lolman (Chapter 1) - You'll just hafta wait and see ;)
raritysman403 - Well here you are my good sir
KillerWoW - Why thank you
marco2o - Thanks, here's your chapter :D
centaurus2 - Well, if I do my job right, there'll be a lot of that ;)
HYBRID BATTLESHIP INFINITY210 - Oh I can think of other 'rewards' you could give her if ya know what I mean
Zelfra1234 - She knows what guns can do, she just wants to see his (Bow Chicka Bow Wow)
Guest - I update early every Tuesday morning
GhostChris - Lol and like I wrote before, I've no plans of stopping anytime soon.
The Request Author - Well, it is technically Blake's herd (though you'll never hear him say it like that). I do plan on doing clop scenes, but I'd like to practice first as I've never written a scene like that before.
suicidalbunny 3 - While I've deleted your review, I'll still respond to it. I'm glad you enjoy my story, but I'd like to ask that any future reviews yo plan to post be more respectful and less vulgar.
A/N - Well, I had to do something yesterday that I was hoping I'd never have to: I had to delete a review. It wasn't a decision I wanted to make; however, I found what was said to be something rude and vulgar that I didn't want displayed in my Reviews section. I'd like to remind everyone to please keep your reviews respectful; I don't mind swearing as long as it's toned down, but I won't tolerate outright vulgarity. In lighter news, my physical therapist says I should have full use of my hand back by the end of the year. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly: enjoy!
The rest of the morning went fairly routinely, with Scootaloo and I having breakfast together before I dropped her off at daycare and met with the councilponies for the day. Fortunately some of them had started to warm up to my ideas, so the process was streamlining. I was confident that by the end of the week there would be significant reforms to Equestria's construction methods. One thing that I had found out during my time with this group was that most large buildings were enchanted to improve their strength, which was exceptionally expensive due to the rarity of unicorns that can cast such enchantments.
After another long and stressful day, I wanted nothing more than to go see my favorite filly and watch the Wonderbolt Derby with her and Rainbow Dash. I strolled towards the palace's daycare center to pick up the fiery little filly, passing several guards and palace staff on my way, exchanging greetings as I went.
As I approached the door to the daycare, I noticed something strange; all the fillies and colts were oddly quiet for this time of day. Usually there was plenty of laughter, but today there wasn't any. When I got closer to the top-open split door, I began hearing hushed conversations.
I looked in to see what the matter was when I noticed that there was a colt on one side of the room surrounded by most of the foals. When I looked closer, I noticed that he had the beginnings of a black eye. I walked through the door and looked to the opposite corner to see Scootaloo glaring hatefully at the gathering.
Song Breeze was sitting next to Scootaloo, gently rubbing her back in an apparent calming gesture. "Hey Song Breeze, what's going on?" I asked as I approached the pair.
Said mare looked up at the sound of my voice at the same time as Scootaloo. The latter of the two bounded over to me and I leaned down and scooped her up. "Oh, hello Mister Marshall. Unfortunately there's been an… incident involving your daughter. If you'd like to step into the office I can tell you more about what happened."
I followed the pale green mare into the office and she closed the door. "To be frank, young Scootaloo here was involved in an altercation with one of the other foals here at the daycare." She began matter-of-factly as she took a seat behind a fairly modest desk. "It would seem that the young colt you no doubt saw in the play area said a few insulting things to Scootaloo and-"
"He called you a freak and said that the princesses should have left you where they found you!" Scoots exclaimed, cutting off Song Breeze.
"Be that as it may, that's no excuse for attacking another foal Scootaloo." Song Breeze continued. Some part of me was proud of the little filly for standing up for herself, but at the same time, I knew that something needed to be done about her actions. "Now, this daycare has strict policies against violence, and while I've waived the fine that accompanies such actions… I'm afraid that Scootaloo will no longer be allowed to stay at this daycare facility."
I knew that was coming, as the paperwork I had filled out just the other day spelled it out fairly clearly. "Fine! I never want to come back to this stupid place anyway!" Scootaloo shouted at Song Breeze.
