Mitch's POV<<<<<<

"Stupid...*Pant*...Dog and his military training." I couldn't help but grunt out as I was hunched over by one of the castles four supporting legs.

Honestly, I had no one but to blame but myself for trying to win a foot race with a dog. Especially if said dog has had any training that resembles what the U.S does with its recruits.

Still, he didn't need to beat me as bad as he did. It took me TEN minutes to catch up with the dog at the castle! Thank goodness no one was watching.

Looking up from my defeated state, I could see Reks stretching out his legs as he kept a smug grin on his face.

Yeah, Easy to be smug when you move as fast as a car.

"Ya know." I stated, removing myself from the pillar and walking over to the armored canine. "You could've told me you were going to run on all fours."

Stopping his post run stretch, Reks gave me a narrowed stare that I couldn't help but shake my head at.

"Fair enough, I did give myself a head start at the beginning." I said with a sigh as I looked up at the giant castle looming over us. "So this is the heart of the empire, huh."

Reks shook his head and pointed behind him at a small crystal heart that was floating in between two blue spikes. Centered at the middle of the castle structure, it seemed to be giving off a calming feel as I kept my eyes on it.

"Oh...the heart of the empire is literally a heart, who would've thought?"

Turning me back towards him, Reks pointed ahead at one of the leftmost castle pillars that had a door carved into it.

"Wait, we can just enter the castle?" I asked as Reks nodded in response. "Why? wouldn't the guards keep us out?"

Reks shook his head and pointed to himself as he walked towards the doors, leaving me to follow behind as I watched the dog carefully.

"Such a weird mutt." I whispered as I followed him into the castle and up one of those circular flight of stairs until we entered a hallway at the top.

"Whoa, now this is snazzy!" I exclaimed as my eyes darted from the purple carpeting to the blue crested walls and crystal chandeliers. "If this was earth this place would be worth a fortune!"

As we had began to walk through the hallway a group of six purple ponies marched past us with light grey armour on their chests and military haircuts, with the blue and red manes being the only way to tell them apart.

As they past by us, each one gave Reks and I a passing glance, though all of the ones directed to me seemed far less respectful and more on the lines of either curiosity or disgust.

Watching them descend down the staircase, I turned to Reks and pointed behind me.

"So, I take it those are the guards of this place?" I asked, earning a rather quick nod from my silent companion as he quickly turned away and walked down the hall.

Well, that was abrupt. I thought, noticing he seemed slightly put off as the guards had walked by. Maybe something happened between him and the guards here?

Looking between the exit and Reks, I shrugged it off and continued to follow Reks through the castle. As we moved, we ended up running into a couple of maids or guards here and there, each one looked as if they were preparing for something big.

As we turned what had to be the fiftieth corner, Reks finally stopped and pointed at two dark blue doors with small handles aligned on the middle.

"This is the library?" I asked Reks, not getting an answer from him as he pushed the doors open and walked inside. "Jeez, guess the guy feeling impatient today."

Walking inside, I felt my blood run cold as I looked upon hundreds and hundreds of books, each one of them inside these bookshelfs that reached all the way up to the ceiling!

"That's a lot of books." I said quietly as a grunt up ahead snapped me from my stupor, turning my attention to Reks as he climbed up to the second floor.

"All right, I'm coming." I called to him as I went deeper into the library, hoping to God that the place was well organized, or we'd be here for a looooong time.

Zephyr POV<<<<<<

Hiding on top of the tenth roof today, Lightning Dust and I peered down at the couple we had been stalking for the past twenty minutes or so.

"Ok, this is getting old." I complained as I turned to the yellow maned mare beside me, causing her to turn towards me with a confused look. "We've followed them for a while now, and nothings happened."

Lightning Dust waved me off as she quickly turned and pointed at the unicorn below.

"Shut up and look! The unicorn is doing something!" She stated like a child as I rolled my eyes and looked down into the plaza.

Piper was currently looking up at the roofs nearby while the unicorn she was with had his horn currently glowing a soft yellow. Before I could react Pipers gaze fell on mine and she pointed up at us.

"Buck." both Lighting Dust and I exclaimed as Piper motioned for the unicorn to look up at us, causing him to release the spell he had built up. Before we could fly off, a yellow light consumed us and teleported us down in front of the two, though Piper looked faaaar more pissed than the unicorn.

"Zephyr...do you want to explain why you and your friend here have been stalking us?" Piper stated hotly as the alabaster stallion, still wearing that black tie and his freshly combed mane, looked us over with moderate interest.

Quickly hovering up a couple feet, I gave Piper my best smile as I quickly tried to come up with an answer.

