The Ballad of Royal Blue

by PonyWithAPen

Escape to Swelter Canyon

Paulie and Chrysalis had finally gotten over the stunning defeat of the changeling army at the hooves of Ponyville. Several hours had also passed since Paulie’s equally stunning betrayal and casting out of Gilda from the mission. Chrysalis had since gotten around to nursing each member of her army back to full health.

The new mission? Paulie was to establish a companion army of griffons to fight alongside the changelings, thus increasing the chances of victory. Then, they would send this new combination army out to their main targets across Equestria. At this moment, Paulie was about to leave to start recruiting his army.

“I will be back, Chryssie. Rest easy, for our victory is near!” Paulie said, beaming as he moved toward the entrance. However, he heard another voice.

“Excuse me, did you say victory? How can you say that with a straight face?” Paulie grew angry.

“Who’s there? You dare to mock me?” Paulie’s expression turned to surprise when Rainbow Dash emerged from the darkness.

“You! The rainbow one!” Rainbow suddenly rushed him and decked him with a right hoof, knocking him backwards.

“I am going to kill you, bird!” She moved in for another blow. At this point, her friends emerged from the darkness one-by-one.

“Rainbow! You ruined our fabulous dynamic entry!” Rarity said, pouting.

“Forget about that, sugar cube! We’ve got flanks to kick!” Applejack said.

Fluttershy emerged but said nothing, preferring to hide behind Pinkie Pie.

“Aw, come on, Flutters! This is going to be so much fun!” Twilight finally emerged.

“I don’t think fun is the word I would use, Pinkie. But it must be done. And it will.”

At that point, Rainbow gave Paulie one final slap across his face. She then backed away.

“That’s what you get for hurting my little brother.” Paulie was bruised and battered, but laughing all the same. This puzzled the girls.

“What’s so funny? I must have knocked what little brains he had out of him.” Rainbow said. Paulie sat up, seemingly unaffected by her barrage.

“Do you really think the six of you alone are a match for…us?” Changelings swarmed the Mane Six immediately. Twilight gave the command.

“Okay girls…let’s do this!”

Royal immediately woke up in a cold sweat. He’d awoken from a terrible dream similar to the one he’d had during his second stay in Canterlot.

Why am I having these awful dreams? Everything’s going to be okay. The girls are going to be fine. As long as they’ve got the Elements of Harmony, there’s no way they can…

He suddenly broke out of this thought and began searching his possessions frantically.

I feel like I’m forgetting something…but what could it be? His heart sank when he discovered a familiar box among his belongings.

Royal’s rummaging had woken Scootaloo. The filly got out of bed, painfully-adorable bedmane and all, and made her way to the main room, where she found him standing still, completely silent. She caught a glimpse of the box.

“No way! The Elements of Harmony?” Royal turned around to face her with concern in his eyes. She realized what had to happen, but she didn’t like it one bit.

“No! No no no, no no! Royal…” she said, trailing off. He swept her into an embrace.

“I told you I’d never leave you…I know. But this is an emergency! If I don’t go, all of our friends could die!” Royal let her down to the floor again. Both of them were almost crying.

“I care about you too much to let that happen. You’re gonna grow up in a safe world and get your cutie mark, with or without me.”

“Big…brother…”

“Promise me…you’ll behave and be a good little sister to Rainbow.”

“I…I promise…”

“That’s my little sis. I love you…” Royal gave her one final hug before taking off with the elements in tow.

Twilight and the girls started strong in the battle against the changelings. Pinkie fired round after round with her trusty party cannon. Applejack preferred to use her hooves to do the dirty work. Rarity tapped into her ultra-aggressive side, leading the usually fabulous fashionista to do some awful things. Rainbow, of course, was easily the angriest of the group and she let the army know it, painfully. Paulie and Chrysalis had done some terrible things to her adopted little brother, and she was ready to make them pay.

Royal flew along, mentally kicking himself for having forgotten to make his special delivery. He flashed back to his meeting with the princess. Princess Celestia had gotten an insider tip that trouble was brewing, and she did not want the elements to fall into the wrong hooves, or talons. She had led Royal into a secret area. Upon reciting a spell, the chamber door opened, and she retrieved the box containing the elements.

“Royal Blue, these are the Elements of Harmony. You are to guard them with your life and deliver them to Twilight Sparkle at the Ponyville Library. Do you understand?” Royal nodded.

