{"sf1_id":791191,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Equestrian Knights Ch 15. Rescue","author":"BluebloodFan91","words":3453,"posted_at":"2014-12-03T17:19:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Blueblood","Changelings","Character Development","Clean","Equine","Fantasy","Flam","Flim","Friendship is magic","Griffin","Gryphon","Hoops","Horse","Humor","Iron Will","Jetset","Lightning Dust","MLP","Minotaur","My Little Pony","Pegasus","Plot Development","Pony","Prince Blueblood","Story Progression","Story Series","Suburban Knights","Trixie","Unicorn","Upper Crust","dumbbell","gilda","parody","score"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791191-equestrian-knights-ch-15-rescue","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/791191","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=791191\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Ch 15. Rescue\nBlueblood spotted the orange light of sunset shining\ndown through the bars of the sewer grate up ahead of him, after having\ntraveled back through the dirty sewer underneath the city, much to his\nreluctance. He had figured that would be the way his companions would\ntry to get into the city, seeing it had been the way they had gotten out\nof it. But unfortunately, he hadn't seen any sign of his companions the\nwhole while up to this point. He desperately hoped he wasn't too late.\nHe had to tell them about the secret passage into the castle. At least\nwith that information they would have a better chance of succeeding.He\npoked his head up through the sewer grate and glanced around. The alley\nthat the sewer grate was in was completely empty, his companions\nnowhere in sight.He groaned to himself. It would be impossible to find them now. They could be anywhere!Suddenly,\nhe heard a couple of voices approaching from outside of the alley.\nAfter a few seconds, he recognized them as the raspy hisses of\nChangelings. He immediately ducked back down into the sewer and\nlistened.\"So I heard there was some excitement earlier in the castle,\" he heard one of the Changelings hiss.\"Yeah,\nthose fools that the Queen used came back and tried to use the Elements\nof 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\nstood where his was down in the sewer, his mind racing, wondering what\nhe should do. He feared for his companions lives.A\npart of him wanted to just run away. After all, what could he possibly\ndo for them now? All logic said that they were beyond all help.But\nanother part of him just couldn't bring himself to abandon them. He\nwanted to. He wanted to just run away from the Changeling infested city\nand never look back. But he felt something inside of him that he never\nfelt before. He wasn't sure what it was, but it wouldn't let him simply\nrun away this time. He just couldn't bring himself to leave his fellow\nteam members to such a horrible fate. He knew he was the only one who\ncould possibly do anything for them. An idea was even already forming in\nhis head. He could take the secret passage himself to get into the\ncastle to rescue them. He knew the passage even led right into the\ncastle dungeons, so he knew it was possible for him to actually succeed\nin rescuing them.But he also knew it would be extremely dangerous!He\nremembered back to the Everfree Forest, all those times his companions\nhad saved his neck. He remembered how guilty he had felt when he had\nrealized he most likely wouldn't have done the same for them.Blueblood\nclenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as he struggled with\nhimself. It was like there were two voices inside his head. One was his\nusual voice, telling him to save himself and forget everypony else, but\nthe other was a new voice, urging him to do something he had never done\nbefore. Something noble.After several long\nminutes, Blueblood made the most difficult decision of his life. He\nturned around and began hurrying back down the sewer the way he had\ncame...................Down\nin the castle dungeons, the group all sat around on the floor inside a\ndirty and dank dungeon cell, the only light coming from the torches on\nthe stone walls outside their cell. Trixie had tried using her magic to\nopen the cell, but she found it had been enchanted to be resistant to\nmagic.'Should have seen that coming,' she had thought to herself.So\nthey sat there on their butts on the dirty stone floor, backs leaning\nback against the walls, waiting for whatever torture Chrysalis and\nSombra 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\nwouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you!\" Gilda shouted at her.\n\"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Blueblood was right! We should\nhave 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\nyou promised us nothing would go wrong!\" stated Upper Crust. \"And now\nlook where we are!\" Upper Crust then moaned and wrapped her forelegs\naround her husband and cried into his neck. \"We're all going to die!\"\nshe cried.\"Well...\" Trixie faltered, knowing deep\ndown that they were right, but not wanting to admit it. \"... I really\nthought it would work!\" said Trixie.\"Because\nyou're a complete idiot!\" Gilda yelled at her, getting to her feet and\nleaping over to the azure mare so that she was right in her face.