The party was pretty much perfect, in Blueblood’s mind.
Pinkie Pie had seriously expanded on her party-planning repertoire. Punch awaited on a marvelously-diverse buffet table. Candles lit the ballroom, and music of the distinctly-classic variety played (though he was certain Pinkie had hired Vinyl Scratch just in case). Many friends, acquaintances, and even a couple of ponies he hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet had attended.
The most surprising of the aforementioned acquaintances were Lady Rarity and Prince Dark Shadow Lightning, the up-and-coming fashion designing duo. Pinkie must have wanted to give Rarity a little face-time with high society. He had seen pictures of the alicorn prince’s outfits on magazine covers, of course, but he had never met him face-to-face. And Rarity, well, her history with Blueblood was still the stuff of tabloids.
All three hours of it, he mused morosely.
He trotted up to them with two cups of punch floating in his magical grasp. He adjusted his blue bow tie and attempted a smile. “May I treat the two of you?”
Dark Shadow Lightning took a glass and passed it to his date. “Very nice cups. Pure cryyyssstalll…”
Blueblood pursed his lips at the odd pronunciation. “Yes. Thank you.”
Rarity fluttered a fan, her eyes lidded. “We would like to offer our condolences, Prince Blueblood. We are grateful for your noble sacrifice.”
“Thank you.” Blueblood took a steadying breath. “Prince Lightning, may I steal your date for a moment?”
Though every muscle in her body tensed at that moment, Rarity had the good manners not to spit her punch. “May I ask why?”
“I have spent the last couple of weeks tying up loose ends,” Blueblood said. “I feel that there is something left unsaid between us.”
Dark Shadow Lightning rose to his full, impressive height. Blueblood had to hold his head back to avoid staring at the stallion’s chest hair. “If you have something to say to Rarity,” Lightning said, “you shall do so in my presence.”
Rarity cocked an eyebrow at Blueblood, fluttering her fan faster. Blueblood’s mouth twitched. “I can live with that,” he said. “I wanted to privately, sincerely apologize for my behavior at the Grand Galloping Gala some time ago. It was not right, it was not proper, and I should never have forgotten my manners in such a ridiculous way.”
Rarity lowered her fan slowly. “Really? I though you apologized rather publicly during your little robot attack on Canterlot.”
“That wasn’t enough,” he sighed. “At least, not according to a little girl I met… elsewhere.” He smiled sadly. “I admit, this is as much to fulfill a promise to her as to express my regret to you. I wish we had gotten to know each other.” He bowed his head and trotted away.
Dark Shadow Lightning watched him leave with a frown. He looked down at Rarity, who wore a tiny frown of her own. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“I feel… very strange.” She looked up to him. “Perhaps a dance shall help me sort my thoughts?”
He took her hoof in his giant grip. “I think I could provide such distractions.”
Blueblood poured himself a cup of punch. He did not drink it right away, instead taking the opportunity to gaze into its depths. He lifted it to the chandelier, chuckling softly. “Here’s to you, Alma. May you find some other poor soul’s shins to kick.”
“Reminiscing a bit?”
Flash Sentry fluttered down next to Blueblood with a grin. He got himself a plate of hors d’oeuvres, which were piled up a little higher than was proper. “It’s been a while since our little adventure, hasn’t it?”
Blueblood nodded. “An adventure I’ll not soon forget.”
“Me either.” Flash Sentry smiled across the hall. Blueblood followed his gaze to meet Twilight’s arrival to the party. The soldier flashed a wink at Blueblood and lifted himself into the air. “For a few obvious reasons.”
Before he could take off, Twilight teleported between them. She grabbed Flash in a one-legged hug and grinned at Blueblood in a distinctly Cheshire-esque manner. “Great party, huh? Lots of ponies. You should have a walk around, see who you can see! Good things will come, Blueblood, good things will come.”
Blueblood took a step back. “Noted.”
Twilight glanced at the stage, where Discord could be seen arguing with the cellist. She put a hoof on Flash’s cheek and pulled his gaze away from the sight. “Looks like it’s about time for a dance, my fine feathered flight partner. You said you were gonna teach me a dance, remember?”
