The Pink, the Blue, the Imperial Purpure (2)

Taking a stroll around Crystal City was something that I had planned to go through once the Convention was over.

The decision came to be when I realized that I had given just a passing look when I first defeated Sombra. And even back at that time, the city was far from what it had to have become after just a few days since I started ruling over it. I didn’t expect major changes, but I rightfully believed that something had to have changed the moment a stable bureaucracy was implemented and the chances to open up businesses was granted with the temporary pause to taxes enforced on the capital alone.

And even though some would lament over the fact that the complete pause to the taxation system might sound awfully crippling in the long term, well… the treasury hadn’t remained empty during all this time. I really don’t know why Sombra just kept amassing wealth when he couldn’t exactly use it to do anything big but… I guess he just wanted to keep a stable system working for the sake of not seeing his own kingdom imploding onto itself. Either that or he just didn’t care enough about that entire thing and left that task to other individuals that actually cared.

To be fair, that actually sounds like a possible good reason since he didn’t give off the idea of a smart economist when he was on screen.

While the paperwork wasn’t exactly decreasing for the time being as I had yet to check on the proper administrators to delegate what could be delegated, I still knew of the importance of making sure I had a clear understanding of how the city was faring both socially and economically. I remember giving some passing glances the few times I was wandering the palace to check on a couple of things, but this was actually the first time I decided to check on the capital after its liberation.

Crystal Ponies were happily walking around, busy with work or shopping. Some of the passing civilians paused as the small group I was mostly leading started to move around the streets closer to the palace. I saw some of them gave surprised looks, with a couple actually completely stopping in their activities just to see what it was all about. After just twenty minutes of simple walking, a large crowd of ponies was following us around while trying to understand what I was doing right now. It made for some unusual predicament for me to be as I checked around for the major points of the city.

Many activities had opened, with all of them being small businesses that could immediately work on helping ponies and help their own families with the Bits made through these initiatives. I saw a couple guards in the city patrolling the roads and giving a brief bow and salute before resuming their current tasks and… yeah, this was getting incredibly difficult to ignore. I just had twenty more minutes before having to get back to the palace and I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to do so without making it any more awkward than it currently was.

I mean, I could tell that they weren’t trying to be this nosy, but I was really feeling a lot more pressured by having so many eyes on me. Never been the guy that loved the spotlight, so this was really, really uncomfortable. Not enough to panic, that is, but really upset over how I hadn’t expected this kind of ‘traction’ from the locals.

Just as I felt my options exhausting, an interesting development unfolded as one of the ponies detached from the crowd and actually approached us. One of the three guards tensed up, her hold over her lance tightening at the unexpected twist but… she paused as she realized the approaching pony was none other than… a little colt. A bat-pony at that.

Dark-blue mane kept short, silver eyes and a gray fur-coat. His wings were still far from reaching its fullest, but I could already see tiny bat-like details that, coupled with his peculiar ears, made him stand out as a genuine bat-pony.

He wobbled a tiny bit, eventually sitting right in front of me. Wide eyes looked at my face with child-like wonder and I thought of how old the colt has to be. Four, maybe five years old. There was silence, a mix of curiosity and uncertainty, with the crowd forming a mixed opinion on this circumstance as some didn’t seem particularly happy about the intrusion. The guards, albeit calm, were still vigilant as I finally greeted the curious little one.

“Hello.”

A single word, that was more than enough to seemingly ‘wake him up’. A tiny nervous smile appeared on his muzzle as he nodded.

“Hi,” He replied quietly. “Are you… the king?”

I mean, I wasn’t wearing the full regalia since it was too cumbersome to have while moving around and… yeah it was only meant to be worn at its fullest by ponies, and it had been truly uncomfortable to wear at the crowning- but I believe the news of a bipedal creature being the new ruler should have spread far enough.

Then again, I’m looking at a child. A cute one at that.

“That is correct.”

He hummed, tilting his head to the left. “But… you are not a pony.”

That actually caught me off-guard. Sure, it was an element that had been brought up during the convention, but none had been so direct about it to make it look like a genuine problem. And all representatives from the cities had been fairly satisfied with how things ended in that diplomatic meeting.

