With the new school year starting today, and having begun the process of withdrawing from his position at the Ministry of Finance, Blueblood stepped out into Ponyville’s bright early morning, his eyes lingering on the town clock which informed him it was half past seven. Turning around, the stallion closed and locked the door, as he was the last to leave the house, and began his trek to the edge of town.
Still within Ponyville's limits but a good five minutes away from the next nearest building was a simple two story house, a three foot oak fence around it. It was here that was Blueblood’s destination, and his travelling companion was waiting for him at the door. “Good morning, Melody,” he called out, seeing the filly-mare perk up at his voice.
“BB!” Melody shouted, running to him and throwing her forelegs around his neck. “I’m so excited, I’ve never been before!” Blueblood gave her a few minutes to get the energy out of her body, taking the saddlebags that were floated over to him in an orange glow in his own magic, setting them down on Melody’s back. This caused her to gasp and run back to the door, where she nuzzled the waiting Wise Words. “Bye bye daddy, see you later!”
“Have fun, my darling,” Wise replied, waving the pair off. It had been a month since the stallion and his daughter had moved to the town, and they both found it very pleasant, even though it took Melody a few days to even step outside the house. Apart from Dinky, she still had to make some friends though.
As Melody walked alongside Blueblood, humming happily to herself, the stallion thought back to the first time he had met ‘Amber’ and wondered if Melody was watching from in her own head like with so many other things she had talked to the town psychiatrist about.
“Melody? Is that you?” Blueblood asked as he approached the mare, but she just turned around and glared at him. “Melody? It’s me, BB!” Strange, she looks the same.
“I’m sorry, your majesty, but my name is Amber,” the mare replied, giving a shrug. “I do not know of any ‘Melody’.
“Oh, my apologies, Miss Amber ,” Blueblood said, glancing around the room. “Would you care for a drink?”
“Sure, why not?” Amber said, the two making their way over to the refreshments table...
Blueblood shook his head clear of the memory, turning to find Melody staring at him. He gave her a smile and continued their walk, Melody following after him. To help with her low social skills, Blueblood planned their route to take them along the outskirts of town, where there were less ponies for her to see, and the ones that were out were ones she had already met.
“Well, good mornin’ to you two,” came Applejack’s voice, causing them both to look over. The farm mare was heading into town, a fully loaded cart ready for a day’s apple selling. Melody squeaked in surprise, hiding behind Blueblood, but Applejack just chuckled. “Shoot Melody, Ah ain’t that scary am Ah?”
“N-no, Miss Applejack, I was just surprised,” Melody replied, looking over Blueblood’s shoulder. “Um, good morning, Applebloom,” she said, seeing the farm filly sitting on the cart. Upon hearing her name, she jumped down and walked over, waving back at her sister.
“Welp, Ah’d best get t’ market,” Applejack said, starting to pull the cart once more. “BB, Ah got somethings Ah wanna discuss with ya later.”
“Sure thing, AJ. Come around about two.” Goodbyes were said and the ponies once more began the walk to their destinations. For Blueblood and his companions, this was a single story red building with a bell tower, which had just started ringing, calling the morning’s students to class. “Best get you introduced then, Melody,” Blueblood said, giving the clearly nervous pony a nuzzle. She perked up a little bit, speeding up to a trot so she wasn’t late on her first day.
As they approached the school yard, a white blur shot past them, Blueblood recognising it as a nearly late Sweetie Belle, but she had come from a different direction than her home. Turning around, Blueblood went to see who had walked her to school, and his eyes went wide when he saw the pony standing there.
“Am-Amber?”
Melody turned, took a few seconds, then gave a scream and jumped behind Blueblood, shivering against his side. Blueblood was not prepared for this eventuality, not even knowing that Sly Cur was in Ponyville, nor how to go from there.
Sly however went to take a step forward, but stopped when he saw Blueblood’s horn glowing faintly, the prince’s eyes beginning to narrow. “Her name is Melody,” Blueblood said firmly, a forehoof scraping at the dirt. “She is the daughter of Earl Wise Words. Now what are you doing here?”
