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Weeding4,152 words
Deadhead3,470 words
Bolting3,048 words
Pesticide3,816 words
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Germinate3,544 words
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Herbicide 3,573 words
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Bloom12,023 words

Herbicide

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Prince Blueblood tried to clamp his hooves over his ears to block out the noise of bells that rang throughout Canterlot. His trembling hooves wouldn’t hold still no matter how hard he pressed down, letting in that awful noise. He clutched a hoof over his chest and began to pull at his black coat and black tie, ripping open his dress shirt when he began to gasp for air.

The castle felt bare, as if everypony inside of it had vanished. No butlers nor maids were in the castle, and in fact Blueblood had only passed five royal guards on his way through. When he let his eyes glance out the window towards the direction of the castle garden, he spotted a parade of ponies young and old all dressed in black and trotting their way deep into the castle. They were all headed for the same place, the royal family mausoleum.

“Shut up!” The prince finally screamed, the sound of the bells only barely concealed by the rain splattering up against the window. He continued to claw and grab at his chest, something still feeling as though it were constricting his breath. He leaned up against the window for support, taking in deep breaths one at a time.

Blueblood threw his tie against the ground and stamped on it with all his strength. He shut his blue eyes firmly, tighter than he ever thought possible. Eventually he collapsed, falling to the ground and landing on his hindquarters and leaning his back against the wall.

“Blue!”

Blueblood clamped his hooves over his ears once more, squeezing his skin until it began to burn. He could hear four pairs of hooves all come rushing towards him, stopping short a good eight feet away from him.

“Go. Away. Now.” Blueblood took a single deep breath. He let himself look to the hooves of his friends, both Shining Armor and Cadence standing breathless. Did they really run all throughout the castle just looking for him? Cadence’s dress was black, as was Shining Armor’s suit.

“Blue, calm down.” Shining Armor took a step forward, however Cadence lifted her hoof and pulled him back. He looked at her with what could only be described as a look of desperation. “Please, we were just worried about you. Everypony is worried about you.”

“Blueblood...” Cadence’s voice was softer, more natural that Shining Armor’s had been. “I know this is hard for you, and I’m sor-”

“Sh-Shut up!” Blueblood yelled, jumping to his hooves in one motion. Cadence took a step back, her eyes giving off a spark of fear that melted into pity. Blueblood could feel his chest burn like fire and continued to rake his hoof over it trying to force in air. It was red by now, as much as he had been picking at it. “Just shut the buck up!”

“Blueblood, we’re your friends.” Cadence’s voice was calmer than her eyes. She took a step forward, and Blueblood only flinched. “We’re not like those awful reporters outside, I promise. Please calm down.”

“Who in Luna’s name even invited all of them?” Shining Armor snapped, not at either of his friends, but just in general. He stamped his hoof on the red carpet. “Vultures like that already make Canterlot bad enough.”

“It’s a public funeral.” Cadence put her hoof over Shining Armor’s own. “Turning them away would cause an even bigger scene than just letting them in.”

“Yeah, but…” Shining Armor’s mouth hung open for a few moments before he turned away from the two, shaking his head. The muscles in his legs tightened and loosened, a heavy silence falling upon the three.

“There isn’t even a statue build yet,” Blueblood wanted to stamp his hoof. He could feel four eyes bore into him, so he shut his own. “I went last night and checked. There’s a statue for Prince Royal Heart, Princess Starlight, my grandfather… my mother… but nothing for my father.”

“You went to the mausoleum alone…?” Shining Armor asked, though a jab from Cadence made him quiet down. He rubbed at the area, but his eyes never left Blueblood.

“Do you think they had a statue of her when she died giving birth to me?,” Blueblood questioned, staring out into the rain.

“Her?” Shining Armor tilted his head.

“My mother,” Blueblood grasped at his foreleg. “She… She died very suddenly, like my father. Nopony expected it… like my father.”

“It would be a tad grim to have a statue for your tomb made for you when you’re still alive, Blueblood.” Cadence’s voice was still tender, though nothing watered his fiery chest.

“Why not?” Blueblood snapped. “What if they forget his face? What if they can’t get all the details right from all the paintings and photos? It seems too last minute and unprepared and rushed and.. and… It’s starting to fade already.”

“What’s starting to fade?” Cadence was the one to speak this time. She took a step forward. Blueblood flinched.

