//------------------------------// // Power has its Price // Story: The Lost Prince of the Sea // by Cursory Note //------------------------------// It had been nearly a full five years since Discord’s defeat, and Equestria had almost completely recovered from his chaotic reign. The old Royal Families had regained control, and in gratitude to the alicorns who were now known as “The Saviors of Equestria”, the royalty had built a castle for the Saviors in the heart of the Forest of Everfree, near the Tree of Harmony. Everypony was happy with this arrangement for a time, but now there was unrest in Equestria. The citizens were calling for Celestia, Luna, and Aecorum to rule instead of the old nobility, and they were getting restless. Finally, after months of heated debates and arguments nearing the brink of civil war, the Royal Families decided that the best thing for Equestria would be to let the alicorns rule. Celestia, Aecorum, and Luna had always thought that the fighting between the families regarding this issue were pointless and took no part in it, but they too wanted to do what was best for the ponies they had defended. Soon a messenger of the court arrived at the Castle of Harmonious Saviors, as it was called then, and walked fearlessly through the dark forest on the path made by the alicorns for ponies to use. The royalty had offered to give the alicorns dozens of guards and servants, but Celestia and Luna had refused more than ten. Aecorum’s decision to have none for himself was very popular among the peasantry of Equestria, who had grown tired of the thousands of servants the royalty “required”. Swift Wing, the royal messenger, walked up to the giant door of the castle and pulled the rope attached to the bell. The bell rang strong and soon after, the door was opened and Aecorum walked out, smiling when he saw who it was. “Good morning, Swift Wing!” “Good morning, Your Excellence” Swift Wing bowed low. Aecorum laughed and said “Come now, Swift, my name is Aecorum.” Although he had been revered as one of the greatest stallions who ever lived, Aecorum still maintained his quick laughter, his eager smile, and his love for the ponies of Equestria, who he treated as his friend no matter who they were. He motioned Swift Wing into the castle and led him down the halls, carefully avoiding the surprises that Luna had put there. “What news do you bring today?” Swift Wing had to walk a little faster than normal to keep up with the huge stallion “I bear a message from the Royal Families to the Ponies of Harmony.” Aecorum laughed again, this time louder and more deeply, his rich voice seeming to fill the hall with its happiness “The Ponies of Harmony? I tell you Swift, they are never going to run out of names for us!” Swift Wing chuckled “Well, to be fair, you did save all of Equestria.” Aecorum opened the door to the throne room and walked in after Swift Wing. Luckily Luna and Celestia were both there, so Swift Wing quickly pulled the scroll from his saddlebag and announced “A message from the Royal Families of Equestria, under the benevolent King Basileus and Queen Regalia, to the Honorable Saviors of Equestria: Aecorum, Celestia, and Luna.” Aecorum joined the mares on the raised dais and paid close attention as Swift Wing continued. “It is our deepest wish that thou most excellent ponies wouldst join us in the royal Canterlot palace in one fortnight, on the day of the next full moon” Luna smiled just slightly “We have matters that require thy presence in our court, in regard to the recent populace request that thou should rule over the great land of Equestria. Please give thy response to our messenger and we will await thy arrival with great joy. Graciously Thine, King Basileus of Equestria.” Swift Wing rolled the scroll back up and put it in his saddlebag “What is your answer?” Celestia shrugged “I see no reason not to.” Luna nodded “If they want us to come to Canterlot, it must be very important.” “Well then, tell His Majesty that we will be at the palace in one fortnight as he asked.” Aecorum said with a smile. Swift Wing bowed and started to walk back towards the door but Luna opened a nearby window and nodded to it with a smile. Swift Wing nodded and flew through the window towards Canterlot, doing justice to his name. --- Horns blared a terrific fanfare and a very proper looking unicorn lifted a scroll “Announcing the most excellent Saviors of Equestria: The honorable alicorns Aecorum, Celestia, and Luna!” The huge doors opened and the three ponies walked through and towards the enormous marble thrones and the regal ponies that sat on them. Aecorum was again in the middle with Celestia on his left and Luna on his right, and as they got closer to the king and queen of Equestria they bowed deeply. King Basileus, an iron coated pegasus, spoke loudly in the Royal Canterlot Voice “It is a great honor for us to receive such revered ponies in our court.” Queen Regalia, the thistle unicorn mare that sat next to the king, spoke like her husband “We thank thee for coming.” Aecorum raised his head and spoke respectfully “The honor is ours, Thy Majesties. We hope that we can help thee however we can.” The king nodded “Of course! Now, we wish to speak with thee in private.” He looked towards the guards and servants that lined the walls“Leave us! Send in Lord Fauntleroy and Lady Royal Bearing!” All the other ponies bowed and walked out of the room backwards with their heads low to the ground. The doors closed as a white unicorn stallion with very fancy clothes and