“Are you feeling alright, Twilight?” Flash all but whispered. “You have that twinkle in your eye…”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Twilight giggled. “Everything is coming together perfectly! Now dance!”
She dragged an apologetic Flash Sentry away from Blueblood, who was only able to watch with bemusement. A lopsided smile crossed his face. “Life is funny, sometimes.”
“You’re telling me?” Spike waddled up in a cute little tuxedo. “So you’re cool with it or something, now?”
Blueblood started. “Cool with what?”
“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid just because I’m only a meter tall.” Spike crossed his arms and lifted a brow. “Twilight. Flash. Mwah, mwah.”
Blueblood grimaced at the dance floor. “Would it change anything if I wasn’t ‘cool’ with it?”
“No,” Spike said with a shake of his head.
“Then I am quite capable of being ‘cool’ with it.” Blueblood passed the baby dragon a cup.
“Great,” Spike said with a glare at the dance floor. “We can be cool together.”
Rarity and Dark Shadow Lightning could be seen twirling gracefully next to a semi-graceful Flash and Twilight. Blueblood’s shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry, Spike.”
“Yeah.” Spike snorted. “The worst part is that I can’t even dislike the guy. He’s perfect!”
Blueblood smirked. “Flash is a good friend.”
“Dark Shadow Lightning designs clothes,” Spike muttered, a smile itching at the edges of his face.
“Flash plays the guitar.”
“Dark can lift a loaded apple cart.”
“Flash can fly at the speed of sound.”
“And worst of all…” Spike giggled.
“Beyond that…” Blueblood chuckled.
“They can dance!” they said together. At that point, the dam broke. They fell against each other, laughing uproariously and disturbing nearby partygoers.
Spike wiped a tear from his eye and shook his head. “I’m gonna miss you, Blueblood.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Spike,” Blueblood laughed. He struggled to keep the smile on his face. “So many friendships, and so little time.”
“We’ll find a way to visit you,” Spike declared. “And I’ll write. I promise.”
“I don’t know if we can send letters to Tartarus,” Blueblood said. “The whole system is magic, you recall.”
“I’ll work it out,” Spike said with a nod. “I’ll figure out a solution if it takes me decades.”
“I hope it doesn’t, for both our sakes.” Blueblood ears perked up as more guests arrived. “Ah, more well-wishers, I presume.”
Spike looked over and rolled his eyes. “Nah, just your dad.”
“Oh,” Blueblood groaned. His father approached with wooden leg thumping. “Do you mind creating a distraction?”
“Anything for you, buddy.” Spike put on his biggest smile available and ran up to the nearing unicorn stallion. “Hay! Mister Bluemane Blueblood! Wanna see how loud I can burp!?”
The older stallion balked. “To be honest, I wanted to talk with my son about—”
Before he could continue, he was interrupted by a loud belch and a gout of green flame. A scroll dropped through the air and bonked Bluemane on the head.
“Something.”
Blueblood trotted through the party, his body shaking with the force of his snicker. He moved towards the ballroom’s doorway, where he could perhaps say hello to a few familiar faces. Three in particular stood out to him; the princesses Lyra Heartstrings, Redheart, and Vinyl Scratch.
Vinyl and Lyra were arguing. Again. Or maybe still.
“I’m telling you,” Lyra said, “she’s playing an octave lower than I wrote for the piece.”
“She’s just fine,” Vinyl countered. “She’s followin’ her own beat.”
“With my song!” Lyra jutted her chin out at Vinyl. “Tell her to play it right.”
“She is so playin’ it right.” Vinyl lowered her horn at Lyra. “You wanna make somethin’ of it?”
Horns crossed as Lyra snorted. “So what if I do?”
“I’m ready to go!”
“You wanna take it outside?”
“I’ll take it outside!”
“Ladies, please!” Blueblood interrupted. “This is neither the time nor the place for a fight!”
They both looked up at him in complete innocence. “Oh hey, Blueblood,” Lyra said. “Nice party.”
Vinyl grinned and pushed her sunglasses up her nose. “Thanks for hiring Octavia’s band, BB.”
