//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - There Will Be Blueblood // Story: Beetle & Blood // by The Wind King //------------------------------// It was always stunning, this far up. To see the world laid out before his eyes, an endless horizon of possibilities that teased at his mind and tugged at his cutie mark. Even if the view was nothing more than the expanse of the South Luna Ocean, Blueblood could not deny that the raw potential of discovery made his heart soar as if held aloft by the wings of an alicorn, foalish daydreams of exploring vast underwater ruins, or mapping out the Kelpie Kingdom taking root in his imagination as he watched the sun fall below the horizon. Of course the sound of his unwanted passenger asking question after question brought him straight back to reality, a sidelong glance at the patchwork mockery of a pony who had abandoned his surly attitude the moment he had seen the docks full of airships, and was following his treacherous bâtpony around like some sort of mongrel pup. Grumbling under his breath Blueblood slouched further into his chair and turned his attention back to the untainted expanse, trying to lose himself in the possibilities it held again. Setting his mind loose upon an ocean of whimsy, Blueblood’s eyes drifted shut as his breathing slowed and his daydreams turned to slumber. Guards and serving ponies alike cleared the halls as Blueblood stormed through the castle, his normally pristine white coat turned storm grey to match his thunderous mood, the image only topped off by the strands of electricity leaping from his mane and tail to strike anypony who couldn’t flinch away in time. A trail of singed ponies and blackened marble leading from the medical wing. By the time he had reached his office the hallways had emptied ahead of him, leaving only a pair of guards stationed on either side of the doors to his office. Doors that he promptly threw open with enough force that both armoured stallions swore they could see imprints of the handles in the marble walls. Imprints that were barely inches from where they stood. Gulping, both guards glanced at each other before the sound of Blueblood clearing his throat brought them to an almost impossible attention. “Gentlecolts, I apologise for the situation I am about to put you in,” Blueblood’s manic smile contrasted with the vitriol of his tone, and the vicious crackling of his mane, “but I wish to be undisturbed for the rest of the afternoon. I will not be taking any visitors. I will not be taking any meals. I will not be accepting any gifts, or recompense, or wastes of my time. I do not care if my aunt herself comes down and orders you with the full power and authority of the sun, the kingdom, and her cake engorged flank. I do not wish to be disturbed!” Blueblood’s eyes darted from one guard to another, before he started speaking again, the words bubbling oddly as if he was trying to maniacally laugh and speak at the same time. “And I am sure I could find some exceptionally unpleasant duty for a pair of guards who could not follow such a simple order, am I understood, gentlecolts?” Neither guard could answer before Blueblood stormed past them, the doors to his office slamming shut behind him,rattling loose the dust that the maids had missed. Both stallions glanced at each other at the sounds of Blueblood stomping through his office before fixing their gaze on some indeterminate point in the distance. “Do you think we should’ve told him we saw his butler slipping past him as he was talking?” One guard spoke, seemingly to the wall, before a flash of light and the rumble of thunder escaped from the gap underneath the door. “I think he knows” Silver Service had served a wide variety of nobles before coming into Prince Blueblood’s household; some had been abusive and cruel, some had been vain and petty, a small spattering had been well-intentioned but thoughtless, and one had even been his wife back when he was serving in the Royal Bombardiers. And with the exception of that last pony he could say he cared not a whit what they thought of him. All of them had treated him as more of a possession or a pet, a dog to do tricks when called, and to be put in a closet when unasked for. It was why he was glad to serve the Royal Family now. He had read horror stories of what those vain, cruel petty nobles had been capable of in centuries passed. Things that some of them still tried to do if they felt they could get away with them. Blueblood had never tried to legally change Silver’s name just to show he could, Luna had never attempted to surreptitiously destroy the staff housing without replacement just to build a personal theatre, Celestia had never discharged Silver from the guard and broken apart his marriage just because the higher ranks couldn’t be seen fraternising with the troops. The prince had always treated Silver like he was another pony; not a toy, not a pet, not something disposable. Although sometimes Silver had to remind himself of this fact. Lightning