“Faster, darn it! You’re not going to get a thermal breach like that!’ the king yelled to his son.
The prince dove down as fast as he could, his eyes watering from the sheer air resistance of flying at such a high speed. A cone shaped air bubble appeared around the prince as he descended, but as he started to break the sound barrier, his exhaustion took over and he eventually gave up, slowing down to gently land on the ground. He slowly approached his father and spoke softly.
“I… I think it’s time for me… to go talk to Celestia,” he said in between gasps for air, his hands on his knees for support and his head drooping down in between them.
“You’re right, but you’re not leaving until I see fire,” he replied adamantly.
His father was referring to breaking the thermal barrier, of course, which was what the prince had been attempting for the past hour or so, but to no avail.
“But I’m tired,” he pleaded weakly.
“No. A good king doesn’t give up, and you’re going to be a good king, so I won’t let you give up. Simple as that,” he replied confidently.
Luna had walked up to him and his father, but the prince ignored her for the time being. Brisk cleared his throat and flicked his eyes over to Luna for a split-second before addressing his son again.
“Maybe the observation of Princess Luna will give you some motivation. Now show me a thermal breach so you can hurry to Celestia.”
“Fine,” the prince conceded softly before walking about ten yards from his father and the princess.
He set up with a new found incentive to perform correctly, that being the fact that he wanted to get away from his father’s ridiculous training as quickly as possible.
The young prince sprang up in the air and darted upwards for several seconds. He slowed as he reached the arch of the dive before turning downward. His body was perpendicular to the ground as he thrust his bat-like wings with all his might and plunged downward.
A pang of exhaustion hit him hard as he approached the sound barrier’s breaking point, but he pushed forward anyway. The tiredness quickly subsided and was replaced by the feeling of adrenaline pumping.
He heard a loud crack as he ripped through the heat barrier, breaking the sound barrier by proxy and leaving a trail of bright, orange flames in his wake. Once the prince was a short distance from the ground, he turned at an almost ninety degree angle and shot parallel to the ground at a very high speed.
The prince slowed to a stop in front of his father. He grinned as he came to a halt, standing just a few feet from his father. Luna simply gaped at him, obviously shocked that something like that could even be possible. Then his father made a sudden realization and laughed.
“Now we just need to figure out how to make you do that when a princess isn’t watching.”
Luna giggled softly at the joke and Spry simply hid his embarrassment by covering his eyes with his hair.
The adrenaline wore off, leaving Spry to fall backwards in exhaustion, sitting on the ground and trying to catch his breath.
“He’s quite the flier, Brisk,” Luna noted, “We should be getting to Celestia, though. I can show Spry where she is.”
“Okay, thank you, Princess. He can catch his breath on the way there,” he remarked as he noticed Spry’s incessant panting.
The prince caught his breath while his father walked away, leaving Spry to sit there next to Luna.
“That was seriously awesome. I’ve only heard of someone breaking the thermal barrier before. I’ve never actually seen it,” Luna told him.
“Well now you have. Shall we go see Celestia?” he asked, barely audible.
“Yes,” Luna replied after a brief pause, “She told me to come too, so we’ll be late together.”
Spry stood up followed Luna along a path around the perimeter of the palace. Along the way, the prince noticed several Cherry Blossoms blooming, which was rather uncommon for this time of year. These trees lined either side of the pathway and foliage from them littered the ground with red petals.
Eventually, they entered into what looked like a garden, consisting of many foreign and exotic flowers; although, something of this extravagance was almost expected from Equestrian royalty.
“Hello, Luna,” Celestia’s voice was heard as the two walked into the courtyard, “and Spry,” she added as she noticed him trailing behind Luna.
Spry greeted Celestia with a slow nod as he moved to Luna’s side, making himself visible. Luna walked over to her sister and sat down, facing Spry, who placed himself across from the two princesses.
“How are you doing, Spry?” Celestia asked.
“Fine,” he mumbled in return, shaking his hair into his eyes.
“He reminds me of Fluttershy,” Luna commented.
Spry stared blankly, unsure of the reference. Celestia stifled a giggle for a moment before looking back to her sister.
“That’s why we’re helping him,” she replied mirthfully.
“Okay, I thought we’d start with something basic,” Celestia began. She then paused to see his reaction but was dissatisfied with his lack of one. Spry maintained his emotionless stare.
