Bringing Up Blueblood

by InsertAuthorHere


Chapter Eleven: Peeling the Orange

“Seventy-seven, seventy-eight…” Shining Armor slammed his hoof down, his ponies grunting and sweating beneath him. “Come on now! Am I training royal guards or a bunch of schoolfoals?!” He paused just long enough to catch Blueblood’s less-than-pleased face. “I mean…carry on.”
 
The push-ups continued, with everypony grunting and groaning underneath the agonizing weight of their heavy armor. The only exceptions to this were Blueblood, whose uniform remained little more than a cheap foal’s costume, and Burly Barley, the gigantic Unicorn that could balance the entirety of Canterlot on his back. Once again, everypony involved could feel their muscles burn and bristle against the massive amount of effort being placed on their bodies, but the training regimen was accomplishing its intended purpose. Everypony involved could feel the exercise bringing them closer together in their desire to murder Shining Armor while he slept.
 
“Ninety-nine, and…one hundred! Atten-HUT!”
 
Everypony in attendance quickly jumped back to attention without missing a beat. Even Blueblood managed to get his legs snapped back into position just in time for the usual morning peptalk. And once again, Shining Armor did not fail to disappoint. “Good morning, everypony! Is everypony all rested up after yesterday’s evaluations?”

The entire group groaned in response – in Blueblood’s case, however, it was more because of his aching muscles than any frustration over the evaluations he hadn’t been a part of. Shining Armor simply brushed off the aggravated response. “In any case, I want to say that you all did well. We are the Royal Guard, and we must protect not only the Princesses, but everypony who has ever set a hoof upon Equestria’s soil. To do that, we must be ready for anything and everything, and that’s why we have to check your skills from time to time.”
 
He cleared his throat before continuing. “Now, I will be attending a meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for most of the day. In the meantime, Lieutenant Rolling Thunder will be in command. Report to her for your assignments today. That is all. Dismissed!”
 
A great sigh of relief echoed throughout the courtyard, followed by the thunderous pounding of armored hooves and beating of razor-sharp wings as ponies took off in all directions to assume their usual posts. Before long, the only ponies remaining were Captain Armor, a nearby Lieutenant, and a few others, including the pony Blueblood needed to talk to…
 
“Excuse me! Sergeant Flyover?”
 
The Pegasus stallion broke away from the others he was speaking to and turned to face the colt. Blueblood’s nerves seemed to give way for just a moment, but still he managed to stand his ground and match eyes with the disciplined guardpony. “Well, what is it?” asked Flyover.
 
“I was just wondering…” Blueblood sucked in a big breath of air, then exhaled it slowly through his mouth. “Well, I’ve been…thinking things over, and…well, I’ve wronged a lot of ponies, and…you’re on the list, so…”
 
The stallion’s face refused to change, as if its features had been glued into place. “Are you talking about what happened with me and Firelight under the bridge…”
 
Blueblood nodded. “That’s it. I…wanted to say that I’m sorry I…outted you.”
 
The guard groaned. “I…”
 
“And used the photograph as the model for a full-scale mural.”
 
“Blueblood, I wo…”
 
“And then put it on display at the palace grounds, inviting your parents over to look at it, and then declaring you a disgrace to the guards because you were too busy indulging in your romantic passions to properly serve the crown.”
 
The entire courtyard became deftly silent, save for a few leaves rustling in the breeze. The other guards simply stared at the colt in slack-jawed amazement at the colt’s brazen confession. Flyover’s face, however, remained unchanged, even as Blueblood reared back in case of a sudden buck or strike. The fact that it was taking so long for the retribution to begin only intensified the colt’s fear.
 
The stallion, however, finally just shook his head. “I’m not going to do anything to you, Blueblood. I’m still more than a little pissed off at you, but…it was a while ago.”
 
The colt slowly looked up from his crouching position, allowing himself just the tiniest smile in the process. “W-Well, I…I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, and…if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, please, do not be afraid to ask.”
 
And with that, the colt was back up on his hooves and galloping away, just in case the guard changed his mind and decided to put his training to use on his skull. The remaining guards simply watched in silence for several moments after the spectacle had ended, unsure of just what to do. Nothing in their training had prepared them for such a monumental occurrence.
 
Finally, Razor Wing stepped up alongside his fellow soldier. “D-Did he just…apologize?”
 
Flyover nodded his head. “I…think so.”
 
Another guard popped his head up from the back. “B-But…Prince Blueblood don’t feel sorry for nuthin’!”
 
With that, the guards returned to their morning mumbles and wishes for good luck and peaceful days, as well as praying for the sake of the Equestrian language. Flyover, on the other hoof, simply broke away from the crowd, gave the still-stunned Shining Armor a final salute, and finally flew off towards his posting in Lower Canterlot’s Western Quarter. The Captain was barely able to return the gesture before very slowly walked towards the castle entrance.
 

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To Blueblood’s surprise, only Luna was at the breakfast table, chewing away on some of the hardest flakes ponykind had ever devised. Even when covered in milk, their crunchiness never seemed to vanish. Even worse, an empty bowl was waiting for him, along with a glass bottle of milk and a big box of “Crunchy Crisps.” If he didn’t know better, he would swear that his molars were trembling at the horrible fate in store for them.
 
Sighing, he climbed into his seat. The moment his derriere made contact with the cushion, a dark aura appeared over the box, levitating it off the table slightly before tilting the box downward just enough for the flakes to tumble out. Once it was satisfactorily filled, the box returned to its former position, while the milk repeated the same process. And thus, Blueblood was ready to eat the breakfast recommended by nine out of ten dentists.
 
Luna swallowed another spoonful, her mouth twisting in pain as the jagged flakes slid down her throat. “Good morning, Blueblood.”
 
“Um…good morning,” he muttered back. In an instant, his mind began tracing his aunt’s greeting, scanning it for any inflections or double meanings that could imply his breakfast was poisoned, or that she was getting ready to drop an anvil on his head. To his amazement, however, he could find no real trace of maliciousness; at worst, she was just fiercely apathetic to his presence. All in all, it was even more disconcerting than when she was actively conspiring against him. “So…what plans do you have today?”
 
Luna swallowed another bite before floating a newspaper in front of her face. “Outside of a morning meeting, nothing of importance. I suppose I can finish my speech, there is something in the kitchens that need attending to, and I need to speak to the Corps of Engineers over...”
 
Before she could continue, Blueblood loudly coughed and cleared his throat. “What’s this about a meeting, anyway? Shining Armor mentioned it during the morning drills.”
 
The top of the newspaper folded downward, revealing Luna’s slanted eyes. “That is a confidential manner. If you do not wish to have your memory erased, I would advise you to drop the subject and never speak of it again.”
 
With that, the duo returned to their respective meals, with only the chewing of flakes and the slurping of milk to break the silence. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they ate, read, and ate some more. Blueblood’s eyes, however, were rolling back and forth between Luna and his bowl at roughly the same rate his brain was working. The pros and cons of pursuing this line listed themselves before his mental faculties, stopping only when the tension became too much to bear. He had no choice left. “Princess Luna, there’s something I must discuss with you.”
 
The tiny, dignified sounds from the other side of the newspaper gave a very clear indication of Luna’s interest in his words. “Very well.”
 
Blueblood gulped and leaned his head down just slightly. “I just…wanted to apologize for my wrongdoings.”
 
The minute the words left his mouth, a very non-princesslike snort emerged from the other side of the paper. The newspaper quickly folded and set itself aside, revealing the tiny trails of milk just outside of Luna’s nostrils. The spoon, which had been levitating just to her side a moment prior, simply fell back into the cereal, while her eyes were wider than the serving trays used at state dinners. The sight was enough to send Blueblood reeling in shock and horror, as if he was staring into the very abyss of darkness. “A-Apologize?”
 
Slowly, Blueblood regained his senses and nodded in affirmation. “Yes. I have been…thinking, and with things proceeding as they are, it is time I tried to acknowledge all of the ponies I have wronged, including you. I…I am sorry I threatened to turn the court against you just so I could have revenge.”
 
The dining room was quiet once more, if only so Luna could find the right words to show her disbelief. After a few tiny squeaks and false starts, her vocal chords finally managed to intone actual syllables again. “Wh-What brought along this change?”
 
Blueblood sighed. “Last night, at Frazzleberry’s estate, he asked me for forgiveness. Despite being at war with my family for generations, he was willing to end the conflict, not just because I had left, but because of what you did during my imprisonment.” He lowered his head even more, until the tip of one of his locks threatened to enter his cereal. “Then when I went to bed, I had a chance to think about my own misdeeds. I’ve had barely a chance to shake any of these thoughts since this began.”
 
“So…you are trying to make amends.” Luna levitated her tea to her lips and took a small sip, the hot liquid serving to calm her nerves enough for her to resume normal functions. She let out a sigh of hot air and closed her eyes. “Blueblood, I understand what you want, but merely apologizing is not enough. Your threat was tantamount to blackmail and treason, and trying to kidnap my sister did not help your case.”
 
Blueblood sighed and raised his head back up, his shoulders still slack from his oncoming defeat. “I know. But there must be some way I can make things up.”
 
“There is,” Luna said, “but…I am not certain if I alone can make that decision.”
 
Luna exhaled a cold breath and looked down at her teacup. The black liquid rippled within, distorting what little of her reflection she could make out. Slowly, she lifted the drink to her lips, closed her eyes, took one last sip, and finally returned it to the saucer. Blueblood simply watched the long-practiced routine with no small amount of trepidation. Knowing his aunt, any attempt to atone for his misdeeds would involve either great pain or no small amount of humiliation. He could already hear her ordering him to scrub every sewer in Equestria clean.
 
