//------------------------------//
// Pinkie Pie e Sangueblu il Tempestoso (III) 
// Story: A Blueblood for Everyone 
// by Macgyver644200 
//------------------------------//



Dear Aunt Celestia,

No heart attacks today.  I spent the whole day on my piano, ran out of songs to play.  Read a book, couldn't finish it.  Tried to proofread my checkbook, Pinkie wouldn't let me.  Go ahead and continue with Twilight.  Going back to sleep now.

I can't wait for my new heart.

-Blueblood



Celestia pushed the letter to the side.  She was seated at her desk, breathing deeply as she looked down.  There were two other letters, one for each week since the heart attack, all in her desk drawer.  Softly frowning, she opened the drawer and slid the other one in.

For a moment, she froze.  Blueblood's condition had put her on edge.  Twilight's test had been bumped back a few weeks, Celestia waiting to gauge how Blueblood would react to a new princess.  A few months ago, she would've carried on without a worry.  Now that she knew, though...

Celestia looked down again and she noticed something on her desk.  A red ribbon, with a wish written on it.  It was a relic from a time long ago, and she'd never had the heart to get rid of it.  She lifted it in her hooves.  Thoughts of a lover trickled into her mind.  Someone who'd been there for her over a thousand years, and whom she'd been there for just as long.  Until last month.

Frowning, she put the ribbon down and shoved it to the side.  Their relationship was been a terrible idea, and Celestia knew that.  Every so often, she'd tried to pull out and find a better one, but they'd never lasted.  Twenty years ago, she thought she'd found a winner, but she couldn't commit.  So her niece snapped him up, then left him a few years later.  Factorus hadn't lasted the year, and his son came to live with her.

Celestia sighed.  On the one hand, so much could've been prevented, and she could've been so happy with him.  On the other...

The door opened and Celestia's head snapped up.  A look didn't calm her nerves, though, and it took a moment for her to wave the visitor in.  "Thank you for coming," she said.  "I haven't told him yet."

<<***>>

Blueblood slumped on his bed, his forelegs crossing over himself.  He took in a rough breath as his hoof started twitching.   He'd been lying in bed all morning, after a light, sensible breakfast of melon balls and honeyed toast.  He'd been feeling weak lately, and he hadn't left his house in a while.  Most of all, though, he was bored to tears.

He shifted himself up.  The books on his bookshelf were all things he'd either read or had no interest in reading.  He then spent a few moments gauging himself.  Strong enough to walk downstairs, probably not enough to leave the house for more than a few minutes.  Blueblood sighed roughly, then put his hooves under his pillow and flipped it up over his muzzle, opening his mouth to scream.

Then the pillow lifted off of him.  "Careful there, Bluey!  You could smother yourself!"

Blueblood sighed.  "Hi, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie sat on the floor next to Blueblood's head, a smile on her face.  "How're you feeling?"

Slowly, Blueblood rolled to face Pinkie Pie.  "Another stay-at-home day.  Is Spike coming?"

Pinkie frowned.  "No," she said.  "Twilight's re-filing the library."

Blueblood sighed as he rolled back onto his back.  "Figures."

"So, anything you want to do?"  Pinkie pulled a pile of boxes out of her mane.  "Monopony?"

"Played it yesterday."

"OK, how about Scrabbull?"

"Day before that."

"Chess?  Checkers?  Mouse Trap?"

"Pinkie, I'm just not in the mood."

Pinkie was surprised by the sudden change in Blueblood's tone that she dropped her boxes.  A moment later, though, she'd recovered.  "So, anything you do want to do?"

"Plenty," Blueblood growled.  "All work-related.  I know it's bad for my heart," he snapped, hoof cutting Pinkie off.  "I know that.  But if I don't do something productive, I'm going to go out of my mind!"  Blueblood's hooves went to his face just in time for him to muffle a scream.  Five seconds later, when his lungs had run out of air, his hooves fell off of his face, and he sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

Then he felt Pinkie Pie lay down beside him.  "You know, I twisted my leg once," she told him.  "Just walking nine days after I got my cutie mark and I stuck my hoof in a gopher hole.  I couldn't walk for several days.  After just ten minutes, I was about to go lookoo-in-the-cuckoo"  She leaned back on the bed, but stopped herself halfway down.  "But then I thought of something.  I thought 'if I had everything I could ever want, what sort of party would I throw?  Who would I want to be there?'"

Blueblood turned his head to Pinkie's side.  She was smiling, per usual.  "Once I'd thought that up, I started making it harder.  What if I only had one flavor of ice cream?  What if the barn lost its roof and a storm was blowing in?'  Little questions like that actually kept me occupied for quite a while.  And then my hoof was all better and I could go out and do them."

