For as many foalish and inane plans as I'd made, none of them wound up coming to fruition. It was the day after I'd made those plans that my life as Princess Celestia's student really began, and by then I found myself far too busy to even see Crimson Storm again, let alone spy on either her or Blueblood.

Days turned into weeks, and between my studies and personal lessons with Celestia I eventually got so caught up in being a student, that I more or less forgot about the whole situation altogether in favor of making sure I did my mentor proud. Not helping matters was the fact that I'd seen neither hide nor hair of the red mare in the following days.

For the first few days after I'd written down my plans, I tried to find her with what little time I had available to me, to no avail. I was upset about it to be sure, but I soon decided that my obligations to the Princess came first, so I stopped looking not too long after that. I'd seen Captain Blueblood a few times, but didn't have the nerve to ask him where Crimson was.

It wasn't until I'd completely given up and moved on that I finally saw her again, and not in the way I'd expected to. I learned a few horrible truths that night about Crimson Storm, Captain Blueblood, and myself as well.

For me though, it was more that—for the first time since I'd woken up in that hospital after the 'incident'—I was forced to confront an uncomfortable truth that I'd known about myself for quite some time, but never truly acknowledged.

It all began when I was introduced to Captain Blueblood's son, Blueblood VII during a lull in my lessons. That year's Grand Galloping Gala was just around the corner, and the entire castle staff was in a frenzy trying to prepare for the event, even though it wasn't supposed to be held for another week.

I was able to attend the event as the Princess's 'little lady-in-waiting', much to my complete disbelief. By that time, Princess Celestia and I had grown fairly close, and the whole thing had been her idea. I'd nearly fainted at the notion, but that just amused her all the more, making me think it was all some sort of joke at my expense.

The role was genuine however, and Celestia had put my lessons on hold in order to help prepare me for it, as well as oversee the actual event preparations. At the same time, I was urged by the Princess to spend some time away from my studies. There were a lot of ponies coming in from all over Equestria to attend, including parents and their foals.

Some of these ponies were invited to stay in the guest rooms at the castle itself, and Celestia thought I should take the opportunity to try and mingle with some of the other colts and fillies my age. The problem here was that the other colts and fillies my age were the sons and daughters of wealthy high society ponies.

I had already grown wary of nobles by this point, and knew nothing good would come of my attempts at friendship with the other foals. Still, I tried for Celestia's sake, and went out of my way to communicate with the others, something I would soon come to regret.

A couple of days after Celestia told me to try and make some friends, I found my chance during a visit to the Royal Gardens. I had only meant to pass by on my way to the Archives to sneak in a bit more studying, when I spotted a trio of unicorn foals in the distance, trotting amongst the many statues.

Though the Princess had told me there were foals out and about, I hadn't really seen any up until this point, and figured I'd rather get this out of the way sooner rather than later. As the trio moved through the small forest of statues on display, I quietly followed after them.

The group consisted of a short and pudgy colt with a greyish coat and curly teal mane and tail, a giggly filly with a seafoam green coat and a burgundy colored mane and tail, and a tall colt with a light grey coat, and light amber mane and tail. The tall colt seemed to be the oldest of the three, though I couldn't tell by how much.

There was something about the large colt that seemed oddly familiar, but at the time, I couldn't place my hoof on what it was. I watched as they all stopped in front of a marble carved statue of a stern looking unicorn stallion in what looked like old fashioned formal military attire, rearing on his hind legs.

The statue itself wasn't important to me, but in my endless need to impress my mentor, I'd memorized the history behind each and every statue in the garden, and that knowledge was what I felt would be important now. Each of the foals stood before the statue, with the tall colt eyeing it with an almost smug sense of superiority, as though he was the one that had carved it himself.

For a moment, none of them said anything, and as I watched, I could see the white colt frown slightly as he cast an expectant glance backwards at the other two. Neither of them said anything however, and simply returned the look with confused stares between the light grey colt and the stature.

I heard the colt give an exasperated sigh and turn to face the others with an annoyed scowl.

"Do neither of you imbeciles know who this is?" he snapped, "not a clue? No?"

I sensed my opportunity and waited for the right moment to pounce on it as he spoke again. The pudgy grey colt tilted his head and squinted at the statue in bemusement before looking back to the taller colt.

"Sorry, Blueblood, but I don't have a clue who this stallion is," the rotund grey colt replied with a nervous smile, "should we?"

My eyes widened at the mention of the colt's name, and my smile widened as the memory of all those plans I'd written came back to me. That colt must've been the son of the Captain, and if I could get him on my good side, then I might be able to learn more about his father.

I went to step out past a hedge I was hiding behind and introduce myself, but the baleful glare Blueblood gave the other colt made me pause. The smaller colt cringed back and the filly giggled nervously before speaking up.