A suspicious thought that came up at this element was a possible case of racism upon the child. For him to believe that only a pony could be the king meant that he had this belief that only ponies were meant for high positions or nicer roles. So it was either racism or… something I wasn’t catching on.

“That is indeed the case. I’m a human.”

“Hyoo-man?”

“Human.”

“...Human?”

I nodded, smiling at his success. “Now, that’s right.”

His smile widened by just a fraction at the praise. “I’m Silver Song. I’m a Bat Pony.”

“Nice to meet you, Silver Song. I’m King John.”

“Why are you walking around, Mr. King John?”

I held back a chuckle at that curious nickname, kneeling down so I could speak better with the short bat pony.

“I was just checking on the city,” I replied calmly. “I wanted to see how things were going with my own eyes.”

Silver Song nodded, understanding the reasoning but still keeping a degree of confusion. “But why?”

“Well, I was just curious. I wanted to see by myself if there were some problems that I hadn’t looked properly into and think of solutions to those.”

“Oh,” The colt quietly muttered and nodded. “I see.”

“I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but shouldn’t you go back to your...”

I trailed the question, noticing the colt looking away with a nervous look. Orphan, I almost landed belly-first on that minefield.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered instinctively. “I suppose you live by the nearby orphanage.”

A blink. “I used to.”

“Mhh? You’re no longer living there?”

“I… I left it.”

I frowned. “Why? Any issues in there?”

He huffed, and this time he remained quiet about it.

I doubted I could have gained more out of him just by talking in these circumstances. I could still perceive the glances of some ponies on us and I could tell the attention wasn’t doing miracles for his current confidence.

What if I try to get something out of him while he is distracted by something else?

Something smart and something that genuinely had him distracted just enough for me to ask the questions I have to ask. It didn’t take me too long to come up with a little idea that I was sure was going to work with him.

“I know this might be sudden but you have a good knowledge of the capital, right?”

He gave me a confused look, nodding as I offered him a smile. Since he had been living on the streets, perhaps I could entice him to offer me a little tour of the places he liked. It sounded like a solid plan, so I went through with it without hesitation.

“How about you show me around the spots that aren’t usually known to many? I have twenty minutes, and I’m sure that you have plenty of interesting things to bring up about this city.”

Frowning at my proposal, the tiny bat pony stood up. “But, aren’t you busy to… be around somepony like me?”

I let out a brief chuckle. “I don’t see what’s wrong about it.”

A surprised look later, and we soon were resuming the stroll on the capital, with Silver Song leading around with the most serious look a child could pull off. It was amusing, but for just a little while. As soon as I managed to gain a foothold over the questions, I finally got some answers out of him. Some of which were… rather upsetting.

The child lost his parents before he could even start walking. I was aware that there was a minuscule community here in Crystal City, but I was surprised that they couldn’t just keep the child around. He was brought to the orphanage, the orphanage was too tough and he just left it. And all of that happened just a year ago when… he was just five.

Yep, the colt that I thought was actually between 4 and 5 was actually 6. A little scrawny, clearly a tiny bit malnourished due to living on the streets and… I knew that I had to do something about it. While I was initially trying to find him a place where to live that wasn’t the streets, I slowly came to realize that there was a minor problem. Nobody here in Crystal City knew how to properly take care of a bat pony. With the community in the city having left together with the one from Evergreen due to the lack of favorable conditions of life for their race, I was handling the last bat pony in Crystal City. Maybe.

It was a reality that struck me by surprise and I really wasn’t sure how I was supposed to face it due to how much attached I was growing with the kid. He lacked some common sense due to not having any parental figure helping him around, he was small, young, very naive but incredibly street smart for someone his age.

It was a drastic decision the one that would follow the end of the visit, but the one thing that I was sure going to remember vividly was when, as I returned to the castle, I ended up finding Cinnamon cleaning up the hall just outside my office with a couple of other maids and… they stopped to see me holding someone that wasn’t there when I left.

“Sir, did you just… kidnap a colt?”

I frowned at the question. “Of course not, Cinnamon. This is my little ward, Silver Song. Say hi to Cinnamon.”

