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Ch 15. Rescue

Blueblood spotted the orange light of sunset shining

down through the bars of the sewer grate up ahead of him, after having

traveled back through the dirty sewer underneath the city, much to his

reluctance. He had figured that would be the way his companions would

try to get into the city, seeing it had been the way they had gotten out

of it. But unfortunately, he hadn't seen any sign of his companions the

whole while up to this point. He desperately hoped he wasn't too late.

He had to tell them about the secret passage into the castle. At least

with that information they would have a better chance of succeeding.He

poked his head up through the sewer grate and glanced around. The alley

that the sewer grate was in was completely empty, his companions

nowhere in sight.He groaned to himself. It would be impossible to find them now. They could be anywhere!Suddenly,

he heard a couple of voices approaching from outside of the alley.

After a few seconds, he recognized them as the raspy hisses of

Changelings. He immediately ducked back down into the sewer and

listened."So I heard there was some excitement earlier in the castle," he heard one of the Changelings hiss."Yeah,

those fools that the Queen used came back and tried to use the Elements

of Harmony against her, but it didn't work," said another Changeling."HA!" laughed the first Changeling. "So what did the Queen do to them?" "She locked them in the dungeons. I hear the queen says we're gonna have some fun with them later."'Oh no!' Blueblood thought to himself.The two Changelings laughed as they walked away from where Blueblood was hiding.Blueblood

stood where his was down in the sewer, his mind racing, wondering what

he should do. He feared for his companions lives.A

part of him wanted to just run away. After all, what could he possibly

do for them now? All logic said that they were beyond all help.But

another part of him just couldn't bring himself to abandon them. He

wanted to. He wanted to just run away from the Changeling infested city

and never look back. But he felt something inside of him that he never

felt before. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wouldn't let him simply

run away this time. He just couldn't bring himself to leave his fellow

team members to such a horrible fate. He knew he was the only one who

could possibly do anything for them. An idea was even already forming in

his head. He could take the secret passage himself to get into the

castle to rescue them. He knew the passage even led right into the

castle dungeons, so he knew it was possible for him to actually succeed

in rescuing them.But he also knew it would be extremely dangerous!He

remembered back to the Everfree Forest, all those times his companions

had saved his neck. He remembered how guilty he had felt when he had

realized he most likely wouldn't have done the same for them.Blueblood

clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as he struggled with

himself. It was like there were two voices inside his head. One was his

usual voice, telling him to save himself and forget everypony else, but

the other was a new voice, urging him to do something he had never done

before. Something noble.After several long

minutes, Blueblood made the most difficult decision of his life. He

turned around and began hurrying back down the sewer the way he had

came...................Down

in the castle dungeons, the group all sat around on the floor inside a

dirty and dank dungeon cell, the only light coming from the torches on

the stone walls outside their cell. Trixie had tried using her magic to

open the cell, but she found it had been enchanted to be resistant to

magic.'Should have seen that coming,' she had thought to herself.So

they sat there on their butts on the dirty stone floor, backs leaning

back against the walls, waiting for whatever torture Chrysalis and

Sombra would cook up for them."Well that plan didn't work!" said Dumbbell, him and the others all glaring at Trixie, who had her head buried in her forelegs."This is all your fault!" Gilda said to Trixie.Trixie glared up at the disgruntled griffon. "My fault!?!" she exclaimed."We

wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you!" Gilda shouted at her.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Blueblood was right! We should

have gone with him!""Yeah," said Hoops. "He's probably miles away from here now, safe."All of them except Trixie nodded in agreement."Hey, I didn't force any of you guys to come with me!" yelled Trixie. "You all came of your own free will!""Because

you promised us nothing would go wrong!" stated Upper Crust. "And now

look where we are!" Upper Crust then moaned and wrapped her forelegs

around her husband and cried into his neck. "We're all going to die!"

she cried."Well..." Trixie faltered, knowing deep

down that they were right, but not wanting to admit it. "... I really

thought it would work!" said Trixie."Because

you're a complete idiot!" Gilda yelled at her, getting to her feet and

leaping over to the azure mare so that she was right in her face."Alright,

hold on!" shouted Iron Will suddenly, getting everyone's attention.

"Yeah, Trixie may have gotten us into this, but it wasn't just her

fault that we're down here! "I mean, look at us! Chrysalis was right!

