He saw her perched atop a street lamp, gazing down at him with indiscernible golden eyes. The denizens of Canterlot either stopped to admire her or simply turned their heads as they passed by. Philomena was a fairly common sight in the capital, but few had ever seen her lurking about at night, seeing how phoenixes were strictly diurnal. But tonight, the fire bird had decided to grace Canterlot with her presence.

“Raw,” she addressed him.

He bowed slightly to the phoenix before continuing on his way to his apartment for dinner. He liked to look at her as much as the next pony, but he was hungry and he just finished a long day of practicing and studying. Prince Blueblood couldn’t wait to go home to the castle.

Philomena took flight, causing embers to rain down with each flap of her wings. The ponies of Canterlot ooo’d in wonder at her majesty.

“Raw,” she repeated. Again as she landed on the next street lamp, still looking at him.

Blueblood looked up at her and exhaled softly. He was hungry and curfew would soon be upon him. Couldn’t this wait until later?

“Raw!” the phoenix said again with more urgency.

Ugh, forget it. Whatever Philomena wanted, she got, and not even Queen Celestia could refuse her.

“What do you want?” he murmured, barely speaking loud enough to hear himself.

She got the message. Philomena turned around, still keeping her eyes on him and took flight. Blueblood lazily cantered after her.

He followed her to an alley. He looked in distaste at the garbage bins and then at Philomena, who sat preening on a fire escape.

“I’m here. Now what?”

He could swear she smirked at him before she dove down and yanked his scarf off his neck, dispelling his glamour.

“Hey, hey wait!” the now-undisguised prince called as he galloped behind her.

“Raw!” she mocked him.

“Philomena come— Sorry!— on! I haven’t eaten— Pardon!— in hours; I don’t have the energy— Excuse me!— for this!”

“Raw!”

The denizens of Canterlot watched as the prince and phoenix tore their way through the streets, some even yelping in surprise to get out of their way.

“Don’t make me— Sorry, sorry, sorry!— use magic on you, Philomena!” he warned the bird.

“Raw!” she teased.

“Okay, I warned you!” he shouted as he leapt over some crates.

Prince Blueblood began to cast a spell… only to slam into a tourist.

“Oof!”

“Sorry!” the prince apologized.

“Raw! Raw! Raw!” Philomena laughed, lazily circling above head to survey the scene.

“Oh shut up!” he yelled back at her before firing a spell.

Unsurprisingly, he missed, and she continued to fly away, his enchanted scarf flapping in her talons.

“Come on!” he shouted in exasperation as he panted after her.

The pair continued on with their chase. Philomena led him through streets and alleyways, and even through a building under construction. Blueblood scrambled desperately from behind. The princess would be angry if she had to enchant another article, and there was no way he was going to face her temper because of a scarf.

The phoenix and prince reached a residential area, and she at last perched on top of a house.

“Are you seriously going to make me go up there?” he wheezed.

She blinked down at him and then began to preen.

“Stupid bird,” he grumbled as he walked around the perimeter of the house, looking for some way up.

At last he spied an open window.

Blueblood bit his lip with uncertainty. While he did not have intention of stealing from the ponies who lived inside, he would still be committing trespassing, and not even royalty was above the law in Equestria.

He sighed. Well, as long as he didn’t get caught, nopony would be able to press charges, right?

The colt slipped inside, silently praying to every god he knew that everypony was in their bedrooms.

He slunk up the stairs, into the attic, and clamored up onto the roof. Philomena glanced at him, but still continued to preen. Oh thank the gods: she was done with her games.

“Philomena,” he whispered, voice full of false sweetness. “Why don’t you give that back to me and we can go to the castle.”

She didn’t respond and he advanced. Just as his hoof was about to touch the scarf, she fluttered a meter away.

“Ugh, just what do you want from me?” he begged.

She stopped preening at last. “Raw,” the phoenix answered.

“Philomena, please, I’m not an earth pony, I can’t understand you.”

She blinked at him once before turning her eyes to the adjacent house. He followed her gaze and his breath immediately hitched in his throat. Blueblood silently made his way behind the chimney to avoid being seen.

Twilight, Night Light, Shining, and a small, violet foal were all gathered in a room. A mare, either a midwife or a doula, was going through some papers and chatting with the family.

She… she had her foal. And by the looks of it, Twilight looked happy and content.

He tore his eyes from the scene and leaned against the chimney.

