My cute-ceañera a couple weeks later was a banquet of special magnificence. Much like my adoption party, it involved the invitation of many nobles from across the entire kingdom. The main hall where the last party took place, which was nearly identical to the hall in the show where the Gala took place, was nearly packed with nobleponies who praised me with their duplicitous congratulations. However, being a prince, I had to be polite and thank them.

I received many different presents from each noble. I received fine silken garments that had been specially enchanted to grow as I grew as well as display my cutie mark prominently wherever I wanted it. I was also given fruits and sweets, like chocolate, sweet figs, raisins, sweet jelly, marzipan, and even a form of cookie. I made a mental note to try and recreate some cookies from my world like chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies and possibly even donuts.

One noble who I had been looking forward to meeting, Duke Charm Pants of Manehattan, gave me a young horse, freshly trained and ready to ride. The horse he had given me, a white mare with a silver mane and tail, was less than a year old and when I was given a ride on her back, I noted just how well-behaved she was. I was given a few sugar cubes to feed her with, and with that she quickly became even more friendly with me. She was unnamed, so I named her Strider. The Duke told me that she was a purebred thoroughbred horse, and that the Pants family had only used that breed of horse for the past four to five generations.

I met the Duke’s son, Fancy Pants, at my cute-ceañera as well. He was a young teenager of about thirteen and was just as kind as his father. I could tell that he was as genuine as they came as well. To my surprise, he too presented a gift to me, a large grand piano that was practically identical to those back on Earth. This surprised me further since I had figured technological development in this Equestria was still in the tenth to twelfth century. Still, I thanked him gratefully and promised him that I would learn to play it.

I later learned that Fancy Pants had paid for the piano with the money that he had earned from working odd jobs around Manehattan, something his father had insisted upon since Charm was of the belief that if one was to rule, one needed to work among the masses in order to see just how they lived and worked. It was unusual seeing the young stallion without his monocle and mustache, but I knew immediately that I had a potential future ally in him among the sea of vipers known as the nobility.

I was also gifted many different things, like a handful of well carved and decorated goblets, a set of silverware, some fine noble jewelry, jars of the finest honey and even some old and, according to Aunt Celestia, rare books.

By the time I got back to my room at around seven o’clock that evening, I was exhausted. Miss Buttercup was there in my room playing with the young baby Spike. When I saw the young dragon, I couldn’t help but smile in relief and happiness, sitting down and hugging him. He seemed really happy to see me too and babbled incoherently at me.

My life became a very busy one about a month after the cute-ceañera. Thanks to the young Fancy Pants gift of a piano, I decided that I wanted to learn to play it as well. Aunt Celestia hired Fine Tuning, one of the best pianist stallions in the city, to be my tutor. He was a light gray unicorn stallion of about fifty with white and black striped mane and tail and a set of piano keys for a cutie mark. He had fierce blue eyes as well. He was a strict but fair teacher and spoke in a rather posh British accent, or a Britmane accent, since he came from Trottingham, Britmane. He had his own idiosyncrasies, though, such as the fact that he always arrived on time without fail and that he wore the very same clothes each time, a pair of black slacks, a white shirt with a red bow tie of sorts and a dark brown vest. One of the ones that I liked was that he would always put a small piece of candy on the nearby table, and without fail he would say, “As soon as the lesson is over, you can have the chocolate.”

During these lessons, I learned that in this new body I had a talent for the piano. Maestro Tuning, as he preferred to be called, never said anything to me, but I later learned from Aunt Celestia that he had told her about this talent of mine. And, truth be told, I actually enjoyed playing the piano. It was relaxing to play a tune.

I also was given lessons on horseback riding from a Saddle Arabian mare named Raana. As this was the first time seeing a Saddle Arabian, I was surprised to find that instead of them being taller than most ponies that the anthropomorphic versions were more or less similar to earth ponies in appearance. Raana was a dark blue mare with azure mane and tail and green eyes and a horseshoe for a cutie mark. Her Equish was good, but there was a somewhat Arabic accent buried within. Just like the Maestro, Ranna was a strict teacher, teaching me not to attempt to be the master of the horse, but a companion. I was just lucky that Strider was patient with me. In fact, Ranna told me that my new steed was being unusually kind and affectionate with me. I wasn’t going to complain, however. It made the riding easier.

Ranna taught me not just how to ride, but of the history of the relationship between ponies and horses. What I learned was quite interesting. As it turned out, horses were first domesticated by earth ponies hundreds of years before the creation of Equestria. They were used mostly as beasts of burden to help around the farms. In fact, something similar had occurred between the holstaur race and the cows in their home country. Ranna explained that horseback riding didn’t come about until the unicorn race saw how the earth ponies had tamed their horses and thought of the idea of riding them. Pegasi never found the need to ride horses thanks to their wings, but there were instances of them riding on the backs of horses, mostly when a pegasi’s wings never grew large enough to allow for them to fly.

