9 - Noblesse Oblige
"This is not the magical library." For perhaps the first time, Fire was accompanying Lady Blue outside of her room, trotting along in a room full of books, but there were no magical books in sight. "What are we here for?"
"I have a need for other kinds of knowledge." Her magic rolled over the spines of books, her eyes scanning each as she went. "I'm looking for genealogy records, mine specifically. This whole thing has reminded me that I have been criminally negligent."
"What about?" She reached a hoof out, running it across a few book spines. "Oh, here's one." It was not a record book. A book of magic, but it was more akin to a foal's book. My First Spell, basically, detailing a few silly spells to play jokes, the kind of thing that would get giggles out of a foal. "I remember learning that one," she crooned, perhaps reliving some old mischief she had gotten into.
"That will not help us," She sat on his haunches. "What is the point of declaring a new identity if I do not even know my own?"
"Hm?" She set the book back where it had come from, approaching Blue with a smile. "Now you have me curious. What do you mean?"
"It's really quite simple." Blue Belle put a hoof on her chest. "As a prince, the exact manner of my demesne mattered little. Was I the ruler of a barony, a duchy? There are many such places, each with their own, specific, title. As a male, prince sufficed quite well enough, with my connection to Princess Celestia." She arched a brow. "As a female..."
"Oh! Clever." She clapped her hooves together with a grin. "Not a princess, but maybe a duchess then?" She inclined her head. "Still think princess would suit you better."
"Another day, another time," she dismissed. "Today is about what I am, not fancies of what I may or may not want." Her magic wrapped around a book, yanking it free. "Here we are!" She pointed at the cover, which had the name of her grandmother on it. "This should give a clue." She flipped it open as she settled on her haunches, the book floating before her.
Fire settled just behind Blue, leaning over her shoulder for a good peer at the book being flipped through. "You know, we could be practicing magic."
"Consider this a removal of a distraction." She turned an ear back to Fire. "Knowing my place will allow me to advance with confidence."
"I'll work you twice as hard to celebrate then," she sang out with a malicious little smirk. Her tail suddenly slapped down on the book, thick and spadelike, it easily prevented casual turning. "An index! Page... Here." She waggled the strange and un-pony like tail tip under a header.
But it was the header Blue wanted. "Ah, very good." Her magic flipped the book forward as the tail withdrew, allowing him to skip most of it to arrive at the genealogical section that announced who had married who and the titles of all those involved. "Now... if I'm listed..." There she was, well, her old name. Prince Blueblood, right there.
Her magic trailed upwards from there. "Prince Taciturn and Lady Petticoat." Her parents. But the line came from her father, so that didn't really give a clue. Onwards she pressed, backwards, backwards.
She had to laugh, well, more of a polite chuckle. "Well, of course..." No wonder her grandmother had been listed on the title of the book. She was the source of their noble family line! "Ruler of the barony of Glistening Glade," she read musically. "How lovely." And there, right next to her name, was her title. Ruler of a barony, she was, of course, a baroness! There was no other noble line of greater prestige after her, which meant...
"Baroness Blue Belle," she breathed out with a smile. "Ha, and they made fun of providence standing before me."
"Not gonna lie." Fire inclined her head. "That name works. Good on you! Baroness Blue Belle. Not quite as great as Princess Blue Belle, but it's not bad."
"It is, perhaps, something of a fancy... but thinking I am taking after my grandmother is of some comfort." She polished one hoof with the fetlock of the other arm. "I should renew the family presence in our familial holdings. I blame my parents, running off to Canterlot as they'd done." She stomped a hoof. "And, of course, took me with them, abandoning their duties."
Fire cocked a brow at that. "You sure? A barony in the sticks is not going to have the comforts you're... used to."
"And my... associates..." The siblings of Fancy Pants and Fleur appeared in her mind. "Maybe I am being hasty... Thank you. I will continue to consider it." Lifted in her magic, she placed the book back where it came from. "For now, let's focus on the immediate."
"Finally!" she gusted, standing upright. "Back for magic lessons?"
"I would rather not."
"You getting lazy on me?" she accused, scowling.
"Perish the thought." She waved it away. "I want more practice. Teach me a spell using the symbols I know, so I can practice it, and magic use in general."
