I will do my bestest to bring more and more up on my fanfic. You can follow all of my work on Deviant Art! My username is AirForceBrony123
You can also follow my Audio Books on YouTube under the channel Donovan Barton
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
The Seventh Element
Chapter 1: The Crystal Crisis
“P-Princess Cadence… There’s something you need to know…” Said an approaching guard who looked like something terrible had happened. When princess Cadence looked over, she took note of his concern and immediately addressed it.
“Yes Blue Shield, What is it?” She asked in a sudden burst of concern herself. She knew that Blue Shield was one of her best guards, and that he never was concerned about anything unless it was direly important.
“It’s the crystal heart, your highness… It shattered!” He said, trying to hold back his panic.
“W-What?” Princess Cadence asked in shock and disbelief as she headed to the window, noticing a drape hung around the shattered crystal, “How?”
“I’m not sure… I was doing my normal rounds, patrolling the city and helping the townsfolk, and noticed it simply shatter into countless shards of crystal. Luckily no pony else noticed, and I was able to cover it…” Blue informed.
“Hm… It sounds to me that the old crystal couldn’t handle the sudden, constant use after a millennia of being hidden…” Said Captain Brave Heart as he began to pace and ponder about the sudden news.
“What’re we gonna do then?” Blue asked the captain as he looked over to him.
“Well, there’s nothing we CAN do at the moment… I’ll head downstairs and try to stall… That should buy you some time to get to the library and find something about it…” Brave informed.
“Yes sir!” Blue said as he listened to Brave’s order. Quickly, he headed down stairs and immediately headed to the library.
“Do you really think something’ll be at the library?” Cadence asked Brave as he was getting ready to do his task.
“I’m not sure to be honest… But at the moment… We can’t run the risk of HIM coming back… Again…” Brave informed, “I hope we’re lucky enough as to find something…”
Meanwhile, as Blue was on his way to the library, he was still worried about what would happen, now that there was no crystal heart to protect the empire. He prayed and hoped that Sombra wouldn’t return…
“Oh… PLEASE… Don’t let him come back… Who knows how every pony will react…?” He cried to himself.
Just as he got into the library, he was out of breath, and was immediately greeted by an older mare.
“Oh… Hello, may I help you?” She asked, looking at the young Pegasus stallion.
“Yes, I would like a copy of everything you have on the crystal heart.” He said.
“Everything?” The mare asked as she began to think.
“Yes, everything.”
“We only have one book… It’s in the back of the library, top shelf on the book case to the far left.” The mare instructed, “Obviously under ‘C’.”
“Thank you.” Blue said as he trotted to the back. He flew up to the top shelf and began to read through the titles, picking out the one that had ‘Crystal Heart’ in the title. It seemed to be the only book in the whole library titled so. He flew it down by one of the tables and began to read, he pulled a sheet of paper and a pencil from his satchel and began to take notes.
“Back at the Crystal Castle, Brave and a couple other guards stood guard by the heart, trying their hardest to keep their attention away from it, and Princess Cadence put up her spell to spread love and happiness once more. She had hoped to not need to use the spell in such a way again, but desperate times call for desperate measures…
“Oh… I hope Blue finds something…” Shining armor thought to himself as he watched the guards around the crystal heart. He noticed that it’s been a couple of hours, and using the spell at its level already began to take its toll, he looked back to her and frowned. “Maybe Twi and the others can help…” He thought out loud.
“Maybe… But unfortunately, all of our couriers are either busy, or they’re ill and can’t work…” Cadence said.
“Maybe we could send one of the guards?” Shining armor wondered.
“Maybe… They’d be a lot quicker than a courier… But who?” Cadence asked.
“Well… Our best choices would be Blue Shield and Brave Heart… But Brave Heart’s already got his plate full, and Blue’s at the library at the moment, and he wouldn’t know any of them…”
“We’ll send Blue once he gets back.” Cadence finally concluded.
It was about ten minutes after their conversation, Blue returned to the castle. He pulled his notes out and handed them to Shining Armor, who used his magic to take them and flip through them.
“According to the book I read, we can get a new crystal heart blessed… However, GETTING there’s gonna be dangerous… He said, “The destination’s in the Griffon Kingdom, Northwest of Gryphus.” Blue said.
“The griffon kingdom?” Shining armor corrected, thinking that he misheard Blue.
“Yes.”
