Everything seemed to stop. Eyes turned to see Prince Blueblood standing near one of the doors that had previously been sealed shut. The black unicorn raised an eyebrow, wondering how his spell had been broken without him noticing, but a glance at the prince’s companions answered that. The Elements of Harmony stood behind him, and the Element of Magic still had a faint aura of mana around her horn.
“Let the nurse attend to Bouncing Ball,” Blueblood demanded, and the Earth Pony looked to his fellow anarchists for confirmation. They both nodded, and with a reluctant grunt, he released the nurse. She hastened over to the filly’s twitching form, and pulled a bottle of medicine out of her uniform’s pockets. She popped a few pills into Bouncing’s mouth, and helped her swallow them.
While this went on, Blueblood continued his confrontation.
“Who are you?” He asked, gazing menacingly at them. The three exchanged some glances.
“Your death,” the Unicorn exclaimed, and shot a bolt of dark brown magic at the startled prince. He barely managed to deflect the shot with a small barrier of his own magic, but that distraction allowed the burly Earth Pony to slam into him, knocking the prince down and pinning him to the floor.
At the same time, the Pegasus had lunged at Rainbow Dash to intercept her, as she had launched herself to help Blueblood.
“Hold him down, Broken!” The Pegasus cried, wrestling with the rainbow flyer in mid-flight. The stallion grunted in acknowledgement and struck Blueblood up the side of his head, stunning him and negating the spell he’d been charging. At the same time, the Unicorn lowered his horn to counter spells being thrown at him by Twilight and Rarity. The hospital guests trembled, unsure of what was going on exactly.
The fight didn’t last long. The crimson Pegasus was superior to Dash in close combat and incapacitated her in seconds. The copper Earth Pony, after dazing the Prince, had beaten back Applejack, who had attacked with a rope. He’d simply lifted her off the ground and threw her into a table when the rope had wrapped around one of his hoofs. The black Unicorn, though weaker than Twilight in raw power, had dispelled all of her attempts at magic, weakening her mind and concentration, rendering her unable to focus. He had then immobilized her and Rarity with a spell, rooting their hooves to the floor with dark brown auras.
At the same time, Fluttershy was paralyzed with abject terror, and shook like a leaf as she took in the scene. Pinkie Pie, for her part, stared in shock at the ruins of her party, and her left eye twitched manically as she surveyed the smashed snacks and torn decorations. Still, she didn’t move, as even in her odd state of mind, she knew that trying to go up against these three was a bad idea.
That did not stop her from thinking up horrible punishments for them. No pony ruined a Pinkie Party and got away with it. NO PONY!
“Kill him now, Sundrop!” the Earth Pony, Broken, called out, and she unsheathed one of her wing blades and lunged at Prince Blueblood’s throat, which was being bared by his oppressor.
It never touched him, as Blueblood, his eyes and mind cloudy from the blow, saw the red coat of the Pegasus coming at him, and memories surfaced. Memories of his father tackling a red coated pony, who had then exploded, killing both of them and hurting his mother…
He screamed, in anger and fear, and in his deluded thoughts, the night 15 years ago replayed itself. In his unstable state, Blueblood’s magic erupted from him, uncontrolled. It pummeled the Earth Pony and the Pegasus, who were shocked before being smashed into walls. The black Unicorn was not fast enough to raise a defense or teleport away, and was crushed into the floor by the wave of magical backlash. All the glass in the room shattered, but the shards did not touch anypony as they hovered in the air, suspended by the very spell that had broken them.
When the dust settled, Twilight and Rarity were free from the immobilizing spell, and were helping other ponies to their hooves. Bouncing Ball was safe, her seizures calmed by the nurse and the medicine. Blueblood was curled up in a ball on the floor, weeping silently. Seeing him, Rarity approached him, worried.
“Are you alright, Prince Blueblood?” She asked, softly. He looked up at her, his eyes blurry with tears and Mana Fatigue.
“Don’t leave me, mommy… don’t leave me alone…” He muttered, Rarity’s visage turned to that of his mother’s in his befuddle mind.
Something broke in her heart, and Rarity couldn’t keep her own tears out of her eyes, and sat down next to the sobbing prince to comfort him. She couldn’t say why she did it. It just felt like the right thing to do.
As the mess was cleaned up, a burst of light appeared, and Princess Celestia herself, along with a dozen armed Royal Guards, appeared, taking in the scene with a shocked appearance. Twilight galloped over to her mentor, and nuzzled her with a heavy heart.
“Arrest those three,” Celestia ordered, after Twilight quickly summed up the events. Her guards nodded, but before they could place a magic nullifying ring on the Unicorn’s horn, he blasted two of them away and staggered to his hooves.
“Stop!” Princess Celestia commanded, but he shook his head and a swirl of shadows wrapped around him and his two unconscious comrades.
“No King! No Queen! No Lord! No Master! WE WILL NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN!” He screamed, the shadows engulfing himself and the other two and they vanished, the spell whisking them away.
A strange look entered Celestia’s eyes as she heard the words that had been shouted at her. They had been the same ones spoken by the terrorist fifteen years ago! Was it possible that whoever had done it back then had part of a group? It didn’t seem like a coincidence. Gathering her thoughts, she looked around, and her eyes fell on the trembling form of her nephew. Sadly, she picked her way over the mess towards him.
As she went, she offered soft words of apology and comfort to the startled hospital guests and patients. Many of them nodded at her words, and knew she wanted to be with her kin, so they said nothing in response, letting her get to her suffering family member.
Rarity, who was still sitting beside him, had been stroking his mane while he wept. She looked up in surprise and embarrassment as she realized that Princess Celestia was standing over them.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, I didn’t mean to bother you, or Prince Blueblood, I just…!” Celestia raised a hoof with a small smile on her lips, and Rarity settled down.
“I’d like to take my nephew home with me. Is that alright?” She asked, and the Element of Generosity nodded hastily. Again, Princess Celestia smiled at her, and she lifted him up and placed him on her back.
“Sergeant Tremble, I want you to summon some Royal chariots and carriages for the party guests, and send them home,” she said, addressing one of her guards. He gave a salute, and wandered off to hail some transportation. As it was done, Celestia teleported herself and Blueblood out of the Hospital back into the palace, and to the prince’s room.
She gently laid Blueblood down onto his bed, and helped him out of his suit. When he was undressed and comfortably nestled beneath his sheets, she stayed by his side, and ran her hoof through his hair. He whimpered at the touch.
“Mommy…” he whispered, and Celestia had to struggle to hold back her tears. The night was silent.