//------------------------------// // 23 - To // Story: Just Roll With It // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 23: To After the little stunt Discord and I pulled, the populace got a lot more receptive to me. While impressed I had somehow pulled off making a mysterious crystal tree artefact, even though it had been a combined effort with Discord, they were now lauding me as ‘the Regular Pony’s Prince’. I liked the sentiment, but it was still a long way away from just ‘Harmony’ I wanted. I suppose being married into the royal family gave me inescapable titles. Meanwhile, Queen Tempora had decided to assign me more responsibilities. I fidgeted with the ornate garment draped over my shoulders. I was wearing a coat. A coat! Tempora gave me a sidelong glance. “Harmony, if you keep moving about like that, the ambassador will think you have ants under your coat.” I gave her a shrug. “Maybe I’m not the one for this job.” Tempora snorted. “You know how difficult it would be to rope your father into this. Celestia and Luna are too young to go to this so that leaves-“ “-Leaves me," I mumbled, shifting in my garment. Tempora swatted me with a hoof. “Just hold still for a moment, you’re supposed to be the Prince!” I let out a frustrated groan but subsided after that. “Where are we anyway? I’ve never seen this part of the castle before.” Tempora trotted up to the oak-wood table that dominated the centre of the room. She stroked a hoof along it, warmly. “Do you like it? This is one of the oldest rooms in the castle itself. The table is as old as the castle itself. This is where I first signed a diplomatic treaty with the dragons. It's where I met my first friend.” I gaped at the table. It looked pristine. “But that- how old is the castle?” Tempora waved a hoof airily as she replied. “Oh a few hundred years or so. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this place refurbished. Must have been decades ago.” I glanced at the alicorn smiling smugly as she showed off her table. There was a rapid knock at the door. The sound echoed around the chamber. “Hmm, it seems our guests are here. Quickly, take a seat Harmony," Tempora said, settling into a chair at the forefront. I took a seat to her right and sat down hesitantly. When I settled in she called out towards the entrance, “Guards, please let in our esteemed guest.” The double doors to the chambers creaked open slowly and my eyes widened considerably when I saw what plodded in. “A dragon! Awesome!” I yelled, before clamping a hand over my mouth and sinking back down into my seat in embarrassment. Tempora sent me a surprised look. The dragon- correction -dragoness merely chuckled as she regarded me with a deep golden orb. Her sapphire scales glinted in the light leaking through the windows of the chamber sending a bedazzling plethora of blue points cascading around the room. “Not quite the reception I was expecting, Queen Tempora. I’m surprised that this one didn’t immediate cower and scarper, like so many of your predecessors.” Tempora regarded me with a mix of pride and exasperation. She tilted her head at me as she addressed the dragoness. “He surprises me often, this one," Tempora commented wryly. She flicked a hoof dismissively, signalling the end to the topic. “Greetings, Matriarch Scales, I believe we will begin talks about territorial disputes?” Scales kept sending me glances at each break in conversation. I didn’t blame her, I just stared at her openly the whole time. Dragons! Woohoo! I’ve always been a fan of the fantasy genre and what spoke more about fantasy than dragons? Magic? Check. Mythical creatures? Check. Full blown adventure risking the fate of the world? Okay, not there yet and hopefully not in the future, but still, dragons! I realised there was an uncomfortable pause in the talk… and that both Tempora and Scales had been staring at me for quite some time. I thought fast. “Yes," I spoke confidently. I paused. “No?” Tempora raised an eyebrow. “We were talking about whether or not you preferred chamomile or green tea?” I shrugged. “My answer still makes sense because I’d rather have coffee.” Scales stared at me before blowing into full blown laughter. “I like this one Tempora, you can keep him.” Tempora looked nonplussed. “I’m glad I have your approval," she replied drily. Scales nodded sagely. “That you are. Harmony was it? At the next dragon migration I want you to come