Over two centuries ago, the spacious brownstone mansion two streets down from Canterlot Palace had been the embassy of the Griffin Kingdom, but after the death of King Grover and the complete collapse of the realm into the warring fiefdoms, the building was abandoned as there was no kingdom to represent. As a result, the once important building sat unused and crumbling. Over time, weeds grew where the expansive grassy fields were, the magically-harnessed clouds had either floated away or vaporized, a portion of the roof caved in, and the building began to look less and less like an important meeting hall between species and more like something left over from a Nightmare Night play.
Over the decades the building had become an eyesore and had even been the local topic of demolition due to its near-ruined nature, until the day when Giles Greatmind, a refugee to Equestria who wished to improve the situation for his fellow griffins, petitioned the Crown to allow him possession of the building. When asked, he simply responded with his heartfelt wish: he desired to create an organization under which all non-ponies – not just griffins – could live in harmony with the dominant species of Equestria. Princess Celestia, impressed at his request, not only readily agreed but had also provided a grant through which Greatmind could fund the renovation of the facilities and start his organization. Furthermore, when the Frostburn Society had caught wind of it, they eagerly joined in to assist their fellow being; with their help, Greatmind’s dream was on the way to being realized.
Now, the Crown Association for the Advancement of Non-Ponies, better known by its initialism of CAANP, served as one of the pre-eminent civil rights associations for non-pony subjects of Equestria. In a land where tribalism was rare, the CAANP had most of its work complete, but that didn’t mean that equality was everywhere or that there weren’t occasional issues. Thus, wherever and whenever they were needed, the CAANP stood by, ready to further the cause of harmony between all Equestria’s subjects, hooved or not. Whether fighting for the rights of persecuted diamond dogs in court, providing housing aid to discriminated griffins, or even holding community get togethers so that ponies could make friends with species that lived within Equestria’s borders, the CAANP did its duty, as befitting Greatmind’s legacy.
Tonight, however, was not a time of fighting for equality; instead, it was a night of celebration as the CAANP headquarters had been chosen to host the first of many balls and cotillions that would be ongoing throughout all of Canterlot over the next few days. After all, it was a time of celebration: a new princess of Equestria would be crowned, but also a new species was being introduced to the world. Clearly, to Gisbourne Graceclaws, the current director of the CAANP, it was a time of magic and wonder and even as he viewed the goings-on in the grand ballroom with amazement, he knew the world that he and his fellow Equestrians lived in would never be the same again. After all, how could it be? From what little he’d heard about these humans, they were the only intelligent beings within their dimension, and to the griffin, the ramifications of that were nothing less than astonishing: With only a single intelligent species, he was sure that humans were much more aware and in-tune with equality and fairness than any of the various species on Equus. It made him a little jealous, truth be told, but he could only hope that if his guess was true, there would come a day when his world would be as fair as that of the humans’.
For the most part, Twilight Velvet sat at her table, completely captivated by the sight of so many different species waltzing and schmoozing as if this had been a ball on her native world. It was most certainly a view she would never see on her homeworld, not just because of the number of various beings present, but the fact that they seemed to get along with little to no issue.
Humanity could learn a thing or two from this, she mused to herself, though she kept it private.
Seated at a table across from her, her counterpart smiled. “At first, I enjoy the spectacle, but after a while, it ends up being somewhat stifling,” the unicorn voiced. “While I would like to attend less of them, both duty and station require my husband and I to come to more of these than we’d prefer.”
“That sounds entirely familiar,” the human woman replied. “We usually have more than a few official functions around the holidays and while they’re not mandatory to attend, it always helps one’s career to see and be seen. Tia, in particular, hates them.”
“So does Celly,” pony Velvet agreed. “Perhaps it’s the similarities in their – and our – natures?”
“Most likely so, and frankly, I think I’m old enough that I’d be more than happy to skip more than a few.” The human reached over and grabbed her flute of champagne, holding it out in a toast to her counterpart. “Well, here’s to not getting used to this.”
A similar flute, clad in light blue magic, clinked against hers in agreement. “You’ll get no argument out of me,” was the response as both Velvets chuckled.
Meanwhile, a slight distance away, the two Night Lights conversed with several colleagues of the pony’s. The group of astronomers, mages and scientists listened with a mixture of fascination and horror at the casual discussion of physics and astronomy that the human was detailing – and how out of sync it was with the world they knew.
Quantum Mechanix, a fellow at the Royal Astronomer’s Guild, had his eyes grow wider than dinner plates at the man’s last comment. “And your sun just rises and sets over the horizon by itself?” he asked, completely in disbelief at the strange mechanics of how their universe operated.
“Well, technically no,” the human explained. “It’s actually an optical illusion, as on Earth the rotation of the planet causes the appearance of the Sun’s movement across the sky. In truth, however, it’s just the planet moving on its axis at fifteen degrees per hour.”
“Your planet spins?” a second pony asked. “How do you stay on?”
“Gravity,” human Night explained simply.
Quantum nodded as if he had the answer. “But surely now that you have an alicorn in charge there, things will be set right, will they not?”
“Quantum,” pony Night explained to his associate, “their world is right – that’s all they’ve ever known, so why wouldn’t it be correct to them?”
The response only brought more confusion to the astronomer. “But wouldn’t Her Highness Princess Sunset wish to correct such a grievous error when she returns to the human realm?” he asked. Turning to the human, he stated, “Now that you have an alicorn of the princess’ caliber, it would only be right to fix such an erratic and unnatural situation in your universal order.”
“Sunny has no intention of mucking with something that was fine before she got there,” the human said affably. “Besides, I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be grounded if she did start messing with the firmament of the universe.”
“Grounded?”
The human smiled. “Parental prerogative.”
Seated at another table and only vaguely paying attention to the soiree around them, three different humans had their minds on their own conversation rather than the spectacle of the ball. More than a few ponies and non-ponies approached them, particularly due to the presence of the two women there, only to back away when they realized that these were not the individuals that they were looking for. And while both sisters looked ravishing tonight, making such a faux pas in identification might be more of a headache than it was worth.
“Would you stop being a downer, Lu?” Celestia said to her younger sister. It was sort of ironic, as just at the beginning of the year it had been Luna that had chastised the elder sister for being somewhat downtrodden at a formal event. That last time, Celestia had been so desperate for a date, she’d co-opted her best friend’s husband. This time around, however, it was she who had brought her own beau – and needless to say, Luna was present without hers.
“I’m sorry, I’m missing my fiancé right now,” she pouted, reminding her sister who was the one who was engaged. “While you know that Shadow and I really don’t care for this kind of thing, it would have been nice to spend some time with him. The change of pace might have even done him some good.”
