True Blue Hero

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 1
Chapter 8

Chapter 2

The different pony races each had different instincts and lifestyles. Blueblood reflected uneasily on that as he stood atop one of the castle’s towers in the darkness. He might have wings, but he hadn’t yet learned to be comfortable with heights like a pegasus. The suit he wore to disguise himself clung to his body from the copious amount of sweat he was shedding.

Relax. You’ll be fine, the voice in his head assured him.

“How do you know?” Blueblood muttered. Practicing flying in his bedroom was one thing. Looking out over the city in the darkness while winds buffeted him from the top of the tower was quite another. “Do you come with a parachute?”

You can simply use your own magic to stop your fall if you’re so inclined.

“Yeah, see, here’s the thing,” Blueblood began, his stomach already plummeting towards the ground when he got a sneak peek at the city street below. “I’m not all that magically capable when it comes to stopping myself from falling to certain death.”

Can you teleport? Use your telekinesis to halt yourself in midair? Summon a parasol? Anything at all useful? she asked with an edge of annoyance in her voice.

“If I say no, is that a bad thing?”

A groan resonated in his skull, which made his thoughts go fuzzy somehow. Okay, great, you’re next to useless with magic. At least you should be strong enough to not tire yourself out too much during flying.

“Well, I do workout every day,” Blueblood bragged, flexing, despite the fact that nopony could see him.

Just land on some rooftop if you need to rest.

“Oh, wait, we’re doing this now?” Blueblood asked, judging the distance from the ledge of the rooftop to the ground. A fall like that would make him a prince-sized pancake on the street. “Shouldn’t we do some stretching first?”

Just jump already!

Blueblood had already decided that he didn’t like the nagging voice in his head, and decided that she might be quiet if he did as she asked. He took a deep breath and stepped off the ledge.

They say your life flashes before your eyes before death. Blueblood would like to call bullshit on that statement, for the only thing that flashed before his eyes was the brightly lit windows he quickly fell past on his descent. The only sound he could hear was the billowing whistle of air flowing past him and his own girlish screams.

Fortunately, he wasn’t too scared to flail madly, his wings popping open and slowing down his fall considerably. Realizing he wasn’t about to die, Blueblood was able to better control his movements, eventually reaching equilibrium in a hover about halfway to the ground.

Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, he gradually started to add more power to his flaps, climbing vertically back into the starry sky.

Luna’s full moon provided enough light to see the rooftops, and Blueblood paused for a moment to stare out over the city. It seemed friendlier now, more accessible. He started to move, to really fly for the first time.

The sensation was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Sure, Blueblood had ridden in the royal chariot, but flying under his own power was so wonderful that he almost lost control of himself, giggling and forgetting to coordinate his flaps.

Now with the entire city below him, Blueblood felt like the thrill every pegasus went through as he dived in between buildings and glided over rooftops. No, it was better than that. He wasn’t a pegasus, but no longer a unicorn, either. Blueblood grinned.

Tonight, the city was his playground. Much like the castle, Canterlot was a city centuries old with many kinds of architecture built into it. Typically the rich lived in the older quarters of the city, where ancient structures now acted as the nobles’ penthouses and suites. Then there were the more modern districts, where the working class lived. Much more fun in Blueblood’s opinion, since the huge skyscrapers made for excellent navigating exercises for his newfound flying ability.

“I’m king of the world!” Blueblood shouted with glee, managing to pull off a double loopty-loop from a fast descent downwards. Flying back up, he hoofpumped the air in victory. “Screw chariots, this is the real way to get around!”

I see you’re enjoying yourself, the voice said with a chuckle, feminine giggles echoing in Blueblood’s mind.

“Well, of course!” Blueblood looked back towards the castle, the highest point in the city. Reaching it seemed like a worthy goal and he pumped his wings hard, racing for the tallest tower.

“Hey you!” called a voice.

“Say what?” Blueblood blurted out, stopping mid-flap to stare around at who had spoken. “Voice in my head, was that you?”

Nope!

There was a flutter of wings and a pony came shooting over to where Blueblood hovered. At first he thought it might have been a member of the Lunar Guard, but he realized this was a mare who was not dressed in armor. In fact, she looked rather plain, like the average citizen.

The two of them stared at each other, the mare looking confrontational. She brushed some of her indigo mane out of her eyes. Blueblood thought that it might need a cutting soon. It was a rather nice color, though, going with her butter yellow coat.

“You know the castle is restricted airspace at night, don’t you?” the mare huffed. “Anypony out flying past curfew gets in big trouble.”

“I’ve never heard that,” Blueblood replied. It was the truth. Until now, he had never paid any attention to pegasus news.

The mare cast a critical glance at him. “I guess I can understand. You don’t look like anypony from the district of Canterlot you just flew from. Too… pompous looking.”

That was actually hard to believe. Blueblood glanced at his attire. The long tailcoat had been hastily but cleanly modified to include slits for his wings. The tails covered his cutie mark. The tall tophat he wore concealed the fact that he also had a horn. Also, a monocle helped break up his rakish profile and prevent anypony from recognizing his princely face. Didn’t want any rumors going around he was an alicorn. At least not yet.

“You’re right, I’m not from around here,” Blueblood lied smoothly. “So what’s your name? Maybe you can show me around.”

“I’m uh…” The mare hesitated. “My name is Bright Defender.”

Blueblood smiled. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Whoa, hold on. Stop this right here. You are not going to hook up with her, do you hear me!?

Blueblood just barely kept himself from reacting visibly to disappointment. Sure, maybe that was his plan, but did the voice in his head have to discover it so quickly? He began to worry about how much the mysterious owner of the voice knew. Surely she wasn’t actually in his head with access to his private thoughts?

Fortunately, the voice didn’t answer that, and Blueblood went back to more pressing matters. “So, Ms. Defender, what do you do around here?”

She paused before answering, “I have a position at the castle.”

With a name like that and confirmation of working for the government, there were only so many things Bright Defender could do for a living. Small warning bells went off in Blueblood’s head, but if he ended up pissing off a royal guard, that was not a huge issue. But surely he would have remembered a mare with such an attractive face.

“What type of position, if you don’t mind me asking?” Blueblood pressed on, growing more and more curious about the mystery mare.

“Uh… low level management,” she blurted out, glancing left and right as the two hovered inside the castle walls. “Maybe we should go somewhere else to chat…”

“Ah, don’t worry,” Blueblood assured her, making a small waving motion with his hoof. “No guards are going to be out tonight. It’s just you and me.”

Why, aren’t you the romantic one? the voice mocked. Biting back a retort, Blueblood’s eyes widened as he spotted a guard fly out of a nearby tower.

“Hey you two, what are you doing here?” the guard called out, quickly gaining speed to catch the pair.

“Damn, we have to scram!” Blueblood shouted, turning around the best he could to fly away from the fast approaching guard. Bright Defender followed close behind him as the two departed from castle grounds, already losing the lone guard pony.

Might want to hustle if you have want any hope of impressing that mare, the voice pointed out as Bright raced past him and left him in the dust. Right now you’re coming off as very passive.

“How do you even know anything about this type of stuff?” Blueblood asked, taking care to not raise his voice above a whisper to alert Bright Defender.

I’m a female, remember?

“I don’t even know what you are,” Blueblood reminded her, slowing his pace as Bright Defender did likewise. “Care to explain that?”

“What, exactly?” Bright Defender asked, flapping closer to the panting Blueblood.

Wiping the sweat from his brow due to the overexertion of flying after so little practice or knowhow, Blueblood replied, “Nothing. I was just wondering where we are now.”

Overlooking the city below, Bright noticed the brick buildings packed densely together. “I think we’re in the downtown district right now. Not the best place to come late at night, actually.”

“It’s populated by ruffians?” Blueblood guessed.

“I suppose you could say that,” Bright agreed, shrugging her shoulders.

Blueblood puffed his chest out. “Not to worry. I’ll protect you. No petty thug scares the likes of me.”

“Or we could just leave,” suggested Bright, giving him an unbelieving look.

Suddenly there was a crash and the tinkle of breaking glass from somewhere in the streets and alleys below them. The sound was muffled and difficult to hear at altitude. It was followed by a shouting voice that had a demanding tone.

“Actually… yep, you’re right,” Blueblood agreed, a cold sweat running down his neck as more shouts sounded in the distance. “That sounded dangerous. We should go.”

“But somepony could be hurt!” Bright protested. Without another word to him she began to descend towards the streets below, looking for the source of the commotion.

“That’s exactly why we shouldn’t go down there!” Blueblood called after her, staying put where he was in the air. “We could get hurt as well!”

Bright ignored him, or was too out of earshot to listen, for she still made her way downward to the streets. Already Blueblood was losing sight of her. Not that he was worried much. If she got hurt or killed for sticking out her neck for somepony else, more power to her for being stupid. Helping ponies was a guard’s job, and most certainly not a prince’s.

He tended to avoid confrontations whenever possible. It wasn’t the thought of getting hurt or dirty that bothered him. Rather, it was the principle of royal mannerism that had been repeated to himself throughout his life that a prince does not act in such manner. A prince does not get into fights, does not get dirty, does not behave like a peasant and so on and so on. He’d lived by this code for so long it had seeped into his very being, making it so the thought of ever going against it seemed impossible. Plus, letting others do the heavy lifting was so easy.

Are you just going to let her go down there? the voice asked, her sharp reprimand bringing Blueblood back to the present.

Shaking his head, Blueblood replied, “Sure, if she wants to. No skin off my nose.”

You’re going to let somepony upstage you again? she said with a hiss. And here I thought Twilight making you look bad was enough. Now some random mare is going to do the same.

Blueblood’s stomach tightened. That familiar feeling back at the coronation that afternoon returned. Jealousy, bitter and vile and heavy upon his soul. It seeped into every corner of his being and made his blood boil from its wicked grasp. It was sickening yet empowering at the same time. Like a jolt of electricity that passed down his spine.

The blackhearted envy gave him new strength at that moment. The tired muscles in his wings gained newfound endurance that made him feel as if he was prancing on air. His vision sharpened, the darkness of the night merely an illusion as his sight caught hold of every shadow-ridden corner and dark alleyway. This surge of power reverberated throughout his body, surging adrenaline and other, less known chemicals into his bloodstream and making him feel better than ever before.

“No, I’m not going to let her,” Blueblood whispered, focusing on the ground with his sharpened eyesight. There was Bright Defender, hovering over the broken glass shards laid over a sidewalk from a broken window. That broken window belonged to a rundown liquor store that currently had a few intruders not interested in buying cheap booze. “This time, I actually do something about it.”

Good, the voice said, louder somehow, a more clear sound in the center of his head that rang in his ears. It’s nice to see you actually do have a backbone.

“What about you?” Blueblood asked as he skydived in a low arc, faster and more skillful in flight than ever before. His wings cut through the air like it was warm butter, the winds beating against his suit and nearly toppling over his top hat. “Are you even real? Do you even have a spine?”

Yeah, yours.

That certainly left Blueblood more questions than answers, but he quickly realized now was not the time for thinking over such things. He caught up with Bright on the ground. In front of them was a liquor store in the process of being burgled.

Four stallions, each wearing dark clothing to cover their cutie marks and colors, along with ski masks for their faces, were holding up the joint. One was a unicorn and held a bat with the tip pointed directly at the store clerk’s forehead, while the other two earth ponies at the side carried lead pipes in their mouths. A muscle bound pegasus was cleaning out the cash register in a burlap sack, his intimidating size making Blueblood gulp.

“What they’re doing isn’t right!” Bright exclaimed, as if astonished that anypony bothered to rob liquor stores.

“Wow, really? I never would have guessed,” Blueblood snarked. “What tipped you off? The wanton property damage, the assault, or the thievery?”

Bright continued to stare blankly at the four robbers for a moment but then squared her shoulders with determination. “We should stop them.”

Blueblood stared at the robbers, then back at Bright Defender, then back at the robbers again, gears in his brain working on overtime. “Yeah… sounds great. I am totally sure that any future hindsight on this won’t be negative at all.”

Chapter 3

Bright Defender started forward towards the liquor store that was currently under assault by four robbers. Blueblood followed close behind, though much more apprehensive and less confident than Bright.

“So, how do we approach this?” Blueblood asked the mare, the two right outside the broken window leading into the store. “Sneak in and ambush, or something more tactful.”

“Hey, stop doing all that crime!” Bright Defender called into the store, catching all four robbers and the clerk’s attention right away.

“... Or we could do that,” Blueblood muttered, adjusting his flashy monocle and top hat to better conceal his identity, and also to conceal his embarrassment. “You know, Bright, I don’t think vigilantism works that way.”

The four robbers glanced at the new arrivals and then at each other. The choice between continuing to rob the easy score liquor store or beginning a brawl with a pretty mare and a nattily-attired stallion was easy.

“Heya, boss, want me to smash this mook’s face in?” the unicorn asked his pegasus partner, bringing his bat up high with his magic.

The bulky pegasus chuckled, leaving the sack filled with bits at the floor as he cracked each of his fetlocks, the sound reverberating in the store. “Nah, I got dibs on pretty boy here,” he said, a smile unseen under his mask. “I wanna see him bleed in that fancy suit.”

“Jeeze, you’re going to choose that when there’s a knockout gorgeous filly standing there?” chuckled one of the earth ponies. “Suit yourselves.”

The fourth robber opened his mouth to utter a one-liner, but didn’t have time before Bright charged into the store.

Are you letting her take the lead? the voice in Blueblood’s head scolded him. Get in there!

And so Blueblood advanced, certain that he was making a terrible mistake. A mistake most likely ending with him beat up in a puddle of his own blood. Why did he have to be born pessimistic?

The two earth ponies never knew what hit them as Bright practically rocketed into the store. A hurricane of yellow and indigo knocked into the pair, hooves smashing into any vulnerable space available. Her movement was too fast to track, much less hit, so the duo’s efforts to take down Bright with their lead pipes only resulted in bitter failure and bruises on their part.

Don’t look at her, take care of your own problems!

Blueblood’s head jerked away from Bright and to the two ponies approaching him menacingly. The unicorn seemed like an easier target, so he concentrated on that robber first. Plus, the pegasus had just been knocked in the head by a wildly thrown pipe from Bright’s end of the fight, so Blueblood went with his momentary advantage of a one on one fight.

Growling, the unicorn came at him bat swinging, mad throws of the blunt weapon in all directions. Blueblood’s eyes tracked the movements of the bat, time seeming to slow to a crawl as his vision focused to such a fine, crisp detail that seconds ticked by as if they were hours.

As the bat swung past the unicorn’s face one more time, Blueblood gave it a sharp jab with his hoof, the movement too fast for the robber to catch. The bat’s butt slapped straight between the stallion’s eyes, causing him to go cross-eyed for a moment. Shaken by the strike, the unicorn stumbled back and Blueblood leapt into the air with his wings, gaining an altitude advantage that he used to pummel his adversary from above.

On the defensive now from Blueblood’s hooves, the unicorn was forced to retreat until his rump backed into the wall of the store. Realizing he had nowhere else to run, he threw all his effort into a last-ditch spell to blast Blueblood into red paint across the wall.

Seeing the building magic, Blueblood knew how he would have to counter it. Waiting until just the right moment, he threw out a sudden strike to the very tip of the robber’s horn, cutting off the outlet for the magic and forcing it to suddenly reverse.

It was an odd skill to have, a way to reverse the magical output of any unicorn’s horn to create negative feedback. You didn’t even have to be a unicorn to do it. Just know the right place to hit, and boom, no more magic for a short while. Blueblood had learned it through the basic self defense lessons he’d overheard the royal guards talking about.

The only drawback of the technique was the chance that a magical backlash of some sort could happen. The unicorn screeched in pain as his brain was flooded with an unexpected wave of magic, his horn out of commision from Blueblood’s hit. The surge knocked him unconscious in an instant, magical sparks flying from his useless horn as he fell to the floor.

“Hrumph,” Blueblood snorted, adjusting his suit cuffs. Luckily for him, he had managed to avoid any backlash at all. He checked his attire, pleased to see that it hadn’t been too ruffled–

What are you doing!? There’s still one after you!

Blueblood whipped around just in time to catch a punch in the face from the pegasus he’d neglected. The pegasus had a deliriously malicious smile on his face, a black eye from the pipe impact he received from before not deterring his grin one bit. Blueblood’s monocle cracked, but certainly didn’t absorb enough of the blow to prevent damage to his face. Blood poured down his nose from the cuts the broken glass had inflicted, while his head felt fuzzy from the impact of what had felt like a steel beam across his cheek.

Slightly stunned, Blueblood backpedaled and tried to get out of range. The pegasus came at him again and Blueblood threw up his hooves to block. His top hat wobbled and threatened to come off. He blocked another blow, barely, and lost more ground, backing up. His hooves felt like they were turning to jello from the force of the pegasus’ strikes.

All the confidence, or perhaps courage fueled by the jealousy of being shown up, was gone now. The exuberant feeling of being on top of the world had reverted to falling to his death from each hit the pegasus managed to land on Blueblood. There was no power, no newfound energy or abilities. Just a unicorn in over his head and getting the beatdown of a shortly-lived lifetime.

“Hiiiya!” Bright zoomed in the air past him on a collision course with Blueblood’s hulking adversary. The stallion managed to parry her initial charge with an elbow to her chest, but Bright twisted her body along with his strike to get to his side, her long indigo tail seeming to coil around him, winding tightly. She landed on the ground to get traction, and then cracked her tail like a whip, throwing the pegasus into the wall so hard that the back of his head created a dent in the bricks, knocking him out in an instant.

It had taken her seconds to do what Blueblood hadn’t been able to accomplish. He stood there for a moment in stunned silence. Glancing around, he saw the two earth ponies Bright had taken out before coming to his rescue-er, that is, before coming to butt in.

All in all, it had taken less than a minute for four would-be robbers to get knocked out, and for Blueblood to get his flank hoofed to him.

He saw that Bright had taken a bruise to the cheek, and she appraised Blueblood’s injuries with a sympathetic eye. “Maybe you should get that checked out.”

“Pish posh.” Adrenaline and pride made it easy for Blueblood to wave off the idea. He did duck his head, though. Even through the blood trickling down his face he didn’t want her to recognize him.

The two of them were interrupted by the owner of the liquor store activating the alarm system. Why he hadn’t done it when the store was actually in the process of being robbed was anypony’s guess. An alarm meant that the police would be on the way. And police meant Blueblood was going to get his ass stuck in jail. If there’s one thing Blueblood knew for sure, it’s that a fine, handsome stallion like himself wouldn’t survive five minutes in prison.

It seemed that he and Bright had the same thought and they both turned to go, hastily leaving the building. The night air was refreshing, but Blueblood didn’t take the time to enjoy it, focusing instead on getting away.

The duo beat it from the premises in a flurry of wings, shooting past the rooftops and into the night sky. Blueblood didn't realize that he had no idea where they were going until Bright asked, “Where do you live?”

“Why would you ask me that?” he stalled, trying to figure out if there was something he could tell her that.

Forget that! Did you see how strong and independent she is? Way out of your league and nothing like your usual skanks! Besides, would you insist on wearing your hat the whole night to conceal your identity?

Fortunately, Bright was not privy to his internal dialogue and replied, “Well, I was just trying to figure out if you’re going my way.” She chuckled. “I don’t go out crimefighting very often, honest. That was kind of a silly thing for me to have done.”

“Yes, it was,” Blueblood agreed. He winced, the bruises he had sustained in the fight burning like the inside of Tartarus. “I wouldn’t advise doing it again anytime soon.”

“Yeah… but wasn’t it exciting?” Bright asked, a glimmer in her eye as her hair flowed elegantly backwards in the wind. “The adrenaline, the thrill. In the castle I never get to feel like that. Out here, in the city, I’m as free as a bird.”

“Aren’t you worried about the authorities?” Blueblood muttered.

“Of course.” Bright frowned. “But...I still feel like what I did back there was the right thing. They could have hurt somepony.”

“You hurt somepony,” he shot back. “Where did you even learn to fight, anyway?”

“I told you that I spend a lot of time at the castle,” she reminded him with a smirk. “I was there when the changelings invaded and had to fight.”

Blueblood frowned. That had been several months before. Most of the city had gone back to their daily lives, but he knew that the princesses were still worried about the changeling threat and the possibility that they might try another attack or infiltration. The most he remembered of the events was him hiding in some closet in the castle to avoid any attacks. At least there had been a rather friendly maid to spend the time with. He couldn’t seem to remember her name, though. That was something Blueblood prided himself on - a good memory for every mare he’d met. It helped impress them, or in some cases, avoid them.

Bright noticed his frustrated expression, and arched a brow. “Something wrong? Are you hurting bad from the fight?”

“What? Oh, no, it’s just a scratch,” Blueblood assured her, wiping at some blood that had collected near his eyes.

“You might need some medical attention with all that blood,” Bright said, stopping in midair to take a closer look at his wound. Now that Blueblood had cleared some of the blood, and his face was more clearly seen under the moon’s light, Bright peered closer. “Actually, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?”

“I should think not.” If Blueblood had met Bright Defender before, he would have remembered.

