Trash of the Royal Castle

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7: Kitchen Nightmare 2
Chapter 8: Artistic Avenue 1
Chapter 9: Artistic Avenue 2
Chapter 10: Artistic Aftermath
Chapter 11: Mysterious Missing Mare 1
Chapter 12: Mysterious Missing Mare 2
Chapter 13: Mysterious Missing Mare 3
Chapter 14: Mysterious Missing Star
Chapter 15: Tundra Terror 1
Chapter 16: Tundra Terror 2
Chapter 17: Tundra Terror 3
Chapter 18: Tundra Terrific
Chapter 19: Stars and Snow 1
Chapter 20: Stars and Snow 2
Chapter 21: Stars and Sea
Chapter 22: Streets of Seaddle
Chapter 23: Illusions and Pirates 1
Chapter 24: Illusions and Pirates 2
Chapter 26: The GGG 1
Chapter 27: The GGG 2
Chapter 28: The GGG 3
Chapter 29: The GGG 4
Chapter 30: The GGG 5
Chapter 31: Grand Galloping Aftermath
Chapter 32: Donation
Chapter 33: License to Prince 1
Chapter 34: License to Prince 2
Chapter 35: License to Star
Chapter 36: Nightmare Stars 1
Chapter 37: Nightmare Stars 2
Chapter 38: Nightmare Stars 3
Chapter 39: Nightmare Stars 4
Chapter 40: Nightmare Stars 5
Chapter 41: Nightmare Stars 6
Chapter 42: Nightmare Stars 7
Chapter 43: Nightmare Stars 8
Chapter 44: Dreaming Stars
Chapter 45: Luna Eclipsed 1
Chapter 46: Luna Eclipsed 2
Chapter 47: Job Interviews
Chapter 48: Last Minute Preperations
Chapter 49: Business Trip 1
Chapter 50: Cosmos Bizzare Adventure (Bonus)
Chapter 51: Business Trip 2
Chapter 52: Business Trip 3
Chapter 53: Business Trip 4
Chapter 54: Business Trip 5
Chapter 55: Business Pit-Stop
Chapter 57: Of Diamonds and Stars 2
Chapter 58: Of Diamonds and Stars 3
Chapter 59: Of Diamonds and Stars 4
Chapter 60: Of Diamonds and Stars 5
Chapter 61: Of Diamonds and Stars 6
Chapter 62: Of Diamonds and Stars 7
Chapter 63: Of Diamonds and Platinum
Chapter 65: Bitter and Elite 2
Chapter 66: Bitter and Elite 3
Chapter 67: Elite and Sweet
Chapter 68: Sugar and Snow 1
Chapter 69: Sugar and Snow 2
Chapter 70: Sugar and Snow 3
Chapter 71: Spice and Ice
Chapter 73: Hearth's Warming Eve 2
Chapter 74: Hearth's Warming Day
Chapter 75: An Uneventful Day
Chapter 76: Pavane for a Dead Prince (Bonus)
Chapter 77: A Joke of a Visit 1
Chapter 78: A Joke of a Visit 2
Chapter 79: A Joke of a Visit 3
Chapter 80: Star vs Moon
Chapter 81: Escape to Canterlot 1
Chapter 82: Escape to Canterlot 2
Chapter 83: Escape from Canterlot
Chapter 84: Hearts and Hooves
Chapter 85: Great Big Woods 1
Chapter 86: Great Big Woods 2
Chapter 88: Great Big Woods 4
Chapter 89: Great Big Woods 5
Chapter 90: Great Big Everfree
Chapter 91: Alberich (Bonus)
Chapter 92: Hagen (Bonus)
Chapter 93: The One About Side Characters
Chapter 94: It's About Time 1
Chapter 95: It's About Time 2
Chapter 96: It's About Time 3
Chapter 97: It's About Time 4
Chapter 98: It's About Time 5
Chapter 99: It's About Time 6
Chapter 100: It's About Time 7
Chapter 101: It's Time to Relax
Chapter 102: The Harmony Awards (Bonus)
Chapter 103: Time Off 1
Chapter 105: Time Off 3
Chapter 106: Time Off 4
Chapter 107: Time Off 5
Chapter 108: On Time
Chapter 109: The Princess is in Captivity and No Longer Dead
Chapter 110: A Canterlot Wedding 1
Chapter 111: A Canterlot Wedding 2
Chapter 112: A Canterlot Wedding 3
Chapter 113: A Canterlot Wedding 4
Chapter 114: A Canterlot Wedding 5
Chapter 115: A Canterlot Wedding 6
Chapter 116: The Royal Wedding
Chapter 117: Spooky Scary Shadows (Bonus)
Chapter 118: The Shifting Snow
Chapter 120: The Crystal Empire 2
Chapter 121: The Crystal Empire 3
Chapter 122: The Crystal Empire 4
Chapter 123: The Crystal Empire 5
Chapter 124: The Crystal Empire 6
Chapter 125: The Crystal Empire 7
Chapter 126: The Crystal Empire 8
Chapter 127: The Crystal Empire 9
Chapter 128: The Empire of Love
Chapter 131: Moonlight Escapade 2
Chapter 132: Dreamers Escapade
Chapter 1
Chapter 6: Kitchen Nightmare 1
Chapter 25: A Gala isn't a simple Party
Chapter 56: Of Diamonds and Stars 1
Chapter 64: Bitter and Elite 1
Chapter 72: Hearth's Warming Eve 1
Chapter 87: Great Big Woods 3
Chapter 104: Time Off 2
Chapter 119: The Crystal Empire 1
Chapter 129: Gunther (Bonus)
Chapter 130: Moonlight Escapade 1

Chapter 2

"So, Blueblood," Celestia began, the two of us were currently sitting at a lovely little table just outside the castle, the garden was lovely, clearly well kept.

"What book were you looking forward to reading?" She asked before floating an entire slice of french- excuse me, I mean Prench Cheese-cake into her mouth and ate it all in one bite.

"I was looking forward to reading a law book," I told her truthfully, gently cutting off a corner from my slice of cake and lifting it with a floating spoon.

"A Law book? Why would you need to read that? Oh! Don't tell me!" Celestia said in shock, her two front legs holding the sides of her face as if she was recreating an image of someone screaming.
But, why would she be shocked? Did she figure out that I'm not actually Blueblood? What happened to Blueblood anyway?

"Are you a practicing lawyer?! I always knew you wanted to do something important in your life that wasn't just hanging around with all those rich friends of yours." Celestia guessed incorrectly, why would I want to be a lawyer? I just want to know what I can legally do as a prince, and how far my title and authority can go.

I'll be careful not to break her guess though, Celestia seems to be in a good mood compared to the Prince's memories.

"Ahaha, Well, You know me, always trying to move forward," Wait that doesn't sound that Blueblood-y, "Right?" That's more like it.

"And I am so very proud of you," Celestia spoke before picking up another slice of cake, casting the conversation into an awkward silence.
At least It was awkward for me, Quick! Change of topic!

"And what about you, Auntie? You seem to be in a chipper mood today. Has something good happened?" I ask, taking another bite of my cake.
It's surprisingly good.

Celestia finished her slice before slumping into her chair, "So much has happened recently Blueblood, My sister is back, the new Elements of Harmony have been picked, and I still keep getting letters about The Grand Galloping Gala. But none of those matter because my sister is back, and soon she will be back to her normal self, and no longer bedridden. How could I not be at least happy for that?"

Half of those words meant nothing to me. The Grand Galloping Gala is some rich people's party, you get the tickets a year in advance so it's really exclusive, I know about that.
Elements of Harmony are some magical doodads that when combined with some doohicky or another make a thingamajig that does something, magical Gadgets and gizmos, I think?
But Celestia has a sister? The Prince didn't pay enough attention in his talks to remember such a thing.

"Tell me more about your sister, it seems to cheer you up. I just hope I myself wouldn't need to call her Auntie as well, that would seem mighty awkward seeing as we haven't ever met." I say, and Celestia immediately perks up.

"You want to know more about Luna?" She smiled and closed her eyes, reminiscing on the past, "Very well, I shall tell you about my dearest sister."

And so my new Aunt spoke about her sister who was banished to the moon for one-thousand years.

It was interesting at first, but after she started getting into the nitty gritty I lost most of my interest.

Why should I care that Luna wore a yellow dress to the wedding of some Minotaur they knew, Oh the Minotaur hated the color yellow and specifically asked for nobody to wear it? How interesting.

Truly, my mind is aflame with curiosity and intrigue.
I really do not care.

"Oh, why don't we go and visit her right now then?" I quickly change the topic, If only to get Celestia to stop telling such a Grandma's story.

"Are you sure?" She asks, "I can tell the guard at the Library to give you entry whenever you want, I notice that the story wasn't that interesting to you." She said, and I quickly came up with an excuse to not look like an asshole for making her stop telling the stories.

"I would be thankful for the library pass, yes. But I want to spend more time with my favorite family member even more." There, now she should know that just because her stories got really boring really fast, it does not mean that my excuse to stop listening is because I dislike hanging out with her.

I'm not going to call her an Old Hag, she could probably twist my body like a pretzel.
And not in the kinky kind, that would just be weird.
I mean in the painful kind where your bones are snapped.

*Sniff*

Wait, is she crying?

*Sniff*

Oh no, please don't cry, Blueblood doesn't know how to handle crying people, and neither do I!

Celestia wiped the tears from her eyes before pulling me into a bone-crushing hug, something that was even more painful on account of the table between us and the cheesecake that is now squishing into our fur.

"You said I'm your favorite *Sniff*" She whispered as he hugged me. I can't really rebuke her on that, Blueblood doesn't really have family other than Celestia, seeing as he was adopted because of being related to the bloodline of one of the founders of the nation, making him a very distant relative to Celestia, and also a Prince by technicality.

"Yeah... I mean, Ahem! Of course you are! You are my dear Auntie Celestia, It would be preposterous for me to not love you!"

"I love you too," She said before letting go of the hug, "Now, let me introduce you to my sister."

The two of us left the table, a maid was waiting nearby to clean after us, and we went in the direction of one of the spires of the castle.

Lying in her bed, under a heavy blanket, in a room of purple and black, with the windows closed and the drapes down, Luna sneezed.

"We hope that next Celestia visits us, she will bring this treasure called 'The Milk Shake', But sometimes fate deals us an unfair hand in-" "Lulu, come meet your new best friend!"

Luna groaned and sunk deeper into her bed.

Author's Note

As some of you may know, my story chapters are ususally 1k words in length, something that will work well in this Slice-of-Life Comedy.

Please comment what you thought so far.

Celestia really just wants a family :trollestia: and all she has are a bedridden sister who was gone for 1000 years, a nephew who barely hangs out with her, and a niece that is desperately trying to hide the fact she's dating the captain of the guard.

But hey, We cant choose our family, can we? I mean, expect in adoption, which is two out of three members of the family (Excluding Celly herself), and Cadance also still has living parents, so they kind of count as part of the family?
Twilight Sparkle kind of also, but you can't really count it until she becomes an Alicorn.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed :)

EDIT: I can't believe this story got featured only two hours after publishing, I think that's a new record for me.
57 upvotes in 12 hours? amazing.
Thank you all so much :)

I saw some complaints about the beginning of the story feeling rushed, I understand that. We will get into the character of the person who took over the Prince's body in a future chapter, seeing as I thought of the premise of this story in an afternoon and I don't want to disappoint you by giving you all the juicy details in the first 2k words.
But, for those of you who read "The Greatest Estate Developer" You might have a guess as to how he might act when independent of the Blueblood Act.

Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 3

Luna was sick and tired.
Literally so.

For more than a month she was bedridden, her magic rapidly increasing in power as her body tried to return to its original form.
Not this younger body she was trapped in, but her true form as an Alicorn Princess.

"And when he saw his first Griffon he was so scared, he thought it was going to eat him. But there was no need to worry, I calmed him down and taught him that griffons are people just like ponies are," However It doesn't help that Celestia was doing just above the bare minimum in making her time easier.

"I am sure that story does not interest a lady of such high esteem as Princess Luna, Auntie, Perhaps we should change the topic to something less... personal?" And then there was Prince Blueblood.

Luna didn't know what to think about the stallion, Adopted by her sister at a young age, claimed to be the last heir of the line of Platinum, and was obviously uncomfortable with talking about himself.

"For example, Your Highness, what are your favorite foods? We might be able to find a topic of discussion if we explore your culinary preferences, yes?" He also seemed to enjoy changing topics, already on his fourth change of topic.

"Bluey, I'm sure Lulu wouldn't mind if you drop the title, We're all a family here, aren't we?" Celestia said before she looked Luna straight in the eyes. Most likely preparing her ultimate technique from two thousand years ago, the secret ability of hers that would make even the strongest of wizards bend to their knees in compliance.

And as Celestia's pupils widened and her eyes started to wet, Luna knew that she was doomed to the horrible fate of agreeing with her sister's demand.

Because not even Starswirtl the Bearded was immune to her "Puppy Dog Eyes"

"Fine," Luna rasped out, "You can simply call me Luna, but only in private, I have an image to maintain." She told the Prince.

"Pfff, Image to maintain," Celestia murmured to herself, her childish side clearly taking over as her prim and proper persona fell long before she entered her room.
Luna decided to ignore her sister, if only to protect her sanity.

And as all this went down, in the corner of her eye, Luna saw Blueblood head toward one of the windows and open the blinds.

And the rays of the setting sun invaded her room like an angry bull on a rampage in the middle of a bazaar, and Luna could do nothing but hiss as the darkness that she loved so much was taken away from her.

Looking at his hoof after opening the window, she could see Blueblood grimace and wipe it on his leg.
"This room is filled with dust, when was the last time someone came and cleaned it?" He asked as he turned back to look at the two, millennia-old siblings.

"I haven't had someone clean this room since Luna was bedridden, and it has been almost a month since," Celestia told him, and Luna couldn't help but grow worried at the direction of this talk

"Someone will need to clean this room, tomorrow preferably. We can move Luna into one of the guest rooms for the day and return her when the cleaning is complete," he said, levitating a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping it on a small lamp above the dresser.

The purple lampshade turned pink as a thick layer of dust was wiped off, revealing the true color underneath.
Even Blueblood seemed surprised by how much dust was on it, and suddenly, Luna felt that maybe getting someone to clean the room would not be such a bad idea.

"You know," Celestia began to stand up from her position next to Luna's bed, "You have a point," Luna couldn't help but agree with her sister's sentiment on the matter.

"Why don't you show Luna around the castle grounds tomorrow while her room is being cleaned," And now Luna had to disagree.

"That's a terrible idea, Auntie, Luna is obviously unhealthy, moving around the castle would do her no good, it could even worsen her condition," Luna had to agree with Blueblood on that matter, she could barely talk, let alone stand upright long enough to walk.

"I know it would not be easy," Celestia began, "That is why I have already prepared a wheelchair and snacks for tomorrow," Celestia smiled before turning toward the door to Luna's room.

"And do not worry Lulu, I planned everything from the start," And with that, Celestia took her leave. Leaving Luna and Blueblood to watch in astonishment at how the most powerful pony in the world just strong-armed them to hang out for a day.

"She planned this from the start?" Luna heard Blueblood whisper to himself, and when she turned to see his reaction, she was surprised to see a smile filled with excitement, "How cunning, Celestia, But two could play at that game," He turned his head to look at Luna, and she almost shivered at the large grin on his face.

"Princess Luna, what do you think of getting back at my dear Aunt for setting this up? I would like to hear your thoughts before planning anything," and as Luna looked into his eyes, she started to smile.

Her cunning sister could play the goofy pony all she wants, but she can also be cunning if she wanted to.

She was a Princess as well, after all.

"I think, Prince Blueblood, that if everything goes well tomorrow," She said, "It will be the start of a beautiful friendship,"

"If that is the case, I will be looking forward to planning with you," He said and left her room, Leaving Luna alone with her thought.

"Oh, Right, Would you prefer Mushroom or Pea soup?" Until he returned less than a minute later and asked her what she wanted for dinner.

Yes, Luna was sure that Blueblood and her would get along, wonderfully.

"And would you like tea or juice with it?"

Very Wonderfully.

"The options for the tea are-" "I would like Mushroom soup and a pitcher of cold tea,"

"I see, I will go and tell the chefs immediately," He once more turned away.

"Blueblood," Luna rasped out to him, making sure he listens carefully to her next words.

"Tell Celestia to get pink cake for tomorrow, she'll know what we speak of,"

Blueblood nodded to show that he heard her, before turning back to the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot," She called out once again, stopping him in his tracks.

"Yes Princess Luna, what is it that you almost forgot?" He asked, subtly gritting his teeth and once again being called.

"Could you kindly bring me a story to read?" She asked of him, and he gave her a tired smile.

"I'll be sure to tell a maid to bring you a book, now if there's nothing else, I also happened to have matters to attend to before Celestia whisked me away, Have a good night," And he was once again on his way to leaving her room.

Luna couldn't help but smile as the Stallion tried hiding his unwillingness to serve but decided to end her toying with him there. She only met the Unicorn, after all, and she wouldn't want the first impression of her new "family" to be an overly negative one, even if it was in a dusty and dark room.

But whatever Blueblood may think of her, She was sure that tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

"Now," She whispered to herself as she leaned back into her bed, "How shall we hatch this cunning plot on my dear sister, Mayhaps we shall replace her hygiene products with Poison Joke, hmm, But how shall we get the flowers? Maybe we shall-"

And so Luna spent the rest of her time until and after dinner thinking of ways to get back at her sister for putting her in a dusty room for a month just so she would spend time with her Nephew.

Classic Celestia.

Author's Note

That cunning princess! Celestia planned it all from the start!
The cakes, The boring story, giving Luna Persimmon on her fruit platter, and not cleaning her room for almost a month!
It was all part of her masterful plot to get Blueblood to hang out with her sister!
That devious devil, She played them all like a fiddle!

Anyway, this chapter was from Luna's POV, obviously.

If any of you are wondering where in the timeline this takes place, then this first day of the story takes place during the episode "Green Isn't your Color", Towards the end of season 1.

Also, I once again want to tell you that the average length of my chapters is between 1k and 2k words, don't expect some 3k or 4k word chapters anytime soon.
These chapters are nice and short, just like how I like my ~~women~~ Chapters!

I'm still amazed at how fast this story 100 likes.

on an unrelated note, I noticed that one of my other stories was in the popular section today (When I'm writing this) and just wanted to say that it's cool.

I really like how all of my active stories managed to make it to feature sometime during their lifetime, It's nice to see so many people enjoying them despite the non-existent upload schedule :)

Hope you all enjoy future chapters :)

Chapter 4

Leaving Luna's room and passing her orders to a maid, I made my way back to the Prince's room.

"She already prepared a wheelchair and snacks," I said to myself as my mind went back to the Alicorn princess of the day.

"She knew that Blueblood would suggest moving such an Esteemed person as Princess Luna to a clean room and have someone clean all the dust," I smiled at the thought of living with such a cunning person as an "Auntie"

Truly, a politician's worst nightmare.

"However, While I may not be able to play you like a fiddle on account of my own memory of your personality dating back only a year, I will simply have to do what Blueblood would do with any other such guest, and crank it up to twelve," My sharp grin subdued in its intensity as I thought of what to do.

And I already have a plan in mind, inviting Luna to join was merely an act of kindness.

In truth, my goal is to live a rich and relaxing life until I'm old, for is that not the dream of every orphan from the streets?

If I wish to live such a rich and relaxing life, as Prince Blueblood no less, then I will simply need to show dear old Celestia why "I" deserve the money and authority given to me as a "Prince", using my knowledge of the modern world, I will invest in the correct facilities and business to ensure that the money will keep coming on the off-chance that I am banished from the castle and lose my title.

With that steady supply of money, I would not need to worry about hounding Celestia for bits, making it a Win-Win.

I will receive my money, and she will think that the Prince has matured.

and the first step in that plan is to showcase to her that I should not be relegated to some background job, I can do more than simply wine and dine with the rich and elite.

And when I get more power in the castle, I will get more money, and with that comes more power which leads to more money.

Yes, my new life in this world will truly be "Exquisite"

It was early in the morning, before the sun started its ascent over the horizon, when Celestia woke Luna up.

"I assure you, dear Sister, you will love it today, Blueblood even came and asked me permission to buy you a gift," Celestia told her as she gently levitated her weak sister off her bed and into the wheelchair.

"'A Princess must have the best of the best, even if just for a day' He said, I'm sure he'll bring the best chefs from the city just to show you the wonders of this new age, He's over-the-top like that sometimes. I remember, back when he was still going to his magic school, that-" Luna closed her ears to Celestia's nostalgic ramblings for the nth time, content to simply let the sound roll off of her and into the distance, enjoying the tranquility of the morning.

A tranquility that was interrupted by the hurried steps of servants all around the castle as they moved about carrying letters, documents, and even a large block of ice.

"What is going on?" Luna rasped, bringing her sister away from her nostalgic story of how Blueblood found the keys to the castle after they went missing, and how that was how he got his cutie mark.

"Let me ask, Excuse me, Marigold?" Celestia stopped and grabbed the attention of one of the passing maids, "What is going on?"

"Oh, Princess Celestia, I'm sorry I didn't see you there, everybody is busy fulfilling the requests that Prince Blueblood left on the Chief of Staff's table this morning, he gave very specific instructions to not tell you about what he's planning, but If you ask I can't say no, Ma'am." The maid answered as she pulled a bunch of documents closer to her chest, away from the princess's prying eyes.

Nodding in understanding, Celestia responded with a relaxed and warm smile, the same one she holds in her public outings.

"There is no need to tell me, I am sure that whatever Blueblood is planning, he wants to keep as a surprise. When you're done, could you please tell Raven to get someone to clean Princess Luna's room," Celestia told her before returning to her sister in the wheelchair.

"I'm sure he's just excited to show you what the castle has to offer, I need to open day court soon, so I'll leave you in the gardens where the snacks are ready, I'll tell Blueblood to find you there and then you two can have as much fun as you want, I'll be back by five," Celestia told Luna as she wheeled her towards the outdoor table where she ate the cheese caked a day prior.

"And if anything is bothering you, Tell one of the servants," She told her as she parked her near the table overlooking a nice and open section of the gardens, before leaving her there and returning to her royal duties for the first time in more than a day.

Leaving Luna alone to wait for Prince Blueblood to show her around the castle.

But it wasn't all bad waiting at the table, "At least she hast given us the Chips of Potatoes," Luna smiled and levitated a chip into her mouth.

Maybe she could get used to this new modern era.

"What is that?" I asked as I looked at the block of ice that was wheeled in front of me, "I explicitly asked for a black ice sculpture, what I'm looking at is not black ice, is it?" I ask the servant who brought the ice for the sculpture.

"Your Highness, we don't have black ice in the castle, the mo-" I interrupt the pony trying to give me the most useless excuse.

"Do we have black ink in the castle?" I ask him, prompting him to stop and think for a moment before he nodded.
"And we have a quick way to freeze water into an ice block, right?" I ask slowly, as If I am talking to a toddler, the pony nods slowly, likely already seeing where this is going.

"Then what was stopping you from making the water black, and then freezing it?" I ask rhetorically.

"Your Highness, we didn't think of-"
"I didn't ask you to think, Did I?" God I love being a Prince, "I asked for a black Ice Sculpture, and for that, I need black ice. This ice is not black, is it?"

"The Ice isn't black sir, no," He bowed his head and shivered, Likely afraid that I will fire him or something worse. From what I saw Blueblood isn't the kindest pony when he's away from Celestia.

But damn if it isn't a pain to have to explain to these ponies how to do a simple job without them starting to tremble in fear. Something is gonna have to change about that soon.

But that is a problem for future BB, I have my own problem.

"Then go ahead, and get me that black ice," I tell the servant, who keeps trembling instead of doing what I told him to. "Any day now, In the next ten minutes would be preferable," I tell him in a firm tone and he runs away back into the castle, hopefully to do his job correctly this time.

"Now," I whisper to myself, "What will I do with you?" Looking at the giant block of ice.

And as I thought of what to do with the Ice block, Someone called out to me, "Your Highness! Your Highness!" And so I turned to address them.

"Your Highness, Princess Luna is waiting for you at the fourth garden," An Earth-pony maid told me before she started greedily breathing air and wiping her brow after running all the way here.

"Very well, I will be there soon," I tell the maid who smiled at fulfilling her objective, her legs shaking from the workout of running all the way to where she was.
"Meanwhile, I have a new job for you," I told her and couldn't hold back the smirk that emerged when she paused her heavy breathing and tried to straighten up.

"I want this ice block to be sculpted into a dove, you have two hours to do so," I told her and she stammered for a moment before replying.

"But your Highness, I don't know how to sculpt," She said, and I smiled calmly at her, enjoying how her face seemed to relax simply by me changing my expression.

"Then Find someone who can, I want a single dove, I do not want any other animals or creatures on this sculpture other than that one dove," I told her and she looked at the large block of ice.

"But your Highness, that ice can make three, no, maybe four doves, why only one?" That was a good question, and I saw fit to tell her that.

"That is a good question, I'm glad your question wasn't something wasteful like 'Why not sculpt a different bird' or 'Why do you need an Ice sculpture', and for that, I will answer you," I said as I turned to look at my face reflected in the ice sculpture, or more correctly the face of Prince Blueblood.

"I want only a single dove simply because that is what I want," I explained to her while keeping my eyes on my reflection, "There is no poetic meaning, there is no hate for an animal that isn't a dove, there is no hidden message with there being only one dove instead of many." And then I looked into her eyes and smiled a Prince's smile.

"I want a single dove simply because I want a single dove, and that is all there is to it," And with those parting words of Princely wisdom, I started my walk towards the meeting place with Princess Luna, leaving the large block of not-black ice to the servants to take care of.

"I hope I won't need to interfere with the other requests I gave them," I thought to myself as I briskly walked in the direction of the fourth garden, and a genuine smile spread on my face, which only grew in size when I heard the maid sigh in exhaustion so early in the morning.

I love being rich.

Author's Note

Blueblood, or MCblood, is as some of you might have guessed, a prick.

Many of the Human turns into Blueblood fics I read on this site make the human who turned into Blueblood such a different character than the Original BB that the only qualities that remain between the two at the end is that they're both Prince's and they're both called Blueblood.

So as you saw, while this Blueblood might play nice when he's with Celestia or Luna, but he's also not a saint that sings for puppies and runs a charity for orphans, this Blueblood is still a prick, A way lesser prick than the original BB that has some redeemable qualities, but still a prick nonetheless.

I'm also still Amazed at how fast this story grew, in three days this managed to reach a third of my biggest story here, which has 17 chapters and was worked on for almost a year.

I worked on this BB story for three days, I thought of the concept and some plot points in an afternoon, this was simply going to be a little side project that will be updated between "How I started a War," and "Replica,"

I really didn't think this will get this big so fast.

You all rock!

Thank you for reading this chapter, hope you enjoy the adventures of Captain Rich-Pants.

Chapter 5

Luna didn't know how long she waited at that table, eating those snacks, and listening to the buzz of insects in the garden.
And she was fine with it, she was tranquil.

Sure, she would much rather be in a dark room with the blinds closed, reading a book about two stallions who went on a quest to save a friend of theirs from the clutches of an evil wizard, The action was mesmerizing and the story was dramatic and catching.

It's not Homoerotic Smut, she promises.

"Princess Luna, I apologize for my late arrival," And now the tranquility of the morning was gone, replaced with the white unicorn prince, standing next to the other chair of her table.

"You do not need out permission to seat yourself, Blueblood. You are just as royal as we are," She told him, and Blueblood took his seat at the other side of the table.

Unfortunately, thanks to her current short stature, combined with the fact that the wheelchair that Celestia has given her was shorter than the other chairs at the table, Princess Luna was forced to crane her neck upwards in order to look the prince in the eyes.

"Just a moment," He spoke before moving his chair to sit diagonally from the Princess, no longer forcing her to look over the table to see his face.

"That is better, thank you," She spoke, and Blueblood smiled.

"No problem Luna," He said as he levitated himself a biscuit and dipped it in a bowl of cream cheese.

She will have to try that sometime.

"But if I could, I would like to start off this day of ours with a small feast," He smiled to himself before clapping his hoofs twice, which seemed to be a signal for a group of maids to hurry over and bring with them another table, one that was thankfully shorter than where she was currently sat and was covered with an assortment of breakfast foods.

"Thank you, kindly," He told the maid as soon as the new table was set before them, they nodded their heads and quickly entered back into the castle, hurrying off to do another task.

It would seem that even after one-thousand years, Maids still worked hard at the most menial tasks.

Wheeling herself closer to the new table, leaving the snack behind, Luna got a better look at the food presented to her.

From fried eggs and omelets to pies and salads, the table was covered in food that would be vastly expensive for her to eat back when she still ruled.

"Agriculture and farming have progressed vastly during the centuries you were gone," Blueblood said once he spotted her expression, already cutting into the breakfast pie and placing a slice on his plate, "What was once an expensive delicacy can now be found at almost any household... Within reason, of course,"

Luna couldn't help but nod as she herself placed a large omelet with vegetables and mushrooms on her plate before pouring herself a glass of what seemed like orange juice.
"No! it wasn't Orange juice," Luna quickly corrected herself after she took a sip.

It was carrot juice!

"How?" She whispered, questioning how one could juice a carrot enough to fill a pitcher of juice, something which Blueblood clearly misunderstood as he started a short history lesson about the changes made to the farming of animals in the past 400 years, something he seemed to know a lot about.
Surprising from a prince who has lived it.

"Ah, I can see that you are questioning my knowledge, I assure you that I am not as, how shall I say this? Stupid, As I might seem at first glance," He told her with a small smile growing on his lips as he ate the unique breakfast.

"We did not question your intelligence, Blueblood, Merely surprised as to a prince knowing something that as you have portrayed seemed inconsequential," Luna told him, a small smile growing on her face as well as she took another sip of her orange juice.

"Ah, I apologize if that was the case, The other members of this city's elite seem to think that merely because my wealth comes from a blood connection, my intelligence must be that of a worm and my subtlety that of a brick," He took another bite and his smile grew three sizes, showcasing his clean white teeth., "Oh, how mistaken they are,"

And if Luna was questioning what the friendship between her and her sister's nephew was going to be like, Luna was now sure that it would be wonderful.

Oh how she loved to play with the high society of her old castle town, thinking that simply her being the younger sister, who has less social interaction with the masses, she must be easy to manipulate and control.

And then Luna frowned as she thought about what she did to those same nobles under the control of Nightmare Moon.

The rest of the meal went by with a subdued and awkward tone.

Shining armor was many things, He was strong, he was protective, he was the captain of the royal guard, he was charismatic, he was the brother of both Princess Celestia's pupil and a Dragon, and he was also dating a princess.

What he was not, however, was great at improvising.

So when Prince Blueblood entered his office while wheeling around Princess Luna in a wheelchair, he didn't know what to do.

Was he supposed to kick him out? Was he supposed to invite him to stay? Was he supposed to ignore him and continue doing whatever he was doing beforehand? he didn't know.

Shining Armor counted himself as one of the few ponies working at Canterlot Castle who never had to interact with Prince Blueblood, seeing as their schedules and personalities were so drastically different, that even when they were in the same room, their interactions were minimal.

That does not however mean that Shining Armor did not know of the rumors surrounding Prince Blueblood and his acts. Calling him selfish would be an understatement.

Knowing not what to do, Shining Armor was forced to settle on the first course of action that entered his mind.

"Your Highness, I do-" Only for whatever words he was planning on telling the prince to be cut off as Blueblood pointed at him and nodded to Princess Luna.

"This is Metal Shield, He's the chief of security here, If anypony manages to sneak into the castle he will take the punishment for failing at his job, Now! Off to the room with the stars on the roof, Observatorium, or whichever name they chose for it." And with a few words, a giggle from the princess, and a loop of the wheelchair on his carpet, The two royals left.

Leaving not only the office but leaving the carpet with tracks from a wheelchair and leaving a confused expression on Shining Armor's face.

"...My name isn't Metal Shield," He mumbled to himself as he sank into his chair, looking at his hooves in bewilderment.

"He doesn't know my name..."

After a number of long hours of being wheeled around the castle and being shown its more important rooms, From Metal Shield's office, to the balcony overlooking the entrance to the castle, and even the statue garden, where she spotted an old enemy still stuck in his stony prison.

"It is nice to see that even with Nightmare Moon and all the years we were away, Discord is still imprisoned in his stone cage." She thought to herself, a small smile on her face as she leaned back into her wheelchair, content to let the prince take her around.

"And now, the room I saved specifically for last, The Ballroom," And with a telekinetic push, the doors in front of her opened up to showcase a beautiful sight.

A large ice sculpture, made of black ice, sculpted into the shape of a gorgeous swan-like creature, A Unicorn horn was emerging from the bird's forehead, and an image of a moon and star was carved into its breast.
Beside the black Unicorn Swan, was another large sculpture, one made of regular ice depicting a white dove, also with a unicorn horn and the image of a sun on its breast.

"Those are..." She whispered in awe as she looked at the two birds made of ice, "Celestia and Us,"

She heard Blueblood nod behind her, "It was supposed to only be the Moon Swan, seeing as this was your tour, but we had another block of ice to use, so I ordered a dove. Although I did not expect them to catch on to the theme and make it a Sun Dove, A happy coincidence it seems," Blueblood wheeled her over to a table in front of the two statues, one filled with more food. Mostly fruits and sweets it seems, but it mattered not to Luna what was served to her.

Because as she looked at the large black Swan of ice, she couldn't help but reaffirm to herself, That this new modern time she lived in wouldn't be so bad if she could keep being with her family and eating this expensive food, reading her captivating books, and hanging out with her Sister and Blueblood.

Her Friends.

"Are you crying? Oh dear me, please don't say that I did something wrong, is the statue not to your liking? Is it the fruit? I could get replacements immediately if you wish," Blueblood stammered out quickly, confusing Luna as to why he was acting so before she felt a droplet land on her leg, soon followed by another and another.

She was crying.

And Princess Luna couldn't help but smile joyfully as the tears rolled down her cheeks, as for the first time since she returned, it hit her.

She was no longer on the moon, She was no longer controlled by that nightmare, she was back with her dear Sister.

She was free, and so she cried.

And as she cried, her short light azure hair burst to life like ten thousand stars in the night sky, Her blue fur darkened to the color of the evening sky, and her body grew in size, breaking the wheelchair she was sitting in during the process.

And as she lay on the floor of the Hall, in the wreckage of her wheelchair, Luna could not stop smiling and crying.

Princess Luna of The Night was back.

It was the end of the day, Princess Celestia just finished reading the friendship report her dear student Twilight sent her, and she was on her to meet up with her dear Sister and Nephew.

"Hahahaha, We are free!" She heard her sister's joyous laughter, her cheerful voice echoing across the castle.

Princess Celestia smiled, she knew letting Blueblood take care of her for the day would be a positive thing for her.

"Ah, Yes, You indeed are free, Though I do not believe you were forbidden from leaving the castle previously, were you?" And her smile only grew when she heard her dear Nephew trying in vain to understand the joy her sister was feeling.

And if Celestia had her way with the world, No pony will ever need to be put in a situation where they would need to feel such intense joy and happiness, least of all her own family.

And as Celestia entered the large ballroom, where in a month the Grand Galloping Gala will take place, she was nearly taken aback by the sight that was happening before her.

Two large ice sculptures, an untouched table with sweets and fruit, and a dark blue princess rolling on the floor with tears of joy in her eyes, her night sky hair leaving traces of stars and moonlight as it floated mistily behind her, powered by the magic that grew over centuries of life.

Celestia gently closed the door to the ballroom and went in a different direction, Her sister needed some time to readjust herself to her old body, and Celestia would not want to ruin her time- she paused as she felt a familiar grab of magic pull at her.

She quickly turned back to the ballroom and strode inside, in the direction of the magic.

Her nephew's horn dimmed as he saw her enter and the weak telekinetic grasp let go.

"Sister!" Luna yelled and threw herself onto Celestia, her melodic giggles filling the room, "We are free Celestia! We are finally free, How wonderful!" her horn glowed and Blueblood stumbled into her, joining in the impromptu group hug.

Celestia smiled, Her sister laughed, and her nephew tried to hide his smile underneath a grimace and a roll of the eyes.
It wasn't perfect, it might have been disjointed, they might not have similar hobbies, and Cadance might not have been there at that very moment, but the ponies who were hugging her were definitely, without any question or doubt.

Her Family

Author's Note

And Voila!

The first arc is finished!
Luna has transformed from season 1 Luna to the Luna we all know and love from the other seasons.
Celestia is happy that her new family is getting along well with her old family.
Shining Armor made his introductory appearance.
Blueblood is trying his hardest to act like Blueblood without the negatives of being Blueblood.

And Twilight Sparkle just learned that being a good friend means being able to keep a secret. But you should never be afraid of sharing your true feelings with a good friend.

I will be taking a short hiatus from this to go and work on my Wattpad stories, I wrote these first five chapters in three days and I want to stop before I lose my interest.

Thank you all for enjoying this story :)

Hopefully, I'll be back soon :)

In the meantime, why not read My Storm King story? It's also very comedic and has a style closer to Overlord and Eminence in Shadow if you enjoy those shows.

Thank you for reading :)

Edit: This story has been on the featured page since the first chapter came out and is still there when I'm writing this note.
That's amazing, thank you!

PS- Two chapters in one day? That's very nice of me, don't you think that's nice of me? Look at how nice I am! Do not ignore my generosity peasants! Am I not nice?! You can each repay me by up-voting this story and commenting on what over-the-top displays of wealth Blueblood might do in future chapters
(I am serious, I am not pompous enough to think of enough high-class displays of wealth to fill this story, I have a few that I want to write but I will really enjoy getting your thoughts and ideas, PM me if you have a suggestion, if not just leave a regular comment like everybody else)

Chapter 7: Kitchen Nightmare 2

I closed the book on Nautical History and placed it on the corner of the table I sat at, I started tapping my foot and leaned forward onto the table, resting my head in my arms in the process.

"Where is my food?"

The Kitchen Staff weren't having a good time.

"Chef! Princess Celestia just ordered four meals of exactly what Blueblood asked!" One of the cooks ran in to inform the head chef, who couldn't help but sigh in despair as he looked at the ever-shrinking supply of Quail eggs.

"Why couldn't he just ask for normal Chicken eggs?" He asked himself as he thought back to the stallion that made this day the hardest workday of his life, Which is really saying something considering he had to cook for royal diplomats and Griffon guests.

He didn't know that some ponies ate meat at that time. Now he does.

"Get more Eggs!" He yelled to the cook in charge of stocking the kitchen before he threw a shiny golden card at him, "Go straight to a Quail farm if you must! Just get me those eggs!"

And with the cook running out of the kitchen on his sacred mission of acquiring more Quail eggs, the Head Chef turned back to the loud kitchen, grabbed a sharp knife, and started cutting the cabbages like a machine.

That Coleslaw wasn't going to make itself.

Raven Inkwell was an interesting figure to see in the castle.
She was the royal secretary, making her Princess Celestia's right hoof pony and her number 1 assistant.

But other than working as the Solar Princess's right hoof mare, not much was known about Raven Inkwell among the rest of the staff of the castle, seeing as she barely talked with the rest of the staff unless it was to deliver an important message.

And that enigmatic existence that Raven Inkwell had in the castle, led to a not insignificant amount of rumors to start about her.

Some rumors said that she was a vampire who never left the castle, others said that she was actually a descendant of one of the Earth Pony founders of the nation.
One preposterous rumor said that she was the secret lover of Princess Celestia, which in return started a rumor that she was actually the secret lover of Prince Blueblood instead, which further devolved into far more outrageous and simply slanderous rumors.

Enough so that the sightings of Raven Inkwell around Canterlot Castle stopped almost entirely, making her elusive existence in the castle much more mysterious, and prompted Princess Celestia to punish those who spread those false and harmful rumors about the White Earth Pony.

But the truth of the matter is...

Raven Inkwell isn't good at social interactions.

That was it. Ponies rarely spoke with Raven because she wasn't good at speaking with strangers. There was no deeper meaning.

And where did she go after the hurtful rumors spread about her?

Did she leave the castle? Quit her job and moved elsewhere? Did she truly become a vampire or a ghost and trapped herself it the deepest darkest corners of the castle?

No, She simply started using the hidden passageways of the castle to move around quicker.

Moving inside the walls of the castle was a much quicker way of travel, and she didn't need to speak to anyone as she did so.

So it was to her surprise, when she was walking in the passageway hidden above the dining room, that she spotted Prince Blueblood walking around the room, looking at the paintings on the wall.

"What is he doing?" She asked herself as she looked through the small, enchanted, one-way window of the hidden passageway, into the room.

She watched on as Blueblood walked towards one of the paintings on the wall, one which seemed to be slightly tilted, and straightened it out.

As Blueblood tilted the painting, however, a doorway appeared at the other side of the room, catching both Raven's and the Prince's attention.

Tilting the painting back to its previous position, the doorway disappeared.

Blueblood then let go of the painting and trotted slowly back to the dining table, where he sat and opened a book he left there previously.

Leaving the hidden voyeur confused as to how she didn't find that hidden passage beforehand.

"Move Aside!" The cook with the golden card yelled as he carried on his back a large crate filled with rows upon rows of Quail Eggs.

"You're back, wonderful! Take my spot and keep cutting the cabbage!" The Chef yelled at him the moment he entered the kitchen before he ran and took the crate of eggs away from him.

"Hurry up everyone! We need to finish this meal now! Put your work into overdrive!" Chef yelled over the sounds of the kitchen as he picked a carton of eggs from the crate and ran to one of the unicorns in the kitchen to hurry up the Mayo-making process.

"Yes, Chef!"

Princess Luna was on her way to the dining room when she spotted her Sister walking in the same direction followed by a group of old and important-looking ponies.

"Sister, Should you not be handling day court? What are you doing here?" She asked as she joined her sister in her walk.

"Hello to you too, Luna," Celestia said cheekily, pointing out that her sister didn't greet her before she continued, "I am taking a small break from my duties, I grew rather peckish and decided that a nice lunch would be good to have. It wasn't until I was near the kitchens that I learned that Blueblood made a unique custom order from the chefs, and I decided that I would also like to try some of it."

"Blueblood's meal? What a delightful coincidence. We just asked for the same meal from the chefs, would You like to join us in our meal?" She said, and Celestia nodded, leading the group of important ponies to the Dining room.

"Chef! Everything is ready!" One of the cooks shouted as he finished loading a cart with several plates and bowels of salads and soups.

"The Croutons?" The chef asked, receiving an affirmative response.
"The Leek and Onion soup?" He received the same affirmative response.
"And most importantly, is the Quail Egg Coleslaw ready?"

"Yes, Chef!"

For the first time in an hour, a smile spread on the chef's face, "Then get that food to their royal majesties!"

As the food finally arrived, I couldn't help but feel relieved.

"I have been waiting for nearly an hour, what took you so long?" I ask the chef as he entered with the cart of food.

"I apologize, your highness, We had some technical difficulties, but I assure you, The food we made here for you is just as good, if not better, than anything else we make here for you," He said as he placed the plates of food in front of me.

"Very well, you may leave," I shooed him away and started eating my lunch.

Just as he exited the dining room, the doors on the other end opened and Princess Celestia walked in with Princess Luna shortly behind her, followed by a small crowd of old ponies who I could recognize from the Prince's memories as several important ministers and advisors of Celestia's Day Court.

"Auntie, should you not be managing your day court right now? You barely worked yesterday and two days ago you didn't work at all, you must be very busy," I told her as she walked closer to my seat and took a chair in front of me.

"Nice to see you too, Blueblood," Celestia said and I heard Luna try to stifle a giggle, "But I am just taking a break for lunch, no need to worry too much," It was then she spotted the book I was reading.

"Nautical history?" She asked as she read the title, and I smiled as I started to explain to her my plan on getting a shipping license so I could manage a boat.

I didn't particularly like boats when I was younger back on Earth, but like any normal human, I wanted to be rich.
To do that, I needed to go to a university of higher education, something that was very expensive where I was from.
So in order to not need to pay for my education, I joined the Navy.

That was where I fell in love with the sea.

I was on my way to getting a master's in Nautical Sciences before I found myself as the Prince, I was going to be a ship captain.

Now with the Prince's pockets, I could easily finish my nautical science education here and get my diploma.

But, I can't really tell all of that to Celestia, can I? So instead I explained that I want to start my own business and get money that way.

Imports and Exports are a lucrative business, after all.

"Nautical Science you say? If you wish I could oversee your test personally, get it done quickly so as to not waste your time," One of the important ponies that joined Celestia says, and I recognize him as Chancellor Neighsay, the head of the Equestrian Board of Education.

"That would be delightful, Thank you, Chancellor, I will send a letter when I feel I am ready," I tell him and return to my food.

Soon the rest of the food arrives for all the ponies in the dining room, and I am humored to see several copies of the exact same meal that I ordered.

The rest of the day passes on without any major incidents.

But I couldn't help but think back to the secret door I found in the dining room, something to investigate later.

Sitting on the floor of the kitchen, their bodies covered in oil and egg yolk, The cooks and Chef of the royal family couldn't help but release a sigh of contentment as the horrible day that would later be known as "The Quail Egg Incident of 1001," was officially over.

"We did it..." One of the cooks whispered.
"We made all the Quail Mayo we needed..." Another said.
"I don't ever want to see a Quail Egg again..." A third cook joined.
"...We still need to clean the kitchens..." The Chef said before he picked himself up from the floor of the kitchen with a mighty groan, his back releasing popping sounds as he does.

A collective sigh passes through the kitchen staff as they each start to clean up the mess that was made in the kitchen.

At least nothing bad could happen.

"Chef! Captain Shining Armor just asked for the same exact meal as everypony else!" One of the cooks ran into the kitchen and was promptly thrown out when an empty crate that previously held Quail eggs was thrown at him.

Author's Note

Second mine-arc down, next arc is the Art Exhibit, where Blueblood can finally flex his pompous and high-class etiquette and knowledge of art.

A bit more background into Newblood was shown, Raven Inkwell made her appearance, and the Kitchen staff aren't having a good day.

A mysterious hidden door? That's foreshadowing a future arc if I've ever seen one.

Thank you all for enjoying the story so far :)

Chapter 8: Artistic Avenue 1

It was my fifth day as Prince Blueblood, which meant that I was currently in a walk-in closet searching for something to wear to Lady Fleur De Lis's art exhibit.

I can't look too casual, it is a high-class art exhibit after all, but I also can't look like I'm taking it too seriously.
I need to look important, but not too important. High-class but not too high-class.

And so I decided to go with a sky blue knitted scarf and a grey cardigan, both made by one of the best tailors in the nation.

Going for a smart-casual look mixed with the high-class appeal of custom design and the seasonal clothes of early fall.

Celestia was eating breakfast by herself, Her sister was sleeping off her tiredness from using her magic the night prior, and she hasn't seen her nephew yet.

It was when she lifted one of the breakfast muffins that she had the cooks make, that her cutie patootie little treasure walked into the dining room, dressed to impress.

"Auntie! I didn't expect to see you here so late, it's already ten, shouldn't Day Court have started by now?" He asked her while adjusting the small enchanted bag he was carrying, able to hold inside of it more than five times its size.

"It's Saturday, Court doesn't start till twelve today," She said before passing him a pecan and banana muffin.

"Thank you," He said as he picked up the muffin with his magic and took a seat in front of her.

The duo ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence that was broken when Celestia finished her food.

"Where are you going dressed like that?" She asked Blueblood, her eyes looking over his new outfit.

Blueblood looked down at the clothes he was wearing before turning to look at Her with a small grin on his lips.

"This? I was invited to the Special Art Exhibit hosted by Fleur De Lis at the art museum, I wanted to dress for the occasion," He told her, "I can't just go to an Art Exhibit wearing nothing, can I? I don't want my own Art to steal the spotlight,"

Celestia took a moment to think over what he said, before bursting out laughing.

"Yes yes very funny, I know. I worked on it all night," He said cheekily, which only made the princess of sunlight laugh louder.

Celestia then decided to grab him from across the small table between them, pulling Blueblood into the crook of her neck, and hugging him tightly like a life-sized stallion-shaped doll.

"I am so proud of you for helping me out lately," She whispered into his ear, causing him to freeze in her embrace.

"What are you talking about, Auntie?" He asked shakily, trying to turn his head to look at her face.

"Nothing, now stop moving, Mama needs to recharge," She told him and leaned onto his body, forcing Blueblood to stand up from his chair in order to stop Celestia from falling onto the table between them.

She had a pleased smile all the while.

The Canterlot Museum of Arts and Literature.
The building was built roughly eighty years ago by an artistic architect who wanted a place to showcase and preserve modern artworks.

Maybe that's why the building is shaped like a layered wedding cake, four stories tall, and each floor is smaller than the one below it.

Doesn't really scream Modern art but who am I to judge, it was built so long ago that if this was back on earth, Grant Wood would still be considered modern.

But I am not here for the Museum itself or its history, I am here on the invitation of Fleur De Lis, who most likely didn't expect for me to come seeing how the Prince didn't really participate in such public outings, even among the high-class.

Time for that to change.

"Fancy Pants, is everybody here?" The white and pink unicorn model asked her husband as they both stood in the lobby of the museum, ready to start a tour of the exhibit the two of them prepared, showcasing the different artworks they had ponies from small towns and villages send over to them.

The Exhibit for today was to showcase the art of those who lived basic lives, a chance for them to showcase their art to the top of the nation, something that would usually be impossible for those who live outside of large cities like Neigh-York or cities of cultural significance like Canterlot.

"I do believe that everyone we expected to come has arrived, shall we begin?" The White Unicorn gentleman said as he readjusted the cuffs on the suit he always seemed to wear in public.

"Of course," Fleur De Lis said before clearing her throat and gaining everyone's attention, "Excuse me, but we would like to start soon, there won't be any bathroom breaks for at least the next hour, so if anypony needs to go then- and there they go," Four of the ponies in the lobby went towards the bathroom.

When they returned, Fleur continued, "As I was saying, The tour will continue for the next hour or so, We will showcase these works of art that have arrived for today, Are there any questions before we begin?" Fleur finished before taking a peek at her husband who subtly nodded his head at her.

There were several hushed murmurs among the crowd of the one percent, but no questions were raised.

"Very well, let us start the tour," Fleur smiled before walking into the art gallery section of the museum, where the exhibit was waiting.

"So far none of the artworks has caught my interest," One of the ponies told his wife, who nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes, if somepony told me earlier that these works were from the country, I wouldn't have came at all,"

More murmurs of those kind started to sound in the gallery as the ponies looked at the paintings and statues before them.

One was a filly's drawing of a pine tree, another was a wooden chair painted green and covered with small pebbles.
One canvas was almost entirely blank except for a single red stain in the middle.

That is to say, none of the works were good.

Hidden among the crowd, Blueblood sighed silently in boredom. Nopony noticed his arrival, there was no interesting artwork to look at.
Heck! Blueblood doesn't even like art!

"The whole reason I'm here is to look good to the rest of the upper class, mingle with the top as it were, but this is soooooooo boring!" He thought to himself as he looked at an oil painting of a valley. It wasn't an ugly thing , but it also wasn't something he could see becoming as well-known as a Van Gogh, or even a Dali.

Seeing as the crowd was moving on to another part of the gallery, nobody keeping their eyes on him, Blueblood smirked and walked off, away from the gallery and into the museum proper.

"Boys, The job is simple, we wear these maintenance uniforms and walk in with these boxes of tools," A Pony wearing a reflective yellow vest told three other similar ponies as they stood in an alley across the street from the museum.

"We walk in, unscrew the case protecting The Dreamer, and leave with the painting. No time for questions, let's move," And with that, the group of three Earth Ponies and a Pegasus crossed the street, carrying boxes, a bucket, a mop, and a sign for a wet floor.

Intent on leaving the museum 300 million bits richer.

Author's Note

Art Thieves?! Oh no!
The webtoon-style action is getting closer.

Newblood leaves the group out of boredom, Totally understandable :moustache:

Maybe they didn't recognize him because he wasn't wearing his regular suit-collar? They just don't recognize the sight of a good Cardigan/Scarf combo!

Fleur De Lis and Fancypants made their first appearance, followed by an unnamed appearance of Jet Set and Upper Crust.

Celestia is still a magical non-alcoholic "Wine-mom"

Chapter 9: Artistic Avenue 2

Fun Fact about myself, Art doesn't interest me.
Why should I care for some painting of some merchant's wife?
It's just colors on a canvas, it doesn't impact my life in any shape or form, so why should I care?
Simple, I don't.

However!
High-Class ponies, the one percent, the top of the top! They LOVE talking about art, they love discussing the deeper meaning behind this painting and the emotions the artist must have felt whilst making it.
It's all bullshit.
But in order to blend in, and keep the facade of a "Prince," I'll have to play along.

I managed to escape the boring art tour, But I can't just go back to the castle, That would make Celestia suspicious.

So here I am, staring at a statue of a pony sitting in a "The Thinker" pose.

How wonderful.

"Boys, remember the plan," An Earth Pony carrying a box of maintenance tools said as he and his group strolled into the museum, past the check-in and security.
Step one of the plan.

"We act like we belong, and take the painting, no funny business. Understood?" He asked, receiving nods from his partners.

And so they walked towards the painting section, placed the ladder under a ceiling light in front of the doorway to the small area where the expensive paintings stood, closing off one of two entrances in the process.
That was step 2 of the plan.

While one of the ponies worked on the ceiling light, blocking the path for security in case they'll need to run, The Pegasus of the group silently flew near the ceiling, above the eye-line of the few denizens of the gallery, and one by one disabled the security cameras.
Step 3 was complete.

Now was time for step 4, Using the maintenance tools, it was up to the two remaining Earth Ponies to quickly unscrew the latch holding the glass screen over the painting, keeping the artwork secure from the grasp of ponies.
For that reason, the Museum used special bolts that require a specific type of screwdriver to unscrew.

But the thieves came prepared, opening the toolbox, one of the duo took out a spray bottle with a clear liquid inside, while the other took a small device that looked like a mechanical pen.

Spraying the liquid on the screws, the thieves gently placed the device above the metal of the screws, holding it in place before they heard a light PING.

"It's in," The one holding the spray bottle said, causing the one holding the device to start turning it like a screwdriver.
After a minute of careful turning, a screw fell off the casing of the painting.
One down, three to go.

Everything was going as planned, everything was perfect, and soon they'll leave the museum as rich men.

"Hey kid, what do you think this Painting means?" The thief holding the special screwdriver heard one of the visitors of the museum ask another, a few meters away.

"Uh, Mum told me not to speak with strangers, mister." The child said, a foreign accent on his tongue.

"I see, My name is Blueblood, Now I'm not a stranger anymore," Wasn't that the name of Celestia's Nephew? Nah, must be a coincidence. The thief kept unscrewing the casing.

"Oh, Okay! My name is Pip Pinto Squeak, but everypony calls me Pipsqueak!" The colt said loudly, causing the Pegasus to nearly fall back onto the floor, but he managed to stop himself and return to silently moving near the ceiling. Only a few cameras left.

"Yes, Okay, Nice to meet you and all that, please answer my previous question," The pony who shared a name with a prince pointed to the painting he was talking about.

"Umm... It's called The Card Players, so it's about a game of cards. I'm sorry, My mum is the one you should ask," The colt said before the adult stopped him from leaving.

"No, I want to ask you specifically because you're unsure," He said, catching the attention of not only the colt but also the thief holding the mechanical device, "You do not know much about art or the intrinsic details behind the craft-work of these masterpieces, but by not knowing, you learn more from these works of art than any other."

"Really?" Pip asked as he looked up at the Stallion that started talking with him about the paintings.

"Hey," The thief suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, seeing his partner with the spray bottle, "Why aren't you twisting? We don't have all day," The thief blinked before noticing he stopped unscrewing the painting as he listened to the two strangers talk about art.

Taking a look at the painting he was trying to steal, a classic of a Unicorn mare sleeping in her bed, the sheets messy as if she turned in her sleep from experiencing a bad dream.

The Dreamer, it was called, was estimated to be worth 300 million bits.

"Now, let's try a different painting?" Blueblood asked Pip, receiving a nod in response as the duo walked closer to the two thieves in front of the painting.

"Excuse me, good sir, would you mind moving aside so we could look at the painting?" He asked as he approached the duo in front of the painting.

"No, now scram." The one holding the spray bottle responded, catching the attention of both The Pegasus who just finished covering the cameras, and the third Earth Pony, who got off the ladder to stretch his legs.

"That's rude, Do you not know who I am?" He asked, and in response, the Thief with the device stopped unscrewing the case and turned to look.

It was Prince Blueblood.
Not a pony who simply shared the same name as the prince, no. It was Celestia's Nephew himself.

"Shit,"

"I don't care who you are, we're busy here, Scram." The thief who unscrewed the case wanted to stop his partner from digging a deeper hole for himself, but couldn't do so as he spotted the Pegasus of his group positioning himself directly above the Unicorn, intent to drop on him in case he continued to cause trouble.

Looking behind him, he spotted the thief on Ladder duty take out a small hammer from a pocket in his safety vest and start walking towards the group.

"I signed up for the painting, not an assault on the crown, I'm out of here!" He thought to himself as he quickly placed his device back in the toolbox and start walking away from the painting.

"And where do you think you're going?" Spray bottle asked him, "We're not done here, If you walk outta those doors you're not getting a bit, you hear?" Device nodded his head and quickly left, Another year in a dead-end job is better than life in the slammer.

Spray Bottle clicked his tongue in frustration before turning back to Blueblood and Pip, "Look, I told you to scram, didn't I? If you keep standing there like some idiot you can't blame me for what'll happen."

Seeing the angry ponies gathering around him, Pip huddled closer to Minster Blueblood and turned his head up to speak with him, only to spot another Pony directly above them ready to drop.

"Mister Blueblood!" He yelled, trying to alert the Unicorn of the pony, which instead caused the Pegasus above them to drop down on the unicorn's back, slamming him into the floor.

"Enough games!" Spray Bottle yelled, causing the few other visitors to run away from the commotion that was happening.
"Grab that painting and let's get out of here!"

Fleur De Lis wasn't having a good time, the art gallery that she and her husband spent almost a month getting ready was a monumental failure.

"Enough Games!" That was until she heard a muffled shout from a different part of the museum, which caught the attention of everyone in her exhibit.

"What was that?"

"Did they just slam me into the ground?" I mentally asked myself as I lay on the floor of the Museum, a heavy feathered body holding me down as the two goons with hard hats try and rip a reinforced glass casing off the wall using sheer brute strength.

They did, didn't they? They slammed me into the ground.

They slammed me.

"Hey! Let go of him!" I heard the little kid I just met yell before feeling the body on top of me move slightly as if pushed by a child.

"I said!" Pip yelled again as he started to push harder, "Let go!"

"Scram!" The Pegasus seemed to have enough of the kid trying to push him around, as he swiped his front leg into Pip's face, throwing him off to roll on the floor.

A small trail of blood dripping from his nose.

Spray Bottle watched from the corner of his eye as the annoying colt was thrown off his pal, likely breaking his nose as a result.

No problem, nobody needed him to play hero, should have left the grown-ups to do their jobs.

