//------------------------------// // Chapter VIII - Learning // Story: The Early Life of Blueblood // by Macgyver644200 //------------------------------// Blueblood, aged twenty, was sitting in the palace library. Part of the requirements for assuming a royal title was a term of public service of appropriate length. Thus, Celestia decided to employ him as a fact-checker for the Equestrian government, looking over bills and reports to ensure that the ponies who researched them were correct. It was in this capacity that he was engaged when somepony poked him. He growled as he stuck his notepad on top of his book. “Yes?” “Blueblood, it’s me.” Blueblood turned around and noticed a frowning Twilight, followed by an antsy Cadance and a shivering Spike. “Ah,” Blueblood said. “Apologies. What brings you here?” Twilight motioned to Spike. “Spike’s sick,” she said. “We don’t know what it is.” Blueblood got up. “What’s wrong with him?” “Well, it looks like the flu,” Cadance said, “sore throat, headache, upset stomach, chills, all of that. But instead of sinus problems, he’s seeing spots and hearing a loud ringing in his ears. It doesn’t seem that bad, but after the whole mumps thing-” “Say no more.” A few months ago, Spike had come down with the mumps, and several unusual complications had left him in the hospital for two week. Since then, doctors became very nervous about administering pony-approved vaccinations to dragons. “I’ll keep an eye on him.” Cadance gave him a glare, but it faded. “OK. Twilight?” Twilight snapped to attention and Cadance sped off to the shelves, Twilight trailing behind. Blueblood turned to Spike, who just miserably looked back at him. “So,” Blueblood said, “I hear you’re ill.” Spike sadly nodded. “I take it your throat’s too sore for you to even talk?” Another nod. Blueblood grimaced, then stopped. “Spike,” he said, “put your hands in front of your mouth.” Spike did so. “Alright, this will sound strange, but blow a small bit of fire into your hands.” Spike looked at him, a little nervous. “Don’t worry,” Blueblood said. “It won’t hurt your throat a bit: you’re a dragon after all. The books here are magically protected as well: you won’t hurt anything.” Spike kept looking at Blueblood, who smiled softly at him. Eventually, Spike closed his eyes, took a breath, and let out a small puff of flame, which remained confined to his hands. Spike opened his eyes and looked around the room, then back to Blueblood. “See?” he said. “Now just put your hands on your throat.” Spike did just that. A few moments later, he started to smile before he shivered again. “Well, one thing at a time,” Blueblood said. “However, I imagine that-” “OW! Hey!” A page had accidentally trod on Spike’s tail. “Oh, sorry,” the page said. Spike rolled his eyes. “Just watch the tail, O…” Spike’s anger faded. “Oooh.” Spike turned back to Blueblood, whose confusion was igniting into a scowl. “Uhh…” Spike gave a nervous smile. “It’s no-” “Shut up” Blueblood growled. Cadance and Twilight came back, setting several books onto Blueblood’s table. “OK,” Cadance said, “I think I have-” “That won’t be necessary,” Blueblood told her, enunciating every syllable. “I’ve just found out that our dear little brother,” he ignored Spike’s silent pleading, “has been faking his symptoms.” Twilight and Cadance turned to Spike, and their faces turned just as ugly when they noticed Spike sweating. “Uh, well,” he stammered, “I-I-I have an explanation.” “Well it’d better be good,” Cadance hissed as she rounded on him. “Spike, do you even remember when you got the mumps a few months ago? How worried we were about the fact that we had no idea what was wrong with you? Did you even consider how worried an unknown disease might make us?” Twilight moved between Cadance and Spike. “Easy, Cadance,” she said. “Remember when you went overboard over an earache and we found out Spike just had a cold?” Cadance glared at her for a moment, but her expression softened a little. She glared back at Spike. “You said you had an explanation?” she pointedly asked. Spike swallowed. “Yeah. Uh... well... see, I...” Spike grimmaced. “I was at school during drama class. I was working on the backdrop for the school play and I… I felt a sneeze coming on and… and I...” Spike stopped and gritted his teeth. “...I started a fire.” “THAT WAS YOU?” Cadance shouted. She dragged her hoof down her face. “Ugh, Spike!” “It was an accident!” Tears started coming down Spike’s cheeks. “I didn’t get suspended, but now everyone thinks I started the fire on purpose! I didn’t!” He started