“So Miss Rarity, what d’ya say? Shall we work together?” Fort Knox asked the Element of Generosity with his front hooves crossed, a charming smile on his face. The two of them were enjoying a cup of tea in the cafe near the city hall. “We share a common enemy here; don’t ya wish to end his nonsense schemes and put the prince in his place?”
Rarity finished her drink and looked the stallion up and down with a critical eye before putting her cup down. "Well, Mr. Fort Knox, as much as I agree that a certain petulant prince needs to be taught a lesson, I don't think I can be of any help," she said in a respectful manner.
"Nonsense! Miss Rarity, with your aid, I'm more dan confident dat we can both find the prince’s weakness and exploit it for our common goals," he insisted as his smile grew wider, revealing a golden tooth. The stallion was certainly starting to unsettle Rarity a bit. "Just try to picture dis scenario: the snotty and unfit prince brought to his knees and forced to kiss your hoof anytime he wants to do anythin’. The entire world of Canterlot’s nobility would be opened for youse, and your clothin’ line worn only by the most elite of ponies."
"I’ve already achieved that," Rarity grumbled in irritation.
Undeterred, Fort continued with his sinister tirade. "Dat buffoon would be turned into our personal puppet like he should’ve been from the get-go..." He extended his hoof toward her, and Rarity recoiled slightly at the sight. The pony was charming but insidious, almost like the Devil in disguise. "Doesn't dat sound incredible, lady? All dat and more can be yours, if youse just tell me what secret youse and your friends are hidin’ about our...beloved prince."
Rarity raised an eyebrow, and her thoughts began racing. Her pursed lips slipped down into a frown, and her eyes flashed briefly in anger. "You were spying on us?"
Fort Knox chuckled and pulled his hoof back. "Come on, lady, dere’s no reason for youse to act so surprised, it’s just honest business. And please don't be a hypocrite and tell me dat youse haven't indulged yourself in a bit of gossipin’." He brought his cup up and started to sip from it before opening an eye. "We’re both ponies of nobility, after all, so of course we’re familiar with the world of gossip. Besides, it ain’t my fault where and when youse and your friends have fights, nor if others heard a few bits of it." He put his tea down and smiled again. "So instead of gettin’ mad over spilled milk, why don't we rise beyond petty squabbles and work together?"
"Are you honestly suggesting to me that I should betray my friends for blackmail?" She narrowed her eyes. “Really now, what kind of lady do you think I am? And don’t think for a moment I haven’t forgotten how you managed to get backstage. That place was supposed to be under surveillance at all times. How did you do that?"
Fort shook his head. "Poor, naive mare, and ya claim to know the world of high society. Ya still don't know the first lesson of it?" He burst into laughter. "As long as ya have the bits, dere ain’t no place where youse can't enter."
“This is not a laughing matter!”
“Oh, but I think it is, lady,” Fort snickered. “Besides, who cares how I ended up in dat buildin’? What’s important is crushing dat pain in our flank, right? After all, dat is the one aspect we share --- our common hatred and loathin’ for the prince, and how we’ll stop at nothin’ to destroy him.”
So, that’s what he is, she thought bitterly. Another thug disguised under a suit made of gold.
She suddenly felt sick. His words and attitude reminded her so much of herself when she had heard the truth from the prince’s mouth. She never once took the opportunity to give him a chance. She pretended to ignore Applejack when she insisted that he had changed. And now, when faced with this stallion, she could only see a mirror of herself. She was becoming the monster that she had despised so much.
Was I really that heartless? Oh Rarity, you and your melodrama. Once again, you decided to play this like a novel and took everything too far.
She looked down in shame, now realizing what was happening before shaking her head. No, apologies will come later. I need to ditch this brute as soon as possible.
"I think I’ve heard enough," Rarity said with indignation, paying for her cup and standing up. "Thank you, Mr. Knox, but I will have to decline. I understand the intentions behind your words and although I still don’t like the prince much, I’ve come to realize now that I was being unreasonable and petty. Plus, I can't condone what is clearly an act of treason." She sat up and glared at him. “However, in gratitude for helping me see how abhorrent I was acting, I have decided to pretend I did not hear any treasonous words coming from your grotesque mouth. On the other hoof, if you do choose to leak any juicy details about me and my friends, at least be sure the reporters get my good side, and you may wish to tread carefully, because I might be pretending to be pretending.” She chose that moment to give him an almost sadistic smirk. “I can play the blackmail game too, you know. Good day, Mr. Knox.”
As she began to walk away, the larger stallion reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "I would suggest dat ya reconsider, lady," Fort murmured, increasing the force of his grip. "Ask yourself dis: is he really worth the effort? How much is he payin’ ya for your loyalty? Whatever the price is, rest assured, I can easily double it."
