"So, when is he supposed to be back?" I asked, trying to keep my tone even and casual. I don't think I was altogether successful, as Sue looked over at me with a knowing smile. I'd never gotten a straight answer out of her about how much she knew of the situation between Joe and I, but she seemed content to leave our business to us.
"Today. Maybe a few hours from now." She answered.
I panicked. Did I look okay? Why hadn't I thought to get a touch up on my hooves? Was my mane even in place?
"Couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" I whined.
She rolled her eyes. "You never asked. I figured you might be interested, but I'm a baker, not a mind-reader."
My eyes narrowed as I snorted. "I might have been a little quiet lately, but I thought I was being obvious."
She leaned on the counter with a playful smirk. "And believe you me, that has made the time go by like a dream. I thought the only thing you princely types ever sugared was your words, but to my surprise you actually seem competent enough for a junior baker."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked, confused.
"Unless you think being a baker is insulting." She replied, arching her brows. "Now, I believe you have some work to do in the kitchen. We have a few orders and then you can get to work on Princess Luna's order. How does she manage to eat all those donuts without ruining her figure?"
"More ponies started showing up to Night Court. And I think the spell she uses for bringing out the night uses quite a lot of energy."
"Huh, guess that makes sense. Go ahead and make another dozen for her order. You know what she likes, so it's up to you."
***
The bell rang through the shop as the front door opened. Excited and nervous, I poked my head out to see if it was Joe. Sue sighed as she walked to the counter to help the customer. "It's not him, again."
I sighed frustratedly and went back into the kitchen. Rubbing my temples, I heard Sue apologize to the customer and take their order.
Get a grip, Blue! I yelled at myself internally. You're going to drive Sue nuts and then how will that look to Joe?
The bell rang out again and I was out by the counter before I could stop myself. Sue Chef didn't even look up this time. She sighed, flicked a page over on the magazine she had out in front of her and shook her head. "It's not him. Again. Should I even ask if the orders are done?"
"The orders are done, the dishes are clean, the kitchen is immaculate and set up for tomorrow, the old dough is portioned and in the fridge for you to take home, the inventory is checked and in order, the laundry service came by, the laundry was sorted and set up for tomorrow, and I feel a little light headed to be honest." I finished by sitting down where I stood. Hard.
Sue turned around to look at me with concern. "You overexerted yourself magically with all of that at once, didn't you?"
"Not all of it at once." I protested feebly.
She looked toward the ceiling, as if in supplication. "Unless I'm mistaken, running multiple spells is not your special talent. I'm surprised you're still conscious."
"Thank you, Sue." I deadpanned.
"Are you even thinking about what that would do to Joe? There's a nice welcome for him, to come back and see you passed out on the floor. It's not like you're Twilight Sparkle." She remarked, waving a hoof idly.
"Thank. You. Sue." I said through gritted teeth. Of all the things I was prepared to deal with today, being compared to Celestia's precious bookworm wasn't one of them.
"You're welcome." She sighed. "So, what is your special talent anyways?"
"You sure your talent isn't in idle gossip?" I lashed back.
She snorted, but smiled. "I'm just trying to make polite conversation."
"Well, politely go boil your head." I snapped, closing my eyes to keep the room from spinning. "Actually, don't. I just cleaned the deep-fryers and don't want to try pulling mane hairs out of them."
Sue snorted, although it seemed to be more out of laughter than frustration. "I'm going to ignore that because I know you don't mean it."
Turning away, the bell rang out again. I didn't even open my eyes. Suddenly, passing out on the floor didn't seem like such a bad idea.
"I'm back!" Joe declared in a sing-song voice. My eyes snapped open and I lunged up to my hooves, trotted around the counter and stopped just short of running into Joe. "Well, someone's happy to see me!"
"You have no idea." Sue remarked behind me. I decided to ignore her.
I fixed my eyes on the pony of my affections. "Joe! I have something to tell you.”
