Bringing Up Blueblood

by InsertAuthorHere


Chapter Thirteen: A New Beginning

To call the atmosphere in the courtyard tense would have been a tremendous understatement. The news that Captain Shining Armor had spent the last night sleeping in the barracks with the non-commissioned soldiers was obviously a topic of great discussion amongst Canterlot’s Royal Guard. By the time the morning bugle had sounded, everypony in the castle had heard of the previous night’s quarrel, the reason Cadance found out, and why Shining had been condemned to the dog house for the time being.

By the time Blueblood had arrived for the morning drills, not a single pony could crack so much as a smile. The younger soldiers were either befuddled by the intricacies of the situation or otherwise confused by the reaction of their superiors. The officers, meanwhile, knew enough to not raise a ruckus and just remain quiet. After all, when the boss wasn’t happy, nopony was happy.

Blueblood shuddered as he looked around the ponies assembled. More than a few gave him the same deathly glares they shot at him as an adult. Against his already diminutive height, it just made everything around him look even larger and more menacing. “Wonderful,” he muttered to nopony. “I’m about to go back to normal, and everypony already hates me again.”

Before he had a chance to keep soaking in his failure, however, the sound of horns bellowed throughout the courtyard, prompting everypony to snap to attention. Their fearless leader, Captain Shining Armor, gallantly strolled into sight with all the grace and dignity that an officer sleeping on the broken spare cot in the barracks could muster. A few tiny white streaks gleamed under his eyes, the face paint just barely masking the worry lines. If somepony didn’t know any better, he would have seemed to have aged about ten years overnight.

Despite his exhausted exterior, the Captain still trotted up to the front of the line and flashed his guards a salute. The gesture was just as swiftly returned, followed by the sound of dozens of hooves crashing into the ground at once. “Good morning,” Shining said. His voice was more than a little hoarse, and no amount of coughing or gulping seemed to calm his jangled vocal chords. “Today is going to be handled a…little differently. I fear I have some…private matters to attend to, so Lieutenant Rolling Thunder will be leading you through this morning’s drills.”

A collective groan echoed across the courtyard, ending only when an armored Pegasus mare broke off from the front of the formation and stomped her right forehoof three times, each pounding sounding like a hammer slamming against a steel plate. Shining Armor gave the steely mare a nod of approval before slinking away towards the officer’s quarters. He was in such a hurry, in fact, that he failed to notice the tiny foal in toy armor taking up the rear…

----------

Deep within the musty confines of her high tower lair, Princess Luna sipped on black tea and dug through the remainder of her nightly court’s workload. So wrapped up in her work was she that her royal ears barely noticed the clopping of hooves on the other side of the doorway until Ruby slammed it open. The sudden impact jostled the Pegasus’ stuffed saddlebags, causing more than a few ink wells, quills, parchment scrolls, and other assorted nick-knacks to tumble onto the carpet. “My…My apologies, Princess Luna! I-I had no idea…”

Luna raised her hoof, her magic still at work sorting the papers and floating the tea cup to her lips. By the time she had finished her latest sip, her attendant had already scooped up most of the discarded goods, leaving only a few tiny spots of ink to mark her accident. “Calm yourself, Miss Dream. You had no way of knowing I would be requiring your services today.”

The mare smiled as best she could, considering how heavily she was panting and gasping for air. “O-Of course, Your Highness. I was just…a little surprised,” she said while walking into the room, the door gently closing behind her. “After all, I thought Princess Celestia was in charge of today’s…day, and…”

“Yes, Equestria is under her watchful eye this day. That does not mean that I must set aside my own obligations, however.” Another sip. “I need your assistance with preparing for tonight’s ritual.”

“Um…yes, of course!” Ruby snapped off another salute, jostling loose another random assortment of objects. “Um…what ritual would that be?”

Luna sighed and reclined in her seat. “Prince Blueblood has been judged, and found worthy of a second chance. He has elected to be returned to his rightful age so that he may pay penance for his crimes.”

Ruby’s awkward smile flipped about into a frown almost instantly. “Y-You mean…But I thought that…”

The youngest of the Royal Pony Sisters rose to her hooves, her wings flapping unconsciously as her muscles tensed. “He was a friend of your daughter’s, was he not?”

The mare sighed and nodded her head. She could already tell where this conversation was headed, and it was not going to be a pleasant one. “She’s going to be devastated, you know? I mean, that picture he gave her might be her favorite birthday present ever. She was talking about it the rest of the night.” Her brow furrowed as another thought made its way to the forefront of her mind. “You don’t think he’ll try to…”

“Keep such a friendship going even after his return?” Luna shook her royal head. “No, I do not think so. He seems quite adamant in his desire to make amends, and a part of that is realizing what kind of impact his…presence would have on Lofty. And besides, does she not already have a friend well outside of her age group?”

The two mares stared silently at each other for a moment more, and then broke into laughter. There truly was nothing like having a good laugh at your sister’s/ruler’s expense to kick off the morning. In but a moment, all of the tension and anxiety hanging in the air seemed to be sucked out entirely, leaving but a gentle and relaxed atmosphere in its wake. “Well, that was invigorating,” Luna said just before sighing. “Now, there is another matter we must discuss. Do you remember the cake I had the chefs begin sculpting?”

“You mean the one Princess Celestia already ate?” Ruby sighed and bowed her head. “Yes, I do.”

Luna’s horn lit up with her magical power, seizing hold of a rolled-up scroll bound together with Equestria’s Royal Seal. The parchment gracefully floated over to the waiting Pegasus, sliding down into a small crack in her stuffed bags. “I need you to deliver this request to the kitchens. They are already working on a second cake for tonight; I need them to change a few details on the frosting.”

Ruby very gradually raised her head, her eyebrows already cocked in surprise. “B-But I thought…”

“This was never fully intended for my sister alone.” Luna rose from her seat, her muscles pulling and tensing from the morning strain. “The original cake was a proof-of-concept, nothing more. I had planned to present this desert to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, as a celebration for their upcoming nuptials.” She closed her eyes. “After last night, I believe both will be in need of a great deal of sugar.”

“…Yes, I heard,” Ruby muttered half to herself. “The whole castle has been talking about what happened...and speaking of which, what about Prince Blueblood? Will he be…?”

Sensing just what was about to be asked, Luna walked around her desk and took up a position next to her attendant. Any trace of joviality seemed to vanish from her face, accompanied by a general darkening of her already dark face. “This is about him as well. For all his stupidity and faults, I fear I may have erred in my judgment. I would hesitate to call him a good pony, but…he does not deserve banishment or execution as I once thought.”

“I can understand that,” Ruby muttered. “He tried to hurt my Lofty, but…what I saw of him didn’t seem as bad as before. And Lofty seems to really like him…” She shook her head, knocking the unwelcome thoughts out through her ears. “I-If it’s all right, do you mind if I…perhaps leave a little early to…”

Luna nodded her head. “I understand completely. Now, what say we resume running Equestria? The nation will not wait for us to settle our differences with the members of our family, after all.”

Ruby Dream smiled, gave her monarch a quick nod of approval, and cantered off to deliver the all-important notice to the royal kitchens. Luna stood perfectly still as she left, wings still extended, her ears listening carefully for the sound of her hooves to fade into the distance before trotting back to her own desk to resume her regular tasks. Her sister needed all the help she could get if they were going to finish everything by this afternoon. There were still press releases to send out, laws to pass, correspondences to write out…and a nephew’s sentence to consider.