along, you seem like the fearless type, you will be welcomed among us anytime.” She paused. “You might want to work on learning how to fly or perform a great deed of magic though if you don’t want to be beaten to d-“ “Oh I think that is quite enough information, thank you Matriarch," Tempora cut in hastily. Scales merely gave Tempora an amused look. She regarded me with a tilt of her armoured skull. “Just remember this, as a friendly tip. Dragons respect power above all when looking to their peers. While the young and the brash may look to physical strength for that, there is power beyond that which even the eldest of us are wary of. I sense a spark within you that will grow to be a mighty flame, one day.” The dragoness stretched her neck and glanced at the windows. She nudged me on the shoulder with a tip of her claw. “Remember what I said, Harmony of the Ponies. Now, there are things that must be discussed with our two races and I think one young as you will benefit more in the wide-wide world than cooped up in the diplomatic mumblings of the elders. Don’t just stand there. Go on, scarper!” I jolted out of my seat as Scales bared her teeth suddenly but then smiled as I made my way to the door. Intimidating as she was, Scales was more kindly than she initially seemed. Reflecting on her words though, I realised I had much to think about… —— Tempora looked at Scales with an expression of exasperation. Scales merely gave Tempora one of her lop-sided smiles. “Ah Queen Tempora, the new generation fills me with confidence. You should be proud of rearing that one," she growled with a stomp of her clawed foot to punctuate her sentences. Tempora sighed a put a hoof on her head to relieve the sudden aching pressure there. “Sending out Harmony?” Tempora queried mildly, but Scales merely shrugged. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Queen of the Ponies.” Tempora spluttered. “I am NOT a stick in the mud!” Scales shook her head and pointed a claw at Tempora. “For shame, Tempy, keeping a hatchling like that indoors when there is so much to explore. If I know my old friend well, you’ll have given him and your daughters a mountain of paperwork!” Tempora opened her mouth to protest and then shook her head to dislodge herself from the speed Scales was bringing her down to. “Scales, you haven’t called me Tempy for more than a hundred years! And I- I-“ Tempora found she was at a loss for words. Scales gave her a pat on her withers. “Perhaps the exuberance of the youth has prompted me to abandon the chains of stoicism that I had unwittingly placed around myself, Tempy.” Tempora stiffened slightly, then giggled suddenly. “Perhaps a little levity is warranted.” Scales shook her head slowly. “You’re just the same as you were all these years ago. Still carrying around a thesaurus for your speech. Come now, Tempora. Let’s be informal for a while, there is much to catch up on.” Finally Tempora let herself relax a bit. “Yes, much has happened these past years…” —— I caught Celestia and Luna heading out of a side corridor. I immediately called out to them. “Celly! Luna!” I waved a hand at them as they broke into a wild smile. “Harmony!” they yelled, galloping to me quickly. I quickly calculated their size and speed and came to the conclusion that the physical impact may be greater than I could handle. “Wait, girls-“ I didn’t get further than that as I was tackled in a flurry of feathers and fur. I fell the the ground with a muffled ‘oof’ as they nuzzled the side of my cheek and hugged me fervently. I chuckled, rubbing the back of their heads with my hands. Celestia was the first to stop hugging me. She didn’t move off my body though, pressing a couple of hooves into my abdomen painfully. She pouted adorably. “Harmony, you never see us!” she exclaimed, punting me in the stomach. I gave her a hurt look. “Hey I saw you two weeks ago… maybe.” Luna gave me a nip on my ear. “Oww! Okay! Okay! I haven’t been around, I don’t have an excuse.” I tapped each of them on the nose and laughed as their eyes went temporarily cross-eyed when I did so. “You decide what we do together. I can even do it now.” Celestia cocked her head as she tried to think of a suitable activity we could do together. Her ears perked up and she pounced off me, grinning maniacally. “Cake shop!” she said, and Luna’s ears also perked up at this. I frowned, trying to maintain at least a little dignity. “I