//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 Time Flies By // Story: A Prince's Journey // by Frosthowl //------------------------------// Act 2 The prince was running in a dark and snowy forest. A glass-shattering roar could be heard behind him as he ran for his life from the white chimera in close pursuit. He could hear a high-pitched howl coming from behind him. Starfall turned and saw that the chimera had vanished into the night. He slowly walked towards the sound. Starfall arrive in a clearing and saw the chimera eating a small wolf pup, and close to it was its mother... "NO!" he yelled out, getting its attention. But the chimera didn't mind him and continued stuffing its face in the young cub’s blood. Starfall was horrified from the traumatizing view and fell on his knees with tears running down his face. "You should have been stronger!" A sudden dark voice spoke. The prince looked up to see a human with black wings. "Alexander?" he asked hesitantly, still shocked from the previous scene. If you were strong enough you could have saved her and the cub!" His ancestor judged him whilst looking disappointingly at him. "You are a disgrace to me and your father. I am ashamed to have you as my legacy!" Alexander kicked Starfall on his chest sending him on his back. "I will correct your father’s disgrace!" "Wait!" Starfall tried to speak.But it was too late. Alexander impaled the young human through his chest with a burning black sword. In a bright flash, he found himself in a field full of dead ponies, gryphons, cows, and dragons. He looked down at his hands and saw he was holding a black and purple sword covered in blood, his hands drenched in the same blood. He looked around trying to make sense of it until his eyes fell on her. Starfall dropped his sword as he saw his mother lying on the ground. Blood soaked the green grass. He ran over to her and lifted her head from the ground. "Mother!?" he cried out with tears running down his face as his mouth quivered. "Why, Starfall? Why… my son…?" Starfall jumped up from his bed, breathing heavily after the horrible nightmare. He rubbed his eyes and saw that the sun was still shining down on Equestria. A sudden hot and loud panting could be heard as Frosthowl checked on his master. "I'm fine, Frost." The prince dismissed his friend. Frosthowl whimpered worryingly. He knew that his master was troubled with nightmares and wished that he could help him. "Honestly, I'm fine," Starfall spoke again, removing the covers from his body. Frosthowl didn't waste a second to bring the prince his boots and socks while panting happily. "Thank you." He smiled gratefully and nuzzled the giant white furred wolf’s neck. He got up from the bed and helped put the saddle on his companion. "Let’s go!" After taking the giant wolf out for a stroll so he could do his business, Starfall and Frosthowl enjoyed their daily trip from the woods back to Canterlot. The two were never apart from each other, and Frosthowl always stood by his master's side. When they arrived back at Canterlot’s gates, the massive doors didn't waste a second to open for the prince. The pair slowly paced through Canterlot’s streets. The older ponies who saw the prince bowed while the foals cheered for him. "What do you feel like doing? We got a few hours before the sun sets and I'm not strong enough to play with you until then." The wolf stopped his pacing and started sniffing the air. "What is it, Frosthowl?" Starfall was suddenly thrown off balance but regained his footing after regripping the leash that was being pulled by the large wolf. Frosthowl ran towards a scent he recognized as a good friend. After running down the streets, he pounced and started licking a familiar looking pony. "Get...him...off...me!" "Rainbow Dash!" The prince happily exclaimed, dismounting from his wolf. "How are you doing?" He said giving the mare a hand to stand up. "I was doing fine until this white furball came slobbering all over me!" she said, annoyed from Frosthowl’s licking. The prince used his magic to remove the slimy saliva off the pegasus and gave her a bear hug. "I've missed you, Aunty!" "I leave you alone for a second, and you go and get yourself attacked by a wolf? How come I'm not surprised?" said a voice from behind. Starfall turned around to see a mare pegasus with blazing orange mane and yellow fur coat that stood out thanks to the blue rubber suit. "Hey, I'm Spitfire." She extended a hoof to greet the prince. The prince's royal manners kicked in, and he bent down and gently grabbed the hoof. "Pleasure to meet you, I am Prince Starfall." He kissed the mare’s hoof and stood up. "And this is my friend, Frosthowl." Frosthowl bowed down to the mare. Spitfire blushed at the kiss and the unexpected bow from royalty and a ruthless predator. "Wow, Dashie. You have friends in high places," Spitfire joked. "It’s nice to meet you, Starfall, but Dashie and I got to perform in ten minutes." The yellow pegasus turned around and made her way, but not before-. "Dash, get your flank back to the stadium!" She smacked Rainbow Dash’s flank. Starfall and Frosthowl looked at each other in discomfort. He knew that kind of interaction was between couples or lovers. "Wait, I know!" Rainbow Dash said out loud, getting the attention of Spitfire and Starfall. "How about I get you some some tickets for the show and you can see me and my awesome skills." "Ehm… I don't know. No offense, but I never found any interest in the Wonderbolts performance." The prince said uncomfortably. "Then don't come to watch the Wonderbolts. Come to watch me. Please?" Rainbow Dash squeaked with her puppy dog eyes. Starfall smiled. "Alright, Aunty. Just for you." Starfall was sitting in a VIP booth with Frosthowl. He could see that he was given sideways glances from the high society ponies in the booth next to him. The day was at the point of twilight, and he could feel his superior strength and power slowly returning to him as the sun was setting on Equestria. FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! MAY I PRESENT TO YOU, THE WONDERBOLTS!" The announcer yelled out in his headpiece. The Wonderbolts flew out at an incredible speed that made the prince jump up in excitement. He could easily spot his aunt’s rainbow trail apart from the Wonderbolts’ electrical clouds. The flyers were doing some incredible tricks and death defying stunts that made the prince cheer for them. Rainbow Dash’s trick included speeding through rings of fire without slowing down. Spitfire was strapped to a wheel and spun around and around and flung into the air before quickly zooming in between poles, making accurate turns, unfazed by her dizziness. After a few minutes of each of the Wonderbolts showing their signature moves, it was time for the grand finale. "This is for you, Starfall!" shouted Rainbow Dash. She flew insanely fast up over the stadium and above the clouds. Starfall was confused. He didn't understand why his aunt just up and left. Suddenly, a quaking sound could be heard all throughout the stadium as Rainbow Dash flew down at a very fast speed. Starfall narrowed his eyes and saw that she was gathering a lot of acceleration. Unknown to the spectators, Rainbow Dash didn't have enough speed, but she was too stubborn to let her nephew and fans down. She was going to risk it. Starfall saw the electrical buildup at his aunts hooves and was expecting something incredible to occur in the coming few seconds. "Come on! COME ON!” Rainbow dash yelled, hoping that she would hit the sound barrier before. She came closer and closer to the ground as the electrical buildup got bigger but it was too late. A large quaking *BOOM* All the spectator and the prince were blinded by the rainbow-colored explosion. When they looked back, they saw a crater in the stadium ground. The ponies all gasped as they saw the seriously injured pegasus inside the crater. "AUNTY!" the prince yelled out in horror. He looked down from his VIP booth. There wasn't enough time to ride down the staircase. The prince took a deep breath to sum up the courage to jump down. Starfall spread his wings and jumped over the small fence. The crowd saw the human gliding down to the ground. His landing was very misplaced, and he tumbled but quickly got back to his feet. He saw the medic unicorns ready to heal the severely injured pegasus. Two guards stood in his way. "Your highness, please stand back!" they ordered the prince. He backed up and worryingly looked on as the unicorn’s white healing magic gently flowed into his aunt. Rainbow Dash lay still with them trying to heal her injuries. Spitfire landed beside Starfall, her heart in her mouth. “Will she be okay?” Still, the medics white magic flowed into Rainbow, and still, the pony lay lifeless on the ground. Starfall heard Spitfire’s breathing growing faster. “WILL SHE BE OKAY?!” she screamed. Rainbow Dash lay still. Starfall