This story is a sequel to Blueblood's Ascension Part II; or, The Otherworldly Adventure of an Alicorn Prince
Prince Blueblood has returned home after a smashing trek to another world. He is completely prepared to live out his life inventing bigger and better uses for the Come to Life spell, and pursuing his choice of hobbies.
Life has other plans for him, as is often the case. An old family oath calls him to Tartarus, the magical prison designed to hold Nightmares at bay. There he must confront a dying warden, an ancient curse, and a bevy of monsters that would like nothing more than to see Equestria become a wasteland.
It will not be easy, but a number of friends both old and new will be willing to lend a hoof. Maybe. Hopefully. Eventually.
Nightmares and dreams, oaths and curses, friends and foes, what's an alicorn prince supposed to do with all of that?
Blueblood's Ascension Series:
Blueblood's Ascension; or, Alicorns Just Aren't What They Used to Be
Blueblood's Ascension Part II; or, The Otherworldly Adventure of an Alicorn Prince
Blueblood's Ascension Part III; or, Even Alicorns Have Dreams
Background Ascension; or, Alicorns are "in" This Season (Side Stories)
Recommended Reading Order:
1. Blueblood's Ascension; or, Alicorns Just Aren't What They Used to Be
2. Background Ascension; or, the Heart of an Alicorn
3. Brother's Ascension; or, Alicorn Sales-Ponies Nonpareil
4. Backstory Ascension; or, Apple Alicorns are Anonymous
5. Beauty's Ascension; or, An Alicorn Love Story
6. Blueblood's Ascension Part II; or, The Otherworldly Adventure of an Alicorn Prince
7. Bogus Ascension; or, Alicorns Don't Count for Much Nowadays
8. Badguy Ascension; or, An Alicorn's Crime of Fashion
9. Blank Flank Ascension; or, A Very Alicorn Hearth's Warming Eve
10. Blueblood's Ascension Part III; or, Even Alicorns Have Dreams
A little Blueblood family backstory, eh? I like it.
Can't wait to see who the romantic interest is.
3395550 Dunno, but she clearly chose Tartarus over the "old" Blueblood!
3395550
Ooh, yes. It is, without a doubt, going to be filled with much intrigue and bad feelings.
I'll give you a hint: I've already given you a hint.
3395714
Ee-heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!
So true!
3395779 My thoughts after this first chapter was either Luna or Rarity.
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I'll be sure to keep you guessing for a while then.
Although, I'm going to nip Bluna right in the bud. That ain't gonna happen.
3395550
It's Twist!
It's quite telling that, after all that's happened, Rarity on some level still craves Blueblood's appreciation. And not even that of his alicorn self, but plain old Blueblood's. I guess that mental hangup has left deeper stains on the fabric of her mind than even she realised.
This is exciting! Interesting goings-on in Tartarus and in dreams! It seems like the Night Terror would have been pretty dreadful if Princess Luna herself hadn't been there. If Blueblood is going to fight things like that, he's got a lot of work on his hooves.
And yay, romance! I'm pretty sure it's Nurse Redheart, from clues in previous stories. That should be fun!
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Eenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope!
3411517
Interesting interpretation! A bit Freudian, if I don't miss my guess.
Rarity does seem to suffer from a light fixation on the prince, as evidenced by his "presence" in her dream and their previous interactions. But was the symbol in the dream the important aspect, or was it what the symbol was doing? Perhaps the Night Terror used Rarity's memories of Blueblood as an outlet for her own feelings of self loathing...
Or, perhaps it was a negative twist on what Rarity herself wishes of the nearly-noble prince, as you have suggested. Was the Night Terror able to turn her own (perhaps ignored, now) desire for him and her ongoing sorrow at his behavior and merge the two memories together?
I might not have any clue about what i'm talking about, but it sounds smart...
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Hold on to your hippogriffs, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
More than he would believe, considering that Luna said it was one of the weaker Nightmares.
I think they're gonna be a cool addition to the story, once I introduce them more fully.
