“Noblesse has been in thar fer a long time,” Said Apple Bloom “What do ya’ll think happened?”

The CMC, sans Scootaloo, Dinky, and Ruby, were huddled outside the door to the schoolhouse. They would all be huddled outside the class room, but students weren’t allowed inside during recess, baring emergencies, and bathroom breaks. Even Pipsqueak and Sweetie Belle were with the group. Pipsqueak had finally decided what he thought of Noblesse now that he had gave the metallic colored Unicorn’s past some thought, though he refused to tell anypony else until he had said to Noblesse’s face. Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure how much time she’d be able to get with her friends without Noblesse there, so the young mare had decided that she could tolerate Noblesse’s presence as long as he didn’t hurt anypony for no reason.

“Maybe he had to use the bathroom?” Suggested the pinto Colt. Since his aunt, uncle, and his three younger cousins had moved into his family’s home, Pipsqueak had to rely on public restrooms as to make the two at home more available to his family.

Before anypony else could comment on Pipsqueak’s thought or give another idea, the door to the schoolhouse opened, revealing the Unicorn the group was just discussing. Noblesse didn’t stop walking to the tree where the group typically used as their hang out.

“I hope this isn’t thy attempt at earning Cutie Marks in subterfuge,” Said Noblesse as he passed by, bearing a joking grin and the twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

Even Sweetie Belle, the member of the Crusaders who was most critical of Noblesse, couldn’t help laughing at his joke. Pipsqueak called out Noblesse’s name the instant he pulled himself out of his mirth.

Noblesse turned around to face the pinto Colt. Though Noblesse was blind, he knew it was considered rude in Equestrian culture to not face someone while speaking to them, “Yes Pipsqueak?”

“I’ve decided,” The normally cheerful Colt said with a serious expression and tone of voice, “I don’t like the things you have done, but I know there’s more to you than that and I don’t know what would have happened had you not done what you were ordered to do.”

Noblesse nodded his head in acknowledgement and gave a small smile that appeared larger than it actually was to the others due to Noblesse’s lack of fur, “I appreciate thy understanding.”

Pipsqueak sighed. He wasn’t expecting Noblesse to flip out like Pinkie Pie and throw a party, but a less tame reaction would have been nice. Before the conversation could continue, Noblesse turned around sharply with one of his hooves raised to strike something. Noblesse was barely able to drop his stance and brace himself as he recognized the scent of the creature racing towards him. A familiar Earth Pony Colt with a wet wood colored coat and a pristine white mane and tail with a single large stripe of black going down the middle of both, slammed into Noblesse.

Clockwork had leapt at Noblesse before the aforementioned Unicorn had turned around, which meant that the younger Colt hadn’t seen the stance of the older, and was blissfully unaware that his one-time savior had nearly hurt him. Clockwork held onto Noblesse’s torso just below his neck and held on with all four legs.

Noblesse was unable to brace himself properly and grunted as the nine-year old flew into him, “Hi Noblesse♪” Said the Earth Pony with a suitable childlike innocence and cheer.

Now that Clockwork was holding onto Noblesse like a giant teddy bear, he could tell that his original estimates on Clockwork’s height were incorrect. The Earth Pony was slight taller than Pipsqueak, though Clockwork did have less than average muscles for an Earth Pony his age, “I take it thou’rt happy to see me.” Said Noblesse sarcastically.

Clockwork blushed in embarrassment as he realized what he had just done and chuckled nervously, “S-sorry,” Muttered the Earth Pony as he slid down Noblesse’s body.

Clockwork had hoped to use this awkward situation to his advantage by staging an ‘accident’ where Noblesse’s cloak was removed to see if his savior had his Cutie Mark. Unfortunately for the Earth Pony’s plan, Noblesse’s cloak had a number of straps on it to keep the wind from removing the cloak from the wearer’s body.

Noblesse took a few steps back and lowered himself to the ground so he could be at eye level with the young Colt, “Did'st ye need me for something?”

Clockwork nodded, but hesitated as he looked into Noblesse’s serpentine eyes, “Uh, y-yeah,” The poor Colt couldn’t keep himself from stuttering in fear, “I-I never got the ch-chance to thank you for the-the oth-other day.”

Noblesse gave the friendliest smile he could manage, “Think nothing of it. I was merely doing my job.”

