//------------------------------//
// On and On 
// Story: Azure Flame 
// by Silver Page 
//------------------------------//

Three weeks later…


“Spike, I’m leaving now! Be sure to watch the library while I’m gone!” Twilight shouted over her shoulder, halfway through the door. She wore an overstuffed saddlebag bulging with books, most of them dusty old history tomes.
“Sure, Twilight!” Her scaled assistant called out. Satisfied, she stepped out and started making her way through town to the post office.
Almost a whole month had passed since Blueblood’s sudden departure, and it had been an insanely hectic time, for her and her friends. The morning after his exodus, Twilight found herself with a letter addressed to her from Blueblood waiting in her room. It seemed he had penned a number of them, and sent them off to various ponies. 
Hers was a continuation of their discussion from before, in regards to the truth behind the claims of raising and lowering the sun; it contained numerous titles on ancient history, books from before the Sister’s rise, copies of manuscripts that had been written by advisors of the early Equestrian Council, and the locations of several antique bookstores and private libraries where they could be found.  Blueblood had not wanted to run the risk of Twilight’s book searches being encountered and questioned by Celestia and Luna, and so she had taken to mail-ordering the books she needed from all over Equestria. Now that she had finished these, she needed to return them and order new sets.
During the trip to the post office, her thoughts drifted back to Canterlot, and the aftermath of his departure. Some of the other letters she learned he’d written had been sent to various others, including one to Fleur de Lys, who had rushed over when she’d gotten hers, only to break down crying when she discovered Blueblood was gone.
Twilight also discovered that a massive check had been sent from Blueblood to the parents of the poor filly Bouncing Ball, as well as a commission for a modest yet beautiful grave to be built for her, in the graveyard where Royal Guard and ponies who’d died in service to the Crown were buried. Twilight didn’t know how the couple was doing, but she dearly hoped they would be alright after such terrible trauma.
And then there was Rarity… Twilight shook her head, trying to clear the encroaching depression from her mind. The alabaster Unicorn had taken the revelation of Blueblood’s secret identity very poorly. She ended up locking herself into her store, rarely leaving, hardly eating, and all of her creativity seemed to have dried up and vanished. She’d received only a few commissions for her work since, most of them for Nightmare Night costumes. Rarity had finished them, then spent the entire holiday inside, refusing to come out. Worse yet, she refused to even see her own family, shooing out Sweetie Belle when she’d tried to comfort her!
It was hurting Twilight and the rest of her friends to see her in such a state. They’d tried so hard to help, but she just pushed them away. Was it really such a good idea to back off and give her space?
Twilight stopped in her tracks, a few feet from the post office. She turned around and started to gallop towards Carousel Boutique. The books could wait, she had a friend to help.
After a short but furious dash through Ponyville that had its residents wonder about their resident purple pony librarian, Twilight arrived at the door to the Carousel Boutique.
“Rarity, can I talk to you?” Twilight asked, raising her voice so she could be heard through the wooden door. Silence, and after a moment she began to bang her hoof on the door loudly. “Rarity, please open up, I need to talk to you!” 
A muffled “Go away!” came through, and Twilight frowned, her concern growing. She reached up to the doorknob to open it herself, but her expression grew even grimmer when she found it locked. 
In Canterlot and other towns and cities, Ponies locked their doors as a habit, since they lived in larger, more concentrated places that tended to produce crime as a result. But in Ponyville, Twilight had never met a long time resident that did so. Hay, when she’d first moved here and locked the library door, a concerned Rainbow Dash and Applejack had smashed it down because they thought she was in trouble! Rarity was the same, and never locked the door to her home slash workplace. Something was very wrong with her friend, and Twilight began to weave a spell through her horn.
With a flash of purple sparks, Twilight teleported inside the house, praying that Rarity would forgive her for the invasion of privacy, however necessary it may have been.
Blinking the spots from her eyes, she gasped as she took in the mess that had become her friend’s home. Her home was dark and dreary, the window shades drawn and only a bit of sunlight leaking in. Dresses lay about in sorry states, ranging from simply unfinished to deliberately torn and shredded. Her Ponyquins lay about as well, some smashed, others charred by what seemed to be spell burns, and a few had painted on Cutie-Marks. Cutie-Marks that depicted a gold and purple compass rose… Shivering, Twilight looked about the dark room, noting that the kitchen seemed to have broken shards of porcelain and china lying about alongside mashed and spoiled food.
