//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 
// Story: King: The Beginning 
// by DanishDash 
//------------------------------//

They day had ended with a grand ball in the evening, festivals in the towns and the villages, and finally some much needed sleep. Spero had the best birthday in his life, at least if you do not count the timber wolf attack and Alouette getting bitten, everything was perfect.

Alouette had been fine after a little time to recover, some powerful healing magic from Twilight, and she was ready to join them at the evening party. A great feast, cakes, presents and friends, really, it had just all been great.

Now the sky was no longer clear, dark clouds had gathered over Equestria, and the rain could no longer be held back by the wishes of the princess. Which was fine, it had been held off all day, so some rain during the night was not the worst. In fact, Spero loved the rain, he loved the sound of thunder and the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground and his window, it was so soothing, so relaxing.

Although this was a perfect night for him to fully relax and sleep soundly, he felt restless. He groaned and turned in his big bed, trying to relax, but his mind would not let him.

His dreams were troubled, he could see and hear things he had never experienced. He saw burning villages, heard hundreds of screams and yells, armies marching, the thunderous sounds of cannons, and then, as a lightning struck outside his window he quickly sat up in his bed. His heart was galloping, he was sweating, panting. 

"Spero.." A gentle voice said.

He looked over, saw his aunt standing there with a worried expression. "Aunt Luna..." He mumbled.

She hushed him, moving over to the bed and pulled him into a gentle hug. "I'm sorry I could not calm your dreams before you woke.." Her voice was calm, warm and caring, he was happy to have her close and simply hugged her back. In truth, he was not sure what the nightmare was, for now it just felt like flashes, things that was not really there, but still present in his mind.

They stayed like this for some time, she hummed gently as she calmed Spero, and it worked. Soon enough his heart was back to normal, he had stopped sweating and he felt ready to go back to sleep.

"Feeling better?" Luna asked her nephew.

Spero nodded. "Yes.. Thank you.."

As she was about to respond, the doors to his room was opened and three guards stepped in. Luna frowned and stood up to face them. "Guard, what is your business here?"

The leader of the group looked to Luna and replied promptly. "An attempt on the prince's life."

Luna stiffened, her eyes almost glowed with rage, but she remained calm. "From whom?"

"We do not yet know, Swift Strike has moved out to assess the threat."

Spero looked on in confusion. "Auntie, what is going on?"

For a moment she had forgotten there was a foal in the room, he did not understand, of course he didn't, he should not have to, but this was the reality they were living in. She turned to look at him, a worried expression on her face, but she still smiled a little. "Nephew, we need to escort you to the guard room, immediately."

Spero frowned, he did not like to admit it, but he was scared. Though, he was the prince, and he needed to behave like one. Taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Okay auntie, if that is what is best.." He said, his voice still a little timid, but he put on a brave face.

Luna smiled, moving over and nuzzled him. "That's a big colt.." She whispered before looking at the guards. "Wake my sister, now."


~~***~~


Meanwhile, in an alley in Canterlot.

Swift Strike looked at the three trembling griffons, they were soaking wet, their feathers heavy, the rain did nothing to help any of them with the cold, but Swift didn't care, neither did the guards he had brought. The griffons were all chained, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen next. Finally Swift broke the silence, and with a cold gaze from his eye he simply said. "Fine morning for flying, have you lost your way by any chance?"

None of them answered, none of them fought, not even as one of the guards walked closer and started to search them, one by one.

Swift simply kept looking at them, then spoke again. "Et puto, quomodo alia est regnum gryphem." They all looked up as he used their own native tongue, telling them that their homeland was the other way.

The guard found something in one of the griffons bags, he took it and presented it to Swift Strike. It was an envelope, and as one of the guards shielded the paper with his wing, Swift Strike opened it up. On the paper was several symbols, clearly a code of some kind, and this only cemented his belief in what these griffons were after. He put the paper away, gave it to one of the guards that promptly put it away in his saddlebag to protect it from the rain.

He looked back to the three culprits, walking closer to them, looking at each of them as he passed them by. "Since you're clearly lost, perhaps you don't know where you are." He stopped at the largest griffon, looking him in the eyes before suddenly.

SLASH!