"Scootaloo! That's no way to talk to Miss Song Breeze. I want you to apologize to her and then we're going to have a talk about your behavior." I said in a sharp tone, causing her to recoil in shock. She quickly turned and offered an 'I'm sorry' to Song Breeze. "I'm sorry about this Song Breeze; I'll make sure she understands how to act in situations like these in the future."
She nodded. "Please do so, Scootaloo is otherwise a good filly, and I'd hate to see her in more trouble over something like this." I nodded and stood up, making to leave, but stopped when Song Breeze called my name. "Mister Marsh… Blake, if it's any consolation, I'm sorry it had to come to this. Scootaloo really was a joy to have around, and to be honest, I can't say I entirely blame her for her actions after she was provoked like that." I gave her a small nod in thanks and left the daycare with Scootaloo tucked under an arm.
Once we got back to our room, I set her unceremoniously on my bed. "What gives Scootaloo? I know you know better than to give in to that kind of thing."
She looked at the neatly made bed she was sitting on, hanging her head slightly and pawing at the sheets. "I-I'm sorry Blake, it's just that…" She sighed and looked into my eyes. "Princess Luna showed me how they brought you here… and what he said about leaving you there…" She trailed off as tears started flowing down her cheeks.
I sat down next to her and pulled her into my side in a hug. "It's ok Scoots, I know what he said was wrong, but you have to understand that violence isn't the answer. Violence is how I ended up where the princesses found me to begin with." I told her in a quiet voice. "Now, I should punish you pretty severely for what happened, but it seems to me that you've already learned your lesson." She looked up to me thankfully. "Oh don't get me wrong, you're still in trouble, I'm just not going to do what I had originally planned."
"W-what were you gonna do?" Scoots asked fearfully.
"Well, originally, I was gonna make you stay here while Dash and I went to the derby." She looked horrified at the mention of not being able to go to the derby with us. "However, I think that's a bit too harsh. What's going to happen instead is that you're going to be spending the next week helping me and Applejack up at Sweet Apple Acres when we get back home. For now though, we should get going, the derby will be starting before too long and we still need to meet up with Dash before it does."
"Way ahead of ya!" We suddenly heard from behind us. We both looked over to see the very mare we had been talking about hovering just outside the open balcony doors. "Hey guys! You ready to go see the Wonderbolts in action?"
"Hiya Rainbow Dash! Boy are we ever!" Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. Dash flew in through the doors and we made our way to the stadium.
On our way, I noticed a mare seeming to struggle with a large case. As I made my way over to offer assistance, I took note of her features, namely a light grey coat, raven mane and amethyst eyes. She wore a white collar with a pink bowtie around her neck. "Excuse me miss, would you like some help with that?"
"I'm sure I'm quite alright." She replied with a high-brow British accent. "Now, if you don't mind, scurry along and find somepony else to bother."
I shrugged her rude attitude off as best I could. "Alright, if that's how you treat people who try to help you, then you don't deserve my help." I said simply as I walked back over to Dash and Scoots.
We approached the ticket booth and Rainbow Dash gave the operator the tickets. "Two tickets? Foals are free ma'am, and I'm sorry, but your pet can't accompany you," He said as he looked to me. "So you'll only need one ticket for the derby."
"Did…did you just call me a pet?!" I asked incredulously.
The stallion simply smiled. "Impressive, I see you taught it to talk ma'am. But that doesn't change the 'no pets' policy our stadium enforces."
I could hear Rainbow Dash audibly growling at this point, and I wasn't far from it myself. "Sir, I believe we would like to speak to your supervisor about this issue." I said through clenched teeth.
The stallion chuckled. "Well see, there we have a problem, because I'm actually the owner of this stadium, and I don't have a supervisor. Now, if you're going to insist on trying to bring your pet in, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Good afternoon Blake, Miss Dash, young Scootaloo; how are the three of you today?" The motherly voice of Celestia suddenly chirped from behind us.
I turned around just in time to have a pair of midnight blue forelegs wrap around my neck in a warm embrace as their owner's lips connected with mine in an affectionate kiss, which I happily returned. "P-p-princess… I-I didn't know you were into… bestiality." Both of our eyes snapped open at the same time at the remark and I saw an almost literal fire in Luna's eyes as she pulled away from me to look over my shoulder at the offensive ticket booth operator. Whelp, this guy's boned.
