Princess Celestia looked at her nephew, not quite certain what to say or do. He told a strange tale, one that she believed, but the sadness in his words pained her. He had changed during his long absence. She cleared her throat and tried to rid herself of the feeling that she was sharing a private room with a stranger.
“So, nephew, let me get this straight,” Celestia began, each word coming out slow, almost as if the words didn’t want to come out at all. “After everything that happened here, after the changelings, you went off to the east, joined a group of mystical monks, learned to meditate, learned to turn your mind into a fortress, learned to see through illusions, and endured harsh deprivation as well as degradation, all while learning advanced combat techniques.”
Celestia blinked and shook her head while trying to let an expression of disbelief show up on her face. She somehow remained stony. It certainly wasn’t the strangest story she had ever heard, and she had no reason not to believe Blueblood. It was just... just… Blueblood had been so… spoiled. The idea of him suffering, of being humiliated, of sleeping in dirty straw, the very idea of him being beaten bloody so he could be conditioned for combat.
“I wanted to be a better pony,” Blueblood said in a low voice. “I needed to find myself.”
“I see.” Celestia blinked in astonishment at her nephew. “So… now… you want a position within the guard.” The white alicorn folded her forelegs in front of her and adjusted her body so she could be more comfortable upon the bright red sofa she was sprawled on. “I suppose I could find you a nice captain’s—”
“No!” Blueblood barked. “No, no, no! I do not want a position just given to me just because of who I am. I do not want rank or title. I want to atone for what I have done, do you not understand?”
“No, I do not understand,” Celestia replied in a low voice.
Blueblood closed his eyes and for a moment, his jaw clenched. “I wish to abdicate my position as a prince. I am unworthy of such privilege. There is much that I have done wrong and that I need to answer for. If I cannot find my atonement here… then… I shall have to leave again, become a vagabond, and perform my penance on the road.”
Much to Celestia’s shock and surprise, she realised that Blueblood was serious. She engaged her mind, trying to think of a suitable position, something where Blueblood would be satisfied. She didn’t want him guarding latrines or stood in front of the palace where the tourists would make funny faces at him, trying to break his statuesque pose.
Being a very clever monarch, Princess Celestia had an idea. She stared into Blueblood’s arctic blue eyes. “Nephew… I have the perfect task for you.”
“You do?” Blueblood looked doubtful, all too aware of his aunt’s many clever ruses.
“Sorceress Maeve… she is… well, our laws restrict who or what can be given the title of ‘Princess’ so I gave her the title of ‘Sorceress’ instead.” Celestia paused and chose her next words with a lot of care and consideration. “She requires a lot of care and looking after. She lacks… grace. She is always getting hurt, getting into trouble, getting into scrapes… she is high strung and has a terrible nervous condition as well.”
Blueblood raised an eyebrow.
“Her companion, Red Russet, who is being groomed to be her assistant, has brittle bones. Together, they are quite a pair. I have guards that shadow their movements at all times. They are both very, very dear to me. Sorceress Maeve brought Princess Luna back… I will tell you more of the story later… but I would appreciate it if you could watch over what I hold most valuable in my heart.” Celestia gave her nephew a warm, sincere look and her ears splayed out sideways once she was done speaking.
“I don’t know about this—”
“Nephew, please, consider this… this is not busy work. Sorceress Maeve is fragile… she needs a male figure that she can learn to trust after everything that has happened to her.” Celestia saw that her words had an impact on Blueblood, once more, he was the nephew that she remembered. She saw anger in his blue eyes and his ears quivered.
“Did some loathsome churl take liberties with her?” Blueblood asked in a voice that was filled with scarce contained rage. “I do hope there was punishment!”
“Nephew, it is in her past.” Celestia’s eyebrow raised. “Red has been a good companion for her, he has done much to help mend her heart. Be the good pony that I know that you can be. Earn her trust. Protect her. Do not allow harm to come to her. Be there to comfort her when she has one of her spells. Do good, Nephew.”
Blueblood gave a submissive bow of his head. “Yes, I can do as you ask.”
“Very good, Private Blueblood. You will begin tomorrow at dawn and you will look over her throughout the daylight hours.” Celestia smiled. “Oh, and welcome home, Nephew… I have missed you.”
Princess Celestia looked upon her sister, Luna, along with Cadance, Shining Armor, Maeve, and Twilight Sparkle. Something had happened. Something had changed. She had wanted to speak to Maeve about the arrangement with Blueblood, but now, Celestia had to get down to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on. She suspected conspiracy with the way that nopony wanted to look her in the eye.
“Did something happen?” Celestia asked.
“Um… what would give you that idea?” Twilight replied, hoping to catch Celestia off guard with a question. It seldom worked, but it never hurt to try. She felt Celestia’s piercing gaze upon her. Uh oh… those eyes. Twilight backed away and hid behind Luna.
“Twilight, if this is about you and Luna, I already know. A little pink bird told me—”
“Cadance!” Luna said in a sour voice as she gave a sidelong glance at the pink alicorn beside her. “I stayed in the Crystal Empire to avoid my sister’s all seeing gaze!”
“I’m sorry, you know how she is,” Cadance said in the most apologetic voice she could muster. Cadance, realising what she had just said out loud and in front of Celestia turned to look at her aunt with horror. “Um… whoops.”
“Whoops indeed,” Celestia agreed as one eyebrow raised and Celestia squinted at her pink niece. “As I recall, it you was you who contacted me and began gushing about how funny both Luna and Twilight were acting and how everything would be better if they would just hurry up and kiss.”
“Cadance!” Twilight’s mouth dropped open in shock and she stared at her sister in law.
