Blue sagged onto her bed, the magic fading as she flopped over, revealing the stallion beneath. "That became quite uncomfortable," he noted with a miserable little grunt.
"But you did it." Fire tilted her head left and right. "So good on you." Her eyes darted to be sure the sun was set. It was late dusk, not... quite... "Good enough for your first run. That's how it feels to keep a spell going. It gets easier with practice." She waggled her naked tail, grinning at him. "How did you like it? Get any cat calls from the stallions?"
A new blush began to rise up his neck. "No." It likely helped that he had hidden with Gentle Mare and they were seated in a nice eatery rather than being directly out and about. "It was... nice, but far from perfect. Gentle saw right through it."
"Right through?" Fire frowned at that. "What did you do, touch her?"
"Maybe worse." He sat up slowly, rubbing his sore horn. "The spell does not deal with drinking and eating well, and that was precisely what we were doing."
"That takes more practice." She inclined her head a little. "We didn't go over that, oops. You can fold in things you're holding into the illusion, so they match up."
"Oops," bitterly agreed blueblood. "Well, she knows... and she wants to talk about it, tomorrow."
"Good luck with that." Why did her tail have to wag like that, as if she looked forward to that uncomfortable conversation.
"I'm going to bed." That was a lie, he was already in bed. Still, he was ready to retire, and began going about that without delay. "I trust I have passed this lesson?"
"With flying colors," sang Fire. "Tomorrow we'll try something new."
"Hmmph." He was soon divested of his clothing and snuggled under his blanket, ready to recover from the day of practice.
"Nephew."
Blueblood cracked open an eye into darkness. "Hmm?" He was in his room, it was dark, and there should have been nopony there. That fact settled and he sat up, blinking awake. "Who's there?"
"'Tis I." Her horn began to glow, revealing Luna. "A guard came to me with news."
"Is something wrong?" He began to reach for his things to return to proper appearance.
"Neigh, something right, perhaps." She inclined her head. "They said they saw a mare with your cutie mark." She clopped her forehooves together with a little smile. "Was that you?"
Blueblood slid to his hooves. "Oh, uh." He made a mental note to be careful about that, should he ever wish to use the illusion again. "Yes, and no."
Luna peered at him curiously, but said nothing.
"It was an illusion," he provided. "A sight, and nothing else. I remain a stallion." He turned towards her fully, tail giving a little swish. "But I did... spend the day in the form."
"Was it to your liking, or giving you pause?" she asked, tone mostly void of judgment, as if either answer were acceptable.
"Auntie, dear... You are a mare." He smiled up at her. "Let us be honest. You are not an unhappy pony. I will assume that being a mare speaks well to you, that you in favor of it."
Luna turned a hoof on herself. "Me? Well, yes. I am a mare and I am pleased with that fact, but this is not about me. There are many who are perfectly pleased with what they are, but that doesn't answer my question, because I am not you." She leaned in, her breath felt and smelled at their proximity. "I am a princess of dreams. I have seen far stranger desires than this, I assure."
"Truly?" Doubt carried clear in his tone. "Regale me. Make my wants seem small in comparison."
Luna considered that quietly a moment. "I may not give names or hints as to what ponies these came from, of course. Their secrecy is a vow I take most seriously. I am not a gossip, whatever my other flaws may be."
"Of course, Auntie." He raised a placating hoof. "I seek not scandals, just... perspective."
"Mature." She smiled a little. "We could all use a little of that. Very well... A common one is like yourself, pining for a body fate did not give them. Instead of desiring the other sex, however, they look to the other tribes with jealous eyes. To soar in the air, to wield magic, or even to be strong and durable." Her lips curled a little. "To say nothing of those who dream of having it all, to be as a princess."
Blueblood quirked an ear. "Even if I abandon this path, I am growing more talented. Perhaps I can ease the suffering of others going through like troubles."
