• 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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A Princess Wish Come True (Edited By YB, CC And GT4)

With a groan, the Princess of the Night woke up for the second time that evening, feeling a sharp headache battering at her brain. "Agh…by the heavens above and Tartarus below, what happened?" Luna complained. She brought a hoof to her forehead to find a damp cloth. "Hmm?" She removed the cloth and stared at it for a couple seconds, confused as to its origins.

"Oh, thank the stars you’re awake," a voice called out before Celestia appeared in her field of vision, a relieved expression on her face. "For a moment there I thought I would have to go into the dream realm to find you."

"…Tia?" Luna closed her eyes and slowly sat up. "What happened? I had the strangest dream. Our nephew…" She opened her eyes to see said nephew playing with some toys on the balcony of her room with Flurry Heart. "…had…a drastic change of heart." She sighed and gave her head a shake. "You were right, sister. I needed to see him to believe it."

"Don't feel too bad, Lulu. You took the news better than I did." Celestia patted Luna on the shoulder.

Luna nodded slowly, before realization struck her. "Where is our niece and Shining Armor?"

"Night court was about to begin and you had an appointment with the mayor of Baltimare. They generously offered to cover for you while you were, er, indisposed."

Luna face-hooved in embarrassment. "Oh, pony feathers, the meeting. Please tell me it’s not too late. I can probably still make it."

"Luna, relax," Celestia chided. "It’s being taken care of. There will still be plenty left for you to do in night court. But first," Celestia looked over to her nephew, "there is another matter that needs to be addressed."

"You’re right, sister." Luna slid off the couch and stood up. "It's just like you said, our wish actually came true. Our nephew acts like he is a brand new pony."

"Back when he was pure." Celestia smiled "Just watching him play with Flurry reminds me how cute he was as a little colt."

"Focus, sister. Now is not the time or place for nostalgia.”

"Whatever do you mean, Lulu?"

"What I mean is this blessing we received could be a double-edged sword. It is true we got the nephew we want, but at what price? He is now a blank slate who doesn't know how to read, write, or use magic. With no idea on how Equestria works and who he can trust, he could easily become a puppet for any politician or nobles to use to get to us. Or worse, they could shape him to be even worse than the old Blueblood."

Celestia frowned. "I would never let that happen.”

"Of that I am sure, but restricting Blueblood to stay inside the castle was what made him like he was in the first place. Doing so again will only bring us back to square one!" Luna pointed an accusing hoof at her. "And do not tell me you won’t let it happen either, because I know you, Tia. You always had difficulty saying ‘no’."

"I disagree," Celestia replied, sighing. "But I understand what you mean. If we really are going to raise him like I should have from the start then we will need to find some sort of middle ground. Some way to ensure that he will not fall back into his old ways while allowing him to explore the world. A way to help him understand that there is more to life than what can be found inside this castle."

"Exactly! And that is why we will need to be extremely careful with what we do next," Luna declared, trotting over to her closet.

"Do you have something in mind, dear sister?" Celestia asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Yes, you could say that I have an idea." Throwing open her closet doors, Luna began to remove several items: a graceful black dress that shimmered in the moonlight, a rubber chicken, which was tossed across the room to land with a ‘squawk’, a well-worn buckler shield, and many more random items that joined the others on the floor, had convinced Celestia that her sister had a serious hoarding problem, until… “Ah ha!” …she found what she was searching for. From within the closet’s depths, Luna levitated an ornate wooden chest as long as her foreleg.

"I say that since we’ll be taking this opportunity to reteach magic to Blueblood," Luna began, opening the chest and reaching inside. "We will start with basic combat.” From the box's depths, a finely-crafted, ruby-encrusted falchion emerged, held fast in Luna’s hoof. “Then advance to complete enemy obliteration." Luna rose up and gave the blade a small flourish through the air. The blade swished through the air and immediately ignited into a corona of magical fire. The Princess of the Night squealed with delight as she expertly twirled the blade around with a casual, excited grace like a little filly with a sparkler. The improvised display of swordplay continued until Celestia took the sword in her magic and stowed the weapon back inside the chest from whence it came.

“While I do agree that he should relearn magic," Celestia started, floating the chest back to the closet. "I disagree with giving him a fire-enchanted sword. We are raising our nephew, Luna, not preparing him for a war.”

"Oh, come now, Tia. How can you expect him to defend himself against the world if he doesn't know how to properly incapacitate his foes?" Luna argued innocently.

"By using his brain, not his sword,” Celestia snarked back. "And for pony’s sake, Luna, he doesn't even know how to levitate objects! A filly still in magic kindergarten has better control than he would."

