Chapter 8: The Princess of Ponyville
“This family bonding hath proven most fulfilling!” Luna grinned as she studied the half-dozen puzzle pieces floating before her. “Thou art good at this. Art thou…you certain you have not done this before with your own mother?”
Her nephew gave a derisive snort and cast his glance around the scene. Blueblood and Luna were sprawled across the floor of the Royal Parlor, a mostly-finished puzzle sitting between them. He was on his back, idly trying to fit together two pieces levitating above him.
The prince raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Lounging about on the carpet? She’d be too worried about wrinkling her dress to ever do anything like this. And she certainly wouldn’t let ME do it, either – ‘too undignified’ and all that. Especially at five in the morning.”
He ended the last statement with a yawn. It had been a long night, and it certainly started unpleasantly. Luna had grilled him for hours, and her sharp mind readily sifted through the half-truths and dodges he deployed. It was with mild embarrassment that Blueblood told of his ‘night life’ with the Egalitarian Equestrians and the odd relationship he had with Ditzy.
The conversation had grown friendlier afterwards. Understandably, Luna was surprised that the topic he was so evasive about was that he was a much BETTER pony than most would guess. Why make a secret of it?
“It’s not really a secret secret,” Blueblood had grumbled. “It’s just nopony else’s business. I don’t want ponies to think I’m some soft-hearted do-well who gallivants about, doing good deeds whilst incognito.”
Luna giggled at that. “But you ARE a soft-hearted do-well who gallivan-“
“Yes, yes, I get it!” Blueblood groaned. “The thing is, I’m also a flankhole. If any pony comes to me expecting to meet some kind of hero, they’re going to be sorely disappointed. Besides, like I said: it’s none of their business. I don’t need strangers’ approval or anything like that. My aunts know, Ditzy knows, my close friends know, and that’s enough for me. Everypony else can go buck themsel-“
“Nephew!” Luna had shot in a warning tone.
That conversation led to Luna quizzing him of the few noble ponies he did let into his life – Fancy Pants, and to a much lesser extent Noble Heart and Fleur De Lis. He mentioned he played cards with Fancy Pants, which caused Luna to ask him to teach her how to play. Playing cards led to billiards and darts, then, with Blueblood’s energy wearing down, to their 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in the parlor.
Blueblood gave a little grin as the two pieces fit together, and he quickly lowered them to connect to the larger picture. It was an image of three pegasi on a cloudy day – the ponies had come together easily, the sky was taking much longer.
Luna gave a yawn of her own - she was nocturnal, but the night was waning fast. With her careful magic, another small piece of sky came together and fit above a pegasus. She smiled again, taking pride in the tiny accomplishment. “Your mother doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. She…”
The princess hesitated, then went on. “She doesn’t know about Ditzy, does she?”
Blueblood groaned. “No. That conversation’s getting put off as long as possible.”
Luna smile softened. She reached a hoof over and brushed it gently against Blueblood’s shoulder. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, you know.”
“Hm? Maybe.” Blueblood yawned again, resting his head against the carpet. “I’m not ashamed of Ditzy at all, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve got big plans for my next trip to Ponyville.”
“Oho?” His aunt settled back, looking up at the unadorned ceiling.
“Yep.” Blueblood mumbled. “Everypony’s gonna know about us. It’s gonna be awesome.”
Lune beamed – in the brief time that she’s known him, Blueblood had never sounded so confident. It might be just the sleep deprivation, though.
“Keep your heart up, Nephew. Even if no pony supports you in this, I will.”
She glanced over, but no response was forthcoming. Blueblood had fallen asleep on his back. Luna gave a quiet laugh at his position – with his hooves curled up, it looked for all that world like he was expecting a belly rub.
Luna stepped over, smiling beatifically over his sleeping form. A millennia ago she shunned friendship, fearing the inevitable death that followed. Celestia had always disagreed, telling her that it was worth it.
”There is pain and parting, Luna. I won’t deny that. But the memories you create with those ponies are something you can hug closely to you during your long journey. Eternal life can be paradise, my little sister. A prance of happy memories being created every day. Or…it can just be a very, very long time.”
Now, looking down at this mortal unicorn – with his bad attitude and good heart – Luna was finally starting to see what her older sister was talking about.
She leaned down and kissed his cheek, eyes blurred with the faintest of tears.
As an alicorn, she had no one to pray to. But still she whispered, “Please bring him happiness.”
The moon was setting. Her room awaited her. Today, though, Princess Luna lay down next to her nephew, a worn rug as their only pillow.
