Alicorn Nature

by SC_Orion

Protective

Rainbow groaned softly and fidgeted on her hooves. Waiting wasn't something she liked- she was a pegasus, but more than that, she was the fastest pony in Equestria. Waiting or going slow weren't things she was familiar with. They were antithesis to her, and so waiting left her bored beyond belief. She fluttered her wings and cast a longing glance towards one of the windows in the room.

Of course, the windows were closed, and couldn't be opened, so she had no choice but to stand there. She couldn't just bolt for the window to escape the room's confines. Besides, she was 'needed' there, or at least that's what Twilight said. She looked over at Twilight, who was standing beside her, waiting patiently with a happy smile.

She looked over at Celestia and Luna. Both of them stood calmly, waiting for the arrival of some prince or another from the Griffon Empire.

Rainbow sighed, then huffed to suppress a groan.

"Rainbow, just relax. This won't take that long. He should be here any minute," Twilight comforted.

Rainbow glanced back at Twilight and squinted at her. "Yeah, right. 'Won't take that long,'" she snorted. "Twi, we've been waiting here for half an hour! And This was supposed to start like twenty minutes ago!"

"We would be bad hosts, were we not to wait for him," Luna commented calmly.

Rainbow looked over at Luna and opened her mouth, only to stop as her ears perked up at the sound of the door opening. She looked back towards the door and wanted to jump for joy and let out an eager cry of relief, but she kept herself in check.

Three griffons calmly walked into the room. The two at the sides were clad in gray steel armor, with the shoulder pieces emblazoned with their rank insignias. Honor guards. So, completely useless then. Their chest piece had the mark of the griffon empire- a griffon reared up holding a sword in one claw, and a bag of bits in the other. Personally, Rainbow found that to be in bad taste, but it was quite accurate.

The griffon in the middle, however, lead the group. He wore a smile on his beak, or at least as much of a smile as a beak could hold, and he carried himself with dignity. It wasn't prideful, but it wasn't all that humble either. He was adorned with a loose fitting, regal red robe over his body. His feathers were pristine and well groomed, and his build was quite masculine and strong. The robe was attached around his neck by an ornamental golden latch.

What drew most of Rainbow's attention, however, was the fact that the griffon seemed to ignore the alicorns beside her and focus solely on her. His large eyes trailed over her head, then chest, and her body, before settling on her wings. Rainbow wasn't the only one to notice it, either. Twilight's wings fidgeted at her sides.

"Prince Galewing," Celestia acknowledged, inclining her head respectfully.

The prince paused, then took a second to recompose himself. He smiled at Celestia and bowed ever so slightly. "Princess Celestia. It is good to see you again," he acknowledged. After a few seconds, his gaze turned back to Rainbow, but he didn't acknowledge her. "I apologize for keeping you waiting. There was a slight logistics breakdown which I had to deal with. I hope my latency hasn't caused any harm," he spoke in a calm, friendly tone.

Celestia nodded. "It's quite alright, Prince Galewing."

The prince reluctantly broke his gaze away from Rainbow and looked back at Celestia. "Perhaps we can make these discussions quick, then?" he asked. "I mean no disrespect, of course, but we should be able to come to an agreement without much discussion taking place."

"Of course," Celestia replied courteously. "I believe the message you sent was an inquiry into doubling the trade of apples to the Griffon Empire?" she asked.

The prince nodded. "Yes. We're willing to negotiate on price if our current price per shipment is inadequate for the large volume increase," he offered.

Luna nodded. "It should not be necessary. Equestria has had a good year for apples, and we have a surplus."

"Then we will stick with current levels per shipment?" Prince Galewing asked.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I believe that would be fair."

Prince Galewing smiled, then glanced back at his robe and pulled a scroll out from under his wing, then he presented it to Celestia. Celestia smiled and levitated the scroll over, then read it over and nodded. She levitated it over to Luna, who read it and then nodded in agreement. Twilight took the scroll in her magic, then held it in front of herself and Rainbow to read.

It was all beyond Rainbow. "Why am I even here?" she whispered.

"It's important. The Griffons have been our allies, and traditionally, all of us meet with their crown prince," Twilight replied quietly.

Rainbow frowned and glanced at Twilight. Instead of finding her salivating at reading the document, she was staring at the prince. Rainbow glanced at the prince to find him staring at her. She shifted her weight. Twilight's nostrils flared slightly.

