Chapter 5: Miscommunication
Aria was jolted awake by percussive noise against wood, nearly jumping off the bed before quickly glancing every which way for the source. The sun was setting, or rising, she couldn't tell, her thoughts going as fast as her heartbeat.
How long was I out?! What did I miss?! Where are the others?! What's-
"Hello, Miss Blaze?" It was-whatshisname-Kibitz, calling through the door. "Your scheduled appointment with Prince Blueblood is due to begin in approximately ten minutes, are you well?"
"I-I, uh, yea, just gimme a minute." Taking stock of the situation, she determined that Adagio must have kept away like she said, so their story was still solid and, apart from what she'd overheard today, everything was going okay. Now all she had to do was hang around the prince, get an idea of how he thinks, and tell Adagio everything she learned.
Ready as I'll ever be.
---
"So," Blueblood began as they walked out the palace gates, "what have you been up to today?"
"W-what?" Turning to look at him wide-eyed, for even a fraction of a second, was a mistake she was nanoseconds too slow to stop herself from making. He'd actually said it very casually, as one might if idly curious, not accusing.
Dammit!
He regarded her with an upraised eyebrow. "I asked, 'what have you been up to today?' How you spent the day up to this moment?"
She scowled a little. "I know what it means!"
He knows. I listened in on those guards and he knows somehow, I know he knows, does he know I know he knows I know?!
"Well then?"
"Huh?"
He looked a little annoyed. "You haven't answered the question."
"Oh, I, uh-" Snuck around your castle, eavesdropping on your guards? Learned they don't like you? Barely learned to fly? Took a nap? "n-nothing much."
"I see."
By the way he was looking at her, that sounded exactly as suspicious as she feared. Changethesubjectchangethesubject! "So, where's this Mauvaise place?"
He nodded to a tall building in the distance, its lights glowing brighter in indirect proportion to the dimming sun. The neon sign made it a lot easier to tell which one he was leading them to.
---
Aria had to forcibly remind herself not to look around for any possible funny business. There was a line between cautious and crazy-paranoid, but it had never been fuzzier than when she was around the prince. Scanning the area out of the corners of her eyes probably wouldn't reflect too well on her, either. Still, casually analyzing her surroundings, the restaurant itself looked okay. Shelves and hanging collections of all kinds of miscellaneous, yet expensive-looking junk, blood-red carpets and matching cloth on every table, dark, smooth wood making up most of the furniture, and ornate metal on the lights, windows, walls, doors, and some other things that might have just been there for symmetry, all so polished they probably saved a little money on lighting.
Blueblood started small-talk the moment they were seated. "This is by no means the most exquisite establishment in the city, but more akin to what you may see in any given place of fine dining." He chuckled. "Still leaps and bounds ahead of most places you've eaten in, I imagine?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Your group has been travelling for some time, correct? I'd imagine not everywhere catered to more sophisticated tastes."
Right, the story Adagio fed him about us wandering all over the place. "Uh, yea-I mean no, not everywhere had... carpets..."
He stared back at her in mild surprise. "Indeed?"
"Or-" she glanced to a nearby shelf of possibly decorative stuff labeled 'The Fruits of Zebrica', "stuff in jars?" It was painfully obvious just then why they usually let Adagio do the talking. Swiping a menu off the table, Aria quickly buried her face in it.
Okay, I need to calm down. What have I got? He asked about what kind of places we've eaten at, maybe he's got high standards? But then he wouldn't have come to less than the 'most exquisite' place he knew.
As she tried to figure out what to make of that, Blueblood spoke again. "What sort of places have you been to? Are you new to Equestria?"
The lower portion of her face still obscured by the menu, she clenched her teeth. Dammit, more questions! "We've been away for a while, just wanted to drift, I guess." That wasn't a good answer. Counter! "What about you? Ever get out of the city?"
He shrugged. "Every now and again, though primarily on business."
She found an angle. Turning her head so as to only see him out of the corner of her eye, she went for a calm, vaguely interested tone. "Business, huh? What might that be?"
"Honestly? The long and short of it is that I'm an accountant." He caught her perplexed stare as the menu blocking her face slipped to the table and went on. "A lot happens in Equestria and somepony has to balance the books, in addition to keeping track of money for events, repair bills following disasters, give or take the world-fixing waves of magic -sometimes referred to as a Code E.O.H. in the filing circles- that may render that funding open for something else, et cetera."
Aria stared back at him.
Wow. I have never been so lost, and so bored, at the same time.
