He was such a handsome colt, ponies would say. He was brilliant when it came to his studies, an utter delight to converse with, and had a maturity that beguiled his young age, they gushed. Protectively cocooned beneath Queen Celestia's mighty wing, Prince Blueblood CIX thought otherwise. But nevertheless, he tolerated their compliments, neither refuting nor confirming the claims made of him.

He couldn't wait for this to be over.

"My little ponies," Queen Celestia smiled at the attendees of his birthday party. "It is with great pleasure that we are here this evening to celebrate a very special day for this very special colt. My," she said, turning to look down at him, "it's hard to believe that almost a year has passed between us, your majesty."

"It truly is, my queen," Prince Blueblood agreed. "I never would have guessed that I would be sharing this throne with you, almost a year after you shared a throne with the princess on her birthday."

A small eruption of giggles answered him.

'That wasn't funny.'

"Indeed, child, but life certainly has a way of surprising us. Never in a thousand years did I think I would coronate you, an eleven-year-old colt (now twelve)—"

More sycophantic giggles.

"— would be declared as the one hundred ninth Blueblood. But here we are." they nuzzled. "So, my darling nephew, do you have any words you wish to say?"

"Before this repast?" he asked, echoing the words of the princess that lifetime ago. "Nay."

Queen Celestia flared her wings. "Then let us feast in celebration of your special day!"

And ponies immediately got up from their seats. Many went to the buffet table, but most simply walked around to mingle, not wanting to seem too eager for the food.

Prince Blueblood turned to the princess and quirked a suspicious brow. "You're not going to drink too much wine, are you?"

"I'm facing a conundrum, in all frankness," she sighed in longing. "Do I drink wine now to make this easier, or do I take a lambien* pill later to escape at a more socially acceptable time?"

Queen Celestia tutted. "Now, now, niece this party won't be too bad."

"This party is a smaller version of the Grand Galloping Gala, and you know how I feel about that travesty."

"Just like you know how I feel about the Gala," Celestia pointed out, shaking her head.

"Is the Gala really that bad?" he asked.

"Yes," they said.

"Be grateful you don't have to be a part of that mess every year," the princess grumbled.

"Ugh. If it's that bad, then you're keeping that responsibility till you reach your pyre," the prince said.

"(With threats like that, I'll jump into my pyre.)"

Queen Celestia rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"So, nephew," the alicorn began, "how does it feel to be back in Castle Platinum?"

He thought for a moment. "Weird," he finally answered. "It really is hard to believe I've changed so much and everypony else is kinda same."

"Oh, now you don't know that, my prince." The alicorn smiled. "Why not greet your family? Catch up with them and see."

"I guess. Have fun," he told both mares.

Celestia kissed him. "You too, my child."

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Prince Blueblood was wrong: his family had changed. Tremendously.

A year ago, he had been ignored at best, or criticized at worst. Now, everypony couldn't get enough of him! It was like each and every one of them had been his mentor, second mother, second father, older sibling, or younger sibling back when he was still Noble Heart.

It was no wonder the princess avoided them like the plague.

Nevertheless, Blueblood knew that certain someponies were missing.

"Aunt Ruby, Aunt Ruby," he called to his mother's favorite sister.

She immediately turned around, making him the center of her attention.

"Ah, Noble— pardon me, your royal highness," she giggled, opening her front legs in invitation for a hug. "How times have changed, Prince Blueblood."

He refrained from rolling his eyes. "Indeed," he agreed as he gave her an awkward hug. Blech. Too much perfume.

"I told you he'd come to seek me," Ruby Circlet preened in front of her cousins. "We were always so close, him and I, why I was his second mother." And she accentuated her claim with a kiss at the base of his horn.

He refrained from recoiling, bothered by the fact that she had kissed him at such an intimate spot.

When was the last time she kissed him? Hay, when was the last time she hugged him? "I knew I wouldn't have to seek him out, unlike certain someponies," Ruby bragged as she let him go. "Your grace, you remember my daughter, Fleur, do you not?"

He glanced at his cousin. With her white coat, pink mane, and violet eyes, she bore a rather unsettling resemblance to Queen Celestia's glamour-personas.

"Charmed," he mumbled before grabbing Fleur's hoof and kissing it.

Though her countenance was aloof, he could sense how uncomfortable she was through her body language.

"Your highness," Fleur nodded as she pulled back her hoof just a bit too quickly.

"Aunt Ruby, a word," he requested, already walking to a more secluded part of Castle Platinum.

"Of course, my love." She gave everypony a smug smile as she followed him.

He led them to a dark corridor only lit by the moon.

"A bit far from the party, aren't we," Ruby Circlet chuckled as she looked out the window. "It certainly is a beautiful night, isn't it, your grace."

He looked outside and studied Nightmare Moon glaring down at them. He forced himself to look away. "I need a quick break from the party," Blueblood stated. "Aunt Ruby, where's my family?"

"Hmm?"