“Thank Pinkie Pie,” he said, ignoring the befuddlement arising from the sudden mood shift. “It was her idea to hire the quartet.”
“I’m glad you stopped by,” Redheart said with a smile. “My skills as a mediator sorta failed me tonight.”
“Mediator?” Lyra asked. “Who’s arguing?”
“You are,” Scratch mumbled.
“Am not,” Lyra replied.
“Are, too.”
“Am not.”
“Are, too.”
“Dee two.”
Vinyl’s mouth gaped. “What does that even…?”
“I’m gonna talk with this Octavia pony myself,” Lyra suddenly declared, lifting a hoof into the air. “Maybe I can get her to see reason.”
She trotted away, a sputtering Vinyl Scratch trailing behind. The lyrist looked back at Redheart and gave her a wink. The nurse’s lips parted and her right eye squinted. Both eyes shot to their full diameter as she realized that she was standing directly next to Blueblood. Alone-ish.
She smoothed down her white dress and touched the pink rose in her hair. “So, how are your ribs?”
Blueblood looked down at her, the light from the chandelier glistening through his gilded locks. “I beg your pardon?”
Redheart’s entire body winced. She rolled her eyes and tried again. “How are your ribs feeling? All healed up?”
Blueblood briefly wondered whether he should disregard the eye roll. “Delightful. You were right about Dr. Fine; he gave me a clean bill of health.”
He smirked and looked off to the side. “And a full hospital bill.”
She laughed, and it was liken to the sound of bells ringing. Bells rung by Pinkie Pie. It went a little too loud and a little too long.
A silence filled the space between the ponies. Redheart kicked her hoof as Blueblood pulled at his bow tie. He gave her a half smile. “You look a bit flushed, Redheart. Would you like to step outs—”
“Yes!” Redheart said with a raised hoof. She lowered it slowly to her forehead. “Um, yes. Yeah. That would be nice.”
He offered her a hoof to lean on. Her eyes bounced from his hoof to his face. She offered him half of a smile as she laid her hoof on top of his.
Blueblood led her out one of the side doors and nodded to Fancy Pants as he passed. The prince noted with some dismay that, rather than cool Redheart’s burning cheeks, being in the night air seemed to deepen her blush. The party was held in a building adjacent to the royal garden, where he figured she could find a moment’s peace.
The animals quickly made themselves scarce as she set herself on a stone bench. Blueblood sat beside her and looked up at the few stars that lay visible against the glow of Canterlot.
“What are you going to do, Redheart?” he asked.
She turned her head, and her long braid fell over her shoulder. “Hmm?”
“Do you have plans?” Blueblood tilted his head towards her. “For the future, near or far? What do you want out of life?”
“I want to help people. To heal them.” Her hoof found her braid and fiddled with it. “I’ve thought… I’ve thought about going back to school to become a doctor.”
Blueblood’s brow furrowed. “I thought you said that you’ve always wanted to be a nurse.”
“Mm, hmm.” Redheart shrugged, the corners of her mouth quirking up. “But my power, the power of an alicorn, it’s amazing. With it, I have the potential to do so much good. Think of the cures I could develop in my lifetime. The ponies I could help with all the time in the world.”
Blueblood chuckled briefly. “Seven years is a long time to spend in school, I think.”
Redheart looked up to see Luna’s moon peeking over the hibiscus. “What’s seven or eight years out of a millennium or two?”
His eyebrows lifted. “Touché. I do appreciate your perspective on it.” He stretched his back and settled himself more comfortably on the bench. “So, would that make you Dr. Princess Redheart, or Princess Dr. Redheart?”
Redheart held her foreleg out and turned her snout upward. “Her Royal Highness, Doctor Redheart, Princess of Equestria and Empress of the Crystal Empire! Killer of Colds and Flogger of Flu!”
They shared a laugh upon that small bench in the garden. As the last few hiccups bubbled up from him, Blueblood smiled down at Redheart. “Perhaps I shall be able to address you by that title the next time we see each other.”
Her ears drooped. “Do you really think it’ll take that long for us to be able to visit?”
He attempted some semblance of a neutral expression. As a whole, it came off as minutely dismal. “Who can say? Between the escaped Nightmares, the weakened magic seals, the general high-security… Who can say?”