"Hey stop struggling!" The Pegasus yelled before a loud crashing sound could be heard from his direction, causing Spray Bottle to once more look away from the painting, leaving Ladder Duty to take care of it.

"What are you- doing now?" He stopped talking when he saw the blonde Unicorn that annoyed them stand up from the floor, his blonde hair dropping onto his face, making it hard to see his eyes, and the scarf that was around his neck moments prior now held in his hooves, the clothing accessory wrapped firmly around the neck of the Pegasus, who was struggling to get it off.

"L-let go of me," The Pegasus choked as the scarf got tighter and tighter around his neck.

"Hey!" Spray Bottle yelled, catching the Unicorn's attention.

He almost paused when he spotted the bloodshot eyes on the stallion, but decided that helping his partner was more important than the eyes of some idiot.

He threw his right hoof towards the unicorn's face, a smile on his face at the thought of that nuisance leaving him to steal the painting in peace.

He started to frown when he didn't feel an impact, moving his head to see what was going on, he was greeted with a powerful glare, his hoof held in a telekinetic hold, and a glowing horn.

"Shit,"

Seeing all the ponies running out of the Expensive painting room, A single mother turned to ask one of the guests What was going on?

"There's some sort of fight going on, Why isn't security doing anything?!"

"There's a fight? Oh no! Pip!" The mare yelled before running towards the room, pushing past the crowd of scared onlookers. Her baby could be in danger.

The reason security was so slow? There just so happened to be an entire group of some of the richest ponies in Equestria in the museum, and the owner thought it would be a good idea to leave most of the guards with them, good PR and all that.

Who could have guessed that would backfire?

Spray Bottle wasn't having a good time.
His Pegasus was lying on the ground a few meters away, struggling to move as he massaged his neck.
Ladder Duty was out cold, his ladder was toppled over him, his vest covered in blood from all the teeth he broke.

And Spray bottle? He was currently getting his head slammed into the floor over and over, thanking every deity he could think of that he decided to wear a hard hat for this job, Otherwise a strong Concussion wouldn't be the worst thing happening to him right now.

SLAM

He looked into the eyes of the Unicorn above him.

SLAM

No, Unicorn isn't a good word for what this person was,

SLAM

He was looking at a demon.

SLAM

And when Spray Bottle felt his eyes close as his adrenaline run out and the sweet embrace of unconsciousness took him, he stared into the eyes of the Devil himself, and they were Light Blue.

"Pip!"

Clean Squeak was panicking. Not because of the ruffians beating each other on the other side of the room, no.
She was panicking because her son was bleeding and unconscious.

"Wake up, Pip!" She cried as she tried to shake him gently awake to no response.

"Nonononono! Please I-" SMACK

She turned her head to see the White Stallion grab a scarf wrapped around the Pegasus, and rip it off his neck with a strong pull, ruining the scarf and leaving a section wrapped around the ruffian.

Clean Squeak slowly crawled back with her son in her arms as the Unicorn started walking towards her, holding the scarf in his mouth.

She almost stopped breathing when she felt her back hit the wall, there was nowhere else to go. She closed her eyes and hugged her son closer to her when the Unicorn took the scarf out of his mouth and held it in his hooves.

But nothing came, she wasn't being hit.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the Unicron wiping the blood off her son with his scarf, his horn glowing as he worked.

"Nothing serious, good," She heard him whisper under his breath as he cleaned the blood off before his horn glowed brighter, and with a small yell and another shower of blood, her little Pip opened his eyes.

"Ow!" He yelled, his legs quickly moving to hold the scarf to his nose as the blood flowed like a leaky faucet.

"What is going on here?!" A yell cut through her thoughts as a short Unicorn came into the room followed by a bunch of guards.

Seeing them entering the room, The Blonde stallion looked at the mother and son duo before quietly telling them "Excuse me for just a moment," And walking to the guards who just entered.

"You! Did you do this?! I will have you know that this Museum is owned by-" The short Unicorn stopped talking when the White Unicorn opened his mouth.

"I don't care. Are you in charge or are you not?"

"Wha- Listen here, you scoundrel! I am the head of this establishment and I won't be-" "That's all I needed to hear,"

The Unicorn then grabbed a bag from the floor and levitated it towards him, opening it when it reached him and taking out a large book.

"What are you?" The head of the Museum tried to speak but the Blonde Stallion interrupted him.

"With the authority handed to me by the crown, I am placing you under investigation and house arrest for its duration," He said as he opened the book showing him what must be a certain law.

"For workplace negligence," A bead of sweat started to form on the short pony's head, "Lacking security of a piece of historical importance," more sweat.

"Child Endangerment," Pip sneezed and wiped his nose with the scarf,
"Insufficient safety regulations on a commercial property,"

Clean Squeak stopped listening to the words as the list went on and on, but when the Unicorn finally closed his book and placed it back in his bag, the short pony asked him a question that even she wanted to know.

"Who are you?"

The White Unicorn blinked before looking down at his ruined cardigan. With a sigh he took it off, revealing his Cutie mark that was half hidden under the shirt.

"I am Prince Blueblood Platinum, and you are under arrest," He said before turning his back on the short pony in charge and walking back in her direction.

"What?! You can't do this to me!" The short pony yelled as the guards that came with him picked up the thieves that lied on the floor and dragged them and the owner outside of the museum.

"Actually, he can," A new voice made itself known, catching the eyes of every pony in the area.

"Fancy Pants?!" The owner yelled in surprise as the gentleman walked in their direction, making sure to keep out of the room so as to not disrupt what will now become a crime investigation scene.

"As a member of the crown, Prince Blueblood does have the authority to place you under house arrest and order an investigation if given sufficient reasoning, the list of crimes he read out will suffice in this case." The Blue haired Unicorn said, and the owner of the museum slumped onto the floor, forcing the guards to actively carry him out.

"I didn't know you were a prince!" Pip yelled excitedly, his voice nasally from the blood drying on his nose and the scarf covering it.

"I didn't tell you," Blueblood smiled before taking out a small pouch from his bag, opening it, and depositing part of its contents in front of Her.

"Here," He said as he placed a small pile of bits next to her legs, "This should cover the hospital bills, lunch, and dinner," He told her, a tired smile on his face.

"Wha?" Clean Squeak managed to let out before the Prince smiled at her and Pip, and walked away.

Leaving a trail of blood in the shape of his hoof-prints behind him.

"You seem to have had an exciting day," I paused when I heard a familiar voice tell me.

I managed to walk all the way back to the castle without anybody stopping me, why now?

"Yes, Princess Luna, I did indeed have a most exciting time today," I smiled as I responded to the Dark blue Alicorn as she made her way in my direction.

She smiled and looked at my legs, "I can see that," Luckily the blood wasn't mine.

"Yes, I'm sure you can," I smiled wider at her, which only causes her smile to widen in response.

We both stared at each other for almost a minute, neither of us willing to look away from the eyes of the other.

Sadly it seems that the sunset had different ideas, as the rays from the window entered my eyes and forced me to lose the impromptu staring match with the Princess of the Night.

"Have a good night, Blueblood," She said as she continued her walk, passing by me and ignoring the trail of bloody footsteps.

"You too, Luna," I respond and continue making my way back to my room.

I really need a shower.

Author's Note

3k words?!
Wowzers!

Sorry for making the fight scene off-screen, I'm just not really good at writing action.

Don't worry about Pipsqueak, he's fine.

Newblood used his military training on some unsuspecting ruffians!
And he used some of his new Princely Authority, something that is sure to catch the attention of a certain princess.

But... How did those thieves get the special device to take out the screws?
Is there some kind of...
No... I must be overthinking.

Thank you for reading :)

Chapter 10: Artistic Aftermath

Luna calmly walked down the corridors of the castle.

The Moon was at its Apex, The stars in the sky glowed and sparkled on the dark canvas of the night, And Princess Luna walked through a wall and stood in front of a sleeping figure.

It has been less than a week since her powers as an Alicorn Princess have returned to her, and she has yet to walk into another pony's dream, so who better to test her power on than her new friend, her Sister's Nephew, the Pony who helped her get her powers back, and the one who just had a very tiresome day.

That is correct, Princess Luna was entering the dream of Prince Blueblood.

And with an ethereal hoof moving invisibly through the air, she touched the sleeping Stallion's forehead.

And entered his dream.

An Unnamed Earth Pony stumbled into his small, one-bedroom apartment.
His mane was frazzled and untidy, And his coat smelled of booze.

"Stupid Bottle," He mumbled to himself as he drunkenly stumbled into his home, "Stupid Prince, Stupid Painting," He kept mumbling and grumbling, unable to finish a sentence as the thoughts of the heist he participated in from earlier in the day continued to play in his head.

"It was all going to plan, too," He spoke to himself, nearly tripping over the small coffee table in his living room as he drunkenly walked around the apartment.

"But then Spray Bottle had to keep going!" He cried out loud, holding a leg to cover his eyes as tears threatened to spill from it, "All he had to do was let the Prince look at the painting before continuing!"

"There were no guards! There was no security! Everything was perfect!" He yelled before he looked at the ratty couch he used as a bed, and he remembered something important.

"Shit! They're gonna squeal!" He quickly pushed the couch aside, drunkenly tripping over and over as he moved the heavy furniture, just so he could reveal the dust-covered plank floor underneath it, or where a plank floor should be.

He knew he was taking a big risk by making this hole under his couch, his landlord might actually kill him if he found it, but now he won't have to worry about it.

"Where is it where is it where is- THERE!" He took out a bag, one filled with all the money he saved over the last few years of being a petty thief.

Quickly shoving any spare clothes and canned food that he could fit into his bag, he put it on his back and drunkenly ran towards the door.

Only to crash into a pony waiting outside.

"I'm really sorry," The pony said as he gently lifted him from the ground, his White fur almost giving the thief a heart attack before he spotted the blue hair of his mane.

"I apologize for bothering you this late at night, but we have some things to discuss," A gentle smile graced the handsome Unicorn's face as he looked into the thief's eyes.

"So I thank you for letting us in," The Unicorn walked past him and into his dingy and ratty apartment, dragging the thief in a telekinetic hold. It was then that he noticed that more Ponies were waiting outside his apartment, almost all of whom were wearing Golden armor, with the outlier being one wearing a long coat and holding a notepad.

The Lead Unicorn sat down on his couch and urged him to sit as well.
Seeing the guards outside told him that he was surrounded, listening to the pony who must be in charge should have been the correct choice.

Too bad for him, he was drunk.
And scared.
Drunk, Scared, and surrounded by Royal Guards?
That is a recipe for disaster.

The Thief turned and ran to the window above his sink, He was on the third floor but he should be fine, He was an Earth Pony after all, he was resilient.

Too bad that instead of jumping out the glass pane, he instead crashed into a pink barrier that appeared around him like a bubble.

"Why are you running away?" He heard the Unicorn ask, "Do you have something to hide?"

The thief tried to look for a way out, but everywhere he looked he could see only more of the bubble barrier, slowly closing in on him, trapping him in his own living room.

"Fine, enough theatrics. Dust Blower, You are under arrest, please do not resist," And when the Unicorn said those words, The alcohol and adrenaline must have hit the thief simultaneously, as he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Seeing it all, Guard Captain Shining Armor couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment. His first active job since the Parasprite incident, and this is how it goes.

All his recent jobs were nothing more than cleanup duty. Arrest The Diamond Dogs who kidnapped Rarity, Clean up the Parasprite infestation, Clean up this, Arrest that.

Finally! He could question, Interrogate, and maybe have a runaway who he'll need to chase after like some sort of action star. He was trained for this!

But now the guy is out cold.

"I need a break," He whispered to himself before ordering two of his guards to carry the unconscious thief to a jail cell, interrogation will begin when he wakes up.

Celestia was having a busy night.

She was supposed to be sleeping, getting ready for tomorrow.
Instead, she was waiting for the results of what her guards found from the thieves her Nephew took down.

knock knock knock

"Open," She called to the pony who was knocking on her door.

In walked a Paper-White coated Earth Pony with Brown Hair tied in a bun on both her head and tail. A white suit collar around her neck was held with a red tie.

"Your Majesty, More results came in," Raven Inkwell said as she carried a pile of papers to Celestia, the bags under her eyes showing how tired she was.

"Good," Celestia picked up one of the papers and started reading, "Anything noteworthy to report?"

Raven took a moment to think before nodding her head, "Yes Your Majesty, After the investigation into the Museum has shown a clear discrepancy between the amount of money coming in and the money being documented." She told her.

"Money laundering, and so close to the castle... Tell Shining Armor that I want to know every underground connection the thieves had, And tell Note Pad that I want him to put his whole focus on the Museum Owner, where was he laundering money? how long? How much? We need answers." Celestia ordered, and Raven bowed her head and turned to leave.

"One more thing," Raven stopped in her tracks when Celestia called out to her.

"Good Job," Celestia smiled when she saw the energy entering Raven Inkwell when she got the compliment.

"That girl really needs to smile more," Celestia thought to herself before she returned to reading the new documents.

In the following weeks, fourteen different ponies will be arrested and sentenced following leads that popped up in the investigation. And Two works of art that were thought to have been lost for years were found and returned to the Royal Castle for safekeeping.
But that is a story for another time.

Luna didn't know what she expected to see in Blueblood's dream.
Maybe a scene from earlier in the day, It's not every day that a pony gets into a fight that ends in blood.

But no, Instead she found herself sitting at what seemed to be an empty train station in the middle of the desert.
At least she believed it was a train station, seeing as instead of tracks, there was a metal railway lifted horizontally above the ground, held up by pillars.

Luna decided to wait, she was simply visiting the Dream, there was no need for her to start moving around and making a mess when there was no nightmare.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting on the bench at the station, she heard something walk in her direction before they stopped.

Turning her head, she spotted another pony waiting on the bench for the train.
His Coat was white but covered in dust and sand and his cutie mark was hidden under a leather belt and orange pants, not that Luna expected to see a Cutie Mark anyways, this pony wasn't real and the mind usually didn't create the finer details of the dream.

What stood out however in this pony, was that his face was hidden under a mask and his front legs were wrapped with bandages.

The mask covered his entire face, holding onto the back of his head with leather straps, It was white and only had a hole for his Unicorn horn and a left eye, the other eye hole was covered with a patch of brown leather. There seemed to be a rounded orange triangle design on the mask, creating a line of orange going from the bottom of his cheeks, over his eyes, and connected just above where a hole was made for his horn.

The mouth portion of the mask was instead replaced with a gas mask, extending into a small pipe connected to a small tank on the right side of the mask.

Luna spent what felt like another hour silently looking at the surprisingly detailed pony before she realized.
"Oh, That's supposed to be Blueblood,"

That brought another thought to pass through her head.

"Why is this his dream?"

It was then that she heard the sounds of heavy machinery whirring in the distance, growing ever closer.

Looking at the source, The train was coming.

Dreamblood stood up from the bench when he heard it, looking at the train in the distance coming closer.

Luna now understood why the tracks looked how they did, The train wasn't connected to them with wheels, but with powerful magnets instead.

And it wasn't slowing down to pick them up.

Dreamblood started to run towards the track, surprising Luna with what he was doing, before he jumped onto the fast moving train and hung on the side of it before kicking in a window and swinging himself into the carriage.

"Wait!" Luna shouted as she flew after him, now interested in what was going on in his dream. It seemed almost like a scene from a book with how it played out.

Passing through the walls of the train as if they weren't there, Luna started to walk toward the carriage Dreamblood entered.

She heard the sound of metal hitting metal, and passed by what seemed like broken yellow boxes before she once more saw Dreamblood.

Catching up with him, she followed as he opened the door to the next cabin and entered.

Instead of more yellow boxes like in the previous cabins, this one was almost completely empty, save for two things. In the middle of the cabin was a large pile of dynamite sticks, and a chair with a mannequin that also looked like Blueblood, but for some reason, it was wearing a mask that looked exactly like his face. A bomb was strapped to the chest of the mannequin and was ricking down rapidly.

"It's cute that y'all think you're the heroes of this little adventure, but you're not," A voice similar to Blueblood came out of a radio in the mannequin's mouth.

Dreamblood looked around at all the explosives as the timer on MannequinBlood counted down.

"Welcome to Pandora, Kiddos."

And with an Explosion of Dynamite, the Dream ended and switched to another.

"This is a nice place to stop," Luna thought to herself as she left the dream, Seeing that her friend was simply dreaming about some book or another that he read and wasn't having a nightmare.

She walked back to her own bed in the castle, ready to return to her physical body and get some rest for herself.

Author's Note

A little Closing chapter for the Artistic Avenue arc, Shining Armor and Raven Inkwell are back as well and are showcasing how they do their jobs.
Luna is entering dreams for the first time in more than 1,000 years
And Celestia is actually taking her job very seriously!

Good for them :scootangel:

Shout out to whoever manages to guess the character Dreamblood was dressed as and what the dream was based on.

Chapter 11: Mysterious Missing Mare 1

Around a week passed since the incident at the Museum, and the tabloids are still printing out stories about it!

"'Prince Blueblood, Brave or Beast?' Who wrote this?!" I ask loudly as I slam the newspaper on the table, rattling the single cup of coffee that was situated next to me.

"I get it! It was probably the most interesting thing that happened since that Bug infestation in Fillydelphia, But it has been a week already! Find something new to write!" I angrily rant to myself before taking a long sip of my coffee.

"Blueblood, Just the Pony we were looking for!" I spit out my coffee when the Princess of the Night loudly barges into the small dining room, only slightly scared of how a creature with hooves can sneak up on a person.

"Ehe? I mean- Luna! What is the reason that you were searching for me? Do you wish to order the servants to bring you something specific?" I ask, wiping the coffee off my coat with a nearby napkin.

"Oh nothing of the sort, We have found this page!" Luna shows me a rolled-up piece of paper with words written on it.

"Yes, That is Indeed a page," I say blandly as I read the words written on it, "Why have you brought it to my attention though, might I ask?"

Luna huffs and smiles proudly, lifting her head back as to make herself look taller, something which doesn't do much on account of me sitting on a chair and her standing, but go off.
"It is the duty of the crown to assist its citizens in their struggles," She explained proudly, her hair flowing behind her in an invisible breeze, "And the pony who wrote this paper is obviously in need of assistance!"

"Of course she is," I think to myself as I look once more at the words written on the posted paper, "Her daughter hasn't answered any of her letters, and the poster is scared that she is missing,"

"Luna, may I be allowed to speak my mind?" I ask her, receiving a confused blink and a nod.

"Of course you are, We are both of the crown, are we not?" She asks before grinning slightly, "Although you hold a lower seat of power, and are below me in the succession line," My eyebrows twitched, "And I have also lived centuries more than you have, not counting the Millennia I spent trapped on the moon,"

My right eye twitched as she continued talking.

"And all of that is also disregarding me being an Alicorn and you a simple Unicorn,"

"I Get it!" I yell at her as I stand up from my chair, "No need to point everything out to me! I know..." I sit back down and take another sip of my coffee.

Luna frowned at my outburst, "We apologize, Blueblood, our desire was to engage in some friendly teasing, although it seems that we have stepped over a line," Luna said, giving a curt bow of sorry before once again addressing her reason of coming to me.

"We thought that we might investigate this case, We know that you have been cooped up in the castle for a week and we were starting to get worried,"

Dammit Luna, Now I feel bad for yelling at you.

"It was also to be our first time leaving the castle grounds since our power has returned to us in full, yet perhaps a later date would be more appropriate," She placed the paper in front of me and turned to leave, her horn glowing as she walked away.

The Paper slid slightly closer to me.

Luna walked another few steps away before stopping, the paper once again slid just a few centimeters closer and Luna resumed walking.

Once she was fully out of the room, I was left with nothing but my thoughts, a cooling cup of coffee, and a poster for a missing pony.

Only for me to suddenly jump in fright when I heard a large bang on the window, Turning quickly to look, I relax when I spot Luna pressing a piece of paper on to the window.

It read "Investigate this case! Go Outside! Take the credit! The News will stop talking about the Museum!" She repeatedly pointed at the paper, twisting her leg as if using body language to say "Go on,"

I silently gesture at the paper she left lying by my side, receiving many repeated nods from the princess on the other side of the pane of glass.

I look to her side, before opening my mouth to tell her "The Window next to you is open, We can still talk,"

Luna paused her gesturing, looking to her left and spotting the open window only two meters away, her face flushed in embarrassment.

Instead of moving to talk through the window, she proceeded to close it and return to pantomiming.

I sighed in exhaustion, drank the last of my coffee, grabbed the paper, and walked out the door, ignoring Luna giving me a supportive smile from beyond the pane of glass.

"And it's only ten in the morning,"

Shining Armor was having an uneventful day, All the ponies that were connected to the Museum Debacle were arrested and in the process of being investigated, thus no longer part of his job, leaving the captain to sit back and relax after a good week of actually doing his job.

Arresting Criminals, Protecting Ponies, and serving the Princess. This was what he signed up for!

And with a content sigh, Shining Armor closed his eyes, basking in the midday sun shining through his office's large windows, landing on the many photos that sat on a corner of his desk.

"Breastplate Twinkle, I require your assistance!" Shining Armor opened his eyes as the voice entered his ears, the relaxing atmosphere from just moments prior replaced with the headache-inducing feeling of dread that followed him whenever the Prince was involved.

Loudly opening his office doors, Prince Blueblood strode in as If he owned the place, which Shining Armor had to reluctantly admit that by virtue of being of The Crown, he technically did.

"I require bodyguards to follow me as I work on an investigation," He said as he spun the chair that sat in front of his desk such that the backrest was facing him, allowing Blueblood to cross his legs as he leaned forward on the chair as if it were a table.

"Prince Blueblood, I can't just give you some of my-" Shining Armor tried to explain to the Prince why he couldn't do such a thing, only for the prince to interrupt him.

"Don't care," Shining Armor's headache began, "I am a prince, And it is the duty of the Royal Guard to protect the crown, which includes me," The headache only got worse when Shining Armor had to admit that Blueblood's words made complete sense.

"Will you use my name correctly if I give you guards for the investigation you're doing?" He asked quietly, massaging his temple as the Prince smiled at him.

"Of course, I will!" He said, "After all, How could I forget what a wonderful pony our very own Captain Twinkling Protection is?"

Shining Armor swallowed a sigh and wrote a note instead, which soon disappeared in a puff of magic.

"Done, now please get out of my office," Shining Armor couldn't even look at the prince at the moment.

And once the prince was well and truly out of his office, Shining Armor levitated one of the photos on the table closer to him.

"What would you do in my situation, Twilight?" He said to himself as he looked at the photo of himself, smiling at the camera as his siblings and parents hugged him as he showed off his high-school diploma.

"Pinkie Pie! Stop messing around! Princess Celestia said she'll be visiting in SEVEN DAYS!" A Purple Unicorn yelled loudly at her friend in the kitchen, trying to stop her from making a bigger mess of the Library than she already has.

When Twilight Sparkle got the letter telling her that Princess Celestia will be coming over to visit in a week, She knew that everything needed to be perfect, especially after her embarrassing performance at Appaloosa only two days prior.

CRASH BOOM CLANG

Twilight squinted her eyes as loud noises came out of the kitchen, Her Pink friend shambling out, covered head to hoof in white flour, making a powdery mess on the floor.

"Hey Twilight," Pinkie Pie said as she tilted to and fro in a doozy, "Maybe the Library isn't the best place for guests," She coughed out a cloud of flour, before falling face-first onto the floor.

"Oh Pinkie..." Twilight rubbed her brow as she looked at her friend before turning to look out the nearest window, "I wonder what Princess Celestia would do in this situation?"

Sitting on her throne, Princess Celestia sneezed.

"Everything alright, Your Majesty?" Raven Inkwell asked as she passed her a tissue paper to wipe her nose with.

"Everything is fine, Raven," Celestia smiled down at her young secretary before looking at the almost empty throne room, soon to be filled with different ministers and chancellors as Day Court would start.

"I Wonder what Luna is doing?"

Princess Luna smiled cheekily as she looked through a pair of small telescopes connected by a bar of metal, called by the guards of the castle "Binoculars"

She was currently spying on her friend as he went about the mission she gave him.

Luna frowned for a moment as she remembered what happened earlier today, She wasn't expecting an outburst from The Prince, or at the very least not one as loud as he had.
She didn't know he would have such a reaction to joking about the succession line or being an Alicorn.

Although now that she had time to think it over, it sort of made sense to her where that anger could stem from.

"I hope he realizes we do not think of him as any lesser, just because of his lack of wings," Luna mentally told herself.

She sighed, It seems she still had much to learn in regard to friendship, and the surprisingly delicate art of Playful teasing...

"How did he master such an art form?" She asked herself in a whisper, her sudden voice scaring away a small phoenix that was nestled nearby in the tree she was hiding.

Author's Note

Bam! New chapter! New Arc!
Luna wanted to hang out with Blueblood, but Oh-No! She hurt his feelings! Now she's protecting him from afar as he does the investigation she wanted to do with him!
How considerate of her :scootangel:

And if anybody is asking why the Royal Guard isn't investigating a missing person's case.
The Royal Guard are, as the name implies, Guards of the Royalty, or the Crown in this case.

A missing person case is the issue of the Police or City Guard.

Unless the case involves Royalty, The Royal Guard let the other forms of law enforcement deal with it.

It'll be like calling the US Marines to stop a mugger in a convenience store, that's not their jurisdiction, The Cops can deal with that.

Chapter 12: Mysterious Missing Mare 2

If someone told me a few months ago that I'd be spending my time investigating a missing person case on the behest of a talking horse, I would have punched them in the face and then check for drugs.

But now here I am, on my way to talk with the mother of a mare who supposedly went missing.

"Your Highness, we have reached the town of Sire's Hollow, We'll start the landing now," One of the three guards accompanying me on this little side-mission said before the carriage started to descend.

Because of course the carriages in this world are enchanted to be carried by Pegasus.
I'm not even going to question the concept of using people as horsepower for the moving of carriages.

After a slow descent in altitude, the door to my carriage opens and I step outside.

"You," I point at an orange guard, "Carry my bags, and you," I point to a different guard, "Write down everything that the mare will be saying even before she opens the door, I Want everything written down, even if it's just her wondering whether her cake is ready, Am I understood?"

The two guards quickly nod, one entering the carriage and grabbing my bags, and the other taking out a notebook and a pen.
The third guard stays at the carriage, making sure we're able to leave at any moment.

Sire's Hollow was a rather small town, with just over one-thousand residents, It also happens to be the home of one Starshine Campfire, a sickly mare who is worried for her daughter.

When she sent out the posters for her daughter, she expected the police to arrive and question her in a few weeks, maybe even a month if they were having a busy schedule.

She did not expect somepony to answer her posters less than a week after she published them.
And she definitely didn't expect Princess Celestia's Nephew to be the one to do so.

But that was how she found herself, Slowly limping to her living room so the Prince could question her about her daughter.

"Before I start asking questions in regards to the investigation, I have to ask if you are okay, ma'am?" He asked as he noticed her pale look and sickly figure.

"It's nothing serious," She told him with a gentle smile, lying to him without missing a beat, "It's just age catching up to me," Her smile wavered but she carried on, slowly sitting on one of the chairs in the living room, Prince Blueblood sitting in front of her.

"I am telling you now, Ma'am, We will find your daughter," He told her as he moved his blonde hair off his forehead and looked her in the eyes.

"Now, I will be asking some questions," He said, and Starshine nodded, "I want you to answer all of them truthfully and to the best of your ability, am I understood," Starshine nodded once again, and the Prince began asking his question.

Leaving Starshine's home, I couldn't help but frown.

"Sir, Is leaving her like that a good Idea?" The guard I had carrying my bags asked, Worry plastered on his face as he thought back to the sickly mare.

"Her health is none of our concerns, Guard, It is her choice to seek medical attention, we can not force it upon her," I tell him and start walking to a different part of the town, intent on speaking with the father of the supposed "Victim"

"But your Highness, she is not well!" The guard with the notes yelled, forcing me to turn and address her.

"Do not raise your voice at me," I tell her, my voice the picture example of calm, Her Red feathers quivering in fear as her eyes met mine.
"I am your Prince," I tell her, taking a few steps forward, "Your Job is to protect me, Protect my Aunt, Protect my cousin," Each word was emphasized with a single step forward, "And most importantly, Protect the crown," My face was now only centimeters from hers.
The Orange Guard carrying my bags looked unsure of what to do, so I ignored him and brought my full attention to the Red Pegasus.

"Let me make something clear to you, Cherry Pop," Her shaking seemed to intensify when I used her name.

Some of the staff and guards might think me stupid for never using the correct name when addressing them.
Those same people are dumb.

I remember the name of every person who works for me, Be it Captain Shining Armor, Raven Inkwell, Princess Cadence who I have yet to formally interact with, Chef Flour Cap who I burdened with the task of making Quill Egg Mayo, and even the three guards that were placed with the duty of my protection.

"That mare, Is not your job, her health is not your job," I continue to tell her, "You may feel bad for her, You may pity her, You may even complain about how unfair the world is to make illnesses get as bad as they can, and I would allow you to do so, Sometimes I might even encourage it. But unless my life is in immediate danger, you do not raise your voice at me," I looked her in the eyes and asked her.
"Am I Understood?"

She swallowed her saliva and nodded her head before giving me a quick salute and a "Sir Yes Sir!"

I backed off and nodded at her, "Good," And then turned to the Orange Pegasus, "The Same goes for you Flash Sentry,"

He quickly nodded and saluted as well.

"Good, now let's find the father of this scenario."

When I reached the building where one Firelight worked from, I didn't expect much.

He was the head of the Sire's Hollow Preservation Society, so I expected his office to look like an old archive, I remembered when I spent a summer working in an Archive for one of the Navy Bases I was stationed at, It was filled with old boxes and even older documents, dating back to the founding of that naval base approximately 80 years prior.

And just as I expected, his office looked just like an Archive would, dusty books and boxes of documents lined the interior, The door and windows of the building must have also been part of his Preservation job, seeing as how they looked like they might just crumble into dust.

But I was not here because of his job, I'm here because he's the father of the victim.

"Mister Firelight," I called into the building as I waited outside the doorway, "I am here to ask you some questions in regards to the whereabouts of your daughter,"
And Just as I said those words, I heard a voice call back, "Just a moment!"

What followed soon were the sounds of hooves quickly clopping off the tiled floor of the old building, followed closely by a Purple Unicorn with Aquamarine hair, wearing a red vest over a cream-colored shirt and tie.
But what stood out about the older gentleman were the dark circles and wrinkles around his eyes, making him look older than he actually was.

"You know where my Starlight is?" He asked, and I made sure that Cherry Pop wrote everything down.

The discussion that followed would in most other cases be considered a waste of time, seeing as everything he told me I already knew.

Everything other than one little detail, that is.

"You're telling me that she kept in touch by sending you letters on a monthly basis?" I asked the stallion to repeat what he said, my brow furrowing in confusion.

"Yes!" He cried, wiping snot off his muzzle with a handkerchief, "And it's been months since her last letter, We thought that the next letter got lost, so we waited another month, and then another, but nothing came! Oooh my baby!" He cried, and I sighed in exasperation.

"Could you perhaps let us see the last note you got from her?" I asked.

Stationed on top of a roof on the other side of the small town, hidden under a camouflaging spell, Princess Luna spied on Prince Blueblood through the pair of binoculars she borrowed from the empty desk of Captain Metal Shield.

She saw the stallion he was questioning crying as he gave him a note, she saw Blueblood massage his forehead as he read what was written, she saw one of the guards writing down what was being said between the two, and the second guard was standing outside, making sure nobody will interrupt them.

Although it seemed like Blueblood got enough information out of the Unicorn, he soon left and started walking back to the carriage that he rode in, but not before buying a glass of lemonade from a stall being run by a pair of fillies, who seemed amazed at having a real-life prince drinking from their stand.

He then returned to the carriage and flew off in a different direction than Canterlot.

And so Princess Luna, still camouflaged, flew after him, intent to make sure her new friend was still doing fine.

"Good Evening, I need you to get at least ten guards, a construction expert, an engineer, and a doctor that specializes in magic and hexes," The Sheriff of the Flamefall County Police department blinked when he saw the Blonde Unicorn sitting on his chair, behind his desk, ordering him what to do while looking out the window.

"May I ask why you need all of those people," The Sheriff asked, before adding a "Your Highness?"

Prince Blueblood turned his chair away from the window looking at the sunset, now facing the sheriff with the setting sun illuminating his back.

"There's an illegal town built a few klicks north of here, and It's run by a powerful Unicorn." The Prince told him, "And I also need you to bring an Arrest Warrant for one Starlight Glimmer," He smiled down at him.

The Sheriff gulped before turning and leaving his office, already shouting orders to his precinct to get ready for what might be the biggest case they got involved with in years.

Author's Note

I'm guessing that none of you thought about the Missing Mare being none other than Starlight Glimmer, did you?

We got the Prince acting somewhat like an asshole to the guards, showing off his authority to both the guards and the sheriff, And we even got a bit more of his human background, If only a tiny bit.

Luna still doesn't know that Shining Armor isn't actually called Metal Shield like how Blueblood told her in his tour of the castle.

The Next Chapter will surely be interesting with how things are turning out in the investigation.

Oh Yeah, It's all coming together :ajsmug:

Also, we are so close to reaching 300 likes on this story, I'm once again amazed by the overwhelmingly positive reviews I get on MOST of my stories, Especially considering the short chapter lengths and the random upload schedule.

Chapter 13: Mysterious Missing Mare 3

"The target is twenty-seven-year-old Starlight Glimmer," The Sheriff of Flamefall County told the officers of the precinct as they stood in an empty office space, cleared out to make room for more ponies.

"According to the investigation made by our Prince Blueblood and the Royal Guard, the mare has been researching advanced magic for the past eleven years and has never stayed in one place for longer than a year," The Sheriff made sure everybody that was available would be in this meeting, from Prince Blueblood and his protection to the construction investigators and medical specialists that will be coming with them.

"Five months ago, she sent a letter to her father, telling him of building a town where nobody has a Cutie mark, and everyone is equal." Whispers started to spread across the precinct when the Sheriff told them.

"We already have an arrest warrant ready, your job is to make sure none of the people living in her town start any trouble, try and keep confrontation to a minimum with them," The police officers nodded, "Our target is wanted on a number of charges, most notable being the illegal removal of Cutie-marks without a specialized medical license, and the illegal construction of a town. There's more to take her down for, but those are the main points of this operation,"

He turned to look at the more armored police officers, wearing equipment specifically made to take down Unicorns, The tools themselves will be proven mostly worthless against a magician that knows even the basics of combat, but most regular Unicorns simply throw objects around with telekinesis or fire beams of concussive force.

"Make sure everything is ready, we're leaving early tomorrow morning," He told them, receiving plenty of nods in return, "Any questions? Yes, Mushroom Puff, what is it?"

"Why are we leaving tomorrow morning? Why not now?"

"That is because we don't need to hurry, The Target doesn't know we are coming after her, and it is better to be safe than sorry, We'll be doing a check of equipment once this meeting is over," He told his officers before turning to the rest of the ponies in his precinct, "We will be moving out tomorrow at eight, please be ready and here by that time," The Sheriff turned to look at everyone in the room, "Meeting adjourned,"

Flamefall County is a small County situated near the northern edge of Equestria, its towns don't have many commodities and its main attraction for tourists is a wealthy ski resort situated on top of a rather large series of underground tunnels.

For all intents and purposes, it was a glorified Ski and Caving region, which meant that most of the towns in the county were tourist hot spots.

That is how I found myself sitting at a family-owned inn in a nearby village, a mug of hot cocoa in my grasp and a warm blanket covering my body, sitting on a surprisingly gentle sofa while looking at the fireplace.

While sipping from the cocoa, I thought, "How will I explain this to Celestia?"
Surely once I return to the castle, she will throw aside all of her duties for the day and make sure that I am fine and uninjured, babying me as if I am a gentle foal who can't take care of himself.

I'm almost thirty, both me as a Human and Blueblood, I don't mind being treated special because of our familial connection, but I don't want it to happen every time I leave the castle.

As I thought of what to say to Celestia, I turned to look at the figure that stepped into my private space, pushed me to the side, sat next to me on the sofa, took my cocoa, and covered herself with my blanket.

"This isn't a Loveseat, I don't think this thing can hold both of our weight," I told the mare who was sipping from the Cocoa that I paid for.

She put down the empty mug and gave me a quizzical look, "Art thou calling us fat, Prince Blueblood?" Princess Luna asked as she shimmied herself backward on the sofa, taking the entire seat for herself, before pushing me off the sofa and away from the heat of the blanket with a gentle nudge from her leg, "And what is a Loveseat?"

Still laying on the floor, I explain to the princess of the night that a Loveseat is a chair that was invented by some old king so he could be able to hold his wives while sitting down, or something along those lines, I don't research furniture.

"How long were you planning on simply following me from afar, Princess Luna?" I ask her as I push myself off the carpeted floor, "If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that you were checking me out?" I flick my hair, receiving a huff of amusement from Luna.

I move another Sofa closer to her and grab another blanket, "But in all seriousness, This investigation that you brought up to me this morning has really gotten out of hand fast,"

She looks away from me for a moment and sighs, "Yes... This morning... we wish to apologize,"

That caught my attention, apologize for what? "We made fun of you, insinuated that you were lesser of a prince on account of not being an Alicorn, I wish to apologize for that, You are just as much a prince as any other of the crown, and a lack of wings does not make you any lesser than I nor Celestia, So we would like to apologize for our remarks at that time, we held no ill will in them,"

I blinked slowly as I listened to what she was saying before I turned my head fully to look at her and asked her "What are you talking about?"

Luna turned to me in shock and opened her mouth to ask something, But I cut her off "You already apologized for that, Didn't you? I practically forgot it happened already,"

Now it was her turn to blink slowly, "In fact, I find it more insulting that you thought bringing up my lack of wings or my position in the chain of succession was enough to hurt my feelings for longer than five minutes. I know I likely won't be the ruler of Equestria, Celestia has been ruling for more than a thousand years without stepping down, why would she do so in my lifetime?"

I laugh to myself as I lean back on the sofa, "I mean, what are the chances?"

After our insightful talk, Luna left back to Canterlot, promising to tell Celestia of what I'm doing.

It has been a full night since then, and now I find myself wearing a winter coat as I stand on top of a cliff overlooking a small collection of houses stationed in two rows, a lone road in the middle between them and a larger house at the end of it.

"So this is the place," I say out loud, getting a nod from a Sheriff.

Even with his body covered with a heavy winter coat, colored blue to distinguish himself as a cop, he still had his white Sheriff's hat and a walrus mustache.
He kind of looked like Sam Elliott now that I think about it...

"Once we get down there, We should be able to get her arrested and under custody easily," He told me, "I'm more worried about what will happen if she tries to resist, You said she was a powerful Unicorn, yes?"

I nodded and told him what was written in the letters Firelight showed me.

"Then let us hope it won't come down to that," The Sheriff said and turned to address the crowd of police officers and specialists, While I walked over to the three guards that were here for my protection.

"Why is it so cold here?" Cherry Pop asked out loud as she shivered in her armor, "Canterlot is way warmer than this!"

"That's because we're near the border," The green guard who was left with guarding the carriage yesterday said as he pointed towards a row of mountains in the distance, "See those mountains over there? The other side of those is white snow, as far as the eye could see, And if you keep moving even further north, you'd reach Yakyakistan. It also helps the cold that it's still fall, and winter is just around the corner,"

"Why aren't you also cold?" Flash Sentry asked the larger green Pegasus, his wings rubbing against each other in order to generate heat.

"My Special Talent is building igloos," And that was all the explanation the two smaller guards needed.

Walking into the makeshift village, we were welcomed by many smiling ponies.

"Welcome!" "Welcome!" "Welcome!" They were all smiling, their flanks had the same cutie mark, and their haircuts were mostly the same.

It was almost like a sight out of those cult movies, where the normal family moves to a new town, but everybody is acting weird. You know the movies I'm talking about.

"All their Cutie marks are the same," I hear Cherry Pop say.
"And their houses look the same as well," Yes Cherry Pop, we can all see that.
"And their mane designs are also-" I cut her off.

"Let me finish that line for you, Cherry Pop, They also look the same," I turn around to look at the red royal guard.
"Do you have any other wondrous observation that none of us was able to spot? Maybe how this rock on the ground looks just like that pebble over there? No? Nothing? good." I take a deep breath and count to ten.

"If you have nothing but the most obvious observations to add to a given conversation, then perhaps it is a better idea for you to be quiet," I tell her and continue walking toward the house that presumably belongs to Starlight Glimmer, ignoring the stares from the police officers on my back.

"Is he always like this?" One of the officers asks, receiving an affirmative grunt in response from Cherry Pop.

I stand right before the door to Starlight's house, "You, knock on this door for me," I tell Flash Sentry, who looks around to see if I was addressing anybody else, and walking up dejectedly when he notices that everyone is looking at him.

I make way for him to reach the door, where he quickly knocks on it three times.
No magical trap was activated, better safe than sorry.

"Coming!" A cheerful voice calls out from the other side of the door, The Sheriff walks up to stand next to me, and we wait in quiet as we hear hoof steps getting closer from the other side of the door, before it opened, revealing a light-purple Unicorn with a dark purple mane, Purplish-blue eyes and several light-turquoise streaks in her hair.

"Ah, You must be Starlight Glimmer!" I say loudly as I quickly grab her hoof and shake it, causing the mare to blink rapidly in confusion before taking her hoof out of mine, "Thank you so much for inviting us in!" I say loudly, moving into her house, followed closely by the Sheriff and my royal guards, ignoring the Unicorn's protests.

She quickly catches up to us as we stop in the middle of her mostly empty house, "I don't know who you are, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," she tells us.

I give a quick look to my guards, gesturing in her direction a few movements that got a nod out of the green Pegasus, who nudged Cherry Pop and Flash Sentry before whispering in their ears what I told him with those movements.

"Miss Glimmer, You probably don't know who I am, but I certainly know who you are" I tell her, making her look at me instead of at the sheriff who was carefully taking out a pair of cuffs, or at the guards who started to circle her.

"You see, for the last month or so, I've been following a trail that caught my attention," I ignore the blinks of astonishment from the guards at the obvious lie, "You see, It all started when a detective pal of mine brought over a poster he wanted me to look at," I told her, lying through my teeth.

"It was this missing person poster, posted by one Starshine Campfire, I'm sure you can find that name recognizable."

Starlight started looking around her, her hooves shifting around as if waiting to run. I smirked.

"What I'm trying to get at, Is that you are under arrest," and as those words leave my mouth, The guards that surrounded her jumped.

Unfortunately, with a quick aquamarine flash from her horn, Starlight was at the other side of the room, throwing a wooden bed straight at us.

We all quickly ducked underneath the bed, letting it fly and crash behind us in an explosion of splinters.

"After her!" The Sheriff yelled and a group of officers ran into the house, and down the tunnel that was hidden underneath her bed.

I sighed at seeing Starlight disappear.

I knew she probably would have tried to fight and escape, I just hoped it would be more exciting than throwing a bed and running away.

"We'll take it from here," The sheriff patted me on my shoulder, "Thank you for bringing this up with us, Your Highness."

I nodded and walked outside, intent on leaving the rest of the job to the people who actually get paid to deal with this.

I sat underneath a pine tree as I waited for my guards to get the carriage ready so I could return to the castle, my job here was done, All I had to do was wait for the eventual report, and bada-bing bada-boom.

ZAP ZAP CRASH

I quickly stood up as those sounds hit my ears, I turned to look at my guards, only to find them out cold.

"You..." A voice said, and I turned to see a very angry Unicorn, with a shining purple horn pointing at me.

Oh...
Starlight wasn't caught yet...

"You took everything from me..." She growled at me, And If this situation wasn't as serious as it was, I would have told her that I didn't take anything and that she was being stupid.
But alas, years in the Navy taught me how to act when someone was pointing a gun at me.

"At the very least, I am going to take your Cutie Mark from you before I leave!" She yelled, and with a flash of pain, I felt as if a piece of my leg just got cut off.

"Hahaha! With this, you won't be able to use your magic to stop me!" She smiled as she looked into a glass jar, inside of which was a compass star, the same one from the Cutie Mark on my flank.

But, regardless of the seriousness of this situation, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as the danger of the moment made itself known.

And I smiled.

"You know," I told her, "I don't need my magic to beat you into the cold hard dirt,"

"What?" She asked, looking away from the jar and towards me.

Or more specifically, my hoof.

And as my hoof made contact with the Unicorn's face, the jar she held fell to the ground and I suddenly felt a warm energy flow through me as my Cutie-mark suddenly flew back onto me.

My smile only widened when Starlight turned back to me, her brows glaring at me and her horn glowing once more, ready to fight.

"Yes!" I yelled, running towards her, my front legs flying towards her as I punch in her direction.

She simply growled as she ducked under a punch, shooting a thin beam of Turquoise energy out of her horn which I quickly roll to the left to avoid, my smile widening at the sound of tree branches snapping behind me.

"This is what I live for!" I yell excitedly as a blue glow surrounds my horn, and a heavy tree branch is thrown at Starlight, who ducks under it while walking backward, her eyes not leaving me as I continue to move closer and closer.

And just as I'm about to hit her, I quickly dodge to the side and evade the massive pile of snow that fell from the branches above me, before springing forward and decking Starlight in the face.

"The Action! The Adrenaline!" I yell as I throw another punch, Starlight quickly teleports a few meters away, her horn ready to blast another spell as a bruise grows around her eye.

"This excitement!" I smile wider as I dash in her direction, ducking beneath the low-hanging branches in the way, ignoring the scratches on my body from all the dodging and rolling.

And just as I reached her spot, my hoof ready to rain another few punches at her, her eyes turned to pinpricks.

And with a flash of Aquamarine light and the sound of a hoof hitting flesh, we both disappeared.

Leaving behind us a snowy forest clearing, with pockmarks of magic and broken branches, a magical carriage, and three unconscious guards.

And my smile couldn't have been wider.

Author's Note

Welp, guess that happened. :eeyup:

Sorry guys, I'm not good at writing fight scenes, so I really hope you managed to understand what was going on in the amazing fight of "Magic vs Fist."

This is the end of the Mysterious Missing Mare arc, wonder what everybody's reaction will be when they hear of what happened.

And also, I wonder where the two of them disappeared. :trixieshiftright: That Teleportation spell sure took a lot of time if Newblood managed to run towards her while she was charging it.

Also, Blueblood isn't a powerful magician, I'm sorry :fluttercry:
He only really knows the basic Telekinesis spell, and a simple Location spell as his Special Talent, not really something he could have thrown out in the middle of a fight.

But that's fine! He's ex-Navy, he can dish out a mean right hook if you let him. :flutterrage:

Hopefully you enjoyed :)

Also, He's 28, just bringing that up.

Chapter 14: Mysterious Missing Star

"What the hell do you mean the Prince is missing?!" Sheriff Oakflank yelled at the three royal guards who stood in front of him.

These three knuckleheads had a single job, making sure that Prince Blueblood is safe and protected. And what does he find?!

THEY FAILED!!!

First Starlight Glimmer managed to escape, And Now Prince Blueblood has disappeared!
What's next? The Princess Finds Out?!

Oh...

"Sir, We assure you that Starlight couldn't have gotten far," The Orange Pegasus tried to reassure the fuming Sheriff.

"Yes! She couldn't have made it far with all the snow outside! All we have to do is send out a search party! I'm sure that we'd find both of them before the Princess even finds out about it!" The Red Pegasus also said loudly, likely in an attempt to reassure herself more than him.

But Sheriff Oakflank ignored both of them and instead focused on the pony behind them, A pony that only the green guard managed to see walk in, and smartly kept his mouth shut.

"Until the Princess finds out about what?" The pony that stood behind the guards asked, and likely not hearing that the pony who asked the question wasn't the sheriff, the Red Guard answered.

"Until she finds out that both Starlight Glimmer and Prince Blueblood are missing of course!" Oakflank and the two male guards looked at the only female Pegasus in the room as if she was the stupidest pony they'd ever met.

And seeing the looks aimed at the inexperienced Royal Guard, Princess Luna couldn't help but agree.

"We have returned from an arduous day of flying all over the country," Now it seems that the Guard managed to catch on to what was happening, "And not just to Canterlot and Back, We have spent our precious time assisting these fine ponies with the return of the Cutie Marks that were removed and held by Starlight Glimmer," The mare slowly turned her head to see that her two coworkers were looking away from her.

"And what do we hear when we reach the precinct?" Cherry Pop finally turned her head enough to see the new Princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia's long lost sister, Princess Luna, Staring at her as if she was not even worth her pity, such was the sheer amount of disappointment that could be felt directed straight at her.

"That the pony you three were specifically tasked with protecting has been taken?" None of the guards could look at the Princess, and Oakflank couldn't blame them.

If he was as young as them, he might have started crying.
But he wasn't young, Oakflank has been in the police force for over forty years, He knew how to deal with angry nobles.

"Your Majesty," He bowed his head, Exactly how he did it twenty-four years ago when the grandson of a visiting diplomat was foalnapped, "Allow me to show you where the scene of the crime happened, perhaps you would be able to find something we didn't," He waited for the princess to nod before he straightened up, grabbed a winter coat, and led the Princess of the night to Bluebloods Carriage.

Looking at the scene in front of her, Luna frowned.

Broken branches littered the clearing, burnt spots in the dirt indicated where blasts of magic were struck, and the snow has clearly been shifted as if somepony rolled and ran through parts of it.

A clear sign of a struggle, which if Luna followed the order of events that seemed to form when she looked at the marks, all ended in one spot.

A circle in the ground, devoid of snow, or grass, almost as if something appeared and ate everything inside of the circle but the ground itself.
Or more realistically.
Moved it somewhere else.

"But how can that be?" Luna whispered as she studied the empty patch of dirt.

"A Teleportation spell is carefully adjusted to only take the things you want to teleport, the grass and snow should still be here," Luna took another look at the clearing, and at the small indents in the ground that were slowly disappearing as the slow wind pushed snow to cover them, but not enough for them to disappear.

"Hoof-steps... They're bigger than the ones that look to be walking backwards into the circle, so these must be Blueblood's" Luna studied the two sets of hoof-prints.

"Starlight Glimmer walked backward, keeping her horn aimed at Blueblood," Luna looked in the direction that the hoofs would be facing, seeing the burnt spots on the ground and a pile of snow below a tree clear of the stuff, "Starlight tried shooting Blueblood, which caused him to roll out of the way, leaving these spots of shifted snow and dirt, So she tried dropping this here pile of snow on top of him, but he once again moved out of the way,"

Luna studied the hoof-prints more carefully.

"Starlight's prints only started here, but Blueblood was running from over there," Luna looked to a different part of the clearing, where she could spot another two sets of Hoof-prints, where this time the smaller pair disappeared before reappearing next to the path leading to the circle.

"So she teleported to get away from him, But why didn't Blueblood use a- Of course! Blueblood is a Prince, not a Warrior!" Luna exclaimed when she finally pieced all the pieces together.

"He doesn't know any spells that he found to be useful in this situation, so he used his larger body to his advantage in close-quarters combat!" Luna once again looked over the prints where Starlight seemed to have Teleported away from him, noticing that the smaller set of prints was stepping over itself, almost as if trying to balance itself after being hit!

Eyes now wide, Luna looked at the circle of missing snow where the two sets of hoof-prints ended.

"Starlight was planning on Teleporting herself to a more secure place to continue the fight, but Blueblood caught up to her and hit her again, ruining her concentration on the Teleportation spell! That's why the snow and grass are gone! She lost control of the spell so it took everything in its radius!"

A realization hit her, "But if that's the case! That means she also lost control of where the Spell dropped them, And Starlight is a Powerful Unicorn, a Teleportation spell going haywire to a Unicorn like her... The two of them could be anywhere in the north!"

Luna quickly spread her wings and flew back to the Flamefall County police department, intent on telling the Sheriff of what she figured out.

Starlight was cold, but she was also warm.

Her whole body hurt, and she didn't know why.

She tried moving her legs, but she found herself too tired to do so.

She tried opening her eyes, but found herself too cold to try.

"What's happening?" She asked out loud, barely able to hear herself with how fry her throat felt.

"Just hang on," She heard a voice from underneath tell her, "I've almost reached shelter," She didn't recognize who that voice was, It sounded like they were carrying something heavy, but she didn't care enough to check what they were caring or who they were.

Because Starlight was cold, Oh so cold, but she was also warm.

And when her tired and cold mind returned to the gentle embrace of sleep, she dreamt of a Unicorn walking through a frozen tundra, carrying another Unicorn on his back, her body wrapped with the only coat the two of them had, leaving the Unicorn who was doing carrying without a coat.

Forcing him to face the elements of the frozen north all by his lonesome.

Author's Note

This was a shorter chapter when compared to the last one, but this is an "Aftermath" Chapter after all.

So yeah, Starlight and Blueblood have both been teleported somewhere very, very cold.

The Three Guards that Shining-Armor got Blueblood are definitely getting punished for their terrible job,Cleaning duty for a month!

And now with Starlight Glimmer fully introduced! (Sort of) I can add her to the "Main Characters" of the story without it being a spoiler, leaving only one character of the "Main" main cast to be introduced, them being the "Other" in the main characters.

And I'm sure that none of you will be able to guess who the final Character is! I am so excited for their introduction!!! :pinkiehappy:

They will be joining us in the next Arc: Tundra Terror! :pinkiegasp:

You'll never guess them :trollestia:

Also, I forgot to mention in the last chapter, but we passed 300 likes!!! Making this my second story on Fimfiction to pass 300, right after my Storm King story >:)

Thanks for enjoying the story so far :) :eeyup:

Chapter 15: Tundra Terror 1

Cold, Oh so cold.

Those were the words that kept repeating in Starlight Glimmer's mind as she slept her headache away.

All she could remember was getting punched in the face, and her horn releasing an unseemly amount of magic all at once, knocking her out.

"Why is everything so cold?" She wanted to open her eyes and look, see for herself the reason she was freezing, but she couldn't.

Be it the magical fatigue from her spell going haywire, or just the freezing shivers of her body as she tried in vain to rub her body, generating even the most meager amount of body heat.

She didn't know how long she's been cold, it could have been an hour or it could have been days, but nevertheless, she was cold.

Oh so cold.

When Starlight finally opened her eyes, it was to find herself laying inside of a cave, a campfire made of small sticks and twigs burning a meter away from her, and her body covered in an unfamiliar coat.

"Where am I?" She asked raspily, one hoof quickly moving to massage her throat as she felt her breath leave her lungs as if grinding on sandpaper.

The cave itself was five meters tall, and three times as wide, she could see the entrance of the cave, a white canvas painting the outside of the cave in a heavy snowstorm, she could just barely make out a pile of sticks laid in front of the entrance like a fence, trying to stop the snow from getting too far into the cave.

"Hey you, you're finally awake," A voice she could barely recognize called out to her before a figure hidden on the other side of the campfire threw a bundle of twigs and dried pine leaves into the flame.

"You..." Starlight rasped as she squinted her eyes, looking at the pony who moved around the fire and sat next to her.

His white fur was matted and wet, and his blonde hair was sticking to his face, he wasn't wearing the coat she had previously seen him wear when she tried to get her revenge on him, and the tips of his hooves were red.

With eyes widening, Starlight weakly tried to crawl away from the Unicorn, only to trip over herself and slam her chin onto the floor.

"If you're going to try and kill yourself in the snowstorm outside, could you at least give me back my coat?" He asked her, his eyes not leaving the fire and two sharp wooden sticks that seemed to be burning some sort of creature she couldn't recognize.

"Why are you here?" She asked, weakly turning her body around so she could look at him.

"Why are you asking stupid questions?" He replied to her with an eye roll, "I should be asking how long you think it would take for you to send us back, but if you think running into that snowstorm outside is the best option, I think I'll take my chances in this cave,"

"Why would I send you back?" Starlight returned his question back at him, causing the Stallion to stop looking at the fire and turn to look at her as if she was stupid, Starlight wanted to punch him in the face.

"Because if you send me back to Equestria, you wouldn't have a murder charge on your profile," Starlight paused.

"What?"

"You are a wanted fugitive, Miss Glimmer," The stallion turned back to look at the fire, his magic levitating out a small fish impaled on a stick, giving it a closer look before levitating it towards her, "It's better to not add a crime as horrible as Regicide to your much tamer list of medical malpractice and illegal construction work, By the way, I hope you like eating blind cave fish because that's all we have."

Starlight tried to grab the fish in her telekinetic hold but had to quickly move to her hooves when her horn started to ache.

She looked at the prince, eating the seethrough fish with a look of annoyance on his face, before looking at her own fish.

It was small, half the size of her hoof, with seethrough scales and no eyes.

She gulped, her dry throat uncomfortably itchy as she looked at the tiny fish.
She wanted to throw up, she always saw the act of eating meat as lesser, she was a pony, after all, her diet was mostly herbivorous.
But seeing the small fish, the smell of food wafting into her nostrils, and the lack of anything else to eat.

Starlight caved, and she cried as she ate the underground fish.

She cried not because she found it disgusting, no.
She cried because right there and then, that bland, blind cave fish, with no spices or oils, that was being cooked over a rudimentary campfire.
It was the tastiest thing she ever ate.

Starlight didn't know when it was that she fell asleep, but when she next woke up, it was to find herself once again in that same cave, the snowstorm outside stronger than previously, and the campfire in front of her barely burning.

Looking around the cave, she spotted Blueblood exiting the deeper part of the cave, around a curve hiding it from her view, carrying a makeshift wooden spear in his telekinesis, A few more fish impaled on the end of his makeshift fishing device.

When he spotted her looking at him, he sighed and slowly walked up to her, before lifting her from the ground and placing her on his back.
She was too tired to push him away, it was a miracle she was able to keep her eyes open with how tired and cold she felt.

"We need to get moving, The Storm outside isn't going to stop anytime soon, and we can't just stay here until it does, We'll both freeze to death," He explained to her as he started carrying her deeper into the cave.

As they moved deeper into the cave, Starlight was able to see where the fish came from.

A large underground pond, The crystal clear waters of the spring allowed her to spot the many fishes swimming in the pool, she even managed to spot a small crab scuttling its way under the surface of the pool.

"Where are we going?" She asked, Turning her head to look away from the pool.

"Deeper into the cave," Blueblood explained to her, before stopping and pointing his spear at the other side of the pool.

Starlight followed where his spear was pointed, faintly managing to spot a section of the cave wall that seemed to be covered in bricks.

"What is that?" She asked.

"I don't know, but whatever is over there, is preferable from freezing to death," And with those words, Blueblood continued walking around the underground pool.

Starlight tiredly nodded her head, her hooves dangling off the Prince's body as his body heat warmed her up.

The soft beating of his heart and the movement of his lungs slowly lulled Starlight back to sleep, making her last view before the sweet embrace of dreams be that of herself, reflected in the water of the underground pond, the only source of light being Blueblood's horn. Before that reflection started to ripple when a small fish swam through it.

Blueblood paused after reaching the other side of the large underground pool.

He stood in front of what looked like a stone door built into the walls of the cave, the bricks around it only holding it in place to reinforce it.

Seeing it, he was reminded of a Video Game he used to play years ago, Skyrim it was called, and just that memory caused a small smile to spread over his tired face.

Readjusting the passenger on his back, he put the spear on the ground and used his magic to open the door.

