//------------------------------// // Dealing With a Few Problems // Story: A blaze rekindled // by RedBlack //------------------------------// *Calming Blaze POV* Mhmm. Soft. Warm. Panicked voices. Nice smell of flowers. Wait. Panicked voices? Quickly sitting up, I look around the room. I'm currently inside another guest room, on a bed, and also on fire again. Last time, it went away after on its own after a short while. Sending out my magic, I sense around the castle to see if anything is different. Okay. There's a significantly less number of guards and most importantly, two ponies are missing. "Where the fuck are Lu and Celestia?" I say to myself as I get and walk out of the room. First, I check up on mother. Same as last time. Actually, when WAS last time? Nevermind that. I run to the throne room. There's probably some kind of assistant or somepony with that kind of job right? Guards were hastily running around, some carrying orders and others just trying to help. With a push, I enter the throne room to see a very stressed light gray unicorn mare shouting orders at ponies. "Hello, Miss Raven Inkwell? Might I ask what's going on right now?" I ask as I approach her. "Ah, yes, hello, you're Princess Celestia's guest right?" "Yes, but that doesn't matter, what I want to know is, what's going on right now?" "It's a mess, both princesses are gone, Prince Blueblood is away to Griffonstone for discussions about our alliance, Princess Cadence is already too busy with controlling her kingdom, so right now, I'm just giving away orders to find the two princesses as discreetly as possible right now" No driver in the leader seat huh. "Well, you're doing good then, I suggest going to Ponyville, stuff like this always happens there" "Right, of course, the weekly incidents" she mutters and nods at me with a firm expression and calls for more guards. Wait. "Have you checked for the artifacts in the Royal vault?" She froze for a few seconds. "Fuck!" I shout as I run towards the vault. Passing through several hallways, I call the free guards to come with me towards the vault. Stopping with a skid, I break the door open with a punch as the guards rush inside. "Check EVERY container and drawer, not a SINGLE item must be missing" I shout as I spread my magic around. I guess the guards would follow my orders in an emergency like this. Standing at the entrance, I scan the vault, checking if there's even the slightest oddities. A piece of glass, a hoofprint on a container, anything that could tell me that there's an intruder. In Celestia's vault/armory, any one object could bring disaster upon this world, not just Equestria. As I stare over the guards checking every corner of the vault, I put my hoof on the head of the invisible pony who was about to leave. "You might want to give up, I don't really like to cause unnecessary bloodshed" I say as the gravity around me increase by twofold. "Gah" she yells in pain as she struggles to stay awake. "Stop bullshitting me Chrysalis, the tartarus are you doing here?" I simply state, prompting her to drop her disguise spell with a burst of green fire to stand at her full height. The guards point their spears at Chrysalis, preparing for an attack. Don't they have anything other than spears? "Tch, I guess I'm rusty since I got found out" she said with a neutral tone. Her crown like antenna was missing. A long scar running through her abdomen. "You're from the other world" I state, surprising a few of the guards who were listeneing. "IF YOU'RE DONE, GO TO RAVEN INKWELL FOR YOUR NEXT ORDERS!" I yell in the Royal voice, causing a few to wince at the volume, but still follow through nonetheless. "So, why don't you give me what you stole?" I say as I drop my disguise, raising me to my full height. She narrows her eyes at me , seemingly readying herself for an attack. Then she stopped. With a sigh, she used her hooves to bring out a bright pink potion. "Of all things, you stole a love potion?" "I needed food, even it was fake, it'll still feed me, much less efficient, but something is more than nothing right?" she said as she gave me the potion and sat down. "How long have you gone without food?" I ask as I put the potion into a random drawer. "Why are you asking me that? I can sense your distrust" she said as she gazed at me with her neutral expression. It's not a mask. "Can you blame me? It's hard to trust my enemy" I said as I closed the vault. Well, as much as I can with a pieces of steel. "Fine, I can accept that answer" Giving a nod, I sit down in front of her with a slight distance. "So, is your Sombra alive?" she suddenly asked me. "Why you wanna know?" "Because ours died after waking up from a coma. Other you said that he was a bad apple" "His horn?" "Shattered" "Hmm, then Sombra has well and truly died" We sit in silence as we gaze at each other. "So, what's your objective then?" I decide to ask the important question. "Survive" "Not live?" I smirk as I ask her. "Don't get philosophical with me, I only needed that potion because I needed easy food" "Well, I could let you go, but you're still you, so I don't think I can" "Well you might think that, but I've" she stopped for a seconds before gulping. "I've fallen, I am no longer a Queen" "What's that supposed to mean?" "I'm alone now, I