“You’re job?” Asked Clockwork, his instinctual fear being slowly overridden by curiosity, “Are you apart of the Royal Guard?”

“Not quite,” Answered Noblesse, “For the time I lived in Canterlot, I worked with the Palace Staff. But to do that, I needed to take similar oaths that they do. So, I am legally obligated to protect citizens of Equestria when I’m able.”

“Does that mean you lived in the palace?” Asked the young Earth Pony excitedly.

Oh dear thought Noblesse. He didn’t need to see the expression on Clockwork’s face to know where this was going. Everypony who had the sense of sight, could see mesmerized twinkles in Clockwork’s eyes. Noblesse turned his head towards his friends and Sweetie Belle to hide the look on his face from Clockwork.

“Sorry mate,” Said Pipsqueak, crushing Noblesse’s silent plea for help, “But I’d like to hear about your time in the Canterlot Palace as well.”

“Well then, I’m sorry to disappoint, because almost nothing of note happened.” Noblesse smiled as he heard Clockwork’s disappointed groan, “At least, not until Discord meet Fluttershy.”

“What does the Spirit of Disharmony have to do with palace life?” Asked Rumble.

“Discord has a list of things he must do for Equestria as a form of parole,” Explained Noblesse, “Our Sun Princess put ‘entertaining’ the Nobility at the top of that list.”

Ruffled Feather, the Margrave of Cloudsdale, was once again hosting a soiree at his Canterlot Estate. Ruffled Feather was the spitting image of his ancestor, Commander Hurricane, as an unusually tall Pegasus Stallion with a sky-blue coat and a mane and tail white as the clouds. Ruffled Feather also happened to be just as arrogant as his ancestor prior to the Founding of Equestria.

“Where is that champagne I ordered?” Asked Ruffled Feather in an impatient hoity tone, “I called for it well over five minutes ago.”

“Right here, your grace,” Answered Noblesse as he slid a serving tray with the aforementioned bottle of bubbly surrounded by proper champagne flutes as well as wine glasses for anypony who didn’t want too much to drink.

Noblesse was wearing a butler uniform, as he was a part of the serving staff that Ruffled Feather had procured for this event. Like most of the Nobility, the Margrave did not like Noblesse. In addition to Noblesse’s looks, it had taken over a month for Noblesse to kick habits that simply were not acceptable in Equestrian high society. Namely, the liberal use of cursing. But as much as the Margrave disdained Noblesse, he had to secure the metallic colored Unicorn for this event.

Prince Blueblood, Princess Celestia’s own nephew, had RSVP’d for this month’s soiree. This was Ruffled Feather’s chance to arrange a marriage between ‘Equestria’s most eligible bachelor’ and his sister. This however, required that Ruffled Feather impress the Prince in everything at this soiree, including his staff. And Noblesse Oblige was unfortunately, not only one of the best servants available, but also one of the best servants in general.

Ruffled Feather was very glad when it came out that Noblesse Oblige had direct blood ties to the Royal Family, as the Margrave was one of the Nobles who didn’t go out of his way to insult the ‘Cavern Savage’ or openly look down on him. Ruffled Feather even sent Noblesse Oblige invitations for every soiree as a guest. This was because that, being descended from military aristocracy, Ruffled Feather both respected and feared veterans of actual wars and knew the dangers that would come with taunting one. While Noblesse never accepted any of these invitations, that didn’t change the fact that the Margrave of Cloudsdale was one of few Nobles who Noblesse didn’t have a grudge against. The Margrave even had specifically assigned Noblesse to his table, as he had managed to get Prince Blueblood to sit with him.

“And then I got up on my hind legs and screamed ‘I just had myself groomed!’” Said Blueblood, recounting the act he played on Rarity during the Grand Galloping Gala.

“I was impressed that thou kept thine act, despite thine thinking thy time was up,” Commented Noblesse as he poured the Ponies at the table their drinks.

“I didn’t think she was going to kill me, dear nephew,” Replied Blueblood.

“I saw thine expression and the look in thine eyes,” Said Noblesse. Prince Blueblood rolled his eyes as the other party guests tittered at his expense.

