On most mornings, the sight of the sun piercing the horizon was all the satisfaction Celestia needed to get going. That, and her usual cup of tea; or rather, a cup of honey with some tea buried in there so deep that not even a team of dedicated archaeologists could ever hope to find it. On those days, taking in the morning breeze through her nostrils was enough to jog the Sun Princess out of whatever funk she had acquired overnight, and ready her for yet another wonderful day.
This day, however, made no such promises.
She knew that Luna was already sleeping, or at least sequestered in, her quarters. Shining Armor had, as always, awakened an hour before her, and was already supervising the changeover between the graveyard and morning shifts. Celestia sighed, her mind reflecting on the conversation she had overheard between these two just last night. The two are up to something, I just know it. I just can’t understand Luna right now. Why is she so insistent on denying our nephew even one chance at redeeming himself?
Such thoughts were dispelled with a mighty shake of Celestia’s head. Fretting about this will not solve anything. I have to get to the bottom of whatever scheme Luna’s thought up and put an end to it.
“Um…Your Highness?”
Celestia’s eyes widened and lips curled as she turned to her waiting servant. “Good morning, Leafy Greens. It’s certainly a lovely day, is it not?”
Leafy allowed herself one chuckle – two would be improper – and gave a quick bow. “I just wished to inform you that breakfast is ready. Princess Luna has already begun dining.”
Luna…
Celestia’s eyes lit up like the very sun, while a devious smirk crossed her lips. The gears in her ancient mind were already beginning to turn, grinding together until yet another plan came into being. “Thank you, Mrs. Greens. I’m sure breakfast will be lovely.”
And it’s time I started working Luna over.
----------
Blueblood slumped out of bed just moments after the alarm clock began screaming. After resetting the accursed device, he let out a loud yawn and stretched his legs, starting with the front and ending with the rear. Once his muscles were all nice and loose, the colt smiled. This was going to be his best day in a long while.
Today, he was going to be back to normal.
----------
Blueblood stared at the infernal brush for several minutes, his mind trying desperately to wrap itself around how such a thing was supposed to operate. His aunt, in her infinite wisdom, had decided that he should attend to his own grooming, an act that utterly baffled the prince. Ever since he was a colt, he had other ponies to brush his teeth, comb his mane, straighten his coat, and file his hooves. And now she expects me to do all this by myself? Aunt Celestia truly is a monster.
Sighing, Blueblood slipped his hoof into the brush’s strap and, after some clumsy acrobatics, finally got the thing into a position to brush his mane. He winced at the occasional knot or tug, but otherwise his mind was elsewhere. Today, he had to prove himself to be the same, glorious pony he always was. And the only way to do that was to make friends.
There was only one problem. How does a common pony make friends, anyway?
The more the colt tried to piece together an answer, the bigger his migraine got. The court was so much easier. Friends were just temporary allies, there to help you step on the backs of others while you plunged a dagger into their own spines. I could easily buy as many companions as I needed, and my relation to Princess Celestia made me a magnet for foolish nobles desperate to climb up. He shook his head in frustration, and then yelped in pain as his brush caught on another knot. But I don’t have that anymore. All of my money and possessions are being held by Celestia, and I can’t reveal who I am to a bunch of stupid foals. Not that they would know royalty if it struck them in their pudgy little faces.
Then it hit him. Wait…yesterday, Ribbon just walked up to me and asked if I wanted to be friends with her. And it worked. Perhaps these common ponies hold some sort of mystical secret that we nobles have forgotten over time.
That’s when he remembered his unwilling partner in all this. Lofty was able to make friends with Princess Celestia herself. She must be the one that taught Ribbon how to perform such a thing. If I can speak to her before school starts, I might be able to convince her to give me the same lessons!
Blueblood grinned at his victory, despite having to perform manual labor for the first time in his life. Yes, this is it. Once I’m on top of the school, I’ll be a stallion again in no time!
----------
Luna was halfway done with her omelet when Celestia finally arrived for her breakfast/Luna’s dinner. The Night Mare made no motion to acknowledge her sister’s presence aside from a small nod and whispered greeting. The Sun Princess simply sat herself down at the table, lifted her fork (and once again briefly went over her plans for a hoof-friendly device in her head), and started cutting in.
It was right as the tines were piercing the second cheese-and-onion layer that Luna finally broke the uncomfortable silence. “So…I see Blueblood is not joining us?”
Celestia took a bite, swiped the gooey strand of cheese away with her fork, and swallowed loudly before answering. “He eats in his room. He’s allowed outside for school, but when he comes home, he is not allowed to leave his cell.” Her eyes narrowed. “And what of Shining Armor? Will he be assisting in Blueblood’s rehabilitation?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, he said he would be glad to help. I always knew our Captain of the Guard was a dependable stallion, even if he is rather young.” She swallowed another bite. “So, what is on the agenda today?”
Celestia prodded the side of her cheek, staining her coat with fried egg yolk, processed cheeses and pepper as she did so. “Besides a morning meeting with the Canterlot Times and a darling afternoon with the most boring Agriculture Advisor in the last two centuries, the rest of my time will be spent finishing up yesterday’s work. I trust the Night Court has some fresh legislation for me?”
“On your desk, notarized, and ready for your signature.”
The room once again fell deathly silent, save for the scraping of silverware on plates and the occasional rustling of a new guard trying to mater holding his bladder for hours on end. Luna’s breakfast plate had been emptied by this point, and the servants were already hustling the dishes back to the kitchens for cleaning. Celestia, on the other hoof, was taking a very, very long time to finish her meal; in the same period it had taken Luna to finish one omelet, she had barely taken a quarter of her own.
