//------------------------------//
// P.B. and ... Apologies 
// Story: P.B. and J. 
// by TheAmazingMe 
//------------------------------//

"I'm constantly surprised by how much you're willing to put yourself through to get to Trenderhoof. Couldn't you just extend your own royal invitation?" Moondancer asked as we waited for the drawing room doors to open. 

I froze, the anger in me fizzling out with the sheer hysterical simplicity of her suggestion. "Why hadn't that occurred to me?" I asked nopony in particular. "Well, I guess it's a little late now."

Moondancer smothered a laugh. "You might want an assistant."

"I have more pressing concerns." I retorted.

"Oh, you mean like how you're going to get through another encounter with three of the princesses when you can barely tolerate one?" She asked, helpfully.

"Don't think I'm not still sore about that, but no. I'll just extend an apology and offer a truce."

"Oh, well that's good," Moondancer said approvingly. "It's not like Twilight and Cadence are the proper focus of your disdain anyway, Prince Envious."

Jealous. I thought to myself as Moondancer looked over my shoulder. I'm jealous that they took somepony's attention away from me.

"Head's up." Moondancer said, pointing behind me.

"Your Highness." It was Cadence again. Turning around, I saw Twilight standing next to her. Their expressions were schooled into neutrality. Idly, I wondered how much effort that took the Princess of Friendship. Twilight Sparkle wasn't known for her patience and grace. 

I bowed my head. "Your Royal Highnesses, may I offer my sincere apologies to both of you for my words earlier tonight." 

"We all know how well you took being demoted to just 'Your Highness' after Cadence's ascension." Twilight said.  

Princess Cadence gave Twilight a look and piped up. "We're actually here to apologize to you." 

I tilted my head. "Huh?" 

Cadence explained. "We'll have to exist in the same room for tonight without sniping at each other. And, with your position at Aunt Luna's side, we'll be seeing more of you as she holds more events. And, I shouldn't have told you to stay away. It was just too easy to fall back into our old patterns." 

"Well, that's awfully responsible of you." I said, shifting my weight to one side casually. Moondancer elbowed me, knocking my balance off. I recovered quickly, staying on my hooves. "I did mean my apology, though. We need to negotiate a truce between us. Fighting with the two of you is counter-productive, given the obvious favor you're shown." This earned me another elbow. I scowled at first, but Moondancer's meaningful expression made me give in. "Sorry."

We were interrupted by the doors opening. I looked back at the other royals. "A truce?" 

Cadence and Twilight nodded. "Lead on, Your Highness." Cadence offered. Every other noble and notable took immediate notice of us and waited for us to move first.  

I smiled, though I knew better than to accept her offer. "That would hardly be appropriate. Your Royal Highnesses honor me, but I insist." 

"Walk with us." Twilight offered. 

"As you command, Your Royal Highness." I answered. Twilight seemed irritated that I took her words as compulsory, but I smiled at her to clue her into my little joke. Taking it in good humor, she bumped shoulders with me as Moondancer fell in behind us. 

"Well, this is a surprise." Celestia said, a smile growing at the corners of her mouth. "Trenderhoof, I'm sure they need no introduction but this is..." 

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire and Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship." Trenderhoof said excitedly. "Oh, and Prince Blueblood. It is an honor to meet you all." 

Twilight gestured to Moondancer, but I made the introduction first. "Trenderhoof, this is Princess Luna's seneschal, Lady Moondancer." 

He nodded politely. "A pleasure, my lady." 

"And a great pleasure to see my fillies getting along with my nephew." Celestia remarked. "I suppose Princess Luna sent you to take her place? For a mare in charge of her own court, I wish I could turn down as many invitations as she does." 

"Our Princess of the Night extends her thanks, but has nightly duties that require her attention." I replied briskly, none-too-gently pulling a nearby drink server over magically. The pegasus recovered quickly, serving Her Royal Highness and then the rest of us. 

