Just a day in Equestria

by dave89898989

35 - Lover, not a fighter

Outside of the windows of my house, I could see snow all around, covering the hill it was perched upon. It seemed like a long time since we had snow in Ponyville before. I got up from the comfort of my sofa, walked to the kitchen and took a bottle of brandy from the cupboard. I poured a tiny amount into a glass, and drank. It was to warm me up, you understand.

“I was meant to do something...” I said aloud, looking around the house. The Princesses had to be attended to, I recalled. Let’s hope everypony is there, otherwise we’ve got some investigating to do. And in this weather, I’d rather not go exploring uncharted areas in order to find Opare or Aora.

I wrapped the black and white scarf around my neck a little bit tighter, found my old, green-gray coat and put it on, opened the door and stepped out of the house. Shutting the door behind me, I proceeded in trudging through the thick blanket of clear white. Nopony had stepped in this area yet, so I could see the beautiful sparkles. As I walked, the pleasant, satisfying sound of soft crumpling came from underneath my hooves. It was amplified through the silence of the atmosphere, so it warmed my ears. A couple of steps were made on the way to the castle, but I was stopped by something that crashed straight onto me.

“There you are Blue! I missed you so much! Where did you go?” The pony I knew so well had greeted me in...style, and stood up above me, grinning while I looked directly at her.

“Hello, Destiny. It’s been...been a long while.” I wrapped my forelegs around her torso to end my longing for her presence. She was one of my only friends after all.

“Yeah, it’s been like ten years!” my companion joked. “Okay, I remember you telling me we were going on a quest somewhere, right?”

She helped me up, and I shook the snow off. “Turns out we won’t be going far. At least I hope so anyway. I’ll explain what I’ve been through while we make our way to Canterlot castle.”

After telling her everything that happened in those different times and places, we arrived at the destination. Princess Celestia surprisingly, personally greeted us at the gates. “You are finally back here, after all this time! Come in to the castle you two, we have business to attend to.”

The bridge under the river had frozen, the waterfall that it developed into had turned to icicles. Why was it so cold? The snow wouldn’t usually last this long either.

“Princess, did I cause anything bad to happen when I left to the present?” I asked my former semi-student.

“What do you mean?” She asked me, not looking back.
“Think back to when I left you all when you were a teen. I’ve just come back from that.”

“You’ve just come back? But I’ve seen you before recently...”

“It’s a little bit complicated, but I was transported to the past after you told me to go looking for the older Princesses.”

“I understand, I think? Electric Blue, you are one crazy pony,” she said as she giggled. I could only nod to agree.

We trotted through the well-known halls and approached the throne room. She invited me to open the doors, and I did so. At the end of the room, I noticed two other alicorns sitting there. I couldn’t help but gallop towards them, and gracefully hug them both. It was Aora and Opare, in their healthy forms, albeit having slightly greyer manes and coats.

“We stayed, just like you told us to.” Opare told me.

“I am very grateful, I really am,” I complimented them as I smiled.” But surely Celestia and Luna are much happier than I, as you had stuck together as family.”

Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder. “We are very happy. You’ve done me proud, Electric Blue. You fulfilled my task, and so you deserve a reward. I am offering you an official role as one of my personal royal guards, with priority training in the Equestrian military should you accept the offer.”

The times I had in the war flashed in front of me for a few seconds, then vanished. “Military you say? That wouldn’t involve going into the front line or anything, would it?”

“No, of course not,” Celestia assured me. “You won’t be going into any battles at all. You’ll only receive some specialised training from the professional teachers and then you’ll get sent back here. Don’t worry, you’ll be paid for your services under me. You will have customised armour according to what your preference is, too. how does that sound?”

I thought hard for a minute. “I suppose I need the bits, and I suppose I need to brush up on my combat skills too...It’s a very good offer, but I’ll have to think about it, Princess. I’ll write you a letter when I decide.”

The white alicorn slowly nodded with eyes closed. “I can accept that, Blue. Anyway, thank you once again, now we have some catching up to do as family reunited.”

