Chapter 11, family dilemmas

"Oh, Blaze" Fluttershy said, standing at the doorway of her home. The lights where on inside, and the yellow light poured out of the door and covered Blaze, who stood outside in the starry night. "I'm afraid Sweet cream is in her room, she's really upset" Fluttershy gave him a very unthreatening look "I think it's best that you don't come in and talk, she might get even more upset"

"But miss Fluttershy, i swear i had nothing to do with it, it was miss Sparkles fault!"

"Twilight has been my friend for over twenty years now Blaze, do you really think i would believe that she would hurt my daughter like this?" Fluttershy looked disgustedly at him "my daughter liked you a lot Blaze, i can't believe you'd pull a prank like this on her"

"But miss Fluttershy-"

"Good night Blaze" and she closed the door in his face. Blaze simply stood there in shock, not knowing what to do.

"But...i didn't do anything wrong..." he whispered to the door, knowing even as he said it that nopony could hear him. The back of his throat was starting to hurt, and Blaze could feel tears begin to prick at his eyes 'you mustn't cry, no matter what happens you mustn't cry' he turned his back to the door and walked slowly down the path to the little bridge at the base of the hill. 'i didn't do anything wrong, it was all miss Sparkles fault' his throat was beginning to ache, like he'd swallowed something but it wouldn't go down 'i never meant to hurt Sweet cream, i love her, i got her the necklace and i made the reservation, it was going to be perfect' he crossed the bridge and stood on the other side, his back to the house.

He felt the tears begin to come out of his eyes and slowly roll down his cheeks, his body began to shiver as he let out a suppressed sob "please Sweet cream i never meant it" he closed his eyes tight shut and saw her in his mind, her white and pink mane flowing in the breeze and her shy smile in place, her blue eyes twinkling with happiness. He sobbed again and dried his eyes with one hoof; it came away wet with tears. From the house behind him there came a clinking sound of a lock being undone, and he turned around and looked up to see Sweet cream standing at her window up at the top of the tree. She paused when she saw him, like she hadn't expected him to be there at all. For a moment her features softened, and then she shook her head and threw something out the window, it flashed green. Blaze watched it fly through the air and land with a gentle splash in the stream, he had a brief second to see it was the necklace he'd bought her, and then the current caught hold of it and it was gone, whisked away downstream.

Sweet cream gave him one last look and Blaze saw she'd been crying. "Cream, i-" he began, but Sweet cream closed the window with a slam and drew the curtains behind it shut, blocking him out. Blaze felt himself shudder again, the pain at the back of his throat increased. 'no, not here, don't let her see you cry' he thought as he once again turned his back to the house 'she threw it away, i gave it to her but she threw it away' the sight of the necklace disappearing into the river playing over and over every time he closed his eyes. 'it took months to make, it cost so much, and now it's gone' Blaze didn't care about how much he'd spent though, it was what the necklace had represented that hurt him the most.

In ancient times, pegausi had given each other feathers from their wings to symbolise love. For Blaze the necklace had been his wings, not one feather, but all of them. He'd given Sweet cream the thing that defined him the most as himself and she'd thrown it away, Blaze felt hopelessly lost. Deciding that he wasn't helping his emotional state by standing outside Sweet creams house Blaze opened his wings and took to the sky, the wind causing his tears to turn freezing cold. He skirted around ponyville, not wanting anypony to see him like this, and cut across the fields to his house. He landed in the back garden and made his way up to the back door, it was unlocked. He opened it silently and stepped inside, only to be greeted by the sounds of angry voices from the living room.

"i don't care what the law says, you're not taking my son from me!" he heard his father say, his voice threatening.

"this is beyond your control Nova, the law is the law. Blaze is to become a prince" it was Luna, she'd come back, even though Nova had told her not to.

"Celestia isn't sick anymore, this isn't necessary. So get the hell out of my sight and don;t you ever come back to this house"

"the situation has changed brother" another voice said, this one was female, and it seemed to echo around inside Blazes ears, like it held power. "this recent...illness...has caused the council to take into consideration the possibility of infection, i'm to be removed from power and taken into isolation until they have confirmed that i'm not contagious" 'contagious? Illness? But that would mean...' Blaze came to the sudden realisation that princess Celestia was inside his house.

"To hell with that, Luna can rule instead, you're not taking my son from his home. He belongs here, not in bloody Canterlot!"

"Nova, this is the order of the council, should you refuse we will use force" there was the sound of flesh meeting flesh and then choked gasps. There were also several shouts and the 'shing' of steel.

"You say that one more time Luna, i dare you. Do you think i'm going to let you take my son from me? I swear i will kill you if you try" Blaze tip-toed to the doorway to the living room and leaned out slightly, peering into the living room. His father had princess Luna by the throat, holding her in the air like a rag doll, venom in his eyes. By Lunas side was princess Celestia, her pink and green and white hair flowing in an ethereal mist and look of shock tinged with fear on her face, beside her where two large stallions wearing armour. One was a pure white unicorn in golden armour, he levitated a sabre in the air, it's point directed at Nova. The other was a midnight black pegausi; his armour was a dark blue and a look of intense emotion on his face as a member of the Royal Lunar guard it was his life's duty to protect Luna, who was currently in a throat lock.

"call off your pets sisters" his father said, never turning his gaze from Luna "this carpets expensive"

"release Luna this instant Nova" Celestia said, trying to assert her authority. She failed however, Novas aura of anger burnt so brightly that her will power evaporated before it.

