Twilight sighed, defeated. "Ok Fluttershy, you can close your mouth now."

She did so quickly, having felt foalish from the moment she was asked to say "aaahh."

The Princess of Friendship had tried everything she could think of (well, everything she was willing to try on her fragile friend) to learn how and why Flutterbat returned to terrorize the night and none of it brought her any closer to the truth. It was the Pinkie Sense all over again! "I'm sorry, I just don't know what caused your transformation." Or what caused her to bite Prince Blueblood, which caused him to emit a blood-curdling scream.

I even double-checked the definition of curdling; to congeal, and seeing as how my heart stopped for an entire three seconds, I think that's pretty close to the mark!

Fluttershy smiled her usual, gentle smile. "Oh, it's ok Twilight, I know you're trying your best. I haven't had any weird feelings these last two days, not even cravings for apples, so I think I might be ok."

"For now," Twilight conceded, "but you were fine before, too." Butter-yellow ears folded back, Fluttershy's head lowering as she looked at the floor, inadvertently making Twilight feel a little guilty. She managed a sympathetic smile, patting the oddly-afflicted animal lover on the back. "I'm sure everything'll be ok, I'm just a little concerned, you know?"

Looking at her, Fluttershy nodded, again feeling the warmth that came with being loved.

"The convention is just about over, you did a great job helping to wrap up the displays and answer questions. Why don't you take the rest of the day easy? We'll catch the train back to Ponyville in the early evening and be home a little after dark, ok?"

Glancing out the window of the room she'd been staying in since the convention started, she figured it was still very early in the afternoon and nodded to Twilight. She had several hours before the train left, which might be enough time to work up her courage...

It was probably a good thing very little of Blueblood's work needed doing as soon as possible, as it meant sleeping until noon after having stayed up until late in the night would have little consequence. Still, Equestria's bureaucracy demanded dedicated attention, every form filled out properly, every stamp and signature in the right place, which took time. He was sure many an hour was saved by the spells he used to keep a perfect, pristine appearance each morni-well, afternoon in this case.

Finishing the zoning amendments for Appaloosa, he decided to take a walk, if only to clear his head of the mare that occasionally haunted his thoughts these last two days. There were a few ponies that left a lasting impression on him in his life, but fewer that did so with such contrast in such a short time span as Fluttershy.

I suppose my real first time seeing her was at last year's Gala, but she didn't have fangs back then.

And then, not even 24 hours later, she's all dignified grace and sincere apologies. It was just as he was trying to remember whether or not it was the Element of Laughter that had supposedly been the schizophrenic of their little group that he opened his chamber door and was immediately met with Fluttershy standing very close with a hoof raised.

They had precisely the same reaction; hopping backward and screaming.

"What are you doing here?!" cried the Princess's startled paperwork pony.

Her wings fluttered nervously as she lowered her head, looking anywhere but at him. Ten minutes might not have been as much time as she would have liked to mentally prepare herself before knocking, but she couldn't just fly away and try again later. "W-well, I, y-you said, um, th-that, that I, if, uh..." She gulped, managing to look him in the eye. "I-if I wanted to be yelled at again...?"

The prince blinked slowly, dumbstruck. Does this filly not know sarcasm when she hears it? "Y-you want me to... Are you quite serious?"

She nodded slowly. The suspicion that this was a bad idea was louder in her thoughts now more than ever, but this was the best chance she'd ever had to meet another pony that might share her... Interests. It was possible that there were ponies with similar tastes around Ponyville, but she'd spent too many years trying and failing to even start a conversation on the matter, or even one that might eventually be derailed and vaguely brush on the matter to back out when outright given an offer.

He even said he forgave me, I think. And he DID offer, right...?

He could feel his brain slowing down, struggling to form a response. "I, eh, um," he cleared his throat, gesturing a hoof inwards, "c-come in, then?"

She smiled a little as he closed the door behind her. "Thank you!"

They stared at one another for two solid minutes, neither quite certain how to proceed, and both beginning to blush.

"Uhm, s-so, uh-"

"My apologies, I'm just not used to being asked so... bluntly? There's usually more of a..." He vaguely waved a hoof. "a flow to these things, perhaps, an act of sorts, motions to go through, you know?"

"Oh!" She had read many a tale of this sort of encounter begun with a bit of suggestive double-talk, maybe it would help if she tried? Emulating one of her favorite personality types as she had hundreds of times in private fantasies, Fluttershy quickly pulled a lock of pink mane over one eye, puffed her feathers out just slightly with her wings at her sides. Raising her snout to the typical degree used by haughty noblemares, she sashayed in Blueblood's direction, voice as husky as she could manage. "Good afternoon, Lordship. The constable says I've misappropriated funding from the governor's office one too many times, and sent me here for... Discipline."