Still, it’s what I deserve.
 
“In any case,” Luna finally said, her eyes still gracefully shut, “we are wasting time here. The matter of your final sentencing will not be for some time still, and when we are ready to pass judgment, we shall. Until then, pursue your penance in your own way, and try to avoid any wrongdoings.”
 
She opened her eyes just slightly, if only to accommodate for the grin on her face. “Like being tardy for your studies, for example.”
 
Right on cue, the castle began to echo with the heavy dongs and bangs of several clocks going off at once, signaling the beginning of a new hour. Blueblood’s eyes popped open as he quickly chugged down his entire bowl, hopped onto his hooves, and started galloping away to grab his saddlebags and join Sky Bloom. Luna simply sat there, her body unmoving.
 
Sister…you may be right. Again.
 

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To Blueblood’s amazement, Ribbon was not only already in her seat by the time he arrived, but was practically bouncing like a kangaroo at his approach. A massive paper was furled on top of her desk, held together only by a thin rubber band. Slowly, the colt wandered to his desk, set down his saddlebags, and climbed into the chair. “So, what happened last night?”
 
“Oh, mom just told me that I should never use that word again, but that’s not what’s important!” The filly’s hooves swiftly undid the band, letting the paper unroll itself until it had almost fallen off the desk entirely. Blueblood lunged forward in response, his own forehoof catching the paper before the hanging portion’s weight could slide the entire thing down. With another mighty hoist, he threw the sheet back onto Ribbon’s desk, and then slid his own seat over so the edges were touching.
 
Blueblood’s eyes widened as he took note of exactly what this was. Most of the body was taken up with a crudely-drawn image of what looked like seven ponies standing on top of each other, but the actual sheet itself was the kind used for construction projects and factory orders. He had seen plenty of them during the last renovation of his estate; they even bore the imprint of the same company he had hired to perform the labor. “Wait, where did you get this?”
 
Ribbon shrugged. “I dunno. Lofty said her dad had a bunch, so I guess she took his.” Her hoof tapped on the pile of misshapen ovals with sticks on their sides. “But this is what’s important! We can’t climb the tree, none of us can use magic, and Lofty can’t fly high enough. But in the circus, ponies do stuff like this all the time! They can get about fifty ponies on there at once, and then they grab ropes and bars and swing around and…”
 
“Um…Ribbon?” Blueblood asked. “We’re not in the circus.”
 
The filly scoffed. “I know that! But if they can do it, then so can we. All we have to do is get enough ponies to stand on each other, and then the one on top can just pull the ribbon down.”
 
Blueblood just nodded along, his brain poking out a million holes in this plan at about five miles per hour. “I don’t know. This sounds…really dangerous. I mean, what if somepony gets hurt?”
 
“Does anypony in the circus get hurt?” A big smile crept across Ribbon’s face. “And besides, wouldn’t it be worth it for free pudding? Free, breadless pudding?”
 
BRR-I-I-I-I-I-I-NG!
 
Any further mulling on the viability of pudding snacks as a motivation for performing ridiculous feats ceased with the ringing of the bells. Ribbon quickly rolled her plan back up and shoved it into her bags, doing her best to keep it out of sight of Miss Brightly or any of the class’ tattlers. Blueblood, however, quickly noticed something else horribly amiss about their room’s current status: Miss Brightly herself wasn’t in it. The other students, who had but moments ago been talking loudly amongst themselves, began to murmur in stunned silence at their sudden lack of any adult supervision.
 
Finally, two minutes after class was supposed to begin, a telekinetic field gripped and rotated the door handle. The entrance slowly swung open, revealing the long-lost teacher and an orange colt nopony had even bothered to check was missing. Even worse, however, their teacher’s normal off-the-walls exuberance was nowhere to be found, instead being replaced with a cold, downtrodden look of defeat. Orange Peel’s own countenance was not that far off, either.
 
“Good morning, class,” she said, although it was more like a whisper than a shout.
 
“Good morning, Miss Brightly,” the foals said in response, their little minds simply parroting what had been done before.
 
The teacher nodded her head slightly, and then continued. “I’m sorry I’m late, but there is something we have to discuss.” She looked down at the nearby colt. “I’m afraid that this will be Orange Peel’s last day with us.”
 
The news burned through the class like a wildfire. Fillies and colts from every corner of the chamber began to whisper to each other, some merely expressing surprise at the sudden change in the student body, and even more quietly celebrating the soon-to-be exodus of the biggest dispenser of wet willies and crushed spirits in the whole school. Only Blueblood, Ribbon and Snowball seemed to notice Orange Peel’s ears folding downwards as the noise only grew in volume.
 
Just before the actual words could become fully audible, Miss Brightly banged her hoof against her desk, thus calling everypony’s attention away from Orange Peel and back to her. “Now that’s quite enough. This is Orange Peel’s last day here, and I want it to be as pleasant as possible.” She leaned over to the colt. “Orange, you can go to your seat now. It’s time we started class.”
 
Orange Peel, his face as dead and emotionless as ever, simply nodded and trotted over to his desk, not even muttering a peep along the way. Once he was well out of range, Ribbon leaned over and whispered to Blueblood, “Orange Peel gone and we get pudding? This is gonna be the best day ever!”
 
Blueblood simply nodded, his mind barely registering Ribbon’s words. No matter how much he tried to return his attention to the all-important lesson on the differences between triangles and squares, he couldn’t help but feel that he was missing something here…
 

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It was but a short time after Prince Blueblood had been sent to his classes that Celestia appeared, teleporting into the hall outside her study in a brilliant flash of light. Both Princess Luna and Shining Armor quickly averted their eyes, just barely managing to avoid temporary blindness. Princess Celestia took a moment for her reformed lungs to draw in air again before turning to the other two members of her impromptu council. “My apologies for such a dramatic entrance, but there was very little time to do otherwise.”
 
Slowly, Luna lowered her forelegs. Shining Armor, meanwhile, wisely waited until the Moon Princess’ voice had made it clear all was safe. “I understand. Still, please be careful next time. Must I remind you of the palm tree?”

Celestia shuddered slightly. “Yes, I remember.”
 
“Um…” The two turned about at the sound of Shining Armor’s voice, their simultaneous gaze only intensifying the Captain’s unease. “I’m sorry, but there is still a lot I must do by the end of the day, and I don’t want to bog my Lieutenant down with my duties for too much longer.”
 
A tiny part of the stallion twinged, as if in fear of divine retribution, but to his great fortune, no lightning bolts came crashing through the ceiling to strike him dead. “I understand completely,” Luna said before pushing the study doors open, revealing the darkened chamber on the other side. “Now come, we have much to discuss. Sister, would you mind…”
 
Without so much as a second’s thought, Celestia’s magic lit the fireplace, scooted away the assorted tomes and scrolls, and finally floated out a trio of pillows to go around the low table. When she was done, she turned back to Shining Armor, pausing only to take in her Captain’s slack-jawed expression. “You have a bit of a cavity, Captain. I would recommend having somepony take a look at your teeth once in a while.”
 
Blushing, the Captain pushed his jaw back into position. “M-My apologies, Your Highness.”
 
With the gawking session concluded, the three entered the study and took their seats. The door slowly closed behind them, leaving the committee alone to pass their judgment. Six hooves rested themselves on the tabletop, as did Shining Armor’s helmet out of respect for royal traditions regarding such affairs. For almost a minute, nopony said as much as a word, simply allowing themselves to soak in the roaring fire’s afterglow.
 
Finally, Luna banged a hoof against the table four times, drawing everypony’s attention to her. “The way I understand the problem, we have two issues at hand. The first is that more and more ponies are beginning to misunderstand Blueblood’s identity. The second is Princess Cadance’s affection for the colt.”
 
Both of the other ponies nodded. “I can see what you mean,” said Celestia. “I must admit, I never foresaw this possibility when this began. I had hoped we would have had a week or two more to see whether or not Blueblood had changed, but time is no longer our ally.” She turned to Shining Armor. “Captain, your report on his progress during the training sessions?”
 
Shining cleared his throat and coughed before beginning in the most official tone possible. “I’ll admit, I was very uncertain when he joined. Princess Luna had just made me aware of what had happened with Twilight, and I...really wanted to get back at him.” He coughed and cleared his throat again, his vocal chords straining from speaking so formally. “Considering his attitude prior to this, however, he seems to be adapting very well to the morning routine. Despite his reduced stature and physical ability, he has showed some sense of determination in keeping up with the others. He even showcased a willingness to watch the combat evaluations yesterday.”
 
“Perhaps he was looking to start a fight,” Luna said sharply. Celestia raised an eye at this, silently prompting her sister to expand on her thought. “Perhaps Blueblood has changed in some ways, but the fact remains that he still has enemies. Frazzleberry’s actions alone are a testament to that. Perhaps he wishes to plan some sort of revenge?”
 
Celestia shook her head. “I doubt it. For all his bluster, Blueblood was far from a physically capable stallion. In fact, he tended to get his flank kicked by anypony he dueled, and that was when he actually bothered to show up.”
 
“And what I’ve seen doesn’t feel like a physically violent pony at all,” said Shining Armor. “In fact, he actually seems more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.” He sighed. “And then there’s the matter of what happened this morning. Do you remember Sergeant Flyover?”
 
The Sun Princess groaned. She hadn’t forgotten about that day, and probably never would. Luna, meanwhile just looked about in bewilderment. “No, I…I am unfamiliar with that pony.”
 
