Equestrian Paradox: "Worlds at war"

Prince Blueblood never liked the concept of warfare and conflict, it was... so wasteful, all that money going only to weaponry wich was neither elegant nor useful outside of conflicts, when it could go to the beautiful buildings which made Canterlot such a beautiful city, all that money that was wasted in armies would be better in the hooves of artists and builders, not to the pockets of those old warmonger mares.

His aunt, the Princess Celestia wisely gave a limited budget to warmongers, something wich usually made them quite angry, but obedient, mostly because of the influence of Prince Shining armor... Not that such a minor noble could have done anything were it not for its marriage with Princess Cadence...

And now Blueblood was feeling extremely jealous again, how come that a minor noble rose ranks from zero to hero and became a prince while he who had lots of advantages got stuck so much... he wanted to be a hero too...

Sadly Blueblood couldn't exactly focus in his inner ramblings for much longer, mostly because of the news that his friend, Albatross had just delivered, currently he felt like an idiot for even allowing himself to get distracted with his jeaolousy towards his fellow prince.

Albatross went with a group of Lunar Guardsmares to explore a nearby uncharted region in hopes of finding any trace of a certain stone wich Blueblood had once told him about, a supposed stone which, after being processed in a rather arcane and really confusing way, would turn into some sort of steel wich could whistand even the scorching flames of the Princess Celestia herself, a material lost to time...

What he never expected was for his friend to run into his tent while he was talking with the Guardsmare in charge of the Cragadile hunting.

Albatross barged in suddenly, crying in fear and tackle-hugging him, behind him, a group of scared guardsmares trying to hold as firm as possible, clearly shaking for some reason.

Blueblood felt afraid to even ask about what was happening, until his eyes darted to one Guardsmare who looked oddly pale, walking closer, he saw something which instantly got his attention.

"NURSE!" He roared, not even bothering to hide his surprise or act with any hint of decorum, quicly lifting the mare with his magic and drawing closer to a tent. "NURSE!"

He commanded again, and out of the tent came a Earth pony, she had a green coat and a short pale mane, her yellow eyes focused instantly on the bat pony and she quickly took her inside the tent.

"PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN'T GOT ANY BLOOD SPILLED ON ME!" Blueblood shouted as he looked back at his still scared friend Albatross, he seemed to look at him for a few moments before giving him a nudge. "H...hey... w...what do we do now..."

"His majesty" One unicorn clad in golden armour spoke as it drew near Blueblood who was inspecting his coat in hopes of not finding any trace of blood. "Please, allow me to escort you out of this settlement, it has become quite clear that hostile forces desire this area, and as such, we cannot allow royalty to be endangered"

The unicorn spoke as she did a bow towards the prince, who looked just about to say yes...

But, Blueblood kept still for a moment, and looked towards his friend.

"Please... Albatross, could you tell me what happened?"

"A...again?!" Albatross wasn't exactly amused with Blueblood request, neither was the unicorn guardsmare, as she scowled, her helmet helping her hide that from the prince. "Y...yes... I... am a Prince... and as such I'm the closest thing to a leader that New Horseleans has right now, by royal decree it is my duty as the highest authority to lead the defense efforts.

"M...my prince there is no need to do that!" The unicorn quickly stood up and spoke in a less formal manner, taking a surprised look and even an step towards Blueblood. "Please milord, you have to leave this place, conflict is no place for colts, let alone princes!"

"Don't you have a defense to stage?" Blueblood asked and the Unicorn seemed surprised, taking an step back out of sheer shock, not only her, but also the bat ponies who were with Albatross. "M...milord b...but"

"Are you going to make me repeat myself?" The Prince said and the unicorn saluted before taking a shaky step back, and turned "R...r...ro...roger... S...sir"

"Report at the medical tent" Blueblood commanded the Bat ponies and they saluted before leaving him alone with Albatross. "T...TARTARUS!"