I'm banking on the romance being fun, that's for sure.
Who his significant other is is kinda ambiguous now, mostly because of the many relationships i've developed betwixt Blueblood and others, but it oughta come out soon enough.
I'll say that there's a major clue as to who it is that some folks might have missed. In this story. Shh, no telling.
A nice hook you've written to start with here, in this newest addition to your trilogy.
Obviously, being me, I'm in favor of more worldbuilding, but also in how that worldbuilding will affect the interpersonal relationships between various characters. That, in my mind, is the real fun of expanding on a world: it opens up possibilities for interaction that would otherwise be impossible. Absent this consequence and depth, even the best worldbuilding becomes mere fluff.
Maybe we'll also get to see a bit more of Blueblood's interaction with his Aunties, given the 'royal duty' nature of this potential disaster. Not just our favorite stern Princess of the Night, but the typically more supportive and motherly
as well.
Also, since it was mentioned and discussed in other comments, I'd say... given the last arc, Redheart isn't a bad guess at all. Though Blueblood still has a thing for OCD lavender unicorns, and a love triangle can be fun to write. Lulamoon gets her usual wildcard status, or maybe, as the one mare who might have it in her head to chase after him rather than vice-versa. He is, still, Equestria's only single Prince, what with the official Pinkburn at the end of the last story.
edit
Well, now that I think about it, there are all those others in the side story. Plus a potential Trixie-Flim thing. Guess I guessed too soon, eh? haha
But I'm primarily curious about how you'll handle Tartarus and the family legacy there. Hope you're good with dogs, BB.
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Thank you! I myself think it to be the best hook i've written so far, to toot my own horn.
Action, drama, romance, plot... All in five-thousand words or less.
The interaction of nearly unrelated characters has been one of my favorite parts of putting this whole saga together, and I can't wait to expand on that concept. We saw some back-and-forth in Part II, and each of the short stories has been slightly dedicated to odd interactions, but I think I've really only tipped the iceberg. There's so many potential relationships to see!
Blueblood's the focus here, of course, but the world does not revolve around him. Just the story.
Most certainly.
I'd join you in speculating, but that would be... cheating... You might be on to something, though. Maybe.
Well, in your defense, I can't think of a better answer to your question! It doesn't preclude the possibility of Trixie's appearance, mind you. Or Flim's.
Remains to be seen, but ought to be fun. "Thaaat's a nice puppy..."
I will mention that I tend to put a lot of myself into Blueblood, and I happen to be terrified of dogs. My Shenanigans-senses are tingling.
Gotta admit, Blueblood's taking it better than I thought. Thought he'd get stone drunk and give no fucks to everyone.... well one out of two's alright. Still even though yeah Blueblood's a pretentious conceited knob, he's got a sense of noblesse oblige.
Huh. Well, it's just as well Flash turned up I suppose.
I've always been fond of Braeburn Pie for exactly that reason.
in my by wont of
in (me) by wont
"Lavender unicorn syndrome." Fie. As a pre-reader myself, I've never seen that a legitimate criteria for complaint in a story, so long as the narrative flows along with the character descriptions. I've seen it in published works and in the finest fanfiction across multiple genres. That said, there's always one or two who seem to be on a crusade against it.
"This old song and dance" indeed! Don't you both know, that's why they have the saying "an heir and a spare!"
And a mention of Nightmarity!
Good, also, to see Twilight on the case. No way she'll let a friend go off to their deathly duty alone, we all knew. I get a sense of the New Pantheon of alicorns being more actual pantheon-like, but maybe that's just the 'fate of hades' feeling I'm getting here. Just as a personal thing, I've always liked to extend Lyra's fanon personality into being a pony interested in all sorts of mythology (and conspiracies), and it'd be interesting to see more of my favorite background pony get in on the action.
3472572
Well, the story is E for Everyone, can't have too much of the former. The latter... there are certain persons he can't help but care what they think.
Hmm, Noblesse Oblige. I like it. It does seem to fit his situation a bit, even though... Spoilers.