Joe waved a hoof. “Look, it was horrible of me to try and sneak around trying to—“
I grabbed his muzzle and closed it with both hooves. "I don't want to hear that again." His eyebrows bunched together in confusion. "I mean, you've been really good to me and even if we're not from the same level socially, I can't ignore how good you are for me. You've made me the happiest I've been since--" My voice broke, and I coughed into my hoof to clear my throat. "Since my parents got sick."
Letting go of his muzzle, I wrapped my hooves around him. He embraced me in return. "Why would I think you're horrible? I know what it feels like when somepony is using me to serve their own ends. You might’ve wanted to push our friendship to a new level, but you were finally honest about it.”
Sitting back to look me in the eyes, he answered. "Because I don't want to lose you. I don't think I could stand going back...back to not having a friend like you. I've tried telling myself I couldn't be in your world. I've tried telling myself that you'd hurt me or think of yourself as above me.”
"I don’t think you're horrible,” I said simply.
"That's all you have to say?" He asked, surprised. "Because I've got to say, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement."
"I really don't think you're horrible?" I offered, smirking. I narrowed my eyes, eliciting a laugh from Joe and another hug. "Oh come on, you made me wait a week. How could I not mess with you?"
I pushed against him teasingly, but he didn't release me. "I don't know, I think it would be easy to be nice to somepony you love. As a friend.” He amended quickly.
I realized how close we were. “Is that all we are? Friends?”
“Could we be something more?” He asked, almost dismissive. Then he realized I was serious. "Sugar and spice, Blue. You get both with me." Joe said, holding me at a forelimbs length. “I’m not the nicest or the most refined or even usually attracted to stallions—“
It clicked. The feeling I got every time I ever called him a friend. It was because he wasn’t just a friend to me. He was maybe the first pony I knew who could really handle me at my worst. Now I just had to convince him that I was feeling what I was feeling.
“‘Usually attracted to stallions?’” I asked. “But you are attracted to me?”
“Blueblood, you’re one of the most beautiful ponies I’ve ever known. But beyond your physical attributes, you’ve got something deep in your eyes that I can’t wait to see ignite.” He brushed my mane out of my face. The contact was electrifying.
His wide grin warmed my heart and made my brain go fuzzy. He leaned in and I let out a soft, undignified squeak as Joe gave me the softest kiss I'd ever received from anypony. My limbs went weak and I returned his affection with unbridled enthusiasm.
Sue coughed politely and I was glad to see nopony else in the store. I blushed and turned away from Sue, but I must have done so quickly because the room spun violently.
When I came to, Joe's turned to me with a smile. In spite of his efforts, he still looked concerned about me. "You overdid it today, huh?" He asked.
I nodded. "Had a lot of nervous energy."
He let out a shaky breath that bordered on laughter. "I can only imagine. Well, and Sue's description of your behavior painted an adorable picture."
"Shut up, I'm not adorable." I complained.
He kissed the end of my nose and I blushed at his loving gaze. "Definitely adorable."
I covered my face with my hooves. "Hate you."
"Love you too." He replied, unfazed.
"I take it my nephew is awake?" Luna's voice called from the doorway. Joe turned so that Luna could inspect me herself. We were in Joe's office, which I'd only seen rarely. I'd have to remember to ask Joe about the cot I was on and why it was here. "It seems you have a tendency to fall unconscious around here more often than the average pony."
"Ugh, is everypony going to make fun of me today?" I tried getting up, but was stopped by Joe's hoof.
"Actually, it is night time now." Luna pointed out ever-so-helpfully.
I started, only to get pushed back down. "What about Night Court?"
"Cancelled it tonight to see where my top advisor was. There was only a hoof-full of non-emergency cases that I had to reschedule."
"I'm sorry I interrupted your normal duties, princess." I apologized.
Luna sighed. "Believe me, I needed the interruption." Turning to Joe, she asked, "So, what is your recommendation?"
Joe shrugged. "We could trade stories and eat donuts. I still have your order here and there's plenty to go around. Sue is around here too, maybe she'd like to join in."