The reason the elements wouldn't work for us is because we are all a

bunch of selfish, mean jerks! Heck, the only reason we came back to try

to save the world was just so we could become heroes and be famous. And

don't try to deny it, because I know!" He hung his head. "It was mostly

why I did it too. Remember back up there, we were all fighting with each

other over which of us got to use the elements, just because each of us

wanted to be the one to be the big hero! How petty and selfish can

someone get?"They all stared at the minotaur for several long seconds before turning away from him.Trixie

didn't want to admit it to herself, but she knew it was true. She had

just wanted to be a hero. So much that she hadn't let herself think

clearly. She was so distracted by the thought of becoming a hero and

being respected again that she hadn't allowed herself to see the

obvious! The plan had been doomed to fail from the beginning! Prince

Blueblood really had been right. They were all going to die now because

of her. At that moment Trixie felt lower than dirt.Around the cell, the others also felt lousy.Dumbbell turned his head to Hoops. "I'm sorry I tried to take the element from you back there," Dumbbell muttered to Hoops."Yeah, I'm sorry too," said Score."Hey, I probably would have done the same thing to you guys," said Hoops to his friends."Still friends?" Dumbbell asked."Till death," said Hoops.Score nodded in agreement with his two friends.After

watching the three jocks apologize to each other, Lightning Dust

stomached her pride and turned to Gilda. "Sorry for trying to take the

element from you up there," she said to the griffon."Well

you should be!" spat Gilda. Then she saw everyone in the cell give her a

dirty look. She crossed her arms in irritation. "I mean, I'm sorry

too," she forced herself to say with a grunt.Lightning Dust held out a hoof. Gilda, made a fist and bumped it with Lightning Dust's hoof."We're sorry too," said Flim and Flam."And us too," said Jet Set, referring to himself and his wife."What are you guys sorry for?" said Trixie to the married couple. "You were cooperative the whole time.""Oh right," said Jet Set. "Well it's the thought that counts, right?""And

I'm sorry for getting us all into this mess," said Trixie. "I was so

preoccupied with being a hero that I couldn't see how stupid I was

being.""Well, I guess so was I," admitted Lightning Dust. "I guess I've done that a lot in the past."Just then, they heard a noise outside their cell, coming from down the dimly lit corridor........................Blueblood

traveled to the entrance of the secret passage into the castle, which

was located on a hard to find path along the mountain side, just behind

the waterfall. By the time he made it, the sun had fully set beneath the

horizon, and the stars were starting to decorate the night sky. He

moved some bushes aside and found what he was looking for. A narrow cave

entrance in the cliff-side, just as he remembered it from back when he

was a little colt.He entered the opening and

traveled through a long underground cavern. The cavern eventually came

to a dead end with a stone wall. In the center of the wall was a tiny

little hole, just big enough to fit a unicorn's horn in it. He stuck his

horn in the hole and pumped his magic into it. After a few seconds the

wall began to glow with white light. Blueblood pulled his horn out of

the hole as the brick wall slowly slid apart, revealing a dimly lit

corridor in the castle dungeons. Blueblood poked his head into the

corridor and looked around. Seeing the corridor was empty, he walked out

into it.He could hardly believe what he was

doing. He could hardly believe where he was right now. Never in his

entire life had he ever thought he would be doing something like this.

He knew he was taking a big risk, but something he'd never felt before

inside him was urging him to rescue his companions. Was it guilt driving

him to do this, or had he truly grown to care about his companions that

much? Perhaps it was a bit of both driving him.Blueblood

was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice, as he turned a

corner, the Changeling guard in front of him, until he bumped right

into the black creature.Blueblood stumbled backwards and let out a small yelp of surprise as the Changeling spun around and hissed at him menacingly.Without

thinking, Blueblood quickly spun around and bucked the Changeling as

hard as he could with his hind legs, sending it flying against the stone

wall of the corridor.Blueblood looked back at

the Changeling, amazed at what he had just done. But his triumphant

feeling was short lived as the Changeling opened its mouth to yell."INTRU-"Blueblood

panicked and began beating the Changeling over its head with his front

hooves, knowing he couldn't allow it to alert its friends. The

Changeling was silenced as it struggled to fend off Blueblood's

continuous assaults. The prince beat the creature again and again until a

crack appeared in its black carapace on its head and it finally fell

unconscious.Blueblood stood over the knocked out

Changeling, an odd feeling running through him in that moment. He had

just defeated an enemy... on his own! No royal guards! No hired companions

to hide behind! All on his own!A new sense of confidence flowed through him. 'I can do this!' he thought to himself, allowing a small grin to spread across his face.He

then noticed a ring of keys around the unconscious Changeling's neck.