“Well, why not dance with one of the other males here?” Sable suggested as Celestia snuggled up against him. “I’m sure they would be more than happy to spend time with an exotic beauty such as yourself.”
“Flatterer,” Luna told him with a quick grin. “But I already did, and it seems that minotaurs have two left feet when it comes to dancing, pandas have no clue how to dance, Abyssinians are not very careful about where they put their claws, gargoyles don’t like to dance because their wings get in the way and kitsune start proposing – and I mean literally proposing the moment you seem to show some vague thing that looks like the barest remote hints of interest, whether true or not. And that’s just the bipedal species. As for ponies and other quadrupeds, they seem to want to maintain a polite but reserved distance for some reason.”
“Well, I’d offer to dance with you,” Sable offered, “but I think your sister has other plans.”
“Yes, that tends to be the nature of women in our family; we can be somewhat clingy when it comes to our men,” Luna said, covering up another small smile by taking a drink from her champagne. “Remind me later to tell you about the time Chivalry offered to dance with one of our unwed cousins who was visiting in town. I swear, Moni seemed as though she was about to blow a fuse!”
“Oh, I remember that. Stellaria just wanted to dance and I think it ended getting Chiv in the doghouse with our sister for the rest of the night!” Celestia reminisced, a smirk coming to her face.
“Well, you two have fun – the night is young, and you never know if you’ll have an experience like this again,” Luna insisted. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Starò bene,” Luna assured her.
“I have no idea what she said, but I can guess.” Sable turned to his lady love, a smile coming to his face. “Shall we dance?” he asked as he took her hand.
“That would be lovely, dear,” she told him as he led her off to the dance floor. With that, the two wandered off, and it seems that all eyes were on the human Celestia, if for no other reason than who she was.
As Luna watched from the safety of the table, she gave herself a bittersweet smile: At last, her sister was finally having the time of her life with someone, and Lord knew that Celestia truly needed that. While Luna missed her own beau, she at least knew that she would see him again once this most magical mystery tour was over and done with and they returned to the human world. But then she looked towards the outdoor balcony and saw this world’s moon, seated in the sky and glowing with a soft white radiance.
The smile fell from Luna’s face; she wasn’t sure why, but somehow, she could feel a melancholia wafting away from the giant rock. Furthermore, she knew why: unlike her, Princess Luna would never have the pleasure of seeing her beloved ever again and at that realization, part of the human woman wept for her doppelganger and friend. The other Luna deserved someone in her life, but she insisted on remaining a recluse and would have been a total hermit if it weren’t for her duties. She’d forced herself into a painful seclusion, because she didn’t believe she could ever enjoy happiness again.
She drained the remainder of her glass, then got up to depart. While she’d promised to be here for Sunset’s sake, it was her student’s aunt that needed her more right now; given the situation, it seemed that being alone right now was not the best place for anyone, royalty or not.
Perhaps she could do some better good by helping to mend a broken heart, if only to console her own lonely one right now.
Sunset sighed as the last well-wisher departed her presence; she had already felt as though she’d been here too long, dealing with both the genuine well-wishers and those that would grovel for her attention. The plastic smile that had been on her face the whole time made her feel as though she was trying out for an alicorn version of the Joker rather than a genuinely genial new princess.
“Mother, if you do this every year for the Grand Galloping Gala, I have no idea how you manage,” she said to Princess Celestia.
“It’s an acquired skill,” the older alicorn admitted, resisting the urge to wrap a motherly wing around her daughter; while she wasn’t above doing that to Sunset in private, in a public function such as this it was probably best to spare her. “In time, you’ll learn how to deal with it.”
“No offense, but it’s nothing that I’d rather learn,” Sunset told her. “I like being a normal girl as much as I can be.”
“Enjoy it while you can, dear,” Celestia said with a touch of melancholy. “That way when things get rough, you can remember the good times and know that the bad ones don’t always stay around.” When Sunset gave her a questioning look, the solar alicorn gave a bittersweet chuckle. “This doesn’t actually have anything to do with you, dear heart. I was just thinking about my own mother. It’s occurred to me that I may have done the same thing with you as she did with me, and while it wasn’t intentional, it’s just that….” She sighed. “Your grandmother made mistakes in raising your aunt and I and sadly, the cycle continued.”
“You weren’t the only one, Mother. It’s fair to say we’ve both made mistakes, and they’re best left in the past,” Sunset told her. “You once told me that because of how light works, mirrors are good for looking into the past, but not at the future. Those are words I’ve taken to heart.”
Celestia craned her neck down and nuzzled her daughter. “Not even crowned yet and already a wiser princess than I,” she said proudly. “Well, now that the introductions are complete, I’m afraid I must depart. I have another appointment, and besides, this is your night and your opportunity to shine.”
“Another meeting?”
Celestia covered a polite giggle with her wing. “Actually…Poker Night. I get together on Friday evenings with the Castellan and several others on the palace staff and we play for bragging rights. High stakes, you understand.”
Sunset gave a curious look. “How high?”
“The last game got bad enough that I lost and ended up having to pay for Silken Thread’s family to go on vacation to Acapulcolt. It worked out for the best, though, given that she’s probably the hardest working of my clothiers. I take it you’ll be staying until the end?”
“Somepony has to be here to make sure my family stays out of trouble,” Sunset replied sardonically.
“Ah. And here I thought you were off to go spend some time with your special somepony.” A motherly smile came to Celestia’s muzzle. “As I understand it, you only went off to see Miss Pie once this week. You should spend time with her more often if you want your relationship to flourish!”
Sunset blinked. “What?”
“For what it’s worth, I approve. She seems like a sweet enough mare…er, girl. Just…please wait until you’re both adults to get married. I can wait to be a grandmother, dear. Ta!” With a loving nod, Celestia teleported away.
Sunset stared blankly, then covered the impending blush with her wing. “I am not dating Pinkie!” she groaned.
He hated this.
“Oh, but this place is sooooooo boring! Why don’t we go back to my place and…liven things up a little?”
Another night, another vapid mare on his foreleg, another mare he’d have to take back to his place, let the magic do the work and let her leave thinking she had the night of her life while Blueblood lay in bed next to a dazed-out mare, wondering how empty his life was. There had been so many of them that if he’d been of the mind to carve a notch every time this happened, he probably would have whittled a post down to toothpicks at this point.
“Or we could ~ giggle ~ just find a quiet room in this place, right?” She looked at him, the stars in her eyes seemingly caused by the presumable hole in the back of her head. “Just you…and…me.”
