//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: He Returns 
// Story: The Menace of Canterlot 
// by The_Darker_Fonts 
//------------------------------//

A lone figure flew across the sky, landing smoothly on one of Canterlot Castle’s many balconies.  Silently, he opened the glass doors, knowing well that there was nopony inside to surprise him.  Closing the door softly, he crept across the floor towards the back of the room, heading straight for the closet that had been recently installed to accommodate the owner of the room’s insatiable desire for the finest of clothing.  Closing the door to the closet behind him, he finally relaxed, letting out a sigh.
Blueblood tore the mask off his face, smiling subtly to himself as he quickly pulled the cloth off of his sweaty body.  Finally, after months of waiting, he had been given the opportunity to reveal the Blue Knight once again, to become the Hero of Canterlot all over again.  Shaking his mane out, he began to unzip the suit body, tossing his hat aside to be put away later.  He was almost laughing with how giddy he was to be back, the events feeling as if they were out of a dream.  Throwing the suit aside, he turned the water on magically while grabbing a towel and washcloth.  
Shaking his head at his own thoughts, the “I told you so” he was going to give Celestia and Luna, he dipped himself into the filling tub, yelping slightly at the sudden heat of the water.  The aches of bruises and cuts left by the changelings who had fought back were numbed from excitement, a sheer bliss to the engagement all he could focus on.  Sinking down into the tub, his tense body slowly loosened as he let out a soft groan.  Taking a deep breath in and then letting it slowly out, he focused himself, pushing away the giddy colt in him excited to play hero again and instead focused on the stallion he now needed to be.
Pushing away celebration and forcing thought, he attempted to piece together exactly what this changeling attack had been.  Over the past few weeks, threats against the city had been coming in from all directions, all anonymously posted against them.  It was right on time for the wedding of Princess Cadance to some noble pony general who was apparently related to the Twilight Sparkle, but he didn’t look into it too much.  Ponies didn’t make enemies with each other easily, and there was not a single pony in Equestria who would want to harm any of the Elements.
That was what he had been told by the Princesses, all three of them, that there was no possible way it was a domestic threat, but Blueblood knew better.  Ever since that fateful night eight months ago, the world had changed quite drastically.  Discord had been freed then returned to stone and the world had expanded greatly in the realms of possibilities.  Equestria seemed to have come back to life from its mundane existence with the return of Luna and the Elements of Harmony.  If they were lucky, which it turned out they weren’t, Discord would have been the last of their true concerns, but the events that had just occurred proved elsewise. 
Frowning, he had to admit he was more than disappointed that the threats and attack made today weren’t the actions of the white unicorn stallion who had become so evasive that Blueblood sometimes wondered if he had happened to pass away sometime afterwards.  Hundreds of deep dives into the identities of similar looking stallions had proved to be fruitless, everything coming up perfectly clean as it was with most ponies.  There were almost six thousand stallions in Canterlot that fit the unicorn’s description, and it was only after all of their confrontations that Blueblood had realized he didn’t remember the stallion’s Cutie Mark.  As frustrating as each search was, it only came at the cost of a few hours, and ever since Celestia had decommissioned the Blue Knight, he had plenty of spare time to kill.
Rubbing some soap and shampoo over his coat, Blueblood washed the residue of the fight away, enjoying the warm water.  The wedding had been planned only a couple weeks ago as both a distraction for the ponies and whomever was behind the threats, which prompted the question if the changelings’ plan had involved the wedding initially, or thanks to the proximity of both the threats beginning and the wedding planned, they had become enveloped in the plan.  Either way, there was something to say about how the attack had progressed, because in spite of his Aunts’ involvement in protecting the city with the help of the guard, the shield had somehow come down and the changelings had gotten through.  He would have to assess the facts with the Princesses when he had the chance, but he felt they most likely had their hooves full with concluding the disrupted wedding he had “failed” to attend.
He didn’t feel the slightest shame for missing out on the wedding, which he would have to miss anyways to fulfill his Prince Blueblood status quo.  However, not knowing Princess Cadance that well and not knowing Shining Armor in the slightest, he didn’t feel the need to waste his time with formalities.  Besides, in the long run, it had proven quite useful, as he had been able to intervene in some of the more vulnerable parts of the city after only a few minutes.  The vast majority of the changeling forces were focused on the castle, meaning those few rogues who targeted the civilians were forced to deal with him first.  Thanks to the edge he had over his own kind, he was able to fight multiple changelings at once, and if he said so himself, he had caused the bugs a good deal of grief.
In spite of his efforts and successes, however, he knew that many ponies had been harmed in the attack, though thankfully whatever magic had defeated the changelings seemed to have restored those affected by the changelings’ draining.  Still, it proved a difficult truth that Blueblood wasn’t quite ready to accept.  Canterlot was a large city with tens of thousands of inhabitants, and he was only one stallion, unable to defend everypony and watch everything.  Rubbing a hoof against his forehead, washing away the thought with soap, he sank slightly deeper into the water.