“I could have sworn…” Bright tapped her chin in thought. “Have you ever visited the castle before? As a noble or something?”

Do something! If she recognizes you as Blueblood, then how are you going to explain the wings? Do you really want your Aunt and every other noble in Canterlot wondering why a prince is now an alicorn? You haven’t yet come up with plan for breaking the news in a way that will be most advantageous to you.

“I, uh… don’t remember!” Blueblood stammered, glancing left and right nervously. “I… have to go now!”

You fool! Could you have made her any more suspicious!?

“Um, okay,” Bright replied, her brow furrowing. “Are you sure you didn’t get a concussion or something?”

“Yeah, quite fine, just need to sneak–I mean, get back home,” Blueblood explained hastily, tipping his top hat forward to hide his face in shadows.

Can you be anymore obvious?

Biting back a sharp retort, he dived to the streets with his wings close by his sides, fleeing from Bright Defender as fast as possible. Before hitting the ground, his wings snapped open, and he had enough cushion of air beneath them to land safely on the ground.

“Whoo… that was intense,” Blueblood muttered, panting slightly. The surge of adrenaline and whatever else had made him feel like a superpony before had long departed, leaving his muscles on fire and his vision wavering. Blueblood was tired, in pain, and confused beyond belief.

Yeah, I was there, the voice deadpanned. You weren’t the only one who got hurt! The complaint drummed into his head, adding the the stress of the night and building towards a migraine. Next time try to be more careful so I don’t have to go through that again!

“You? What about me?” Blueblood replied bitterly, trudging down the streets back to the castle. “I was nearly killed back there, and what did you do? A lame heads up that didn’t do jack nothing!”

Well, pardon me princess, but I’m new to this too. And wouldn’t you rather have taken it on the face than getting zero warning?

Blueblood scoffed. “Who are you anyway? I’d like to better know the mysterious voice that appeared in my head the minute I grew wings. Do you even have a name?”

The voice was quiet for once. Frustrated, Blueblood grumbled, “Fine, be mysterious. I’m so tired right now that I shan’t argue any further. But next morning, you’re going to tell me everything.”

Realizing he still had to fly all the way back to the castle, and then sneak in without being seen by any guards, and finally get to his room, Blueblood groaned under his breath. “But first off, I need a strong, strong drink.”

Several blocks away, and at a much higher altitude, Bright Defender slipped through a window in one of the castle towers. She touched the bruise on her check, wincing slightly. She would have to do something about it; she couldn’t be seen this way.

But overall, the night had been a wild time. She couldn’t remember any time when she’d felt such exhilaration. The changeling attack had been about survival. The fight in the liquor store had been about justice: doing the right thing and protecting the defenseless. Now that beat out duking with changelings any day of the week.

Sighing, she stepped away from the window and into the darkened room. A ripple of green flame washed over her body, her yellow coat giving way to a mild lavender.

“I do hope that stallion is alright,” she reflected, remembering his wounds as she brushed a hoof through her dark purple mane. “Even though he did kind of act like a pompous ass.”

Chapter 4

After the sun had risen in the morning–quite a while after, in fact–Blueblood’s door creaked open and a maid stuck her head in. “Prince?”

There was a muffled grumble and the covers on the bed shifted. “Go away.”

“Are you feeling well? Shall I fetch the royal physician? Or perhaps the ‘hangover cure’ kit?”

Blueblood felt like he could use a doctor, but didn’t dare say so. “No, I’m fine. Just stop being a bother and leave me alone.”

The maid sighed as if she really was getting quite tired of his attitude, but closed the door and left Blueblood alone.

He pulled the covers down, lying on his back in bed. He was bruised and his face was cut, while the rest of his body was filled with a general ache. Fighting crime was a much less rewarding task than he had envisioned. That was why he was so reluctant to partake. In the comics, they never showed the part about the next morning when the hero felt like shit.

“Which reminds me,” Blueblood said aloud. “Why did I listen to you when you urged me not to let that mare show me up?”

If you didn’t agree with me, you would have just turned your back and let that store get robbed, the voice in his head pointed out.

Blueblood muttered obscenities under his breath and got up, stumbling towards the bathroom in the manner of a drunken haze, although he wished his condition actually was due to a too-large intake of booze. Now that he was moving, he decided that maybe he wasn’t as injured as he thought. Thank goodness for small miracles.

He splashed some water on his face, checking the mirror to study the effects. He’d forced himself to shower upon arrival the previous night, and the dried blood had been removed. Actually, the injuries were looking much better than he remembered. Maybe it was the good night’s sleep he’d had.

No, actually it was me.

Blueblood rolled his eyes. “Alright, that’s it. Cut it out with the creepy mindreading thing. You’re going to tell me who you are right now. I’m tired of listening to you and getting zero answers. What’s your name?”

The voice was silent for several seconds. Blueblood glared at the mirror, noticing his tired, bloodshot eyes and bags underneath them. He could also see her face overlaid on his, which was still quite a creepy sight to behold. Her expression was not the cocky, inherently frightening visage that had greeted him the last time. Instead, she looked uncertain and almost apprehensive about looking him in the eye.

“I don’t have a name”, she replied. “I...don’t know who I am.”

“Buuuuuullshit,” Blueblood replied, scowling at his reflection, which was more hers anyways. “I don’t want cockamany excuses like that, so you’d better cough up enough explanation for how you gave me wings, why you are in my head, and how exactly I did that… whatever it was, last night.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. Her lips drew tight. “I’ve been keeping this from you because you won’t like it.”

“I didn’t like getting beat up last night. Neither did you.” Blueblood touched tenderly at where the scratch on his face he received the night before was, an exact match to the wound on her cheek as well. “If we’re going to trust one another, you might as well as lay it on the table what exactly you are and why you’re inside my head.”

She sighed. “All right. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The world seemed to blur around Blueblood in a whirl of colors and scenes. After a moment everything suddenly clicked into place and he came to rest in a small dark room. There was a warm body next to him, and it–she–was slowly sliding on top of Blueblood.

He knew this place. This was the closet where he had holed up during the changeling attack. This was the mare who had been there with him. It was a fond memory.

The situation that had led to this, however, had looked grim. The changeling queen had revealed herself right in the middle of the wedding ceremony. Blueblood had fled, not wanting to be anywhere near creatures that were not only giant bugs, but also wanted to take over all of Equestria. He had found refuge in this closet and the maid had come by while he was huddling there. Not wanting to throw such a pretty mare to the changelings, he’d let her stay. They’d… entertained themselves for a while, and then that goody four-hooves Twilight Sparkle had showed up with her friends and saved the day, clearing out all the changelings. That was the end of the story. That end being a happy ending, wink wink, nudge nudge.

But this time, the memory was different. The maid was just as pretty as before. She’d come onto Blueblood just like she did last time. And that’s where the similarity ended. In the darkness, something wet seemed to drip down Blueblood’s legs. He tried to pick up his hooves but they were stuck to the floor. And that’s when a pair of luminescent green eyes filled with evil intent showed themselves right in front of his face.

“Relax,” a distorted, insectoid voice whispered. “This will be over soon.”

Blueblood would have pulled away, but parts of him seemed to be rather firmly attached to the creature in the closet with him. He sucked in a breath to scream but she covered his mouth and began to grind against him.

And then came the most horrifying sensation so far. In the darkness, Blueblood couldn’t see what was happening, but it felt like the tables had turned and he was the one being penetrated.

The world flashed back to Blueblood’s bathroom. He staggered, gasping and clinging to the sink for dear life. His eyes went to the mirror. “I… I can’t believe…”

“It’s true,” she said quietly. “This was blocked out of your memories, Blueblood, but I found it. I suspect the changeling queen did that to stop you from realizing what had happened.”

“But that doesn’t explain…” Blueblood stuttered, his brain trying to catch up. “That still doesn’t tell me what you are!”

“I don’t know!” she shot back, fixing him with an angry glare. “I woke up with you yesterday. I don’t have any idea what I was doing before that. I don’t know where I came from.”

“But you think it’s related to changelings,” he replied.

“Did you see my wings?”

Blueblood frowned. “Your wings?”

“Well, you didn’t spontaneously grow them by yourself,” she replied. The appendages in question, which until this moment had been folded idly on Blueblood’s back, twitched and began to molt. The feathers withered and disappeared, giving way to the gossamer material that had first emerged from his body the day before. They did look an awful lot like changeling wings, with the races’ signature holes scattered throughout the surface.

Blueblood slowly swung his gaze back to the mirror, trying very hard not to freak out. “So... you’re a changeling.”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“But you look like a changeling,” he accused.

“Yes, but–”

Blueblood slammed his hoof against the bathroom sink. “Why are you inside my body?!”

“Please calm down!” she pleaded. “Panicking won’t help us get to the bottom of this!”

“I’m not panicking, I’m pissed! Get out of my head! The only bottom I want to get to is the end of a bottle when this is through!”

“I can’t leave! If I knew how, I would! You are the most egotistical, pigheaded, bigoted pony I have ever known! If others think you’re bad, then imagine what I have to go through while stuck in your head! I can’t do anything by myself because apparently I’m less my own individual and more like a mere piece of your conceited, princely body! Do you even know what that feels like, being permanently stuck in your head?”

They both glared at each other. It was a little surprising that the mirror didn’t melt under the force of so much hostility.

Blueblood turned away and left the bathroom. “I’m going to breakfast.”

He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to say so, especially since the… thing in his head could read his thoughts. Maybe speaking to her let him pretend he wasn’t literally stuck with her. Plus, if he kept on thinking she could hear everything he thought, then that’d drive him mad with paranoia in no time.

She didn’t respond to that fortunately, but did ask, How were you planning to leave your room when you have wings?

Blueblood grimaced and pulled a jacket out of his dresser. It was not very fashionable and he was not feeling cold, but he was not currently in the mood to get things just perfect.

And about your face?

“I… I’ll say I tripped.”

It looks better than it did before, since I healed it.

Blueblood shook his head in confusion. “You did what?”

I’m no doctor, but I was able to patch you up a little from the inside. You’ll have to do the rest of the healing yourself, though. I was afraid of regenerating too much of you, in case it came out bad.

Blueblood shuddered slightly at her mention of “inside,” but that was dampened by what she had done for him. He wasn’t about to play nice with her, but it at least made him feel a little conflicted. She had the good grace not to say anything about that.

Stepping outside his bedroom, Blueblood glanced around warily. There was nopony in sight, but he nervously tightened his jacket. He still didn’t quite have full control over his wings, so he wanted to be sure there wouldn’t be any unexpected surprises.

Blueblood’s stomach growled out a call for nourishment. Venturing down the hallway, he navigated towards the kitchen to grab something to eat. There was no way he was going to sit down to breakfast, not if he could help it.

Suddenly, a strange thought popped in his head, and without even realizing he blurted out, “Wait, can I eat love now?” Since he had the wings, did that mean he had a changeling’s appetite as well?

I don’t know. I haven’t felt anything like that.

Blueblood frowned. The voice had even told him not to get romantically involved with Bright Defender. “Maybe not, then.”

He did think about Bright, though. It was hard not to. She’d made him look like a fool, although Blueblood had to admit that she probably hadn’t meant to. Also, he was in disguise, so it was not a problem. Along with the fact she did have some shapely qualities to her that he wouldn’t mind taking another look at.

Plus, seeing her heedlessly come to his rescue was strangely a turn on. Not many mares actually cared enough about Prince Blueblood to save him like that.

Wait, I thought you didn’t like her? Stop flip flopping, it’s driving me nuts.

Blueblood did not reply, as he had just reached the kitchen. He’d rather not argue with himself in front of the staff.

Just as he opened the door, Blueblood came face to face with the former Captain of the Royal Guards and new Prince of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor. Both white unicorn stallions blocked the other’s path.

Shining wore a red windbreaker and a tired expression. He was carrying some food, evidently having had the same plan to raid the kitchen as Blueblood.

The two squeezed past, not speaking. Blueblood did not care for Shining, as he had been promoted to royalty through marriage–an even worse excuse than spontaneous, friendship-driven alicornism.

Also, unlike most ponies, he refuses to take shit off you.

Blueblood just barely suppressed an angry retort. It was true, however. Even as a lowly soldier, Shining had not pandered to the prince. In fact, he barely acknowledged him as a royal at all.

Retrieving a few tasty things to eat from the kitchen, Blueblood came back out. Shining leaned against the wall, his face still looking half asleep. Blueblood stopped and Shining’s head came around. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

Be nice and maybe he’ll leave you alone.

Blueblood tried it. “I see that you came for your sister’s coronation yesterday.”

Shining nodded and yawned. “Cadance and I are getting ready to leave this morning.”

Something seemed off. Both princes had nearly the same exhaustion etched into their respective features. Blueblood pointed out, “For being on vacation, you don’t look like you’re well rested.”

“It was a long night.” Shining shook his head. “A long, weird night.”

Glancing at Blueblood, Shining zipped up his windbreaker and walked away. Blueblood frowned.

“You don’t think…” Blueblood shook his head, rubbing a temple. “No, of course not, simply impossible.”

Wait...what if there is another like me out there? The voice sounded excited. Maybe we could figure out what’s going on!

“But… that would mean I ogled Shining Armor’s ass all night!” Blueblood’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank.

“You did what, now?” asked a voice. Blueblood spun, finding himself facing down Princess Cadance, who had just arrived at the kitchen.

Sorry, good buddy, the voice said sympathetically, but this one’s on you!

Chapter 5

Blueblood lay back on his luxurious, king-sized bed and stared up at the ceiling. He was still clothed, but didn’t care. The previous day, when he’d been so envious of Twilight Sparkle, he’d wished for wings of his own. Now that he had them, his life had instantly become a parade of one headache after another. Irony was a cruel, bitter bitch.

First, there were the literal headaches, caused by bumping his cranium on things while learning to fly. Then he’d been beaten up by some thugs and been saved by a mysterious mare. But the crowning negative achievement, the biggest moment of suck, was making a fool of himself in front of Cadance. He still winced at that memory.

It was not something Blueblood wanted to remember. Luckily, there were plenty of other terrible things for him to think about.

Aw, but you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed, said the voice. Lucky for me, that happens a lot.

“Shut up,” he muttered darkly.

Come on, we should talk. I know you want to figure out what is going on as much as I do.

“What are we going to talk about?” Blueblood asked, waving a hoof at the ceiling. “We don’t have any new information. No new facts or figures. It’ll be a useless endeavor to actually try anything, so I’d rather lie here in a heap of my own depression, thank you very much.”

Fair point, but maybe we can go out tonight and learn more. If we meet up with Bright Defender again, we can have a little conversation.

“I’m not going out again.”

Why not? You enjoyed it.

“No I didn’t!” That memory with Shining Armor popped back in his head. “I definitely didn’t enjoy staring at anything either!”

You can’t lie to me, Blueblood. I’m in your head.

“You don’t know what I’m feeling!”

Yes I do. I know what you’re thinking. You know, I think that I'm more true to you than even you are.

Blueblood grumbled. “Oh yeah, Trueblood?”

Hey, I kinda like that. I think I’ll adopt that as my name.

“I take it back!”

She giggled. Too late! I hereby christen myself Princess Trueblood, of the Royaly Pompous Nogginhood of your head!

Letting out a breath, Blueblood closed his eyes in annoyance. “Fine… but I’m calling you Trudy.”

Not fair! I get to call you a pet name, then!

Blueblood cringed. “What could it possibly be?”

Oh, I’ll think of something. Just give me time.

The threat of a nickname looming over his head was perhaps worse than getting slapped with it up front. And judging by Trudy’s past conversations that he was forced to listen to, it couldn’t be anything good.

“Just try to be mature about it,” he reminded her.

Hey, I’m as mature as you. Heck, I kind of am you. Which actually means I’m not very mature after all. Funny how logic works, right?

“You are not me! You’re just some… some… thing that suddenly appeared in my head one day and started talking to me. That’s the only similarities we share, nothing more.” Blueblood sat up, as if attempting to assert his dominance over the conversation. The large mirror over his wardrobe caught his eye. Trudy’s face was overlaid on his. She caught him looking.

Her reflection smirked at him. “I may not be you, but we sure look alike.”

Indeed, Blueblood was surprised to see she was very similar looking to himself. The larger mirror showed him more of her. While Trudy’s face was more feminine than his own, they shared the same strong jaw, along with a golden colored mane falling into their eyes. And while her body was smaller than his own, she still looked quite strong, with much more muscle definition than was expected from most mares. There was still the fact she looked more like a changeling than a pony, what with her hole-filled limbs, fanged mouth, and insect wings. Other than that, however, she really did have many of Blueblood’s physical traits.

“You’re just making me see that!” he protested. “You’re a changeling; you can be anything you want!”

“No I can’t,” she reminded him. “I’m in your head.”

“Fine, you can make me see anything you want!” Blueblood still defended himself, backing away from his reflection. Trudy did likewise, copying his movements perfectly. “And stop doing that!”

“I can’t!” she reminded him, rolling her eyes. “I’m you, but not you at the same time. While I do have independence, I have to follow some things you can only do. I don’t have a real body of my own. Which, if you didn’t already know, sucks.”

“You talking in my head sucks way more!” Blueblood protested, the movement of his hoof pointing at her lost when she did likewise. “Do you know how creepy that is?”

“Do you know how creepy it is being stuck in your head?” Trudy asked, arching a brow at him. “I don’t know if this is the same for all stallions, but you’re a broken record. Parties and social events this, sex that, alcohol here, fashion there, and mane cleaning products being a really major focus of yours.”

“Wait, I think about sex only a minority of the time?” Blueblood interjected.

“I’m trying to be serious here!” Trudy pleaded. “Look, we should be working together. Neither of us can help being in this situation. I may be changeling spawn, but I’m trying not to act like a villain here!”

“At least you don’t look completely like a changeling,” Blueblood muttered, glancing at Trudy’s face in the mirror.

She paused for a moment in thought. “You know, my other half had to come from somewhere else. I know my mom must be the changeling queen, but I still should have a dad somewhere.”

Blueblood blanched. “You’re not seriously suggesting…?”

They both looked away simultaneously, an awkward tension filling the air. Trudy coughed. “Um, maybe we could talk about something else?”

“No arguments from me.” Blueblood stared at his hooves for a moment. “So, what sort of magic do you have? You changed how the wings looked, so can you do anything else?”

“A new look for your whole body?” Trudy guessed. “Let me try.”

“Whoa, you can change my entire body?” Blueblood asked, tilting his head at his appearance. “Like, make me look however I want?”

“Well, if that was really Shining Armor attached to that sweet flank you were checking out last night, and he’s got the same thing going on that we do, then yes, I should be able to.”

Blueblood’s face flustered red. “I did not look at his–I mean, her flank! And besides, I don’t even want to be a mare!”

“That’s a relief,” she giggled. “Right now I’m still pretty new to this, so any changes will have to stick with your current size. So no strutting around town like a girl for you, unless you wanted to be a really fat one.”

“I am not fat! This is all muscle!” Blueblood objected, flexing as many muscles as possible to his reflection.

“Hmm… looks a little too chunky for that,” Trudy said, snickering under her breath at Blueblood’s attempts to show off his in-shape physical form.

“Just… just shut up.”

“Well okay then, Prince Grumpy. How do you want to look?”

“Can you possibly make me look more handsome and dashing than I already am?”

“Gee, I don’t know.” Trudy rolled her eyes. “I don’t think your ego could support it.”

“Oh, so now I’m an individual instead of being us?” Blueblood asked her, rubbing his chin. “Actually, if I’m an egotist, wouldn’t that make you one, too?”

Trudy scoffed. “Hardly. We might be a team, but if anything, you’re the face and I’m the brains.”

Blueblood grinned. “I’m okay with that. Nopony ever said, ‘You’ve got a handsome brain.’”

“You want to be handsome, huh?” Trudy grinned, her lips quirking with mischief. “Not…fabulous?”

A wash of green fire washed over Blueblood’s body, not harming him in the slightest, but leaving behind a very obvious change in its wake. From horn to hoof, he was now pink.

Blueblood gasped in horror, staring at his reflection in the mirror. “What is this...I don’t even…”

Unable to hold her laughter, Trudy burst out with raucous guffaws that surely would have drawn the attention of anypony else in the castle if she wasn’t in Blueblood’s head. He glared at her until her mirth subsided, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Are you quite finished?” he asked crossly.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, so you’re not liking the pink. Hmm. You can’t go wrong with black!”

Another flash of changeling magic, and Blueblood now looked like a photo negative of himself. While an improvement over the pink, it was still not quite his thing. “Maybe something a bit lighter.”

“Royal purple?” asked Trudy.

“No, I think not.” Blueblood was trying to avoid anything to do with Twilight Sparkle. “Something a little different.”

There was another flash and he had turned a shade of deep midnight blue. Considering that, Blueblood nodded. “Warmer… though I’ll look pretty odd as a completely blue stallion walking around,” Blueblood noted, noticing how even his clothes were shifted to the blue hue. “Got a way to fix that?”

