Prologue
The Kingdom of Bloodonia.
Quite a beautiful sight, no?
It was a kingdom eons ahead of its time, and so called due to its strong smell of blood.
Not that our subjects minded, actually.
Who am I, you ask?
My name’s Solar Eclipse, Prince of Bloodonia, better known by my family’s subjects as Prince Merlin Spark-Fujimoto VII.
I’m a pirate, more or less, and I’m here to tell you a very exciting tale about how I went on a grand and glorious quest to discover who I meant to be.
It all began when I was a young... Changeling.
Yup. A Changeling. I had a rather odd family, you see.
My Dad, King Merlin Spark VI, better known by my family's subjects as King Deathbeard the Maniac, was what we call an Earthling, or human, if you please.
And my Mom, Queen Epona, better known by my family’s subjects as Queen Rosalinda Fujimoto, was a Changeling, a creature who would take the form of someone you love and gain power by feeding off your love for them... or so they say, my mom being a complete exception.
As for me... I was spending my days flying around the palace, my mom chasing after me as her beautiful Changeling self.
“You can’t catch me, Mom!” I called after her, as we kept up our little game of catch.
She giggled at my remark as chased after me, and soon she started to catch up.
“Don’t underestimate your mother, young man!” she called out to me confidently.
The palace’s staff was well aware of who we really were, yet they knew that we were kind souls, so there was no need to don disguises in front of them.
Yup, my Mom and I had the time of our lives.
Also... “Gotcha!” ...she caught me, both of us tumbling to the floor.
We both lay there and cuddled each other, nothing but warm smiles on our faces.
“I love you, Mom,” I said softly.
“I love you too, Solar Eclipse,” said my mom, “I always will.”
Suddenly... we heard a loud sound coming from outside.
We broke our hug and looked out a nearby window.
What we saw made our faces go pale.
The Government of the United States of America was attacking Bloodonia.
“How?” I was just as shocked as Mom, “How did they find us?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
The fear was something else entirely.
It almost felt as though hell had come to the surface.
“ROSE!!!” Both of us saw my Dad, King Merlin Spark VI, aka Deathbeard the Maniac, coming our way.
“Dad!”
“Merly!”
We both hurried to my Dad, the three of us exchanging a hug.
“Thank god they didn’t find you two,” he said with a thick Japanese accent, “I would never have lived it down if anything ever happened to both of you.”
Mom thought for a moment what to do now, and then... she sported a somewhat stern face.
“Merly,” she said to Dad, “It’s time.”
Dad nodded with a serious expression.
“I agree,” he said.
“Mom? Dad?” I was rather concerned about what they both meant.
Mom then levitated me onto her back, and off we went, heading for the restricted family library.
We entered it without any trouble.
Dad then started checking bookshelf after bookshelf.
“I hope I still remember where that book was,” he said, as he pulled out and reinserted one book after another.
We then heard another explosion outside.
“Hurry up, dear!” said Mom worried, “I don’t think our guards can hold them off much longer!”
“Ah-ha! Here it is!” Dad pulled the specific book he was searching for out and the shelf opened.
We all wasted any time to went straight through the entrance that unveiled itself before us, the bookshelf closing itself behind us.
Wasn’t long before Mom, Dad, and I was getting out of the other end, ending up inside a secret lab hidden from all of Bloodonia.
“Your majesties!” exclaimed two scientists, as they bowed down.
“Fire it up, gentlemen,” said Dad sternly, “Today’s the day.”
The scientists knew exactly what my Dad meant, "Yes, your majesty!"
Wasn’t long before one of them began to type on the keyboard for what seemed to be some kind of interdimensional portal.
For those of you who didn’t know what was going on, my Mom came from someplace else; The Magical Land of Equestria.
She would often tell me stories about this amazing place, so you could say that I grew up knowing about it.
She promised she would take me there one day... but I honestly didn’t expect to see it that soon.