“Blueblood revealed that he was a colt cuddler to an entire assembly, including his parents.” Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed, while a pair of crimson burns appeared on his cheeks. “Our dear prince tried to apologize to him earlier. He even offered to make it up to him, although I have no idea how somepony could make up for something like that. He didn’t quite accept it, but…I don’t think Blueblood really expected forgiveness in the first place.”
 
Luna snorted. “Imagine, Blueblood actually working? That would be most entertaining to watch.”
 
“In any case,” said Celestia, “the fact remains that we must come to a decision. Our time is running out, and we can no longer abide while Blueblood searches for answers on his own.”
 
“Then why not just tell him what he’s supposed to do?” Luna snapped. She banged her hoof against the tabletop hard enough to make the entire room shake, loosening tiny shreds of debris from the roof and sending some plaster tumbling onto the three. “Honestly, sister, this evasiveness of yours is unbearable.”
 
Celestia grinned. “I know, but there’s more to what I’m trying to accomplish than just forcing one bad pony to admit his misdeeds. If I just gave him the answers, he would simply memorize and recite them. He might have skimmed the surface of what he must know and do, but he wouldn’t understand the meaning. I did the same thing with Twilight Sparkle to save you, and it has worked for countless centuries.”
 
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “And what of Kuchen?”
 
In but a single sentence, all sense of life and joy seemingly vanished from the room. Celestia’s features darkened, her lips curling into a slight grimace while her ears flattened against the sides of her head. Luna simply watched her sister fall from her high top, simultaneously elated at deflating her ego slightly and upset with herself for going for the lowest blow. Shining Armor, on the other hoof, just looked about in confusion. “Ku-what? Is there something I should know about?”
 
“No,” Celestia whispered. “Kuchen is a…touchy subject. Still, the fault there was mine, and I learned my lesson. I just wish for Blueblood to have the same opportunity.”
 
Her head dipped forward a bit more, her muzzle coming dangerously close to impacting with the tabletop. “I had a chance to do so once, and I wasted it…”
 

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“And just what is this grand emergency, Blueblood?” Celestia asked.
 
“It’s Princess Cadance,” Blueblood said mournfully. “I have been looking at this...Captain Armor that she has been eyeing, and I fear he may not be the ideal choice for her.”
 
Celestia leaned her head downward and sighed. She had already gone through an entire morning of pointless meetings with a host of delegations and special interest groups, followed by an early afternoon in the court that involved every noblepony complaining that everypony else had worn better clothes than them at the last Grand Galloping Gala. And just like every year prior for the last two centuries, court ended with everypony petitioning for a system where everypony would know what everypony else was wearing; that way, a duke would not be shown up by a lowly baron.
 
This was not helping her day.
 
“Blueblood, I think your cousin knows what she’s doing. Shining Armor is an exceptional gentlecolt, and he and Cadance have been friends since they were in their teens.”
 
Blueblood shook his head. “I know he has a solid performance record, and I have seen his character. Were the situation different, I would be shoving the two down the aisle myself. But there is something truly dreadful about him that we must address. You see, I know his dirty, shameful secret.”
 
Celestia looked up from her paperwork, her face twisted in morbid curiosity. “I’m listening.”
 
Seeing his chance, Blueblood began to pace around the room, waving his hooves and head theatrically as he spoke. “I have examined his genealogy, and have learned that he is NOT of noble blood!”
 
A divine nerve twisted on Celestia’s brow. “I…see…”
 
“Do you not see the sheer level of scandal such a pairing will stir up! Why, I can see the Canterlot Times already! ‘Roaman Princess Dating Common Stallion!’” He performed a mock half-swoon, stopping just short of falling on his pampered flank. “And can you imagine what would happen to his family? They would become the targets of mockery and ridicule across the nation! The other families will make them easy targets! Others will begin to eye his younger sister – and your student – with suspicion! Why, some might even believe they were truly still of a noble house, when their blood is so thin as to be transparent!”
 
Celestia simply sat there, staring at her nephew in a mixture of disbelief and horror. This was the same kind of talk his…
 
Her ears perked up as a noise drifted up from outside. To Blueblood’s amazement, she just stood up and walked over to the window. As she witnessed whatever was going on outside, her expression changed to a smile. “Prince Blueblood, please come over here. There’s something you need to see.”
 
Blueblood cocked his head slightly at the request, but there was no way he could deny the Princess of Equestria anything. He slowly walked up alongside his aunt, just in case she suddenly turned evil and threw him out a window. Through the glass, the two could see the Canterlot Castle courtyard. There, amidst the newly-bloomed spring flowers and Celestia’s Fountain #43, stood Princess Mi Amore Cadenza herself, speaking with two other mares. Blueblood’s eyes widened as he recognized them. “Why…that’s the Lady Moonglow! And…who is that with her?”
 
“Silver Dust,” Celestia responded. “She’s one of the castle’s best servants.”
 
A terrible tremor spread across Blueblood’s body. “S-Servant? She’s fraternizing with the common ponies?”
 
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. While you were gone, Princess Cadance grew up. I don’t just mean that she found her special gift and earned her Cutie Mark, but she became curious about the world around her. She had no friends, her family was too terrified to speak to her, and the nobles seemed set on making her alone and miserable, so she finally asked me to help her meet some ponies from outside Canterlot’s noble circle.”
 
Blueblood could feel the blood draining from his face. “Y-You mean…you took my cousin to meet with the locals?!”
 
Despite the unease building inside her, Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle at Blueblood’s outburst. “Nothing of the sort. She chose to see what Canterlot had to offer, so I allowed her to go. Obviously, I had to take precautions, but still, there were plenty of odd jobs out there in Canterlot for a young mare. The one she spoke the most highly of, though, was when she was foalsitting.”
 
Blueblood’s head wanted to nod along, if only to acknowledge that Cadance truly did have that way amongst the spawns of Nightmare Moon known only as “foals.” At the very least, they didn’t pelt him with rotten fruit when she told them to stop playing their “stick ball” near his estate. However, the propriety of her position, juxtaposed against the sheer banality and lowliness of foalsitting only served to gnaw away at his heart.
 
“Cadance did tell me of her…position, but I thought she had been supervising one of the court’s foals. Why would she supervise a common pony’s child?”
 
Celestia grinned. “Because I suggested it. Princess Cadance will one day have to live up to a lot of responsibility, far more than even you ever will, and that means having to relate to the common pony. That was where she met Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, although I’m afraid Cadance’s work schedule and my student’s…reluctance for social activities have kept the two from seeing each other since then.” The Princess shook her head. “She doesn’t even know her full title.”
 
Blueblood’s eyes slowly narrowed, stopping only when he had just the right cornea-to-eyelid ratio to create an accusing glare. “So…Twilight Sparkle becomes your student, and Shining Armor is suddenly promoted through the ranks until he believes his standing is good enough to bed my cousin?”
 
Celestia’s response was quick and decisive. Her own head snapped about, her eyes catching with Blueblood’s without so much as missing a beat. In an instant, the stallion’s blood began to boil under the heat of her gaze, as if he was now standing in front of the very sun itself. Her voice, however, remained the same as before. “Prince Blueblood, I am very disappointed in your attitude. Shining Armor has earned his rank, and I am not so low as to give a pony such an important position as Captain without being certain that they’re qualified. As for Cadance, just look.”
 
Whether it was out of fear of his aunt’s wrath, or simply a desire to keep his eyeballs from exploding, Blueblood slowly spun around until he was facing the courtyard again. The three mares were still talking away, completely oblivious to the figures watching over them. “Those experiences changed Cadance. She is no longer the shy, lonely filly who clung to you for protection. Your cousin is an adult, and is more than capable of making her own decisions regarding her love life. If she believes she can live with whatever the consequences may be, then I wish her well. And you should, too.”
 
The room fell quiet once again, Blueblood making no obvious move to respond. Instead, he seemed simply content to watch over the small scene beneath him. He could recognize the truth in Celestia’s words by sight alone. The way his cousin seemed to move and handle herself was nothing like how she used to be, back when the other foals stuck her mane into ink wells or called her a feathered freak. She wasn’t even hiding her wings anymore. This was the confident young mare he had always dreamed she would be.
 
“But that doesn’t change the facts.” Blueblood’s lips curled into a sneer as he turned away from the window and his aunt. “Shining Armor’s bloodline prevents her from even consorting with him, much less a mere servant.”
 
Celestia opened her mouth to shout out another threat, but it died in her throat. A terrible coldness spread over the mare, seemingly striking at every old injury in her body. She could only squeak out a response. “Y-You do not…”
 
Her voice was so quiet that it barely rose above a whisper, nowhere near the level needed to reach Blueblood’s ears. Given the stallion’s disposition, however, he would have almost certainly ignored her cries even if she was screaming directly into his ear. “And if need be, I shall see to this myself. Nothing will stand in the way of my cousin and her reputation.”
 
With one last huff of noble defiance, Prince Blueblood opened the door just in time for a purple pony to slip through, levitating close to a half-dozen books simultaneously. “Good day, Princess Celestia,” he said before giving a half-bow and departing.
 
“G-Goodbye…”
 
The pony set the books down on the desk, her mouth forming into a worried frown. “Princess Celestia? Is something wrong?”
 
Celestia sighed and shook her head at her faithful student’s words. There was, indeed, something wrong. Everything was wrong. The colt she had loved was dead, with only a broken, ruined stallion left in his wake, just like his parents and their parents before them. Before long, he’d be keeping his own foals away from her, lest she poison them with thoughts of kindness and decency, and thus ruin their plans to continue endless feuds for generations to come.
 