"I said no, and even if he was paying me, which he isn’t, I wouldn’t take any bits from you even if you quadrupled the price," Rarity firmly assured him, before forcefully removing his hoof from her. "And come to think about it, if Discord of all creatures was offered a second chance, it’s only fair we give Prince Blueblood one too. Plus, my friends trust him, and as such, it would be prudent for me to be generous and give him the opportunity to prove my dislike for him wrong." She lifted her snout into the air with a huff and trotted away. "Good day, Mr. Knox."
She was about to leave the establishment when two bulky unicorns in suits stopped her. She narrowed her eyes at them just as Fort Knox chuckled from behind her. "Now ain’t dat just a darn shame, lady..." he said with a sigh as he resumed drinking his tea. "I really thought dat we could resolve dis little dispute like civilized ponies."
The goons lifted Rarity in the air with a spell and then placed a suppression ring on her horn before she could cast anything or even yelp in surprise. They then tossed her back inside the cafe at the hooves of Fort Knox. He smirked at her and swirled the tea in his cup. "I had such high hopes dat we could come to a nice and...profitable agreement." He put the cup down. "I suppose dat’s what I get for bein’ such a hopeless romantic."
"Let me go, you ruffians, or so help me--!" Rarity yelled before she was immediately gagged and shoved to her knees by Knox’s thugs. Despite this, she continued to scream in contempt through her gag.
Fort Knox stood up, never once losing his smug expression. Rarity paused in her muffled rant and looked around, finally noticing that all the customers in the cafe had vanished. The unicorn barista of the place ended the spell she was casting before glance at Rarity with a smirk. The curtains all closed at once, and one of the thugs pulled out a lighter and flicked it open, illuminating the room once more.
Fort Knox knelt down and slowly ran a hoof down Rarity’s cheek, stopping under her chin. "You see, Miss Rarity, in my line of work dere’s dis old sayin’ I'm particularly fond of and follow as my personal mantra: 'if ya want it, I got it. And if I don't have it, I get it’," he hissed, gripping her chin and squeezing. "And I always, always get whatever I want, even if I have to rip apart every last piece of the entire world to get it." He brought the hot cup near her face. "Right now, I want to know exactly what youse and Prince Goldilocks were discussin’." He splashed the coffee on her face. Thankfully, it wasn't so hot as to burn her, but the sensation was enough for her to scream in pain through the gag. He used a napkin to clean some of the coffee off her face as well as her now dripping mascara. "I hope dat ya now understand why I can’t just let ya go. Ain’t good for business, no ma’am.”
Rarity sent him a hate-filled glare that would have made volcanoes explode into fiery conflagrations if she was close enough.
He stood up and nodded to his goons. "Take her to the basement and put the closed sign up. It looks like I’ll be entertainin’ a special guest today," he said, looking at Rarity and licking his lips. She flinched, and he laughed. "Oh, now don't be so scared, lady. This ain’t my first time diggin’ for valuable info from somepony’s head, least of all one as pretty as yours." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "You’re in safe hoofs, and I give ya my word: youse will be reunited with your friends and family soon enough without any damage to your body or brain. Or rather, nopony will notice dat dere was any damage once we’ve fixed ya up again and erased all those nasty little memories. But hey, do ya really wanna remember dose anyway? I know I wouldn’t…”
With a jolt, Rarity rammed her face into him, pushing Knox back. She then swung her leg under one of his thugs and stood up, making a break for the door. Unfortunately, the second thug jumped over his fallen comrade and yanked her back with magic just inches away from the doorway. She screamed in desperation and despair through the gag, her escape foiled and her fate sealed as she watched the door get farther and farther away. She pulled forward and tried to clamp down onto the floor or grab onto something, but it was all in vain. Her screaming only ended once a sleeping spell was cast on her, and she slumped to the floor.
"Ha! We’ve a feisty one today, boys!” Fort Knox laughed, stepping over her prone body. “We better be on high alert around dis one, she might try to bounce again. Don’t want dat now, do we?"
The two thugs nodded and tied Rarity up before dragging her down into the basement. The unicorn barista grinned and discreetly flipped the sign on the door to “closed”. Nopony would ever know what happened.
Back at City Hall
Coco Pommel, a cream-colored mare with a cyan mane and tail, approached Applejack, Blueblood, and his bodyguards, wearing a red bonnet on her head and a fanciful yet practical scarf around her neck. On her back were a set of saddlebags, and her face was one of nervousness. She stopped near the door to City Hall and waited patiently while Princess Celestia spoke with the reporters, Applejack and Blueblood standing by her side. Blueblood was holding an ice pack to his cheek, and Applejack kept glancing at him warily. Amber and Stellar stood off to the side, silent and watchful.
"Are ya sure ya feel alright?” Applejack asked quietly. “Ah’ve seen some nasty hits, but that one’s one of the nastiest. Never knew she had it in her."
"I'm fine, Applejack," he replied, taking the ice pack off for a moment. "It doesn't hurt that much now, and the swelling is almost gone."