Another day of loneliness followed by another night of the same, with the only arrangement of note that he truly had being a large, unyielding stack of paperwork on his desk. Endless reports that came from the four corners of the realm and beyond, filled with data and information by his various agents, all of which had lives to lead – because they were allowed that.
Though his family and friends tried to keep his spirits up, the truth was that Blueblood was a prisoner, despite all his privileges and advantages.
The prisoner of a being known as Prince Blueblood – his damnable public persona.
“There’s this thing I do with my tail…I think you’d like it.” The mare, a dense little idiot by the name of Heatherfield, pouted prettily, hoping that it would signal how ready for a run in the meadow she was. Ponies were lucky in that though they had an estrous cycle, they still were sapient enough that they understood the concept of sex as pleasure and thus could participate in it. Clearly, she’d participated quite a few times if she’d used the old “thing with the tail” routine that was so common to mares of the night and ponies that slept with just about anything with a pulse. Hell, he’d never slept with anypony and at this point he could probably describe “the thing with the tail” to the point that he could write a scientific monograph on it.
He hated this more than he could say – and he could say quite a lot, unfortunately. His skin itched as he could feel his coat against hers. She was ready and willing to go. He was ready and willing for her to go away.
“Excuse me, for a moment, will you?” he said to her in his most charming voice possible.
“You’d leave a young, innocent thing like me all alone here?” she said in a breathy voice, strongly indicating she was likely neither young nor innocent.
“I must find a place for us to….” He gave her a dazzling smile and left off the rest of the sentence. Let her think that he wanted more from her than to just be as far away from her as equinally possible.
“Don’t be too long,” she said, levitating a champagne flute to her muzzle.
He took a walk, hoping to get as far away from her as he could without departing the party that he unfortunately needed to be present for his image’s sake. In any case, hopefully several more minutes would go by, with the result being that she’d be drunk thanks to the small, unnoticeable spell he’d cast on her drink. If he was lucky, she’d go off and find some other, more willing target; if not, he could just dump her in some random empty bedroom and let her sleep it off.
The more cynical part of his conscience told him to just deal with it and actually bed her; that a trophy mare was probably for the best anyway, as it would mean that he wouldn’t be chased anymore. He could stop living a facade as a careless playcolt, instead trading it for an equal lie of being a happily married stallion; that dealing with some moronic bit-digging mare would be worth it as opposed to the eternal emptiness that faced him. Or maybe he should take the hint and let his aunts tie him down with some Hoof that wanted to retire and deserved the company of a prince. After all, he was a prince, and princes married for the fate of the nation, correct? Situations such as his parents, or his cousin were exceedingly rare and certainly not the standard, right? Besides, even he knew that due to their duties and position, the sirens were gorgeous creatures and ponies that would be perfect foreleg candy for a prince with an image to maintain.
He hated that.
He hated all of this.
As she leaned against the balcony railing outside the main portion of the ballroom, Octavia nursed a flute of champagne, much more cautious about drinking, especially after the accident earlier in the week. A warm spring wind enshrouding her like a stole, the stars glittered around her like a canopy of glittering diamonds just waiting to be touched. She’d spent most of the night out here, talking with Rarity, but as was typical for the fashionista, she decided to go off and play social butterfly. That had been well over an hour ago, and Octavia had been left completely do her own devices since that point.
From here, she could at least enjoy the music performed by the small chamber ensemble. Truth be told, they weren’t half bad, but she could already tell that the violinist had his or her strings awkwardly tuned; and the harpist, often a beat or two behind, clearly wasn’t used to working with a group. Octavia gave herself a soft, private smile at that; she’d spent more time at Quick Note’s music store this week than she had with all the psychiatrists that had been lined up for her. In retrospect, that had been a good thing; most of them were reluctant to try to help Octavia, citing “the unusualness of the human mind” and a variety of other excuses why they couldn’t – or wouldn’t – try to help her with her problem. Part of her wondered if she should have informed Sunset about what they’d said, but she didn’t want to rock the boat for those whose well-meaning paucity and ethics genuinely prevented them from offering assistance.
Besides, right now, she had other issues on her mind. If Amabile’s wounds and convalescence bothered her, the death of Dolente Ascent and the other guards haunted her. The fact that Whiskey had briefly become suicidal after feeling that she failed the raven-haired girl was an additional weight on Octavia’s heart as well, though thankfully that had been sorted out. Even now, she knew she was still being watched, albeit from afar. She wondered if the guards watching her thought of her as a sort of albatross around their necks, a thing to be put up with only because she was, ostensibly, a relative of their newest princess. She pondered if they held her responsible for the death of their fellow warriors and fretted that being around her was a harbinger of injury or worse.
And worst of all? She swore she could still hear Melody’s voice in the back of her head, whispering black language and dark desires to her. A voice that claimed to be her evil twin, somehow having survived beyond the grave and wanting not only her body back, but so much more. Though Octavia was still in control, the alter ego that lurked in the deepest parts of her psyche was getting stronger and bolder with each passing day. Once, Octavia would have believed it to be nothing more than her weird genetics at work, but the past few weeks now made her wonder just exactly how much of a figment of imagination Melody truly was.
What if Melody really was real? What if her supposed twin had somehow survived beyond nonexistence and wanted revenge for something that was beyond Octavia’s control? What if she desired the surviving twin’s death for events that were truly out of the latter’s hands? Octavia had no real way to explain any of it, but she knew that she couldn’t – wouldn’t – relinquish control to Melody. Her family was at stake and she loved them too much to ever let them be subjected to the madwoman that claimed to be her undead twin.
Despite the warmth of the evening, Octavia shivered at the thought.
Seated atop her tower, Princess Luna sighed. She had a perfect view of the CAANP building and could see the festivities clearly…but once again, there was a party going on and she wasn’t in attendance; a typical thing for her at this point. It wasn’t as though she didn’t enjoy such events – she enjoyed them far more than her sister did, to be honest – but tonight was the night. On this evening so long ago, the guards had come to her bearing the body of her beloved Bucephalus on a bier. That night she’d wept openly and screamed at the unfairness of it all, setting herself down a dark, bloody path that even now, centuries later, she was still struggling to overcome.
Even now, she could feel his touch, with those warm strong muscles of his under that coat. She could see that earnest smile that was just for her, and those gentle, caring eyes that showed nothing but deep, boundless love. He would have been a horrible prince consort, he told her, but he would be one all the same because it meant being with her always. She knew he would be a horrible prince consort because he was no politician, but it was that very same quality that would ensure that he would have probably been the greatest amongst princes. Instead, he’d been betrayed and murdered by his best friend. In her own grief she ultimately gave in to despair and hatred, and the world had suffered for it. The echoes of those past events still impacted the present day, centuries long after those who had lived through those times were gone.