Blueblood cried out loud before slamming his head against his table, with a loud and painful sounding "thud". "Albatross, please, tell me again what happened, I really can't understand how or even why would a group of several races appear out of the blue and attack a group of guardsmares for no reason."

"W...well... i'm not sure about why they did that... but... I'm not even sure from where they came from!"

"Please, j--just tell me what happened, even if you aren't sure if that is how it happened" Blueblood asked Albatross.

Then Albatross reared for a second before slamming his hooves on the table, taking an angry look.

"IS THIS FUN TO YOU OR SOMETHING?!" Albatross said while tears streamed down his face. "I SAW SOMEPONY DIE! IS THAT TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND!"

"NO, IT ISN'T HARD!, BUT I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" Blueblood did the same gesture and looked at Albatross straight in the face, slamming his own face against him, both of them leering at each other, one crying and the other scowling. "OH, REALLY?! WHY DO YOU NEED ME TO REPEAT MYSELF?! TO LAUGH? TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY ONCE YOU GET BACK TO CANTERLOT!?"

Blueblood scowled before taking an step back and taking his hooves off the table, while Albatross looked at him with anger in his eyes.

"Why... I... really don't understand... why do you want me to repeat something that horrible?...I... the blood... the screams... I really don't want to speak about that again..." Albatross spoke as he sat on the floor, and let his face rest against his hooves, covering his eyes as tears streamed down his face. "And the things they said... what they would do to me..."

"I'm asking, because of an old law..." Blueblood said as pushed a crate, not using magic, only using his own strength, the crate was rather big and heavy-looking. "One which Aunt Celestia told me when I was just a foal, around the same time Lord Classy led his bat ponies against the Ursa major."

Blueblood spoke, before leaving the crate at the side of the table, soon he used his magic to lift another crate, this one was long and slim, elegant-looking even.

"I brought this because I felt it would be good for my image amongst the common folk, you know that most ponies dislike me" Blueblood shook as Albatross eyes focused on him.

Albatross own tears began to stop for a moment, as he looked at his friend, Blueblood was shaking, like a colt in cold water,his legs barely standing straight enough to hold his weight, his ears were down and his voice was as shaky as he was, and yet, he never shed a single tear.

Albatross could see, even feel the sheer fear in his friend, and yet he couldn't avoid noticing how he began to open the smaller crate.

Albatross eyes opened up, wide and round, as he took an step back, looking at the thing which was inside the crate, before quickly shaking his head, chanting a non-stop "no" as he did so, quickly lunging at Blueblood and holding him by the shoulder with his hooves.

"HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?!" He asked, before quickly closing the crate with his wing, almost crushing Blueblood's hoof in the process, quickly shaking his friend with all of his strength using his hooves. "PLEASE, TELL ME YOU ARE JUST PULLING SOME SORT OF TRICK!"

"I AM NOT!" Blueblood roared back and quickly threw Albatross hooves down to the table, almost making his friend fall down face down to the table. "I am serious Albatross, I...know this may be sudden, but so was the attack, I need to know what happened, to know what to say to the people... and our guard....no... our soldiers"

"Blueblood, this is crazy, this is madness!" Albatross said before Blueblood in a fit of sudden rage kicked the table breaking it in half, the crate over it sent to the floor in that instant. "THIS IS MY DUTY!"

Blueblood panted as his friend looked at him in shock, then using his magic he lifted the content of the crate...

It was an staff, like that of the witches and wizards of old, long and slim, made of the upmost perfect crystal and bronze, it had an sphere with lunar symbols on the top and a crown with a sun symbol over it.

"I am a prince, the highest authority in this place, the law dictates that even if the pony in question is an Stallion, the highest authority must lead a defense effort were the settlement be attacked while having no proper military leadership." Blueblood spoke as he lifted the staff, while opening the other crate, revealing a set of purple and golden armor, it was both beautiful and elegant, and quite light considering how the prince could effortesly lift its pieces. "Care to help me put this on Albatross?"

