//------------------------------// // There's something about Royal // Story: The Ballad of Royal Blue // by PonyWithAPen //------------------------------// Gilda felt a sensation she hadn’t before. Often the fearless type who bullied and intimidated others to satisfy her own ego, she found herself recoiling in fear of the queen who now stood in front of her. Why do I feel so…cold? I’m Gilda! The toughest lady griffon in all of Griffon Village! Such mental reassurances did nothing to help her. In fact, she admitted to herself at that moment that she felt like that meek, yellow pegasus that she yelled at in Ponyville Square during her first and only visit to the small village. All the while, Queen Chrysalis awaited a response from the young griffon. “I asked you a question, dear. Would you like to hear the story of how we met?” Gulping, Gilda nodded, beads of sweat developing on her forehead. Paulie came over to her, bowing before the queen. He pulled Gilda down with him, much to her chagrin. “Yes, your highness, we would love to be regaled by such a tale.” Gilda rolled her eyes at him. “Very well.” Chrysalis started. “Your charming friend happened to meet me on the outskirts of Tartarus. I made my home there shortly after those meddling little ponies ruined my wedding. I had just secured control of Canterlot AND captured them. But then, that prissy little Princess Cadance and the stallion who was supposed to be MINE defeated me and now I cannot wait to get my hooves on that little bi-“ Chrysalis caught herself ranting and suddenly stopped. “She’s a little bitter.” Paulie whispered to Gilda, who just sat in silence. “One day, your little boyfriend traveled to the outskirts near my home, ranting and raving about some little blue pest who wouldn’t leave him alone. The truth is, I had been lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to take over again, and this is it. With an able, young body by my side, I’ve learned I don’t need love to conquer Equestria. Paulie and I, we’ll just take it by force!” Chrysalis let go a terrifying laugh. Gilda sat there, trying to process everything she had just been told. A question suddenly popped into her mind. “Wait a second…if Paulie is all you need to take over Equestria, then what do you need the young stallion for?” Gilda smirked, thinking she had the mighty queen in a mental bind. However, the leader of the changelings just smiled. “That young stallion is very important to our plan. I’m not taking any chances this time around. We will attack Canterlot first. I’ll imprison the royal princesses, and we will use Canterlot as an example of what will happen to everypony else if they do not submit to the mighty Changeling Queen!” Chrysalis stopped speaking, and an even bigger, even more maniacal grin appeared on her face. “No…I just got an even better idea. We’ll use Twilight Sparkle’s precious Ponyville as our example!” Gilda sat there in shock. All she wanted was a bit of revenge on Pinkie Pie. She would get it if this plan unfolded…so why was she suddenly so unsure of the idea? She’d had a lot of time to think things over. In that time, she realized that Pinkie Pie meant no harm to her friendship with Dash. But she always shrugged it off because she had far too much pride to admit to such a thing. Tough call, Gilda. You want to get Dash back as a friend, but you also want to see Paulie happy, psychotic as he is. Meanwhile, Royal still lay in bed, unconscious while Scootaloo and Rainbow watched over him. Apple Bloom and the others had dropped in and out during the afternoon. Their visits were appreciated by the pair, but not much could be done for a pony in a coma. Nurse Redheart had made a house call to check on Royal, but she could not find any answers to comfort the two ponies who watched over him vigilantly. Eventually, the time came for Rainbow to head off to Cloudsdale. She sat down to talk to Scootaloo. “All right, kiddo. I’ve gotta go lead the weather team.” She stood up, biting her lip. She didn’t want to leave, but she knew the weather was her greatest priority, with Royal being a close, close second. “Rainbow?” Scootaloo looked up. She had never seen her biggest hero cry before, but there it was in plain sight. Rainbow turned to leave, but she felt something grab her leg. Scootaloo hugged her, which caused her tears to subside. Rainbow smiled and hugged her back. “You watch over him extra special for me while I’m gone, okay?” Rainbow whispered. Scootaloo nodded. Rainbow broke away from her and headed out the door. “I love you, kid!” The champion flyer spread her wings and soared in the direction of Cloudsdale. Scootaloo watched her fly away. I love…you t-too, Rainbow Dash! The filly turned to head back inside. She went back to Royal’s bedside to watch over him. Later that night, Scootaloo had fallen asleep at the foot of Royal’s bed. She had done her best to stay awake and support him, but sleep eventually overtook the young pony. Scootaloo was so out of it, she did not hear the door creak open. Rainbow was back. She quietly walked over to the foot of the bed and smiled at what she saw. These two are perfect for each other. I don’t think I’ve seen a more natural pair of siblings besides Applejack and Apple Bloom. Rainbow plopped to the floor, exhausted from a long evening of weather