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Prologue1,098 words
Homecoming, Part 13,145 words
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Homecoming, Part 3

The enormous swells were merciless to the Prince's prized vessel as the storm raged on. It felt as if the ship would break apart at any second. Anything that wasn't nailed down inside was knocked onto the floor or broken by the impact of the waves. Blueblood struggled just to get down the hallway with all of the debris in his way. He needed to find the Captain quickly. Then, they could find out where this storm was coming from and how to get out of it.

“Captain!” he called out. His voice was being drowned out by the sound of the wood creaking and squealing as it tried to hold everything together. “Captain Chaser! Where are you?!”

“Your Majesty?!” a voice answered. “Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine!” the Prince shouted in relief. “But we need to get out of this storm quickly!”

“Well, do you think I’ve been trying to do?! Get your flank up here and help me!”

The Prince would’ve protested being told what to do, but he rushed to the sound of the Captain’s voice regardless. Finally finding the staircase that led up to the wheelhouse, Blueblood saw that Captain Stern Chaser was trying his best to get the steering wheel to turn.

The earth pony had noticed that Blueblood had made it. “Help me out here! The wheel’s stuck! I can’t get this thing to turn!”

Without hesitation, the Prince grabbed a hold of the wheel with his hooves along with Chaser. They pushed and pulled and lifted with all their might, but the momentum of the ship’s thrashing made it impossible to work the damn thing.

“C’mon! We gotta get this boat turned around or we won’t last much longer!”

Blueblood lit up his admittedly sub-par magic to try and turn the wheel with it, and still nothing worked. They kept trying as they knew their own lives and the lives of those on the boat with them depended on them. Then, Blueblood remembered something.

His mind flashed back to a few years ago. He had gone to visit Sweet Apple Acres at one point to try and make up for that time he insulted the Apple family’s baking. As compensation, he volunteered to work the fields for the day and, needless to say, it was one of the most frustrating days he ever had. Even so, that day proved to be one of the best choices he ever made.

“Chaser, stand back!”

Hesitantly, he did so and Blueblood prepared himself as he remembered the steps. ‘Widen your stance and focus your strength, plant your front hooves, lean forward, spring backward with your back and...’

*Wham!*

He unleashed a powerful buck on the steering wheel and it spun so fast it was almost a blur. The ship began to lurch to the right, and the two stallions in the wheelhouse were thrown onto their backs. It was tipping as it turned in a full 180 degrees, the bow skimming along the surface of the water.

Thinking quickly, Chaser lunged forward and grabbed the wheel with his front hooves. He hung on for dear life while Blueblood was thrown like a ragdoll to the other side of the ship, knocking the wind out of him. Chaser managed to pull up to the left hoof side of the wheel and gripped it in his teeth. As he let his hooves go, his weight was enough to get the wheel turning and the ship stabilized. He kept repeating that pattern until the ship was finally starting to stabilize. As he got used to having his center of gravity back, the Captain noticed that the waters were not as violent as they used to be. In fact, everything seemed strangely calm now. With the massive amounts of stress and adrenaline subsiding, Blueblood slowly picked himself back up.

“Stern. Take us home,” he commanded.

“You don’t need to tell me twice, Your Majesty.” Stern immediately went to work getting his instruments back on the right course and his bearings straight. After fiddling around for a bit, the two of them noticed that the sun was shining and any cloud had disappeared. “This doesn’t make sense. For as long as I've sailed these waters there's never been a storm like that; no, more like a gods-damn hurricane. Not just that, but something that powerful couldn't just up and disappear!”

“Something tells me that was no natural storm.”

“What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that someone could have been controlling it. Signal everyone on board. We may have an unwanted guest.”

Stern turned on the intercom and notified all on board, “Attention, all passengers!! Assemble on the main deck for a headcount! I repeat, assemble on the main deck for a headcount!”

Blueblood was the first to arrive in the main entrance of the ship, silently praying for all of his guests to be alright. And slowly but surely, they arrived. They were shaken up by the fear and stress of possibly dying at sea. Some managed to escape harm with a few cuts and bruises, but the unlucky ponies were much worse for ware. A few groups of stallions were helping others who were unable to walk. Many of the injured were bleeding profusely, others had bones broken in several places noticeable to all. He did a headcount as they arrived to make sure everypony was still onboard. He also kept a close eye out for ponies he didn’t recognize, cautious about one who could have had something to do with that storm earlier. All were accounted for except for one more.