“Alright… Blue, it looks like you’ve got yourself a huge task.” Shining responded.
“Fill me in on the details. The sooner I can get the new heart, the better.” Blue said.
“Alright, your first stop is going to be in a town called Ponyville. You’ll need all the help you can get, and I think my little sister and her friends will be more than enough. Their names are Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie.” Shining began his briefing.
“Alright, why would they need to tag along?” Blue asked.
“Do you know the elements of harmony?”
“Yes, my mother used to always tell about them when I was a colt… But I always thought them to be a myth. Why?”
“Well, in a way, they possess them. You’re going to need them if you have any hope of getting through this alright. Afterward, according to the map you’ve drawn here, you’ll have to take the train through Canterlot, climb the mountains west of Trottingham, cross the Forsaken Woods, then over the mountains of Gryphus, and from there, to Lake Liona… Which seems to be the destination.” Shining said, is everything clear?”
“Yes, your highness. I’ll get to it at once.” Blue said, giving a respectful bow and rendering a salute before heading out.
It only took a couple of hours to pack everything and head onward to Ponyville. He needed to take the train, as it was the fastest mode of transportation next to flying. But since he’s never been out of the kingdom much, he doesn’t know exactly how to get there. He purchased his ticket and trotted onto the train, quickly finding a seat in a public car and taking his place, sliding his saddle bags underneath his seat and looking back around the car. Moments later, other ponies began to pile on, and he paid no mind to them, as none of them looked like the ponies he was looking for. He couldn’t help but notice a young male foal sit next to his mother in the seat next to him. He couldn’t help but let out a warm smile, followed by a soft chuckle. The young foal looked back and smiled big at Blue, who hid behind the seat and slowly poked his head back up. The foal began to laugh hysterically as it saw his mane pop over the seat. The mother, immediately hearing the commotion, looked back to notice the stallion play with her foal and giggled.
“I see you’ve got a way with foals.” She chuckled, Blue looked over to her and nodded, poking back behind their seat.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” He chuckled, “I love foals. Wish I had one of my own.” He chuckled as he quickly poked back out from the seat, the foal laughing hysterically as he did so.
“So I take it you live in the crystal Empire.” The mare said as she noticed his crystal coat.
“Yeah… Lived there all my life.” He chuckled, sitting back down in his seat as the train began to move, “Where are you from?” He asked.
“Canterlot.” She said, then noticed his cutie mark, “What do you do?” She asked, wondering about his job.
“Hm? Oh, I’m a guard for the Crystal Empire, why?” He asked.
“Oh…” The mare giggled, slightly blushing a little, “Well, why are you leaving the Crystal Empire? Shouldn’t you be guarding it?”
“I was sent on leave.” He said, trying not to cause any unnecessary panic.
“Oh, really? So are you getting off at the next stop or…?” The mare asked.
“Yeah, I’m going to Ponyville. I thought I’d stop by there and see what all they had.” He continued.
“Oh, Ponyville…” The mare said with slight disgust.
“You sound like you don’t like that idea… Something wrong with Ponyville or something?”
“No, it’s just a poor, run down town… There’s not much to see there at all.” She said.
“Have you actually been there?” Blue questioned.
“No, but—“
“Then I’m not going to listen to what you have to say about Ponyville. Yes, I AM a guard, and no, I’m NOT a snooty rich brat like yourself… Good day.” Blue growled, trying to keep his patience with the red hot angry mare as he picked up his saddle bags and trotted to the next car back in the train. But as soon as he sat down, he heard something hit the top of the train.
“THUD!”
Curious, he stood up and began to trot to the door to find out what it was. Then the windows shattered, strange ponies wearing bandanas over their faces started coming in through the doors, and the train quickly stopped.
“Alright, every pony, hooves where I can see ‘em…” The pony growled, trotting up to Blue.
“That means you too teeny… I don’t want any heroes here…” He growled. Blue glared at the slightly smaller pony to see how much of a threat he was. But didn’t detect anything on the unarmed pony. Blue stood up and trampled the pony, seriously injuring him and knocking him out.
“Every pony, stay here and do NOT make a sound. I’m gonna get these guys off of the train.” He said, heading to the front of the train. The next car had two guys in it, and they noticed the unconscious pony in the back.
