As it had every morning since its founding, the Canterlot Royal Guard assembled in the Canterlot Castle Courtyard. Shining Armor, once again, stood at the forefront of the formation, eyeing his loyal guardponies with no small measure of pride. And, of course, Blueblood was still buried in the midst of the crowd, doing his best to ignore the overwhelming scent of sweat and tears emitting from every direction.
“That was good work this morning, gentleponies,” the Captain said. “Keep this up, and we’ll be more than ready to defend Canterlot from anything.” A small uproar of cheer emerged from the crowd, as well as the exasperated voice of a tiny colt.
The Captain slowly paced his way around the front of the crowds, his eyes scanning for the next group of ponies he had to speak to. “Now, we have a few new ponies standing with us today. On behalf of the Princesses Celestia and Luna, we welcome the mares and stallions that now stand amongst the ranks of Equestria’s bravest ponies.”
Another chorus of cheers and accolades echoed throughout the gathering, while more than a few ponies blushed unconsciously. Blueblood, however, raised an eyebrow as he examined the words more closely. Wait…is he using the same speech as before? Is he really that uncreative?
If Shining Armor had noticed this repetition, he appeared to make no motion to address it, nor did the guardponies whose lives he was entrusted with. “I just want you to remember a few things before you begin your normal duties. Being a member of Canterlot’s Royal Guard is not simply a matter of standing next to doors and looking important. Your job is to protect not only the Princesses and the ruling elite, but to provide support and security for Equestria at large.”
Blueblood let out a small groan, just barely audible to the ponies around him. A couple of the guards nearest to him glanced downwards at the colt, their eyes silently admonishing him for the interruption, but everypony else otherwise remained focused on Captain Armor. Well, here is comes. His amazing tale of bravery against a…
“Shining Armor!”
Everything in the courtyard ceased as Princess Cadance approached. Even Shining Armor himself reared back in surprise before blushing like a schoolcolt. Blueblood, fearful of another hugging attack, hunched down as low as his stubby little legs would let him, lest he be scooped up in her forehooves to die horribly. The guards, recognizing what was going on, winked and nudged each other, their eyes still at least glancing at the Captain just in case he managed to catch their mockery.
“Um…good morning, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!” Shining Armor’s voice quivered nervously as he spoke, wavering between staunch formalness and foalish goofiness. “What brings you here this…fine morning?”
Cadance came to a stop right in front of her beloved and lifted her wing, allowing the scroll to fall free. A wreath of energy caught the parchment before it could strike the ground, allowing its master to float the message to the Captain. Cadance’s aura soon found itself mixed with Shining’s, before finally fading from sight as its master released her hold on the document. Smiling, Shining Armor unfurled the paper.
Armor’s eyes widened as he read the regal text. “I see. Please tell Princess Celestia that I shall be there on time.”
Cadance smiled and nodded in affirmation. “Got it. Oh, and you forgot something very important this morning.”
Shining opened his mouth, no doubt in the vain hope of figuring out what this missing thing was, but before he could utter so much as the faintest syllable his wife was upon him. Her muzzle rubbed alongside his own a few times, slowly weaving a curse that turned the mighty knight’s head into a tomato. About six or seven guards began to chortle and snort back an uprising tide of laughter at the sight.
Blueblood, meanwhile, just watched with a mixture of frustration and revulsion. Look at those two, acting like a pair of lovesick teenagers. Do they not teach propriety at the Academy anymore? Does my cousin wish for everypony to think of her as a common cuddler? I should…
The colt shook his puny head until the bad thoughts went away. No, no, no! Bad Blueblood, bad! Old traditions bad!
Princess Cadance twisted her head about and pulled back, a friendly smile plastered on her lips. Shining Armor rubbed his nuzzled muzzle sheepishly. “Well…yes. Th-Thank you very much, Your Highness. I...I’ll see to this request as soon as possible.”
Cadance’s smile grew as she gave a nonverbal affirmation. Just as she was turning back towards the door, however, she noticed a very little pony in a guard costume doing his best to blend in. Her eyes widened while her mouth dropped into the kind of gaping maw that usually preempts a diabetic shock. “Leon!”
The real guards spun their heads towards Blueblood, while the colt felt his heart sinking. “Um…hello?”
The mare cocked her head and cooed at the white colt, forcing the colt to duck down even further. He could already hear the mocking laughter of more than a few of the stallions and mares around him. “My goodness, you are such a brave little stallion! Keep at it, and you’ll be the best Royal Guard in all of Canterlot!”
“Um…y-y-yeah….” The colt buried his face in his forehooves, wishing that the moon would crash into Equestria and end his misery. Cadance started to mouth another string of condescending remarks and empty praise, but as she saw the foal transforming into a white soccer ball, her heart winced. With nothing else to accomplish, she slowly left, leaving behind an embarrassed Shining Armor and completely humiliated Blueblood in her wake.
Once she was inside, Armor turned back to his guards and slammed his hoof down. The power of his blow was enough to send a massive crashing sound thundering throughout the courtyard, attracting the attention of everypony in attendance. Blueblood’s eyes peeked out from behind his security hooves, barely making out Shining Armor returning to his former authoritative pose. “Well, everypony, I’m so proud at you. It’s wonderful how you remembered your basic training and didn’t break away from attention, even in the face of a pair of young lovers.”
A hoofful of guards started to chuckle again, but a quick glance at the cold, hard stare of their Captain was enough to impart just how serious his intentions were. Blueblood, meanwhile, just continued to shiver. This day is going to be dreadful, I know it…
----------
Slowly, Celestia knocked on her sister’s door. Her hoof barely tapped against the wooden frame, and yet the power that carried it was enough to cause a loud rattle to echo throughout the entire chamber, bounced through the hallway, and could be heard even from the royal pantries.
Within the bedroom, Luna slowly stirred from her rest, her Royal Canterlot Snoring stopping in a very accurate impersonation of a happy pig. Grunting tiredly, she pulled herself out from under the covers, removed her sleep mask, and telekinetically opened her door without moving from the bed. “Enter.”
