The Darkness and the Light (Book 2 of the Alicorn Chronicles)

Chapter 5: A Royal Visit

Sparkle flew over the kingdom, looking for any signs of danger. As she flew, she couldn't help but notice the architecture.

All of the buildings were different, yet the same. They were either painted black or white. The white ones were all softer and rounded. The black ones were hard and sharp. And the castle, it was truly breath taking.

It was very tall, dwarfing even the tallest building. Its arches were gracefully, round and had a soft curve. It's peaks were dominant, with sharp points and hard edges. It was a beautiful centerpiece for a beautiful kingdom.

Sparkle landed on her balcony and walked back into her room. The book lay open on her bed. She realized, with a smile, that she hadn't even bothered to read the title! She bookmarked her page and lifted it up to read the cover.

Confused, she opened the book to the title page and frowned. The same thing. The book had no title. She opened it back to the page she was reading, then set it back on her bed.

She walked out of her bedroom and down to the dinning room where she sat at the table after fixing a cup of coffee.

At that moment, two guards walked in and bowed before her. The first one spoke.

"Your Highness, Princesses Celestia and Luna have arrived and wish to speak with you. They await your presence in the thrown room." He said.

"Very well, thank you. Oh! And could you please fetch Samuel and ask him to meet me there?" Sparkle replied.

The guards agreed and Sparkle headed to the thrown room. She entered the room and saw her past mentors standing before the thrown.

"Tia! Lu Lu!" Sparkle said as she ran to them and wrapped them in a hug.

"Hey Sparky! It's great to see you!" Luna said, using the pet name that Sparkle despised.

"Yes, it is good to see you. But we came for a reason. Sparkle, have you any idea what evil is threatening the kingdom of Light and Dark yet?" Celestia asked.

Sparkle sighed and sat in the thrown.

"I am not sure, but from what research I have done I believe it is an Alicorn by the name of Cosmus." Sparkle said.

The princesses gasped.

"But Tia! I thought he was gone!" Luna cried.

"As did I, sister. But if it is Cosmus we're dealing with, it's going to be a harder battle for you than I thought. And you will have to do it alone, for Luna and I will not be able to assist you." Celestia said.

Sparkle bowed her head. She so longed to tell her sister princesses about the prophecy, but a feeling in her gut told her otherwise. She nodded.

"Very well. We will do our best." Sparkle declared.

"I know you will, Princess Sparkle Shimmer. We must be going now, but please, be careful." Celestia said, walking towards the door.

"I will. Goodbye, my friends." Sparkle said.

Just as the princesses exited, Samuel entered.

"What happened?" He asked as she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

She told him every detail of the conversation, leaning on his shoulder for support. She was exhausted. Turns out, there was more to being a princess than she was prepared for.

"So what are we going to do?" Samuel asked, wrapping his wing around her and holding her close.

"Much, MUCH more research." Sparkle sighed, and they headed to the library.

~Princess Sparkle Shimmer