//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: The One Where Blueblood Cries 
// by MONSTERmama 
//------------------------------//

	The first dinner they had as a couple was difficult and awkward. That went without saying. The night started out horribly but ended fairly well. Fluttershy had grown used to this pattern of things working themselves out. It came as a pleasant surprise to Blueblood, though. The most difficult part, to follow this train of thought, was the beginning. The newlyweds were to personally greet all the guests to solidify their status as a couple.

Fluttershy wore a simple cream dress with a mild amount of lacing. She was adorned with ruby jewelry. It was almost overwhelming, but the maids insisted that the family heirlooms be worn. Her hair was done up finely, braid crossing over her withers and down to her pastern. Her mascara was on fairly thick. She even had a bit of lip gloss on, but not too much. She was a duchess now, the wife of a prince. Only coy maidens wore deep rouge.

Beside Fluttershy, dressed in much less clothing due to being the more appealing of the two genders in Equestria, was Blueblood. She had mentioned once that she preferred his hair when he had it braided up hunter style. He had gone out of his way to avoid that, getting it plucked and trimmed in show fashion. He wore matching jewels, begrudgingly showing off their status as a couple. If it were not for the fact he had a rotten niece vying for his position as Prince he would hardly be putting himself in this situation.

Fluttershy was better than any alternative. Not once in their now month of being married had she approached him without due reason and permission. She had just recently asked to sleep in the same bed; apparently she was too embarrassed at her inability to seduce him to ask for a separate bed room but also not bold enough to just hop into the bed despite her right to it.

"They will enter soon, Mistress and Master Florence," the maid warned them, wheeling in a cart of appetizers into the ball room.

Oh, yes. How Blueblood hated the fact that the grand Heme palace had give itself into the name of Florence. He didn't dislike Fluttershy for it; it was simply how things worked. Still, he often considered if maybe he should have quit being such a baby and heeded the advice of his elders. The only ponies good enough for the Hemes were the Hemes.

The door opened. Fluttershy put on her best grin, though Blueblood saw her visibly tremble. Most of those invited would be close family. The first in the door was thankfully an ally of both Blueblood and Fluttershy. She stopped her shaking.

"How do you do?" Twilight Sparkle asked charmingly. She dressed up well, even getting a date with a complementary coat color. Ever since her brother had married Cadance, Twilight had made regular trips back to Canterlot to get to know her extended family better. It made the mare giddy to know Celestia was sort of an aunt-in-law or something to her in addition to everything else.

The couple bowed gracefully in unison to Twilight, who returned the favor. Twilight held a special place of honor tonight as she had played match maker for the duo. When Fluttershy found she could not possibly pay her debts back and Blueblood's facade as an eligible bachelor was no longer keeping his niece's claims to his title away, she brought them together to make everything smooth over.

"It's good to see you again, Twilight," Fluttershy cheered.

"Who is this handsome young stallion you're escorting?" Blueblood questioned. He thought he had seen this stallion before. The colt wasn't exactly nobility, but if Blueblood remembered right, the lad's family was.

Twilight grinned mildly at her date. "This is Graphite." Graphite nodded again, despite his hasty bow earlier. Graphite's family was close to the educational system of Canterlot and much of Equestria. The reason why Twilight chose him of all ponies to drag with her to this gathering was obvious.

"I-It's nice to meet you," he nervously choked out.

"Well, I see more guests spilling in. I'll speak to you later, okay, Fluttershy?" With that, Twilight and her date were escorted into the ball room. There would be light, serene dancing before dinner and discussion.

Next was Orion the Count and his wife Royal Ribbon. Because Orion had chosen an already noble mare as his wife, Royal Ribbon had the same rank as her husband while Fluttershy had to take a step below. They were cordial, though Fluttershy got an inkling of a notion that Royal Ribbon was a bit disgusted that the stallions were chattering freely at the same time that the two mares were short-hoofing political jargon.

