“No, sister. We cannot free that monster.”
“Under ordinary circumstances, yes, but these are desperate times.” Princess Luna went over to her sister. “He may be wicked, but is he as bad as our new foe?”
That made Celestia pause.
Luna pressed on. “He may have spread chaos and put Equestria into a state of anarchy, but he is not as dangerous as Yogg-Saron. The Elements of Harmony were able to lay him low, and they can do so again if needed.”
“How can we be so sure he won’t have a new plan to stop us?”
“That is a risk we will have to accept. However, we feel he will want to help us.”
“What makes you think that?” Celestia questioned.
“Yogg-Saron is a threat to his rule. With him in the way, he cannot have Equestria. The Elements will keep him in check, and I trust that Twilight Sparkle and her friends will be able to reform him. We need all the help we can get in finding our enemy, and he will be a valuable ally in this fight. His Chaos magic gives him an advantage that we lack. He may even be strong enough to defeat him.”
Celestia shook her head. She hated the idea, but she knew it could help. The chances of him running rampant were small, and he would be able to help search for Yogg-Saron. Still, she did not like the plan.
“Alright,” she acquiesced, letting out a sigh, “we will free Discord so he may help us—but we have to keep him away from Sorin. We cannot let Discord work his way on the new prince. They must not meet each other until we have shown him what we need to. Agreed?”
“Agreed, sister.”
They both looked out the window, hoping that they were not making a mistake.
“Send our letter to his room. It is time.”
Luna nodded, trotting away to find a servant. Celestia sat there, continuing to look out at the city. She would do whatever it took to protect her ponies. If she had to give her life to stop evil from touching them, she would do so without hesitation.
I would rather you stay alive. You have such potential, Celestia.
She grit her teeth. “We’re searching for you, Yogg-Saron.”
Yes, with Discord, the Lord of Chaos. You would be pleased to know that I helped turn him to stone. Maybe you should crown me as a “hero” like your little plaything, Sorin.
“Leave him out of this!”
A new alicorn who is struggling to get used to his newfound power? He will be so easy to taint.
“I won’t let you hurt him,” she ground out.
We’ll see.
“We’re coming for you, monster.”
Oh, I know. In fact, I’m counting on it…
An abrupt knock came at the door. Sorin paused what he was doing and went over, quickly opening it. A blue mare dressed in a mailmare’s outfit stood there holding a small envelope in her hooves. She handed it to him before checking it off her list.
“I have one letter addressed to Sorin. The sender chose to keep their name hidden on the postage. Have a nice day, sir.”
Just as quickly as she came, she scurried down the hall, rushing to make her next delivery. Sorin closed the door, sitting down in a chair and ripping the top of the envelope away. He pulled out a thin folded piece of paper with a fancy design on its back. He found the royal seal at the top of the page as he opened it. He looked at the bottom to find that the letter was from the royal sisters.
Dear Sorin,
We would like to show you a few things relating to your new development as an alicorn. These things will help you understand what being an alicorn really means and how your body works. It is more than just magic, after all.
We hope you will take us up on this offer and come by the castle at any time today. Any of the castle guards or staff will be able to take you to us.
“I guess I’ll have to attend,” he said to himself after reading the letter. He did not really have a choice.
He finished up what he was doing before he got the message and then put the letter on top of the room’s desk. He went out into the hallway, locking the door on the way out. He was still staying in one of the suites right next to the castle. The rooms were more like whole apartments, and everything could be defined as luxury. Twilight and her friends had already gone back to Ponyville, but he was going to be staying for another day.
He went down the hall past a few other rooms, heading down to the ground floor. Going past the reception desk and then outside, he felt the warmth of the sun on his face. The streets were busy again, most ponies taking lunch at this hour. Luckily, he did not have to go very far. The castle was only a block away.
As he headed there, the activity of the city died down. Canterlot Castle had a very defined schedule that left little time for its staff on shift to do anything, so the area was pretty bare in terms of activity. He walked past a few statues before coming up to one of the multiple entrances to the castle.