Luna sighed to herself on that last thought. At the very least, this will be true justice, not vengeance…

----------

The knocker on Shining’s door rattled with every strike from his hooves. “Cadance? Are you in there?”

If there was anything else on the other side, it was doing its best not to make itself noticed. The Captain poked his head about the windows, but saw no lights or any sort of motion whatsoever. If his fiancé was still inside, she was either locked away upstairs or hiding far in the back. He couldn’t help but sigh at this small defeat. She’s probably at work already. If I…

“Hey, Shining Armor?” said a voice from the direction of his legs.

The Captain looked about the ground beneath him, and quite quickly identified the source of the vocal intrusion. Standing only ten steps away from him was Blueblood, his little face practically burning from the crimson hue in his cheeks. Shining’s own reaction was not that far off, albeit for what he could only assume were completely different reasons. “Hello, recruit,” he said in a flat tone. “Why aren’t you back with the other guards?”

“You know why,” Blueblood said. “We have to talk about what happened last night. You know, about Cadance getting mad and everything.”

Shining rolled his eyes and sighed. “You mean how you told her everything? Yes, I’m well aware of that. She was very specific about just who gave up the ghost.”

Blueblood nodded his head, his body trembling from a combination of his shame over last night’s events and the typical morning cold. “I just…wanted to apologize. I didn’t know she would react as harshly as she did.”

The Captain cleared his throat and turned his eyes away, his lips curling into a scowl. A thousand memories came rushing back, from the day he had the misfortune of meeting Blueblood to that disastrous party. “If I remember correctly, you were very clear about us getting married. I would have thought you’d be a lot happier about her throwing me out and ignoring me.”

Blueblood sighed, his body shaking even harder than before. There was no use in denying the obvious: Shining Armor was telling the truth. Were he his old self, he would have already ordered champagne and started planning a massive party at his estate at the mere prospect of their holy union being shut down. “But I’m not the same pony I used to be. You even said that yesterday. So please, believe me when I tell you that this was never my intention.”

“Then why did you tell her?” Shining’s eyes gradually turned back to the colt. Blueblood, for all his worry and terror from earlier, seemed to be standing just a tad stronger than before.

The foal’s voice seemed to grow a little stronger with every word, accompanied by a significant drop in his convulsions. “Because she had to know everything that happened. Shining Armor, I am not going to stay a foal. I can’t keep living a lie just because it makes my life so much easier. That’s why I had to tell Cadance. She deserves to know who I really am. And if that means she’ll never want to see me again, then so be it.” His eyes narrowed. “And besides, you’re the one who told her I was my own son! Do you have any idea what that’s put me through the last few days?”

“I was trying to save face, okay?!” Shining snapped, as did something in his heart. “She came in here talking about how much she missed her big cousin despite him being the most obscene flankhole in the history of Equestria! Because for whatever reason, she still cares about you! Not just some foal who happens to look like you, but the actual Prince Blueblood!”

Blueblood reared back a few steps, completely caught off-guard by the Captain of the Guard’s outburst. Shining Armor panted and heaved, his eyes practically trembling from the intensity of his explosive temper. The air around them seemed to grow stale and cold as the two locked eyes, neither pony willing to back down and make themselves out to be the loser of this confrontation. It wasn’t until Shining’s glare dimmed and Blueblood coughed and turned his head aside that anypony dared speak. “Well…I’m sorry,” the colt said. “I-If there’s anything I can do…”

Shining sighed and shook his head. “There’s nothing else you can do. This is something Cadance and I have to work through ourselves.” He shrugged slightly. “Still...I think you made the right choice. A shame, really. You would have actually made a decent guardpony.”

The Captain’s words struck Blueblood like a bolt of invigorating lightning. Slowly, he dared to turn his attention back to the armored figure. The same pony who had just only recently been berating him for possibly ruining his future marriage, was now regarding him with just the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. In an instant, Blueblood’s spirit felt reinvigorated and alive, a far cry from the dumps he was in a moment earlier. “Do you really mean that?”

Shining nodded in affirmation. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fiancé to grovel in front of, and you have a school to get to.” And with those parting words, Shining galloped away as fast as his finely-toned legs would allow, eventually disappearing through a doorway leading into the castle itself. Once he was out of range, Blueblood finally gave out a mournful sigh.

“I could have actually been somepony,” he muttered to the air molecules dancing around him. “Instead, I’ll probably be locked away for the rest of my life…”

If I survive school first.

----------

Once again, Ribbon seemed to pick up on Blueblood’s downer mood from the moment he stepped through the door. She set her crayons back into her pencil box; her sketching of the greater secrets of the cosmos as pictured by a little filly would have to wait for another day. She had barely stashed her scratched-up paper by the time Blueblood plopped himself in his seat. “Good morning, Leon!”

“Morning,” the colt replied.

The filly tilted her head slightly to her right, causing her smile to resemble a crescent moon. “Is something wrong?”

Blueblood shook his head. Now was definitely not the right time. “No, just…I have to talk to everypony during recess, okay?”

“Well, of course you do!” Ribbon practically shouted. “It’s your turn to come up with an idea for the ribbon!”

The colt’s left eye twitched just slightly. The jostling kicked the gears in his mind back into motion, but for all their grinding and scraping, his brain had only a distinct case of metal poisoning to show for his troubles. “M-My turn? Since when were we taking turns? I thought Gusty and Lofty were in charge of getting that ribbon down!”

Ribbon (the pony, not the article of clothing) rolled her eyes at her friend’s ignorance. “Oh Leon, that’s not how the world works. Everypony has to help each other and work together to make sure nopony gets left out! I mean, that’s what mom and dad always tell me!”

Actually, it doesn’t work that way… “I guess they’re right.”

“Exactly!” the filly chirped. The sudden burst of unregulated mirth slammed into Blueblood like a sledgehammer, breaking down his despair and bitterness over the current situation. The colt’s lips curled into a smile, prompting yet another bout of laughter from the filly. The continuous pumping of merriment into the atmosphere only served to inflate Blueblood’s growing sense of self-confidence and enjoyment, represented by his own giggling and snorting. Fortunately, the rest of the foals were too wrapped up in their own little circles to notice those two and their ridiculous fun-having.

Before long, Blueblood could feel a strange sensation coursing through his body, as if a great stain had been washed from his soul. Such a reprieve was short-lived, however, as in his euphoria the colt couldn’t help but turn his head just enough to catch sight of an empty seat on the other side of the room. The sudden jolt nearly knocked Blueblood off his hind quarters, instead settling on just taking away his smile and rendering him as depressed as when he had first come in.

“Hey, is something’s wrong?” Ribbon asked. Even at her young age, she could sense her friend’s sudden drop in good feelings.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Blueblood lied. Even as the bell clanged out the start of another wonderful day of early education, he couldn’t help but think about what was to come…

Not to mention figuring out how to get that stupid thing off the stupid tree. If this is to be my last day as a free pony, then I should go out with some pudding…

----------

“So wait… You didn’t come up with a plan?”

Gusty’s face twisted and contorted in rage as she regarded the sad sack of Unicorn before her. Blueblood seemed almost incredulous at the possibility that he might have undone months of work with but a single oversight. “I…I didn’t know I was supposed to have one until school started! How was I supposed to figure something out?”

"You should have just ignored what Miss Brightly's saying!" The filly rolled her eyes at her friend's apparent mindlessness.

"B-But she's a teacher," stammered Buttons. "I-I mean, why would it ever be a good idea to ignore her?"