After that came two surprising guests. Fluttershy knew she had distant family that her mother was sure to tell and therefore invite to this gathering, but the mare had not been expecting Spitfire and Soarin' along with Scootaloo of all foals to enter. Dazedly Fluttershy was reminded that the two mares' grandmothers were sisters. Scootaloo was also surprised to know that she had family living across from the little house she stayed at.  As the trio left to enter the mingling group, Scootaloo begged Spitfire to start staying with "Auntie Shy" when the two Wonderbolts were busy.

The next few guests were none too important, just a few relatives of Fluttershy's. She recalled Rosewing, Bonbon, Strawberry Sunrise, and Lavender Skies. The girls all had a good discussion of the good old days while Blueblood tried to keep to himself as best he could when there was no stallion to speak with.

Blueblood was rather surprised to see the family walk in that did grace his property. As they approached, Blueblood figured the close familial bonds would excuse him addressing Fleur before Fluttershy spoke. "Dearest cousin, how are you?" Blueblood winked at Twinkleshine, who hid behind her father's haunch. "And you, little darling? Fancypants, looking robust as always."

Fleur smiled. "Better. Grandmother Celestia has been paying better attention to my little Twinkleshine ever since she started hitting the books, so I can't complain." Fleur bowed to Fluttershy. "So, how is married life treating you? I adjusted poorly myself, at first. I still act like a flirt when the foal isn't around."

Fluttershy grinned, glad to know that if she somehow managed to make this marriage work, that it would not be dull and boring. While no one knew it, Fluttershy was rather repressed. As soon as Blueblood was cured of his fear of oysters, Fluttershy planned to fully show him why mares were ever loving wonderful. "I'm doing well. Blueblood's been doting on me like a doll."

"Oh, he must want a foal. You know stallions--never feel fulfilled without a little foal to herd and tend to." Fleur laughed lightly.

While the pegasus felt the comment was both sexist and uncomfortable, she remembered her current place and merely nodded. "We'll see about it later, hm?"

As the trio left, Blueblood stared ahead blankly. "Not on my life." He shuddered. "I would never--a foal! Making one..." Clearly, intimacy was at least months away--forget doing the do.

Fluttershy mentally warned him to be careful about placing bets hastily. "Fancypants seemed rather proud of Twinkleshine, though, right?"

"If you even approach that sub--... what the devil? Fluttershy, you never told me you had a sister. Er, sisters." He supposed two of the three mares approaching were her sisters. The third, despite looking the youngest, must be their mother.

"Hm? Oh!" She giggled. "No, Rose is my cousin. Gumdrop is my sister." As the mare who looked identical to Fluttershy sans wings approached, the little pegasus enveloped the mare in a hug. "This is my mom."

Posey wiped a few tears from her eyes. "It's a shame we missed your little informal wedding. However, better late than never."

Gumdrop grunted. She eyed Blueblood. Where as Fluttershy was all curvature, gentle slops, and grace, Gumdrop was rough edged, fairly geometric, and full of steep cliffs. They were as different as ink paintings and macaroni sculptures. "Chump looks kind of puny."

Rose kicked her cousin just as Fluttershy spoke up. "I do not appreciate you speaking to my husband that way. He is a prince, after all, Gumdrop."

Gumdrop turned beat red in embarrassment. "Uh... sorry."

Rose shook her head. "Auntie Posey, I'll take Gumdrop into a corner to remind her of her manners. You take a little while longer with Fluttershy if you want. Nice to meet you, Prince Blueblood."

Posey nodded as Rose herded Gumdrop off. She then turned her weary eyes onto the couple. Gray was starting become most of the aged mare's color rather than yellow or pink. "Oh, Fluttershy, you're so beautiful." The mare looked over Blueblood. "You seem like a nice colt. I know the mare is supposed to take care of the stallion, but please to tend after Fluttershy. She tends to get overwhelmed."

"Mom..." Fluttershy squirmed under this new attention.

Blueblood looked his wife over. Yes, he could believe that. Someone who missed a few house payments and then went into a nervous shock over it could definitely be labeled as the type to get overwhelmed. He smiled softly before reassuring Posey. "Miss, your daughter has done me a great deal of good. I'll be sure to take care of her in return." He made mental note to try and overwhelm her as much as possible.

