What did he stand for?
He knew he had forgotten. Or he had chosen not to think about it. Whichever was less painful.
It was shameful, unprincely even! Such a poisonous, heretical thought would have never wormed itself into his glorious mind before, but they were nothing, oh nothing at all, in the face of words of that damned alicorn.
The most infuriating part had been his lack of wit, the shock of being addressed that way responsible of course. He had completely been unable to reply to those ridiculous claims.
Ridiculous…
Y-yes, they were ridiculous! How could the next generations not see what he had done for the good of his country?!
What he had done? …Give the authorization to build a new road between Fillydelphia and Clopenagh? Put his seal of approval on a revision of the Everfree Forest’s borders?
He knew those were important tasks, Celestia damn it! Why was he still bothered by that ruffian’s words?!
“What is your biggest dream?” He had asked. As if he had any right to question his motives!
Blueblood squashed the floating image of his airship, knowing the remembrance would just bring out painful memories. Memories of his beloved “Sky King” were best left untouched.
Not that he wanted to use it, to feel the wind brush against his fur and look at the earth below, as if the whole world had suddenly become accessible to him in ways he could never dream of. As if it belonged to him, like the sky itself.
No, of course not. He was a prince, he knew what his duty was… Mother had always made that clear enough.
Phantom pain ran through his flanks, but he ignored it.
Duty, duty, all that mattered remained his status. He was a prince, nothing could change that. It just meant certain… restrictions were inevitable. But he alone could do it.
Why did the thought suddenly turn so bitter then? Why was he left with nothing but the taste of ash in his mouth?
The stallion had no answer to his interrogations, nor was he in the company of any pony that might have. Blueblood was alone, slowly making his way back to his room.
The hallways were deserted, save for the occasional pony cleaning up the castle or the guard making his patrol. Blueblood made a show to ignore them.
“Oh, but my father always said that a pony’s character is measured in how he treats his inf-”His inferior? Ah, what a laughable sentiment.
What did it matter if a servant’s feelings were hurt? They weren’t paid to feel.
Ashes. Only ashes in his mouth.
“You can still change!”
Why would he? He was perfect as he was. Anypony with a lick of common sense would agree.
“The only thing royal about you is that you’re a royal PAIN!”
He cringed at the memory of that fury, who he later realized was one of the heroines that had saved the world. It had been… awkward to find that out.
With a sigh, the prince pushed open the door to his suite. He slowly walked through the doorframe. Perhaps he was wrong, perhaps he ought to change his ways…
SPLOTCH!
The whole castle heard his screams.
--
It was hard not to break into cheers when we heard of Tom’s successful prank, oh so hard, but alas there were witnesses around. We wouldn’t want to antagonize the princesses by publicly revealing we had pranked (or allowed another to, in my case) their nephew.
There was no chance in hell they would not guess accurately it was our fault, especially after this morning’s encounter, but we might as well pretend to be innocent.
“Oh no, that is terrible,” I deadpanned.
Well, crap, that was weaksauce times twenty.
“Yes… absolutely terrible… The castle won’t be the same without his magnificent presence bearing down on all of us…” The maid replied, with just as much emotion.
Alright, maybe our cover wasn’t blown yet. If it had, we knew at least one more pony that would go down with us.
Thing was, we didn’t get to see Blueblood as he got splattered with cake. We missed it by a couple of minutes apparently. From that point on, nopony had gotten any update about the prince. He had holed himself in his room and would not come out. None of his usual staff had been allowed inside either.
Nevertheless, that had deserved a brohoof with Tom. And a big congratulation.
“Now, I believe you were supposed to escort us to our own suite, am I correct?” I gave her an encouraging smile.
“You are, my prince.” She bowed.
The title made me cringe. The deference did not help either.
“Y-yes, if you would please…?”
She got the hint and started walking.
--
“Do you know why you’re here?” The woman with the glasses asked him.
“I guess it’s because I’m avoided like the plague?” He replied bitterly.
She could not stay completely stoic at that. She had to show a little compassion. Her hands found his. “Eric, there is nothing wrong with you.”
“Then why are all my friends gone now?”
Mrs. Thompson had to stop and forget her own failures. She had given herself the task to help Sam. She had failed him spectacularly. Now, she had to face one of his friends.
