//------------------------------// // Second Impressions // Story: A Royal Mistake // by All Art Is Quite Useless //------------------------------// Prince Blueblood’s happiness was transient, as was his conviction. He was well aware that he would have to receive Twilight Sparkle soon, and couldn’t help wondering whether he would be able to get through the meeting without either snapping at her or requesting she leave. Furrowing his brow, he eyed himself in the mirror for what must have been the fifteenth time. He was – as always – impeccably dressed and well-kempt, but there was hesitation in his steely gaze. She is a victim of circumstance just as much as I am, I have no right to be angry with her. He felt a snarl crawl onto his muzzle, betraying his discomfort. Well, not over this, at least. Blueblood was distracted from admiring his regal gait by a faint knock on the door. He bade the pony entry, and was soon faced with a middle-aged earth pony named Gertrote, who was in charge of his housestaff. Not pausing to curtsy, she entered. “Princess Twilight Sparkle has arrived. Would you care to greet her, prince?” Stealing one more glance at the mirror, he allowed a calm indifference to mask his features. It was, after all, his greatest defence, as well as his best means of coping. “I will be there forthwith.” he said, his tone level. “Prince, are you sure you’re ready to—” Already, he felt a crack in his countenance. “I’m ready, Gertrote.” he all but growled, a swift series of steps punctuating his statement. Walking along the corridor, his horseshoes clacked against the marble stairs as he descended into the main hall, where his wife-to-be stood amongst a meagre procession of his own housestaff, appearing as if she was attempting to swallow a live wasp. Blueblood resisted the urge to mirror her expression. Pushing a false and amicable smile onto his face, he strutted straight over to her and offered a hoof to shake. Twilight stared at the hoof for a second, perplexed, before reciprocating the gesture. If she was confused, the housestaff were more so. Glancing awkwardly at the ‘couple’, Gertrote – who had followed Blueblood downstairs – cleared her throat, gesturing towards the pair of them. “Shall we leave the prince and his, erm, fiancée to become acquainted?” “That won’t be necessary,” Blueblood interjected, trying to keep the panic out of his tone. “In fact, I was hoping you would be able to show Princess Twilight to her quarters.” “Wait,” Gertrote’s eyes narrowed, “you mean to say that the princess won’t be retiring with you?” At this, several of the others present began to look quite confused. “N-no, it’s just that,” Blueblood fumbled in place, searching for an excuse, feeling Twilight’s eyes on him also, “we have yet to be wed, and it would be improper to share a room until then.” He caught himself, hoping that would be enough. While Twilight seemed to visibly relax, Gertrote bore a wry smile. “Ah, that is our prince, a sense of propriety in all matters! I shouldn’t have expected anything less.” Blueblood, despite his feeling of discomfort, couldn’t help but be proud of his ability to spin bullshit in a timely manner. He tried and failed to withhold a facetious grin. “But regardless, you should show the princess to her room yourself, prince! Or have you forgotten your way around this place already?” Blueblood suddenly felt red as a beetroot. He was more than used to being teased by Gertrote, knowing it came from a kind and harmless place, but it wasn’t often that he was simultaneously parading a false love, and trying to keep a level disposition in front of the pony he very much wanted far, far away from his estate. He exhaled hard through his snout, thinking of his earlier escapades in an attempt to calm himself. Twilight, on the other hand, looked about ready to find her own way; she clearly found the idea of walking with Blueblood as displeasurable as he did. Biting back a sigh, knowing that the first step to keeping up appearances was to do just that, Blueblood gave a stunted nod. Smiling, Gertrote rose to her hind legs, clapping her front hooves together once. “With me, everyone! We’ll allow the pair some time to themselves.” The staff were as fast and orderly as they were well trained. Despite their head’s fairly intrusive behaviour, none followed her lead and attempted to question Blueblood. They left at once with a chorus of ‘yes, Gertrote’, heading to the far side of the ground floor before disappearing through a wide archway. When the housestaff had gained some distance Twilight slouched in place, an unseemly posture. Looking up at Blueblood, she stepped forwards, her face a mixture of annoyance and what appeared to be contemplation. Looking down at her, Blueblood truly realised their height difference for the first time. This was nothing new to him. He was used to being taller than the mares he interacted with, and as such didn’t often pay it much attention, but being so close to Twilight it was easy to admire—or rather, perceive their vast difference in stature. Blueblood appreciated the difference. His foster sister had always been of a similar height to him, as was his aunt, and as such he found it very difficult to feel any semblance of attraction