A New Prince

by foxbard

Prologue

My name is Kaerea, and this a story about my time in Equestria.

It had been about, what, 5 years so far? Yeah, that sounds about right. Honestly, the details from the very beginning are pretty fuzzy by now. I remember having fallen down some hill or another one day while I was making my way through some park in the city. Either I forgot what happened next, or I must have knocked my head on something on the way down, because I don’t remember landing anywhere. In any case, next thing I knew, I was in some sort of small room somewhere, lying on a rather comfortable, if somewhat small bed. I figured I was in a hospital, so I was pretty calm about it.

That was about where the calm mood and cohesive memories ended. The rest of it is a blur of tests that were run on me, realizing I was in another world, freaking out about being in another world, despairing that I was in ano- you get the point. After they had determined I wasn’t some sort of alien hell-bent on killing everypony, I guess they figured I was safe enough to interact with ponies other than the research staff. One of those first few encounters really stuck in my mind, above any of the others. It was an audience with Princess Celestia. She told me all about Equestria, how things worked here, the basic laws and principles that ponies lived their lives by. All the basic things I would have needed to know, being a visitor to Equestria.

Now, the fact that it was an audience with Princess Celestia certainly was reason enough to have it stick out among my memories. She was stunning, and I don’t mean just beautiful, because as ponies go, she looked incredible. But there was something about the way she carried herself, not just regally and imposing like one might expect the ruler of a nation to be, but warm, almost like a caregiver, or a teacher. It was a very reassuring experience, as I hadn’t quite come to terms with the shock of my relocation yet. But it stuck out for another reason. As I left the throne room, I had my first encounter with Celestia’s student, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle.

Of course, at first she avoided me, the strange creature I was. I didn’t blame her, or take any particular offense to it. I was far too wrapped up in my own mind to think much of it. It wasn’t the last encounter in that first while though, as Celestia had allowed me access to the royal library, suggesting I read up on Equestrian history and lore. Being an avid reader, I figured ‘hey, if I can understand their spoken language as if it were English, their written language must be the same!’ Suffice to say I was completely wrong. They must have cast some sort of long-term translation spell on me so that I could understand their speech, because I had literally no idea what I was reading from the first book I picked up. Now, I was reading stuff like the full Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by grade 6/7. I read often, and I read voraciously, so you can imagine just how embarrassing it was to be so stumped on a language I clearly understood when hearing.

I guess Twilight’s curiosity about me got the better of her, because between her own studies and teaching me the written language, I taught her about my own life in the human world. We forged a pretty close bond while I was there, and I can honestly say she was my first real friend there in Equestria. Realizing that was probably the best thing I’d ever felt in my life till then. I also got to know her assistant Spike, an adolescent dragon that she had hatched for her entry test into Princess Celestia’s own tutelage. He was a good kid, a little more outgoing than Twilight, and very mentally mature for his age. Then again, I still don’t know a thing about dragon biology, so for all I know it’s nothing but the norm.

When Celestia sent Twilight to Ponyville, she suggested I tag along to learn how rural ponies lived, and maybe to see if I fit in there. I still needed a home, after all, and I was eager at this point to learn more about Equestrian society. Granted, I attracted more than a few stares when we got there, but apparently it wasn’t a complete surprise, at least, not according to one particular white unicorn, Rarity. She informed me that I had been in the news a while back, so I guess the real shock was just that I was there in Ponyville at that point, not that there was a human in Equestria. I got the chance to meet the other four elements that day too, but I was mostly uninvolved in the events surrounding Nightmare Moon’s return. At first I was too scared to follow the six of them in, but I eventually worked up the courage and made my way there. I arrived at the old castle just in time for them to defeat Nightmare Moon, and you could imagine my surprise at Princess Celestia’s arrival. It was quite the shock to learn that Nightmare Moon had been Celestia’s younger sister, Princess Luna, who had been banished to the moon a thousand years ago for various reasons.

From that point on, I tried my best to integrate myself into Ponyville’s daily life. I worked odd jobs around Ponyville to make some money while I looked for somewhere to stay, usually things that my stature and manual dexterity gave me an advantage at. After a while, I had managed to scrape together enough bits to afford a cottage near the Everfree, within a short walk of Fluttershy’s cottage too! Over the time I had spent in Ponyville, she had always stuck out to me as somepony I wanted to get to know better. She was such a kind pony, that yellow Pegasus; so often thinking of others before herself, even if it was barely seen past her timid demeanour. It was done around the time of the Grand Galloping Gala, so I was more or less incommunicado that night. I was told it was quite the affair, however, especially with Twilight and friends there.

Shortly after the gala, I received a summons from Princess Celestia, having me return to Canterlot for a while. Having studied under Twilight, she felt I was a good second to have do some research on a few topics for her, without taking Twilight away from her lessons on the magic of friendship. It was good to be back in the city, and I didn’t attract nearly as much attention as in past. After all, my presence in Equestria was old news by that point. While I was there, I was introduced to Princess Luna, and somehow I was even more in awe of her than the first time I met Celestia. I really wish I’d had more time to get to know her...

During my research in Canterlot, the events surrounding Discord, the spirit of disharmony, took place, and I mostly hid away. What could some human with no grasp of magic possibly do to help, after all? Thankfully, the incident came to a peaceful resolution, and Discord was sealed back away in stone. A few months later, my research for the princess finished, I moved back to Ponyville. It was shortly after Hearts and Hooves day, their analogue of St. Valentine’s Day, that I returned. I got reintegrated in the smaller town life, and things were generally okay, for a while at least.

It was a month or two after I returned to Ponyville, the snow was all gone, and warmer weather was in full swing. Something I should note before I get much further is that during my research in Canterlot, I had taken quite the interest in all things related to unicorn and alicorn magics. The theory behind it, the applications, the relationship between cutie mark and magical specialization, it all fascinated me. One such topic was heavily discussed in one of the writings of a renowned unicorn of old named Starswirl the Bearded. I read through the rest of this one particular volume of his writings for pleasure, and in addition to magical theory, it covered topics such as some of the creatures he had encountered in his time. Creatures like Timber Wolves, Manticores, great Serpents, Windigos, and Changelings. I had meant to give the volume to Twilight to return, but I never did get around to it...

Author's Note:

Originally, there were going to be more parts, but I figured it would be best to splice parts of the first two together to actually make a prologue to the main body of the story. I hope it isn't that big of a deal.

Comments

[TGM]

Not the greatest thing I've ever read, but I know what you mean by stretching out the writing muscles. And this, to say the least, is an interesting project you have going.