Azure Flame

by Silver Page

Ambush!

‘Today has been an odd day,’ Rarity thought to herself. ‘Somewhere along the road, things went crazy. For the life of me, I can’t figure out when.’

It was remarkable she could still hear herself think that thought, amidst the thunderous other emotions and thoughts in her head at the moment.

‘Who cares how odd it was! That skank’s hugging Blueblood!’

‘That skank is Twilight, you vile Unicorn!’

‘Well you just called yourself a vile Unicorn! You have no room to talk!’

‘Shut up!’

‘You shut up!’

‘…Blueblood looks hot when he’s scared…’ A third voice in her head muttered.

‘Be quiet Lusty Rarity!’ Rude Rarity and Rational Rarity shouted at the third persona.

“So, are we interrupting anything?” Rainbow Dash asked, breaking the awkward silence that had formed after she and the others had found Twilight and Blueblood hugging passionately.

Somehow, though, her question brought even more awkwardness to the group, and Twilight threw Blueblood off of her in her shock and embarrassment. Literally. She threw Blueblood away with her magic, resulting in him ending up in an undignified heap on the hospital floor.

They all winced at the sight, though a voice in Rarity’s head went,

‘He looks hot even in a disheveled mess...’

‘Shut up, Lusty Rarity!’

“Um, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked timidly, peeking out of her hair at Blueblood’s groaning form.

“I’m fine, thanks for your concern,” Blueblood said, and he rolled over onto his feet, a bit woozily.

“So, what exactly were you two doing?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow at Twilight, and suppressing a strange sense of jealousy.

“Nothing!” Twilight said hastily, blushing and shaking her head. None of her friends believed her for a second, but decided to drop the attack on her. Rarity turned her head to give Blueblood a scathing look.

“And what were you doing, Prince Blueblood?” Rarity inquired, her voice somehow sounding both sweet and bowel clenchingly terrifying at once. One of her many gifts, Blueblood guessed, as he shivered from her gaze.

“Nothing,” he said, much more subdued, and he looked away, unable to meet the eyes of his beloved.

“Ah’m not calling ya’ll liars,” Applejack started, placing a hoof in front of Rarity, in case she needed to hold back the white Unicorn, “but if ya hurt Twilight we’ll be having words, prince or not.”

“Oh course, Miss Applejack,” Blueblood said with a gulp.

“Well, now that all that silly unpleasantness is done, let’s go back and finish the party!” Pinkie exclaimed, and began to bounce away, back towards the laughs and noise. The others just looked at her with an expression of bewilderment.

“Well there can’t be a party without the hosts, can there?” Pinkie asked, then stopped as an idea hit her. “Or could there be? If I could figure out a way to have people throw their own parties, then I could plan even more events! Of course, I’d need more tubas and banjos, and everyone would have to wear GPS monitoring devices so they don’t ditch their duties…”

The others looked at each other over the party pony’s antics, and shrugged as one.

“Pinkie,” they sighed, rolling their eyes.

Their moment of introspection was interrupted by a loud crashing, and sudden screams of fear from the party site.

A few minutes earlier…

Bouncing Ball was having the time of her life! She’d never had a real party before, and she’d never gotten to know a lot of the other patients. Now, thanks to Prince Blueblood, both had happened! Even when the party ended, she’d have memories and mementoes of it all. A squee of happiness was building in her, but she dutifully held it in.

She saw her parents talking with Real Medicine. They both had smiles on their faces, and Bouncing smiled as well. Her parents didn’t smile so often anymore, and it had been a while since she’d seen them do so with sincerity. Thinking that, Bouncing Ball walked on and looked around at all the smiling faces of the guests.

Old Wobbly, who had a debilitating bone problem, was joking and laughing with some foals, regaling them of his exploits as a jokester. Miss Blazing Wonderful from the Old Homes and Assisted Living part of the hospital was chatting away with a bunch of pegasi who were eagerly listening to her talk about her time as the Wonderbolt Captain. Over by the punch table, little Running Around was grinning the biggest grin Bouncing had ever seen him with, and he was chatting with one of the nurses about his stamp collection.

