Act 2. The Five Deadly Nobles (RB and BS)
One of the princesses of the sun was happily chatting with a group nobles without a care in the world, when a familiar voice caught her attention and when she turned to find its origin. She saw two pegasuses approaching her, a white stallion who she quickly recognized as Sharp Shot, wearing a black mask that, when combined with his elegant tuxedo, a wine red vest and a rose in his lapel, cut a handsome figure. The pegasus mare who accompanied him was stunning as well. With a pair of wings double the size of those of a regular pegasus, her smooth white coat was groomed immaculately, her long silver mane was arranged in that ever so stylish, slightly messy and curly style that was all the rage at the moment and it draped down to cover her left eye. Her tail was similarly arranged and long. She was wearing a yellow evening dress, a necklace studded with precious gems, and a golden mask.
"Greetings your majesty" Sharp Shot greeted her once they were close and bow to her, yet the mare remains standing in front of the princess.
"Greetings Sharp Shot" The princess greeted him with a practiced smile before addressing the mare with a neutral expression "Ms. Tempo."
"Celestia" Tempo gave the princess a short nod while maintaining an expression of pure stoicism, the atmosphere between the two was unusually tense, affecting not only them but all the other Celestia's mingling about the room.
Both mares maintained eye contact with one another for a solid minute before the princess spoke again "Thank you for deciding to attend."
"And miss my godchild's party? Especially a completely new one that he himself created? That would be just cold." the mare responded, her tone light but her glare accusing. "Monarch of the sun, cold."
"I'm glad to see that your tongue as sharp as ever" Celestia replied in an even, if monotone, voice "By the way, when was the last time you sent a letter to my nephew? Seven? Maybe ten years ago?"
"It hard to write when you are banished from Canterlot and forbidden to any kind of contact."
"I'd never deny your right to send letters" Celestia respond.
"Save it, Celestia, just like before, the only thing you are concerned is your image with your subjects."
Celestia sighed and looked at the mare in sadness "Please Tempo, let us not do this tonight. If not for me, at least for Blueblood" She pleads her. "If you want to hate me, go ahead, but the last thing Blueblood wants or needs is seeing two old mares fighting at his party."
Tempo remained silent before looking away "For him, and I better have the chance to see him before this night ends."
Celestia was about to protest but for the sake of not making a scene, decided to relent "Just tonight" She finally managed to utter.
Tempo nodded stiffly before turning and started to walk away.
"There is nothing to worry about princess" Sharp Shot interjected at that moment, gaining the attention of the princess as he gave her a disarming smile. "I promise, we will be in our best behavior."
"Thank you Mr. Shoot" Celestia respond, a bit unsettled by his smile. Which even though it appeared completely normal, was putting the monarch on edge. "Please enjoy the rest of the evening."
"Oh, we will Princess, of that you can be sure. This concept your nephew is proposing is something that I find highly intriguing, with great latent potential, particularly with the implementation of this mask" He gestures towards his own before glancing at other ponies passing by. "A wise stallion once said 'Give a stallion a mask, and you will only hear the truth from him,' a paradoxical concept don't you agree, your highness? The real face of a pony reveals itself only once you cover it up."
"Indeed," The princess agrees with a neutral expression as she gets closer to him "You never know when somepony could be hiding their true face."
"Let go, Sharp Shot!" Tempo call for him from a distance "I want to see if they actually have real food for this party."
Sharp laughs at that and shakes his head. "Looks like they are calling for me, hope we can chat some more princess, but until then, have a nice evening your highness." He gives her a short respectful bow before going after Tempo.
Tia, I might have heard wrong from the music, but did that mare say that she is… Luna called out to her sister using the mental link, but Celestia interrupts her before she could finish the thought.
...I will explain it later Lulu, for now, I want security to be doubled around those two.
What? Why?
Because I say so! The princess snaps at Luna before the real one headed to the nearest guard and gave the order.
Meanwhile on the second floor
The prince was casually chatting with a bunch of mares that had swarmed around him, while Pinkie observed from a distance with a piece of cake on her hoof "Adorable isn't it?" Scarlet tells Pinkie, startling the mare for a second as she approaches her carrying her own slice of cake. "Our beloved prince being doted upon by all of the noble mares," She tells her with a chuckle. "They are basically eating out of his hoof."
