The Ballad of Royal Blue

by PonyWithAPen

The invasion begins

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were left in a stupor that afternoon. Royal Blue, the pegasus both had come and known to love as a brother, had up and left Ponyville, telling them not to follow him. The young stallion was deeply hurt by Rainbow’s reaction to him returning from Canterlot; telling him that he had never even gone for the audience with Celestia, and instead had done some truly heinous things to the ponies that he considered the greatest friends he had ever had. He never even decided to seek out Applejack or his remaining friends. He had seen enough through two of the ponies he cherished the most; his newest group of friends had finally had enough of him.

Scootaloo started to cry. It was her first reaction to Royal’s words. It had all happened so fast, and now it hit her; her big brother had left and he was never coming back. It was more than she could take. First her parents died in an accident, costing her them and her home in the process, and now the stallion who’d taken her in was gone as well. Something in her emotions kept telling her that he wasn’t responsible for any of the awful deeds he’d just been accused of doing. Rainbow slowly approached her.

“Kiddo, I’m sorry…” Rainbow went to hug her, but came up with nothing but air. Scootaloo had dodged her. Rainbow turned around, only to see her self-proclaimed protégé with an angry look on her face; her eyes stained with tears.

“How could you? Royal didn’t even have a chance to say anything!” Rainbow stood there, shocked at the kid’s sudden outburst.

“Scootaloo, you heard what I said, didn’t you? He’s done some horrible things! It’s an important lesson for ya, kid. Some ponies will try to be your friend, and say that they’ll be there for you, and then they do something like this. Not everypony can be trusted.” They stared at each other for a moment. However, this statement only served to anger Scootaloo further.

“Royal can be trusted! You’re just blowing everything up! It’s like when the girls and I were Gabby Gums, only much worse!” At this mention, Rainbow got defensive.

“Are you calling me a liar, Scoots?” Scootaloo did not waver.

“Maybe I am, Rainbow Dash. Maybe I am.” Rainbow looked down; her mane covered her eyes.

“I’m leaving.” The statement hit Scootaloo like a ton of bricks.

“What?” she uttered, nearly whispering. Rainbow pointed toward the door.

“You heard me. I’m going back to my house in Cloudsdale. Goodbye, Scootaloo.” Rainbow walked to the door, suddenly turning around.

“I’m disappointed in you, kid.” Scootaloo’s idol left her standing in the doorway of the house. She couldn’t even watch as Rainbow flew away. The filly’s entire world had been shattered in the span of two minutes. Even though she knew Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would never abandon her, it offered her little comfort. Her big brother was gone. Her hero was gone. Life was going to be a lot tougher for her from now on.

That night, Royal arrived in Canterlot, having taken the train back to where he’d been just a day before. He sighed. It was tough knowing that his recent life had been almost perfect, and had only fallen apart once he had gone back to Ponyville. It was a painful reminder of how quickly things can change, for better or for worse. He thought of Scootaloo. She probably hated him now, too. She adored Rainbow, and was probably thrilled that he was gone so she could live with her real hero. He was jolted from his thoughts by a rumbling of thunder and drops of rain. That had to be Rainbow’s doing. Quickly, he scurried to the nearest shelter.

As he stood under the protective roof, he noticed a door swing open. Catching a glimpse inside, he could see that he’d stumbled upon some kind of bar. He wasn’t a heavy drinker, but if there was ever a time to drink himself stupid with cider, this was it. Upon entering the bar, he saw a crazy scene; Vinyl Scratch was trying to drink a big, tough stallion under the table. Initially, Royal thought nothing of such a scene and sat down. He had bigger things to worry about, like piecing his life back together after his latest failure at making friends. It was enough to make him think he had become nothing more than a big curse to everyone with whom he came in contact. Just as he was about to give the bartender his order, he heard a crash. Turning around, he noticed that the stallion had Vinyl in a headlock. In her drunken stupor, Vinyl was far weaker than usual, and was fading fast.

He’s gonna kill her! Not on my watch! Royal sped over to the big stallion and plowed into him, sending him tumbling into the wall, causing him to drop Vinyl. Assuming the large stallion was down and out, he went over to the drunk DJ.

“Vinyl? Are you okay?” Royal asked, checking her pulse to make sure she hadn’t been killed by the brute. The poor mare could barely keep her eyes open.

“Yeah…I think so…who are you?” Royal didn’t expect her to remember him; he just wanted to get her out of harm’s way.

