Second Impressions
Prince Blueblood’s happiness was transient, as was his conviction. He was well aware that he would have to receive Twilight Sparkle soon, and couldn’t help wondering whether he would be able to get through the meeting without either snapping at her or requesting she leave.
Furrowing his brow, he eyed himself in the mirror for what must have been the fifteenth time. He was – as always – impeccably dressed and well-kempt, but there was hesitation in his steely gaze. She is a victim of circumstance just as much as I am, I have no right to be angry with her. He felt a snarl crawl onto his muzzle, betraying his discomfort. Well, not over this, at least.
Blueblood was distracted from admiring his regal gait by a faint knock on the door. He bade the pony entry, and was soon faced with a middle-aged earth pony named Gertrote, who was in charge of his housestaff.
Not pausing to curtsy, she entered. “Princess Twilight Sparkle has arrived. Would you care to greet her, prince?”
Stealing one more glance at the mirror, he allowed a calm indifference to mask his features. It was, after all, his greatest defence, as well as his best means of coping. “I will be there forthwith.” he said, his tone level.
“Prince, are you sure you’re ready to—”
Already, he felt a crack in his countenance. “I’m ready, Gertrote.” he all but growled, a swift series of steps punctuating his statement.
Walking along the corridor, his horseshoes clacked against the marble stairs as he descended into the main hall, where his wife-to-be stood amongst a meagre procession of his own housestaff, appearing as if she was attempting to swallow a live wasp.
Blueblood resisted the urge to mirror her expression. Pushing a false and amicable smile onto his face, he strutted straight over to her and offered a hoof to shake.
Twilight stared at the hoof for a second, perplexed, before reciprocating the gesture. If she was confused, the housestaff were more so.
Glancing awkwardly at the ‘couple’, Gertrote – who had followed Blueblood downstairs – cleared her throat, gesturing towards the pair of them. “Shall we leave the prince and his, erm, fiancée to become acquainted?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Blueblood interjected, trying to keep the panic out of his tone. “In fact, I was hoping you would be able to show Princess Twilight to her quarters.”
“Wait,” Gertrote’s eyes narrowed, “you mean to say that the princess won’t be retiring with you?” At this, several of the others present began to look quite confused.
“N-no, it’s just that,” Blueblood fumbled in place, searching for an excuse, feeling Twilight’s eyes on him also, “we have yet to be wed, and it would be improper to share a room until then.” He caught himself, hoping that would be enough.
While Twilight seemed to visibly relax, Gertrote bore a wry smile. “Ah, that is our prince, a sense of propriety in all matters! I shouldn’t have expected anything less.”
Blueblood, despite his feeling of discomfort, couldn’t help but be proud of his ability to spin bullshit in a timely manner. He tried and failed to withhold a facetious grin.
“But regardless, you should show the princess to her room yourself, prince! Or have you forgotten your way around this place already?”
Blueblood suddenly felt red as a beetroot. He was more than used to being teased by Gertrote, knowing it came from a kind and harmless place, but it wasn’t often that he was simultaneously parading a false love, and trying to keep a level disposition in front of the pony he very much wanted far, far away from his estate. He exhaled hard through his snout, thinking of his earlier escapades in an attempt to calm himself.
Twilight, on the other hand, looked about ready to find her own way; she clearly found the idea of walking with Blueblood as displeasurable as he did. Biting back a sigh, knowing that the first step to keeping up appearances was to do just that, Blueblood gave a stunted nod.
Smiling, Gertrote rose to her hind legs, clapping her front hooves together once. “With me, everyone! We’ll allow the pair some time to themselves.”
The staff were as fast and orderly as they were well trained. Despite their head’s fairly intrusive behaviour, none followed her lead and attempted to question Blueblood. They left at once with a chorus of ‘yes, Gertrote’, heading to the far side of the ground floor before disappearing through a wide archway.
When the housestaff had gained some distance Twilight slouched in place, an unseemly posture. Looking up at Blueblood, she stepped forwards, her face a mixture of annoyance and what appeared to be contemplation. Looking down at her, Blueblood truly realised their height difference for the first time.
This was nothing new to him. He was used to being taller than the mares he interacted with, and as such didn’t often pay it much attention, but being so close to Twilight it was easy to admire—or rather, perceive their vast difference in stature. Blueblood appreciated the difference. His foster sister had always been of a similar height to him, as was his aunt, and as such he found it very difficult to feel any semblance of attraction to a taller mare.