My normal schedule for the rest of the year, barring a three month summer vacation that started on the first of Summerstar and lasted to the last day of Skīven, was like this: Moonday through Nerday I had school from seven thirty in the morning to one in the afternoon with a lunch break at ten thirty which went for thirty minutes. During those times I was taught basics, such as Equish/Grammar, Math, History, Physical Education and Geography. Geography and Physical Education were taught on alternating days. On Moondays and Puddays, Aura Blossom would come by at one thirty in the afternoons and give me an hour long magic lesson. On Platdays and Nerdays, Maestro Tuning would come at two o’clock and give me piano lessons for an hour. Hurdays were reserved for my horseriding lessons with Ranna, which started fifteen minutes after my schoolday ended and lasted for an hour as well.

On Enddays I was given special etiquette training by a young pegasus mare in her early twenties by the name of Light Step. She was a dark green furred pony with a few zebra-like stripes on her. Her tail and mane were evergreen and her eyes were, surprisingly, orange. She had a pair of feet as a cutie mark, since her talent was dancing. From nine to ten in the morning, I learned about all the proper palace etiquette such as how to greet someone properly along with how to dance and many other things.

Right after those lessons, which were an hour long, I would go to my next lesson, where I would meet Iron Grip, a minotaur swordsman. He had a steel gray fur coat and black legs. He was a slender bull, but that didn’t mean he was weak. I always looked forward to practicing with him because he was funny, but he also knew how to make the lessons stick. He would praise me whenever I did something right, and if I messed up, he would gently correct me and teach me where to improve.

After an hour-long lunch break which went from eleven to twelve, I had a lesson in basic martial arts from an earth pony stallion named Fisticuffs. He was a light brown stallion in his early thirties with dark brown mane and fur, both of which were already somewhat graying, along with two fists for a cutie mark. His dark gray eyes were still full of youth and vigor and his well-toned body proved that. He was a tough teacher as well, but I learned a lot from him. While what I was learning was the simple basics, Fisticuffs told me that I would eventually be ready to learn martial arts from every pony tribe. At one o’clock, I was free from all lessons.

One thing that I learned while performing martial arts was that I found that certain motions seemed to help my magic flow through me easier. Curious about this feeling, I cast certain spells while simultaneously performing simple motions. To my surprise, certain spells did seem to react much better when I performed them with martial arts, while others didn’t. When I revealed this to Aura and demonstrated this to her, she was intrigued and did some research at the Academy of the Arcane’s library. She found an old record of a unicorn mare who was said to cast magic in the same manner as myself, and that she, too, had found the same thing was true of her. The mare, named simply Duality with no last name, had written down her experiences with magic and what spells worked with martial arts and which ones were needed. She did put forth a disclaimer that since there was nobody else like her during that time, it was possible that said moves only worked for her.

Which was only half true. Some of the spells she mentioned did improve greatly when I mixed them with the little bit of martial arts I did know, but others she mentioned didn’t show any significant improvement. Still, Aura decided that, until further notice, I was to practice my magic normally and when I managed to perform a spell correctly at least ten times, then I could practice it with some of my martial art training.

Sunsday might have been a day where I had no lessons at all, but that didn’t mean I was idle. Not only would I put in etiquette, magic, piano, swordsmanship and martial arts practice for thirty minutes to an hour or so each day, but I would go into the Canterlot Library and either do homework if I had any or if I didn’t have any I would do some advanced studying in politics for about an hour or two each Sunsday. I knew that I was now a player in that field, and I had no idea how others might want to use me for their own political gain, so I needed to figure out how things worked in this world. The political system I was used to was nothing like the one I found myself in and a part of me dearly hoped that things in this Equestria weren’t as bad as they appeared to be in Game of Thrones.

I did make sure, of course, to set some time aside for my three new friends. Thanks to my newfound status as royalty, I received a small stipend from the crown and would treat them to delicious sweets and candies from shops in town. However, being a prince and because my new Aunt was being a bit overprotective, I wasn’t allowed to leave the palace without some kind of escort. Instead, I had gotten into the habit of asking some of the servants around the palace to fetch said gifts for me. It was not quite the same as picking them out ourselves, but it did give me more time with them. The three could leave the palace more freely than I could, and I was a bit jealous of that.

Despite that, we had fun during some of my free time. We would play in my room, run around the garden, and even play around in the royal garden’s large pond, especially during the summer months of my sixth year. In spite of my aunt’s words, Spike was taken care of initially by Buttercup, who took a shine to the young dragon. She would watch over me and my friends whenever we played, bringing Spike along with her as well. My friends all took a shine to Spike as well, but Frostfall was the most taken by him. I could tell she really liked playing with the young baby.

