The days after the Princess took me in were hectic and full of movement, everything blending together into a hodgepodge of colors and sounds. But throughout it all, I felt the same sense of warmth that I did that night when I watched that lone star in the sky.
"Auntie! Auntie! Look look! Inkwell gave me 100 points on the exam! And Kibitz said if I keep this up, you might consider letting me go study with all the other Unicorns!"
I smiled brightly as I showed the only family I had the piece of paper I just received, proving that I know my math. Numbers and such.
"That's wonderful, Blueblood!" The Princess's bright smile filled my body with pride and joy; after all, it was I who made Princess Celestia smile like that.
And for a time, I was happy to be graced with that smile, because it was aimed at me, I earned that smile because I worked for it, I studied and thought and memorized and did all the work.
"Does that mean you'll let me go to school?!" I asked her, hoping the good mood we shared would let her agree with my request.
"About that..." Celestia's next words caused all the joy in my body to wither away, "I'm not sure a school is such a good idea for you at a time like this." When she looked away, refusing to meet my eyes, I understood where she was going.
"But keep up like this, you're doing great!"
I didn't even want to go to school.
I only wanted to be there because Inkwell said Celestia came by to give lessons once a week, that she would go through and help each student who asked for her assistance.
"Oh..." I told the Princess, trying to keep my smile as bright as it was when I got here, "Thanks!" I turned around, making my way back to Kibitz.
"What happened to you, Little Prince?" The Majordomo of the castle asked, his horn glowing a pale blue as he took out a handkerchief and began to wipe the drops of liquid that began to drip from my eyes.
"Nothing," I told Kibitz, my eyes refusing to look up at the old Unicorn, "I'm doing great..."
For somewhere that was supposed to be filled with warmth, sometimes the castle didn't feel that different from that snow-covered alleyway.
-------------------------------------------
"Starlight, how do I look?"
Starlight Glimmer stared lazily at her boss, giving him a look over.
His mane remained slicked-back, same as it was when the Crystal Heart changed it. His suit covered his front half, leaving his hind legs and cutie mark out in the open.
The suit itself was black with a dark blue undershirt, a red rose sticking out from the breast pocket of the suit, with a platinum watch hanging out of the breast pocket across the rose, a thin platinum chain connecting the two fronts of his suit.
"I'm not well-versed in Stallion's Fashion, Blueblood. You look good." She told him, knowing full well that most of his suits just blended together in her mind into a thick layer of "Eh, It looks good."
"Good isn't enough, Starlight. It needs to be great!" Blueblood told her before he turned back to his closet, "I'm not only going to be presenting myself in front of foreign dignitaries, but also beside Princess Celestia,"
"Celestia isn't going to care what you wear, and I doubt the Saddle Arabians are going to notice a difference between suit #12 and the suit you're wearing right now," Starlight told him.
"Firstly, the Saddle Arabians aren't some simple desert-dwelling nobodies, Starlight. They're incredibly rich. They have almost unquestionable support from the government of Minotopia, which buys their oil to fuel their machines, which in turn all but makes their current economy all but reliant on Saddle Arabian oil." Blueblood explained to her, "They know luxury, Starlight, they'll recognize the suit."
"And secondly?" Starlight waited for her boss to bring up his next point.
"Secondly, these next few days will see me right there next to Princess Celestia as the faces of Equestria. Not only to the Delegates, but to the press and the paparazzi that will no doubt try and take as many pictures as they can." He explained to her, turning to look her in the eyes as he replaced the red rose in his suit with a white one, "I am not only dressing to impress the Saddle Arabians, with Prince Haakim among them, but the whole of Equestria. When people read the newspaper tomorrow morning, they will undoubtedly see me in there. Everyone will be seeing me, I need to look my best."
"Okay, I get it, it's important to look good, but you do need to get going as well, so if you could simply hurry up and-" Whatever Starlight was saying had to wait as a loud thump impacted the window of the Prince's room.
Turning her head with her horn ready to fire, Starlight looked at the source of the sound, only to pause at the sight of a hawk pecking at the window.
Walking past her, Prince Blueblood opened the window and grabbed a small piece of paper that was rolled up and tied to a collar around the bird's neck.
"A bird-carried message? In this day and age?" Starlight asked out loud as she walked closer to see what the message said, as Blueblood rolled the paper open, only for the Prince to disappear under an illusion, not letting Starlight read the contents of the letter.
"Shit..." She heard him whisper before he reappeared, the message he read no longer in his grasp.
"Did you need to hide that from me?" She asked him, causing the Prince to turn to look at her.
"We have a problem." He told her, "I need to speak to Princess Celestia." Without waiting for her to respond, he walked out of the room and began making his way towards the throne room.
"What is it now?" Starlight quickly moved to catch up with him, walking a step behind the stallion.
"Something important came up that needs my attention, I won't be able to stay here for all three days of the Prince's visit." He quickly told her as he kept walking in the throne room's direction, intending to tell Princess Celestia the news.
"Why? What happened that's more important to you than this?" She asked him.
"That's private, and the less people know about it the better," He told her.
"Well, I'm your bodyguard, shouldn't I be allowed to know?" She asked him.
"..." Blueblood paused in the middle of the corridor and turned to stare into Starlight's eyes.
"...Maybe in the future I'll consider telling you what it is," He told her simply before he returned to walking.
"So you won't tell me now?" She asked him to clarify.
"No. I won't." He confirmed.
"Does it have anything to do with that Everfree Fiasco you said you'd tell me about?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." He answered simply.