"Blueblood..." Albatross looked at his friend before then stepping out of the tent for a second, coming back with a frightened gaze. "Are you sure you want to do this? with only a letter, Princess Twilight could arrive in mere seconds, she must have experience with these enemies"

"And force her to solve another problem? No, if I she was here it would be her duty, it falls upon me to fight today"

"Stop the whole Noble-Prince dialogue, this is real life blueblood, not Ogres and Oubilettes!" Albatross told Blueblood and he nodded "I am aware, I swear upon anything that I can swear upon that I'm serious, I will stand and fight alongside everypony!"

Albatross looked at his friend, and took an step back, once again in this exchange, before closing his eyes and kicking the floor in a mix of desperation and frustration.

"This is stupid... Blueblood... just think about it for a moment, I just told you how I saw someone get MURDERED in front of me, in cold blood with not a single trace of remorse from the ones who did it... and you intend to fight? Stand fight in the same town that was overrun once already." Albatross clicked his tongue in frustration before trying to slap his friend, who quickly blocked the strike with an small magic barrier. "This time we have almost five hundred guardsmares, and out of them almost thirty are skilled in magic, we can stand and fight"

"..." Albatross looked at the side before then turning to the side and sitting on a chair. "Go ahead then... get changed, I'll try to organize my memories to tell you exactly what happened"

Albatross looked down, a bit dejected even, as his frown quickly turned into a sad face, which quickly grew more and more scared, Blueblood tried to put on his armor by himself, but it became quite clear he lacked any actual knowledge about how to do so.

Quite the hard proof of that fact, was the helmet almost asphyxating him, due to some kind of bizarre mistake Blueblood had managed to do by somehow, clearly scared he took a few steps back before slipping on a piece of the armor and being sent flying back down to the floor with a loud noise as he landed over his armor set.

The loud noise quickly warned a pair of guards, who bolted into the tent with clear worry.

The scene that welcomed them was quite weird, albeit a bit amusing, on one side there was Albatross sitting on a chair while holding his face with his hooves, shaking with a mix of grief, fear and a sudden urge to laugh as Blueblood was lying over his armor which was spread all over the floor after his fall.

The guards were quite fast in trying to help the Prince get up, however Blueblood lifted his hoof halting them.

"Don't... touch me" He ordered as he rolled over his armor, getting his muzzle just a bit near the floor, in that exact instant his horn shone bright as he let out a high pitched scream, dissapearing in a flash and then reappearing over a nearby table, standing on his hind legs "D...dirty! The floor is dirty!"

Albatross lowered his hooves and looked at him with an scowl before scoffing with a short snort, quickly returning to whatever memory excercise he was doing moments before.

The surprised guards took a few steps towards the armor, as Blueblood's horn quickly shone again and he reappeared back in place, his magic lifting the whole armor set.

"I...need you two to help me get inside this thing" He told the two guards, both of them were rather old Stallions, whose eyes quickly shone as Blueblood asked them that. "A...are you going to fight alongside us? Prince Blueblood?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself non-stop?" Blueblood asked as both Stallions glanced at each other and drew near to him, both were unicorns so using their own magic they began to pick pieces of the armor, cleaning them of any dust or dirt and quickly started to help their prince to get ready.

Albatross rolled his eyes and began to fly towards the exit of the tent, quickly leaving but not before closing the tent something which made Blueblood feel the need to thank him later, however right now he couldn't talk much.

"S...soldiers" Blueblood spoke as both Stallions helped him. "Will... Will someone die? I believe the commander already told you about the enemies..."

"To die is just another part of being a Guard, the moment you take the oath, is upon yourself to not only protect your own life, but that of those who trust you, when there is a big fight, there is going to be some dead... however, with a prince leading the charge, I can assure you, that everypony will fight with tenfold strength, rest assured on that!"

"Yes indeed milord, everypony fights for a reason, most fight for Equestria, which means fighting for the royals, you are one of them, one of the two colts who sit at the top with the title of prince!, The honor to fight alongside you outweights that of any other battle!"

