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// Another “Terrible” Day as a Prince 
// Story: The Prince and the Poet 
// by BrawnyBold 
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In one of Canterlot's royal gardens, a small party was being held. The guests were made up of wealthy ponies who often flaunt their rich status like first-place trophies. Among the guest was a pure white unicorn stallion with dark blonde manes that looked like they were brushed more than usual. Everypony attending the party could easily recognize this stallion as Prince Blueblood as they have seen his appearance from previous gatherings or from magazines and newspapers. The young prince was considered to be the main topic of most of the conversations during the party as he was Princess Celestia's nephew. 
"Prince Bloodblood!" One of the noble ponies said as he approached the prince. "It is so nice of you to join us for this small get-together." 
"It is my pleasure," Blueblood replied. "I do enjoy attending parties like these."
"I am glad that you are happy." The noble pony said as he left the prince alone. A few minutes passed before a well-dressed unicorn mare approached the prince. 
"Why hello, Prince Blueblood." The mare said as she used her magic to pull out a fan and moved it closer to her face. "Are you enjoying the party?" The mare batted her eyes to give off a flirty look. 
"This party is wonderful." Prince Blueblood said with a smile. 
"Indeed it is. Say, perhaps you could give a mare a tour of Canterlot Castle? I know that tours of the castle are often given to common ponies, but it would be interesting to explore the castle with a help of a handsome prince such as yourself." The mare continued to bat her eyes while waiting for the prince's answer. Blueblood just smiled and said,
"I will see what I can do." The mare giggled as she made her way to a group of noble ponies. 
'Not on your life,' Blueblood thought as he continued to listen and make small talk with the party guests. 



"Ahh! I hate my life!" Blueblood whined as he stomped into his bed chambers. He used his magic to take off his bow tie and collar before he landed face first into his bed. Blueblood was given all the luxuries a prince would ever ask for. He gets allowances that could pay to feed a small third-world country. The castle's maids and servants do whatever Blueblood says. He even gets invited as a VIP to important parties and sporting events. Even with all of the privileges given to Blueblood, he thinks it's not so glamorous. Whenever the prince buys something expensive, he begins to get bored from it and he throws it away. The maids and servants don't give what Blueblood exactly what he wanted as he was very precise. He attends the events because his Auntie Celestia told him to go and he needed to keep up a good public image of himself in Canterlot's rich community. To Blueblood, this was the cost of having the title of prince. It's a lot of work and he doesn't get everything he wants in return. He turned over to stare at the ceiling while trying to process how his day went. Blueblood thought those noble ponies were so annoying from their attempts to kiss up to him to possibly get connections from royalty. He especially despised the mares who try to flirt with him as they probably wanted marry into royalty so they could get the same privileges he gets. The thought of mares reminded Blueblood of a bad memory from that one year during the Grand Galloping Gala. He met a mare who had followed him like a baby chick following its' mother. Throughout the night, the mare demanded Bloodblood to treat her as if she was royalty herself. The mare even made Blueblood taste disgusting commoner foods that were given out by some country bumpkin. The mare then started yelling at Blueblood for simply dodging a falling cake. It wasn't his fault that the mare was in the way. The worst part of the night was when the mare started shaking the cake off as if she was a dirty dog. Most of the cake splattered on to Blueblood and other ponies nearby. The prince shuttered from the last memory as he had to take multiple baths to remove what was left of the cake. That night taught Blueblood that mares were full of trouble. Blueblood grumbled as he remembered that he has more plans for tomorrow such as attending an important tea party with his auntie and attend an orchestra. He looked at his night stand and used his magic to retrieve what appears to be framed photo of a younger version of himself. It was a reminder of how simple his life was as all he did as a foal was play around and get things. Now he was an adult and had more responsibilities as a prince. He yelled in anger as he threw the photo at a nearby bookshelf. The photo's glass broke and it fell to the floor. Blueblood laid in silence until he prepared for sleep. He first made his way towards the bookshelf to clean up the mess as it would take too long for the maids to clean it up. As he levitated the photo, he looked to see that some of the books also fell to the ground. The books in Blueblood's shelf were just about proper manners and old fairy tales he used to read when he was a foal. As he levitated the books, he came across a familiar book. The cover showed two similar looking stallions standing next to each other. One of the stallions was fully dressed like a king while the other stallion was dressed in rags. 
"The King and the Commoner?" Blueblood read the book's title out loud. He began skimming the pages and he began to remember what this story was about. It told the tale of a king who had met this one pony who looked very similar to the king. Blueblood recalled that the king and the other pony exchanged outfits so they could switch places. The common pony got to live like a king while the true king got to live as a commoner. Blueblood immediately closed the book as an idea came to his mind. 
'If I were to switch places with somepony else, then I could avoid all of my responsibilities and actually enjoy some piece and quiet!' Blueblood thought as he cheered in victory. His cheering stopped when he realized something. 
'If I were to switch places, then I would have to give up my title as a prince and live as some commoner.' Blueblood began to gag just from the thought of not being pampered for being royalty. But he shook it off as he really wanted to get out of his duties. Another thing Blueblood realized was that it would be difficult for him to find a pony with the exact appearance as his. Blueblood thought it would make sense as nopony could imitate his good looks. The prince pondered until he came up with a soultion. He used his magic to bring out a scroll and a quill to began writing for his plans.