Blueblood was in a small break room in his mansion, adjoining a larger drawing room, sitting at a tea table with a drawing pad in front of him. After an emotionally draining day, he had returned to his home, promising Celestia that he would come to the castle at least once a week. Although his aunts wanted to know where he had been, the unicorn managed to dodge the questions by using a card that he knew would work with them, saying that it was a private matter and that he didn't want to talk about it.
Now he was trying to design a suit, one that would not only protect his identity, but strike terror into criminals, one of the most important lessons he had learned in the League. But so far, he hadn't made much headway, only adding a cape and hood to the suit, but he wasn't convinced it was a terrifying design. A small shriek made his ears twitch, but he ignored it, at least until those screeches got louder. Curious, Blueblood got up and followed the sound to its source.
The shrieks came from a corner of the room, where a bat was flying across the ceiling, apparently disoriented. The small animal perched on one of the shelves present, looking around and, focusing on him, screeched louder in a threatening tone. Blueblood watched, almost hypnotized, remembering the fear that those animals caused him, and although the training with the League of Shadows taught him to keep that fear under control, it was still there.
"Another bloody bat, sir" said Service's voice, and although he didn't catch Blueblood's attention, he did catch the animal's attention, which he looked in his direction and growled, he almost seemed offended. "There must be a nest in the garden, tomorrow I'll call somepony to get them out of there."
The screams increased in intensity and fury. Blueblood was not an expert in animals, but if there was something that he had managed to learn in his travels, it was that, although they were not as intelligent as ponies, kirins, griffins or other creatures, they could understand them and act accordingly. At least the ones that didn't live in the wild. And the animals of Equestria, almost the absolute majority could understand the ponies.
"It won't be necessary, Service" he said, drawing the bat's attention, which watched him with its small black eyes. "I'm going to take him to his house."
Although it had cost him a lot, after all, he did not have the same ability with animals as the well-known element of kindness, he managed to get the little bat to accompany him. Blueblood went out to the garden of his mansion, carrying some saddlebags and, on his back, the small animal, which was clinging to him so as not to fall. The unicorn walked quickly and safely towards the forest that surrounded his home, and remembering, he entered a specific place. He walked for quite some time, until at last, he came to a drop, a drop that he remembered falling down. Gliding carefully, he made his way down and, after a while of searching, found what he was looking for, a hole half hidden by brush.
Using his magic, he brushed away the brush and peered inside, nodding in satisfaction and opening his saddlebag, careful not to disturb his passenger. He produced a hook attached to a rope, then hooked it into one of the nearby trees, making sure he was secure. He tossed the rest of the rope through the hole and, making sure the little bat had a good grip, lowered himself slowly and carefully to the bottom, once again at the source of his fears. Blueblood looked around him, focusing on the small hole where once, a long time ago, dozens of bats came out to attack him.
Blueblood closed her eyes, calming down, before stepping into the narrow hole. It took him almost five minutes to make it through the small tunnel, coming out onto a steep section of rock, and carefully, he slid to the ground, then surveyed his surroundings. I was in what looked like a fairly large cave, and on the ceiling, in addition to several stalactites, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of bats.
"Well, we've found your family," he said, glancing back.
But his passenger hardly paid any attention to him, as he took off quickly towards his flock, and with his shrieks, he slowly woke them up. Some focused on Blueblood, and although they initially began to screech menacingly, the little bat caught his attention. The unicorn didn't know what he said, but all the animals seemed to stop screeching at him in threat and now they just watched him curiously. Deciding to leave it for now, he continued to look around the cave.
Running across the floor of the cave was a stream, and to his right, Blueblood could see, far in the distance, a source of light, distorted by what could be a waterfall, the sound of the water barely audible from there. To his left, however, the cave went on without apparent end. The unicorn began to walk in that direction, feeling that a few bats had been released and were following him, which allowed, after all, these were their domain.
The further he went, the darkness grew, forcing Blueblood to light his horn so he could see where he was going. After a while, he came to an even larger area of the cavern, and there were those animals on the ceilings as well. The light from his horn was enough to wake several of them up, beginning to shriek annoyed and threatening, but before they could do anything, those with him rushed in and spoke with those shrieks of theirs that the pony did not understand.