He grabbed them off of the Changeling with his magic and, puffing out

his chest confidently, continued down the corridor through the dungeons......................."Shhh! Someone's coming!" said Gilda.Indeed,

the group all heard hoof steps approaching from down the corridor. They

all looked up, just in time to see Prince Blueblood come into view."Blueblood!" they all exclaimed. They immediately got up off the floor and rushed over to the bars of the cell.Blueblood turned his head and saw them. He quickly ran over to the cell they were in."Holly crap, Blueblood! I don't believe it!" said Flim."Are you all alright!" Blueblood asked them."We're fine," said Trixie."Wow, I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see you!" said Lightning Dust."How'd you get in here?" asked Iron Will."I took a secret passage into the castle," said Blueblood.They're expressions all changed from ecstatic to a confused stare."Secret passage?" said Gilda. "There's a secret passage?!""Yes,"

said Blueblood, feeling sheepish. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it

before. I didn't think about it until after you were gone. You probably

wouldn't be down here if I had.""Actually, it

wouldn't have mattered anyway," said Trixie sadly. "The Elements of

Harmony didn't work for us. So go ahead, say it. You were right, and we

were wrong."As much as Blueblood would have

indeed liked to rub that in their faces a bit, they had more pressing

matters to focus on at the moment."There will be

plenty of time for me to tell you all I told you so later," said

Blueblood. "Right now, lets get you out of here!" Blueblood used the

keys he had taken from the Changeling to unlock the cell door. Once it

was unlocked, he pulled it open with his magic and they all rushed out

of the cell into the dungeon tunnel with him."Thanks, Blueblood," said Flim."Yeah, we owe you one," said Dumbbell."Thank you," said Blueblood, feeling proud of himself."So what made you come back?" asked Trixie.Blueblood

explained. "When I remembered there was a secret passage, I came back

to tell you about it to help you, but I couldn't find you anywhere. Then

I over heard a couple Changelings saying that you had been captured, so

I decided to come and save you.""Well, if you weren't standing here in front of me, I wouldn't believe it," said Lightning Dust."I can hardly believe it myself," said Blueblood with a chuckle."I thought you said you didn't care if we got ourselves killed," said Gilda, raising an eyebrow at the prince.Blueblood

hung his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry I said that. You guys saved my life a

bunch of times. I felt it was only right for me to do the same for all

of you."Gilda was surprised by his response. "You... really mean that?""Yeah. I do," Blueblood gave them a small smile.After a few quiet seconds, Upper Crust spoke. "Well, what are we standing around here for? Lets get out of here!""Right," said Blueblood. "Follow me. I'll show you the secret passage." He gestured with his hoof for them to follow."Wait! We can't leave yet!" said Iron Will.They all turned back and looked at the minotaur in confusion. "What are you talking about?" asked Flam.The

minotaur made a fist and stared at it as he spoke. "I refuse to stand

by while those two monsters take over the world I live in. Not if I have

anything to say about it!" He pounded his fist into his other hand.

"And a thought just occurred to me of something we could do.""What can we possibly do against those two!?" said Lightning Dust. "The Elements won't work for us."Iron Will nodded. "Yeah, they won't work for US,

but they might work others! Think about it. We can't use the Elements

because we don't meet their expectations, but there might be ponies out

there who do. Ponies who are like the element bearers. Ponies who are

good natured and selfless and all that crap.""You mean like the ponies in Ponyville," said Gilda. "That place is practically the goody two-shoes capital of the world!""Exactly,"

said Iron Will. "If we could get the elements out of the castle and

find ponies in Ponyville who could use them, then the world will be

saved!"They all thought it over in their heads. It sounded like it could work."We

have to try!" continued Will. "If we don't, Equestria will be ruled by

those two forever! This is our one chance to make things right,

especially considering this whole thing is kind of our fault!"They all hung their heads at that last part."But