a pale purple earth mare with more sensible but beautiful clothes walked towards the thrones. The stallion had a hard look with his mouth in a stiff line, but the mare looked more relaxed and smiled at the alicorns. The alicorns bowed to the ponies and Lady Royal Bearing nodded to them but Lord Fauntleroy barely acknowledged them. The ponies walked beside the thrones and Queen Regalia walked down to meet Lady Royal Bearing and as they met the mares kissed each other’s cheek. “Regalia, dear, how are you?” “I am very well Cousin. And you?” “I am well. Thank you for allowing me to be here.” “It was your idea, how could I not invite you? And Lord Fauntleroy,” Regalia turned to the stallion “How is your wife? Much better I trust?” Fauntleroy bowed “Yes, she is, thank you very much Your Majesty”. He walked up to King Basileus and whispered “I still think this is foolishness! Why are we giving up our place to them?!” Basileus whispered back “It is the wish of the ponies, we do not want rebellion. And you know as well as I do that they will only get part of the power over Equestria.” Fauntleroy huffed and turned towards the alicorns as Queen Regalia sat on her throne, followed by Royal Bearing. Basileus spoke to the alicorns “It is our wish that thee noble ponies take over rule in Equestria. And as such,” He relaxed just a fraction “It is no longer necessary to speak to you as subjects, but as equals.” Celestia bowed “We are very honored. But why do you want us to rule?” Royal Bearing spoke “Ever since you defeated…Him, you have been revered by all, and the Royal Families have come together and decided that the best thing for Equestria would be for its saviors to take power over it.” Fauntleroy snorted in anger and Basileus shot him a stern look as he spoke “Of course, we have some conditions of our abdication from the throne.” Luna nodded and Aecorum said “We would gladly follow them, Majesty.” Celestia raised her eyebrow very slightly “What are they?” Queen Regalia said “Nothing too drastic, I assure you. We only wish that the transition of power be as smooth as possible.” Fauntleroy glared at the alicorns “But we do demand our conditions be met.” Aecorum nodded once “Of course.” Basileus chuckled slightly “Forgive my oversight, would you like a seat?” Luna smiled “That would be very nice, thank you Your Majesty.” Basileus turned towards Regalia and brought his hooves together, relaxing against the back of his throne “Darling, if you would?” Regalia smiled warmly “Certainly dear.” Her horn glowed light purple and three large chairs floated behind each alicorn. The ponies sat down and Aecorum smiled “Thank you very much, Your Majesties” Fauntleroy’s face curled into a sneer and Basileus and Regalia nodded. Royal Bearing’s voice grew slightly more professional “Now, on to the matter at hoof. Lord Fauntleroy?” Fauntleroy smiled just barely and spoke clearly but his voice had a slight edge to it “Our first condition to this change of regime is that the Royal Families maintain some political power much as our current system of Lords and Ladies, such as myself and Lady Bearing.” Celestia looked at the ponies beside her “I do not think that is too much to ask.” Luna nodded “It would make ruling over such a vast land easier.” “I agree.” Aecorum turned towards the royal ponies “We accept your condition.” Regalia nodded “That is very good to hear. You three will receive the same relative power over Equestria that I and my husband now wield. The second condition is that the traditions of court be maintained, such as the Royal Canterlot Voice, meetings with foreign dignitaries, and the Grand Galloping Gala, of course.” Luna smiled “I think that is a good idea, it would make our reign more similar to the old one.” Fauntleroy huffed slightly in anger. Aecorum furrowed his brow “I do not know…Must we speak to everypony in the Royal Canterlot Voice?” Celestia shrugged slightly “It does not seem like a good way to interact with the citizens of Equestria on a personal level but I think perhaps we should. Consistency will be good for them.” Aecorum sighed “I suppose you are right. Very well, I will get used to it eventually. We accept this condition.” Royal Bearing smiled “Splendid! Now then, our third and final condition we have decided upon is that you, Celestia, and you, Luna, should be called Princesses.” The alicorns looked at each other curiously and Aecorum raised an eyebrow “And I should be called Prince?” Fauntleroy narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Then what title do you wish me to bear?” Royal Bearing said a little nervously “Well, noble Aecorum, the Royal Families have come to the decision, after much consideration and debate, that you should take the-” “King.” It was Basileus that spoke “We want you to become King.