One thing I was surprised about was that I might have been in the body of a six year old, but I had the stamina of someone thrice my age. When I asked Aunt Celestia about it, she told me that what I was feeling was normal for a pony. She seemed surprised when I said that it wasn’t quite the same for humans. I told her that we were one of, if not the only, race on my planet who weren’t born able to walk. While it was the same for any sapient species on Threia, that didn’t mean everything was the same. In general, ponies did have a few traits leftover from their horse counterparts, such as the stamina bit.

That didn’t stop my aunt from worrying that I was taking on too much at once, and she said so. However, armed with the knowledge of my new body’s own biology, I reassured her that I was doing alright. She made me promise to tell her if I was ever being overwhelmed, but I insisted that I was alright. My reasoning being that since I was now a prince, I would do everything in my power to become an asset to the kingdom.

During the summer vacation, I spent a bit more time with my tutors. Most times my morning was spent studying and training with them, but in the afternoons after lunch I had free time. I spent those times either studying any subject that I felt would make me an asset to the kingdom (agriculture, politics, weather control and more) or playing with Shadow, Anna Belle, Frostfall and Spike. For the latter, I still didn’t really get a chance to leave the palace, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun. We even tried our hands at cooking, much to the consternation of some of the cooks in the kitchen.

Despite that, I did manage to invent, or reinvent in my case, some dishes that impressed the cooks there. One of them being a baguette. One of my hobbies as a human was cooking. I wasn’t an expert chef by any means, but I did know some recipes by heart despite being six years out of practice. One of my favorite recipes was a French baguette. Despite the country of France being mentioned in the show, I could only find a place called Prance on the Equestrian map in my bedroom, and they had apparently not invented baguettes. It soon became a popular bread in the palace and all around Canterlot. It was eventually known as a Canterlot Baguette and shops around the city began experimenting with the recipe.

The year passed by fast, and before I knew it, autumn had arrived. The temperatures began to drop, hot apple cider became popular in the marketplace and other shops, and not just as a drink but as this world’s version of pumpkin spice. Sure, pumpkin was a popular autumn dish, but hot apple cider had it beat in terms of popularity. My studies were going along swimmingly, and I had learned that I was a jack of all trades not just for magic but for a lot of other things too, especially everything that I was being tutored on.

Nightmare Night came and went, and I was actually allowed to go out with my friends into Canterlot, with an escort of course. I received plenty of candy that night, and so did my friends with me. When I got back to my room, I found a small basket full of all sorts of delectable sweets and sweet rolls from my aunt. I was beginning to understand how the original Blueblood in the show might have become the way he was. My version of Celestia seemed to have a problem saying no to me. She was extra loving and caring whenever she had the time set aside for me. I never abused such a privilege, but I knew I needed to speak to her about it.

It was on a windy early Forstbyn Sunsday that things took a very surprising turn for me…

“You’re one of the most studious ponies I’ve ever met,” Dusty Pages, the mare who ran the Canterlot Library, whispered to me that day as I carried another small stack of books back to my favorite studying table, which was a corner booth near a window overlooking Canterlot. It had become known as my favorite spot to study to others. One day about a few months back, I had come in to find the normal chair and table replaced with something much more comfortable. I later learned that it had been thanks to my aunt that it had been replaced. The library was so big that it was hard for me to find things. Dusty Pages, however, was one smart cookie and always managed to know where something was without needing to leave her desk and she’d direct me to the place where I could find them. I swore that mare had a sixth sense because whenever any of the other staff put a book in the wrong spot, she would always know and tell the other librarian to put it back where it belonged. She was kind of anal about it. She was decent enough to me, but she was also not afraid to yell at me if I accidentally did something to her library. It was because of that reason that I took an instant liking to her. She treated me like a pony and not a prince. “Don’t you have friends to spend time with?”

“Well, now that I’m a prince,” I whispered, “I need to study a lot, right? Besides, Anna Belle has an appointment with the castle physician, Frostfall has a small fever and Shadow is doing some training with his parents. He wants to join the Guard someday.”

Dusty chuckled as she lowered her spectacles to look at me over them. “If only some others were as studious as you. What do you have there, then?”

“Histories of the early unicorn kingdom’s royalty and their political decisions,” I explained as I carried them towards my spot and set them down.

“How old are you again, young colt?” Dusty always liked asking that question, especially when I found a set of books that were way above my supposed level of understanding.

“As old as I look,” I retorted, giving her a lopsided grin before I grabbed the top book, which was titled The Royal Decisions Volume One, 720-600 B.F.,

Dusty simply smirked, pushed her spectacles back up and looked down at the papers on her desk. I leaned back in my chair, which was covered in the warmest of felt and cushioned with the finest of sheep wool. I opened the first page and began reading. At the same time, I used my magic to cast a certain spell on a quill pen, a spell I’d managed to cobble together using two other spells, telekinesis and another spell which was called mind link. The latter was a somewhat advanced spell that allowed two ponies who cast the spell to communicate with each other telepathically over long distances. I had been experimenting with magic and discovered that if I utilized both spells at once, I could create something that no other unicorn had thought of even trying. The idea came to me from an old anime I’d watched about a Japanese college student who was isekai’d to another world and became king of a nation. In honor of that, I named this dual casting spell Living Poltergeist.

