Very interesting story; definitely follow worthy. I hope to see more!

Banger alert!

Consider me hooked!

Woo! Amazing chapter, I didn't expect to see them escape so soon, but I'm all the more happy with that. It doesn't mean we wont see those pirates again.

Now, our heroes are lost, drifting on the ocean... where will they end up next? Where did that Nirik go?
So many questions...

Where did the nirik go?

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Into the ocean.

Dang, was hoping the Kirin would make it to the Dingy too. Oh well, I got a feeling that isn't the last we've seen of him.

”…Now go, colt. Go and be careful!”

Reminds me of something Gollum said, “Soft and swift as shadows, we must be.”

“Have you come to haunt me for failing you?” Blueblood said with a growl, anger flashing in his eye. “Get in line or begone, apparition. I have quite enough guilt without a ghost making it worse.” With his piece said, the Prince laid his head back down.

Was there another passenger who resembled the colt? After remarking his appearance, Blueblood seemed to be seeing him for the first time…

That was quite a harrowing adventure! There is likely some rope to fish with as they go despite it being a less desirable food option for most pony stories. This is an emergency situation, but water will be an issue.

Colt seems to have some prior knowledge but not a full accounting. This could lead to some interesting introductions.

What’s the range on Luna’s dream walking?

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Think they'll stay there?

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Maybe? Or maybe not. Who can say?

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Thank you all for your kind words! Any particular parts you enjoyed?

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Thanks! With how I set up the pirates as characters (see: Riptide), there really wasn't going to be much else that could be done on the ship besides maybe blowing it up, which kind of happened...? Partially? Might have been interesting for him to be taken in by the pirates, but Riptide's casual murder of the other ponies put a stop to that right quick.

The colt is in pretty rough shape, so he can't really take much in the way of damage at this point, which was sure to happen if he got caught sneaking around. Blueblood had a decent point about the starvation thing. Kid didn't have much left in the tank. Score one for Earth Pony magic! Earth pony too OP, plz nerf.

Now would I do that?

In order:
Where they need to be.
In the ocean.
And answers will/may be forthcoming.

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Definitely going to want stealth over speed in this case. Colt rolled a nat 20 on stealth at least once here. Then Blueblood failed his Stealth check (even with +10 from Pass Without Trace), and Riptide crit succeeded on her Perception. But in all seriousness, she probably knew exactly what was happening as soon as he got out of the chains. Child labor exploitation. Naturally, as the fine upstanding citizen she is(n't), she had to put a stop to that immediately (because she wasnt benefiting). With extreme prejudice.

You'll see! It's also possible Blueblood just saw the colt there and assumed he was among those lost to the sea before Riptide murdered the survivors. Or was some kind of ghostly messenger. Got some quick turnaround time on ghost hauntings in Equestria, apparently.

Thanks! The scenes where Blueblood gives him the 'food' and the whole sequence with Riptide at the end were my favorite parts to write. Thankfully, the dinghy is stocked with some provisions, including some water. This Blueblood is also at least a passable mage, so, he might know some desalination magic, or be able to fish with it. Sure, it'll suck with the hit he took to the horn, but directing magic surges has some benefits for the director. Directing an alicorn level surge, even from one as weakened as this little one is... well. We'll see, won't we?

As for the fish, it's not preferred, but survival demands as needs must. At the very least, Blueblood, having been raised in/around the royal court, has likely at least tried fish, as part of diplomatic dinners with Griffins if nothing else. Fish is good for horns. And also wings. And legs. Does everything, really. Get that protein and bulk up.

What the little guy does and does not know and how he does or doesn’t know comes into play later, so no spoilers

Dream magic is weird. Given we only got to see it in use a handful of times, there's a lot that's been left up to interpretation. At the height of Luna's power, I'd say her range is 'enough.' At this point in the timeline, who knows? Might not be consistent. Also, I'd assume it's quite difficult to sift through all dreams in a night, so she probably just looks for the ones that need her intervention.

Another great chapter to this story. Thought while i am not a fan of that long chapters, i belive for a story like this it is a must. Especially if you go into so much detail.

Thought about the kirin, i am confident that she survived and wouldn't be too surprised when she manages to get into the dingy while bluey and his little friend are still asleep.

Why does the scene with the mast remind me so much at the one of the one where Captain Jack Sparrow demasts lord Cutler Beckets flagship???