“I… I’m looking at opening a new mine here, the old diamond dog site,” Sly replied, swallowing nervously. “So… the rumours, from Canterlot… they’re true?” he asked, getting a nod in reply. “Then for all those years that… thing that was my half sister…”
“Wasn’t real,” Blueblood stated flatly, now growing impatient. “Are we going to have a problem here, Sly?”
“No… no, not at all. Um… Melody?” Sly relaxed a little when the mare eased half of her face out from hiding, though she still didn’t look at him, and she only caught half of what he was saying. “... understand you have some memories, and they may be a bit jumbled, but…”
“Brother…” she said quietly, frowning as she tried to think clearly. “No, half brother. Momma married your dad.” Stepping out from behind her living shield, Melody slowly walked over to Sly, looking him over. She lifted a hoof and gently prodded him, but jumped back with a shock. “You’re real!” she exclaimed, suddenly beaming happily.
“Uh, come again?” Sly asked, with Blueblood looking on, both stallions equally confused.
“Real, you’re real,” Melody repeated, nodding her head. “I… wasn’t sure what was real and what was fake with… her in here.” Melody motioned to her head. “But you are… and thank you. Without you, she’d still be in here.”
Blueblood finally let his magic die down as Melody gave Sly a quick hug, then walked into the schoolhouse. “What will you do now?” the prince suddenly asked, getting Sly’s attention.
“I... I think it would be best if I met with Earl Wise, had a chat,” Sly replied, giving a slight bow. “Have a good day, your majesty.” With that he headed back towards town, leaving Blueblood to approach the school, where he heard Cheerilee’s voice coming through the open doorway.
“Now, before we begin lesson, we have a new student joining us today. Her name is...”
“I’ll be back home late afternoon, okay?” Derpy said to Blueblood as they stood in front of Rarity’s boutique.
“Sure you don’t want me with you whilst you are getting your new dress?” Blueblood asked his fiance, only to receive a giggle from her as a reply.
Derpy caressed his cheek as she looked into his eyes. “You know it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride’s dress before the wedding, and Rarity won’t stand for that if you came in with me…” she planted her lips onto his briefly as she smiled.
“I suppose,” Blueblood said as he too returned the kiss, only releasing it after a few moments had passed them by. “I’ll see you back at home,” he waved Derpy farewell as she walked to the front entrance of Rarity’s boutique, with him walking back into town alone.
Derpy reached a hoof to the front door and knocked on it gently, with the sound emitting to the other side of the entrance. Her ears perked when she heard hoofsteps approaching from behind the door, before it opened to reveal a white unicorn mare.
“Derpy, darling!” Rarity greeted the grey pegasus mare with a brief hug. “So good you could make it today!” she said as she stood aside and motioning the other mare to come in. “I’ll be with you in just a moment, just had tea with one of my business partners,” she said as she looked back at the kitchen, a blush forming on her cheeks which she quickly shook off.
The blush was noticed by Derpy, who cocked her brow at the unicorn mare and emitted a small grin as she looked at Rarity. “Sounds to me this is more than just business…” she giggled as she teased her friend, who return the blush with a vengeance.
“I-I I could never!” Rarity blurted out as she tried to straighten herself. “I-I mean, it’s not proper to seek such things in the workplace!”
Before Derpy could ask about the mysterious stallion, she heard hoofsteps coming from the kitchen and saw the stallion in question walking to the front portal where the two mares were located.
“Hey Rarity, I just wanted to say—” Sly Cur words were cut off when he saw Derpy standing next to his host. Both he and the pegasus remained silent until the other mare cleared her throat to gain their attention.
“Derpy, this is Sly Cur and he is the CEO of…” Rarity trailed off as she saw the pegasus’ eyes never leaving the stallion. “Have you two met?” she asked her friend curiously.