This seemed to satisfy the earth pony. Posey walked off.

"That should be it for my family," Fluttershy tutted. "I don't know if Cousin Jubilee will make it." Bitterly, Fluttershy frowned. "I hope she doesn't."

"Why?" Blueblood asked, trying to be polite and take the edge off his nerves. There were only about five more on his side left to come. He tried not to think about whether two of them would make it and prayed one in particular would stay away.

"Well, a few years ago, my friend Applejack went missing. I asked a Cherries about her because she lived near where Applejack was last seen. She denied having seen Applejack. We had to drag the poor darling back!" The pegasus stomped angrily. "She'd been with Jubilee the whole time." A pout marked her face. "Liar."

Blueblood nodded. "Ah. I can understand that. Not wanting to see her, I mean."

Fluttershy said nothing, stewing in her anger for a second before letting the subject drop.

"Thank you, by the way," Blueblood spat out hurriedly as the door opened for another guest coming in.

"For what?" Fluttershy asked. This guest looked awful familiar.

"... lots of things." Blueblood's eyes narrowed. Everyone else could have not come and he would have been okay with that. He did not bother to hid his inability to smile as the kinsmare made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"Aw, smile a little, Blue-boo." The sharpest red eyes ever to grace a pony glittered out from under a jagged bang of blue and bluer hues. An ivory white coat was decked in urban couture. "Seems like you would miss your favorite niece."

Fluttershy looked between the two before gasping. "Vinyl Scratch?! You were the one trying to take Blueblood's position from him?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Yeah. His job's pretty swank. He has lots of free time, money, and land." The white mare nodded. "I could really go for that."

"You squander what little power you have," the white stallion noted bitterly.

Vinyl tossed her mane. "Whatever. We both know Granny only picked you because you were pretty incompetent at basically anything else--"

Fluttershy noticed Blueblood twitch at the mention of his mother.

"--that's really the only reason she'd trust a drop out like you--"

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, ready to speak up.

"I think you've said enough."

All three looked to see a pink, majestic form flanked by a powerful bruiser. Cadance walked up to Vinyl Scratch unabashedly. "Aunt Celestia and Luna cannot make it tonight. As such, I am the highest authority in this house, second only to Fluttershy and Blueblood. If you were waiting to make him look foolish and confused in front of Auntie, you're sadly mistaken, Vinyl."

Vinyl stood her ground. Cadance couldn't prove anything. Vinyl was allowed to talk.

Cadance narrowed her eyes. "Don't act out, Vinyl. You're shaming your branch."

That caught the mare's attention. She looked away, blushing. While most praised her stage persona of DJ PON-3, the royal family considered it trashy beyond belief. It was actually a huge threat to her status as even a low ranking noble. "I understand, Princess." With that, Vinyl walked on.

Cadance sighed and shook her head. She then craned her neck down in a sort-of bow. "Fluttershy, Blueblood."

Blueblood and Fluttershy spoke in unison as Cadance walked by, Shining Armor faithfully trailing her. "Princess, Captain."

Fluttershy's gaze lingered on after them. "I knew the challenge fiasco wasn't anywhere near as big a deal as everyone made it out to be."

"Well, you did get your information from Twilight, so you can naturally assume she threw things out of proportion..." Blueblood said smugly, grinning a bit at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gave him a look. "Who throws things out of proportion? Just this morning, I remember someone getting their tail accidentally tangled in someone else's during sleep and them freaking the buck out."

Blueblood pretended to ignore Fluttershy. "Oh, look, all our guests are here. Time to start the entertainment!"

"You cried."

"We should start the dancing."

"The maids aren't sure if the stains will come out of the silk."

"Fluttershy!" Blueblood half pleaded, half hissed. "Not so loud! I'd rather them think I'm a jerk than a coward."

Fluttershy felt the exact opposite concerning herself, but she had no desire to control everything about her husband.