• Published 3rd Jul 2018
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The Humble Prince - Lighting Ace



A man wakes up to find he's inhabiting the body of a cartoon horse who wasn't exactly Mister Popular, judging from how shocked the locals are when he says things like 'please' and 'thank you'.

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Luna, The Guardian Night Princess (Edited by RB, GT4 And CC)

Blueblood woke up to the sounds of typing and the clicking of mouse buttons. Blinking dumbly for a moment, he looked down and found himself in his human body typing on a computer, and around him was an office cubicle. Confused, Blueblood stopped what he was doing and tried to leave, but just as he took two steps from his desk, something yanked on his left arm. Looking down, he saw a thick chain tied to a manacle on his wrist, which pulled him back to his desk and forced him to sit down.

The manacle and chain weren’t there before. What was going on?

"And just where do you think you’re going?" The voice of his father boomed in the distance, sounding distorted and echoing in the air.

"I-I wanted to leave."

"Leave?” His father chuckled sinisterly. “Oh no, you can't leave now." More chains appeared, each attached to a new manacle or clamp on the prince’s body. They forced his body forward like a puppet, his hands moving to the keyboard and mouse. "There’s still so much work to be done. Too much unfinished business!" The room erupted into fire, as everything around him started to shake. "Did you forget already? You need to take responsibility for your actions."

Before Blueblood’s eyes, the computer transformed into a cage, with a sleeping pony inside it, whose colors had faded. Looking closer, Blueblood realized in horror that it was him. "N-No!" he whispered.

"Yes!" his father bellowed.

The prince in the cage suddenly burst into flames. The pony woke up and screamed in terror, before looking at his human counterpart and rushing to the metal bars, begging for help. Blueblood tried to reach for him, but the chains prevented him from getting close enough, and he could only watch as the pony screamed once more as the flames claimed him, turning him to ash.

He couldn't even grab the ashes as they fell. His surroundings changed from an office cubicle to a dark void, and now the chains were forcing him to walk in the massive palm of someone’s hand. Looking down, he saw that he was once again in his pony body. From the void, his father’s disembodied voice laughed. "You really did it this time, son. You committed a first-degree regicide. I love your work!"

"No..."

"The power of a brand new world is now in your grasp!"

"No!"

"And the first thing you do is take an innocent life in one fell swoop!" The voice laughed once more, and from the shadows a burning, rickety figure emerged, wearing a smiling theater comedy mask and staring directly at him. "That’s my son, always so eager to please."

"No! I'm not like you! I'm not!"

"Oh, but you are, son. You’re a monster, just like your old man. A wolf who can only live to eat and hunt! That’s how I raised you, and that’s all you’ll ever be," he gloated. The comedy mask’s mouth switched from a laughing smile to a straight, serious line. "Now, stop your whining, and start working on what needs to be done. You had a nice start earning their trust with that ‘helpless little me’ routine, yes, but we both know that I didn't raise a loser. It’s time to climb the ladder once more, son. What do you say we start by taking out those that outrank you?" the man said, dropping a knife in front of the prince. Two spotlights appeared behind the man, revealing the Princesses of the Night and the Day, bound and gagged.

"Make me proud, son," the man whispered as the chains forced Blueblood’s body to move once more. Blueblood grasped the knife in his hoof and felt his body move towards Celestia, who stared at him wide-eyed in fear. Despite urging his body to fight, he felt the knife being raised over his head.

"Come on, do it! It’s not like you haven’t done it before, so just go ahead. It's in your blood. I know you want to do it!" the man commanded him.

His hoof began to shake, and he stared into Celestia’s eyes. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and she closed her eyes in shame and resignation, accepting her fate.

“KILL HER ALREADY!” his father roared.

"Never!" Blueblood thrust the knife down upon his other forehoof, injuring it and breaking the manacle on him. As he nursed the injury, he turned around and glared back at the burning effigy of his father. "I will never hurt them, even if they love me just because I look like somebody else. They treat me like a real family, more than you ever did, 'father'. So hear this, I will never hurt them! You hear me!? NEVER!!"

The comedy mask burned away, revealing the snarling face of his father beneath it. "You...worthless, cowardly, disgusting pansy..." he hissed.