tearing up. “Now… now everyone hates me… o-or they’re scared of me. Gavin actually dropped me in the pond at the park.” He fell to his hands and knees. “It was just an accident. Believe me, it was just an accident.” Spike lay there for a few moments, sobbing and sniffling, then he felt himself being pulled into a hug. “I believe you,” Cadance said softly. “Spike, I’m so sorry. I know you wouldn’t do something like that on purpose. I’m more concerned that you had a problem and didn’t tell us anything.” Spike sniffled. “I know how you feel,” Cadance continued. “After the magic surge when you were born, everyone was terrified of what I might do to them, and some were convinced that Aunt Celestia had bribed the school to let me keep coming. They’ll get over it in time, I promise. And you have us until they do.” “Yes you do,” Twilight said. “Absolutely,” Blueblood added. The four sat as Spike slowly stopped crying. “Does Aunt Celestia know?” Cadance asked. Spike shook his head. “C’mon,” Cadance told him. “Let’s go tell her. It’ll be alright, Spike; I’ll be with you.” Spike held tightly onto Cadance, but slowly released his grasp enough that he could get up. Once he was on his feet, Cadance gently guided Spike out of the library, leaving Blueblood and Twilight alone. “Hey Blueblood,” Twilight said, “Spike’s birthday’s coming up soon, right?” Blueblood stared at her. “Three weeks from now. Why?” “Well,” Twilight said, “I know you usually just have a family get-together with the Princess, but would it be alright if I got him a present?” Blueblood frowned. “Why?” “No real reason,” Twilight said. “I just want to make him a book about dragons. Y’know, so that he feels less like a freak.” Blueblood put his hoof to his mouth and hmmed for a few moments. Just before Twilight opened her mouth, he shrugged. “I’ll ask Aunt Celestia.” <*> Blueblood knocked on the study door. “Aunt Celestia?” “Come in.” Blueblood opened the door and saw Celestia relaxing in the chair by her desk. “Yes, Blueblood?” Blueblood stepped inside and shut the door. “Aunt Celestia,” he said, “Cadance and Spike spoke to you about the fire?” Celestia nodded. “They did. I’m not going to punish him; Spike’s suffered more than enough.” “Well, alright, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” Blueblood frowned. “You see, because of it, Twilight wants to write a book about dragons… to give to Spike a birthday present.” Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “OK?” Blueblood frowned. “You don’t remember?” “No, I-” Celestia stopped. “Ah, that. Blueblood, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Blueblood looked Celestia in the eyes. “Are you sure? Because I don’t know if Spike can handle another unpleasant surprise.” Celestia frowned at Blueblood, but it faded quickly. “Blueblood, you’ve been reading Nomad’s Travelogues, haven’t you?” Some of Blueblood’s fight drained out of him, and he unsurely nodded. “Is there something wrong with that?” “He’s reliable most of the time, but he tended to exaggerate certain things in his work. Spike’s really only going to have to worry about growth spurts when he hits puberty, at about the same rate as regular ponies do. Even then, while dragons do get greedier as they grow older, uncontrollable greed is an extremely rare occurrence. Spike has more chance of being struck by a meteor.” Blueblood frowned, but he relented. “Alright,” he said, “I trust you.” Celestia opened one of her desk drawers and lifted out a book. “Here: this is more accurate. You and Twilight can borrow out of this.” <*> “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Blueblood and Twilight stared at the book. “Six pages,” Twilight remarked. “She raised a dragon from birth, and this was all she got?” “Well she couldn’t exactly slice him open,” Blueblood snarked. Twilight rolled her eyes. “I know that. Look, are you sure there isn’t more?” Blueblood nodded. “Aunt Celestia says that a lot of what we know about dragons has to remain classified for safety’s sake. Right now, there’s powerful group of dragons who favor total isolation, and they don’t like how much other people know about them. Believe me, the fewer people who know some of this, the safer everyone is.” Twilight went a little pale. “And Princess Celestia is just trusting us with this?” “This is what’s safe. Just in case, let’s show her what we’ve done before we turn it over to Spike.” Twilight nodded. “When I proposed my essay, I didn’t think I’d-” “Wait.” Blueblood looked at her. “Essay?” Twilight blushed. “Well, I have a lot of schoolwork to