Astral Audacious; An Alicorn's Account

by The Grey Pegasus

Part II - The Alicorn

Astral Audacious; An Alicorn's Account
By: The Grey Pegasus

The Alicorn

"Alright, you ready?"

Astral took a deep breath. "Yeah, Captain. I'm good."

"Element?"

"In my coat."

"Uniform?"

"Prim and proper."

"Medal?"

"Polished."

"Anything else?"

"I have everything I need, sir."

"Confidence?"

Astral paused. "Never left me."

Stardust moved forward. "Very well." He glanced back to make sure Astral was right behind him. With every step, the crystal tree palace loomed larger.

The two stallions entered and were met by a foyer, a front desk, and a few ponies going around. Rather than stopping at the desk, Stardust just gave the receptionist a nod and continued along without a change in pace, the winged unicorn in tow.

"He's with me," Stardust declared succinctly. As they walked along, he began talking to Astral. "I've already called in a meeting with Princess Sparkle. High priority. Gets us straight to the top. Didn't mention you once."

Astral nodded. "So what do you want me to do up there?"

Stardust chuckled. "You're Equestrian Royal Guard. Do I need to tell you what to do? You can handle yourself. Figure it out." He stopped, and Astral did so as well. "Just remember, you're technically here on business."

"I guess that makes it easier then."

The pegasus patted the alicorn on the shoulder. "That's the spirit."

At every corner and every hall, when passed by a guard, the two officers received a nod. This continued all the way up to the outside door of the throne room.

"I've got to go in first. Explain the situation to the Princess and her Council. But don't worry—I'll leave the surprise." Stardust entered, nodding at Astral, and swiftly, the grey pegasus had disappeared behind the doors.

Astral stood there wondering what to do. He thought that he might perhaps prepare himself for what was about to come. He began to take off his overcoat.

What he forgot was that there were guards outside the door. The sounds of armor hitting the ground as they bowed came to his ears. "Oh, oh, I'm not royalty, soldiers."

The two guards got up, confused. "R-really?" the tan pegasus on the right asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. But I am a Royal Guard officer."

They snapped to a salute. "Apologies, sir."

"At ease."

They returned to their positions. However, in the presence of a fellow guardspony, the one on the right couldn't resist engaging in conversation. "If I may ask, sir, why are you here?"

"I'm on business."

"I would have thought that perhaps it was not only business, sir."

Astral looked at the pegasus curiously. "For whom do you have eyes for in there, soldier?" He walked over to stare the guard down. He reveled in the feeling of authority and respect from fellow soldiers that he had lost.

"Th-the Princess, sir. But everyone has eyes for the Princess."

"Is that true?"

"I'd like to believe so, sir."

"And what makes you different?"

"I've had a few encounters with her, sir. I know she acknowledges my presence."

Astral just grinned. "Just remember who's got the horn and wings." He patted the guard on his shoulder, the armor rattling, and walked back in front of the doors.

"I-I thought this was just business, sir."

"Six years isn't just business, soldier."

The door opened and Stardust came out. He nodded towards Astral, and he prepared to take his steps inside.

Astral pushed the door open with his magic, and straight in front of him was a pony he had not seen nor spoken to in six years. He approached the circle of thrones and bowed. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and her Council," he addressed them and rose.

He could feel their eyes on him.

"Girls, leave us alone." The other five mares left the room, leaving an alicorn and a winged unicorn staring at each other. "Astral Audacious."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Why are you here?"

"I believe Captain Rapture already told you." He removed the ornate crystal from his pocket and held it up to Twilight in his magic. "I believe that this is a seventh Element of Harmony."

"And what do you expect me to do with it?"

"You were the smart one, Twilight, figure it out."

Twilight took the crystal in her own magic. "I'll... send Princess Celestia a message about it. For all we know, a seventh Element may cause the Elements of Harmony to grow too powerful. Discord taught us the importance of balance." She placed it down on her throne, reverting the scene to them staring at each other. "So... h-how have you been?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"I, uh, made friends. How's your wings?" Her expression changed as she looked more closely at his wings. "What happened with your wings? And your mane? Did you dye them?"

Astral shook his head. "My best friend, a pegasus named Radiant Ray Redshift, happened, and the defense of the Northeast Passage happened. My best friend remains in this world through me. He gave me his magic instead of surrendering it to death. This is the end result."

There was a pause. "Can you fly now?"

"I can."

Twilight sighed, and walked out to her balcony. Astral followed. "You never wrote. Never tried to find me. Are you trying to get back with me?" Twilight stared out over the land.

"Who says we can't try?"

"We were just... stupid teenagers back then, Astral."

"And you used to tell me how you knew about love because Cadance always took care of you. I knew you, Twilight. You didn't make any mistakes."

"Maybe back then. But what about now? What's the right thing to do now?"

"Well, now we can be stupid adults," Astral said with a slight grin. "Chasing an old romance that didn't deserve to die out. And besides, everyone always thinks I'm royalty. Only way that's going to happen is if I marry in."

He managed to get a small smile on Twilight's face. "So what are we supposed to do?"

Astral shrugged. "Well, spilling life stories seemed to work the first time."

Twilight chuckled. "Okay. What have you done in the past six years? Where have you been? You've... changed so much, but you're still the same winged unicorn I knew."

Astral sighed as he leaned on the railing, a nostalgic smile on his muzzle as he waded through memories. "Well, I've been everywhere. I've been to the cold, far northeast as a soldier, to Cloudsdale for cloud business, to places like Vanhoover to deliver clouds, to Trottingham to get a portrait painted. I've been to a lot of places and I've done a lot of things. What about you?"

Twilight mirrored his stance. "I was sent to Ponyville to make friends after becoming a studious introvert, I've been across Equestria learning about friendship, I've been to the Crystal Empire and helped save it, I've fought off threats to Equestria, I've become a princess, and I've done a lot more."

"This might take a while."

"My friend Rainbow showed me how much better it is to talk while flying."

"Oh really?"

"Why don't we?" Twilight jumped off her balcony and dipped below the balcony as she went airborne.

"Alright, alright."

Astral grinned as he flapped his wings and followed suit.

Author's Note:

And this concludes my fic using an 'alicorn' OC. I decided to give a totally different take on the idea of an alicorn. And kinda made it Forrest Gump. (Which helped the romance portion fit in pretty well, in my opinion.)