"And you still won't tell me?" She kept her eyebrow raised as she leaned her head towards him.
"You know?" Blueblood asked her, "You're asking a lot of questions that are far above your pay grade..."
"I don't get paid." Starlight reminded him, a small smile spreading on her face as she noticed she managed to crack the Prince's serious look enough to get a small smirk from him.
"Heh~" He let out a single chuckle, "I said I'll tell you about it in the future, stop digging into it. Just focus on doing your job for today."
"It'll be much easier to do my job of guarding a certain Prince if he would stop finding ways to put himself in situations which require such guarding." Starlight rolled her eyes with a smile, glad that the conversation turned in a more cheerful direction.
------------------------------------------
"I'll still be able to be here for the first two days of the visit, but I won't be able to stay for the third-"
"Blueblood." Princess Celestia tried to get her adopted Son's attention, the Unicorn talking over her as he walked circles on her study's carpet.
"I know how important these next few days are, so I am sure that you are disappointed in how-"
"Blueblood," Celestia repeated more firmly, hoping to get the Unicorn Prince to stop talking and listen to her for a moment.
"It's just that the issue that came up is extremely important to a private project that I am working on and-"
Celestia rolled her eyes at the stallion's antics, taking a step forward in order to stand in her path, and drag him into a hug before he had the time to turn around her.
"It's fine," Celestia told him, feeling his body stop moving inside her embrace, "You can leave whenever you need."
"But-" He tried to argue with her, only to quickly give up as she hugged him closer, resting her chin on top of his head as she began to rock him from side to side.
"Shh~ It's alright, You'll still be here for today and tomorrow, that's enough for me." She rubbed his back, "Now let's go to the throne room, the delegates will be here soon."
--------------------------------------
Standing to the right of Princess Celestia, I gave myself one last comb over before the delegates arrived.
Behind me stood Starlight, dressed in her regular bodyguard attire, which made her look like a Men In Black agent without the nifty gadgets. The gift I prepared for Prince Haakim rested on her back.
To the left of Celestia stood Kibitz, the head butler of the castle, with a group of other servants beside him, ready to guide the delegates to the rooms prepared for them.
And between the two of us, sitting on her throne, was Princess Celestia, her hair floating in the air like an aurora of light, her eyes staring at the doors at the end of the room, waiting for the delegates to walk through them.
The doors opened slightly as a servant walked through, raising his voice to get the entire hall's attention.
"Announcing the arrival of His Royal Highness, Prince Haakim!" The stallion yelled.
"Get ready," I whispered to Starlight, who gave a grunt of acknowledgement in return.
"And his beautiful sister-" My eyes widened in shock at those words, turning quickly to look at Celestia, only to receive a smug smile from her as the answer to why I didn't know the Princess would be coming too.
I didn't prepare a gift for her!
"Princess Amira!"
With the announcement out of the way, the doors opened to reveal three ponies. All of whom had much longer and thinner legs than the Equestrian pony.
Two Earth Ponies dressed in immaculate clothes, and an aging Unicorn wearing an ornate headdress walking behind them.
"Prince Haakim," Celestia opened her mouth and greeted the delegates, staring at the male Earth Pony with blonde hair and violet eyes, "Princess Amira," She turned to smile at the female Earth Pony with a pink coat and purple hair, "Vizier Jafar," Finally she addressed the old Unicorn that walked behind the two Royals.
"I, Princess Celestia, Humbly welcome you to our nation of Equestria!" She told them with a smile as they walked up towards the Princess, followed by a pair of Saddle Arabian guards carrying a small mountain of suitcases each.
"And we are grateful to receive such a warm welcome!" Prince Haakim said loudly, his voice echoing around the room, causing him to cringe as he quickly adjusted his volume, "We will be looking forward with great anticipation to see what your nation has to offer us, your Majesty." He finished with a respectful bow.
Princess Amira, on the other hand, kept walking, her face the epitome of serenity as she made her way closer to the throne.
"Princess Amira, it has been long since we last met-" Celestia smiled at the mare, who ducked her head to avoid making eye contact with the Alicorn.
Once the Princess was within leg's reach of Celestia, she made a sharp turn and-
SMACK
The hall went silent at the sight of what had just happened.
Celestia's mouth was stuck mid-sentence, now too shocked to close her mouth.
Prince Haakim looked as if his eyes were willing to pop out of their sockets, his mouth hanging limp in disbelief.
Vizier Jafar was looking around, blinking his eyes as if he only now noticed where he was.
And me? Well, my cheek was currently feeling a pang of hurt in response to the slap I just received, and I needed to quickly save the situation.
I turned the other cheek.
Princess Amira glared down at me and quickly slapped me again.
"What a wonderful greeting!" I raised my head the moment the hoof landed on my other cheek, pulling the Princess close and giving her a hug as I mimicked kissing the air besides each of her own cheeks, "It is so good to see you, Your Highness!" I said loudly, needing to hope that my quick improv was enough to salvage the situation.
"Huh? Why is she standing there?" Vizier Jafar said in confusion as he only just realized where the Princess was standing. His horn glowing with Yellow magic before Princess Amira teleported away from me and landed next to her brother, "Huh? Where did she go?" He asked as he stared at where she previously stood before he teleported her away.
And with the old Stallion's words, the silence that had taken control of the throne room was broken.
And if the glare the foreign Princess was giving me was anything to go by, the next two days would not be as simple as a regular delegation visit.
And all that time, a single question floated through my mind, addressed to the previous owner of the body I currently owned.
"Blueblood, What the fuck did you do?"