“No, Twilight Sparkle. Now, let’s begin. Have you finished your report on the use of Translocation and Displacement Spells during the Classical Era?”
 

----------

 
Shining Armor shook his head, his eyes narrowed in a mixture of disbelief and frustration. “So, this was right before he had goons dump lice on my cot?” He shuddered as he remembered that wonderful time where he was quarantined in the most remote building in Canterlot, doused in the foulest-smelling ointments and medicines every hour of the day, and made the absolute laughingstock of the entire Royal Guard.
 
Celestia nodded slowly. “Yes, I remember that. I had hoped so much to reason with him, but…”
 
“Then why is it working now?” asked Luna. “Why would this experience really make him any different? All it did for you was make you cry over your foalhood and break out of the castle.”
 
Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I remember. But I also learned a lot, as well. That’s why I took this opportunity, to try and make amends for my own misdeeds as well as Blueblood’s.”

“The question isn’t whether or not he’s learning,” said Luna, “but whether it will matter at all once he’s been returned to his rightful age.”
 
Celestia adjusted herself in her seat, stretched her tired legs out, and finally ended with a gasp of relief. She really needed to remember to stretch before indulging in any lengthy flashbacks. “And that’s what we’re here to decide. We’ve all been witnesses to his actions, both good and bad, and thus it is our responsibility to decide how he should be handled.”
 
She looked around the room, her eyes burning with the utmost seriousness. “Remember, what we do here shall decide the rest of his life, however long – or short – that may be. Today, we hold Prince Blueblood’s fate in our hooves.”
 
A great presence seemed to suddenly wash over the room, making everypony within feel about thirty pounds heavier. Everypony’s hooves trembled as they considered the grave responsibility lay before them. For on this day, they would be finally passing judgment on a pony who had made their lives miserable, disrupted Equestria’s formal functions and government to satisfy his own whims, and turned the nobility into a joke for the tabloids. The same pony who had worked his heart out during the morning drills, despaired over his past wrongs, and now sought atonement.
 
At the very least, he wasn’t there to do anything stupid…
 

----------

 

Snowball grunted as the weight above him kept shifting. “Come on, Gusty! How long does it take to get a stupid ribbon?”

“I’m…trying!” Gusty gasped. Her back legs pressed against Blueblood’s back as she stood up, eliciting a grunt of pain from the colt. She reached out with her hooves, but alas, she was still far too short for this, even when standing on three ponies. “I can’t get it! We need another pony!”
 
The others looked about each other for a moment, their eyes judging just who should be the next pony up the long ladder to glory. Ribbon and Buttons, both of whom had once been perfectly on board with the plan, quickly shied away to avoid anything that involved climbing onto another pony. Lofty, being the orchestrator of this incredible scheme, took a step forward, her head tilting as she eyed the branch. “No…we need two more ponies.”
 
She turned to Smokey, who was doing his best to try and retreat from the oncoming disaster. Alas, the other two weren’t willing to die for their snack, leaving only the tiny colt to gulp down his last breath of air before climbing up the pony ladder. Both Snowball and Blueblood groaned as hooves slammed into their ribs, while Gusty simply crouched down as much as she could without tumbling off. Once the colt was on top, Lofty started to stand onto her hind legs to begin climbing...only for her brain to turn on that little idea bulb.
 
“You know,” she said as she returned to all fours, “if you guys all stand on your hind legs, I think we can reach the branch.”
 
If there had been a bit in Blueblood’s mouth, he would have spat it out right then. “W-We c-c-can’t do that!”
 
Buttons shrugged. “Why not? Acrobats, magicians, and superheroes do it all the time, so why can’t we?”
 
“B-B-Because we ar-r-r-aren’t any of those!” Blueblood snapped. The pressure on his body was so great by now that his face was turning riper than an entire garden of tomatoes.
 
All this earned him was a dismissive snort from Lofty. “Come on now, do you want that pudding or not? This is our chance for greatness, for glory! And I say we take it!
 
Ribbon provided the facehoof, while Buttons supplied the rolled eyes. “Here we go again…”
 
Unaware of her friends’ reactions, Lofty raised a hoof to the heavens and stretched out her wings. If Blueblood’s sense of hearing wasn’t dulled out from the pain, he would have sworn somepony had started playing Equestria’s national anthem. “Did Super-Mare back down when aliens invaded Manehatten? No! Did Commander Hurricane simply give up when the windigos were freezing everything? No! Did Fluttershy give up when Nightmare Moon came to gobble us up? No! And we shall not quit here, either! Now, stand on your hind legs like ponies…and be proud of your…”
 
The speech would have no doubt continued to inspire the team had the entire ladder not already decided to do just that. Starting from the top, each pony reared themselves onto their back legs, being careful to keep them firmly planted on the front shoulders of the pony beneath them. The next one down repeated the trick, finally ending with Snowball pulling Blueblood onto his shoulders. The handful of extra inches the trick provided boosted Smokey up just enough that his hooves could touch the ribbon…
 
Unfortunately, Snowball’s hoof suddenly slipped out of position. He tried to right himself, but all the weight on his shoulders, coupled with standing in a position nopony was ever meant to hold for more than a few seconds, caused him to finally fall over. After that came Blueblood, screaming like a little filly. Smokey, sensing his doom approaching, hopped down from Gusty just as the pony ladder began to collapse, and thus managed hop onto Blueblood’s gut before bouncing down to Equestria. And finally came Gusty, going “Whee whee whee!” all the way down.
 
In the end, however, the results were the same. All four ponies came crashing to the ground, fortunately missing any rocks, tree roots, or anything else that would have only intensified their agony. The three fillies who hadn’t participated in the excursion immediately trotted over to their downed friends, their little eyes brimming with panic. “Oh my gosh, are you all right?” Ribbon gasped as she laid eyes upon a groaning Smokey.
 
Buttons, meanwhile, leaned herself over just enough to give Blueblood some support as he rose. “A-Are you okay?” she muttered.
 
The colt coughed and stretched out his aching legs, but still managed to give a small, rather unconvincing smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little…rustled that’s all.”
 
Snowball and Smokey slowly got back up as well, barely fighting back pained tears as they felt the small bruises on their bodies and bumps on their foreheads. Even worse, none of the teachers seemed to be paying much attention, at least not until after their morning coffee had been finished. Such were the ways of the morning recess. Gusty, however, simply popped back up, her face aglow with triumph. “That was the most awesome thing ever! We gotta do it again, guys!”
 
The smile vanished from Blueblood’s lips. “A-Again…?”
 
He turned to Lofty, hoping for some kind of support. Instead, the filly seemed completely enthralled with the idea. “That’s perfect! Alright, everypony, let’s get back there and try this again! This time, everypony’s gonna climb!”
 
Blueblood’s hooves shook in terror. His teeth clicked like a set of tap-dancing hooves. His coat grew even whiter in shock, stopping right around the point where he looked less like a colt and more like a forlorn ghost. His head twisted back and forth, searching for any way out of this without losing his friends. Alas, all he could find was a bush in the distance. “A-Actually…why don’t we just tie a bunch of sticks together, make a big pole, and then just, you know, pick it off…or something…”
 
The other foals all stared at Blueblood like he was speaking in some crazy moon language. The colt shrank back in response, his tiny internal organs already plotting to rebel in case his companions decided to do anything crazy. Buttons looked at the tree trunk, then back at the ribbon, and finally back at her friend. “You know…he might have a point. We’ll need a lot of sticks, though…”
 

----------

 

Once the plan had been decided upon, approved by the committee, and Lofty had convinced Gusty that she wasn’t strong enough to fly straight up and drop her again, the ponies had split off to find appropriate sticks. It was for that reason that Blueblood was digging through a bush in a far corner of the playground, shaving off the leaves from a particularly long piece of wood, when it happened. The colt had just barely managed to pick off all but the last few bits of greenery when he heard a familiar, soon-to-be-ex-student’s voice. “DIIIIIIIIE!”
 
The voice immediately slammed Blueblood’s panic sensors into overdrive. Throwing his stick aside, he jumped out of the way just as Orange Peel’s hoof slammed into the bush. It was by Celestia’s providence that the blow didn’t strike Blueblood, nor did it go wild and send his tormentor down for the count as well. In Orange Peel’s rage, either outcome was a possibility.
 
Blueblood’s jaw hung open, his mind barely able to comprehend just how close he had come to his face becoming one with a shrubbery. “Wh-What?!”
 
The orange colt turned on his hooves, his eyes narrowed with blood-curling rage. “Y-You… Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
 
Blueblood’s mouth flapped about silently, his eyes scanning for some kind of help. Unfortunately for him, this corner of the playground was so removed from the rest of the field that it would take a while for anypony else to notice he was even gone. Even worse, he could now see what else lurked in this corner. Just a few steps away sat an accursed muddy pool, the kind that most ponies foals dare not approach out of fear of their parents’ disapproval. A mere touch of the gunk against a coat like his would almost certainly depart no small number of permanent stain. With no other recourse available, he turned back to the originator of his predicament. “Wh-What do you mean?”
 
“Do you know where my father is sending me?” Orange Peel gasped. “He’s throwing me into a boarding school!
 
Blueblood’s eyes widened. While he had been a participant of the same system, he had almost never heard of anypony being sent to one of the Academies at such an early age. To do so was seen as an almost criminal offense to the foal, not to mention a sign that you couldn’t control your own children and thus giving one’s rivals something to work with. “B-But you’re in kindergarten! Why would he…”
 
“Because he doesn’t want me!” Orange Peel’s coat turned a bright red, almost matching the hue of his nerve-shot eyes. “All he cares about is your stupid dad and you! And now that everything’s all happy, why does he need his stupid little colt around?”
 
