//------------------------------// // From a Distance // Story: Waltz Right Up // by stillwedding //------------------------------// Secretly Prince Blueblood’s favourite thing to do was to visit the library, Canterlot Public Library to be exact. He loved to look at the books filled with pages of rich history and the books of old diplomats’ actions which helped Equestria avoid catastrophic wars from neighbouring kingdoms.  Slowly he became a regular at the library. And as a regular of the library, he was bound to run into her and eventually even noticed her. And because of her, he even dared to say the public library was his favourite place in all of Canterlot.  Blueblood had first seen her from a distance. With her perfectly combed mane, perfectly brushed coat, and the pile of books threatening to collapse onto her. This was a normal setting for her and for him, it was something he became familiar with as he carefully stood observing from across another table. He watched her study and effortlessly implement spells to make studying more efficient for her. He had watched her make constant breakthroughs and saw the burst of happiness that came after making a revelation. The young prince had watched her with wonder, at her mastery of levitation and multi-tasking and the record speeds she would read blocks of text.  For the first time in his life, Prince Blueblood was impressed. And when the rumours and stories started surrounding her he was filled with even more awe. Blueblood knew she was the one the city had been clamoring over when the new edition of her pile happened to be from the Canterlot Archives, which were restricted from public access.  The books she chose made it clear that Twilight Sparkle was wise beyond her years. She had captivated many of her teachers through her theories and mind, she had wielded incredible power. Power one could only dream of. She was capable of leveling a whole mountain on a whim if she desired to. And unbeknownst to the ponies of the library, this incredible power was reading a book in a small peaceful corner.  From what he knew, Twilight Sparkle came from a mysterious background. Her parents were members of Canterlot's esteemed council, which probably made them powerful unicorns because the position only allowed power to preside. She also had an older brother. Who was enrolled to train to be a part of the Royal Guard, apparently incredibly young to be accepted into the academy. And finally, Twilight Sparkle herself was an incredibly gifted unicorn with prodigious talent the likes of Star Swirl the Bearded. Also being Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. Her only personal protégé.   The rumours were that Twilight’s magic summoned a dragon and destroyed half the school from sheer power alone. But Blueblood didn’t need any confirmation, every unicorn in the city felt the power surge shake their very being, everyone knew the rumours were true. But hearing such a young filly possessing that amount of raw talent made them want to be ignorant. However, Blueblood valued knowledge, so he knew that ignorance gets you nowhere.  From then on he would try and spend his free time at the public library, mostly to study but to also see what Twilight was up to. Blueblood knew it was beneath him to watch her so closely because he was too shy to be the one to speak to her. He couldn’t even muster up the courage to even greet her. Prince Blueblood didn’t know why he was shaken with nerves for the first time in his life, and he didn’t like it. At all.  Even when he repeated his father’s words demanding him composure it always went to deaf ears when he was around her. And when she had first spoken to him and was interested in the content of his book, The Siege of The Lost Empire. He was first surprised that someone his age even knew about the book and even more surprised that she was able to give an adequate discussion.  And as she talked he became lost in her eyes. Eyes that glistened like gemstones, so radiate and clear. Eyes that danced and glowed with a sense of mystery. He wanted so desperately to get lost in them forever, they were so beautiful. And when she spoke her voice was so soft and wonderful. Hearing that voice addressing him made Blueblood's heart beat faster and faster, threatening to burst out of his chest. And when she finally left he always became a blubbering mess. The feeling Twilight left enchanted him and made him feel drunk with joy and so utterly enthralled. But what he hated the most was that she made him lose his composure constantly. sure she was indeed special, but to him, she was more than special. He couldn’t describe her but just thinking of her made him bubble with warmth.  ☆ ☆ ☆ “I think she put me on some sort of spell!” He finally proclaimed to his tutor, Inkwell. They were in the middle of practicing his levitation. Figures of popular royals surrounded them as Blueblood was juggling them effortlessly like he had seen Twilight do with her books once. They danced around the pair leaping around the obstacles placed around the rooms. She hummed, “go on.” “Well, every time I look at her or think of her my heart begins to race. Now, this is very abnormal. I know I’m perfectly healthy. I’m not supposed to have a high heart rate. But what’s more alarming is I lose my ability to speak when I’m around her!” Blueblood said quickly, losing his composure slightly, the figures above them almost crashing down, but he had to recite his findings and get to the bottom of this.  “Oh dear, this does seem odd, are there any other symptoms?” Inkwell asked failing to conceal her pleasure seeing the prince frustrated over this new development. “Yes! She makes me happy, I look forward to seeing her but when I do she leaves me with such a fuzzy feeling. It’s uncontrollable!”  Inkwell chuckled, hearing her laugh was out of the ordinary. The old mare was hardly ever amused, “Young Blueblood I don’t think she put you on a spell.”  Blueblood scowled, “No, you don’t understand! She has great power and being taught under Princess Celestia herself means she’s very much capable of unimaginable things!” He huffed, “I’m telling you this because I know your skill and you’re the only one who could decipher all of this– this— nonsense!”  Inkwell gave him a knowing smile, “Don’t worry Prince Blueblood. Follow your heart and things will begin to make sense.”  “You’re hardly making sense right now!” He yelled storming out of the room. The figures came raining down and left Ink Well to let out a louder laugh.  Blueblood left to walk around the castle grounds trying to set his thoughts straight when he saw Cadance in the gardens. He let himself smile, Cadance would undoubtedly know what was going on with him. Cadance was admiring the staff’s work. They had planted new seasonal flowers as spring was coming to an end soon. She was about to look at the new caladiums when suddenly what was in front of her wasn’t the flowers but Prince Blueblood looking frazzled. Cadance let herself be amused for a moment by this change in appearance, “Hey Bluey, what are you doing here?”  “I wanted to talk to you about something incredibly important,” he said sternly mimicking his father a little.  Cadance grinned, “Oh? Go on?” “It’s about Twilight Sparkle. You know the pretty filly wise beyond her years with the capabilities to destroy a manticore?” He asked.  “Oh yes, Twilight! Fun fact I used to foalsit-”  “YOU DID?” He exclaimed, unable to contain his shock, “What was she like?”  Cadance thought for a moment wondering why Twilight had piqued Blueblood’s interest, “Well she was always studious and incredibly smart, but you really have to talk to her to get to know her, wink wink!” She said nudging him.  “But that’s the problem Cadance. I can’t.” He admitted.  “Hm? What do you mean? You’re perfectly capable of talking to her, you talk to the Canterlot elite constantly and they're arguably much scarier than Twilight.” “She put me on a spell.”  “I’m sorry what?”  “Look, every time I’m around her my heart does this weird thing and I get warm and nervous and I don’t know why this shouldn’t be happening. And I know she has the power to make me feel this so I need a way for this feeling to go away! You understand- Cadance?”  Cadance blinked and stared at Blueblood until bursting out in laughter making the young prince pout, “Cadance this is serious!” He yelled. “I-I’m s-sorry! But- a spell!?” Another bout of laughter overcame Cadance as she recited what Blueblood had told her.  Blueblood felt like he was going to go insane, “Keep it down, this is dangerous information you have right now!” “Pshh, don’t worry. Twilight didn’t put you under any spell.”  He looked at her in confusion, “Wait, actually?” Cadance nodded sniffling down a laugh, “Mhm, in fact, Blueblood it seems like you have a crush!”  He blinked the two lapsed in silence as he considered it, until jumping towards Cadance as to strangle her, “A CRUSH?” Cadence couldn’t contain her laughter and dropped to the ground, but Blueblood was horrified. Very much horrified.  ☆ ☆ ☆ When he went to the library later that day Twilight wasn’t there in her signature corner. Blueblood hated to admit he was a little disappointed.  Choosing a seat at a table away from the corner he spends his time observing, he pulled out a book on Saddle Arabia trade he began to read. Lately, he had been fascinated with the politics surrounding Equestria and the kingdoms around it. Blueblood’s father was often involved in many international trade negotiations and Blueblood was determined to follow his hoof steps.  Canterlot’s library was very quiet, except for the occasional murmurs from the scholars next to him. Blueblood found solace in the vast space of knowledge, he could understand why she had liked it so much and why she had spent her time here of all places. With a smile, he picked up the book and started looking at its contents. He was very engrossed in his reading, so much so that when someone came and talked to him he was much more startled than he was normally, “I love that book, very insightful, especially the chapter where it explains how Saddle Arabia’s culture heavily influences what they value from us.” A warm voice said. Blueblood quickly spun to meet Twilight’s eyes. Her beautiful eyes. “W-what-” He stuttered, still in shock seeing Twilight as he wasn’t expecting her to make a trip to the library this late.  