"I'll go ask her, you see to my nephew's happiness." Luna arched a single brow knowingly, her command tinged with a bit of good-humored threatening.
***
"All right, cutie mark stories!" Sue Chef announced. "I'll start. My mother was sick at the time and dad was completely useless in the kitchen. So I woke up early one morning, broke out my mom's recipe cards and followed the instructions. When I served it to my parent's in bed, voila! Cutie mark." She turned to show her mark, a patterned china plate with a fork sticking out of a pile of noodles and white sauce.
Nudging Joe, the stallion blushed briefly and showed off his pink-iced donut cutie mark. "Not much to mine really. Made donuts for a bake sale for school. Bam! Cutie mark."
His eyes turned to Princess Luna. "What about you, princess?"
Sue clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Oh yes, please tell us!"
Luna smiled and shook her head. "'Tis an old and frankly boring story." She demurred, waving a hoof.
"Oh, please, princess!" Sue looked about ready to burst, her lower lip quivering and her eyes as big as dinner plates.
Luna looked at Sue and snorted in amusement. "Fine, put away those vast pools! A diamond dog puppy would look less longingly at a ruby!"
Her horn lit to show a scene above her head as she narrated. "A long time ago, before the founding of Equestria, our world and the cosmos around it were kept in motion by their own natures. Sun and moon rose and fell of their own accord and time largely passed in natural harmony." An image of the world spinning slowly, encircling a bright sun and encircled by a soft white moon appeared.
"Then everything changed when Discord came to power. His chaos broke the forces of nature." The scene became a helter-skelter of clashing colors and mind-boggling impossibilities made real. Ordinary objects took on lives of their own, strange patterns wove themselves around houses and ponies were caught in bout of unpredictable weather and strange phenomena.
"My sister and I were young unicorns born to the strongest pair out of the two strongest and oldest houses of unicorn nobility. Our parents produced us before Discord's reign. Our houses kept much of the chaos from our land, but this time was running out." The sisters as young fillies appeared, in a city protected by strong shields held together by light and dark colored unicorns.
"As Discord's chaos destabilized Equestria, Celestia and I found ourselves under increasing pressure to obtain our marks and take the elements of the tree of harmony to restore order. The strain was incredible for two fillies." She glanced at me briefly. "Celestia earned hers first by developing a spell to raise the sun at her command. She helped me to develop a similar spell for the moon and I earned mine. We became the first alicorns in centuries." First Celestia, then Luna were engulfed in brilliant light and sprouted wings. Their manes became the flowing night sky and brilliant rainbow hues that they were today.
"Before us, they were thought of as creatures of myth and legend, even finding their way onto the Equestrian flag long before my sister and I attained such power." The scene changed to show the sister united against Discord. "And, well, the rest is history. With our deep loving connection we were able to wield the Elements of Harmony and banish Discord, establishing our rule by consent of the three tribes and lived in peace. Most of the time, anyway. There were other battles, but those are stories for another time."
As we sat in reverent silence, I finally pried my eyes away from Luna to gauge my companions' response. Their eyes, however, had fixated on me. I drew in a breath slowly and prepared myself for the one question I hated.
Of course, Sue spoke up first. "Alright, Blueblood."
"How could I possibly follow that?" I asked, avoiding the direct gaze of the three ponies before me. "I'm just a prince. Celestia rediscovered a branch of her house which led down to my parents and me."
"Perhaps it is best to leave this for another time. The hour is nearing for ponies to be in bed." Luna announced to my great relief.
Sue sighed, looking at the clock. "Wow, you're right. I didn't realize it was so late!"
The three got up. I tried to follow, but Joe pushed me back down again. "Princess, I will make sure the prince here gets a good night sleep at my place, if you don't mind."
"Of course, Joe. Have a good night, Blueblood!" Luna called as she made her exit.
I sighed, resigning myself to Joe's scrutinous look. It seemed my newly minted coltfriend wasn't about to let this story go.