Bright Defender started forward towards the liquor store that was currently under assault by four robbers. Blueblood followed close behind, though much more apprehensive and less confident than Bright.
“So, how do we approach this?” Blueblood asked the mare, the two right outside the broken window leading into the store. “Sneak in and ambush, or something more tactful.”
“Hey, stop doing all that crime!” Bright Defender called into the store, catching all four robbers and the clerk’s attention right away.
“... Or we could do that,” Blueblood muttered, adjusting his flashy monocle and top hat to better conceal his identity, and also to conceal his embarrassment. “You know, Bright, I don’t think vigilantism works that way.”
The four robbers glanced at the new arrivals and then at each other. The choice between continuing to rob the easy score liquor store or beginning a brawl with a pretty mare and a nattily-attired stallion was easy.
“Heya, boss, want me to smash this mook’s face in?” the unicorn asked his pegasus partner, bringing his bat up high with his magic.
The bulky pegasus chuckled, leaving the sack filled with bits at the floor as he cracked each of his fetlocks, the sound reverberating in the store. “Nah, I got dibs on pretty boy here,” he said, a smile unseen under his mask. “I wanna see him bleed in that fancy suit.”
“Jeeze, you’re going to choose that when there’s a knockout gorgeous filly standing there?” chuckled one of the earth ponies. “Suit yourselves.”
The fourth robber opened his mouth to utter a one-liner, but didn’t have time before Bright charged into the store.
Are you letting her take the lead? the voice in Blueblood’s head scolded him. Get in there!
And so Blueblood advanced, certain that he was making a terrible mistake. A mistake most likely ending with him beat up in a puddle of his own blood. Why did he have to be born pessimistic?
The two earth ponies never knew what hit them as Bright practically rocketed into the store. A hurricane of yellow and indigo knocked into the pair, hooves smashing into any vulnerable space available. Her movement was too fast to track, much less hit, so the duo’s efforts to take down Bright with their lead pipes only resulted in bitter failure and bruises on their part.
Don’t look at her, take care of your own problems!
Blueblood’s head jerked away from Bright and to the two ponies approaching him menacingly. The unicorn seemed like an easier target, so he concentrated on that robber first. Plus, the pegasus had just been knocked in the head by a wildly thrown pipe from Bright’s end of the fight, so Blueblood went with his momentary advantage of a one on one fight.
Growling, the unicorn came at him bat swinging, mad throws of the blunt weapon in all directions. Blueblood’s eyes tracked the movements of the bat, time seeming to slow to a crawl as his vision focused to such a fine, crisp detail that seconds ticked by as if they were hours.
As the bat swung past the unicorn’s face one more time, Blueblood gave it a sharp jab with his hoof, the movement too fast for the robber to catch. The bat’s butt slapped straight between the stallion’s eyes, causing him to go cross-eyed for a moment. Shaken by the strike, the unicorn stumbled back and Blueblood leapt into the air with his wings, gaining an altitude advantage that he used to pummel his adversary from above.
On the defensive now from Blueblood’s hooves, the unicorn was forced to retreat until his rump backed into the wall of the store. Realizing he had nowhere else to run, he threw all his effort into a last-ditch spell to blast Blueblood into red paint across the wall.
Seeing the building magic, Blueblood knew how he would have to counter it. Waiting until just the right moment, he threw out a sudden strike to the very tip of the robber’s horn, cutting off the outlet for the magic and forcing it to suddenly reverse.
It was an odd skill to have, a way to reverse the magical output of any unicorn’s horn to create negative feedback. You didn’t even have to be a unicorn to do it. Just know the right place to hit, and boom, no more magic for a short while. Blueblood had learned it through the basic self defense lessons he’d overheard the royal guards talking about.
The only drawback of the technique was the chance that a magical backlash of some sort could happen. The unicorn screeched in pain as his brain was flooded with an unexpected wave of magic, his horn out of commision from Blueblood’s hit. The surge knocked him unconscious in an instant, magical sparks flying from his useless horn as he fell to the floor.
“Hrumph,” Blueblood snorted, adjusting his suit cuffs. Luckily for him, he had managed to avoid any backlash at all. He checked his attire, pleased to see that it hadn’t been too ruffled–
What are you doing!? There’s still one after you!