Celestia slowly entered the bedroom, finally waking the younger sister with her presence. The sunlight burned at her eyes, but the mere presence of that foul yellow ball’s corporeal master was enough to knock out the last shreds of sleepiness. Luna smiled at her sister as she approached the bedside. “Good morning, Celestia. I take it everything is well?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, it is. The birds are singing, the country is humming along, and Canterlot is still standing so far.” The Princess took a few steps forward, stopping just at the foot of her sister’s bed. “And how are you? I trust a good night’s sleep has done you well.”
“Mm-hm, I must say it has,” Luna said. Granted, putting “night” and “sleep” in the same sentence wasn’t her favorite thing, but she could see through her sister’s slip-up and recognize what she was actually saying. “Both of us must give our compliments to the castle’s custodians. To have rebuilt my chambers so quickly after that incident…” Her eyes began to close slightly as fresh anxiety took hold. “Well, it is an accomplishment worthy of the highest praise. Now, what business do we have today?”
The Sun Alicorn blew a few strands of mane from her eyes and sat herself by the bed. “Well, I’ve already made the preparations for your meeting with the Canterlot Hay Board this morning. Ruby Dream is already picking up the latest plans from the architects for the new library in the North Quarter, and should have them on your desk before lunch. She can fill you in on the rest of the afternoon’s activities.” Celestia’s smile faded. “And…I’ll be conducting Princess Cadance’s debriefing later this morning.”
Luan nodded slowly, her head still groggy from exhaustion. “That sounds fine. I have already read the reports she sent from Stalliongrad. Anything else?”
“Actually, yes.” Celestia sighed. “We have to discuss what happened last night. We have a very delicate situation on our hooves now.”
Luna snapped her head back up. “I assume you are speaking of the falsehood Captain Armor and I gave to Princess Cadenza last night?”
Celestia froze for a second, and then rolled her eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t have used those exact words, but yes. Do you really believe that deceiving our niece can possibly lead to anything positive?”
“It seemed appropriate at the time.” Luna sighed. “Once this plan of yours is finished, we can explain our reasons to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. This is a very delicate situation, after all.”
“Trust me, I know that,” Celestia said. “I was here while you were banished, after all. I saw Blueblood transform into the being you know.” Her frown deepened. “Unfortunately, though, we really can’t keep covering up what happened here forever. We were lucky that nopony else knew what I looked like as a filly. All it would take is one of Blueblood’s enemies to recognize him…”
“And they will assume he’s his own son,” said Luna. The mare slid out of the bed, her hooves gently landing with all the crashing cacophony of a feather landing on a drum set. “And even if they assume it is him, they will be powerless to do anything to harm him. He is under our care, and as such is impervious to their machinations.”
Celestia walked over to her sister’s side, a stern look in her eyes. “It’s not that simple. If they think he’s a real colt, and we turn him back, somepony will become suspicious when ‘Leon’ never appears again. Either they’ll think he threw his son out on the streets, or that we abandoned or banished him as well, but questions will be asked.”
Luna shrugged. “We could always keep him as a foal. He seems to be enjoying himself enough in this form.”
“Then more ponies will start wanting to learn where the foal’s mother came from. Eventually, they will still learn the truth about everything that’s happened. They’ll know he’s weak and helpless, and we’re the ones that have been hiding this from everypony. And what of Cadance?”
“What of her?”
Celestia shook her head. “She and Blueblood have had a troubled relationship for quite a while now, and I highly doubt the current situation will fix any burned bridges.”
“Well, at least she liked him at some point.” Luna slowly walked past her sister, stopping only when she reached her rebuilt dresser. Her horn lit up with the power welling up inside, while her magic pulled open the drawers and lifted out the various combs, brushes, make-up, and other utilities and accessories. “Remember when you introduced us? I terrified the poor mare.”
Celestia gave a reflexive chuckle, and in the process earning herself a cold stare from her little sister. “Well, you did use the Royal Canterlot Voice on her. At least you weren’t at your full power just yet. It didn’t take long to get her coat and mane smoothed out again.”
Luna sighed as she stepped past her sister again, this time heading towards the door. “In any case, sister, I did what seemed right, and as far as I am concerned, the situation will resolve itself just fine. If the situation was truly as difficult as you describe, then it will motivate Blueblood to remain hidden. She will learn the truth only after we have passed our final judgment.”
Having said her piece, Luna opened the door and merrily trotted away to prepare for her busy day. Celestia waited until her humming gradually faded into the nothingness before stepping out herself, her magic closing the door behind her. She and the guards shared an acknowledging nod, a little bow here and there, and then she was free to start trotting back down the hallway. “Well…at least she isn’t wishing death on him anymore,” she muttered to herself. “That’s definitely an improvement.”
She had made it about twenty steps before her brain forced her to pause.
“She will learn the truth only after we have passed our final judgment.”
Celestia sighed. It’s not that simple. Cadance and Blueblood have a long history together. Why, I can remember the day he left…
----------
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Blueblood, suitcase in mouth, struggled to make his way to the waiting carriage. It was not so much the weight of the luggage that was causing him difficulty; all that was inside were the last of his belongings from Canterlot Castle, mostly constituting a few toys, a wooden sword, and a jar of chocolate chip cookies he had smuggled from the pantry. He wouldn’t even need most of the items anymore, now that he was going to be taught how to be a real prince. Well, except for the cookies.
No, the problem was the crying pink creature currently clinging to his tail for dear life. Cadance’s voice cracked and echoed throughout the castle and surrounding area, creating a deafening crescendo that, were it to be amplified, would almost certainly be capable of bringing down Canterlot’s mighty walls. Blueblood grumbled and grunted, every step feeling like he had an anvil tied to his back hairs.
When he was about fifteen steps away from the carriage itself, the colt had had enough. He spat the suitcase out of his mouth, taking extra care not to break anything fragile that was within, and turned back to his cousin. “I’m sorry, Cadance, but I have to go. Mom and dad said I have to start learning how to be a proper prince.”
“But you’re already a prince!” she whined. “You can’t leave me here alone! Everypony here hates me and you’re the only friend I have and-”
Blueblood raised an eyebrow. “You mean Aunt Celestia hates you, too?”
“Well…no, I guess not,” the filly replied sheepishly. “B-But I’m a princess! Why can’t I go?”
“They said the school is for colts and stallions only,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know why, but it’s the Academy tradition, and my parents say we have to follow those. And besides, they said I have to spend some time in the military academy.” He laughed a little at his fussy cousin. “I can’t imagine somepony like you doing well after getting covered in mud and dirt.”
