//------------------------------// // 157. Blueblood's Business Blues - Part 1 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// An alarm clock went off, only for a hoof to come down on it, silencing its infernal ringing. The owner of the hoof however had been stirred and a memory at the back of his mind prodded him awake as Blueblood sat up and stretched out his forelegs. Smacking his lips, he looked at the little calendar he had on his bedside table and the memory re-made itself known as he remembered, “Ah! Fashion week with my beloved muse in Manehatten!” Blueblood and Rarity had talked of this for the last few days and both were excited about it. Granted the girls were coming along but he smiled as he thought of the tickets he’d gotten for the Bridleway musical ‘Hinny of the Hills’ to treat their friends erstwhile Rarity intended to show off a new fashion line she’d created with a new fabric she’d developed, and after seeing the first ensemble of the line, Blueblood had full confidence that Rarity’s victory was assured. As he passed by the stairs that led up to the third floor (which was composed of clouds) Soarin’s snores told him the pegasus was still asleep, so Blueblood carried on downstairs to have breakfast and get his morning paper. He poured the coffee, started the crepes and eggs, and stepped out the front door, taking in a deep breath of that fresh morning air. “Ah… Another fine morning in Ponyville.” Noticing the newspaper waiting for him, Blueblood levitated it up and was about to go back inside when… “Delivery for Prince Blueblood!” He turned and looked up to see the local mail-mare, Ditzy Doo, land in front of him, a scroll bearing the royal seal in her hooves, and immediately Blueblood knew it was from his aunt. “Good morning, Miss Doo,” Blueblood said kindly. “To you as well, Prince Blueblood,” replied Ditzy with a smile. “Please, miss, in Ponyville, I am just another pony, call me Blueblood!” “Well, okay,” Ditzy held out the scroll, “This came from the princess, so I decided to make it my first delivery today.” “Well thank you very much,” Blueblood accepted it and focused on his wallet from inside the house, willing some bits out. “And you can have these for your consideration.” “But Blueblood, I can’t accept these!” Ditzy was surprised by the gesture but Blueblood wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Ditzy, you went to the trouble of deviating from your scheduled route – I insist you accept this little perk. Get something for your family.” Seeing the kind look on Blueblood’s face, Ditzy sighed and smiled as she accepted the money, “You have a nice day, Blueblood.” “I intend to,” Blueblood waved her off as she flew away, and returned to his breakfast. Sitting down, and levitating the food onto a plate and then in front of him, Blueblood unrolled his newspaper, The Canterlot Gazette, and noticed an article: New Heights Avionics and Jet Set’s Get Set Aeronauticals soon join together Long-time rivals in the airship industry, his Royal Highness Prince Blueblood, and his biggest competitor, Jet Set, have finally ended their rivalry and agreed to become business-partners by merging their companies together. The corporate combination is due to occur any day now, and both Prince Blueblood and Jet Set are planning to bring their companies together in order to revolutionize airships everywhere with their combined designs in advanced aeronautical engineering and produce better and faster airships. Blueblood nodded in satisfaction as he recalled the last couple of months. After his last business-meeting, he’d chosen to speak directly with Jet Set and had invited him and his wife to a dinner at his most prestigious restaurant, and after a good meal and an enlightening conversation the two stallions had reached an understanding and decided that working together instead of against each other would not only be more profitable but advance their airship designs faster and more efficiently than either had ever done before! Blueblood however was planning to move his own personal operations to Ponyville while Jet Set would be in charge of their business in Canterlot, but they’d still be partners. It was becoming clear to Blueblood, that as much as he’d enjoyed his life growing up in Canterlot, he’d grown to feel more at home in Ponyville than he’d ever had in the City of Unicorns. The ponies here weren’t stuffy nobles and high-classy snobs who gossiped and backstabbed and stepped on everypony to get ahead. No, Ponyville was a town where he’d found more friends than he’d ever had growing up. Real friends who didn’t suck up or try to get on his good side, didn’t spread nasty rumors behind his back, where the ponies said hi with smiles and good wishes for others, where friends and neighbors helped each other and hardly asked for anything in return. It was the home of his beloved Rarity. The night they met still weighed on Blueblood’s heart, as he recalled the bitter manner he’d behaved in and although Rarity had assured him it wasn’t important, that they’d gotten their chance and were here in this town and seeing each other, being together, what they felt for each other. Blueblood only hoped that he’d never be so terrible to anyone again. He knew without a doubt Rarity was the one, he loved her, and as beautiful as she was, what truly made her shine was her ambition, her generosity, her creativity, her amazing skills in turning even the most mundane into the magnificent. This is going to be quite a trip, he thought as he then reached for the message from his aunt. Undoing the seal, he unrolled the scroll, his eyes going over the message. What he read however caused his spirits to fall and his heart to hurt as he read from his aunt that his presence was demanded. My dearest nephew, I am sorry to say that you must come to Canterlot post haste, and this summons is final and unavoidable. Your company is going through a myriad of complications that you must look into, and it is a situation that I cannot resolve for you. I have already sent a train to bring you to the city and expect you here by afternoon. Again, I apologize if this is an inconvenient time for you, nephew. All my love, Auntie Tia Disappointed and morose, Blueblood, with his dress-collar and