The servants scattered as Prince Lightning Strike and I walked through the hallways of the Crystal Palace. As the prince's advisor, it was my job to tell him what things were going wrong and how he should fix them. However, he hardly listened to me. In fact he wasn't even listening to me at the moment, he was giving me a detailed list of all the things I should have been doing.
"… And make sure the guards have their armor polished! I hate having to see dirt scuffs everywhere." He finished with a low growl.
"Yes, your majesty. I'll have Comet Shield see to it that-"
"No! You will do this yourself. I can't have lazy advisors, can I?" He interrupted, giving me a glare that would have made weaker mares run for the hills.
"As you wish, your majesty." I replied smoothly, looking back down at the clipboard held aloft by my magic. A levitated quill danced across the paper, scrawling in a note, and I looked back up at the enraged prince. "Will that be all, my Prince?"
He smirked at the title and stepped closer to me, invading my personal space.
"Yes, Spectrum, that will be all." He said, his voice like ice down my spine. I bowed as low as I could and trotted away, aware of his eyes on my flank. At the end of the hallway I rounded a corner and shuddered. It wasn't that the prince wasn't handsome, he was, or would have been had his attitude improved. It was that every time he looked at me I felt like it wasn't the prince behind the dull orange eyes, but a monster. A cold-hearted, evil, thing.
"If only Prince Thunder Hoof were here." I whispered, to myself. Before Lightning Strike had taken the throne, his older brother Thunder Hoof had been in charge. Unlike his malevolent younger brother, Thunder Hoof was kind to and caring of his subjects. A few years into his reign, though, something had happened and he had disappeared, leaving his younger brother to rule.
Most had assumed Thunder Hoof had died in a battle, but there were others who believed he was still alive. And some, like me, had been searching all across Equestria for any sign of him, only to turn up dust.
"Spectrum." A voice hissed. I glanced up and looked around, but there was no sign of anypony. Confused, I started down the hall again.
"Spectrum." The voice said again, louder and closer this time, and definitely more urgent. It took me a moment before I realized the voice was in my head. Another moment, and I realized the voice was male and very familiar.
Yes…? I replied mentally. There was no answer. More confused than I was before, I tried to place the voice. I knew it was from someone close to me, but how? How were we connected? Who was it? I was less close to an answer when the voice spoke again, loudly, urgently, and slightly panicked.
"Spectrum, DUCK!" The voice shouted, and I hit the floor just a bolt of magic whizzed over my head. I watched as it hit a suit of armor and explode, scattering the burnt remains across the hallway. I didn't have time to look for my attacker because the voice was shouting at me again. "Run, Spectrum! And don't look back! Keep running!"
So I did.