Luna's eyes widened a moment before her magic wrapped around him, drawing him in rapidly as her arms came around, hugging him. "Dearest nephew, what a lovely idea, and you've led directly into what I wanted to ask about. You've made progress? You must, if you are casting such advanced spells." looked suddenly thoughtful. "Where were you in arcane studies?"
"Minimum," he admitted as he was hugged warmly, accepting it awkwardly, but not returning it. "But that has been remedied, and continues to be addressed." He cleared his throat softly, stepping back. "As a noble, it is my duty to use my privilege for the benefit of others. Commoners have far less chance than I to ever advance as a proper wizard. When I learn the spells, I should make use of them, for the betterment of all."
"And this is the same stallion I had such unkind thoughts of?" She shook her head softly. "That will teach me, perhaps, not to throw judgments without knowing the entire situation. I apologize again for my uncharitable disposition. Now..." She tilted her head. "How far along are you? How far have you come?"
That was a harder question than it might have first appeared. Magic did not come with easy 'levels', and he wasn't in a school he could report what grade he was in. "I have learned almost two dozen symbols," he went with instead. "Of increasingly complex nature."
"Delightful." She clopped her hooves together. "But also a bit behind? You cast a significant spell with only that many? You must have learned what you needed specifically..." She wobbled a hoof in the air. "I recommend you broaden your learning, so you can use any spell put before you."
He was being cheated?! He frowned, considering his tutor, but it clicked almost as quickly. His request was quite specific, and she was doing it. She was giving him the tools to cast that shape changing spell, and not bothering much outside that, because he didn't ask for it. It was his fault, as the manager of the operation. But, easily fixed! "Of course, auntie. How very silly of me. I'll see that addressed shortly."
"See that you do." She suddenly yawned, barely covering her snout with a hoof. "Now, you must greet the day as I go for some earned sleep. Good luck, Nephew."
"Sleep well, Auntie," he replied with a gentle smile, his magic pulling open the door for her. "Oh, next time, there is no need to sneak upon me in the dark. You'll give the staff things to whisper about."
Luna chuckled as she departed. "Perhaps..." But she didn't agree to not do it again, slipping away.
"Good morning." Gentle rubbed at her cheek softly. "I've been... thinking."
"As one should." Blueblood nodded to her from across the small table they were at, breakfast between them. "Thank you, for handling yesterday with decorum. It was unkind of me to spring that on you without warning, and I do apologize for it."
"Y-yes, yes, of course." She nodded softly. "I'm not mad..." She raised a hoof behind her head. "I didn't know you could do that. I mean, we're both unicorns." Her horn glowed as if to make clear that fact. "But I never learned magic magic, you know?"
"I was in a similar state," he admitted. "But I have been fixing that."
"So you're a wizard now... who prefers being a mare."
Blueblood sat up, coughing softly. "Um, well..."
"You looked so relaxed." Gentle smiled, well, gently, living up to her name. "You were enjoying yourself."
"My dear, being a noble gives one a bit of an ear for some things. I hear unspoken words on your lips." He looked her over curiously. "No judgments here. You have promised me that much, and it is only fair I return the favor. Speak freely."
"Blueblood... prince..." She set both her hooves down on the table. "I wish you the absolute best, that you can walk this path, and find happiness."
His chest tightened. The sensation was only growing worse. "But?"
"I... can't walk it with you." She looked away. "I'm not angry, or trying to say you're doing a thing wrong. You looked... so happy. I want you to keep that. I want you to be able to smile like that every day... I..." She put a hoof on her chest. "It's me. It's all me. I did a stupid thing, and now I'm paying for it."
"But..." He cycled his hooves in the air as if he could reel his words back from the void they had been lost in. "Gentle... We... We're friends. Even you said two mares could be friends, couldn't they?"
"Of course! Of... course." She sank miserably. "But I don't know you as a mare. Even as a mare, I thought of you as a prince. Blame it on me, Sir, please, entirely. You... were a kind and gentle stallion, and that is that who I... fell for... I can't... put that aside."