"And that’s another thing: how will we find the time to teach him the basics? We both have our schedules to keep, and they are completely full. If we reschedule events for time off the nobles will begin to ask difficult questions and we certainly can't send him to a public school. Not only would that be social suicide for him but the moment the nobles find out they will descend upon him like the Element of Laughter would a cake."

Celestia hummed, pondering the situation. Luna made several good points and it did seem to be a difficult nut to crack. Her mind began to rapidly form and discard various ideas, until her eyes went wide in realization. She had been ignoring the simplest solution! "I may just have an idea."

"Oh, shall I fetch the fire sword again?"

"What? No! Return that sword to the armory. That thing is a fire hazard and I will not have you setting another blaze in the castle. Perhaps it would be better if I show you. Please look after Blueblood until I return, this should only take me a few hours."

Luna waved her off. "Please, those drapes needed to be replaced anyway. What will you have me do about young Flurry Heart?"

"Cadance and Shining Armor should be finishing up with the mayor if they haven’t already,” Celestia replied. “When they return, take Blueblood with you to your night court. I promise I will try to be as quick as possible."

"Very well, but do not take too long, sister," said Luna. Celestia gave a sharp nod and teleported away, leaving Luna with the rest of the family.

Luna trotted across the room and exited onto the balcony, stepping over a couple stuffed toys. Blueblood noticed her approach and rose to greet her, much to Flurry’s displeasure. "Aunt Luna, are you feeling any better?"

"Indeed I am, nephew. I apologize for making you worry," she replied, a hint of guilt in her voice.

"You certainly gave us all a scare. Your face would’ve landed on your coffee cup had the maid not rescued it," Blueblood quipped. Feeling something brush up against his left leg, he looked to his side, seeing Flurry looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes. He smiled and picked her up in his hooves. "Was I really that bad before?"

“Perhaps worse than you may think, I’m afraid. Some moons before my return, a group of nobles had brought forth a petition to have you banished outright from Canterlot. Their displeasure was so great that they wished for a young colt to be cast out beyond the badlands.”

Blueblood's expression dropped like a brick upon hearing her response. "I don’t even remember…"

"Perhaps that is for the best, nephew," Luna said with a small smile. She brought his head up with one of her hooves. "Indeed, you used to be horrible, insufferable, egotistical, obnoxious, loathsome, stuck-up…"

Each word spoken caused Blueblood to wince as she just kept going, rattling off each word like a thesaurus dedicated to hate.

"… nasty, detestable, foul big-mouth—” Luna booped him on the snout with a chuckle. “—but that part of your life is over. Nopony is perfect, nephew. We have all made mistakes, including myself and my sister. For you to actually want to atone for them, I couldn't be more proud."

Blueblood glanced to the side with a blush, feeling conflicted by her words and actions, before looking back at her. "Auntie, I…"

They both heard a yawn and they looked down, seeing little Flurry's eyes growing heavy as she tried to remain awake. Luna chuckled and gave her grand-niece a nuzzle. "It looks like it's somepony’s bedtime," she teased before retreating back into her chambers. "The meeting with the mayor should have ended by now. Why don’t we go see your parents so they can tuck you in, dear Flurry?"

The filly yawned again in reply, getting comfy in Blueblood’s hooves and using her own wings as a makeshift blanket.

"Could she even possibly be cuter?" Blueblood wondered, incapable of looking away.

"If she could, I believe she would bring the most adorable doom upon us all and possibly conquer any remaining villains from sheer proximity," Luna joked. "Come. Let’s go see how Cadance and Shining are doing."

"Lead the way, Aunt Luna," Blueblood said as he followed the Princess of the Night out of her room.

"It’s magic, by the way," Luna said out of the blue, catching Blueblood off guard.

"Uh…adorable baby ponies?"

Luna shook her head. "Perhaps that too but I am referring to our flowing mane and tail. I recall that you never received an answer." She looked back at him with a smile. "There’s no special shampoo in our mane. It is a property of our magic leaving our body."

"Wait, your magic is leaking?"

Luna hummed. "Mmm, in a small way, I suppose. You see, usually ponies have good control over the small amount of magic coursing through their body. In general, it gathers where it is most needed — unicorns in their horns, pegasi in their wings, and earth ponies in their hooves. As an alicorn, my sister and I are an exception. Our bodies have the properties of all three tribes. We gather so much magic that it is simply impossible for our being to contain it all. The state of our mane and tail is a byproduct of that overflow. We employ an animation spell to release that excess build up of energy."

"Well, that explains the two of you but why not Cadance or Flurry Heart? And why does it, uh, tickle when I touch it?"

"You are full of questions tonight, dear nephew. My niece and her daughter have yet to fully mature into their alicorn-hood, much like Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville. As for being ticklish, much in the same way a unicorn can feel the weight and texture of an object when levitated, our mane can retain such sensation," Luna explained. "That’s why we are a bit ticklish there, my sister in particular."