Ponies who never got much attention or visitors were making friends with other patients and guests, and Bouncing Ball was certain that even after tonight, a lot of the newly formed bonds would stay strong. The thought that this had all happened because she’d written a letter made the little filly tingly with joy. Or maybe she just had to pee after drinking too much juice. Either way, it was a good night. And it could only get better!

An explosion of glass shards and the flailing bodies of four Royal Guards disrupted the party, and the sounds of shattering glass and bones, along with cries of pain drowned out the happy going attitude of the event.

Eyes full of fear, the party goers looked to the smashed remains of the door, to see a trio of ponies stalk in through the wreckage.

The first was a huge, burly Earth Pony, his coppery colored coat rippling with muscles and covered in brutal, vicious scars. His mane and tail were a dull grey, like iron. His eyes were hard, and he looked around the room with a disgusted look on his face. Custom made horse shoes were on his hooves, clearly designed for combat. They were thick steel monstrosities, and dotted with spiked studs that would inflict serious injury. His Cutie Mark was a hammer smashing a rock into pieces.

The second was a crimson coated Pegasus mare, who wore pale grey armor over her torso and flank. Her mane and tail were a lighter shade of red, almost pink, but not quite. No visible wounds on her, but her eyes had a haunted look about them as she looked over the trembling party guests. The glint of metal could be seen from within her feathers, and it was obvious to some that this one had wing blades hidden on her. Her Cutie Mark was partially obscured by the armor, but what could be seen was a blue tear drop.

The third and final member of the assailants was a Unicorn, who was by far the most terrifying. His coat and mane were both the color of black tar, and his eyes were a startling red. He carried himself with a hunched gait, as if he was crippled in some way, and his eyes were just as hate filled as the Earth Pony’s, but also carried a reflection of trauma like the Pegasus’. His Cutie Mark was an empty bottle of ink. Somehow, it seemed fitting.

“Listen up! I’m only going to say this once! Stay where you are and no one gets hurt! You are now our hostages, and any attempts to flee will earn you a savage beating for yourself and your comrades! AM I UNDERSTOOD?!” The Earth Pony bellowed, and the patients and attendees fell to the floor, shaking in terror.

“I’ll take your fear as a ‘Yes’, then,” the massive stallion grunted, and the black Unicorn stepped forth. A brown aura encased his horn, and soon the door was barred with a magical field, as were all the windows. This done, he turned his magic against the doors near the party hall, and closed them off, one by one. A bit exhausted from this endeavor, he didn’t notice a small baby dragon crawl into a cabinet with a piece of paper and a pen. Finished, he stepped aside to allow the red Pegasus closer.

“We are here for one person. Do you understand? Only one of you has to die tonight! So tell us… where is Prince Blueblood?” The mare demanded, raking her gaze across everyone. None of them moved, or spoke up.

“We don’t have all night! Where is he?!” She demanded, stepping close to one of the adults.

All the excitement was too much for her. Bouncing Ball felt the tingling sensation inside of her build and burst forth in a wave of pain! She cried out, and began to convulse on the floor! One of the nurses shouted out in fear, along with her parents, and tried to get up to help her, but the Earth Pony pinned them back to the floor with his hooves.

“I thought I said not to move?” He growled, but the nurse just struggled harder.

“She’s suffering an attack! She needs her medicine or she’ll die!” She pleaded, trying to get to the crying young filly.

“Then tell us where Prince Blueblood is, and you can save her,” the Unicorn said, his voice a raspy whisper.

She paused, clearly torn between loyalty to the Crown, and loyalty to her patient. Thankfully she didn’t have to choose.

“I’m right here, you bastards!” Every pony in the room turned at the sound of the voice, and saw Prince Blueblood standing firm in face of the three terrorists, the Elements of Harmony behind him. His expression was furious, and even the trio of attackers were taken aback by the fury and hate in his eyes.

“What do you want?” Blueblood demanded, staring them down.

Comments

[Frankie2]

Somepony is going to die this night. Somepony else is going to be at death's door. I am just not sure who.

[Charzoid]

Its time for prince blueblood to bust some heads! Its a good thing their in a hospital already. I'll get the popcorn for this.

[The-voice-of-the-dragon]

Ibet you didnot know this was an option