The Changelings Have a King

by Jade Ring

Chapter 19: The Night of the Memorial, Part III - A Matter of Family

Sweet Apple Acres

Those close to the Apple Family (which is just another way of saying most of Ponyville) had retired to the farmhouse for glasses of special spiced cider. The house was filled with small talk and occasional bursts of laughter or crying. The survivors of the Battle of Ponyville toasted the lost and the living.

Applejack stood beside the stairs that led to the house’s upper level. Her eyes were focused on Cranky and Matilda. The mules were holding each other, minding the various bandages that covered the multitude of injuries they had sustained in the fighting.

They were standing in the kitchen, on the spot where Applebloom had died. The house had been cleaned, the blood scrubbed away, but it was still there, plain as day, in Applejack’s eyes.

“AJ?” Her brother’s baritone made Applejack turn her head. The red stallion was looking at her with concern with his one good eye. He fiddled with his new leather eye patch absentmindedly. “You okay?”

She forced a smile. “Yeah. As okay as I can be, I guess.” She nodded at his new accessory. “How’s that workin’ out for you?”

“Not bad. Fluttershy thinks it’s handsome.” He grimaced as his hoof touched his newly formed scars. “Not so sure about these.”

“You show me a mare not drawn to a battle scarred hero and I’ll show you a liar.” Applejack adjusted herself so less pressure was on her own hoof, now sealed in a cast. “Ya’ll still meetin’ with that mare from the Home tomorrow?”

“Eeyup.” Macintosh found Fluttershy on the opposite side of the room. “Those new little ponies need homes. I reckon we could give that to at least one of 'em.”

“It’ll be good.” Applejack began to stare at the mules in the kitchen once again. “Have another filly in the house.”

Macintosh caught his sister’s tone and gave her a reproachful look. “Don’t be like that, AJ. She was my sister too. We ain’t tryin’ to replace her.”

Applejack sighed and stared at the floor. “Aw, shoot bro. I know that. Just hurtin’ still. It’s like…” Her breath caught in her throat. “It’s like Ma and Pa all over again.”

Macintosh pulled his little sister close and hugged her. “We’ll be alright, sis. We’ll remember Applebloom just like we remember them. Always.”

Applejack returned the hug and held back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. “I know, bro. I know.” She pulled out of the hug and gestured up the stairs. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay early. Want me to look in on Scarlet?”

“Would ya mind?” He rubbed the back of his head after she shook her head. “Will Dash, uh, be joinin’ you tonight?”

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at how uncomfortable her big, strong brother became when the subject of her marefriend came up. “If she wants to come up, let her come up. But tell her not to wake me up.”

Mac smiled and nodded.

Applejack climbed the stairs, leaving behind the ambient noise of the memorial below. She cracked the door to Scarlet’s nursery and poked her head inside. The little filly was snoozing peacefully, bathed in moonlight. Applejack smiled and made to leave.

There was somepony else in the room.

Applejack pushed the door wide and went to cry out and raise the alarm…

“Hold, Applejack.”

The familiar voice made the mare freeze. She peered into the darkness until her eyes adjusted. The tall mare in the room suddenly became crystal clear. “Princess Luna?”

The Goddess of the Moon nodded in greeting. She stepped out of the shadows and looked down at the sleeping foal. “She is adorable. I love my son, but I must confess jealousy at not having my own little princess.”

Applejack stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “What in tarnation are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to offer my condolences to you personally. Applebloom was a wonderful mare. It wasn’t long ago that she and her friends came to me seeking aid with a certain dream related problem.” She ran a hoof down Scarlet’s mane. “Did you know that it was Scootaloo who gave me Moon Shadow’s name?”

“I appreciate it, but I got the envoy from Cele… from Princess Celestia already. She explained the whole deal about why ya’ll were MIA during the battle.” She leaned back on the door. “Why else did you come?”

Luna smiled. “I will speak plainly, then. As a great aunt to her niece.”