Twilight's brow furrowed in confusion, “Your book? Saddle Arabian Trade: The Secret to Equestria’s Prosperous Economy? Fantastic read,” she smiled.  Blueblood felt his face warm up. Blinking slowly he replied, “Yeah… it is.”  Twilight nodded, plopping a stack of books on the table beside him, and began to read. She had chosen to sit beside him. Blueblood was shocked and impressed. Slowly a sudden warmth in his heart started developing. ☆ ☆ ☆ “...and she spends her whole day at the library when she can. I remember–”  “I think that’s enough about Miss Twilight Sparkle, clearly she’s studious. We get it dear.” His mother said firmly, abruptly cutting Blueblood off.  They were all sitting together for dinner as a family for the first time in a while since Blueblood’s father finally came back from a business trip in Baltimare looking at the trade from fisheries to the Griffons. And since he was away for a bit Blueblood felt the need to impress him with his new findings and discoveries on Twilight. After all, she was the most interesting filly to Blueblood.   However, his father seemed unimpressed with his new development, “Prince Blueblood I would assume that if you know so much about how Miss Sparkle lives her life you two are close?” He asked, bringing a spoonful of truffle soup to his mouth as he did. “Which is good, it’s good to align yourself with someone like the Princess’s personal protégé.”  “No, not exactly...” Blueblood grumbled, lowering himself in his chair as he did, perhaps as an attempt to try and hide from the definite disappointment he will receive from his parents and the definite onslaught of scolding from his father.   “I’m sorry, what was that dear? You need to speak clearly if you want others to listen to what you want to say.” His mother reminded him, although it sounded much more like a scold.  With a gulp and mustering up what little was left of his courage, “No, I haven’t talked to Twilight yet, father.” He said looking right at him, sounding a bit ashamed but refusing to show it.  “Prince Blueblood,” his father started, “that is absurd, talk to the damn filly damn it. This is extremely embarrassing for you to sulk around a corner and spend your precious time not getting to know her and how to approach for a favour but rather observe her like a common pony would trying to sell apples!” He huffed.  Blueblood felt smaller, but he felt his mind become less clouded. Tomorrow he would at least greet Twilight, he didn’t want to stand idly anymore.  ☆ ☆ ☆ She was reading, Theories of Transfiguration and the Creation of Lifeforms Embarked, Volume 3. Blueblood was overjoyed, he was familiar with the book seeing it on his father’s shelf in his office. Although he hadn’t read it yet as it was well beyond his capabilities at the time.  Double-checking his mane and coat were well brushed and remembering what Cadence had told him about discussing common interests he finally gathered the courage to waltz up to her. For the first time since he started observing her at the start of the month.    “BANG!” The thick textbooks sounded when he dropped them onto Twilight’s table across from her. She jumped a little, sparing him a glare. “My bad, Miss…” Blueblood beckoned for her to say her name, step one of introductions was in motion.  “Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.” She replied, returning her gaze back to her book.  “Right, Twilight.” He whispered her name, “my apologies, I didn’t mean to disrupt you but I couldn’t help myself from noticing you were reading, Theories of Transfiguration.” He said, flashing her with his most charming smile. He felt relieved that his voice hadn’t wavered.   “It’s no trouble, and yes I am. I see you’re reading, uh,” she turned her head to look at the title, “The Reproduction and Cross Breeding of the Flowers of Trotteningham?” Blueblood grimaced, he had meant to select The Reproduction and Cross Breeding of the Flowers of Canterlot, not Trotteningham.  He cleared his throat with a cough masking the coming warmth in his cheeks, “Well yes, I believe adding the flowers from all over Equestria could enrich the soil and magic deposit here in Canterlot. I believe the Canterlot Preservation Society wanted to implement it but the image of Canterlot as a city might be tainted seeing as we wouldn’t have as many specialty flowers anymore.” He felt relieved being able to say everything without having his composure waver.  Twilight gave him a hum of agreement, “Sometimes I don’t understand why the image of Canterlot is so important. If it’s for the betterment of the city as a whole, who cares?”  Blueblood's heart welled up, “Exactly,” he breathed. “But how about Transfiguration? Is it something you practice often?” He asked, hoping to get some sort of picture of Princess Celestia’s curriculum.  “Yes, my lessons have been on transfiguration lately.” Transfiguration that early? He thought.  “No offense Twilight, but transfiguration is awfully advanced magic, you don’t seem older than I am– u-unless you are t-then I’m sorry for assuming- Uh, what magic school establishment is teaching the concept so early?”  