“Oh, Rarity,” Twilight whispered, taking it all in. Low, muffled sobs distracted her from the floor to look up at the staircase, and the lavender librarian briefly wished she’d read a book on grief counselling at some point in her life. Still, she steeled her nerves, and trotted quickly up the stairs to find the source of the sound, and hopefully Rarity as well.
At the top of the stairs, the sounds of sobbing had quieted, and all Twilight could hear was silence. It was dark, the only illumination being pale candle light coming from behind the door to Rarity’s Inspiration Room. 
Cautiously, the purple Unicorn pushed the door open slowly, and peered inside. What she saw was disturbing, perhaps even more so than the mess downstairs. 
Neatness. Clinical, sterile neatness. Rows of carefully arranged ponyquins against the wall, bolts of cloth stacked carefully in order of color, chests and drawers closed without a single loose bit of string, fabric, buttons, or gems anywhere in sight. 
Twilight suppressed a shiver as she took in the alien environment. She had once seen Rarity’s Inspiration Room, and it would have been generous to call it organized chaos, with her designs lying about, ponyquins with half-finished garments standing at random places, and a thin layer of loose odds and ends on every surface. Here, however, was none of that which the alabaster Unicorn claimed was her way of finding ideas. And worst of all, in the center of the sterile room, lay Rarity, her back to the door and her body sideways on the carpeted floor. Her sobs had vanished as Twilight had opened the door, and now she lay still and silent on the ground.
“Rarity, are you alright?” Twilight asked, breaking the unnerving silence.
“Did you know?”
“Huh?” surprised, Twilight blinked in confusion. Rising up from the floor, Rarity turned to Twilight, bloodshot eyes glaring at her from a tear stained muzzle. Her appearance and expression caused Twilight to take an involuntary step backwards.
“Did. You. Know?” Rarity repeated, shakily standing on her hooves to face Twilight completely.
“About Blueblood?” Twilight asked, hazarding a guess. A white hoof slammed into the floor with a “Crack!”.
“Of course about Blue-bucking-blood! What other pony who played with my emotions would I be taking about?!” Rarity seethed, uttering profanity for the first time since Twilight had known her.
“Oh wait, maybe I’m talking about you!” She took a step forward, with Twilight taking another one back. “You certainly seemed to be close to him, close enough to embrace him at the party! For that matter, you acted like the fact that he had a whole other persona was old news! So how long, Twilight? How long were you laughing behind my back as I chased two stallions, knowing full well there was only ever one? How long, Twilight?!”
Rarity had trotted steadily forward the whole time, driving a fearful Twilight back into a wall, which she was now pressed up against. The whole time, Twilight was trembling, fear and sadness turning her legs to jelly and forcing tears to stream silently down her face.
As quickly as her rage came, it vanished, tears of her own spilling down her face.
“Why, Twilight? Why would you do this to me? Why would he do this to me? I thought I had feelings for him, and he for me… both Azure Flame and Blueblood… though I suppose they are one and the same…”
Rarity stood there, trembling with emotions alongside Twilight as her bottled up feelings poured forth. 
“Do you know what hurts the most, Twilight? The betrayal. This hurts me in a way I’ve never felt before, and it hurts, like a great big wound where my heart should be! I’m sure he thought he had a good reason to hide this from me, but I honestly don’t give a damn! He used my feelings, built them up, then he tore them apart! And you! Hiding his secret, no doubt plotting and planning something together, all for what?! Nothing now! He’s gone and we’ll never see him again, because he’s going to get killed trying to find a bunch of insane cultists! Good riddance!” Rarity slumped to the floor crying loudly.
“Why? Why do I still ache for him? Why do I still want to hold him close, like before? Why can’t I just…” Before she could say anymore, Twilight all but flopped down on top of her back, crying as well, and clumsily trying to hug her from the awkward position.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Twilight uttered, clutching at her friend. “I didn’t know until the hospital, I didn’t know, I swear! And, and I wanted to tell you, but he asked me not to! I, I would never go behind your back like that! I, I!” A sob broke her words, and she lay her head down. The two of them lay there, letting their tears flow.
After what seemed like an eternity, their tears ceased, and they simply panted and gasped from exhaustion. 
“…He left you a letter, right? Did you ever read it?” Twilight asked after a moment, breaking their contemplative silence. 
“…Yes.”
“Did you read it?” Twilight asked again.
“No,” Rarity admitted. Twilight rolled off of Rarity, an uncomfortable move since she still was wearing her book-filled saddlebags. 
“Maybe you should.”
Wordlessly, Rarity’s horn glowed blue, and after a moment a white envelop floated over to her. Breaking the wax seal on the front, she pulled out a small slip of paper with Blueblood’s writing on it.


