In the Shadow of the Sun

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Truth can be hard to find, and courage can be harder. Both are beautiful dreams, but Blueblood has a duty, and he will not forsake it.

An entry for the M/M contest (Blueblood x Trenderhoof) and the Imposing Sovereigns contest (Blueblood / Loyalty). As so many of my stories do, this takes place within the universe of Auntie Tia's Matchmaking Service.

Second place winner in the Imposing Sovereigns contest 2023, and second place winner in the M/M shipping contest 2023!

Chapters (1)

Comments ( 10 )

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Princess Calamari

Princess Calamari #1 · Nov 25th, 2023 · 4 · 1 ·

Dark Mechanicus

Dark Mechanicus #2 · Nov 26th, 2023 · 1 · 2 ·

Celestia and other alicorns suck.

Sabboth

Sabboth #3 · Nov 30th, 2023 · 2 · 1 ·

This was a joy to read. I love the way you fleshed out the character of Blueblood, in a way that made sense, was compelling, and even fit into the theme that Friendship Is Magic.
Also, so well-written! The conflict, pacing… and the conclusion was very satisfying. I especially liked the part toward the end where Celestia told Blueblood what he needed to hear.
Well done! Thanks for writing!

Sabboth

Sabboth #4 · Nov 30th, 2023 · · 1 ·

If I may offer proofreading suggestions?
Ego - Ergo
polynominals - polynomials
Recontextualising - He was recontextualising
mother with raised with - mother having been raised with

Also two editing suggestions:
I was confused when it seemed you'd written Luna's return as having happened long after the Grand Galloping Gala -- because, newbie that I am, I remembered Luna's return as being from season one, episode one, and the Gala was S1E26.

He'd thought the skinny little alicorn filly she'd dragged home was just another Cadence.

It took a bit of re-reading and consideration, but eventually I deduced that what you meant was that Celestia had dragged Luna home at the canon time, and Blueblood hadn't paid Luna much mind because she'd been recuperating & stuff, but then finally much later, Celestia introduced Luna to him. If that's correct, then my suggestion is to make that line "... dragged home last summer" -- or maybe "two summers ago" or however long it's been in your timeline -- that would have saved me a lot of confusion.

“I confess I had hoped that now Cadence was a little older,” she said brightly, "But she

I think that word "now" was supposed to be "when." This is Celestia's speech bubble so it doesn't need to be grammatically perfect, but if I may suggest a small change to the punctuation & word choice as well:
"I confess I had hoped that when Cadence was a little older...” she began brightly, "But, she"

Okay that's it, thanks for listening, hope this helps!

AltruistArtist

AltruistArtist #5 · Dec 2nd, 2023 · 3 · 1 ·

Wonderful, thought provoking piece. Exploring a relationship between Blueblood and Trenderhoof makes for such a rich ground to meditate on the parallels between one who is scrutinized as a public figure of royalty -- and the reporter who is doing the scrutinizing. The liar, and the truth seeker. Trendie is the only one who ever sees Blueblood for who he is and that's a comfort and a threat.

I was especially drawn in by your worldbuilding of Blueblood's line having been a proxy family to Celestia, a genealogy that every living member must know as intimately as she does so they may continue to reflect their presences to her across her immortal lifespan. What a massively heavy concept.

“You’re not their auntie. You’re their princess.”

This line feels like the thesis of this story and it comes at just the right time. Stellar pacing throughout. I love the way your writing flows!

Silver Needle

Silver Needle #6 · Dec 5th, 2023 · 2 · 1 ·

Really loved this. Exceptionally well written.

FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #7 · Dec 6th, 2023 · 3 · ·

Lovely work capturing the time-lapse tragedy that is this Blueblood's life. First the setup, then blow after blow as the purpose of his entire family is undone piece by piece. At least you spared him the revelation of Flurry Heart. That may well have broken him for a week.

Incredible study of duty, denial, and the terrible burden both represent. Thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.

Cerulean Blue

Cerulean Blue #8 · Dec 20th, 2023 · · ·

A coffee with a friend is a good way to go on a new journey.

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #9 · January 15th · 2 · ·

Slowly, Blueblood exhaled. These were his favourite moments. After the passion and the urgency were over, when there was just him and Trendie, close and loving. No eyes on them, no society ponies, no paparazzi. Just the two of them, locked safely in a poky little dorm that was really far too small for somepony of Blueblood’s status. All the doors and windows barred, with no room for anyone but Blueblood and Trendie, the most essential versions of themselves.

augh that sounds so nice! these would also be my favo(u)rite moments of existence

“You have no idea what sort of world I live in. Everypony will ask. And who would believe us? Neighsay’s Finishing School for Young Gentlecolts doesn’t allow fraternisation between students. Ego, this doesn’t exist. It never happened.”

of course this is Neighsay’s school that does this!

