Meanwhile, back at the beach where the four friends were last together, Crystal and Seirbigh stand at the water’s edge side by side, feeling the cool salt water flow between their hooves. A long breath exits the pink mare’s throat as her eyelids grow heavy. The green stallion looks to his right to see Crystal’s drift into relaxation and decides to take advantage of it. In one swift move, he shifts his body right next to hers, massaging her bare side with the muscles in his wings. A soft coo is breathed out by the Earth Pony and scoots closer to her partner.

Seirbigh then reaches his head close to Crystal’s ear and asks in a whisper, “How do you feel?”

“Paradise,” she responds, rubbing her lips together in synchronization to the rubbing of the prince’s wing on her side. “I’m even starting to doubt that even Heaven can best this moment.”

“I’m so glad thou think that, for who else deserves better than you, my prize rose of the garden of Eden?”

“Other than you, my pure diamond buried the chasms of a coal mine?”

“Yet we keep these thoughts to ourselves in secrecy, despite our friends knowing of our relationship. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I guess the lack of time we have to share these moments in privacy make it all the more desirable.”

“But is Ceann right? Are we pushing Dorch and Ceann away from us just to have these desired moments together?”

“I’m afraid to say that we cannot deny the possibility of such a theory. Yet, I hope our friends understand why this is so.”

“Why must our few moments together always have to end with some sort of political talk? Why can’t we just spend the time enjoying each other’s company and not care for anypony else?”

“I want it just as much as you do, but as a prince and princess, we can’t, for every action we do, it will change the lives of many ponies one way or another.”

“Then let us not be royalty, let us be free for this time.”

“If only it could be that simple.”

“Then I shall make it that simple.” With a beat of his wings, Seirbigh swings his body around and moves directly in front of Crystal’s face, creating a faint slosh upon landing. The prince then leans his face into hers, gently rubbing his soft nose against her even softer nose. With both eyes firmly sealed, the internal nature of the two ponies overcame their sentience of the outside world and all they could think of was each other

They continue to massage each other’s snouts for what seemed like days with no end. The water below their hooves kept their knees and legs from aching as time was no longer sensible between the two lovers. Finally, after an eternity of nothing but each other, the sound of sand abruptly shifting far off in the distance echoes into the ear of Crystal Charm, prompting her to lift her nose from his. Seirbigh eyes abruptly open upon losing contact while Crystal turns her head towards the noise and slowly open her eyes. “Is there a problem?”

“Somepony is coming.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know.” Crystal narrows her eyes onto the brown dot on the horizon, trying to make out who or what that is. She calls out, “Who is it?”

“It is I,” the figure responds with a male voice, “your father, King Adamán Charm.”

“Father, what are thou doing here on the other side of Trihearth in the Pearl Kingdom? Shouldn’t thou be looking over the Forest Kingdom?”

“I was, but after you didn’t return for your midday meal, I became worried about you.”

“Why didn’t send a guard?”

“Nothing you need to worry yourself with my dear Crystal. You should be returning home.”

“Okay Father, just give me a minute to say farewell to my friend, Seirbigh.”

“I’d actually like to have a word with him as well, go along after you finish, I’ll follow behind shortly.” The brown figure in the distance began to pick up its pace, becoming more and more visible to the two young ponies. Crystal turns to Seirbigh and solemnly moans, “I’m sorry for my father to ruin this moment.”

"It’s okay,” the prince replies, “I shall return here at midnight when the moon touches the peak of the sky. We can continue our moment of privacy once more then. I may even have something special to give you…”

“Alright, farewell Seirbigh,”

“Crystal, wait.”

“What is it?”

“I… um…” Seirbigh stood in silence for a full minute, giving ums and stammers along the way, trying to bring the words from the back corners of his mind to his mouth. “You see…”

“Tell me tonight, we don’t have enough time right now. Farewell.” Quickly, Crystal trots away from her lover and past her father. She then walks around the corner of the beach and heads westward towards the Forest Kingdom, but not before giving one last look at the green pegasus.

“King Adamán Charm, Earth Pony King of the Forest Kingdom,” Seirbigh bends a knee down and gives a regal bow to the large stallion before him before continuing, “what fine purple robes that rest upon your body and golden crown that caresses your black dreadlocks today. What do I owe the honour of being in your presence?”

“I’ve been seeing you being around with my daughter lately,” he responded. A small frown rests upon his face as the old stallion continues, “A lot more. And I want to have my facts straight before proclaiming any judgements upon you.”

“What facts do you seek to correct?”

“Is it true, that you and Crystal are very close friends?”

“Well, yes, so are Sir Dorch and Lady Ceann of the Pearl Kingdom.”

“Hmmm…”

“Sir?”

“Do you have, special feelings, towards the princess?”

“She’s one of the fairest maidens in the land thanks to your guidance. I wouldn’t be surprised if anypony else had such feeling for her.”

“…Well then, what are your thoughts towards the Forest Kingdom? And be completely honest with me, for your benefit.”

“To be honest, I think it’s better than the Metal Kingdom in its current state.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Recently, my parents have been changing to kingdom expenditures to increase support in military. It’s not that big of a problem, but some citizens, both inside and outside the kingdom, are drawing conspiracy from it and it’s destroying royal privacy.”

“You seem very open to telling me about this, why might I ask?”

“Why should I hide anything from you o’ king? We are allies.”

This lad is clearly hiding an ill intention for telling me this.

“Aren’t we?”

“We shall see. And now, what about your ponies, is it true what they say? That ever since the rule of your parents, they’ve been a bit, unstable?”

“What does this have to do with me and Crystal?”

“Has thou become hypocritical to his own word? Has thou been hiding something from me?”

“No, I just want to know why you’re asking.”

