~*~

Joe looked at his reflection in the mirror, and was unsure how to feel about what he saw looking back.

His usual messy light brown mane was slicked back around his horn, and his tail had been neatly brushed. His clothing, usually his work clothes or a simple shirt, had been replaced with a pressed white collared shirt and a crisp black suit. His face was clean, his hooves had been polished. While it was hard to deny that he looked quite fancy in this get up, but it was also like looking at a completely different pony. He’d never looked like this before, and it was odd looking in a mirror only to see an unfamiliar shape there.

As he tugged at his collar, trying to make it a little more unrestrictive, Blueblood came back into the bedroom. He paused in the doorway, then made a short tsking noise and shook his head.

“Oh come on now, Joe,” he groaned, rushing over to the mirror. “Don’t stretch out the neckline, it was made to custom fit you specifically, and it looks wonderful.”

“It’s just a little tight,” Joe grumbled, but he did stop tugging. “You sure they got that fitting right?”

“I’m sure, my tailor is impeccable,” Blueblood said with a roll of his eyes.

“Well, maybe they’re just not used to working with someone so… robust?”

Now Blueblood glared at him. Joe got the feeling he'd insulted the other stallion somehow, but was unsure how exactly. The two ponies stared at each other, and then at last Blueblood let out a slow sigh.

“I know, I know,” he mumbled. “I’m just nervous about tonight I guess, sorry to nit pick. Again.”

Joe’s face lit up in a slow, gentle smile.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” He paused and set an affectionate hoof alongside Blueblood’s shoulder, just where it met his neck. “Everyone knows about us now, right?”

“Right.”

“So there’s no reason to think ponies will get all bend outta shape at seeing us together.”

Blueblood leaned into Joe’s touch, but his face still wore an expression of concern.

“It’s not that,” he said.

“Worried about us looking good?”

“…well…”

“…worried about me looking good?”

Again, Blueblood let out a groan.

“That’s not quite right either. Look, it’s not that I’m worried about you, or me, or us, or anything like that. I’m more concerned about how it’ll all seem. What ponies will try to talk with us about, how they’ll judge us. Just… all of it. The whole event.”

Joe watched his face carefully, then bent down slightly to kiss the top of Blueblood’s head.

“Then let’s not go. We can stay here, I’ll make us some dessert, and we can play board games in our PJs.”

It normally would have been a tempting offer, but Blueblood shook his head and stepped back from Joe.

“I have to go,” he said. “I have responsibilities, that’s part of what it is to be a prince after all. And in a way… I’m actually excited to be there with you. We haven’t really been out to a formal event together before.”

Here, he looked up at Joe with his white cheeks flushing a light pink. Seeing how cute he looked like that, it was hard for Joe not to blush as well. As much as he wasn’t looking forward to this big hoopla gala thing, and as much as he felt out of place even thinking about it, the fact that Blueblood wanted to go out places with him made his chest feel warm.

“That’s true,” Joe admitted, “But I still feel all sorts of awkward. Not because of you. I’ve just never been to this sort of party before. Catered one, maybe, but not gone to dance or anything.”

“Well, if it helps, ponies don’t really dance there, if that helps.”

“\What the heck do they even do there?”

“Eat little foods, have a few sips of wine, and just talk.”

“Oh goodie.”

Blueblood couldn’t help but give a short laugh at Joe’s lack of enthusiasm. He shook his head and gave his lover a quick hug before stepping back to inspect him.

“Oh, now who’s nervous.”

“I just dunno what I’ll talk about, what sorta questions they’ll ask me,” Joe grumbled. “If they try to talk about donuts, I’m fine, but what if they want to talk about royal things? About fancy operas and all that.”

“Implying there are non-fancy operas?”

“You know what I mean.”

Blueblood gave another short laugh.

“Well, don’t you fret. You let me do most of the talking, and you just stand there and look pretty,” he said.

With that, Blueblood produced a red bowtie from behind his back, and set about tying it around Joe’s neck. Once that was done, he stepped back to admire the other pony, who looked away from the reflection sheepishly.

“There,” Blueblood said proudly. “You look absolutely fabulous. There’s not a soul at that party who could look at us now and say we’re a prince and a pauper.”

“Now, just remember,” Blueblood hissed, “When a pony asks you what you do for a living, say you’re a restauranteur, not a donut maker. When they ask you what sort of food you make, tell them you make custom cakes and deserts. Believe me, they’ll all be impressed.”

“But that’s not entirely true,” Joe hissed back as they entered the main ballroom at the castle.

“It’s true enough,” Blueblood replied. “And everyone lies here a little bit to make themselves seem more important, believe me.”

“Seems kinda silly to me,” Joe grumbled.

“Kind of, if you would,” Blueblood corrected. “Try your best not to use slang if you can, makes you seem more… lowly.”

Joe reminded himself how much this event meant to the other stallion. He barely managed to keep himself from snapping back that he enjoyed slang, and he didn’t see how it was any other pony’s business. Instead, he bit his lip and kept quiet as the pair entered, and nearly every eye turned to them.

“Put your hoof around me, give me a quick hug,” Blueblood whispered.

For once, this was an instruction that Joe was happy to oblige. He took one leg and gave his partner a quick squeeze, trying not to flush at the sounds of ‘aw’ that echoed around them at the motion. A few camera’s flashed, probably the press wanting photos of the prince’s new beau.