As for Twilight? Well, her coat was a nice shade, he could say that much for her. Not that he would ever tell her so. Realising that they had simply been looking at one another for about twenty seconds now, their faces both suitably hostile, Blueblood raised a hoof and cleared his throat.
It was Twilight, however, that broke the silence. “Nice to see you’re just as excited to have me as I am to be here.”
All too quickly that pretense fell, and Blueblood threw her a powerful look, filled with disdain. “Please, are you going to insist on making this worse for the both of us by speaking, as well as being here?”
“Believe me, there are plenty of other places I’d rather be right now. Heck, there are changeling hives I’d rather spend a night in than this place!” Right then, Twilight stifled a giggle, gesturing to the corridor the help had left through. “Gertrote seemed nice though. Didn’t seem to have much trouble putting you in your place, either. I might have to ask her for lessons.”
“Now listen to me, you two bit—!” Blueblood caught himself before he could finish that sentence. He may have been angry, yes, but he wasn’t about to scream in Twilight’s face, not if he could help it. Breathing deeply, he lowered his tone. “Tell me, when did you become so relaxed about this?”
“Oh, that’s simple,” Twilight remarked, swishing her tail as she spoke. “I became calm about it when I realised that I’m going to find a way out of it.”
“Twilight,” Blueblood grumbled, uttering the name like a curse, “if there was—as you so eloquently describe, ‘a way out of this’, do you not think Celestia would have found it already?”
“Of course not. If Princess Celestia just went around changing laws all the time—even really silly ones, just to suit her friends and family, then that would look like nepotism. Besides, Celestia doesn’t wield supreme power like that, even if she wanted to change a law, it wouldn’t be instantaneous.”
Addressing Blueblood like a teacher instructing a pupil might, Twilight spoke again. “Obviously, it’s something that takes a little time, but I’ve got plenty of that. And in that time, I plan to find a loophole, a counterargument, anything that allows me to have my freedom back. Our freedom, to be precise.”
Blueblood couldn’t help but notice that Twilight seemed very natural right now. Everything from her poise to her tone of voice suggested that she was in her element, using her intuition and planning to think her way out of a situation. Blueblood would almost appreciate such determination if he didn’t consider it so hopeless. “There is no point. You may not realise, princess, as you have always assumed my aunt to be the primary authority in Equestria, but she does indeed share her power. Not only with the council, who control much of the commerce in Equestria and are connected to a great many ponies in very strong positions, but with the various groups and consortiums that they represent.”
Taking a step forwards, he scrutinised Twilight’s face, seeing only a filly who woke up one day with a pair of wings and a title. “You must understand that when this wedding is finalised, it will be the pivotal point of multiple processes and deals, things which cannot be reversed as simply as any law can, which is hardly simple either. Because of this, you will be fought at every opportunity. If Celestia was unable to fix this, why should you fare any better?”
“You know what happened to the last pony that underestimated and doubted me?” Twilight asked, a small smirk on her muzzle and a glint in her eye. Catching Blueblood’s baffled expression, she continued: “She became my student.”
This caught Blueblood completely by surprise. He had expected a warning, a thinly veiled threat, not that, of all things. “Not your wife, then?” he quipped, vaguely aware of the words that had just left his mouth.
Twilight seemed stuck between a chortle and a scoff. “Wow, Blueblood, was that a joke? Who would have thought you had it in you?” For but a moment, her eyes practically scintillated, resembling her cutie mark, even her name. Casting his eyes to the floor, Blueblood quietly berated himself for finding the sight even the least bit endearing.
Roughly slapping his metalclad hoof against the hard floor, Blueblood made it quite clear that he wasn’t in the mood for any more games. “Your room is on the far side of the first floor, the opposite side to mine. There is an en-suite bathroom as well as an intercom, with which you can ask a staff member for assistance, should you need it. However, they are off duty after nine, please do not bother them during the night.”
“Heh, who would have thought that the high and mighty Prince Blueblood had such respect for the ‘common peasantry’?” Twilight ribbed, her gaze scrupulous, but her tone light and jovial nonetheless.
Blueblood’s chest began to swell, and he flashed an imperious glare at Twilight. “How dare you? That ‘common peasantry’ all but raised me, yet you amble in here and mock them, you—” pausing, Blueblood blinked, realising what he had said, as well as noticing the hoof that was raised to Twilight’s mouth, gaped open in what he could only assume was shock. His face abashed, he sought solitude in the floor, wishing to be someplace else. “...I said too much just then, forgive me.”
Twilight, for her part, appeared to feel equally awkward. “H-hey, it’s fine, no need to apologise… Uhh, I...” she scratched behind the back of her neck, her eyes darting between Blueblood and the stairs, “I can probably find my own way, if you want?”