I felt my mind seem to split at that and as I began to read, the sound of magic from my horn ceased. The pen began writing what I wanted, giving me the opportunity to read and write simultaneously. Having my mind be in two places at once was a very unusual sensation, but I’d gotten used to it after a few weeks.

Time passed, and when I looked up from my books to see what time it was, the old hand wound analogue clock on the wall told me it was about ten minutes past eleven that morning. I’d arrived at the library at nine thirty after making sure Spike was alright. I’d been trying to help raising him more as the days and weeks went past, but Buttercup was there to help more often than not. Normally whenever I studied on Sunsdays, I stopped at about eleven thirty, but today I decided to pack things up and leave a bit early.

After organizing my notes and stacking them on the corner of the table where I was sitting, I began taking the books and putting them back where they belonged. Looking over at the desk where Dusty normally sat, I was surprised to see that it was empty. The library itself was strangely empty as well. Normally, I would see a few of the librarians around or even a few other ponies reading, but there was nobody.

Despite the unusualness of the empty library, I had seen it a few times before, so it didn’t set off any alarms. I went back to putting away the books in their proper places. I was just about to go grab my notes when I heard the door to the library slowly open. I turned and saw a foal quietly closing the door behind them. The aforementioned foal was wearing a dark brown and somewhat torn dress and a gray sweater with a black cloak around her, meaning she was likely a little filly. She looked like she was around my age but it appeared to me as if she’d seen better days, with their mane and tail coated a bit in what looked like soot and dirt. As she turned around, some of the soot flew off of her mane and the hood came off, revealing a unicorn with bright cyan eyes, a sooty mane and fur, and a terrified expression on her face. As she looked around, some more soot fell off of her, and I saw her orange fur beneath the dust. Not only that, but her mane was a mixture of fiery yellow and deep sunset red. She raised her horn, which glowed a bright cyan much like her eyes. She vanished in that moment.

Sunset Shimmer! I thought to myself as I heard a teleportation spell go off near the other end of the library. I heard a small groan from that same direction as well before the sound of a body hitting the floor was heard.

Putting my notes down, I rushed towards where I heard the sound, which came from a section near the back of the library. There, I found the filly I’d seen slumped against a bookshelf, her head moving around listlessly and her eyes half lidded. I ran over to her and knelt to get a better look at her. The poor filly looked malnourished judging by how skinny she looked. When I put my hand to her forehead to feel to see if she had a fever, I nearly pulled back my hand in alarm. She was burning up.

I used my newly acquired strength and a bit of magic to lift her up and carry her back to my chair. After putting her down, I went to the door and looked out in the hallway. In the distance to my right, I saw a group of Royal Guards making their way down the hall with purpose. Leading the way was the current captain of the Royal Guard, a white furred and dark red maned and tailed stallion of about fifty named Justice Sword. I ducked back into the library as I heard him shouting orders to his men. “That little brat has to be here somewhere,” I heard him say as I gently closed the door. “Once I find out who fucked up in their duties, heads will role!”

With the door closed, I looked back at Sunset. She was still moaning softly and clearly exhausted. Looking down at the floor where there was a small dusting of soot and soil, I made a quick decision. Using a wind spell, I gently blew everything away so there was nothing visible. Then, I rushed down to where she’d collapsed and did the same thing. By some miracle, I managed to clean everything before the guards arrived. I lifted Sunset and lay her down underneath my table, which fortunately had a long but thick cloth over it, draping down to the floor.

As I did so, Sunset suddenly gasped and sat up, nearly hitting the top of the table. Before she could say anything, I used my hand to clamp her mouth shut. She turned and looked at me, wide eyed in fear. Before she could do anything foolish, I put a finger to my lips. “Shhh, calm down. Do you want the whole palace to hear you? Don’t scream or the guards will find you. Nod if you understand.”

When she nodded, I released her mouth. Immediately, and in a trembling voice, she asked “Who are you?”

“I’ll explain later,” I replied, surprised that she didn’t know who I was. My picture had been well circulated across Equestria by this time, but that would be a discussion for later. “Just sit down here and keep your mouth closed, alright?” She nodded and I smiled. “Good.”

As I sat back up and began taking a look over my notes, I heard the doors to the library open. An angry sounding Captain Sword voice called out in a voice much too loud for a library, “Spread out and find that street rat!”

I looked up and raised an eyebrow, acting confused as a group of about four guards scoured the premises. The captain saw me and his eyes widened. Before he had a chance to speak, I spoke up. “What is the meaning of all this, captain?”

