Of the young royals, the two princesses are fairly well accounted for. However, the prince still needs an explanation.
Of all the royal figures who lead Equestria, much is known of most of them. Celestia and Luna came from parts unknown and were offered the crown by the founders of the nation. Cadance was an orphan of distant noble descent who was raised by a humble village. Twilight was a lonely bookworm who eventually became one of the greatest heroes in history.
The prince, however, has very little in the way of backstory. How did he become a prince, since the title does not award itself? What is the meaning of his cutie mark? If he grew up with Celestia, as is sometimes speculated, then how did he get on with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or with Spike? While few are interested in providing answers for such an infuriating public figure, they nonetheless exist. This is one man's attempt to piece them together.
A little white, blond baby unicorn dropped the crayon he was holding in his mouth and smiled. The ruler of Equestria stormed over and lifted him with her magic. “I’ve told you before that we do not draw on the floors, so now you go into time out.”
Princess Celestia set him at the base of a column, where he immediately started happily cooing as he looked around the large white chamber. The princess barely suppressed a scream. “When your soft-hearted parents get home,” she muttered to herself, “I am going to-”
“Your highness?”
She took a deep breath before she turned to the guard. “What is it?”
The violet unicorn swallowed. “It’s Lord and Lady Cambreeching, your highness,” he said. “Their train derailed on the mountain pass, at the hairpin. Both are dead.”
Celestia’s frown vanished. “Ah," she said, looking back at Blueblood. "Were there any survivors?”
The guard nodded. “A few, but most of the casualties are either dead or dying. My squad was on a packless run when we found them. The medics are on site now.”
Celestia nodded. “Good.” She paused for a few moments. “I liked them, Officer Candidate...”
“Bear Claws.” Celestia thought she could hear a sniffle. “So did I, y-” He was interrupted by a definite sniffle, and the guard quickly wiped at his eyes. “I’m sorry your hi- I-I mean, I…”
“It’s alright,” Celestia said. “The first time is always the hardest.”
Bear Claws nodded, but slowly fell to the floor as he started to weep. As he did, Celestia stood over him. She conjured up a handkerchief and offered it to the guard, who ignored it. “It reeked,” he choked out. “I couldn’t even breathe! A lot of the ponies in the wreckage were moaning and screaming. One of them actually grabbed me and begged me to-”
He stopped and looked down. Blueblood was hugging him and staring up into his eyes. The guard reached down and embraced him. “I‘m sorry, your…” Sniffle. “...I shouldn’t be saying things like that in front of you. I’m sorry.”
Celestia looked at Bear Claws’ flank, then sighed. “You weren’t meant to be a guard, were you?” she asked. “It’s alright, you’re not the first recruit signing up for extra money. What did you want it for?”
Bear Claws sniffled, released Blueblood, then wiped his eyes again. “Bakery, ma’am. I want to...” He sniffled again then stood. “Apologies, your highness. I should-”
“No.” Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. “Stay. I want to talk to you about other ways you can earn money, since I imagine you don’t really want to complete your training now.”
Bear Claws’ jaw set, but eventually he bowed his head. “Thank you, your highness. I would like that.” He looked down to see that Blueblood was hugging his leg again. “Actually, I should probably let you find his closest living relatives.”
“I already have.” Blueblood looked up at Celestia, who had managed a small smile and scooped Blueblood into a hug. “It’ll be alright, Blueblood, I promise.”
<*>
“Aunt Celestia, shouldn’t we use a recipe?”
Celestia stood over a table with ingredients and cookware scattered all over it. Her six year old nephew was on the other side, staring timidly at his aunt. “Nonsense,” Celestia said. “I’m telling you, Blueberry, I was a renowned chef two-hundred years ago. Just forget the souffle ever happened.”
Blueblood shuddered. “We could ask Bear Claws to come over,” he offered.
“No, we couldn’t, because I’m supposed to be doing this, not him.” Celestia levitated an egg but put it back down. “Now, the sooner you stop bothering me, the sooner I can get started, and the sooner this cake can get finished.”
“Uh, but…”
“So, are you making any new friends like I asked you to?” Celestia asked him.
That silenced him for a moment, and Celestia poured a measure of flour into the bowl. Then the silence continued. Celestia put the measuring cup down and looked up at her nephew. “Blueblood, how was school today?”
“I told you, it was fine,” he said. “Reading was nothing new, but-”
“You said that earlier,” she told him. “I also noticed that you didn’t mention the other children at all. Why not?”
Blueblood rubbed at his neck. “Well, I didn’t think they-”
Celestia stopped him. “Blueblood, ever since my brother, I’ve noticed that all of the young stallions in your family start itching when they’re about to lie. I won’t force you to tell me what happened, I think I know what’s happening, but if you don’t want me to pry, just tell me and I’ll leave it alone. Just please don’t lie to me.”
Blueblood pursed his lips together and stared silently at Celestia for several seconds. Celestia looked back at him. Finally, Blueblood opened his mouth. “Everyone hates me.”
Celestia’s eyebrow rose. “What happened?”
“It wasn’t anything I did,” Blueblood assured her. “Well, sort of. Just… I told them you were my aunt.”
“Ah,” Celestia said. “How did you tell them?”
“Well, Mahogany was telling Morning Glory about how cool her mom was-”
Celestia’s lips pinched together. “I think I see where this is going.”
Blueblood nodded. “Yeah.”
Celestia noticed Blueblood rubbing at his hoof. “Well, what did you say?”
Blueblood shut his eyes. “Well, the way I said it, I just…” Blueblood took a deep breath. “I told Morning Glory you were better than her mom, and I told Mahogany… well... I told him that he’d never do half the things with his mom that we could.”
Celestia put her face in her hoof. “Blueblood…”
“I didn’t know his mom had just died!” Blueblood protested. “Yes, I should have, but I didn’t then! When he started crying, I tried to say I was sorry, but he ran off. Then Glory called me a snot and ran after him.”
Celestia put her hoof back down. “I take it word got out.”
Blueblood nodded. “At lunch, Pearl started hitting me with dirt clods. She kept telling me that you hated me now, ‘cause if you didn’t, you’d stop her.” Tears started to well up in Blueblood’s eyes. “A whole bunch of kids were watching. I asked one of them to help me, but they didn’t do anything. A bunch of them started laughing at me. Then I started crying, and Pearl started teasing me about that and…”
Blueblood stopped talking and started rubbing at his eyes. Celestia laid a hoof on his shoulder. “But someone stopped her, didn’t they?”
Blueblood nodded. “Yeah. The teacher made her sit in the corner. Then everyone glared at me for the rest of the day. Hors D'oeuvre kept kicking the back of my seat.” Blueblood started sniffling. “After school, I found Mahogany and tried to apologize to him again, but Glory told me to get lost. She said I only got off so lightly because I was related to you, and that Pearl should’ve pounded my face in.”
Blueblood opened his mouth again, but the only thing that came out was a sob. Blueblood quickly curled up on himself and started bawling. Celestia walked around the table and pulled him to her barrel with her wing. “Shh,” she said. “It’s alright. It’s over now. Tomorrow, you’re going to go back-”
“I don’t want to go back!” he sobbed. “Everypony’s just gonna’ do something worse to me tomorrow! I want to stay home!”
“Sorry,” she said, “but you have to go back. Yes, what you said was stupid, and yes, given you’ve been around these children since you were born, you should’ve known better. However, what Pearl did was still wrong. She was a bully looking for an easy target and she deserved what she got. I know it’s going to be hard going back, but you can’t shut yourself away for the rest of your life. You’ll eventually have to face them again, and when everypony calms down, you can try and make friends again.”
The two sat there in the kitchen and eventually Blueblood stopped crying. “It’ll be alright,” Celestia said. “Here, you take this,” she poured a glass of milk and gave it to Blueblood, “go sit in the dining room, and read one of your books. I’ll call you when this is done.” She pulled back and walked back to her original spot at the table. “Go on, there isn’t a single problem that can’t be solved by liberal quantities of my famous Celestial Twelve-Layer Cake. You just wait and see.”
<*>
“OK, it wasn’t that funny.”
A few minutes after Celestia had sent Blueblood out of the kitchen, the smoke alarm cantrip went off and Celestia emerged from the kitchen coated in rainbow-colored cake batter. Celestia had managed to put the fire out, but Blueblood had fallen out of his chair laughing as soon as his aunt had exited the smoking kitchen. Happy to see Blueblood feeling better, Celestia sent for Bear Claws in exchange for Blueblood’s silence. He still let out the odd chuckle, though, which, after an hour and a half and a good shower, was getting on Celestia’s nerves.
“Well, I don’t know what happened in there,” Bear Claws said as he carried the rainbow-colored, ice-cream covered cake out on his back, “but I managed to make this from the wreckage.”
Bear Claws laid the cake at one end of the table, as well as three plates and forks (Celestia generously donated a portion of the cake and a bonus in exchange for his silence). “One Celestial Twelve-Layer Cake. Bon appetit.”
Celestia immediately dug in, levitating the fork and stabbing it into her piece of cake. Blueblood picked up a fork with his hoof and dug it into edge of the cake, shoveled out a small morcel, and slowly, slowly placed it in his mouth, where he began deliberately working it all over his tongue.
“So, d’ya like it?”
Blueblood blushed as he realized he was making faces again, then quickly nodded to Bear Claws, who smiled at him. “D’ya want some more?”
Blueblood held up a hoof and kept chewing. However, as he turned back to his plate, a thought occurred to him. He swallowed, then turned back to Bear Claws, who was scooping up cake with the fork in his hoof. A moment later, Bear Claws noticed him staring. “What’s up?
Blueblood’s mouth opened before his brain caught up with him, but quickly shut it as his brain overrode him. “N-nothing,” he said as he forced his hoof not to rise to his neck.
Bear Claws’ smile faded. “You’re wondering why I’m not using magic, aren’t you?”
Blueblood’s eyes widened. “No! Uh-I-I…”
Bear Claws waved him down. “It’s alright; I get a lot of ponies wondering that.” He settled into his chair. “I have something called Conversion Disorder. Basically, I have magic, but I’m just not able to consciously use it. It’s not contagious; it’s just something I developed, and please don’t ask me how.”
“Why no-” Blueblood started before he stopped himself. “Uh, never mind.” Blueblood turned back to his plate and started eating again, although everypony noticed that he moved a little too deliberately.
Bear Claws laid a hoof on Blueblood’s shoulder. “I don’t want to scare you, Blueblood. What happened to me is rare. Heck, in most cases it doesn’t even last this long. It’s just that the way I was born. Even then, it took a traumatic event to cause my condition to develop. You’ll probably never get it.”
Blueblood stopped eating, and turned back to Bear Claws. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Eventually, Blueblood nodded and started eating again. He didn’t notice Celestia’s sad frown, or how she ate the rest of her cake with the fork in her hoof.
“Aunt Celestia, the key to the supply closet’s gone miss…”
A nine-year-old Blueblood stared at the mare who was talking to Celestia out on the front steps of Canterlot Castle. She was about sixteen, colored pink, and her cutie mark was shaped like a crystal heart. She was smiling at him, and starting to turn a little pinker. Most interestingly, she had both wings and a horn, a feature Blueblood had only seen once before.
“Blueblood!” Blueblood whipped his head back to his aunt. “This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Princess Cadenza, this is Blueblood.”
“You can just call me Cadance,” the new alicorn told Blueblood. “I rarely ever use my full name.”
Blueblood looked at her with an “mm-hmm” before looking back at Celestia. “I take it I missed something important during my class field trip?”
Celestia nodded. “As you’ve noticed, Cadance is our latest alicorn, and I thought I should bring her here quickly, so I set off before you got home. And, by sheer luck, you found us just as we got back.”
The bells on the clock tower started to chime half-past-nine. “Shoot!” Celestia said. “I’m sorry, Cadance, but it looks like I’m later than I thought for an important meeting, so…” she turned to Blueblood, “Blueblood, I’m sorry, but would you mind showing her around until I get back? This shouldn’t take long.”
Blueblood nodded. “Alright.”
“OK, thank you,” she turned to Cadence, “I’ll be done by eleven.” She turned to Blueblood and moved her head right next to his ear. “Blueblood,” she whispered, “please make her feel welcome.” With that, she turned around, took off and flew off around the corner of the castle.
Blueblood frowned after her and grumbled something under his breath. He turned to Cadance “Please ignore my aunt: she’s prone to exaggeration.”
“Ah,” Cadance said.
A silence stretched between her and him. “Well,” Cadance said, “she probably hasn’t told you this, but Celestia’s adopted me as her niece. I guess that makes us cousins or siblings or something.”
Blueblood’s eyes widened slightly. “Hmm. That’s interesting. Then again...” He thought, but eventually, he turned to the palace doors. “Well, let’s begin.” Blueblood turned on his hooves and marched through the doors, Cadance in close pursuit.
<*>
“and whatever you do, do not let Aunt Celestia in the kitchen.”
Cadance chuckled as the two crossed the dining room. “That bad, huh?”
Blueblood glared at her. “I’m not joking. The last time she tried to cook…” he shuddered. “The bomb squad is still trying to figure out how to safely dispose of what she made.”
Cadance stared at him. “Really?”
Blueblood nodded. “I had no idea that they could negotiate in the middle of a crisis. Neither did they. Well,” he gestured around himself, “that’s everything, or, rather, everything essential. I imagine Aunt Celestia will want to show you to your room herself. Do you have any questions?”
Cadance shook her head. “Not really.”
“Very well.”
Silence passed as Blueblood looked at Cadance, who looked back at him. Cadance looked away for a moment, but Blueblood kept looking at her. Eventually, he turned away. “Well,” Blueblood said, “if you have no more questions, I will be in my roo-”
“Actually, Blueblood,” Cadance said, “I was wondering if you wanted to play a game or something? You don’t have to if-”
“No,” Blueblood said, turned around again, “my afternoon’s free. What sort of game did you have in mind?”
<*>
“seven, eight, nine, yes!”
Fifteen minutes later, in the adjacent game room, all but one of the properties on the Monopoly board had been bought up. Blueblood had all the reds. Cadance now had all the oranges as well as the greens, the yellows, the purples, the dark blues, the light blues, the hotels, the railroads, the houses, the money, and, most importantly, the unmortgaged properties. Fifty bits later, Blueblood was forced out of jail, and as he picked up the dice, he realised that he did not like the look of the board at all.
“What’s that face for?” she asked. “I don’t own the weather factory: you’ve got a fifty-fifty chance of not going bankrupt... this turn.”
“Actually,” Blueblood said, “I have a thirteen-point-eight-nine percent chance of not going bankrupt this turn.”
Cadance’s eyebrow rose, and then she looked down at the board. “OK, I forgot you can’t roll a one, but your odds aren’t that bad.”
Blueblood put the dice down and looked at her. “Dice don’t work the way you think they do. While a balanced die has a uniform distribution when it’s rolled by itself, meaning that each number has a one-in-six chance of coming up, the results of two dice follow a... more pyramidal distribution. Seven has a six-in-thirty-six chance of coming up, six and eight have a five-in-thirty-six chance each, and so on down to two and twelve with a one-in-thirty-six chance apiece. My only hope is to roll a ten or an eleven; two plus three is five, divided by thirty six is thirteen-point-eight-nine percent.”
“Oh, I see.” Cadance looked back at the board. “Wait, seven’s a community chest, you should have-”
“All of the tolerable cards are gone,” Blueblood told her. “Same with the chance cards. That leaves me with just Free Parking and Derby Avenue.” He picked up the dice and rolled a two. He sighed as he moved his piece to the weather factory.
“Hang on, that’s unowned,” Cadance said.
“And I can’t afford it,” Blueblood replied. “Which means it gets auctioned off. To you.”
“I don’t remember those rules.”
“Nopony does, but I assure you, they’re in there.”
Cadance reached for the rulebook, but stopped. “Wait, don’t you just owe me rent when you land on a space I own?”
Blueblood’s eyes widened. “Oh. Right. I forgot that.” He picked up the dice again. “Well, my odds have improved.” He shook the dice. “Thirty-three-point-three percent...” He rolled…
… a ten. Blueblood scowled as he moved his piece over to the Chance square, flipped over the ‘Advance to Boardwalk’ card, placed his piece right next to the hotel on that square, and forked over his last bit.
Cadance giggled. “Well, that was fun. And very informative near the end.”
Blueblood nodded, then started scooping up the cards. “Well,” he said as he put the cards into the box, “do you want to play-”
“Wait, don’t pick that up.” Blueblood stopped, his hoof over the dice. “I want to see if I can lift it with my mind,” Cadance said.
Blueblood withdrew his hooves. “Alright.”
Cadance closed her eyes and her horn glowed light blue. A thin field of blue magic formed around one of the dice. A few seconds later, the field of magic flowed upward, but the die it was attached to remained on the board. “You’re holding it too softly,” Blueblood said. “Put a little more force on it.” The field thickened, but the die did not move. “More.” Thicker. “More.” The field flattened. “Hold o-”
Crunch.
Cadance opened her eyes and gasped at the powder that had once been a Monopoly die. “I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to-”
“That’s alright,” Blueblood said, “I’ll just get another one. One that isn’t cursed.”
The two scooped up the rest of the pieces in silence and Cadance tilted the board into a nearby wastebasket to dump the die dust into it. When the board was back in the box, Blueblood got up and put the game back in the cupboard. “So, are you up for another board game,” Blueblood asked, “or do you want me to get the cards out?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, get the cards out.”
Blueblood looked up. Cadance had got up and was looking at the miniature portraits in a wall-length glass cabinet. He pulled several decks out of the cupboard and closed the door. He then walked over to the cabinet, looking over her shoulder. “That would be… Stalwart Shield,” he told her, “my great-uncle fifteen times removed.”
Cadance looked at Blueblood. “This is your family?”
Blueblood nodded, looking back into the cabinet. “Mm-hmm, at least down the line of the oldest-born. My line goes back a long way. All the way back to Divine Gift: Princess Celestia’s unicorn brother.”
Cadance whistled. “That’s cool, knowing so many of your ancestors. I’m apparently the last descendent of the last legitimate ruler of the Crystal Empire. And I never even knew my birth parents.”
Blueblood looked at her. “Really?”
Cadance shook her head. “I was raised by my whole village. Not in the metaphorical sense, either, I mean they all pitched in to raise me. We weren’t dirt poor, but we were nowhere near rich, either. Certainly not noticeable.” She took in a breath and slowly let it out. “And now I find out that I’m the heir to an empire. It’s… a weird feeling, having this sudden, deep family history that nopony ever got to tell me about.”
Cadance looked at the cabinet, but Blueblood noticed her mile-long stare. “I never got to know my parents, either.”
“I heard.”
“It seems to run in my family, men dying young, along with the duchy and the blue sclerae.”
Cadance turned around. “Come again?”
Blueblood pulled one of his eyelids down. “The whites of the eye? Mine are blue.”
Cadance looked into his eye. “Oh. So they are.”
Blueblood put his hoof back down. “So believe me, I know what weird is.” He frowned. “I get reminded of that every time I meet somepony new.”
She smiled. “Well I think they look cute on you, my new little brother.”
Blueblood stared at her. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah. It makes you look exotic. Along with your way of speaking, it makes you look like some kind of young archmage: cultured and sophisticated.”
Blueblood frowned. “Nice try. I know a white lie when I hear one.”
Cadance sighed. “Oh well, worth a shot.” Her smile faded away. “I almost wish I didn’t. No offense, Blueblood, but I feel really… self-conscious with my wings and this new horn sticking out of my head. I just know I’m gonna’ look… not bad, but unusual.” She smiled again. “But, I’m rambling. Let’s just play some cards.”
Blueblood nodded, then walked back over to the deck, untied it, and started shuffling. As he started to deal, an idea struck him. “Cadance,” he said, “there’s a tradition here amongst new relatives of a certain age…”
<*>
Later that night, Blueblood and Cadance slipped into Celestia’s room. Their aunt was on the bed, laying on her stomach and partially covered by a blanket that had been torn out of its bindings. It was a new moon, so the room was almost completely dark. Blueblood snuck along the wall to the door to Celestia’s en-suite bathroom, with Cadance following close behind. As the two got closer to the door, Blueblood crept over to the bed and looked over her. Finally, he nodded, and he and Cadance slipped through the door, shutting it behind them.
It was pitch black inside. Cadance pulled a small crystal ball out of Blueblood’s saddlebags and shook it. A faint light came out of it, lighting the bathroom just enough to see. Cadance set the light on a towel shelf. “OK,” Cadance whispered, “string?”
Blueblood lifted a spool of string out of his saddlebags. “Check.”
“Bucket?”
“Check.”
“Shower rod?”
“Check.”
“Good.” Cadance took the bucket over to the shower and put it under the spigot, but stopped. “You’re sure that Aunt Celestia isn’t going to wake up?”
Blueblood nodded while holding the shower rod. “At this point, she’s practically dead to the world.”
“OK.” Cadance turned on the spigot, but only a little. As the bucket slowly filled, Blueblood hopped up on Cadance’s back and fitted the shower rod next to the shower door. When the bucket was full, Blueblood sat down on Cadance’s withers as Cadance stood and passed the bucket up to Blueblood, who balanced it on the shower door and the shower rod.
Cadance took a deep breath as she took a magical hold on the string. Slowly it lifted up to the bucket and looped around the handle. Once the string had completely circled the handle, Cadance brought the string back up and looped it back on itself, where Blueblood pulled the loose end until the knot formed. Cadance then magically manipulated the other end to loop around the shower faucet before Blueblood got off of her and helped her tie it off.
“You’re also sure she won’t notice the faucet being a little harder to move?” Cadance asked.
Blueblood put his saddlebags on. “Positive. Despite popular belief, Celestia takes a while to fully wake up. She walks like a zombie before breakfast.”
“Alright.” Cadance blew out the light, picked it up, and put it back in the saddlebags. She opened the door, let Blueblood out, then stepped out herself.
She stifled a scream. Celestia was staring at her from the bed, mouth and dead, glassy eyes wide open. Cadance stopped, holding her breath as she dared not risk attracting attention. She didn’t even dare move her eyes to see what Blueblood was doing. She just stood and stared and hoped that the tickling in her nose didn’t develop into a sneeze. Finally, however, Celestia moaned and rolled over. Cadance took the opportunity to tip-hoof-sprint out of the room and shut the door.
“I’m sorry,” Blueblood told her. “Sometimes she does that when she’s really tired.”