------
It was a Perfectly Ordinary Day in Ponyville™. So ordinary it was downright dull, and as the sun waned in the sky, the town’s warier residents grew nervous. Existing on the border of the Everfree Forrest and populated by a host of eccentric characters, it had long-since been expected that no day would be ordinary. Today, though, there were no holidays. No pegasi crashed into anything, no magic experiments went awry, and no monsters emerged from the woods. No pony was late for anything, no pony had any cause to scream or get angry. Nothing had happened. It was Perfectly Ordinary.
In short, it was days like these that parasprites invaded or the town was consumed with Chaos or some other disaster occurred. Ponies shuffled about nervously, watching the sun go down. Was it possible that the day would end in a perfectly ordinary fashion? No, not in this town. Something had to happen, and they could only hope it was harmless. One pony nervously joked that they should fake an argument, just so the day wouldn’t be perfectly ordinary. Nopony took her up on the offer – reality wouldn’t be so easily fooled. Something was going to happen, and soon.
In such a setting, it is little surprise that many ponies breathed a sigh of relief as a golden chariot flew into town. A royal visit was something they could handle far better than some of the other things that could’ve happened.
Word quickly spread – a royal visit that wasn’t Celestia? She had visited often enough that her arrival wouldn’t raise too many heads. But this was one of the unicorn royals, highest of the Canterlot elite. They rarely left the capital, and had certainly never visited Ponyville.
Blueblood frowned a little as he stepped out of the chariot, eyeing the growing crowd. He had planned on witnesses, sure, but all these ponies were starting to make him a little self-conscious. Especially since they were all staring right at him.
It made him remember something Star Gazer once said…”When all eyes are on you, wink.”
Blueblood popped open the top button on his white suit and did just that, throwing in a confident grin for good measure. Several mares blushed. A bespectacled one in a grey mane swooned.
“It’s Prince Blueblood…” a pink one whispered in awe.
He groaned internally. Oh, not this schtick again.
Wait…HA! I’ve got a marefriend! These fillies can suck lemons!
One of his drivers sprinkled a little water on his hair for him to flip back, making him briefly glitter in the setting sun. He strode regally forward, nose raised. The crowd leaned forward, wondering what the reclusive noble had to say.
And Blueblood strode past them without a second glance.
------
They had followed him, of course. If anything, his standoffishness only increased their curiosity.
The crowd was murmuring incessantly, spreading rumors and speculating as to his purpose. Every pony had something to say, some theory as to why this stranger had come. And every pony compared their theory with others’, debating and wondering aloud.
Except for Rarity. She stood at the front of the crowd with a strong smile on her face, proud and pleased.
Blueblood passed by the Food in Hoof Café. He turned down the next street and walked on forward. He passed a few houses, then turned down the walkway of a small brown cottage.
Ditzy’s house.
The crowd’s murmur stopped abruptly. Aside from Rarity, every mouth hung open in shock.
Blueblood rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the knob turned and a tiny blonde unicorn opened the door.
The prince leaned down to put his face on level with hers. “Hello, Dinky. Is your mommy home?”
For whatever reason, Dinky didn’t seem surprised to see him. She smiled and bobbed her head once. “Yup! Let me get her.”
Dinky left the door open as she scurried back inside. Blueblood sent a sly glance to the side, eyeing the crowd. Rarity was still beaming – her Apple family friend was asking her why she looked so thrilled, but the rest were still in shock. A few girls were sobbing as they watched their fantasy stallion visit a different mare. Most just had twitching eyes with tiny pupils. A Prince? And DITZY?
And why not? He thought to himself. He tried to feel indignant, but to be honest, he was kind of enjoying the reaction. He was going to turn Canterlot upside-down, so why not start with Ponyville? They gotta learn that he’s not some prize to be won. Not at the Gala, and definitely not now.
“Blueblood?”
A quiet voice from inside brought his attention back to the door. A pair of yellow eyes peeped out, one looking at Blueblood, the other eyeing the crowd beyond.
“Lady Ditzy,” he announced loudly, making sure everypony could hear.
She poked her head out a little more, looking a little bashful and really. Darn. Cute. Blueblood felt himself blush, and the carefully-rehearsed lines vanished from his head.
He stumbled for a second, but quickly rallied. With a quick shake of the head, his thoughts cleared and his regal posture resumed. Prince Blueblood knelt before Ditzy, like any knight before his lady. He lifted her hoof with his own, looking up at her.
Ditzy’s blush had reached her ears now. One eye kept twitching from the crowd to the sky, while the other stayed fixed on Blueblood.
With the moment here at last, Blueblood was in the zone. He smiled gently up at her.