to a taller mare. As for Twilight? Well, her coat was a nice shade, he could say that much for her. Not that he would ever tell her so. Realising that they had simply been looking at one another for about twenty seconds now, their faces both suitably hostile, Blueblood raised a hoof and cleared his throat. It was Twilight, however, that broke the silence. “Nice to see you’re just as excited to have me as I am to be here.” All too quickly that pretense fell, and Blueblood threw her a powerful look, filled with disdain. “Please, are you going to insist on making this worse for the both of us by speaking, as well as being here?” “Believe me, there are plenty of other places I’d rather be right now. Heck, there are changeling hives I’d rather spend a night in than this place!” Right then, Twilight stifled a giggle, gesturing to the corridor the help had left through. “Gertrote seemed nice though. Didn’t seem to have much trouble putting you in your place, either. I might have to ask her for lessons.” “Now listen to me, you two bit—!” Blueblood caught himself before he could finish that sentence. He may have been angry, yes, but he wasn’t about to scream in Twilight’s face, not if he could help it. Breathing deeply, he lowered his tone. “Tell me, when did you become so relaxed about this?” “Oh, that’s simple,” Twilight remarked, swishing her tail as she spoke. “I became calm about it when I realised that I’m going to find a way out of it.” “Twilight,” Blueblood grumbled, uttering the name like a curse, “if there was—as you so eloquently describe, ‘a way out of this’, do you not think Celestia would have found it already?” “Of course not. If Princess Celestia just went around changing laws all the time—even really silly ones, just to suit her friends and family, then that would look like nepotism. Besides, Celestia doesn’t wield supreme power like that, even if she wanted to change a law, it wouldn’t be instantaneous.” Addressing Blueblood like a teacher instructing a pupil might, Twilight spoke again. “Obviously, it’s something that takes a little time, but I’ve got plenty of that. And in that time, I plan to find a loophole, a counterargument, anything that allows me to have my freedom back. Our freedom, to be precise.” Blueblood couldn’t help but notice that Twilight seemed very natural right now. Everything from her poise to her tone of voice suggested that she was in her element, using her intuition and planning to think her way out of a situation. Blueblood would almost appreciate such determination if he didn’t consider it so hopeless. “There is no point. You may not realise, princess, as you have always assumed my aunt to be the primary authority in Equestria, but she does indeed share her power. Not only with the council, who control much of the commerce in Equestria and are connected to a great many ponies in very strong positions, but with the various groups and consortiums that they represent.” Taking a step forwards, he scrutinised Twilight’s face, seeing only a filly who woke up one day with a pair of wings and a title. “You must understand that when this wedding is finalised, it will be the pivotal point of multiple processes and deals, things which cannot be reversed as simply as any law can, which is hardly simple either. Because of this, you will be fought at every opportunity. If Celestia was unable to fix this, why should you fare any better?” “You know what happened to the last pony that underestimated and doubted me?” Twilight asked, a small smirk on her muzzle and a glint in her eye. Catching Blueblood’s baffled expression, she continued: “She became my student.” This caught Blueblood completely by surprise. He had expected a warning, a thinly veiled threat, not that, of all things. “Not your wife, then?” he quipped, vaguely aware of the words that had just left his mouth. Twilight seemed stuck between a chortle and a scoff. “Wow, Blueblood, was that a joke? Who would have thought you had it in you?” For but a moment, her eyes practically scintillated, resembling her cutie mark, even her name. Casting his eyes to the floor, Blueblood quietly berated himself for finding the sight even the least bit endearing. Roughly slapping his metalclad hoof against the hard floor, Blueblood made it quite clear that he wasn’t in the mood for any more games. “Your room is on the far side of the first floor, the opposite side to mine. There is an en-suite bathroom as well as an intercom, with which you can ask a staff member for assistance, should you need it. However, they are off duty after nine, please do not bother them during the night.” “Heh, who would have thought that the high and mighty Prince Blueblood had such respect for the ‘common peasantry’?” Twilight ribbed, her gaze scrupulous, but her tone light and jovial nonetheless. Blueblood’s chest began to swell, and he flashed an imperious glare at Twilight. “How dare you? That ‘common peasantry’ all but raised me, yet you amble in here and mock them, you—” pausing, Blueblood blinked, realising what he had said, as well as noticing the hoof that was raised to Twilight’s mouth, gaped open in what he could only assume was shock. His face abashed, he sought solitude in the floor, wishing to be someplace