The prince took a step back, sweat pooling from his very brow. He was quickly running out of options; with Orange Peel bearing down on him, it was unlikely he would be able to dodge any further attacks without ruining his appearance. Even worse, his stick was still right next to his enemy’s hooves, as much good as that would do him against a crazed colt out for his blood. “L-Look, Orange Peel, we don’t have to do this! I’ll talk with your dad, and-”
 
All this accomplished was eliciting a howl of frustration from his opponent. “All everypony ever wants to do is talk! I’m done with talking! I’m going to end this once and for all.”
 
“And just what is going on here?”
 
Blueblood’s eyes looked up just enough to catch several of the teachers, now freshly invigorated and ready to actually pay attention for once, approach the scene of the upcoming massacre. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friends trying to break through, but alas, the teachers were holding them back, no doubt out of some vain attempt to limit the bloodshed. Miss Brightly was the only one to take the lead, her eyes locked onto Orange. “What is the meaning of this? Do I have to send you to the principal’s office, young colt?”
 
Her words seemed to bring with them a small lull in the battlefield, as Orange Peel’s eyes began to flicker just slightly. Blueblood allowed himself a moment to breathe; after all, there was no way…
 
And then Orange Peel charged forward, grabbed the stick between his teeth, and barreled straight towards Blueblood.
 
In an instant, time seemed to slow down around Blueblood, allowing him the chance to assess his situation. Miss Brightly’s horn lit up, but the colt knew it was hopeless; by the time she had her aura around Orange Peel, he would already be atop him. If he ran back, he would be in the mud puddle, and Orange Peel would have the humiliation he sought. He could fight back, but the bully was so full of blind rage that it’d be like trying to wrestle down a…
 
And then he saw the stick, and with it, his opening.
 
With what little time he had left, Blueblood knelt down, his eyes locked on the wooden instrument. Orange Peel simply barreled on through, heedless to his opponent’s cowering demeanor. Just as he was within striking range, however, Blueblood made his move. With a quick jerk, he spun about on his front hooves and delivered a one-legged buck to the base of the stick, just above where Peel’s lip was. The sudden impact, coupled with just how loosely the colt’s grip of the weapon was to begin with, caused the makeshift club to slip from his grasp and land impotently on the grass.
 
His opponent had barely enough time to recognize what had happened before his hooves touched the slickened edges of the puddle. In his youth, he was still inexperienced with galloping so hard; the moment one of his hooves touched the muddy ground, the slick surface caused one of his forelegs to kick out from under him, sending the rest of the bully face-first into the slop. Blueblood, meanwhile, quickly seized his chance and made a getaway, jumping back a few leg’s lengths in case things heated up again.

 

Groaning in agony, Orange Peel slowly pulled himself out of the mud. His once-pristine coat was now drenched in brown and black sludge that slowly dripped off the ends of his fur like morning dew. The torrential outpouring of laughter from the other foals did little to dampen his temper, nor did they persuade him from trying to charge again. Once again, however, his hoof got caught in the munk, and he found himself kissing dirt.
 
Blueblood simply stood still, unable to believe that it had ended this quickly. The teachers slowly approached, mindful not to set the downed combatant off again. Blueblood’s friends gave each other high-hooves, as once again they had witnessed justice prevail. Even Snowball and Smokey seemed utterly happy that it was over.
 
Orange Peel’s head slowly lifted from its earthy confines. His eyes laid witness to the various ponies surrounding him. His ears detected the mocking laughter echoing from each and every foal, and he could swear even a few of the adults were extolling in his departure. He saw and heard his former friends, his old adversaries, and worst of all, his arch-nemesis, who had nary a scratch on him and was not so much as sweating.
 
For just a brief moment, the old anger tried to flare up again, to roast him from the inside and give him the strength for one last attack. But then the fire in his eyes dimmed. His muscles became lax as he began to sob. There was no more denying it. He was beaten.
 
Miss Brightly looked the colt over, tsked, and finally leaned down to his level. “Orange Peel, I’m sorry your time at our school has to end like this, but I’m afraid we can no longer tolerate such behavior. We’ll have your father…”
 
“Y-You hate me.”
 
The sudden accusation caused the teacher to take a step back in shock. Orange Peel slowly climbed back to his hooves, his legs still sliding about in the slick mud. His eyes stayed locked on the ground as he tried to step out of the mucky-muck. “O-Of course I don’t hate you. You’re challenging sometimes, but how could anypony hate…”
 
The colt’s voice seemed to crack and pop as more clear liquid fought its way from the mud and onto the grass. “I-It’s not fair...”
 
Before another word could be said, the colt let out a massive scream and began pounding away at the muddy ground in a furious tantrum. Nopony dared approach the enraged foal, nor do anything to stop his rampage; not even the adults had ever encountered something this drastically horrible before. “It’s not fair! It’s not fair! WHY CAN’T I EVER WIN?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?!”
 
The colt’s shrill screams were loud enough to break a pony’s very thoughts. One of the custodians and a few of the teachers, including Miss Brightly, tried to approach, but their every attempt was met with the furious flailing of limbs and the wailing and grinding of teeth. Realizing his life was probably no longer in any serious danger, Blueblood retreated back to the others, who were now all busy huddling together and praying to Celestia for a swift end to this break in their recess.
 
Finally, the class bell rang, its shrill rattling breaking up the tension in the yard and seemingly shocking Orange Peel enough to finally calm him down just a little. Slowly, the teachers walked over to the sobbing foal, with Miss Brightly still taking point. This time, however, he offered no resistance outside of a few half-hearted lunges, all of which they were able to shrug off with ease. Finally, the colt was lifted onto the back of one of the custodians, who then trotted off in the direction of the school’s main office.
 
Within moments, order began to return to the schoolyard. Teachers herded their students into groups and marched them back to the classrooms, while the next batch of students scheduled for recess slowly emerged from their own chambers. Miss Brightly’s class was no exception; Blueblood, Ribbon and Snowball bade farewell to their friends and got into the line, their legs marching in unison from the lingering shock of the event. Already, students were whispering to each other in relief at Orange Peel’s departure; after all, it was one less bully in the world.
 
When Blueblood was just about to pass the threshold, however, he was stopped and gently pulled aside by Miss Brightly’s hoof. Ribbon briefly stopped as well, but was quickly pushed along by the momentum of the line until she was firmly back in the classroom.
 
“Leon, I know it was Orange Peel who started the fight, but I have to take you to the principal’s office, too.”
 
Blueblood cocked his head. “Why?”
 
Miss Brightly bit against the corner of her lip and rolled her eyes away. This was not the subject one enjoyed discussing to a foal. “It’s the school rules. When you’re in a fight, you have to go with everypony else that was involved. That way, we know everything that happened, and will be able to keep things like it from ever happening again. Do you understand?”
 
Now it was Blueblood’s turn to roll his eyes. “I guess so. Do I have to tell my mom tonight?”
 
Miss brightly was silent for a moment, although that little overbite thing she did with her mouth did not exactly hide her attempts to sugar coat the truth. “Actually…”
 

----------

 

Luna slowly nodded her head. “Then we are in agreement?” The other followed suit, Shining Armor looking like he was just a few hours from death and Celestia appearing absolutely crestfallen. The Night Mare let loose a sigh of relief before climbing back to her hooves. “Then so be it. When Blueblood returns, we shall…”

The rapping of a hoof against wood alerted the three to the nearby door. “P-Princess Celestia, may I speak with you?” said a voice from the other end.
 
Within seconds, Celestia was back on her hooves, looking like absolutely nothing was wrong. Her magic reached out and pushed the door open even as her lips flipped into the most sincere smile she could manage at this juncture. Standing at the other end was one of the castle’s servants, shivering slightly as she remained chin-to-the-ground. “How can I help you?”
 
Sensing her monarch’s approval, the servant very slowly rose back up. “W-We just received a notice from the Canterlot Castle Preschool. They said that they needed to see Sky Bloom at once!”
 
Luna and Shining Armor quickly trotted up alongside Celestia, their eyes wide with worry. Celestia titled her head slightly, her smile fading as she did so. “May I ask what happened?”
 
“I…I don’t know exactly,” the servant stammered. “But they said it had something to do with fighting.”
 
The eyes of all three ponies practically exploded in a mixture of shock, horror, and aggravation at yet another stupid Blueblood stunt. Celestia herself couldn’t fight back her brain’s request for a massive groan. “Very well. I’ll find Sky Bloom and…”
 
Before she could finish that thought, however, one of her Pegasus guards glided up the hall, skidding to a halt just in front of the chamber door. He simply stood there, panting and gasping for air beneath his armor, before finally falling to the ground in a penitent bow. “Princesses, Baron Frazzleberry is gone!”
 
Luna and Shining Armor both pushed past Celestia, their eyes never wandering from the terrified soldier. “What is the meaning of this, Private?” the Captain asked in a stern, demanding tone. “I thought I ordered you to keep an eye on him at all times!”
 
“W-We did!” the guard stammered. “B-But then he got this message about his son and some fight and…”
 
Deep within the dark confines of Luna’s mind, the gears began to turn. The two statements, once separate, began to twist and intertwine with each other until only one possibility could be reached. “It seems the Blueblood-Frazzleberry feud is not quite as dead as Cadance had suggested.”
 