Cadance stomped down the hall. “You’re putting the ice in the bucket tomorrow morning.”
All of Celestia’s ministers smiled and responded with some variation of ‘fine’ or ‘good’. “Excellent. Well, today I’ve tried making something a little simpler, so…” she pulled out a basket of cupcakes, “feel free to tell me what you think.”
Everypony around the table took one, and bit into them. Their faces didn’t change as they chewed, which Celestia took as a good sign. Finally, they swallowed and gave small, overly polite compliments that she had improved. Celestia rolled her eyes. “Alright, now-”
There was a knock at the door. Celestia looked back at the ministers and took a quick count. Everyone was there. Thus confused, she willed the door open and her good mood died.
“Hello, Aunt Celestia.”
“Blueblood,” she said nervously. “What are you doing here, right after lunch?”
“Lesson let out early: apparently my substitute teacher hasn’t argued the flaws of Polemic’s research with an eleven-year-old. She’ll be fine, she just needs some time to stop frothing at the mouth, so everypony got sent home.” He looked at the ministers. “Good afternoon.”
Nopony returned the greeting. “Blueblood,” his aunt said, “I’m about to start a meeting, so if you don’t mind-”
“Actually,” he interrupted, “I was wondering if I could sit in and watch?”
“...pardon?”
“Well, Cadance is still in class, and I am going to be the Duke of Cambreeching when I’m older, I thought I could use the experience.”
Celestia looked up at her ministers, who silently pleaded with her with puppy-dog eyes. She then looked back at Blueblood, who had followed suit with even bigger eyes. Celestia looked back and forth as the eye race escalated, then groaned. “Alright, you can stay,” Celestia said. “However,” she said as the ministers stifled moans, “if you are not completely quiet, you’re going right back out.”
Blueblood nodded.
“No exceptions. If I hear one peep out of you, you will leave.”
“I understand.”
Celestia turned back to her cabinet. “OK, let’s begin with the minutes…”
For the first fifteen minutes, Blueblood remained silent as the grave, sitting right next to Celestia as the adults went about their business. Blueblood had a few questions, but he vowed to voice them to his aunt after the meeting was over. However, as the minutes ticked on, Blueblood started accumulating more questions and comments than he knew what to do with. He reached for his book bag, but then realized that he’d left it in his room. Annoyed, he sat back, looking around the room and “WAAAAAAAUGH!”
The other adults looked up and recoiled from the cockroach on the floor. Celestia very calmly picked it up with her magic, walked over to the door, called a servant, passed the bug to him, and shut the door. “Alright,” she said, “I don’t think I’m going to count that. Shall we press on?”
Blueblood sat back as the conversations started again. However, he smacked himself in the face as he realized that he had forgotten some of his questions. A resolution to ask his aunt for a copy of the minutes after business had concluded died in committee as the Prince stared at the nearest minister’s notes. Finally, he couldn’t hold himself back anymore and walked over to the old, black Chancellor of the Exchequer’s side, who tried to ignore him. Blueblood flipped through the stallion’s notes, silently taking everything in. Then, however, he spotted something.
“Palladium’s a bit steep, isn’t it?”
“Blueblood!”
Blueblood stiffened at his aunt’s voice. “Of course, that’s, uh, your area, Chancellor.”
“Blueblood, get over here.”
Blueblood turned and walked towards his aunt, who was frowning at him. “Blueblood, what did I say?”
“I have to be quiet. I’m sorry, I forgot something, so I thought I’d...please let me have another chance. I promise I’ll be quiet this time.”
Celestia glared at Blueblood, who had added a whimper to his pleading. “...very well, but I have one more condition.”
Blueblood sighed in relief. “Yes, a-”
Poof!
“You are to hold that bucket of ice water in your mouth for the rest of the meeting. If you let go of it, you have to leave. No excuses, no more chances. Understand?”
Blueblood almost opened his mouth, but remembered to nod instead. “Very well,” Celestia said, “don’t disappoint me.” She looked back up at her cabinet. “Item eleven, Purple Mountain?”
A purple earth mare stood up. “About a month ago, a private lumber camp five miles into the border of Bull Moose National Park started reporting-”
“Hang on,” a blue unicorn stallion with a country twang said: “a lumber camp in a national park?”
“I know that sounds strange, Valence Electron,” Purple Mountain said, “but it was grandfathered in because Gold Pan v. the National Park Board required compensation. It was either that or a platinum mine and lumber is cleaner. Anyways, a month ago, the camp reported odd animal activity: birds flying in unusual directions, foxes being unable to catch their prey, et cetera, et cetera. The whole site was attacked by a hydra twice in the week before last. Since hydras don’t live anywhere near the area, this is understandably something of a concern. No fatalities so far, but the owner’s had to pay for four-hundred thousand bits in repairs and the attacks are only getting worse.” She grimmaced. “I know this partly because the owner’s friend is the Director of the National Park Board, whom I have had to put up with every day for the past week.”
“Wait,” the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, “Beryl ‘Chocolate Milk Fountain’ Pie is friends with the Dour Director?”
“Mm-hmm,” Purple Mountain replied, “even in the same sorority in college. She’s even met the family.”
“Alright, any ideas about the animals?” Celestia asked, ignoring Blueblood’s raised hoof.
“None. Magic reads normal and there aren’t any odd plants in the area. I’m going to need some more people to try and find a cause.”
“You sure it’s not just nature pushing back?” the Press Secretary joked.
“You know, Mrs. Edition,” Purple Mountain said, “I’ve been thinking about that. The camp expanded a few days before the animals started to act funny. I’m wondering if it’s something the construction workers brought in.”
“Have the guard towers reported anything?” Valence asked, pointedly ignoring Blueblood almost bouncing up and down.
“Nothing’s been going on, but that’s another thing. There’s been a whole lot of static on the wireless.”
“Well, it’s not me,” Celestia said with a smile.
“Oh, of course not, your highness,” Mountain said, turning back to the rest of the cabinet before she could see Celestia’s frown. “The director is sending in a research team next week in order to take a look around. Hopefully we can find what’s wrong without having to set up a lab.”
“Well, good luck,” Celestia said. “Alright, if there are no other comments, then lets-”
“HO-YAIII!”
Everypony glared at Blueblood, who had dropped the bucket on the floor and was covered in freezing water. “Alright, Blueblood,” Celestia said, “Get-”
“I have an idea, please just hear me out!” Blueblood blurted out. “Purple Mountain, you said that the local fauna were behaving strangely, correct? Foxes not being able to coordinate their hunts, birds flying in odd directions? In addition, you said there’s a lot of interference on your radio tower in that area? All of the animals you mentioned are magnetoceptive, they can sense magnetic fields and they use them to navigate.”
“I know that,” Purple Mountain said. She stopped in the middle of rubbing the bridge of her nose. “So do hydras.” She sighed. “Are you saying that there are a bunch of magnets out in the woods that are messing with their senses?”
“Yes! Your stations track magic but they don’t track magnetism, and since there isn’t any strange solar activity going on, no infection can spread between that many species, there aren’t enough radio signals to cause an effect, and a poison that can affect foxes and hydras should also affect ponies, somepony had to…”
Everyone in the room was staring at him. He turned to Celestia. “Your highness, I know this sounds stupid, but I’m not-”
Celestia motioned with her hoof. “I know,” she said, “go ahead.”
“Your highness?” a minister asked.
“Let him speak. He seems to actually have something to say this time.”
Blueblood gave his aunt a smile, then turned back to the ministers and cleared his throat. “While nopony has that much magical power, it’s possible to fit a sufficiently powerful magnet inside of a knapsack, which can be easily carried by a tree scout, if you use the right materials and the right power source.”
“Namely a special magical battery that would set off any magicometer in a three-mile radius of the border,” Valence Electron said.
“I know that,” Blueblood said. “Didn’t that logging camp, which was five miles in and is the epicenter of animal-related activity, and I remind you, has suffered zero fatalities from several hydra attacks, recently perform some expansion? Expansion that would require a large amount of concrete?”
“If you’re implying that they smuggled the cores in the concrete,” Purple Mountain said, “Only aggregate came in. I saw them make the concrete on site.”
“What kind of aggregate did they use?” Blueblood asked. “Any of the heavier stuff like magnetite or any of the barites could be used to absorb any magical radiation. The wire coil could have been smuggled in as ordinary wire and the cores could have been melted down from other equipment. As more damage is done to the camp, more supplies have to be imported and thus more magnet parts can be smuggled in, increasing the range of effect.”
“OK,” Electron said, “you’ve explained the how, but not the why.”
“Or why my scouts didn’t pick up magic from the magnets that could not be buried?” Purple Mountain asked.
Blueblood straightened up. “Bull Moose National Park is one of the oldest wildlife preserves in the nation. However, it was also the site of a platinum mine, which, I’m guessing, also contains the still very valuable palladium, that was bought with the rest of the land before it could be mined in earnest. There was a large court case about eminent domain and compensation, I understand, which allowed for that very logging camp to be built on the grounds of renewable resources. And it just so happens that the logging company currently belongs to a mare whose also owns a rather large mining company in addition to the companies that supply the logging camps? She has opportunity, she has incentive...”
“And that’s very nice that you’ve worked all of that out,” Purple Mountain interrupted, “but why would Beryl Pie use magnets to try and mine platinum? And again, why haven’t my scouts said anything about magic?”
“I’ll admit, this is the most speculative part of all this, but what would happen if the animal attacks did not stop?”
“We’d have to set up camp and investigate.”
“No, you would have to close the park for public safety and set up a research center, which, given the creatures in the area, would require guards, heavy fortifications, and all manner of scientists and wizards to comb the area for any possible causes. Only they could dedicate their time and government funding to expanding the mine and smuggling ore out of the park, because they would all know the cause, because the Director of the National Park Board here in Canterlot is a close friend to Beryl Pie, and could thus falsify her scouts’ reports, if not use scouts whom she’s personally paying.”
Blueblood took a breath. “I don’t have any proof that they are collaborating, but that is the only reason I can think of for electromagnets, the only possible cause of the magnetism upsetting the animals, to be in the park and have nopony notice. Furthermore, given the recent rise in platinum and palladium prices, I’m willing to wager that Beryl Pie’s already started mining and is hoarding the two metals to corner the market on both.”
The ministers stared at him. Blueblood stared back at them, now feeling a blush start to rise. “This is just supposition, mind,” he said. “You’ll have to investigate in order to…”
“I don’t believe it,” one of the ministers fumed.
Blueblood’s blush blossomed. “As I said, it’s complicated, but Beryl Pie doesn’t seem to be the kind to…”
“That’s...not what she meant,” Celestia said, suppressing a chuckle. “Would you mind just turning around? No no, sit still and do it. Now look down.”
Blueblood fell over, mouth wide open, as he noticed the new compass rose on his flank. He looked back up at Celestia. “Uh, I, I don’t…how did I...what does i-”
“I think I can guess.” Celestia got up from the table and walked over to her nephew. “Blueblood, I’ve seen you reading books on almost every subject available and you’ve been able to find your way through every one of them. In order to come to the conclusion you did, you had to draw on knowledge from biology, physics, geology, history, law, executive procedure, and a little bit of economics. Even if your theory turns out to be wrong, you still had to be familiar with a good many topics in order to make it. That’s your talent: you can find your way through anything.”
Blueblood looked up at his aunt, then back at his new cutie mark. Then he looked back up at Celestia, smiled, and chuckled. That chuckle grew into a full laugh, and then a stream of happy ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’es as he bounced around the room.
Valence Electron cleared his throat. “Yer highness,” he asked Celestia, “not that Ah’m not happy for yeh, but-”
“That’s alright,” Celestia said, “I’ll consult him after meetings.” She stood up. “Purple Mountain, please start a corruption investigation, as that is so far our best theory. Meanwhile, if the rest of you wouldn’t mind discussing possible alternatives, I have a Confirmarktion to plan.”
About two weeks after the cabinet meeting, Cadance came walking up the castle lawn with two other ponies behind her. “Blueblood!” she called out. “Blueblood?”
“Here.”
Blueblood strolled up to Cadance. “You’re back early,” he said as he looked at Cadance’s two guests. They were unicorns: a bold, teenaged, white colt and a young purple filly who shadowed him. “And with company.”
Cadance nodded. “Yep. This is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Shining Armor.”
Shining Armor smiled at him. “You’re Blueblood, right?”
“I am.”
Blueblood swept his eyes more carefully over Shining Armor, not glaring, but definitely scrutinizing. “Y’know,” Shining Armor said, “I think you’re the only member of Cadance’s family that I haven’t met yet.”
“I’ve been busy lately,” Blueblood said. “My Confirmarktion is coming up this weekend and I’m helping Celestia with the guest list.”
Blueblood finally looked back at Cadance and gave her a small nod. “So,” Shining Armor asked, “do I meet your approval?”
“Well,” Blueblood said, “Cadance is generally a good judge of character, although Princess Celestia’s description of her date to the school dance is the first time I’ve ever heard her use the word ‘twerp’, so you could hardly be worse. But that can be forgiven as an outlier. You seem quite adequate.”
“Hey,” Twilight snapped, “my BBBFF is not ‘adequate’!”
Cadance rolled her eyes as she noticed Blueblood’s smirk. “So I take it you don’t approve of them seeing each other?” he asked.
“What? Of course I approve! He’s awesome, she’s awesome, they’re perfect for each other!”
“I thought you said he was inadequate.”
Twilight devolved into a stream of angry sputtering as Shining Armor laid a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s OK, Twily,” he said. “Just breathe. He thinks I’m a good guy.”
Blueblood opened his mouth, but Cadance shoved her hoof into it. “No. I’ve seen what happens next. Don’t push your luck.”
Eventually, after several deep breaths, Twilight finally stopped baring her teeth, but she kept scowling at Blueblood. Cadance and Shining Armor shared a long, nervous glance before Cadance cleared her throat. “Twilight, Blueblood, as you know, Shining Armor and I are going out now. As such, we really want you two to get along. It shouldn’t be that hard,” Cadance told Twilight, “you two actually have more in common than you think. As long as you two just play nice,” she looked directly at Blueblood when she said this, “I think you two will get along nicely.”
Twilight glared at Blueblood, whom Cadance was glad decided not to smile. Then Twilight looked back at her brother. “It’s OK, Twilight,” Shining Armor said. “You don’t have to defend me anymore.”
There was silence until Twilight eventually nodded. “Okay,” she said.
Shining Armor smiled. “Alright. We’ll just let you two mingle. We won’t be far, so just holler if you need anything.”
With that, Shining Armor and Cadance walked off behind the hedges. Twilight and Blueblood watched them leave, then turned to look back at each other. Twilight frowned. “Well,” she said, “I guess we’d better-”
“What did your brother mean by ‘you don’t have to defend me anymore’?” Blueblood asked.
Twilight scowled. “Nothing that has anything to do with you,” she icily spat.
Blueblood raised his hooves. “I’m just curious,” he told her.
Twilight glared at him. “Well,” she said, “for your information, Shining Armor got bullied at school a lot because a bunch of jerks think he’s a nerd. They insult him, they’ve stolen from his locker, they’ve even hurt him just because they’re jealous of how smart he is. The principal is useless; a lot of the bullies are just too well connected to be expelled and the school’s too vital to close. Shiny’s actually come home crying once because he couldn’t do anything without getting in trouble.”
Twilight moved closer to Blueblood. “I, however, did. Thanks to the miracle of homeschooling, I don’t go to his school, and I probably never will. Therefore, I can’t really be punished by them for getting even and my parents don’t punish me for protecting my brother. Now that the last of the big bullies is gone, my brother’s safe now. However, if I find that you’ve hurt my Big Brother Best Friend Forever in any way,” Twilight jabbed Blueblood in the chest with her hoof, “I will hurt you in kind. And I guarantee you that Cadance will help me.”
Blueblood backed away from Twilight. “Understood,” he whimpered.
Twilight nodded at him. “Good.”
The two sat in silence for a few seconds before Blueblood opened his mouth. “I did the same thing for Cadance,” he said. “She was trying to settle in after moving here, but several girls were spreading rumors about her being stupid and inbred. After she came home in tears one time, I decided to exact a little revenge involving several swarms of mice.”
Twilight stopped frowning. “Oh. Cadance mentioned that. She thought it was Shining, but he had no idea.”
Blueblood frowned. “I thought she knew. Oh well. The rumors stopped, and anytime they started again, I quickly put an end to them. I know how you think, Twilight, and I give you my solemn word that even though I might send your brother into a fit, as I believe is my right as Cadance’s brother, I will never intentionally hurt him.”
Twilight nodded. “Good.” She smiled. “Well, this shouldn’t be too hard. I mean, we’ve got something in common already: we should find something else pretty easily.”
“Alright,” Blueblood said, “what would be your favorite class in school?”
Blueblood nodded. “Good choice. Thinking of going into it as a career?”
Twilight shook her head. “Nothing’s set in stone, but I’m thinking I might become a librarian. I take it you-”
“Duke of Cambreeching, yes.” Blueblood steepled his hooves. “I take it you like books?”
Twilight brightened up. “Oh, yeah! Any kind! What kinds of books do you like?”
“Actually, I’m more of a cinephile,” Blueblood told her.
Twilight’s smile dropped. “Oh. OK. I don’t watch a lot of movies.”
“I have my own film projector. We could-”
Twilight waved him off. “No, I’ve seen a bunch of them; I just like books better.”
“Yes,” Blueblood said a slouch, “nonfiction is still best conveyed in literature.” He straightened back up. “What kind of science are you interested in?”
“Physics and magic.”
“I’m more interested in engineering. The more tangible stuff.”
“Well, I have an interest in stuff like that!” Twilight said. “I like working with magic.”
Blueblood shook his head. “No, I’ve still never had much interest in magic. Mathematics on the other hand...”
“No. Immensely useful, and I’m very good at it, but not really something I go into just for fun.” Twilight put her hoof to her chin. “Um, what about history? I really like the early days of Equestria, with Star Swirl the Bearded and the two Princesses’ earlier days.”
Blueblood looked down his nose at her. “One of those princesses is my aunt: those stories kind of lose their charm after the fifth retelling.”
Twilight frowned. “Yeah, I guess they would,” she mumbled.
Blueblood’s face softened. “I’m much more interested in modern history.”
Twilight shook her head. “Never really caught my eye.” Twilight swallowed. “Well, that covers the core classes. Do you have any other interests besides film, like, uh, astronomy?”
“Astronomy, no. I do like building little mechanical things, though. Do you?”
Twilight shook her head again, slowly.
Blueblood hmmed. “Well, I’ll be honest, you seem like a nice pony. I’m sure there’s something we-”
“Just forget it.” Twilight turned away from Blueblood. “I don’t know why I bothered.”
Blueblood was about to bite back when a tear rolled down Twilight’s cheek. Blueblood shut up and walked around her. “Is somethi-” Twilight turned away from him again. “What’s wrong?”
Twilight sighed. “Nothing’s wrong, I-I just…” Twilight turned to face Blueblood, another few tears running down her face. “Did I do something wrong? I mean, yeah, I snapped at you when we first met, but you seemed OK with that. I swear I read the book right, but-”
Blueblood awkwardly laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Um, shh, it’s OK,” he told her. “You didn’t do anything wro... wait, book?”
Twilight sniffled. “It’s stupid. I tried to derive the algorithm for friendship out of a little kids’ book about a cockatoo. I thought it would work, the book was really well reviewed, but I still don’t have any friends!”
Blueblood blinked. “What do you mean? You have Cadance and I’m sure that somepony like you has plenty of people who like....”
Twilight sobbed. Blueblood stared at her. “You really don’t have any… no, wait, you still have Cadance.”
“Yeah, I have my babysitter,” Twilight spat. “She doesn’t count. Neither does my brother. Mom and Dad keep telling me that I have to make friends my own age, and I try to, but nopony’s interested in hanging out with me. I’m just too much of a nerd. Then Cadance told me about you, about how smart you were, and I thought that I might finally find somepony to connect with.” Twilight wiped her eyes. “I guess she was wrong. I guess I’ll just never have friends.”
Blueblood pulled Twilight closer to him. “Don’t say that. You can’t say that we have nothing in common from just a minute’s worth of conversation.”
Twilight’s frown deepened. “Yes, I can. I don’t really like a whole lot of things, mostly just reading and magic.”
“That’s OK. I still read a lot.”
Twilight scoffed. “Great. Every time we get together we can read books about completely different topics and occasionally spout off facts that one of us isn’t interested in.”
“My interests aren’t ironclad. I could be interested in something random you have to say.”
Twilight glared at him. “So what about the rest of the time?”
Blueblood hesitated. “...you have a point.”
Twilight slumped forward and lay on the ground, eyes getting puffy. Blueblood released Twilight from the hug, then lay down next to her. “Twilight, have you ever tried joining a group?”
Twilight turned away. “Yes. The groups for kids aren’t that detailed and the groups for adults don’t want kids. I got to join an adult book club a few weeks ago, but I talked so much that I know they don’t want me back.”
Blueblood nodded. “It could have been worse; you could’ve made fun of someone’s dead mother.”
Twilight turned back to face him. “What?”
“It was a complete accident and I was six at the time,” Blueblood assured her. “But the dust settled eventually, I learned from that, and I started making friends. Just give it a little time and I’m sure everypony will forgive you.”
Twilight sighed. “If I don’t screw it up again. Besides, there aren’t any other kids there.”
Blueblood smiled. “Very well, I’ll join too.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Twilight, when I said I preferred films to books, that didn’t mean that I hated reading. I actually read quite a lot of fiction. I actually follow Garth Nicker’s Keys to the Empire, R.L. Scute’s Terror Road, and A.K. Yearling’s Daring Do very closely.”
Twilight brightened up. “So do I!”
“See? I told you it was too soon to give up on me.”
<Fifteen minutes later>
“Keep your eyes closed, Shiny.”
Shining Armor sighed playfully as he crawled through the brush. “This isn’t another hornet’s nest, is it?”
A sigh. “For the last time, I didn’t know about the hornets. I promise you, though, that there are no hornets here. Keep moving, keep moving… OK, now.”
Shining Armor opened his eyes, and his jaw dropped. Before him was a garden made almost entirely out of crystal. The grass, though soft to the touch, seemed to be woven out of peridots. Throughout the lawn, leafy plants seemingly made out of amethyst sprouted. Shrubs of brown topaz planted beside the small pond were garbed in andesine foliage. And in the middle was a giant rose quartz tree, sprouting aquamarine leaves and large opal fruits. With Celestia’s sun overhead, the garden sparkled with a pleasant light.
