With a yawn of boredom, the prince put down his book on social studies and stretched his neck. "Gah, this is so boring!" he groaned, looking around at his companions, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were busy doing their own assignments. All four of them were currently in the library in Twilight's School of Friendship, working on a study session in preparation for an upcoming test, his being from the princess, and the CMC’s from Miss Cheerilee.
A couple of days had passed since his dream, and even though there was still so much more for him to learn, all of the basic knowledge in magic and academics that he needed was already taught and mastered, thanks to the Crusaders, Starlight, Twilight, and even Luna, who were all kind enough to give him a hand (or hoof, as was the case) to learn it all. In fact, he had done so well that Twilight saw fit to move his studies into a more social/royal area, starting by introducing him to what a royal must know when greeting ambassadors from all three tribes.
And even when he was no longer in Cheerilee’s class, the Crusaders were more than happy to keep helping him in his studies for the remainder of his stay.
"Tell me about it," Scootaloo muttered with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, why do we need to learn half of this stuff? When exactly would I need to know who was the fourth court magician after Clover the Clever?"
"Come on guys, it's important for us to learn all this stuff, no matter how boring it is," Sweetie Belle implored them.
"Yeah, you’d never know when you’ll need to know all this stuff," Applebloom agreed, taking a peek at Blueblood’s book. "You especially, New Blood. It was really embarrassin’ that you didn't know what you can and can't do in front of a pegasus."
Blueblood scratched the side of his head in boredom. "Maybe, but even so, I still find it hard to believe that they actually have six different types of dances, for formal gatherings."
Scootaloo’s ears perked up. "We do?" She looked at his book again. "Oooh, so that’s why my mom has been insisting that I take traditional dance lessons," she said with a grin. "Now everything makes more sense. Thanks, New Blood."
"Glad that I could help." He stretched out his body and glanced at the clock. "Whoa...we’ve been studying for almost four hours?!" he exclaimed, causing the Cutie Mark Crusaders to freeze in shock.
"Four hours? Oh no, I'm late!!" Applebloom panicked, and began hurriedly packing her books. "I promised Granny Smith that I’d feed the chickens after school! if I don't do it before she finds out I’ve been here all this time, I’ll be grounded."
"And I was supposed to be home already; my parents must be pretty mad at me right now." Sweetie Belle adds.
"Sorry, New B, but I’ve gotta go. You should too, before it gets dark," Scootaloo agreed. "We’ll continue tomorrow at the clubhouse, we promise." The other two nodded, and all three headed towards the door.
"Sorry for the rush, but we really need to go, New Blood. See you later!" Sweetie Belle waved before all three of them galloped out of the library as if their tails were on fire.
Blinking a couple of times at their sudden disappearance, the prince gave a weak wave as they left, leaving him completely alone.
Welp, it looks like the study session is over, he mused, as he started packing as well. Then, after looking around to make sure nopony was watching, he pulled out a book of spells from his saddlebags. For the past few days, ever since his little chat with the Princess of the Night, Blueblood had been collecting all the materials he needed for the potion (which took some doing). He was very lucky that Princess Luna had even given him a few suggestions and ideas on where to find many of the ingredients that he needed. He had managed to get all but two so far.
One being a Hydra Blossom, which, like the name implied, grew only around the habitat of the creature, and the other was the “Light of a Sunset”. He was confused by that one for some time, but after further investigation, he found that it had meant that he needed to mix all of the components in a place with plenty of sunlight, at the perfect moment, and use a magnifying glass to absorb the light into the potion.
However, the requirements for the potion weren't the problem. Making the potion in secret was the tricky part.
Saving the last required ingredient for the end, the prince decided to place his attention on the flower, which to his luck, he had found a safer alternative from peeking at the books in Twilight’s house --- a spell that could transform one plant into another for exactly one hour. It was a complex and really difficult spell to cast, but if performed correctly, it meant that the prince would only need to worry about that one final step. After careful consideration, and secret practices with dummy plants, Blueblood felt ready to give this spell his first try and being at the school gave him the perfect cover if he was discovered.
With a smile and a nod, the prince packed the book again and put the saddlebag on his back, before walking toward the entrance. Today, he was determined to obtain the final ingredient on his list.
Meanwhile, in Twilight’s office
The Princess of Friendship had just finished placing some snacks and tea on her desk when she heard a knock on the door. Spike, who was sitting on a couch, put aside his comic book and opened the door, revealing both Princess Celestia and a changeling.
