//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Blueblood Chronicles // by No One and Nobody //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Rejoining Society. "I'm nervous," Blueblood said, as Celestia tied his bow-tie for him, "I've never attended a Canterlot party at the castle." "You don't need to be nervous Blueblood," Celestia said, "This party is for you. Everypony in Canterlot wants to welcome you home. And now that you have a better disposition on life, I thought it would be wonderful to have a party." "What if I mess up?" "You need to understand the way ponies think in Canterlot," Celestia said, "You are at the top of the society pyramid, so nopony is going to contradict what you say." "Do you have any suggestions on how I should act?" "Just one thing. Many ponies here don't... well they didn't like your father. If they say anything nasty about him, well you should just ignore it. Canterlot ponies can be nice but they can also be extremely pig-headed with diplomacy." "I understand," Blueblood said. Celestia and Blueblood walked into the hallway and headed towards the party hall. "Will Luna be there?" Blueblood asked. "No. She didn't seem interested in it when I mentioned it to her. She said she was departing to our vacation castle in the Everfree Forest. I said we'd join her in a couple of days." "A bit of time in the forest sounds nice," Blueblood said. "Yes," muttered Celestia, "But I'm worried that Luna shouldn't be there alone. She's already been spending so much time alone. Luke's death hit her pretty hard but she won't talk about what happened when I was knocked down. I'm worried what he might have done to her." They entered a room filled to bursting with ponies bedecked in resplendent garments and glimmering jewelry. "Welcome everypony," Celestia said, "I would like to introduce you to my long-missing nephew Prince Blueblood." There was a substantial amount of applause that lasted a good thirty seconds or so. Blueblood smiled and walked into the fray of ponies. "Welcome back to Canterlot Prince Blueblood," said a refined looking, middle-aged, grey unicorn with a blonde pegasus standing beside him, "I'm Silver Dollar. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." "The pleasure is all mine." Blueblood said nervously. "My," said the pegasus at Silver Dollar's side, "What a well-mannered pony." Blueblood found himself the center of attention "And then I said, 'that isn't a hat dear, that's a natural disaster that somehow landed atop your head!'" Blueblood exclaimed. The crowd of ponies around him broke into loud laughter "Oh what a hilarious pony," "Yes I must say Prince Blueblood, it's wonderful to have you back but, if I may ask, where have you been? On a leave of military absence leading our troops against that awful Sombra?" Silver Dollar asked. Blueblood shot a look of confusion at Celestia. "If you'll pardon me a moment Silver Dollar." He walked over to Celestia, who dismissed some other ponies she was talking to. "Why does nopony know where I've been?" "Everypony knows you are the son of Prince Lucifer, but they do not know Lucifer was Sombra. They will make the connection soon enough but before then I think it best for you to solidify yourself in Canterlot high society." "What do they think happened to my father?" "Luke? They don't know he's gone. I took over his royal duties and he'd always been a bit of a recluse." "But where am I supposed to tell everypony I was?" "I don't know, Saddle Arabia? Griffon Territory? The Land of the Breezies? You can come up with something." "But-" "Look, I sorry to tell you but..." Celestia sighed, "If they knew that you were Sombra's son, they wouldn't accept you back so easily." "But I'm royalty, you said so yourself." "Yes, the son of royalty and the son of a traitor. However, I'm afraid that one of them outweighs the other." Blueblood sighed and turned back to where Silver Dollar stood. "I understand if where you've been is a military secret," Silver Dollar said, hesitant, "I was just curious." "Oh no," Blueblood said, "It's no secret. I've been... in Saddle Arabia. On... Diplomatic... Duties." "Oh my," said Silver Dollar, "How interesting. We all expected you to have been fighting that horrid Sombra." "He wasn't that bad," muttered Blueblood. "What was that Your Highness?" asked Silver Dollar. "Oh uh, I just said, I'm glad your not mad!" "Alright. But do you know that thanks to that awful Sombra I lost a substantial amount of revenue for this year? I own two factories in Trottingham, one in Hoofington and six in the Crystal Empire! Thanks to him I lost six factories. Do you know how much they cost me? A pretty bit, that's what!" "I know," said a by-standing pony, "I had two factories in The Crystal Empire as well." "My workers were forced to fight in his army!" "My yearly vacation to Hoofington was cancelled!" The ballroom slowly became one huge conversation about how awful Sombra was. Blueblood bit his lip in frustration. It's okay. Aunt Celestia said this would happen. Just play it cool. "What a horrid beast. I'm glad he's gone." Blueblood groaned inwardly. He could stand no more. My father DID do horrible things but he was still my father. I owe him that much. "ENOUGH!