“I’m so glad to see that the lovely Prince Blueblood was enjoying a nice warm bath while the rest of the city was being torn apart by changelings,” a voice suddenly spoke, unimpressed by what she saw.  Glancing casually behind him as Luna entered the spacious marble bathroom, he gave her a smile, waiting for the realization to hit her.  Indeed, when she glanced down at the floor and saw the discarded mask and suit, fedora neatly placed atop the mess, her eyes widened.
“Come on now, Auntie, you know that the Blue Knight wouldn’t stand by and wait out the attack like your cowardly nephew,” Blueblood cheekily replied.  “Now, Prince Blueblood did in fact see the attack taking place, he just spent his time hidden in his closet, crying in fear that the changelings would get to his beautiful clothing.”
“I can see that,” Luna muttered softly, staring at the costume still with intuitive eyes.  She lifted the hat in the air, scanning it carefully as she asked, “Did anypony see the grand return of the most hated stallion in Canterlot?”
“Only a few dozen northern Canterlot citizens,” Blueblood answered, truly not caring for her reaction.  
Luna glanced up at him with a quirked eyebrow, asking quietly, “And did you even ask Celestia if you could return the Blue Knight to the public view?  After all, there’s a reason she and I forbade you from returning to the streets of Canterlot.  In spite of your good works, you have now presented yourself as perhaps the most dangerous stallion in Equestria.  The ponies fear you now.”
“And they always will,” he responded curtly,  subtly scrubbing his hooves clean.  “I’m well aware of the consequences my actions have on me and my reputation, but it doesn’t make the role of the Blue Knight any different.”
“His role was to be a symbol of hope to the citizens of Canterlot, but ever since you killed that stallion and destroyed a neighborhood, he’s become a symbol of fear and the unknown,” Luna argued.  “If you didn’t receive express permission from Celestia, which I’m pretty sure you just confirmed, then you just created a whole new pain in our sides.  I mean, what did you even do to those changelings you engaged against?”
Before Blueblood could answer the question, a sudden light flashed into the room as Celestia teleported in.  Her brow was furrowed in anger as her eyes locked onto Blueblood, who continued to bathe.  “Word gets around very quickly about Queen Chrysalis’ attack on the city, which is always very closely followed by the rumor of the Blue Knight’s return.  With those rumors comes something terrible that confirms only what my worst suspicions may be, Blueblood.”
“I have no clue as to what you mean,” Blueblood boldly denied, giving her a hard stare.  “The Blue Knight has returned, but beyond that, I have no idea what you're talking about.”
Celestia gave him a look that told him she saw straight through him, stating blandly, “Queen Chrysalis is requesting that the twenty-five drones we took captive be released in return for a promise to never return to invade while Luna or I are on the throne.  There are no changelings kept in any of the prisons across the city.  There was no chance to take captives, as all of the changelings were blasted away by Princess Cadence’s love.  All, we’ve found, except the dead ones.”
Luna gasped softly, her head jerking back to Blueblood, but neither Celestia or the stallion addressed her, both glaring at each other.  They remained like that for several tense seconds, Celestia waiting for his response, Blueblood waiting for her to break.  It may have lasted longer if it wasn’t for Luna, who exclaimed, “It’s your first day back and you’re already killing ponies!  Why?”
“Changelings,” he calmly corrected, “and because they were attacking and harming our ponies.  They were attacking anypony they saw, draining literally hundreds of civilians.  There were children, Celestia, and the changelings simply fed off of them as if they were any other source of food.  I wouldn’t allow it, and neither would you.”
“But I wouldn’t kill twenty five of them,” Celestia retorted.  “There’s no excuse for you to have used such force and such extreme measures, even with all things considered.”
“You wouldn’t kill them because you couldn’t, not because you wouldn’t,” Blueblood impatiently replied.  “You can’t claim to be perfect when you were the one who left ponies in a condition where only one in a million could protect them from the dangers of the world that surrounds us!  One day those actions, like all of your other mistakes, are going to come back to haunt you.  Besides, if you consider how many changelings I actually fought, I was merciful to over a two-thirds of them.  It was the ones that were either actively attacking civilians- children- that I eliminated.  You can’t claim that I’m evil for protecting ponies from an invading force.”
“We’re not saying your evil, Blueblood, but that killing is,” Celestia pointed out sharply.  “The vast majority of those changelings don’t think for themselves very much, simply listening to whatever Queen Chrysalis told them.  If she told them to feast, which I’m guessing she did, they would do nothing but happily oblige, and if they had been told to show restraint, they would have done that too.  You killed twenty-five individuals who were simply listening to instructions as they had been raised to.  There’s no justification for that, even if they were attacking our city.”