"Oh, well, that's different then." Fire glanced to the side where a maid had quietly entered, eyeing Fire in furtive glances. "Hey, bugger off, we're busy in here!"
"We should be done shortly," more politely banished Blue Belle.
"Of course, Sir." And she turned to leave, trotting hurriedly back into the hallway.
Blue frowned softly. "I need to inform the service..."
"Bah, they can wait until you finish." She rolled her eyes softly. "Like they even matter."
"Of course they do," she rebuffed. "Now, that spell?"
"Something a bit... tactile." She smirked in that vicious way she had. "Here." She thrust a scroll, still smoldering with burning in magical runes. "Read, cast. You know the drill by now, Baroness."
"Mmm, I do like that." That was a title she could wear far more proudly than 'Lady'. Not at the level of 'Prince', but in asking to be called a mare, she had given that up... "Let's see." She unfurled the scroll and her eyes swept over it. "This has a few of the more powerful symbols."
"Not powerful," she corrected. "Difficult. Some of the easiest ones can be the most powerful. Don't get them confused." She rolled a hoof. "But you should know them all. Go on, do it."
She began to play the notes across the flute of her horn, one at a time, getting a feel for how one flowed into the next, repeating faster with a slow nod, getting a grasp for it as a whole as she went over and over it faster and faster. "Alright... I think I have it."
"Show it, don't say it." She plonked down on her haunches. "I think you'll like this one. Imagine the prettiest dress you ever saw."
"The prettiest?" His mind went to some that Celestia had worn, regal and so well made, fitting her snugly and perfectly with just the right amount revealed and not. But that wasn't for him. He was no pony of the sun. Ah ha! He reached up, his magic yanking down the book from before. Right there on the cover, his grandmother, smiling, and dressed in a stunning piece. "Here we are."
"Keeping it in the family?" asked Fire a little tauntingly. "Alright, go for it. Cast the spell, keep that image in the front."
She played the song in firm confidence, the image of the old, but still delightful, dress in her mind as she did so. She could feel a tingling warm creeping around her, but tried to push it aside. Casting a spell was not a time for distractions! Only when the final note had been played did she dare to look down.
Her normal vest and tie, gone! In its place, the very dress she had seen depicted on the book. "Another illusion? That was a different spell for the same thing!" She clopped a hoof down. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Dope." She rolled her eyes, rising into a trot past Blue. She brushed her quite intentionally, allowing her to see how the fabric bent and wrinkled and pressed back. It was no illusion, but a physical thing. Her clothing had been altered, turned into that dress. "You're getting closer to your target, but changing clothing is a lot easier than a living pony." She smirked as she sat back down. "Still, it fits, so be happy."
She could see it in a mirror she hurried towards. Despite her... stallion form, the dress hung off her as if it had been tailored for her specifically. She was dressed like a mare, no, a lady, no, a baroness! She turned left and right, looking at herself from different angles. "It's not enough."
"Go on, cast it again," encouraged Fire Paradox eagerly. "You can use it as often as you like. You can even use it on other ponies, but get them to stand still or it gets awkward really fast."
"Not that." She waved it away, snorting softly. "I look like I've... taken a step forward, right into an awkward place." She waved a hoof over herself. "A stallion's form with a mare's dress is not seemly."
"But you are a mare, are you not," taunted Fire. "Mares wear things befitting a mare." She lifted an ear at the mildly distressed Blue. "Consider it all the more reason to finish learning the spell." She huffed softly. "Also, you can cast it again, seriously."
"I didn't forget!" Her hoof came to stomp, but came up short, almost staggering. "Oh."
"Yes, oh." Fire looked quite satisfied, seeing it sink in. "Go on."
"Yes, right, of course." She cleared her throat and closed her eyes. "I was being silly. Apologies." Her horn glowed, the magic performed.
"Focus," hissed Fire, watching the magic sputter to a stop. "You lost it on the fourth."
She had felt it, but had tried to press on past it. "It was a small one."
"Small mistakes can have big consequences." Fire arched a brow. "If you mess up, better to... oh! We didn't go over terminations, did we?"
"Terminations?"
"Answer enough." She thumped her rump against the door, keeping it closed. "Consider a termination as a way to tell the universe, 'Oops, nevermind, forget all that.'."