Applejack started and stared at the princess. “How do you…?”

“The birth of Eden Apple is a matter of record, though not a public one. Did you think that I would not learn everything about my sister’s actions during my banishment?”

Applejack laughed quietly. “I guess it would make sense that you would know.” She offered a humorless smirk. “Ya gonna talk down to me too? Call me a bumpkin?”

“I cannot speak of my sister’s actions. All I know is that you are blood of my blood, Applejack Apple. You, and your family, are as much a part of the Royal Family as my sister and myself. That entitles you to take part in certain traditions.”

“Heh. Thanks, but no thanks.” She gestured at the window. “You can go now. We ain’t royalty and we don’t want no part of no royal traditions.”

“Even if it means striking back against the one responsible for your sister’s death?”

Applejack froze once again. “…I’m listening.”

Luna left the crib and stood beside the window. “It was Blueblood who spawned the beasts who killed your sister, Applejack. And it was Blueblood who killed my husband.”

“Husband?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I only heard that ya’ll lost two ponies. Who was yer husband?”

“Shining Armor.”

Applejack snorted. “Uh, sorry, but the last time I checked he was married to Cadance. I was at the weddin’ and everythin.’”

Luna stared at her with no humor in her eyes.

“Oh. Oh wow. Yer serious.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “I knew you royals were messed up, but geez…”

“I came here for judgment, Applejack, but not from you on the matter of my marriage.” The window flew open with a gesture of her hooves. “In the old days, before my banishment, the committing of a crime against any member of the Royal Family was considered the gravest of offenses. If we deemed the crime egregious enough, we were permitted to carry out judgment and sentencing ourselves.” She looked out at the full moon. “Blueblood’s crimes are abominable. As a member of the Royal Family, I extend to you the offer of joining me in passing judgment upon him.”

“Me? Wouldn’t Cadance have more of a right than me? Or Celestia?”

“My sister, for whatever reason, has softened over the years. She would be more than happy to let Blueblood rot in the dungeons for the rest of his life. And Cadance… well, that situation is complicated. I think it would be best if she were left out of this.”

“What about Twilight?”

Now it was Luna’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah. That was stupid. She’d side with Celestia.” She huffed as she began to pace. “Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, Luna, but it don’t feel right. I’m not the only one who lost somepony at his hooves. Hay, I reckon Rarity has more of a right than I do, losin’ Spike and all.”

“Rarity has already been damaged to the point of total destruction by Blueblood’s actions. What I have in mind for Blueblood would surely send her into an abyss from which she would never return.”

“So why are you offerin’ it to me then?”

“Because I know you can take it.” Luna stepped closer and drew to her full height. “I sense in you the same strength and magic that flows through my sister and me… but I sense something else, too. I know that you have the stomach to do what must be done and the strength to not let it destroy you. I’m offering you the opportunity to act as an avatar of justice. Not just for your sister, but for all those you love who lost somepony in that battle. You have the strength to do what must be done, to stain your hooves, so they will not have to.”

Applejack considered her words carefully. She thought about the little filly sleeping nearby. She thought about her brother, his scarred face and his missing eye. She thought about the rows of bodies waiting to be buried. She thought of the piles of bones still waiting to be identified. She thought of the screams and cries of the Cake Twins when they’d been told of their father’s death. She thought about the dead look in Rarity’s eyes during the funeral. She thought about how heavy her baby sister’s body bad become the instant after she breathed her last.

She thought about the mocking smile on the face of the Changeling King as he looked out on her fellow ponies just before the slaughter began.

She took a deep breath, removed her Stetson, and hung it on a nearby chiffarobe. She stared into Luna’s eyes. “Where is he?”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Canterlot Castle

Prince Blueblood blew a strand of filthy mane out of his face and glared at the guard leading him deeper into the dungeons. “I expected a trip to the showers before my incarceration.”