“Looks like we got ourselves a hero here!” One of them laughed, they both charged in to try and get Blue, who managed to stop them by turning around and simply bucking the both of them in the face. Their unconscious bodies fell to the ground faster than they charged at him, and he continued to the front, giving the ponies in the next car the same orders.
“As he went along the train to stop more of the bandits, more and more of them were found in the cars, and he easily was able to stop them all. Whoever they were, they didn’t seem to be very strong in the slightest. He eventually made it to the engine. He opened the door to notice the engineer was tied up and lying face down in a pile of coal. He had something tied around him like a gag, and he looked back at blue as if he were begging for his life. Blue quietly trotted up to him and held his hoof in front of his mouth. Trying to nonverbally shush the engineer. He quickly and quietly untied the engineer and pointed him out of the engine. The train then picked up speed again, and then he saw a pony standing at the controls. Just as he began to sneak up to knock him out, the engineer tripped over a piece of coal, alerting the pony.
“What in Equestria—WHAT DID YOU DO???” He screamed as he stepped away from the controls with a look of shock on his face.
“What’s it look like?” Blue laughed.
“How did you- I- We…” The bandit stuttered and then tackled Blue into the pile of coal. Blue struggled to fight the stranger off of him, as the stranger attempted to put his head into the coal fire. Blue’s eyes shifted over to see where his head would end up if he didn’t take any action, and head butted the stallion, knocking him off, and then he stood back up, letting out an angered nicker.
“Ugh… How’d that NOT hurt you?” The pony growled as he stood up, holding his hoof to his head.
“What’s it matter to you?” Blue asked as be bucked the pony, making him fall onto his haunches onto some embers. The pony jumped up, running and screaming.
“AAAAHGH!!! I’M ON FIRE!!!!” He screamed, running off the train and off a short cliff into a lake below. He surfaced and let out a sigh of relief. But as soon as he looked up, his face was met with his bandit friends’ unconscious bodies hitting the water one by one, each waking up as they fell in.
“Ugh… Almost had ‘em…” One of them growled,
“Yeah… Because this one messed up!” Another one growled, hitting the other in the back of the head with his hoof.
“What? Me? I wasn’t the first to be knocked unconscious, was I?”
“Yeah, but you WERE on fire!”
The bandits then continued to argue as the train began to take off again, with every pony still alright.
“Thanks for the rescue, stranger… If it hadn’t been for you, who knows what they would’ve done to us!” The conductor said, “I’ll put a good word in for ya once we get to Ponyville. Tell them to refund your ticket and give you pay for it.
“I honestly don’t think that would be necessary sir… I’m just doing my job…” He said.
“What’s your name, son?”
“Blue Shield, but—“
“Let’s hear three cheers for Blue Shield! Hip, hip!”
“Hooray!!!”
“Hip! Hip!”
“Hooray!”
“Hip! Hip!”
“Hooraaay!” The ponies all cheered. Blue felt a little embarrassed, as he wasn’t used to so much credit for rescuing any pony.
“Ok… Seriously… I don’t think all of this is necessary… I was just doing my job… That’s all…” Blue insisted. The rest of the train ride consisted of all of the ponies trying to chat with Blue and get his autograph and so on. It was a relief as soon as the train stopped in Ponyville… Which he was then swarmed by people from the press, trying to get a scoop on the story. Blinded by their cameras, he began to gallop away, trying to find a place to hide. Winded, he found a quiet alley to hide in. Once the swarm passed, he let out a sigh of relief.
“HI! I’m Pinkie Pie!” A pink mare with crazy main happily exclaimed as she poked her head out of a barrel that sat next to him, scaring the poor stallion.
“I TOLD YOU, I WAS JUST DOING MY—“Blue screamed before he realized it wasn’t someone from the press.
“Oh… I’m sorry about that…” He apologized.
“No harm done! Whatcha hiding from?” Pinkie asked, letting out an excited giggle.
“Apparently the whole town…” He said, pinkie let out a loud, over exaggerated gasp.
“What? I’m hiding from…” Pinkie exclaimed before she tucked herself back into the barrel and poked her head out from the barrel, beckoning Blue over.
“Herrrrr…..” She quietly growled, pointing to a young white filly with curly, purple mane.
“Um… Why?” He asked.
“Hide and seek, silly!” She giggled, hopping out of the barrel.
“Oh… Okay… Well, if you’re hiding, why are you out of your barrel now?”
