Blueblood Has A Point

Chapters

Crown Gold
Purple Gold
Blue Gold
Green Gold
Pure Gold

Crown Gold

Another day, another checklist.

"Mane brushed, check," Spike dutifully read off as Twilight's brush was placed back down on the bedside table.

Her bedside table, but in what was now a significantly larger bedroom. Celestia's old room was much larger than an ordinary pony truly needed, but she'd been assured that she'd grow into it, as the years went by. Admittedly, the words had been accompanied by Luna giving Celestia a Tartarus of a glare and muttering something under her breath about flanks and cake, but Twilight had decided to file whatever that had been about under not her business and not ask.

"Crown and regalia all in place and accounted for, check," Spike chimed as Twilight dressed herself, checking in the mirror that each of the pieces were sitting correctly.

She was going to need to get used to that, too, being fully dressed in royal attire before she went anywhere near the public. Though, one upside to the coronation being a disaster was that any following public appearance could only be an improvement.

It was a strange thing to be reassured by, but Twilight Sparkle lived in strange times. Times when griffons, dragons, hippogriffs, yaks, and changelings went to school with ponies, times when a chaos spirit had tea and cakes with a pegasus, and times when immortal rulers gave up the reins of power to enter a quiet retirement.

She hadn't expected to be in this position, when she'd first earned the wings. In fact, she remembered the time when she'd been feeling frustrated that it didn't seem like being part of the royal family had meant anything. She'd done some things, been hoofed over a spell book, shenanigans had ensued, she'd grown wings, everypony had had a party, and then everything had gone back to normal.

For a given value of normal.

She'd done her best to define for herself what being Princess Twilight Sparkle should be mean, and the school had been part of that. Now, however, the foal horsehoes had been taken off. She, like Cadance and the Crystal Empire, had been given a throne to rule from. She had been made responsible for Equestria, and the role came with over a thousand years' worth of expectations.

She was going to be expected to be Princess Celestia. To some extent, she would also be expected to be Princess Luna. But what she needed to be was Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the first step of that would be to make sure that she didn't do this alone, but with the help of her friends.

She already had tons of plans. She'd been considering new places to go and new friends for Equestria to make. Ornithia, Abyssinia, Caninia, Farasi... The world was so vast and so full of all kinds of creatures, and she couldn't wait meet them all.

She'd have time to. While the thought of living so much longer than other ponies, as an alicorn, frightened her, it also presented so many opportunities. She'd been trying to adjust to taking the long view of things, and looking forward to how many friends she'd make over the years helped. Friends all over the world, including species they may not even know about yet, not even in legend.

Not even just all over the world. The land beyond the mirror had its own potential, and there could be so many more worlds just waiting for the pathways to them to be found. It was enough to make a mare's head spin.

Right now, however, there was important business close to home, involving her very closest friends.

"And the last thing on the list is 'gather the girls,'" Spike said, right before he started to re-roll the checklist.

"Hopefully they're all ready, too," Twilight said as she adjusted her crown for the third time. "I made sure Pinkie knew that everypony should be prepared about a half-hour before."

Princess Twilight Sparkle, monarch of Equestria, took one last glance at herself in the mirror, and went to face one of her greatest challenges yet.

The nobility.

Equestria's nobility was mostly symbolic. Mostly. The laws could be a confusing mess at the best of times, agreements originally made during the founding of Equestria undergoing revision after reform after amendment. The number of positions that required a noble title had shrunk over the centuries, leaving the only a few local laws in different cities where certain families had grabbed their traditions in a jaw grip that they refused to let go... and the throne itself requiring the ruler be royalty.

Thankfully, adopted royalty counted.

Still, the noble families had a certain amount of social and economic power, even if the status conferred little actual political might. Some were celebrities who chased the spotlight, others had invested their wealth in businesses across Equestria, and plenty dabbled in both. While there were plenty of ponies who could hear the latest news about Lady Such-and-Such and respond with "who?"--given that Lady Such-and-Such had put her stage career on hold in recent years, it was even more understandable, though as a foal who had loved her in the starring role of Villainous, Twilight couldn't help but wince every time--everypony's image of a ruling princess had her court of fellow nobles surrounding her.

For some things, announcing it to the nobility before the larger populous was just... how it was done.

Twilight had met most of the ponies packed in the throne room at least once. That didn't mean that she could remember even half of their names, but the faces at least rang bells. A few of the pegasi had taken to the air to better be seen, but many more stayed grounded among the unicorns and earth ponies so to best preserve their expensive manestyles and feather-grooming. She could recognize ponies from across the nation, and as her gaze swept across the crowd, she imagined what it may look like in the future. Not just ponies, but creatures of every walk of life standing before her as she made her royal decrees.

She looked to her left, seeing Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Pinkie was vibrating in place with excitement, Rainbow Dash's wings were twitching with a desire to hover, and Rarity seemed to be holding back the urge to prance in place. She looked to her right, seeing Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack had her head held high, smiling, and Fluttershy, while the most reserved, still looked prepared for anything. Then she looked down, to where Spike was standing in front of her, right by her front hooves. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

Bolstered by the presence of her friends, she took a breath and projected her voice across the throne room. "Fillies, gentlecolts, and assorted others, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here to make an important announcement..."

She'd practiced the speech, knew it all by heart, and so she launched into without delay, a grand friendship speech to be proud of.

She spoke bonds she'd formed in Ponyville, recounting an abridged version of that first ever Summer Sun Celebration. She spoke of the times, again and again, that those bonds had saved both her and Equestria, from the more local problems to the large-scale threats. She spoke of Nightmare Moon, of Discord, of close calls and redemption stories. She talked about rekindling connections in Canterlot, and in making more friends both in Equestria itself and beyond its borders, about the villain-turned-student that she was so incredibly proud of.

Then she capped it off with a somewhat abbreviated version of her concerns leading up to her coronation, worrying about losing contact with the ponies who had made her the ruler she was today.

"...And so, from this point on, my friends and I will meet once a moon, as the Council of Friendship!" she announced at the end of her speech, holding her head high.

