The filly panted hard as she ran, her hooves clacking on the cobblestone streets of Lower North Canterlot, tears streaking through her fur as she ran. They were following her closely, cackling at her attempts to escape, but little did they know that these stupid bugs were in her territory now. Forcing a smile through the terror and panting, she veered left suddenly, towards the old bar, weaving around scattered debris and other terrified ponies. Daring to hope that the bugs had been distracted by the others, changing the target of their trajectory, she foolishly glanced behind her. Still aiming straight for her, their legs with hoof-sized holes in them outstretched, the changelings sneered at her as they closed in.
Gasping, she jerked sideways once again, this time going into one of the alleys between a house and the local market. If she could just reach the end of this alley, she could easily escape the two changelings. In front of her was a dead end, but to either side of it was an escape that also splintered off into the other streets. Huffing, she turned right as soon as she could, dashing now towards the open end of the alleyway. Suddenly, one of the black bugs dropped down from the sky, landing in her way before she could even reach halfway down the wet stones.
Screeching to a halt, she whipped around to escape from the other direction, only to be met with the sneering face of the other changeling. Her eyes going wide, she whipped around left and right, searching desperately for any escape. It didn’t take a genius to realize that she was cornered, and it only took a few seconds for her to come to the conclusion that there was no way out except a miracle. Gritting her teeth, she curled her tail around her legs, crouching down defensively, hoping to potentially dodge any attack to escape from under their hooves.
Leering her down, the changeling she stared at taunted haughtily, “Your parents’ love for you was quite the delectable feast, I could tell. Too bad I had to skip out on it to catch you, but I guess I can have dessert for dinner. What say you, Krimp?”
“Oohohohohoo,” the one behind her laughed cheerfully. “I say we suck the delicious youthful love that fills her tiny pony body out and leave here for somepony else to try and suck whatever else is left out of her.”
The filly shivered at the changeling’s words, her jaw quivering fear as she felt herself being crippled by the tremendous amount of terror coursing through her. She could feel it, see it already, the changelings reaching for her, their horns glowing as they opened their wide maws to suck the love from her. She wanted to turn away, to let them do as they would and get it over with, but the changelings held the moment for as long as they could, enjoying her terror, she knew it. Sniffling, she remembered her mother and father, both crumpling to the ground in the middle of the street as the love was sucked out of them, removing their strength. No, she would not let them have the last laugh, even if they were going to steal the love from her. Summoning her courage, the filly put on her meanest glare and looked up to her attacker’s, determined to glare them down even as they would suck the love from her.
To her surprise the changeling was no longer looking at her, or even moving towards her at all. Confused, she noticed the rigid way the changeling stood, staring wide-eyed at something above them all. Following the changeling’s gaze, she found herself staring up to right above her, a figure standing on the roof of the store. The stallion was unmistakable, his billowing cape, his midnight suit, almost fancy, but well built for the physical aspects of his livelihood, and of course, the signature blue silk mask topped with a dark azure fedora. Her mouth dropping as she stared, the filly understood full well the changeling’s fixation and general fear. The Blue Knight had dared to show his face.
Fear like she had never known before began pumping through her, the thoughts of changelings and the threat they posed vanishing in an instant. She began to back away from the stallion even as he stood still there, staring down the changelings as they converged where she had stood, glaring up at him defensively. His emotionless mask was almost ironic as he held a struggling changeling in his magical grasp, the insectoid stallion struggling against his restraints desperately. Silently, the Blue Knight jerked the changeling downward and to the side, allowing its head only to snap against the brick building as the magical grip that held the poor bug was released. All three in the alley watched in shock as the bug fell limply to cobbled stone bellow, his body splattering green blood on impact.
“You’ll pay for that,” one of the changelings shrilly cried. “Queen Chrysalis will drain all of the love from you before you have a chance to beg for mercy.”