The stone slab that made up the door ground and shook, before slowly moving to the side, allowing him to see what was on the other side.

With an excited smile on his face, an unconscious criminal on his back, and a spear with three fish in his hold, Blueblood walked into a corridor of bricks and stone.

Each step he made moved dust from the floor, as he looked at the walls he could see carvings and images of Yaks and Dragons.

"A war between Dragons and Yaks? I should read some of this whenever I get back," The Prince whispered to himself as he walked deeper and deeper into the underground tunnel.

It wasn't long before he reached another door, one much bigger than the one at the entrance.

He tried to push on it, but it barely budged. He tried harder, and it only moved slightly.

He thought of giving up on moving the large rock until he heard a faint sound coming from the other side of the rock.

Sounds of somebody... crying?

Blueblood tried once again to push the door, dust and cobwebs flying about as he pushed harder and harder, each attempt to move the door of carved stone one managing to move the slab a centimeter at a time.

But someone was on the other side of that rock, and whoever they were, they must know a way to get out of there!
And with those words in his head, Blueblood finally managed to push the door open, the large stone slab sliding backward before falling into a large pond of crystal clear water.

"Is anybody there?" He called out to the room, the faint crying he heard from the other side of the door all but gone.

The room was large, with a large pond of water in its middle, with four walkways from the corners of the circular room all acting as a bridge, connecting to the middle of the room, above the pool of water, where an elegantly carved pedestal stood, a soft glow emanating from whatever it was holding.

Readjusting the hold of the passenger on his back, he walked up the nearest walkway, the thing emanating the glow from the pedestal almost in view.

And when he reached, he couldn't stop himself from gasping.

On the pedestal, was a broken piece of a gemstone, almost in the shape of a triangle, It was red with subtle lines of green underneath the crystal surface, twisting around like the designs of a marble.

But what stood out the most, was that the gem only took up a fifth of the room in the pedestal, almost as if it was a piece of a larger whole, like a puzzle.

Blueblood slowly moved his hoof to touch the crystal, stopping to look for any traps, before nodding to himself and picking up the gem.

And then he heard it again, the voice crying from before, he heard it far more clearly than before.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" He asked again, his voice echoing over the walls of the empty room.

Seeing that nobody was answering him, he looked to the other side of the room, away from where he came from, and spotted another door.

With the gem held in his magic, and Starlight on his back, he kept walking towards the door.

Deeper and deeper into the cave, And deeper into the ancient ruins that it held.

And as he kept walking deeper into the ruins, he once more failed to find the source of the crying.

And he also failed to notice the red and green gem pulsating in his magical hold as if it was a distress signal on mute.

And so deeper into the cave he went.

Author's Note

Woo! Tundra Terror!
I'm so excited to write this arc! Starlight and Blueblood, exploring the frozen north in an attempt to survive and return to Equestria!

I loved reading the guesses as to who the new character might be, so far, just as I predicted, nobody got it right! >:)

As many of you may know, I like taking lesser-used characters and using them in my stories, like Chancellor Neighsay in the Kitchen chapters, or Firelight with his amazing performance as "Starlight's dad"

Hopefully, this chapter got some of you excited! I mean, Starlight ate a FISH! How exciting is that?

Chapter 16: Tundra Terror 2

Ponyville was home to a colorful cast of characters, but none were more colorful than the Elements of Harmony, or at least their current bearers.

From the Sporty and Loyal Rainbow Dash to the Kind and timid Fluttershy.
From the Cheerful and Happy Pinkie Pie to the Honest and Helpful Applejack.
From the Elegant yet Generous Rarity to the most important pony in the group.

The Smart and Magical, Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight! Another letter arrived!" Oh! And we can't forget Spike the Dragon of course.

Looking up from the book she was reading, The Purple Unicorn quickly turned to her little brother.

"Another Letter? then if you could," She said, and Spike coughed into his hand before opening the paper scroll that the Princess of Day uses to write her letter.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am sorry to tell you that my visit to Ponyville this weekend has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.
Due to the circumstances in question being a more private matter than I am used to dealing with, I would kindly ask you not to overthink the cause
Still, I look forward to when we next are able to properly speak, face to face
~Your teacher, Princess Celestia"

Twilight paused to take in what Spike read to her, before yelling at the top of her lungs "She's not coming?!"

Raven Inkwell was tired, ever since Prince Blueblood Disappeared two days ago, Princess Celestia has been investigating any possible sightings of the missing prince, Leaving her to do all the work.

She understood that leading the nation should the available members of the Crown be unable to do so is part of her Job, But that doesn't mean that she has to like it.

"Raven, Our Appaloosa Liaison just sent us another letter, Deal with it!" And with those words entering her ears, The Earth Pony secretary sighed quietly into her hooves.

Why can't Celestia do this herself?

The Princess of the Sun was having a stressful day.

When news reached her of her So-NEPHEW disappearing in a Teleportation spell, she was terrified!
She spent hours pacing back and forth in her chambers, hoping for news to reach her, telling her that her darling nephew was found and safe.

But when no news reached her, she started to fear the worst.
And nothing is worse for a Mo-AUNT than imagining her nephew in horrible scenarios.

Oh, How worried and scared she was for him, When he gets back she would make sure he wouldn't leave her sight for at least a month, No, A Year!

Oh, How scared he must be right now, being all alone without anypony to take care of him, How terrible.

If only she knew where he was, He wouldn't have to be so scared.

Princess Celestia quickly started searching for a hidden box of cakes she stored secretly for stress eating.

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got," When Starlight once again opened her eyes, She found herself still being carried by the Prince, a glowing gem in the shape of a broken triangle levitating next to his head like a lamp, and a song leaving his lips as he carried her on his back down the mysterious ruins the two entered.

"Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot," Starlight tried to move her legs, wincing as the feeling of needles and pricks assaulted her as blood started flowing back to her numbed limbs.

The Prince stopped his song when he felt her move and turned his head so he could see her from the corner of his vision.

"Wakey Wakey," He smiled down on her, making the situation Starlight found herself in more annoying than she would like.

Okay, Scratch that, being stuck in the middle of nowhere is already a horrible situation, the annoying attitude of the prince is actually a somewhat welcome thing.

"Why are you still helping me?" Starlight asked, causing the Prince to stop his walk, turning his head further so he could look at her more clearly.

Her coat was matted, and sweat stuck to her face, she was obviously not well. But even still, The prince not only gave her his coat, but also carried her on his back through how many kilometers of freezing tundra, and even got her food and fire, and for what? Why is he doing this?

The Prince looked at her, thinking over the words he was going to use, before sighing and telling her.

"Starlight Glimmer, You are under arrest." He told her, causing the purple Unicorn to wince as the situation of what happened when she was previously lucid hit her.

"But," Prince Blueblood cut her chain of thought "As a Prince of Equestria, I do not make the laws, I enforce them. This means, that until you reach a court hearing and trial, you are under the protection of the government, and subsequently, The Crown," He turned away from her and started walking once more.

"Until we return to Equestria and you are handed over to police custody, it is my duty as a member of the Crown to assure your safety," Starlight could feel the somewhat positive emotion that the prince previously shared when he interacted with her, however briefly, almost completely evaporate.

She was no longer talking to Prince Blueblood Platinum the individual, she was instead dealing with Prince Blueblood of Equestria.

"If I wasn't such an upstanding individual who respected the law and order of the nation, I would have left you out in the snow to freeze," Starlight could almost feel the sneer on his face as she looked at the back of his head.

"Because allow me to remind you, It was your lawbreaking that got us into this situation in the first place, So unless you can finally walk on your own or can utilize your magic to help us in any form at all, I would kindly ask for you to shut the fuck up and let me get us out of this place,"

And so a silence descended on the duo as they walked deeper into the ancient brick tunnel.

It was hours later, that Blueblood Decided to stop for the time being and catch some sleep.

He was close to finding an exit from the ruins, he could feel it in his gut.

So with thoughts of no longer being underground, Blueblood went to sleep.

In his dream, he found himself standing on a flat, empty plane, floating in the middle of space. Everywhere he looked, he could see stars and suns, planets and galaxies, nebulae and streaks of shooting asteroids.

It was a unique thing to dream about, especially when he was lucid.

Until he heard a voice from before, the sound of someone crying.

He quickly looked around, hoping to find where the crying was coming from, yet he couldn't find it.

"Hey! Anybody here?" He yelled out, and the crying stopped.

"I'm over here!" He heard the voice of a woman call out to him in response, he turned to look at where the voice was coming from, yet he couldn't see anything.

"Where?" He asked, his head turning around as if on a swivel, searching for the woman, yet only finding more stars and nebulae.

"I'm over here! Behind you!" He turned behind him, hoping to find the source of the voice, yet he still didn't see anybody.

"Down Here!" The voice, now much closer than before, called out to him, and Blueblood looked down.

And he saw-

A loud roar echoed through the tunnel where the two Unicorns came from, waking the two of them up.

"What's going on?" Starlight asked in a panic as Blueblood once again picked her up and placed her on his back, before he picked up the glowing gem and started running deeper into the ruins.

"Something is coming," Blueblood answered, running past intricate statues of long-dead warriors, Yaks who lost their lives to an Ancient Dragon war centuries ago.

ROAAARRRRR!!!!!

The roar of whatever creature was suddenly chasing them was heard closer.

The Prince ran past detailed murals on the wall, stone statues, and carved walls, before reaching an almost dead end.

In front of him stood the largest door he found yet, twice as tall and wide as the stone slab that acted as a door to the room where he found the glowing Gem.

Good news, This time it was an actual door instead of an intricate stone slab, Bad news, it looked very heavy and Blueblood doubted he had time to open it before whatever was now chasing them would reach him,

But he didn't really have a choice, did he?

Grabbing the gem in his hoof, Blueblood put all his effort into his Telekinesis, a magical skill that is found in all Unicorns.
Which sadly for our protagonist, was something he wasn't used to doing.

With a blue glow both around his horn and around the large stone doors, Blueblood pushed.

The doors barely moved, but they did! That means he could open them.

He pushed again, the glow around his horn growing in intensity as his telekinesis worked harder than it ever did, both since Newblood took over the body of the prince and before it.

Slowly, the door was opening wider and wider, and a loud noise similar to chalk grinding on a board sounded out as the two large stone slabs slowly slid apart, barely making out the staircase on the other side.

"Behind you!"

But it was too late, Just as Starlight screamed her warning, A large white beast exited from the darkness of the tunnel behind them, its tiger-like face illuminated by the glow of the gem in Blueblood's hoof, Its ape-like palms on the ends of its front legs where dissimilar to the cat-like paws on its back legs, Its large quadrupedal body almost reaching the ceiling of the ancient ruins they found themselves in.

Almost without thinking, Blueblood ran towards the doors, and to the small opening he managed to make in them.

He knew he would have to squeeze to make it through with Starlight on his back, so he threw her.

"Ack!" Starlight cried as her body hit the stone floor on the other side of the door, her head quickly moving to see the large white beast descending on top of Blueblood, And she knew that if she didn't do anything RIGHT NOW he was going to die, and if he died, she was as good as dead.

And so, ignoring the ache in her horn, and the pins in her body, Starlight Glimmer pointed her horn at the beast, and fired a beam of aquamarine light.

SMACK

With a sound akin to flesh being slapped, the beast was thrown away from Blueblood, buying the prince just enough time to run past the small opening, and swiftly close the doors behind him.
Shutting the two of them away from the monster, but also away from the path that was known.

"What was that?!" Starlight yelled between heavy breaths, her horn was still sore from the teleportation spell, now the pain from her horn almost made it impossible to keep her eyes open, but she had to move through the pain.

"I don't know," The prince said, before slowly leaning his back on the wall next to the door, and sliding his body down, a few chuckles escaping his lips.

Those chuckles soon turned to chortles, and then to full-blown laughter.

"We almost died! Hahaha! How exciting! This is what I'm talking about! Out in the open seas, In a brawl, and even exploring ancient ruins, Haha! The rush! The Adrenaline!" Blueblood laughed, a wide smile on his face as he turned to look at Starlight.

"You saved my life, How amazing! How would you like to become my bodyguard when this is all over? I can get you acquitted of all crimes, You'll have a stable job, What do you say?" He asked her, his eyes wide in excitement and the smile still on his face.

Starlight gawked at the new persona of the prince, "What about enforcing the law?" She asked.

"Enforcing the law? Bitch I am the law! I'm Prince Blueblood Mother-fucking Platinum! I tell the judge you're innocent, He apologizes to ME for fucking up, You get it?" He leaned his body forward, eyes still wide with excitement.

"Become my bodyguard? Or go to jail? I'm not telling you which option you should choose, But I do know which option allows you to not get arrested for Attempted Regicide." Starlight grimaced when she heard his offer.

Before she sighed, and crawled closer to him, before leaning next to him on the wall and grabbing his hoof in her leg.

Blueblood's smile only got wider when she nodded, "This is so EXCITING! I'm sure you won't be disappointed! Haha!" Starlight was already regretting her decision, but then again, the last few years of her life were filled with bad decisions.

What's one more?

Author's Note

Surprise Midnight release! Two chapters in one day!

The beast that attacked the two -V

Chapter 17: Tundra Terror 3

Starlight didn't know what she expected would happen when she agreed to Blueblood's offer.

From whatever position she looked at it from, the moment he asked her to become his new bodyguard after she saved his life from whatever that creature that attacked them was, was almost like a scene from a novel.

Where they later have a heartfelt talk about the shared past the two had, putting differences aside, leading to a change in how the plot of the book goes.

None of that happened to her.

There wasn't any shared past to talk about seeing as they knew each other for less than a week. Or maybe more? Starlight spent so many hours asleep and then underground she doesn't know how much time passed.

But in any case, After shaking hooves with the prince, his attitude hasn't seemed to return to his normal "Oh Woe is me, I am much more important than you since I'm the prince, Ho Ho Ho Ho Ha!" Attitude, and instead stayed as the "I'm the prince baby! And I will punch you to prove it! Let's fight!" Attitude that seemed for some reason both out of character to what she knew of the stallion, but also unquestionably a way that Blueblood would behave.

And that's what happened, nothing.

Nothing really changed other than the fact that she was now walking on her own, and the flat corridor has turned into a rising staircase.

Climbing... Yay...

How far has she climbed? 50 meters? 100? Maybe a Kilometer?
Starlight didn't know.

But in any case, with Blueblood holding the glowing gem in his magic, the two Unicorns were able to see the top of the staircase and another stone door.

The door was large, far bigger than the one at the bottom of the stairs, carved with ancient imagery of Yaks and Dragons, depicting scenes from an Ancient War.

"Shit..." She heard the prince mutter to himself as he looked at the large door, ten meters tall and each side three meters wide, it would have to be a chore to open it by himself.

But luckily for her new employer and the pony who's going to keep her out of prison, she managed to get her Magic back after firing the beam at the snow-panther-baboon-monster or whatever that creature was supposed to be.

And so with an Aquamarine glow to her horn, she grabbed the two heavy doors and opened them. Eliciting a whistle of appreciation from the prince.

And the first thing that Starlight saw when she opened the door, was the outside world.

On the other side of the door was a large open cavern, large enough to house every pony from her village and then some, larger than the cave where she kept the Cutie-Marks, it was a huge cavern that opened up to the outside world.

The floor of the cavern was green with grass and moss, surrounding a fresh mountain spring trickling into the cavern from small holes in the ceiling, likely from melting snow.
The pond in the middle of the cavern was large, larger than the one at the bottom of the mountain where she ate the fish, It was the size of a basketball field, the moss on the stones and the grass growing around it giving the place an almost magical feel when compared to the frozen plains outside the cave.

But what really caught her eye, was the large statue standing in the middle of the pond, facing away from her and looking in the direction of the entrance.

"This place is beautiful," She heard the prince whisper as he walked into the cavern, his hooves brushing on the soft grass.

Starlight quickly followed after him, intent on circling the spring and getting a look at the statue.

And so, while the prince started drinking water from the fresh mountain spring, she stared at the large stone figure.

It was of a Yak, with a large horned crown on his head, his body covered with heavy regal robes, intricately detailed, and his face was hidden beneath a large stone beard.

"Here lies the tomb of our Hero, King Tarkus IV, May his memory rest with the lives of his Comrades," She read, looking at a stone plaque beneath the statue.

And for the first time in years, Starlight was glad she learned how to read ancient Yak in school.
It was either that or Griffon Gaelic.

She learned both...

The duo decided to take a rest in the spring, They had water to drink and they had grass to eat, even if Blueblood wanted to throw up at the prospect.

"Look over there," Blueblood pointed outside of the cavern, at a mountain a few kilometers away.

Starlight looked to where the prince was pointing, seeing the mountain in question.

"What is it?" She asked, not noticing anything strange about the mountain.

"Do you see that cliff?" He asked, pointing at a flat stone cliff illuminated with an orange glow.

"Yes, It looks pretty with the setting sunlight on it, sure, but why point it out?" She asked.

"It's not the setting sunlight," He smiled as he looked at the cliff, or more specifically at the light illuminating the bottom part of the cliff, its source is hidden between a valley out of view for the two ponies.
"The sun is behind us, illuminating the entire side of the mountain in front of us, the mountain I'm pointing at is behind that other mountain, covered in its shade," Blueblood explained.

"The light on the cliff is also only illuminating the bottom half of the cliff, if it was the sun it would be illuminating the entire mountain, or at least the top that isn't shadowed by the mountain between us," He smiled when he noticed that Starlight was starting to catch on.

"So the light is coming from the bottom of the cliff?"

"Precisely, Which means that whatever is at the bottom of that cliff is generating enough light to be seen from here," He smiled.

"So there's a wildfire over there?" Blueblood shook his head.

"If there was a fire, we would be seeing much more smoke, and if it was Lava from a volcano then the light wouldn't reach that far up the cliff," Blueblood explained.

"That over there, Is civilization," He turned to smile at her, the setting sun reflected in the golden hair on his head, "And also our ticket of reaching Equestria,"

Seeing the smile on the prince's face, Starlight felt her lips curling upwards mimicking his own.

Soon, they'll be out of the snow and mountain.
Soon, they'll be home.

Author's Note

Shorter Chapter :)
No important author note this time :(

All hail King Tarkus IV, Long may he rest.

So yeah, Starlight and Blueblood managed to exit the Tomb of King Tarkus, the most straightforward Skyrim dungeon ever constructed by the Yaks of the North.

And for anyone still wondering when the newest member of the main cast will be introduced, then I have good news for you!

She already has >:) :ajsmug:

And no, It's NOT the snow-lion-ape-creature! :applecry:

Chapter 18: Tundra Terrific

"My Prince!" A Grey-haired Yak yelled as he ran up a set of stairs on his way to a large wood and stone manor.

Guards moved out of his way, and some quickly opened the doors for him as to not slow him down.

"My- My Prince!" He called out as he entered the large manor, Seeing the intricately detailed wooden throne at the end of the entrance hall, and the dark-orange colored Yak sitting at a table below the throne.

"Fergus," The orange Yak says as he looks at the grey-haired Yak who ran into the manor, "What meaning is there behind commotion this morning?"

"My Prince!" The now-identified Fergus ran up to the orange Yak and bowed to him before speaking, "Two Ponies are at the gates, They say they've been surviving out in the cold and need to make contact with Equestria!" Fergus took a few steps back to give his ruler room.

"Ponies at gate? Open gate, Let them enter! Get food and clothes ready! Ponies must be cold, They not strong like Yak!" The prince yelled before standing up from the table he sat at and made his way to the door of the entrance hall, intent on meeting with the Ponies.

Starlight wasn't happy.

Blueblood was right, the glow from the bottom of the cliff that they saw yesterday was indeed a city.

She was ready to get something to eat, an actual bed to sleep in, and make contact with her homeland so the Princesses won't kill her when they hear that Blueblood was forced to take care of her for several days.

But instead of all the good things that should have come with reaching civilization, Starlight was stuck in the snow outside the walls of the city while Blueblood was off talking with a gatekeeper.

"Look at them laughing, It's like they're best friends already," She muttered to herself as she watched the Prince speak and Laugh with the Yak who was standing at the top of the wall.

"Open Gate!" She could faintly hear someone shout from the other side of the wall, before the large wooden gate to the city opened, and Starlight laid her eyes on the Yak that stood beyond it.

"Ponies! Welcome to Yakyakistan!" The Orange Yak with the horned-golden helmet shouted at them, a wide smile on his face.

"Thank you for welcoming us," Prince Blueblood told the yak, giving him a curt bow.

Starlight started walking closer to the gate so she could get a better picture of what was going on.

"I am Prince Rutherford! Prince of Yakyakistan! Hope you not too cold!" The orange Yak yelled before turning his back on the two ponies and started walking into the city, "Follow me!"

I adjusted my Tuxedo collar as I sat down in the great hall of Prince Rutherford's castle/manor, the glowing gem I picked up in the cave sat in my pocket.

My coat was still worn by Starlight, but that was fine by me, By this point in time she's used it more than I have, seeing as I only bought it a day before arresting her.

"Allow me apology for poor condition!" The Yak prince said in his naturally loud voice as he sat on his throne, "Was not expecting you today, What surprise!"

"Yes, Allow me to also apologize to you, Your Highness," I told the prince, giving him a bow, "We did not expect to make it to your city either, our predicament came from a Teleportation spell going wrong, leaving my Bodyguard and I lost in the tundra several kilometers from here,"

"No need you apologize!" Prince Rutherford told me, "And no need bow, Yak don't need bowing," He smiled as he turned his head, Several Yaks walked into the room carrying plates of food and goblets of drink.

"We shall speak more about you soon," He told us, a smile on his face, "For now, Let us eat!"

Starlight looked at the plate in front of her, filled with Bread and Cheese and root vegetables and meats of all kinds.

It was only a few days ago that she ate meat for the first time, and now, seeing the roasted chicken leg on her plate, next to the buttered potatoes and gravy, she couldn't help herself but everything on the plate.

She was hungry okay! sue her.

Looking at the prince sitting on the seat next to her, closer to the Yak prince, she could see him eating much slower than her, trying to keep a modicum of decency as he ate.

Only to throw all of it out as he chugged from the goblet like a Stallion starved, Rich Golden Mead sliding down his chin as he drank the alcoholic beverage.

Staring at her own goblet, she pushed it toward her new boss.

She's not really a drinking type of girl, and somebody needs to stay sober for what's coming next, and seeing as both her Prince and the Prince of Yaks seemed to be in the midst of an improvised drinking game, It might as well be her.

I like to imagine I have a strong alcohol tolerance, You kind of had to be good at holding your drink if you didn't want to embarrass yourself in the Navy.

"-And then, And then the thieves just stood there! As if I didn't just catch them stealing *Hic* Who does that?!"

I was definitely not one-hundred percent sober right now, It would be dumb to think I was.

"Haha! What next? What next?" The orange Yak prince laughed loudly as he urged me to continue the story, his face red from all the drinking we'd done already.

"Next? They dropped on me! And they started trying to take the painting by force! haha! *Hic* But then- then this child, little boy, maybe seven or eight, tried to get them off me,"

"Oh no! Did they hurt boy?!"

"They did!" I yelled angrily, slamming my hoof on the table, "And I was angry at that! It's okay to beat me up, I can take it Dammit! But don't you dare lay your hands on children!"

Prince Rutherford slammed his hoof on the table as well, causing a louder sound than mine, "Good! Children pure! *Hic* Must be Protected!"

"Yeah! So I beat them up! All of them! They try hitting children? How do they like me hitting them?! Haha!"

"Hahaha! Yes! They get what deserve!"

"Hahahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"

Starlight looked dispassionately at the two Princes, laughing like loons in a drunken stupor.

"Miss, Your rooms are ready," A yak lady came and told her, leading her away from the two powerful individuals who were acting like drunk idiots, "Don't worry about your husband, we will bring him to his room soon,"

Starlight took a moment to hear what she was told before quickly turning to correct the Yak, only to see that they were already gone.

Still hearing the sounds of drunken cheer down the hall, Starlight decided that catching some sleep will make her feel less like she made the worst decision of her life.

My head was pounding, I feel like I had just drank an entire buffet's worth of Alcohol and am now suffering the consequences.

"you're back!" A voice yelled as I pushed myself up from the floor, seeing my surroundings I can confirm that I am no longer in Yakyakistan.

The flat empty plane of space I stood on was exactly like when I tried sleeping in the tunnels. Endless space, with stars and nebulae as far as the eye can see.

"Look down here!" A woman's voice called to me, urging me to look down, seeing my hooves standing on the flat expanse of an endless nothingness.

"No! Over here, to the right!" The voice called once more, urging me to turn my pounding head to look in the direction, passing by stars, clouds of space dust, asteroid belts, a decapitated head, and planets with rings around them.

...Wait a minute.

I focused on the head, just laying on the ground in front of me.

The head looked like a weird mixture between an Antelope, a cat, and a snake.

The head was mostly covered in purplish-red fur, wide yellow eyes with slit pupils that stared up at me from the empty floor, and a pink neck extended downward before being cut off, like an action figure with missing pieces.
The top of the head was covered in titanium blue scales that extended past the head like a mane of flowing hair, only instead of hair it was closer to a yellowish-green cobra hood.
Topping it all off with a pair of backward-curving antelope horns.

"Hi! Now we can finally speak face to face!" The body-less head said as it smiled up at me.

I looked at it and blinked slowly, rubbing my eyes with my hooves before opening them again, seeing that the head was still there, smiling at me with eyes full of what looked like excitement and hope.

"...I'm not drunk enough to deal with this,"

Author's Note

Two chapters in a day again?! Wowee!

But yes, I wanted to finish the Tundra Terror arc quickly because it didn't go as I expected it to.
I was planning on having Blueblood and Starlight struggle in the cold, enter an argument where Starlight tries to run away only to go back to Newblood becaue he's her only shot of making it back to Equestria.
I also didn't plan on having Starlight join him this early, I originally wanted her to run away once they reach Equestria, and then become a mid-season 2 villain who tried to go back in time to stop Celestia from adopting Blueblood, like she did at the end of season 5, but I decided against it.

I also didn't plan on making this entire arc summed down to "Blueblood and Starlight walk in a straight line underground for a few days," But hey, what are you gonna do?

And also here we have it! The final character to join the main cast!

Cosmos!

Or at least just her decapitated head, Oops!

But hey! Nobody guessed her, So I was correct in saying that nobody would! HAHA!!!

Chapter 19: Stars and Snow 1

"Hi! Now we can finally speak face to face!" The decapitated head on the floor said as it looked up at me with its big yellow eyes.

"I'm not drunk enough to deal with this," I muttered to myself and turned away.

"Hey! Wait! Don't leave me here!" The head yelled after me as I walked away from it, intent on either finding a way out of this void or waking up from this dream, whichever came first.

"At least stay and talk with me," The voice grew quieter as I got farther and farther away.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," I paused in my walking and turned around, facing the head on the floor, now almost a colorful dot in the distance.

"Fine!" I called out to the head, "We can talk!"

"Really?" The head asked quietly, sounding almost as if it was about to cry.

Sighing to myself for what I'm about to do, I started walking towards the head.

And as I walked closer and closer to the head on the ground, Never once did it let its eyes off me, always looking, hoping that I wouldn't leave it.

And as soon as I reached it, I laid down on my stomach, my head resting on my front legs so I would be in height with its eyes, and waited.

The head looked at me, a quivering smile slowly spreading on its face as it watched me simply laying in front of it.

"Kyaa!" It squealed, "Finally we have someone to talk to!" It said loudly, rattling my ears.

"It's been soooOOO LONG!" It said with a smile, "Do you know how boring it is to simply sit inside a crystal as nothing but a head for more than one-thousand years?!"

I shook my head, rubbing my ears in the process, "No, but I can imagine it's not enjoyable,"

"Not enjoyable? NOT ENJOYABLE?!" The head repeated louder, "This place is TORTURE!" And then it screamed, ouch.

"I didn't even do anything wrong!" The head yelled, moving side to side by using its neck as an axis.

"Can you not shout so loudly?" I asked the head, causing it to stop moving, "My ears already hurt, the acoustics in here are something else."

The head blinked before sheepishly looking away, "Eheh, sorry."

"Yeah, Whatever look, I don't know who you are and what you want from me, so if you're secretly some evil monster that's planning on taking over my body for your nefarious plot, just do so now, I don't have time to play around."

The head looked at me blankly, before it laughed out loud as if I just told it the funniest joke it heard in years.
When you consider the fact that there's nothing here, it might actually be the only joke she heard in years.

"Haha, heh, I like you, Wanna go out?" It asked, a smile on its face.

"Sorry, I'm not into girls the size of my head," I told the head, a small smirk on my lips.

"Oof, Shut down!" The head smiled widely as it looked at me.

I smiled back at the head.

And as we both sat there in the absolute silence of the space around us, The head asked a question.

"What's your name?"

My eyes widened in surprise, I didn't introduce myself yet. Shit...

"I didn't introduce myself yet, have I?" I asked out loud, "Isn't it more proper for the one asking to introduce themselves first?" I looked at the head.

"It is, isn't it? I haven't had a conversation in more than a thousand years, sorry." It smiled sheepishly before coughing to the side.

"Ahem! My name is Co-"

I woke up, laying on a bed made of hay, my eyes pointing at a tall wooden ceiling.

"What was that dream?"

I rolled off the bed, finding a change of clothes already there, of what must be the comfiest Yak clothing. Those that can fit on a Pony at the very least.

Exiting the room after donning my new change of clothes and making sure the glowing gem I picked up is still secured in my pocket, I made my way down the nearest flight of stairs.

"Ah, Prince Blueblood!" A large orange yak saw me and pulled me into a suffocating hug, and then I remembered what happened last night.

After drinking ourselves drunk, Prince Rutherford agreed to take me back to Equestria on his ship after I show him the cave I found with King Tarkus IV's memorial.

"Prince Rutherford, good morning," I told the loud Yak leader as soon as he let go of me.

"No! Good morning to you! Come! Breakfast is ready! Come join!" And he quickly started walking away, forcing me to jog to catch up with him.

Celestia was sleeping longer than usual, the thought of her so-NEPHEW in danger made it practically impossible for her to rule the nation or get a good eight hours of sleep.

She slept from late in the afternoon to the late morning, waking up only to move the sun and then wallow in her worry.

"Your Majesty! A letter from Yalyakistan arrived!" Her secretary told her as she entered Celestia's room, passing over the letter.

Reading it over, Celestia blinked when she spotted a specific word, so she reread the letter, and then she read it again but with a smile slowly growing on her face.

"Dear Princess Celestia,
I have found myself in the City Nation of Yakyakistan,
No need to worry for my well-being,
I will be back in Equestria before the Grand Galloping Gala,
I also got a new bodyguard,
Love you~ Prince Blueblood Platinum."

She smiled widely, color returning to her aurora of hair before she read the last part of the letter and chuckled.

"PS - Tell Shining Armor that I'm not going to be able to remember his name,"

"Your Majesty, is everything alright?" Raven Inkwell asked the Princess of the Sun, only to release a surprised cough as the princess dragged her into a powerful hug.

"It's more than alright, Raven," Celestia told her young secretary, "It's wonderful."

Celestia got up from her bed, and left her room, leaving behind her a red-faced and confused secretary.

"My name is Cosmos- oh, he woke up..." The decapitated head stared blankly at the spot the pony who talked with her previously laid before puffed her cheeks with a "humph!"

"I wasn't joking about going out tough..." She sighed dispassionately.

"Only a few more hours Cosmos, and then you can talk again..."

The next few hours for the decapitated head felt like an eternity.

Author's Note

As many of you know, I enjoy using lesser-known or used characters when Writing my fics, and if it means I need to go to the comics to find them then so be it.

I'm actually really looking forward to what you readers will think of Cosmos by the time this story is over.

And if you think it'll be the same as in the comics, no need to worry, I have it all planned out.

But yeah, The main cast is set!

Blueblood.
Celestia.
Luna.
Starlight Glimmer.
And Cosmos.

With guest star appearances from Shining Armor, Raven Inkwell, and more!

Chapter 20: Stars and Snow 2

After a hearty Yak breakfast, Starlight and I left the walls of Yakyakistan, accompanied by Prince Rutherford and some guards as we lead them to the spring cavern with the statue.

"Once again, I must thank you for agreeing to bring us back to Equestria," I told the Yak Prince as we slowly moved up the snowy slopes of the mountain.

"Nonsense! We both Princes, Must help each other, yes?" He laughed joyfully, shaking some snow and forcing Starlight to hold on to a nearby rock, "It is least I can do for bringing discovery of Yak history to light,"

"Nevertheless, Your assistance is appreciated all the same," I replied to him with a small smile.

And it wasn't long before we reached the open cavern at the top of the mountain, the gentle sounds of the mountain spring trickling down the walls into the pond in its center entered our ears, and the relaxing smell of the green grass and soft moss on the floor, and the tall stone statue that stood in the middle of the pond.

"Magnificent," One of the Yaks accompanying the prince whispered as he looked at the statue, before turning to look at the open stone door at the back of the cave, "Excuse me, Prince Blueblood, but is this the door you and your friend here came from?"

I look to the door he pointed at, and nodded my head, "Yes," I tell them as I take steps closer to the door, "At the other side of the ruins down here, there was the cave where we came from," I said.

"There was also some large monster down there," Starlight chimed in, already taking a seat on the soft grass near the pond, holding her cheek with her hoof.

"A Monster?!" Rutherford yelled, turning to look at Starlight in surprise.

"Huh?" Starlight sounded when she noticed the eyes of the Yaks on her, before nodding, "Yes, There was this white ape-cat creature down there, we had to throw it off to escape," She explained.

"Indeed, We locked it behind the doors at the bottom of this staircase, so be careful if you plan to explore down there," I said and turned back to Rutherford.

"So? We have shown you the cave, will you tell us how long we'll need to wait before we can set sail back to Equestria?" I asked him, receiving a nod in return.

"Hmmm, I can ready ship to carry you in three days' time, Do not worry Blueblood! You will be back in Equestria before ten days pass!" He yelled with a cheer, quickly joined by the other Yaks.

"Three more days? very well..." Suddenly a thought popped in my head, "In the meantime, Prince Rutherford,"

"Yes?"

"What are your thoughts about trains?" I asked the orange Yak.

"...I'm listening," He replied with a smile.

The Castle of canterlot was in a joyous mood.
Not for any celebration or event, even though Janitor Barry is getting married, but because news arrived that Prince Blueblood is safe.

Or, it would be more realistic to say that most of the castle was joyous.

Sadly, three Royal Guards were stuck spending the day cleaning up after the tourists visiting the public section of the castle.

"This is so dumb! Why are we being forced to do this?!" A red Pegasus asked as she used her spear as a tool to pick up the trash from the floor, grimacing in disgust when the smell of what she was cleaning hit her nose.

"This sucks, sure, But we also kind of failed to protect the Prince, I'm just glad we're not getting fired," The orange Pegasus said with a chuckle, that trailed off when he noticed that his colleagues weren't laughing along.

"Grrr, What about you Wildflower? Since Flash Sentry is obviously fine with not complaining, do you have anything to add?" Cherry Pop moved her attention to the green Pegasus.

"Umm, I'm also glad we're not fired," The larger pegasus told his friend, "Can we get back to work? I want to finish this soon so I can buy my sister a present for her birthday next week."

"Ugh, Fine..." Cherry Pop groaned as she dropped her trash into a bag.

"It's Wallflower's birthday next week? Tell her I said Happy Birthday," Flash told his large green friend as he too placed the garbage he picked up in the bag.

"Sure," Wildflower said as just like his coworkers and friends, put the trash in the bag.

Cosmos perked up when she heard the clip-clip of hooves on the endless space of stars and planets that was her prison.

"So," She turned her head to look at the now familiar form of the White Unicorn, "I think we were doing our introductions?"

Cosmos smiled, "Yes! My name is Cosmos, What's your name?"

"My name is Prince Blueblood Platinum," The unicorn told her, and her smile grew wider in excitement.

The first person in hundreds if not thousands of years that she can talk to, and it's a prince.
The Future keeps looking brighter by the day.

"Cool! Wanna date me now?" She asked him.

"No."

"Haha! Shut down yet again!" She laughed.

Yep, The future keeps looking brighter and brighter by the minute.

Author's Note

Short chapter :|

Too bad for the Royal Guard trio, but hey, they had a simple job and they failed at it, gotta pay the price

:~^)
:O

(:0:`~':0:)

Chapter 21: Stars and Sea

"And here we are," Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan said as he led Starlight and I towards a wooden dock on a snowy beach.

Yakyakistan, by virtue of being a City State, has itself situated close to the north-western sea for ease of reaching by sail.

"She's a beaut," I muttered as I beheld the large ship, It was fifteen meters wide and sixty meters long, at a height of five meters to allow room beneath the deck, made of beautiful brown wood and covered by decorative shields, each painted to look like a family insignia of a high-ranking Yak family.

In its center was a single large sail, ready to be unfurled, of white with a stripe of checkered blue and yellow.

It looked like a mixture between an old Viking Longboat, and a more modern wooden yacht.

And it was glorious.

"She is, yes. Designed by my great grandfather, She was." The Yak said as he joined me in staring at the marvel of Nautical Yakyakistani Craftsmanship.

"And in a week, This beaut will be bringing you home!" Rutherford exclaimed with a yell, slapping me on the back.

A smile spread on my face at the thought of sailing this absolute work of art.

"Oh, And about that proposal you had for a train," The Prince said and my mind was quickly pulled back to reality.

The ocean can wait, I have a job to do.

"So... What do you want to talk about?" Cosmos asked the white prince as the two of them sat once more in the middle of empty space.

Prince Blueblood stared at her quizzically.

"Aren't you the one who brought me here to talk?" He asked her, lifting an eyebrow in confusion.

"I didn't bring you here, you just started coming," She told him, "You found my head and started popping in here every few hours since."

"What do you mean I found your head?" Blueblood asked her, still confused as to what was the reason he kept appearing in this space with her.

"You see," Cosmos started, "My memory is a bit foggy, but once upon a time, long long ago, I was just doing my thing, flying through space, moving around planets and such, when suddenly BAM!" Cosmos exclaimed with a loud noise, "My body was trapped and split into six crystal pieces and scattered across the world!"

Blueblood stared at her, before nodding his head in understanding, "Makes sense, I did pick up a glowing gem before I came here the first time," He said, "Do you know why you were trapped and split into these gems then?"

"Nope," Cosmos answered, popping the P at the end.

"Really? No idea?" Blueblood asked her again.

"No, Nothing," She told him.

"Aha?"

"Nuh-uh,"

"Welp, That's a disappointment," Blueblood said as he tried again to get comfortable on the flat space.

"Yeah, If I knew why I was here, maybe I wouldn't have been so bored all this time," She groaned, before widening her eyes as a light bulb appeared above her.

"Hey! Why don't you find the rest of my body?" She asked the prince.

"I mean, Sure, I guess I can do that," The prince shrugged, causing the decapitated head to vibrate in excitement, "But I'm also very busy, so I can't go looking for them," He told her, causing her to stop her excited head jiggles.

"That's a shame," She sighed, "But, if you ever find one, you'll get it, right?" She asked him, receiving a shrug and a nod from the prince.

"I mean, sure, If I find them then I'd take them, I just won't be actively looking for them," The prince rolled his shoulders as he tried to find a better position to lie on the nothingness of space.

"And hey, soon I'll be back in Equestria, we'll be able to find some clues as to why you're like this if I search the Library," He told her, "By the way, my back is killing me, So I'm going to stretch with a walk, wanna come with?"

Cosmos looked at the prince, as he stood upon his legs and then stared at herself, a head without a body.

Only for her to yelp in surprise as she was enveloped in a blue glow before being lifted from the floor and deposited on the Unicorn's back.

And for the first time in however long she's been trapped, Cosmos felt the heat emanating from another living body.
And she smiled, as the white prince carried her on his back, as if she was a princess (read Backpack)
"Wanna go out with me now?"

"No."

"Haha! Shut down yet again!"

Starlight held tight to the deck of the ship as the waves rocked it across the freezing waters of the north.

"Hahaha! You'll need to try harder to take me! Come on Mother Nature! Do your worst!" And as Starlight held onto the ship, she held even tighter on to the body of her new employer, and the singular lifeline saving her from being thrown into prison for the rest of her life.
Trying to stop him from being thrown overboard by the waves and wind.

And for what must have been the hundredth time since she agreed to Blueblood's deal, Starlight regretted her past decisions.

Eleven Days, Nine Hours, Forty-seven Minutes, and Fifteen Seconds.

That is how much time passed since Princess Celestia received news of her Blueblood disappearing.

So when she received news of a Yakyakistani vessel sailing near the north-western sea, nearing the harbor of Seaddle.
She paused whatever she was doing and went there, dragging her little sister with her as the two stood on the docks of the chill city, staring out to sea as a large Yakyakistani boat sailed nearer.

Squinting her eyes at the boat, Princess Luna gasped as she saw the figure of a white Unicorn, a wide smile on his face as he stood at the forecastle of the ship on his back legs, one leg in front of the other as he spread his front legs and shouted something.

"I'm King of the world?" Luna wasn't as well versed in lip-reading as her Sister sadly, so she couldn't figure out what he actually said, but nevertheless, the two princesses were glad to see the Prince returned to safety.

Only to gasp when he jumped off the ship toward the cold water of the sea, only to relax as a large wooden box floated over to catch him.

Blueblood walked along the box until he reached the edge, where he proceeded to keep walking as a new box appeared in front of him, continuing the walkway.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! So good to see you," He called out to them as he kept walking over an improvised walkway of floating wooden crates, "Luna, did you do something with your hair? It looks wonderful." He kept walking, and crates and boxes from behind him started to move forward to act as new steps, "Celestia, why do you look so glum? You should smile more often, Everyone likes to see you smile!"

Princess Celestia couldn't help herself, with a flap of her wings, she flew to the prince and picked him up in a hug.

"I was so worried about you," She told her Nephew as she hugged him close to her chest.

"There was no need to worry, Auntie, I got a new bodyguard to protect me," He told her awkwardly as he patted her leg.

"A new bodyguard you say? Well, I must thank them for keeping you safe fro- Oh..." Celestia stopped talking when she spotted the Purple and Aquamarine Unicorn, walking down the magical walkway of floating boxes before they levitated back to the ship.

"Auntie, I would like to introduce you to my new bodyguard, Starlight Glimmer!" Her little prince said with a smile as he gestured to the mare with his arm.

And as the Princess of the sun looked down at the mare who was the cause behind the whole fiasco, she forced herself to smile warmly at her, "Hello, Starlight Glimmer,"

Perhaps she smiled a bit... too warmly?

"Eh, Ahem... Hi?" Starlight said, sweat already dripping down her forehead in the late autumn wind.

Only for the warming exchange between the two to but interrupted.

"Farewell Blueblood! We speak more of the deal when official letter arrive!" A Yak from the ship yelled as he waved his leg in farewell to the Prince of Equestria.

"Farewell to you too, Rutherford!" Blueblood waved back to the orange Yak as the ship turned tail and sailed back north.

Leaving the pony passengers back in their homeland.

"Oh and Auntie, Starlight will be paying off her Prison time by working as my Bodyguard, Okay? Thanks!" Blueblood quickly told Celestia before squeezing out of her hug and running into the city, quickly being followed by Princess Luna.

Leaving Celestia and Starlight alone at the Seaddle docks.

Author's Note

Blueblood sets foot back on Equestria, or more specifically Pony-Seattle.

A Train Deal seems to be on the way with Yakyakistan.

Some more chilling and relaxing in empty space with Cosmos.

Next Chapter: Blueblood and Luna go to the Pacific-north-west capital of Equestria, Hijinks ensue.

Also, This story officially passed "How I Started A War In A Children Cartoon" Or more simply, "The Storm King Story,"

Officially making "Trash of the Royal Castle" my most liked story on this site.

Chapter 22: Streets of Seaddle

"You wouldn't happen to have a wallet on you, yes?" I ask the Alicorn following after me as I make my way down the streets of Seaddle.

"That's your question?!" She exclaims as she speeds up her walk to catch up with me, "You've been gone for almost two weeks and the first thing you say to us is, "Hey, can I borrow some money?" What is wrong with you?!" She yells, frightening several nearby ponies who quickly look away when they recognize me and my cohort.

I look at her from the corner of my eye as I turn left at the intersection, "I mean, I've been gone for two weeks right? Think of this as me coping with such a tragic event," I explain to her with a cheeky grin as I turn into a nearby alleyway, startling a cat that was napping on a dumpster.

"What?!" Luna shouts as she follows after me as I move dexterously between dumpsters near the walls and puddles on the ground, twirling around a backdoor that almost opens onto my face, smiling at the pony who opened it before grabbing the trash bag from her hooves and chucking it into the nearest dumpster.

"We are so sorry about him," I hear Luna tell the pony as I continue making my way between the alleyways before I reach my supposed destination.

Tinted windows, a small wooden canopy above the door, a brown welcome mat beneath it, and a generic illustration of a keg sat on a sign hanging off the canopy.

"Yep, This is the place," I nod and walk in.

The inside of the building was much cleaner than some might expect from a building located in an alleyway, but these deep alleyway places are always the best.

Or the worst, It really depends on which side of town you are at.

The place was mostly empty, save for a gruff-looking Griffon sitting in a cubicle in the back and a fancy-dressed Minotaur behind the bar.

"Blueblood! Where are you going?!" I hear Luna call out to me as I close the door behind me, walk into the hidden establishment, and sit at the bar.

"What are you doing here?" The Griffon near the back asks as he stands up on Leopard-looking feet, his front talons tapping on the clean floor as he makes his way to sit next to me, "Shouldn't you ponies be up near main street?" He taps a claw on the wooden bar as he leans next to me, squinting his eyes as I smile at him.

"Sigmund, Live the man alone," The Minotaur says as he readjusts the black and white vest he whore before taking a few steps to stand in front of me, "So, What can I get for you?"

"Blueblood!" Luna yells as she enters the bar, her eyes immediately catching on to me before she spotted the two other people in the room.
She coughed into her hoof, told them, "Excuse us for just a moment," and grabbed me in her magic, floating me outside of the bar and back into the alleyway we just came from.

"So, Do you have the money?" I ask her as I floated upside down, a sly grin still on my face as she tried to glare a hole into my forehead before she seemingly gave up and placed me back on the ground gently.

"Yes, We have money, but we will be talking about this," She sighed and followed me back into the bar.

"So, Will you be ordering anything?" The Minotaur asked as I sat back on the barstool, Luna grabbing a place next to me.
The Griffon from before already back in his corner at the back.

"Yes," I smiled "I'll have a Negroni, and the lady will be having an Iced tea, you know, Not of the tea kind."

The Minotaur chuckled and turned to the shelf of bottles behind him, grabbing several of them at once and several cocktail shakers.

"Did you order for us?" Luna hissed in my ear as she kept her eyes trained on the Minotaur.
"I did, Trust me, You'll like this new modern stuff," I told her, rhythmically tapping the wood with my hooves as I waited.
A Smile on my lips.

"So." Starlight started before swallowing the rest of her sentence and looking away from the frosty Princess of the day.

"Indeed..." Celestia replied as she looked down at the mare who Illegally built a town, stole the inhabitants' cutie marks after indoctrinating them into her cult, avoided her taxes, didn't pay for a building permit, or a medical lisence.

But worst of all, This Mare attacked her little prince and somehow managed to convince him to spare her from life in prison.

Oh, how she must have tortured him with her evil spells in order to let her go free.

Or even worse!
SHE SEDUCED HIM!!!

How tricky... Starlight Glimmer surely is a clever villain.
But Celestia is Clever-er, All she has to do is catch Starlight slip in her act, and then BLAM!
Straight to the bottom of Tartarus!

All she had to do is watch her, wait for her to fumble, and keep her eye on her at all times.

And then, her little Prince Blueblood will come back to Mama with tears of joy in his eyes, crying and hugging her as he thanks her for freeing him from this harlot.
And she will hug him back, and whisper to him that there is no need to worry, Mama will always love him and always support him, no matter how old he gets...

Princess Celestia smiled.
And Starlight Glimmer once again regretted her past actions.

"We're sorry!!!" Luna cried as she hung on to my shoulder, tears rolling down her face as she wailed.

We only drank one glass of what I ordered, but now we were back in the alleyway, slowly making our way back to the docks.

How was I supposed to know that Luna was a lightweight?! And I mean really lightweight!
And she's also a Crying drunk, the worst kind of drunk to deal with.

I sighed to myself, "Why couldn't you be a party drunk, like me, or at least a sad drunk, they're still easier to deal with than a crying one," I asked her, receiving wails and cries of "I'm Sorry!" as a response.

"There there," I rub her back as she kept crying, "Everything's okay,"

"But It's our fault!" She cried louder, her voice bouncing back in the slight echo of the alley.

"It's because We didn't join you in investigating Starlight that you disappeared!" She cried, her tears staining my fur, "If we didn't tell you to investigate her, none of this would have happe-he-hend!!!"

I stopped walking and grabbed her cheeks, pushing her off of me and forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"Wha?" She voiced from between squished cheeks as I forced her to look at me.

"It was my choice to pick up the missing person's case, You didn't do anything," I told her, ignoring her tears staining my legs as I held her cheeks.

"B-b-but we-!"
"You Didn't do anything wrong," I told her, "If you want to blame anyone, blame the police for not picking up on Starlight before we did,"

"But We-"

"No!"

"If we-"

"Nuh-uh,"

"Bu-"

"No ifs or buts!" I squish her face tighter, causing her to mewl in discomfort, "I might not look it, with my charmingly good looks and all," I tell her, "But I'm a grown-ass man, Luna, I can make my own choices, and sometimes I make mistakes, And that's fine."

She whimpered between my hooves, her tears slowing down.

"We can all play the blame game, thinking about how things could have been better, but we can't do anything but live with what we have," I tell her.

"It's our choices that define us, I chose to follow the missing pony poster, It was my choice to join the police in confronting her, and it was my choices that led me to the predicament that followed," I explained to her, "You didn't do anything, I chose it, and choices have consequences, some good, and some bad."

I smiled as I started moving her cheeks around my hooves, causing her to make funny noises "You get it? It was MY choice, not YOURS, so stop taking the blame,"

"I- We- But-" Luna whimpered from between her squished cheeks before she once again started crying uncontrollably.

I sighed to myself, "Yep, You're still drunk, don't know why I bothered,"

Reaching the docks with a now sleeping Princess on my back was far easier than with a crying Princess on my shoulder.

Celestia looked at the two of us, before sniffing the air and raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know she was such a lightweight," I explained, and she nodded as If I explained everything that happened in the past half-hour in perfect detail.

And soon, with a glow from Celestia's horn, Luna and I found ourselves back at the castle, followed soon by Celestia teleporting in, and a loud crashing noise as a fourth pony landed in another room, likely flinging stuff onto the floor as a result.

Celestia looked at where the sound came from with a small smile on her face.

"Whoops"

Author's Note

Blueblood and Luna go drinking. :moustache:

Blueblood shows Luna that just because Celestia treats him like a kid, doesn't mean he's not a twenty-eight-year-old man. :ajbemused:

Blueblood gets a Negroni and Luna gets the pony version of a Long Island Iced Tea. :coolphoto:

Celestia is thinking delusional thoughts about her Son-I MEAN NEPHEW! :flutterrage: :trollestia:

Starlight is still regretting her decisions. :facehoof:

And Cosmos can't make her appearance since Blueblood isn't asleep. :eeyup:

And hey, We got over 400 likes, making this my best-rated story on this site :pinkiegasp:

Chapter 23: Illusions and Pirates 1

Two days passed since I returned to Canterlot Castle, and now it's time for me to get some actual work done.
I read through the Nautical Science lessons book, so next time I meet the Chancellor of the EEA I'll be ready to take my test, but I'm not talking about that.

Cosmos, I need to find clues as to who she is and why she's trapped in a gem.

Luckily for me, I have the largest source of magical knowledge in Equestria just down a flight of stairs and a hallway from where I sleep.

The Canterlot Castle Royal Library is the Royal Library of Canterlot Castle.
Crazy, I know.

But if anywhere in Equestria will have information on Cosmos, then this is the place.

And to my amazing astonishment, I was wrong.

There's nothing.

No mention of her "Magical Crystals 1o1", No line about her in "Seals and Curses, The Complete Collection" and not even a drawing of her head in "101 Weirdest Creatures of the World"

This place was useless for finding Cosmos' other body parts, so that idea fell flat.

But something that did catch my eye was a line in "Magic Theory" By Clover the Clever.

Specifically, a Line about creating images via magic, or more succinctly.

Illusions.

Now, I might not understand all this mumbo-jumbo about magical theory and the arcane hoopla. I was a Nautical Science student, not a Quantum Physicist.

But I did play video games, and I know how powerful Illusion magic is.

Sure, Sneak Archer is the best build in Skyrim, nobody will deny that, but it's fun to run around as an Illusion Rogue, stabbing people in the back with sharp daggers.
In the game, at least.

In the real world, I don't think I'd enjoy stabbing people in the back, It's just not me, you know?
But It's a totally different thing to learn the magic for the sake of being able to do more than move objects with a glowing narwhale horn.

I mean, It's Illusion magic, It's not like it can break anything physical, so there's no problem.

What's the worst that can happen?

Princess Celestia smiled as she stretched her back in the morning.

Her Sun was up, the birds were singing, The smell of the salty sea brushed by her nostrils, it was a wonderful morn- Wait a minute...

There's no sea close to Canterlot...

Heading to the window, Celestia looked outside, and to both awe and horror, Canterlot Castle was in the middle of the ocean.

She looked back at the bed she just came out of, and asked herself if she is willing to deal with this so early in the morning.

And she came to a conclusion, quickly.

"Princess Celestia! We came here as soon as we got your letter, What happened?" Twilight Sparkle asked her teacher as she and her friends entered the throne room.

It was a surprise for Twilight to receive a letter requesting her presence at the castle, and being told to bring her friends with her on such short notice. Twilight wasn't sure what to think.

Did something go wrong? Is Princess Celestia in Danger? Is Nightmare Moon back?!

So she left Spike alone with Owlowiscious to clean a mess he made in the Library while She and the Girls went to Canterlot Castle to meet with the princess.

"Twilight,' Celestia started as she looked down at her student, not surprised that she managed to reach her castle. "The Castle has been sent to the middle of the ocean, your job is to find out why, and how, and bring the castle back to its place in Canterlot."

"..." Twilight nodded her head in affirmation, ignoring the blank stares from her friends.

"Err, Excuse me, your Highness," Her good friend Applejack started, "But the castle is already in Canterlot, we didn't pass any ocean to get here,"

"..." Celestia blinked slowly.

"Good Luck, Twilight Sparkle, I know you can do it." Celestia smiled and turned away from the girls, intent on catching up on sleep.

Leaving the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony alone in the Throne Room, confused as to what she was talking about.

"Woah! Are those ghost pirates?!" Only to quickly look at the window Pinkie Pie was staring from as the sounds of Cannon fire and waves entered their ears, followed by the smell of salt and smoke.

And looking out the window at the back of the Throne Room, their eyes expanded.

No longer were they on Canterlot Mountain, instead they were floating in the middle of the ocean, like an unmoving island, slowly being surrounded by see-through green ships and a skeletal crew of green ghost pirates.

"Woah! Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she watched two ships of ghosts battle it out, cannonballs flying everywhere as wood splintered and sails billowed.

"Wha- No Rainbow Dash, This is not awesome! Somepony managed to change the location of Canterlot Castle from the inside, creating a one-way entrance with no exit!" Twilight shouted at her friend, who tilted her head in confusion about whatever nerdy words she was talking about.

"Oh dear, This is a big problem, right Twilight?" Fluttershy asked her as she stared in horror at the pirates boarding each-others ships, blades swinging.

"A Big problem? Fluttershy that is an enormous understatement!" Twilight Exclaimed, causing her shy friend to duck into herself for comfort, "If we don't stop this somehow, then people will keep entering the castle, without being able to leave! After a few days, they'll run out of food and clear water! And after that EVEN WORSE!"

Applejack heard enough, "You heard Twilight girls, We need to find the cause of this- this... Twilight what do we call this?"

"A Spatial Cage,"

"This Spatial Cage! And once we do, we'll fix it!" Applejack yelled with a smile.

"Yeah, Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash joined in the excitement.

Twilight nodded with a smile on her face as she saw her friends getting themselves ready to figure out the cause of the spatial cage.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Starlight Glimmer asked her "Boss" as she watched him try, and fail, to change the coloring of a small illusion he created on a table in the library.

"No need," He told her as he focused on the scene he created, Many Ships were trying to fire on two smaller ships, as they sailed between them and robbed and pillaged, "You won't be able to help either, this is a dramatic reenactment of Captain Bartholomew Roberts capture and escape with the richest ship in the annual Portuguese Treasure Fleet," He explained to her as if she knew who that captain was and what those ships were.

"Okay, I'll just guard the door in that case," She said and walked away, ignoring his grumbling about how the ships shouldn't be green, or see-through.

Author's Note

Blueblood is learning Magic, on his own!

There surely won't be any negative results to the learning of magic from a book written before even Celestia was born, right?

I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

But Yes! We are returning to the Slice-of-life aspect of the story for now, Blueblood is back at the castle after all, no need to rush out to find the body parts of the Head who lives in the gem he keeps in his front pocket.

Note: This takes place immediately after "Owl's Well That Ends Well"

Chapter 24: Illusions and Pirates 2

"Okay Girls, let's split up and find the source of this Spatial Cage," Twilight called out to her friends as they stood in the Throne Room, thinking of a plan to solve this disastrous issue.

"Pinkie Pie, I want you to go to the west wing, find anything that suspicious that could help us figure this out," She told her friend, receiving a joking salute from her pink pony pal.

"Rarity and Rainbow Dash, You go ask the guards in the barracks, if anypony has an idea of who could be behind this, it's them." She told two of her other friends, receiving an "Of Course, Darling," From Rarity and a "Leave it to me!" From Rainbow Dash.

"Applejack, I would like you to question the staff, They know the way around the castle better than anypony, if the perpetrator is hiding somewhere, they'll know where it is." She told her orange friend, receiving an "Okay Pardner," in response as she readjusted her hat.

"And Finally, Fluttershy, You and I will be searching for the source of this cage directly, if we find it we can disable the spell, and free us from this trap." She told her final friend, who nodded meekly and took a few steps closer to her.

"Ready girls?!" She asked her friends, getting a chorus of affirmatives in all different manners.
"Then let's stop this spell!" She cried, and the Elements of Harmony split to begin their search.

Starlight was blank-faced as she stared at the view outside the large windows from the hallway leading to the royal library.

She saw ships of intricate build, waves of water slamming against their hulls, And cannons firing from two larger ships towards three smaller ships as they sailed between a fleet of smaller ships.

Starlight looked back at the door of the Library, and opened it a smidgen, peeking inside to see her boss still staring intently at the little illusion he made on the table, grumbling to himself about the colors not being right.

She looked back at the Ships and boats outside the window, then she looked at the illusion that Blueblood created on the table.
Then back to the window.
And back to Blueblood.
Over and over, she looked at the two groups of ships and sails, one outside the window, and the other on a table in the library, before reaching a very important conclusion.

"Blueblood isn't in danger, So I don't need to do anything about this," She closed the door to the library, and sat on the floor, trying to relax.

