Blueblood had a feeling this wasn't going to go well. The Laughing Brothers was a large wooden restaurant. It had been built on the edge of the Canterlot Cliff, with a balcony stretching out from the rock face over the edge of the cliff. To take advantage of this, the restaurant had a large number of windows all around, to take in the majestic and rustic view.
At least, it would if there was much of a view. The sky was entirely blotted out with clouds. It was only sprinkling, but the wind was already picking up something fierce, and each raindrop hit like a pebble out of a wood chipper. And off in the distance, Blueblood swore he could see flashes of lightning.
Prince Blueblood turned his thoughts back to himself. That morning, he'd showered, brushed his teeth, even put on a pair of slacks and a navy blue sweater. Even having done all of those, Blueblood still kept checking over his appearance. He smelled his breath, he fidgeted with his mane and his tail, and he even kept peeking between a mirror he'd laid on the bench and the watch right next to it. All the while, he was scowling at the whisper in his head.
"You overprepared," it told him. "You're still the jerk that broke her heart and pushed her into a date. She's five minutes late already for a reason. Do you honestly think this is going to go well?"
"Blueblood?"
Blueblood quickly straightened up. Twilight was walking forwards, undressed but clean. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "I got stuck behind a rescue crew."
Blueblood paused for a moment, but then put his hoof up. "That's alright," he told her.
Twilight frowned a little as she got closer. "Head still bothering you?" she asked.
Blueblood frowned at her, but then slowly nodded. "It'll be a while before my medicine actually gets to work again, but I'm picking up again." A moment later, though, he sighed. "Twilight, about the other day-"
Twilight just smiled in response. "It's OK, Blueblood," she said. "You're picking yourself up again."
"That's not what I meant." Blueblood turned away as his teeth gritted into a frown for a moment. After a deep breath, he turned back. "I didn't mean to pressure you into anything. If you're uncomfortable-"
"Then I spent the night with an old friend," Twilight told him. She was still smiling, but Blueblood could tell that she had stiffened up a little. Twilight quickly turned towards the restaurant. "Shall we?" she asked.
After a brief pause, Blueblood nodded, and started walking forwards the restaurant entrance. The collar on his sweater started to itch. Blueblood pulled at it, taking a quick look at Twilight, who noticed him. "You're very well dressed," she noted.
"Force of habit," he told her, the truth slipping out of him. "I attend a lot of events among the high-upper-class, and..." Blueblood paused for a moment to bite back a sigh. "I'm not well-regarded enough to go skyclad."
Twilight stared at him. "You're a prince."
Blueblood's frown turned into a scowl. "Tell them that. I don't have wings and I never will." His scowl suddenly suppressed itself as he got to the host's podium. "Two, please."
Blueblood could feel Twilight looking at him as the waiter walked the two over to their table. She briefly broke off staring at him to order her drink. Then the waiter left, and all the two could stare at was each other. Blueblood sighed. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "I've gotten used to it. How is everyone, by the way?"
Twilight paused before replying. "Everyone's fine," she replied. "Starlight's spending a day without magic, and Spike and Rainbow Dash are going hiking. Or at least they were." She looked out the window, which the rain had completely blurred. "So, anything new in your life?"
Blueblood shook his head. "Beyond my staring at the night sky, not a thing. I'm pretty much the same pony you left in Canterlot." His mouth remained open for a moment, but he stopped himself. "Anything interesting happen on your end?" he asked. "Besides Sombra, Tirek, Starlight, Chrysalis, and everything else in the news?"
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, lots," she said. "Just covering the basics, Spike became king of the dragons for about a minute, I've reconnected with some of my old friends... Oh! And the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally have their cutie marks. I trust you already know about Flurry Heart."
In the middle of a nod, Blueblood paused. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders," he mused. "How are they doing?"
"They're doing well." Twilight paused to chuckle. "They're actually getting along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon now. They even turned them around."
Now, Blueblood was smiling. "That's good to hear," he replied. "I take it you're the one Scootaloo got my name from?"