This was hard, but the psychologist could hardly imagine herself in the shoes of Sam’s parents. It was a fate she would not wish on anyone.
She had been contacted by her colleague, Dr. Lachance, for a small discussion concerning Sam’s perception of his parents. He had said a few words about their general states, but, of course, hadn’t delved into their states of mind more deeply.
Professionalism aside, they weren’t such nice things to look into anymore…
“Eric, this is not a fault on your part. It is a terrible, terrible thing, but none of it can be blamed on you. You must understand that.”
The teenager’s eyes would not focus back on her. They were onto a memory he had tried to forget, because every remembrance came with a throbbing sensation around his eye. Always the same thing.
He was talking, trying to make a lighter conversation. Then, there’s a fist.
He was holding her back, making sure she wouldn’t go too far. Then, there’s another fist.
And, like that, they’re both gone.
He couldn’t not think about how he had played a role in this. His mind just kept telling him he had done something wrong to deserve this. Right?
“I can’t,” he whispered. “I want, but I can’t.”
--
“Hum… Sam? What are we doing?” Tom asked, thoroughly confused.
“We’re going to redo the whole ritual that brought us here, of course.” My horn glowed bright and most of the furnitures was moved out of the way, creating a clear, wide area for us to work on.
“Oh.” He looked down. Well, that didn’t sound thrilled. Don’t start talking about how you want to stay, ‘cause I’ll drag your ass back to Mom and Dad anyway, except I’ll be a lot angrier about it.
“What’s wrong?” I frowned, absentmindedly levitating lumps of coal from our chimney. “You don’t look like you’re happy.”
The pieces of dark material snapped in half.
…I had to work on my control better…
“Come to think of it, Tom, why didn’t you come back by yourself?”
“I… got a little scared,” he admitted with a tiny voice. His cheeks had darkened. “I thought you might… not be happy to see me again…”
“Oh come on, squirt.” I nuzzled him, sharing some warmth and comfort with him. “That’s nonsense and you know it.”
“Hu-uh…” He shrugged noncommittally.
Tom broke the contact himself. He had foregone most if not all of his boastful attitude. At the moment, he was little more than a kid, lost and confused.
“Plus, I had sorta forgotten the way to draw the big circle…” He looked down, ashamed, in more ways than one. He seemed on the verge of tears now.
I brought him into a hug. “Shhh, it’s fine, buddy. I’ll take care of everything, promise.”
Tom blinked, shocked. “Huh? You know how to?”
“Of course I do, I studied the spell intensively before coming here.” I smiled, though I was mentally bracing myself for the worst. “I memorize it in its entirety.”
The sudden onslaught of memories did not catch me off-guard. I had physically steadied myself. I had seen it coming. I had hoped to.
Now, a series of extremely complicated and precise alignment of magical runes were freshly imprinted in my mind. The incantation was just as easily remembered as well.
It made me shake in anticipation. It would be so easy to make it work. I already knew the spell would be perfect.
“Let’s get down to it, shall we?” I grinned, releasing my hold on my little brother.
Then I started pressing the coal against the stone floor.
--
“Now where is that beaver?” A fabulous voice echoed on the shores of the river. “He promised to meet up here for the issue of his dam.”
Exquisite purple scales shimmered in the sun, so rarely shining in his neighborhood. The Everfree Forest was not often that sunny in the middle of the day… or anytime of the year really. It was just a lucky break for him.
After all, the light brought out the orange of his mustache.
The sea serpent scanned his surroundings. Nothing.
His claws scratched his chin, a frown on his face. “I could have sworn this was the right place.” He glanced at the orb of fire moved around by the alicorn princess. “And this is the right time too. Ah, where is that beaver? He’s not late, is he? That is so unsightly.”
Steve Magnet did not notice the fog conquering the woods. He really ought to have…
He just felt terribly cold all of a sudden.
--
I-it was complete. I had finished drawing all the runes, each symbol was in its place. Nothing would ruin this.
My eyes darted around the room, my heart skipping a beat when I realized I had tempted fate. But that cold-hearted bitch seemed to have decided not to screw us over this time. The room was empty, save for us and those pentagrams.
I was so excited I could throw up. “R-ready, squirt?”
He quickly nodded. He clearly was just as thrilled as I was.