do, so I thought I’d do an essay on dragons and knock out two things at once, so that I could spend more time working on this.” Twilight looked nervously at Blueblood, but he just paused for a moment and nodded. “Not a bad idea,” he said. “I wish I could do that. Alright, I’ll handle biology, you handle history.” The two mostly ignored each other as they took glimpses out of Celestia’s book, then disappeared into the library stacks to find more. Over the hours, the piles of books grew as the two poured into random event after random event in the hopes of finding something related to dragons. Cadance had gone off with Celestia for a lesson, so the two had to keep an eye out for Spike. This did not make for a happy study session and the two had almost come to blows on several occasions. After several hours, they called a break. Twilight sent for lunch and Blueblood pulled some recreational reading off of the shelves. Twilight opened her book, but then noticed Blueblood’s book. “You’re reading that?” Blueblood frowned. “Yes. I like it, weird as that sounds.” “That’s fine,” Twilight said, “I’m not a snob like that. Just… I read it once and I just can’t get past everything. I mean, the main guy’s such a jerk.” Blueblood smirked. “Huh. I thought you’d have loved him, then, Señora Caballeron.” Twilight sputtered. “Why you… I didn’t think he was that attractive!” “You wanted to marry him.” Twilight scowled at him. “Well I know better now,” she huffed. “Yes, you know you're not his-” “Don't you dare bring that up,” Twilight said. “Multiple books of Caballeron flirting with Daring Do, and suddenly he has no interest in her? That’s as unsubtle a relationship-killer as I’ve ever seen, and it’ll be undone the next time he shows up.” Blueblood steepled his hooves. “He could just have been teasing her like she teases everyone.” “Then why, in this very book, did they go so far as to-” Twilight shook her head. “Y’know what, in the interest of not killing each other, let’s just shut up for the rest of the day.” Blueblood’s smirk remained. “OK.” He turned back to his book. “That’s just implied, though.” Twilight glared at him, but kept her nose in her Daring Do. Lunch arrived a few minutes later, a bowl of carrot salad for Blueblood, a monster haycon triple cheeseburger with stake fries for Twilight. Twilight immediately hoisted the burger to her lips and took three huge bites out of it before she swapped it out for the fries. After several fries, she turned back to the burger, then noticed Blueblood’s disgusted wince. “What?” she snapped, “I’ve been busy lately.” “So have I,” Blueblood told her, “and I still manage to keep my food in my mouth instead of all over my face.” Twilight huffed and wiped her mouth with her foreleg. “No!” Blueblood cried. “Now you’re spreading grease around!” “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Twilight whined. “I guess I’ll just have to stop touching things with my leg. However will I get by just using my MOUTH, HOOVES, AND MAGIC! Blueblood, stop being so prissy!” “ME, PRISSY?” Blueblood shouted. “AT LEAST I DON’T HAVE TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN EXACTLY THE RIGHT PLACE! I SWEAR, I MOVED THAT INKWELL ONE ANGSTROM OUT OF PLACE!” “IT WAS RIGHT WHERE I WANTED IT, MR. OH-SWEET-CELESTIA-GET-THAT-EVIL-FRITTER-AWAY-FROM-ME!” “THEY’RE BOILED IN FAT! THEY TASTE LIKE FAT! THAT ONE WAS DRIPPING IN FAT!” “YOU COULD’VE AT LEAST TRIED ONE, NEAT FREAK! WHY DON’T YOU JUST LIGHTEN UP?” Blueblood snarled. “You’re right,” he said. “I should lighten up. Maybe I can BREAK INTO A LIBRARY SOMETIME!” “ALRIGHT, KNOCK IT OFF!” Blueblood and Twilight stopped and turned to the door. Standing in the doorway was a growling Spike. “NO!” Spike shouted as Blueblood opened his mouth. “Every time you two spend any time at all together, you start fighting with each other! No matter how many times you promise to make nice, you wind up screaming so loud, the ponies in Saddle Arabia can hear you, and I’m sick of it!” Spike stomped over to the table and plunked himself into a chair. “Until you two can stand each other, I’m not leaving you two alone.” Blueblood and Twilight exchanged a glance. “Spike,” Twilight said, “we’re in the middle of something.” Spike crossed his arms. “Tough. I’m staying right here until I’m convinced you two’ve made up for good.” Twilight and Blueblood looked at each other for a good long moment before Twilight sighed. “Alright,” she said. “Blueblood, I’m sorry for not using the napkin,” she said. “That’s alright,” Blueblood said, “I’m sorry for fussing at you