“Hey Fluttery, what do you call a horse who lives next door?” Fluttery lazily turned her head to Light Dasher.

“What?”

“A Neigh-bor!” A burst of laughter came from the group of ponies.

“Light Dasher you’re so funny! I'm glad you are our leader!” Star Grazer loudly cleared his throat and they all laughed.

“Hey Barry, why did the pony stand behind the mule?”

“I don’t know why?” He looked behind him toward Light Dasher.

“He wanted to get a kick out of him!”

The whole group erupted into raucous laughter save for Blueblood. Blueblood stuck to his own devices the entire journey. He didn’t eat with the others and didn’t sleep with the others. He tries his best to disconnect himself from the group.

Were in the middle of a war and they are telling jokes! This war shouldn’t even have happened! This is idiotic… Why did that pony have to be right…?

“The warning was right… Everypony Get inside, NOW!” A meager defense was set up at the door of the ballroom. Fancy Pants was assisting injured ponies inside. The entire of Canterlot was in chaos! Blueblood remembered the claw, the pony that jumped, the pony that begged, and the pony that lived.

Blueblood snapped back to reality when the others were out of sight. He galloped up the winding road. The trees were less of a forest and more of a sparse wood now. The hardened ground, dusty and hard, kicked up as he caught up with the soldiers. They still joked and laughed, much to the annoyance of Blueblood. Several more hours passed before they reached their final resting place.

“All right, here we are!” Star Grazer pointed toward a parched landscape interrupted by patches of grass and weeds. The area was surrounded in dense wood with the sun beginning to set overhead. “Whelp! Let’s make camp and wait for the others!” The group moaned and began to unload the cart.

Blueblood was unpacking the larger tent material when a wild smiling Fluttery appeared. Her smile soon faded once she saw Bluebloods grim expression. It could possibly be annoyance...

“Hey, Blueblood right? I'm going to gather firewood wanna' come?”

“No.” She frowned.

“Well I was just being polite. Star Grazer said to come with me!” She huffed and walked toward the woods. He stood there un amused. “What are you waiting for?”

“For Star Grazer to tell me to do so. I'm working; I don’t have time to play any of your silly games.” She turned around squinted her eyes at him. She examined him attempting to find any trace of vulnerability so that he could lighten up. She eventually gave up and decided on dragging him by his mane.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts! That hurts! That hurts! That hurts~…

Blueblood muttered to himself as he began gathering dry twigs and leaves for the fires. Fluttery told Blueblood that they had arrived at the campsite a few hours ahead of schedule despite their long march through the woods. His ear twitched as he heard a twig snap behind him. He quickly turned around finding fluttery gathering near him. Letting out an exaggerated sigh he continued gathering.

He walked into a clearing where many birds seemed to have gathered. The tiny twittering creatures did not flee at his presence; they merely acknowledged and stepped aside. He bent down and let a pretty blue bird land on his hoof. He admired the birds grace and poise. It certainly stood out among the rest. It was a navy blue color with silver wing tips. It also had a silver spot where its beak is. The bird coed at him and gently tugged his mane. He chuckled and a smile broke across his face. This… this is nice. The animals singing a delightful tune, the mauve sky above, and me away from everypony and everything in the world…

A loud rattling sound came from behind. The birds fled in a flurry of flapping wings. His special little silver winged bird took off. He reached out to it but it kept flying away. Blueblood turned around to see fluttery caring an unusually large bundle of sticks and dry material. She smiled through the sweat on her face. She was panting and slowly walked toward him. He stared at the mare stunned by the odd appearance. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. They stood there locked in each other’s gaze in the middle of the woods. She caught her breath and opened her mouth.

“Hey… Blueblood, I'm thirsty!” Her eyes rolled to the side as she began to fall. He caught her and gently placed her on the ground. He wiped her mane away from her face. Did she just die? Huh… He began to walk away before stopping a few steps away.

Blueblood! What are you doing?!

Walking back to camp…

You can’t just leave her there!