\"Alright,\nhold on!\" shouted Iron Will suddenly, getting everyone's attention.\n\"Yeah, Trixie may have gotten us into this, but it wasn't just her\nfault that we're down here! \"I mean, look at us! Chrysalis was right!\nThe reason the elements wouldn't work for us is because we are all a\nbunch of selfish, mean jerks! Heck, the only reason we came back to try\nto save the world was just so we could become heroes and be famous. And\ndon't try to deny it, because I know!\" He hung his head. \"It was mostly\nwhy I did it too. Remember back up there, we were all fighting with each\nother over which of us got to use the elements, just because each of us\nwanted to be the one to be the big hero! How petty and selfish can\nsomeone get?\"They all stared at the minotaur for several long seconds before turning away from him.Trixie\ndidn't want to admit it to herself, but she knew it was true. She had\njust wanted to be a hero. So much that she hadn't let herself think\nclearly. She was so distracted by the thought of becoming a hero and\nbeing respected again that she hadn't allowed herself to see the\nobvious! The plan had been doomed to fail from the beginning! Prince\nBlueblood really had been right. They were all going to die now because\nof 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\nwatching the three jocks apologize to each other, Lightning Dust\nstomached her pride and turned to Gilda. \"Sorry for trying to take the\nelement from you up there,\" she said to the griffon.\"Well\nyou should be!\" spat Gilda. Then she saw everyone in the cell give her a\ndirty look. She crossed her arms in irritation. \"I mean, I'm sorry\ntoo,\" 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\nI'm sorry for getting us all into this mess,\" said Trixie. \"I was so\npreoccupied with being a hero that I couldn't see how stupid I was\nbeing.\"\"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\ntraveled to the entrance of the secret passage into the castle, which\nwas located on a hard to find path along the mountain side, just behind\nthe waterfall. By the time he made it, the sun had fully set beneath the\nhorizon, and the stars were starting to decorate the night sky. He\nmoved some bushes aside and found what he was looking for. A narrow cave\nentrance in the cliff-side, just as he remembered it from back when he\nwas a little colt.He entered the opening and\ntraveled through a long underground cavern. The cavern eventually came\nto a dead end with a stone wall. In the center of the wall was a tiny\nlittle hole, just big enough to fit a unicorn's horn in it. He stuck his\nhorn in the hole and pumped his magic into it. After a few seconds the\nwall began to glow with white light. Blueblood pulled his horn out of\nthe hole as the brick wall slowly slid apart, revealing a dimly lit\ncorridor in the castle dungeons. Blueblood poked his head into the\ncorridor and looked around. Seeing the corridor was empty, he walked out\ninto it.He could hardly believe what he was\ndoing. He could hardly believe where he was right now. Never in his\nentire life had he ever thought he would be doing something like this.\nHe knew he was taking a big risk, but something he'd never felt before\ninside him was urging him to rescue his companions. Was it guilt driving\nhim to do this, or had he truly grown to care about his companions that\nmuch? Perhaps it was a bit of both driving him.Blueblood\nwas so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice, as he turned a\ncorner, the Changeling guard in front of him, until he bumped right\ninto 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\nthinking, Blueblood quickly spun around and bucked the Changeling as\nhard as he could with his hind legs, sending it flying against the stone\nwall of the corridor.Blueblood looked back at\nthe Changeling, amazed at what he had just done. But his triumphant\nfeeling was short lived as the Changeling opened its mouth to yell.\"INTRU-\"Blueblood\npanicked and began beating the Changeling over its head with his front\nhooves, knowing he couldn't allow it to alert its friends. The\nChangeling was silenced as it struggled to fend off Blueblood's\ncontinuous assaults. The prince beat the creature again and again until a\ncrack appeared in its black carapace on its head and it finally fell\nunconscious.Blueblood stood over the knocked out\nChangeling, an odd feeling running through him in that moment. He had\njust defeated an enemy... on his own! No royal guards! No hired companions\nto 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\nthen noticed a ring of keys around the unconscious Changeling's neck.\nHe grabbed them off of the Changeling with his magic and, puffing out\nhis chest confidently, continued down the corridor through the dungeons.......................\"Shhh! Someone's coming!\" said Gilda.Indeed,\nthe group all heard hoof steps approaching from down the corridor. They\nall 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,\"\nsaid Blueblood, feeling sheepish. \"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it\nbefore. I didn't think about it until after you were gone. You probably\nwouldn't be down here if I had.\"\"Actually, it\nwouldn't have mattered anyway,\" said Trixie sadly. \"The Elements of\nHarmony didn't work for us. So go ahead, say it. You were right, and we\nwere wrong.