Twilight frowned. "She asked if I knew you," she said. "I said yes and gave her your personal address. She thought your letter was nice. It helped her put some things in perspective." Twilight sighed. "I wish you'd written to me. I know you regretted it by then."
Blueblood frowned at Twilight. "I couldn't. After... the letter, I just couldn't."
Before Twilight could say anything, a waitress walked up. "Hi," she chirped, "are you ready to order?"
Twilight nodded. "I think so," she said. After looking at Blueblood and getting a nod, she turned to her menu. "I think I'll try the... lapin gallois sounds-"
"That's made with cheese," Blueblood told her. "A lot of it."
"Ah," Twilight responded. "In that case, I think I'll have the crepes quarante-neuf."
"I'll have the soupe a l'oignon, sans fromage," Blueblood added, passing over his menu.
"Avec du fromage," Twilight corrected.
Once she had both menus in her teeth, the waitress left. "Thanks for the save," Twilight said.
"I didn't remember what cheese they used," he replied. "Their ice-cream is safe for you, though." He pulled a face. "Though not for me."
Twilight frowned at him for a moment. Blueblood frowned back. As the seconds ticked by, the air seemed to congeal. Finally, Twilight turned away. "You're going to lose her, idiot," the whisper told him. "She's going to give up on you unless you say something miraculous."
"Twilight! Fancy seeing you-"
Twilight and Blueblood looked up. Walking towards them was a white pony with an indigo mane that Blueblood instantly recognized. She seemed to recognize him, too, since Rarity had stopped talking and was just staring at him. "Rarity, hello," Twilight said, trying to smile. "What are you doing here?"
It took a moment before Rarity stopped staring and started to speak again. "Huh? Oh." She turned to Twilight. "I was just dropping in on the Canterlot boutique, seeing how Sassy Saddles was doing. Everything's going well."
Rarity took a quick look at Blueblood, but she quickly turned back to Twilight, who started to talk to her. Blueblood, meanwhile, had started to frown. On the one hand, she had pestered him for half a night, enamored entirely with the tabloid Prince Handicapped. On the other, she also seemed to be genuinely friendly to Twilight. Even if she'd known her before ascension, nothing seemed to have changed between them. Besides, he had made an ass of himself, to pardon the expression. Blueblood moved in.
"Rarity?"
Right as he called her name, Rarity stopped talking. She turned back very slowly, her face very neutral. Blueblood cleared his throat. "About the last time we met..." Briefly, Blueblood's lips pinched together.
"She's going to throw that back in your face. You know she hates you now, after that letter you wro-"
"I'm sorry for how I treated you. I should have been more direct instead of letting you suffer like that."
Rarity stared at him for a moment before she started up. "That's alright," she told Blueblood. "I have my own apology to offer. Twilight warned me that you wouldn't be interested, but I let myself get carried away regardless. I'm sorry about that."
After she'd stopped talking, Blueblood and Rarity stared at each other for a moment, silent. Then Rarity turned her head towards the doors. "Well, I think my date's arrived!" she announced. "It was nice seeing you here, Twilight. Your highness." She turned and bowed to Blueblood. "I'll leave you two alone now. Have a nice night together."
Before corrections could be issued, Rarity sped off. The two other ponies watched her go, then slowly turned back to each other. Instantly, Twilight peeked out a window. "So, uh," she remarked, "-looks like that storm's picking up. Man, it looks like a real gully-washer out there."
Suddenly, Blueblood snickered. Twilight turned back to him. "Hey," she remarked, "what's so funny?"
Blueblood started shaking his head. "Sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. I just never expected to hear you use the word 'gully-washer'."
This caused Twilight to smile a little. "That'd be Applejack," she said. "She's used the word a few times around me and I guess I picked it up."
Blueblood froze as he heard that name. Applejack. He'd seen her in the paper and he'd seen her in Twilight's photograph. But worst of all, he'd seen her in person. His heart fell. Twilight noticed and her smile fell. "Blueblood?" she asked. "What's the matter?"