Using his wing blades, Swift Strike had cut the throat of the leader in one quick movement. The griffon fell onto the muddy street, quickly bleeding to death, but Swift was not done. He simply walked closer to him, now only talking to the last two of the group. "My name is Swift Strike, my work protects the prince." Placing a hoof on top of the griffon's head, he pushed it deeper into the mud. "Welcome to Equestria."


~~***~~


The doors to the throne room was flung open, and in stepped Celestia, she was beyond angry. "Tell me what happened?" She demanded and looked at Luna and Shining Armor. "Where is my son?"

Luna stepped forward, placing a calming hoof on her sister's shoulder. "It's okay, Tia. Spero is in the guard room, along with Flurry Heart and our niece. Don't worry, they are safe."

"Then how?" Celestia asked, her fury calmed and now she looked more worried than angry. "First a Timber Wolf attack, and now this, do we know what happened?"

Now it was Shining's turn to speak. "Captain Strike is out there, princess. The last thing I heard was that they were in hot pursuit, if they are still in Canterlot, I have no doubt they will be captured." 

"See?" Luna smiled gently. "They never even got near the royal wing, Spero is safe."

Celestia nodded, sighing a bit, knowing full well she was very emotional when it came to her son. Most of the time she had full control of her emotions, but this scared her, they had not dealt with an assassination attempt like this for hundreds of years.

"In the meantime I have doubled the guard. No one get's in or out without us knowing about it." Shining added, wanting to calm the princess the best he could.

"How far did they come?" Celestia then asked.

"Not far, as far as we understand, they flew in through the garden. The guards managed to spot them, they fled, but Swift Strike is after them as we speak." He then frowned. "What worries me is that they came in during a guard shift, they thought they could use the small gap in attention to gain entrance to the palace."

"I want that gap in attention fixed." Celestia frowned. "Did they have help?"

"It's to early to say, your majesty. Perhaps it was simply a coincidence." Shining replied.

"No." Luna simply said. "There are no such coincidences in Canterlot, not in the royal court, someone, or somepony must have been behind this."

"I'm afraid the princess is correct." A voice said, and the group turned around to see Swift Strike walk in.

"Captain." Celestia greeted. "What is happening?"

"Three griffon mercenaries, I have placed them in the dungeon for now." 

Celestia let out a relieved sigh. "Thank Faust for that, good work Captain. Any clue who sent them?"

"Not yet, but one of them was carrying this." He took out the letter, and Celestia was quick to levitate it in front of her.

Her eyes went over the strange symbols, but finally she let out a sigh. "That is strange, I do not recognize these symbols.."

Swift shook his head. "I did not expect you to, your majesty. I think this code was invented to prevent the guards, and even you and your sister to read this. Any language out there you know, so creating a new system would be easier."

"A new language?" Shining asked.

Swift shook his head again. "Does not need to be new, the symbols could relate to a book, places, dates, anything they wish it to relate to."

"But who are they? Surely they did not think they could have gotten away with foalnapping the prince." Luna said in disbelief. "How do we even know he was the target, Shining Armor said they never made it past the garden."

"Yes, that is true, but I overheard them speaking in their own native tongue, his name was mentioned, and there was some importance to it. Whatever they were hoping to achieve here tonight, it involved the prince. Of that, I have no doubt." The one eyed captain explained. "But, they are mercenaries, not trained soldiers. They could have been hired by anyone, pony, griffon, changeling, we will not know before I have a chance to speak with them."

"And do you think you can extract that information?" Celestia asked bluntly.

Swift nodded his head. "I do, your majesty. Having killed their leader, they will have no one to look to, and I-"

"You what?" Celestia had a shocked expression on her face. "Did he resist?"

"No, but he would have." Swift assured her, but did not look worried about her reaction.

"So you killed him in cold blood?" Celestia asked, an edge of anger touching her voice now. 

Swift Strike however did not flinch at her anger and disgust. "I did, with him being their leader, their alpha, he would have assured the others would not talk."

"But he could have valuable information for us!" Celestia protested. "At any rate, you do not kill a creature that is defenseless and has surrendered." The throne room was dead silent, not Luna or Shining spoke, both of them knew, and Luna was prepared to defend the captain, but Swift simply met the angry gaze of his princess and spoke his mind.

