//------------------------------//
// 18 - Did You Fall All The Way? 
// Story: Blueblooded Bluebell 
// by David Silver 
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Luna pressed past the gyrating and undulating forms of ponies that moved in beat to the music, mostly. Some of them seemed to move to the beat of their own drum, but they all moved, part of the living organism that was the night club. The ponies of modern times had ceased being entirely inactive during her time, but the things they did were curious indeed.

"Far out." Spotted. A stallion with a bright green mohawk nodded appreciatively at Luna. "Welcome to the night life! I bet you know it pretty well." He snorted with humor he found greatly amusing. "Want a drink?"

Most of the drinks Luna could see looked like they would impair her. "I'm on duty, and seeking a specific creature."

"What kind?" He looked around the room. "We get all sorts around here."

"Precisely the answer I hoped for." A little smile emerged. "This one would..." Demons came in a lot of forms. Which would this be? Well, Luna figured, it couldn't be too hideous or Blue would not have tolerated its presence and sent it away. Something uncanny, as demonic beings tended to be, but not too far off... "A pony with a special... something." She clucked her tongue, an idea striking her. "I want to make a video," she lied boldly. "I need a creature that fits."

"Woah, huh. I didn't know you were a movie maker... That's kinda awesome..." He did not have the answer, but moved to find the one that did, by raising a hoof beside his mouth. "Hey, guys!" he hollered over the music. "Luna's looking for someone to be in a wicked cool night movie! Who has that, uh, something special?"

The noise, already quite elevated, somehow managed to get more intense as ponies began to talk over each other. Mares and stallions both pushed ahead to try to be the one selected, but the crowd had selected another.

Fire Paradox was shoved ahead of the others despite her complaints, landing in a heap in front of Luna.

Luna smiled at the strange pony, her bright red fur, her long naked tail with its heart. "You are exactly who I was looking for..."





They were surrounded by stony bits of grain scattered about. Starlight and Blue Belle dug into the seemingly endless pile of the stuff, making more of a mess. "Here!" called Blue from the midst of it all, her magic hovering a single grain with a big grin on her face. "Right here."

Starlight squinted at it. "Missing it. That looks like all the others."

"But it's not." Blue brought it closer to Starlight. "Smell."

Starlight whiffed gently. "Huh... yeah, that... isn't stone."

"Precisely!" Blue threw her hooves wide. "The grain in here is so old, it's, what's the term, fossilizing?" She dove back into the pile, slowly amassing a few more precious grains that weren't yet ossified into rock. When she came up, she saw Starlight was hovering a bunch of her own. "Splendid!" 

She swam forward through the grains to her friend. "We need to, simply, remove all the grains here. This entire silo need be emptied."

Starlight hiked a brow. "I doubt the baker or my dad will enjoy that idea."

"I should imagine not... But." She drew the grains in her magic closer. "We have the answer. These are the ancient grains. We have but to plant them and allow nature, and some good farmers, work their magic on them."

Starlight clopped her forehooves together. "Great! Now... can we get out of here?" She waved an arm, sending a small wave of stony grains flowing. "As much as it's interesting to swim in pre-bread."

"We have no more need to be--" Everything flashed. They were just in front of the silo. "--here?" Starlight's horn stopped glowing and she put two and two together. "Do ask before you do that in the future, dear."

"Sorry, but I was done with that." She shook vigorously, sending flecks of stoney grain flying in all directions. "We have what we came for. So the next step is... to get a farmer?"

"Precisely so," agreed Blue with a bright smile. "You're getting the idea. Get them to work with these seeds without trying to modify them in any way, to, hm, what would the word be... preserve? it. Then, only then, can we taste what 'ancient grain bread' is really like." She nodded in firm conviction before it hit her. "Where do we find those farmers?"

"On farms?" suggested Starlight, sounding confused it was even a question. "Where else?"

"And where are those?"

Starlight inclined her head. "Usually outside of towns, big fields, or orchards of trees?" She rolled a hoof in the air, but she could see Blue wasn't getting it. "Right, you are a city noble pony. You've never been to a little town, and don't know how that works."

Blue began to go red in her cheeks. "I am learning!"

"You are," gently agreed Starlight with a little smile. "Let me show you to some farmers." She turned in place and trotted off. "This way!"

Just before they could go, Blue pointed back at the silo behind them. "Do lock that."

"Oh, right." She rolled her eyes as her horn glowed, the lock clicking loudly. "There we are. Onwards!"

Blue Belle's magic gently pulled at her dress as they seemed to be heading even further from town. Even the dirt seemed... dirtier? She kept it held aloft away from the muck. "Ponies live like this?"