"Twilight?"
Blueblood's head shot up in surprise. Applejack was standing right there staring at him and Twilight. "Applejack," Twilight said, strainedly smiling. "What are you doing here?"
With visible effort, Applejack turned to just face Twilight. "Well, Ah was just makin' a delivery," she said. "However, since the storm's popped up, Ah thought I'd stay here an' wait it out." She turned back to Blueblood for a moment. Instantly, a look came over her like she'd smelled milk beginning to spoil, and it was with great effort that she turned back to Twilight. "So, how's the stargazin' goin'?"
Twilight's smile was lessening as she answered. "Well, tonight's viewing has obviously been cancelled. I'm just reconnecting with someone." She motioned to Blueblood, but quickly continued the conversation.
As Twilight continued to talk, Blueblood's mouth pulled into a frown again. He stared at the table, but his mind kept going. "Applejack will tear you down. You saw how she looked at you. She would never accept your apology, and Twilight is going to wake up." Then Blueblood looked up. Twilight was looking at him, as was Applejack. For a moment, Blueblood's voice stuck in his throat. But he straightened up and opened his mouth.
"Applejack," he said. "I'm sorry for how I treated you at the Gala. I was... in a very bad mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, and I'm sorry."
Applejack's eyebrow rose a little and she frowned just a little. Blueblood stared at Applejack, waiting for her eventual response. Eventually, she bowed her head for a moment. "Thank you, yer highness," she said, cool as a cucumber. Then she turned back to the kitchen. "Well, Ah think Ah'll let you get back to talking to each other. The cook said he might've seen Flim and Flam in the area. Have a nice night."
Applejack smiled at Twilight, then turned back to the kitchen, looking at anyone but Blueblood as she walked away. Blueblood looked after her for a moment, then turned back to Twilight, frowning. Twilight frowned back. "What's that look for?" she asked.
Almost instantly, Blueblood sighed. "I'm sorry," he told her. "It's just..." His words stopped for a moment. "I was hoping we'd be alone tonight, so we could sort all of this out without... onlookers."
Twilight's frown tightened a little. "They're not onlookers," Twilight told Blueblood. She opened her mouth again, but then stopped herself, pulling her mouth into a more neutral face. "They're not going to spy on us," she assured him, "they're not going to do anything. Tonight is just the two of us catching up."
For several moments, Blueblood just frowned, slumped over the table. He glared in her direction for a moment but then started staring off into space. Eventually, a thunderclap caused him to look out the window. "I hope... that doesn't continue tomorrow," he said. "I'm looking forward to that transit."
Twilight was about to answer, but then the waitress came back with their food: a forty-niner crepe for Twilight and French Onion Soup with cheese for Blueblood. The two thanked her, then looked down at their plates for a moment. Neither of them moved. Then they looked up at each other. For a while, neither of them spoke a word. Then, however, Twilight cleared her throat. "So," she asked, "how is Princess Celesti-?"
Blueblood sighed, then turned a laser-like focus on her. "Twilight, let's get down to brass tacks, what do you think of me?"
Twilight froze. She faltered for a moment, trying to think of something. "Umm..." She straightened herself up. "Well, we're friends. We've known each other since elementary school..."
"No, no, no," Blueblood told her, "what do you think of me? I imagine you're still not too fond of me, given..." he paused to take a breath, "the things I said in my last letter, but we're here now, so it's a relationship you want to repair."
"Of course it is," Twilight said. Before Blueblood could say anything, she reached across the table and put her hooves in his. "Blueblood, you're the oldest friend I have. And yes, you've bugged the snot out of me over the years, but you've also been loyal and helpful. I'm here because you're my friend. I care about you."
"I know that," Blueblood told Twilight. He smiled at her very faintly. "And I'm glad." Then his smile faded. "I'm just worried that I'm feeling something that would strain that. Something you can't reciprocate."
In response, Twilight just smiled. "Blueblood, I promise that your having a crush on me won't drive me away. No matter what happens, we're still friends, and that will never change."