"Scarly! You made it" Pinkie squealed with glee, bringing her into a hug before looking at her in confusion "But how? Did you really receive ALL of Canterlot already?"
Scarlet for her part just smirked and lightly pushed Pinkie away "Miss Pie, please, I'm a renowned writer. I know my way around greeting ponies. Of course, I would know how to speed the formalities along far faster than would the princesses could" She boasted before looking at the prince again. "But enough about me, why don't you be a dear and tell me how the evening is going so far?" She inquired, taking a small bite of her piece of cake.
"Everything is going great! Every pony is having a good time and exchanging stories, look! Even my idea for a confetti fight is a complete success" Pinkie exclaimed. Pointing to a group of kids in the garden near the entrance, both nobles and commoners all having fun while using the confetti bombs Pinkie made as snowballs to throw at one another. Their parents not too far away chatting happily.
"So it seems, hmm and I'm also seeing the political game taking root as well," Scarlet commented, paying particular attention to some of the parents whispering to one another, or boasting their job, family or achievements. She even got a pleasant surprise when she saw what appeared to be the beginnings of flirting, here and there among the crowd.
Oh, ho, ho! Now, this party is starting. Some beautiful little herds are forming. She internally chuckled at the show before addressing her co-host once more "And how is our beloved prince doing so far?"
"Happily making more and more friends," Pinkie informed her with a smile before approaching Scarlet with a smirk. "And way to busy to hang out with you I'm afraid."
"Friends?" Scarlet chuckle in surprise " Is that what you call this? Pinkie dear, all those mares are nothing but geese!" Scarlet explained confusing the party mare.
"Geese? What do you mean?"
"Oh you poor, naive little filly" Scarlet reached out and condescendingly patted the pink mares check "You are still too innocent, but don't worry you will get it once you hit puberty."
"We're the same age!" Pinkie growled out in reply, making Scarlet chuckle once more "Sure dear, sure." She answered, sarcasm dripping off of her words before a guard approached Scarlet.
"Miss Lips, your presence is required in the kitchen" the stallion professionally informed her, making the poor mare to sigh in frustration.
"Ah, the job of a mare never ends, keep the good work dear. Oh and do me a favor, would you? Keep an eye on those mares swarming the prince and make sure you can see all of their hoofs at all times." She requested before following the guard away.
"What?" Pinkie asked again confused by what she meant.
"Not all of them wants to be friends, honey!" She warns them "Well…perhaps some do, but not the kind you want around him."
Once Scarlet Lips was finally gone, Pinkie weighed her words carefully looking back at the mares until she got scared by what she started noticing, how they all were looking at the prince like a piece of meat.
"Bluey!" Thinking fast Pinkie ran toward the group and went straight for the prince with a hug "Have you tasted the cake yet? It's the most delicious one I've made yet. Here let me show you." She quickly tells him before dragging him away from the mares as fast as she could.
At that moment in the wine cellar
A pony in the shadows finished putting on the clothes of the waiter he had knocked out, only stopping to admire the mask he was sporting.
"A royal masquerade, yet another example of how narcissistic and shallow, that pompous, snobbish, coward really is" He put the mask on and looked at his hostage, who, at the moment, remained unconscious, gagged, and bound with a rope. "A formal gathering where commoners and nobles celebrate together, in harmony. What a bunch of BS" The stallion remarks, putting on a bracer containing a hidden blade on his left forehoof. Then gave it a couple of tests, as to confirm that its mechanism still worked flawlessly. Once he is satisfied that everything was in order. He addressed the poor stallion once again.
"I know how this makes me look like the bad guy here, but before you jump to conclusions, just think on all the times that bastard has made you work to the bone for his own entertainment. Think of all the damage he has done throughout Canterlot ever since he could speak. The lives he had ruined, the nonsensical rules he has made in the past, the hypocrisy of saying how much he wants to change, yet he refused to face the consequences for all of his own mistakes!" In anger, the stallion lashed out and cut a barrel in half with his hidden blade. Taking a depth breath, the disguised stallion lifted the waiter up.