She sat up, clearing her throat. "This is, entirely, my fault. I will return the dresses you so charitably--"
"--No," he cut in. "You will not... Those are yours, Gentle Mare. They are... forever yours. Wear them with pride." He looked away, his face becoming harder. The pain was welling up. "I..."
"It's me," she whispered. "Please go back to smiling... It was... magical, yesterday. You were so happy."
He reached a hoof, placing it on one of hers. "Can't you smile... with me?"
"I'm... a silly prince chasing mare," she bitterly admitted. "I always held hope, that... if I was kind and good, you would eventually warm to me, and you have, and I adore you... as a prince... This is my fault." She hiccuped even as she almost squeaked out the final words, half-falling to her hooves on the floor. "Curse me, I deserve it, but don't let me hold you back. Dearest prince, find yourself, and smile again."
She fled, leaving a trail of shed tears. Blueblood sagged in his chair, watching her go, vanishing out of the room into the castle proper. His first lady friend, lost. Another prince chasing mare.
"No."
She had admitted it.
"No." He thumped down a hoof. "She is scared and confused, but she was not... that." She was, at worst, a mare, a regular mare. He was a handsome pony, and she was attracted, as a stallion might fancy a comely mare in return, but she never pressed, never. She never assumed she had a right to have any amount of interest. She never asked for things. She never demanded decorum she didn't deserve.
"You are not a prince chasing mare," he huffed, sliding to his own hooves. "You are my friend." Were? Perhaps the past tense was appropriate. Fighting his own tears, he trotted off to see to business. The life of a noble did not pause due to personal feelings.
"Chap." Fancy nodded at Blueblood. They were at an opening of a new theatre of the arts, the sort of thing that could draw ponies like them. "I had been meaning to ask."
"Hm?" Blueblood's ears perked. "Please, go right ahead. You know I'm an open book to you."
Fancy chuckled at that. "This I doubt, but the intent is appreciated. Still." He glanced left and right to see who was close as his voice dropped, "Have you decided which side of the fence you stand on?"
Blueblood felt a pain swell in his chest, fear knotting tight. "Fancy, I need an honest answer, deadly honest. May I have one?"
"Well, chap, I would need the question before I could assure that one way or the other." He reached up, adjusting his monocle. "I would be a bit daft to assure that carte blanche, no matter how long a friend we may happen to be."
"Fair..." He glanced away and back quickly. "If I were to select that other side of the fence... I know you would support me, and I do appreciate that, truly. But... would we remain friends, confidants? Would you remain as close to a Lady Blue Belle?"
Fancy hiked a brow. "The nature of our relationship will adjust. A mare and a stallion do not interact in precisely the same way as two stallions, but I would gladly rediscover those lines." He cleared his throat softly. "Besides, you are the same pony in either event, for the most part. And I happen to enjoy the company of that pony, so you're stuck with me, I'm afraid. Poor luck, chap."
Blueblood smiled a little at that. Perhaps it could turn out better? "I... went out, looking like a mare."
Fancy raised a hoof to cough into it, mind filled with visions of Blueblood dressing the part awkwardly, perhaps with eyeliner and other bad makeup techniques. "How did it go?"
"It..." He thought back to the bulk of the dinner. The food, the company, the way the waiters spoke to him. It was... "Lovely... But..."
A cloth napkin came in, dabbing gently at spots. Blueblood had let a tear go despite his efforts, and Fancy was cleaning without a single word, keeping up decorum. "You are too good." The color of the magic on the napkin shifted as he took hold of it himself to finish the job. "It was with Gentle Mare."
"How is the dear doing? We haven't spoken in a short while." He seemed to consider. "I see she isn't here, distracted with work? Lower class life right there, is it not? I don't envy them."