“How about this?” she asked, his clothes melting to puddy for a moment due to her magic. Suddenly he found himself enveloped in them, the midnight blue texture of his suit covering himself completely. It lasted for just a moment, and when his initial freakout of suffocation passed, he found himself wearing a new type of material. It was form-fitting, flexible, and complemented his new look.

“So, you can transmogrify clothes?” Blueblood asked, impressed. “Cool, now I can be dressed for any occasion.”

“Better for me to choose your wardrobe, since the things you pick out can hardly be considered proper clothing.”

Blueblood huffed. “Bitch, I always dress fabulously.”

“Wouldn’t calling me a bitch also infer you as one as well?” Trudy asked with a smirk. “Since we are the same pony and everything?”

Blueblood narrowed his eyes. “I swear, decide whether we’re one or two separate ponies already!”

Trudy laughed, Blueblood’s anger mounting with each of her chuckles. “Okay, okay, sorry for bugging you,” she apologized, though there wasn’t much conviction behind her words. “Tell me what you think so far.”

Trudy disappeared to give Blueblood a chance to get a better view of himself in the mirror. He was covered in a strange dark blue substance that stuck to him skintight. There were slots for his horn and feathery wings to fit through. As he watched, a mask finished completely covering his head and face, leaving white spots over his eyes that still allowed him to see.

The overall effect was striking, quite an effective disguise. Blueblood had to admit that it was more than a little intimidating, too. Still, he felt a sense of coltlike glee from dressing up in a scary outfit. It felt almost like Nightmare Night.

“Hey now, sugary treats will just make your love handles stack up,” Trudy reminded him, appearing beside his reflection and nodding in approval at his getup. “But I feel as if we’re missing something…”

Blueblood frowned. “Yeah, a fitting cutie mark.”

They both pondered that for a moment before Trudy exclaimed, “I’ve got it! Your standard mark is a compass rose, right?”

“Of course. Knowing my directions is how I get home when I’m plastered drunk,” Blueblood replied. “Not the best cutie mark story, but hey, it fits.”

“So how about we make the new mark a compass needle, pointing true, and have it be drawing blood like another kind of needle?”

“Hmm.” Blueblood considered it. “Sounds badass, but a little self-serving. Pointing true, drawing blood?”

Trudy chuckled. “Well, as a superhero you can be called Trueblood. I don’t mind if you borrow my name.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Blueblood protested. “Also, what makes you think I want to keep crime fighting? I got beat up last time. Badly. You yelled at me for it, remember?”

“So we know what not to do the next time,” she prodded. There was a sparkle of magic and the new, completely awesome-looking cutie mark appeared on his hip. “Whaddya say?”

“You just enjoy seeing me in pain, don’t you?” Blueblood asked, his gut feeling telling him not to go through with this.

“Well, it isn’t much of a difference than how you are regularly: complaining constantly,” she reminded him with a stuck out tongue.

Staring at himself, and trying to ignore Trudy’s creepy forked tongue, Blueblood considered his new look. It did look rather striking. Dashing, even. Something truly heroic. But did he really want to be a hero? Did he really want to go out and make a fool of himself like last night in front of a bunch of thugs? Not to mention risking serious bodily harm.

The answer came to him suddenly. “Give me a pattern like a blood spray or something on the suit,” he commanded her, scowling at his reflection. “If I’m going to risk my life, I’m at least going to scare the crap out of the bad guy trying to kill me.”

Trudy’s eyebrows went up, apparently surprised at his turnaround in attitude, but she dutifully added a splatter of white across his chest that resembled the form of a bloody wound appearing from the chest. A symbol now resembling a bleeding heart appeared on his chest, the blood spatters flowing like a river all across his costume. Except it was white, which represented purity, Trueblood.

Or something. The costumed prince shook his head. “Symbolism is hard.”

“But asskicking is comparatively easy,” Trudy pointed out.

Blueblood shrugged, smiling underneath his mask. “Can’t argue with that.”

Chapter 6

Blueblood was much more comfortable being up in the air tonight. It helped that he wasn't worried about making a fool of himself because nopony would recognize him. The slick outfit he and Trudy had dreamed up was sure to conceal his identity. Also, he was probably the only male alicorn that anypony had ever seen.

I’m still not sure going out like this was a good idea, Trudy cautioned. If anything, I would suggest you keep your magic under wraps until you absolutely need it.

Blueblood laughed. “Screw that. If I’m going to make an impression, I’m not holding anything back!”

I was also suggesting that you not to scream like a madpony in the night sky when guards can be anywhere, Trudy reminded him, Blueblood practically feeling her roll her eyes in his mind. The disguised prince did shut up, however, or at least for as long as it took to get out of earshot of the castle.

“Hmm, where shall I go tonight?” Blueblood mused, mostly to himself as the city spread out below him. The possibilities were endless. The limits were broken by his new body and abilities. He was on top of the world, with all of Equestria as his adventure!

Whoa, cool it! We’re just going for a flight. Maybe we'll run into your marefriend Bright Defender again. Or coltfriend, such as the case may be.

“I told you, he–she isn’t my marefriend!” Blueblood yelled, barely avoiding crashing into a billboard in his path. “I’ve only known her for what, one day?”

One night, to be specific. And in that time she saved your neck from being killed by some thugs. I think that warrants a relationship of some type.

“Why do you even care? I thought you were jealous about her saving me?”

At first I was, but then I realized it was more your incompetence that almost doomed us than anything I did. So if we can get her to train you to be less of a dolt with fighting, then I’m all up for her helping us out.

“When Tartarus freezes over,” Blueblood muttered, soaring over several rooftops with ease. He was improving, that was for sure. Now flying felt like such a breeze, literally. “Wow, I would’ve been a Wonderbolt for sure if I had been born a pegasus,” Blueblood laughed, performing a barrel roll.

Cool your jets, hothead. I’m the one doing most of the work with the flying. If you were solo, you’d be a pancake on the ground by now.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

You think you got so good at flying in one day? I’m pretty sure I’m helping you out with the instincts part of it.

Blueblood did not want to think about the implications of two-way thought transference and instead concentrated on flying. He needed to focus if he wanted to get through the city safely.

From where he was, Blueblood could tell he was flying into the downtown area of Canterlot. Not exactly the redlight district, but definitely a bit grimy around the edges. A couple of ponies bustled down below, avoiding alleyways and any other dark corners of the city that could be potential mugging spots. Blueblood kept his eyes peeled for trouble, however there was a familiar rush of eagerness running through his veins that he’d also felt the night before at the possibility of some action.

He kept up his vigil, searching for law breakers to apprehend or any good-looking dames in need of assistance. Having a purpose in life was actually refreshing for once, and Blueblood briefly pondered if that meant his life had previously been meaningless. That was not a line of thought that he really wanted to go into, particularly with somepony in his head to needle him about it.

Enjoying his relaxing flight, Blueblood cruised around the city for a short while. He stopped a couple of times on rooftops to rest, wings still unused to long periods of flight. There was no way he could stay in the air all night long, much as he hated to admit it. It would take some working out to improve the strength of his flight muscles, Blueblood reminded himself. He could do that. Improvement of his physical looks was always a motivator for him, since they made up for his less than stellar personality aspects. Of course he would never admit that, though.

Blueblood heard one of the downtown clocks chime, signaling how much time had passed. It was past midnight now, and yet nothing had happened. Not that Canterlot was exactly overrun with crime, but Blueblood had been expecting at least some action by this point. He felt oddly at ease yet disappointed that the crime rate in the city decided to be on the decline tonight.

He’d seen the silhouettes of a few pegasi out for nighttime flights, but none of them had come close enough to spot Blueblood, and he reluctantly admitted that it was probably for the best. Superheroes in costume were awkward and just plain strange when they were merely hanging around. No, Blueblood decided, it would be best if Canterlot was introduced to the hero known as Trueblood through a spectacular display of heroic crime-fighting action.

Besides, it was kind of fun to practice stealth, ensuring that he wouldn’t be seen. The dark indigo color scheme that Blueblood had picked out was perfectly suited to blending into the night sky.

As the night wore on, Blueblood got bored, even with practicing his ninja skills. Nothing was happening! Being a super crime fighter wasn’t supposed to be about skulking around and waiting! Usually there was a grandma being mugged around every corner, but here there was nothing! Waiting sucked.

That’s how the police do it, just waiting for something to happen.

“Shut up, Trudy.”

Much as he hated to admit it, even a conversation with the voice in his head would have been better to pass the time than just wandering aimlessly throughout the city. She hadn’t been very talkative, however, and Blueblood couldn’t bring himself to generate conversation topics. Who knew starting a conversation with the voice in your head could be so awkward.

There was one thing that had been on his mind, but the thought of what Trudy was, how she had been created, was not something Blueblood was eager to discuss. If he could, Blueblood would have resealed the memories she had unlocked about what had happened to him in that closet. He was now thoroughly disgusted with bugs–anything that had an ovipositor, really.

Blueblood was approaching the point of actual anger at the law-abiding citizens of Canterlot as the horizon began to glow faintly with the coming sunrise. Not a single pony had committed any crimes! He’d been out all night with absolutely nothing to show for it but his mounting frustration. Canterlot was supposed to be a bustling city as the capital of Equestria, so he’d expected at least some street robbery trickling down from the white-collar variety going on in parliament.

He glanced back towards the castle, thinking he would give up and go to bed. It was probably a good idea to get back before Auntie Celestia finished raising the sun, anyway. Blueblood was just banking through the air to fly back when he spotted a familiar-looking pony. Her yellow coat made her stand out against the dim predawn sky.

Trudy sensed the gears turning in Blueblood’s head. What are you going to do?

“She wasn’t falling all over me last night like mares usually do,” he muttered. “I wonder how she’ll like me now.”

Are you sure this is a good idea?

“Of course!” Blueblood flew a little faster, catching up to the mare he had spotted.

Bright Defender looked around, doing a double take at the costumed stallion approaching her. Her eyes took in the slick outfit he wore before drifting upwards. Realization slowly dawned and her mouth dropped open. Blueblood hid a smirk, thinking, That’s right, never seen an alicorn up close, have you?

“Who are you?” Bright stammered.

“The name’s Trueblood. I’m new in town.”

She looked at him again, tilting her head to the side. “Um, welcome.”

Blueblood chuckled, pleased that he was showing off the proper introductions of allure and mysteriousness. Any mare would be putty in his hooves if he just kept the show moving. “You helped me yesterday to stop the liquor store robbery. Sorry that you had to do most of the work. I wasn’t yet comfortable showing you that I’m an alicorn.”

“Why haven’t I ever heard of you before?” Bright demanded, her tone of voice gaining confidence. “There are only so many alicorns out there.”

“Well, it’s called a disguise for a reason.” Blueblood shrugged. “Anyway, I should probably get back to defending the city or something. Crime fighting and being a hero is a demanding job.”

“Wait, I’ll come with you!” Bright swooped down to the street and ducked into a telephone booth. There was a flurry of activity inside and she burst out clad in a costume of her own. Blueblood wondered how exactly she managed to get changed so quickly while encased in such a tight confines.

Flying back up to Blueblood’s level, Bright paused so he could see the outfit that she had somehow procured from thin air. She wore a red domino mask that covered her eyes and left the rest of her face free. The mask was complemented by a red, wide-brimmed hat and a long red cape that fastened at her neck and trailed over her back, waving in the breeze generated by her wings.

Oh, and she was an alicorn, too.

Blueblood stared, left eye twitching. “What.”

Jeeze, you’re even forgetting your question marks, she’s got you so rattled!

Bright looked bashful. “Sorry. I guess I know how you feel. I don’t like going out in public as an alicorn, either. I’m so nervous that everypony will think I’m a goddess or something. I just don’t like that much attention. I’m sure you understand.”

“Uh…” Blueblood thought quickly, trying to make sense of this. His brain just come to the stunning conclusion of nothing. He eventually decided to just agree and hope for the best. “Yes.”

Bright smiled. “I can’t believe this! You’re somepony who understands what I’m going through. The demands of having incredible power and so much responsibility along with it! Knowing that you can make a difference in this world by fighting the scum of society and making Equestria a better place. You also like fighting crime! This is so cool, I can’t even believe it! Can… can we be friends?”

Wow… and here you were showing off with your powers, while she’s got the moral high grounds for her powers and everything. What now?

“Um… sure, why not?” Blueblood said with a shrug. It could just work out into one of those partner type of deals. But as everypony knows, you can only work with someone of the opposite gender for so long until feelings for the other develop. Feelings Blueblood hoped could lead to his bed. He recovered and managed to smile. “I’m always up to making a new friend or two.”

Jeez, can you ever be more despicable? Heck, are you even capable of making a female friend without trying to get her into your bedroom?

“I would count you as an example, but you’ve already been in my bedroom,” Blueblood whispered under his breath.

“What was that?” Bright inquired.

“Er, nothing,” Blueblood replied. “So, friends?” And maybe something more, he didn’t say.

Bright smiled. “Sure.”

Aren’t you still concerned that she is actually a he?

Trudy’s comment was a major buzzkill, but Blueblood managed to keep a straight face. Bright didn’t seem to notice, and she grinned at him happily, as if delighted to make a new friend. And just then came the perfect bonding moment, a cry of help breaking the silence of the early morning.

“Looks like duty calls,” Blueblood said, somewhat relieved for the disturbance. Plus, now he could show off a bit for Bright. This time, he promised himself, he would stay focused, knock some heads together, and be a total badass. And hopefully sway a crime fighting maiden his way.

“Ooh, how exciting!” Bright said, staring into the streets on the ground level hundreds of feet down. “Looks like a bank heist is in progress!”

“Oh, whoopy,” Blueblood said with fake glee. A liquor store robbery was small fries compared to the big, granddaddy of robberies like a bank. Which also meant this would be much more dangerous, serious, and potentially life risking for himself.

Hey, isn’t this what you wanted? Stop complaining, go down there, and kick some flank already!

The nagging voice in his head was right! Blueblood raced Bright towards the ground, both of them heading for the nearby bank.

In the predawn morning the bank wasn’t yet open, but apparently a crew of robbers had taken advantage of the lack of customers and held up the early bank tellers that were opening up for the day. Landing on the sidewalk near the corner of the building, Blueblood could hear their shouts about getting the money out of the vault.

Bright was right beside him. Blueblood nodded to her. “Okay, I’ll go around the corner and in through the front door. You watch the back to make sure none of them escape.”

“Okay!” Bright smiled eagerly and took off for the back of the bank.

As she disappeared, Blueblood took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then squared his shoulders. “Let’s do this.”

He came out from hiding and shot through the front door of the bank. “Freeze, evildoers!”

As he burst into the room all by himself, more than a dozen heavily-armed robbers stared at him. None of these guys were pushovers like the robbers at the liquor store. Most were armed with clubs embedded with nails, others with swords, while one rather large unicorn was toting around a huge, double sided axe.

“Oh, buck me,” Blueblood whispered.

Chapter 7

The bank would have been crowded with twelve customers, but instead a dozen armed robbers made it uncomfortably packed. The hostages stayed flat to the floor, hooves over their heads. The robbers in turn gripped their weapons a bit more tightly, a dozen pairs of eyes now glaring solely at Blueblood.

Luckily for him, he had gone to the bathroom only a few hours ago at the castle, so he didn’t shit himself at the overwhelming odds right off the bat. What he did feel was overpowering nausea, buckling knees, and a tingly feeling in his spine that sent shivers down his back. He came to the quick conclusion that he was scared out of his mind.

An awkward silence descended upon the bank, the quietness so thick one could cut it with a knife - which Blueblood observed several of the robbers carrying. The tension stretched out, building and growing more oppressive.

Okay, I’ve got a plan, said Trudy. One versus twelve is stupid odds, each is armed to the teeth, all are in superb physical condition, and I’m only running by a guess saying they’ll most likely kill you now. So you’re going to have to hit hard and with everything you’ve got. Start with the big guy first.

She paused. Now!

As if jolted by her voice, Blueblood jerked his head and fired a bolt of magic towards a hulking earth pony with a menacing looking club held tightly in his teeth. It was just a basic force spell, but he certainly didn’t hold back any effort. The spell hit Blueblood’s opponent in the chest and knocked him backwards, like a bomb exploded before him. The earth pony hit the wall with a large thump, leaving cracks in the drywall.

“Okay… I did not see that coming!” Blueblood whispered in a mix of amazement and joy.

Guess I added more juice to that one than I thought.

The rest of the slimy crew of robbers stared in shock at their downed teammate, then back at Blueblood. Blueblood noted smugly that a few even had what appeared to be fear in their eyes.

“Think you can manage that again?” Blueblood asked Trudy, a wicked smile hiding underneath his mask.

Um… I think so. Just don’t overdo it.

“Good, because I’m going to enjoy this.” Blueblood flared his wings, both to make himself appear larger and to drive home the fact that the crooks were dealing with a motherbucking alicorn. He planted his hooves wide on the floor and stared down the group of crooks. “Alright, which one of you goons is next?”

The crooks stared at one another, indeed wondering who was the next one to go against this costumed freak. It was a pegasus with razor blades strapped to his wings that answered Blueblood’s question. The assailant threw himself forward, but with a quick burst of magic Blueblood knocked him back in a whirl of feathers. He hit the back wall similar to the first pony, even leaving a similar dent in the wall.

Blueblood’s horn felt slightly warm, as it probably should after throwing around magic like that, but his grin only increased. “Okay, that was better, but I’m still not breaking a sweat over here.”

“Friggin’ psychopath!” a unicorn shouted, coming at Blueblood with a very large hammer being swung in his magic.

Not even bothering to move a muscle, Blueblood sent him flying as well with a powerful knockout magic attack. “That’s one fourth of you crooks down for the count. Anyone else?” Blueblood asked, brushing some dust off his suit nonchalantly. “Come on, I’m getting bored!”

The remaining robbers backed away slightly, their confidence from before quickly decreasing. What had once been overwhelming odds had now been cut down to size with the sudden appearance of a real life superhero. Based on the looks on their faces, many were seriously considering scramming from the scene.

“Okay, tough guy, let’s do this!” another unicorn yelled, pushing his way through the crowdof robbers with a wickedly sharp double sided axe held in his magic grip. “I’ll nail your head to the door when I’m done with ya!”

The rest of the robbers backed away quietly, leaving their comrade to stand all alone. He didn’t notice, however, and continued to advance towards Blueblood.

The costumed prince smirked and braced for another spell. Activating his horn, he reached out for magic...and came up empty. The only thing that his horn managed to produce was a rather pathetic breeze that brushed against the robber’s face.

Behind Blueblood’s mask, it was difficult to see the horrified expression on his face. Regardless, his attacker took the chance to strike.

I don’t know what just happened! Trudy cried. I think you overexerted yourself, but didn’t realize it because I was kicking in a little extra. Let me reroute some energy from–

Blueblood didn’t hear the rest because he was already diving out of the way, coming within inches of being beheaded. His enemy swung the weapon again, and Blueblood tried a different tactic, flying towards the ceiling. The axe missed, but again, not by much.

Buoyed by their comrade’s relative success, the other members of the gang of crooks started forward, the pegasi in the group flying up to Blueblood’s level. They were coming at him from all sides, and he was quickly being boxed in.

A sudden surge of energy went through Blueblood, the feeling concentrated on his horn. Trudy spoke to him. I managed to get you enough magic for one more shot–make it count!

Blueblood charged his spell, trying to pick one target out of the eight ponies closing in. His eyes flicked wildly back and forth, looking for a gap that would get him out of this situation. All he needed was one opening, just a space to struggle free.

But he waited too long and eight heavily armed stallions tackled him, throwing his aim off and wasting the last bit of effective magic he had. The spell lashed at the back wall of the bank, slamming into the brickwork and bringing down a section of it with a crash.

Blueblood was momentarily astonished that he’d managed to accomplish that, but the thought was quickly put out of his head by the beginning of the worst beatdown he’d ever received.

Ouch! You can’t keep taking this, Blueblood! I’m doing what I can, but your bones aren’t going to hold much longer!

Still struggling as much as he could to minimize pain, Blueblood rolled, ending up facing the hole in the back wall. The dust was still settling, and through the gap appeared Bright Defender.

Her hooves floated a few inches off the floor, levitating through pure magic output. Her horn was lit up like a flare and the energy was almost hot enough to feel from across the room.

The crowd of criminals around Blueblood froze, staring at the sight. The mare’s cape fluttered slightly in the convection currents coming off her building magic. Her eyes glowed white with power. If Blueblood had known that she was capable to looking so scary, he probably would have just sent her in first and asked the criminals to surrender. He was almost jealous that she could pull that look off.

“Come quietly and none of you will get hurt,” said Bright.

“You should listen to her,” Blueblood put in, gasping for breath at the bottom of the pile. “You think she’s intimidating now, just wait. That isn’t even her final form.”

He had no way of knowing that for sure, of course, but it sounded good at the time.

The first pony to charge Bright was either stupid or crazy. Either way, he attacked and she fired a stunning spell at him that did more than just knock him out, it flipped him backwards and he hit the wall upside down, hanging there for a moment before sliding down like some sort of cartoon effect.

Bright zapped the second thug only as he started to move. The spell was equally as powerful as the first, blowing him away in a similar manner.

