The Blue Knight

by The_Darker_Fonts

Chapter 11: Greetings

Blueblood soared through the air, spreading his false wings and swooping around the breast of the castle, following along the structure and rounding it swiftly. He had never really noticed how large the palace was before, but now that he was trying to hurry around it, he felt the dimension of it. Grunting as the extreme maneuver taxed his reserve and body, not being naturally used to the force of gravity on him in flight, he finally finished going around the castle. Swooping down as quickly as he could, he searched for the gates that overlooked the Canterlot Steps.

For a moment, he couldn’t pick out the titular stone structure, but then he suddenly realized that the arching gateway was now only two columns of stone, the top of it torn away. He observed the surrounding area, noting the couple dozen bodies that littered the floor, alongside broken stone and overturned roadblocks. Furrowing his brow in concern, he drifted down for a landing, gliding into a walk as he touched down. He landed next to one of the fallen ponies, which he immediately recognized as a constable thanks to their uniform and equipment. Glancing around, he noted that every other body was also a constable and not a civilian, which meant that, hopefully, none had been nearby when the explosion had occurred. None appeared to be seriously injured, and everypony seemed to be alive, so he guessed that the intent of the blast was simply for concussive purposes, and not lethal.

Some of the constables were already attempting to stand, including the chief of police, Hard Break. They were grunting as they stood, one of their hooves held up, obviously being wounded somehow. Blueblood rushed over to the chief, giving them a shoulder to put their weight on as they stood. The pony took a moment to scan his mask before smiling slightly and asking, “So you got your fill as well, then?”

“No sir, simply got a bit of it,” he replied smartly, smiling behind his mask. “I had to come back for seconds though. It seems I once again have to do your job.”

“I was doing it just fine,” they retorted as they put weight on all their hooves, standing straight. Meeting his eyes, they said, “You were the one who opened up this can of worms. You’re just using me to clean up the mess, which you never made sure was all the way done.”

“So it is those two stallions from the night of the Gala then,” he asked conclusively.

“Yes… and no,” they answered. “There was a third pony with them, a white unicorn stallion. He was kinda resistant to us, said he was a friend of those brothers, but at the same time he wasn’t outright aggressive. It wasn’t until we actually went for those two that he did anything to stop us. I couldn’t see because I was hiding behind one of the barriers, but I heard a weird buzzing noise, and then it started rumbling. I’m not sure what happened, but the next thing I knew, this electric zapping struck me as I was thrown -along with the barrier- almost twelve spans away. I was unconscious before I even hit the ground though.”

“Do you have any idea where they may have gone,” he asked, knowing full well that they didn’t have the time from when the blast was released to now to escape to their safe house.

“No clue other than into the city,” they once again answered solemnly. “You can’t take these guys alone though.”

“You can’t take them on in general,” he shot back, feeling the danger that was presented by the recounting of the chief’s experience with the blast. They hadn’t felt electricity but raw arcs of magical power, and the fact that they were powerful enough to shock a healthy pony out of commission was terrifying. “I have an idea where they might have gone,” he told Break, turning towards Lily’s neighborhood.

“Of course you do,” they muttered. “Do you want me to send some of the force to help you recapture them?”

Thinking for a moment, he tried to think of a situation in the confrontation where the dangerous stallions didn’t try to use the normal ponies against him. There wouldn’t be one.

“No,” he firmly responded, lifting himself off the ground. “If I manage to capture them, then I’ll bring them to the palace cellars, since one of them would be too powerful for a magical restriction and normal cell. If I don’t come back from this… don’t let them know who I was.”

“You don’t really think that…” a firm glance from Blueblood silenced the chief’s comment. “Okay, I promise you I’ll do everything I can to keep them from knowing who you are, but if the Princesses get involved…”

“Then they’ll know,” he curtly responded. With a quick salute to the chief, he took off into the sky, soaring over the mansions of the Canterlot upper crust. He didn’t quite have the city memorized in his head, mostly large chunks and certain neighborhoods within them. Thankfully, the neighborhood that the criminals were hiding in was one of them, seeing as it was directly connected to the main markets of the district.

