//------------------------------// // Dash of Blood // Story: Dash of blood // by Snowy Flanks //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash stepped off the train and looked around at the bustling Trotington Station. To the left of her were overpriced tea stands and hors d'oeuvre shops, to the right jewellery so garish it hurt to stare at and all around were signs that screamed of hubris and egotism. She hated going to Canterlot but she had made a promise to meet some very important ponies there so it was worth choking down her bile and walking through the streets. Contrary to what someponies might believe Rainbow Dash had not always lived in Cloudsdale before moving to Ponyville. Her parents had met in Canterlot and she had spent time there when she was a kid. Now both had retired and lived in Hockslow. Stretching hers wings and taking to the sky Rainbow Dash could not help wonder why her parents would want to retire to such a stuffy place as Canterlot but it made them happy so she was willing to tolerate the occasional visit to their home. She looked down at the Ponies as they walked around with their muzzles pointed slightly upwards as if looking where they were going was undignified for them. She sighed and set her attention on getting to her parent's home as quickly as possible. In a short time, she was landing in her family’s garden and walking through the front door. After taking a candy from a dish near the door, Rainbow Dash walked into the living room to see her parents reading in their reading chairs. “Hay.” said Rainbow Dash as she sat on the couch. Neither of her parents reacted at all. “Hello?” asked Rainbow Dash louder. Again her parents did not react. Rainbow Dash got up and walked over to her father “Hey can't you hear me?” asked Rainbow Dash loudly knocking the book down to reveal a faceless mannequin. Rainbow Dash was confused for a moment before something jumped on her from behind knocked her to the ground. Before she knew what was happening some ponies were tickling her and blowing raspberries on her wings. Rainbow Dash tried to hold in her laughter but it was pointless, within seconds, she was laughing and begging, crying out for it to stop. “HAHAHAHAHA.” said both of Rainbow Dash's parents as they let her back up “We totally got you, these life size dolls were totally worth the effort.” Rainbow Dash huffed but nodded “Yeah I have to admit that was a good one. Rainbow Dash got back on the couch while her parents pushed the dolls off their chairs and turned to look at their daughter. “Who how are you doing these days my little Firefly?” asked Rainbow Blaze. Rainbow Dash turned away “Come on dad, stop calling me that.” Blaze smiled “It doesn't matter how much you grow up you will always be our little Firefly.” Rainbow Dash huffed “Well things are going pretty well, me and my friends just finished dealing with a swarm of fun loving ponies that were wreaking everything in town.” Graceful Falls sighed “Dear are you sure you want to live there? It seems like you are facing a new monster every week.” “It's alright mom, Ponyville is where all my friends are, I have a great job, and all that rebuilding lets us redesign the town all the time.” “If you are sure.” said Graceful. “Well how is Canterlot life then? Have you got tired of it yet?” asked Rainbow Dash. Blaze sighed “I know you think everyone here is stuck up Dashie but it’s nice to live in the quiet centre, no big disasters since that royal wedding fiasco; plus we can go see a show whenever we want.” “But everypony here is so stuck up.” complained Rainbow Dash. Blaze nodded “Many of them are, but occasionally you met a pony who is not, and then the city is great.” The rest of the visit progressed quickly Rainbow Dash helped her dad with his woodwork projects and reluctantly posed for a painting for her mother. By the time she got out of the house it was late in the afternoon and she was hungry so she trotted over to the market in order to find something to eat. The first stand had some spiky green thing that smelled like it had been fished out of an outhouse, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and walked past it, the next stand have apple peelings soaking in vinegar, the third had cracker square smeared with a black paste, finally at the fourth stand she found something that looked edible, a nice strawberry tart, unfortunately it was 65 bits so she had to pass on it. It took another eight stands but she finally found somepony selling normal food at a regular price; and there was only a short line, Dash stood in line and waited but it was not moving she peaked over and saw that the customer at the front was arguing with the baker. Rainbow couldn't quite remember where, but she was sure she had seen him before. “My royal gums have touched common festival fare!” shouted the white unicorn. Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof to her forehead, now she remember this was the guy who Rarity met at the Royal Gala, Prince Bluebug. Dash wondered why he of all ponies had to be at the stand blocking her from the delicious food. “I demand you give be a full refund and an apology shop keep!” Shouted the white Stallion in rage “Beg your pardon Prince, but you have not paid, you just took one of my turnovers and ate it.” “I give you the honour of feeding the royal person and you provide me with this unsatisfactory garbage? I refuse to waste my time with this inferior stand.” shouted the stallion as he walked off. A bespectacled lavender unicorn turned to the baker “Sorry about that, he gets huffy when he is hungry.” apologized the unicorn before dropping some bits on the counter and following the still irate prince. Rainbow Dash had seen enough, it was bad enough what he did to Rarity, but now he was yelling at innocent street vendors? He had gone too far. Dash got out of line and ran after the two ponies, the crowds were thick but she eventually caught up with them in one of Canterlot's gardens. The punk stallion was sitting on one of the benches, throwing bread crumbs into a pond with a cute dragon statue and ducks in it. “HEY WHAT THE HAY IS WRONG WITH YOU?” shouted Rainbow Dash as she marched over to him “You made that vendor cry and worse, you made me miss lunch!” The white stallion turned to Dash and smiled “Well, hello. I am Prince Blueblood.” “I know who you are, you made my friend cry at the Grand Galloping Gala.” replied Rainbow Dash as she stared down at him. “Your a jerk!” Blueblood turned away with a huff “Why should I care what some commoner thinks?” “Well actually since my dad is a Bart, I qualify as a Dame but that is not important.” said Rainbow Dash with a snort “Just because you are noble doesn't mean you are better than anypony else.” Blueblood turned to Dash “What do you mean by that?” Rainbow Dash shrugged “What makes the nobles so great? Most of them inherited their titles and spend all their time trying to play for position with the princess.” Blueblood narrowed his eyes “I could have your family stripped off their titles.” Dash shrugged “So what? They don’t really care about their titles and I would still be weather manager and lead of Ponyville search and rescue. However without your title what would you have?” asked Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow. “I am very important!” shouted Blueblood with a stomp. “Name one thing you have done this week, which was not a party.” said Rainbow Dash flatly. Blueblood thought for a moment “Be quiet.” said Blueblood with a huff “I do a lot of important things. Princess Celestia has me fill in for her during tours, meeting with ambassadors, attending openings, touring Equestria. The people adore me.” Rainbow Dash sighed “Do you really think that Blueblood?” “Of course I do, every time I visit a city all of the citizens bow and clap, the mayors gives gifts.” said Blueblood with a firm nod. “That is because you represent not only Equestria but Princess Celestia; have you ever tried going to a town without all the pomp and flair, not as Prince Blueblood but as a normal common pony?” asked Rainbow Dash. Blueblood shook his head “Why would that make a difference?” Rainbow Dash smirked “To see how the people talk about you when you are not around. When the villagers do not have the warning to get everything prepared for your arrival. You will see them as they really are and not how they want to be seen. “What makes you think the two are different?” asked Blueblood. “Well I know for a fact that some of my colleagues in Ponyville do not think highly of you, my dear friend being one of the most vocal.” “What exactly are you suggesting Miss.” asked Blueblood with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow Dash smirked “You and me go to Ponyville, right now, no warning, no entourage. You wear a disguise and we shall see what the ponies talk about. I guarantee you the crown is the last thing on their minds.” “Hmm.” said Blueblood “I don't think so.” Rainbow Dash shrugged again “Suit yourself it doesn't matter to me if you find out the truth.” as she turned and walked away. Rainbow Dash was almost out of the park when Blueblood ran up to her “All right then fine,l I will come with you but when you are proven wrong you have to become by servant for a week.” “Alright then let’s go all ready, we