PRoLoGuE
“People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can't be fixed.” - Buck Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth
"Hello? Earth to Everdawn! You in there?" I was brought so suddenly out of my train of thought, it all just slipped away. My eyes subconsciously followed the pale hoof waving in front of my face, quickly moving up its chitinous length, to the lithe form of my companion before settling on her rosen eyes. Standing before me was the princess of the changelings, daughter of King Thorax and my romantic partner.
"Sorry about that, Ezra. I didn't mean to space out. But, you know what an encounter with my mother does to me." a dejected look adorned my face. As if to add to my pitiful state, a lock of my mane fell from my head, its violet and iris dual tone showing along with a thin blonde highlight.
Ezra smiled sweetly at me, her small fangs showing as she reached toward me and brushed away the stray hair. "I know, sweetie. But think of it this way; now that said encounter is done and dusted, you and I have the rest of the day to spend together here in Canterlot. Hence this diner." she gestured to our surroundings. Pony Joe's was a staple of the food industry within Canterlot. Although not particularly fancy like the surrounding restaurants, this quaint little diner had been running for near three generations. It was best known for its prize winning donuts. A love for Pony Joe's was one of the few things my mother and I had in common, as estranged as we were.
The diner was styled with checkered floor tiles, pistaccio green walls with an olive and viridian diamond pattern wallpaper strip running across the bottom. Pictures of various donuts, biscuits and other baked goods framed the walls, advertising the diner's products. Basic round wooden tables were placed carefully around the floor and on either side of the entrance. Ezra and I sat window side in a booth. Pony Joe himself, getting on in years, was actively training his son, Hungry Jack in the art that was customer service. Poor guy looked like his cheeks hurt from wearing that unpracticed smile all day long.
I looked at the other groups of creatures currently dining at the venue. Mostly ponies, a gryphon or two and even a dragon. And most were couples, like Ezra and myself. Princess Twilight's School of Friendship opened twenty-eight years ago, dialogue between the various races within and surrounding Equestria had improved. However, romantic relationships between races were still new and while not illegal or immoral, were known to cause some degree of scandal; partucularly in the eyes of the upper class and nobility. As a prince of Equestria, some within Equestria's upper class considered my relationship with a changeling (even a royal one) to be undesirable. However, there was little they could do about it, lest they risk damaging not only their standing with my mother, Princess Twilight, but the relationship between ponies and changelings that was carefully cultivated over the years.
Our brief conversation was cut short by one of the servers who came to take our lunch order. The server was not a pony, neither was it a changeling, gryphon, dragon, yak or hippogriff. It was a machine. A robot designed by my mother's company. In addition to being the Princess of Equestria, my mother was also the CEO of Nexus, a company specialising in the study, production and application of technology; a tech company as folks so quaintly put it. Additionally, the company studied magic as well as the effects of using the latter to power the former. The pony shaped robot currently standing before us was one such product of the company. The machine was fitted with the standard off-white plating that would act as the machine's coat. the joints were not covered, revealing the struts, gears and wires that allowed the mechanoid to move. Its optics were hidden behind a wall of circuits, the only opening being a pair of apertures that moved and rotated like a real eye. It donned an apron brandishing Pony Joe's logo.
It spoke without emotion, artificial, yet still somewhat feminine. "Good afternoon and welcome to Pony Joe's; home to Equestria's tastiest donuts. How may I serve you today?"
Ezra and I looked at each other for a moment before smiling. Whenever we were at Pony Joe's we would get the same thing: two orders of hay fries, a six-pack of cinnamon donuts to share and lemonade and cola.
"Is our usual registered into your database?" I asked the server.
"Stand by..." it said, its eyes visibly scanning each of us. I watched as the apertures opened and closed as it used visual recognition to identify me. Five seconds later, it spoke. "Confirmed. Prince Everdawn and Princess Ezra; your usuals are registered as a joint order. Do you wish to order your usual?" it asked. Ezra gave me her confirmation.
"Yes."
An electronic chirp emanated from the mechanoid once the order was placed. "Pony Joe's is currently promoting a new dish: Fried Mozarella Sticks and Crumbed Calamari. Limited time only. Would you like to order some in addition to your usual?" it asked. I looked back over to Ezra who visibly shrugged.
"Sounds interesting. Can you eat calamari though? I know ponies don't eat meat, but I hear seafood isn't beyond the realm of possibility." she asked.
I considered the question carefully. True, in terms of digestion, seafood was a grey area with ponies. "We don't typically eat seafood, but small amounts should be fine." I answered.
"So then, what do you say? Feeling adventurous?" she challenged. I cracked a cheeky smile at her. While I wasn't particularly competitive, Ezra had a way of changing that. Either that, or I simply couldn't say no to her.
"We'll get one to share." I addressed the server, not breaking eye contact with Ezra.
The droid audibly beeped and a chime sounded once the order was complete. "Thank you for dining at Pony Joe's. Your order will arrive shortly. Estimated time is ten minutes and forty seconds." Without another word, the server departed to serve another table. It would continue to systematically serve occupied tables or deliver orders as needed.
"You sure you're up to eating calamari?" Ezra asked, leaning back in her seat with a smug grin on her face. She was feeling playful, it seemed. I mirrored her posture, donning a confident smile myself.
"It's like you said, seafood is a grey area with us ponies. A little won't kill me." I replied.
