Alicorn Kings and Better Things

by RandomCommentor

Chapter Three: Emotions

Focus: Aerlan
Immediately after Ventian leaves the throne room

After his son leaves the throne room, he looks over at the group and tells them “I suppose you all should go wait for the prince outside the castle doors. You may go now.” The two alicorns bow their heads and leave, the two unicorns following.

After the group of ponies leave, Aerlan is left alone with his thoughts. Now that thats settled, Ventian should be out of the way for a while. Enough so that my plans wont be interfered with. Not to mention how, if She does her work right, then my son leaving will be covered up well enough. I just have to…

Getting up from his throne, Aerlan exits the throne room and begins to make his way to his sons room. When he gets there, he dismisses the guard and enters, casting a scanning spell theres no reason for Ventian to bring it with him, so it should be… the king begins to frown, “grr, Where is it?!” He wispers sharply to himself. Would he bring it with him? Why?! Its just a hunk of-

As his eyes scan the room while he thinks, his thoughts are interrupted by a piece of paper he sees on his sons desk. Walking up to it, his eyes widen in shock.

”Ventian Page of Information: VoidMetal
After creating this and showing it to Father, he told me (implied, really)that it would be impossible to make any use of the material.

I have successfully proven him wrong! By utilizing the same magical rules as Runecrafting, i found a way to temporarily Mega-stabilize the VoidMetal so i can form it into something else without harming the anti-mega effect!
Cant tell Father though, his ego can only take so much… especially after Mother

The note ends there.

Three emotions flood into Aerlan. Confusion, Anger and, a new feeling. Pride in someone else. “Unfortunately its overshadowed by THIS UNYEILDING RAGE!!” He yells out after admitting it to himself. He swiftly turns and trots out of the room to go to the Vault Of Artifacts.

“My son thinks he's so smart, but he doesn't know all of my tricks…” he says, menacingly. Didn't think he would figure it out so fast. I should have done something sooner but Three Days?! Especially after i told him it would be useless, but in three days he figured out the secret to VoidMetal crafting?! It took ten ponies researching for two hundred years strait to figure it out and my son just comes across the solution in three fucking DAYS?!!?

At this point, Aerlan is seething, almost shaking in anger at the idea that his son could do something like this. As he enters the vault, and closes it behind him, he walks over to a very large cage. “Get up.” He demands. The resident of the cage slowly stands up on all four legs and speaks with an exhausted female voice, “What do you want, Aerlan Deoniyas?”

---

Focus Swap: Ventian
Present time

Ventian couldnt sleep. All he could do was listen to the sounds of nature at night, look around his tent and think about the previous day.

At first I thought father sent me with these people for a reason, something important or new. But the more I think about it, the more i realize that… father lied. He lied to me about it. Thats the only explanation i can think of. Father has always either told me the whole truth, at least from his knowledge, or nothing at all. I don't think he ever lied to me before, and if he had maybe i just wasn't aware? I don't know anymore.

With a face full of anxiety over his thoughts, he also sees a light coming from one of the other tents. “Huh?” He whispers to himself. Confusion overwriting the other negative emotions he's feeling, he leans closer to the wall of the tent to try and see what the light is for.

Thats Rose and Vedaria’s tent. Why are they- his thoughts are interrupted by someone, sounds like Rose, speaking, although he can barely hear it. “Shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, its not like he would overpower… the rest he couldn't make out, ‘overpower?’ What does she mean by that, and who is ‘he?’ Rrr, so many questions, so many things i dont want to-

Realizing that he just was about to say he doesn't want to think about something. Haha, ridiculous right? Me, not wanting to think about information that i have no idea how to use? Usually i would be all for it, but… this is just too much.

Father lied to me for some reason that i cannot for the life of me figure out, Rose is awake and planning something, maybe? And Livar hates me, that much i can figure out. For once in my life… i don't know. I don't know why these things are happening and i don’t think i want to know…

Leaning back into his sleeping bag, he closes his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep.

---

“Ventian, come look at this!” Walking over to where Leva is calling him from, Ventian sees a pit. “Woah” he says, eyes widening. “I know, right!? Maybe somethings down there?” Leva looks back at where they came from with a nervous smile.