“Where’s Fleur?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Prince caught himself in a fit of recollection as he rode in his carriage. The familiar elegance of Canterlot reminded him of his namesake ship and had unearthed some memories that he’d rather not recall. Those events still weighed heavily on his mind as he absentmindedly played with a necklace hidden under his grey Calvin Klydes suit. He rode alone in this new auto-propelled carriage with nopony else but his driver chattering away. The Prince had zoned out and hadn’t paid much attention to this useless banter, but he had caught wind that the rest of his family was waiting for him. He was certain that nothing drastic would have changed even after his time away, but he was preparing himself for the worst just in case. Staring off into space once again, he spotted a little newsfilly trying to sell copies of a paper in a small gazebo. She tried to give a few copies to some passersby, but known paid any heed to her. The little one seemed to grow more desperate with every failed attempt.

Blueblood poked his driver on the shoulder. “Pull over next to that news station”.

But the driver shook his head with a smile. “No can do, sir. I’m under strict orders to escort you to the Palace without delay.”

Blueblood rolled his eyes. This needed some convincing. He pulled out twenty gold Bits from his pocket, and handed twelve to the driver. “Stop here and that’s yours, plus an entire week’s paid vacation.”

The driver did not hesitant to take the money and do as the Prince said. Blueblood figured that the ponies of this city would never change; they would happily obey any order with enough gold in their pockets. As the carriage pulled to a stop, the newsfilly saw her chance. She ran towards it with a paper in her mouth and practically shoved it in the Prince’s face. “Care for a copy, milord?”

Her forelegs were dirty and grimy, but The Prince paid it no mind. He levitated the paper out of her hoof and gave her the other eight Bits he had. Her eyes lit up as if she had never seen that much money in her life. She was speechless as she looked back to the generous stallion. He gave her a smile saying, “Happy early Hearth’s Warming, little one.”

As the carriage drew away, Blueblood looked back one last time. He saw the little filly break out into a dance of joy as if those coins meant she could eat tonight. He didn’t know that for sure, but something told him that little filly needed that. One small step in the grand scheme of things.

“I would refrain from doing that anymore,” the driver spoke up. “That little filly has been on that spot for the past few days trying to sell those old prints. Probably stole them from real newsstands and trying to sell them for her own profit. Quite uncivilized, savage even.”

“Often times, the civilized are the ones who cower in fear while the savages are the ones who survive.” The driver was astounded by that remark, especially that it came from a member of the Royal Family. He looked back wanting to give the Prince a piece of his mind, but stopped when he saw the venomous glare. A nerve had been struck in Blueblood, and the driver could feel it in his bones. Every word he would have said disappeared as a new fear came over the driver.

“Now shut up and drive,” Blueblood remarked.

The driver turned back and didn’t say another word as he drove faster. Blueblood could care less if he hurt somepony’s feelings, so putting one stallion in his place wouldn’t mean any great consequence to him. That, and it actually felt good to have done that.

He directed his attention to that paper, called the Carousel Chronicle. Odd name choice for a newspaper, he had to admit. However, it was the headline that caught his attention.

The Prince Lives, Still the Same Stallion

The trouble child of the Royal Family, Prince Blueblood, has returned to Equestria after miraculously surviving that tragic boating accident which claimed the lives of many beloved residents of Equestria. As a press conference was held early this morning, he assured reporters that he would create a private fund for the affected families. He plans on doing this with a public celebration, as he is known to have done plenty of in the past. The Prince once had a reputation for being a constant party-addict and on-and-off alcoholic, with one notable incident resulted in a felony battery charge after he attacked a bouncer outside of a club in Manehattan. He spent several months in rehab where he was said to have renounced his former ways. Shortly afterwards, he would go on a supposed recovery cruise which would come to be known as one of the kingdom’s greatest travesties.

The paper dragged on for a good portion of the front page as Blueblood skimmed through it. He caught a name of the pony who must have written it.

‘Written by Troubled Beauty’.

Below the printed text were two pictures, one of Blueblood during his homecoming press conference and another of his ship the Majestic Prince. He immediately turned the page, not wanting to look at either of those images. He tried to read something else about the Appleloosa Trailblazers beating out the Cloudsdale Cardinals in their rivalry hoofball game. When that didn't work, he tried out a crossword puzzle to occupy his thinking. And when even that didn't work, he went through the Sunday comics hoping a good laugh would blot it out. However, the author of that article was still stuck in his head: Troubled Beauty. Why did that name sound odd and yet so familiar?

He would have to look into this later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the carriage came to a stop at the palace gates, Blueblood let himself out. Two Royal Guard stallions were stationed outside ready to assist him. As the trunk was opened and they grabbed for the green crate, the only thing he brought back with him, he suddenly stopped them.

