Evening had already fell upon Equestria. The sky had been painted in a delicate balance between the light blue tonalities of day and the purple tonalities of the night. In the middle, strange yet beautiful combinations of gold, yellow, red and pink painted the sky. On one side of the sky, the sun was hiding behind the mountains, ready to provide the other side of the planet with its so needed light. On the other side, the moon was rising slowly, marking the end of another day, ready to provide all of those who needed it with some rest or, in the case of some sentimental couple, with a night of passion, remembering how they got together.

It was the last case in which Sir Fancy Pants and Lady Fleur de Lis would spend the night. However, the fact that they had been together for so long had made them fond of their relationship, causing them to not be ashamed of showing it in public. Therefore, the party they planned for that night, commemorating their 30 anniversary.

To say the couple was happy was not exactly the most accurate phrase to describe it. However, Sir Fancy’s smile was reduced slightly as he saw in the distance one of his least favorite ponies.

Descending from a carriage, Mark saw a house which resembled much to “his”, except that it seemed to be more humble. There weren’t as many statues of the owner in there. He liked the style of this guy so far.

His thoughts were interrupted as his companion stepped down of the carriage.
“Umm… Mas-”
“Please, don’t call me that. It’s a free evening.”
“Umm… Sir?” Scarlet asked nervously, to which the prince nodded, allowing her to call him that. “... Umm… why do I have to use this dress, sir?”

It wasn’t that the dress she used was revealing, or appealing. No, nothing of that. In fact, it was the exact combination between beauty and modesty, not showing too much, but making her look beauty. It was exactly the opposite to what she was used to wear.
“Why, of course. Were you expecting me to bring you with your maid uniform?”
“Um… kinda.”

Mark smiled weakly at the shyness of the maid for not having to show her body. It was rather cute… in a weird yet sweet sense. Seeing as some ponies were starting to make their way inside, he decided to go in, too.
“Well?” He said clearly, making Scarlet to turn to him. In answer, Mark simply stretched his hand to her. “Shall we go?”

Scarlet, though she was a little nervous, took the prince’s hand and started to walk at his side. Even when she was nervous as Tartarus, taking the prince’s hand brought her a sensation of calmness, causing her to lean more to him until her head was resting on his shoulder.

Mark didn’t know wether to be relaxed by that gesture or to be afraid of the same.

After a few minutes of walk, the two ponies finally reached the door. However, Mark started to get nervous at the cold glare that Fancy threw at him. He really had no idea what he had done to the guy in the past, but he could guess that whatever it was, it hadn’t been nice.

Swallowing his fears, he started to walk firmly toward Fancy, keeping a serene face, or at least, trying to keep.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the duo finally stood in front of the couple. From that short distance, Mark could see that Fancy’s cold glare had been replaced by a neutral one. On the other hoof, at Fancy’s side stood a mare who seemed to possess some kind of beauty that he hadn’t seen before. She was the perfect combination between slim and curvy. And not to mention her face.
“This guy’s seriously a lucky bastar--- WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!?”

Unfortunately for him, Fancy cleared his throat loudly, breaking him from his thoughts.
“I see you made it, Prince Blueblood. Personally, I thought you wouldn’t even bother to assist.”

Still in slight confusion at the phrase, Mark shook off his thoughts and answered.
“Well… It would have been very rude of my part not to assist. Hell, you bothered to give me an invitation yourself, so… How could I just decide not to come and congratulate you two.” Mark said in the friendliest tone he could. However, it was becoming a rather difficult task as he couldn’t avoid but notice the neutral yet hard look Fancy was giving him.
“However, I notice that I’m not very welcomed in here, right?” He said with a small yet confident smile. That seemed to finally make Fancy to have a reaction.
“Why would you say such atrocity, your highness. You’re welcome to come in.” He said, trying to be courteous. Celestia better punish him if he stopped being a gentlecolt.
“Please, don’t lie to me, Sir. It doesn’t suits you.” Mark said in a flat tone.

Fancy started to get nervous, as some ponies started to get curious at the conversation between him and the Prince.
“Therefore...” Fancy turned to the prince, who was looking at him quietly. “... We’ll make our way out of here. Scarlet?” He said as he offered his hand to the mare, who seemed nervous to take it.

Fancy couldn’t believe it. The prince was retreating from the party, saving him from the crowd. Why would he do something like that?

Unless…
“Wait, your highness!” Fancy walked up to the duo, who turned to him with a curious expression. “Please, stay for a while. It would be a pleasure for you to be in here with us.”

