//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Blueblood's Back?! // Story: Life in Another Pony's Hooves // by HonorBound //------------------------------// My eyes widened in fear of what I had just heard in my head. No... That’s not possible. No. It was just a stray thought that my mind came up with. That’s it! There’s no way that really happened. Oh, but it is possible, and it did happen. B..but the princess switched our minds. You can’t be here. You should be in my body, back on Earth. How are you here? Humans don’t have magic or the scientific knowledge to cross dimensions. What’s going on!? “Is something wrong?” Twilight asked. “I know I’m not much of a dancer. We can stop, if you want to?” Careful. You don’t want the pesky mare getting suspicions, now do we? I hadn’t noticed that in the chaos of my mind, I had stopped moving. This caused my dance partner to worry about me. “Uh... sorry,” I said, “I just got distracted for a moment.” She seemed satisfied with the hasty explanation, and leaned her head against me once more as we continued to dance. This simple act calmed my frazzled nerves, so I could think a little more clearly. What do you want? I want, what anypony in my position would want. I want my body back! Too bad. I’m using it. You can go back to my old body now. That is quite impossible at the moment, I assure you. I doubt that. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to finish dancing with this beautiful mare, and then I’m going to find a purple dragon to send a letter to Celestia. She’ll teleport here, and throw you back into my body on Earth. Problem solved. As I said before, that is not possible, as I am, no doubt, already there. No. If you were there, then you wouldn’t be here, bugging me. Twilight once again brought me out of my internal conversation when she sighed into me. “This is nice. I’ve never had somepony who wanted to dance with me before.” I smiled at how cute she was being. “That can’t be true. You’re smart, skilled, and…” I looked into her eyes. They were sparkling in the light of the disco ball above us. “…vary beautiful.” I finished, while a brushed some of her hair away from her face with my forehoof. Do not ignore me! I am royalty, and deserve to be treated as such. The purple mare in front of me blushed and looked away from me in embarrassment. “I’m nothing special. I’m just a librarian.” she stated. “There are plenty of mare’s out there more deserving of such words then I am.” “Twilight, you are far from just a librarian. And, if there are mares out there more deserving, than I can’t see them. You’re the only mare that I can see who fits the description.” I said with a half grin on my face. Wow, I’ve never been this smooth before. This is working out great! It won’t last. As soon as she finds that you are some sort of mutant ape creature, she will run for the hills. Shut up! You don’t know that! My purple dance partner was looking up at me, blushing profusely. However, there was more to it than that. She had a face that spoke of great bafflement, and deep thought. “I… I need to go. I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized, as she pushed herself away from me, and ran through the other ponies in a hurry. I watched in stunned shock until she disappeared into the crowd beyond my vision. What just happened? Everything was going so well, and… Good riddance. Now that that is taken care of, we can move on to the point where you turn over control of my body back to me. I’ve seen excrement more beautiful than her, anyways. That’s it! We’re getting you out of my head, right now! Where’s Spike? We’ll get Celestia down here, she’ll figure out how you got into my head, and keep you from doing it again. I trudged through the sea of dancing ponies. My emotions were swirling around in my head. The most prominent of those being despair from Twilight running away from me, and rage that Blueblood would dare say anything bad about her. The worry that I had said or done something to cause Twilight to run off the way that she had, weighed heavily on my conscience. The urge to chase the purple mare through the crowd was stifling, but the need to remove Blueblood from my head had to take precedence. I’d seen and read too many movies and stories to know that it would not be a good idea to leave the matter stagnate for any longer than it needed to. Finding Spike wasn’t that hard to do, all I had to look for was a certain white mare in a fancy dress. Said mare was talking to Fluttershy towards the side of the room. Spike was sitting patiently behind Rarity, gawking at her ‘beauty’. “Spike! I need your help!” The two fillies and little dragon all jumped at my harsh outburst. “Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked in a high pitched tone that actually made her sound even quieter than she normally was. “Whoa! Dude, what’s wrong?” Spike asked. “I must agree. Whatever has caused you such distress my dear prince?” I rolled my eyes at Rarity’s flirtatious words. Spike grumbled something under his breath, which I couldn’t make out. I recognize that mare. She was at the Gala last year. She tried to make a fool of me! You didn’t need her to help you in that regard, believe me. Do not mock me you simpleton. You will treat me in a manner befitting royalty! Not going to happen. “Sorry.” I apologized. “I really need Spike’s help for a moment. It shouldn’t take too long.” “Is it something we could assist in?