80 - Return to Light
There was a question that needed an answer. "Why does he persist?"
"I have little better to do." Tirek smirked faintly, eyes resting on the priest and the alicorn that guided him.
Celestia inclined her head towards the prisoner. "What would you prefer? Death? There can be no growth there, though there may yet be none to be had." She started towards the exit. "There are advantages."
Gregor was quick to take the chance to be away from the foul creature, putting Tirek out of his sight in favor of Celestia. "Advantages?"
"There was a time when he did escape, but even he, as terrible as he is, did not bring direct death, though he had me at his mercy. It allowed our defenders time to act against him, and order was returned." She was moving for the exit at a light trot. "Though his reasons for mercy are far different than ours."
"I should imagine..." He watched as she applied her magic to the inside of the door, where it was smooth, but it opened all the same, slowly swinging outwards with the slow grind of stone on stone. "I thank you, for this token of trust."
"You are quite welcome. Come, let us away from this dreary place." She stepped forward into the light, her pelt shimmering in the brilliance as she turned and watched him.
He had little reason to argue that idea and they were both well away, soaring through the air.
Spike rocked on his feet, watching the room, and the guard. Gregor's guard had remained largely still, waiting patiently when not taking a snack from the still-full table. "So..." Spike worried his fingers, trying to think of something to say. "(Hello.)"
"(Hello,)" replied the guard with a nod. "(Is the Father alright? Where did they go?)"
Spike frowned, trying to sift through the words. "Gregor (good)." He was with Celestia, he doubted much bad could happen to him. "Spike." He hiked a thumb at himself. "(You?)" He pointed at the guard.
The guard seemed to notice at that point how limited Spike's understanding was, and the conversation stalled out into sullen silence, broken with soft chewing sounds when he dared another snack.
Spike snapped his fingers. "(Rest?)" He could lead the guard somewhere to rest, he figured.
"(No.)" The guard held up a hand in refusal, apparently content to remain there. "(Thank you.)"
There was very little for Spike to do with him, he decided. Still, there were things to be done. Spike stepped from the room. "Make sure he's taken care of." He hiked a thumb back at the one he was leaving behind, looking between the guards posted at the room.
They nodded with firm looks on their faces. He had passed the bit onwards. Satisfied, Spike strode away from the room, looking for particular ponies.
"Rare to see you away from your better half."
Spike jumped, turning mid air to come down facing Blueblood. "Oh! Hey."
"Hey yourself." He raised a brow lightly. "Is Princess Twilight nearby?"
"Nah, just me today." He held up his hands a moment. "Actually, you may be a pony I was looking for."
"Mmm? You have roused my curiosity. What have you in mind?"
"It's about the humans."
Blue leaned in all the closer, eyes on Spike firmly.
"Well... you know royal laws, right?" He lifted his shoulders lightly. "I was hoping to check something."
"A royal law that may involve the humans?" Blue sat on his haunches, eyes on Spike. "Go on..."
"If a creature were born between a pony and a human in a royally acknowledged wedding of a royal family, would that creature, even if they weren't a pony, be a pony royal or not?" He flexed and counted on his fingers as he spoke, making sure he hit all the salient points in the question as he went.
"Are they royal due to the pony, or the human?" He swayed a hoof to the left, then the right as he spoke of the two possibilities.
"Um, well, noble human, royal pony family, but common mother." Spike ended up with three fingers extended then held up his hand to display them. "How would that work?"
Blue's brows furrowed with some confusion. "I must ask how a common mother and a noble human came to be a royal pony family. Without that, your question remains unanswered."
"Fair... Alright, so, Twilight got in a herd--"
Blue jerked back. "A herd? How... backwards... And the common mother and the noble human are members of this herd, I presume?"
"Yeah, exactly." Spike nodded firmly. "So you have a royal herd and a noble, but not pony, father. What's the foal?"