“Do we really have to leave, Mom?” I asked my mom with concern.
“Not we,” said my mom, “You.”
“What?” I was confused.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, Solar Eclipse,” she said, “but your father and I want nothing but the best for you. We planned this out, not long after you were born, which was to send you to go live with my old mentor, your godmother, Princess Celestia.”
“What your mother is getting at, Merlin,” said Dad, referring to me by my other name, Merlin Spark-Fujimoto VII, “is that both you and your mother have this unique ability to change into whatever you please, which makes both of you easy targets for the government. If any of those governments got their hands on either of you, they might be able to use your shapeshifting ability for their own personal benefits.”
“Which is why we’re making sure that you stay safe,” said Mom, just as concerned as Dad, “And the only way for you to stay safe is to stay hidden, far away from Earth’s Governments.”
No sooner did she say that, the portal sprang to life.
I slowly approached the portal and on the other side, I saw... a throne room.
Sitting on the throne was a beautiful white creature known as a unicorn, or rather an alicorn, due to it sporting both wings AND a horn.
That alicorn was none other than Princess Celestia, the very supreme ruler of Equestria.
“Planet Equis,” explained Mom, referring to the throne room shown before me as part of it, “This planet is on the far side of the universe. Seeing as no one knows about our home planet, you should be safe there.”
“No,” I said, looking back at Mom worried, “Mom, Dad, please. I don’t wanna go without you two.”
“I know,” said Mom, “but we don’t have a choice. You have to do this.”
Just then, we saw two ponies in guard armor stepping through the portal, giving us stern looks.
“It’s been a long time, your majesty,” said one guard, as he looked at me, “I reckon that’s Princess Celestia’s godfoal, right?”
“Yes,” she said, sporting a look just as stern as them, “and I need him to go with you two now. Do not linger or even ask if we're coming. We have matters to attend to and it’s critical you take him now. And if we do pull through this... IF... Then we will come. Do you understand?”
The pony guards saluted, “Yes, your majesty!”
I calmly approached the Guards, both of gazing at my Changeling self.
“Come along now, your majesty,” said the other guard, “Princess Celestia is waiting.”
I looked back at Mom and Dad, and, knowing that I would not see them again for a long time, I ran to them, the three of us hugging each other.
“I’m gonna miss you two,” I said softly.
“I know, but look towards the future,” Mom said to me.
I nodded and followed the guards through the portal, as it shut behind me once I was on the other side.
I started to feel scared when Princess Celestia came down.
The sight before her brought her down to us fast.
“Solar Eclipse,” said Princess Celestia, as she was approaching me, “I’m glad you’re finally here. I am Princess Celestia, the supreme ruler of Equestria.”
“Yes,” I said, “My Mom told me one bedtime story after another about this place, including you. I must say that it’s an honor to meet you.”
She smiled at me, "And it's an honor to meet you too."
I nodded, but I could still feel my fears and anxiety taking hold.
She gently picked me up and held me close.
“It’s okay,” she said, “You’re safe now, and that’s all that matters.”
“I know... Auntie Celestia,” I said softly. Just then, I realized what I just said.
Nervously, I asked, “Did I just say that out loud?”
Interestingly, Princess Celestia just gave me a warm smile.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I am your godmare and primary carer.”
We both shared a decent hug, knowing that everything will be okay.
Suddenly...
BOOM!!!
We both jumped in surprise.
We both looked out a nearby window to see there was a rainbow in the sky.
Princess Celestia, or should I now call her Auntie Celestia, had a certain feeling.
“Come with me, Solar Eclipse,” said Auntie Celestia, “A new student was accepted into my School for Gifted Unicorns, and I wanted to see her magical abilities for myself. But first... You probably want to disguise yourself. The last thing we need is anypony seeing a Changeling here in Equestria.”
"Okay," I said nervously.