"Ah just can't believe Rarity would actually slap ya..." She shook her head in disappointment. "That mare can be as stubborn as heck sometimes, but to actually hit somepony…"
"Well, it’s not like I didn’t entirely deserve it,” Blueblood shrugged. “I was the one that brought up a touchy subject for her, so she was within her rights to get mad. I won’t hold a grudge over it."
“She still shouldn’t have slapped ya ‘round.”
"If you want to talk to her, I won’t stop you, but please don’t be too hard on her,” he replied.
Applejack gave a slow nod of acceptance. "Yeah, perhaps it’s for the best. The last thing Ah want is to make matters worse. But seriously, if there was only a way for her to actually give ya a chance, Ah--"
Finally Coco couldn’t stand waiting any longer. She coughed politely and waved at them. "Um, excuse me?" she asked quietly, so as to not interrupt the reporters.
Applejack looked at her and smiled. "Well, howdy there, Coco! Long time, no see," she said.
"Hello, Applejack," Coco greeted. "It's nice to see you, too."
Applejack motioned between Blueblood and Coco with a hoof. "Blueblood, this here’s the mare Ah was tellin’ ya about: Coco Pommel, a friend of ours. Coco, this here’s Prince Blueblood."
"It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Pommel," Blueblood said, giving her a small bow in greeting.
Unfortunately, this had the unintended effect of making the poor mare blush uncontrollably and look away. "I just, um…n-n-nice to meet you too, Y-Your Highness," she stuttered, trying to regain control of herself, with limited success.
Applejack, thankfully, decided to rescue her. "What brings ya here, Coco?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "Ah thought ya’d be on your way with Rares to see the pyrotechnic team by now?"
"Oh yes," Coco blurted, remembering why was there. "I was actually about to ask you about that. Have you seen Rarity lately? I was supposed to meet her at the entrance of City Hall ten minutes ago, but she never came."
Blueblood and Applejack sent wary glances at each other before turning back to her. "Ya mean she ain’t outside?" Applejack asked.
Coco shook her head. "I asked some guards, but they thought I was an intruder at first. I had to show them my backstage pass just to let me enter," she said, pulling out a pass from her saddlebags and holding it up to them. "And when I entered, the only other guard that had seen her told me that he thought she was still inside, but she was nowhere to be found."
"Okay, that definitely doesn't add up..." Applejack remarked.
Blueblood pursed his lips. "I agree," he said, looking at his guards. "Amber, can you quickly rally the guards that were guarding the exit?”
"I can,” the mare answered with a nod before glancing at the stage. "But shouldn't you be informing the princess about this?"
"While she’s in the middle of a press conference and trying to assure an audience that’s still afraid of changelings that they aren’t here to eat them?” Blueblood deadpanned. “That’s just a winning formula for panic, no matter how subtly we give her the tip. When we tell her, it’ll be after she’s done talking and comes back."
"But Your Highness…" she insisted, nervously switching gazes between him and Celestia.
"Amber, I understand you’re worried, but please just listen to me. Rarity might be in danger, and we need to do something. The more time we waste, the further away she could be," he argued back. "I promise I’ll stay away from any danger if there is any, and if we get flak for not telling the princess then I’ll take responsibility."
Stellar put her hoof on Amber’s shoulder and nodded, getting close to the prince. Amber sighed in defeat and nodded. "As you command, my prince. But please, stay here with Stellar until my return."
"I will," the prince replied, watching as Amber sped away from the group.
"Even after what she did to ya, you’re still gonna help us?" Applejack asked in surprise.
"I don't care if she doesn't like me or not, I’m not going to turn a blind eye if something happened to her. She and I may not be friends at the moment, but she is yours," Blueblood replied.
"Is Rarity in trouble?" Coco asked in panic.
"We don't know yet, Miss Coco,” Blueblood said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “But rest assured we will find her."
"I-I just…um…hrgrumrphm!"
In hindsight, Blueblood should have recognized the signs before he touched her, but by that point it was too late. Coco’s face had turned bright red and she was babbling gibberish as she stared at his hoof and her shoulder. Blueblood pulled his hoof back in haste, but Coco’s mind had already blown a gasket.
Applejack stepped in to pull the stammering, blushing mare aside. "Ah’ll go get her some water, Blueblood. The poor mare must be scared out of her mane right now," she explained.
"Ah, of course,” Blueblood replied. “Go ahead, Applejack, but don't take too long. We need to solve this as quickly as possible."
"Will do, Your Highness," Applejack said as she guided Coco away. Once they were far enough away Applejack lightly nudged Coco in the shoulder. "Sweet hog-tiein’ buffalo bagels, Coco, I know he looks like a stud and all, but control yourself!" she whispered as she poured the mare a cup of water.
"I c-can't help it!” Coco whisper-shouted, grabbing the cup. “I have n-never been near a prince before..."
Sometime later, Amber returned and placed all the guards stationed near the exit in a straight line in front of Blueblood and Applejack. "These are all the guards that were stationed near the exit, Your Highness," she said.