His father backhanded him across his face, just as several more chains burst out from the void and latched onto him, yanking him violently to the ground and choking him, with one chain pressing harshly against his injury. The large palm below him disappeared, and he began to fall into the void with a scream before being yanked upwards by a single, tiny string. The flaming effigy of his father circled around him, grinning as Blueblood dangled above oblivion.

"Power beyond your imagination, served to you on a silver platter...and you back away? I thought I raised you better than that. Looks like I was just wasting my time,” his father growled, playfully strumming the solitary string that held Blueblood aloft. He then grabbed it, and suddenly Blueblood felt his body lurch forward, as his father dragged him through the void. “A disappointment, even beyond the grave. You are now, always were, and forever will be just that: one disappointment after another." A flame appeared in the distance, moving closer to them at an alarming rate. "Looks like you still need to be disciplined."

The prince could only scream in terror as he started to feel the flame licking his back.

“Remember this one, son? Do you remember that day?” his father whispered in his ear, as the flames began to crawl up his legs. “The day that you died?

"ENOUGH!" a strong voice shouted from the void and suddenly there was a platform underneath Blueblood.

A beam of light pierced the darkness, destroying the hand of his father and dropping the prince onto the platform. Holding the stump of his arm, the man roared like a beast and looked up to see the moon rising in the sky, and from it, the silhouette of a dark alicorn flying towards them.

His father whirled towards Blueblood, who started to crawl away. "Still resisting boy? Can't you see? No worthless horse can save you!" the man yelled, attempting to grab the pony, only to get his other hand incinerated for his impudence.

He then felt a bolt of magic pierce his side, and he stumbled, just as Luna landed gracefully on the platform, standing over Blueblood like a mother protecting her young and spreading her wings menacingly. Her eyes glowed pure white with rage, and her fanged teeth were bared. "Remember this, vile nightmare, I'm not a whorse. My name is Princess Luna, and as long as I'm here, you will not touch a single hair of my nephew!!" she warned him, glaring at the filth in front of her. She then used her magic to levitate Blueblood up to his feet, and she hugged him to her side with a wing.

The man laughed and smirked as the platform began to transform into murky, black water, and Blueblood began to sink. He didn’t even pay attention to the princess and focused all his venom towards the prince. "You are deluding yourself, boy. You will never escape me. I OWN--!"

Before he could finish whatever he wanted to say, Luna blasted him once more with a holy beam of light, destroying what was left of the nightmare and ending the dream, leaving both ponies alone in a spotlight surrounded by darkness.

Lifting her wing, the princess found her nephew trembling and sobbing on the ground again, curled tightly into a ball. Her features softened, and she knelt down next to him, nuzzling his side. "Shh, it's okay, my nephew. It's alright. I'm here now," she whispered gently in consolation, but instead of calming him, it seemed to have the opposite effect as he curled up even tighter.

"No...it's not." Blueblood lifted his tear-stained face a little to look at her. "I took advantage of you...all of you..." he whispered back in shame.

"What?" Luna asked.

"~Somebody isn’t being honeeeest!~" The voice of his father echoed in a sing-song manner, before a chain attached itself once more to his back. Blueblood flinched in terror as he saw it, then looked back at Luna pleadingly.

"Princess…I'm so sorry..." he managed to say just before he was violently pulled into the darkness.

“Blueblood!” Luna cried out in alarm and immediately gave chase.

As she flew, she saw puppets of the Twilight, her friends, Starlight, and even her sister, her niece and herself, all being played with by the nightmare like puppets dancing to some unseen, demonic tune. The man’s laughter echoed throughout the void, followed by floating comedy masks laughing at her from the darkness.

This isn’t just a nightmare, she realized in horror. This was something far worse. This was trauma unlike anything she had faced before.

"Oh, you were magnificent, boy, playing with their emotions acting like a scared little puppy. ‘I have amnesia…I'm scared…let's befriend them…my name is Blueblood…I love you, aunty!’" Suddenly, all the puppets’ strings were cut, and they all fell screaming into the void below just as fire appeared everywhere. "Oh God, was that hilarious! Each and every one of those pathetic, worthless ponies just took the bait, hook, line, and sinker!"