“That’s enough, thanks,” Blueblood said gently, and Joe reluctantly released him.

Again, Joe reminded himself not to complain, and tried to put on a confident smile. He also told himself not to tug at his collar, despite how tight it felt. He had a good impression to make.

“Antoinette! Darling!” he heard Blueblood call over the sea of ponies who were now, thankfully, beginning to go about their own business. “Over here!”

A pair of ponies, one a light pink with a creamy white bejeweled wig on, and one a slender dark blue pony with a black and green slicked-back mane, quickly made their way over. Blue blood embraced them, then gestured with one hoof towards Joe.

“Antoinette, Frederick,” the prince said, practically beaming. “This is my dear partner, Joe. Joe, this is the Duchess and Duke of North Halterna.”

Trying very hard not to show how intimidated he felt looking down at the two smaller ponies, Joe gave a short bow. He then looked up to find the mare holding out one hoof towards him and smiling expectantly. He stared dumbly at her for a moment, then reached out, took the hoof, and shook it. Somehow, she looked confused, like he’d done the wrong thing.

“Er… nice to meet you,” Joe said haltingly. “I really like your… hair.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Joe could see Blueblood cringe.

“Nice to meet you as well?” the duchess said, glancing between Joe and Blueblood appraisingly as she took back her hoof.

Joe tried to think up something, anything to say next. Blueblood let out a nervous laugh and put a hoof quickly up to Joe’s shoulder, silencing him before he could speak.

“You’ll have to excuse Joe,” he said lightly. “He’s new to galas and a bit… rough around the edges.”

All three ponies laughed politely, while Joe looked between them and tried to manage a smile. Inside, he felt a tightness growing there. It had started small, like a wound up little knot before, but now it was growing into a large lump in his gut. He felt a little insulted, and he felt like he didn’t belong here. As he looked at the smiling Prince beside him, he also realized that he didn’t feel respected either.

This wasn’t right, he shouldn’t be here.

“Scuse me,” Joe said quickly, and stepped away from the circle.

He didn’t know exactly where he was going, or what he was going to do, but he knew he needed to get away from there. His place was in a bakery, in a donut shop, not here trying so hard to do what was expected of him without understanding why. Blueblood was a Prince, and he’d always strived to be good enough for him. Maybe… he wasn’t good enough after all. Maybe this just wasn’t meant to be.

“Joe, darling, wait a moment!” he heard a call from behind him.

Joe turned to find Blueblood there, looking very concerned. He caught up just by the door, and the two stations stopped to speak, their voices low.

“Is something the matter?” Blueblood asked.

“Well,” Joe said, a little gruffly. “Now that you mention it, yeah.”

Blueblood frowned and set a hoof on his shoulder.

“What is it? You can tell me.”

Joe let out a long sigh, then released all that was on his mind.

“You see, I don’t fit in here,” he said uneasily. “You’re all fancy, and it seems like you’re always scared I’ll mess up your reputation just by… well… by being myself. It feels like you’re embarrassed of me. Like I can’t be who I am and still be worth your time. It makes me think that… maybe… you’re only in love with me in secret. Like in public, you want me to be someone else or you can’t be proud to be with me.”

Blueblood went pale, even more white than his usual ivory coat He looked up into Joe’s face, then shook his head fervently.

“Oh, dear, no!” he said. “I don’t feel that way at all!”

They stood there in silence for a moment, but then eventually Blueblood spoke, his voice tender and honest.

“I know carrying on in high society is difficult. I’ve done it all my life. I just wanted you to not feel too uncomfortable, I wanted to help you feel like you could blend in. And it seems I’ve just made you feel worse. And I’m sorry about that.”

“I just… don’t feel like me,” Joe mumbled.

“And you should be able to,” Blueblood said with a stamp of his hoof. “It’s not fair of me to expect anything different. The fact is, I love you for who you are, and if they can’t love you for who you are, then that’s their problem. Not ours.”

Joe couldn’t help but smile warmly at those words. He leaned down, and gave the other stallion a deep, affectionate kiss. He felt the hoof on his shoulder pull him closer as he did, and they remained like that for a brief moment, with the rest of the gala fading into he background. When they did pull back, they were both smiling.

“Well,” Blueblood said. “If you want to go home, I won’t blame you, but I’d love you to meet more of my friends. In whatever way you see fit.”

“Sure, I could be up for that. As long as I can say things how I want to. And talk about donuts.”

“Of course,” Blueblood said with a wink. “Ah, but first…”

With practiced hooves, he reached up and took off the tight red bow tie. Then, the undid the top two buttons of the pressed shirt, and Joe took a deep, unrestricted breath for the first time that night.

“There,” Blueblood said proudly. “Now you look like the stallion I fell in love with.”

As they went back to the gala, Joe caught sight of his reflection in a window. He stopped, and felt a swelling of pride as he finally saw a pony he recognized smiling back.

-END-

Author's Notes:

It's been a while since I've written anything this cute. It feels... weird... and all... feelsy. Ugh.

This was done as a very adorable commission for TheAmazingMe! If you'd like to commission me as well, check my user page and blogs to see if I'm still open to it!

-Pencil