 “Dear Rarity, by the time you read this, I will be gone. I do not want to cause you or myself too much heartache by seeing you before my departure. Still, I have a few words that must be said before I go.” 

 Rarity’s puffy eyes darted over the words, reading aloud as she did.


 “I am a coward. I run from my problems and try to fix them without confrontation. Even now, this letter is an act of cowardice, as I could not say it to you in person.”
“All my life, I have lived in a gilded cage, the few ponies I could rely on being close friends and family. But even that latter was denied me one fateful day. And after that, I hid myself behind layer upon layer of lies. Snob Mode, my family and friends call it. A defense mechanism to try and fit in amidst the court and nobility, and to shield my own emotions from let-down.”
“So I turned to something else. Azure Flame. He had been born years ago when I tried to see the world outside the castle. After trial and error, I learned that I could survive without panic attacks if disguised. Azure Flame was born then; the true me, I’d like to believe. I learned about Canterlot and the ponies within. For the first time, I lived.” 




 “After Twilight saved Aunt Luna, she began to write to Aunt Celestia. From these ‘friendship reports,’ I learned of a beautiful mare whose loveliness was matched by her Generosity. I began to dream of meeting her, somepony who might see me for me. I awaited the Grand Galloping Gala after hearing you would be there, and lay awake for many nights, wondering. But when it came time, I failed myself and you. For the first time in years I attended the Gala, but despite it all, I entered Snob Mode and was simply awful to you.” 




 “I wanted to apologize, but I was still a coward. As Azure Flame, I sent you gifts. Maybe I wanted to make you see I could be better, or maybe I was a stalker. Debatable. I wanted to tell you the truth, I did! But I was afraid you’d reject me, that I’d be hurt again. I hid. I was a coward.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I have gone to bring justice. Justice for my parents. Justice for an innocent filly. I may die, I will not deny that possibility. If I return, I will tell you whatever you want. I will do whatever you want. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll have the courage to say I love you to your face. Signed, Prince Blueblood DeMarco Regitas.” 


Rarity placed the note down, the sheets of paper fluttering out of her telekinetic grasp. 
“…Idiot.” 
“Huh?” Twilight cocked her head, glancing worriedly at Rarity, whose expression seemed disturbingly neutral.
“BUCKING IDIOT!!” Rarity screamed, startling Twilight onto her rump.
“If I ever see him again, the first thing I’ll do is punch his handsome face!”
“Uh…”
“Then, I’ll grab him by the throat and force him to kiss me until he turns blue in the face from oxygen asphyxiation!”
“Ok, Rarity,” Twilight said nervously, watching as her friend stood up and began to pace.
“After that, I will drag him by the balls to the nearest bedroom, and I will do the most unspeakable, filthy, depraved things imaginable! And I will make him love it!”
“Rarity, I think you should calm down,” Twilight pleaded. Rarity ignored her, and began making suggestive gestures as she monologued to herself. 
“It won’t even matter where I take him to town! Tartarus, I’ll defile that pert little flank on Princess Celestia’s bed! When I’m done with him, he’ll be my bottom bitch! AND WE’LL LIVE TOGETHER HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!”
“Eep!” Twilight squeaked, flushing bright red in embarrassment. 
“Twilight!” Rarity shouted, spinning around abruptly to point a hoof at her purple pony friend. 
“Yes?!” She cried, startled.
“I am going to need your help cleaning up! I’ve moped long enough, I’m sick of crying! Now, I’m going to convert my sorrow and regret into pure productivity and repressed sexual rage! I refuse to let this chain me down! WHAT SAY YOU?!”
“Aye aye, Ma’am!” Twilight shouted, instinctively snapping a salute.
“Mark my words, Twilight, this is not the end. Blueblood will be mine!” Rarity threw her head back and gave a cackling laugh, the kind a villain would do. Wordlessly, Twilight nodded, offering a silent prayer to Blueblood, wherever he may be.

