The heir of the trickster

by Equestriasservant

Chapter 5: Falling into a bedchamber

Ben was floating. It was somewhere dark. Somewhere very dark. The human couldn't see anything, nor could he hear anything. It was like...being non-existent. But he could still feel. That was a nice surprise. There was a strange tingling feeling, starting from the base of his head and moving down his body to the tips of his feet, almost like his body had gone numb. At least Rick hadn't broken his neck or something else fatal. But where had the crazy, guitar playing kidnapper brought him. Last time the Dark-skinned human had checked, it wasn't good manners to conk someone on the back of the head. It just wasn't decent. Ben knew it wasn't somewhere he recognized. The human wished he could see something, instead of just floating here in the dead silence. It was unnerving. The worst time to be alone is when you are on your own, in an unknown place.

Goosebumps rolled up his arms. Wherever he was, the human was cold. He'd wished that Rick had left him his clothes...Wait...Ben felt around him, running his hands over his bare arms...BARE! With a sense of outrage, Ben realized that the guitar player had stripped him of everything, including his dog-tags and leather jacket, leaving him just in a pair of boxers. Ben felt a surge of heat cross his face, not caring about the fact that he was alone. He'd never felt so embarrassed in his life. First some crazy, odd-eyed, guitar-playing creep kidnapped him then that same creep had the nerve to strip him of almost every scrap of clothing. To add insult to injury, Rick had seen fit to dump him somewhere where the sun didn't shine. Rick sighed, trying to curl up slightly in an attempt to draw in some more heat, not daring to move with such little sight. It was disconcerting to be curled up but still upright at the same time. Rick sighed, resting his head on his knees.

"You know you could've just asked for help." Ben's head snapped up, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. He recognized the deep tones. It was Rick. Uncurling himself, Ben whirled round, though with such poor visibility it was useless to even try finding Rick. "Relax Ben," The voice said again, full of barely repressed laughter. "It's not like you'll be able to see me anyway. You don't have the right vision." Ben snarled, balling his fists at his sides. "I'm guessing you want some answers huh?" Asked the voice, giving another chuckle. Ben's temper was rising and his desire to scream out every foul word he knew was growing stronger and stronger. "You wanna talk, then you might wanna restrain your temper." The voice was now full of scorn, laced with a tremulous laughter. "Temper, Temper little heir." Ben stopped. Little heir? What was Rick talking about? "Oh that's right. You wouldn't know would you?!" Crowed the voice, the tone rising with each word. "Oh I'm so glad I got you out of there!" Rick yelled, now losing his composure. "HA! Where should I drop you off...Luna's chamber!" Ben frowned wondering what the heck Rick was talking about now. Then it happened.

A bright square of light appeared, right in front of him. Wind began to howl, whistling past the human, almost as though the still air was leaking out through the opening. Ben gasped as something thick and heavy, flapping like fabric, appeared out of nowhere and smacked him hard in the face. Pulling it away from his face, Ben saw that what had hit him was a long robe, made of a navy blue fabric, with a pair of long sleeves. Ben looked up, pulling the robe tight around him, shielding him from the howling wind. The Robe was so long that the ends came down and covered his bare feet. The fabric flapped around him as Ben tried to tighten the thick belt wrapped around the middle. The opening was widening...no, the wind was howling even louder, which was pulling him closer and closer to it. Just as he got to the edge, Ben's hands shot out, catching what appeared to a frame. In the near darkness before, it had been almost impossible to know that the frame had been there. Looking out through the opening, Ben could see the turrets and tiled roofs of....No, that wasn't possible. Ben was standing above what appeared to be a castle, attached to the side of a huge mountain. His hand slipped and one his feet fell out, hanging over the void.

"No!" Ben yelled, trying hard to redouble his grip on the frame. But it felt like his hands had been smeared with butter. His fingers were slipping, one by one and he was steadily inching out of the opening. Then his last few fingers slipped and he began to to fall. "NOOOOO!" Screamed Ben as he fell, the wind whistling in his ears, the speed of his fall blinding him. He was going to die. That was the one thought echoing through his mind. Besides a whole lot of wind and fear. "HELP MEEE!" Ben screamed, his arms flailing wildly as the human tumbled through the air, the castles turrets coming up faster and faster, he was falling, falling, falling....

