17th September 2012
21:32 GMT -7
"Psst!"
I frown in puzzlement as I look around-. Yes, pony doing what they
think is a stealthy approach outside the bay windows. A quick
scan reveals it to be one
Prince Blueblood, an individual with whom I have had next to no interaction during my time in Equestria. I think he's… Something in the diplomatic service? Whatever it is, it's nothing to do with the internal modernisation program that Luna is pursuing. Even the military stuff; when a foreign nation can already throw a sun or a moon at you, there's little reason to worry about them having a slightly more effective transportation infrastructure as well.
"Grayven?"
Luna cocks her head slightly to the side as she notices my attention straying from the engineers she was talking to. The occasion of my birthday was a good excuse to gather the pony faces for a few projects we're getting off the ground together without making it a full-on state occasion. They all seem fairly competent, though with all due deference to Miss Glimmer they all have the appropriate cutie marks. I rather imagine that once a concern gets above a certain size you get more ponies with business cutie marks rather than manufacturing cutie marks and that's something I'm going to have to watch out for.
I lean in and nuzzle the side of her face.
"I'm sorry, dear heart, but I do believe that someone is trying to get my attention."
She leans into my nuzzle, the sides of our lips briefly pressing against one another. Then she looks around, spotting the prince almost immediately.
"Ah. Then you may take your leave. We believe that We can hold the fort until your return."
"Back shortly."
I
actually turn my head to kiss her on the cheek before stepping away from the conversation and trotting out of the palace and into the garden. Of course, nothing about running a company requires the managers to understand the product. But such people are useless for innovation and the state's monopsony means that there won't really be a capitalist economy to manage.
"How might I be of assistance, Prince Blueblood?"
He sticks his head out from behind a bush.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Magic."
"Ah. Yes." He looks around to check that the way is clear, then cautiously walks out from around the bush. "At your service, sir."
"And I, yours."
"You've made my life a little more interesting, you know."
"Oh? One of the obvious things, or are you getting blowback in the foreign office?"
"My title comes from the fact that I'm the heir of
Princess Platinum of Unicornia. The title had become… Something of a joke, given that the only other equivalents for over a thousand years were alicorns. But thanks to you, we know that Old Unicornia is not an eternally frozen wasteland inhabited only by windigos."
"So you actually own land over there?"
"In theory. In practice I rather doubt that the residents would accept that idea. Fortunately, I'm also the Duke of Canterlot, so I imagine that I will survive."
"I rather got the impression that Celestia was an autocrat."
"Yes, but she's only one mare. It's true that she holds political authority due to her own power without needing feudal supporters, but she still needs educated ponies to form the government and enact her will. Equestria is far more egalitarian than Unicornia was, but even today a fair few major landowners and wealthy businessponies have titles they can trace back to the old homelands."
I nod.
"No legal privileges?"
"There's no inheritance tax on estates, but other than that, no."
Hm. Interesting. "What was it that you wanted?"
"You were recently seen in the company of Miss Rarity of Ponyville."
"Yes?"
"That was after you had a… Public dispute with her?" I nod. "I was wondering if you could… Share your insight. In how you patched things up."
"It's nothing complicated. I was clear about the reasons why I behaved as I did and I offered to make it up to her. Why do you ask?"
He shifts awkwardly. "Have you been told about the Grand Galloping Gala?"
"Big once a year party at the palace for Equestria's great and good?"
"That's the one. I was… Taking a stroll in the gardens to get a few moments to myself, and… A mare I didn't recognise approached me."
"That mare being that national heroine Rarity, Bearer of the Element of Generosity."
"Obviously I know that
now! But at the time, Aunt Celestia was keeping a lid on what happened to return Aunt Luna to us. They weren't anything like the figures of national renown that they are now."
"So she was offended that you didn't recognise her? That shouldn't be-" He cringes. "-too.. big a problem?"
"I… Um."
"Yes?"
He sighs, looking guilty. "I assumed that she was a gold digger and decided that I'd deal with the situation by being rude enough to drive her away."
I nod, though from what I remember of Rarity's motivations his deduction was entirely correct if you replaced 'gold' with 'status'.
"Awkward, but I imagine that a stallion in your position has to dodge-."
"It didn't work. I went from impolite to abrasive to rude and she nonetheless kept with me until I used her as cover against an… Errant
cake. Giving everything
else that happened that evening I didn't think much of it at the time, and
then…"
"And you found out
when?"
"It wasn't until Nightmare Night, when Aunt Luna showed me a picture of the Ponyville celebrations. She mentioned that Twilight's friend Rarity didn't appear due to stressing herself over all of the costumes she was designing. I made a few..
enquiries, and it seems that I made an ass of myself. Ah-." He looks over my shoulder towards the gardener. "No offence intended."
"None taken."
"Well, there's no magic word that will fix things. If you really want, I can have a word about it with her and smooth things over sufficiently for
you to explain your actions. But really, the best thing to do might well be to simply turn up in Ponyville and… Metaphorically tear the bandage off in one go. Ah… Maybe with Twilight serving as a moderator?"
He regards me sceptically.
"Is that really all you did?"
"I agreed to wear a ridiculous outfit at her behest and gave her some business advice. It might help if there was something you had prepared to do that. Something that you could use to demonstrate that you were really far more humble and self-effacing than the impression you originally gave."
He shifts uncomfortably.
"
How ridiculous, exactly?"
18th September 2011
11:43 GMT -7
I watch as Blueblood checks his duck costume once more, nods to me, then proceeds inside Rarity's shop.
"
Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is AAAGH!"
