Mother, father, and son arrived back at the party. Prince Blueblood began scanning the crowd for the princess. Spotting her, he bid his parents adieu and made his way to his decrepit aunt.

"Prince Blueblood—!" somepony began.

"I need an audience with the princess," he interrupted him. "Do not disturb me."

"But your majesty—!"

"It can wait," he snapped, glaring his relative into submission.

The princess saw him through her passing glance. Seeing her nephew approach her with such purpose, she deigned to give him her full attention.

"Good—"

"We need to talk."

"— evening," she finished, rather surprised by his brusqueness.

"Now," Blueblood the Younger commanded.

She quirked a brow and scrutinized him, but nevertheless grabbed a glass of wine before standing. For the fourth time that night, Prince Blueblood walked out of the party with somepony in tow.

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Once more, he lead them to the library.

She took a sip of her wine. Judging by the purpose in his gait as well as the hard look in his eyes, she was going to need a drink or two to get through this.

The princess and prince sat in front of the window.

At last, he spoke.

Blueblood the Elder drank from her wine as she glanced at both him and their foe. Just what was on his mind—?

"I'm not going to fight her."

"WHAT?!" she screeched, obliterating her glass in her grip.

He glared at her in defiance. "I'm. Not. Going. To. Fight. Her," her nephew repeated.

Princess Blueblood stood and bared her teeth. "After everything you've said and done, after all the vows you swore, the spells you learned, the sacrifices you made, and the suffering you went through, you're not going to fight her?!"

Prince Blueblood turned his nose up in the air. "Nnnope," he soliloquized with graceful eloquence.

"Self-centered, cowardly, useless boy!" she shouted. "You would dare to turn your flank against the billions upon billions of lives who reside on this planet?! How could you?!"

He scowled at the furious mare. "Look at her, princess," he spat, pointing at the moon with a hoof. " You saw the memories of what happened one thousand years ago—"

"As did you, fool!" she cut in. "You saw the blackened skies, the destruction she sought to bring—!"

"Let me finish!" he interrupted her, standing up. "Neither of us will ever forget what happened one thousand years ago, and we both know I will be facing that again in twenty—"

"Nineteen!"

"— nineteen years alone. Princess, you saw how heaven and earth shook when the Heavenly Sisters clashed, you know that both sea and sky suffered for a good, long while after Nightmare Moon was imprisoned. Just what, in the name of the gods, do you expect me to do when Queen Celestia— the goddess of the sun, the guardian of the heavens, the light eternal, and the keeper of harmony— had to use some mysterious old rocks (that probably have been around since the beginning of Equus) to defeat her own sister? Hay, even the Elements lost their magic once Nightmare Moon was banished—!"

"Celestia held back! She couldn't subdue her sister because she loved her too much—!"

"'She loved her too much?'" the colt repeated. "How could you say that?! Not everypony is a bitter, lonely mare like you!"

"Who I am is irrelevant—!"

"It's not!" he screeched back. "Princess, you're asking me to give everything to everyone in the world, but at the same time, you're telling me to disregard individuals! You told me to do that with myself, you told me to do that with Twilight, and you almost told me to do that with Sunset! Princess, each life in this world is precious, even yours! You may be Blueblood, but neither you nor your feelings are irrelevant!"

The decrepit mare recoiled at his words, but did not interrupt.

"Even Nightmare Moon is precious," Prince Blueblood finished.

She scowled. "How can you even say that when she almost killed Celestia?" she sneered.

The colt exhaled deeply, as he stared up at the moon. "She is precious because my brother is precious."

"What do you even mean?" she hissed, no longer yelling.

"Princess, tonight I almost lost my brother," he confessed. "I almost lost him because I was too caught up by my title and responsibilities, I was too self-absorbed in myself, and because I'm casting a long, long shadow that hides him from everypony else. Princess, you know far more than I do what it means to be Blueblood, what it's like to have ponies make you the center of their attention, and to bask in your presence. How do you think Golden Crown felt when I had the biggest coronation in centuries? How do you think he felt when Queen Celestia put her tiara on my head? How do you think he felt when everyone in Equestria was celebrating the fact that I even exist? How do you think Luna felt one thousand years ago?"

"Nightmare Moon is not some jealous child!" the princess groaned in exasperation.

