The Burning Light

Rockhoof sat in his tent, thinking about the Light's form. In front of him was a chunk of firewood and a knife. He tried to recall every detail, tried to force the wood to become what he wanted.

His failed statuettes were burning in the fire, cooking his broth. He groaned in frustration and put down the half-finished project after a few hours, "Ugh...why can't I do this….?" He laments, wiping his eyes.

Ever since he had returned from the Sanctuary, the Light's form had inspired him. And the need to do something with it was overwhelming.

His first idea was to paint something, but the ingredients necessary were a bit too rare. He had then considered sculpting but feared he would simply shatter the rock as opposed to shaping it.

He’d finally decided on whittling due to the abundance of wood. But for all his effort, all he had to show for it was a pile of useless statuettes and a sore jaw. Sitting up he decided that was enough failure for one day, and set his tools aside carefully.

Elsewhere, in Equestria:

Blueblood was a young Noble who despised his entire family. He hated everything they stood for, and by extension everything he was expected to stand for. He refused of course and rebelled against them whenever possible. Whether that was refusing to marry his sister to, as his father put it, “Keep the lines pure!” or leading protests against nearly everything the family tried to do.

The only reason he hadn’t been disowned is because of the fact that, by some Faust ordained miracle, he was the only fertile male in the entire inbred clan. Which only fueled the fires of jealousy in his cousins. He was the prize jewel of the family…or at least, he had been until now.

“In recent generations, the Bluebloods have forgotten where we came from! We have forgotten why our bloodline was even revered in the first place!” A teenage Blueblood pronounced to the press he had collected together, giving this speech not only in public but in the castle’s own courtyard.

“We used to be paladins of the highest order! We fought to protect our fellow creatures, as our ancestors would have wanted! And now…?” He paused for effect, looking out over them, “...now we wither away, refusing to even leave our mansions, barely sparing a thought to those less fortunate than us!

“We care for nothing but becoming richer and richer, trying to spread our influence like some sick parasite!” The stallion roars to the crowd, ignoring their attempts to question him, “And I will feed this parasite no longer!”

He spotted his father’s muscle pushing their way through the roaring crowd and towards the teen, no doubt to silence him and drag him away to the mansion, “Look amongst you! The parasite reaches out its tendrils in an attempt to silence me!” He yells, pointing out the massive stallions, the crowd instantly moving away from them, “My father would have me silenced and married to my own sister! My tongue cut out so I could no longer speak ill of him! Existing to do nothing but his bidding!”

“Will you allow them to silence me?! Allow them to continue to oppress you?!”

“NO!” The crowd roared in response, many of them throwing anything nearby at the muscle, who were not used to such things. Usually, all they had to do was look and sound tough, then whoever it was backed off. Not so here. Blueblood had succeeded in riling them up into a righteous fury, and numbers were assuredly on their side.

“Yes! Tear out the Parasite’s tendrils so they can harm you no longer!” He commended the crowd as the muscle huddled together in fear. This had gone even better than Blueblood had hoped! It couldn’t last though. The Guard would be here soon to break this up, and he would be arrested. Probably under charges of ‘Inciting a Riot’. He didn’t care, of course. The teen had made his point, and he’d happily suffer the consequences.

So he sat back and watched as the people rose up, summoning some whiskey to drink as he waited.

Celestia watched from her balcony, making no attempt to hide her pride, “Oh Blue...you remind me of him so much. I wish you could meet him…he’d be so proud~” She sighed, leaning on the railing.

Soon the Guard showed up and started arresting ponies, most tried to run, but her nephew just sat in his chair, drinking. She watched the Captain walk up and Blueblood offered him a drink.

“Would you like a glass? This is a very good year.” Blueblood remarked, holding a glass to the Guard, who mostly just frowned at him.

“More for me I guess.” He took the glass back and drank it, staring back at the stallion, “...You know you really should smile more. You look a lot better when you do. Frowning makes you look all...wrinkly,”

“.......get up.” He growls at the teen, who rolled his eyes and did so, holding his hooves out to be cuffed. Which they were quite swiftly, they’d learned the hard way that he couldn’t be trusted without them. Even though, as the Captain mused, with the way he smiled when they were put on...well he got a distinct feeling that if Blueblood wanted to escape custody, he would. Cuffs or no cuffs.

The teen looked up to the balcony high above, smiling at his aunt and waving as she did the same. “See you soon Auntie.” He says quietly as he’s led away.