"Right..." But that wasn't it. "She... She saw me, as a mare, and... she figured out it was me, um, the me you see right now."
"Right," echoed Fancy, having a hard time imagining how anypony wouldn't immediately spot Blueblood as a false mare. "Was she upset?"
"No... no, we had a nice time... but she..." He backed a step. "She ended our relationship today. Said she couldn't handle... being with a mare that had..." He took a slow breath, trying to regain his composure. "A mare who was once a stallion she was smitten with."
"Oh dear..." Fancy came in, colliding with him and directing him off to the side, away from the thick. "Well, lucky you, I have no romantic feelings for you to confuse."
Blueblood gave a single strained laugh at that. "Well, thank goodness for small favors, hm?"
"Quite." A small snack floated up in Fancy's magic, soon offered. "It is never a kind thing to lose a friend, and that is precisely what she was. Poor sport on her side to come apart so quickly."
"Doing it slowly wouldn't have helped," hissed out Blueblood, though he did take a chomp out of the floating biscuit. "She did it quickly and cleanly... I... appreciate her honesty. I... am more sad that we are... seperated. I... would have dearly enjoyed a mare friend, somepony I could speak to... without any other expectations."
"She had them, old boy, she just had better decorum than most." He shook his head slowly. "Would you, if you were to remain a prince, have eventually taken her hoof."
A faint blush began to rise before it settled down. "Slightly unbecoming, her being a merchant, I, a prince... but she was a dear... I..."
"Be honest, with yourself, as a pony, not as a prince." He softly thudded a hoof into Blueblood. "You are a pony first, my friend, even if I need remind you of the fact."
"I could not rightly predict that." Blueblood turned entirely away, hoof at his chin. "Right now..." He suddenly twirled back on Fancy. "I've made quite some progress in my spellcasting."
"Very good." Fancy pat Blueblood on the shoulder. "I knew you could. You were never the sort to let something get past you if you had your eyes squarely set on it. Ha ha, very good. I always wanted a wizard for an associate, and the ones I met were all social bores, entirely unsuitable." He rolled his eyes. "Even Princess Twilight, though she has the favor of Princess Celestia, is quite the chore to deal with."
Blueblood reared up a little. "You've had much experience with her, Twilight I mean?"
"Hm? Oh yes. She used to be worse." He smirked at that. "First time I saw her, she was making quite the fool of herself with the most unseemly dance I had ever witnessed. Truly, you would not believe how bad it was. I thought for a time she was doing it on purpose, to make a statement. No, she was just... naive." He chuckled as he snapped up the remainder of the floating cookie.
"That is hardly proper for a princess." Blueblood hiked a brow, imagining the display. "Does she still do that?"
"Hm? Oh, no... This was back before she became one of those." Fancy Pants shook his head softly. "I'm pleased to report she's learned some manner of decor." He leaned in a little."Not a single strange little dance since then, probably for the best. I don't hold it against her, but I shan't forget it either."
Blueblood allowed a little smile, imagining strange motions from the former unicorn. "Would that I could have seen it. My advancement as a wizard has not come the expense of civility, I assure."
"I meant to ask about that." Fancy inclined his head faintly. "Are you attending a class? Personal tutor? Are you just reading? I hear that is the most difficult way to gain that skill."
"Oh, no." Blueblood shook his head quickly at that. "Personal tutor. I tried the self-teaching route, but that was quite slow going, you see. The tutor is a strict mare, unkind, but she really is pushing me ahead, so I can't be entirely upset."
"Firm, but fair." Fancy nodded in a subtle motion. "Exactly the right kind of teacher at times. It seems to me she is having precisely the right effect from the sound of it. Chap, this may sound a bit immature, perhaps... But may I see? I would like to behold some of your spellcraft."
Blueblood smiled at that, his mood lifting. "Of course." Shoot, but what spells did he know? He had only properly learned one. Ah ha! "Name a fashion."