“State your business, please,” one of the ever stoic guards ordered.
“My name is Sorin, and I am expecting an audience with the princesses.”
“Of course, sir.” The guard gave a signal to one of his comrades, and the gate behind him raised up. “Right this way.”
Sorin followed the unicorn into the castle, going deep into its interior. They eventually stopped in a large room with no windows, something rare in the castle.
“The princesses will be with you in a moment.” Before the guard left, Sorin thanked him, leaving him alone in the room. It took only a few seconds for a pair of doors to open, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna coming through them.
“You sure didn’t waste any time getting here,” Celestia said as they came up to him.
“I didn’t have much else to do, so I came right after I got your letter. I hope I didn’t come too soon.”
“Not at all,” she said, waving her hoof. “I’m happy you made it here so early, actually.”
“Why so?”
“Day Court is about to start, meaning you can make your presence known to the public.”
“And,” Luna added, “thou will see how some duties as an alicorn can be so normal.”
“Alright. Hopefully, this won’t be too boring. It is a bunch of issues and complaints after all.”
“These things always can be, but I’m sure it shall be interesting with thee there,” she said with a smile.
Celestia nodded. “Court is how things get done in this nation. Big and small problems alike are resolved to benefit Equestria as a whole. While it may seem… mundane at times, it is a critical part of everyday decision making here.”
“So, how will this all work?”
“You will enter alongside us. You will take off your cloak, and I will announce you as the newest prince. After that, Court will continue as normal, but you will be by my side to help make decisions.”
“So this is my chance to make a good first impression. Got it.”
“Make sure you are heard, not just seen. Politics can be a dangerous game, but you are new to the field. This is your chance to say ‘this is how I am.’”
“No pressure. No pressure at all…”
“Don’t worry,” she said, putting a hoof on his shoulder, “you’ll do fine.” She turned to her sister, nodding. The other princess went along her way, leaving the two. A bell rang through the castle, drawing Sorin’s attention.
“Time for Court.” He followed Celestia through a few halls before they paused at a small door with four guards stationed around it.
Turning to him, she asked, “Ready?” He nodded, and then she opened the door with her magic. He could instantly hear the quiet arguments between dozens of ponies in the room. As they went through, everything went silent. All eyes were on the princess as she went over to one of the two golden chairs on a platform. Sorin took his place beside her, looking over the chamber.
There were lots of windows, and two long tables were on each side of the room. Older stallions and mares with expensive-looking clothing sat at these tables, a large aisle between the two. These were the ponies with power in the nation. Wealthy families, merchants, businessponies, nobles, and everything in between had a place in the court. They all had their own agendas, each of them seeking to better their standing on the vicious political ladder.
A red carpet led from the doors at the other end of the room to the platform he and Celestia were. Guards were lined up only a few yards from each other along the entire room. Clearing her throat, the princess addressed the chamber.
“Attention, everypony. Before we begin Court today, I would like to introduce you to Sorin. Some of you may already know of him as the hero who helped defeat Discord alongside the six Elements and then aided in finding the real Princess Cadance. You may have also heard that he helped me and my sister through some issues, and that is also true.”
Murmurs were in the crowd as they wondered why she held up the day’s session. The nobles especially held their tongues.
“He is a stallion of great stature and nobility—” The nobles scoffed. “—and he has helped this great country stay free. During the Canterlot invasion of the changelings, his true role was revealed. It is no wonder this pony can be defined only as a hero.” She turned to Sorin, nodding. He stood, and after a moment of pause that seemed like an eternity to the room, he removed his cloak with his magic and opened his wings.
“I introduce you to Prince Sorin.”
The room broke into an uproar of emotions. Some were dumbfounded, such as the guards. The wealthy remained indifferent, besides their surprise. Those who supported Sorin were cheering as loud as they could. Some merchants were eager to see what the prince would open up for trade. Others were afraid he would be more strict than Princess Celestia in policy. Lawmakers present were a mixed bag. They had a whole new channel to pitch ideas to, but they also had one more royal who could shut them down. Hit the hardest, though, were the nobles.
