//------------------------------// // From Earth, Back to Equestria // Story: Nightmare's Heir // by johnnycajxrt //------------------------------// Brooding, anger, a thirst for revenge against my aunt for what she did to me so long ago. For nearly 50 years I have been trapped in this horrid place called Earth, waiting for the chance to take my revenge. I haven’t introduced myself, I apologize. My name is Prince Francois of Equestria; Cousin to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Blueblood, Nephew of Princess Celestia, and Son of Princess Luna. 50 years ago, I attempted a coup of my Aunt’s kingdom and nearly succeeded, but I was defeated and instead of banished to the moon like my mother, I was sent to this horrid place called “Earth” and transformed into a human. One bright sunny day, I was outside one of my homes, tending my small garden, when I heard as much as felt a loud boom echoing in the sky. I looked up and saw something flying right towards my home, making a rainbow trail in the sky behind it. I had barely enough time to get clear before whatever it was collided with the house. When it hit, I was thrown into a ditch and had the breath knocked out of me. As I crawled out of the ditch, gasping for air, I saw something that begged the question of whether or not I hit my head Sitting in the wreckage of what was formerly my house, was a cyan pegasus mare. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, trying to convince myself that what I was seeing wasn’t real, but I knew deep down that it had happened. After all this time, another pony had either been banished, or had found some kind of magic that sent her to Earth. What happened next though made me just about pass out in shock. The pegasus turned around toward the forest that surrounded what used to be my house and said, “You okay princess? I guess it’s pretty lucky I was in the area when that spell went wrong.” To which a voice I hadn’t heard in many years respond, “Yes Rainbow, I’m fine, I landed in something soft,” When I heard that voice, I fell to my knees, unable to speak, it was the voice of my mother, Princess Luna. “Are you okay Rainbow? I see you hit something not so soft, and completely obliterated it,” My mother said as she stepped into view. To which the pegasus replied, “Nah, I’m fine, this happens to me all the time. Where are we anyway?” “I’m not sure, but I don’t think we’re in Equestria anymore.” Finally able to speak, I stood up and asked, “Mother? Is that really you?” Visibly surprised, both ponies looked over at me, “You talkin’ to me?” asked the one called Rainbow. “No Rainbow Dash, he’s speaking to me,” Said my mother. “Francois? Is that you? I’d heard you’d been banished, but I never thought I’d see you like this.” “Yes mother, it’s me, Francois,” I said, going on to explain what had happened to me when I attempted my coup. “What happened to you two anyway?” I inquired as I finished recanting my story. “It was my fault, I had been experimenting with a spell to make the stars shine brighter so the ponies at night could see better. I had the gist of it, but when I tried it full scale, it backfired on me. Rainbow Dash here was in the area and flew as fast as she could to get me out of the way of the backfiring spell, but we were both caught in it and were sent here,” My mother explained. I turned and looked at Rainbow, who was standing behind my mother, “Hello Rainbow Dash, my name is Prince Francois of Equestria, I thank you for what you did in trying to rescue my mother. It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I offered my hand to her. She backed away and gave me a strange look. “Did I hear you right? Because it sounded like you said you attempted to overthrow Princess Celestia 50 years ago. She hasn’t told us anything about it,” Rainbow Dash said, with what sounded like contempt. I regarded the mare for a second, then said, “Yes, you heard right, my attempted coup, the elements being used to send me here, all of it. Though I am surprised that nopony realized I was gone. I was a popular figure, and a skilled negotiator, especially when it came to foreign diplomats.” “The Elements of Harmony? I have one of those, I represent the element of Loyalty and my five friends have the other elements,” she said with what seemed like smugness. “Do you think that Princess Celestia will allow you back, even if you do find a way?” I decided to use my negotiating skills to embellish on why I wanted to go back, “Yes, because I have seen the error of my ways and I wish to make amends to my aunt and cousins for what I did. I do believe that with you two being sent here via my mother’s magic, I now have a way to return to Equestria.” “How?” Rainbow Dash asked “Isn’t it obvious Rainbow?” mother asked. “Not really,” she replied “All mother has to do is perform that spell again, and when it backfires, we stand in the ‘blast zone’ as it were, and voila, we’re back in Equestria,” I explained to the confused-looking pegasus. “I’m not sure I can do that spell again so soon, it took a lot out of me. Plus, it’s the middle of the afternoon, this spell is meant to be used at night to help brighten the night sky,” My mother explained. “I understand, I just wish that Rainbow hadn’t crashed into my house, now the only place I have where we could stay is across town,” I said. “On top of that, there’s too much of a risk of you two being seen, either flying or on foot, to get over there right now,” I continued. “We also need to get away from this area because I know the police and news crews are already on their way to see what caused that loud boom, and they saw where that rainbow trail hit. The way I see it, we have two options: One, we go deeper into the woods and lay low there until nightfall, but I know that would only exhaust you and keep you from getting the rest you need. Or, we hide in the woods until the news crews and police get here, and Rainbow here does another rainbow trail thingy-” “Sonic Rainboom,” Rainbow interrupted. “Sonic Rainboom, of course, which will lead the police and news crew away to a park that’s about 2 miles away, and while they’re on their way to the park, you and I sneak off to my other place and hide there,” I said, turning to the pegasus, “Rainbow, as fast as you are, you should be able to easily get away from the park before anyone else shows up right?” “No problem,” the cocky mare said with a smile. “Just tell me, where is the park and your place?” “Sure, the park is about 2 miles west of here, just fly that way,” I pointed, “And you’ll see a big sandbox and some other miscellaneous playground equipment, after you do your Sonic Rainboom, head