“Oh, it was out of cupcakes!” She giggled before hopping onto another one, holding out one.
“Waaant one?” She giggled in a tempting manner.
“Perhaps when I can find time… You said your name was Pinkie Pie…?” He thought, the introduction finally hitting him. Pinkie simply nodded excitedly as she tucked the cupcake back into the barrel.
“Excellent! I was looking for you. Now I just need to find the others and—“
“OHMYGOSH!!!” Pinkie excitedly exclaimed, “WHO DO YOU WORK FOR??? WHY WERE YOU LOOKING FOR ME??? She exclaimed.
“Holy moly! Calm down!” Blue said in a calming tone, “My name’s Blue Shield, I work for Princess Cadence and Shining armor, of the Crystal Kingdom, and I need to find the others before I can address why.” He said, pinkie pie jumped out of her barrel, tossing the cupcake in her mouth and quickly eating it in one bite.
“Well, why didn’tcha say so? Let’s go!” She said as she happily bounced off. Blue couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the mare’s behavior.
Chapter 2: The First Step
It hasn’t been long since Blue Shield had met this estranged mare, and he had already felt rather comfortable with her. He liked the fact that Pinkie Pie seemed to be in such high spirits all the time, and he almost admired her because of it. He continued to follow her to the Carousel Boutique, and they entered. The door rang a bell as it opened, and they were quickly greeted by a rather beautiful white mare with purple mane.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique. I’m Rarity, now, how may I help—“The mare started before she cut herself off, noticing the crystal pony that stood before her, “Oh my stars!” She cried, the excitement she felt was overwhelming.
“I’m sorry?” Blue wondered in response.
“A… A crystal Pony? Came out of the c-c-crystal kingdom… To visit my shop?” She stuttered, shaking at the knees.
“I’m sorry ma’am, I don’t follow…” Blue responded, sitting on his haunches and pondered in his confusion.
“WHAT? You’re a crystal pony???” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking over to Blue. The news finally hit her much like a brick wall.
“Yes, I’m looking for a group of ponies. I’ll explain everything once I find every pony… What did you say your name was again?” Blue asked, standing back up.
“R-Rarity…” She giggled, holding her hoof out to shake his.
“Charmed.” Blue responded, bowing to Rarity and grabbing her hoof, “My name is Blue Shield.” He introduced, gently pulling her hoof in and gently kissing it in a gentlecoltly manner. Rarity, of course, melted once his lips made contact with her hoof.
“WOAH!” Pinkie pie exclaimed, “I’ve never seen THAT happen!” She continued to giggle.
“Anyway, we need to find the others. I’ll explain everything once we’re done.” He said, trotting out.
“Coming!” Rarity said after recollecting herself and cantered out to catch up to him.
“So… Um… What do you do in the Crystal Kingdom? Surely, a strong, handsome stallion like yourself does something rather important?” Rarity asked in curiosity.
“I’m a First Sergeant in the guard. The youngest ever recorded.” He said, continuing to follow Pinkie Pie to their next destination.
“Oh? What’s that?” Rarity continued to ask. She didn’t know anything about rank and military structure, so she was very intrigued.
“Well, when the soldiers have something that bothers them, they take it to me. And then if I can’t solve it, I take to the Captain, which then is relayed to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor.” He explained, “Kind of like a courier in a way.”
“You make it sound so simple, darling!” Rarity giggled.
“It is if you don’t overthink any of it…” Blue said. They eventually made it to Twilight’s library and trotted in. They noticed a baby dragon stacking books on the shelves and a purple mare with her head in a book.
“HEY TWILIGHT!” Pinkie Pie happily exclaimed as she snuck up on the focused mare.
“Pinkie Pie! What did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?” The mare exclaimed in a fearful tone.
“She did about the same thing to me.” Blue laughed, thinking that the situation was pretty funny. Spike laughed along with him, only harder.
“Sorry about that… Now… I just wanna ask… What’s a crystal pony doing out of the kingdom?” Twilight asked.
“Something…” Blue said, “My name’s Blue shield… Who’s your little friend here?”
“I’m Spike!” The dragon chuckled.
“Alright, well… It seems that all we need now is Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash… Then I’ll fill you in on the—“Blue said just before he was cut off by a blue mare crashing through the ceiling.
“Ow!” She growled, then stood back up, slightly dazed.
“Well… There’s Rainbow Dash!” Spike laughed.