Shaking his head, he willed placidity to lead him once more, beginning to walk on. “No, allow me. If there’s one thing I despise more than lies and insincerity, it is a lack of hospitality.”
Twilight gave a curt nod, and soon they were walking through Blueblood’s manor together. Unlike the strong expression met with staunch indifference that had been their first encounter, or the thunderous clash that had been their most recent, this felt more uncomfortable than anything else.
The gravity of Blueblood’s penultimate words seemed to outweigh everything else, and even when Blueblood wished for a distraction he could not will himself to speak again, silently lamenting his idiocy.
So it was that he found himself oddly grateful when Twilight broke the silence, her eyes tracing a portrait of a far off mountain range. “One thing Gertrote said struck me as odd,” her eyes contemplative, they settled on Blueblood. “She asked if you even knew your way around any more, or something like that. If this is your house then why wouldn’t you?”
“I am out on business a lot,” he responded, his eyes fixed forwards.
“Really?” she asked, her head cocked. “What kind of thing do you do?”
She really is inquisitive, isn’t she? She might even be worse than Stone. “I help broker deals, foster relations, introduce ideas and maintain correspondences. I oversee a few other things, also.”
“Oh, so you’re a businessman?”
“I am a means to an end.” Noticing her frown, he added: “I do not work for excessive profit, if that’s what you are wondering. I aim for only enough to support my lifestyle.”
“You mean you don’t rely on the Royal Treasury?” Twilight asked, a small level of shock to her voice.
Blueblood couldn’t help but snigger. “No, I do not. Of course, things were provided for me in my youth, but once a pony of my station becomes an adult they do not sit around indulging themselves with lavish frivolities without having earned the right to first. You may consider me to be supercilious, and may in fact be correct, but that by no means makes me a freeloading dandy.”
“...Huh.” Twilight’s eyes lingered on Blueblood for a second before he pointed a hoof towards a nearby door.
“Beyond there you’ll find your room, if you need anything else than I would ask that you use the intercom, which is as simple as pressing a button. We can accommodate you for as long as you wish, but I’m sure you have friends and whatever else to be getting back to, yes?”
“Well, yes, but…” Twilight frowned, her face pensive. “Are we really going to avoid each other? I mean, I’m just as unhappy about all this as you are, and I wanna get out of it, but don’t you think we should at least try to be on speaking terms? It might make all this a little easier in the meantime.”
“We held a conversation just now, did we not?”
“That’s hardly getting along though, is it? Listen, if the Princess of Friendship can’t make a friend out of you, then there isn’t much hope for the rest of us, is there?”
Blueblood’s eyes hardened. “Well, my sister is the Princess of Love, Celestia knows she made a pig’s ear of that.”
Twilight grit her teeth, her eyes boring into Blueblood. “What did you say?”
“Precisely what you heard. Now,” Blueblood swiveled on the spot, flicking his mane back as he looked behind him, “I have work to be doing. Do try to make yourself comfortable.”
Twilight simply stood with her muzzle agape as Blueblood trotted away. Not sparing another look behind him, Blueblood felt the satisfaction his little insult had brought him wear off all too quickly. It wasn’t that he was incapable of disliking the pony that stood behind him, likely wishing she could beat him to a pulp with something blunt. Rather, it was that as much as he willed himself to do so, he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to.
Still, he had no desire to befriend her, let alone marry her or even consider courting her. It wasn’t just their incompatibility as a pair either, it was her demeanour, her naivety, her inability to understand just how things worked in the real world. It was her title, her wings and horn, and the air of faux autocracy they brought with them, power she wouldn’t understand how to use even if she was able.
It was her family. Her parents were wholly unremarkable ponies, yet not only had her brother married the first alicorn to ascend in recent history, his sister had been the second to do so. Shining Armour had also helped to produce the first natural born alicorn in history, an astounding accomplishment. Blueblood had wondered before, and he now found himself questioning again just what it was that made Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour so different, so unique that they could waltz into royalty without so much as playing the game?
It felt juvenile; it felt asinine. Above all, it felt to be a mockery of the steadily crumbling class system. Blueblood thought to the council before pushing back a growl. Perhaps it had already crumbled.