“I've got this,” he told them. Effortlessly levitating the crate out of the trunk, the Prince’s actions made the normally stoic Royal Guards wide-eyed with shock. Not only was his magic supposed to be subpar, but the Prince would also be begging them to be careful with his belongings and chastising them the entire time. Not that the change was unwelcome, it was just confusing. As soon as Blueblood closed the trunk door, the driver sped off without waiting for a word of dismissal. This just confused the Guards even more until the Prince spoke up.

“It's fine. He’s just in a hurry to get his vacation started.” The answer was good enough for them and they went back to their posts.

The Prince hovered the crate onto his back, seeming not mind the weight or bulk of it. His mind seemed to be more focused on the intense nostalgia trip it was taking. Passing through the golden horseshoe archway and through the main doors, he was relieved to see that nothing much had changed. The many banners with different shades of purple, pink, and deep blue that covered the palace walls had remained there for as long as he could remember. He could even recall playing in these halls as a young foal with his family. If his aunts were good about one thing, it was consistency. And without a moment sooner, his aunts Celestia and Luna descended from the staircase to greet their nephew.

“How art thou-” Luna had caught herself doing her formal habit again. “I mean how are you, dear nephew? How do you feel?”

Blueblood lifted the crate off of his back as he spoke. “I feel like I am truly home again.”

“And it truly feels like home now that you are back,” Celestia said with a sincere smile. The two alicorns laid their heads next to Blueblood’s, giving him a heartfelt snuggle. Reminding himself that he was like a broken record, this was yet another moment he thought he would never experience.

“Well, there’s something I haven’t seen in a long time,” a familiar voice spoke up.

The Prince looked up to see it was none other than his beloved older sister, Cadence, standing in the front entrance. Like a sight for sore eyes, he was ecstatic to see her. The princesses looked up as well, pleased to see that she made it in time.

Blueblood would normally come up with some witty remark to tease his sister. But now, he just couldn’t find the words. Not even waiting for a sign, she threw her forelegs around him and hugged him hard.

“I always knew,” she muttered. “Somehow, I always knew you were out there.” He returned the embrace, gripping as tightly as he could. “I’ve missed you so much, brother.”

“You were with me the entire time.” He promised himself that he wouldn’t cry, but he felt happy tears come up nonetheless.

Looking closer at her, he could tell that the years had not been kind. Her mane had lost a small portion of its color, and there were some small but noticeable wrinkles along her cheekbones and forehead. A hint of insomnia was stained under her eyes. She still carried herself with dignity like she always had which gave him some relief. He couldn’t help but notice that some of the servants were carrying in a lot of luggage, presumably hers.

Celestia asked before Blue could. “How have you been, dear Cadence? I trust you had a pleasant trip back?”

“I did,” she said matter-of-factly. “But I don’t know how you and Lulu do it. It’s been a nightmare trying to get the country back to a sustainable state. But, when I heard the good news, I needed to take a few weeks off to welcome my favorite little brother back! So, Shiny told me that he would keep things stable until I got back.”

Celestia chuckled. “Well, it would still be quite the challenge getting it back to its former glory after disappearing for a thousand years.”

Before they could continue, Blue stepped in. “Um, excuse me? Been away for a while. I really could use some context here.” He turned to Cadence, more confused than ever. “Where did you come back from, what have you been doing, and what disappeared for a thousand years? Furthermore, why are you calling Captain Armor ‘Shiny’? The only pony who called him that was that one student of Aunt Tia’s. Twilight...Sparkle, correct?”

Cadence realized what he meant and cursed herself silently. “Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry about that Blue. I’ve just been calling him by his nickname more often ever since we got married.”

“Oh! I was about to say it almost sounds like the two of you-what?!” His voice echoed through the palace, giving everypony a slight jump. “You-he-when-where-what...” Blueblood stood stunned for a second. He expected that a lot had changed but he hadn’t expected this. “I’m going to guess I missed more than I thought?”

“Yeah...We’ve got some catching up to do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He yawned as he flopped onto his bed. One thing for sure was that Cadence liked to talk when you got her riled up. A reality-altering Draconequus, a corrupted King, the reemergence of a lost empire, and his own sister’s wedding were among the tornado of events that still made his head spin. He was still surprised that his old room had stayed pretty much the same. His aunts must have had the servants take extra special care of this room. He recognized the same paint on the walls, the same drapes on the windows, and the same sheets on the bed. This kind of refreshing nostalgia was something that anyone could get used to. He wished he could at least. Everything that once familiar to him was now unrecognizable. He knew that he survived those horrible years in the middle of nowhere, but he still felt lost. He needed to remind himself of his purpose. He lifted himself up to look at the crate he brought with him all this way. Opening the crate, the mementos he had taken shined in the candlelight of the room. He smiled knowing that many mothers and fathers would have something to remember the ones who were gone. Reaching in, he unlocked the drawers containing the mementos and levitated them out. Once they were out, it was revealed that there was a second compartment in the crate covered in a beige sheet. Blueblood unfolded part of it to see the sea-soaked and bloodstained note he had written.

