"Hey! Hey, cute guy! You okay?"

Water splashed on Blueblood's face. He sputtered and coughed, raising a hoof to protect himself. "Auntie, I wasn't cloppi- oh. You."

The purple pegasus grinned down at him. She was flanked by two more of her kind, one white with a mane streaked green and pink, and the other an oddly wall-eyed mare with a gray coat and yellow mane.

"What happened?"

"Funny story. As soon as Fluttershy noticed that you were about to get cooked, she jumped right out of my hooves, flew over to that dragon, and bucked it right in the face. Then she scolded it. And it flew off." She shook her head, her smile almost reaching her ears. "Damn, that pony is fine."

Blueblood shook his head, trying to clear some of the fog from it. He was lying next to the stream he'd landed in, though several feet away from his point of impact. A wide, blackened circle denoted where the dragon's breath had scorched the earth, though, oddly, the center was untouched. The prince gaped at it. "But how did I survive that?!"

"I think Twilight's brother did that," the white pegasus suggested. "One of his shield things appeared around you."

"Yeah, you guys should totally bang."

"Uh, what?" asked Blueblood.

"Just ignore Cloud Kicker," she suggested. "I'm Blossomforth, and this is Derpy Hooves. Or Ditzy Doo. One of those."

"Want a muffin?" the gray pegasus asked, offering the prince a pastry.

"Uh, yes, thank you." He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "You know, I think I met your daughter."

Cloud Kicker glanced up. "Hey, Fluttershy's back with Rainbow Dash. Time to get going."

The yellow mare landed gently near the group, supporting the weight of another pegasus, this one blue with a rainbow-hued mane. This one looked rather weak and exhausted; the jagged scrape on her thigh suggested the reason. The moment she caught Blueblood looking at her wound, though, she scowled at him. "I'm fine."

"Shush," Fluttershy told her sternly. "Um, are you okay, sir? I'm sorry, I didn't ask your name earlier... "

He extended a hoof with a smile. "Prince Blueblood."

The girls recoiled with a collective intake of breath.

"You're the one Mrs. Cake said raised the skeletons!" Blossomforth shouted.

"You tried to hit on Cheerilee, and got all creepy when she shot you down!" Cloud Kicker yelled.

"And you were a big, stupid jerk to Rarity!" Fluttershy squeaked.

Blueblood sighed. "Sort of, no I didn't, and yes, sorry about that. Look, it's a long story. But I can get you into the city to save Auntie Celestia. Will you please just let me help?"

"Do it."

The gathered ponies looked up. Shining Armor, one foreleg tucked up against his chest and his centurion's helmet missing, frowned down at them. "My soldiers broke through their western line and are falling back towards Trottingham. But the princesses need help, and I can barely walk. Take him."

"Oh, you're hurt," began Fluttershy.

"I'll be fine, miss. Just go."

Blueblood stared at his old rival. Shining Armor met his eyes.

"I will never forgive you for hurting her."

"Neither will I."

They held the shared gaze for a moment longer, and then Armor nodded. Blueblood picked himself up and turned to the cluster of pegasi. "Come, then, ladies. Destiny awaits."

Canterlot Castle exploded.

Celestia rocketed into the sky, firing blasts of radiant energy as hot as the sun into the rubble below. Tyranny rose after her, snaking past the shots and idly returning fire with a snap of his talons. The princess jerked as firey blue claws wrapped around her, pinning her wings at her sides. With a cry of effort, she shattered the constructs and darted away, putting more distance between herself and the draconequus.

"My, you really have let yourself go," the monster cackled. "Blasts and bubbles? Where is your imagination?"

Celestia's snarled, and a pack of golden phoenixes suddenly appeared and dove towards Tyranny, circling the creature so rapidly that they created a vortex of fire. The draconequus laughed delightedly, and suddenly the phantasmal birds were trapped in individual cages that plummeted to the earth below.

"Better!" he cackled. "But still far short of your best work. Whatever happened to that thing you did, with the snowflake that turned into complex shackles? I rather liked that one."

"Be silent!" the princess roared. A pillar of white light as thick as her body erupted from her horn, shearing the creature in half. Tyranny glanced down at his severed form, rolled his eyes, and sprouted a new pair of legs.