saw how the medics were not powerful enough to heal the grave wounds. Starfall looked at his unconscious aunt, a blank look on his face as Rainbow Dash began changing. Her blue fur greyed, then whitened. She grew longer, and her paws grew out claws. The snow wolf’s eyes opened, and pierced through Starfall. It was Frosthowl’s mother. "Get her to the hospital immediately!" One of the unicorns shouted out, snapping him back to reality. The prince felt a slight headache in his head as he realized it was all just a vision. Starfall quickly got his mind back into the situation. "No!" the prince objected. "I can save her. I will save her." The unicorns stood back as they saw Starfall radiating a white light. I will not fail… Not again! The prince thought to himself as his wings started to catch fire and his hands glowed bright gold. The moon shone down on the Starfall and he felt a surge of power he had never felt before, like he could move both the sun and the moon. The prince absorbed the fire and light into a golden beam that blinded everyone in the stadium. As the flash dissipated, everyone looked at the weakened prince. Starfall glanced at his aunt. She lay motionless in the crater still. Spitfire let out an awful groan of sadness as tears began to well up in Starfall’s eyes. Then, as if it were a miracle, Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly flickered and opened. She weakly groaned: “I’ve heard of a knock-out performance, but this definitely takes the cake...” The crowd roared as Starfall realized he had done it. Before he could celebrate, he was tackled by Spitfire who was kissing him repeatedly on the cheek.”Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she cried. The stadium was cheering happily at the recovery of Rainbow Dash, but Starfall was blushing furiously with his mouth open in discomfort from Spitfire’s kissing. “Hey, quit messin’ with my mare friend,” Rainbow Dash said, breaking the awkward interaction. Starfall broke from his blushing state and threw himself at his aunt “Oh, thank the Lightbringer you're alright!” “Okay, you can stop with the mushy hug now,” Rainbow said jokingly. “Did everyone have a great time?” she asked, trying to break the tension of her reckless stunt. Starfall snapped back at her statement “Are you insane? You almost died because you were too busy trying to make sure everyone got their money’s worth.” An arrogant smile crept on her face. “Well, how was it?” Starfall was a bit stunned from the question, but he was going to answer it honestly. “It was… exhilarating,” he responded, recollecting the memories of seeing them risk their lives. “Well? Are we going to have a three way in front of the entire stadium or are we gonna hit the showers already?” Spitfire said, making the human break mentally.”Guess not.” She flew back to the dressing room. “Aunt, you certainly have… interesting friends.” Rainbow Dash’s laughing smile went away into a serious aggressive stare. “Oh yeah?! what makes you say that?” The prince glanced at the general area that the mare had flown to. “I don't know why… But I like her.” His aunts previous aggressive stance was completely replaced with a fit of laughter. “Guess you’re a sucker for the bad mare, eh?” She kept rolling on the floor in laughter while Starfall rolled his eyes in a sigh. “Well, I gotta head back home, Spitfire is cooking something up for my… pain.” Rainbow dash smiled at her mare friend who gave a wink back. Starfall begged that the innuendos would end. He didn't have a problem with them, but when it concerned family like Rainbow Dash, he felt very uncomfortable. “Very well, Aunty. Just promise me you won't risk your life like that again to impress a few ponies.” “Are you kidding!? I got a reputation to keep up!” she arrogantly replied, ignoring the fact that she almost died an hour ago. “Plus, I gotta make sure these ponies get their money’s worth.” “But you're more worth to me then all the treasure in the royal archives. Please, for me?” He gave his aunt the cutest puppy dog eyes he could muster, breaking the cyan pegasus’s will. “Alright! Alright!” she said, trying to keep up her thick-shelled persona. “Bye little- well, guess its big guy now, eh?” She smiled complementing the human’s recent growth. “Bye big guy.” She hugged her nephew goodbye. “Bye Aunty Dash!” He hugged her back with his wings and arms. The cyan pegasus turned her back on the human and slowly trotted away with