“Yes, princess. I understand.” Celestia smiled.

“Good. Our business here is finished.”

As he flew along, Royal suddenly noticed a figure on the ground. He had flown over a field. He noted that a short stop for some rest was a good idea. He landed about 50 feet behind the mysterious figure. As he got closer, he now recognized who it was.

Hey…I think I know that face…

He approached the figure with a kind smile. Noticing she was no longer alone, Gilda looked down at the stranger.

“What do you want? Did Paulie send you to…” she stopped speaking when she recognized him.

“Hey, you’re that kid!” Royal nodded.

“I know you, too! Gilda, right?” The griffon turned away as if she was disgusted that he knew her name.

“What difference does it make? Paulie kicked me out. ‘Gilda, you’re a heinous beast! Nobody likes you!’ I’m starting to believe it, too.” The lady griffon started crying, which only prompted Royal to sit beside her.

“I don’t think you’re a heinous beast.” Gilda kept her gaze forward, not making contact with the kind stallion. For this, she actually felt remorse, because he was only trying to make her feel better.

“That’s because we’ve just met. Trust me, kid…if you actually knew me, you’d be running the other way in a hurry. Dash left me, and she was the most loyal friend I had until Paulie. He was right…I’m just an unlikeable, hideous monster!” Royal suddenly stood up. He spread his wings and prepared to take off.

“And I suppose you’re just gonna leave like all the others…” Gilda said, mournfully sighing.

“No…I’m off to where I was going before I stopped here. I’m going to Swelter Canyon to tear Paulie into griffon tenders! You’re welcome to come along, if you want.” Gilda perked up.

This kid is nuts! I’m in!

The aforementioned griffon sat and watched as the Mane Six and the changeling army clashed. Paulie was stewing in anger after Rainbow beat the stuffing out of him. Sure, he wasn’t hurt too badly, but it still ticked him off. Worse still, the matchup seemed to be a stalemate at best. He decided he had to do something about that. As he looked out onto the battle in front of him, his eyes locked on Rainbow Dash. She seemed like an obvious choice, considering the earlier beatdown she had given him. However, he caught a glance of a different pony and decided she would do instead.

Waiting for the most opportune moment, Paulie struck, knocking Pinkie off of her hooves and sending her tumbling from the battle. He approached her as she got up and smacked her with enough force to knock her into one of the cave walls, sending a jolt of pain through her body. She shook her head and looked up at him. Paulie cast his gaze down upon her as well.

“Oh, I am going to have a lot of fun with you!”

Applejack tried to rush over to help Pinkie, but a wall of changelings blocked her. The same proved true for the rest of the girls. Somehow, the changelings were a step quicker to head them off and keep them engaged in battle. All the while, Chrysalis sat in silence, preparing herself for a spell that would wipe out Twilight Sparkle and her friends for good.

With the elements gone, nopony can stop us! I’ll destroy the heroes, and Paulie will take the army to our next destination!

Royal and Gilda flew along, making their way to Swelter Canyon. Gilda was as surprised as ever that someone had shown kindness to her. Most places she went, she was rejected due to fear and intimidation.

“So Gilda…” Royal began. She snapped out of her moment of thought.

“Yeah?”

“What happened when you visited Ponyville? Rainbow always shied away from the subject.” Gilda sighed.

“Well, since Dash was my only friend growing up, I hadn’t seen her in years. I wanted to hang out only with her. And then Pinkie showed up…tried to cut into my time with Dash.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean to do it on purpose. That’s just Pinkie. She loves her friends, and sometimes doesn’t know her boundaries. But she really is a very sweet and kind pony.” Gilda nodded.

“I know that now…she threw a party for me while I was there. I didn’t appreciate it. I caused a big scene and yelled at all of Dash’s dweeb friends…for the longest time, I thought Pinkie had been responsible for me losing my best friend. But it was my own fault…my ego cost me Dashie.”

“Well, time heals wounds, Gilda. Why don’t you talk to her after we’re done making shish kabobs out of your ex-friend?”

“Sure…I guess I could try. The worst she can do is say no, right?” Gilda finally cracked a faint smile. As they continued flying towards their destination, they told each other various stories about their lives. Gilda finally understood how close she had come to helping Paulie do a horrible, horrible thing. She apologized to him and was quickly forgiven. She had done no wrong in Royal’s eyes. She had stopped Paulie from outright murdering him on the spot. Gilda started to realize why Rainbow cared for him so much.

