With the party in full swing, the Prince comes up to the kitchen with some trays of his famous soup to spread the treat with the help of Pinkie as he keeps wishing everyone a happy Heart Warming Eve.
“Here you go auntie” He smile as he give Celestia and Luna their soups “Oh Blueblood I’m so happy you decided to assist this year” Celestia was practically in tear as she enjoy her dish while Luna look at it suspiciously before taking a sip.
“Yeah what an unusual sudden change of heart, where did you say you learn to make this again?”
“Luna” Celestia reprint her sister for her suspicious
“It ok auntie, she has all the right to doubt me, that is why I suggest to run any spell and scan on me to make sure I wasn’t an impostor or under some kind of mind control or have any malicious intent”
“Luna!”
“Well, somepony needed to do it!” She kept looking at him “And I still am not sure I understand. how do you have such a vivid nightmare without me noticing…and share it with the main six to boot?”
“Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all” He smirks at her only adding question until he laughs “But it's ok and to answer your first question it is an old family recipe, that I’m particularly proud of, it might not be as good as mom's but I always try to get as closer to it as possible”
“What are you saying? Blueblood this tastes wonderful!” Celestia compliments with a big grin as he chuckles a little and lean closer “The secret is that I add an extra spoon of sugar”
The comment makes them both laugh until he looks at Luna “Auntie, I know we haven’t started on the right hoof, and you have all the rights to be so wary of me, but this whole experience has taught me so much, and give me a huge perspective on a lot of things, of a lot of wrongs that I need to fix. Starting to get to know the auntie I used to chat with while I was but a toddler”
“What are you talking about?” Luna looks confused at him as he blinks and turns to Celestia
“You never told her about the nights we spent talking to the moon and writing letters to it?”
The comments gain the attention of Luna as she sends a small glare at her sister “No, she didn’t”
“Jeje ops must have slipped my mind” Celestia laugh nervously having been caught, red hoof
“It's ok we can talk with that about it too, in fact, I would love to get to know more about you aunt Luna I bet you have some incredible stories of the past that I have been dying to hear and I would love to help you with modern times if you would let me”
For her part, Luna looks at him with neutrality until she smiles “I pretty much would love that nephew thanks for your assistance”
“No auntie” He surprises her with a hug, “Thank you for giving me a second chance”
Smiling more warmly she returned the gesture “Well, I’m kind of an expert when it comes to second chance and atonement.
“This is so great” Celestia turned this into a group hug “We can finally be a family all together!”
He laughs and breaks the hug “Just like we used to it, and don’t worry aunt Celestia I already know how to gain autonomy, but for now, if you excuse me, I have to talk real quick with Twilight Sparkle, see you later for the ugly sweater picture”
“Of course! We will wait for you” Celestia nods as they see him depart as he keeps a big grin on his face stopping when in the corner of his eye he sees a pony about to steal the silver way. “That would be 500 bits for the silver way or a week on the dungeon buster, your call” He calmly says pretending to grab a piece of breath “Mind putting the spoon back where you find it, hmm?”
He keeps smiling calmly at the pony as the royal guard start to approach making the thief sweat bullets and put it back “that is what I thought”
“Huh, well I must say, our nephew knows when to tight the hoof when the times calls upon it” Luna look the whole thing develop with intrigue as she smiles and nods “I like him”
Celestia laughs and rolls her eyes “Oh goodie what monster did I just unleash into Equestria?”
“Oh hardy har har sister, you are hilarious” Luna reply sarcastically
Looking for Twilight Blueblood finally found her on a table with the rest of her friends “Twilight!”
“Blueblood, you have to tell us how you made this soup. This is delicious!” Rainbow exclaim practically licking the bowl clean, as he laughs and shakes his head “Sorry Rainbow Dash, it's an old family recipe, the only way I would tell you if you become part of the family”
She starts to pounder and looks at the empty plate “Can I be an honorable member?”
“Sorry, it is reserved to only my wife and kids”
She stays quiet and starts to hum in thought
“By the stars are you actually considering it?!” Applejack look at Rainbow in shock
“N-No! I’m just saying…it is a very good soup” They all share a laugh as Dash looks away with an intense blush on her face.