In spite of her answer, Blueblood was still and silent for a few moments. He twiddled his hooves after a moment. When Twilight moved to talk, Blueblood spoke up. "Twilight," he asked, "ha-oh, you have to be joking."
Twilight turned around as Blueblood scowled. Standing at the podium, waiting to be seated, was Fluttershy. She wasn't looking at anything in particular, and she didn't seem to have turned around to see the two at their table. "Well this is odd," Twilight remarked. "She isn't supposed to be here."
"So she says."
At that moment, Fluttershy noticed Twilight and, much to Blueblood's irritation, she walked over to their table. "Hello, Twilight," she said. "Fancy seeing you..."
As Fluttershy noticed him, her falling face made Blueblood aware that he was scowling as deep as he was. He immediately tried to smile, but the result only seemed to make her take a step back, so he stopped. "Fluttershy," Twilight said, "I didn't expect to see you here."
Fluttershy timidly turned away from Blueblood. "W-well," she said, "Dr. Fauna asked me to return a dog she'd finished treating a-and I decided to go hiki..." Then she turned back to Blueblood. "Have we met before?"
Trying to neutralize his face, Blueblood just shook his head. "Not as far as I know," he said. "Twilight's mentioned you a few times, though, and we were both at the recent Gala..."
Fluttershy's eyes widened a little. "Oh," she said, backing up a little. "That. I'm sorry about what I did that night. I don't really have an excuse, I was just..." After stalling for a moment, she fell silent with a blush. "I'm sorry."
Blueblood stared at Fluttershy, his frown almost softened away in a little bit of surprise. But then it started to sprout again. "Something is wrong. Something is waiting. You have forgotten something you did and Twilight is waiting to rub it in your face." After a few seconds of thought, though, nothing was coming to him.
He looked up at Twilight and noticed that she was frowning at him. Blueblood let the breath he'd been holding in, his heart sinking. "That's alright," he told Fluttershy, his voice soft and his mouth almost completely neutral. "I forgive you."
Slowly, eventually, Fluttershy nodded at Blueblood. "Thank you," she said. Then she turned to Twilight. "I-I'll leave you two alone now."
She walked off. Twilight gently let her go, then turned back to Blueblood, her eyebrows scrunched together and her lips turned slightly down. Blueblood's mouth shot open. "I didn- I'm not-" His throat shot out garbled gruntings for a few moments.
Then, Blueblood just stopped. He stared into nothingness for a moment. Then his hooves shot to his face and he slumped forwards. "This isn't working," he sighed. "I'm not ready for this. I should go home."
Twilight stopped glaring at him, then nodded. "That's OK," she said. "I'll get a to-go bag."
As Twilight looked for the waiter, Blueblood kept his head down on the table, taking deep, slow breaths. "Blueblood?" Twilight asked. "Would you like me to walk you home?"
Blueblood continued with his breaths as he held up his hoof. "Give me a moment," he said. "I'm not at my best."
Twilight nodded. "OK," she said. "Take all the time you need."
"TWILIGHT!"
Twilight's back straightened like a ramrod in the space of a second as Starlight Glimmer came pounding up. Before she could ask anything, Starlight had put her hooves up on the table. "There's a pony stuck on the cliffs!"
Twilight's eyes widened. "What?!"
Starlight continued unabated. "Yeah, he was testing some kind of flying device and it crashed halfway up the cliff! I need you to unlock my magic so I can-"
"Oh, this is ridiculous!"
With that, Blueblood sprung up from the table and stomped towards the door. Twilight instantly slid out after him. "Blueblood!"
Blueblood whipped around. "What?" he snapped. "Are you going ask me to do something nice for poor little Starlight here?" He glared over Twilight's shoulder. "Or as she called herself, Woeful Wisp?"
Starlight blushed. "Oh," she said. "I'm really sorry about that. I'll return that report on Monday."
"Thank you," Blueblood growled. "You do that."
He turned to leave again, but Twilight slipped in front of him. "Blueblood..."