Those of them who were respected were ready to accept him with open arms, viewing him as another to pledge their loyal support to. The majority of the nobles were aghast. The leading families had no leverage or say in his decisions, and now he was one of the four most powerful ponies in Equestria.
Sorin gauged the reactions as best he could. Despite those who opposed him and his sudden rise to power, the room mostly cheered for him. As he held his wings wide for all to see, he felt a sense of power he had not felt for a long time. He had managed to not only hide as a mere commoner, but he had turned Equestria to his side. To them, he was a hero who now held more influence than even the most respected of ponies could have. He had deceived them all.
Yes, gaze upon me in admiration. Show your appreciation for your new prince.
He chuckled to himself as he realized he had one-upped his brother. N’Zoth used Deathwing to gain a foothold in Stormwind’s politics, but Yogg-Saron became one of the deciding factors in this world. Everything was coming together as he planned. All that was left was to assume total control of the world.
Celestia allowed a few minutes of shock before she silenced the room. “Now that his introduction is out the way, I want you to welcome him to the Court as an equal to me.”
Snapping his wings to his sides, Sorin sat back down in his seat and looked to Celestia.
“Court is in session.” She looked to the guards at the end of the room. “Send in the first case.”
Sorin was rather bored. Through most of the session, he had nothing to do. The matters at hand were outside his expertise or explicitly related to Celestia’s duties. He said a few basic things, but he had done nothing overall. He did not give it much thought because he appeared firm. He did not look like he was out of place but instead chose when to make his opinion known.
“The last case scheduled for today,” one of the guards announced, “is sir Iron Stonesplitter and house Stonesplitter.”
The scruffy stallion stood up from the left table, his two brothers doing the same. Sorin instantly recognized them from the newspaper. The Stonesplitters were arguably the most well-known family in all of Equestria. They built the nation from the ground up with their skill in masonry and construction. Their influence spanned across all of urban Equestria. They were also one of the most notorious families in the nation. From what he had gathered, the Stonesplintters had their hooves in every illegal business in the country.
Iron cleared his throat after skimming through his notes again. “Princess Celestia, my family and I—” He stopped himself. “Sorry, Princess Celestia and Prince Sorin,” he corrected. “My family and I have been in contract with the government for as long as can be remembered. Just recently, we helped rebuild some of the more damaged areas of Canterlot due to the unfortunate tragedies that befell us all recently.” Celestia nodded. “It is in this trust that the Stonesplitters would like to request a loan from the Equestrian government. We ask for twenty-five million bits to be allocated into our project.”
“Twenty-five million bits?” Celestia repeated. “That is a large sum of money, Iron.”
“We understand that, but this money will go directly back into the country. With these funds, we will be able to improve the quality of materials used in our structures to better protect from any future attacks like that of little over a week ago.” She still seemed unconvinced.
“Princess Celestia,” one of his brothers said, “we want to make sure that all ponies are safe. Our military can only be in so many places at once, and these improved buildings will keep our loved ones protected. How would you price the secur—”
Sorin let out a small laugh. The stallion speaking turned to him, appalled. “Is there something funny?” he asked as respectfully as he could.
“Yes, in fact, there is.” Sorin had a hearty laugh as he regained his posture. “Your request is laughable—quite literally.”
“And why,” Iron began, “is that?”
“Because you expect the ponies in this room to believe that those bits will actually go to improving safety.”
“Excuse me?” Iron shot back after seeing the looks of uncertainty in the room.
“If I may, Princess Celestia?”
“Proceed,” she cooly said.
Sorin stood up. “Your request for the twenty-five million bits is denied.” The Stonesplitters broke into a barely restrained rage.
“The Stonesplitter Infrastructure Company has requested smaller loans in the past for less important projects, and they have always been approved,” the other brother began, anger laced in his voice.
There is a new order here, puny pony. Learn your place.
