The Tales of Prince Onyx

by Stanislas


37-Cupcake

Chapter 37

Cupcakes

Onyx walked in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. That morning had been so busy; first he and Twilight couldn’t find her book on the Badlands’ history. Then after breakfast they went to meet Twilight’s friend, Fluttershy. In addition to the fact that she was—staying true to her name—adorably shy, she seemed like an overall good pony. Onyx helped her feed the little woodland creatures and they had tea together. He would have prefered a glass of wine, but Twilight wouldn’t allow it.

After tea, Onyx and Twilight went separate ways. Twilight needed to buy a few things at the market and she had Onyx meet her friend Pinkie Pie at the bakery. A tired Prince entered Sugarcube Corner, ringing the bell as he stepped inside. The cashier, a grey pegasus stallion with a dark purple mane, pulled his nose out of the book he was reading.

“Good afternoon, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where ...... Onyx? By Celestia’s flank, Onyx, how long has it been like, what ... 15, maybe 16 years?” said the pegasus, stepping out from behind the counter to greet Onyx like an old friend. Onyx had no idea who he was.

“Wait, you don’t recognize me, right? It’s me, Orion ... still nothing?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t recall...”

“But it’s me, remember? We were in the same class together in primary school. I was always with my twin sister, Aurora ... We played hide-and-seek, and I was alway the worst one. You remember Aurora, right? And our little gang with Axandrea and Vallis?”

The names had been very familiar. Of course he remembered Vallis; he and Raynor helped him escape from the Emperor? Slowly, the memories came back...

“Wait, Orion. Yeah, I remember now. I remember you getting lost behind a shed and taking so long to find us that your sister had to help you!” recalled Onyx. “Twilight wrote about you in one of her letters. How have you and the gang been all this years?” asked Onyx.

“I’ll gladly tell you, but not before I have you try one of the cupcakes.” Onyx sat on a barstool at the counter and Orion went back into the kitchen to grab some desserts. When he returned, he and Onyx began eating before catching up.

“ You know, when you left for the Gryphon Kingdom, we were all so sad that you went without saying goodbye; it was especially hard on Axandrea. She was so angry after you left ... we were all scared of her for a little while.” Orion took another bite of a cupcake before continuing. “About two years passed before Vallis disappeared too.”

Onyx thought, “That must have been when he was recruited as a spy.

“Shortly after, Axandrea got expelled for a fight and returned to the Griffon Kingdom. Over the years, our little gang broke apart. My sister, Aurora, become a music teacher and now lives in Hoofington. We always wondered why we didn’t hear from you; we figured that maybe you forgot about us.”

Then Orion told him what he’d done after Onyx left. A few years after graduation he moved to Ponyville, and Twilight introduced him to Pinkie Pie. He started working in Sugarcube Corner, and he and Pinkie had been secretly dating. He told Onyx an embarrassing story about how Twilight and a few of her friends thought he had the hots for Big Mac until Pinkie had mentioned they’d been seeing each other...


Twilight finished buying her few hundred quills and a cauldron of ink for the week, and was trotting towards Sugarcube Corner. She hoped that Pinkie hadn’t broken him; Onyx was certainly not used to being around ponies as energetic as Pinkie Pie ... well, no pony really was. When she entered the bakery, she saw her coltfriend talking and laughing with the cashier, Orion. They seemed to be having fun.

“Hi Onyx, looks like you’ve met Orion. What’re you guys talking about?” asked Twilight, taking a seat next to Onyx. He giving her a kiss and slid her the half of a cupcake.

“Nothing really, he wanted to know how much cake Celestia eats everyday.”

“And how much?” asked the now curious unicorn.

“Tut-tut, national secret. I can’t tell you.”

“But I’m your marefriend ... doesn’t that make me like a princess?”

Onyx hugged her. “Not yet, we have to get married first, if you’re going to be a princess...”

Sadness flashed across Twilight’s face as she realised something. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be closer to Onyx or a Princess but, if she was royalty she might have to move away from Ponyville; having to choose between her friends and Onyx was something that she would never want to do...

Leaning over, Onyx whispered into her ear, “But you’re already royalty to me, the Princess of my heart. You’re perfect, and you don’t need to be a princess or an alicorn to hold my heart between your soft, delicate hooves.”

He nibbled her ear, and Twilight blushed before giving him a passionate kiss. Him telling her that was something that she’d only ever dreamed of.

“Wait ... you two are dating?” Orion awkwardly asked.

Twilight was the first to answer. “Yes ... and we should have been for a long time.” Onyx kissed her again in agreement.

They all ate their meal, talking about everything and anything, until Onyx remembered why he was at Sugarcube Corner in the first place.

“Orion, maybe you could help me; you’re dating Pinkie Pie, could you tell me where I could find her. She’s the only one of Twilight’s friends I haven’t met yet.”

“Uhm ... she left last night just before we closed the shop. Apparently there was some big event that happened. She said a whole bunch of ponies had been waiting for the past few years and she needed to help celebrate. We probably won’t see her until after the party preparations.”

***

Onyx and Twilight were in the park, lying under a tree and watching the sunset as they snuggled.

“Do you think Princess Celestia will approve of us dating?” asked Twilight, resting her head on Onyx’s chest, enjoying him scratching behind her ears. “Last time she was so upset...”

“Don’t worry, Twiley, I’m sure she’ll be happy with it eventually ... on the other hoof ... I wonder if she’ll be unhappy when she finds out that I fled my responsibilities to come here,”

“Isn’t it Luna who should be angry?”

“In the end, I think both of them will be angry at me.” Twilight, wanting to do anything to help keep her coltfriend out of trouble, sat up off of Onyx’s chest and went through her saddlebag that was behind the tree where they were lying. She floated out two sheets of paper, ink, and two feathers.

“What’s that for?” asked Onyx

“Well, I think we should tell them what’s happening before they find out themselves; so, we will write them letters!” Twilight exclaimed almost a little too enthusiastically. She levitated a scroll to Onyx and kept one for herself; they both started writing. Twilight, being the faster writer, finished before Onyx and used the free-time to oggle the Prince. Watching him write a letter put butterflies in her stomach.

“Signed ... Your son. All done, but how do we send it to them ... we don’t even know where they are.”

“That’s easy, Spike can send it to Celestia.” She used her magic to teleport the scroll to Spike, who was still at Carousel Boutique with Rarity—not that he would ever complain.

“...Why didn’t you just teleport them directly to Mother?”

“Well, they are probably too far out of my range for teleportation, and when you want to teleport something, you need to have a mental image in your head of the place that you want it to appear. But I’ve read in one of Starswirl’s books that if a unicorn’s magic is strong enough and they use the right cata—” Twilight little lesson was interrupted; her lips were locked with Onyx’s.

“I love it when you talk nerdy to me...”