There was a bit of murmuring among the assembled crowd, and a few polite hoof-stomps of applause. It was about an enthusiastic a reaction as she had come to expect from ponies who were expected to keep their emotions in check on a daily basis. However, the voice that rose above the light applause was not expected at all.

"You can't be serious."

Twilight recognized the voice, and her eyes found the stallion in the near exact center of the crowd. His blinding white coat, nearly the exact same shade as Celestia's, made him extraordinarily hard to miss, and he was wearing the kind of expression that implied that Twilight had just insulted Celestia, alongside every other pony on his family tree.

Twilight took a deep breath, and used her best diplomatic royalty voice. "What seems to be problem, Prince Blueblood?"

The acknowledgement only made Blueblood look more indignant, the other nobleponies in the room shifting to give him space to stomp his hooves in muted, but very much present, anger. "The problem is that you've barely been on the throne a few short days and you're already making a mockery of the position."

Twilight could feel her friends tensing up, behaving the way any small herd would in response to a threat. "What makes you say that?" she asked, keeping her voice as level as possible. Meanwhile, it was hard to say whether Rainbow, Applejack, or Rarity looked more inclined to commit murder right here in the throne room, though Rainbow would certainly be the first to reach him if they all acted at once.

"Because your 'Council of Friendship'--" Blueblood didn't lift his hooves for actual air quotes, but anypony listening could hear their presence regardless. "--Consists of an apple farmer, a party planner, an animal rehabilitator, a Wonderbolt, and a fashion designer."

Rarity now clearly was ahead of the herd in terms of potential for equicide. Pinkie had carefully moved over to grab her tail in her teeth, in order to help give the posturing prince a longer head start. Twilight, meanwhile, did her best to adopt a gentle lecturing tone. "Prince Blueblood, I was a librarian before I became a princess. If your only objection is that they're not royal blood--"

He immediately scoffed. "Royal blood? Come now. This isn't about breeding. The nobility adopt all of the time. My own great-grandfather Warmblood was adopted into the royal family after he was orphaned. The backward idea that the circumstances of one's birth should be beginning and end of it has no place in Equestria." He tossed his head as if trying to fling away the very concept. "What makes this a farce is that you're putting governing power in the hooves of a herd of part-timers who only come together once a moon. Have you considered any of the logistics about how that would work?"

Fluttershy was now helping Pinkie hold Rarity back. Twilight felt her eye starting to twitch. "They aren't a governing body. I'll be handling the royal duties that Celestia and Luna used to, and they'll be more... advisors, for friendship matters."

Blueblood looked at her flatly. "Friendship matters."

"You know... diplomacy," Twilight supplied.

"So your diplomats are all going to be part-timers who only meet once a moon. That is so much more reassuring." Blueblood voice dripped with sarcasm. "So this is what's going to become of the Chief Ambassador position when I'm gone?"

The eye twitches were getting stronger. "Excuse me?"

"I was set to retire from the position long before my dear many-greats aunts announced their plans. I've served dutifully since I was barely out of adolescence. And I had assumed that I would be training a successor, but I can see now that you intend to abolish it entirely and put your trust in your friends to find time in their busy schedules to do what was once the full-time job of--"

"I'm going to be the next Chief Ambassador."

The announcement was firm, determined, and left Twilight staring down at the young dragon puffing out his chest from in front of her. All of her friends turned to look at Spike as well, even Rarity, and he kept up his defiant pose as Blueblood seemed to be sizing him up. His front legs bent, allowing him to look Spike directly in the face, and murmurs started up among the nobleponies again, this new information making a number of them momentarily forget their manners in the face of it.

Then Blueblood smiled. "Clever."

Spike blinked, deflating somewhat from surprise. "What?"

"A dragon as Chief Ambassador. It'll be something unexpected. Creatures will be caught off-balance, and more than likely intrigued." Blueblood straightened his legs out again, and punctuated his words with a nod. "I approve."

"Thank you?" was the only thing Spike seemed to be able to offer in response.

Blueblood almost seemed to be thinking aloud now. "Of course, starting so young... you will most definitely require that training. I will see to that, so that you're prepared by the time I step down."

"You'll... what?" Blueblood didn't seem to even hear Spike's continued sputtering.

"I'll get to work on a training plan, taking your youth into account," he said with another firm nod, before giving Twilight his brightest smile. She watched the proud stallion bow his head respectfully, as if his outburst had never happened. "My objection is withdrawn. I should have realized that you had everything well in hoof, princess."

"...Thank you." Twilight just barely managed to edit the question mark off of it.

He turned to leave the throne room, and the other nobles were filing out not long after, discussing the events with each other, and leaving six mares and one drake standing here processing the series of events.

All things considered, given that nopony had ended up screaming or covered in food, it'd gone much better than it could've. And best of all, nopony would ever know that she had been spending so much time working out the logistics of the Council of Friendship that she'd completely forgotten about the role of Chief Ambassador.

Purple Gold

"Balloons?"

"Check."

"Banner?"

"Check."

"Pinkie reminded to pretty please do not fire her party cannon at the ambassador?"

"Check."

"Oh thank goodness," Twilight said with a shake of her head. "With the reputation the snow leopards have, he'd probably take it as a declaration of war. Not that I want to subscribe to stereotypes when our peoples haven't interacted directly for generations..."

Spike shrugged. "I mean, is it really a stereotype when Celestia could back it up with a story of one of them trying to challenge her to an honour duel right in her throne room?"

"It is when that was several hundred years ago and any number of cultural shifts could have happened since." She took a breath and let it out, trying to relax her nervously-twitching wings. "After all, they took the initiative and reached out to us. Word's travelling to even the remote civilizations in the north who've been isolationist for such a long time, without us needing to go ourselves. That's huge, and could be the start of something amazing for the future of friendship!"

The possibilities had her head spinning. The reindeer could be next, or the penguins, or--

Spike gave a nod as he rolled up the list, cutting off her train of thought with, "Anyway, that's everything. All that's left is to wait for the guards you sent to the airship port to pick him up and bring him here."

