//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Threshing // Story: The Blue Knight // by The_Darker_Fonts //------------------------------// Laughing filled the air of the Canterlot streets as the children of the wealthy who were less assertive of their foals allowed them to play.  These children were the kinds that Blueblood wasn’t or at least, Prince Blueblood.  These children had been born with the silver spoon hovering a few inches from their mouth, with their parents demanding the slightest of effort to earn the labors of their life.  They were the children that were taught the stove was hot by touching it, and learned where foals came from by hearing it from the ponies on the streets.  The gruff colts and fillies that were spoiled secondly, learned firstly.   And Prince Blueblood hated them.  They didn’t know anything, only what dirt on their coats felt like.  A noblepony shouldn’t waste their childhood floundering in the dirt with the colts and fillies of the streets.  It was terrible to have the influence of the thieves and liars of the city influencing the wealthy prospects of the upper class.  They would end up destroying all sense of class that Canterlot was built on, and that would only lead to the fall of all Equestria.  If this were to continue, the savage dragons and scrappy griffons may soon come to challenge the greater race.   Blueblood almost laughed at the irony in the thought, and had to layer on an extra layer of filth to his scowl to cover up the hilariousness.  This was the thought that was shared with much of the older generation, and some of the radical younger generation as well.  The presumption that if the youth of today were touched by the influence of the street, their own corrupted ways would be exposed by “thieves” and “inferiors”.  It was funny that some noble would cause a fuss about having twenty or thirty bits stolen from them once in their life, an amount not even a fraction of their total wealth, when they themselves stole two hundred bits from hardworking a family monthly.  It was also why they hated the Blue Knight. As of yet, four nobles had been stripped of their nobility because of their incredible fraud and bamboozlement of taxation.  There had been at least a dozen others who’d had properties or fortunes seized for their involvement in scandals involving regional taxing or leasing fraud.  A majority of the nobles were genuinely good ponies, or just rich enough that they were happy where they were.  Some were even naive enough to have never thought of conceiving a fraud plan in case their current earnings fell through.  However, it was the twenty or thirty that represented the corrupted faction that gave all nobles a bad name.   Politics and economics, Blueblood thought with a dismayed glance at a clock hovering over a cafe.  Those two went hoof in hoof so well, and caused him the greatest trouble yet.  It was fortunate that thanks to the Knight’s actions, there was less activity, as many were scared out of their deceptive fraud.  Or they were only burying their crimes deeper, making them harder to sniff out.  He’d just have to check for overturned dirt, he recognized, sighing.   He continued to hurry down the avenue, heedless of merchants calling out to him.  Many ponies knew who Prince Blueblood was, but not very many were able to identify him by his look. There were very few publications with his image on it, and save for the tabloids popular among the rich and upper middle class, there were few express articles focused on him.  What the common ponies knew about him was that he was a pompous stallio that was practically a foal in action.  He had no sense of care for anypony besides himself, and if something didn’t involve him, he would either ignore it or force himself into it, depending on the occasion.  That was the stallion they were allowed to see and the stallion Blueblood hatefully portrayed. The occasion for his venture today was in fact a sort of scouting of the area around the house where Ms. Lily lived, checking for any back alleys and overhead passes he might use.  Unbeknownst to many of the earth ponies and unicorns, there were walkways built onto their roofs to guide pegasi from the air, and they could actually be walked on without disturbing the residents within.  This created a sort of exclusive road for more privacy for the weaker and smaller ponies, and also an excellent way to control street-to-air traffic.  Blueblood had happened upon the highway not too long ago, and had only just figured out how to use it and the exact pathways and extensions to it, along with the usual occurrence of others on the road.  Despite its purpose, many pegasi viewed it as segregational, and seeing as there was already a low amount of pegasi residents, many stuck to the usual streets.   Right now, however, he wouldn’t be able to quite venture to the top of the roofs without being spotted in the broad daylight.  He merely had to wait a few hours for the sun to set, and then he would be able to continue his mission.  For the moment, he simply went about like any busy noble stallion, walking hurriedly, muttering venomous things under his breath as he bumped into other street goers.  Everypony he passed regarded him with a reserved disgust, recognizing him as at least nobility, but not quite who exactly.  All well and good, unless somepony got smart with him and decided to confront him directly.  