“Why did you bring me here?” he murmured to the phoenix.

Philomena winced as she studied his hunched frame in the darkness. This wasn’t what she meant to do.

She fluttered over to him and caressed his cheek with her soft, glowing feathers, but Blueblood didn’t respond.

Would her heart’s balm song even work now? She opened her beak to begin singing, but immediately fell silent when somepony softly alighted nearby.

Blueblood didn’t even look up. “I’m sorry about breaking curfew,” he told the mare as she approached. “She took something from me and I had to get it back. Just take me to the castle.”

“Nephew? What’s wrong?” asked the kind, gentle voice of Queen Celestia.

Everything came to a screeching halt. Oh. Anypony but her.

“Queen Celestia!” he immediately perked up. He turned to bow to her. “I’m so sor—!”

He stopped in mid bow. Standing before him was an average-sized pegasus mare with a white coat, pink mane and tail, and a geometric sun cutie mark. Certainly not the queen.

“Er, sorry, ma’am; I’m afraid you have me confused with somepony else.”

“Oh, Blueblood,” sighed the mare as Philomena fluttered on to her back. “It hurts to see you so guarded with me, yet more lax with strangers.” And for a moment, she dropped her glamour before recasting it.

The prince immediately bowed till his horn tip touched the shingles of the house.

Queen Celestia closed the distance between them and gently tilted his muzzle up.

“Nephew, you needn’t be so formal with me.”

He looked away from her ancient, tired stare and pressed his ears flat against his skull.

“Or so distant,” she finished.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “You just surprised me, your majesty.”

She let go of him. “Did I?”

Blueblood nodded. “I was pretty sure I was out past curfew, so I expected a city guard, or even a royal guard to come get me. Not you, your grace— not that I’m disappointed or anything!” he quickly tacked on.

She smiled. “You’re my family; why wouldn’t I try to come get you?”

He picked up his discarded scarf to avoid looking at her.

“Besides, when word got to me how you were galloping through the city trying to get something from Philomena, I knew I had to intervene. No mere mortal could ever hope to match her, and even I have trouble with her from time to time. Isn’t that right, Philomena?” she asked the phoenix.

“Raw!” she affirmed.

Queen Celestia looked at the scarf he was folding to put away.

“My. Was that what she stole—?”

“Raw!”

“— pardon, borrowed from you?”

Blueblood nodded and offered it to her.

The sun god sat back on her flank and examined scarf, choosing to hold it in her hooves rather than her magic.

“Did the princess enchant this for you?”

“How did—?”

She chuckled in bemusement and threw it over his neck, watching him change form into a lanky green colt.

“I’ve known her for over a century; I think I’m more than familiar with her signature. Still, she has outdone herself with the glamour, and it’s interesting that she even added an anti-detection spell. Are you sneaking into places where you shouldn’t be sneaking to?” she winked.

“What? No! I wouldn’t—!”

The queen laughed again. “Don’t worry, nephew; I’m only teasing. Still, I am curious: just why are you out so late?”

Blueblood took off his scarf and began folding it to put it away in his saddle bags. It was easier to do that than to converse with his aunt.

“I’m sorry, your majesty, but Philomena stole my scarf and I had to get it back. I’m always in the castle before curfew, though. Not even the crown is above the law.”

“Indeed,” she agreed. “Nevertheless, that still doesn’t explain why you’re out past dark.”

“Sorry!” he apologized begin, looking at her with bewildered eyes. “Should I be at the castle sooner? I’ll come back sooner if that’s what you wan—!”

Celestia silenced him by corking his mouth with a hoof. “I didn’t mean to phrase it like that, Blueblood. Your time is yours to do with as you please. I’m just curious as to how you’re spending your time.”

“Oh,” he answered after she uncorked his mouth. “I’m spending it at the library studying.”

“Studying? So late?”

The prince nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I stay until the library closes to foals.”

“My. The princess is certainly taking a rather rigorous approach to your education. I think I’ll talk to her later.”

“No, it’s fine, Queen Celestia,” he insisted. “I want to do it, really. I study better at the library.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, no doubt still having plans to speak with the princess about the matter later, but then she dropped the subject. “Well, if you say so, nephew, though perhaps I should take a more proactive role in your education.”

At first, Blueblood’s heart began to beat faster with excitement. The queen would finally start mentoring him! He’d finally have an alicorn guiding him through his twenty year journey to the throne! But then the princess’ words echoed in his head.