Everything was going perfectly. Prince Blueblood was enjoying himself, he and the Margrave’s sister were getting along and engaging each other in conversation frequently, even Noblesse Oblige seemed to be enjoying himself. What could possibly go wrong now? Thought Ruffled Feather to himself.

“Ah, the wonders of tempting fate,” Said a dreadfully familiar voice right in the Margrave’s ear.

“Gah!” The Margrave yelled out as he jumped out of his seat and turned around. Sure enough, Discord was in the place of the swan ice sculpture that was in the fountain behind the Margrave’s chair.

“Discord, what a surprise,” Said Ruffled Feather, choosing his words carefully, “What brings you to my estate?”

“Oh, I found out from Sun Butt, that I had once again not been informed of a party in our fair city,” Explained Discord, “We really must do something about our atrocious mail delivery system.”

“How awful,” Said Ruffled Feather, knowing that he had specifically told his couriers to keep Discord out of the loop about this particular soiree, “I’ll be certain to make sure you get an invitation next month,” He said, lying through his teeth.

“I’m sure you will,” Said Discord nonchalantly, “But for tonight, I will be providing entertainment♪” The spirit sing-songed.

Oh no. Was the only thought going through Ruffled Feather’s mind at that moment.

Discord picked at the insides of one of his ears until he pulled out an obnoxiously large goblet and tapped one of his claws against it, making a loud gong noise, “Everypony!” Called out the Draconequus, “I must have your attention!”

Conversation and movement alike stopped at Discord’s proclamation, “Your splendid host, the Margrave of Cloudsdale, the one. The only. Ruffled Feather has insisted on providing entertainment for tonight!”

“I did no su-”

“Tonight only!” Said Discord, interrupting the Margrave, “Ruffled Feather will be fighting monsters, all for the sake of your amusement!”

Discord stoke an eagle claw up one of his nostrils and made a giant ball of snot shoot out of the other close to the Margrave’s hooves. The ball of snot grew and contorted into a massive centipede, whose head almost hit the ceiling, and let out a deafening roar.

“Guards!” Called out the Margrave, “Guard me!”

Before the guards, glad in black armor with gold highlights (the colors of the Cloudsdale City Guard) could act, Discord slithered up to them, “Tia told me that there were positions in the Royal Guard if you gentlecolts turned a blind eye to all of this.”

The guards looked to each other. Promotions all around and the snob they’ve been working for gets his comeuppance. Who could deny such an offer?

The guards returned to their posts. The Margrave was about to shout something derogatory, when he noticed the shadow of the centipede covered him and his table. Ruffled Feather looked up to see the gapping maw. But before the Margrave could scream in horror, a torrent of brown jumping spiders spewed from the centipede’s mouth, instantly blocking him from view. The centipede continued to vomit spiders as they spread from the Margrave’s table and to the other guests.

Ironically, it was the guards who fled the manor house first. Guests and staff alike stampeded out of the ballroom. With the exception of the Ponies at the Margrave’s table, who were trapped on top of the table in the sea of spiders. If they weren’t panicking, they would notice that the spiders were keeping their distance from the table as they skittered away from the centipede Discord had spawned

“Brother!” Called out Iron Cross, the Margrave’s sister, as she flew into the torrent of spiders to save her older brother.

Discord and Noblesse were both floating in midair as they laughed hysterically, Discord having the decency to levitate Noblesse off of the ground.

Reactions to the story were mixed. Rumble and Pipsqueak were laughing out loud as they came from cities and Provinces that detested their nobility. Sweetie Belle found the very idea of a giant bug vomiting other bugs horrifying. Apple Bloom had a very neutral expression as she stayed silent. And Clockwork was stifling giggles.

“Ruffled Feather sold his Canterlot estate and retired to Cloudsdale and hasn’t come back since,” Explained Noblesse, finishing his story.

“I bet he hasn’t,” Said Clockwork, overcoming his giggles, “Who bought his estate?”

“Discord actually,” Answered Noblesse, “Turned the whole place into a giant nightclub. ‘tis most popular.”

“What did the Princesses think of it?” Asked Pipsqueak.

“I’m not sure Princess Luna knows of the incident as she was in the Under-Cities at the time and while Princess Celestia thought it was funny, she still had to remind Discord of the limitations he has to keep himself to,” Explained Noblesse.

