Azure Flame

by Silver Page

Azure

It was a warm summer’s day in Equestria, with a few clouds in the sky and enough of a breeze to prevent heatstroke in anyone walking out and about. It was lovely, but there was a nervous tension about a single unicorn stallion who was walking through the streets of Canterlot. It was early morning, and the pony wore a deep blue cloak over his body to hide his flank. A pair of green rimmed glasses sat on his muzzle, pale blue eyes looked around the streets nervously. His mane was a soft blond color, while his coat was pristine and white, with a lot of brushing to make it shine. His horn glowed blue, and held up a small package wrapped in simple brown paper.

The unicorn cautiously entered his destination; the Canterlot Mail Office, where mail-pegasi carried letters and packages across Equestria. Inside, a middle aged pegasus mare with white mane and brown coat waited behind a desk, filing her hooves with a bored expression on her face. She looked up as the unicorn’s steps alerted her to his presence.

“Morning, Azure. How ya been?” the mare asked, giving a small smile to the fidgety stallion.

“It could be better. Had to get up earlier than I’d like to get out and mail this,” Azure said. There was no malice in his voice, or annoyance, just a simple stating of the facts. Azure Flame was not one to make a scene about things he couldn’t change.

“Well, lover-colt, ready to send your mail to your marefriend?” the mailmare smirked at Azure as he blushed.

“Come on, Fluff! You know she’s not…”

“I know, I know! But you are so easy to tease,” Cotton Fluff said as she pulled out the stamps needed to send the package on its way.

Azure placed the package on the desk, and then pulled out the five bits for shipping and handling the item to its destination.

“You ever gonna meet the lady you’re stalking and tell her who you are?” Azure gave Cotton Fluff an incredulous look, and she just laughed.

“You know I can’t exactly do that, right? I barely have any leeway to send her these packages every month…” Azure grumbled, mostly to himself. Fluff just shook her head and stamped the wrapped parcel, then placed the bits in the cash register.

Azure thanked Cotton Fluff and left, walking out of the mail office and heading back up to his home and place of business. Along the way, he decided to take a detour down the market road, as his stomach demanded breakfast. He waved to a few of the shop keeps he saw, and nodded to a few others.

“Morning, Joe,” Azure said as he stepped into Pony Joe’s Donut Shop, one of the best places in Equestria for pastries, and the best one to get donuts. The earth pony stallion nodded a greeting.

“The usual?” He asked. When the unicorn nodded, Joe pulled out a paper bag and filled it with two vanilla crème donut puffs, and then got a bottle of chocolate milk. Foalish order it may have been, but Azure had gotten the same order once a month for the past year. It was his favorite.

Azure paid Joe his four bits, plus his usual extra two for the tip, and walked out with the bag in his magical aura. He sat down on a bench a few meters away, and began to eat his morning meal. As he did, he watched the various ponies of Canterlot wake up and get ready for the day. Though the sun had been up for an hour now, the morning rush didn’t start till later in an hour. So ponies took their time to set up stalls and seats, and put out their wares for the day. Azure loved this time of day. Not too early, not too late, but just in between.

Finishing up, he crumpled the bag and tossed it into a trashcan nearby, while dropping his now empty bottle into the recycling bin also close by. He stood and made his way back up the hill.
Canterlot had been built on a mountain, and instead of most other cities that built outwards and horizontally, the capitol built downwards and vertically. This resulted in a mixture of hills and slopes that ran through the city. Nobles lived near the top, alongside the Royal Palace and other high class establishments such as fine dining and opera houses. In the middle class lived literally in the middle of the city, with the suburbs composing a large portion of flattened hills and natural plateaus. At the base of the city, and thus, the mountain, were the various warehouses and lower income districts. It was also where the primary train hub was located.