“You shouldn’t have come here, attacked my city, and threatened this filly,” the Blue Knight replied darkly, completely ignoring the changeling’s warning. Without a sound, the stallion suddenly leapt from his perch, landing only but a few spans away from the two changelings. Yelping, they both jumped backwards, one of them tripping over the body of their comrade.
“Y-y-y-you don’t know what you’re doing b-by messing w-with us,” the one to the filly’ right claimed, shaking in terror.
“You have it backwards, bug,” the stallion replied, suddenly snapping into action, lunging into one, Krimp, and slamming him into the alley wall. The changeling shrieked in terror as it was suddenly engaged but a quick jab from the Blue Knight straight into the changeling’s throat silenced it. Krimp gasped desperately for air as the Knight turned to face its oncoming ally, raising a magical barrier as the changeling attacked him. The bug slammed into the luminescent wall, groaning at the impact, but the stallion took little time in using the stammer to uppercut a hoof into the changeling’s stomach.
The changeling slumped at the impact, stumbling to the side as the Blue Knight relentlessly punched it in the sides and chest. The bug fell to the ground, where he was finished with a stomp of the Knight’s hoof to his head. Both the filly and Krimp gasped in horror as the changeling’s blood spurted from the impact, spraying across the alley ground. Krimp flew into a rage, staggering towards the Blue Knight through his injuries. Disregarding the changeling’s faltering attempts, the Knight simply bucked his hind legs backwards, right into the changeling’s head. His head jerked sideways, snapping loudly with the force of the hit as his body suddenly slumped down, collapsing at the Blue Knight’s hooves.
The filly stood completely still, hardly breathing thanks to the shock and fear coursing through her veins as she stared at the silent, stoic fallen hero. She felt her lip begin to quiver, her legs shaking as the Blue Knight slowly turned to her. The emotionless mask stared at her shaking body for a long moment before he reached a gloved hoof out towards her. She flinched away from the blood-covered hoof, bumping into the brick wall behind her, trapping her in the alley. Slowly she sank to the ground, only able to stare as the stallion stepped closer to her. Without warning, his hoof suddenly jerked forward.
The filly’s eyes snapped shut as she pressed herself against the wall, expecting to meet the same fate as the changelings’. The moment came and passed when her head should have been smashed against the wall, but she held still a moment longer before finally opening her eyes. The Blue Knight’s hoof was outstretched, waiting patiently, silently for her to take it, green blood dripping from it lethargically. Unable to get over her own fear, she simply sat there for what felt like hours, staring wide-eyed at his gloved hoof and the bloodstains on it.
They may have stayed like that for hours, the Blue Knight waiting for her to accept his offer, her rejecting it without a word, too afraid to move. However, a sudden boom echoed across the entire city, drawing both their eyes as a wave of pink magic suddenly burst from the castle. The filly watched with wonder as the magic picked up the attacking changelings and flung them into the air and away from the city. Before she could even tell what was happening, the wave passed over her, warm emotions like she had never felt before filling her body as the magic passed right through her, rustling the bodies of the changelings.
Snapped back to the present by the movement of the dead bodies, the filly used the Blue Knight’s momentary distraction to bolt, ducking past him and shooting out of the alleyway. Panting hard, she disregarded the dozens of other ponies hugging one another in celebration of the changelings’ sudden defeat, the love stolen from them restored and returned. Sprinting past them all, she ran straight to the safest place she could think of, right past her house and straight towards the factory that stood over the neighborhood.
Bursting through the doors, she allowed them to slam shut behind her as she rushed up the nearby metal stairs. She sprinted up them, disregarding the sign saying otherwise, running across the long walkway over the equipment and towards the office. She came to a pause in front of the door in, attempting to control her panting as she thought about what to say when she would enter. For a brief second, she feared the stallion she was looking for wouldn’t even be in his office, however, he had never not been there when she had gone searching. In spite of everything, she had a feeling he would be just behind the door, waiting for her.