The description came across so dully that she could barely process what she'd heard. Not even Sonata had ever managed that, and she took to counting the stars in the sky a few times. Out loud.
It must have showed in her face, because he looked just slightly offended. "Well, nopony ever said being an accountant was exciting. On that note, what sort of work have you three found in your travels?"
Crap! "I, we-"
She was saved from adlibbing some kind of career on the road by the waiter coming to take their order. In the silence that followed the waiter's departure, she had roughly three and a half seconds to think up a change of subject before the faintest twitch of mouth muscle suggested Blueblood was about to ask again. "So, what do they think of singing around here?"
The delivery was faster than necessary, she had nowhere to go with that subject, and the sentence itself was awkward, but he didn't react to any of it. Aria liked to think she wasn't an idiot, she knew she was messing up badly here. Nothing as damning as what Sonata might have blurted out by now, but definitely giving him enough to be suspicious about. That he kept acting like nothing was the least bit amiss told her either he was an idiot, or he wasn't missing a beat and just wanted to mock her, to pretend she was covering perfectly just to rub it in.
"It's considered a perfectly valid form of artistry," he answered calmly, "if that's what you mean. Are you a troupe of singers, in addition to your acting talents?"
Speaking of salt in wounds...
"No," she growled, "not so much." It was stupid to angry about that one, though, moreso as it was Aria herself that brought it up.
It looked like he was starting to get irritated with her responses, but every time his eyebrows furrowed or he started to scowl, it would flip right back to the mostly passive expression he had a second before.
Why?! There's nothing keeping him here, is there? Is he-
Adagio. He was probably trying to play nice in the hope she wouldn't say anything to the one he was really interested in. Did that mean Adagio was right all along? Aria really didn't get that impression, but if he wouldn't press her too hard, she'd take this truce-type thing for all it was worth.
She forced a friendlier tone. "So, what-" stopping herself, she realized outright asking what he thought about Adagio might clue him in that the three of them were paying attention to who he was paying attention to, which didn't seem normal. "ahh, nevermind."
Now he only looked curious. "What is it?"
She shook her head, forcing a smile. "Nothing, nothing!"
"...You're sure there's nothing you'd like to say?"
YES, quit asking!! "Not a thing, Mister Blueblood."
"I see... Well then, what are your thoughts on singing on a professional level?"
Hell. Talking to this guy is Hell.
---
The day was ending and the library was closing, but Sonata had a new spellbook to study until the time came to return it, having performed all of the more difficult spells in the one they'd started with at least once. As for Adagio, she'd spent the last few hours learning a little about pony culture, and wasn't confident about what she'd found. More immediate in her thoughts, however, was the fear that they wouldn't be able to get back into the palace without the prince or a guard with them, but the stallions at the gate didn't so much as make eye contact as the two tentatively stepped through the front door.
It was with mild embarrassment that Adagio had to let one of the pony maids guide her and Sonata back to the Pisces room after about twenty minutes of wandering, neither quite able to recall which corridor was the 'Northern' wing. Or which floor it was on.
When the door was shut, Adagio smiled. "No sign of Aria, which means we made good time. No telling how soon she'll report back, but we've done our part in the plan today."
"Um... W-was part of that plan messing up our beds?"
She turned to Sonata, eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"
She nodded to the disaster area of strewn pillows and ruffled blankets atop the cumulus-weave mattress Aria had slept on. And apparently done something else on, while they were out. By the crater-like mark in the quilts, it looked as though a pony's body had impacted that space very hard, many times.
The two sirens turned beet red as Adagio struggled to form words. "W-w-what...? WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING WITH HIM?!"
Sonata twirled her ponytail around a hoof, looking primarily at the floor. "I, uh, it looks like she was-"
"I know what it looks like, I just can't believe she'd, she'd..."
Wait, did she do this on our account? Throw herself at him to get information? Or, has she chosen to make him fall for her instead?
Not that it was a problem if she was. If anything, Adagio was just stunned, both by Aria's willingness to do so and the apparent boldness of her method. Letting Blueblood touch any of them had never even entered the equation in the original plan, but for Aria to seduce him in a single day... "I... I think..."
Sonata turned to her, still blushing furiously, but with an inquisitive look on her face.
Adagio spoke quietly. "I think I've been underestimating you two."
Curiousity became surprise. "Huh?"
"I-"
The two of them were startled by a knock at the door and the familiar voice of Kibitz. "Good evening, ladies. I was informed of your presence in the castle and wish to extend invitation for dinner, in the event that you've not fed already this evening."