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Thanks for reading it despite your preference for shorter chapters! I know my style tends to be overly verbose and detailed, but generally once it's written, I find myself reluctant to remove any details. It wasnt going to be this long, but I couldnt find any decent place to cut it. If you can spot one, please let me know! This should be one of the longer chapters barring the climax, but I'll make no promises .

Kirins are pretty tough, but as a nirik, getting dunked in the ocean is probably supremely unpleasant at best, potentially deadly at worst. I hadn't considered having him climb into the dinghy, but that gives me some ideas.... hmm.

I'm not sure why it would, but I'll take that as a compliment! Maybe because both scenes have the same end result of the enemy ship getting its primary mast destroyed and the main characters not on the ship anymore ? The chief difference there being that Jack meant to destroy the mast, whereas here, I'd say it was random, but maybe it was Harmony giving Blueblood a nudge? And by nudge, I of couse mean a swift kick in the backside.

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*Stares at*

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If you want an actual answer, then "for now."

Already, I am loving it. This is outstanding. I can't wait to read the next chapter :)

While he was distracted by his own foreleg, he felt the water surrounding his hindquarters swirl and flow up around his barrel, but before he had time to panic, the water tightened and lifted him from his plank. The water tendril lifted him quickly, but with surprising gentleness from the waves and deposited him on a narrow shelf just behind the ship’s figurehead. The space was only just large enough for him to lie down, but he figured it was probably safer there than with the ship’s occupants.

There, he was finally free of the horrible reek of burnt flesh and fur as the ship caught fresh wind in its dark grey sails. The tendril patted him gently between his ears, feeling oddly solid and soft for something made of ocean, and he felt an unbearable tickly sensation as the excess water was drawn from his coat. When it was done, the tendril gently traced his unbruised cheek and waved at him before it disappeared back into the ocean with barely a sound. He found himself belatedly waving back. What had that been about? Something tickled at the back of his mind, a memory he couldn’t quite grasp. When he tried to focus, to push further, a lance of pain shot through his head as though in warning.

After the first few minutes, the boat stopped pitching beneath them. Blueblood risked a look over the low rail and found a small zone of calm water with a strong current surrounding the dinghy. The storm raged on around them, and rain still poured from the ruptured clouds, but the sea seemed determined to carry them as far from the Undertow as possible. The rain spattered against the waxed canvas, but it felt far weaker than it should have.

Yeah these scenes right here strongly reminds me of how the Ocean would sometimes react in the Disney movie Moana which I find very interesting and look forward to reading more about
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Ocean

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Thanks! I hope I don't disappoint!

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Finally, someone said something about it! Yeah, there's something going on there, for sure. I'd welcome any theories!

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*hands you a donut*

Enjoy

I am very much liking the story so far. I like your descriptions. They are long but they don’t seem superfluous.

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That I will, thank you kindly.

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Thank you! It means a lot to hear that my work is appreciated.

As contact was made, Blueblood’s eyes snapped wide open and he screamed in agony once more as the little alicorn’s magic surged from the colt’s horn into his own. He could feel the foreign magic rush through his average-at-best magic circuits in a furious torrent, forcing them wide open, stretching them beyond the point of discomfort into the realm of excruciating. It felt cold and wild, yet also like crackling electricity that sent spasms of pain through his bruised horn into the rest of his body. He felt his mane and tail take on an ethereal, flowing quality like the princess’s as more magic than he’d ever felt in his life rushed through him like a raging river. He could feel his circuits forcibly stretch to contain the colt’s magic, adding another, deeper level of pain that he hadn’t felt since he had first started truly learning magic. His horn audibly creaked but oddly, he also felt the keratin rapidly grow denser and thicker to cope with the unexpected influx.

This is making me think that this Alicorn Colt could basically be the Alicorn version of Poseidon or Zeus or possibly a mixture of both with certain similar aspects like I think he possibly has a connection to the Sky or weather and the Ocean and water if so then the Pegasi and possibly the good water magical creatures are probably going too love having an Alicorn with a domain and authority over the Sky or weather and the Ocean and water

Are we about to get a step dad Bluebloood story where he is given an actual chance to grow as a character?! Anyway, love your descriptions and storytelling!

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Good theory! You'll have to wait and see! It'll be addressed eventually, but it'll probably take some time. Thanks for weighing in and theorizing! As a writer, I love to see it!

