After his involvement in helping save Equestria by holding off Tirek for the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, Blueblood received naught but praise and good wishes.
He'd try to play it off, claiming that the elements were the ones to thank, since they actually did the defeating and the restoring, but Blueblood's story of how a half-strength prince went off to hunt down an ever more powerful foe was apparently a more popular tale than the girls' routine save-the-world gig. After the party held at Twilight's fancy new castle, Blueblood had attended several more social get-togethers in his honor. His face was headlined on the news in nearly every city for weeks. He could still remember the headlines.
'Equestria's Brave Prince!'
'Prince Blueblood Returns Better Than Ever!'
'A Stallion Finally Saves the Day!'
Blueblood felt that last one was a strong topic of controversy. But as the prince checked the castle gate for this week's newspaper, a solid three months after the ordeal, this headline proved to be just as interesting.
'Equestria's Most Eligible Bachelor?'
There was a picture of him just under the headline. "Oh my..." Picking up the new article, the prince turned tail and retreated back into the castle.
...
"Maximus, look at this!" The flabbergasted prince exclaimed as his right hoof stallion leaned in to view the newspaper encased in blue magic. The two were walking down the halls, and they got their share of odd looks from how a guard and a prince conversed as if the best of friends. "'It's not wrong if they're siblings-in-law'? 'A friend of a friend is still a friend'? 'A trophy wife or bachelorette'?"
Seeing the headline and the subtitles, the guardspony asked aloud. "Who are the candidates?"
"Listen to this. First is Twilight Sparkle, second is Fleur De Lis, and third is Sassy Saddles. I only remember meeting her a hoofful of times! Certainly not a basis for a relationship!"
Maximus had to rack his brain for the distant memory of that orange-maned beauty he recalled from somewhere. "Theee Canterlot Carousel manager?"
"The very same!"
The armored pony grinned, returning to his stoic posture as they walked down the long, sunlit halls. "I imagined Miss Rarity would've held that first spot."
Blueblood leered over at the gravel-voiced stallion before rolling his eyes and smirking. "I won't say I'm not good enough for a mare as beautiful and generous as Miss Rarity, but given our... turbulent history, I would say us being in a romantic relationship is... awkward at best."
Maximus just shrugged. "That night at the gala was one to remember. But who better to be in a relationship with than the very one who made you change in the first place? It was gradual with many other factors, sure, but it can't be denied that she planted the seed and watered the roots."
The young prince nodded in acknowledgement. "Point proven. You sound like you speak from experience."
"I wouldn't be the stallion I am today were it not for my wife, your highness." Mention of his wife was with a longing sigh.
And Blueblood heard all he needed to hear. "Very well, husband of the year. I'll consider your advice. If you take some time off, that is."
"Are you sure?" Maximus couldn't say he saw that coming, but he wrote it off as a pleasant surprise.
"Our talks are nice. But they're few and far between. A few days paid vacation wouldn't hurt anypony. Call this me thanking your wife for doing her part in making a good guard and friend such as yourself. Besides, if I can fight off Tirek at half strength, I can certainly look after myself at full strength."
"Thank you, Prince."
XXXXX
However, as good as Blueblood's morning was, the afternoon had in store for him nothing but frustration and aggravation when Cadence came along. What was supposed to be a surprise visit with exciting news turned out to be a train wreck.
"No! Absolutely not!" the pale prince exclaimed as he stormed out of the garden, Cadence hastily giving chase.
"But Blueblood, please-"
He went back into the castle, the empty halls filled with their raised voices and resounding hoofsteps. "But nothing! I made it clear I don't want anything to do with Shining Armor! It's bad enough you waited until now to tell me! Five months you were pregnant?!"
Cadence grew desperate to calm him down. "It was supposed to be a surprise!"
But it seemed every word only served to anger Blueblood even more. "And it certainly is! It was your husband's idea to keep me out of the loop, wasn't it?!"
"Blue, it's not like that!"
"Then tell me, what's it like?!"
"Blueblood, this is your niece! At least come and see her when she's born!" No matter what, their daughter to be was innocent in this. She'd at least be happy if Blueblood gave her a chance,
"It's not about her! But if you were worried about my bond with my niece, then telling me wouldn't have been a matter of when!"
"It was a surprise for Twilight!"
"And I suppose she was bursting at the seems!" They made it to his room, and as he non-too-gently slammed the doors behind them, they gently came open again after a pregnant moment of silence. By then, Blueblood was already at his balcony. He often enjoyed the twilight sky, especially when he wanted to cool off.
"Blueblood..." Cadence silently strode up next to him, the prince refusing to meet her eyes. "Blue, why are you so mad all of a sudden?" A pink hoof cautiously found its way on his shoulder. He flinched at the touch, but eventually relaxed. "Is it Shining?"
Just the utterance of his name got his blood boiling again. "Who else?!" Why was he so angry?
"This isn't healthy! Can't you two just talk this out? He's not the pony you make him out to be! I love him!"
"It's not about now, it's about then!"