The third and fourth criminals got similar treatment, only at least they managed to take a few steps toward Bright before she cut them down with a one blast of magic each. The fifth and sixth had almost reached her before they too were sent sprawling with spells. The walls were now showing more crumbled drywall than actual paint.

The last two attackers managed to get too close for Bright to dispatch them so easily. Surprisingly, throwing so much magic around didn’t appear to have sapped her strength by any amount, but she wasn’t able to bring her horn to bear before they were on her.

She whipped her head, her mane seeming almost to lengthen as it slapped at the first assailant in line. She turned, her tail flipping to wrap around the second.

Bright kicked off the ground with a flap of her wings, her hair holding the two stallions tightly enough to bring them right along for the ride. Flipping over, Bright twisted her body until she and her two opponents were held upside down. Then she dropped them.

They both landed with a crash. Bright righted herself in the air and touched down gracefully. Then she whipped her mane and tail again, sending them both flying across the room in separate directions.

Blueblood got up, doing his best not to appear injured and embarrassed. Bright turned to the bank employees who were slowly beginning to move, realizing the fight was over.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, I apologize for the property damage,” said Bright. “The police should be on their way soon and you can get back to your night.”

“Wait, who are you?” called one of the bankers.

Bright saluted, bringing a hoof to the brim of her hat. “Just doing my duty to the citizens of Equestria.”

She trotted out the hole in the back wall. Blueblood took a quick glance around him and hurried after her, trying to ignore the pain of his injuries.

Outside, Bright glanced around and then took off, heading for the top of a nearby building. Blueblood followed as well as he could with sore muscles, and they both landed on the roof.

“Oh my gosh, that was so invigorating!” Bright crowed, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve never felt more alive!”

“I’ve never felt more dead,” Blueblood muttered, massaging his bruises. A pummeling a night definitely wasn’t part of a healthy lifestyle.

“Well, whose fault was that?” Bright asked. “It was your idea to go in first.”

“I didn’t know there would be twelve of them!” he shot back.

She raised a hoof questioningly. “And whose fault was it that you didn’t check? A poor tactical decision if I ever saw one.”

Here, when she wasn’t in battle mode, Bright looked rather cute, but also terribly smug. Blueblood leaned closer to her, straightening up to take advantage of his height. “At least I was trying to strike fear into their hearts so they would never do this again. And you did what? Just knock them out?”

“It worked,” Bright pointed out. “And I didn’t just brute-force it. Seriously, were you trying to look scary or something? I thought brooding, dark superheroes were only for comic books?”

“Scary?” hissed Blueblood, his lips pulling back, teeth snarling. “You’re supposed to strike fear into criminal hearts. To make them feel what you do. Putting terror into their lives, making every waking moment filled with dread at the thought of ever confronting you again. You can throw away as many scumbags as you can into prison, but they’ll always be more out there. It’s only being the embodiment of justice, the more dark and callous side, that we can ever put an end to their crimes.”

Bright tilted her head to the side, staring at Blueblood silently for a few moments. “You got that from Batmane, didn’t you?”

Busted! This mare is smarter than I thought.

“N-no I didn’t!” Blueblood replied.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I may not be the biggest comic book enthusiast, but I’m pretty sure that’s something Batmane said in one of the earlier issues.”

“B-but… I… um, it doesn’t matter!” Blueblood sputtered, his embarrassment rising to all new levels. “It worked in the comics, and I’m going to make it work here too!

“There’s a difference between the comics and real life,” Bright chided him. “Colts read comics. So, are you a colt as well, trying to live out his comic book dreams in real life? Because if you are, that’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard of. This is serious business, and ponies’ lives are on the line. If you can’t be mature about this and are just running around dressed as a superhero because you have nothing better to do, I would suggest you quit right away. As an alicorn, I would expect more from you.”

What a bitch, Trudy noted, her thoughts echoing Blueblood's. She thinks she's so special.

Bright's comments stung Blueblood on more than a few levels, and Trudy's backing encouraged him to argue. He growled, “I can do whatever I want! I know I’m doing the right thing: trying to help! How I go about it is my own bucking business! You’re not better than me!”

“When did this become a contest?” Bright demanded. “But if that’s how you’re going to play, then which one of us is actually good at this? Who has taken out the most bad guys, you or me? Between you and I, which one of us do you think the criminals fear more?”

Bright’s face shifted abruptly, changing to confusion and caution. “Is there something wrong with your mouth?”

Special effects, Trudy assured him. Just roll with it.

Blueblood felt his cheeks split wider, pulling his lips back into a smile that was wider than even the Element of Laughter could manage. There were a few pinpricks in his gums and he felt his teeth shift and grow, sharpening to points. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it had a similar sensation as if thousands of knives had just sprouted from his mouth.

“Which one of us do the criminals fear more?” he asked, his mouth opening wider than it ever had before in a wickedly maniacal grin. Blueblood licked his lips, his tongue touching his sharp teeth and easily reaching six inches out of his mouth. It was also forked, apparently.

Blueblood’s demented smile made Bright back up a step, his sharp row of fangs glistening in the light as a few drops of saliva ran over them. Blueblood felt invigorated, so high on whatever Trudy was pumping into him to cause his sharp-toothed smirk that he couldn’t help but leer in slightly psychotic glee.

“Who’s scarier - that’s a good question. But if it’s fear this city needs, then I’m going to give it to them.”

Chapter 9

True to his word, Blueblood waited until evening to head back to Manedackery. The pub was just as he’d left it that afternoon, and looking through the window, the drink-buying minotaur was apparently still there.

He continued past the pub and ducked down a side street towards a set of industrial loading docks that were closed for the evening. “All right, Trudy. Let’s get a disguise going so nopony recognizes me in there.”

Sure. What were you thinking?

“I guess I’m not picky. It doesn’t really matter since it’s only for tonight.”

Well then, I don’t think you’ll mind if I… Her voice trailed off as Blueblood felt his body began to shift and change into a new shape. He felt his legs changing length and his face reshaping. About halfway through, he glanced across his back and observed with concern his posterior becoming much more svelte and aesthetic.

“Did you just—” Blueblood started to say, but stopped suddenly, the unexpectedly high voice giving pause.

Trudy chuckled. You said you wouldn’t mind.

“This is not what I meant! This is completely undignified!”

Got something against mares?

“I just don’t want to be a mare!” he, or rather, she yelled, glancing down at her new form. Lighter, less muscle, and overall what he had to admit was a pretty hot body was his new disguise.

“Hey, pipe down,” called a voice from behind a nearby dumpster. “I don’t know what you’re on about lady, but some of us are trying to sleep off a hangover.”

Oops. I can’t change you back with somepony around. You’ll either have to find another dark alley or just have to go to the pub this way.

Blueblood grumbled, but decided that it wasn’t worth the time. Exiting the side street, the lights of the pub beckoned him.

So, should I refer to you with female pronouns now? We’ll both probably slip up, but if you end up talking to somepony the practice could be important.

“Fine,” Blueblood muttered, continuing to walk as the lights of the pub beckoned her.

The inside of the place was as warm and cheery as before, perhaps more so with the evening crowd. Though the evening crowd definitely had a worse turn out than the morning in terms of appeal. Grimy ponies back from hard labor, along with a few mooks and thugs were enjoying hearty mugs of ale and other alcoholic content. Most were dirty, others stenched of sweat, and the overall majority looked like the type of company no normal pony would associate themselves with.

The minute Blueblood stepped into the bar, every stallion in the place give her a wide eyed look. Followed by whistling and cheers, along with perverted compliments on her looks and offers of free drinks.

Smiling awkwardly and giving a little wave at the large amount of approval at her entrance, Blueblood whispered, “Sheesh, so this is what it feels to be mare.”

Good, you’re learning now.

“Wait… did you just do this to teach me a lesson about respect for females?”

Pipe down or you’re going be caught, you dolt!

Blueblood shut her mouth and went over to the bar. “Give me something hard, O’Buck.”

The bartender arched an eyebrow at Blueblood, evidently trying to figure out who she reminded him of. He served her a drink without comment.

As Blueblood took the first sip, a nearby stallion leaned closer with a wolfish smile. “I’ve got something hard for you.”

Repeat after me, Trudy quickly ordered. ‘If it’s not diamonds, I’m not interested.’

“If it’s not diamonds, I’m not interested,” Blueblood said, almost without thinking about it. Blueblood realized the line had been used in the past to turn down her - or rather at the time, his - advances. Trudy must have pulled it from his memory. To be fair, it was a good line.

“Are you saying that if I was a crystal pony, that would be good enough for you?” the stallion persisted.

“I’m saying that even if you were a manticore, it wouldn’t be good enough for me,” Blueblood said.

The stallion frowned. “Wait, don’t manicores have spikes on their…”

He abruptly turned around and left Blueblood alone.

Blueblood returned to stare at her drink and mull over her thoughts. “Okay… what do I do now?”

You didn’t plan this through, did you?

“... Kind of,” Blueblood admitted.

You remember what happened the last time that happened, right?

Blueblood sighed, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof. “Yes, yes, I know.”

Okay, just making sure you can see your own stupidity clearly. Carry on.

“Snarky bitch,” Blueblood muttered.

“Who?” a voice asked behind her.

Turning around, Blueblood gulped when she stared at the muscular chest of the minotaur from before. Looking upward until her neck was fully extended backwards, she stared at the face of said minotaur.

He gave her a wink. “Hi there. Iron Will’s my name, and helping ponies is my game. What’s up?”

Iron Will seemed genuinely friendly and Blueblood remembered how he had bought a round for the pub earlier. On top of that, he was looking her directly in the eyes. Not her flank. Now that was rare.

“Well, you know… idiots,” Blueblood replied.

Iron Will nodded. “Well, don’t let them get you down.”

He had a seat next to Blueblood and grabbed a drink. They sat there for a moment, quietly bonding. Blueblood almost forgot that Iron Will was potentially a robber. Probably some low, petty theft of some sort, but still a criminal nonetheless.

Then another stallion wandered up, intent on Blueblood. “Hey baby, are you looking for something with no strings attached? I’ve got a secret identity so nopony has to know.”

Blueblood’s eyebrows pinched. “Seriously? You’re trying to use that as a pickup line?”

Looking hurt, the stallion defended himself. “I’m just saying that you might be interested in giving back to one of this city’s valiant protectors.”

“I’m not interested in cops,” Blueblood told him.

The stallion looked around and leaned closer. “Actually, have you heard about all these superheroes going around right now? I’m one of them.”

That certainly got Blueblood’s attention. “Oh really?”

Scoot closer and widen your eyes a little. It’ll make him think you’re more interested.

Blueblood was rather reluctant to do so, but followed Trudy’s advice. Sure enough, the boastful stallion took this as his cue to continue. “In fact, I was the one who stopped that bank robbery a few days ago.”

That little…!

“Oh really?” Blueblood asked with a raised brow, more calmly than she felt. “Do tell how one of your abilities managed to pull such a thing off.”

“Well, it was really no trouble,” the stallion boasted, wiping off his hoof in a nonchalant manner. “Just knocked a couple of mook heads together. Saved the day without a scratch. Just the usual for us masked avengers.”

... I really want you to punch him. Just do it. Right in the face.

Blueblood repressed her urges, even without Trudy egging her on. Coughing into her hoof, Blueblood asked, “Well, that must’ve been dashingly heroic of you. What did you do afterward?”

“I have to admit, I can’t exactly stand around for the police to show up.” He sighed dramatically. “It’s a shame. I have to spend so much time all alone.”

Blueblood knew it was clearly bait. He was somewhat reluctant to take it, but with Trudy’s urging said, “Well… maybe you’d like some company?”

The stallion grinned in what he probably thought was a ravishing way. “Let’s go.”

Blueblood got up and followed him towards the door. While it seemed a shame to let Iron Will go, he probably wasn’t going anywhere for a while and Blueblood could return after beating the ugly out of this creep. Hopefully he didn’t get too much blood on his hooves if the guy was a bleeder once Blueblood punched the stuffings out of his face.

Leaving the pub, the stallion was quick to direct Blueblood into the alley next to the building. She asked, “Are you taking me back to your super secret lair?”

“Well, I can’t really do that. It’s secret, after all,” he chuckled.

“But you’re not seriously thinking of doing this in an alley, right?” Blueblood had standards, dammit.

…Oh, and he was totally not going to hook up with a stallion regardless.

The supposed superhero faltered a bit before stepping closer and puckering up in an attempt to distract the mare that he thought would be easy score. Blueblood finally got the opportunity she had been waiting for and drove a hoof squarely into his muzzle.

The stallion was knocked head over heels and landed in a pile of garbage on the other side of the alley. Blueblood felt his body shifting as Trudy brought out his crime fighting garb, complete with gaping, toothy mouth. He stalked over to the vile mook and raised his leg to kick a bag of trash off his face. Thinking better of it, Blueblood instead moved the garbage with magic.

The stallion’s eyes rolled around comically for a moment before focusing on Blueblood. The costumed vigilante grinned. “Next time, try lying to someone who isn’t a real superhero.”

“You’re… a dude,” the stallion said dumbly.

Blueblood wasn’t really sure he had a comeback to that, but just then a huge lumbering, costumed figure appeared in the other end of the alley. It looked like a minotaur wearing a leotard.

It doesn’t just look like it; I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it is.

The hulking minotaur looked from the stunned stallion in the pile of trash to Blueblood. “Wasn’t there a mare out here a second ago?”

“That’s what I thought,” muttered the stallion from the garbage.

The minotaur stalked over to him, picked him up, and nonchalantly threw him upward. A few seconds passed. Blueblood didn’t hear him come down.

It didn’t take a genius to guess the costumed minotaur’s true identity. Blueblood decided to press his advantage while he had it. He faced off with the other disguised costumed super. “Were you the one who did the robbery near here last night?”

“So what if I was?” the hulking minotaur asked, crossing his arms. Which only made him look all the more huge and ready to crack Blueblood’s neck in half.

“Then I’m going to take you in for your crimes against this fair city!” Blueblood spoke, though with much less enthusiasm than he had before.

The minotaur chuckled. “Fair city? Canterlot is a shithole, if you didn’t notice. The rich nobles live in luxury while the rest of us peck at the scraps. Well, that ain’t gonna happen for much longer.” Cracking each knuckle on his massive hands slowly, the minotaur twisted his neck left and right, eliciting loud snaps and cracks from that. His muscles bulged and veins popped. “But what is gonna happen, little pony, is your face being curbstomped to the ground!”

“No, you!” was all that Blueblood managed to come up with before the brawl started.

The minotaur lowered his head and charged, his massive body moving like a freight train. Blueblood hastily retreated before the sharp horns. He knew the alley wall was somewhere behind him and he couldn’t keep backing up forever.

Use your wings, idiot!

Trudy’s attitude aside, that was a good idea. Blueblood leaped into the air, propelling himself over his hulking opponent’s head. He tried a somersault midair, lining up his horn with the minotaur’s broad, sculpted back.

Without much time to gather magic the spell wasn’t a knockout, but powerful enough. It barely slowed the minotaur once it impacted with his back, while he just wheeled around and made a grab for Blueblood’s neck. It was almost fortunate that he was upside down in the air and falling rapidly, although the sudden landing at the end of his plunge was an unfortunate side effect.

The aerial maneuver had bought Blueblood only seconds and he used all of that up as he tried to shake himself out of being stunned by impact with the hard ground. Large hands closed around his neck and the minotaur easily lifted him off the ground as if he was a ragdoll.

Body dangling, Blueblood gasped as vice-like fingers started to choke him. He kicked with his back legs, trying to connect with something.

Higher! Kick higher!

Comparisons to can-can dancers aside, Blueblood kicked as high as he could. One of his hooves knocked squarely into the underside of the minotaur’s chin.

Blueblood was unceremoniously dropped as the blow staggered the costumed villain. The two of them tried to recover, lying on opposite sides of the alley from each other. The minotaur was the first to roll over. He pushed himself up just as Blueblood was staggering to his hooves.

A pair of the biggest wings Blueblood had ever seen unfolded from the minotaur’s back. He pointed at Blueblood. “You haven’t seen the last of Steel Blast!”

With a tremendous gust of air, he shot upward into the sky. Blueblood gaped, never believing he would ever see anything so bulky take to the air. He was too astonished and too weary to give chase. “Wow… a frickin’ flying minotaur… thingy…”

Uh, Blueblood?

“Yeah, Trudy?”

I hope there’s room in your schedule to work out. You’re going to need more muscle.

Chapter 10

Clearly, something terrible was in the process of happening. While Blueblood thought of superheroes as a good thing, the associated supervillians put a whole new twist on the situation.

The super winged minotaur who called himself Steel Blast had not made things less complicated, to say the least.

Blueblood lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to muddle his way through the problem, but making zero progress. He’d ask Trudy for help, but-

I have no idea what to do, she said.

“And that’s with your brain plus mine,” Blueblood muttered.

Hey, it’s almost like having two whole ones!

Blueblood didn’t even take the time to rebut her. The problem of what to do about the overpowered flying minotaur was too serious.

In all seriousness, though, I’m not sure we even want to try handling this on our own. We should find Bright Defender.

“Hmm, pawning the job off on somepony else. That could work.”

Or we could team up with her.

Thoughts of Bright in her superhero outfit went through Blueblood’s mind. “I like that idea.”

Would you like it as much if she actually turns out to be a dude?

Blueblood sat up in bed. “Please stop toying with my emotions like that!”

Hey, I go with what works. Now, where can we find Bright?

Tracking down a superhero in the middle of the day was not going to be easy. There wasn’t any way Blueblood could think of to make that happen. He might find Bright at a crime scene, but he couldn’t risk going out in the daytime with his costume.

Or could he?

It’s an interesting idea, Trudy mused. Crime happens during the day, too. But what if somepony decides to chase you? You aren’t a good enough flier to get away in broad daylight.

Blueblood snorted. “Thanks.”

Fine, we aren’t good enough. Happy?

“I guess so.” Blueblood sighed. “I guess if we had secure hideouts set up wecould have safe places to go if we needed to. Maybe we should set something like that up.”

Another interesting idea.

“Do you have anything else to say? Maybe something that actually helps?” Blueblood grumbled.

Well fine, you want ideas? You keep angsting over finding Bright Defender, but what if she’s closer than you think?

“What do you mean?”

We first met her near the castle, right? What if she lives here, too?

Blueblood considered it. If Bright Defender was really Twilight Sparkle, the task of locating her would be considerably easier. In fact, all he had to do was walk down to the castle library. She would most likely be there.

“But what if it isn’t her?” he asked.

Then she won’t be expecting you to ask about superheroes. Just ask a random question that only Bright Defender would know. If she doesn’t get it, no harm done.

“But then what?”

You ask the voice in your head an awful lot of questions. I only know as much as you do.

Blueblood grumbled a little more and decided to get out of bed. He stumbled slightly as his hooves touched the floor, groaning in pain. Trudy hadn’t managed to completely fix the injuries he’d sustained while fighting Steel Blast.

After brushing his teeth, having a quick shower, and grooming his mane, Blueblood put on a jacket and left his bedroom. He walked down to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat, but it wasn’t quite lunchtime yet. Disappointed and hungry, he continued to the library.

He would have liked to have confronted Twilight on a full stomach, but as he walked into the library, she was nowhere to be found. Blueblood knew that even before getting promoted to princess Twilight had spent practically all her time among the dusty shelves and dustier tomes. The shelves and stacks were quiet and nopony was around.

As he stood there frowning and wondering where Twilight had gone, his stomach growled. Considering that he’d missed breakfast, Blueblood decided that lunch took priority over finding Twilight.

Blueblood wondered if he should go to Manedackery. Actually, that wasn’t a question at all. He left the library, left the castle, and headed down the street to his favorite pub.

As he walked, Blueblood gave a little more thought to his idea of setting up hideouts. It might be a pretty good idea, possibly one of the better ideas he’d ever had.

Congratulating himself, Blueblood opened the door to the pub and stepped inside, only for Trudy to bring him up short. There’s Twilight!

Focusing his eyes, Blueblood saw that, sure enough, the purple princess sat at a table near the back. She wasn’t wearing her royal jewelry, as if she were dressing down. Across the table from her was Shining Armor.

While Blueblood watched, Twilight got up and headed for the little fillies’ room. As she departed, Shining glanced around restlessly, shifting the windbreaker he wore. His eyes fell on Blueblood. The two of them stared at each other.

Don’t be awkward. Go say hello, at least.

She had a point. If Blueblood wanted to talk to Twilight, he might unfortunately have to go through her brother.

Although...Blueblood grimaced internally, what if Bright Defender, the competent female superhero who was admittedly kind of interesting and attractive, was actually a dude? Specifcally, Shining Armor?

Pushing those thoughts out of his head as he arrived at the table, Blueblood tried for a neutral expression. “Shining. I didn’t know you came to Manedackery.”

“I heard about it from a friend in the Guard.” Shining shrugged.

“It’s very good. I know the proprietor.”

Shining looked more interested now. “Why don’t you have a seat? What do you suggest I order?”

Blueblood pulled out a chair and sat. “There are a few choices, if old O’Buck will give them to you. His noontime sandwiches are excellent and the beer is the best you can get this close to the castle.”