Leaving the bats alone, he focused on the place he had come to. The creek had a branch to the right, leading to a good-sized pond, and in front of him, there was a section of the higher cave, almost like a second story. On the ceiling, aside from the stalactites, he could see the foundations of his mansion, most likely the ones in the northwest section. Blueblood once again looked around the place, definitely, this would be a good base of operations.
"What is it you wanted to show me, Aunt Celestia?" Cadence asked curiously.
Both walked through the corridors of the royal castle, through the most private areas and closed to the general public. Princess Cadence had been called to Canterlot four days earlier, so she had to leave the Crystal Empire in the care of her husband Shining Armor and her daughter Flurry Heart with Sunburst. Princess Celestia smiled slightly, that same smile that the pink alicorn she had once seen, a smile that revealed nothing of the emotions that she was feeling.
"You'll see, Cadence, but I assure you that you will like it."
Cadence raised a curious eyebrow but remained silent. They walked for a long time until they reached the doors of Celestia's private tea room, who moved to the door and opened it, gesturing to her niece.
"Go ahead, Cadence."
The pink alicorn walked past her aunt, looking inside her. Sitting at the table were her Aunt Luna and a pony that caused her eye to go wide, freezing in her spot. The pony watched her closely, not moving or speaking for a few seconds before getting up.
"Hello Cadence" Blueblood said with a small smile. "I... I'm sorry I left like this and..."
Blueblood barely managed to finish, as Cadence almost ran to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, even tighter than the one Celestia gave him days ago. The unicorn took a while to return the gesture, feeling how his cousin cried uncontrollably on his shoulder.
"I'm so-sorry! I... I sho-shouldn't ha-have le-left you the-there...! Ple-please... for-forgive me...!" Cadence said between sobs.
Blueblood blinked a little in surprise, still stroking his cousin's back. He hadn't expected that reaction from her.
"Hey, you have nothing to apologize for" Blueblood said as he separated her cousin a little from her to look into her eyes, although Cadence didn't dare to do it. "It was me who decided to leave, you had nothing to do with it... If there is somepony who should apologize, it is me, not you."
Cadence sobbed some more before daring to look up, seeing Blueblood's calm smile. Letting a smile of her own appear on her face, she hugged her lost cousin once more, this time calmer.
"Welcome back, Blue."
"Glad to be back."
Both cousins remained embracing for a while, watched by their aunts, who looked at each other and smiled happily.
Blueblood rode his personal carriage through the woods that led to his mansion, exiting onto a free, green path, past the large metal gate that marked the property's boundaries. He had come from Blood Tower, headquarters of Blood Enterprises, where he had been trying to regain control of the company of his family for the past few days, and it had been exhausting, more because of the council members than anything else. It had been almost a month since he had returned to Canterlot, and the news of him spread through the city like wildfire, in the newspapers they did not speak of anything other than the return of the prodigal son.
The carriage stopped in front of the gates of his mansion, so Blueblood got out, indicating to the earth ponies that had pulled the carriage that they were free to enter and rest after putting it away. The unicorn entered and walked quickly, heading to the northwest section, specifically, to the large library that was there. He stopped in front of a painting depicting the famous Clover the Clever, next to a bookcase.
"Opens."
At that word, the stallion's eyes lit up and two beams of blue light shot out and engulfed Blueblood, a detection spell placed by Service, who had learned that spell from his days in the royal guard. After a while, they went out, with a click coming from the bookshelf, which swung inward. The unicorn pushed the bookcase and entered a space built with stone and wooden pillars, and in the background, a somewhat primitive elevator, more so than what is in the tallest buildings in Equestria, made of wood and using rope pulleys.
The unicorn approached and activated a lever, beginning to descend rapidly. Halfway up, another elevator passed him, only this one was going up. Soon he reached the base, made of stone worked by hoof ponies and not the natural one from the cave. Blueblood walked out of the elevator through the tunnel, which looked more like a warehouse, to the curve itself. All this he had discovered when he explored the cavern better, and according to Service, all this would be built by his great-grandfather as a refuge in case of a griffin attack, at the time of the First Griffin War.