"But Blueblood, it's in the past!"
"It's a wound nopony ever bothered to help heal!" Honestly Blueblood couldn't even narrow down the reasoning behind his unyielding rage. For the longest time, just seeing or hearing Shining Armor was enough to lower his good mood.
"But what happened doesn't matter anymore! It's behind all of us!"
In an instant, Blueblood whipped around, his piercing glare now aimed at somepony. "And there you go, disregarding me again! I'm surprised you're not the one I'm mad at if you feel that way!" Unlike every time before when he found himself glaring at her, he didn't falter in tone or in expression. "It takes more than fifteen years to get an apology from Aunty! I can only imagine how long it'll take to get one from you!"
"Blue, I'm... I'm sorry." Not even the hurt puppy tone did anything to calm him down.
He did that himself. Turning back towards the scenery, he ran a hoof through his mane with a heavy sigh. "Just get out of here..."
XXXXX
"He said that?!" Twilight just couldn't wrap her mind around it! No part of Blueblood she knew could be capable of so much as talking negatively towards Cadence, much less yell at her and tell her to leave! She couldn't even fathom what must have made him that angry, especially if not even his reinvented self couldn't move him past it.
"I'm afraid so. From what I got, he just doesn't want anything to do with Shining."
"That doesn't sound like him! We all know him! He wouldn't have done all the good things he did if he were the same pony!"
"It is, sadly. The only part that never changed." She sighed in disappointment. In nopony but herself. "He never liked Shining. We were just too blinded by our own love to ask why."
Twilight tried her best to lighten the mood. "Well, it was strong enough to repulse the Changelings and save Equestria, so it must be easy to get distracted."
But that sentiment, though it brought the tiniest of smiles to Cadence's face, did little to help. "But that distraction made my brother -my brother- hurt for Celestia knows how long.
Not that there were many, but Twilight was out of options. So she began thinking again. Cupping her chin, the princess of friendship pondered what she saw of Blueblood's relationship with her brother. "This is more than just sibling rivalry or brothers butting heads. If they even consider each other that."
"I remember way back when he first fount out Shining and I were dating. I just wanted them to get along and... at first I thought things were fine, but Aunty and I never talked to him about it, just... now that I think of it, nopony ever took the time to see his side of it. Combine that with Blueblood being a pony that would fight all-powerful tyrants alone to protect the ones he cares about." She herself tried to pull some humor, but the fact behind it just reminded Cadence how Blue must feel about the whole situation. "I just... don't know what to do!"
"Do Celestia and Luna know?" Surely, at least Celestia can talk to him, right?
The troubled sister simply nodded, however grim her expression was. "But Celestia doesn't know what to do, and Luna just sides with him. Neither were much help. I was hoping you could talk to him."
Twilight knew the proposal was coming, but she was taken back nonetheless. "Why me?"
"Who better to solve this issue than the princess of friendship? He really needs help in this. On his own, this grudge only got worse and worse. I'm scared it might affect his ability to ever trust Shining. Or Shining to ever trust him. I don't think he'll want to talk to me anytime soon, and I won't know what to do if he doesn't take the chance to meet his niece." Cadence reasoned, rubbing her belly with the developing foal.
The thought of a rift in the family made Twilight's stomach churn. "Well, what does Shining think?"
"I talked to him. He's willing to extend the olive branch, but Blueblood gets agitated at just the mention of his name." It was clear to both of them that if Shining and Blue can just talk, then he'll be well on the road to recovery.
That was a goal. And a goal has steps. The first of which, Twilight already has her crosshairs set on. She was gonna do this, and she was gonna get Blueblood in a better state of mind. The inspiring image of the two stallions brohoofing bought forth an infectious grin. "Well have no fear, big sis! The world's best sister-in-law has everything under control!"
And that was it for Cadence. Throwing herself forward, she enveloped her little sis in a crushing embrace, giddily rocking back and forth. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you, Twilight! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
"Don't sweat it Cadence! By the time you have your foal, Blueblood'll be more than happy to see you and Shining with the little bundle of joy!"
XXXXX
Following their argument, Blueblood stayed on the balcony to reflect.
No matter how much he thought about it, how much he wanted to move past this and make everypony happy like he's been doing for years now, he just couldn't. This was his little bout that his mind wouldn't let him put down, no matter who was involved and no matter how much he wanted to. Was there a deeper reason he was missing? Was he and Shining just not meant to get along? Was he just inwardly sick of letting things go for the sake of others?
Whatever the reason, he felt he'd be getting a little closer to it soon. Doubly so when looked back to the creaking doors of his room to see Luna stepping in. Seeing him, the princess of the night walked up to the balcony and took his side, offering a serene smile. "You seem to be spending more time in the castle as of late, dear nephew. Has the novelty of being Equestria's new hero finally worn off?"
"It did, after enough headlines about my... heroism." He uses the term 'heroism' loosely. More like brashness. Stupidity seems more like it. "But that's not why you're here to enjoy the scenery with me, is it?"
