Oh dear Celestia. What should I do?

I was currently sitting at the table in the break room. A single cup of a delicious brew of one of the highest quality coffee. It was mixed with chocolate from the finest manufacturer that had dominated for the last three centuries in a row, where even Princess Celestia herself orders her chocolates from. A practically perfect milk from the royal milking parlor where the cows live a more leisureful life than most ponies in Canterlot. The finest of common sugar from the corner store.

Despite having one of the best coffees in Canterlot, I couldn't take a sip as two unicorns were glaring with such intensity that it made me little too scared to speak.

"Uh, so." Spike the dragon, who was Twilight's assistant tried to speak up.

I commend your bravery.

"The whole team is just you guys?" He spoke nervously as the unicorns didn't even spare him a glance.

Blue was looking as perfect as always. Despite having spent months with me on the experiments, he always came back in the morning as if nothing happened at all. He held a sharp glare and a still smile as I could practically feel his annoyance.

Twilight, on the other hoof, was almost the opposite as she held a full frown and was visible holding herself back from killing Blue.

"Uh, yeah. There was supposed to be about seventeen of us, but that whole thing with the High Hoof happened. So it was just the two of us for a bit." I answered Spike as I observed the two.

Without even the slightest movements, except for the occasional eye twitch from Twilight, the two seemed to be having a silent conversation with just their eyes. Though, I'm sure what they're saying aren't so nice.

"So, how about we actually get to doing our job?" I spoke up to at least distract them.

Blue glanced my way for a slight second before going back to glaring at Twilight in silence.

*Sigh*

He finally sighed as I felt like an entire mountain was lifted off my back.

"Right. We do not have the time to waste on this petty squabble." He spoke with barely a hint of emotion in his voice as he moved to get up.

"So, you're not going to apologize?" Twilight spoke up as she refused to move.

"For what do you think I actually need to apologize for?" Blue replied as he stopped.

"For embarrassing my friend and for making my childhood a lot more torturous than it should've been."

"Yours a lot more torturous?" Blue suddenly seemed to be more pissed.

I looked to the opposite of the table to ask Spike for help, but he seemed to be as clueless as I was.

"Do you have, even the slightest idea, on how much trouble you caused? And how much of that I had to sweep under the rug? Just so you didn't ruin Aunty's image amongst the nobility?" His mask slowly cracked as he grew a small frown.

Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Like you're any better."

Blue froze for a slight second before he lit up his horn. A stack of papers fell on the table, producing a loud bang that rang through the room.

"This, is the amount of accidents that came from Ponyville. All starting from the day you first started to live there." He said in a strained voice.

I curiously took the top paper.

"You had a dragon attack?" I asked on reflex.

"It wasn't an attack!" Twilight yelled, startling me slightly.

Spike looked a bit guilty.

"Just last week, a group of reporters tried to spread that news throughout the entirety of Equestria. I had to deploy a team of seventy three just so they didn't, and that's not even counting the amount of bodyguards." Blue explained as he started to lose patience. "Do you have the slightest idea on what kind of damage any of these papers could do if they ever make it to the public? Then there's the Ursa Major attack, and, an apparently an invasion of an unnatural acting Parasprites that infested Fillydelphia." He slammed the table as he leaned over. "You don't seem to realize just how dangerous the political side of things is. Because, even of a single one of these things manage to come out, some random noble looking for power can use it to start a riot and plunge half of Equestria into a rebellion."

Spike seemed to want to say something, but he and I both knew what Blue said was right. Nobles tend to use any and everything they can get their hooves on.

"It can't be that bad." Twilight refuted, albeit a bit nervoulsy.

"It can be. A single imperfection in the image of royalty is the same as a rat being served with your salad." He said in a threateningly low voice before walking away.

I looked between Twilight and Blue for a second, before finally deciding to go after Blue. Slowing down just a bit to make sure I didn't ram into the door, I closed it behind me before looking for him.

"Blue!" I yelled to get his attention as I stopped right next to him.

He stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly as a single eye stared back. I could see repressed rage, and a worrying amount of stress and sadness in it.