Shining nodded. “Sounds good.”

There was a lull in the conversation. Trudy prodded, Keep him talking. Ask something.

Blueblood thought, Like what?

I don’t know. Maybe a personal question?

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Blueblood said.

“Like what?” Shining asked.

Thinking quickly, Blueblood blurted, “What’s your life like in the Crystal Empire? Do you get out a lot, like for lunch with your sister?”

“Well, I’m trying to hang out with Twilight as much as I can while I’m here in Canterlot,” Shining allowed. “Cadance and I have to go back soon. The Guard back in the Crystal Empire are getting along okay without me, but training recruits is something I need to get back to.”

Shining paused, as if gauging Blueblood’s reaction. Blueblood had no choice but to listen as he waited for Twilight to return. He smiled to make a show of paying attention to Shining. “Oh really?”

Encouraged, Shining kept talking. “Getting all the different races of recruits trained up equally is the hardest part. Earth ponies need to be challenged more during physical training. Unicorns have to learn that not everything can be solved with magic. Pegasi need to be grounded once in a while to truly understand how the military works.”

“Hmm,” Blueblood said, again commenting just to keep the conversation moving.

“But I learn a lot from the training too,” said Shining. “I think I’ve grown to know more about earth ponies and pegasi than most any other unicorn. There’s just something about robust inner strength or feeling the wind in your feathers.”

“I know what you mean,” commented Blueblood.

Realizing what he had said, and also realizing what Shining had said, his head came up to stare at the other stallion. Unfortunately, Blueblood discovered that the realization worked both ways. Shining was suddenly studying Blueblood much more closely and suspiciously than before.

“I’m back,” announced Twilight, arriving in the middle of everypony realizing things. She blinked, looking back and forth between Shining and Blueblood. “Did I miss something?”

Chapter 11

Shining Armor stared, perhaps suspicious that his secret cover identity may have just been blown. Twilight looked back and forth between the two stallions sitting at the table, confused yet curious as to what she had just missed, which might actually turn out to be her own secret identity. Blueblood realized that he had just found himself in an uncomfortably awkward position.

So talk your way out! Trudy admonished. You’re good at running your mouth, right?

In fact, blathering was practically a minor superpower for Blueblood. He put on a stupid grin and chuckled. “Sorry, Shining. I was distracted there for a moment. What you were talking about was so fascinating that I was hanging on every word and forgot to put them together in complete sentences. I’m sure you can understand how that might have led to some minor misunderstanding on my part.”

Shining looked relieved and Blueblood inwardly sighed. He didn’t suspect Blueblood of suspecting him of having wings and also suspecting that he knew that feel. But that left the problem that Shining was now annoyed that Blueblood hadn’t been paying attention, Blueblood suspected.

Has anyone ever told you that your thought process is a train wreck? Trudy asked. I’m in here listening directly to your brain and I didn’t understand that. Mind thinking clearly next time?

Blueblood ignored her and kept his easy smile going. Shining shook his head and turned to his sister. “It was nothing, Twilight.”

“Okay then.” Twilight sat down. “So what did the two of you order?”

Crisis averted, the conversation switched to lunch and Blueblood allowed himself to relax. But only a little. Blueblood kept thinking, convinced Shining’s slip of the tongue indicated that he was a costumed crusader.

And if he was, that could mean trouble in Blueblood’s end of the field. Crime-fighters and even crime-starters meant there were more ponies like him out there, probably with weird talking voices in their heads as well. Plus, they could be more powerful than him as well. Why, there could be dozens, possibly even hundreds of superponies prowling the streets of this very city.

Now you’re just becoming paranoid, Trudy said. There’d be way more reports and property damage if there were more than a couple of us in Canterlot. Besides, what do you have to worry about? Jealous you’re not so special anymore?

Blueblood bit back a witty reply, only because he had no witty replies on hoof, plus, Twilight and Shining were still near him. He’d been talking about an art expo that had recently opened up in the city, while at the same time not even paying attention to the conversation at all. Minor superpower indeed, because even Blueblood himself didn’t understand what he was blabbering about.

Actually, that’d explain a lot about you, Trudy laughed, catching Blueblood off-guard and causing him to stop mid-sentence and just stare at the brother-sister duo awkwardly.

There was a pressing pause in the conversation as Shining and Twilight stared at Blueblood. He shook his head and said, “Pardon me. I was just putting together my next few paragraphs. Sometimes I have so much to say trying to go from my brain to my lips that it all gets a bit jumbled.”

“Right,” said Shining.

“Oh, I know how that can be sometimes,” said Twilight in a much more agreeable tone. “Why, just the other day…”

She kept talking and Blueblood relaxed as the pressure of the conversation shifted to somepony else. And, like always, Twilight’s voice fizzled out to white noise. He turned his mind to the problem of what to do about Shining. Perhaps Blueblood could get him alone somewhere and confront him. Even when his daisy sandwich arrived, he focused his attention more on Shining than the food.

Yeah, that worked out really well when you were alone with Steel Blast. Are you just begging to visit the hospital in intensive care?

Of course. Leave it to Trudy to remind him of the little flaws in his plans. And just about every other flaw about him.

It’s not a little flaw! We could die! We almost did! I had to bail us out, like usual! Just my luck I had to end up in the body of the most irresponsible stallion this side of Equestria.

Well, truthfully, he had been the one doing most of the saving, considering it was his body and all.

No, don’t try and justify it! Can you please, for once in your life, think about your actions before you do them? At least then we won’t end up dead in a ditch somewhere.

Wait a second… there weren’t any ditches in Canterlot! Maybe a few gutters here and there, but the most likely place they’d end up dead is a back alley somewhere—

Not helping! Just… just try to pay attention to what they’re saying. Maybe you can catch a clue. You know, like how an actual hero does?

Sassy as Trudy may be, she had a point. Blueblood furrowed his gaze and focused intensely on Shining while trying to catch every word that left his lips. But for the life of him, it was impossible. The stallion was just that boring.

Seriously? You can’t put effort into something that doesn’t involve you wearing tights and punching bad guys?

Now Blueblood wondered why Trudy just didn’t listen to Shining herself if she was so adamant about it.

I… um…

Shining and Twilight stopped their conversation and stared at Blueblood, who was grinning smugly. It took him a moment to notice.

“Sorry, again,” he quickly interjected. “I was having an argument with myself and I won.”

“Doesn’t that mean you also lost?” Shining asked.

Ha!

Blueblood shrugged modestly. “You win some and you lose some. I’m sure you understand.”

Shining’s eyes narrowed, as if he understood perfectly. Twilight however, broke the moment by chuckling in a way that wasn’t really funny but helped fill the gap in conversation. “Well, I’m sure that’s how everypony feels sometimes. Shining and I should probably be going. I can’t spend too much time on lunch or the taxpayers might think a princess was slacking off.”

Blueblood breathed a mental sigh of relief. “Yeah, those taxpayers really know when to bite your ass at the worst of times. A pleasure to meet the both of you, as always.”

Why don’t you kiss the ground their hooves touch on, I bet that’d look much more convincing.

Well, the pub’s floor looked kind of clean, but there was no telling what germs were on it. And if he got sick, Trudy would be too. Hey, maybe that’s a pretty good idea after all.

Okay, okay, relax. Jeez, I can’t get a break with you, can I?

Blueblood got up with the other two and they left the pub. All three were probably heading back to the castle, but Blueblood excused himself, not wanting to walk with them. It also gave him room to think when others wouldn’t be around to grow suspicious of his internal conversations. He really needed to keep Trudy in check when out in public.

He decided that the only thing he could do was unmask Shining, but he was going to have to act soon. But what could he do? It wasn’t like crimes happened in Canterlot on a regular basis. Except for the poorer sectors, the city was typically a haven of good neighborhoods and low crime rates. If he wanted to know who Bright truly is, it’d have to be when something big was going to go down, so that the two of them ended up in the same place.

You know… we could always—

Blueblood stopped in his tracks. Could he possibly manage to pull off a crime just to unmask a fellow vigilante? Would he really sink that low and heartless just to figure out a mystery as complex as the one he was stuck in? The answer to that question, as always, was obvious.

What? No, you idiot! I was thinking we could pretend to do a crime. Jeez, where is your head at?

… Riiiiiiiight. Merely pretend to pull off a crime. One so big, so attention-grabbing, half the castle guards and even Bright would end up there. And then he could unmask Bright for what he truly is, and finally get some answers.

Now the only question is, what could Blueblood do that could constitute a crime that would attract the attention from a hero such as Bright?

Chapter 12

While committing crimes might have been easy, the act of actually picking a target, planning the hit, and carrying out the job just enough to make it look real so that a superhero would appear in response was a whole ‘nother ball of feathers.

This was the problem Blueblood found himself in. Worse, he was a prince, so he wasn’t really used to thinking about petty crimes. Something mundane and white collar like dipping into the tax revenue would probably only attract angry auditors. Doing something to draw in Bright Defender so she could be unmasked was turning out to be an especially hard task.

He lay on his bed contemplating the problem. Luckily, he had Trudy to help him with the planning. If Blueblood couldn’t think of a crime slummy enough to draw in a superhero, he was fairly confident that the voice in his head could.

And what’s that supposed to mean? Trudy demanded.

“Hey, we’re a team. What I can’t do, I look to you for help.”

By assuming I’m a mare of low class?

“One of us has to be,” Blueblood replied. “And last time I checked, I was royalty.”

Last time I checked, I was inside you, she shot back. And doesn’t royalty run in the blood?

“Can we not talk about the whole sharing a body issue?” Blueblood asked.

That’s the entire issue! I don’t want to be stuck here and I’m pretty sure that alicorn wings or not, you don’t either. You could at least be a little more accommodating.

“Jeeze, get up on the wrong side of my head or something?” muttered Blueblood.

You’re such a jerk sometimes. Worst superhero ever.

“Oh yeah, and what does that make you? You’re related to Chrysalis, who is practically a real life supervillian.”

We can’t be both. There’s two of us here, and becoming archenemies in one body would be really awkward.

Blueblood resisted, but the situation was too ridiculous and he couldn’t help bursting out in laughter. It sounded like Trudy did too, albeit just as reluctantly.

“But seriously,” muttered Blueblood, calming down. “What kind of crime should we do?”

It needs to be something simple to pull off, close to the castle, and offer us deniability. Maybe...that lingerie shop a few blocks away.

“What?! Why that?”

Who’d suspect Prince Blueblood of snooping around intimates when there aren’t mares inside them?

Blueblood sputtered. “Yeah, but...if you can change how I look, then what does it matter picking a place where I wouldn’t be suspected?”

Because it’s funnier this way. Plus, you need to go as your regular costumed self, so Bright Defender will know you. Maybe she’ll let down her guard.

Blueblood sighed and looked out the window. The sun was going down and so was his excuse for not getting started on the pursuit of his goal of learning Bright Defender’s true identity.

“All right, let’s… go break into a lingerie shop.”

Trudy actually sqee’d inside his head as she rapidly dressed him in his Trueblood getup. Blueblood sighed as he went over to the window to go out into the night. He tried to turn his thoughts towards his mission. It helped to think about success instead of embarrassment.

When they had both attained varying degrees of readiness, Blueblood flexed his wings and went out the window. He was getting better at navigating from the air, although he probably could have found his way to the intimates store even without Trudy dredging through his memories to find it.

Landing on the roof, Blueblood found a hatch and lasered the lock off with magic. Folding his wings, he dropped down inside the store. Not surprisingly, it was dark and filled with lingerie, just like he expected an intimates shop at night.

Here, let me put together a composite image from your memories, Trudy offered. Scraping together everything Blueblood had ever seen from just glancing in the window the times he had passed by the shop, she managed to build a reasonable map of the floorplan and project it onto his eyes. It was not perfect, but combined with magically enhanced night vision, it effectively made Blueblood instantly familiar with the inside of the building.

“Nifty,” he muttered. He paused and looked around. “So...I don’t see Bright Defender.”

Well, you haven’t done enough to draw her attention, Trudy suggested.

“I wonder if they have a burglar alarm we could trip or something.”

That would probably only attract the police. Besides, why would a place that only sells skimpy clothing need an alarm?

Blueblood glanced at the tags on some nearby saddles and sputtered. “I think I know. That’s a small fortune. I don’t know how mares afford it.”

You didn’t know how much this stuff costs?

“Hey, you didn’t either, and you only know what I know. I’ve never been inside a place like this. I, uh, never really got into the gift buying thing.”

Your relationships never lasted long enough for you to get to that.

“How do you know?” Blueblood accused.

I only know what you know. It sounded like Trudy was smirking.

“Yeah, whatever. So I have to do something more significant to get Bright’s attention?” Blueblood looked around and then reached out a hoof to push over the nearest rack of clothing.

The array of fancy saddles teetered and fell over, the stand knocking into the next one beside it. That kicked off a chain reaction that quickly spread to everything else in the shop. In seconds, nearly everything was falling over, spreading out in waves and dominoing into more action.

Everything culminated in all the racks near the front of the shop simultaneously bursting through the windows and scattering glass all over the sidewalk.

In the sudden silence that followed, Trudy muttered, That’ll do.

“Yeah, I’ll say,” agreed Blueblood. The wanton destruction gave him a strange thrill, although he knew that it was only for a purpose. Even as careless as a prince could be, Blueblood was not usually into random acts of destruction.

With a whisper of feathers, Bright Defender flew in through the broken windows. She squinted, spotting Blueblood standing in the middle of the mess.

“Trueblood? Did you catch whoever did this?” Bright asked. “I heard you talking a second ago.”

Trudy caught Blueblood’s sudden nervousness and apparently felt the same way. Uh, now that she’s here...what was the plan?

“It all happened so fast,” Blueblood began, counting on his gift of glib to carry the day. “Here, maybe you can help me search for clues.”

Bright picked her way across the room, bumping into a few things. Blueblood waited for her, brain working furiously to figure out what he was going to do next.

Stopping a few feet away, Bright looked around and lit up some light from her horn. Glancing with disgust at the lingerie scattered about, she looked up and spotted the open ceiling hatch. “Hmm, that looks suspicious.”

She spread her wings to fly up and take a closer look. With her back turned to him, Blueblood realized that this might be his best chance to do something. But what?

Bright hovered towards the ceiling, and Blueblood, desperate to do something, anything, threw a pair of panties at her face.

The garment snagged on Bright’s horn, extinguishing her light. She bumped into the ceiling and fell back into the pile of lingerie.

Seizing a pair of stockings, Blueblood hurled them at Bright just as she cleared her face. Grabbing anything else he could reach, he flung it all at her.

Managing to bat away some of the incoming erectile projectiles, but too surprised and dazed to get them all, Bright got buried by saddles, garters, and knickers. She swatted at her face, Blueblood’s target, attempting to scrape off all the intimates that were rapidly covering her.

Frantically peeling back the layers, Bright went one layer too deep. Her entire face came off, revealing the mare beneath.

It was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Or at least, in the dim light of the shop, it was a purple unicorn that sure looked like her.

Pleased to be making progress, but conflictingly disappointed that he hadn’t revealed Shining Armor instead, Blueblood opened his mouth to utter a cry of triumph, but he was cut off by Trudy. Look at her wings!

Blueblood’s mouth dropped open. Emerging from Twilight’s otherwise smooth back were green gossamer wings punched with ragged holes.

And then, just to add to the sensory overload, the front wall of the shop blew out and through the cloud of swirling dust, a voice shouted, “Prepare your anus!”

Chapter 13

Blueblood took in the scene with a mixture of emotions, chiefly among them was confusion.

After fighting Bright Defender in a lingerie shop, unmasking her as Twilight Sparkle, learning that Twilight was going through something of the same transformation he was, having the front wall of the shop suddenly blown out by an as yet unknown but very forthcoming newcomer, and being told to prepare his anus by said aggressor, it was understandable that Blueblood wouldn’t know what to do next.

“So, by ‘prepare’ does that mean I should tighten or loosen?” he wondered.

Out of everything that just happened, you’re most concerned about that? Trudy asked.

“Well, I think it’s kind of important!”

How about we focus on not needing to prepare our butt at all, and try fighting, maybe?

It was a good idea. Blueblood didn’t even argue about the “our butt” part.

He turned his eyes to whoever had just ripped down the front wall of the lingerie shop. It was a unicorn, a big guy who wore a trench coat and orange, angular sunglasses.

“Who are you?” Blueblood asked.

“I have sex with princesses,” the stallion replied.

Blueblood glanced at the still-reeling Princess Twilight and turned back. “Okay, great, but who are you?”

“Call me Midnight Flash.” As if to demonstrate, the other guy reared up, brushing back his trench coat to reveal no clothing underneath.

He did wear a utility belt, however. It was filled mostly with sex toys. There was also some rope. Blueblood caught a brief glimpse of wings bundled under his coat as well.

Another alicorn… Trudy noted.

“Well, at least this guy’s somepony my size,” Blueblood muttered to her. “Steel Blast, that psycho minotaur, wasn’t all rapey, though.”

Midnight Flash says he has sex with princesses, Trudy reminded. Coyly, she added, Are you worried?

“I, uh, should probably protect Twilight, then. That’ll give me something to hold over her head.”

You’d better give this guy your best shot, then, Trudy said as Midnight Flash dropped back down to four hooves and began to paw at the floor. This guy looks like he’s getting in the mood.

Blueblood shot him in the face with a bolt of magic. Midnight Flash stumbled a few feet, surprise cutting into his apparent arousal. Blueblood wished he’d close his trenchcoat properly.

Taking the opportunity while Midnight Flash was distracted, Blueblood advanced, ducking behind an overturned display of bridles for cover. He got his head down just as Midnight Flash got his bearings and began firing random spells around the room.

The fusilade was not particularly effective, although a few jets of magic did crack splinters off the furniture Blueblood was covering behind. While no student of magic, Blueblood thought that he might have been pretty safe standing directly in front of Midnight Flash. The guy’s mind was clearly somewhere else.

“Hey moron, I hope you aim better in bed!” Blueblood called.

“Mmmwho you calling moron…?” Twilight moaned, stirring in the pile of intimates where she had fallen. She clearly wasn’t aware of the horny, and also aroused, alicorn randomly throwing magic around the store.

If she stands up, she could get hit, Trudy noted.

“So?”

So you wouldn’t want that to happen if you still want Twilight to owe you a favor. Trudy paused. Hey, did we decide if that actually is Twilight? She could be some sort of evil imposter.

“Alternately, she could be going through the exact same thing that I am, and I would want to protect her so that I can talk to her and get some answers.”

So I think we’re in agreement that no matter the situation, you should tackle her right now.

Ducking another random spray of magic from Midnight Flash, Blueblood shot across the room and slammed into Twilight just as she was sitting up. The two of them rolled into a pile, hidden from view at the back of the store.

Spotting the backdoor, Blueblood said, “Come on!” He knocked the door off its hinges with magic, yanking Twilight up and pulling her outside.

By this point, Twilight was lucid enough that when Blueblood told her to fly, she was able to spread her wings and follow him.

“Who was that?” Twilight demanded, glancing down at the shop as they departed the scene.

“No idea,” Blueblood said. “He was an alicorn, a big guy, and called himself Midnight Flash.”

Do you think… Trudy began. Do you think that was Shining Armor? He spent more time with Chrysalis than anypony. Plus, Twilight Sparkle used a disguise name that was a variant of Shining Armor’s name, “Bright Defender.” Do you think that he’d do the same, take a variant of his sister’s name and become “Midnight Flash?” Plus the whole having sex with princesses thing, he is married to Cadance.

It made a lot of sense. Blueblood wondered if Twilight had considered the connection. He glanced at her. She was still shaken up, apparently so much so that she still hadn’t realized her disguise was gone. Her insectoid changeling wings still looked incredibly out of place on her purple body.

“So…” Blueblood began as the two of them ascended into the night sky. “Do you have anything you want to tell me…Twilight?”

“Huh? How did you-” Realization hit Twilight and she nearly fell out of the air. Her Bright Defender disguise was back on in a literal flash.

Blueblood smirked. Bright, or rather, Twilight, stabbed a hoof at his chest. “Don’t you dare tell anypony!”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll…” Twilight glared at him.

“I sense you’re not any good at threats,” Blueblood said. He couldn’t resist adding, “Just like you’re not any good at being a princess.”

Did you just go there?

“I can’t believe you just went there!” shouted Twilight. “Subjects have no right to talk to royalty that way!”

Blueblood frowned. “I agree with that statement, and therefore fail to see how it helps your argument.”

“Wait, you agree that subjects can’t say bad things about royalty?” Twilight said. “Blueblood, is that you?”

Busted!

Aghast, Blueblood managed, “No!”

Twilight crossed her hooves and gave him a look. Tipping her head slightly, her horn put off a single spark. Blueblood’s disguise melted away instantly.

Oh buck! Ouch, that was a shock to my system. Blueblood felt his skin crawl as if Trudy was shuddering. Okay, give me a sec to get everything back online.

Covering himself with his hooves as best as he could while Trudy worked to restore his disguise, Blueblood shouted at Twilight, “What was that for?”