"Yeah, but too much might make you sick, and the sounds you make when you're queazy are hilarious." she chuckled. I just raised a single eyebrow in response. "I remember Ocellus told me the first time she had calamari. She was having lunch with her friends and she saw a picture of it on the menu. She'd never heard of calamari before, so she thought it was just the fancy term for onion rings. Needless to say, she got a surprise when she bit into the ring and the stringy bit snapped her in the face."
Again, my eyebrow went up. I wondered if she was trying to deter me from eating calamari. I decided to play my own little game with her. "Are you sure this was Ocellus' first time eating it, or was it your own?" I asked.
"What? No, no, no. It was definitely Ocellus." she replied. 'That was too many 'no's. She's definitely using Ocellus as a scapegoat for this story.' I thought, leaning forward to stare intensely at her.
She began to shift uncomfortably, refusing to make eye contact. "Yeah, I'm not buying it." I said. "How about a wager then?" I offered, a smirk not unlike her own from before appearing on my face.
"A wager? Alright, I'll bite." she replied, clearly nervous about where this was going.
"Next time I see Ocellus, I'll ask her if that story was true. If she confirms that the story is hers, you win. If she denies it, I win." I said.
Ezra leaned towards me, her front hooves resting on the table. Unlike me, she was fiercely competitive. "Okay. Since I know how much you like to maintain a calm and collected demeanour; if I win, you have to burst in on one of your mother's court sessions and shout out 'Princess Ezra is a sexy thang!' at the top of your lungs before running right out without explanation." she smirked as she watched the colour drain from my face at the thought of having to actually do such a thing.
I stopped breathing for a moment. I was certain she was fibbing when she said the calamari story belonged to Ocellus. 'Oh balls!' I thought just before a truly sinister idea came to mind. As the colour returned to my face and air returned to my lungs, I offered my hoof for her to shake. Without thinking, she took it. A deal was struck. I flashed a toothy smile towards her that let her know she was screwed. Her faltering smirk told me she knew it too.
"We have a deal then. Since the terms for my victory were not discussed, my reward shall be decided at my leisure." I said. Ezra's head hit the table in defeat.
"Son of a bitch! I can't believe I just did that. I know better than to make a verbal contract with the Prince of Deals. So how did this happen?!" she whined.
I dropped my toothy grin and donned a calm smile with half lidded eyes. "Folks are easier to deal with when they think they have the upper hand or the better end of the deal. A good day for me is when they seal the deal without even thinking to ask what's in it for me until it's too late. Just like what happened now."
A few other patrons at the diner who took interest in Ezra's sudden outburst began to laugh in understanding at her predicament. Such was my reputation. Never make a deal with Prince Everdawn.
As the ten minutes passed, and we got our meals, Ezra chose to stare accusingly at every calamari ring she grabbed in her magic field, as if blaming the dead seafood for her unfortunate deal.
Forty minutes later, Ezra and I were walking the streets of Canterlot, the deal we made was put on the back burner. Since the start of the age of technology, major cities like Canterlot, Manehattan and the Crystal Empire were changing constantly. One could tour the same city over and over again and keep coming across something new every time. Mechanoids like the server at the diner littered the streets, each with their own duties and assignments. Some delivering mail, others shopping for their owners. Canterlot was bustling. Even the skies were busy with not just Pegasi, but flying vessels of various shapes and sizes. Hovering roughly seventy feet in the air was an older model sky ship, still using the dirigible system. While slower than the more current skyships which used either rotor or jet propulsion, the dirigible ships were still favoured by some of Equestria's elite with the intent of seeming more refined. In reality it just made them seem like their fortune was on its last legs.
"By the way, I heard from my dad that tensions are rising between your mother and some of Equestria's more influential families and nobles. They're of the opinion that the monarchy should have ended with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and they're pushing for a democracy to be put in place to better manage the relations between all the allied races. Dad's afraid it might lead to civil war." Ezra's sudden change of topic ripped me from my little sightseeing trip.
Giving it some thought, I set to put her mind at ease."As influential as Mother's opponents may be, they can't afford to cross her. For most of the various races, she is the foundation of the alliance. Were she to be dethroned in a coup, the other races would do one of two things: either aid her in returning to power, or withdraw from the alliance entirely and leave the new democracy to fix the fallout on their own. Given your father's connection to her through Spike, I suspect he would do the former."
"He'd better. I'm not giving up my prince for anything or anyone. Least of all over some stupid withdrawal from a broken alliance." she said, wrapping her alabaster hooves around me in preparation for a hug. I chuckled as strands of her silken mane rested on my nose, tickling it. "I love you." she said with all the warmth her voice could muster. I leaned my head into the crook of her neck and closed my eyes as I listened to her words, and the steady, but powerful thumping of her heart.
Princess Ezra had been my best friend since we were little. By the time we were in our early teenage years, we began to develop romantic interests in each other. Young and inexperienced, it took us a good four years to make it official. In that time, our feelings toward each other had only grown. Our friends and families used to say we were made for each other. We saw no reason to argue that possibility. And I couldn't imagine myself being with anyone else. Our first time sleeping together was satisfying enough, but we knew that the first time would be more trial and error than anything else. We actually laughed at the end of it. Indeed, Ezra was the love of my life.
"I love you, too." I replied, enjoying the warm embrace for a few more seconds before letting go. "And don't worry about a civil war breaking out. In the unlikely event that it does, I'll think of something to help us bounce back."
For that one moment, we were happy. And as the next moment passed, I watched as a shadow loomed over us and Ezra averted her gaze to look at the source, her expression contorting from pure happiness to abject horror. My ears picked up a fraction of the beginnings of her terrified screams.
I never felt it, never saw it...