“Who’s the new guy?” Rainbow Dash finally said after recollecting herself.
“This is Blue Shield.” Twilight said, just then, a yellow mare with pink mane came in, wondering what happened. She was followed by another orange mare with yellow mane and a couple of ducklings.
“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” The yellow mare asked, “I noticed you were flying out of control and I got a little worried… So—“She quietly squeaked.
“And I assume you’re Fluttershy… And Apple Jack?” Blue warmly chuckled as he looked over at the new mares. Fluttershy shyly looked away and simply nodded. Applejack greeted him with a hearty hoof shake.
“Nice ta meet’cha. My name’s Apple Jack. And you are?” Apple Jack happily greeted.
“Blue Shield.” Blue laughed in response. Shortly after, one of the ducklings started to walk away from Fluttershy, and Blue trotted over to it and lowered his wing down in front of it, kneeling down to keep his large size from intimidating the poor thing.
“You don’t wanna go too far away little one,” He said to the duckling. It looked up to him, tilted its head to the side and let out a soft peep as it nuzzled into the pelt on Blue’s hoof and walked back to Fluttershy. She was really surprised to see his skill with animals and smiled a little.
“You sure do have a way with the lil’ ones, don’tcha?” Apple Jack chuckled.
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that, anyway, now that everyone’s here, I can get to explaining what’s going on without causing unnecessary panic…” He said.
“Oh my goodness… Something terrible has happened?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Yes…” Blue confirmed with a slight nod of his head, “The Crystal Empire, possibly all of Equestria is in danger… The Crystal Heart shattered…”
“Oh no! Is my brother ok? Is Cadence ok? I need to go see them!” Twilight worried as she spread her wings to get ready to fly to the Crystal Empire.
“They’re fine. But unless something’s done… I don’t know for how long… After doing some research, I found that we can get a new one blessed at Lake Liona… But it’s going to be dangerous… And I can’t do it alone…” Blue said, pulling his map and notes out of his saddle bag. He handed the notes to Twilight and spread his map across the floor.
“The quickest route that Shining Armor was able to point out to us was that the road would start here, in Canterlot.” He said, pointing to Canterlot on the map, “From there, we have to move over the mountains West of Trottingham, Through the Forsaken Woods, Over the Gryphus Mountains, and through the valley to Lake Liona…
“What about the safest route?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, the SAFEST route, I would assume would be to take a train to Appleloosa, North East through Shimmerwood, across the wilds, and finally into the valley to Liona Lake… But that route would take us months… If not half a year… And we wouldn’t be able to survive the wilds that long… The original route would only take a couple days, if not, a week.”
“W-well… I’d much rather go the safer route but…”
“But nothing Fluttershy, I doubt Cadence’d be able to keep that spell up for that long… And what if we get lost in the wilds? We’ve gotta go through the first route.” Rainbow Dash said.
“I wouldn’t get so short and interrupt ponies while they’re talking…” Blue said in response.
“I-I was actually going to say that…” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Alright… Now, PERSONALLY, I’d want to go as soon as possible, but Twilight, if you wanna go check up on your brother and Cadence, I won’t stop you.” Blue said, looking back over to Twilight.
“No… No… It’d be better to just start… I’ll see them once we get to the Crystal Empire.” Twilight said after taking a moment to understand the severity of the situation.
“Okay then, I’ll be waiting at the train station, pack only what you need. We’ll need to travel light so we can move quickly.” Blue said, trotting out, then he looked to Fluttershy.
“Will you be alright with that?” He asked, taking note that she wasn’t the bravest of the group.
“Oh… Um… I-I suppose so…” Fluttershy quietly squeaked in response. She curled up in herself at his sudden change in behavior from a leader who took charge of the situation, to a very gentle pony. She wasn’t uncomfortable with it, but it confused her a little.
“Alright.” He nodded with a warm smile, which quickly went away when he looked back, “It’s also been brought to my attention that you have the elements of harmony… I’d bring them just in case we may need them.” He suggested just before leaving.
It didn’t take long for the girls to pack, and they all brought what they thought they all needed. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, and Apple Jack brought nonperishable food, water, and a few other essentials. Pinkie Pie… Of course, packed balloons and confetti… And Rarity packed all of her belongings… Extra clothes, make-up, so on. They all came to the train station, and Rarity’s massive load was the first thing Blue noticed.