Cadance plopped herself onto her haunches and crossed her forelegs in a little pout. “There’s a lot of mares in the army.”
“But no princesses that I know of.”
Both ponies spun around towards the front gate. Standing over them was Princess Celestia herself, smiling down upon them like the sun on a warm summer day. Both foals backed up in surprise at their aunt’s sudden appearance, their eyes widening in surprise. “A-Aunt Celestia!” Blueblood stammered. “Wh-What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see my favorite nephew off,” Celestia said with a smile. “It’s not every day a colt starts his first day of school, after all.”
The Alicorn mare slowly bent down, her belly almost making contact with the floor. Slowly, she pulled herself towards her nephew, touching the side of his cheek with her own and giving him a nuzzle. Before she could pull away, however, a sudden weight took hold onto her neck. “Don’t let him go! You’re the Princess! Make him stay!”
Celestia sighed and raised her neck back up, taking the struggling Cadance with her. The filly screamed and hollered at her unbeatable opponent lifted her higher and higher. Finally, when her aunt’s neck was at its straightest point, she swung around and plopped herself on the Alicorn’s back before resuming her previous pouting and fuming. “It’s not fair! Why does he have to go away?!”
Celestia sighed and focused her eyes back on Blueblood. “Now, I want you to promise me something. I have seen many fillies and colts come back from these schools as completely different mares and stallions. Places such as these will teach you many things, and not everything they tell you is bad, but I want you to remember one thing.”
Celestia slid her front half downward, stopping only a few inches above the ground. The gradual shift in slope sent Cadance sliding down to the top of the Princess’ head, letting out an involuntary giggle before slipping back into her “serious business” face. “Do you know what your Cutie Mark stands for?”
Blueblood glanced back at his mark, a small smile appearing as he did so. “Mom and dad say that it means I’m a prince.”
“But what does it mean to be a prince?”
In an instant, Blueblood’s grin vanished. He slowly looked back up at his aunt. “I…I don’t know.”
Celestia rose back to her full height. “A true prince uses his power and status to help ponies, not to lord over them. He must be willing to work for the benefit of all of Equestria and not just himself. That is what I want you to learn before anything else. I want you to be somepony that others can look up to with pride.” She smiled. “Also, brush your teeth twice a day, always look both ways before crossing the street, and when you go swimming, make sure you never drink the pool water.”
Blueblood snorted back a laugh, his emotions slowly pulling him apart inside. A tiny part of his young mind knew that this was the last time he would ever see his aunt like this again. When he returned, he would be a proud Prince of Equestria, hopefully with giant muscles and spells that could disintegrate a thousand dragons with just a thought. But then again, all school ever taught him was how to read and write and other boring stuff. If he was stuck at a school for years, then he would probably come back as dull as his dad.
His heart could finally take no more. The colt leaped onto his aunt’s leg and hugged onto it tighter than any bear. “I’m going to miss you so much. Please write me, please…”
The colt winced as something heavy came across his back. He craned his neck up, only to find himself staring at the bottom of Celestia’s own. The Alicorn’s head now rested along his back, pulling him in for a hug of her own. Cadance quickly hopped off her aunt’s backside, her own eyes brimming with tears. Slowly, his aunt’s head lifted up just enough for Cadance to get in one more big hug. “I’ll miss you, cousin!”
“I-I’ll miss you, too.” His voice cracked slightly, while his forelegs quickly took turns brushing the accumulating moisture out of his eyes. He was a big pony, and big ponies weren’t supposed to cry.
The scene remained frozen for a few more uncomfortable seconds, with motion returning only after the three heard a pony clop down their hoof. “Master Blueblood, we must be going! The train will be leaving in less than thirty minutes!”
Blueblood’s nerves tightened as he heard the time. There was nothing more he could do here, so he slowly broke free from his two loving family members, grabbed and tossed his suitcase into the back of the carriage, and climbed inside. The waiting, unseen servant climbed in the other side and motioned to the two hitched to the front to begin.
With a mighty neigh, the two burly ponies in front began to canter off, the carriage following behind them. Blueblood leaned out the window, waving a hoof excitedly at the two. “I’ll see you soon! A-And I’ll be a prince this time, you’ll see!”
Celestia and Cadance slowly waved goodbye, and didn’t stop until the vehicle was well out of view. Sensing another imminent round of tears and wails, Celestia spun on her hooves and leaned over the little Roaman filly. “I know it’s hard, but don’t worry. It’s not like Blueblood’s going away forever.”
Unfortunately for Celestia, her reassurances only served to make Cadance’s apparent heartbreak even greater. Her little face twisted about like a shifting tide. “B-But…he…I…Why, Aunt Celestia?!”
The filly leaped forward and buried her face in her aunt’s chest. “Aunt Celestia! Aunt Celestia!”
----------
“Aunt Celestia?!”
Celestia eyes snapped wide open as Cadance’s voice finally drilled through. With a mighty shake of her divine head, she drove off all those unwanted memories and returned to reality. She was still in the hallway, standing in front of Luna’s bedroom, only this time she had two concerned guards and a startled niece staring at her. Celestia’s cheeks turned bright pink as she gave a nervous chuckle. “G-Good morning.”
“Are you all right?” asked Cadance. “The guards said that you’ve been standing here for ten minutes!”
Celestia’s cheeks darkened even more. “My apologies. I’ve just been…lost in thought these last couple of weeks.” She let out a sigh, thereby allowing her skin to return to its normal hue. “But still, did you deliver the notice to Shining Armor.”
Now it was Cadance’s turn to blush, although given the color of her fur it was a tad difficult to notice. She sheepishly turned her eyes away from her aunt and focused on a few loose strands in the royal carpeting. “Yes, I did, and he was fine with the arrangements. But…then I think I…might have…”
Celestia cocked her head. “Cadance? Is something wrong?”
The mare shook her head quickly, her eyes brimming with more than little embarrassment. “N-No, it’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine. I-I really need to get going, I-I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
Before Celestia could get so much as another word in, Cadance spun about on her hooves and galloped away, almost slamming into a vase as she turned a corner. The Sun Princess simply watched as the dust settled, her eyes bursting wide open in surprise. Well…that was weird.