The Royal Guard called Flail didn’t bother looking back. “There’ll be a bucket in your cell.”

Blueblood snorted. He spared a look back at the guards following closely behind.

They both glared back at him.

Blueblood winked and tried to light his horn. The silver ring wrapped around the bone buzzed as it blocked the magic. Blueblood made a show of pouting before turning his eyes forward. “So are you three more upset that I magically mind controlled you… or that I killed your former captain?”

The guards said nothing.

“He died a fool, you know. Lived a fool, died a fool…”

“He was five times the stallion you are!” One of the rear guards snapped.

“Can it, Mace!” Flail shouted back. “Don’t give this scum the satisfaction.”

They trotted in silence for a few more minutes before arriving outside a heavy wooden door. A white Pegasus mare in armor stood beside it.

“Captain Haze!” Flail snapped to attention and saluted.

Golden Haze returned the salute and turned her attention to Blueblood. “I’ve come with a message from Princess Celestia.”

“Is it the date of my trial? I’d like to see my lawyer at once.”

Haze ignored the remark. “By order of Princess Celestia of Equestria, Goddess of the Sun and Chief Ruler of this Kingdom, you are hereby stripped of your title of Prince. Your lands, your manor, your possessions, and anything else that you have been given while under the protection of her Majesty is now forfeit. Her Majesty officially denounces you and disowns you as her adopted nephew. Your name will be burned from the family tree and you will be remembered as what you are; a traitor and a murderer.”

“Do you think I care?” Blueblood sneered. “I was a king. And while it may take a while, I will be king again. It’s only a matter of time.”

Haze pushed the cell door open and gestured to the guards. The trio walked him in and slammed the door shut behind him.

Blueblood heard the clicking of a heavy padlock and reached for the magic nullifier. It sparked at his hoof and he retracted it with a grimace. No matter. It would take time, but he would find a way to remove it. And then he would make them all pay…

He was not alone.

Blueblood rolled his eyes at the pony standing beside the room’s lone cot. “They couldn’t even give me my own cell?”

Applejack narrowed her eyes as she stepped into the light. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

Blueblood peered at her. Her face was familiar. “Aha!” A lightbulb went off in his mind. “You’re that mare from Ponyville. The one who stirred the others into a tizzy.” He smirked. “That worked out wonderfully for you, didn’t it?”

“We beat you, didn’t we?” Applejack’s heart was beating in her ears as she took in the filthy stallion who had caused so much pain and destruction. “Don’t you feel any regret at all for what you did?”

“Of course I do.” Blueblood took a step towards her. “I regret not killing you all sooner.”

Applejack reared back and decked the stallion as hard as she could with her uninjured hoof.

He stumbled but did not fall. He grinned at her again. “You lost somepony, didn’t you? And now you’ve paid off someone to get a few licks in as payback. That’s fine, but I’ll tell you a secret; I’ve spent the past forty eight hours getting beaten up by stallions twice your size. If you want to hurt me, you’ll have to try a little haRRRGH!” Applejack’s back legs shot out, the impact sending Blueblood into the wooden door. Before he could recover, Applejack ran over to him and sank her teeth into the scruff of his neck. She bit as hard as she could and relished the pained gasp that came from him. The muscles in her neck strained as she hefted him across the room. He crashed into the cot and rolled onto the cold stone floor, groaning in pain.

Applejack cracked her neck as she slowly walked over to him. “Yes, I lost somepony. So did everypony in my town. I’m here for all of them. I know all their names and all the names of those they lost. And, by the time we’re done here, I reckon you’ll know their names too.” She sent her cast-encased hoof into his stomach and pushed him onto his stomach as he coughed from the punch. She placed the hoof over his back leg, paying no mind to the pain. “This is from Twilight Sparkle, for her brothers.” She pushed down as hard as she could and grinned savagely at the sound of bones breaking.

Blueblood screamed.

She placed the hoof over his other back leg. “And this is from your good friend Rarity, for Spike.” Again she pressed. Again the bones broke.

