The Next Evening
The Canterlot Archives contains almost all of Equestria's most important books and scrolls. Some of these books and scrolls contain spells that were so powerful that they were locked up to prevent any more harm. Blueblood looked around the hallways that lead to the archives to make sure nopony was around. The prince thought it would be easier to just switch minds with another pony and the archives might have some spell for that. Even though Blueblood was a prince, he wasn't allowed to enter the archives such as Princess Celestia and a selected few. When the cost was clear, Blueblood quietly trotted down the halls until he reached the archives' entrance. He used his magic to unlock the door and made his way in. It was a surprise to the prince it was that easy to break into the archives. He couldn't help but chuckle from how pathetic his Auntie Celestia sets up the castle's security. Blueblood gawked from how large the archives was. He thought it would take centuries for him to search the whole place just to look for some spell. Blueblood began searching one bookshelf before he groaned and gave up. He would normally hire a scholar pony to search for certain books, but he didn't want any pony to ask him questions.
'I'll be as old as Auntie Celestia when I find a spell!' Blueblood whined internally. Suddenly, a book fell and hit Blueblood on the head.
"Ow!" Blueblood hollered. He used his magic to levitate the book towards him. "Stupid book." Blueblood complained. He then noticed the title of the fallen book. It said: Forbidden Mental Spells for Beginners. The prince felt relieved to stumble upon what could possibly be his ticket to freedom. He held the book and made his way back into his room.
Blueblood placed the book on his table and he began to skim it in search for the right spell. He still couldn't believe that the book he was searching for conveniently fell on top of his head. Plus, the book wasn't in some foreign language so it was easy for him to read. Blueblood continued to skim the pages until he came across a possible spell. It was a mind-switching spell that switches minds with another pony with similar traits and personalities with the spell caster. Blueblood believed it was the perfect spell for him. He read that the spell required some chalk, a bowl of water, and a hair sample from the spell caster. Blueblood used his magic to retrieve a piece of chalk from a nearby chalkboard and the bowl that he usually used to hold his fruits. He filled the bowl up with water from his bathroom’s sink. Blueblood also retrieved his mane brush to pull out a leftover string of his mane so he didn’t have to pull some out from his lovely head. Blueblood began to use his magic to draw a spell circle with the chalk. He then began to read out loud the first part of the spell. The drawn circle began to glow in some blue light. Blueblood placed his mane thread into the water bowl and it too glowed in a blue light.
“Show me a pony who is similar to me.” Blueblood requested. The water in the bowl rippled until the content revealed an image of a light yellow stallion trotting his way down some street. His mane was light brown and was well groomed. The stallion stopped in front of two mares to swing his head to flip his mane and smiled with confidence. It caused the mares to swoon from how charming the stallion was.
“This stallion is similar to me?” Blueblood questioned. “Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.” Blueblood levitated a tied up scroll on the table and he set hooves on the magic circle. Blueblood looked inside the spell book and began to chant the rest of the spell. As he chanted, the circle grew brighter and Blueblood suddenly felt electricity flowing throughout his body. His eyes then glowed a blue light and the whole room was covered in a flash of light.
Feather Bangs was eating a freshly made salad for dinner. He enjoyed his usual day in Starlight’s village where he always go out and say hi to the locals. His favorite part of the day was flirting with some strolling mares who looked like they were interested in him. Feather always thought he was quite charming to the mares. But he sometimes wished that he was somepony more noticeable. Most mares would go after stallions who are quite extraordinary such as Royal Guards or Wonderbolts. Feather only has his looks, his poetry, and his singing. Those traits can only help Feather so far as having a few mares turn their heads at him and nothing else. Feather's thoughts were interrupted when his body suddenly felt like it was being electrocuted.
'What's happening?!' Feather thought as he gripped his chest. 'Am I dying?!' The next thing Feather knew, his eyes suddenly glowed blue and a flash covered the entire room.