"But then, wouldn't that mean when you walk it will tickle every time your tail touches the floor?" Blueblood asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hooves can also be ticklish, nephew. That does not mean we laugh each time we take a step." Luna smirked. “It would be rather undignified, no?”

"Okay, point taken," the prince chuckled.

As luck would have it, just as the meeting room was coming into view, the double doors opened and Cadance and Shining Armor stepped out. The royal couple waved at the two of them as they approached.

"Greetings again, dear niece,” Luna called out to Cadance in a cheery tune. “I have once again returned to the land of the living."

"Aunt Luna," Cadance called back. "Are you feeling better?"

Luna nodded. "Much better now, although I fear my pride has taken quite the beating this evening. You have my thanks for filling in for me during my absence, however. I trust the mayor of Baltimare didn't give you too much trouble?"

"Oh, none at all. Just another mayor asking for the usual help," Cadance casually explained as she levitated Flurry away from Blueblood’s hooves. "And here is my sweet little angel. Thanks for looking after her, Bluey."

"Not a problem. She was a real angel."

"I have to say, I'm impressed," Shining chirped. "We didn't hear any commotion, yelling, running around, or even a single explosion while we were at the meeting. Normally that happens every day, so much so that there’s even a specialized guard unit back home trained specifically to handle one of her magical mishaps. How did you manage to keep her so calm?"

"Oh, you know, keep her occupied, constantly change what we were playing so she doesn't get bored, use some imagination in role play…wait…did you just say ‘explosion’?" Blueblood asked, unsure if he heard correctly.

Cadance gave the snoozing Flurry Heart a light nuzzle, to which the little alicorn responded with a low hum in her sleep and a smile. "This little troublemaker has nearly brought the Crystal Empire to its knees twice now," Cadance replied with a yawn.

“Three, dear,” Shining corrected. “You’re forgetting about her magical surge shorting out the Empire’s shield.”

"I hardly think a little snow storm counts as certain doom,” Cadance scoffed.

“You weren’t the one fighting it, or attempting to…” Luna muttered.

Shining brought a hoof to his head and rubbed his horn. “I had a headache for weeks after that.”

Cadance leaned over to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead, “You’ll always be my big, strong, stallion, headaches or no.” She turned back to Luna and added, “On that note, I think it’s about time Shining and I call it a night. Will we see you in the morning, auntie?"

"You can count on that, dear Cadance," Luna replied. "Have a pleasant sleep and sweet dreams, and thank you again for your assistance tonight."

Shining gave a quick, respectful bow. "Any time, Luna. It’s always our pleasure to help. Please, take care." With a nod of agreement from Cadance, the royal couple and their baby left for their chambers, where they fully intended on having a good night’s sleep.

Once they were out of sight, Luna turned to her nephew. "Tell me, Blueblood, would you like to accompany me to my night court?"

Blueblood made a small, unsure frown. "Would that be okay? I don't wish to bother you during your duties."

"Don’t worry, nephew, there are only a few short hours of night court remaining. Many of our subjects are currently asleep so I don’t expect many petitioners. I would very much appreciate the company."

"Well, if that’s the case, I wouldn't mind. Just don't expect me to be of much help if it comes to taxes or laws, or, you know, reading or writing."

Luna gave a merry chuckle at that as they both walked beyond the threshold of the throne room. "I shall keep that in mind."


Sometime later, in the throne room…

Celestia walked into the throne room, her hooves giving sharp clicks on the stone tile floor. Upon entering, the sight that greeted her eyes could do nothing else but warm her heart. Luna and her nephew were not on the throne as she had assumed they would be, but were rather leaning against a nearby open window, looking up into the night sky. They looked so peaceful.

"Now, follow your hoof to the right and complete the image," Luna was saying.

"I…I think I see it, auntie! Wow, you were right, it does look like a pony with claws and the body of a scorpion as his lower half."

"It is one of my favorites. I designed it to help lost ships find their way home. Do you see the three stars that make up its tail? The red star at the tip is pointing north, the blue one on his claw is pointing east, the yellow one on his hoof points west, and the biggest one on his muzzle leads south. If a sailor doesn't know in which direction they need to go, they only need to find the Scorpony and they will soon reorient themselves." Celestia could hear the pride in Luna’s voice.

"Am I interrupting something?" the Princess of the Sun asked with a knowing smile as she approached

"Oh, hello dear sister. Not at all. There were no further petitioners tonight, so I took it upon myself to showcase some of my finest works to Blueblood."

"I'm glad you two are having a good time,” Celestia remarked, her smile growing ever so slightly wider. "Sister, may I have a moment of your time?"

"Of course. Blueblood, would you excuse me for a minute?"

"Absolutely," the prince replied, and he returned to looking up at the night sky in silent wonder.