“Rarity… Did you pack enough?” He laughed.
“A lady always comes prepared!” She giggled.
“I’m not one to go through a lady’s luggage… But I think you packed WAY too much…” He sighed, impatiently resting his hoof over his face.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, for one, we normally don’t wear clothes, and by the looks of all the suit cases, you packed enough to outfit the entire Crystal Army… Next to that, your tent bag looks way too big… You don’t need a thirty pony tent… Or however much that is… You brought no food or water… Just about everything I can think of is wrong here… You packed too much useless stuff… And no essentials…” He explained, “This isn’t a camping trip, it’s a mission for the fate of Equestria…” Pinkie’s jaw dropped when she saw him pretty much tell Rarity off.
“Useless?” Rarity asked, her face was in complete shock.
“I’m not even gonna worry about it. You wanna lug around a bunch of dead weight, be my guest… But I’m afraid you’re going to be carrying it. Because I sure won’t. I said to pack only what you need. Now, if you’re not going to carry it all, I’d suggest running it all back home before the train leaves.” He said. Twilight’s, Rainbow Dash’s and Apple Jack’s jaws all dropped when they heard him say what he did. They thought he was either really brave, or really crazy to speak to Rarity like that. But someone HAD to tell her… Fluttershy arrived, shortly after Rarity left.
“Um… Girls? I-I saw Rarity looked really upset… What happened?” The shy mare quietly asked.
“Oh, Blue just told her off for packing too much…” Rainbow Dash informed, “The look on her face was hilarious!”
“I didn’t do it for entertainment.” Blue said, then Pinkie’s bags exploded, shooting balloons and confetti around the place. Blue’s face was in complete shock and awe once he noticed.
“Oh…. Kay?” He thought, “I suppose it’s better than packing too much… But you still didn’t get anything you needed…”
“You need Balloons and confetti for a party! Duh!” Pinkie Pie giggled. Blue decided to give up and play with it.
“Well… You forgot streamers and cake…” He laughed. Pinkie Pie let out a shocked gasp.
“This is a streamer and cake emergency!!!” She exclaimed, reaching into a pile of nearby crates and pulling out some streamers and a cake and quickly stuffed them into her bags. Blue’s face was again, in complete shock and confusion.
“How… Does she do that?” He thought out loud as his hoof pointed to her, his head looked back at the other girls and his eye twitched a couple of times. Of course, they all were laughing.
“Pinkie… You’re so RANDOM!!!” Rainbow Dash laughed. Spike collapsed from laughing so hard, and he continued to laugh.
“His face!!! It’s PRICELESS!!!” He laughed, he couldn’t control himself. Shortly after, Rarity began to return, and she seemed very angered.
“Alright, let’s get on before the train decides to take off without us.” He said, “Ladies first.”
The girls all got on, rarity was second to last, and she pouted at him and turned the other cheek as she stormed onto the train. Fluttershy was shortly after her.
“Um… Y-you can go on… It’s fine…” She squeaked.
“No, I insist.” He chuckled, holding his hoof out to her. She shyly looked away and then reached out, slowly grabbing a hold of his hoof and trotting onto the train. Blue trotted on shortly after her. Blue sat down and gazed out the window, Rarity sat in the seat opposite of him and continued to pout, Spike sat next to her, trying to cheer her up, Twilight sat down in front of them, and Rainbow Dash next to her. Apple Jack sat in front of Blue Shield and Fluttershy next to her, and Pinkie Pie didn’t sit… She ran amok around the car until it began to move. She quickly sat down in the closest available seat until it was safe to move again. Then face planted the window to watch everything move by. Blue didn’t really talk to any of them, and Rarity, after cooling down a little, began to cry on Spike’s shoulder.
“Rarity, don’t cry, you’ll ruin your makeup…” Spike said.
“Oh… You’re right…” Rarity said, taking a deep breath and then gently kissed Spike on the cheek. Spike let out a goofy looking grin as he collapsed onto the train floor.
“Yesss…” He quietly laughed to himself. Twilight then took notice of Blue Shield’s silence.
“Hey, are you alright?” The mare asked in concern as she looked back over to him.
“Hm? Y-yeah… Just a little worried about my home…” Blue explained as he looked at her and then back out the window.
“Don’t worry, I completely understand Blue… If I was in your position, I’d certainly be feeling the same way…” She explained.
