//------------------------------//
// 4 Delinquent 
// Story: Prince Blueblood: Master Ambassador 
// by Doug Graves 
//------------------------------//

Private Aspide stands outside the open door, nervously shifting from hoof to hoof. The fact that she has been doing this for the last five minutes, with no change one way or the other, does not bode well for her mental health. Or her physical health, if her encounter with Princess Celestia has anything to say about it.

Her latest encounter, she mutters to herself, her head unhappily shaking from side to side. While it certainly isn't uncommon for a guard to see the Celestial Ruler walking through the halls, at functions, or sitting in her throne room, it is much rarer for any of them to have a personal interaction with the Princess when on duty. Or for the Princess herself to have to reprimand a guard for being out of line. Even if the only indication is a mere glance and the reproving narrowing of her eyes.

Or for the Princess to personally give an assignment out, practically breaking and entering into the Prince's room.

Private Aspide doesn't know if Princess Celestia had been the one to go to her superior initially, but the Sergeant had been far too pleased to hand her a folder containing her new assignment. "All I can say is that I was asked if you were able to be released from your normal assignments for a month. That includes your bunk, so don't even think of crawling back here. Now, what did you do to make the Prince choose you? Huh?" When Aspide couldn't answer the Sergeant she continued, "Well, it better not come back to me, you hear? And it better not have been from you slacking off again!"

The folder is still sitting there, unopened against her side. Safely secured in her kit bag, all packed and ready to go. Thankfully not alongside a whole months worth of provisions. The quartermaster had just grunted at her when she showed up, and hoofed her a bulging pair of saddlebags, complete with field uniforms that hopefully fit her lithe frame. She grimaces; that would be the worst part, wouldn't it? A month long assignment with clothes that don't fit. So much easier to go naked, but that isn't an option when working as a representative of Celestia's Royal Guard. At least she won't have to lug her armor around.

Well, might as well make sure the uniform fits.

Aspide walks into the Prince's room, pulling the door shut behind her. Smaller than she thought a Prince's chambers would be. Spartan, even. Just a single bed, crammed into the corner. Not some four posted monstrosity, wavy curtains surrounding a luxurious mattress. Instead, what would have doubled as a guard bunk. She tests the mattress, frowning at the complete lack of give. And just as hard too, a thin sheet above and no trace of a pillow. Not even the indentation in the mattress that there ever was a pillow. It seems barely more than an afterthought, like it doesn't get used for anything other a painful reminder of the necessity of sleep. Kind of like those chairs she sometimes has to pull out for the foreign dignitaries Princess Celestia doesn't like. Or maybe it's just a Saddle Arabian thing.

One of the walls has a few odd sections carved into it, a metal bar bolted into the wall near the ceiling. A dresser dominates the other side, but only because of the small dimensions of the room. A full length mirror, a few garments left hanging on top. Likely choices from whatever function Prince Blueblood was attending that night. Or, possibly, the maids despise him and refuse to come in here. Or he hates the maids and doesn't trust them to not snoop around his room. She glances back to the closed door as her hoof slides a drawer open, eyes sparkling as she uncovers the secrets held inside.

She frowns. Neck ties. Blue ribbons. Cravats. It's like he has some sort of neck fetish. Enchanted flowers to pin on a lapel. The rest of the drawers are empty. Empty! Aspide shakes her head; even she, a lowly guard, has more clothes than this! Weren't stallions supposed to be, like, obsessed about this sort of thing? Hmm, maybe he's more like some of the less pretentious noble stallions, like that Three Piece Suit and his colt. She's seen them wear the same outfit, and on more than one occasion. She pulls the drawers fully open, inspecting for some sort of hidden compartment, but the one she finds is empty as well. Also really dusty. Maybe he should get a maid in here.

She goes to the closet; maybe he is hiding something in there? But no; instead, it is just four of the exact same suit. She shakes her head as she inspects a little closer. Not a duplication. The stitching and cut are slightly different on each. Still, why would somepony need four of the same suit? Five, assuming he is wearing one now to whatever function he is attending.