"He probably did, your majesty. But you know, just as I do, with him being their alpha, he would never have surrendered that information to us, not even if we tortured him." He said plainly, and before Celestia could utter a word, he continued. "If I would have let him live, he would have made it his life mission to free himself, take as many of our guards with him as he was killed, clawed his way to your son if need be. I was not gonna risk my guards, or waste time guarding him. Also, having taken away their leader, right in front of them, his companions fear me, given enough time, they WILL speak."

There was another silence, Celestia could hardly believe such harsh and cold words came from one of her ponies, but alas, she knew in her mind it was true, but her heart could not condone it, never.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked to the steps of her throne, with slow, but sure steps, she climbed up and sat at her throne. Now she spoke as a princess, but in truth, she was conflicted. She needed answers, but she hated she had been blindsided into this position, not knowing what her son's captain was doing, behind her back no less.

"Captain, I want you to find out who hired them, and the full extend of their plans. I will advice you however, do NOT, go behind my back again. Am, I, clear?"

Swift bowed. "Perfectly, your highness."

"Then you can leave. Captain Armor, that goes for you too." She said and waved them both off, leaving only her and Luna left in the throne room.

When the doors closed, it left an echo in the throne room, for quite a while there was no word spoken between the sisters. Finally, as Celestia seemed to find the words, she spoke. "How long have you known about this?"

Luna did not look at her sister, neither did Celestia on her. "Since he got the position."

"And you kept this from me?"

"I kept nothing from you, he has never needed to kill outside of combat before." Luna simply replied, as calm and collected as she could.

"But am I wrong to assume he is not simply acting as a guard captain." There was another moment of silence, so Celestia pressed the point. "Luna."

"No, you're not wrong. He has been acting as my spy master too, gathering intelligence on every pony who has their day to day business within these walls, not to mention every noble."

Celestia tried to look calm, but Luna could see her frown deepen ever so slightly. "By what right do you think you could do this? It goes against everything we stand for."

Luna scoffed, but not in disgust over her sister, but the lie they were telling themselves. She turned to Celestia, a little annoyed she was not down here with her, talking about it. Instead she tried to hold her royal status over her like it would have an effect, it did not. She too was the ruler, and she would not be spoken down to, or given a lecture on morality.

"Sister, the years of peace has made you, excuse me for saying, naive." Now Celestia's expression twitched. "For hundreds of years our kingdom has lived without war or conflict, we had monsters to fight, villains, but with the help of the former element bearers we have prevailed without much bloodshed." Of course not talking about the event with Tirek. "Sister, you and me are old enough to know it will not last. The nobles has grown fat and lazy from the days of peace, they scheme and plot to gain favor and more power, now with Spero they have seen a new target to achieve these goals. Some will see him as a threat, you don't think the Timber Wolf attack was really just a coincidence, do you?" 

When Celestia didn't reply, she continued.

"We have been in countless battles, seen friends fall, seen the worst and the best within our subjects. Now we are in an era of peace, but, since Twilight.. You must have noticed the signs, peace is coming to an end, being the nobles plotting, war, we don't know, but we both see the signs..." She sighed. "The captain and I do not take pleasure in any of this, sister. But, we have to be honest, total morality is a luxury our subjects can have thanks to the battles we fought.. It is a burden we bear, but we do it, for them."

Celestia sighed, hating when her little sister ended up lecturing her. Though was she right? She had to admit, she could not think straight when it came to her son, normally she would have everything planned out, but times were changing, she knew that. Maybe things had become so easy to calculate because of peace times? At any rate, Luna was right, no matter how much she hated it, she knew she was right.

She nodded a little, then looking to her younger sister. "I do not want to see us become tyrants, Luna. That is not who we are."

Luna nodded. "We won't sister, but the safety of our subjects, of your son, we must do what we can to secure it. If Swift can manage what we cannot, then we have a chance to keep peace for a while longer." 

Celestia nodded a little, standing up and walked down to Luna. She did not say anything before she stood before her, still with a disappointed frown on her face. "Luna.. Don't go behind my back again, we are better than that.." She then looked at her sister, her eyes a little wet as she tried to come to with terms of the danger posed to her son, the harsh reality she had made herself forget, and then her sister. "I don't want us to drift apart, not again, never again."

