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The Prince of Ponyville

by Kavonde

Chapter 8: The Prince Gets Fresh

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Blueblood stared in numb horror at the ruined bodies of his parents. Beside him, his younger self gave a mournful, terrified howl. Blood was soaking into the plush toys lumped together in the room, slowly turning them a monstrous scarlet as they soaked it in.

His mother was a traitor. His father was a monster. And they'd murdered eachother right in front of their infant son.

Twilight said that babies might not form memories, but they could still form impressions of the world around them. He didn't want to think about the sorts of impressions this had left on him.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder. He turned to find Twilight gazing at him with such a mixture of horror and sympathy that it almost hurt to look into her eyes. "Celestia... I'm so sorry... "

"Why hasn't this disappeared?" he asked numbly.

"What?".

He gestured around the room. "This should be fading. My mother died. How could she remember any of this?"

Twilight blinked, an analytical expression slipping over her concerned one. "You're right. Let me see... "

She closed her eyes in concentration, and her horn began to glow. Blueblood watched her for a moment, then turned to regard his former self.

Baby Blue's wails had quieted to an exhausted series of mumbling sobs. One hoof was pressed through the crib's bars, reaching out towards his parents. But he was stuck, far too young to be able to climb over or open it himself, and all he could do was stare helplessly at the lifeless forms of the ponies he loved.

Blueblood touched his hoof to the child's. It passed through with a mild tingling sensation. He sighed and stepped back.

"I think we're in your memories again," said Twilight, opening her eyes. "But... I don't know how to get us out. I would've thought it would be easier now that we're back in your mind, but... I think we're in this gray area between your first actual memories and when you really became cognizant."

"We're stuck?"

She nodded and swallowed. "And we're trapped in this room until somepony finds you."

"We... can't go back to the main memory area? With the rainbow colors?"

"We can try, but I don't know for sure. Starswirl wrote that he avoided looking into infants' memories whenever possible, because he theorized there was a risk of becoming trapped in the proto-memory."

Blueblood shook his head. "Couldn't you have practiced this on a cat or something first?"

"No," she said testily, "it only works on fully sentient creatures. Besides, I thought it would be a chance to get to know eachother."

"... This is your idea of a date?"

She flushed. "Well... I mean, um... "

"You cast an experimental spell on me, trapped me in my own mind, and made me watch my parents murder eachother... because, what? You couldn't ask me to coffee?"

Twilight cringed. "I'm really sorry. I had no way of knowing... "

Blueblood stared at her. He felt a stone block in his brain, cutting him off from the emotions that threatened to tear him to pieces if he let them through. But as he thought about what she'd done, what she'd made him see, he felt a tide of unwholesome fury rising behind it, threatening to carry him away. His teeth clenched. His shoulders tensed. He heard his voice take on a low growl, and hardly realized he was speaking.

"No way of knowing?" he sneered. "No way of knowing that maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't be messing around with spells that no unicorn has practiced in thousands of years? No way of knowing that maybe, despite being the 'Element of Magic,' you might just be a little overconfident in your abilities?"

"I know. I should have... "

"Should have what?!" he demanded. "Should have left well enough alone?! Should have considered acting like a normal filly instead of putting us both at risk?!"

"Blueblood... "

"You're an idiot! You're a dangerous, naive little idiot! Look what you've done! Look what you've made me live through!"

"I'm sorry!" she shouted back. "Okay?! I'm sorry! I screwed up!"

"You're damned right you screwed up! And now what happens?! Now what do we do?! Sit here with a crying child we can do nothing to comfort?! Have a nice little conversation in front of the bodies of my dead parents?!"

Tears were clouding Twilight's eyes as she tried to stand her ground against the verbal assault. Something about her defiant stance triggered something dangerous in Blueblood's heart, and he took a menacing step towards her. He felt his hoof rising of his own accord. Every cord and muscle in his body was screaming at him to lash out, to hurt her, to make her pay for what she'd done to him.

He looked into her eyes, and saw himself reflected. He looked just like his father. As abruptly as it came, the anger left him in a great rush, leaving him deflated and weak.

"Oh, Celestia," he whispered, dropping his hoof and falling back against the wall. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. That's... I've never... "

She watched him carefully, her stance still wary.

"It wasn't your fault," he continued after a moment. "I'm sorry for what I said. You couldn't have predicted this."

She studied him for a moment longer, then nodded and visibly relaxed. "It's okay. I understand."

"No, you don't," he sighed. "That... that rage. I don't know where it came from. I... I was going to hit you."

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was."

"No, you weren't," she said with a smirk. "You never would've laid a hoof on me. I'm the bucking Element of Magic; I would've dropped you like a bad habit."

