As King Malik and Princess Amore pause in front of the arena’s closed gate, the saddle arabian warriors within perform a respectful bow for the royals, although Hoo’Far, in particular, only meant to honor his pale-vermillion-coated princess.
Hanzel and Fletcher, the crystal unicorn and pegasus duo who’d been accompanying the saddle arabian king and crystal princess, dutifully step forth in unison and proceed to open the gate before stationing themselves on either side, their royal charges stepping into the arena’s innards afterward.
“Rise, dear brother,” Malik orders heartfully with a raised forehoof, Amore standing at his side. “And raise your heads, warriors of Saddle Arabia.”
……….
Meanwhile, Amore fully absorbs Olstrom’s exposed features, finding them to be quite pleasing to the eye.
‘Arthrodite? Can you hear me?’
‘Yes, my queen?’
‘Cutie alert. I repeat, cutie alert~.’
‘What?! Who?! Where?!’
‘He’s King Malik’s brother. Prince Osltrom. We’re out on the Southern Fields at this very moment. Oh! And I call diiiibs~.’
‘Aww! No fair!’
‘Talk to you soon, Arthro, baby!’
‘H-hey! At least give me some tidbits on the goods!’
Amore covers and stifles a giggle with a raised forehoof, seemingly ending the mental link on her end.
……….
King Malik’s green eyes look over his brother and the militarized force as they obey his order. A look of confusion overtakes him soon after as he sets his sights on Hoo’Far along the way.
‘Oh?’ He questioned inertly. ‘Strange… I don’t recall seeing him before. Come to think of it, we seem to have-’
“How might I be of service, brother?”
Olstrom’s voice draws Malik out of his thoughts, prompting the king to push the mental inquiry aside and clear his throat for a proper response.
“Right. As you know, Princess Amore and I have decided to hold a festival within the coming month to commemorate our mother and father’s passing.” Malik shifts his gaze to Amore and gives the crystal princess a mirthful nod.
“And as it so happens,” Amore began. “The Crystal Faire takes place next month, as well. So we figured: why not hold both festivities at once?”
“Ah, yes,” Olstrom responds in recognition. “Mother and father often spoke about the festival. If I recall correctly, it’s an important tradition that was established by your late mother, Queen Prismatic.”
“Yup, yup, yup!” Radiant Hope’s voice called out from nearby, causing heads to turn in her direction as she, Sombra, and Sombasi sat at the base of a corral panel. “It’s held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity within the Empire so we can protect it from harm.”
“Very well said, Hope!” Amore beamed with pleasantly closed eyes.
Sombasi laughs nervously and raises a forehoof to scratch the back of his neck. “Sombra and Sombasi never get to go to it, though…”
The elder sibling scoffs in annoyance, “Sombra still doesn’t understand why Miss. Chestnut insists on us going to Equestria during the celebrations.”
“Sombasi agrees. Sombasi especially hates visiting that boring rock farm.”
“Oh, come on, guys,” Hope chimed in. “It’s not that bad.” Realization sets in on her face. “H-hey! You know what I just realized?!”
The brothers share a look, “Uh, what?” Sombra asked as his eyes set on her again.
“Snowy is Princess Luna’s daughter now! That, like, totally makes us the best friends of one of Equestria’s princesses! You know what that means, right?”
The brotherly duo’s faces slowly lit up as the implications dawned on them, their faces shooting toward one another.
“No more boring rocks?!” Sombasi gleed.
“No more cheap loungings?!” Sombra noted, at which point a feminine gasp could be heard from Amore’s direction.
“Endless buffets?!”
“Maids to do our bidding?!”
“N-now, wait just a second!” Amore injects from nearby, although it is unclear if her words affected the dark gray unicorns as they and Hope proceed to jump around in a celebratory fashion.
Amore scrunches her features with puffed-out cheeks. “Hmph. Cheap loungings, indeed. I pay for those, by the way. How rude.”