“The Sapphire Ball will be held at the Royal Palace on the first of next month. I would be greatly honored if you would accompany me there as my date.”
Dizty blinked and swallowed. She hesitated just long enough to make Blueblood nervous.
Then…”YES!”
That wonderful, white grin broke through the blushing face and she stepped forward to hug him. She tripped on the doorframe and slammed into him harder than expected, but it was all good. There’s nothing wrong with hugging the ones you love a little too hard. Blueblood leaned up and hugged her back with his forehooves.
Silence reigned over the crowd.
Then, from the front, a single pair of hooves stamped the ground in wild applause. Rarity had a triumphant grin on her face as she clapped, heedless of the odd looks other ponies were giving her.
Her stomps were joined by a light tapping from inside the house. Dinky was standing in the doorway, giving the hardwood floor more than a few scuffs as she applauded, smiling from ear to ear.
A yellow mare with orange hair joined in the noisemaking. Slowly, and a bit awkwardly, the rest of the crowd joined in. A few mares were still clearly upset, miffed that their dreams of princely courtship were dashed by Derpy of all ponies. Some were thrilled – love was in the air, and no further explanation was needed. Most were still confused, but even the most befuddled amongst them could manage a smile for Ditzy. The “town clown” had given other ponies plenty of headaches over the years, but no pony had it in them to genuinely wish her ill.
Both lovebirds blushed fiercely with the attention. They drew away from each other then crossed their necks – a gentler hug. Ditzy stroke her lips against Blueblood’s neck, but that was it. Both of them were private ponies, not big on the idea of kissing in front of everypony.
Kiss or no kiss, though, the feeling was there. The love. The desire. Ditzy scurried back into her house, her wings half-raised of their own accord.
Blueblood swallowed dryly, staring at her flank until the moment the door closed.
He took a deep breath to steady himself. Then he grinned, tossed his mane back again, and turned to head back to the chariot.
The crowd began dispersing – Blueblood obviously wasn’t interested in them, and they could accept that. Some ponies were headed home, others sticking around to gossip.
Rarity wasted no time in moving to walk alongside him, looking immeasurably pleased.
Blueblood glanced away, using his magic to discreetly tuck an invitation into her saddlebag.
“That was very good, Prince.” Rarity spoke softly, eyes forward. “A++ on all counts.”
“Wasn’t it, just!” Blueblood shook his mane and glanced to the side. A gaggle of ponies were talking loudly about the events.
“Ditzy! On the road to being a princess!”
“Of the Blue Family, no less!”
“Derpy, of all ponies…” one mare moaned. “What’s she got, anyway?”
“We’ll probably need a new postmare soon.”
Blueblood’s grin widened, and it wasn’t entirely pleasant. “Listen to them! Yesterday she was comic relief. Derp-Derp-Derpy. The klutz. The dumb one. Now, though? She’s above them all. She’s the one to be jealous of, the one to curry favor with. Ha! Did you see how their eyes were almost twitching in sync?”
Rarity huffed and ‘accidentally’ trod on his hoof, tripping him up. “I didn’t help set this up so you can feel smug for Derpy’s sake, Dear.”
Blueblood stumbled, but his fierce grin never faded. “But it’s a nice side benefit.”
The mare huffed again, and they walked in silence for a few minutes before Blueblood spoke quietly.
“It’s ‘Ditzy,’ you know.”
“Hm?”
“Her name’s Ditzy,” Blueblood said. Now it was his eyes that were fixed ahead. “Don’t call her Derpy.”
“She calls herself that,” Rarity reminded gently.
“When she screws up,” Blueblood responded, soft but firm. “That’s her ‘dumb’ name. Her ‘excuse’ name. The ‘don’t mind me, I’m Derpy’ name. No more of that.”
Rarity accepted the reprimand with grace. She nodded once, then glanced to the side. “Some ponies only know her as ‘Derpy.’ That won’t change quickly.”
Blueblood looked back. The crowd was continuing to disperse, but several were still staring at Ditzy’s house.
“Yeah,” he said with a quieter, kinder smile. “But I’d say we’re off to a good start.”
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So I intended for this chapter to cover the Sapphire Ball, but there was enough leadup left over that I felt one extra chapter was required. It's short, but the Ball chapter would be too heavy and meandering if I didn't get this out of the way first. Stallion's finally acting like a stallion.
Thanks for reading.
Dan
Nice work Blueblood!
~glees happily all over the place~
I
LOVE
this chapter. Now I can't wait for the next one...
How many chapters are left?
Whooooooo! Story update!
Eeeeee! The cute almost killed me. I could feel my blood congealing into pure sugar.