Luna frowned, feeling guilty for making her sister this emotional, but, glad that she was thinking about them too. Luna moved closer, then embraced her older sister in a warm hug. "We won't Tia, never again.."


~~***~~


The night had certainly been eventful, even if Spero did not know the full extend of what was going on, he knew it was serious. He had gotten used to reading the mood within the palace, and so knew when something serious was going on. However, sitting here, in the guard room, drinking some hot chocolate one of the guards had offered to make the young prince and princess, his tense mood seemed to fade a little.

He had always enjoyed being here, listening to the stories the soldiers told, they were much more pony when they were on a break, and he found he could listen to them for hours. They were always friendly, and although the new recruits were always afraid when he was there, but in time, they all came to relax and just treat him like any other colt. Right now however, they were alone. Cadance had stepped outside for a moment to speak with them, most likely to find out what was going on in full, and if there was any news.

Flurry Heart looked a little uneasy, sitting beside him on the wooden bench, drinking her coco in silence. He could tell she was nervous, but he couldn't blame her, this was pretty scary, and judging by the guards forced smiles, it was pretty serious.

Spero scooted closer to her, nudged her gently with his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay." He said softly, and with an encouraging smile.

She looked to him, sending him a small smile back, before leaning into him a bit more. "Sorry.. I'm just not used to anything like this happening back home..." It was true, the Crystal Empire was still new, despite having existed for over 10 years now, well, in the modern world at least. They were still getting used to everything, and so one could say they were more relaxed and innocent.

They didn't have these big political games, maybe because they were a client state of Equestria. Spero looked to her, shook his head and gave her a small nuzzle, which she gladly returned. "It's okay, you don't have to be sorry, we're safe here."

She nodded a little, put her cup down and simply let out a long relaxing sigh. Flurry closed her eyes, she was not used to being up this early, and the awakening had been rather rough. Spero was not doing any better, his eyelids started to feel heavy as well, and the relaxing sound of the rain didn't exactly help him stay awake. Slowly, but surely, he too started to fall asleep.

He could not be sure how much time had passed, it felt like minutes, but it had probably been about half an hour when the door to the room opened yet again. Spero yawned, rubbed his eye with one hoof before looking up at his aunt, well cousin, Cadance.

"Children.." She said gently, waking them up as carefully as she could. 

Spero was already awake, so he simply yawned a bit, his eyes still heavy. Flurry Heart was also pretty tired, and let out a long yawn. "Mommy...?"

"Time for bed, the guards says it's okay now."

Flurry Heart frowned slightly. "Mommy, can I sleep in Spero's room?" The suggestion surprised Cadance as much as it did Spero, but then again, there was nothing wrong with it. The sun would be up in a few hours, which meant it was only for a little while.

"I don't mind." Spero replied, it would only be for a few hours, and she was clearly more scared than he was.

"Well, I don't see any harm in it, and if you are okay with it, Spero. Then I don't see why not." Cadance smiled. "Come on, let us go back into the palace."


~~***~~


It did not take them long to get to the royal wing yet again, Spero saw his mother and aunt stood by his door, waiting for them. Celestia hurried over to him and hugged her little sun. "Spero, are you okay? I'm sorry I did not come and see you sooner."

Spero squirmed a little at first, but then he felt how sorry his mom really was. Not just sorry, but worried, and scared, for him. He stopped, then gently hugged her back. "It's okay mum, we're okay."

He felt her hugging him a bit tighter now, but after a few seconds she let him go and smiled softly at him. "We have a lot to talk about, but that can wait for tomorrow, you two go in and get some sleep. We'll speak in the morning."

"Okay mom.." 

He did not like to see her like this, all worried. To so many ponies, his mother was the embodiment of perfection and self control. She was the sun herself, a well of wisdom. To him however, she was just mom. Ponies did not see her like this, not like he and those closest to her saw her. He couldn't help but wonder if he had simply learned to see those things, or if she simply let down her guard when she was with family. 

"Goodnight." He told them all, and they all said goodnight to him and Flurry Heart.

