Short Shorts

by Coranth


104. Not Royalty (Canon!Celestia meets the Prince)

As the lights of the room slowly brightened - giving her eyes time to adjust - finally, Princess Celestia set eyes upon the Prince, the mysterious male alicorn who'd been such a stubborn mule. A teal-coated, brown-maned alicorn pony, he was surprisingly diminutive - larger than a foal yet smaller than even the most average of unicorns - barely large enough to be considered a teenager. However, the Princess of the Sun was wrong even in that snap judgement, for the strange runic cutie marks upon his flanks marked him as an adult, as did the unfathomable power she could feel emanating from him. Unlike herself and her sister Luna - who wore little save for their tiaras, gorgets and shoes, the Prince wore the most spectacular clothing she had ever seen.

A 'triple-loincloth' like garment draped over his rear and also covered his flanks that his sheath might not be seen. Covering the loincloth was golden-metal barding; atop that the Prince wore a long, jade-green, rune-adorned robe, its only modification being the slits cut from it for his wings. About his right foreleg there rested a bracer to which a mysterious device was attached and atop his head he wore a half-circlet of silver with a crystalline 'cap' for his impressive horn. For all of his majesty, however, he seemed so very frail and he carried an air of sadness about him, as if he'd seen far too much...

Celestia was torn. She knew she oughtn't to approach him, yet the Mother inside her demanded that she pick him up, cuddle him, tell him everything would be alright... Instead, she stated, "Why? I have offered you so much - a demesne of your own, great treasures, access to magic undreamed of by anypony, any mare of your choosing - and yet to choose to remain here in the Everfree. Why will you not come to Canterlot, to join the Royal Family. Why will you not return my Little Ponies?" As she asked the question, it was not the Prince, but Weyrpony Khorvas who stepped forwards to address her. "The select 'little ponies' you speak of were dissatisfied with your and your sisters' rule and chose to settle here; as such, our Prince cannot return what was not--" Celestia moved him to silence with a stern glare. Then, "Why?" she stated, addressing the Prince once more.

It was a mistake to so rudely dismiss the old Archivist, for he - along with the giant mare, Fire Sign - was one of the Prince's Favoured. The eyes of the Prince snapped open, and then, he inhaled a breath; at this, abruptly the sound ceased. Every pony of the Everfree Court went silent, for the Prince intended to speak, an event that was rare indeed, for he rarely spoke at all, not unless he had words of deeply profound importance to say. Gently, the Prince rested a forehoof upon an arm of his Golden Throne; then he leaned forwards to peer at Princess Celestia - as if he was going to see, was seeing, had seen her before. The tiniest shake of his head, and the sad smile he gave her chilled her to the core, wrenched her heart and sent shivers down her spine. Finally, the Prince stated, "Alicorn... does not... mean... Royalty..."

The words were softly spoken, and bore not the slightest hint of malice... but the sheer power Celestia felt as they rumbled through her mind nearly flattened her! Everypony in the court felt that unfathomable power, too; their coats and manes briefly stood on end as the words rolled through their minds like a muted thunderclap! 'By Faust's Grace' Celestia thought as she fought the instinct to flee, 'what manner of being is he?' With his words said, the teal alicorn sighed wearily; then, as his hoofmaidens - three strange, golden-furred white-maned pseudo alicorns - gathered around him he closed his eyes to return to his deep rest--as if the act of staying awake was so very exhausting. Somehow, Princess Celestia knew she'd been given a warning. A chill ran down her spine, then, as she realized that it would be beyond foolish to make an enemy of this male alicorn and his Lit--his Everfree Ponies. A relieved sob escaping her, Princess Celestia stumbled from the Weyr to make her way back to Canterlot.