"Are you alright?" I gingerly asked.

"I'm fine." He said with a fake smile.

"Blue, I spent every day with you for the last month. I can tell when you're lying."

His smile froze for a second before giving a sigh. Right at that moment, he seemed so tired. Unlike the exhaustion that comes from working in the lab, it was different. An exhaustion deeper than just physical, and maybe even mental.

"I'm not. I'm just, tired. I always thought that I could have an amicable relationship with Twilight."

"Wait, you tried to date her?" I was honestly shocked.

"What!? No! I just." He immediately retaliated, though his eyes were downcast. "I just wanted a friend. I was five years old back then, and I couldn't handle those that wanted to be with me just because I turned royalty."

"So, you wanted to be her friend because she had the same status as you?"

"That was part of it, yeah. But it was mainly because we both lived in the castle, and I was pretty shy back then." He held a slightly embarrassed look. "You know, the whole adoption thing. At that point, I'd lived in the castle for barely a week."

"Ohh, I understand now. Then, why did you stop?" I reflexively asked. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's, fine." He said as his eyes wrinkled, like he had a bad taste in his mouth. "I tried for a full year, then something happened."

"What was it?"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks. His fur got slightly damp as cold sweat ruined it. Eyes were wide as it shivered in fear. His breathing felt a lot heavier as his legs started to wobble.

"Blue!" I yelled in worry and moved to support him.

"I'm fine." He whispered as he stood upright again.

Staring at him, he seemed like he didn't have a single problem. The still perfect image he'd displayed over his entire life was standing again.

"Blue." I simply muttered.

He tried to look at me, but he couldn't keep eye contact.

"Blue, look at me. It's fine. You don't have to tell me."

I don't know what happened, but I can tell he's terrified of something.

Seeing as he didn't reply, I put my hooves around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. There was heavy scent of some mane product and a bit of sweat. His chest was beating strongly before slowing down.

I kept standing in that position, until I finally felt something tapping my back.

"Thanks." He mumbled as I finally let go.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I am. It's just, a single memory. I try not to think about it."

"Are you sure?"

"I, yeah, I am, I'm sure."

I stared for a few seconds before finally sighing.

"Hey, if you ever need to talk, I'm there, alright? You know where I live." I said with a small laugh.

He gave a chuckle as he rubbed his neck. "Yeah, sure. Thanks." He held a small smile before looking at me. "Though, I have to warn you. I don't know how much Twilight has changed, but she's a loose cannon, weakly hoisted up by Aunty."

"I see, I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Pray tell! We posses a nephew?!" Luna was ecstatic to find that out.

"Yes, despite that title, he's more of a son to me. I don't think I had the chance to tell you, but he's been with me for exactly twenty three years and two months."

"Wow. I was unaware that we had other kin still among the living."

"Well, Blueblood is technically adopted. I first met him during that year's Gala." I chuckled a bit when I remembered that day. "He had sneaked into the castle because he saw the food preparations coming to the castle. A dusty boy that crawled in through the vents and infiltrated the kitchen without an escape plan. Of course, I caught him in the act. So, I took him under my wing, and before I knew it, we were already seen as family to the public. I wasn't exactly opposed to the idea." I calmly explained with a smile.

"That is a most intriguing tale. I must make it a point to acquaint myself with him!" Luna yelled excitedly before her expression turned to questioning. "Hold on a moment. Did thou say he had snuck in?"

"Yeah, through the vents. Can you believe it? He had to scale the wall around the castle, go past the guards through the garden, and the finally break through the vent that led outside."

"Hmm." Luna had a thoughtful expression. "It appears that the guards are neglecting their duties."

"Wait, Lulu. Don't-"

"But first! I must make the acquaintance of my nephew!" She exclaimed and teleported away.

I stared at the smoke coming off of my carpet for a few seconds.

"Oh, feathers. I guess the guards will finally have to step up their training."

Maybe this is for the better.

Though, they will probably suffer a lot from now on.

Should I send more? Or is too much? Maybe I shouldn't have mailed them. What if he gets offended that I didn't send my gifts personally? What if he doesn't like the chocolate? Or the pastries? What if he's the type to hate sweet things?