"Twilight, shut up!" Blueblood then spun around and stomped the other way. "I just wanted a moment to reconnect with you. Just you! In private! Instead, you invited all of your friends along!"
Twilight followed after him, scowling. "No, I didn't!"
Blueblood whipped around. "Really? Then where did all of these ponies who look just like your friends come from?! Actually, don't answer that. Just bring the other two in so we can get this out of the way!" Then he turned around the restaurant. "You can come on out now!" he called out. "I know you're there, you might as well drop in!"
"SKYLIIIIIGHT!"
Before Blueblood knew it, he'd been tackled away by a pink blur, pushed into a set of tables. He saw nothing in the space of five seconds, but he heard something puff up, then the sound of glass shattering, and then something deflating. By the time he'd shaken his head and turned back around, things had changed.
The skylight now had a hole in it. Underneath it was a mound of glass and a deflating, cushion-shaped Pinkie Pie. The sight surprised him less than he'd thought it would. Then he noticed three other things that had literally dropped in. The first was a strange metal turbine attached to wings and making a dying whine. While obviously the cause of the crash (he forced his brain into silence), things two and three gave him a deeper sense of dread. Very carefully, minding the glass, he made his way forwards as Pinkie started to deflate back to a normal pony shape.
Rainbow Dash was the first to rise, stretching herself out and shaking herself. She was scratched, but she didn't seem to be bleeding all over the place, so Blueblood let Twilight take care of her. With a nervous swallow, he turned his head downwards. Spike was completely unharmed, and was just brushing glass off of himself. Finally, though, he looked up. "Blueblood," Spike stated. He didn't scowl; he didn't even frown. He just kind of stared at his older brother. "Did the skylight hit you?"
Blueblood was frozen in place for a moment before he shook his head. "Pinkie Pie knocked me out of the way," he said, his accent gone. "I take it you're-"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Spike said. "Dragon toughness and all."
"Good," Blueblood said. Then his eyebrows started to quirk downwards. "What were you doing?"
Spike sighed. "Flim and Flam thought they'd made something that would make them rich." He pointed to the device. "Dash and I stumbled on the rescue crew trying to pull them up. The recent rain meant that I was the only one they could send down after them. Then the rocket took off and Rainbow Dash tried to get it under control." Then Spike looked around. "What were you doing with everyone?"
Blueblood rolled his eyes. "It was just supposed to just be Twilight and me, but everyone else just... kind of showed up."
"Ah." Spike then turned back to Blueblood. "Apologizing for that letter, huh?"
"None of your business," Blueblood told Spike. Then he started. "And how did you-"
"She burned it in front of me." Spike started frowning at Blueblood. "Blueblood, are you alright?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Blueblood snapped. "And it doesn't concern you."
"I haven't heard from you in two years!" Spike snapped. "That concerns me!"
"Well, I'm fine, so DROP IT!"
All of a sudden, the flying device started to whine and whine loudly. Then it started to wobble. Blueblood heard someone shout a warning. In the space of a second, his foreleg had swept around Spike and lifted him up to his mouth. Blueblood's teeth firmly bit down on the scruff of Spike's neck. Then Blueblood leapt into a booth, instantly curling around his little brother. For the longest time, he was completely still.
Then the sound died. As Spike tried to get up, Blueblood pushed him back down. A few long seconds later, somepony poked him. "It's OK," Twilight said. "I turned it into a flower."
Slowly, Blueblood uncurled himself and got up. Sure enough, where the device was a few moments ago, there was only a tall rose growing from the floor. As Blueblood watched, it then made a high-pitched whine. It launched into the air like a firework before exploding into a shower of petals. Then Blueblood turned back to Spike, who had already gotten back on his feet. "Are you-"
Spike nodded. "Yeah, I'm OK," he said.
"Well, that was pointless. And look at everyone else." Blueblood did so. None of Twilight's friends had even moved; they were just looking at Blueblood. "They are heroes. You just dove for cover. What a figure you're cutting tonight."