“How do you feel about your shyness? Do you want to be more outgoing?” she asked cautiously, “We’re not going to make progress if you don’t want progress to be made.”
He shrugged his shoulders, looking off to the side, “I don’t know. It’s fine,” he said softly.
“Spry,” Celestia deadpanned.
He flipped his hair a little in the opposite direction so that it fell over his eyes.
Celestia frowned slightly before looking back to the withdrawn prince.
“The point your father wanted to make and what I’m trying to help you with is this:” Celestia continued, “A good ruler must be able to socialize, and in many situations, even relate to their subjects.”
Spry looked back at her silently, moving his hair out of his eyes with his fingertips and sitting up straight.
“I… suppose posture is a start,” she responded hesitantly. “But I think we need to have a proper conversation.”
Darn, I suck at that.
“I won’t expect you to start just yet, but how about we have some Q&A?” Celestia offered. The prince didn’t reply, and Celestia took it as permission to continue.
“How old are you, Spry? I don’t believe it’s ever come up in conversation with your father,” Celestia thought aloud.
“Fifteen,” he replied as loud as he could muster, which was just below a hushed tone.
“Wow, that’s much younger than I thought,” she mumbled thoughtfully, “Okay, it’s your turn now.”
He opened his mouth slightly to reply, but he closed it as soon as he noticed it was open. He struggled to think of anything, but something eventually came to him.
“What do you do that’s not related to being a princess? For fun,” he asked, tilting his head but keeping his emotionless stare. The princesses smiled at his cooperation.
“Unfortunately, being the co-rulers of Equestria takes up more time than we’d like. Although… I believe one interest both Luna and I have in common is astronomy. Luna enjoys reading often. And magic, of course.”
Interesting enough, I suppose…
“Okay, my turn,” Luna began, looking distant for a moment and then focusing again. “Well, I expect we could ask you the same thing. Do you like anything besides flying?”
He thought for a moment, and it didn’t take long to think of a few things. Now, all that was left was to tell them. It was easy, but impossible at the same time.
“I, umm…” he began in a whisper, “No.”
“Oh, come on,” Celestia countered immediately, causing the young prince to gasp lightly, “I don’t believe that for a second, Spry,” she continued warmly, “Tell me what it is you do all the time when you’re not flying.”
Spry looked down and took a few moments to think.
“There’re a lot of books in my room back in Makuria,” he replied softly, “and I suppose it’s fun to skirmish with some of the guards every once in a while in the barracks.”
“So you like to read, and… occasionally fighting?” Luna asked smugly, pleased to get some more information on the prince. Spry nodded his head once, in response.
“I really wouldn’t take you for a fighter,” Celestia mused aloud, “but we have everything here at the palace to accommodate your interests if you ever get bored, and Luna or I would be happy to help, should you ever need anything.”
“Thanks,” he replied softly, shaking his hair into his eyes again.
“Stop that,” Celestia responded, “How can you even see with your hair covering your eyes?”
Celestia reached out and traced her fingers just above his eyebrows, pushing his hair to the side again. Spry watched her curiously, blushing, but said nothing.
“One more question, Spry. You can stop after that if you want,” Celestia offered.
“Well, alright…” he replied, looking down slightly to think of another question. He remembered something that had been bothering him, and he decided it was worth a shot to ask the princesses about it.
“How old were you when you began ruling Equestria by yourselves?” he asked softly, mainly addressing Celestia.
“Oh,” she immediately responded, looking pensive, “I guess I was eighteen at the time, but it’s been three years now, so I’ve had some time to get used to it. Luna is still three years younger than I am, and she’s taken on several duties around the castle.”
Spry looked down in thought. He’s already fifteen. Would he be ready to take his father’s place in just three years?
“Will that be all, then?” Celestia asked. Spry silently nodded his head, “Alright then, I trust you can find ways to entertain yourself until supper time. We’ll be eating in the main dining hall around six o’clock. I should get going to day court. I look forward to our next meeting, Spry.”
Spry silently nodded again as both princesses stood up to leave. Spry did the same and watched them return to the palace.
“Oh, and we’ll have a few more guests for dinner. Six of them, actually,” Celestia said as she walked through a small entrance to the castle.