Son of the Princess

by twow443

Meeting the Future

Chapter 2-Meeting the Future

I yawned, opening my eyes to see a scaly face. “Umm, hello?” I said. The face jerked away from me.

“Whaaa! Sorry!” I sat up and saw that it was a baby dragon with purple scales and green spines.

“Hey, it's okay.” I said, making sure to speak calmly. “My name is Shade, what's yours?”

The young dragon seemed to relax at my calm tone. “Spike.”

Suddenly, we both heard a rattling upstairs. “Spike? Shade? Is everything okay?” She walked down the stairs levitating about 6 books. “Sorry Spike. I forgot you were helping Rarity and I didn't tell you Shade was coming and...” Not paying attention to where she was walking, she stepped on a book and stumbled.

Not thinking, I leapt up toward her. I lit up my horn toward the books that she dropped and whipped my head backwards, sending the books toward the table. I landed in front of the purple unicorn and she fell on me. “Oof.” I winced.

“Oh, Shade! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?” Twilight asked, worried. She quickly rolled off of me.

“Yeah, I'll be fine.” I groaned. “Isn't as bad as when I accidentally blew up three of Princess Celestia's spell books.”

Twilight giggled. “How did that occur?” she asked, sorting though the books that landed on the table.

“She told me to pop some popcorn, I ended up popping the books.” I said with a smile. “She make me find every page. Without magic.”

“Kinda harsh?” Twilight said.

“Nah. She just wants to me to be the best I can be at magic.” I thought about that for a second. “For being her assistant, she really works with me a lot.”

Twilight finished sorting though her books. “Maybe she sees something in you.” She took a look at the clock and gasped. “Oh no! If we don't leave now, we won't be able to see everypony! Spike, please put these books away for me?”

The baby dragon nodded. “Sure thing Twi.”

Twilight nudged me. “Ready, Shade? Time for a little teleporting.” She put her hoof on my flank and we disappeared.

…

We materialized in a apple field. “This is a nice field.” I said. Understatement of the year. This field was huge, and I mean huge. Apple trees were everywhere. As we started walking toward a barn in the distance, I couldn't stop marveling at the expanse of the field.

“This is Sweet Apple Acres, Shade. It's one of the oldest apple orchards in Equestria.” Twilight told me.

“It's beautiful.” Understatement of the year again, I know. But I was truly lost for words.

We came across a yellow-orange earth pony fiercely bucking a tree with her hind legs, knocking the apples off the tree into a cart. “Howdy there.” she said, looking at us. She kicked the tree one last time and walked over to us. “Who's your friend Twilight?”

“This is Shade.” Twilight told her.

The mare walked up and shook my hoof. “Name's Applejack. You new around here?”

“I guess you could say that.” I said. “I've been living in Canterlot my whole life.”

Applejack walked over the the cart and put the strap around her so she could pull it. “Well, Ah sure am glad to meet you. Sorry to be rushing off like this, but Ah need to get these apples inside before dark. See you later!” She trotted off with the cart.

“She's the Element of Honesty, correct?” I said to Twilight.

She nodded. “Yep, come on. We still have more ponies to meet.” She put her hoof on me and we disappeared.

…

We reappeared in the middle of Ponyville in front of a rather colorful building. “Carousel Boutique.” I said, reading the sign hanging over the door.

“Yeah. My friend Rarity works here. She makes great clothing.” Twilight glanced at me. “Maybe she could make you something for you.” She walked up and knocked on the door.

A white unicorn filly answered the door. “Oh hello Twilight!”

“Hi Sweetie Belle. Is Rarity here?”

The filly nodded. “Yeah, but she's REALLY busy. I'm sure she can take a break though. You and your friend can come in. She's in her art room.”

We thanked Sweetie Belle and went inside. Sweetie Belle shut the door behind us and went into a different room. When we reached the room, we saw that the room was covered in fabric. On the walls, all over the floor and draped over tables. A white unicorn that resembled Sweetie Belle was hunched over a sewing machine.

“Rarity! What's going on?” Twilight asked, as confused as I was.

Rarity didn't seem to hear her as she dashed back and forth around the room. Twilight's horn lit up and she stopped Rarity by lifting her into the air.