"What did you just say?!" Luna practically snarled. I was honestly torn between trying to calm her and seeing just how far she was willing to go. She dropped from my shoulders and approached the ticket booth and the stallion that I saw was now terrified.
"W-well, you j-just k-k-kiss-kissed a-a b-b-beast!" I thought I could actually hear the stallion's knees knocking together under Luna's hateful glare. I actually almost felt sorry for him… almost.
"BLAKE MARSHALL IS NOT A BEAST!" Luna shouted at the poor stallion, the force of her voice nearly knocking him over.
"Princesses! What seems to be the matter?!" Another stallion called from the other side of the gate to our left.
"This- this… CUR has insulted both myself and my consort by calling him a beast and stating that I engage in bestiality!"
The new stallion looked horrified. "Why would you do such a thing!?" He demanded.
The ticket seller chuckled. "Because I was paid to. I was originally just meant to insult the ape, but Princess Luna was a bonus." He admitted with a smug, self-satisfied grin. "Go ahead and fire me all you want, I got paid enough for this that I'm independently wealthy."
"If that is what you believe, then you are a fool." Celestia said, speaking for the first time since she'd greeted us. "You have committed several crimes here today, including defaming a member of the royal family, which is tantamount to treason." The stallion's smile instantly dropped and his face paled. "Normally such a crime would be punished by life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; however, if you name your… 'benefactor', I shall see what I can do to reduce that sentence."
"B-b-but I-I don't know who he is! He contacted me through a third party, said his sources showed that this thing would be showing up today, I'd get a lot of bits to humiliate him, more as a bonus if I made him leave Canterlot."
Celestia cocked an eyebrow. "And where are these bits now?"
"I-if I tell you, will you reduce my sentence?" He sounded like he was right on the edge of losing bladder control.
"I shall see what I can do, but I make no promises."
The stallion sighed. "Okay… in my house, seventeen fifty-four Canterbury Lane, there's a picture of a farmer stallion and his wife. Behind that, there's a wall safe, the combination is seven, twenty-three, eighteen; the bits are in the safe, all two hundred thousand." Rainbow Dash's jaw nearly fell off when she heard the number of bits he'd been paid.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Celestia said curtly. "Guards!" Several attended from seemingly nowhere. "Take this stallion away, he is to be kept in the dungeons until I have decided upon his sentence." The guardsponies dragged the still terrified stallion off to his fate.
"Please, allow me to apologize for that terrible misconduct your majesties; I had no idea one of my staff would act as he did, bribed or not."
"It is quite alright good sir, the offender has been dealt with and the bits he received shall go to compensating the offended parties." Luna told him with a small smile. I could tell she was still upset, but not at him.
"Thank you princess, but I would feel better if I were allowed to compensate your party in some way… Ah, I've got it! Please wait here for just one moment!" He exclaimed before rushing off. A moment later, he returned with an envelope in his mouth. "Here you are, these are three lifetime passes to any event held within this venue, and they also grant you free food and drink as well. Now, you should all hurry along! The derby will be beginning in just a few minutes."
We all thanked the stallion and headed in to the seating area. As we were walking, I opened the envelope to reveal three sheets of gold foil. I pulled one out to see that it was backed in some kind of silvery foil that obviously wasn't aluminum. The two were meshed together in such a way that the silvery foil perforated the gold foil to form letters and swirling patterns in silver upon the golden foil's surface. "Would the three of you like to accompany us in the V.I.P. booth for the derby?" Luna asked as I inspected the tickets.
I looked down to Dash, who seemed uncertain. "It's up to you; this is your treat after all."
"Thanks Blake." She said with a small smile. "If it's alright with you Princess, this is sorta an apology for a mistake I made, so I'd like it if it was just the three of us."
Luna nodded and looked to her sister, the two seeming to share a silent conversation. "Very well. The three of you shall be granted sole access to the V.I.P. booth for today." Luna announced, shocking all three of us.
"B-but… what about you two?" Rainbow Dash sputtered, the only one of us able to find a voice at the generosity.