Luna shook her head and roared at the darkness around her, letting out a massive wave of light that banished the shadows, masks, and puppets from view. The man appeared floating in front of her, now eight feet tall and holding Blueblood by his neck. "Oh look, it’s your dear aunty, playing hero." He shakes Blueblood in his hand, mocking her. "Now, what were you saying about protecting him? Doesn’t look like you’re doing a good job, old nag."

In a wordless rage, Luna blasted his face with magic, destroying one of his eyes.

The man shrieked and bared his teeth at her angrily. "Why you little…!" He opened his mouth and breathed a long stream of black fire at her, but she dodged and used a spell to shrink him, forcing him to let go of Blueblood.

Before the man could react, Luna rammed into him and tackled him to another platform, with Luna’s hoof pressing against his face. "Release my nephew at once!" she bellowed.

The man giggled maniacally and looked up at her. "Your nephew? HA! Do you even know who he is?"

"Your tricks are not going to work against me," she hissed, pressing even harder on him. Any more pressure and she could crush his skull.

"What tricks?!" he laughed hysterically, smirking as Blueblood began to back away from both of them. "Go ahead, boy, tell her. As your father, I command it."

The prince felt his muscles tense in fear and he tried to escape, only to find a chain and manacle attached to his foot and leading to his father’s clenched fist. The nightmare’s face twisted into an evil grin.

"I gave you an order, boy, now say it!"

"Blueblood, what is he talking about?" Luna demanded.

"I'm trying to fix it, I swear." Blueblood cried, holding his head in his hooves.

"Nephew, there’s nothing to fix," Luna tried to calm him down, but he remained in the same trembling position.

"Oh, that’s rich! Just like the coward he was back then, he doesn't even want to stand up for himself even now. That’s what he is, just a coward too afraid to speak his mind." The nightmare below her suddenly grew in size and strength, managing to grab Luna by the throat. "And you, little horse, are starting to get on my nerves. This is father-son bonding time, right now. No girls allowed." He pressed his sharp thumb against the princess's neck. "And you’re butting in, and that is something I really, really hate..."

"Nephew…please! I can't fight this nightmare alone. Your sorrow and fears…it’s feeding him!" Luna yelled, grasping at her throat in alarm and looking at Blueblood. She reached out a hoof to him. "Please fight it! Don't give in to your fears."

The nightmare kept laughing. "You still don’t get it, do you, horse? I'm not the nightmare here, you are. You represent the sorrow and guilt that he’s feeling right now. I'm just protecting him. You lost, and now you’re done."

Blueblood looked at the scene in horror and clamped his eyes shut. He wanted to help, but thousands of hands and chains were grabbing at him from the newly-encroaching darkness, preventing him from moving as he watched the scene unfold.

Luna saw the approaching darkness, and suddenly realized what needed to be done. "…I forgive you!" she yelled, catching Blueblood and the nightmare’s attention. She smiled at him, and the hands and chains around him began to disappear. "I don’t care what it is you’re afraid of telling me. Whatever it is, no matter how horrible you believe it to be, I forgive you, my dear nephew! I will always forgive you."

"Hmph, curious choice for last words for your tombstone, but I suppose everyone’s gotta be a comedian." The nightmare began to squeeze her throat tighter, intending to kill, but was surprised when he couldn’t close his fist. The prince was using his magic to stop him. "What?!"

"I won’t let you do it!" Blueblood cried out, tears in his eyes.

"You little fool, do you really believe that she’ll just forgive you? You really think she’ll keep looking at you with these same, loving eyes? If you do, you’ll never have any rest. They’ll hunt you down until...you...BURN."

"We will never do that!" Luna yelled at him.

Blueblood began to grow larger, and blue light shone behind him. The nightmare’s smug smirk fell, and fear entered his gaze. "Boy, think about what you’re doing. We both know what will happen after this! You’ll die!"

Blueblood’s body morphed into a man once more, albeit pale and sickly, and he reached out and grabbed the nightmare’s hand. The nightmare glared at him, and Blueblood narrowed his eyes at him. "I already died once. I don't care anymore." Without another word, the prince punched the nightmare’s face in, making him fall to the ground.

Blueblood leaped on top of him and punched him again. "I am not like you."

The nightmare spat out a glob of black blood and smirked at him. “You have my ferocity.”

Another punch. "Living with you was hell."

“And because of how I taught you, you have my survival instinct.”