duties. She looked back up at the bed. Sleep well, you two. The tired mare closed her eyes, drifting off into dreamland. Hours later, morning came to Ponyville. The sun poked through Royal’s bedroom window, waking him up in the process. His head hurt, despite the fact that he had slept for plenty of hours, mostly due to the damage induced coma inflicted on him. He opened his eyes. They adjusted to the room, and he saw Scootaloo sleeping at the foot of the bed. Looking down to the floor, he saw Rainbow, curled up in an adorable sleeping pose. Unknown to her, he had been briefly jolted from unconsciousness when she hefted him onto her back while rescuing him, so he knew that she had been the one to bring him back. He wanted to give her a kiss on the cheek in appreciation, but he shied away from doing so. I can’t do it. She sees me as a brother, not a lover. She’s way out of my league, anyway. Besides, we all know what happened the last time I fell in love. Royal flashed back a couple of years. He had attended a party with some friends and a mare he had been seeing for the better part of that year. While at the party, he proposed to his marefriend. The response he got was not what he expected; she laughed in his face. “Me, settle down with you? Honey, I could have any stallion in the world! Get a load of this guy!” She went around to nearly every stallion at the party, giving them kisses just to further humiliate Royal. Royal bolted out the door, flew back to his grandfather’s house and cried himself to sleep that night, and for many nights afterward. It was after that incident that he swore he’d never fall in love again. But…was he falling in love with Rainbow Dash? He quickly got the thought out of his mind. He remembered that today was his travel day. Tomorrow, he was to have an audience with Princess Celestia, of all ponies. He'd received the letter the week before. He had been specifically instructed in the princess’s letter to come alone. He slowly and quietly departed from his bed, and then his house, trying his best not to wake up his two adopted sisters. Royal walked along an empty street in Ponyville. It was early in the morning, so there were not a lot of ponies out and about. He wanted to visit Sugar Cube Corner and tell Pinkie he was okay, but he didn’t want to risk being late. He was heading to Canterlot early to get in some sight-seeing, as he had never been to the city. Royal made it to the train station an hour ahead of schedule. He bought his ticket and looked at a nearby train schedule. The next train was not due for an hour. Once again, he thought of visiting Pinkie. No, I can’t chance it. The train is always so unpredictable. I’d better stay here. He compromised, telling himself he would write the friendly pink party mare a letter when he got to Canterlot. Royal’s decision paid off as the train arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. If he had left to see Pinkie, he would have missed it. He boarded the train, finding an open seat almost immediately. As he sat and watched, he noticed the famous DJ Vinyl Scratch among the crowd joining him on this ride. Next to her was a grey, elegant mare that looked to be about the same age. The grey mare was not happy with her laid back friend. “Vinyl Scratch, what were you thinking? Sticking your head in a bowl of whipped crème? Pinkie Pie can’t serve something like that to her customers now!” Vinyl found a place to sit down…right beside Royal. This was not lost on him. “Aw, you’ve gotta chillax, Tavi. Live a little! You know what I’m saying?” She slapped Royal’s back, which led him to have a painful reaction; he had not quite recovered from Paulie’s shock therapy. Royal grimaced, trying not to cry, but the slap had left him in a world of hurt. “Vinyl! Oh, I am so sorry, Mr…” The grey mare started. “Royal…” he managed to grunt out, still in pain. “Right. I’m sorry, Royal. My friend is a bit high strung.” Vinyl grinned, while “Tavi” glared at her. “Yeah, just a little. So…Tavi?” Royal said, still wincing from the pain. “My name is actually Octavia, but Vinyl calls me Tavi. Is your back okay?” He nodded. “Good.” Octavia smiled. “Vinyl can be a bit…forward sometimes.” Royal grinned. He had known a few ponies like that back in Fillydelphia. As Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo still slept, the other citizens of Ponyville began business for the day. Pinkie Pie woke from her slumber with a little less bounce than usual. She was still worried about Royal. He had gone through so much to protect her from something that had literally been happening behind the scenes. She didn’t even know that there were griffons after her until he had said something. Despite that, she knew she had to do her duty; serve her customers with the brightest smile in all of Equestria. While she prepared the store for another day of business, the door suddenly burst open. This caught Pinkie’s attention. Meanwhile, Big Macintosh, who had dosed off while opening Sweet Apple Acres that morning, woke up to find a good chunk of his apple supply missing. “Applejack! Apple Bloom! Granny Smith! Everypony get in here now!” The stallion’s voice boomed across the small house. Apple Bloom was first down the stairs. Her bedmane looked so adorable, Mac almost forgot what he was so upset about, but he