"Yeah, compare that with me, and you will see how I could even be considered a saint, even in my line of work. That is actually why I took this one free of charge" He carefully hid the body inside of an empty barrel in the far corner of the cellar "Trust me" He picked up an empty silver plate and headed up to the entrance "Equestria will be better once that insufferable pest is gone for good"
Back at the party
While indulging themselves with some light chatter with other nobles and politicians, both Jet Set and Upper Crust paid close attention to the guards in the room and carefully analyzed their movements, searching for any change in their patrol routes. They did not have to wait long and soon they noticed how several guards were called away and thinned the security near them.
Acting fast, the couple exploited the opening, with Jet Set approaching a nearby open window while Upper Crust distracted the other nobles.
Once the coast is clear, Jet charges his horn and sent a signal to one of his servants, who revealed his head from inside a dense brush of bushes. The servant quickly moved quickly gave the noble a shortsword with gold filigree and ornamentation on the sheath depicting images of unicorns in the midst of a battle against Pegasus.
"Here is the relic you wanted sir" He whispers to him "But if I may ask why do you want…?"
"No, you may not!" Jet harshly whispered back, snatching the weapon from his hoofs. "Now get out of here before anyone sees you."
"Sir, I'm begging you. As a loyal servant, please think carefully about this, whatever you are planning to do, ask if it really is worth the risk. The prince really seems like he has changed, perhaps we should give him a chance and…"
"…And nothing. That brat has had more than enough chances, and he has yet to get one form of actual punishment" He hisses out in anger. "Now get out before the guards see you!" He commands his voice tinged with a hint of panic.
The servant can only sigh and follow his orders before hiding once more and exiting the castle, once out of sight Jet Set returns to the party, quickly hiding the weapon inside his clothes as he returns to his wife.
"Took your time, getting that sword" Upper Crust whisper at him in irritation.
"Our servant grew a conscience for a moment back there."
"Again?" Upper Crust just roll her eyes "Honestly, what is with this 'conscience tripe that everypony seems to be showing? It was cute at first, but now is just getting annoying."
"Don't worry sweetheart, we'll deal with that once we get the power we deserve." Jet comforted her as they started to walk deeper into the party. "Until then, we will just have to play the waiting game a little bit longer."
While that happened, Blueblood and Pinkie continued to explore the dessert table. Or more accurately, Pinkie continues to pick different foods from it while Blueblood does his best to keep the tower of food she is forming balanced on a single plate.
"Ok Pinkie! I think that is enough." Blueblood finally snapped and stopped his friend the moment he hears the plate starting to crack. He puts the plate on the table and then addresses the party mare.
"I appreciate the gesture but I…" He pauses for a moment to take a second glance at the plate and then back at her "…one second."
Pulling a piece of paper and pen from his vest, he writes something down before folding the paper, so its message is easily displayed. placing it in front of the mountain of food on could see what it was, a challenge, 'Royal Masquerade, individual sharing is caring challenge, share as much as you can, the winner gets free publicity for a month. Participants, please put your restaurant name and empty plates next to the mountain.'
Soon, ponies read the challenge, and a lot of restaurant owners got to work offering parts of the food mountain.
"There, now where was I? Oh yes." He turns to look at Pinkie again "I appreciate the gesture, and you are right everything here tastes great. But I'm sure you didn't drag me here just to feed me our combined weight in food, right?" He asks her with a raised eyebrow
She sighs and shakes her head "No, its just what Scarly told me and what I saw. I noticed how all those mares were starting to look at you. I got concerned."
"Pinkie are you worried that, I'm attracting cougars and vipers?"
"Why is everypony keep making up animal names to refer to mares?" She asks in confusion "Seriously? Goose, Cougar, Viper? What does that mean?"
"Well, I don't know for the first one, but Cougar is a term referring to ladies that enjoy the company of younger me…ah, stallions, and can be a bit aggressive in their advances. Sometimes even taking advantage of their 'targets' innocence" The prince explains to her making air quotes when saying target.
Pinkie gasps at that "That doesn't sound very nice."
"Believe me vipers are much worse. Like poisonous snakes they can disguise themselves as all sort of types of personalities, from overly shy, to extremely confident, they match what their target is more attracted too. Then snare them into their mental game, and never let them go."