“Oh Twilight dear, I didn't see you there.” she said, finally seeing us. Twilight gently put her down. “What brings you here now? And who is this dashing stallion with you?”

I started blushing and mumbled my name as started tapping at the ground with my hoof. Twilight mercifully stepped in and said. “His name is Shade and he's going to be around Ponyville for a while.”

“Is he staying with you?” Rarity asked. As Twilight nodded, she said, “Well, that's pretty lucky for you, isn't it dear?”

Now even Twilight started blushing. Clearing her throat she said, “What's going on here, Rarity? You normally aren't this busy at this time.”

Rarity put her hoof to her forehead dramatic and said. “I suddenly received a dress order from Princess Luna HERSELF! So I've been sewing non-stop for hours!” She started to rummage though the fabric on the ground. “I simply must finish this in time! I don't want to look bad in front of the princess!”

Twilight walked forward and poked Rarity. “If you want, I can help you sort though this.”

“Oh thanks, but I wouldn't want to impose. Besides, I don't think Shade wants to poke though all this clothing.” Rarity said.

I smiled and shook my head. “It's okay Twi. If you want, you could send me to the next pony you wanted me to meet.”

Twilight thought for a second then her horn lit up as she smiled. “Okay! You'll have fun here. See you in a bit!” A purple glow surrounded me and everything disappeared.

…

Twilight and Rarity proceeded to clean up the art room after Shade left. “Twilight dear, is something wrong?”

“What makes you think that?” Twilight asked, folding some fabric.

“Well, ever since you sent Shade away, you've been awful quiet.” Rarity pointed out.

Twilight sighed. “It's Shade. Not that I don't like him, but there's something off about him.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“When we returned from Canterlot, he took a nap because he was tired. About an hour after he fell asleep, I accident bumped into him and his coat seemed to....shimmer.”

“Maybe the light was on it at a certain angle?” Rarity thought as she put the folded fabric in a drawer.

“I don't think so, because I cast a magic seeking spell.” Twilight said. Somepony cast an enchantment spell on him, probably when he was very young.” She started to sweep the room. “I can't tell what it is unless I remove the spell.”

“Well, it wouldn't be very proper to ask him if you can start casting spells on him.” Rarity said.

Twilight nodded. “It's probably nothing. Are you good here?”

“Oh yes darling. Thank you for helping me.” the white unicorn said. “I'll try to finish one more dress tonight.”

“Don't overwork yourself. See you later.” Twilight lit her horn and disappeared.

…

Back in Canterlot, the only time I saw any ponies other then the princesses show a lot of emotions was at the meetings Celestia took me too with the nobles of other parts of the country. There might be some yelling or anger and laughing. Celestia told me once that any meeting with out at least one laugh was a failure. I enjoyed a good chuckle myself.

But remind me to kill Twilight for sending me to where the Element of Laughter was BY MYSELF.

Pinkie Pie was a hyperactive pink pony and she lived up to being the Element of Laughter. Besides the fact she talked at 1 million words a minute. As soon as I arrived at Sugercube Corner, I was pelted with questions.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiii, I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name. Oh, I like your mane! And your tail! And your coat! Are you good with magic? Well, of course you are, you came here from nowhere! Do you know Twilight? And Rarity? And....” She asked all that in 15 flat. No joke.

I answered her questions as best as I could whenever I could squeeze a word in. Suddenly Twilight appeared next to me and Pinkie shot forward to hug her. “Hi Twilight! Your friend is really quiet!”

“Did you give him a chance to talk?” Twilight asked with a smile. As she sat next to me, she started grinning as I glared at her. She knew what she was doing when she sent me here.

Pinkie popped out from behind the counter. “You two hungry for anything? I got cupcakes!” She held out a tray of strawberry cupcakes.

“Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said. “Sorry we can't stay, but it's getting late and we still have two more stops tonight.”

“Okie dokie!” Pinkie said. Twilight and I both took a cupcake and bit into it.

“Wow!” I said. “This is a amazing cupcake!”

Pinkie giggled. “Thanks! New recipe. Some very special ponies helped me with it! Actually, I think Rainbow Dash and I are having a baking party tomorrow!

"Sounds like fun Pinkie.” Twilight said. “We'll see you later.” We disappeared form the cake store.