"Of course they do. Shoot, a few of my friends make it their living." Starlight looked over her shoulder and saw Blue Belle struggling to advance. "Look, your dress is lovely, but this is really not the place. You have the magic, put it away until we're done."

"But I won't look the part at all," complained Blue with a bit of a pout.

"Oh, but you will." Starlight smiled easily. "We're visiting farmers. They're not expecting big fluffy dresses. Match the situation."

This line of logic made sense to Blue, her expression relaxing. "Too right! How daft I'm being. Insisting on high class when I've left it is being just as dull as wearing drab clothing to a ball."

"Yeah, exactly." Not the way she would have put it, but the meaning was there. "So tuck that thing away. You do have a spell for that?"

"Not... precisely." Which wasn't a no. Her horn began to glow as she played the song of the spell she knew well, reweaving the fabric of the dress. With a flash, she wore an ornate hat that rested comfortably on her head, her ears poking free of holes perfectly aligned with them. "There we are."

"Huh, transforming it into a hat? Sure, that works." She resumed her advance. "Not exactly farmer wear, but a lot less odd than the big dress, and safe from dirt."

"Sweet mercy for that." Blue advanced with more confidence. "Even if I will require a bath when this is done." Still, easier to clean herself then her delicate dress.

"Howdy." They found a farmer in the field, looking over his crops. "How can ah help? Hey, that you, Starlight? Shoot, been a long moment since last you were out here."

Starlight bowed her head briefly. "Hey! Wow, it has been a long time, come to think of it." She inclined her head back, hoof raised as she thought about it. "How are things?"

"A mite better with a friend." He advanced and they shared a brief hug. "Who's your friend? She has a mighty funny hat. Like it."

Blue's expression darkened until the last part, rebounding to a smile. "Good day. I am Baroness Blue Belle, ruler of the local area." She wobbled a hoof around. "And you are precisely the pony I was hoping to find, I think."

"Yeah." Starlight pointed out to the fields. "We need you to grow some grains."

"Ah already do that." He nodded to the field. "Growing in good. Ah expect a bumper crop."

"Fantastic." Confirmation that she had found the right place clearly brought up Blue's spirits. "We would like to pay you to grow a different kind of grain."

The farmer inclined his head, his straw hat coming off-kilter. "Pardon? Ah make mah whole livin' off this crop, for ma whole family!"

"And I will match that, and you get to keep the profits from selling the result," argued Blue, looking quite confident. "Now, one thing. I need you to not optimize this. Don't, um..." She looked to Starlight.

Starlight picked up on it. "Don't pick the best seeds with the biggest, you know, yields? Yeah that's the word. Just regrow it as it is, keep it the same."

"Huh..." The farmer was looking at them as if they were suggesting something very odd indeed. "Why wouldn't I go fer the best seeds?"

Blue gave her best patient smile. "We need a very specific taste. If you interfere with it at all, you could go off that flavor, even subtly. That is why I will pay you. You will be a... museum keeper of this grain, and paid for the work. Can you do that?"

"There you are!" Firelight was hurrying towards them with a big smile. "I couldn't find either of you anywhere."

"Get in line." Stellar Flare thumped into him from the side. "I have plans I want to get her hoofprint down on."

Soon both would-be civic planners were gathered, looking to Blue for attention. Starlight waved a hoof. "Woah, hold on there. We were already in the middle of something."

"Let's not be rude," interceded Blue. "Actually, Firelight, this involves you."

Firelight perked up. "It does?"

Stellar looked less than thrilled. "If this has to do with the past--"

"--this will help draw ponies to a unique flavor," noted Blue with a coy smile. "You'll want to be in on the ground floor."

Stellar recoiled at that. "Are you lying to me? You wouldn't do that, would you?" She squinted suspiciously, but she went quiet for Blue to continue.

Starlight picked up where Blue was going. "We discovered what was wrong with the ancient grains!"

"There is nothing wrong with them." Firelight stomped a hoof. "They're perfect."

"Perfectly ruined, but salvageable," argued Blue with one raised brow. "Here." She jostled the seeds in her magic. "These are original seeds, waiting to be planted. Ancient grains, waiting to happen."

Starlight bobbed her head. "Most of them went old and moldy so hard they turned to rocks. We need new grains, but... that doesn't mean they can't be new old grains."

"Too right." Blue gently tapped her side against Starlight in uniformity. "And the result will be a new taste of the deep past."

The farmer rubbed at his cheek. "How can ah be sure you'll actually pay?"

Stellar shoved forward. "Because you'll be in business with me, and you know I always do things according to plan." Her eyes shined, seeing potential new futures in those floating seeds. "You get those growing properly and leave the rest to me."