The prince hummed in thought as he approached them. Hmmm, let's see here...two pegasi, three earth ponies, and two unicorns. "Perfect; thank you, Amber."
Amber nodded and stepped aside, letting Applejack and Blueblood step forward.
"Okay, listen up, everypony!" Applejack said aloud, getting the guards’ attention. "One of our friends went outside not that long ago and was supposed to meet with Coco Pommel here." She gestured to the mare in question. "So, if’n there were so many ponies watching the exits, can somepony please explain to me how none of ya saw her leave?"
The guards all glanced nervously at each other, one of them coughing and another tugging at the armor at his neck. The prince rolled his eyes and tapped Applejack on the shoulder. "Let me try, AJ."
“Knock yourself out,” Applejack muttered.
Blueblood grinned and turned towards the guards. "Guards...atten-tion!" he suddenly yelled.
The result was instantaneous. Training and instinct took over and each guard clicked their boots together, straightened their posture, and stared straight ahead with straight, alert faces.
The prince looked at each guard as he walked down the line. "Sloppy, just like I thought. Needs to be one smooth movement! You don’t come to attention at your own time, you all do it in sync!” he fake-seethed. “Now then, just like my friend said, some time ago today, the Element of Generosity entered backstage and then exited the building, without making any attempt to avoid any of you. So, if you were doing your jobs as Royal Guards, you should have seen something. I want somepony to tell me exactly how it’s possible that all of you missed her."
"My partner and I were patrolling the sky, sir!” one of the pegasi guards responded. “Our focus was on the clouds and the pegasi in the area!"
“Why weren’t you watching the ground?” Blueblood asked.
“Not our orders, sir!”
Blueblood took a quick glance at Applejack, who confirmed his story. He nodded. "Understood, as you were." He then moved to the earth ponies. "What about you three?"
"We were told to stand by for crowd control, sir!" one of them answered. "Paparazzi and fanatics were trying to sneak their way inside the building, sir. For how many they were, we were almost about to request reinforcements, especially after your speech."
“Leaving no time for you to properly watch any other entrance, correct?” Blueblood checked.
“That’s correct, Your Highness!”
Once again, Applejack nodded in agreement with his story.
Blueblood turned to the unicorns. "Which leaves us with you two," he said calmly. "If I understand correctly, you were in charge of guarding the back door, correct?"
"That is correct, Your Highness," the first unicorn answered. "But we never saw anypony else enter or exit all day."
The prince raised an eyebrow and glanced at Applejack, who nodded once again.
That’s strange...if they’re all telling the truth, then how--wait a second, what’s that?
Blueblood looked closer and saw a small bulge sticking out from the second unicorn’s armor. Not only that, but the second guard seemed to be trying as carefully as he could to hide it. Very suspicious.
Blueblood looked down at the second unicorn. "Can you confirm what your partner said, soldier?"
"Yes s-sir, just like he said, we never saw an angry unicorn leave."
Gotcha.
Blueblood smirked. "Now that’s interesting...I never said anything about her being angry."
By now every guard was staring at the unicorns. The second guard began to sweat nervously. "Uh…um, well, you see...I just assumed that your swollen cheek was because of her, and…" he stammered, trying to find an avenue of escape.
But Blueblood wasn’t going to let him do that. "Well, I’ve gotta say, you’ve got a really good eye, soldier," he complimented him with a nod. "And you’re right, that was because of her. She and I had a heated argument and things escalated before we knew it. I thought that she only needed some time outside to vent and think."
"Mares, am I right, sir?" the guard joked, and immediately regretted it upon seeing the angry stares from the mares present.
Blueblood nodded slowly and closed his eyes with a sigh. "You know, soldier, you’ve impressed me. You also disgust me, but you still impress me nonetheless.”
“...Your Highness?” the guard squeaked out.
“I mean, you’re standing here, talking right to my face, while I have the Element of Honesty literally by my side, as well as two of the Royal Guard’s finest soldiers at my beck and call, and you still have the nerve to try and lie your way out?"
“Please, sir, I can explain--!”
“Save it,” Blueblood cut him off with a hoof. “Amber, search him.”
“With pleasure,” Amber replied with a smirk, marching up to the guard and staring down at him. “Take off that armor of yours; let’s see what you’re hiding.”
The guard shivered in fear but complied, taking off his helmet and chestplate. Almost immediately a bag of bits fell out in front of him, spilling some bits onto the floor.
One of them rolled to a stop in front of Blueblood, and he picked it up and inspected it. “Tsk-tsk-tsk...just as I thought. Element of Loyalty, you certainly aren’t. Guards, restrain him.”
The ousted unicorn bolted, trying to make a run for it, but Stellar intercepted him effortlessly. She rammed into his side and brought him down to the ground, grabbing one of his upper hoofs into a shoulder lock while pressing her other hoof against his neck. The other guards moved to capture the other unicorn, but Blueblood lifted his hoof. "At ease, soldiers, this traitor worked alone."