Why not? She hasn’t done anything for me, besides, she was sweating and it will dirty my coat.

Have you learned nothing from Canterlot?! Did that guard not teach you anything?! Are you really that much of a cowardice, good for nothing? You left that guard-

OK! I know what I did… me. Fine… I’ll help the mare.

Good, I'm glad that you now listen to me. Maybe someday in the very far and distant future you will finally be liked by somepony!

Are you sure you are my conscience?

Just go help her! Look she is waking up.

Blueblood opened a saddlebag that Fluttery was carrying. She groaned as he shuffled through the bag. He found a half full canteen and opened the topper. He opened the mare’s mouth and reproached a little as he poured the clear liquid into her mouth. She swallowed the water and opened her eyes. She lazily looked over to Blueblood before she closed her eyes again and sighed.

She has to be dead for sure now! The mare began to quietly snore. Blueblood deadpanned and removed the large bundle of sticks from her back. He struggled with the knot she tied to herself and had to resort to gnawing the string off her with his teeth. He hoisted her onto his back, ensuring that she stayed secure. He untied the stick bundles from his side to allow her more room. He then began heading back in the direction of camp.

The rest of the army came and had already settled in by the time Blueblood came back, Fluttery in tow. He brought her to the infirmary where an off gray earth pony helped Fluttery onto a stretcher and into a curtained off area.

“It’s a good thing you got her here! She was severely dehydrated and has a minor case of heat stroke. Well heat stroke is not minor but she will be fine.” She smiled at him and walked into the curtained room. What is up with ponies smiling at me? Stop smiling at me! There isn’t anything to be happy about! Yes there is! Think about the bird! No! The bird flew away!

Blueblood mentally argued with himself in the infirmary before being asked to leave a few minutes later. He agreed and walked around the camp, observing the other ponies and their nightly business. The stars were very well visible despite the several campfires that spread throughout the camp. He asked a unicorn stallion where the officer’s tent is. He pointed the direction and gruffly thanked the unicorn.

“Does that guy have any fun?” Blueblood perked up as he walked by a campfire.

“Yeah seriously, all he does is do what he is told then disappears until someone calls him again! He is just too weird.” Blueblood creeped closer to the fire and the ponies surrounding it. He didn’t recognize any of them, probably from a different part of the army.

“To think, he used to be a prince.”

“Well he is still a prince, a stuck up snobby prince, but a prince.” The group laughed. Blueblood had a difficult time silencing his rage.

“Did you hear about what happened with him during the attack on Canterlot?”

“No what happened?”

“He was attacked by a griffin and a group of guards saved him. They escorted him to a safe zone but were cut off by more griffins!”

“No way! What’s next?”

“The guards fought while ‘Prince Blueblood’ quivered in fear I heard.”

“Yeah that sounds like him.”

“That’s not the best part! All the guards were killed except for one and he was hurt bad. The guard saw Blueblood and motioned for the spear at his hoove. Wanna' know what he did?”

“No, there is no way…”

“He turned tail and ran! He left that pony for dead!”

“That hoofless coward! I'm assuming the guards dead?”

“No. The guard managed to fight off the griffin and escaped. I heard that Blueblood got an earful later and had his flank g to him.”

“It’s what the boneless pony gets! So what's he doing in the army anyway?”

“I don’t know but he surely aint' gonna' like it here!”

Blueblood stepped out from the shadows of the tent and into the light of the fire. The group of ponies fell dead silent as he examined each of them and their faces. “Never have I ever wanted to hurt somepony more than now. Luckily for you colts, I'm on the same team as you…” A smile broke across the face of the story telling pony.

“You weren’t gonna' do nothing! You’re a weak little fill-“ A hoof went straight into the pony’s muzzle knocking him out instantly.

“Anyone else?” They all shook their heads and inched away from him. “Good.”

Blueblood knew that he wasn’t exactly a good pony. But he never knew it was that bad…

Next Chapter: The Filler's a Lie Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes