10 Years

10 Years since the dark presence in the sky first appeared. And it is still up there, not moving, not disappearing, it's just there. At first Terra thought it would mean bad news for his subjects, maybe even the whole planet. But after 10 years of the dark blob just existing there and doing nothing, he began to think that maybe, there's nothing going to happen after all. He had Luna look into it, but all she came up with was that there was just nothing. An Area where nothing exists, except for some lingering energies of what existed there before it disappeared. They concluded that it had to be some weird "Space Thingy" that just never happened before.

With his mind at ease, terra was able to concentrate on more pressing matters. His Daughter for example. Lumen Cadenza grew up to be a wonderful child. Trained in proper manners from day 1 of her birth, she was a prime example of a kind and understanding pony. But still... she was only 10. And thus acted like a child should sometimes. Playing around with the servants in the castle, sometimes pulling a prank on her father. Terra could have sworn that her mother even helped her out sometimes, he just lacked the proof.

What was lacking though was her cutie mark. As was the norm for all Alicorns, the appearing of the cutie mark could take more time than it does for a normal pony. Sometimes it wouldn't appear for hundreds of years. He knew for a fact that Celestia didn't get hers until she was 240 years old. As for Terras own cutie mark, he couldn't quite remember. It was so many millennia ago, and even alicorns can forget things, even if they're as important as getting their own cutie marks.

She did show an impressive talent in all forms of magic. Nothing really special, considering she was an Alicorn, but she was even learning faster than most alicorns did. her talents were showing especially in the arena. Maybe his daughter would grow up to be a very powerful battle mage? Sometimes it bothered Terra, thinking that his daughter’s destiny would be fighting for all eternity. But then he remembered that nothing really happens without a reason. Maybe she would save her people from an overpowering foe, that nopony else could defeat? That would be very heroic and a deed fit for a ruler.

And once again, Terra caught himself over thinking things. He did so more often recently, maybe it was because he had so much free time. He tended to let Celestia and Luna do all the hard work, dealing with the citizens of Equestria wasn't really his cup of tea. If someone came up to him and asked for his advice, he would give it to them of course. The well being of his subjects was of most importance. But as is only pony, even immortal Alicorn rulers could grow tired of being on guard all the time for hundreds of years. Since a hundred years he pushed most of his work onto the two alicorns. 100 years might seem like a lot, but for an Alicorn it is really more of a short vacation.

So as he did most of the time nowadays, he was sitting in the royal gardens. Overlooking the whole city of Canterlot and even a lot of Equestria (since Canterlot rested upon a giant mountain) the royal gardens were by far his favorite place to be. Even after hundreds of years he never grew tired of the always changing scenery in front of him. It was truly a sight to behold.

As he was sitting there, philosphing over life. A small shadow was creeping up to him. Unbeknownst to the creeping creature, terra took notice of it a long time ago. He was after all, the Alicorn of the Earth and all life that rested upon it. Thus it was easy for him to sense the presence of anything living near him.

The Shadow finally reached a point behind Terras back and prepared for a lunge. It jumped right at Terra... only to hit the ground. Terra expertly dodged the assault and was now sitting there, laughing at his daughters failed attempt to surprise him.

Slowly the little princess got up from the dirt, still a little dizzy in the head.

"That was totally unfair!" she shouted at Terra. "I hate it when you do that!"

"Dearest daughter never has one of your "surprise attacks" worked on me, and you know exactly why! So why did you think it would work this time?" Terra asked with a smile on his face, betraying his formal tone.

"Mom taught me a concealing spell yesterday, to hide my presence you know? I thought this would definitely work!"

"Oh my little Lumen, you've still so much to learn. A simple spell like this won't trick me. I don't think that anything existing on this planet could hide from me. But come and sit with me for a while. We haven't talked for a week! Tell me what you were up to."

Lumen took a few steps towards her father to sit next to him. Leaning against him she started talking.

"Professor Dusty Books taught me a lot of new things in class. But sometimes I wished I was not the only one in my class. Is it really necessary that I be taught in private? I'd really like to make some real friends sometimes! All I ever get to see are the servants and guards. Sometimes I think they are loosing on purpose so they don't anger me. I'd really like some friends that don't just like me because I am a princess!"

"You know you're getting private classes because you're an Alicorn. Alicorns learn much faster than most Ponies, so this is the only way you can learn as much as possible, without being held back by others. But I promise you, someday you will find some real friends. Friends that will go through good and bad times with you, never letting you go. But you most likely find them in commoner schools. You have to find them amongst our ranks. Someday you will find some servants or guards that are different from the others."

"I know, I know... that's what you tell me anytime I tell you. But I just don't want to wait! It's so boring having just you, mom, Tia and Luna around that I can talk to normally."

"Someday you will find them, real friends. A good ruler has to be able to show patience. Remember this, for it isn't always easy to stay calm."

"Yes father. I will remember this lesson." Lumen said with a serious voice.

As always when it comes to learning, Lumen was very quick on the uptake. Which reminded him...?

"So how are your dueling lessons going?"

Lumen instantly brightened up at the mention of her favorite subject. She began talking so fast that Terra almost couldn't keep up with her.

"OhItIsSoGreat!BlazingFireTaughtMeThisIceSpellAFewDaysAgo..."

Terra just had to interrupt her by shoving a hoof in her mouth.

"Whoa, hold your horses little one! Calm down and tell me in a manner I can understand what you're saying!" Terra said with a stern look on his face.

Lumen only nodded and Terra pulled back his hoof, resting it on the floor once again.

"It's so amazing Dad! There are so many wonderful battle spells to learn! You can even use a lot of them to do different stuff than attacking. Blazing Fire taught me this Ice Spell 2 days ago. After showing me the many uses it had in a fight, he created some really beautiful Ice Sculptures with it! They had so much detail; they almost looked like the real things! I can't wait to be as good as him someday!"

Terra listened to his daughter talking, forgetting all the worries he had before. They kept talking, and before they knew the sun was setting on the horizon. Basking the world in a beautiful red light before finally setting and disappearing completely. The Moon took the suns place in the sky, and with it, millions of stars appeared in the night sky. Creating a beatiful view.

Terra and Lumen were just sitting there, watching the many stars decorating the night sky. After some time Terras sight fell onto the black spot that disrupted the display. Watching it for some time he came to the decision, that there was nothing to worry about after all