Amber touched the restrained unicorn’s horn with her own, and a flash of light occured for a brief moment before she nodded and addressed the prince: "Funhouse spell, sir. He enchanted his companion so he couldn't hear or see anything."
The prince shook his head, looking down at the traitor. "Wow, a discreet funhouse spell? That’s a tricky one...must’ve been really hard to pull off without anypony noticing." He leaned forward with a frown. "Now tell me, why did you lie to us?
The unicorn snarled and spat into Blueblood’s face. “Go to Tartarus, you brat!” he roared, earning him a sharp buck in the head from Amber and an even tighter press on his neck from Stellar. He yelped in pain, but he wasn’t deterred. “We’ve got you now, you bastard. Once Rarity generously tells us all about your little secret, you’ll be ours! You hear me, OURS!!” He laughed.
Blueblood sighed and wiped the spittle from his face while Applejack stormed forward, flaring her nostrils. “Rarity would never do that!” she bellowed.
"Plus, she already had plans with me," Coco added. "She wouldn't just ditch me..."
Applejack face-hooved.
"Not even to expose this slimeball?" the traitor growled, looking at Blueblood. "I’d do it in a heartbeat if it meant keeping away this scum from the throne."
"Not Rarity," Coco insisted. "She would have at least excused herself to go find me and apologize for having to cancel our appointment."
"Well, there’s a first time for everything, huh?" he joked, smirking viciously at her. "Even if she refuses to talk, which I see as very unlikely, it doesn't matter. I’ve friends that can be particularly persuasive."
"Screw this!" Applejack yelled, snarling at the guard. "Tell us where y’all took Rarity before I turn ya into the next Mare in the Moon."
The soldier howled with maniacal laughter. "You actually think any of you scare me? You’re all pathetic.” He turned to face Blueblood. “And you...you’re a joke, Blueblood --- a spoiled brat that only knows how to cry and complain when his tea is too hot. You’re not a prince, you’re a sleazebag, a creep, and a tool!!" He looked at the other guards. "You all should be defending me! What power does he have over you? How many times has he abused his power over you? Aren't you tired of how he keeps using us like his personal toys?!"
He would’ve continued his rant, but Stellar pressed down her hoof on his throat just a little more, making him choke. It wasn’t enough to cut off his air completely, but she was seriously considering it.
Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Somepony really didn't listen to anything I said on the podium..."
"Do you think that changes anything? You think we would just forgive you just like that because you finally put the word 'sorry' in your vocabulary? The disgusting bug should’ve let you burn."
"Perhaps," the prince nodded. "But she didn't, and because of that, I decided to act like the prince I should’ve been in the first place."
The unicorn scoffed at him.
Blueblood put on a serious expression. "Starting, I think, by looking after my subjects." He pressed his hoof under the traitor’s face and glared. "Now, consider this: the easy and only merciful way out of this mess you brought yourself into is to tell me where Rarity is. After that, well, I might consider telling my aunt to only kick you out of the Royal Guard. Maybe."
The soldier chuckled. "Is that seriously your best attempt at being intimidating? Please don't make me laugh even harder, your trollop up there won’t let me."
The prince sighed and stood up. "I really didn't want to resort to this. I honestly wanted this to be solved without any conflict, but you’re right, this isn’t in my authority.” He looked up at the two elite guards. “Amber, Stellar...he’s now in your jurisdiction. A national hero is in danger, so I…”
Amber nodded in understanding and put a hoof on his shoulder. “You don’t have to say it, sir, we understand.” He remained silent but nodded, and he, Applejack, and Coco stepped away so the soldiers could take over.
“Guards, on me! Box formation,” Amber commanded. Right on cue, all the remaining guards surrounded the traitor as Amber nodded to her partner.
Stellar smirked and glared down at the unicorn, who was starting to look a little more nervous. “Last chance traitor. Tell us what we need to know, or you’ll wish you hadn’t gone to work today.”
“Y-you’re bluffing...” he stammered.
Amber grinned. “Are we?”
“You won’t break me!”
Stellar leaned in and whispered. “Won’t we?”
“I won’t talk!”
“You won’t?” Amber raised an eyebrow.
“N-never!”
Amber shrugged. “Welp, there’s always one who makes it hard. You asked for it. Do it, Stellar.”
Her partner got closer to his ear and whispered, “Tell the truth.”
“What?” He tried to look back at her as she pulled her head back.
“Who took the Element of Generosity?” Amber asked.
"It was Fort Knox,” the traitor immediately answered, confusing even himself. “It was him; he took her to his own coffee shop near here, 'The Golden Leaf', two blocks down from here. Oh Faust, what did you do to me?!" he yelled in shock.
Amber patted his head and winked. “Now, now, it’s not polite to ask a couple of ladies to reveal their secrets.” She stepped away as Stellar forced him to stand up again. The other guards quickly surrounded him and cut off his magic with a suppression ring. “Take him to an interrogation room and inform the princess as soon as she finishes talking with the press,” Amber ordered. “Our ‘friend’ here is gonna be an open book for the next two hours.”