Aha! I knew that any descendant of that vile dragon of a lord’s wife would be trouble. “What makes thou think that you’re worthy of my daughter’s hoof, if not even her alliance with you if you are not true to your word and withholding secrets from me.”

“Are you judging me because of my parents?”

“It is all discrimination, dear boy. You’ve taken influence from your parents and are now exerting thy influence upon me.”

“Your discrimination is based upon bias. I apologize for the rudeness of my statement, but-”

“Do not apologize if you do not mean it. I have seen how your ponies act around others and the negative consequences that follow, and I do not want such behaviour among my ponies, especially within my kin.”

“I promise you sire, me and my ponies are not as violent as what they rumor. I shall be a great king and lead a greater kingdom. And I know that Crystal will be an even greater queen, and together, with the wisdom of Dorch as the future ruler of the Pearl Kingdom, we shall pull Trihearth from the recent darkness and back to the glory in which it once stood.” The king then approaches the smaller stallion, sizing himself over Seirbigh and narrowing his sharp dark green eyes into his soft blues. The prince tries to uphold his masculinity and bravery before the large figure, but soon begins to feel a faint buckling building in his knees.

“The only reason that the kingdoms are declining is because of disloyalties between each other. I don’t want any of these disloyal attitudes anywhere near me, even if that means taking extreme measures to stop it. For that is what a good ruler must do, despite what others would see it as morally wrong.” Seirbigh’s legs finally give out, and the green pegasus shivers onto his knees while the king continues to stare him down. “However, after seeing your dedication, bot to your ponies and allies, I shall be open minded towards you, for now. You might be a good king.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“If you can prove yourself as a good pony and future ruler, I may give you my blessings.”

“Sir, it would be an honour.”

“I must go home now, I best suggest you do to.”

“Yes King Adamán.” The two ponies gave a quick bow to each other before heading away from each other, with Seirbigh going into the jungle far from the Coast and Crystal’s father following in his daughter’s hoofsteps along the northern coastline.

I can’t believe it! He’s actually giving me a chance. The giddy pegasus thinks to himself as he flies over the jungle below. He looks down to see the once branches and leaves of the labyrinth of palm trees, now looking like a green squishy blob of moving color. He realizes that he is moving at a much faster rate than normal, a possible side effect of his excitement. He then looks up to the blue sky above. His nostrils expand as the wave of fresh, cool air flows directly to his brain. Can this day get any better?

After a minute of flying and thinking to himself, his eyes come across a small grey object on the horizon. He knew that beyond the jungle, there is a large volcanic mountain range. And in that mountain range, there is a fertile valley with a beautiful clean river that flows through it, an ideal place for his home to have been built many generations before. He remembers all of the beautiful stone and wood buildings that cover the green valley in a perfect pattern, and couldn’t wait to show Crystal the land he knows from his castle built into the face of a mountain.

With a tailwind at his back, the prince soars over the forest and into the mountain range. As he flies over one of the many smaller volcanoes that make up the area and observes the bubbling and mesmerizing glow of the magma inside it. He has always seen the molten rock inside the mountains surrounding his home before, but today, he felt that it looked more beautiful before.

His sightseeing is immediately brought to a screeching halt however by a voice yelling at him from below, “Seirbigh Cystic the Fourth, what are you doing?” He takes a double-take and examines his surroundings, realizing that he just flew over the valley due to his euphoric state of mind. He hovers back slowly onto the rocky valley ledge overlooking his valley. He looks over the hilltop to see his mother, a bright red unicorn with a silver crown resting on her silver mane and a copper show-saddle on her back. The prince’s eyes subtly roll in annoying as he lands in front of her.

“Sorry mother, I was out-”

“Ah-ah,” she shush him in her usual over-loving tone, just happy to see her son not in any state of injury, “You’ve been gone for six hours, at least. I was starting to get worried about you.”

“I kinda figured…”

“What was keeping you gone for so long? Did anypony cause you any trouble?”

“No mother,” he moans, having gone through this type of questioning many times before, “I was just with my friends.”

“Well okay, but if anypony, ANYPONY, Is causing you trouble, just tell me.”

“I know, I know, you’ll take care of it.”

“Aw, you remember, that’s right.”

Been knowing for over fifteen years Mom…

“So what were you and your friends doing?”

“Nothing much, just played as usual.”

“Nothing special at all happened?”

“Well, I guess there is, one thing that was, special of sorts.”

“What ‘tis it?”

“Well, there’s this mare-”

“Oh, it’s that sort of mare, I’m so proud of you. Finally, you’re maturing into a true ruler of this country.” Seirbigh’s mother exclaims, giving him a tight squeeze around the torso in the process. “What’s she like?”

“She’s funny, able to get me to smile with a single joke or witty comment. Wise, knows so much about astronomy, biology, science, mathematics, and is able to use them to help me and others. Beautiful, has the perfect shade of pink in her fur and a blonde mane and tail, just the purest uncut length one could ask for.”

“She has pink fur and a long blonde mane? I don’t recall any of our citizens having those traits…”

“That’s because she isn’t a citizen of the Metal Kingdom.”

“What?”

“She’s the princess of the Forest Kingdom.” His mother immediately became silent and stares off towards the west, towards where the Forest Kingdom lies. Seirbigh begins to feel worried for what he could’ve done to make his mother act like this, as if he had just cursed the land for making a deal with a witch.

“Oh dear…”

“Mother, are you alright?”

“You have, these feelings towards the daughter of Adamán?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Come with me inside, I’m afraid I have to tell you something.”

“What ‘tis it?”

“Something I didn’t know you to know, but I’m afraid I’ll have to tell you. Best we do it in privacy so no pony takes this the wrong way.” The two then head off back to their home, with Seirbigh following his mother the whole way back.