"We shall sit among our subjects." Celestia said matter-of-factly.
Dash opened her mouth, likely to protest. "Now now, we shall hear no more of the matter; besides, the show shall begin any moment."
With a resigned sigh, Dash joined me and Scoots in following the royal sisters to the booth before they departed to find seats of their own. The booth itself was actually rather spacious, with large, plush seats to seat several ponies and a refreshment stand with various fruits, vegetables and sweet pastries, along with a variety of chilled drinks to enjoy.
We sat down and turned our collective attentions to the arena below us, which had been set up with a number of clouds of varying shapes and sizes to provide obstacles for the racers, including what appeared to be storm clouds for added hazard along the course.
A few minutes later, several ponies in blue full body jumpsuits with white undersides and goggles took their places at the starting line. Moments later the announcer came on and signaled the start of the derby.
The derby itself was fairly standard fare, with the jumpsuit-clad ponies racing around the obstacle course trying to outmaneuver one another. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were cheering the whole time, but I found it difficult to share their enthusiasm as the whole affair reminded me of NASCAR, something I've never had much interest in.
Once the derby was over and we were leaving the V.I.P. booth, I turned to my rainbow-maned companion. "So Dash," I started, getting her attention. "Why aren't you a Wonderbolt?"
She looked at me like I was simple. "Are you kidding?! The Wonderbolts are the best aerial acrobatics team in Equestria, I'm nowhere near ready to join them yet!"
I sighed. "You're selling yourself short Dash; compared to what you showed me at that picnic with Fluttershy when I first got here, what I saw today was honestly pretty lame. I don't mean to put down your idols, but if that's all they got, I'm not impressed."
Dash was silent for a long time, just staring ahead as we walked our next destination while she flew next to me. Finally, she looked over to me. "Do… do you really think I'm good enough to be a Wonderbolt?" She was obviously unsure of herself, and I could tell the normally self-confidant Pegasus doubted her own abilities.
"Of course I do Dash. I've never seen another Pegasus that can do some of the things you can in the air. I mean come on, the Buccaneer Blast, the Fantastic Filly Flash? And what about those high-speed, ninety degree turns you can make? All that takes serious agility and skill."
A light blush dusted her cyan cheeks but she didn't say anything. A few minutes later, we arrived at where she was apparently taking us; a small burger joint that seemed rather out of place in the ostentatious city. "What's a Hay Burger doing in a place like Canterlot?" I asked, remembering the chain restaurant from Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash just shrugged. "I dunno, but I'm not gonna complain, their food is awesome!"
The three of us went into the place, which reminded me a lot of McDonald's back on Earth, and ordered our food. Dash ordered a Double Haystack with a side of hay fries while Scoots got a Haystack Junior with cheese and an order of onion shoes. After some internal debating, I decided to let loose a bit and got a Triple Haystack with cheese and fried hosta leaves, which apparently approximate bacon. All three of us ordered sarsaparilla with our meals.
The three of us sat at a window table and watched as various ponies walked by, seemingly unaware of the small establishment, and occasionally made fun of a particularly outlandish outfit one of them would be wearing.
After we were done eating, we left and headed for the train station to bid Rainbow Dash farewell as she headed back to Ponyville. As she boarded the train, Dash turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot, Rarity wanted me to tell you that she's coming by tomorrow to discuss designs for something for you to wear to that party the princesses are throwing for you in a few days." Once she had said her piece, she gave a final wave and boarded the train back to Ponyville.
Once it had pulled out of the station and was out of sight, Scoots and I headed back to the palace for the evening. After awhile, Scoots and I decided that it was time for bed, and after taking care of our nightly hygiene, we did just that.
I woke up early as I usually did and after taking care of my more rigorous morning hygiene routine, I decided to head to Luna's chambers to visit her. I knocked on the door and waited. I knocked again when I didn't hear an answer, and again when there still was no response. After the third knock, I figured Luna must be elsewhere in the castle and took a stroll to look for her.
The first place I decided to look was the sitting room, hoping to find either her or her sister there. Oddly enough, there weren't any guards outside the door. As I approached the door to open them, I began hearing a raised voice, one that I quickly recognized as Luna's. "What do you mean I must end my courtship with Blake Marshall?!" That sent an icy chill into my blood.