They exchanged whispers. "Sonata, did either of us eat anything at the library?"
"I don't think they had a snack table, I checked."
Adagio shrugged. "We'll talk about this after dinner."
"Alrighty!"
---
Two out of three sirens again stood in the presence of Princess Celestia when they arrived in the dining room. Along with her, yet another alicorn.
"Greetings, visitors," the latter called with a smile as they were led to the table, "please come and join us, that we may grow closer and share tales of-ow!" Luna turned to look at her sister while lightly massaging a rib.
With the same warm grin they'd seen this morning, Celestia gently cleared her throat. "Welcome. Please, have a seat."
The two of them obeyed, sitting in roughly the same places they'd been that morning. As some manner of apple-based meal was brought out, Adagio determined that the princesses were trying to be welcoming, even friendly. Why, she wasn't sure, it could have been anything from genuine hospitality to a trap, as Aria seemed to suspect. Probably for the best that she wasn't present.
"Good evening," she began somewhat nervously, looking at the dark-blue mare near Celestia, "I don't believe we've been acqaint-"
"You may call me Luna!" She waved a hoof in the air. It may have been a regal gesture they weren't familiar with, and she may have been just waving. "What shall we call you?"
"I am Adagio Dazzle," she gestured to Sonata, who again stared at the alicorns in all their floaty-mane splendor, "this is Sonata Dusk, and..." She glanced about somewhat awkwardly. "Uh, the last of us isn't here right now, but her name is Aria Blaze."
They jumped at Luna's loud reply. "Pleased to meet you!"
Celestia bell-chime-giggled again. "Please forgive my sister's enthusiasm, it's rare that we have the pleasure of guests in the castle. What can you tell us about yourselves?"
Adagio did her best not to look like, for lack of better words, a deer in headlights.
---
"...So in short, to enter the more prestigious dining halls in the hopes of actually ingesting a substantial meal is effectively senseless. It's not the food patrons are buying there so much as their own presence on those floors."
"Ugh, you couldn't have just started with that?" He had spent maybe ten minutes explaining how seeing and being seen was some big, elaborate show among ponies around here, how the pricier places were so hoity-toity that just paying for a reservation, being allowed inside, was more the point than anything those places were supposed to do with their customers. While part of her wondered what arbitrarily decided which spots were and weren't haute courture or whatever, it didn't change that she was so bored she couldn't bring herself to care about mouthing off a little.
The whatever-this-thing-on-her-plate-was was decent, but she was so sick of this that Blueblood visibly getting at least a little bit angry felt like a tiny victory, even an odd kind of relief. "Well, I thought if you're only going to respond with incoherent babble, I may as well fill the silence."
"What?"
He rolled his eyes. "You've not said a thing of note since the evening began. I can appreciate that talking isn't everypony's strong suit, but most don't try to avoid it so desperately as to act as though the simple act of communication eludes them."
She felt her cheeks flush and a vein rise in her forehead. "Maybe there are things I'd rather not talk about. Do they have privacy in your stupid, over-priced little town?" She didn't know how bits translated to dollars, but the numbers on some things she'd seen since they arrived in Canterlot were always between high and absurd.
"Of course," he half-smirked, "for those willing to pay for it. On that note, might I ask how you three have been getting by, however long you've been traveling?"
She nearly slammed a hoof on the table. "Am I poking you for details?!" So much for... whatever it was holding him back a little bit ago.
He propped his head up on a hoof, that elbow resting on the table. "Apart from that question?"
Her teeth ground together. "You know what I mean, smartass."
"Yes, how dare I ask simple questions? Oh dear, there goes another one!" As her only immediate reply was an angry snarl, he went on. "You know, I'd almost think you were hiding something, was it how you stayed fed that you're so desperate to cover up? Are you bank-robbers?"
While having realized a little while ago that it was probably a trap, it was fortunate that she'd taken him up on the offer to go somewhere without a lot of others around as she raised her voice. "No!"
"Then what? What are you-" He stopped, his eyes widening for a moment. "Oh... I'm sorry."
Bubbling rage simmered down to cautious curiousity. "What?"
He looked away. "Nothing, nothing, I'm sure you only did what you had-"
She stood up, placing both forehooves on the table. "What is it?"
"It's perfectly understandable," he said while still avoiding eye-contact, "I wouldn't go sharing that kind of thing either if I were you, in Canterlot above all."
"What do you think we did to-" Then it clicked, Aria's face slowly going red for other reasons than anger as her eyes widened. "You... y-you think we're-?"