Luna’s right eye twitched slightly and ear twitched slightly as she just sat there and watched her sister eat. “May I be excused, sister? I would like to get some rest before today.”
“And give up this chance for us to speak?” Celestia said. “Luna, things may be better than they were only a week ago, but that doesn’t mean we can just rest on our laurels. The breakfast and dinner tables are still the best time to talk about any plans we may have, don’t you think?”
The twitch mutated into something dangerously approaching a snapped nerve. Luna scowled even as Celestia’s face turned into a knowing, almost mocking smile. “Why, sister, whatever do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing specific.” Celestia took another tiny bite, even as Luna’s scowl transformed into a low, almost animalistic growl. “I just want to know what you have planned for the day. After all, you don’t plan to spend all of the daytime locked in your bedroom again.”
Luna’s nerves relaxed, if only slightly. The mocking tune she had picked up in her sister’s actions seemed to vanish against a screen of sincerity, which was enough to cool the Moon Princess’ easily-ignitable nerves. “Well, it is one of the last long days we shall have this year. I was hoping to get some more rest before winter arrived.”
Celestia’s smile grew. “It sounds wonderful. But there is something I wanted to discuss. It’s about Blueblood.”
Luna froze, her ears pricking up at the name. She could tell something was off about the question before Celestia had even said it. “Yes, what about him?”
“If this plan is going to work, we will need a more structured environment with which to, for lack of a better word, ‘raise’ Blueblood in.” Celestia took yet another slow, labored bite. “So, I was thinking that perhaps we should reorganize our family structure slightly.”
Luna raised an eye at this. “Reorganize what?”
“What I mean is, we should act less like his aunts and more like…well, parents.”
“Parents?” Luna scoffed at the very notion. “As far as I know, he already had a pair of those, and they certainly did not do him any good.”
“But they aren’t as old and wise as we are,” Celestia said. “We can do a lot better for him right now than they ever did. It’s just…something to think about.”
Luna’s eyes drifted down towards the table, her lips sealed tighter than a steel trap. Okay, Luna, weigh your options. On the one hoof, this nephew is a family-betraying monster, and it is your sworn duty to bring him to justice for his crimes. On the other hoof, if you can get closer to him, it will make it easier to ensure his banishment.
The Night Mare raised her head until she was eye level with Celestia. “I…suppose we may give it a chance.”
Celestia grinned. Exactly as planned. “That’s wonderful. I’ll start working on a list of duties as soon as possible. Starting tomorrow, Blueblood will have two mommies!”
Mere seconds after uttering that line, Celestia clapped a hoof over her mouth and blushed in embarrassment. The implications of her sister’s declaration caused Luna to wince. “C-Could you…rephrase that, perhaps?”
“I-I apologize. I was just…swept up in the moment.” The Sun Princess cast her eyes down at her plate, where her omelet was angrily waiting for her to finish eating it. “You are excused, Luna. I’ve discussed all I needed to talk about.”
“Very good, then,” Luna said. “If you will excuse me, I must get some rest. I have to deal with Baron Frazzleberry again. Something about his son getting into fights.”
Luna slowly pulled herself off her purple pillow, pausing only to pat her lips down with a napkin before starting towards the hall. Celestia levitated her fork back down, cutting off a rather large chunk of her breakfast before slowly lifting back towards her lips…
“I believe this shall be quite interesting,” Luna said from the doorway. “Especially if you plan to do this with every criminal that comes through our door.”
Everything in and around Celestia stopped instantaneously. The only thing she managed to move were her eyes and mouth. “I…I’m sorry?”
Luna closed her eyes and smiled, looking as cute as possible while she dug the knife in deeper. “We must treat all our subjects fairly, after all. If Blueblood is going to be given this opportunity, then we must extend it to everypony in Equestria. We would not wish to show Blueblood as our favorite pony, after all.”
Celestia tried to mutter something, some explanation for why she was doing this, but Luna simply turned around and left. Once her sister had gone, she slowly lowered the fork back down, resting it on the plate.
Celestia, you have a lot to think about.
----------
Sky Bloom’s eyes shot wide open when she saw Blueblood. The colt was practically bouncing, a far cry from his defeated demeanor only a day before. The servant couldn’t help but smile a little, even if he had been an egotistical blowhard less than a week ago. “Well, hello. What’s gotten into you today?”
“I have to get to school early!” Blueblood shouted. “There’s somepony I have to talk to!”
Sky snickered, pressing her mouth closed with one hoof. “I see. Could this have something to do with your little friends from yesterday?”
Blueblood’s bouncing stopped, like somepony had cut the metaphorical trampoline out from underneath him. “I-It’s not like that! I just need to be there bright and early today! It’s vitally important!”
“Alright, alright!” Sky Bloom said. She trotted past her young ward and pushed the door open. “Come on, let’s get going. I have a lot to do today.”
“So do I,” Blueblood said while walking past. Sky Bloom waited until he was about halfway down the path, then smiled. “You’re looking better already.”
----------
The colt’s eagerness had paid off, and he was safely tucked away at the school before his target could even get within a few yards. From his spot in the bushes, Blueblood watched as Lofty approached the school grounds, accompanied by her mother, Ruby Dream. The colt’s eyes glazed over slightly as memories of a kick in the tush came rushing back, but a few rolls of the eyes and shimmies of the head was all it took to get him back on track.
Ruby and Lofty halted in front of the school gates. The latter turned to face the former, her saddlebags bouncing slightly as she moved, with a small frown. “Do I have to?”
