True Blue Hero

by totallynotabrony

Chapter 10

Clearly, something terrible was in the process of happening. While Blueblood thought of superheroes as a good thing, the associated supervillians put a whole new twist on the situation.

The super winged minotaur who called himself Steel Blast had not made things less complicated, to say the least.

Blueblood lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to muddle his way through the problem, but making zero progress. He’d ask Trudy for help, but-

I have no idea what to do, she said.

“And that’s with your brain plus mine,” Blueblood muttered.

Hey, it’s almost like having two whole ones!

Blueblood didn’t even take the time to rebut her. The problem of what to do about the overpowered flying minotaur was too serious.

In all seriousness, though, I’m not sure we even want to try handling this on our own. We should find Bright Defender.

“Hmm, pawning the job off on somepony else. That could work.”

Or we could team up with her.

Thoughts of Bright in her superhero outfit went through Blueblood’s mind. “I like that idea.”

Would you like it as much if she actually turns out to be a dude?

Blueblood sat up in bed. “Please stop toying with my emotions like that!”

Hey, I go with what works. Now, where can we find Bright?

Tracking down a superhero in the middle of the day was not going to be easy. There wasn’t any way Blueblood could think of to make that happen. He might find Bright at a crime scene, but he couldn’t risk going out in the daytime with his costume.

Or could he?

It’s an interesting idea, Trudy mused. Crime happens during the day, too. But what if somepony decides to chase you? You aren’t a good enough flier to get away in broad daylight.

Blueblood snorted. “Thanks.”

Fine, we aren’t good enough. Happy?

“I guess so.” Blueblood sighed. “I guess if we had secure hideouts set up wecould have safe places to go if we needed to. Maybe we should set something like that up.”

Another interesting idea.

“Do you have anything else to say? Maybe something that actually helps?” Blueblood grumbled.

Well fine, you want ideas? You keep angsting over finding Bright Defender, but what if she’s closer than you think?

“What do you mean?”

We first met her near the castle, right? What if she lives here, too?

Blueblood considered it. If Bright Defender was really Twilight Sparkle, the task of locating her would be considerably easier. In fact, all he had to do was walk down to the castle library. She would most likely be there.

“But what if it isn’t her?” he asked.

Then she won’t be expecting you to ask about superheroes. Just ask a random question that only Bright Defender would know. If she doesn’t get it, no harm done.

“But then what?”

You ask the voice in your head an awful lot of questions. I only know as much as you do.

Blueblood grumbled a little more and decided to get out of bed. He stumbled slightly as his hooves touched the floor, groaning in pain. Trudy hadn’t managed to completely fix the injuries he’d sustained while fighting Steel Blast.

After brushing his teeth, having a quick shower, and grooming his mane, Blueblood put on a jacket and left his bedroom. He walked down to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat, but it wasn’t quite lunchtime yet. Disappointed and hungry, he continued to the library.

He would have liked to have confronted Twilight on a full stomach, but as he walked into the library, she was nowhere to be found. Blueblood knew that even before getting promoted to princess Twilight had spent practically all her time among the dusty shelves and dustier tomes. The shelves and stacks were quiet and nopony was around.

As he stood there frowning and wondering where Twilight had gone, his stomach growled. Considering that he’d missed breakfast, Blueblood decided that lunch took priority over finding Twilight.

Blueblood wondered if he should go to Manedackery. Actually, that wasn’t a question at all. He left the library, left the castle, and headed down the street to his favorite pub.

As he walked, Blueblood gave a little more thought to his idea of setting up hideouts. It might be a pretty good idea, possibly one of the better ideas he’d ever had.

Congratulating himself, Blueblood opened the door to the pub and stepped inside, only for Trudy to bring him up short. There’s Twilight!

Focusing his eyes, Blueblood saw that, sure enough, the purple princess sat at a table near the back. She wasn’t wearing her royal jewelry, as if she were dressing down. Across the table from her was Shining Armor.

While Blueblood watched, Twilight got up and headed for the little fillies’ room. As she departed, Shining glanced around restlessly, shifting the windbreaker he wore. His eyes fell on Blueblood. The two of them stared at each other.

Don’t be awkward. Go say hello, at least.

She had a point. If Blueblood wanted to talk to Twilight, he might unfortunately have to go through her brother.

Although...Blueblood grimaced internally, what if Bright Defender, the competent female superhero who was admittedly kind of interesting and attractive, was actually a dude? Specifcally, Shining Armor?

Pushing those thoughts out of his head as he arrived at the table, Blueblood tried for a neutral expression. “Shining. I didn’t know you came to Manedackery.”

“I heard about it from a friend in the Guard.” Shining shrugged.

“It’s very good. I know the proprietor.”

Shining looked more interested now. “Why don’t you have a seat? What do you suggest I order?”