"And we didn't start there?!" blurted Blue, scowling at her tutor. "That feels of vital import."
"Which is why I'm teaching it now. Thank me, then shut up." She rolled her eyes and began showing the symbols involved. "You should know these, which you didn't when we started. Play them in this order, with this emphasis." She demonstrated, not with a horn, as she had none, but with waves of heat rolling from her body. "Get it right and whatever spell, or mistake, is stopped dead in its tracks. Better to stop a spell that's gone off than to hope for the best and keep going." She smirked a bit. "As amusing as it would have been to see the results, I need you intact for the moment."
She couldn't corrupt a pony that killed themselves, or worse.
"Mmm, yes, of course." She proceeded, confident she had a way to stop failed spells. Oops, a stumble about two thirds in. She played the short whistle of termination and a tension left. The spell was done, gone. All magic had been released.
She didn't get the energy she had already spent back. No refunds with such things, but it wouldn't lash out and harm her either. Good enough...
Soon she had her normal vest back. "Not as pretty... but more fitting this form. I look forward to when I can fit that dress properly. Grandmother, poor thing, would be beside herself if she saw me as I am in it." She inclined her head. "Honestly, she'd probably be a touch confused at the idea overall, but that is her problem." She stroked her sculpted stalliony chin. "For now, I will be as this."
Fire let her trot off, knowing she was already in a halfway state, even if it was one she decided was better than another. "Stupid pony, drawing lines in the sand."
"He what?!" exclaimed Cadance into the glimmering mirror that had Luna's face in it. "You're joking."
"I would not joke on such a thing." Luna waved a hoof softly. "She came to me, prostrate, and asked that I teach her how to be a proper mare." Her hooves came together, a bright smile on her face. "Isn't it lovely? To be thought of with such trust as to be asked for such a thing."
"It's... lovely," agreed Cadance, doubt clear in her voice. "I don't mean to dissuade you, aunt, but have you considered perhaps they're looking simply to understand mares better?" Her brows waggled faintly. "They're asking for the keys to our secrets, to interact with us better. Charming, if--"
"--No," cut in Luna with a little frown. "I have watched her struggle with this. I know the importance of a formal letter. She would not lie, not like that. She has admitted failure, something not easily done." She placed a hoof on her chest. "I will honor that and assume she is being truthful. I will be her aunt, and she, my niece." She inclined her head faintly. "That does make her a distant... Oh, wait, cousin is for both stallions and mares. I suppose no change there."
Cadance leaned forward, one hoof on the glass of the mirror. "What of Gentle Mare? They were getting along so well. Are they no longer dating?"
Luna inclined her head. "I confess, I didn't ask. It is not my place to pry into such things, and if two mares wish to date, they wouldn't be the first." A little smile re-appeared. "Back in my day, it would have been so much more tawdry an idea, but ponies of the modern day have relaxed considerably about it. Mares and mares, stallions and stallions... What a strange time to be alive, is it not, Niece?"
"Very..." Cadance worked her two hooves together, leaning back, thoughtful look on her face. "Could it have been there, in front of me." She considered the soft romances she had found. She remembered thinking they were more of a mare's choice of reading material. Had she been so close, and yet entirely off... "He... She... They're still a stallion, they know that, right?" She made a shape in the air with her hooves of a general stallion's physique.
"Did I not mention?" Luna raised one ear as the other swiveled to the side. "She is hard at work, right this moment. They got a personal tutor, without any direction from me, and are learning magic, and so well! Why, they're moving at a pace that would put Twilight Sparkle to shame, poor thing. I look forward to seeing her expression when she realizes." Luna tittered with joy at the accomplishments of her new niece.
"Magic is well and good, but..." She came up short. That spell. That spell! "Are they going to become a mare!" she squeaked at the mirror.
Luna raised a brow. "They already are one, but they intend to make their body match, yes. Do you object?"
Cadance flushed with a titter. "I know that spell..." She fluttered her lashes, leaning in a little. "I've used it before."
Luna blinked, only to be followed rapidly by two more. "Cadance... You were and are a mare, by birth. Of this I am confident. What use had you for such a spell?"
