Heartstrings and Bronze Gears

"Not in Ponyville EITHER?"

Prince Blueblood is normally very controlled, but to be honest with you, he is a bit spoiled.

Just a little bit.

The Royal Guards had come back from their visit to Ponyville. And again they were not able to find a suitable mare for him. Either the guards had really high standards or the mares of Equestria were really rotten.

"Are the mares really that bad?" The Royal Guard was shifting his eyes back and forth. It is kind of difficult to keep your posture when your job is on the line. "Two-thirds of Equestrias' population is female. You mean to tell me out of all those mares not one of them are worthy?" The Guard was sweating under his armor.

"Well... Your majesty..." The guard started. "It's not so much they are not worthy..." BlueBlood glared. "It's more that they are not worthy enough." The Prince stopped. "What do you mean by that?" The Royal Guard didn't respond. BlueBlood sighed. "Give me your personal opinion. I promise I will not tell the commander." That seemed to loosen the tension.

"A mare, above all, needs to be loyal and trustworthy." The Prince rolled his eyes. "I've heard this speech before. Did you find anyone like that?"

The guard simply shrugged. "Those are Elements of Harmony. So by default there were two candidates." The Prince just kept on glaring. "and who were they?" "They went by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the Element of Honesty and Loyalty, respectively." Prince Blueblood gave a disappointed look. "And what,exactly was wrong with them?"

"Well, Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus. She seems incapable of staying still and by the looks of it, could not appreciate a life like yours, what with the important tasks that are given to you." The Prince nodded. "Yes that would make sense..."

"And the other one, Applejack, works on a farm for her own business. Not only does she participate in the physical labour of harvesting apples, she seems to enjoy things that are considered uncouth by Canterlot standards." "For example...?"

"Manually creating jam by repeatedly tramping on it." The Prince grimaced. "Don't her clothes get stained like that?". The guard raised an eyebrow. "The ponies in Ponyville don't normally wear clothes." The Prince grimaced again. "Oh, right. Well, at least you tried." Prince Blueblood cleared his throat. "Where is the next visit?"

"In about a week or so, the Princess will travel to Manehatten. I'm sure you've heard of it." The Prince nodded. Many of his finest tailors were trained in Manehatten. He could also never escape their gossip. "The ponies there are very polite and fancy. But they can act a little spoiled. Especially the mares."

The Prince laughed. "If I were anyone else, I'd call myself spoiled!" He leaned in close. "Seriously though, please try to get someone this time. The anticipation is killing me."

The Royal guard nodded and walked away.