“What? Why? H-how did you do it? How’d you make me say the truth? What spell did you use?!” The traitor kept thrashing around as he was cuffed.
One of the remaining guards stepped forward towards Blueblood. "Should we rally the troops, sir?"
Blueblood shook his head. "No, that would draw too much attention, and the last thing we want is to create more panic. Plus, if this Fort Knox sees us coming he could try to escape with Rarity. For now, reinforce security around City Hall, but be discreet about it and inform my aunt of what’s happening as soon as she finishes her speech."
"Yes, sir!" The guard saluted, just as the other unicorn guard placed the traitor in a bubble shield before levitating him away with the other soldiers.
The prince sighed and looked at the mares with a serious expression. "Well ladies, I don't know you, but right now I am just dying to go get some coffee. How about you?”
"Absolutely not!" Amber intervened. "I’ll let you speak with the soldiers, but I won’t permit you to go towards potential danger."
"It’ll be easier if it is just a small group,” Blueblood countered. “Besides, we don't know if she’s held against her will yet."
"She never misses appointments unless it's an emergency, Blueblood," Applejack interjected. "Less when it comes to friends. Ah can guarantee ya that even if she hated ya, she wouldn't ditch Coco. She’s bein’ held against her will, trust me." She looked at Stellar and Amber. "And Ah assume that with all your secret missions the two of ya also came to the same conclusion --- hostage situation, am Ah right?"
Stellar nodded with a grim frown.
"That, or maybe she just missed the time, but somepony as organised as her wouldn't let that happen," Amber argued before glaring at the prince. "Which is precisely why we can't have you risk your life by following a ‘damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead’ mindset, Your Highness. So, if we’re going to perform a rescue mission, it’s going to be on our terms" She glanced at Applejack and Coco. "And I suppose you two aren’t going to stay here either, correct?"
Applejack shook her head. "No way Ah'm lettin’ those trouble-makin’ varmints take my friend away. I’ll buck ‘em up into next week, just say the word."
"I…um…I want to help in any way I can too," Coco added, although sounding a bit less sure of herself.
"Good," Amber said with a smile. "Because Stellar and I know exactly how you three can help.”
The prince, the farmer, and the dressmaker glanced at each other and shared a gulp.
What an agreeable surprise. Rarity who's not a complete bitch and got a change of heart and the corruption that explain how this guy could come inside the building despite the guards. I was afraid of what it could be but I'm glad I was wrong and I can't wait for more.
oooohh das drama, das conflict.... Wunderbar
Man, it was getting a bit dark there at the beginning, but I am glad that Rarity at least realised her errors and faux pas against Blueblood.
I can only hope that they can save Rarity and stop Fort Knox’s evil plan in discovering the truth.
Hopefully, this experience sticks with Rarity now, and not in a traumatizing way. Though I feel Rarity switched her feelings a tad bit to fast but I can see it happening so I'm fine with it.
9108735
Well, Rarity can be a bit of a melodrama, and she is not complete heartless. Plus like the time she force her friends to stay all night making dresses for her, at the end of the day she saw that she was going too far and say sorry. So I was going for a similar situation
I wonder, as the creator of this AU, what do the laws here say is the punishment for treason and the kidnapping of a military/political asset? Like say, the bearer of the Element of Generosity?
*Edit
Let's not also forget illegal use of mind magic, endangerment of bodily/mental harm to an innocent with said use and conspiracy for manipulating a subject's memories to hide said use
Misspelling
"goldy"
9108806
Thank you, correcting it now
did you mean "resort"?
9108817
Yeah
things got turned up to 11
Wonderful chapter! I love it when the psychopath in any of us comes out. It always gets me excited for some reason. I'm eager to see how this plays out.
good job with the CH. i got scared, creeped and fearfull for rarity she could maybe end up as a puppet by Fort Knox. like a sleeper agent. she comes back to him to tale or he extract it like he said he would here.
And Woho 'see this is not the old Blueblood, but a serious prince! folks. (says a voice from the characters subconscious)
Hope she will rember this, (even though I wouldn't wish for any to have memories of sorts traumatic events) so her lesson have a more powerful effect and learn other thing from this specific situation.
Or temporarily memory loss or clouded memories, so there will be a little side story/objective for rarity to regain/recover/heal mind and memory. They could be more useful the first thought, like there is a object, sentence or person in this event could be related with someone/thing in the earlier plot or to the later plot.
hope we get to see his other skills from his earlier life and use them effective at his new position.
9108796 Fort Knox will get it. I’m hoping that somewhere in the big, wide multiverse that a universe exists where ALL the nobles are beheaded and the remaining ones who somehow escaped the guillotine will lose all their power and money and be treated as if they were part of the lowest caste. But I’m being delusional because nobles, especially unicorn nobles get to screw the rules because of money and grandfather clauses.