“His face!” Blueblood yelled. “Just like her’s did! My father stared at her stupid pictures every day… He never talked about her… I think it hurt too much.” The stallion wrapped his legs around his body. “I never… never thought to look at his face too closely. I was scared he would just yell and…”

“Blue, listen to m-”

“Why is it raining?” Blueblood’s words were venom on his tongue. That seemed to quite his friends down. He pointed at the window with a shaking hoof, eyes locked on his two friends as he took a step towards them that was nearly in sync with a smash of thunder. “Just why would Cloudsdale decide that it was a good idea to make it rain today of all days?”

“It’s tradition.” Cadence glanced to the window and then back at Blueblood. “Whenever a royal family member passes away, the pegasi gather the clouds and the earth ponies ring the bells in town while the unicorns put them to rest. It’s been like this for a dozen generations, maybe more.”

“It’s tacky.” Blueblood felt like spitting at the window, a vile taste in his mouth. “It’s disgusting and cliche and dirty. Who wants to get wet when they sit in the cold and listen how some pony they never thought about for more than five seconds at a time lived his life?”

“Blue, you need to calm down.” Shining Armor took three steps forward, enough to make Blueblood’s heart sink. “You can’t just walk out of a funeral like that. Ponies are going to talk and say things and… Look, I’m sorr-”

“I don’t care!” Blueblood’s voice was just above a yell when he interrupted Shining Armor. “I’m so sick of hearing how sorry ponies are for me!”

“Blue, no, I didn’t mean it like that.” Shining Armorlooked away from Blueblood.

“All day, for three days every single pony I’ve seen just wants to tell me how sorry they are.” Blueblood could feel his eyes water when he wrapped his legs around himself to keep from crumbling apart. “I’m tired of it, I’m tired of ponies feeling sorry and upset and telling me again and again how big of a loss it was!”

Blueblood clamped a hoof over his eye, feeling it become wet. He grinded his teeth together, the bells in the distance still ringing in his ears. “Celestia called off my wedding this morning. She sent a letter to my fiance and said that due to the circumstances I wouldn’t be marrying her on my birthday.”

“That’s… a bright spot, at least.” Cadence tried to smile, though it was a failed attempt. She sat on her hind legs and began to fiddle with her hooves. “At least that isn’t hanging over all our heads anymore.”

“Yeah, that’s a really good thing!” Shining Armor spoke up, another step closer to his friend. “Look, I’m not even going to pretend I know how you feel right now. I miss Twilight since she’s been away for so long, but I know that’s not the same. I know your dad was awful at times, and we both talked about that… but I know he was your dad and you loved him.”

“He… my father…” Blueblood grabbed at his bare chest once more. He could feel his lips bend into a frown and soon a grimace. Something hurt deep inside of him, something he couldn’t pinpoint. He turned away from his two friends, letting a sniffle fill the silence. “I never told him I loved him.”

“What?” Shining Armor sounded more shocked than Blueblood could imagine.

“I mean… I must have at some point, right?” Blueblood asked, staring down at the palms of his hooves before he buried them into his mane. “I’ve been trying and trying to think, but I don’t remember ever saying that. I remember him yelling at me for so many trivial things, I remember him telling me I looked proper enough but I needed to fix this and that and nothing was ever good enough for him! I was too scared of him to even tell him I didn’t want to marry that mare!” Blueblood pulled on his mane until it hurt. “I told him I loved him when I was little… but I can’t remember the last time I…”

Blueblood could feel tears spill past his eyes. He felt a brief fire ignite and spread across his chest, anger filling his body. “I hated him!” He slammed his hoof on the ground in a thunderous echo. He grinded so hard on his teeth that his ears began to ring. He hit his other hoof against the ground. “I hated him! I hated him! I hated him! I HATED HIM!”

“Blue…”

“WHY?” Blueblood hit his hoof against the ground harder and harder with each word. His left leg began to ache the harder he hit down, the sting of the pain blocking out the fire in his chest. “WHY WILL EVERYPONY MISS HIM BUT ME!?”

“Blue!” Shining Armor ran forward and grabbed Blueblood’s hoof, almost losing balance trying to stop it from slamming once more. Blueblood covered his eyes with his free foreleg, the bells outside finally beginning to die down. He trembled, crumbling apart like sand.

“I’m awful.” Blueblood whimpered. “Truly, truly awful.”

“Blue, your father was never good at being a father.” Shining Armor grabbed Blueblood’s leg and pulled it free from his eyes. “He didn’t know how to raise a kid right, he never had any clue what he was doing and was too proud to ask anypony for help. He pushed too much on you because he was more worried about making sure you turned out right than connecting with you.”

