“Actaeon? Wasn’t he, um, the dog that raised you?” Fluttershy broke the silence, drawing all eyes to her then quickly to Theseus.
“What? ‘Actaeon’? Such a strange name. I can assure you it is wholly unfamiliar to me. I have not a single bit of understanding of this appellation.” Theseus offered a charming, disarming smile, slowly strolling into the room with confidence.
“That’s exactly how Actaeon used to talk! He sounded very… fancy.” Iron Will squinted his eyes, suddenly seeing even more similarities in the dog, seeing through the passage of years into the face of one familiar to him.
“I can assure you, I have never heard of this name! I am only Theseus, loyal advisor to his majesty, lord of the Aegeman. And who might you be, coming here with strange accusations?”
“What? Theseus! This is my son, Asterion, prince of this domain! He has returned! How can you even ask such a question? Do you lack eyes to see the relationship?” Minos growled out at his advisor, barely turning his head to look at him.
“Ha! How can you even be sure of that? Any dog and bovine could made something like that. And what’s this? Equestrians? Of course they could make one. My lord, can’t you see this is a fake meant to deceive you?” Theseus pointed at the Equestrian group, teeth bared.
“How do you know what an Equestrian is?” Rarity looked up at Theseus, one eyebrow perked. “I was under the impression that Equestria was largely unknown here. After all, your dear Prince was confused by the lack of sophistication in Equestrian Diamond Dogs. Just what gave you knowledge of us?”
“Quite simple, deceptive pony thing. I was on a quest to find the prince. In my travels I went to Equestria and learned things.”
“I did not send you to the lands of the sun’s cradle. I sent you to spy on our enemies! You sent reports! I attacked based on those reports. Are you telling me you were simply lying?” Minos rose suddenly from his throne, snarling loudly.
“My king…” Theseus bowed down deeply. “I knew none of our enemies would be a match for you. I simply told you what was known, and knew you would be victorious. Was I incorrect? No. I thus sought the Prince and brought you victory. I should be congratulated, not excoriated! Such ungratefulness. You have always resented me, because I tried to tell you your son was not returning.”
“And yet, he did. I don’t care about your lies. You were lying then and you are lying now. This is my son. I wonder what he can tell me about this “Actaeon” creature. Perhaps I will hear more indications of you…”
Theseus held his ground, bowing low and looking properly submissive. Then he quickly dashed for the door from which he had come. He did not get far, however. A yellow-and-pink blur shot from across the room and impacted heavily into his back. “You! Big! MEANIE!” They tumbled around on the floor, Fluttershy eventually sitting atop Theseus, fixing him with a hard, piercing stare.
The Concretan guards had Theseus bound up and set before Minos, who glared with concentrated hate. “I should have suspected when you sent me on so many excursions. War that constant… foolishness, despite how it came out. I should have known when you returned after many years, telling me to believe he was dead. But now, to call my son an impostor, to refer to him as “that”, as though her were just an object, that was the most egregious action of all. What have you to say for yourself?”
“You disgust me, Minos of Concrete.” The phrase was spit out with hate, not a trace of the slippery submissiveness remaining. “You betrayed your own kind. A thousand beautiful bitches from every island and mainland colony in the Aegeman were brought to you in glory, promising plenty from every noble lord and fine family. And what did you do? You saw a white cow bathing in the shore and fell to your knees, groveling and stammering like the fool you are, pledging undying love. I did all I could to keep shame from this throne. I thought you would burn out your unnatural lust, but you persisted. I thought you would realize an heir would never come of such a union, but you had to get a statue that worked. I told you to give up hope that he was alive. But no, you refused!”
“I was in love, Theseus! And I still am! You would do well to hold your tongue. She is still my wife and she is still your queen!”
“QUEEN!?” Maniacal laughter rang out through the throne room, causing several of the assembled to shrink back in disquietude. “A queen? She is but a COW! You may lie unnaturally with her in your bed and make believe she is something but a lesser being but she will never be a queen!”
Minos surged forward, striking Theseus across the face and making him slam into the stone ground. “Miserable wretch! The sick venom from your lips…”
More laughter rose up from the ground, where Theseus writhed, blood dripping from his lip. “’Sick’, am I? And you as well, Minos! AND! YOU! AS! WELL!”
Iron Will came forward, looking on Theseus with a mix of pity and contempt. “Then why did you raise me? Why did you make me hate my father and leave the country rather than just kill me?”
“I was going to. I hated you. Disgusting and unnatural. I bided my time, I took you, and I left Concrete. I thought if I was far enough away I could escape justice. But as well, I was visited by the Trickster. How I prayed to him, begged, supplicated myself, that I might take the throne and have power. Right as I was to kill you, he appeared in a vision. I was promised the might and majesty of Concrete, and rule of the Aegeman for he that would sit on the throne, if I would only educate you, and send you to the lands beyond. I was given a home, a collection of materials for teaching you things, and a subtle magic that made all ignore us. It was supposed to be me. You were never meant to return.”
There was stillness for a long moment. Then Minos dropped back onto his throne. “Crush the statue’s head. End this whole, sad chapter once and for all.”
