He watched her hobble in during his tactile lesson with a tutor. The tutor glanced at the princess, but did not bow to her yet, unwilling to break form while casting the spell. The prince glared death at his aunt. Blueblood CVIII looked at them both, not seeming to be bothered by the colt's obvious rancor.

The moment the tutor finished with the demonstration, the prince spoke. “Leave us,” he snapped while keeping his eyes glued on his aunt.

“You are in the middle of a lesson,” the princess stated. “Finish it.”

“No,” the colt insisted. “You and I need to talk, princess, so you,” he now addressed his teacher, “leave.”

“Uh—” the poor instructor began.

“You have—” the princess started to say.

“What? Obligations?” he spat out the word. “A five minute chat isn’t going to put me hopelessly behind on my studies.”

“Neph—”

“Frankly, I think our discussion is going to be more educational than what I’m doing at the moment. I’m going to have more responsibilities one day, so I need to learn to stick up for myself now, rather than get plowed over by other ponies,” Blueblood CIX quipped.

The princess got a sour look on her face, but she nevertheless kept her tone civil. “Very well, my prince. You are dismissed,” she nodded to the teacher.

The teacher bowed quickly before exiting. Whatever was going, the tutor preferred not to be caught in the middle.

“So what did you find?” Blueblood the Younger sneered at her. “Is Twilight some evil, selfish noble who plans on using my crown to her advantage? Or is she some librarian who was just doing her job?”

“Night Light Sparkle is of House Sparkle, so Twilight Velvet does have that connection,” Blueblood the Elder stated calmly.

“What?!” the colt exclaimed in shock.

“But luckily for you, Night Light has been disowned (quite willingly, I might add) from his House.”

“Disowned?” he repeated, confusion replacing his anger.

“Indeed,” the princess noted as she leaned back into her seat. “He was disowned for marrying Twilight Velvet, a peasant.”

“Fantastic, so will you let me go to the library after practice?” he demanded with great impudence and impatience.

“If that is what you want, then yes, nephew, I will… on one stipulation.”

“Seriously?!”

“End your friendship with her.”

His jaw dropped but he quickly recovered. “Are you kidding me?!” he shouted at her. “You said it yourself, she’s just peasant! What could she possibly do—?”

“Precisely,” Princess Blueblood interrupted at a more reasonable volume. “What could she possibly do?”

“She’s helping me study—!”

“And so ends the extent of her usefulness,” she stated didactically.

“And what, in Celestia’s mane, does that even mean?!” he screeched at her.

“Don’t be foolish, colt,” his aunt snapped. “What Celestia said is true: no single mortal can challenge gods, but just what could Twilight Velvet Sparkle do against Nightmare Moon, hmm?” she sneered caustically.

“She, she…” he stammered, looking away and flattening his ears against his skull.

“You need powerful allies to defeat Nightmare Moon, not the friendship of some bookish librarian. Use the librarian for all that she’s worth and then forget about her. Twilight Sparkle is a distraction, an obstacle who will hold you back.”

“Would Queen Celestia do that to her subjects? Just forget about them once they weren’t useful anymore?” he demanded, tears pricking his eyes.

“No, but considering that she’s leaving the world to suffer for her past mistakes, I wouldn’t exactly follow her code of conduct rule for rule.”

“Twilight isn’t going to hold me back,” he insisted, a tear now sliding out of his eye “She’s part of the reason why I wanted to become Blueblood in the first place!”

“Was she? Or were you thinking about Equestria as a whole?” the princess asked with an incredulous eyebrow raised.

“Yes! I mean, no! I mean, I mean— why can’t somepony be my ally and my friend?”

Blueblood the Elder scoffed, as if he asked the stupidest question in the world. “Yes, it is possible to have somepony as both your ally and friend, but Sparkle is just librarian who writes foal’s books in her spare time. She can’t teach you powerful spells, she can’t do battle with ancient abominations, she can’t guide a nation. All she can do is teach you how to study and buy you dinner at, what did you call it? Pony Joe’s? Is that what you need to do to defeat Nightmare Moon? To stuff your face full of pastries?”

“I hate you!” he screamed at her, now crying freely. “You’re worse than my parents ever were! I wish I never met you!”

Princess Blueblood CVIII facial expression was entirely impassive as she watched him cry. “You will be king one day. You cannot be selfish, for millions upon millions of lives will depend on you in the coming darkness. I warned you that you be pushed to great extremes, just like I warned you that you would be broken. You are Blueblood, and as such, your personal feelings are irrelevant. The moment you convinced Celestia to accept you as her heir was the moment you let go of your own life. Now, as I told you before, every fiber of your being must be dedicated to Equestria and Equus. Am I at last fully understood?”

He couldn’t bear to look at her, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to see her through his tears and sobs.

“Answer me, King Blueblood!” she commanded.

“Y-y-yes—”

“With conviction! Nightmare Moon will not forgive weakness!”

“Yes, ma’am!” he forced out.

“Then stop crying. I will fetch your tutor. If s/he sees you crying, s/he will undoubtedly report to the queen.”

“But—”

“You have twenty years to become strong enough to face a god who has been around for millennia. Time is something do not you have.”

The princess then teleported a small basin at his hooves, teleported snow from outside into the basin, and melted it. “You have until I return with your tutor. Look presentable.”

Author's Note

Please point out any typos.

I thought about having the title be 'Friendship is Not Magic' (if I could italicize words in my chapter titles), but it sounded rather cliché.