"Ah, Miss Glimmer, so good to see you," She stiffened as she turned her head to see Princess Celestia smiling down at her.
"I see you enjoy sitting on the floor, as you should, Follow me," She told her and started walking, forcing Starlight to walk swiftly after her.

"Sorry Blueblood, But you're on your own," She said in her head, "Don't get into a fight while I'm with your Aunt, she might actually just kill me if you do," Her legs moved faster to catch up with the Tall Princess.

Pinkie Pie is many things.
She is an Element of Harmony.
An Earth Pony.
Joyous and Fun.
Pink.
A Good Friend.
And so much more.

However, one thing that Pinkie Pie isn't, is good at following orders.
Even if the consequences of not following them are dire.

So, when she was told to explore a portion of Canterlot Castle to find clues as to what might be causing the Spatial Cagey thingamajig that Twilight was blabbering about, She asked herself a very important question.

What are clues?

So when she saw the large set of doors in the middle of the hallway, with nopony around to guard them, she saw a set of options in front of her.

Does she, A: Call one of the guards over to ask them what is inside the room?
Does she, B: Go and tell Twilight that she found a big set of doors and that she wants to check out what's inside?
Or Does she, C: Move on and continue her investigation?

If you chose one of these options, you are wrong.

Because Pinkie Pie clearly chose D: Enter through the doors without asking.

"I thought you said you would be staying outside," I said as I turned to see Starlight walk back into the library.

Only that it wasn't Starlight that I was looking at.

"Oh, I didn't know you were in here, I would've knocked if I knew, Hi my name is Pinkie Pie, I'm looking for an evil wizard who cast an awful mean spell on the castle to bring it to the middle of the ocean with ghost pirates because pirates are bad and so are ghosts sometimes but I don't know I never met a real ghost hey that thing you got there looks like these ghost pirates are you an evil wizard? Oh did I say my name was Pinkie Pie already? Because it is." I blinked at her words, my mind empty of responses to give to the Pink Earth Pony.

"OH!" She suddenly exclaimed, "I forgot! It's rude to ask for someone's name before introducing yourself, you know?" She said and stared at me with lidded eyes, "You should have introduced yourself before asking my name. It's Pinkie Pie by the way, what's yours?"
"..."
"Did I say my name already? It;s Pinkie Pie if you're wondering." She smiled and nodded her head as if she did a good job and is proud of her accomplishments.

I stared at her blankly before I asked my question.
"Who are you?"

The pony quickly opened her eyes wide in shock, "Did I forget to introduce myself?!" She mumbled something to herself before wiggling her curly hair around as she rubbed her head before she looked me straight in the eyes and told me.
"I'm Pinkie Pie,"

"...Yeah I'm too sober to deal with you," I said and stood up from the chair I was sitting at, turned off the magic powering the small illusion I tried to create, and walked out of the library.
Ignoring the steps of the pink earth pony following me.

"Look! The City is back!" One of the staff members of the castle cheered as he saw that the endless ocean and fleet of ghost ships that surrounded the castle was gone and the normal view from the castle was back.

Cheers rang out around the castle, and Celestia was happy to see that her student once again managed to solve a problem and save the day.

"But Princess," Twilight tried to explain, "We still don't know how that Spatial Cage showed up, or who cast it,"

"It is fine Twilight," Celestia told her student, "Leave the rest to the guards," She smiled.

"B-But the perpetrator is still out there!" Twilight tried to get her Princess to see reason, but she was ignored, forcing Twilight to groan as she went to search for her friends.

"Hey Twilight! I don't really understand what happened, but we did it!" The first to be found was Rainbow Dash, who had a victor's smile on her face as she flew loops near the tall ceiling of the hallways, soon Followed by Fluttershy and Applejack, and later Rarity after a few minutes of searching.

She was talking with one of the maids about the dress codes for the staff.

Now everyone was gathered and ready to return to Ponyville, everyone except for Pinkie Pie.

"I didn't see her anywhere," Applejack said as the group started looking for the last Element of Harmony.

"Excuse me dear," Rarity called out to a purple and aquamarine Mare who stood outside a door, "Have you seen a Pink earth Pony nearby? She has a large head of hair and a bouncy... personality."

The mare stared at Rarity before silently pointing her to a specific room nearby, her eyes unblinking and twitching.

"Oh, Thank you?" The Purple haired unicorn told the mare as she opened the door.

"Wowee this thing is delicious! How high of a percentage did you say this was?" Only to blink as she saw her friend Pinkie Pie, standing on one leg as she balanced on the backrest of a chair, an open bottle in her hand.

"It's only 12 percent, It's simple wine after all, not anything advanced," Rarity quickly turned away from the door and hid by the wall as she saw the other pony in the room, sitting regally on a sofa, an expensive glass in hand as he slowly sipped from the wine, his muscles at ease as the drink went down his throat, his golden hair reflecting the sunlight coming through the window like a field of golden wheat, his white coat smooth yet rugged.

A Beauty in the streets, a Beast in the sheets.

Rarity had to stop herself from squealing in excitement from being in the same area as the prince of her dreams.

"He can't be allowed to see me, I need it to be at the Gala," She thought to herself as her plans for the best night ever came to mind.

"I need somepony else to get Pinkie Pie away from him, and not ruin my chances in the future... Rainbow Dash? No, She's a bit too obnoxious, she will definitely make me look bad. Fluttershy? She's too quiet and feminine, she might accidentally steal him. Twilight? No, She must have some sort of history with him already, being a student of Princess Celestia means that her chances to get with Blueblood are too high. Applejack?"

Rarity blinked before she giggled to herself in a voice she would never publicly be caught making.
Before she made her way to search for Applejack.

It wasn't long before the mare who went by the name Pinkie Pie was asleep on a couch, an empty bottle of wine in her grasp as she hugged it closer to herself, a snot bubble blowing from her nose as she mumbled in her sleep some unintelligible words before giggling in her sleep.

And Prince Blueblood could do nothing but stare blankly at the pony who according to Princess Celestia, was a national hero who saved the nation multiple times.

The prince looked at the sleeping pony, and then at the half-empty bottle next to him, then at the emptied wine glass near his sofa.
Before he picked up the entire bottle and chugged its contents before making his way back to his room, intent on catching some early sleep.

Applejack sighed as she found Pinkie Pie, sleeping with a bottle of alcohol in her grasp, a soft smile on her face as the snot bubble above her nose grew larger and larger.

She groaned as she picked up her sleeping friend on her back and made her way back to the rest of her group.
"You need a diet," She mumbled quietly to the sleeping Pinkie Pie.

POP

And then grimaced as she felt something sticky and wet roll down her neck.

"Yuck."

Cosmos smiled as Prince Blueblood once again appeared in her prison dimension.

"Before you say anything," He told her as he took his place of lying on the void next to her, "Check this out,"

And with a glow to his horn, a small screen appeared in front of him, followed by a weird remote with colorful buttons and two joysticks.

"Here," He said as he passed her the illusionary controller, "This should be working because I'm asleep, you should have seen me try something like this awake," HE smiled at her as another controller appeared in front of him.

"Is this-" Cosmos wanted to ask, but was stopped when the prince chuckled to himself before looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I thought it was boring to just sit here and do nothing all the time, so I learned a new spell," He smiled as the screen he created started showing a room made of stone, on a throne in the middle sat a skull wearing a crown, two bubbles floated above the throne.
One held a pale-skinned, dark blue-haired human-looking girl, while the other held what looked like a toaster with a face.

A tanned man with green hair and a pair of glasses slowly approached the skull, before the screen changed to showcase a night sky and a sea of clouds beneath it, with the title of the game he put on.

Cosmos smiled widely as she looked at what her prince did for her, before she turned to him with a wide smile, and swore to herself that she would one day repay him hundredfold for what he did to her here today.

But with a flurry of emotion going through her non-corporeal heart, she could only simplify the things she wanted to say to three short words, words that she knew she couldn't say right now.

So she settled with two other words.

"Thank you,"

Blueblood just chuckled and pressed the green button on his controller.

Cosmos looked at him go to the two-player option on the screen before she smirked.

"So, you wanna' go out with me now?"
"No."
"Haha! Shut down once again!" Cosmos smiled widely at the routine of questions she built with him already.

She turned her head to her controller, and her two antelope horns glowed a weak pink, as she tested the buttons and joysticks of the illusion dream controller.

"You know," She wanted to say, "Maybe being stuck here isn't so bad," But she didn't.

So with a glow to her horns, she pressed the button with the letter 'A' and joined the game.

Author's Note

Simpler chapter, sorry if you are disappointed in the interactions between Newblood and the Main 6, I'm trying to keep them for the Gala. :pinkiehappy:

Also, try to guess which game BB and Cosmos are playing in gem-dream-space-prison.
I'll give you a hint, it's a classic Indie Game.

Chapter 26: The GGG 1

"So The Grand Galloping Gala is happening this evening," I say after the character I was playing got thrown off the ledge of the platform he was fighting on, Cosmos's character struck a victory pose and the scoreboard popped up.

"That's the fundraiser to keep orphans warm in winter, right?" Cosmos asked as she levitated an illusion of a soda bottle towards her mouth.

"Yep," I respond as I stretch my back and replace the illusion of the video game with that of a tropical beach, laying down on the soft sand of this dream/illusion.

"And all the rich ponies are going to be there?" Cosmos asked as I levitated her off the sand before placing her gently on a folding beach chair facing the setting sun.

I wouldn't be able to do such complicated illusions outside of this dream prison for a long while, it's only thanks to me being asleep and technically dreaming, that I can interact with these illusions as if they're real.

"Yep, All the rich people are going to be there," I took a sip of coconut water straight from the source as the green nut levitated in my magic, a straw piercing the meat of the fruit.

"What's your plan?" She asked as she too took a sip from the coconut, another straw piercing the other side of the fruit.

"First I need to wait for everyone to be there, And for that, I'll arrive thirty minutes after opening," I said, "That will both make it so that the ballroom will be filled with enough ponies to start a conversation, and I will not look like I hurried to get there, even though I live in the Castle."

"And then?"

"After arriving, I'll make a talk with Chancellor Neighsay, and get some sort of schedule ready for my Nautical Science exam," I told her, already imagining how much money I'll make once my future shipping Company is all up and running.
"Then, I need to get speaking with Raincloud Dazzle, she's the chief manager of the Cloudsdale weather factory, so she definitely has a ticket,"

"What does the weather factory have anything to do with the plan?" Cosmos asked as she looked at me from the corner of her eye, her head still facing the false sunset.

"It's not her job at the weather factory that I'm interested in, it's her husband, the head of the shipwright designer club. I could get in touch with him or the club on my own, but having her recommendation will make working with them much easier in the future. They will be the ones who will help design the cargo ships using the technology of modern Equestria, Trying to make an Earth Cargo-ship will be a massive waste of resources, and also an incredibly expensive task that would require the creation of several new types of engines."

Cosmos hummed in acknowledgment, "And then what?"

"To be perfectly honest, those two are the only ones I need, everybody else at the gala will be a nice bonus," I chuckled lightly, "I mean who knows? Maybe the Fillydelphia golf association might come in handy in the future,"

"Heh, maybe," Cosmos also chuckled, her eyes still glued to the setting sun.
The soft sounds of the waves splashing on the beach filled the empty space of the dream prison as the two of us sat in silence.

"Blueblood,"

"Yes, Cosmos?"

"Do you miss being a human?"

Hearing her question, I sat silently in thought before quickly reaching a conclusion.

"I miss Human culture, I miss Human food and Human television, Human Games and Human science," I said, my eyes now also staring at the false setting sun, slowly lowering into the fake ocean.

"However," I added, "I don't miss sleeping on a ratty couch, I don't miss spending days without sleeping in order to get ready for a College exam, I don't miss having to work several jobs in order to scrounge enough money to eat something that wasn't dorm room slop, I don't miss bouncing from foster home to foster home, from city to city,"

I stopped talking, silence returning to the two of us.

"...I'm actually happy I'm here," I whispered, before quickly correcting myself, "I'm not happy I have hooves and Walk on four, I'm still a Human through and through.
But here, as Prince Blueblood?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling the air and opening my eyes once again.
The fake sun has set, and the beach is now illuminated by the endless sea of stars and nebulae that were all around the dream-prison.

"I have a warm and comfortable bed," I said, not even sure if Cosmos was still listening, "I have good food and an entire source of information in the royal library, I can cast magical spells that would have been seen as nothing more than fantasy back on earth, I have enough money to never need to scrounge through several jobs at the same time ever again."

I crack my neck, Stretch my back, roll my shoulders, And stand up from my beach chair.
I lift my arm high above my head, my fingers making bone-snapping sounds as I stretch them for the first time in a month, My bare feet leave soft indents on the sandy beach.

I stretch my legs as I crouch down, my khaki shorts covering my white skin, and a blue and white Hawaiian shirt wrapped around my torso.
I moved my golden-blonde hair to behind my ear so I could see better before looking down at the dismembered head that lived inside of a crystal shard.

"As Prince Blueblood, for the first time in my life, I have people I can consider friends," I smiled down at my dream companion with my icy-blue eyes.

Cosmos simply stared up at me silently, before smirking to herself and letting out a whistle.

"Look at you," She smiled as she looked at me, or at the Human-Blueblood me, "Handsome devil you,"

"Hey," I exclaimed as I held my arms crossed in front of myself, "Hands off the merchandise, You can see but you can't touch,"

"Hahahaha!" Cosmos laughed, soon joined by my own laughter.

And the two of us laughed on the fake beach, until I woke up, leaving Cosmos alone in the dream-prison, waiting for me to go back to sleep.

"Starlight Glimmer, You will be joining me at the entrance to the Ballroom," Princess Celestia told the Unicorn Mare in front of her.

"What?! But I'm supposed to-" Starlight wanted to argue, only for Celestia to shut her down.

"I will not allow you into the Gala, Blueblood's Bodyguard or not, I will not allow a convicted criminal near the other guests." She told her, "You will be staying with me, outside, Greeting the guests for the entire evening," Celestia smiled at the mare.

"I hope you enjoy standing outside doing nothing, you'll be doing a lot of that tonight," And for the millionth time since Starlight Glimmer struck that deal with Blueblood in the caves of Yakyakistan, Starlight Regretted her life choices.

Author's Note

Short chapter, more of a character interlude showing Newblood's view and opinion after a month as Blueblood.

The Actual GGG will start next chapter, don't worry.

Also, Humanblood: Imagine this guy but with beach clothes and his hair not covering his eye.

Art by LimeDazzle on Deviantart

Chapter 27: The GGG 2

"Starlight! Look at you!"

Starlight Glimmer scowled as she looked at herself in the mirror, a black suit was covering her front half, while a pair of black sunglasses rested on her eyes.

She looked at her boss and asked him a very important question.

"Can you talk with Celestia about this?"

Blueblood looked at her, confusion written on his face. "Talk about the sunglasses at night, or about the suit that simply doesn't fit your color scheme?"

"Neither! Both!" Starlight growled in frustration, "About how she's treating me!"

"Starlight... You know I consider you a friend, right?" The prince asked her, receiving a slow shake of her head in reply.
"Of course, being forced to carry you in the freezing north is part of the reason, but it mainly stems from me punching you in the face, and you not running away at the first chance you got."

It was Starlight's turn to stare at the prince in confusion.

"The Moment we reached Yakyakistan, you had no reason to come with me, But you did. And so allow me to tell you, not as your Boss, or as a Prince. But as your Friend."

Blueblood leaned forward in order to be at eye level with his bodyguard.

"Whatever complaints you have about Celestia, drop them." Starlight widened her eyes in shock.

"But-!" She wanted to yell but was cut off, "Let me explain."

"For all intents and purposes, Celestia doesn't see you as my bodyguard, she wasn't there to see you blast that monster in the tunnel. As far as she is concerned, you are still a cult leader trying to escape punishment." He explained to her in a calm and reasonable tone.

"Just give her some time, It's been barely two weeks," He smiled before he gently pushed her away from the mirror she was using to see her new outfit, "And besides, Having Celestia be slightly miffed at you is much better than spending years in a jail-cell." He rolled his shoulder as he looked at his new suit.

A White and blue striped shirt, covered by a white vest with blue pockets, lined with gold trimming, and a white coat, inlaid with a blue fabric lined with gold, the red and green gem fragment he found in the ruins of King Tarkus IV was placed in a breast pocket, taking the place that would normally have went to a rose flower.
Tying it all off with a blue tie around his neck, held by a gold button in the shape of his cutie mark.

As far as Starlight could tell, the suit he wore cost as much as the entirety of all the building materials she collected to build Our Town.

After looking himself over in the mirror, and moving some of his hair to the side, he smiled at his reflection.

"So just give her some time, okay?" He smiled down at her, before turning around and taking his leave.

Only to quickly walk back into her room, "And Remember, You can't steal anybody's Cutie Mark," And left again.

Only returning once more, "I'm serious, I can't help you if you steal a Cutie Mark here," and leaving once more.

Just to once again come in, "I'm very serious about this-" "I GET IT!" Starlight yelled at him.

Blueblood frowned at her, his body still halfway through the doorway.

"Yikes, You don't need to shout like that," He said with a roll of his eyes and left.

Finally leaving Starlight with time to think- BOOM CRACKLE BOOM

Only for the fireworks to signal that the Grand Galloping Gala has officially begun, and Starlight doesn't have time to sit around doing nothing up here, she's supposed to be busy doing nothing down there!

"Shit!" Starlight quickly ran to the ballroom where the Gala was taking place.

"Ah, The Grand Galloping Gala, a once-in-a-year party of high society, a magnificent fundraiser to help those who cannot help themselves, I heard you organized everything in this year's Gala, Didn't you Raven?" I say as I look down at the garden connected to the ballroom hosting the Gala, next to me is Raven Inkwell, The Second Most important Pony in Equestria.

"I Did," She answered simply, also looking down at the guests slowly arriving at the Gala.

"So, May I ask, why are you not joining them?" I ask her, my eyes searching the crowd of ponies until I spot a certain Pegasus that I'm looking for.

"I don't want to," Raven said, her eyes glued to the crowd of ponies below us, so small they look like bugs from the tower we're standing in.

"I see, that is a perfectly valid reason," I respond to the Secretary of Equestria, "But should you decide to come down there, You simply must save me a dance," I smile and walk away, intent on making it to speak with Raincloud Dazzle, the chief manager of the weather factory.

And as I walked away, Raven Inkwell kept silently staring at the ponies down below, only barely turning her eyes and catching a glimpse of my back.

"Miss Raincloud!" I call out to the Pegasus Mare, her light blue coat and grey hair turn to look at me, and a smile appears on her aging face.

"Prince Blueblood, To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked as she watched me steadily walk towards her.

"I assure you Miss Raincloud, the pleasure is all mine," I smile and shake her hoof, "I heard that your husband is a member of the Shipwright Designer Club, is he not here with us tonight?" I ask her, receiving a shake of her head.

"He's back home taking care of the kids," She smiled gently, "But don't confuse him for any old member of that club, He's the head!" She said with a wider smile on her face.

Step one of the plan, is already going well, with Raincloud Dazzle in good graces, that leaves only Neighsay for later tonight.

Oh yeah, It's all coming together.

Starlight tried her hardest to stop herself from frowning as she stood behind Celestia, her eyes looking over the crowd of ponies coming and going around the Gala.

"Is that a dragon?"

"Princess Celestia!" A Purple Unicorn in a very sparkly dress said as she ran up the stairs to speak with the Princess.

"Twilight," Celestia smiled at the mare, "It is so lovely to see my star student," She told her.

"I am so excited to be here, we have so much to catch up on," The mare, Twilight, told the Princess, and Starlight couldn't help but listen intently to the duo.

Don't blame her, This is probably the most interesting thing that will happen this evening.

"Well, I want you right by my side the entire evening, so we'll have plenty of time together," The Princess told the Unicorn, and Starlight couldn't help but question if Celestia really did want the mare by her side, or if she just wanted someone who wasn't her next to her the entire evening.

"You know, I could be somewhere else right now, not bothering you," Starlight wanted to say but held her tongue.

Blueblood might be her boss, But Celestia is the ruler of Equestria, making it so she is her Boss's Boss.

Hearing Celestia's words, the Purple Unicorn quickly took a spot standing to the left of the Princess, "That's what I hoped you'd say," She smiled at her, and Starlight couldn't help but make a gagging sound as she saw the sweet puppy-dog eyes on the mare as she looked up to the princess.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's pupil," The mare, seemingly hearing the sound Starlight made, quickly turned and introduced herself to her.

Starlight wanted to ignore her, make sure this evening passes by faster, but the sharp smile on Princess Celestia's face pushed her away from that decision.

"Oh, Ahem." She coughed, "I'm Starlight Glimmer, nice to meet you?" She ended with a question, looking at Celestia for her response.

Receiving a serious nod from the princess, Starlight took a few steps back and returned to her spot looking at the guests.

"Blueblood must be having the time of his life," She thought to herself.

This is Horrible!

This is absolutely catastrophic!!!

This is a disaster of an unimaginable scale!!!!!

Why did nobody tell me that Chancellor Neighsay wasn't coming to the Gala?!?!?!

"Could this night get any worse?!" I yelled in my mind, my face a perfect mask of a calm and collected prince.

Author's Note

Yep, The GGG is officially starting.

Blueblood's new suit is based off of Arthur from Fate/Prototype and Fate/Grand Order.

The top half of the suit, obviously.
He doesn't wear pants.

Oh, And also no sword, sorry :raritydespair:

Chapter 28: The GGG 3

Things were going so well.
Raincloud Dazzle agreed to give me a good word to her husband, making building my future company much easier.

But Chancellor Neighsay isn't at the Gala!

And if he's not here, I'll need to speak with him another time, which wouldn't need to happen if he was here!

But that's okay, That's fine, Good even.

I'll just schedule a talk with him for next week, get the test out of the way, build my ship, get some workers, strike some deals, and bada-bing bada-boom! Business!

In the meantime, I'll just mingle around with the rich ponies, donate a bit or two to the fundraiser, and talk about whatever topic these ponies find interesting.

And if I'm lucky, I'll manage to strike a deal with someone who has ties to Caninia or Griffonia.

Yes... I can still make this night productive.

And with these thoughts in mind, I walk out of the garden and back into the ballroom, intent on making my moves, only to pause when I spot a stand selling food being handled by an orange earth pony.

I walk over as soon as the Pegasus from the WonderShots or whatever they're called leaves the stand, a full pie held in his mouth.

"Nice to meet you Pardner, I didn't expect to get another customer so soon!" The pony said with a smile on her face.

"Not a customer, just here to ask some questions," I tell her as I look over her stand, seeing Apple-based products on the small shelves.
I point to one of the unlabeled bottles.
"What's that?"

"This is Apple Juice, freshly squeezed and bottled this morning," She says with a smile and I nod my head, pointing at another product and getting a similar response.
Apple Food, Fresh from today.

"How Much for an apple fritter?" I ask her.

"Two bits!" That's kind of cheap for a fundraiser, isn't it?

"Not five bits?" I ask with a frown, confused as to why she would sell her food for so cheap. I understand that the charities involved here are all non-profit, but they still need some sort of profit this evening to help the orphans.

"Isn't five bits too expensive for an apple fritter?" She asks back with a small frown.

"Isn't two bits too cheap for charity?" I ask her, "How will you make the money back, There isn't much food in your stall, and not all of it will be sold this evening. This is for charity, it's fine to make the products more expensive than they should normally be." I explain to her what I thought was common knowledge in business and marketing.

By making it so the profit from your products is given to charity, you can increase the price of select goods by saying that the extra cost goes directly to the charity you work for.
Two bits is the price of a normal apple-fritter, if you sell a charity-apple-fritter for the same price, you are actively losing money because the profit goes to the charity, and not back into the business.

Non-Profit charities don't give away all of the profit they receive in sales, they keep the cost of the materials and goods in order to recuperate for the next event, if you give away everything you make, you'll run out of money.

And say what you want about non-profit charities, you need money to run them.

Instead of seeing a nod of understanding and agreement from the mare, I am given a head tilted in confusion with a single eyebrow raised.

And then she asked something that made my terrible mood from earlier, the one I've tried thinking positively of in order to salvage the situation, return like a sledgehammer to the back of the knee.

"Charity?"

I didn't know what to say to that. Is she not part of one of the charities here? Did she really just open up a food stand at the Grand Galloping Gala, ask for money, and not be a part of one of the charities?

This has to be a joke. So I laughed.

"Hahaha, that's a good one," I tell her with a smile on my face and a hearty chuckle exiting my lips, "You really got me there, Hehehe. I'm talking about the charity you're working with."

"I'm not working with a charity," She told me in confusion, and the smile on my face evaporated in an instant, "I'm selling these apples to help my farm,"

I stare at her blankly for a few more seconds before turning away and heading to look for a super-specific pony.

Raven Inkwell expected her night to continue as it had, simply staring at the ponies down below until the Gala is over and she can go to sleep.
However, it seemed that fate had different plans for her.

"Prince Blueblood," She said in order to get the Stallion in front of her to stop speaking, "Can you repeat your question, please?"

"Gladly," The Prince said and recounted the events that brought him to her, "So my question in this regard is, did you give the mare a permit and nobody told me? Because as far as I can remember, the Grand Galloping Gala has been a non-profit fundraiser to help the downtrodden. And it's simply that having the lady selling her food for her own apple farm, doesn't really scream charity, let alone non-profit."

Raven took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Was she orange?" She asked, receiving a look of amazement from the prince.

"She was, Do you know who she is?"

Raven groaned at the incoming headache.
She wasn't supposed to do her job tonight, Princess Celestia gave her the evening off to enjoy the Gala.

So much for an evening off...

"I do," Raven said and started walking in the direction of the Ballroom, followed closely by the Unicorn Prince.

"Applejack," The mare in question turned her head to see her good friend Rarity walk up to her, "Did you perhaps see a Blonde Stallion with a White coat?"

"I did," Applejack told her, "He said something about my prices and charity before wandering off. Do you know him?"

Rarity nodded her head before smiling regally, "In fact, I do, That Stallion is none other than Prince Blueblood, Princess Celestia's nephew, and also the most eligible bachelor in Equestria." She explained with a smile, her mind depicting the handsome prince smiling at her as he takes her on a night she will never forget.

"How dreamy... Ahem! Did you perhaps see where he went?" She asked.

"Not really, He went back inside after asking me a few questions," Applejack told her before a question came to her head.

"Hey, Rarity?"

"Yes, Applejack?"

"Is my food too cheap?"

Rarity paused for a moment to think her question over, before shaking her head and giving her friend a quick answer.

"I'm not too sure Dearie, Anyway, I need to find him, See you soon!" Rarity said before making her way back into the Ballroom, intent on finding Prince Blueblood.

Leaving Applejack outside with a set of unanswered questions weighing on her head.

Author's Note

Another short chapter, This time focused on the Applejack side of the Gala.

Once more, Raven Inkwell saves the day by cleaning up after other people's mess. She really needs to take some time off...

Blueblood shows off his vast knowledge of common marketing practices.

And Rarity still hasn't found her prince charming.

So all in all, This is almost like a regular MLP Episode.
Only with Newblood as the main character.

Just a reminder, this would have been a totally different chapter if Neighsay was a social enough pony to come to the Gala, so blame him for the problems that are about to come.

Also, We Stan Raven Inkwell in this story.

She actually saves everyone, the secret princess.

Chapter 29: The GGG 4

Starlight couldn't help but cringe as she looked at Twilight Sparkle trying to start a conversation with Princess Celestia, only for another guest to arrive and greet her instead, forcing the poor mare to sit by and wait for them to leave, only for yet another pony to take their place.

Just walk around the Gala and come back later, when the guests are done greeting the princess, why is she still standing here? This is the most obvious course of action.

"Em, Prince-" "Princess Celestia, It is so wonderful to see you!" Twilight was interrupted once again, and Starlight started to really feel bad for the younger mare.

"Psst," She tried to catch her attention, But either she wasn't heard, or was ignored by the purple Unicorn, seeing as Twilight didn't turn to look at her.

Welp, So much for trying to be nice. Have fun standing around doing nothing all night.

"Excuse me, Miss Applejack," Applejack turned to see who called out to her, coming once more face to face with the blonde pony from before.

"Hey, Rarity was looking for you, did you talk to her yet?" She asked the Unicorn, getting a confused look in his eyes as a response and his lips silently mouthing "Rarity?"

"Ahem," Applejack turned her head once more, staring at a slightly shorter Earth Pony who almost seemed to blend into the background, even with the red dress she was wearing.
It might sound rude, and so Applejack wouldn't say it, but the mare honestly looked like a Background Character from one of those comic books Big Mac used to read.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there, How can I help you?" Applejack asked the lady before rattling off the wares that she was selling, from Apple Fritters to Apple Pie, Caramel Apple, and Apple Fries.

"Can you please show me your permit?" She asked, and It was Applejack's turn to once again be confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Your Permit? The waiver you signed? Any document on your person that pertains to the handling of this here food stand?"

"Emm, Just a second," Applejack told her and quickly ducked behind her stand, opening a small drawer and taking out a printed document.
"Here,"

The Mare took the paper and read it over, a neutral frown on her face as she combed the wording of the document before handing it back to Applejack and lifting her glasses up her nose.

"I'm going to need to ask you to take down your stand," She told her, and Applejack gaped in shock.

"Excuse me?!" She yelled at the two white ponies in front of her, causing the so-called 'Prince' to speak.

"I really don't know how things work in whichever town you arrived here from, but it is the proper procedure to sign waivers and gain a permit if one wants to open up a foo-" Applejack quickly interrupts him.

"I know what permits are gosh darn-it, I'm asking why you need me to take the stand down?!" She yelled at the Unicorn, he took a step back with an offended look on his face, looking at her from his higher point of view as if she said something so unbelievably stupid he was in awe.

"Because you aren't allowed to sell on Canterlot Castle grounds." Now it was the mare who answered, her tone clipped and business-like, the type AJ wasn't used to dealing with.
Especially on their home turf.

"But I-" Applejack tried to interject, only to pause as she heard a familiar voice screaming loudly.

Turning their heads to look at the source of the sound, Applejack smiled when she spotted one of her friends coming to help her in this situation, followed immediately by a confused frown when the friend she was looking at started sprinting full tilt in her direction, which turned to horror as the missile of a pony didn't seem to be slowing down at all!

"Oh no-" She heard the Unicorn say in a defeated town before the friend-shaped missile crashed into him, throwing the two ponies into a tangle of limbs on the ground.

"Don't worry Applejack! I caught the Evil Ghost Pirate Wizard!" The Pink earth pony said loudly as she stood on top of the downed body of the blonde Unicorn, the crowd of onlookers staring in silent shock at the scene.

The silence was broken by one of the nearby guards tackling Pinkie Pie onto the floor and placing cuffs on her hooves, "You Are Under arrest for Assault on the member of the crown!" The guard yelled before being joined by two other Pegasus guards and flew away, carrying the cuffed earth pony away as the crowd stared in shocked silence.

"Don't worry," The Silence ended once again when the white earth pony turned to Applejack, "She's not in any real trouble," She then grumbled under her, and Applejack could pick up the word "...Elements of Harmony..." somewhere in her grumbles.

"And I hope I don't need to ask you again to take down your Stand, Miss Applejack, This Castle has a strict set of rules that all guests must adhere to, National Heroes or Nobility matters not." She told her before moving to the downed prince and picking him off the ground, placing him on her back and effortlessly carrying him inside as he groaned in pain.

"And that's how it happened Your Highness, We did as you asked and kept a vigilant guard on the Prince." A Red Pegasus said as she and her two friends saluted the Princess of the Night.

"The Threat has been taken care of and placed in a cell," An Orange Pegasus added, followed by a nod from the third and final, Green Pegasus.

"Very Good..." Princess Luna said as she looked down the window of her room at the top of the castle, staring at the many ponies walking around the Gala like little ants.

"But Ma'am," The Green Pegasus said, "Won't she simply be released tomorrow morning because she's an Element of Harmony?"

Luna sighed at that question and shook her head slowly. "Alas, we can do nothing on the subject of Pinkie Pie's importance to the nation as the Element of Laughter, However, we are assured that she will learn her lesson to not- how do you say this? Glomp Prince Blueblood in the future," She said with a serious tone of voice, causing the two smaller-built Pegasus to almost burst out laughing at the Princess's usage of modern terminology.

"You may return to your prior duties now," Luna told the three Pegasi, receiving a quick salute from the trio before they flew out of her window and returned to the duty she assigned them.

"Applejack!" The pony in question sighed as she turned away from sadly packing up her stand, to look at the pony who called for her.

"What can I do for ya' Rarity?" She asked the Purple-Haired Unicorn, who was busy looking at the ponies around as if searching for somepony.

"I heard that Prince Blueblood was seen here again, do you know where he went?" Rarity asked her, and Applejack looked at the small path of ruined grass from where Pinkie Pie tackled him into a roll.

"He went inside, Rare," She told her, receiving a quick and thankful nod before her friend once again left her.

"...Maybe Spike still wants to hang out?"

Author's Note

Poor Blueblood, he had his bones shattered by the combo of "Pinkie Sprint Tackle!" followed by a "Pinkie Roll!" and a "Pinkie gets detained for assault!"

Raven Inkwell once again carries the story, she really is the Secret Fourth Princess!

The three guards who failed to protect Blueblood from Starlight are back, and they're done picking up trash.
Now they're picking up filth.

A quick summary of the trio because let's be honest, I'm not going to make an entire chapter to build their character. They're the comedy relief trio consisting of three Royal Guard Pegasi.

We have the de-facto leader of the group, Cherry Pop! She's Red and Hot-headed, and always looking to help out the little guy, even if it goes against her orders.

Next we have Flash Sentry! He's Orange.

And Finally, we have the Green one, Wildflower Hush. He's larger than the average Pony, making him look menacing, But he's actually a calm and educated guy with a soft spot for his Earth Pony younger sister, Wallflower Blush.

Also, It was while playing the new Anniversary Memorial Quests on F/GO that I realized that Human Blueblood is basically Kirschtaria Wodime.

They even got almost the same eye color!

Blueblood is the type of person to be a one-star character in a Gacha game who has teammates with way higher stats than his.

If you didn't get it yet, I'm a Fate fan.

Chapter 30: The GGG 5

Deep bellow Canterlot Castle, sits a dungeon, capable of holding some of the most dangerous criminals in the nation.

For hundreds of years, this dungeon stood empty and unused, seeing as all criminals powerful enough to be held here were already on their way to Tartarus, and so the Canterlot dungeon stood empty.

Until now.

"Stay here and someone will get you tomorrow, don't leave," A Royal Guard told the menace held in the dungeon, sitting on a small wooden bench near the wall, looking at the walls of chains and cages.

"Okey Dokey!" Pinkie Pie said, already wearing a black and white striped jumper and a heavy ball and chain around her ankle.

"Good," The guard said and left her alone in the dungeon.

"You forgot to lock the door!" She called out after him, but he ignored her as he exited the dungeons, not bothering to lock the pony up.

"I mean, I don't want to be chained up," Pinkie said to nobody as she stood up and started wandering around the empty dungeon, her only source of light being the few rays of moonlight peeking through the window leading to the steep cliffs below Canterlot, making escape for anyone who can't fly, almost impossible.

"I understand that some ponies see me as a party freak, but I'm way more of a Vanilla gal," She continued speaking as she continued walking around the dungeon, peeking into different cells and admiring the cages and chains.

She stared at a wooden horse sitting next to an iron maiden.
"I know what that's for, but the modern state of entertainment has made it so this device will be more synonymous with the adult entertainment genre than the torture device it was meant to be." She kept walking, exploring every nook and cranny of the dungeon, before she made her way back to her cell and sat down, her chin resting on her hoof as she waited.

"Oh yeah!" She suddenly had an epiphany, "We already stopped the pirate wizard, I didn't need to tackle him..." Pinkie then thought a bit more about what she said before her bored face turned to horror as tears started trailing down her cheeks.

"He gave me wine! He's my friend now! And I hurt him!" She cried, promising that once she was out of this dungeon, she will apologize to him with the best apology party she will ever make!

"Heeheeheeheehee, That's a Pinkie Promise, right pinkie?" She asked out loud, before speaking with a deeper tone, "That's right Pinkie, by the way, did you do something with your hair? I did, Thank you for noticing! No problem!" And she spent the rest of her night holding a conversation with herself.

"Do they not know what the Grand Galloping Gala is?" Raven Inkwell asked as she laid her head on a table, Prince Blueblood sitting in front of her eating from a small bowl of salad.

"I find it hard to believe that some ponies don't know what a Gala is," He said as he took a bite of his salad before asking, "On the subject of the Gala, How much money did we raise yet?"

Raven sighed before answering the prince, "I don't know, I'll need to check."

Blueblood sighed, "Then it seems that the fundraiser has been a failure," he said as he placed down the bowl of salad he was eating and stood up, "Please go check how much money was raised, I'll be back shortly." He told her and left, entering one of the corridors leading to the castle proper.

Raven sighed once more, her red dress creased from not taking care of it, her hair messily splitting away from her bun, and her eyes tired of working during her day off.

"It's always the Elements of Harmony, isn't it?" She grumbled quietly as she made her way to see how much money was raised.

And she blanched when she saw the number of bits raised and started looking for why so few ponies donated.

And that's when she saw it, A blue-colored Pegasus with rainbow-colored hair, subtly dropping the signs calling people to donate near the Wonderbolts, only to swoop in and catch them, making herself seem impressive to the Pegasus, without placing the banners and sign back up.

She just tucked them away to the side.

Raven was having none of it.

"Excuse me, Miss Rainbow Dash," She called out to the mare as she walked in her direction, her face set in an angry frown as she saw all the hard work she did in order for the Gala to be perfect get thrown to the side by the Elements Of Harmony.

She can rest easy knowing that Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle, have yet to cause a disturbance, but looking at the girls' track record, how long will that last?

"Did someone call me?" The Element of Loyalty asked and sharply turned her head to see the white Earth Pony walking up to her.

"Yes, I'm going to have to ask you to stop dropping these signs and leave them alone," She told the mare, who chuckled in response.

"Me, dropping them? What are you talking about? Haha," She asked in a wooden voice, her eyes looking elsewhere.

"I see this is funny to you, but the Grand Galloping Gala needs these signs standing, so if you could please stop doing whatever it is you're trying to do, that would be a blessing."

Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding, "I see, Let me put all those signs back, then you won't have to look like you want to shout." Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, and before Raven could stop her, she was gone.

Sounds of crashing could be heard all throughout the gala as the blue Pegasus flew around, placing the signs back in their place but also pushing many guests aside in the process, causing them to drop what they were holding, causing a large mess.
But none of the mess was as horrible as when a guest jumped in fright at the sound of the crashes, bumping into the artistic statue of Celestia, causing it to start falling.

But before the statue could fall on top of the guest, Rainbow Dash flew and caught it, however, her victorious smile did not last long, as the statue started to wobble in her hold, knocking over the nearby decorative pillars.
Ending it all with the statue's head falling off, and landing on the marble floor.

The entire crowd stood stunned as they looked at the mayhem of what happened, the door the ballroom quickly opened, with Princess Celestia herself coming to check what the noise was, followed by Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer.

Another door opened soon after, revealing Blueblood's return to the party.

"Well, It can't get any worse," Twilight Sparkle said, and Raven felt like pulling her hairs out.

Because as soon as those words left her mouth, the door to the gardens smashed open, and groups of exotic animals jumped into the ballroom as the yellow-coated Pegasus behind them yelled out in rage, causing the remaining guests to start running around like headless chickens in a panic.

And seeing all of it, Raven's knees buckled, and she fell to the ground.

Soon she was joined by Prince Blueblood, who asked her how much money was raised, and at hearing her answer, his eyes darkened, he walked up to the stage where the musician played their music, grabbed the microphone, and tapped it a few times, causing every pony in the hall to suddenly freeze and look at him.

"What are you planning?" Raven asked as she stared at the Prince.

Princess Celestia was enjoying the chaos, this was the first time in centuries that the Grand Galloping Gala was fun for her, she got to spend the entire evening with her lovely student (Starlight was also there, but she could ignore her) and that was enough to satiate the boredom of sitting around greeting the guests.

But her small smile of enjoyment immediately vanished when she spotted her nephew grab a microphone and get everypony's attention.

"Attention, Could I please have your attention for just one moment?" He asked the crowd that was slowly quieting down as the animals relaxed and stopped running.

"I have some words I'd like to say," He continued, and Celestia embraced herself for what he was going to say.
Was he going to tell a joke to lighten the mood? Was he going to do something drastic? What was her little baby planning?

Rarity was starstruck as she looked into the Ballroom, Applejack by her side with her mouth agape as the two watched Prince Blueblood quiet everyone down and calm the situation.

"He really is the perfect prince," Rarity whispered as Applejack looked on in awe, her eyes wandering to her closed stand before looking back to the prince.

"This is the Grand Galloping Gala," Blueblood said, his words being heard by every single guest at the party, "A once in a year event where the richest and most successful ponies in Equestria meet to dine and talk while raising funds for the downtrodden."
He continued, "This year, the funds we are raising were all going to go to keeping orphans warm in the winters of Rural Equestria," He said, his eyes looking down at all the ponies below him.

"However, this year we have only managed to raise the high amount of eleven-thousand bits. That is barely enough to install two heaters," It was then that his horn glowed, and an illusion appeared above his head, showcasing a group of fillies and colts playing in the snow, warm coats and hats on their body as they rolled snowballs and made snowmen.

"Because of how little we raised tonight," The scene he was showing changed, the colts and fillies happily playing in the snow were replaced by small and haggard children, shaking in the cold as they tried to warm themselves under old and ratty blankets, filled with holes and moth bites, "These same children aren't going to be able to play with their friends outside, they'll be too busy worrying about the cold to make these irreplaceable childhood memories."

"Eleven-thousand bits," He repeated the amount, "With Eleven thousand bits you can barely fix up one orphanage, that is not nearly enough for these young boys and girls." The scene he was showing once again changed to showcase the young orphans playing in the snow, their eyes full of life and their coats healthy and full, the scene changed to the orphans sitting at the dinner table, eating warm soup cooked on a brand new stove, with bread from a brand new oven, and finally getting tucked to bed on their new mattresses, sleeping with their new blankets and pillows as the brand new heater keeps them warm.

"I can't believe I am actually saying this, but think about the children."

Across the ruined ballroom, many guests looked at each other and then at the box of donations, standing in the corner almost empty.

"Because I find it hard to believe, that from the ponies here," Blueblood continued, "From the richest and most successful ponies in Equestria, Eleven-thousand was the most we raised," He looked at all of them before pulling out a book from under his suit and tearing out a page, showcasing a blank cheque to the crowd before he pulled out a pen and quickly wrote the relevant information on it, folding the paper and levitating it into the donation box.

"It's that easy," He said, "In fact, you don't even need a cheque, every bit counts to these children," He told the crowd as he looked down at them, many of whom were unable to meet his disappointed gaze.

And after a minute of silence, He closed his speech, "That is all I have to say, Have a wonderful rest of your night, may you have a warm winter, and think of the children," Before he walked off the stage, walked up to the Secretary of Equestria, pulled her up, and slowly guided her out of the ballroom, her body barely responding as she stumbled her way.

After hearing the speech the prince gave, nobody dared utter a word, the only sound being the few animals eating from the catering.

Applejack, having listened to the prince, looked back at her stand, and took out the small pouch of money she made.
It wasn't much, not nearly enough for what she planned to do with the money.
But after hearing his speech, Applejack could understand why he wanted her stall closed.

"You need this more than I do," She whispered as he placed the bits she made into the collection box before walking back outside and picking up her stall, leaving the castle.

Rarity, seeing her friend's act of generosity, decided to follow suit, and took off her necklace, placing it in the donation box.

And seeing the ponies place their expenses in the donation box, the other guests started to follow suit, leaving behind bits, cheques, and even jewelry.

And as Princess Celestia watched the events in front of her unfold, she smiled brightly.

"What a wonderful son I have,"

Author's Note

The next chapter is the aftermath chapter, as usual.

Blueblood still standing up to children, Orphans need to stick together 💪

Don't worry, Pinkie isn't in trouble. :pinkiesmile:

Celestia finally called Blueblood her son, the emotional reaction to his speech stopped her from correcting herself.

Raven is having a tough time.

And if anyone of you is wondering why I didn't get Rarity heartbroken, don't worry. It'll be important for a future arc, real soon at that.

Also, let's look at how dumb the girls were, by comparing the GGG to a human event.

Imagine you're Twilight, And you are the assistant of the President of the United States, and suddenly you get invited to a party at The White House.
You manage to get invitation to all your friends, wowee!

Your first friend, Pinkie pie, start acting like a nuisance to the other guests at the White House.
Your second friend, Rainbow Dash, Is trying her hardest to impress the NBA superstars at the party.
Your third friend, Applejack, Just goes and opens a hot-dog stall, asking money for lower quality food than the free food that came with the catering.
Your fourth friend, Rarity, Wants to get the attention of the Vice President, because he's hot and single and also because her dream is to be the First Lady, and he is the ticket to reaching that.
And your fifth and final friend, Fluttershy, Just ups and leaves the party area and starts wandering around the White House.

All of them were incredibly wrong in what they did, but because they're the Elements of Harmony, none of them will get into trouble.

Even Pinkie Pie, who assaulted a Prince, is only getting a night in a jail cell, without a lock.
She can simply leave at any time, nothing is stopping her from just walking away.

So yeah, next chapter is the aftermath of the GGG.
Expect Donuts and hot Cocoa.

Chapter 31: Grand Galloping Aftermath

"Months of hard work, Ruined," Raven Inkwell mumbled to herself as she walked aimlessly around the castle, Prince Blueblood walking behind her to make sure everything was okay for the distressed Secretary.
"Months of planning, timing, dealing with those infuriating caterers, We had a gold statue of the Princess for crying out loud," She continued to mumble, her hair disheveled and her once pristine red dress now crinkled and dirty from dust and animal footprints.
"And all because of those Elements of Harmony... Sniff." Raven sniffed her nose, tears pooling in her eyes as she stopped herself from crying.

Blueblood couldn't look at the scene in front of him.
Not only did it make the most powerful non-royal pony look like a pitiful mess, Blueblood simply couldn't deal with the emotional situation.
Neither as a Human nor as a Pony.

He couldn't deal with Princess Luna when she started crying about her freedom a month ago, and He can't deal with Raven who just had months of work thrown to the side.

"Do you want to... Get some hot Cocoa?" He might not be good with emotional situations, but he is good with kids.
Being an Orphan makes it easy to deal with the little buggers.

"Sniff... Sure..." Raven sniffed, lifting her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Come on then, I'm sure the chefs wouldn't mind." He said as he slowly rubbed circles into her back as the two made their way to the dining room of the castle.

In the city of Canterlot, a small baby Dragon was just finishing his fourth doughnut of the night.
He slammed his tiny claw on the counter of the store, causing ripples to form in his cocoa, as he demanded another doughnut from the store owner.

"I think you've had enough," The pony behind the counter told the young dragon, who sulked into the counter, a frown on his scaly face.

The bell above the door to the shop rang, indicating another person walked in.

"Twilight Sparkle, Haha" The shop-keep laughed as he saw one of his long-time customers walk in, "Long time no see."

The dragon turned his head to look and saw all his friends enter the shop, their hair a mess and their dresses ruined, Some even had pieces of jewelry missing.
The dragon leaped off his chair and jogged up to the girls, "So how was the Gala, How was your best night ever?"

Entering the Kitchen of the castle, I call over one of the cooks that haven't gone to sleep yet.

"Your Highness, What can I do for you?" He asked as he ran up to me.

"Hot Cocoa, now write it down," I told him and started listing off how it should be made.

"Regular hot cocoa, cover it in whipped cream, add a wafer bar into the whipped cream, grind a bar of chocolate above it so it sprinkles onto the cream, then add a tiny bit of whipped cream at the end of the wafer, place a marshmallow on that cream, and heat the top of it with a tiny torch. Make two of those." I told him and walked back into the dining room, taking my seat across from Raven Inkwell.

"So..." I started, "Are you feeling better yet?" I asked the mare, unsure of how to act.

I'm an Orphan, a Petty Officer in the Navy, A Nautical Sciences Student, and now I've also been transmigrated into the body of a Unicorn Prince in a world full of magic.
I do not do emotional talk.

Raven looked at me with lidded eyes before sighing and resting her head on her legs on the table.
"Not really..." She mumbled, and I think that means the conversation is over.

"I mean..." Oh, so there's still a conversation to be had... shit.

"Do you ever get the feeling that nothing really goes your way?" She asked quietly, her head still resting on the table.

I took a moment to think over her words before coming to the conclusion that Is should let her keep speaking, "Go on..."

"It's like, No matter how hard you work for something to happen, no matter how perfect everything is, something will make sure its ruined," She sighed again, "Oh who am I kidding, you don't know what I'm talking about..."

"And why would I not know?" I asked her, more to keep her talking than anything else really.

"It's because," She took a moment to think her words over before sighing again and closing her eyes as her head rested on her front legs, "It's because your a Prince, you never worked hard, There's always someone to make things easier for you," She explained and I frowned slightly.

"Do you know why I don't work hard?" I ask her, which by looking at her reaction, was not a question she expected to hear, so I continued.
"I wasn't always a Prince, you know that right?" I asked her, and she nodded slowly, her eyes now looking at mine.
"You see, before I was a prince, I was an Orphan." her eyes widened at that, "Just like the ones we're raising money for, yes," I nodded at her.
"I know how hard it is to live a comfortable life, I know how annoying working hard only for all your work to amount to nothing feels like," I continue, my eyes not leaving hers, making sure she understands how serious my words are.

"I don't do hard and serious work much these days precisely because I know how horrible it feels to see all your hard work amount to nothing, I don't work hard not because I'm lazy, But because I'm tired of working hard." I explain, "When Celestia Took me in as my aunt, I knew I could for the first time in my life just relax, and take things easy. Never again would I have to force myself to work hard."

"But the trade deal you're working on..." She tried to bring it up, and so I explained.

"Just because I don't need to work hard, or that I don't like to work hard, Does not mean that I cannot. I am fully capable of working hard, I am simply not forced to do so." I smile at her before I start speaking of my plans for the trading company, Opening better trade with Caninia and Griffonia, how that will allow for the cheaper construction of the Pony-Yak railways, and the world will be more connected than ever before.

"It's all steps towards globalization, once the entire world is connected by trade, communications will be much easier, leading to an economic boom." I tell her, "Fields like science and engineering will advance centuries forward in the span of several decades once the world is connected."

Raven looked at me with wide eyes, the tiredness gone from her face, "So it's not about money?" She asked.

"Oh, It's about both. Connecting the nations of the world into a global network of trade is not going to be cheap." I smile at her before looking at the chef bringing over our hot beverages, Levitating one towards myself and one to Raven.

"A toast," I smile and lift my mug, Raven lifting hers to match me.

"A toast to what?" She asked.

"To working hard!" I smile and clink my mug with hers, letting a bit of cocoa splash between our two mugs.
"To hard work!" She followed, before taking a long chug from her mug, before pulling it away with her mouth covered in whipped cream.

I smile slyly at her and levitate over a packet of napkins.

"So It wasn't the best night ever?" Spike asked as the girls sat around a table and ate their donuts, He got mixed responses from the girls.

"Hey Twilight, I want to try something," Applejack suddenly said, causing the group to look at her.

"What is it that you want to try Applejack?" Twilight asked her friend.

"Those friendship report thingies that you write for the princess, I would like to try one." She told her, causing Twilight to exclaim in excitement.

"You learned a lesson?!" She asked with a squeal, causing the group to take half a step back.

"Erm, something along those lines," Applejack said, and soon Twilight had a note and a pen ready.

"Ahem, erm, how do I say this?" Applejack started, before grunting and just coming out with it, "You should read the rules of an establishment and not make assumptions about what you can and cannot do," She said in a matter-of-fact voice, before continuing, "And if the staff ask you to do something when you're breaking the rules, don't argue with them." She finished, looking at Twilight signing the impromptu friendship lesson before passing it over to Spike to blow away in a gust of magical dragon fire.

Only for the gust of flames to stop just outside the shop as Princess Celestia walked in, followed by Starlight Glimmer in a black suit and sunglasses.

"I am glad to hear that you learned something today, Applejack," Celestia smiled as she joined the group, Starlight walking a step behind her, "Tonight was the best Grand Galloping Gala, ever!"

"Princess Celestia?!" The group exclaimed as the princess walked up to their table and stood next to them.

"But Princess, Tonight was awful, the Gala was ruined and it all closed early," Twilight said, but Celestia smiled at her.

"Oh, Twilight, The Grand Galloping Gala is always awful." She told them.

"It is?" Twilight asked.

"That's why I was thrilled you were all attending," She told the group, "I was hoping you would liven the mood up a bit. Sure, the night didn't go as you planned, but thanks to your work, our charities managed to raise several times the estimated funds."

"But that Blueblood fellow was the one who talked about the charity," Applejack said, receiving a look from Rarity as she called the Prince a "Fellow"

"And he wouldn't have given his rousing speech if you didn't make a mess of the evening," Celestia smiled at the girls, "It is thanks to both him and you that tonight was such a huge success." She said with a cheer.

"Starlight, Grab yourself something to eat, We'll be staying here a while," Celestia told the purple and aquamarine Unicorn bodyguard she had accompanying her for the evening as she tossed her a small bag of bits.

"And Consider that your pay for the evening," She smiled at her before a mischievous glint appeared in her eye and she said, "And get ready for some lessons in Bodyguard duty starting tomorrow," Starlight froze, and woodenly turned her head to look at the princess, and nodded, before walking to the counter and ordering herself some snacks.

"Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash suddenly piped up, "I think we're forgetting something."

"If you forgot it maybe it's not that important," Spike said, and Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Huh, Maybe you're right."

Deep below Canterlot Castle, In a cell with a small window overlooking the cliff below the city, A Certain Pink pony sneezed loudly before wiping her nose with the sleeve of the white-and-black-striped prison jumpsuit she had on.

"Huh, I think somepony's talking about me," She said before giggling to herself, "I wonder what they're talking about," She said and leaned back on her prison bed, the ball and chain dangling from her ankle resting off the side of the mattress.

Cosmos turned to look over at the Prince once he returned to her space.

"So, how was the Gala?" She asked as the space around her turned from the flat plain of stars and galaxies into a flat river going through the middle of a city.

"It was a mess," Blueblood grumbled as he changed his body from Pony to Human and stood on the flat water if the river, his steps causing small ripples in the river.

"You're illusions are getting better," Cosmos said as she saw all the tiny details he added to the scene, from the stars in the night sky to the lamps on the roads above them, Several Gondola were docked and tied to little poles at the side of the river.

"You know," He said as he illusioned onto himself a white and blue suit before he looked down at her, just a head sitting on top of the river as if it was solid ground.

"I never got to dance this evening," He smiled down at her, before with a wave of his hand, she found herself more than a meter above where she was, with a mirror floating above her.

"I know it might not be to your liking, and this is only a temporary solution, you still are only a head so don't expect any sudden Anime-power-up or the like, it is an Illusion after all," He told her as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Her head was the same, seeing as it was the only part of her body that was real here, but everything else about her?

With a purplish-red skinned human body, with long slender arms and legs, and perfectly manicured fingernails.
Covered in an elegant flowing purple dress with a slit near the bottom for her reddish-purple high heels.
Ending it all off with a necklace around her neck, holding the red-green crystal shard that she was trapped in hanging on.

"You gave me a human body?" She asked with a whisper as she tested her fake body, moving her hands and feet around, touching her face and widening her eyes at how real everything felt.

"It's not a real body, and It wall disappear when I wake up again," Blueblood explained to her, "And it only could work here because of the dream-like quality of this space, but that's not the reason I gave you the body."

Cosmos turned to look at him before she widened her eyes as the moon rose in the sky above him, making him look like a perfect prince charming as he took a few steps towards her and stretched out his hand, slow music began to sound around them.

"May I have this dance, Milady?" He asked her with a smile.

Instead of responding to him, Cosmos jumped into a hug and wrapped her new arms and legs around him, causing the prince to stumble around the river trying not to drop her.

"We have limbs!" She cried as she hugged him tightly, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"Hahaha!" She laughed loudly before grabbing his shoulders and looking into his eyes, her legs still wrapped around him.

"Will you go out with me?!" She asked with a smile, and as soon as he opened his mouth to respond she quickly pulled her head in.

And kissed him.

Passionately.

For a long time.

Blueblood fell onto his back, the illusionary river splashing his body with fake water as he floated on top of it with wide-open eyes, "Huh?" He voiced blankly, his mind working overdrive trying to reboot.

"Haha!" Cosmos laughed, "Shut down yet again!" Before laying her body on top of his, closing her eyes, and hugging him tightly.

And it was with the happiest smile she ever remembered having on her face, that Cosmos fell asleep in the arms of her very own Prince Charming.

And with his eyes staring up at the fake night sky above the illusionary Seine river in Paris, Blueblood said the first words that come to his mind.

"....Huh?"

Author's Note

And there we have it! The Grand Galloping Gala is done!

Hope you enjoyed this arc, This Aftermath chapter was a joy to write, especially the Cosmos part at the end.

And some of you may have guessed it, this Fic does have romance in it, I didn't put it in the tag since It wont be a major part of the story, but Blueblood and "Other" are in the main-character tags, so yes, this is the main ship of this story.
Don't worry, It's still going to be focusing on our favorite Trash of the Castle, his love-life is simply going to get complicated.

Also, props to whoever posts the GIF of Flander's making hot Cocoa from The Simpsons movie.

Chapter 32: Donation

"What are you doing?" Starlight asked her boss when she found him standing in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by piles upon piles of childish costumes.

Looking up from a list he was looking at, Blueblood started at Starlight in confusion for half a second before realizing what she meant.

"This? Well, the Grand Galloping Gala really pulled at my heart-string, you see?" He told her, and Starlight nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"And so, Seeing as Nightmare Night is the nearest holiday, I thought it would be a nice idea to spend a day giving away these costumes to orphanages around the country."

Starlight looked at him before looking at the huge pile of costumes on the ground.
"And how are you going to get to all those places?" She asked.

"Starlight, I'm a prince," He explained to her, "I only need to visit one orphanage,"
And with a smile on his face, he clapped his hooves together twice, and a small plethora of staff members entered the room, and started packaging up the costumes placing them into neat recyclable bags before tacking on a little note signed by the Prince.

"The Crown will do the rest," He told her as if her question was one of the dumbest he ever heard.

"Now, get ready to leave in thirty minutes, we won't be back 'til the evening," And with those words, he left the hall, leaving Starlight standing in the middle of a pile of costumes for children as the Castle Staff around her packed everything up.

Luna spat out her tea when she heard how much money was raised during the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Could- Could you repeat that?" She asked, wiping the fragrant drink off her muzzle.

"Of course your Highness," Raven Inkwell nodded and repeated the number she had.
"After calculating the costs of the jewelry and accessories gifted at the Gala, we have come to conclude that we raised an approximate Twelve-Million bits."

"We still don't think we heard that right," Luna said, "Could you repeat the number again?" Please?"

"Of Course," Raven nodded, lifted her glasses a tiny margin, and read out again the number.

"Twelve-Million," Luna repeated the number, her mind lost in thought before she snapped back to reality, "And how much did we raise before Blueblood gave his speech?"