9108941
And just so you don't forget, this stallion is an earth pony. So a nice spin to the classic 'unicorns are the only nobles'
I have to say this chapter came out pretty well quite entertaining in fact but I have to say at the beginning it felt like a little skip had happen or something was missing for the scene to just automatically start right then and there I mean something had to have happened from the last chapter up to the beginning of this chapter yes I know that he followed her but other than that nothing else happened in that chapter it just end there
I love this Story.
9108947 Oh. But Fort Knox is STILL going to get served humble pie with a side of boot to the head, right?
9109040
Oh yeah, he is so going to get it now
9108947
I like this version. Unicorns are the most common nobles, due to historical and geographical reasons, but it isn't a racism problem (as I highly doubt Celestia would let that go for too long, despite her inability to fix the system).
9109143
Nobility doesn't have preference, any pony can became one
I'd like them to eventually bring up how comfortable New Blood is at deduction and giving orders. I can guess it's due to his previous life as the heir to a ridiculously powerful organization with his father's lack of morals and controlling nature. He's more adept at this stuff than Blueblood probably ever was. That can wait though since this is a pressing situation that doesn't give anyone time to think about who exactly this guy was before.
9109158
Sure. I can totally accept that for this story. It's nice to have something different like this.
I was mostly talking about my headcanon. (A rather common one.) It's pretty obvious in the show that Canterlot in general has a mainly unicorn population. (This is based on statistics gathered by some people nerdier than me.) It isn't in any way exclusive, but it makes sense based on what is speculated about the history of the tribes and their unification. (As in, it took a lot more than one night in a cave for large sociopolitical changes to occur.) And based on what was shown about in the unicorn nation, the concept of nobility came from the unicorns originally. Like other cultural things from the other nations - we pretty much know the concept of an organized military came from the pegasi. (And headcanon-wise, I'd like to think that things like sculpture and painting came from the Earth Ponies, given the personality of their leader(s).)
Still, while this kind of headcanon is pretty common, it doesn't bother me when a story does something different. In fact, it almost is better in my eyes, as finally, an author doesn't just assume their readers will understand what Equestria is like. I mean, it works most of the time, but I like my stories where no prior context is needed to enjoy them.
9109358
I see, and yeah its always refreshing seeing new spins of things
9108749
I understand and it makes some sense but this was dealing with ruining a person/pony instead of just making dresses for friends, But i get where you are coming from and i can see what you were trying to do. Like is I said seems fast but seems like something she would do so it's fine with me.
So Rarity wasn't just putting on an act in the previous chapter, which raises the question: what the heck was she thinking?
What does that even mean? Unless the Equestrian's understanding of souls is somewhat different from ours, a person's soul (at least to those that believe in such a thing) is the seat of one's consciousness, their memory and their identity. So essentially Rarity's getting mad at the new Prince for what the body's previous occupant did.
I mean, I can understand if ponies are finding it hard to mentally disassociate the old face from the new persona, but Rarity's reactions seems excessive even so.
Another issue I wish to raise, the Princesses' rationale for not wanting the world to learn about Blueblood's "amnesia" is that he could be "exploited" by the other nobles. How exactly would this happen? The new Blueblood may have lost his memory but he isn't naive, anyone that tries to curry his favor would surely be treated with suspicion and come under the close scrutiny of the Princesses. Not to mention their current cover story would eventually come apart the moment Blueblood returns to his post and start interacting with other nobles again.
Instead, I actually feel it would be more advantageous for Blueblood to be open about his amnesia, it would allow him explain away his lack of memories and knowledge of how to perform his duties, and to sever any ties and possible under-the-table dealings the Prince have with his old associates, ones I very much doubt the new Blueblood would want to keep anyway.
It feels like the reason they are doing things this way is because they are reluctant for Blueblood to give up his current power and political influence.
9109523
For the question of Rarity. Its a bit of fear and paranoia of pass experience from shady competitors. She thinks this new person would just eventually turn into how Blueblood used to be, since he was already good actor at lying from the start (not knowing the necklace was making everything so convincing), like he will eventually get 'too' comfy on his position and it will be a matter of time before he slowly take advantage of it.
For the amnesiac part, I see your point and its a really good argument, when I wrote it. It was mostly because of expert manipulators that could fool the princesses and pass as 'friendly' and trust worth it before using the prince as a puppet. Yeah those two would be very careful with who he interacts, and the obvious shady ones will be removed immediately, but that leaves even more expert sociopaths to get pass the two and get to the prince. Which is the biggest of their fear.
And they can be fool, with how Blueblood have manage to get pass them in more than one occasion, so they are afraid that by removing one problem they create another even bigger one. My intention was to address the amnesiac will be explain to the public in do time, but for now, they are just a bit wary. That is all.
Still those are good points and I will keep them in mind, thanks for the suggestions
9109541
Thank you for the response and the detailed explanation!
9109557
No problem, since the start I really didn't have much of a plan for this story so is always nice to hear suggestions, to help improve things and keep the plot interesting
So is what happened here kidnapping or actual treason? I suppose it depends on what status an element bearer has.
