The Twilight Prince (Old Version)
Chapter 14: Chapter 14 - Difficult Meetings
Previous Chapter Next Chapter“Okay, what's so important that you had to sic Pinkie on me” The former Elements of Harmony – less a certain prince – were seated around the room.
Pinkie giggled, “I'm not sick, silly” the pink pony did a back flip. “I'm feeling rather pecker today.”
Rarity did a spit take “Pinkie, dear, I think you mean to say 'perky'.”
“No, haven't you heard the word pecker before?” Pinkie bounced up to Rarity. “It means standing tall and ready to face the day.”
Rainbow burst into laughter and started to roll on the ground.
“Pecker pecker pecker, come on Rarity, say it with me; peckerpeckerpeckereckerpeckerpeckereckerpeckerpeckereckerpeckerpeckereckerpeckerpeck...”
“Ah think that's enough Pinkie.” The pink mare found an orange hoof in her mouth “Rarity, got us together fer a reason.”
“Yes, Indeed. I have called this meeting to discuss our friend Twilight and” Rarity cleared her throat “his recent transformation.”
“Then, why isn't Twilight here? Shouldn't he be a part of this discussion.”
“Dashie's right, talking behind a friend's back is super-duper mean.”
“Nonsense, dears, Twilight is a colt; we as mares cannot properly discus him if he is in the room. Isn't that right Fluttershy?”
The mare in question blushed and made a barely audible “eep” before trying to make herself as small as possible.
“Why is that, Rarity?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes.
“It's simply for their own protection, dear. It is our duty as mares to look out for our stallions.”
“This is Twilight we are talking about Rarity. He's was the element of magic, and is an alicorn, he can handle himself. And even if he couldn't, he has guards.”
“Twi, has guards?”
“You should know; you did chase one of them across Ponyville yelling 'Ah'm goin' ta buck yer head from yer shoulders'.”
“Ya mean tha' two-bit hussy, who was tryin' ta seduce ma brother? Ah still don't believe she's a guard; how would a pony like tha' get into something as fancy as tha' Royal Guard.”
“Yes, Rainbow, she acts more like a criminal than a guardpony. I just can't see Celestia allowing such a mare into her royal guard, and to let her guard Twilight sounds rather irresponsible for the princess.”
“Well Shadow was hired by Twilight's family and not the princess. She was a part of Twilight's family's guard before becoming his personal guard.”
“Only the most powerful and prestigious of noble houses have their own guards. And while Twilight is a good friend, but I have never heard of any 'House Twilight', so can't be too major.”
“House Twilight is actually rather major, but you should probably ask Twilight yourself. They are a very ... eccentric family and I don't think I could describe them very well.”
---
“HOW DARE YOU DENY ME ACCESS TO MY OWN MONEY, YOU FILTHY, INBRED, PATHETIC, WIMPERING, COWARDLY, VILE ...”
Shadow watched the flaming alicorn rail on the cowering bank manager, using his rather impressive vocabulary. The last time she saw Sparkle this angry was ten years ago when Flare torched her favourite book. Of course the fact that Flare was both a competent battle mage and completely fireproof meant she had been in significantly safer position than the brown Earth pony that was the current target of the incendiary rage. Not that she thought that the alicorn would hurt the mare...
“... INSOLENT FOOL. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM? I AM TWILIGHT SPARKLE, FIRST OF THAT NAME, SCION OF TWILIGHT, PRINCE OF EQUESTRIA, ALICORN OF MAGIC, DUKE OF PONYVILLE AND THE YOUNGEST ARCH-MAGUS TO EVER SIT ON THE COUNCIL OF MAGIC. I AM THE FIRSTBORN SON OF LADY TWILIGHT VELVET THE MAD, GREAT, GREAT GRANDSON OF LADY TWILIGHT AURORA THE MAGNIFICENT, AND AM A DIRECT DECENDENT OF BOTH CLOVER THE CLEVER AND THE BLACK LADY, SANGUINE ROSE, AND YOU DARE, DARE CLAIM THAT I AM NOT CAPABLE ENOUGH TO HANDLE MY OWN MONEY ...”
... probably.
---
“Well, as I was saying. Twilight is now a stallion; this means that there will be a rather large number of mares who will be trying to seduce him.” Rarity had adopted a rather serious demeanour. “Particularly with heat season starting soon, it is our duty to make sure none of these attempts are successful.”
“Why can't we let him find his own mare?” Rainbow asked. “It is his choice.”
“Oh, Rainbow, Stallions simply don't know what's good for them. It's our job as mares to protect him from those who would take advantage of him.”
“I think he's well capable of taking care of himself.”
---
“... I AM THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL MAGE TO BE BORN IN OVER A THOUSAND YEARS, I COULD VAPORIZE YOU WITH A SINGLE FLASH OF MY HORN LEAVING NOT A SINGLE TRACE OF YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE ON THE FACE OF GAIA ...”
---
“Rainbow, don't be so stubborn. I just want to make sure Twilight ends with the right mare.”