Shining Armor, however, was far too busy with his other orders of business to care about such things. He looked over the trembling guard like a culinary chef whose kitchen had just been destroyed by one apprentice mishoofling a blender. “I take it somepony is at least tailing him?”
 
“Y-Yes, sir,” said the guard. “We’ve already traced his possible route, and it all leads to the Canterlot Castle Magic Preschool.”
 
Celestia’s only response to this madness was a resigned, defeated sigh, which was about as much as she could do without completely breaching any rules of protocol. “Very well, then. I have to return to my duties, in any case.” She turned to the servant. “I will send Sky Bloom to the school at once.” And then to the guard. “Link back up with the units following Frazzleberry. Place guards at every entrance to the school. Once he’s out of there, approach and arrest him, but try to avoid an actual fight, especially in front of the foals.”
 
The two quickly nodded in acknowledgement, the guard adding a quick salute to the routine, and then departed to perform their duties. Once they were gone, the Sun Princess turned her attention to her younger sister and nephew-to-be. “Once she’s gone, I will be retiring to my chambers until we hold court. I ask that you do not disturb me until then. I have a…lot to think about.”
 
Before anypony else could say anything, Celestia’s horn lit up with the intensity of a small star. A golden aura enveloped her entire body, and within seconds, she had disappeared from sight. Luna and Shining Armor made no move to leave the spot, instead opting to stare at the spot the Alicorn had been uprooted from only moments before. Finally, after a few more uncomfortable seconds of blank looking ahead, Shining Armor voiced something he knew he would probably regret.
 
“H-Have you ever seen this Sky Bloom?”
 

----------

 

The wait outside the principal’s office was quite possibly the most agonizing torture Blueblood had ever experienced. Not that he ever had a taste for such a vulgar act, of course, but he had read his books and knew some of the mechanics involved. Still, something like the rack had nothing on the level of pain simply waiting for the axe to drop could bring. Orange Peel, for his part, didn’t look much better. He just sighed every now and then, his eyes still red and dried from crying.
 
Finally, Blueblood could remain quiet no longer. “So…your father is sending you to a boarding school?”
 
The colt scoffed and looked away. “I bet you’re happy. I won’t be here anymore, and you won’t have to deal with anypony else like me ever again.” He sighed and leaned back in his seat. “It’s not like anypony will miss me.”
 
Blueblood looked away shyly. “Actually, I talked to the fillies a couple days ago. I…saw the fight you had with Snowball and Smokey. They told me what you did to them when they tried to be friends with you.”

Orange Peel chuckled. “Yeah…that was stupid. And so were they.”
 
“But what was that stuff about Snowball and Smokey, anyway? The way they were acting, you’d think you were the most marvelous pony to have ever graced Equestria.”
 
The fallen bully’s eyes scanned Blueblood for a moment, as if unsure whether or not he was a robot or just a nerd who liked big words, but finally settled on the latter. “Well, it doesn’t matter. They said they didn’t want to be friends anymore, so that’s that. And like my dad always said, ‘Anypony who isn’t your friend is your enemy.’” His shrugged. “He used some hard words there, but that’s what he said he said.”
 
Blueblood raised an eyebrow. A part of him simply wanted to dispose of the disguise right then and there, if only to tell Orange Peel what kind of a pony his father was, but common sense – and his desire not to end up on yet another tabloid – won out. “Your dad wasn’t like that last night. He actually said he was sorry for fighting with my dad all the time.”
 
Orange Peel’s eyes narrowed as Blueblood spoke. “Of course he did. A while ago, he was going to finally bring down your family and those jerks, the Huffys! I wanted to go, but he said it was past my bedtime and for big ponies only. And when I asked him about it at breakfast, he just...stopped being my dad.”
 
His voice dropped. “They said he got Princess Luna mad at him, and that’s why he was acting so weird. He started…giving money away, and told me to stop beating up the other ponies. He wouldn’t even let me get those traitors into stuff anymore. He said I was abusing my rank, whatever that means.” He sniffed. “It doesn’t matter. They all hate me just like dad does.”
 
The tension in the room simply continued to grow more and more stifling, as if the ponies behind the front desk were controlling the tension with a switch. Blueblood slowly shifted about in his seat, his own muscles growing tighter with every passing moment. Orange Peel was silent again, no doubt lost in thought over his upcoming deportation from Canterlot. All the prince had to do was keep quiet a few moments longer, and it would all be over.
 
“So, do you want to go to boarding school?”
 
Orange Peel looked at Blueblood as if he had just asked if the sun was hot. “Of course I don’t! I want to stay here with my dad! But nopony wants me…”
 
“That’s because you’re a jerk to everypony.” Blueblood sighed. “All that stuff the fillies said you did…”

The orange colt’s lips curled into each other slightly. “I just wanted one feather.”
 
Blueblood raised an eyebrow. “What?”
 
“One feather,” the colt groaned. “I didn’t care who they were. I even told stupid Gusty I didn’t want to be friends with a filly. But we were playing Buffalos and Settlers and…Smokey had lost the feather in his headband, so we needed another…and that stupid Pegasus had tons of them! She wouldn’t have missed one!”
 
Now it was Blueblood’s turn to, once again, raise an eye at this. “You mean…you pulled out one of Lofty’s feathers so you could play…whatever?”
 
The colt nodded. “And then Gusty came running over and…and beat all three of us up, right in front of the rest of the school.” He choked, gagged, and choked again. “After that, everypony thought we were wimps. So we jumped her after school, but then that crazy Unicorn you hang out with came along and called the teachers. And then…”
 
“So…that’s how it all got started?” Blueblood muttered. “B-But what about me?”

“I just thought you were an egghead at first,” the colt growled. He obviously did not like having his psyche picked apart by a pony his age. “But when I told dad what you looked like, I thought I could make him happy. He couldn’t beat up Lord Huffy because of Princess Luna, but I could take care of you. And once you were gone, everything would be all right again.”
 
Blueblood said nothing else, instead opting to keep his mouth shut and let things try to simmer down. Orange Peel seemed to entertain the same sentiment, shuffling about in his seat in a vain attempt to make himself comfortable. Before long, the only noises either pony could hear were the loud ticking of a nearby clock and the rustling of papers by the office staff. Sadly for Blueblood, this did little to distract him from those old, broken memories of his…
 

----------

 

Blueblood adjusted his bow tie, straightened his jacket, and finally knocked on the door to Princess Cadance’s bedchambers. There was the chance that he was more than a little overdressed for what amounted to a simple visit, but then again this was his cousin he was talking about, and he would not dare to appear slovenly before somepony of her rank. Besides, the jacket was perfect for hiding that ketchup stain. It would be the last time he let his chefs persuade him to try those cubed potato strips.
 
There was a rustling from the other side, followed by the sound of hooves clopping against the wooden floor that gradually grew louder. Finally, the door opened, revealing the yawning, groggy, makeup-free face of his cousin. She yawned and smacked her chops, her eyes slowly drifting downward as she spoke. “Wh-What is it?”
 
Blueblood raised an eyebrow at his cousin’s appearance. “Princess Cadenza, it’s almost noon. Why are you still asleep?”
 
The princess stifled another yawn. “Sorry. Aunt Celestia was so busy with the peace talks that she asked me to take care of the night last night.”
 
The prince reared back a step in surprise. “Y-You mean you raised the moon? Did you become as powerful as Princess Celestia while I was away?”
 
It took a few moments for the words to break through the wall of fatigue surrounding Cadance’s brain, but when they did, she couldn’t help but force her mouth into a smile. “No, nothing like that. I just made sure nothing blew up Canterlot, met with some advisors, things like that.” She yawned. “Do you know what happens at night? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
 
“Well, I suppose you had plenty of time to get acquainted with the ‘Mare in the Moon?’”
 
It didn’t take long for Blueblood to remember his lack of a sense of humor, as well as why that particular topic wasn’t what he should have opened up with. Tiny beads of sweat began to pour down the sides of Cadance’s face as she shivered nervously, both from the cold and from deep-seated memories of Lemon Lime’s prank many Nightmare Nights ago. It was more than enough to turn her off to the holiday entirely, not to mention the legendary Mare in the Moon. And for whatever reason, Princess Celestia actually seemed more than a little saddened by that.
 
Still, the damage was done. “I…I apologize. I had forgotten that…”
 
In a flash, Cadance’s demeanor snapped back to her former self. “I-It’s nothing, really. W-Would you like to come in?”
 
Blueblood stared ahead blankly for a few moments, then nodded and stepped inside. Cadance’s room was almost completely unchanged from their youth; understandable, considering the sheer amount of legal red tape Celestia herself had to jump through just to move a coffee table. A silver serving tray had already been set on a wooden table, no doubt by some kindly servant too afraid to risk their job by awakening one of Celestia’s favorite family members. Even better for Cadance was the big, steaming pitcher of coffee, kept warm via an enchantment from the sun’s physical representation herself.
 
Cadance fought back another yawn before taking a few groggy steps towards the breakfast display and pouring herself a cup. “Would you like some, Blueblood?”
 
The stallion shook his head. “No thanks. I’m amazed you’re touching the stuff. I had always thought tea was the proper choice for ponies of our standing.”
 
“Yes, well, sometimes you just need raw caffeine,” Cadance grumbled in the most undignified way possible. Levitating up her cup, she took a few sips. The hot liquid, coupled with the steam emerging from the dishware holding it, snapped the princess’ senses open in a hurry. “So, what can I help you with?”
 