Derpy was about to open her mouth to speak, but Sly beat her to it. “Well you see, I met Princess Derpy at the gala a few weeks ago… where I also had the pleasure of meeting you,” he added in with a wink to the white unicorn, who radiated a momentary blush.
“Well, I’m not a princess…” Derpy replied as she trailed off.
“Not yet, but soon…” Sly grinned as he bowed a little and started to walk to the door, only to stop when he passed Derpy. “Oh yes! I almost forgot…” he began to walk to Rarity and took a hold of her hoof. “Just to let you know we’ll be having guests for dinner tonight.” he said to the white mare.
Rarity waved a hoof as she smiled at him. “Oh that’s alright. The more the merrier for this da-dinner!” she quickly amended her sentence before a certain word could be heard. Darnit Rarity! Get your act together with this one!
“Great! I’ll see you later tonight,” he lifted her left forehoof to his lips, causing Rarity’s cheeks to burn violently at the gesture. “Have a good afternoon,” he bid the white unicorn farewell, and bowed his head a little as he passed Derpy. “And to you as well.”
When Sly left the building, Derpy cocked her brow at Rarity. “Dinner already?”
“It’s purely for business,” Rarity huffed as she held her head up high. Though I wish it was just me and him there… The mare cleared her throat and erased any other thoughts about Sly. “So, now…” the mare clapped her hooves together in glee as she grinned. “Let’s make the best wedding dress ever!” she guided the pegasus to her fitting room, which was already littered with a number of fabric rolls and all other sorts of clothing. “So sorry for the mess, just my little sister and her friends trying to be ‘Cutie Mark Dressmakers’.”
Derpy giggled at the thought of the three trouble-makers trying to create a new dress. “And it didn’t go so well?” she asked Rarity rhetorically, only for the unicorn to roll her eyes and shake her head. “I suppose saying to them to be patient isn’t exactly helping?”
“And it just entices them to exercise even more radical schemes to get their cutie marks…” Rarity sighed as she took hold of her red-rimmed glasses and placed them on her. “I just wish Sweetie Belle could see her talent lies in music… that voice of hers, she would be globally famous just with that!” she looked up to the roof dreamingly as she pictured her younger sister on stage, singing to the audience and wearing a dress made by the white unicorn. “Speaking of fillies, how is your daughter doing?”
“Oh she’s good… she’s having her first magical defense lesson today,” Derpy replied as she stood still whilst Rarity began to take measurements of her body. I hope I didn’t put on too much weight thanks to all those parties…
Rarity removed her measuring tape and nodded as she rolled it back up into place. “That’s nice to hear, who is her instructor?”
“Twilight,” Derpy replied as she stepped off the stand and peered over Rarity’s shoulder when the latter was busy sketching the new wedding dress. “Um, Rarity… why are you making my dress white?” she asked the unicorn mare curiously, stepping back a little when the latter looked at her as though she had sprouted an extra pair of wings.
“Whatever do you mean, darling? A wedding dress ought to be white… as tradition has it.”
“But Rarity… I don’t want my wedding dress white,” Derpy replied to the unicorn mare, surprised to see her friend falling to the ground wailing.
“This cannot be!” Rarity shouted out to the heavens as she reached a hoof into the air with her eyes tearing up. “Is this some kind of new fashion scene that’s happening in Canterlot!? Or in the whole of Equestria!? I thought Suri Polomare’s idea of black wedding dresses was outrageous! Has she actually succeeded with that? A wedding shouldn’t be a time of mourning! A wedding needs to be a celebration of love and union! I-I,” the mare broke down crying as she curled up her body into a fetal position. As she sniffed she felt a hoof touch her back, causing her to look up at the grey mare’s gentle smile.
She helped the unicorn to stand up from the ground and sighed as she dusted her off. “It’s just that it wouldn’t be traditional, since I have had Dinky.”