Pinkie laid a hoof on Blueblood's shoulder.  Still, Blueblood was quiet, nodding to himself.  He hadn't thought of that, but it didn't sound like it would work.  He stared up at the ceiling, the same ceiling he'd stared at five days ago.  He closed his eyes.  Sure enough, he could picture it perfectly in his mind's eye.

Blueblood sighed.  "Well... uhhh."  He could see Pinkie leaning in closer to him, eyes wide and smile wider.  "Hang on."  Blueblood closed his eyes, trying to think of something.  The grand galloping gala came to mind, but he knew he couldn't make that work.  The problem was, after seven years, that was all he got to do.  He couldn't help but draw a blank.

Soon, Blueblood realized he could feel Pinkie's eyes burning a hole into his face.  Without opening his eyes, he raised his hoof and pushed her back a little.  He paused, trying to hunt down some sort of inspiration.  At long last, his nose provided an answer.  He opened his eyes.

"Brunch," he said.  "It'd be a brunch party at the Opal Garden, early October."

Even when he wasn't looking at her, he could sense Pinkie's eyes widening.  "Oooooh!  That's GREAT!  Potato fritters, pancakes, maple syrup-"

"Eh eh eh," Blueblood said.  "This is my party, remember?"

Pinkie deflated a little.  "Oh," she said.  "Right.  Well what would you put out?"

Closing his eyes, Blueblood held up his hoof as he focused on recreating smells.  "Hmm..." he said.  "Eggs Florentine, for one.  That's poached eggs on spinach and a biscuit with butter-egg yolk sauce.  Melon balls, blueberry scones, probably coffee cake."

"Buh-LEGH!"

Blueblood opened his eyes at Pinkie's noise.  To his lack of surprise, Pinkie was writing things down, her tongue sticking out.  "Something wrong?" he asked.

Pinkie looked up, her tongue vanishing back into her mouth.  "Uhh..."  She straightened up.  "Why do ponies drink coffee?" she asked.  "It's all... bitter, even if you load it with sugar."

In response, Blueblood rolled his eyes.  "Some ponies like bitter," he said.  "Besides, it helps ponies wake up in the morning."

"I never understood that," Pinkie answered.  "I actually tried some, it put me to sleep for two days."

Blueblood snorted.  "Of course it did," he said.  As Pinkie stared at him, he waved her off.  "Never mind.  But I'd also include quiche and cinnamon rolls and the like."

"Mmm," Pinkie said, her smile returning.

Blueblood nodded, then looked back up at the ceiling.  "For entertainment, I'd see if I could get Octavia and friends to play something by Clopland or Holstein.  Not exactly chamber music but I think my guests would appreciate the variety.  I know I would."

Pinkie stared at Blueblood blankly for a moment, but then hummed as she wrote that down.  "Oh, who would your guests be?"

A blank came over Blueblood's mind.  "Uhh... uh, well..."  He frowned as he tried to think of names.  "Umm... Dilius and his wife Saphira, the Cufflink Twins... umm..."

"What about me?"

Blueblood looked up to find Pinkie grinning.  "You?"

"Yeah!" she remarked.  "I mean, we are dating, after all!  Don't you want me to meet your friends?"

The breath caught in Blueblood's chest a little.  He'd completely forgotten about her.  His mouth opened.  Then he stopped, frowning a little as he stared at his hooves.  "Well, yes, but..."

Pinkie's smile faltered.  "But what?"

Blueblood looked back up.  "Well, this isn't exactly your type of party," he told her.

The smile finally started to droop.  "Oooo-kay," she said.  "But it's still your party."

"But you won't be having fun," Blueblood told her.  "Don't take this the wrong way, I'd love to have you there, really.  It's just not your kind of party, and not your type of ponies.  Trust me, you'll be crawling up the walls and bo..."

"No I wouldn't!"

"Pinkie, you did."

Pinkie had her mouth open, but a frown from Blueblood made her close it again.  Then her smile vanished.  "Well..." she started.  "Yeah, OK.  The gala wasn't one of my best moments.  But I wasn't dating you at the time!" she pleaded.  "I mean, if I was-"

Blueblood held up his hoof.  "Pinkie, please don't lie to me," he told her.

Pinkie's mane flattened as her face fell.  Blueblood felt his heart sink.  Finally, after a few moments of silence and a swallow, she opened her mouth.  "Sorry."

A moment later, Blueblood had reached over and embraced Pinkie Pie.  "Pinkie, I love you as you are," he told her.  "I don't want you to change that just for me."

Silence.  A long time later, Pinkie had said nothing.  Blueblood pulled back.  "Are you alright?" he asked.

How slowly Pinkie Pie turned stuck with Blueblood.  Her face, her body language, he had never seen her so muted before.  "Blueblood..."  Pinkie took a breath.  "...do we belong together?"