"Isn't she?" he countered. "Just like Golden Crown, she's stuck in her sibling's shadow while everypony worships Celestia. Luna is sad and angry that nopony appreciates her for everything that she's done. Just look outside! Can't you see how much thought and care she put into planning the night?"

The princess buried her face in her hooves. "She's going to kill us!" she argued.

"And she will kill all of us if she kills me!"

"Which is precisely why you must fight her!" she stated, her tone beseeching.

"Even Starswirl couldn't raise the sun and moon by himself," the prince countered. "Starswirl may have been the greatest wizard to have ever lived and may ever live, but even he couldn't do what the gods can."

"Then what about Equus?" she begged. "If you won't—"

"Can't."

"— fight her, then what, in the name of the gods, are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to do what everypony should have done one thousand years ago: I'm going to show her kindness."

"She's willing to kill her own sister! What hope could you possibly have in reaching out to her?"

"What hope did you have when you wanted me to fight her?" he rebutted. "Princess, I know you're unhappy with my decision, but Equus will be lost if the first thing she sees after one thousand years is ponies who still forsake her."

"Nephew, you promised," she said, desperation in her voice. "You swore everything to Equus."

"Equus is everything to me, princess, more than you can ever imagine. But please just trust—"

"I won't! I won't ever trust anypony ever again!" she cut in. "Prince Blueblood, whe— if she refuses you and your offer of... 'friendship,' then what?"

He bit his lip and looked down. "I... I don't know."

"Are you going to just sit there on Queen Celestia's throne and let her kill you, the last hope of Equus?"

"I..."

"Prince Blueblood, I know that you want to solve this issue peacefully, but what if she doesn't?"

"I don't know..."

Princess Blueblood shook her head. "You do. You must fight her to send her back to the moon. Please, nephew, I am so sorry that she is your destiny, but you can't just let her take everything without trying to stop her."

"And I will!" he promised. "I will stop her!"

"Then be open to all options," she implored him. "Equus needs you, nephew. It needs you to be their light in the coming darkness, be it through your mercy or through your horn."

"Princess, I don't want to hurt her!"

"I know you don't, but please think about what I just said."

"Fine," he consented. "You're right, I need to be open to all options. I need to be prepared for anything."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you can bet that I'm going to reach out to her first," he promised.

"Nephew, you—"

"Your king has spoken," he stated, his eyes commanding and hard.

Both Bluebloods were silent as his words echoed through the library. The princess looked into his eyes, beseeching him to submit to her wisdom. But looking at him, she knew that he would not be swayed by her arguments.

At last, she bowed as deeply as her joints would let her.

"Of course, my lord," she finally sighed in defeat.

The Apocalypse was going to be terrible and she truly pitied everyone who was going to suffer through it. But at 138 years, she could not (and would not) stick around to watch the aftermath. Not to worry, though: she would be sure to torment her nephew relentlessly once they met in the realm of the dead.

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When the Bluebloods made it back to the party, Golden Crown was the one who greeted them first.

He bowed deeply to the both of them, neither of which even bothered to return the gesture. Instead, they both bore indignance in their eyes, making sure to not look at one another. The princess departed for her seat. The prince made his way to the buffet table. Golden Crown followed.

"Um, are you okay?" he asked his twin.

"No," Blueblood grumbled as he picked up a plate. By the gods, it had been four hours since the party began and he hadn't eaten a single thing yet.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Golden Crown offered.

"No," the prince repeated, this time with a mouth full of roll.

Golden Crown seemed affronted. "Well, sorry for asking," he muttered, looking dejected.

Blueblood finally looked at him and his eyes softened. He set down his roll and plate. "No, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been so rude to you. Golden Crown, there really is nothing in the world I would like more than to talk to other ponies about the stuff I go through, but I can't."

"Why?" his twin asked, raising a brow. "Were you two talking about royal business?"

"That's all we ever talk about," the prince grumbled as he eyed the wilted salad. Gods, why had he waited this long to eat? "I'm never allowed to talk about it."

"Queen Celestia didn't seem that strict when we talked."

"It's not the queen who makes me keep quiet," Blueblood murmured almost to himself as he looked over his withers to glare at Princess Blueblood's back.

"Is she really that bad?" Golden Crown questioned, following his brother's gaze.