Holding up his forehooves placatingly, he still wouldn't look at her. "Like I said, not judging, it's a hard world out-"
"WE'RE NOT PROSTITUTES, YOU STOOGE!!"
The few ponies in the area turned their heads, Blueblood glancing around at them before coughing once and finally meeting Aria's gaze again. "My bad?"
Emitting something between a sigh and a groan, she sat down again, crossing her forelegs. "Jerk."
"Hmph. Well, if you weren't so evasive, perhaps I wouldn't have to make unfortunate guesses."
"Maybe if you weren't so nosy!"
"Maybe if you weren't completely insufferable!"
"Maybe if you didn't make me sick!"
Glaring at each other, the two of them could feel the other patrons staring at them too. "It's getting late," Blueblood muttered, "shall we head back?"
"Yea," she replied through gritted teeth, "sounds good."
---
The Pisces door closed as Adagio slumped against it. "That, was exhausting." Somehow, she'd managed to steer the conversation away from any questions they couldn't rightly answer, carefully deflecting topics in such a way as to not completely avoid them or make up new details Aria wasn't there to hear.
"I think they like us!" Sonata had proven more capable of dealing with two princesses at once than Adagio had ever dared dream, when her mouth wasn't full. When they asked her anything, she'd give a simple answer, an insanely convincing smile displayed the whole time. She mimicked their behavior well, commenting on things casually and bringing up topics so fluidly it was like she was in their heads.
Adagio chose to ignore the possibility that she was just too air-headed to see the danger they were in, for now. "Speaking of ponies 'liking' us..." The two of them again found themselves looking at the mess that was Aria's bed, a blush creeping up their necks. "She... Where do you think they are now?" She stepped closer to the messy mattress as if to divine clues from it.
"I dunno... Where do you go after-"
"I-I wouldn't know either!!" Adagio might have had her share of conquests, but leaving her partner short of breath in a disheveled heap was about as far as she got in terms of follow-up.
Does Aria do things differently? I never found concrete proof that she or Sonata ever really indulged their urges. She took a calming breath. "At any rate, I think we can work with this. It doesn't really matter which of us has him wrapped around a hoof, so if Aria's snagged him, kudos to her."
Sonata looked less sure. "I-is it really okay? I mean, what if he gets her, uh, y-y'know...?"
Adagio's eyes widened. Were they even physically capable of having children? Her thoughts on the matter were arrested with the clatter of the door swinging open and slamming shut.
"Man," Aria complained, "I hate that guy!"
Before another word could be said, Sonata zipped over to inspect the purple pegasus, visibly worried. "Aria! Are you okay?! What did you do?! Where did he touch you?! Are you gonna have babies?!"
Aria choked on air, straining to speak in a hoarse whisper. "Freaking, WHAT?!"
"You're very brave," Adagio said softly, "doing what you did."
"What are you guys talking about?!"
She nodded to the bed, looking away with a blush. "Really, I didn't know you could be so..."
Aria's jaw dropped, her face feeling like it had caught fire. "I-I, n-no, no we did not, I did not, w-with, with-"
Sonata tilted her head. "Really? Then why's the bed all... uh, bow-chicka-wow-wow?"
Volume control was broken. "I WAS JUST PRACTICING FLIGHT!!"
There was a pause, broken by Adagio. "Then, you were just jumping up and down on the bed all day? Does that mean you haven't enslaved the prince?"
"ARRRRGH!!" Aria collapsed, the stress of the day finally proving too much for her.
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I see... And it's et caetera.
More like they WERE. and troUpe. Not trope.
What, oh you think that she, and him, oh my.
Smartass.
Very much your bad.
Each other. 2 words. And this is the beginning of a beautiful hateship.
Sonata Dusk, you are either the STUPIDEST character in all of animation, or the ballsiest.
Hoarse, hah! I get it, I only wish it were mispelled as horse for the sake of the joke.
That or very stupid.
Ballsiest. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pray to the ballsy goddess that in Sonata while laughing myself silly.
MY SIDES!
We all get those.
Well, at least it's over. I'm glad Sonata's having fun with the Princesses, however.
Aria may ending killing someone
Aria's having one of those days, it seems.
I swear, if Blueblood and Aria don't get together by the end of this story I ... uh, nothing really, but they seemed to get along just fine.
i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ou9DNZU6--/hvygzlaw6giuqtjvld6h.png
I have to say, I really like your take on Blueblood here. And the princesses. And the sirens.
Honestly, this fic is perfect.
Oho. Blueblood is not quite as clueless as he seems.