In the cave, quite a few changes had been made, although most were only in the upper area. First, they added lights to the walls to illuminate everything, and steel plates and a railing were placed on the floor, all made by Service and Blueblood alone. There were several boxes on the floor, and in the center, there was a table full of various plans and files, with his butler there.
"Hey Service, how's it going?" Blueblood said as he approached.
"Fine, fine, though the bats still squawk at me from time to time," Service replied, glancing at the animals on the ceiling. "Anyway, the screens you ordered for his computer have arrived, sir, although I'm not sure how to mount them."
"Don't worry about it, Service" Blueblood said with a small smile. "Nopony is sure how to set them up, at the moment they are only for large companies. I'll take care of it, okay?"
"Agree."
Blueblood stood next to Service, looking at the plans for the computer they planned to build.
"Did you find what I asked for?"
"Yes, I found what you was looking for" Service said as he grabbed one of the files. "Here it is, I borrowed it from Blood Enterprises, I doubt they'll miss it."
Blueblood grabbed the file and opened it revealing the profile of an earth pony.
"It's called Time Hooves, or Dr. Hooves, as he sometimes prefers."
"Do him have a doctorate?" Blueblood asked as he read.
"In mechanical engineering, he was the first of his class. He is the one to develop your ideas, in fact I took the liberty of including two of his most outstanding inventions."
Blueblood nodded, turning Time's profile and looking at what Service had placed, two different shots. On one, what appeared to be battle armor was drawn, and the other was a model of a vehicle powered by a magic engine, similar to those used in some airships and various power plants. However, there was something that caught the attention of the unicorn.
"It says here it belongs to Blood Enterprises."
"That's right, legally at least. Mr. Hooves worked at Blood Enterprises even before you went into self-exile, following in his father's hoovessteps."
"Who is his father?" Blueblood asked curiously.
"Clock Hooves."
Blueblood frowned and looked at Service curiously.
"I know that name."
"Of course, he was best friends with his father."
Blueblood remembered that pony, he always brought her some gift when he was a foal. But after the death of his parents, he distanced himself from everypony, including Clock Hooves.
"Time still working at Blood Enterprises?"
"No, he was fired months before you left Canterlot. The company took possession of his creations, although at least he was able to publish the motor vehicle model in a scientific journal."
"Have they started any of this?" Blueblood asked, eliciting a small chuckle from Service.
"The council felt there was no point in investing in armor that no royal guard was going to wear or a sci-fi car. They didn't even produce a prototype, in fact I doubt they even remember these blueprints."
Blueblood nodded, looking again at Time Hooves's profile.
"Do you know where he lives?"
"He left Canterlot shortly after he was fired. If I remember correctly, he's been living in Ponyville ever since, but I don't know where his house is specifically."
Blueblood closed the file and walked away with it, heading for the elevator.
"Where are you going, sir?"
"I'm going to visit somepony" Blueblood replied over his shoulder.
The train was arriving in Ponyville, and Blueblood was able to observe the changes that the small town had undergone. One of the most obvious was the famous Castle of Friendship, which could be seen in the distance, glistening in the sunlight, and several meters away from it, the newly opened School of Friendship, which had only been open for a few weeks. The other more obvious was that the city was expanding more and more, in part due to the rise of Celestia's former student to the status of Princess of Friendship, its size was infinitely larger than it was in its day, with many buildings more under construction, which would house offices, some shopping centers, even a new school was beginning to be built capable of supplying the increasing number of students.
Despite everything, the downtown area of Ponyville remained exactly the same at the request of the citizens, as a tribute to its origins, which is why many were already calling it the 'old neighborhood'. Also, nearby, a section of cloud houses had been built in the heavens, fixed in place with powerful spells. The train arrived at the station, which was now much larger than before, accommodating several different trains, which not only went to other cities in Equestria, but also new lines were opened that would go to specific areas of the city. As the steam-powered vehicle came to a stop, Blueblood rose from his seat in the VIP car, securing the saddlebags containing the file, and climbed out, walking calmly outside.