Opare turned her gaze towards me. “I must also thank you for saving me from the ills of my, evil possession all those years ago. Soon after you left, I removed all scrolls that contained dark magic from the castle and returned them to the mages I had trained with. I replaced the chamber with documents of white magic, and began writing my own to restore my faith in my benevolence and peace.”

“That’s very good, Princess,” I said as I gave a cheery grin.

“And also, a young mare named Twilight Sparkle had requested some books from me which I had authored; she mentioned of your name, funnily enough. Remarked that you were a poor soul and needed some support.”

“Oh yes, she is my friend. And by help, I think she means...well, I don’t know what she means. For once I don’t know what somepony means.” Was it with my friendship problems? Nopony except me contemplated that before...

Aora interjected. “We haven’t been introduced yet, Destiny! Pleased to meet you, my descendant. You look very much like me!”

“And you look much like me!” Destiny exclaimed. Those two never seemed to be absolutely serious.

Celestia explained that there were private, princessly matters to attend to shortly after the get-together. I and Destiny understood, and we left them to it. We exited the castle, and returned to Ponyville swiftly. I had the craving for drink again, so we headed to the nearest bar, to Destiny’s surprise. She hadn’t seen me drink before, and remarked upon my new-found addiction. The alcohol was the easy way out for holding my memories, as coming to terms with my past would be difficult on the straight and narrow. I had a shot of gin or two, and Destiny had her usual rapid-cola. She always thought that the terrible product would make her faster than she already is. Wing-rot is what it actually caused, according to the scientists up in Cloudsdale. The naive filly didn’t care much about theories though; she did what she liked, and it didn’t seem to affect her anyway.

“So, Destiny, what exactly did you do to keep yourself occupied while I was away?” I asked my friend sitting opposite me.

She laughed. “Most of the time I spent with Braeburn, of course, but I had a few run-ins with Rainbow Dash when checking up on your return, which was kind of often. We raced a lot, because I was still set on getting into the Wonderbolts academy, and she had recently gotten the opportunity to join. I swore she looked pretty tired after the first few laps, but I didn’t break a sweat,” the white-coated filly boasted.

“You’ve still got your touch then, you fast fool.” I chuckled. “You’ll get into the Wonderbolts, you just gotta...promote yourself, you see? You’ve gotta, gotta show the town your stuff, then they’ll talk about you like the next big hotshot.” Even after a couple of shots, the effect of drunkenness was returning. At least it had made me giddy instead of angry.

“I’ve got to show off? Maybe I should do that sometime. I’ve only really trained away from everypony, but I could do some tricks in front of the townsfolk.” It was as if a lightbulb turned on above Destiny’s head.

I moved on to a different subject. “Hey, about the uh...uh, royal guard position, what do you think about...that?”

“In my opinion,” Destiny paused. “I think you shouldn’t take it. Think about what you’ve been through already... to go back to that is a no-no.”

My body wavered a little bit in my seat. “But, think about the money! I’ll, I’ll be getting loads for just standing around all day.”

My friend frowned. “It shouldn’t be about the bits...Your job should involve doing what you love, and you hated the war, right?”

“Of course I did! But I won’t be going in to action. In my lifetime I’ve never heard reports of attacks on the castle, so it will be pleasant to just, just wander around pretending to defend the place.” My head landed on the table and I watched my hoof swirl around the rim of my shot glass.

“You don’t exactly sound like the Blue I know. I remember you mentioning once to me, that you wanted to be a lover and not a fighter. At the rare event that something might happen against the castle, what are you going to do then?” The black and red haired pony could only argue with better logic than mine at the time.

I stayed silent for a while. Actually, for the most part of the afternoon I didn’t talk to Destiny. I ordered some more gin, gulped it down, and Destiny had to drag me out of the bar because I was getting too intoxicated. A gruff looking colt was having a stare down with me, which would have ended up in a brawl if my companion didn’t get me out of there fast enough. She walked me back home, got me inside the house, and put me down on the bed for me to rest on. She then left after saying something about being disappointed in my decisions.

