Chapter Text
Everything was painted gold.
That's the first thing he noticed when he exited the palace. The fireworks that littered the sky had rained a glittering gold on the masses of Khaenri'ah. There was a joyous noise of laughter and screams of delight and singing that were so loud they almost echoed off of the walls that were worlds away from where the Kingdom resided. This was arguably his favourite part. Watching the citywide festival of dancing citizens from the palace balcony that lead down to the densely packed main square.
He dropped the linen from his hands, not caring of the consequences he might face later from the masters. His grin was spread so wide in excitement that he yelled the current song the crowd was singing as he ran to join the crowd.
It was the loudest party he'd witnessed yet. He was totally invisible among the joy the people had. Peasant and noble alike had been moving in messy formation to the barely audible instruments located along the side of the streets. He skipped along with a random stranger, the gold from the fireworks ethereally illuminating their darker skin.
Even though his prince, as he liked to call him, was no where to be found, he was still filled with a euphoria comparable to nothing he'd ever felt before. But he had no reason to fret for long.
The fireworks exploded in time to the music.
Pop. A series of steps from the dance everyone learns for the festival. Bang-bang. Spin around your partner and then weave through the dancing circles. Boom-boom. Gallop passed four people until you reached your new partner, turning away and grabbing their hands. Bang. Pop-bang, bang.
And he whipped his head to meet his new partner, though he already knew who he was. He smiled, inches away from the other's face, their heavy breathing knocking away any loose strands of hair from each other's faces. He wanted to see the other's clearly, his skin, his smile, his eyes.
"And how are you faring this evening my prince?"
The other smiled and they both executed their steps while giving goofy eyes at each other. They were definitely the youngest among their dance circle, most kids their age in the group dances on the other side of the courtyard instead of the couple's dance.
It made him more and more excited every time they met here.
"The festivity is definitely the most extravagant I've attended yet, and still I can't help but notice how much you stand out."
He raised a coy brow. "You seem more eager to flatter this evening." They ducked passed each other, turned and ducked the other way. The dance called then to hover your arm's next to your partner's but most just held the other's, as his prince did with him.
He was pulled close as they continued more twirls and turns. "Maybe it's the glitter from the heavens. You look like I found the most precious gemstone, though to me you're better than any treasure I could hope to find."
His prince's grin grew as his own grew wider.
The dance had finished with them throwing their hands up, but he decided to be bolder this evening, intertwining their fingers after they were already so close. His prince wiggled his eyebrows at the gesture.
Bang.
His heart pounded louder than the fireworks above them.
"Don't sell yourself short. You look quite divine yourself."
He wasn't exaggerating either. His prince had acquired face paint from one of the stands that had been highlighted with the same glitter that had rained down from the fireworks. The blue's swirled around his eyes, making him look like he hailed from Celestia herself. His mouth was parted in surprise, but it pressed into a shy smile. As bold as he was, he was easily flustered. His face then pinched into an inconvenienced frown.
"I gotta go away for a bit. Not for long though."
The boy tilted his head.
"Whatever for?"
His prince looked back at him, pushing a stray strand of hair away from the other's face.
"Did you hear the prince is leaving Khaenri'ah?"
"Yes. That's why we're having a festival so big after all."
"You know no one here cares about the reason we throw festivals so big. Especially not for the arse in line for the crown."
The boy smiled as their still joined hands as he tugged them both into the crowds preparing for a second dance. They joined the mass of people who were too drunk to dance clearly, singing drinking songs to fill the slightly quieter space of time as everyone prepared.
"And what does he have to do with your leaving."
"Well, I'm going to follow him of course."
The boy raised his eyebrows certainly not expecting that answer.
"Why?"
"There's a whole world beyond our kingdom. I'm certainly not letting a measly prince be the first here to explore it."
The boy looked at his prince in wonder. "Could I come along then?"
"No!" His prince exclaimed rather quickly. "Or- uhhh. Well.... no."
The boy squinted. "Usually the fact you want to abandon me means that you're getting into trouble." His eyes widen. "You don't plan to do something to the prince do you?"
His prince's eyes shot open, covering the other's mouth with his hand. "Don't add treason to the stuff they want me for, but no. It's just-"
He cut himself off, and the boy looked at him with curiosity. His prince lived in a world larger than life, his eyes big enough to hold the dreams he wanted to play out. The boy struggled to keep up sometimes but that didn't make him jealous or tired. His prince gave him glimpses of the world, the boy always hungry for more. He could never hope to understand but that was okay. Though far from reality, his prince was everything but. The boy brought their intertwined hands to his mouth, resting his lips on the calloused and rough, warm hands in his; as real and as present as the fireworks above.
"I don't want you getting hurt. You're the Khaenri'ah I want to come back to. This thing I have with the prince is nothing but a playful face, I promise. I just need to see what was beyond Khaenri'ah and as exciting as it'll be, its uncertain."
"Then why do you need to go? I don't really want to be apart."
"I don't either but-"
His prince finally looked down at their joined hands, appearing to have not noticed them before. He leaned down and kissed the boy's knuckles. The first firework of blue exploded at the same time the boy's stomach did, and electric feeling traveling from his gut to the rest of his body where his and his prince's hands met.
"Have you ever heard of the sun?"
"I've read stories."
"I hear it shines brighter than any other torch than we have here. It hangs in the sky," they both finally look up at the firework display, marveling at the glittering lights above. "It's big and bright and so hot sometimes that it can cause a red rash on your skin."