Then there may be a problem. If the escapees from the prison heard about a confrontation between Blueblood and another pony on their street, and then coincidentally saw the Blue Knight that evening, they would start connecting the dots.  So, he decided to turn the corner once he reached the end of the road, a frustrated huff accentuating his movement.  If anypony noticed, they would think nothing of it, but he knew that unless he fully delved into the stress he was trying to convey, some streetwise kid would ask what the gig was.  Slipping in between the two buildings that made the triangle tip of the block, he began traversing past their backyards, acting as if he didn’t care who saw or who followed.  Quite frankly, it didn’t matter anyways, but if somepony did get suspicious of a stallion in such a position as he going into an alley, they would be less likely to act on their suspicions if he were acting obligatory to the task. He slowed his rushed pace down as he began counting down the houses until he reached Ms. Lily’s, having already noted which was hers from the night before.  It was incredibly concerning that the delinquents had already escaped and found residence, especially so since it was so close to the home of one of their enemies.  He’d already instructed Lily to rent out an apartment under the management of one of his friends in the nobility, paying for her time there.  He planned to eventually pull her into the castle somehow, but knew that doing so too soon would give away his identity as the Blue Knight, or at least tip her off of his involvement within the castle.   With a slow pace, he approached the backside of the house, looking it up and down appreciatively.  It was a modest home by Canterlot standards, though still at least twice as big as the average Bittsburg home.  He glanced around for anypony else in the alleyway, or even anypony out on the streets happening to glance down, but there was nopony.  Keeping his watch keenly on the side that he had come from, he lit his horn and levitated himself upwards and next to the window of a room Ms. Lily had designated as solely her own, careful to keep the glow low.  He kept himself there as he studied the inside of it, taking a mental picture of the relatively messy interior.  After he’d collected a satisfactory array of data from it, and had finished memorizing the relative shape of the interior, and the contents on the floor and desk, he put himself down, checking the sides of the alley once again as he did so. With nopony there to witness his snooping, he knew he was in the clear, and teleported himself away to a memorized location within his room.  Glancing at his clock, he figured he had about five hours before the sun began to set, giving him plenty of time to catch some sleep and check in on the situation with his Prince Blueblood “duties”.  With a deep sigh of contentment, he flopped onto his bed, taking only a brief moment to fall asleep. ***************************************************************************************************   The stallion was beyond angry, but he contained it behind a nice, four inch long cigarette and cloud of smoke.  The cherry scent only added to the false sense of relaxation he had in the moment, alongside the nicotine carefully packed into the cigar.  He puffed out a slow ring of smoke, admiring the view of the Canterlot street through the open window, bordered by the gray of the smoke.  With a long whistle, he watched a group of attractive young mares pass by, all among the middle class, though one was quite obviously richer.  They all eyed something across the street, muttering among themselves after their observations.  Curious, he followed their gaze, finding himself staring at Prince Blueblood, who was walking quickly down the street, scowling to himself and anypony that got in his way. Now if that wasn’t the stallion to gossip about, he thought to himself amusedly, remembering the articles from the other day.  He wondered what content they would contain had he not intervened with the stallion’s idiocy.  Perhaps the story of how a mare had justly beaten the Prince of whoredoms, or maybe the story of how the adopted nephew of the Princesses had ruthlessly brutalized a mare in the streets.  Either would have been disastrous for both the Princesses and the Prince, and while he wanted to ruin the Princesses, they needed to be felled by their own actions, and not by a relative’s.   Slowly, an idea formed in his head as the Prince turned the corner and left the street behind him.  The bastard was obviously very power hungry, and if not a little stupid and foolish, knew the hierarchy of the city well, better than him.  If there was any semblance of ambition in him, it would likely be easy to manipulate, as most ponies became carried away in the dream of the moment.  If he could somehow reach out to Prince Blueblood and get him to join their cause, even without being a bloody, they would gain a valuable asset within the castle, and an easy way into the palace, both physically and politically. Smiling at the idea, he leaned back in his seat, staring up into the sky and releasing a puff of smoke.  He was a genius sometimes, but really all that meant was understanding the ponies around him enough to use them.  Even those problematic brothers were quite the useful pair of hooves when it came to rough encounters like in the police station.  