Blueblood Has A Point

"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.