What if the gifts are too poor of quality?! Knowing Ancestor Bright, that dang chess board might not be good enough! Maybe he likes jewelry! Maybe some kind of old treasure?! But maybe he already has enough of that lying around! He probably didn't sit around during a thousand years!

"Argh! I should've thought about it more!" I finally broke and yelled.

"Dear! What is it? You've been pacing around all night." Fleur asked from the couch.

"Fleur! When did you come back?"

"About a full hour? You seemed distracted with something important."

"Oh, uh. I apologize dear, I ran into quite the problem during your trip to Prance." I said and sat down next to her.

"That's alright. I'm more interested in what's troubling you." She said before giving me a kiss and laying down on my lap. "You haven't been this nervous since your last trip into the tomb."

"Oh, that. It's quite an issue, alright. I just found out that I have family alive."

"Oh! I thought your father was the last one."

"That's what I thought too."

"That's amazing then, isn't it? You should go meet them."

"Well, there's still a problem."

"Come on, they can't be that bad can they?"

"It's not that. He's from a thousand years ago."

"Well that's not that-" She stopped talking as she visibly froze.

"Dear?" I asked.

"He's how old?"

"A millennia. He's the brother of my ancestor from a thousand years ago." I'm pretty sure that was the best way to say it.

Silence passed for a few seconds as she stared at me with a blank gaze.

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked to find that out too."

"Just shocked?! I'm flabbergasted! Is he an alicorn or something?"

"I do not know. As far as I know, not a single pony from my family have ever heard of him. Only a few hints of his existence from Ancestor Bright."

"Quite the mystery pony huh?" Fleur mumbled before looking me straight in the eye. "I just realized, we can finally get an official blessing." She said as a smile slowly took over her face.

"Oh my Celestia, you're right." I muttered back to her.

"Oh my gosh! I have to prepare gifts! I need to make a good first impression!" She practically jumped up. "What did you give him?! I need to make sure I don't send the same gifts! SILVER TRAY!"

"Wait, honey." I tried to stop her.

"Yes ma'am?" Silver practically came into existence right next to her.

"Prepare a carriage and a thousand, no, two thousand bits! And a box of Da Hong Pao!" She shouted the command and ran out the room.

"Fleur! Wait!" I called after her.

All I got as a reply was her shouting to make an appointment with a tailor.

"But it's midnight." I muttered the sentence as I was left alone in the room.

"Hey, Derpy!" One very jumpy pony greeted the local deliverymare of Ponyville.

"Hello, Pinkie." Derpy greeted back, and almost fell to on her side as she was dragged down before standing upright.

"What'cha got there? It seems pretty heavy." Pinkie asked.

"Oh, this. It's a package all the way from Canterlot. There's a lot more in the post office, but I can't carry them all."

"Oooh, from Canterlot? That probably means it's pretty fancy, but I wonder who would be getting it though?" She said as she rubber her chin whilst combing through the file cabinet in her mind.

"It's for somepony named 'Floral Green', do you know them?"

"Hmm, nope! It's somepony outside of town, otherwise I would've known about them." She said as she jumped from excitement of meeting a new friend.

"Oh, well. I need to get these to the Everfree forest. Nice running into you." Derpy said happily and started to walk away.

"Waaaaaaiiit!" Pinkie bounced to the air in shock. "The Everfree forest!?"

"Yes? I even got a map to follow. It's weird though, the map points to the opposite direction of the Everfree." She said and brought out a map.

Taking a look at it, Pinkie Pie let out a thoughtful sound. "I think it's upside down."

"Oh! I was wondering why I needed to go to Ghastly Gorge first."

They shared a giggle before Derpy spoke up. "Welp, those packages aren't gonna deliver themselves." She said as she prepared to move.

"You're a brave pony, Derpy Hooves." Pinkie complimented her.

"Thank you."

"But I can't let you go alone!" She said and easily took Derpy off the ground and sprinted through Ponyville.