Leaving the station, he looked around for a few moments, trying to get his bearings, and began to walk in the direction of the castle. After a few minutes, he reached the Ponyville market, where Blueblood stopped to look, seeing that it was full of ponies coming and going in all directions, the vendors in their stalls shouting their wares, trying to get the attention of would-be customers. This was another one of the areas of the city that, judging by what he could see, remained the same as always. The unicorn waded into the crowd, occasionally stopping somepony to ask about Time Hooves's place of residence, to no avail.
As he walked, he saw, in the distance, the figure of a mare that he knew, and that caused him to recall a certain event from five years ago. Blueblood stopped, frowning, thinking to himself. It was true that he had something to do, but… he had put off those apologies too long, and he doubted that he would ever see the mare again. With a resigned sigh, he walked in her direction, and as he got closer, he confirmed that she was the same mare. The well-known element of generosity stood in front of a flower stall, talking animatedly to the earth pony mare that ran the stall.
"The roses were a hit, dear" Rarity said with a happy tone. "My students really appreciated it, so if you don't mind, I'd like to buy you about twenty more."
"Of course, Rarity" said the mare with a smile as he began to place the flowers. "That would be sixteen bits."
"I'll pay."
Rarity blinked in confusion before turning around, and as she did, her brow furrowed and her smile disappeared completely.
"Prince Blueblood…" she muttered, still remembering that fateful Grand Galloping Gala.
"Miss Belle," Blueblood said as he bowed respectfully, earning a raised eyebrow from Rarity. "Take this as an apology for my behavior in the past, and if you're willing to listen, I'd like to discuss it with you."
Blueblood lit his horn and pulled his bag of bits out of his saddlebag, pulling out the amount of coins needed and setting them on the counter. The mare, who had already placed the flowers in a bouquet, shifted her gaze from the stallion to Rarity, who was silent for a while before speaking.
"Okay" she said, then focusing on the mare. "Thanks for the flowers, Rose."
The mare nodded a little relieved that there was no fight in front of her stand. Blueblood watched as Rarity grabbed the bouquet with her magic, starting to follow her behind the market.
"Well, you can talk, if you want" said the mare, with a slightly hostile tone.
"Look, Miss Belle, I wanted to apologize for my behavior so many years ago, I never would have done that if it weren't for certain... misunderstandings."
"What kind of misunderstandings?" Rarity asked curiously, although she was still frowning.
Blueblood was silent for a while, even though he had come to accept that Horn Chill had repented and it had been necessary to free him to face Falcone, he was still furious about it.
"I don't know if you found out what happened the next day..."
Rarity frowned a moment before her understanding came to her face, and when she spoke, she did so in a softer tone.
"Yes, I read it in the newspapers."
"Well, while it's still unjustified, my behavior towards you has something to do with it."
"What do you mean?"
"When I saw you at the Gala, I confused you with another mare, specifically, with the fillyfriend of my parents' murderer."
Rarity blinked and stopped in a bit of surprise, looking at Blueblood, who had looked away from her.
"So, I wanted to take a little revenge on my part and decided to treat you in the worst way I could think of. Now I regret it, even if I was really his fillyfriend, I didn't deserve to be treated like this. I hope that one day you can forgive me. "
With those words, Blueblood waved goodbye to Rarity and started to walk away from her, only for the mare to walk quickly and stop in front of him.
"Of course I can forgive you, dear" she said with a calm and, to the surprise of both Blueblood and Rarity, a friendly smile. "In your place, I might have done the same."
Blueblood smiled, feeling a weight lift from his heart. At least there was something in his past that he was able to make up for.
"I'm happy to hear that, Miss Belle."
"Please call me Rarity" said the mare with a smile. "Would you like to join me for a cup of tea at my house? So we can have a little chat, I'd be happy to call you my friend."
"I'm sorry to have to decline the offer, but I'm here for work. Maybe another day."
Rarity nodded, her cheerful and kind demeanor coming back to her.
"Of course, I'll be here if you need me."
Blueblood nodded, ready to leave, but before doing so, he turned to look at Rarity.
"Actually, maybe there's something you can help me with, don't you happen to know where an earth pony named Time Hooves lives?"