Yet she lived on…and she wondered if she was damned for it.
“You shouldn’t be alone right now,” a familiar voice told her. “No one deserves to be lonely on a night when they’re grieving.” Princess Luna turned to her counterpart, her eyes filled with ageless tears of incalculable sorrow, for the love she’d lost and the lives that had been ruined in the aftermath.
“Why?” the night alicorn asked. “This is my grief, and you are here for my niece’s sake. This is your time to enjoy yourself.”
“Not when you told me how much you hurt,” the human woman told her. “You told me the truth: that you were never truly sick, that you were taken by something primal and dark, and that everyone and everything you ever loved suffered because of it.” Luna hung her head in shame briefly, pausing to choose her next words with care. “I know how that is.”
“You do? How?”
“I didn’t have the same experiences as you, but in my own way they were similar. I am eight years younger than my oldest sister Armonia and four years younger than Tia. I look up to Velvet both as a best friend and an older sister figure as well, but when you’re a teenager, none of that matters. You feel all alone and abandoned, especially when your sisters were far more popular than you and you had no hope of meeting that same bar.” She chuckled bitterly. “Moni was the most popular girl in school during her time there, and so were Tia and Vel. Me? I was ungainly, awkward and tomboyish. Maybe a bit overweight and really didn’t know how to react. So, when puberty finally kicked in during my first year in high school, I railed against all the unfairness of the world. The fact that no one understood me, that no one cared, and that high school society considered me a reject even as they embraced Tia and Vel.”
A sad look of recollection came over Luna’s face as she dredged up the memories of the past like a fisherman trawling in the mud. “I started hanging out with the wrong crowd, wearing a purple wig, listening to goth and industrial and even called myself ‘Nightmare Moon’, because I thought it sounded completely cool. I suppose it was, in the typical teenage rebellion sort of way, but adolescents aren’t exactly known for grand leaps of logic.”
The alicorn turned to listen to the tale being told with fascination; after all, this wasn’t her story and yet somehow it was. She wondered: had she been human, would her life be a copy of what her counterpart went through? It was clear that even without magic, the human Luna had been through something traumatic of her own life, something that had clearly marked her. She had no real answer for that, so instead she focused her full attention on the human woman, searching for answers in the tale being told.
Meanwhile, Luna continued her litany of teenage wastelands and high school oblivion. “So as a teenager, I was a little shit, to put it charitably: Lots of partying, lots of telling my parents to fuck off, all that kind of stuff. Did a lot of pot, drank a lot of beer and did things that I would be horrified to see anyone else that age do now.” An embarrassed look crossed her face as she added, “My first sexual experience? Slept with a random guy at a party I wasn’t supposed to go to because I was high as a kite and we were bored. I don’t even remember the guy’s name – I might not even have known it.”
Princess Luna blinked. “But you—”
“Lulu, even though we’re the same, we’re different. My path isn’t yours and yours wasn’t mine. You were led down the dark path because you lost the one you loved, and you felt you had no one to turn to. In my case, I led myself down that path because I was too stupid and selfish to realize there were alternatives I could have chosen.” She shook her head. “All I had to do was to talk to Tia or Vel and tell them all the things I was going through. They had only gone through similar things a few years prior, so they had the fresh experiences I could have appreciated. But instead, I was an island of self-pity and determined to be a loner. It’s bad enough for anyone, but when you’re a teenager it’s toxic.”
Luna walked over to her friend’s bar and poured them both glasses of wine; somehow, it seemed apt. “Ultimately, six months later, my sister and I came to blows. By then, Moni was off at college and Tia was getting ready to graduate that year. Meanwhile, I was the hell of the school and an embarrassment to my family. Tia will always say that it was her disappointment in me that led us to fight in public, and maybe to a large degree it was. But I’m pretty sure what set her off was because I did something so stupid that when the news got out, she couldn’t face any of her friends because of what her ‘dear little sister’ did.”
Princess Luna took the drink in her magic and took a sip. “You seem awfully calm about all this,” she noted.
“Nearly four decades’ worth of living past it was more than enough time to look back on it with a sense of humor,” Luna admitted. “Besides, I was lucky: back then, people didn’t have smartphones and therefore cameras weren’t all over the place. If I did that nowadays, it’d be all over the internet and the net never forgets.” She laughed again. “I wonder what my students would think of their principal if they knew the kind of person I was back then? Most of them think of me as a strict but fair disciplinarian, while more than a few know that I’m someone they can turn to if they need help. But sometimes I wonder if they would think twice if they knew any of the story, much less the whole of it?”
The night princess sat there, rapt. “Do I want to know? More importantly, would I understand?”
Luna took a seat next to her counterpart. “Oh, I’m very sure you’d understand. Just about any civilized being would.” Luna then went and bent over, whispering in the alicorn’s ear for a solid minute. Though she could just have said it aloud, given that it was just the two of them, this way seemed a better method to inform, as if the illicitness of her act back then was salacious enough that it deserved equal treatment.
Sure enough it did: the alicorn’s jaw dropped. While there was no direct equivalent to what the human had told her, the night alicorn was more than creative enough to figure out the details. “You what?”
Luna laughed heartily, then drained her glass and went over to pour another one. “The world had pissed me off to the point of not caring by then, and all it took was one prim and proper prissy teacher to tell me why my sheer top and leather outfit wasn’t dress code. He soon found out that it was better than the alternative.” She gave a salacious smile. “Probably could’ve gotten a little more too, if he’d just went with the flow.”
Princess Luna and Luna stood there, looking at each other, glasses filled with wine. Endless minutes went by before either spoke. “What happened then?” the alicorn asked.
“I got sexually frustrated.”
“You know what I mean.”
The woman giggled. “To my surprise, Tia immediately showed up, screaming at me in Italian and pushing me well past the point of no return. It probably should’ve surprised me that she was at my side of the school, but then again given that she was the metaphorical belle of the ball, they weren’t likely to ask her why. In any case, it turned out to be a very bad thing for both of us that she was there.
“I don’t remember who threw the first punch or what happened after that. I was moving on automatic, throwing every punch I had, every blow of mine filled with hate and anger and rage at the world, and I didn’t care who or what I hit at that point. My sister has told me since that I gave as good as I got, but the difference was clear: after all, she was into SCA and a bunch of other martial things, while I’ve always been into art and writing and the like. Ultimately, one of us was going to go down, and I knew it wasn’t going to be her.
“The next thing I recall, I had a broken arm and was deathly afraid of Tia, so much so that for at least a week, I was living at Vel’s place because I was afraid to go home. As for Tia, our parents grounded her for a month for fighting and the only reason she got off so light was because of the recommendations of the school faculty, strange as that was.” Luna laughed once more, but this time there was a harder edge to it. “Nice to know someone got off light for what I did.