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You hear that, Flash? You just got called a replacement for Blueblood!
Golly gee, they're cute together. I consider their part in this story practice for when I get around to writing Braeburn's Ascension; or, the Courtship of Pinkamena Diane Pie.
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Whoops! Thank you for catching that. I think it's fixed, now.
One or two very vocal people, i've noticed.
This comment, along with a few other stories i've been reading lately, really encouraged me. I've been sorta beating myself up with making sure i'm following all the writing rules, and agonizing over the times where I haven't been following the letter of the "law." Thanks for being a part of the whole "kicking me outta my funk" parade!
Blueblood Senior shoulda been thinking about that spare heir before he picked up that spare tire.
More than a mention, you might say.
Indeed not! She has her status as Princess of Friendship to uphold, after all.
By "fate of hades," are you referring to Hades' general predicament as an outcast to the gods, or is there a different reference in there?
And yeah, there's probably enough drama here for both the Greek and Egyptian gods.
It's always fun to see what others do with Lyra.
I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her "nonconformity"; i've got a few fun ideas in store for her.
Yikes, those piles of shattered crystals. Despite knowing in advance that it was almost certainly a nightmare, damn creepy all the same.
When you think about the stuff Spike must have to put up with as Twilight's unofficial caretaker, that poor guy deserves a serious reward at some point.
I've been wondering that myself!
This is kind of jarring. Why would Twilight refer to it as 'Lesson Zero' instead of a 'Smartypants' incident?
3512200
Muhuhahahaha!
I'm gonna do my best to make these nightmares as scary as possible, as a fair warning. Rarity's and Mamma Onyx's were just a taste.
Oh, yeah. Dude gets no respect. I need to start writing more stories about him.
It's funny because it's true!
3524833
Indubitably! I added that line because I didn't want anybody thinking it was a plot hole, or anything silly like that.
In universe: That's the codename the Equestrian Military gave the event.
Meta: It's just my little way of bucking tradition. Every writer calls it some variation of "The Smartypants Incident," so I went... wide left. Instantly recognizable, concise, and just a little bit jarring, it seems.
I might edit that at a later date, should I feel it failed in what it set out to do.
3526317
But nopony ever actually answered the question! It's still a plot hole, except now you've drawn attention to it!
"eternal darnation"
In all the millions on millions of words I've read over my lifetime, I don't think I've ever heard that phrase used. It did evoke a chuckle, though, especially because I can so see and hear it used in the actual show.
The second to last scene brings up a fair point, though. This isn't something Blueblood was exactly trained for, or any of the Tartarus Wardens, seemingly. Must be a very helpful user guide once you get to the job itself. Press TRIANGLE to subdue Nightmares. Press SQUARE to counter Nightmares. Press CIRCLE to punch!
3530060
3534592
Seems there is something new under the sun!
All one of them, actually. There's not a whole lot of call for Tartarus training in the first place,
If you consider Bluebones to be a helpful user guide, sure!
This is about the only way I could see that going down:
i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u369/MyHobby2/Fun%20Zone/MortalWombat.gif~original
I do believe that I found a Magic School Bus reference.
Well, Blue, old bean, if nothing else you can at least request a theme song.
I'd suggest this one:
So who by chance is Kibitz?
A night on the town with Blueblood, Fancy Pants, and Discord? That's a new one.
3605174
According to my research, you are correct!
3605223
Hmm, quite fitting. He needs a theme song of some sort at some point!
Maybe he can go with the old standby for badbutts everywhere.
3607523
Take a look at the preview for IDW's Luna Micro Comic. He gets to accompany Luna as she rules the day while her sister takes a break.
3608810
I've never seen it before! But I know for a fact that Discord can make any gathering of friends a bit silly.
Love the robots. That'll either end well or terribly.
And Twilight, letting Discord talk you into exploding Tartarus is probably a bad idea.
3623999
Why not both!?
Huh? But he's reformed! How could it ever be bad?