He stared at her for a moment. Then, like a tapped wellspring, laughter started bubbling up out of the depths of his soul. He tried to hide his chuckles at first, but eventually he yielded and gave free reign to the hearty guffaws that refused to be caged in. He fell to his side, laughing in genuine delight, each burst of merriment scouring clean the dark clouds in his heart. He laughed uncontrollably until tears were streaming from his eyes and his head ached from the lack of oxygen. Finally, with a few ragged gasps, he fell silent.

"Feel better?" Twilight asked, grinning with an eyebrow raised.

"Very," he smiled back. "I truly am sorry for that outburst, Miss Sparkle-"

"Twilight," she interrupted.

"Twilight, yes." He gave her a quick, determined stare. "I assure you: I am not my father's son."

"I know," she smiled, moving to sit next to him. "I mean, neither of us really know much about him, but... yeesh, anger issues much?"

"Well, his wife was a child-abusing traitor who planned to indoctrinate her only son into a Nightmare Moon-worshiping cult."

"True," she said thoughtfully. She glanced around the room; the sun was beginning to set, lengthening the shadows and gradually hiding the carnage. Baby Blue had fallen asleep at the side of the crib, hooves sticking through towards his parents. "I really am sorry, though. About all of this."

"I'm not." Twilight looked up in surprise, and he shrugged. "Now I know. I'd never given my parents much thought, but the mystery had always been there, in the back of my mind. I asked Auntie Celestia about them, once, but she seemed so sad... all she told me was that they were from an ancient royal line, that my father had been a royal guard before going into business, and that my mother.... well, really, she didn't say much about her. And I never pressed. Why would I? My adopted mother was the Princess of the Sun. Who needed boring old mortal parents?"

He gestured to the unconscious child. "Besides, this is all just memory. It already happened. I can do nothing to change the past. And even if I had the opportunity to do so, I'd rather use it to slap myself for even considering trusting Azure. Every life lost to his armies was undoubtedly more valuable than those of my mother and father."

He felt a soft warmth press against him and caught the scent of fresh lilac. He turned his head to find that Twilight had rested hers on his shoulder, and was staring distantly at the far wall, where Cobalt and Radiant were now just an indistinct silhouette on the floor.

"Still," she said, "you were right. This was kinda dumb. I should've taken some precautions, done some more research... "

He sighed and leaned his cheek against her mane. "How long might we be trapped here?"

"I don't know. What's your first memory?"

Blueblood chewed his lip. "I believe it was my third birthday. The guests were leaving, and I was standing there next to Auntie Celestia. She asked me if I had had a good time... and I said that I would now that everypony was finished pestering me."

Twilight snorted. "Really?"

"Explains a lot, doesn't it?" He grinned, but it soon faded. "I don't know how old I was here, but I clearly can't even speak yet. If we're stuck following my memories until I turn three... "

"Yeah. That isn't good. Especially since time is still passing out in the real world."

She lifted her head, and they turned to meet eachothers' eyes. "How risky do you think it will be to escape?" he asked quietly.

"Very."

"What happens if we fail?"

"I don't know. Starswirl had a few theories, but... the least awful one was going irrevocably insane."

Blueblood bowed his head. "We're... going to have to try at some point."

"Yeah."

"Listen... " he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "For what it's worth... I'm very flattered by your regard for me, despite all of my many failings, and I'm very sorry for the stupid, thoughtless things I've said about you or your friends. They were uncalled for. And... had I known of your interest first, I... would have asked you out before I did Blossomforth. You're a remarkable mare, and... given the situation we may be facing, I just... "

Twilight's hoof brushed the side of his jaw. He looked up tentatively. She was smiling at him, the last rays of the setting sun dancing across her face and sparkling in her knowing eyes.

"You can kiss me if you want to," she told him.

He did.


A door creaked open in the distance. Baby Blue awoke with a start and immediately began howling, his voice full of hope that somepony had finally come to rescue him from this nightmare. Quick, quiet hoofsteps approached, and a tall, then figure, barely visible in the gloom, appeared at the doorway and surveyed the scene.

It sighed. "Really?"

Twilight and Blueblood stirred at the sound. They'd fallen asleep in eachother's hooves, Twilight's head nuzzled against Blueblood's broad chest. She lifted her head first, peering into the darkness for the source of the voice, but hardly any light was filtering in through the nursery's curtained windows.

Blueblood willed himself to his hooves and moved forward, trying to get a closer look at the intruder. To his momentary discomfort, the figure simply walked through him and towards the jumble of shadows beneath the window. It sighed again as it looked down at the fallen unicorns, then turned to Baby Blue, who was staring at the vague shape with wide eyes.

"Honestly," the figure told the child. "I told your mother a hundred times or more, 'be careful, be clandestine.' I warned her that this would happen. Well, not this, exactly, but... "

"I know that voice," Twilight whispered.