There was a knock at the door after ten or so minutes. I got up to answer it, after attempting to overcome the obstacles of my trembling legs and double-vision. On the other side of the door was Applejack herself. A quick “Howdy pardner,” and she let herself in.

“Now, ah happened to watch ya from across the bar while I was receivin’ some orders about our drinks production. Ya got mighty tipsy, why is that, Blue? Do ah gotta knock some sense into ya? Ya gotta quit that habit while ya still can!” the pale orange pony consoled me.

“You can’t tell me what to do! I need to drink, it...it helps me cope,” I defended myself.

“Cope with what?” she asked.

“My, my past, of course! It haunts me so much, and drinking myself stupid is the only way to drown out those memories.”

“There’s gotta be another way round that. Ya can come ta terms with yer past by accepting what happened and move on!”

I began to grow angry. “It’s not that...simple, Applejack! I can’t just forget about what went on before; it’s going to stay with me forever!”

She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. “Ya were talkin’ about becomin’ a royal guard too. Do ya think ya have what it takes, huh? From the state ye’re in, ya ain’t gonna cut it.”

“How d-dare you say that! I’m fit and healthy, I’m good in combat. I can take you down right now if I wanted to! I’ve gotten mad enough to!”

I dashed for her, tackling the workpony to the ground. Applejack retaliated by headbutting me, and bucking me away, then getting back up quickly. I went for her again, raising both forelegs at the last second, managing to knock her straight into the wall. The picture frames that hung on the wall fell off altogether, one hitting the blonde mare on the head. She brushed herself off fast, and rushed me, beating me to the ground this time. To the right was a bottle full of whiskey; she promptly smashed it on the floor and threw the glass remains away.

Returning to me, she began laying into me, punching me in the gut with her forehooves repeatedly. I grabbed her neck, and threw her mightily off of me, stood up, then crashed into her with my side at brutal force. It was her turn now, as I was panting for air. She took her hat off and put it to one side, then jumped on to me, all hooves first to smack into my face. A small amount of blood spattered onto the floor. A lamp was nearby; I grabbed it and whacked it across the farm mare’s face, making a gash from the sharp edge of the lamp cover. Applejack manoeuvred it out of my grip and beat my back with it a few times, until the lamp was crippled. She threw it away and pushed me to the wall, pinning me and lifting me up. taking one hoof off of my body, she punched in various places that hurt the most. I kicked my opponent in the chest as hard as I could, winding her, but freeing me. I bucked her in the side, blowing her away, then repeating the process a couple more times.

The house was looking like a bomb had hit it. Papers were now scattered everywhere, blood painted some of the material, furniture was toppled over and stuffing was ripped out. Glass covered the floor, and items were broken and scattered. I and Applejack were still standing though, however both bruised and battered. The light orange pony took a length of rope lying next to her, then quickly lassoed it and threw it around my body, tying my legs up and tripping me over. With a burst of strength, she pulled the rope and tossed me to the other side of the room, slamming me into a corner. I picked up some glass and cut the rope desperately, then charged with the only amount of power I had at Applejack. She was dazed long enough for me to obtain a kitchen knife. I waved it furiously, then tried to attack the workpony. I managed to get a cut here and there, but she disarmed me by biting my foreleg and then twisting it hard.

I staggered backwards, defenseless, but Applejack brought up the opposition and beat me even harder with her hooves, almost crushing or denting my head and body. She stopped after noticing that too much blood and tears were seeping from me.

“Do ya...still think...ya have what it takes...Blue?” the country filly was gasping for air, having defeated me.