Look for the Blood Brothers

He then picked up the only other things in the crate: a bow and a quiver of arrows. They looked old and weathered. Among all these things he once held the most precious, these were the only ones that brought any semblance of comfort.

“Won’t be long now, old friends,” he thought outloud.

His thoughts kept going back to everything he had to do now that he was back. Thankfully for him, he was slowly being overtaken by a sudden tiredness. Sleep was the last thing on his mind, but it was the one thing he needed the most. He put everything back in its proper place, closed up the crate and slid it under his bed. could only hope that he wouldn’t dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fleur! Where are you?!”

Blueblood found himself rushing through the ship, searching for his lover. Dodging past debris, he prayed for a sign of life. Anything at all. He still found nothing as he found himself in the central atrium again.

“Please, don’t do this to me!” Tears began to well up as he ran hard back towards the hallway. If anything had happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

“Blue! We found her!”

Turning on a dime, relief and panic washed over simultaneously. Fleur was alive, but looked worse for the wear. Sweating profusely and appearing completely exhausted, she was being cradled by Captain Chaser in the atrium. Fresh blood flowed down her face staining her immaculate coat. Her breathing was rapid and sporadic. Blue became hysterical at the sight.

“What is it?! What’s wrong with her?!”

“I don’t know,” Chaser said panickedly. “It looks like she cut herself pretty bad, but she’s not anemic. She could have a concussion, but I ain't a doctor.”

“I’m...fine,” Fleur managed to say. “Just a scratch.”

Chaser shook his head. “We need to get you to the infirmary now. She might be going into shock.”

But, she resisted. “Stop! I’m fine!”

“Pssh. Typical dumb mare. Always making our jobs as stallions harder for us.” Chaser felt the need to vent as he reached to pick her up.

“Get away from me!!” She swiped at Chaser. He went flying back. He was pinned against the wall, a red energy surrounding him. his body slowly being crushed. He couldn’t speak as the air was being forced out of his lungs. Fleur held her hoof up and with one swift motion, there was an audible snap.

The Captain’s body drooped against the wall as the light left his eyes. Fleur dropped to the floor when Chaser’s body fell face first. The entirety of his back, every muscle and bone, had been separated from his body and was left behind on the wall. The ship was quiet, its passengers stunned at this horrific display.

Stern Chaser was dead.

She cursed herself, knowing that there was no going back after that.

“This was supposed to be easy, but it can’t be helped now. I need...to take control.”

The mare began to twitch and stutter like a glitch you would see in a television set. Fleur’s delicate features began to morph into something monstrous, demonic even. Her eyes began to glow that same bloody red, her teeth became sharp and vile, and her mane began to burn. The energy appeared to ooze out of her wound as it surrounded her. She looked at Blueblood with Fleur’s face still holding together but barely.

“You’re lucky to have survived my storm, but you have no hope of escaping me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in the world...

Deep in the heart of the tallest mountain in the west, a lone figure dressed in a dark blue cloak wandered through the various dungeons and chambers inside. These sections of the castle had not been used for centuries, and seeing it only told of the dark history of Equestria. Rusty chains littered the ground and skeletons of long-dead prisoners of war lay sprawled out in the same places they had all died. The figure just kept walking until it came upon one certain chamber. Using its magic to unlock the door, it stepped inside and lit a few candles on the wall revealing an elaborate display of colors in the banners and decorations. The figure stepped inside and walked to the center of it all stopping in front of a full-length mirror. It spoke into the mirror in a hushed tone.

“I have received some troubling news. The Prince is still alive, and he has just returned to his home of Equestria.”

“Well now, it seems this stallion is a favorite among the gods.” There was another voice that talked from inside the mirror, much deeper than the figure’s and filled with malice. “But it matters not. One whelp cannot do much to stop what is coming, even with the help of a few feeble deities.”

The figure worriedly asked the voice, “What do you mean?”

“You shall see,” it answered bluntly. "Besides, the truth will never come to him. You were and still are too important to Blueblood for him to have done what was right.”

The figure grew agitated at that remark. “Do not say his name as if he is any consequence to you!” It stomped its hoof against the hard floor, the sound echoing all throughout the chambers. “Just promise me that he will live and I will let you do as you wish.”

The voice had no perceivable face, but a wicked smile could be felt as it spoke. “You have my word, my cherished vessel. And once the Purification is done, I will lift Equestria from its remains and begin it anew.”

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