Back at the canyon, Pinkie’s head bounced off of the wall as she fell to the ground yet again. She didn’t have any idea why Paulie was hurting her. All she knew was that she was hurt and she needed to get away if it was at all possible. Worse still, her friends had started to lose the ongoing battle against the changelings because they now spent all of their combined efforts to try and break free to rescue Pinkie, who had done absolutely nothing to deserve what Paulie was doing to her. The army didn’t seem to be tiring out as easily as they had in Ponyville. This was because the girls were now fighting the entire army, as opposed to the somewhat small invasion group they had fought earlier.

Pinkie looked up at Paulie as he reached down to grab her again.

“Hey…why don’t you ever smile? Are you sad about something that happened? Do you need a hug?” This only earned her more pain, as Paulie indeed hugged her and started to squeeze the life out of her.

“A hug? Yes…a hug sounds very nice right about now.” Pinkie yelped in pain as Paulie began an attempt to crush her.

“You wanted a hug? You’ve got it! I’ll crush you like a grape!”

Rainbow slashed her way through the changelings as best as she could, but she still could not pass through the barricade they had created between her and Paulie. She finally caught a glimpse of Pinkie, clearly suffering as Paulie attempted to crush her essence.

“Pinkie! No!!!” She grew even more frustrated. One of her best friends was potentially on the brink of death and she couldn’t do anything to save her. It looked hopeless for the element bearers, minus the elements. To make matters worse, Paulie started to gloat as he continued crushing Pinkie.

“So this is how the mighty element bearers fall! Without your precious elements, you are all useless, pathetic worms! When I rule Equestria, you will be the first ponies to serve me! Imagine that, the last line of defense, defeated so easily! I am the greatest! My empire will go down in history!” He laughed maniacally, continuing to crush Pinkie while the rest of the girls started to wear down. It was over, in Paulie’s eyes.

Just then, a small, somewhat jagged object rifled through the air. It struck Paulie square in the forehead, causing him to stop laughing immediately. After a few moments of silence, he put his talons to his forehead and started screaming in pain. He’d been busted open by the object, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. This caused him to drop Pinkie, who hit the ground nearly unconscious. This action had distracted the changeling army as well, so Rainbow rushed over to Pinkie.

“Pinkie! Pinkie! Speak to me! Are you okay?” Pinkie looked up at her and smiled weakly.

“Oh, hi Dashie! Wanna cupcake?” Rainbow smiled, relieved that she was still alive.

“Good enough!” She hoisted Pinkie on her back and carried her away from the action to a corner where the rest of the girls were resting.

Paulie finally located the source of his troubles; a jagged rock. He shook his head, while obviously suffering in a bit of pain himself.

“Which one of you vile creatures threw this? You could have killed me!”

“That was the idea. I’m quite disappointed it failed.” A shadow emerged from the darkness. It was Royal. To the surprise of everyone, the kid had come to the battlefield after all.

“Blue Boy!” Paulie said.

“Royal!” The girls said, surprised he’d shown up. He turned and walked straight towards them. When he reached them, Rainbow looked ready to kill him.

“Royal, I specifically told you not to come here! Do you have a death wish?”

“You can kill me later.” He turned his focus to Pinkie, who rested safely in the hooves of Fluttershy and Applejack. Without saying a word, he gazed up and down her body, seeing for himself the damage Paulie had caused. He took off his cape and wrapped it around her. After that, he left their side.

“Sugar cube?” Royal adamantly refused to speak. He dumped the box in front of Twilight.

“Waste them.” With that callous remark, he began a steady walk towards Paulie, who had begun laughing again.

“Blue Boy, I commend your courage, or is it stupidity? It must have taken a lot to come here, knowing you’re about to die!” Royal kept a stone-faced expression and kept walking.

“No words? It’s just as well. You don’t strike me as the witty hero type. You’re just a scared little filly hiding behind the big ponies!” Paulie continued laughing. Royal finally got within a few feet of him. He clenched his teeth.

“You can’t hurt me. I can see everything you do from a mile away, Blue Boy!” Royal nodded, and then he unleashed a massive punch, filled with months of heartache and frustration. The force of the punch was so powerful, it knocked Paulie off of his vertical base, sending him rolling on the ground until he crashed into the wall, making a considerable dent in the process.

“Did you see that coming?”

From the shadows of the cave entrance, Gilda smirked.