“Stay close to me,” I said, pulling closer with one wing. “And repeat everything I say. We wouldn’t want just one of us going through, right?”
“Okay, Sam.”
I started talking. And he started repeating, everything, dutifully, just like I asked. For a moment, I allowed myself to hope. It would work. It had to. We were doing everything the way it should be done. Heck, the strange reality warping that was plaguing my mind had even made sure I knew exactly what to do.
We said the words. All of them. Without hesitation. Without missing a beat. Everything was perfect.
But this time, the runes lit up during the spell casting. I wasn’t facing an inanimate circle this time, but a maddeningly bright writing that had me hoping… that had me thinking to myself that it wasn’t a bad sign, that it wasn’t a hint that it wasn’t working right, that this definitely did not meant anything other than the spell was working. That alone and nothing else.
The last syllable left my mouth, and it seemed to echo with another voice.
And then, nothing.
Again.
The moment the spell was over, it was as if nothing would happen, nothing would ever happen to bring us out of this hell away from the people that matter to us. But I wasn’t truly worried yet. It had done this before. Is this it? Or is this the part where the nightmare becomes a reality?
My eyes had gone to the ground. The last time, I had sunk through the ground. That had been how I had travelled here. Now, my heart was beating so strongly my vision kept jumping as I stared at a lifeless stone floor.
I was trying to will us to go through it. My hooves remained despairingly solid.
The seconds ticked away. Each one was a needle piercing my skin. Each one added to a growing fear, until there were naught but deafening screams in my mind. They were all I could hear, even as my heartbeat grew wilder.
What is that? The question crossed my mind.
I saw red. Literally. Something red was floating about, formless. It seemed ominous… it had filled the air. If I could describe it, I would call it a mist. Droplets of something crimson, an infinite number of it that covered the room from head to toes. Each one of them was calling to me like the song of a siren. They… reminded me of something…
Home…
Then, it gathered, took on the shape of a vaguely horse-like creature. The figure seemed alien at first, but as more of its essence was returned to its original shape. Into the center of the runes I had drawn, a new creature had taken form.
I was looking at the ghostly figure of an alicorn. One whose traits were filled with warmth, who was so familiar my heart ached with longing. I… I couldn’t… For a second… I wished I could simply go back to him… to return to being under his watchful golden eyes… to just… rely on him… the strongest and the most reliable of all…
“Hey Dad!”
My heart stopped. It froze in my chest, suddenly turning a lifeless husk and driveling into nothingness.
Cold ice seeped through my veins and made the world spin madly.
No… That’s… a lie…
“Started to miss you, y’know?” Tom grinned, boastful. “Well, not that much, ‘cause I’m not a baby, but maybe a little.”
The alicorn smiled in that faint way fathers do when they’re humoring their children. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT, YOU BASTARD! I’LL KI-
“Please tell me you haven’t disrupted the fabric of time and space yet?”
HAHA, I WOULD HAVE LAUGHED, AND MADE THAT EXACT SAME JOKE, BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT!
I couldn’t see clearly. I was blinded by my rage. “Why are you here?!”
The alicorn stammered, clearly taken by surprise by my vindictive tone. “T-they asked me to be the messenger this once. It is a responsibility I would not give to anypony else.”
“What message?! What responsibility?!” Did Tom flinch? Why?
“Something from Mom?” He asked, eagerly looking up at the strong fatherly figure.
I was this close to snarling, to foaming and just attacking that thing. How dare he?! How could he pretend to…?!
“No, Calx…” He spoke softly, as if that made up for anything at all! “Not from your mother…”
“From whom then?!”
“The Elders.” I was shocked silent.
W-who were they? I had some knowledge of them, as all alicorns would, since, you know, I had gro- LIES!
They were unforeseen consequences of a botched up reality warping magic. Nothing more.
Yet my chest tightened with dread at how solemn Magnus had been. Ho-how do I even know he’s Magnus?
Because he is. He’s the one from my memories, the alicorn that kept me warm at night, that gave me a hug when nopony else would. My father.
My head was killing me. A growing pressure was encircling my head, a prison of pain that would not give out.
“W-what did they say?” I didn’t truly want to know that. Just why we were still in Equestria. Why weren’t we going through a swirl of color and on our way to our beds, waiting for the reality to crash on us and share a laugh, then a hug with Mom?