She stares at the trio of foals lost in celebration as, despite her outward expressions and mannerisms, it greatly pained the crystal princess to deny the brothers’ participation in the Crystal Faire. It was necessary for their protection, of course, and the empire’s by extension.
But to lie to the duo so blatantly for the last two years, even placing some of that burden onto Miss. Chestnut’s shoulders in the form of ‘Fieldtrips to Equestria’ would always sting the vermillion ruler’s heart.
Not even Hope was spared, as she was always dragged along due to her close association with the brothers—keeping up appearances was a very delicate process, and it wouldn’t make sense for the young filly to be granted permission to go while the brothers couldn’t.
The trio of orphans rears up in unison before running off together. As Amore observed their departure, she could only pray that Sombra and Sombasi would understand her intentions once they were older and she and those who loved them could explain everything.
Olstrom’s powerful and abrupt chuckling garners her attention. “The innocence of youth, right, princess?”
The vermillion unicorn chuckles while shaking her head. “And they apparently have a rather skewed perception of a princess.”
“Hmm…” Olstrom raises his head up high in thought. “I wonder about that.”
Amore cocks her head, “How so?”
“Well, if Princess Celestia is anything to go off of…” Olstrom paused with a coy grin, allowing those words to float heavily in the atmosphere.
“Maybe the endless buffet motif isn’t too far off the mark. Pastries, in her case.”
A stunted silence takes hold, save for the nearby celebrations of Hope, Sombra, and Sombasi. Amore’s eyes shoot wide open as her muzzle forms a perfect O until...
A joyous yet goofy snort is let loose from her muzzle, followed by explosive laughter.
“Ohohohohahahaha!” Try as she might, the crystal princess couldn’t fight off the waves of laughter escaping from her throat. “I-It’s good t-to know that- haha! That I’m n-not the only one who’s n-noticed-heheha.”
All the while, in a space between the Crystal Empire and Equestria, a certain carriage bearing the sun and moon insignias is pulled and escorted by solar guards along the dirt road cutting through open fields, with only the faintest patches of snow being present as they head toward lush and heavily forested territory.
“Achoo!” Celestia abruptly sneezed within the carriage, gaining the immediate attention of Snowdrop and Luna.
“Are you ok, aunty?” The snow-coated, blind pegasus asked in concern.
“Shall I brew thee another cup of tea, sister?” Luna offered.
“N-nay, sister. I shall manage. And I thank thee for thine concern, dear niece.” The solar mare sniffles while spinning her muzzle. “I suppose the frozen north has its lingering effects. Rest assured, family mine. Tis nothing.”
As Amore’s laughter dies down alongside Olstrom’s chuckling, the duo conversing seconds after, Malik’s eyes shift between them throughout the entire exchange.
‘Could it be?’ He questioned internally.
His brother has never enjoyed another mare’s company in such a manner and always sought to avoid the opposite sex after…
After…
No. Now wasn’t the time for such thoughts—an opportunity was present here, for Maker’s sake!
The edges of the saddle arabian king’s muzzle curled upwards as a plan was now devised, and he cleared his throat loudly to place himself in their conversation.
“Pardon me, princess, but I think I’ve reached a decision regarding our planned festival next month. What, uh, how do you say February in your tongue? For us, it’s Akhet Phaophi.”
“Februarius,” Amore answered.
“Februarius, myes. Thank you! Now, brother, I must head back home to inform our people of this. As such, I’ll be entrusting you with making the appropriate arrangements in my stead.”
“B-brother…” Olstrom managed after his initial shock. “Are you asking me to…?”
“Yes, Olstrom. And I look forward to seeing what you and the princess come up with. Oh! Do be sure to come up with a catchy name for it, okay?”
Olstrom could only nod in response, prompting his brother to clap his forehooves together before turning to face the formed line of saddle arabian warriors.
“Thsumat lev!”
The king’s exclamation causes the warriors to shift their stance in unison, except for one individual, causing Malik to raise an eyebrow.