“After that, I was expelled from Cardiff High and I finished out my freshman year at San Diego County Northern Alternative High. Going there was more than enough to straighten me out and eventually changed my ways. I got some counseling, got accepted back to Cardiff High for my sophomore year and became a normal student. But in some ways, the damage was done: It’s taken me years to be as close to Tia as I used to be, and even then, we’re still not as close as we were. But I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. Yes, it was pain, both for me and for others, but it made me a better person in the end.
Cyan eyes looked at like. “The loss of your love turned your life into hell, and just as much for others. But in the end, you’ve persevered and become a better princess for it, I’ll wager. Don’t let your loss blind you from what it’s given you as well.”
The two Lunas embraced as the alicorn tearfully nuzzled and thanked her counterpart for being the one being there for her at that moment, when she needed somepony most of all…
…the one that would understand.
“This sucks!” groaned Jewel. “It’s the night of one of the most important balls in Equestria and I’m here, stuck at work, doing paperwork!”
“Jewel, I get it; believe me, I’m not happy either,” Softwing agreed, “but we serve at Sunny’s needs, and right now we have to set up the pay for the SIRENs.” At the moment, she was at a computer that Sunset had provided, reading some documents for a pay system that Sonata had found. “We need to make sure that they get their recruitment bonus, housing and clothing allowances and other basic payments before they leave Equestria.”
“Why? Aren’t they supposed to be naval personnel? Shouldn’t that be the naval paymaster’s job?” she asked. I’m stuck here, while my sweetie is probably going danceless without me! How am I supposed to be a great fillyfriend for the princess if she’s stuck there without me?
“Because the SIRENs are going to be living on Earth, and given that humans don’t know we exist, I really doubt that there’s a bit-to-human money conversion available. The Navy will be forwarding us the appropriate funds for them as per the agreement, and our office will be responsible for making sure they get paid,” the griffin reminded her. “Plus, I’m sure the paymaster probably doesn’t know a thing about human pay systems. Heck, I’m reading this instruction manual right now for the pay system Cmdr. Dusk found and even with the knowledge spells that Sunny cast on me I still don’t get half of this and I have to manage the pay for the SIRENs and myself.”
“Yourself? Aren’t you on the Royal Payroll Service?” Softwing just gave her subordinate an even look and Jewel blushed. “That’s right – you’ll be living on Earth, too. My bad.” A thought then came to her. “Does that mean I have to move to Earth as well?”
“No, because on the days when I’m stuck over there, I’ll need you to be here, in charge of the office. We are getting a bunch of other employees in time, and you’re going to be my right-hoof mare. So we’ll need somepony here we can trust, and that pony is you.”
Jewel sighed; and here she was, planning a getaway for just her and her sweetie after this was all over. I guess I’ll have to borrow a book or two when I get a chance to see what romantic honeymoon spots exist on Earth so Princess Sunset and I can spend that time together, like we’re supposed to!
Sometimes it was hard being the special somepony of a princess….
“Usually isn’t it the prince that finds the fair damsel wiling away on the lonely balcony?”
Having had his eyes on the moon, Blueblood turned towards the speaker. He knew the voice but was surprised to see the owner. “Ah, you must be Rarity. I have the honor of knowing your counterpart, both in the good and the bad.”
“Yes, I am quite aware,” the teen stated. “She told me of the time when she’d done to you what so many others had, and how you brusquely shoved her off as a result. However, she also informed me of the truth and that she deserved it.”
“That is most certainly true. I have since apologized to Lady Rarity and now I keep her in my confidence as well about my true nature.”
“Octavia has also told me that it was just an affectation and that in truth you’re a stallion of honor and integrity, forced to pretend to be anything but, so I assure you, sir, you are more than safe with me.” The teen nodded. “I wish I could say the same about your counterpart, but unfortunately, all his ugliness is entirely of his own nature.”
“Yes, the Lady Octavia told me about him,” he replied, an edge in his tone. “It sickens me to know that some churlish knave is besmirching my good name…even if it is technically his as well. Although…sometimes I wish I could be that ugly,” he told her in confidence.
Rarity looked at him with surprise. “How so?”
“I just had a run-in with yet another mare who wants me for my title or my wealth rather than for me.” She gave him a look of understanding, but all he could do was to shrug. “I suppose my good looks play into it, but I could be as ugly as Tirek’s tail and enough money would still make me palatable enough to gain a trophy mare.”
The look in his eyes were bleak, Rarity noted, and he seemed subdued in a way that she would swear she couldn’t imagine his counterpart. However, she had to admit, she also saw something else.
“It seems to me that you’re a gentleman pining for a ravishing young mare,” Rarity stated. “Or perhaps I should say a ravishing young woman?” He gave her a sudden look of surprise, and she smiled in return. “My counterpart and I don’t always align precisely. We agree that I seem to have a sharper instinct on what a man – or in your case, a stallion – wants. And I see in your eyes a man who is in love but doesn’t even realize it. Perhaps you just need to set your eyes on a different goal?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, though I do appreciate the compliment,” he told her. “I just…I was thinking of my younger sister just now. She passed away during the war and I miss her dearly.”
“I suppose,” Rarity stated, knowing that was a lie, but opting not to call him on it. “I have no older brother of my own, but my friends who do state that an older brother can always be relied upon. But I am an older sister, and speaking as one, I can see when emotions are overwhelming. And you are not suffering through melancholy, dear sir, but indecision.” she went over to him and placed a friendly hand on his withers. “There’s a girl I know who is head over heels in love with her intended. Her intended is, quite honestly, an alien to our world, and one would think that given the human propensity for being the only intelligent species on our world that the taboo against loving a non-human is strong, if only due to instinct. But she saw past that and saw the individual and as a result, she is selflessly and totally in love with her intended – and I hope her intended sees that and responds.
“I see that same thing in you, good sir. You are on the verge of realizing that you want something – no, someone – for the first time in your life and you don’t know how to react. You are used to being chased while remaining chaste, to dare a bit of wordplay on my part. Now, you have the chance to finally react, but you’re not sure what to do. Perhaps it is because you are a prince…or because you are a pony?”
Blueblood was silent for the longest time before finally pursing his lips, as if carefully choosing his words. “If I were interested in a relationship…if I were, mind…it would have nothing to do with my station or my being. No, what is holding, er, would hold me back would be a lack of interest on behalf of the other party, and the fact that we live in separate worlds – literally. Ultimately anything would be like two airships passing in the night, my dear lady.”