‘Do not become an obstacle for that child, do not hold her back, and do not take Celestia away from her. If you do, the world will suffer for it.’

Blueblood swallowed his excitement and formulated his response. “But you’re always so busy, your majesty. When could you possibly have the time to teach me?”

“I’ll make time,” the queen promised. “If I have to cut a few things short, I will. Don’t worry.”

Would that mean taking away time from Sunset Shimmer, the filly who was actually destined to be a great mage in the future?

It probably did, and as much as he wanted to be with Celestia, he couldn’t bring himself to be so unfair to either Sunset or Equus.

“I’m sorry, Queen Celestia,” he bowed with an apology, “but it’s alright. The princess is handling my education just fine.”

Maybe one day, he would be worthy of the queen’s attention instead of her pity, but that simply wasn’t the case right now.

He turned to look back at the Sparkles and their doula/mid-wife, and lay down on the shingles.

Celestia opened her mouth to argue, but after fifteen hundred years of dealing with ponies, she knew when to simply let go of a matter. She’d try again later when he was more receptive to her, but at the moment, she’d hold her tongue and lay down with him.

She watched the scene unfold. The doula/mid-wife was hugging everypony goodbye, having completed her check up. She bent down to plant a kiss beneath the horn of the baby.

“You know, in all my centuries of being alive, I’ve seen scenes exactly like this one play out over and over again, but no matter how many times I bear witness to it, I always feel like an excited little school filly.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, grateful for the change in conversation.

“Look at that filly: she has her entire life ahead of her. Maybe she’ll be a great mage in the future, one of the most powerful I’ve ever seen. Or maybe she’ll be a teacher, or a scientist, or a community leader, or just a humble house spouse.

“And then there’s her brother. Most siblings get jealous when a new foal comes up, but not him. He looks so excited to be there for her: to steady her when she stumbles, to explain things that she doesn’t understand, and to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble. I’m fairly certain they’ll have their disagreements (everypony does), but he looks like the type who wants to be a positive force in her life.

“Now look at her parents: they look so proud and happy to have two beautiful foals blessing them. While I do try to avoid judging ponies with just a glance, from what I see, the mother and father are wonderful ponies, and they’ll raise their children to be wonderful ponies, too.”

She released a dreamy sigh. “It’s all so precious, isn’t it? Each and every one of their lives are so precious, and there are so many times when I wish I could have a life like theirs. But unfortunately, I am supposed to be their queen and they are to be my little ponies,” Celestia concluded with a wistful smile.

Blueblood gazed mournfully at the happy family.

It already felt like he sacrificed so much for the sake of the crown, yet even his sacrifices felt like nothing compared to Queen Celestia’s. He couldn’t even fathom why there were ponies out there who wanted his position, much less Celestia’s.

They watched the family continue to interact for some time before Blueblood’s stomach growled ravenously.

“My. Looks like somepony’s ready to eat,” the god giggled.

“Uh yeah,” he answered sheepishly. “Chasing Philomena took a lot out of me and it’s been a while since I’ve eaten.”

“Oh? And when was the last time you ate?”

“Um, a couple hours past noon?” he answered, trying to recall the precise time.

Celestia’s bemused smile was replaced with a deadpan. “Blueblood. It’s 11:30.”

“Oh then, I better get to bed then! I have a lot to do tomorrow!”

“Not without eating, you’re not!” she argued, not willing to yield in this particular instance.

“But—”

She dropped her glamour, now appearing as a true alicorn. “Hop on,” she ordered as she fell on to her front knees.

“I couldn’t—” he gasped. Riding the queen like some rodeo clown riding a thrashing bull? Blasphemous!

“Would you rather I teleport us back to my quarters?” she offered instead.

Eugh, teleportation?

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’ she concluded from his facial expression.

“But—”

“Relax,” Celestia smiled. “I get the feeling you’ll like flying better than teleportation anyway. I know I do.”

“Well, if you say so,” he mumbled, feeling extremely uncomfortable as he got on her back.

“Hold on,” she whispered with excitement as she flexed her massive wings.

Formalities be damned, he was going to hold on to her neck for dear life!

Philomena leapt up into the star-studded sky and Celestia followed suit.

Author's Note

Please point out any typos.

I took too damn long for this chapter. It's not finished, but no matter how many I tried, I just couldn't sit down to focus on it, so I'm just going to stop here and move on to the next one.