"W-Well, obviously he's a soldier of some renown," she replied, trying and failing to sound like she knew what she was talking about, "I'm certain anypony who's everypony knows about this stallion and what he's done for Equestria and the Princess."

Blueblood whipped around to face the filly, narrowing his eyes.

"And tell me, Winter Chime," Blueblood answered slowly and deliberately, "what, praytell, is this stallion famous for specifically? What has he contributed to our great nation and her Royal Highness, hm?" he took a forceful step towards the filly, who stumbled back, her nervous grin morphing into something more panicked as Blueblood spoke, "do you even know his name?"

"Well I... ah... I mean he's..."

She trailed off and giggled again, much to Blueblood's frustration. He sneered down at the two other foals and was about to reply when I finally stepped out and spoke up.

"General Ironblood III," I explained with a hint of pride. The others snapped their gazes over to me, and my own smile widened at their surprise and I continued, "a distinguished General from back when Equestria still had a standing army, rather than the Royal EUP Guard we have today."

There was a heartbeat of silence as I waited for the others to respond, and then...

"Excuse me?!" the filly suddenly snarled, causing me to flinch back in surprise and my ears to lower in dismay. I took a step back as she glared at me, her eyes blazing and her voice shrill with indignation, "who in Equestria do you think you are to just... just show up out of nowhere and..." she narrowed her eyes slightly before speaking in a low thoughtful tone, "...wait a minute, aren't you—"

A light grey hoof held her back as she began to advance and she blinked in silent bewilderment before turning to Blueblood. The colt held her back, but his eyes were focused on me, a small smirk playing across his face.

"Ignore this idiot," he said calmly, his arctic blue eyes roaming over me with interest as he lowered his hoof, "she likes to talk and posture, but rarely has anything of worth to say. Please, continue."

His tone was polite, but I could hear the casual disregard for the filly next to him, and from the indignant and somewhat hurt look she quickly tried to cover up, I could tell the filly heard it too. That aside, something about the colt's gaze made me shudder in disgust in a similar way to when I met his father.

I suddenly wanted to leave right then and there, but I resisted the urge and pushed on, unwilling to waste the opportunity given to me. I cleared my throat and tried to smile as I continued my explanation, but it just came out as an odd mix between a nervous smile and a worried grimace.

"W-Well, um..." I shuffled awkwardly, suddenly all too aware of my shyness and ineptitude when it came to talking to other foals my age, "he—G-General Ironblood, that is—made a name for himself during the Battle of Horseshoe Bay when he and a small contingent of his own soldiers, mostly consisting of unicorns and pegasi, successfully managed to fend off a larger group of minotaurs trying to invade Baltimare by way of the Celestial Sea."

"And...?" Blueblood pressed, taking a step forward, "go on, there's more to be told, right?"

"R-Right, um..." I was beginning to regret my decision more and more as time went on, and wanted nothing more than to hide in a hole somewhere, but I continued on, "w-well, for his outstanding service in the war against the Republic of Minos, he was awarded the Equestrian Badge of Honor, given to him by Princess Celestia herself."

"And what else?" Blueblood urged, smiling in anticipation, "surely you know what became of Ironblood and his family, right? What became of the Ironblood family name?"

"Uh... no, not really," I replied sheepishly, "I... haven't really looked into his genealogy. Sorry."

Blueblood's smile fell into a disappointed frown and, with a heavy sigh, he retreated back to where he stood before. He huffed and pushed a stray lock of his long amber mane out of his face before giving me a sardonic smile.

"Well that's a pity," he said, his tone as light and charming as he could make it, "but I suppose you know more than these two simpletons, so that's something to be commended."

He ignored the two grumbling and stuttering foals behind him and trotted up to me. This close, I could definitely see that he was older by a few years—certainly older than me, but not quite as old as my brother. This did nothing to comfort me, but I held my ground for the moment as he continued to explain.

"It was actually from the Ironblood family that the noble Blueblood house was born, with the grandson of Ironblood III at the helm," he said matter-of-factly, "rather than become a soldier like his father, and father's father before him, Ironblood V decided to take up a seat on the then newly formed council in the then newly built city of Canterlot."

"Really?" I replied, genuinely surprised and a bit intrigued despite myself, "I haven't done too much research on the early days of Canterlot's governing body, at least, not yet."

"Oh, you really should take some more time to look into it," Blueblood replied with a small, indulgent chuckle, "it's quite the fascinating study if I do say so myself. Celestia still held a very large portion of the power to be sure, but to let a group of elected ponies oversee the day-to-day issues of the city was unheard of, and caused quite a stir if the stories are to be believed."

He chuckled again and brought both our attention back over to the statue as he spoke.