"Honestly, Celestia, are you even trying? Don't you remember how you beat me the last time? I believe you and Luna opened portals to the moon and sun, blasting me with flame while freezing me with the cold vacuum of space. Oh, but I suppose you'd need her here for that. Too bad I hit her with a train."

Celestia fired another rapid series of blasts. The draconequus easily weaved past them, all while idly inspecting his claws.

"Marvelous invention, trains. I'm rather impressed with the things your ponies have come up with! They'll make excellent subjects, I think. I must try not to crush their wills too thoroughly."

"Never!" she screamed. "You may defeat me, Tyranny, but you won't rule Equestria. My ponies will find a way to bring you down. I promise you that."

"Yes, hmm," the creature said vaguely, brushing its knuckles on the front of its robe. "Well, I'm afraid this is getting really rather dull, my dear. I think I'll turn you to stone and place you next to my idiot brother. I think he'd enjoy that; he always did have a bit of a crush on you, you know."

"You--"

Celestia's response was cut off abruptly. One moment, she was the furious Princess of the Sun, glowing with radiant power and righteous wrath. The next, she was a statue of a meek little filly, barely old enough to have earned her cutie mark. Tyranny examined his handiwork and smiled. "And now to conquer the world."

"Yuck, good thing Rarity isn't here," Rainbow Dash observed dryly.

The pack of ponies were moving through an ancient, secret passageway that, thanks to a burst pipe somewhere, was also serving as an unofficial sewer. This turn of events must have come within the last few years; Blueblood distinctly remembered the tunnels being free of anything worse than cobwebs and the occasional spider. He made a mental note to have the sewage line found and repaired as soon as possible.

"We'll pass a few doors soon," he told them. "Take the second one on the right."

Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth nodded back to him.

Blueblood fell back into his thoughts, putting aside a bit of mental power to keep his horn lit. He didn't have much of a plan beyond "find the other Bearers, blank, profit." And judging from the distant explosions that kept shaking the entire mountain, he wasn't sure that plan was going to be relevant anymore. Twilight Sparkle and the others might well be dead by now, along with almost everypony else in Canterlot. Hay, if it wasn't for the continued battle, he'd be worried that Celestia and Luna were gone, too.

If the other Bearers were dead, then it was very likely over. There were enough ponies here to make a new group, but he wasn't exactly confident that any of the potential replacements, including himself, would match any of the Elements. Derpy could probably take Generosity, and Cloud Kicker was pretty Honest about her desire to copulate with anything on four legs, but...

The lead pegasi reached the indicated door. Blossomforth moved to push it open, but to no avail. "It's locked."

"What? It is the second door on the right, isn't it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, let's see. One," she pointed to the door Blueblood stood next to, "two. I'm pretty sure, yes."

"Sorry, I just meant... that door shouldn't even have a lock. This is an escape route known only to a handful of ponies."

"Um, did you try knocking?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Oh, come on, Fluttershy," Dash groaned.

Derpy shrugged, pushed past the others, and knocked politely.

"Uh... who's there?"

The others jumped, but Derpy just smiled. "Hi, Applejack! It's me, Ditzy. Can we come in?"

There was some muffled discussion from the other side. "How do we know it's you?"

"Well, remember how, the other day, I delivered you that thing that you really didn't want me to tell anypony about? The one that kept buzzing inside the box, because somepony accidentally turned it--"

The door opened. An orange earth pony in a Stetson hat ushered them in, her cheeks burning a bright scarlet. "Ditzy! Good to see ya! Come in, come in!"

Blueblood followed the others in. The room beyond was as he remembered: an ancient waypoint for those needing to escape the mountain, equipped with a few barrels of dried food, fresh water pouring gently from a hidden opening above, and a few uncomfortable but serviceable cots. On them sat five ponies; two of them were clearly guards, while the other three were a familiar-looking set of two unicorns and a bright pink earth pony.

"FLUTTERSHY!" said pony cried. "DASHIE! You're okay!"

"Hey, Pinkie," the rainbow-hued pegasus said with a weak grin. She cringed as her friend went to wrap her in a massive hug, but fortunately, the other pony noticed the wound in her flank first.