can't connect to the hivemind anymore, I can't even lay eggs anymore" "How did that?" "YOU, no, the OTHER you! He cut my antenna off because there can't be two rulers, then he tried to kill me because, he had found a better me, so I'm going to survive, and I'm going to get, my, revenge, even if it costs me my life!" her voice kept rising as her anger fully showed on her face. "I see" "Don't, you, DARE, think of me like that, I don't NEED your pity, Blaze of this world" she suddenly said with anger as she pointed at me with her hoof. "Woah, what, did I do?" I ask while standing to act, just in case. She stared at me with a scowl for a few seconds while panting from her little rant. Then her gaze softened as she sat back down. "Nothing" she simply said as she looked down. Seconds later, a few tear drops landed on the floor as her sniffled rang through the hallway. I stare, a bit in shock. Until I let out a silent sigh and move to comfort her. With a wing draped over her, she cries her suffering. I sympathized. I knew the feeling of needing to cry too. Placing the sleeping Chrysalis in the bed of the guest room I stayed in, I put an alarm spell on the door, just to make sure nothing happens because of a misunderstanding. I'll ask questions when she wakes up, the connection to the hivemind is so important to a changeling that most would rather just die than to lose it, so it must've been quite difficult for her. I spread my magic, just to check the castle again. This time, I'll check every nook and cranny. I gave my utmost concentration, draining a significant amount of magic from me, to find out, everything was pretty much the exact same as last time, just one changeling more than before. *Sigh* "Waste of effort" For now, I'll head to the throne room to think of the next course of action with Raven. Reapplying my disguise, I go my way, greeting the guards during their patrol. At least the guards aren't panicking too much. While on my way, a very strong feeling told me to look out a window. Looking out the nearest window, I saw Ponyville infested by countless black roots. "What the fuck?" I absentmindedly say, earning a flinch from the nearest guard. "You're a guard, don't fucking flinch at a cuss" I state as I walk away towards the throne room. Opening the door, I'm faced with a very angry looking unicorn in some fancy clothing yelling at Raven. "SO IF YOU DON'T-" "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" I yell with the Royal Voice, letting my shout reverberate throughout the room. "How dare-" I interrupt with a slap as I approach the annoyed Raven. "Give me a report" I tell her. "The guards I've sent have yet to return with good news, but most suspect Ponyville due to Discord" "Have you sent guards there?" "I have, they haven't returned yet" "Excuse me! I DEMAND to speak with the Princess!" I forgot about this guy. "GUARDS! Take this moron away!" I yell, prompting two of the assembly of guards to carry him out of the castle. It's good to have power like this I suppose. "Wow, you can just do that?" Raven asked incredulously. "Raven, there's a national crisis right now, we can't afford the time to hear out his ideas for a new shopping mall" I state as I move towards the secret door behind the thrones, surprising Raven. "Where are you going?" "Just following my gut" I move through the tunnel behind it, leading me to split path. I pick right and move a bit faster, Raven quickly following behind me. I push and open a hatch on the ceiling, leading me to Celestia's room. While Raven was distracted with the security of this issue, I head to the balcony. Staring off towards Ponyville, I notice a very familiar magical aura seeping off of the Everfree. "What're those 6 doing there?" I mutter to myself as the aura starts magnifying. As I contemplate whether I should head there or not, a wave of magic clears away all the black roots. "Eh, I guess I'm not needed right now" As I continue to observe, I practically watch a light show with Raven, who's now standing next to me. "What're THOSE 2 doing there?" I say out loud after feeling two familiar magic signatures. "You mean the Princesses?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I can feel their ridiculous amounts of magic from here" I simply answer as I walk back in. "You mean, they're back?" "Yeah, you can call the guards back too" "Alright" she answered as we left through the front door, confusing the two guards who were at the door. "Actually" I say as I go back in. Looking around, I move away a blue banner with stars on it to reveal a secret compartment. Sliding open the glass, I pull out a very familiar looking bottle of bourbon. "Are you stealing alcohol from her?" Raven asked with confusion. "Is it stealing if I'm only taking back what she stole from me?" I ask her playfully "It is if she had a proper reason, like you being too young for it" she frowned as she answered. "Well, I'm going to share it, so bye" I tell her as I leave towards my room. Raven was contemplating something, but sighed and seemingly let me slide. As I head back to my room, I contemplate about what I should do. Maybe Zecora if I can find her, she was known to be quite good with zebra magic. *Sigh* It'll work out. It has to. Else, I won't know what'll happen with me.