Remembering what my Mom taught me, I closed my eyes and focused on the form I wanted to take on, which, in my opinion, sounded easy enough.
Interestingly, I had just the idea.
Before long, I turned from a little Changeling larva into an Alicorn foal.
I sported a dark green coat, like the first hero of one of my favorite Japanese TV shows of all time, Kamen Rider, whereas my mane had the color code of another one of my favorite Japanese TV shows of all time; Super Sentai, their main color code being Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Pink.
Green and Yellow on the left, Red in the middle, Blue and Pink on the right.
I looked up at Auntie Celestia and smiled. "How do I look?"
“Not sure what inspired you,” said Auntie Celestia, “but you look like a million bits.”
I smiled as we started walking out of the throne room and through the halls of the castle.
As we left the castle, that was when I first saw what my Mom told me once about in a bedtime story: Canterlot.
"It's so beautiful," I said. I then noticed Princess Celestia heading for what seemed to be a school.
"Come along now, Solar Eclipse," she said, "You can sightseer Canterlot later if you like."
"Yes, Auntie Celestia," I said, and proceeded in following her to what she called her School for Gifted Unicorns.
As we approached closer, I clearly noticed a giant dragon's head poking outside the roof of the castle.
"Oh my god!!!" I exclaimed, "That's a huge dragon!!!"
"Yes, that seems to be," Auntie Celestia said.
We walked into the building and saw what possibly caused the huge dragon to appear.
Soon, we arrived in one of the many classrooms.
Everyone and everything seemed to be in a state of utter magical chaos.
And in the middle of it, there was a filly who seemed to have lost control over her magic.
My guess is that she might have been the cause of that dragon being so ginormous.
I for one noticed two plants standing there, along with what seemed to be judges.
"Stay put, Solar Eclipse," said Aunt Celestia, as she gently levitated me on the floor, "I got this."
"Yes, Auntie Celestia," I said, as she approached the filly.
I didn't know why... but I think she looked rather cute.
When Auntie Celestia approached the filly, she placed her hoof on her shoulder.
That seems to have calmed her down as she slowly landed on the floor.
It seemed to have brought her magic under control, and everything turned back to normal.
Plants turned into ponies, my guess is that they were obviously turned into plants, and the giant dragon turned back to his normal size, a hatchling at that.
I slowly began to approach Auntie Celestia and the filly... right after Auntie Celestia granted me permission.
The filly looked at me, both of us looking each other in the eyes.
At that moment... I could have sworn that a dash of pink was swirling across my eyes for only a moment, same with the filly, as I have noticed.
I instantly shook it off, since the filly's wellbeing was all that matters.
"Are you alright?" I asked the filly, "That was some intense magic."
"Ya, sorry about that," she said, looking down at the ground, clearly embarrassed by what happened.
She then saw Auntie Celestia before her.
"I- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
The filly started nervously and with a shaky voice when gently, my godmother spoke up.
"You have a very special gift," she said, "I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities."
"Huh?"
"But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study," Auntie Celestia carried on.
"Huh??"
"Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my personal protégé here at the school."
"Huh?!??"
After a moment of not responding, I mean how can you respond immediately to that, Auntie Celestia asked, "Well?"
The filly, who went by the name Twilight Sparkle, looked over to who seemed to be her parents, both of them nodding with smiles, possibly stating her to say yes.
"You should do it," I spoke up.
That got Twilight looking towards me.
"Are... you sure?" she asked.
I nodded. "You have to believe me... Twilight Sparkle, was it?"
She nodded.
"I know you have a gift," I explained, "what you just did was amazing. I don't think many unicorns at your age could do something like that."
I gave her a small smile. "I believe you could do something amazing if you have Celestia as your teacher."
"You really think so, uh..."
I then reached out a hoof, "Prince Solar Eclipse, at your service."
She reached her hoof towards mine and shook it. I could've sworn I saw a hint of pink in her cheeks. Probably my imagination.