She took another steadily breath. "I just hope there was nothing wrong with the flight. Or the chariot I sent. Or..."

"PONIES OF EQUESTRIA!"

Twilight had not been present the first time some of her friends had become familiar with the minotaur known as Iron Will, and she'd been told that, by the time she had made the bull's acquaintance, he'd toned down his shtick a bit. So she was dealing with mostly second-hoof descriptions of his boisterousness and sheer volume of his delivery.

That said, she was still certain that, at a conservative estimate, that was about three Iron Wills' worth of lung power, coming in just under the Royal Canterlot Voice. It was especially impressive given that the sky chariot had just started its descent, both for how well the voice carried and because of the thinner air up there.

"I, GRAND AMBASSADOR BLIZZARD OF THE NOBLE SNOW LEOPARDS, ON THIS DAY, GRACE YOUR CITY WITH MY PRESENCE!"

The two pegasus guards pulling the chariot had flattened their ears against the noise as they came in for a landing, and the passenger leaped out shortly before the wheels actually hit the ground, gliding to land on all four paws in front of Twilight instead, towering over her.

Sapience had taken on a lot of forms across the planet, and certain types of creature seemed to produce more sapient species than others. Many peoples took on equine or partially-equine shapes, from ponies to zebras to kirin to kelpies, for instance, while on the flipside, very few sapient species had any roots among the primates. Feline and partially-feline sapients weren't uncommon, but until recently, no pony alive save for the Two Sisters had ever laid eyes on the elusive snow leopards.

Speculation was that they were distant cousins to griffons, and looking at Blizzard, it was easy to see why. He was a similar size to one, his pale blue fur having a faint purple tint, and most tellingly, unlike the nonsapient species he resembled and shared a name with, had an impressive set of wings, wings that he was keeping open even after landing, presumably to make him look even larger in the presence of the currently-smallest of the alicorns.

Several balloons in white, grey, and blue decorated the courtyard, and a big Welcome to Equestria banner was up, all courtesy of Pinkie Pie, which he seemed to be examining with mild interest as Twilight's hearing tried to recover.

"It's a pleasure to have you in Canterlot, Ambassador Blizzard," she said, bowing her head slightly in a show of respect. "I have high hopes that, with you here, our two nations can forge a friendship."

Blizzard let out a small huff, and his volume, mercifully, lowered to something more along the lines of normal conversational speech. "We will see. We've heard tale of your great deeds, pony princess, and I hope that you are at least half as impressive as we were led to believe."

Twilight's smile got a bit more strained. "Oh I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!"

Please be pleasantly surprised.

"Uuuuuuuuughhhhhh..."

There was an art to the perfect exhausted, frustrated, agonized groan. For a pony who put a great deal of emphasis on words, the written word in particular, there was still something strangely cathartic to Twilight Sparkle about gathering up all the emotions that had been experiencing over the course of a day and letting them out in a single, wordless sound, whether another creature was present to hear it or not.

She felt that it was an essential skill for being a princess, to have access to that emotional release valve. Letting her head collapse onto the desk in her office--it had been Luna's office once; Celestia's office had instead been converted into a room for gathering the new Council of Friendship together for meetings--was an optional extra, but could make for a good punctuation mark on the groan, so long as she was mindful not to knock over anything with her horn, or during particularly emphatic head-drops, have the horn accidentally embed itself in the wood.

And like a good Number One Assistant, Spike knew to react to the Royal Groan Of Done With All Of This by coming over and checking on her. "You doing okay, Twilight?"

"Yes. Well, kind of. No, not really." She heaved a sigh; a proper sigh of exasperation was it own art as well. "Ambassador Blizzard has really been getting on my last nerve. If we can make an alliance with the snow leopards work, it'll be historic, but he's just such..."

"A jerk?" Spike offered.

"Don't say that, Spike! He's just..."

"A jerk," Spike said more firmly. "Like Blueblood. Can't believe I'm going to be stuck getting friendship lessons from that guy."

Twilight sat up straighter in her chair. The snow leopard situation had been, to put it mildly, occupying a lot of her time and mental resources. She'd been overjoyed at first to hear that a previously-isolated nation was actually taking initiative in contacting Equestria, but now Twilight was starting to get flashbacks to Prince Rutherford, only the complaints were voiced in longer sentences.

It meant that she had put the Chief Ambassador situation on the backburner and not thought much about it since the confrontation in the throne room. A luxury that Spike clearly hadn't had.

Twilight took on a gentle tone. "Now now, Blueblood is an accomplished diplomat. He helped Shining Armour secure a generous trade deal between the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan."

The letter after that trip had been an interesting read, to say the least. Shining Armour still occasionally had tea with Blueblood, even, when their busy schedules allowed, though she hadn't ever heard her elder brother call the fellow royal a friend, per se. The most he'd been dubbed was good company sometimes, in small doses.

"Yeah, I guess," Spike muttered reluctantly. "He's still a pain in the tail... but I guess it can't hurt to hear his perspective."

Twilight smiled, patting him lightly on the head with a hoof. "That's the spirit, Spike. Keep an open mind."

"The first thing you must understand is that diplomacy is far from friendship."

They'd chosen the palace gardens for the first lesson. Apparently Blueblood preferred to think and talk while in motion when possible, since so much of his work involved needing to sit still. Spike hadn't been able to argue with that, and so the lessons were being conducted while on the move. He was even keeping at a good pace for the short-limbed dragon to easily keep up.

Not that it made anything he was saying any more palatable.

"Well, that'd explain why you don't have any friends," Spike found himself snarking in a half-mutter.

Blueblood didn't even flinch, merely shaking his head in mild disappointment. "See, that right there is exactly the problem. A diplomat may think that, but it'd hardly be professional to say it."

Spike found himself baring his teeth slightly. "So it's professional to do things like call my friend Applejack's baking 'common carnival food'?"