"Eleven-thousand bits." Raven told her, "We managed to raise more than one-thousand times the initial amount after his speech,"

"One-Thousand times the amount..." Luna whispered in awe before quickly changing the subject, "And on the Subject of Blueblood, Where is he anyway?"

"Donating costumes for Nightmare Night," Raven told her, intent on finishing up the little conversation and getting back to the rest of her work.

"Nightmare Night?" Luna asked, "What is this Nightmare night?"

Hearing that question, Raven Inkwell came up with the perfect solution for explaining the late-fall holiday to the princess of the night.

"I'm sure that Princess Celestia will love to explain the intricacies to you, Your Highness, I am in a hurry to get back to work," Raven told her, pushing her into asking her Sister instead.

Or in simpler words, She delegated.

"Here we are," Blueblood said as he stepped off the carriage, The Pegasus guards already working on securing it to the ground and getting the bags out of the trunk.
"Flamefall County Orphanage," He looked at the old building in front of him.
Two stories tall with a roof made of red tiles, a fenced-off garden in the back for the kids to play outside, and two large doors at the entrance of the building.

"If we continued flying just a few more kilometers north, we would have reached the spot where I beat you in a fight," Starlight scoffed at what her boss said.

"If I remember correctly, I'm the one who won." She said matter of factly.

"Nope," Blueblood smirked, "I knocked you out, therefore I won,"

"Only because you got a cheap shot in," Starlight said as she levitated the large bag of costumes behind her.

"I didn't use magic, though." Blueblood reminded her, "What does that say about you, that you lost to a Unicorn not using Magic,"

Starlight humphed "Let's say that it was a tie," She said and the prince dinged the doorbell to the building.

"Say what you want, It doesn't change the fact that you ended up unconscious while I didn't," He said as the two of them waited for someone to open the doors.

And after thirty seconds of waiting, the door opened, revealing a tired-looking matron with a flower for a cutie mark.

"Hello," Blueblood started, "I am Prince Blueblood, And I came to donate some Nightmare Night costumes for the children,"

The matron nodded her head and invited the two in, the floating sack of costumes levitated behind them.

And as that was going on, all around Equestria Orphanages were being visited by Royal Guards carrying sacks of costumes for the children.

This event will later find itself in the newspaper, bringing the Unicorn Prince a wave of positive public perception.

But that is a story for another time.

"That was nice," Starlight said simply as the two sat back in the carriage, taking off to one final destination.

"It was, wasn't it," Blueblood smiled as his mind went back to the last couple of hours he spent at the Orphanage, playing with the kids and showing off his Illusions.
Those little Rascals.

"We have one more stop," Blueblood said, causing the purple Unicorn to perk up.

"We're not going back to the castle?" She asked him, and he simply looked out the window of the carriage in response, his head leaning on his elbow.

"Not yet, I have a promise I need to keep," He said cryptically and closed his eyes, taking a nap.

Leaving Starlight alone to think over what he just said.

Once the carriage landed again, Blueblood immediately got off.

"I want you to stay here for a moment, don't leave the carriage,'" He told her and went to deal with whatever business he had.

Once more leaving Starlight alone in the carriage, waiting.

"Starlight, Come here for a sec," At least the wait was short.

"Coming!" She called out to him and exited the carriage, before immediately freezing when she saw the mare standing next to Blueblood.

Looking at the aging and sickly Unicorn next to the prince, Starlight felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Wha-" She wanted to ask what was going on, but her words evaded her.

"I'll give you some time," Blueblood told the mare before he walked up to Starlight, got her off the carriage, and then walked inside.

Leaving Starlight and the sick mare outside.

"...Mom?" Starlight asked.

And seeing her daughter for the first time in years, Starshine Campfire cried as she ran up and hugged her dearly.

And as he sat in the carriage, waiting for the mother and daughter to finish their business, Blueblood smiled as he whispered.

"I told you I'd find your daughter."

After hours of talking, Traveling, Flying, and donating, Starlight Glimmer and her boss, Prince Blueblood Platinum, were back in Canterlot Castle.

"Your Highness!" A servant ran up to the prince as soon as he entered the castle, "A letter arrived!"

"Starlight, Read what it says," He told her, "And skip the unimportant stuff," with a roll of her eyes and a small grin on her face, Starlight floated the envelope to her and opened it, reading its contents.

"Well, Skipping the unimportant stuff, Your Nautical Science test has been scheduled for Thursday next week at the Manehatten EEA building," She told him, and then promptly ignored the small cheer that followed from the prince.

"I'm tired," She told him and then went to her room to grab some sleep as soon as she was dismissed.

This day was an emotional stimulant.

And as Starlight lay in her bed, she thought back to a sentence Blueblood told her last night.

"Starlight... You know I consider you a friend, right?" Was what he told her, and at the time, She didn't really answer him.

How could she? They might have had some fun back and forth, and they survived in a cave without freezing to death, and he gave her a fish to eat, but does that really make two ponies friends?

Well, Suffice it to say that after today, Starlight had the answer to the question he asked her.

"Yes... I do know you're my friend." She whispered as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Author's Note

A shorter little chapter, setting up the Nautical Science degree test more than anything.

You probably forgot about Starlight's dying mom!

Also, Last chapter someone actually drew the first-ever work of Fanart I ever received in any story I ever wrote, ever!

Go and give them a like! Shout out to Maze Tail!

Sadly I couldn't find a way to make the image work with the "Add Image" here, even trying to upload it to Imgur and use that link didn't work, so there's not much I can do.

Once again, Shout Out to Maze Tail for the amazing art piece of Blueblood and Cosmos!

Edit: Thanks to Eroraf86 for pointing out how the "Insert Embeddable Content" tool works, I never used it before :)

Chapter 33: License to Prince 1

"Neigh York City, One of the largest cities in the world, Isn't that amazing?"

Starlight nodded her head as she carried Blueblood's bags in her magic, Her sunglasses resting in the front pockets of her black suit.

"But Is it really one of the largest cities?" Blueblood asked her as he looked at the towering buildings of concrete and glass.
"What if the Kirin already built a bigger city? Or the Diamond Dogs? The Minotaur? It's because of these Questions that I need to pass this test," He quickly turned to look at her.

"Once I have my degree in Nautical Science, The Blueblood Foundation trading company will be running in no time!" He smiled widely at her, excitement rolling off his face as he stared into her eye.
"With the company up and running, the Yak-Pony railways will be built lickety-split! And do you know what that means?"

Starlight rolled her eyes and asked, "What does that mean?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked my dear Starlight Glimmer," Blueblood said as he put on a voice, "It would mean that my name will be on everything, from the railways to the trades when somebody thinks of a Prince, they'll think of me!" He smiled widely and spread his front legs out as he stood up on his back legs.

"And then what?" She asked the prince.

"And then?" He repeated as he stood down on all fours, "Then I'll probably go to the spa or something, I haven't planned that far ahead," He told her simply before turning his back on her and marching onward to the EEA's Manehatten branch building.

And as the two walked down the street, Starlight swore she could hear Blueblood whisper something along the lines of "Scrooge McDuck's vault of gold," Before giggling to himself.

She decided not to question it.

"Chancellor Neighsay, it is so good to see you!" Starlight put on a nice smile on her face as her boss and friend went ahead and greeted the head of the Equestrian Education Association.

"It is as always a pleasure to see you too, Your Highness," Neighsay said before nodding his head deeply at the prince, almost imitating a bow.

"Let us not waste any more time out of your very busy day, Let us start this test as soon as we can so that you may return to more important work," Blueblood told him and walked into the building behind the Chancellor, Causing him to quickly turn and follow after him, leading him to the location where he will be taking his test.

And as Prince Blueblood took the first portion of his Nautical Science exam, overseen by the Head of the EEA,
Somewhere In the Canterlot Castle Gardens, a certain statue shook.

"And that was the written Portion, Now if you would please follow me and not run ahead," Neighsay said after the Prince turned in his papers after two hours.

The trio of ponies walked out of the EEA building and into the nearby Hooflyn River, where a medium-sized boat was already set up for the next test.

"Look at her," Blueblood whistled as he stared at the boat floating in the water in front of him, big enough to fit comfortably fifty people without getting crowded, built like a yacht with several stories connected by a staircase at the sides, It's hull painted a dull grey but lined with vibrant Yellow, almost like a giant hawk on water.

It wasn't an amazing boat, And he has definitely seen better back on Earth, But he knew to appreciate what he saw.

"This is your next test," Neighsay said and with those five words, he managed to get the Prince's full attention.

"You will be taking act as the 'captain' of this ship, Where you will need to sail it to a designated point we have marked on a map inside," Neighsay told the prince, "I will be accompanying you in order to grade you as you go along,"

"If all things go well, You will have your degree by next week," The Chancellor told him, and Blueblood started shaking in excitement.

And so, The trio of Unicorn's boarded the boat and got into positions.

Blueblood at the cockpit, Neighsay watching him from behind the door, And Starlight hanging back, taking this chance to relax.

And as soon as Blueblood closed the door to the cockpit and turned on the lights,
The sky started to rain brown.

And Manehatten was flooded with Chocolate Milk.

Author's Note

Short chapter this time, sorry!

Blueblood is taking his test!
Starlight is actually doing her job!
Neighsay is here!
And Discord has escaped!
...
Wait... Discord Escaped?!

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 34: License to Prince 2

"Make sure everything is in order, check," I whispered to myself as I went around the cockpit of the small ship that I was to be using for the test.
"Flick on the lights, check,"

Taking a quick look outside the window, I can see that it started raining. hopefully, that won't be an issue.

"Check, check, and one more thing," I whispered as I laid my legs on the desk of the cockpit, one hoof inching towards the steering device of the ship.

It's different from an Earth ship as this was designed to be sailed with only one pony in the cockpit, as opposed to the larger ships that require an entire crew just to make sure the ship is heading in the right direction.
Using a mixture of magic and technology, the sailor can sail this ship like a driver in a truck.

Or in other words, This boat is just a very big truck on water.

I flick a small switch, and a microphone next to me starts to light up with a green light.

"Attention, This is your captain speaking-"

"Do you smell that?" Starlight perked up when she heard the Chancellor ask the question.

"Smell what?" She replied, taking off her sunglasses and snapping them to the collar of her suit.

"I don't know," Neighsay replied slowly, "But something smells off..." He took a sniff of the air around him, slowly walking away from the door leading to the cockpit of the ship.

"Attention, This is your captain speaking," Starlight perked up when she heard Blueblood's voice through the speakers of the ship.
"We will be traveling from this here Hooflyn port to the designated spot, All passengers are advised to stay inside the ship for the duration of the voyage," Starlight turned to look at the chancellor, seeing him with a scroll levitating in front of him, a feather quill writing down words as he nodded his head while the Prince continued to speak.

"Any injuries sustained during the voyage are of no fault of the Blueblood Shipping Company and hold no legal ground in court," Starlight grimaced as the prince said those words, turning her head back to see the Chancellor smirk to himself as he noted down more words.
"Hmmm?" He hid his smirk and raised an eyebrow at her when he spotted her looking, causing Starlight to quickly shrug her shoulders at him.

"Please enjoy your voyage," And a second of static, Blueblood was off the speakers, and Starlight decided to hang back, and let him do all the work.

"It's just a Nautical Science degree, how hard can this test be?" And as soon as those words were spoken in her head, The boat lurched forward as a wave of sweet-smelling brown water pushed at it from the back.

"Wha-?!" The Chancellor exclaimed as the scroll he was writing in was tossed off the boat, swallowed by the brown water.

"This rain is going to be a problem," I grimaced as I placed both my front legs on the wheel and spun the boat away from the shore of the river.

"Wait a moment," I narrowed my eyes as I looked out the window of the cockpit, "Where's the shore?"

Looking out the window, The river the boat was docked in was practically gone.

"How?!" I yelled as I quickly let go of the wheel and kicked open the door behind me, ignoring the yelp of surprise from the Chancellor.

"Starlight! Neighsay! Get in here!" I shout and run back to the wheel, flicking a few switches on the way.

"Blueblood! The entire city is flooded-" Starlight tried to tell me but I shut her up, "I know! But this doesn't make any sense!"

I yell loudly as the sound of the brown rain hammers on the deck of the ship, "This rain just started! There's no way the river should have flooded so quickly!"

"My Prince!" Neighsay rushed into the room after Starlight, "You need to get this ship to the sea, away from the city," I nod my head and flick another switch before grabbing a lever and pulling upwards.

And the boat started to move.

Clean Squeak was walking around Manehatten with her son.
The two were recently given the all-clear from the hospital and told that her son's broken nose was pretty much fixed.
"You're lucky that Unicorn knew first aid and got to you quickly, otherwise you would've had to spend another few weeks," Was what a doctor told them when they visited.

And now she was in Manehatten, her son wearing the stained scarf he got around his tiny shoulders like a hero's cape as he skipped beside her, talking about all the things he wants to buy before they move to their new home.

That was two minutes ago.

"Pip! Pip can you hear me? Pip!!!" Now she was screaming in fear as the street that was just a few minutes ago as dry as any other, was now flooded in a sweet-smelling brown liquid.

"Mom! Over here!" She could vaguely hear him over the heavy rain, its sweet smell making her nauseous as she swam through the flooded street in his direction.

And so focused was Clean Squeak on getting to her son, that she didn't see the trashcan lid flying at her until it hit her right in the face.

She wanted to call out to her son, but her eyes started to get heavy as her head came below the brown waves, and in the distance, she could faintly hear the sounds of other ponies swimming toward their loved ones in this sickeningly-sweet river.

"Pip... I'm sorry..." Clean Squeak wanted to save her son and try to make up for her mistake at the art museum almost a month prior, but instead, she closed her eyes as her lungs filled with the disgusting liquid.

Only to quickly open them with a cough as she found herself laying on the wooden floor of a boat, a Unicorn with purple fur standing above her with a look of relief before the mare ran away, her horn glowing aquamarine as a Lifebuoy levitated after her.

"MOM!" She coughed more as a small white and brown blur impacted her chest as her son hugged her tightly, the Scarf he wore around his shoulders now dripping wet and sticking onto his coat.

"Pip! You're alright!" She cried as she hugged her little boy close to her, "What happened?" She asked as she quickly pulled him away from her in order to look him over, ignoring the ache in her lungs.

"The Prince saved us again!" Her son cheered joyfully, and it was then that Clean Squeak noticed that the two of them weren't the only ponies around.

Be it laying on the floor, on chairs, on couches near the windows, or even running around wearing life vests.
All around her, Ponies were crying or moving, as if cogs on a well-oiled machine.

All of which stopped when the speakers turned on with a second of buzzing static, "Everyone, this is your captain speaking-"

Chancellor Neighsay wasn't a very physically active pony, his job didn't leave him with much time to train his body, and his magic took care of any problems his lack of physical strength would have brought.

And never before today, did Neighsay regret not training his body.

But now as his legs ached from holding on to the chair he sat on as his magic flicked around switched and click on buttons, Neighsay started to regret his lack of muscles.

"Two Mares, an Earth and a Uni at One-thirty," Neighsay quickly stood up as the prince said those words, rushing out of the bridge of the ship and into the rain, his legs shaking as he held on to the railings of the ship as his magic burned in his horn as the two ponies the prince pointed out to him found themselves floated onto the ship.

"Everyone, this is your captain speaking," Neighsay took a moment to catch his breath as Blueblood's voice came over the speakers of the ship, "The direct line to the sea has been blocked by a giant bowl of fruit, so we will be taking a path around it," He grimaced as he turned his head in the direction the boat should be taking.
And sure enough, where previously the path to the safety of open waters was clear, now stood a blockade of a giant porcelain bowl with pony-sized berries laying in it.

"Anyone not taking part in the rescue operations, please stay indoors and away from the entrances, make room for those we pick up, and try your best to take deep breaths," Neighsay started to move his legs, the frown on his face more pronounced than it was in years as the situation only kept getting worse and worse.

SPLASH!!!

Turning his head sharply to the back of the ship, he sees a large pink fin emerge from the river of chocolate milk and swim in the direction of the ship.

SPLASH!

And as the creature leaped out of the river before diving back in, He saw it.

A Giant shark made of marshmallows.

And just because it was made of Pink, Sweet, Fluffy marshmallows, didn't mean that he was willing to let it get anywhere near the ship.

And so with aching legs and shaking breath, Chancellor Neighsay ran back to the bridge of the ship, made his way into the cockpit, and told the prince what he saw.

"Fuck!!!" And although he wouldn't use those words, he couldn't help but agree with the prince.

"Ladies and gentlemen, This is your captain speaking!" I yelled into the microphone as my horn glowed blue, buttons and switches around me moving in my magic as I spun to wheel in my hooves,
"Change of plans! Everybody inside right now! Hold on to any bolted-down furniture you can find, and hold on tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride!" I quickly turned the boat to the left, narrowly avoiding a pair of large pink jaws from clamping onto the back of the ship.

"In the meantime, why don't we all sing a song?"

Starlight huffed air as she used her magic to pull more and more ponies onto the ship, Her suit was wet and sticky with the sweet milk from the rain, and her blue life vest hung over her suit as she continued running around the ship, making sure everypony was safe.

"In the meantime, why don't we all sing a song?" She made a sour face as her boss said those words over the speakers, the ponies inside all looking at each other, unsure what to do before the speakers once more sounded static and Blueblood returned to speaking.

"Look alive Starlight," He told her over the speakers, "Raining brown from the sky but the shark won't quit?"

Clean Squaek and Pip Squeak perked up as Prince Blueblood spoke through the speakers of the boat, joined by plenty of the other ponies inside.

"You're here with me, Prince Blueblood Platinum, I'll be your Captain, Your Rescue, the one that saves you! Sailing over these waters to keep you live, A living hero for the masses," Clean rolled her eyes as the prince tooted his own horn a bit before hugging her son closer to her, his scarf wrapped around him like a blanket.

"Anti-matter for nature's plan!" A certain white and blue Unicorn mare nodded her head to the words the prince was saying before with a flare of her horn, a DJ's booth appeared before her and she started flicking a few buttons.

A smile on her face and purple glasses over her eyes.

"Louder than Princess Luna and twice as shiny,"

A grey earth pony blinked when she saw her friend and housemate pull out a DJ's booth, with a purple flick of her horn, a Cello appears in her grasp, And the earth pony Immediately understood what she must do.

"This one's for all you out there," The prince said through the speakers as all around the ship, Ponies that had the talent took out musical instruments, others grabbing onto tables or windows to tap, stomping their hooves on the floor.

"All you City queens on country kings, LISTEN UP!"

I smiled widely as I spun the ship away from another leap from the pink shark as I sang a mixed-up version of a popular song from Earth, "The Future is Bulletproof! The aftermath is secondary! It's time to do it now and do it loud!" My smile widened, and It only widened further when I spotted Neighsay take a step back.

I must have looked like a demon with a smile this wide.

"Killjoys, Make some noise!" I yelled into the speaker, and my ear-to-ear toothy grin almost split as I heard the sounds coming from below me.

Around the flooded streets of Manehatten, the ship sailed quickly, turning sharp corners with an unnatural preciseness thanks to the Unicrons on board, and dodging the leaps and bites of the large marshmallow shark that chased after it thanks to the expert handling of the captain.

And any ponies that holed themselves in the buildings and towers of the city that saw the boat, couldn't help themselves but join the song that was heard leaving the ship.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na
Na-na, na-na, na-na,"

"Left, right, right again, sharp turn left, now it's straightforward for 100... 50... 10... Sharp right!" I whispered to myself as I steered the ship across the flooded streets of the city, bobbing my head to the music and singing as the ponies down below started singing the lyrics to the song as if told by magic.

I won't question it, It's cool.

BOOOOOMMMM!!!!!

"....Shit."

"Shut up and sing it with me!"

Starlight quickly ran to the window to see what the source of the loud explosion she heard was, only to balk when she saw the city getting farther and farther away as a river of chocolate milk flew through the sky, ignoring the laws of gravity, and carried the boat with it.

"Miss Starlight!" She turned to see the Chancellor running in her direction, "Come quickly!" He told her as he passed by before continuing his run.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, From mall security!"

As the ship left the city of Manehatten, growing farther away from the safety of the open seas than before as the river of milk and chocolate carried it through the sky, a pink and fluffy predator swam after its escaping prey.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, To every enemy"

"There! Help me shoot it away!" Neighsay yelled as he held on tightly to the railings at the back of the ship, the wind flapping his cloak around as one hoof held tightly to the medallion around his chest.

"Fine! But you better not punish Blueblood for what's going on!" Starlight yelled at him as her horn started glowing with an aquamarine light.

"Punish him?!" Neighsay exclaimed in shock as his horn started glowing orange, "Never the thought! He more than passed his test with this performance!" He yelled as he aimed a spell at the giant pink shark that followed the ship.

"You ready?!" He yelled over the wind, his horn glowing brighter as the spell readied itself.

"Yeah!" Starlight yelled, "Three!"

"Two!" Neighsay counted down.

"One!" The two of them said together.

"FIRE!!!" And a powerful beam of magic left their horns, orange and aquamarine swirling together in a spear of arcane power.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, We're on your property!"

The Pink Marshmallow Shark didn't know what was going on, One minute it was a simple bag of sweets in the grocery store, not a thought in its non-existent mind.
The next moment, it was living, it had a mind of its own, and it was curious.

Curious to see the world outside the plastic bag that used to be its home, Curious to experience life as more than just a bag of Marshmallows.

And so it swam like the shark it was always meant to be, in the flooded river of chaos and magic, after the first thing it saw.

A boat carrying ponies, The creatures that ate all of its sweet and fluffy siblings, cooked them over a fire or plopped them straight into their mouths.

And it was with new purpose, and newfound emotion, that the Shark swam in revenge after the evil ponies.

It swam through the streets of chocolate, and now it swam through the river in the sky.

"There they are," It thought to itself, its pink and fluffy eyes locking on to two of the Marshmallow killing monsters on the boat as they aimed their horns at it.

Before a magical beam of orange and aquamarine power drilled into its fluffy body and the shark exploded, its sticky and sweet body splattering onto the ship as giant blobs of warm and sticky marshmallow.

"Standing in V formation!"

I grinned wide as the shark that followed us blew up behind me, my legs steering the ship over the river as it slowly came down to the ground, closer to a town below us.

Discord was having the time of his life.

He was free from the statue, the Elements of harmony were unable to work together, and his chaos was already spreading all across Equestria.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, Drop like a bullet shell!" He frowned as he stuck a finger into his ear as he heard something coming from somewhere.
Something that sounded like a song...
coming from above him...

Discord turned his neck to look up, and his eyes widened at the shadow of the ship falling toward.

"Wha-" He might have been a powerful Spirit of Chaos, but even he wasn't expecting to see that, And that was the reason he didn't move in time as the ship crashed onto the ground in front of him, and its momentum kept carrying it forward.

Directly into his face.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, Dress like a sleeper cell!" The ponies on the ship sang as it kept moving, dragging a crack into the floor and carrying the Draconequus in front of it.

"Stop stop stop!" Discord yelled as his body was dragged along with the ship, hitting trees and signs along the way.

"Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, I'd rather go to jail!" The ponies kept singing, not hearing his cries of pain as his body was stretched along the boat like an improvised torture technique.

It wasn't long before the ship dragged its way out of the town of Ponyville and into the nearby lake, the Chaos Spirit glued to the front of the ship like a bug on a windshield.

"Than be in purgatory
Cut my hair
Gag and bore me
Pull this pin
Let this world explode!"

And with a loud crashing sound, the singing was over and Discord dragged himself off the front of the ship, plopping into the lake below him.

"Finally! What was that?!" He yelled in exasperation as he pulled himself ashore and twisted his own body like a towel, letting the water drain out of him.

"But at least I can not get back to- oh no..." Discord tried to say with a smile before it disappeared from his face, replaced with a frown as a beam of rainbow harmony magic blasted into him, leaving a stone statue in his place.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, This is your captain speaking, We have landed in the Ponyville Lake and are close enough to shore to safely swim over.
Any Ponies who are unable to swim across safely are to be carried by any Pegasus that are able, seeing as this ship didn't come with life rafts, Mares and children first.
To everybody listening, Stay healthy and safe from now on.
This is your captain, Prince Blueblood Platinum, Signing off,"

Author's Note

3,351 words.
Wow...

So... A lot of stuff happened in this chapter...

Yep...

Does this count as the first song? I'm not sure since I had to cut it up and switch some words around to keep in line with site guidelines, and it wasn't really Blueblood that sang it, but maybe?

Next chapter will be the regular aftermath chapter :)
Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 35: License to Star

"There he is! No time to waste, Girls, let's blast him!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as her friends and her ran after the ship that fell from the sky and dragged Discord away from them.

"Yeah! Let's teach this mean baddie what Friendship really is!" Rainbow Dash yelled as the Element of Loyalty around her neck started glowing, same with the other Elements of Harmony as the magic of the Elements activated, releasing a large beam of rainbow harmony magic straight into Discord's stupid face, turning him into a statue of stone and fixing all the chaos he's done in Equestria.

And Discord was stopped.

"We did it," A white pony with golden hair said as it exited the ship, stepping onto the deck and looking over the many ponies swimming away to shore.

"So close..." I thought to myself as the pony took steps toward me, "Just a few more steps and I will finally avenge my siblings for all you monsters have done!"

And as the White horned pony took steps nearer to a pile of my flesh, stuck to the side of the ship, I pounced.

As nothing more than a pink and fluffy blob, Just a pair of jaws filled to the brim with sharp, jagged teeth, Flying through the air like a ball thrown by a professional athlete.
I opened my pink jaws, ready to take at least one of these monsters down with me.

And then an explosion of rainbow magic hit me.

And the Marshmallow Shark was no more.

"Your Highness," I turned my head to see Chancellor Neighsay approach me, his hair oily and stuck to his face, the cloak he wore was torn in several places and stained with sweat and chocolate.

"Congratulations," He told me as he grabbed my hoof and shook it.

"On what?" I asked confused, "I failed the test, I didn't reach the designated spot," I told him, "Look around, We're in the middle of a lake!"

"So?" Neighsay asked me, And I couldn't help but blink.

"So? So?! This means I need to retake the test!"

"No you don't," Neighsay said as he let go of my hoof and pat my shoulder, "You managed to sail this boat through a storm of magic, over a river flying through the sky, through flooded streets in a crowded city and even more,"

He continued, "The ship is still working, Nopony was injured, Your Highness, You saved the lives of who knows how many ponies today, and you did so with nary an incident of your own fault,"

I blinked at him as he continued speaking to me, "What I'm trying to say, is that you passed. Congratulations Captain Platinum, Your degree will arrive in the mail soon," And with an orange glow to his horn, he teleported away.

Starlight looked at me in amazement, "You passed..." She whispered.

"I passed..." I repeated her whisper, a smile stretching on my face.

"You passed!" Starlight cheered, and I ran towards her and picked her up in a hug, twiling her around.

"I passed! Hahaha!" I laughed loudly while swinging Starlight around as I twirled on the deck of the ship, narrowly avoiding stepping in the remains of the Marshmallow shark.

"Take that Mother Nature! It'll take much more than this to take me down! Hahahaha!!!"

And the Prince got his license.

"Mom!" Pip Squeak cheered happily as he swam in the crystal clear waters of Ponyville Lake, "Look at me!"

"I can see you, dear," Clean Squeak called out to her son as he swam back to her, his eyes glued to somewhere else.

"Mom, Shhh." He told her as he exited the waters, shaking his body to flick the water off, before he started running in the direction of a familiar white Unicorn.

"Prince Blueblood!" He called out to the stallion as he ran toward him, the blood-stained scarf from he got at the museum whipping around.

"Hmm?" The prince turned his head and his eyes widened as he saw the colt rushing toward him, "Hey Kid, How's it going?"

"I'm all good!" Pip said loudly as he stopped next to the prince before he fidgeted with his neck as he took off the scarf.

"Here, I'm returning it," He told him with a smile on his young face, and the Prince picked up the scarf with his magic.

"You know kid," The prince said as he looked at the scarf, the sky blue knitting and the brown stains of dried blood creating a sort of contrast that stood out vividly.

"I think you should keep the scarf," He told him and tossed him the scarf, the wool landing on Pip's head.

"Really?" Pip asked with wide eyes as he held on tightly to the oversized scarf.

"Sure, It has your blood on it, it's practically yours now," The prince told him before walking away, leaving the colt to look at the brown stains on the scarf with wonder.

"Mom!" He yelled over to Clean, "I'm keeping the scarf!"

"Okay!" His mother yelled back as she picked herself up from the shore of the lake.

And the Squeak family was happy.

"I'm sorry!!!" I heard someone yell before quickly turning my head, my eyes widening as I ducked to the ground, avoiding the pink missile that was headed in my direction.

"Don't jump at me!" I yelled at the pink mare as she stopped her dash with a cartwheel, turning around with a flip and staring at me.

"I'm going to make you the best apology party ever!" She yelled before throwing something on the ground, leaving a cloud of confetti that hid her away as she disappeared like some sort of pink, loud ninja.

"Pfft," I turned my head to lock eyes with Starlight, The traitor trying her best to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked my bodyguard who simply shook her head and mouthed "Don't worry about it,"

I turned away from the purple unicorn, not noticing the rainbow-colored pile of confetti on my head, nor the white mare looking at me from the distance.

Pinkie Pie was planning a party.

Cosmos perked up when her prince appeared in her dimension again.

"You wouldn't believe what kind of day I just went through," He told her as he illusioned a sofa and a television, a shelf of video games appearing next to him as he took a seat.

"Wanna' talk about it?" Cosmos asked, biting her lip as she looked at her darling think of what to say.

"Hmmm, Nope." He said as he illusioned another sofa next to him before levitating her to sit on it, "What do you wanna play this time?" he asked her, and Cosmos took a look at the shelf he made.

"How about this one?" She asked as she made her horns glow, slowly levitating a disc from the shelf.

"Battleblock Theater, nice choice," He smirked as an Xbox 360 controller appeared in front of the two of them, the disc shooting into the television as it turn on.

Cosmos didn't mind that he didn't want to speak about his day, she was just happy that she could spend time with him.
Knowing full well that if anything were to happen that will stop her prince from visiting her.

She wouldn't hesitate to break out of this dimension herself, find the reason for why the prince is missing, and tear it limb from limb, atom by atom, leaving nothing behind as she destroys whatever it may be that holds her happiness away from her.
But she would never tell him that, Heehee, She's a pretty lady after all, both elegant and cute, regal and adorable.
And as long as her prince is happy, she's happy.

And she will keep him happy.

No matter the cost.

Cosmos is totally normal.

Rarity frowned as she saw Prince Blueblood speak happily with Pinkie Pie, a smile on his face as he joked and laughed with her.

"But... I'm the one who's supposed to be with him..." She whispered as Pinkie Pie walked away from the prince, her spot taken by Applejack, her smooth country charm entrancing the prince, her traditional family values wooing him into her hooves, as she held prince Blueblood in her arms, her stetson hat leaning down to cover her face as she leaned her head toward him.

"But... I'm the one he's supposed to love... not you..." Rarity whispered as her heart broke, seeing Applejack kiss the prince, soon joined in by Pinkie Pie as she sauntered her way into the kiss, her soft and smooth curves glistening under the setting sun as she leaned into the prince, pushing Applejack aside as she took her turn with the Prince of ponies' lips, his elegant yet rough looks melting into her as the three ponies rolled on the ground, smiles and sweat, lust and love.

"No... This isn't how it was supposed to go..." Rarity cried silently as she saw two of her best friends steal the Stallion of her dreams away from her.

"This isn't how it was supposed to go..." She cried, closing her eyes from the sight in front of her.

"Hey Rarity!" She opened her eyes quickly, looking toward the pony who called out to her.

"You were too passive." Applejack smiled at her as she held the prince's cheek in her hooves, a cruel and mocking smile on her face.

"If you want to win, you have to take life by the reins." Pinkie Pie joined her, the two earth ponies smiling cruelly at the Element of Generosity.

""You Need to be Active!"" The two of them yelled at her before they went down on the muscular white stallion between them.

Rarity wanted to throw up, Rarity wanted to scream, Rarity wanted to curse them all for how unfair it was.

But all she could do was cry.

"I'll show them active,"

Rarity was having a Nightmare.

Author's Note

Bam! Aftermath chapter!

Some of you were wondering about why I didn't make Rarity meet with Blueblood during the Gala, the reason is this moment in the end which will lead directly into the next arc. :raritydespair:

Some of you may already be guessing what it is, as you know How I write stuff :)

MUAHAHAHAHAHA :flutterrage:

Thanks for enjoying :raritystarry:

PS- Shout out to the Marshmallow Shark for being the first original actual "Villain" of this story, the crooks at the museum don't count, and Starlight was redeemed.

Fluffy the Pink Marshmallow Shark was born with Discord's chaos magic, chose violence as his way of life, chased after a ship, and then blew up.

Now that's how I wanna go out :coolphoto:

Chapter 36: Nightmare Stars 1

Princess Celestia has a very important job she must do every morning and evening.

Raise and Lower the sun.

It's less of physically moving the celestial object and more of giving it a little push to keep it cycling in the sky, Nopony wants the sun to stay in the sky forever, the Moon needs its time too.

And so every morning, as soon as she wakes up, Celestia lowers the moon and raises the sun.

And now that her sister is back from her thousand-year-long sentence on the moon, Celestia only has the Sun to worry about.

All she has to do is wait for Luna to lower the moon.

Celestia smiled as she looked out her window, at the full moon in the sky above Equestria.

Just wait for Luna to do her job.

Any day now.

It's just a simple push...

"Luna!" Celestia yelled.

Starlight had a very simple morning routine.

Wake up, brush her teeth, style her hair, wear the suit she was given, scowl at the pair of black sunglasses for a minute before attaching them to her collar, and then check in on her boss.

Breakfast comes later, first, she needs to make sure her boss hasn't been assassinated in his sleep, or whatever else excuse the Princess will give to make her time as a bodyguard just a tiny bit less simple.

Usually, the room is locked because he's having his beauty sleep.

On some rare occasions, He's awake long before anypony else, either working on his plan to start his "Blueblood Foundation," or reading from the old magic book he picked from the Library.

But one thing that's consistent, is that he never sleeps past ten-thirty.

On her way to Prince Blueblood's room, Starlight noticed that the moon was still in the sky, even though it was already long past the time for the sun to rise.

But Starlight, as has become almost second nature during her tenure at the Canterlot Castle, has chosen to ignore the weirdness of the situation, lest she goes crazy.

"Luna, You need to take the moon down," Celestia told her sister as soon as she found her on the roof of the castle, gritting her teeth and moving her legs around as if trying to physically drag the moon from the sky.

"I'm trying," The Princess of the Night said as she once more cast her magic, and growled in frustration when it failed, seeing as the moon was clearly still in the sky.

"Then try again," Celestia patiently told her younger sister, ignoring the young princess mockingly repeating what she said in a dumb voice.

"I'm trying!" Luna told her, her brow furrowed as the spell to move the moon once more failed to work.

"It's not that hard," Celestia told her, causing Luna to quickly turn to look at her in disbelief.

"Not that hard? If it's not that hard why don't you try it then?" She asked her loudly before sitting down on the roof with her legs crossed, pouting at her older sister.

"Very well," Celestia smiled before illuminating her horn with magic as she cast the spell herself, one she got used to after a thousand years of moving the moon on her own.
And then frowned when the spell failed for her.

So she tried again, slowly growing frustrated with each failed attempt.

"Try again," Luna told her, a mocking grin on her face as she smiled up at her sister.

Celestia scoffed and proceeded to sit down next to her sister and think.

It was then that a letter magically appeared in front of her in a puff of magical smoke, courtesy of her dearest Pupil, Twilight Sparkle.

And so she opened the letter, moved her head to make room for Luna to read also, and combed through the letter.

"Rarity is the purple-haired one, right?" Luna asked as she read through the letter.

"That is her, yes," Celestia answered.

"You think her disappearing has anything to do with the moon not going down?" Luna asked, and Celestia couldn't help but nod.

"If everything that went on recently has taught me anything, It's that if we don't know the cause of the problem, those girls are somehow always in the middle of it." She said and Luna nodded her head before standing up and spreading her wings.

"I'll race you to Ponyville," She said with a smirk before she flew off, not even waiting for a response.

"You cheeky bugger," Celestia smiled before quickly joining her sister in flying to Ponyville.

"Although," Celestia paused mid-flight, "I'm feeling like I'm supposed to do something... Oh well." And continued her path.

Sitting in her office, Raven Inkwell sneezed.

"I hope the Princess isn't going to leave without telling anypony," She would have said, but instead she wiped her nose with a tissue paper.

Just because she's alone doesn't mean she's going to start talking to herself.

Starlight waited in the hallway outside of Blueblood's room, waiting for him to wake up so she can go and grab breakfast.

And she waited.

And she waited some more.

And she took out a small book from her pocket to read as she waited.

And she finished reading the book, so she placed it back in her pocket, casting a spell to remind herself to grab a new book when she gets the chance.

And Starlight continued waiting for her boss to wake up and open his door.

And then the clock in the hallway struck noon.

And Starlight burst through the door, to find the room empty.

"...Shit."

When I woke up, it wasn't on a soft mattress and a comfortable blanket, but in chains sticking out of a wall, inside of a small stone cell.

If I wasn't still in the body of Prince Blueblood, I would have thought I switched bodies again.

"Well well well, Look who's finally awake." A voice echoed around the cell I found myself in as hoof steps were heard coming towards me before I finally saw the face of the mare who most likely kidnapped me.

Dark purple fur with long flowing purple hair, glistening like stars in the sky.
A pair of gorgeous blue eyes shone like crystals beneath a crown adorned with a beautiful blue diamond, making way for a long black Unicorn horn.
A choker on her neck, adorned with yet another diamond.
And a Cutie mark of, could you guess it? Diamonds.

"You look even better than in her dreams," The very tall mare smiled at me in what I assume she thought was a flirtatious look.

And as I looked at the smirking Unicorn, from behind bars in a cell, my front legs tied to the stone wall behind me, without even a single article of clothing.
I asked the first question that came to my mind.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Author's Note

So, The Nightmare Rarity arc is beginning, This arc won't be the same as the comic version, since many things have already changed (Such as Luna already being empowered) and it will definitely differ from the Comic portrayal of the Arc.

Hope You're looking forward to the Second Original Major Story Arc, the first being the Entire "Starlight get arrested and then hired after going through the frozen north, Featuring guest stars: Cosmos the Spirit and Rutherford the Yak Prince"

Hopefully, this Arc will end up more exciting than that previously mentioned arc, I'll be trying to incorporate more action and character interactions into this one.

Hopefully, it doesn't end up as bad as my terrible Caninia Arc in "A Walking Chestnut" Which I had so little fun writing I decided to put the entire story on Hiatus since February.

I really should go back and continue writing that Pokemon story, huh... I did kind of ruin the MC's character in such a short number of chapters I still kind of feel bad for it...
I mean, It was my first time trying to write an MLP Fic, cut me some slack.

And I had such good Ideas for how the story was supposed to go...

I'll probably go back and rewrite a bunch of chapters sometime in the future, and edit the Caninia arc to make it Non-Canon to the fic or something before continuing to write from the chapter Samuel climbed up the mountain and met the dragon.

Eh, Thoughts for later.

Enjoy this Next Arc >:)

Chapter 37: Nightmare Stars 2

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

The words echoed around the room soon after they left my mouth, The smirk on the mare's face looked crooked, as if she didn't expect me to use those words.

The mare furrowed her eyebrows as she stared down at me, my back against the cold stone wall of the cell.

"I am Nightmare Moon," She said, an air of faux gravitas surrounding her as her clear blue eyes stare directly into mine.

"No you're not," I told her, "Nightmare Moon is Luna, and you look nothing like her," The Unicorn scoffed at my words.

"And what would you know of Nightmare Moon? You are but a simple Unicorn, Barely fit to be called prince," She sneered at me, and I moved my head from side to side as I tried to think of how I can keep this discussion going.

Because while this crazy nutjob thinks she has me captured in this secure cell, I already have a plan to escape.

According to Clover the Clever, A good way to make a Unicorn's magic more potent, is to remove outside interference during the casting of the spells.
Most commonly, the removal of movement.
If a Unicorn is sitting still, barely moving, their spells would end up more powerful than if they were to cast the spell in motion.

However, with this Unicorn keeping her eyes on me, It would look suspicious if I stopped moving as I put my plan to fruition.

So that leaves the removal of a sense that would keep the mare from catching on to whatever I'm doing.

So I closed my eyes and smirked at her.

"I may be a simple Unicorn, sure. But I'm more of a prince than you're ever going to be," The words leaving my mouth hopefully had the desired effect on the mare, I'll have to trust my other senses to do the work for me in this discussion.

Because If Moving is out of the question, The next best thing is to remove my eyesight.

And as my eyes remained closed, a subtle glow emitted from the bottom of my horn, hidden underneath my hair, as my escape plan started coming together.

"Nightmare Moon? Hah! Don't make me laugh! Nightmare Moon was defeated months ago, You can't be her."

"Hmmm..." The mare hummed from the other side of the bars, clueless to the hidden usage of magic I was performing.

"And how do I convince you that I am indeed Nightmare Moon?" The mare asked slowly, the clopping sound of her hooves echoing on the stone floor.

"Nightmare Moon is at her core, Princess Luna. And so, if you can tell me something that only Princess Luna would know, that surely must mean that you are telling the truth, correct?" I ask, my eyes still closed and a smirk on my face.

The Spell I was casting was working wonders on doing its job, just a few more minutes...

"Hoh? And how would you know that what I tell you is only known by Princess Luna? Are you secretly a fool? Did you not think of this line of questioning beyond the first step?" The mare asked, a high and mighty tone in her voice as she most likely looked down at me as If I was nothing more than a bug.

Jokes on you, The spell is almost finished!

"You see, My dearest Aunt, Princess Celestia, likes to spend her days talking with me about the past, when she was far younger," I smirked as I told the Dark-Purple Unicorn.
"And in one of these stories of hers, she told me an interesting tidbit that seemed important enough for her to remember,"

"And that is?" The mare asked, and I smiled as I knew I got her attention.

Just a few more seconds.

"It was a minuscule thing, nothing that the History Books would consider close to relevant enough to note, meaning that only those Celestia told the story to should know it," I smirked wider, my remaining closed as my lips stretched from corner to corner, the rush I feel whenever I place myself in mortal danger slowly moving through my body.

"What is it? Do not make me force the question out of you, Prince," The Unicorn spit the title out as if it was grime, And as my spell neared its final moments of completion, I knew that If I fail in my coming escape, I might die.

Ten seconds left.

"My question is..." I paused for dramatic effect.

Five seconds left.

"OUT WITH IT ALREADY!" The Mare claiming to be Nightmare Moon yelled, her patience growing thinner.

One second left...

And with my smile wide and the Spell I readied finishing its job, The hidden glow from my horn disappeared, leaving not a trace of any magic happening.

And I opened my eyes and asked.

"Celestia and Luna were guests at the Wedding of Lord Thelos, a Minotaur Prince," I told the mare, her blue eyes glaring at me from behind the bars, And for perhaps the first time in a while I was glad that Celestia spent hours of her week talking about her boring past with me.
"What color was the dress that Luna wore to that wedding?" And I watched as the gears turned in the Unicorn's head.

If she answered correctly, then she is indeed Nightmare Moon, likely in the body of a different Pony, seeing as the Cutie mark is different than Luna's, not even counting the lack of wings and different styles of hair.

However, If she doesn't answer, that means that she isn't Nightmare Moon, and is instead using the already existing reputation of Luna's Evil Alter Ego in order to push her own agenda.

And no matter what the answer may be, I will be getting out of this cell and punching her in the face.

The Second option, of her not really being Nightmare Moon is the best case in this situation because that would mean that It's not a poor pony having her body taken over by the Nightmare, controlled like an evil puppet.

If it is indeed Nightmare Moon, and for whatever reason she's back, then I don't really stand a chance against her, let alone without permanently injuring whoever she's gotten under her control.

"The Dress Luna wore to Lord Thelos's wedding?" The Mare repeated the question, her eyes moving to the ceiling as she became lost in thought, her tongue moving around her mouth as she licked her teeth before a smile spread on her face.

"Lord Thelos was so angry at us back then, wasn't he?" She asked out loud as her eyes returned to me, And the smile on my face lessened as the answer to the question became obvious.

"The Dress we wore that day was Yellow, And Thelos hated Yellow."

The smile on my face disappeared, replaced by a thin line as I stared at the tall Unicorn smirking down at me.

"It seems our time here is up, Prince," She said mockingly as she turned her eyes away from me, likely having something more important catch her attention.
"Be a good pet and sit tight, why won't you?" She smiled back at me as her horn glowed a pale purple and I felt my cheek being grabbed, as if squeezed.
Before the Unicorn who was under the control of the evil that stewed inside Princess Luna's heart left.

Now alone in the cell, I waited until her steps could no longer be heard.

Before I smiled widely, my eyes gleaming with excitement, as I said out loud.

"And the Oscar goes to Blueblood Platinum," As the chain that tied my legs to the wall fell apart at my feet, a quick glow of my horn and the bars that held me in this stone cell burst out of the walls, levitating in the air in front of me as I took a step outside my cell.

I looked back at the metal bars levitating behind me before an idea came to mind, and with a blue glow in my horn and the sound of scraping metal hidden behind a soundproof Illusion, the bars were gone.

Replaced with ten sharp metal rods, crude spears almost.

And as the ten metal spears levitated in front of me, I cast another spell, one that I spent the last few weeks working on almost every night.

And under an illusion I disappeared, as if invisible.

"Oh yeah, It's all coming together."

And so I left my cell behind me, my body and the ten spears I floated around now silent and invisible.

"Illusion magic is broken!" I laughed out loud, not a sound leaving a ten-centimeter-wide illusion on my body and spears.

"Now," I looked at the stairs that Nightmare Moon walked to, the only way out of this prison.

"Let's Kick some ass,"

Author's Note

Another Short chapter, this time full of only BB and NM.
Next Chapter we'll be following the other gang members, Starlight, Luna, and Celestia.

Hope you enjoyed :)

PS- Might not be the best place to promote, but who cares.
I'm back to streaming on my Twitch channel, link in my bio.

Currently doing a playthrough of Pokemon Insurgence, Just come say hi if you have the time and you see I'm online :)
VODS are being uploaded to my Youtube Channel. Go check it out of you're interested.

Thanks once again for reading :)

PPS- Blueblood is Ex-Navy, don't forget that.
He has the magical power to make video game references, and he has the skills and experience to be able to beat someone up with a sharpened metal rod as if it was a crude spear.
Don't get it twisted!

See you soon :) :raritywink:

Chapter 38: Nightmare Stars 3

Raven Inkwell was having a regular day.

At least, as Regular a day the most important non-noble pony in Equestria can have when the moon is still in the sky during what is supposed to be the middle of the day, but semantics.

"Blueblood is missing!" Correction, Raven Inkwell was having a regular day until exactly this moment in time, when Starlight Glimmer, criminal on parole, bodyguard to the Prince, and ex-cult leader, barged into her office and yelled those words.

Raven Inkwell was no longer having a regular day.

"So let me get this straight?" Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, the stallion in charge of the security of the crown, said as he listened to Starlight and Raven explain the situation.
"What you're trying to tell me is that Prince Blueblood has gone missing, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna left the castle earlier today without notifying anypony, and now we need to locate the Princesses to alert them that the Prince has gone missing. Did I get that right?"

"Pretty much," Starlight nodded her head, "So can you get your men to start looking already?"

Shining Armor leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

Finally, something interesting was happening that didn't involve simply arresting people, he could actually do something today instead of sitting in his office all day and going over documents.

However on the other hand, Prince Blueblood is kind of annoying, he never used his name correctly, always changing it to something like Twinkling Shoulderpad or Sparkling Shield. Which while keeping his name of a form of "Shine" and a piece of "Armor" was still annoying.

But he was also a Prince of Equestria, and it was his job as the captain of the royal guard to protect him.

"Also, Celestia will actually banish us both if we don't find him." Starlight added with a straight face, causing Shining to quickly lean forward in his chair and agree to the two mares job.

"Find Princess Celestia, got it!" He said quickly, "You can count on me!"

Hearing those words, Raven couldn't help but interject.

"Like how we counted on you to protect the Prince last night?" Shining flinched back as if injured, "Or like that time we had to count on your guards to stop anything from happening during the Grand Galloping Gala?" Shining once again inched back, as if struck by a mighty blow.

"Or like how we counted on those three guards who were supposed to protect the Prince a month ago," Starlight added, and got the attention of both other ponies in the room.

"You were the one who assaulted them that time, Please keep your words relevant," Raven told her, before looking back to the captain, "But she is correct, your recent track record of doing your job is less than stellar,"

"...Yeah..." Shining Armor said sadly before standing up from his chair and going to the door of his office, "I'm... I'll go get the carriage ready," And he stepped out, leaving the two mares alone in his office.

"Welp," Starlight said, trying to lighten the awkward mood that the captain left in his wake, "At least he agreed to help, right?"

Raven stared blankly at Starlight, causing the Unicorn to chuckle awkwardly before standing up from her chair, "I'll just be taking my leave now."

"Wait." Starlight paused, turning her head to look at the Secretary of Equestria, the Right Hoof Mare of Princess Celestia, One of the most important ponies in the world.
Look away from her, trying and failing to hide the blush on her face.

"Oh no," Starlight thought to herself.

"I wanted to ask you," Raven began, And starlight started panicking as the question she was about to be asked started playing in her mind, and the Mare didn't know what to do with it.

"Sorry, I'm not interested," Starlight said quickly, trying to stop the Earth Pony from embarrassing herself, "Look, I'm trying to say this as easily as I can, but you're just not my type, and I don't see you that way at all."
There, That should ease her burdens.

"..."

"...Do you think Blueblood would agree to grab a coffee with me?" Raven Inkwell squeaked out, her voice so quiet the only reason Starlight was even able to hear it was the awkward silence that filled the room.

And the two mares silently stood in Shining Armor's office, one too embarrassed that she jumped to such a wrong conclusion and ended up making the situation much more unbearable than it should be.
And the other, silently sitting in a chair, refusing to make eye contact, her entire front half flushed with embarrassment, red like a strawberry.

"Okay! So I got the carriage set, are we ready to go?" Shining Armor asked as he loudly entered his office, before pausing when he noticed the awkward silence.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked as he watched the Secretary of Equestria stand up from her chair, eyes glued to the ground, walk towards his bookshelf, Press her hoof on one of the carved branches decorating the side of the shelf, before entering silently entering the doorway that appeared in the wall next to it, closing the hidden passageway behind her.
Leaving Shining Armor and Starlight Glimmer staring at the wall she just entered.

"I didn't know that was there," The captain whispered to himself as he stared at the wall, no sign of a hidden passageway anywhere.

"Come on, We don't have time," Starlight said, turning back to the door and walking out, turning left at the corridor.

"The carriage is that way," Shining Armor called out to her, his head pointing to the right side of the corridor.

Starlight turned around and walked in the correct way, "I knew that,"

"And you have no clue where she could have disappeared to?" Princess Luna asked five of the six Elements of Harmony.

"No," Twilight Sparkle said, her eyes full of worry for the safety of one of her friends, "She always tells Sweetie Belle if she's going somewhere, but this time? Nothing. It was like she just vanished,"

"And not only that!" Rainbow Dash picked up where Twilight left off, "Her cat, Opalescence, has refused to move from her bed, scratching and hissing at us as if we were going to hurt it!"

"Please, Princess, Please bring Rarity back to me," A young Unicorn Filly told the group, her friends hugging her for comfort.

Seeing all the ponies worried for the safety of their friend and sister, Luna knew that she had to do something, and if everything that happened in the last year taught her anything, it's that Rarity going Missing will somehow tie into why the moon is refusing to lower.

"Of course," Princess Luna told the filly, Sweetie Belle, "We will find your sister, there is no need to worry."

And as the group slowly calmed down, a plan for investigation slowly coming together, all of it was thrown out of the window when Fluttershy of all ponies pointed at the moon and yelped in fright.

Because imposed over the surface of the moon, looking down at them, standing over the white canvas of the moon's surface like a painting of ink and shadows, was a tall Unicorn Mare.

A Mare on the Moon.

And one whose mane was eerily similar to a currently missing Unicorn.

And as the ponies gaped in shock at the sudden turn of events, one pony piped up.

"Well, I think we found Rarity," She said, ignoring the glares that were then pointed at her.

"What? Too soon?" Pinkie Pie asked once she noticed the glares of the group, "Too soon," She nodded and turned her head back to the Mare on the Moon.

Looking out of the window of a flying carriage carried by three Pegasi guards, Starlight Glimmer and Shining Armor stared in shock and awe as the moon seemed to slowly descend toward the earth, not like it was going to crush it, but more like it was going to build a bridge between itself and Equestria.

And it seemed to be headed straight to Ponyville.

And seeing all of this, Shining Armor, Captain of the royal guard, the pony in charge of the security of the Crown and its people, had one single thought go through his mind.

"That's where Twilight is!" And with an order to the guards flying the carriage, The Captain of the Royal Guard and the Bodyguard of Prince Blueblood both made their way to the town of Ponyville.

Meanwhile, A certain Prince was enjoying his time.

Seeing the old and archaic architecture of the place he found himself in, He couldn't help but enjoy himself a bit.

"I give my life, not for honor, but for you," He sang, his voice unheard thanks to the illusion he cast over himself, the crude spears he made from the bars of his prison cell levitated behind him, banging against each other in a barbaric mockery of music, "Snake eater,"
"In my time, there'll be no one else," He whistled the tune.
"Crime, it's the way I fly to you, snake eater,
I'm still in a dream, snake eater"

And as he sang to himself, walking down the corridors of the castle on the moon, he came to a stop when a room caught his eye.

And the smile on his face, widened as he looked deeper into the room.

Treasure, bars of Gold and Silver, gemstones of all shapes and sizes, old tools and weapons, likely thousands of years old, all in pristine condition.

Blueblood took a look at the spears he levitated behind himself, before throwing them onto the floor, making sure that no sound left the room he was currently in.

And with an illusion over the room to make it look as if nothing was happening, The Prince took a magical bag of holding, likely sewn from the finest of cloths and enchanted by the best of magics, and dumped as much treasure into it as he could.

"HAHAHAHA! I'M RICH! HAHAHA!" He was simply enjoying himself, nothing more.

"TRADE COMPANY?! I CAN START A TRADE EMPIRE!!! HAHAHA!!!" Seriously, Prince Blueblood was simply happy to have all this treasure.

And as he cackled maniacally- Laughed regularly to himself, he spotted a gem near the back of the room.

A gem that seemed to look like a shard of a larger piece, almost like a puzzle. Red and green...

And if his previous smile was wide, his current face was that of a starving man, who after years in the desert, eating nothing but bugs, found the juiciest, richest, medium-rare slice of steak a five-star chef could cook, and it was all for him.

"Hey Cosmos," He whispered to himself, the smile not leaving his face, "You wouldn't believe what I found."

And with a flick of his horn, one of the missing body parts of the lady who lives inside the gem he keeps in his pocket went into the bag.

And after almost an hour of digging through the absolutely giant room of treasure, the Prince filled the bag of holding to the brim and levitated it above his head as he left the treasure room, his spears replaced with high-quality weapons, from Golden swords and spears to clubs and axes dotted with gemstones.

"What a thrill, With darkness and silence through the night,"

Author's Note

A bit of catching up with the rest of the gang.

This is the first time in a while we actually see Shining Armor do something.
The last time was when he arrested one of the art thieves.

Luna and Celestia are in Ponyville, Luna with the Elements, and Celestia elsewhere trying to figure out the moon situation.

Nightmare Moon 2 Rarity's revenge, has made her first public appearance.
Good for her :)

Raven being socially awkward as usual, we still stan :heart:
Also, BB's love life is only going to get more complicated, so don't worry.
I need to fill the comedy somehow.

And BB manages to complete the most famous Get Rich Quick scheme.
Stealing.
But it's fine because the Moon is actually Equestrian territory because Luna said so long ago, so technically Blueblood was simply collecting a thousand-years worth of unpaid taxes, with interest of course.

Chapter 39: Nightmare Stars 4

"How?"

Princess Luna shivered as she stared up at the moon, slowly descending towards the earth, as the inky-black painting of the Mare on the Moon locked eyes with her.

"We defeated her! We blasted her with the Elements and everything!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily, her eyes glaring at the moon up above.

"Oh no..." Luna took a step back before stopping as a white hoof rested on her shoulder.

"Luna," Celestia asked, a worried look on her face as she stared down at her younger sister, "Is everything alright?"

Luna stared up at her sister, before taking a look at all the ponies gathered, "Let's speak somewhere more comfortable," She told them all and turned around, her hooves carrying her to the Ponyville Library.

Soon both Princesses, The remaining Elements of Harmony, the Baby Dragon, and the three fillies, stood inside the library, waiting for Luna to explain.

"Something is happening," Luna started once she had everyone's attention on her "Something we had hoped would never come to pass."

"Did you eat too much Broccoli?" Pinkie Pie jumped with a question, "Sleep through your alarm? Use salt instead of sugar? Accidentally wear your shirt backwards all day? Realize your mom was right about everything?"

Luna blinked in surprise before shaking her head, "When we were trapped as Nightmare Moon, we thought we could show everypony how special we were by making them fear us," She explained, her eyes looking elsewhere as if lost in memory.

"The Nightmare Forces somehow knew exactly what to say to convince us... To give us their energy and hate." Luna continued, ignoring the fillies mouthing the words Nightmare Forces.

"After our curse was broken by the Elements of Harmony," Luna continued her story, "We believed the forces of Darkness would wither and die... But we were wrong."

"Legend says that if the Nightmare Forces can harness enough strength through the cycle of the new moon, they are granted one more chance..."

"One more chance to what?" Twilight Sparkle, The Element of Magic asked.

"To claim what Nightmare Moon promised- an All Powerful Kingdom of their own!" Luna shouted, standing on her hind legs and spreading her front legs and wings wide, an image of the sun appearing behind her before being covered up by the inky and shadowy clouds of the Nightmare, creating a pseudo solar eclipse of Nightmares blotting out the sun.

"Then It's time for action!" Rainbow Dash yelled, her blood pumping as the thought of kicking the ass of Nightmare Moon and Saving Rarity appeared in her mind.

"But why take Rarity?" Applejack interjected, "What does that Gobbledy-Goo care a flying feather about us?"

Luna took only a second to think of the answer before taking a deep breath and telling them, "Together you possess the Elements of Harmony, Which have defeated the Dark Forces before," The three fillies in the room once more mouthed the words Dark Forces, confused as to which type of Forces they're really called.

"Now they will come after all of you- The only ponies who can defeat them... And destroy your home-"

"PONYVILLE!" The ponies all exclaimed in shock before they started moving around in a hurry.

"We need to go get Rarity home in a jiffy!" Applejack exclaimed loudly, followed by Rainbow Dash complaining that she was trying to get the rescue started all along.

"But how do six ponies and a baby dragon get to the moon?" Fluttershy asked.

"Okay, Hear me out-," Rainbow Dash said, "We get an enlarging ray and shoot me with it. Then I'll carry you all to the moon and -Surprise!- A Million ponies jump out and stomp those Moonies to bits!"