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other and Aecorum looked shocked “King? Why do you want me to be King if you want Celestia and Luna to be Princesses?” Fauntleroy looked at Aecorum like he was an idiot “Well, you are the stallion, and the eldest of the three, are you not? You would also, of course, receive the highest amount of power in the land.” Aecorum’s face tightened in anger and he stood “What? You want me to receive higher rank because I happen to be a stallion?” Fauntleroy glared harshly “Of course! Equestria needs a King, and you are the only stallion among the revered Ponies of Harmony!” He spit the last few words out with a sneer. “That does not mean I am better than them! It does not mean I am more powerful or more ‘fit’ to be ruler!” “It is what I-The Royal Families have decided upon!” “Well I refuse! If you want me to be King, then Celestia and Luna shall be Queens!” Aecorum’s mane and tail had started to billow and wave more wildly and they also seemed to grow with his anger. Fauntleroy snorted as his face tightened “Two Queens?! That is ridiculous!” Aecorum stepped forward and his horn began to glow “Ridiculous? Ridiculous?! I will tell you what is ridiculous you little-” The two sisters looked at each other with near panicked expressions and Celestia almost shouted “Aecorum! Calm down!” “No! This will not stand, Celestia! I will not allow either one of you to be beneath me in any circumstance!” Fauntleroy took a step forward “Then why not leave?! Equestria has been ruled by Royalty for ages, and I will not let some peasant alicorns take it away from me!” “Enough!” Basileus stamped his hoof and glared harshly at the stallions, silencing them. “I will not tolerate this foalish behavior in my court! Both of you will be silent, until I allow you to speak!” He looked at Celestia and Luna “In this matter, I am afraid I agree with Fauntleroy, having two Queens would be confusing for the ponies of Equestria, and, unfortunately, we cannot allow all of you to remain without titles.” Aecorum was about to speak but a look from Celestia stopped him “Your Majesty, I quite agree, but I also think that Aecorum has good points as well. I do not wish to say that either I or my sister is better than anypony, but the three of us are equals, and I feel we should be treated as such.” Basileus sighed and nodded “You are right, but I can think of no other way to have you ponies rank higher than the nobles without confusion.” Luna spoke “What about High Prince?” All the other ponies turned to her. “What do you mean?” Regalia raised an eyebrow. “Well, Your Majesties, what if we extend the titles of Prince and Princess to become High Prince and High Princess?” Fauntleroy glared “That would lead to the same problem as having two Queens!” Luna shook her head slightly “Not necessarily, we would merely need to extend the titles further. For instance, instead of being King Aecorum, he could be High Prince Aecorum of the Sea.” Basileus leaned forward slightly, looking intently at Luna “Go on.” Luna pointed at Celestia “My sister could become High Princess Celestia of the Day, and I,” She brought her hoof to her chest “Would be High Princess Luna of the Night.” The royal ponies looked at each other like light bulbs had all flashed in their minds at the same time. Royal Bearing motioned with her hoof. “Of course! It would give them titles, avoid confusion between the sisters, and give them the high rank they deserve!” Regalia nodded “It is the perfect solution!” Basileus looked at Fauntleroy and the unicorn spoke reluctantly “It would meet the condition of the agreement.” Basileus smiled slightly and stepped down from his throne, walking towards the alicorns “I believe we agree with your very insightful suggestion, Luna,” He smiled wider and bowed to Luna “High Princess of the Night.” --- Aecorum sighed and took a step back to avoid the water rising in the cave. His horn dimmed and he walked to his makeshift pantry. He had long ago figured out how to grow just enough food to survive underground, although sometimes he was forced to use his magic to create something to eat. He picked up a stone plate and a few small vegetables and placed them on a slab of rock he used as a table. He sighed again and slowly ate his meager meal. He spoke with weariness “It is no feast, but it is all I deserve.” He smiled and almost chuckled “Besides, I do not have Tia’s sweet tooth.” Aecorum finished his meal and rinsed off the plate in ocean water before he put it back with his food. He stretched his legs and spoke “I think it is time for a walk.” He started wandering through the cave; he did enjoy these walks even though he knew every recess of the cave like the back of his hoof. He had resigned himself to the monotony of his life and rather than going numb as other ponies may have, he still felt pain just as strongly as he did when he was a young stallion. He came to his mirror and sighed as he stared into his own eyes. “I am old. I may still look like the naïve colt I was, but I am old and weary.” As if to answer him, the waves from the ocean grew stronger and crashed around his hooves, almost like the sea was trying to embrace him. He smiled down at the water that he loved; it was as much a part of him as his horn. Slowly he found his way back to his bedroom and decided to open the chest again; he was feeling rather sentimental today. He shifted the cloth to reveal a large glass case with a velvet pillow on the base. The case was gilded and carved intricately, only fitting for a crown of such value. He didn’t put it on; he just lifted it out of the case and turned it over in his magic. It was a large crown, made of titanium that had been magically anodized to a mostly dark green color and circled his entire head around his horn. Aecorum had begged to have a smaller one, but eventually he was forced to have this crown with carved designs made to look like sea waves and encrusted with pure emeralds and sapphires of the highest quality. “You won that battle, didn’t you, Fauntleroy?” he whispered. “I did not want this. I did not want any of it. But somehow you still made me king.” He almost placed the crown on his head before he gently put it back in its case and closed the chest. “That time is long dead.”