"Oh, Dashie, what happened?! Here, lay down on this cot! Somepony get me some bandages, some hot water, and 50ccs of methadone, stat!"

Blueblood stared at the pink pony in confusion, but the others seemed to be ignoring her, so he decided to follow their lead. Meanwhile, the other Bearers gathered around Fluttershy, hugging her and asking quiet, intense questions about her journey.

"We were so worried... "

"What took you so long? ... "

"How'd Rainbow get hurt? ... "

Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth stood a little to the side, clearly not part of the main circle here. Derpy was a bit closer, evidently waiting her turn for a hug, too. With a shrug, Blueblood turned to the guards. "What happened?"

"Castle's evacuated. Something happened to Princess Luna when those things first showed up. We're under orders to guard the Elements and get 'em out of town."

"New orders. We have to get them upstairs so they can fight Azure."

"Dashie isn't fighting anypony," Pinkie scolded, surprising the prince by suddenly appearing right in his face. "She's hurt! She needs serious medical attention!"

Blueblood matched her stare with his own. "And Auntie Celestia needs your help or she could die, you annoying little twit!"

All conversation stopped, and all eyes turned to Blueblood. One of the ponies, a white unicorn with an indigo mane, began to seethe as recognition sank in. "You!"

"Oh, here we go," Blueblood growled. "Listen, just shut up! All of you, just shut up! I know I'm a bad pony, okay? I know none of you like me. But do you hear those explosions? Do you feel the ground shaking? Auntie Celestia is fighting for us up there, alone. You are the only ponies that can help her. So stop yammering, stop fussing over eachother, and get to it!"

Rarity's nostrils flared. "Listen, you arrogant, uncouth, snobbish piece of... "

"He's right."

Everypony turned to Rainbow Dash. Despite her obvious pain, despite heaving to lean on Pinkie for support, her ruby eyes were shining with defiance. "He's right. We hafta get up there. I keep telling you guys, I'm fine. And it won't matter how hurt I am if we're all turned into skeletons or something, right?"

Grudgingly, the others nodded agreement. Twilight Sparkle reached into her saddlebags and began wordlessly passing out the Elements of Harmony. Nopony looked at Blueblood. Even the guards were staring at the floor uncomfortably.

"Okay, then," Twilight said, once the girls were ready. "Um. Wish us luck."

"Good luck," said Tyranny. And then the Bearers were gone.

"Well, this has been a rather productive evening, I must say," the draconequus told his audience as he lay draped across the remains of Celestia's throne. "Captured two goddesses, banished the only threats to my power to the moon, and became the undisputed ruler of Equestria. I wonder what I'll be able to knock off my to-do list tomorrow?"

Blueblood said nothing. Beside him, Cloud Kicker struggled to make herself heard through the rags stuffed unceremoniously in her mouth. Blossomforth heard enough to roll her eyes.

"Perhaps I should thaw out my brother. Let him see what I've managed to accomplish, while he found himself turned to stone, not once, but twice by the same magical doodads." He laughed. "I think it might be fun to crush his will. Maybe I could get him to stop making that stupid chocolate rain."

He smiled at the thought for a moment, before turning his attention to his captives. "You know, Blueblood, I'm rather surprised at you. I almost wish you were my grandson. You showed such cunning, such intelligence, such courage in the face of certain death. Why, if you kept it up, you might even make other ponies like you some day. I mean, you were ready to make your last words a series of awful jokes directed at a dragon. You've got style, boy."

Blueblood just glared at him.

"Speaking of style... You wouldn't happen to know what happened to my queen, would you? I was rather looking forward to showing off her new look to our subjects. Why, I have a feeling that it would soon be all the rage." He chuckled weakly. "All the rage? Queen of Wrath? No? Hm."

"Oh, I get it!" Ditzy chirped.

"Thank you, my dear, I'll kill you last."

"This isn't over yet," Blueblood said calmly.

Tyranny quirked an eyebrow. "Really, boy? I'd say it very definitely is. My army holds the city, everyone who might oppose me is gone... really, I think you're out of cavalry."

"There's still me."

That elicited a derisive snort, followed by a gail of laughter. Blueblood did his best to keep the annoyance off his face as the draconequus roared with such mirth that he almost fell off the throne. After more than a minute, he finally began to settle... and then he looked at Blueblood again, snorted, and broke into an even longer giggling fit.