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Have you been reading my notes? In all seriousness, I'll be taking a shot at something like that. Most stories that include adoption subplots (or even main plots) on this site, at least of the ones I've read, focus more on the adoptive mother-child relationship. I've only seen a handful (3 that I can think of offhand) that put significant emphasis on the father-child relationship. Time will tell if my midling skills are up to the task. It makes a degree of sense, given the ratio of male to female characters on the show.

So, eventually I just said, "Fine. I'll do it myself." Or at least, I'll try.

Also, the nice thing about Blueblood from a fanfiction perspective is that he's more or less a very highly placed blank slate as far as personality goes. We only really see him during the Grand Galloping Gala and once during another episode where he has no lines, if I recall correctly. All this combined gives me tremendous leeway as to how and why he acts as he does, and what he can and cannot do. The colt had the right idea when he 'scented' Blueblood's magic, but we'll get more into that later.

I will say, it's less of a step dad situation and more of a adoptive dad one, a slight, but important difference since neither of the little guy's parents are (currently) in the picture. I'll leave it up to your imagination (for now) as to whether that is a tragedy or not.

Thanks for your kind words!

“Oh Maker, he’s surging!” Blueblood gasped. He'd only surged once before, but he knew by instinct and teaching that there was no time to delay.

Even worse: he's having a Mana Flare!

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Yeah, that would also make sense. Not sure what the mechanical difference is, but it sounds bad regardless. Probably more of a semantic difference than anything.

In all seriousness, I debated between Mana Flare and Magic Surge and landed on the latter after flipping a coin.

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The difference is clear. Line from Baby Cakes.
Rarity: Baby Unicoirns get strange magic surges that come and go.

The nirik's not dead is he, he would seem like and interesting companion

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Probably not. Nirik might not show up for a bit. Kirin though...

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Thats what I meant

Genuinely interesting story because
1. A father-son story with Blueblood as the father
2. Blueblood as a character in the story is very rare because Hasbro has no idea how to ruin Rarity's night and how to implement Blueblood in the show. Thus, it's easy to forget that Equestria has a Prince

Well thank you kindly !

I'm a big fan of found family stories, but one thing I've noticed is most of them on this site put much more emphasis on the mother-child relationship (given the ratio of female to male characters in the source material, it makes a degree of sense), than on the father-child relationship. I'm not going to promise I can do it justice, but I'm at least going to give it my best effort.

Blueblood is in a very unique position from a fanfiction perspective, since he has very little actual characterization and almost no screentime, but occupies a presumably high position in Equestrian society. I think I've come up with a pretty good reason as to why he would act the way he does in the 2 minutes of screentime he gets, and am eager to share. It's kinda hinted at in the second chapter and will be explored further later on. The question is really more why Equestria needs a prince at all, since Princess Celestia is at the very least ageless, if not immortal.

As contact was made, Blueblood’s eyes snapped wide open and he screamed in agony once more as the little alicorn’s magic surged from the colt’s horn into his own. He could feel the foreign magic rush through his average-at-best magic circuits in a furious torrent, forcing them wide open, stretching them beyond the point of discomfort into the realm of excruciating. It felt cold and wild, yet also like crackling electricity that sent spasms of pain through his bruised horn into the rest of his body. He felt his mane and tail take on an ethereal, flowing quality like the princess’s as more magic than he’d ever felt in his life rushed through him like a raging river. He could feel his circuits forcibly stretch to contain the colt’s magic, adding another, deeper level of pain that he hadn’t felt since he had first started truly learning magic. His horn audibly creaked but oddly, he also felt the keratin rapidly grow denser and thicker to cope with the unexpected influx.

Did Blueblood's magic circuit and horn get stronger as a response to cope with the stress?

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Basically, yes. Ties into how I imagine magic works on a biological level. I'll be delving into some of how that works in a future chapter.

So interesting

It is extremely rare to read stories related to a father-figure and a child. As it is mostly done with a mother-like figure, or multiple (one multiple children and/or one mother or multiple motherly relationships~).

And as you mentioned before, Blueblood is a character that is open to multiple avenues of growth. A perfect canvas for writers to paint him however we see fit.

If this story is supposed to be long, just consider that you may find yourself with multiple restrictions when your characters reach Canterlot.
And I've read too many "adventure" tagged stories that end up in eternal haiatus, and forever incomplete, once they are forced to shift to "slice-of-life", due to loss of ambitions, or wishing to introduce new characters for an upcoming arc.