Blueblood whipped around just in time to catch a punch in the face from the pegasus he’d neglected. The pegasus had a deliriously malicious smile on his face, a black eye from the pipe impact he received from before not deterring his grin one bit. Blueblood’s monocle cracked, but certainly didn’t absorb enough of the blow to prevent damage to his face. Blood poured down his nose from the cuts the broken glass had inflicted, while his head felt fuzzy from the impact of what had felt like a steel beam across his cheek.
Slightly stunned, Blueblood backpedaled and tried to get out of range. The pegasus came at him again and Blueblood threw up his hooves to block. His top hat wobbled and threatened to come off. He blocked another blow, barely, and lost more ground, backing up. His hooves felt like they were turning to jello from the force of the pegasus’ strikes.
All the confidence, or perhaps courage fueled by the jealousy of being shown up, was gone now. The exuberant feeling of being on top of the world had reverted to falling to his death from each hit the pegasus managed to land on Blueblood. There was no power, no newfound energy or abilities. Just a unicorn in over his head and getting the beatdown of a shortly-lived lifetime.
“Hiiiya!” Bright zoomed in the air past him on a collision course with Blueblood’s hulking adversary. The stallion managed to parry her initial charge with an elbow to her chest, but Bright twisted her body along with his strike to get to his side, her long indigo tail seeming to coil around him, winding tightly. She landed on the ground to get traction, and then cracked her tail like a whip, throwing the pegasus into the wall so hard that the back of his head created a dent in the bricks, knocking him out in an instant.
It had taken her seconds to do what Blueblood hadn’t been able to accomplish. He stood there for a moment in stunned silence. Glancing around, he saw the two earth ponies Bright had taken out before coming to his rescue-er, that is, before coming to butt in.
All in all, it had taken less than a minute for four would-be robbers to get knocked out, and for Blueblood to get his flank hoofed to him.
He saw that Bright had taken a bruise to the cheek, and she appraised Blueblood’s injuries with a sympathetic eye. “Maybe you should get that checked out.”
“Pish posh.” Adrenaline and pride made it easy for Blueblood to wave off the idea. He did duck his head, though. Even through the blood trickling down his face he didn’t want her to recognize him.
The two of them were interrupted by the owner of the liquor store activating the alarm system. Why he hadn’t done it when the store was actually in the process of being robbed was anypony’s guess. An alarm meant that the police would be on the way. And police meant Blueblood was going to get his ass stuck in jail. If there’s one thing Blueblood knew for sure, it’s that a fine, handsome stallion like himself wouldn’t survive five minutes in prison.
It seemed that he and Bright had the same thought and they both turned to go, hastily leaving the building. The night air was refreshing, but Blueblood didn’t take the time to enjoy it, focusing instead on getting away.
The duo beat it from the premises in a flurry of wings, shooting past the rooftops and into the night sky. Blueblood didn't realize that he had no idea where they were going until Bright asked, “Where do you live?”
“Why would you ask me that?” he stalled, trying to figure out if there was something he could tell her that.
Forget that! Did you see how strong and independent she is? Way out of your league and nothing like your usual skanks! Besides, would you insist on wearing your hat the whole night to conceal your identity?
Fortunately, Bright was not privy to his internal dialogue and replied, “Well, I was just trying to figure out if you’re going my way.” She chuckled. “I don’t go out crimefighting very often, honest. That was kind of a silly thing for me to have done.”
“Yes, it was,” Blueblood agreed. He winced, the bruises he had sustained in the fight burning like the inside of Tartarus. “I wouldn’t advise doing it again anytime soon.”
“Yeah… but wasn’t it exciting?” Bright asked, a glimmer in her eye as her hair flowed elegantly backwards in the wind. “The adrenaline, the thrill. In the castle I never get to feel like that. Out here, in the city, I’m as free as a bird.”
“Aren’t you worried about the authorities?” Blueblood muttered.
“Of course.” Bright frowned. “But...I still feel like what I did back there was the right thing. They could have hurt somepony.”
“You hurt somepony,” he shot back. “Where did you even learn to fight, anyway?”