"Don't you little ponies worry," Princess Celestia told the group, "I know a way."

At the top of a tower, connecting to a castle on the moon, Nightmare Moon frowned as something started interfering with her magic.

"Larry," She said calmly, a beaked figure covered in wispy and smoky shadows materialized next to her.

"Oh glorious Nightmare," The Nightmare creature asked, his shadowy hands rubbing against each other, "What is it that you called me for?"

The Unicorn that was Nightmare Moon looked from her tower and to the earth below, "Why has the moon stopped its descent?" She asked, her eyes not leaving the small town near the Everfree Forest.

"I shall go and check right away," Larry, or as he would call himself, Shadowfright, told her before his body dissipated into a cloud of black wind as he flew away.

Leaving Nightmare Moon alone atop the tower.

"This is just a regular Lasso," Applejack said as she looked at the rope that Princess Celestia brought.

"It's not just any regular Lasso," She told the group, as her horn started to glow gold, a miniature sun forming from the golden aura at the tip of her horn as the rope started to levitate and grow.

Before the rope became so long, it wrapped around the moon, Halting its descent and creating a path for the ponies to reach their friend.

"You all go ahead," Celestia told Luna and the Elements, "I'll stay here and begin to prepare Ponyville, Good luck."

Staring at her older sister, Luna smiled, "Thank you,"

"What are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the group before flying upwards, making sure to stay close to the rope.

"You heard her girls! Let's move!" Twilight Sparkle yelled as she stepped onto the rope, slowly balancing her way up.

And as the group walked up the long rope, The two Pegasi and the Alicorn flew, They soon made it close enough to the moon that they could see the clouds of shadows that were made of the Mare on the Moon, hiding the castle somewhere underneath the inky darkness.

And when they reach the castle, they reach Rarity.

Only that tragedy struck.

And with a snapping sound, the rope that held the moon broke, throwing the ponies and dragon down toward the moon.

Making fast work, the Pegasi and Alicorn quickly caught the falling ponies, Luna's horn glowing as her magic tried to catch all of them, "Just a little longer!" She called out.

Soon, the blue glow from Luna's horn enveloped the group, slowly guiding their fall into one of the dark spots of the moon.

"Great," Rainbow Dash grumbled loudly as she bumped into a rock under the pitch-black darkness of the Nightmare Cloud.
"Finding Rarity in pitch black? No problem at all,"

"Let us take care of that," Luna said, and with a glow to her horn, the darkness fled, letting the group see where they were, "However, now they'll know where we are,"

"And who is They exactly?" Twilight asked the princess.

"When the Nightmare Energy came back to life, It needed a form to take," She told the group, "Unfortunately, The peaceful inhabitants of the Moon became its victims and are now trapped under its spell."

Fluttershy gasped, "How could they do that to sweet little animals?"

Luna answered, "They aren't sweet anymore..."

"Hey, Larry! How's your day?" A Nightmare creature asked his coworker, who quickly turned to him and slammed him into the wall, His arms taking the form of large mallets.

"It's not Larry you idiot! It's Shadowfright!" The leader of the Nightmare Forces, the Nightmare that orchestrated the revival of Nightmare Moon and the Kidnapping of the two Unicorns yelled at his underling before pausing as he felt a group of ponies enter one of his Nightmare Clouds.

"Actually..." Larry- I mean Shadowfright turned to look at his underling, "I have a job for you..."

The white-eyed and flat-faced Moon creature gulped as his red-eyed and Beak-faced boss looked at him.

Author's Note

No BB or Starlight in this chapter, this one was mostly the Main6-rarity+Luna and Spike getting to the moon and the introduction of Shadowfright.

Luna :)
Just make her look like the more adult version from the show instead of the season 1 design, because BB already fixed that.

Chapter 40: Nightmare Stars 5

Raven sighed wistfully as she calmed her heart with a steaming cup of coffee.
The warm beverage soothed her mind as the embarrassment from an hour prior still played on repeat in her head.

Oh how embarrassing it was, If word ever gets out she'll never be able to show her face again!
She's almost thirty and already the stress from her work makes her feel twice as old.
But with this hot mug of roasted beans, for just a few moments, Raven Inkwell could feel her age.

"Raven! Get the royal Guard ready and sent to Ponyville," all the soothing calmness was washed away as Princess Celestia barged into her office, paper documents she's been keeping neat and tidy were being thrown around the room from the wind pressure of the door opening.

"I would be ordering Shining Armor, but he seems to be missing," Celestia said as she sauntered into Raven's office, sat on her desk, and levitated the mug out of her hold.
"Is this Zebrican Black? Good choice," She told her as Celestia took a sip from Raven's coffee, "Could use a bit less sugar though," She said with a scrunched face before draining the cup with a large gulp and jumping off the desk.

"I don't enjoy the bitter taste," Raven said quietly as she looked at the now empty mug, "My Mother sent it as a gift, and I didn't want to waste it, so I used more sugar,"

"Oh..." Celestia replied eloquently.

"Didn't Shining go to you?" Raven asked, catching the curiosity of Celestia.

"He did?"

"He and Starlight, yes," Raven said, "They were searching for you because somepony, I don't want to throw names, but it was a ruler of a nation, who thought it would be a good idea to leave the castle during a time of emergency," She told her blandly, her eyes gesturing out the window of her office, and to the Full Moon that was simply floating above the land.

"Okay," Celestia said, "I can agree that perhaps I was acting childish with Luna," Raven lifted a brow, "And Captain Armor I can understand,"

Celestia then took the chair in front of Raven's desk, "But why would Starlight Glimmer join him?"

"Because the Prince is missing," Raven told her.

Celestia blinked, waiting for Raven to tell the rest of the joke before the small smile on her face melted away, causing Raven to shiver slightly as the temperature of the room raised several degrees.

"I want every available Guard in Ponyville Yesterday," Celestia told her, her voice coming out as a whisper, yet remaining loud enough to easily be heard across the entire castle.

And all across Canterlot Castle guards and Servants stopped what they were doing and listened to the words of the Princess of the Sun.

"I want the tourist area closed, The guards there will take guard over the rest of the castle, Every other guard, suit up. Get to the town of Ponyville, and await further orders."

The castle stood still.

"NOW," within a matter of seconds, the castle of Canterlot was louder than it was in months, as guards ran around, getting ready to leave.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Celestia calmed herself down before continuing to speak with Raven, now curled into herself beneath her desk to avoid the glaring gaze of the Solar Princess.

"I want a list of every single weapon and guard, and I want it in five minutes. Shining Armor and Starlight Glimmer better have a good explanation as to why my baby is missing," Celestia told Raven before standing up from the chair, "I'll be waiting by the carriages, be there in three minutes,"

And with that, Raven Inkwell was busy running around the walls of the castle, getting everything Celestia asked of her, and also placing an order for a new chair.

Seeing as her old one has stains of soot and the smell of smoke.

Twenty Minutes.
That was how long it took for the Nightmares to capture them
Twenty short minutes.

The Moment they got close to the castles, they fell into the illusions of horrible nightmares, those were easy enough to escape.

What was not so easy, was the horde of Nightmare creatures, the corrupted denizens of the Moon, led by Nightmare Moon herself ready to capture them as soon as they escaped the illusions.

"Let Rarity go!" Rainbow Dash shouted before being thrown across the rocky surface of the moon, her body going limp as she rolled across the ground.

"You won't win!" Twilight yelled moments before witnessing Nightmare Moon kick Spike the Dragon so far, he was no longer visible.

"Darn it you!" Applejack charged at the mare, a similar fate awaited her.

No matter what they tried to do. Without Rarity to power the Elements of Harmony, there was no way for them to beat Nightmare Moon.

In Twenty Short Minutes, Nightmare Moon decimated the Elements of Harmony, threw them into the dungeon, and laughed maniacally as Luna flew away, her fears of the past stopping her from going further.

"I am the worst," She thought to herself as she flew back down to Equestria, leaving the Elements of Harmony behind.

Two different bodies were walking silently across the castle on the moon.

One was injured and small, his chest heaving in pain as each step he took caused his scales to itch and fall off, revealing the soft pink flesh beneath.

The other was calm and collected, each step he took in the silence of his magic reminded him of his days in the Navy, all he needed was an earpiece and a rifle.

The small injured one silently climbed down to the dungeon, luckily avoiding the plenty of guards as he searched for his captured friends.

The Calm and collected one stood silently near the corner of a bend, his body against the wall as two cloud-like creatures walked past him, unknowing of the danger they would have been in had one of them bumped into the White Unicorn.

The Small Injured one smiled widely as he made his way into the dungeon, silently crawling beneath the sleeping guard as he opened the locks that kept his friends captured.

The Calm and Collected one was staring blankly out of the window, looking at the green and blue orb that floated in front of him far in the distance, his brow twitching as his escape plan only got more complicated.

With the help of his friends, the small injured one managed to convince the Dungeon Guard to help him defeat Nightmare Moon, because Friendship is worth much more than whatever deal he has with her.

The Calm and Collected one sat silently as his magic engulfed the large bag he was carrying, before he screamed loudly, his muscles stiffening and his pupils pinprick as his horn glowed a pale blue, before the bag he levitated shot away into the sky, leaving the Unicorn huffing for breath as his muscles ached from the extraneous spell.

In Canterlot Castle, a loud crash was heard as one of the windows was broken into.

Hours later, Staff would find a large bag with a note attached, written: "Blueblood's stuff Do Not Touch!!!"

But that is a story for another time.

"Larry," Nightmare Moon called out to her most useful soldier, "Is the army ready?"

The Bird-looking Nightmare nodded his head as he rubbed his eyes, "Of course oh horrible one, they are simply waiting for your command," He wanted to throw up every second he degraded himself for Nightmare Moon's ego, but he held back.

Soon, She will fulfill her purpose, and he will have a spot on the earth, away from this barren and empty rock his colleagues call home.

He has waited more than one-thousand years for this fool of a Queen to conquer Equestria, He could wait a few more hours.

And as soon as she's done with her work, her petty little plan to create an everlasting night, he would come in and take his spot as King of Nightmares, SHADOWFRIGHT!!!

"Is something amusing you?" Nightmare Moon asked, and Shadowfright quickly shook his head.

Soon...

As soon as Celestia landed back in Ponyville, she got to work.
She met up with Shining and Starlight and gave them her orders.
Shining Armor will cover the town with a shield as Starlight got ready to remove Rarity's Cutie-Mark as soon as she made her appearance.
She found that Luna has returned, and ordered her to go back to the moon and get Blueblood as soon as this is over.

More and more orders left her mouth, the temperature around her only rising hotter and hotter as her mind worked a mile-a-minute, thinking of what she would do to Nightmare Moon the moment she released Rarity.

She didn't expect to find the Girls and Spike return on the back of one of the Nightmare Creatures, but she will deal with that afterwards.

Her eyes looked to the sky, past the dark clouds of the Nightmare Forces, flying down toward Ponyville as a large black cloud, and instead focused on a small area of the moon behind them.

Hoping to find any sign that her darling baby boy was safe.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as I removed the illusion from myself, seeing as I haven't seen anybody in minutes there was no reason to keep the drain on my magic, I'm already draining enough with the several golden weapons I have floating behind me.

I sat on the floor, looking out from a balcony in what looks to be a bedroom, If you ignore all the dust and decay, and look at the earth far below me.

It doesn't look like Earth, the geography is mostly Earth-like but also different, The continents look like what would come out if you gave detail to a child's crayon drawing of the world.
That is, I could recognize that one of these continents is North America, And there's Africa and Asia, Australia and Europe, Antarctica, and South America.
But they all looked off.

If in the past month, I didn't already realize it, this would have been the moment.
"I'm really not on Earth anymore, huh?"

And so with nothing else to do, I laid my back on the stone floor of the balcony, my head resting on my arms like a pillow, and I simply stared.

At the Pale Blue Dot that wasn't my earth.

Author's Note

So yeah, we're speedrunning toward the end of this arc since It would be boring just writing down what happened in the comic 1-for-1 and I wanted to get to the more original parts.

Also, Shadowfright is a more nuanced character in this, with just that single line of thought in this chapter, I have made myself known as a better writer than a person who writes comics for 6-10-year-old girls.

Also, It appears that last chapter the Rope didn't make sense to many of the readers, so let me explain.
Magic.
There, that was my explanation.

You want more? Fine...

The Rope itself didn't lower the moon, it only has the power to make itself longer, long enough to wrap across the moon at the very least.
I've written in the chapter where Starlight and Shining were in the carriage, that the moon was already lowering itself down to Equestria, because Nightmare Moon wanted a shorter trip down.

The Rope wrapping around the moon was nothing more than a way for the Unicorn and Earth Pony members of the group to reach the moon without being carried by the flying members.

In the first part of this arc, I made it so that neither Luna nor Celestia could lower the moon because Nightmare Moon was controlling it.
When they wrapped the rope around the moon, Luna and Celestia used their combined power of Celestial Bodies to stop the moon from moving.
If they couldn't lower it before, now neither could NM, leaving the moon stuck in the sky. Not getting closer not farther than it currently is.

However, it seems that a rope that can become so long it wraps around the moon is too much for this fic, a bit too out there, as it were.
I guess that the Dismembered body of a Spirit trapped in a gemstone shard is fine, so is a river of chocolate milk flying through the sky with a giant shark made of Marshmallows, and a teleportation spell landing two people hundreds of kilometers to the north is also allowed.

But a very long rope? That's just going too far, that's insane!

I even made a little blog complaining about that, and according to someone who hasn't written on this site in years, I'm actually wrong about making the Magic seem magical.
I apologize for not writing Celestia and Luna say something along the lines of "With this spell stop your descent, oh pale moonlight let me ascend," or something.

Because making it so that the two Alicorns who move the Sun and Moon work together to get the moon to stop moving, is a bit too inconsistent with their powers or something.

What I'm trying to say is, that this story has the Comedy Tag on it, don't try hurting your head making sense of everything, that's Newblood's job as the outsider looking in, and He's already stopped questioning most of the weird stuff that happened recently, and he's only been BB for a Month!

What bother's me a lot about the commenter on the blog, more than the fact that he implied that I'm a lazy writer, is that he thinks that with both Celestia and Luna moving the moon, it means that Celestia could have always just visited the moon, and that Nightmare Moon could have easily escaped whenever she wanted.

First: Celestia has power of the Sun. Yes she moved the moon while Luna was NM, but that doesn't mean she has the same talent and skill as Luna does at moving the moon, therefore giving us a reason as to why Celestia couldn't visit Luna on the Moon (Ignoring the fact that she was evil at the time)

Second: The Elements Banished NM to the Moon, It would be stupid if she could simply escape the moon at a moments notice.
That is if you ignore the fact that the Elements of Harmony we're the ones that banished her.
If it was a simple exile then sure, NM could have easily return, but this is the Elements of Harmony we're speaking of, the same elements that trapped Chaos Incarnate into a stone statue, The Elements that were used to free Luna from NM, The Elements that break the established rules of their own universe on a regular basis.

The Elements of harmony are the big red button, they're the rule-breakers. If something is impossible (Like stopping Chaos incarnate for example) The Elements make it possible.
They have made the impossible possible miltiple times, Is it really that hard to believe that the reason NM waited those 1,000 years on the moon before returning to Equestria had something to do with the fact that it was the Elements that banished her?

Like, No hate to the guy, I'm sure his stories are great or whatever, But the way he worded his comment just made it seem like he was telling me that I suck at writing and that using the Comics as a source for ideas is bad because the comics were bad.

Surprise! I didn't know that a comic-book made for children, based on a show made for children, will have writing on the level of a cartoon made for children!
I'm really amazed at your Detective work Batman!
How did you figure out that a show aimed at eight-year-olds won't have the same writing quality as Lord of the Rings or Song of Ice and Fire?

Wow, this AN is long...
Anyway, If you're reading this, you know who you are!

PS- His name is Shadowfright, not Larry, you have to respect that.

Chapter 41: Nightmare Stars 6

Silence descended over Ponyville as the dark cloud approached, flying down from the moon like a bird of prey, ready to feast on the dreams of all living creatures in Ponyville.

"Nightmare Moon..." Celestia hissed in anger as she glared at the cloud and at the Mare inside of it.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight Sparkle walked up to her, "The Elements won't work without Rarity, What will we do?"

Celestia looked down at her pupil and felt her face relax, "No need to worry Twilight, I already told Luna and the rest what the plan is, You just need to wait for my signal," Celestia sent her pupil a cheeky grin, "You'll know when it's time."

Twilight Sparkle frowned in worry but chose to trust the words of her teacher regardless.

Elsewhere in the town, Ponies were getting ready for the Nightmare's arrival.

Pans and shovels were being swung in preparation, slingshots were being pulled, and two specific Unicorns were getting ready for their specialized missions.

"Okay Shining, This is It," A White Unicorn with a blue mane whispered to himself as he pumped himself up, "Just wait for them to reach the town, and then do it, you know you can do it, you trained for this."

"Don't miss," Starlight Glimmer whispered to herself, her eyes searching the moon above the cloud of Nightmare Magic, searching for any hint of her boss's safety, "Stay out of range, Move when approached," She repeated words that were drilled into her head, some from Blueblood after he caught her training, and others from Celestia when she spent hours of her week training her in "Body-guarding Duty,"

But the most important pony right now was simply staring up at the cloud, silently, her face a mask of grim determination.

She cannot fail.
She will not allow it.

"Nightmare Moon, I will take you down, once and for all..." Luna whispered quietly, her eyes boring into the center of the cloud, where she felt a familiar magic resonating.

"Don't worry Jerome, We'll free your bodies," Spike said with a confident smile as he sat near the Girls, the Moon Creature that helped him escape sitting worriedly beside him.

"Oh I know, Spike, I'm not worried about that," Jerome told him with a weak smile, "It's Larry I'm worried about,"

"Larry?" Spike asked, "That's the mean one who hangs with Nightmare Moon, right?"

"It's more than that, but yes," Jerome said, his large yellow eyes staring at the encroaching cloud of darkness, "He's always wanted to leave the moon," He whispered.

"Why would he want that?" Spike asked.

"I don't know," Jerome shook his head as the answer alluded him, "But he was never the friendliest type, even before Nightmare Moon arrived on the moon... Maybe that's why he..." Jerome quickly shook his head, silver smoke flying off his body as he changed his thought.

"We will save them," said the Yellow Pegasus, Fluttershy, "All your friends and all the cute animals on the moon will be saved," She smiled gently at the Moon Creature.

"Heh," He smiled, scratching his nose with a paw, "Thanks,"

"You don't need to thank us!" Rainbow Dash added loudly, "That's what friends are for!"

"That Idiot!" Shadowfright sneered as he looked down at Ponyville, his red eyes locking on to the form of the Moon Creature that was supposed to keep the Elements in the Dungeon.

His mind raced as he looked at the back of Nightmare Moon, "This is our last shot..." He whispered to himself, his eyes glaring holes into her spine.

"Larry," She said, causing Shadowfright to float forward next to her, acting as if he hadn't glared hatefully at her back just moments prior.

"What is it oh glorious one?" He asked, his beak smiling as he flew next to the Mare on the Moon.

"Get rid of that traitor," She spoke coldly, her eyes also looking down at the Moon creature near the back.

Shadowfright smiled cruelly, "With pleasure..."

As soon as the cloud of Darkness dissipated, revealing the form of Nightmare Moon, still in control of Rarity, and her army of Nightmare influenced Moon Creatures, the battle began.

Not with a bang or with a cry of war.

But with a single Stallion doing the one thing he is truly talented at.

And with a blow to a horn, A Magic Bubble surrounded Ponyville, Trapping everybody inside.

Now If Nightmare Moon wanted to flee, she had to first take down the shield.

The second thing that quickly followed, was a beam of Aquamarine Light, moving through the lines of armed guards, and impacting directly with Nightmare Moon.

Replacing the beautiful diamonds on her flank, with an Equals sign.

The third thing that happened, was the many guards and ponies rushed forward, kicking, punching, and hitting the many Moon Creatures.

Leaving only a few ponies to face off against the now wide-eyed Nightmare Moon.

"HOW?!" Nightmare Moon yelled in anger, however, her anger felt subdued, almost averaging out with her other emotions.
She glared at the symbol on her flank, before a blast of Light hit her in the face, causing her to close her eyes with a wince.

"Whatever plans you had, Nightmare, They end here!" The White Alicorn that stood in front of her yelled, her mane glowing brightly with magic, causing a corona of colors to leave her as the Princess of the Sun glared at the Nightmare.

"You think you can defeat me?!" Nightmare Moon screamed at Celestia, her eyes twitching in anger as her magic subdued itself, caused by that damned symbol on her flank.
"Without the Elements of Harmony, I am unstoppable!"

"But you're not!" A shout came from her side, causing Nightmare Moon to quickly turn her head, only to be greeted with a beam of dark blue magic slamming into her face, knocking her away towards a group of Ponies.

Spike moved quickly, Jerome on his tail as the two tried their hardest to avoid fighting.
The Dragon already tired from his time on the moon, and the Moon Creature not wanting to hurt his friends, no matter how consumed by darkness they may be.

"Those girls better hurry up, Spike!" Jerome yelled, his body floating around the battlefield, avoiding beams of magic and stray flying objects, "I don't know how long I can keep dodging."

"Just a bit longer!" Spike yelled, grabbing onto the Moon Creatures' tail as he floated the two of them farther away from most of the conflict, and closer to Nightmare Moon and the Princesses.

And as the two boys flew in the Princess's direction, they failed to notice a red-eyed, beaked figure made of shadowy smoke following after them, his body sticking low to the ground, less like the bird he looked like and more like a snake or a shadow.

"Traitor!" Shadowfright yelled in his mind as his eyes followed the body of the Moon Creature helping the baby dragon fight off Nightmare Moon.

Shining Armor frowned heavily as his horn ached with each impact made on the shield covering Ponyville, be it from stray magic hitting it or Moon Creatures trying to escape.

This was the largest Shield he has made, covering an entire town, and he was surprised it still held as long as it did.
Unfortunately, in order to keep the shield up, he was unable to cast any other spells as the drain on his magic only increased with time.

How much training would he need to shield something bigger than a town? Shining thought to himself, a small smile growing on his face at that thought.

Maybe if he could shield all of Canterlot, Cadance will finally say yes? Oh, who was he kidding, He doesn't need to shield all of Canterlot just for her to say yes.

He instead needs to find the perfect ring! YES! And then his dear booboo-sweety-muffin-cheeks wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with him! OF COURSE!

"Armor! Stop Daydreaming and reinforce the shield!" Shining Armor snapped out of his thoughts at that shout! His head snapping backward and hitting the stray Moon Creature that made him daydream in the middle of an important operation before more magic left his body, the small cracks that started appearing in the bubble over Ponyville fixing themselves.

Starlight fired more and more beams and arrows of magic, slowly inching away from any Moon Creature that got too close.

"Keep your distance," She reminded herself, repeating the words Celestia and Blueblood told her, "Don't go full auto," An arrow of magic shot out of her horn before she quickly teleported to the other end of the street, "Always aim before shooting," Her eyes focused on her target, a Moon Creature floating above a blue Unicorn with a weird cape before a beam of magic hit it and knocked it away.

"Thanks!" The Unicorn yelled at her, receiving a wave from Starlight before she once again teleported, her eyes quickly searching for the next target.

"What would Blueblood say in this situation?" Starlight asked herself, wiping some sweat off her brow as he kept moving, her black suit covered in dust.

"Ehh, He'll probably smile widely like a loon and scream about how this isn't enough to take him down," Starlight laughed to herself before side-stepping a Moon Creature that rolled in her direction after receiving a shovel to the face,
"Followed by laughing maniacally while shouting to the world 'Take that Mother Nature! This Rush proves I'm still alive!' Heh, Idiot," Starlight smiled at that, her eyes quickly looking at the moon above her, distorted behind the shield Shining Armor made, but still there nonetheless.

"Please be okay..."

"Alone at the edge of a universe humming a tune
For merely dreaming we were snow,"
A Bored Unicorn sang to himself as he lay on the floor of an old balcony, surrounded by weapons made of gold and treasure, staring up at the earth below him.

Wondering when someone will come to pick him up.

Nightmare Moon screamed in rage as the Elements of Harmony yelled at her, encouraged that fool of a mare Rarity to fight back, and worst of all.

It was working!

With that cursed Symbol on her flank, her magic was practically gone! Add to that Celestia stopping her from getting close to those mares and Luna running around cleansing her minions, Nightmare Moon was scared she might lose!

AGAIN!!!

But it was then, that a scream sounded out, followed by the baby Dragon that followed Rarity like a lost puppy to fall from high above.

And Nightmare Moon's body shook, as the mare she controlled started fighting back.

She could feel her, kicking and screaming deep in the recesses of her mind, images of time with her friends going through her mind, and Nightmare Moon hated it.

She looked back from where the dragon fell before a sharp smile spread on her lips as she saw it.

Eyes of blazing red, wings of razor-sharp feathers acting as claws, piercing through the back of that traitor that brought the Elements of Harmony back to Equestria.

"YES! LARRY! KEEP IT UP!" She screamed at her minion, his red eyes turning to her, a sneer on his beak as he screamed back at her.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!" Nightmare Moon Ignored it, however, as the sight of that traitor turning into silver smoke as he dissipated off the claws of Larry made her heart soar.

"Hahaha!" Nightmare Moon laughed, and it was then that she lost.

As staying hidden throughout the battlefield, a certain filly waited for her opportunity.

"Bring my sister back!" And just like that, with an explosion of light, Nightmare Moon's body collapsed into shadows and mist, leaving the brightly smiling Unicorn known as Rarity behind.

"SWEETIE BELLE!" The Element of Generosity rushed forward, grabbing her sister into a hug, as all around the battlefield, The Moon Creatures yelled as the shadows that covered their bodies disappeared, revealing their true forms underneath.

All but one...

With eyes red with rage, and wings of black smoke acting as his arms, The Moon Creature formerly going by the name Larry glared at the shadow gathered on the ground next to where Nightmare Moon once stood.

"She lost again?" He quietly asked himself, his anger only building as he stared down at the patch of shadows, yet to be cleansed by the Elements of Harmony.

The Shield above Ponyville came down once it was clear that the fighting was over, But Shadowfright kept himself near the shade of a building, his red eyes staring at where Nightmare Moon stood, his anger only building more and more as the cheers and Happiness of the ponies and other Moon Creatures around him became apparent.

"If you want something done..." He whispered to himself, his red eyes blazing in anger, physically so, as the Nightmare Magic that surrounded his body grew lively in response to his emotions, making him almost seem like he was made from black fire.

"Do it yourself."

"This was your loss," Princess Luna looked down at the small spot on the ground, a single blue eye glaring up at her from a small shadow on the ground.

Was this truly all that was left of Nightmare Moon? A single Eye, glaring hatefully at the Princess that it used to be.

NO! The Princess it wanted to be.

Not second fiddle to Celestia, but an Equal, with the love and adoration that came with it.

Or maybe it isn't really the love and adoration from the people that she wanted? Luna turned her head to see her Sister, handing the Elements of Harmony over to their bearers.
Ready to get this over with.

Luna smiled at that, happy to be with her family again.

Only for her to instinctively close her eyes as the wind around her picked up before immediately letting down again, almost as if something flew quickly by her, just below her sight...

Almost as if it was close to the ground...

Like a...

Luna quickly turned back, spotting a Bird made of flaming shadows carrying what was left of Nightmare Moon, flying away from Ponyville.

"Celestia!" Luna yelled, causing her sister to quickly look at her, before also seeing what was happening.

"We'll be right back!" Celestia yelled behind her before running up to Luna, "After them!" She yelled before kicking off the ground, her white wings spread widely as she and her sister flew after the fleeing Nightmare.

Shadowfright glared hatefully at the small blue eye in his grasp, the shadows surrounding it sparkling like stars from the night sky itself.

"Good work Larry," He grimaced as the voice of the Nightmare echoed around in his mind, "You were always my best soldier,"

Shadowfright's eyes briefly moved up to his target, the Castle on the Moon, before glaring back down at the eye he had in his grasp.

"You know..." He whispered to the eye, a cruel smile spreading from his beak as he flew, "I Never really liked you after you failed us all those hundreds of years ago, but I kept it to myself," He told her.

"You were supposed to build us a kingdom, down on earth, and you failed," He grimaced, "This is the third time,"

"Larry..." The Nightmare warned him, "Watch how you speak..."

"Well no more!" He yelled at her, his body growing more animated as the shadows moved like a blazing inferno, "I am done following a failure like you!"

"Larry... I will give you one chance to apologize, I might forgive you for this, You do want forgiveness, don't you Larry?"

And as his Anger reached a boiling point, He Screamed at her, Like a Horrific Phoenix reborn from the Shadows, covered in flames of Darkness, He screamed.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!"

And with a single bite from his beak, Nightmare Moon was no more.

Hearing a scream In the distance, I opened my eyes and stood up, my head looking around to see where that sound came from.

Before I shadow spread over the balcony, causing me to look up.

Directly at a Bird made of flaming Shadows that was heading directly toward my face.

"...Fuck."

And with a loud crash, My body was thrown backward through the door behind me and down the corridor, before I hit the wall at the far edge of the hallway, my body screaming in pain.

And with a scream of rage coming from the bird, I was gone.

Breathing Heavily, I looked down at my new hooves, my new legs, my new body.
No longer made of dust and smoke but of Flesh and Blood.

My Black Coat contrasted with the brilliant Gold Mane on my head, sparkling as if made of stars.

Must be the influence of Nightmare Moon after I ate her...

My new Cutie Mark, a compass star, gold and silver in color, contrasted nicely with my new smoky black fur.

And as my eyes locked on to the golden weapons laying all around the floor around me, My smile widened immensely.

With a quick flare of my new horn, a glow of red coming out of it, the weapons levitated around me, and I smiled.

"Don't let a Princess do a Nightmare's job," I chuckled to myself, the shadows on the floor extending towards the weapons, covering them in inky black smoke.

And with another red glow to my horn, The shadow-covered weapons flew away, Shooting out at the two Princesses that were nearing my castle.

And as I searched through this new Body's memories for any plan to win, I smiled widely.

"This will be so easy!" I cheered, a plan already forming in my head as those pesky Princesses flew closer to my castle.
But it was no matter, They will not win.
For one simple reason.

I can no longer lose.

It is simply as basic as that.

I WILL WIN

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!"

Author's Note

BOOM! Nobody expected this twist!

And in a 3k words chapter no less?! The first chapter that was released after we reached 600 likes?! We're almost at 6k readers as well, with less than 100 to go before we reach that big 6-triple-oh!

Next chapter? Shadowfright/Blueblood vs Luna and Celestia!

What an insane twist?!

So yeah, Nightmare Moon was eaten by Larry/Shadowfright, and now he's the main twist villain of this arc.

I am literally the first author to ever do this. How awesome is that?!

And for anybody wondering, This isn't like Blueblood's version of Nightmare Moon or Daybreaker, this isn't BB becoming an evil alternate version of himself, this is Shadowfright possessing his Body like how Nightmare Moon possessed Rarity.

How can he do that? He ate Nightmare Moon, duh.
How does that work? I Dunno' Magic?

Who cares about the intricate details? This is awesome!

Shadowblood? Bluefright? Who cares?!

Nobody saw this coming!

Chapter 42: Nightmare Stars 7

High above the surface of the world, above the topmost layers of clouds, Two Alicorns flew at their top speeds toward the moon, chasing after the escaped Nightmare.

"Luna!" Celestia yelled over the winds caused by her speed, "You need to capture the Nightmare, We can't let it get away!"

"I Know!" Yelled back the princess of the night, "But Without the Elements of Harmony, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do!" Her voice was distorted by the loud winds.

"You'll do great! All you need to do is-" Celestia's yell was cut off as a heavy piece of metal slammed into her torso, knocking her off course, and plummeting down toward the surface of the moon.

"Sister!" Luna yelled, turning to fly after her before being cut off by her older sister's yell.

"Ignore me! Go after the Nightmare! I'll catch up soon!" Luna nodded, flying directly at the castle on the moon, passing by a small armory of flying weapons, ranging from swords and spears, axes and clubs, all covered and controlled by wriggling black shadow.

Spinning her body mid-fall, Celestia managed to land on her hooves, quickly dashing forward as she avoided a rain of sharp blades from impacting her.

A flap of her wings and she was once again in the air, the lowered gravity of the moon allowing her better maneuverability, as she dodged and flew around more and more blades.

A blast of golden magic from her horn, and a nearby axe was caught in her magic, the shadows that enveloped it dispersing like smoke to reveal the golden weapon of old.

"This is doable," She whispered to herself, swinging the axe around her in her magic, deflecting several more swords and dispersing their shadows.

But for every blade she avoided, two more followed, Celestia knew that she had to do something quickly before she will be overtaken by the flying blades.

And so, with a mighty swing of her magic, the axe she held was thrown up into the sky, spinning with inertia as it flew higher and higher into the sky above the moon.

And with a grunt of effort, Celestia blasted a beam of golden light at the axe, hitting it on the head, and causing the reflective gold of the blade to spread the light like a prism, dispersing all shadows in the area, and causing the nearby weapons to fall to the ground like puppets without strings.

And as the axe fell back down, Celestia lifted a leg and caught it by the handle, quickly slamming it down into the floor below her as she laid her front legs on the handle of the axe, the blade in the ground, and she caught her breath.

"Haven't done that in a while," She whispered to herself before chuckling, "I'm out of practice," And with a glow to her horn, all the weapons on the ground lifted themselves from the floor, and flew after her, following her like an army of blades as she flew toward the castle.

Luna flew into the first balcony she saw, quickly skidding to a stop on the smooth stone floor of the castle as she took a survey of her surroundings.

Things were quiet.
Too quiet.

Something was wrong, The Nightmare should have been making noise, especially after crashing into the castle as it had.

It just wasn't right.

Luna didn't know what it was planning, but whatever it was, she couldn't let it happen.

And so with a face full of determination, ready to stop Nightmare Moon once and for all, Luna took another step into the castle.

And promptly looked down at the previously hidden magic sigil she just stepped on.

"...Crud."

BOOOOOM

Sitting on the throne in the center of the castle, Shadowfright smiled as Illusionary screens around him showcased the two Princesses that followed, his horn burning a mixture of blue and red light as his own power empowered the spells already known by both Nightmare Moon and Prince Blueblood.

His smile widened as one of the screens in front of him pinged, signaling that one of his spells made contact with its target, and he turned to look, already casting more and more spells, using the knowledge hidden in the Prince's mind he was sure there could be no way for his defeat.

"I will not be defeated, by some pesky ponies," He growled with a smile as the red magic on his horn momentarily overtook the blue, and his spells reapplied themselves.

He growled in discomfort as the blue glow returned to his horn, fighting back against the red aura.

"That's what you get when you force a possession," He grimaced at the flare of pain on his horn, before looking down at the screens in front of him, seeing the golden weapons that Celestia floated around herself turn purple and black as his magic returned.
The smoke from Luna stepping on a mine dispersed, revealing a shield spell that protected the princess at the last moment, explosive sigils on the floor, and walls all around the corridors of the castle.
And the third screen, showing the town of Ponyville, sees a swarm of gold and silver orbs of magic slowly descend upon the town.

Seeing that last screen, Shadowfright smiled in pleasure, his mind going through the faces those traitors would make when they see what he had planned for them.

"JEROME!" Spike yelled in horror as he ran toward where the Moon Creature that helped him and his friends escape was last seen.

But there was no answer, as the Moon Creature already dispersed into silver smoke during the battle.

"Spike... He's not-" Twilight slowly walked to her little brother, laying her hoof on his shoulder as she tried to speak with him.
Only for the crying baby dragon to remove the appendage from his shoulder as he pulled away from her, his body falling onto his knees as he started clawing at pieces of wood and smashed stone on the ground.

"Help me find him, Twilight!" He yelled as his claws dug through one of the ruined buildings, splinters of wood and broken bricks dusting the area.

"Spike..." Twilight didn't know what to tell him. He never lost anypony before and even though they barely knew Jerome for a few hours, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't their friend.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something to the baby Dragon, only to be interrupted by a loud explosion and a scream of horror.

Wide eyes, all of Ponyville turned to look at the sight that greeted them.

Orbs of magic, Colored either Gold or Silver, floated above the town, eye-looking sigils drawn on the orbs, like eyeballs looking down at them.

Two of the orbs, one gold and one silver, slowly floated down in front of one of the freed Moon Creatures, as they slowly crawled away from the magical orbs.

The Silver orb was slowly spinning around, as if looking at everything in sight, trying to see all, as the gold orb simply stared at the scared moon creature.

Before the Silver orb looked back to the creature, no longer looking around itself, the gold orb started glowing.

"Everypony get down!" One of the guards yelled and many of the ponies listened, throwing themselves down onto the floor, their legs protecting their heads as they lay down on the ground.

And with a quiet Bang sound, a small beam of magic fired from the golden orb, piercing through the forehead of the Moon Creature, causing it to disperse into colorful smoke and float away.

"CARL!!!" One of the Moon Creatures rushed forward, trying to catch the cloud of smoke, only for another beam of gold to pierce their back, dispersing them as well.

And all around Ponyville, Golden Beams of Magic started raining down on the Moon Creatures, dispersing them into colorful clouds of smoke.

Killing them.

"Everypony stay close!" A Familiar voice yelled out, and a Purple Bubble expanded from Ponyville, Pushing the Gold and Silver orbs away, and shielding the remaining Ponies and Moon creatures under the shield.

"Shining!" Twilight yelled, turning to see her older brother glare up at the orbs, his face in concentration as his magic worked overtime to continue the upkeep of the new shield.

Starlight Glimmer looked up at the orbs beyond the shield, something about how they acted seemed peculiar.

Only the golden orbs fired shots, and the silver orbs merely looked around, staying close to the gold orbs.

Her mind quickly thought of reasons why that would be before a conclusion quickly arrived in her head.

"Spotters and Shooters..." She whispered as the conclusion reached her mind, her horn quickly glowing Aquamarine as she teleported to explain to the Captain.

Celestia exclaimed in shock as the gold weapons that surrounded her suddenly escaped her control and flew toward her, almost skewering her as she flew.

Luna slowly flew herself down the corridor, making sure to not touch the wall or floor lest she activated another mine.

Only to pause when she turned into the next corridor, and now the middle of the hallway had lines of sensory lasers running through it.

If she touched one of those, the explosives will activate anyway and the force will almost definitely push her into more mines on the wall or floor.

Shadowfright leaned back on his throne, a sadistic expression on his face as he watched the screens in front of him.

"This is easy," He said out loud, enjoying his own voice, "How did Nightmare Moon lose three times if this was all I had to do?! HAH!" He laughed.

"I KNEW I WOULD WIN! HAHAHAHA!!!"

Walking in silence around the small Prison Cell he found himself in, The Blue figure pondered what it was supposed to do.

Its skin wasn't white, nor was it covered in fur. But instead, it was blue, and almost see-through, like a body made of deep blue water.

His Fingers were blue, but they also rippled like water when he tried touching anything, his torso and legs were blue, and his human feet were also blue.

The only place on his body that didn't look like a living body of water, was his face, where instead of a human face, or even a pony face, was simply the compass star that he got used to seeing on his flank.

"What the fuck is this supposed to mean?" He asked out loud, his solid blue feet carrying him around the prison cell.

"Maybe this is what you're subconscious mind is portraying as your soul?" The only other living creature in this cell asked him.

A Single blue eye stared up at him from the tiny clump of living shadows that introduced herself to him as "Nightmare Moon,"

"My soul?" The Blue person asked, "So what? I like the ocean so I look like I'm made of water? I'm blue because that was the color of my magic? I have a humanoid body because I'm human and My face is the Compass Star because that's my Cutie Mark?" The figure asked the clump of living shadows, his voice coming out from a mouth that wasn't there.

"How should I know? I'm not a professional!" The living shadow yelled at the blue figure, her single blue eye glaring at him as he once more got on her nerves.

"You were the one who possessed people!" The Blue man yelled at her, pointing his right hand accusingly at her, "You should know this more than anyone!"

"I Appeared in their Dreams! Not whatever this place is!!!" Nightmare Moon yelled at Blueblood's soul avatar (?)

"If anything, this is because that fool Larry took over your body with force," She then said quietly, her voice still being heard over the quiet atmosphere of the jail cell.

"If he took over your body like I do, through your dreams, We wouldn't be able to hold this conversation anyways," She told him as he took a seat on the bed on the other side of the cell, "If anything, this is wonderful."

"Wonderful how?" Blueblood asked her, feeling his nonexistent eyebrows twitch in annoyance as the Nightmare kept talking without reaching her point.

"Wonderful because we can still move here, you imbecile," She told him, and the Prince had to hold himself from stepping on her like a bug, "And if we can move, that means we could escape!"

Blueblood scoffed at that and looked at the metal bars of the cell, "Excuse me, But If you didn't realize earlier, We are currently in a jail cell," He said slowly, talking down to her as if she was slow.

"So unless the keys suddenly fall into our hands, we're kind of stuck here, seeing as my magic doesn't work, and you can barely move on your own,"

Nightmare Moon blinked slowly at him before her single eye turned away, "I must admit, you might have a point-"

"OH, DO I?"

"-However," Nightmare Moon continued, "This is a prison created subconsciously in order to hold us in, And bars aren't the only way to exit, are they?" She asked, and Blueblood blinked his nonexistent eyes at her before quickly jumping up and running to the mirror above the sink next to the cell's toilet.

Before he balled his hand into a blue fist, and punched the mirror, revealing it to actually be a window leading to a rocky cliff, with a bit of room for him to move through it.

"...You're right," He grumbled in annoyance before turning back to the Nightmare.

"Of course, I'm right you fool, I am- ACK! Let go of me!" The clump of shadows that made up Nightmare Moon's body sputtered in embarrassment as the Blue Prince grabbed her in his hand and placed her on his shoulder, the water-like texture of his skin rippling from where the Nightmare touched him.

"You're the professional here, You're coming with me," Blueblood told the one-eyed clump of darkness as he stepped out of the mirror, and stood at the edge of the cliff.

Looking down, he could see a whirlpool of Blue and Red energy, clashing against each other as they spun at the bottom of the cliff.

"And I think I know where we need to go," He said as he slowly grabbed the rocky cliff he was holding on to, and started the slow and tiring process of climbing down.

To the whirlpool of Blue and Red.

Author's Note

So this is how the teams are right now.

Team Celestia is on the Moon, on her way to the castle, fighting the enchanted weapons.

Team Luna is on the Moon, Inside the castle, going through a series of traps and minefields on her way to the Nightmare.

Team Ponyville is down in Equestria, Trying to fend off the Gold and Silver orbs.

And finally, Team Blueblood, consisting of Blueblood and Nightmare Moon, trying to gain control back of BB's body.

And I guess also Team Larry/Shadowfright, but nobody is rooting for him.

And if anyone's curious as to how BB looks, His body isn't made of water, it just looks like it, he doesn't have any waves or foam, and his skin is still smooth, like a human, just instead of being skin-colored and textured, it looks like water.

And his face is replaced with his cutie mark.

other than that, he just looks like a bald human with no face or genitals, made of a water-like substance.

Almost like a see-through Dr Manhatten with a Cutie-Mark instead of a face, if you find it hard to imagine.

Chapter 43: Nightmare Stars 8

Climbing down is much harder than climbing up.
When you climb up, you can see where your arms are going, and what you're holding on to, and your legs are always the last to move.

When you climb down, The legs are the first to move, you can't see your legs as your face is facing a rocky cliff, and your arms need to hold on for much longer.

In both cases, a single mistake will deem you to fall and die.

Normally, being in a situation where one small mistake means my untimely demise, I would be smiling ear-to-ear, the rush of excitement going through my body as I am once more reminded that yes, I am indeed alive.

Not this time, however.

It is one thing to be excited with the prospect of dying when I willingly choose to put my life in danger. It is a whole other thing when I am forced into the dangerous situation.

It's a matter of choice, Freedom.

As long as I am free to choose to put my life in danger, I feel excited.
If I am forced, say for example by a shadow creature possessing my body, to put my life in danger, then there is no excitement.

Freedom is the most important aspect of living as a person.
It's what separates Men from Beasts.

Men have the freedom to choose what they wish to do, be it use a spear or a heavy rock to hunt a mammoth, or even the choice to hunt something else, maybe forage for berries?
It's all freedom of choice, at the end of the day.
It's Human.

Beasts might seem free, unbothered by the world around them, simply living their lives.
I disagree.
A Wolf isn't free because it is in nature, running around, uncaged.
That Wolf is a Slave.
It doesn't wake up one morning and decide it will leave the pack and start a business, It doesn't choose what animal it will hunt.
There is no freedom of choice with wild animals, with Beasts.
They're all slaves.
Not slaves by the human definition, chains and whips.
But slaves to their base instincts.

They are not free, because they do not know what freedom is.
They simply are.
And simply existing, powered by your instincts to survive.
That's not really living.
Is it?

"I can see a cave, three meters below you," Nightmare Moon, now nothing more than a blob of shadows with a single blue eye said, her small body hanging on to the back of my head as I carefully navigated my way down.

"Is it big enough to enter?" I ask, carefully moving my hand to grab onto a rock on the cliff.

"It is," She replied.

"Very well," And with a few more steps, my face scrunched in concentration as I held on tightly to the cliff, My feet touched solid ground.

And the two of us were greeted by a cave.

Taking a quick look down, I can see that the whirlpool of clashing colors is still far below, looking as if we barely made any headway in reaching it.

"Hopefully this cave has a quicker way to get down," I whispered before entering the cave.
Only to pause when I felt a cracking sound.
Looking down at my see-through, water-like blue feet, I noticed a crack.

"...Fuck."

And I fell into a hole.

On the throne of the moon, Shadowfright's hoof quickly moved and held his head as a Migraine began.

"You will not be taking your body back," He whispered, a snarl of anger on his face as he punched himself in the cheek, feeling the blue magic that fought against his own lessen its attempt at forcing him out of the body, long enough for him to reapply his magic to the spells holding back the Princesses.

"Just a few more hours, and I won't need to do this," He whispered to himself, his dark snarl morphing into an amused smile as he looked at the screen showing the Princess of the Sun.

"Left," Celestia called loudly, a flap of her wings sending her to the side as she narrowly avoided a rain of corrupted blades, retaliating with a blast of her magic, temporarily removing the animation curse from the weapons.

"Down," She said, ducking her head and diving down as a spear shot at her from behind, narrowly missing her and passing above her before turning in mid-air, redirecting its flight only for a ray of golden light to cleanse the shadows from its hold and free it.

"I really need to stop these from moving," She whispered to herself, but she couldn't find out the answer to how she could permanently stop the weapons from chasing her, knowing full well that it wouldn't be long before the shadows she blasted away will return and once again animate the blades.

And as long as these weapons kept occupying her attention, the more danger Luna could be in, or worse yet, her poor and adorable Blueblood!

And just that thought made her magic burn with righteous anger.

"Wait... That's it!" And it looks like Celestia had a solution to her Problem.

Princess Luna wasn't well versed in the careful maneuvering of wings in tight spaces.

That doesn't mean she was unable, it just meant that she wasn't as good as her sister.

Luna knew that if Celestia and her switched places, this entire situation would have been resolved already. Her magic could remove the shadows from the weapons and stop them from returning, and Celestia's talent for more physical activities would make the passage through this literal minefield a piece of cake.

But it was never that easy, was it?

Luna knew that she was the more magically gifted of the sisters, so having her take part in such a physically grueling activity as this was such an evil and horrible plan that only an evil monster like Nightmare Moon could think up.

She had to be stopped!

But Luna couldn't do it! She couldn't get past this Minefield, she was a wizard, not a warrior!

"Wait... That's it!" However, it seemed that Luna found an idea.

"Twilight Sparkle, right?" Starlight Glimmer quickly asked the purple mare as she ran up to her, recognizing her from both the Gala and her time in Ponyville after the Nautical Science test.

"That's me, yes!" Twilight answered before flinching as the sounds of the golden bolts of magic fired up above Ponyville, slamming into the shield that Captain Shining Armor surrounded the town with.

"You're an Element of Harmony, right?" Starlight asked her, recieving a nod from the Element of Magic.

"Good, I think I know how to get the orbs to stop shooting," Starlight quickly explained her plan.

Listening to that plan, however, Twilight brought up a good point.

"Wouldn't we need all the Silver Orbs to be at the same place for that to work?" She asked, the sounds of golden magic beams once more sounded above their heads.

"Yes, but if you look, they're only aiming for the Moon Creatures, not ponies," Starlight pointed out, receiving a widening of her eyes from Twilight.

"So all we have to do is get them to shoot at the same Moon Creature! but how can we do that without placing them in danger?!" The Element of Magic yelled over the sound of another volley of lasers.

"I think I can help with that!" A new voice proclaimed, and the two Unicorns turned their heads.

"Oh good, the floor opened on you," The first thing that greeted my ears after the floor collapsed, was the annoying sound of the one-eyed Nightmare.

"If you don't have anything helpful to say," I grumbled as I pulled myself up from the ground, "Try shutting up,"

Taking a look at our surroundings, I am not surprised to say that the hole that opened inside the cave did not in fact lead deeper underground, but to someplace different.

"Do you recognize this place?" Nightmare Moon asked as she also looked at the surroundings, a long empty hallway stood before us, with only one direction to go, seeing as there is a wall in all three other directions.

"Not at all," I said and started running forward, feeling the Nightmare on my shoulder latch on tighter as to not fall as I ran down the empty corridor of white walls and white floors.
Before long, we reached the end of the corridor, with a single door waiting for us.

Not stopping to think, I barged through the door to be greeted with...
Yet another corridor.

"An infinite corridor, how original," The Nightmare snarked from my shoulder, and this time I couldn't help but agree with her sarcasm.

"He could have at least made the corridor more original than this," I said, once again moving down the corridor, "I mean, just an empty corridor? Is he trying to buy time or what?"

"He probably is," Nightmare Moon said and I quickly stopped and turned to her.

"What?"

"He Brute forced his way into possessing you," She explained, her eye staring at me, "He can't control you as well as he would like, that's why the whirlpool at the bottom of the cliff was so chaotic, it represents your Magic fighting off against his control,"

"So if we take too long..." I asked, not liking where this was going.

"If we take too long, we might be too late to stop him from taking control over your body." Nightmare Moon said, "He will have full control over your body, Your magic will no longer resist him and he would be able to move around unopposed."

"...Will that mean I'll be stuck in here?" I asked, feeling anger grow in me as the thought of what she was detailing entered my mind.

"We'll both be. Just like how Rarity was when I controlled her body," Nightmare Moon said, before squawking out as my hand latched onto her.

"I'll be trapped inside my own mind?" I asked her again, my hand squeezing the Nightmare as the anger kept growing.

"Yes!" Nightmare Moon yelled, trying to push against my grasp as my anger kept on growing.

"This is all your fault," I whispered as I looked at her, squirming in my hand like a pathetic little insect.
"All of this, This is your fault," I told her, red spots slowly appearing on my water-like body, coloring me with hues of purple.

"Snap out of it!" Nightmare Moon yelled, but I didn't listen, My hand squeezed tighter and tighter, feeling the nonexistent smile on my face spread as-

A Wave of Blue water washed over a wave of Red.

I quickly let go of the Nightmare, my body doubling over as I started coughing violently, splotches of squirmy purple and red living liquid exiting my body as I coughed.

"We need to hurry," Nightmare Moon rasped, a tiny tendril made of shadows rubbing against her body as she spoke, "Your body is already starting to lose control,"

I nodded weakly as my body gasped for air.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her as I carefully stood up.

"No need to apologize," Nightmare Moon said weakly, "You are correct in saying that all of this is my fault,"

She continued speaking as I gently grabbed her and once again placed her minuscule body on my shoulder, "I am the reason Larry is in control of your body, and it is also my fault that you were on the moon, to begin with. If it wasn't for me, Larry wouldn't have had anypony to possess, making it far easier for the Princesses to defeat him,"

I looked at the Nightmare on my shoulder, "I was apologizing for squeezing you, not because I said that this is your fault," I told her, my legs moving down the corridor as I continued to catch my breath.

"Oh..." Nightmare Moon said.

"Yep. This is still all your fault, and once we're done in here you will be spending a long time in Prison."

Nightmare Moon weakly nodded her body before pausing, her Blue eye turning to look at me.

"Prison?"

"Yes, You're going to prison. You kidnapped me, possessed the body of that Unicorn, held me captive in a cage, and probably much more that I wasn't there to see." I explained to her, "You are a criminal, and Unlike Starlight, I don't think any argument I give will save you, and I also don't want to."

"No, I- I understand that," Nightmare Moon said, "But Prison? Like Tartarus? Why not just simply blast me with the Elements of Harmony and be done with it?"

I looked down at my shoulder as if she was stupid, "The Elements of Harmony sent you to the moon, Right? Why would we want to send you back to the moon as punishment?"

"Huh... I didn't actually think of it like that," She whispered.

"Yeah." I said as I stopped walking, still a fair distance away from the next door in the corridor, "So, any clue on how to get out of here?"

"Have you tried punching the wall again? That seemed to work with the mirror in the prison," Nightmare Moon surprisingly helpfully added.

And doing as she said, I balled my hand into a fist, entered a nice stance, and gave the wall a nice Haymaker.

And it shattered like glass, revealing an exit to the cave.

"Huh... It worked," I said as I looked down at my fist.

"Of course it worked you imbecile, I'm the one who thought of it!" Nightmare Moon said in her haughty tone.

"Yeah sure, Anyways, do you like Sushi?" I asked her as I stretched my shoulders, "I'm figuring out what food to give you when I visit you in jail,"

"...I never had Sushi," She said, and I smiled as the topic changed from the horrible consequences of being stuck in your own mind, unable to influence your body as an evil Nightmare named Larry of all things puppets you around like a Fleshlight.

"I assure you, You'd love it," And we stepped out of the cave, seeing the Blue and Red whirlpool of magic just below us.

"So?" I asked the Shadow on my shoulder, "Are you ready to kick the ass of some douch named Larry?"

"Are you asking if I'm ready to kick the behind of the creature who betrayed and tried to overthrow me?" Nightmare Moon asked sarcastically, "You really are a foolish little Imbecile, aren't you?"

"Well, Here we go!"

And with a yell, The two of us jumped into the whirlpool of Blue and Red magic.

Celestia Raised the golden Axe she held high above her head, her magic powering up in order to get her plan to work.

"Heh," A small smile graced her lips as the heat around her soared upwards, causing the air around her to vibrate.

And with a bright blast of magic from her horn, the axe she held exploded with fire and light.

"This Axe-" Celestia's voice echoed through the empty land as the weapons flew towards her, "Is an incarnation of the sun itself!"

"BURN!" And with a scream, she swung the now brightly burning golden axe downward, almost like a hammer slamming into an anvil, and all around her, the weapons started melting from the overbearing heat as the Axe itself transformed into a miniature sun, keeping all the weapons from reaching her as they all melted into piled of molten gold and fell to the ground, lifeless.

And as soon as the spell finished its job, the miniature sun also disappeared, leaving Celestia holding a golden staff that used to be connected to a two-headed axe, still dripping molten gold.

"Yep," Celestia calmly said as she threw the now useless staff to the ground, "Still got it,"

Luna's horn glowed as a cloud of mist left her, slowly enveloping her and hiding her from view, allowing her to easily bypass the sensory spells connected to the mines as she flew down the corridors and hallways of the castle, making her way to the throne room in the middle.

"Should have used magic from the start," She whispered to herself as her horn glowed even brighter, before with a sound of bubbles popping, she was gone.

Shadowfright leaned back on his throne, feeling his magic take over his body slowly but surely, it wouldn't be long before his body would stop resisting, and getting his own kingdom down on earth will be no more than just a flick of a horn.

Only to look upward as the sound of popping bubbles sounded above him.

"Looking for me?" He then quickly turned to look ahead as a beam of dark blue magic hit him in the face, courtesy of the freshly teleported Princess of the Night.

"Now, Nightmare Moon! Release Blueblood!" She yelled at him, and he snarled in rage.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!"

"is everypony ready?" Starlight asked, getting nods from the ponies around her.

"Okay everyone, Let's do this!" She yelled.

"Of course!" A Blue Unicorn with a lighter shade of hair smiled widely as her horn glowed before a creature made of smoke, similar in look to the Moon Creatures, appeared above the Ponyville shield, catching the attention of the Gold and Silver orbs.

"Good job Trixie!" Starlight yelled as the Silver Orbs grouped around the illusion in the sky as the Golden Orbs shot at it, their beams and bolts passing through the Smokey image and dissipating in the distance.
"Now! Twilight, Shining!"

"You got it!" Twilight said as she and her friends started levitating off the ground, the Elements of Harmony hanging off their necks and crows as they glowed with Rainbow colored magic.

"Hurry it up!" Shining Armor yelled with a grunt as he created a temporary hole in the shield right below Trixie's image.

"Take this!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"We'll take care of 'em!" Applejack added.
"Yep Yep Yippie!" Pinkie Pie celebrated.
"Umm, Yay?" Fluttershy was doing her best.
"Of Course, I would love some payback for what you got me through," Rarity smiled with a sadistic glint in her eyes.
"Here we go, girls! Let's do this!" Twilight Sparkle finished it all off.

And with a loud yell, A beam of Rainbow Colored Magic flew out of the group, out of the hole, and spread outward from there, hitting all of the magic orbs in the sky, causing each and every single one of them to disappear in a puff of magical smoke.

Saving Ponyville once more.

Luna teleported away as a beam of Red and Black magic flew in her direction as the newly minted Shadowfright aimed at her with Blueblood's body.

"STOP DODGING!" He screeched like a bird, firing more and more bolts of magic at her, forcing her to continue teleporting around, firing weaker beams of blue and silver at him, hoping to knock him unconscious so she could get the Elements of Harmony here in order to get things done quickly.

"Sorry I'm late!" Luna perked up as the voice of her sister sounded behind her, before Celestia appeared next to her, covered in dust and sweat, but uninjured,

"WHAT?!" The Nightmare yelled in shock as he saw her, "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!"

Celestia frowned deeply as she saw her Son- I mean her Nephew- Oh who am I kidding? When she saw her adopted Son in such a form.

"Nightmare moon," Celestia said as her horn glowed Gold, "Your Evil ends here, Give up peacefully so we can get this over with."

And when Celestia finished saying those words, it was almost as if he cracked.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRI-Kuh" He choked, before with a burst of blue magic, he disappeared.

And in his place, Sitting on the throne of the castle, was None other than the White-Furred Prince of Equestria, Blueblood Platinum.
On his shoulder was a small blob of Darkness, a single Blue eye watching them, It was what was left of Nightmare Moon after the Element of Generosity burst out of her control.

And on the ground below the two, was a bruised and injured Moon Creature, it's body covered with Purple and Orange feathers, an Orange beak as its mouth with yellow irises in its eyes.

"This can't be..." It cried weakly as it struggled to move on the floor of the castle, "How could I lose?!"

The sight was pathetic.
This was the creature that dared to take over Blueblood? This?

"This wasn't supposed to end like this!" It cried loudly, unable to move its body.
"I was supposed to leave this barren wasteland! I was supposed to be King! A God!" Its eyes seemed crazed as it screamed out loudly from the floor.