"It doesn't sound the most pleasant." They both chuckled.
"I guess not, but imagine something so far away, shining so bright that just its light can melt away any snow. And the moon! It's a huge ball in the sky that glows silver and can also light the dark. It's always light enough to see and its so far away from Khaenri'ah's darkness. I just want to know what it's like to be somewhere so bright and free and-"
"Golden," the boy responded. "I do want to come with you though."
"Maybe sometime later, when I know exactly what places I want to show you."
The boy looked down from the fireworks at his prince standing in front of him.
"Okay?"
"Okay."
...
The crowd danced on. The fireworks looking down on them had shifted from golden to blue. The kingdom was only granted one night of festivity to pop fireworks so when they were granted it, every single rocket was fired. The usual dark of the Kingdom was shone away by the bright lights above. The boy was willing to wager it was a more spectacular sight than that of any sun or moon in the sky.
The boy and his prince were jumping on their feet so long they had begun to blister. That was how you knew it was a wonderful night.
His prince stopped him at the end of the song, pulling the boy's arms down from his prince's waist.
"I wanted to give you something before I left. I'm a bit nervous though. So, you're not allowed to judge me."
The boy was going to tease about what his prince was so nervous about before his prince's lips met his own.
Oh.
It was brief, coated in sweat. It was almost so light that the boy thought he had dreamt it. But he didn't.
"Thank you," he said, before shaking his head and burying it in his prince's chest at the embarrassment.
"Thank you, huh?"
"Shut your mouth."
They stayed that way, rocking together as the music started to die down. His prince had lifted his head, the boy following suite.
"I need to go now."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
The crowd was starting to disperse.
"Come back to me?"
"Always."
And just like that his prince was gone.
The boy had stood in crowd moving to make way for what he later learned was a parade that was coming through. The prince, the real Prince of Khaenri'ah, was leaving to find help outside of Khaenri'ah as expeditions had found that the creatures had left an opening in their offensive and the bodies of a neighboring Kingdom's knights were found, giving evidence that a world outside of Khaenri'ah existed and was still alive and well.
It was the first hope that the kingdom had in centuries and the celebration that was thrown on the streets was almost as big as the one of present.
The royal trumpets had sounded louder than the crowds, which was definitely saying something. The boy had looked up to see a grand cart with the royal insignia on it, with curtains covering where the prince had to have resided. The boy searched and with a bit of disappointment, he couldn't find his prince among the horses accompanying the prince along the side. Maybe he was caught by the guards.
An amused smile found its way to the boy's face as the parade grew smaller and smaller. When the cart had finally disappeared from view, a drunk man had hollered, "Can we get back to the music?" and the musicians had obliged.
The boy smiled and turned back to the dancing crowd, getting lost in it and feeling at home in its invisibility.
His prince was chasing the sun, but the boy felt just as alive in the shadows.
...
After a drinking game with the girl he danced with earlier, a shy smile on her face when she said he was good at dancing and had invited him to spend the night with her and her friends, he found himself leaning back on a table in front of the tavern they'd decided to play next to.
A grin was still present on his own face as he looked back on the night he had so far. The fireworks were falling back into sync with the music and he started tapping his fingers to the rhythm, singing to the sky.
Pop.
He wiggled his head along with the music recalling the dance he and his prince shared.
Bang-bang.
He was satisfied at the perfection in which his foot tapped. But he started to get a headache. Must've been the alcohol he'd drunken, but he couldn't exactly get drunk, could he? He checked his vision by putting his hands in front of his face. Were they... magenta? The veins running through them were stark black though. That he was sure of. His grin started retracting when he heard a faint buzzing in his ear. Something wasn't right.
Boom-boom.
He sat up when he heard two guards on patrol start talking hurriedly. Their murmurs were barely audible among the music but were worried and harsh. Something caught their attention though. Their heads whipped up and they started sprinting towards whatever they took notice of. The crowd around them was too busy in their own worlds to take notice the guards were worried. He saw lights from patrol towers started getting put out.
Bang.
Something tugged his eyes to the upper corner of a building. A creature, so black it looked like an empty void, was hovering over a stand where children were buying sweet pastries, dolls and other toys won from festival games held tightly to their chests. The boy jumped back and blinked his eyes shaking his head. He imagined that. He did. He looked back and saw that the creature was gone. Nothing was happening. Nothing was wrong. It's just a festival.
Pop-bang.
The boy started running. The buzzing in his ear was more prominent now, tugging and pulling his consciousness in all kinds of directions. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to do. Would his prince be safe? Would the prince be safe? The King? His master's? Khaenri'ah? What was going on? He slid as he crashed into people in the crowd, trying his best to get to the palace where his master resided, refusing to take part in the activities. She said she had a meeting with the King, so she was safe. She had to be. That was where all the palace guards were. He stopped in his tracks though when he saw the end of a firework light up and take off into the sky. Something was there. Something that the previous ones weren't illuminating.
He kicked it to a higher angle, needing to send it further up just to calm his nerves. Nothing was there. Nothing at all. He was being crazy.
He watched the rocket shoot up, up, up, into the perpetually dark sky above. He furrowed his brows, squinting to try and see where it went among its other peers. The trail of sparks sizzled out but he had better eyesight than most. He could still see the tiny bottle in the sky. It exploded but after a split millisecond the dark swallowed it. It didn't go off. Or rather it did, but the dark had entombed its light.
Bang.
A single scream cut through the never ending night.