The Night Of A Broken Heart

by WanderingPony

Chapter 17: Blueblood Makes You See Red

A circle of Guard unicorns trotted at the quick-step through the maze of tent-lined streets Canterlot Castle's courtyards had become. At their center, a white unicorn did his best not to let any of the common folk get the peasantry of those tent's occupants on them.

If it hadn't been for the utmost importance and at the behest of the Equestrian House of Lords, he'd have stayed miles away from the entire filthy (by which any pony with more brains than Blueblood's would have been astonishingly good hygiene for an ad-hoc refugee camp put up in mere hours) place. His hooves would need a triple polishing to get rid of whatever debris these homeless ponies had left on the ground! The circle paused in it's tracks as a double line of smaller fillies pulled a cart overflowing with donations crossed their path, clad in green sashes and caps....and was that a ZEBRA? The only thing dirtier than commoners. Commoner children. And foreigner children, which if anything was even worse.

Four attendants, each hoof, four times., Blueblood thought with disgust as he trod on a chance-fallen apple. Looking up to the top of his destination, he saw Twilight Sparkle, arguing with Discord while the freak cuddled his pegasus doxy in open view of the public. Jumped-up unicorns, "fashion models", and a mis-matched puzzle arguing in the middle of the night atop a lit up tower for the rabble to see. I haven't come soon enough. The Guard squad surrounding Blueblood narrowed to a double-file as it moved up the tower ramp to the door, where at the Prince's urging they hammered a brief thunder of knocks with the back end of their spears.

"BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE EQUESTRIAN HOUSE OF LORDS AND THE PRINCESSES ROYAL, OPEN!"

The door did, but the opener froze the dozen or so unicorns in their tracks as a cold wind suddenly washed from the opening, knifing through the Prince's golden locks and reducing them to a disorganized muddle of hay-colored strands.

"I am right here, Blueblood.", Luna replied from the doorstep. The rest of the contents of the tower- pony, goblin, and moogle - stared in various levels of shock at the intrusion. "Hast thou reason to interrupt me whilst I enjoy the company of good folk and whilst I am in the midst of diplomacy most delicate, O Prince?".

To her surprise, the poncy Prince actually had a backbone. And a scroll, which he unrolled and began to recite.

"In the name of the House of Lords and Commons, the ponies named here shall be brought forward in safe keeping for the answering of charges against the laws of the Kingdom of Equestria. The earth pony, Applejack. The earth pony, Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie. The pegasus, Fluttershy. The pegasus, Rainbow Dash. The unicorn, Rarity."

He unrolled the scroll in a curl of aura and flaunted it in Luna's face, a finely drawn image of each cutie mark inked below the list. Rarity looked ready to faint at the sight- but her mother beat her to the couch and collapsed on it first.

"These charges include but shall not be limited from amendment in the course of inquisition to the use of weapons of mystical destruction, acts of massacre, and gross and unparalleled cruelty against ponydom and the demesnes of the Crystal Empire. Further, we humbly-" - a word that could not have been spoken less honestly by it's speaker- "request the presence of Princess Twilight Sparkle for an explanation of her acts before the Houses assembled, as they have greatly upset her subjects and they seek the wisest of counsel.". The tone underlined that the "request" was in name only, and the ponies in question would not take no for an answer. "Guards, take the accused to the dungeon. Make the murdering scum comfortable."

Princess Luna could take no more of the sneering unicorn and snagged her nephew's by the ears in a glowing vice, dragging him close to her muzzle with a squeal of pain. "You. Shall. Do. No. Such. Thing."

The brief spark of magical light behind the squad of guardsponies marked Twilight's return from the roof- and the look on her face would have told anyone that not only had she heard the whole thing, but she was one step away from turning Blueblood into Orange Juice.

"The.....eeeeeurgh, AUNTIE....press will hear the charges read in the House in about three minutes. And the press will tell that mob you've bedded down in the castle you have the ponies who destroyed their families....owwwwww! And their friends, their-irk homes and estates are nothing but dust and ghosts because of those friends of yours who were seen killing ponies by the dozens and destroying the Crystal Empire! DowOWOWOWOW! DO YOU WANT THEM LYNCHED NOW OR TRIED LATER?"

Horrified at the thought, Luna's concentration broke and for a long moment, there was only a youngish filly with a crown, not a Princess Royal standing before Blueblood. The mask came back down over Luna's face.

"Nay, O wise and kind Prince. We shall take the accused to a more secure and hidden place where they might not draw the wrath of the people Ourselves." She released Blueblood's ears with a toss of her starry mane, leaving him to shake his head as blood rushed back into the slightly crushed points. Her eyes cast themselves across Blueblood's escort. "You. Take these good folk to the rooms We reserve for the Diplomatic Suite and make them welcome. Thou shalt guard them and make sure none disturb their rest. None. I shall be greatly wroth if some member of the fourth estate should cross any boundary near them, is this understood?" Without a word, the unicorns flowed into the room and effortlessly herded ponies, random luggage and the now-floating couch with a distraught Pearl clinging to the cushions and sobbing as the guards carried it away- and marched the once-wellwishers away without so much as a change in expression. Somewhat confused, the moogles and goblins followed along with the rest.

"My guards!", Blueblood spluttered. Luna glared daggers at the coltish idiot. "Thou art a big pony, Prince. Truly, it has been a week since you last got lost without thine escorts. Perhaps thou shouldst try it again.". Blueblood followed the last swish of a guard's tail in an hasty exit, pausing only to stare wide-eyed at the slightly smoking form of Twilight as a second princess held her temper over his flanks like a whip. With that, only two Princesses and four ponies remained. And one terrified looking pegasus peeking through a hole in the ceiling. The angry aura dissolved, and the warmer, gentler touch of the season's air returned, following Fluttershy as she slipped into the tower and glided down. A long, clawed paw lowered Angel to the floor and began to withdraw. "Discord?", Twilight said. The paw wavered and paused. "It'd...it'd be nice to have our friend here, too." The sinuous form slithered down like stretching taffy, curling itself around Fluttershy. Shrunken to the size of a scaly, winged boa, he looped himself over the pegasus' neck.

"I'm assuming we take the back door, or do you want to just go out the front? I can do an excellent judge for a kangaroo court, but it'd be no fun at all.", Discord uttered. A somber black and red outfit rolled itself up his scales briefly, then sank back beneath the skin like a drowning pony with a thrash of fabric and gold chain.

Luna's horn glowed, and seven books simultaneously shoved against the hidden triggers built into the bookshelf. It sank, almost soundlessly into the floor to leave a tunnel easily broad enough for Celestia herself to move comfortably in. Seeing Twilight's startled expression, Luna said in a mock-conspirational tone-

"What, you didn't think the books here were just for taking out, did you?"

And with that, they descended into the hidden tunnels below Canterlot.