\"As much as Blueblood would have\nindeed liked to rub that in their faces a bit, they had more pressing\nmatters to focus on at the moment.\"There will be\nplenty of time for me to tell you all I told you so later,\" said\nBlueblood. \"Right now, lets get you out of here!\" Blueblood used the\nkeys he had taken from the Changeling to unlock the cell door. Once it\nwas unlocked, he pulled it open with his magic and they all rushed out\nof 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\nexplained. \"When I remembered there was a secret passage, I came back\nto tell you about it to help you, but I couldn't find you anywhere. Then\nI over heard a couple Changelings saying that you had been captured, so\nI 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\nhung his head. \"Yeah, I'm sorry I said that. You guys saved my life a\nbunch of times. I felt it was only right for me to do the same for all\nof 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\nminotaur made a fist and stared at it as he spoke. \"I refuse to stand\nby while those two monsters take over the world I live in. Not if I have\nanything to say about it!\" He pounded his fist into his other hand.\n\"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,\nbut they might work others! Think about it. We can't use the Elements\nbecause we don't meet their expectations, but there might be ponies out\nthere who do. Ponies who are like the element bearers. Ponies who are\ngood 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,\"\nsaid Iron Will. \"If we could get the elements out of the castle and\nfind ponies in Ponyville who could use them, then the world will be\nsaved!\"They all thought it over in their heads. It sounded like it could work.\"We\nhave to try!\" continued Will. \"If we don't, Equestria will be ruled by\nthose two forever! This is our one chance to make things right,\nespecially considering this whole thing is kind of our fault!\"They all hung their heads at that last part.\"But\nhow the heck could we possibly pull this off?\" said Flim. \"We can't\njust walk back up to the throne room, grab the elements, and expect them\nto 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\nthought about what Iron Will was proposing. He felt more confident in\nhimself now, and he really didn't want Chrysalis and Sombra to take over\nthe world.\"It wouldn't be that difficult to get\nto the throne room,\" Blueblood said to them. \"But grabbing the elements\nand getting out of the castle would be impossible with all those\nChangelings around, not to mention Sombra and Chrysalis.\"\"Actually,\"\nbegan Trixie. \"Chrysalis has gone into some sort of egg-laying state,\nand from what I could tell, it seems to make her sleepy while she's in\nthat state. So she's not that much of a problem right now. Its the other\nChangelings 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!\"\nsaid Gilda. \"What if we could get Sombra and the other Changelings out\nof the throne room. Then someone could easily sneak up on Chrysalis and\ntake 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\ngot it!\" said Dumbbell. \"Some of us could create a diversion to get\nthem away from Chrysalis, and then one of us could sneak in and swipe\nthe 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\nbet we can lure all of them away from the castle just by insulting\nChrysalis 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\npointed at Blueblood. \"Blueblood! He has the best knowledge of the\ncastle. Plus, they don't know that he's here, so they won't suspect\nhim.\"Blueblood looked pale, but he nodded in agreement. What she said did make a lot of sense. However, he did notice one problem.\"But\nwhat if Chrysalis wakes up while I'm in there?\" Blueblood said. \"I'm\nnot fast enough or powerful enough to get away in time if she catches\nme.\"\"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\nall looked at each other, considering. The plan sounded like it could\nactually work, and they knew that this plan was Equestria's last best\nhope. 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\nthey started to hurry off, Trixie walked up next to Blueblood and\nstopped him. Blueblood turned to look at her as the others kept going\ndown 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\nsmiled back. \"Well... perhaps you were... maybe a little bit right,\" he\nstruggled to say. \"I suppose I was a little bit of a coward before. But\nI...\"\"Hey, aren't you two coming?\" Dumbbell shouted back at them from down the tunnel.Blueblood\nand Trixie nodded back to him. Then, while no one was watching, Trixie\nleaned up and gave Blueblood a quick kiss on his cheek. Blueblood's face\nturned bright red as he turned to stare at Trixie in shock.Trixie\nlooked back at him and her face became serious again. \"If you tell\nanyone that I did that just now, I will murder you in your sleep!\"\nTrixie whispered to him, giving him a threatening glare.Blueblood quickly nodded, and the two then hurried off to catch up with the others. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791189-equestrian-knights-ch-14-striking-back.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791196-equestrian-knights-ch-16-the-last-stand.json"}