…

Twilight and I reappeared under a rather huge cloud foundation. “Alright, let me cast this cloud walking spell on us.” she said. She lit her horn and a faint white glow covered us for a split second.

“If we're going on the clouds, this gives me a opportunity to test out a spell.” I said. “Don't tell Celestia I tried this.” I stepped back and my horn started to glow purple. Twilight watched in amazement as I started rising in the air. I felt a sharp pain on my back. It hurt worse and worse until.......

In a flash of magical light, two blue wings appeared on my back. I landed and stretched them out. “Well, not doing that for a while.” I looked at Twi. “Twilight, close your mouth.”

“I'm sorry.” Twilight said. "I didn't know you had the ability to use that spell. It's rather difficult."

“It wasn't easy.” I said. “It took me quite a while to finally be able to fly with it. By the way, shouldn't we get moving before nightfall? It's almost here, look.” In the distance, Celestia's sun was going down. Twilight nodded and we teleported away.

We reappeared at a racetrack in the sky. “Umm, Twilight? Were you trying to take us to Cloudsdale? Because you missed if you were.”

Twilight gave me a smirk. “We were going to meet Rainbow Dash here anyway. I thought that now you have wings.....” she trailed off. Suddenly my throat went dry. I knew what her plan was. Suddenly the cyan pegasus she was talking about landed in front of us.

“Hey Twi. I got your message. What did you need?” she asked.

“Rainbow Dash, meet my friend Shade.” As we shook hooves, she dropped the bomb. “He heard about how you won the Best Young Fliers Contest and wanted to challenge you in a race.”

Okay, so I didn't know what her plan was. Buck. Rainbow looked at me. “This guy? Okay, you're on!”

Double buck. I sighed and stepped up to the starting line. Twilight stood a little off to the side and counted down. “3...2...1..Go!”

We both took off. Considering this wasn't my very FIRST time using the temporary flying spell I wasn’t doing to bad. But I was a unicorn and Rainbow has been a pegasus her whole life. I didn't even attempt to kid myself that I was going to beat her. But that didn't stop me from trying. We flew down a straight path, went in a loop, flew down, came back up. I was on her tail for the most part. But when we were nearing the finish line, my wings turned white and disappeared. “Oh, nooooooooo!” I fell and biffed it into the clouds. I came to a stop right in front of the finish line.

Rainbow Dash flew over the line, then turned and walked back up to me. “You know, for those not being real wings, you did pretty good. If you plan to keep using that spell, I'll teach ya how to really fly.”

I got up and shook the clouds off. “Thanks.”

Twilight looked at the sky. “Sorry Dash but we need to head back. And thanks for the show.”

Dash just grinned and flew off as Twilight teleported us back to her house.

When we returned, we saw that everything was put away and dusted. “Aw, Spike must have cleaned the whole house for me while we were gone. He's so sweet.” Twilight said. She yawned, “Sorry we couldn't see everypony, but Fluttershy is probably asleep by now. We'll visit her tomorrow.”

I spread myself on the rug. “Sure thing. Night, Twi.”

She went upstairs saying back, “Good night Shade.”

…

Outside Twilight's house, a black and green mare was watching the house. “I'm running out of time, but I can't approach him directly. Too much risk.” She started pacing. “I'll befriend him. Make him think that I only want the best for him. And while I'm at it, it won't hurt to split apart the Elements either. Hahaha!!” The mare shimmered and disappeared.

Comments

[twow443]

Sorry this took so long. I went into brain-lock several times Btw, should I make this a series like my Starlight books? Please be brutally honest on how this chapter and story itself is. Thanks!!!

[BarrenBaron]

es not bad, didn't find any glaring grammatical errors to un-immerse me and the plots a bit cliche, as far as hidden children of Celestia go if all the children from all the stories were real they'd be rivaled only be Robert Baratheon's children.

Not that you can't improve it or bring it a new twist, In fact I look foward to seeing how you can change or twist this. Could be an interesting ride.

[Billblok]

Not bad. But do not hesitate to hesitate before posting! That is, look over everything, Make sure everything looks neat and tidy and properly formatted, and add information to let people understand what may otherwise be lost on them!

[Naturaljunior]

Great chapter, hope to read more and to see some changeling action soon!