There was a pause. Blueblood looked to be visibly trying to remember what Spike was even talking about, which just made him even more annoyed. "Ah," he said finally, "You're speaking of the Gala, yes?"

Spike's teeth started to audibly grind. "Yeah. You ruined my friend Rarity's night especially. Where was all your professional diplomat stuff then?"

There was a slight scoff, Blueblood holding his head higher. "That wasn't a diplomatic assignment. It was a party. Times like the Gala are when I can relax and be myself without the weight of the world on my withers."

"And by 'yourself,' you mean a total jerk," Spike snapped, snorting smoke from his nostrils.

Blueblood simply shrugged. "If demanding treatment befitting my station offends, so be it." He didn't even miss a hoofstep as he fell back into an instructive tone. "But, as I am saying, diplomacy is not friendship. Diplomacy is a careful dance, where masks are donned and the steps are practiced. What you think about the other creature doesn't matter. It's all about behaving in a way that gets you what you want."

"So... manipulation," Spike summed up, glaring.

He merely shrugged again. "Essentially. But all social interaction is a form of manipulation, and diplomacy is manipulation meant for mutually beneficial ends. And so I set my personal feelings aside, step up, and do what is necessary for the good of Equestria and its allies and allies-to-be."

That made Spike blink. His tone softened to one less disdainful and more curious. "So you never even try to actually... like someone?"

Blueblood turned his head, regarding Spike with his own brand of curiosity. "And what purpose would that serve?"

"Might make you happier," he pointed out.

"Let me rephrase: What professional purpose would it serve?" Blueblood looked ahead again, and Spike wasn't sure if he imagined the eyeroll that accompanied those words. "As I said, the job gets done regardless of my feelings on the matter. I can make friends on my own time, with creatures who are worth the effort." A smile twitched at his muzzle. "Like you, for instance."

More blinks, and Spike briefly stopped in his tracks. "Me?"

The smile grew brighter, showing off Blueblood's pearly white teeth. "But of course. Both of your siblings are royalty, one via ascension and one by marriage. That practically makes you a prince yourself. Not to mention your being a household name in the Crystal Empire, and having, forever briefly, been the Dragon Lord. I would love to be your friend."

"And how do I know that's true, and not just you being 'diplomatic?'" Spike huffed, waving his claws dismissively. "Either way, I'll pass."

"Suit yourself, I supp--"

"WELL PERHAPS YOU SHOULD HAVE FLOWERS THAT ARE NOT SO DELICATE THAT THEY CAN'T WITHSTAND THE MIGHTY PRESENCE OF A SNOW LEOPARD!"

Both stopped at the shout, and it didn't take long to find the source. After all, they just had to find the trail of frost covering rare flowers from all across Equestria until they found the angry feline with wings open in a challenge position as he loomed over an off-balance Twilight.

Blueblood let out a soft sigh. "Excuse me, Spike. Duty calls."

And at that moment, Spike was witness to a transformation, one that required not a single ounce of magic, save for the telekinesis Blueblood used to straighten out his mane, tail, and clothing.

His posture shifted to something downright genial, his smile was affable, and his tone, if Spike hadn't already been listening to his lecture about how he truly felt about his work, would've sounded genuinely friendly. "My my, Ambassador Blizzard! Such an honour to make your acquaintance."

A snarl was the response, and Blizzard turned around. His chest was puffed out, and he glared down at the unicorn as if he were vermin. "What now? Another prancing pony looking to mock me?"

"Prince Blueblood, at your service, my cryomancy-adept friend," Blueblood said with unfazed cheer in the face of the large feline's bared teeth. "I've been looking forward to the chance to make your acquaintance."

There was brief silence. Blizzard seemed to be scanning Blueblood's face, and slowly the spread wings relaxed to tuck themselves against his sides again. "I've heard of you, pony prince. Prince Rutherford speaks well of you."

Blueblood perked up. "Is that so? How is Prince Rutherford these days?" He then held up a hoof. "Oh, no, wait, how about we go to the kitchens and discuss this over tea? The palace has acquired different blends from all over the world."

"...All over the world?" Blizzard echoed, with a curious tilt of his head. His tail gave a twitch. "Very well, pony prince. Show me some of these tea blends."

"Splendid! There's this one blend all the way from Anugypt..."

The two left toward the kitchens, the sound of Blueblood's chatter fading the distance. Twilight watched them leave, alongside Spike, and shook her head slightly once they were out of earshot. "It's eerie how he's able to do that." She offered a weak smile to Spike. "How's the mentoring been going?"

"Well, I now know that Blueblood isn't just a jerk, he's a two-faced jerk," Spike huffed. "And I really hate that that's been working for him."

"I know you have some reservations, but Blueblood's been doing this job for a while," Twilight said in that gentle tone again. "You shouldn't feel like you should do things exactly like he does, but don't throw it all out just because it's from him."

"...I guess you have a point." Spike let out a sigh. "He did calm down Blizzard just now, even if he doesn't actually like him."

"Right." Twilight nodded. "Don't do anything that goes against your conscience, but, well, it's like Rarity would say, there's no harm in learning some more social graces."

Spike begrudgingly nodded back, staring after where the pair of ambassadors had vanished to. It still felt icky, and even a little scary, seeing someone he knew wasn't actually a friendly pony just act that way so effortlessly. But he'd keep attending the lessons, if only for Twilight's sake.

Maybe he would learn something worthwhile.

Blue Gold

Twilight had gotten Celestia's old room, and in turn, Spike had taken up residence in Luna's. It was oversized for now, but he, too, would grow into it, and for now he was clearly enjoying all the extra space for his comics and tabletop games, to say nothing of having an extra-large bed.

He'd also grow out of it, almost certainly, but that hopefully wouldn't be for a while. Twilight didn't know how large dragons could become if they rejected greed growth. The studies simply hadn't been done, among dragons or anyone else. So much about dragons was completely unknown, and a scramble was starting to learn and record these things.

Would he take the same century-long naps that dragons do now? Was that triggered by age or by size? She didn't know. But if so, Twilight promised herself that she'd make sure to be there when he woke up.