Mark instantly started to wonder why the sudden change of attitude. Surely, the ponies around him had something to do with it. Yet, as he saw Fancy’s eyes, he could see it: Curiosity.

Mark knew that something was going through Fancy’s mind. As for the what, he didn’t know. Therefore, he decided to bluff.
“... I don’t see why not. What do you say, Scarlet?” He asked, much to the mare’s surprise. She started to feel weird, as if wanting to squeal in delight, cry in confusion, or simply standing in there, petrified in surprise. Forcing a smile on her face, she answered.
“I-It’d be… pretty nice, mas- I mean, Sir.”

Mark smiled as he turned to Fancy, who wasn’t looking at him with that harsh glare, but with a curious one.

Passing next to the couple, the duo made their way inside. The party wasn’t exactly what could be called a party, for the atmosphere was quiet yet cheerful. It was more like a social meeting than a party. Still, it was more than enough for Mark to feel comfortable.

On the distance of the great hall, a small group of ponies were playing their instrument in a quiet song, making the atmosphere serene.

Just as the duo were starting to make their way to one of the tables, a voice called them.
“Ahem, Prince and his beautiful companion.” Said a smooth feminine voice. Both turned to see none other than Lady Fleur de Lis. “My dear husband asks for your presence on our table. He wishes to speak to you.”

Mark simply raised a brow in confusion. First, he seems to hate him and now, he’s asking him for some time?
“... Alright, then. Lead the way.”

Before both of them started to walk, Fleur suddenly wrapped an arm on the prince’s arm, almost in an over-protective way.
“I’m sorry, but my husband only asked for the prince. I’m sure you’ll understand, darling.” She said, with a soft yet intimidating glare to Scarlet. Scarlet’s reaction was to turn at the prince for answers.

Mark was starting to suspect that something was up. That kind of looks were only of the ones who wanted to do something… and not the kind of good things. You better believe it, for he had seen that same look on some of his maids.
“Where are we going? I thought we were going to a table?”
“Oh, no. He wishes to speak with you on a private room. Up there.” She pointed to a door in the upper part of the house, in which Fancy was standing patiently.

Even when he was having his doubts, he decided to go. Telling Scarlet to wait for him for a while, he allowed Fleur to guide him. However, he could notice some kind odd behavior from her part, which consisted on getting even closer to him, or to the part where she even allowed his arm to “slip” between her breasts; each and every incident met with the same reaction.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do it!” She merely chuckled at that.
“Don’t worry, Prince. I’m sure it was nothing.” She said as she continued to walk,this time with a certain sway in her step.

Mark blushed deeply as he realized that this mare wanted something more than just teasing him. He didn’t know to consider it an horror or an honor.

After a few agonizing moments of resisting Fleur’s alluring moments, they finally made it to the door.
“Thank you very much, Lady Fleur.” The prince said, not daring to look at her.
“It was nothing Prince.” She said as she turned around to leave. Before she walked away, Mark felt her tail brushing his crotch, making him shiver. “See you later, Prince.”

Mark’s mind was already boiling, whether from arousal, anger, fear, confusion or anything else, but it was about to explode. He started to breath deeply before entering the office, in which, sat a serious looking Fancy.

“Was that what you wanted me to do?” Fleur asked to nopony in particular while standing next to a wall.
After a few seconds, two figures spoke.
“I think he might need more of it, dearest Fleur.” The first one spoke with confidence.
“We must push him to his limits. Otherwise, it will be too easy. Try something else… you know what to do.” Fleur blushed slightly at that, but simply nodded as she walked away while the two figures vanished away.

Almost in the very same instant he entered, the unicorn’s horn lit up, surrounded in a light blue aura. Behind him, the door closed, and the characteristic clicking of the door being locked brought a new wave of nervousness upon Mark. Turning once again to the stallion in front of him, they just looked at each other with a neutral look, each analyzing the other one in hopes of finding a certain flaw on each other’s facade.

Finally, after a few minutes like this, Mark’s mind finally exploded. With everything he had been through, it soon became too much. Like a volcano, the pressure exploded to Heavens.
“Alright, what the hell is this!?” Mark said, louder of what he wanted originally. Sir Fancy, however, seemed as calm as ever.
“I actually just wanted to talk, as my dear wife told you so.”

Mark’s eye started to twitch as his nerves were starting to raise again. His fists started to close almost to a painful grade as a certain boiling sound started to make echo on his mind.

However, seeing as he really had no reason to be angry, he started to take deep breaths. At least, he wasn’t a mare trying to get into his pants. Finally, after a few seconds, he simply looked at him with a serene yet straight face.
“... What did you want to talk about, then?”