her mare friend. His ears caught the sound of them chattering behind his back from a small distance away. “You know… He could make tonight a bit more entertaining.” Starfall facepalmed at the comment from Spitfire. “Mares...” He rolled his eyes from the uncomfortable knowledge that he did not need to know. “Lets go home, Frosthowl!” Starfall arrived back to the royal courtyard to wrestle with Frosthowl but saw that the courtyard had something newly added to it. The prince dropped the enchanted rope that he used for pulling contests against his companion. “The princesses thought you might like it.” A voice came behind the amazed human. Starfall slowly turned around to see a medium-sized teenage dragon who was taller then the prince, wearing plated armor and a sheathed sword. “Spike! You finished dud camp?” “Oh yeah!” he said confidently. The prince looked at Frosthowl with a malicious smile. “Well then, lets see what they taught you while you were there.” His malevolent grin grew even bigger. “Frosthowl… Play.” He pointed towards the teenage dragon who flinched at the command. Spike ran off with Frosthowl chasing after him, though with no intention to actually hurt the young teenage dragon. Starfall stepped closer to see the statues from before, and he saw the inscriptions and what they made out to be. The statue looked up towards the sun with its diamond sword pointing towards the sky in a victorious pose--Crystal King Alexander, The Dawn of Hope. The inscription on its block read: “Do not fight for Duty or honor, Fight for a brighter tomorrow.” The young prince bowed to the statute in respect. “I am humbled to be your legacy, great one.” The prince could feel the serenity of the moment beaming down on him. He understood why the crystal ponies saw him as their true king, and this gave him new clarity to why they worshiped him as they do. Starfall turned to the other golden statue. The statue was a bit more muscular in tone compared to the other two--Commander Dawn Fury, Wrath of Righteousness. He had no mane and had a slight build of facial hair that resembled an earth pony-styled beard. He was riding on top of what looked like Celestia whilst above a dragon and with his sword about to slay a dragon. The inscription read: “If you kill me I’ll drag you down to hell!” Starfall was a bit confused to what “hell” was, but the realization hit him quickly. ‘’Maybe it’s a human translation for Tartarus?’’ he thought to himself.”You both died.” He mentioned the dragon and human who obviously aren't around anymore. ”Thank you for your sacrifice, Commander!” The prince bowed in respect towards the second human figurine. “I hope I will learn more about you soon enough. Just six more months...” The last one looked a lot like the white spirit that he saw in the spirit world five years ago--Commander Crimson Phoenix, Bane of Evil. The statue was holding two swords facing the ground. One looked like it was cut out of diamonds and stars while the other one looked like it was forged in the deepest gorge in Tartarus.”Such a horrifying weapon.” The sword was shattered in two, representing the defeat of evil. “Good riddance,” he commented at the abomination of metal. But when he took a closer look, he realized something horrifying. “That’s… That’s the sword from my dreams!” He stared at it in shock. “What does it mean?!” he said out loud. He looked down on the block and read the final inscription. “I fight and die for my family and friends so they can enjoy good things in life while being ignorant to its horrors!” “Father...?” The prince stared at the statue and from its pose he looked… depressed. The prince couldn't see his face or hair. It was covered behind a dragon head helmet that darkened his face. The prince’s nocturnal eyes could only see a blank face with no lips, eyes or nose. “I should have known,” he thought to himself as he was disappointed from the faceless statue. Frosthowl returned with Spike on top of him. “That was so cool!” He raised his arms in joy. “I gotta head back to the barracks now. Tomorrow is my first day.” “Very well then, Spike. I will see you at dusk, tomorrow.” The dragon guard gave a salute and made his way back to the guard barracks. Starfall turned his attention towards his companion, who was panting heavily to play with his master. “Alright fine. Let’s see if you’ve gotten any stronger.” A cocky smile crept on his face as he took his stance towards the giant albino wolf.