Twilight let out a giggle, hearing it made him feel warm. He wished he could’ve bottled it up. “Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” she replied. Of course, Blueblood already knew that she was always seen rushing around the halls going to the next seminar. The advanced seminar.  “Wait, I go to the Princess’s school too, how come I don’t see you around?” He asked, and he knew the answer to that too. She was often in private lessons with the Princess herself. If he could guess Twilight would be at the actual school for only half the week. “I do most of my learning remotely, I think the frequent change in environment is better for one’s learning in retaining information. I learned it in one of my books.” She smoothly said. She had lied to him. Blueblood wasn’t mad, but he did find it strange. If anyone was the Princess’s personal protégé they’d definitely jump at the opportunity to talk about their special lessons. If he had been the Princess’s personal protégé then he would have definitely used that to his advantage. The unimaginable amount of connections he could gather from just the title alone was amazing. Of course, Blueblood didn’t need an extra title, he was Prince Blueblood after all. But yet there she was. Having the perfect opportunity to seize a network of powerful ponies– a network one could only dream of having, yet she turns away from it? His mind stopped racing. It was clear she was humble and modest. A newfound respect for her began forming. Blueblood liked her even more because of it. It was refreshing to see a Canterlot resident being humble, it was out of the ordinary. Of course, Twilight was anything but ordinary.  He continued, “I believe that concept was first adopted from a guard in the siege of Baltimare. When the whole platoon felt they fought better on home turf than on the land with the dragons. But obviously, ponies from the very start of Equestria could’ve guessed that much.”  “Yeah, it’s funny how much could be lost because we didn’t have the means or the effort to record them,” she remarked. “I can hardly blame them though, they probably didn’t understand that the events they lived in will become significant.”  Giving him a sleepy smile, “I suppose there is truth in that.”  He nodded and started shuffling through the stack of books after finally deciding to not read The Reproduction and Cross Breeding of the Flowers of Trotteningham, but instead The Tales of Cover the Clever: The Influence of a Great Unicorn.  As he levitated the book to his grasp Twilight loudly gasped, “Clover the Clever was so cool!” She proclaimed barely keeping in her glee. “Did you know Star Swirl the Bearded himself taught him? The greatest unicorn of Equestrian history had recognized Clover’s talents which allowed him to pave great change for Equestria!” She explained practically jumping.  He was taken aback by her new excitement towards the topic of the great historical figures. If that was what it took to make her so cheery, then Blueblood would check out the whole catalog on Clover the Clever and Star Swirl the Bearded just to see her like this.  He nodded his head in agreement, “Like the time when he chased the Windigos out of Equestria? I mean, he had help from the assistants of the clan leaders, not to dwindle their accomplishments at all, but he was monumental to the banishment of Windigos– “–which allowed Equestria to unite and face and confront the evils that came forth next!” Twilight exclaimed, finishing his sentence.  He beamed at her passion, “Being under the tutelage of Star Swirl himself allowed him to reach incredible heights in his magic. Star Swirl is so admirable.” He highlighted.  Twilight gave him a curt nod, “Star Swirl the Bearded is amazing, his spells are works of art, they’re still used today. He revolutionized modern spell casting!” She finished with a display of a small firework out of her horn. “Pretty amazing, what was his cutie-mark again?” She thought about it for a while, cycling through the information she had of him in her head until reaching a conclusion, “a star swirl?”  Blueblood deadpanned, “You’re kidding–”  “No, I’m pretty certain, let me look.” With her magic Twilight quickly found a basic autobiography on Star Swirl the Bearded. Flipping to a random page there was an illustration of him and his cutie-mark. Which were very much stars and a swirl.  Blueblood’s eye twitched, “You weren’t kidding…” “Honestly, I don’t know how his cutie-mark correlated, obviously he had a skill for spell casting and creating spells? But how did he get that from… stars and a singular swirl…” She asked, holding down a laugh.  He thought about it and thought back to his experiences from the social gatherings he was forced to attend. Many of the party attendees had very obscure cutie-marks which no one could guess what they meant but themselves, “I suppose cutie-marks can be obvious and some are more subtle. I can tell yours represents magic, that’s the universal symbol for magic, it doesn't get more obvious than that.” Twilight laughed, “Good point. And yours is a compass?” “Indeed, but rather it’s a representation of something I’ve recently realized. Long story to it, but I don’t want to bore you.”  “No-no, go on,” she beckoned.  “I guess it all started when I was born? I’ve always had to handle a lot due to the circumstances because of my family, which I’m not going to bore you with the implications. Basically, we own some boats and zeppelins and often host parties on them. Well, one day we were hosting a party when our installed compass malfunctioned. We needed to desperately get back to Canterlot but no one on the boat was able to navigate because they were all a bit drunk. I’m telling you this now, don’t attempt to navigate a boat when you’re drunk. More often than not you will be driving the boat into rocks and the repercussions are tedious. So I navigated the boat back with my magic.” He recited, thinking of the vivid memory of finally taking charge after being sheltered for so long.  “Wow, that’s very brave of you to step up with no one else could, that’s impressive.” Twilight looked at him in awe.  She had complimented him. The beating in his heart quickened and he felt his face turn red, “N-no, not really. The incident wasn’t what gave me my cutie-mark but it did allow me to develop a skill for navigating.” “How humble of you. We’re talking about a whole boat full of ponies stranded and you were the one to guide them back to shore,” a blush came over the young prince, “but I seriously thought your cutie-mark was because you had a talent for navigating the seas, what does your mark symbolize then?”  Blueblood thought carefully about how best to describe it. This was the first time he was telling anyone how he actually got his cutie-mark. Why was he telling her this? Was it because she was actually listening attentively? Or was it because she had chosen to listen to him instead of having the obligation to due to his status? Nonetheless, he continued, “I think my mark isn’t about my skill to navigate the seas, but rather my skill to navigate through anything. I’ve always had an innate knowledge of the winds, seas, and Canterlot Society. I am no stranger to ponies, much of my daily life when I’m not at school was being dragged out to every social gathering imaginable. I wanted my own solitude. So I learned to create it. Like guiding a current I was able to direct ponies. When a party went on I saw the drifts change when certain ponies made a fool out of themselves or if they came off as abrasive. Ponies were like invisible winds changing. And when I saw this connection and navigated through it and finally enjoyed applying skills in sea navigation to those in social navigation was when my mark appeared.” Twilight looked at him with admiration, “Honestly that’s even more impressive. Being able to change any social setting or know where to go and what you want to do to achieve your goal. I wish I had a wayfinding talent.” She said matter-of-factly.  “No, you flatter me too much, compared to the likes of Princess Celestia it really isn’t that special. But, enough about me, I’m curious about how you got your cutie-mark?” He asked excitedly, wanting to hear how the story actually played out.  “Well, it isn’t as deep compared to how you got yours, but I got it when I was taking the entrance exam to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns. I tried everything to pass their test and the moment I was going to give up I felt some sort of great power well up inside me. It had allowed me to pass my test and gifted me with my cutie-mark.” She said shortly. Blueblood frowned, the way she told it certainly downplayed what had actually happened, still refreshing to see that modesty peaking through even if he had hoped for a grand tale.  “The entrance exams for Princess Celestia’s school are notoriously difficult Twilight, I believe how you got your cutie-mark is a lot more impressive, so don’t be so modest. Tell the world you blew up half the world trying to get your mark!” He said (nearly) jokingly.  Twilight giggled, “You know… that’s not too far off from the truth.”  If anything it was the truth.  “Can’t say I’m surprised.” He chuckled, “So your talent is magic? Any specialty of magic or just magic as a whole?”  “I believe just magic in general. Which I know is incredibly broad right now but as I learn to explore more fields and branches of magic maybe the answer will become more clear.”  Levitating the toggling tower of books in front of them, “Is that why you study everything?” He asked making the books dance around them in a circle as he did.   “Well not everything, I still haven’t touched elemental magic yet,” she groaned in despair. Blueblood felt her struggle, it was hard trying to juggle everything in the search of something.  “Maybe your magic is aimed towards…” He slowed the movement of the books around them until he saw the perfect one, “Adventure!”  Twilight grabbed the book in her own magic grasp bringing the book close to her her eyes morphed into confusion, “Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds? I’m pretty sure if there was another cloud city that wasn’t Cloudsdale we would know about it,” she rolled her eyes in annoyance at the absurdity.  