Fancy’s face changed slightly as some grief could be seen on it. Mark guessed that whatever he wanted to talk about was too painful.
“I want to talk… about what happened between us,” He started to say. Mark’s mind drifted to the moment where he met him in the alley.
“Hey, you know? Back in the alley, when I asked you what I did, you… you never answered.”
“That is because I really don’t want to talk about it, Prince.” He said in a harsh voice at the time he got up. After a few seconds, he simply turned to a window, in which the full display of the early evening was up. “And besides… that was decades ago… Not that it matters too much now.”
“... Decades?” The prince asked in disbelief. “How old are you?”

At first, Fancy’s gaze was one of surprise and offense. However, it softened once the prince pointed to his head with a deadpan look.
“Oh, right. Your… problem. You see, prince… I’m fifty-six. I’ve been married with my dear wife for thirty years now.”
“Congratulations. Honestly.” Mark said with a small smile, one that Fancy returned.
“However, as for our… problem… let’s just say that it’s gone. It has been way too long.”
“But maybe there’s still a thorn yet to remove. Isn’t it?”

At first, Fancy seemed uneasy to continue with that. It definitely wasn’t the usual behavior of the prince. Not that he was complaining, for the talk had been actually rather quiet. It was becoming clearer that the prince wasn’t the same pony he knew before.
“Can I ask you something, Prince?”
“Uhh… yeah, sure.”
“Are you a changeling?”
“... A what now?”
“So you’re not.” Fancy said, chuckling weakly. “Sorry, just joking with you.”

After that, a brief silence filled the place. Both just held their sights in the rising moon on the horizon, which could be seen clearly from that point.
“You know… about the thorn you said?” The prince’s attention focused on this, as the other pony continued. “... I think there is no thorn anymore.” He said with a small yet determined smile. Suddenly, it turned serious again. “However, it is too soon to call ourselves friends. I’m willing to give this friendship a second chance… as long as you do your part.”

Not knowing either to sigh in relief or get nervous at that, Mark simply stretched his hand in front of Fancy. At first, Fancy looked at it curiously before smiling weakly. Almost instantly, the clapping sound of the two hands closing on the other one sounded, as the two stallions gave each other a reassuring smile.

After the hands separated, Fancy went to a small shelf on the other side of the room. Mark saw that he took a bottle of what seemed to be white wine. After a few seconds, a small glass containing the white liquid floated in front of him. Fancy, holding his own in his hand walked towards him.
“Here’s to the hopes of something big.” Fancy said with a serene expression. Mark simply smiled as he took the one in front of him.
“Here’s to the hopes of friendship.” He said before the two of them drank their cups.

After a few seconds, Fancy cleared his throats.
“Well, I better go to attend my guests. It’s my party, after all.”
“In that case, I better go and see how Scarlet’s doing.”

After the two stallions left the room, Mark went to look for Scarlet,while Fancy stood behind, preparing some speech for the audience before going down. Mark was as calm as ever, feeling like if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

But, oh! How Life finds such ways to cast your high spirit to the lowest of the lower parts of the ground!
As Mark walked back to the table in which he left Scarlet waiting, he didn’t notice a pair of eyes watching him from a short distance.

Almost as he reached the end of the stairs, a door opened quickly and a white hand took him by the neck of his shirt. Yelping, he was dragged into the dark room, feeling a sharp pain on the back of the neck after feeling that sickening sensation of falling.

Opening his eyes after a few moments of dizziness, he saw darkness surrounding him. However, what made the fur on his neck stand up was the feeling that he wasn’t alone. That was confirmed when a feminine giggle got to his ears.
“Finally alone.” Mark gulped in fear as he recognized that voice.
“... Lady Fleur?”

After a few tense moments, a light turned on in the room, finally allowing him to see the mare who stood just a few inches before him. That wasn’t exactly what frightened him the most. It was the look she was giving him the thing that scared him the most.
“Just Fleur for you.”

Mark’s mind started to boil again with nervousness as he found himself being cornered by the mare. Almost instantly, he found himself fighting yet again against his “instincts”, as Death had called them. They were telling him to just plunge into her and do anything she wanted. However, he managed to keep them in check… barely.

As Fleur kept getting closer to him, he started to shiver. That was until his eyes found the door from which he got dragged in.

In a sudden rush, he leaned forward and dashed. Using one hand to shove her as gently as possible, he passed at her side. However, he forgot about the diminished space and Fleur’s legs. One of them crossed on his path, causing him to trip. Unfortunately for him, he had made such a dash that he didn’t even have time to break in any possible way. The only break he found was the very same door he was running into.

