Hmm... Song Doll is in Manehattan right now, Leadfoot and Tinsel Rose are here in Canterlot, Zer- oh! Nah, just keeping track of all my- yes, they are my responsibility! Sort of... I accommodate them in Equestria! Got them performing, or just a quiet life... God knows that ponies like him deserve it.
Wait, the light is on.
Right, right. Back to the story.
I was escorted by princess Luna herself, in an amiable silence. At least for a little while; then she spoke of what happened back there - I told her I only intended to move air, not flare my magic like that. She told me about my Presence, as a prince... the feeling of magic is like being in the middle of an enormous, dark storm cloud, with lightning flashing all the time and filling the air with power; it feels as if one could be struck at any moment, and little would remain in that case. As a human is more like being dead-center of a hurricane of fire - blue, white and black.
It just so happens that my fire is blue due to the tinge of chaos altering it - my favorite color is blue, you see- and a few other, non-draconic fire-centric magics that Discord had.
My 'room' as Luna so humbly called it is pretty much an apartment that ate a house, with the lounge/atrium being almost large enough to fit my old house - and it was a two-story thing. A two-story, open-plan... it even has a balcony overlooking the main room! and a humongous window on the far wall, with a balcony to let me look at the city at night. I can fly inside with plenty of room to spare. Two couches, armchairs, a coffee table... and, off to the side on a raised podium...
A piano.
Not just any piano. A freaking Concert Grand!
Three meters long! And the shiniest, glossiest black I have ever seen in my life. I can see things reflected off it. When someone says 'piano black'? They are talking about this piano; the black every black piano wishes to have.
Oh, I also have a kitchen, a small private bathroom if I don't feel like using the larger one or one of the Palace's, a private study, a less-private library corner, beds for guests, a dining room...
I think it's time to highlight a small habit of mine: I hate getting prints on shiny things, particularly if they are mine. I did touch the piano, just to feel the texture... and then I immediately conjured a handkerchief to wipe the spot.
I gave Luna a hug and a peck on a cheek before darting to the thing (her coat tickled, by the way).
I snapped my fingers, getting myself dressed elegantly -gloves included. I decided to set the mood for such an elegant living space.
A wielder of the Instinct of magic, working for wielders of the Knowledge of magic... doing music, which is born of the chaos of emotion and the order of rhythm.
Luna is a fan of human music... well, of all music, but there are some songs exclusive to the human world that she has taken a great liking to. It's kind of odd to see her listen to a waltz piece while drinking tea and/or reading a book, then see her flailing her limbs to the fast beat of a wild electronic dance club mix album less than ten minutes later - specially since she usually drinks stupid amounts of alcohol and discards her royal accouterments in the middle of the thing.
Well, before you think of her as an alcoholic maybe I should add that normal alcoholic beverages have much less effect on ponies; even if they have less body mass than earthling ponies, their digestive process is still more efficient at the time of processing the stuff. Magic, in particular the stamina-increasing earth-pony magic, also helps counteract the effects (even if there still are some super-lightweights that get smashed on the first glass). With that in mind, hear this: Filly Celestia once pounded a mountain into gravel using just her own hooves, just to prove she could (and this incredible patience is tested time and time again by the council); as such, you can already imagine the sheer amount, density, and control over this particular usage of pony magic that she has, as well as her overall physical condition... getting her drunk requires drinks that are so strong, I'm quite sure they violate several laws of physics and/or magic to attain a proof higher than two hundred.
Literal distilled Moonshine is absolutely delicious...
"Yes! For me, add a dash of mint and rowan wood."
My mixture of magics may have not been a 'true' mix the way either sister's is for a good while, but it was still enough to grant me superhuman tolerance to the stuff without shape-changing or chaos magic (although even the latter doesn't protect against Cicy's 'private stash').
"Ah, that was one memorable slumber part-"
ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL TURN YOUR SPINE INTO PRETZELS!
"Uh... alright, sorry..."
Hmph!
In any case, I only made a mistake or two when playing. Magic provides a proportional increase in dexterity and strength, so I was going to have to designate a few hours each day to training different abilities without magic... archery wasn't bad, at least at the beginning I was consistent.
Hmm... if I gave Bruce Lee my earth and pegasus magic... would he be able to punch through the Rainboom barrier?
Luna thanked me for the paper and the music, before suddenly remembering that they had yet to assign maids to this room now that it's being occupied. There is the regular cleaning staff and all, but now that there is someone living there there should be a more dedicated staff to tend to the residents.
She (nearly) took off in her haste. I lived all my life without a squad of maids, and even if I wasn't the most chore-minded guy I had magic now... I think I can live a day or two without ponies getting a small anxiety attack just because I made my own breakfast. Of course, it got better quickly, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
A guard announced my first visit... one of the few nobles (that still had questions) that was brave enough to face a human confirmed stronger than he was.
Prince Blueblood.
"Ah! The illustrious prince Blueblood!" I said, the fake cheer in my words noticeable. "I have heard about you..."
He shuddered for a second as my expression turned to a frown. "I hope those are merely exaggerations... either way, I have a cake with your name on it."
I snapped my fingers and a cake appeared on my other hand. A small, two-person portion that literally had his name on it; 'Blue' was written in overly flowery script with blue icing... well, it was more coloring than icing at that point, and the 'blood' was in 'dripping' red letters that looked like it the were written on a wall with real blood.