can't miss the train.” said Rainbow Dash as she walked. Blueblood waved his hoof “I am the prince they will hold the train for me.” Dash put her hoof to her head “Not any more you're not, you need a new name and a new look, and ditch the clothes, Ponyvilliers don’t wear them; that is if you can do that, Princy.” Blueblood stared at the pegasus before his horn glowed. The clothes he was wearing disappeared and his white coat turned a bluish grey followed by his mane turning brown, finally his eyes turned cornflower blue “You can call me Charlie.” came a voice slightly deeper than before. “Wow how did you do that?” asked Rainbow Dash in wonder. “I have had the best teachers money and position can obtain personally teach me.” said Blueblood with a smirk “A simple glamour is no problem.” “Whatever, now we have to rush to catch the train, and remember don't act arrogant.” Not wanting to pick him up, Rainbow Dash ran ahead of Blueblood, struggling to keep up, he managed to get through the ticket counter and onto the train just as it was pulling away.The conductor was about to throw them off for not having a ticket when Rainbow Dash pushed two into his hoof and dragged Blueblood into one of the cabins they had just settled down to catch a breather when a light olive unicorn with a pink sweater walked into their room. Before they could even react a guard forced them out of the cabin and locked the door behind them. Blueblood was about to storm in when Dash grabbed his tail “Don't bother you're a commoner now, nobles escort us from private cabins all the time, looks like we will have to sit in the passenger car. Blueblood looked aghast but grimaced and followed Rainbow into the main passenger car. There were several ponies pressed up against each other as they walked in, all the seats had been taken so both were forced to stand in the aisle and hold on to the rope. “Why is this so crowded.” asked Blueblood looking around. Rainbow Dash shrugged “The ponies who run the trains cut a few passenger cars in order to fit in more private ones. Which we commoners cannot afford, so we have to make do with what we have. Blueblood did not enjoy his trip to Ponyville but the train made good time and arrived with no issues. When both of them got off the train, Rainbow Dash led Blueblood off the platform and into the streets. “Well you got me here now where do you want to lead me, Madame?” asked Blueblood “Just call me Dash and I was thinking we just wander around town that way we get to see everything naturally.” replied Rainbow Dash. Blueblood rolled his eyes followed Rainbow Dash through town. They didn’t get more than a few paces into the town before Blueblood was taken to the ground by a pink blur. Rainbow Dash snickered as Blueblood tried to get up. “Wah-, what is happen, whose attacking me?” sputtered out Blueblood as he struggled. “Hello you, Hello you Thank you for entering the town. Hello you, Hello you I’m here to ensure you just can't ever frown. There’s oh so much here to do Hooray! It’s so much fun right now, so stay Hello you this is Ponyville!” sang a puffy pink pony as she danced around the square. “What was that?” shouted Blueblood turning to Rainbow Dash. “That’s Pinkie she is saying hello.” as Pinkie passed by banging a drum. “What does she want from me?” asked Blueblood suspiciously. “She just wants you to have a fun time here, she does it to everypony; with original song and dance.” answered Rainbow Dash as Pinkie leapt between them. “Hi I’m Pinkie Pie, but you can call me Pinkie Pie, I saw you walking around with my best friend Rainbow Dash and I thought to myself Pinkie you have never seen that before, Rainbow Dash flies everywhere so whoever she is with must be an important friend to her, then I saw that I didn't know who your where and that means you must be new in town because I know everypony who is in town and everynotapony who is in town as well so since I didn't know you it must mean that you are new in town, so I had to come over here and sing the welcome song and introduce myself to you so that I would know what your name is and we can be new instant best friends then I could give you a tour of Ponyville and introduce you to all of my other best friends and get to know you so that I could plan your surprise welcome to Ponyville party for you at Sugarcube Corner so that you could have fun with all of your new friends so now that the random welcome song has been sung, what is your name?” Blueblood eyes widened “That was in one breath, how did she do that?” “That’s just Pinkie Pie, it’s easier not to question her.” laughed Rainbow Dash. Blueblood turned to Pinkie “You can call me