He approached me and bowed. “Please forgive this intrusion, your Highness,” he said before standing back up. “A homeless foal has made their way into the palace. One of the cooks saw her sneaking some food out from the royal pantries before she was chased away.”

Both my eyebrows shot up in half faked alarm. Security of Canterlot Palace was supposed to be the best of the best. “A foal?”

His ears flattened and he had the sense to look abashed. “I know, Your Highness, I’m just as shocked as you. I don’t know how it happened, but once we capture her I will have the matter thoroughly investigated. Speaking of the filly, has anypony come into this room in the last ten minutes?”

“If by anypony you mean some little foal, then no,” I lied smoothly enough. “I’ve just been sitting here quietly doing some studying, but if anyone came in through the door, I’d hear it.” Which was the truth. The door to the library had developed a small squeak to it that Dusty had complained about for months but which still hadn’t been fixed. “What does she look like?”

“She's a unicorn, Your Highness, and she appears to have some talent for magic,” the captain said. “She somehow managed to evade us for the past ten minutes. None of my guards have seen what this foal looks like, since she has been wearing a cloak all this time.”

“Ten minutes?” I asked incredulously. “Wow, that’s…oddly impressive, actually.” I cleared my throat. “Well, nobody’s come in through that door or through any window or by magical means. And I would have noticed a foal wearing a cloak.”

“Captain, we’ve searched the library, and there’s nopony else here, and no sign that anypony left that trail of dust and soot,” one of the subordinate guards said, approaching the table. Upon seeing me, he gave a polite bow. “Forgive us for disturbing your studies, Your Highness.”

“It’s quite alright, I was just about ready to head out for lunch anyway,” I said with a smile before turning back to the captain. “When you do find her, don’t hurt her. I’d like you to take her straight to my aunt. If this foal is as gifted with magic as you claim, she might be more powerful than most unicorns.”

“As you command, Your Highness,” Captain Sword said before turning to the soldiers. “Let’s keep moving. She can’t have gotten far.”

As the guards left the room and shut the door behind them, I let out a small sigh of relief. Looking down beneath the table, I saw that the young Sunset Shimmer was looking at me with fear. “A-Are you Prince Blueblood?” she asked breathlessly.

So she has heard of me, I thought as I lifted the cloth on the table so she could get out. “I’ll explain later,” I repeated. “For now, I want you to come with me.”

“A-Are you going to put me in the dungeons?” she asked, voice trembling in fear.

“No, I’m not taking you there. Just come with me,” I repeated a bit more firmly before I put her hood back over her head. Then, thinking better of it, I took off my cloak, a rare purple one with golden highlights and draped it over her. “Come on. We have to go.” Grabbing my notes, I stuffed them into my bag and made my way to the door. Peering out, and seeing only the guards walking down and into another room, I snuck out with Sunset and closed the door behind me. “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere where you’ll be safe.”

Making my way through the palace towards the palace hospital wasn’t an easy job. I’d hardly ever gone there but I did know where it was. If my estimates were correct, it would have taken me about fifteen or so minutes to get there, but with Sunset and I having to duck and dodge castle staff and a few patrols of guards, it took nearly twice as long. However, we were miraculously not spotted and soon we were in front of the white doors that led to the palace hospital. I opened it and gently carried Sunset inside.

Just in time, too. The moment the doors were shut, she wavered once more and began to fall towards me. I caught her in my arms and held her there. She was sweating profusely now and breathing heavily. Putting my hand on her forehead, I felt my heart drop when I realized her temperature was higher than it was before. Her horn was almost scalding as well.

I looked around and locked eyes with a nurse who was looking in alarm at the sight before her. “Prince Blueblood, what-?”

“Get her to a bed and fetch the healer, quickly!” I ordered, pointing to the little filly I was holding. “She’s very sick!”

The nurse, a young pegasus mare with a white fur coat, light pink and curly mane and tail, and with purple eyes and a cutie mark that was a pair of light blue clouds, rushed over and took the little filly from me. Frowning when she felt Sunset’s temperature, she quickly placed her in a bed and rushed off. I found a chair and pulled it near to Sunset’s bed, keeping a watchful eye over her. A half minute later, a dark purple unicorn stallion with yellow mane and tail, pink eyes and the caduceus for a cutie mark, rushed over with the nurse in tow. He grabbed a stool and placed his belongings on a nearby raised tray. Sitting on the other side of the bed, he began examining her, looking at her tongue, eyes, ears and nostrils. Finally, he turned back to his nurse. “Nurse Skies, go start a bath for her. She needs to be cleaned.”

“At once, healer,” the nurse said as she flew down towards a large door.

“What does she have?” I asked as the mare disappeared into the door.

The healer looked up at me, finally realizing that I was there. He bowed politely enough, and said, “Did you bring her in, young Prince?” When I nodded, he continued, “Well, from what I’m seeing, she probably has a serious case of the Unicorn Flu, but I need to run some more tests to make sure. Where did you find her?”