Reaching his destination, he dove, scanning the ground for individuals, and indeed, a group of three stallions along the sides of the street were one of the ponies out in the early hours of the night. The sight of two horns and the sign of injury on two of them confirmed their identities, and he aimed decisively for the white unicorn that stood slightly in front of the other two. He was about to strike the stallion from the back like he had so many other unsuspecting enemies when the stallion suddenly turned, shooting a beam from his horn.

Blueblood was caught off-guard by the sudden attack, having seen no visible preparation for the strike, and was only able to form a halfway done shield before the beam hit. The power behind it shattered it almost instantly and practically halted him in place. He grunted as he had to form another shield as a second strike immediately followed, though this time it withheld the blast. He had just enough time to decide that being in the air was bad before the next strike hit, though this one was longer, straining him as he had to reinforce it several times.

In the time before the next strike hit, he dropped himself, landing harshly on the stepping stones of the street. The action was obviously unnatural for a pegasus and this time it was the opposing unicorn who was caught unawares as he charged up his own attack. The unicorn formed a shield around himself and his two companions, one made of bright white light that looked as thick as stone. Realizing that the strike he had prepared would be useless, he held it back, instead coursing the energy into his limbs, instead choosing to shoot forward physically. He rushed at them, closing the short distance fast.

The white unicorn stepped aside, allowing for the big earth pony to attack Blueblood. He ducked past one of the punches, answering it with a punch of his own in the stallion’s breast. The area was hard to defend with the awkward structure of a ponies body, and the strike easily landed in the soft spot. The stallion didn’t even flinch as he leaned forward, shoulder-ramming Blueblood and sending him in the air. Blueblood controlled his body, and with the help of a magical tug, managed to flip and stick the landing. The stallion didn’t stop though, attempting to headbutt Blueblood, charging like an angry bull.

Feigning sideways, he punched his hoof out in the path of the stallion’s charge, hitting him directly in his ear. The blow knocked him sideways and off balance, causing him to slam face first into the stones of the sidewalk. Blueblood spun out of the way of a sudden attack from the unicorn before shooting a beam back at him. The second unicorn retaliated, managing to deflect the blast away from his companion. Meanwhile, the first unicorn had charged a responding attack, firing it towards Blueblood’s face. He dropped to the ground under the shot, and realized that the large earth pony was standing once again, preparing to rejoin the fight.

Gritting his teeth, he stood sharply, launching himself off of the ground and to the side, slamming into the stallion and grazing his shoulder with his horn. The feeling of blood on his horn was strange and unusual, but he didn’t have time to comprehend it as the stallion wrapped his front hooves around his neck and attempted to pull him down. The stallion hadn’t expected for there to be no resistance from Blueblood, resulting in him overcompensating and losing his balance, landing harshly on the ground with Blueblood on top of him. As the stallion wheezed from having the breath knocked out of him, Blueblood rammed his carpal into the stallion’s side, feeling the skin give behind the force.

The stallion’s grip loosened as he was weakened by both impacts, which Blueblood took full advantage of, tearing himself out of the sturdy grip. There was no time to do anything as he was suddenly lifted telekinetically by the white unicorn, the second one preparing to hit him with a beam. In a split second, Blueblood wrenched one of the nearby lamp poles out of the ground, sweeping the other unicorn’s legs out from under him. This, in turn, made Blueblood drop as the white unicorn’s focus was broken and the telekinetic hold to break. The second unicorn attempted to redirect the beam to where Blueblood now lay, but his response was quicker, continuing to spin the pole, making it hit the stallion in the side. This flung the stallion over and into the wall of the house they were fighting by.

As the unicorn slumped to the ground, the first one was standing up, his eyes beginning to glow as Blueblood turned to face him. He felt his eyes widen at the sight of the stallion’s horn glowing brightly, a strange, swirling white mist beginning to excrete itself from the horn. Realizing that the stallion was attempting to charge another massive wave, he knew he had to interrupt it somehow. He was about to swing the lamp post again, but a sudden force from behind slammed him in the back. Crying out, he was pushed forward by the force, and knowing that it was the stallion he had still yet to beat, reared his hind legs and kicked out viciously. The counter strike found purchase as he felt his hind legs meet a force attempting to stop the strike.