“But in all seriousness, there is something I need to discuss with you Twilight, with all of you for that matter”
“What is Blueblood?” Twilight raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
“While I have no doubt you would make a great ruler with your friends acting as…sorry I still not sure what could be the perfect term, will you be like elite knights or…?”
“We haven’t ironed out all the details yet darling, so what were you saying?” Rarity answers before moving her hoof so he can continue
“Right well, while I’m sure you would do a good job, the visit of the 3 ghosts made me realize that unfortunately none of you are exactly prepared to deal with the nobility, not like I have at the very least”
“You mean what happened to you with Epona and her friend's partner?”
“Precisely I know you mean good and a lot of those ponies have genuinely good intention but unfortunately even when honest they can still approach you with malice some way or another”
“Je yeah right, we have deal with worse after confronting Cozy Glow” Dash dismisses his concern
“And that was a great feat to be sure but I am afraid I have to point out that: A) you didn’t defeat her exactly, your students did and that was mainly because she didn’t account for them. B) you took her trap, hook line, and sinker and C) and I can’t stress this enough Cozy Glow is an amateur compared to the truly despicable and clever masterminds I deal and eat for breakfast daily, especially among nobility” He tells them without any hint of sarcasm.
“I’m worried for you Twilight, for all of you, my auntie prepared you for lots of things but politics and schemers were the one thing she omitted and it is kind of important to know how to deal with them. But I can teach you, or even better I can offer you my help facing them too. Please let me stay by your side like an advisor of some sort, it will be my honor to assist you in anything you might need when facing the high society and the dangers they can bring”
The girl exchanged worried glances before talking with him again “While we appreciate the gesture, I think you are overreacting just a tinsy bit Blueblood, true we haven’t dealt with this kind of situation besides Cozy Glow but I have full confidence in my abilities dealing with the public even nobility”
He sigh in disappointment and shake his head “I didn’t want to resort to this but it looks you might need an example”
“An…example?” AJ raised an eyebrow
“Je sure let's do a test so you can see how prepared we are all” Dash boosts in confidence as he looks at them with neutrality
“Fair enough then as a warning I will show you, how a well-spoken noble can make you all put on a prench maiden dress and clean the attic, without you realizing what happen”
“What?!” Dash looked at him in anger in shock
“Oh! Are we playing dress-up then? Can we wear mustaches too?” Pinkie tells in excitement as Fluttershy can only blush and look away at the mental image.
“Are you afraid of me proving my point?” Blueblood raised an eyebrow and smirked at Dash, increasing her anger.
“Oh ok you ask for it, bring it on Blueblood do your worst” She flies to him until their snout touches and pokes his chest. “You prove to us that high society is as dangerous as you think it is and I'll be the first one to sigh on your lessons on how to drink tea 'properly' and look fancy all the time”
“Dash!” They all complain about her boosting
“That is not what I’m offering, I’m extending my help on ways for you to spot schemers, persuasion nobles, and well-spoken liars”
“Eh pretty much the same, but when we prove that there is nothing to be afraid you will drop it and we can think of something else you can help us out” She shrugged “We are not gonna over our friend out of his house either once Twilight take over, so don’t sweat it dude”
He smiles and nods “If that is what it takes then so be it” he sighs in disappointment as she flies back and he breathes in and out of throw his nose gently before stretching his neck briefly and wetting his lips for a moment all the while closing his eyes as to prepare himself mentally, until he was ready and look up at them with a smile as he takes a deep breath and finally spoke.
“How did he do it?” Dash asks in astonishment as the next thing she knows she was carrying a cardboard box and with the rest of her friends they were all cleaning the castle attic while wearing prench maid uniforms just as Blueblood claimed. Her friends have been equally confused and shock at the develop minus Pinkie who was happily cleaning while wearing a pink small mustache.
"Right now my major concern is finding out I'm kind of like this dashing outfit," Rarity tells with an intense blush.