Moondancer gazed around at us as we held our glasses, and I thought for a moment that I'd have to stop her, but it was Trenderhoof who made the toast. "To the Princess of the Day." 

Moondancer lifted her glass and responded. "To the Princess of the Day." Her voice was joined by the other attendees around us.  

As royals, the two other princesses and I merely nodded and Celestia smiled graciously. "Thank you, my little ponies." 

Trenderhoof broke from formality to take charge of the conversation. "You'll forgive me, but I'm curious about how trends have fared here with the highest of Canterlot society. Historically speaking, the traditionalists here are slow to accept new changes." 

"I think you'll find that to be true of many places and ponies." Celestia said. "Although I'd agree that Canterlot is one place that seems not to change. There are many formalities that I wish I could do away with." 

"Formality is just the way to show proper respect for the power and responsibility you wield, Your Royal Highness." I said, irked by her seeming complaint. 

"Believe me, nephew, I understand the problems inherent with disrespect." She held my glance a moment too long before continuing. "On the whole, though, there are some aspects of high society that are just too specific and restraining to be very comfortable to my subjects." 

"The Crystal Empire is much the same way, although their ability to adapt far outshines many places I've seen." Cadence explained. "For a civilization lost in time for a thousand years, the vast majority seem to soak up new information quickly. Again, tradition has been the hardest hurdle to leap." 

Twilight nodded. "I could say that about Ponyville. The town accepts change but, when I became a princess, there were just a few growing pains along the way. Some ponies treat me a little too well." 

"Oh how heavy the head that wears a crown." I remarked drily.  

"We accepted these things when we took our place as rulers, but we are as fallible as anypony." Celestia reminded me. "Change is good for harmony. And certain aspects of that harmony can be changed to make the music all that much sweeter for everypony and not just those that wear a crown or sit on a gilded chair." 

"Or next to one, I suppose." I said, thinking of my spot in Luna's Court. "Some ponies are just lucky to have a chair to sit on." 

Celestia's smile faded to take on a more neutral expression. "I suppose that's right. I hope none of you think of this as complaining." 

"I believe the country phrase would be belly-aching. Isn't that what your little apple-friend says, Twilight?" I asked disdainfully, earning a poke from Moondancer. I looked at her and she mouthed the word 'truce' back to me. 

"I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, Princess Celestia." Twilight said comfortingly. "Just like nopony here would mean to make anypony feel bad. Isn't that right, Prince Blueblood?" 

I nodded. "Of course. One must keep their words honeyed in case they ever have to eat them later." 

"I'm not some foal that needs to be handled with fluffly clouds and pleasing words. So, if anypony had something to say to me, I'd hope they would just take the direct route and say it." Celestia said, her eyes locked on me. 

The group fell into tense silence that even Trenderhoof noticed. "Oh! That reminds me of a joke about the Everfree Forest. Twilight, have you heard this one?" 

Looking at Trenderhoof from the corner of her eye, Twilight responded in confusion. "What? A joke about the Everfree?" 

"Yes! Pinkie was helping me put together some fresh new jokes for an article about entertainment and we came up with this together. I expected her to tell everypony, but maybe she's better at holding in a joke than I thought." 

"Well, let's hear it." Cadence prompted, looking from Celestia to me and back.  

"What's the quickest way to any problem in the Everfree Forest?" Trenderhoof asked. 

"What?" Twilight responded.  

"Take a direct ROOT!" He punctuated the joke by 'tripping' over an imaginary root and hit the floor. Hard. 

Twilight and Cadence clapped politely. Celestia gave in and smiled. Helping Trenderhoof up, I slapped a hoof on his shoulder. "Nice dedication to the bit." 

The evening wore on without animosity between Celestia and myself. Trenderhoof took a shine to me, to my delight. Moondancer practically wore a hole in my side to interject and save me from embarrassment. I pretty much counted myself in the clear. When the gathering broke up, Celestia found her way to me. "Prince Blueblood, you and I have something to discuss. Privately." 