"I thought they'd be here by now."

"Oh, don't worry about them, Prince Blueblood," Ruby assured him with a genuine smile. "They wouldn't miss it for the world! Your mother explicitly told me that they'd all be attending your special day! Although..."

"'Although' what?" he pressed.

"Well, I'm a bit worried," the mare admitted, "your brother had a big birthday planned months ago, right here no less! Your parents had been struggling with him since your coronation— oh, now don't make that face!" she tried to reassure him. "It's nothing Sapphire can't handle. Golden Crown is just feeling a bit jealous, but that's perfectly normal for siblings to feel!"

He bowed deeply to his aunt, forcing his face to become blank once again. "Thank you," he murmured as he walked back to the party.

She quickly followed him.

When they reached the party, Ruby Circlet rubbed him between his withers. "Ah, see!" she assured him, gesturing with her other hoof. "There's your father, and your mother as well! And there's... oh..." she trailed off.

Golden Crown's eyes locked on Blueblood's, and Blueblood couldn't help but flinch. His twin's hair seemed uncombed, and his mane and tail were tangled. The sclera of his eyes were bloodshot, and his lids were puffy, as if he had been crying. But the look in his eyes was what caught Blueblood off guard.

Nopony had ever looked at him with such hatred before. It looked so painfully familiar, almost like—

"I need space," he quickly excused himself.

"But your majesty, we just—"

"Leave me alone," he snapped before turning tail and leaving.

Ruby Circlet watched him go, and then turned to look at Golden Crown, but he already had his attention on something else.

Unsure of what to do, the mare scanned the room for the queen. Unsurprisingly, ponies were gravitating to her. Ruby then looked for the princess.

She went to her.

When Blueblood saw the pony encroaching on her space, she didn't even bother to hide her disdain. "Leave me, de Lis," the princess commanded.

"Forgive me, your eminence, but..." and Ruby Circlet finished her statement with a whisper.

Blueblood the Elder's ear swiveled to Ruby as she listened.

"Understood. Dismissed."

Ruby Circlet bowed deeply before leaving to go see her sister.

Blueblood CVIII stood and stretched, listening to her joints creak and crack. She managed not to moan. Princess Blueblood made her way to the queen and murmur something in her ear.

When Queen Celestia heard the message, she continued to smile and nod and giggle, as if she had been told something amusing. She looked down at her niece. After over one hundred years of knowing each other, the pair understood one another better than most ponies could ever hope to. The princess sat beneath the alicorn's wing and played along as being the gracious royal.

After a few minutes, Queen Celestia yawned and flexed her wings to stretch. "Pardon me, my little ponies," she smiled down at the nobles, "but I fear that my wings need a bit of air. I'll see you all in due time."

And she slipped out into the darkened halls.

When she was well away from the party, Celestia lit her horn. A trail of hoofprints lit up and she followed.

She found him in the library, curled up at the top of a bookshelf, and looking at the night sky from a sky light.

"So how are you, nephew?" Celestia asked as she alighted behind him.

Prince Blueblood shrugged, keeping his eyes on the heavens. "Okay, I guess." he mumbled, not meaning it.

"Your mother's sister told us otherwise," Celestia told him as she lay down on the shelf. "How did you get up here?"

He kicked the rolling ladder down the shelf. She lifted her tail to avoid it.

"I want Philomena," he said, finally looking away from the heavens.

"Do you?" she pressed, grateful that he was even willing to talk to her.

He nodded. "She always sings to me when I don't feel good."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Her Heart's Balm Song truly is something else. You know, when your grandmother Bluebell introduced me to Philomena, I would literally spend days and nights listening to her sing. Hmph," she grunted in amusement. "It took her a good, long while to heal my heart." She then looked up at the night sky. "Of course, some wounds never truly heal."

"Do you want to know something, Queen Celestia?"

"Of course, my love."

"For awhile, I would have really bad nightmares. You know, my nightmares were so bad that I would sleep cast. My guards would always burst through the door, wondering if I was being attacked or something. Even after I realized I had a nightmare, I wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night. I went days without sleeping properly. And do you remember that test I told you about, the one where I scored a 70%?"

"Yes," she murmured.

"I slept through it. The teacher was nice enough to realize that I wasn't sleeping right and let me take the test at home for a thirty point deduction."

"Why didn't you come to me?" she asked.

"Because the princess asked me not— no, don't get mad at her," Blueblood begged once he saw her expression. "You want to guess what my nightmares were about?" He looked up in the sky, and Celestia had her answer.

She grimaced.

"Every night it was her killing me, killing you, killing everyone in the world. I kept seeing Equestria covered in ice, I kept seeing the Aquastrian Sea boiling. Sometimes, the nightmare didn't even end after she killed me. Sometimes, I'm at Castle Tambelon and every. Single. Soul who I care about is wondering why I couldn't protect them. I... I see you there too. You're always so sad and disappointed in me..."

Queen Celestia stood and bent down over him.