Blueblood stared.  "What?" he breathed.  "Pinkie, where did-"

"We don't have anything in common!" Pinkie snapped.  Tears welled up in her eyes.  "I mean, yeah, we're party ponies, we have the same gift, but that's it!  We don't like the same food, the same music, the same anything!  And lately you've just been in such a funk whenever I've come over-"

"Pinkie!"  Blueblood gently laid his hooves on Pinkie's shoulders.  "Pinkie, please don't work yourself up!  Yes, I've been a little moody lately, but that's not your fault.  I'll get over that in time."

That silenced Pinkie for a moment, but soon her mouth opened again.  "But what about after that?" she asked.  "Couples do things together.  Once you're not stuck in bed... what are we going to do together?"

As Pinkie's tears continued, Blueblood tried to wipe them away.  "We'll think of something," he said.  "We're bound to have something we like to do together.  For example..."  Blueblood leaned across the bed, flicking through a set of vinyl records.  "I actually have a fondness for a few of your kind of musicians.  Uhh..."

He reached down, grabbing set of four or five in his mouth before lifting them back up.  Then he spread them across his lap.  "Here you are," he said.  "How do you feel about these?"

Pinkie looked over the labels.  As she read, one corner of her mouth pulled back slightly, exposing her clenched teeth.  Finally, she pointed to one.  "I've heard of this one," she said.

The sad tone in her voice caused Blueblood's heart to sink.  "Alright," he said, his voice retaining some optimism as he pushed the records back into their usual home.  "Well, I know you've done some research on classical music.  Have you found anything you like?"

Pinkie shook her head, but then stopped.  "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," she said.

Despite his best efforts, Blueblood winced.  "OK," he said.  "Have you given-"

He stopped as Pinkie shook her head again.  "I only know that one because Octavia was playing it for Pumpkin and Pound Cake.  I'm sorry, I've been really busy lately!"

"That's alright."  Blueblood scooched himself on his bed.  "You know, she recorded a version of that for the spoons and the grass whistle.  I think you'd like it."

Pinkie stared at him.  "Really?" she asked.  "She never told me that, and she's told me some embarrassing things."

"Like her root canal?"  Blueblood grinned as Pinkie's lips pinched together.  "It was early in her career, and she was more interested in experimenting, so she recorded The Satirist's Apprentice.  It didn't do well, so she buried the idea and all but pretended it never happened.  I never could stand the original, but I think you'd like it.  I kind of wish she'd done more."

Pinkie straightened up.  "She is!" she chirped.  "With Vinyl!  Yeah, they were working on something called Rhapsody in Blueshift?"

Blueblood's smile widened.  "I have to show you that," he said.  "Trust me, you'll love it.  And yeah, it's nice to see Vinyl encouraging Octavia like that."

"Oh, she does that all the time!"  Pinkie started to grin again.  "They might get on each others nerves, but the two also love to play off of each other.  Vinyl's even recruited Octavia's quartet a few times for some of her original albums.  You might like her latest one.  It felt sort of classic-y, but I can't tell you how."

Blueblood leaned back.  "Bring it by some time," he said, "and I'd be happy to.  We could even listen to it together."

"Yeah, we cou-"

The corner of Blueblood's mouth quirked up as something seemed to dawn on Pinkie's face.  "Pinkamena," he drawled, "don't look know, but I think we found a common interest."

For a few moments, Pinkie sat in silence.  Eventually, though, she started to straighten up.  "You're right!"  She smiled, but it slid off of her face in a moment.  "Just that?"

"That's enough for me," Blueblood told Pinkie.  "Pinkie, there's something my sister told me when she tried to get me to try dating.  What you have in common doesn't matter quite as much as how you feel together."  Blueblood leaned forward, placing his hooves on Pinkie's shoulders.  "And you, Pinkie, make me feel more alive than I have in years.  You're getting me to try things I hadn't tried before, and I'm actually enjoying talking to you."

Blueblood linked his legs together, holding Pinkie in a hug.  For several moments, he just hung there.  Then he felt Pinkie hop up, her own hooves wrapping around him.  "I think I feel the same way," Pinkie said.  "I like hearing you talk about stuff, even if I can't understand it."  She pulled away.  "I'm just worried that-"

A white hoof pressed itself to Pinkie's lips.  "Let's let that happen as it happens," Blueblood told her.  "OK?"  His hoof slowly slipped down, leaving Pinkie to stare at Blueblood for several seconds.  She hovered for a few moments, slowly leaning inwards, a small rivulet of sweat running down her face.  Blueblood's heart started to race, but he closed his eyes and leaned forward in kind, his lips pursing past his nose.

Then Pinkie broke contact.  Blueblood's eyes opened just in time to see Pinkie start walking away.  "I'll go see if I have that record," she told Blueblood as she left, smiling again.

Blueblood pouted for a moment, but seeing a spring in Pinkie's step caused him to smile again as he snuggled back into his sheets.  He then closed his eyes, preparing for a quick nap before Pinkie got back.