“It’s beautiful,” Shining Armor said. Then he looked over at Cadance, and his jaw dropped further. “Cadance, you-”
Cadance had changed, her body now gleaming and translucent, like the rest of the crystals in the garden. She smiled at him. “Look at you.”
Shining Armor looked down and stared at his new, crystalline form. “Whoa.”
“Yep.” Cadance motioned to the garden. “This is a group of plants are descended from plants saved from the Crystal Empire. The magic they give off can manifest itself in the ponies nearby, supposedly revealing the purity of their heart and the brightness of their spirit.” Cadance cuddled up to him. “And it looks like you have plenty of both.”
Shining Armor smiled again. “Well, I have got good inspiration.”
Shining Armor put his hoof around his special somepony, and the two slowly leaned into a tender kiss. When they had finished, they leaned back and looked into each other’s eyes. “Shiny?” Cadance asked with a smile.
“Yep?”
Cadance’s smile vanished as she saw something. “Would you mind looking up for a second?”
Now Shining Armor had stopped smiling. “What is it?”
“Shiny, please?”
The confused colt did so, and Cadance scrutinized his eyes. Though it was pretty a few seconds ago, now the multicolored light was hindering her ability to make it out. She put a hoof up to Shining Armor’s head and gently tilted it this way and that, squinting until she saw…
“Oh sweet Celestia.”
“What is it?” Shining Armor asked her.
Cadance backed away. “Shine, uh, Shining, um, you know how Blueblood has this thing with the whites of his eyes?”
Shining Armor shrugged. “Yeah?”
“Well, I just happened to notice that, with your eyes and your white coat, you kind of look like my little brother!”
That caught Shining Armor’s attention, and he sprung away from Cadance. “Oh sweet Celestia, I’ve been dating my cousin!”
“Dating your cousin? You’ve been kissing he...”
While Shining Armor hyperventilated, Cadance dashed to the pond, slurped up some water, and began gargling. “Wait a minute,” Shining Armor said, breathing slowing. “OK, having the same genetic abnormality might be odd, but just that’s not proof we’re related.”
Cadance spit the water onto the grass. “Well forgive me if I want a little more to go on before you stick your tongue down my throat again,” Cadance told her possible cousin. “Can you remember any of your family tree?”
Shining Armor paled. “Uh, not really.”
Cadance grabbed him. “Think, darn it!”
“Well I don’t know! Mom and Dad don’t know anything about my parents!”
Cadance stared at Shining Armor. “Come again?”
Shining Armor stared at Cadance. “I’m adopted, Cadance,” he said. "Didn't I tell you?"
Cadance stared at Shining Armor. “I don't think so. Ugh!” Cadance shook her head. “If we want to keep going out, we have got to find out who your birth parents were.”
Shining Armor nodded. “Yeah. I might like you, if we're not related, but I really don’t want to be charged with incest.”
“You… won’t.”
Shining Armor and Cadance turned to see a panting and sweaty Blueblood pull himself out of the hole in the shrubbery. “Blueblood,” Cadance said, “you can’t know Shining Armor’s family tree already, so please don’t tell me...”
“Aunt… Celie.”
Cadance frowned. “What are you,” she stopped. “You’re right.” She smiled at Shining Armor. “It’s OK, we’re not related.”
Cadance giggled. “You don’t know Aunt Celestia. If one of her nieces or nephews was orphaned or given up for adoption, she’s the sort of person who’d immediately arrange for a good family to adopt them, and she never forgets any of them. Odds are, if you’re related to me, she’d know you, and she would’ve stopped me from going out with you.”
Shining Armor frowned, but eventually, the corners of his mouth turned up. “Alright,” he said, “I trust you.”
He moved towards Cadance, but she stopped him. “I know we’re not related,” she said, “but you still have Blueblood's blue sclerae, and I’m going to need a while to get over that.”
Shining Armor shrugged. “That’s alright. I can wait.”
Cadance turned back to Blueblood. “So, what’s up? I’ve never seen you sweat like this before. And where’s Twilight?”
Blueblood had recovered his breath by that, and he started fiddling with his hooves. “Uh, yes, about that.” He turned to Shining Armor. “Uh… well… we were… your sister, uh, she…” He smiled. “Fire?”
There was a loud BOOM! and Blueblood hid behind his older sister. Standing in the new hole in one of the walls was Twilight, who had transformed into a red-eyed, smoke-breathing fireball. She stomped forward through the smoking remains of the brick wall, snorting flames with every breath. Where she stepped, the grass turned black and purple, and all of the plants in the garden turned darker.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT DOCTOR CABALLERON?!” she snarled.
The two older ponies glared at Blueblood, who tittered. “I thought it would be funny?”
“Do I really have to answer this? I was up late last night and I just want to go take a nap before supper.”
Cadance and Blueblood were walking down the castle’s front lawn and having a heated discussion. “It shouldn’t be that hard for you,” Cadance pressured, “I already know about combust-”
“Shh!”
Blueblood stretched out a foreleg and stopped Cadance. Cadance stared at her little brother as he squinted and began sniffing the air. Cadance tried to poke him, Blueblood shoved her hoof away. She tried to ask a question, but Blueblood quickly shoved his hoof into her mouth. For several long moments, the two stood quiet and still. Then, Blueblood breathed a sigh of relief and began walking again. “What was that all about?” Cadance asked.
“For the past few weeks, there’s been something in the garden,” Blueblood said. “Every time I step outside it always seems to find me. I keep trying to get it to go away but it just won’t listen to me.”
Cadance smiled. “OK. What is this strange beast of which you speak?”
Blueblood glared at her. “You are not going to see it. You are going to go inside, open your chemistry book, and finish studying. I will help you if I have to, but under no circumstance are you going to-AHH!”
Cadance nearly fell over when Blueblood leapt onto her and climbed up onto her head, obscuring her sight. “Blueblood, get off!”
“NO! IT’S HERE! SOMEPONY HELP MEEEEEE!”
Cadance stood for a second before she reared up and tossed her head. Blueblood had never been very strong; thus the sudden change in momentum threw Blueblood into the nearby bushes. Cadance fell back to the ground and brushed her mane out of her eyes.
That’s when she saw the dog. It was a big thing that sounded like a pig when it breathed. Some of its black, brown, and white fur was coming out, but it otherwise looked perfectly healthy and happy.
Cadance rolled her eyes. “Of course you’d be scared of a dog.” Cadance knelt down, but the dog had already made its way over to her and started licking her in the face. Cadance laughed. “C’mon, Blueberry, it’s just a dog.”
“It is not just a dog!” the bushes exclaimed. “That animal has been stalking me for days! Every time I step out into the gardens, there he is, waiting to slobber all over me with that tongue that has touched Celestia-knows-what!”
Cadance’s eyes widened. “Oh, that explains the loud shriek I heard a few days ago. And why there was no hot water last Thursday.” Cadance started scratching behind the dog’s ears. “You’ll have to forgive him, doggy,” she told the dog, “he’s kind of a baby when it comes to getting dirty.”
“Do you know what... you know what, you don’t have to.” Blueblood stepped out of the bushes. “You don’t have to because we are not keeping him.” Blueblood tried to push his sister away from the dog. “Come on, get away from that drooly, mangey mess.”
Cadance ignored him as the dog rolled over and she began to rub its belly. “Oh, no, Blueberry,” she said. “You might be a wuss, but I grew up around dogs and-” she stopped. “Blueblood, why are you calling it a him?”
Blueblood couldn’t quite hide his natural reaction in time. “P-personal preference concerning pronouns!”
“No. You’ve been calling him ‘it’, which I guess is accurate now, but you’ve also been calling it a ‘him’. You’ve put effort into researching this dog.” She smiled. “You probably even have a name for him, don’t you?”
Blueblood scowled at Cadance, who just smiled back at him. Finally, he sighed and mumbled something. “What was that, my little brother?” she asked.
Blueblood bared his teeth. “Spike,” he growled. “After a particularly irritating classmate who won’t leave me alone. I still hate the dog and-”
“I know you do.” Cadance looked back at Spike. “Doesn’t change the fact that I’m keeping him.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes I am, and don’t bother complaining to Celestia, I’m sure she’s on my side.”
Cadance heard hoofbeats running up the drive. She didn’t move, there was no way that Celestia would side with him. Still, it would be fun to race him. “Hold on, Spike; I’ll be right back.” Cadance unfurled her wings and sped for the door, easily overtaking Blueblood and entering the main hall of the castle. She zoomed up the stairs and pounced on the door. It was locked. Cadance tried the handle again, but no result.
“It’s no use, Princess Cadenza,” one of the maids said. “For some reason, that door doesn’t unlock for another twenty minutes.”
Cadance rolled her eyes at the use of her title, then turned to the maid. “What do you mean? It’s always unlocked.”
The maid shrugged. “Not recently. For the past week, it’s been locked from about seven in the morning to four in the afternoon.”
Cadance’s eyebrow rose, then she smacked herself. “That little hypochondriac,” she hissed. “He’s been locking the door before he leaves for school.”
The maid whispered something angrily, then quickly straightened up. “Oh, my apologies, your hi-”
“Don’t apologize. I’ll go get him for you.” She lifted herself into the air. Sure enough, Blueblood had vanished, and had probably locked other doors throughout the castle. ‘Whatever’, she thought as she sped towards another door, ‘I have speed on my side.’
<*>
Blueblood gave a quick look around before falling out of the just-barely-large-enough dumbwaiter. He hadn’t expected the servant’s hallways to be so busy, so he had to improvise. By this point Cadance had probably found her way through the guest library, which probably gave him just two minutes to convince Celestia not to keep the dog. Just barely enough time. Blueblood quickly oriented himself, found Celestia’s study door, and ran.
“BLUEBLOOOOOD!”
Blueblood looked behind himself and screamed. A very angry, very inky, very flan-covered Cadance was zooming down the hall towards him. He put on a burst of speed, but Cadance tackled him to the ground.
Blueblood immediately tried to push her off, but she wouldn’t let go. “Cadance, get off!” He shouted. “You’re filthy!”
“You deserve it, you little snot-rag!”
Blueblood managed to roll the two over, but that gave him no progress. “How did you even get up here so fast?”
“Two words: billiard room.” Blueblood almost slipped out, but Cadance managed to pin him. “Blueblood, I know you don’t like dogs but this is uncalled for!”
“Aunt Celestia locks random doors all the time!”
“AND THE EXPLODING FLAN!?”
“Perfectly justified!”
“You’re insane!”
The two rolled around all over the hallway. Blueblood managed to get a hoof on Cadance’s face and almost broke free, but Cadance wriggled her head so that the hoof slipped, causing Blueblood to fall back into her grasp. There was more rolling before the two bumped into something. While wrestling one of Blueblood’s hooves away, Cadance looked up, stopped, and let Blueblood go. Blueblood got up, scraped some of the mess off of him, and walked right into somepony.
It was Celestia, but she didn’t seem mad at the two brawlers. She seemed almost indifferent. Her mane had fallen flat and her eyes were red. “Aunt Celestia,” Cadance asked, “what’s wrong?”
Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. “Go clean yourselves up. Then I’d like to have some quiet time alone.”
Cadance and Blueblood both looked into Celestia’s study, but it seemed empty. “Aunt Celie,” Blueblood asked, “did Sunset do-”
“Please?” Celestia asked, “I just don’t want to talk about it right now.”
The two looked back at Celestia, but nodded and walked off for their rooms.
<*>
“What do you think happened?” Blueblood asked over the sound of the shower.
Cadance and Blueblood’s rooms were connected by an en-suite bathroom. Cadance was in the shower while Blueblood was in his room toweling off. “I don’t know,” Cadance asked. “I try not to spend a lot of time around her. Your loofah’s turned black now, by the way.”
Blueblood ignored that. “Well, I don’t either. Every time that sarcastic troll is in the library, I always make sure I’m on the other side of it.” Blueblood stopped drying himself. “You think Aunt Celestia dismissed her?”
“Probably. I think everypony knew it was coming by now.” Cadance turned off the shower. “I have no idea what Aunt Celestia saw in her. Yeah, she’s great with magic, but she’s arrogant, rude, even cruel from time to time. You know she actually put worms in my bed for telling her off?”
Blueblood nodded. “Indeed. When Early Edition apologizes for considering me unbearable, something is wrong.”
The door opened and Cadance walked out, still several shades blacker than usual. “Well, it’s Aunt Celestia’s decision who she teaches,” she said. “I imagine she saw something in her besides magical potential.”
The door knocked. “Children,” Kibitz said. “Are you decent?”
“Compared to when?” Blueblood replied.
“Yes,” Cadance answered.
The door opened and Kibitz stepped in. “Princess Cadance,” he asked, “have you taken in any pets recently? Answer the question.”
Cadance stopped and shrugged. “I want to. Where did you see him?”
“In the downstairs linen closet. You may want to hurry: Princess Celestia does not need anything more on her mind right now.”
“What’s the matter with her?” Blueblood asked.
Kibitz glared at Blueblood. “That is not for me to reveal. You two have a dog to catch. Yes, Blueblood, you’re going after it too, as I believe you have the master key.”
“Besides,” Cadance said, “I’m going to need bait.”
<*>
No matter how many times Celestia looked at the picture, she still couldn't see it. She sat on the right and her now-former student Sunset Shimmer sat right next to her with a big blue gob of cotton candy stuck in her mane. Celestia found it peculiar that, at the tender age of seventeen, her student had never been to a carnival before. Thus, one Saturday, Celestia got permission to take Sunset on a field trip to the Canterlot Fairgrounds. Sunset wanted to continue magical training, of course, but she patiently walked alongside Celestia for the whole day, playing the games and riding the rides. Eventually she grew to enjoy herself, and just before the fair closed for the night, she and Celestia had their picture taken together.
Celestia traced her hoof across the photograph before she picked it up and put it in a box. Hopefully that was the last of everything. Her parents were probably wondering by now where their daughter was. Celestia looked out the window: to her surprise, it was getting dark out. She picked up the box. Everypony assumed that, over the millennia, Princess Celestia had seen everything there was to see, and thus that nothing could really shock her anymore. However, the truth was different. A string of betrayals could certainly numb her sense of shock, but over the centuries, that protection faded away as the associated memories became weaker and eventually faded away. But then it would happen again, and all of her bad memories and personal demons would come rushing back. All the times she had been too trusting or too blind. All the times she’d failed to see the obvious until it was too late.
All the way back to the biggest, almost a thousand years ago.
Celestia set the box down and began to cry again. Not as severely as before, or for as long, but enough to stop her. After a few moments, she dried her eyes and hoisted the box onto her back. She moved forward again, but jumped as something yelped under her hoof. She looked down.
“Oh.”
<*>
Blueblood locked the billiard room behind himself. “This is impossible!”
“Keep talking, Blueblood,” Cadance told her little brother. “I’m sure Kibitz would love to make you clean the rooms as well. You do have the master key.”
Blueblood scowled as he pulled a clipboard out of his saddlebags and checked off the billiard room. “I don’t know what I’m dreading more: looking for the dumb dog or actually finding it.”
“What’s next?”
“The spa.”
Cadance rolled her eyes. “Just what we need. The Griffenic Prime Minister getting a literal hot dog with his steam bath.”
Blueblood shrugged. “He seemed pretty nice when we saw him.” He smiled. “Maybe he’d keep him.”
“Lets not take the chance. Besides, I found Spike before he did.”
The two walked down the corridor, then stopped. Right at the end of the corridor was Celestia’s study, the door open a crack. Blueblood looked up at Cadance. “It is the shortest way,” he whispered.
Cadance nodded. “No stopping, though.”
The two tip-hooved forward towards the end of the hallway. At the intersection, the two had to stop and turn, which they both did more slowly than they should have. Then they started moving again, even more slowly. Then they got slower. Then they shared a glance and crept over to the door, placing their heads on top of each other to peek inside.
Celestia was laying on the floor right next to Spike, one foreleg over the dog. Spike had nestled up to her and would reach his head up and lick her face on occasion. All the while, Celestia talked to the dog.
“Sunset was just a filly when I first noticed her, trying to practice substitutiary locomotion of all things. She got so close, though, so I wrote to her parents and had her demonstrate the spell again, with me disguised as an ordinary proctor. She was so nervous at being judged but so determined at the same time that, with a little prodding in the right direction, she successfully cast the spell. Then I dropped my disguise and told her that she would be studying magic under me.” She smiled. “The sheer joy on her face, the way she lit up when she told her parents, and especially when she noticed that she’d just gotten her cutie mark...” She sighed.
Then Celestia frowned. “I found out later just how arrogant and impatient she was. For the next week, that was all she would talk about, how she was Celestia’s beloved student and how she’d be a wizard without equal. And fool that I was, I thought I could train it out of her. I let myself think that I could trust her to rule alongside me, teach her to raise the sun and rule the country while I trained more students, even give her the element of Magic to free my sister.” She sniffled. “But, I was wrong. And now I have to tell her parents the price of my fantasy.”
Celestia curled over the dog, facing away from the door. “You can come in now.”
Blueblood and Cadance slowly pushed the door open and made their way in. Blueblood cleared his throat. “We were just-”
“-spying on me,” Celestia interrupted, a small bite in the words. “Blueblood, I've told you time and again not to lie to me.”
“We’re sorry,” Cadance said. “We’ll just-”
“No, you might as well stay, you've already heard too much. Come on, sit down.”
Cadance and Blueblood did as they were told. Celestia lifted herself up and turned to face the two. “How much do you think I tell you about what I do?”
Blueblood shrugged. “Very little?”
Celestia nodded. “Do you know why?”
“Because you want to protect us?” Cadance asked.
Celestia nodded again. “In a thousand years, I've had to fight many different kinds of creatures that want to conquer or destroy Equestria. Most of the worst could level mountains on a whim or kill millions without even lifting a hoof. These enemies often leave behind objects that could look perfectly normal, but will steal away your very soul if you so much as look at them. Now, most of my enemies are very easily recognizable. For example, Sombra or Discord didn't even bother to disguise their villainy. However, many are not, and there is one that neither I nor anypony else can never defeat for good, and it lives in every sentient being. Can you guess what that is?”
The two children looked at each other for several moments. Then they looked back at Celestia. “Pride,” she said. “While some measure of self-confidence is healthy, too much is an illness. It can convince you to ignore the wisdom of others in favor of your own fantasies. It can make you ignore your own shortcomings, like how many injuries you can take before you fall, how much you can do in a short amount of time, and how well you can resist the lure of a false friend. If it gets the right chance, it will ruin your lives. It may even kill you.”
Celestia paused to let that sink in. “Children, there are two things I want you to do. The first is to trust me. You do not guard Equestria for a thousand years without becoming very wise and well-learned. If I tell you not to do something, but I do not tell you why, you need to assume that I have a good reason for not telling you. Sunset Shimmer did not do this, and now she’s trapped on another world.”
The two children nodded. “And the other thing you want us to do?” Cadance prompted.
Celestia swallowed. “To correct me. I may be very old and very powerful, but I am not a deity. I make mistakes like anyone else, the only difference being that my mistakes can have much greater consequences. So if I ask you to do something that you don’t agree with, please ask me about it. I may need you to work without knowing everything, or I may spare you details out of concern for your well-being, but I might also be wrong. Blueblood, you look like you have a question.”
“Um, eh, don’t those two contradict each other?”
“Not as often as you think. You’ll have to figure out what to do case by case. Just remember what can happen when pride overrides your sense. Remember Sunset Shimmer, whose pride led her into darkness. Remember Nightmare Moon, who sprang from Luna’s wounded pride.” Celestia’s voice cracked a little. “And remember me, who let both of those things happen.”
A few small tears trickled down Celestia’s cheek. In response, Cadance and Blueblood rose, walked over to her, and embraced her. For that one time, Blueblood ignored the dog.
For a few moments, everyone sat in silence. Finally, Celestia rose. “Well, I’d better go deliver the bad news.” She lifted a box and put it on her back. “Thank you, all of you.” Celestia walked towards the door, but stopped on the threshold. “Oh, Blueblood?”
“Yes?”
Celestia smiled. “Please stop trying to convince Philomena our new dog is going to eat her. That much repressed laughter really isn't good for her.”
Blueblood stood behind a mark out on the castle grounds, covered in sweat, focusing on the targets on the podium. Or rather, he was trying to. The stupid Barnese Mountain Dog was panting nearby, and even after several months, he had failed to endear himself to Blueblood, mainly due to disgusting displays of affection.
Cadance was unsympathetic as she practiced her backstroke in the nearby pool. “Aww, he’s just cheering you on.”
“Well he can do it from well over there. Over here, he is causing the annoying odor that wet dogs are known for.”
Blueblood screwed up his concentration again and tried to launch a bolt of magic at one of the targets. Blueblood thought he could feel a flutter of magic the last time, which drove him on. He pulled from deep within, trying to reach that inner well of magic. Nothing. Blueblood pulled deeper, gritting his teeth and letting out a groan.
Cadance pulled over to the side of the pool. “Uh, Blueblood, should you be straining so hard?”
Blueblood ignored her. Just a little closer. Eventually, his grunting turned into a loud groan, and he felt something just as he fell over.
Cadance caught him before he hit the ground and set him down gently. “OK, you’re taking a break,” she said sternly.
Blueblood lay on the grass for several minutes, as Cadance ensured he did nothing but breathe. Finally, Cadance let him get back up. “Did anything happen?” Blueblood asked.
Cadance frowned at him. “Yeah, you almost passed out. Worse, you’ve been hiding it from me. Blueblood, you’ve got to be careful. Keep exhausting yourself and you’ll hurt yourself.”
Blueblood frowned back at her, but eventually sighed. “Sorry.”
“I know,” Cadance said, frown now gone. “I know you hate hearing this, but better late than never.”
Blueblood sighed again, a disgusted frown on his face. “...let’s go inside.”
He slowly got up and walked towards the door, Cadance following closely behind. As the two got to the door, Cadance telekinetically grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Blueblood scrunched up his face and tried to grab the door. Nothing happened, so Blueblood concentrated harder.