"W-well, you see...we happened to be in the area and saw you and this unicorn walking together, so we followed after you guys."

Not amused in the slightest, Piper turned to Lightning. "And you? What's your excuse?"

"Bored, so we followed you lovebirds." She stated simply, causing the stallion to chuckle to himself and gain the gaze of everypony around him.

"Why the buck are you laughing? They've been spying on us, Bluey!" Piper exclaimed in a foalish manner with puffed cheeks as the unicorn shook his head lightly.

"Quite simple, my love. I haven't seen such interesting characters since the Elements of Harmony first arrived at the Gala years ago." He said as he extended a hoof towards us. "My name is Blueblood, and you two are?"

Landing on the ground, I shook his hoof with a smile.

"Zephyr Breeze, and this is Lightning Dust. And Im so-"

"Wait, YOUR PRINCE BLUEBLOOD?!" Lightning Dust exclaimed as I looked between Blueblood and her in shock.

"Wait, he's a prince?" I yelled out as Piper shushed us both and looked around before letting out a sigh of relief as she realized no one was around.

"Will you two be quiet?! He gets enough attention without you yelling his name for everypony to hear!"

Standing on his hind legs, Blueblood nuzzled Pipers cheek. effectively calming her down as he returned to the ground and sighed, looking at us with a tired expression.

"Piper is quite right. I can barely go anywhere without someone recognizing me, let alone fanmares who want to shag with me for my title." He stated with a look of disgust and remembrance graced his face before he shook it off. "But that's neither here nor there, what matters most is what's in front of us now."

Grinning sheepishly, I couldn't help but paw at the ground under the royals gaze.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" I asked as Blueblood shook his head.

"Not at all...at least, as long as you help us out with something." Blueblood answered, snapping Lightning Dust out of her stupor as she narrowed her eyes at the prince.

"And to do what exactly? Some of us have things to do, you know?" She stated harshly, earning a glare from the unicorn.

"Such as stalking royalty, which can be considered a crime?" Blueblood snapped back, causing Lightning Dust to back down. "Thought so, now listen carefully." He cleared his throat before nodding at Piper. "As you figured out by now, Captain Piper and I are together." Blueblood started as Piper knelt down and hugged the prince.

"Happily together, I might add!" She said with a grin as she nuzzled Blueblood.

"R-Right, Dear." Blueblood stated with a blush before returning to his senses and continuing. "And I had gotten wind of there being a ceremony in the empire involving my cousin and her daughter Flurry Heart."

"The Crystalling." Lighting Dust stated as Blueblood smirked.

"So you've heard of it? Good, because I needed Pipers help to make sure everything runs smoothly the rest of the day." Blueblood said as I titled my head in confusion.

"Now, I get your here due to your family having the Crystalling and all, but why are you so invested in it?" I asked him as Piper released the prince and stood back up.

"To be honest, Bluey couldn't care less about the ceremony. He's just here to make sure history doesn't repeat itself is all." Piper stated with a far off look in her eyes as Blueblood put a hoof in her paw.

"I told you, nothing will happen to your clan, I'll make sure of it." The prince reassured Piper as he turned his head back to us. "At the last crystalling, history books speak of a great storm that broke out. The ponies, thanks to the crystal heart, managed to protect the empire...but the outside region of the North was left to freeze for the entirety of the storm."

Shivering slightly, Piper crossed her arms and looked towards the castle.

"That storm is fabled to have nearly wiped out our people entirely. If the Chief hadn't found the magic pool when he did..." Piper chuckled at my ever so confused look. "The chief is older than he looks, and was apparently in my military position at the time of the storm."

"So, he managed to survive freezing out due to...magic?" Lightning Dust asked as Piper nodded, turning to us with a smile.

"Indeed. From what the story books tell us, he had been seeking shelter from the cold in a cave up high when he stumbled upon a cavern filled with water that shined in the darkness." She said as I looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Wait...didn't you guys find us on a mountaintop with a magic pool in it? The same one that Mitch himself used to get his core?" I asked the captain, earning a confused grimace from Piper as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"Perhaps...but there could've been more than one pool in those mountains." She said before turning to Blueblood. "Have you came across anything like that on your mapping trips?"

Mapping trips?

The prince looked up at Piper for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nothing like what you just described, and I've been to most of the world's leading countries."

"Wait, your a map maker too? I thought all you did was party and make laws?" Lightning Dust stated, causing Blueblood to burst out laughing.