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The ballroom froze. "My father may not have been the most praiseworthy of ponies, but he was my father and I would appreciate at least some respect for the deceased!" Silence. What did I just do? Blueblood said to himself as he looked over to Celestia who was cringing. "Your father..." asked Silver Dollar quietly. "WAS SOMBRA!?!?!?!" The ballroom finished. Pandemonium erupted. Ponies screamed and ran helter-skelter around the ballroom. Bowls of punch were knocked over and tables turned. Mares fainted, Stallions yelled and Silver Dollar shrieked in the most unbecoming manner. "He's a monster!" "A demon!" "A traitor!" "SILENCE!" Everypony stopped in their tracks and stared at Princess Celestia. "Please understand what has happened everypony. Blueblood has-" "Bewitched you?" "Threatened you?" "Hexed you?" "Really Celestia," said Silver Dollar with his snout in the air, "We all are astounded that you would call such a maleficent villain your relative. I demand to see Prince Lucifer to inform him of his son's behavior." "I'm afraid I cannot allow that." "Why in heaven's name not?" "Lucifer was... um..." "Lucifer was Sombra, okay?" Blueblood shouted indignantly. The crowd drew in a simultaneous shocked gasp. "But you stuck up FOALS seem to have forgotten all that he did for you before he became Sombra!" "BUT HE TRIED TO TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA!" shouted somepony in the back. "But you can still show his memory the respect that it deserves." There were several moments of silence. Then, with indignant huffs of, 'the boy's insane' and 'possessed, that's what he is', they all started to empty the ballroom. Celestia shook her head and turned to her nephew. "I'm sorry Celestia," he said. Blueblood turned on his hooves and ran towards his room. "Blueblood!" Celestia yelled. But he was already gone. Blueblood paced his bedroom floor. The excitement of this night had drained from his face. "How are you still influencing me?" he said, looking up, "You're dead. Why can't I move on?" Celestia rapped a hoof on her nephew's bedroom door. "Blueblood?" "Come in." The door squeaked as Celestia pushed it open. "Blueblood, are you okay?" "They had no respect for him. But he doesn't deserve respect. But he's my father. Oh Celestia, what should I do?!" "I don't know Blueblood. I don't know what I should do. We have to take this a day at a time." "I hate him so much!" Blueblood yelled, burying his muzzle in Celestia's mane, "But I love him too." He began to cry. Not knowing what else to do, Celestia patted him on the back gently saying, "There, there." "I'm sorry I ruined the party." "It's okay. To be perfectly honest, that was the most lively party we've had here in a long time." "What should I do?" "How about we just go to meet Luna tomorrow and we'll let this ordeal settle down?" "Okay." "We'll spend some time in the Everfree. I think we all need a bit of a vacation." Blueblood was standing in a forest. But not a regular forest. There were no birds in the trees and no small animals around. The entire forest seemed... dead. "Hello? Anypony around?" "Why are you so assssssshamed of me?" came a voice from the darkness. A familiar voice. A cold shiver ran up Blueblood's spine. "Who's there?" Blueblood said, looking around frantically. A soft laugh rattled the forest. "You know who it isssssss." Blueblood looked and saw his father slink out of the darkness. He was not scarred, nor bruised, or even weak-looking. If anything, he appeared stronger than ever. "Y-y-y-y-your d-d-d-de-" "Dead? Oh no. I'm alive and you know what elsssssse? I'm coming back. It will be a while but I'll return. And there ssssshall be nothing ssssstopping me from taking you back. We ssssshall rule Equesssssstria together." "I DON'T WANT TO RULE WITH YOU!!!" screamed Blueblood, "I found out what you really did and I shall not follow in your hoofsteps!" "You have been misssssled by that foal Celesssssstia. Do not misssstake who you are. You are MY sssssson and I will have you back." "NO!" Blueblood ran through the dense, dark foliage. Brambles tore at his coat and stones caught in his hooves. He ran as fast as he could but he couldn't outrun his father's cackling. Blueblood broke out into a clearing with his father following shortly after. "Run if you like, but you will never be anypony elssssse," yelled Sombra. "GET BACK FOUL DEMON!!!!!!!!!" came a voice from the sky. Blueblood looked up to see Luna dive-bombing Sombra. She delivered a blast of magic to him point blank. Sombra screamed as he began to fade. Like a ghost in the daylight, he vanished. "I shall have you Blueblood," were his last words before he disappeared completely. "What was that?" Blueblood said, short of breath from the long run. "You tell me," Luna said, "Our dreams reflect what is in our minds. Nightmares are usually our greatest fears." "You're right," Blueblood said, "I'm afraid of becoming my father." "Though rarely our dreams show us glimpses of future events." "He's really coming back?" "Yes. It shall take many years, but Luke shall come back." "What should I do?" "Prepare," said Princess Luna, "But also I come to warn you of a foe that I fear I can no longer hold back. I have done battle with her in my dreams much as you do with your father. She shall plan to take over Equestria and I need you to warn Celestia." "Why me?" "My sister never dreams. She has only visions. I cannot therefore enter her dreams. So I came to you." "I understand." "And Blueblood-" "Yes?" "Please tell my sister... that I love her." "Yes." "Thou wakes," Luna said, as the world began to swirl, "Goodbye Blueblood." "What do you mean 'goodbye'?" Blueblood yelled after her. Luna closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. "Luna?" "LUNA?!?!" Blueblood yelled, bolting awake in bed. He glanced around. "I've got to warn Celestia," he said, leaping from his bed and tearing out the door. *** "And that was how I came to know of Nightmare Moon," Celestia said, "And of Sombra's eventual return." Pinkie sobbed holding a soaked box of tissues in her hooves. "That's HORRIBLE!!!!" "About Nightmare Moon?" Celestia asked. "About my dream?" Blueblood asked. "No silly," PInkie said, brightening up, "It's sad that the party got crashed. If there's anything that makes me sad it's a flopped party." "Really Pinkie," Rarity said, "Show some decorum." "Decorations?" Pinkie said, "Why that's a great idea Rarity! I'll throw Prince Blueblood a makeup party. I mean a party that makes up for the horrible one. I mean we can't have a makeup party for Blueblood, how silly would he look in mascara?" "Uhh, forget it," Rarity said, rolling her eyes. "No way," Pinkie said, grabbing a parchment and quill out of her hair, "That's way to good of an idea to be forgotten." With that she began scribbling away furiously. "Ignore her," Rarity said, "And please continue." "I see a pattern forming," said Pinkie, looking up towards the ceiling, "I bet you she cuts me off right he-"