“Shining Armor was spying on you and Luna and he came back and he told me everything!” Cadance said in her own defense.
“Cadance!” Shining Armor looked at his wife, turning away from Celestia, who was shaking her head at this whole mess that was developing.
“Shining Armor!” Twilight Sparkle and Luna both said in unison.
“What?” Shining Armor said, becoming defensive. “I am your big brother, best friend forever… it is my right to spy on you and watch over your love life. I have to check and make sure that any pony you date is worthy of you—”
“Just what are you implying?” Luna demanded, her eyes narrowing in a most dangerous manner. She watched as Shining Armor backed away from her and she took a step towards him. “Do tell, little prince.”
Gulping, Shining Armor ceased his retreat and stood his ground. “You might be the Princess of the Night, but I had to check your intentions. I’ll not have my sister felt up by the Princess of One Night Stands. And you’d better believe I’d have something to say to you if you didn’t meet my approval. As it is, I’m okay with this. I think my sister is the sort of mature pony that you need in your life.”
Eyes narrowing, Princess Luna gave Shining Armor a cold, imperious stare.
“Um, that came out sounding wrong, I didn’t mean it that way,” Shining Armor said in his most apologetic voice.
“Oh, Shiny, you really stepped in the horseapples just now,” Cadance huffed.
“I’m nervous and it just came out sounding wrong… I meant to say that Twilight is a mature pony… she can deal with heavy issues—”
“So now I have issues,” Luna said in an icy monotone. “Was that a crack about my recent weight gain?”
“Shutting up now, can’t win.” Shining Armor clamped his mouth shut and backed away.
Prodding Luna, Twilight Sparkle gave the blue alicorn a few gentle nudges to get her attention. “Stop looking at my brother like that. He respects you.”
“Too tense for me,” Maeve said as she turned on her heel and took off at a sprint.
“No running inside the castle!” Celestia shouted. Alas, it was too late. Maeve was gone as fast as her bipedal legs could carry her. Celestia could not help but feel that this entire outburst was a clever ruse to distract her from some other issue. All ponies present were known grandmasters of improvisation. Something had happened and now this was happening to distract from it. Celestia’s ears perked forwards. Perhaps she was being paranoid.
“You are being a bit too harsh on poor Shiny.” Cadance stepped in front of her husband, standing between him and Luna. “He has long been your friend, your defender, and your trusted confidant.” Cadance cleared her throat. “When The Elements of Harmony brought you back, when you were a curious little foal once more, Shining Armor was your playmate and your friend, just as I was. He was very patient with you… even though you were a very, very spoiled little foal that always demanded her way.”
Luna’s ears drooped and she took a step back from Cadance, but Celestia was not certain that all of this drama wasn’t just subterfuge. She watched as Cadance glanced at her, and something about Cadance’s brief eye contact left her wary. Celestia pursed her lips.
“I’m suddenly very thirsty. Really, very thirsty. Dry mouth. You know how it is,” Twilight said in a very exaggerated raspy voice. She coughed. “Excuse me, I’m parched. I am off to find a drink.”
Before Celestia could also warn Twilight about running indoors, Twilight teleported away. Celestia, a clever mare, took note that Twilight had just teleported into the general vicinity of Maeve. What made things interesting is that Twilight had hidden her magical signal, or at least she had tried to do so. Celestia, who had spent almost nine hundred years running a school for little unicorns, could see right through most attempts to be sneaky.
One sneaky little sister, one sneaky niece, one sneaky little prince that she loved like her own colt, one sneaky former student that Celestia loved a great deal, and one little not quite as sneaky as the others sorceress that had fled the scene before possibly giving herself away. Oh, Maeve was in fine company… she was learning from the very best.
“Is somepony going to tell me what really happened?” Celestia asked.
“Nope.” Shining Armor, all too aware of Celestia’s soul piercing gaze, gave a forthright, honest answer. He hoped that Princess Celestia wouldn’t give him a direct order. He might crack. Just thinking about it made him start sweating. Shining Armor liked following orders and being a dutiful defender. It pleased some noble part of his soul deep within him. He liked being the gallant knight.
“Way to go, Shining Armor… plausible deniability,” Cadance muttered.
Shining Armor winced at his wife’s words as Luna moved to stand in front of him. He heard the blue alicorn clear her throat and stand tall.
“Sister, I have come to a decision after a great deal of thought. It is my desire to formally adopt Maeve… I am no longer content to have her as my student, I wish to have her considered as my offspring.” Princess Luna, standing at her full height, still had to look up at her sister. It galled her. What she wouldn’t give to have her sister’s height.
“Something has happened,” Celestia said in a low voice. She lifted her head and looked down upon her sister. “Tell me.”
“No.” Luna broke eye contact with Celestia. “At least, not right now. Not until I get everything sorted out. I am not keeping a dangerous secret and nopony is at risk. I need time to reflect upon all of this.”
“Fine.” Celestia let out a tiny snort and lowered her head until she was at eye level with Luna. “I can respect that. Come. You and I have much to discuss regarding Blueblood and Maeve. I have commissioned him as her personal guard.”
“What?” Luna blinked and her mouth fell open. “Excuse me… what?”
“There is much to discuss.” Celestia looked at Shining Armor and Cadance. “I plan to deal with you two later… there will be interrogation over tea.”
“Oh… we’re horned, Cadance,” Shining Armor said in a whimpering voice.
“I know,” Cadance replied.
“There will be hot scones,” Celestia added, causing both ponies to gulp. “Now Luna, come with me… there is much to tell you about Blueblood…”