shook his head. “Morning, big brother.” The adorable little filly said, unaware of her brother’s mood. Applejack was next in line. “Big Macintosh, what’s with the shouting? You could have blown the roof off of the house!” Granny Smith, new hip and all, emerged from the other room. “What in tarnation?” she said. Big Mac directed their attention to where he was looking. “Our apples!” Bloom said. “They’ve gone missing! We don’t sell that many apples in a day! We’ve been robbed!” Applejack said, in horror. She began to walk out the door. “Wait, where are you going?” Big Mac asked his sister. Applejack turned around. “Where do you think? To find out who robbed us, of course! How often do we have crimes this big in Ponyville?” AJ turned back and galloped out of the house, leaving her family in her wake. Pinkie turned her head to see who the mysterious guest was. To her great surprise, it was Royal. However, something seemed slightly off about him. For starters, he was not wearing his trademark cape. Since she had known him, she had never seen him without his cape. None of that mattered. He was okay. She ran to hug him, but she noticed him turning his body as she drew closer. She was facing his backside. He reared back and kicked her with his back legs, sending her flying through the air, and crashing into the nearest wall. Pinkie cowered on the floor as he drew closer. Why had Royal done this to her? Didn’t he like her anymore? Unknown to both of them, Mr. Cake had opened the door to his room. He had seen what Royal did to Pinkie. As Royal moved in for another strike, he got ready for one of his own. When the right moment hit, Mr. Cake pounced on Royal like a lion. He wasn’t about to let some two-bit stallion have their way with the pink pony he saw as his adopted daughter. Mr. Cake grabbed Royal by the head and bashed the back of his head into the floor a few times, dizzying him. This was all very confusing for the patriarch of Sugar Cube Corner. Royal Blue was a good kid. Why was he attacking the pony he’d proven he cared for very much? At that moment, it didn’t matter. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash finally woke up at that time. Scootaloo, in her sleepiness, tried to jump down from the bed, but she ended up falling from it. However, she did not hit the floor. She looked up and saw that she had fallen into a basket. “Ow…” she said, catching Rainbow’s attention. The mare looked down to see Scootaloo in the bucket, but it was also not the only bucket in the room. In fact, there were about ten, all filled with apples. This got Rainbow thinking. That can’t be right. Royal went from almost dying last night to being strong enough to carry ten buckets of apples back here? There’s no way! Where is that kid, anyway? Rainbow’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Come in!” she said. She was surprised to see Applejack, who was equally surprised to see her still staying at this house. “AJ? What are you doing here?” “I…could ask…you…the same…thing!” AJ said, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she noticed her missing apples. She shook her head; she’d just woken up minutes ago. “My apples…” she said in disbelief. Rainbow suddenly got defensive. “Now wait a minute! If you’re going to blame Royal for this, that’s stupid! Royal would never steal from anyone! You know that!” Applejack sighed. “I think he just did, sugar cube. How else do you explain all of my apples being here at his house?” “He bought them! Duh!” Rainbow said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She didn’t like hearing false accusations leveled against anyone. “No he didn’t. If you’ll listen to reason, I’ll explain why.” AJ said, calmly. Mr. Cake lay in a heap on the floor of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie cuddled him close to her body while crying. To his credit, before his defeat, he had done a number on the cape-less Royal, as the blue stallion now walked with a noticeable limp. Royal turned toward Pinkie. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Why? Why are you doing this, Royal? We’re your friends! We care about you! Why?” Pinkie collapsed into a fit of sobbing. Royal smiled, turned his back on her and walked away, leaving Sugar Cube Corner in shambles. In the midst of her sobbing, Pinkie opened her eyes for a second. As Royal left, she caught a glimpse of his flank. What she saw quickly escaped her, as she went back to sobbing over the injured body of her father-figure. The truth is, his actions in SCC were the last thing on the agenda. He’d torn an assortment of new dresses to shreds at the Carousel Boutique. He had found Twilight’s old Smarty Pants doll and dismembered it. He had mocked Derpy for her unique eyes, causing her to fall into a deep sorrow. He had viciously murdered one of Fluttershy’s pet birds, making sure she had a front row seat to it. He had selectively left Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders alone. Yes, cape-less Royal had done some horrible things, and Royal Blue himself was unaware his reputation in Ponyville had just gone down the shaft. The uncaped one spread his wings and flew away, leaving behind a path of destruction and some shattered and angry ponies. One thing was sure; a certain blue pegasus had some explaining to do upon his return.