“Now Lofty, you can’t be mean to a new student just because he’s different.” Lofty blushed and lowered her head at her mother’s reprimanding. “Remember when you started going here? It wasn’t easy for you, was it?”
“B-But he’s evil!”
Ruby giggled at her daughter’s bizarre assertions. “I’m sure Leon is a nice little colt, and if you give him a chance, you two can be best friends.”
Lofty pouted like an average foal, but couldn’t bring herself to argue with her mother. Not only was she the entire reason Lofty existed in the first place (even if she didn’t quite get how the stork figured into it), but she was also much bigger than her, and endowed by Princess Luna herself with the power to dispense groundings and spankings as needed. At least, that’s what Ruby had told her in the past. “Oh…okay. I guess I can try.”
Ruby smiled and gave her daughter a quick jab on the shoulder. The nudge was quick, but it was also so soft and gentle that Lofty couldn’t help but smile warmly at the touch. “I’ll see you later, mom.”
The mare gave a wide, slightly toothy grin before pulling her hapless filly into a tight hug. Lofty blushed at making such overt physical contact with her mother, and only the fact that there weren’t any of her friends (or enemies) nearby to watch kept her from freaking out. “Have a good day at school, honey.”
The tender scene continued for several more moments before Lofty managed to break free and brush herself free of any mom germs. Satisfied that her daughter was safe and sound, Ruby turned on her hooves and trotted away towards the palace. The filly sighed, double-checked her bags just to make sure she hadn’t forgotten the sugar cookies she had smuggled out of the kitchen, and started towards the school grounds with her head hanging low. Stupid Prince Blueblood and his stupid curse and his stupid…
“Hello, ‘Honey.’”
The voice travelled through Lofty’s ear canal, down to her brain, and then exploded like a stick of dynamite. Her eyes shrank back into their sockets, her hooves rattled and shook against the cobblestone, and her tongue and mouth suddenly became far less moist. Ever so slowly, she turned towards one of the school garden’s bushes, and the white colt standing in front of it. “Y-You saw that?!”
“Every minute of it,” Blueblood said with a sneer. “Don’t get me wrong, though. I truly wish I hadn’t. I haven’t seen such a disgusting public display of affection in years.”
It was right then that Lofty regretted not pounding Blueblood’s head in like a watermelon the first moment she saw him. “Well, you’re just a…a…stupid idiot! Didn’t your mom ever hug you like that?”
“Of course she did! Why, I can remember…”
“Oh, just forget it!” Lofty snapped. “So, what do you want?”
“I think I have it all figured out,” said Blueblood.
Lofty cocked an eyebrow. “Figured what out?”
“Aunt Celestia wishes for me to make friends! That’s what all this was about! All I have to do is make a bunch of friends, show them to her, and she’ll make me normal again!”
Lofty’s face scrunched as her brain clicked into overtime. “Well…I guess that kinda makes sense.”
“And that’s where I need your help.” Blueblood reared up on his hind legs and placed both of his front hooves on Lofty’s shoulders. “I need to know how a common pony makes friends.”
Lofty sighed and pushed Blueblood’s hooves away. “It’s not that hard, really. All you have to do is talk to some ponies, ask them if they want to be friends, and they’ll say yes or no.”
Needless to say, Blueblood was more than a little dumbfounded by this. “B-But it cannot possibly be that simple! There must be more steps, a formal interview process, SOMETHING besides just asking if they want to do anything with you! If all you have you do is just approach a pony and offer friendship, I would have been swarming with friends already!”
Lofty rolled her eyes. Well, nopony likes a jerk, but that’s another talk. “There’s other things you have to do after that, like spend time with them and make sure they don’t hate you. Mom calls it mainta-maintanining relationships or something.”
Blueblood sighed. “It still sounds far too simple, but I’ll take your word for now.”
The two broke off as they heard an approaching wagon, along with the excited squeals and cheers of the various little ponies inside. “Well, I have to get going,” Lofty said. “Class is going to start soon.” And with that, she galloped away, leaving Blueblood alone with his thoughts yet again.
----------
The clanging of the school bell was barely audible over the pounding of hooves and squealing of foals. The young ponies, their bodies still pumped with sugary breakfasts and a desire not to sit on their rumps another moment more, all charged at the school playground at once. So fast was their escape that more than a few teachers were left dazed and surprised at the onslaught; it was a miracle that they were able to herd the foals to the proper grounds at all, let alone not lose one or two in the confusion.
Blueblood and Ribbon walked to the playground side-by-side, if only so they had anchor in this madness. By the time they finally stepped onto the soft grass, the rest of their schoolmates had begun to fan out and take their usual positions amongst the toys and playsets. “So, you wanna go meet up with everypony else? I heard Gusty got some of the new Daring-Do toys, so we were all going to play by the sandbox.”
Daring-Do? Those books are still around? “Sorry, but there’s something else I wanted to do.”
Ribbon frowned. “Oh. Well, I guess I can keep you company.”
Blueblood sighed, then quickly flashed a smile at the waiting Ribbon. “I’ll be fine by myself. You can go ahead and play with them if you want. I just wanted to take a look around.”
Ribbon wanted to say something, but her mind quickly returned to all the time she was wasting not playing with Daring-Do toys, and she quickly galloped to the sandbox to join the rest of her crew. Blueblood watched as she took her seat next to Gusty, who had just finished sculpting what was probably supposed to be some ancient temple and was eagerly readying the characters of their little play. A part of him wanted to join in, if only to maintain the friendship he had already built, but soon enough his ego reasserted itself, and he soon found himself scanning the entire playground for somepony to befriend.