Several days after the incident in the gardens, Twilight gently knocked on the door of the room, then slowly opened it. The sight she saw when she did made her smile with pride. Luna had left behind an ancient wood desk when she'd moved out, and Spike was surrounded by papers and a few books, scrawling away at a page with a quill.

"Doing some studying?" she asked as she stepped in, looking at the books. She could spy a few familiar titles, having once stocked several of them in her library. Various books on diplomacy, from both pony and non-pony authors. Most would have assumed such books were more than a little above Spike's reading level, but Blueblood clearly had the utmost confidence in him if he'd pointed him toward the collection.

Spike didn't look up, finishing the sentence with a few strokes of the quill. "Yeah, I'm writing down some of the things Blueblood's been teaching me. I understand what he did with Blizzard, now."

"Well, don't leave me in suspense," she said as she ventured closer to the desk, catching a proper glimpse of the notes. There was a lot of writing in his signature claw-cursive, but also little illustrative drawings.

Spike finally set the quill down, then he went through the pages of notes for one in particular, clearing his throat before he spoke. "Rule number one: Always remember names, along with a few other details about a creature," he dutifully recited. "Even if you don't really care about them or their lives, taking the time to recall those things will make you seem invested in them."

He set the page down again, turning to look at Twilight. "Blueblood already knew Blizzard's name when he approached him and he made that clear right from the start. It started their whole talk off on the right hoof."

Twilight considered that, running her memory of the encounter through her mind, and nodded. "You're right, he did lead with the name. Blizzard was still dismissive at first, and worked up from the incident with the flowers, but it probably would've been a lot worse if Blueblood had had to ask him who he was. He's got a lot of pride, and I'll bet the fact that most ponies know nothing about snow leopards has been irking him when he made an effort to learn about us."

Spike picked up another page and started to recite again, "Rule number two: Don't just focus on the creature you mean to impress. Earning a good reputation with the creatures around them means that their friends and advisors will do part of your work for you in making a good impression."

That one had one of Spike's illustrations on it, depicting a cat, a yak, and a pony, with arrows pointing between, which he soon explained. "Part of the reason Blizzard backed down so fast is because the snow leopards already have respect for the yaks, and the leader of the yaks already has a good opinion of Blueblood. The work he did to help Shining back then is letting him help even more now."

Twilight nodded again, smiling more. "That's very true. Some creatures are more likely to let their guard down around a friend of a friend, rather than a complete stranger. It's one the ways that making one friend can have all kinds of positive knock-on effects, like setting off a line of dominos. Being compassionate to someone can come back around in the most unexpected of ways."

Spike picked up yet another paper. Twilight spied more pictures, of what looked like a number of Spike's favourite foods, gems included. "Rule number three: Food is one of the universal experiences between creatures, and most are interested in trying new ones. Offer something new, and most importantly, don't claim it's good. That way, if they don't like it, then you can bond over how bad it is just as easily as you could over its good quality."

The third paper went on the pile. "Blueblood offered the teas and focused on the fact that the kitchens had a lot of them to try to get Blizzard curious, but he never said anything about how tasty they were. It was just about getting to try something new so they could talk about it."

Twilight blinked, all the more thoughtful after that one. "...Huh. You know, you're right. I heard them both laughing when I passed by afterward. And Anugyptian teas can be a bit of an acquired taste, so I normally wouldn't recommend them unless I already knew a creature's palate really well. But maybe that was the point, that Blizzard didn't like it and Blueblood spun it around to his advantage as a conversation piece."

"Yeah. It's all... surprisingly good advice," Spike said, staring at the notes with an openly conflicted expression. "It's just still hard to shake the icky feeling of being that manipulative. You know?"

Twilight saw his closer, stepped closer, and draped a foreleg over his shoulders, followed by a wing wrapping around him a beat later. She was still getting accustomed to wing-hugging. "Well... I think that's the point where, like I said before, you should listen to your conscience. Sure, Blueblood gave you multiple ways to break the ice and help make a good first impression on someone... but no one says that you have to be detached about it. You could use plenty of that to help you make friends."

"IS THERE NOTHING TO ALLEVIATE BOREDOM IN THIS MARBLE EYESORE!"

Both looked at each other upon hearing the outburst, and both moved to the doorway to look out into the hall. Low and behold, there was Blizzard, stalking down the hallway with his tail lashing in irritation. His body language really was a lot like a griffon's, in how he moved his tail and wings, as well as placed his paws. It reminded them both of Gilda stalking around in a grumpy fit.

Gilda did a lot less of that than she had the day Twilight had met her, however. In fact, she'd looked downright happy when Rainbow Dash had recently invited her to Ponyville for a visit.

Twilight looked down at Spike. "Want to give it a shot?" she offered with a small, encouraging smile.

Spike looked up at her, then to the angry feline marching through the palace hallway. "No time like the present, I guess," he muttered, before taking a deep breath. His claws clicked against the marble floor as he hurried to catch up. "Excuse me, Ambassador Blizzard?"

"I've had just about enough of ponies speaking to me in such meek--" Blizzard's head whipped around, and he froze when he spotted Spike. His wings dropped out of the aggressive position from sheer surprise. "You're not a pony."

"Nope!" Spike responded cheerily, flashing a toothy smile.

Blizzard's golden eyes narrowed, and he lowered his head to more closely examine Spike. "Ah, you're Blueblood's protégé, aren't you? He mentioned you." He lifted his head again, flicking his tail. "Well then, small dragon, what is it you'd like excused?"

"Well, it sounded like you were looking for something to do," Spike forged on chipperly despite the sharp stare. "So I was wondering if you'd like to play a game with me?"

A eye ridge rose. "...You're inviting a proud warrior of the snow leopards to play a children's game?"

"No, not a children's game. I play this game with adults all of the time." He started to count off on his claws. "It combines combat tactics, storytelling, puzzles, exploration, and even diplomacy."