Keeping such a city organized was a nightmare in some aspects. And that was where Azure Flame came in. He was an excellent manager and planner, and set up various meetings and activities all day. He planned the city wide cleanings, and organized the parades. He had to figure out the business deals and arrange meetings with Guild Leaders and CEOs. It was tiring, being in charge of Canterlot.
As he walked up the streets, he saw an elderly stallion and mare couple fussing over something nearby. Curious, he meandered their way, and heard their conversation.

“I’m telling ya, we’ll never find the hospital at this rate! Why can’t we ask directions, like a normal pony?” The grandmare asked, and the stallion snorted.

“Stallions don’t ask direction, dear! We either find our way there, or we get lost trying to do so!” The granny smacked him upside the head with a handbag at that.

“You keep doing that, and we’ll never get to see our newborn grandfoal!” Azure walked over, and coughed, getting their attention.

“You seem lost. Perhaps I could help?” He offered. The elderly stallion snorted again, but the mare smiled at him.

“Oh, thank you, deary! We’re looking for the Grand Heart Hospital. Going to see our daughter and son-in-law! Just had their first child!”

“About time…” the stallion muttered, earning himself another smack from the bag. Azure tapped his chin.

“Well, it’s rather far from here. The hospital is on the other side of Canterlot. It’ll take you a few hours to get there on hoof.” The couple’s expression fell, but Azure was still thinking. He smiled, and walked to the side of the street. He waved his hooves, flagging down a coach pulled by a pegasus. There wasn’t a lot of public transportation in Canterlot, just small coaches or carriages pulled by one or two poines, usually pegasi or earth ponies. As he waved it over, he beckoned to the elderly ponies.

“Can you take these two over to the Grand Heart Hospital? They need to be there ASAP.” As Azure gave the instructions to the driver, he also pulled some bits out of a pouch under his robes. He paid the Pegasus, and motioned to the couple to enter.

“Oh, but we can’t let you do this! It isn’t right!” The mare protested, the stallion nodded in agreement.

“I don’t you two to get any more lost. And it is a long walk. It wouldn’t be right to let you pass out from exhaustion,” Azure argued. “Besides, this way your husband doesn’t have to ask for directions.” Azure gave a wink at this, and the stallion grinned. The mare still looked unsure, but after a short nuzzle from her husband, she sighed and let Azure help her into the coach.

“Bless you deary,” she said, and Azure smiled, a bit sheepishly.

“Keep the change,” Azure told the driver, and he nodded, and took off into the sky.

Azure smiled after them, and went back on his way home. After a bit, he approached a pair of ornate gates guarded by armored unicorns. They saw him, but let him pass. He was a common sight, and they knew him as the quiet pony who worked in the Canterlot General Affairs office. He entered the grounds, and walked through to the side doors to the Royal Palace. He sighed, wearily walking up the stairs to the room he worked out of. Pulling a key from under his cloak, he opened the doors, and stepped inside the office.

It was ornate and richly decorated with maps and paintings of all sorts. Massive wood and metal filing cabinets stood at the walls, alongside bookcases stuffed with ledger books and accounting files. He sighed again and pulled off his cloak, revealing his Cutie Mark; a gold and purple star. He removed his glasses and set them on the mahogany desk he worked at, and smoothed back his hair with the ease of practice.

Sitting down into the chair, the persona of Azure Flame vanished, and someone new replaced him. Blueblood, Prince of Canterlot, sat down and sighed again, looking miserably at a stack of papers he needed to sign.

Comments

[Frankie2]

Interesting. I'm curious as to the reason for the other persona. I'll keep an eye on this.

[Aziraphael]

I'm rather interested to see how you'll reconcile his "Azure Flame" persona with the arrogant prick Blueblood is shown to be in canon.

[Emperor]

The summary pretty much spoils Azure Flame's secret, but ah well, it's revealed by the end of the first chapter anyways.

Not bad for an opening slice of life chapter. Perhaps the only thing I'm iffy about is it taking 'hours' to get from one end of Canterlot to the other, even if most ponies (pegasi and teleporting unicorns excluded) DO have to travel by foot.