"Why didn't the princess want you to talk to me about the nightmares?" she asked while nuzzling him.

"Because she told me that you still love her," he confessed. "She said it would hurt you to hear about her destroying everyone and everything in Equus, and torturing me throughout the day. I could only sleep when Philomena would sing to me at night. And then the princess dreamwalked into one of my nightmares—"

"She what?!" Celestia demanded bolting upright. The movement caused her back left hoof to slip off the shelf. "We're getting down from here," she stated, her tone brokering no argument.

Prince Blueblood felt her field encase him and they both floated down.

"Please don't be mad at her," he repeated. "She knew that the nightmares wouldn't stop, so she decided to see what was going on. We sleep together two nights a week so she can teach me to duel in my dreams."

The sun god looked into his eyes, expression indiscernible. Finally she sighed and looked out the window.

"I like dueling with her, really I do!" he assured her. "It's because of the princess that Philomena doesn't need to watch me every night. My nightmares have gone away!"

"I am so very, very sorry, nephew."

"No, please don't be!" he begged. "Ugh, I'm so sorry that I even brought this up! I didn't want you to feel guilty. The princess was right: talking about my nightmares only hurt you."

"Yes. Talking about it did hurt me, and I do feel guilty, and not just because of not knowing what has been happening behind my haunches. The princess was correct in her initial assumption, but she was wrong to assume that I wouldn't want to listen."

"Ugh!" he groaned, turning away from her. "I'm sorry! By the gods, why do I keep hurting everypony I care about?!"

"Hush," Celestia murmured as she lay down to be at his level. "Nopony is perfect; you don't do the things you do out of malice, my—"

"It's not just you!" Blueblood shouted, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

She recoiled slightly from his volume, but did not chastise him. Instead, she flared open a wing in invitation.

Wiping his eyes, he took his place beneath her wing.

"The princess sent a message to me from your mother's sister. Something about you being upset?"

"I am," he admitted, once again wiping away tears.

"Care to tell me what it is?"

"It's..." He looked away.

"Please speak to me," Celestia implored.

"I-it's my... my twin, Golden Crown," Blueblood confessed.

"What about Golden Crown?" she gently pressed.

"He hates me," he finally managed to say.

"And how do you know this?"

"Remember when you showed me your memories from a thousand years ago?"

The alicorn nodded.

"The thing that stuck out to me the most was how she looked at you, and just how much pure hatred she had for you. I never seen a pony look at somepony else like that, but tonight... he looked just so much like her."

Celestia's eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat.

"Oh Blueblood," she mourned. "I am so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault—"

"Isn't it?" she interrupted. "Only I may name a Blueblood, and I chose you. In doing so, I'm afraid that I've—"

She stopped talking when he touched a hoof to her cheek.

"The princess was right:" he said with a watery smile, "you really are too kind; you're always trying to save everypony, even from their own guilt."

She wiped his tear with a feather. "Be that as it may, nephew, I am afraid that I've made a terrible mistake in naming you, a mere child, Blueblood.

He shook his head. "You could take away my title tomorrow morning, but I will still be Blueblood. No matter what, I will always be Blueblood. I took my vows before Equestria, your majesty, and I intend to keep them." He sighed and looked down at his hooves. "But it's still hard to be Blueblood... especially knowing that my brother is so jealous of who and what I am, even if I can't help but..."

"Casting such a long shadow?" Celestia finished.

"You know all about that, don't you?" he muttered, flopping his head on the floor.

"Unfortunately I do."

"The worst part is that Golden Crown doesn't even know about half the stuff I do: he doesn't know how far I've advanced in magic, he doesn't know that I managed to get into your school on my own merits, he doesn't know that I've skipped a level, or that I've started to learn how to duel. I don't even know what he's up to."

Celestia looked at him. She looked so old and so sad.

"You're turning into me," she stated.

"I—"

"That is not a compliment. Blueblood," she stood and he followed suit. "Please don't be me," Celestia begged. "Please don't be as vain, as stupid, as proud as I was one thousand years ago. Go to your brother, and stop this before you both wind up hurting each other."

He looked deeply into her tragic eyes.

"I love you," he finally confessed, letting his tears fall freely. "I love you and I'll always love you." He stood on his hindlegs and embraced her as tightly as he could.

Celestia sat on her haunches and cocooned him with both her front legs and wings.

"Whether you're here in front of me, or ages away in the sun, I love you, Celestia," he cried in her neck.

She pulled away from him, tears shining in her eyes. "I'll always love you too, Blueblood. Now go, seek your brother, and do not let history repeat itself." Celestia kissed her nephew at the base of his horn and embraced him once more.

Finally, both god and mortal pulled away from each other. He gave her a slight bow of goodbye and galloped away, leaving her behind to look up at her sister.

Author's Note

Please point out any typos.

*Lambien: For when you want/need to sleep like a lamb.

Final ending arc of Part II of The Royal Governess.