"Oh, well... after other spells... and poor Shining needed it to play his part." She cleared her throat softly. "We have a perfectly healthy relationship, and that means a little roleplay, so long as both parties are willing. Don't judge me!" She could see Luna's confused judgment settling in. "If you had a stallion, you'd understand. Our love is deep enough to want to understand one another completely, which meant a weekend in one another's horseshoes wasn't... off the table." A little smirk touched her lips. "It was... fun, but I am no stallion, and he, no mare. We returned to our usual selves, wiser, but in no way desiring to return to it."
Luna shook her head firmly. "Hm, I see... Had I known, perhaps I could have directed him towards you for assistance."
"No, no... This is better." She smiled brightly. "Bluey's a wizard? How wonderful! I learned a few... specific... spells, but wizard? I couldn't claim the title. Besides, it's still tied to my cutie mark." She inclined her head. "You know those come easier. I'm certain any night or moon related spell comes to you nice and easy."
"Verily," agreed Luna. "But neither of us are wizards." She snorted softly. "I have learned some amount of magic... But wizard... no..." It hit her. "Ah, yes. She has taken the name Blue Belle. Kindly refer to her as such."
"Blue Belle..." She smirked triumphantly. "So Bluey still works, excellent." She brought up her hooves, looking satisfied with the world. "Now I want to visit again."
"I won't stop you." She inclined her head faintly at her niece, "Not that I think I could."
"You couldn't," agreed Cadance. "But what you can do is get Bluey one of these." She ran a hoof along the outside of the mirror. "Than we can chat! Poor thing, I was so wrong about hi--her? That will take getting used to, but I want to meet femme-Bluey." Her brows waggled. "Maybe they want a stallion? Do you think they want a tall strong one? Maybe a refined gentlestallion, or a rough and tumble sort..." She licked over her lips, considering. "I prefer them in uniform, disciplined and brave!"
"You're describing your husband," noted Luna dryly, brow raised.
"That wasn't a mistake." She narrowed her eyes, though the smile remained on her lips. "I love my Shiny most of all," she sang, a distant noise implying Shining may have heard her call. "He's an adorable dork, and strong, and disciplined. He presses all of my buttons just right." She mimed pressing buttons on a call switch board. "Maybe I could help Bluey find the perfect stallion that'll play her just right."
"You make that sound... dirty, niece." Luna shook her head slowly. "I will see if I can't convince them to get one." She touched her mirror. "But I can assure nothing. That is their choice, and if I mention you, I'm afraid, they may be less likely to secure one."
Cadance huffed at that, crossing her arms. "Really, Bluey... I was doing my best! How was I to know you were a mare?" She suddenly snorted a giggle. "Poor mares, they're going to be so sad when they learn he's throwing that away. Like it or not, he was a fine specimen, as stallions went. I mean, not... Physically, I mean physically." She cycled her hooves a bit frantically. "Had that 'pretty boy' look down pat. A lot of mares are going to pine."
Luna developed a smirk. "I will abstain from informing your dear husband that you noticed that..." Coughing into a hoof, she sat up. "I should get to bed. You know how it works."
"I rise, you sleep. Such is the way of things." Cadance made a patting motion. "Sleep well, aunt."
"Rise and shine, niece."
The call ended, the mirrors going dark. Both mares had things to do. Even if Cadance left with a considering expression.
There were things to do.
"You have inspired me." Fancy Pants was trotting along, Fleur hanging off of him in an arrangement neither argued with. "As much as I do adore my usual ensemble, it is past time I had an alternative." He swiveled an ear towards Blue. "I wanted the eye of an associate to help me judge. Fleur is a dear, but she thinks I look good in anything."
"Or nothing," added Fleur with a titter. "My brother is quite handsome."
Blue inclined her head. "I can see how that could be trying." But something else came to mind. "I just learned a spell that could help!"
"Really?" Fancy's expression brightened as they wove their way through the crowded streets of Canterlot. "How delightful! Ole bean, you've really taken to your wizard status. Can you read spells out of books now? Just... look at them and figure them out?"
"Sort of," admitted Blue Belle. "I can read and cast them, but it'd take me awhile to figure out what they might do, or just cast it and hope for the best."
"Oh, dear, best keep studying," recommended Fancy as they approached a familiar store, Sassy Saddles already out front, waving to a departing mare. "Here we are."