The bat pony giggled and waved his left hoof at the perplexed mare, his adorable display still stealing some giggles from the other servants and a tiny smile on the head maid’s face.

And yes, I just allowed my father’s instincts to adopt a child after just a few days in the job. I swear this isn’t going to become a problem. Possibly. Hopefully...

--------d-d-d-d-----------

Luna took a few quiet moments to properly explore the good recreation of my home’s kitchen. I spent about an hour or two to get the entire section done well and I was really tense as she looked around for any issues about the recreation, any anomaly that could destabilize the dreamworld. It wasn’t truly something that common, but it was best to make sure that everything was fine and that there were no abnormalities to worry about later on with this process.

She turned to me with a flat look and… then nodded. I felt my shoulders sag at that, my back leaning on the chair as I was taking a seat by the small table in front of the main counter. Still, a huff left my lips at how tense the entire situation felt early on.

“You know, you were really giving off the idea I messed up somewhere in there.”

The Alicorn smirked playfully, enjoying my little ‘annoyance’. “If you think so, perhaps there is something you believe is wrong in here.”

“Well,” I started to say with a truthful tone. “I guess I just can’t remember all the details of the kitchen. I just don’t stop around too long there and study all the fine details of it.”

While it’s true that I didn’t spend too much time there, the only reason why I wanted it done to the last detail was more of a selfish desire of mine to remember everything of what I had left behind. To be fair, I was putting too much pressure on myself about it and...

“And yet you’re trying to get it flawlessly right. I suppose the only issue is your interest in drawing a perfect picture of it when you already know it’s not doable,” She rebuked calmly trotting up until she was able to sit right on the chair in front of me. “You’ve been doing well, you shouldn’t bash yourself over it.”

“I suppose,” I replied quietly, already thinking of changing the topic. “So, I actually gave a thought about the whole situation with your sister and I think I got an idea you might like.”

She glanced at me with a frown, sporting incredible confusion about it. “Which one?”

Oh right, I forgot that the entire topic has plenty of problems to solve.

“The one where she tends to ‘borrow’ your sweet food.”

A gleam of realization appeared on the pony’s face. “Truly? What do you have in mind, John?”

I had to actually smile at the little plan since it was actually one that was going to work without any problem. “Since your sister is able to find cakes within Canterlot, how about you try and store it elsewhere?”

“That would require a safe enough place to hold it from my sister. Celestia is still a powerful being with her magic-”

“But not one that would think of a silly spot where to hide that kind of treasure. In this case, I believe I heard that one of the Elements of Harmony works in a bakery. It shouldn’t be difficult to request them to keep the food stored there so you can go and retrieve them whenever you wish to.”

Luna actually took a few quiet seconds to ponder about it. “I think Pinkie Pie would actually agree to this. Yes, I can… see that being a fair possibility,” The Princess pondered a mix of delight and seriousness. “I would still require secrecy, else my sister could find out of this strategy and make it unavailable for me to use beyond just once.”

“I hope you plan this properly. I know it sounds simple but… well, it’s not that easy to think up of a way to trick your sister in taking your cakes away.”

“Oh no, I understand your concerns, John,” Luna quickly agreed with a nod. “And I’m grateful for your assistance. This will certainly be a good plan for a few years since… I doubt Tia is going to fall for it for too long.”

I nodded at that genuinely amused to see the true relief on her face for something so silly yet so important for her. Regardless of that friendly banter, I decided to actually take the conversation to something a little more serious.

“By the way, I wanted to ask a tiny favor from you. A tiny one,” I repeated with a hint of uneasiness. She gave me a curious look, a glint of confusion added to it. “There is this little colt that… I believe might have some nightmares and I want to check if he really is having a normal sleep or not.”

“His name?”

“Silver Song.”

Luna hummed. “Any particular reason why you seek to know the state of his slumber?”

…

“Do you… remember when I mentioned that one of the things that made my babysitting job easy? The one about fatherly instincts?”

“Yes, I remember perfectly when you… said- oh,” She stopped and soon her eyes were narrowing on me with a serious look. “John, I want you to be honest with me about this. Did you just adopt a child that you just met?”