I could already imagine how warm her hug would be, how strongly she’d crush my bones in her embrace. But I didn’t have it yet.
The world was becoming cold around us. My fur was not enough to keep it at bay anymore.
“You have broken the rules… You know what it means.” No, no, no, no, no! “They decreed that the passage will not be opened until your mistake is atoned for. Innocents may be in peril from your infractions…”
Lies. A bunch of lies. He’s a changeling. Not an alicorn. He’s a liar. A liar. A liar that lies. This isn’t real. A nightmare. Time for me to wake up. Just a bad dream. A lie. Magnus is not my father. He must be thinking of other alicorn kids. Just a case of mistaken identity. And a joke. A bad one, but a joke. It just isn’t real.
“The princesses will educate you… and you shall watch for abnormal comportments from them.”
“B-but Dad…” Tom protested, his expression that of absolute dismay.
Why was this happening? My fault. Wasn’t it like that? A lie that snowballs into the most monstrous of truth? THEN NO MORE LIES!
"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!" And I saw, the absolute hurt in his face. That alicorn... it did not understand why a son had rejected him. I... I wasn't so sure why I had...
"Son..." Oh God! He sounds just like Dad! This isn't real! "I... I'm sorry. I don't want this."
I saw him, I saw Magnus as my father, the one that comforted me when I was just a little colt. I saw that tall alicorn stand proud and show me how to fly amongst the stars. I remembered the glee. I remembered the love...
I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry... Bitter tears rolled down my cheeks. I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE! "You can't... you c-can't force us to stay here..."
“T-this is how…” He sounded as if he was ripping his own heart into pieces. “The Elders have willed it to be…”
I could not see him clearly anymore. Hot. Wet. From my eyes. It just blurred and cleared up, with every blink of my eyes. And my throat was tightening closer and closer.
"Yo-you h-h-have to let us g-g-g-go home!” My breathing accelerated. This was too much. TOO MUCH. “I BEG OF YOU!"
H-he… he looked away, avoiding my gaze! I could not register anything from him but the same desperate plea, though one for forgiveness. His pity struck me at the heart. I knew. It was all over.
I could no longer stay standing.
I collapsed, the worst of fear a reality. My vision turned dark.
We’re stuck here…
Sounds had been muted. There was but a deafening silence, loud enough to eclipse even the panicked screams of my little brother and my father. Nothing but nothingness.
I heard the bell toll.
My mind crashed.
Intense.
Oh... my... gosh...
Does this Magnus guy know about the reality warping? He sounds like he might, but is ambiguous enough to imply he doesn't.
At any rate, this chapter really kicked up the wangst, didn't it.
Of course. It couldn't be that easy.
Now I'm really curious to see how Sam is going to fix all this.
2455397
Maybe he can't
Sam... You need to tell the truth, it's the only way out of this for now. But now it's harder because you have to work to make your truth the reality. I'm guessing the moment you tried to use those memories to your advantage is the moment that sealed your fate, you're gonna have to find another way out of here now.
For whom the bell tolls.
More please!
2455326 "Reality warping? What are you talking about? Are you saying that's the reason for my son's outburst?"
Also, yeah, it'll be a mix of angst and wangst, 'cause Sam's fate is both lucky and unlucky and his whining can come across as either. Depends on you.
2455397 2455476 Maybe. Maybe not.
2455923 "It tolls. It echoes... it's all I can hear..."
2455633 "Ah, Red Bomber, you must have been Applejack in another life. You've been fighting for me to tell the truth all this time. But what happens if I do! WHAT?! Do you think the princess will take kindly to my deception?! That their court will?! And how the heck did Celestia recognize Magnus in me if some of this isn't real?! It's... it wasn't suppose to last this long! I was supposed to stay just long enough to grab Tom and go back. If only I had been able to cast the spell on my own... but the symbols... there were too many... I couldn't memorize them if I wanted. And Tom was counting on me, what would have happened if he had met the princesses alone?! I... I don't know... just... help me, please."
2455964
@blueblood comment.
around the time of the gala episode at least in the places i visited regularly there were a lot of rarity is worst pony and such. I feel Blueblood was made horrible just to make Rarity more likable.
and was that a crack at Past Sins?