Whatever. Her type of stallion, then, one that didn't care about clothes. Well, time to make sure her own uniform fits. Her mind drifts to Princess Celestia's question, before the alicorn had opened the door to Prince Blueblood's room.

"Is everything in order?"

Her quick answer, trying to keep the sneer out of her voice. "I have my assignment right here, Princess," as she held up the folder, quickly dropped back into her kit bag.

"Good. Any questions?"

"None at the moment. Princess."

"Private Aspide." With that, the Princess had walked off, the slow clop of her hoofsteps loud until she turned the corner, the noise then disappearing completely. She had lazily saluted at the Princess' retreating form, rolled her eyes at the lack of response.

Out of the kit bag comes three colors of shirts, one each of light blue, medium, and gold. She runs a hoof over the gold shirts, frowning a little at the lack of actual gold thread. Well, she is just a private after all. She's more surprised the Prince doesn't have real gold shirts. Although, the medium blue does match his cutie mark. And, technically, so does the gold. She pauses, glowering at herself; of course she remembers that. She's certainly been staring at his flank for long enough.

Aspide shakes her head as she pulls the medium blue shirt around her barrel, then struggles to button the front up. These Tartarus forsaken dress shirts, always made with a unicorn in mind! Or a pegasus; they at least could bend a wing to the center of their chest easily enough to try to slip the buttons through the small slits. Not like the trial she has to go through. Carefully balancing on two legs, propping her head up against the wall in order to maneuver her front two hooves together. Her balance is good enough, but she gives up halfway though, the top two buttons undone. Whatever, it'll make it easier to come off. 

Aspide moves to the mirror, briefly admiring her trim figure in the blue shirt practically hanging off of her. At least it complements her natural gray coloring, allowing her to blend in to a crowd, not looking too ostentatious. At least not in Canterlot. Who knows how much the uniform will make her stand out, should they be going to one of the border towns.

Actually, she really should figure out what these orders are. She reaches into her kit bag, withdrawing the folder her Sergeant had given her.

'Dear Private Aspide,

You and Prince Lunaris Blueblood will be traveling to the Griffon Kingdom. Before you go, there are a number of lessons the two of you will need to complete, in order to better familiarize yourselves with Griffon culture. You will be going through these lessons together and traveling together.

You will be traveling as his assistant; completing paperwork, purchasing goods, carrying supplies. You will fill any role he has for you. And I expect you to bring him back in one piece.

This assignment is completely voluntary. If you object to going, please let me or your superior know as soon as you can. It will be dangerous, and I cannot guarantee your safety. But, it is an important assignment, one I have faith you will be able to accomplish.

Princess Celestia'

Aspide grins to herself; his name is Lunaris? No wonder he goes by Prince Blueblood all the time; who would want to be named after the the moon? Must be a noble thing. Or a unicorn thing; of all the tribes, they certainly drift to the occult the most frequently.

Also, the Griffon Kingdom? Aspide's eyes go wide, rummaging through her kit bag. She pulls out a few bags of toiletries, a heavy scarf, a thick knit hat, before pulling out a small booklet. She flips through the first few pages, glancing over the notes about griffons until she comes to a map of Griffonstone. She huffs, the lack of detail more frustrating than anything. It's like somepony just flew over the area from five thousand feet and sketched what they saw. And there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the building placement! Just, wherever there happens to be a solid bit of rock, well, there is a house. And no labels on the map, either.

The next page contains what she is looking for, a map of the entirety of the Griffon Kingdom.

Before she can delve into the contents of the map, a voice mutters as the door swings open, "Those two muzzled, good for nothing toadies! I cannot-"

Aspide startles back, her hind leg bumping into the base of the bed. Her other leg tries to catch her balance but hits the same spot, the mare dropping to her rump and sitting on the bed in a very exposed position.

Prince Blueblood strides into his room, his rant abruptly stopping as he takes a brief look at the scantily clad mare on his bed. He sighs, "Whatever it is you are doing, whoever put you up to this, you can forget it. Get out of my room." He walks up to his dresser, eyes pointedly looking away from her as his neck tie comes undone.