This changeling was tall --- make that very tall, enough to rival Celestia --- and had varying shades of green on his exoskeleton, with large orange antlers on his head, purple eyes, and blue wings. He was chatting amicably with Celestia before they both turned towards Twilight and Spike with smiles adorning their faces.
"Princess Celestia, King Thorax, welcome!" Twilight exclaimed happily, fluttering over and giving her old mentor a hug.
Spike approached Thorax and bumped his clawed fist against the Changeling’s extended hoof. "Hey, Thorax!"
"Hi, Spike!" Thorax greeted, smiling warmly at his friend. "It’s nice to see you again."
"Right back at ya, dude," Spike said.
“Oh, where are my manners?” said Twilight. “Come on in! I’ve already set things up for our meeting.”
The two rulers nodded and stepped inside her office, taking two seats in front of Twilight’s desk, while Spike pulled up a chair and sat next to Twilight. Celestia accepted a cup of tea from Twilight and sipped it, humming in delight at the sweet aroma and the subtle taste of honey. "Thank you, Twilight. And thank you, Thorax, for agreeing to meet with us."
"Don't mention it, princess. It was my pleasure, and I believe we changelings would be happy to use our infiltration training for a good cause," Thorax replied with a respectful nod toward Celestia. "I hope you don't mind that I asked you to meet me here. I just thought that meeting in Canterlot might have been too suspicious given the circumstances."
"It was a brilliant idea, Thorax. I couldn't have thought of a better place myself,” Celestia admitted. “And you’re right, of course.”
"Yeah, it was pretty clever,” Twilight agreed. “Even if information of this encounter is leaked to the nobility or the public, everypony would just think that you two were here just to discuss ideas for my school."
Thorax’s face flushed and he chuckled nervously. "It’s nothing really, just some standard changeling techniques." He then looked at Celestia. "I’m sorry it took me so long to answer, Ember and I have been having some minor issues with our territories, so I couldn't answer right away."
"Nothing serious, right?" Spike asked nervously.
"Oh, heavens, no. There’s nothing to worry about, Spike. It was just a couple upstart dragons that stepped into our borders and started spooking my citizens, for the most part. Ember’s already dealt with them, so there’s no risk of war whatsoever," he replied with a smirk, making the dragon huff and cross his arms.
"You get scared of provoking a war one time, and nopony ever lets you live it down. You guys are the worst,” Spike grouched, making everyone in the room laugh. Spike rolled his eyes but smiled alongside them.
"So, back to business," said Thorax, straightening up. "You told me that there was a small problem that you could use my help with?"
Celestia nodded and took another sip of her tea, adopting a more professional approach. "That’s correct, Thorax. You see, recently my nephew, Blueblood, suffered from some sort of amnesia that has rendered him vulnerable to suggestion and manipulation from the other noble houses. That’s why we brought him here, so that he may learn all the basic knowledge that he needed before coming back home. I hope you didn’t mind that we used the changeling necklace that you loaned us?"
Thorax shook his head. "Not at all, princess. Although...he, ah, is not wearing it for long periods of time, is he? Because with ponies, that artifact can be a bit...overwhelming, shall we say?"
"No, he only wears it when necessary, and not a minute more," Celestia answered.
"Yeah, Twilight even cast some spells on the castle, so he doesn’t have to use the necklace as much," Spike added.
Thorax sighed in relief. "That's good. The ancient archives in the hive tell stories of ponies that stole some of those necklaces and ended up losing their minds when they developed a severe case of split personality, where they even forgot who was the original pony. Nasty stuff, that."
Twilight gasped and leaned forward across her desk with a wide grin and a twinkle in her eye. "You have ancient archives about changeling inventions?! Do you think I could read some of them?" she begged with a hopeful smile, before Celestia regained their attention by using her magic to slowly push Twilight back into her chair.
"One favor at a time, Twilight," Celestia chuckled before addressing Thorax once more. "Anyway, back to the subject at hoof. Despite our best efforts, rumors of his condition have spread among the nobles, and now they all wish to find my nephew for their own schemes. I wish to stop them before that can happen, and that’s why I requested your help with this, Thorax. As the ruler of the changelings, I was wondering if you could make a fake meeting for us to 'leak' information out to the masses. That would convince the nobles that our lie was legitimate all along."
"Ah, I know that one," Thorax said with a smirk. "Infiltration Strategy #57. Kinda old school, but effective."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "You guys have a classification for these kinds of things?"