Suddenly, a large stream of golden sparks flew out of his horn. Blueblood couldn’t help but stare at the spectacle before he started laughing. “Cadance! Look-”
He turned his head and found that Cadance’s horn had gone absolutely haywire. Beams of magic were shooting every which way out of it, some pulverising, some crystallizing, one ripping up everything it touched and pulling all the debris together. “BLUEBLOOD! RUN!” Cadance cried out.
The blasting beam skirted Blueblood’s hooves and Blueblood dashed into the garden. Ignoring a bout of dizziness, he ducked into a bush to catch his breath. He looked back out at his sister, whose magic was still out of control. Cadance tried to bring her hoof to her horn, but shied away each time from the painful magical energy. Blueblood started looking around on the ground for something to throw. However, the stream of sparks obscured his vision. Reluctantly, he put his hoof up to his horn and extinguished them.
Blueblood smelled Spike before he saw him. Spike had a baseball in his mouth, which he quickly dropped at Blueblood’s hooves. Blueblood looked at Spike, who pushed the ball towards him with a whine. With a growl, Blueblood picked up the slobbery ball and hefted it to eye level. “CADANCE!” Cadance turned and Blueblood let the ball fly. Several of the beams came close to the ball, but it found its mark.
As soon as the ball struck her horn, Cadance’s magic shut off. Cadance curled over slightly at the sharp pain, a few tears in her eyes but mostly trying to get her breathing under control. Blueblood remained in the bush with Spike. “Cadance, are you alright?” he yelled.
Cadance was quiet for several moments before she finally nodded. “Yeah, I think I got it.” She looked over at Blueblood. “Thanks.” Something in the sky caught her attention. “Blueblood, look up.”
Blueblood obeyed. Arcing across the sky was a rainbow-colored ring of light emanating out from some point to the west. Blueblood stared at the ring intently, but he couldn’t remember anything that might have any useful information.
“Come on,” Cadance told him, “let’s get indoors.”
<*>
Blueblood, Cadance, and Spike had hunkered down in Cadance’s room for about fifteen minutes when Celestia charged in. “Blueblood, Cadance, are you two alright?” she asked the two.
“Yeah,” Cadance replied. “What happened?”
Celestia relaxed. “There was a rogue wave of pegasus magic that amplified unicorn magic all over the city. It’s only affecting unicorns and objects that have been immediately touched with unicorn magic, and that at random, so just don’t use any magic for the time being.”
“Do you think it has something to do with that rainbow in the sky?” Blueblood asked.
Celestia nodded. “A sonic rainboom. It’s already a rare event, and this seems to have come from a young foal. When he or she gets older, I’d guess they’ll be able to do one without the magical pulse. I’ve issued a statement for the public: the initial pulse travels much faster than the rainboom’s pulse, so I imagine some unicorns further from the origin are very confused right about now.”
“Anything really bad happen?” Cadance asked.
“Hard to say,” Celestia replied. “In Canterlot, at least, there don’t seem to have been any fatalities, although the investigation is still far from over.”
She moved for the door but Celestia stopped her. “She’s alright,” she said, “I was right there when everything happened: she’s OK” Celestia smiled. “In fact, she was probably the biggest source of magic in Canterlot. She even managed to not only hatch a dragon’s egg, but make the dragon grow to at least seventy feet high!”
Cadance stared at Celestia. “Wow… wait, you use dragon eggs in testing?”
“They’re much tougher than you think,” Celestia told her. “If the dragon isn’t ready to be born, it’d take an alicorn to crack the egg open. Even hatching one that’s ready will exhaust an adult unicorn, much less a child. And before you ask, the eggs were orphans found in Equestria: if any hatch, I find them a home.”
“Oh.” Cadance smiled. “Wow! My babysittee is a, no, the magical prodigy!”
Celestia smiled. “More than that, she’s my new personal student. She might even become an… Blueblood?”
While the two were talking, Blueblood had started slouching over, his eyes focused a thousand miles away. At Celestia’s question, he slowly raised his head. “Aunt Celestia,” he asked slowly, “when you say the pulse amplified unicorn magic, what do you mean?”
Celestia’s smile faded away completely. “Well,” Celestia said carefully, “I suppose that was the wrong word. Basically, it causes unicorns and alicorns to release all of their unicorn magic at once.”
Blueblood’s face fell further. “What’s wrong?” Celestia asked him.
“... I think something’s wrong with me.”
<*>
The next day, Celestia took Blueblood to a doctor. Family history had been given and all sorts of tests had been done. The doctor said that it would take about a week to gather preliminary results and that he would write them when testing was done.
The next week was terrifying for Blueblood. He shut himself away in his room all day except for school, which he wandered through wrapped in his anxieties. With the rainboom’s effects in mind, rumors began to circulate, from him killing his sister to him almost being blasted to atoms by Princess Celestia. Blueblood said nothing, which only made the rumors spread even more. In the end, all but his close friends decided to stay away from him, and even they kept a little distance between him and them, though no more than they kept between each other.
Five days after the tests, Blueblood was in his room. Cadance had left to babysit, per usual for Fridays, and Blueblood was trying to make himself hungry enough for a snack. He’d skipped lunch, but he still felt like he would be sick if he tried to eat anything. The cookie jar on his dresser was open, but Blueblood couldn’t bring himself to do anything. He wanted to use magic, but if nothing happened…
“Blueblood.”
Blueblood turned away from the jar. Celestia was standing in the doorway, frowning and holding a letter in her magic. “It’s here,” she said, laying it down on his desk.
Blueblood walked over to his desk and stared at the letter: it was unopened. He stretched out a hoof, but it stopped just short of pulling it over to him. Blueblood looked up at Celestia. Celestia nodded, then opened the letter and read.
“Dear Princess Celestia, We have just finished examining the results. While we would like to remind you that this is only a preliminary diagnosis, it seems certain that your nephew has hypomagia totalis. While he has just enough magic to manifest his cutie mark, it seems that he will never develop a significant amount of magic beyond that. We regret to say that there is still no cure. Worse, as this is hypomagia totalis, he will be unable to store magic or use other sources of magic, meaning that he will not be able to use the normal methods to circumvent his condition.
Enclosed is a standard information kit to help you teach him how to cope, if you need it. We will also write to you if we find any potential treatments that the two of you would like to test. We are sorry, and we will continue our tests, but that is the most we can do at this time.
Your faithful subject, Valgus Angle”
Celestia put the letter down. Blueblood’s face had gone stony and he sat in silence. “Blueblood?” she asked. “Do you need anything?”
Blueblood’s jaw clenched and he began tapping his hoof to his cheek. He sucked in a ragged breath, but no tears fell from his eyes. Finally, he shook his head. “No. I think I’m alright.”
Celestia looked at him. “You’re sure?”
Blueblood shifted. “I know my family history, Aunt Celestia,” he said. “It was about time for someone to get it, and I guess that meant me.” He let out a breath. “I think I want to be alone for a while.”
Celestia frowned at him, but nodded. “Very well. I have a meeting with Octesian about the baby dragon. We’ll be out in the garden, so feel free to come and get me if you change your mind.”
“OK, just leave me alone.”
Celestia turned and very slowly left Blueblood alone with his thoughts. For a few moments after Celestia had left Blueblood’s sight, his mind was quiet. Then his inner voice began to speak up again and Blueblood could do nothing as the fears that had plagued him all week began to sprout.
‘Squib. That’s what you are now. Heaven help you if anypony finds out. They’re going to pity you. You’re not a genius with an awe-inspiring gift; you’re just disabled and cute. You can hide it for a while, but somepony’s going to wonder why you use your hooves for everything. Then they’re going to guess, then the rumors are going to start. You’ll be exactly what they say, because they’re going to guess right.’
Blueblood scowled and clenched his teeth together, but try as he did to reason with his doubts, he could not erase them. ‘You think they like you?’ the voice continued. ‘Princess Celestia has Twilight now, and she’s had Cadance for years. Three princesses versus one duke: there’s no comparison, they win. They can shape the world, and all you can do is be smart. You could be the greatest genius in history, but you will never be adored so much as humored while everypony siddles past you to see the real celebrities.’
Blueblood slammed his hooves down onto his desk. He grabbed a cup off of his desk and flung it across the room, scattering quills all over the floor. He punched at the desk, but the desk was too sturdy to take any damage from a child. Angrier still, he bucked the chair, which skidded a foot before it toppled over. Finally, he let out a loud scream that echoed through the room before sinking to the ground, angry tears in his eyes.
Blueblood heard a soft whine. The dog had entered the room. “Get out,” he hissed.
Spike moved closer. “NO!” The dog stopped and Blueblood sucked in breath through his teeth for several seconds before he glared at the dog again. “Have I ever given any sign that I wanted you, fleabag? Huh? HAVE I? Thi- I mean, just think about it for a second. You’re disgusting. Your fur’s falling out all over the place, you smell worse than the Canterlot landfill in summer, and the first thing you do when you see me IS SLOBBER ALL OVER ME! I HATE YOU, AND I HATE EVERYPONY WHO MAKES ME LET YOU STAY HERE! IF YOU THINK YOU LIKE ME SO MUCH, WHY DON’T YOU BUG OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE?!
As Blueblood screamed at Spike, the dog slunk backwards, ears drooped and low to the ground. Then, after Blueblood finished shouting, Spike got up and silently walked out of the room, head down and tail drooping between his legs. Blueblood glared after him before slamming the door behind him. He turned around and lay down on the floor, scowling at nothing as his anger faded and his thoughts returned to him.
They quickly turned intolerable. While Blueblood was conscious of his great intelligence, high social stature, and loyal loved ones, he was unable to focus on any of them. His mind poisoned any happy thought as it was proposed. He felt an aching emptiness that wore on him as the minutes went on. He wanted to talk to someone, but he knew they would just ignore him at best. Thus, the pain wore on until it eventually Blueblood could stand it no longer. He rose and walked to the door, ready to take a chance.
He opened the door, hoping to find Celestia having come back for some reason. But the halls were empty. “Hello?” he called, quietly and coarsely. No one came. “Hello?” Still nothing. Blueblood stood alone and waited for another minute, hoping that Cadance or one of the servants would come by. Tears dripped down his cheeks as the halls remained deserted. Suppressing a sniffle, Blueblood walked back into his room and grabbed the doorknob.
He stopped as he heard a whine. Blueblood opened the door and looked out into the hall. He saw Spike walking towards him, for once with his tongue in his mouth. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he said, “but I don’t think I can wait.” He motioned to his room. “Please come in.”
Spike did not. Blueblood frowned. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just found out that… well… I can’t do magic. You’ve seen me for the past week, how anxious I’ve been getting, and… I guess everything just came to a boil. I’m sorry.” Blueblood sniffled, falling onto his rear and slumping forward as he cried. “Please, Spike,” he whimpered, “I didn… OK, I don’t really like you, but I don’t mind that everyone else-”
Blueblood felt a sudden weight on his shoulders. Spike had hopped up and wrapped his front legs around Blueblood’s neck. Spike nosed at Blueblood’s tears, but he kept his tongue in his mouth. After a moment, Spike pulled back, but Blueblood wrapped one of his own forelegs around him as he started to cry again. Spike stayed, and kept nosing away Blueblood’s tears as the two sat together.
They sat there for several minutes before Blueblood spoke. “Spike?” he said. “You’ve been really helpful, but I think I need to talk to Aunt Celestia.” Blueblood broke off the hug, got up, and walked over to the door. He stopped at the threshold, then turned to Spike. “Walk with me?” he asked.
Spike sprung up and trotted to his side, remaining there the entire way to the garden.
<*>
A few minutes later, Celestia bounded down the lawn to the gardens, baby dragon on her back. “My apologies, Octesian,” she said. “I had-”
She stopped. There was a yellow dragon seated in front of her, twice as tall as she was. A few of his frills were missing and there was a scar on his arm, but he smiled warmly to her. “That’s alright, Auntie,” he said, “you always have a good reason.”
“Eustace,” Celestia said. “Where’s your father?”
“He couldn’t make it, so I was asked to come instead.” Eustace looked around the garden. “Hoo, it’s been a while since I’ve been here. What’s it been, about thirty years?”
Celestia smiled. “Give or take. It’s good to see you again.”
The two embraced. “And it’s great to see you again,” Eustace told her.
Celestia and Eustace broke off. “So, did you manage to find a home for this little guy?”
Eustace’s smile melted, and he turned away. After several seconds of silence, Celestia opened her mouth, but Eustace interrupted her. “Aunt Celestia, things have gotten worse.”
Celestia frowned. “What happened to Octesian?”
Eustace turned back to Celestia. “He was ambushed by Isolationists. He’s alive, but it was close.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It gets worse.” Eustace scowled. “They’ve infiltrated our ranks, which is how they knew where to find him. Even worse, they’re going after the rescued children.”
Celestia’s jaw dropped open. “No.”
Eustace nodded, teeth bared. “Yes. Most of us are going to take the youngest ones underground for a while.” He looked at the baby sadly. “I’m sorry to say we really shouldn’t take any more.”
Celestia sighed. “I understand.” She looked at the baby. “It’s been a long time since I’ve raised a dragon. My only dragon.”
Eustace chuckled. “I know, Aunt Celestia, I was there.”
Celestia smiled, but her face turned serious in a moment. “I don’t suppose there’s a way for you to stay in touch, is there?”
Eustace frowned. “I’m cutting it close just letting you know. I hope that I can be there when he’s older, but for now I have to disappear.”
“Better get a move on then,” Celestia said. “I wish we could talk for longer. Good luck.”
Eustace nodded. “Thank you.” Eustace crouched down to take off, but stopped as he saw something. He smiled. “Hello there.”
Blueblood and Spike were standing across the lawn, Spike next to Blueblood and Blueblood staring at Eustace. “Uh, hello,” Blueblood called back meekly.
Eustace beckoned with his claw. “Come here,” he said. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
Blueblood slowly advanced, Spike close beside him. Blueblood never took his eyes off of Eustace, who only kept smiling at him. “Are you feeling alright?” Celestia asked.
Blueblood turned to Celestia. “It’s noth-”
Celestia put her hoof up to his mouth. “You’re my nephew, Blueblood,” she said. “I am perfectly willing to make time for ‘nothing’.”
“So you’re my little brother,” Eustace said. “We haven’t met. I’m Eustace. Your aunt raised me alongside your great-great-great-great-grandmother Bright Star.”
Comprehension dawned on Blueblood as a sour feeling welled up in his stomach. “Ah, yes,” Blueblood said in an attempt at a neutral tone. “Hard to forget the first dragon raised by ponies.”
Eustace looked puzzled. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
Blueblood looked at his aunt. “Aunt Celestia,” he said, “I think I really want a hug right now.”
Celestia nodded and pulled him into one. “I thought you might,” she said. “What’s on your mind?”
Blueblood swallowed. “This and that,” he said. “How everything’s different now. How I’m... going to have to adapt. How I… how I...”
Blueblood felt something large on his back. He looked up and saw Eustace smiling down at him. “You sound so much like my sister when she found out, and you’re at the right generation. She spent months switching between being angry and sad, convinced that no matter what she did, nopony would pay attention to her, or worse, that they’d just give her condescending attention. She was a genius, too, the only other pony who intellectually developed as fast as dragons do. She helped make me feel a little less like a freak.”
Celestia pulled away from Blueblood just enough to look him in the eyes. “And I’m going to tell you exactly what I told her. I love you, Blueblood, just as much as I always have. You are a good person: industrious and intelligent. You are a brother Cadance is happy to live with and a nephew I am so very proud to call my own. What you have done in your life is something any parent would be proud of, and I know that your future has promise. So when you think that no-one really likes you, remember that there are people who love you and that you’ve more than earned their respect.”
Blueblood looked into his aunt’s eyes for the longest moment, then, for the first time in a week, he smiled. A small thing, but still very welcome. “Thank you,” he said.
Celestia pulled him in close, and the two shared a quiet moment together. Blueblood’s fears had not been cut down, and the thought of telling Cadance later on still loomed over him, but he had a warm feeling inside, and he cherished it.
“I’ll tell you what,” Celestia said as she broke apart from him. “You’ve probably heard all about our baby dragon problem, so, since you’re here, I’ll let you name your new little brother.”
“Okay.” Blueblood looked around. “Where is he?”
Eustace pointed. “Over there.”
Blueblood and Celestia followed his claw and Celestia let out a chuckle. Spike was cuddling the baby and licking him all over. Based on his laughing and happy cooing, the baby seemed to quite like it. ‘Well, that’s another weight off my shoulders,’ Blueblood thought to himself. “Hey, Spike!” he called out. “Spike! Let the ba-”
“Thpi’!”
The three stared at the baby as the dog kept licking. “Thpi’!” the baby repeated. “Thpig!”
Celestia smiled. “Well how about that?” She turned to Blueblood. “You got him to say his first word.”
“It’s a pretty good name, too,” Eustace said.
Blueblood rolled his eyes. “I named the dog Spike.”
Eustace shrugged. “I have a lot of fond memories of my old dog.”
Blueblood looked back at Celestia. “I have some time for this, don’t I?” he asked.
Celestia and Shining Armor rolled their eyes as Twilight glared at Blueblood. While last night’s stargazing had gone well, Twilight and Blueblood sharing a breakfast table seemed to be too much. “Well, you can call him Andrew, Prince Prissy,” Twilight said, “but I’m calling him Andy.”
The little dragon shook his head. “My name’s Spike!”
“Why are we even arguing this?” Cadance asked. “If he wants to be called Spike, I’m OK with it.” She reached under the breakfast table and scratched the dog’s ears. “I think he has a wonderful namesake.”
“Cadance,” Blueblood started, “lest we forget, Spike starts kindergarten in a few months, and while I’ll let him sleep in the basket with the dog if his biological impulses demand the high walls around him, I am not letting my little brother get beat up for naming himself after a dog, especially given that any fond memories he has of that dog will be gone in a few years. It was cute when he was a baby, not anymore. Now,” he turned to Spike, “what do you think of Francis?”
Twilight snorted. “Francis?”
“Alright, Frank.”
Spike spaced his hands out. “Spiiiike.”
“Olaf?”
Blueblood and Spike both glared at Twilight, who blushed. “It’s getting popular!”
“And I weep for the day ponies actually use it.” Blueblood looked over his checklist. “Now then-”
“How about David?”
While Spike threw his hands in the air, everypony else at the table looked up. Standing just outside the door was a middle-aged, light blue griffon, dressed in a green cassock and biretta. He blushed. “My apologies,” he said, “I’ve been looking for the Princess for over two hours. I think I’m lost.”
“I’m over here,” Celestia called.
The griffon stuck his head in the room. When he noticed Princess Celestia, he quickly entered. “Princess Celestia,” he said, “Supreme Governor of th-”
Celestia waved him off with a smile. “It’s alright, you’ve been through enough.” The others in the room looked at Celestia. “An old tradition, back from the Equestrian Reformation.” She turned back to the holy man. “I take it you’re the new nuncio?”
The griffon nodded. “Archbishop Pablo Montalon Higuera. His Holiness sends his regards.” Archbishop Higuera reached into his robes. “And he asked me to give you this.”
The nuncio pulled out a napkin and gave it to Celestia. She took it and unfolded it, revealing words written on it. She read it, smiled, and put the napkin down. “A tempting offer,” Celestia said, “but I’m afraid that my governorship of the Church of Equestria cannot be bought in baked goods, although I would consider letting him co-rule for one of those bottles of Le Jus du Rosier I hear he has.”
“He thought you would say that. He says ‘over my dead body’. Please don’t take that literally,” he said with a feigned nervous smile. “I’m looking forward to a quieter post. Helping organize peace for a civil war tends to do that.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. Well, welcome to Equestria.” She stood and motioned to the others at the table. “Those are Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, friends of the family, and those are my nephew Blueblood and my niece Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
“You can call me Cadance,” she said.
The archbishop snapped his claws. “Ah!” He reached back into his robes. “I think somepony mistook me for a servant, since I think they gave me everyone’s mail. Thankfully, I think you’re the last one.” He pulled out an envelope and read it before putting it in front of Cadance. “Yes, this is for you.”
Cadance took it. “Hmm, a day late...” She looked up. “Wait a minute,” Cadance said, “you’ve been going around delivering these letters?”
The archbishop shrugged. “Well, I was lost and I had the letters, so I decided I might as well get something done while I looked around.”
“That will be all, your excellence,” Celestia said with a smile. “I think I can reschedule our meeting for tomorrow. Don’t worry about getting out: all of our staff have experience guiding the lost.”
The archbishop smiled. “Thank you, your highness. Until tomorrow.” With that, he departed.
“Princess Celestia, what’s a nuncio?” Twilight asked.
“An ambassador from the Holy See,” Blueblood explained.
Twilight glared at Blueblood. “Is your name Princess Celestia?” She turned back to the actual Princess. “What was with that thing earlier?”
“That’s just a game we play,” Celestia said. “The Roman Cawtholic Church has tried for years to get me to convert back, although almost never seriously.” She chuckled. “Oh, the bribes I’ve received over the years. One even proposed to wave doctrine and marry me. He was a nice man. A pity I had to turn him down.”
“But, why?” Twilight asked.
The smile left Celestia’s face. “Well, a long time ago, the pope and I had serious disagreements regarding old agreements with the Church and their then-current practices. We lost our tempers, they excommunicated me, I broke off from them and founded the Church of Equestria on principles I felt were better.” She sighed. “And that led to many deaths, even though I tried to reign in the most senseless on both sides. In hindsight, some, not all, but some of my complaints were erroneous, and had I known then, I would have taken lesser measures.”
There was a moment of silence as Celestia became very interested in her tea. “Well, it could’ve been worse,” Twilight said. “You could’ve broke off because of a divorce.”
“Annulment,” Blueblood corrected her.
The latest of arguments sprouted up as Shining Armor turned back to Cadance. “So, who’s Rafter?” he asked her.
Cadance looked at him. “I haven’t mentioned him?” she asked. “Old friend of mine? Carpenter? I write to him every week? Never goes anywhere without a safety harness?”
“Well, I don’t remember him.”
“That’s not surprising, coming from you,” she said playfully. “Maybe if I mentioned that I had my first kiss with him?”
Shining Armor snorted. “No you didn’t!”
Cadance shrugged. “OK, I didn’t. He was always more like a brother than a boyfriend, anyway.” She opened the letter and began to read. “I wonder what he’s up t…”
Cadance’s smile faded away as her mouth dropped open.
“Cadance?” Shining asked.
No response; she just kept reading.