The figure bent down to examine the corpses. "Is that a hole in his... ? By Smooze, that old goat was a tough one. Strangled your mother to death while he bled out. Why didn't I recruit him instead?"

Baby Blue made a whimpering sound and pressed himself against the crib, hooves outstretched to the stranger. It snorted. "Oh, be silent. I'm not here to rescue you. You'll turn into a monster in an orphanage just as well as in here."

Blueblood moved next to Twilight, arching an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

Twilight shot him a nervous glance. "I'm not completely sure, but I think that's... "

"Hello? Mrs. Star? Mr. Cobalt?"

The room froze. The intruder's eyes flashed with a momentary green light, the dim illumination revealing ebon-black chitin and a long, jagged horn.

"I'm really sorry to stop by so late," the newcomer continued, "especially after you sent me home, but I forgot my purse, and... is... is that blood?"

The intruder moved to the window and tried to push it open, but a childproof lock held it securely shut. With a hiss of frustration, it stepped back and unleashed a blast of emerald energy that tore half the wall apart. In the flash of light, the two ponies could see an emaciated, feminine silhouette that seemed to have holes punched through its limbs. Twilight gasped. "It is her!"

There was a surprised scream from the hallway. The intruder moved to her new escape route, but paused to look back at the child, her green eyes alight with cruel malice.

"You'll serve our purposes whether your parents live or not," she told him. "Your mother made a deal, and we will not be cheated by her stupidity. The eclipse is coming."

Translucent insect wings spread from the creature's back. With a low buzz, she rose from the ground and darted into the night air, just as a terrified mule burst into the room, flicked on the lights, and screamed.

"Who... what was that?" Blueblood asked, hardly noticing as Mulie rushed through him towards his younger self.

"That was Chrysallis," Twilight told him quietly, watching her silhouette disappear into the night sky. "The Queen of the Changelings."


Twilight and Blueblood followed Baby Blue as he was carried out of the mansion by his distraught nanny. Behind her, royal guardsponies were going about the business of crime scene investigation. Chalk outlines had been drawn. Blood stains were being carefully stepped over. Several guards were discussing the hole blasted in the nursery's wall, and what it had to do with everything else.

Mulie set her young charge down on the low retaining wall that surrounded the property. Murmuring sweet nothings, she set about cleaning the child and changing his diapers. Baby Blue, for his part, was desperately clinging to her, thankful to see again one of the few ponies--well, creatures--in the world he still had left to him.

Blueblood watched them sadly. "I don't even remember her. She was likely the only real source of love I had before Auntie Celestia, and... I had never even known she existed before this night."

Twilight nuzzled his neck, and they stood together in silence. More guards filed in and out of the mansion. A large wagon marked "Canterlot Coroner" pulled up, and its drivers unharnessed themselves and set about preparing a long, white cot as they chatted quietly to themselves.

"Do you want to try now?" Twilight asked him as they watched the coroners enter his home.

He nodded, brushing his cheek against hers. "If it doesn't work... I'm glad we got to be together, at least for awhile."

"Me, too." She paused, then laughed. "Celestia, this is sappy. It's like we're stuck in a science fiction hybrid of one of Rarity's dumb romance novels."

Blueblood grinned. "Actually, I was going to say that it reminded me a bit of Jaunty Tune and her lover."

She blinked at him. "You read my Equestrinox books?!"

"Well, yes. Why do you think I kept asking to borrow them?"

"I thought you were just pretending to, to be polite."

He shook his head. "The prose was a bit pedestrian, but the stories were great. I enjoyed them immensely."

She started to protest the "pedestrian" comment, but stopped herself and smiled. "Well, anyway... yeah, I guess there is even sort of a portal to the netherworld, here. Of course, that means that if anything goes wrong, you're the one who's in trouble."

"I don't know, I could be Jaunty Tune in this scenario. We needn't go by strict gender roles."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You're hardly Jaunty Tune. Can you even sing?"

"No. That's why I quote Wiggle Spear in the shower instead."

She giggled. "Well, then again, maybe you're a bard who put points into Perform (Acting) instead of Perform (Singing)... "

Blueblood gave her a blank look.

"Er, okay, not enough points in Knowledge (Dorky Stuff) yet," she blushed. "Anyway... "

He nodded and took her hoof. "Whatever happens... "

"We'll be together," she finished. "Stuck in an endless void, cast adrift from our bodies, or driven hopelessly insane, but together."

"Cheery."

"Told you I'm Jaunty Tune."

"Princess Celestia!" Mulie called. Baby Blue opened his eyes and wailed.