Firelight coughed into a hoof. "The old grains won't do you a thing without a proper pony trained in the old baking techniques, and I know just the pony!"

Blue sat and brought her hooves together, forgetting for the moment that she was sitting in dirt. "How lovely! We will wed a preserved past with a strengthened future. I would like to hire you both." Both of them looked at her with surprise. "What? This was my idea." She pointed at herself. "As the baron of these lands, I would like to hire the best talent available, which you two are. As local-minded ponies with their hooves secured on the ground, I can think of no other better talent for managing this project."

Stellar and Firelight peered at one another from the side before looking to Blue. Firelight cleared his throat softly. "It would be a pleasure to oversee the protection of this piece of history."

Stellar narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You can keep the stock pristine, but it's up to me to package it and present it in a way that will appeal to modern ponies." She raised a hoof to her chin. "Can you liquidate this?"

Starlight cringed, but Blue was already on it. "Ponies want that old bread taste. Make it into buns, into sandwiches, into loaves and cakes! Things they know, that will all taste uniquely of itself. That's the idea."

"Uniquely of itself..." Stellar wobbled a hoof as if tapping something invisible. "How interesting. I'm going to need to draft up some new plans." She marched off to do just that, not even looking back.

Blue let out a little breath, looking between Firelight and the farmer. "Back to you two. He will be doing the actual farming." Blue pointed at the farmer. "Much like your baker friend, I trust you to help manage the people who actually do."

"And that I will do proudly." He puffed up with pride. "I'll get some books on the proper care of these grains." He smiled at the farmer broadly. "We'll make a historic return of the ancient grains! How exciting this'll be."

The farmer shook his head softly. "Huh, well, if she's good fer the bits, ah'll get on it. How much do we need, just a small field?"

Firelight rubbed his chin. "Actually, yes. We'll start small, make sure we get it right. If Stellar finds uses, we can expand, and that lets you keep most of your farming to what you normally grow, right?"

"Right." They met hooves, in solidarity. "Huh, never thought ah'd work with ya, Firelight."

"I admit I didn't see it coming either." Firelight inclined his head. "Not that this is a bad thing."

"One thing," noted Starlight suddenly. "That." She pointed to the silo in the distance. "It needs to be emptied, entirely. Assume everything in there is bad, because most of it is. Also tell your friend to stop baking with stones! How does he even manage that... I swear, earth ponies..."

"Hey," objected the earth pony farmer.

"Sorry! Not an insult... I mean, earth ponies just have the craziest talents sometimes." She rubbed behind her head awkwardly. "Unicorns do too, I admit..."

Blue cleared her throat and stood tall. "That aside, it would appear we have an agreement. I will draft a letter to Auntie to ensure the funds are sent to cover this." She brought her hooves together before standing fully. "How delightful. Today was quite productive."

She made her way back into town with Starlight, smiling with confidence that her life was looking up.





"Tell me everything." Celestia sat across from a maid she had spoken to before, about the same subject even. "Leave out not a bit."

"Am I in trouble, Your Highness?" The maid shook like a leaf in the wind.

Celestia set a hoof on her shoulder. "No, you have done nothing wrong," she gently assured. "You may, in fact, be the secret to a project of mine. Anything you can tell me would be of assistance, I assure. I am not mad at you."

The maid smiled, confidence daring to return in part. "I-if you're sure, ma'am. They were in the reading room, reading... I suppose that's a given, but--"

"--assume nothing is a given," interrupted Celestia. "You will not bore me, tell me every detail."

"She looked like she didn't want to be there," continued the maid. "That odd mare... She had a funny tail, all long and naked... She, was... um... if you ignored her tail, almost pretty?" She dared a little smile. "It's hard to place. Her body was pretty, but she had so much that seemed off... I didn't trust her."

"You have good instincts," encouraged Celestia. "Please, do go on."

"They were reading, about family trees. Um, I think Blue Belle's family line."

Who? Oh. "Did they discover anything?"

"She's a baroness," noted the maid. "Everypony's talking about it. Um, Blue Belle that is, not the strange pony. She... if she's related to anypony, I don't know it, ma'am."

"Baroness...." One of the least landed nobles. Celestia made a note to look up that history. "What did she look like?" She smiled gently. "I would know everything about this strange pony. Describe her."

At least she would know the appearance of the demon.





Luna sat in a booth. Across from her sat a mare with a sneer that held both contempt and yet a measure of fear. "I am not here to banish you," began Luna. "I would know more."

"And why should I answer?"

"Because banishing is on the table." Luna tapped a hoof softly. "And I don't have to aim for your home."

The mare went still at that, tense with worry. The threat was received entirely. "You wouldn't!"