----------
Ribbon winced as, yet again, her new friend entered the classroom looking like Nightmare Moon had just tried to gobble him up. “Are you okay?”
Blueblood slowly slid into his seat, his eyes betraying the nervousness coursing through his body. “I’m fine. My cousin just came to visit last night.”
“Wow,” Ribbon said slowly. “I wish I had cousins. Or brothers. Or sisters.” She sighed. “Or any other Unicorn in my family.”
“Well, you can have mine,” Blueblood muttered. “I’d rather have dough stick to my hooves for all eternity than get another bear hug from her.”
Ribbon giggled at her friend’s misfortune, if only to keep her mind off how much she wanted somepony in her family that didn’t use her to test out their new “spinach loaf.” By that point, the rest of the class had arrived and filed into their seats, ready to begin another fine educational day at this fine institution. In fact, the only ponies so far that didn’t have smiles on their faces were Orange Peel and Snowball; the former just scowled at the two, while the latter refused to make eye contact.
When the last pony was at their seat, Miss Brightly entered the room, a large paper bag floating behind her. The door closed behind her with a heavy thud, not unlike a dungeon door slamming shut behind a helpless horde of miniature prisoners. “Good morning, my little ponies!”
“Good morning, Miss Brightly,” the class responded, their single voice rising echoing throughout the classroom. Even Blueblood couldn’t help but smile at the chiming of the voices.
Miss Brightly set the bag down on her desk, stuck her head inside, and pulled out a large sheet of black poster board. The next item to emerge was a tripod, levitating out of the bag before popping open and settling on the ground next to the desk. Finally, Miss Brightly just placed the board onto the tripod, revealing a simple picture of a horned pony with its parts all clearly marked out. “Now, can anypony tell me what this is?”
A silvery filly excitedly lifted her hoof, her entire desk shuffling about underneath her unbelievable enthusiasm. “Yes, Quicksilver?”
“That’s a pony!”
Everypony laughed and clapped at the answer. The filly, unaware of the “foal’s first sarcasm” surrounding her, beamed as brightly as a candle on a moonless night. Miss Brightly gently tapped her hoof against the floor, calling her students’ attention back to her. “That’s right. This is a pony, just like you and me. Today, we’re going to learn about the parts of the pony body, from your poll to your heels.”
The class looked on in amazement, more than ready to identify those parts that they didn’t even know had names. Blueblood smiled at the familiarity of it all. Oh please, I know all these parts already. I can just relax and…
His smile vanished. Well…I guess I could listen. It wouldn’t exactly be right to let all of Miss Brightly’s work go to waste. I’m certain she has something interesting planned for this lesson…
----------
♪ Head, shoulders, knees and hooves, knees and hooves! ♪
♪ Head, shoulders, knees and hooves, knees and hooves! ♪
♪ Eyes and ears and mouth and nose. ♪
♪ Head, shoulders, knees and hooves, knees and hooves! ♪
The entire class erupted into applause as Miss Brightly set her banjo aside and took a bow, mere moments before the bell for the first recess rang. The teacher floated her instrument back to the corner and started herding the foals out to the yard for another helping of fun.
Blueblood lagged behind the rest of the group, his eyes downcast in disappointment. Over twenty years, and they haven’t changed that bloody song…
----------
“Today’s the day!” shouted Lofty. “We are finally gonna get our pudding!”
The three other fillies and their tagalong colt stared at the overly-enthusiastic yellow Pegasus as she motioned dramatically to the ribbon. “We will bring down that ribbon, even if we have to tear this tree out by the roots!”
“YEAH!” shouted Gusty. Blueblood, Ribbon and Buttons just clapped politely. “And just how are we doing it? Axes? Shovels? Oxen?”
“Pfeh, none of that stuff,” said Lofty. “We’re gonna…um…uh…”
The filly’s confident smirk inverted itself into a defeated pout as she slipped back onto her haunches. “I…don’t know. I just thought that…well, we could think of something.”
Blueblood rolled his eyes at the spectacle. Typical foal behavior. They always get worked up over things without any plan for how they’re going to resolve their problems. Still, some pudding would be more than acceptable after that mess this morning.
Ribbon rose from her seated position and walked over to the tree. “Perhaps we could pull the tree out?”
Blueblood walked over next to her and pushed his hoof against the bark, taking note of the tree’s sturdiness. He may not have known a lot about gardening and plants, but even he could tell that the tree was solidly rooted in place. It would take an entire team of pullers and buckers just to get it wedged out of the earth, let alone lowered enough so they could get the ribbon. “Well, that’s not going to work,” he said. “We’re going to need something a bit smaller in scale.”
Ribbon cocked her head in confusion, followed by everypony (besides Buttons and Blueblood) doing the same thing. The colt moaned in frustration. “I mean, we need a new plan.”
Gusty, meanwhile, had fixed her attention on where the bough intersected with the trunk. It was definitely a sturdy branch, more than strong enough to resist any foal’s attempts at breaking it down. And there was no way to climb it either, especially with only hooves and a mouth. If they had a rope, though…
The filly clapped her hooves together in triumph. “I got it! We’re gonna climb up there!”
Lofty looked up from her pouting position just enough for one eye to meet with Gusty’s. “We’re gonna climb it? Gusty, we’re ponies, not squirrels.”
“Actually, she might have a point,” Buttons said. “From all the stories I’ve heard, if you can get a rope tied around the branch, one of us could use it to pull themselves onto the branch. Once they’re up there, all they have to do is go to the end of the branch, untie the ribbon, and we’ll have our snacks.”
Everypony nodded in agreement…save for Blueblood, who was the only one not foalish or naïve enough to believe this entire scheme would actually work. “Well, how are we supposed to do that to begin with? You really think they’re going to just give me a rope long enough to reach the top? Perhaps we should just tie every jump rope together and see if that reaches, huh?”
----------
Miss Brightly raised an eyebrow. “You want how many jump ropes?”
“All of them,” Blueblood repeated. His voice was low and downbeat. “We want to tie them all together and make a super-long rope.”
The teacher shook her head. “Leon, if you do that, then what will the other foals play with? We only have so many jump ropes to share, and it wouldn’t be fair to deprive everypony else of the chance to use them, right?”