"This is a waste of time..." Rainbow muttered.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, it should be fine," she said, agreeing with the other princesses.

Celestia levitated the scroll back over to herself, teleported a quill, then signed her name on it before passing it over to Luna and then to Twilight, who signed for both Rainbow and herself. Celestia levitated the scroll back over to the prince, who then dipped his talon in an inkwell and signed the scroll where his signature was needed.

"I believe everything is in order. I will have my father sign it and it will go into effect. As always, it has been a pleasure to meet with all of you," the prince said.

Rainbow blinked. "Seriously? That's it? We waited for half an hour for something that didn't even take five minutes!?" she whispered to Twilight.

Twilight ignored her.

Rainbow squinted at Twilight, then looked back at the prince. He looked to be sizing her up. "And... you are?" he inquired.

Rainbow felt a bit self-conscious. It wasn't often that ponies, or in this case, griffons, asked who she was. She did kind of draw attention to herself, and she stuck out the most of all of the ponies there. She was the shortest, and the sole pegasus. "Uh, Princess Rainbow Dash?" she offered.

The prince looked at her thoughtfully. "I was unaware there were Equestrian princesses who weren't alicorns..." he trailed off and then took a step forward. "And may I say, your beauty is unmatched by any pony I have ever seen..." he said in a soft, delicate tone. Rainbow fidgeted, and Twilight fluttered her wings at her sides almost aggressively. "Perhaps you would care to join me for dinner? Say... tonight around eight? The Griffon Embassy?"

Twilight fidgeted her hooves and stood rigidly and tensed. Rainbow glanced at her, then smiled to herself and suppressed a snicker. 'Oh, Twilight... what's the matter?' she thought, knowing exactly what was running through her head.

Rainbow thought about it for a moment. "I dunno," she replied. "I've never had Griffon food before. What's it like?"

The prince tilted his head in thought for a moment. "It is... somewhat on the spicy side, compared to Equestrian food. We use a great deal more spices to flavor our foods. It is something of a personal taste shared among our kind," he explained.

"Spicy? That sounds nice," Rainbow replied. Twilight's wings fidgeted slightly at her sides. "Can Twilight come?" she asked.

The prince squinted ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable. Any other pony would have missed it. "I would prefer it be... private. Just the two of us. A good dinner, maybe some wine, and perhaps some... entertainment afterward?" he offered with an enticing smile.

Rainbow smiled a bit. "Hmm... that does sound kinda nice."

"Perhaps I could-"

Twilight's wings flared out, and her rigidness burned away. She glared at the prince. "YOU CAN'T HAVE HER SHE'S MINE!" she yelled.

The prince let out a squawk and jumped back. Twilight's body trembled and her tail flicked behind her. She quickly stepped over Rainbow to stand over her, then she spread her wings and enveloped Rainbow, sheltering her from the prince's sight.

Rainbow broke out into laughter.

"I-I see," the prince replied, sounding taken aback and slightly indignant. "I-I didn't know you were together!" he called. "I-I just-"

"Just what!?" Twilight demanded. "Thought you could take her from me!? No!"

"Twi, seriously, cool it," Rainbow said.

"No!" Twilight retorted. She leaned down and stared at Rainbow under her. "He was trying to steal you from me!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at Twilight, still grinning. "So, why am I here again?" she asked.

Twilight blinked, then opened her mouth to say something, only to stumble for words.

Celestia giggled softly. "Well, Prince, I believe that is all we need to discuss today. I look forward to seeing you again next time, but perhaps you should try to avoid hitting on Twilight's wife."

"I-I I didn't..." the prince stuttered. He fidgeted and held his wings tight to his body. "M-my apologies, I-I just thought that..." he trailed off, then stood a bit rigidly. "G-good day, princesses," he said, then turned and somewhat hastily retreated. The two honor guards silently fell in sync behind him, neither of them saying a word nor making a sound.

---

Rainbow looked around and smiled a little. The atmosphere of the restaurant was a little too upper class for her tastes, but it was still nice. It was quiet, although there were a few calm conversations in the background. The booths were comfortable to sit in, the tables were fairly ornate, made from some kind of wood and decorated with golden swirls. The plates were made out of crystal and made the table below them shimmer from the refracted light passing through the clear crystal.