over it.” The two turned back to Spike, who glared at them. “Shake on it.” The two ponies looked back at each other. Blueblood slowly extended his hoof and Twilight just as slowly shook it. When the two looked back at Spike, his scowl had turned into a mere frown. “Anything else?” Blueblood asked. Spike sighed. “I’m still not convinced you two aren’t going to just start arguing as soon as I’m gone, but I can’t think of anything that would prove it.” Twilight looked up at the clock, then looked back at Blueblood. “Any ideas?” she asked. Blueblood frowned. “None.” He put his face in his hoof, then stopped himself. “Truth be told, I really don’t want to fight you anymore, my love.” “Yeah, I…” Twilight and Spike stared at Blueblood, who was now looking into Twilight’s eyes. “...excuse me?” Twilight asked. “Yes,” Blueblood said, “it’s true that I enjoy the thrill of our battles, but lately I’ve been unable to truly focus on it.” Blueblood winked at Twilight out of the eye Spike couldn’t see. She glared at him, and moved away when he moved his hoof forward on the table. Blueblood gave her a sad frown, but then closed the eye Spike could see and motioned towards his hoof with the other eye. She looked down and he started subtly tapping her book. Twilight scanned it, and it clicked. “Y’know, Do-Blueblood,” she replied, “I’ve actually been feeling the same way.” She placed her hoof on top of his, blocking the book from Spike’s sight. “It’s just that beating you senseless isn’t as fun as it once was. I want something... more.” “As do I. I’ll admit, on half of those occasions, I let you win.” Twilight snorted. “Liar.” Blueblood hmphed. “I may be many things, Twilight Sparkle, but I am no liar.” Twilight moved in closer. “Then what do you call what you normally do?” Blueblood came in. “Business. And this,” their horns touched, “is pleasure.” The two closed their eyes, and time crawled to a halt as the two realized they might actually have to kiss each other. The two moved slowly forward, very slowly. Then their noses touched and the two stopped. The room was almost silent but for Spike’s breathing. Then, the two tilted their heads up... “OKI’mconvinced!” The two heard Spike jump down from the table. “You two… you do what you gotta’ do; I’ll just let you get to it!” The two remained immobile until the door closed, then they snapped apart. “OK,” Twilight whispered, “he’s-” Blueblood held a hoof up, then put his mouth to it and began sucking on it with a few moans. Twilight quickly followed his lead, and the two had to force themselves not to laugh at the retching sound making its way down the hall. Once it had gotten out of earshot, the two took their hooves out of their mouths. “OK,” Blueblood said, “now he’s gone.” “Yeah.” The two tried to get back to their food, but the two could feel the silence between them. They tried to ignore it, but the same thought kept coming back to them. “Was that your first, too?” Twilight asked. Blueblood looked up from his lunch and looked at Twilight for a few seconds before he replied. “No. Kissing to drive off your loved ones doesn’t count.” “Yeah, that makes sense.” The two kept awkwardly looking at each other. “If it was a kiss, though,” Blueblood said, “what would you think of it?” Twilight shrugged. “Like any first kiss, I guess” she said. “Kind of awkward, but I was kind of distracted at the time.” Blueblood looked disappointed for a moment, but it faded away. “Yes. We weren’t really interested in each other, so that would probably override any pleasure we would’ve experienced.” “Mm-hmm.” Blueblood had a thought. “Y’know, it’s a pity you don’t get to practice kissing before actually dating. That’s often a key moment in a relationship. What if the person you were practicing kisses on is the person you work best with?” Twilight shrugged. “Well, I’d say that’s for the best. If they’re not willing to stick around for you to learn how to kiss, they’re not worth sticking around for.” Twilight looked at Blueblood. “Why are you so curious about this? And why are you so interested in kissing me?” Blueblood held his hooves up. “I’m not at all interested in kissing you! I’d probably never want to kiss you! I’m just… that came out wrong.” Twilight glared at him. “Ya’ think, Prince Charming?” Blueblood glared at Twilight. “Well you don’t have to be so snippy about it. I’d wager your first date is still a distant dream, too.” Twilight scowled. “That doesn’t mean I-” “OW!” The two turned to the door, which remained closed. “Sorry!” “Watch where you’re going, would ya’? Sheesh, does