"Pfft, we’ve been impersonating ponies for centuries, Spike. Of course we have a classification system for the various strategies we thought of during that time. We’ve got hundreds, although my personal favorite is #112.” He paused, then tapped his hoof to his chin in thought. “Although, now that I think about it, we haven't been able to find a proper order to catalog them in."
Twilight gasped in excitement at the mention of cataloging, only for Spike to hold her down in her chair before she could start begging Thorax to let her help with that particular problem.
"Of course, we’re not expecting you to do this for nothing, Thorax. We are more than willing to offer a compromise that would be beneficial for you, in return for this favor," Celestia offered.
"Oh no, it’s fine, princess. We’re always happy to lend you a hoof," he replied, raising a hoof and smiling. Then something occurred to him, and he hummed. "Although, if you insist on it. I think I do know something that could benefit both of us at the same time."
"Truly?" Celeste asked, taking a final sip from her tea and placing the cup on the desk.
"As long as we can do it, we’d be more than happy to help you Thorax," Twilight said.
"Well you see, some of my changelings have had missions where they had to impersonate nobles, so we could steal their money for Chrysalis’s conquest." He quickly raised his hoof before they could protest. "Don’t worry about that, though. I'm working on a system for returning all the money to their proper owners without disrupting our own already fragile economy. Trust me, it was a horror show of paperwork, since a lot of those nobles can be particularly shady and are more than willing to try and find loopholes, declare missing cargo, and many other things just to try and get more bits than what they had lost."
"I know the feeling," Celestia said with a roll of her eyes.
"So you see, it’s not a big problem, just a particularly annoying one, so maybe things can be solved if a family of changelings is introduced as nobles in Canterlot," Thorax said.
"You want to create the first changeling nobles?" Spike asked.
"Well, technically my brother Pharynx is a prince, but he doesn’t like that title, so he’s more than willing to let someling else have that honor. So, I suppose the answer is yes,” Thorax replied with a subtle shake of his head. “Some of my changelings had to impersonate nobles for such a long time that they ended up enjoying their role. Sometimes they approach me to ask if there's a way for me to create some changeling nobles within the hive. We are still repairing all the damage Chrysalis had caused, so I didn't think we were ready to establish a nobility yet, much to their disappointment."
“So what are you suggesting?” Celestia asked.
"Just this, princess: if you let them be introduced within Canterlot society as changelings, their dream could be fulfilled. We could pay back the money we stole and my hive could get its first legitimate source of income, all in one shot," he replied with an exuberant smile.
Celestia nodded in understanding. "If I do this, can you promise me that those changelings won’t change form?"
"Of course. The whole idea is for them to be introduced as the face of our society, just like Ocellus is doing here at the school," Thorax explained. "Also, there’s no need for you to train them in politics or nobility, they know pretty well how that game works."
"It won’t be easy for them,” Twilight pointed out. “The nobles of Canterlot can be a particularly ruthless bunch."
Thorax nodded. "I’ve already warned them about that, but all the same, princess, they’re more than willing to face the challenge. They’re the best the hive has to offer."
"In that case, you have a deal, Thorax,” Celestia declared. “I will gladly accept your request and do anything in my power to introduce Equestria to their first noble family of changelings." The princess extended her hoof for a hoofshake with Thorax, which he gladly accepted. "Do you have any idea what businesses they could take on?"
"Not yet, but I think we can both think of something."
"Hey, that could be it!" Spike chipped in.
Twilight turned to him. "What is it, Spike?"
"The meeting, the thing Blueblood is supposed to be doing!” he cheered. ”He could be reuniting with the changeling nobles since he 'knows' about the families in Canterlot, and in exchange for buttering him up, the prince could help them get in."
"Spike...you’re a genius!" Twilight gasped. "That could also explain why he didn't say a word about any of it to them, since nobles are really shady, so they’d assume he‘d be thinking of searching for allies and letting his other 'friends' know how they could be replaced if something were to happen."
"As much as I would love to disagree, these kinds of deals fit with my nephew’s past," Celestia sighed, hanging her head in shame.
"But things didn't go as planned," Thorax added, thinking aloud. "To sell the lie, you must make it fit the result. Spike is right that the plan is perfect at the start, but at the end, can we really think of a reason for his sudden change of heart? Something that made him reflect on himself and caused him to be so different now?"
Celestia perked up and smiled. "That would be the perfect cherry on top."