Twilight and Blueblood looked up to see the Princess of the Sun descending towards the mansion, a gravely concerned expression on her face. She toughed down lightly next to Mulie, who bowed so low that her knees began to tremble. Celestia gently touched the mule with a hoof, urging her to rise.

"Is that little Blueblood?" she asked.

"Y-yes, Your Highness," Mulie stammered.

The princess knelt next to the child and touched her horn to his. A spark of golden light danced across hers, and when it made contact with the child, his eyes briefly glowed turquoise. Celestia frowned and opened her eyes, looking down at the child with concern.

"Is... is everything alright, Your Highness?" asked the nanny.

"I... " She paused. "Thank you for caring for this child, miss... ?"

"Mulie, Your Highness."

Celestia nodded. "Thank you, Miss Mulie. But... I think I had best take him."

"Is he alright?"

"He... " The princess frowned. "I will do everything in my power to make sure he is."

A golden glow surrounded the infant; he giggled in delight at the sensation of being lifted and swaddled in the warmth of the alicorn's magic.

"Blue, we have to go," said Twilight.

He blinked at her. "What?"

"We have to do it while Princess Celestia's here," she explained. "You have enough memories of her that I think I can sort of dig through to find one and use it to pull us out."

"Are you sure?"

She chewed her lip. "No, but it sounds good in theory."

He smiled. "I trust you."

"O-okay. Ready?"

"Ready."

Twilight's horn flared, her eyes went white, and Blueblood felt the universe being ripped apart around him.


"I dedicate my son to the darkness. I grant dominion of his soul to the powers that lurk at the ragged edges of reality. I bequeath his body to the blackest hearts of Tartarus. I anoint him a servant of Nightmare Moon, and a disciple of that which she serves. The eclipse is coming. Equestria will be reborn."


Blueblood opened his eyes slowly. He didn't have to think about opening them, which was an immense relief. He was lying on the floor in the library's basement. The chaotic mess of scientific equipment was still jumbled around him. The sheen of the silver ink marking the magic circle had faded a bit as it dried. Through a small, high window, he could see that the first rays of sunlight were beginning to peek over the horizon.

He felt something stirring against his back, and turned to find Twilight, looking dazed but conscious, staring at the ceiling with obvious relief. "We made it," she said.

He smiled. "I never doubted."

"Liar."

He shrugged, then, on an impulse, rolled onto his side and kissed her. She squeaked in surprise, but then melted into it, wrapping a hoof around his neck to run through his mane. With an eager sound, he shifted so that he was nearly on top of her, pressing more deeply into the kiss as she squirmed into a comfortable position beneath him.

"Twiley?!"

Twilight and Blueblood looked up in surprise. Shining Armor, his eyes bloodshot and his red tunic rumpled, was standing on the stairway and was staring at them with his mouth agape. Beside him stood Spike, two glasses of water in his hands, looking at them with a nauseated expression.

"Um, Shining!" Twilight called much too cheerfully, sliding out from under her companion. "Uh, hi!"

"Wh-what the hay-"

Blueblood sighed and rose to his hooves. "Yes, hello, Armor. Did you have something important to tell us?"

His eyes moved from his sister to the prince and narrowed dangerously. "What are you doing with my sister?!" he demanded.

"Kissing," Blueblood answered with a shrug. "Rather a lot of it, actually. You're a married stallion, I assume you're familiar with the concept."

Shining's nostrils flared. "You keep your creepy, treacherous hooves off my little sister, or so help me... "

"What? You'll beat my face in while I lie there and do nothing to defend myself? Been there, done that."

The knight took a menacing step forward. Spike made a move as if to try and restrain him, then seemed to reconsider the action and shot Blueblood a glare.

"Shining!" Twilight snapped. "I am an adult, and who I date is none of your business!"

"Twiley," he growled.

"Don't 'Twiley' me! I know you don't like Blue, but I'd appreciate it if you'd at least have a little respect for my ability to judge character. Or did you forget your wedding?"

"You don't know what he's done!"

Blueblood cleared his throat. "I maintained a creepy fixation on my adopted sister for far too long, which contributed to my decision to assist an evil draconequus posing as an undead sorcerer in animating a skeletal army and attacking Equestria."

Shining blinked at him. The prince shrugged. "I already told her all of that."

Twilight nodded. "He's not the same pony he used to be, Shining. He's a good stallion."

The knight looked between his sister and his nemesis and scowled. "Yes, I see. Such a good stallion that he's making out with my sister while his marefriend's unconscious in the hospital."

Blueblood started. "What?!"

Shining Armor turned to him, the barest hint of a satisfied grin on his face. "Blossomforth was attacked tonight. Another unknown group. And they left this."

He levitated a blood-soaked piece of paper into the air and unfolded it. "TRAITOR."

Next Chapter: The Prince Gets Fooled Again Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 22 Minutes
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