"HOW?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! YOU! YOU ARE PONIES! FAILURES!" It screamed at them.
"YOU ARE THE FAILURES! AND I AM THE DREAM DAMNNED KING-" Its speech was cut short as a white-furred leg slammed onto the back of its head, stomping it into the ground, and turning its body into orange smoke.

Looking at the five different eyes looking at him in shock from the three other people in the room, Blueblood shrugged his shoulders.
"What? He was taking too long."

He was then wrapped in a powerful hug as the Princess of the Sun pulled him in, a teary smile on her face as she hugged her son.

Seeing the warm reunion in front of her, Luna decided to finish what she came here for.
Walking to the throne, and staring down at what remained of Nightmare Moon, Luna's horn started glowing before she-
"Wait!"

She turned to look at Blueblood, still being hugged by her sister as he turned his head upside down to look at her.

"I promised her that she'll go to Tartarus for her crimes, don't hurt her." He said.

"WHAT?!"

Author's Note

And here it is, the ending to the Nightmare Rarity Arc.
Next chapter will be the regular Epilogue chapter I do for each arc.

This is the guy? This is the dude who tried to take over Nightmare Moon's spot?
This guy?
HIS NAME IS LARRY!

PS- This is the longest chapter of this story yet. coming in just over 300 words longer than License to Prince 2

Chapter 44: Dreaming Stars

"Hey Blueblood," The Decapitated head on the bench called out to me as my Shy Guy picked up a green shell and held it behind his Kart, blocking player-2's red shell from hitting.

"What is it Cosmos?" I asked her, a relaxed smile on my face as I simply enjoyed the relaxing nature of sitting on a couch, playing video games, and eating snacks.

"Hey, Hey Blueblood!" She repeated, trying to get me to look away from the screen.

"C'mon, hey Blueblood, Look here for a moment," She continued pestering me for the next minute before We finished the lap, Cosmos and Dry Bowser getting a lucky first place with a well-aimed Banana.

And as the screen appeared congratulating the decapitated head on her victory, I turned to look at her, noticing her waving around her new right arm, trying her hardest to get me to look at it.

"Yes Cosmos, what is it that you wanted?" I asked her, a grin on my face as I leaned back on the couch.

"Hehe, Did you notice something different?" The Head said, a long purple arm extending from her previously empty right-shoulder, ending with an almost human-looking hand, if it wasn't for the fact that the skin was blue, she only had four fingers instead of five and the fact that her nails were much sharper than normal.

She winked at me, turning her head to the side in order for her Snake-like hair to cover her shoulder, while the new arm turned to make it so her hand was laid over her mouth, hiding a giggle.

I looked into her eyes yellowish eyes for a moment before making the most clueless-looking face I could muster and asked.

"Did you do something with your hair?"

Cosmos blinked at my question, "Did I do something with my- HAH! Hahaha!" She laughed loudly, a wide smile on her face.

I chuckled at the site before the purple arm shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer to her, making it so our faces were mere centimeters from each other.

"I HAVE MY ARM BACK!" She yelled into my face with excitement, her joyous laughter echoing around the empty space that was the inside of her gem.

"Really?" I asked, "I didn't notice,"

"HAHAHA! I HAVE AN ARM!" She yelled, her arm still holding onto mine as she shook me around, causing me to fall off the couch and land on the endless galaxy that made up the floor of her dimesion.

And with a cheer of joy, Cosmos jumped off the couch and landed on my chest, her face still smiling widely as she leaned closer.

"And you know..." She whispered as she leaned forward, her new arm going downward as her fingers acted like small legs, taking steps down my stomach.
"Now that I can grab things without my magic..." She raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled up at her, feeling her hand reaching for someplace she previously couldn't.

"Before we begin," I whispered into her ear as her hand started moving about.
"Did you remember anything when you got your arm back?" My question was fully serious, perhaps ruining the steamy mood that my decapitated head friend was hoping for.

"As a matter of fact, I did," She said with a smile as she leaned away from me for a moment, "It was moments before I became trapped inside of the gems, I think..."

"You think?" I asked her.

"I'm not too sure, The memory itself is still fuzzy," She frowned at that, before looking straight into my eyes, "But I remember a deer dressed in gold,"

I waited for her to continue, before sighing as that seemed to be all she managed to remember.

"A Deer dressed in gold, I'll have to check the library for more information about that," I frowned at that Idea, seeing as how the last time I searched the Library for information to help Cosmos I came out of it with no new knowledge, and a Pink Demon who makes me want to drink till I collapse.

Curse you Pinkie Pie.

"I'm sorry," Cosmos sighed as she rolled her head forward, landing next to my shoulder.

"It's fine," I told her with a smile as I turned to look at her, "We'll get your body back."

She blinked at me, Her new hand slowly tapping away at my chest before she opened her mouth and quietly asked me the same question she asked me every night that I appeared in her gem.

"You wanna' go out with me?"

I stared at her for a moment before smiling, giving her a quick peck on the lips, and answering her question as her cheeks flushed red.

"No," I smiled at the decapitated head, and she smiled back at me, her hand moving to touch her own lips as her smile widened.

"Haha..." She whispered with a giggle, "Shut down yet again..."

"One hour is all I'm giving you," Celestia said with a worried look on her face as she once again went over the many bags I carried.

"I know, Auntie, You said so several times now,"

"Call me Mommy," She told me, her face serious.

"Okay," I told her simply, not knowing why she asked me to change how I address her in private.
It's not as If being a Mom or an Aunt makes any difference to me, I still don't know what a family does.

"I want you to say it before I open the gate," She told me, her face the apex of seriousness.

"Auntie this is childish I-"

"Say it." She told me, her white-furred face looking down at me.

I sighed in acceptance and said the words, "Fine, Mommy,"

"Now call me Mother,"

"Celestia please-"

"Bluey! What did I tell you to call me now?" Celestia asked me and I sighed.

"Fine. Mommy, Mother, Mom, Mama even. Do you also want me to call you Mah and put on a heavy accent or can we go now?" I asked her.

Celestia smiled down at me, "We can go."

And with a flash of her magic, The large stone wall we stood next to opened up, revealing where I was headed.

Tartarus.
The Most Magically Secure Prison in the World.

Walking up a series of stone stairs, we soon reached our destination.

One of the many mountainous peaks of the underground spires that made up the underground magic prison.
And in the middle of the opened peak of the spire, A glowing circle of magic stood, a large glass cube laying on it.

Almost like an Aquarium, with a single hole for visitors to speak with the person inside the cell, and a sliding door for the case where the cube needs to be opened.
Like what I was doing right now.

"I'll be sitting near the stairs, and I will intervene if I see her try anything," Celestia said before a golden glow from her horn opened up the door to the glass box. Allowing me to levitate a few boxes in before she closed it and walked away.

Leaving me to open up a rolled-up carpet to sit on, as my magic moved and opened the boxes inside the glass cube, causing the fist-sized inhabitant of the far larger cube to look at me, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"What is this?" The Blue-Eyes blob of shadows asked as she looked at what I took out from the boxes.

"Some furniture," I told her, moving the kid-sized bed, chair, and table out of the boxes.

"Oh course..." She said blandly, "And what of those boxes? The ones you have yet to open?"

"That's our lunch."

Nightmare Moon blinked at me before repeating what she said, "Lunch?"

"Yep," I said, popping the P as I levitated those boxes onto the small table she now had, opening them and taking out the plastic fork, knife, and plate before placing her food on it.

Nightmare Moon looked at the food I placed on her plate as she crawled her shadowy body onto her chair and looked at the food in front of her.
"What is this?" She asked a tiny shadow tendril pointing at her food.

"What I brought before you is some Tofu Pad Thai, Vegetable Eggroll, and like I said I'd give you, Sushi, a Spicy Salmon Roll specifically," I explained with a smile, opening my own box of the same lunch.

And the rest of my visit to Tartarus passed by with a comfortable silence as the two of us simply ate our food, soon Celestia came by and took away the cardboard boxes littering Nightmare Moon's cube before we left.

It was also once I returned to the castle and after Starlight spat out her drink when I told her what Celestia asked me to call her, that I found Luna eating the leftovers from our meal, thin strings of noodles sticking to her fur as she ate the Pad Thai.

All in all, Not a bad day, With the Second Nightmare Moon event ending mostly easily, I can easily say that I'm looking forward to being back on the sea.

With a new clue to search in regards to Cosmos, and my Ships already being constructed as I wait, It won't be long before I can travel to Caninia and finalize the trade agreement, get the Pony-Yak railway under construction, and finally take a vacation after doing my Princely duties.

Yes, After a short break to get everything ready, the next stop will be Caninia, where I will hash out the trade deal, and finally get the Blueblood Foundation up and running.

Oh yeah, it's all coming together.

Author's Note

So, Cosmos and BB are having some steamy action inside the gem now that Cosmos has an arm.

Celestia, now fully aware of her thoughts as Blueblood's Adopted Mother, finally convinced him to change how he addresses her.

BB, Seeing no reason to refuse, accepts pretty easily.
Mostly because he never actually had either an Aunt or a Mother, so he's just kind of happy to have anything really.
Even if He'll never admit it.

And a Clue to the Cosmos plot, a Deer wearing Gold?
I wonder who that is...

And yep, The Next Major-Original-Arc is the Caninia Arc, which will hopefully be much better than my Pokemon-Caninia-Arc.

Hope you all enjoyed the Nightmare Starts arc, and I'll see you all with the next few chapters.

Lighting Strike!

Crackling boom!

NIGHTMARE NIGHT!!!

Witches laugh!

Only on the Netap account~

Chapter 45: Luna Eclipsed 1

Raven Inkwell woke with a smile.
A full week has passed since the second Nightmare Moon incident, recently titled as the Nightmare Invasion for easier archiving purposes, and no major problems have occurred.
It was great.

But what really made Raven smile on this fine morning is none other than the wonderful holiday of Nightmare Night, where ponies all around Equestria dress up in costumes and collect candy.

Some ponies might say that she was too old for such childish holidays, but Raven knew better than them.
Nightmare Night is the best holiday for one simple purpose!

"A Paid vacation..." She sighed as she looked at her basic costume, consisting of red devil horns, a tail, and a cape.
Yes, it might be basic, but it was also very cheap.

For all intents and purposes, Raven Inkwell was ready to have some harmless, childish, fun.

"You will be coming with us to Ponyville in order to celebrate this Nightmare Night," I blinked and turned my head to see Princess Luna looking over my shoulder as I wrote down orders and lists for the upcoming negotiations with Caninia.

My oh-so-eloquent response to having the Alicorn Princess of the Moon tell me that I will be accompanying her to Ponyville was so profound and magnanimous that I can easily assure you that- "What?"

"Nightmare Night," Luna said the words with a smile on her face as she walked away from me and looked wistfully out the window, "Such an interesting Idea for a Holiday, Celestia explained the basics of it when we asked and we couldn't help but simply fall in love with the idea,"

"Okay... Look, Luna I-" I tried to interrupt her talk in order to explain to her that I'm too busy for that.

"Just imagine it, Ponies from all walks of life, wearing costumes and enjoying the night," She said with a smile as she looked at the moon slowly rising in the sky, "This is simply the perfect Holiday,"

"That sounds great," I smiled at her, "But I don't have the time to accompany you, I'm very busy getting the Caninia trip ready," I told her, and she simply nodded her head in understanding.

"You see dear Blueblood, This is why you should join us! Take a break," She smiled widely at me.

"I can't,"

"You can and you will," She said, her face getting closer to my own.

"Okay, Well. I can't leave the castle without Starlight, And she's all the way in Sire's Hollow visiting her parents," I told her, fully intent on not going back to Ponyville.

Every time I leave the castle, something happens.
Art Museum? I got into a fight.
Searching for a Missing Mare? Got stuck in the Yakyakistani Tundra.
Buying a suit of the GGG? Another fight.
Getting my Nautical Science degree? Chocolate Rain floods the city.

Recently I got kidnapped in my sleep for crying out loud! If I'm forced to leave the castle again something horrible might happen!

"That is fine," Luna said with that same smile on her face, "We will be taking some guards with us anyway," Ah yes... The Guards. The Guards who have repeatedly failed at their job, those guards.

"Actually, I promised Raven that I will help her with some paperwork! How could I forget!" I gave myself a slap on the head, "Oh how silly of me! Anyway, Hope you have fun!" And with that, I stood up and quickly walked away from the Princess of the Night.

"Miss Inkwell, Please open the door," Raven Inkwell perked up as she heard someone on the other side of her door.

"Just a minute," She called out to whoever was on the other side as she put the finishing touches of her costume on and adjusted her Glasses before opening her door to see what the pony wanted.

"May I come in?" Raven froze when instead of a Guard or Servant, she was face to face with Prince Blueblood Platinum.

"Oh, yes of course, please make yourself at home," She quickly said and moved to make room for him to enter her room.

"Sorry for the intrusion," The Prince said as he entered her room, "But I needed someplace to get away from Luna for the night, and you were my last resort," He told her, and as the prince looked her in the eyes Raven could feel her heart flutter.

She didn't know when she started feeling these feelings for the prince, But she was sure she noticed them after the Gala when the two of them drank that delicious hot chocolate.

"Oh, Is that so?" She asked him before mentally cringing at how she was acting.
She was almost thirty years old dammit! She didn't need to act like a love-struck teenager!
Just act your age and ask him your question.

"And so I was hoping I could spend the evening with you, in order to keep away from Luna," He told her, and whatever question Raven was going to ask simply packed its bags and grabbed a boat to a tropical island because it just left her mind.

"Oh, Sure!" Dammit Raven! Not so obvious! "I mean, I was going to leave the castle in order to celebrate Nightmare Night, but if you will be accompanying me I can change my plans," YES!!! Just like that!

"No need to change your plans," He told her with a smile, "As long as I can stay away from whatever trouble Luna was inadvertently going to cause me, I would be happy to accompany you," Raven held back a girlish scream of excitement.

"Oh, Okay... Do you have a costume prepared?" Raven asked him, and he simply smiled at her.

"Raven," He said as he looked her in the eyes, "I am always prepared," And with a glow to his horn, an illusion was cast on him, covering him in a grey coat with a tan vest beneath it, above a yellow shirt.
Grey pants covered his back legs as a belt held them up. A small clock-looking device appeared over his left breast and he ended the illusion by styling his hair differently and covering his face with a mask that looked identical to his face.

"Illusion magic is pretty handy, isn't it?" The now costumed Prince asked her with a smirk, His tall stature towered over the short secretary, If Raven was being honest with herself, this moment reminded her of a dream she once had.
Only in that dream, neither of them were wearing Nightmare Night costumes.

In fact, She's sure that in that dream neither of them were wearing anything at all.

"Hehe, He, AHEM!" Raven coughed to hide the blush that grew on her face, "So, will we be off then?" she asked the prince, unable to look him in the eyes.

"Sure," He said, his mask smiling for him, "Where to?"

"Ponyville," She said, missing the Prince freezing as the name of the town escaped her lips.

I'm going back to Ponyville?
...

FU-

Author's Note

You can all guess who BB dressed up as, It's fairly obvious from previous chapters.

Hope you look forward to Raven Inkwell's Bizzare totally-not-a-date Night.

Chapter 46: Luna Eclipsed 2

Do you ever get that one feeling? you know the one.

The one that you get when you really have something better to do, but you can't do it because your friends are begging you to go bowling with them, and they won't take no for an answer, so you make up an excuse to leave them, and hopefully continue working on whatever important work you had, only to end up going to that same bowling alley anyways, so now you have to make sure your friends don't find you there because it will simply be a huge mess to explain to them that it's not that you didn't want to go bowling with them, but that the job you had was simply much more important.

You know?

Walking down the streets of Ponyville right now filled me with that feeling.

"So, What do we do during Nightmare Night anyway?" I asked Raven, hoping that there was actually some sort of club or bar here so I won't need to be outside with all the costumed ponies.

"Well," Raven started, her red cape contrasting with her white coat while still complementing it, Is that why her hair tie is red? "Usually just walk around and enjoy the attractions," She told me.

"Oh..." I simply said, trying to think of what kind of carnival-like attractions this place has, "Doesn't that sound kind of... Childish?"

Raven paused at that question before loudly coughing into her hoof and nodding her head, "You're right! Yes! Childish! Of Course!" She continued coughing.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, worried about why she was coughing so much.

"I'm fine! No need to worry about me! I'm a mature mare! No childish plans here, Haha!"

I blinked at her blankly, "If you say so..."

"Spike, I'm going out to give Princess Luna a tour," Twilight Sparkle called out to her assistant as she neared the door to the Library, "Are you sure you don't want to come with?"

The Baby Dragon responded with a groan before slowly making his way upstairs, intent to once again sleep the day away.

"O-Okay... If you need anything just..." Twilight sighed as soon as Spike exited her field of vision, the recent Nightmare Moon attack really left an impact on him, and she doesn't know what to do.
"Maybe Princess Luna will have something that might help," She said to herself as she made her way outside, intent on meeting up with the carriage from Canterlot.

"I never understood why we still celebrate Halloween," I said as I took a sip of my Cappuccino.

Raven blinked at that, taking a sip of her own extra-sweet Pumpkin Juice, "Halloween?"

I continued talking about the holiday, "It started off as Samhain, where people will celebrate the harvest at the end of Summer, and wear costumes to ward off ghosts," I said out loud, not really caring if anybody was listening, "The date changed to October 31st after the Pope decided that November 1st was to be All Saints Day, making the day before it All Hallows Eve, changing both the meaning and date of the holiday,"

Raven nodded her head, confused yet still listening intently.

"After years, All Hallows Eve was renamed Halloween, where we now walk around in scary costumes, trick-or-treating,"

"So... It's like Nightmare Night?" Raven asked, confused as to why The Prince was bringing up a holiday from outside Equestria.

"Yes," I said, "Like nightmare night,"

We finished the rest of our drinks in silence.

"We are thankful for your assistance in giving us this tour, Miss Sparkle," Princess Luna said as she walked by the Element of Magic.

"It's no problem, Princess, If it wasn't for you who knows what would have happened when Nightmare Moon came back," Twilight told her.

"Yes... That situation," Luna grimaced at the memory of that night, "Let us not think of that night, We are sure that there is something much more enjoyable to talk about,"

Twilight perked up at that, "Of Course! Would you like to try some candy apples? I'm sure Applejack has her stall opened,"

"We would find that delightful, yes," Luna smiled down at the Unicorn.

"I am sorry," Raven perked up when she heard Blueblood say those words.

"Sorry for what?" The glasses-wearing secretary asked her co-worker.

"I'm sorry that I'm ruining your night," Blueblood told her, a tired look on his face clearly seen through the mask he wore.

"Excuse me?" Raven asked him.

"I used you as an excuse to not join Luna for Nightmare Night, but it turned out that you were also going to celebrate it, and then I was trapped going with you or I'd look like an ass for joining," He told her, moving to take a seat on a bench nearby so as to not stand in the middle of the road, "I simply do not want to ruin your Night, and would instead like to continue my work,"

"You... Don't like Nightmare Night?" Raven asked him, receiving a shake of his head in return.

"No. I don't like holidays in general," He told her, standing up from the bench he just sat on, "I apologize for ruining this part of your night, hopefully, you can forgive me for it, but I am going back to Canterlot." Blueblood told her before turning to walk away.
"Have a wonderful night,"

Raven blinked at him before a frown appeared on her face.

Princess Luna was surprised at how warm her welcome to Ponyville was.

"Good Evening, Princess!"
"Happy Nightmare Night, Princess!"
"Thank you for saving us, Princess!"

All around Ponyville, Ponies would stop what they were doing just to thank her for helping them during the Second Nightmare Moon incident, ignoring the fact that in reality, she was the cause for the incident in the first place.

"You are Ponies! Failures!" She could still hear the Nightmare scream as he clawed weakly at the floor of the throne room.
"You are the Failures! And I am the DREAM DAMMED KING!"

Luna simply nodded her head and smiled at the ponies, unsure of how to take their appreciation.

"Princess Luna! We saved you some candy!" A group of foals exclaimed in cheer before giving her a bag of sweets.
"Princess Luna! Please have some of our Licorice Pie!" A mare said with a smile before passing her a slice of Pie.
"Princess Luna! You saved our town!" A family of Earth Ponies yelled happily.

"Miss Twilight, May we move on to a quieter part of Ponyville?" Luna asked Twilight, bags of gifts levitating above her head as she walked.

"Sure! If you need someplace quiet for a few minutes I would love to give you a tour of the Library," Twilight said happily, her hooves taking her away as she led the princess in the direction of the library.

"So this is where you're staying?" I turned my head to look at the familiar Earth Pony that called out to me, "Just sitting at the train station?"

I blinked at Raven Inkwell before turning my head back to the clock above the station, the train won't be here for another thirty minutes.

"Where else would you like me to stay?" I asked her, "I wasn't having fun, and me not having fun was making it so you wouldn't be having fun, so If I leave, you would be able to enjoy this little festival with all the little attractions, and I could be back in Canterlot getting more work done."

"And who said you get to decide if I'm having fun or not?" Raven asked, glaring at me from where she stood.

"Were you?"

Raven grimaced at that question, "Well, no. But that doesn't mean you can simply decide for me," She said before moving over and taking a seat on the bench.

"You know, I don't like taking days off..." She started saying quietly, her legs moving to take the plastic horns off her head.
"So, whenever I do end up getting a vacation, I like enjoying myself, because I know that if I don't enjoy my vacation, it would have all gone to waste."

With a glow to my horn, the illusion of the costume fell off, leaving me in my now iconic tuxedo collar.

"Why can't you also enjoy these vacations? There's no Mare on the Moon threatening us, no Chaos magic running rampant, no disastrous scenarios. So why do you insist on going back to get more work done?" She asked me, sounding almost... crying?

"Why can't you just, be childish, for even a day?!" Yes, I do think she is crying.

"Because I don't have the time," I said as I levitated a napkin from my Bag of Holding, always kept nearby.
"The meeting with Caninia is in a month, and I need everything to be perfect,"

I continued, "The ships I ordered won't finish construction until Summer, so we're using one of the royal ships. Now I need to run maintenance on the ship, make sure everything is up to standards." I kept on talking.
"I also need to get food and water for the trip, it's a week on the sea, it might be short, but some ponies never stayed on a boat for more than an hour. Next is the whole politics of it all, Caninia is split into two factions. One led by Princess Katherina, who is by all accounts the rightful ruler, and another led by Princess Jennino, who is her younger sister."

I took a deep breath before I kept on talking, "For all intents and purposes, Katherina is the one to speak with, however, the trade talks were spoken with someone in Jennino's faction, so that already gives a bad image to the deal. "They are dealing with fake rulers!" or something like that. It's bullshit anyway. This isn't an Equestrian job, but a Blueblood Foundation job, this needs to be perfect."

"So... You don't have the time to have fun. That's it?" Raven asked, a weird expression on her face.

"It's also the fact that I never enjoyed holidays like Halloween or Christmas, but yes, mostly the time." I said.

"Okay then, I'll help you."

I blinked at that, trying to see if I misheard something.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"You heard me," Raven said as she stood up and moved to stand in front of me, "I'm going to help you finish your work," She said as she pointed a hoof at my face, "And in return, you'll pay me back with a proper date!" She smiled at that, her leg still pointed in at my face.

And seeing the usually reserved Secretary show such a... bright expression on her face, I couldn't help but also smile.

"Sure," I told her with a smirk, standing up so I could tower over her, forcing her to take a step back so I could stand, I leaned forward slightly so I could whisper in her ear, "It's a date," before walking away as I saw the train coming into the station.

"It's a date," The words he whispered in her ear played on a loop in her mind.

Raven Inkwell, face flushed red, smile frozen on her face as heavy breath left her nostrils, knew a very important fact.

Choosing not to enjoy this one night, might turn out to be one of the best choices she ever made.

"Yes Daddy... Hehehe..." She whispered to herself with a giggle, the smell of the prince still filtering through her nose.

Raven quickly slapped herself in the face, getting rid of the heat in her smile as she turned around and followed the Prince.

Her eyes not leaving the tight and muscular legs that swayed in front of her.

"Hehehe," She wiped a bit of drool off her mouth as she licked her lips.

Yep, Best decision ever.

When Princess Celestia heard that Blueblood and Raven were seen walking together, she didn't think much of it.
Those two are high-ranking members of the Crown, it's normal for them to be seen together.

What she didn't expect was to find the two of them leaning over a table, looking at piles of papers, talking about numbers and stuff.

So with a sly smirk on her face, Celestia took a picture of the two with a Camera she bought years ago, and left the kids to enjoy their night.

They're 28? Humph! In Celestia's eyes, everypony is a kid!

Deep inside the magical prison of Tartarus, a glass box held on of the most dangerous individuals in the world.

"So..." The shadowy blob said from inside her prison-cell, "What do you want?"

"I just thought this would be funny," Her visitor said, before dumping a small pile of candies and treats inside her cell.

"Let me guess," Nightmare Moon said, her one blue eye moving to look at the pile of candy, "It's Nightmare Night?"

The Visitor smirked at the little trapped Nightmare, "Yep," She said, popping the P at the end.

Nightmare Moon clicked her tongue, slowly moving her tiny body to pick up a toffee.

"That's all I wanted to do," The Visitor said before turning away.

Nightmare Moon looked at her leaving before the feeling of doing something petty appeared in her mind.

"Hey Luna!" Nightmare Moon called out to the Princess of the Night, forcing her to turn and look at her.

"Yes, Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked, her smirk not leaving her face as she looked down at her own shadow, weak and pathetic, trapped in a box, never to harm anyone ever again.

"Fuck you!" Nightmare Moon said before she took a big bite of her candy, and promptly spit it out.

"Yuck- Licorice!"

Author's Note

A bit of a messy chapter, But I think I did well enough.

BB's love life is getting real complicated, and the Caninia Arc is fast approaching!

Luna pays a visit to NM, just to dunk on her, really.

Celestia took photos to add to the family album.

Starlight is off visiting her Parents, knowing she might not see them for the next few months.

Raven is being a bit horny. but let's give her some credit, I'm sure BB's ass is fire.

And Spike... Well... Let's just say that seeing someone he considered a friend die in front of his eyes, might not be the healthiest thing for a baby dragon (Even tho he's like 12 or 13)

And Newblood doesn't really like holidays that are all about Family and stuff, seeing as he never had a family before he took over Blueblood, so I can guess that Christmas was a fairly salty time for him, seeing all the happy families outside and on TV when he's stuck in a shitty college dorm, studying for his Nautical Science degree.

But hey, maybe that could change now that he kind of does have a family :)

Also, Shout out to Raven for just straight-up demanding he gives her a date, we Stan a queen who can stand up to herself :heart:

Chapter 47: Job Interviews

It was on a surprisingly warm day in the early stages of winter, that the Newspapers released a story that caught the attention of both young and old Stallions.

"Prince Blueblood is hiring?" One of the readers of the Manehatten Gazette read out loud as he drank his morning tea.

"People with sufficient knowledge in Nautical Science or Mechanical Engineering are wanted?" Another Stallion read, putting down the screwdriver he was holding in his mouth.

"Interviews for a job that will take you across the ocean, expanding not only your cultural relevance but also the prosperity of Equestria?" A Filly read as she huddled inside the cardboard box she called her house.

"Sailing to the foreign nation of Caninia and opening trade routes between countries?" A Pegasus read from the newspaper as she deftly avoided the aerial obstacles of the big city.

"The Job includes a bed and breakfast, paid for by the crown itself for the duration of the job?" A Tall Griffon said out loud as she chewed her food with her mouth open, ignoring the stares of those around her.

"The pay is high?! That's enough for me!" A Unicorn said haughtily as she rummaged around in her caravan, "The Great and Powerful Trixie will definitely pay off her debt with this!"

"We're sorry, but we do not think you have what we are looking for," A Grey Unicorn with a Black Mane and a boring grey business suit said in the most boring voice he could muster, "You will receive a message should anything change, If you do not receive the message by the time the ship has sailed, you can confirm with yourself that you did not get the job," The Business-pony said before placing the paper he held into one of several piles that were slowly forming on his desk.

"I understand," The blonde Pegasus sighed dejectedly, scratched his stubble, and let his long aquamarine legs carry him out.

"Mr Turner, It says here that you already have a job, and a doctorate as well?" The Business-pony asked the next interviewee.

"Oh, em, I'm not a doctor, I didn't pass my doctorate exams, Doctor is my middle name," The brown Earth Pony said, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat as the Unicorn stared down at him.

"Uh-huh..." The Business-pony nodded and moved the paper he held into the "Maybe" pile.

"I can fly very fast and can kick very strong," The Griffon said as she leaned back on the larger chair she took, picking at her beak with one of her talons, "What else do you need me to have?"

"Of course." The Unicorn nodded his head and placed her name in a pile titled "Guards"

"It says here you are a prized author and publisher of several Best Sellers, Why would you want to work as part of the shipping crew for this Job?" The Business-pony asked the rose-eyed Pegasus.

"I think spending a few weeks in such a job might help me find inspiration for my next Best Seller," The mare said, a leg swiping a tuft of grey hair from behind her red glasses.

"I see..." The Business-pony muttered and placed her name in a pile.

"I need the money," The Blue Unicorn told the Business-pony conducting the interviews, a sharp pointed hat nearly falling off her head as she bowed deeply to the Stallion.

"I didn't even ask you any of the questions," He told her, his voice conveying a hint of annoyance somehow without him changing his tone.

"You are a child, Please go home," The Business-pony told the small filly who sat on the interview chair.

"Okay," She smiled up at him and jumped up into the air, the flap of her tiny salmon-colored wings carrying her out of the room.

"...Why can't I just have a normal day?" The Business-pony says to himself when the young filly closes the door, a flash of Grey Light from his horn removing the Illusion of the boring Business-pony from his body, revealing the White Coat and Golden Mane underneath.

"Maybe it's because you're a prince?" A Mares voice sounded out from the room, a flash of blue light removing the Illusion of the vase near the window to reveal the Purple and Aquamarine Unicorn.

Blueblood sighed hearing that before turning to look at his friend and bodyguard, "How many of them do you think we will be hiring?" He asked her.

Starlight snorted at that question, an Aquamarine glow to her horn causing a translucent chair to appear under her, "Knowing your luck? All of them,"

Blueblood sighed at that, already tired from just thinking about how horrible the Caninia mission will go, especially with his luck.
"Including the little kid?" He asked Starlight, receiving a nod from her in return.

"Including the Filly somehow, yes," Starlight levitated other a newspaper, moving to the trivia section, "Anyways, what was the name of the King of Yaks during the Yak-Dragon war?" she asked from the trivia.

"We know the answer to that, we found his catacombs," Blueblood simply told her, receiving a nod from Starlight as she wrote down "King Tarkus IV"

In ten minutes, the illusions will return and the interviews will continue.

But that is a story for another time.

Omake: Cosmos and the Newly Acquired Power of Illusions.

"Hey," The one-armed decapitated head called out to the white Unicorn in her empty space of galaxies and Nebulae.

"Hey you," the Prince responded, eliciting a howl of laughter from the head.

"Hey Hey," Cosmos repeated, "Check this out!" And with a snap of her fingers, the empty nothingness of space around them twisted and changed shape, turning into a five-star hotel suite on a tropical beach.
"Now I can choose where we go!" Cosmos cheered, a wide smile on her face.

"Uh-huh," Blueblood simply nodded his head, a Martini in his hand as he laid back on a couch.

Cosmos looked at the prince, Her smile growing mischievous as she once again clicked her fingers.

Blueblood, hearing the click of fingers but not seeing any change in the scenery, decided to look to see what his Girlfriend (not-really(It's complicated)) was doing.

And instead of the usual decapitated head, he saw some sort of Chimera-looking creature, Her head and right arm were the same, but the rest of her body was new.

A new left arm mirrored the blue arm she already had.
She actually had a body now, resembling that of a cat, with three black stripes on her spine, covered by a small cape of green scales.
Her fluffy, cat-like back legs ended in dark-purple hooves, and where the purple cat-like tail ended, a blue scorpion tail took its place.

"So..." Cosmos asked, her back legs swinging back and forth above her head as she lay on her stomach, her head resting in her arms, "How do I look?"

Blueblood looked at her before smiling at her, "You look..." His smile widened as his Unicorn body turned to lay in front of her in the same way, "Like you managed to figure out some magic to change how this place looks,"

Cosmos smiled widely at the prince, "I do! I managed to learn that Illusion spell you always use, Now I can choose where to go for our honeymoon!"

The Prince smiled at her, "We need to be married to go on a honeymoon,"

"I know!" Cosmos said excitedly, "So in order to get ready, Do you want to go out with me?!"

Blueblood leaned forward and stole a kiss from her before moving his head away and standing up, making his way out to the tropical beach she made outside.
"No," He said with a cheeky smile on his face, ignoring the hungry looks from the Powerful Spirit that lives inside the gem.

"Hehe," She whispered with a laugh as she rubbed her lips with her hand, trying to feel where he kissed her

"Shut down yet again..."

Author's Note

Short chapter this time, a prelude for the Caninia Arc and the ponies you might expect to see.

All of the ponies who showed up for the interviews are named characters from the show, see if you can guess who's who.
I think I made most of them easy enough.

Also, An Omake at the end of the chapter :)
A nice way for me to write a short mini-chapter without giving it an entire chapter to fill up and ruin the pace of the story.

I'll try and keep the Omake short and sweet :)

Thank you for enjoying the story so far :)

Chapter 48: Last Minute Preperations

It was at Eleven in the morning that Starlight Glimmer came to find her boss frowning at a pile of papers in his personal office.

"What's the problem?" She asked, knowing that it was no use trying to talk around the issue with him.
Whatever some ponies might say about him, Straightforwardness is one of his more obvious talents.

"If you have something to say, just say it," He told her during one of her earlier days working for him.

Heh, Earlier days, It's almost like she's been working here for years instead of the Month-and-a-half that it really was.

"You remember those ponies we interviewed for the job?" He asked, his eyes not leaving the document he was reading.

"What about them?" Starlight replied.

"Well, Remember how you said I'll probably have to hire all of them?"

"I remember something along those lines, yes..." A small smirk appeared on the mares face as she understood where the prince was going.

"You should have bet money on that," He told her, his eyes still reading the document in his hooves, "Because you're right," He threw the paper onto his desk, where Starlight picked it up and read for herself.

"Of course I'm right," She said, the smirk still on her face as she read the paper, "When am I ever wrong?"

Blueblood turned to look at her, his eyes half-lidded and unamused.
"Do you want a list?"

Starlight chuckled embarrassingly before taking a closer look at the paper.
"Wait a minute, all of them?"

Blueblood nodded.

"Including the Filly?"

Blueblood sighed at that, "Including the filly, yes,"

"Oh..." Starlight whispered.

"Oh Indeed," The prince nodded his head.

"And what about this new guy?" Starlight asked after reading a bit further into the document.

"Him? He's the replacement Cook, He'll be working in the kitchen of the ship, cleaning and making food, he's not actually part of the Company." Blueblood explained as he levitated the paper out of her hold and placed it inside a folder.

"Okay," Starlight said and moved to grab a chair and a book, ready to start another day of "Bodyguard Duty"

In a small apartment in the city of Manehatten, an Aquamarine Pegasus cheered in joy as a letter arrived in his mail.

"I knew I got the job, Oh yeah!" He punched the air in excitement, only to end up catching his leg on the carpet and falling to the floor, "Ow..."

Inside a large garage in the town of Ponyville, an Earth Stallion read the letter he received before a look of relief washed over his face

"Hopefully with this I'll have a higher budget for next year," He said to himself, looking at all the mechanical works around him.

Inside a hut near the border of Equestria, A Pegasus carefully opened the emvelope she received, making sure it wasn't another makeshift bomb, only to sigh in relief when It showed to be just a simple letter.

Reading the letter, the grey-haired Pegasus smiled excitedly, "Ah Yeah! Caninia, Daring Do is coming! Ahem- I mean- uh... A K Yearling is coming, for a job... with papers... yes."

When Cozy Glow received a letter from a cross-eyes Mailmare, she was suspicious.

That suspicion turned to joy as she read the contents of the letter, "Hehehe, With the money from that Prince, I won't need to sleep inside this cardboard box, Hahaha!" She laughed manically, pointing a small hoof at a rodent sleeping underneath a nearby dumpster, "Take that Mr Rattington! I won't have to share my food with you! I'll be rich! Hahaha!"

The rat merely tilted its head in confusion, content to let the small pony talk to herself.

"Ah, Score!" A Griffon cheered as the stopwatch she tied to a nearby tree alerted her that she just beat a personal record at speed diving.

"Huh, What's this?" She said when she saw an envelope tied next to her stopwatch.

Opening the envelope by tearing it with a claw, She took out the letter inside "I got the job? Sweet! That'll show that stupid nerd Rainbow Dash, With her boring weather team, She probably never left Equestria!" The Griffon laughed to herself before coughing into her claw.

"I mean, Great, Money..." She said in a monotone tone of voice after she took a deep breath, trying to ignore the glare of an angry Mare on her back.

"I said I'll pay the rent! Just give me more time!" She imagined herself yelling at her landlord, but in reality, simply shut her beak and walked away.

"Yes! The Great and Powerful Trixie will be the most well-known Unicorn in this Caninia! What will I need to do, move around crates? Send letters? Write documents? Trixie can do all that and more!" The Blue Unicorn cheered as she held the letter above her head, her small Caravan shaking with noise at that late hour of the night, nearly waking up the Farmer family that gave her the current job.

"No more Rock Farming! Hahah!"

Walking around his Home, Curtains closed and lights turned off, A large grey-furred and Blonde-haired Earth Pony Stallion picked up the envelope that lay near the bottom of his door.

Should anypony have entered his Home, the overwhelming smell of Fruits and sugar will have immediately forced them to exit the house so as not to hurt their noses.

"I got the job?" The Grey Stallion asked quietly, his eyes barely showing emotion as he talked with a monotone voice, no reaction of either Happiness or Anger, Sadness or Confusion.
That Stallion was almost like a blank husk.

But as he finished reading the letter he received, The lips on his face stretched, into a crude imitation of a joyful smile of excitement, as if an emotionless robot was tasked with imitating emotions.

"How Grand," He said blankly, the wide smile on his face not wavering as he dropped the letter onto the floor, ignoring it, as he went on to fill a large suitcase with jars upon jars of bright pink "Tubs of Jelly"

"How did they say to introduce myself?" He asked himself blankly as he packed one suitcase with "Jelly" followed soon by another two.

"It was something among the lines, "Hello, My name is Hughbert Jellius, but you may call me Hugh?" or was it "Call me Jelly?" Did it matter? I didn't listen when they gave the instructions," He spoke to himself, the wrong smile on his face barely moving as he did so.

"Whatever it may be," Hughbert Jellius said as he opened the door to his Home, leaving it with three suitcases all filled with nothing but "Tubs of Jelly"
"The Queen would Love to hear of this,"

And with those words, Hughbert Jellius walked in the direction of the train station, the letter he received held in a small pocket of one of the cases.

He had a message to pass on.

Author's Note

Another short Chapter, but don't worry, next Chapter the Caninia Arc will start.
It will start taking place during the events of the Episode "Sisterhooves Social," And finish when everyone returns to Equestria before the events of "Sweet and Elite"

Meaning it will be a time frame of 3-4 weeks, marking it as the longest (In world chronological Time-span) Arc that I've written for this story, managing to surpass "Mystery Missing Mare-Streets Of Seaddle" or the "Starlight-Yakyakistan Arc" which took place over the course of just over two weeks.

Also, shoutout to that one reader for commenting on the last chapter a spoiler for a part of the story I haven't even written yet, Some of you readers can just read the future with your predictions It's crazy.

Also, Hughbert is a Canon pony as well, who made several background appearances, most notably during the song "The Perfect Stallion" in the episode "Hearts and Hooves Day" where Sweetie Bell sings about a pony who's "too strangely obsessed with tubs of jelly,"

I really wonder what he's up to...

Chapter 49: Business Trip 1

Princess Celestia was walking in circles around her darling Prince.

"Do you have everything packed?" She asked, her eyes moving to the ancient bag of holding he found on the moon.

"I already told you, Celestia, Everything is ready," Prince Blueblood said with a roll of his eyes, a flick of his magic tightening the bag to his back.

"What about the Dogs? Do they have everything ready?" The Princess of the Sun asked, causing The Prince of House Platinum to stifle a groan.

"They know we are coming, Celestia. I already told you I was in talks with one of the Princesses," Blueblood started explaining, "They know how important this deal is not just for us, but for them as well. They aren't some ruffians with no class," Blueblood straightened his legs and wiped his leg on his suit, "They're royals, who just like us, want to see their nations prosper."

Celestia wanted to drag him into a big hug, so proud of how mature he was, how dashing he looked, how smart he is.

"Don't forget to pack Starlight," Celestia said, ignoring her boy's silent spit-take, "She needs to be fed and watered every day," She smirked as Blueblood tried to hold back his laugh.

"I'm not going to forget my Bodyguard, Auntie," Blueblood said with a small smile, "You'll break her if she stays here,"

"Mother,"

"...We are not doing this right now," Blueblood blankly responded to Celestia.

"Mom," The Princess smirked down at the Shorter Pony.

"We already talked about this-"

"Mommy?" Celestia smiled mischievously at her Prince, and he sighed in defeat.

"I'm not going to forget my Bodyguard, Mom,"

"Good Morning Sea and Good Morning Employment," An Aquamarine Pegasus said with a smile as he made his way to the docks of Buckton, on his way to a ship that will take him to the foreign land of Caninia.

Next to him, he carried a bag filled with different personal belonging that he knew he simply had to have.

And once all of this is over, Maybe he'll finally get that certain somepony to agree to go on a date with him.
He won't force it, of course.
Respect is important to a healthy relationship.

He read that in a magazine once.

A Brown Earth Stallion was dragging a suitcase behind him as he walked down the Buckton docks, his breath already tired from the physical work.

"All I have to do is watch the Engine," He said to himself, his legs aching from carrying his suitcase, "Once I'm in Caninia my part of the job will be free, right?"

He might not be the most physically capable Earth Pony, but he got this job for his Brain, not his Brawn.

At that same time, an inconspicuous Pegasus Mare was also making her way to the same part of the docks.
A Hat over her head and Glasses over her eyes.

Her Suitcase was packed slim, only the essentials she had to bring with her were on board.

"Documentation," She said to herself with a smile, thinking of her part in the coming job, "Just write down what the ones in charge are talking about," She smirked at that, "Writing stuff down? I already do that for a living,"

And maybe, when she gets some time off, she might do a bit of research.

Does Caninia have any Archeology sites?

A small Pink Filly was making her way down the Buckton docks, not a suitcase on her, carrying only the ribbons in her hair and the letter she received.

"Just an assistant job," She smiled at the thought, "Send messages around, maybe tell one of them to make the boss a coffee once or twice," Her smile widened at how easy her job looked.

"And I get a free bed and breakfast for that?" She laughed at the thought.

"I'm the smartest pony in the world! Hahaha!" She laughed loudly, her childish voice bouncing across the morning docks, scaring away a flock of birds.

"Be safe out there," An Aging Earth Stallion told a Blue Unicorn as he and his family bid their latest employee farewell.

"Of course I will!" The Unicorn said with cheer, Her large hat nearly falling off her head as she moved around, "The Great and Powerful Trixie will never allow herself to be beaten by the mere prospects of a new job!"

"And what even is your new job?" The Eldest daughter of the Stallion asked the Unicorn, already getting tired of her personality.

"I'm an..." The Unicorn told her, the last word barely heard.

But they knew.

The Great and Powerful Trixie was nothing but an Intern...

"This the place?" A Griffon asked as she looked at the paper map of the City of Buckton she held in her talons as she flew above the dock.

Landing on the concrete floor, The Griffon looked around for any sign of where she was supposed to go, spotting a group of ponies in the distance standing next to a large yellow and blue ship.

"Oh my-" One of the Ponies said when he spotted her approaching, causing the Griffon to frown as what he was about to say already appeared in her mind.

"Gilda is that you?!" Only for him to instead say something that she didn't expect. He recognized her.

"Yes?" She said, looking at the Stallion who spoke, "And who the heck might you be?"

The Stallion looked offended that she didn't recognize him, "Ah! I'm Zephyr Breeze, We went together to flight camp back in Cloudsdale, remember?" When he said that, a small memory floated through Gilda's mind.

A memory of a time when she was younger, and the worries of holding a job never even crossed her mind, playing around with the other Griffon and Pegasus.

Playing around with Her...

"Flight Camp..." Gilda muttered as she looked at the tall and lanky Stallion, "Of Course..." And with that, she dropped her bag onto the floor and used it as a chair.

"By the way, Are we still waiting for anyone?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"There's the boss we need to wait for," A Small pink Filly said from her place on top of a nearby pole, "And maybe another," She shrugged.

"We're still waiting on the Cook," A New voice called out, causing the group to look over at a Purple Unicorn walking up to them, a black suit and a pair of Sunglasses on her making her look like some sort of Government Agent, or just a really well dressed Bouncer.

"Excuse me, But who are you?" The Earth Pony asked, and the group couldn't help but nod at that question.

"Me?" The Unicorn asked, a small smirk on her face, "I'm just the bodyguard,"

Silence followed that, only pierced by a cough from Gilda as the awkward silence kept on going.

"I Apologize," A new voice called out to them, causing them all to turn and look at another Earth Stallion, carrying on his back three large suitcases, "For being... Late." He said, his eyes staring forward.

As the Stallion approached, Gilda couldn't help but scrunch her face as a sickly sweet smell wafted from the Pony's suitcases.

"It seems you're all here," Another new voice said, causing the group to look at the Ship behind them, lowering a stairway for them to walk, as a White Unicorn with Golden Blonde hair looked down at them.
"Zephyr," The Unicorn said, looking at the Pegasus, "You arrived first, this will be taken into account," And with those words leaving his mouth, the Unicorn turned his back onto the group and walked into the ship.
"Are you waiting for an introduction? Get on the boat."

"You heard him!" The Filly said loudly as she flew onto the ship, followed closely by the rest of the ponies.

Gilda blinked at that before she stood up and grabbed her bag, and with a strong flap of her wings, she made it onto the boat.

Standing on the bridge of the ship, I pressed a few buttons and flicked a number of switches.

And with a message to the Docks, we were on our way out of Equestria and into the vast ocean.

On my way to sign the first trade deal of my new company, the Blueblood Foundation, a new arm of The Crown, giving me more authority in Equestrian politics, and as a result in the wider political world.

I just need everything to go perfectly...

Author's Note

Hey, There won't be any updates for a while since I'm going to travel abroad for a week, so don't expect anything soon.

Look at this guy-

-This dude is definitely not replaced by a shapeshifting bug.

Hughbert Jellius... :trixieshiftleft:

PS- Props to anyone who edits that one scene in Bladerunner where Literally Me is standing with that Giant Hologram but replace Literally Me and the Hologram with BB and Cosmos.

I just think it would be neat.

Chapter 50: Cosmos Bizzare Adventure (Bonus)

"Hey Babe," Cosmos began the night, "I want to try something,"

And before she could get a reply from the Prince of her dreams (Literally in his case) She snapped her fingers and the empty void of space changed.

Prince Blueblood grumbled at the sudden change in scenery, he was looking forward to simply hanging back and relaxing, something that he clearly wouldn't be doing as he looked at the familiar place that appeared in front of him.

"Really? Dark Souls 3?" He asked as he stood up on his hooves, His iconic suit collar replaced with a chain-mail shirt.

Instead of talking with him face to face, Cosmos giggled to herself as she disappeared from the graveyard she created, allowing her voice to be heard all around.
"This will be fun, I promise," Cosmos' voice echoed around Blueblood, causing him to release a sigh.

"Fine, I'll play along," He told her and with a glow to his horn, a sword levitated in front of him, "But If this is going to be like actual Dark Souls, I better not scream in pain when I get smashed against the floor," He said as he started making his way through the graveyard, his sword swinging around as it flew.

"I can smash you into the ground if you want to..." Cosmos mumbled, causing the Prince to pause and look up at the sky, an eyebrow raised.
"I- I Mean, Look! an enemy!" Cosmos quickly changed the subject, and with the sound of snapping fingers, a zombie-like Pony appeared. Its skin was dry and thin, almost like a skeleton with flesh, its eyes were empty and lifeless as it ran towards Blueblood.

"You Can't change the subject with me!" Blueblood called out to Cosmos, his sword swiftly decapitating the Hollow Pony, releasing a spray of black blood.

"Yes I can!" Cosmos yelled, a grin on her unseen face as another snap of her finger followed and the scene changed.

No longer was he in the opening section of Dark Souls 3, wearing a suit of armor and swinging a sword.
Now, he was in what he could only describe as an Anime High School, with Cherry Blossom trees outside, his Pony body wearing a Japanese school uniform.

"O- Ohayō Platinum-kun," Blueblood forced himself not to cringe as he turned to look at whoever called out to him, turning to reveal Cosmos in her complete form, wearing a Japanese School-girl outfit.

Blueblood blankly stared at her as she wiggled in embarrassment, the Sailor Fuku she wore moving along with her.
"We are not doing high school student Roleplay," Blueblood simply told her and Cosmos clicked her tongue in annoyance, ruining the cute look she had tried to go for.

"Fine," She said and once again snapped her fingers, and the scene once more changed.

It was a morning just like any other.
My Coffee was black, but my heart was Blacker.
"I do not talk like that,"

It was then that she came into my office, The smell of lavender and roses on her neck intermingled with the smell of cigarettes on my table.
"A Noir Detective story, Really?"

"Please help me find my sister," She said, the words leaving her mouth as she leaned across my desk, the smell of her breath almost intoxicating.
Like a cold glass of whisky after an evening solving the worst kind of crime.
Murder.

"This is stupid," Blueblood said, cutting off the narration for the scene Cosmos created, "Can we change genres?"

"Okay!" And with a snap of her fingers, the scene once again changed.

Blueblood found himself in his human body this time, wearing a very loose plaid shirt, inside of a modern-looking house.

"So..." He turned and saw Cosmos in a humanoid body, her long and slender legs covered by a pair of skinny jeans, she wore a white button-up blouse over her chest, leaving just enough cleavage open to see some fabric from a black lace bra.
"I know you just finished working on the sink," Cosmos said, a sly grin on her lips as she leaned forward onto the kitchen table that stood between Blueblood and her, her body bending in a way so that her cleavage would look more pronounced to the Prince.
"But I don't have any money to pay you..." She said as she looked away, biting her lip.

"So why did you hire me?" Blueblood blankly said, following whatever script this scenario would have, causing Cosmos to freeze as she stopped herself from laughing at the reply.

"Ahem! Maybe I could pay you some other way..." Cosmos said, her mouth quivering as she held back a laugh at the way she was acting.

"Sorry Ma'am, I only take cash or credit," Blueblood said, smiling as the Humanoid Cosmos in front of him collapsed to her knees, holding onto the table so as to not fall on the floor as she shook with restrained laughter.

"S-shut up," Cosmos laughed quietly as she held on for dear life, "Ahem! Would you mind cleaning some pipes for me-Ahahaha!" She couldn't hold it in anymore.

As the Spirit that lived trapped in a gem fell onto the floor laughing, the scenery once again changed to the empty void of space.

"Ahahaha!" She laughed as her Humanoid body disappeared in a shower of glitter and stars, leaving her as just a head and an arm.

Blueblood, still in his Human body looked down at his Girlfriend(Not Really(It's complicated)) and sighed to himself before picking her up gently by grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

"Hahaha! Do you wanna go out with me?!" Cosmos asked loudly as she continued to laugh at the horrible Porn-parody she acted out.

"No," Blueblood smiled as he swung his arm, letting the Spirit that he grabbed swing with him as she let out a "Wee!" of excitement.

"Haha!" Cosmos laughed happily as she was swung around.

"Shut down yet again!"

Author's Note

Yep, Little bonus chapter, I'm back from my trip abroad.

Fun fact: Croatia fucking sucks.

No hate to any Croatians who read this, it's just that I'm not a very Trip-loving person.

Also, It was very hot.
I'm an Autumn guy, not a summer bro.

Anyways, Next chapter we'll return to your regularly scheduled program!

Thanks for reading :)

Oh! Before I forget! Thank you guys so much for 7k Readers! You guys rock! And we're halfway to chapter 100! Let's go!!!

Chapter 51: Business Trip 2

The Ship itself was a smaller-sized vessel, big enough to hold comfortably 30 people, designed for Speed of travel.

"According to this manual, The magical enchantments placed on this ship will allow it to move with minimal need for crew interference," Time Turner said as he set his suitcase next to his bed, talking to his two roommates for the trip.

"Minimal Interference huh," Zephyr Breeze repeated to himself, his chin resting on his knees as he curled up on the comfortable bed he got, "That means your job will be easy, right?"

"Quite the opposite actually," Time Turner told the Pegasus with a smile of giddy excitement, "It means I need to make sure the enchantments on the engine are working properly, This job requires maximum concentration on my part,"

"Huh, Cool." Zephyr turned to look at the other Stallion in the room, who hadn't said anything since he arrived, "And what about you?"

Hughbert Jellius blinked slowly before he picked up that he was being talked to, turning his head to look at the turquoise Pegasus with almost blank eyes, tilting his head slightly to the side as if asking the Pony to repeat his question.

"What's your job?" And repeat the question he did.

Hughbert blinked again before a sickly thin smile appeared on his face.

"I'm in charge of the food," that was all he said before he turned back to the room door and exited, leaving his three suitcases behind him on his bed.

"...What's his problem?" Zephyr asked as he turned to look at Time Turner, who merely shrugged his shoulders in response.

"We have to sleep together?! This is B-" Gilda the Griffon was prepared to yell as she looked at the room the girls would be sharing before a yellow Pegasus quickly covered her beak with a hoof.

"There are children here," A K Yearling harshly whispered to her, looking over her shoulder at the small pink filly, who was already making a mess of her bed as she looked at the blue Unicorn giving her a little show.

"Don't tell me what I can't say," Gilda growled at Yearling, slapping her leg away from her face, "I can control my mouth myself, thank you very much!" She said loudly before she threw her suitcase in the general direction of her bed as she turned her back on the rest of the girls and left the room, not bothering to clean after the mess her suitcase made as it opened mid-flight, throwing her belongings into her corner.

"..." The Girls stopped and looked at the Griffon departing.

"...What a bitch," Gasps of shock sounded out ad Trixie and Yearling turned to look at the filly.

"What? She was acting like one," Cozy Glow said with a grin before she flew by Yearling as she made her way outside, ready to explore the rest of the ship.

Leaving the Magician and the Author alone in the room.

"So..." Trixie started, quickly looking around her suitcase for something to do, "Wanna' play cards?" She levitated out a pack.

A K Yearling looked at the Unicorn and smirked.

She might not look like it as an Author, but Daring Do was an expert at gambling! Some might say that she gambles with life itself during her adventures.

A simple game of cards is child's play!

"What are you doing?" Starlight asked her boss as she entered the bridge of the ship, watching him write something on paper as his magic piloted the ship.

"Writing a letter," Prince Blueblood simply said as he continued writing, not bothering to look up from his work.

"Wouldn't writing letters be easier when you're not also controlling a boat?" The Unicorn grabbed a nearby chair and made herself comfortable.

"It would, but the Spell for sending messages works better the closer I am to the target, meaning that If I want this message to reach Princess Lanternlight in Caninia, It would be better to send it when we're on the water," Blueblood told her, signing his initials at the bottom of the paper before rolling it up and blasting it with a ray of blue magic, causing it to turn into glittering smoke and fly out a small opening in a nearby window.

"There," Blueblood said with a smile as he looked at the glittering blue smoke flying away from the ship, in the direction of Caninia.

Starlight, seeing this all happen, asked a question that was on her mind as she watched the prince write the letter.

"Why didn't you write the letter before starting the ship, and only then send it Instead of writing it while also moving the ship?"

Blueblood turned to look at Starlight, an amused smile on his face.

"Starlight,"

"Yes Blueblood?"

"Shut up please,"

"Sorry Blueblood," Starlight smirked at her boss, leaning back on her chair and placing her legs on the table in front of her, "But as an Equestrian citizen I have the freedom to say my mind, Freedom of Speech, and all that,"

"You know..." Blueblood's eyebrows curled downward as if in a glare, his smile remaining on his face, "I can just send you to prison whenever I want to, This bodyguard shtick is your probation,"

"But you won't," Starlight said, not bothering to rise up to the Prince.

Blueblood blinked in surprise at her reply before he let out a bark of laughter, "Ha! Yeah I won't, would I?"

"Stupid Pegasus, and stupid Rainbow Dash, and stupid pink pony whatshername, I'm an adult!" Gilda was grumbling to herself as she made rounds around the ship before a sound picked up in her head and she silently started tailing after it.

It was the sound of someone shuffling around as if trying to hide themselves.

Silently making her way after the sound, Gilda spotted the source.

"Hey you-" Her shout was once again stopped by the small pink filly, who quickly told her to be quiet and listen.

"Shush! Do you hear that?" Cozy Glow whisper-yelled at the Griffon, slowly taking his small leg off her beak.

Gilda, deciding to humor the kid, stopped and listened harder, only to continue hearing the sounds of quiet shuffling.
Sounds that clearly weren't coming from the filly she found.

"It's probably a raccoon or a rat," Gilda said, "Nothing to worry about,"

"It's not a Rat!" Cozy Glow whispered at her, "It's way louder and heavier!"

"So it's a Badger or something, what's your deal?" Gilda rolled her eyes. So a wild animal made its way onto the ship, so what?

"Isn't part of your job to protect the ship from intruders?" Cozy asked the Griffon, who merely raised a brow at her in a "What are you getting at?" kind of way.

"Doesn't an animal living onboard count as an intruder?" Cozy asked, and Gilda finally understood where she was getting at.

"I won't get paid?!" Gilda loudly asked, quickly grabbing the filly and placing her on her back, "Come on! We have a Sea Badger to catch!"

"Huh?! Wait!" Cozy cried from on top of the Griffon, but her yells went unheard.

In a series of vents situated between the Living Floor of the ship and the deck, a certain Earth Stallion opened a jar filled almost to the brim with a bright pink jelly.

He took a deep breath of the overly sweet smell of the jelly before his body was engulfed with green fire, revealing insectoid eyes and a black carapace over most of his body, a pair of thin and ruined wings buzzed ecstatically as the smell of the Pink Jelly filled the creature's nostrils, causing it to open its mouth and roll out its tongue as a euphoric sigh escaped its lips.

"This Pony's knowledge and books on Jam were useful for something," The creature masquerading as Hughbert Jellius whispered to itself as it took another smell of the jelly, the ecstasy causing it to kick its back legs in pleasure as it tried to calm down.

"If the queen finds out I've been keeping this a secret," It whispered to itself before another euphoria-filled sigh of ecstasy exited it, "It won't matter," It licked its lips and pulled the jar of Pink Jelly closer to it.

"With this Pure Love Jam, I'll be strong enough to no longer need to listen to the queen," a sick smile grew on its face as it took a small lick from the glass jar.

And its world exploded with pleasure.

"Hah... All for me..." It whispered and took another lick from the jelly.

"Come on! We have a Sea Badger to catch!"