Feeling the impact and the body behind him stumbled backwards, spun around, spinning the lamp with him, spraying oil everywhere as the base of it struck the stallion in the head. The pole bent in slightly at the impact, and the stallion lurched over to the side, instantly knocked out by the force of the strike. Knowing he had no time to turn back around and hit the stallion, he blindly threw the pole behind him. Somehow the lamp struck the unicorn, who let out a painful, strangled sound which was suddenly overcome by a thunderous roaring. For a second, Blueblood feared the unicorn had released the blast anyways, and braced himself with a shield. When the blast didn’t come, however, he looked over to the unicorn hastily.

The unicorn was writhing in agony, somehow still standing with the lamp post in front of his hooves. Arcs of power were shooting out of his horn and striking him in the sides and along his back. His eyes were glowing brightly and his mouth was stuck open, allowing Blueblood to see that even his throat was glowing brightly. He was captivated by the sight of the stallion being completely overtaken by the magic he had been trying to use. It took a few seconds, but then the horror of the situation kicked in, and before he even had the thought of saving the stallion, he ran up towards the unicorn.

He had never used his horn to redirect magic, mostly because it required somepony to be shooting magic at him, but either way he stepped up to him. Taking a deep breath in, he tapped his own horn against the other unicorn’s through the fedora. Immediately, he felt the energy and power of the horn transfer to his own, and in a moment of panic, he shot it upwards and into the sky. Blueblood felt the arcs all begin to connect to his horn as he shot charge after charge of magical energy into the air in bright whites and flashes of blue. Before he knew it, the arcs had ceased completely and the stallion’s horn was once again normal.

Blueblood stepped back, suddenly feeling exhausted as the unicorn slowly slumped to the ground. Panting, he looked around, realizing for the first time that there were other ponies on the street, ponies who had just witnessed the Blue Knight battling real criminals. For a moment, everypony stared in awe at him, and then, one by one, they began to stomp their hooves. Soon the sound of clacking hooves filled the air of the street as the locals applauded the Blue Knight’s heroic deeds. It didn’t take long for cheers and whistles to fill the air either, and behind his mask, Blueblood smiled, letting out a tired sigh.

The other two were still unconscious against the stones of the sidewalk, meaning that he might finally be done fighting tonight. He chuckled to himself, knowing that he’d never had that thought before, nor did he ever think that the day would come when he’d have to fight for so long. He turned back to the crowd as they suddenly quieted, and it took a moment for Blueblood to realize why. To his right, where the stallion had been slumped against the ground, presumably unconscious, the unicorn stood tall, looking not even slightly affected by what had just happened to him.

“The Blue Knight at last,” the stallion muttered, his tone almost reverent. Blueblood took a step back, giving them both a bit of space. “How unequivocally impressive,” the stallion stated.

“Yes, I try,” Blueblood replied tonelessly. “And you are?”

“An unimportant stallion,” he replied evenly. “One who only wishes to change the world.”

Before Blueblood even knew what had happened, he was being launched backwards, his chest feeling like it was about to burst. He landed roughly on the stones, sliding along them for a few spans before stopping. Gasps omitted audibly from the crowd as Blueblood stood, eyeing the stallion defensively. His horn was lit now, glaring angrily at the older pony, who also had his horn ready for a fight, though he was much more calm in his demeanor. Suddenly, Blueblood felt pain on his back, a sudden strike of heat and unbearable pain on his flank joining it.

Yelling in pain, he turned to find himself on fire, the oil from the lamp being lit by the other unicorn. Knowing that the burns would be bad if something wasn’t done, but also realizing the greater danger, he sucked in the next cry of pain, instead focusing on his horn, forcing energy into it. In one sweeping movement, he released the beam from his horn, allowing it to flow like a river. A river of destructive magical potential being put to use.