---

Luna frowned as she made her way to her bedroom, yawing widely in a most un-princess-like fashion. But she didn't care. Once again, her night-court had been almost empty, comprising this time of only two to three advisers and one of them being her elocution teacher. There were times when she wished she didn't have to go through the monotonous tasks of the court and just make her own personal decisions. But, as her sister, Princess Celestia had said, it was all part of the job. It didn't change how she felt about it though. Being Princess of the Night could be very lonely, especially when most of the other ponies were asleep during her duties. Being custodian of her subjects dreams could lose its charm very quickly. Especially when she was the only Princess there to actually carry out those duties. It was a very lonely job. But now she was on her way back, to escape into her own little dream world. She smiled at the guards stationed at intervals along the walls. Some of the inexperienced ones waved back, though most just nodded at her, keeping their looks of poker-stiff professionalism. Sighing to herself, Luna pushed open the small wooden door, marked with a small blue moon.

Luna stopped dead. What appeared to be a large ball of navy blue fabric was lying on her bed, accompanied by what appeared to be a large quantity of broken timbers and glass. Luna frowned as what appeared to be an arm unfolded from the roll of fabric and slumped itself, palm down on the thin blue blanket. The arm had tanned, brown skin with what appeared to be a thin, navy-blue sleeve covering the arm. Approaching the odd creature, Luna stared thoughtfully at the thing, watching as it slowly began to disentangle itself. A long pair of legs hit the floor with a soft thump. The creature had a long body, the arms, legs and face covered in dark tanned skin. There was a shock of hair and a pair of confused light, brown eyes stared back at her. The Princess frowned again, turning her head to look up at the ceiling. There was what appeared to be a large circular hole in the ceiling where the creature had fallen through. Though, with the absence of wings anywhere on the creature, the Princess couldn't fathom where the creature had come from. Strange, anthropomorphic creatures did not just fall out of the sky at random...did they?

"Erm...Good Day sir." Luna said, trying hard not to use the Royal-Canterlot-Voice, as so many ponies called it. The last thing she wanted was to startle a potentially hostile creature with the loud voice. "May I ask what you are...and why you've landed on mine bed?" The creature's eyes widened and it struggled to its feet. Then slipped on the overlong robe and fell back onto the bed, prompting a spray of wood-chips and shredded fabric up into the air. Luna moved forward slightly, frowning at the robe. One of the sides had a thin disk of metal, shaped into a crescent shaped moon. "Where did you get that robe sir?" She inquired frowning at the creature.

"A....A...A TALKING BLUE PONY!!! The creature shrieked, scrambling backwards, off the bed and onto the floor. Luna sighed, rubbing an armored-hoof against her face in agitation. All she wanted to do was climb into her bed and sleep off a long nights work. Why did this have to happen to her?

---

"You had the BALLS to drop the heir right over the FRICKIN' CASTLE!" The Cloaked human demanded, staring at the guitar carrying human standing in front of the chair, a mixture of outrage and fear splashed across his face. Rick sighed, strumming lightly on his guitar. "IF IT WAS OVER THE GARDENS, I WOULD UNDERSTAND BUT THE WHOLE FRICKIN' CASTLE?! James Shrieked, his glowing Green eyes widening under the cloak. Rick nodded slightly, still strumming lightly on the guitar. James closed his eyes, gave a great groan of frustration and slammed his head back against the chairs high-backed cushion. It didn't hurt much but it didn't have the cleansing effect that James had been hoping for. The cloaked human sighed heavily, placing his head in his hands. Rick's glowing yellow gaze continued to focus on the human, the only sound between the two, Richard's guitar. James looked up, trying hard not to lose his temper. "So what now?" He demanded, leaning back in the chair and crossing his legs. Rick chuckled, flipping his guitar so that it hung across his back.

"We wait for Luna and Rick to get more acquainted. The council can't do anything until the heir shows off his powers...Besides," Rick smiled slightly, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not like my aim was off. I did try not make him hit the mountain. Right?" James sighed, closing his eyes again. "What's the worst that could happen to him?" Rick asked innocently. "If he's close to Discord, what's the harm?"