"Solar Eclipse, you really think I could do this?" She asked.
I nodded, "I know you can do this."
She simply smiled softly, as I went on, "It would be such a great opportunity to have Princess Celestia here as your teacher. Not to mention, studying with the ruler of this country... you'd be a fool not to accept, as such opportunities happen only once in a lifetime."
"Well, Twilight," asked Auntie Celestia, keeping her smile, "what do you say?"
She looked at me, then back at her parents, both of them still wanting her to accept, and then back at Aunt Celestia.
Next thing you knew...
"YEEEEEEEES!" She cried out jumping in the air.
I smiled, seeing this filly this excited made me happy.
"One other thing, Twilight," Auntie Celestia said, making Twilight stop in mid-air.
I had no idea how that was possible.
She fell to the ground and stood up, dazed a bit.
That's when I realized something was different about her, namely what appeared on the side of her flank.
I recalled my mom calling it... a cutie mark.
It was when a pony, be it an Earth Pony, a Unicorn, or a Pegasus Pony, discover the one thing they are very very good at.
"My cutie mark!" she exclaimed happily.
She then hopped around with joy, going "Yes, Yes, Yes" over and over.
I must say that she surely was very happy.
First, she got accepted as Auntie Celestia's personal protégé, and now she got her cutie mark.
"Say, Twilight," I spoke up, getting her to stop what seemed to be a bit of a happy dance and get my attention, "I know we only met, but... you wanna hang out?"
She looked away for a moment, then turned to me with a big smile, and replied, "Of course, I would."
"Actually, Solar Eclipse," said Auntie Celestia, "I think it is best if Twilight goes home with her parents to prepare her for her first day soon. After all, your mother did the exact same thing when I took her under my wing."
I sighed, "I guess Auntie Celestia is right, Twilight. Better safe than sorry."
"Wait," said Twilight, "Princess Celestia is your auntie?!"
"My godmother, to be precise," I explained, "She took in my mother when she was down on her luck, and she was grateful for that. Not long after I was born, she made Celestia my godmother to finally pay her back for all these amazing years with her."
Auntie Celestia nodded to confirm.
"Well it was nice to have met you, Solar Eclipse," said Twilight, "I hope we can see each other again soon."
My heart skipped a beat when she said this. I know that Changelings feed on love but, this was different than what I'm used to feeling.
We waved each other goodbye, and Auntie Celestia and I both headed back to the castle.
"I must say, Auntie Celestia," I said, comfortably riding on her back, "I haven't been here for like half an hour, and I already made a friend." I sighed happily, "My first friend."
"Yes, and I hope you can make more on your stay here in Equestria," she said a small smile on her face.
"You know I will, Auntie Celestia," I said with joy.
"That's good," she said. "Now, a bit of advice: just because you are a prince doesn't mean you can't make friends outside the rich circle. If anything, spreading out over both will inevitably bring an overlap in hobbies."
"Yes, Aunt Celestia," I said. It wasn't long before we arrived at a certain door.
She opened it, and, to my surprise... it was packed with various items that you would see on Earth.
She gently levitated me down so I could have a good look around.
"Your mother took the liberty of having some of your things sent over," she said, "whereas I took the day off yesterday to set up your room."
I was in awe.
The room had everything that reminded me of Earth.
Posters of many things like 1980s movies, a record player with records that include songs from the 1950s to the 2000s, even my book collection from all my favorite topics.
And seeing as Changelings were just as capable of doing magic as regular unicorns and alicorns did, I wanted to try something out.
I closed my eyes and focused.
Aunt Celestia saw my horn glowing up, whereas I used magic for the first time... to decorate my room, or should I say rearrange it to my liking.
It took some time, but I finally managed to rearrange my room to my liking, almost like my old room back at Earth.
She was rather proud of how intense my magic was... much like Twilight's.
Then, she had a moment of thought.
