Blueblood Highcollar, the Mighty Hand at Canterlot, takes a midnight stroll with his chief adviser through the halls of Canterlot Castle. The young lord has always been a light sleeper, but these days the nightmares are getting steadily worse, and sleeping potions can only help so much.
 
“Things are about to change for you, Your Lordship,” assures Tirek, the old man who’s been by Blueblood’s side since long before he stepped in to take over the throne from his absentee “aunt”, the Sun Princess. “Once the Enlistment takes full effect, the collective magic of thousands will be at your service. You will no longer have to fear the absence of power, nor any adversary that may rise against you. You will be unstoppable.”
 
“So you keep telling me,” Blueblood mutters in reply. The dregs of his last nightmare are still clinging to his consciousness, and his blood runs cold. He shudders. “You’d better hope you’re right, Tirek. I’m relying on you to be right.”
 
Tirek smiles his odd, crooked smile, torchlight gleaming in his dark eyes as he takes the stallion’s hand and gives it a reassuring pat, as if he were comforting a frightened, angry child. “You can always rely on me, my lord,” he said. “In fact, I strongly advise it.”
 

 
 
After the disappearance of the Sun Princess, her throne was left vacant, and ripe for the taking. It was at this time that a young male unicorn rose up from a nearby village, claiming to be the biological nephew of the missing princess and demanding he be given charge of the country until her return. Since the princess had left no genetic records behind, it was impossible for Blueblood’s claim to be authenticated, but it could not be proven false either. Weeks of deliberation among the governors of Equestria ultimately led to the decision to set Blueblood (who had already made headlines) up as a figurehead in Canterlot Castle; just to give the citizens some peace of mind in the belief that a member of their beloved princess’ family was keeping her throne warm for her, and aiding in the search for her.
 
It would seem the governors believed they’d be able to control Blueblood. After all, he was young and inexperienced, and was a unicorn unable to perform magic. He would be relying on them to help him navigate the choppy waters of Equestrian politics. They thought he’d be a good little puppet.
 
They were wrong.
 

 
 
Yeah, I’ll talk about him more later on :3 Meanwhile just know that a) Blueblood has surrounded himself with some questionable characters who give even more questionable “advice”, b) he is 100% incapable of conjuring so much as a dust-bunny or a colorful spark, c) he has a ton of insecurity and anxiety about this issue, and d) he’s sanctioned the establishment of a LOT of factories since becoming acting monarch of Equestria, mostly weapons-manufacturing, to bolster the royal stockpile and be intimidating. As for the Enlistment, which would have many of Equestria’s wizards in full service to Blueblood and his causes (whatever those may be), that was an idea proposed by Tirek; Blueblood’s most trusted consort and only friend.