“Yeah… Wouldn’t doubt it…” He sighed.
“Why don’t you try talking with us? Take your mind off of it for now…” Twilight offered.
“Don’t really know what to talk about, to be honest…” Blue said.
“Oh… I feel that way all the time…” Fluttershy agreed, looking back to Blue.
“Yeah?” He asked, Fluttershy hid behind her seat a little more and slowly nodded.
“Well, don’tcha worry yer lil’ head. We’ll get y’all that new crystal heart, an’ then there’ll be plenty to talk about!” Apple Jack laughed.
“Yeah, try to relax a little… We haven’t really started just yet.” Twilight agreed.
“Alright…” Blue sighed in response, and then continued to peer out the window, only now to find himself trying to think of something to chat with them about.
“I don’t know… He’s a little more upset than a kitten without a ball ‘o yarn…” Apple Jack said as she looked over to Fluttershy, who simply looked down and nodded. She couldn’t think of anything to say right off the bat.
“It… DOES concern me a little, seeing how upset he is…” Fluttershy confirmed.
“Maybe you should talk to him.” Twilight thought as she looked to Fluttershy.
“W-what? Me? Why?” Fluttershy fearfully squeaked as she hid in her mane.
“Well… I was just thinking, maybe you could get him to open up a little more…” Twilight began to explain.
“B-But… What if it doesn’t work? What if—“Fluttershy trembled.
“It’s GOTTA work… If he doesn’t know us, he won’t trust us… And if he doesn’t trust us, he won’t be friends with us… And if he won’t be friends with us, then really, really bad things can happen!!!” Pinkie Pie concluded. This made Fluttershy go into deep thought. Pinkie never really made a lick of sense when she spoke… But for some reason, she had a very good point. After taking a deep breath to steel herself, she trotted over to him and looked away, her fear that she had subsided slowly began to grow again.
“Um… D-Do you mind if I sit here? I-I mean… If that’s alright...” Fluttershy eventually forced out, curling herself into a ball and hiding fearfully in her mane.
“Hm? Oh, not at all. Please, do.” Blue said warmly, finally taking his attention off of the foliage and structures passing by the window. Fluttershy reluctantly got up onto the seat and rested on her haunches, shyly looking away from the stallion that looked at her, and then to the back of the seat in front of him.
“S-so… Um… D-do you like animals?” She asked, finally looking at blue through her mane.
“Why wouldn’t I?” He warmly chuckled, “Especially if they’re cute and cuddly.” He continued as he held himself with his fore hooves as if he were hugging himself.
“Oh, m-me to! I actually have a pet bunny at home.” She said, starting to feel comfortable by the guard.
“Really? What’s his name?”
“Angel.”
“Oh, that’s a really good name!” He chuckled.
“Do you have any pets of your own?” Fluttershy asked.
“Sadly, no… And with me working all the time, I wouldn’t be able to take care of any.” Blue informed with a regretful sigh.
“Oh… You must be very busy then…”
“Yeah. But to be able to have the satisfaction at the end of the day, knowing that I’m protecting the ones I care about, it’s completely worth it.” He smiled as he leaned into the back of his seat. Fluttershy soon didn’t feel intimidated by Blue, and decided not to go back to her seat, rather, to stay here and continue talking to her new animal loving friend.
“So… What do you think of Ponyville?” She asked. The question made blue close his eyes and think of a response.
“Not at all what I’d expected to be honest… Then again, I’ve never been out of the Crystal Empire, so leaving for the first time was a little awkward. But once you get used to it, it really isn’t that bad.” He explained, “I might actually go back on leave.”
“The rest of the train ride was quiet for Fluttershy and Blue, as they couldn’t really think of much anything else to say… And conversation was cut short anyway, as now they had finally arrived in Canterlot. Blue looked in confusion as he saw the castle on the side of the mountain.
“I’ve never seen that before…” He said, peering out the window.
“A mountain?” Twilight Sparkle asked, looking in his direction and then out the window.
“No, the castle… How’d they get it up here?” He asked. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker at his question.
“They built it up there a long time ago…” Twilight explained.
“Oh!” Blue exclaimed, he didn’t know somepony could actually build so high up AND get the structure to stay. But now wasn’t the time to be fascinated in the castle. They had finally made it to Canterlot and began to pile off the train to head north. And with that, the journey of a thousand miles, began with the first step……………