Before Derpy could even react, Pinkie calmly opened the door of the post office and came out with a stack of boxes placed on the very tip of her mane.

"Come on! I know exactly where this map is telling us to go!" She said bravely before skipping away.

"Okay!" Derpy cheerfully replied before walking behind her.

"Maybe we should've brought more help." Pinkie muttered as she saw rows upon rows of teeth inside a single mouth staring right back at her.

"Oh no, what do we do?" Derpy asked as she hugged Pinkie, who had also hugged her back.

Just as they were thinking of a plan, something fell down from the sky. Landing with a bang, a single swing was made. Blood splattered to the sky, horrifying the two mares.

Looking at the one who swung the blade, the two mares were left terrified as the giant beast fell to the ground.

Their teal blue eyes seemed to pierce directly through their souls. A pitch black body that seemed to drown every single bit of light.

"Oh, Moonshine!" Pinkie suddenly lost all sense of fear.

"What the fuck?" Moon cussed as she jumped down from the beast as her body slowly turned to normal.

"N-nightmare Moon." Derpy fearfully uttered before passing out.

"Hey, Moony! Sorry I couldn't throw you a party, Twilight didn't allow me to. So, here's an apology gift." Pinkie spoke up and brought out a cake the size of Moon from off screen.

"What in the?" Moon's mind crashed. "I, uh, thanks, I guess?" She seemed unsure. "Um, anyways, you're probably here to see Remedy. This way." She said and put her knife in her mouth.

Pinkie casually picked up Derpy and threw her upwards as Derpy somehow landed perfectly on her stack of boxes. With a skip in her steps, she followed Moon. The cake floated a breath's width as the shadow it cast carried it behind them.

"Hey! Remedy! You alive!" Moon yelled as soon as she reached the camp.

The reply came soon in the form of a loud bang as a dust cloud rose. As the wind cleared it up, Remedy stood tall over a bird about five times bigger than him. An axe was stuck into the bird's neck as Remedy took a breath before slamming down with both hooves, successfully decapitating the bird. He picked up the axe before swinging down. Swinging a few more times, he broke through bones and vines before finally reaching the heart. Throwing the axe away, he reached inside and pulled the heart away as vines tried to jump at him. Though, they all died down as the heart was disconnected.

Remedy let out a tired breath as he tossed the heart away.

"Remedy!" Moon yelled at him.

"Yeah?!" He yelled back.

"You got guests!" She said and placed the cake and knife down before collapsing near the campfire.

Remedy stared at Pinkie, who was struggling not to puke on the spot.

"Good afternoon, Pinkie Pie. Sorry for the mess, the last few weeks have been a mess." He spoke and walked over.

"I-It's fine. I don't think it looks that bad." She said and swallowed down so she didn't puke.

"Well, did you come for any specific reasons?" He asked as he blatantly ignored the stack of boxes on her head.

He had long decided to just ignore any and all abnormalities with the mare.

"Oh, right, it's for these packages." She said happily as her mane on its own and placed the stack on the ground.

Remedy stretched out a hoof and caught Derpy.

"Derpy said she wanted to deliver all those boxes."

"I see. Thanks for bringing these then." Remedy said with a smile as he grabbed the top box.

Looking at the address, he confirmed it was for him. Biting softly, he tore the top part open. The box had a chest inside with a fancy writing on it. He simply opened it and brought out a single bit from the small mound.

"A chest of bits?" Remedy questioned.

Pinkie examined closer as she took a sniff.

"It's chocolate!" She had a twinkle in her eyes and a big grin.

"Really?" He said and threw it in his mouth. "Mhmm, good chocolate." He commented and grabbed a hooffull. "Here, it'll help with the sickness."

Pinkie took a deep breath of shock and happiness. "Really!?"

"Sure. Just take it as payment for the delivery." He said in a joking tone.

"Thanks!" She said and ate them all in a single bite. "Mmmm, so good~" She practically melted from the taste.

"Remedy! Toss me one!" Moon called out as she laid still.

He grabbed another one threw it to her. Landing perfectly in her mouth, she chewed for a bit with a pleased expression.