Rainbow snorted. “And let me guess, you nominate yourself for that position.”
“Well naturally, every prince needs a princess.”
“Funny that I can only recall three princesses, none of which are in this room right now. And Cadence is married, every one of Celestia's romances ends in disaster – and several years of particularly bad sunburns for all of Equestria – and Luna, well Luna and Twilight might actually be good for each other, but it would probably spark an attempted coup.”
“Well at least I am a lady.”
“Technically, we are all 'ladies'. Everypony in this room is minor landless nobility without any house. Which basically means that we might as well be commoners to the rest of the nobility.”
“Ah ain't homeless, ah have a house.”
“Rainbow is referring to noble houses, which are what the nobility calls their families.” Rarity turned to Rainbow. “At least I act like a lady.”
“And Twilight outranks us all so much that if status was important to him he wouldn't even deign to even set eyes upon us.” Rainbow said with a jaded scowl.
Rarity narrowed her eyes, “And how do you know so much about the nobility Rainbow.”
“Unlike you, I didn't have the fortune of growing up in Ponyville where the nobility is nothing more than a naive filly's daydream. I grew up in Cloudsdale, the only city in the entire country that is more status conscious that Canterlot. So I am all too familiar with the nobility.” The disdain Rainbow put into the last word was almost tangible.
A long silence fell, three mares completely taken aback at the pure emotion of those words and Fluttershy sadly nodding.
“What happened Dashie? What did they do...”
“Pinkie, stop.” The voice of Fluttershy had force to it that was normally uncharacteristic of the timid pegasus “Rainbow had a hard childhood and you shouldn't be prying.”
“You don't need to do that for me Fluttershy, I should have told them a long time ago.” Rainbow sighed, “But, I'm not talking about that without Twilight here.”
---
“That was epic, you had that bitch whimpering on the ground in fear; she was so afraid that she even pissed herself.”
Shadow's comment earned he a hoof across her face courtesy of her twin. “Shadow, if you hadn't noticed, Sparkle has been suffering some rather serious mood swings which are causing him a significant amount of stress, and your asinine comments aren't helping in the slightest.”
“Umbra, where did you come from?”
“From 'Kitchens and Cartography', they have their best team on the job.”
“'Kitchens and Cartography'?” Shadow asked with a puzzled face.
“Don't ask me, stores selling two completely unrelated services seem to be common in this town, Must be some sort of local meme.”
“Oh, Ponyville, why are you so weird?”
Twilight ignored his cousins as he was deep in thought. He had been having rather severe mood swings, that was obvious, but his brief bursts of incredible rage seemed much too regular to be explained by that alone. Twilight had never been prone to anger, crippling anxiety yes, but never anger.
That isn't to say he was unfamiliar with anger problems. It was hardly uncommon for Twilights to have a temper, his cousin Twilight Flare was infamous in the house for her propensity for rage, although it had never been quite as unnerving as Flare's father's ire. He shivered remembering Uncle Frost's cold equicidal fury.
It wasn't surprising that his change in gender would cause some psychological changes, as it's physiological changes were numerous and immediately obvious. But this was the first sign of a permanent change to his psychology – other than a his change in sexuality, which could be attributed to the hereditary spells cast on the Twilight bloodline rather than the gender change itself – he couldn't help but find it disconcerting. It was the kind of thing that would undoubtedly send him into one of his trademarked neurotic downward spirals ...
... except it wasn't. In fact Twilight wasn't feeling any degree of panic at all. His eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't had a single neurotic episode since the spell.
“Sparkles, why are you smiling?”
“I'm free, Umbra, I'm finally free.”
Spike and Umbra shared a concerned look.
---
“Rainbow, dear, why are you so insistent on Twilight being here?”
“Maybe I don't like talking about my friends behind their back.”
Rarity sighed, “Rainbow, I understand. I do. But Twilight is a stallion now, things are different. Unscrupulous mares will do anything to get a foal in their womb.”
“And I will repeat that Twilight is well able to protect himself”
“Rainbow, stallions aren't like mares, they are docile and vulnerable to manipulation, easily pressured into doing whatever a mare asks of them. It hurts to do this, but it truly is for his own good.”
“Yeah, Rainbow, there's ben many times when Ah've found Big Mac cornered by some hussy forcing 'erself on him.”
Rainbow shuffled awkwardly remembering the sexual aggression of many mares in Cloudsdale, “So you're saying that because Twilight is now a stallion, he's become some kind of weak, simpering fool?”
“I wouldn't use those words...” Rarity trailed off.
“But yes, that's exactly what you mean?” Rainbow paused, “Because he's not. Twilight is strong, and powerful, and domi...” Rainbow trailed off while blushing.
Rarity's eyes narrowed in suspicion,
Rainbow, still blushing, looked away in fear and shame.
---
“Um, Twilight.” Spike's voice was noticeably nervous.
“Yes?”
“That thing you mentioned about the Black Lady.” Spike gulped loudly. “Was she really a vampony?”