There was a thoughtful pause. "...Very well, small dragon, you have piqued my interest." One of Blizzard's wings opened, and Twilight watched in surprise as he draped it over Spike affably. "Show me this game."

"The name's Spike." The two turned together, walking down the hall side-by-side. "I'll get the rulebooks together, and some snacks. Have you ever had dragon snackfoods?"

"I have not. Few dragons brave the north, and even fewer carry many goods with them when they do."

"Then I'll bring a whole bunch of different ones to try, and you can see what you think."

Twilight watched the two disappear around a corner, let out a sigh of relief, followed by a proud smile. She had no doubt Spike would make a great ambassador... and maybe now her eardrums would get a rest.

"And with one final wing of the blade," Spike intoned in his best Game Master voice, "The Vampony Lord falls dead at your paws. The unicorn cleric hurries over to tend to your battle wounds, and the undead who'd been watching your duel fall to their knees and bow to you, starting with the once-devout Vampony General."

The dining hall in the palace had originally been created for grand banquets. The long table could have seated dozens and dozens of creatures, and held course after course worth of food. Celestia had told him about various celebrations that had been held in that room, about various nobles and visiting dignitaries she'd entertained.

Right now, the number of creatures at the table numbered at just two. They'd set up the game right in the centre of the grand table, sitting across from each other width-wise at it rather than trying to holler at each other along its great length. Blizzard probably would have managed the volume to do it that way, but Spike wasn't in the mood to strain his throat, and it was easier to move around the map and pieces on it this way.

Blizzard's paw slammed against the table, the miniature sculptures of bat-winged ponies jostled by the motion and sent skittering across the paper map. "As well they should! They recognize the might of their new master!" He puffed up his chest, bellowing at a volume mercifully lower than usual, "COME, UNDEAD EQUINES! YOUR SO-CALLED MASTER WAS COWARDLY AND WEAK, BUT I, THE GREAT WARRIOR OF THE NORTH, SHALL SHOW YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF VICTORY!"

Spike carefully righted a few of the wood-carved ponies. "The vamponies start to get up, and begin to stomp their hooves, welcoming you as..." He paused, noticing the baffled looking stallion peering in through the doorway. "Oh, hey, Blueblood! Want to join us?"

Blueblood took a half-step into the room, still wearing his look of confusion. It was the first time that Spike had seen him look so off-balance about something, as he peered at the little wooden bat ponies. "Hello, Spike, Blizzard. What... precisely are you doing?"

"Ogres and Oubliettes!" Spike responded with a grin. "Ambassador Blizzard hasn't played before, so I threw together a quick story to run him through."

Blizzard's paw hit the table again with a booming laugh, sending the poor figures scattering again. "I have deposed a tyrant and will now show his troops what it is like to be ruled by a true honourable Warrior King!" he announced.

Blueblood blinked twice, and then Spike saw him school his face into its usual diplomatic smile. "Ah! I have heard of the game from Shining Armour, here and there, but I've never engaged in it myself."

"COME THEN!" Blizzard boomed with a fanged grin, "YOU SHALL BE MY RIGHT-PAW PONY, AND JOIN ME IN BUILDING A NEW EMPIRE WHERE THE LIVING AND UNDEAD EXIST AND FIGHT SIDE-BY-SIDE! WE WILL USHER IN GLORIOUS GOLDEN AGE!"

The smile almost wavered as he took a seat near Blizzard. "That sounds... delightfully charming. Shall I fill out one of those... 'character sheets,' then?"

"Here you go!" Spike chirped, handing over a blank sheet. "I'll walk you through the character creation like I did for Blizzard."

And with a fresh player, the game continued.

Green Gold

When Twilight ventured to Spike's room that evening to check on him, she saw two stacks of papers on his desk now, one of notes from the diplomacy lessons, and the other a fresh set of campaign notes. Twilight chuckled. "So, how'd the O&O game with the ambassador go?"

"It was pretty fun!" Spike said as he put the last of the miniatures away, making a mental note to fix up the paint jobs on the vamponies; the enthusiastic play had chipped their paint in a few places. "I had to come up with some modified griffon rules on the spot for character creation, but Blizzard picked up on it quickly and really got into the roleplay."

"I think I heard something about a Warrior King. You let him play royalty?"

"It's more that he earned a crown along the way." He chuckled. "I think Blueblood enjoyed it a little too. I used a pre-made necromancer build for him, since he looked a little lost when I tried to walk him through from-scratch creation, and I thought he might like a class that uses minions. But as hard as it is to tell with him, I think I saw a smile even when Blizzard wasn't looking at him."

"I really appreciate you stepping in." Twilight lit her horn and wrapped her magic around the miniature box, lifting it with care as she helped him tuck it away in its proper place. "Ambassador Blizzard has been in a much better mood, and I think I'm finally getting somewhere with a formal trade agreement between us. Blueblood's lessons paid off, huh?"

"Kinda?" Spike said with a shrug. "They were useful tips, but I wasn't just going through the motions. I actually like Blizzard. You know, when he's just being boisterous instead of a boisterous jerk." He pulled a blank piece of paper over, starting to jot down fresh notes, labelling it About Blizzard. "Did you know that he's a storyteller back home? He's a trained warrior, because all adult snow leopards are part of the militia, but that's what he was doing before he became an Ambassador. He preserves and passes on stories."

"...Huh. You know, that puts some of his behaviour in a different light." Twilight's ears twitched thoughtfully. "He really emphasized wanting to know if I lived up to the stories. It was no doubt all our acts of heroism that made him want the job in the first place." She let out a chuckle of her own. "Maybe he's even a bit frustrated that no bad guys have crashed the party so he can see for himself what I'm like in a fight."

"Probably!" Spike responded with a grin, noting down just that. "After the game ended he asked me all kinds of questions about saving the Crystal Empire. He acted a little offended I that hadn't told him right away that I was that Spike."

Twilight let out a slight laugh, then caused Spike to put the note-taking on hold as she pulled him into a hug. "I'm proud of you. You picked up some new lessons, but most importantly, you made a friend."