It was sudden, but Shining Armor had wrapped Blueblood in his forelegs. Blueblood could feel his eyes widen, and then begin to dampen Shining’s black suit with his tears. He didn’t pull Shining Closer. He just couldn’t bring himself to lift his legs.

No… No he couldn’t feel like this right now. He wasn’t able to stand Shining Armor holding him, not at a time like this. His chest ached and felt warm at the same time, his heart pounded but also froze, too many emotions spinning around inside him. He bit his cheek, pushing Shining Armor off of him.

He didn’t bother looking into Shining Armor’s eyes, unable to face whatever look he must be getting right now.

“Please leave me alone,” Blueblood whispered. “Both of you, I want to be alone.”

“Blueblood…” Cadence mumbled under her breath, taking a step forward.

“I don’t…” Blueblood tried to finish whatever sentence he started, but he couldn’t bring himself to continue. He simply shook his head. Cadence trotted forward slowly, grabbing Shining Armor by the hoof and pulling him away from Blueblood. He still couldn’t look his friends in the eye when he stood, staring out the window once more. “Thank you.”

“Blue...” Shining Armor tried to step forward, but Cadence held him back. His words whipped at Blueblood, causing him to flinch. “We’ll be here… whenever you’re ready, we’ll be here.”

The prince took a step away from his friends. He paused only briefly. He desired to say something, anything really, but his mouth just wouldn’t open up at his command. He felt a stab of pain shoot through his heart, Shining fidgeting in place while Cadence tried to calm him down. He put his head down, unable to sort of his thoughts for the moment. He stared at his hooves, still in pain from his outburst.

Blueblood thought briefly of Shining Armor’s warm, comforting embrace. Even that didn’t cool the fire raging in his body. He simply couldn’t face them. Not right now.

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Prince Blueblood stared out the window when he ran a towel through his mane. The light from outside was growing dim underneath the pouring rain that blackened the sky all too quickly. He spotted a flash of lightning, one close enough to make him flinch. It was soon followed by a roar of thunder and Fancy Pants’ laughter.

“Will you shut up?” Blueblood snapped back at the stallion still half in the bathroom with the door wide open. He was currently adjusting his monocle, a towel still around his neck.

“I can’t help it if you look simply adorable when you jump,” Fancy teased. Blueblood looked away, determined not to show his blush. It was all in vain when Fancy Pants came trotting over to him, pressing those lips down to his warm cheek. He lifted up his hoof, a roll of bandages held up before Blueblood’s eyes. “Let’s get you fixed up. Those scars are an awful look for your.”

“I-I can do it myself.” Blueblood tried to snatch the roll from Fancy’s hoof. His hoof only hit air when Fancy pulled it away from his grasp.

“Sweetheart, I’ve stabbed myself an embarrassing amount of times at three in the morning trying to cut some stubborn fabric,” Fancy Pants’s hoof grabbed at Blueblood’s foreleg with a gentle touch. “Let me say it wasn’t for nothing.”

“Fine,” Blueblood begrudgingly let Fancy take his arm and begin to wrap the bandage around his arm. He tried to frown when Fancy kissed a bandaged area, but it somehow flipped itself into a smile. “Honestly, all the places I let you kiss me today and you kiss the one area with a scar.”

“Why only love where you present yourself best?” Fancy Pants asked when he pulled his lips away, continuing to tighten the bandages. “Scared of a little lightening, Sweetheart?”

“I’m scared of it hitting the castle.” Blueblood rolled his eyes. He used his hoof to push Fancy Pant’s face away from his own. Luckily it was at this time that Fancy had torn the bandage and tied it neatly around Blueblood’s leg. “It’s more common than you think, as tall as we are. Princess Luna’s tower has a giant rod sticking out of it that’s just begging to be hit.”

“Giant rods begging to be hit.” Fancy Pants gave a grin that made Blueblood instantly regret his word choice. He grabbed Blueblood’s hoof and pulled him closer, giggling with a sense of excitement. “I don’t need to go far to find one of those.”

“Calm down, Bear,” Blueblood grumbled, Fancy’s eyes staring at his body. The older stallion’s grin became sly.

“Bear?” Fancy Pants questioned. “Where’d that come from?”

“Y-You always call me Sweetheart…” Blueblood felt Fancy Pants pull him closer. “I like it. It makes me feel happy and safe and… You’re strong like a bear, and when you hold me I feel like… Y-Yeah... Also quite rowdy and pushy like one..."