Charlie.” Pinkie Pie grasped Blueblood’s hoof “Hi Charlie nice to meet you, how do you know Dashie?” Blueblood smiled a little and rubbed his hoof “We met on the train and she invited me on a tour of the town.” Pinkie Pie gasp jumped into the air and ran deeper into the town without touching the ground. Rainbow Dash giggled, “Well you’re going to be having a party soon Charlie, there is nothing you can do to stop it or avoid it you just have to enjoy it when it comes. “She doesn’t even know me why would she throw me a party?” asked Blueblood in confusion. “She does it because she loves to make ponies happy.” answered Rainbow Dash. “That’s all?” asked Blueblood. Rainbow Dash nodded “By the way I am impressed you were able to handle her so easily, most newcomers take a while.” Blueblood smirked “As an ambassador I have to be able to adapt to conversations quickly and hide my emotions or bad things might happen, Not all cultures are like Equestria.” The two walked further into the town with Blueblood following. As the two ponies walked through the marketplace Blueblood stopped to look at what they were selling. “Is that raw fruit? and a quills and sofa store? Not much variety for your town.” complained Blueblood. “In Canterlot you can find anything.” Rainbow Dash paused and took a deep breather before turning to Blueblood with a sharp look in her eye “There is a reason that there is only one bakery in this town Blueblood. Do you know where the flour in Equestria comes from?” Blueblood tapped his muzzle for a moment “Not of the top of my head, why does it matter? I’m sure one of the farms here grows plenty of it.” “Ponyville doesn’t have much wheat farming in its limits.” sighed Rainbow Dash. “Why not? The farmers in Canterlot grow plenty of it, it’s really easy to grow.” asked Blueblood. Rainbow Dash almost screamed but managed to keep her voice controlled “The reason Ponyville does grow a lot of wheat is because it can’t. Canterlot farms have exclusive rights to grow and sale wheat, if anypony else tries to farm it for sale, they are fined heavily, same thing with sugar beet. It makes is difficult to grow the wheat to make your bread.” Blueblood tilted his head to the right “Then let them make brioche.” This time Rainbow Dash did scream “THEY CAN’T MAKE THAT EITHER! No wheat means no flour so that makes pastries almost impossible to make, and no sugar makes everything bland. The cakes are the only sellers in Ponyville who can sell large volume of pastry goods. “Well they how do these Cakes manage to do it.” asked Blueblood with a slight whimper. “From what Pinkie Pie told me they are both independently wealthy and have a very old contract that avoids the newest tariffs that make importing sellable wheat and sugar so expensive. It allow them to sell their goods cheaply enough to let everypony have it whenever they want.” Blueblood was aghast “Tariffs?” “Yah it’s been a slow thing but every couple years it becomes a little more expensive to import stuff from Canterlot.” Blueblood face turned angry “Those tariffs were meant for luxury goods in order to encourage local development, not for the basic necessities. When I get back to Canterlot I will be having a talk with the minister of trade, he has not been doing his job.” Rainbow Dash faced tuned surprised “What?” Blueblood turned “Ms. Dash this is exactly the kind of thing I am supposed to be looking out for, private monopolies are not supposed to exist in Equestria, the tariffs should be reworked or the law about farming repealed, I am sure the princess will agree with me. “Why can’t the Princess just order them too, she has an army.” asked Rainbow Dash. Blueblood sighed, “The princess is not a tyrant and technically the nobles haven’t broken the law so she can’t have them arrested, but I have the authority and the clout to make some changes, I might not be able to get rid of both problems but I should be able to make things a little better.” Rainbow Dash was surprised at this side of Blueblood but nodded “Best of luck with that, ponies have been trying for years but nothing big has happened.” As the two ponies started walking, again Rainbow Dash turned to Blueblood “So how come you were so mean to Rarity during the Gala.” Blueblood let out a long sigh “Rainbow Dash I want you to try to see things my way for a moment. I am a high-ranking noble who is connected to Princess Celestia, I am also a bachelor. Ever since I was a teenager, single mares have been after me. From noble ladies seeking to raise their status, to town milkmaids seeking an entrance into the good life. Every party I go to at least one mare there is convinced that it will be love at