away from the setting sun, you’ll see a bunch of houses with wheels, my place is the blue one with a Fleur De Lis on top of it, you can’t miss it. A Fleur De Lis looks like this,” I said as I drew a rough equivalent of one in the dirt with a stick. “Alright then, gotta dash!” The young mare said as she flew away towards the park. As she flew off, my mother and I waved. “Mother, it’s so good to see you again, I only wish I could have been in Equestria to see you back,” I finally said. “Francois, if you had been in Equestria to see me, that would mean you would’ve succeeded in your plan to seize control, and I would still be the evil Nightmare Moon,” My mother replied. “Good point mom, I do have a question though.” “What is it my son?” “It’s been 50 years for me, how long has it been in Equestria?” “According to Celestia, 200 years.” My mouth dropped open in surprise, I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “Wh-What all have I missed?” “I escaped from the moon as the prophecy foretold,” She started, going on to tell me about how the evil in her had been wiped out by the Elements, about Rainbow’s friends wrecking the Grand Galloping Gala, and how Discord had returned, but thanks to Rainbow and her friends, had turned him back to stone. “Anything else of note?” I asked. “A few,” She said, going on to tell me about Mi Amore Cadenza’s wedding and how Celestia had been incapacitated by the changeling queen. “Wow, Princess Celestia was beaten by the changeling queen? The love that she must have been feeding on must have been great indeed.” “Yes, for it was the love of Shining Armor that she was feeding on, she was posing as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza” I stood, amazed at everything that I had missed in the 200 years that I had been banished, when suddenly, we heard the raging explosion that could only have meant that Rainbow had completed her task. I was snapped out of my stunned silence when I saw the large rainbow spreading. Quickly, I got on my mother’s back and she took off towards my trailer home. Luckily, there weren’t any neighbors around when my mother and I landed. A few minutes passed before we saw a streak of cyan and then stepped back as Rainbow Dash landed in front of us. “Hey guys, I see you got here alright.” “Yeah,” I said, “nice job with the rainbow too. Did you have any trouble finding us here?” “No, there aren’t a lot of blue buildings, and that drawing you showed me helped me easily find this one.” “If you two are done, let’s get inside before anypony sees us,” my mother cut in. “Good idea mom, let’s go in and I’ll see if I can get something to eat for us.” We went inside (mother almost hitting her head on the top of the doorframe) and both of the ponies had to fold up their wings so they didn’t knock anything over. Mother went and sat on the sofa while Rainbow Dash went and sat down on the recliner. I went into the kitchen to look around for something that the two ponies could eat, but came up empty except for an old bag of baby carrots and some milk that had turned into yogurt. I silently cursed myself for not keeping this place well maintained as far as provisions went, but it couldn’t be helped because I hadn’t planned on coming to live here for a while. I decided to see if the two mares would be alright staying by themselves for a bit, while I went to grab some food for us. “Mother, Rainbow Dash,” I called out to them. “Yes?” Mother replied. “Would you two be alright if I ran to grab something to eat for us? I’d be gone about an hour, but it’d probably help you get your strength back sooner,” I said to them. “Okay, Francois, but come right back,” Mother said. “Will do, mom, what would you guys like to eat?” “Hay fries, extra crispy!” Rainbow said eagerly. “Fries do exist here, but they’re made out of potatoes, not hay. Would those be alright Rainbow?” “Yeah, they’ll work, as long as they’re extra crispy,” She said, mouth already watering. I chuckled to myself. “I’ll have whatever you’ll bring, because I know it’ll be delicious,” Mother said with a smile, causing me to blush. “Alright, I’ll head to the store and grab something that I can make that we all can eat,” I said, grabbing my keys and wallet. As I walked down the road to the local supermarket, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat annoyed at Rainbow Dash for the way she acted toward me, especially in front of mother. To speak to me in such a disrespectful manner when I was perfectly nice and cordial towards her. It had me wondering if I had her trust or not. I walked through the supermarket, drawing the occasional second look, I didn’t live in a very big town, and I lived alone and didn’t go out much, so it was always “newsworthy” when I went somewhere. I bought fries for Rainbow, as well as some food for myself and Mother. I walked into the trailer with the food and got to cooking. I cooked a few of the fries and gave them to Rainbow to see if she liked them, she said that they weren’t as good as hay fries, but they’d work. I cooked up the rest of the bag of fries, as well as fixing up a nice vegetable dish for Mother and I. After finishing our food, we hung around and passed the time talking, Rainbow doing most of it, bragging about how she was going to join the Wonderbolts one day. Mother mostly stayed silent, and more than once I caught her just staring at me, as if she could never see me enough. Around midnight, mother said she was feeling up to trying the spell again. I didn’t want my only other place destroyed in case the spell went awry, so we went about a mile away to a clearing in the woods. “Alright mother, let’s see what happens,” I said hopefully. Her horn started to glow as the magic began to build. Slowly but surely, the glowing moved through her body and covered her from head to tail. The sky started turning brighter and brighter, then went pitch black, with even the moon and stars blocked out by whatever magic mother was conjuring. Suddenly, lightning bolts started shooting down, striking very close to us, I then looked and saw that all three of us were surrounded in the same aura that had surrounded my mother. There was a white flash, and we were suddenly flying through a pitch black tunnel. I felt my mother and Rainbow Dash on either side of me, and then I looked forward and saw a small light. We were moving towards it, and finally, there was another bright white flash, and we all landed on hard masonry. I laid there for a minute before deciding I was okay, and then I slowly opened my eyes and saw something I hadn’t seen in 200 Equestrian years - Canterlot Castle. Mother had done it, we were all back in Equestria.