would have to follow the rules and he had no doubt that a destined Consort would be someone fit to the princely's standards.
It would have been so nice if Sunset Shimmer had accepted. With a friend, someone who had aristocratic blood but who wasn't uptight, Soarin knew he would have had a wonderful time. Both had their personal activities and wouldn't have interefered in one another's. Of course, he wasn't in love with her yet she was his best friend. And what was better than having a best friend as a life companion? And, who knew, maybe with time, they would have learned to love each other. Especially with that obligations everyone was counting on which was a heir or a heiress... and as a matrilineal house, a heiress would seem more appropriate.
He hadn't put down his bags for five minutes that three knocks resounded on his door. Taking off his blazer, that he always put on the back of his desk's chair, to the great displeasure of the Main Butler, Soarin asked the person behind the door to step in.
It wasn't a surprised to see it actually the Main Butler, Fancy Pants, who appeared in front of him. As the protocal stated, he was wearing a tailcoat with a white shirt buttoned to the top, black pants and leather shoes but the gentleman also pushed the tradition to the point of having a eyeglass and a pocket watch hanging at his buttonhole.
"His Majesty waits for you in the Pink Drawing Room, your Highness," he said in his posh voice, more solemnly than ever.
"Yes, I'm coming in a minute."
That would have been great if Fancy Pants could have gone first and given him a bit more time on his own, so he would mentally get prepared for what was going to happen. It was the rest of his life which was at stake, after all. But, faithful to Protocol, the Main Butler stood there next to the door, waiting for Soarin to follow.
So, Soarin followed. The way to the room named the Pink Drawing Room was a rather long walk and probably Fancy Pants figured out that would give the Prince enough time to get mentally prepared, but that wasn't an easy task when each time they crossed a room, all more luxurious than the last, there always was a Servant or any other employee to stare at him and bow.
They all knew why he was summoned by the Ruling Princess, his mother. The secret of her deteriorating health was not one for anyone working in here - though they absolutely had no right to tell anyone, not even their children or spouses. Their sorry or ravished looks weren't to help him. He had to clench his fists not to let show his true feelings.
The Pink Drawing Room was in a part of the Palace called the Additional Wing. It had been built by the end of World War Two but instead of making it more modern, the architects of the time decided to keep it even more classic than the rest of the Palace. The floors were made of marble and although it had been destroyed to settle optical fiber everywhere in the castle, they had put down the same material again. In the drawing room, the smallest room of the wing, the walls were decorated with a pink wallpaper very sober and elegant which gave the place its name.
As he stepped in, Soarin saw his mother and his aunt, Princess Luna, sitting face to face on the red-velvet couches, a cup of tea in their hands. The Main Manageress of the Palace, Miss Rarity, was here too, standing behind Princess Celestia's couch.
They closed the door behind him and he swallowed a lump that felt like shattered glass.
"Have a seat, Soarin... And take some tea. It's rose and jasmine flavor, very delicate," his mother invited him.
The fact they were in a small committee could make the situation appear as cozier yet he couldn't help feeling even more tensed. There was a solemnity in this reunion that filled the air with a strange heaviness. Although he knew what was going to be said to him, he couldn't help feeling his knees like cotton.
He sat next to his mother. The Protocol asked that he would not be too close and had they been alone together, he wouldn't have cared much about the rules. But his aunt Luna was here and when Luna was here, rules had to be obeyed. She was not someone cruel or petty, simply someone attached to conventions.
As suggested, Soarin took a cup of tea but didn't drink. His heart was pounding too loudly in his chest and he felt his throat was clenched now. Not to let the cup shake in his hands was a very hard task, asking most of his concentration.
"Well, let's not beat around the bush. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Luna! Please, give him a bit of time. This is important..."
"Precisely. This is important. We have no time to waste. I have to fly to Spain to get your next visit prepared in only three hours so we'd better get moving."
As the third in the order of ruling (the second being the first child of the Ruling Prince or Princess), it had always been clear that Luna would never reign, unless the Ruling Princess decided to abdicate and only in the absence of an heir. So, instead of just being the Second Princess, the Duchess of Hoofington, she had chosen a diplomatic career and was now the Official Represetent of Equestria for Foreign Affairs, a status that existed only in the Principality. That position, though prestigious and worthy of a Duchess, prevented her from ruling if anything had to happen to the Ruling Princess and her heir.
Well, the rules planned a case where the Second Princess and Duchess of Hoofginton could take back the throne if she abandonned her professional career but these were very complicated and even Soarin sometimes had trouble remembering every of the fine details.
He put down his cup and addressed to his aunt to tell her that no, he didn't have a girlfriend and had no one to be his fiancée.
That confession was the start button of everything. From this minute on, he knew it, his life was going to change. A whole series of events were going to be launched and this wouldn't probably stop until he actually get married, but even then, new series of events would occur.
That was the moment every Prince or Princesses dreaded because it was the moment when they ceased to be relatively free. Now he would have to take new responsibilities, responsibilities that were scarce until then.
Princess Celestia put down her cup in her turn and nodded to Rarity, still standing behind her. The young woman with elegant curly purple hair nodded, turned around and take an item that looked like a thin book, resting straight on the console table behind. With two hands, she gave it to the princess who gave it to Soarin, still with two hands.
"This contains the picture of the young woman who was chosen for you when you were born, by your grandfather. The High Council had a bit of... difficulties accepting the betrothed but they eventually gave their agreement, in respect for the Prince Sunrise."
Soarin could not open the book with the picture in front of anyone. First, his mother stood up and left, followed closely by Rarity. For once, the Main Manageress was not showering her with things to do. Then, his aunt Luna left with a nod and a slight smile in his direction, just to let him know that she understood the sacrifice his decision implied. These weren't grand gestures but with Luna, it already meant a lot.
Heart beating in his chest, Soarin finally let out a long sigh when the door got closed behind him. The sudden silence of the room seemed to be heavier than the solemnity of that short reunion.
Maybe it was a bit superficial, but at least, he hoped the girl would be pretty. Or have a bit of charm.
He slowly opened the thin book... And his eyes widened as he immediately recognized the girl.