She slowly, hesitantly, and cautiously put a hoof on his shoulder. “So what do you know?”
His eyes followed her arm up to her shoulder, and then up to her eyes. “I know there’s a lot that I’ll miss.”
“Like what?” she asked softly.
“My newly-made friends, for one. I’ll miss my work, for sure. Certain numbers of my belongings”—he rolled his eyes—“there’s apparently a weight limit on the flight to Tartarus or some such nonsense.
“There’s also—” He bit his lip. “There’s also a few thing that I never had the opportunity to, hah, pursue. A few missed marks on the check list.”
“There’s something missing?” Redheart said. She scootched an inch closer. “Maybe something you wanted, but never quite found? Something you thought you were ready for, until…”
Blueblood felt a long, slow breath escape through his nostrils. He shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t occupied by her hoof. “S-something like that.”
Redheart looked down at the ground. “M-maybe you don’t have to leave w-with all your marks unchecked.”
He lifted an eyebrow as she lifted her face closer to his. She took her hoof off of his shoulder and placed it on his hoof. “I mean… If…”
“Oh.” He made a small noise of discovery and understanding. “Oh.”
Her lip trembled. “‘Oh’?”
“I— I just—” He sighed and shut his eyes. “My stars, how do nice ponies say this?”
Her hoof dropped off of his and made its way back to her side. “Oh.”
“N-now hold on!” He grasped her hoof and lifted it between the two of them. “Redheart, you are a wonderful, beautiful mare, and I would be ho-honored t-to get to know you better. I would be delighted to… to…”
He saw the exact moment where, with hope against hope answered, she lowered her eyelids and drew her muzzle near his. He raised his hooves to her shoulders and held her at foreleg’s length. She opened her eyes with a frown.
“But this?” he said. “What we’re doing right now? I don’t think it’d be fair to either of us.”
Redheart’s face scrunched up as she thwacked her hoof against the bench. “Of course you’re right. Of course you’re right!” She thwacked it again for good measure. “I’m such a silly filly.”
He craned his neck so that he could make eye contact with her. “Hay, it doesn’t need to be a complete loss.”
He stood and lifted a hoof to her. “When we reach the indoors, may I have this dance?”
Her eyebrows were low and grumpy, her mouth a grim line. Blue eyes met blue eyes, and her expression softened. “Well…”
“Would it not give us an opportunity to talk?” he asked.
She felt a humorless snicker rise up. “About what?”
“Your call.” He waggled his hoof at her. “Come. I can show you the three dance steps I know.”
This time the snicker had some good feelings behind it. “All three? You sure know how to make a mare feel special.”
He grinned. “I have a history in that.”
She shook her head. “What the hay.” She took his proffered hoof and walked beside him as they made their way back to the building.
Their journey was not in silence, however. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Redheart said.
His eyebrows jumped a bit higher. “Yes?”
“What’s up with your bow tie?” She indicated the blue adornment about Blueblood’s neck. “I don’t think I’ve seen you without it except on an operating table.” She smiled. “Seems like there’s a story there.”
“Something of one,” he said with a nod. “My mother gave it to me when I was young. She said it matched my eyes.”
His eyes shifted from side-to-side. “Now, what I am to tell you next must remain in perfect secrecy. Can I trust you?”
She looked away from him and smirked. “Sure, you can trust me.”
Blueblood chuckled lightly. “Then may I trust you?”
She nodded. “You may.”
“‘Blueblood’ is merely my surname.” He grinned at her piqued interest. “My mother gave me the tie when she chose my personal name, ‘Blue Eyes.’”
“Blue Eyes Blueblood of the Canterlot Bluebloods?” Redheart giggled. “She was right about the tie.”
Redheart grew quiet for a moment. “You’re gonna miss her, too, aren’t you?”
Blueblood pushed the door open and, miraculously, remembered to hold it for Redheart. “I already do.”
“You’re not thinking of playing ‘overprotective big brother’ with Twilight and Flash, are you?” Princess Cadence asked. She stood close beside her husband, the esteemed former captain of the guard, Shining Armor. She considered using her magical abilities to chain his leg to the buffet.