Ventian feels something shove him from behind, “AHWHAT?!” Quickly looking as he falls into the hole, he sees- Ventian wakes up, sweating a bit. “What the…”

What was THAT?! he thinks loudly in silence. Looking around, he sees that he's still in his tent, but from the light flowing into the tent he can tell that its starting to be day again. Getting up, he begins to put away the sleeping bag and puts his bags on his back and exits the tent.

“Hi there!” He looks over and sees Rose waving at him?

Smiling back, Ventian says “Good morning to you, Rose.”

As the group exits their tents and puts stuff back into the bags, Ventian walks over to Vedaria and asks “Is there a specific place we are going to, or not?”

Vedaria looks at Ventian while picking up the camping bags. “There are actually several places that we are going to in the next few weeks. The king was oddly insistent on you being far away from the capitol as long as possible.”

I KNEW IT Ventian thinks suddenly, and Vedaria notices a shift in the Prince’s behavior and asks “is something the matter, Prince?”

Ventian replies, shaking his head “No, nothings the matter, i just, didn't know something and now i do.”

Turning away from Vedaria, Ventian begins to walk away when Rose came up and said “I got a question, what do you do for fun?” Ventian’s eyebrow goes up and he replies, “I usually read or write stories. Though im not very good at writing…”

Rose then looks over at Livar, who is also there and says “See? A totally harmless hobby!”

“Whatever” Livar then walks over to his sister.

“What was that about?” Ventian asks.

“Oh, Livar just… uhm… dont be offended, but he thought you enjoyed making people… sad?” She clearly struggled with the last few words, as if trying to find words that wouldn't offend.

Ventian blinks “I rarely get offended. Ever. And, what do you mean ‘making people sad?’ That doesn't make any sense, i don't think anyone would enjoy that.”

Rose begins to look more uncomfortable as Ventian speaks, “oh, its nothing, don't worry about it.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Rose looks back up at him swiftly, eyes more open than before, but Ventian is already walking away.

---

Four hours later

As the group is walking along a road, Ventian notices something on the ground ahead of him. Hey, thats a VoidRock! picking it up with his hoof, he places it in his bag.

“What was that?” Looking over at the speaker, Rose looks back at him with a curious gaze.

“It was just a rock. I like rocks.” Did I just… no, thats not technically a lie, it is just a rock… for now Rose is still looking at him with the same look, but then shakes her head and looks forward.

“Hey, Rose?”

“Yes Prince?”

“What do you do as a hobby? I meant to ask earlier when you did but forgot.”

“Oh!” Rose’s ears are perked towards Ventian and with a smile, she continues. “I like to take care of animals. I also enjoy reading, like you do, but i don't write. Vedaria is a writer, and shes pretty good at it too. Also, i exercise sometimes but not too often.”

Vedaria is a writer? Couldn't have guessed that. If only there was a way to tell a persons hobby just by looking at them… maybe a artificially magical genetic trait based on personal likes and dislikes? No, that couldn't work, and it would probably be invasion of privacy.

“Vedaria is a writer? I did not expect that. What does she write?”

Rose looks at the alicorn in question for a moment before facing Ventian again, “Oh, she just makes research notes about fauna and megafauna, she actually likes to talk to animals sometimes.”

Ventian tilts his head in confusion “‘Talks to animals?’ What does that mean?”

“Well, quite a few animals are actually smart enough to understand speech apparently. Or, at least, our body language. Ive heard of some birds being able to speak, although thats rare. Not to mention its more like mimicking speech than actually holding a conversation.”

Another voice cuts in, “Actually, i’ve met a curious species of bipedal lithovore dogs that seem to be developing some kind of language. Although, the ones ive ‘spoken’ with are very unintelligent, but i held a conversation for a loose definition of the word. They seem to speak in broken sentences and tend to be underground most of the time.” Vedaria, having overheard them talking about her, began to walk next to Ventian, on the other side from Rose.

Looking backwards for a second, Ventian sees that Livar and Leva are also listening to them talk from a few meters away.

“Also, theres been rumor of some kind of foxlike race to the east of the kingdom, and since we are heading east maybe we might come across one. Ive heard they are called ‘Kitsune’ and have an ageless lifespan like us and the dragons, though i don't know much else.”

“Oh yea, my dad told me about the Kitsune.” Ventian responds.

“Wait, you already know about them?”