Again, he screamed.

She walked around until she was at his front left leg. “From the fillies and colts of Ponyville, for Cheerilee.” Push. Break.

Scream.

She reached his last leg and considered it. “This one’s a two-fer. From the Cake Twins, for their mama Cup.” She pressed and snapped the leg then wrapped her foreleg around it. “And their papa Carrot.” She pulled the leg as hard as she could in the other direction and smiled humorlessly as Blueblood’s screams reached a new pitch.

“P…Please…” He muttered.

“Oh, but we’ve just reached the one that means the most to me.” She stood beside his head and raised her hoof up. She focused that mysterious inner strength and sent as much of it as she could into that hoof and that hoof alone. “This one’s from me, and it’s for Applebloom Apple.”

Blueblood looked up at her with confused eyes. “…Who?”

Applejack cried out in fury and brought her hoof down with all the strength she could muster. Blueblood’s horn snapped in half. The broken end clattered to the floor, sparking uselessly.

Blueblood fainted.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

Blueblood blinked rapidly and took in his surroundings. He was standing in what appeared to be a void. The wind blew around him and whispered into his ear. The pain in his legs and forehead were distant but still very present throbs in his body. He looked around, trying not to panic. “Wh-where am I?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re dreaming, Blueblood.”

The voice of Princess Luna chilled Blueblood more than the rapidly cooling air that surrounded him.

“The dreamscape is a wondrous place, Blueblood. Time has no meaning here. Your dreams can last hours, even days. And anything can happen. The only limits are the limits of your imagination. Do you know what I imagine?”

Blueblood drew back as two huge eyes of white light opened in the darkness before him.

“I imagine such suffering for you.”

A grinning mouth of shockingly white fangs appeared below the eyes. The mouth opened wide and Blueblood screamed as he was drawn into it.

“You took my husband from me, Blueblood. The father of my foal. You have no idea how much pain you have made me feel. How much I have suffered.”

Blueblood cried out as his eyes glued themselves shut. What felt like millions of tiny needles pierced his skin.

“But you will know, before this is over. After all, we have nothing but time…”

Blueblood’s coat burst into flames.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

Blueblood’s eyes shot open and he screamed as the pain in his physical body came rushing back all at once.

“Aw, did you wake up already? I doubt Luna’s even gotten started.”

Blueblood painfully looked over to find the mare fiddling with a length of rope. “Wait…”

“I suppose the polite thing to do in this situation would be to knock you cold again while I finish tying this up. A’course, I could just start on yer ribs instead.” She pushed the rope aside and started towards him again.

“Please!” Blueblood groaned in agony as he tried to pull himself along on his broken legs. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

She planted a hoof on his tail to stop his progress and glared down at him. “Not yet you aren’t. But you will be by the time Luna and I are done with ya.”

Blueblood whimpered as she pushed him over onto his back.

Applejack settled a hoof on his barrel, running it down her ribs. “Let me tell you a little bedtime story before you pass out again.”

“Just kill me!” He cried. “Just end this!”

“And deny Luna her payback? Nah.” She sat beside him and picked a rib. “Now let’s see… a few years back, there was this awful storm…” She started to push.

Blueblood’s voice finally gave out… but not before his rib did.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sweet Apple Acres

Rainbow Dash sat up in Applejack’s bed and looked across the room. A mare with a streak of white in her blonde mane sat at the room’s desk, her attention totally focused on whatever she was going. A lone candle danced beside her. “AJ?”

“Didn’t mean to wake ya, sugar cube.” Applejack didn’t look back.

Dash peered at the clock and rubbed her eyes. “It’s almost dawn. Where have you been?”

“Busy.”