Snowball snorted and laid down on his barrel, his legs tucked underneath. "Besides, today she was talking about something really cool. Did you know that spiders have eight legs and some can kill you in one bite?"

Gusty opened her mouth to protest again, but the awesomeness of such a deadly creature even existing in boring old Equestria overrode any sort of counterargument she could offer. Buttons, Ribbon and Smokey all shuddered at the mere thought of that horrid beast crawling up their legs, thus creating a perfect imprint for their upcoming nightmares. Blueblood and Lofty just shrugged, neither pony really finding spiders any more distasteful than centipedes or flies.

After a few more seconds of silent admiration and fear, Gusty finally spoke up again. "That may be the best lesson ever, but we have a problem! You were supposed to provide us with a plan for getting that ribbon down. We can't just...whack away at the tree until it drops, you know!"

Blueblood's eyes wandered away from his nearby friends to the trunk of that accursed tree. Sure enough, there were an assortment of worn markings around the base, at just the right level for any of the ponies currently in attendance. "Let me guess, you tried kicking it down?"

"Actually, that was the Earth Ponies," said Ribbon. As if on cue, everypony's eyes drifted off just a bit to the left, centering on a gathering of unhorned, wingless fillies and colts playing volleyball on the other side of the playground. "They learned that they're supposed to be strong and everything, so a couple thought they could just buck the ribbon."

"And the Pegasi tried to fly up there." Lofty shook her head sadly. "Problem is, none of us are strong enough to make it more than a foot or two off the ground."

"And magic's no good," said Buttons. "We've tried to pull down the whole branch, but all anypony can do is just make it shake a little."

Gusty gave the ground a furious stomp. “It’s hopeless! That stupid ribbon won’t ever go down, and we’ll never get our pudding snack!”

The rest of the gang simply rolled their eyes at the filly’s tantrum. “Um…Gusty? We’ve been out here for five minutes,” Buttons said. “I know that’s a long time, but…”

“B-But nothing!” The bottom of Gusty’s eyes began to water. “Every day we come out here, try to get this stupid ribbon down, and for what? A…A pudding cup? It's probably not even good pudding!"

With that, Gusty's speech degenerated into a series of pained wails at yet another day of asparagus and grapes as the midday snack. Blueblood stepped forward to offer some measure of comfort, but froze after only a few clops of his hooves...

"They learned that they're supposed to be strong and everything, so a couple thought they could just buck the ribbon."

"None of us are strong enough to make it more than a foot or two off the ground."

"All anypony can do is just make it shake a little."

The sudden burst of inspiration caused Blueblood's eyes to nearly triple in size. Of course. That's what we had to do all along!

The colt's hooves slammed against the ground like a hammer, calling the attention of the others back in his direction. His very stance and voice radiated with a sense of confidence and cool determination. "I know how to get the ribbon down, but I'm going to need everypony's help." The others looked about each other in confusion for a moment before turning back to their apparent commander. "Ribbon, I want you to gather as many Earth Ponies as you can. We're going to need their muscle. Lofty, do the same thing with the Pegasi. Gusty, the Unicorns. Bring everypony you can find back here."

A brief murmur of discontent flashed within the party, but dreams of getting the ribbon and earning that pudding snack pushed such thoughts aside within seconds. With a quick salute and a hearty "Hi-ho, Silver!" the foals dashed away to gather the rest of their workforce. Once they were far enough away that the others couldn't hear them anymore, Smokey climbed back to his hooves and trotted over to his new friend. "So...what are you gonna do?"

Blueblood smirked in response, his eyes still locked on the branch. "I'm going to bring that ribbon down...for all of us."

----------

Roughly five minutes later, Ribbon returned with over a dozen Earth Pony fillies and colts. They all looked about themselves in sheer confusion, no doubt over why the strange Unicorn was suddenly pulling them into this midst of this game. The filly gave her CO a salute, no doubt to fully immerse herself in whatever game they were playing. "Troops present and accounted for, SIR!"

Blueblood recoiled a step from the filly's excitable outburst, if only because nopony could have expected Ribbon to be quite that loud. "W-Well... Good work."

The filly grinned a goofy smile, secretly happy that all those stories she heard about soldiers and whatnot from her uncle had paid off. At the same time that was going on, however, Lofty had also returned, now accompanied by nine of the best Pegasus ponies she could convince to drop everything and assist a possibly insane colt. "This was all I could get. Sorry."

"That'll do," said Blueblood. "Now, has anypony seen Gusty?"

"RIGHT HERE!" Everypony's heads turned to the direction of the sandbox. Gusty and about six other Unicorns emerged from the dusty wastes like nomads coming across an oasis, their tongues parched for want of manna or pudding, whatever came first. Upon reaching the rest of the party, the boisterous filly gave a triumphant smile and cocked her head back. "I got everypony I could find! Now, let's get that ribbon!"

Blueblood jumped back a few steps, in only to make sure everypony could see and hear him. His loyal army was as disorganized as one could expect of a gathering of young foals, but hopefully it would do. "Very well. Everypony, our goal is to get that ribbon down from that tree." His hoof shot out towards the branch. "In order to pull this off, however, we're going to need everypony to help out. Got it?"

A low murmur was his only answer. Of course they don't believe me. I'm sure Lofty and her...my friends weren't the first ones to try and get that ribbon down. His hoof slid down to the trunk. "Earth Ponies, I need you to buck the tree. Try to make sure everypony's in rhythm with each other." Next, he pointed at the tip of the branch. "Unicorns, we need to concentrate all our magic on that end. We're going to start pulling it down." And last, he pointed at the Pegasi. "Once we have it coming down, you guys need to reach up and grab the ribbon. You remember that pony ladder we made yesterday, Lofty?" The filly nodded. "Make another one, but this time put four on the bottom, then three on top of them, another row of two, and finally one on top."

He clapped his hooved against the ground. "Does everypony understand?" The foals quite obviously didn't for the most part, but their discontent seemed to gradually fade away against a fresh wave of excitement. Apparently, all that time with the Royal Guard had finally begun to pay off. "Then let's start! We only got a few minutes until recess ends!"

Everypony in attendance gave a yelp of support before dashing into position. The Earth Ponies stood in a ring around the tree, their hooves trembling with excitement. The Pegasus Ponies simply stood in position underneath the branch, with Lofty already portioning them off for when the time came. Blueblood joined up with the Unicorns in a single huddle about five feet from the very tip of their target, everypony making sure they had a good shot.

After a few more tense seconds of making sure everything was perfect, Blueblood stomped his hooves, signaling for the operation to begin. The Earth ponies all reared up and once and gave the tree the most powerful buck they could muster. The impact of so many hooves against the stubborn wood caused every branch on top to begin rustling, sending plenty of leaves tumbling to the ground. Even the branch the ribbon sat on seemed to bounce to the groove.

At the same time, every Unicorn's horn began to glow as the foals grunted and groaned to force their magic to cooperate. Despite their youth and the weakness of their general power levels, the combined force of so much magic in one place caused their various forces of will to coalesce, until a small aura about the size of an adult's own telekinetic spell began to form. The sparkly mass weighed heavily upon the wooden outcropping, and with the force of so many little ponies pushing down on it, it had little choice but to descend. The shaking from the Earth Ponies wore away at the resistance at the bough, allowing the fillies and colts the chance to push the oversized stick downward.