With a deep breath to focus herself, she pushed through the door, stepping into the dimly lit office. She glanced around briefly at the small space with bookshelves of paperwork and novels carefully organized for the stallion, and as predicted, he was there. She wasn’t used to seeing him standing, but in spite of the oddity, she rushed over to him as he turned away at the window, leaping up and wrapping her hooves around his neck.
“Sir, you have to help me,” she cried into his neck as she clung to him tightly.
“Don’t worry, darling, the changelings have been defeated by the Elements of Harmony,” the stallion reassured her, patting a hoof against her back. Setting the filly down, he looked into her eyes and asked, “Are you okay? The changelings didn’t hurt you or your parents, did they?”
“The changelings got my parents, but the magic restored them like everypony else, or at least I think,” the filly replied quickly, staring earnestly into his eyes. “But I’m not scared of the changelings, sir. They chased me, but they didn’t get me. Something worse almost did.”
The stallion’s brows furrowed in concern as he leaned down to her, asking, “How do you mean?”
“Sir, the Blue Knight was there, he took care of the changelings and then he- he… well he was there,” the filly exclaimed breathlessly. “I saw with my own eyes and heard him with my own ears, sir. The Blue Knight is back!”
The white unicorn’s eyes went wide as he stood straight up, silently reaching a hoof up to rub his chin. His mouth had dropped in shock as his gaze left the filly and turned back out to the window, staring hard. The filly twisted her head, concerned by the stallion’s actions. Stepping towards him, she softly asked, “Are we in danger again?”
Starting at the filly’s words, the stallion glanced back to her with a soft smile, telling her truthfully, “No, you and your family- and probably everypony in this factory- have nothing to fear from the Blue Knight. He does try to help us ponies from dangerous things like robbers and changelings, but we must remember that, while we can appreciate those actions, they don’t discredit what he did last year. Now, I think you should run along home to your family. They will certainly be concerned if they didn’t see you coming over here since the invasion started.”
“Yessir,” the filly endearingly replied, nodding her head swiftly in agreement. “Thank you so much, sir. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow, Hoodwink.”
The stallion stared out the window as he had been doing ever since the invasion ended, assessing the damage done to his part of the city. It had taken some time and very careful preparation to complete this part of his plan, establishing himself in the northeastern, poorer part of Canterlot. As shocking and enraging this sudden attack from the changelings was, it also provided a unique opportunity to continue to show his dedication to the ponies he now worked with and employed. The setting sun illuminated the burn marks on the houses and the smoke rising from some of the small fires that still remained from the attack, but all of that was already memorized and cataloged in the back of his mind.
Now the only thought he could focus on was what Hoodwink had told him, the words rolling around in his mind like a boulder in a circuit. His brow was set hard, anger unbelievably powerful at the thought that the damned stallion was back, living even when presumed dead. As much as this put a chink in his plans, it wasn’t completely unforeseen. It would just be a nightmare to deal with.
Finally turning away from the window, he started with surprise at the sight of the dead changeling stored beneath his desk, having forgotten he had left it there. Chuckling in relieved amusement, he thanked his lucky stars that Hoodwink hadn’t stumbled upon that mess. The poor changeling didn’t even know what was happening to him when he died, his exoskeleton remaining unharmed even as his heart was crushed within him. It eliminated the mess the bug would have made in the factory and on the stallion and had proven to be an effectively silent way of killing.
He had planned long ago how one might use a spell to kill something from the inside, but he never could have imagined a victim would willingly test him in the matter, let alone a changeling one. Smiling, he teleported the body over to the top of the mountain, far from sight and where the snow would bury it and hide the death from everypony who might be looking for it. With a deep breath in, he pulled one of the books off his shelf magic, flipping to a predetermined page and staring hard at his own writing. Nodding to himself, he snapped it shut and then incinerated the entire thing.
Glancing out over the city one last time, he levitated a cigar to his lips and lit it with his magic, murmuring to the sun, “You shouldn’t have returned here, Knight. There are some worlds where you’re better off dead than alive long enough to see what I’m about to do.”