“Really, thank you again for this, Prince Blueblood,” Real Medicine gushed, having approached the noble Unicorn two hours into the party.
The event had gone on well, and the hospital’s director had come up to thank Blueblood once more. Before her, a number of Ponies had come to express their gratitude, and it warmed his heart to be treated so kindly. Normally, Ponies treated him like a prince; too lofty for them to approach, or believing him to be conceited or arrogant. Other nobles either tried to get into his good graces with flattery and lies, or they tried to pander to him with brown nosing or bribery. And more often than not whispered behind his back.
Tonight, though, the Ponies who came to him were ordinary citizens who wanted to give heartfelt thanks. It was nice for things to be different.
Blueblood nodded to Real Medicine’s compliment, and something caught her eye, causing her to bound away.
“Um, Prince Blueblood, sir?” the royal Unicorn looked around for a second to find the source of the voice, but when something tugged his suit, he realized it was a group of fillies and colts who had come up to him next. Leading the group was Bouncing Ball, who had a shy smile on her face. He returned the smile, and looked down at the adorable little ponies around his legs.
“Hello, Bouncing Ball. It was very nice of you to send me a letter. Azure Flame was happy to meet you as well.” The young Unicorn’s smile became wider and more open, and she nodded rapidly.
“Thanks for doing this, Prince Blueblood, sir! It means a lot to us! We don’t get to have a lot of fun in here. It gets lonely and boring…” she trailed off, and the other foals also looked depressed, but they soon cheered up. “But now we can have fun! Thank you!” Blueblood smiled, and patted her on the head.
“I’m happy I could do something for you. You deserve fun as much as the next pony.”
“Did somepony say FUN?!” Pinkie Pie appeared from underneath a nearby table, startling the adult and the foals with her sudden appearance.
“Please don’t do that, Pinkie! I’d rather not have a heart attack!” The pink pony giggled at that.
“But this is the perfect place to have a heart attack, silly! We’re already in a hospital!” This earned her a blank stare from Blueblood and a chorus of giggles from the foals, and they bounced along after Pinkie Pie, suddenly wearing new party hats next to the ones the already had. Blueblood blinked, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks, but shrugged and decided not to question it. He’d only known the Earth Pony mare a few days, and he already understood there were some things you didn’t ask.
“She’s really pretty,” Blueblood heard Bouncing Ball murmur, still next to him. He followed her gaze, where it came to rest on Rarity, basking in the praise being given to her on her dress and the gowns she’d made for everypony. Blueblood smiled.
“She certainly is,” he said without thinking about it, belatedly remembering the filly right next to him. She looked up at him, and a mischievous twinkle was in her eyes.
“Um, that is to say,” Blueblood stammered, and the filly’s intense gaze and smile stayed on him.
“You like her, don’t you?” The blunt observation somehow cut into his heart like a sword. Blueblood coughed for a second, trying to recover his wits.
“Yes, I suppose,” he stammered again, and Bouncing Ball cocked her head to one side.
“Why don’t you say something?” Again, the filly’s bluntness hurt like a knife, but he just nodded dejectedly.
“I would if I could. I do find her charming, endearing, and wonderful, but it’s hard for me to talk to mares. I’m really very nervous at heart. I’m not outgoing like Azure Flame. That’s why I use him.” That last part was barely a whisper, but Bouncing Ball still heard him. She tried to pat his back, but could only reach his shoulders, so settled for that instead.
“Maybe if you talked with her?”
“I just don’t have the confidence. And besides, for a long time, she was rather, well, let’s just say she didn’t like me too much after some mistakes I made.” Blueblood shook his head sadly. “I’m supposed to be a Prince, yet I’m acting like a coward.”
“Hmmm…” Bouncing Ball tapped her fore hoof against her chin, deep in thought, and then quickly rushed off. Blueblood barely registered her departure, lost in his own thoughts.
“Having fun, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked kindly, looking over at the yellow Pegasus. She smiled in response, surrounded by foals and her cuddle animal friends. Fluttershy had brought some of them up to be a petting zoo for the children, and it had been a huge success, even having parents compliment her on her handling of the normally rowdy foals.
“How about yourself? Are you enjoying this?” Fluttershy inquired, and the fashion-pony nodded, smiling.
“Indeed, dear Fluttershy! Everypony has been quite kind in giving compliments to my gowns. I must say, it was a challenge making those drab things look good, but I did it!” Rarity espoused, clearly in her element. A soft tugging at her hem caught her attention, and the white Unicorn looked down to see a cute filly staring back at her. Rarity vaguely recalled her being called Bouncing Ball, the pony who’d sent Blueblood the letter.