"Thanks!" She yelled and took a big stretch before closing her eyes.

"Well, would you like some tea then?" Remedy asked Pinkie.

"Sure!"

"Alright. Moon, get a fire started."

"Yeah, sure."

"And I wanted to throw a 'Welcome to Ponyvile' party but Twilight said it was too dangerous. I still tried to do it, but nopony wanted to show up since it was still in the Everfree. Then I wanted to find another way to make you happy, but it didn't happen and that made me really sad. Then I tried to-"

"Holy shit! Can you please let me sleep?" Moon shouted at Pinkie, who had rambled on for about five minutes.

In that timespan, I learnt about every single one of her hobbies, what her job is, where she grew up on, how she got her cutiemark, what she did on her last birthday and finally, pretty much everything there is to know about her pet Gummy.

Suffice to say, she's a very excitable pony.

"Sorry, Moony, I'm just so excited to see you guys again."

"Whatever, just keep it down. I'm too tired from whatever bullshit this forest throws at us." She complained before lying back down.

"Woah, somepony's in a bad mood." Pinkie jokingly whispered to me.

I simply gave few chuckles as I took a sip of tea.

"Remember to never go too far, Pinkie. No matter what you do, what you've done before that has helped before. There'll always be ponies who prefer other ways, and forcing your own to others, even in good will could result in disastrous outcomes." I gave a suggestion as she looked on, with a surprisingly large focus.

She nodded sagely. "Yes, I understand."

"Good." I said. "Though, you don't need to be worried about Moon. She's just tired after fighting those birds." I said with a chuckle.

"Okay! I brought cake by the way. I wanted to apologize for not being able to throw a party, but then Twilight told me I couldn't make a 'Sorry for not being able to welcome you' party."

"You should listen to her, as far as intelligence goes, I can tell she's quite knowledgeable."

"Yeah! She's super smart! Kinda like you, but it feels different."

"Thanks for the compliment, and the difference is quite simple. She's incredibly smart, but she's still too young. She'll grow, and learn lessons you can't be taught in a classroom. When that happens, you should follow and grow too. As long as you don't forget your roots, you can live a good life."

She kept nodding as she held a notepad. "Thanks, I'll keep those in mind."

"I'm glad I could be of help." I said and looked to the sky. "It's starting to get a bit late, you should head home and remember to take your friend with you."

"Alright! Goodbye!" She said and hopped to the air before taking off, without ever touching the ground.

Her gray furred friend quickly followed behind her, tied to the pink mare's tail.

"Chess is one of those games where it's easy to learn, but hard to master." I explained calmly as I picked up a piece. "This, is the pawn. It has only three types of moves. It can move one square directly forward, it can move two squares directly forward on its first move, and it can capture one square diagonally forward. It's the weakest piece, yet it can also be the strongest piece as it can be upgraded to any other piece except the Princess when it reaches the last tile on your opponent's side."

"So, I need to kill them all as fast as possible?" Moon asked as she examined the other ones.

"Not exactly. In chess, there's nothing that you actually need to do except capture the Princess."

"So, kill everything else and game is over?"

"No. It does have this one interesting rule. If you manage to capture the pawns, the earth ponies, the pegasi, the unicorns and the Prince, the game becomes a draw. Apparently, it's the Princess becoming angered and finally stepping in because all her soldiers died."

"Wait, who the fuck is the Prince?"

"Basically a fictional character. It's supposed to be the guy who first made chess."

"Seriously? This sounds pretty annoying to play."

"It can be, but what else are you going to do in this forest?"

"Hmm, true." She said and picked up the pegasus. "So what's this one do?"

Author's Note

Heya guys!

Sorry if the part with Blueblood seemed a bit weird. I'm pretty sure I was in a meeting with death when it happened. Seriously, this summer break was absolute hell for me.

August is almost over, and I'll soon be out of time to really get into writing. So, I'll apologize in advance when school comes back. And based off of the college experience from everyone I asked, it doesn't seem like I'll even be able to sleep for a bit.

Verily, I thank thee for bestowing thy time to hearken unto a tale from this humble minstrel.