Rarity smiled at that. “We humans have a saying,” she told him. “Love finds a way.”
“That sounds like something my cousin would say.”
“Your cousin sounds very wise, because it is true. I can assure you that I see a captivity in the eyes of the other that you do not, because you are struggling with your own questions. And those, I’m afraid, I cannot answer for you. Forgive the human saying, but you can only lead a horse to water – you cannot make him drink.”
Blueblood laughed at that. “Sounds like a maxim we have: ‘You can take a mare to the bar, but you can’t get her to order’. Perhaps such wisdom is universal.” He looked at the moon again and said, “Unfortunately, I can tarry no further. I have duties in the morning that I need to attend to, and they will not be with the lovely Miss Melody. In fact, alas, they are out of town, and as I understand it, she will be headed to Ponyville herself tomorrow, so the chance to spend more time with her is at a minimum.” He bowed to her, adding, “However, I thank you for both your company and your kind words. I hope to speak to you again before the coronation.”
As he departed, Rarity smiled. He called her lovely, she thought to herself in a satisfied grin. He’s further gone than he realizes.
A pink hoof knocked on a bedroom door, the owner of said appendage wearing concern upon her face. “Pinkie? Can I come in?” the pony Pinkie asked. There was no answer, and that made her worry. It had been a rollercoaster of a week dealing with her counterpart, and though she really didn’t want to voice it, Pinkie had to admit that the teenager that shared her name was…well, a hoofful. She knew that others had said that about her before, but she took it in stride, not really understanding what that meant.
She knew now.
Truthfully, it wasn’t the nicest thing to think about her counterpart, but it didn’t make it any less true. Pinkie never realized until now that even she had a limit, and the other Pinkie was hammering it like Jack Hammer and Drill Bit whenever they were working on a construction project. She probably wasn’t doing it intentionally, but nonetheless it was happening.
And as her counterpart, the one that probably understood her most, Pinkie had to reach out to her.
Except that wasn’t entirely true, was it? She really didn’t understand her counterpart on the same level as the others. The two Twilights got along, and so did the Raritys, the Fluttershys and, after a bumpy time, eventually so did the Rainbows. Her friend Applejack wasn’t getting along too well with her own counterpart, and maybe that was because they were too different. And now Pinkie could see why.
It didn’t mean she didn’t like the other Pinkie. No, there was much to admire about her counterpart; she especially liked the teenage girl’s work ethic; if the mare had to be honest with herself, the human Pinkie was probably a harder worker than she was. Regardless, she was younger and didn’t really see the world with adult eyes like Pinkie herself did. And right now, that didn’t make a difference anyway. Right now, she needed to help a friend out of a jam, and it fell upon her to do so.
“Pinkie…please open up. I want to help,” she spoke, her words pleading.
“I think I’d better help instead.” The pony turned around to see the human Twilight Sparkle standing there, a worried look on her face as well.
“Can you help her?” Pinkie asked.
“I’ll try,” Twilight replied. “Can you do me a favor?” When the pink pony nodded, Twilight brought up her phone. “This recipe is for French Onion grilled cheese sandwiches. If you can make that for her as well as a tomato basil bisque, it’s her favorite. That will help cheer her up.”
“I’ll get right on it!” Pinkie said, taking the phone and shoving it in her mane so she could run downstairs and get started immediately.
Now it was Twilight’s turn at bat. “Pinkie, it’s me, Twily,” she said to the door. “I need to talk to you.”
A response came, fragile and broken. “She’s…. I’m losing her, aren’t I? I’m going to lose her!”
“Will you let me in, please? It’s easier to talk when I’m not looking at a wooden plank.”
A second later the door swung open, and a forlorn voice said through the crack, “Come in.” Twilight went in and immediately went over to the bed, where Pinkie had just sat down. She looked like she’d been run through the wringer, raw: her eyes were red from tears, her hair hung down limply and her face was flushed from crying.
“Pinkie?”
“She…she hasn’t answered my calls or pages for the past couple of days,” Pinkie said forlornly. “I asked Tavi and the triplets to have her call or text me, but I haven’t heard anything. And now with the news that some fox prince is marrying her—”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked.
“She’s marrying some fox prince named Fujibuji or something like that!”
“No she’s not – not at all.” At that, Pinkie looked at Twilight the same way a starving man would look at a banquet, desperate for information. “Why did you think that?”
“Because she won’t speak to me and her secretary said that some prince from another country asked to marry her. Then I overheard the florist this morning say that she got an order of crystal roses from the In-something-or-other embassy all the way in Canterlot, because some prince named Fujifilm or something was going to propose to the new princess!” Pinkie then produced a newspaper, pointing at the front page. “They were seen kissing in Happy Skyline Park, wherever that is!”
Twilight laughed and sat down next to her friend. “That was a misunderstanding – and a bad one, too, Pinkie. According to Twi, the fox in question tried to propose to every one of the girls over there, and when they all turned him down – Sunny included – he tried to kidnap Tavi so he could take her back to his country. He’s been arrested for that, and Tavi’s safe.”
“But what about—”
“Twi told me about that.” Twilight went over and picked up the paper that Pinkie had been brandishing a second before. “The Examining Inquirer is a gossip tabloid, the same kind of tripe that even Rares says is bullshit. Don’t believe a word of this, Pinkie.”
“Really?” Twilight nodded, and the cotton-candy haired girl breathed a sigh of relief. But a second later, Pinkie’s mood darkened again as she realized that one of her friends had been attacked and that she was being selfish about things. “Is Tavi okay?”
“Yes, and apparently there’s a long story about that, but she’ll tell us when she gets here tomorrow. You do remember that they’re coming to Ponyville, right?”
“But why hasn’t Sunny called me?”
“Same reason she probably hasn’t called me: she probably forgot to charge her phone. You know she’s bad about that, especially since she can use her magic to charge it. That’s an option the rest of us don’t have.” Twilight took Pinkie’s hands in hers. “She’s not leaving us or marrying a fox or ignoring anyone. Besides, there’s no way my parents would even consent to that and I doubt that Princess Celestia would, either. You’re being silly, Pinkie.”
“Well, I am Pinkie Pie,” she stated via a wavering smile that both girls knew she didn’t feel. “I’m supposed to be silly, right? That’s me, Silly Pinkie, with the maturity of a twelve-year-old—”
“Stop that.” Twilight gave her a disappointed look. “You’re just deeply in love with my sister. She means the world to you and that means a lot to me, though truth be told, I’m a little envious. I wish I could find someone who could love me as much as you love Sunny. I mean, there was a guy I met in my freshman year who went to Munechinger that I liked, but then he moved away shortly afterwards, and I haven’t been as lucky in love since. But you, Pinkie: you’re sure of who you want. It makes me happy that you love my sister so much,” the teen scholar noted, then decided to take a different tack. “Do you remember what I told you a couple of months back?”