“I told you that I spend a lot of time at the castle,” she reminded him with a smirk. “I was there when the changelings invaded and had to fight.”
Blueblood frowned. That had been several months before. Most of the city had gone back to their daily lives, but he knew that the princesses were still worried about the changeling threat and the possibility that they might try another attack or infiltration. The most he remembered of the events was him hiding in some closet in the castle to avoid any attacks. At least there had been a rather friendly maid to spend the time with. He couldn’t seem to remember her name, though. That was something Blueblood prided himself on - a good memory for every mare he’d met. It helped impress them, or in some cases, avoid them.
Bright noticed his frustrated expression, and arched a brow. “Something wrong? Are you hurting bad from the fight?”
“What? Oh, no, it’s just a scratch,” Blueblood assured her, wiping at some blood that had collected near his eyes.
“You might need some medical attention with all that blood,” Bright said, stopping in midair to take a closer look at his wound. Now that Blueblood had cleared some of the blood, and his face was more clearly seen under the moon’s light, Bright peered closer. “Actually, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?”
“I should think not.” If Blueblood had met Bright Defender before, he would have remembered.
“I could have sworn…” Bright tapped her chin in thought. “Have you ever visited the castle before? As a noble or something?”
Do something! If she recognizes you as Blueblood, then how are you going to explain the wings? Do you really want your Aunt and every other noble in Canterlot wondering why a prince is now an alicorn? You haven’t yet come up with plan for breaking the news in a way that will be most advantageous to you.
“I, uh… don’t remember!” Blueblood stammered, glancing left and right nervously. “I… have to go now!”
You fool! Could you have made her any more suspicious!?
“Um, okay,” Bright replied, her brow furrowing. “Are you sure you didn’t get a concussion or something?”
“Yeah, quite fine, just need to sneak–I mean, get back home,” Blueblood explained hastily, tipping his top hat forward to hide his face in shadows.
Can you be anymore obvious?
Biting back a sharp retort, he dived to the streets with his wings close by his sides, fleeing from Bright Defender as fast as possible. Before hitting the ground, his wings snapped open, and he had enough cushion of air beneath them to land safely on the ground.
“Whoo… that was intense,” Blueblood muttered, panting slightly. The surge of adrenaline and whatever else had made him feel like a superpony before had long departed, leaving his muscles on fire and his vision wavering. Blueblood was tired, in pain, and confused beyond belief.
Yeah, I was there, the voice deadpanned. You weren’t the only one who got hurt! The complaint drummed into his head, adding the the stress of the night and building towards a migraine. Next time try to be more careful so I don’t have to go through that again!
“You? What about me?” Blueblood replied bitterly, trudging down the streets back to the castle. “I was nearly killed back there, and what did you do? A lame heads up that didn’t do jack nothing!”
Well, pardon me princess, but I’m new to this too. And wouldn’t you rather have taken it on the face than getting zero warning?
Blueblood scoffed. “Who are you anyway? I’d like to better know the mysterious voice that appeared in my head the minute I grew wings. Do you even have a name?”
The voice was quiet for once. Frustrated, Blueblood grumbled, “Fine, be mysterious. I’m so tired right now that I shan’t argue any further. But next morning, you’re going to tell me everything.”
Realizing he still had to fly all the way back to the castle, and then sneak in without being seen by any guards, and finally get to his room, Blueblood groaned under his breath. “But first off, I need a strong, strong drink.”
Several blocks away, and at a much higher altitude, Bright Defender slipped through a window in one of the castle towers. She touched the bruise on her check, wincing slightly. She would have to do something about it; she couldn’t be seen this way.
But overall, the night had been a wild time. She couldn’t remember any time when she’d felt such exhilaration. The changeling attack had been about survival. The fight in the liquor store had been about justice: doing the right thing and protecting the defenseless. Now that beat out duking with changelings any day of the week.
Sighing, she stepped away from the window and into the darkened room. A ripple of green flame washed over her body, her yellow coat giving way to a mild lavender.
“I do hope that stallion is alright,” she reflected, remembering his wounds as she brushed a hoof through her dark purple mane. “Even though he did kind of act like a pompous ass.”