"Yeah." He hugged back. He was still getting used to her having feathers, but it did make for a cozy hug. "I'm feeling better about taking over for Blueblood, now. And I think I'll be writing some new rules, ones of my own, for future diplomats."

"That's great!" Twilight suddenly had that look in her eye as she grinned. "You could write a whole book! I could be your editor! And then we--"

He held up a claw. "No offense, Twilight, but after what happened after you and the girls published your book, I think I'll pass on going the same route."

Twilight blushed at the memory. "Well. This would be more how-to and less autobiographical..." She trailed off when she saw Spike shaking his head. "Okay, you win, no books... but I'm still proud of you, Chief Ambassador Spike."

He smiled. He was really starting to like the sound of that.

"...And that was when I told Tirek, 'all of my friends.'"

The dining-table-turned-gaming-table had one more creature at it now, and Spike was in the process of handing out the snacks, miniatures, sheets, and dice. Twilight had just had a blank sheet hoofed over to her, alongside a thin book labelled Dead On Arrival: Rules For Playable Vamponies And Other Undead, and she was diligently filling out the former with aid of an abacus.

"Hah!" Blizzard's paw hit the table. Spike silently retrieved the dice that had started to roll away. "I would bet that fool of a centaur didn't expect that!"

"He didn't!" Twilight agreed, not looking up from the sheet. "But he didn't see the danger in it, either. He didn't believe in the power of friendship, and even if he had, he wouldn't have expected Discord to be able to use it effectively after everything. So once the surprise wore off, he hoofed him right over with the rest."

"And then he pawed over that necklace you mentioned earlier."

"Precisely! A gift given out of true gratitude and friendship was exactly what we needed. The resulting magic was as strong as everything Tirek stole, and then some." She set the paper down. "Alright, here she is. One Vampony General, since turned good and now loyal to her Warrior King."

Spike nodded, passing Blueblood his necromancer's sheet and Blizzard his warrior's. "Sounds good! We're going to do a little timeskip, so the vamponies will have had some time to integrate before this next adventure."

"Oh, oh, could the General have a private library that she's been tending to since she was liberated?"

"Sure, Twilight."

"And my warrior will have been taking part in fighting tournaments when not ruling his undead subjects!"

"Right, I'll note that down."

"And my necromancer will have been continuing his research. He hasn't given up on potentially finding a way to revert a vampony back into a living pony."

Spike smiled, catching the sparkle in Blueblood's eyes that he was almost sure couldn't be faked. It would always be hard to read the prince, but he found himself wondering what Blueblood might have done with himself if he hadn't been royalty, and been thrust into politics.

Would he have played more games like this? Or, would he even have chosen a life similar to his character's, a researcher who kept mostly to himself but nonetheless worked to make a difference?

Spike supposed he'd never know. Blueblood would likely keep tight-lipped if asked, or even tell Spike what he thought he wanted to hear. But he did find himself hoping that he might keep coming back to his table. He was a good roleplayer, and surprisingly good team player, not having made a move to hog the spotlight once.

Maybe the two of them could be friends, after all. In small doses.

Legends would be told for countless generations, of the war between the living and undead.

Bards would tell tale of the age when vamponies sought to rule the land, and render the creatures that they needed the lifeblood of to survive into mere livestock. They would speak of the darkly charismatic Vampony Lord who'd worked them into a fervour and convinced them that it was the only way to end the hunts against their kind.

Then they would tell of the Warrior of the North, the feline who had ventured through the eternal snowstorms down into the land of the ponies. They would tell of his recovery of the ancient sword strong enough to kill the Vampony Lord, would sing their praises of the climactic duel where he slew the tyrant in honourable single combat.

They would also tell of his kindness. For when the Warrior of the North beheld his enemies, he did not turn the sword upon them and slaughter the vamponies who, beneath their black armour, looked thin, hungry, and frightened. When they threw themselves to the ground, he showed them mercy, welcoming them beneath his own banner.

The Vampony General was the first to bend knee to the new Warrior King, rallying her people to take the new path that had been so generously offered, and for the first time, living and undead fought side-by-side, not as master and minion, but as equals and friends.

The Warrior King sought out a powerful unicorn necromancer, who was able to mend the wounds on dead flesh, and helped create elixirs that would nourish a vampony in the same manner as blood. Together, they returned an army on its last legs to better vitality than they'd ever known in life, and with it, restored hope to a people.

Now, when evil raises its head, we look to the deathly soldiers who have put themselves on the front lines time and time again, in the names of the honourable warrior and the diligent necromancer who helped them cast off their shackles and gave them a second chance.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Pure Gold

Friendship Ambassador Spike was getting a bit big to walk around the palace gardens, but right now, he could still manage it.

The gardens had expanded over time. New alliances with new lands had led to samples of new plants, and Princess Twilight Sparkle had seen an opportunity. There were numerous sections in the gardens, each with soil carefully maintained, small weather zones placed to ensure ideal temperature and humidity, and a hundred of other little things done to make sure the plants were healthy. Tours for botany students often went through the gardens, and when certain specimens were needed for medical reasons, or other important research, and the palace would generously donate.

The animal collection in the gardens had, conversely, gone down over the years. While some had grown up in Canterlot before her ascension, and it would've been more harm than good to uproot them, Twilight had thrown her full support behind Sweet Feather Sanctuary, especially after Fluttershy's passing, and now all new exotic animals that were gifted to the palace went there instead.

The garden had grown slowly, and so had he. He'd stalled out at a minotaur-like size for significant time, and then had started up again, and it was only in the last couple of decades that he'd had to stop walking on his hind limbs. His did his best to walk with care, placing his claws where they wouldn't either harm the plants or his apprentice prancing at his side.

Chinook Wind was a kirin born within Equestria's borders, the grandfilly of immigrants, and she admirably kept up with his strides with a trot that occasionally shifted into a canter and back again. Her scales were a bluish shade that reminded him of Ember's scales, and it wasn't the only point of comparison between two of them, as she'd been a prickly filly when they'd first met, prone to starting small fires, and only now starting to mellow.