Sensing his opening, Blueblood readjusted his tie, cleared his throat, and struck a pose. “In truth, Princess Cadance, it is what I can help you with.” The stallion took a few steps forward, his chest puffed out like a peacock out to roost. Cadance barely managed to suppress a belly laugh at the spectacle. “I understand that you are interested in…finding a companion, as it were?”
 
Cadance’s face went into shock for just a moment, only to quickly slide down into a fox-like grin. “Really? Blueblood, don’t tell me you’re going into the matchmaking business?”
 
The stallion whinnied in horror at the mere suggestion. “P-Perish the thought, cousin! I was merely wishing to inquire about…what kind of stallion you prefer to date.”
 
The Princess’ hoof tapped against the dresser top as her eyes rolled back in deep thought. “Hmm…Well, I like my stallions to be…well, strong and sensitive, as cliché as that sounds. They need to be able to think, to hold their own in a conversation.” She smiled. “And they need to be named after gleaming suits of protective clothing.”
 
With a quick toss of her mane, Cadance spun around to face her cousin. Strangely enough, he was still smiling – always a good sign given what they were talking about. “So, why do you want to know?”
 
“Well, I suppose you are not a little filly anymore. No doubt you’ve turned to thinking about ponies you would like to be…involved with.” He cleared his throat. “Given what you’ve said, there are plenty of stallions within the court who would more than…”
 
Before he could utter another word, Cadance’s hoof came down on his lips. “But I’ve already found somepony. You know Aunt Celestia’s Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor?”
 
A tiny wave of nausea threatened to leak up from Blueblood’s stomach at the mere mention of the name. It was a credit to his lingering sense of self-control that his face didn’t reflect the twisting of his heart; instead, he opted to just pull back a step. “I am aware of him, yes. And that’s what I needed to speak to you about. Have you ever considered where this relationship will lead?”

Shaking her head, Cadance walked past Blueblood and undid her robe before hanging it back in her wardrobe. “Of course we’ve discussed things. Becoming the Captain of the Royal Guard was a lifelong dream of his, and he knows how important my own work as one of Equestria’s Princesses is to me. We already know each other’s likes and dislikes, our favorite colors, how many foals we’d love to have…”
 
“F-FOALS?!”
 
Cadance’s head snapped about in shock. Blueblood’s eyes had inflated to twice their normal size, while his jaw simply hung slack like its bolts had been pulled loose. The mare cocked her head to her left. “Um…Blueblood? Is something wrong?”
 
“Y-You wish to…have foals with him?” he gasped.
 
“Um…yes,” Cadance said slowly. “But not right now. We both agreed to abstain until after we’re married.”
 
“M-MARRIED?!” Blueblood’s brain struggled valiantly to make some kind of logical sense of this situation, but nothing worked. Everything he had ever been taught was being stomped on by the one pony he had thought would understand. He slowly stumbled forward, his limbs bending awkwardly like a zombie, until he was directly in front of Cadance. “H-Has he proposed to you?”
 
Cadance reared back in fear, but still managed to crack a small smile. “Well…not yet. We’ve only been out a couple of times, but…”
 
As if by magic, her words seemed to calm Blueblood’s nerves in a flash. His smile returned, with only the slightest glint in his eyes to give away the madness welling within. “Good… Then there’s still time. I can still save you, Cadance!”
 
“S-Save me?” The mare took a few frightened steps back, doing her best not to make any more eye contact with her scary cousin. “Wh-What are you…?”
 
In his delirium, however, Blueblood had obviously failed to notice just what was going on with Cadance, and before she could muster something to make him stay and explain himself, he was well out of the door and down the hallway. After all, he had a Captain of the Guard to discredit, and there were only so many places he could procure lice…
 

----------

 

“Leon? Leon?”
 
Blueblood gave his head a vigorous shake, breaking himself free of his foalish past and back to his foalish present. Orange Peel was already standing up, while the principal – the pony who had broken Blueblood from his meditation – was standing overhead with a stern look on his face. “We’re ready for you. Please, come inside.”
 
A loud gulp emitted from Blueblood’s throat, followed by him dropping down to ground level. The principal simply trotted back to his designated spot in this chamber of horrors, no doubt to apply the mask and ready the axe. The two colts looked at each other in one last exchange of solidarity before walking into the room themselves, neither pony exactly hurrying as they approached their deaths.
 
It was only the second time he had entered the principal’s office, and already Blueblood could feel his nerves twist on end. The old pony was still sequestered behind his desk, his face twisted in a disappointed frown, but that wasn’t the real source of danger. Rather, it was the very upset Baron Frazzleberry and Sky Bloom, both of whom were sitting at different sides of the principal’s desk. A pair of smaller chairs had been set up between them, no doubt for each pony’s respective spawn. “Colts, please have a seat. There is a lot to talk about.”
 
The two little ponies looked at each other briefly, gulped, and then did as they were instructed. Both parents looked upon their progeny – one real, one fake – with a look of frustration. The principal cleared his throat and clapped his hooves together in a stock gesture of dominance over his pupils. “I have already spoken to Miss Brightly and the other faculty, and their stories are all the same. Orange Peel, they say that you threw the first buck. Is that true?”
 
Orange Peel nodded. “Yes, sir.”
 
He turned to Blueblood. “And you ended the fight by throwing him into a mud puddle, correct?”
 
Blueblood gulped and nodded. “Well, it was more like I kicked the stick out of his mouth and he ran into the mud himself, but…yes, I did hit back…”
 
The room fell silent yet again, save for the clock ticking on the wall. The adults simply sat there, allowing the weight of the situation to weigh down on their soon-to-be-grounded little colts. Orange Peel squirmed about in his seat as the tension thickened, his eyes starting to water slightly as all wetness drained from his mouth. Blueblood could feel his heart skip a beat or two, but otherwise managed to just barely keep the fear from making its way outside.
 
The principal sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Colts, as I’ve told both of you in the past, fighting is something we cannot allow at this school. Now Orange Peel, I know that this is your last day with us, but is this really how you wished to end your time here?”
 
Orange Peel slowly shook his head. “No…”
 
Baron Frazzleberry sighed and lowered his head, his eyes turned away from his son. “I apologize for my son’s actions. I have no idea what has gotten into him, but I regret ever having sent him here.”
 
Sky Bloom slowly turned towards him. “What do you mean, sent him here?”
 
“His mother suggested that he spend more time among the lower classes of ponies.” Frazzleberry wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. “I had wanted to send him to the same boarding school my forefathers and I had attended, but she…made a persuasive point.”
 
Blueblood nodded from his chair, his little grey cells putting the facts together. Having a noble in any public school wasn’t entirely unheard of, but the practice was still frowned upon. Sky Bloom, however, appeared to fail to notice any of this. “And just where is your wife?”
 
Orange Peel’s eyes suddenly widened, while a small whiff of dryness unclogged itself from the back of his throat. Frazzleberry nervously twisted his forehooves together. “S-She’s gone to the frontier. She said it had something to do with…a…project she was working on, and that she wouldn’t be back until she was done.”
 
Every single pony in the room looked about each other in disbelief of the tale. Orange Peel tried to shy his eyes away, his body hunched over like a twisted lawn ornament. Sensing the growing apprehension in the air, Blueblood quickly relied on the tried-and-true foalhood tactic for such things: change the subject. “But still, I know that fighting is wrong. I shouldn’t have…”
 
“You fought to defend yourself,” said Sky Bloom. “You didn’t go and pick a fight, you know.”
 
Frazzleberry raised his eyes from his son, his retinas locked onto the mare across the room. “Excuse me, but are you saying my son should be solely responsible for what happened?”
 
“Well, my son isn’t a bully, like yours!”
 
Blueblood chuckled nervously and began to scoot his chair away. “Um…‘mom?’ I…I don’t think that…”
 
Despite the rising temperature, Frazzleberry’s voice and demeanor remained as chilled as ever. “I tried to be reasonable last night…”

Sky Bloom, on the other hoof, seemed more than willing to go along with the atmosphere. “By having him foalnapped? Really, Baron, you have a very different idea of what’s ‘reasonable’ or not…”
 
“Um…dad?” Orange Peel muttered. “I…I don’t think she…”
 
“Listen here, peasant,” Frazzleberry said, his voice hissing like a cornered cat about to strike. “Just because you happened to birth my old rival’s heir does not give you the right to address me in such a way!”
 
The mare gasped in shock. “By Celestia, I thought we were all over that silly feud! Wasn’t that why you seized my son and had him dragged to your house last night? Or were the Royal Guards simply misinformed about that when they told me you…”
 
With a thunderous yell, Frazzleberry leaped to his hooves, looking less like a pony than a whirlwind of rage. “I made a mistake in judgment, little more. But you could learn to mind your manners, or need I remind you just how your son came into the world!”
 
Orange Peel gasped. “Dad!”
 
Sky Bloom plopped her forehooves down and bucked her own chair aside with one kick. “And maybe I should tell your son that his father is a wanted criminal! They’re already waiting outside the school to arrest you, as if you didn’t notice!”
 
Blueblood groaned. “Mom!”
 
“ENOUGH!”
 
The bickering and fussing ceased at the thundering crash of a pair of aged hooves against a desk. The two grown adults very slowly slid their chairs back into position and sat down, their very wills wilting away beneath the vengeful glare of the school’s principal. “In all my years at this school, I have never seen who I assume are supposed to be mature adults behave in such a manner! Who started the fight and who responded is not what is being discussed here! What is important is that they attacked each other anyway, despite both having already been warned not to do so!”
 
Sky Bloom’s face turned as red as a firecracker. “I…understand. And I will handle the situation in my own way.”
 
“As have I,” said Frazzleberry. “Hopefully the Academy will be enough to straighten him out and make somepony respectable out of him.”
 
