Blueblood Has A Point

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.