“Yes, my dear? How can I help you?” She asked, beaming down at the young pony.
“Can you come with me for a second? I wanted to ask you something.” Rarity, curious, followed the little Unicorn into the dance floor, where the filly looked around for a moment, then grabbed Rarity’s hoof and dragged her over to a spot nearby. Now confused, Rarity was unsure as to what to filly wanted. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t notice her surroundings until she bumped into somepony.
“Oof!”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking, and…” Rarity’s protests died as she looked at the pony she’d walked into.
There, in front of her, Prince Blueblood stood, rubbing his nose where he’d collided with Rarity. He blinked, as he too registered her, her beautiful face mere inches from his own.
“Ah! Oh, um,” Blueblood stammered, trying to find words, but felt something grab one of his hooves.
“Okay! Dance!” The two Unicorns looked down to see Bouncing Ball staring up at them, forcing their hooves together with a great big smile on her face. They looked at each other, than back to Bouncing Ball. The filly groaned and facehoofed.
“Do I have to spell it out? I want you two to DANCE!” she declared, and with a surprising burst of strength, dragged the pair into the middle of the dance floor, where other ponies now turned to watch.
Faces flushed with embarrassment, they looked at each other nervously, until somepony changed the music. Blueblood shrugged as the beat began to play, and gripped Rarity’s hoof with his own.
“I guess we have no choice, now,” he said, with a hint of smile. Rarity returned it, though with a hint more nervousness in hers, and the two began to move in time with the music.
Soon, more ponies joined them, and in time the floor was crowded with patients and guests dancing and having fun. Laughs were had at Twilight’s bizarre dancing, and more laughs were had as Pinkie Pie joined her. Rainbow Dash went next, grabbing the hoof of an elderly patient who had once been a Wonderbolt and cut it up, while Applejack made sure none of their antics destroyed too much. All the while Blueblood and Rarity stayed close to each other.
“This has been a fantastic evening,” the Element of Generosity declared, and turned to the prince, who nodded in agreement.
“Yes, it all turned out better than I hoped. Thank you for helping with this.” His compliment brought a blush to her cheeks, and she wondered why she was acting like this. Her heart was for Azure Flame, not Prince Blueblood. He’d had his chance. Well, admittedly, it hadn’t been much of one, a bit one sided, in all accounts…
As Rarity mused, Blueblood had slipped away, heading into an unoccupied part of the hospital. Twilight, having paused to take a break, had noticed the prince leaving, and decided to follow. Not because she was worried, or anything! But somepony had to look out for Princess Celestia’s nephew and Cadence’s cousin. So resolved, she hurried after him.
“Darn it all! Why does it have to be this way?!” Blueblood ranted, facehoofing repeatedly as he replayed the night’s events. He had spent so much time with Rarity, getting to know her, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her! He could tell, when he looked at her, that his advances and compliments worried her. Rarity had too much interest in his alter ego to give him anything! He had to tell her!
“Why? Why is it so hard to tell the truth…?” Blueblood moaned, holding his head and he slumped to the floor. “I can’t bring myself to do stop! Why can’t I just stop?! But can I face the world like this? Can I really let her know?” Blueblood sighed deeply, holding back tears of frustration.
“I need to tell her… I need to tell her that I’m Azure Flame…”
“WHAT?!”
Blueblood jumped upright, his melancholy broken by the shout. He looked up terrified. He had been speaking out loud this whole time! Anypony could have heard him! He stared in horror down the hallway to see who had heard him, but his fear turned to shock as soon as he saw the pony.
“TWILIGHT?!”
Across the street, a trio of ponies watched the hospital’s party with a mixture of loathing and revulsion. A Pegasus, a Unicorn, and an Earth Pony stood on the sidewalk, looking on from the safety of a darkened alleyway.
“Why can’t we go in now and break some heads?” The Earth Pony demanded, his copper coat covered with old, faded scars.
“Because we have a plan to follow, and orders to obey,” the Pegasus replied, her crimson coat mostly hidden by pale grey armor she wore with pride.
“And if we mess this up, Master’s plans will never come to fruition,” the tar black Unicorn added, the darkness around them augmented by a spell he was casting.
“Soon, Broken Plate, soon. We will have our vengeance, and the Royalty will weep with bitter tears,” the Pegasus mare said, soothing the angry Earth Pony stallion.
“For your sakes, Sundrop and Ink, I will wait. But not for much longer,” he hissed, grinding his teeth in barely controlled fury.
“That’s all we’ve ever asked for,” Sundrop whispered back, and the trio came together for a hug. As they did, Ink’s darkness wrapped around them, sending them all somewhere else. There was but a single thought in their heads as it happened.
Darkness will Rise, and Tyranny will Fall.