my tail have a welcome mat on it?” The two turned back to each other. “I think we’d leave each other alone,” Twilight whispered. “Agreed. Let’s just get back to work.” “After lunch.” “Please use the napkin.” <*> It was long past sunset when the two gave up. All throughout the day, they had pursued the vaguest hints of what might look like a new piece of information, but Celestia’s journal remained the sole source of useful information. Tensions had run high at several points throughout the day, in part because the dragon outside the door might hear anything, so the two ponies had to communicate via notes. Thus, by this point, the two were happy to call it a night, and began straightening up. “Twilight,” Blueblood asked, “would you mind-” “Put them up yourself,” Twilight told him. “But I don’t have magic,” Blueblood lightly whined. “You’ve got a mouth and hooves to put in it.” Blueblood frowned, then gathered up some of the books. The notes were hidden somewhere in the library with a note for the librarian to keep them hidden. “Well darn,” Twilight said as she looked at the clock. “I was hoping I’d get more time to read before going to bed.” “Oh well,” Blueblood said. “Let’s head off.” Blueblood opened the door and noticed Spike sleeping by the threshold. Twilight lifted the baby dragon onto Blueblood’s back and the two started walking. “You think we have any chance of doing this?” Twilight asked Blueblood. “Probably not,” Blueblood said, “given all we’ve been able to find about dragon culture is that they have a code of honor and that they tend stay away from everyone, each other included. I’m honestly considering asking Aunt Celie if Eustace kept a journal.” “Can you get in touch with him?” Twilight asked. “No,” Blueblood sighed. “He says that he’s making progress on making dragons merely isolated rather than territorial, but he says he’s still got a long way to go.” The two walked along. “So,” Twilight said, “who’s the unlucky lady you want to kiss?” Blueblood glared at her. “OK, don’t answer me,” Twilight said, “but I might be able to help you.” Blueblood kept glaring, but it eventually faded into a frown. “She’s nice,” he said, “and very smart. None of your areas, I’m sad to say.” Twilight pouted, but shrugged. “That’s alright,” she said, “accelerated college and Princess Celestia’s training don’t leave me a lot of time. Have you two talked?” “A few times. I think she likes me, but I’m not sure.” Twilight smiled. “Well, good luck.” Blueblood smirked at her. “I don’t need luck, but thank you.” Twilight rolled her eyes. <*> The two continued at break-neck pace, but they still came up with almost nothing. Of the dragons that had been discovered, all but one of them were placed in families among their own species. As Twilight researched, Blueblood tried to contact anyone who had any information about dragons, but the only information they got was so shallow that it almost wasn’t worth including. Finally, they bit the bullet and asked Celestia if Eustace kept a journal. He hadn’t, but Celestia had several memories that proved useful. It was in vain, however, as after three weeks, the two were left with only about twenty pages of material. Concluding that it was better than nothing, the two drew up some illustrations and got Twilight's father to print the book. The weekend of Spike's birthday, there was a comics convention in the park. Two months ago, Spike had found out and Celestia had been the first to assure him that they would be going there for his birthday. Thus, that Saturday, Cadance and Shining Armor packed a picnic basket, and the family processed into the park. It was a bright, warm day, with a cool breeze blowing by. Spike's friends were already at the convention and had agreed to meet him there, spend the whole morning browsing, and join him and the family for an enormous lunch. "Spike, what's wrong?" Spike started at Celestia's question, then quickly smiled at her, Blueblood, and Twilight. "Nothing!" he said. "I'm going out with my friends, Grant Mareison is signing books today, and Shining Armor made me a Star Sapphire cupcake. Nothing's wrong. I wonder when Shining Armor and Cadance are going to get back from their walk." Blueblood's eyebrow rose. "Probably not until later. That's an interesting little itch you have there, little brother." Spike looked down at his wrist and the claw that was scratching it, then sighed. "It's stupid. I just kind of wish... well..." And then he fell silent. Twilight looked up at Celestia, then back at Spike. "Spike," she said, "we were saving this for