"No longer did the Princess rule alone—as far as the city went at any rate," he said in a wistful tone, almost if he himself had been there in that time, "she'd given other ponies power, a 'piece of the pie' so to speak, and over time, the noble houses, which held little power at the time, grew into something grand and magnificent."

He turned back to me, his smile widening with pride and his icy eyes sparkling with something I couldn't quite place at the time. Whatever it was, it deepened the unease I felt, and I couldn't help but take a step back.

"Unlike his fathers before him, Ironblood V used his wit rather than his brawn to secure his family's name as the most powerful noble house in Canterlot," Blueblood continued in an almost reverent tone, "through a political marriage, he became a relative of the Princess herself, and as a sign of his family's newfound status, he changed the family name from Ironblood to Blueblood and took up the title of the first 'Prince of Nobles', Prince Blueblood I."

I was still trying to take the new information in when Blueblood moved closer, raised his head proudly, and put a hoof to his chest.

"...And I am next in line to inherit the title," he exclaimed, inclining his head slightly, "my name is Blueblood VII, son of the Captain of the Royal Guard and current Prince, Blueblood VI."

As though it was an afterthought, he turned and gestured to the other two foals behind him, his expression growing somewhat dull and disinterested.

"This is Winter Chime," he said, pointing to the nodding filly, "her mother, WInter Bell, is the current chief justice of Canterlot's Supreme Court, and this," his frown deepened almost imperceptibly as he turned his attention to the smirking grey colt, "is Greedy Gut. His father, Stingy Gut, own's several of the banks, not just in Canterlot, but in Manehattan and Baltimore as well."

The other two went to introduce themselves, but Blueblood silenced them with a look before turning back to me with a kind smile. That smile, coupled with the way he treated what I initially assumed were his friends, set me on edge, and I returned his easy smile with a weak one of my own.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss...?"

Blueblood paused expectantly and I blinked stupidly for a moment before registering that I was supposed to introduce myself. Flustered, I chuckled awkwardly and stuttered out an introduction.

"I... I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle," I replied lamely, "I, uh... I'm... I just became Princess Celestia's personal protégé a little over a month ago."

"Her protégé you say?" Blueblood replied with an intrigued raise of his brow, "well, this is a pleasant surprise, isn't it?" he trotted around me, looking me up and down with that small smirk from earlier, "in fact, I'd say this was a fortuitous meeting for the both of us."

"It is?" I asked, both dumbfounded and wary, "h-how so?"

"I bet you've grown pretty close to the Princess, haven't you?" Blueblood asked pointedly, "what with the personal lessons and everything, yes?"

"Well, yeah... I guess so," I replied, furrowing my brow, "but why does that matter?"

His smirk widened a touch in response and I had to suppress a shiver.

"In that case, I think we might be able to help each other," he answered, "if you're as close to the Princess as I think you are, you might be able to help me and some of my... friends, given time of course."

"What do you mean?" I asked, growing more wary by the second, "how can I help a pony like you? I'm not really poor, but I'm not exactly a noble either."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Blueblood replied with a dismissive wave of his hoof, "I'm sure we can still be friends, and who knows? Maybe with a bit of help from my father's current friends, we can even remedy that."

"Remedy... what?" I took another step back and my frown grew more pronounced, "are you saying you can... make me a noble or something?"

I had a bad feeling about where this was headed, but at the same time, I had a chance to find out more about his father and maybe Crimson Storm if I was lucky. Even so however, I could hear Crimson's voice in my head—I could hear the utter contempt in her voice when she talked about the nobles, and that gave me pause.

"Well, I'm not promising that much, but I can definitely make your life easier," Blueblood replied. He paused a moment, "...well, I can't personally, but I know ponies that can, and all I ask in return is a few favors."

"I don't know," I replied hesitantly, "I'm pretty sure you're overestimating how much power I actually have. Yeah, Princess Celestia and I have grown pretty close, but I'm still just a filly, and she's... well... she's the Princess. I can't just ask her to do a bunch of stuff for me."

"Oh?" the tall colt replied with a raised brow, "I don't think you're giving yourself, and your position, enough credit," he chuckled knowingly and moved to stand before the other two, "I'm not asking for anything major right at this very moment. I just want you to remember me for now, and what my father and I can offer."

He fell silent and his gaze intensified for a brief moment. I wondered what he'd say next, and was surprised when he trotted right up to me and held his hoof out. I looked at his hoof, then to the other two foals behind him, noting the filly's studiously blank expression and the other colt's wide, stupid grin. After a moment, I returned my bemused gaze to Blueblood. He simply smiled in response as he held out his hoof.

"What say you, Twilight Sparkle? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, and maybe, with a bit of time, we can all be good friends."