Shining Armor knocked on the table, attracting everyone else’s attention. Cadance set the opened letter down and rested her head on top of her hooves. “That was Rafter’s older brother,” she said numbly. “Rafter fell through a rotten roof.” She swallowed. “He landed wrong and he... he...”
Spike the dog laid his head in her lap as Cadance’s tears began to silently fall. The others got up, but Shining Armor got to her first. He pulled her into a hug, which she leaned into, crying into his shoulder. The rest joined the hug where they could, with Celestia only able to drape one of her wings over Cadance, who continued to weep into her boyfriend’s shoulder.
<*>
Cadance was like that for the whole day, occasionally speaking, but mostly remaining morosely silent. Everypony stayed with her through the day and any who left didn’t stray very far from her. Eventually, Twilight and Shining Armor had to return home, although Twilight wanted to stay. “No,” Celestia said, “you have school tomorrow. I promise she’ll be fine.” Shortly afterwards, Cadance decided to go up to bed, thanking everyone for their support.
Cadance tried to settle herself on the bed, but despite her hollow feelings, she found herself too restless to sleep. Confusion about how Rafter, of all ponies, could have an accident in his own element. Guilt over not being there to save him. Even flashes of anger at the mare who had taken her willingly from her home which quickly died out. All of them, and one other, flittered through her head and kept her from sleep.
Cadance noticed her door open as Spike the dog slipped in and walked over to the side of her bed. Cadance looked at him, then patted at her side of the bed. Spike immediately leapt up onto the bed and laid down next to her as she put a foreleg over him. The two lay there in silence for a while before Cadance spoke.
“It’s weird,” she said. “I’m not a stranger to death, Spike. I’ve attended several funerals in my home village, most of them older people. Yeah, the whole village raised me, but for some reason, the only ponies who died were the ones that I didn’t spend as much time with.” She swallowed. “And then, the first pony to die that I really knew was somepony my own age. It just feels wrong.”
“Now I’m thinking,” she continued. “I’m an alicorn now. Does that make me immortal? I babysat Rafter’s niece when she was a foal. I hadn’t even thought about outliving her. Now I could wind up outliving her children’s children’s children. If I get married to Shiny and he doesn’t become an alicorn, he’ll die of old age while I’m still young. Not to mention any children we have will die long before I do.” She sighed. “Oh, Spike. I know there’s nothing wrong with immortality, but I just wish I wasn’t leaving anyone behind.”
Cadance snuggled up to Spike. Before she drifted off into sleep, she noticed that the door was open and mentally pulled it shut.
<*>
When Blueblood awoke to the sound of the alarm clock, he was initially puzzled by the baby dragon he was curled up around. However, he soon remembered Spike being shut out of Cadance’s room and that he had offered his own bed to the baby dragon. As he reached over to shut off the alarm, he tried to be careful not to wake his little brother, but Spike yawned and stretched out anyways. “Good morning,” Blueblood said.
“Morning.”
Blueblood stood and hopped down off of his bed. “So, how’d you sleep?”
Spike glared at him. “Bad. You’re not Spike.”
“Neither are you.” Blueblood walked into the bathroom and Spike followed him. Blueblood knocked on Cadance’s door. “Cadance, are you feeling better?”
“Can I see Spike?” Spike asked.
The two waited, but there was no response. “Better give her a minute,” Blueblood said. “Come on, I’ll help you wash up.”
Several minutes later, Blueblood had finished bathing Spike and had exiled him from the bathroom so that Blueblood could shower in peace. Finally, Blueblood stepped out of the shower and knocked on the door to Cadance’s room again. “Cadance, I’m done.”
Still no response.
“Cadance?”
Again, nothing. Blueblood put his ear up to the door. He tried to focus, but he still couldn’t hear anything. He knelt down, trying to peek under the door but saw nothing. However, before he could get back up, he smelled something horrible.
A few seconds later, his eyes widened as a terror formed itself. “Spike, go get Celestia!” he commanded.
“Wh-”
“NOW!”
Blueblood was glad to hear Spike running out of the room. “Cadance, please speak to me!” he shouted through the door. Nothing. Blueblood tried the door, but it was locked. “Cadance, if you don’t say something, I’m breaking the door down!” Still nothing. Blueblood spun around, raised his back legs…
Click.
Blueblood just barely caught the sound of the door unlocking and stopped himself. A spark of relief flowed through him, but he knew something else was wrong. He quickly opened the door and stepped through into Cadance’s room, where the smell was worse. Cadance was sitting on the bed, still as a statue, eyes red and vacant. Then Blueblood looked at the foot of her bed.
“Oh no.”
Celestia entered the room. “Alright, Blueblood, wha-” she saw it too. “Oh no.” She walked over to Cadance and began to talk to her.
“Spike!”
Blueblood turned and noticed that the dragon was standing in the doorway between his room and the bathroom. While he looked nervous, he didn’t seem to have seen anything. Blueblood quickly walked up to him. “Little brother,” he said, “... I don’t want to tell you this…”
Spike the dragon looked up at Blueblood. “Where’s Spike?”
Blueblood drew in a breath. “I’m sorry… Spike’s dead.”
<*>
Spike the dragon hadn’t understood at first but went to pieces once he finally got it. By the time Blueblood had calmed him down to sniffling, school had already started and was well into first period. Blueblood didn’t want to leave the two but Celestia cleared her day and told Blueblood to let the school know Cadance wasn’t coming.
When school let out, Blueblood was followed by Shining Armor and Twilight, who had just waited long enough to tell their parents what had happened before following him. Shining had of course made a beeline for Cadance. Twilight wanted to attend to Cadance, too, but Blueblood convinced her that Spike needed someone as well. Despite some initial awkwardness, Twilight and Spike finally started playing together. Thus, Blueblood talked to the newly-relieved Celestia and the veterinarian.
The vet said that Spike had probably died of a heart attack some time in the night. This didn’t comfort Cadance much, given how she remained silent and mostly still, even with Shining Armor at her side. In any case, the vet said that it would be best if everypony settled on what to do soon, as embalming would only buy a few days.
“We’ll bury him,” Cadance mumbled. Everypony looked up at her. “Blueblood,” she asked, “do you remember where you first saw him?”
Blueblood nodded. “I’ll tell the groundskeeper.”
<*>
Two days later, just before sunset, Princess Celestia, Blueblood, Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Spike the dragon were standing in the foyer of the castle. All of them were wearing white clothing except for Twilight, who had no white clothes and wore black instead. Spike the dog had been placed in a simple coffin that had been decorated with the three cutie marks of his owners, as well as a green flame.
“The pastor should have been here by now,” Blueblood said.
“He must have gotten held up in Confession,” Celestia said. “Well, he’ll have to catch up to us: we can’t wait any longer if we want daylight.”
The six took their places. Blueblood stood in front with Spike and Twilight close behind. Celestia, Shining Armor, and Cadance stood around the coffin and lifted it with their magic. On a short count, the six began to walk on towards the garden. Blueblood resisted the urge to look back at his family and instead forced himself to keep his eyes forward.
“WHOA!”
Everyone spun around. The coffin had tilted dangerously to one side as Cadance’s magic failed but Shining Armor quickly righted it. Cadance herself had fallen to her knees, crying again. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed, shaking her head. “I think that’s the las-”
“Cadance,” Celestia said, “I’m sorry, but-”
“No! I can do this!”
“Cadance, it’s alright.” Celestia walked over to Cadance and wiped some of the tears from her eyes. “There’s no shame in admitting if it still hurts too much. You don’t have to come if you don’t think you’re ready.”
Cadance looked up at Celestia with teary eyes, but her aunt would not yield. Finally, Cadance set her jaw. “OK,” she said. She got up, turned, and slowly started walking up the main stairs.
Shining Armor turned to Celestia. “Your highness, would you mind taking over for me?” he asked.
Cadance stopped. “Don’t,” she told him. “You don’t have to.”
“I love you, Cady,” he said, “I’m not going to make you cry alone.”
Cadance remained standing where she was as Celestia shouldered Shining Armor’s part of the casket. Shining Armor walked up the stairs, stopping next to Cadance. With a few whispered words, the two continued up the stairs together, Cadance leaning on Shining.
The remnant of the funeral procession watched the two until they were out of sight before they turned and started to move again. The group moved down the front drive until they came to the hedge where Cadance saw Spike for the first time, then turned between the hedges and progressed out onto the grounds. Eventually, Blueblood led them to a far corner of the garden, away from the paths. There, near a hydrangea bush, was an open grave, the headstone, three shovels, and a table. As they approached, Spike grabbed Twilight’s mane. Finally, the four gathered around the grave as Celestia lowered the coffin onto the table.
Everyone looked up. Still no sign of the pastor, and the sun had just set. “We have a little more time,” Celestia said. “Does anypony want to say one last goodbye?”
The three nodded and Spike moved towards the casket. He looked at it, then he looked back at the others. “It’s alright,” Twilight said, “just say whatever comes to mind.”
Spike looked back at the coffin for a few moments before he opened his mouth. “I’ll miss you,” he said. “You played with me. You licked me clean whenever I was dirty. You helped me get to sleep every night, because I felt safe with you.” He sniffled. “I don’t know how I’m going to sleep now. I wish you were still alive.”
Blueblood walked forward as Spike started crying and gently escorted him away. “Alright,” Celestia said. “Twilight? I know you didn’t know him as well, but is there something you wanted to say?”
Twilight looked up at Celestia, then screwed her eyes shut for several seconds. Finally, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just didn’t know him that well.”
“That’s alright,” Celestia said. “Blueblood?”
Blueblood turned away from his brother. “Actually, Aunt Celestia, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go last.”
Celestia nodded. “I understand.” She walked forward. “Spike, before we met, I knew you were a good dog from how happy you made Philomena in her own old age. And I’ll never forget when we first met, under one of many circumstances that were partly my own fault. You loved me and bore with me unconditionally that day when I needed a sympathetic ear but was afraid to ask, just as you loved me every day since. Thank you.”
Celestia stepped back. “Alright, Blueblood.”
Blueblood stepped up to the casket, and despite having the most time, he still felt nervous about saying what he was going to say. He took a deep breath, then opened his mouth. “So-”
“HOLD ON!”
Everyone turned around. Cadance leapt a nearby bush and darted for the graveside, where she skidded to a halt. “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “We can start now.”
“Cadance,” Celestia said. “I told you-”
“I know,” she said. “I really do feel better, even if it’s only for a little bit.”
“The pastor’s still missing,” Blueblood noted.
“No, he’s injured!” Kibitz crashed through the bush. “He was looking for you in the castle, your highness, and he took a nasty fall down the stairs. His shoulder was dislocated.”
Twilight winced. “Ow.”
“Could’ve been worse.” Shining Armor jumped the bush. “He hit the movers for that statue. They lost their grip and it would’ve squashed him if Cadance hadn’t dragged him out of the way.”
“Oh,” Celestia said. She turned to Cadance again. “Well you’re back on physical form at least.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have a pastor,” Blueblood said.
Finally, with a wheezing sound, the nuncio staggered up, dressed in his plain black suit. “Will... “ pant “...a priest…” pant “be fine?”
“I was showing him around when the accident happened,” Kibitz said. “I felt he might be useful.”
Celestia smiled. “He’ll do quite nicely.” She turned to Cadance and Shining Armor. “We were saying our last goodbyes. Do either of you want to say anything?”
Shining Armor shrugged. Cadance frowned, then shook her head. “Later.”
Celestia nodded. “I understand.” She turned to Blueblood. “Alright, Blueblood.”
Blueblood turned back to the coffin and cleared his throat. “Spike,” he said, “as you’re well aware, you didn’t endear yourself to me the first time we met. But you did endear yourself to everyone else, so you got to stay. I’ll be honest, you never grew on me as much as you did on everyone else. But you did grow on me, especially after I found out about my hypomagia. You forgave me when I screamed at you, even comforting me while I was in pain. So, while I can’t say I was really fond of you, I can say that I’m very glad you were in my life. Rest in peace, Spike.”
Blueblood stepped away and Celestia waved the nuncio forward. He walked up to the graveside and motioned for everypony to stand around the grave. Once they had done so, he led with a sign of the cross, which everypony copied. Then he said a series of prayers compatible with the Church of Equestria and a blessing for the grave. After a prayer of committal, Celestia, Shining Armor, and Cadance levitated the coffin into the grave. With one final series of intercessory prayers, he concluded the service, letting Cadance, Celestia, and Blueblood take up the shovels, bury Spike, and place the headstone.
By then, it was dark. Everyone lingered at the grave for a few moments, and then they gradually left. First Kibitz and Celestia escorted the nuncio back to the castle. Then Cadance began to tear up again and Shining Armor guided her back to her room. Thus, only Blueblood, Twilight, and Spike the dragon were left. Spike walked up to the headstone and wrapped his arms around it. “Goodbye, Spike,” he said. Then he let go, turned around, and the three began to walk back to the castle.
Silence fell between them, and Blueblood could see that Spike was close to crying again. “You know,” Twilight said, “Spike isn’t a bad name to have. In fact, I think it’d be a nice way to keep him close to you.”
Blueblood nodded. “It helps that the original bearer of that name has grown on me herself.”
“Yeah…” Twilight stopped walking. “Wait a minute, you named a male dog after a girl?!”
“What? Railroad Spike is a nice gender-neutral name.”
“You are…” Twilight stopped herself and shrugged. “Well, it is a good name.”
Blueblood, aged twenty, was sitting in the palace library. Part of the requirements for assuming a royal title was a term of public service of appropriate length. Thus, Celestia decided to employ him as a fact-checker for the Equestrian government, looking over bills and reports to ensure that the ponies who researched them were correct.
It was in this capacity that he was engaged when somepony poked him. He growled as he stuck his notepad on top of his book. “Yes?”
“Blueblood, it’s me.”
Blueblood turned around and noticed a frowning Twilight, followed by an antsy Cadance and a shivering Spike. “Ah,” Blueblood said. “Apologies. What brings you here?”
Twilight motioned to Spike. “Spike’s sick,” she said. “We don’t know what it is.”
Blueblood got up. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Well, it looks like the flu,” Cadance said, “sore throat, headache, upset stomach, chills, all of that. But instead of sinus problems, he’s seeing spots and hearing a loud ringing in his ears. It doesn’t seem that bad, but after the whole mumps thing-”
“Say no more.” A few months ago, Spike had come down with the mumps, and several unusual complications had left him in the hospital for two week. Since then, doctors became very nervous about administering pony-approved vaccinations to dragons. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Cadance gave him a glare, but it faded. “OK. Twilight?” Twilight snapped to attention and Cadance sped off to the shelves, Twilight trailing behind.
Blueblood turned to Spike, who just miserably looked back at him. “So,” Blueblood said, “I hear you’re ill.”
Spike sadly nodded.
“I take it your throat’s too sore for you to even talk?”
Another nod. Blueblood grimaced, then stopped. “Spike,” he said, “put your hands in front of your mouth.” Spike did so. “Alright, this will sound strange, but blow a small bit of fire into your hands.”
Spike looked at him, a little nervous. “Don’t worry,” Blueblood said. “It won’t hurt your throat a bit: you’re a dragon after all. The books here are magically protected as well: you won’t hurt anything.”
Spike kept looking at Blueblood, who smiled softly at him. Eventually, Spike closed his eyes, took a breath, and let out a small puff of flame, which remained confined to his hands. Spike opened his eyes and looked around the room, then back to Blueblood. “See?” he said. “Now just put your hands on your throat.”
Spike did just that. A few moments later, he started to smile before he shivered again. “Well, one thing at a time,” Blueblood said. “However, I imagine that-”
“OW! Hey!”
A page had accidentally trod on Spike’s tail. “Oh, sorry,” the page said.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Just watch the tail, O…” Spike’s anger faded. “Oooh.”
Spike turned back to Blueblood, whose confusion was igniting into a scowl. “Uhh…” Spike gave a nervous smile. “It’s no-”
“Shut up” Blueblood growled.
Cadance and Twilight came back, setting several books onto Blueblood’s table. “OK,” Cadance said, “I think I have-”
“That won’t be necessary,” Blueblood told her, enunciating every syllable. “I’ve just found out that our dear little brother,” he ignored Spike’s silent pleading, “has been faking his symptoms.”
Twilight and Cadance turned to Spike, and their faces turned just as ugly when they noticed Spike sweating. “Uh, well,” he stammered, “I-I-I have an explanation.”
“Well it’d better be good,” Cadance hissed as she rounded on him. “Spike, do you even remember when you got the mumps a few months ago? How worried we were about the fact that we had no idea what was wrong with you? Did you even consider how worried an unknown disease might make us?”
Twilight moved between Cadance and Spike. “Easy, Cadance,” she said. “Remember when you went overboard over an earache and we found out Spike just had a cold?”
Cadance glared at her for a moment, but her expression softened a little. She glared back at Spike. “You said you had an explanation?” she pointedly asked.
Spike swallowed. “Yeah. Uh... well... see, I...” Spike grimmaced. “I was at school during drama class. I was working on the backdrop for the school play and I… I felt a sneeze coming on and… and I...” Spike stopped and gritted his teeth. “...I started a fire.”
“THAT WAS YOU?” Cadance shouted. She dragged her hoof down her face. “Ugh, Spike!”
“It was an accident!” Tears started coming down Spike’s cheeks. “I didn’t get suspended, but now everyone thinks I started the fire on purpose! I didn’t!” He started tearing up. “Now… now everyone hates me… o-or they’re scared of me. Gavin actually dropped me in the pond at the park.” He fell to his hands and knees. “It was just an accident. Believe me, it was just an accident.”
Spike lay there for a few moments, sobbing and sniffling, then he felt himself being pulled into a hug. “I believe you,” Cadance said softly. “Spike, I’m so sorry. I know you wouldn’t do something like that on purpose. I’m more concerned that you had a problem and didn’t tell us anything.”
Spike sniffled. “I know how you feel,” Cadance continued. “After the magic surge when you were born, everyone was terrified of what I might do to them, and some were convinced that Aunt Celestia had bribed the school to let me keep coming. They’ll get over it in time, I promise. And you have us until they do.”
“Yes you do,” Twilight said.
“Absolutely,” Blueblood added.
The four sat as Spike slowly stopped crying. “Does Aunt Celestia know?” Cadance asked. Spike shook his head. “C’mon,” Cadance told him. “Let’s go tell her. It’ll be alright, Spike; I’ll be with you.” Spike held tightly onto Cadance, but slowly released his grasp enough that he could get up. Once he was on his feet, Cadance gently guided Spike out of the library, leaving Blueblood and Twilight alone.
“Hey Blueblood,” Twilight said, “Spike’s birthday’s coming up soon, right?”
Blueblood stared at her. “Three weeks from now. Why?”
“Well,” Twilight said, “I know you usually just have a family get-together with the Princess, but would it be alright if I got him a present?”
Blueblood frowned. “Why?”
“No real reason,” Twilight said. “I just want to make him a book about dragons. Y’know, so that he feels less like a freak.”
Blueblood put his hoof to his mouth and hmmed for a few moments. Just before Twilight opened her mouth, he shrugged. “I’ll ask Aunt Celestia.”
<*>
Blueblood knocked on the study door. “Aunt Celestia?”
“Come in.”
Blueblood opened the door and saw Celestia relaxing in the chair by her desk. “Yes, Blueblood?”
Blueblood stepped inside and shut the door. “Aunt Celestia,” he said, “Cadance and Spike spoke to you about the fire?”
Celestia nodded. “They did. I’m not going to punish him; Spike’s suffered more than enough.”
“Well, alright, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” Blueblood frowned. “You see, because of it, Twilight wants to write a book about dragons… to give to Spike a birthday present.”
Blueblood looked Celestia in the eyes. “Are you sure? Because I don’t know if Spike can handle another unpleasant surprise.”
Celestia frowned at Blueblood, but it faded quickly. “Blueblood, you’ve been reading Nomad’s Travelogues, haven’t you?”
Some of Blueblood’s fight drained out of him, and he unsurely nodded. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“He’s reliable most of the time, but he tended to exaggerate certain things in his work. Spike’s really only going to have to worry about growth spurts when he hits puberty, at about the same rate as regular ponies do. Even then, while dragons do get greedier as they grow older, uncontrollable greed is an extremely rare occurrence. Spike has more chance of being struck by a meteor.”
Blueblood frowned, but he relented. “Alright,” he said, “I trust you.”
Celestia opened one of her desk drawers and lifted out a book. “Here: this is more accurate. You and Twilight can borrow out of this.”
<*>
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Blueblood and Twilight stared at the book. “Six pages,” Twilight remarked. “She raised a dragon from birth, and this was all she got?”
“Well she couldn’t exactly slice him open,” Blueblood snarked.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I know that. Look, are you sure there isn’t more?”
Blueblood nodded. “Aunt Celestia says that a lot of what we know about dragons has to remain classified for safety’s sake. Right now, there’s powerful group of dragons who favor total isolation, and they don’t like how much other people know about them. Believe me, the fewer people who know some of this, the safer everyone is.”
Twilight went a little pale. “And Princess Celestia is just trusting us with this?”
“This is what’s safe. Just in case, let’s show her what we’ve done before we turn it over to Spike.”
Twilight nodded. “When I proposed my essay, I didn’t think I’d-”
“Wait.” Blueblood looked at her. “Essay?”
Twilight blushed. “Well, I have a lot of schoolwork to do, so I thought I’d do an essay on dragons and knock out two things at once, so that I could spend more time working on this.”
Twilight looked nervously at Blueblood, but he just paused for a moment and nodded. “Not a bad idea,” he said. “I wish I could do that. Alright, I’ll handle biology, you handle history.”
The two mostly ignored each other as they took glimpses out of Celestia’s book, then disappeared into the library stacks to find more. Over the hours, the piles of books grew as the two poured into random event after random event in the hopes of finding something related to dragons. Cadance had gone off with Celestia for a lesson, so the two had to keep an eye out for Spike. This did not make for a happy study session and the two had almost come to blows on several occasions.
After several hours, they called a break. Twilight sent for lunch and Blueblood pulled some recreational reading off of the shelves. Twilight opened her book, but then noticed Blueblood’s book. “You’re reading that?”
Blueblood frowned. “Yes. I like it, weird as that sounds.”
“That’s fine,” Twilight said, “I’m not a snob like that. Just… I read it once and I just can’t get past everything. I mean, the main guy’s such a jerk.”