"The coloring is gel-based, so it'll stain at this density." I said, and he really shivered as if I had threatened death.
Then... he slumped.
"Aunt Celestia was right... maybe I do take it too far." He whispered, dejected. "Just what are ponies saying about me right now?"
"Hey, hey, don't feel down." I walked over to him, letting the cake hang in the air. "Look, I hate seeing ponies sad, and that includes you."
His ears stood upright again, but didn't do much else.
"Maybe I can help? There is a special technique that could help with your problem."
He turned to me quite quickly; I wondered why he didn't get whiplash. He's decent enough, he just has poor social skills.
"Now, I may not have much skill with it, but the both of us should make some progress. You have to want it, though. I am going to use five powerful words, and while we could stop at any moment, something tells me that there is no going back once we start, is that alright with you?"
He nodded. I guess having a total stranger from another universe react poorly to your presence from 'rumors' that by all rights should have been impossible to learn about in 'such short time' was the sort of wake-up call Celestia wanted him to experience. Y'know, let him know it's not just her and Luna who think he's going at things wrong.
Still, I'm not going to let him hang, so I used the most powerful incantation I had for that situation.
"Tell me about your mother."
Thirty minutes later, he was staring blankly at the ceiling from a stereotypical psychiatrist's couch I made.
"Alright, let's review; tell me if I'm wrong or if there is something you wish to add." I leafed through my notes, which included some incredibly sucky doodles of Bluey with a mustache.
"I believe your troubles and stress stem from the fact you are considered a valuable male specimen in a predominantly female society, placing you under great societal pressure. Given your lineage, your mother groomed you into this 'ideal' of a 'proper' stallion and arranged for you to meet mares of interest... and you found out that you despised every last one of them. There is also the issue of gold-diggers and mares that only see the 'idea' of you and go after that; you hated it so much that, instead of merely sending them away, you acted as an antithesis of that ideal to drive them out."
He swallowed and nodded.
"Then you forgot how to trust others, or something similar. The little colt that got his cutie mark by getting lost in the forest of his family's estate and leading his friends to safety turned into a jaded stallion worn out from the constant stream of ponies trying to get into your good graces with manipulations. You have your honor, however, you appreciate charity and have a small foundation of your own - although under false names."
He's surprisingly decent, it's just his attitude towards strangers that's rotten.
"At that one Gala, you found a certain mare that, contrary to the usual fare as you believed her to be, was perfectly content treating others as she wished to be treated; is a self-made mare that has no economic troubles to speak of and would only use additional wealth to keep doing what she already does... and doesn't take that kind of abuse sitting down. OH! And is one of the Elements of Harmony that saved the world from eternal night."
He winced.
It's understandable. Celestia pretty much let him have it for saying that Celestia should have said something, so that they would be treated like queens; she told him that he is supposed to be nice to all ponies regardless of their status. He protested the destruction of, among other things, the statue; as it turns out, she hated it since day one, some three hundred years ago - and it's not like the stuff can't be repaired, given her own prowess with restoration spells. He accused her of ruining the Gala with her plan just to have fun, since there were lots of other guests and business deals that got interrupted... and was asked if he knew how old was the celebration.
He replied that it was obvious, since that Gala was supposed to be... then the other shoe dropped.
It was almost a thousand years old. A celebration to Celestia herself that is nearly a thousand years old, after the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, when Nightmare Moon was released... he connected the dots, put two and two together and didn't get a fraction...
He felt like an utter heel for weeks.
It's a party in honor of the princess... but she has to spend nearly all of it welcoming the guests one by one, and she's too nice and loves ponies too much to deny them what for many is the only chance in the whole year to get near her and speak to her directly.
It's a party in honor of the princess, to lift her spirits after the banishment of her dear, beloved sister, and to show her that ponies love her just as much as she does them... and they just say 'hello', go away, and spend the entire night playing sociopolitical games instead of at least having fun among themselves. She would love it even if she had to stay and greet the guests the whole night, as long as they enjoy the party... but no, they enjoy the gathering just to do what they could do just as well at any other time of the year or at any other party (namely, private parties, given that that is their whole purpose like ninety percent of the time).
He redeemed himself, though, by making some 'alterations' to the usual plans for the Gala.
"It seems to me that you need a way to reconnect with ponies, without hiding behind a fake name." I said, drawing to a close.
Luckily, Celestia had a plan of her own. Have Luna drop a meteor somewhere and have him guide a team to retrieve it.
"Want some cake?" I asked, gesturing to the floating pastry and removing my fake broom-shaped mustache.
He stared upwards for a few more seconds, then said. "Sure."
So there I was, sharing cake with prince Blueblood, I even let him have the portion with his name on it. I spoke to him about one of my... future endeavors, and reacted with surprise at the plan. Aluminum? Surely I was kidding... only I had SCIENCE! on my side (and alchemy). He became the first link in the chain, and would see if he could get Fancy Pants to hop on board (of course he would).
Bluey did get some questions answered, even if he did not ask out loud. Instead of asking more, though, he said he had some thinking to do.
"Thank you." He said at the door. "It's been... informative. If you excuse me, I have to... reflect on some choices."
He gauged my own character given the questions I asked him and the conclusions I drew, and he was using my plans to get a feel to my ambition. He's crafty.
"He still forgot what happens when somepony consumes that much food coloring."
Eeyup. Three hours was an acceptable waiting time just to hear that reaction.