Rarity’s watery eyes suddenly stopped dripping as she blinked with realization coming to her. She opened her mouth a little before she suddenly closed it, relaxing her shoulders as she smiled.
“Oh yes… I completely forgot,” she admitted as she giggled and rubbed the back of her head. “Well then, I suppose I should come up with a different colour that is not white,” she paused for a moment before kneeling down on the floor and placed her forehooves in front of her as though she was praying to the pegasus. “But please don’t make me make your dress black!”
Is she serious? Derpy thought to herself as she raised her eyebrows at Rarity. “Rarity, this is my wedding… not a funeral,” she said as she shook her head. “But, I wouldn’t mind my Gala dress to be my wedding dress…”
“Darling! You can’t just have that thing be your wedding dress. Unless…” Rarity paused momentarily as she rubbed her chin with her hoof in thought. “Hmmm…” she hummed as she looked at the sketch. A gasp escaped from her mouth as she beamed in delight. “Idea!~” she sang out and went back to her sketch, scribbling down upon it with haste. “Derpy, do you mind if you can fetch your prom dress for me please?”
“Of course, I’ll be right back,” Derpy replied as she spread her wings and flew out of the boutique, leaving Rarity alone to her devices. The unicorn grinned in glee as she performed the finishing touches on her sketch.
Rarity chuckled as she held the finished project in the air with her magic. “I’m going to make the best wedding dress ever!”
Although most of the class were way ahead of her, Melody discovered, much to her joy, that she was a fast learner. Already that morning she had mastered her ten times table, rapidly catching the curve of the class, but she was struggling a bit with her literacy. So when Cheerilee told them it was time for recess, Melody was happy for the break.
Stepping out into the schoolyard, she saw her classmates had already formed into groups, most wary of her for some reason. Melody had hoped to spend some time with Dinky, but saw her standing next to the colt that was in the last of the memories from before ‘Amber’ was removed from her, so she kept away.
Finding a shady spot under a tree, Melody sat down and set out a bit of paper she had brought with her. Taking a pencil in her mouth, she started drawing what she could see, starting with the buildings. It didn’t take long for her to have a picture that could have been mistaken for a photograph, and she was about to start putting the foals in when a shadow blocked what little light she had.
“Well well, how are you doing... Stumpy?”
Melody looked up to see a grey earth pony filly staring down at her, a sneer on her muzzle. “So, where did they find you? It had to have been somewhere special.” The filly peered around at Melody’s side, then began to giggle. “Oh, another blank flank huh? Is that because the other you isn’t in there anymore? You know, the smart one?”
Melody knew exactly who this filly was talking about, as her father had been to speak with Cheerilee, and it was decided to let the foals know the truth, lest one of their parents find out and start panicking. Melody went to speak, but it seemed the filly wasn’t done berating her, and she clenched her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the building tears from falling.
“Pitiful, that’s what you are. A grown mare, having to go to school? Perhaps you’re the part that should’ve been disposed of, and the other one left in that stumpy head of you...” Whatever the filly was going to say next was cut off by a sudden yelp, Melody opening her eyes to see another filly had stepped in, this one purple furred and wearing a tiara on her head.
“Stop it, Silver Spoon!” Diamond Tiara stated clearly, glaring at the other filly. “You have no idea what she’s been through, and you never could!”
“Oh my, how gallant!” Silver Spoon sneered, walking around her former friend. “Has Diamond got a little crush on somepony?”
“Silver Spoon, I’m warning you... leave her alone!” Diamond said with a growl.
“I don’t think she’s your type, DT,” Silver said as she walked up to Melody. “She doesn’t even have a cutie mark, the stupid blan...” Melody kept her eyes open and saw what caused the yelp this time, her eyes going wide as Silver Spoon raised a hoof to her cheek, which had just been slapped hard.
Melody had heard about these two fillies, and was very surprised to see one standing up for her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one to witness it. “DIAMOND TIARA! INSIDE!” Boomed Cheerilee’s voice, causing the filly to lower her head. “You too Silver Spoon!” As the pair made their way towards the building, keeping out of each others reach, Cheerilee approached Melody. “Are you okay? Did they doing anything to you?”