first sight. It gets so tiring so I try to show them that I am not the Prince charming they are looking for.” “That doesn’t mean you have to be mean to them.” said Rainbow Dash stubbornly. “You don’t know what it is like, Rainbow Dash, everywhere you go, you are accosted by mares that don’t even care about who you are, using every trick in the book in order to capture me. From dropping names and saying how they are perfect match for you without telling them anything about themselves, to suggesting all sorts of things they will do, even mentioning they have friends who will do it with them. The things that have been said to me are almost enough to make me want to change teams just to get some relief. No mare has ever even asked me about myself, they just assume I am what they imagine.” said Blueblood tiredly “The only way to deal with it is to behead them quickly so that the pain of losing me is quicker than if I had strung them along.” “You could just politely say no.” said Rainbow Dash. “If I did that they would still harbor hope that thing could change, it is be a jerk to them or a ruthless public humiliation, I chose the former.” They stopped walking through town and decided to stop and sit in Ponyville Park, There were several ponies walking through the park, the duo took the time to sit down at one of the benches and pony watch for a while. “So what kind of mare are you looking for then?” asked Dash turned to Blueblood. Blueblood paused for a moment “It’s been so long I haven’t given it much thought. I would need a mare that is more than a mare, somepony who has achieved something in their life, she would also have to be of noble stock, otherwise my family would not approve. She would also have to have a good temper on her, controlled enough to not hit me for the slightest wrong but fiery enough so that she will stand up to me if I am being foolish. She would need to be able to function without me so I could still do my job, She would have to be without any imperfections physically or mentally, I need a mare who knows she is equal to me rather than one who wishes to dominate or be dominated.” While they were talking a small blue ball flew through the air and bounced off Blueblood’s head before landing in front of him. Blueblood turned to see a small foal standing a little way from him. “Hey mister I’m sorry my ball hit you.” said the foal. Blueblood just huffed and kicked the ball back to the foal came, the foal; laughed and bounced the ball back to his friends. “In Canterlot you would never see that.” said Blueblood. “What somepony playing with a ball in the park or a foal laughing? asked Rainbow Dash. Blueblood turned to her “Foals are taught right away the proper way to act, they know decorum and networking.” “But when do they ever just have fun.” “We are all too busy to just have fun.” “Foal should not be made to work right from the start they need time to have fun and just be foals, otherwise they will not know how to interact with different kinds of ponies.” said Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash led Blueblood around the rest of the park, showing him ponies interacting with ever other just to make more even friends and a tighter community then it was out of the park and back to the center of town. The two walked closer to each other then they had before and both were silent as they walked. Blueblood thought about how the ponies he was meeting now were nothing like what he was used to. None of them seemed to be trying to get something from another, they all seemed to want to help each other because it as for the best of everypony. He had expected a common town like Ponyville to be dreary and dusty, but this town a simple charm to it that put him at ease. There was nothing special about the town but there was nothing inferior about it either, it just seemed to be content with showing things as they were. No pony turned up their nose and there was no talking down to each other. Rainbow Dash was also lost in thought, Blueblood was not as bad as she expected. Not only had he come here and seemed to be willing to listen to what she had to say but he seemed to be learned while he walked he was acting the role she had told him to play better than she had expected, not once had he ordered a pony around or told them what to do. The talk she had with him show a depth she was not prepared for, deep down he was like the rest. A pony just trying to make his way in the world while survive the torrent around him. When the two entered into Sugar Cube Corner and explosion went off that almost blew them both out of the doors. “SURPRISE!” shouted the voices of several ponies