crackled throughout the office, several bolts lancing past Silver’s head by a hair’s breadth to strike the wall behind him with the fury of the Storm King himself as Prince Blueblood vented his vexation with barely articulate cries of rage. Silver tracked Blueblood as the prince stomped back and forth behind his desk. It was a shame, Silver thought to himself,  It had been almost half a year since Blueblood’s last episode, and that had come from the public backlash of the Grand Galloping Gala. Eventually Blueblood started to calm down, the roiling grey bleeding away from his coat leaving it pure white and his mane settling back against his neck and withers as the last feeble bolts of lightning arced from strand to strand with sputtering pops. “Sir...” “I know!”  Blueblood turned to look at Silver, his barrel heaving with each breath. “I know, Auntie isn’t going to replace me, especially not with somepony who literally just fell from the sky, but...” Tears started to build in the corner of the prince’s eyes as he slumped back onto his haunches, his voice quavering with each heaving breath. “Would it kill her to just give me something? Twilight gets her ascension for fixing an old spell, Cadance got hers for helping other ponies make homage to Sleipnir. I slave away behind this mountain of dead trees for months, for years and I get nothing; no pair of wings, no second horn, not even so much as a ‘Thank you’. I just continue to be the royal scapegoat without any sort of respite from everypony else’s bad decisions.” Ugly tears rolled down Blueblood’s face as he slumped down further and further until he had almost rolled himself into a ball on the floor, nestled into the scattered scrolls. Carefully Silver edged around the desk, his hooves stirring the carpet of parchment  with each step, until he was stood next to the weeping prince. “Sir... Monos.” Silver spoke as softly as he could, as Blueblood peeked up at him with one puffy, reddened eye.”I do not think I can speak entirely for the Princess, but I know it would break her heart to know that you felt this way...” “G-Good to know I can disappoint her in an en-entirely new way then.” Silver Service continued speaking over Blueblood’s sullen muttering. “...It would break her heart to know that she had caused you to feel this way.” One of Silver’s hooves settled haltingly on Blueblood’s withers. “She’s only ever wanted you to be happy, Sir.” Tears continued to rain heavily from Blueblood’s eyes; the large droplets streaming down his cheeks before falling like watery boulders to crash against his hooves, while his withers heaved and any words he wanted to say were caught in his throat. “Sir, if I may make a suggestion.” Silver’s hoof fell from Blueblood’s shoulder as he sat down on the floor. “You need to get away from here for some time. Take a vacation to one of the old estates. Leave your work behind for a while.” Tears welled up in Blueblood’s eyes at the suggestion. “B-But what if Aunty needs me? W-What if…” Silver’s chest tightened as something cold and horrible clawed its way up from his stomach while he listened to Blueblood’s panicked babbling. “Sir, you need to leave your work behind for a time, if only to keep you from the hospital.” Silver spoke with a strict finality, doing all he could to keep his voice level against his rising gorge. “And if I can guess at how the Princess thinks, she is already planning on saddling you with the responsibility of teaching your new brother.” Silver didn’t stop speaking, even as he noted the sneer that flitted across Blueblood’s face at the mention of this ‘new’ pony. “You can’t do that if you’re stuck behind this desk from dawn to dusk.” “Somepony else can do it.” Blueblood’s voice came out with a level of venom that Silver hadn’t heard before, brief crackling sparks of electricity jumping between strands of his mane, and the earth pony found his chest tightening again as he forced himself to speak. “Who else can but you, Sir? The Princesses? Celestia is too busy teaching your cousin, Cadance is still trying to modernise the Crystal Empire, and you heard Luna during the meeting,” Silver loomed over Blueblood as he spoke his next words. “Or are you suggesting that he is to be thrown out to the public as he is? The nobles would tear him apart within a week. Which house do you think would claim his hoof just to get at your pockets? Just to get Celestia’s ear? To elevate their own status? Which parasite do you want to be chained to, Sir?” Silver stared down at Blueblood, as the prince shrank back under the onslaught of hissed words, and the looming earth pony’s glare, before he returned fire with his own vitriol. “I don’t have the time to waste on that abomination.” “Helping a pony who shares your blood is not a waste, Sir.” That terrible, chill, tightening in his barrel had returned, and it was all Silver could do to not spit the words at Blueblood, before continuing. “And I believe you’ll find yourself with an abundance of free time come this evening