There was not a better pair when it came to violent confrontations that the older stallion wouldn’t be able to physically handle at his age, and their usefulness was more than just brute strength.  The older brother was smart, not incredibly intelligent, but smart enough to read a situation and know what to do on his own.  The younger one was just straight up muscles.   The cigar was almost out, so he snubbed it in an ashtray right beside his chair, stashing it away to finish it later.  Standing up with a huff, he turned away from the window and began slowly leaving his room.  As soon as he opened the door and entered the hallway, the faint smell of alcohol wafted up from the first floor.  Trudging down the stairs, he called, “You boys drinking?” “Not much, sir,” the older goon answered back, his voice resignation from the kitchen.  “Only on our first bottle of the whiskey Brick bought, and he only bought three.” “Not planning to get drunk, then,” the stallion asked as he entered the kitchen.  The brothers were sitting at a table, the younger one mid swig from his cup as the elder brother delt out cards.   “Yep,” the younger one responded with a light tilt in his voice, his cheeks flushed.  “Still at large, ain’t we?  Wouldn’t be too smart to make ourselves drunk while them constables are out lookin’ fer us.  We was just gettin’ to another round of jacks.” “Want to join,” the other brother casually asked, setting down the shuffled deck and beginning to split it three ways.  “We’re bettin’ shots on it.” “Fine, but don’t try to take any extra outta the pocket cash,” the stallion warned, sitting down next to Brick.  “I might take it personally this time.” *************************************************************************************************** Blueblood awoke to the dying light of the setting sun in his eyes, muttering a string of unrecognizable words that were meant to be foul, but just came out as disheartened grumbles.  He seemed to have once again forgotten to close the curtains to his balcony window, meaning that the sun had just the perfect angle to blind him.  Getting up and out of his bed, he strolled grumpily over to the window and threw the curtains closed, even though he knew that not even five minutes later he would be exiting them.  He needed something to slam besides his own hooves, and thick cloth would deal well with the severe movement anyways. It wasn’t the fact that he was tired that made him grumpy.  In fact, he was more energetic than he had been when he’d woken this morning, but it was the manner of him waking up that  caused the dark mood.  Kind of funny how the sun, the brightest thing in existence, had caused so much darkness in this world and his life.  He harrumphed at the little thought, giving no lead to anything that would take away his sourness.  With a casual flick of his tail, he lit a lamp in the closet, pulling out the drawer in which the compartment to his suit stayed.  Pulling it out, watching it billow slightly from the motion, Blueblood stepped out of his suit, the one he’d gone to bed in, and wrapped the tight linen around him, placing the hat atop his head as well.   Stepping warilly from his closet, he forced the curtains away, revealing the glass balcony door.  Without care, he pushed those open with his magic as well, walking through the door and into the setting sun.  He squinted against its harsh light, stepping to the side of the balcony and lifting himself up onto the roof of the castle.  He stepped carefully over the shingles on the roof, taking care to hide himself from outside view using the different angles of the roof.   He stepped across the castle’s roof carefully, knowing how easily the tiles could shatter thanks to previous recklessness.  With a slow smile, he reached the edge of the roof, facing the sheer drop thousands of spans down with an anticipating chuckle.  There was a slight updraft from the wind flowing up the side of the mountain and along the castle’s walls, making it feel like he would float should he jump.  For a moment, he scoured the ground, trying to see if there were any figures at the bottom awaiting his fall, but he quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to tell if a windigo were waiting for him from this high up.  With a careless shrug a his blood began pumping harder, he jumped. Laughing, he turned his back to the ground, staring up into the sky as he fell.  He’d done this a few times before, either because he was feeling especially down or because he was especially happy, but he wasn’t quite sure what today.  There was just the tiniest bit of edge to him today as he knew that if he did indeed follow through with his plan to meet the criminals and escapees, it would come to blows worse than those usually thrown.  But even then, it didn’t feel like compensation enough for the trembling he felt in his heart, merely a weak excuse. Perhaps it was because of Ms. Lily, and the usual protectiveness he had whenever he knew the name of one of the ponies he’d protected.  The danger that she was in was drastically different from any that the other ponies he’d defended had against them, seeing the exact potential for them to bump shoulders again.  Even with plans to have her moved to the palace somehow, he knew it was only a matter of time before either the poor filly got too curious for her own good or the villains happened upon her again.  