The prince, watching in a slight daze, could only think that he was doing paperwork maybe five minutes ago. Now he was part of a... Whatever was going on here with a very pretty mare. He couldn't help a light shudder as she strode closer, breathing into his neck.

"Please," she nearly whispered, wiggling her flank where he could see it, "punish a bad filly?"

And then he laughed, for longer than what might have been strictly necessary. By the time he was able to speak again, Fluttershy was covering her face with both forehooves, trying to will herself to sink through the floor out of sheer embarrassment. "Y-you," he managed, still rolling on the floor, "you ridiculous, pfffhahahahahahahahahaha!!" Getting to his hooves, he couldn't repress a wide grin. "You were doing alright there, but 'punishing a bad filly' is something of a different act, don't you think?"

She let out a series of high-pitched squeaks.

After a short silence, he managed to regain a calm face. "Hello?" There was a pang of quiet guilt when her only reply was light trembling. "Uhm, y-you were, uh, that was-" he heard her sniffle and immediately knelt down, "Look, I'm sorry, please don't cry. It's just been something of an odd couple of days and your performance caught me off guard, I'm sure it hasn't been easy coming in here to talk about this kind of thing like you did, mocking you for it is horribly insensitive, and..."

She peeked out from under her mane, delicate, cool-blue eyes making him flinch.

He looked away with a hint of a blush, voice quieter than she'd ever heard it. "I didn't mean it."

"Hm?" She wiped away lingering tears with a hoof, hesitant to reply. "I-I'm sorry, didn't mean what?"

He glanced in her direction. "When I called you a monster? I didn't mean it, and I'm sorry." Thoughts of absurdity in regard to the jarring shift of his and her positions quietly danced in the back of his head, but he didn't mean it any less. The not-meaning-it part, that is.

Her eyes widened, blinking a few times in surprise as she rose to her hooves. "Oh, th-that's ok, I mean, I really shouldn't have-"

"No, no," he cut her off with a hoof motion, "I was letting anger and pain talk, content to heap scorn upon the one who had hurt me without a second thought, which, while cathartic, is wrong." He sighed, ears drooping. "Actually, that's something I seem to do quite a lot."

"...Heaping scorn?"

"N-well, yes, but general cruel, insensitive things, like shouting the ears off those that annoy me? It's..." He shrugged lightly. "Easier, you know? Somepony proves aggravating, you get cross with them, they get angry right back at you, you exchange harsh words for a few minutes, and part ways, possibly never seeing that pony again. It might not be the right thing to do, I know, but it happens and life goes on for all involved, wax on, wax off." He gave Fluttershy an uncertain look when he noticed she was frowning. "And, that's probably a little antithetical for you, isn't it?"

"E-excuse me?"

He nodded once. "The idea of getting well and truly upset with somepony, Element of Kindness and all? Everypony is told the right thing to do, keep a cool head, forgive and forget, but seeing it in practice?" No longer looking directly at her, he seemed almost ashamed. "Not as... employed, as perhaps it should be, I'll admit. I didn't make the slightest effort to restrain my anger the other night, and I'm sorry."

She smiled sheepishly. "I-it's fine, considering..."

"Hm?" His eyes widened in recognition for an instant. "Oh, that's right, you happen to enjoy being shouted at. On that note, did you come here specifically to have me wind you up again?"

Her face practically glowed. "N-n-no! I didn't, I-I mean, well, I-I did, but it was, uh-"

"Honestly, using an-" he smirked, draping a forehoof over his head in mock hurt, "innocent, pure-hearted soul like myself as a catalyst for your dirty thrills. For. Shame."

"I-I-I-I-I-"

"You just couldn't help it?"

She quickly hid her face under her forehooves again. "I'm sorry!"

In a combination of having already vented as much frustration against this pegasus as he'd felt he'd ever want to, not wanting to make her cry again, and her bashfulness proving to be oddly endearing, Blueblood opted to try pushing her buttons in a way she might actually prefer. "Well, what can I do? You said yourself that you're a raging masochist, so more yelling would lead us back where we started. I suppose the same is true of a spanking?"

"Meep!!" Her rump having been in the air since covering her face, she immediately flattened as much of her body against the floor as possible.