“Why would Princess Celestia want Discord to mess with the Nobility like that?” Asked Clockwork. It seemed strange that the paragon of virtue in Equestria would encourage such behavior.

“In the years since the Diarchs have ascended to the Twin Thrones, the Nobility have become incredibly arrogant and obnoxious,” Started Noblesse, “The Diarchs still believe the Nobility have potential to be a productive entity in society, as there have been dozens of Nobles who have been great assets to our nation, but the majority of them are scum like Ruffled Feather: who believe themselves above work and commitment. So, Discord is being used as means of humbling the unreasonably self-superior members of the Nobility.”

“‘Unreasonably self-superior?’” Asked Pipsqueak with an incredulous tone of voice and a raised brow.

“There are members of the Nobility that actually have something to be proud of other than their heritage,” Pointed out Noblesse, “Margrave Gilded Chalice is a skilled mage, and while he doesn’t administer any of his holdings, he goes to greater lengths than most to ensure that competent governors are placed in charge of his family’s lands.” Noblesse sighed, “Then you have the Nobles who only care about their own athletic ability; think of Ponies that are like Rainbow Dash, but they don’t care for their families’ holdings and concentrate all of the resources they can into personal training.”

While both Rumble and Clockwork winced at the mention of Bearer of Loyalty, Clockwork was far subtler than the effeminate Pegasus, “Can we not talk about her?” Asked Rumble with clear disdain for Rainbow Dash while rubbing his temples as though the very mention of the Mare gave him a headache.

Both Noblesse Oblige and Twilight felt the subconscious pulls on their heads toward the direction of Rumble. Twilight felt dread and fear as Rumble’s emotional slip occurred, and the lavender Unicorn looked out the window to see that she was being mentally beckoned to the Crusaders. Noblesse’s pupils narrowed in surprise at Rumble. It was normal for early stage Practitioners to inadvertently let out echoes, like a bat, that could only be ‘heard’ by other nearby Practitioners. What caught Noblesse off guard was the particular emotion that the cheery good-natured Pegasus let out. While Practitioners of Dark Magic still felt the full spectrum of emotions that everyone else felt, their power mostly feed from the emotion that caused them to become Practitioners in the first place.

Noblesse had a subconscious feeling of what an early stage Practitioner’s ‘Feeding Emotion’ was, but that only narrowed it down the possible emotions by so much. The emotion Rumble had just echoed was an emotion that Noblesse knew how to deal with, but it was one of the more dangerous ones as well. Noblesse let out a sigh Legitimate hatred? It seems I will have to start lessons sooner than I thought I would.

“Is everything okay?” Asked Clockwork. As Noblesse redirected his focus from his thoughts, he realized that his friends were looking at him, most likely with concern given the tone of voice Clockwork used.

“Yes,” Answered Noblesse plainly, “I just realized that I will have to do something… unpleasant soon.”

Apple Bloom raised her brow at that. Growing up in a family that had been in business for several generations, all members of the Apple Family were taught how to read a Pony’s expressions and body language from a young age. Though Noblesse did an admirable job at hiding it, Apple Bloom could tell that Noblesse was omitting something important on purpose. She decided to drop it for the time being and act like she was none the wiser.

Damn thought Noblesse That came out too easily. Like anyone who worked in intelligence operations or anything underhoofed, Noblesse was trained to deal with social encounters: controlling body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc. Given the fact that Noblesse had let out an audible cue to his thoughts without realizing it until someone else brought to his attention, showed that two years of being perfectly blunt and honest with his thoughts and opinions without having to worry what anyone else thought had dulled Noblesse’s acting skills more than would have liked to admit.

Fortunately for him, Noblesse knew how change the subject in a productive way, “I apologize if this is a sore subject,” Started the metallic colored Serpicorn getting his friends’ attention, “But dost thou know’st why those Colts were chasing you?”

While Noblesse was using this topic to divert the Crusaders’ thoughts away from his own slipup, Noblesse was genuinely curious as to what could have provoked three older and stronger Colts to resort to violence with another Colt who was so much younger than them.

Lady Luck apparently favored the ex-soldier as the younger Colt was willing to explain, “I refused to do their homework for them.”

“Wait,” Said Apple Bloom, “That’s all ya did?”

“I told them why I wouldn’t do it,” Said Clockwork, expanding upon his explanation.