"Should I will be worried I find it kind of comfy?" Fluttershy admits with a small voice taking an occasional glance at the prince before looking ahead once he sees at her
"Nope I'm having the same thought over here Fluttershy" Applejack agrees with her
"It normal, this is the uniform used by mares that need to work and move around a huge castle at the very least 5 hours per day, of course, it needs to be comfortable and easy to move around with" Blueblood explains
“But anyway now you see what I’m saying? A well-trained noble in the arts of persuasion could get you to do whatever they please and you wouldn’t even notice, not unless you know the clues into what to look” He raised an eyebrow and tried not to sound so smug at his clear victory.
The very next day Blueblood was granted the official post of royal advisor to Princess Twilight Sparkle and as promised he aided both the current and next ruler of Equestria guiding them on a bright new tomorrow, showing them the robes and getting closer to them.
And in turn Twilight and her friends were more than happy in helping him solve his issues and put to rest unfinished work.
Taking a deep breath he stared at the front of him before looking to his right to a grinning Pinkie “Is this really necessary Pinkie?”
“Come on Bluey! You remember what Ghost of Present says, we all have the right of a second chance, even them” She points at the door. “They want to reach out to you. And you are way smarter now to be tricked again. Besides, I will be right next to you”
“And so would I” Starlight nods with a smile from his other side “Believe me I have been on your horseshoes before, so I know how much it helps to have some backup for this type of confrontation”
Sighing again he nods once and looks ahead of him once more “Ok here we go” He bravely knocks on the door.
Days later, the Prince was introduced to more ponies like him that went to a rough patch thinking they could connect one way or another. Including Sunset Shimmer, Tempest, and even Discord, all who just as she suspected manage to hit it off with relative ease as Discord keeps thinking of ideas for adventures for all of them to get into.
“Ok I know you are joking now”
“No I’m serious here, I think you could have what it takes to turn old Chrissy around”
“Discord, she turned down Starlight, what makes you think I would fare any better?” Blueblood question with a deadpan as they all were currently playing cards.
“She fails because she was offering friendship, I say you could success because you could offer something different” He smirks at the “Plus I wasn’t referring exclusively to you alone” He, Sunset, and Tempest blink a couple of times before looking at one another “Come on guys let's be real here. We all know that as nice as Twilight is, she can be pretty naive direct and has a bit of a tunnel vision”
They ponder and slowly nod at the claim “But you on the other hand, well I would say you are all pretty good in your respective arts. And if not say it directly friendship she might listen, hmm?”
They stay quiet for a moment until Blueblood breaks the silence and asks what they all were thinking “What exactly do you have in mind?”
As for Celestia, moved by his story and realizing the errors of her actions decided to get a more active role with her family and invite him over to more activities with her sister as they continue to grow closer and even on occasion took joy in teasing each other wondering when would they seek that special pony for them, keeping the spirit of Heart Warming Eve in their hearts and never letting it die down again.
20 years later
“Dad! Dad hurried up!” A filly pegasus with white fur, some freckles on her face, a slightly raspy voice, and a golden long and slightly curly mane and tail similar to Rarity style, marched inside the kitchen as a more adult and tall Blueblood with an imposing beard was finished preparing his famous soup. “We are gonna a be late”
He chuckled and put the lid up as to address his kid “Calm down Nimbus I’m coming” They both exit the kitchen as the filly lands on his back “Does everyone already arrive?”
She nods rapidly to Aunt Twilight, brought mom and the rest of the aunties from Ponyville just so they wouldn’t be late and they told me that they will spend the night here in the castle, they are all waiting for you in the dining room”
“Ja it will not be a party without the mane six, I suppose” He laugh and shake his head as they advance
“Say, dad, why do you always only make that yummy soup on Heart Warming Eve?” She asked innocently clinging to his neck
“Oh, that is quite the story, tell me Nimbus have you ever wondered what exactly makes my soup taste so good?"
"Is it the spoons of sugar? She asks innocently making him laugh
Well, that certainly helps, I will tell you after dinner ok?”