"First... you have a strange but politically staggering event." He rolled a hoof in the air. "Proof that humans and ponies can come together in... that way. But that is not what you are asking. Being a direct child of the noble, there can be little room to deny them their title of nobility." He inclined his head faintly. "That will surely arouse concern among his family, hopefully with a good ending."
"Right, okay, so at least noble." He gestured broadly across the hallway. "But what about the pony half of things? He and she are at least quasi-royal because of the herd, right? Tell me if I'm wrong here, I'm still getting the hang of this."
He put a hoof on Spike's shoulder. "Thank you for approaching me with this. I confess, I thought you may have thought ill of me, considering the actions of your friend."
Spike blinked at that. "Which friend?"
"Rarity?" He lifted his shoulders softly. "She is your friend, is she not?"
"Yeah! Yeah, of course... What about her?" He smiled brightly, trying to hide any feelings he was having with moderate success.
"We had an unkind meeting when she came to the Grand Galloping Gala. You were there, if I recall. Do you not--"
"--oh yeah!" he cut in loudly. "I remember that. That was... a mess... Uh, anyway, no..." That had knocked Blueblood out of the running for his dear Rarity's heart. A positive, in his book. "It's alright. So, the foal?"
"Would be Princess Twilight's child," he declared with a soft nod. "I should imagine she will accept this without even a thought, and if that is the case, few could argue it. The child then would be royalty, so long as Princess Twilight remained a princess, or in the event she bequeathed her title to the child."
"Woah, cool..." Spike clapped his hands with a big smile. "Alright, that makes sense. Thank you for the answer."
"You are quite welcome. Tell me... You seem to have a slightly different baring than before. Has something happened?" He was studying Spike intently, watching for all the subtle clues.
"Oh yeah!" He hiked a thumb at himself. "You're looking at Squire Spike Sparkle, in training beneath Laud Mountbatten of the house of Hawkwood." He snapped his heels together, taking a formal standing pose. "In training, but learning."
"A squire? It's been some time since last I encountered one of those who wasn't using the title in jest..." A brow slowly raised. "You aren't using it in jest, I do hope?"
"Nope! Completely serious. I'm here on a mission actually, but it's on a bit of a break right now."
Blue's horn glowed as he grabbed a broom from inside a closet that had been closed a moment beforehand. "Have you been practicing the old arts?"
Spike's eyes followed the broom as it approached. "Which old arts?"
Blue suddenly swung the broom at Spike, but the dragon ducked under the swing. "Those." He jabbed and thrust at Spike, forcing him to dodge and parry with a swat of his hand. "You have been! What a delight!"
Spike grabbed the broom suddenly, arresting its movement. "That's enough of that."
The magic around the broom faded, leaving him holding it. Blue was smiling in what seemed to be a genuine way. "A pleasure to meet someone who knows those. We simply must spar some time. I thought I would die of old age without ever having crossed blades with another."
Spike blinked rapidly. "Oh! Well, wow... You know how to use a sword?"
"I was trained as a foal," he explained with a cocky smile on his face. "But the occasions to make real use of it are quite slender."
"You should have asked Laud! He's amazing, and the one that's teaching me." Spike pointed in the general direction of Ponyville. "He'd love new sparring partners."
"I did spy the blade at his hip, but he was a foreign dignitary... Hardly the proper sport to offer a challenge to." Blue coughed softly into a hoof. "Unlike you. We've known one another for some time, even if our social circles only rarely touched through your elder sister's relation with Celestia."
"There is that... Anyway, I'm still in training. I don't want to make Laud look bad by not giving a good show." He lifted his shoulders a little. "Maybe when I'm done?"
"Come now... It would be a private thing, between us. Perhaps you would learn something." He turned away, but looked over his shoulder. "Come with me, we can both take up a practice blade and show the guards how it's done. Poor things only know how to use spears, and not very well from what I've seen."
Spike raised a lone finger. "Uh, how is it private if we're showing the guards?" Despite that, he was following after Blue, weaving through the corridors.