It was such an impossibly fine line to walk. Be cruel enough to discourage talk of going public, and yet not cruel enough to risk driving him away. Because Blueblood couldn’t lose Trendie, or the precious moments of peace he brought. These golden moments, shut away from the light of Aunt Cellie’s sun…they were all he had.

and augh, Blueblood having to calculate his cruelty like this… love how Blueblood is at once unchanged from the expected characterization his canon appearance gives him, and in a situation that the the reader not help but empathi[z|s]e with

Rapidly pushing buttons into the wrong buttonholes with magic the same shade of pink as his eyes, Trendie sneered. An expression that didn’t seem at home on a face that usually had only smiles for Blueblood. “Oh yes, no one else can say I’m Princess Celestia’s nephew, don’t-cha-know.”

gottem

“No one else can do what we can do,” echoed Blueblood. Parroting the words obediently, just as he always did. But as it so often did, a traitorous little thought reared its head: allowing Aunt Cellie to be utterly herself mostly seemed to mean suppressing himself. But duty was duty. He was House Mistymorn, and like every member of his family since a newborn Mistymorn herself had been washed and laid in Aunt Cellie’s immortal hooves, he would do his duty. Squeezing himself into the mould cast by his ancestors. A smiling white-furred face to nod when the Princess Imperial asked a question, ticking the box of family.

ooh i absolutely adore this! it makes so much sense as something that would exist in the internal logic of the world of Equestria. it doesn’t require anypony to be cruel or selfish or stupid, but simply unaware of the implications it would have for how young Blueblood would be shaped

Just like everything else in his life, it was a performance for the one member of their family who was a real pony.

bars

Because inwardly, Blueblood was seething. All those hours spent poring over his scrolls, trying to keep abreast of everything happening in the kingdom, so that when Aunt Cellie turned to him he would be informed and ready to help. All those nights curled alone in a cold bed, dreaming of a stupid teenage love affair and the only real warmth he’d ever known. All this sacrifice, and for what? For some stupid little teenage brat to be promoted over his head.

just love that Cadance’s whole deal makes just as little sense in the politics of Equestria as it does in the worldbuilding, and that it certainly has everypony besides Cadance and Celestia seething, augh, that is so perfect and true

There was an immediate clamour, and Blueblood stepped sourly away, resenting the sly glance she shot him from under her lashes. She always gave him the creeps. The knowledge that this scrawny little filly knew exactly what he was feeling, could see the swirling maelstrom in his head. It was like she had a direct line into his thoughts, and he hated it. What if she told Aunt Cellie? All his work would be for nothing. His cover blown. He existed to make Aunt Cellie comfortable, to keep the comfortable fiction of her undying eternal family alive, no matter the cost to himself. And if Cadence revealed the truth, what would that mean for him?

and again, so true. the implications of Cadance’s powers really is horrifying. this is two chefs kissing on the mouth

Blueblood skidded to a halt so abruptly they came within inches of each other. He could smell sweetgrass on Trendie’s breath. See the fine downy hairs of his muzzle, as soft as always. The glasses were new. He was taller, too. But his eyes were the same. Soft and sweet as a lavender field.

hoowee

A guard emerged from a nearby doorway and Blueblood suddenly retuned to himself. He coughed, straightened, and jerked himself away from Trendie. Slapped him warmly on the shoulder, hard enough to make the slighter stallion stagger. “Trenderhoof, buddy! It’s been…”

look at how straight this guy surely is!, thought the guard i am sure

“Junk?” Cadence’s ascension wasn’t junk. It was world-breaking news. It changed everything the mages thought they knew about the laws of magic. It rewrote a fundamental truth of the universe. That there was one alicorn, and one alone.
Trendie wrinkled his nose. “I don’t do society pieces. Well, I do. But not for long. I’m headed out to Fillydelphia. I’m the new correspondent.”

that ordinary ponies treat news of its royalty like human britishers do theirs is indeed incongruous with the fact that said pony royalty do have world-altering magical powers, but it is funny and makes sense in the context of how we see pony society function

And sure enough, Trendie didn’t. “I don’t date liars, Blueblood.”

gottem

The look Trendie gave him was almost pitying. “You’re not honest, either. And I only date ponies who can be honest about who they are.”

a perfect reference to his fascination with Applejack later, augh i love it

Blueblood lurched away from her as though she was diseased, casting a shoddy locking spell on the door behind him. It wouldn’t hold up to anypony with any real skill, but thankfully Twilight Sparkle’s repellent little friend seemed as untalented magically as he was himself.

sad to see my wife described thusly but that is indeed perfectly how Blueblood would think

“I confess I had hoped that now Cadence was a little older,” she said brightly, “But she and Shining are getting on splendidly, and I suppose that we ought to make the royal family bigger instead of smaller, eh, Blueblood?”

so it turns out that Celestia was the Princess of Shipping all along!