"Oh, back? Welcome!" Sassy smiled brightly as she turned back inside. "Please, come inside and have a look around. We have the latest fashions ready to enjoy."
Blue raised a hoof to her chin, rubbing. "That spell will come in handy. So, chap, I can alter the clothes on your back." She inclined her head towards him. "Letting you get a look at its best. If you like it, only then do you buy a proper set."
"Didn't you show me this trick before?" Fancy wandered into the stallion section and began hoofing through the selection, considering. "You made quite the dashing Wonderbolt, if I recall."
"That was just for looks. This is the real thing," explained Blue. "But it uses what you are wearing, so it will be a bit thin if what you're looking at is larger."
"Or thick in the other direction, I should think," mused Fancy. "How interesting! I'd like to see what you can do, and that does sound better than a visit to the dressing room." His horn glowed, plucking up a stately uniform from the rack. "How do you fancy this? Does it match?"
The rest of his clothes? No, it didn't match with those, not at all. But on its own, on him... Blue considered it with a soft humm. It fit his eyes, and... "Let's see." He began to cast the spell, altering his worn clothing into the suit he had been holding, creating a copy, if a bit thinner for being larger. "Hmmm, yes, it suits you, I think."
Fancy turned his head to Fleur, but she was already nodding. "Oui, you make most things look good." She tittered. "Including myself frère ami. But if she likes it, I feel even more confidant!"
Fancy gently tilted, causing Fleur to disembark, allowing him to approach one of the small windows and see himself. "Mmm, it feels... a little off, but that could be your spell. You mentioned it would be thinner?" He ran a hoof along an arm. "It does suit me though." He adjusted his monocle, still in perfect place. "I have to say, getting dressed like that certainly has its perks."
"Glad I could help." Blue's tail wagged with growing delight. Her magic was already proving useful, aside of the very specific task she had for it. "You should buy the original."
"Of course." Fancy raised a hoof. "Even were they of similar quality, it would be rude to come in here and steal the design by magic. We are civilized ponies." Both mares nodded in agreement. "Madame!"
Sassy was over in a flash, taking the original. "I have your measurements. I'll have it altered and delivered in just a stitch," she promised, hurrying away with the order, and some bits for the purchase.
Fancy inclined his head at Blue. "Ah, before we forget, my original?"
"Oh, yes." And she got to returning his top back to its original form, unharmed for the change. "I forgot to mention; I looked it up! You are looking at Baroness Blue Belle."
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All hail Baroness Blue Belle, long may she reign.
Also, Blue seen with Fire by a maid, that could have some unintended consequences, namely some scandalous and unwelcome rumors...
10533471
If Fey wasn't in disguise, that could lead to more than just scandalous rumors.
So what of the corruption part?
"her eyes scanning each as he went."
"her eyes scanning each as she went."?
"She sat on his haunches."
...Or is this deliberate?
This story always warms my heart, and seeing Blue Belles pronouns change after she accepts who she wants to be was especially nice~
10535885
Her path is fun to follow, even if me, derp I am, keep messing up said pronouns and having to fix it.
I always expected checking out the lineage would be every nobles favorite pastime...
I wonder what's on the maids mind right now.
Once that spell gets public the tailors will be out of job...
Nice chapter!
I enjoyed reading it.
10536738
Not many ponies can cast that spell, and it reconfigures matter rather than creating it from nothing, meaning a properly tailored suit is still better.
Baron is basically the bottom rung of nobility (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial,_royal_and_noble_ranks). Duke would be actually comparable to a prince.
Hoping Blue Bell is a transbian ngl
Despite Gentle going away, I ship them hard.
That's not foreshadowing at all.
But it is alliterative.
10546325
Maybe the nobility is slightly different in Equestria
'"Not that." She waved it away, snorting softly. "I look like I've... taken a step forward, right into an awkward place." She waved a hoof over herself. "A stallion's form with a mare's dress is not seemly."'
Yes, well, welcome to our Earthly problems...
I love mischievous Cadance. I disapprove strongly of the degree to which she's villainized by many fans, and it's nice to see a more benevolent take. I also enjoy seeing everypony struggle with that most iconic of trans experiences, c h a o s p r o n o u n s