“No miss,” Melody said quietly, sniffing and rubbing her eyes. “Actually... um Diamond defended me from Silver.”
“Did she now?” Cheerilee asked quietly, now curious. “We’ll talk about it later, for now, recess is over. Come on, let’s go back inside.” Melody gave a nod, now happy that she had been sat next to the filly with the tiara, well away from the one who had tried to bully her.
“You know, you don’t have to attend my magic class today dad…” Dinky trailed off as she rode on Blueblood’s back as they made their way to the library.
Blueblood glanced back at his daughter. “Well I know I don’t have to, but I want to see how this lesson goes,” he said as he nuzzled his daughter, who returned the gesture in kind. “Besides… your mother is busy handling the wedding dress, and I’m not allowed to see it until the big day.”
“Oh alright,” Dinky sank back into her father’s mane as he continued walking towards their destination. Once they reached the tree house, the filly jumped off her father’s back and opened the door to reveal the inner workings of the library, with Twilight sitting at one of the tables with a stack of books next to her.
The alicorn’s ears perked to the sound of the door opening and closing, causing her to turn around and emit a smile when she saw Dinky and Blueblood. Before she could greet either one of them, she saw the filly running towards her and crouch a little when she was near her. Why is she crouching? Unless...
Twilight crouched herself and started to skipping in her place, with Dinky doing the same. “Sunshine! Sunshine!” both called out and crouched again as they covered their eyes. “Ladybugs awake!” both filly and mare revealed their eyes to each other. Both sat on their haunches immediately and clapped their hooves together. “Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” Both ended off waving their flanks to each other, resulting in the alicorn and unicorn filly giggling. “Did Cadance teach you that?”
“She sure did! Told me I should greet you like that,” Dinky paused as she drooped her ears. “Or don’t you want me to?” she asked Twilight, fearing she may have tainted the special greeting she and Cadance had formulated since the lavender alicorn was a filly.
“Why would I not want you to use that greeting?” Twilight asked Dinky. “It’s just a thing Cadance and I made years ago… besides, since I’m going to be your teacher in magic, I think this is a good way to bond as teacher and student.”
Dinky beamed in delight at Twilight’s words. “Okay! So what are we going to do today?!” she asked as she hopped where she was standing, excitement taking her over as she looked up at the alicorn princess.
Twilight opened her mouth again to answer the filly, but paused when she saw Blueblood standing behind Dinky. “Oh! Hi Blue,” she greeted the stallion with his prefered nickname. “Here to see your daughter’s lesson?” she asked the stallion as she levitated some of her books to the ground next to the filly.
“Well yes… unless you think I should go.”
“No no no no!” Twilight frantically waved her hooves to stop Blueblood leaving. “I don’t mind you being here… in fact, I think you can help out with Dinky’s lesson,” she said as she opened the one book on top of the stack on the table and brought it before her. With a nod, she quickly shut the book and looked down to where the filly was. “Right, so today’s lesson will be… defense. Now I hope you have been practising your levitation?”
Dinky nodded furiously and clenched her eyes shut as she focused her magic to encase the book that was lying beside Twilight. Once the book was engulfed in her golden aura, she lifted it and placed it back onto the table.
“Very good Dinky,” Twilight nodded in approval at the filly, who was approached by her father who proceeded to ruffle her hair playfully as he chuckled.
“You’re just as talented as Twilight was when she started out,” Blueblood said as he proudly smiled down upon Dinky, who swatted her father’s hoof away as she blushed furiously.
“Dad!” Dinky moaned as she pouted her lips, with her cheeks still burning from Bluebood’s words.