The teacher gave an incredibly forced smile on the last word, causing Blueblood to shiver slightly. So much…friendliness and trust! Gah! He rolled his eyes away. “Yeah, you’re right. B-But do you have a really long jump ropes?”
Miss Brightly’s smile gradually lessened from a tooth-baring, mouth-swallowing portal of cheerful despair to a simple, condescending grin. “Of course we do.” She reached over into the nearby tub and levitated out a massively long rope with two wooden knobs on the end. She coiled the whole mess together before finally lowering it to Blueblood’s mouth level, her magic refusing to face until the colt had cleanly clasped the entire length with his mouth.
“Now, remember that you’ll need two ponies to turn the rope,” said Miss Brightly. “And please, please, please don’t try to whip anypony with these!” She shuddered at her long-neglected memory of the Great Jump Rope War. Not a single foal escaped the playground without some sort of red mark on their body. Sometimes, when she slept, she could still hear the jeers, the screams, the…
“Um…Miss Brightly?”
The teacher shook herself out of her thousand-yard stare and returned her attention to the perplexed colt. “Um…sorry about that. Just an incident from my student teaching days. Anyway, you go have fun with your friends. Just remember to bring the rope back when you’re done!”
“Of course,” said Blueblood. The foal scooped up the rope in his teeth and spun about in a single fast motion, his eyes locked on the distant tree. His friends still had their backs to him, no doubt already planning out the logistics of their perilous journey to acquire a free pudding snack. Alas, he had failed in his preparations thanks to basic niceties, and they had to work with but a single piece of nylon.
He was about halfway to his destination when he heard a familiar voice. “I said no, Orange!”
The colt froze, his left ear tilting towards the source of the sound. It was definitely Snowball, and he was most certainly coming from the other side of some bushes. And from the sound of it, he was talking to his boss, Orange Peel, in about the most unprofessional manner one could muster.
Another voice echoed. “Yeah, I mean…do we still have to do this every day?” Smokey.
Blueblood gave one last glance at his cohorts by the tree, but finally jumped into the bushes, rope still clenched in his teeth. Sure enough, he could see the back end of Orange Peel and the fronts of his two cohorts engaged in a desperate battle of words. Blueblood could not see Orange Peel’s face from his position, but that made little difference. The colt’s voice was like an open book. “Come on, guys! So the teacher got a little mad. That doesn’t mean we still can’t get back at those stupid foals!”
Snowball shook his head, a small scowl forming on his lips as he did so. “Get back at them for what? Yeah, it was fun when we jumped them once a week or so, but ever since Leon got here you’ve been doing this every day!”
“W-Well, he deserves it! That stupid colt thinks he’s smarter than the rest of us! And besides, my dad knows his dad is no good, and that makes him no good, right?” The colt’s front half slinked towards the ground, not unlike a cat about to pounce on a bird. “Look, we’ll just have to be a little more careful from now on, okay? As long as the teachers don’t see…”
“My mom told me not to spend time with you anymore,” said Smokey. He pointed an accusatory hoof in his soon-to-be-former friend’s direction. “She said you’re a bad influence.”
Orange scoffed. “Oh, come on! Do you really think she’s gonna do anything? How can she even know what happens at school?”
Blueblood’s eyes widened as he saw Smokey turn towards him and point a hoof at the bush. He reared up to flee, but froze as he realized that something was clearly off with the scene. In particular, all three of the colts were still completely motionless, their eyes looking over the horizon. “You mean Mr. Snowflame?”
Smokey gulped as he laid witness to the horrifying sight of his own teacher. “He tells my mom if I was even near you during recess. After he told her what happened yesterday, she grounded me for two weeks! I-I can’t risk it anymore!”
Orange Peel’s head snapped back to his friend, and thus was back out of range of Blueblood’s field of vision. “Snowball, what about you?”
The blue colt kicked nervously at the ground, his hard gaze faltering as his young mind began to fathom the truth of the matter. “I…I can’t be your friend, either. Dad was so angry after yesterday that…”
Orange Peel’s body movements suddenly began to change. Blueblood squinted and leaned forward, just barely managing to grasp the full scope of the alterations. The orange colt’s breathing became faster and heavier, while a distinct rumbling echoed through his forelegs. “B-But…we’re friends to the end…right?”
The two other colts looked at each other, then back at their leader. “Um…sorry,” said Snowball. “M-Maybe when things calm down…Well, bye!”
The two quickly galloped away before they got into any more trouble. Orange Peel twisted his body around and reached for the two, but couldn’t move from his spot. Blueblood’s heart froze as he saw Orange Peel’s face. The once-powerful bully of the schoolyard now had tears running down his cheeks, a quivering lip, and more than a little bit of pure rage. It all seemed eerily familiar to the white colt.
A part of Blueblood wanted to bust out there and see what he could do, but then another part chimed in. This can wait. I need to tell the others about this first. I think we have one less problem to worry about.
----------
By the time Blueblood had finished making his way back, all four fillies were regarding him with no small measure of frustration. Well, except for Buttons; she was still looking at the tree branch, trying to figure out the best place to make their connection. So far, she seemed to be meeting with a rather severe lack of success.
Blueblood spat out the jump rope mere moments before Gusty trudged up to him, a little scowl on her face. “And just what took you so long?”
“I had to make a small stop,” Blueblood said. “I still don’t think this is going to work.”
“Of course it’ll work!” said Ribbon. She pointed to her deep-in-introspection friend. “Buttons here is the all-around smartest pony in school! If she can’t figure out how to get our pudding, nopony can!”
The little filly returned to the real world at the sound of her ego being soothed. Jumping back to all fours, she spun around and looked at the rope. “But why do you only have one? I thought we were gonna use them all.”
“This is all Miss Brightly would let me have,” said Blueblood. “She said we have to share the rest with all the other foals.”
Everypony let out a small grumble at that. Yet again, their perfect plan had been completely foiled. Even foals as young as four of them were could see that there was no way they were going to get that rope up there and have it reach down far enough so they could climb it. Even worse, recess was nearing its conclusion. “So, what took you so long?” asked Gusty.
Blueblood tapped his chin. Inside his brain of surprising pedigree, he began to weigh the pros and cons of his many possible choices. I could tell them the truth, but there is no reason for any of us to care. I could lie, but if they find out the truth I might lose their frie…TRUST. Or, I could just ignore the query altogether and go about my life as if nothing had happened. But then, Gusty or Lofty would get it out of me anyway.