else. “...I said too much just then, forgive me.” Twilight, for her part, appeared to feel equally awkward. “H-hey, it’s fine, no need to apologise… Uhh, I...” she scratched behind the back of her neck, her eyes darting between Blueblood and the stairs, “I can probably find my own way, if you want?” Shaking his head, he willed placidity to lead him once more, beginning to walk on. “No, allow me. If there’s one thing I despise more than lies and insincerity, it is a lack of hospitality.” Twilight gave a curt nod, and soon they were walking through Blueblood’s manor together. Unlike the strong expression met with staunch indifference that had been their first encounter, or the thunderous clash that had been their most recent, this felt more uncomfortable than anything else. The gravity of Blueblood’s penultimate words seemed to outweigh everything else, and even when Blueblood wished for a distraction he could not will himself to speak again, silently lamenting his idiocy. So it was that he found himself oddly grateful when Twilight broke the silence, her eyes tracing a portrait of a far off mountain range. “One thing Gertrote said struck me as odd,” her eyes contemplative, they settled on Blueblood. “She asked if you even knew your way around any more, or something like that. If this is your house then why wouldn’t you?” “I am out on business a lot,” he responded, his eyes fixed forwards. “Really?” she asked, her head cocked. “What kind of thing do you do?” She really is inquisitive, isn’t she? She might even be worse than Stone. “I help broker deals, foster relations, introduce ideas and maintain correspondences. I oversee a few other things, also.” “Oh, so you’re a businessman?” “I am a means to an end.” Noticing her frown, he added: “I do not work for excessive profit, if that’s what you are wondering. I aim for only enough to support my lifestyle.” “You mean you don’t rely on the Royal Treasury?” Twilight asked, a small level of shock to her voice. Blueblood couldn’t help but snigger. “No, I do not. Of course, things were provided for me in my youth, but once a pony of my station becomes an adult they do not sit around indulging themselves with lavish frivolities without having earned the right to first. You may consider me to be supercilious, and may in fact be correct, but that by no means makes me a freeloading dandy.” “...Huh.” Twilight’s eyes lingered on Blueblood for a second before he pointed a hoof towards a nearby door. “Beyond there you’ll find your room, if you need anything else than I would ask that you use the intercom, which is as simple as pressing a button. We can accommodate you for as long as you wish, but I’m sure you have friends and whatever else to be getting back to, yes?” “Well, yes, but…” Twilight frowned, her face pensive. “Are we really going to avoid each other? I mean, I’m just as unhappy about all this as you are, and I wanna get out of it, but don’t you think we should at least try to be on speaking terms? It might make all this a little easier in the meantime.” “We held a conversation just now, did we not?” “That’s hardly getting along though, is it? Listen, if the Princess of Friendship can’t make a friend out of you, then there isn’t much hope for the rest of us, is there?” Blueblood’s eyes hardened. “Well, my sister is the Princess of Love, Celestia knows she made a pig’s ear of that.” Twilight grit her teeth, her eyes boring into Blueblood. “What did you say?” “Precisely what you heard. Now,” Blueblood swiveled on the spot, flicking his mane back as he looked behind him, “I have work to be doing. Do try to make yourself comfortable.” Twilight simply stood with her muzzle agape as Blueblood trotted away. Not sparing another look behind him, Blueblood felt the satisfaction his little insult had brought him wear off all too quickly. It wasn’t that he was incapable of disliking the pony that stood behind him, likely wishing she could beat him to a pulp with something blunt. Rather, it was that as much as he willed himself to do so, he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to. Still, he had no desire to befriend her, let alone marry her or even consider courting her. It wasn’t just their incompatibility as a pair either, it was her demeanour, her naivety, her inability to understand just how things worked in the real world. It was her title, her wings and horn, and the air of faux autocracy they brought with them, power she wouldn’t understand how to use even if she was able. It was her family. Her parents were wholly unremarkable ponies, yet not only had her brother married the first alicorn to ascend in recent history, his sister had been the second to do so. Shining Armour had also helped to produce the first natural born alicorn in history, an astounding accomplishment. Blueblood had wondered before, and he now found himself questioning again just what it was that made Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour so different, so unique that they could waltz into royalty without so much as playing the game? It felt juvenile; it felt asinine. Above all, it felt to be a mockery of the steadily crumbling class system. Blueblood thought to the council before pushing back a growl. Perhaps it had already crumbled.