After a noble, as he came to learn, tried to poison him, Sorin did extensive research on the prominent families in the country, trying to find whatever dirt he could on them. Almost every one of them had some skeletons they wanted to keep hidden, and he could care less, but he just so happened to find something crippling on the Stonesplitters.
“This project is necessary for the safety of—”
“Those funds will not be put into the community as you say, will they?”
“Of course they will be.”
Sorin stared him straight in the eyes, asking, “So they won’t be spent on advancing your pony trafficking network?”
The collective gasp from everypony in the room brought a grin to Sorin’s face. Even Celestia spat out some of the tea she was sipping. Murmurs in the chamber grew into all-out yelling matches. Celestia raised a hoof to stop it, but everypony ignored it.
“Order!” she shouted, bringing about a sudden silence. She snapped her head to Iron. “Is what Prince Sorin said true?”
“O-of course not, your highness,” he stammered, laughing nervously.
“I would hope not. As you can understand, I will conduct an investigation into it.” She put on a smile. “Is that alright?” she said, not asking a question.
“Of course.”
“Now,” she began, drinking the last sip of tea in her cup, “that will be all for today. Court is adjourned.”
Everypony rose from their seats. Chaos broke out as they began to talk. Celestia rose from her own seat and headed for the door she entered in. Sorin followed her into the hallway.
“That was rather climactic,” she said as he came to her side, sounding annoyed.
“In my defense—” She stopped, whipping around to face him. “—he was not going to use that money for good. I apologize if I overstepped.”
Her hard expression melted away, a smile forming at the ends of her lips. “You didn’t overstep at all.”
“I… didn’t?”
“Not at all. While you may have been assertive, I wanted your opinion to be heard.”
“You didn’t mind the bold claim I made?”
“I suspected his family was into some illegal activity, and you gave me a reason to look into it. I had no idea they were that evil, though.” She looked off into the distance for a second before turning back to him. “Overall, you did great.”
“Thank you,” he said, touched.
“Now,” she said, starting to trot, “let’s go eat.”
Sorin sat down at the table the royal sisters used. It was a long table with a golden chair at each end and an added chair in the middle for him. Luna entered the room, going to her seat in a slow trot.
“What have you been doing, Luna?” She perked up.
“Oh, nothing much. I attended to some boring business matters, but that’s about it. How has thy morning been so far?”
“Good,” he started, “I went to Day Court as you wanted, and that went… as well as could be expected. It was boring at first, but I think I made my points known.”
“He sure did,” Celestia said, heading towards the table with three plates in her levitation. She placed them down at each spot, taking her seat as she did so. A full stack of pancakes was on each of the plates. Unrolling her silverware, she continued.
“You know Mr. Iron Stonesplitter?”
“Possibly the most powerful pony—besides us—in politics? Yes,” Luna responded.
“Well, he requested twenty-five million bits for a project to increase safety in structures around the country. Sorin denied the request.”
“What? Why?”
“Go on. Tell her.”
Realizing he was being addressed, Sorin swallowed his bite of food and cleared his throat. “I found out that his family has ties to illegal activities—one of them being pony trafficking.”
Luna stopped mid-bite. She lowered her fork back down and looked at him with a look of sadness. “Trafficking?”
“I’m afraid so. I didn’t want them to use that money to further their exploits, so I denied their request. Celestia ordered an investigation, but I doubt it will uncover anything. A family that powerful will be able to move the operation before they are found out.”
“Chilling secrets aside, you’re leaving out the best part of your first impression,” Celestia said. Luna leaned toward him, stuffing a chunk of pancakes into her mouth.
“I may have said all of these things in front of the court.”
“We see,” Luna calmly replied. She was trying to hold in her laughter. Cracks in her mask started to show before her face contorted. Then, she burst into a guffaw, her sister following suit.
“You should have seen Iron’s face, sister.” Celestia tried to keep her food in her mouth. “Priceless!”
“I’m sure it was! Why didn’t we join thee?”