Dash tossed aside the blanket and started flapping towards her marefriend. She drew near and saw that Applejack had a pen in her mouth and was scribbling furiously into what looked like a book…

“DON’T LOOK!” Applejack cried out and slammed the journal shut. She whirled on Dash who drew back in unconscious terror. Applejack’s eyes were wide and blood-shot, like she’d been crying. She looked closer to a nervous wreck than she had the day Applebloom had died.

“Applejack…?”

“THIS DAMNED BOOK!” She turned back to the desk and flung the journal across the room with one swipe of her hoof. “IT’S A DAMNED PARASITE, IS WHAT IT IS! JEST GOTTA KEEP FEEDING IT SECRETS AND FEEDING IT MORE AND… and…” She buried her face in her forelegs and began to shake with deep-chested sobs.

Dash landed behind her and wrapped her in her wings. “It’s okay, Applejack. I promise you, it’s okay…”

“P-promise me one thing, sugar cube.”

“Anything, babe.” Dash was willing to promise to fly to the moon and back if it made Applejack stop crying like she was.

“D-d-don’t ever ask me where I was tonight.” She sobbed again. “Or what I d-did.”

For an instant, Rainbow Dash considered pressing the distraught earth pony for further information. She brushed off the thought and blew out the candle instead. “I promise. Come to bed?”

“Y-yeah.” Applejack stood on shaky hooves and allowed herself to be drawn to bed. “Will you just hold me? For a little while?”

Dash smiled, trying to perish the uneasy feeling in the back of her mind. “Of course I can. I’m Rainbow Dash.” She pulled the covers over them and pulled the farmer tight against her. “I can do anything.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Canterlot Castle

Princess Celestia watched the rising sun and reckoned with how useless she felt now that the great ball of fire was moving all on its own. She sipped her coffee and adjusted herself to the newly installed throne. There was something off about the cushioning…

She looked up sharply as Golden Haze floated in and saluted. “News from the dungeons, your Majesty.”

Celestia nodded for her to continue.

“The murderer Blueblood is dead.” She glared downwards, as though she could still see into the miserable wretch’s cell. “The coward hung himself in the night.”

“Indeed? That’s disappointing. Ah well. It is what it is.” Celestia peered into her steaming cup and saw a hazy image. “But it makes me wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

The hazy image of her sister’s grimly satisfied smile formed in the steam of her coffee gave Celestia an involuntary shiver. “Wherever did he get the rope from?”

Comments

[Spiritus Arcane]

Yeah, not gonna shed any tears here. And totally agree with Luna and AJ, despite what they might feel about it. Heck, given Celestia's track record with just locking away threats, Blueblood probably would have escaped and found a way back to power again eventually.

[Vic Fontaine]

I'll admit, I clapped with glee when AJ showed up in Bluebood's cell. And then shivered in fear of just how powerful she might now be. Another damn good entry, sir! :D

[Sabin]

I guess it depends on one's perspective, but for me it's not enough to overtake AJ giving Feather Duster's soul to Belial as the greatest sin in the name of revenge. There might be some other spin Jade might take this but AJ seems to be the most obvious choice for that one little blog prophecy.

[Yami Vizzini]

A pretty dark step for AJ, and I suppose we're supposed to take it as her first stumble down the slope toward whatever being the Terra Queen entails, but between her immediate guilt and everything that Blueblood did, I'm not about to lose any sleep over this.

Luna taking charge here reminded me of how she dealt with another Smug Snake at the end of Darth Link 22's Families- a lot of readers thought that was too brutal as well (and Celestia was later shown to agree), but it was a pretty darn cathartic moment (though looking back at it later it was disturbingly reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange).

Who's left to check in on... Rarity, maybe.*hug*

[Triforce of Doom]

Holy s***! I mean, yeah Blueblood deserved it but holy s***!

[The Great Derpsby]

Torturing your prisoner into suicide makes me lose all respect for the characters, no matter what the prisoner has done.

To that effect, I don't care one bit about Aj or Luna anymore. Or the rest of the stories, for that matter, unless this comes back to bite them, which I strongly doubt. It almost never does.