Chuckling, he approached and sat on his haunches beside her. "You know, I'm reasonably familiar with the branch of bedroom activity that involves ropes and crops, but I've never seen a pony that pounced on another because being scolded pushed them into an animalistic lust." Use of a gentler tone seemed to have a drastically different effect than reducing her to tears, judging by her reactions. This filly was damn cute when she wasn't snarling and biting! "Still," he said with a devilish glint in his eye, "I am an experienced gentlecolt with a variety of skills, so if I were ever to meet such a pony, perhaps I could make use of them."

Fluttershy dared to peek out from under her hooves, her eyes betraying a hint of eagerness.

He looked away, grinning. "It's a shame I don't know anypony that enjoys verbal abuse, the sting of faux-leather on their most sensitive regions, or being bound and gagged tighter than the fur on their skin-" he looked down at her, her chin still on the floor, "-do you?"

She visibly shook, blushing furiously. "I do..."

"What was that?"

She gulped, heartbeat steadily quickening. "I-I do!"

He was still smiling deviously. "I'm sorry, do what?"

"I-I, uh... I l-like to, I-I'm a-"

"Louder."

"I'm a masochist!"

"Louder!"

"I'm a masochist!"

Blueblood grinned ear to ear. "Louder!"

She stood up, clenched her eyes shut, and shouted. "I'M A MASOCHIST!!"

Silence. Slooowly opening one eye, she saw him lying on his back, blinking in surprise.

I don't care how the saying goes, her bite was MUCH worse. "Right," he uttered, sitting up with something of a sheepish grin, "I think I may be able to assist..."

A little while later, Princess Celestia popped her head in the door. "Good afternoon Nephew, do you ha-eek!" She very quickly jumped back and shut the door, blushing furiously.

Oh, my, she thought, badly wishing he'd hung a tie on the doorknob or something, whatever ponies did to that effect these days, suppose I can ask if he has those papers for Appaloosa later...

Trying to keep as much regal poise as she could manage while walking away, the Princess of the Sun wondered if it was some kind of exercise regimen or the ropes that allowed Blueblood's partner, of whom she only caught a brief glimpse in the darkened room, to be that flexible...

Some time later, Prince Blueblood again sat at his desk, filling out the paperwork that kept Equestria running in between stray thoughts of the filly that was cleaning herself up in his shower. They both agreed that it would raise certain questions the shy pony might never be ready to answer if she were to walk out of his chambers looking... Unkempt. Just last night, he'd wanted little more than revenge against her, and while their interactions while she was tied to the bedposts looked painful for her, it wasn't quite what he'd had in mind.

Suppose if I were truly inclined on her downfall, I could just share recently uncovered secrets, she seems especially susceptible to humiliation, but... He sighed. She made it clear she was sorry even before coming in here, I'd have to share how I learned it in the first place, and I'd be betraying the trust of somepony that apparently struggled greatly in the admittance. The last one would have to be the cruelest thing he'd ever done, which was why he wouldn't do it. Besides, he thought as Fluttershy stepped out of the washroom, looking and clean and presentable, Auntie says revenge is a hollow victory anyway.

She approached him, her mane still damp and her cheeks still rosy, smiling contentedly. "Thank you for, um, th-the-"

He couldn't resist a smirk. "I'd say the pleasure was all mine, but with some of those noises..."

Her blush grew ten-fold, as did her grin. "A-anyway, I, uh, i-it's been nice." She averted her eyes, glancing around the room before taking a few steps toward the door, stopping, and looking back at him. "If, um, i-if you're ever in Ponyville..." She lowered her head, what he could see displaying a disarming smile as she whispered. "Feel free to visit me?" And then she sped out, opening and shutting the door very quickly, but somehow not slamming it.

"Hmph."

If I'm ever in Ponyville, she says. As if I'd ever visit a hovel teeming with disaster just to see-wait. He glanced at a nearby table, one of the ones he usually stacked papers on. There were forms that needed updating ten years ago regarding an amendment to the trade laws of the gemstone industry, to be signed by the mayor of Ponyville. I've been meaning to send somepony, but it hasn't been, and still isn't, important enough to really bother with...

He grinned to himself, levitating the paper from the bottom of a stack.

"If I'm ever in Ponyville, eh...?"

Author's Note

It probably shows, but not being sure how to start a sex scene is one of the reasons I don't write full-on clop. Still, relationships have to start somewhere!

Blueblood never calls Celestia "auntie" in the show, on account of never speaking to her, but as most people that don't despise the character (myself included) might've grown to feel that way reading Best Night Ever, (the groundhog day loop fic) in which he does, I'm guessing it stuck from there. Early on, at least. Maybe?