Once more. "I won’t let you control me anymore." The monster began to break apart, like he was made of glass, and the fires surrounding them started to disappear. Both father and son began to shrink, yet Blueblood’s punches did not stop.

“And you...have my determination to win…” the nightmare hissed. “We’re not as different as you might think.”

"I have a voice!” Blueblood roared. “I'm alive, and I have the right to live just like anyone else!"

His father tried to grab his other arm. "You’re making a mistake, boy. You won’t last out there in this world, not without me to guide you."

Blueblood delivered one final, powerful punch that shattered the nightmare into millions of tiny, charred pieces. "You need meeeeee…" the nightmare shrieked like a banshee in the night before disappearing into a cloud of smoke, leaving the prince kneeling and sniffing on the ground.

Luna slowly moved closer, taking in his new form with some confusion. Just who...or what...was he? "...Nephew?"

Blueblood winced and looked up at her. "I'm really sorry for not telling you. I just...I didn't want to die," he murmured in shame, standing up. "I suppose there’s no point in denying it anymore." He extended his arms. "This is how I really look."

The Princess of the Night stayed quiet and she started to approach him.

"I-I know you must be full of questions, and I don't really get what’s happening either. But what I know is that I took control of your nephew’s body."

Luna kept advancing in silence.

"It’s the truth, I swear! I'm working on a way to get out, I-I just don't want to die again, that’s all. I know that I must look like a monster to you right now, but I'm not going to hurt your subjects. I just want to be free, so please, give me a little more time!"

She continued to advance.

"Princess, just say something! Yell at me, get mad, or something…anything! Just don't keep staring at me like…"

She reached forward with a hoof and gently touched his cheek, wiping a tear away. "You will never be a monster to me," she finally whispered to him with a smile. She then enveloped him with her wings in a warm embrace. "Oh, my dear nephew, no wonder you were so scared to speak."

Blueblood felt numb, and his eyes widened. "I...I don't get it. Why aren't you mad?"

"Like I said, you’ll never be a monster to me. Just like you, I too had another face that I don't want others to see, and every night I fear that it has a mentality of its own. Please, dear nephew, just let me in. Whatever is in your heart, I will hear it with an open mind. In fact…" Luna closed her eyes, and her body began to glow and shapeshift until she resembled a human body as well. She looked like a human version of herself, wearing a toga and still having her wings, horn, and regalia, making her look like some kind of Greek goddess. "There, now we are the same. I hope this will help you feel more comfortable."

Feeling like the world was lifted from his shoulders, the prince couldn't contain his tears as he hugged her back. They both knelt on the ground and held each other.

"That’s it, nephew, just let it all out," Luna said to him, before closing her eyes and humming a small lullaby. Her gentle voice calmed him, and his trembling eventually ceased. Once he was sufficiently calmed down, Luna let him go and conjured up a cloth, cleaning his face. "Feeling better?" she asked.

"Yeah…thanks."

"Anytime, nephew." Luna smiled at him and then looked around, frowning at their surroundings. "This place looks a bit gloomy; why don't we go into a happier memory?"

"A happier memory?" the prince echoed.

"Don't you have a memento of your life in which you felt happy? Something that you remember that made you feel calm and secure? If you do, why don't you try to visualize it?"

The prince thought for a moment until something came to his mind, and for once he smiled. Soon, they found themselves in the attic of an expensive mansion. In a corner, there was a television with a little kid playing with it, surrounded by various video games and consoles.

"When I was growing up, I remember coming here to play often," the prince murmured. "No matter how hard my father looked, he couldn't find me. He never thought that little cowardly me would brave the scary attic filled with cobwebs and spiders. This was my safe haven for years."

Luna nodded. “You do seem happy to see this place again.”

He looked back at her, confused by her calm demeanor. "Is this...really not at all weird to you?"

She shook her head and sat on a nearby trunk. "Not in the slightest. I told you, I'm going to listen with an open mind. So, why don't you tell me your story?"

The prince nodded and took a seat next to her as he started to tell the long story of all of his life. Unknown to him, each memory that resurfaced in his mind for him to talk to her about served to clean the fog from his head and restore his mind. The princess, slightly taken aback by his story, slowly began to piece together what was happening.

"…Then the building collapsed on top of me, and I blacked out from the heat. The next thing I remember, I was in that room, in that bed."