Everyone in the group gave oh’s of understanding with the exception of Noblesse and Rumble who were confused, “I think we’re missing something here,” Said Rumble.

Pipsqueak facehoofed, “Right, you two wouldn’t know. Lit’el Clockwork here offers to do homework for Ponies in the other classes.”

“Oh?” Sounded Noblesse showing his interest without reservation, “What would motivate such gestures?”

“I like doing the work,” Answered Clockwork, “But I only do one Pony’s homework from each one of the classrooms. I never do the homework of my classmates since I’d have to do the same exact problems twice. Those three jerks were in my class.”

“So, what? They felt thou were discriminating against them?” Ventured the noblepony. While Noblesse had uncovered plenty of petty and selfish rationalizations for a great deal of crimes, it was on the scale of nations, sects of various religions, units of currency amounting in the millions, and even inter-species relations. As such, Noblesse had trouble wrapping his head around such an insignificant cause.

“More or less,” Replied the young Earth Pony, “But ‘discrimination’ might be too strong of a word.”

“So, I guess you’ve done the other Crusaders’ homework in the past?” Asked Rumble.

“Nope,” Said Clockwork cheerfully, “The only Pony from your class that I help is my big sister.”

“Who would that be?” Asked Noblesse.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Clockwork answered all at once, though Clockwork was far more enthusiastic.

That explains his familiar smell Thought Noblesse But if they were siblings, why didn’t I recognize immediately? A Serpicorn’s sense of smell allowed them to gather much information about a person with a sniff, and at a distance that would leave the subject unware that they were being studied. Blood Relatives had similar smells when compared to one another, but a Serpicorn could always tell when two people were close in blood like siblings. I would write this off not actual being very familiar with Scootaloo, but I’ve spent a great deal of time in close proximity to her. Now that Noblesse was focusing on Clockwork’s scent, he definitely smelled Scootaloo on him, and his blood and her blood both had a similar scent. However, if they were truly siblings, it would be very obvious. So why?

“What the hay?” Said Rumble out loud, “Do the rest of you see what I see?”

Rumble directed the gazes of everyone sans Noblesse, who had no gaze to direct, to what had caught his interest. The Crusaders could see a short Colt talking to three different Fillies. This wouldn’t be too unusual given the time of year and the ages of the noon period class students, but this short Colt looked a lot like Pipsqueak. A white coat with brown spots and the same hair style. Rumble, who had the superior eyesight of the Pegasi, could tell that this Colt even had the same eye color as Pipsqueak.

“What direction is Rumble point to?” Asked Noblesse.

“Oh, sorry,” Said Rumble, “There’s a Colt I’ve never seen before to your left that looks a lot like Pipsqueak. Like you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two of them if they stood next to each other.”

Noblesse poured more Mana into to his tongue and turned his head. While Serpicorns naturally had a stronger sense of smell, they could channel magic into their tongues similar to how a regular Unicorn channels more Mana into their horns to cast stronger spells. Noblesse’s pupils narrowed in anger when his tongue detected a simi-unique smell.

“Excuse me,” Said Noblesse. Before anyone could react, Noblesse went prone and started slithering towards the group Rumble pointed out.

“Cool!” Said Clockwork. His looked on in amazement when he realized something, “Why did Noblesse need you to tell him where you were pointing to?”

Archer, Toola Roola, and Coconut Cream were approached by Pipsqueak shortly after recess started. Neither of the Fillies were expecting the short Pinto Colt to be so charming, his exotic accent didn’t hurt things either.

The Colt had never been so bold like this before then again, the Colt had only just recently hit puberty and it was mid-Spring. So, Archer figured that it was a combination of those things that had given him a new-found confidence, her mother and father had taught of such things about Ponies when she was younger. Toola Roola and Coconut Cream had been fighting each other and flirting with Trottingham transplant since he started hitting on the three of them. While Archer knew that her friends often enjoyed a friendly rivalry with each other, this was defiantly different.

Archer couldn’t feel any actual emotion coming from the Colt that was directed at the three of them. While she still returned the flirting, it was a courtesy that Pipsqueak picked up on and the Colt was quick to concentrate his attention on the other two. He seemed to be enjoying their backhoofed barbs at each as they vied for his false affection. Archer didn’t take the usually polite Colt for that kind of Pony, but she didn’t know him that well.