Unfortunately, before he could, he felt himself get lifted off the floor and chucked into the wall like a frisbee. Satisfied with his work, the big stallion saw Vinyl on the ground. The DJ’s eyes rolled and she groaned. She knew she couldn’t get away…not in her state. The stallion picked her up and threw her as well. Fortunately, Royal was already standing again. He caught her and placed her on his back.

“Just hang on to me! I’m getting you out of here!” Vinyl nodded. Royal couldn’t see the big brute, who happened to stand right next to them.

“Now I’ll really make you scream!” He brought his foreleg up, intending to make a dent. Royal activated his aura just as the stallion hit him, causing him to slam into the aura, which brought him a lot of pain. Royal retreated from the bar as fast as he could. He finally deactivated his aura when the pair were up the road considerably. As it was now, he just kept walking. During his time in Ponyville, he had considerably built up his strength, which made him able to use his aura without feeling faint, as he had after rescuing Scootaloo.

As they walked along, Vinyl eventually came to her senses. She was still drunk. However, she could notice that she was out of that bar, and away from that stallion who had goaded her into the drinking contest. She tried to piece together her memory and realized that Royal had been responsible for her safety, and was now carrying her on his back.

“Hey…you’re that kid from the bus!” Vinyl said softly, obviously meaning the train.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Royal said, surprised that anyone would acknowledge him at this point. He was even more surprised when Vinyl leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He stopped walking.

“Don’t tell Tavi, she’ll get jealous that she’s never been rescued by such a handsome stud!” Royal smiled, but on the inside he knew it was just the cider talking. After all, Vinyl was absolutely hammered. Eventually, Royal reached Vinyl and Octavia’s house on the other side of the city. He’d been here once before, when Vinyl’s “Canterlot Tour” passed by.

“Do you think she’s home?” Royal asked.

“No, but I do know one thing.” Vinyl smiled genuinely, despite her drunken stupor.

“Oh?”

“You’re my hero.” This struck him, and tears began to fill his eyes.

“No Vinyl, I’m no hero. Just some stupid kid from the big city.”

It was late in Ponyville. By the time the day was over, everyone had heard what happened. Unwilling to deal with the truth, or so they all thought, Royal had left for good, abandoning Scootaloo in the process. Many families had already offered to open their homes to the young filly; even the families of resident bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. But any plans for the former’s family to take Scoots in went up in flames when DT made a rather untimely remark about Royal “being no better than those creepy stallions you hear about in the newspaper.” Had her fellow crusaders not been there to hold her back, there would have been blood. Diamond later apologized in school, admitting she had gone too far.

Unknown to everyone, Scootaloo still loved Royal like a big brother. She had only left the house that day to go to school. Otherwise, all she did was sit on the sofa, staring at the framed picture of her, him, and Rainbow Dash. She planned on spending all her nights inside the house she had come to know as her home. All she wanted was for everything to be back to normal. She didn’t believe Royal had done any of the awful things the big ponies said he did. It had to be an imposter. Heck, it wasn’t even a full year ago that those nasty shape-shifting changelings had invaded the royal wedding. Scootaloo wanted nothing more than for her big brother to come home. A single tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek.

Royal was inside Vinyl and Octavia’s home. Thankfully, Octavia was home at that moment, and Royal was able to bring Vinyl inside and put her to bed. She had fallen asleep on his back shortly before Octavia had answered the door. Royal was invited to chat for a while with Octavia, so he accepted.

“I can’t thank you enough for bringing her back here. I imagine she’ll have quite the story to tell in the morning.” Royal expected her to forget everything.

“I hope she wasn’t too much trouble, Royal. She’s been like this since the two of us became friends, but she held off on drinking until she was legal.” Royal shook his head.

“No trouble at all. She actually saved me. I was gonna go get drunk off my flank just like her. But then everything happened as it did. I left the bar without a drop of cider. I think Celestia sent an angel to me tonight.” Octavia wanted to burst out laughing at the notion of her rough and tumble friend being an “angel” to anyone, but she was touched by his sentiment and smiled instead. However, she knew she had to ask him the important question.

“Royal…what brings you back to Canterlot?” Royal sighed, sadly.

“You wanna know? Okay, here’s the full story.” He told her everything, including the part about Vinyl’s kiss, which admittedly slipped out.