“Not really, all dad told me about them is they really don't like trespassers. If we ever do meet one, they would probably accuse us of trespassing in their territory. And they are immortal. More so than us, actually, seeing as they are half-spirits.”

Vedaria’s eyes open wide “Wait, what?! Half-spirits?! I thought those were a myth!”

Ventian tilts his head in confusion I suppose it wouldn't be common knowledge, but they have to be in some books somewhere, right? “Um, no? I mean, all myths and legends are based on some fact. Like how the first dragon king Bahamut died to one of my ancestors, they actually both died but it was covered up and King Verodines son took his place for the next few decades after that.”

“Wait, thats what happened? Thats… why would you tell us that?!” Vedaria is now looking kind of frustrated and confused.

“Well, I like you guys and its not like the information matters, right? It happened over twelve-thousand years ago, so its distant history and doesn't affect today. Other than the fact that it was a tie instead of a victory, and it was kinda smart on his sons part. I mean, their names were even the same!” Everyone is now standing still, looking at Ventian. He begins to feel uncomfortable getting this kind of attention.

Why is that such a big deal? Its not like it changes anything now. If it was a secret then father shouldn't have told me, and- Livar interrupts his thoughts.

“Okay, what is your problem?! Dont you have any idea what you just said!?” Livar says with an angry face.

“Um… no? Whats the problem? I mean, does it change anything now?”

“OF COURSE-“ Livar gets interrupted by Leva saying, “Brother, calm down! Prince, what you are saying is that everyone in the world got lied to, and didn't even know it. I… I think you should ask yourself ‘why would they lie about that?’ I feel like you aren't the one giving enough thought to that.” Leva is staring directly at Ventian, eyes seemingly telling him ‘please listen.’

What… okay, Leva is right. Why did they lie? What did they have to gain, other than winning that war- Eyes widening, Ventian replies “So they could win… they lied to everyone so the dragons would back off. But if the dragons called their bluff, they would have invaded our kingdom with very little resistance!”

Nodding, Leva then replies “Yes, and you can see why that secret is a big deal. The dragons have only gotten stronger since then, more organized. If they realized that it was a lie…”

They would become enraged, a dragons sense of honor is very strong, as well as their anger. If they realized they and their ancestors got duped like that, they wouldn't hesitate to invade. Becoming more uneasy, Ventian then ponders on other things he was told by his father. “They would attempt to invade, and we wont be able to win. Not without quite a few people dying.”

Leva and Livar becomes relieved that Ventian is aware of the problem. Livar speaks up and says “Now you see, Prince? Dont just say something like that. Make sure you think about the effect it would have on others.”

“I didnt think it would be a problem! My father never told me it was a secret so i just… assumed… wow i am an idiot.” Looking down at the ground, Ventian continues “Yeah, youre right, i should have figured that out on my own. Sorry. Lets just… keep walking?”

The rest of the group seems to agree with him, Livar’s expression seeming surprised, but then he just went back to neutral.

Okay, so that was a thing. I am an idiot for not realizing that sooner! Also, why is Livar so aggressive towards me? At first i thought it was just his personality, but i have seen him smile a few times. Except… at me. He doesn't like me for some reason, is it because I'm a prince? Does he hate royalty for some reason?

Maybe i offended him in some way, but when? And how? I never really spoke to him, and its not like- wait. Maybe i did say something and didn't realize? Thats a possibility, should i ask? How would i ask that? as Ventian thinks more on the topic, the group continues their trek through the forest.

Author's Note:

Explanation of Aerlans behavior:

He has so much ego that Vegeta from dragonball seems reasonable in comparison. He hates the idea of anyone else being smarter than he is, it doesn't matter if its his own son.

This will come into play later in the form of [REDACTED]

… of course I'm not gonna outright say it. In the words of River Song from Doctor Who; Spoilers.

Also, Ventian has ADHD and tends to focus on specific things without noticing anything else thats going on around him, and since he never really talked with anyone other than his father and some guards sometimes, he also is socially awkward and is very bad at telling when someone is lying unless its painfully obvious.

In the meantime, i would like to say that i would very much enjoy some opinions about how im writing. If im doing something wrong or whatever because if i made a mistake and it gets pointed out, ill correct the mistake. Usually very quickly.
So please, i exist off of the feedback of others.