Sorin rolled his eyes, trying to keep a smirk from his face. “Laugh it up, you two silly mares.”
“We’re sorry,” Celestia said through swallows, “but we rarely get to see anything like it. It is…” she waved a hoof, looking for the word, “therapeutic.”
The Lunar Princess finished off her food. “I would say you have a skill for politics, Sorin.”
“I agree,” her sister added. She stood from her chair, also done with her plate. “I hope you enjoyed the food.”
“I did,” Sorin answered, lifting his plate into the air. Celestia took it in her grip, floating all three dishes to a counter for the staff to deal with. “Now, we would like to help you with your wing situation.”
“Oh?” he mouthed, intrigued.
“An obstacle course,” they both said with a deceiving smile.
“AHH!” Sorin screamed after hitting a metal hoop, flailing wildly as he tumbled from the sky. He tried to right himself with his wings, but he continued to fall. It did not help that Celestia was openly laughing at his struggle.
“I could use some help Luna!” he shouted, hoping for a savior. The Princess of the Night shot into the air, rushing to his falling form. She flared her wings and stretched out her hooves. He fell into her awaiting forelegs, but she was not prepared for his weight.
With an “oof,” she too fell from the sky. She was able to catch herself with her wings, landing perfectly. Sorin, on the other hand, slammed into the ground, a groan rising from his unmoving form.
“That. Hurt.” He tried to get up, blood rushing to his head. His vision blurry, he saw two Lunas trot up to him. The two became one as his eyes returned to normal.
“Thanks for the save,” he managed to say.
“I am so sorry for that. We should have waited to put you through the course.” She extended a hoof which he took, pulling him up to his hooves. “Maybe if our sister had actually helped,” she shot the white alicorn a glare, “she could have caught you.”
“And what makes you think that?” the alicorn in question asked, coming over to the two.
“You are a lot bigger than me, sister. You would have been able to handle his weight.”
She raised a hoof to her chest, starting to fake cry. “Are you calling me… f-fat?”
“Yes. All those confections must go somewhere.”
Celestia was taken aback. How could her sister betray her like that?
“Adorable banter later, helping me fly now, please,” Sorin interrupted. The two sisters turned to him, dropping their amused expressions.
Celestia came over to him, making sure his wings were okay. “I’m sorry. I should have tried to stop your fall.” She came to his front. “Will you let me help you?”
Looking away from her puppy eyes, he sighed. “Fine.”
She squeed, motioning him over to a more open course section. “Here. Try opening your wings.” He did as he was told. “Slowly flap them until you start to rise.”
He started beating his wings, feeling himself lift off the ground. The wind ran through his fur, stabilizing him some.
“Now try leveling your wings out and hovering.”
He leaned forward, making his wings parallel to the ground. Expecting to go forward, he stayed in the same spot. He carefully raised his body, making sure to keep his wings level, and looked at Celestia.
“Good,” she said, smiling. “Now try angling them forward, making sure to flap enough to keep the same height.”
Here goes nothin’, he thought, following her instructions. Once again, he was surprised to find himself moving correctly. Working his wings in such a way was foreign to him. Ponies were not designed to fly, he concluded.
“Wonderful!” Luna shouted to him. “Try some of the hoops!”
He arced right, aiming for the metal ring he hit before. Leaning down and tucking his head, he flew through it perfectly. Making a slight adjustment, he zipped through the next.
Luna swiveled her head as she watched Sorin fly through hoop after hoop, each one easier than the last. Eventually, having had enough practice for the day, he broke off, flying towards the two princesses. He pulled his wings back, coming down onto his four hooves in a flashy landing.
“I’d say you’re getting the hang of it,” Celestia beamed.
“I think so,” he replied, studying one of his wingtips. He snapped them to his sides, panting from the flight. “Thanks for the lesson.”
“No problem at all. It’s the least we could do, considering you’re one of us now.”
“Before your training ends,” Luna began, “there is one last thing we want you to attend: a diplomatic meeting.”
Sorin’s face fell. Another meeting?