[Deep Pond]

1370035
I have to say, I admire your attitude. After seeing any number of authors delete their stories entirely after receiving a harsh review - or delete the review out of spite - you are quite refreshing.

Onwards!

The scene with Spike feels a little scanty. How does Spike react to Shade? Is he curious? Blase? Annoyed? Enthusiastic? As written, he's just there to establish his existence.

Also, purple baby dragon with green scales sound weird. We readers know what Spike looks like, but that's no excuse to not describe him well. I'd change it to a baby dragon with purple scales and green spines.

A white unicorn, similar to Sweetie Belle . . .
I mislike the phrasing there; it sounds . . . impersonal, like Rarity and Sweetie are varieties of washing machine. I recommend changing it to A white unicorn who resembled Sweetie Belle . . . or a white unicorn, similar in appearance to Sweetie Belle . . .

“This is a nice field.” I said. Understatement of the year.
What's so nice about it? Description! How does the sun feel, beating down on Shade's head? Does he smell the rich earth, the scent of hay, the faint musk of rotten apples? Does he hear the wind rustling through thousands of apple leaves? All we know now is that the field is big and nice. This would be a great place for a lavish description of the scenery, especially since Shade has lived in Canterlot his whole life. Sweet Apple Acres is an entirely new environment for him; let him soak up the new sensations for a bit.

“She's the Element of Honesty, correct?” I said to Twilight.
Nit-picky note: Applejack is the Spirit of Honesty. She wields the Element of Honesty, which is her apple-shaped necklace thingy.

Teleporting to Sweet Apple Acres made sense, given the distance, but Twi teleporting Shade to Sugarcube Corner seems odd. Wouldn't it be easier to just give him directions? Then again, Twi was spamming the teleports in Applebuck Season, so it's not a major issue.

Pinkie popped out from behind the counter. “You two hungry for anything? I got cupcakes!” She held out a try of strawberry cupcakes.
Typo; should be "tray."

“I didn't even know ponies could do that! I mean, you changed what you are!” Twilight gasped. “You have wings!!!”
Twi cast a spell on Rarity that gave her wings in Sonic Rainboom. It was a difficult spell, so she might be impressed with Shade's grasp of magic, but she has canonically seen (something like) this before.

Also, avoid using multiple exclamation points. Italics are better for adding emphasis; e. g.: "You have wings!"

Kudos for not having Shade beat or tie Rainbow Dash, but he still came awfully close for a unicorn using his fake wings for the first time, especially compared to Miss Sonic Rainboom herself. Maybe have him do all right for the first half, but then Dash puts on the speed, and shows what she's really capable of? Unless him having awesome flying skills is important for later, I'd be happier if this was downplayed.

Evil laughter is pointless with no audience. Just sayin'.

Overall, this was quite good. The problems are minor ones of phrasing, and every writer alive or dead has gone through them. The story is interesting, the characters feel realistic, and . . . yeah, I like this. Good work, brony.
i.imgur.com/3lZia.png?1
Deep Pond, TWE's knight-errant

[twow443]

1373436 Thanks for the review man! Let me address a few things you pointed out.

I purposefully rushed the scene with Spike, but he DOES play a major part. This is probably the only time I'd rush a scene because I've been raked over the coals by doing that before.

Thanks for the details parts with Spike and Rarity. I'll go ahead and fix those.

About the Element of Honesty, I've seen it written both ways, Spirit of Honestly and Wields the Element, so I didn't know.

More detail with Sweet Apple Acres, I'll work on that.

Given the fact that it was getting late, Twilight wanted to get Shade to Sugercube Corner before it closed. She didn't think it was necessary to point that out.

Oops, typo. Probably shouldn't type when I'm tired. Also, any get the not very sutble referance?

Forgot that Twilight did that spell on Rarity. Oops again

I believe I mentioned that Shade has used that spell before while living in Canterlot, but I glanced over it. It does come in play that he's a good flyer.

Pointless evil laughter? Well, she's evil. Do evil people (or ponies) ever need a reason to laugh?

And that's it. I really do appreciate your review. Means a lot and helps us do better. Keep an eye out for the next chapter soon.

[twow443]

1373371 I'm being very careful to pace myself, but expect it soon!

[Colt in the Moon]

Was that a reference to Cupcakes?

[CookieDo]

CUPCAKES? plz no.