seeing as Miss Inkwell hoofed me a signed letter from you aunt, commanding you to take at least one month of vacation, starting tomorrow, or else.” “She cannot do that!” Blueblood surged to his hooves, a cloud of parchment rising with him as he attempted to loom over his bâtpony, his horn flickering with barely constrained magic while the white of his coat darkened to a thunderous grey. “I believe you will find she…” Silver started to speak before a flash of heat and light scoured his eyes and a thunderous detonation forced his ears flat against his skull. Flinching he barely had time to whimper before... : : We do think we have seen enough. : : Silver stepped backwards as the chaos in the office froze around him, parchments and papers suspended in the air, Blueblood held halfway through the act of unleashing the lightning held in his horn. : : Is this a memory or a fear, little pony? : : “Who’s there?” Silver asked the apparently not so empty air, before a great ruffling sigh blew through the petrified room. : : Do you not recognise your princess, Silver Service? : : The front wall of the office quivered for a second, before collapsing in on itself revealing Princess Luna standing in the middle a trail of starlit void that cut through the motionless castle, the haze of dreamstuff spreading from her hooves as she started to carefully pick her way through the frozen office. “Princess Luna.” The earth pony paused for a second to stare at her sudden appearance of the lunar alicorn. “I take it I am dreaming then?” “Indeed, Silver Service, although remembering may be more apt to describe the first portion of thine slumber.” Princess Luna stopped by the frozen statue of Blueblood, appearing to examine it for a moment before she turned to the rest of the tableau. The motion causing a wisp of firmament from her mane to brush against the false prince, which in turn caused the furious effigy to melt away, banished back into the dreamstuff from which it came. “And such a curious dream it is too. Completely identical to the little prince’s own memories, up to a certain point at least; the role of aggressor was mirrored there.” One mythril clad hoof poked a form that had been hovering over Silver’s head as he gaped at her words, what little bit of his professional dignity was left fled at this proclamation. “I would never, I couldn’t, it wouldn’t be.” Silver stumbled over each set of words as the meaning of Princess Luna’s words crashed against his mind’s eye. “‘It wouldn’t be right’? Nay it would not be truly right.” Luna turned to face the stuttering pony as he fell to his haunches. “Although ‘would it be correct?’ Is another matter entirely.” Luna sighed before sitting on the ground. Her cyan eyes met Silver’s, boring into him as she spoke. “Our nephew fears to the point of revulsion of being ousted from what he thinks is the one thing that can bring him the recognizance of my sister, and as such give him the worth he so desperately wishes for, and this fear is killing the pony he could be. To say nothing of mine own sister who has been forced to keep him caged and safe beneath her wing too long, such that it has become habit for her; already she frets and worries and it has not yet been a day since your leaving. “The two needed to be separated lest my sister smother Our nephew and break her own heart in doing so, and in pushing the two of them apart so, We run the risk of breaking the last of a bloodline that has stood for as long as Equestria itself.” Luna sighed before her head slumped downwards leaving her eyes hidden behind her drooping flow of her mane and ears pinned back against her skull. “It may seem cruel to put this burden on you alone, but even I cannot be in two places at once in the waking world, and my sister needs me.” Luna raised her head again, the fur under eyes matted and damp. “Please, find Our nephew something to hold dear to his heart, rather than letting him wither away endlessly waiting for a pat on the head from Our sister.” “How could I not, Princess?” Silver didn’t even need to think before he responded, his back and neck straightening out as he sat to attention. “My thanks to you, Silver Service. We- I doubt this will be easy, but my hopes for your success in this are high.” Pushing herself to her hooves, Luna looked down proudly at Silver, before dissolving away into dreamstuff, the quiet echoes of her voice drifting through the starry void that had already begun to twist and shift to something new. : : We shall leave you to pleasant dreams now, and bid you a restful slumber. : : Luna watched as the twin motes of her power drifted between the portals, slowly binding the two dreams together into a unified and peaceful whole. Her lack of practice with the technique necessitating a frustratingly slow pace as the edges of the immaterial threatened to fray and leave entry points for the vile denizens of her dreamscape. : : It wouldn’t be so hard if you hadn’t… : : Luna brushed aside the accusing voice of her Tantabus as she worked, the