may have been exaggerating when I said-“ “Cake shoooop," Luna growled pinning me with an angry stare. “Can we at least discuss this like reasonable-“ “Cake shop!” Celestia repeated, giving me doe eyes. They watered slightly. Oh come on! “Fine," I huffed, as they simultaneously cheered and leapt off my chest. —— I was at the local cake shop when Tempora and Scales found me acting both miserable and happy at the same time. Both elder creatures struggled to keep the smirks of amusement off their faces as they regarded a frilly ribbon wrapped in my hair and a teacup poised mid-sip in my mouth. I quickly swallowed the brew and glared at them. “Not a word," I growled menacingly at them as they struggled to keep in their chuckles. “Not. A. Word.” I thought Tempora would be the first to crack but I was not at all happy to see Scales the first one to be laughing blithely at my predicament. “Oh Harmony, you have much to learn about power if your younger siblings are able to twist you to this extent," she told me as she gasped between fits of mirth. Celestia seemed nonplussed, she held out the teapot and gestured to my cup. “More tea, Sir?” she asked primly. I smiled sweetly at Celestia and nodded. “Why thank you Celestia, at least someponies have learned proper manners.” “Indeed," cut in Luna. “I approve of this tea!” I nodded at Luna. “Well said, my young compatriot. Tea is soothing for the soul. Cleanses the palate and goes refreshingly with the local delicacy. Cake I presume, Princess Celestia?” Celestia nodded graciously. “Of the highest quality, as befitting of our status.” Tempora couldn’t contain it anymore she hooted with laughter and rolled on the floor. I merely glanced at Tempora thinking of leaving it there, then a devilish idea popped into my head. My hand ‘slipped’ and a piece of cake placed on my plate (it was strawberry frosted) sailed through the air to land splat on Tempora’s chest. “Oh dear, oh dearie me! How dreadful! We simply mustn’t waste such an expensive delicacy. Here, let me get that for you," I said, advancing upon a shocked Queen. Celestia and Luna quickly followed suit, flagging me on each side. Scales watched on in mild amusement as we set about licking up the cake from Tempora’s fur as she tried to weakly fend off her devilish children. “No! Luna, Celestia, stop! Harmony! This is your mot-tha-ha-HA HA!” she cried, as we set about to add in some tickling into the process. Ah, revenge is sweet. I froze suddenly and turned my head slowly to regard Scales standing there. I gave Celestia a look. “Doesn’t Scales look a little lonely over there?” Celestia put a hoof to her chin in mock thought. “She does look a little lonely," she admitted snidely, sharing a look with Luna. Scales looked between us. “Now, now, I’m a diplomat for the dragons, a Matriarch no less. You would be wise to- oh forget it, I’m getting out of here!” With that, Scales snapped out her wings in preparation to take off. Sometimes, when you’re with someone long enough or you trust them to the ends of the Earth, you can come up with the best available plan in the span of a few seconds. What we came up with was less than ideal, but it served its purposes well. “Alicorn cannon?” I posed, just in case our sibling telepathy wasn’t in sync. I was gratified to see Luna and Celestia instantly nod along with me. “ALICORN CANNON!” I screamed, picking up Luna and Celestia and tossing them at the dragoness just as she got not a pony’s length from the ground. Celestia and Luna screamed and giggled in delight as they tackled the dragoness and sent her tumbling to the ground. I pounced on the dragoness and found out quickly that the base of her wings were very sensitive to tickling. “Stop! Stop it! It’s undignifi-I-HI-IE-DA HA HA HA!” Scales screamed as we focused our attack. After a full thirty second assault we eased off and walked away from two of the most powerful creatures in the known lands of this world. “We did good work today," I spoke reflectively, hugging Celestia and Luna. They nuzzled me back as we headed towards the castle. I heard a small gasp from Scales. “I take it back. You have unimaginable power… there’s nothing in the world that could stop you three.” I chuckled my most evil laugh in response. I stopped when I suddenly had a thought. Where was my trusty partner when I needed him? “Get ready Discord, we’re coming for you," I growled as Luna and Celestia cheered.