The grass rustled underneath his hooves with every step he took. The ponies around him barely even noticed he existed, instead focusing far more on their own activities than the colt that was creepily scooping them out. Blueblood himself was eager to not advertise his presence at the moment; if he was going to take over the school this way, then he would need to make sure the friends he used were worthy of his presence.
He looked at a pair of chubby foals chewing on wild weeds. Too unsanitary. I must have my standards, after all.
Next came a trio of fillies jumping rope. I have enough fillies as it is. And besides, rope is a rather pitiful weapon in a battle.
He looked over towards the tree from yesterday, where some fillies and colts were grunting angrily and jumping fruitlessly at the ribbon. He raised an eye at this. I never did get around to asking them what the deal with that ribbon was. Perhaps later, I will…
“Hey! ‘Lie-On!’”
Blueblood froze in place. Even after only a day of knowing that voice, he could tell who it belonged to. And sure enough, Orange Peel emerged from the crowds around him, along with Snowball and a third, dusty-grey coated colt. Before Blueblood could regain control of his movements, the three had already surrounded him in the same manner as yesterday, only with an extra body to help tighten the noose. “So, how’s it going, ‘Lie-On?!’”
Blueblood scratched the side of his face with one hoof, if only to calm his nerves slightly. “Um…my name is Leon.”
“Oh, we know, ‘Lie-On,’” said Snowball. “Does it bug you to have such a stupid name?”
Wait…they were trying to mock me with ‘Lie-On?’ I’ve been called far worse things… Blueblood straightened his body out, raised his head high, and smiled. “It’s all right. I know my name is stupid.”
The three bullies stopped moving. In the few times they had pulled this on other foals, not a single one of them had gotten a response quite like that. Mostly, it ended with lots of crying, some mane pulling, and eventually their parents giving the parents of their victims money to make things stop. The new colt was especially flabbergasted, if his wide-open jaw was any indication. “Wh-What are you talking about?”
As the confusion continued, Blueblood began to realize the situation he was in. Here he was, surrounded by three of the toughest foals in his class. Only a few months ago, he would have been sending agents to speak to such toughs, hiring them on an extra muscle while he schemed and plotted his way to greater and more glorious heights. Now, however, he had a chance to prove himself at an even greater level than before. Now, he had the chance to turn old enemies into friends.
Orange Peel glanced back and forth between his two compatriots. “Guys, we gotta keep focused!”
Blueblood scratched the back of his neck uncertainly. Knowing how to do something was one thing, but actually doing it was an entirely different can of worms. “So, I was thinking, perhaps we got off on the wrong hoof yesterday. Maybe if we give it another chance, we can be, you know…friends?”
Now it was Orange Peel’s turn to make a twisted, confuzzled face. “Wait…you want to be friends?”
Blueblood quickly gave an affirmative nod. “That’s exactly it.”
Orange Peel took a few steps back, his eyes widening with terror. “You mean…the colt who hangs out with fillies and has a big brain wants to be friends with me?”
Small beads of perspiration began to leak down Blueblood’s face. Even a pony as naturally oblivious as he could sense that something was about to go horribly wrong here. Nonetheless, he still had a plan, and he had to stick to it. “Well…yes. I would be honored to consider all three of you my friends.”
By this point, the spectacle had begun to attract the attention of the other foals on the playground. Snowball felt his stomach give way slightly as he felt more and more eyes lock onto him and his friends. “Um…Orange? Smokey? Maybe we should just…”
He didn’t have a chance to say much else. Orange Peel, already incised at the direction his name-calling had gone in, broke into a gallop and slammed straight into Blueblood. The regal colt flew backwards a good ten feet before landing hard on his back, and before he could even figure out what had just transpired, his nemesis was already standing over him. “Now listen, you stupid little shrimp! I am not, and will never be, friends with a filly-loving idiot like you!”
Blueblood’s eyes quivered in terror, his heart pounding like a drum, as all blood slowly drained from his face. Wh-What did I do wrong? Where did I make a mistake? “I-I’m sorry about yesterday. Can we please…?”
“You ran into me!” Orange Peel’s eyes dilated slightly, his voice shaking with every passing moment. “Because of you, the teachers told my parents what happened! I’ve been grounded for two weeks because you were such a klutz that you tripped over your own hooves!”
The grey-coated colt, Smokey, took a few slow steps forward. “Hey, uh, Peel? M-Maybe we should lay off him?”
Snowball backpedaled slightly away from the mess. He could already hear the teachers beginning to approach. “Yeah, I think you made your point!”
Orange Peel looked back up at his terrified friends briefly, before returning his attention to Blueblood. “You…If I ever see you again, I’ll…”
“You’ll do what?”
Everypony’s eyes turned to the newest speaker. Even Blueblood, now on the verge of crying from his bruised ego, managed to look up enough to make out Lofty and Gusty standing next to him. Orange Peel and his cohorts very quickly began to back far, far away from the duo. “O-Oh, Gusty! I-I never thought you’d…”
Gusty’s eyes never moved, and in fact seemed to intensify to the point where they could have probably melted steel if she really, really wanted to. “Are you trying to hurt our friend here? I don’t like ponies that hurt my friends.”
Snowball quickly turned about and galloped away, with Smokey following close behind him. Orange Peel paused briefly, his eyes glancing back and forth for a possible course of action, but the sight of Miss Brightly approaching Blueblood made up his mind for him. With a quick hop, he disappeared into the crowd, already preparing for a much longer sentence in the back of his mind.
By the time his teacher had arrived, Blueblood had already pulled himself back onto his hooves. His eyes were still stinging, but nothing else seemed broken besides his pride. “I-I’m fine.”