I pursed my lips for a bit, then said, “She ran into the library where I was studying.”

He looked at Sunset more curiously now, then a look of realization appeared on his face. Slowly, he turned back to me. “Is she the foal the guards have been chasing?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” The healer looked up at Sunset again. There was silence for a while before he looked back at me. “Young Prince, I can appreciate you wanting to protect somepony who’s as sick as she is, but I will have to report this to the guards.”

“Yes I know,” I said, “but isn’t it your job as a healer to…what was the promise again? Do no harm?”

“The Hippomaric Oath,” the healer said with an affirming nod. “Yes, Your Highness, it is. I’ll treat her to the best of my ability. I still need to report this to the guards.”

“No, I’ll do that,” I replied, standing up. “I’m the one who hid her, so I need to take responsibility for it.”

The healer looked surprised at that, but smiled. “You’re an honest young colt, Your Highness.”

“Well, I did break a tenet of harmony, so it’s my job to make it right,” I said. “Just please take care of her. She looks really thin.”

The healer nodded. “We will do our very best, Young Prince.”

The nurse came back in. “Healer, the bath is ready.”

“Very good,” the healer said. “Start cleaning all of this dirt off of her. I’ll begin preparing some tonics for her.”

“Yes, healer,” the nurse said, reaching down and lifting the malnourished and sick Sunset Shimmer in her arms.

Confident that I was leaving Sunset in capable hands, I turned and walked out, adjusting my shoulder bag as I began looking for any guards. It took me only a few minutes before I ran into who else but Captain Sword. The captain was exchanging heated words with two of his subordinates, both of whom who didn’t seem to have any trouble talking back to a superior. “That foal couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air!” the captain said in an exasperated tone.

“We’ve looked everywhere, Captain!” one of the soldiers, a young gray furred and black maned and tailed pegasus stallion, replied in an equally frustrated tone. “It’s not like she can get into those vaults down below the palace anyway!”

“We’ve practically turned the palace upside down looking for them,” the second soldier, an equally as young and somewhat shorter pegasus mare with light green fur, a dark blue mane and tail and fierce looking teal eyes, added to the argument.

The captain swore under his breath, then muttered, “I swear to Gaia herself, if I get my hands on that foal-”

“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” I interrupted as I approached him. “I know where that foal is.”

The captain and the guards with him turned to me. “What? You do? Where?”

“In a castle hospital,” I replied. “But I need to see my aunt immediately. Captain, would you be so kind as to accompany me?” I had phrased it as a question, but I used a tone that indicated that it was an order.

The captain straightened and put his fist on his chest. “Yes, Your Highness.”

I looked at the pegasi who had been talking back to the captain. “You two, what are your names?” I asked.

“Swift Shot, Your Highness,” the mare replied quickly.

“Arrowhead, Your Highness,” the stallion added.

I nodded, and in my best royal commanding voice, said, “Swift Shot, Arrowhead, go to the castle infirmary and keep a guard on the young filly there, but don’t interfere with the healer’s work. She’s extremely sick. Tell the healer and nurses that I sent you.”

The two saluted and turned, heading down to the infirmary. As they did so, I began heading down towards the throne room, with the captain falling into step beside me with the two other guards who’d been with him earlier flanking us on either side. We walked in silence for a bit before the captain finally said, “She was with you under that table, wasn’t she?” When I didn’t respond, the captain sighed. “Your Highness, I understand that you’re a prince and want to protect others, but she’s an intruder. She could be dangerous.” He had a tone more like a parent trying to be patient with an unruly child.

“A dangerous intruder doesn’t have an extremely high fever and soot and dirt covering her,” I replied calmly as we took a turn. I looked up at the frowning captain. “Let me be blunt with you, Captain Sword. From what I’ve heard from my aunt, your record as Captain of the Royal Guard is exemplary. My aunt told me that you managed to whip the Guard into better shape than it has been in for many years. And for that, thank you. Your service to the crown hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

Stunned by my praise, the captain bowed. “Your praise is most appreciated, Your Highness.”

“That being said,” I added, which made the Captain tense up a bit, “I’ve heard rumors that you are a bit more strict when it comes to how you deal with criminals. Now, I try not to listen rumors, so I have no idea of their credibility, but in the event that there might be something to them, just know this: that filly looks like she’s my age. I don’t know why she snuck into the palace, but I have a hunch that she did it because she was desperate. I’ve seen her up close, Captain. She looks like she hasn’t eaten in days if not weeks, she has a very high fever and any magic she uses seems to wipe her out. She first needs a healer’s attention before you start asking her questions.”

The captain looked insulted at my insinuation. “Your Highness, with all due respect, I would never interrogate a foal as I would with a full grown adult,” he said in his defense. “I’m no monster.”

“Then what was that I heard earlier about what you’d do if you got her hands on her?” I quickly replied. “What were you about to say?”