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone. “No… well, maybe. I don’t know. I just need Spike’s help right now and then we’ll see. Later, okay?” “Very well, if that is how it must be, we shall await your return. Isn’t that right Fluttershy?” The meek pegasus only nodded as she hid further behind her mane. “Thanks girls. Come on Spike, let’s find someplace a little more quite.” “Fine.” he groaned. “We can head up to the second floor. Nopony should be up there with the party going on.” I lifted the little dragon up onto my back with a quick spell, and proceeded to the stairs leading up. The sooner I’m rid of you, the better. You will find that I am not so easy to be rid of. In the end, you will not have a say in the matter. You will give my body back to me, whether you want to or not. Make it easy on yourself, won’t you? Turn it over now, so you won’t have to suffer later. Ascending to the top of the stairs, I ignored the annoying voice in my head, figuring that his threats were empty ones. Spike directed me to the door that would isolate us from the noise of the party below. I opened it to reveal a room shrouded in shadow. Luna’s moon showed brightly through the window, giving the room just enough light to navigate by, but only fully illuminating what it actually touched. Looking about, I recognized this particular room from the cartoon. “Is this Twilight’s room?” I asked. “It’s my room too.” he responded a little grumpily. “So, what was so important that you had to tear me away from Rarity?” “I need you to send a letter to Celestia for me.” I answered. “It’s really important.” Spike groaned in annoyance. “Is that all this is about? Couldn’t it wait until tomorrow?” “No Spike, it can’t. I’m afraid that the problem could escalate if we put it off any longer.” “But, what is it?” he asked. “What’s so bad that the princess has to get involved?” I stiffened a bit. What should I tell him? Oh yes, tell the little demon. Tell him that you have a voice in your head. Tell him that it tells you to do things. I would love to see his reaction to that. That was a rhetorical question. It wasn’t directed to you. Sighing in defeat, I steeled myself and hoped for the best. “Spike, the princess did something magical to me that I will forever be grateful for. I don’t want to get into too much detail right now, but I’m afraid that something has gone wrong, and she needs to be informed as soon as possible. Okay?” Spike nodded, and ran over to get some parchment and a quill to write with. He returned shortly; ready to pen what I needed to say. “Ready when you are.” he said. “Thanks Spike. Alright, Dear Princess Celestia, I…” I paused, realizing that if I were to narrate my letter to Spike he would know everything. Not wanting him to find out just what the problem was yet, I levitated the materials out of his grasp so I could write the message myself. “Ya know what? I’ll do that. Just send it when I’m done. Alright?” The dragon simply shrugged his shoulders in indifference. “If that’s what you want.” Settling myself on the floor, I angled myself so I could use the moonlight to see what I was going to write down. In my head, I was narrating what I wanted as I wrote it down onto the parchment. Dear Princess Celestia, I am a greedy body snatcher. I stopped what I was doing and looked at what I had just written. In plain black and white, was what the two minds in my head had narrated. Scratching out the last line, I began again. Dear Princess Going to get hers once I get my body back. Stop that! I mentally chastised Blueblood as I scratched out what I had written once again. What? Let you write a letter to Princess Celestia, so she can come and try to remove me from my own body again. I think not. Fine! Be that way. It’ll happen no matter what you try to do to prevent it. What proceeded consisted of me trying to write the letter only for blueblood to butt into my thoughts, and cause me to write something I didn’t want to. After a number of failed attempts, I growled loudly in frustration, getting the attention of the little dragon in the room. “I..Is everything alright?” he asked. In a fit, I tried one more time and wrote frantically. BLUEBLOOD’S BACK! HELP! Making it through the short plea for assistance, I turned to Spike with a content sigh of triumph. “Yes… Yes, I think that’ll be enough for her to understand the urgency of my message. Please, send this now.” Spike grabbed the scroll, and without reading it, he rolled it up neatly in preparation for what he was about to do. Blowing a wisp of green fire onto the parchment, we watched as the fire consumed the piece of paper so there was nothing but smoke left. It drifted out of the window, and into the night sky, fading away in the distance. We waited in silence for a few moments, as nothing happened. I was a little impatient for a response; considering the annoying voice in my head. “How long does…” I attempted to ask, but was interrupted by a bright flash in the middle of the room. “Princess Celestia!” Spike and I exclaimed in unison, once our vision cleared. I thought I had heard another pony voice their own exclamation at the same time, but I put it out of my mind in favor of the more pressing matter at hand. There was a soft cough from behind the white alicorn, and Princess Luna moved into our line of sight. “A..and Princess Luna too!” Spike added. I remained silent, slightly brooding over the enchantment Luna had placed on me. “Verily, tis well to see thee again, Honor Bound.” Luna greeted warmly. “We… I only wish that it was under more favorable conditions.” No more favorable than when I tried to kill your sorry flanks. “You did what!?” I exclaimed out loud, not even caring about the dragon standing next to me anymore. Celestia and Luna’s eyes grew large as they no doubt heard Bluebloods words emanate from my mind. Spike on the other hand, was looking at me like I had grown a new limb out of my forehead or something. Oh? They never told you why they saw fit to, not only banish me from their kingdom, but from this vary dimension as well? I physically sputtered something incomprehensible, but my mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute. But why would you try to do something so horrible. The princesses are awesome! There’s no reason for you to try to kill either one of them. “Are you okay?” Spike asked, unaware of the conversation going on in my head. “Oh dear,” Celestia muttered, “It is worse than I feared.” “What is? What’s going on?” Spike asked in utter confusion. There isn’t? After living as Celestia’s shadow for over three hundred years, I learn that she has a sister. Once more, said sister comes and takes my place at Celestia’s side to rule the country in my stead. Leaving me with nothing but a title, but no actual power. I wasn’t going to let that insult stand, and after some deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I could run Equestria better than either sister could. All I needed to do, was rid myself of the two little pests that were in my way. “That is quite enough Blueblood!” Celestia reprimanded. “Blueblood? Where? I’ll teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget.” Spike threatened with his fists raised, ready for a fight. I’m not sure if she was feeling bad for the baby dragon being left out of the loop, or if she just didn’t want to continue my little fib anymore, but Celestia decided to clue Spike in to what was going on. “Blueblood, or what’s left of him, is currently residing in your friend’s mind.” she explained. “Huh?” Spike asked, dropping his guard to look up at the princess in confusion. I coughed to gain the attention of all in the room. “Yes… well… can we please get rid of him now? It’s really weird having another voice in my head.” “How did he get in there?” Spike asked. “That’s what I want to know.” I answered, looking up to the princesses of both day and night for an explanation. “I’m not sure, to be perfectly honest.” Celestia spoke. “It takes an alicorn’s worth of magical power to cross the dimensional void, and the caster cannot be the one to make the journey themselves. From what I understand, your world doesn’t have the necessary magical ability to do something of this magnitude, so that only leaves somepony on this side of the dimensional chasm.” This is why I would make a better ruler than you, dear auntie. I am capable of thinking of things that you would never dream of. I am quite certain that there is a version of me that now inhabits this creature’s body. However, that version is not me. Once I was caught by your insufferable guards, I knew you would not let my attempt on Luna’s life stand. I assumed you would use a mind wipe spell on me, so I used a mental spell to move all of my higher brain functions to another part of my brain to lay dormant for a few weeks. Meanwhile a construct that I created would get whipped instead of me. Imagine my surprise when I regain my consciousness, to find, not only am I not in the castle anymore, but somepony else is using my body as their own vessel. “Hello? Is anypony going to say anything?” Spike asked. “Why are you all being so quiet?” “Sorry Spike. Blueblood was monologuing.” I explained. “Yes, apologies. Though, he did shed some light on the situation.” Luna stated. “If the ruffian is simply utilizing a normally dormant part of Honor Bound’s mind, than it should be an easy matter to separate the two.” Not likely. If you attempt to remove me from what is rightfully mine, I will ensure that this creature will not come out of it in one piece. “And how do you plan on doing that?” I asked. “I have the higher brain functions right now.” I may be residing in the deeper parts of the pony mind, but that is purely by choice. I have no desire to mingle my consciousness with yours, if I can prevent it. However, I will if I must in order for me to have some form of victory over these two horses. The insult visibly shook Luna. Her older sibling extended her wing over the younger in order to comfort her. “I have a question.” I announced. “How was Blueblood going to kill you two? From what you told me earlier, you’re immune to death." They may not be able to physically die, but their minds and spirits are another matter entirely. “Sadly, he is correct.” Celestia confirmed. “If it wasn’t for the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon would have completely destroyed Luna by now.” The mentioned alicorn visibly shivered under her sister’s wing. “Please, don’t mention that thing, ever again.” “Sorry Lulu.” the solar deity apologized. She brought her attention back towards me. “As for Bluebloods method, he…” As for my method; I was going to use a more controlled spell to enter their minds, and eat away at their fears and insecurities. Once their spirit had broken, their minds would be malleable to my every whim. Crushing their souls completely would be easy after that. “You monster!” Luna snapped. “You have no idea how horrible something like that is.” The moon goddess seemed to be near tears at this point. Most likely reliving what happened to her with The Nightmare. “Okay, it’s seriously annoying only getting half of a conversation.” Spike piped up. “So, from what I’ve gathered, you can’t just remove Blueblood from Honor’s head without something bad happening. Right? So, what do we do then?” “I think I have a few ideas.” said a voice hiding in the shadows of the room. We hadn’t tried to illuminate the room by horn or candle light since we arrived, so it was still shrouded in darkness, but for the moon coming in through the window over Twilight’s bed. “Who’s there?” I demanded. A horn began to glow from the darkest corner of the room, illuminating the room in a soft lavender light. “The one pony whose room you’re all standing in.” stated the unicorn as she came into view. It’s Twilight!? Oh Hell, and she heard everything about me too. This should be interesting.