Once the target had lowered itself just enough, the Pegasi sprang into action. Following Lofty's specifications, four of the strongest ponies in the class stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a straight row. Three more jumped onto their backs, their wings practically snapping in anticipation, followed by another two. Finally, Lofty herself climbed up the right side of the makeshift pyramid, taking her time to make doubly sure that she didn't overly injure anypony that was beneath her. To her eternal amazement, the added height, coupled with the descending branch, had left the ribbon's tassels just within mouth range.

Spreading her wings, the filly took a mighty leap upwards...

----------

"And that's why Princess Celestia should lower the Tea Tax," Swift Feather finished. The other ponies in attendance all nodded along, only occasionally glancing out to check on the foals. They seemed to be very interested in the ribbon tree, but otherwise nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Ever since Orange Peel had been pulled out, the playground had been incredibly quiet.

Miss Brightly sipped her coffee while giving a small hum. "Well, if you ask me, we need to..."

"Um...excuse me?"

The sound of a foal's voice broke the teachers out of their meeting and down towards the ground. The crowd that had been gathered around the tree was now standing right in front of them, led by the same group of foals that had been involved in the Orange Peel incident. And caught between the lips of Lofty was the ribbon, now completely unfurled and ready to go.

A collective gasp echoed throughout the playground. "H-How did you do that?!" asked Mr. Snowflame.

"It was a team effort," said Blueblood. "We all worked together and used our abilities to pull the branch down."

"Now, where are those pudding cups?!" asked Ribbon.

The adults looked about each other in utter horror. Not once since they tied that ribbon to the tree had they ever imagined so many ponies teaming up to get it down. It was just...something they did to keep the foals motivated. But now the little ponies had done their impossible task...

"Mrs. Swift," muttered the principal, "I want you to fly to the nearest grocer and buy every pudding cup you can get your hooves on. Chocolate, vanilla, tapioca, anything."

The foals practically jumped for joy at the news. The crowed was so active in their exhuberance that Mrs. Swift just barely managed to fly high enough to escape the school grounds and begin her epic adventure for the largest dessert order in the Canterlot School System's history. As fillies and colts alike danced about each other happily, Blueblood simply smiled at his hoofwork. He had helped them all finally get their reward...

His heart sank. And now I have to tell them the truth.

----------

Unfortunately for the little foals, the school's faculty refused to halt their education to make room for pudding time, thus forcing them to wait until the last recess period of the day. Needless to say, the next several hours were among the most intensely aggravating moments in the little ponies' short lives. More than a few ponies simply discarded their lunch, lest those accursed bananas and apples interfere with that most splendid of confections. Not a single pony even sang along with Miss Brightly's rendition of this week's spelling lesson, and the Arts-and-Crafts activity simply ended with everypony competing to see who could make the world's slowest rendition of Princess Celestia out of foam and coloring pencils.

Finally, the bell gave a merciful, long overdue cry, and everypony filed out for their last recess. Standing right at the entrance to the playground was Swift Feather and Gusty's mother, alongside several tables full of every manner of pudding imaginable. Chocolate, vanilla, tapioca, raspberry, strawberry, coconut, brussel sprout, avocado, everything. As the crowd of famished students descended like locusts upon the hapless adults, the other teachers joined in to provide backup, forcing the foals into an orderly mob and instituting a one-cup-per-pony system. Fortunately, the store had just enough pudding to go around, and every foal was soon able to enjoy their favorite flavor, or in case they were at the end, whatever one they despised.

After grabbing his spinach-flavored treat, Blueblood's eyes began to wander about the playground in search of his friends. Sure enough, they had all not only managed to get in line before him, but were sitting under the tree they had just conquered. I suppose I couldn't pick a more appropriate place to end this.

Gusty's eyes flew open as Blueblood approached, her lips still stained from sucking up the remaining liquid in the plastic cup. "Hey, Leon! Way to go, buddy!"

Blueblood cocked an eyebrow. "Way to go?"

"You're the one who got us this pudding." Ribbon wiped her mouth and nostril clean with one leg, fighting off her urge to gag. "Just a shame we had to get bread-flavored pudding. And why'd they have to make it look like chocolate?"

"Just to mess with us foals," Snowball said while shrugging.

"Well, I...I'm glad you're enjoying it," the colt said slowly, "because I have to tell you something..." Blueblood could feel his heart beating faster and faster, in turn causing his breathing to accelerate at a breakneck speed. The others looked at him with bemused glances, but otherwise said nothing. “W-When I first came here…do you remember what Lofty said?”

The two colts simply shrugged, while the fillies all seemed to shift into the chin-tapping mannerisms that usually punctuated deep thought. “Well, she didn’t want to be friends with you,” said Ribbon.

“And she said something about you being a big pony turned into a foal,” said Buttons, mere moments before breaking into a snort. “Of course, that was just her be silly!”

Blueblood sighed and let his head droop. “A-Actually, she was telling the truth. I really am a grown pony.”

The prince's audience was silent for a few moments, as if trying to digest his words alongside the pudding in their stomachs. But that awkwardness was just as readily replaced with a chorus of laughs from everypony involved, save for a visibly stunned Lofty. "Oh, please!" said Smokey. "Don't you know grown-ups don't turn back into foals! I don't even think they were foals to begin with!"

Buttons tapped her tapioca-stained chin. "Well, they're always saying 'When I was your age' when I get in trouble. I...don't think they'd lie to us about that..."

Blueblood shook his head. Once again, his friends were rude enough to have the attention spans of foals. "No, it's true. You see..."

And so the prince began to tell the entire tale of his transformation, from the night at the Grand Galloping Gala all the way to the present. He spared no detail, not even when it would have been preferable for the foals not to know. His friends listened as he spoke of his plan to destroy Ponyville, and how he had been changed into a foal when he tried to blackmail and kidnap Princess Celestia herself. Their faces fell as they learned of the true nature of Blueblood's crimes, and why the Princess of the Sun herself had banished him to this school as punishment. The only thing he willingly withheld anything on was Celestia's own time as a filly, both to spare Lofty any further embarrassment and because he really didn't understand everything that was going on at that time. Such is what happens when a pony's under house arrest.

"And that's why I have to go," he finished. "I've done a lot of really, really bad things, and I have to be punished for them."

Slowly, the colt raised his head away from the grass and towards the foals. To his horror, their reactions were just as he had predicted. Lofty picked and kicked at the grass, unable to look her friends in the eyes after perpetuating this lie for so long. Snowball and Smokey eyed him with a look that was somewhere between shunning him and wishing a meteor would cave in his head. Buttons and Gusty exchanged befuddled glances, but made no move towards the false foal.

That left Ribbon. The filly's head hanged low, but it was not enough to hide the obvious sounds of choking. Her frame seemed to be collapsing in on itself, the hairs on her mane and tail were slightly puffed from the emotional trauma, and the less said about the water coming out of her eyes, the better. Blueblood took a step forward, his mouth opening to prepare some sort of apology, but the sound of his hooves against the dry grass was enough to send the filly running away.

The colt froze as the filly vanished into same bushes he had used to spy on Orange Peel a few days prior. Right now, though, that colt was seeming like the better pony to Blueblood. He turned to speak to what remained of his former friends, but the only noise to come from his throat was a dry, hacking sound. None of the others offered to take up the slack, for that matter. With a final defeated moan, the colt turned on his hooves and walked away, leaving his unopened pudding cup behind.

----------

Ribbon wasn't quite sure how much time had passed since she had went into hiding, nor did she particularly care. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the tears to stop falling. Her brain smacked the errant thought processes, admonished her for acting like a baby, but she couldn't help it.

"L-Leon...he wasn't...I...But..."