“I just wanted us to be on even terms.” Twilight looked away, frowning as if thinking hard. “But now that we are, I’m not sure how to proceed. I mean, it’s pretty clear that the same thing happened to both of us. For some reason, we both then decided to fight crime.”

Her pace of conversation increasing, Twilight went on. “But then there are also superpowered criminals that also seem to be a product of this transformation. We don’t know how deep this goes; how many ponies are affected, how many of them are bad, how many are going crazy.”

Twilight looked at him as the two of them hovered there. “In fact, Blueblood, you might be the only one who hasn’t tried to do crimes.” She paused. “Wait a second, what were you doing in that lingerie shop?”

Bigger problems! Trudy warned. Blueblood’s eyes widened. Midnight Flash had made his way through the wreckage of the shop and was coming at them.

“Bigger problems!” Blueblood echoed, pointing.

Twilight turned. She paused as Midnight Flash screamed towards them as fast as his wings could go.

“What are we going to do?” Blueblood asked. “Fight him?”

Twilight shrugged. “Whatever.” Then she smiled. “Bring it on.”

Chapter 14

Blueblood hovered midair beside Twilight. He’d gotten his Trueblood disguise back on, and the two of them watched Midnight Flash come up to their altitude. He flew well, probably better than Blueblood.

“I thought you wouldn’t put ideas into my head,” Blueblood muttered.

I didn’t. That was all you, Trudy said. Huh, not only are you getting better at analyzing adversaries, but maybe you’re learning something about being humble and your personal limitations.

“Am not. I think.”

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing.” Blueblood shook his head, changing the subject. “Let’s fight this guy.”

Facing off in midair with Midnight Flash, Blueblood and Twilight got ready. Somewhat surprising Blueblood, Twilight was the first to strike.

The shot of magic just barely missed Midnight Flash, as he displayed a surprisingly graceful sideways juke to avoid it. In return, he fired back a blitz of spells. None of them were particularly powerful or well aimed, but getting hit wouldn’t be fun.

“Can’t you do that thing where you take away a disguise?” Blueblood said, avoiding the fusilade of magic. “We would know who we’re dealing with.”

“No need,” said Twilight hastily.

“Why? Do you know who this guy is?” Blueblood accused. “Are you trying to protect him?”

“No, that’s ridiculous!”

She’s lying.

“How do you know?” Blueblood whispered.

Female intuition.

“Horseapples. It was so fake that even I caught it.”

Doesn’t mean it wasn’t female intuition.

“I don’t have female intuition!”

“Are you talking to yourself again?” Twilight said.

Blueblood ignored her, trying not to get hit by one of Midnight Flash’s attacks. Twilight was shooting back, but the other alicorn was too good at dodging. He tried to think of some way to shift the advantage.

If Midnight Flash could dodge Twilight’s spells, he could likely dodge Blueblood’s as well. Getting close might be an option, but that would put Blueblood at more risk.

You do have Twilight as backup.

“Work with her? Like partners?” Blueblood sputtered.

I never said with her, Trudy said. You can do like you normally do with mares, just use her.

“Hey, I work with you,” Blueblood argued. “It’s not like I can take advantage of you like I have with everypony else. I can’t exactly dump you and run. Besides, since we first met I’ve come to realize that I couldn’t have done any of this without your help. If anything, I consider you a partner, Trudy. I know you’ll always have my back, even literally.”

They both paused.

I...wow, I thought I could read your mind pretty well, but I never saw that coming. I don’t know what to say. It...it means a lot.

Blueblood got hit in the face by an errant spell and was nearly knocked out of the sky.

“Why didn’t you warn me about that?” he demanded.

Hey, you’ve got eyes! Besides whose fault is it that you distracted me with your heartfelt feelings?

They paused again.

“Let’s blame Twilight.”

Nice.

“What?” called Twilight from where she was still fighting Midnight Flash.

“I said distract him while I go punch him in the dick!” Blueblood said.

“No, you-!” But she was too late and Blueblood was already on his way.

Roll! Trudy commanded as Midnight Flash spotted Blueblood and fired another bolt of magic. Blueblood spun midair, the spell passing him by inches. Before Midnight Flash could line up another shot, Blueblood was within striking range.

The “punch him in the dick” part had been a figure of speech, but having found himself conveniently close, Blueblood mentally shrugged and decided to do it anyway.

Midnight Flash squeaked comically and his eyes rolled back. His wings seized and he started to fall, his long coat flapping around him as he tumbled towards the ground.

Twilight went after him, racing to catch the falling stallion before he slammed into the pavement below.

“Should we go after her?”

We might want to find out why she seems so interested in the guy.

Blueblood nodded and followed Twilight down. He watched as she caught up with Midnight Flash and with some effort managed to jerk him out of his dive. Pulling up, she landed on a rooftop and laid him down.

Blueblood landed a few feet away, watching as Twilight attempted to comfort the moaning Midnight Flash.

“So is that your brother?” Blueblood said accusingly.

Twilight looked up. “What?! No!”

“For a bad guy, you’re being awfully nice to him.”

Twilight glanced back and forth between Blueblood and Midnight Flash before reluctantly casting a spell. The disguise worn by the prostrate pony was stripped off to reveal an orange pegasus.

“Did...did you prepare your anus?” he asked feebly.

“Who the buck is this?” Blueblood asked.

I think we saw him around the castle once, Trudy said. Is he a guard?

“It’s my boyfriend,” Twilight said.

Blueblood frowned. “You mean coltfriend?”

“It’s complicated.”

Girl, you don’t know jack about complicated.

“Girl, you don’t know jack about complicated.” Blueblood frowned. He hadn’t meant to say that verbatim.

Twilight glared at him. “I met him in another dimension while we were both a different species.”

“So...does that make it beasiality or not?”

Twilight hit him in the head so hard that Blueblood fell off the building. It didn’t matter, though, because he was already out like a light.

He woke up hours later to sunlight and birds chirping. Blinking, Blueblood realized he was in his bed back at the castle.

“Huh…?” he muttered.

It’s not easy getting you back here by myself.

“Wait, how did you…?

Like I said, I did it myself. Trudy sounded proud of herself.

“You took control? How did you do that?”

Like I said, not easy.

“How is that possible? I thought you were in my head, but if I was knocked out…”

You were knocked out. Just because your brain is offline doesn’t mean mine is.

“I’m not okay with this!” Blueblood shouted.

Outside his bedroom door, the maid was about to knock. She decided to wait.

Well, would you rather have laid in the street all night? Trudy asked.

“Well, no, I didn’t want to get raped or worse by that maniac, even if he only had sex with princesses.”

So I got us back to the castle and put you to bed.

“That’s it? No funny business? No rape?”

If I did something to you, wouldn’t it be closer to masterbation? she jested.

Blueblood rolled his eyes. “Okay. I just...it’s just weird, feeling like somepony else’s plaything.”

I know what you mean. I know it’s a weird situation with the two of us.

“So how did you learn to do that?” Blueblood asked.

I’ve been getting used to the feel of your neural pathways and muscles over the last few days.

Blueblood shuddered. “You know, you could have just reminded me that you’re inside me and left it at that.”

The door opened and the maid came in, pointing an accusing hoof. “I’ve heard about enough, your highness.” Her contemptuous expression faded, however, when she didn’t see anypony in the room with Blueblood.

“What is the meaning of this?” Blueblood demanded, getting up from bed.

“I-I thought you were being a sexual deviant,” the maid stuttered.

I don’t think anypony would be surprised if you were a sexual deviant.

Managing to ignore that, Blueblood stared at the maid. “It’s your job to be discreet. The Royal Treasury pays you quite a pretty sum for that.”

Blueblood might have been careless with spending money, but he certainly knew exactly how much of the royal wealth was spent on expenses and was constantly devising ways to trim it.

“I, um…” The maid began to wilt under his anger. The Prince was an ass, but a very powerful ass. As she sought to look away from his glare, her eyes drifted from Blueblood’s face. “Wait, why do you have wings?”

She knows! Seize her!

“And do what?”

I don't know, whatever you usually do to keep mares occupied in your bedroom!

“She's not even my type.”

During the pause for conversation, the maid had run. Trudy grumbled, Well, now she's gone and probably going to tell the whole castle. Seriously, the one time I expect you to be a terrible pony and you let me down.

Blueblood shook his head. “Well excuse me for trying to be the good guy here.”

Heh. Yeah, I guess it would be kind of ironic to do that to her so soon after Twilight's coltfriend threatened to rape you.

“He said he had sex with princesses!”

It's still your butt!

Trudy giggled while Blueblood fumed. Much as he wanted to have the last word, something occured to him. “So, now that the maid is gone and probably going to tell everypony...what do we do now?”

Oh shi-

Chapter 15

Blueblood threw on his jacket and poked his head out of his bedroom. The hallway was clear and he stepped out.

Get moving. If we can find that maid before she finds anypony else, you might be able to talk her into staying quiet.

Blueblood didn’t know which way she might have gone. He took a guess and turned in the direction of the kitchen and other facilities, breaking into a jog. “So...what am I supposed to do when we catch up?”

I don’t know, work your charm or something. You’ve gotten laid before. Surely you can sweetalk her.

“You know as much about that as I do, honey.”

Well, I don’t know. Do you want to practice or something?

Blueblood instead focused on catching up to the maid. She was faster than he would have thought. Maybe it was her earth pony physiology or maybe she just had been that quick to vacate his bedroom.

Heh, wouldn’t be the first mare to run from there.

“Shut it,” he grumbled.

Blueblood rounded a corner, and to his surprise found the maid standing in the middle of the hallway with her back to him. He slowed down, stopping a short distance behind her. She didn’t move.

“Uh…hey.”

That’s all you’ve got?

Blueblood said, “Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“It’s all right,” the maid said, still with her back to him.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Blueblood went on. “I think we might have a misunderstanding here.”

“Oh?”

Damn, she’s coy.

True enough. Most mares would at least look at him while he was speaking to them. Blueblood tried a different tactic. “I saw that you couldn’t help checking me out. And I got to say, girl, I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes off you.”

She still didn’t turn around.

Wow, you can’t even piss her off by trying. I’m starting to think there’s something wrong with her.

The thought had occurred to Blueblood too. He had never met any mare who had endured such comments from him and still had no problem showing him her backside. He took a step forward, coming up on her side. “Hey, are you all right?”

“Just fine,” she said. Her head turned, fixing Blueblood with a stare featuring a bright flash of green from her eyes. “Just…fine!”

The next instant she was on top of him, her maid uniform tearing away to reveal a pair of changeling wings as a crooked black horn forced itself from her forehead. Green goo and a few drops of blood showered down on Blueblood as he and the maid wrestled across the floor.

Pig though he was, Blueblood was still hesitant to hit a female. He managed to push her away and got up.

The maid shook her head, adjusting to the new sensations. Blueblood put out a hoof. “Take it easy, you’re going through some big changes right now.”

“You’re telling me,” the maid muttered. Her eyes were still wide and had gotten a gleam of crazy in them. Blueblood had seen enough crazy mares to know that look.

“Maybe I can help you,” Blueblood said. “How do you feel? Do you hear a voice in your head?”

“Yeah. And right now he’s telling me I should take care of you.”

“Uh, take care, like breakfast in bed?” Blueblood tried a weak joke.

“If you want. I’ve been serving you for a long time, but how does forever sound?” She grinned, putting on an even crazier look than before.

Wow, overly attached marefriends are something you’ve never had to deal with before. Good luck.

“Um, didn’t you say the voice in your head is a dude?” Blueblood said.

“That’s right. But he’s gay. And horny.”

And if he can shapeshift, it might not be a problem that he’s stuck in a mare’s body…

Blueblood cracked the maid across the face with a hoof and followed it up with a blast of magic that launched her across the hallway and into the wall. She slid down to the floor, out cold.

“Waste of a pretty face,” Blueblood muttered.

I don’t know if we can exactly classify her as evil, but she was certainly deranged. In a more worried tone, Trudy added, And she isn’t the only one.

Blueblood understood. Ponies – and at least one minotaur – were changing, and it seemed like they were all going through the same thing.

Blueblood was distracted by the maid suddenly moving. She got unsteadily to her feet, head lolling like a puppet on shaky strings. And then, in a masculine voice she – or perhaps he – said, “Well, that’s one down.” Her eyes flashed green again accompanied by a crazy grin. “But there’s still me.”

Blueblood whirled and planted a solid buck in the maid’s face. S/he slammed into the wall for a second time and didn’t move again.

“That’s so weird,” muttered Blueblood.

And it shows that you and I aren’t the only ones in this position.

Chrysalis had been busy during her rampage through the castle. To distract himself from remembering what that business in the closet with Blueblood had been, he said, “What a skank.”

Hey, that’s sort of my mother you’re talking about!

“What, and you’re defending her?”

Well…no. She’s a skank.

Blueblood nodded. He started walking, putting distance between himself and the comatose maid. Turning back to the conversation, he said, “We have no way of telling how far Chrysalis spread herself around. At least me, this maid, Twilight, her loverboy, that minotar, and probably Shining Armor. I don’t even want to think about potential others.”

Of those six, we know that three are aggressive and at least two are horny.

“More than usual.”

Yeah, okay, you also count as horny, but not more than usual.

“Hey!”

Hey yourself – you’re only figuratively swimming in hormones.

Changing the subject, Blueblood said, “So we know that Chrysalis got at least six of us, and that half also have mental changes. That leaves me, Twilight, and Shining as the only ones that can still think straight.”

So far.

“Huh?”

What if…what if it’s only a matter of time? Could Twilight and Shining already be well on their way onboard the train to horny, horny madness-ville?

“I wish you had said that in a more serious way, but I see your point.” Blueblood frowned. “Wait, what about me – us?”

Trudy was silent for a long moment. I don’t know. I don’t think we’re crazy.

“Would we know?”

I don’t think you’re crazy. Do you think I’m crazy?

Blueblood considered it. “No.”

Well then, until we can prove otherwise, we might have to believe that we’re alone on this.

Blueblood flinched and stopped walking. He was near the castle library, which reminded him of Twilight. The thought of having to fight such a magical prodigy, or the solider Shining, did not appeal to him one bit.

This situation would be funny if it wasn’t so terrible.

“What do you mean?”

Equestria’s worst prince and the insectoid-hybrid amalgamation that lives inside him might be the only ones that can fix this mess.

It sounded like a movie pitch, although Blueblood preferred his take on it. “He’s royalty. She’s a bug. They fight crime.”

More like ‘He’s a drunken lecher, struggling to save his own skin. She’s inside his skin. They get their asses kicked.’

“In a world where a misunderstood playcolt with a few tricks up his sleeve meets a voice in his head with benefits…”

…because a love-sucking shapeshifter impregnated him…

“…and many others…”

…two misfits forced together against their will must work together…

“…to save their friends, their family…”

…and his butt…

“…hers, too…”

…from an unspeakable enemy who comes from within…

“…together, they are…”

…Trueblood!

Blueblood shook his head. “That was so cheesy. Why did we do that?”

Hey, you started it. Trudy paused. Are you still pumped, though?

“Yeah, I guess. It was pretty motivating.” Blueblood managed a confident smile. “I feel like I could take on the world.”

Just then, there was a crash as the castle wall opposite from them was smashed down. Books and other library things scattered everywhere. But the thing that drew Blueblood’s attention was a large crystal globe coming straight at his face.

Chapter 16

Blueblood had no idea how the mutated minotaur, Steel Blast, had gotten into the castle, but there he was. It was easy to see him through the hole he’d just created in the library wall.

Lying in a crumble of stone, plaster, and other building materials, Blueblood shook his head out of a daze. The globe of the world hadn’t hit him, but it was only a lucky spark of magic that had caught it before it caved in his face. He didn’t remember doing that, though.

Reflexes. You didn’t act, so I did.

Blueblood didn’t have time to think about it. He scrambled to get up before Steel Blast pancaked him. Facing down this particular foe was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

We don’t have a choice! He’s right here!

Blueblood cringed. “This is going to suck.”

At least it won’t blow?

“At least he hasn’t threatened buttsex.”

That too.

Blueblood had managed to stand up, and faced Steel Blast as the minotaur advanced through the hole he’d made in the library wall. Blueblood braced his legs and fired a bolt of magic at the minotaur’s face. It wasn’t his most powerful shot, but he would have liked to have done more than merely annoy his opponent.

Steel Blast blinked and shook his head. His steps paused for just a moment. That was all the effect Blueblood’s attack had.

“This is going to be bad,” Blueblood whined quietly.

Steel Blast glared at him. “When you hit me with your stupid magic, your life’s going to get real tragic!” He charged.

With a flip of his wings, Blueblood managed to dodge. Steel Blast caved in a section of the hallway where Blueblood had just been standing. Pulling his horns out of the plaster, he raised his head and stared down the hallway in the direction Blueblood had gone. There were now no walls behind Blueblood, nothing but a long straight hallway.

If he gets up a head of steam now, he’s not going to stop until he runs you down.

Trudy paused, then added, Better get going.

Blueblood took off like a shot. His wings helped a little, but the ceiling in this section of the castle wasn’t high enough for him to get very far off the floor. Not that it would have mattered with Steel Blast’s taller stature. And, oh yeah, he had wings too.

There was a strange sensation in Blueblood’s scalp. Trudy reported, He’s after us!

“Did you just…” Blueblood panted.

Literal eyes in the back of your head. I thought you’d at least like to know you were about to get chased down.

“It’s not a sure thing yet!”

At the speed he’s gaining, it’s only a matter of time. Unless...hmm, you know, your brain might be good for something after all. After living in this castle all your life, you know the place better than most anypony.

It was a good point. “So let’s get him lost.”

Blueblood cut the tightest corner he could into an adjoining hallway. Slamming open the door to a broom closet, he tucked his wings and shot into an air vent in the ceiling.

Unfortunately, it had been many years since his colthood, and Blueblood was somewhat too girthy to fit into the narrow vent.

Fixed.

Trudy pulled in his ribcage and Blueblood wiggled further into the ducting. Dropping down the other side, he came out a vent into a disused guest bedroom.

“Whew. That was close.” Blueblood paused. “Mind giving me my voice back?”

Sorry. Whether unconsciously or not, she had made his tone go up a few octaves when she sucked in his gut.

Blueblood looked around. “Okay, we lost him. Right now, he’s probably working out how to get around-“

The wall exploded and Steel Blast burst into the room.

Confusing him with the maze of corridors in the castle is one thing, but I guess it doesn’t matter when he just does bullshit like this.

“I don’t believe this!” Blueblood shouted. “It’s not fair! Not to mention why haven’t the guards not come to my royal aid?”

Instead of replying, Trudy advised, Duck!

Blueblood managed to tuck his head low enough to avoid most of Steel Blast’s fist, but the glancing blow he caught knocked him on his ass. He spun across the floor, conveniently ending up close to the door.

He scrambled to get up. Trudy decided, We’ll have to lead him to the older part of the castle, the one that still has stone walls for everything.

“Is that going to stop him?” Blueblood managed as he stood up and felt for the doorknob, not wanting to take his eyes off Steel Blast.

Move your hoof a little to the right, Trudy helped him. Also, gosh I sure hope he can’t break solid stone walls.

Blueblood didn’t like the sound of that. He wrenched the door open and promptly ran facefirst into Twilight.

She looked at Blueblood, who had bounced off and fallen to the floor. She looked at Steel Blast, who was pawing the floor and snorting. Calmly, she asked, “Which one of you trashed the library?”

Aw snap!

“He did!” Blueblood pointed a hoof.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, focusing on Steel Blast.

“Steel Blast is my name, and fucking up ponies is my game.” He grinned.

“I’m afraid that I’ll have to punish you for the mess you caused,” Twilight said.

Steel Blast chuckled and extended a beefy forearm, gesturing Twilight forward to combat.

Twilight reared up on her hind legs, spine audibly popping as her body lengthened. Her hooves inexplicably grew digits and her skin bulged as muscles stood out like balloons.

And before Steel Blast could react, she stepped forward and punched him so hard in the face that he did a complete backflip before landing on the floor prone. Twilight kicked him over. His eyes rolled around for a few seconds before he went limp.

“Guess I beat you at your own game,” Twilight quipped. She turned, spotting Blueblood. Putting what were apparently her hands on what were apparently her hips, she said, “Now, what am I going to do with you?”

Chapter 17

Twilight, after knocking Steel Blast the fuck out, looked at Blueblood impatiently. Her modified form towered over him. Her muscular fingers tapped in impatience.

’What am I going to do with you?’ Trudy quoted Twilight. What do you think she means by that?

Blueblood had no idea. He tried, “Is this about the library? Because that was totally him.” He gestured at the comatose minotaur.

“Well, yes,” Twilight allowed, “but clearly I have to do something about you. You know my secret.”

“But you also know mine,” Blueblood was quick to point out. No way did he want to fight Twilight, and no way did he want to fight Twilight as she was at the moment.

“Hmm,” Twilight considered. Blueblood wondered if her voice had started to go deeper, but decided not to dwell on it. “No, Roger says I should still do something about you.”