"I know you have become quite fond of him Luna, but you have been telling him things I do not believe he is ready to know, and may never be ready to." I leaned against the wall beside the door to listen to what they were saying.
"I know him far better than you sister, and he is stronger than you believe him to be. I do not care what you think, I am going to continue courting him and that is that." Luna was obviously distressed, and I couldn't blame her.
"He isn't even royalty or nobility, Luna. You know the law as well as I; we cannot engage in courtship with any who are not either of those two. You know I wish for nothing more than your happiness little sister, but in this case, my hooves are tied."
I heard Luna growl. "You are just jealous! Jealous that I have found a stallion that I would give my heart to, jealous that he finds me beautiful! You are jealous that he and I can-" Luna was suddenly cut off by Celestia's booming voice.
"NOT ANOTHER WORD LUNA! THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE! YOU WILL CEASE YOUR COURTSHIP NOW, OR I SHALL STRIP YOU OF YOUR TITLE!" I would have burst into the room at this point if it weren't for the fact that Luna burst out of it in tears, not noticing me as she ran by.
I pointed an accusatory finger at the Solar Diarch. "You and I are going to have a talk later." I growled before taking off after Luna.
Unfortunately, the fact that her form was better designed for running than my own, coupled with her emotional state, meant that she outpaced me easily. Fortunately, we were heading back in the direction I had just come from, meaning that she was likely headed to her room.
As I rounded the corner to the hallway where her room was, the door to said room slammed shut and there were several thuds that followed. I could only guess that those thuds were Luna throwing furniture against the door to barricade herself in. I went up to the door and knocked lightly. "GO AWAY!" Luna practically shrieked.
I sighed and rested my forehead against the door. "Luna, it's me… I-I heard everything; please, let me in."
Luna gasped at the sound of my voice then sobbed several times before replying. "Go away Blake… If you truly heard everything, then you know we cannot be together." She sounded absolutely soul crushed.
It was obvious that I wouldn't be able to convince her to let me into her room, so I decided to let myself in. I peeked into the room adjacent to hers and, finding it empty, crept in and made a beeline for the balcony at the opposite end. Once there, I quietly opened the glass-paned double doors and made my way out onto the balcony.
Looking down gave me a sudden sense of vertigo as I realized that this wing of the palace hung over the sheer side of the mountain, with the ground being hundreds of meters below. Knowing a mistake would be fatal, I made my decision.
Gauging the distance between the two balconies to be too far to jump, my only option was to scale the wall and make my way over that way. I leaned over and looked at the wall itself. I was fortunate in that the stone that made up the outer wall was relatively rough, despite its smooth appearance from afar. The individual stones themselves however, were fairly evenly placed, limiting my hand and footholds as I made my way across.
I ran my hand across the well worn stone to find that it provided quite a bit of traction against my flesh. Mentally preparing myself, I stepped over the ornate stone banister of the balcony and found my first holds. I had to remind myself not to look down at the sickening drop below. I didn't have a fear of high places, as my job on Earth often required me to be in said places, but this was different. While I wasn't afraid of being up high, I did however, have a healthy respect for the fact that the fall would bear no chance of survival for my squishy, mortal coil.
Pushing such thoughts from my mind and focusing on the distressed mare only meters away, I pushed on. I slid my hand across the stone of the wall and found my next handhold, followed by my foot in its next resting place. I was no expert on rock climbing, but I quickly recognized that turning back would be nigh impossible around the time I got to the midpoint between the two balconies.
Several harrying minutes later and the banister of Luna's balcony was almost within arm's reach. With one final push, I managed to set my foot on the ledge of the balcony floor and scooted the rest of my body closer to the safety of my goal.
I shifted most of my weight onto the foot resting on the balcony as I reached for the final handhold, the banister itself. My heart suddenly stopped in my chest and my eyes went wide as I felt the stone of the balcony give way beneath my foot and my body lurched as I was suddenly sent plummeting towards the ground far, far below.
My body twisted in mid-air and my vision was filled with the rocky ground below… and I was helpless to stop it.