Brightly let out a sigh of relief. “I would recommend you stay away from Orange Peel. He seems to have it out for you.” She half-closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you’re at a new school, but I’m afraid not everypony here is perfectly nice.”
“I…I understand,” Blueblood said, coughing slightly between words. “I guess he just didn’t want to be friends.”
“You can’t be friends with everypony, sadly,” Miss Brightly said. “Listen, if you need to go see the nurse, just let me know. I have to go find Orange Peel and give him a piece of my mind.”
And with that, Miss Brightly trotted away in search of her elusive misbehaving pupil. Once she was out of earshot, Gusty turned back to her two friends. “Good thing I came when I did, huh? I didn’t expect Orange Peel’s jerks to jump you like that.”
“Y-Yeah, thanks,” Blueblood said.
Lofty sighed and kicked at the ground. “Hey, Gusty? Do you mind if I talk to Leon alone for a minute? I’ll be back at the castle in a minute.”
Gusty paused for a moment, then nodded. “Sure. Just make it fast. Daring’s gotta find the Lost Scepter of Mystery, and we don’t have a lot of recess time left.”
Once Gusty had cantered far enough away, Lofty turned back to Blueblood. “I…I didn’t think you were gonna try to make friends with those guys.”
Blueblood sniffed back a few frustrated droplets. “I didn’t plan on this. It just…happened. I thought having friends like that would help elevate me a little.”
Lofty titled her head. “Trust me, ponies like Orange Peel are not the ones you should be around. That colt’s been picking fights since he started here.” Her head then tilted the opposite direction. “Maybe you should just hold off on making a whole bunch of friends right now.”
Blueblood’s eyes drifted slightly leftward, if only to break any contact he might have with Lofty’s own. “B-But…I…I need…”
He stopped in mid-thought. Indeed, that was the only way to keep his brain from simply exploding. The commoner was right; his attempts at making friends had failed miserably. He could try again, but there wasn’t enough time in the day for him to pull the same trick this recess. And in any case, if the schoolyard was anything like the court, being humiliated like that would make things far more troublesome than he liked. Something like this had only happened a few times before in his entire life, although only one case was his fault as far as he was concerned, and every time it would take weeks before the other nobles stopped snickering whenever he walked into the room or came close to an apple pie.
Nopony was going to be his friend now. Nopony wants to be friends with a weakling.
Lofty, having failed that mail-order psychic course her mom ordered her from an old Pluto comic, wasn’t able to read Blueblood’s mind, but she could still see his face scrunching and eyes watering. Realizing just what was about to happen, she quickly threw a hoof over Blueblood’s neck. A few germs would be worth it if it helped the Princess. “Come on, you can still play with us. You know about Daring-Do?” Blueblood nodded silently, not even being slightly bothered by Lofty’s leg’s position right now. “Well, we’re playing with Gusty’s new figures. You can join us. I’m sure they’ll let you use Ahuizotl. H-He has red lights in his eyes this time.”
Blueblood was silent for a few moments, then finally brought himself to crack a tiny smile. “Okay. I guess that will do.”
Lofty nodded, and the two started walking back to the box. Gusty was already over there, swinging a tiny plastic Daring-Do figure around, while Ribbon was holding one of the incidental characters in the series and Buttons was providing some kind of overly-dramatic narration for whatever adventure the toys were supposed to be on. All three fillies glanced up at Blueblood with sympathetic eyes, having no doubt witnessed his disgrace at Orange Peel’s hooves.
And yet, deep within his heart of hearts, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy. At least he wasn’t completely alone this time.
----------
The rest of the day went by pretty much uneventfully. During lunch, Blueblood and Ribbon simply ate together, while Lofty continued to watch them all from afar. The magic lesson was more or less the same as the previous day, complete with a lot of unlevitated tennis balls at the end of the day.
And then it was time for History, or rather, what constituted History in a Kindergarten class.
Miss Brightly pointed at the easel, on which were photos of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. “And so you can see, there are two Princesses that rule Equestria. Without them, we wouldn’t have the day or night. And without that, we wouldn’t have things like sunny days and full moons. Where would we be, then?”
Blueblood rolled his eyes. We also wouldn’t have a stable climate, seasons, and the ability to live, but I guess you shouldn’t load all that to a bunch of simple foals.
A green colt shot up a hoof. “Oh oh oh! I know, I know! We’d all be dead, right?!”
The entire class laughed at this latest bit of obvious information, and even Blueblood had to chuckle at the simplicity of it all. The colt blushed and sank down in his chair. “Well…yes, Olive, although I wouldn’t say it quite like that.” Another hoof, this time from Cherry, shot up. “Yes, Cherry?”
“The Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageant said that Unicorns used to raise the sun and moon,” the filly asked. “Why can’t they just do that again?”
Miss Brightly’s smile grew, if only to cover for her growing unease with this line of inquiry. “Well, it was a very difficult thing to do. It required every Unicorn to use all their power to keep the sun and moon in the right orbit, and they weren’t able to do a lot of the things we can do with magic because of that.” The smile grew another few inches; any larger, and it might have fallen off her face and scurried across the floor to escape. “But anyway, when you were very little fillies and colts, Princess Celestia was the only ruler we still had. It must have been very difficult for her to move both the sun and moon like that for a thousand years, but she did it anyway because she loves us.”
Orange Peel scoffed. “That’s not what dad told me.”
“Now, just last year, Princess Luna finally returned to Equestria. The two sisters have since made up for their fighting, and like all good sisters have become best friends.”
*B-R-R-R-RING!*
----------
The last recess found the group back where they had first met each other: standing under an oak tree, staring at a ribbon.