Her rear hooves finally gave out, sending the filly toppling onto her hind quarters. The sobbing gradually reduced in intensity, save for the sniffling and whimpering, as her brain finally played catch-up. Leon's going away...No, he was never real. B-But...he was my friend. Why would he...?

In a flash, everything changed. The heaves and sobs ceased as a black coldness dripped over every inch of the filly's body and soul. Her eyes gradually narrowed until they were almost completely closed, while a tiny spec of blackness manifested briefly on the tip of her horn.

Celestia...It's her fault. She's the one who made Leon think he was a bad pony. And she's the one who's making him go away.

The filly's mouth folded into a scowl. You were right, uncle. She really is the worst pony who's ever lived. And I have to save him!

----------

To say the last part of class was awkward would be a tremendous understatement. From the moment the littlest ponies returned from their scheduled playtime, Blueblood dared not look at either Ribbon or Snowball for more than a few seconds, just in case their condemnatory glances made him feel even worse. The other colt in this broken relationship seemed more than content just to sit in his chair and fume over this sudden betrayal.

Ribbon, on the other hoof, just seemed utterly lost in her own little world. Every passing moment was spent writing or drawing something on a sheet of white paper, all while using her bravest sniffles to fight back the waves of sadness gnawing at her very being. Once in a while, Miss Brightly would ask her if something was wrong, but all she would get in response was the filly shaking her head.

Mercifully, and after so many hours of torture, the final bell of Blueblood's short-lived scholastic return rang out. In an instant, all of the little ponies began to canter out of the room; the only reason they didn't break into a blind gallop was because Miss Brightly would have held them up for a discussion on running in the classroom. Before Blueblood himself could slip out, however, he felt a grown hoof tap him on the back of the crest. "Leon, may I speak to you?"

Blueblood shuddered at the sound of Miss Brightly's voice. He slowly turned about to see the teacher standing above him, looking at him with a worried expression. Ribbon and Snowball were already gone, no doubt wanting to distance themselves as much from their traitor of a friend as possible. "Um...yes?" he stammered.

"Did something happen between you and Ribbon?" Miss Brightly closed her eyes. "She seemed really upset after the last recess."

Blueblood's eyes shifted back and forth, his brow slowly growing wet from a sudden outburst of sweat. He drilled at the ground with his left forehoof, but unfortunately there was no way he was going to tunnel all the way to Neighpon before his teacher lost her patience. "We had a fight. I...I don't think she wants to be friends anymore."

Miss Brightly sighed and adjusted her balance. "I see. Leon, I want you to know that just because friends have a fight, it doesn't mean they have to stop being friends forever."

Blueblood shook his head sadly. "No, I think she hates me. Really hates me."

Sensing that a heart-to-heart was in order, Miss Brightly walked back to her desk and took a seat, her hoof beckoning the colt to follow. Shrugging in defeat, Blueblood complied for what would be the last time. "Leon...this may be hard to believe, but I was a young pony once, too. When I earned my Cutie Mark, I knew my destiny was to be a teacher. When I got a bit older, I went to school to learn how to teach my little ponies." She shook her head. "While I was there, I made a friend, an Earth Pony from Ponyville named Cheerilee."

Blueblood cocked his head, doing his best to feign ignorance. It probably wouldn't help his case if Miss Brightly knew of his former plans for that village. "Ponyville? Where's that?"

"It's a small town a few hours from Canterlot, but that's not important." Miss Brightly turned her head away, looking more than a little nervous about revealing this long-hidden secret. "We were so close throughout school, but just before we graduated, we got into a fight. She was offered a teaching job in Manehatten, but she wanted to go back to Ponyville to teach at the same school she had attended as a filly. I...didn't understand why she would turn down an opportunity like that, so I told her. We had a few too many grown-up drinks, and...well, she said I was the worst friend ever and refused to speak to me again."

Blueblood shook his head slowly. "Then...there's really no..."

"Oh, this has a happy ending," the teacher very quickly exclaimed. Her face quickly lit back up, and Blueblood's nerves cooled in response. "It took a few years, but after a while, I wrote a letter asking her how things were going and if she was still angry. As it turns out, she had forgiven me the next day, but was afraid I was still angry at her. If I hadn't written that letter, I may have still lost a friend."

"I...I think I understand," the colt muttered. She's right. Perhaps in a few years, when Ribbon has had a chance to calm down, I can check in on her. She wants to learn about magic; perhaps I could sponsor her entrance into Aunt Celestia's magic school. And I could make similar offers to the others.

...No, that would just be buying friends again.

A sudden knock at the door echoed through the room. Both ponies turned around to see Sky Bloom looking through the open doorway. "I'm sorry, but I need to pick up Leon. Is everything all right?"

"Yes, of course," said Miss Brightly. "Blueblood just had a fight with one of his friends, and I was trying to tell him things would be all right."

"A fight?" Sky Bloom asked worringly. She cocked an eyebrow at the colt. Blueblood simply looked away nervously. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," the colt muttered. "C-Can we go home now?"

Sky Bloom nodded in response. Miss Brightly smiled, climbed back to her hooves, and gave Blueblood a slight nudge towards his mother. The colt simply walked towards his mother without another word, following her out of the classroom and then the school grounds. Fortunately, Sky Bloom's body helped block his view of the ponies all lined up outside, just in case he ran into a few he really wanted to avoid right now.

Once they were safely out of range, Sky Bloom turned her eyes towards her fake son/real nephew. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Blueblood shook his head. "No... But I can't do anything about it now."

"Are you ready to go back?" the mare asked. "There's still time to..."

"I have one more thing I have to do," he said, his voice cold and detached. "But after that, we need to get this done with as soon as possible. I have to face my punishment."

----------

The scene at the front of the school was just as hectic and fast-paced as ever, save for six little foals. Blueblood’s former compatriots simply stood by the gate, kicking at the ground and looking absolutely pitiful. None of them could even muster the strength to eat their pudding cup; the snacks simply sat, unopened, in their saddlebags. None of their parents had arrived just yet either, with Gusty’s mom busy in a meeting and the others just being a little behind. Even the sight of a ribbonless tree was but a small comfort to the injured foals.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Gusty said sadly. “First Orange Peel, and now Leon?”

“He was never there to begin with,” muttered Snowball. “He was a grown-up the whole time, remember? We all know they were never little ponies.”

Buttons opened her mouth to correct him, but no noise came out. Instead, she sank to her haunches and let out the deepest sigh she could muster. “I know what you mean,” Lofty said. “I thought he was mean back then, but…he was actually kind of nice. For a colt, I mean.”

“So, what do we do now?” asked Smokey. “He’s probably getting locked up in some tower somewhere until they fix him, right? Or a dungeon. I mean, that’s what they do to ponies the princess gets mad at, right?”

The foals heaved another combined sigh. There was no doubt in their tiny little minds about what sort of fate Blueblood was in for. Princess Celestia would never hurt a filly, of course; their parents had always told them that she was super-nice and super-wonderful. But if Leon became an adult, then she could do anything she wanted. He could be on the moon within the hour, or sold into slavery, or…

“We have to save him.”

Everypony’s eyes turned to Ribbon. The blue filly now stood on all four hooves, her eyes burning with a vigor none of them had seen in their lives. “If she takes Leon away, we’ll never get him back! He’s our friend, and he needs our help!”

“B-But he was always an adult, right?” asked Buttons.