"A fashion, chap?" Fancy tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Wonderbolt."
Blueblood had to blink at that. He had expected some manner of courtly attire. "Wonderbolt, truly?"
"I made my selection," taunted Fancy with a little smile. "Show me your magic."
"Very well..." He played the song of magic, an image in his mind. He spread wings he didn't have wide, smiling at the surprised-looking Fancy Pants. "Like so?"
"Ah ha! Quite the image." Fancy leaned left and right, taking in Blueblood dressed in the tight fabric of the Wonderbolt suit, winged at that, and with a horn too. "Behold, a male alicorn. Ha, and they said it was unlikely. Seems my chap proved them wrong."
"It's just for show," demurred Blueblood, turning slowly in place, willing his fake wings to give a few flaps for show. "They won't carry me into the air, I'm afraid. Enough to look the part and little else."
Fancy reached out, poking a hoof right through a wing as if it wasn't there, which it wasn't. "Oh, I see... How curious. Still, quite the trick! I know your special talent has nothing to do with this, so this is quite the display. True spellcraft. Very good, very good." He began to clop his hooves together.
Other ponies noticed him applauding and joined in. One did not miss the chance to join Fancy Pants in a good round of applause, even if they didn't precisely know what they were cheering on. Soon they were gathered around, realizing that Blueblood was, somehow, a pegasus, dressed as a Wonderbolt. The applause became a bit more genuine.
At least until a soft cough cut it off.
Celestia was approaching. "Nephew."
Quite suddenly, the magic was gone, and he was a unicorn again. "Auntie! A pleasure to see you."
She casually tapped him right beside his horn. "We are gathered to celebrate the opening of this theatre," she reminded. "If you could cease your demonstrations."
"Terribly sorry," he murmured with the good sense to look sheepish. When Celestia had returned to where she was giving a little speech, Blueblood glanced aside at Fancy Pants. "She's just jealous I didn't have to go to her precious school."
Fancy chortled at the thought. "You're a touch mature for that setting, chap." He walked with Blueblood back to the thick of the crowd around Celestia, rather than being apart from it. "Still," he whispered quietly. "Your show was more interesting, I dare say." The two chuckled good naturedly.
Golden magic threw open the door. Celestia stepped into the room, looking around suspiciously. "There has to be an explanation..."
Ponies just didn't learn magic that quickly. Even her best and brightest students weren't ready to throw out such a complex spell casually. She stepped slowly into the abandoned room, Blueblood's room. Sniffing, there was something curious in the air. Rotten eggs on the breeze? Odd... But it proved nothing itself.
She went to his books, peering at them, but no new books were there. Political guide books, romances, nothing out of the normal for Blueblood.
No strange artifacts were littered about. No arcane sigils were burned into the walls. It was an ordinary room for an ordinary prince, who had learned too fast. "Hmmm..." Looking and staring wouldn't fix it. "There must be a reason." She stormed off, the door closing behind her.
Fading in on his bed, Fire Paradox scowled at the closed door. "Nosey girl." She had said something far less clean or charitable than 'girl', but we'll save you, dear reader, from such demonic curses. "What I wouldn't give to corrupt that..." Turning the monarch of the kingdom sure would be quite the feat.
Also impossible. Celestia did not have a good hook for her wicked hooves to grab onto. Not like Blueblood. He trotted down a road paved with reasonable intentions, blind to what troubles it would lead him towards. The best sort of corrupted soul, as far as she could see. "You just need to keep reaching, and savor what you learn to reach." Fire Paradox rubbed her hooves together. "You're coming along well."
A pity he wouldn't become a nice, strong, strapping king. She rather preferred those. Whatever, not that important in the end. "I'd better warn him." It was rude to poke around other ponies' rooms. It was the least she could do to at least warn him it was happening.
Stupid ruler, thinking her actions wouldn't be noticed. Fire smirked viciously. "We're not that dumb..."