saddlebags strapped to his barrel, slowly approached the train station and as he made his way to the platform, he noticed Spike struggling to grab a mountain of luggage he knew could only belong to his beloved. Speaking of, he heard her and looked to see Rarity standing with the girls, all ready to board the train. “An entire week in the fabulous city of Manehatten, plus all of my very best friends as well as my sweet and devoted stallion there with me!” “Of course, we’d all come along to support you during Fashion Week, Rarity!” “Not that you’ll need it – We’re sure you’ll win.” Rarity squealed excitably, “I can’t begin to tell you all how excited I am that you and Blueblood will all be there with me!” “Hello, dearest…” Rarity knew that voice and looked to see a sorrowful prince approach her, “Blueblood, darling, whatever’s gotten you down?” Blueblood sighed as he decided to get it over with, “Rarity, love… I can’t come with you to Manehatten.” “What?!” Rarity was aghast as her beau explained. “Princess Celestia has summoned me to Canterlot for a most urgent matter that demands my attention,” Blueblood felt horrible, that this was a lousy excuse even though it was true. “Her message was quite firm that I can’t get out of it. I am so sorry!” “Oh, Blueblood, darling…” Rarity fought back the tears, truly disappointed but could plainly see her Blueblood was not happy either. Sighing, she nuzzled against him and then said, “I’ll just have to take lots of photos for you so you can see the trip.” Blueblood gave her a sad smile, relieved she understood, “I swear to you, my beloved, I would so very much rather be going with you than see to these annoying business matters… But I have an obligation to my employees and to the company.” “When do you leave?” Twilight asked. “In an hour,” Blueblood answered, “my aunt sent a train that’s scheduled to pick me up and bring me to Canterlot. But even if I can’t accompany you all…” Blueblood opened his bag and brought out seven slips of colored paper, the girls all looking at them, Twilight asking, “What’s that?” “Ooh, ooh! I know, a paper fan!” Pinkie guessed. “No, it’s-” Blueblood tried to say. “Oh! Oh, it’s a magic trick,” Pinkie interrupted, “You know, where I pick a card and remember what it is, and then you put it back in the deck so you can’t look-” Blueblood stuff an apple into her mouth (as he’d learned from his friends to do so in such situations) so he could explain, “These, ladies, are tickets to the most premiere musical on Bridleway!” The girls’ jaws dropped, Twilight saying, “You couldn’t mean… Hinny of the Hills, because that show’s been sold out for months…” – She gave him a sneaky look – “Or could you?!” “I could, I do!” Blueblood smiled with cheek. “Oh Blueblood, you didn’t have to do that, but… since you did…!” The girls all cheered excitably, Spike panting as he moved the last of Rarity’s bags. “Darling, however did you acquire these tickets?!” Rarity accepted her as Blueblood passed them out. “Being a prince, and Celestia’s nephew, have their advantages,” Blueblood shrugged sighing. “I want you all to go and have a good time.” “Oh we will, dear,” Rarity gave him a deep kiss when they heard… “All aboard for Manehatten!” A train whistle signaled all the departing to board immediately, the girls all saying their thanks and goodbyes, Rarity the last as she and Blueblood parted, and even as the train pulled out of the station, the two lovers watched each other, Blueblood never breaking eye contact from his Rarity until the train vanished in the distance. When he could no longer see her, he sighed sadly, “Knock `em dead, my dearest.” Blueblood took a seat on one of the platform’s benches, as he still had a half-hour before his train arrived. But now that he was alone, Blueblood felt the guilt come back but he also wondered what it was so dire going on with his company that his aunt had insisted he deal with it himself. He only hoped it would not ruin the merging of New Heights Avionics and Get Set Aeronautics. Faust knew how long he’d had to deal with Jet Set harping him and the effort it took to show he had no hard feelings and only wished for a prosperous partnership from which they could both benefit. “Yo Blue!” Blueblood snapped out of his pondering and looked to see Thunderlane flapping overhead, a lone cloud floating over the station. “What’re ya doing here? Shouldn’t you be on the train to Manehatten with the girls and Spike? You and Rarity have talked about going to Fashion Week for weeks!” Sighing, Blueblood explained, “I received a summons from my aunt, demanding my presence in Canterlot, so alas, I had to cancel on the girls. Although I did manage to get them all tickets for ‘Hinny of the Hills’.” “So you’re headed for Canterlot? What for?” Thunderlane asked as he alighted himself on the platform. “It has something to do with my company!” Blueblood explained, a bit of worry in his tone. “Auntie Tia made it sound quite imperative and that I have to look into it myself. Business…” Seeing the depressed look on his friend, Thunderlane got an idea! “When does your train get here?” “It should be here… in just over twenty minutes,” Blueblood ascertained with a glance of the station’s clock. “Wait right here!” Thunderlane suddenly flew off, leaving Blueblood bewildered. But as the ETA neared, Blueblood began to sigh, as the sound of a distant train whistle told him it was just about here. He stood up to wait by the platform… “Blueblood!” He looked to see Thunderlane arrive with Midnight, Big Macintosh, and Soarin, Thunderlane saying, “How would you feel if we all came along to provide you a little moral support?” “We felt bummed that you had to miss going with Rarity,” Soarin added, “so we thought we could help you make the best of a lousy situation!” “Eeyup.” Big Mac confirmed while Midnight nodded. Blueblood couldn’t help but smile in gratitude, “Thank you all gents, but I wouldn’t want my situation to get in the way of anything.” “You’re our friend, Blue,” Midnight assured, “and there’s nothing real friends won’t do for each other.” “…Well then, gentlecolts,” Blueblood declared, “who’s up for a trip to Canterlot?” The guys all held up their hooves and brought them together in a hoof-bump, just as the train pulled in.