"You know, Solar Eclipse," she said, "after seeing you pull off such intense magic... I think I haven't gained myself one protégé today."
I smiled at her.
"Solar Eclipse," she offered, "how would you like to become my personal protégé alongside Twilight?"
"Would I?" I was surprised, "Is that even possible to have two protégés at once?"
"Technically," said Auntie Celestia, "it's prohibited for a mentor from having two protégés at the same time that are competitors of one another. But seeing as you and Twilight have made friends with each other, I don't see any reason why not."
"Thank you so much, Auntie Celestia," I said, both of us exchanging a hug, "I promise I won't let you down."
"I know you won't Solar Eclipse," said Auntie Celestia, "You both will make me proud."
We soon dismissed each other, so I could take the liberty of exploring the castle a little before it was time for dinner.
Unfortunately, I didn't see where I was going, and bumped right into... a white unicorn, who seemed to be in his late teens.
"Who are you?" he asked. Oh boy, he has that pompous voice most rich people have. Great.
"So sorry," I said politely, "You see, I am new here, and I was eager to get to know my environment before dinner."
He huffed.
It is taking me a lot of energy not to just flat out facehoof at his reaction.
I mean seriously, I just apologized and that's his reaction.
"Well, watch it in future!" he shot back before flouncing away.
He then stopped in his tracks, and walked back to me.
"Mind you," he said, "I've never seen you here before. What's your name?"
"Prince Solar Eclipse," I introduced myself, "son of King Merlin Spark VII and Queen Epona. I was sent here to live with Princess Celestia for the time being, while my mother and father take care of an enemy attack on the kingdom of Bloodonia."
The unicorn raised an eyebrow. "Yeah," he said, "a likely story."
"Excuse me?" I asked, "How is this a likely story?"
I was angry.
How could this jerk just flat out say 'a likely story' when it actually happened?
I took deep breaths, eager to remind myself that anger was not always the answer.
"Some scrawny runt like you being a prince?" he taunted, "You're just saying that to feel important."
"It's the truth!" I argued, "I really am a prince. You can ask Princess Celestia. She can clear this up."
"I have a better idea," said the unicorn, and then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "GUARDS!!!"
I wanted to beat this unicorn up right now but I didn't want more trouble on me.
So I did something that was possibly a dumb decision but my mind decided to go for it.
I ran.
At least that was the plan, until two guards came up, having heard the arguing before he shouted for them.
"Can we help you?" one asked.
"I want you two," ordered the unicorn, "to show this commoner the way out of here. He clearly is delusional if he thinks he's a prince, even mentioning some kingdom that is probably a figment of his imagination."
The guards looked at me, both of them realizing what has happened.
"I see you met Prince Blueblood, your highness," said one of the guards, "We apologize if he caused you any inconvenience. It seems your godmare didn't have the chance to tell him yet."
The unicorn, whose name was revealed to be Prince Blueblood, couldn't believe his ears, due to the guards referring to me as my majesty.
I smiled proudly. What? He treated me like I was lower than dirt so, karma came after him. Not my fault he decided to pick on me.
"I tried to tell you," I said. At that moment, Auntie Celestia showed up.
"What is going on here?" she asked, "One moment, I was heading to an important meeting, then all of a sudden, I heard Blueblood calling for the guards... again."
"He thought Prince Solar Eclipse here was a commoner," the overseeing guard said. "Now he's horrified and mortified over the truth."
Auntie Celestia couldn't resist a chuckle.
"Well, Blueblood," said Auntie Celestia, "I see you met my godfoal, Prince Solar Eclipse of Bloodonia."
"G-G-Godfoal?!?!" he asked, still in shock. He then gave me the stinkeye, and demanded, "Please tell me it's not true!"
"I wish I could say to you that it's not true," I said unamused, "But that would be a lie. Auntie Celestia here was the one who took in my mother a long time ago when she was down on her luck, and they've been always in touch ever since. Isn't that right, Auntie Celestia?"