later, but..." She lifted a package out of her saddlebags. Spike looked up. "You got me a birthday present?" he asked. Twilight and Blueblood moved in close to him. "If you'd like to open it now," Twilight offered, "it might make you feel a little better." Spike took the present, felt all over it, and then tore the paper off. He stared at it. "Letters from Eustace," he read, "a Guide to Understanding Yourself." Spike smiled. "Thanks, Twilight." "I'm sorry it's not much," she said. "Blueblood and I searched for all that we could but we couldn't find-" "Waitwaitwait," Spike held up a claw and turned to Blueblood. "Is that right? The part after 'it's not much'?" Blueblood nodded. "Twilight and I spent the past three weeks researching and writing that book." Spike looked between Twilight, Blueblood, and Celestia for a few moments, then grinned with a chuckle. "No offense," he said, "but I think the fact that you two got along for me might be a better present than the book." Spike hugged Twilight and Blueblood's legs. "Thank you." He quickly broke off. "But the two of you aren't..." The two smiled at each other and Blueblood snorted. "She's not my type," Blueblood said. "Besides," Twilight added, glaring at Blueblood, "you've seen Cadance and Shining Armor. I wouldn't inflict us on you, too." Spike wiped his brow. "Whew. Thank goodness." He looked up at the clock tower. "Well, my friends are probably all here now, so I'm gonna' go join 'em." He waved as he dashed off. "See you later!" There was a loud scream and everyone turned their head. Three colts were crowded around someone else and were stomping on him. "What's the matter," one of them asked, "you wanna' leave us now?" "HEY!" Spike yelled. The three turned around. "Leave him alone!" Two of the colts backed away from their target, but the last, who was chewing on a stalk of wheat, sneered at their target. "Seriously? Now you think the dragon's gonna' fight your battles for you?" He stopped dead silent as a green spark severed the grain from the stalk. He turned and saw Spike smirking at him. "I can do more," he said. "But I think you three really have somewhere else to be right now, don't you?" The three turned and bolted from the scene. Spike smirked after them, and then turned to the target. It was a young griffon, dark grey and black all over, bleeding in a few places and sporting a black eye. Spike frowned. "Hello, Gavin." Gavin turned his head away from Spike, wiping at his unbruised eye. "Hi, Spike," he mumbled. Silence. "So," Spike asked. "What's new?" Gavin shook his head. "Not much. You?" Spike shrugged. "Well, my birthday was looking pretty good. Now, I'm not so sure." Gavin's beak pinched shut and he wiped at his eye again. "I'm sorry," he said. "After the fire... they came after me. They said that I was an outcast, and that it was going to get worse for me unless I... unless I did what I did." Gavin swallowed. "Spike, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done. You were one of my closest friends and I'm so sorry I messed that up." Gavin got up. "Happy birthday." With that, Gavin started walking away. Spike glared at him for a few moments, but his face gradually softened. "Hey, Gavin." Gavin stopped. "I'm meeting up with everyone else in a few minutes, wanna' tag along?" Gavin turned to look at Spike. After a few moments of looking at him, Gavin turned his head away. "No. They don't want me after what I did to you." Spike put his claw on Gavin's shoulder. "I know how you feel, dude, but you've gotta' go back some time. Even when I was mad at you, I still missed you." Gavin looked at him sadly, and turned away again. "Tell ya' what," Spike said, "you stay close to me. If I'm OK with you, how much can they hate you?" "Plenty." Spike was about to say something when Gavin turned to Spike. For several moments, he wrestled with his words, but eventually spoke. "Where are they meeting?" Spike smiled. "C'mon, I'll show you." He walked off to the booths, right at Gavin's side. Celestia smiled. "Well, this is probably going to be one of his best birthdays." She turned to Twilight and Blueblood. "Well done, both of you." Twilight blushed. "It was nothing, your highness." Blueblood smirked. "Indeed. Well, Aunt Celie, I have somewhere I'd like to be." Celestia nodded. "Of course, Blueblood. Good luck on your date." Blueblood stared at her. "How did you-" "You just told me." Celestia smiled. "Don't worry. Just reign in your ego and you'll do fine." Blueblood glared at his aunt. "I know that, Auntie." He turned. "I'll see you at noon."