"How do you think she is?" Blueblood responded.

"Um..."

"Whatever you're thinking, no, she isn't like that; she's a hundred times worse."

Golden Crown grabbed his brother's second plate, wanting to help him carry his meal back to the table.

"Golden Crown, be thankful you weren't the one she hung upside down after her birthday. She sucks the life and joy out of everything. That's why Queen Celestia and I are the only ones who actually deal with her. Gods, I can't stand to be near her right now; let's go sit with our parents."

"Good evening, mother, father, I trust you are doing well?" he greeted Lord and Lady Platinum. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you please keep the 'esteemed' guests away from us?" Blueblood politely requested, barely concealing his annoyance and fatigue. "It's been a very long night for me and this is the first time I've actually had a chance to eat (what little everypony left for me)."

Royal Scepter glanced at his son, taking note of the undercurrent of agitation he carried with him. "As you wish," he agreed with a nod and sip of scotch.

The twins sandwiched themselves between their parents.

"Is she really that bad?" Golden Crown whispered in an attempt to keep other ponies out of the conversation.

"Yes," Blueblood stated with a flat voice. "But nevermind her; if I keep thinking about that, I'll just ruin the mood for everypony. So how was your time with Queen Celestia?"

Golden Crown grinned. "Wonderful. She didn't know today was my birthday too, but she still gave me the best present."

Blueblood smiled as he ate his scraps. "That sounds just like her. What did she give you?"

"She took me flying."

Blueblood's eyebrows shot up.

"It's true! We flew around the castle and skimmed the clouds. Then we were cloud walking—"

"'We?'"

"Well, I was still on her back. She offered to cast a spell on me to let me cloud walk, but I really didn't want to let go of her. She told me to look up at the sky. I never really noticed how beautiful the moon and stars were..."

Blueblood listened with genuine, vested interest. He laughed and smiled and frowned at the appropriate parts of the conversation, but it was sincere, entirely unlike how he had spoken to the rest of his family.

Despite Blueblood's attention on the conversation, he still couldn't help but notice their mother watching him.

The look she gave him was... strange to say the least. During occasions such as this, Sapphire Diadem had always tried to be at the centre or near the centre of ponies and conversations. She laughed, she smiled, she conversed, she danced, she gossiped— everything one would expect a noblemare to do. While Blueblood had barely spared her a glance from beyond their conversation and this one, he could see that she was nothing like her usual self. Furthermore, he just couldn't understand why she was just watching him. Blueblood had initially dismissed her queer behavior due to their conversation, but then he remembered that even before that, his mother was still unlike herself.

When Golden Crown finished conversing with him, Blueblood met Sapphire's gaze with cautious concern in his eyes. "Mother?"

She at last looked away from him, causing her earrings to swing from the momentum. "Hmm?" Sapphire responded, almost finishing her full glass of wine with a few gulps.

"Are you alright?"

She swirled the last few drops of her drink in her glass, her countenance pensive.

Royal Scepter noted his wife's uncharacteristic behavior with hidden worry. "Sapphire?" he pressed on Blueblood's behalf.

"Same old, same old," she finally murmured, now just studying the glass.

Blueblood frowned.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" Golden Crown finally turned around to look at her as well.

She shrugged. "Good enough."

The twins looked at each other in puzzlement and then turned to their father. Royal looked at Sapphire for a moment longer before turning his attention to his boys. He shrugged, equally as perplexed.

"Is this about what I did before—?" Golden Crown began.

"It was my fault," she interrupted softly before finishing the wine. "My apologies, darling."

"Um...?" Golden tried to think about something to say but his mother cut off any potential responses.

"It's getting late and the guests are getting tired; why not light the candles for the cake so we may go to bed?" she suggested.

The boys looked at each other still confused, but ultimately, they both got out of their seats and went to join Queen Celestia at the head of the table.

"So what cake did you get?" Golden Crown asked his twin.

"I got two: coconut with grape jelly in the middle, and pistachio with almond paste in the middle. Which one do you want?"

"Wow, they both sound delicious! I don't know which..."

Lord and Lady Platinum watched them go.

He finally focused his attention back on her. "Sapph—?"

"Not tonight," she murmured, sounding tired and fatigued.

He let it go.

Author's Note

Please point out any typos.