"Okay," Tyranny finally gasped, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Okay. And how, exactly, are you going to stop me? You're shackled to a wall in my throne room, boy."

"I'm going to talk you into surrendering."

The draconequus tilted his head, a wide grin splitting his face. "Do tell."

"I destroyed the construct you made from Cadance's power. That means that the burden of powering your army now rests on you alone."

"Hardly a drop in the bucket, boy. I still defeated both of your princesses."

"Sure, but eventually, that toll is going to start to wear on you. Especially when Celestia, Luna, and Twilight start fighting against whatever spells you've cast on them. You're going to have to choose; do you keep the undead horde, or do you keep your enemies trapped?"

"Again, you're wildly underestimating my power."

Blueblood shrugged as best he could. "Maybe, maybe not. Meanwhile, I know Shining Armor. Right now, he's out there gathering every pony that can carry a spear. You'll have to raise every skeleton in the Everfree Forest before you stop him."

"Go on."

"Then there's the fact that Cadance's powers are free. Once she has them back, she's going to come after you. And I know her, too; she's smart. She won't fight you directly. She'll free Auntie Celestia, and then the two of them will find a way to release Luna and the Bearers."

"Fascinating."

"And then, you'll be faced with three pissed-off goddesses, the Elements of Harmony, a knight who doesn't know the definition of the word 'yield'--I'm being serious on that, I literally don't think he does--and every ally and resource they can call up. You should just save yourself the beating and get out of town while you still can."

Tyranny stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An interesting proposition. I'll take it under consideration." He paused for a moment, then pantomimed crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it over his shoulder. "Nah."

"Well, your funeral." He fell silent, staring at the wall behind the draconequus' head.

Tyranny watched him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw nothing there. He looked back at Blueblood and saw him grinning. He frowned. Blueblood's grin widened.

"Okay, I admit, you're sort of creeping me out now."

The prince just smiled.

"Ooh... kay. This needs to stop. How about a nice execution? You, the annoying one, you're up first."

The shackles around Cloud Kicker's limbs disappeared. She floated over to the center of the throne room, and Tyranny rose from his throne to pace a circle around her. "Let's see, how should we do this? It's been a few millenia since I tortured a pony to death. Do you have qyzincks? I forget."

He glanced over at the prince. He was still staring into the distance, smiling that creepy little smile.

"Well, we can start with the basics. How would you like to be flayed, girl?"

Cloud Kicker's response was lost in her gag. Tyranny smiled and, with a snap of his fingers, the rags disappeared. "Could you repeat that, dear?"

"I said, 'I love gettin' flayed.' Though you're not really my type."

The draconequus chuckled. "Tell me, little pony, what is your name?"

"Duke Stenchwind the Flatulent of the nineteenth district of Up Yours."

"I see. And what is it you do for a living?"

"I'm a professional sex toy engineer. I test 'em on Blossom. Oh, and sometimes I collect my own feces and do hoof paintings with it."

The pegasus suddenly went rigid, as if she was being stretched taut in every direction. Tyranny leaned forward, his eyes level with hers, and put a hand to her head. "Let's try that again."

"My name is Cloud Kicker," she said in a hollow monotone. "I am a weather pony in Ponyville. I am one of Rainbow Dash's assistant managers."

Blossomforth gasped. "What are you doing to her?!"

The draconequus rolled his eyes. "I'm named 'Tyranny' for a reason, girl. I'm bending her to my will. I thought that was rather obvious. Now then," he continued, turning back to his chosen victim, "of the ponies in this room, which would you least like to kill?"

"Blossomforth."

"Good, good." He grinned. "Kill Blossomforth."

Cloud Kicker fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Slowly, she rose to her hooves, and then lifted herself into the air. She began advancing on her friend, hooves outstretched.

"No," the white pegasus whimpered, trying to struggle free of her shackles. "No, please, Cloud Kicker... "

Tyranny laughed, low and menacing. He glanced at Derpy and saw her mouth hanging open in wordless horror. His eyes fell over Blueblood...

And he was still grinning.

"Stop that!" he shouted, pounding a hoof on the floor. "I am literally causing one of the worst tragedies imaginable, and you're still smiling off into space like a lunatic! Pay attention to me!"

