> Sometimes the Truth Can Be Deceiving > by UnamusedWaffle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: The War Begins (Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “ATTENTION!” Captain Armor’s voice boomed throughout the crystal hallways. The tall ceiling and the hardened walls closed in on the line of soldiers as the young moon’s rays reflected onto Blister. His attention was ripped away from the cold, hard floor, and forced him into the proper position. The Captain’s nervous look put most of the guards present on edge as he slowly paced up and down the line, his metal horseshoes clanking against the cold floor. “At ease.” “I’ll keep this brief,” he started, “The rumors have been getting out of hoof, so let me put them to rest. Yes, there is a suspected threat of attack against the Crystal Empire, but by who and when, neither I nor the Princesses are sure. However, it is shaping up to be big.”  Nodding to the pink alicorn to his right, he took a few tentative steps back. “Though some unfortunate shortcomings in our intelligence have left the gaps in our knowledge, since we do in fact know it’s coming this time around, we’re not taking any chances.” With a slight nod, a door on the far left of the hallway leading to conference room slowly but confidently opened, revealing three figures. The first emerged regally, giving off an air of superiority while at the same time valuing everypony, as any proper ruler would. Her quad-colored mane blowing in a non-existent breeze. The second figure, seemingly surrounded by an eternal starry night, made her presence known as she was flanked by a third, smaller and slightly hunched over figure. Upon entering, the smaller one’s look of uneasiness was mirrored by the guards directly in front of her. Noticing a cold stare in Blister’s eyes, Cadence quietly made her way over to Blister while the others’ attention was on the Princesses. “I know you can’t resist the snarky comments, but please refrain from pissing them off, First Lieutenant.” Her pleading eyes only earning a gruff “Yes, your majesty” out of him.  Blister’s eyes wandered back over to the three new figures in the room as Cadence rejoined her husband, whispering into his ear. What he hadn’t noticed before were the rows of Canterlot Royal Guard Officers behind Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. Using some estimations and quick thinking, he deduced that there were about 80 officers present. ‘That just means more low ranks getting in my way.’ Blister’s eyes glazed over slightly, before widening, a subtle yet small smile made its way onto his lips. ‘And Celestia hasn’t even given us a plan yet,’ he thought slyly.  “Hello everypony,” Celestia’s motherly gaze wavered a little when her eyes passed over Blister, “As you all already know, an attack on the Crystal Empire is likely due any day now, so as extra defense, an additional 800 guards from Canterlot will be assisting the Empire’s 1,200 troops. Princess Luna and myself will be giving orders from on and off the battlefield, respectively, so your utmost cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”  Noticing a slight shift in demeanor, Blister’s attention was dragged to Twilight as she gave him an almost imperceptible look before returning to her standard facade. That made Blister pay attention again to the ones giving the orders as the Princesses returned their masks of neutrality. His ice-blue eyes then glazed over again. After a few short moments, his head snapped back to attention at the mention of his name, lime green mane ruffling from the sudden movement.  “Lieutenant Blister, do you understand your assignment?” Blister’s gaze softened as he brought his head up to meet the Princess’ eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty" he said, saluting before she continued on as if nothing ever happened. “Finally, should our formation fail and become overrun, the Crystal Heart and the Elements of Harmony are our last resorts, in that order. Understood?” Nopony dared ask a question. “Dismissed.” As the guards broke for dinner, Cadence was able to sneak one last glance in towards Blister before she shook her head and turned back to start speaking with the other three Princesses. With concern lacing their expressions, the four goddesses began to exit the crystalline room, their hoof guards echoing off of the large hallway walls. Before Blister could leave the room, he employed his horn for the first time that day, trying to sneak a glimpse at the silent messages being sent between the Princesses via their own horns. ‘This spell wasn’t illegal back in my day,’ Blister thought as his horn was silently cast in a shadowy gray light.  After cancelling the spell once the Princesses were far enough away, he was able to gather that his orders were to gather up a small platoon of mostly lower ranking infantry and report to the northeast section of the empire and set up a perimeter defense once the enemy was spotted. So basically, die the second the enemy launched an attack. With a heavy sigh, Blister reluctantly resisted the urge to give Celestia a piece of his mind and went to eat dinner. With a slight fatigue starting to overtake him, Blister enveloped a tray, two apples and some hay fries and plopped down at a table, off in the corner. Ignoring the cold and wary looks originating from other tables, Blister pulled an earpiece out of his magic storage unit and, without detection, placed it in his ear.  ‘Jarvis, talk to me, the satellites get any new information?’ He thought as he tentatively bit into an apple. He slammed his hoof down onto the table as Jarvis relayed the news, ‘Sir, nothing new has come up, we only know as much as the Princesses do.’ With a heavy sigh and a wave of his hoof towards the other tables, he asked ‘Is the Mark 7 ready for deployment yet?’  A simple ‘No, sir’ was all it took for another hoof slam down onto the table, earning even more stares and glances. What almost set him off however were the set of hooves nervously approaching him. Broadcasting another sigh, Blister turned towards the now frozen Private standing in front of him. His forelegs were shaking, eyes unfocused and wings threatening to jettison him out of hell. “Yes Private Thunder Spin?” Blister’s cold, piercing eyes tore into Thunder Spin’s resolve as he straightened himself and gulped. “Uhh, s-sir,” his eyes refused to focus on one thing at a time, “are y-you alright? You seem a-angry.”  Blister gave a subtle smile before fading into an irritated frown. “Yeah, no shit, Sher-” “Hey! Go easy on him, he’s just a Private!”  Blister’s head snapped towards the feminine voice that cut him off, “Piss off Crescent, you’re not involved in this! Besides, ya barely let me respond.” he growled back. The Master Sergeant slouched back in her chair and resumed eating, grumbling all the while. She considered going through the paperwork to add another complaint to her superior's file, but decided against it when she heard his response to the Private.  He began with a deep breath, “My apologies Private, the reason I’m angry is a personal issue, nothing of your concern, but thank you nonetheless.” With a wave of his hoof, the Private and his bewildered expression returned to his seat across from the Master Sergeant as a dumbfounded face adorned her features.  Before any questions could be asked, the alarms sounded as somepony came over the loudspeaker: “Attention all units, I repeat, attention all units! The Griffon army has been spotted advancing towards the Southwest quadrant of the Empire. I repeat, The Griffon army has been spotted advancing towards the Southwest quadrant of the Empire. Follow your orders and DON’T DIE!” Blister rolled his eyes at the loudspeaker pony as they failed to hide the panic in their voice. Amidst all the chaos of ponies running around, orders being barked and the fearful expressions that found its way onto every Private, one thing was certain.  The Crystal Empire was under attack. And the Griffons would hold nothing back as they charged the Empire into oblivion. > Chapter 2: What Just Happened? (Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING: Gore and Violence tags has been added! “Oh sweet Celestia, not the Griffons!” somepony shouted as their legs buckled beneath them, sending them to meet the cold floor below. Blister could only roll his eyes as he rushed through the swarms of guards, valiant looks of determination adorning most faces. Before he could get very far however, Blister was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Whirling around to face the owner of the foreign hoof, his eyes were greeted with Twilight scribbling down notes on a piece of paper with her brother next to her. Blister’s eyes met Shining’s fierce looks among what they could make out in each other. Shining had to shout in order for Blister to hear him over the rumbling of hooves and screams of orders from Officers, “Set up your perimeter in the Northwest quadrant of the Empire. We want to make sure that they don’t make any flanking maneuvers.” A reply of “Yes, sir” was all that was needed before Blister shot off to round up his platoon. ‘I just hope he can actually stick to the orders this time around,’ Shining thought nervously. Blister’s eyes darted across the edge of the Crystal Empire as his armored hooves beat against the crystalline road. His gaze fixating on minute details of house spacing and even random barrel placement. ‘This is perfect!’ He thought as he came to a skidding halt, his platoon behind him following suit. Turning to face his guards, he gave the order, “ATTENTION!” And like cadets in training, they all snapped into position. Examining his platoon with a satisfied sigh, Blister then gave the “At ease” order, allowing them to rest their necks for the time being. ‘They’ll need as must rest as they can get before push comes to shove’ Blister thought as a grin appeared his muzzle. His voiced echoed around the area due to a voice amplification spell, handy for when there weren't microphones around. “Your orders are simple but do not let those words deceive you. This requires your utmost concentration and focus. Our job is to prevent the enemy from flanking the main army by taking them out before they take us out. We will be achieving this by remaining as concealed as possible. Staying behind houses, in barrels or anywhere that would hide you from sight. From there, ambushes will take place on any unsuspecting griffins coming through.” Blister's commanding and serious tone earned him looks of determination. “Master Sergeant,” Crescent Rose turned to face Blister, “gather about half of the troops and spread out about 20 meters that way-” he pointed his hoof to his left, “-remember to use anything you can for cover. Have some unicorns with an invisibility spell keep a lookout. Nothing, under any circumstances, gets through us. The other half of you-” the remaining guards gave you knowing looks, “-are to do the same in the opposite direction. Be sure to report every ambush before it occurs. Understood? GO!” Expressing a little pride, Blister quickly made his way over to a nearby house for cover. But before he could get very far, he and every other unicorn in the Crystal Empire received an urgent horn message. Whoever had sent it had been screaming all the while, ‘THEY’RE NOT GRIFFONS! THEY’RE NOT- AHHH!’ A blood-curdling scream was pressed into Blister’s brain as the message ended. ‘Lieutenant-’ Blister jumped back from the sudden second message, ‘The griffins are changelings. Their changed forms seem to be somehow fading as they cross the barrier into the Crystal Heart’s radius. So, change of orders. Take half of your troops and have them engage combat on the frontlines. Use the other half to resume blocking flankers, but we’ll have to make do with less ground coverage.’ Captain Armor’s words hit Blister like a truck. ‘Any and all gods that may be listening, give me strength’ he thought, exacerbated. A low rumbling could be heard in the distance. “GET DOWN!” A gruff voice screamed and Blister finally made his way into cover. Making his way up low wooden shutters and a newly refurbished roof, Blister eyes scanned the changeling army, finally stopping on something huge and looming making its way into view. A magic enhancer labeled in big bold letters “I.R.O.N.” Four massive, magically enchanted lenses protruded from the main control unit embedded in chitin support mounds. The main control unit itself was a rectangular wire box with all kinds of flashing lights on it, a green ooze was dripping from all sides of it. Four changelings had just finished powering down their horns. With time seemingly have been slowed, he watched in horror as an absolutely massive magical beam flew through the air leadings Blister’s eyes towards… The castle. The troops on the battlefield could only watch in horror as the payload made contact with the crystalline structure. In a short-lived blinding light, The Southwest wing of the castle was utterly decimated. Or more properly known as the battle wing, where strategizing occurs. “Alright, THAT DOES IT! SERGEANT MAJOR, TAKE YOUR TROOPS TO THE FRONTLINES, I WILL MEET YOU THERE. EVERYPONY ELSE, HOLD YOUR GROUND.” Ignoring the yells in the background of troop rallying, Blister reached up to tap his earpiece. ‘Jarvis, deploy the Mark 7.’ he said sternly. ‘But, sir-’ ‘I DON’T CARE JARVIS JUST DO IT. Who was in the wing of the castle that got hit?’ Blister asked angrily as he rushed to get out of sight of all of his guards. ‘Sir, the four Princesses and a large chunk of the nobility are incapacitated. The rest of the civilians are scattered throughout the North section.’ Jarvis’ reply only made Blister’s brow burrow even further. ‘These bombshells just keep comin’, huh? We’re on our own now.’ he thought with a sigh. As Blister’s thought finished, the low rumbling of his armor came streaking around the corner, pausing in front of him. Grinning, he stepped forward and the armor opened up before scanning his eyes with a red laser. After a few moments, it launched itself at Blister, slowly encasing the unicorn in its cold, metal grasp. After a couple of seconds, the mask was able to envelop his horn and flip itself down onto the soldier’s face. The suit then came to life, suit diagnostics were displayed on the right side of the mask while outside sensors were on the left. “Hello, sir?” asked Jarvis. “Let’s do this,” he said with a smirk. Soaring through the air, Blister’s repressed a momentary giddy smile. He was aiming to dive-bomb the changelings currently engaging in combat. ‘Jarvis, engage combat mode.’ The suit slowed down a little and its forelegs pulsed with more energy. Ignoring the looks from bewildered guards and confused changelings, Blister jumped into the fray, ground-pounding into a group of changelings attempting to charge the Captain. Leaping out of the small crater produced, Blister let loose dozens of micro missiles from his foreleg, each one impacting and incapacitating its target. Shining decided to make his presence known with a horn message, ‘Who are you?’ he asked desperately. Blister turned to Shining, seeing a bloody halberd in his magical grasp. Dodging the question, Blister replied ‘Captain, I think it’d be best to go and check on your wife and sister, I’ll take over here.’ An enraged look came onto Shining’s face. 'And why the hell should I listen to you?!' He bellowed. Following that obnoxious statement, the sound of hostile and frantically running hooves and buzzing emanated from behind Blister, and Shining’s eyes focused in on something behind him. Turning around to face the threat, Blister released a volley of swift punches to the gut of whatever was behind him. He then proceeded to charge up his repulsors before releasing them towards the group of heavily armed changelings rushing towards him. The remaining insect that dodged the blast continued charging, only to be met by a dropkick to the head. Blister’s metal persona then slowly rose into a cinematic pose. “Because your Lieutenant just saved your rump.” Blister said dryly. Shining hesitated, his body refused to move. After a few brief moments of contemplation, his eyes widened with realization and a slight nod confirmed Blister’s suspicions. With a softened face, he said “Thanks,” he chuckled, “I’ll let the other troops know, Iron Mane.” At that nickname Blister let out a soft snort before Shining galloped off towards the castle. Following the Captain’s message, Blister broadcasted his own, ‘Alright troops, those of you on the outskirts, let’s wrap this up. Start to herd these insects in the North section of the Empire. Let’s finish this!’ From across the Empire, battle cries could be heard as the Canterlot and Crystal Empire Royal Guard made one last advance towards the enemy, pushing the oversized insects into a conglomerate. Blister’s assistance gained him confused yet thankful expressions on all of the guards. His iron alter-ego teleported across the battlefield, lending assistance to any that needed it. With the suit’s added power and Blister’s existing combat skills, he let loose barrages of punches, kicks, bucks, repulsive blasts and micro missiles onto his enemy. Master Sergeant Crescent Rose heaved as the last changeling her squad ambushed collapsed. Whether it was dead or simply unconscious, she didn't care. There were more of them on the way and she couldn't let herself become distracted. The same couldn't be said about her subordinates though, as one of them collapsed from exhaustion and the other were groaning in agony, their muscles screaming at them to stop but they all knew no such break would come easily. "C'mon maggots! We still got more bugs to lead into traps!" Crescent Rose shouted at her unit, trying her best to be inspiring, funny, anything to get these ponies to try harder. They all reluctantly returned to their original positions, with the Sergeant Major hunkering down in between a barrel and a dumpster in a stray alleyway. As she was about to send out a horn message to ask why her Scout was taking so damn long with her enemy position report, she was interrupted by a fierce pain on her horn that sent waves of fire crashing down her entire body. She clenched her eyes shut as she tried to pry herself free of who or whatever was trying to kill her, the voice that spoke to her made her blood freeze. It had a certain mechanical quality to it, almost as if multiple ponies were talking to her, and they were all smug assholes in need of a good flank kicking. "So, Sergeant Major," the voice began, arrogance and exasperation laced in it. "How is it you are going to wriggle your way out of this one?" “Corporal, protect my flank! Warrant Officer Roaring Stone, take a group around the enemy flank and pick off as many as you can!” Blister let out an intimidating roar as he charged. The other troops picked up on this fairly easily and proceeded to charge in for the final strike. The changeling army had been pushed back to the border, their numbers dwindling. The raid itself had lasted a couple of hours, and both sides were just about done with the fighting. Blister’s fatigue was overpowered as he charged, the AC in his suit working overtime to cool his greyish-black coat. Before he could make contact with the enemy forces however, Blister received one last horn message. As it was relayed, he froze, cursing under his breath, ‘Help-! She’s- -hind-us-!’ The message’s multiple cuts off points and panicky voice caused Blister to rocket off into the air, but not before shouting “Chief Officer Dying Star, take command until I return!” A small crater in the crystalline streets and blue streaks in the sky were all that was left after Blister’s sudden departure. The charge was thrown off a little, but many still pressed on as if nothing had ever happened. Soaring through the air at top speed, Blister made his way over to where the castle had collapsed, only for his sensors to pick up heavy activity underneath the castle. Changing course to suit his new destination, he came upon a bloodied and beaten Shining Armor barely blocking attacks with a chipped sword from a hearty and bloodthirsty Queen Chrysalis. Their battle was surrounded by dismembered and gut-wrenching corpses lying in pools of blood. There were a few lightly beaten guards embedded into the crystal walls on all four corners, unconscious. Trying to clear his head with a quick shake, Blister charged at her with unrepressed rage and determination, his focus narrowing. Upon closer inspection, the changeling Queen’s eyes were bloodshot, with a sadistic flare to them. Brandishing her black battle-ax, she swung at Shining, just barely nicking his neck. Lime green lines that resembled veins ran along the hilt up to either blade. With repulsors charging up and engines roaring, the Queen noticed Blister’s advancements and sidestepped out of the way, allowing him to swing himself around and go in for another shot. The Queen enveloped Blister in her magical grasp and flung him away before quickly transforming herself into the metal hero that was temporarily removed from the picture. Shining was struck with fear and exhaustion, unable to move. When a loud growl was heard from the direction that Blister was thrown in, his doppelganger teleported behind the Captain right as one of the unconscious guards in the wall opened his eyes. Private Thunder Spin’s eyes slowly, yet heavily, opened themselves up. His head was spinning and his whole body, from his back hooves to his wings was in excruciating pain. When his purple eyes finally opened up, he was greeted to the sight of the Iron Mane behind the Captain, with a battle-ax firmly planted through his barrel and out the other side. Shining Armor’s chest was burst open, pouring all of his crimson-red blood out the split in the skin. The blood loss was only compounded when the ax was removed, allowing the Prince to stumble for a step or two before collapsing onto the cold, hard ground. The Private’s eyes were open just long enough to see a blue blur tackle the traitorous metal pony, before gravity took over and let him fall to the ground, the impact knocking him unconscious once again. ‘Oh sweet Celestia,’ were his final thoughts of the day. Blister, now consumed by a fury he had long since forgotten, screamed at Jarvis, “JARVIS, PREPARE THE UNIBEAN!” “But sir it’s not-” “JARVIS I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY!” Blister warned. With that, the suit started rapidly charging up the ellipse reactor while Blister charged up his horn. When he screamed the order, both beams combined into a blue blur streaking through the air, hitting the Queen squarely in the side of her barrel. Blister tailed the beam of energy, ready to pummel Chrysalis. Before the beam could fully leave Blister’s ellipse reactor, there was a mini-explosion. It sent him flying into the crystal street some 400 hooves away while Chrysalis careened through multiple walls and buildings, ending up not too far from the castle. ‘Ow, dammit,’ Blister thought as he groaned in pain. Swinging himself back around again, Blister easily recovered, again charging for where Chrysalis lie in the rubble. The Queen grunted as a large picture frame found itself falling onto her head. Getting up, her eyes were greeted with the sight of another blue blur. This time, she was able to perform a blocking motion with her ax, stopping the blur dead in its tracks. She was now able to get a good look at what was attacking her. The struggling pony’s form was adorned with a metallic mask that made it seem almost not-equine. There were blue circles on each hoof and little lines were scattered throughout its body. The body itself was a bright red with gold and silver accents. What really fascinated her was the larger blue circle in the center of its chest. While she was fixated on his armor, Blister gained control of the situation, flinging her battle ax away from her and letting loose insane amounts of punches, kicks and repulsor blasts to every part of the overgrown insect each move flowing into the next. During the volley, he left himself open on multiple occasions, allowing Chrysalis to regain her bearings for a moment. During the fifth opening, she retaliated. A spell blast to the face and a hard uppercut to the gut, she kept up this and other patterns until parts of the armor, especially the mask, were torn off, revealing greyish-black fur, grey flesh, and blood. The pair had mostly remained in the same noblepony’s house, but neither was able to successfully land a hit after their respective rage-induced panic attacks. Punches were blocked, repulsors blasts canceled against spells, and both were beginning to fatigue. Chrysalis had just failed another uppercut and was thrown back when Blister blasted the ceiling above where she would land leaving rubble plummeting to the group, crushing her backside. He stood over her, unibeam charging, a little break in the mask revealing a bloody smirk. All she was able to get out was “This isn’t over” before teleporting away and out of sight. Unbeknownst to him, the changeling army had already begun to retreat. Blister recalled the suit back to his house, asking Jarvis to start repairs. Blister was heavily beaten, bruised and bloodied as he made his way back over to the castle underpass. What he saw almost made him lose his dinner. One final horn message was relayed for that day to him. It was a fairly simple, but crushing in its implications. ‘All available authority figures have been incapacitated,’ it began. ‘Martial law will be instated as reign over the Crystal Empire will temporarily relay to you.’ > Chapter 3: Running a Nation is Pretty Hard (Lightly Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Sir! The royal hospital has been overflowed! They’re short on staff!” A frantic voice from outside of Blister’s study ripped his attention from his paperwork as the door swung open, revealing Private Thunder Spin. His mane was in tatters, bandages littered his body and his left eye was bruised. The past several hours had been grueling for Blister, to say the least. With the military wing of the castle being blown out by the strange changeling weapon while strategy was taking place, that meant most of the available rulers after the Princesses had been incapacitated. It was just his luck that so many were gathered in one place and Luna had even forgotten her helmet when the attack took place. Thankfully, though, the medical wing remained untouched. Blister sighed as he swiveled in his chair to face the panicking Private, his untreated cuts and bruises making him wince. Bringing his blue eyes up from the dried blood splotches on Blister’s body to meet his eyes, Thunder Spin attempted again, “Sir the-”. “Yes, I heard you,” Blister said softly. “Is there no pony else we can spear to work?” “Not unless we want to ask the room full of angry citizens.” He replied. Blister sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Let the staff know that I'll put in an emergency request to Canterlot Royal Hostpital for more hooves to help." Thunder Spin nodded. "Hell, tell 'em that I'll come down and cast