The captain had the good sense to look abashed, then lowered his head. “Forgive me, Your Highness,” he said. “My temper got the better of me. I’ve spent a good twenty years trying to improve the Guard, and to have all that training gone to waste thanks to a little filly…”

Seeing that he looked genuinely apologetic and stressed, I decided to let him of the hook. “Captain, forgive me, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said in a calmer tone. “I can understand why you’d be upset and I won’t hold it against you.”

“No, Your Highness, I should apologize,” the captain said. “I let my frustration get the better of me.”

“Believe me, we’ll get to the bottom of this, but after being chased around by you and your Guard, she might be a bit tight lipped,” I said. “That’s why I’m hoping that my aunt can come and talk to her. She has a way of making ponies feel at ease and comfortable.”

“Yes, she does at that,” the captain said as we reached two massive double doors.

I looked at the two unicorn guards standing in front of the door. “Gentlestallions, Captain Sword and I have come to see the Princess,” I said. “It’s an urgent matter.”

“Open the doors, soldiers,” the captain added.

After the two looked at each other, they saluted and began to open the massive doors with their magic. I stepped into the massive throne room, which was fairly identical to the one seen in the show, albeit with the colors slightly muted. Sitting on her throne, wearing a dark purple dress with her mane and tail flowing in that same unfelt breeze sat my aunt, looking down at a pair of nobles. I caught the tail end of the conversation. “…no wonder our Farasi neighbors have been asking to open diplomatic relations with us.”

Immediately I smiled, recognizing the voice of Charm Pants as one of the nobles. Beside him stood his wife, a lovely mauve mare with purple mane and hair named Fidelity Hope. I’d met her briefly and heard more about her from my aunt, and apparently she wasn’t just a noble, but she personally used the majority of the money she earned to fund public buildings in Manehattan, like a library and the large Manehattan orphanage among a few others. However, Fidelity kept that a secret and I was not one to spread that information around.

Aunt Celestia was about to reply when she looked past the two nobles and her eyes widened in confusion, but which quickly changed into a warm motherly smile. “Prince Blueblood, Captain Sword, what brings you here?”

Charm and Fidelity quickly turned and bowed respectfully to me. “Your Highness,” they both said.

“Lord Pants, Lady Hope,” I replied, acknowledging them with the proper head nod, “I’m sorry for interrupting this meeting, but something has come up that I need my aunt for.”

“Oh my, is everything alright?” Aunt Celestia asked, standing up and making her way down the stairs towards me.

“There’s been an incident in the palace,” I replied, then looked up at Captain Sword. “You know the first half, I assume. Could you explain what happened first?”

The captain nodded, turned to my aunt and began. “Approximately one hour ago, one of the royal cooks was preparing lunch when he opened one of the royal pantries and found a small foal grabbing bread rolls. He reported that he had yelled at the foal, who I later learned is a filly, to get out, only for the filly to run away. He reported the incident to the guards who brought it to my attention. I thought it was just one of the servant children, but when a group of my guards found the filly and tried to talk to her, she vanished in a clear case of teleportation magic. I put the guards on alert and ordered them to find the filly and bring her to me, but she was elusive. We only now know where she is, and that is thanks to the prince’s actions here.” He looked down at me with a respectful nod.

I gave him a grateful smile and turned back to my aunt. “I saw the filly come into the library about thirty minutes ago,” I explained, then repeated the events that lead up to this moment. I surreptitiously gave a description of Sunset as well, and I saw a brief glimpse of realization pass over Celestia’s face as I did. As I ended my own report, I said, “I know I shouldn’t have lied to Captain Sword, but when I saw she was sick I knew I needed to get her to the healer.”

Aunt Celestia nodded. “We will discuss your lying to the captain later, dear nephew. For now, I would like to see this young filly and see how she’s faring.” Turning to the two nobles, she gave them an apologetic look. “I’m sorry for cutting this meeting short, but it appears something unexpected requires my attention. Would you two care to come back and talk with me later? I’m very curious as to this deal you want to make with the zebras. I have no meetings planned in an hour, perhaps then?”

“We would be delighted, Your Highness,” Charm said with a bow, then bowed to me. “Prince Blueblood.”

“Lord Pants, Lady Hope,” I smiled at them. “Please tell your son I’ve been greatly enjoying his gift, and I have been learning to use it and how to ride the horse you gave me. Thank you once again.”

Charm smiled. “Think nothing of it, Your Highness.” He offered his arm to his wife, who took it with a pleasant smile. “We will be back in an hour. If you’ll pardon us.” And with that, the two left the throne room, being escorted by a pair of guards who appeared from seemingly nowhere.

As Aunt Celestia, Captain Sword and I walked down the halls towards the palace hospital, the princess leaned down and whispered, “Code SS?” When I nodded, she only said, “I see,” and stood back up. I walked beside her in silence while Captain Sword led the way, the other two guards from before flanking us on either side, constantly on alert.