When they trotted inside the room, Luna gently closed the door with her magic. Spero let out a deep sigh, he was exhausted, his birthday had been one long adventure, new friends, a wolf attack, and now this. He just wanted to rest.

He made his way to his big bed and climbed in, Flurry Heart was quick to follow. Spero did not speak, he simply got under the covers, and soon enough he felt something fluffy and warm cuddle up beside him. Spero blushed, looking to his left to see Flurry Heart blushing as well. 

"You don't mind, do you...?"

Spero shook his head and answered, in almost in the same low whisper. "No, it's okay.." He really didn't mind, after all, they had snuggled up before plenty of times, and it was not really that unusual in pony culture to snuggle up. He was simply surprised she placed that much faith in him. He knew they were safe, but was she still scared something might happen? In that case, did she trust him that much to keep her safe? Or was it simply to find some comfort after a scary night. 

Then again, maybe he was just overthinking this. He enjoyed her soft warm fur, and she always smelled really nice. She didn't look at him, neither did he look at her, they simply laid there in the darkness, listening to the still pouring rain that hit his windows.

They laid there in silence for about a minute or two, then Flurry spoke, again with a quiet voice, as if nervous she was going to wake him up. "Do you think it will be like this when we are grown ups too?"

Where did that question come from?

"What do you mean?" Spero asked after a few seconds of pondering.

"I mean, do you think we'll be in more danger when we grow up? You're a prince... And i'm a princess, one day, we will ascend to the throne.."

The topic was a serious one, the likes Spero had not really thought would come from Flurry Heart. Maybe the events had put some of those thoughts in motion within her, if so, then he could not blame her. It was scary, and although he knew full well some ponies, some creatures, would never accept him, nothing could prepare him for the actions they might take, and how scary it was. It made a lot of things unsure, like the wolf attack, was it really just a coincidence, or was it an assassination attempt.

His thoughts were interrupted by a nose boop from Flurry's hoof. "Stop that, you look like you're about to solve the greatest riddle of all time.."

"Hm? What do you mean?" 

"You have that serious look in your eyes.." She let out a small giggle, moving a bit closer to him she closed her eyes. 

"Sorry.."

"It's okay.." She replied with a small yawn. "Makes you look all, kingly.."

Spero laid in the darkness, thinking about the word she used. Kingly. Looking to the window, he let out a deep sigh. One day, he would be king, he would be standing where his mother and aunt did, he would make the hard decisions and be resented, as much for good deeds as for bad. Prince, king, princess, all titles that was as much of a curse as they were blessings. Even as a foal, he knew the weight of the crown, he knew no matter how much he pretended to be an ordinary colt, he would never ever be ordinary. His birth alone was proof enough of that, first male Alicorn in recorded history, first to be king of Equestria.

As a prince, he would prepare for that role, he was learning how to walk, how to think, how to behave, how to speak. His education was far beyond what any normal foal his age would go through, ranging from topics about law, to history. Not that foals didn't have history lessons, but he had a private tutor from the university of Canterlot, teaching him in depths history, using material from the royal archives no less.

All his life was preparing him for one role, for one purpose, to be a king.

Everything he did would lead up to that day he would put on the crown. He finally closed his eyes, and allowed himself to drift into the last bit of sleep he could get this night.


~~***~~


When morning came, the news of the attempted forced entry into the palace had reached the papers, every front page spoke of it. As far as Blueblood could read, it seemed whatever these culprits had wanted to achieve, it had failed.

He rolled his eyes at the foolish attempt, taking a sip of his morning tea as he enjoyed a nice breakfast. His butler suddenly entered, Blueblood put down the paper. "Sir, count Night Sprint is here to see you."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow. What was his old friend doing at his mansion so early in the morning? He shrugged and gave his butler a nod. "Send him in." The butler bowed his head and left to fetch Blueblood's old friend. He let out a sigh, putting the paper down as he took one more sip of his tea and then proceeded to put some butter on some toast.

Not long after the butler returned with Night Sprint. "Lord Night Sprint, sir."

"Blueblood." The noble smiled and walked past the butler and over to the table.

