Over the next few weeks, Wayvern was made to study royal magic and etiquette, along with some of Equestria’s thousand years of known history. He wasn’t mentioned in any of the records since its founding.
“I couldn’t find anything on you in history either,” Twilight came in during one of his sessions. “And I own a copy of every book in Equestria.” Wayvern thought it over. If he was the rightful king, why did leave Celestia to share diplomatic power with Luna, Cadence, and more recently, Twilight?
“How did Celestia come to power?” Wayvern asked.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked
“I mean, if I’m the rightful king, why is Celestia the highest authority?”
“You had other responsibilities, Wayvern,” Celestia entered the room. “You had to leave those eleven Centuries ago to fulfill them. You were a Shadow Reaper.”
“What’s a Shadow?” Twilight asked.
“Monsters,” Wayvern said. “They could destroy entire worlds if they were allowed to… After Luna was born my parents were killed by Shadow in the Line of duty, and I took their place as a Reaper.” Silence. Celestia looked somberly at the floor as she excused herself. Twilight, apparently sensing the tension that Wayvern was feeling, made up an excuse about meeting her friends at one of the cafés in town and followed Celestia. Leaving Wayvern on his own to think about this.
A few days of studying and practice later, and Twilight walked into his room to wake him up from his latest study burst, which was so late that he fell asleep at his desk.
“Wayvern, wake up. It’s almost time for your Coronation.”
Some memories are better left forgotten. Wayvern learned that moments after he was crowned King of Equestria. The ceremony was uncomfortable, for the Equestrian Government their subjects, and especially for Wayvern. Twilight’s friends stood with her on either side of the doorway to the balcony where he would be crowned. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity on the left, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie on the Right. Twilight stopped him when he was about to step onto the balcony to commence the ceremony.
“I want you to know that I only want what’s best, for Equestria and you, when I say this,” She said. “But you don’t have to do this.”
“If it really were my decision, I wouldn’t be doing it at all,” Wayvern said. He opened the door and light filled his vision and his mind as he started to remember something. He got a lot of memory back, every single moment centered on a Reaper called Avalanche. Avalanche wasn’t Equestrian, he was… something else, called himself Conduit. As far as Wayvern could tell from the out-of-body memories, he and Avalanche were very close friends… and then Avalanche was killed in action. Before Wayvern’s eyes no less. When Wayvern Did finish off the Shadow that killed Avalanche, he went to find him still breathing.
“Wayvern… you have to… Live… for the… Both of us…” those were Avalanche’s Last words. When he stopped remembering Avalanche for five minutes, he looked out to the crowd and saw uneasy smiles cheering for their new king.
Go ahead Wayvern, He heard Avalanche say. Tell them the truth. Make this mean something.
“Everypony! I have something to say!” Wayvern started. “If the rule were my decision, I’d leave it to Celestia and the others!” Everypony laughed at this as it was meant to be a joke. “However the decision is not mine to make, this legacy is mine to uphold and I must do so, for your sakes and my own! I do not expect your support immediately, but I expect your respect. I don’t care if you respect me as king, but you will respect me as one of your own kind if I am to be a successful ruler!” With that the Cheers actually had some genuine feeling behind them as the crowd roared his name. “Thank you!”
And thank you, Avalanche, Wayvern thought to himself.