"oh Celestia, you're still so naive. Do you think i'm going to let this bitch go just because you've told me to?" Novas grip tightened on Lunas throat, Luna whimpered and clawed at her throat, Novas hoof was crushing at her wind pipe and she could feel herself begin to black out. Blaze couldn't simply stand around and let father do this to his aunt, he had to do something.

"Let her go!" he said, coming out from his hiding place. "Let her go dad! Right now"

"Blaze!" he said, turning from the squirming Luna. His face turned red and he let go of Luna, who dropped to the floor with a gasp, only to be caught in the hooves of her body guard. "What are you doing here?"

"What where you doing to auntie Luna?" he asked, feeling a heat start to flare on his cheeks " 'never hit mares Blaze, it's what a coward does' so what the hell are you? A coward? Is that what my own father is? Is commander Nova a coward?" Novas own cheeks flared with shame and anger.

"you don't know Blaze, you don't know what she did to me, what she wants to do to you"

"i heard dad, she wants to make me a prince, that's an offer nopony ever gets, and you're turning it down just like that" Novas cheeks burned even brighter "i didn't even know i was related to her, but here you are making all the decisions for me. Honestly, i think it's disgusting"

"don't you talk to me like that Blaze, i'm your father!"

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Blaze roared, his wings unfurling slightly "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME THINK FOR MYSELF FOR ONE GOD-DAMN MINUTE!" in all the stories Nova had had a great orators voice, but under Blazes sudden bombardment he fell quiet. Blaze had never talked like this to his father before, and he had no idea how he was ever going to make up for this.

"...you really want to talk to my sisters?" Nova asked, a hint of defeat in his voice. Since he had first held Blaze in his arms he had vowed to never let him get involved with Luna and Celestia, but now his son was walking straight into the lions teeth.

"yes...yes i do"

"fine, but i'm not letting these two stay under my roof any longer" Nova turned his back to Blaze and pushed past the guards and through into the kitchen "you might love your aunts, but you didn't see the scars Blaze, you didn't see what they did to me" and with that he disappeared into the kitchen. For a few moments the room was silent, and the Celestia raised her voice.

"Greetings Blaze, i'm-"

"Princess Celestia of the house Starflight, you're also my father's sister, my aunt and the same mare who tortured my father in a mad bid for power...i know who you are"

"we should continue this conversation outside, Nova has made his point quiet clear"

Blaze nodded and gestured for the two princesses to follow him, he made his way back to the back garden and sat on the edge of the porch, sighing and laying his head in his hooves. "Titus, Crawl, wait inside" he heard Celestia say, he buried his head in his hooves. Luna and Celestia came out and sat beside him on the porch, Celestia on his left and Luna on his right.

"Blaze..."

"father said you couldn't come back, so why are you here?" Blaze had been through a lot of crap today, and didn't feel like skirting around the edges of the questions, he cut straight through to the heart of the issue. It was Celestia who answered.

"Blaze, there's something you should know. Recently the council had decreed that an heir must be found for the throne, and you have been chosen"

"what about Blue blood?" Blaze asked, his voice muffled through his hooves, he hadn't raised his head.

"he's only a distant nephew, you're a direct son of a prince, born into a legitimate marriage, you are the only choice"

Blaze had been through a lot today, he'd come within an inch of kissing Sweet cream, he'd been forced to study for eight hours in the library, Fluttershy had slammed a door in his face, Sweet cream had thrown her necklace into the river, his father had almost choked the life out of one of his aunts and threatened to kill the other, and now he was being asked to be a prince, it just didn't sit with him. "I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT BEING A FUCKING PRINCE!" he screamed "ALL I WANTED WAS TO GO TO HEARTS AND HOOVES DAY WITH SWEET CREAM, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO FUCKING ASK!" the princesses recoiled, and by the door the guards tensed.

"Sweet cream? Who's that?" asked Celestia, recovering quickly.

"...nopony, it doesn't matter"

"did some mare snatch up our nephews heart?" asked Luna, a smile creeping on her face "if only you'd told us Blaze, i'm sure we can help"

"i don't want any help! I was going to do this all by myself, i had the reservations, i bought her the necklace, I've been asking her to be my heart and hooves since i could ever remember, this was the first time she'd not been too shy to say yes, and now it's all gone to hell"

"oh Blaze" Luna wrapped a hoof around him and drew him into her chest, gently cradling him and rocking back and forth "you stupid little colt, you think you're the only pony who's had this kind of problem before" she smiled "the first time a stallion asked me to be his heart and hooves i blushed so much even my mane turned red, does this girl mean a lot to you?"

Blaze nodded.

"well then what wrong? and me and Celestia will help set it straight"

Blaze nodded slowly, and then told the story of the past two days. As he told it he realised how much had happened in such a short amount of time, it seemed unreal. When he was done Luna hugged him even tighter.

"and she threw it away? Just like that?"

"it's not her fault, miss sparkle and her teleport spell started all of this"

"Twilight was always over-zealous about studying" Celestia said.

"you know, there's a lot of mares at court who would love a stallion like you" Luna brushed Blazes wings "with strong wings like that there isn't a single pegausi mare who wouldn't love you, and your mane, i know a mare called amethyst who would love it" Blaze blushed.

"i don't want another mare, i want Sweet cream" he whispered.

"you know what?" Celestia said, leaning in "your father was the same with cherry blossom" she said with a wink.