"My friend, a bit early for visits, don't you think?" Blueblood asked with a small smirk, but gestured for his friend to take a seat. Almost by silent command the butler put down a plate and a tea cup by the young lord so he could partake in breakfast. Once done, Blueblood waved him off, leaving the two nobles alone.

Night Sprint smiled and poured himself some tea. "It is, but I needed to speak with you." He glanced at the paper on the table, the headline read.

Griffons Breaks Into Royal Palace! 

"You read about it I see." Night Sprint said and took a sip.

Blueblood nodded. "Yes, dreadful news, and a horrible attempt to gain entry."

"Indeed." Night Sprint agreed. "Which brings me to why I am here. You go to the palace each day, you know how to get in and out without being seen."

Blueblood put down his cup and raised his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You see, the attempts we have tried have all failed. That freak of nature Swift Strike is not making things any easier for us." Night Sprint simply said, and continued to spread some butter on some toast.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Blueblood was more than confused by now, what the hell was he talking about. "Do you know something about this?"

"Hm?" Night Sprint looked up. "Oh yes, I am sorry, I should have told you about it earlier, but we could not wait."

"No, Night Sprint, what are you talking about, who are we? And told me what?" He really looked confused, and now a bit nervous.

"You said it yourself yesterday at the parade. You wanted to find a way to stop your rival, to stop his daughter getting close to your dear cousin." Night Sprint smirked.

Blueblood stood up. "Don't tell me you had anything to do with this?"

"Sit down Blueblood, and spare me." Night Sprint sighed a little, taking a calm bite from his toast. "Things have been put in motion, nothing happened to young lady Alouette, neither did anything happen to the prince. We simply sent a message."

"What? To whom?" Blueblood asked, not sitting down.

"To our rivals in court." Night Sprint said and now looked a little annoyed. He looked to Blueblood and raised an eyebrow. "You really are that naive?" Then he chuckled a bit, leaning back in his chair. "Then again, I forget to whom I am speaking."

Blueblood did no longer recognize his so called friend, the gentle, careful young lord. No, somepony had taken his place, a confident, intelligent and calculating noble who looked like he had played the court games masterfully for years. That could not be however, Blueblood knew about all the important players, and his friend was certainly not one of them!

"You really are that thick Blueblood?" Night Sprint asked. 

Blueblood growled. "Then why not explain it to me?"

Night Sprint shrugged. "Guess I have no choice in the matter.. Well you know alliances happens on a daily basis in court, the games we play, promises, deals, information, gossip, everything." Blueblood nodded, and Night Sprint continued. "That is the sort of games, YOU, and a majority of the nobility plays. Others, like me, play a deeper game. We form clubs, clubs that is binding, that cannot be broken, a strong alliance between families of noble blood. We pull the strings of power, we play nobles like you like strings on a fiddle."

Blueblood could not believe this, he was the most powerful player in court, him and Fancy Pants, they were the ones controlling court!

Night Sprint simply smiled. "There are two clubs, I am member of one of these clubs, and, we are at war with the other. We cannot directly touch them, neither can they us. So we play it out between nobles like you, pawns, so to speak. Now, I came this morning to recruit you."

"Recruit me?" Blueblood asked, still processing all of this, could it be real?

"Yes, you see, being close to the royal family, we could use your services. Of course this will also grant you a seat at the grown ups table."

"Wait." Blueblood said. "Did you try to kill the prince? Alouette?"

"Yes." He simply said like it was nothing. "Well, maybe not kill the prince, as I said, we were sending a message to our rivals. As for lady Alouette, yes, we were hoping to kill her."

Blueblood felt his whole being stiffen. "Why?"

Night Sprint smirked. "As a favor to you, my friend, you wanted her gone, we can provide that."

"Are you insane?" Blueblood asked. "I never wanted the filly dead, removed from reach of the prince, sure, but never dead!"

"Oh? Should we not try again then?"

"No!" Blueblood almost shouted. "Wait, the wolf attack, was it-"

"One of our agents? Yes indeed, though his failure was, unfortunate. We had to, terminate, his contract.. So to speak." Night Sprint said with the same cold calm as before. "Well, if you do not wish young Alouette to be, removed, then I guess we find another way in time."