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I can see why he's mad, he's "played the game" his entire life to see poines waltz in not jump though hoops and make headway must be infuriating. It's likely the same problem he has with Cadance, she doesn't act like a cliche Princess would. I know some might wonder how he can have such love for the "common" folk just was a jerk to Rarity. A few fics proposed the idea he just assumed she was a Gold Digger.
damn this is getting good I wonder when they will relize that they love eachother in a I would leave you at a moments notice type of way
I... am hesitantly interested, specifically the Romance tag makes me cautious of getting emotionally involved. Still, you're a solid author so let's give this a shot.
pre00.deviantart.net/53e8/th/pre/f/2017/236/6/4/get_your_own_dragon_by_hillbe-dbl81h5.jpg
They call my Spikey Wikey the 'King Maker"
I'm getting more and more attached to this story.
I would love for Twilight to point out to the noble council that she is probably the brightest mind in Equestria since Starswrill himself. She not only has tangled with Discord but defeated a crazed unicorn that was screwing with the time stream, they have no clue just how cunning Twilight is and how she will make fools out of all of them. I can see Twilight not only dismantling the noble council but allowing all the alicorn the ability to pass power to the common ponies. All they did was hastened their own obsolescence by their power grab.
8441465
I hate so-called 'nobles' - silly poisonous vipers sniping at each other as they play their stupid 'game' - and I hope Twi does everything she can to fuck them all over. Aside from the kindly ones like Fancy Pants and Fleur, as far as I'm concerned they can all rot.
I'm torn. This story could go interesting places - but from how it's going so far, those places will be interesting in the same way car crashes and workplace accident videos are. If you're aiming for a Twilight/Blueblood romance, you've got miles and miles to go to make it even vaguely palatable, and everything you've shown of your take on Blueblood so far makes him LESS likeable. And I don't know which of the characters yet to be introduced will be more nauseating; the "yeah I'm an elitist rent-seeking asshole, so?" team, or the "this character is supposed to represent the OH SO UNFAIRLY MALIGNED noble classes in a positive light, why are they still an irredeemable shitbird?" faction. The "I was born poor in a brutally classist society so I've had any will to not lick the boots of my oppressors beaten out of me" folks won't be fun, either.
I mean, your writing is technically competent and all, so I'll probably track this just to see if I'm pleasantly surprised. I mean, Blueblood hasn't eaten a baby yet or anything, he's redeemable; and Twilight doing, well, MLP-protagonist things to Repressive Aristocratic Oligarchy, Villain of the Week, could be highly entertaining. I'm just not getting my hopes up.
Seems things are off to a very rocky start for both of them.
8441596
I'm... not sure what you mean, by "teams." Or what connection any of that has to Blueblood, really.
8441674
It's the stereotypical classification that nobles are usually given within fiction. Let's use Game of Thrones as an example, here.
The first one, think "Lannister" and you're off to a decent start. The second group is more akin to the "Tyrell" or "Baratheon", families that are better than the Lannisters but do things that are still very questionable or outright bad. Another example could be "Karstark," a family that was supposed to be noble yet was really horrible at the end of things.
The third group is more along the lines of "Baelish" or Littlefinger, who was at the bottom and worked his way up the ranks by any means necessary after having tried and failed the "Honorable" way.
Blueblood probably is actively trying not to be any of these three.
8441693
Ah, that makes much more sense. They're cliches that exist for a reason, I suspect... though I think Blueblood's more complex than any of those stereotypes indicate by themselves. Even the Lannisters are fairly complex, to call back to your example.
Then again, I have more of an insight into what AAIQU is planning, even if the both of us are deliberately keeping me in the dark so I'll be surprised. Still, I'm quite optimistic.
I know this chapter sort of makes Blueblood out to be a jerk but I'd hope it also shows why he feels as he does.
And this is the chapter where the picture of this story fits in nicely...
8441703
It most definitely portrays him as a jerk. It then gives us part of why he's like that - and his reasons make him appear even more of a jerk. Currently, he's coming off as more of a potential obstacle to Twilight's efforts than a potential ally, though it's promising that he is showing signs that he COULD be a very effective ally If Twilight can snap him out of his worn-down cynicism.
8441786
I won't deny he's a bit of a cynic when it comes to politics, that was something that's meant to come across strongly. And Twilight really is inexperienced when it comes to politics, and quite optimistic, which obviously clashes with Blueblood. I suppose since I'm the kind of person who likes to imagine there's good in everypony, I focus more on his redeeming traits.
He is meant to be the type who's unsympathetic, but has potential, I hope the author succeeded in that regard. He's definitely not going to be an outright obstacle, as he doesn't want their "arrangement" any more than Twilight does. It's just a matter of getting him to cooperate...
Lots of potential! I've really enjoy the first few chapter and am looking forward. I've always liked seeing a Blueblood character-development story, and Twilight Sparkle is best pony to me.