Sensing defeat, the colt yielded to the truth. “I saw Orange Peel.”
The four fillies looked about each other cautiously, Ribbon and Buttons shuddering at the name. Even Blueblood could feel a small shiver run up his spine at the mere mention of the name. After several seconds of uncomfortable silence, Lofty finally broke the silence. “Well? What’s that jerk up to this time?”
Blueblood scratched at his right foreleg and shook his head sadly. “I think he was trying to do something, but his friends didn’t seem to want anything to do with him anymore.”
The five looked about each other again in confusion. Buttons cocked her head, an unsure, catlike smile spreading across her lips. “Wow. I really thought they were gonna do something really bad.”
“Those guys were always together,” said Ribbon. “I think they’re the only friends he had.”
“Who’d want to be friends with him, anyway?” scoffed Gusty. “I asked him if he wanted to hang out once, and he said I was a stupid little filly!”
“He pulled one of my feathers out once!” said Lofty. She quickly unfurled her right wind and looked it over gently. “Do you know how much that hurt!”
Buttons sighed. “I brought a picture book to school once. He tore off a bunch of pages and ran off to the colt’s room.” She sniffed. “When he came back…”
Blueblood winced as he beheld his entire party losing heart. “Wow, I…I never knew all the stuff he did. I’m sorry I even brought it up.” His eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration. “But…perhaps if we…”
*BRIIIIIIING*
All five shuddered at the echoing cries of the bell of doom. Once again, they had met with total failure, not only in getting their precious pudding, but in just leaving their play time without feeling like all five-to-six years of their lives had been utterly wasted. But still, they had a challenge waiting for them.
And someday soon, Blueblood knew, that pudding would finally be his.
----------
Cadance traced a hoof over a small bit of land, covering what amounted to the local tracts of farmland. “With some help from the local government, we were able to replant as many of the lost crops as we possibly could. We had to clear out a lot of the burnt farmland to do so, however, and between all the injured ponies and the complete mismanagement of the early relief efforts, we barely had enough resources to get this much done. And that doesn’t even begin to cover what happened to the rest of the city.”
Celestia nodded sadly. “I’ve already seen the casualty reports. What happened in Stalliongrad is a tragedy of the highest order. Now tell me, what is the current shape of the city?”
Cadance sighed and hunched over the tabletop. “We managed to restore order and aid as much as we could, but it’ll take years at least for the city to get back on its hooves again.” Her slump only increased as the first small traces of worry began to scurry across her brow. “I…I’m sorry. I thought I could fix everything in there, b-but even…even my magic wasn’t…”
The Princess snapped back up as she felt something tap her on the side. She slowly turned about to Shining Armor, catching him just as he was retracting his foreleg. “It’s okay, Cadie. You did the best you could.”
“And that’s what I wanted you to learn,” said Celestia. “Rulership is not something that comes easy. Princess Cadance, even with your living situation, you are still an heir to a throne, and will one day have to leave Canterlot to assume your normal duties. And one of the first things you’ll learn is that you cannot use magic to erase your problems. Your ability to amplify affection and love may be a blessing, but you cannot rely on power alone. And sometimes, you just have to accept that you can’t solve everything, but you nonetheless give it everything you have. From the reports I’ve received, you managed to accomplish a great deal in very trying circumstances, and for that you should be proud. Learn from this experience, and you will prove yourself a great princess.”
Cadance nodded slowly. “I…think I understand.”
Her first payload of motivational speeches dropped, Celestia turned her attention to her next victim. “And Shining Armor, even though you were not born into this position, the time is fast approaching where you will have to assume royal duties of your own. That’s why I wanted you to have this experience.”
Shining Armor bowed in reverence. “Thank you for your trust, Your Highness.”
Celestia smiled and leaned forward slightly. “In any case, you both seem to have done a fine job. If anything else comes up, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
The two soon-to-be-newlyweds smiled at each other and wrapped one of their forehooves with the other. Unfortunately, Celestia chose that moment to ruin the mood. “Unfortunately, there is another matter we must discuss. You see, Leon is…”
“I know.”
Both Celestia and Shining Armor both stared at Cadance in complete shock, the Captain’s mouth hanging open in unrelenting horror and the Alicorn’s eyes blown up like balloons. “Y-You know?” said Armor.
Cadance nodded her head. “Yes, I do. I embarrassed him in front of the half the Royal Guard this morning.”
A moment of pure, unadulterated awkwardness swept over the entire room. Shining Armor slowly pushed himself away from his fiancé until he was in danger of falling off his pillow. Celestia, meanwhile, just felt even more confused than ever. As for Cadance, her entire face reflected deep-seated regret at her actions. “I just met him last night. You told me that he wanted to be a guard. And I made him sound like a little baby out there.”
Shining Armor awkwardly rubbed the back of his crest. “W-Well, he kind of is.”
“But I shouldn’t have done that!” Cadance’s head whirled towards Shining Armor so fast that it was a miracle she didn’t get whiplash. “And I shouldn’t have humiliated you in front of the guards as well. But I-I haven’t seen you in so long, and…”
“Absence does make the heart grow fonder,” Celestia added. “But in any case, there is something else we should…”
Cadance sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just glad to be back in Canterlot. But he reminds me so much of Blueblood. The resemblance is almost exact, like he was actually Blueblood shrunk down and turned into a little colt again through some dark spell.” She chuckled. “But really, that would be ridiculous. Magic like that doesn’t even exist.”
Celestia’s wings crooked open just a tad as she rubbed her right foreleg. “Actually, the truth is…”
“And really, if anypony tried to keep him like that, they would have to be really awful.”
The wings finished their opening pattern. Something inside Celestia turned around fifty or sixty times within the space of half-a-second before finally settling, causing her to feel a little queasy. Thoughts of Luna’s declarations and the moral aptitude of this whole affair only intensified her grief. “I…I see…”
Cadance cocked her head. “Is something wrong?”
“N-No, nothing,” said Celestia. She slowly looked back at Shining Armor; the Captain flashed back a look that screamed “I told you so.” “Well, in any case, I think Leon will be fine. He’s just not used to having a big cousin like you around.”