"As Your Royal Highness commands." I said, nodding. I stood nearby and explained the situation to Trenderhoof and Moondancer. Thankfully, Trenderhoof insisted on escorting Moondancer back to her room, and the were among the last to leave. Twilight and Cadence both approached me as they made to leave. We exchanged pleasantries and a hoof shake and then I was alone with her. 

I waited for Celestia to speak. She gestured over to the armchairs near the fireplace. As we took our seats, Celestia fixed me in her gaze.  

"When did things go wrong between us?" She asked softly. "It seemed like you were just a little foal yesterday." 

I shrugged. "When Her Highness has lived for so long, I'm sure the lives of us regular ponies must seem fleeting." 

She disagreed. "That's not what I meant. We spoke about changes earlier. Truth be told, I don't always respond well to changes myself. Especially when those changes are negative." 

I didn't know what to say to that. Agreeing would be all too easy, but it was also likely to hurt her feelings.  

"I watched you grow up. I promised that you would be taken care of and I left you in the hooves of one of the best mothers I knew. But somewhere along the way I made a mistake. Just like I did with Luna. Just like I did with Sunset. Just like I did with so many others." 

I shifted, uncomfortable. "I wouldn't say it was any singular mistake, princess." 

She nodded. "I suppose you'd be right. I just wish I knew where I'd started. Maybe then our relationship wouldn't be as...challenging." 

I snorted. "I'm sorry to have been such a burden on you, Princess." 

"Stop it!" She protested. "You were never a burden. You're not some inconvenience in my life, Blue." 

My ire rose. "You had a funny way of showing me that as a foal." 

She deflated. "You're right. I could try and say that I was under a lot of pressure. I had a kingdom to run. I had to find a student who could make the right connections and wield the elements to save my sister. I had to hear about everything you did wrong, every pony you hurt. I can make all sorts of excuses for myself, Blueblood. But I hurt you." 

I looked down. "No you didn’t. I was messed up long before that." 

"Don't say that!" She exclaimed.

Shrugging, I continued. "Why not? I was a little foal with no parents who got bullied so much that even a princess pitied me." 

"It wasn't pity." She said.  

"Than what was it? Because in the years that followed, I haven't seen anything but pity and the faintest inklings of something else. Revulsion? Regret? You tell me, Celestia! What did I do wrong?" I sucked in a breath and realized I'd been screaming. Somehow, I'd also leapt out of my chair. 

"You remind me of my father." She said, so quietly I almost didn't hear. 

"I...what?" I asked. 

She looked away and then back at me. "You reminded me of my father. Not just your look, but your attitude. Even your little flashes of anger. You grew up and you started acting even more like he had. His disdain for the other pony races, his arrogance, his need to be the center of attention. When I earned my cutie mark and became an alicorn, he treated it like it was his biggest accomplishment." 

I didn't know how to take that. "I'm not your father, Celestia." 

"I know." She admitted. 

"Did you..." I stopped myself. Rather than ask her about her father, I decided to ask a more prudent question. "Was there ever a time, even in its smallest measurement, when you loved me? Just for being me?" 

Celestia's eyes shone, her cheeks were damp with tears. "That you even have to ask me is condemnation enough." She rose, stepping forward and reaching out for me. I took a step back involuntarily, and the look on her face fell. She stopped a forelimb's length away.  

I decided to answer her 'where did I go wrong' question. "Our problems came to a head when I got my cutie mark. I don't even think you remember..." 

"Just after you'd run your guards around town. Your birthday. A year or two after you came to live here." Her memory stunned me. 

"But, I tried telling you--" She cut me off.

"And I had something that took my attention away. I told you to wait and tell me at dinner. When you didn't, I asked Civil. I nearly fired her that night, I was so angry." She said, shaking her head. "For what it's worth, and this many years later I don't think it's worth much. I'm sorry, Blueblood." 

I walked away, shakily. She couldn't do this; forgiving her wasn't something I could do at this moment. Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I left her with a parting shot. "You're right. It's not worth much."