Doing anything he could to stall for time, Blueblood asked the obvious question. “Who’s Roger?”

“Oh ,” Twilight waved as if it weren’t no thing. “He’s a voice in my head.”

“Have you considered that maybe he’s a parasite that’s causing your body to mutate in strange ways in order to manipulate you into doing his bidding?”

Hey!

Twilight frowned. “While I admit that it’s a little strange that Roger only showed up after I became an alicorn, I find him very useful. It’s like having a personal assistant for my head. I thought perhaps it came standard with princesseshood.”

“Or, you know, it could be that it’s actually a changeling hybrid planted inside you by Chrysalis during the invasion and has only just matured,” Blueblood suggested.

Veins bulged in Twilight’s…well, everything. “That’s absurd!”

“Is it?” Blueblood said. He hesitated, and then added, “Do you really think a pony like me becomes an alicorn because he deserves it?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that I only ascended to royalty because I’ve got a bug inside me? Not because of friendship or because I’m the most magical unicorn Equestria has ever seen?”

Blueblood stuttered.

Say something that appeals to her and gets her off track! Trudy interjected. Like, um, science. Yes! Try that!

“Science,” Blueblood blurted.

To his relief, Twilight paused. “What?”

Counting on his mouth to save the day, Blueblood started talking. “You like science. I’ve heard you study a lot of things. Let’s do a thought experiment. What happened when changelings invaded Canterlot?”

“They locked many ponies up in goo, impersonated some, and generally wrecked things when they were found out,” Twilight replied.

“And don’t forget the mental magic,” Blueblood pointed out. “The queen made Shining Armor believe anything she told him.”

“That's true,” Twilight allowed.

“I heard that you saved the day,” Blueblood said. “I heard that Chrysalis put a spell on you and cast you into the caves beneath the castle. You figured out how to escape, came back, and saved the day all by yourself.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Twilight said.

“Now let’s explore the theoretical,” Blueblood said. “What if Chrysalis used mental magic on a lot of ponies?”

“I suppose it means she could make a lot of ponies believe anything she told them.”

“And what if Chrysalis could plan an invasion of Canterlot, get changelings into a lot of key positions, and replace Cadance, a heavily guarded Princess of Equestria, impersonating her so well that even her own fiancé didn’t notice. She’d have to be pretty smart, right?”

“I wouldn’t say that. She lost,” Twilight pointed out.

“But what if she didn’t?” Blueblood said. “What if she planted something in everypony, sang a stupid supervillain song while she waited for you to show up, tossed the fight, and made Shining and Cadance use a spell that merely appeared to blast all the changelings out of Canterlot?”

“That would mean Chrysalis used her powerful mental magic to convince everypony that they’d won, while in reality she’d planted undetectable infiltrators like ticking time bombs, just waiting to mature and take over their hosts, thereby creating an army of shapeshifting alicorns whose mental companions answer to her.”

“Oh shit,” exclaimed Blueblood, having not considered that. “What if that’s actually true?”

Oh shit, echoed Trudy.

Leave it to Twilight to solve the mystery, even if she was a mutated mountain of a mare with a male in her mind.

“Hey wait,” Twilight argued. “Are you saying that you, me, Flash Sentry, this minotaur, and potentially a whole lot of others are pawns in some kind of long-term strategy that Queen Chrysalis has been planning?”

“Uh…” Blueblood paused. He thought of Trudy and what they’d been through together. Would she stab him in the back on orders from her changeling mother? Even if she had to stab him in the back from the inside?

Hey, I can hear you!

Blueblood frowned. Trudy had been, well…truthful with him. And if she wanted to cause him harm, she probably could have done it.

Well, I can’t really hurt you without hurting me.

So she admitted that she was just keeping him around because it also benefited her.

That’s not what I meant!

Although if Trudy had bothered to listen further, she would have realized that Blueblood realized that he could trust her. If she openly admitted that she was acting in her own interests, then that meant she was being truthful and probably wasn’t trying to hide anything from him. It might make her a bitch who only looked out for herself, but at least he knew she was being honest and not trying to lie to him.

I…okay, fine. Asshole.

Blueblood smirked, but then frowned. So if Trudy was united with him, and they both seemed functionally sane, then why was everypony else losing their minds?

Maybe…I have a theory. Everypony else has love. Think about it – Twilight turned into an alicorn after some shindig with her friends. Flash Sentry is apparently in love with Twilight. Shining Armor, if he’s one of us too, has the freaking Princess of Love for a wife. This thing...maybe it’s activated by the changeling infiltrator feeding on love. Meanwhile, I’m unaffected and not doing changeling stuff because I was instead born out of your jealousy and hatred for Twilight.

“Holy shit,” whispered Blueblood.

“Hey,” said Twilight, waving one of her massive limbs in front of Blueblood’s face. “You kind of spaced out there. I was just asking if you thought that you, me, Flash Sentry, this minotaur, and potentially a whole lot of others are pawns in some kind of long-term strategy that Queen Chrysalis has been planning.”

“Yes,” replied Blueblood.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “That’s stupid.”

She paused and frowned. “Actually, now that I review the evidence and everything we just talked about, it makes a frightening lot of sense.”

Twilight’s voice suddenly deepened. “Because it’s completely true.”

Run!

Blueblood scrambled for the door, but a gigantic hand clamped down on the scruff of his neck and hauled him back. Legs kicking and wings beating ineffectually, he was raised to eye level with Twilight.

“What are you going to do?” he stammered.

“I’m going to take you to the library,” Twilight began. “Then, we’re going to sit down and you’re going to help me find some research that can help us fix this.”

Blueblood blinked. “Uh, yeah, sure! Let’s do that!”

“You aren’t going to try to run away, are you?”

“No!”

“Because I would be very angry with you if you did.”

“I understand.”

Twilight put him down. “All right, let’s go look at some books!” She pushed her way out of the room, fitting her broad shoulders through the door.

Well, what are you waiting for? Trudy prodded. If you don’t go read with her, she’ll pound the crap out of us.

Blueblood hurried out of the room and after Twilight. He muttered, “I guess this is preferable to that. Although I’m a little surprised she hasn’t done it already. It’s pretty clear that this Roger is pretty active.”

“What did you say about Roger?” Twilight called from ahead of him She turned her head to look back.

Shit, she even has muscular ears. Make something up quick!

“I was saying that you and Roger seem pretty active,” Blueblood began. “I was wondering about your, uh, workout routine.”

He couldn’t cringe or Twilight would see. Trudy helpfully did it for him mentally.

“Well, now that we know that Roger is probably evil, I realize he’s probably been trying to take over my mind,” Twilight began. “Even if I didn't acknowledge it until now, I’m guessing the constant struggling back and forth has really improved my own control.”

Leave it to Twilight to defeat her mind-sucking parasite without even realizing she was fighting.

After retracing their route back towards the library, Blueblood and Twilight reached the hole that Steel Blast had made in the wall. Twilight looked at it for a moment and then magicked all the debris back into one seamless piece of wall, good as new.

“You know,” Blueblood pointed out, “it would have been better to do that when we were inside the library. Now we’ll have to walk all the way around to the door.”

Twilight frowned. “Oh yeah.”

Blueblood wanted to suggest that she should just bust down the wall and fix it again, but didn’t. The two of them walked down the hall and around the corner to the door.

The library was wrecked as if a minotaur had been rampaging there. Blueblood saw a particularly large vein in Twilight’s temple begin to pound.

Might want to get out of the way.

Blueblood stepped back as Twilight lit up her horn and forcibly rearranged the whole library. It had to have been thousands of books strewn around, and she neatly reshelved them, sorting the titles appropriately.

It was eye-opening for Blueblood. While he was no student of magic, he knew that complicated spells were harder to cast than ones that simply required a lot of force. Twilight, not surprisingly, could do both.

It was a good thing she was at least not actively hostile. She’d squash Blueblood like a bug.

Different word, please.

Like a grape.

Better.

Twilight lumbered over to the first shelf and studied the contents. She selected a book and picked it up. Glancing at Blueblood, she said, “Well, aren’t you going to start searching for something helpful?”

“S-sure.” He hurried to the stacks. “I’ll start at this end of the room, okay?”

Finding a way to the back of the library where he was sure Twilight couldn’t overhear, he and Trudy planned their next move.

“So we think Twilight is stable and in control, but definitely not as stable and in control as when she was merely Celestia’s student. Which, to be fair, was really not all that stable and in control.”

Agreed. We can work with her, but as long as Roger is still in the picture, I don’t think we can trust her.

Blueblood thought about that. “Is there any way we can take Roger out?”

Hmm…I know you aren’t going to like this, but maybe the answer is in one of these books.

Blueblood sighed. “Okay.”

You take the left eye, I’ll take the right. Tell me when you want to flip pages.

And so the strangest day of Blueblood’s life to date became even weirder, quietly sitting in the library and reading with his archenemy.

Well, not really. She’s sitting on the other side of the room behind all those shelves. And is she really your archenemy if she just saved your skin from Steel Blast?

“I can still hate her for who she is and all the incredible power she has and the undeserved royalty she was bestowed with.”

True. Okay, let’s hate her for that.

Chapter 18

Blueblood and Trudy sat reading quietly in their corner of the library. The muscular hulk of Twilight Sparkle sat at the other end of the room, going through books like a factory, pausing just a few seconds on each one. Between her arms and magic, books circulated past her eyes in an unbroken chain.

Risking a glance at her broad, rippling back, Blueblood quickly ducked his nose back down into a book. He was incredibly grateful to not be on the receiving end of her wrath, but was still more than a little intimidated. He was also kind of annoyed that she seemed to have the situation so much better in hand than he did, and the fact that if he tried anything he might not live to regret it. It was incredibly humiliating being forced to work with your nemesis under threat of being killed to death.

We don’t know if Twilight is that violent, Trudy reminded him.

“Yeah, but she did just take out Steel Blast with one punch and admitted that there’s some sort of parasite in her mind trying to control her,” Blueblood whispered in reply.

I really wish you’d stop using words like that.

“Hey, I thought we’d already established that you’re different than the rest. The whole forged-from-hatred thing.”

But think about this from my perspective: I’m trapped in you. I think we both agree that I’m my own personality and it’s incredibly frustrating to be stuck this way.

They were both silent for a few seconds. Their collective mental forum started to swirl with an idea. It was kind of vague, but...

“This is going to take some work,” Blueblood said.

No doubt. It’ll be worth it, though.

“So how are we going to do it?”

I don’t even know where to start. Honestly, trying to figure out where you end and where I begin is going to be difficult enough. It’ll be worse trying to create an entirely separate body for me and figuring out how to get it detached while not damaging either of our minds. I don’t know; maybe practice would help?

Blueblood held up a hoof. Trudy went to work.

After studying Twilight’s transformation, it seemed like it would be relatively simple to recreate some of her modifications. Creating new body features from scratch would give Trudy a basis of study from which to work. It was still the freakiest thing Blueblood had ever experienced when his hoof grew fingers.

He certainly didn’t know what to do with them. At first he thought they were wiggling on their own, but then realized Trudy must be controlling them, as the brand new body parts could well have been part of her instead of part of him.

She giggled, apparently taking the sensation with quite a bit more glee than he did.

However, the experimentation was short lived, as Twilight exclaimed “Aha!” and came crashing across the library. There was a maniacal grin on her face and she was holding a book out in front of her. “Blueblood! I found it!”

Blueblood glanced at the cover of the book, which read Changeling Biology. “What does it say?”

“Among the repertoire of Changeling reproduction, a queen can implant larva inside a living host. As the young mature, they emerge when ready.”

“What does ‘emerge’ mean?” Blueblood asked.

“It doesn’t say,” Twilight replied breezily. “Oh wait, there it is.” She squinted at the book. “Eww.”

I promise to come out one of your nicer holes, Trudy said.

If Blueblood could have glared at his brain, he would have. He asked Twilight, “What do we do?”

“It doesn’t say how to stop it,” Twilight said, “although I don’t think I’ll have a problem. Roger’s a good boy, yes he is.”

Blueblood grimaced slightly at the puppy-voice inflection she put on her last sentence, although it was encouraging that Twilight seemed in control. “What about everypony else?”

Twilight frowned. “Hmm. I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

“Do you have an idea where to start?” Blueblood asked.

“Trial and error experimentation could work.” She glanced at him. “Would you like to volunteer to be first?”

Blueblood laughed, using the happy, brainless laugh he used when a mare asked something and he needed time to think up a way to say no. However, he was saved by the library door flying off its hinges and Shining Armor bursting in.

“Shining!” Twilight scolded. “I just finished fixing this place up.”

“I’m here because of him,” Shining said, thrusting a hoof towards Blueblood. “It’s a matter of national security. Blueblood, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”

Blueblood glanced at Twilight, who still stood on two legs and towered close to the ceiling, and back at Shining, who didn’t seem to notice. Blueblood cleared his throat and asked, “What sort of national security matters?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Shining insisted. “If you don’t get moving, I’m going to have to use force.”

Blueblood edged sideways, enough to put a sturdy bookcase at his back. He’d already formed a plan. Trudy said, I’m ready.

“Then make me, Mr. Royalty-by-marriage,” Blueblood declared, turning up his nose.

In the next instant, he was dodging sideways to avoid a sizzling bolt of magic. Shining’s spell crashed into the bookcase and instantly vaporized several hardbacks. Twilight screeched in consternation and her already contorted body seemed to stretch even further. Before she could attack her brother, the windows shattered as half a dozen ponies in various stages of transformation breached.

Blueblood peeped over the edge of an overturned table, watching Twilight facing off against a room full of angry alicorn amalgamations. That was when the wall behind him exploded inward as a renewed Steel Blast charged in with a roar.

Blueblood felt his butt involuntarily clench shut.

“Trudy?”

Yes?

“Did you do that?”

Nope, that was all you.

“I was afraid of that.”

Chapter 19

The castle library was getting crowded. Blueblood watched the scene unfold as Twilight’s hulking form cast a shadow over Shining Armor, Steel Blast, and a half dozen other angry alicorn amalgamations that had just come in through the windows.

“Do you think Twilight can take them all?” Blueblood muttered.

I bet she can, replied Trudy.

“I don’t know.”

If she can’t, that means it’s up to us.

Blueblood gulped. “We are so screwed.”

“Not half as screwed as you’re going to be,” commented the maid from earlier, right in his ear.

Trudy already had a spell charging on his horn as Blueblood whirled to face the imminent threat carried by an overly attached mare and her gay head voice.

It’s ready! Trudy said, passing off the spell which Blueblood promptly triggered. The maid went flying.

Unfortunately, the burst of magic drew the attention of every single other combatant in the room. They all stopped to stare at him. Blueblood looked around. “Um…how is everyone today?” He took a breath and kept gibbering. “I mean, clearly you’ve all got something on your minds. This is all a big change for everypony, but working together we can get things figured out and nopony has to get dead or raped.”

“But what if that’s what we want-” The pony who had spoken was slammed out the window by a crushing spell from Twilight. She whirled surprisingly quickly for somepony of her modified bulk and attacked another, using a free hand to slam a third into the floor by his face.

Shining Armor’s moving!

Blueblood saw Twilght’s brother leaping into the fight. Twilight didn’t see him coming at her back. Muscular as it may have been, she might not be able to withstand a surprise attack, and with Twilight out of action Blueblood was as good as screwed.

He fired a spell that caught Shining midair and knocked him off course. Blueblood hadn’t had time to put together a really powerful attack, but his objective was accomplished.

However, Shining Armor picked himself up and turned to face Blueblood, glaring at him.

“What do we do now?” Blueblood squeaked.

I doubt we can outrun him. There’s no way you can take him in a magic fight. You aren’t going to like this, but we’re going to have to get physical.

Blueblood did not like it one bit. He liked it even less when he felt his posture changing and his body lengthening.

“What’re you-”

And then he realized. Trudy was copying Twilight’s form.

Blueblood’s back involuntarily arched and his front hooves left the floor. His entire skeleton shifted to accommodate the changes from the tip of his horn down to the bottoms of his hooves. At least, until he sprouted fingers.

“We’re really doing this,” Blueblood muttered.

If we get lucky, he won’t copy us.

But of course, Shining immediately realized he was at a disadvantage and changed himself to compensate.

Deciding he should press his advantage while he could, Blueblood rushed forward. He raised what he supposed was his arm and lined up a punch. There was a sparkle around his fist and he realized Trudy must be adding a little special extra for power.

To Blueblood’s surprise, his first blow actually landed and Shining staggered. Blueblood followed up with a couple of quick jabs to the abdomen before Shining got his bearings and knocked Blueblood to the floor with one punch.

Trudy automatically popped him back up using his wings. Not expecting it, Blueblood stumbled forward, putting himself into a grapple with Shining.

Head down!

Blueblood complied, feeling his horn probing Shining’s face. Not wanting to get an eye poked out, Shining was forced to let him go.

And shoot!

Head still down, Blueblood managed a spell that caught Shining in the face, startling him more than anything, but buying Blueblood enough time to straighten up and land another few punches.

Incoming – duck!

Blueblood felt more than saw a massive fist tear through the air right where his head had been. Steel Blast had tried to sucker punch him.

Taking a step back, Blueblood got a moment to evaluate the new situation. Shining and Steel were now both after him.

He cast a longing glance in Twilight’s direction. She was fighting half a dozen less threatening enemies, and while she was kicking ass, she was too busy to come to his rescue.

“Trudy, I need help.”

Well, what do you want me to do? I’m doing all I can!

“Thanks for that. I wouldn’t have survived this long without you. But I don’t know if we can do this, even together.”

“Hey are you vain?” called Steel Blast. “For talking to yourself, I’m going to show you some pain!”

However, Shining was first to react, charging with a shout. Blueblood’s arm whipped up of its own accord and caught him by the face. The muscles from Blueblood’s fingers all the way back to his shoulder popped out like they'd been inflated with a tire pump.

The force of the impact was still enough to skid him across the floor, but only for a few feet before he felt his core and lower body bulking up to handle the force. Shining blinked from between Blueblood’s massive fingers. His eyes traveled upwards.

“Shining Armor, huh?” said a female voice from somewhere over Blueblood’s head. “Well, like a piece of metal armor, why don’t you get bent?”

The fingers around Shining’s face tightened and he was lifted off the ground. The arm cocked back and pitched him through the library wall.

“What the-?” Blueblood exclaimed, craning his neck upwards.

Trudy spared him a glance. “I decided we needed a different approach.”

“Was ‘get bent’ all you could think of?” Blueblood huffed.

“Sorry, but I was a little distracted in figuring out how I was supposed to save our asses.”

“And you decided making your own head was the way to do it?”

“Well…”

Something in Trudy’s tone suddenly made Blueblood realize it wasn’t so simple as her having her own head. He glanced down and wished he hadn’t.

Her head and in fact the rest of her body had emerged from his back. Emerged in the same way the wings had first appeared. Blueblood’s own self seemed to be little more than a thin glove-like covering for her front side, as if she was wearing him like a fancy dress.

If he'd had enough of a stomach left, Blueblood might have hurled.

But neither of them had time to contemplate, as Steel Blast saw his chance and took it. Head down and horns forward, he charged with a roar.

Blueblood cringed, but Trudy reacted, catching Steel’s horns and barely managing to avoid being knocked over. “A little help?” she called.

Blueblood found himself roughly face to face with the mutated minotaur. Pointing his horn, he started blasting with any spell that came to mind.

Covered in beer and a few bedroom aids, Steel was too stunned to react when Trudy gave him a shove. He toppled over onto the floor, landing with a crash that shook the room. Trudy leaped and pile drove into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him.

Across the room, Twilight was finishing with her adversaries. She dusted off her hands and put them on her hips. Glancing over, she jerked in surprise, eyes going wide. “What in the world…?”

“You’ve got a changeling hybrid living inside you too,” Trudy pointed out. “Blueblood just isn’t as good at controlling his.”

“Hey!” Blueblood protested as a matter of principle, but knew he didn’t have a counterargument.

They all looked around the library, at the destruction and the limp bodies lying everywhere. Twilight’s eye twitched.

To distract her, Blueblood hastily asked, “So what now? Who else is affected? Are we going to have to fight them too?”

“First we need to talk to Princess Celestia,” Twilight said.

“Wasn’t she captured by Chrysalis during the wedding?” Blueblood pointed out. “How do we know she isn’t going through the same thing?”

Twilight frowned. “Well, she was kept in a cocoon in public, so maybe Chrysalis never had the opportunity to do this to her. Unfortunately, we can’t go to Cadance as an alternate because she was also captured. Luna’s also out because nopony still has any idea where she was during the invasion.”

“What if Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were already implanted by a changeling?” Trudy asked. “What if that’s just standard alicorn production?”

They were all silent for a moment before Twilight shrugged. “I need to do more research. I had almost figured out what I needed to know from that book I was reading before. But I can’t do research in a messy library.”

She started cleaning up. Blueblood felt his body shifting once more. He was getting closer to the ground, and felt deeper changes going on within himself. Strange flexing and a sudden sucking sound, accompanied by an oddly hollow feeling.