"My nephew’s room?"

"Yeah, that’s right," the prince finished his story and sighed. "And that’s why I was afraid to tell you. I feared that you’d try to exorcise me and kill me."

"Oh Blueblood, why would we do that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Blueblood stared at her. "Princess Luna, I'm a ghost possessing your nephew, and even though he was a bad pony, he deserves to live. I had no right to take his place."

"All of Equestria would beg to differ," Luna whispered, mostly to herself with a roll of her eyes in annoyance, remembering how Blueblood used to be.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing, it doesn't matter." She met his gaze with a smile. "It’s very kind of you, wanting to do the noble thing, although I think you are approaching this from the wrong direction." She stood up and dusted off her toga.

"What do you mean?" Blueblood asked.

"I don't believe that you’re a ghost, dear nephew," she explained. "What I believe is that what you’re going through is nothing but the cycles of your ordeal, trying to obtain some closure."

"Closure? Closure for whom? Nobody I know has died."

"Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. Someone did die: you." Luna pointed to him. "Like you told me, you died in your previous world, and despite having a second chance here, you haven't even let yourself mourn your own death."

The prince looked down at his hands in realization. The slightly brown color in his skin began to return, and he no longer looked as pale. "Mourn my own death…?"

The princess held his hand in her own. "It’s okay, nephew. Now I understand more clearly what’s happening, and you understand that we all mourn our losses in our own special way, so just do what you have to do. You can count on my support."

Her words helped him feel at ease, but then something occurred to him. "And what about the prince?"

"You are him," she answered. "He’s you as much as you’re him. No matter who or what you used to be, now you are both the same pony."

"So I just…merged with him?" He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

Luna shrugged. "I suppose that it’s yet to be determined, but from what I’ve seen, that is the most logical explanation, yes."

"Then why haven't I seen any of his memories? Why haven't I encountered him here at all?"

At that, Luna’s face fell, and she looked troubled. "I'm afraid that’s something that is still eluding me," she admitted.

The prince looked away in thought before nodding and standing up. "Even if that is so, I need to at the very least try, prin…auntie. If the prince is trapped somewhere in here, then it won’t be fair to just...forget about him. I need to rescue him somehow."

"Then you may try that," Luna allowed. "If he’s still in there, then you’ll have my thanks for helping my family. But if not, then I hope that this quest brings you some peace at least."

“But what if I can’t rescue him?”

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment and hummed to herself. “Then...I will mourn the old Blueblood, but seeing as you are now him, I will also rejoice that he still lives in another form. Blueblood will always be my nephew, no matter who he is.”

The prince smiled at her words. "Thank you, auntie.” He shook his head and chuckled. “How I wish you were the real princess..."

It was Luna’s turn to be confused at that comment, before realization dawned on her and she rolled her eyes with a smirk. "You haven't been taught much about the domains that I control, have you?"

“Uh, no? Why?"

Luna giggled. "Oh, I think it’s better if the others explain it to you directly. Just do me one favor: once you wake up, ask Twilight Sparkle to tell you about what I have dominion over. Can you do that for me?"

Blueblood nodded, still unsure but willing to go along with the princess’s request. "Sure, I guess."

"Thank you, nephew." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "The hour grows late, and it's almost time for you to wake up. I wish you good fortune in your quest, Blueblood, and do not worry about a thing. Until you’re ready to talk about it, your secret is safe with me." She began waving goodbye as everything around the prince started to fade out into the distance, until he found himself waking up.

Blinking dumbly for a moment, Blueblood looked around and found himself in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Okay, that is quite possibly the weirdest dream that I’ve ever had...

Sitting up, the prince stretched and scratched at his side as the morning light from the window pooled into his bedroom.

But for some reason, I feel very refreshed and calm. It really was a pleasant dream besides the beginning.

He got up off the bed and made it neatly. Then he remembered what Luna in the dream asked him to do and, shrugging, he decided to comply.

Why not? Might as well find out more about her.

After making his bed and tapping his amulet, he left the room and quietly made his way to the kitchen, where he knew the others would be having breakfast. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in days.

Author's Note:

Special thanks to AvidSeason, who gave me a hand this time (https://www.fimfiction.net/user/185717/AvidSeason )

Hope this chapter is easier to read than the others

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