Yeah, 'Cerberus' is a tough one.
3638895
Thank you for catching that one! Oy. I'm just gonna call him "Mutt" from now on, I think.
Hey, it's Larry! I mean Shadowfright.
Wasn't Scorpan a nice guy in the end?
Larry, huh. Wasn't that the name of one of the moon nightmares from the Nightmarity arc of the comics? Hmn.
3640471
Yeah, or so the Wiki told me. Something about being corrupted by Tirek, becoming friends with Spike, and then turning into a prince at the end. I'm taking him in a slightly different direction here, though.
3640723
The head honcho himself, second only to their dark and fashionable queen!
I see you did end up going with the Sombra/Nightmarity... well. She's not Nightmarity just yet, but give her some time.
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I cannae say any more than that for fear of spoiling a rather fun sequence later on, so I'll settle with a tease!
plotting you imminent demise.
plotting your imminent demise.
So much Discord of late is rather unexpected, but it is being handled well. More noteworthy to me, if how you're handling the little love triangle here. Flash is suitably endearing, I suppose, or at least understanding enough, given I find the character canonically utterly bland. But it leaves the issue of how things will end up resolved very murky. This is a good thing.
I just want to you tell Scorpan that we need as many Nightmares
I just want you tell Scorpan that we need as many Nightmares
Something from the comics, is it? All the more reason to keep an eye on things here.
Dark Shadow Lightning?
unique name, she calls it. More like suspicious.
Sombra/Nightmarity?
I've seen it done in pics though never a fic, I'll admit. We need more Sombra in the world anyway.
I'm wondering if something's gotten a nip at Lyra too, here.
So many mostly-unprepared alicorns running around. There's gotta be a way to make that work to one's evil benefit.
Man, the whole Sombrarity (Shadowity? Rarelight? No wait, definitely not that last one) had me laughing all chapter.
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Much obliged, Cap'n. Nary a chapter exists without some squirrelly little stinker of a typo trotting its way across my page.
He'll be getting bit of spice in this story. He certainly grabbed the short stick when it came to characterization.
I've read far too many love triangles that were immediately obvious. I'm gonna try to keep everyone guessing. For a little while, anyway.
I adore everything i've seen from the comics! I really have to actually read them one of these days.
Something about their shared affinity for crystals makes them seem perfect for each other. I'm sure they can work out any sort of issues they may come across regarding ethics.
There may be a few plot-relevant things occurring here, yeah.
3699107
This couple only needs one name, djthomp:
Crystaaalllsss!!!
Hmn, bad dreams for everybody it seems.
Something other than Nightmare Rarity then? Can't just redo...
Nightmare Pinkie!
No, that's too dangerous.
It might not be a re-possession at all, though that does seem to be their MO.
3728567
More or less. Give or take. Kind of, sort of.
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I'm all for the party lasting forever, but that would give half the Equestrian continent a heart attack, and the other half a sugar coma.
It is their M.O. and I would be remiss if I didn't do something interesting with it.
Well, that sounds ominous. Still, nice of Blueblood to apologize, and I still find everypony's inability to recognize Sombra to be absolutely hilarious.
I can't wait for Rarity to introduce her boyfriend to the senior princesses.
Blueblood is being remarkably restrained and responsible tonight. It's nice to see, even if it means no making out with Redheart.
3810091
I don't see why! Discord is reformed, and it's been years since Twilight touched any mind-altering magic spells!
Or at least weeks.
Dark Shadow Lightning is a rather fun little character to play around with. I can't wait until we get to the scene where... well, spoilers.
3810604
Can you just see it? Dark walks up to the princesses and is all like, "Oh, snap I'm dead!" and they're all like, "Dude, what's with your horn?" and he's all like, "Recessive genes" and they're all like, "Ooooh..."
So yeah, it'll be nothing like that.
3816515
Yeah. Time for something to go horribly wrong, methinks.
Le sigh, the price of foresight. It holds you back from doing all kinds of fun things!