Blueblood shook his head, then lowered his voice. "Do you realize, we could be hanged for speaking like this?"

Night Sprint snorted. "Come now Blueblood, it is not like you are walking within the borders of the law yourself. Don't you think we know about your little art collection? Your souvenirs from your diplomatic trips to other nations? Your bribes and financial state?" He chuckled. "Let me be clear, we can ruin you, Blueblood. Without even touching a single pretty golden hair on your mane, we can ruin everything if we choose, if you don't accept and play ball."

He was stunned for a few seconds, then looked down at his plate. "Why are you doing this? Why do you want to kill the prince?"

"The foal ruined a lot of plans for us when he was born.." Night Sprint replied, his voice sounding bitter. "We had big plans for the kingdom, him being born changed everything.."

"What do you mean?"

Night Sprint sighed. "Did you know your aunts were planning to retire?"

Blueblood raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"Neither did anypony else. We knew it was a chance for us to take control of the crown, if the right pony was placed in the throne. We had already picked a candidate in Twilight Sparkle. She was young, naive, well liked throughout the kingdom, a perfect instrument for us.. But then somepony fucked the princess of the sun and ruined everything.."

Blueblood found himself having even more questions than before, but right now he had more important matters to attend to. The security of his livelihood. "What is it you want me to do..?" 

Night Sprint smirked. "We'll let you know when the time comes." He placed a silver coin on the table. "Welcome to the club, Blueblood." He stood up and turned towards the door. "I'll show myself out, and, chin up Blueblood. Serve the club well, and you'll be more powerful than you are right now." And with that, his former naive friend left.

Blueblood sat in silence, just a few minutes ago he was relaxing, thinking he was one of the most powerful nobles in the whole kingdom. Now, he was a slave, a pawn, not only that, he knew this path would mark him as a traitor...


~~***~~


Meanwhile, back at the royal palace, Spero was eating breakfast with his family. Everypony except for his aunt Luna who had retired for the day. Since she was princess of the night, she did most of her work at night, in a few hours she would be up, but for now, she choose to sleep.

Spero was quietly eating the pancakes his mother had prepared for him and the rest of the family. Nopony spoke, maybe because nopony knew what to say that was not related to the attempted attack this night. It was not like Spero did not know what had happened by now. Maybe they tried to keep him out of such matters for as long as they could, letting him enjoy the days of being a foal.

"Spero.." 

There it was, Spero looked to his mother. "Yes?"

"We will be changing your daily schedule, starting today." She said and looked at him. "I have made arrangements for a combat teacher for you. He will be training you, starting today."

That was certainly not what he had expected from his mother. Not that he minded, he knew he would need to learn how to fight sooner or later, he had just not expected it to be so soon. Judging by the facial expressions of his family, they already knew, well all except for Flurry Heart, who looked as surprised as he did. 

"Combat training?" Spero echoed, not sure if he understood that right.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, though it is only the basics for now. You are still just a foal, but you need to start learning. Your teacher is a knight that has served us well in the past, an old friend of mine. Valiant Charge." 

Spero noticed the mood change, he noticed his uncle twitch at the mention of the name, his aunt Cadance trying to hide a frown. Maybe it was better not to ask, but he could not help feeling kind of nervous, if they were disapproving of the choice of teacher, what should he think?

Though his mother would not have this knight teach him if she did not trust him, so maybe it was better to simply trust they both knew what they were doing and simply try his best. He knew being the prince, he was expected to perform certain duties, that included defending the kingdom with his life, if need be.

He felt nervous, but he did as he knew his father would, or at least, he hoped that was what he would do. Taking a deep breath, and accepted the responsibility placed on him. "I will do my best, mother.." He said in a firm voice, trying to sound older and more mature than he really was.

Spero was mature for his age, but he was also still just a foal, he got scared, he broke rules, he played. It was what hurt Celestia the most, not that he acted like a foal, in fact, she was happy with it. Though, it was that the things expected of her son far exceeded any level of responsibility that should be placed on a colt his age. Nopony should have that thrust upon them.

But, as always, she found her son willingly, and proudly accept his role, and do his best to fulfill what was expected of him. It made her so proud, and she hoped, one day, his father would come and tell him that as well.