Pinkie nodded. “I do. You didn’t want me to smother Sunny just because I love her, and I promise you I haven’t, Twily. She means too much for me to do that.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, prodding a bit on that.
“I haven’t, I promise. Well, other than dealing with that bitch Rose, and I got in trouble with my aunt and uncle for that. But it’s justified! Rose should know better than to push on another girl’s girlfriend. I mean, you don’t see me chasing after Forward Pass, right?”
“Pinkie, that’s not the point,” Twilight noted. “She hasn’t told me as much, but…Sunny’s afraid right now. She’s now a goddess with massive responsibilities and yet still must try to live a normal life when even that’s no longer an option for her. Just a few months ago she was a typical girl, but now she’s a literal and ridiculously wealthy princess, even by our standards! Just from the money she has on Earth, she’s got more than our parents do, and I don’t even want to think about her net value here. But all she wants more than anything is just to be normal. And it’s not the best time to exacerbate her situation by reminding her that she’s anything but.”
“I…I don’t understand.”
“Well, I’m not the most versed at dating, admittedly, but I do know that usually when you’re the age we are, you don’t have to think about who you’re marrying or where you’re going to be a decade down the road. Our biggest concerns are finishing high school and finding a good college. But Sunny has all of that mapped out for her already, and I think that’s unsettling her. Because she’s my sister, I feel a responsibility to ensure she’s going to have as normal a life as possible for the remaining time I’m with her. Because in two years, I’ll probably be off at Harvard or something and Sunny’s probably going to attend a local college. We’re all not going to be together like we’re used to, and I don’t want her to feel the world is coming down on her alone.”
“She won’t be alone,” Pinkie vowed. “I’ll stay with her.”
“And give up your life? Pinkie, she wouldn’t want that!”
For the first time since the conversation began, Pinkie gave Twilight an earnest smile. “Twily…you don’t understand. I am your sister’s bride. I’m not just saying that – I mean it. I have…I know what I’ve seen, and I know what I know. So does Sunny. We are meant to be together, always.”
“Pinkie…if you genuinely believe that, then why are you worried about her marrying someone else? Especially since that’s not going to happen?”
Pinkie blushed. “Twily…just because I know what the future is, doesn’t mean I’m not a woman and I don’t have my own worries!” She blushed. “Your sister is my all, and even if it takes a while for us to get to that point…it doesn’t mean that I want her with anyone else, you know.”
“Are you saying you’re jealous?” Twilight asked, crossing her arms.
“Um…would you hate me if I said yes?” Pinkie asked meekly.
The plum-haired scholar just had to laugh at that response.
As the ball began to wind down and patrons began to head home or to other places, Sunset, still in her alicorn form, went out to the balcony to find Octavia. Seeing the girl quietly sitting by herself, she went over to sit down next to her cousin. “I thought I’d find you here,” Sunset commented.
“Oh?”
Sunset nodded. “Yeah – you wanted a place where you could appreciate the music without bothering the chamber band, right?”
Octavia gave a soft smile. “Guilty as sin, cuz,” she replied.
Sunset gave a tired smile of her own. “Well, in any case, the ball’s wrapping up now and all the adults already went home, so at this point it’s just the nightowls and the cleaning staff.”
“Yeah, I gathered once the music stopped,” Octavia replied.
“Please don’t tell me you’ve been here alone all night.”
“Not all night,” Octavia semi-admitted. “Rarity was here earlier, but she said she was going to head back herself, as she wants to pick out the ideal outfit for our trip to Ponyville tomorrow. Plus, during their break I had a nice conversation with the violinist, Open Strings, and he was surprised to realize that I could tell his strings were off.”
“I’m kinda surprised too,” Sunset admitted. “As a human, you shouldn’t have been able to hear the music that clearly from here.”
The raven-haired girl tut-tutted. “Sunny, I’m a musician. I know my trade. I don’t tell you how to fling magic, do I?”
The flame-haired alicorn laughed. “Point. Anyway, you ready to head back to my tower, or were you going to stay in your room tonight?”
Octavia’s smile fell. “I….” She paused.
“Tavi, we’re family. You know you can talk to me if something’s wrong. If you think that asshole fox is going to try something again, I can promise you you’re safe.”
“Easy for you to say,” she sighed. “You didn’t have someone die because of you. Or someone get hurt or….” Octavia looked and saw the worried glance in the large, soulful cyan eyes. “I’m sorry. I just…I don’t know how deal with this. For God’s sake, Sunny, you died! My own cousin, who I love like a sister and you died! Everyone is dying around me and I—”
“It wasn’t your fault, Tavi. None of this is,” Sunset told her, wrapping a wing around her. “I know it’s been rough for you and I wish I could have done more to prevent you from having gone through that. But I want you to know I spoke with the family of Dolente Ascent this morning via telepresence. They were proud that she gave her life to protect you.”
“What?”
“Forget for a moment that I am their goddess, and because we are family, your safety is paramount. They were proud that she did her final duty to protect you – not because you’re human, or even a new species to this world, but because you needed help. For that simple reason, Dolente is a hero in their eyes. Yes, we would all rather her be alive, especially her father and brothers, especially given that they had already lost her mother – who was also a Hoof – during the war.”
Octavia gasped, her hands going to her mouth in shock. “Oh my God….”
Sunset nodded sadly. “But they come from a military family: the father, Turfstomper, is an Army colonel, and chances are the brothers will join the military when they’re old enough. So as a proud family of protectors, they understand duty and honor, and the fact that she did everything she could to save you? To them, there is nothing more important – not the accolades, not the sobriquets, the posthumous honors or medals or anything compared to the fact that when the Princess needed her, Dolente stood ready. And in protecting you, she fulfilled that duty.”
“But I don’t want innocents to die because of me! I don’t want Blu to end up hurt because of me!” she protested.
Sunset heard her cousin’s slip, but diplomatically chose not to point it out. “Tavi, tomorrow, we’re going to spend the day in Ponyville and just relax. We won’t be there for anything official and I don’t have anything on my schedule at all. I’ll do all I can make up for not being able to spend the time with you that I wanted.”
“Sunny, that’s not your fault – I know you’ve been busy.”
Sunset wrapped her wings around Octavia, nuzzling her. “Tavi, there’s nothing more important than family. Not even being a princess.”
“You promise?”
“We’re sisters, Tavi. I shouldn’t have to, but if it makes you feel better, then yes. I promise.”