As we approached the hospital, I couldn’t help but wonder just what my aunt might say to Sunset…

When we arrived, the nurse was still bathing the young filly. It apparently took three baths to wash everything off, and by then it was revealed that she had a cutie mark, an image of a sun with bright yellow prominences on one side, deep red prominences on the other, and a half yin and yang symbol in the center where the sun was. This all but confirmed for me that she was indeed Sunset Shimmer.

After her baths were complete and she’d been given some water along with a dark brown and thick tonic of sorts, she was able to talk for a little bit. She did confirm that her name was Sunset Shimmer, and that she was six years old and pretty much homeless ever since her parents had died in a house fire three months prior, only about a week after she got her cutie mark. I was shocked to hear that she’d lived in Ponyshire ever since her parents, a chef unicorn stallion named Sunny Side-up and a homemaker unicorn mare named Golden Eve, moved there from a place called Sire’s Hollow. She didn’t want to end up in an orphanage, so she’d run away and found her way to Canterlot where she’d been living as a street urchin for months.

When the poor filly began sobbing at the memory, Aunt Celestia and I reacted as one, reaching out and pulling her into as best of a hug as we could. After a good long cry, my aunt said that she would receive the best of care and that she’d be nursed back to health by the best ponies available. And with that, Sunset seemed to relax and give both me and my aunt a smile. We did have to leave after that, however, at the healer’s insistence. Aunt Celestia thanked me and Captain Sword for informing her.

After we got back to my room, my aunt asked Buttercup to leave the two of us alone. She retreated to where Spike was. Aunt Celestia cast a shield over the two of us then turned on me. “Blueblood, I’m both proud and a bit upset with you. Can you guess why?”

“You’re upset with me because I lied to Captain Sword,” I said, “and probably because I called his abilities into question too.” I had noticed the captain had spoken quietly to my aunt earlier before Sunset was able to speak, and could only guess why.

“And why am I proud of you?” she pushed.

“Because I helped Sunset Shimmer?”

“Correct,” she said, “but let’s talk about the former first. I know Captain Sword can be abrasive with the guard at times, but he does mean well. He mentioned that you praised him for that, and I am also proud of you for that, but you’re too young to be dressing him down like that. That is my job, young colt.”

I felt my ears flattening a bit. I knew she was right, of course, and I sighed. “I know…but I had to address the rumors, even if they weren’t true.”

“That was right to do, but you should have let me deal with them,” Aunt Celestia said. “And I will deal with them very soon.”

“I see…” Despite now having the mind of a thirty year old, being in a nearly seven year old body made it easier for me to feel the guilt.

“Now, dear nephew, don’t look so down,” my aunt said reassuringly, putting a hand on my chin and lifting my head up to face her. “Like I said, you did the right thing, but while you may have the mind of a human, you still have the appearance of a young colt. You need to be more careful.”

I nodded in understanding. “I will, auntie.”

Her smile widened and she picked me up, wrapping me in her arms and wings, nuzzling me affectionately as she dispelled the shield around us. “Thank you, dear nephew.”

I felt heat coming to my cheeks. “Auntiee!” I said, squirming in her grasp as a more childish part of me took hold.

She kissed my cheek and forehead before putting me on the couch and beginning to tickle my stomach. “Who’s da cutest wittle nephew in da whowe wide wowld?” she cooed in baby talk.

“Ahahaa! Auntie, please stoop!” I begged as I tried to escape from her.

However, despite my exercises and training, my aunt was still much stronger than I was. She pulled me closer and continued tickling me. “Who’s da cutest wittle nephew in da whowe wide wowld?” she asked again.

“Ah! I am, ahaha, I am! Please stooooop!” I replied.

Aunt Celestia laughed, picked me up, and set me in her lap. She wrapped her arms around me. We sat in comfortable silence for a bit until she said, “It’s almost time for me to go.” She lifted my head so I was facing her while she looked down at me. “My dear Blueblood,” she said with a gentle smile, “just know that I am very proud of you for what happened today. Yes, you made mistakes, but it is a learning opportunity. Being a prince isn’t all about giving orders.”

“I’m well aware,” I replied with a smile back at her. “I’m trying to learn how to be a proper prince.”

“It will take time, but I know you can do it,” my aunt said before leaning down, kissing my nose, and then lifting me up and setting me down before standing. “I have to return to court now,” she said before facing me, “but just keep in mind what I’ve said. To be a good royal isn’t just about giving orders and calling others out. It’s also about being diplomatic.”

I nodded. “I understand, auntie.”

With a smile, she lifted her head, her horn glowed, and she vanished. After she did, I lay back down on the couch, staring at the high vaulted ceiling of my bedroom. The excitement and tension of that day began catching up to me, so I pulled a blanket off of the back of the couch, pulled it over me, and closed my eyes for a brief nap.

Author's Note

Phew! That took a while. Enjoy!