Before anypony could say anything else and make things worse, Celestia hopped to her hooves, her wings still outstretched. “Well, I think we’ve had a very productive day here. Shining Armor, you are dismissed. Please resume your normal duties. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, feel free to pursue your own projects for the time being. I think I shall…lie down for the rest of the day.”
----------
Blueblood stared down at the tennis ball with no small amount of contempt and resentment. After only a few days’ reprieve, it was right back to the exercise in frustration known as “magic practice.”
The other foals, who only a week ago had been expressing nothing but confidence and wonderment at the mere possibility of performing magic, now appeared to share his sentiments. More than a few fillies and colts had groaned audibly as they had returned from recess, their feelings of joy and merriment crushed under the hooves of cruel reality. If Miss Brightly had even noticed this change in temperament, however, she made no attempt to show so. In fact, her back was still turned to the rest of the class, guiding a floating piece of chalk down the right path to enlightenment.
The teacher’s ears rotated back towards her charges, waiting until she heard every last butt shuffle into its seat. The moment the last desk scrapped against the tile floor, she lowered the chalk and spun around. “Welcome back, my little ponies! Are you ready for another magic lesson?”
The class groaned in response, save for a few enthusiastic shouts from Ribbon and a hoofful of other foals. Miss Brightly sighed as she took in the sudden lack of enthusiasm from her charges. “Now, I understand your frustration. Magic isn’t an easy thing to learn. But that’s why we have practice like this.”
Snowball’s hoof shot up, prompting the usual acknowledgment from Miss Brightly to continue. “My dad said that nopony our age can use magic anyway. So why are we trying to move balls around?”
A few other foals echoed the query, their voices eventually swelling into a crescendo that filled the entire classroom. Ribbon tried to shout out some protests, but her own voice was soon swallowed up by the chorus of anger and frustration bouncing from every corner of the classroom. Blueblood, meanwhile, decided to remain quiet, if only to keep from getting into any more trouble.
Miss Brightly sighed and rubbed her temples. “Alright, I…really didn’t want to explain this to you. These are things you will learn more about when you get older, but I suppose I can tell you now.” She leaned back in her chair, the wooden seat creaking slightly from the pony’s weight. “Do you remember when I asked you what you knew about magic?”
The class murmured amongst itself yet again, until Blueblood raised a hoof. “I…told you how each race uses magic in a different way?”
“Exactly,” said Miss Brightly. “Each pony uses their magic in a different way. A Pegasus’ magic allows them to fly and touch clouds without breaking through. An Earth pony’s magic allows them to have better endurance and the ability to grow food. But for Unicorns, it’s very different. We can channel our magic through our horns to perform tasks. That’s different from using our mouths or hooves to move things and use stuff.”
She climbed back to her hooves and walked to the other side of the desk. She pointed at a yellow tennis ball on her own desk, perfectly matching the ones everpony else had failed miserably to lift. “Do you see this ball? What shape is it?”
A lavender colt slowly lifted his hoof, prompting an acknowledgment from the teacher. “Um…it’s round?”
Miss Brightly clapped her hooves together and smiled. “Exactly. But think about it a little more. In order to lift a ball like this, you have to know exactly how to surround it with magic. You need to know how much it weighs, how wide it is, and just how much power to use. Use too little power, and you won’t be able to lift the ball. Use too much, and you’ll send the ball flying. And if you don’t grab onto it completely, your hold won’t be balanced. Nothing’s worse than dropping something really important.” She shuddered. “Like that time that pony knocked a soccer ball into a cake I was levitating. Stupid Cheer-”
“Um…Miss Brightly?” asked Cherry. “How are we supposed to lift a tennis ball, anyway?”
“It’s just like I told you,” said Miss Brightly. “It always takes a lot of work to lift something the first time you try. This practice is about learning how your magic influences the world around you. Before you can even begin to use your magic, you have to know how it works, how to channel your power, and where and when to use it. When you get older, and your horn grows out more, you’ll be able to use magic much more easily, but if you don’t start working your magic out at a young age, it will become harder to practice magic as you get older.”
Her smile grew. “Magic is a wonderful thing, but it’s also a difficult concept to master. As you become better at your magic, you will start to see the world in a different way from other ponies. There are new angles, new dimensions to everything from a simple pencil to Equestria itself. When you understand magic, you understand the world itself a little better. Do you understand now?”
Not a student moved in the class. Nopony there – not even the regressed prince – had any idea what she was talking about. Miss Brightly sighed and stepped back behind her desk. “Well, the point is, you have to keep practicing. So just focus on your balls and concentrate your magic on levitation.”
----------
Blueblood’s tiny hooves slowly scuttled across the castle floor, completely disregarding the royal rules to never drag one’s extremities across the dirt-covered surface beneath them. A part of his mind screamed out for him to stop, lest he bring about the very end of Canterlot as anypony knew it, but the colt didn’t really care at this moment. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get that spectacle with Orange Peel out of his mind.
Well, it was that or the magic lesson. He just chose the one that hurt his brain less.
Nothing is making sense anymore. Orange Peel deserved what he got. Nopony who does anything like he did doesn’t deserve to have friends at all. By Celestia, I don’t deserve friends anymore, and he is far worse than I ever was!
He let out a mournful sigh before stopping mere steps from his bedroom. This doesn’t make sense. The pony that’s made my life miserable these last few days is now friendless, defenseless, and helpless! This is not some innocent mare I wronged, but a colt who deserves a good slap across the face!
The colt lifted his head upwards, his eyes lining up with the door handle. But…then why am…
His not-so-profound thoughts came to a screeching halt as a pair of appendages wrapped around his body and pulled him in tight. Blueblood let out a small cry of fear, but his tiny squeals only intensified the cuddly adorableness of his current body. And then he heard the voice of his attacker. “Welcome home, Leon!”
C-Cadance?
Blueblood squirmed against his bonds, finally breaking through just enough to slip through her forelegs. Cadance smiled and climbed back to her hooves, her eyes never leaving the panting colt. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I know we haven’t known each other for a long time, but I’m still your big cousin.”
“Yes…I…know,” coughed Blueblood.