“No, he wasn’t! That was a totally different pony! Leon is one of the coolest colts we know, right? Do any of you think he could have done something bad enough to get punished forever?” Everypony shook their heads. Ribbon’s entire core now overflowed with confidence as she plopped back onto her rear and crossed her forelegs in a show of pure defiance. “I think I know how we can help him, but we have to get into the castle! I think there’s a shortcut through the sewers, so let’s…”

Her gloating session came to a scratching halt underneath the chorus of moans and groans that emitted from the others. "The sewers?" asked Snowball. "Do you know much it smells down there?"

"B-But there's a secret passage into the castle." Ribbon reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a mouth-drawn map of Canterlot's sewer system, along with a rough map of Canterlot Castle. She tossed the paper on the ground, prompting the other ponies to huddle around the blueprints of their break-in. "All we have to do is slip through the sewers, open a door here, and we'll be right underneath Princess Celestia's office. We can then..."

"What are you ponies up to?"

Lofty's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. She spun about to find herself facing her mother, who was eying the juvenile ponies with a mixture of confusion and gentle warmth. The others managed to register the question just as Lofty broke into a gallop, stopping right in front of her mother and nuzzling her on the shoulder. "Mom, did you hear what happened?! Leon's going away!"

"Yes, I know," the mare said slowly. She gave her daughter a nuzzle along the back. "I'm sorry. I know he was a...better pony than any of us had expected."

"That's why we have to save him!" Ribbon shouted.

Ruby Dream cocked an eyebrow. "Save him? Hon, I don't think he's in any danger. He just has to go back to who he really..."

"We don't want him to go away!" Everypony turned their heads towards a suddenly-excited Gusty. "He's one of the coolest ponies I know, and we're not going to let him get punished forever!"

"And he helped us get the ribbon down," said Buttons. "If it weren't for him, we would never have gotten our pudding."

Ruby looked down at her daughter, who gave her a smile with custard-stained teeth. "I see."

Snowball and Smokey looked at each other briefly, their minds teetering back-and-forth over whether or not to join in. "Well...he did help Orange Peel," Smokey added. "I'm not sure anypony would even try to be friends with him after how he was acting, but...Leon did."

"And it's thanks to him that we got new friends," said Snowball. "So yeah, we want him to stay, too."

"It's not that simple," said Dream. She pushed her daughter back and took a step away, if only to keep an eye on all the foals at once. "Blueblood is a grown pony, not a foal. He's done a lot of terrible things, and he has to be punished for them like anypony else. Princess Celestia's not going to throw him into the sun or anything. She'll probably send him to prison for a little bit, make him do charity work, things like that."

"B-But if somepony's really sorry, you should forgive them, right?" asked Lofty. "That's what you're always telling me, right?"

"W-Well..." Every instinct of Ruby Dream's being told her not to look down. She knew exactly what Lofty was planning, and had fallen victim to her ploys more than once, but she had to stand strong. Discipline was important, and she had to temper her daughter's naive belief in how the criminal justice system worked with a dose of harsh reality. It would hurt her for a while, but she would get over it...

And then she let her gaze slip downward just enough to catch the very edge of Lofty's eyes. The filly's little white orbs were practically shaking from the tears forcing their way out, her pupils already the size of tea saucers. The concentrated blast struck the hapless mother right in the forehead, burrowed into the deepest recesses of her brain, and activated all those little motherly synapses of her brain while also shutting down her ability to think logically. Before long, she was but a few moments away from becoming a vegetable in her daughter's hooves.

That was when the other ponies joined in, intensifying the death beam until it threatened to overtake an entire city block. Finally, Ruby Dream could take no more. "W-Well...I can at least take you to the castle...let you say your goodbyes. Just...are your parents all right with this?" Everypony gave a lying nod in unison. "A-Alright, then. Let's go before it's too late."

Lofty squealed and nuzzled Ruby's side. "You're the best mom ever!" And now we don't have to deal with poo gas! "Now come on, everypony! We have a friend to save!"

The foals gave off a deafening shout of support, grabbed their bags, and quickly trotted alongside the hoodwinked adult...save for Ribbon. The filly only looked down at her ingenious plot to toss a pie into Celestia's face and run off with Leon while she was distracted. So much hard work, gone to waste...

----------

The fire may have been roaring, but Cadance’s office was as cold as a tomb. Its sole occupant simply sat hunched over her desk, a stack of papers neatly laid out in front of her for her royal perusal. The room was awash in a sea of silence and disquiet, with only the crackling of the fire and the dull clicking of the grandfather clock serving to provide any sort of backdrop to Cadance’s oh-so-lovely day.

The mare was about halfway through the latest proposal for repairs on the highway connecting Manehatten and Fillydelphia when the knock came. It was a slow, seemingly fearful series of clangs against her doorway, but the inactivity of the room around her only served to amplify the noise until it resembled an entire marching band’s percussion section. Cadance sighed, floated her quill away, and said, “Come in.”

A few seconds passed before the door creaked open. “H-Hello, Cadance,” said a tiny, coltish voice.

Cadance shuddered for just a brief moment at the high-pitched squeak. A quick remembrance of how a princess was supposed to behave was enough to calm her down, but her right ear still gave a twitch every five seconds or so. Her eyes fastened themselves to the paperwork, lest she have to look at her diminutive cousin again. “Hello,” she said in the meanest voice she could manage.

Blueblood took a few steps inside. The door quickly caught the nearest gust of wind and slammed itself closed, causing the colt to jump in shock. Cadance barely fought back a laugh at her former favorite cousin’s expense before returning to her work.

"I-I wanted to talk to you," the colt continued. "H-Have you forgiven Shining Armor yet?"

Cadance scoffed, her eyes never leaving the stacks in front of her. "No, I haven't. And I really don't want to talk about him right now...or you."

A part of Blueblood's brain immediately suggested a tacitcal withdrawal, at least until she had calmed down some more over the whole "lying to her" thing. Such a move would have no doubt been the smartest option given his present situation. Unfortunately, Blueblood was not a particularly clever pony when it came to social interaction. "He...He was scared of what you would think. He was there, he knows what happened between us, and..."

An uncontrolled burst of magic sent the quill slamming into the desk so hard that it chipped through the top layer. While her face was still pointed at the surface in front of her, the scowl on her lips and rage building up inside was more than evident even from a profile perspective. "Did he really think I would do something like that? That I'd hold a grudge for this long? That I'd honestly treat you or him like some kind of monster?"

Blueblood gave a nervous smile and shook his head. "Well...yes. I did kind of deserve it..."

"Yes you did!" The sudden burst of rage was so strong and unexpected that both ponies had to recoil in shock. She jumped back to her hooves, her chair flying back so quickly that it slammed into the wall and snapped off one of its legs. Blueblood's eyes locked on the door, just in case he had to make a sudden escape, but Cadance was upon him before he could muster the strength to flee. "Do you have any idea what happened after that night?! I was humiliated in front of everypony! Not a single one of my friends would talk to me for days!"

"P-Perhaps they just wanted to make sure you were alright before..."

"Princess Celestia and Shining wanted to put me under lock and key just in case you came by again!" The mare prodded the colt in the chest. "But you never bothered to come back! You never even said you were sorry! Did you ever stop and think about what you did to begin with?"

Blueblood shook his head. Fortunately, this was probably the only time he could ever muster the strength to actually talk to her, especially since he was about to turn back into the thing she hated. "Cadance...I hated myself for that. I was drunk and stupid and let the whole idea of being a proper prince run to my head. I...I didn't apologize because I was honestly afraid to see you."

Cadance's eyes shifted away from their "piercing daggers" mode to "switchblade" fairly quickly, even as the rest of her body continued to shake with a previously unimaginable fury. "Do you really think that excuses anything? You were just as much of a bully as Frazzleberry."

