The Simple Life

by Thornwing

Blue-Blooded

With the sun having set, the evening meal paid ample reward for an honest day’s work. For Blueblood, the first-hoof experience of bringing food to the table felt akin to torture. The previous day, his body merely objected to the concept of forced labor. Having spent the entire day dragging a plow blade through the fields, his royally weak muscles streaked past objecting and fell straight to surrender. He moaned and groaned as Applejack tried to ease his pain.

“I changed my mind. This is worse than death. Kill me now!” Blueblood hung his head over the edge of the couch. He lay flat on his back and rocked from side to side. His legs stuck out at odd angles while off the other end, his tail hung limp.

“Just close your eyes and relax.” Applejack stuffed another pillow under his neck and continued to knead through his mane.

“I can’t feel my hooves! My legs are numb from the knees down.” Blueblood’s wailing hit a high note as Applejack dug through a rough spot above his shoulders.

“I promise you’ll pull through. You’re just sore from tugging the plow is all.” Applejack could see the raw skin beneath remnants of hair where the plow harness rubbed against the nape of his neck and down across his upper forelegs.

“That infernal contraption has maimed me for life,” Blueblood sniffled between ragged gasps as Applejack worked her massage magic down into his shoulders. “And I didn’t even make any progress on the list.”

“Don’t be silly. Hard work’s good for you—ain’t that right, big brother?” Applejack peeked up at Big Mac and the others watching from the kitchen.

Big Mac slurped up the last of his apple-noodle soup. Swallowing hard, he eyed the Prince. “Eeeyup.”

Applejack rubbed down his foreleg. “I saw you make a ton of progress today, Blue. It don’t matter what the list says about that.” The moans and groans grew louder. “A good night’s sleep and you’ll be right as rain—ready to face another day.”

Blueblood looked up in terror. “Please don’t make me sleep in the guest house! I’ll sleep anywhere but there.”

“Actually, I was going to let you sleep in my room.” Applejack bit her lip considering the less than perfect accommodations of the barn. “I can bunk with Apple Bloom and you can have my bed. How does that sound?”

Blueblood strained to lift himself from the couch. What little energy he had left wasn't enough to do much more than roll him on his side. With a weary sigh, he laid his head back down on the pillow. “I’ll just stay here—I don’t think I can make it up the stairs.”

Having cleared their plates, the Apples filed past giving little heed to the invalid occupying their front room. The troop marched on up the stairs with barely a whisper of “good night.” They had all had their fill of Blueblood for one day.

Applejack pulled the blanket from the back of the couch down over his flank. Getting up, she walked around the room extinguishing the candles and welcoming in the moonlight. Hoisting the final light of her lantern around her neck, she paused as she walked by her charge and gave him a parting pat on the head. “You done good today, Blue.” With no immediate reply, she made her way to the stairs.

A strained voice called out as she laid her hoof on the first step. “Applejack, could I ask you something?”

Applejack turned back. “Sure, Blue. What’s on your mind?”

“Why do you think Celestia hates me?” Blueblood’s comment hung in the air, heavy in the silence that followed.

Applejack crossed back over to the couch and sat down on a nearby seat. “Blueblood, you got it all wrong. Celestia doesn’t hate you; she’s trying to help you.”

“Then why did she take my magic and send me away? Why make me work on a farm? I fail to see how that possibly translates to assisting me in any way.”

“Honestly, I don’t know why she did all that, but I trust she’s got her reasons.” Applejack lifted the lantern from her neck and set it on the table. “Maybe she figured you were missing something in life—something you could only learn here on the farm. I figure she tried the best she could, but there's some things you just can’t do living in a castle in Canterlot.”

Blueblood turned to face the lantern. “Being a prince is all I've ever known. I never stopped to consider where the food I ate came from. It never mattered.” He held a sore hoof in front of his face. “I had no idea growing it was so hard. I’ll never look at carrots the same way again—or apples for that matter.”

“I was raised on the farm. Hard work’s part of my blood. I got no idea what it feels like to live in a fancy castle with a bunch of ponies doing all the work for me.” Applejack smiled in the flickering light of the lantern. “Actually sounds kind of nice.”

“It is.” Blueblood pushed himself up a bit, wincing through the pain. His soft blue eyes caught the gleam from the lantern, and he bowed his head. “Thank you, Applejack. I guess I've got a lot to learn and you’re an amazing pony to help me through all this. It seems I've been a terrible prince and I've got a lot of making up to do.” He slumped back down and heaved a heavy sigh. “I just wish it wasn't so hard.” Catching a shimmer out of the corner of his eye, he cast a sideways glance at his benefactress. “Applejack, why is your hat glowing?”

Applejack reached up and took the hat from her head. Inside, the instruction scroll glowed brighter than the light from the dying lantern. She pulled it out and showed Blueblood the transformation of the third item on Celestia’s list. “Three down and one to go. Looks like you’re not such a bad student after all.”

“I figure I've got a pretty special teacher.” Blueblood’s pained grimace curled into a slight smile. “By the way, what does it say?”

“Sorry, forgot you can’t read.” Applejack held the scroll near his face and pointed out the words as she spoke. “Be honest with yourself.” She scratched her head and blushed in the fading light of the glowing ink turned gold. “Guess I am sort of an expert on that topic. Still, that all came from you, Blue. I’m glad I got to see the change.”

“Maybe there’s still hope for me yet.” Blueblood turned his head and stared at the ceiling. “Then again, Celestia probably saved the hardest one for last.” With a yawn, he settled back into the pillow. “Would you mind telling me what it says?”

Applejack looked down at the scroll and then back over at Blueblood. “This last one’s only as hard as you want to make it. Could be easy; could be tough. It says, Treat others like you want to be treated.” She reached over and pulled the blanket back over his forelegs. “Tomorrow’s another day and we can work it out together. Sleep tight, Blue.”

“Thanks, AJ. You too.” Blueblood closed his eyes as Applejack gathered her things. Before she reached the upper landing, he was fast asleep.

Comments

[DualKitsune]

You know what would be a great addition to his 4 -step program. Teaching him how to read. He's a Prince, he can't be illiterate!! He does have a few duties, and at the very least he's the head of his house!! How will he know if someone is lying to him or robbing him blind?