that were in the store. When the two recovered they saw Pinkie standing right in front of them. “Were you surprised? Were you surprised? I hope you were surprised!” said Pinkie Pie as she jumped up and down. Blueblood shook his head a little “Yes Ms. Pie I was definitely surprised about this.” “YAY.” said Pinkie before jumping back into the group of ponies. Not even trying to guess how the mare was able to do that, Blueblood walked slowly into the ponies. This would be the first time he had ever been to a party that did not have a schedule posted or a cause behind it. Usually he would never come close to a party like this for fear of attracting the wrong attention, but since nopony seemed to be focused on him too much he decided to risk it. He looked to his left and saw Dash was talking to one of the other ponies in the room so he wandered over the snack table and looked for something to eat. There was nothing the suited his palate so he was at a lost at what to do. “Do ya needing something mistah?” came a voice from behind him. Blueblood turned around to see a small yellow earth filly with a bow staring up at him. “Umm.” said Blueblood as he was caught off guard. The small foal looked up at him with deep orange eyes “We have a lot of food for yah, Aren't you gonna eat any of it?” Blueblood tried to look away but the eyes just followed him everywhere, he tried to resist but the eyes pierced into his soul. Not being able to take his gaze away from the eyes of the foal he reached behind himself picked up the first thing he could reach and put it in his mouth, willing to do anything to stop the guilt those eyes were giving him. His mouth was filled with an rich applely favor, not as sweet as he was used to from Canterlot, but a fruity goodness that caused him to swallow under the eyes of the foal. It was not as bad as he expected now that he had be forced to give it a chance. “It’s better than I expected.” answered Blueblood looking at the tiny foal. “Thanks mister me and mah sister made them, name is Applebloom.” said the foal extended her dusty hoof. If this had happened in earlier in the day, Blueblood never would have dreamed of shaking the hoof of the foal, but things had changed since then. His eyes had been opened and a new world was revealed to him. these common ponies were just as hard workers as any of the nobles he met, they simply had a different upbringing, and it made them different not inferior. Blueblood reached out and shook Applebloom’s hoof with a genuine smile. “GET YOU STINKING HOOVES OFF HER YOU DIRTY FIEND!” Blueblood turned around and his face shifted into one of horror, there standing right in front of him was an angry white unicorn with a purple mane, that same mare he had met at the Grand Galloping Gala. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU LOUT?” shouted Rarity pushing her face right into Blueblood’s. “Madam, Are sure you don’t have me confused with someone else?” said Blueblood trying to avoid an incident. “What’s the matter Rares?” asked Rainbow Dash as she landed next to the irate mare. “DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?” asked Rarity. “Yah, this is Charlie, I met him in Canterlot.” answered Rainbow Dash with a note of nervousness. “No Rainbow, he name is not Charlie, this is that jerk from that Grand Galloping Gala, Prince Blueblood!” said Rarity as she tried to stare Blueblood down. Blueblood and Rainbow Dash began to sweat as ponies gathered around the commotion. “Whhaat aare you talking abbout Rarity, he he doesn’t look anything like Prince Blueblood.” “I am a fashionista and my magic comes from the illusion caste, I can tell a glamour when I see one, and behind it, one Prince Blueblood. You might as well dismiss it, it’s not going to fool anypony anymore.” sneered Rarity. Blueblood looked around and saw that a lot of ponies were staring and muttering to each other, with long sigh he dropped the spell and allowed his true appearance to show itself. “I KNEW IT!” shouted Rarity while pointing accursedly “What are you doing here?” “Well I just wanted to visit so I thought....” said Blueblood. The crowd was getting rowdy as ponies began to push to see what was going on. “You thought you would find some other way to lord yourself over us?” shouted Rarity. Carrot Top called out from the crowd “Are you here to cut our farm lands?” “Or maybe implement another one of those surprise taxes?” said another voice. “Maybe he wants to make somepony carry him back to Canterlot.” came another voice. “He better not be here for Primae noctis.” shouted an angry voice. Blueblood began to stammer “Well you see I just wanted to see what it was