"I'd rather not... Perhaps you could indulge me a little, hm? Blue Belle is a precious niece of mine, and I am told you helped them a great deal... For your own ends, I feel certain."

Oh, how that demoness scowled at Luna. "I gave her exactly what she asked for."

"And what did she ask for?" inquired Luna with a soft smile. "I know it is against your nature, but to assume I am your enemy will not get you closer to your goal."

"What do you know about my goals!" spat Fire Paradox, staring daggers.

"Only what you tell me, which is quite a little. Should I assume the usual of your kind?" Luna inclined her head. "Demons do have very specific defaults when it comes to such things."

Fire set a hoof on the table, her hoof burning into it a little, leaving a cloven print behind. "She wanted to know how to cast a wickedly complex spell, in a sinfully short amount of time. The request reeked of hubris..."

"A hubris you gladly consented to." Fire's renewed glare was confirmation enough. "What did you imagine would happen?"

"Truly?" She smirked as she leaned back, pushing against the table, into the cushion of her seat. "At first, I imagined he, he was a he back then, would self destruct in a satisfyingly grotesque and stupid way. Reach for magic too fast and use symbols he didn't grasp in a way that wasn't meant to be... It would have been quite tragic."

Luna tried to keep her face impassive despite the wave of discomfort, imagining that lamentable fate that almost befell her niece. "But she did not fall into that first trap."

"Nor the second, or the third..." Her brows went up. "What do you call a pony who acts of hubris, but accomplishes what they reached for?"

"What do you call that?"

"Talent." She smiled, a vicious smile full of teeth. "Little Blue Belle had talent, so I... revised my approach."

Luna could not fight the frown that came to her. "In what manner of way did you instruct her?"

"Sincerely." She hiked a brow. "What? See, not a creature expects that." She clucked her tongue. "What do you think I am, a devil? Jerks, they would have followed the word of the law to the end, what they do." She shrugged softly. "We demons are so much more... fun."

Luna leaned over the table a little, looming. "That is my niece you are speaking of."

"She called me, not the other way around," retorted Fire. "I'm Fire, by the way. Fire Paradox."

"That is not your true name."

"Duh." She smirked with vicious joy. "Why would I give that out? You can get my attention with Fire Paradox though, good enough. You... feel like a pony that knows how this works, or you wouldn't even ask that, would you? Wicked little mare. I bet you've called out once or twice..."

Luna glanced away, dismissing thoughts of her foolish youth times. "Irrelevant! The rune of binding was destroyed, you know that."

"Hard to miss," grunted Fire, crossing her arms. "Was it your sister? Little prissy bitch."

"We do not always see eye to eye, but my sister she remains," huffed Luna. "And she cares for the state entire with all the passion that I pursue the happiness of my niece. Speaking of that... She has learned the magic. Is not the condition of your summon complete?"

"Oh please." Fire rolled her eyes. "If that was true, I'd be gone." She turned a hoof flat side up, its cloven nature more clear there in the dim light. "I am not a devil, I remind. I'm bound to her until she breaks the deal herself, the hard way, which happened, or she's satisfied with the knowledge she gained, which didn't happen."

"You were there." Luna pointed at the demon. "When she cast the spell. I remember the smell."

"That's just rude."

Luna smirked faintly. "The truth can hurt. Now... You're stuck here."

"Who said that?" She huffed in almost a pout.

"The fact that you're here... You don't want to be." Luna smiled slowly. "I could get you home."

"Well, why haven't you then? Or have you decided you like being around demons?" She raised her tail into view, the heart at the end wobbling. "You may be fun to play with."

"Pass... Your caller is being accused of 'vile infernal arts'."

"Guilty," sang Fire Paradox. "We both know that."

"Tell the truth, if you are capable of it. She did not call you with evil in her heart."

"I would have come anyway." Luna glowered. "What? No... he, at the time, had a dark heart full of gunk. I figured it'd be an easy corruption, but he kept cleaning up his act the longer I was around... I swear, it's like I was doing it all in reverse... I hated it."

That was not the exoneration she was hoping for. If Blue was guilty, even if she later changed her mind, that complicated things. "For now... you will remain at my side. There, you are assured safety from others that wish to see you... hurt."

Fire began drawing on the table with a hoof. "Sign on that?"

Luna smirked most viciously. "I thought you weren't a devil."

Fire met her look, eyes locked a quiet moment. "Touché... Fine... if you don't want a contract, we can at least do a pact, heart to heart." Her drawing continued, only for Luna's hoof to come down on her, blocking it. "What?"

"You would draw that here, on a club table?" Luna raised a brow at the fire demon. "Have some dignity." She rose and flicked her tail. "This way." She would discover the whole of the truth, and save her niece along the way with any luck.