Blueblood smirked. “Huh. I thought you’d have loved him, then, Señora Caballeron.”
Twilight sputtered. “Why you… I didn’t think he was that attractive!”
“You wanted to marry him.”
Twilight scowled at him. “Well I know better now,” she huffed.
“Yes, you know you're not his-”
“Don't you dare bring that up,” Twilight said. “Multiple books of Caballeron flirting with Daring Do, and suddenly he has no interest in her? That’s as unsubtle a relationship-killer as I’ve ever seen, and it’ll be undone the next time he shows up.”
Blueblood steepled his hooves. “He could just have been teasing her like she teases everyone.”
“Then why, in this very book, did they go so far as to-” Twilight shook her head. “Y’know what, in the interest of not killing each other, let’s just shut up for the rest of the day.”
Blueblood’s smirk remained. “OK.” He turned back to his book. “That’s just implied, though.”
Twilight glared at him, but kept her nose in her Daring Do.
Lunch arrived a few minutes later, a bowl of carrot salad for Blueblood, a monster haycon triple cheeseburger with stake fries for Twilight. Twilight immediately hoisted the burger to her lips and took three huge bites out of it before she swapped it out for the fries. After several fries, she turned back to the burger, then noticed Blueblood’s disgusted wince. “What?” she snapped, “I’ve been busy lately.”
“So have I,” Blueblood told her, “and I still manage to keep my food in my mouth instead of all over my face.”
Twilight huffed and wiped her mouth with her foreleg. “No!” Blueblood cried. “Now you’re spreading grease around!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Twilight whined. “I guess I’ll just have to stop touching things with my leg. However will I get by just using my MOUTH, HOOVES, AND MAGIC! Blueblood, stop being so prissy!”
“ME, PRISSY?” Blueblood shouted. “AT LEAST I DON’T HAVE TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN EXACTLY THE RIGHT PLACE! I SWEAR, I MOVED THAT INKWELL ONE ANGSTROM OUT OF PLACE!”
“IT WAS RIGHT WHERE I WANTED IT, MR. OH-SWEET-CELESTIA-GET-THAT-EVIL-FRITTER-AWAY-FROM-ME!”
“THEY’RE BOILED IN FAT! THEY TASTE LIKE FAT! THAT ONE WAS DRIPPING IN FAT!”
“YOU COULD’VE AT LEAST TRIED ONE, NEAT FREAK! WHY DON’T YOU JUST LIGHTEN UP?”
Blueblood snarled. “You’re right,” he said. “I should lighten up. Maybe I can BREAK INTO A LIBRARY SOMETIME!”
“ALRIGHT, KNOCK IT OFF!”
Blueblood and Twilight stopped and turned to the door. Standing in the doorway was a growling Spike. “NO!” Spike shouted as Blueblood opened his mouth. “Every time you two spend any time at all together, you start fighting with each other! No matter how many times you promise to make nice, you wind up screaming so loud, the ponies in Saddle Arabia can hear you, and I’m sick of it!” Spike stomped over to the table and plunked himself into a chair. “Until you two can stand each other, I’m not leaving you two alone.”
Blueblood and Twilight exchanged a glance. “Spike,” Twilight said, “we’re in the middle of something.”
Spike crossed his arms. “Tough. I’m staying right here until I’m convinced you two’ve made up for good.”
Twilight and Blueblood looked at each other for a good long moment before Twilight sighed. “Alright,” she said. “Blueblood, I’m sorry for not using the napkin,” she said.
“That’s alright,” Blueblood said, “I’m sorry for fussing at you over it.”
The two turned back to Spike, who glared at them. “Shake on it.”
The two ponies looked back at each other. Blueblood slowly extended his hoof and Twilight just as slowly shook it. When the two looked back at Spike, his scowl had turned into a mere frown. “Anything else?” Blueblood asked.
Spike sighed. “I’m still not convinced you two aren’t going to just start arguing as soon as I’m gone, but I can’t think of anything that would prove it.”
Twilight looked up at the clock, then looked back at Blueblood. “Any ideas?” she asked.
Blueblood frowned. “None.” He put his face in his hoof, then stopped himself. “Truth be told, I really don’t want to fight you anymore, my love.”
“Yeah, I…” Twilight and Spike stared at Blueblood, who was now looking into Twilight’s eyes. “...excuse me?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Blueblood said, “it’s true that I enjoy the thrill of our battles, but lately I’ve been unable to truly focus on it.”
Blueblood winked at Twilight out of the eye Spike couldn’t see. She glared at him, and moved away when he moved his hoof forward on the table. Blueblood gave her a sad frown, but then closed the eye Spike could see and motioned towards his hoof with the other eye. She looked down and he started subtly tapping her book.
Twilight scanned it, and it clicked. “Y’know, Do-Blueblood,” she replied, “I’ve actually been feeling the same way.” She placed her hoof on top of his, blocking the book from Spike’s sight. “It’s just that beating you senseless isn’t as fun as it once was. I want something... more.”
“As do I. I’ll admit, on half of those occasions, I let you win.”
Twilight snorted. “Liar.”
Blueblood hmphed. “I may be many things, Twilight Sparkle, but I am no liar.”
Twilight moved in closer. “Then what do you call what you normally do?”
Blueblood came in. “Business. And this,” their horns touched, “is pleasure.”
The two closed their eyes, and time crawled to a halt as the two realized they might actually have to kiss each other. The two moved slowly forward, very slowly. Then their noses touched and the two stopped. The room was almost silent but for Spike’s breathing. Then, the two tilted their heads up...
“OKI’mconvinced!” The two heard Spike jump down from the table. “You two… you do what you gotta’ do; I’ll just let you get to it!”
The two remained immobile until the door closed, then they snapped apart. “OK,” Twilight whispered, “he’s-”
Blueblood held a hoof up, then put his mouth to it and began sucking on it with a few moans. Twilight quickly followed his lead, and the two had to force themselves not to laugh at the retching sound making its way down the hall. Once it had gotten out of earshot, the two took their hooves out of their mouths. “OK,” Blueblood said, “now he’s gone.”
“Yeah.”
The two tried to get back to their food, but the two could feel the silence between them. They tried to ignore it, but the same thought kept coming back to them. “Was that your first, too?” Twilight asked.
Blueblood looked up from his lunch and looked at Twilight for a few seconds before he replied. “No. Kissing to drive off your loved ones doesn’t count.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
The two kept awkwardly looking at each other. “If it was a kiss, though,” Blueblood said, “what would you think of it?”
Twilight shrugged. “Like any first kiss, I guess” she said. “Kind of awkward, but I was kind of distracted at the time.”
Blueblood looked disappointed for a moment, but it faded away. “Yes. We weren’t really interested in each other, so that would probably override any pleasure we would’ve experienced.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Blueblood had a thought. “Y’know, it’s a pity you don’t get to practice kissing before actually dating. That’s often a key moment in a relationship. What if the person you were practicing kisses on is the person you work best with?”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, I’d say that’s for the best. If they’re not willing to stick around for you to learn how to kiss, they’re not worth sticking around for.” Twilight looked at Blueblood. “Why are you so curious about this? And why are you so interested in kissing me?”
Blueblood held his hooves up. “I’m not at all interested in kissing you! I’d probably never want to kiss you! I’m just… that came out wrong.”
Twilight glared at him. “Ya’ think, Prince Charming?”
Blueblood glared at Twilight. “Well you don’t have to be so snippy about it. I’d wager your first date is still a distant dream, too.”
Twilight scowled. “That doesn’t mean I-”
“OW!”
The two turned to the door, which remained closed. “Sorry!”
“Watch where you’re going, would ya’? Sheesh, does my tail have a welcome mat on it?”
The two turned back to each other. “I think we’d leave each other alone,” Twilight whispered.
“Agreed. Let’s just get back to work.”
“After lunch.”
“Please use the napkin.”
<*>
It was long past sunset when the two gave up. All throughout the day, they had pursued the vaguest hints of what might look like a new piece of information, but Celestia’s journal remained the sole source of useful information. Tensions had run high at several points throughout the day, in part because the dragon outside the door might hear anything, so the two ponies had to communicate via notes. Thus, by this point, the two were happy to call it a night, and began straightening up.
“Twilight,” Blueblood asked, “would you mind-”
“Put them up yourself,” Twilight told him.
“But I don’t have magic,” Blueblood lightly whined.
“You’ve got a mouth and hooves to put in it.”
Blueblood frowned, then gathered up some of the books. The notes were hidden somewhere in the library with a note for the librarian to keep them hidden. “Well darn,” Twilight said as she looked at the clock. “I was hoping I’d get more time to read before going to bed.”
“Oh well,” Blueblood said. “Let’s head off.”
Blueblood opened the door and noticed Spike sleeping by the threshold. Twilight lifted the baby dragon onto Blueblood’s back and the two started walking. “You think we have any chance of doing this?” Twilight asked Blueblood.
“Probably not,” Blueblood said, “given all we’ve been able to find about dragon culture is that they have a code of honor and that they tend stay away from everyone, each other included. I’m honestly considering asking Aunt Celie if Eustace kept a journal.”
“Can you get in touch with him?” Twilight asked.
“No,” Blueblood sighed. “He says that he’s making progress on making dragons merely isolated rather than territorial, but he says he’s still got a long way to go.”
The two walked along. “So,” Twilight said, “who’s the unlucky lady you want to kiss?”
Blueblood glared at her. “OK, don’t answer me,” Twilight said, “but I might be able to help you.”
Blueblood kept glaring, but it eventually faded into a frown. “She’s nice,” he said, “and very smart. None of your areas, I’m sad to say.”
Twilight pouted, but shrugged. “That’s alright,” she said, “accelerated college and Princess Celestia’s training don’t leave me a lot of time. Have you two talked?”
“A few times. I think she likes me, but I’m not sure.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, good luck.”
Blueblood smirked at her. “I don’t need luck, but thank you.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
<*>
The two continued at break-neck pace, but they still came up with almost nothing. Of the dragons that had been discovered, all but one of them were placed in families among their own species. As Twilight researched, Blueblood tried to contact anyone who had any information about dragons, but the only information they got was so shallow that it almost wasn’t worth including. Finally, they bit the bullet and asked Celestia if Eustace kept a journal. He hadn’t, but Celestia had several memories that proved useful. It was in vain, however, as after three weeks, the two were left with only about twenty pages of material. Concluding that it was better than nothing, the two drew up some illustrations and got Twilight's father to print the book.
The weekend of Spike's birthday, there was a comics convention in the park. Two months ago, Spike had found out and Celestia had been the first to assure him that they would be going there for his birthday. Thus, that Saturday, Cadance and Shining Armor packed a picnic basket, and the family processed into the park. It was a bright, warm day, with a cool breeze blowing by. Spike's friends were already at the convention and had agreed to meet him there, spend the whole morning browsing, and join him and the family for an enormous lunch.
"Spike, what's wrong?"
Spike started at Celestia's question, then quickly smiled at her, Blueblood, and Twilight. "Nothing!" he said. "I'm going out with my friends, Grant Mareison is signing books today, and Shining Armor made me a Star Sapphire cupcake. Nothing's wrong. I wonder when Shining Armor and Cadance are going to get back from their walk."
Blueblood's eyebrow rose. "Probably not until later. That's an interesting little itch you have there, little brother."
Spike looked down at his wrist and the claw that was scratching it, then sighed. "It's stupid. I just kind of wish... well..."
And then he fell silent. Twilight looked up at Celestia, then back at Spike. "Spike," she said, "we were saving this for later, but..."
She lifted a package out of her saddlebags. Spike looked up. "You got me a birthday present?" he asked.
Twilight and Blueblood moved in close to him. "If you'd like to open it now," Twilight offered, "it might make you feel a little better."
Spike took the present, felt all over it, and then tore the paper off. He stared at it. "Letters from Eustace," he read, "a Guide to Understanding Yourself." Spike smiled. "Thanks, Twilight."
"I'm sorry it's not much," she said. "Blueblood and I searched for all that we could but we couldn't find-"
"Waitwaitwait," Spike held up a claw and turned to Blueblood. "Is that right? The part after 'it's not much'?"
Blueblood nodded. "Twilight and I spent the past three weeks researching and writing that book."
Spike looked between Twilight, Blueblood, and Celestia for a few moments, then grinned with a chuckle. "No offense," he said, "but I think the fact that you two got along for me might be a better present than the book." Spike hugged Twilight and Blueblood's legs. "Thank you." He quickly broke off. "But the two of you aren't..."
The two smiled at each other and Blueblood snorted. "She's not my type," Blueblood said.
"Besides," Twilight added, glaring at Blueblood, "you've seen Cadance and Shining Armor. I wouldn't inflict us on you, too."
Spike wiped his brow. "Whew. Thank goodness." He looked up at the clock tower. "Well, my friends are probably all here now, so I'm gonna' go join 'em." He waved as he dashed off. "See you later!"
There was a loud scream and everyone turned their head. Three colts were crowded around someone else and were stomping on him. "What's the matter," one of them asked, "you wanna' leave us now?"
"HEY!" Spike yelled. The three turned around. "Leave him alone!"
Two of the colts backed away from their target, but the last, who was chewing on a stalk of wheat, sneered at their target. "Seriously? Now you think the dragon's gonna' fight your battles for you?"
He stopped dead silent as a green spark severed the grain from the stalk. He turned and saw Spike smirking at him. "I can do more," he said. "But I think you three really have somewhere else to be right now, don't you?"
The three turned and bolted from the scene. Spike smirked after them, and then turned to the target. It was a young griffon, dark grey and black all over, bleeding in a few places and sporting a black eye. Spike frowned. "Hello, Gavin."
Gavin turned his head away from Spike, wiping at his unbruised eye. "Hi, Spike," he mumbled.
Silence. "So," Spike asked. "What's new?"
Gavin shook his head. "Not much. You?"
Spike shrugged. "Well, my birthday was looking pretty good. Now, I'm not so sure."
Gavin's beak pinched shut and he wiped at his eye again. "I'm sorry," he said. "After the fire... they came after me. They said that I was an outcast, and that it was going to get worse for me unless I... unless I did what I did." Gavin swallowed. "Spike, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done. You were one of my closest friends and I'm so sorry I messed that up." Gavin got up. "Happy birthday."
With that, Gavin started walking away. Spike glared at him for a few moments, but his face gradually softened. "Hey, Gavin." Gavin stopped. "I'm meeting up with everyone else in a few minutes, wanna' tag along?"
Gavin turned to look at Spike. After a few moments of looking at him, Gavin turned his head away. "No. They don't want me after what I did to you."
Spike put his claw on Gavin's shoulder. "I know how you feel, dude, but you've gotta' go back some time. Even when I was mad at you, I still missed you." Gavin looked at him sadly, and turned away again. "Tell ya' what," Spike said, "you stay close to me. If I'm OK with you, how much can they hate you?"
"Plenty."
Spike was about to say something when Gavin turned to Spike. For several moments, he wrestled with his words, but eventually spoke. "Where are they meeting?"
Spike smiled. "C'mon, I'll show you." He walked off to the booths, right at Gavin's side.
Celestia smiled. "Well, this is probably going to be one of his best birthdays." She turned to Twilight and Blueblood. "Well done, both of you."
Twilight blushed. "It was nothing, your highness."
Blueblood smirked. "Indeed. Well, Aunt Celie, I have somewhere I'd like to be."
Celestia nodded. "Of course, Blueblood. Good luck on your date."
Blueblood stared at her. "How did you-"
"You just told me." Celestia smiled. "Don't worry. Just reign in your ego and you'll do fine."
Blueblood glared at his aunt. "I know that, Auntie." He turned. "I'll see you at noon."
Spike checked his watch again, groaned, and began looking around the fairgrounds again. He'd already spent all of his money, and it had started raining, so now all he could do was wait for Blueblood and his date to finish. As he had been doing for the past hour. Which was boring him out of his mind.
"YOU JERK!"
Spike perked up and stopped the watch. A few seconds later, an angry, yellow, cake-splattered mare stormed by. "How's your-"
"Don't ask!" The mare stopped and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Spike. It's just," she pointed to the white stallion vigorously wiping punch off of himself with napkins, "how in the world do you cope with that, that..."
"Utter troll?" Spike shrugged. "I wish I had a foolproof method," he told her, "but sometimes the only way to win is just not to play."
"You got that right." The mare took a deep breath. "Well, you have a nice day." She glared at Blueblood. "Somepony should." She bowed to Spike and stormed off.
Spike grimaced as Blueblood walked over. "How'd she do?"
"Three hours, fourteen minutes. Did you really have to do all that? She seemed really nice."
Blueblood frowned at Spike. "You didn't have to sit through her or three years of her predecessors."
Spike's eyebrow rose. "My previous dates," Blueblood explained.
"Oh." Spike frowned. "I sat through Spark Plug."
Blueblood hmmed. "Ah, yes you did. Again, I'm so sorry you saw that."
Spike shivered. "But still, this one seemed pretty nice."
Blueblood turned a vendor and purchased a bottle of purified water. "Spike, when you're older, you're going to have to learn how to tell when someone actually loves you and when they just think they love you. She may have been a nice woman, but all she saw in me was a squib, very-soon-to-be-duke, whose jerkish personality hides a broken heart of gold that she can bring out. Intentions only go so far." Blueblood dipped a few napkins into the water and started rubbing through his mane. "And anypony who only explodes after I douse them with cake is nopony I want to spend the rest of my life with."
Spike grabbed a napkin and joined Blueblood. "Then why do you go out with them?"
"In the futile hope that such girls will understand if I make myself seem un-date-able enough. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be working."
Spike threw a napkin in the trash. "Why don't you just ask Cadance to find somepony who'd like you for you?"
"Because that seems a little extreme." Blueblood threw the rest of the napkins away. "A pity Lyra moved away."
Spike's eyebrow rose. "I thought she wasn't interested in you."
Blueblood glared at him. "She wasn't. But she probably knows a few mares who won't fawn over me." He sighed. "In any case, it'd be nice to know one mare my age who doesn't just pity me right off the bat. Fat chance of that happening, given what everypony knows."
Spike stopped. "Something I've been wondering, how did everypony find out you had hypomagia?"
Blueblood gave Spike a look. "Something else you'll have to know," he said, "royalty has the best secrecy that money can buy as well as federal resources. So you might as well announce anything you want to keep secret in the town square and get it over with."
"But how does everyone find out?" Spike asked.
Blueblood shrugged. "Various means. Bribed servants, hidden paparazzi, things like that that are hard to completely block out. It's certain, however, that any of our secrets will get out given time, and thus it's better to try not to have any secrets."
Spike didn't seem satisfied by this answer, but let it slide. "Well," Blueblood said, "now that that's done, I can finally get back to work." Blueblood turned to Spike. "Unless you wanted to do something?"
"Uh," Spike said, "actually, Twilight and I were going to go get a bite to eat for her birthday. I'd ask you along, but..."
"I understand." Blueblood smiled. "That's alright, I've got a lot to do anyways. I'll see you later."
Spike smiled. "OK. Have fun!"
"I will."
With that, Spike turned and set off. Blueblood frowned as Spike walked away, but quickly put a smile back on. "Oh, well," he said as he set off another way. "There'll be other days, and cabbage tariffs wait for no-one."
<*>
A week later, Celestia was in the middle of court when she got a note from a courier.
It's about Blueblood. Come to the kitchens quickly. -Cadance
Celestia quickly excused herself from the throne room and ran down the stairs into the now moderately occupied kitchens. There Cadance and Spike were sitting at a servant's table and Celestia noticed a hole in a cabinet and that the floor had recently been mopped. "What's the problem?" Celestia asked.
Spike was scowling, his mouth shut tight. Celestia turned to Cadance. "Blueblood's sick," Cadance said.
Celestia stared at her.
<AGE 5>
"Blueblood, that's disgusting! Go blow your-no, NO, NOT ON THE TABLECLOTH!"
<AGE 10>
"Blueblood, will you please hold still so I can put the lotion on?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Cadance. I'm just too distracted by this EXCRUCIATING ITCH!
<AGE 14>
"Blueblood, stop groaning about your headache and get ready for school!"
<AGE 19>
"SPIKE, IF YOU DON'T RETURN MY EAR DROPS RIGHT NOW... well why in Tartarus were they on the sink?! Was a foot just too far to move them?"
<AGE 23>
"You're sure?"
"I saw it with my own two eyes. Whatever he has this time, it must be a doozy." She reached across the table. "It's OK, Spike," she said. "Blueblood'll come to his senses once he's better."
Spike huffed, but said nothing. "What are his symptoms?" Celestia asked.
"Well, he didn't whine about anything, so I'm guessing one of the symptoms was a sore throat. His nose was red, so it's possible that he has sinus problems. Also, the lymph nodes in his neck were swollen." Cadance's mouth pinched shut. "Spike pointing them out was what started the tantrum."
Celestia nodded. "Well, it's a start. Now comes the hard part."
"Blueblood had his flu and strangles shots a few weeks ago," Cadance said, "so it's probably not those."
"That's not the problem," Celestia said. "Now we have to get him to see a doctor."
<*>
“Hello, my dear nephew.”
Blueblood quickly shushed Celestia as she entered his room, two glasses of colorful drink in tow. “I'm right in the middle of this,” he whispered, motioning to the books in front of him.
Celestia nodded. “Oh, I see,” she whispered as she sat down next to him.
Blueblood looked over at her, as she just smiled back. He kept reading and taking notes, but the pressure on the side of his head built and he eventually put his quill down. “Is there something you wanted?”
Celestia shrugged. “Well, I was in the kitchen today and I thought that I’d try my hoof at culinary matters again. I tried mixing punch, and I think that this has actually turned out pretty well. Please, try some.”
Blueblood nervously put his hoof around the glass and lifted it. He looked up at his aunt and there she stood, same sweet smile on her face. "I was supervised," she said. "Give it a try." Slowly, Blueblood put the glass to his mouth and sipped some of the glass’s contents. It actually tasted really good.
Suddenly, Celestia’s hoof was over his mouth, her smile gone. “Swallow it,” she commanded.
Blueblood focused on his horn, trying desperately to get his horn to do something, but nothing. He tried to spit, but Celestia’s hoof wouldn’t let him. Finally, hesitantly, he swallowed. Instantly, he put a hoof to his throat with a moan.
"As I thought." Celestia removed her hoof, sanitizing it with magic. “You’re going to see a doctor, Blueblood. No excuses.”