Blueblood’s eyes stared up at the target. The small bit of pink fabric was still tied around the same branch, its tassels flapping defiantly in the wind, all while the little group watched in awe. “So…what is the point of this?”
Buttons put a hoof to her mouth and coughed loudly, clearing her throat for a long-winded preschool tale. “A long, long time ago, there was a filly here that was really good at magic, but not much else. All of the other ponies used to tease her and call her names, and because of that, she had no friends. One day, she came to school with a big ribbon in her mane. But when she got picked on again, she got so angry that her magic untied the ribbon, floated it up to the tree branch, and then tied it in a knot.”
The other foals all went, “Ohhhhh!” Blueblood, on the other hoof, just went, “Oh.” A Magic Kindergarten student powerful enough to do all that? I would hate to run into a pony that strong, assuming they even existed to begin with.
“Apparently, nopony was ever able to get the knot untied,” Gusty added. “Whatever magic that Unicorn used has made even teachers cry out for mommy!”
“And it hasn’t changed at all,” said Ribbon. “The magic must be keeping it from getting torn up or wet!”
Or, one of the janitors took the original down and some stupid foals put another back up to confuse simple-minded ponies like you. “And what happened to this filly?”
Buttons opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a sudden burst of exuberance from Gusty. “I can tell you that! Turns out that filly had a really tough big brother, and when he found out what was going on, he valiantly stormed into the school yard and beat those bullies to a pulp!” The filly leaned back slightly, and if Blueblood didn’t know any better he would have sworn she was swooning. “I wish I could have seen that! It sounds like the coolest thing ever, right?!”
The other foals, to Gusty’s eternal despair, failed to share in her excitement. “Um…if he really did break into the school, wouldn’t the teachers stop him?” asked Ribbon.
Gusty’s grin drooped down into a frown. “Well…ah…”
“And my mom would have said told me if something like that happened,” said Buttons. “After all, she went to school here, too.”
“ANYWAY!” Lofty said, and in the process called the group’s attention to herself, “it’s a game around the school to try and get the ribbon down off the branch. The teachers give anypony that can actually do it a free cupcake during lunch.” She fell back on her haunches, her teeth barred in frustration at the impossible task before her. “We’re not allowed to use scissors to cut it, and it’s tied so tight that nopony can pull it down just by grabbing it. And none of us can use magic right now, so we can’t just zap it down.”
The fillies all moaned in defeat, their tiny little brains unable to comprehend a solution to this dilemma. Blueblood, on the other hoof, grinned and clicked his hooves together in certain victory. So that’s the key to victory. Even if the whole friendship scheme has failed, I can still prove my superiority over the rest of these foals by pulling that ribbon down!
His eyes drifted over to the tree itself. It was a rather massive thing, and looked positively ancient when compared to much of the surrounding plant life. The branch the ribbon rested on, however, was far too thin for anypony to hang off of; no doubt that was why the school picked that one to hang the ribbon on. Even if he could climb it, there was no way he could crawl over to the ribbon’s resting spot.
He then eyed the rest of his teammates. Lofty was already trying to flutter her way up there, but her wings were far too small and weak to lift the rest of her body high enough. Ribbon and Buttons had tried climbing onto Gusty, but the weight was too much and all three had collapsed into a tangled knot of pony bits. That left him with one obvious solution:
There was no way he was going to get that ribbon down today.
By this point, the Unicorns were trying desperately to use their magic, only to accomplish nothing but showering the place like a fireworks display. Blueblood had to facehoof at the stupidity of it all, but a quick glare from Lofty dissuaded him from that action. “So…you’re really going to do this every day?”
“Until…one of us…gets that pudding!” Buttons gasped.
“Th-Then…we’re gonna…share it!” added Gusty.
Blueblood shrugged. “But what’s the point?! At our strength, it’s not possible!”
Lofty’s response was to point a hoof up at the branch. “A filly got it up there, didn’t she? And if the great Fluttershy can take down a Cockatrice with just a stare, a bunch of fillies can certainly-”
*B-R-R-R-R-RING!*
Fillies and colts alike moaned as the bell rang, signaling them back to class to finish the day. The ribbon would have to wait another day.
----------
The school bell rang out yet again, signaling an end to the day’s festivities. And like the day before, the fillies and foals broke into a stampede the minute the clanging began, all of them in a desperate attempt to get home. A few friends exchanged daily farewells, and a lot of foals boarded the school wagons and carts, but otherwise it was just a regular bunch of children being children.
Sky Bloom’s face was practically buried under her smile as she saw Blueblood approach. The colt, however, appeared to have lost the spring in his step. In fact, he looked more than a little sad. The servant’s smile quickly faded as a result. “Leon? Leon, what’s wrong?”
Blueblood shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
“Well, after how eager you were to get here, Princess Celestia thought something wonderful was going to happen.” She sighed. “It was those bullies from before, wasn’t it?”
The memory, still fresh in Blueblood’s brain, caused the colt’s face to visibly twist for a brief moment before returning to his normal frown. “It was horrible. I wanted to make friends so Princess Celestia would turn me back, so I asked them if they wanted to be friends with me. They could have just said no, but Orange Peel was so…”
“Honey, I think you got it all wrong,” Sky Bloom sighed. “What Princess Celestia wants isn’t just for you to make a lot of friends. How much you have of something isn’t important, especially when it comes to friendships.”
Blueblood’s heart almost stopped. All this time…he was wrong. The whole day was utterly wasted before it had even begun. And now, he was right back where he started: a stupid little colt, wandering through a dumb game his Aunt Celestia had thought up to amuse herself.
“L-Let’s just go home,” he muttered.