"The guards hardly count. They don't gossip as a rule, and they know little of the formalities involved." Blue cantered suddenly in place before resuming his trot. "I can't wait!"
Celestia did not return to the same sitting room, instead gently landing on a balcony that led to a different room. "I apologize if this caused any undue worry. I would not have allowed harm to befall you."
He slid down from her back, his feet back on a solid surface where he preferred. "Thank you... This was enlightening. I have a better view of your people." He was still struggling to put it all together, still sifting through things, but that he was touched, he felt certain. "I have another question."
"Hm?" She was watching him with a gentle attention, ears perked at him.
"You have shown me how you handle your demons, but what of your own who stray from the path?" He certainly had seen no jails in Ponyville, or anywhere else just yet. "How are they handled?"
Celestia stepped into the room, her metal shoes striking the ground in the cadence of a slow walk. "For those not so vile as to require such a far removal, they are kept closer. If they have not strayed so far, they need to be brought back, shown... light, as you would have it. They must be shown the light and brought back into it. To throw them fully into darkness would be a disservice, to them, and to us."
"Hm..." It was a delightfully idealist way to go about it. It clearly worked well enough... for the kingdom. Spread across an entire world... The entire universe... Could such a thing work? Wouldn't be nice if it could...? "I have much to consider." He placed the fingers of one hand to the fingers of the other, nodding towards Celestia. "Pray allow me the time to do that."
"Of course." She gestured across the room that was her bedroom. "Go and be at ease. You may stay here, if you prefer, or inquire of Spike. He knows the city well and will gladly direct you."
"He has been nothing but polite." Gregor made his way towards the door Celestia had gestured towards. He felt he should say more, but he had too many thoughts to sift through. "Thank you."
Celestia watched him go as she settled on her own bed. "That went reasonably."
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You know, that’s a fair point actually.
Altogether a really nice chapter. Blueblood's interaction with Spike was a treat. Hopefully, Spike accounts himself beautifully in the spar. Gregor does indeed have a lot to think about and hopefully it comes down in Equestria's favor.
Oh look, one of those reasonable Blue Bloods! What a pleasant surprise. Unless he's already been introduced and I've simply forgotten, that does tend to happen...
I would like to also chime in with my support for this representation of Blueblood. With that brief scene, you've introduced a character who I hope we see again.
Here's hoping no one misinterprets it.
Tell that to cozy glow Luna punted her strait to Tartarus right next to Tirek
Gregors mind has been alterd by the situation, so the problem his boss has now is what to do with him, apart from excommunication and quarentine by assigning permanetly to Equestria?
9662237
Considering equestria they'll, dunno, play checkers with him. It's Spike, those guards likely saw him in diapers.
9662258
Well never was stated Cozy was there for good, not all prisoners in maximum security are lifers.
9662258
Cozy Glow didn't so much 'stray from the path' as gleefully jump off the moral event horizon while squeeling 'weeeeeeeeeee!'.
9662237
Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?
9662613
what?
*snrk* That is, without a doubt, the best reason for Spike not hating Blueblood I have ever read.
Looking forward to their spar. Blueblood is likely to win due to experience, but if it means those two bonding... wow, that makes me realize how few fics have Spike and Blueblood interacting on friendly terms. Now I really want to see those two bond.
I'm not trusting Blueblood yet, but I'm not exactly distrusting him either. I'm interested in where this is going though. Spike just handed him insider information. Everyone probably would have known it eventually any, but Blueblood now knows it much sooner. That's a win in politics and business.
Huh, Gregor didn't inquire about the whole "raises the Sun" thing.
Interesting. Spike unwittingly divulged priveleged information. Let's hope Blueblood holds his confidence. Herd dynamics are fun all around!
Beware, Gregor! The ponies are infecting your sensibilities! Embrace Harmony!
Wonder what they'll think of the spar? Such a spectacle isn't seen in Canterlot much, we presume...
Keep going! ;)
9662673
Just a example of a order being misinterpreted (and me posting before thinking)
Now I want to see Blueblood and Laud soar.