<*>
Doctor House Call diagnosed it as strangles (which Celestia was quick to explain as strep throat to a freaked-out Spike). Blueblood would be fine, but he was highly contagious, and was thus confined to his room. A few days later, several staff members were taking sick days and isolating themselves. But the worst came after the news had broken. As soon as they had heard, the clinic Blueblood got his shots from made a statement that Blueblood had not been seen in their office for a year, and had preemptively pulled their doctors' patient records to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt (no action was taken).
Simply put, Celestia was livid, a condition that only grew three days after the diagnosis. The respectable newspapers had buried it under actual news, but the story still had a blurb on every newspaper she'd come across. The tabloids just put it on the front page: "Blueblood Not Allowed to Get Shot for Strangles!" Thankfully, the source for that quote had come forward and Celestia did not doubt that his words had been twisted. She was still very irritated at him, though the true target of her rage was not allowed out of his room. Her breakfast untouched, Celestia took care to tear each of the tabloids into confetti-sized pieces in full view of the windows before she got up from the table.
Celestia dawdled on the way up, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. She wasn't a violent mare, and she was perfectly capable of getting angry without causing a scene. Plenty of ponies annoyed or frustrated her every day. Dealing with that was easy. However, there were possibly four or five people who could infuriate her, and all but one had been safely dealt with. 'And given everything that has transpired,' Celestia thought to herself, 'he'll be lucky to-'
CRASH!
Celestia stopped just outside Blueblood's room and struggled to compose herself. That sounded like a window, and given the time, Celestia would've bet the souls of every single one of her citizens that it had been smashed by a bowl of oatmeal. "Alright, Blueblood," Cadance said, "I've tried being nice, and that's clearly not working. What do I have to do to get you to cool it? If you keep going, the staff are probably going to kill you."
"What do you care?" Blueblood rasped. "Everyone's going to die on you anyways. Rafter already did. Twilight and Shining Armor will. Might as well get it-"
Celestia slammed the door open. "BLUEBLOOD, THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Celestia stomped into the room. She could vaguely hear the floor cracking under her hooves, but couldn't bring herself to lighten her step. Cadance and Spike jumped back at the sight of her. Blueblood, however, only glared at her. It was only with the greatest of effort that Celestia did not immediately smite him from existence. "Blueblood," she hissed, "throughout your entire life, I have never been as mad at you as I am right now. You lied to me about your shots. You lied to me about your illness. You infected several other members of my staff. And now you've quite possibly said the cruelest thing you've ever said in your life. If you want me to utterly destroy you, please, keep going. If, however, you have a shred of self-preservation left in that empty skull of yours, then you will behave yourself. Right. Now."
"Aunt Celestia."
Celestia slowly turned to Spike, who was scowling at a flattened metal gyro-flyer he'd pulled out of Blueblood’s wastebasket. She looked into the basket herself and noticed that crumpled-up pages from several of his journals were in there as well. Suddenly, her scowl vanished. "Oh, no." She turned to Blueblood. “It happened, didn't it?”
Blueblood indignantly snatched up the teacup on the tray and started drinking. Unfortunately, he tried to swallow too much, so he started coughing out the bits that had gone down the wrong pipe. When he finished, a full thirty seconds later, he sucked down a breath and tears were coming out of his eyes. He scowled at Celestia, smashed the teacup against a wall, and buried himself under the covers.
“Spike, Cadance," Celestia said, "would you mind waiting outside for a moment?” Spike looked at Celestia, but Cadance escorted him out of the room. With them gone, Celestia walked over to Blueblood's bedside. "How long?" she asked.
Blueblood just rolled over to face away from her. Celestia sighed. "Alright. Just call if you want something." Blueblood growled, and she departed, leaving the door open a crack.
Cadance and Spike were standing in the hallway looking back at Celestia. Cadance was concerned, Spike still irritated. Celestia closed her eyes. "I should have seen it," she said.
Spike looked at Cadance, who didn't say anything. He turned back to Celestia. "So what's wrong with Duke Jackwagon in there?" he asked.
Celestia looked at Spike. "Spike, did Cadance ever tell you what happened to Blueblood after you were born, when he found out about his condition?"
Spike shrugged. "Not really. I'm guessing he was kinda' moody for a while?"
"Spike, Blueblood's entire family's struggled with depression. Basically, it makes them unable to feel like there is anything good in their lives, and they often have periods of anger where they can say hurtful things they don't really mean. Many of them have died young because of it. After Blueblood was diagnosed, we kept a very close eye on him, but aside from a slightly darker mood, he seemed to be taking things much better than past generations. He reacted in much the same way a normal child would. After a few weeks, he was back to the way he usually was, and we thought that was the last of it. Almost all of his ancestors developed it in childhood, often due to their own diagnoses of hypomagia. Since he didn't, I thought he would be alright" She sighed. "Unfortunately, it seems the disease was just biding its time."
Spike raised a claw. "Wait, why would it come back now?"
"His coronation's coming up," Cadance said. "You think that finally pushed him over the edge?"
Celestia nodded. "Maybe. In any case, we're going to need to watch him again. Cadance, you know what to do. Spike, I'm going to have to teach you how to talk to him. First of all, you're going to have to be very patient with him." She looked up at the door. "This is going to take a while."
"You fool. For four months, you knew how others look at you. For four months, you soldiered on and kept all eyes off you. Now you've mucked it all up in three sentences, and they will never let you forget it. Every time they see you, they will rub it in, reminding you day after day how stupid you are."
Blueblood lay on the bed for most of the day, having little energy to do anything else. Apart from using the restroom to avoid the staff, nothing would stir him. He was aware of the servants coming in to change the bedspread and leave him food while he was in the bathroom. All of the food went uneaten: he just didn't feel like stirring up the razor blades in his throat, much less something left by people who were laughing at him.
"Of course they're laughing at you. You've been a complete jerk to them for years. Remember when you messed with the castle to try and keep a dog out of it? Well now they're getting their revenge, just like they do every time you get sick."
Before Blueblood could choke down his anger, there was a knock at the door. "Blueblood?" Spike called, "are you in there?" After a moment of silence in which Blueblood buried himself under the covers, the door opened and Spike walked in, bearing a tray with a teacup and a bowl of soup on it.
"Ah, now he's in on it. Of course the dragon hospitalized for the mumps thinks little of what you went through. Especially after your little earache."
Spike walked over to the end table and set the tray on top of it. "Tomato soup and chamomile tea," Spike explained. "It's supposed to help your throat."
Blueblood kept his mouth tightly shut. "Sooo..." Spike said, "is there anything you want me to do while I'm here? A book I can get you? A record I can put on? I can fluff your pillows, if you want."
"Anything to keep you from whining, you big baby."
"Don't you have a building to burn down?" Blueblood hissed.
Spike recoiled, but recovered and crossed his arms. "Nice try, but I know that's your depression talking, not you."
Blueblood whipped around. "JUST GET O-"
Blueblood started coughing, hard enough to cause him to spasm. He tried to hold them back, little good that did him. Tears began coming out of his eyes again, but he couldn't roll over. All he could do was sit and barely hold his hoof in front of his mouth. Then he became aware of a heat on his neck, easing the pain in his throat. His coughing died down, and soon it stopped altogether. He looked down and saw that Spike had put his claws on his neck. "Feeling better?"
Blueblood scowled and shoved Spike off of the bed before covering himself. Spike got up and looked up at Blueblood, a sad frown on his face. "OK," Spike said. "I'll just... leave all of this here for ya'." He then walked to the door, but before he left, he stopped and turned back to his older brother. "Y'know," he said, "not many kids can brag that they have an older brother who's a duke or a certified genius. Who's the reason you get all A's in college-level classes. Who, no matter how much of a troll he is the rest of the time, is willing to drop a long-standing rivalry just because you set a building on fire and need a pick-me-up."
Still no response. "Blueblood," Spike continued, "I want you to know that you're also probably the most important person in my life. I don't know how you feel right now, but I know it really hurts. I would never, ever make fun of you while you're like this, and I promise that I'll do anything to help you." Spike stood silently for a few moments before he swallowed. "Well, that's all I got, so if you want me, I'll be around." He turned to the door.
"Spike?"
Spike stopped and looked back at the bed. Blueblood got out from under the covers and motioned to the tray with his head. Spike smiled a little as he blew fire into his claws. As Blueblood lifted the teacup and later the soup bowl, Spike stuck his claws back onto Blueblood's neck. That did wonders, as it reduced the razor blades to merely a feeling of a bad itch, letting Blueblood drink in a series of continuous swallows. Finally, he put the bowl back on the tray and lay back. "Alright," Spike said. "What do you want to do now?"
Blueblood looked at Spike with a sad frown and Spike's good mood deflated. "OK," Spike said, "I'll let you rest." He hopped down off the bed and grabbed the tray. "Oh, one other thing." Spike pulled another thing off of the tray, a piece of paper that had been under the bowl. "Aunt Celestia wants you to have this." He put the paper on Blueblood's end table. "Well, see ya'." Spike departed.
Blueblood looked over at the piece of paper for several moments before he slowly pulled it over and opened it. It was a letter written in bright green ink with a letterhead from Beryl Industries.
Dear Blueblood,
You actually figured out what I was doing just like that? That's awesome! I mean, WOOOOOOOWWW! You're a genius! I mean, I thought nobody'd figure out what I was doing, but you did! Wow! Everyone else is really mad, which I guess makes sense given that we're all going to prison for several years, but I'm just too impressed! Wow! I don't even care after getting busted like that! Y'know what? After this, I'm OK with pleading guilty. After you just demolished my plans in just a few minutes, think of it as a reward for a job well done.
Again, CONGRATULATIONS! WOW!
Beryline Lucia Pie
Blueblood didn't read all of it, but as he placed it back on his end table, he felt a brief flutter of happiness.
<*>
About two weeks later, Blueblood was declared well enough to leave his room with a surgical mask. He didn't particularly want to, but the morning after the pronouncement, he woke, put his mask on, and left for breakfast. He had woken early, and had hoped to avoid his family if he could help it. However, when he walked into the dining room, he noticed Cadance seated at the table with a teacup, frowning over a letter. When he got into the doorway, she looked up and smiled at him. "Hi, Blueblood."
"Uh, hi."
Cadance patted at the chair next to her. "Come on, sit down."
Blueblood slowly did as she bid him and sat. "We got someone special to cook this morning," Cadance said. "It's supposed to be ready by the time everyone else wakes up."
"OK."
Cadance placed a hoof on Blueblood's shoulder. "It's alright, Blueblood. Everypony knows what you said wasn't your fault." Blueblood remained silent. "That being said," she said, "do you think you're up to finding a psychiatrist today?"
Blueblood frowned. "Sure. Alright."
"It's not that bad."
Blueblood looked up at the door to the kitchen. Standing there was a smiling violet unicorn, his dark blue mane freckled with silver. "Bear Claws?" Blueblood asked.
Bear Claws nodded. "It's been months, Blueblood. I missed you."
Blueblood looked down. "Sorry."
"I'm not blaming you," Bear Claws said. "I got hit for a loop myself when I found out about my conversion disorder. If you want to shoot the breeze about it, I'm willing to shut up and listen too."
"Thanks," Blueblood said, without much enthusiasm. He looked over at Cadance's letter. "What's that?"
"Oh, that's-" She stopped when she noticed Bear Claws shaking his head. Then she sighed. "Shining Armor's tour of duty's been extended. His CO wants to keep him for another few years." She paused for a moment. "Then he broke up with me, talking about how it 'isn't fair to keep me waiting until he finally gets his transfer/release through the bureaucracy'. Ugh, that idiot."
Blueblood mumbled a 'sorry' as he laid his head on his hooves.
Cadance hugged him. "But that doesn't matter right now. He wrote without thinking it through: we'll be back together in no time. Right now's all about what you want to do, and I want to remind you that, while I really want you to get professional help, I'm willing to wait until you're ready."
"Feel free to take your time," Bear Claws said. "The cinnamon rolls just went in the oven."
"Great, I'm starving." Spike trotted into the room and got up on the other chair next to Blueblood. "How're ya' feeling?" he asked Blueblood.
Blueblood let out a breath. "Better."
"OK. Oh, Cadance," Spike got down and walked over to her, "your alarm went off and you forgot your medication."
He opened his claw, revealing three pill halves and one whole tablet. Cadance picked them up with her magic. "Ah, thanks."
Blueblood watched her drop one pill half into her tea, then take a sip, then wince. "Blegh. Earl Grey does not help the medicine go down." She dropped another pill half into her tea, sipped, then winced again. "Still, it's keeping me from waking you up in the middle of the night."
<Eight years ago>
"Aah!"
Cadance struggled to get out from under a comforter. Then the lights came on. Cadance finally got the comforter off and blushed. Blueblood lay in bed glaring at her. "Oh," she said, "good morning, Blueblood."
Blueblood looked over at his clock. "Yes, I suppose that's accurate now that it's actually past midnight."
"Blueblood I-" she stopped. "Where's Spike?"
"He's with Celestia. He wanted to sleep somewhere a crazy alicorn wasn't WAKING HIM UP EVERY FIVE MINUTES!"
"I-"
"DON'T! Don't say you're sorry! That worked last week, it's not working now! Cadance, I don't know what got into you after Spike died, but you've got to calm down!"
"I'm trying!" Cadance sucked in a breath. "I want to stop worrying. I can't sleep, I can't focus. Do you think I'm just doing this because I want to? After Rafter and Spike died, I just can't stop thinking about who could be next. Every time I get it out of my head, it just comes back a few seconds later. I've tried meditating, I've tried exercise, nothing works." Cadance sat, cradling her head in her hooves. "I know I should see a shrink or something, but I'm worried about what he's going to find. Like, what if he says I've got a disorder that makes me too dangerous to let loose? What if Celestia has to do something drastic to protect everypony from me? What if one of you dies because I'm not there? It's stupid, I know, but I can't convince myself to stop!"
She sat in the silence, a few tears trickling down her face and deep breaths threatening to turn into a sob. Then she felt a hug, which she leaned into. "Cadance," Blueblood said, "how would you like to sleep in here tonight? That way, when you get worried you don't have to keep opening the door."
Cadance wiped her eyes. "What about Spike?" she asked. "I do-"
"We'll move into Celestia's room. Given Spike's already there, she probably won't mind her other two children joining in. I'll talk to Spike: he'll go along with me."
Cadance pondered that over, then nodded. "Alright. I'll give it a shot."
"Thanks." The two broke apart and Blueblood and Cadance began walking. "Cadance," Blueblood asked, "how would you like me to come along with you when you find a therapist, as emotional support?"
Cadance was silent. "If you want Shining Armor to do it," Blueblood said, "I understa-"
"You'll do nicely," Cadance said.
<Present day>
Blueblood couldn't help his ears burning as he and Cadance waited in line at the pharmacy. The psychiatrist had said nothing the two didn't already know and had given out a prescription that Blueblood was now waiting to pick up. His mood had turned, and even keeping his eyes dead forward, he could feel the glares on him in his surgical mask, and he found himself imagining various ways in which his day could get worse.
"Hey, Twilight," Cadance said.
Blueblood scowled as method number four walked up. "Hi, Cadance," she said. "Your medicine..." She noticed Blueblood. "Hi, Blueblood. How's it going?"
"Fine," Blueblood rumbled.
"What're you doing here?" Cadance asked Twilight.
"My own medicine's running low," Twilight responded. "I thought I might want to get it refilled before I start breaking into libraries again."
Cadance nodded. "Good idea."
"Yeah."
Twilight looked over at Blueblood, whose eyes and mouth were pinched shut. "Uh," she said. "I can come back later."
"No, you can stay," Blueblood growled. "I just want to get this over before anypony else shows up."
Twilight backed up a step. "What's up with him?" she asked Cadance.
"Nothing is 'up'," Blueblood said. "I just want to get this over with."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the stallion in front of Blueblood said as he turned around, "are we peasant in your way?"
Cadance tried to step between the two, but Blueblood put his hoof in front of her. "Your words, peasant," he said.
"Blueblood-"
"Hey, I didn't make you miss your shot," the stallion said, "so maybe you should get over the fact that you were dumb enough to get yourself sick and stop taking it out on everypony else."
Cadance barged between the two as Blueblood started sputtering. "OK, let's calm down, talk this over, and avoid saying-"
Blueblood turned on his hooves and stormed down the aisle. "Blueblood!" Cadance called after him. He kept going, storming through the front door. Cadance turned to Twilight. "Twily, would you mind keeping my place in line?"
"What's wrong with him?" Twilight asked.
"I can't say," Cadance said, "I just need to go find him."
"Number forty-two!"
"You're here for him, aren't you" Twilight asked. "Cadance, only family members can claim prescriptions and you don't have long left in line. I'll go find him and you get his medicine."
Cadance looked back at the line, then back at Twilight. "OK," she said. "Hopefully I won't take too long."
Twilight turned about and walked out of the drugstore. She looked up and down the street, but she couldn't see Blueblood. "BLUEBLOOD!" she called out. No-one answered, so she fired up a locator spell, which led her leftwards into an alley. Twilight followed the trail down the alleyway.
She found Blueblood curled up behind a dumpster. As she approached, he turned away from her. "Just get it over with," he told her.
"Blueblood, what's going on?" Twilight asked.
Blueblood snorted. "What, you don't know?"
Twilight stared at him. "About your strangles? That was in the news."
Blueblood whipped around. "Oh stop playing dumb with me, Twilight!" he snapped. "I don't believe for a second that you don't know! Yes, I finally inherited the family depression. You are now better off than me in every sense of the word. You have my aunt, my brother, and any hope I have of being noticed by anyone, and now I'm a public joke to boot!" Blueblood's face was red as he turned away from her. "So go ahead, just say what you were building up to. Not like there's going to be any love lost between us. I mean, we've hated each other literally since the day we've met."
Then he was quiet. He could feel teardrops rolling down his cheeks, but he didn't reach up to wipe them away. No sense calling attention to them. Then she'd just get to call him a wimp, too.
"...yeah, we do hate each other don't we?" Blueblood didn't move, but he could tell Twilight was moving up behind him. "I mean, you hate me so much that when we first met, you couldn't believe a person who seemed so nice didn't have any friends." Blueblood moved away from her. "Can you believe you're still the closest thing I have to a friend?"
Blueblood scoffed. "Awful, isn't it?"
"Actually, it's not that bad." Twilight sat down, out of hoof's reach of Blueblood. "I mean, yeah, we can't stand each other, but we trust each other, we know how far we can push each other, and even if we don't like each other, we're still willing to help each other out when we really need it. That might not be friendship, but it's definitely close."
Blueblood kept facing away from her. "Blueblood," Twilight continued, "I have OCPD. I'm not going to make fun of you for having depression. Neither am I going to tell anyone else about it if you don't want me to."
"What about any new friends you make?" Blueblood asked darkly.
"Not even them, unless you say I can. That includes anything you do; I'll say whatever you want. If they're my friends, they'll trust me."
"Unless they think you're having an episode, too."
Twilight shrugged. "Well, that's true. But even then, I won't tell on you. I promise." Twilight moved in closer, and Blueblood let her. "Y'know, Blueblood, Spike's still crazy about you. He cites you all the time and any time I want to do something with him, he always wants to run it by you first. Princess Celestia's also been really preoccupied the last few weeks, and now I know why. They both still love you a lot, Blueblood."
"As do I," Cadance said. "And we always will."
Blueblood sat still as stone. Twilight looked at Cadance, who looked back at her. Twilight moved her hoof forward, but put it back down when Blueblood cleared his throat. "Phlegm," he said. "Cadance, do you have my medication?"
"I do."
He nodded. "Good. Let's go home." He got up and walked back out of the alleyway, Cadance following him. Then he stopped. "Twilight?"
He didn't turn to face her. "Yes?" Twilight asked.
He was silent for several seconds before he opened his mouth. "I wouldn't mind you being family," he said. "Blood aside, I think that might be the closest word for what we have."
Blueblood smiled at Spike as he walked in. Four weeks had gone by, and Blueblood had finally been declared strangles-free. "Morning, Spike," he said.
"You feeling any better?"
Blueblood nodded. "Mm-hmm. My antidepressants are finally working. I'm not back to normal yet, but it can't be too long now. I'd say in another two weeks, my depression should've cleared up."
A smile broke out over Spike's face. "Great!"
"Indeed." Blueblood's smile vanished. "At least, until the next time it comes around."
Spike walked up and put a claw on Blueblood's leg. "You'll beat it then, too. And the time after that and the time after that. Blueblood, I promise you're going to crack a-hundred if it kills me."
Blueblood took a deep breath and Spike could hear him saying something under his breath. Finally he turned back to Spike. "Thanks. Like I said, I'm not back to normal yet."
"Eh, you never were normal. That's why I love you. Listen, have you seen Cadance around?"
Blueblood shrugged. "Maybe she's out in the gardens. It is a nice day outside."
"Maybe, but I haven't seen her all morning. Not even when I woke up."
Blueblood hmmed. "That is odd. Celestia's gone missing, too, but not like that's odd." He patted a stack of papers next to him. "I finished the bill she was working on early this morning. I think it might be my best work to date."
Kibitz walked into the room. "Good morning Spike, Blueblood."
"Good morning."
"Blueblood, Princess Celestia gave me something to pass on to you." He reached into his coat and laid an envelope on the table. "She also said to turn left at the Royal Sisters' Fountain."
Blueblood opened the envelope and pulled out a gold key. "What does this go in?"
"She didn't say, so I assumed it was not my business to know. She also asked that you do this right after breakfast and says that she'll be waiting for you there in approximately two minutes. Also, that's the only key, so please don't lose it. Good day." He turned, but stopped. "Oh, and Blueblood..." He smiled, very slightly. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
With that, he left. "Well, Spike," Blueblood said, looking at the key, "looks like we have an adventure on our hands."
<*>
The Royal Sisters' Fountain was hidden deep in the hedge maze, but Blueblood and Spike had been in the maze often enough that they were quickly nearing it. They also knew there was very little else. "What do you think she wants," Blueblood asked Spike.
Spike shrugged. "I 'unno. You've already shot down alicornhood."
"Unless you can tell me how I can invent something I can't even do and don't even know. Maybe it's just a part of the garden that's very special to her."
Spike rolled his eyes. "She'd be all hush-hush about that?"
"If she wanted some privacy."