9109669
National Heroines several times over
It's nothing less than treason at this stage
Rarity's explosion at Blueblood was excessive, and her turnaround felt too quick. As I said above, it felt OOC.
The only time Rarity has physcially attacked someone physically is when she was discorded or in combat. There's limits to what even drama will take her, and both swearing and physical violence is beyond them. Also, she appears to be holding a grudge for the sake of holding a grudge.
Thankfully the whole thing should be more or less resolved in the next chapter and I can get on with enjoying everything else about this fic.
9108749
So that's what you were going for. With Rarity Takes Manhattan in mind, I can totally see the similarities.
9109669
I`d say treason at the very least. Knox is tampering with or claiming to go and physically and mentally harm (and possible using mind altering drugs and magic) upon 1 piece of the country`s most potent defence force, national hero and not to mention a minor noble (seeing as she holds a seat in the council of friendship AKA Twilight`s court. Meaning all and all she should hold a knight-rank or a similair titleless rank.)
So this attempt and the threat is suitable for a treason charge as it can be detrimental to the security of the nation.
And then there is the whole bribing a guard thing............
9110137
If by deficient you mean slightly traumatised and conditioned by his father to be submissive and obedient. Then yeah, and the necklace made him regress in age maturity for a while, don't worry is not permanent. Just need his mind to settle in a bit.
Think of it like a rescue dog from an abused owner that needs some time before adjusting to his new home, but a bit more complex
9110422
If you mean the editing I already found some friends to help me out with it. If you refrain from the time line, can't really complain since from chapter one I say that I have no idea of what direction things will go. And if you refrain from him being a doormat, that was intentional
excellent chapter.
it is time to sharpen the Double Crush Emasculator.
lets have a party.
9111906
It will be a plot point yes. Don't worry everything will be reveal in do time
I like the way that Rarity saw the error of her ways. It plays on the old idea of "If you could see yourself, would you stop yourself?". Also, one of the story's antagonists putting their plans into action was just what I was getting excited for.
I love how you write your dialogues, there's the desire and the emotion unlike most continued displaced ficts rn.
And the characters have their own wants and it is clearly shown. Best wishes to ya!
9114947
So, a changeling impersonating a pony, impersonating another pony, impersonating Blueblood. Wouldn't that make things a bit confusing?
Plus that would put all the work on the changelings, the idea is seek their help, not ask for their help and make them do all the work, and yeah it could work but then Blueblood would have to match his future arguments with the changeling who impersonate him. But its a good argument I will not discuss that.
I would think that, that could have being plan B
let rarity burn for all i care!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I think the Rarity situation is a bit rushed when it comes to her change of heart. She pretty much was left in the last chapter as a really heavy adversary and then she changes her strong position right at the beginning of the next chapter. I would expect it to be harder than just talking to a jerk to change her mind. Actions speak louder than words. Blueblood and her being trapped together and alone and then working out their differences or in that case the false beliefs of Rarity would be one way to go about it. Just as an example. I pretty much am saying this as some kind of critique seeing as Rarity at the end of the last chapter seemed like a real adversary or antagonist for the moment that would have a powerful impact and not just adjust her believes easily. But that is just my opinion.
9116511
That is actually a pretty good argument and a good idea, during her character develop on my story she actually came as the hardest for me to think and write when it came to: in what position to give and I agree her being mean play as a reverse role was kind of overboard (don’t worry I finally thought of an explanation for that one) but I really didn’t want her to be an opponent to Blueblood, just wanting her to be the last element to actually forgive him, and because of her nature, her line of work (she must likely has face with schemers and frauds that know how to sweet talk their into anything) her fascination with drama and their past (who includes a shatter dream that she must have had probably since puberty), forgiveness wasn’t exactly easy.
But she isn’t blind either so I imagine she could easy see the errors of her ways like in the “Rarity takes Manehattan” episode in a pretty fast lap of time (but with a worse image of herself rather than an actual opponent) and like you said actions speak louders so she will soon see the prince actions and finally let go of the pain on the past. And yeah I plan to explain why didn’t that happen sooner too.
Still the idea of being force to work together has potential for the future and I might consider it for later on, if not for her then for some pony else. Thanks for the input
9116548
Glad if I could help! Also good to know that you never intended for Rarity to be that strong of an opposition and only have her as a small stumble so to say. I am already excited for the next chapters!
I see RB written on some of the chapter titles, what do they mean?
9130771
It's the initials of one of the proofreaders name
A covert ops mission with civilians? This ought to be interesting...
So Rarity is inexplicably having PMS one chapter; next chapter she's clearly taking HRT and calming down... only to be abducted immediately by the Pony Psy Corp to be brain-raped by Bester Pony, only to have the plot revealed immediately afterward?
…
TEH FUQ?!
My god, the Micromachines commercial guy would have trouble keeping up with the pacing in these chapters!