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That tends to be the case, yeah. Might just be due to the ratio of female to male characters in the source.

I've seen many interpretations of Blueblood, including ones where Blueblood isn't the original Blueblood, but that is not the case here. It's also not an interpretation I've seen before, so, there's that, at least.

I'm not sure how long the story will wind up being, but I've got ideas that go past Canterlot.

Thanks for weighing in!

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Thank you! Stay tuned for more soon(ish).

Interesting story so far, I like HiE where they don't start directly in Ponyville or Canterlot, even better if it's completely outside of Equestria. Nice to have Prince Blueblood being part of the cast and seems like he will take on the role of mentor for the guy in teaching magic and flying for the next long while. How lucky they were that they had a dinging with supplies in it, I wonder what it was being prepared for? I am generally not a big face of the former human having amnesia, it's a sign that the writer didn't settled on a personality for the protagonist yet, even if the current predicament was more important and characterization was sidelined for the time being; I hope that will change soon still. Form the tone PBB seems to be somewhat of a mistrustful snob but still at his core well being of the ponies around in mind, I wonder if they will grow a farther son relationship together? That would be a welcome change especially with a guy as flawed as he is. I wonder if they will still have many misadventures before they finally arrive in Equestria, through I am not sure if the colt's body can hold out that long with how emaciated he is described at the moment. Right now the both of them need each other for the time being, and then they can address how he could maybe go back home.

If you are ever looking for to comm a cover art hit me up dude.

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Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far.

There have been a fair few of these in recent memory that I'll readily admit I was inspired by, as well as an older story that I've borrowed a few concepts from.

It was a bit of a coinflip to include Blueblood, and I waffled on about it for a while, but I'm very glad I eventually landed on including him. He's an interesting character, conceptually, and I think it's a real shame we only got to see what I assume is his worst side at the Gala. Certainly magic at least, if the little guy winds up having aptitude for magic (lets be honest here, he probably does). This Blueblood is a (at least somewhat) competent spellcaster. He probably had the talent, but failing that, the connections and money, to attend Celestia's school, and enough reasons to try and excel. Like he said, he's no Twilight Sparkle, but he has his moments. I'm not sure how BB would be able to teach him how to fly, since, as a unicorn he lacks some fundamental knowledge of how pegasi magic works, but I'm sure given enough time, he could come up with something.

In my mind, those small boats were kept somewhat stocked in case of emergency, but I'll admit my research didn't cover that aspect of the setting. It won't matter too much.

Fair point about the amnesia, there are several reasons for it in story, but I can't really say much more here about it without giving the game away. Colt was mostly in survival mode for these two chapters, pushing everything to the side in favor of focusing on solving problems and getting to safety. In a way, admirable, but not something that can be done for long. Next proper chapter is where I'm looking to get some personality-revealing moments. The current plan is for the next chapter to be an interlude from BB's perspective.

I'm not sure I'd say snob, but that may be because I'm not a huge fan of that word . He definitely could have handled the Riptide situation more delicately, but it's doubtful how much of a difference it would have made. The idea is certainly a found family, parental kind of bond there, but it'll be a bit of work to get to that point. BB has a lot of baggage he's carrying around.

I can confirm that they will have a minimum of one misadventure before reaching Equestria, and don't worry too much about the near-emaciation. I've got a plan for that .

They do indeed need each other, more than either of them knows. Which 'he' are you referring to? BB or the colt?

I may take you up on that later, thank you for the invitation!

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I like PBB a lot be cause he is a very flawed character and get's himself into interesting antics especially with his social status and who the fandom assumed the complicated relationship with with Celectia and Cadance he probably has.

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Complicated is a word for the planned relationships there. All I can say is the Colt got an idea when he "scented" BB's magic.

This, this story is something new and unique that I’ve stumbled upon and by god do I want more! EAGERLY looking forward to seeing more chapters of this new story that has grabbed my attention!!

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Thank you very much for your kind words! I've been stalled out for a bit trying to figure out if I actually want to run with the planned Blueblood interlude now, or after the next chapter. Picked up a new hobby as well, which has been consuming a fair bit of my time too. But it's still being worked on, just a bit slower than initially intended I've got something cooking, but this is very much a "Let him cook" situation.

I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying the story so far!

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Then cook a fest my good author!