"So, one thing you've got to know," Spike started once he was sure that Chinook was paying attention to him and not the flowers; she had grown up in Vanhoover, and so could still be a bit of a tourist when she visited Canterlot. "Is that diplomacy is a bit different than ordinary friendship."

Her ear twitched, and she tilted her head at him. "How?"

He paused, and shifted his weight to one side, letting him raise a forelimb so he could count off on a claw. "Well, for one thing, you might be asked to make friends with a creature that you wouldn't normally. They might have an abrasive reputation, made a bad first impression, or just seem like they don't have much in common with you, and you might be put off, but you still have to make an attempt, because that's the job."

Her long tail's tip twitched. "...Even if they're a jerk?"

He chuckled. "Sometimes especially then." He counted off on a second claw. "What's jerkishness at first might be culture clash, or them being stressed or upset about something else, or sometimes... Well, sometimes it's like Discord, and making an honest attempt to get to know them throws them right off and shows you a different side of them. It really depends on the creature, but chances are if they're representing their people, someone believes they're qualified to do it, and there's a reason for it."

"I guess that makes sense." She pawed lightly at the ground, sketching out a few letters in Kirinese. "So, if this is Friendship: Hard Mode... where do I even start?"

Spike held up a third claw. "Well, that brings to me the next thing. Sometimes it's better to start with everyone around them. Their family, friends, and even creatures who work for them. Get to know these creatures, chat with them, see if you can make friends with them first. They could let you know things to help you make a good first impression, but even better, they might tell the creature you're trying to befriend good things about you."

"...I can see how that'd work," Chinook grudgingly admitted, and wrote out more Kirinese with her hoof. "I'd be in a better mood meeting someone who'd been nice to my parents, after all." She made a face like she'd eaten a lemon. "Feels a bit manipulative, though."

"It can be," Spike admitted with a shrug. "Diplomacy is always going to be a bit manipulative. You can't fully get away from it, because it relies on getting along when we might not originally want to." He offered a smile, his apprentice used to the amount of sharp teeth the facial expression exposed. "You know how you make sure it isn't the icky kind, though?"

"No, how?"

Rather than keep counting, he extended his forelimb and gave her a gentle poke with one of his claws. "You follow your conscience about it. Don't coldly go through the motions, and instead actually make an attempt to connect. All the tricks are really just about making a good impression and helping them let their guard down so you can connect." He grinned. "Speaking of, you remember how you and Yasmin bonded when she started asking about the book you were reading? How she was curious because she'd never read literature from outside of Yakyakistan before?"

Chinook took a second to regain her balance. Even a gentle prod from Spike could threaten to topple a smaller creature. "Yeah, why?"

"That's one of the best tricks you've got. Novelty. Let them try a new game, new song, new food... It doesn't have to be good, either. You can go to a theatre and laugh and bond over a bad film as much as you can bond over a good one. The point's to make them curious and get them in the right, open mindset."

"Hmm..." Another few letters found themselves scratched in the ground. "I kind of like that one."

"And don't feel bad about taking notes." He tapped nearby where she'd been pawing the earth. "More permanent ones, I mean. About these strategies, or about your new friend. Everyone forgets things sometimes, and it'll help you make sure you don't forget important things, like what you tried together that they liked. I have all kinds of--"

"Well if they aren't edible, why are they in the garden!?"

Both looked up at the shout, and glanced at each other. It only look a few dragon-sized strides to reveal the source. Princess Twilight Sparkle was wearing a carefully-placed, patient smile, but the creature next to her was not. The large deer had his head held high despite the weight of impressive antlers, his ears pointed forward aggressively. A small bush covered in flowers sat between them, presumably the one that the buck had tried to eat.

Spike didn't miss a beat, glancing down at Chinook. "Want to give it a try?"

She grimaced. "He's kinda a jerk..."

"Kinda," Spike agreed pleasantly. "But remember what I said."

"Right." She took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..."

He watched her trot away, her tail still giving uncertain twitches as she approached the angry deer, and Spike couldn't help but smile as the buck was predictably disarmed at the sight of a young kirin grinning up at him with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

Spike's growth had been slow, but it still happened, and he'd been feeling the pull of a nap for some years now. He could put it off for a while, but wouldn't be able to forever. Dragons needed those long sleeps, and he'd made peace with the fact that he would eventually settle in a nice cave and snooze away a century.

Ember, facing her own sleep, was setting up things for her heir to take on the Dragon Lord title, and he needed to train a new ambassador. Chinook still clearly wasn't sure why he'd chosen her of all creatures, but if his life had taught him anything, it was those who stepped up and took the positions that life thrust upon them who were the best to take them. Ordinary folks could do extraordinary things, if given half a chance.

There would be a Council of Friendship meeting in a few days. The previous members had stepped down, then passed on, and new friends had stepped into those places. Ones who had proven themselves as creatures who could see their princess as not some lofty goddess, but a mare, and could help keep her grounded. They, and their successors, would help keep her steady in his absence, he was sure. She hadn't needed her Number One Assistant directly hovering over her shoulder for a while now.

He watched Chinook coax the deer ambassador to follow her. To the publicly-accessible part of the Canterlot Archives, if he had to hazard a guess, in order to show off some local books. And as he did, he thought of Blueblood. After his retirement, and Spike took the reins, there hadn't been much time to spend together, even for games, but he'd still tried to keep room for the prince at his table.

By the end of his life... Spike liked to think he and Blueblood had been friends. He chose to remember him that way, and leave small tokens of the friendship at his grave, whenever he had the chance.

Spike sighed. The world was evolving so fast, and so many creatures' lives were so short. New magics and technologies, new foes, new friends. Celestia's reign had been a period of stability, and now Twilight's was one of upheaval, with brand new discoveries around every corner. Countless things will have changed when he woke up, he was sure. He couldn't know for certain what the world would look like.

But he had faith that things would be just fine.