Blueblood's lips pinched together in a frown, his eyes closing as he tried to breathe deeply. After a few moments, his chest slowly stopped burning, and his throat started to loosen. Still, it took a few seconds for him to get ready to talk. He finally cleared his throat. "E-hem. Yes, well, thank you," he told Twilight. He then started looking around. "Well, it looks like everything is going to be alright. I'm fairly sure that the restaurant's insurance should cover this nicely and the police should have enough testimonies from everyone, so I'm going to go home."
He could feel Spike tugging on his back leg, but Blueblood just pulled himself out of the booth. With a bow and a quick, almost curt good-night to Twilight, he started walking towards the door. He could feel the other ponies staring at him, but he tried to ignore it.
"What's up with him?"
At Rainbow Dash's sotto voce remark, Blueblood stopped, taking a deep breath. As he lifted his hoof to proceed, though, he heard Twilight talk. "He's just had a bad couple of days," she told Rainbow Dash. "You know what politicians can be like: pushy, unreasonable."
Blueblood turned around. The other ponies were looking at Twilight, several eyebrows higher than they should be if they believed her. Then Spike stepped forwards. "She's telling the truth," he said, "his job tends to wind him up a lot. He's a lot better when he's had a few days to relax."
Blueblood's first emotion was a blot of surprise. "Why didn't they tell? You know they hate you right now, why are they lying?" Then Pinkie Pie started to blurt out a question, but Rainbow Dash plugged up her mouth. Even then, Blueblood could see that all of the other ponies looked incredulous as they looked at each other. It didn't surprise him the slightest when Applejack very skeptically said she trusted Twilight. Blueblood noticed Twilight frowning, and his next course of action fell into place.
"There's more to it than that," he announced. He walked back to the booth, standing an equidistance from the other mares. The sight of six practical strangers staring at him drove his planned speech back into him, but he took another deep breath and brought it back up. "The truth is I'm... I have a mood disorder. I thought I could handle it at the Gala those years ago, and recently, but I was wrong, and I wound up driving Twilight away. I met her again yesterday, and I invited her here to rebuild our old friendship." Then he turned to Twilight and Spike. "Thank you both for trying to keep my condition secret." Then he turned back to the others. "I hope I can gain your trust, but tonight's left my mood stretched, so I'm going to go home." Then he bowed, bid them good-night, and turned towards the door.
"Blueblood!"
Blueblood stopped as Twilight walked up. "Your doggie bag," she told him.
Blueblood frowned as he thought, then shook his head. "I'd rather not wait," he said, "and I think the waitstaff is occupied."
"Well, is it alright if I walk you home?"
Bluebood took a look back at the others. Their faces hadn't changed. He looked over at Spike, who gave him a quick nod before striking up a conversation with Twilight's friends. Then Blueblood turned back to Twilight and nodded. She kept to his shoulder as they walked out of the restaurant and into the much-lessened rain. Still, Twilight magicked up an umbrella to cover both of them. After a moment, Blueblood looked over at her "thank you."
"Don't mention it," she said.
The two walked onwards. For a few seconds, the two just looked forwards. Then Blueblood stole a glance at Twilight, and she turned back to him. No words were exchanged, they just looked at each other. Finally Twilight spoke up. "So," she started, "you asked me if I'd ever thought about you that way. I did, once."
Blueblood stumbled for a moment as his heart skipped a beat. He paused for a moment, visually asking Twilight to say more. As she opened her mouth, though, his jaw dropped open for a moment. Then he smiled. "Right after my growth spurt?" he asked.
Twilight smiled back as she nodded. "Me and every other girl in class," she said. "It only lasted a moment, though."
Blueblood nodded as his smile became more strained. "Until I opened my mouth, I take it," he said. "I really was a jerk to you back then."
"You were getting better," Twilight told him. "Right before I left for Ponyville. You want to do that again?"
Blueblood started nodding before he stopped. "Maybe a little later," he said. "Once my emotions have calmed themselves down."
"Don't worry," Twilight said. "Next time, it'll just be the two of us."