Aspide blushes as she rolls to the side, stammering as she says, "I'm sorry, um, Prince Blueblood. But, I was told-"

Prince Blueblood holds up a hoof, silencing her explanation. "I don't want to hear it. Please leave."

"Okay, okay, Lunaris, I'm going." Aspide starts walking to the door, stopping after two steps, "But, I was ordered to get in touch with you. About our upcoming assignment."

"And you thought the best way to go about that was to dress as a common whorse and... display yourself on the bed?" Prince Blueblood raises an eyebrow, turning to stare at her. "Did Princess Celestia put you up to this?"

"No!" Private Aspide angrily yells; she pauses for a split second at the unicorn's skeptical look, huffing at his unwavering stare. "Well, sort of." Aspide rolls her eyes as Lunaris' eyebrows narrow, "Yes, she gave me this assignment. But she didn't tell me to do, um, that." Aspide holds up the letter from the Princess, "She says I'm, um, assigned to you on your, actually, our trip to the Griffon Kingdom."

"And?" Prince Blueblood's horn lights, his dress jacket unbuttoning as he turns back to the dresser. He lays the neck tie next to the others while the jacket levitates to the closet, a short glance to the mare still between him and his bed.

"Well, she kind of let me into your room. And left me here."

"And did she give you, I don't know, a reason for this?"

"Well, we'll have some lessons to complete. Together. I think? I certainly don't want to go to the Griffon Kingdom without extra training. And we'll be going through the training together." Aspide smiles, "And, um, we'll be spending a lot of nights together. Camping, I mean."

"Obviously, since there isn't a pony settlement east of Trottingham. And the Griffons themselves are hardly likely to grasp the concept of a bed, much less have two available."

"Okay, well, if what you are saying is true, then we'll be bunking together. A lot. Why not, um, get the awkwardness out of the way now?"

Lunaris raises an eyebrow, glancing between the door and the mare stilll between him and his bed. "I can think of a few reasons. Don't you have somewhere else you could be? Such as, I don't know, anyplace else?"

Aspide sighs, "Um, not really. I don't have anywhere else to stay right now. I mean, I could leave the castle and get a hotel. Or ask Princess Celestia about a guest room." She walks up to the wall, resting her head against it and struggling to unbutton the shirt. A sigh from behind surprises her, and she sees a golden aura surround the buttons, quickly undoing them. She smiles at Lunaris as she strips off the shirt, packing the various items back into her bag.

Lunaris stares as he watches the gray mare, "Right, yes, I suppose you could. But, before you run off and go do that, why did you think that here would have been the best place for you to spend the night? Aren't you afraid about what will the other guards will say?"

Aspide snorts, "They'll probably think I lost a bet and was forced to spend the night with the least popular noble in Canterlot."

"I wasn't talking about how they would see you." Lunaris' disdain dissipates slightly as he sighs regretfully at her statement, "But, good for you, I suppose. Now, it is late; like you said, if I know Auntie then she has something planned for us first thing in the morning."

"Okay!" Aspide says, beaming a smile. She walks up to the side of the bed, "So, you don't mind sleeping on the floor, do you?"

Lunaris snorts, "I will be sleeping on my bed, thank you. I don't care where you sleep."

"Works for me," Aspide says with a smirk, cuddling up in the middle of the bed. She can feel Lunaris' stare smolder into her, a smile creeping over her muzzle before she feels her body slip to the side. Her eyes narrow as Lunaris yanks the sheet from underneath her. He folds the sheet in half, placing it between the two as he roughly shoves himself onto the bed and her into the wall. His horn goes out, the room cast into darkness as he tucks his hooves underneath him.

"Good night, Your Highness," Aspide taunts, a slight frown at the silence that follows. She sighs, settling down onto the bed. Not enough space to be comfortable, at least without pushing into his thick frame. Well, she's not going to give in that easily. She relaxes, her body resting against his, neither budging as she settles into the snug position.