…

“Y-Yes? But wait, he is the only Thestral in Crystal City and he had trouble trying to find a place where to live,” I quickly reasoned as Luna kept on watching at me with a serious look.

“And do you have any preparation in taking care of a Thestral colt?”

“I’m planning to buy books and learn as quickly as possible-”

“You will not need any of that. I shall send you some letters from those of my guards that have families and have experience with children of their kind,” She interrupted calmly. “While I should be frustrated by this situation, I also know you’re experienced with children, so I will let you… be you about it.”

Ah, that’s great-

“Still, don’t expect me to condone this behavior happening too many times after this once. I’ve already dealt with similar behaviors when it comes to my sister. I don’t need you to become a copy of her.”

“Don’t worry, I would never steal your cakes without permission,” I commented mirthfully, getting a giggle out of her as she moved her right hoof to cover her face. “See, even you have to admit I’m a comical genius.”

“When people ridicule you, yes.”

Ouch, that actually hurt something. Maybe.

“Bah, I can be amazing without being beaten down verbally by a friend of mine,” I replied cheekily. “In fact, here I am, doing that by myself.”

Another giggle, she shook her head. Her smile sure was shining quite bright and unrestrained, and she soon revealed another issue that I had known very little about but… that I had a lot to think about. Blueblood was a name I had heard a lot from comments coming from the fandom. I was also aware that while he was a prick, he wasn’t the ‘villain’ kind of a prick. Just arrogant, pompous and terribly tied to his big title as Prince.

“I can’t blame Tia for keeping him around sheltered due to his ancestry, but I just can’t accept how she let him become what he is now,” The Alicorn lamented tiredly. “I could ignore his antics for a while, but he tends to make himself an element of irritation whenever he is around anyone to annoy.”

I blinked, thinking thoroughly about this interesting topic. “How about you try to send him away to someplace that can ‘fix’ his issues?”

“I tried to send him to the dungeons-”

“I wasn’t going for that harshness, Luna,” I replied with a snort, and I could tell she was just joking about it by the faux scowl leaving her lips. “I meant something like sending him to a place where he can be given a genuine and stern education while also keeping him away from the court. Like with a military academy. Give him something to worry about and put him in a situation where he can’t refuse that. Like having him show how to properly be a leader rather than a figurehead.”

There was another break from words, with the Alicorn thinking deeply of this possibility and… smiling eagerly at that.

“Tia wouldn’t have any reason to refuse. Despite her coddling of that fool, she is still somepony that would agree to the need of building him to stand strong against emergencies… yet I believe an extra push is needed to fully sell it to her.”

“How about a recommendation letter from the former Captain of the Royal Guard?” I suggested and her eyes widened. “I can ask Shining Armor to write a letter to you and your sister and bring this topic up. I feel like he would be more than happy to give his ‘cousin’ a reason to not be around the next time they visit Canterlot. Then you would have the opportunity to push for it.”

“And Tia would have no reasons to say no!” She exclaimed giddily. “This would remove that frustrating pest.”

I frowned. “That much of an issue?”

“He can be stressful, especially when he starts to whine like a foal when he is stopped from harassing the servants,” Luna admitted. “I don’t hate him, but I find his proximity the cause of many unneeded problems.”

“I see,” I hummed quietly and I saw the Alicorn stir a little her hooves forward and then step down the chair. “Ready for your shift?”

“As usual, and I hope this time around there are less nightmares after last week's intense work.”

“Knowing how things usually go, I will just say that I hope your workload is easier tonight,” I replied with a nod. “Have fun.”

She sighed. “I will try.”

A blink and she was gone. I took a brief moment looking around the kitchen and then I closed my eyes, feeling the drain of today between paperwork and setting up a room filled with stuff for Silver Song finally catching up to my mind and drawing me to properly sleep.

But as I calmly fell asleep, someone began moving in the darkness and took steps in bringing my rule down and restoring an old friend back to the throne.

Author's Note

AN

John versus naive pseudo-villain. They are not a changeling and they are not part of the cartoon-verse. But they are also in EaW. The battle of wits and silliness shall be legendary!