Shadow burst into laughter “Vampony? That's ridiculous!”
“What my sister means to say, is that “vampony” isn't actually a word, but Sanguine Rose was a vampire.”
Spike looked to Twilight.
“The Black Lady was one of our most hated enemies, back in the Dark Age, when we were the Stalwart of Twilight rather than House Twilight. One of her many plots involved having a daughter with a mortal stallion, producing a Dhampir. Her daughter, Crimson Rose ended up joining the Stalwart and was the one who drove the stake through her mother's heart. All Twilights alive today descend directly from Crimson Rose.”
“She killed her own mother?”
“Her mother did intend to sacrifice her in a horrific blood magic ritual. Plus, she was a soulless abomination, so it hardly counts/”
“What?”
“It was the Dark Age, the Black Lady was far from the most evil of monsters that plagued the land.”
“The Dark Age? That's that time when Celestia wasn't around?”
“I have half a mind to assign a book report on the subject, but even knowing the Dark Age happened is well beyond average for modern ponies.”
“I haven't seen it mentioned in any books, I only know about it from you.”
Twilight sighed, “I'll have to ask Theory if she brought any books on it from the Twilight Library.”
“Or you could withdraw some yourself” Spoke a surprisingly muscular cyan unicorn with a violet mane as she approached the entourage.
“Captain.” Umbra snapped into a salute.
“'Allo capitan, whatcha doin 'ere.” Shadow slurred as she performed a sloppy approximation of a salute.
“Hello Aura, I wasn't expecting to see you here in Ponyville.” Twilight sighed, “Mother sent you to fetch me, right. Probably wants to test me after my transformation.”
“Hello, Umbra, hello Shadow,” Lady Twilight Aura, captain of the Twilight House guard turned to Twilight and sighed, “Sparkle, Lady Velvet called you back, but she didn't send me. I took it upon myself to come, I thought you would respond better to a friendly face.” She paused for a second, “And a warning probably wouldn't hurt either.”
“My dear mother send Frost to get me, didn't she.”
“Not inaccurate, but she sent both my dear parents to get you.” Aura sneered.
Twilight winced, “Frost and Blazing Passion, sometimes I wonder whether my mother is that delusional, or is just a bitch.”
“Many of us wonder that every day, I think the consensus is 'Why not both?', but she's the head of house, so what can you do?”
“Yeah, what can you do?”
---
“Rainbow? Do you have something to share?” Rarity asked surprisingly calmly.
Applejack looked between the two mares before her eyes narrowed at Rainbow, “Rainbow, did you buck Twilight?! Ah never took you for a harlot!” Applejack said significantly less calmly.
“Applejack! Be nice. I'm certain Rainbow has a very good reason for her indiscretions.”
Rainbow wilted under the attention of the two mares unable to meet their eyes.
Fluttershy placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. “I don't think you two are being very kind.”
“'Kind', Fluttershy? What kind of mare just sleeps with a stallion lahk that?”
“Like what?” Fluttershy asked softly, “You didn't even let her speak before condemning her.”
“Yes, dear, you are being rather belligerent. This type of conversation requires a subtle touch,”
Fluttershy turned to Rarity, “And your facade of understanding isn't convincing, Rarity.”
“Fluttershy, this is important. It's our duty as mares to protect Twilight from mares who would take advantage of him. Just a little pressure from a mare and stallion will do almost anything she asks, make him take a couple pills and he'll gladly rut her.”
“So that's what you think happened between me and Twilight?!” Rainbow asked angrily, “That I saw Twilight and just bullied him until he agreed to sleep with me?! This is Twilight we're talking about, he isn't going to let himself be bullied into doing something he doesn't want to do. Just because he has a cock and balls now, it doesn't mean that he's suddenly some kind of weak-minded fool. And I would never drug one of my friends.”
“Why of course not dear, I would never accuse you of such a thing. But stallions just don't perform without assistance.”
Rainbow sighed, Cloudchaser had probably told the entirety of Ponyville of Twilight's verility already, “Well, Twilight can. He didn't even need much encouragement.” Rainbow blushed and stared into Rarity's eyes, “In fact, he bent me over and had his way with me for hours.”
...
“Oh, my!” The silence was broken by a stiff winged, wide eyed Fluttershy.
---
Twilight Sparkle entered his throne room to find Lord Twilight Frost, House Twilight's own sociopath, Lady Velvet's attack dog and probably the only reason the mare was still alive. It still baffled Twilight why the stallion was trusted with any task that didn't involve somepony dead, even something as simple as recalling a house member.
And hanging off of him was the only mare desperate enough to marry him, Dame Blazing Passion turned out to be the worst kind of ladder-climber. Luckily the orange leach-in-equine-form isn't nearly as clever, nor as subtle as she fancied herself. Which meant that she was the exact kind pony that should not be trusted with anything, ever.
“Why if it isn't House Twilight's own Dark Triad power couple.” Twilight sneered, “I don't recall inviting you to my castle ...” Twilight paused, “... ever.”