“You know, I used to be a foalsitter.” Cadance winked at the colt. “In fact, I looked after Princess Celestia’s own student even before she joined the school. You wouldn’t believe all the mischief that little filly got into. I can remember this one time where she got hold of a vase and…”
Blueblood shuffled back a few steps. “That’s…nice, but I really want to get back to my room, so if it’s okay…”
He managed to make a few steps before he saw the door open, seemingly on its own accord. Confused, he looked back up at Cadance, catching her just in time to see the glow from her horn dissolve. The condescending smile was gone, instead replaced with one a small frown. “I’m sorry. I guess I overreacted again. You just…remind me so much of your father.”
The colt wanted to say something else, to unload all his frustration with her embarrassing him in front of the guards he was trying to win on his side, but any such words vanished as he stared into his cousin’s face. Even from this new vantage point, he could recognize those same features. Even at this age, she was still the same filly he knew from his actual youth. All it did was just make him feel even worse for being angry at her. “I-It’s no problem. S-So…how are you?”
Cadance shrugged, her smile slowly returning. “I’m better now. I’ve just missed Canterlot terribly these last few weeks. And…I miss…” She quickly shook her head. “Say, do you want to spend some time together? I am your big cousin, after all.”
A tiny little voice began to ring yet again.
No, Blueblood! Don’t do it! Don’t Don’t Don’t
“Sure. You want to come in?”
----------
Cadance smiled and pointed at the large, oversized dotted lines. “Now, can you spell your name?”
Blueblood cocked his head and rolled his eyes, doing his best to make sure that his now-bigger cousin didn’t see his endless well of sarcasm. “Yes. I learned in school.”
Cadance gasped happily and clapped her hooves together. “Wow, that’s so amazing! When I was your age, I could barely write out anything! Now, can you mouthwrite your name for me?”
Sighing, Blueblood clasped the pencil between his teeth and began etching out one scratch after another. Every stroke of his writing utensil made a dull scratching noise, not unlike a hoof being dragged across a chalkboard, which sent the hairs on the nape of the colt’s neck to stand on end. Cadance, however, just watched with a strange sense of pride at this minor accomplishment. By the time he was done, the word “Leon” lay across the entire page, its lines uneven and its curves jagged and misconnected.
“Oh my goodness!” Cadance said. “Do you know how few foals can do anything like this? By Celestia, you’re such a bright little pony!”
“Heh…yeah,” Blueblood muttered quickly. “B-But I’m sure my dad was just as smart.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Blueblood regretted his choice in words. Cadance’s overjoyed face slowly transmogrified into the kind of expression a pony would wear at their parents’ funeral. She slowly turned her head towards the colt, her lips trembling as her muscles tried to form a smile. “Well…it’s not like Prince Blueblood was not intelligent. He did skip classes a lot, but he still had good grades on everything he did finish.”
She turned away again. “But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t smart enough to not do something that would get him banished.”
Blueblood gulped and started shuffling away. Unfortunately, his chair scrapped along the floor, alerting Cadance to his movement. She giggled at his movement, if only to cover up how she truly felt. “But anyway, you shouldn’t worry about that. He might be your father, but that doesn’t mean you have to be like him.”
Blueblood wanted to scoot away even further, but alas, he didn’t feel like falling out and introducing his skull to the floor. The entire room became awash in an awkward and unsettling atmosphere, much like a killer speaking to the child of the pony whose life he had just taken. “Heh, you didn’t really like him, did you?”
Cadance’s laughter ceased immediately. Her features darkened, not unlike that bizarre incident where everypony turned grey while Canterlot detached itself from the mountainside, and Blueblood could swear he saw something trying to break free from the bottom corner of her eye socket. “I…Well, it’s complicated. You see, I liked him a lot when we were kids. He was always so…cool and awesome in just about everything. When my parents left me in Canterlot, he was the first pony that ever made friends with me. And even after he came back, he was pretty good for a short while.”
Blueblood face remained stoic, but inside, his ego was swelling. That sound about right. I was most definitely a hero back then.
“But then…I saw the pony he was becoming.” Cadance sniffed. “He…didn’t approve of some of the thing Princess Celestia did…that Shining Armor and I did. He just kept getting worse and worse and…”
The Princess froze up as a hoof tapped her along the side. She looked down until her eyes caught sight with the sympathetic colt. Blueblood choked back a few frustrated groans and tears. His mind was already formulating the right thing to say. I know I did a lot of things wrong. But if this experience has taught me anything, it’s that I can become a better pony. I might not understand it all just yet, but someday soon, I’ll be a prince you can be proud of.
Of course, his mouth didn’t listen. “I’m sorry I brought dad up.”
“I-It’s all right,” she said. She sniffed back the last bits of her welled-up depression. “But to answer your question, I don’t hate him. I don’t think I’ve ever really hated anypony. I just wish things could have turned out differently. And I can’t say I’m really happy he didn’t tell anypony about you.”
“Yeah…yeah,” said Blueblood. “So…do you want to see something I drew in class today?”
Cadance clapped her hooves together excitedly, her old foalsitter skills floating back to the surface. “Of course!”
And so the two passed the afternoon away, sharing stories about each other’s daily activities and just growing to know each other again. Cadance could feel herself growing ever more attached to the little colt before her, and Blueblood could feel his old love for Cadance swelling back to levels he had not known for so long. And for just a short, gleaming moment, the mess everypony had found themselves trapped in was forgotten…
----------
“And then they said they wouldn’t be my friends anymore,” Orange Peel pouted.
His father puffed on his pipe, a few small popcorn kernels popping out like fireworks as he did so. Besides the roaring fireplace, his exploding corn pipe was the only source of light in the entire living room. A servant, quickly realizing that a father-son discussion was imminent, rushed in with a bowl of chocolate-covered almonds, set the tray next to the father’s table, and just as quickly departed.
Another puff, another pop, and the father spoke. “I’m sorry to hear that, son, but you did do something wrong.”
The colt huffed and puffed and fumed. “It’s all that stupid Leon’s fault. He and his stupid friends ruined everything.”
“I…see,” said the father. “Is this the same Leon that you’ve described in the past?”
The colt nodded. “The same one. He and those fillies just cost me my friends.”
The father tapped his chin, his mouth shifting the pipe to the other side. Finally, he dug out a hoofful of almonds and tossed them into his mouth at once, loudly chewing and swallowing them all before speaking again. “Then I suppose it’s time we finished this. It’s time we restored the honor of House Frazzleberry.”