He landed on the floor on four hooves. Glancing back, he saw that aside from a thin line of mussed hair that ran from his withers to his tail, he looked back to normal. The odd part was a white mare standing next to him who looked a lot like Blueblood, save for the vaguely changeling features.

“Trudy.”

She smiled. “I didn’t know I could do that.” She grabbed him in a hug. “Nice to finally meet you, I suppose.”

“You too.” She felt familiar in his embrace. She should, Blueblood supposed. They were as close as two ponies could be.

Twilight glanced at the two of them. “So she’s out now?” She watched as Trudy progressed from hugging to nibbling on Blueblood’s ear as he grinned at the attention.

Twilight frowned at the escalation. “Didn’t she come from inside you? Like, in a lot of ways, she kind of is you?”

“Yeah, so?” Blueblood said. Trudy kissed him, and he returned it.

Twilight shook her head. “I have never met anypony so narcissistic.”

Chapter 1

True Blue Hero

The coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle was the event of the year, or maybe the millenium. The creation of a new alicorn had the whole country of Equestria buzzing with excitement.

The event hall in Canterlot Castle was packed with dignitaries and important ponies from all over. Princess Twilight, looking quite extravagant in her new dress, walked the red carpet followed by a royal escort. Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were waiting for her at the front of the room.

Ponies cheered for the arrival of their new princess, many waving hooves and calling out approvals as Twilight walked past them. Mounting the stairs, Twilight stood next to her new peers as her family, friends, and the citizens of Equestria applauded by stamping their hooves against the floor in celebration for their princess.

Before the next musical number could begin, one stallion in the crowd departed from the celebratory event. Bitter, he walked with a stooped posture as he made his way to the exit.

Prince Blueblood had seen his share of royal events, but none had affected him quite like this one. Princess Twilight Sparkle...she was barely old enough to be a grown mare, yet had ascended into royalty based on what? Friendship? Blueblood snorted. It was preposterous.

While real royalty of a pure bloodline went about their days, a new imposter of the crown had appeared. The thought made Blueblood’s teeth clench. To think some peasant scholar such as Twilight could ever be called a royal sent him into a barely contained fury. If he hadn’t left when he did, he wasn’t sure how he’d react as the coronation went onward.

Blueblood turned a corner and continued down the hallway. He noticed a slight stomachache coming on, possibly caused by his consternation. He made a note to take some antacids. He didn’t need an ulcer right now.

Trudging down the hallway, he passed by servant and guard alike, the castle staff being wise not to catch any unwanted attention from their prince. Blueblood was well known for a short fuse accompanied by a loud mouth to direct the explosion. But as for now, he didn’t feel like verbally beating any of them.

“Just my luck my room has to be on the opposite side of the castle,” Blueblood muttered to himself, scowling at yet another corner he had to turn for. “Why did I even come to the ceremony anyways? Just to listen to the mindless masses clamouring for their new precious pony princess? Bah, I have better things to do than waste my time for such pathetic events.”

He continued on, winding his way through the maze of corridors that had been created ad-hoc whenever the castle needed to expand. Each new add-on came from a different century of design with whatever architect had been hired over the years. Over time, gloomy gothic had clashed with more robust classicism so that one couldn’t even tell what the original design of the castle even was. It had taken years of living here before Blueblood knew every twist and turn the castle had to offer. He smirked at the thought that Twilight would have a lot of memorization ahead of her.

The pain in his gut came again, sharper this time. Grimacing, Blueblood stumbled slightly, but continued on his way undeterred. He kept his mouth shut, as there was no one around to complain to. The only thing on his mind was getting back to his room so he could relax the insufferable day away in peace.

Walking past the arched doorway leading to the vaulted ceilings of the older parts of the castle, another pestering thought entered his mind. Particularly related to the bane of his existence that was Twilight Sparkle, Auntie Celestia’s precious student, and even worse now, pathetic excuse for a princess.

It was her fault that Celestia never had any time for him. Blueblood was Celestia’s nephew, for Harmony’s sake! She’d make a place for him at the castle after his parents had died. And then as soon as Twilight had arrived and become the focus of her attention, Blueblood had been cast off like a gutter trash. Nopony had cared for him then, and even less so now. The worst part was that Twilight never had to go through that, and yet she still got to be a princess. Blueblood, meanwhile, had been given the bad end of karma ever since he could remember, and he didn’t get a damn thing other than a useless royal title.

“Champagne, Prince?” asked a servant passing by with a tray of refreshments from the ceremony.

Blueblood paused to take a glass. The first sip, however, brought forth such a violent spike of pain in his abdomen that he spit it out in anguish. “Gah!”

He threw the partially full glass at the servant and stalked away. Something was definitely wrong with him and it seemed to be spreading. A nice nap might help, and Blueblood made for his room, walking hunched as his innards continued to plot against him.

Having finally arrived at the correct hallway out of the hundreds in the castle, a content sigh escaped his lips once he caught sight of his door. Opening to his room, another wave of agony wracked through his body, seeming to move out from his stomach and now permeating most of his torso.

“Ugh… this stomachache will be the death of me,” Blueblood groaned, stumbling through his room. Not only did Twilight of all ponies get promoted, but he had to get sick with a nasty bug! He felt so exhausted, he didn’t even bother taking off his suit he always wore to any social event.

Knowing that a mix of pills and alcohol wasn’t the best of ideas, Blueblood decided to skip out on the booze and get the pain relief right away. Going into the attached bathroom, he opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and took out a bottle from the drugstore.

Blueblood’s hoof was shaking now, his entire body being twisted by torment that he was sure his guts would burst out. Chucking back pills without even water to wash them down, his eyes winced at the shot of intense pain that jolted down his spine.

Gasping, he fell to the floor. Blueblood quickly realized that whatever was troubling his insides wasn’t going to be solved by simple over the counter medication. It felt like fire was running through his veins as he held himself in the fetal position. His limbs were shaking so uncontrollably that they felt like jello.

His back ached involuntarily, Blueblood silently screaming as his skin felt like it was splitting open. His muscles twitched uncontrollably as two oblong bumps appeared underneath his suit, pushing forward so much so that they ripped through the cloth.

And then, the pressure eased. Blueblood panted on the floor, slowly recovering. He got his hooves under him and struggled to stand, using the edge of the sink for support. He paused there for a moment to collect himself as sweat poured down his face.

Raising his head, Blueblood looked in the mirror. A pair of insectoid wings glistening with blood and green ichor had forced themselves out of his body. They were completely unnatural, alien appendages that had sprung up out of nowhere. Blueblood was so stunned that he could only stare with a blank expression at his reflection.

“What happened?” he whispered.

I happened, an amused female voice replied.

Blueblood spun, checking every corner of the bathroom. The wings seemed to move of their own accord, shivering in the air. “Who said that?”

I’m right here, in your head.

Blueblood turned back to the mirror, and as he watched his own face seemed to shift and distort to a more alien look. The teeth were sharper and the eyes had changed to green with slitted pupils. The muzzle was pointed and narrower, gently curving into the rest of the face which had smoothed and become more delicate. The appearance was a nightmarish version of his own reflection, and somehow made all the more frightening by the feminine undertones.

He raised a hoof to check, but felt nothing more than his own skin. Despite that, the face in the mirror smiled. “Hello Blueblood. You and I are going to get very well acquainted with one another.”

“What type of drugs did I take?” Blueblood asked himself, looking down at the floor to see where the pill bottle was.

“Trust me, I’m very real,” she replied.

“So how do I get rid of you?” Blueblood asked, not finding anything on the pill bottle label to indicate hallucinogenic side effects.

“And why would you want to do that?” she asked, smirking.

“Oh, let me just think for a sec,” Blueblood replied, tapping his chin. “Maybe the part about how I have wings!”

“But I thought that was what you wanted?” she pouted.

“Wings? What are you talking about?” Blueblood stomped a hoof to add emphasis.

“I can see what you think about Twilight Sparkle, what she has that you don’t.” The face put on a clever smile. “I can give you that.”

Blueblood felt a ripple of magic wash over him, causing his spine to shiver. It was accompanied by a sparkle of green illumination that wrapped around his body. The gossamer wings sprouting from his back shifted, transforming into feathered plumage that matched his white coat.

“Whoa, you weren’t kidding,” Blueblood murmured in awe. Rubbing his wings, he was surprised at the realistic texture and softness of the feathers. “These things are actually real.”

“Of course,” she assured him. “You’re my partner.”

Blueblood took his eyes off his impressive wings to stare at the mirror. “Partner in what?”

The face that stared back put on its signature wicked smile. “Why, anything you want.”

Blueblood considered that proposal. “Anything?” he asked, staring right into her eyes.

“Whatever your heart desires,” she said, her green eyes sparkled as she stared back at him.

“Huh…” Blueblood scratched his mane, analyzing the current situation. “On one hoof, I have an unexplainable alien… thing, is speaking to me in my mirror. On the other, I have wings now. So I guess it’s a good thing…”

“Do you wish for more assurance?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “Maybe a test of your new abilities will rest your inhibitions?”

“Wait, do you mean flying?” Blueblood said eagerly, instinctively flapping his new wings. They felt sore to move, but flexing the muscles gave them more freedom of movement.

“Indeed. Ready to try them out?”

Blueblood’s face fell. “But it’s daylight. I can’t been seen like this.” His expression brightened. “Not yet, anyway.”

“We can still get you some practice.”

Blueblood nodded. “My bedroom has high ceilings.”

“Excellent.”

They both smiled at each other in the mirror, this time the reflection appearing more similar than ever before. Blueblood turned and left the bathroom.

A few minutes of frantic activity later that amount to pretty much nothing, Blueblood lay panting on the floor. “Why… why is flying so hard?”

Let me help. The voice was still speaking to him in his mind. Blueblood got up, his face feeling slightly heated at being so undignified. He was now an alicorn! He shouldn’t be so clumsy. Especially in front of his new guest… that was in his head. Thinking it over, that wasn’t exactly the creepiest thing that had happened to him that day.

Spread your wings. Feel the air. You’re now part pegasus. This is how they fly.

Blueblood concentrated, attempting to take in the new sensations. He could feel his feathers and how they interacted with the air. A few vague ideas passed through his mind, instincts that he’d never had need of before. He tried a few tentative flaps, more carefully than before.

Feeling the ruffle of his feathers spreading to catch the air, Blueblood smiled as he felt the weight of his body leave his hooves.

“I think I’m actually doing it!” he shouted excitedly, shaking his legs in the air as he increased the pace with his flapping. Now he floated a good three feet over the ground, rising higher and higher as he strained his wings harder. “This is so awe–”

Blueblood was cut off when the top of his skull impacted painfully with the ceiling. He tumbled out of the air, landing on the floor with a thud.

Ouch. Be more careful, please.

Shaking his head and wincing at the throb of pain in his noggin, Blueblood asked, “Why exactly are you concerned? You’re not the one crashing.”

The voice seemed to ignore his question. Okay, get up. Try again.

Casting a wary glance at the ceiling, Blueblood spread his wings to try again. Repeating the same process as before, he took off from the ground, but remained hovering in the air.

“Okay… okay, going good so far,” Blueblood muttered, staring uneasily at the distant ground while looking back up to avoid creating another dent in his ceiling. “Now what?”

Trying moving forward. Use your wings to position yourself leaning ahead, and then flap away.

Blueblood followed her directions, moving his chest to a lower position while sticking his wings up higher behind his body. He was surprised to find himself moving forward, slowly but surely, across his room.

Unfortunately, stopping proved to be a problem when Blueblood met the wall on the other side of the room in a painful confrontation.

Chapter 8

Slipping back into the castle after dawn was difficult, but with Trudy’s help Blueblood managed to avoid all the guards and get back to his bedroom without being seen. He closed the window and drew the blinds, shrouding the room in darkness.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t see, however. He wasn’t sure, but his night vision might be a little better now. If Trudy could change his entire face, she could probably alter his eyes too. Though the thought of his organs being experimented on by her didn’t sit too well with him.

Blueblood took a moment to look in the mirror. His mask and the terrifying maw his mouth had transformed into made him look quite repulsive, yet he couldn’t help but find it awesome. It was grim and dark, just like he wanted his hero alter ego to be.

“Glad it’s just a costume,” he muttered.

“Um, about that,” Trudy said, her face appearing in the mirror.

“What?!” Blueblood sputtered.

She smirked. “I didn’t say that I couldn’t change you again. I just meant that it’s less of a costume and more of a biological aspect. But don’t worry, I can turn you back alright.”

As if peeling back from his skin, the mask and costume receded over Blueblood’s body, turning back into the clothes he’d been wearing before and leaving him looking completely normal. Well, except for the wings, but they were concealed under his jacket.

He admired his handsome face for a moment, somewhat relieved that the toothy grin was only temporary, and then yawned deeply, turning for the bed. Blueblood’s fatigue seemed to hit him all at once, the aches and pains incurred during the previous night catching up with him.

The door opened slowly and a maid stuck her head in. “Prince–oh, I see that you’re already up.”

“Not for long,” Blueblood grumbled. He walked past the maid and fell into bed. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and closing the door. Exhaustion must have really been playing on his body if he brushed off a pretty mare like that, or more likely, Blueblood was turned off on the idea of maids ever since learning what had happened to him.

The morning passed quickly while Blueblood snoozed. He missed breakfast and was on the verge of missing lunch when he awoke. Not like anyone would’ve missed him. Most ponies in the castle already knew to avoid his room if he overslept, just assuming he was having another hangover after an all night bender.

The sleep had not fully rested him, but he got out of bed anyway. He was stiffer and more sore than he had been, his muscles tightening while asleep. But at least he didn’t feel the full effects of the fight he had participated in last night, thanks to Trudy’s useful healing ability on his body.

Blueblood did a few stretches, attempting to loosen up. While he was thinking about it, he did some pushups and situps, remembering the importance he assigned to being in a healthy shape at all times.

You just missed lunch, Trudy informed him.

“Huh?” Blueblood paused in his exercise. “How do you know?”

I saw the time when your eyes glanced at the clock. Unlike you, I was actually paying attention.

“What are you, my secretary?” Blueblood paused. “Actually, now that I mention it…”

I’m not your personal assistant, Trudy replied rather crossly. I’m just doing what is best for both of us. You know, things like eating?

As she spoke, Blueblood’s stomach growled. He realized that he’d been hungry, but it was hard to feel with all the pain in his body dulling his senses.

“Ugh,” Blueblood muttered. “Well, if we missed lunch, I could go get leftovers from the kitchen or something. I really feel like going out, though.”

How about that nice pub you like downtown? Trudy suggested.

“It’s like you read my mind,” Blueblood murmured. He paused, realization of the statement hitting him. He facehoofed and Trudy chuckled quietly.

Blueblood withstood his hunger for a few minutes longer, taking a quick shower. Throwing his jacket back on to cover his wings, he grabbed some money and went out the door.

The castle guards didn’t react to him as he walked through the castle towards the exit. They didn’t try to stop him from leaving, arguing that it was dangerous for royalty to go alone. Blueblood was unsure if they thought he would be okay to go alone, or if they just didn’t care about him. By his track record, the latter was more likely.

Trotting down town, Blueblood came to Manedackery, his favorite pub in the downtown district of the city. While not the seediest of places, he still wouldn’t trust to walk down its streets at night without some guards by his side. But in the daylight, it was a pleasant looking pub with an old-timey, homely feel once you entered through its doors.

Making his way through the light smog of tobacco smoke from the numerous patrons puffing at their pipes, he chose a bar stool near the end of the bar and knocked his hoof on the counter. “Hey O’Buck, got something to eat in this joint?”

The stallion behind the bar scowled at Blueblood. Most ponies would find this an intimidating sight, since O’Buck was about as tall as a mountain and had enough muscle on him to make Blueblood look like a lightweight. Making his way over to the end of the bar, he stopped at Blueblood’s stool and snorted. “Aye, Princey, we got some grub. Don’t suppose your finer tastes would like it.”

Blueblood smirked. “Normally true, but where else can I get authentic food from the fair isles? Castle cooks sure can’t make it, so I suppose this eating establishment will have to do.”

O’Buck continued to fix Blueblood with a harsh frown, until it broke out in a grin, albeit one missing a few teeth. “Aye, it will have to do. I do sometimes wonder what you would do without my establishment, Blueblood.”

“Starve, maybe.” The two of them shared a chuckle. While Blueblood wouldn’t be caught dead in public at a place like this, with a pony like O’Buck, here in the pub everypony kept to themselves, and all were just folk. Plus, it felt good to get out of the stuffiness of the castle for a change.

Blueblood did not bother to order, as O’Buck did not have a menu. His special talent was being a proper host, and that included having a feel for what his patrons wanted or needed. He soon set a mug of dark beer in front of Blueblood as well as a hearty sandwich and hay fries. While certainly not as exquisite as castle fare, Blueblood didn’t disregard this peasant food like he usually would.

Tucking in, Blueblood closed his eyes with the first bite and savored it. He would have to work out harder to offset the possible unhealthiness of the tasty food, but his joy now was worth it. All the pushups and situps in the world were worth the bounty of the meal before him.

Did you hear that? Trudy asked.

“Huh?” Blueblood murmured quietly.

You weren’t paying attention to your own ears? She sighed. Anyway, I just heard somepony mention a couple of costumed ponies going around Canterlot at night.

That got Blueblood’s attention. He chewed more slowly, trying to pinpoint the conversation of interest. He managed to pick it up again.

“Are you saying we have vigilantes running around?” asked a stallion at a nearby table.

“Sure looks like it. I even hear a few of them are alicorns,” his tablemate replied in a low voice.

Blueblood smirked slightly and held up his sandwich to hide it. The expression was wiped off his face, however, as the conversation went on.

“Yeah, a few of them are. The others are either normal ponies or something else.”

“Something else?” asked the other pony, echoing Blueblood’s unspoken question.

“Dunno,” came the reply. “I’m hearing all this secondhoof.”

Despite the lack of details, the implications were worrying. Blueblood and Bright were not the only superheroes out there. While more potential spotlight hogs annoyed him, Blueblood was smart enough to realize that superheroes didn’t just happen. What was causing the sudden appearance of them all?

Maybe...there are more like us?

“But… how many could there be?” Blueblood whispered. “And what about the ‘something else’ they mentioned?”

Could just be a weird transformation. You certainly didn’t look like yourself in disguise.

Blueblood supposed that he would just have to go back out tonight and see for himself. He finished his sandwich and beer, leaving money on the bar. He turned for the door and had to step aside as a large blue minotaur came in.

“A round on me!” The minotaur called, pumping his fist. “When things are going my way, you don’t have to pay!”

Blueblood promptly and happily did a one-eighty to return to the bar and collect his promised drink.

I wonder what this guy’s so happy about? Trudy wondered.

Blueblood shrugged inwardly. He didn’t care as long as it got him free beer. He toasted the minotaur and slugged back his mug.

After finishing his drink, Blueblood put the glass down and wandered out of the pub.

Sure you’re going to make it home alright, or do I need to direct you to the castle?

“I’m not that much of a lightweight,” Blueblood complained. He stumbled a little, quickly adding, “And that doesn’t prove anything!”

Whatever. Just don’t fly under the influence anytime soon. Would be a shame if the cops arrested their prince over such a stupid event.

“Wouldn’t be the first time…” Blueblood said bitterly, taking a different route back to the castle. The usual hustle and bustle of the city went on around him, while Blueblood himself walked through it with hardly a glance. He didn’t really belong among the lower sectors, and never would be. Sure, he now considered himself a defender of the populace, but that didn’t mean he would ever be accepted as one of them. But still, it was nice to take a stroll through someplace that wasn’t spotless from constant servant work or guarded by soldiers all the time.

Wait, what’s that? Trudy interrupted his pleasant thoughts.

Blueblood glanced left and right. “What, I don’t see anything?”

You really are oblivious, aren’t you? I’m using your eyes, for pete’s sake! Right in front of you!

Blueblood peered before him, stunned to see the street riddled with broken glass and surrounded by the Canterlot police force. “Oh yeah… wondered how I missed that.”

I’d insult you, but that’s just wasting more time. Go figure out what’s all the hubbub.

“Sure thing, Miss Nags-A-Lot,” Blueblood muttered under his breath, approaching the first police officer in sight.

“Excuse me, my fine gent, but what seems to be the commotion here?” Blueblood asked, trying his best to roughen his normally noble accent down to acceptable street levels.

The police stallion ran a hoof through his scruffy mustache, giving Blueblood a quick once over before replying. “There was a break in right as the dawn broke over the horizon. Place was looted, and not a bit can be found in the register.”

“Such a shame. Sad, sad shame,” Blueblood replied with a shaking of his head. “But was any mention of the robber recorded? Any basic description at all?”

“Well… they said the perp was a minotaur,” the police officer said, tapping his chin as he rattled his brain. “Blue one at that. But with the influx of immigrant minotaur workers with all the new construction jobs expanding the city, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Well, I hope you find the criminal, officer,” Blueblood replied with a quick nod of his head, already turning back to the bar.

You’re not going to start a bar brawl in the middle of the day, are you?

“At least have some more belief in me than that,” Blueblood said with a slight chuckle, eagerness driving his hooves faster through the streets. “I’m going to start one at night.”