Three months since the betrothal. From what Rarity had told her, Blueblood would be no good; he was a disrespectful and arrogant stallion, and that couldn't change. Maybe Rarity was wrong. Hopefully, he was wrong. Twilight Sparkle's parents had both agreed to it; it was a promising and lovely match, in their and Princess Celestia's eyes. Tonight, she would get to know Prince Blueblood on their private outing that Princess Celestia planned. A canter around the royal grounds would give them enough time to learn about one another. Twilight Sparkle sighed sheepishly, very gently tapping her hoof on his door.
"Prince Blueblood?" she called, hoping she wouldn't interrupt him on getting ready.
"I'm almost ready; give me about five minutes." he replied. Twilight was dressed in one of Rarity's signature dresses; the glamorous unicorn had grown to be one of the most famous designers in Equestria. All of her friends had accomplished so much, but what about herself? She had spent her life studying. Where had that gotten her? A good education. But all of her friends had a family now. Rarity had married Spike, her old companion; Fluttershy and Big Macintosh had married and they had a newborn daughter, Honeycrisp; Applejack married Caramel and had an infant son, Apple Sprout and were already trying for another; Pinkie Pie had married Pokey Pierce and they were expecting; and Rainbow Dash had just married Soarin, and had a colt, Sonic Dash. Twilight had no one.
Just then, the door opened, revealing the large stallion. He seemed to have an angelic glow to him, making Twilight gawk. This stallion was nothing less than gorgeous.
"Staring is impolite." he snorted, and she snapped out of her trance.

Before her stood a magnificently regal white stallion, the stallion of any mare's dreams, right there. To think that he would soon marry her. Even if it wasn't by choice, she would get to marry a stallion - THE stallion - that any mare would want to have as her own.

"Shall we?" he interrupted her thoughts by asking it, and she quickly nodded in response.
"Yes, thank you, Prince Blueblood." she answered to make sure he got her reply, and he led her down the long hallway, while she bit her lip behind him. After walking upon what seemed like miles of a long carpet draped along the hallway, she followed him outside into the garden, gasping at all of the flowers in bloom.

"Which is your favorite?" he suddenly asked, and she turned her head to him quickly.
"Huh?"
"The flowers." he answered. "Which do you like best?" Twilight looked over the flowers to answer his question, then her eyes landed upon a couple of blue ones and she pointed to them. He smiled, his horn glowing as he plucked them up with his magic, then he took a flag draped on one of the posts and wrapped them in it; a bouquet.
She gasped, surprised at his kind gesture, and with a blush, she accepted the flowers, whispering a polite, "Thank you," He dipped his head in response, leading her on through the garden, pointing out his favorites of the flowers until the arrived at a dinner set up for two, where once he saw it he mumbled, "Celestia's doing..." and smiled thankfully, pulling out a chair for her. She sat, looking over the food; steak, some sparkling drink, probably a type of wine, and some salad to the side.

She gingerly lifted her glass and took a sip, and she figured by the taste that it was non-alchoholic.
"Typical Celestia...and here I thought I could get you tipsy," he chuckled, and she sent an astonished and embarrassed look at him, making him pin his ears and look away. "Uhh...joking...." And she smiled a bit, relieved.

"It was...funny," she replied, quietly taking her knife and cutting at the steak, although it was quite tough.
"Here, let me help," he replied, and his horn flashed, then right before her eyes the steak was in bite-sized pieces. Her eyes widened and she stared for a moment before looking up at him.
"You study magic...too?" she asked, shock in her voice. He grinned and nodded.

"With only the best intructors." he replied, doing the same to his own steak. Twilight smiled, figuring she might like him, and she picked up her fork and stuck it into one of the pieces, eating it, then repeating.
For about half an hour the two didn't say a word, they just ate quietly, not looking at one another, except for Blueblood's occasional peeks at her. Then suddenly, he said, rather loudly, surprising Twilight, "Okay, what is wrong with you? Why won't you speak to me? Do I offend? Come on, I'm a prince for Celestia's sake! Doesn't that make me automatically a mare magnet? How come all the others flock to me but the one I'm betrothed to won't speak two words?"

Twilight didn't know how to respond. The whole night, she had seen him as a stuck up prince, like Rarity said, but now she realized it wasn't the true Blueblood. Rarity's description was completely off. He had been kind, polite, helpful, charming, and he had been trying to socialize unlike herself the entire night, and she hadn't returned any of the emotions. Suddenly she felt like she was a thumbtack lodged in his horseshoe, and her ears drooped.

"I-...I'm sorry...its just...Rarity told me you were...well...awful...so I just guessed you were...." she replied shyly. His eyes widened a bit.
"Rarity? The unicorn from the gala?" he snorted. "You mean you judged me before you even met me? Just because of what she said? I knew she was after the throne and I was right! Because its what they all want! They all want a nice little Prince Charming to come sweep them off their feet and then they're a princess, rich, control over Canterlot, the works! She was just trying to get the goods." Twilight was silent, because he was right. Rarity had never even met him, yet she wanted him because she would be a princess and he was handsome. The most 'eligible bachelor.'

"I wanted her off my back so I acted like a jerk. Are you happy?" he snapped, but she kept frowning, so he yelled, "Fine! Forget trying to be nice to you! I'm out of here." And he began to storm off, leaving her sitting there alone at the table.

Twilight simply stared the way he went for a long time, as if expecting him to return for her and say it was all a big misunderstanding, but he never did. She waited about an hour before finally slipping from the chair, trudging back through the garden the way he went.
"Twilight, why do you have to mess things up?..." she asked herself, feeling tears well in her eyes. "This was your one chance at happiness, at a family, at getting yourself somewhere like your friends and you blew it!" She knew she would get herself somewhere by being a princess soon, but what was the use if being a princess was just a symbol that she was married to someone she barely knew? She knew now that he was not who he was supposed to be; he was a gentleman, and he was charming, and he knew how to treat a lady. He was everything she had been looking for as well! Smart, talented, he knew magic like the back of his hand, and he probably knew more than she did.
"And I blew it..." she whispered, feeling tears slip down her cheeks as she got to the door, opening it, where she felt a presence. She looked up, and there he was, frowning at her, his ears pinned.

"Twilight, I am so sorry...I didn't mean to shout at you like I did, I just..." he sighed. "Sometimes I just get worked up and I get mad...it took Celestia scolding me for an hour for me to realize how stupid I was for being such a jerk to you...can you forgive me?"

She simply stared at the ground, feeling the moments drag on as if they were hours, until just a few moments later, he lifted her head with one hoof, and began to dab away her tears with a hankerchief.

"Don't cry...Twilight, you're too pretty to cry, especially on a night like tonight." he whispered, giving her a smile. "Please...smile for me?"
Twilight hesitated, but she smiled, although she couldn't help but do it.
"...there...I smiled." she replied, releasing a brief giggle. "Are you happy now?" At that, he grinned.

"I'm very, very happy, and lucky...but its not because you smiled." he told her. "Its because you're with me, and you're smiling."