//------------------------------// // 11. A Day With Blue Night // Story: Soldier of the Night // by Skyfire Storm //------------------------------// A week later... It was a rather cool, yet still sunny Saturday morning in Cloudsdale. Over the past week or so it had cooled down dramatically in the city, in order to make way for thunderstorms, which were supposed to happen sometime this weekend. Storm flew through the city as fast as lightning, in order to make it to Blue's house on time. Right now, he was running late, after almost getting lost in a somewhat unpleasant part of town. Her music exam was at 11 AM in Ponyville, a small town of around 35,000 about twenty-thirty miles to the south-east of Cloudsdale; right now, it was just turning 10 o'clock, so Storm had to literally fly like the wind in order to make it there on time. Around ten minutes later, he landed in front of her house and trotted up the pathway leading up to her front door, before knocking on it frantically. A moment or two passed, and the door opened, revealing Blue standing there (as by this time, Star and Solar were at work), shaking nervously. Storm immediately calmed down and a loving smile formed on his face, which she returned, although her shaking persisted. "Hey babe." he said, nuzzling her. "Hey, Stormy..." she replied, shaking with fear. "You alright?" he asked. "No..." she sighed. "Not really..." "Is it about the exam?" "Well, it's more of an audition..." she explained. "I'm auditioning for a band..." "You are?" Storm grinned. "What band?" "The Cloud Flyers..." "Come again?" "The Cloud Flyers," Blue replied. "It's a band that's led by a schoolmate of mine, and they're apparently looking for a keyboard player, and uh, I kinda thought that maybe it'd be a good idea for me to audition." "I think so too," he replied. "Tell me, what band won't want to hire you? You're by far, one of the best, if not, the best keyboardist I have ever come across, Blue." "Really?" she grinned. "Thanks, Storm. That means a lot to me..." "No problem, babe," he replied. "Are you ready?" "Yeah..." she sighed. "Pretty much..." "Hey," he said, stroking her mane. "It'll be alright. You'll do well." "You think?" she asked. "I mean... what if they won't like me or my playing?" "They will." Storm replied. "I'm sure of it." "But---" she began before being cut off by Storm almost immediately. "Shh," he replied, putting his hoof to her lips. "You'll do great. I believe in you..." "Thanks, Storm..." she replied, her smile returning to her face. "No problem," he grinned. "Come on, you don't want to be late now, wouldn't you?" "Not really," she shook her head, before walking out of the house and locking the door behind her. She then went to stand beside Storm, who was waiting for her beside the gate. Storm then wrapped his wing around her body and took off with her into the air, before flying off towards Ponyville. The flight to Ponyville took around 25 minutes, but for Storm, it felt like 25 hours. He had never flown beyond Cloudsdale's city limits on his own, and so it was an entirely new experience for him. While Storm tried his hardest to regain his breath upon landing, Blue looked around and investigated the small and quiet town, which looked like something out of a postcard. It was far different from Cloudsdale and was much calmer and prettier. "Wow..." she gasped, looking at a little market in the town square. "Ponyville..." "It's quite a pretty place..." said a voice, which caused Blue to jump back in shock. The voice came from a young, auburn Pegasus with a brown mane and a barbell cutie mark. "I've never seen you around here before, miss. Are you new here? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Musclebuild, as you can see..." he explained, flexing his muscles and causing some unicorn mares walking beside them to glance at the stallion and giggle amongst themselves. "Oh." she said, looking at him. "Nice to meet you. I'm Blue Night, and I'm just visiting from Cloudsdale." "Cloudsdale, huh?" he asked. "Never been there, but I heard it's a big city." "You have no idea." said Storm, landing right next to Blue and Musclebuild. "You haven't lived 'till you've been up there." "Do you know this guy?" asked Musclebuild. "Yep." she grinned. "Musclebuild, meet my coltfriend, Stormfire." "How do you do?" asked Storm, outstretching his hoof. "Uh..." begun Musclebuild, before reluctantly shaking his hoof. "...Do you guys want me to show you around?" "Sorry, but we don't have the time." replied Storm. "We're here for a band