Octavia smiled. In the back of her mind she could feel Melody’s mental assault against the metaphorical gates continue, but for now, Octavia was only concerned with spending the time with her cousin. “Okay. Let’s go home.”
“Thanks for having me over for dinner,” Applejack said to the Apples. Sure enough, Sweet Apple Acres felt like her uncle’s homestead over at Heavener Apple Orchards. Obviously, the food was vegetarian – mostly apple-based dishes, unsurprisingly – but it was good, and she had a fun time talking to those who were, in a sense, her relatives.
“Well, y’all should come back again!” Granny Smith said to the teenager, pleased as punch to have had her visit. Spending time with the human girl who was one of the Apples of her universe was a great way for her to compare her life, and some of the things she found out about the Applesmith of that world turned out to be interesting. For example, the fact that while Granny herself had been a stunt diver, her counterpart had been a professional athlete in her youth and had been an Olympic swimmer, whatever that was. She also found out that unlike her son Appleseed and his wife – bless their souls in the Great Pasture – their counterparts were still alive and running a grocery store that was the envy of Canterlot, or so Applejack had stated. Furthermore, her daughter Dabinette and her husband – or rather, their equivalents – also lived in the human version of Manehattan as important bankers. But it was the fact that her counterpart had a third child who ran the family farm…that was bittersweet for the pony matriarch. Her third foal had been stillborn, and she wasn’t comfortable discussing it. But at least she was happy to know that her counterpart’s own youngest had survived and thrived.
For Big Mac, just to find out that his counterpart was thriving as an artist was a hoot. While Mac had done plenty of art in his spare time, he never had considered it anything that he would do professionally. And yet, to hear that his counterpart was looking into doing that for a living? He just nodded in satisfaction, especially after the human Applejack showed him a picture that his counterpart had drawn that he really liked. Applejack had promised she would see if Princess Twilight could replicate it so he could hang it on his wall.
Apple Bloom’s own words had been muted. It was interesting to find out that her counterpart was even more mechanically and technically inclined than she was, but that was tempered by the fact that her friends had all gotten in trouble over the attempt to get Whitewater his cutie mark. She would go see Scootaloo in the hospital tomorrow, as she’d done for the past couple of days, but between the pegasus filly being hospitalized for the moment and the rest of her friends grounded for what they did, she was somewhat stuck with boredom until further notice.
In any case, the three Apples had enjoyed hosting their fellow Apple while she was here, and as the teenager headed back to the palace, she swore she would come back one more time before she returned to Earth in order to spend a little extra time with them. She’d enjoyed it here and even though this wasn’t her home…it felt like where Apples belonged.
After she’d seen the teenager off, Granny Smith went upstairs and knocked on the door to a particular bedroom. “She’s gone now,” Granny said with disappointment. “Y’ don’t hafta hide anymore, Applejack.”
The door opened and Applejack, the farmmare with the same name, poked her head out. “Ah ain’t hidin’, Granny,” she said testily. “Ah jus’ don’ trust that cityslicker fake Applejack none. She ain’t a real Apple, an’ Ah don’t know why the rest o’ y’all think she’s worth yer time.”
Granny Smith just shook her head; sadly, her granddaughter still hadn’t learned her lesson. “Food’s downstairs, if yer hungry,” was all she said. “Ah’m gonna get me some shuteye. Night.”
“Night.” As she hadn’t had dinner yet, she stepped out of the bedroom so she could go downstairs. But as she did, she saw her two siblings looking at her, disgruntlement also in their eyes.
“Yeah, Ah know – y’ both think that Applejack is better ‘n’ all,” Applejack stated as she walked past them. “Someday Ah hope y’all learn th’ truth.”
“Ah did, sis,” Bloom said to her sister’s retreating figure as she headed down the stairs. “An’ Ah hope she’ll forgive ya fer treating her like dirt.”
Tired from the long night, Blueblood arrived home to see the Octavia he knew lounging on his couch and reading a book. A half-emptied wine glass sat on the coffee table next to a mostly drained bottle of Chateau L’Écurie. Thankfully, he had more than one of the bottles here in the house, as it was his favorite vintage. Problem was, it was her favorite, too.
“I was tired, so it was easier just to come to your apartment to get some sleep, not that I’ve been able to,” she sighed. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“You know I don’t,” he told her. “We’re family, after all.” He sat down next to her, tugging at his tie.
She closed the book. “Thanks. It’s been a long day and we didn’t get done until a couple of hours ago. Normally we’d be done earlier, but…I can’t seem to get the performances out of them I want. I know they can do better than what they have, and it galls me that they aren’t.”
“The performance getting to you?”
“The performance and the performers,” she moaned, resting a foreleg against her head as if to ward off a headache. Blueblood cast a spell and a second later she looked at him with relieved appreciation. “When Lyra is being the voice of reason, you know things have hit the breaking point.”
“Octy, things don’t have to be perfect.”
“You’re right – they have to be better than perfect.” She finally sat up, putting aside the book and looked at her brother figure. “In any case, you look as though you had a fun time at that ball tonight. I take it the mares finally left you alone?”
“Of course not,” he admitted. “But it wasn’t all bad.”
“Okay, you weren’t left alone, but it wasn’t bad, so….” At that, she sat up, surprise in her eyes as sudden realization filled her mind. “You met somepony? A real somepony that you actually want around?” She smiled widely. “Blu, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”
“But I didn’t—”
“I’m glad, I really am.” Octavia leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “You know I’ve always wanted that for you. You deserve somepony who can love you and be there for you.”
“Octy, it’s not like that….” he protested.
“Blu, you can’t kid a kidder; I know you too well – you haven’t been like this since Maple was in your life,” she noted. “So who is this new mare and when do I get to meet her?”
“I….” He didn’t know what to say. How could he explain that the person in question might be her – but not her at the same time? “I, uh….”
At that point, fate intervened. She let out a huge yawn and said, “Oh, wow, I must be more tired than I thought. Okay, I’m going to go get some sleep, because I know that tomorrow’s going to be just as hard. But I promise I’ll make breakfast in the morning and we can talk about everything before I head off for Round Two, okay?”
Her smile was infectious, and he knew he couldn’t say anything that would dampen it, nor would he want to; she was, after all, as close to a sister as could be. “Okay,” he stated, hoping he could figure out something in the morning. “We’ll talk over breakfast. For now, I just need to get some sleep as well.”
“Good. I’ll talk to you in the morning, Blu. Good night.” Nothing more, she walked upstairs towards his guest room.
He sighed. How in Tartarus was he going to explain this to her? Shaking his head, he decided to worry about it in the morning. Maybe he would be lucky and the world would end before then.