"Why would anyone do that?" Pinkie asks in fear and the prince shrugs " For power, as a hobby, for vengeance. There are lots of reasons they do it…but most of the time it's all about money." The prince mumbles in anger while looking away from Pinkie.
"Bluey?" Pinkie puts her hoof on his shoulder in concern.
"Sorry, some bad memories, in the business world, especially in those businesses with a lots of money, vipers are everywhere" The prince explains with a sigh before smiling at her "So you don't have anything to worry about, I can detect those kinds of mares miles away, and I'm more than capable of dealing with them."
"But what about the goose? You said that you don't know what those are plus…" She gets closer and whispers in his ear "Your mind is still human, there could be some things about pony society that you don't know about either."
The prince nod at that "True, but that is why my aunts are always around, right?"
"But…"
"Come on Pinkie, Scarlet is just trying to mess with your mind. Don't fall into her games."
Pinkie eye widened at the prince's declaration. "W-Wait? You knew what she is doing but…then?"
"A noble supporting the crown in hard times? A well-known socialite that has helped maintain peace in the city and could be a handy asset in strengthening the bond between the royals and the nobles? How can one turn down that kind of offer?"
"But that would mean…" Pinkie points at him before smiling and nods a couple of times with a smirk "Clever colt."
"I'm more than a face and a royal relative Pinkie, I will admit that I don't know what her end goal might be, but I sure as heck know that she has something planned," He admits to her with a wink before picking a donut off the table and gave it a bite. "Tell you what, if it helps you relax, I promise that if things go out of control, I will remove myself from the situation."
"How?"
"Simple, Stellar has been giving me stealth lessons, for a while now. I dare to say that even you would have a hard time finding me on a game of hide-and-seek."
That helped the pink mare relax as she openly laughed "Oh Bluey, that was a really good one, but I'm the champion of, hide and seek, no matter where you go I will be able to find you in…" The mare was rendered mute when she realized that she was talking to no one but the air. "…seconds?"
She desperately searched around for him, but there was not a single trace of his presence. Then she moves her hoof where he used to be, but there was no luck either "But I…I was looking right at him…and he didn't charge his horn, how did he do it?" She asked some nearby nobles.
After the initial shock had finally worn off, she just smiled and giggled softly to herself "Ok Bluey, you ask for it, ready or not here I come!" She yells before bouncing off deeper into the party in search for the prince.
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More please
Watch as they all die to HOLY HELLFIRE
The plot thickens
9403258
Calm down here space Marine
Title reference to a certain classic kung fu flick by any chance?
9403321
yes indeed it has and looks like the fun has started
And now, let's murderize the prin- wait, where did he go?
A magician never reveles their secret!
9403402
Not really, but it will be a funny coincidence if it does.
Hmm... Why I feel that Prince is not the only target?
Shot perhaps?
The last sentence seems off, did you mean for this to be like it is?
Why do you do this to us?!?!?!?!
Wow! This is terrible!...I totally forgot to like this story...Oops.
Welp, I just amended my mistake.
9403804
When I comment it always seems that I comment five times and all at the same time.
9403805
See?1
9403769
Yep, just something that on itself is harmless, but it can make someone feel uncomfortable by it
9403824
I'm talking about the grammar btw.
9403845
Oh, then that was my mistake I will take it away
Regular hide and seek? Or, flirty hide and seek? Fluttershy already had a kiss, you have to step up your game, Pinkie!
9403865
hehe
9403865
There is a flirty hide and seek? Do tell me more about it, I'm intrigue
I am still wanting to know who bluey will end up with!!!! Please tell me who his herd will be???!!!
Well it's good someone is actively seeking him now. That will be handy later.
Careful, Blueblood, your confidence might make you complacent!
Keep going! ;)
9403906
The rules are simple. Once the seeker founds the one he or she wants to flirt with, they would say "I found you!" With feelings and would either go for a hug, a kiss on the cheek or both. Kind of like one of those romantic fantasies where a couple would run around in slow motion, all happy like and the girl would go "You can't catch me!" All gigglie like, and the dude would go for a hug from behind, spin around for a bit and then go for a kiss.
9404028
Sounds sappy and cute. I love it, I can totally see Shining and Cadence doing that all the time
That ending to the chapter 😂
https://youtu.be/4tzsQ5clVQM?t=570
Think pinkie watches azuros and the big blue house?