"THIS IS ABSURD!" The voice of a mare could be heard from outside the tent "I WON'T ALLOW THIS, IF PRINCESS TWILIGHT WAS HERE THIS WOULD BE A FAIR FIGHT, BUT WITH PRINCE BLUEBLOOD HERE THIS WILL JUST BE A FIGHT TO PROTECT HIM, NOT THE TOWN!"

Then came the loud sound of an smack as someone clearly had a hoof to the face for breakfast after that loud statement.

"Silence soldier, if you are so willing to complain, you may as well join the first line, those who speak withouth action don't believe to be even listened to." Another voice spoke, as Blueblood ears fell down, he clearly felt hurt upon hearing those words.

"My prince, don't be afraid, many ponies may dislike the idea of an Stallion fighting, but the truth is, a good leader will always be followed, be it Stallion, Mare or whatever there is in the middle, we will stand by you!" One of the Stallions reassured Blueblood as he let out an small sigh.

"I'll get out in a few minutes, I'll just need some time to get some air" He ordered them and with a salute, both excited stallions left him alone.

And he promptly fell face down to the broken table, refusing to even allow an inch of his body to touch the floor.

"Why... you... you and your... BUCKING MOUTH!" He said to himself, despite the sheer wrath in his tone, he was quite silent as he did so. "Now we've done it Blue, now everypony will see what you are in reality.."

Then he turned and covered his eyes with his hooves, the helmet making it a bit harder to do.

"A coward who hides behind guards and says stuff no one can truly believe..." He groaned before his horn began to shine again, lifting his staff.

Blueblood gazed at the beautiful mix of crystal and bronze, even looking at his own reflect for a second or two, focusing for a moment on his at this instant unkept blonde hair, and scared almost goofy-looking face.

He was an absolute mess, wasn't he? He didn't even got Albatross to tell him again what happened with the hostile forces.

Only thing he could recall right now, was that the enemies, a group of ten, two Changellings and four griffons plus four hippogriffs attacked an explorer party of bat ponies, then they engaged Albatross escorts before they could even notice them, and massacred them, with only the five ones who escaped with Albatross surviving after the first Bat died with a hole the size of a golf ball where there once was her brain.

He shuddered even thinking about the idea of witnessing something that horrible, and yet, couldn't do more but feel angry at Albatross for simply leaving withouth telling him more details, he was as good as blind when it came to deal with these enemies, specially since he lacked any actual idea about how to defend a town, let alone actually 'win' and not only 'not-lose'.

Even worse, he felt horrible for even thinking about forcing Albatross to tell him more, he was his only friend darn it! And now he may as well have lost him because of his lack of empathy towards him.

Blueblood rolled to his side, getting ready to stand up... however, he looked at the floor, his tent had an small magical fabric which mimicked the floor of his room, which meant he wouldn't get dirty even if he played around in the floor.

Hating himself for what he was about to do, he stood up and using his magic, took off the fabric, tucking it inside the crate where it was brought here.

The dirt felt... cool, despite the horrible heat in this area, it was such an strange, weird feeling on his hooves, with each step he left behind a little trail and some dirt clung to his hooves, he already had experienced dirt before, but he never actually bothered to feel it.

During his whole travel he was wearing shoes, and hated how small ammounts of dirt would still get inside his shoes, however right now, with his hooves on the dirt it didn't feel wrong....

Taking a few steps he felt the full weight of his armor, it made him sick, like if he was nothing but a commoner carrying something... or worse a donkey...

And yet, for the first time in his life, he actually felt wrong at the idea of thinking less of others, he was quite sure that were a donkey to be in his place, he would have already spoke to the gu.... no... the soldiers whose lives he was about to ask for him to gamble in a conflict.

Taking a few steps towards the exit, he took a deep breath, trying to remember how Shining armor always looked whenever he wore his own.

And so he made way.

"To the ponies whose lives were entrusted to him"