some healing spells if need be." With that, Thunder Spin smiled. Blister’s expression then turned somber, “Are the Princesses awake?” A frown was all that was needed from the Private. “No, sir. But Princess Cadence is showing increased brain activity though. The doctors said she should be up within the hour.” With a thank you and a wave of his hoof, Thunder Spin was sent off running towards the royal treasury down the hall. Blister sighed as he checked the time on the clock situated just above his desk: 11:24 am. He had a short check-in with the royal advisors in about 10 minutes. Groaning to himself, he stood up from his chair and popped his neck and forehooves, sighing with content at the feeling. He had been up all night doing paperwork, organizing the funeral, and preparing what he’d say to the Princesses about Shining Armor among other things. Bags were now visible underneath his eyes as he sleepily and painfully made his way to the meeting room. The meeting itself was only a few doors down, but a couple dozen meters was still more than what Blister would’ve wanted. But the aspect that had really taken a toll on him were the civilians. There were about 26,000 of them, which should have been a manageable number for Blister. But boy, was he wrong. The citizens of the Crystal Empire were rowdy and almost impossible to calm down. They had all been contained in a shelter in the Southwest section of the city, but having to move them when the attack began only added fuel to the fire of already panicking crystal ponies. They were currently panicking in the castle ballroom and the nobles were complaining about being near the “peasants” while the royal cooks catered to everypony there. All of that chaos just compounded Blister’s headache underneath expense bills and nobility complaints. He hadn’t dealt with this kind of thing in a long time, and it's not like he was eager to start again. He was so consumed in his thoughts that he almost missed the door to the meeting room. When he walked up to face the door, he paused. Reflecting on everything that had just transpired over the past 15 hours or so, he repressed the tears and drew in a deep, shaky breath before he entered the room of arguing nobles sitting at a round table. Upon seeing the current ruler of the Crystal Empire, they all silenced themselves. A low ranking noble directly across the table from Blister decided to speak up. “Glad you could make it, sir” he started with a smile, but almost immediately smashed it into a frown. “Our royal guard has been reduced to around 1,000 while the changeling army lost about 500 in the raid. The Canterlot Royal Guard suffered no losses.” “What about the Elements?” Blister asked frantically. A smile from the advisor eased his mind. “The Elements were taken into a secluded area of the castle after the magical blast hit the Northeastern wing and were kept there until the retreat of our enemy. They are in the infirmary now with Princess Twilight.” Blister sighed. “How are the preparations comings?” The atmosphere of the room seemed to plummet. Looking down, the noble responded slowly. “We are ready to start the funeral whenever Princess Cadence wishes.” At that, Blister thanked the noble and proceeded to step out of the room. As he was closing the door, he heard him say one last muffled thing through the door, “And sir, thank you for exceeding our expectations.” Blister let out a snort at that. ‘I can do that five times over and not break a sweat,’ he thought. As he made his way back to his study, he let his mind wander. Bad idea. His thoughts immediately latched onto Shining Armor as the rare moment of nothing in the past several hours allowed everything to sink in. Had he done all that he could? If he had just been a little bit faster, just a little bit smarter. His face twisted in anger as stamped one hoof down onto the crystal floor, the sound echoing off of the tall ceilings and narrow walls of the hallway. ‘I guess it is time for some upgrades to the suit,’ he thought to himself. The distant sound of frantic hooves on a crystal floor pulled him from his thoughts. ‘Not now!’ he thought desperately. He hoped that it wasn’t Cadence and silently prayed to any and all gods that he wouldn’t have to deal with Twilight. The sight of Princess Cadence made his stomach sink. Cadence’s eyes were red and puffy. The once light tiredness replaced with a deep exhaustion. Her mane was in shambles, a stray clump of it half-covered her right eye. She had bandages that wrapped around her pink barrel that restricted her from flying as well as small cuts and bruises that littered her body. The beautiful regalia that once adorned her body were now dented and scraped almost beyond recognition, chunks of gold were missing from when the crystal came crashing down. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in Blister’s form. He was far worse off than she was, with his lime green mane in a similar condition to her’s. His green eyes reflected a kind of exhaustion she regularly saw on Shining after a visit from stuck-up nobles. Accompanying his bruised eye, he had a deep cut that ran from the bottom of his ear to his cheek, dried blood staining the greyish black fur below it. His left foreleg had been bandaged, with blood trying to seep its way through. The most notable thing on his body, however, was the enormous midnight black bruise on his chest. Blister’s once strong build and cold demeanor had been reduced to almost nothing. How he was even still standing was beyond her. Cadence raced up to Blister, her hooves steps becoming slower and slower with each second that passed until she was right in front of him, the sound of her hooves slowly becoming nothing more than quiet and unsure whispers. Blister knew that sound all too well. The sound of somepony grieving. What surprised Blister was the slight spark of anger in her red, teary eyes. “What happened?!” she demanded. They both already had an answer. Her breathing was now uncontrolled. Blister sighed and flattened his ears as his gaze met hers. “How much have you heard?” They had gone back to Blister’s study/bedroom where some privacy could be had. Private Thunder Spin had filled in everypony he could on what happened to the Prince of the Crystal Empire. Apparently, he was the only one who had seen the Prince’s last moments. The story was that after Shining Armor began running back to the castle to check on his family, he sent a horn message to all the unicorn troops, labeling this new “Iron Mane” as now in charge. He gathered a small group to accompany him, but they were ambushed as they were about to enter the castle. Thunder Spin and three others were the only ones that survived. He said that when he opened his eyes for a few seconds, the Iron Mane was slicing up the Prince from behind. He argued that since the changelings weren’t able to change their form inside the barrier, then it had to be Iron Mane and everypony had to agree. The few guards who had worked alongside the metal pony were more reluctant. This put Blister in a tight spot. ‘Correcting the record would be a grueling process and most likely lead to more misunderstandings,’ he thought. He didn’t want to cause the grieving widow any more confusion and heart/headache with the truth. ‘Dammit,’ he cursed himself in his head. In his focus on managing the Empire, he completely neglected to listen to the rumors. Now those falsehoods reigned supreme as facts. “Yes, his story is...true,” he sighed. “I tried to help him after he sent me one last distress message, but I was…too late.” he choked on his words, tears welling up in his eyes. Cadence’s own eyes widened, genuinely surprised. She had never seen this much emotion from him before. Her own tears were now threatening to spill. Drawing in a shaky breath, he continued. “The funeral service is ready to proceed whenever you are ready.” That nearly broke her. Sniffling, she tried to stand up and make her way to the door, but Blister got up first. As he made his way over to her, up out of his tall, comfy chair and around the small coffee table, she flinched. Pausing, Blister sighed. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Getting down to eye level with her, he held his hooves out for her. His face betrayed no emotion now, the light from the fireplace flickering on it. Cadence was extremely hesitant, but she eventually threw herself on him, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Blister’s eyes shed a single tear silently while Cadence was an absolute mess. Tears spilled down his neck and onto the floor. For once in his life, he didn’t care. After about 5 minutes, the door to his study burst open, making both of them jump a little, still embracing. In came two large figures, flowy manes betraying their identities, and a third smaller figure. Princess Celestia was a mess. Her mane was untouched, however, but the rest of herself didn’t fare too well. Bruises and cuts littered her body, albeit not as severely as Cadence or Blister. Light splotches of dried blood stained her once pristine white coat. Princess Luna was the least damaged, with only a large bruise on her head to the left of her horn being the only discernible injury. Lastly, Princess Twilight’s left wing was bandaged and small cuts showed on her right ear, front forelegs, and barrel. The two regal sisters stood there slightly confused with small bits of sadness poking through their masks. Twilight was overcome with grief as tears threatened to spill, her untrained mask seemingly already shattered. Blister pulled Cadence’s face to look at his as she stopped crying. With a slight frown, he brushed away her tears and stood up. Nodding to Twilight he turned to exit the room as she raced over to Cadence, crying into her hooves. As Celestia opened her mouth to ask him a question, Blister cut her off, his gaze fixated on the door behind her as he continued to walk slowly. “The funeral begins when Princess Cadence is ready. The story you have likely heard is true. I leave the duty of ruling this shit show to you two for now. And Princess Luna?” She flinched slightly at his tone as he turned his head towards her. “Go easy on her,” he said coldly. Leaving a slightly angry night Princess, he opened the door in his study to go wherever he was needed next. Turning to the left, he spoke up to the five shadowy figures behind the right side of the door. He let a small smirk melt through his expressionless face. “Ya know girls, it’s not nice to eavesdrop.” Blister winced slightly as the weight of the carriage latch was let down onto his back. Looking around at all the armored guards and rushing nobles, he took a deep breath, calming his nerves. It was finally time to lay his friend to rest. His nervousness did not go unnoticed however, as a certain pink alicorn clad in a black gown and black make-up on his left whispered to him. “Are you sure you can carry that?” she asked. Blister nodded with a reassuring smile to the widow, his crystalline armor moving ever so slightly. Somepony behind the giant carriage gave it a light smack. Blister turned to his right, his gaze meeting three other crystal guards. Nodding to each other, they proceeded to start moving the carriage out from under the castle’s underpass. A high pitched sobbing earned Blister’s attention for a brief moment. Looking back to his left he saw Twilight leaning on Cadence, a few tears slowly streaming down her cheek. Deciding to satisfy his curiosity, he strained his neck to look over the other guards on his right, just barely catching a glimpse of two flowing manes above them. ‘All accounted for,’ he thought. The clanking of armor against crystal and wooden wheels turning filled the air as the convoy of guards trailed and led the carriage of Shining Armor’s casket, making their way down the street. The green crystalline casket was adorned with red ornate crystal roses and secured down with crystal cables. The entire thing reflected the peeking sunlight so heavily that somepony was bound to think that it was summer in the frozen north. The convoy proceeded towards the outskirts of the Empire, with mourning citizens standing outside their homes and lining the streets. Shops closed and lunch was left uneaten as every crystal pony dropped what they were doing to pay their respects. The entire Empire was silent, no words were exchanged. Legend had it that if somepony had dropped a pin needle, lightning would strike. As the carriage passed, each crystal pony would bow their heads in respect, creating a dark green glow on the street. Some citizens also offered silent mouthings of “I’m sorry” to the grieving widow as she passed by them. The block of guards lead the carriage and the four pulling it around the circumference of the Empire while that dark green glow began to slowly yet surely envelop the entirety of the land’s area. As the convoy slowly began making their way back to the castle underpass, with the circuit path now complete, Cadence leaned over to Blister again, this time whispering “Thank you so much for organizing this, I was so worried when I woke up.” “No problem, Princess,” he responded stoically, though with a slight hint of genuine emotion. She smiled before restoring her mask. After that exchange, the carriage and hundreds of guards surrounding it came to a halt, back in the same place where they started. Without saying a word, Blister pulled a small crystal out from under the cables on top of Shining’s casket and gently set it down onto the street with his magic. Within a few seconds, the once light purple crystal had drunk up all of the dark green magic that once flooded the streets, making the crystal itself glow dark green. Once that was complete, twelve pegasus guards got under the casket and slowly lifted it up after the cables had been removed. The guards were surrounded on the corners by the Princesses, and Blister prepared a teleportation spell, all of them heading for one destination. The top floor of the castle. With a flash of lime green light, Blister appeared on that floor, a giant snowflake design on the crystal ground greeting his eyes before he looked up. It was a large circular floor that was exposed to the air, with crystal columns lining the circumference and the beginning of a staircase off on one of the far sides. The casket was set down near the edge, overlooking the whole North sector of the Empire. The pegasus guards descended back to the ground and joined the groups of bowing crystal ponies. Blister levitated the glowing crystal over to Cadence, who took it in her magical grasp. She stood directly behind the casket, while the other Princesses stepped back, taking their places beside one another and Blister. Lowering her head slightly, Cadence took a deep breath, shed a single tear, and touched the crystal to the casket. Almost instantly, the crystal fused itself into the casket, a green glow taking hold of it as it slowly began to deteriorate into small dark green flecks, the wind taking them up into the sky and into the heavens. As the casket slowly faded away, Shining Armor’s resting body was left, seemingly floating on the blanket of dark green specks, a peaceful yet emotionless expression on his body; the chest wound had been stitched up by the Empire’s finest doctors. The body of the Prince of the Crystal Empire was slowly carried up into the gray sky of the late afternoon. Once the body was just about to transcend past the clouds, one could make out the faintest glow of a white, almost holy light enveloping the body and green specks, transporting them to places still unknown to Ponykind. The Crystal Princess sighed, and slowly shifted herself to face the four onlookers. Everypony’s expectations were shattered by what they saw. Her expressionless mask held the faintest remnants of a somber yet satisfied smile. “How much did you get done while we were out?” Celestia asked Blister, a slight undertone of dread accompanying the question. Private Thunder Spin, Blister, the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony had all gathered in one of the castle’s many circular meeting rooms. Blister could only smirk and let out a slight chuckle at her question, earning him a raised eyebrow. “You need not worry, Your Highness. I handled the majority of what needed to be done so there isn’t much for you four to worry about while you and Princess Luna recover here. Speaking of, isn’t it nearly nighttime, Princess?” The two regal sisters could only roll their eyes at his jokester tone. “Now, the Private and I must bid you adieu, we gotta go rest up.” “Thank you, Captain Blister,” she said softly. It was Blister’s turn to roll his eyes as he put an arm around Thunder Spin’s neck and turned around to leave. A slight limp could be seen whenever Blister put weight on his bandaged foreleg. Celestia and Cadence couldn’t help but feel guilty. As if he had read their minds, he shouted into the room from down the hallway, “And stop feeling guilty, you freaking Princesses have felt enough of that for one day.” Luna chuckled a little as she levitated the stack of papers that had been left on the table up to where she could see them. Cycling through them to see which obligation they should tackle first, she stumbled across a piece of paper at the back of the pile, one which had been written across in large, bold, black letters, “VOID”. The only part of the title she could make out was “Promo-on f-r Lie-t-n--t --ister”. ‘That idiot,’ she thought. > Chapter 4: Afterhours Visiting and an Unpleasant Surprise! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Honey, I’m bucking home!” Blister shouted as he forcefully threw open the front door to his house. He chuckled to himself as he trotted in, landing in a foyer leading to the dining room. The sound of hooves against wood reverberated throughout the house as Blister made an immediate left into his kitchen. Greeting him was a large white refrigerator which he opened to retrieve an odd jar filled with a pink, jelly-like substance. Sighing, he used his magic to remove the lid from the jar and let the thing slide out of the jar, down into his mouth. Swallowing whole, he shuttered. ‘I’m never going to get over that,’ Blister thought. Sighing again, he made his way out of the kitchen and back down the narrow hallway, mindful not to hit the small oil lamps hanging from the walls. Exiting the hallway, he entered a clearing where a wooden table with five chairs sat in the center on top of a carpet. Turning to the right of the table, Blister used his magic to reveal a small lever embedded into the wall. Before he could take another breath, a message was sent via magic to his horn. ‘Magical signature verification required,’ it read in his mind. He sent back a message to the system with the password before stepping back. ‘I still need to change it back to something a bit more secure,’ Blister thought, ‘Don’t worry I’ll change it later apparently seemed like a really good password to my sleep-deprived self.’ A small hiss of air could be heard, akin to a light breeze on a summer day, as the once unappealing wooden wall in front of Blister parted in the center and opened, revealing a staircase. The wide and towering ceiling had electrical wires running along the top corners, running through light bulbs and descending down further below the house. Taking a deep breath, the unicorn began to trot down the stairs that led far beneath the ground as the doors behind him closed themselves, shutting him off from the outside world. “Welcome back, sir,” Jarvis told him through hidden speakers. Blister smirked as his memories flooded to the front of his mind. “It’s been a while,” he said to no pony in particular. Turning his head around, he could see his reflection in the smooth metal plating that lined the brightly lit hallway as his attention was pulled back to the bottom of the stairs. The sound of hoof steps echoed throughout the chamber that Blister had just entered. Looking around, he began to reminisce. The high ceiling hid security cameras in its corners, the expertly placed electrical lights casting them into shadows. Ignoring the large double doors with an intricate lock on the front on the other end of the main room, Blister looked over to his left. A rectangular table with rounded corners came into view, its holographic view of Equestria bouncing in the air above the table like a graceful pegasus. Several large blue dots could be made out that spanned across the vast country, marking important locations, with a large orange dot somewhere towards the north. Walking over to it, Blister used his magic to slide a compartment out from under the table, revealing a computer controller of his own design. The rectangular device was fairly simple in its design, consisting of only two large slightly inverted domes on either side of the rectangular base. Surrounding the left dome was a small ring that showed little letters, each corresponding to a color. The dome on the left, however, was surrounded by the same colors in a much larger quantity. Shifting his hooves around expertly to the corresponding colors and letters, the hologram now showed a new image: a list of all the important ponies in the world. Filtering by “Equestrian High Royalty”, the display showed him six profiles: “Princess Celestia”, “Princess Luna”, ”Prince Blueblood”,  “Princess Cadence”, “Prince Shining Armor”, and “Princess Twilight Sparkle”. Blister sighed as he looked up from the keyboard and laid his eyes on Shining’s profile, forelegs shaking. The large cursive text that ran across the profile brought an odd, almost slightly comforting feeling to Blister. “Deceased”.  A single tear fell from his eye as his ears folded back and he made his way back over to the main room with the staircase in it. He plopped down in a chair in front of a monitor that shared a similar volume to Blister’s head, accompanied by its own keyless keyboard. Jarvis spoke up, “Sir, would you like for me to play some memories of Mr. Armor?”  “Yes, please, Jarvis.” Suddenly, the display on the monitor shifted rapidly from the file explorer to GlassframeOS’ video player program. Blister lazily rolled his head over his shoulder as he slouched further down in his chair. ‘If only I’d been faster,’ Blister thought to himself, ‘then you’d still be here.’ The sound of frantic yelling filled the once silent room as the monitor displayed a first-person perspective of dirt rapidly rushing to meet it. A few recruits in bronze armor stood off to the side and watched with unreadable expressions as memory-Blister collided with the unforgiving ground. A fairly noisy groan emanated from the monitor’s speaker as the view shifted itself to look up, only for the camera to view white with some green, brown, and bronze surrounding it. The camera refocused and eventually revealed a younger Shining Armor, hoof extended outward with the recruits chuckling off to the side, the forest behind them completing the picture. This memory-Shining looked less tired, Blister thought, as he recounted the events of that day in his own head. Blister looked down and sighed as his memory-self hesitantly took the alabaster hoof and rose up to his full height. A shocked expression had latched itself onto the surrounding recruits, like a parasite intent on sucking their life away. Eventually, the monitor’s screen faded to black, only to fade back in a moment later, this time showing a fairly large and spacious room with a wooden floor, stone walls, ceiling, and fence enclosing the circular wood floor with a series of thinly cut pieces of stone. This routine of memories fading in and out repeated, over and over again as what was once just sighs and head hangings became light somber sobs. Blister’s eyes were now slightly red and puffy as a new memory became visible on the screen. This time it was one of the shorter ones, lasting only a good 15 to 20 seconds. A very darkened room made itself known on-screen as the rest of the room came into focus. It had an incredibly small area, only enough for two ponies. Cleaning supplies littered the ground and broom poles sprouted up from the ground like vicious vines one could find in the Everfree. Memory-Shining Armor stood in front of Blister, his expression hidden by the enveloping darkness. “What’d she say?” he asked, failing to hide his nervousness. Without saying a word, Blister’s magic encompassed the side of his saddlebag and heaved it open to retrieve a small letter in a red envelope. The darkness of the closet hid the words written on the side, but Blister could recall perfectly what they read in all their beautifully cursive glory: ”For Shining Armor xoxo”. The stallion flashed a quick expression of gratitude as light began pouring into the room and he sprinted off down the hall, his hooves echoing off the hard stone floor. Blister almost lost it at that. “Jarvis, pause the memory,” he asked frantically, voice unsteady, lips quivering. “What’s the status on the Mark 7?” Jarvis replied, “up and ready, sir.” Blister quickly regained control of himself and smiled, a newfound determination fueling him. Glancing to his right, a circular room now filled his vision as his eyebrows furrowed. The numerous workbenches on wheels were empty, save for a few thick robotic arms with odd grabbers on the ends. The circular metal platform that they surrounded was empty, causing a small smile to form on Blister’s face, his brows still not parallel.  Setting his attention on a fairly large set of metal double doors, almost completely hidden on the opposite end of the room from the stairwell. “Jarvis, what’s the status of our funding?”  “We almost have too many gems from the mines, would you like me to slow the production of the machines in the mountains surrounding the Everfree Forest for now?” With a quick word of agreement from Blister, gem production was slowed slightly, for the time being, a fact that was almost complicated by the next update from the AI. “Sir, one of the two satellites has just been damaged by orbiting rocks left over from a meteor shower. Shall we make repairs?” “Yeah, gather the materials and I’ll start assembling them later. I’ll still need to prepare the noise-canceling and invisibility spells. We’ll launch from Site B just north of the Empire since Site A was used recently, I’ll assemble the parts there,” Blister replied plainly.  “So that’ll set back the fund a little bit, but I’ll still have more than enough,’ he thought. Turning his attention back to the circular room, his smirk returned to its home on his face.  “Time for an upgrade.” Her white coat seemed almost a shade darker to the passersby along the street. The once majestic and regal alicorn seemed to radiate a distinct aura, one that wasn’t identifiable, but uneasy nonetheless. Maybe it was an attempt to hide her grief, or maybe it was the gloomy sky. Nopony seemed to know. Ignoring the distant sounds of rumbling thunder and the staccato notes played by the wrenches and hammers, she glanced back to the four guards trailing her and nodded, signaling for the leader to fly ahead and knock on the wooden door up ahead. The entrance to her destination. The house in question seemed rather bland, almost nothing setting it apart from the surrounding houses. The guard that had slightly flown ahead rapped his hoof against the old wooden door. If one listened hard enough, they might have been able to make out a muffled “buck buck Buck BUCK” from inside the crystal structure.  