time for self-recrimination would be later, now she had a more imminent wrong to start making right. Putting together what she had broken was more important than moping about it. The sounds of cutlery and distant chatter echoed through the phantasmal void before, with a final flourish of light and a noiseless pop, the two motes separated from the paired dream, leaving the edges perfectly integrated, and yet not so strongly bound that either pony would be bound to the dreaming realms until the other woke up. : : How many did you leave to waste away in their own personal Tartarus’? Other ponies watching as they withered in eternal slumber. : : Luna didn’t move through her realm, she didn’t have to, the magic of her domain allowed her to be wherever she wished to be, wherever she was needed she was, and she was everywhere else at all in the same instance. At least that was the theory. In practice she found it easier to separate that part of her magic from her greater consciousness and allow the motes of her power to flow through the dreaming realm as fish through a great astral sea. It was easier than waking up each morning as an amorphous miasma of magic and firmament and having to literally pull herself back together. : : Always taking the path of least resistance aren’t you? So scared of stepping a single hoof out of your comfort zone on the slightest chance that you might actually succeed in finding a lower depth of uselessness to sink to. : : Turning to head to her last part of her nightly duties, barring any surprise nightmares or incursions of the dreaming realms less amicable residents, Luna was stopped by another of her motes, this one imbued with enough of her power to form itself into a facsimile of her own form barely six inches tall, although without the aetherial mane or tail. The minute Luna’s tugging at her much larger clone’s mane as she attempted to pull the Lunar Alicorn from her path could mean only one thing. The surrounding firmament flickered as the dreamscape moved around Luna, as if her hoosteps were rotating the heavens like some great ball, stopping only to leave her staring at an ornate door. Her sister’s sun decorated the white marble, its inner radiance turning dim and sickly as creeping veins of sulphurous fear crept through the alabaster stone. A lance of guilt stabbed her heart as she set about purifying the fear from her sister’s dreams with well practiced motions. None of this would have been necessary if she had just… : : Just done what? Demonstrated a little Honesty and told your sister what you were feeling? Show some Loyalty and trusted her to understand? Understood that without the virtues that you espoused Magic is as worthless as Apathy to a Changeling? : : Shaking her head to clear away the treacherous words Luna turned her attention back to the door, her lapse in attention allowing the fear to creep back in. It was the work of a moment for her to clear it away from her sister’s building nightmare, before pushing a little more of her power into the mote. The tiny thing grew in leaps and bounds until it was almost eighteen inches from hoof to horntip and barded fully in silver armour. A hoof stomp and a salute were the only acknowledgement Luna got of the mote understanding its new power before it faded away into a stream of light and slipped through the white marble of her sister’s mind. The briefest image of Celestia galloping through an illusory copy of Canterlot Castle as she called for somepony, anypony to find her, accompanying its journey, before she pushed the dream to the back of her mind. : : Even now you choose to avoid her, turning instead to your “duties” so that you have another flimsy excuse to push her away for another day. Just so you don’t have to confront how much you hurt her. : : No! She still had one last task to do tonight. She could see Celestia any time in the dreamscape or the waking world, but the longer she put this task off the longer her desce… her nephew could be in danger. Another great shudder of the dreamscape around her found Luna back where she had been before, staring at the hideous conglomeration of metal and wood that hovered just by the joined dream of her nephew and his bâtpony. No slab of of iron or chunk of pine matched the other parts in colour or shape. Pieces of her newest ’nephew’s’ cutie mark were scattered across the jumbled edifice. And yet for all its aberrant nature she could feel no malice coming from the door to the patchwork pony’s dream as she brushed against the ramshackle creation with her senses. There was no terror, or rage, or sorrow. Just a strangely muted sense of nostalgia that reminded her of her own remembrance of days long gone by. If there was any better time to get answers to this ‘Blue Beetle’s’ past she would never find it soon. Taking a final breath to steel herself, Luna Nocte Imperatoria, Warden of Dreams, She who Paints the Stars, The Duskblade raised her hoof and pushed the aberrant doors open, stepping into the unknown. CHAPTER END