He hadn’t liked Rarity, that was all. He would like one of them, sooner or later. Or like them enough. He would have a foal, and do his duty. He would provide Aunt Cellie with the family she wanted. The blood family that Cadence, despite her wings, would never be.
No one can do what I can do.

absolutely love this reverse character arc, of facing the cognitive dissonance of his worldview being contradicted and then doubling down on it in a different way to become even more miserable, just top-notch stuff

“I already saw how your date went. Classy as ever, Blueblood.”

gottem

She didn’t even look at him. There was triumph in her yellow eyes as she sneered down at her sister, married to a mere lord, while she had bagged a prince. She opened her mouth, and Blueblood half expected her to say take that, Fleur de Lis. But instead she said, very demurely, “I do.”

love how efficient this is at communicating who Fleur de Luce is and how perfectly matched she is for Blueblood

Blueblood turned his head, very subtly. Looked out past the guests, past Cadence and his aunt and the eternally-present Twilight Sparkle.

love how Twilight Sparkle just keeps showing up in Blueblood’s life as this eternal thorn in his side, while Twilight never really thinks of him at all, hahaha

Luce knew exactly what she was getting herself into. That was the best thing about her. The little fragment of her personality not entirely dedicated to outcompeting her sister was razor-sharp, and that was all Blueblood needed. Someone intelligent to sit with him at dinner parties, to talk with Aunt Cellie, the press, the high society ponies. Someone who could dance and smile and dress well. Someone who could — his stomach turned — bear him a child. A little scion of House Mistymorn to accompany Celestia into the next era of her endless sunrises, even as Blueblood himself faltered and failed.
For his aunt. For his nation. No one else can do what I can do.
He widened his smile, a rictus grin showing all his teeth, and spoke the words. “I do.”

love it. just love that Blueblood is getting everything that he thinks he wants in this moment, love that so much

Patrician stood beside him, a Mistymorn prince in every line of his bearing. Standing as tall as his little legs would allow. His face a perfect smiling mask, almost entirely hiding the trembling of his lower lip.
A perfect miniature of his father in every detail.

perfect name, perfect setup for Blueblood to inflict his generational trauma down a generation

Except somepony could. Somepony else was, all along. And he had been a stand-in — one of a thousand years of stand-ins. And he had never even known it.

he is taking so many Ls in this story augh, i love that you are not letting up

Since Luna’s return she had been like this. Younger. Almost juvenile. Where was his staid aunt, the mainstay of a nation? The figurehead he had spent a lifetime earning the trust of?

commentary on the direction the canon series took the depiction of the Princesses

“Raising the sun?” He eyed her cutie mark. What kind of business could she make out of a service she had provided for thousands of years? What sort of world would she make if she charged for it?

ahaha what a thought!

She flared her wings and grinned. “I’m going to open a matchmaking business!”

how dare you do this

“I quite like the family feeling. Maybe not Aunt Cellie, but something similar. What do you think of Auntie Tia?”

ahaha great reference

Blueblood stared up at her. With her great size, everyone was a foal. Her little ponies. But she had never spoken to him that way. Never looked at him with the fond smile she reserved for her pet students and her long-lost sister. He called her Aunt Cellie, but it was just another title. They weren’t family. He was an advisor, a helpmate. A trusted servant. Nothing more.
But now she touched him, and she wrapped a feathery wing around his shoulders. “Tell me, Blueblood. What is it?”
And the habits and restraint of a lifetime broke, and Blueblood burst into tears.

the irony here, the tragic irony, augh, stab me in the heart with it why don’t ya

It was everything he’d ever wanted to hear from her. No one else can do what I can do. And yet it still felt so hollow.

augh my heart

Blueblood stared down at his hooves. He knew there was grey in his mane. “I’m old.”

relatable

Like a ghost, Blueblood wandered the halls. Creeping past boardrooms, peering into offices. Drifting through without anypony truly seeing him. The same way like he had drifted through life: always present, but never leaving a hoofprint behind.

relatable

Side by side, the two of them picked their way through the furore in the corridor, and Blueblood felt the warmth of the rising sun on his fur for the first time in a long while.

and augh, what a beautiful way to end it, heading off to the sunrise with Trenderhoof in this second act of life.

this was an absolute masterpiece, Shas. the house of Mistymorn is such a good concept, and Blueblood’s journey of holding on tighter to its justifications even as they were shattered one by one, culminating in receiving the very thing he sought his whole life and finding it hollow–augh, just so masterfully done. and the concept, again! creating the conditions for Blueblood to have to deny his own sexuality in a world without the homophobia of our own, bringing in the consequences of the weight of alicorn immortality and rule without reducing them to mocking parodies, i just loved it so much and am so very thankful for it

Mockingbirb

Mockingbirb #10 · January 16th · 4 · ·

I love how you've sewed canon background events and details together with your own often delicious inventions, to make a lovely story, with plot and feelings that are just the right amount of complicated.

And appropriately tagged it..."Sad," but in one important way, not quite "Tragedy."

Recommended! 👍

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