The two arrived. The clearing was surrounded by two walls, a half-circle of hedge and the castle wall, which was covered in ivy. There were several benches and small trellises scattered around the centerpiece, the fountain. It was an enormous statue of a laughing Celestia and Luna, gilded in gold and silver, spraying water from their horns and a fine mist from their wings. The fountain's pool was decorated with two spirals, one in rainbow colors, and the other in blue and white.
Spike looked to the left of the entrance. Down that path was more maze. "I hope you're right," Spike said.
"I have to be," Blueblood said. "Turning left here would be a wild goose chase."
The two entered the clearing and walked over to the brick wall, on the left of the fountain. Blueblood ran down to the far end of the wall while Spike went to the near end, and the two began pushing ivy aside to find a keyhole. The two searched the entire wall three whole times, but they turned up nothing. "Are you sure there isn't anything you're missing?" Spike asked.
Blueblood took the key in his hoof and looked it over again. There was nothing on it, no writing or images. It was just an ordinary gold key. Blueblood held the key up to his eye, but he could see nothing in it.
Then there was a bright flash of light. Blueblood jumped back, dropping the key. A spot of bright light had formed on the wall and now Blueblood could see a diamond mounted on the wall, surrounded by a gold plate. He turned backwards and looked up. A large lens had formed between the two horns on the fountain and the sun was shining through it.
Blueblood looked back at Spike. "You don't see that?" he asked, pointing at the lens.
Spike looked up. "See what?"
Blueblood looked down at the grass and picked up the key. "Here, use it like a magnifying glass."
Blueblood handed the key over and Spike looked through it. "Whoa." Blueblood walked over to the diamond in the wall. The gold plate had writing engraved around it. Your path is dark, and you do not look bright enough.
"OK," Spike said, "I guess that means we have to make it brighter, even though the sun's shining right on it." Spike frowned. "If there weren't so much ivy on the wall, I could just breathe on it."
Blueblood ran his hoof over his chin. "Alright. Princess Celestia is in there already and she didn't need the key. Thus, there must be a way to get in without it." He looked up at the lens. "It seems that sunlight is the key, but how do you make the sun... Spike, give me the key." Blueblood lifted it into the light, focusing the light so that it converged on the diamond.
The diamond disappeared. Then a crack formed up and down the wall. Two hidden doors retracted into the wall, revealing a blue portal. The two looked at it, then Blueblood walked forward. "Uh, Blueblood," Spike said, "are you sure that's a good idea?"
Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Celestia's been through it. I imagine it's safe."
"...well, it still doesn't look very safe."
Blueblood walked up to the portal. He still couldn't see where it might lead. Blueblood slowly raised a hoof to the portal, but when he put it in, he could feel nothing. Finally, he took a breath and stepped through.
<*>
Blueblood ended up in a well-lit stone room. Surrounding him were several brown stone statues, almost all of alicorn foals, although there were also a mare and a stallion, too. Blueblood moved towards the door in the room, and he noticed a carving in the wall above the door, where all of the ponies were represented with their cutie marks. Then Blueblood noticed that one of the foals, a colt with a caduceus cutie mark, had no wings; they simply hadn't been carved on. An older filly with a sun was standing over him and a younger filly with a moon was playing with him.
Blueblood was transfixed as he realized what he was seeing. Celestia, Luna, and Divine Gift.
Spike appeared in the room, then looked around. "Where are we?" he asked.
"A special place."
Blueblood and Spike spun around as Celestia and Cadance revealed themselves. Celestia smiled. "Welcome to the Cenotaph of Fortunate Stone."
Blueblood looked at Celestia, then back around the room. "I don't understand."
Celestia walked up to him. "Come with me, I'll show you." Celestia walked up to the door and shone a bright light into the keyhole. The door swung ajar and the two proceded in, Spike and Cadance following close behind.
It was a hallway of stained glass windows, each one containing a picture of a family centered around a unicorn. Some were stallions, others were mares. As Blueblood continued, he noticed that some of the pictures had alicorns as well.
"As you might have guessed, I've had a large family over the years," Celestia said. "So large, and over so long a period of time, that Luna and I knew we wouldn't be able to remember them all given enough time. Therefore, we created this place, so that we could always keep their memories alive. So many of them have moved all over the world, and have lost touch with me, but with these windows I can remember all of them. I visit this place every month, so that I never forget the wonderful ponies I've been privileged to meet."
"Wait, Eustace isn't dead!" Spike said.
Celestia glanced at one of the windows, which contained a unicorn mare and a dragon together. "No, he's not," Celestia said. "These are special windows that change to reflect the good in their subjects. It doesn't feel right to keep brothers and sisters apart here, so this room depicts generation by generation of the Duchy of Cambreeching as they come to be. Ah, here."
The four stopped. The window here held a white unicorn mare with blue eyes seated in a wheelchair playfully shoving a green pegasus stallion. She was holding a white unicorn colt with blue eyes and in her lap was an open book with a picture of a kraken in it. Blueblood was possessed of the urge to look at the window through the key's lens, so he lifted it to his eye.
The window transformed into a series of scenes from life. Sea Foam was the grand-niece of Princess Celestia, and was adopted by her after a building collapse crippled her and killed her parents. Two weeks later, she met Olivine, the son of artists who specialized in seascapes, and the two became close friends. The two even got their cutie marks together, delivering a passionate presentation on sharks. After studying marine biology in college, the two were married by Princess Celestia, and were crowned the Duke and Duchess of Cambreeching. The last scene was of Sea Foam shoving Olivine aside while reading to her only child, Blueblood.
Blueblood dropped the key. Celestia had told him about his parents, and their pictures had been in the cabinet in the playroom, but he wasn't prepared to see them. He felt Celestia lay a leg over his withers. "They're proud of you," Celestia said.
"Spike?" Cadance asked.
Spike was frowning. "It's alright," he said. "There's nothing you can do to find my birth parents. Besides," he looked up at his family with a small smile, "I'm happy with you."
Cadance patted him on the head. "Good answer, little brother."
Celestia gestured behind the three. "If I could ask you to turn around..."
The three turned, and they saw themselves gathered together in the palace library. Cadance and Spike were talking over a comic book while Blueblood rolled his eyes with a smile and a large book. "This one is yours," Celestia said. "As you grow, you'll inevitably have to start your own lives away from each other, and you might wind up unable to see each other for years. However, you'll always be able to come here in the future and see your family together."
Cadance sighed. "Ignore him, Cadance," Blueblood said. "Until the lunkhead lieutenant regains his senses, you've still got a dragon and a duke alongside you."
"Actually, Blueblood," Celestia said, "that's only half-true. Thanks to recent events, I've got other plans in mind for you."
"What?" Spike spun around. "I tho-"
"No, she's right," Blueblood said, his heart sinking. "I don't deserve a title after the way I've acted."
Celestia frowned for a moment, but her smile returned. "Well, I wouldn't say that," she said. "I personally think that 'Prince Blueblood' has a nice ring to it."
It took a moment for Blueblood's brain to process what his aunt was saying. He spun around to face her. "Come again?"
Celestia smiled at him. "Blueblood, I didn't mean to imply what I did. Granted, you can be a pain in the flank to deal with even when you're not depressed, but you know how far too far is. Yes, when you were depressed, you did some rather unconscionable things, but you know what to watch out for now. You're one of the most intelligent and most hardworking ponies I've ever met. If there is anypony who deserves to be in power, you are them."
Blueblood stared at Celestia, then looked at Cadance and Spike, who were stunned but grinning broadly. "AH BAH UH!" he stopped them before they could come forward. "Ah ba duh ah sabba uh!" He turned back to Celestia. "Bu-bu-but I don't understand! I'm not an alicorn; I haven't created new magic!"
"You don't have to," Celestia told him. "A prince is merely someone who's willing to share their talents for the good of Equestria and who's worthy of being trusted with her. Besides, I've read your work. Every word you've written in her service is magic."
Blueblood stared into space for several moments. When Cadance or Spike tried to speak, he put his hoof up, still trying to understand the news. Eventually, though, he smiled. "Prince Blueblood," he said. "It's perfect."
Then he fainted.
<*>
The next two weeks were extremely busy. Arrangements were made for Blueblood to take his birth office as well as his new title. Hundreds of ponies, friends, family, journalists, plebians, and patricians were invited to the coronation. A day off from work and school was organized and a big celebration was planned. Finally, the day had arrived, the castle was full to bursting, and Blueblood was pacing back and forth in his room practicing his speech.
"While it is true that I am directly related to Princess Celestia, so true a- no." Blueblood stopped. "While it is true that I am directly related to Princess Celestia, so too are hundreds of millions of others. And just because Celestia- no, that's pandering." Blueblood put his hoof up to his face. "Ugh!"
"I guess it takes a few tries to write magic, your not-a-dukeness."
Blueblood looked up and saw Twilight smiling in the doorway. "Congratulations, by the way. Sorry I didn't say anything sooner, I've been run ragged with taking inventory." She walked inside. "Perhaps once you take power you can help hire a few more librarians?"
Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Later, maybe. Right now I need to work on my speech."
"Oh, how's it coming?"
Blueblood pointed her to his desk. "I've written the thanks to friends and family fairly well, I think, but I'm still worried that people are going to think that I was given the job due to nepotism.
Twilight looked over the notes. "Yeah, you are kind of the atypical prince. Still, I wouldn't worry about it. It's Princess Celestia. Everypony trusts her. Besides, have you seen how many people are out there? I think I even saw Doctor Friendly Advice out there."
"Well, yes, but I want to make sure."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Blueberry, you sound like me. Just say that Celestia trusts you and you should be fine." She read on. "Yeah, everything looks fine." She stopped at one passage. "I notice I'm not in here."
"Well, that's for family and friends." Blueblood walked over to the speech and read it over. "If you want, I'll just put in a bit about the filly who almost burned the castle gardens down."
Twilight stepped back. "Yeah, you... do that."
Blueblood let the quill in the inkwell go and turned to Twilight. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Twilight frowned. "It's nothing," she said. "A few of my coworkers made a joke about how I have no friends while I was working and it seems to have stuck. It doesn't help that, with Shiny deployed, Cadance so busy, and all of my efforts still not panning out, it's actually true."
"Ah," Blueblood said. "Well, you've missed a few names. Spike, Princess Celestia-"
"Blueblood, Spike's my assistant; we don't talk that much. And Princess Celestia isn't my friend, she's Princess Celestia!"
Blueblood stifled a giggle. "Oh, all the people who say that. Well, you still have me."
Twilight glared at him. "That's not helping, especially since we're not even almost family anymore."
Blueblood grinned at her. "You underestimate my aunt. Shining Armor will be back and married before you know it. Until then, we can always get together and practice hating each other for when we actually become family."
"But I don't want to hang out with someone I hate," Twilight told Blueblood. "I need friends, some people I actually like."
Blueblood's grin vanished as Twilight turned away from him. She sat down on his bed and put her hoof in her face, a deep frown on her face. Blueblood frowned as he tried to think of something to tell her. Then he happened on an idea. He toyed with it for a few moments, tried to convince himself that it was a bad idea, but regardless he found himself seated next to Twilight.
"What if I could promise you one evening a week where I didn't try to get on your nerves?" he asked her.
Twilight gave him an incredulous look. "I'd say you were lying."
"Twilight, you were a friend to me when I was depressed. So, to return the favor, I promise to try and be a friend to you."
Twilight looked into Blueblood's eyes, but his face didn't change. Finally, however, she relented. "I don't know if I can call a weekly pity-get-together a friendship," she said, "but I'll take it."
"Well, my bad habits won't vanish in a day, but give it a few weeks and I might surprise you." He turned back to the paper and started writing again. A few seconds later, though, he stopped. "For now, would you mind helping me work on this speech?"
Twilight got up and walked over to the piece of paper. "Sure, I'd love to." She scanned it over. "It still looks fine. Perhaps you could add a little more..."
...and I wish to thank my confidant Twilight Sparkle, a mare so friendly and so smart that I am certain she'll be an alicorn within a year, two at the most.
Twilight stopped and read the line again. Then she turned to Blueblood, who was smiling again. "I mean every word of that," Blueblood said, "and I guarantee you'll have at least one friend at your coronation."
Twilight looked at him for a moment before she smiled. "Thanks, Blueblood." She turned back to the desk. "Let's get back to your speech."
Blueblood rolled his eyes as he set a bookmark into a large tome on water-borne parasites. Cadance was coming down the aisle holding two scrolls. "How in the world can you keep working?" she asked him. "Aunt Luna's back from the moon!"
"How can you not? She and Aunt Celestia are still in Ponyville and nopony's doing anything. It's the perfect time to catch up on work." Blueblood sat back down. "So, what does Spike say?"
Cadance placed one of the scrolls on the table. "See for yourself. This one's addressed from Twilight to you."
Blueblood looked at her. "Really? Not to both of us?"
Cadance shook her head. "Weird, isn't it?" She smirked. "Maybe she wants to restart that relationship you had in college."
Blueblood snorted. "You wish." Blueblood pulled open the letter and began reading.
Dear Blueblood,
As you've probably guessed by now, I've had a very busy few days, what with Nightmare Moon and settling into Ponyville. Spike's fine and happy and so am I. You're probably wondering why I'm writing a whole letter for you, and I'll get to that. It centers around one simple fact: I finally have friends. I met them while saving Princess Luna. Cadance's letter has the photo.
Cadance passed the photo over and Blueblood looked it over with a smile. There were five of them: two pegasi, two Earth ponies, and a unicorn, all centered around Twilight. Spike wasn't in the picture, Blueblood guessed because he was taking it.
I'll start at the bottom and work counter-clockwise. First there's Fluttershy. She's really shy, but also really nice, and also quite good with animals. She was really excited to see Spike, so she's OK in my book.
'Just so long as she's treating him like a person instead of a zoo exhibit,' Blueblood thought.
Next is Applejack. She's warm and friendly, if a little apple-obsessed, and very dependable. She's a really good cook, too, and makes especially good fritters.
Blueblood stuck his tongue out. 'I'll pass.'
Right above her is almost her opposite, Rainbow Dash. She looks like she goofs off all day, but she isn't going to leave anypony hanging. She also has a really sharp wit. You might like her.
Blueblood turned to Cadance. "Did you tell her to find me a girlfriend?" he asked.
Cadance noticed the part of the letter in question. "Never crossed my mind."
Blueblood glared at Cadance, but then turned back to the letter.
Next is Pinkie Pie. She can be exhausting if you're not in the mood but she's a lot of fun to be around if you are. She actually organized a welcome party for me as soon as she saw me. I just wish she'd told me instead of running off. She says she's going to try something else. Just be warned in case you come to visit that you might be subject to an impromptu parade.
Finally, there's Rarity. She's really obsessed with fashion, and she's actually been to Canterlot several times, so we started out with a lot to talk about. She's also really generous and surprisingly tough. She actually cut off her tail just so a sea serpent could have a mustache. A warning, though, she's very interested in meeting a prince. I know you hate ponies interested in you for your title, but again, she's really nice so please be gentle with her, OK? No using her to block a flying cake?
'If her friends aren't getting her off of that fantasy, I make no promises, for them or for her.' He rolled his eyes. 'And besides, the cake-block was a reflex action and an accident. When am I ever going to need to worry about that again?'
The funny thing is, when I first met them, I hated them. Well, I hated being in Ponyville, but I had no idea that I could ever be friends with these ponies. But then the end of the world almost happened and I found out that I actually liked having them around. It was weird, but in a good way.
Anyways, then I started thinking about old relationships I had, and it occurred to me that I might've had more friends than I thought. Minuette and Lyra live here now and I think I'm going to introduce myself again, just to start over on the right hoof. But first, I wanted to write to you. I'm sorry about giving up last time. We've gotten a lot closer thanks to you getting better, and since Shiny and Cadance still aren't together thanks to Shiny's lengthening deployment, you think we're friends now?
Blueblood smiled. 'Oh, Twilight, if only Aunt Celie would let me tell you what she and I are planning.'
Anyways, the princesses left a few hours ago. With luck, they should be getting to you just as you get this letter. Now I'm going to let Spike write for a while. Take care.
Blueblood, it's Spike. I can't believe I've left home before you two did. I've made a few friends myself, and I think I'm in lo I'm settling in really well. I'm feeling a little homesick, though, so would you mind sending me my blanket? Thanks. Write me really soon and make sure someone remembers Twilight's medication. We don't need to start things off with another mailbox incident.
Love, Twilight Sparkle & Spike
Before Blueblood could draft a reply, Kibitz burst into the library.
"Your highnesses, they're here."
<*>
"What troubles thee, Luna?"
The two sisters were in the Cenotaph, at the start of the hall, looking at the various windows. While nothing had happened in Ponyville, Luna was still nothing like her usual exuberant self. While Celestia could understand that, it did not make her light-blue mane and muted personality any easier for her to bear. And since the two had arrived, her mood had grown even darker.
She took a breath. "Many things, sister," she said. "Firstly-"
"Please, don't call me sister," Celestia told her. She frowned. "Call me Celie. Just as thou didst when we were foals."
Luna drew a breath and looked at Celestia. A moment later, she looked away. "I cannot. I feel it improper given recent events."
Celestia turned to Luna. "I ask it of thee, how can it be improper?"
"Thou knowest the reason, sister. Thou, of all ponies, shouldst remember when-"
"I do, and I have already forgiven thee."
Celestia tried to drape a wing over her sister, but Luna shied away. "Sister," Luna asked, "how canst thou be so merciful to me? I have done nothing to have earnt it."
Celestia pulled her sister into a strong hug. "My mercy is mine to do with, and if I decide that thou art worthy of it, then I shall brook no disagreement from thee on the matter."
Luna laid her head on her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry, sister."
Celestia frowned. "I know, Lulu," she said. The door to the hallway opened and Celestia smiled. "They have arrived."
Luna turned and noticed Cadance and Blueblood. Celestia released her sister as the two came closer, and thankfully she moved forward on her own, although rather slowly. Finally, the three came together. Luna bowed. "Good evening."
The two returned the bow and the greeting. "So, you're Aunt Luna," Cadance said happily. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. Did you really try to ride a manticore when you were five?"
Luna nodded, a mite uncertainly. "That is true, Princess Cadenza."
"Please, call me Cadance."
"As you wish."
Luna turned to Blueblood. "'tis good to see thee home, Aunt Luna," he said.
Luna did not reply. Instead, she looked Blueblood over, from flank to nose. After a few moments, Blueblood cleared his throat. "Aunt Luna?" he asked.
Luna dragged her eyes back to his. "I ask thy pardon, nephew," she said. "How many generations have passed since my brother?"
"Fifty-two," Blueblood answered her.
Luna slowly fell backwards onto the floor. "God's hooks," she breathed. She looked up. "Celestia, thou said that one thousand years had passed since my absence, and I have seen many changes to Equestria. But I did not expect... I hoped to see..." Tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I am afraid to ask, Celie, but tell me there are still some others that were alive a thousand years ago!"
Celestia frowned. "I'm sorry, Luna. Some may return, but I cannot say when."
Luna's tears stopped. "Some... may return? Pray, is Divine Gift one of those-"
Celestia shook her head. "Divine Gift died two years after... everything. His daughter and grandson are also long dead."
Luna blankly stared into nothingness for a long moment. Then, once she recovered, she slumped forward and she began to sob, Celestia pulled her into an embrace. Cadance and Blueblood moved forward but Celestia waved the two away. "I'm here, Luna," she said. "I promise I'll always be here."
Luna tried to pull away, but Celestia maintained a firm grip on her. "Release me, Celestia!" she snapped. "I have forfeited the right to all I had, title and family!"
"Thou hast not," Celestia insisted. "If anypony hath merited such a punishment, it is I. My ignorance drove thee to this more than thy own actions. Furthermore, though thou createdst her, thou art Nightmare Moon no longer, and I swear by God and all His works and servants that I will never let thee become her again." She raised her head. "And neither will thy new family members."
"We certainly won't," Cadance said. "You're family, Aunt Luna, and family sticks together."
"Yes it does," Blueblood added.
Luna finally stopped struggling and put her face back into her sister's shoulder, where Celestia let it rest until the tears stopped. Finally, Luna calmed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked at her sister, who released her, and she stood to face Cadance and Blueblood. "I apologize," she said. "I do not wish to seem ungrateful to meet thee. My sister has said many fine things about you two. Cadance, thou remindst me greatly of myself, and I would enjoy speaking with thee about thy prank with the ice water after I have acclimated myself to this time."
Cadance smiled. "I'd be happy to, and I'd love to find out how you managed to get a hydra into Celestia's court."
Luna smiled in turn, although it was a small, polite smile. "I shall tell thee sometime." She turned to Blueblood. "Please forgive me for my question," she said. "I did not intend to imply that thou art a shame upon my favorite brother. Indeed, thou hast his loyalty, intelligence, and hidden kindness, and thou hast been an exempliary mark on his legacy. It was merely that you resemble him so little, which is understandable given how many generations have passed." She sighed. "But I would still like to have him here in person. Even with Celestia, I feel alone in this new time." She frowned. "I have much to adjust to. Even my voice is peculiar to the ponies of today."
Celestia moved forward, but Luna stopped her with a gesture. Celestia looked to Cadance and Blueblood, who said nothing. Then, however, Blueblood had a spark in his eye and opened his mouth.
"Actually, Aunt Luna," he said in a different accent, "thy accent art not so different as thou believest. 'tis most like a Tidewater accent, which is used by many of the wealthier members of society."
Luna looked over at Blueblood. "I know that it is a little thing," he continued, "but thou wouldst not be so peculiar if thou keepst thy accent."
Luna smiled at Blueblood, but it faded as she turned to Celestia. "Why hast thou not kept thy accent?" she asked.
"Most of the common ponies do not use it," Celestia said, "but thou wouldst not sound alien for keeping thine accent."
Luna tapped her hoof on the floor, deep in thought. "I think not," she finally said. "I am a friend to the common pony, too, and I shall conduct myself as such. However," she frowned. "I think not at the moment. I would like to keep something of... before. Even if it does make me peculiar. No, Celestia, thou shouldst not trouble thyself on my behalf."
"What of me?" Blueblood asked, "I might like this accent?"
Luna snorted. "Verily thou art of my brother's bloodline. He too had a willful temperment."
"Yea, that is one thing time hath not altered," Celestia said. "Blueblood is, and shall always be, willful."
Luna was smiling again as she turned to Blueblood and Cadance. "So," she said, "tell me of thine lives thus far."