Blueblood blinked and glanced at the draconequus. "Sorry, what?"

"If you hadn't noticed, I am forcing one of your friends to murder another!"

The prince glanced at them, frowned, and shrugged. "Eh, we'll be rescued before that happens."

"What?!"

"Cadance just freed Princess Celestia, and they're working on getting back Luna. Two minutes, tops. Then they just need to get the Bearers, and... "

"You're lying!"

Blueblood shrugged.

The draconequus went into a fury. He smashed the throne to kindling with a flick of his hand, sent a wall exploding outwards with another, and cracked apart the flagstone floor with a frustrated stomp. "You're lying! I know you're lying! If Celestia were free, I'd know it! Look!" He waved, and suddenly a statue of a terrified young filly appeared floating beside him. "You see?! Still here!"

"That doesn't look like Auntie Celestia."

"Of course it doesn't, you idiot!" Tyranny roared. "I reverted her to a foal before I imprisoned her!"

"So you know what she looked like as a foal?"

"I... " He paused, doubt flashing across his face.

"Turning ponies to stone is one of Auntie Celestia's trademarks, Tyranny. Do you really think she'd let you do it to her? I'm sure she felt terrible about using some poor filly in her place, but come on, bigger picture."

"No! It's her! Look at the cutie mark!"

"How do you know it wasn't just etched onto the statue?!"

"You- I'll prove it!"

There was a flash of light, and then Princess Celestia, looking a bit dazed, hovered beside Tyranny in all her adult glory. "See?!" the draconequus cried.

"Eeyep," said a large, red stallion as he slammed into the creature, knocking it onto its back.

"What the--"

"Cutie Mark Crusader Royal Liberation Squad, ATTACK!"

Before the draconequus knew what was happening, three young fillies had pounced on him and were gnawing industriously at his legs and arms. Tyranny shrieked in outraged fury, but was cut short when a zebra dropped a ball of some acrid, green powder into his mouth. Coughing and gagging, he managed to roll away, only to find a magenta earth pony clutching a warhammer in her mouth. He cringed back as the hammer smashed into the stones where his head had been, and, finally coming to grips with the situation, leapt to his hooves and reared up.

"ENOUGH! I will not be defeated by- by commoners and, and CHILDREN!"

"No, you won't."

A blast of blazing blue energy slammed into the draconequus, knocking him back to the floor. He tried to rise, but another hit him in the chest and then spread to pin down each of his limbs.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, her mane a halo of rose-hued energy, stared down at him with righteous fury in her eyes. "It's over, Tyranny."

He sighed. "Discord's never going to let me hear the end of this."

"It's okay, Cloud Kicker," Blossomforth sighed. "I forgive you for trying to kill me."

"I'm so sorry!" she purple pegasus sobbed, burying her face in her friend's chest.

"It's okay. Tyranny was controlling you, you weren't-- h-hey!"

Cloud Kicker grinned. "You taste nice."

The throne room was packed with ponies. More and more had filtered into the ruined castle after the skeletal horde had, without explanation or preamble, suddenly collapsed into lifeless piles of bones. Guards, nobles, peasants and merchants alike milled about the halls, gossiping to eachother and trying to figure out what, exactly, had happened.

"Princess Celestia, I'm so sorry!" Twilight Sparkle told her mentor, tears streaming down her face. "We were on our way to help you, and then we were just... "

"Shh," the princess murmured, striking her student's mane. "It isn't your fault, Twilight. Tyranny was always smarter than his brother. Not, of course, that that's saying much."

Twilight wiped a tear away and flashed a wry grin in the direction of the pony who'd helped save the day. "Good thing, huh?"

Blueblood caught her eye and her smile, and returned it in kind. He frowned a bit when Twilight immediately burst into giggles. With a shrug, he turned back to Cheerilee and Big Macintosh. "I can't thank you enough. Finding Cadance, risking your lives to distract Tyranny for her... you saved Equestria."

"Aw, shucks," Macintosh blushed, scraping a hoof across the ground.

"I'm just glad that you're okay," Cheerilee told him with a smile. "I mean, after all you've been through... "

He shook his head. "This, all of this, is my fault. I'm glad you were there to save the world despite me."