really like to live in a small town so I came for a visit.” “A likely story you cur!” said Rarity. Rainbow Dash pushed herself in front of Rarity “He’s not lying Rares, I was the one who suggested it to him and I am the one who has been giving him a tour of the town.” “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” asked Rarity grabbing Rainbow Dash’s head and staring into her eyes. Rainbow Dash stared right back at her “Because everypony deserves a second chance. Princess Luna was given one and now she is the guardian of dreams and children. The Cutie Mark Crusaders got one when they revealed all of our secrets, Spike got one when he rampaged through the town. We even all forgave you that time you broke into our house to redecorate with fabulosity. Are you saying that because he hurt you he can never be forgiven or another chance? Rhat your pain is more important the everypony else’s? Rarity’s face shifted from anger, to shock, to shame and finally ended on indignation. “That’s not what I said nor, did I mean it like that; he wasn’t being controlled nor, was it an accident. He chose to act the way he did.” “And now he is choosing to learn from his mistakes and be a better pony. He came here to learn and he was done so.” said Rainbow Dash not moving from her spot in front of Blueblood. Blueblood gently nudged Rainbow Dash aside and spoke up “Ms. Rarity, Rainbow is correct, when I first came here was just to prove to her that I was right, but since I’ve come here I have seen that I have been wrong in a great many things. I am sorry for the way I treated you at the Grand Galloping Gala and I am sorry for the way the nobles of Canterlot have been treating Ponyville and other towns. When I get back home I am going to start working to make things better. What they have been doing is not right.” Rarity and the rest of the ponies just stared at Blueblood as he explained to them all that he had seen and talked about with Rainbow Dash, by the time he was finished talking the surrounding ponies were stunned into silence. Finally Pinkie pie jumped up and gave him a hug. “I forgive you Bluey, your my friend and friends forgive each other.” The rest of the ponies looked at each other and started to clap and nod in agreement until Rarity was the only one who had not forgiven him “That still doesn’t explain why you treated me so badly at the Gala.” said Rarity. Blueblood ground his hoof in the dirt and Rainbow Dash leaned in and whispered something into her ear. Her pouty face became a face of surprise and shame. “I understand now Blueblood, I forgive you and I am sorry for putting you in that situation.” With the unpleasantness of the night over the party once again kicked off with happiness, Blueblood mingled with the ponies in the town and spent the time to talked to them and hear their grievances. He took special care to talk with all the farmers so that he could be prepared to help them with the land issues when he got back. Soone the ponies were tired and the moon was getting high in the sky so Blueblood left and party and headed back to the train for Canterlot. While he was walking Rainbow Dash landed beside him. “So how did you like Ponyville?” she asked giving him a friendly nudge. “It’s a look better than I expected, and more peaceful too, the kind of place I would want own a summer cottage at Good ponies, good food and good landscape.” admitted Blueblood. “I knew you would like it, so what are you going to do when you get home?” “Other then talk with some contacts to get those unfair issues cleared up, I think I will try and talk to common of the less noble ponies in town, I hear there is a doughnut shop that is said to be good.” said Blueblood with a far off look in his eyes. “Glad to hear it, I hope you have fun.” said Rainbow Dash. “If you ever in town again, look me up. I can return the favour and show you around my town, introduce you to my friends and maybe I can show you that not all nobles are as bad as you think. “You sure weren't as much of a jerk and I thought you would be, I will have to take you up on that one day.” The two ponies arrived at the station just as the last call whistle blew. “I look forward to it Dashie.” said Blueblood before giving her a slightly awkward hug. “see you very soon.” Blueblood jumped on to the train just as it was leaving he turned to see Rainbow Dash waving goodbye and returned the favour before slipping into the carriage and sitting down on the nearest seat. It had been a very interesting day and one he would not soon forget. As the train started to head off to Canterlot, Blueblood smiled. Meeting Rainbow Dash had definitely been a good thing.