I agree that trying to make this a chapter including the Sapphire ball would have been too much. A short chapter before the large one is an excellent way to do it.
1081324
Guesstimate: One, plus an epilogue.
1081447 B-But....
AH WANT MOAR!
1081447 Aww...
D'awww
1081447
Well if that's so, then it's been a good ride and well worth it. Looking forward to the conclusion.
....love it
read the entire story in a one-r and it's now 2am and I have work at 5 
can't bring myself to be annoyed though because it's awesome 
moustache for you sir! 
Good show. I'd say you've done a smashing job here, especially with Blueblood's character. He's remarkably consistent and, in my opinion, a shining example of the 'bad' guy with a good heart.
Really good story.
I want to draw pictures of this pair now. :3
Thank you for writing and sharing, and congratulations on the feature!
Awesome. Blueblood is the classic rogue with a heart of gold! There must be a wedding or something in the epilogue. Dinky's going to be a little princess damn it! Take that Diamond Tiara!
yeup ditzys reaction was so cute it gave me cute it gave me cancer
and blueblod was so sweet he gave me diabetes
canbetes!
anyway great story loved every word of it. though im kinda curious was the part about his mother leading up to anything or was that just character development?
DAMN IT! Too short! Write moar! This character is just too good.
Waited forever.
Read it fast.
i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/009/675/luffy-worth-it-meme.jpg
Keep up the great work, I have no idea why this isn't in the spotlight.
Ah, yes, I was wondering when this would update. Well worth the wait, in my opinion.
Frickin' adorable!
*BOOM* What was that? *BOOM* Did... did I just explode from the cuteness... twice... and live?
Just finished reading this (I started this morning) and I am so glad that I found this! This is such a wonderful and sweet story, the take on Blueblood refreshing. It's a genius take on his character, really, so props to you for making it so believable!
Never thought I'd see Ditzy and Blueblood, but I'm glad I did.
Also, I don't consider this `shipping`. The word `shipping` has such a ... casual, almost vulgar connotation, but what you have done is by no means that! This is really refreshing, a real romance; a real romance. Heh.
I look forward to however much more this story has in store!
This is one of my top favorites for sure.
-Silver
Oh man, this was amazing. Completely changed my perception of Blueblood, and added a new romance to my lsit of favourites! I simply can't wait for the next chapter after reading all of that...
On the next episode: Blueblood pays for his beloved's strabismus surgery.
Wonderful story. I'm looking forward to the next update.
....I just re-read it all, twice in two days....still awesome
Lots and lots of daw. This is the reason I favorited this story.
Stumbled upon this story.
Its glorious.
That is all.
Nice one, Blueblood!
"Her name’s Ditzy. Don’t call her Derpy.” ... “Some ponies only know her as ‘Derpy.’ That won’t change quickly.” -- I see what you did there
Fan-freaking-tastic
I've mentioned before how much I love Rarity in this story, but dammit... I love Rarity in this story.
Also, you should know that you've inspired me to start calling her Ditzy, too. "Derpy" does sound a little mean-spirited, doesn't it? I mean, "Ditzy" does, too, but... less so. So bravo, man. You're affecting change in the community!
I can see poor Blueblood accidentally stealing the show and then not really caring in the end.
1136862
Well, Derpy is more 'canon' than Ditzy. But it also has much more negative connotations, hence why most of the community had assigned her "Ditzy" instead. I'm not the first to take the "Derpy is the effacing nickname" route, but thanks for the positive waves.
man, with the backlog of chapters that was formed from that camp, I almost forgot about this story.
So glad that I decided to look through them.
I love your description of Ponyville!
Been channeling Douglas Adams or Terry Prachett?
1397916 I deman explanation, why does this coment got a downvote!!!!!
3747805
Who dares to hate upon Terry Pratchett?
Only two more chapters?
Somehow I don't see Luna doing a mere 500-piece puzzle…
5650706
the puzzle shall be doubled!!!!
8216523
How are people still finding this story?!
8217610
In recent years you've written kick-butt stories like To Try for the Sun. That's in my top three favorite stories on the site (just so you know I'm serious, the other two are Silver Standard and Changeling of the Guard). So of course I have to check out your old stuff, too!
8386172
Well, thank you for reading!
8217610
Because it's a good story,I mean it has over 1000 likes
9188524
😘
wow, this is really cute
I don't care if I normally dislike Blueblood, though to be fair this one is pretty okay, having all this goodness happen for Ditzy just fills me with glee. More so with how in love Blue is with her and is wanting to make sure she is happy, so yes...I ship this, I straight up FEDEX this shit.
god damn made me tear up