how the heck could we possibly pull this off?" said Flim. "We can't

just walk back up to the throne room, grab the elements, and expect them

to just let us walk out of here! Its impossible!""Everyone, Blueblood just grew a pair and came all this way and rescued us!" Iron Will stated. "Nothings impossible!"None of them could deny that logic.Blueblood

thought about what Iron Will was proposing. He felt more confident in

himself now, and he really didn't want Chrysalis and Sombra to take over

the world."It wouldn't be that difficult to get

to the throne room," Blueblood said to them. "But grabbing the elements

and getting out of the castle would be impossible with all those

Changelings around, not to mention Sombra and Chrysalis.""Actually,"

began Trixie. "Chrysalis has gone into some sort of egg-laying state,

and from what I could tell, it seems to make her sleepy while she's in

that state. So she's not that much of a problem right now. Its the other

Changelings and Sombra that are the problem.""She's laying eggs?!" exclaimed Blueblood in surprise at this new information. "Huh. So that's where baby Changelings come from.""Wait!"

said Gilda. "What if we could get Sombra and the other Changelings out

of the throne room. Then someone could easily sneak up on Chrysalis and

take the elements and get out of there.""Yeah, but how could we get Sombra and all the Changelings out of the throne room?" asked Jet Set.They all thought for a moment, trying to come up with an idea."I've

got it!" said Dumbbell. "Some of us could create a diversion to get

them away from Chrysalis, and then one of us could sneak in and swipe

the elements from Chrysalis. It's perfect.""Great idea!" said Hoops."But what could be a good enough distraction to get all of them away from Chrysalis?" asked Blueblood."I know!" said Flim. Have you noticed that Sombra gets really pissed off whenever we insult Chrysalis?""And so do the Changelings," added Flam, seeing where his brother was going with this."I'll

bet we can lure all of them away from the castle just by insulting

Chrysalis right in front of them!" Flim said with a sly grin."So that's the plan?" said Gilda. "Piss off the bad guys so that they'll chase us out of the castle?""That's pretty much it," said Flim.Gilda grinned. "Well I like it."Upper Crust almost fainted, but she managed to remain on all fours."But who should be the one to stay behind to steal the elements?" asked Iron Will.Trixie

pointed at Blueblood. "Blueblood! He has the best knowledge of the

castle. Plus, they don't know that he's here, so they won't suspect

him."Blueblood looked pale, but he nodded in agreement. What she said did make a lot of sense. However, he did notice one problem."But

what if Chrysalis wakes up while I'm in there?" Blueblood said. "I'm

not fast enough or powerful enough to get away in time if she catches

me.""He's got a good point!" said Iron Will. "We should have someone who's fast to go too in case Chrysalis wakes up!""Lightning Dust," said Gilda, pointing at the pegasus mare. "She's the fastest thing in Equestria."Lightning Dust nodded."Alright. So what do you all say?" said Iron Will. "If we don't do this, than Equestria is doomed. So are you with me?" They

all looked at each other, considering. The plan sounded like it could

actually work, and they knew that this plan was Equestria's last best

hope. So one by one, they all nodded in agreement."Lets do it!" said Blueblood. "For Equestria!""For Starswirl!" said Trixie."And for the Bothans!" said Hoops."For the Bothans!" they all said in agreement."Alright, lets go kick some Changeling flank!" said Gilda.As

they started to hurry off, Trixie walked up next to Blueblood and

stopped him. Blueblood turned to look at her as the others kept going

down the dungeon tunnel."Thanks for coming back and saving us," Trixie said to him, giving him a smile. "Sorry I called you a coward before."Blueblood

smiled back. "Well... perhaps you were... maybe a little bit right," he

struggled to say. "I suppose I was a little bit of a coward before. But

I...""Hey, aren't you two coming?" Dumbbell shouted back at them from down the tunnel.Blueblood

and Trixie nodded back to him. Then, while no one was watching, Trixie

leaned up and gave Blueblood a quick kiss on his cheek. Blueblood's face

turned bright red as he turned to stare at Trixie in shock.Trixie

looked back at him and her face became serious again. "If you tell

anyone that I did that just now, I will murder you in your sleep!"

Trixie whispered to him, giving him a threatening glare.Blueblood quickly nodded, and the two then hurried off to catch up with the others.