audition." "Really?" he asked, trying to mask his lack of interest. "Do you guys want me to walk you there?" "No..." said Storm. "I'm sure we'll find our way ther--" "Actually." said Blue. "Yes, please... Do you know where 3694 Hoofingburg Avenue is?" "The Music Box?" grinned Musclebuild. "I go there every Friday." "Excellent!" Blue grinned. A couple of minutes later, the trio arrived at The Music Box, a box-shaped building along the railroad going through Ponyville that was lit up with neon lights, which for some reason were flashing despite it being almost midday. Storm, Blue and Musclebuild walked into the building and past the reception, which was empty as the receptionist had gone out to lunch, before going into a large hall. While Musclebuild was busy explaining why he visited The Music Box once every week (apparently his band, The Flexible Stallions, had a gig there every Friday), Storm looked on in disgust. Was Musclebuild trying to become Blue's coltfriend? He did not know, but it sure did seem like that. "Blue Night?" asked a mare, wearing sunglasses and having a long, black mane with a streak of purple running through it. Evening Snow, her name was, and apparently, she was a classmate of Blue's at West Cloudsdale High. "Uh, yes?" she asked, trying her hardest to remain cool and calm. "I'm the lead singer of The Cloud Flyers," she explained. "You are here to audition for our band, am I correct?" "Yes..." she grinned awkwardly. "Alright, what instruments do you play?" she asked. "Keys and guitar," she replied. "Although I'd say I'm much better at keys." "Right, that's all I needed to know," the mare replied in a droning, emotionless voice. "Alright, Highpitch should bring you your sheet music for you to play. You'll play a couple of our hit songs, which will take you at least half an hour. Then, we'll decide if you're right for our band." "Alright." replied Blue, shaking nervously as she watched the band's lead guitarist, Highpitch walk over to her with some freshly-printed sheet music in his hooves. "Wish me luck..." she said nervously, turning to look at Storm and Musclebuild. "You'll do great." grinned Storm. "I know she will." replied Musclebuild, turning to give Storm a deathly glare. "And you better not ruin my fun..." "What fun?" asked Storm, chills traveling down his spine at a hundred miles an hour. "She's going to be my marefriend, not yours..." he growled. "Hey, no she's not!" said Storm. "Who the hay do you think you are, punk?" "The most handsomest stallion in Ponyville..." he grinned. "And every mare falls for me, including your Blue." "I wonder why..." Storm growled, trying his hardest to remain calm. Around half an hour later, Blue came out from backstage and the two stallions both greeted her. However, she had a sad glare on her face, which caused the stallions to calm down. "So, how'd it go?" asked Musclebuild. "Blue, are you alright?" asked Storm, causing Musclebuild to glare at him. "No..." she sighed. "I didn't pass..." "That's a shame..." he replied. "I'm sorry, Blue." "Yeah." said Musclebuild, still scowling at Storm. "It's okay, I guess..." she sighed. "They said they were looking for a more... technical keyboardist..." "What?" gasped Storm. "You're the most technical keyboardist I know!" "Yeah... I'm sure you are..." replied Musclebuild. "Thanks guys..." she replied. "But let's face it; if I was good, then I'd have passed." "Blue, look..." Storm replied. "It doesn't matter if you fail something; you can always try again." "I guess so..." she said, unconvinced by what Storm had just said. "Anyways, I know what will cheer you right up." said Musclebuild, causing Storm to glare at him. "Every mare loves shopping." "No, we should really be getting back to Cloudsdale---" Storm said. "Alright then." Blue replied. "Shopping it is." After Blue's audition did not go as well as she had hoped it would, Musclebuild (and a rather jealous Storm) decided to take her on a shopping trip through Ponyville. While Musclebuild showed her all the different shops he thought were frequented by mares, including several fashion outlets, Storm stayed far behind, looking at them in jealousy and in anger, however, this soon turned into a bitter glare. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company, especially Blue, who seemed to be the most content. Storm sighed deeply, feeling rejected by his own marefriend, who seemed to be enjoying the company of another stallion. However, there was something strange about Musclebuild. He was a bit too, well, nice to them, almost suspiciously nice, and Storm knew that he couldn't be trusted in any way. "We should head off to this great little store called Carousel Boutique." said Musclebuild. "Maybe." she replied. "Why are you doing this, Muscle? I mean, we just met." "Well, for one reason; you seem pretty likeable, and really pretty." he replied. "Uhh... thanks." she said, smiling. "Hey Blue, Muildbuild or whatever your name was again!" he said, trotting up behind them. "Wait up!" "It's Musclebuild, you idiot." he growled under his breath, so that Blue didn't hear. "Whatever." replied Storm. "Blue?" "Yeah?" she asked. "Do you wanna go somewhere else, like, for example, a cafeteria or a restaurant?" proposed Storm, yet again receiving a glare from Musclebuild. "Sorry Stormy..." she said. "Not right now." "Alright." he sighed, receiving an obnoxious smirk from Musclebuild. "Later on?" "Sure." she grinned, causing Musclebuild's jaws to drop in shock. "What about you Muscle?" "I'll think about it..." he growled, staring directly at Storm, before turning away from him and leading them through the crowd of ponies to a white, carousel-shaped building, which caused Storm's and Blue's jaws to drop. "Here's the last stop on our little 'fashion tour of Ponyville'; Carousel Boutique." "Wow..." replied Blue. "What a pretty little building." "Yep." said Storm. "Not as pretty as you are though." "Oh stop it..." she giggled, blushing, which caused Musclebuild to glare aggressively at Storm. "Anyways..." replied Musclebuild, taking his eyes off Storm and opening the door to the Boutique with a key he had in his pocket. "Welcome!" "You work here?" asked Blue, her jaws dropping. He then flipped the lightswitch beside the door, revealing the store to be entirely devoid of any stock. "I mean, it's practically empty!" "Yeah, why did you lead us here if there's nothing on sale---" asked Storm, before enduring a rather painful buck in the abdomen by Musclebuild, which effectively proved his suspicions about him to be true, and was knocked down to the floor by him. Musclebuild smirked, before pushing a terrified Blue onto a couch lying beside the stairs to the upper floor. "What the hay is wrong with you?" she asked, getting up from the couch and glaring at Musclebuild, before looking at Storm, who was writhing in pain on the floor beneath his hooves. Storm turned to look at her and gasped, before turning back to look at Musclebuild and giving him a deathly glare. This was now personal. Nopony was going to abuse Blue Night, nopony. Storm needed to do something about it. "Oh, nothing..." he grinned slyly. "The thing is... you're too hot of a mare to go out with this piece of shit." Muscle explained, referring to Storm, who was trying his hardest to get up off the floor. However, as he tried to get up, Musclebuild bucked him in the face, causing him to cry out in pain. "You'll be mine, Blue Night and nopony's gonna take you from me." "You're psychotic!" she shouted. "Be quiet or I'll rip your wings off you." he threatened, causing her to back away towards the wall. "You... monster..." said a rather weak Storm, bruised and quite bloody. "What did you call me?" Musclebuild raised his eyebrows. "You... heard me, you stupid buck." replied Storm, getting up off the floor, dusting himself off and gritting his teeth. "Now leave Blue alone... and let us go, you hear?..." "In your dreams... Blue is mine." grinned Musclebuild, before with seemingly no effort, throwing him across the Boutique. Terrified and confused, Storm tried his hardest to regain control of himself during his short flight across the Boutique, before crashing into the cash register, knocking it down onto the floor and shattering it into bits of wood, plastic and metal. He groaned, spitting out some keys from the cash register and getting up off what remained of it, before being pounced on by Musclebuild. "WHAT--THE BUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" cried out Storm, trying to both endure Musclebuild's punches and retaliate with his own. "YOU ARE!" replied Musclebuild, punching him in the wings repeatedly, eventually causing one of them to crack. Storm screamed out in pain, which caused Musclebuild to grin. Blue watched the two stallions fight in horror, before trotting out of the Boutique as fast as she possibly could. "SHE'S MY MARE, NOT YOURS!" "WHO THE BUCK SAID--SHE WAS YOUR MARE?!" Storm yelled, punching him in the face multiple times, and in turn being punched in the abdomen twice. "SHE'S NOPONY'S MARE BUT HER OWN." "BUCK YOU! I