“No,” Shining replied. His firm gaze was burning holes in the dance floor. “There’s something oddly familiar about that big stallion.”
Cadence squinted and, sure enough, got a familiar vibe off of a tall, dark, imposing alicorn stallion dancing with Twilight’s friend, Rarity. “Looks familiar, but I can’t place him.”
“Ah, maybe it’s his unfiled horn.” Shining pointed at the long, curling horn atop the stallion’s head. “I thought those would have gone out of style after Sombra’s attack on the crystal empire.”
“Some styles never die,” Cadence sighed, “no matter how ugly they are.”
Rarity noticed a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye and motioned for Dark Shadow Lightning to lead the two of them closer to it. The flash of purple belonged to Twilight Sparkle, just as Rarity had suspected. “Good evening, Twilight.”
Twilight swung into view with a surprised and delighted expression. “Oh, Rarity! Hello!”
Rarity smiled at Flash Sentry and tittered. “Mind if I cut in?”
Flash smiled a most gentlemanly smile and held his hooves out to receive the white coated mare. The hooves that met his own were not delicate, or even female, in the slightest. He gazed up at the mountainous visage of Dark Shadow Lightning and resisted the urge to gulp.
Dark watched Rarity and Twilight dance away with a distinct measure of disappointment. “Mind if I lead?”
“N-nope.”
Flash and Dark twirled around the dance floor, keeping a close eye on their former partners in case they could get the chance to switch back. Flash attempted a grin up at his fellow stallion. “So, you work out?”
Dark shrugged. “A little.”
They spent the rest of the dance in silence, their eyes looking anywhere but at each other.
“It’s been far too long, darling,” Rarity said. “You’ve been spending what seems to be an inordinate amount of time in Canterlot these past few months.”
“Sorry,” Twilight sighed. “I’m still trying to figure out how to balance friendship with my new, uh, additions.”
Rarity tossed her mane. “Ironic that your new duties hamper the very thing that gave them to you.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to up my sincerity content, lately.” Twilight spread her wings as she and Rarity bowed to each other.
“I gotta admit, Rarity,” Twilight Sparkle said, “this is the last place I expected you to show up.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Rarity muttered. “It’s no small coincidence that I am here, though.”
At Twilight’s prompting eyebrow, Rarity smiled. “Pinkie Pie showed up on my doorstep this morning with an invitation hot off the press. She told me, and I quote, darling…”
She opened her eyes wide and grinned from ear-to-ear. “‘My itchy left cheek means that somepony’s getting an apology today!’”
Twilight squinted. “By ‘left cheek,’ did she mean—?”
“Haven’t the slightest.” Rarity glanced around the dance floor just in time to see Redheart and Blueblood stub their hooves against each other. “But the instant I arrive, Blueblood comes up to me with a level of apology I’d never expected from him.”
Twilight held out a foreleg with Rarity reclining on top of it. They drew back together and resumed their twirl around the hall.
“That’s the power of friendship,” Twilight said. “It can soften the hardest of hearts.”
“And the hardest of heads, it seems.” Rarity shook her head. “How am I supposed to hold a grudge against somepony who refuses to remain a jerk?”
“I think I know the answer to that question.” Twilight twirled as Rarity held her hoof upwards. “The real question is, ‘do you?’”
“Of course.” Rarity stretched her forelegs out alongside Twilight’s. “Though I suppose the point is moot, what with all of this nasty Tartarus business.”
“Don’t be too quick to judge that, either.” Twilight glanced to-and-fro. “Can you keep a secret?”
Rarity leaned in, a smirk overtaking her every feature. “But of course.”
“I think I have a solution,” Twilight whispered. “I think I can save Blueblood. Tonight.”
“Well…” Rarity glanced back at Blueblood, who was attempting to apologize to a laughing Redheart. “I certainly won’t stand in the way of trying to help somepony.” She turned back to Twilight with a shrug. “Is there anything I can do?”
Twilight glanced at the quartet onstage, where Discord was being vehemently ignored by the cellist. “I don’t know, but I’ll keep you posted.”