Blueblood groaned as he began to wake up. He slowly raised his head to notice that his face was covered in lettuce leaves. As Blueblood cleaned off the lettuce, he noticed his hooves that were now small and light yellow. Blueblood got up from his seat to take a good look at himself. He brushed his mane with his hooves to notice that it wasn't dark yellow and now it was brown. There was also no horn on Blueblood's head. Blueblood looked at his flank to see that his cutie mark was now a couple of hearts with a feather in the center. It's official, Blueblood was now that stallion he saw in the water bowl.
"It worked! The spell actually work!" Blueblood cheered until he realized that his voice also sounded completely different. "I sound completely weird." Blueblood said. He noticed that he was inside of a small house. 'This must be this stallion's home.' Blueblood said as he began to trot. He stumbled a bit considering that he wasn't used to being this short. Blueblood searched around to look for any information about this other stallion, specifically the stallion's name. Blueblood found some opened letters that were for a Feather Bangs. 'Looks like this stallion is named Feather Bangs. Sounds perfect for a commoner's name.' Blueblood thought. He felt a sense of success as now he was able to get out of his royal duties and actually have some fun. The prince also wondered how this Feather Bangs is reacting to being in a new body.
Feather slowly regained consciousness and he began to open his eyes. He saw that he was laying face down on the floor. Feather took his time as he got up on all four of his hooves. He noticed something was wrong as he felt taller than what he usually felt. Feather looked down on his hooves to see that the bottom of his hooves were grayish blue and his forelegs were completely white. Feather panicked when he realized that those weren't his hooves. He felt something strange on his forehead and placed a hoof on a unicorn horn. Feather recalled that he didn't have a horn of any kind ever since he was born. He noticed that he was inside of some kind of suite. Feather trotted around until he saw a bathroom. He entered to turn on the bathroom's lights and he took a good look at the mirror. Feather looked in horror as he was now a completely different stallion. His physique was more muscular and his manes were yellow instead of its' usual brown color. Feather looked at his cutie mark which was now a four pointed star.
"What happened to me?!" Feather yelled before he clapped his hooves to his mouth. His voice sounded deeper than his usual voice. Feather took another look at himself in the mirror.
"I could've sworn I have seen this stallion before." Feather said before he tries to remember. "Prince Blueblood!" Feather said as he recognized the prince from pictures in newspapers. Confusion increased in Feather as he had no idea why he looked and sounded like a royal prince. He exited the bathroom and spotted a rolled up scroll on a large table. Before Feather could trot over to get it, his horn glowed white and the scroll began to float towards him. Feather yelped and the scroll fell to the ground. He assumed that his horn reacted to getting the scroll and his horn tried to levitated the scroll. Feather trotted up to pick up the scroll to unwrap it and read what it said.
Dear Sir,
If you are reading this, it means that you have awakened and you now look like me, Prince Blueblood. The reason for this sudden event is that I have switch minds with you. I apologize for doing this without your permission, but the purpose of this was to complete an assignment given to me by Princess Celestia. It required that I switch minds with another stallion and you were the perfect candidate. I can't go into further details of the assignment as it is classified. While I'm away, I need you to pretend to be me. You don't have to worry about not being able to pull off acting exactly as me. I mean, how can anypony imitate all of my amazing traits? Just ask the castle's servants to help you do certain tasks. Worst case scenario, ask my Auntie Celestia. But don't tell her that you're not me! She wants this situation to be a secret. You will be rewarded with a decent amount of bits when I complete my assignment. Send me letters to your address so I stay informed about your progress and to make sure you're not doing a terrible job in impersonating me. I wish you good luck in pretending to be me.
Sincerely,
Prince Blueblood
Feather took a moment to process what he had just read. It was a lot to take in for Feather as he switched minds with a prince of Equestria. Feather doesn't even know how to act like a prince. But Feather thought he shouldn't hesitate as he is helping Prince Blueblood for an important duty.
'I just got to act all prince like and ask for help if I need it. It should be good, right?' Feather said in his mind. He suddenly yawned and felt tired. He looked at a clock to see that it's late. 'Maybe a good night's sleep will help calm my nerves for tomorrow.' Feather said as he made his way to the prince's bed and snuggled under the blanket. He rested for his first day as a prince.