WON'T STOP BEATING YOU UNTIL YOU LEAVE HER TO ME!" he simply replied, before turning around to check if anypony was there other than them. Storm saw this as his chance to get out and escape, so he quickly jabbed him in the side, knocking him down off his body and onto the ground. "GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A STALLION, YOU WUSSY!" yelled Musclebuild, somewhat bruised and bloody, looking at a critically-wounded Storm trotting out of the Carousel Boutique. However, just as he was about to leave the Boutique and trot after Storm, two armored unicorn stallions trotted into the Boutique, crossbows out, which were pointing straight at Musclebuild. "Freeze!" they both said in unison, locking the weapons. "This is the Ponyville unit of the Equestrian Royal Guard! Drop any weapons you may have on you on the ground and put your hooves above your head!" the much taller unicorn shouted. Musclebuild groaned and done as the stallions asked him to. "You are under arrest for trespassing, abduction and assault. Make any sudden movements and these arrows go through your hooves." "Yes... officer..." he gulped, calming down completely and standing patiently and waiting for the second, much smaller guard to put hoofcuffs around his hooves. "I just wanted to be the cool colt and get a marefriend... I never meant for this to turn out this way." Meanwhile, a shaken Blue and an injured Storm (who was lying on a stretcher, with bandages wrapped around wounded parts of his body) were watching the entire situation unfold. "You alright?" he asked. "I'm fine..." she said. "Thanks for asking, Stormy... what about you?" "I'm fine too, I guess." he said. "The doctor said I should be healed up in a couple of days, but the wing should only heal up a couple of days before I come back to school..." "I'm sorry for what happened, Stormy..." she replied, stroking him gently. "It's not your fault..." he replied, resting his hoof on her. "But it is!" she protested. "If I haven't trusted him so much, then you'd be alright... Also, I'm sorry if it seemed as though I was more interested in him than in you..." "It's alright, babe." he replied. "No need to apologize. He fooled both of us..." "He fooled you too?" she asked, looking at Musclebuild being dragged into a carriage, belonging to the Ponyville Royal Guard. "Yep." replied Storm. "And I'm sorry too... If I had been looking out for you properly, then this probably won't have happened. I'm a horrible coltfriend... and your dad's probably gonna murder me now..." "Mr. Stormfire, sir?" asked a voice, belonging to a nurse, who woke Storm up from his long nap. He rubbed his eyes and his vision, slowly, but surely, became clearer. A moment later, after his vision had fully cleared up, Storm realized he was still in his hospital ward, still recovering from his fight with Musclebuild, which felt as though it happened a couple of days ago, despite only happening six hours back. "Yes?" he groaned, stretching his bandaged hooves, which hurt him, but not as much as before. "There's somepony here to see you." the nurse replied, opening the door to let Blue and her family into the room. "Stormy!" she grinned, trotting up to him and nuzzling him. "I'm so glad you're okay..." "Hey babe." he replied. "Hi, Mrs. Star and Mr. Solar..." "I'm so happy you're okay..." said Star. "And thank you for keeping our daughter safe...you two are just wonderful together, you know that?" "Aww..." they both blushed. "I must say..." begun Solar. "I underestimated you, Stormfire. When I first met you, I thought you weren't anything special, and I never considered you right for my daughter... but now I've been proven wrong. You are perfect for her... there isn't any doubt about it." "Thank you sir..." he replied, getting a pleasant grin from Blue. "Now, I believe you should get your rest." replied Solar. "We'll leave you be for now, okay Storm?" "Yes sir." "No need to call me sir." he replied. "Just call me Solar." "Alright... Solar." "Blue, do you have anything to say to Storm?" asked Star. "Yes..." she sighed, coming over to him. "Stormy, thank you for keeping me safe... and I'm sorry for bringing all that upon you. I hope you'll be able to forgive me." "Hey, it's no problem." he smiled. "I'm always glad to help, Blue." "But, you're injured..." "Injured or not, that doesn't change anything." he replied, gently wrapping his wing around her body. "I still love you like crazy, babe." "And I love you too, Stormy..." replied Blue, nuzzling against him. "Please, stay by my side..."