The food was great, though. Even if the place was a little too extravagant, the food was worth it. It was satisfying and fresh. The salad tasted like it had been freshly picked and prepared right when they ordered, and the onion soup was some of the best soup she'd ever had. She took a deep breath and leaned back, letting out a soft, content moan. "This was great, Twi..." she sighed.

Twilight smiled happily at her. She lifted her glass of red wine, then took a small sip before setting it back on the table. She levitated her napkin up, then dabbed her lips dry with it before setting it aside. "I'm glad you enjoyed this. We should do this more often. It's nice," she replied.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, then looked around idly. The restaurant was by no means packed. There were only a few tables nearby which had anypony occupying them. She mostly glossed over the ponies, all of them looked like high-maintenance, upper-class nobles. The mares wore expensive looking dresses, and the stallions wore tuxedos. Her gaze might have lingered on one or two stallions a little too long if the way Twilight was staring at her was any indication.

Rainbow shifted her weight a bit and glanced back at Twilight, then sat up straighter. She took a deep breath and then swept her gaze around again. It was the part of eating out that she hated the most. Waiting for the waiter to bring the bill. It sucked.

Her gaze passed over a couple of stallions donned in formal attire. One of them seemed to notice and look over at her. She ignored it and continued looking around. After a couple of seconds, she glanced back at them. The one stallion was still looking at her, and he licked his lips. He looked away from Rainbow, then leaned over to the other stallion and whispered something to him. A moment later, the second stallion glanced over towards her.

Rainbow shifted her weight and looked back at Twilight. "So... how was the summit?"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "It was good. There weren't really any major problems for us to address. The biggest problem was actually finding important matters to talk about. For the most part, we ended up just catching up with Cadance."

"How's she doing?" Rainbow asked.

"Ladies," a gentle, silken voice greeted.

Both mares looked away from each other to see the first stallion standing beside the table, wearing a gentle, almost sly smile on his lips.

Twilight stared at him, her smile fading. The stallion didn't pay her any attention. Rainbow fidgeted a bit. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Would you be interested in joining my friend and I for a drink afterward?" he asked. "I have some Zebran Ale back at my mansion..." he trailed off. If anything, his smile grew, thinking he had won.

"Both of us, or..?" Rainbow asked, casually turning her head to look at Twilight. Twilight glared at the stallion and fidgeted in her spot. She sat with her muscles tensed and sat straight up, easily sitting with her head far above the stallion's eye level, even with him standing.

"Just you," he specified. "You look lovely, but my friend would be willing to entertain your friend," he added.

"Leave," Twilight growled.

The stallion frowned and sent a glare over at Twilight. "Excuse me?"

"I said leave," Twilight repeated. "She's with me."

"Maybe she doesn't-" the stallion stopped mid-sentence as soon as he noticed Twilight's wings fluttering at her sides. "P-Princess!? I-I'm sorry to bother you, I-I didn't-"

"Okay, Twilight, seriously, how the heck is it that nopony notices that you're an alicorn?" Rainbow asked, dumbfounded.

The stallion stumbled for words, and Twilight slid out of her seat, then stood up. She stared down at the stallion with a fierce gaze. "If you ever look at her again-"

"Twi, don't you think that's a bit much?" Rainbow asked.

"-I'll send you to Tartarus!" Twilight threatened.

The unicorn stallion noble winced and squeaked, then tucked his tail in between his legs and hastily retreated back to his table. He nearly tripped as he stumbled back into his seat. His friend acted as if nothing had happened.

Twilight huffed.

"Here's the bill-" the waiter paused midstride as Twilight's head whipped around and glared at him. Unfortunately for him, she caught him looking at Rainbow, rather than her. Twilight jumped around and flared her wings out. "-I'll just leave this here!" he squeaked, dropping the tray and then dashing off.

Rainbow sighed and scooted the plate away from her, then hit her head on the table. "And this is why we can't do nice things like this," she muttered.

Comments

[Emkozul]

Oh lord this is me!

[livinthelife]

8641375
Are you Rainbow, Twilight, or a dude that obliviously hits on lesbians?

[Realitywarp]

🤣

[Vaguely Demented]

Pretty sure Prince Galewing is using latency wrong. You could say his arrival was latent before he got there, but his use of present tense implies he was still in a transitional state.

[Delighted Delirium]

And.....really unhealthy, yeah. Is OP ok?