"That's what the newspapers want you to believe, Dust." He said with a smug grin as his blue eyes began to sparkle. "Ever since I got this star on my flank, I've been called to the passions of mapping out the world." He breathed deeply for a moment before exhaling. "Most of the maps published are replicas of the one I have in my room back in Canterlot."

Noticing my look of shock he scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Sorry about that, I get passionate about the things I care for, and I've been mapmaking since I was a foal."

Piper squeed and picked up the unicorn, hugging him to her chest as she wore a big smile, not paying attention to the fact the alabaster was slowly turning purple from lack of breath.

"That's my stallion! He helps our traders out by selling them maps in return for either knowledge from our tribes or visitation rights." She stated as I frowned.

"Visitation rights? What do you mean by-" Before I could finish, though, Piper cuts me off by clapping her paws together, releasing her now gasping coltfriend to the ground.

"But we've gotten off topic!" She exclaims before looking to Blueblood. "Shall we go to the castle now?"

Regaining his breath, Blueblood smiled at the captain.

"Lead the way, Love." He said with a wink as Piper giggled and began walking towards the castle while swaying her hips for her prince.

Blueblood turned to Lightning Dust and I and nodded, though I couldn't help but notice the red blush that had devoured much of his white coat.

"Come along. We have much to do and little time left to waste." He said as he followed after Piper, leaving me and Lightning Dust to follow in the lovers wake.

"Ugh...their so romantic with each other." The pegasus next to me gags as we follow behind in the air. "Makes me glad I'm single."

As she spoke, I couldn't help but watch the two closely as they spoke to each other and how close they seemed to be, and began to feel negative thoughts go through my head.

Would I ever get to be like that with Rainbow Dash, or even any mare? Or am I simply going to stay single forever?

Mitch POV<<<<<<

"Advanced guide to keeping your crystal roads polished?" I read aloud as I tossed the book off to the side with a groan. "Why does every book in this library involve crystals?!"

I looked over to the bookshelf on my right in time to see Reks giving me a 'nah duh' look as he put a magezine with a picture of a unicorn laying seductively on a couch to the side, though it looked like he had been browsing through it since it had several dog ears in the pages.

"Yeah yeah, Crystal Kingdom and all that. Still, wouldn't hurt for some variety!" I state before getting up and walking towards another bookshelf. "Now, let's see if-AGH!"

I felt my right leg go through the ground as I face-planted with the crystal flooring. Hearing Reks snickering behind me, I lifted my head off the ground and turned towards him.

"You son of a...why is there a hole in the floor?" I stated as I removed my leg from said hole and looked inside. "Whoa...come look at this."

Reks ceased his laughing and bear crawled over to me, looking down into the hole with wide eyes.

Looking into the hole, you could see at least several floors below as multiple holes aligned perfectly with each other were visible. It was as if someone had punched through ten pages in a book and the holes left behind were all the same.

"What the fuck do you think did that?" I asked as we backed away from the hole. Reks simply shrugged before turning to the nearest bookshelf and combing its covers.

"Your right, we need to stay focused." I turned back to the shelf I had been walking towards and looked at the first book I could see. "How I survived a royal kidnapping, a Cadenza story."

Taking the book and opening it, I was met with a disclaimer about how the events in the book were based on a real happenings and that if I know of any changelings or suspicious ponies that act like them to report them immediately.

"What the hell is a changeling?" I wondered before hearing a loud yelp. I turned towards Reks in time to see him collapse on his knees as he held his ears with his paws.

Rushing over to him, I knelt beside him and put an arm around the dog.

"Reks, what's happening?" I asked as he whimpered in reply. Looking around, I couldn't hear or see anything that could've caused this.

Wait...dogs can hear really well, right? maybe he's hearing something I cant? Perhaps a loud screech or something?

After a couple of minutes, Reks calmed down before looking up at a window that was nearby and running up towards it.

"What do you see, Reks?" I asked as I followed him to the window and peered out from over his shoulder, noticing a large amount of storm clouds quickly approaching from the corners of the kingdom.

Shit, that can't be good.

Author's Note

Well well well well, look who's back!

Sorry about the relatively short chapter (I wanted to write more, but figured I'd save all the drama for the next chapter.) But I am glad to state that I AM BACK! (Screw you, haitus! Your not killing off this author!)

My Creative juices are flowing again, so I pumped this bad boy out. Hopefully, there aren't too many errors (if so, please point them out so I can edit them.

Also, I'm giving a internet cookie to the first person to point out what caused Reks to bend over in pain.

But, as always, feel free to comment! I love hearing from you guys!

p.s: Hope yall like how I did blueballs. He's only going to get used more from here on out, so hope ya can stand him.