Blueblood pulled out a chair and sat. “There are a few choices, if old O’Buck will give them to you. His noontime sandwiches are excellent and the beer is the best you can get this close to the castle.”

Shining nodded. “Sounds good.”

There was a lull in the conversation. Trudy prodded, Keep him talking. Ask something.

Blueblood thought, Like what?

I don’t know. Maybe a personal question?

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Blueblood said.

“Like what?” Shining asked.

Thinking quickly, Blueblood blurted, “What’s your life like in the Crystal Empire? Do you get out a lot, like for lunch with your sister?”

“Well, I’m trying to hang out with Twilight as much as I can while I’m here in Canterlot,” Shining allowed. “Cadance and I have to go back soon. The Guard back in the Crystal Empire are getting along okay without me, but training recruits is something I need to get back to.”

Shining paused, as if gauging Blueblood’s reaction. Blueblood had no choice but to listen as he waited for Twilight to return. He smiled to make a show of paying attention to Shining. “Oh really?”

Encouraged, Shining kept talking. “Getting all the different races of recruits trained up equally is the hardest part. Earth ponies need to be challenged more during physical training. Unicorns have to learn that not everything can be solved with magic. Pegasi need to be grounded once in a while to truly understand how the military works.”

“Hmm,” Blueblood said, again commenting just to keep the conversation moving.

“But I learn a lot from the training too,” said Shining. “I think I’ve grown to know more about earth ponies and pegasi than most any other unicorn. There’s just something about robust inner strength or feeling the wind in your feathers.”

“I know what you mean,” commented Blueblood.

Realizing what he had said, and also realizing what Shining had said, his head came up to stare at the other stallion. Unfortunately, Blueblood discovered that the realization worked both ways. Shining was suddenly studying Blueblood much more closely and suspiciously than before.

“I’m back,” announced Twilight, arriving in the middle of everypony realizing things. She blinked, looking back and forth between Shining and Blueblood. “Did I miss something?”

Comments

[Arzoo]

It's a trick. That definitely wasn't Shining Armor (but odds are good he also got Alicorn powers). Saying "Oh my gosh" and talking about how invigorating the fight was neither sounds like him nor makes sense for someone who surely has been in fights before.

The trick with the hair sounds kind of like Luna... but she's even less likely to have said those things. Rarity is fond of her hair, but she would say "Oh my" and not "Oh my gosh."

So I still think it's Twilight; it sounded like her, for sure. Or I guess it could be Cadance...

[Chaotic Mind]

That awkward moment.

[Lag Incarnate]

Shining, I think you let your mask slip for a second. As an old fan of comics, tabletops, and whatnot, you should know the importance of a solid alias.
4012978
No, it's Auntie Celestia and she just shrunk herself so she could go moonlighting without suspicion.

[the host]

Twilight's not the only one whos back! Where ya been. Will you keep uploading?

[totallynotabrony]

4013380 Oh yes, we've restarted this. Don't forget that there are two of us writing this. Sorry for the delay.

[the host]

4012978 What if Shining's alternate persona is more dominate than Blueblood's? Then his shapeshift form would appear female.

[the host]

4013382 Hey, off a hunch, are you planning on doing any more Vampire Cheerilee work? Because that series was awesome and the universe has alot of room for expanding lore and other such.

[totallynotabrony]

4013420 Not offhand, no. I believe the series is over the hill and I've told all the stories and pulled all the stunts that I could think of. Brony Tom was thinking about doing some more, although I don't know if that plan will come to fruition.

[the host]

4013434 but you didn't do anything with a train yet! Or airships! For Petes sake what about other agents! You could do an entire offshoot with, like, an agent assigned to tackle a vampire on his own!

[totallynotabrony]

4013612 Yeah, there are some good opportunities, like with Tea or Smooth Operator.
...or maybe you could write them?

[Arzoo]

4013396

Sounds iffy. I still bet he's not the same Alicorn.

[the host]

4013622 I would but I'm more of an idea guy. I run through names so fast I can't even keep a single character in rpg's. Let alone maintain a topic long enough to write a story about it.

[Arzoo]

4013396

Actually, guessing is silly. We saw that her real color is Lavender. That kind of narrows things down.

[the host]

4014156 So is Shining covering for Twilight? If he is then he knows and thats just another can of worms.

[the host]

4014156 If we metagame though... Twilight's on the cover sooo...

[the host]

So either Shining knows and is covering for her... or hes a completely different super. Either way awkwardness will ensue.

[Arzoo]

4014188

Normally I'd say she could be a main character without being a superhero... But she's been basically nonexistant if Bright isn't her.

In any case, the mannerisms scream Twilight. "Hey you, stop doing all that crime!" who but Twilight would ever say that?

[David Johnston]

4014299 Agreed. Shining Armour actually has a job where he orders civilians to behave. He knows how to do it.