The mere mention of that enigmatic boarding school was enough to cause Orange Peel to visibly shiver. He leaned his head in closer to his father, but the elder made no effort to show even any acknowledgment that his son was touching him. Blueblood simply watched the spectacle from his remote vantage point, his mind still trying to figure out just what he was supposed to do here. Sky Bloom was obviously no help; she probably had no idea what a boarding school was. The principal was similarly at a loss, although he most likely didn’t care as long as he got rid of a troublemaker.
 
That left only one pony who could do anything: Blueblood. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut. Besides, the Academy wasn’t that dreadful. The instructors were some of the best in Equestria; only Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns could come close to matching that level of quality. And the mere presence of a military guard on standby would be more than enough to break down any delinquent colt, even before he begins his traditional training. He’ll emerge a strong, confident stallion like his father and…
 
Something snapped into place. Like his father…
 
“Um…excuse me, Lord Frazzleberry?” he muttered. “I was wondering about something.”
 
Frazzleberry didn’t rise from his chair, instead only acknowledging the colt with a short nod. “Yes?”
 
Blueblood slowly slid out of his chair; he didn’t know if he could make the proper impression sitting on his haunches. “You see…didn’t you go to the Academy?”
 
Frazzleberry scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Of course I did, dear colt. It’s tradition, after all. I had just hoped I would have more time before Orange Peel had to attend.”
 
“But last night, you said you were trying to change, to be a better pony, right?”
 
Both Frazzleberry and Sky Bloom raised an eyebrow at this – the former out of bewilderment, and the latter out of bemused curiosity. “Yes, what of it?”
 
Blueblood’s hooves tapped nervously against the floor. He knew he was entering dangerous waters with the next few statements, but he had to speak up. He had to take the risk of being discovered. “Well…from what Princess Celestia tells me, my dad used to be a real nice pony until he went to the Academy. After that, he was all about tradition this and protocol that.
 
Orange Peel slowly pulled himself away from his father, his eyes never leaving sight with his father’s. The Baron made no attempt to answer at first, simply choosing to follow suit with his son and exchange silent words. “I…I can see your point, but my son…”
 
“Orange Peel doesn’t want to go to some boarding school,” said Blueblood. “And even if you send him anyway, what good would it do? You’d just be making another noble to keep all the old systems alive. What he needs is a father to try and teach him how to behave, not to be shipped off to some school.”
 
The orange colt turned his attention to Blueblood, his little mouth curled up in shock. His father, however, remained as imposing as ever. “But I...he needs a proper education.”
 
“Perhaps, but that’s not what he needs right now.” Blueblood sighed and walked over to his bully. “What he needs is somepony to look up to and admire. He needs friends to help him from making the same mistakes. He needs to learn how to be a good pony first. Sure, I love learning about the alphabet, and I really want to be able to get through a whole book by myself, but school is about more than being smart. It’s about teaching ponies how to play with others without hurting their feelings, and that has to start at home.”
 
Nopony could draw up the strength to speak. Sky Bloom and Blueblood shuddered nervously at the silence, the latter more than a little afraid that he had overplayed his cards and would be found out. The principal was simply at a loss, his mind trying desperately to trace out where this parent-teacher conference had taken such a dramatic shift. Orange Peel didn’t want to get into any deeper trouble, and thus remained silent. Frazzleberry, meanwhile, just stared at the two colts, his brow wrinkling with deep thought.
 
Finally, after nearly two minutes of awkward silence, he spoke. “You know…for a foal, you’re pretty well-spoken. Must take after your father that way.” His eyes shifted over to his son. “As for you…we need to talk some things over in private. Is that okay?”
 
Orange Peel felt cold hesitation wash over him immediately, his mind already drawing up potential scenarios for what could go wrong. All that changed, however, when he saw the actual expression on his father’s face. There was no sign of malice or judgment, only a warm, friendly smile. “I…I…Sure, dad. Whatever you say.”
 
The principal sighed and rose to his hooves. “Well, I suppose our work is done here. If you two wish, I can leave you alone for a few minutes.” He turned to the other two. “Leon, you can return to class. Miss Bloom, thank you for coming. I do hope our next meeting will be far more positive.”
 
Blueblood quickly trotted out of the room, eager to give Orange Peel the space he needed to plead his case. The principal and Sky Bloom followed behind him, the former closing the door once the latter was out of position. Blueblood gave the two a last wave before heading back to his lessons, while the principal trotted away to handle some more unfortunate notices to the parents.
 
Once both groups were well out of visual range, Sky Bloom allowed herself a chance to smile. Well, this changes things quite a bit…
 
 

----------

 
By the time Blueblood had gotten back, lunchtime was already over. Fortunately, Miss Brightly allowed him to finish off his parsley-and-sage sandwich while listening to her rousing banjo recital of the major cities of Equestria. The rest of the school day proceeded in much the same way, with the usual magic training, storybooks, and educational games. By the time the bell for the third recess had rung, the colt was more than ready to go outside and enjoy some sunlight. However, this would soon prove to be the wrong day to wish for such things…
 

----------

 
Ribbon leaned against the tree, her eyes focusing on a colony of ants marching nearby. “So, he’s really gone now?”
 
Blueblood shrugged. “I guess. It doesn’t matter if he goes to the boarding school or not. There’s no way they’d let him stay here.”
 
The group remained silent for a few moments more. Around them, the air felt lighter than ever before, as if a great evil had been purged from the land. The pony that had made their lives miserable the last few weeks was no longer any threat to them, and for the rest of the school year, they could enjoy an Orange Peel-free environment. And yet, Buttons shuddered as unwelcomed thoughts crossed her mind. “You know…I felt sorry for him.”
 
Gusty looked up, quickly swallowing the grass she had been grazing on. “What do you mean, ‘sorry?’ This is Orange Peel we’re talking about, remember?”
 
The filly shook her head. “I know that, but…it’s just sad, that’s all.”
 
“I know what you mean,” said Snowball. “He used to be such a cool pony, too. A year ago, back when mom couldn’t get me into swimming lessons, his dad made them take me for free.”
 
Ribbon’s eyes puffed up in shock. “R-Really? That doesn’t sound like Orange Peel at all. That sounds…actually nice.”
 
Lofty scoffed, her eyes still locked on the sky artists chiseling clouds into shapes overhead. “It doesn’t matter how nice he used to be. He was still a big jerk and I’m glad he’s gone.” She rolled over a few times, the cool grass feeling like pure joy on her skin. “Still, it’ll be different with him gone.”
 
“Really?”
 
Everypony’s eyes popped wide open at the voice. Standing on the other side of the playground fence was Orange Peel, a tiny smile on his face. Behind him was his father, chatting rather heatedly with a member of the Royal Guard. Blueblood’s eyes widened as he saw the spectacle, but none of the other foals seemed to notice or recognize what was going on.
 
Lofty opened her mouth to deliver some kind of witty assault, but was quickly cut off by Gusty. “What are you doing here?”
 
“My dad’s taking me home,” said Orange Peel. “He said I’m gonna be homeschooled for a while.” He sighed. “If I’m good, I can go back to school for First Grade. I just…wanted to say goodbye.”
 
“And what makes you think…?”
 
Blueblood stomped his hoof down, drawing Gusty’s attention away from Orange Peel and towards him. Her gaze broken, he was finally allowed the chance to speak. “I’m glad you got things worked out with your dad…I guess.”
 
Orange Peel shrugged. “I know. But he said from now on, we’re gonna spend a lot more time together. And hey, this could be fun. I mean, I didn’t have anything else here anymore.” Snowball and Smokey quickly shied away, feeling more than a little depressed over the whole mess of a situation. “S-Still, if you guys ever want to…you know, hang out…”
 
Before he could say anything else, Frazzleberry walked away from the guard and took a seat next to Orange Peel, giving him a small nuzzle. “Come on, Orange. Princess Celestia’s sent us as escort home.”
 
The colt’s eyes widened with jubilance at the mere idea of the Princess bestowing anything upon him. “You mean it? Why would she do that?”
 
Frazzleberry coughed and looked about nervously. “Well…I have to speak to her about something this afternoon. You know, just some important royal stuff.” He gave him another nuzzle. “I just…want you to understand that everything will be all right. It’s going to be so much better from now on, you’ll see.”
 
From behind, the guard shouted, “Excuse me, My Lord? We really must be going.”
 
Frazzleberry climbed to his hooves, blinking away the last few drops of water from his eyes before walking off with the guard to a nearby carriage. Orange Peel started to trot after him, but froze after a few steps and turned back to the others. None of the foals spoke to him, with only Blueblood giving him a warm smile. “Well…so long,” he said, giving one last wave before galloping over to the carriage and jumping inside. The guard climbed into the driver’s seat and signaled the pullers to start moving, and within less than a minute, the carriage was gone.
 
Lofty’s brow remained furrowed for several seconds afterwards, before finally cooling into a general disinterest. “Actually…I kind of feel sorry for him now, too. You ever think we were the closest thing to friends he had by the end?”
 
Buttons shrugged. “I don’t know. He did have Snowball and Smokey.”
 
“But he gets a ride from the Princesses?” Ribbon whined. “Why does he get that? Lofty’s the one who’s friends with one!”
 
The foals simply continued to discuss the situation amongst themselves for the rest of the recess. The two colts joined in as well, offering their own defenses for their former friend’s behavior. Blueblood, however, simply ignored them all in favor of watching the space where his enemy once was. He couldn’t help but smile.
 
Good luck, Orange Peel.