Heh. So many plots. So many players unknown to each other. Sooo many ways for them to royally s**ew each other over without even realizing it!
assassin's creed pony!....I think?
9404240
DING! you got it, only this time, he is one of the bad guys
I'm glad Newblood wasn't naive enough to fall for Scarlet's games. Now I just want to see how it blows up in her face.
humorous as always, I've been enjoying this series, I hope you have enjoyed writing it!
9404294
I did, it always a blast
Oh man, he is totally on to Scarlet! Yay~!
Pinkie's concern is very touching. I wonder what she feels about him...
I'm looking forward to more. This is highly addicting.
the game is afoot and i don't mean hide and seek.
love the art work
great chapter
9404552
No, if you go back a few chapters and read it says blueblood "the real prince" was a selfish bigot and decided to go towards the light, and the new Blueblood was self aware enough not to go towards it as the pony version of death saved him and put him into the old prince's body
Why did somepony invite Connor? Why couldn’t we get Ezio or Kenway? Least with one of those two we might get some banter.
Hahaha, oh Man I am loving the interaction between Blueblood and Pinkie Pie.
When is the next chapter to be expected
Love that so many people think Blueblood is so naive and easy to take advantage of. He's played these games before. He knew Scarlet was up to something probably as soon as she approached him. He's been playing her like a fiddle the whole time.
I'm going to find it hilarious if two assassins (as I get the feeling Jetset and Uppercrust and our mysterious assassin are not working together) end up accidentally preventing the other from success. Delicious irony; they want Blueblood dead to go to such extents, and yet they fail because both parties want it so badly. Assuming JS and UC are planning an assassination.
This is full of potential, yet also full of hiccups and playing bumper cars with itself.
Overall, the premise is working well, but the marked lack of sufficient or consistent nuance and subtlety is constantly throwing things off. Half the time, I feel like everything is being presented in a proverbial ham-fisted manner as characters use blunt force drama and nobody seems to present a soft touch anywhere, though perhaps some of that is the lack of emotional descriptors and presentation of hinted, rather than directly stated, emotions. Almost non-existent allusion and foreshadowing most of the time is another frustration. Grammatical flubs I can ignore, though they are more than a little frequent, too.
Now that said, I am quite pleased to see that Blueblood's past as a ruthless high-level business mogul is actually honored, bluntly laid out as it was. With even a little extra nuance and foreshadowing some hints, this could all come together very, very well. There's a lot of meat in this story, and it just needs the seasoning of subtle emotion and teasing clues filling in the spaces between.
I intend to keep reading. I hope you consider talking to an editor or proofreader versed in smoothing out the edges I am trying to draw your attention to, as you could then move from good to great.
9412796
Thank you, I will take all that you said to heart, and try to find the way to get that subtle emotion you mention. That special 'sauce' you refer to.
9412811
You're welcome. I am enjoying the story overall, but it is a vexation to see everything delivered with hammers, when many of the nails in political intrigue are made of unknown glass. It might be driven home, but you often have shards of detail that scatter from the intended work, leaving gaps.
If you wanted to dig into it a little deeper, you are welcome to PM me and we could hash out more specifics.
9412859
Of course, any help is always welcome. And I can always use more help.
Ah language breaks like if it was written with a translator halfway through.
"Be trap"
Which I can only imagine was meant to be "be careful" (chapter 13)
And actually quite a lot of the chapter looks as if spoken by Yona.
I think I will have to cancel my reading of this story as it's giving me a headache.
that really made my day!!!
9418563
Technically speaking…yeah he could do that, as long as he has a really clear image of how does he originally looks
9419244
For the death thing, it's understandable but remembers, they have faced both the living embodiment of Chaos AND the guardian of the underworld, the first one with a sense of anguish right…but the second definitely more relaxed, especially Fluttershy and I pretty sure that so many pranks from Discord have de-sensitive the girls somehow. Without putting into account the many adventures they have endured with the years as the elements.
So talking about this of the afterlife shouldn't be THAT big for them.
As for the different world and soul swap thing. You could thank Sunset Shimmer for introducing the other world in which you got a new body once on the other side.