"I know that," said Blueblood. "That's why I chose those words. I knew exactly where to strike you, and was cruel enough to do it." He sighed and laid himself on his barrel. "But...before I go back and face whatever Celestia has in store for me, I just wanted you to know...I'm sorry. I don't know if it means anything anymore, but...I still love you, Cadance. And Shining does, too."

The Princess raised her head back upwards and cocked an eyebrow. "You're...apologizing now? Blueblood, it's been far too long for something like that to suffice. This isn't something you can fix with just one conversation."

Blueblood sighed and kicked at the ground. "I know. I...I just wanted you to know that." He looked up nervously, catching her cousin right in the eyes. "Well, I'm going to be turned back to normal in a little bit. Shining Armor is going to be there, and...I was hoping you would join us as well." He gave a slight chuckle. "You could...throw tomatoes at me, if you want. I hear the kitchen staff bought too many for Princess Luna's pizza tonight."

The room fell quiet yet again, save for Cadance's gradually slowing breathing and Blueblood's rapidly palpitating heart. The Princess' eyes gradually drifted over to the pile of work on her desk for a moment before finally returning to the colt. "Well...I..."

Finally, the mare let out a defeated sigh. "Yes, I want to be there. But it's not to throw fruit in your face or anything like that. You're still my cousin, even if you were a total idiot, and I...just want to make sure you get this next stage of your life off on the right hoof."

Blueblood's eyes opened wide with a combination of surprise and unfiltered joy. Not once in all the build-up to this day had he even imagined such a thing being possible. Even better, he had a chance of getting out of this event with not a single trace of fruit. He gave a small gasp of relief, causing his eyes to deflate back to their normal size, before finally ending the display with a loving nuzzle to Cadance's side. "Thank you. I don't know if we'll see each other after today, but...you've grown into a wonderful mare."

Cadance's first reaction to the sudden contact was to freeze up just a bit in horror. She had never been this close physically to Blueblood (at least knowingly) since the party incident. Still, there was a strange sense of...warmth and rightness with the gesture. It was as if her old foalsitter instincts had come to life once again. Sighing, she gave her diminutive cousin a reassuring pat on the head. "And you've...changed a great deal since I last saw you, in a good way."

----------

Shining Armor practically exploded with shock as Cadance and Blueblood entered Luna's bedroom together. The elder Alicorns had just barely finished preparing the circle and procuring enough protection suits for what they hoped would be themselves and two other adults, and Luna's attention was focused on the scroll Twilight had prepared the last time they had ran into this situation. Before anypony could utter a word, the Captain galloped over to his fiancé and almost bowled her over with his passionate embrace. Fortunately, Blueblood was smart enough to leap out of the way, lest he get caught in the middle of their relationship again.

“I'm so sorry, Cadance,” Shining muttered. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Cadance gave a hearty exasperated sigh, her smile never once leaving her lips. “I'm still a little upset, but I should share some of the blame. I guess I did lay it on a bit thick when I first got here.”

Shining pulled back just slightly, despite every part of his brain wishing he could keep the passionate embrace going forever. “Perhaps this is a good thing. We've never really had a fight like this. Maybe we can use this to figure out how to solve other problems we'll face.”

“Of course,” Cadance said softly. “Every couple has to have a few arguments once in a while, after all. And it really wasn't that bad of a problem.” Her eyes suddenly jutted inward as she prodded a hoof onto Shining Armor's breastplate. “But you're still on the couch, mister!”

Shining was briefly stunned by the sudden outburst, but it only took a few seconds for his mind to rectify the situation into something more resembling a joke. “Heh...It still beats the barracks.”

“Now that all this is resolved, may I suggest we get things going?” Everypony's eyes turned to a very impatient Luna on the other side of the room. “We still have to prepare you two for the spell's after-effects. They can be most...unsettling if you are not prepared for them.”

----------

“I think I see it! We're almost there!”

“Everypony, charge forward! BREAK FORMATIONS!”

“Wait, that wasn't part of the deal! Lofty, get back here this instant!”

----------

With the last of the room’s preparations complete, Luna floated the counterspell up to her eye level. Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armor double-checked their containment suits, just in case another mad pony came charging in and tore a hole in their protective clothing. And sitting in the very center of the room was Blueblood, looking absolutely defeated in his last moments as a colt.

“Are you ready to begin?” asked Luna. Blueblood simply nodded his response. “Very well, then. Let us…”

STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!”

Everything in the chamber obeyed the screeching command and came to a halt, mere moments before the door came crashing open. On the other side stood a very exhausted Ruby Dream and a collection of foals, four fillies and two colts strong. Blueblood’s eyes nearly popped out of their holes as the cadre of miniature horses descended upon him like adorable little locusts, slamming him so hard that the mass of bodies went rolling for a good quarter-yard.

The adults in the room stared at the foals for but a few moments before returning their gaze to the other intruder. Ruby slowly crawled up to her employers, panting from a combination of breathlessness and terror over losing her job. “I-I am so sorry! Th-They just said they wanted to say goodbye to him! I-I didn’t…”

“Princess Celestia!” shouted the all-too-familiar voice of Lofty. The Pegasus filly pulled herself away from the rest of her gang, her tiny little eyes quivering slightly as she approached her significantly taller friend. “You can’t take Leon away!”

“Take Leon...?” Celestia turned towards her nephew, who was still trying desperately to break free from the dogpile around him. “Blueblood, didn't you tell them what was going on?”

The colt coughed and wheezed as he just barely broke free of Gusty's iron-clad grip. “I-I thought I did! I don't know what's going on, honest!”

“What's going...?” Ribbon was the next to slip out, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Celestia, causing the mare to recoil in surprise. “We were rescuing her from her! She was going to take you away, make you spend the rest of your life in some dungeon somewhere!” The filly's lips pursed as she regarded the contemptuous Sun Princess. “What, planning to erase him from history, too?”

“Erase from...what are you...?”

“Fillies, there is an explanation for all of this.” Luna pushed her sister aside; Celestia seemingly offered no resistance, if only to keep the situation from getting worse. “Blueblood may be your friend, but he has wronged a great many ponies with his actions. He must be held accountable for his crimes.”

Blueblood nodded in agreement. “That's what I told you earlier. There was never any Leon to begin with. I've just been a bad pony running away from any possible consequences, and now I have to pay. I can't just spend my time playing like a foal...”

“Excuuuuuse me?” Blueblood turned towards the source of the voice, only to earn himself a love tap across the cheek from Gusty. “Do you really think any of us like being foals? Having those parents telling you what to do and where to go? Having to eat the most disgusting foods ever imagined because they're 'good for you?' You ask me, prison's gotta be a whole lot better than this.”

“And besides, you're one of the coolest ponies I know,” added Snowball. “I mean, lying's bad and all, but you're still a nice pony. You don't deserve to be banished.”

Cadance pulled off her helmet and looked over at the older Alicorn. “Aunt Celestia, were you really planning to banish him?”

“W-Well, that was the official story,” said Celestia. “I didn't quite know what we were going to do, but...” She looked at her nephew. The colt's friends were still huddled around him, Ribbon's eyes never once leaving the mare lest she take her friend behind her back. “It seems you've made some very loyal friends.”

Blueblood scratched the nape of his neck nervously. “Well...yes, I guess I did.” He shook his head, trying his best to recapture his previous downer mood. “But that's not important anymore. I still have a lifetime of mistakes to make up for.”