As Fancy walked downstairs, he was thinking a lot about Blueblood’s recent behaviour. It seemed so strange. The more he thought about it, the less reason it made.

However, his thoughts were interrupted while in front of him, the door of the small room in front of him suddenly flew open, being instantly sent to the floor. On top of it, was none other than the Prince itself.
… Definitely, not the kind of behaviour he was expecting from him.

As the prince tried to get to his feet, groaning in what he could assume was pain, the prince’s eyes suddenly focused on his. His face, being of a white fur, could be seen losing even more color as his eyes widened in seemingly fear.
“... Uhh… hello.” Fancy simply had no idea what to answer to that. Of all the things he could have said, it was that.
“Hello, indeed.” Fancy simply resigned himself to answer the same way.

After a few seconds, Fleur walked out of the room.
“Hello, darling. How are you faring?”
“Fleur?” Fancy asked in a somewhat surprised tone. Almost instantly, his gaze shot toward Blueblood.
“May I ask what were you two doing in there?”
“Oh, I was about to ask the prince to rut me.” Fleur said flatly, not bothering to do some kind of warmup.

Both stallions were shocked by the answer, Blueblood more than Fancy. Even so, Fancy remained calmed.
“And what did he do after that?”
“Oh, well… he ran toward the door, tripped with one of my hooves and crashed on it.”
“Are you saying that he didn’t even touch you?”
“Oh, no. He simply shoved me off, but aside from that, nothing else.”

Once again, Fancy’s gaze met the Prince’s. Once again, he could see fear on them. However, he did something that even he couldn’t understand.

He chuckled.
“Hahaha… I never thought you would keep your hands off of my wife, you know? Yet, here you are, fleeing from an intimate moment with her… ” He chuckled a few more times before finally extending a hand to help him. “Now I can see that I can trust you.”

Mark got back on his feet with his mind even more confused by that last phrase. It seemed to hold a deeper sense on it.
…
…
… !

Suddenly, Mark’s eyes widened in a mix of surprise, realization and anger.
“... You were testing me...” The prince said in a low tone. Fancy merely chuckled at that.
“Heavens, no! I’d never dare to test my friends!”
“Then, wha-”
“Why don’t you ask yourself?” Fancy asked as his eyes turned to another part of the hall.

Mark followed his gaze through the crowd, feeling himself slightly uncomfortable at seeing half of the room looking at him. However, when his eyes focused on the table he left Scarlet on, he saw a pair of ponies who weren’t in there before.

Sitting in there, casually chatting with Scarlet, were the two princesses of Equestria. Noticing his gaze, both sisters turned to him, lifting a cup with what looked like wine towards him.

Mark’s right eye started to twitch slightly as he watched those two mares having a quiet chat with his maid while he had been nervous as hell during all the party. For a moment, he considered to snap their wings off and beat them to death with them.
… (Yeah, he needed to have better control over his thoughts…)

However, some of Celestia’s words repeated themselves on his head.

“I see you ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To return to Canterlot and learn how to be a prince.”

…

That was it…

They were preparing him to be a prince…

The prince turned once more to them. They seemed to be watching him intently, waiting for any kind of reaction.

To their surprise, the prince bowed respectfully to them while keeping a small smile on his face. After that, he walked calmly towards them. After a few moments, he finally stopped in front of them.
“May I speak freely with you two?” He asked with a calmed tone. Not sensing any kind of danger, they both nodded. “... I usually don’t say things like this… yet… ” He turned around to see that no ponies were looking at him. Seeing that he wasn’t calling the attention of them, he turned to them once again. “Try to find another damned kind of tests that don’t include mares trying to get into my pants! Thank you!” He said before turning around and walking away, stomping harshly every time.

The princesses didn’t know what to say. It actually made sense. Fleur had been their friend for some time now, yet her relationship with her husband could have been affected by this test.

None of them said anything… they both knew that Blueblood should continue his training somehow… but how?

It was then that Luna remembered something.
“Tia? Do you remember any battle in the past that was difficult?” Celestia looked at her confused as to why would she ask that.
“Why do you ask that?”
“I think I know a way to keep his training without having to drag somepony else on it.”

Author's Note

Have you ever had that family member who's very treasured and loved by everyone, including yourself? Yet, sometimes, you can't help but imagine yourself-
You know what? Never mind.
My life is in a little state of discontrol for now. (Nope, I WILL keep writing.) So, keep in touch to see yet more chapters in the near future (hopefully)