I couldn’t reply. I almost felt unconscious. Or worse, even. All I could think of was the company I was leading in the war, how I lost them all, and nearly myself after a huge firefight with the enemy. I was leading part of the rebellion against the New Global Government, and in the final years, I just couldn’t make it to victory. I was a failure in the army’s eyes, and so I turned to doing the bad deeds, going back to my roots of being a bandit and an outlaw and attacking everyone with my newly formed group of evildoers. Glais turned out to be my right hand man, and Rose was in the group too. They both plotted against me to become the leader of the outlaw group, and when I found out, I killed Glais. But Rose killed me after, not Glais. Rose was never on the good side at all, she’d just been acting so I would be none the wiser when she strikes next.

After reliving that flashback, I opened my eyes slowly to see Applejack covered in bandages, and applying some to me. Some of the pain seemed to be gone; she had worked some sort of magic.

“Applejack, I’m sorry-”

The light orange mare interrupted me. “This was just like the first time we met, ya remember? Ya were a rowdy li’l pony who wanted a fight with the whole town, and ah just so happened ta stand up against ya. We fought hard, and ya came out on top, because ya were a fightin’ pony after all. We were friends after that though, because ya said ya needed some! But now, ah can see ya’ve been degraded by the booze, which ain’t good at all. Ya’ll have gotten fatter too, and not the normal fat! Ah’m gonna help fix ya up, ‘cause ya can’t present yerself like this, no sirree.”

“But...how can I just quit the drink if I have to live with these memories all the time?” I asked my carer.

“Ya have got to let go, ya see? Ya aren’t human anymore, ya are a pony just like me, and all the rest of us. Ya don’t have ta worry about that world anymore! This is where ya belong.” She pressed a forehoof very lightly on my cheek.

“I...I wanted to be a lover, not a fighter, you know. I was just plunged into the wrong situation every time. I mean, I was with Fluttershy briefly, but then the gods ruined that moment of happiness for me.”

“The...gods? Who are they, Blue?”

“They are a group of giant human-like creatures with the powers over everything that exists. They somehow managed to slip into this world when they are confined to the human world only. They are all evil, in some way or another, and they like making every living thing’s life a misery.”

“Is there any way ta get rid of ‘em?”

“I’m working on that, since I now know where they come in through my life. Rose is the person connecting the gods to my life, and so I must dispose of her.”

“Whoa there!” Applejack slowed down the flow of conversation. “ah don’t want ya to get rid of anypony now...”

I grew into an angry wonderance. “Why not? Rose has been working behind the scenes, ruining my life throughout the whole course! I can’t just let her keep on breaking my mind!”

“There’s gotta be a way for ya ta level with this Rose character, and violence isn’t the answer,” Applejack said with considerable irony.

I quickly calmed down and introduced Rose to her. “If you think about my friend Destiny, she has a...human handle like me. Rose used to be a god herself, but she lost interest in that business and became somewhat like a normal person. However, the gods had planned this, because they were targeting me for my crimes against humanity, and such.”

“So they needed somepony ta get closer ta ya, is that right?” My orange friend asked.

I nodded to confirm. “Exactly right. And about Glais, as you might remember, he disbanded from the gods too, and he actually worked with me for a time. even if they were evil deeds I was doing, that guy was on my side all along, when we all thought different.”

“We were all fooled!” Applejack exclaimed, looking slightly confused about my situation.

“In a way yes, but I just didn’t have enough information after all. Oh...I think I need a drink now, to clear my head,” I said as I shivered and headed to the kitchen.

The farm pony slid in front of me, stopping access to whatever drinks were kept. “Ya don’t need a drink!” She simply said, then rushed to each cupboard, grabbed every bottle she could find, and smashed the glass, emptying the contents into the sink.

“What are you doing?!” I was distraught from the sight I beheld in front of me. I tried to stop her, but she pushed me away with force each time.

“Ah can’t let you go through what I had to go through too! You have purpose, and this poison is only gonna hurt ya!” I heard a large amount of emotion in that sentence.

“What...what are you trying to say?” I asked, approaching her slowly, as she closed her eyes and finished the rapid movements she was making.

“Oh, ah...ah don’t wanna talk about it...” The stetson rested on her head was forcibly tilted lower, in an attempt to cover her face.