Blueblood laughed, “Please tell me you’ve read at least one Daring Do novel.” When Twilight’s confused expression hadn’t changed his face began to morph to horror. He was concerned, “What? You seriously haven’t!? My apologies, but that is simply unacceptable.” He put the book onto the stack of books Twilight already built. “It’s decided you will be reading this.” “But-” she started trying to rebut. “No arguing, I want you to finish that book by the next time we meet.” He said in a very final tone, mirroring the tone his father would use at the end of his business meetings.  “Wait, how do you know if we’re going to meet again?” Twilight sputtered.  He gave her a knowing smirk, confidence filling his voice again, “We’re both students from the Princess’ school it automatically makes our favourite place this very library. And I can’t help but notice that you spend most of your day here.”  Twilight’s cheeks glowed red, “Hey! I know you do too!” He grinned, “Exactly.”  Their conversation halted when Dusty pages the librarian came to their table, “The library is about to close young ones,” she said. Looking out the window the sun had already set; a prevalent silence made itself known as the library’s patrons were gone. They were the only ones left. Were they really talking for that long? It hadn’t felt like that long and they both had plenty more to talk about.  “Oh no, I was so sidetracked today I didn’t finish these readings- n-not that I didn’t enjoy talking to you, I rather did–” A blush came over Blueblood, “I’ll just check these out real quick!” Twilight said, scrambling to the checkout table while levitating a whole stack of books. Dusty Pages gave her a knowing smile and trotted after the flustered Twilight.  “Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds?” Dusty acknowledged, “I’m glad you’re expanding your reading horizons Twilight.” ☆ ☆ ☆ After she checked out her books, which might as well have been the whole shelf, they were ready to leave. Standing outside it was incredibly dark and a bit chilly but the stars shined brightly at them illuminating the paths of the city.  Twilight allowed her to admire the beautiful night sky, “the stars are always so pretty,” she said in awe.  Blueblood who wasn’t paying attention to the sky at all but instead was staring at Twilight, “yeah… you are.”  “Hm? I’m sorry, what was that?” Twilight said immediately, meeting his eyes.  Blueblood quickly looked away from those damn beautiful eyes and blushed, “I said they were- the stars I mean!” He said a bit too quickly and too loudly. He cursed at himself while staring very intently at the stars. They danced tauntingly at him.  To his relief, Twilight didn’t push his excuse and laughed. She started descending the stairs, and Blueblood quickly followed her. As they reach the bottom of the steps of the library Blueblood summoned up his courage to ask, “It’s late, allow m-me to walk you home?” Blueblood scolded himself for stuttering.   Twilight smiled, “I would like that!”  He breathed a sigh of relief. He took her bag, and almost dropped the contents. At that moment he was convinced that she was an Earth pony because how else was she able to carry what felt like a whole mountain back to her home nearly every day? No matter, he would proudly take her bag, even if it meant breaking his back. It was a courtesy for him to walk a lady home especially if it was dark out, he was taught that when he was much younger. However, although it was something he had to do it didn’t prevent him from still disliking walking most ponies. Not Twilight though. He had wanted to walk her back. And found walking beside Twilight pleasant.  As they walked they talked some more, mostly about history and literature which happened to be Blueblood’s favourite things to discuss. And some politics, it was clear Twilight knew an awful lot about how the city operated, he knew she could become a powerful politician if she really wanted to.  They reached the private property where some of the city’s most reputable nobles resided, he noticed. Twilight took her bag back from Blueblood's magic grasp and turned to enter her home. With a wave of goodbye, he turned to leave. Happy that he finally got to spend time with Twilight and even happier that she happened to be even more impressive and amazing than he had originally thought. As he walked down the paved main street of the city he heard a voice shout after him which eloped him with the same familiar fuzzy feeling he learned to love.  With heavy breaths in between, “I’m– sorry– I never– got your– name!” Twilight asked. This time Blueblood gave her a smile, a genuine one no one got to see, “My name is Blueblood. It was nice meeting you today Twilight.” He had purposefully avoided using his title as she taught him humility today. “It was nice meeting you too…” Twilight lingered watching Blueblood walk away. Blueblood held those words dearly, repeating them in a dreamy tone and occasionally staring back at the spot she had been wishing that they had a bit more time together. But he knew he would see her again, perhaps tomorrow or running around the school. He smiled, he couldn’t wait to see her again.