----------
The sight of the setting sun brought Celestia even less joy than before. Blueblood had barely eaten anything at dinner, and was insistent on being left alone. Even worse, her sister’s words still rang through her ears. Am I really playing favorites here? I-Is what I’m doing wrong? Should I just had Blueblood banished the minute I returned to power?
There was no answer waiting for her, both in the reality of Equestria and in the back of her mind. She sighed as nostalgia washed over her again…
----------
Princess Celestia trotted down the halls of her palace, her nephew clinging to her back like his life depended on it. All around the two, servants dashed for cover, lest they end up trampled beneath their ruler/employer’s gilded hooves. By the time she had reached the front foyer, nearly every noble within a stone’s throw of Canterlot Castle was already lined up for the momentous occasion.
Celestia paused at the top of the staircase, her eyes facing straight towards the massive double doors. The guards had already lowered the drawbridge, and lookouts were stationed at every conceivable post to keep a close vigil on the surrounding countryside. Blueblood quickly hopped down and stood next to his aunt. As much as he scanned the crowd, however, he could see no sign of a certain pair of ponies. “Aunt Celestia, have you seen mother and father?”
“I’m certain they’re here somewhere,” Celestia whispered back. “Just stay close to me for the time being. I don’t want you to get lost in the crowd.”
“And what are we doing here, anyway?” he whined.
Celestia smiled and winked at the colt. “With luck, adding another pony to our family here.”
Blueblood nodded and smiled, but wasn’t really feeling much better after hearing the news. In all his years, he had never quite been welcome amongst the rest of the royal foals. He never understood why, either. Aunt Celestia had always told him that he was a quick runner and bright thinker, and that anypony would be lucky to have him as a friend, and yet none of the other ponies bothered to give him the time of day. Occasionally, he could catch something from their parents about his own, but he never quite understood what they meant by calling them “Arrogant flankholes.”
Suddenly, the entire chamber became filled with the sound of blaring trumpets. Everypony snapped out of their gossip groups and stood at attention as the doors slowly opened. On the other side stood a pair of nobleponies, one a Unicorn mare and the other a Pegasus stallion. Both walked forward a few steps before bowing in unison.
Another Unicorn, this time looking like a dressed-up member of the servant pool, sidestepped past his masters and unfurled a scroll. “Princess Celestia of Equestria, we are pleased to announce the arrival of…” Blueblood scratched his ears, missing the names entirely in the confusion. “…The Prince and Princess of Roam.”
The nobles bowed in response to the previous bowing, and the royal couple gradually returned to their hooves. Celestia smiled as big a smile her current situation would allow. “It is always a pleasure to meet with members of the nobility from across Equestria. I trust everything in going well in Roam?”
The Princess nodded. She spoke in an accent that Blueblood had never heard before; it was difficult for him to make out anything she said. “Roam is standing strong as ever. Alas, it is not our city we must discuss.”
“As we said before, my wife had a filly just over three years ago,” said the Prince. “It was a wondrous occasion, to be sure.”
Celestia nodded along. “And yet, every time I request to meet this mysterious foal of yours, you claim to be too busy to show her to me. I have no plans to snatch your filly away; I just wish for a little time to know who she is.”
The two visiting royals chuckled nervously before stepping aside. Behind them, hidden beneath a silk cape decorated with smiley faces and miniature suns, was a small pink Unicorn filly. The Canterlot elite whispered amongst each other as the tiny pony, barely old enough to be out of diapers, was prodded forward by her parents. For once, even Celestia was left dumbfounded over how to make the child more at ease; even her gentle smile had no effect on the filly.
The Roaman Princess cleared her throat before announcing, in the loudest voice Blueblood had ever heard, “We are…pleased to announce Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
Blueblood snickered briefly at the name, only to be quickly hushed up by a disapproving glare from his aunt. “She is adorable, but why were you keeping her a secret from me?”
“Well…you see, there’s something about Mi Amore Cadenza…” said the Prince. He leaned over to his daughter and whispered something in her ear. The filly’s face fell, her cheeks blushing as she did so, but she relented and undid the foal-friendly clasps on the front. Her cape soon rolled to the ground, and everypony gasped in shock and amazement at what they saw.
Beneath where the cape had covered were a pair of wings.
The Princess sighed, her eyes starting to water as the inevitable came. “Our daughter is an Alicorn, like Your Royal Highness. And that’s why we…decided it would be best if she…lived here in Canterlot.”
----------
*CLANG!*
Princess Celestia almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the city’s clock tower. The bells continued another seven times before coming to a stop. She recognized the significance of the hour immediately; it was time for the changing of the guard from her usual daytime Pegasi and Unicorns, to a mix of Unicorns and Luna’s personal Night Guard. She could never understand what Luna saw in things like bats and spiders, but then again, her sister’s idea of a pet was a giant three-headed dog with a bad temperament. Luna was just full of mysteries that just begged to never be discovered, lest they drive a pony to madness.
Still, the changing meant that Shining Armor would soon be retiring for the night. Her Captain of the Guard had his quarters on the castle grounds, next to the regular barracks, and it would be easy for her to find him. There was only problem. Maybe Luna’s right. I should probably lay back, and…
“I wanted to make friends so Princess Celestia would turn me back, so I asked them if they wanted to be friends with me.”
Celestia was practically dumbstruck by the simplicity of it all. Issues about fairness can wait for now. I have a Captain to visit…
----------
The evening was drawing to a close, and so was Shining Armor’s shift. The posts were changed without incident, the Night Guard was dispatched to help safeguard Princess Luna, and the Captain of the Guard was finding himself more than a little exhausted. As for Blueblood, he was safely secured in his room for the time being, seemingly distraught over something that had happened earlier that day. In any case, he was more than ready to crash onto his bed and fall into a six-hour coma.