Shining Armor slowly removed his own helmet and walked up to the small gathering. The foals recoiled at the adult's approach, just in case he was one of Celestia's loyal henchmen. To be fair, he kind of was, but that was beside the point. “If you ask me, I've think you've done more than enough. At the very least, I can't say I'm really angry with you anymore.” He looked over at his bride-to-be. “What about you, Cadie?”

“Well, it's Blueblood's choice, but...” The Winged Unicorn walked over to her cousin and gave him a nuzzle on the forehead. The fillies and colts recoiled in disgust, save for Ribbon; such was the way things went when one's eyes were on her enemy and not on what was going on directly behind her. “I think he's shown himself to be deserving of a second chance. Whether he's an adult or not is up to him.”

Blueblood looked about in confusion. Once again, doubt began to creep into his mind. He couldn't easily push his friends away a second time; there was no way they would forgive him a second time. At the same time, he couldn't turn his back on his responsibilities, especially after all the terrible things he had done. Celestia's attention seemed to shift back and forth between the various members of the room; even he seemed unsure of what to do. Luna simply stared at the sight with a sense of bemused fascination. His friends were still firmly at his side, their own faces reflecting more than a little concern and hurt at this abandonment.

Wh-What am I supposed to do? I have to be responsible! I have to be held accountable! The old Blueblood would have...

“Blueblood.”

The colt looked up in surprise at Celestia's voice. His aunt's confusion had ebbed away, revealing her usual motherly smile and look of eternal concern. So magnificent was her tone that the entire room fell completely silent. With everypony's attention firmly fixed on her, Celestia finally began to speak. “Prince Blueblood, you were sentenced to attend Magic Kindergarten to see if you deserved a second chance before I passed judgment. I am pleased to say that you passed, but it was not without much difficulty. As far as I am concerned, you have more than earned the right to have another chance at life.”

“D-Does that mean...?” Buttons began, only to be hushed by Smokey. Everypony's attention returned to Blueblood. The colt was once again sweating enough to fill a swimming pool. Once again, he had to make a decision. No more backing out. No more second thoughts. This had to be definite, final, the last decision of Prince Blueblood of Equestria...

“I...I...I...H-How about I...?” Everypony leaned in to hear better, the foals coming dangerously close to violating Blueblood's personal space. “Well...perhaps...”

Just have to hold out a little longer. Keep to the plan, Blueblood. All you have to do is...

“I...I would like a little more time to think about it.”

The entire room shook from the simultaneous face faults of every single pony in attendance. Only Princess Celestia, being the sure-hoofed mare that she was, refused to join in the disappointed chorus. “I see. How long do you think you'll require?”

Blueblood nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. “Well...I wanted to get started on my punishment right away, but this might take a little while.” His eyes turned to his friends, all of whom were just now returning to their hooves. “Perhaps a...week? Maybe two?”

“Or perhaps we should just keep you this way!” Whether it was the frustration with this turn of events, or just the pain from smashing her face into the floor, Luna wore a particularly vicious scowl when she finished climbing back to a standing position. “Blueblood, you were so adamant about making amends just a short while ago! How can you do that when you are just a...?”

“There's a way.” Celestia's wing folded itself over Luna, serving as a loving and polite way of telling her to shut up and let the big ponies talk. “Now, I understand there's a small reception downstairs?”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “Reception?”

Luna grimaced from the futility of it all, but finally gave a defeated sigh. “Yes. I had planned for it to mark both the return of Blueblood and to rekindle your upcoming nuptials, but it seems that fate has once again sought to undermine my efforts.” She snorted and turned her head towards the ground. “At least there's a cake. A good one.”

Everypony's eyes lit up at the promise of a savory dessert. Sensing that a royal decree was in order, Princess Celestia turned her attention first to the foals. “Blueblood, I want you to take your friends to the banquet room downstairs. I imagine they're quite hungry after saving 'Leon' from me.”

“Y-You mean he's really gonna stay?” Lofty asked, her voice about as excited as a dog waiting to catch a Frisbee.

Celestia nodded. “For the time being, at least.”

Yet again, Blueblood's entire body shook, but this time not from fear or anxiety for his future, but with a sense of unfiltered bliss. Before the hugging session could resume, he leaped forward and landed in a perfect bow. “Thank you, Princesses. I would have still been the same rotten pony I used to be if both of you hadn't helped me.”

Celestia smiled at the acknowledgment of yet another day's work done. Luna's scowl worked its way up to a frown, but unfortunately wasn't quite able to make the jump all the way to a grin. “You have no need to thank us. We may have set things into motion, but it was you who made the decision to change.” The Princess of the Night rubbed her right leg nervously. “And...I must say I have never been happier to have been proven wrong.”

Blueblood wanted to say something else, perhaps even graduating to giving them the traditional Royal Canterlot Hoof Kiss, but this gracious attitude was broken by the timely arrival of Ribbon's hoof to Blueblood's back. “Come on, we've got to celebrate! It's not every day you get a second chance! At least, that's what the stories say.”

The foals all laughed at the terribly unfunny joke and trotted out the door, no doubt to feast upon as much make-up cake as possible before Celestia got there. Ruby Dream stared at the door after them in absolute bewilderment. “Wh-What just happened?”

“It seems your daughter and her friends are quite persuasive,” said Celestia. “Blueblood's been given a stay of execution...in a manner of speaking.” She turned to Luna. “Sister, I want you and your attendant to prepare a letter for tomorrow's newspaper. Tell them that the disgraced Prince Blueblood has been allowed admittance back into Equestria, under severe supervision and on the condition that he use this chance to earn his redemption.”

Shining Armor's eyes popped open with shock. “W-Wait, are you telling the papers to...lie about Blueblood? B-But how are we supposed to have him come back if he's still a colt?”

“I have my ways,” was her only response.

----------

Sure enough, the banquet hall was exquisitely decorated, with multiple banners depicting various couples kissing each other while a pony in chains was released. At the very center sat a marvelous feast, complete with glazed corn-on-the-cob, finely-chopped salads of all kinds, tomato and broccoli soups, and at the very center, a towering multi-layered cake that would put anything Ribbon's parents ever baked to shame. The foals were only down there alone a brief moment before the other adults joined, all of them more than ready to consume their meals and be done with another busy day.

The Princesses sat next to each other, with Celestia at the head and Luna to her right. The elder sister simply skipped to desert, enjoying a massive slice of cake while her sister gracefully sipped down her soup and spoke of the various ways to resolve the problems this new kink in the road presented. Cadance and Shining Armor sat next to each other, of course, sharing their meal in the way only the most sickening of sweethearts could muster. Ruby sat at Lofty's side, making sure she got plenty of vegetables despite the filly's constant attempts to subside on fatty soups and crackers.

And at the far end, surrounded by his new friends, was Prince Blueblood. Once, he was a heartless monster, but now things would be different. No longer would he seek revenge against villages for getting him dirty, or try to kidnap Princesses to arrange said destruction. He still had a lot to work on, but that could wait for another day. For the time being, he and his friends could forget all about the groundings they were about to receive, the messes they would have to work their way out of, and the fact that Leon still wouldn't be there forever.

For the moment, however, the only thing Blueblood could do was look up at the ceiling. Mom and dad, wherever you are...I'll be a pony everypony can be proud of. Not just a pampered prince, but one that will help his ponies and serve as an example to live by. That will be my addition to the Blueblood line. That will be the legacy of our family.

That will be the legacy of Leon, son of Prince Blueblood.