8441693
8441703
Brawny has it right. Lots of reader even want characters of a noble background to fall into those. You could have a story where Equestria's nobility is a force for good and you'd get complaints and people who hate them.
8441465
8441524
You seem to have missed the part where it's not just the council, but lots of other organisations as well. Never mind how that seems very out-of-character for Twilight. And how, in this fic's premise, the fear of the Alicorns simply grabbing all power is prevalent among non-nobles.
I'm still having a bit trouble imagining this Blueblood to be the same from The Best Night Ever, to be honest. Some changes are fine, but he seems to move in the opposite direction to nearly every single thing we could see from him during that episode. He gets furious instead of pouty, he's not scared, he says he dislikes freeloading even when he made Rarity pay for their food, he's protective of the commoners in his employ even when he spat out "common carnival fare"... At some point, we need an explanation how all that fits together.
And perhaps it ought to crumble Blueblood, a rigid hierarchy is all well and good when trying to maintain a status quo and prevent conflict from breaking out (see Toyotomi Hideyoshi's reforms once he took power in Japan, preventing people from rising to the Samurai ranks as he did in order to stop the Sengoku Jidai [Warring States] period of Japan [heck see Extra Credits video on the entire period), but it limits the desire of others to try and improve their lot if there is only so high they can climb. As technology advances it has to become far more fluid as new ideas have a habit of not caring what caring a persons origins are so long as they have the drive, knowledge, and luck to bring those changes about. Clinging to the past is just asking for disaster.
8442234
Oh, there's reason for it. Besides, as Celestia pointed out, Twilight needs to examine Blueblood for herself rather than relying on what happened in The Best Night Ever.
But hopefully we'll be addressing those concerns soon.
8441693
Try again. I never looked at Game of Thrones so I have no idea what you are talking about.
Twilight and Blueblood are so going to butt heads for quite some time. Blueblood doesn't like her and he doesn't want to like her. And from what I have read so far, I don't blame him.
I want to see what comes next!
8514981
yes a do I
This could certainly be going some interesting places. Celestia and the nobles are probably lucky that Twilight went with playing along while she looks for a loophole, instead of gathering her friends and allies and overthrowing the Equestrian nobility. ;)
I really want this to continue. Your characterization is spot on and the grim-dark premise of the story really gives it that right amount of edge to hold your suspense. After all, mysterious, shadowy forces running the Kingdom behind the scenes and a romance that has to beat all the odds? Who doesn't love that?
I'd honestly like to see more of this.
8732209
Unfortunately, personal issues has meant AAIQU hasn’t been up to continuing this. I hope that changes in the future, but unfortunately this is what we have for now.
Even more sadly, the fourth chapter is done, but as it left the reader with unanswered questions, I advised AAIQU to finish the next chapter before posting it...
It has occurred to me that I could try and write my own version, though I’ve come to like AAIQU’s work and I’m not sure it would have the same quality.
8915598
Darn, I was looking forward to more.
8915615
Me too...
8915669
Well, seeing that you were the one who commissioned it, of course!
You could see if another author would be willing to work with you maybe?
8915684
I'm more likely to just tackle it myself - I'd rather not go and commission someone else for this. If someone wanted to work on it with me, that'd be fine, but I'm not expecting that.
8916066
Good luck with that!
Far too few well written political intrigue fics out there. I hope this one sees a fitting conclusion many chapters from now.
Ded?
9088892
Except from everything we've seen in the show. Twilight is more of a ruler than Blueblood. She's behind Celestia, Luna, and I think possibly Cadence for inherenting the throne. But Blueblood is never even mentioned in line of succession.
And what is there plan if she says no? Hold her down while Blueblood rapes her?
9027429
*Solemnly puts hand on shoulder*
Ded...
9089042
Probably what usually happens with arranged marriages - they get used to it, and each other. Also, I think "line of succession" is meaningless because there isn't a single throne, each of the ponies have their own responsibilities... and Twilight has the least.
9027429
9325618
*looks at notes on the fic*
Honestly... I really should take a crack at this. Helps that I have those conversations with the author to draw on as notes, though I may end up going in a different direction than what he was doing.
Fun fact - the fourth chapter of this is complete, but I told the author that, since that chapter just raised more questions than answers, that he wait until the fifth was done before publishing both...
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TO bad, looks like this story is dead. Hope the author is okay, either way.
Questioning boop!
Tracking this in case it gets continued.
Crossing my chest hoping this will get continued.
I really like this story so far, sucks it’s dead.
RIP story