Twilight giggled at the sight before her, seeing father and daughter interacting. Her thoughts turned to Spike and Big Macintosh, who were currently at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack out at the farm. The alicorn suppressed a laugh when she remembered how the orange mare reacted when her son addressed her as ‘Auntie Jack’.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt her stomach growl in hunger, causing her to rub it instinctively and arch her brow as she looked down on it. Guess after this I need to get some lunch… Her ears perked when she heard the sound of Dinky’s voice calling her.
“Sorry, Twilight… I was just curious about today’s lesson…” Dinky spoke as she finished practising her levitation and minor transfiguration with a button that was turned into a pin.
“Oh yes!” Twilight said as she emitted a blush of her own and used her magic to bring one of the book Dinky placed on the table. Once it was before her, she opened it up and skimmed through the pages until she found the page she was looking for. “Ah! Here we are…” she squinted her eyes and nodded as she read the words. “Right, so… this spell that I’m going to teach you will repel objects away from you.”
Dinky tilted her head as she digested the words. “So, kind of like an insect repellent?”
"Exactly," Twilight replied. "Only instead of it taking effect later, this spell will emit an aura that will work instantaneously to safeguard yourself," she continued speaking as she read from the book. “Um, Blue… do you mind if you stand before Dinky please?” she asked the stallion, who proceeded to step forward and face his daughter.
“Like this?” he asked Twilight.
Twilight nodded and turned her attention to Dinky. “Now, this spell to work... I will need your mind to be clear and think of one of the happiest moments you’ve ever had,” she said as he stepped back a little to give the filly and stallion some space. “With that happy thought, I want you to envision you pushing Blue back with everything you got. And don’t worry,” she used her magic and a stack of pillows appeared from behind Blueblood. “Your father will not be harmed.”
“Okay!” Dinky replied as she closed her eyes and tried to make her mind blank. Once she was thinking of nothing at the moment, she tried to find a recent memory that was happy for her. My first Father’s Day with daddy… she remembered the day where Blueblood had helped her learn to swim and where she and her father swam together as the latter dove in the cabin’s pool, swimming amongst the fishes.
Once she had the happy memory in her head, Dinky began to focus her magic and visualized her pushing away the pony before her. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell her horn was shining brightly with the light emitted from it and her eyelids shielding her sockets as best as they could. She felt her horn ache in pain, causing her to release all the magic she had into pushing Blueblood away from her.
Dinky opened her eyes to see Blueblood still standing in front of her, with his hair frazzled from the spell she used just now. The filly looked down dejectedly as she fell onto her haunches with her eyes becoming watery.
“D-Dinky!” Twilight called out to her student and walked towards her, placing a tender hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t feel bad about this, please… this spell isn’t exactly easy to master,” she said to the filly, who lifted her head to look up at the alicorn.
“I’m sure if you--” Blueblood paused abruptly when he smelt something burning. He took a sniff in the air and cocked his brow. “Hey Twilight, I think you left the oven on.”
Twilight shook her head as she turned around to face the stallion. “It can’t be, I didn’t leave the oven o--” she gasped and nearly screamed when she saw Blueblood’s hair. “Blue! Your mane’s on fire!” she shouted out as she pointed a hoof to the stallion, who looked up in confusion and let out a scream of his own as he tried to put it out.
“Put it out! Put it out! Put it out!” he chanted as he tried to roll on the ground to put the fire out, but to no avail. As Twilight generated a bucket of water to splash the inferno, Dinky stood there with shock on her face and her eyes streaming.
“Daddy!” she called out to her father, who was now nearly bald and his scalp charred from Dinky’s spell. She rushed over to him as he sat on the ground. “Are you okay?” she asked him, only to receive a nod a wry laugh from him.
Blueblood touched the top of his head, feeling a stinging sensation as he did so and no hair. “Well… I guess that’s one way of doing self defence,” he chuckled at Dinky, who stared at the head in horror with her lips trembling. “Are you okay?” he asked his daughter, who only handed him a tiny mirror. He looked into it, and gasped when he saw the state of his hair.
“I’m so sorry I made you bald daddy!”