“It sounds like you’ve had it rough. Well, Vinyl and I know that you didn’t do anything. How could you? You were here in Canterlot during the time those events happened.” Royal sighed.

“Yeah, but try telling that to Ponyville. They think I’m just some kind of heartless monster.”

“Why don’t you go back there and prove your innocence? We’ll come with you!” Octavia said, offering a reassuring smile. Royal shook his head.

“They wouldn’t believe I knew you. If I ever do go back, it’ll have to be on my own.” Octavia sighed.

“What about that little filly? Scootaloo, was it?” Royal’s head sank.

“No doubt she hates me too. Rainbow Dash is the kid’s hero. Most of the time, it’s the cutest thing in the world.” He sighed.

“I wish someone could tell me what I did to deserve this…”

Royal felt the sunlight hit his eyes. He opened his eyes, only to notice he was back in his own bed. This confused him. Was he not just talking with Octavia, the dignified mare who played in the Canterlot orchestra? He got up, not giving it a second thought, and decided to step outside…and what he saw horrified him. Ponyville…his beloved home, was decimated. The skies were grey, and the atmosphere was very foreboding. Immediately, he thought of his friends.

This shouldn’t be happening! We have the bearers of the Elements of Harmony on our side! What’s going on?

Royal flew around Ponyville, but each house he flew over had taken heavy damage. He saw broken windows, and wear-and-tear everywhere. He landed in the town square, which was completely empty. This would not have been anything out of the ordinary for an early morning, but he figured it had to be the afternoon. Royal heard sinister laughter off in the distance. He snapped his head around to face the direction of the laughter. He heard it again; this time, it was much closer. He looked up at the sky and saw a shadow. It revealed itself to be a familiar figure. It was Paulie. He let out another chuckle.

“Hello, blue boy! Do you like it? I consider it my magnum opus. I call it, “Ponyville, No More!” Royal’s temper began to rise.

“Where are my friends?” Royal’s voice cracked under the strain of his anger and desperation. Paulie laughed again.

“Well, some were tougher than others, but I must say, they made excellent appetizers for my fellow griffons!”

“You’re lying! If you’re telling the truth, that only makes me want to rip the flesh from your bones even more!” Paulie reared back.

“Oh no! Whatever shall I do?” He was interrupted by the sudden urge to belch.

“Oh, excuse my manners! I just finished off one of the little ones. She made for a nice snack.”

“Which little one?” Royal asked; his rage rising further.

“Oh, you want a description? I didn’t think you were that morbid, blue boy! Well, she had a pink mane, and she gave me quite a challenge. She went awfully fast on that scooter of hers!” Paulie couldn’t even get another word out before Royal had him on the ground. Unfortunately, Royal’s rage blinded him, which allowed Paulie to gain the upper hand. Royal soon found himself under the griffon as they tussled.

“It’s all over, blue boy! Ponyville is mine, and soon Equestria with it! And it’s all on you! If you had just allowed me to have Pinkie Pie, none of this would have happened! And now, it’s time to finish you off!” At that moment, Royal completely shut down. He had a faraway look in his eyes as Paulie lifted him off the ground for the final blow…

Royal woke up with a scream. Immediately, he started crying. Unfortunately, he forgot that he had fallen asleep in a foreign house. In short, his emotional outburst woke up Vinyl Scratch. Battling a hangover headache, the DJ stumbled through her bedroom door and out into the main room. She made her way over to him and sat down next to him.

“Come here…” she said, gently pulling him into a hug. A million thoughts started going through her head.

Those nice girls I met at that wedding? What could this kid have possibly done to upset them so much?

At that moment, an army approached Canterlot Castle. Marching in the lead were Paulie and Queen Chrysalis, looks of stone cold determination on both of their faces. This was it; their moment to strike and dispatch all three high princesses of the royal court. Soon enough, the castle was in view. Princess Luna, watching from her high tower, noticed the army’s approach.

“By Star Swirl’s beard! It’s an ambush!” She left her post to alert the guards.

In short order, the castle had been put on notice of the army. Shining Armor stood watch at the front of the castle; an army backing him up. He eventually came face to face with Paulie and Chrysalis. The stage was set for an epic showdown.

“Step aside, stallion. We have no business with you.” Paulie said. Shining stood his ground.

“Any attempt to harm the royal family is my business. You wanna dance? Let’s dance, bird!” Paulie smiled. He turned to Chrysalis, who kept her eyes on the captain of the guard.

“Changelings…decimate him!”