Azure Flame sneezed, giving himself a short shake to dislodge some annoying blobs of congealed slime from his person.
“Catching a cold, Azzy?” a towering mountain of flesh and muscle inquired, a note of concern in its heavily accented voice. It too was covered in some chunks of pale green goo, but was mostly clean.
“I’m fine, Slim. Just a bit chilled,” Azure assured the coal black Minotaur on his right side. 
“They say in Neighpon, if you sneeze, it’s because someone is talking smack behind your back,” a third voice, from a lanky Donkey on Azure’s left side, said, adding their two bits to the conversation.
“Yo, that’s cray, Creep! Just superstition!” 
“Don’t you avoid black cats like the plague, toss salt over your shoulder when you spill some, and lick ice cream counter clock wise?” the Donkey retorted, rolling his eyes. 
“Well, that’s…!” the Minotaur spluttered.
“You know, we could stand here chatting, or we could, you know, find a place to clean up?” Azure interrupted, telekinetically wiping off some slime. He moved out of the abandoned warehouse zone near the river docks they’d recently been in, and the others followed behind.
The first of Azure Flames companions was a massive Minotaur, with coal black fur, beady green eyes, and his hooves and horns dark grey in color. Shadow Horn, AKA Slim Shady, an aspiring DJ, had literally run into Azure Flame in the city-state of Germaneigh, while trying to flee some angry creditors. Some bits later, and Azure Flame had paid off the loan sharks, saving the Minotaur from a life of slavery, and resulting in a Life-Oath bound DJ who refused to leave him alone. Even after learning the Canterlot Unicorn was seeking Black Phoenix, Slim desired to help. 
The second joining member of the group was new by only a few days; Creepy Crawly, a perhaps aptly named young Donkey who exuded a semi-magical aura that caused discomfort. He had the usual dark brown coat of most Donkey’s though his mane and tail were the color of iron, and slicked back with copious amounts of styling gel. An ex-hitpony of the Bitalian Mafia Family the Bologna, Creepy had ended up being hired to eliminate the pony who was nosing around various illegal dealings of theirs. 	Unfortunately for the Bologna Family,  Azure Flame ended up uncovering their deals with Black Phoenix, and Creepy had turned on his former employers, siding with the stallion who wanted revenge just as much as he. However, Creepy refused to tell Azure and Slim just why he was just as dedicated, if not more so, to carving his way through Black Phoenix and their allies. 
So that was his crew. A Minotaur DJ with a bit too much helpfulness, and an ex-Mafioso who made others uncomfortable with his very presence. Azure Flame wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not for the future.
“So, any reason you neglected to mention Oozes were living under the city?” Azure eventually asked Creepy. The Donkey was the only one of them who had not gotten splattered with exploding monster juices, mostly due to him using Flint-lock pistols from a distance.
“I thought we’d be keeping away from their territory! They only live in the Catacombs, they should not be this close to the surface!”
“You mean the sewers,” Slim muttered, Creepy rolling his eyes.
“Yes, we may have converted the old Roaman Catacombs into a sewer-system, but hey, calling them the Catacombs lets the Bitaly Tourist Board charge for admission!”
“Money grubbing policies aside, should we warn anyone about this?” Azure inquired, lending some helping telekinesis to Slim by pulling off the rest of the slime coating him.
“Nah, we wiped out that nest, they should take the hint and stay away for a while now. Still, now we know why that chump Noble disappeared; he didn’t heed his tour guide’s warnings and went off alone, only to be dissolved in the belly on an Ooze.” Indeed, all that was left of the wayward Pony was a skull and a soggy top-hat. 
The trio had been investigating the rumors of a Noble’s disappearance a week back; he’d been on a tour when the group lost him, and though no one had claimed responsibility, tavern and dive bar rumors had spoken that he’d gotten on Black Phoenix’s bad side. Investigation on Azure and Slim’s part had ended up with them toppling a Mafia Family and adding a new member to their motley crew. And to think, only three weeks had passed since Azure Flame had fled from Canterlot. Time flies when one is hunting a secretive revolutionary cell.
“So, what next?” Slim asked. 
“I think Prance is our next stop. I’ve heard a lot of things about that place from a friend of mine, and if anything, it seems the Nobility there have a strangle hold on everything. Thus, it may be a good place to investigate anti-nobility factions,” Azure Flame suggested.
“Yeah, Prance may be called the City of Love, but the side you see is the part they let you see. There’s a lotta darkness in that city beneath the glitz and neon lights,” Creepy said.
“Alright! Off to Prance!” Slim cheered, earning a few looks from passing tourists.
“Indeed, off to Prance,” Azure muttered, mentally preparing for whatever he’d encounter there. “And hopefully, off to uncover the Phoenix’s nest.”