The first clue that a restful night’s sleep wasn’t in his future was when he saw the lights on inside his private residence, just a short walk away from the barracks the regular guards used. The second clue were Princess Celestia’s personal bodyguards standing in front of his door, eyeing him with a mixture of respect and confusion as to what they were doing here. And finally, there was that special moment where he pushed the door open, only to find Princess Celestia herself standing in his living room.
The Captain’s heart shrank as Celestia’s eyes locked onto his own. There was nothing to suggest any real hostility on her part, and her mouth gave only an inviting smile, but that did not fool Shining Armor for a moment. He had been a member of the Royal Guard for long enough that he knew the truth: when Princess Celestia made a house call, things were about to get very, very bad.
“Ah, Shining Armor!” The Princess called. If she was attempting to fake not noticing him arrive, she had already thrown that chance out the window when she had given him a dagger-filled stare. “I apologize for disturbing you at this late hour, but there is a matter of the upmost importance that we need to discuss.”
“O-Of course, Princess!”
Shining Armor quickly trotted up to the table and seated himself, while the guards behind him pushed the door closed. Celestia smiled, poured him a cup of tea, and leaned back slightly. “I take it you already know about Prince Blueblood’s…condition.”
Shining grunted, both out of frustration with Prince Blueblood’s mere existence and because Princess Celestia had brought him peach tea instead of the normal variety. “I’m afraid so. Why? Have we figured out what his sentence is?”
“Actually, that’s what I wish to discuss.” Celestia took a sip and floated her cup back down. Her sigh was so loud it could be heard over even the rattling of the saucer and cup coming into contact. “I have Prince Blueblood attending Magic Kindergarten, the same one that you and Twilight Sparkle attended when you were foals. I had hoped that his time there would go smoothly, but it seems he has already attracted some…unwelcome attention from a gang of rambunctious foals.”
“In other words, he’s got a bully.” Shining Armor’s hooves clacked against the floor as his mind racked over whether he hated bullies or Blueblood more. “Twiley- I mean…”
Celestia chuckled. “Twiley is fine, although I don’t think she would appreciate me calling her that.”
The tension lifted, if only slightly, and Shining Armor allowed himself a small smile. “If you wish, Your Highness. But as I was saying, Twiley used to get picked on a lot, too. I remember coming home from school to find her crying about some mean pony and how they were teasing her. I take it Blueblood gave you the same story?”
Celestia nodded, then took another sip. “Yes, I’m afraid so. I always knew that Blueblood had difficulty making friends, but this is the first time he’s had a real enemy.”
Shining Armor smirked from behind his teacup. If he thinks they’re bad, just wait until he gets banished forever…
“Which is why I want you to help him.”
The following spit take was certainly impressive. The tea managed to find a perfect trajectory from Shining Armor’s lips right to Princess Celestia’s face, splashing the Alicorn with a healthy puddle of liquid. The guards barely managed to hold back a riotous uproar of laughter as their Captain sank back on his haunches and their ruler wiped herself down with a nearby towel. Surprisingly, she still wore a smile. “I…take it you are surprised?”
Shining Armor coughed and gagged, trying desperately to sooth that unwelcome, painful feeling in the back of his throat. “P-Princess Celestia…what could I possibly do? Do you expect me to march a battalion to a preschool just to keep your nephew from being picked on?”
“Nothing of the sort, Captain.” Celestia set the towel aside and took another sip, pausing only to refill her cup. “Rather, I want you to include him in your training regimen.”
Shining Armor set both forehooves on the table and leaned inwards. “Wait…are you telling me you want your nephew to beat up these foals?”
Celestia shook her head. “Nothing of the sort, my dear Shining Armor. I abhor violence in any form, and I most certainly don’t want my family engaging in stupid and pointless battles. But I am not a naïve mare, and I know that sometimes, as much as we hate to admit it, a pony must be ready to stand for themselves. As you well know, there is more to being a member of the Royal Guard than being physically strong. You want you to instill those values into Blueblood. Perhaps if he had a soul like yours, we wouldn’t be in this position to begin with.”
Shining Armor was struck speechless. Not since he first learned that he was being promoted to Captain of the Guard was he as mystified as he was at this moment. The order came from the Princess, and there was no way he could justify ignoring such a command. But on the other hoof, he couldn’t quite abandon his loyalty to the plan, and such a scheme would require him to actually spend time with his dreaded nemesis.
Then again, she is giving me the foal on a silver platter.
Shining Armor rose and bowed, putting on as many formal airs as he could. “Princess, it is an honor to assist you with this. I promise you that Blueblood will get exactly what he deserves.” He paused as he saw Celestia raise an inquisitive eyebrow at this. “I mean, I promise not to treat him any differently from other recruits.”
Celestia nodded, her smile spreading farther and farther across her lips. “See that you don’t. He needs to understand that being related to me through some arbitrary ancient bloodline does not mean he can simply ride on my tail through life. Just remember, though. He may have the mind of a grown stallion, but when he was a foal, he wasn’t the most athletic colt in Canterlot. If he is seriously hurt in any way, and I find out it was because of you, we shall be having ourselves another lovely chat.”
Every muscle in Shining Armor’s body froze in an instant. His lips trembled, his eyes quivered, and his breathing became slow and labored as he stayed prone against the floor. Her work done, Celestia simply walked out of the small house, her guards following right behind her. By the time the door closed, Shining was barely able to regain control of his mental faculties.
This is going to be harder than I thought.