“Shows how much you care for your little ponies,” Blueblood spat, standing up in the tub to try and become more eye level with her.  “The last ones I killed were hunting down a filly, I repeat, a filly!  They would have sucked all of the magic from her like a juice box and then discarded her as such, without a single care to her wellbeing.  If it weren’t for me, she would have been harmed and emotionally scarred for years afterwards.  We don’t even know exactly what emotional and mental side effects come from having your love drained.  Just because you will never have to face the dangers of Equestria’ enemies doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t fear them or fight back.”
“Blueblood, this is no longer about the morality of your killings, but the nature of them,” Celestia snapped, throwing a hoof out to the balcony window.  “There’s a filly out there saying she saw the Blue Knight smash in the skulls of three changelings, telling everypony about how he brutally concaved their heads and left their broken bodies lying around.  She’s telling everypony who will listen that the Blue Knight is killing everything in his path because he’s trying to scare everypony into respecting him.”
“And that little filly is completely disregarding the Blue Knight’s service to her,” Blueblood interrupted angrily.  “A theme the Blue Knight is familiar with.”
“Your services were neither required nor requested,” Celestia replied evenly.  “The Blue Knight was retired after the Granite Street killing, to be presumed dead from the wounds he received in that fight.  You brought him back from the grave to play hero once again, your fanaticism over this persona of yours growing beyond your own control.  With this in mind, I Celestia, Princess of the Sun and co-ruler of Equestria, forbid you from this reckless act of donning a cape and mask and pretending to be everypony’s hero.  From this moment on, Blueblood, you are no longer the Blue Knight, but rather Prince Blueblood.”
“You can’t-” Blueblood began to protest before Celestia coldly stated, “That is all.”
With a flash, she was gone, leaving Blueblood staring into his own bedroom from the tub, Luna staring at him in kind.  After several long seconds of silence, she finally muttered, “I agree with my sister.”
“I didn’t ask for either of your’s permission,” Blueblood inclined, stepping out of the tub and grabbing his towel.  Rubbing himself off, he stared at Luna as she contemplated for a minute longer, licking her lips.  Finally, he realized she wasn’t so much contemplating as she was staring at his back.  With a soft sigh, he glanced at it.  
The burn mark had healed all the way in the eight months since that night, but in spite of his and Luna’s best efforts, the tissue had scarred and there was no hair growth on it.  The mottled pink skin would be easily recognized as a burn mark and would only take one keen pony to figure out that, unlikely as it was, the Blue Knight was none other than Prince Blueblood.  It was the reason his wardrobe had doubled in size, dozens of new suits for him to wear to conceal the scar from the public whenever the Prince made a public showing. 
Blueblood flinched slightly as Luna’s hoof suddenly came in contact with the skin, having failed to notice her approach.  Shaking his head slightly to clear the cobwebs, he looked his Aunt in the eye and told her, “I’m perfectly fine, Luna.  Just a few bruises are all, mostly self-inflicted.”
“But one of these days you won’t have a lucky break or two mares there to save you when you’re on the brink of death,” Luna reminded him.  “One day you’re going to outrun everypony who could help you, and by the time we arrive, you’ll be gone, all alone.  I agree with Celestia to protect all of our little ponies, and that includes you.”  Blueblood glanced away from Luna as she raised a hoof to his cheek, rubbing it gently.  “Your cause is noble and the reason you want to help is justifiable, but there is too much for you to lose in this endeavor for it to be worth anypony’s while.  I would highly recommend listening to Celestia, even if it is just this one time.”
Slowly looking up apologetically, Blueblood apologized, “I’m sorry, Auntie, but I can’t stop now, even if it is the best for everypony else.”
“But why,” Luna pleaded, “Why can’t you just leave now before you find yourself in a situation that nopony could save you from?”
“Because I know now that I can’t stop, not now that I know the white unicorn is back in Canterlot,” he answered, feeling a multitude of emotions bubbling from within him, anger primarily.  “Celestia claims that there were twenty five changelings missing- or as we know- killed, but I only killed twenty four.”
“Why didn’t you mention that Celestia,” Luna inquired, visibly attempting to see where Blueblood was going with this.
“Because she wouldn’t have cared, quite frankly,” Blueblood answered with a shrug.  “She would have given me that lecture if it had been only one changeling, but I don’t care much for words when there are untold numbers of victims out there.  The reason the missing changeling is so important, however, is because I know for a fact that I wasn't the one who killed that bug.  There’s only one other stallion I know in all of Canterlot that would be able to commit himself to such an act, and if I’m not mistaken, he has returned to the city with a vengeance.”