//------------------------------// // HBS Prologue Four: A Deal With a Princess // Story: Phoenix's Scrap Bin // by PhoenixHorseGuy //------------------------------// Prologue Four: A Deal With a Princess I froze up at that. Was… was she serious? She just met me, what, two hours ago? And now she’s offering me a room in the castle? Even when she’s openly admitting that my story is hard to believe? For all she knows, I’m just some traumatized kid with a mental disorder and an overactive imagination. Granted, I do have the last two things, but that’s besides my point. But then an idea entered my head. Perhaps… “You know more than your letting on, don’t you?” I finally said. Celestia seemed unphased by this as I continued. “You know about the existence of other universes, don’t you? If you did, you would be more likely to believe my story, and thus more likely to help me when I need it. You have no reason to entertain my antics if you believe that I’m just some crazy child who’s trying to cover up his trespassing with some fantastical story. And you would even less reason to let me stay here… unless you wanted to keep a close eye on me to ensure that I don’t do anything stupid that may hurt you citizens. Or to make sure I’m not planning on causing any intentional harm to them.” Celestia chuckled a little at my rambling. “My, you are bright for a colt your age. Yes, you are correct. I was withholding some information from you. I did it as a test. To see if you could connect the dots without me spelling it out for you.” Celestia smiled once again. “As for you, my offer still stands. If you wish to stay here in the castle, I would be more than willing to allow you to do so. I can also give you access to the royal archives, so you can see if you can find a way home.” “… You know what. Fuck it, why not? Knowing my luck, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to go home anyways for some bullshit magic reason I don’t know about yet.” Celestia released me from her wing hug and the two of us started walking back into her room. “Still can’t hurt to try though. So, are you sure I won’t get a concussion?” “My personal doctor checked on you while you were asleep, and he is certain that you don’t have one.” Celestia began. “Though he did tell me to tell you that you should make sure to drink plenty of fluids and take it easy for a few days.” “Did your doctor also figure out my age, per chance?” “He believes you to be five.” ‘So we’ve got a nineteen year old with a mind in the gutter in the body of a five year old. Great. No way this can go wrong.’ I thought to myself. “I got a good look at myself in the mirror.” I said. “Tell me, is there anything useful about having this thing?” I asked, tapping at my horn. “Well, you horn can be used to channel your magic.” Celestia explained, picking up a paper from her desk in her yellow magic to demonstrate. “You can use it for a lot of things, like long distance teleportation or creating a shield to defend yourself.” She set the paper back down on the desk. “Most unicorns tend to stick to simple telekinesis, however. If you want, I would be willing to teach how to har-” Our conversation was rudely interrupted by my stomach, informing us that it has not had food enter it since I ate dinner last night. “How about we discuss this more over lunch?” “Um, yeah. Lunch sounds nice. Didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast this morning.” I replied. Before I could even reach the bedroom door, there was a flash of light. Once the flash evicted itself from my eyes, we were in what looked like a private dining hall. One long table with chairs all around it in an equally long room. Choosing to just accept the fact that I got teleported here, I sat down at the nearest chair, which just so happened to be one of the closest chairs to the one Celestia was sitting in, right on her left side. “Just so you are aware,” Celestia began. “The proper term is ‘ponies’. Not ‘talking horses’.” I nodded and she continued. “There are three types of pony. Pegasi, who are the ones with wings, unicorns, who are the ones with horns, and earth ponies, who have neither.” So I’m a unicorn. Good to know. “And what would you be? A unicorn-pegasus hybrid?” I asked. “You do have both wings and a horn.” “No. I am an alicorn.” Replied Celestia. Before she could go more into detail, two ponies walked into the room. One of them, a lime green earth pony with a brown mane and tail and brown eyes, gave me a weird look while approaching the princess. “Good afternoon, your highness.” Began the earth pony, who I could now tell was a mare. “We have your usual ready, just how you like it.” She turned her attention to me. “And who might you be?” She asked, a hint of veiled annoyance in her voice. “This little colt is my personal guest, Salad Bar. He is going to be staying in the castle as a friend of the crown for the foreseeable future.” Celestia cut in, not giving me a chance to speak. “I see” Said Salad Bar. “What’s his name?” She asked. “If we’re going to have a guest here for the foreseeable future, I would like to know his name.” “Salad Bar, I’m no-” “No no.” I said, cutting Celestia off and shocking the other two ponies in the room. “I apologize for interrupting you, princess, but what Salad Bar is asking is a pretty reasonable request. In my eyes at least.” I continued. The other ponies seemed to have come down from their shock after my apology. ‘As for my name, it’s-” I stopped myself for a moment. ‘Shit, I should’ve thought this through before I opened my big mouth.’ I decided on the first thing that popped into my head. “My name… is Solar Flare. It’s nice to meet you.”