It slammed into the unicorn, throwing him back against, and then through, the wall of the house, the pulsing sending a sort of pleasing satisfaction through him as he used his birthright. He felt himself turning, and the moment felt so fast, but it took so long to do so, the destructive beam tearing through the walls and windows of the houses along the neighborhood, causing them to burst into flames. The unicorn slowly came into sight, his shocked expression at the pure energy flowing out from within Blueblood’s core encapsulating the moment in his mind. The unicorn was still attempting to set up the perfect barrier to protect him from the might of Blueblood when the beam collided with his magical shield.

A beautiful display of lights flashed all around the point where the two met, blues and grays and whites all flashing and sparkling as energy and magic collided. Blueblood stopped moving, allowing his beam to persevere and thrive through the fanciful, beautiful, majestic display of power. He breathed out, and a visible pulse in the stream of white, flowing magic appeared, rippling through the entire beam until it made contact with the shield. The entire beam shattered on the shield spreading out and melting it away, little bits of magic falling away and vanishing from sight, ceasing to exist under the might of Blueblood’s power.

It took a moment for Blueblood to realize that he stopped his flow of magic, and several more to spot the stallion on the ground attempting to get up as his shoulder smoked. He was clenching his teeth, trying not to fall to the ground as the Blue Knight stared him down. The scene would have been too dark to see at this point in the night, save for the fire that burned the houses beside them. The unicorn’s eyes flickered in the flames, and a deep, resonant respect filled his eyes instead of the hate and anger Blueblood had suspected would overtake him. The stallion stood up completely straight and nodded respectfully to Blueblood before promptly turning around and beginning to walk away.

Before Blueblood could do anything to go after the stallion, he felt the burning on his back, the immense pain that it was causing him. It was worse than simply a few dots of tiny embers on him now, as he could feel the flames chewing at his neck. He attempted to swallow back the cry of pain he was trying to let out, the sound coming out as a strangled groan. In a moment, he had shot himself up into the air, hoping the sudden wind would put out the flames. It did, but the burning was still there, persistently causing him pain and making his focus break. He stuttered in his flight through the air, his speed breaking and halting from time to time as the pain overtook his thoughts.

He headed straight for the Canterlot Waterfall, shooting through the air at breakneck speeds. As soon as he saw the cool blue water below, he allowed himself to begin to lose altitude. He miscalculated however, as he was unable to focus once again on controlling his fall, or making himself fly. For all intents and purposes, he was once again merely a unicorn, and a badly wounded one at that. Crying out in frustration, he tried to focus on his horn, but the burning on his back was too great a distraction, and he continued to freefall. If he hit the water without slowing, he would die, and he knew this.

Grimacing, he turned over in the air, his back to the earth below, allowing the wind to whip across his back. It hurt, hurt like he was being sliced on top of being burnt, but that was the intention. He screamed with pain, but forced himself to think, think about how he was going to die, or he was going to live, and the deciding factor was whether or not he forced himself to focus. He wanted to only focus on the pain, as if by acknowledging it, it would magically disappear. That’s not how magic worked though. This was how it worked.

He felt a calmness suddenly, the thought that he was dead, and that pain was only temporary. It would disappear eventually. He just had to survive until then.

Mustering the last bit of his energy, he pulled himself up, slowing his fall until at last, the cool of the water hit his back and he could finally die in peace. Floating to the surface, he felt his mind drift off, and slowly, he felt silt beneath his hooves. He walked up the bank of the river.

Had he been walking all along, he asked himself, collapsing to the grass below.

No, he hadn’t. He’d merely been surviving.

Blueblood passed out right there.

Author's Note:

And finally, the third of three today! Yep, all three of these were released on the 1st birthday of this story! Please, comments and edits are welcome.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Nice job!

[The_Darker_Fonts]

10950488
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Bronycommander]

10950533
Your welcome, keep up the good work

[The_Darker_Fonts]

10950535
Yessir!

[Bronycommander]

10950539
Funny how i found your Story, given the title