“What seems to be the problem, warrior?” The king asked, but after a second lookover, he realized this was…
The red-coated saddle arabian tears off his face coverings and drops them to the ground, horn on full display, spitting sideways in mockery and hatred.
“You’re my problem!” Hoo’Far growled. “You, that damned brother of yours, and everyone bearing the Shattershield name!”
Hoo’Far’s actions cause several saddle arabians to glare at him, Musiqaa Melody and Apple Crisp sighing in annoyance.
“You dare to disrespect my brother—your homeland’s king—with such venom, Hoo’Far?!” Olstrom roars out, taking thunderous steps forward and placing himself in front of Malik.
“I warned you not to test my pati-”
“Enough!” Amore bellows after teleporting into view and between Olstrom and Hoo’Far. “This is most unbecoming of the both of you. Royalty and guards alike.”
Hoo’Far’s face softens, “The only royalty I recognize here is you, my princess.” He respectfully bows his head, “However,” those words draw immediate interest as the saddle arabian hybrid raises his head again, “I can not and will not ever show such honor to those…monsters!”
Amore looks back to Malik, who raises a forehoof to stop his angered brother from charging forward. The king could only gesture and shrug to show his ignorance, having absolutely no idea as to the reason for Hoo’Far’s anger.
“Hoo’Far,” Amore starts gently as she locks eyes with him, “talk to me, sweetie. You know I can sense another being’s emotions, and what I’m sensing from you right now… The… The hatred you possess…” A soft and tender vermillion hoof rests on the red unicorn-arabian’s chest, “I’ve seen what such bottled-up bitterness can do to a good person. I don’t want to see your father’s greatest legacy fall to such poison. So please…talk to me.”
The crystal princess’s hoof is lowered to the arena’s grounds as her pleading brilliant-amber eyes maintain contact.
All in attendance await the half-arabian’s response as the passing moments felt like many winters had passed over the empire. At long last, Hoo’Far’s brown eyes manage to tear away from Amore’s gaze, and he closes his orbs with a long sigh.
“My father, Hoo’Far Wanderer, once proudly served amongst Saddle Arabia’s ranks. He faced all manner of desert-dwelling horrors and even fought a siren, dangerous, emotivorous creatures that terrorized Saddle Arabia’s history.”
“What?!” One of the saddle arabian warriors shouts.
“A siren?!”
“Your father bested a siren?!”
“Impossible!”
Amore, Malik, and Olstrom were simply at a loss for words.
“B- your father… H-he… He never told me about any of that…” Amore managed to let out.
“Of course, my princess…” Hoo’Far responds. “He and my mother chose to be discreet about their past, but I digress. What’s important is that despite his service, the royal family still spat on his honor and threw him out for a so-called crime!”
Both Olstrom and Malik’s eyes shoot wide open in recollective realization.
“N-no…” Malik states in disbelief.
“You and your father…” Olstrom said. “I knew your names sounded familiar… It was…”
“I see you two are finally starting to piece it together,” Hoo’Far called out. “Here, let me spell it out for you two nitwits:
My father and so many others before him were tossed aside for falling in love with an outsider! And don’t even get me started on how hybrids like me are treated in Saddle Arabia!”
A surge of memories began to fill Olstrom’s mind, something he didn’t doubt also plagued Malik’s, too.
It… It was a long time ago…
They’d hoped…
“H-Hoo’Far…” Olstrom’s voice is laced with regret. “I know you don’t want to hear this, especially from a Shattershield, but…”
Olstrom proceeds forward, and Malik, seemingly catching onto his adoptive sibling’s intent, joins him as the two royals pass Amore and position themselves in front of the saddle arabian hybrid.
And several gasps are let loose as the royals lower themselves to the ground with downfaced heads.
“As Saddle Arabia’s current ruler, I, King Malik Shattershield, in addition to my brother, Prince Olstrom Shattershield, express our most sincere apologies to you, your father, and your mother.”