The city was large in population, but give it enough time, and it certainly became a lot smaller.   Or, perhaps, he was merely doing this to entertain himself, to push his luck once more and see what may happen if he were to test fate when fate needed no temptation.  Which was why, he quickly remembered, the sky looked too far away, the waterfall foam too real to be merely the effect of passing the rushing water so quickly. Almost panicking, he caught himself abruptly, muscle memory being the only thing that made him stick his artificial wings out and give him a slight flying effect. He slammed into the water nonetheless, the sudden cold of it causing him to be shocked momentarily and release all of his air.  His back bounced lightly off the silt at the bottom, not at all harming him, but causing some slight alarm.   With a large stroke, he pushed himself upward and out of the water, taking in a large gulp of water, though surprisingly, he was laughing heartily in spite of it all.  Of course the day when he was worried he might be injured, possibly fatally, by the most dangerous ponies he’d met besides himself would be the day he nearly killed himself in the stupidest of fashions.  The laugh was also somewhat relieved that he hadn’t actually hurt himself, at least no more than the stinging of his back from the impact on the water.   When the rushing in his ears had faded, he was already on the shore, shaking off some of the water.  The sound of light clapping caught his attention as he turned to find Lily sitting not too far away with an amused smile on her face, her front hooves clicking together mockingly.   “Cutting it a bit close, are we,” she asked teasingly. “Not at all,” the Knight proclaimed.  “I landed in the river, exactly as intended.  My suit needed a good washing, seeing as how you can’t really walk down to the dry cleaner’s with the signature suit of Canterlot’s greatest hero!” .”Well, humility is definitely one of your strong suits,” Lily continued with her taunting. “You’re right, I needn’t be so modest,” the Knight agreed.  “I’m the greatest hero in all of Equestria, and trying to hide it will only hinder my progress to saving ponykind.” “I thought the Elements were the greatest heroes in Equestria,” she rebutted. “Ah, but notice how you said ‘heroes’,” he pointed out.  “I am but one noble stallion, and thus the greatest hero in Equestria.  Besides, they themselves have said that they are nothing without each other,” he pointed out defensively.  “I haven’t needed anypony to help me.” “Fair enough,” she gave.  Standing up and walking slowly to him.   “So, come to see the nightly show, then,” he questioned, taking off his hat and whipping it onto the grass to rid it of most of the water.  When he was away from Lily, he would be able to heat dry it. “Well, you seem to come here every night, so I figure it’s the best way to make sure that I see you and am able to talk to you,” she admitted, looking almost embarrassed. Blueblood dropped his light tone for a sterner one, saying, “Yes, that’s true.  But I do believe I told you to stay away from anything that involved those stallions that endanger you and others.” “Well, that can’t include you, right,” she asked hopefully. “Considering that I am the one primarily confronting them, anypony associated with me may become a target.  As such, by approaching me like this, you directly involve yourself with things you should no longer be involved in, seeing as you’re safe now.”  Not quite the truth, but close enough to be pushed as true.   The young mare in front of him pouted, objecting his instruction as she told him, “They already tried to hurt me once, and they weren’t able to, so so far-” “So far, they haven’t seen you,” he interrupted harshly.  “I’m not exactly sure what types of ponies these stallions are, but there’s a good chance that once they see you, they’ll make sure they get their revenge for putting them in prison.  You’re too brash for your own good,” he said mercilessly, remembering just the day before when she’d attempted the same brave face.  “It seems you don’t understand the real dangers you’re putting yourself in, so for your own good, I’m going to have to ask that you don’t return to this place, or anywhere the stallions appear.  Anywhere I or they are is dangerous, so please, don’t go looking for trouble.  This is your last nice warning.” The mare seemed shamed by his words, her face red at the verbal threshing she’d received as she glared at the ground.  She suddenly turned, tossing a bunch of flowers to his hooves, storming off as she angrily called, “Here’s your stupid flowers.  Nice knowing you.” “I’m sorry it came to this,” he told her softly, his heart suddenly aching as he looked away from the retreating mare and to the flowers she’d tossed at him.  They were a bundle of healer’s marks, a rather fresh assortment of the flowers.  He turned and gave Ms. Lily one last glance as she did the same, their eyes locking through the mask.  She sharply turned away and began stomping up the stairs and back towards the city.   With a sigh, he turned back to the flowers, lifting his mask slightly so he could retrieve one from off the ground.  Having grabbed the weak thing by the stem, he lifted off of the ground soaring into the air.   He hadn’t even passed the second landing of the stairs when a familiar scream caught his ears.