Thorax stood up. "I can rally some of my changelings for the 'meeting' and explain the situation to the ones that want to be nobles. I'm sure they’ll be more than happy to help too. We would only need a picture of him hanging out with some of them, and we could take care of the rest."
"You have my thanks, Thorax,” Celestia said with a respectful bow of her head. “With your help, we’ll soon be able to introduce Canterlot to…" At that moment, a tremor ran throughout the room, causing the four of them to freeze.
A moment of silence passed, and Spike sent a quick, worried glance at Twilight. "...What...was that?" he asked nervously.
Before Twilight could respond, they all heard a roar coming from the distance, instantly sending shivers down their spines and forcing them all to rush out of the room oh high alert. It sounded like it was coming from outside.
Once they reached the garden, they were met by a growing crowd of students, as well as the other Element Bearers approaching the origin of the chaos. They cautiously stepped forward through the crowd until they saw some kind of large plant the size of a fully-grown python. It had four prehensile stems, each terminating in draconic heads, with large rose petals as a mane for each head. The plant monster was in the process of trying to devour the poor prince in front of it, who had only just managed to put up a fragile magical barrier to protect himself before all four of the heads lurched towards him. One of the heads had latched onto the shield, and was cracking it open at an alarming rate.
The Element Bearers tried to approach, but the three remaining heads prevented them from advancing. Rainbow attempted to distract them, but was smacked out of the air, and Rarity and Pinkie were scared off by a loud roar from the other two. Fluttershy had hid behind Applejack, who was standing her ground and holding onto her stetson. Starlight was blasting the plant from afar with her magic.
"What in Equestria is happening?!" Twilight cried out as she flew to her friends.
"Heck if I know, Twilight," Applejack replied, trying to wave the students back to safety.
Starlight paused in her attacks to add, "This thing just appeared out of nowhere and started attacking your cousin without any rhyme or reason!" One of the heads lurched towards some of the students, and Starlight immediately cast a barrier spell over them with a growl. “Pesky bugger’s tough, too!”
Rainbow face-planted into the ground next to them with a muffled grunt. Shaking her head and getting onto her hooves, she muttered, "I'm trying to get to New Blood, but all those heads are getting in my way.”
Finally, Blueblood’s shield shattered and the creature’s teeth clamped down. Had he not jumped out of the way at the last second, he would have met a rather grisly end. Scrambling, he desperately tried to run away but the plant monster slammed a thick, thorny vine all around him, trapping him in place. Before he could cry out in alarm, the vine constricted and snagged onto him, squeezing him tightly.
"New Blood!" Twilight screamed, taking to the air and charging her horn, only for Celestia to beat her to the punch, literally.
Celestia rammed into one of the heads at full force, spearing it with her horn and causing it to explode into a pile of sap and plant juices. The monster roared and tried to attack her, but she was too fast, and she summoned a solar beam of light that split into three, incinerating all three heads and reducing them to ash and char in an instant.
The monster fell limp immediately, letting Blueblood go and flopping to the ground.
"Holy...cow..." Spike murmured, his arms falling limp and his jaw dropping. Thorax could only nod in surprise.
The bruised and exhausted prince stumbled out of the mess of vines, gasping for air and holding his chest with his right forehoof, before falling to the ground with a groan of pain, his other forehoof broken at an odd angle.
Princess Celestia rushed to his side in immense worry and carefully lifted his head so she could look him in the eyes. Blueblood flinched from the pain before looking at her. "It’s okay, dear, it's over now," Celestia whispered, nuzzling his cheek and not caring that she was compromising his secret. Her motherly instinct was taking over.
"Aun…" the prince began, before freezing upon noticing that they were being observed by a crowd of ponies. "Pri…" Talking was painful for him, yet he managed to speak at his second attempt. "Princess…Celestia?" he groaned, faking surprise. "W…what are you…doing here?"
The princess got the hint immediately and discreetly nodded. "Don't talk, my little pony, help is on its way." She turned and addressed the crowd. "Somepony get a doctor! Now!" she commanded, making everypony snap into action.
Rainbow flew away in search of a doctor, Fluttershy approached to see how she could help, and the rest of the Element Bearers worked on dispersing the crowd. Applejack and Starlight, however, kept casting suspicious glances at Blueblood. Something about this situation didn’t sit right with them, and Celestia’s reaction to his safety seemed a little too...motherly, even for her.
Why did this little colt, and Twilight’s cousin to boot, get such a reaction? Just who was New Blood?