"I figured I'd begin with idle conversation, let you know I'm not here to take sides in that argument between you and Cadence. But I suppose if you're so keen on 'cutting to the chase', I should go on and ask it; what sparked that argument?"
"Cadence finally told me she was pregnant. And I'm just... mad."
"Ah. Given your past history with Shining Armor, I can imagine you did not take well the news of them cementing that love in the form of a foal?"
Blueblood thought that over in his head, and while it did deepen his frown, it was far from making him want to yell like earlier. "Well, they were married, so I should have seen a foal coming." He sighed. "Still though, I just can stand him."
"Why not?" It can't be prowess or success. Blueblood outclasses Shining Armor in nearly every regard, and she did believe if he sought to, Blueblood could find himself a special somepony. Cadence being Shining's true love had just been debunked as the reason, so even she was at a loss.
"I don't know! I tried to justify with a reason ever since, but it just keeps coming back to me loving my sister."
Luna thought that over. Sibling love. She herself would torch cities if it were for the sake of her dear sister. And even after her banishment, she still loved her sister just as much as when they were foals. "Loving your sister... hmmm..." It was clear Blueblood had his own turbulent relationship with his elder sibling, even if he wouldn't admit it. And taking their relationship into account, she picked up on one fact. "Think it over."
"What?" Think it over? Had he heart his aunt right?
"The last thing I would ever want is for you to turn your back on your dear sister, but you're clearly hurting by no fault of your own. Replay those old, repressed memories. Analyze them. You may uncover a fact that your young mind might have overlooked. Say what's on it. Tell yourself why you are angry. And when you find out why, talk to her about it." Luna didn't give him time to reply as she quickly turned tail and retreated, not that her nephew has food for thought.
As he watched her disappear out of his room, he looked back to the sky, now absent of the oranges and purples it had moments ago. She also joined him on the balcony to raise the moon, it seemed. And now, he was alone with his thoughts. "Think it over..." he echoed, heading back into his room to plop down on the king-sized bed.
He let his thoughts take over.
XXXXX
It was the late evening, and a pale, young colt was walking down the long halls of the royal castle, worry etched all over his face.
Blueblood hadn't seen Cadence for days now.
"Aunty, where's Cadence? I'm worried." he asked as he looked up to his tall aunt, eyes wide and as blue as ever.
For Celestia, it was positively the most adorable thing she's ever seen. She smiled down at her nephew, leaning down to console the little bundle of worry. She couldn't stifle the cute little giggle that escaped her lips. "There's nothing to worry about, Blueblood. Cadence is fine. She's just busy."
"She's... busy?"
...
It wasn't a week till he actually saw her again.
...
"Cadence! Cadence!" Blueblood's face lit up like the sun when he saw his dear sister navigating the halls. He galloped after her as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Cadence herself looked like she'd been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. And her look didn't go away when she realized it was Blueblood. "Oh, uh... h-hey Blueblood!"
With teary excitement, Blueblood barreled into his well-missed sister, throwing his little arms around her neck. The young princess of love half-heartedly returned the embrace before trying to squirm out to no avail.
"I missed you..." he said with the happiest smile, resting his chin on her chest.
"I missed you too." she rested a hoof on his head, running it through his golden mane. "Is Aunty busy?"
"She's getting ready to lower the sun."
"Why not join her? I hear she gets really lonely, watching the sun set all by herself."
"Okay!"
...
Anytime they did meet, she was quick to get him out of the way. How could he miss that?!
...
"Say hello, Blueblood!"
"Hey, little guy! Your sister told me all about you. I'm Shining Armor." Blueblood looked up at the much older colt, but he couldn't find it in himself to smile. He didn't frown or glare, but he definitely didn't smile.
"I don't like him!" he suddenly cried with a little pout.
Pinning his ears back, Shining looked back at his marefriend for help, and so Cadence walked up to try and ease the tension. Taking her little brother's side, she draped an arm around him. "Blueblood, that's not very nice, you know." his expression didn't change. "Blue, Shining is a really good pony. You'll love him, once you get to know him! Aren't you happy?" she asked, playfully rocking him side to side.
Blueblood looked over to his aunt, around at all the ponies gathered together at the party, up at his sister, then back to... him. All of a sudden, Blueblood beamed. He gave the royal guard cadet a quick hug, and then left without another word. The split second he was out of sight, he made extra sure that his smile fell.
The dining hall behind him was filled with laughter.
...
He could hardly remember a time he was ever truly happy after that.
Shining practically took away his sister, and all anypony ever did was laugh. He became more vocal about his feelings as the months rolled by, not just towards Shining, but also in general, though nothing good ever came of it. But as he grew, he eventually just stopped caring. And it all went downhill from there.
From then on, his memories were mostly just a blur. An eternity-long succession of hateful days and spiteful nights. This went on for nearly ten whole years.
"What an amazing waste of time." he heard himself say aloud.
All because nopony cared. Not even Cadence.
...
He couldn't sleep that night.