2456125 Huh. I just thought it was pretty much the only way to screw up Rarity's evening like all the others.
And it might have been, but I don't know. I never read Past Sins and all I heard about it is that it's overrated. What is it about?
2456170
As one of the fans I'm Biased.
I do think you should give it a read. ill tell you the summery in pm's so as to avoid spoilers for all to see and such.
HOLD IT!
That's kind of weird considering THAT Applejack didn't exist until 3 years ago. ^^; Though I was close to her before I ultimately got Twilight Sparkle in that personality test.
HOLD IT!
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the princess will take kindly to your deception if you describe your fears to her and the rest of the mane cast. It's not like you're in the court of law like what I'm pretending to be doing right here. You should know that Princess Celestia is a kind and loving pony, I mean if she can forgive Fluttershy for stealing her pet because she thought it was sick, then I'm pretty sure she can forgive you for trying to secretly leave before anyone has a chance of discovering who you two are because you're afraid of them and the bronies. Heck if you went ahead and said "Help we're humans trapped in your world and we have no way to go back home! Oh, and my brother ran away to your world because he wanted to be a hero. I just followed him here to take him back home." Then I'm pretty sure the princesses will do everything they can to help, even the mane cast, although I think Rainbow Dash will probably be mad at you guys for that, but she'll come around. ^^; What I'm saying is that you could have trusted and believe in Celestia is a heroine herself and would help you anyway she can.
HOLD IT!
That's something that I would like to find out as well, since she must know something about the Elders and now that you know of their existence from your Fake Dad. I'd say it's high time you meet these so called Elders and/or figure out who/what they really are. Since they pretty much seem to be the ones sending those memories to you, Tom, Celestia, and Luna, I guess you might as well do something crazy. Like state your full name and identity, where you come from and all that jazz in front of the mane cast and the princesses. Because I think if the entire cast is present then the show should be showing it as well, that you at leave a cry for help through a TV Screen and people important to you in your world should know what is happening to you.
HOLD IT!
That's... understandable, I have a little brother myself and he looks up to me as well. Not sure if I'll admit that I didn't remember the way back home as well. Maybe Twilight Sparkle's libraries, the one in Ponyville and Canterlot, might have the books you needed to look up normally. Anyway, at least you have an idea, but it backfired on you. I guess the first thing they should do is check to see if the mane cast suddenly remember things you lied about yourself and try to find out if some God Destroying Weapon exist in case things don't go over to well with your conversation Elders. Although a courtroom like argument that Edgeworth does in Ace Attorney Investigations against them would be a nicer way to discuss with them instead of being dragged into a fight. ^^; But as much as I desire for you to go kick the butt of whatever it is really messing with your head, I think I have one great advice: The bond you have with your family is the strongest thing you have in your arsenal.
Right, so to sum up on what you should do right now. Talk with the mane cast before speaking with the princesses to see if they're affected by your lies as well and then find a way to break these tangled web of lies you have caught yourself up in.
Edit: Because of right now, I feel like Equestria something in this world is trying to make you a part of the pony's world forever.
Mind fuck...
Meh chapter. feels like a excuse for not going home "do this" "no" "BUT THOU MUST!"
2458806 *shrugs* I felt it would be rather obvious that Sam shot himself in the foot so hard his brain exploded with his earlier explanation. He made the rule of "No alicorn allowed to visit", now he's getting the punishment.
Oh no! They're the worst kind of liars!
Brain.exe has crashed.
A fatal exeption has occured.
Would you like to reboot?
4681885 Oh no, Brain.exe's failure is too big to simply reboot. A replacement is on its way.
1. Dang. You actually managed to make me feel sorry for Blueblood. I didn't think anybody would ever be able to do that.
2. So does this mean that these two are now trapped as unicorns with unicorn memories and can't ever be human again? Or is it possible that the alicorn manifestations are in fact their astral selves and the real form of alicorns is human? I am vastly confused, but intrigued.
3. And if opposites have to rise because of the imbalance these two caused, I'm guessing one evil came for each of them in the everfree. POssibly the windigo lord that was mentioned earlier for Sam, and I'm not sure what it'll be for the little brother.
queue suicide in 3...2...
You're way too dark...
Hmmm i guess so, queue rampant screaming throughout the castle in 3... 2... - is that better?
much
okay then, 1... 0....