With her guards standing at attention behind her, Princess Celestia elegantly walked up the steps to Blister’s home. After what seemed like an eternity, silence turned into a bowling alley of noise as the door was flung open, which revealed a panting and disgusting looking Blister. Celestia’s earlier thoughts about his unkempt mane were thrown out the window as she stared at him. The head of snakes that very few would call a mane was crawling with a greasy, reflective substance, and his grey-ish coat was blackened by almost an entire shade. Shaking her head slightly, she spoke up. “Can I come in? There are matters that I must discuss with you.” Her smile betrayed no inner emotions. “Yeah, sure, it’s not like I was in the middle of something.” He responded sarcastically while waving his hoof to welcome her in. Well, not ‘welcome’ her particularly. Flaring a wing out to her side, she leaned down and muttered “Don’t worry this won’t take long.” Seeing her guards nod, she proceeded into the house and shut the door behind her. Taking in her surroundings, she nearly hit her head on the oil lamps lining the hallway. “Not at all what I expected,” she muttered to herself. “And what exactly did you expect?” Blister spoke up from the wooden table down the hallway. “Never mind, it's not important. What is important is what I came here to discuss with you.” She said firmly as she took a seat at the wooden table across from Blister, the wood creaking and groaning from the weight being put on it. Her tone set Blister a little on edge in a way that caused his mind to race. Had she somehow found out? Was he about to be executed with no chance to defend himself? If his previous behavior was anything to go by, he just might be.  Luckily, Celestia’s expression softened into a genuine smile causing Blister to breathe an internal sigh of relief. ‘Dodged a bullet there,’ Blister thought. “Since I never got the chance, I wanted to properly thank you for the work you did after the castle collapsed. When the four of us were incapacitated, instead of panicking and leaving the Empire out to dry you picked up the slack and kept the Empire running. For that, I owe you a lot.” Her words made Blister feel warm, warm in a way he hadn’t felt in a very very long time as her words washed over him like a soothing breeze from a heater.  Chuckling to himself he said “Honestly, Princess, you didn’t need to do that whole flattery thing like you’re parenting a small foal. A simple ‘thank you’ would have sufficed.” “I still feel like it’s necessary, and I wanted to at least stop by before my sister and I board the train back to Canterlot. There’ll be a lot of work to catch up on once we get back there.” She said while getting up from her chair before making her way to the door. Before she opened the door, Blister opened his big mouth to interrupt her. “Well, if you need any help, don’t hesitate to call me.”  “I might just take you up on that offer someday.” Princess Celestia opened the door with her magic to be saluted by her guards stationed outside the house. Before she made to leave the steps to his house, Blister said one last thing to her that caused her to smile, more so than last time. “And Princess,” he said. “You’re welcome.” “Ugh, where is that colt?! I swear to Celestia when I get my hooves on him I’ll...” Cadence took a deep breath to calm herself down. She was reading over another complaint that was filed into Blister’s folder by the new First Lieutenant. He hadn’t reported for duty for a week since the funeral, and his lack of attendance had Cadence a little worried and more than angry. Was he cold? Yes. Unfeeling most of the time? Yes. Annoying to deal with? Yes. But late? Never. ring RING RING The chiming of the grandfather clock interrupted her thoughts as she let herself give a small huff of frustration. His antics have caused her an undue burden, more so than the usual uncooperative attitude he gave others. She already had more than enough to deal with! Nobles were demanding the crown pay for their house repairs, their regular citizens were scared, the castle was being repaired and everypony was on high alert. The semi-surprise attack forced both the Empire and Canterlot to go on high alert with guards patrolling most, if not all, of the Empire at a time with scouts were sent out into the frozen north every hour to check for any stray changeling or changelings. Rubbing her eyes, she stole a glance at the clock as its chiming finished for the hour. ‘9 p.m.’ she thought. ‘I should be done with paperwork for the night after this. Then I can go and confront him and make it back to have time to be with Twilight.’ Getting up from her eternal prison others would call: a chair, she stretched her forelegs and wings earning a satisfying pop from them. With a sigh and one last glance at the clock she made her way out of her personal study and into the castle proper. As she traversed the halls of the castle, it seemed more quiet than usual. Her hoof steps were more audible, her heartbeat noticeable, but none of those drowned out the constant remarks from guards and castle staff alike when she passed by them. “I’m sorry.” was all they’d say as she simply nodded and tried to move on. It was nice in the days immediately after but now all they caused her was more grief and sorrow.  They had good intentions sure, but that alone didn’t spare her psyche from replaying the Doctor’s words in her head over and over right after she woke up.  He’s gone He’s gone He’s gone And there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was smile and nod at them in silent thanks. She sighed. Her life had been turned upside in the past week and a half and all she wanted to do was grab a tub of ice cream, lock herself in her room and cry herself to sleep.  But alas, one does not simply neglect their duties and neither will Blister once she was done with him. As she exited the castle through the front gate, two of the pegasus guards stationed there silently fell into step behind her, leaving their two other comrades alone. Cadence took a deep breath as she stepped into the cool and calm night, calming her nerves slightly from the day of stress and running around and all the anxiety that came with running an Empire. Steeling herself back up, she made her way down one of the many streets of the Crystal Empire. While the pity from her ponies hadn’t ceased, she guessed it’d likely be another month before it did, she was able to pay less mind to them this time, instead choosing to focus on the layout of the street. Small craters littered the middle of the street and small slashes were etched into the sides of buildings like a horrific puzzle. Barrels were smashed, vendor carts were upturned and construction teams drilled away and carried wooden beams up sturdy and creaking ladders. Even her guards stationed around the Empire looked worse for wear. Eyes drooping, slouched posture, and hanging heads told her the Empire was strained enough already as it is. They couldn’t afford another blow, and the prevention of another disaster began with retrieving her new Captain of the Crystal Empire Royal Guard.  She narrowed her eyes at the small cottage before her. Her golden slippers went clang clang on the small concrete steps as she trotted slowly up to the wooden door. Her guards silently took a position either side of the door facing out into the silent night as she knocked her hoof on the door three times, clop clop clop. A minute of waiting and one frustrated growl later, Cadence banged impatiently again against the wooden door, the door groaning against the increasingly strained mare. “I’m coming! I’m coming.” Blister shouted from inside the house as frantic hoof steps could be heard crescendoing as they approached the door, ending in an accent when he threw the door open with a frustrated sigh.  “What is it now? I was just--oh.” His scowl was replaced with a surprised look on his face, his mouth in a dumbfounded “O” shape. “Hey Princess,” he said wearily, his eyes still fixated on her scowling form. “Long time no see?” This colt. This colt. This Celesta-damned colt. Cadence was done. “You, me, talk, NOW!” She screamed at him as he backed up hastily while still looking at her. After slamming the door shut Cadence took a moment to actually examine the house and the current target of her anger in front of her. His fur was heavily matted and he wreaked of sweat and...something else peculiar. Was that oil? He had bags under his eyes and strands of hair stuck out on his mane but the bruise on his chest had mostly healed up. The foyer she had stepped into had a tall ceiling with a large oil lamp on top, providing ample illumination in the dead of night they were in. The walls, on the other hoof, were bare with no color or paintings or pictures or anything that would give this colt’s life a little color! ‘I’d go crazy if I lived here.’ Cadence thought to herself.  Blister shook his head to dispel his stupor, gulped, and quickly walked away deeper into the house. Cadence took the cue to follow him as he led them down a narrow corridor with several protruding rooms to an average-sized wooden table in a clearing before a curved staircase in the back of the house that led to another room. But that wasn’t her concern. Her concern was with this IDIOT in front of her! Cadence began as they both took their seats opposite of one another. “So, where’ve you been?”  “I-” “Shut it. Do you have ANY IDEA how much STRESS you’ve caused me in the past week?” I have been working my FLANK off trying to run this Empire after everything that’s happened and you’ve been doing what? JACKING OFF INTO AN OIL PUMP?” She leaned in for that one, causing Blister to shrink a couple of centimeters from her angry glare and tone. But he sat there and listened nonetheless. One does not simply calm an angry alicorn very easily. “You haven’t shown up for work in a week to officially assume office and the Captain of the guard and you’ve left your new First Lieutenant out to dry!  I’ve had multiple complaints from her already within her first week about you. WEEK! Do you understand how bad that looks? There’s been talk of questioning my rule simply because we granted your promotion and everypony is on edge. I just wanted to take some time to be with Twilight and mourn but NO! I’ve had to try my best to cover for YOUR SORRY FLANK!” Cadence had now broken down into a crying mess and her cries of anguish echoed out into the spacious room and into Blister’s heart.  He took a deep breath, thought to himself ‘Control yourself, no feeding right now,’ and trotted over to Cadence and sat in the chair next to her and embraced her. After a few seconds she hugged back a little, her sniffles now joined by Blister’s own. “I just want to see him again…” she whispered. They held onto each other for what seemed like an eternity before finally releasing each other. They simply stared at each other, each unsure of what to say. Finally, Blister broke the silence while wiping a tear from his eye. “Remember that time Shining found that spider in the bathroom so he spent 10 minutes running around the castle wailing like a foal?” Blister smirked as he sniffled. It took a few seconds for Cadence to react. Eventually, she smiled. A soft smile. A delicate smile prone to breaking. Then she started giggling and Blister smiled even more now. Then they burst out laughing, both collapsing to the floor in laughter, tears in their eyes. “My abs hurt!” Cadence cried out while her howling laughter still echoed off the walls. “And remember that time he got himself stuck in the doorknob hole he was trying to fix, so you had to get him out?!” Blister wheezed even more. “Oh gods! It took me 10 minutes just to stop laughing!” His words became even more breathless as they struggled to maintain oxygen. After about 20 more minutes of laughing, soft giggles were all that remained of the once bountiful laughter.  And for the first time in almost a month, Cadence smiled. A genuine smile. A smile that, if directed at you, could simultaneously melt your heart and make you jump for joy. A smile that told you everything was going to be alright. Cadence sighed as she rolled over on the hardwood floor and looked at Blister, still giggling.  “Ya know,” he started. “In my experience, it’s better to focus on the memories you have of somepony rather than drowning yourself in grief over what you lost.”  Deciding not to pry, Cadence giggled again. “Wow, I didn’t think I’d ever hear something so profound come from you of all ponies. When did you get all emotional?” “Hey, I have emotions.” he retorted, feigning offense. “I just never had any reason to show them.” Waving him off with a hoof, Cadence got her hooves underneath her and stared at Blister. He smirked. “You like what you see?” He said in a sultry tone, causing Cadence to start laughing again.  “You-, you-, PFFFT HAHAhaha! You’re such an idiot!” She yelled. But after calming down she was reminded of something and put her hoof to her chin. “Hey, that reminds me. Would you like to join me on my weekly night flight? I missed my usual Saturday night one this past week because of you, so it’d only be fitting.”  Blister just looked confused and cocked an eyebrow. “Uhh, Princess, no wings, remember?” He said while gesturing to his back. “I think you’ve spent too much time alone, not everypony is an alicorn, remember?” “And whose fault is it that I’ve been swamped with more work than I normally handle?” She said smugly while wearing a victory grin. Blister just deadpanned. “Fair point, but that doesn’t suddenly make me able to fly.” Cadence just giggled. “Really?” She said in disbelief. “One of the best unicorns I know and you don’t know about self-levitation?” At the revelation, Blister’s eyes just went wide. “Wait, what! I didn’t think that was possible!” He cried, his face clearly in disbelief while Cadence retained her smile. “It’s a little trick Aunty Celestia taught me right after she arrived due to the threat. It’s pretty hard to get down but not the most difficult thing. Which means you’ll get the hang of it within 20 minutes. You know how you ‘reach out’ with your magic to levitate other objects? Just invert that feeling, spread it around your body, and lift. It should work then.”  “Huh.” Was all Blister could say as he held his hoof to his chin, deep in thought. “I guess that could work. But even still, your guards would follow us if we left and started flying. Wouldn’t that just ruin our fun?” “You read my mind, which is why we’re taking the window.” “WOOOOOHOOOO Oh my GODS! THIS IS AMAZING!”  Blister was currently levitating himself in the air as Cadence dragged him around, their hooves locked together. His hooves could not touch any solid ground but that didn’t stop him from enjoying the flight. The wind rushing past his mane, forcefully keeping his eyes open, it was true freedom. ‘No ambitions, no worries, just me, Cadence, and the open sky. This is exhilarating!’ He thought.  Cadence smiled as Blister let out another shriek of terror and excitement. The kind of scream that wasn’t distinguishable between positive and negative, because it was both. Cadence sped up as they approached a particularly large cloud hovering above the castle, flapping her wings harder. Blister dawned a particularly horrified expression as he realized what she was doing. ‘Oh no, don’t you dare! We are NOT going through that cloud! Under no circumstances!’ He shouted through a horn message. The rushing wind past both their ears made speech too inefficient while flying this fast through the air. Cadence just looked over at him and smirked. ‘I’ll be letting go before we make contact! Consider this payback!’ She spat. Blister shrieked in terror as the clouds approached at an even faster pace now. His heart raced as blood rushed to his head. Knowing there was nothing he could do to slow down or stop the collision, he gulped and continued to scream as Cadence let go and flung him through the cloud, his momentum being maintained.  Time seemed to slow as Blister emerged out the other side of the cloud and saw the waiting hoof of the pink alicorn Princess he had spent his last hour and a half with. If you had told him just a month ago that he’d be spending time and laughing with one of his bosses that he normally despised, he would’ve called you a dumb idiot, glared at you, and walked away. But here he was, doing just that after one of the unlikeliest two weeks of his life. In this moment of clarity, Blister focused on the ground below him. Construction workers pounded away with hammers and nails, repair work going around the clock. Guards roamed almost every crevice of the streets he saw and yet, he still saw the faint silhouette of his Mom and Dad, smiling a fangy smile up at him as he recalled his own words to Cadence from earlier.  It was also in this moment of clarity that Blister blinked, and in place of his mother and father, he spotted the tell-tale green fire of a changeling somewhere in the alleyways of the Empire. ‘Uh oh.’ Time sped up again as Blister took the hoof of the waiting Princess and they continued at very high speeds. Blister sent a frantic horn message to Cadence immediately after they both stopped as hard as they could in the air. Still hovering, they continued their conversation. “What?! What do you mean you saw a changeling?” Cadence asked frantically, panic now setting into her voice.  “I mean when I came out of the cloud I saw the green fire of a changeling transforming in one of the alleyways, I’m sure of it!” Blister said hastily, his eyes full of concern.  “We must sound the alarm then.” Cadence stated, confidence returning to her voice. “Even if you’re wrong, I’m not taking any chances.”  “Princess,” he started. “Hoping I’m wrong is what I do best.”