Suddenly, a metallic gray leg silently wrapped itself around Pipsqueak’s and lifted him off of the ground. Toola Roola and Coconut Cream were brought out of their little fight by Pipsqueak’s gasp. The three Fillies saw that Noblesse, the Pony who had single hoofedly beaten three farm Ponies into the hospital, had lifted Pipsqueak several feet into the air and was strangling him. Pipsqueak was struggling in Noblesse’s iron grip and trying to kick him with his hind legs, but he was too weak to loosen the grip on his own and too short to kick Noblesse.

“What are you doing!?” Exclaimed Toola Roola.

“Look about twenty-five feet behind me,” Said Noblesse as he slightly loosened his grasp on Pipsqueak.

The four Ponies followed the serpentine Unicorn’s instructions to see most of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders with Scootaloo’s younger brother. They also saw another Colt who had a suspiciously similar appearance to Pipsqueak.

Uh-oh thought the imposter.

“What in Ponyville?” Asked Coconut Cream aloud.

Archer was distancing herself from Noblesse, afraid what might happen if she stayed for too long.

“Reveal thine self,” Demanded Noblesse.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Insisted the imposter.

Noblesse tightened his hold on the imposter until he could no longer breath, “Do not play games with me, Broodling.”

Oh no thought Archer as she froze in fear. “Bugger,” muttered the imposter.

The faux-Pipsqueak was suddenly bathed in crimson fire for a brief moment. The flames faded to reveal a Changeling with dark blue carapace and red eyes. Instead of the blank bug eyes most Changelings had, this one had pupils shaped like eight pointed stars.

“How did you know?” Asked the Changeling with his natural echoing voice, though it still held the distinctive accent belonging to the Ponies of Trottingham.

“I am literally half snake,” Replied Noblesse sharply, “Snakes navigate their surroundings with their sense of smell. Know’st what smells not like Ponies?” Noblesse brought his face uncomfortably close to that of the offending Changeling and gave a cold threatening smile, “Chitin, Changeling Pheromones, and insect innards.”

Noblesse repositioned himself the way he was when he captured the Changeling, “Thou’rt in thine twenties, yes?”

“Twenty-six,” Answered the Changeling.

“Could’st thou explain why ye took the form of an adolescent Colt and started seducing a trio of underaged Fillies?” Said Noblesse, his tone voice somewhere between questioning and accusatory.

The Changeling’s cross pupils narrowed as he realized what the snake-Pony was implying, “Whoa! It’s not like that mate,” The Changeling brought up his forelegs defensively, “There are a lot of natives who aren’t too keen on Ponies immigrating from other provinces, the Town Watch has been viewing immigrants with suspicion ‘cause of all the looting, immigrants from the larger cities look down on everyone else, and it’s been very hard get a meal recently.”

Locals are taking issue with the immigrants? Noblesse knew that there would Ponies with concerns about Ponyville’s rapid and sudden development, and he also knew that there would be clashing with the immigrants and the locals. But if this Changeling is citing it as an issue, then there is a notable portion of the locals who are being openly hostile. Is it a general problem, or is only a few neighborhoods that are being aggressive? Wondered Noblesse. Lucky for you thought Noblesse in reference to his current captive You might prove to actual be useful to me.

“Never the less, thou hast still broken the law,” Noblesse gently set the Changeling on the ground, “Assume an original disguise, go to the Guard Station, tell them that you are in violation of Code Three dash Twelve, and cooperate fully with the guards.”

The Changeling eagerly nodded his head. His body was coated in red fire once again, fading to reveal that he had changed himself into a Pegasus with a sky-blue coat and mane. He turned around and spread his wings to fly away, only to be prevented lift off by Noblesse’s hoof pinning his tail to the ground.

Noblesse brought his head next to the Changeling’s and whispered, “I have thine scent, do not make me hunt ye down,” Noblesse lifted his hoof, and the Changeling flew away with great haste, presumably to the Guard Station.

Noblesse turned to the trio of Fillies, “Let not this incident color thine perception of the Changeling race,” Neither of the Fillies could tell if Noblesse was pleading or demanding. Before the three friends could speak a word, Noblesse had started to deftly slither towards his friends.