“I didn’t say a word.” Fancy Pants shook his head with a big smile on his face. He kissed Blueblood, something that was very hard to grow old of. “Though I thought dirty old man was just fine. I don’t like to see myself as particularly grizzly. Should I be offended? I feel a bit offended. Couldn’t I be a tiger or something? That sounds nice and sexy.”

“You want to be Old Tiger, Old Timer?” Blueblood’s grin became near devilish at Fancy’s blush. “Maybe you really are nothing more than a dirty old man,” Blueblood smiled back, jabbing his hoof at Fancy Pants’ chest. “Be careful, I could always call you Marshmallow or something.”

“That’s a jab at my weight, isn’t it?” Fancy Pants tried his best to look offended, though his eyes gave away something that could be described as childish delight.

“No, you’re just as thick as one.” Blueblood rolled his eyes once more. “Besides, if I wanted to call you fat I’d just call you Tubby, Tubby.”

“On second thought, Bear is fine.” Fancy Pants pulled away from Blueblood, that grin still on his face that just wouldn’t seem to go away. He grasped Blueblood’s hoof in his own. “Though I honestly don't think I need a pet name if you force it, Sweetheart. It comes to you naturally, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah," Blueblood giggled.

"So tell me," Fancy Pants added. "What's on your mind, truly?"

“Oh just… Shining and Cadence…” Blueblood looked down to his hooves when he thought of those two. He could feel Fancy’s hoof rest on his shoulder. A smile of comfort was thrown his way. “I, uh… I’ve been thinking a lot about them. Today has been… exhausting and thrilling and I can hardly keep my eyes open.”

“When you’re ready, you can go see them,” Fancy Pants said. He closed his eyes briefly to smile, though when he opened them it was like he could look into Blueblood’s own heart. .

Blueblood looked out the window. The colors became muddled the more rain splattered up against the glass. “I always hated rain.”

“It usually ruins outfits when attending parties, yes.” Fancy Pants ran his hoof over his mustache. “But if it gives me an excuse to spend all my time locked up with a dashing prince, I’ll take rain any day. I don’t believe many fairy tales involving rescuing a prince from his castle end up with the two locking themselves up together, though.”

“This isn’t a fairy tale, though,” Blueblood chuckled.

“It might as well be a fairy tale. My boyfriend is a prince.” Fancy Pants wiggled his eyebrows at the other, though his lips faded to a frown when he saw Blueblood’s face look confused.

“Boy… A-Alright…” Blueblood put a hoof over his chest. It was sudden, but he began to feel his eyes water. He wasn’t sure if it was panic or happiness settling into him.

“I apologize. Was that a bit too forward of me?” Fancy Pants’ laugh felt forced when he scratched behind his ears. “I thought it might be less awkward to just say it.”

“No… no it was… Do you really want to be my boyfriend?” Blueblood said in a voice that was quieter than he knew he could produce. Fancy Pants quickly kissed his ear, Blueblood thanking Celestia a hundred and five times that he didn’t laugh when his throat let out a squeak.

“You’re the one getting the short end of the stick here,” Fancy Pants giggled, his breath hot in Blueblood’s ear. “You can’t exactly brag your boyfriend is an old dress maker like I can about mine being a prince.”

“That’s fine… I’ll brag about you anyway.” Blueblood nodded his head firmly.

“That’s not exactly what I meant, but thank you, Sweetheart.” Fancy Pants shrugged his shoulders. His moustache was beginning to tickle.

Blueblood took in a deep breath of air. He closed his eyes, letting his mind go blank until the count of five. “I think I’m ready to see Shining and Cadence.”

“Are you positive?” Fancy Pants asked, concern bleeding through. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Blueblood shook his head. “No, this is something I need to do by myself. I can’t just stay locked up in here forever using you as an excuse to hide… I know they’ll be ready for me, too. They have been for a long time. And even if things go bad, you’ll still be here, right, Big Bear?”

“That’s the name that you’re going with, huh?” Fancy Pants shook his head when he pulled his face away, though a smile still lingered. “Of course I will be, Blueblood.”

Prince Blueblood wrapped his forelegs around Fancy Pants’ neck, embracing him tightly for just a moment. It cleared all worries from his head nearly instantly, the world feeling very quiet for that short time.

“I’ll be back soon.” Blueblood said, his voice firm and confident. “Thank you, Fancy Pants.”

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