"Yes, that is correct," she said.
I could tell that this isn't that first time Blue boy did something stupid like this.
I looked at Blueblood a gave him a smile, earning a glare in return.
"Fine!" he said, "If my aunt here says that you're a prince of whatever kingdom, then I guess you were telling the truth. But you better not get in my way, Prince Solar Eclipse, or else!"
"Fine by me," I said, "I was gonna explore the castle, anyway, if you may."
I walked away feeling slightly irritated.
This was not how I wanted my first day in Equestria to be like.
But, it was kinda fun making someone like Blueblood a little angry.
So I continued on to explore the castle.
Later at night, I heard a scream.
I didn't hesitate to head to the source of that sound.
Turned out it was... Twilight, and she was cornered by Blueblood.
My guess was that he mistook her too for a commoner.
"AHOY!!!" I screamed, getting Blueblood's attention.
He turned around and saw that it was me. He glared at me as I glared back at him.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, stomping forward.
"Don't mind me," he said, obviously putting on a fake smile, "I'm just showing this commoner here the exit."
"This commoner," I pointed out, "is a new student at Auntie Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, AND... she's her personal protégé. She hoofpicked her herself. And unless you want me to inform her that you tried to kick her protégé out of the castle, I suggest you back off this instant!"
He smiled. Not a happy smile, but an evil one.
"And what are you going to do about it, shrimp?" He asked smugly.
I chuckled, I kinda wanted to do this the first time I met him.
I aimed my horn at him, magnified my attention upon him, and... "Magnora Gantuan!"
He laughed, "Magnora Gantuan? That's not even a real spe-"
But he wasn't able to finish that statement as I hit him with the spell.
God, does he ever just shut up?
He noticed that he was glowing blue, along with growing a little.
Giving him a little smirk, I did a little twirl, ending my connection with the spell, and with Blueblood nowhere to be seen.
I then trotted over to Twilight, looking her in the eyes.
"Are you alright, Twilight?" I asked with concern.
She quickly gave me a hug, making me blush a bit.
"Ya, I'm ok. Thank you for saving me, Solar Eclipse," she said.
"No problem," I said, "but if you like, you can call me Merlin, as my Dad would always call me."
"Hey!" we both heard a squeaky voice.
"Did you hear that, Twilight?" I asked with a smirk.
She smiled back at me. "Nope, must have been the wind."
"Down here!" came that voice again.
We both looked down, and saw... a miniaturized Blueblood, and he was not happy.
Twilight laughed out loud.
"Yup, Twilight," I said with pride, "I shrunk him."
"How did you do that?" she asked curiously.
"Well," I explained, "this movie called ONWARD is where I got that spell, and in their world, when you mess up a spell, it has consequences. That spell I used on Blueblood, Magnora Gantuan, was supposed to grow him, but instead, due to messing it up on purpose... as you can see..."
She looked down and chuckled. "Could you teach me how to do that?" She asked.
"I can," I said, "and much much more."
"This is unacceptable!" squeaked Blueblood angrily, "I demand you turn me back to normal right now!"
"No worries," I said, "A spell like the one I used on you won't last forever. It will wear it... eventually."
Blueblood grumbles something under his breath. Which was funny because it sounded like a chipmunk stuffing his face.
"Come on now, Twilight," I said, "I'm sure Auntie Celestia is awaiting you."
I offered her my hoof to hold.
She smiled and took my hoof. We then walked down the hallway, leaving a tiny Blueblood to his 'little' tantrum.
She and I simply walked along, looking forward to a bright and glorious future.
And even though I probably lost my home in Bloodonia, I gained a new home here in Equestria, along with my very first friend within Twilight Sparkle, a loving godmother within Princess Celestia, and a possible rival within Prince Blueblood.
I mean... with everything that happened today, I'd say... let my new life here in Equestria begin.