Celestia led Luna closer to the throne and out of earshot, and Luna whispered, "So, did you find what you needed?"

Celestia nodded and levitated a golden medallion necklace out from under her left wind. It was embossed with the blackened image of a pony with a crooked, wickedly sharp horn. "The enchanted changeling necklace?" Luna whisper-shouted in surprise. "Tia, you can't be serious!"

"Now Lulu, please hear me out. This necklace could potentially be the answer to our problem with Blueblood’s education. If Blueblood can be taught how to use this, he could shapeshift into a little colt and learn the fundamentals of writing and magic in any school in Canterlot without the nobles suspecting anything is amiss," Celestia explained.

"So you propose to give a pony with memory loss a dangerous artifact,” Luna deadpanned. “How is this any different than my own wanting to give him a dangerous artifact? Would it not be more logical to just requisition some private tutors, or some well-experienced guards?” Luna frowned. “Honestly Tia, I am beginning to think you just do not like my fire sword."

"I said no combat training!" Celestia glared. "Blueblood can’t stay at the castle or else we’ll be facing the bubble problem again if we just let him have his studies in here."

"You are positively no fun, sister. Honestly, it’s a mystery how Twilight Sparkle ever learned how to defend her…self…" Luna's eyes widened in realization. "I am thrice an idiot, and now I am thrice the genius to compensate!" She looked back at Celestia, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "We should send him to your student!"

"Excuse me?" Celestia asked. "Luna, I believe Twilight is busy with her own projects. We needn't bother her with our own problems.”

"Tia, we are talking about the mare who built a school dedicated to further studying friendship," Luna argued. "Besides, is she not the Princess of Friendship? I can personally attest to your former student knowing about giving second chances. Have you forgotten that I was once Nightmare Moon?" Luna glanced back over at Blueblood, who was still leaning blissfully unaware on the windowsill, watching the night sky. "As difficult as this may be, perhaps for now, it may be for the best if our nephew spends some time in Ponyville instead of here where he may once again be corrupted."

Celestia nodded slowly and thought about the options presented to them, until a light bulb went off in her mind. "Very well, we’ll send him to Ponyville, but first let's give him two weeks here."

"Whatever for?"

"I know we can find a way to make some space on our schedules for him, Luna, I just know it. Besides, Blueblood can't just up and disappear, he is too well-known around here for him to just vanish. It would look suspicious. We will tell the truth, at least most of it, that he has important business to attend to outside Canterlot."

"That makes sense, I suppose," Luna nodded. "That would give me enough time to teach him battle techniques."

“Luna…"

Luna lowered her head and gave Celestia her best impression of a puppy. “But…fire sword…”

Celestia wasn’t born yesterday, nor was it the first time she had faced a weapon so terrible as this before. It was nowhere near good enough compared to the great Starswirl the Bearded when he wanted Celestia to join him on his mad adventures through the mirror portal. The Princess of the Sun didn’t say a word, instead raised a stern eyebrow as she glared back at her little sister.

Luna rolled her eyes and huffed. "Oh, pooh…fine! I will refrain from the self-defense classes. But if he shows interest in combat, all bets are off." She looked back at the necklace. "And we would need to be careful with this, too. You know that those changes are not 'illusions', correct?"

"I'm well aware of that, Lulu. I have faith in Blueblood. I believe he will handle this artifact with all the care and respect it deserves."

"You may have your faith, sister, but I will still dispatch a pair of thestral guards to watch over him," Luna declared.

Celestia smirked at that. ”Very well, then.” The two royal sisters turned to make their way back to Blueblood. "Now who's being overprotective?" Celestia teased.

"Oh, hush up, Tia. If you were in my horseshoes, you would have given him an entire platoon of your best solar guards."

Celestia laughed at that. “Well, maybe half a platoon…"

They stopped their approach when they heard snoring. To their amusement, they found Blueblood leaning against the window, sound asleep. Already a small puddle of drool had collected on the windowsill.

"That poor, unfortunate soul,” Luna remarked, moving closer to the prince. “He must have been really tired for quite some time. I believe he didn’t want me to be alone in an empty night court." Luna nuzzled his cheek. "For somepony so spoiled rotten, you have a very sweet heart, dear nephew."

A motherly smile grew upon Celestia’s lips at the sight of her sister nuzzling the once tyrannical prince. With a quiet sigh, she looked out through the windows to the brilliant twinkle of stars in the sky with a contented smile, sending out a silent prayer to whatever gods above that may be listening.

Thank you…

Author's Note:

Do not worry, he will not stay in ponyville for too long like other stories do. I just thought that it will be the best place for him to learn how to write and read without arousing too much suspicious before getting some small lessons on magic.

Once done, its back to Canterlot.

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