"Destiny is a two-edged sword," Zecora told him, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "But those who chase it are rarely bored."

He managed a small smile, which grew in size when three fillies in tattered red capes leapt up and wrapped themselves around his neck.

"We love you, Prince Blueblood," Sweetie Belle told him, punctuating the statement with a smacking kiss on his cheek.

"Well, yeah, I suppose ya ain't all bad," Applebloom added. "I mean, I reckon 'love' might be a li'l strong, but..."

She was silenced as her friends pressed themselves closer in another group hug.

"Girls," called Cheerilee, "Prince Blueblood needs to breathe sometime. And I think he has somepony who wants to speak to him."

The fillies disentangled themselves, and Blueblood looked up to see Princess Cadance, her newly ethereal mane billowing around her head, looking at him with an unreadable expression. He gulped and followed her out of the room.

They walked in silence, ignoring the ponies calling for their attention as they passed further into the castle. Finally, they reached the old library they'd spent countless hours in as foals. Cadance opened the door and waited for Blueblood to enter; he did.

They stood there for awhile, not looking at eachother, and not speaking.

"Cadance," Blueblood finally said, "I'm sorry."

"I don't know if that's good enough."

The words hit him like a stone. He bowed his head.

"What you did... Blue, I could have died. And, and, your fixation on me... honestly, it's not good. I'm married, Blue. Even if you can't let go of your obsession with me, you need to respect that. We will never
be together."

He nodded. He couldn't speak past the lump in his throat.

"We don't know how many ponies died because of this. We don't know how many families were broken apart, how many lives were shattered. We don't know how many little foals will grow up without parents because of you, because of your... I don't even know what to call it, Blue."

"Stupidity?"

"That's a start, yes. Blue... I don't want you here anymore."

He swallowed back tears. "I understand."

"Thank you for helping me defeat Tyranny. If you hadn't recognized my telepathic voice, if you hadn't been able to stall him so we could surprise him... I don't know if I could have beaten him in a fair fight. And getting him to release Celestia, well... I admit, that was an extraordinarily clever. Reversing his de-aging spell might have been... complicated. So... thank you for that. You did well."

She turned to look at him, and he lifted his eyes to meet hers. "But you can't stay here any longer."

He nodded. He moved towards the door.

"Blue, you... you don't have to go yet. Get some rest. Pack your things. I'm not just throwing you out."

"No," he said, forcing a smile. "It's okay, Cadance. You're right. I need to get out of here."

He moved past her and into the hall. "Oh, and Cadance?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for calling me 'Blue.' "

She pretended not to hear him cry.

Dear Auntie Celestia,

I'm doing well here. I admit that Ponyville is a bit more... well, rural than I'd like, but the folks here are friendly and hardly seem to hold the destruction of their town and livelihoods against me.

(I think it helps that the Cutie Mark Crusaders loudly and vehemently shout down anypony they hear saying a bad word about me.)

I've taken a part-time job at Sweet Apple Acres. As it turns out, I've got a decent head for numbers. Just by going over expenses and adjusting a few prices, I've set the farm on the path to the largest profits they've seen in years. Apparently, Granny Smith is going to get a new hip soon. Would it be too much to ask for a referral to one of Canterlot's better surgeons? I'm not sure I trust Dr. Sawbones.

Also, yes, I am dating. Thank you for inquiring. Constantly. With every letter. And no, I am not going to tell you who. I know you, Auntie; you'll be planning weddings in no time. I will say that you have met her. And that is all the hint I am going to give you. (And don't you dare send spies.)

Cheerilee's been kind enough to invite me to her class again. I was supposed to talk about the First Equestrian Bank, but somehow, I ended up regaling the students with the story of that private eye from Fillydelphia who uncovered the bank's corruption. Regardless, the students rather enjoyed it, and she and Macintosh even bought me dinner in gratitude.

All things considered, I couldn't be doing much better. I am... happy. How strange it is to write that and actually mean it.

Please, give my regards to Cadance and Shining Armor, and give Auntie Luna a big hug on my behalf.

Thank you, once again, for your eternal love and patience. I love you, Aunt Celestia.

Your Devoted Newphew

Blueblood