Iron Will did not need to be told twice. He went over to the piece of stone and lifted his hoof. He brought it down with a cry, but hit only the ground. The stone head dissolved into floating pile of dust that resolved itself into a hazy image of Discord. “Oh the chaos!” The image cried, with a faded quality to its voice. “The shock and confusion! You, whoever listened to me, don’t you know never to take an oracle at face value? I wish I knew what I let loose. This is just a recording, pre-set for making an interspecies heir for a ruler.” The Discord-image looked all around, as though not sure how big of an audience it had. “What? A spirit of chaos leaving behind little booby traps can’t be obsessively prepared for any situation? Hahaha! Well, that’s a bit more power floating off. It’s been wonderfully chaotic! This has been a recording!” With a flash, the image vanished.
When the scene was visible again, Theseus was gone, and in his place there was only a glass of chocolate milk. “My word, does Discord ever change his drolleries?” All eyes turned on her, and she bounced her hair nervously. “Well… he does seem to return to these odd images.” She was rescued from awkwardness by a small titter from Fluttershy that allowed the rest the permission to laugh.
- - -
A few days later, after all the emotions had been sorted and settled, and there had been time enough for the tears to pass, there came a party. It was a party worthy of Pinkie Pie herself, with raucous music (in the traditional Aegeman style) treats composed mainly of honey and nuts, and plenty of wine and licorice-flavored liquor. All the parties involved were into it. The Concretan citizens celebrated the happiness of their king, the Equestrians celebrated doing a good thing than cancelled a plan of Discord’s, and the royal family was happy to be whole once more.
“I can’t believe how this turned out. I can’t thank you enough!” Asterion shouted to Fluttershy over the music, while she danced with Rarity. “I’m not just back with my family but I’m a prince! Over the most powerful state in this region! This is amazing!”
“I’m so glad I could help you. And even happier that it worked out so well.” Fluttershy smiled beautifully to Asterion, while leaning up against Rarity.
“Yes indeed mister Will… or should I say, Prince Asterion? How fortunate and how exciting it is. To think, swept up from wandering obscurity to the life of royalty! It’s like a pony tale! Oh you must be so excited.”
“It’s pretty nice. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up.” Asterion looked over to the throne where his parents were. His mother was watching it all with a smile, but his father had slipped into slumber with a smile on his face. “Looks like it was a bit too much for him. I’d better wake him up so he doesn’t miss it.
“Yes, that would be for the best. Ahh, parents. Where would we be if not for their occasional moments of embarrassment? The stories I could tell…” Rarity let out a pleasant laugh as Asterion walked towards the throne.
“Hey dad. You’re missing a great party. Dad?” Asterion shook Minos lightly, receiving nothing but a further slump of the old dog. He look up his father’s head and opened one eye. The pupils were fixed, and only the dullness of death stared out from behind the lid. “Dad!”
The shout bellowed out with such urgency and power that it halted everything. The music silenced, the tipsy revelry paused, and all heads turned to look upon the minotaur and cow looking on the figure on the throne. Pasiphaë gingerly lifted a hoof and touched her husband, shuddering when she felt him unresponsive. “Minos…”
“How..? How could this happen? I just got here, I found him. And now he’s gone. Erdisos! You did this! You chaos-loving monster!” Asterion howled his pain and hate to the heavens, practically shaking the room in his anger.
“I don’t think the Trickster did this.” Pasiphaë pressed her head against her husband’s stomach, rubbing him with all the love a wife could offer. “He was an old dog. He was mature when I met him, he was old when you vanished. I often thought that he would not die until you came back to him. He was only waiting for one last chance to see you. He got his wish. See h-ho… how…” The old cow smiled sadly, tears pouring down her cheeks. “See how he smiles. He was happy at last. He knew you were alive. What he had always wanted. A strong heir to his throne.”
The Concretans vocalized as one. The dogs howled mournfully, the bovines issuing haunting lows that blended with their canine compatriots. Queen Pasiphaë alternately sobbed and lower, while her son released a sound that was a blend of low and howl, his head thrown back and hands balled into fists. The outpouring of his grief was great, almost drowning out all the other vocal tributes.
- - -
“This is a sad way to end something that started out so happy.” Fluttershy sniffled lightly, her eyes red and raw from crying. She and Rarity were kneeling before Asterion, who was sitting on the throne of his father.
“Fate is too often unkind. It was most unfortunate. But you arrived before this happened. You made him happy. There is some small comfort to be had in that, no?” Rarity looked up to Asterion, a hopeful smile on her made-up face. She disguised the effects of tears with makeup and propriety.
“I… I guess so. I wished I had had more time with him. But at least I found out he loved me all that time. I suppose it’s all for the best.” Asterion bowed his head as a circlet was placed down on his head. The gold band was set with several stones across the front: Feldspar, sardonyx, sapphire, theralite, olivine, lazulite, and a large diamond in the center. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
“The Aegeman needs a king. As beaten as the vassal states are, they would not hesitate to undo all the unity your father brought. It is better as one nation and not a squabbling pack of nation-states.” Dowager Queen Pasiphaë strode to the throne and bowed to her son. “Now… what shall your name be?”
“My name?” Asterion tilted his head curiously.
“Your father was not born Minos. He assumed the name when he took the throne, as all kings of Concrete have. But you can keep your name. Asterion the first. Or Iron Will the first. You grew up with that name after all.”
Asterion touched the circlet on his head. His father had worn it infrequently after it came to be, but he had worn it. It was one way to honor him. But not the only way. “I will follow my father’s tradition and take the name he always wanted me to have.”
Pasiphaë smiled and stood proudly beside her son. “Let the kingdom ring! All the Aegeman hail King Minos the 28th! Hail King Minos!”