It paused as it heard the Griffon yell, a frown on its face as it looked down at the jar in its grasp.
Before with a strong chug, It lifted its head and drank the entirety of the bright pink jelly, quickly wiping it from its face before hiding the now empty jar in a dark corner of the vents.

Its body was once more engulfed in green flames, before with a gentle move to a ventilation grill, Hughbert Jellius walked away, a limp in his step as he shook in ecstasy.

Not noticing the small, bright pink splash of Love Jelly it left in the Vents, nor the Filly/Griffon duo trying to enter the vents through another grill.

Author's Note

"Guys, Grey Vented! I saw him!"

"Nuh-uh! Pink and Brown were together and I saw Pink vent! Brown didn't go and report!"

Pink was Ejected from the ship- Cozy Glow was not the Impostor. One impostor remaining.

"...It's Grey!" Brown yelled out, pointing a talon at the Jam-loving pony.

Grey was Ejected from the ship- Hughbert Jellius was the Impostor. No impostors remaining.

Crewmates Win.

"What the fuck?" White asked, turning his head to look at his Bodyguard Purple.

Okay this is enough!

Here's a nice image of what Human-Cosmos might actually look like I found on Derpibooru.

The artist is Gamblingfoxinahat, I really like this rendition of what she might look like :)

And also this, Artist is ApatheticXAddict, I didn't even know they drew this, I only checked their profile after I found a cute drawing of the Diamond Dog Princesses.
There are only like 20 drawings of the Diamond Dog Princesses, It's not fair...

She's just so... So cute!

New Title- My Gem Prisoner Cosmic Entity Girlfriend can't be this cute!

Also, for anyone wondering where I was, I can explain.

Baldur's Gate 3 and Armored Core 6.

I will not be elaborating.

Chapter 52: Business Trip 3

"Do you see anything in there?!" Gilda the Griffon yelled into a ventilation shaft, her voice bouncing around as a small pink filly crawled through the vents of the ship.

"I just got in!" Cozy Glow yelled back, "Just wait!"

"Hurry up then!" Gilda yelled in return, "The Sooner we catch that Sea-Badger, the sooner we can start relaxing!"

Cozy Glow grumbled to herself as she crawled through the ventilation shaft, moving towards where the sounds of what Gilda thought was a Sea-Badger came from.

Slowly crawling through the vents, Cozy came up to the spot where the sound originated from, and her face scrunched up in disgust as an overly sweet smell assaulted her senses.

"Ugh... Yachoo!" Cozy sneezed loudly, her head banging against the ceiling of the shaft, causing her to jump a bit forward.
Landing in a sticky pink puddle.

"AHH! Blood! Blood!" Cozy yelled in alarm as she quickly crawled back where she came from, her eyes glued to the sticky puddle in the vents, "There's blood!"

"What?! Did the Badger get something?!" Gilda yelled into the vents before closing her eyes and covering her face as a small pink filly fell out of the ventilation shaft and onto her head.

"I don't know!" The filly spoke quickly, her body squeezing into the larger Griffon's head of surprisingly soft feathers.

"That bears a problem then," Gilda said out loud as the thought of the mysterious Sea-Badger hunting on the ship entered her mind, "A big problem. If the Prince finds out about it, we're doomed!"

"WHAT?!" Cozy exclaimed in shock.

"Yes! Whatever happens, we need to catch that Sea-Badger before the Prince finds out. Understood?" Gilda asked the filly on her head, who quickly nodded in understanding.

"Great, Now we need to come up with a plan..."

"What does this button do?" A Turquoise Pegasus asked as he pointed at a metal button connected to a screen of levers and switches.

"Don't touch that!" Time Turner quickly grabbed Zephyr's hoof and moved him away from the delicate machinery.

"What? I was just asking..." Zephyr mumbled as he sat down in the corner of the Engine room, looking at his new buddy move around and check the equipment.

"You can ask without touching anything," Time Turner told him, "Everything here is very expensive, and it is our job to make sure nothing will go wrong with it,"

"And what happens if something does go wrong?" Zephyr asked, his wing slowly inching towards a big red button.

Time Turner answered without taking his eyes off the engine he was inspecting, "If these Engines malfunction, then we'll be stranded in the middle of the ocean,"

Zephyr stopped moving his wing, stared at the shiny big red button, and pulled his wing back.

"That's bad..." Zephyr said, receiving a nod from Time Turner.

"Catastrophic, yes."

Across the Ocean, in the Diamond Dog nation of Caninia, A schism was formed in the relationship between the six Princesses of the nation, leading to the country being split into two factions.

One faction is led by the Eldest Princess and current Queen, Katherina Proudpaws, and two of her sisters, Princess Indiana Ambereyes and Princess Fiona Floppyears.
This faction was commonly referred to by the citizens as the Old Castle, With Katherina being known in the international circle as the legitimate ruler of the nation.

On the other side, there was the faction known as the New Castle, led by the second oldest Princess, now Queen Jennino Lanternlight, and her younger sisters, Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail and Princess Ambrosia Muffinsbuns.

What does any of this have to do with Prince Blueblood sailing across the ocean? Well, this is a sort of exposition, allowing the narrator of future chapters to not have to repeat himself and pad out the length of the...
Oh. I'm doing it again, am I?
Apologies...

What we need to focus on at this moment, however, is the ruling Queen of the New Castle faction, Jennino Lanternlight, also known as Jenn for short.

Jenn is what some people may call... Opportunistic? No that isn't the correct word...

Jenn is a person who has an inherent need to make the best of the chance she gets. That in itself was a major cause for the splitting of the Royal Family.

So when her faction managed to arrange a meeting with Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria, she had an inherent need to make sure the meeting went perfectly, from having the best chefs available in the nation on standby, to having the best rooms in the castle available for the visiting party.

So you may imagine her reaction when a letter, written and signed by Prince Blueblood Platinum himself popped into existence in front of her.

Quickly opening the letter and reading its contents, she soon ordered her servants to get everything ready for their arrival and more.
Even though Prince Blueblood will not be arriving for a few more days, she could not delay any preparations.

If this deal were to go through, her legitimacy as a ruler would skyrocket in public perception, while also giving her faction a monumental ally on the international scene in the form of a Prince of Equestria.

While Jenn knew that going through with the deal might incense her older Sister, it was simply an opportunity she could not risk letting go of.

The only problem she found with the initial concept of the trade deal was that Caninia would be used as a proxy in order to trade with Griffonia for metals. Something that her sister Moonbeam already came up with a solution for.

Instead of trading Metal from Griffonia by using Caninia as a proxy, The plan will be to trade Cananian metal directly at reduced prices with Equestria, giving the Ponies a better deal than what the griffons would come up with whilst also removing the need to complicate the process by using her nation as a proxy.

She understood that dealing with Griffonia for metals was the smarter thing to do, seeing how griffons have a history of metalwork, and comparing that with Caninia's rather abysmal history of trade, it's not hard to see why the Ponies would think to trade with the Bird-Cats instead of the Diamond Dogs.

But as previously stated, Jennino Lanternlight saw an opportunity to boost her image as both a ruler of Caninia and an Ally of Equestria, and so she planned to take it.

And if it means a number of Griffons will be losing out on a trade deal?
Well, That doesn't sound like Jenn's problem now, does it?

"We need help capturing a Sea-badger!" Gilda yelled as soon as she slammed the door to the girls' room open, causing the filly on her head to smack her face.

"...What's a Sea-Badger?" A K Yearling asked the Griffon as she placed another set of cards onto the small table sitting between her and Trixie Lulamoon, causing the blue Unicorn to sink even deeper into herself as another bit left her side of the table and moved into the Pegasus's corner.

"I don't know," Gilda answered with shrugged shoulders, "The twerp here," She pointed a finger at Cozy Glow, "Said that whatever we heard in the vents was too big and heavy to be a rat or a raccoon, so it's a Sea-Badger."

Yearling took a moment to think the griffon's words through before she nodded to herself.
"Huh. While I do not think that Sea-Badgers exist, I do know plenty of wild animals that could fit the bill, and let me get this correct, Larger than a rat or a raccoon, and capable of crawling through the vents of a boat?"

"Say whatever you want about Sea-Badgers, nerd," Gilda scoffed at the answer Yearling gave her, ignoring the frown on the pony's face at her response, "I just need to know if you're going to help us or not,"

"I can't help you, I'll be too busy tomorrow... Ugh..." Trixie answered with a groan with her head resting on the table.

"Nobody asked you, I'm talking to glasses over here," Gilda rolled her eyes at Trixie's answer before pointing a talon at Yearling.

"You know what, no." Yearling said with a smirk, "I'm not going to help you find your 'Sea-Badger'" Her smile widened as she took off her glasses and shined a spunky smile at the girls, "Because I'm going to find it first!" And with that declaration, A K Yearling, or Daring Do as she might call herself when nobody's watching, flew out the door of the girls' cabin, causing Gilda to release a Squawk of surprise before she quickly turned and ran after her, Cozy Glow still holding on to her head feathers.

Leaving Trixie alone in their Cabin, twenty bits poorer, and forced to clean up after the card game she and Yearling just had.

"Humph! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need to prove herself with finding an Aquatic Mustelidae! Although... If we do find the Sea-Badger before the other girls, will that not prove to Twilight Sparkle that we are indeed the better pony? Hah! How many new species of animals have you discovered Twilight? None! Hahahaha-cough cough, ow my throat..."

Omake: A Dream Dreams about Dreams on the Moon.

On the Moon sits a castle, a place which not long ago was the battleground for a fight between two Alicorn Princesses and a Powerful Nightmare.

It was in this castle, that the survivors of the Nightmare War decided to restart their society, coping with the loss of members that came with the massacre caused by the reviled "Shadowfright"

And it was during a walk inside the castle that one of the surviving Moon Creatures stepped into what was once a treasury filled almost to the brim with gold and jewels, with priceless artifacts covering the wall, from the floor to the ceiling, the room was immaculate in its splendor.

Now reduced to a large empty storage room, with all the treasures and gold gone, and only a series of metal bars, reminiscent of a prison cell, leaning against the wall like a crude makeshift mockery of a spear.

"Is this really all we have left?" The Dream asked itself as it looked into the empty room, "Some makeshift spears and an empty throne?"

Not even an hour passed since they were freed from the control of Nightmare Moon before Shadowfright killed a majority of the Moon Creatures that were in the town of Ponyville that night.

"Is this our fault?" The Dream asked aloud, hoping for some sort of answer, some sign as to why such cruelties have befallen his race, his brothers and sisters killed by another sibling, for Dreams do not have parents, and they are all siblings in the grand scheme.

"Is this our comeuppance? Our punishment?" It yearned for an answer, from anybody, anything.

"Why is the world so cruel to us?" It closed its misty and cloud-like eyes and wept, tears of teal smoke leaving it as it cried at the cruelty of the universe.

"Hey Jim get over here! Princess Luna just came over and gave us a bunch of food!" The Dream stopped its crying and opened its eyes as someone called out to it.

"Huh?" It so eloquently responded, the deep and philosophical meaning behind the word much to advanced for its simple-minded brothers and sisters to comprehend.
"Charli! Don't interrupt me while I'm brooding!" The Dream yelled back at its sister, causing her laughter to echo around the halls of the now lively castle on the moon.

"Just shut up and get over here! Luna brought this amazing pony food called Peeza, You need to try it!" Charli called to Jim, causing the obviously deep and smart and philosophical Dream who totally wasn't crying just a moment ago to scoff at the air around him.

"It's called a Pizza, Charli! You know that!" Jim yelled as his Teal Smoky body levitated out into the corridors of the castle as he made his way to have some food with his siblings.

He can cry- Philosophize some other time.

"Did she bring any Pineapple toppings?!" Jim asked calling out, receiving a giggle and a "Yucky!" From Charli.

Author's Note

Look at her

This is the "new" Queen of Caninia that Blueblood must deal with.
You can't take her seriously when she looks like that, no matter how hard you try!
She's just a pupper, a little doggy, a fluffy little booper snooter.

Idk other nicknames for puppies, I'm not really a dog person.
Hell, I never owned a Dog, I did however own several Cats and Rabbits.

Also, Hope you enjoyed this nice little Omake at the end.

Anyway, I've been listening to Pop-Rock songs recently trying to find a song that would fit a sort of "Theme Song" in the style of those YouTube videos like "If Chatacters-x had a theme song" for Cosmos.

I'm split between a Taylor Swift song, a Katy Perry song.
And recently I've been listening to "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, and "Just Give Me a Reason" by P!nk (None of which really fit, I just like the songs.)

I already know that Rarity is a Marina and the Diamonds song, I've just yet to choose which one. "Primadonna" is a good pick, but so is "How to be a Heartbreaker"

I would love to hear your suggestions for different character Theme Songs, they won't be included into the fic because of site rules against copyrighted songs, I just think it'll be nice.

I also already have a theme for Blueblood, which he will be singing an edited version of in a future arc, so I won't be telling you guys what it is.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Chapter 53: Business Trip 4

"Starlight, I implore you, you need to eat," Starlight rolled her eyes as she sat watching her boss eat a dinner consisting of readily made food, heated up inside a magic oven and kept warm inside a magic container.

"I already said I'm not hungry," She told him, flipping a page on the puzzle magazine she was reading- Oh! Sudoku.

"That's what everybody says," Blueblood said, once again using EveryBODY instead of EveryPONY, "And then you find them walking around at night searching for something to eat," He took a bite of his Minotaurian Salad. It consists of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Red Onions, Green Bell Peppers, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese, and Olive Oil.
For some reason, he called it a "Greek Salad", Once more using the incorrect words for what he was talking about.

Starlight simply summed it up as a quirk of his, like how her Dad is a bit too overprotective, or how she still hasn't returned his coat from when he gave it to her when they were dragging themselves through the frozen tundra of Yakyakistan.
She fell asleep in it, it is hers now.

"Then I will simply not eat during the night, simple," Starlight said, a pen in her hold writing down the answers for the puzzle- Ooh, Trivia.

"By the way, Blueblood, What was the name of the recently discovered owner of an ancient Yakyakistani tomb?" Starlight asked.

Blueblood took another bite of his salad before he floated a small cube of butter and a slice of bread, "We know this answer already, We're the ones who discovered the tomb," He spread the cheese on the bread and put lettuce and onion slices on top.
"I know the answer is King Tarkus IV, so I'm going to answer with 'That snow creature you blasted in the face with magic' Instead." He levitated the bread over to Starlight, "Eat." He ordered before going back to his own food.

Starlight sighed and placed down her puzzle magazine, grabbing onto the bread and taking a bite.
And then another.
And another.

"Told you you'll be hungry," Shut up Blueblood.

"But on the topic of that Yakyakistani Tomb, What do you think Rutherford is up to?" Blueblood asked, another bite of salad entering his mouth.

"I don't know," Starlight finished her bread and with a glow to her horn, levitated over a plate of Salad for herself.

"This is our food?" Zephyr Breeze asked as he poked the grainy and brown sludge on his platter with a fork, "It looks like... I don't want to say Throwup so I won't... But it doesn't look good," His face made a grimace as a small bubble formed on his food and popped.

"It is just regular Oatmeal, Zephyr, Do not make a scene of it," Time Turner said as he wrapped a cloth around his neck to keep it clean before taking a bit of his own Oatmeal.
And then he froze.

"So," Zephyr began, "How does it taste?"

Time Turner swallowed his food, a pained expression on his face all the while, "I am sure that the nutritional value of this food more than counts up for the taste,"

"So it tastes like shit?"

"I did not say any such words," Time Turner weakly defended.

"It tastes like shit, gotcha'" Zephyr nodded to himself and then readied his body, a fierce look of a warrior on his face before he quickly shoveled as much Oatmeal as he could into his mouth, planning to finish it all as soon as possible.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Only for him to quickly stand up from his seat and fly towards the nearest trashcan, emptying his stomach.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Cozy Glow said as she sat on the deck of the ship, looking at a small flame cooking skewers of fish above an empty barrel.

"Why not?" Gilda asked, turning the skewered fish around above the flame, "Don't tell me you actually want to eat whatever that Jelly guy is making, dude's a creep," She picked up a skewer, gave it a sniff, and placed it back above the flame.

"But... Are we even allowed to make a fire?" Cozy asked, "Wouldn't it have been easier to just use the stove in the kitchen?"

"Eh, Who cares!" Gilda waved off her concern, "We're in the middle of the ocean, this is a prime fishing location! I'm sure the prince would understand,"

"Understand what?" Someone asked before sitting down next to the fire.

"Oh... It's you." Gilda frowned at the new member of her little circle.

"What? Don't tell me I'm not allowed to sit here?" A K Yearling asked as she took her spot, The coat and glasses she wore earlier that day were gone, replaced with a green shirt and a Beige hat.

"Oh Look at that, Miss Author changed her wardrobe," Gilda mocked Yearling, "What? Is hunting OUR Sea-Badger too taxing for you? Needed to get out of that stuffy cloak?"

"Mock me all you want, It won't change the fact that I'm the one who's going to find that Sea-Badger!" A K Yearling proudly proclaimed.

"Not if we have anything to say about that! Right, twerp?" Gilda said loudly before looking over at Cozy Glow, only to find her gone from her spot.
"Twerp? Hey Twerp, Where did you go?!"

"See," Yearling said, "Not even the filly wants to hang out with you,"

"Shut up!" Gilda yelled at A K Yearling, causing the author to jump at the intensity of the shout, "We need to find her! With the Sea-Badger loose on the ship, we can't leave her alone!" Gilda jumped onto her feet and with a flap of her wings, flew into the sky, circling around the ship.

"Shit, you're right," A K Yearling stood up from next to the fire and quickly flew back into the ship, intent on searching the inside while Gilda searches the outside.

The Pleasurable sweetness, the Soft caressing touch of its magic, The Scent of its make.

"Concentrated Love Jelly truly is the best food in the world," The Changeling masquerading as Hughbert Jellius thought to himself as he hid behind a pile of crates inside a large utility closet, A jar of glowing pink Jelly in his now black and chitinous hooves.

As the Changeling masquerading as Hughbert Jellius took a sip from the jar of Jelly as if it was a bottle of Alcohol, he failed the see two Brilliant Amber eyes watching him in horror from a small ventilation grill on the ceiling.

Cozy Glow stared in horror as she saw Hughbert Jellius, the cook for the trip, shed his skin in a cover of green fire like some sort of demon from a storybook, and start drinking a sickly sweet substance which smelled almost exactly like the 'blood' she found in the vents.

"I need to tell the prince," She whispered to herself as she slowly started crawling backward.
However, did you know that ventilation shafts have an echo, so even a quiet whisper can be heard loud and clear?

"Who's there?" Hughbert asked loudly, his blank insect-looking eyes quickly moving around the dark utility closet.

Cozy Glow immediately closed her eyes lest he see her irises reflect what little light there was, and covered her mouth with her legs in order to not make a sound.

"Hmmm, Must have been the wind," He said to himself and went back to pleasuring himself with his Jelly.

Cozy Glow silently made her escape.

On the Deck of the ship, a barrel cooking a number of skewered fish was left unattended.

And when the ship went over a wave, it fell.

And the deck was engulfed with flame.

Omake: A Monument to a Dream.

"There, All done," Princess Luna said as she gently placed down the statue at the top of the hill where Celestia and Her threw the rope to lasso the moon.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Princess Luna, I know you're probably busy but I-" The only other person on top of the hill tried to thank the Princess, but she waved him off.

"Think nothing of it, Spike the Dragon, The Idea you brought up was good enough that we would have done so ourselves had we thought of it," Luna told the dragon and turned away, "Do not stay here for too long, It is getting late," She told him before she flew back to Canterlot.

Leaving Spike to sit down on the grassy floor, the cold mud on the ground leaving spots on his scales as the late autumn chill passed through his body, but he didn't move from his spot.

His eyes were glued to the large statue he asked the Princess to erect.

Made of a black stone, the statue was that of a castle nested inside of a crescent moon, which when looked at from where Spike was sitting, the room made inside the crescent would be filled by the full moon during midnight, giving the castle in the middle a beautiful silver backdrop.

But that wasn't what Spike was busy looking at.
Instead, his eyes were looking at the Black Stone plaque placed at the bottom of the statue, filled from top to bottom with names.

"-Hank, Peter, Carla, Dewitt, Rico-" Spike read out loud the names written on the plaque, his claws holding something and twiddling with it in his hands as he sat on the ground.

It wasn't long before he reached the bottom of the list.
"-Walter, Rummy, Larry, and here you are, Jerome."

Spike slowly stood up from the grass and waddled forward to the statue before bending down and placing in front of it what he was holding.

A heart-shaped gem, the same one that he planned on giving to Rarity in order to get her to snap out of Nightmare Moon's control.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," He sniffed as he looked down at the gem, "But I know that wherever you are, you'll have plenty of friends," Spike sniffed again and wiped some snot off his nose, his arms cold and sticky, "And- And I'm sorry that- that I- That I- Waaahhh!!!" Spike started crying, salty tears falling out of his eyes as he collapsed in front of the statue.

Of the memorial for his dead friend.

And it was as he cried, that he felt the wind brush against his shoulder.

"Don't cry," He could almost hear him on the wind, "I forgive you." The wind once again brushed against Spike, causing him to open his eyes.

To see a small army of see-through Moon Creatures staring down at him, slowly dissipating back into smoke.

And at their front, made of silver smoke, he saw his friend, Jerome, smile down at him, his ghost already said all he needed to say, as just like all the others, He too dissipated into smoke, his spirit put at rest.

Spike silently cried as the cloud of colorful smoke flew up into the sky, leaving behind no clue that the spirits ever came to Equestria.

"Goodbye," Spike whispered as the cloud of smoke flew too far to see before he slowly stood up from where he cried, and slowly started making his way back to Ponyville.

That night, a new star appeared in the sky, but that is a story for another time.

Author's Note

Gilda and A K Yearling should already know the basics of fire safety, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I know that I didn't write anything about Trixie in this chap, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cozy Glow discovered a very dangerous Secret, but now the ship is in even greater danger, but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, I meant to write this two chapters ago, but I was late.
Thank you guys so much for 700 likes!
But I was late to write this, so oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, hope you enjoyed the Omake at the end, bringing a close to Spike's depression that was mentioned during Nightmare Night.
I tried giving it a bit of a more... how shall I say this, "Fantastical" feel to it, reminding us that this world is Magical, and not all Magic can be explained.

Sometimes a new star appears in the sky and the only reason we can give is "The ghosts of the Moon Creatures that appear in our dreams turned into a single cloud of magical smoke, A new star is born, Magic!"

Chapter 54: Business Trip 5

An Alarm rang out on the ship, A Fire had been started.
Luckily for everyone on board, the ship itself was equipped with anti-fire security measures, just like any other in the Royal Collection.
And as quickly as the flame started to spread, it has been dealt with.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

But just because the fire caused no injuries, does not mean that it caused no damage.

"Sir, I was trying to cook fish but then I-" The Griffon tried to defend herself and explain the situation, But her boss was having none of it.

"On an open flame?! Are you daft?!" Prince Blueblood yelled at Gilda, his voice making everyone else too afraid to speak over him.
"How old are you? Six? No, Six-year-olds already know the basics of fire safety, You must be a toddler!"

"Sir I-" Gilda wanted to speak, but she was silenced by another yell from the prince.

"Quiet! Do not interrupt me while I speak!" His face was starting to go red with anger, "It hasn't been twenty-four hours since we left the dock and already the alarm has rang. Are you trying to sabotage the deal? Don't answer me! I don't want to hear any excuses from you or anyone involved." Prince Blueblood took a deep breath.

"Anybody who doesn't have a job to do is to return to their rooms until further notice. That means If I see anybody who isn't working walking in the corridors, they will be taking a pay cut. I do not want to hear complaining, now leave." He told the rest of the ponies on the ship.

"But-" Gilda once again tried to speak, only for a blast of magic to hit her in the face, silencing whatever words she was planning to speak.

"I said Leave." Prince Blueblood said, watching as the ponies walked back to their rooms or to resume their work, ignoring the glare on the Griffon's face.

He waited until he was left alone with Starlight before he spoke again.

"Am I being too lenient on them?" He asked, his head moving to look out a window at the shining stars reflected in the water.

"You know as well as I do how important this deal is, Not only for me but for the future of Equestria and its allies," He said, "If I had more time, I would have been able to hire an actually competent crew, but instead I'm stuck with these Idiots."

"I'm sure that the docked pay is enough to show them how serious you are about this," Starlight tried to say, hoping to somehow cheer up her surprisingly moody boss.

"Y'know, Just over a month ago I would have ordered Statues of colored Ice to be made in mere hours, banquets of the finest of food in minutes, Have the chefs of the castle make food with Ingredients they simply didn't have." He said, "I made sure the ponies around me were on their toes, in tip-top shape, ready to take any order and complete it,"

"I'm sensing a 'But' coming," Starlight said.

"But ever since You sent me to Yakyakistan, it's almost as if ponies aren't taking my orders seriously anymore." He looked up from the sea, towards the starry night sky, "Sure, I've seemingly mellowed out by a lot, and Haven't made any insane orders from the staff, but I am still a Prince of Equestria."

"What are you getting at?" Starlight asked, slowly walking forward to stand beside him, looking up at the night sky.

"What I'm getting at is this," He paused for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before he turned to look at Starlight.

"Am I a Joke?"

Starlight Glimmer blinked at that question, her face in confusion.

"A joke?"

Blueblood nodded, "Yeah, I don't know if it was when I arrested you, or during the Art gallery before that, or during the Grand Galloping Gala, or I'm not sure when, But I feel like people aren't taking my orders seriously."

Starlight looked at her boss, a blank expression on her face before her hoof quickly moved and slapped him on the cheek.

"A Joke?" She scoffed at him, "Ha! Don't make me laugh!"

Blueblood rubbed his cheek as he looked at his Bodyguard/Friend/Prisoner-on-Probation.

"You are Prince Blueblood Platinum, You are no joke!" She poked his chest with her leg, "Do you know who traveled the frozen tundra of Yakyakistan with an unconscious Mare on his back? You did. Do you know who managed to raise hundreds of thousands of bits for charity with a single short speech? You did. Do you know who managed to save the lives of the citizens of Neigh York when the streets were flooded with Chocolate? You did!"

Starlight grabbed both his shoulders and forced him to look her in the eyes, "Do you know who managed to convince a Unicorn, One who practically mind-controlled a town into her way of thinking, Using only his words?!" She shook his head as tears started clouding her eyes, "YOU DID! YOU DID IT! All of IT! You did it all!"

"AND IF THAT MAKES YOU A JOKE! THEN YOU ARE THE BEST DAMN JOKE OUT THERE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!" Starlight screamed at her boss, tears trailing down her face before she pulled him into a hug.

Frozen in shock, Blueblood slowly pat the mare on her back, before speaking.

"Starlight, are you- Are you crying?" He asked her, slowly rubbing her back as she hugged him.

"I'm not crying, shut up," She sniffed into his shoulder.

"Hey Starlight," Blueblood called out after a few minutes of awkwardly rubbing the mares back.

"Yes Blueblood?"

"I'm docking your pay to buy a new suit."

"You don't pay me."

"I know."

"Dock pay?! He can't do that to us!" Gilda Complained as she angrily marched into her room.

"Actually he can, He's our boss," Trixie added helpfully from her corner of the room.

"Um AkShUaLlY, Nobody asked you!" Gilda repeated mockingly before walking over and collapsing onto her bed.

"You know what," Trixie stood up, "I don't like you," And she walked out into the corridor.

"Oh wow, somepony doesn't like me, what a shocker," Gilda grumbled into her pillow.

"She has a point you know," A K Yearling said from her bed, "You have been acting like a jerk since the moment you stepped hoof onto this boat,"

"Can it Glasses, I don't want to hear it from you." Gilda snarled face down into her pillow, "You have the easiest job here, just press a few buttons on a type-writer, how hard could it be?"

"Excuse me?" Yearling stood up from her bed, "Do you know how difficult documenting a scene is, I need to type as fast as the ponies are speaking, I'm not allowed to make mistakes, If I run out of paper or ink, I'm doomed. You wanna talk about easy jobs? You have the easiest one here! Just make sure nothing happens to the boat, and somehow you failed it on your first day, and because of you we're not allowed to leave our rooms!"

Gilda pushed herself up from her bed, "So it's my fault huh? If I remember you were also with us by the fire,"

"You started the fire in the first place!" Yearling pointed at Gilda.

"So that means all the blame is now on me?!" The Griffon pointed at herself.

"YES!" The Pegasus shouted.

"Please stop shouting..."

"What about you? You were the one that flew away the moments things started falling apart!" Gilda yelled at the Pegasus.

"Me? You're the one who started flying up in the sky!" Yearling shouted.

"Please..."

""WHAT?!"" The Griffon and the Pegasus turned to yell at the last pony in their room.

At a small pink filly who was crying under her sheets.

"Oh... Eh, Hey Twerp, You know we're not mad at you, right?" Gilda weakly asked the crying filly.

"Shut up," Cozy Glow weakly said as she dug herself deeper under her covers.

"Cozy... I hate agreeing with her-" "Hey!" "-But Gilda's right," A K Yearling sat down next to Cozy Glow's bed.
"Whatever argument me and her are having, you are not the reason, So please stop crying."

The Next hour passed with the two adults trying to cheer up the filly before all three of them fell asleep.

They were found later that night by a tired Trixie as she entered the room, seeing their sleeping bodies hugging each other.

As the sun rose on the morning after, Starlight Glimmer scowled in pain as the rays of the sun pierced her window and struck her face.

Her body was sore, and her breath smelled of Alcohol.

She weakly rolled out of bed, falling off it in a tangle of sheets as her tired legs weakly raised her hungover body, a splitting headache threatening to bring the dinner from yesterday back up.

Without using her magic, she untangled herself from her sheets and placed them back on her boss's bed, careful not to wake him up- Wait a moment.

Like a bucket of cold water being poured on her head, Starlight's Hangover was washed away, leaving her staring in shock at the bed she just crawled out of, and at the other pony in it.

"...Fuck."

Author's Note

There is no Author Note.

:duck:

Chapter 55: Business Pit-Stop

"Calm Down, we didn't have sex," Hearing those words did nothing to calm Starlight Glimmer, who was pacing around the bedroom in a panic.

"So why was I in your bed?" She asked quickly, her legs quick movements shifting the carpet.

"I don't know, I went to sleep before you did," Blueblood answered, already picking up an empty bottle from the nearby table to check how much she drank without him.

"So why would I enter into YOUR BED?!" Starlight almost yelled at her boss, who merely rolled his eyes at how she was acting.

"I'm guessing you were drunk and you didn't want to walk in the corridors of the ship in the middle of the night, drunk out of your mind," Blueblood took a sniff of the bottle before placing it in his mouth and drinking the drops leftover at the bottom of the bottle.

"So nothing happened?" Starlight's breath was slowing down.

"Nothing happened, I wouldn't take advantage of someone like that," Blueblood said as he levitated the empty bottles into a plastic bag.

"Good, good." Starlight nodded to herself, before freezing when she heard a knock on the door.

"Boss- er, Your Highness, I mean eh... There's an island up ahead!" Starlight blinked at that before turning to look at Blueblood who was in the process of dressing himself, causing her to quickly look away.

"So soon?" She heard Blueblood whisper to himself, "This ship is much faster than I thought."

"What's going on?" She asked.

"The Island of Glaros, It's where we're supposed to have a quick stop to refuel and restock, but since we're already coming up on it, that just means that this ship is sailing much faster than expected," Blueblood explained as he walked passed her and opened the door, nodding his head to Trixie who stood on the other side.

"We were supposed to come up on the island at the start of our fourth day, but we're only on our second day right now, Which means that either the specks on this ship that I was given were false, or that the map of the ocean was wrong, and I'm not sure which one of those options is worse," He said as he made his way up to the bridge of the small ship.

"Wouldn't having a faster ship be a good outcome?" Trixie asked as she joined the Duo of Unicorns.

"It is, we are shortening our trip by a large amount, and if I'm correct we'll be able to reach Caninia tomorrow evening, instead of five day from now," He explained, "But that also means that I was lied to in regards to the boat. Some might think it's harmless, that it's just a faster ship, but what about everything else that was lied about?"

"I don't get it?" Trixie said as she tilted her head.

"Think of it this way, You buy a new house, and the seller tells you that this house you bought is built out of a specific type of wood and that the flooring is made of a specific type of stone. Still following me?" He asked, receiving a nod from the two mares.

"Okay, now you buy this house and everything is going fine, Until you find out that there's a hot spring built underneath your house, You think you hit the jackpot, right? But then you stop and think, why did the seller not say anything about this spring? And will this spring weaken the stone foundation of the house? Will the steam coming from the underground spring weaken the wood that builds your walls? Now this amazing Hot Spring that you thought was a blessing to have seems more like a curse." Blueblood nodded to himself.

"What I'm getting at, is that now that the ship is much faster than I planned for, I don't know how much fuel it is taking, or where else I was lied to. So we will be docking at Glaros for the day in order to get everything checked, while still restocking on food and fuel," Blueblood pressed a few buttons, "I'll try and get the local government permission for you people to leave the ship for the duration of the checks, so you won't bore yourself," Blueblood smiled at that.
"Maybe start a local forest fire instead of using an oven like a normal person," He smiled at that, "Now both of you, get out, I need to concentrate," He told the two Unicorns, and with a blue glow to his horn, buttons and levers all around the bridge started to twist and press.

Glaros Island is an Independent Island Nation sitting far off the coast of Minotopia, or as I'd love to describe it, Magic Greece.
Being closer to Minotopia than to Equestria, but still far into the ocean to be independent of any form of outside government, gave the small Island Nation a reputation for being a perfect place for Ships to dock and resupply on long trips.

"Listen up!" I yelled into the speakers of the ship, making sure that anybody still asleep would be able to hear/

"We are making a stop on Glaros Island, and I managed to get the Chief of the island to let you all stretch your feet and walk around. We are estimated to return to our voyage in the afternoon, so find something to do for yourselves. Don't be late to return, Now get off the boat so the workers can start their jobs!" That should get the message across.

"Oh! Time Turner and Zephyr Breeze, stay on board, the workers might need to ask some questions," There, that should do it.

Reading over a piece of paper, Hughbert Jellius slowly hid the paper inside one of his suitcases before he walked off the ship and onto the Island of Glaros.

This was the first time the Changeling was on an Island, but he didn't have the time to look around.
He had someone he needed to meet.

"A Pit stop on a beautiful Island? Let's go Girls!" A K Yearling yelled excitedly, soon joined by Gilda and Cozy as the trio flew off the ship and onto the Island of Glaros, ready to explore.

Zephyr Breeze was bored out of his mind, While the rest of the crew were on the Island doing whatever, He was stuck on the ship helping Time Turner explain to some engineers how the Engine works so they could get proper measurements or something.

It was boring.

"If the engine works on an Arcane-Flux-Conductor in order to power the ship, The Fuel will be burning up, yet somehow we can see here that only an eighth of the Tank has been drained thus far," The head Engineer in charge of the inspection, a Seagull Person, said as he tapped a small window of reinforced glass on the side of the Engine with a taloned hand, letting him see how much fuel was still in the tank.

"That shouldn't be the case at all," An aging Minotaur said as he squatted down next to the Gull, "The Distance alone between Equestria and here should have taken at least Five-Ninths of the tank."

Zephyr groaned in boredom.

"Prince Blueblood! It Is a very good honor to meet you!" The Chief of the Island, A Seagull with a colorful Green and Blue robe said as he walked up to me.

"The pleasure is mine, Chief Galeb," I told the Seagull only to freeze as he pulled me into a hug, kissing the sides of my cheeks.

"There!" He happily said with a wide smile on his beak, "A Proper Glaros welcome!" He let go of me, and I had to stop myself from immediately wiping the spit off my face so as to not somehow offend him.

"Please! Allow me to show you a tour of our lovely Island!" The Seagull Chielf said and started walking, showing me to one of many tourist spots on the Island.

"Vodopad Waterfall," A K Yearling whispered to herself as she and her newly made pals looked at the Waterfall of thundering white water, falling off a cliff into a lake far below them.
"Rumor has it, that General Red Bicep threw his hoard of pillaged treasure off the Waterfall before his capture by King Steel Fist," She stated, her eyes looking at the lake below the waterfall, hoping to catch a glimmer of any lost treasure.

"Why would the General throw his treasure off the waterfall?" Cozy Glow asked as she hung onto the railing.

"So the King wouldn't be able to take it, Obviously." Gilda said with a wave of her Claw, "King Steel Fist was known as a Greedy Idiot who would start wars for the pettiest reasons, nobody at that time supported him. He's the reason Minotopia has a democratically elected governor instead of a King today, he single-handedly ruined the chances of his nation being a Kingdom ever again. That's how bad he was,"

"Why do you know so much about Minotaur History?" Yearling asked the Griffon.

"Griffonstone is situated between several powerful kingdoms, So we know a bunch about their history. I don't remember shit about most of it because History is boring-" Gilda ignored the scoff from Yearling "-The only reason I even recall Steel Fist is because of how much our teachers dug him into our brain," She spit at that.

Hughbert Jellius carefully made his way into the forest of Glaros Island, making sure that nobody was following him.

Once he was far enough away, he shed his disguise and started flying just above the tree-line, before he spotted where he was heading towards and landed in the empty clearing in the middle of the forest.

As soon as he landed, he went down to his knees and knelt, as a figure walked out of the tree line to tower over him.

"You have done adequately by informing me of the Prince's movement," The figure told him, her voice like a snake, filled with venom ready to pounce.
"Continue with your set path, the mission hasn't changed," She said, and Hughbert nodded his head repeatedly at that.

"We will once again meet in the Nation of Caninia, where all my current targets are in one spot," The figure smiled widely, her fangs glimmering in the dim light passing through the canopy of trees.
"And there, you will bring Prince Blueblood to me, And we can move on to the next step of my plan,"

Hughbert bowed deeper, "As you order, my Queen." He scowled into the dirt, his newly improved mental faculties screaming at him that he shouldn't need to bow his head like a mongrel.
But the other part of his mind was telling him to be patient, he has the recipe to improve the Love jelly while his queen does not.

"In Caninia," Hughbert repeated her order.
"In Caninia," The Queen confirmed, and with a buzz from her wings, she flew away, leaving Hughbert alone with his thoughts.

"In Caninia... I will find my freedom." He whispered to himself and flew back towards the docks, intent on drinking as much of the Love Jelly as he could before he reached Caninia.

He would need all the magic he could get.

After having a filling meal of traditional Glaros food, And gently putting down the Chief's attempts at wedding his daughter over to me, We were set to return to sail.

"If you ever reconsider, Prince Blueblood, Know that my daughter gives Amazing back massages!" The Seagull Chief yelled happily at me as he stood on the docks to see us off, his family behind him.

"As I've said before, Chief Galeb, I will not marry a person younger than the legal age in Equestria," Even if she was legal, I would search for a different excuse, but right now this was the most noticeable.

"Don't worry Your Highness!" A young Seagull Girl, maybe twelve years of age at the most, yelled up to me, "In ten Years I'll be big and strong, Just like Papa! And then you'll have to marry me!"

I decided to simply laugh her off and wave goodbye as the Island grew farther and farther behind us.

"Starlight, write a letter," I said as I entered the bridge, "I need to tell Queen Lanternlight that we'll be arriving earlier than planned."

And with my eyes looking at a page in Clover the Clever's book, and my Horn shooting a beam of blue magic onto a map, my eyes narrow.

"Much Earlier."

Author's Note

So this is the end of the Business Trip arc, or the "Blueblood is on a boat with a bunch of idiots" arc, next chapter will be the beginning of the Caninia Arc.

Now, let's talk about some stuff.
First of All, The "Sex scene"
Nothing happened.

Blueblood and Starlight only slept in the same bed, they didn't "sleep" together.

Blueblood might take advantage of a lot of stuff, be it an opening to throw a sucker punch, or his royal connections in order to get the head of the EEA to oversee his test personally, but one thing he won't take advantage of is Drunk People, or Depressed People, or People who are not in a state of mind in which they can clearly consent to whatever is happening.

Also, the reason I made that scene is because for some reason many of you readers are shipping BB and SL, and i want to say some stuff about that.

I never planned on making Starlight a Love Interest.
The Love Interests were always going to be Cosmos as the main Focus.
Raven Inkwell as a lesser focus.
And some other characters on the side who obviously won't get with him in the end, as filler content.

Starlight Glimmer was never intended to be a love interest, but apparently, you guys think she's in the competition.
So I'm telling you this now.
She's Not.

Or at least, not a planned one.

Who knows what might happen down the line? I can't wait for Prince Blueblood and Vice Principal Luna from the Equestria Girls Movie to end up together, am I right lads?

So that's what I wanted to say about the Starlight situation.
Don't expect much, but don't be surprised at any sudden twists.

Now, onto other matters: Changelings.

What are they up to?
Hughbert is more magically in control of his body, so he's questioning his Queen, but he still needs to follow her orders before he can revolt against her.
What is his true plan?

And the Queen? Who is she? Why does she need Prince Blueblood to move onward with her plan?

And she said something about "Where all my current targets are in one spot," Does she have more than one target? And they're also in Caninia?

What is going on?!

Oh, And Blueblood kept his Magic studies since he's carrying Clover's book with him in his Magic Bag that he definitely didn't steal from the moon that he carries with him everywhere.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Also, Glaros Island is literally just "Seagull Island" but Seagull is translated from Greek.
Chief Galeb is literally just "Chief Seagull" But the Seagull is translated from Croatian.

That's a little life hack I also used in my Storm King story. Need to give a character a name? Just translate whatever animal they are into a different language that sounds like it fits the setting and VOILA!

Seagull? Galeb!
Seagull? Glaros!
Turtle? Kasa!
Giraffe? Twiga!

Just use Google Translate! Nobody who doesn't already speak the language will know!

Making an African Character? Just translate their name to Swahili, that's how I got the Turtle Grandma and Giraffe King.
It's foolproof!

Anyways, Hope you enjoyed :)

Chapter 57: Of Diamonds and Stars 2

"You know your Majesty, When I arrived here I expected a greeting, but a party like this? You sure are full of surprises," I smiled what I could only hope to look like a princely smile as I sat next to Queen Lanternlight on a balcony overlooking the festivities.

As much of a waste of time as a festival is, I have no choice but to play along with her, or else she gets the upper-hand in our trade negotiations.
It's simple politics really.

"Please, you may call me Jenn, That's what all my friends call me," Queen Jennino Lanternlight said with a smile, her tail wagging behind her, clearly showcasing her emotions.

"Only if you call me Blueblood in return," I must not overstep my boundaries, whilst still trying and keep a good hold on my position at the negotiation table.

I must not slip up.

"Would you like to join me for a walk, Prince Blueblood?" Queen Jennino Lanternlight asked me, immediately ignoring my previous request for her to simply call me 'Blueblood' whilst still giving me an optionless choice.

It is an optionless choice because I cannot say no. While I am the instigator of the trade, and thus have the upper hand in regards to the trade, she is the Queen of this nation, one of two ruling regents.

She is a Queen, and I am a simple Prince.

"It would be my pleasure, Queen Jennino," I smirked at her from across the table.

Two can play at this game and in the game of getting what I want?

I'm the World fucking Champion.

"How exhilarating," Time Turner said to himself as he walked around the Caninian Port Town, admiring the differences in architecture between Caninia and Equestria.

"Yes... Exhilarating..." Zephyr Breeze whispered along as he walked with his new friend, his eyes moving to look at the Dogs around him before his eyes caught onto one Diamond Dog skulking around in the corner, a hood covering their face, a blue skirt barely visible from beneath it.

"Did something catch your attention?" Time Turner asked Zephyr as he turned to look at him, prompting Zephyr to shake his head in response.

"Nah, just a creep skulking around," He answered before he continued walking, prompting Time Turner to start moving faster to catch up with the taller Pegasus.

"Why are there Ponies here?" Fiona Floppyears asked herself quietly as she hid among the crowd, confused as to what was going on but still excited enough with the mystery to no longer be bored.

"You didn't hear?" Fiona jumped at that voice, hiding her face under her cloak as a recognizable voice answered her, "Queen Jennino Lanternlight managed to get Prince Blueblood of Equestria to come for a visit,"

Fiona didn't need to turn to see who it was that answered her, recognizing the purple dress the Dog wore with just a glimpse.

It was none other than her twin sister, the one who left her behind to follow Jenn in the pursuit of her passions, or as Kathy would say, "An Undignified pursuit, unfitting for a Princess,"
It was none other than Princess Ambrosia Muffinsbuns.

Fiona quickly turned and ran away, making sure that her sister wouldn't recognize her under her cloak.

She can't allow herself to be recognized, or Indy's plan will fail.

"This party blows, where's the booze?" Gilda grumbled to herself as she sat on a bench in the corner of a street, looking at a certain filly flying towards her, carrying two sticks of cotton candy in her hooves.

"This is a public party, the booze doesn't come out until the children go to sleep," A K Yearling told her before taking a spoon from a compostable bowl filled with a Caninian Vegetarian dish called Colcannon or something.

Gilda wasn't listening to the seller when he explained, she lost interest when he said Vegetarian.

Gilda grunted at that before she smiled widely as Cozy Glow gave her a stick of Cotton Candy.

"Anyway, Did any of you see Tranko or whatever her name was? She's missing out," Gilda said with a mouth full of sweet pink hairs.

"It's Trixie, and I believe she's talking with One of the Princesses about Magic," Yearling said before placing her bowl on the bench and turning to look at the two other girls.
"So what will you two be doing when the Prince and the rest are off to the Capital?" She asked them, causing Gilda to blink.

"We'll be joining them...? Why are you asking?" Gilda asked the Author.

"Did you not listen to his morning announcement?" Yearling asked with shock, looking over at Cozy who simply shrugged her shoulders before she looked back at Gilda.
"You two, together with Turner and Breeze are to stay on the ship for the duration of our stay here," Yearling told them what the Prince said in the morning.

"What?!" Gilda yelled, throwing the now candy-less stick in the vague direction of a trashcan.

"That's what he said," Yearling shrugged her shoulders and made a "What can you do?" Face at that.

"I guess it is kind of our job, right?" Cozy decided to speak up after finishing her stick of Cotton Candy, "Turner is like the one looking after the machines on the ship, and Breeze is supposed to be his assistant or something, and you're supposed to be guarding the ship, and I'm supposed to be helping anypony who needs help,"

Gilda yelled at the sky in anger.

"So that magical staff of yours," The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon said as she stood next to Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail of Caninia, "How does it work?"

"Oh, this old thing?" The Short purple dog asked as she shaved the wooden staff in her paw, "It's made from the branch of a tree grown underground, its only source of water was a natural spring above it that slowly dripped water onto it and its only source of sunlight was from a crystal that refracted the rays of the sun into a rainbow of colors after bouncing off a series of crystal mirrors," She explained proudly before pointing at a glowing protrusion at the head of the staff.

"And this right here? This baby was taken from the depths of a cave in the fog-covered lands of Dun Scaith, Allowing the ambient magic from the land to gather into it, making it act as the Arcane Foci for the staff," The Dog pat the staff as if it was her child.

Trixie nodded along at her explanation, already thinking of ways to make her own Magic Staff to enhance her magical power and finally show that pesky Twilight Sparkle who was the better Unicorn!

"Does the Quality of the ingredients matter in the construction of such a staff?" She asked the princess who sputtered at her question.

"Does the quality matter?! Do you make a pie with moldy dough? Do you drink milk filled with chunks? OF COURSE THE QUALITY MATTERS!"

Trixie made herself comfortable and got ready to listen to an explanation for the construction and use of Magic Staves.

Hughbert Jellius made sure to watch himself as he made his way to a quiet and hidden alleyway near the edge of the port town.

"You made it, good," He stood up at attention as the voice of his Queen came from behind him before a tall changeling moved to stare him down, "Now listen well, I am giving you your new orders,"

Hughbert nodded, ready to play along with his Queen's plans.

As long as she doesn't learn of his enhanced Jelly, his plan to break away will continue unopposed.

But before all that, there's a certain Badger that's been crawling in the vents, and it needs to be taken care of.

Before it decided to speak.

Author's Note

Short chapter, no Omake this time, I simply wanted to get something out.

The Party finally made it to Magic Ireland, Yipee! :yay:

As you might guess, this arc has Magical Politics in it, like the story synopsis said.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Anyways, Happy Yom Kippur!

Chapter 58: Of Diamonds and Stars 3

"Once again, Thank you for the most wonderful welcome to your nation, Your Majesty," Prince Blueblood said with a calm smile as he sat inside the carriage, a table separating him from Queen Jennino Lanternlight.

"Please, I already told you, Your Highness, The Pleasure was all mine," The Canine Queen told the prince as she sat facing him, a dreamy expression on her face as she rested her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the table in front of her.

Starlight Glimmer wanted to jump out of the carriage because of how bored she was.

"Remember Starlight, you need to actually sell the idea that you're my bodyguard, so you need to start actually doing your job," The Prince told her before they entered the carriage.

It was currently the second day in Caninia, Half the employees were left on the ship in the port town, with only Yearling and Trixie coming with.
Starlight wished she could have stayed on the ship as well, at least then she'd die of dysentery rather than Boredom.

"How about a game?" Starlight perked at that, only to again slouch when she saw that it was once again the Queen failing to hit on Blueblood.

"That sounds lovely," Starlight rolled her eyes at his answer, knowing full well he knew what she was trying to do.

"Never in my life did I ever think I'd see Jenn acting like that," One of the other dogs in the rather large carriage, Princess Ambrosia if Starlight remembered, spoke as she watched her older sister conduct what could only be described by Starlight as the world's most roundabout mating tactic.

"I'd be surprised if it leads anywhere," The other Princess, Moonbeam, added as she lay on her back, using the bench she sat on as a bed, her magic staff lying on the floor beside her.
"Every time suitors come up she's all like 'No, I can't do that, I'm much too busy,' but suddenly blonde white and handsome here shows up she's all like 'Oh Moonbeam, I need everything to be perfect for his arrival,' Like she's suddenly getting married, Bleh." Moonbeam said, trying to mimic her sister before saying "Bleh" and mimicking throwing up.

"I think it's cute," Ambrosia defended her sister, turning to look at the shorter of the Princesses.

"If you mean that It's cute how stupid it is, then sure. Jenn never even held a boy's hand, and she thinks what she's doing will get Princely here to notice her?" Moonbeam replied, and Starlight tried to make it look like she wasn't listening in to their conversation.

"Will it even work?" From another corner of the carriage, Trixie piped in with a whisper, "She's a Dog and he's a Pony, Is that even... You know?"

"Hey," Moonbeam said, "If there's a hole there's a goal. Just because they can't biologically reproduce with each other doesn't mean the sausage won't fit the bun,"

Starlight nodded her head subtly, mostly agreeing with Princess Moonbeam in regard to the idea of Dog/Pony intercourse.

"How long do you think it will take for them to notice that we can all hear them?" Starlight froze and slowly turned her eyes to see Blueblood smiling slyly at her, Queen Jennino across him, covering her face with her paws as she curled herself into a ball of Canine embarrassment.

Once again, For what might again seem like the ten-thousandth time, Starlight Glimmer almost felt like she regretted her past decisions.

"Indy! You won't believe it!" Princess Fiona Fluffyears said excitedly as she ran across the Old Castle yards, jumping into a hug as she wrapped her arms and legs around her older sister, "Jenn and the others are hosting a meeting with Prince Blueblood Platinum!"

"Not so loud!" Princess Indiana Ambereyes shushed her youngest sister before prying her off and holding her at arm's length before quickly walking to a quiet corner of the yard, "If Kath hears that you left the castle, she'll cause a scene, and we don't want her to cause a scene with the VIP in the castle." She whispered loudly.

"Oh Yeah! The VIP..." Fiona nodded her head in understanding, her eyes closed and her arms crossed with a smirk of understanding on her face.

"Yes Fiona, the VIP," Indiana repeated, "You do remember the VIP Kath has over, right?" She asked.

"Me? Pfft! Of course I remember the VIP, why would I not remember the VIP?" Fiona said, her smile cracking and her eyes looking away from her sister.

"You forgot about the VIP didn't you?" Indiana asked with a deadpan expression.

"Totally," Fiona answered truthfully, her yellow tail wagging behind her as she smiled up at her sister.

"Of course you did..." Indiana palmed her face and groaned, "Okay, let's quickly get you washed before one of the servants catches a whiff of you," She said and started dragging Fiona towards the castle proper.

"Oh oh! Do you wanna' join me?" Fiona asked her sister with a smile on her face, her tail still wagging as Indiana dragged her away.

"Join you? I don't have time for-" Whatever retort Indiana had to give immediately fell apart when she turned and saw the wide glistening eyes of her younger sister, all so cute and adorable "-Dammit..."

"Yay!"

"This is so boring!" A Griffon yelled for the tenth time that hour, her coat of fur and feathers covered by a heavy wool coat to keep her warm in the late fall cold.

"Maybe you should go and do a round of surveying around the ship, you know, for safety?" A Pink Pegasus Filly told her, her tiny body mostly hidden underneath the thick parka she wore.

"You know what Twerp, Fine!" Gilda exclaimed and with a clap of her wings, she was in the air.

Looking at the Griffon from behind a glass window, A certain Earth Pony(?) decided to leave the kitchen and get started with his plan.

"First step, Get the rest of the Love Jelly out of the boys' room," He whispered to himself, the uncomfortable smile he was starting to be known for replaced with a neutral frown.

He only had a few days to get everything ready, He wouldn't let some sniveling brat ruin his great plan.

"Welcome to the New Castle!" Queen Lanternlight said with cheer as she exited the carriage, her short arms raised above her head as she smiled at the Equestrian party, her younger sister raising her staff haphazardly to create magical sparks of color, her other sister clapping her paws with a smile on her face as her tail wagged.

Suffice to say, Jenn was happy to be off the carriage.

"It looks wonderful," Jenn smiled brightly when Prince Blueblood complimented her castle.

"Jennino, Look at you," Jenn froze and the happy expression on the Queen and two Princesses' faces soured as they turned to look at a blue-haired Dog who was walking nearby with a small platoon of guards.

"Katherina," Jennino said respectfully, her eyes twitching in annoyance to find her eldest sister, and Queen of the Old Castle, so close to her own castle.

"When I heard you returned after the sudden departure you had, I was curious," The Dog Queen said, her eyes looking down at her younger sister, "But seeing you leave everything behind to meet with a foreign prince is simply so alike you, with how you so easily throw away your future for your selfish desires," Katherina Proudpaws, Legitimate Queen of Caninia, mocked her sister with a sneer.

"Are you not tired of playing pretend Jennino? Come back to me," The Dog Queen told her sister, "Being a Ruler was never your strong suit."

As the two Dog Queens fought in the field of family matters, Prince Blueblood had his eyes glued to a different royal, one who he recognized from the year worth of memories his new body gave him.

"Oh no..." He whispered to himself, his eyes passing through Queen Katherina, through her guards, and straight into a familiar face he hadn't spoken or seen since he took over the Prince's body.

A Face that represented his worst enemy!

Someone who is both emotional and affectionate, known to portray their feeling with physical attachment, someone who is powerful both physically but also politically.
And worst of all, someone he can't beat up without consequences.

And when the person his eyes were glued to turned their head and caught his stare, Blueblood felt his blood freeze in terror as the worst of his enemies smiled at him, pearly white teeth ready to devour him whole.

This was a battle he could not win, better to simply roll over and give up...

"Cousin! I didn't know you were here!" The foe said, a cheerful tone to their voice as they moved in the Prince's direction.

And as Prince Blueblood shuddered in terror, all he could do was nod his head in greeting to his adversary and say one word.

One name.

"Cadance,"

Author's Note

And there she is!
The Princess of Love!
Look at her go!
What a horrifying introduction for the tonal opposite of our Trash Prince!

Is this what the Changeling Queen meant when she said both her targets will be in Caninia?...
Oh no...

Note here, I really wanted to start writing her name as Cadence instead of Cadance, seeing as Cadence is an actual word and Cadance isn't.

I'll probably just start calling her Cadence, instead of her show-given name, because the way the show and merch spell her name is stupid!

But Yeah! We finally reached the Capital city of Dimondia! The Capital of Caninia! We finally met Queen Katherina and Princess Cadence (See! CadAnce is just annoying!)

Hughbert starts with his plan while the "Security" of the ship is away, and Princess Fiona manages to convince her totally not a Sis-con older sister to bathe with her, just like any 19-year-old does to her mid-twenties sister.

There's probably more stuff happening, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But yeah, we finally introduced all the Doggy Princesses.

From left to right we got: Fiona, Jennino, Katherina, Moonbeam, Indiana, and Ambrosia.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 59: Of Diamonds and Stars 4

"Cousin! I didn't know you were here!" Starlight looked at the Pink alicorn approaching Blueblood, the confusion as to why another Pony royal was in Caninia quickly replaced with the need to appear professional.

Starlight walked over to block the Princess's path from her boss, only to hear him say her name with a tone of voice she never heard from him.

"Cadance," Blueblood said, his eyes staring into his so-called cousin with an indescribable emotion that seemed almost foreign to Starlight.

"I am sorry, but the prince is mighty busy today," Starlight spoke up, standing protectively in front of her boss and friend, "If you wish to speak with him, an appointment can be made by talking with his secretary,"

"Wha-?" Cadance tried to ask, only for Blueblood to jump into Starlight's plan.

"Apologies, Cadenza, but I am indeed mighty busy today, perhaps we can catch up another time," He smiled at his cousin, "Preferably not on foreign soil,"

"Bluey," Cadance said, using a word that almost made the prince freeze, "You're acting strange, is everything alright with you?"

"Everything is fine, Cadance, I am merely stressed over work, you know me, always moving around, haha," Starlight cringed at hearing the dry tone with which her boss delivered those words before he turned around and quickly walked away, not bothering to wait for her, his bag levitating behind her.

Starlight prepared to follow, only for the Pony to interrupt her.

"Excuse me, Miss Bodyguard," Starlight froze at being addressed, "I know he probably doesn't want to hear from me, but can you pass this over to him, I always carry some with me," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza said, levitating a chocolate bar over to Starlight.

"You want me to-?" Starlight took the floating piece of Chocolate from the pink Alicorn.

"Yeah, I try to always give him chocolate whenever I come back from a trip," Cadance giggled a bit, "He's always so grumpy about everything, but I know he secretly loves these, I'm sure of it,"

"Okay," Starlight nodded at the Princess, "I'll give him the chocolate,"

"Thanks," Cadance said and turned back to the group of Diamond Dogs that came with Queen Katherina, "Oh, and good luck with your job," Starlight could almost swear she received the friendliest smile she ever received from someone at that moment.

She didn't know whether to be enchanted by how nice of a pony the princess was or be perturbed.

"Yeah... You too..." Starlight whispered before turning and walking after the rest of the New Castle party.

Starlight stared dispassionately as she saw her boss sneer at a Bar of chocolate and throw the thing into the bin, not even bothering to open the snack.

"Damn her!" He said loudly as he paced around the room that Queen Jennino had given him for his stay at the castle.

"She seemed nice enough," Starlight said, trying to bring up some sort of defense for the Pink Princess.

"Well, she's not!" Starlight jumped at the volume Blueblood used, "She's mocking me! Flaunting around her wings and horns, telling everyone "Oh look at me! I'm better than Blueblood! I'm an Amore and he's just a measly Platinum! Look, He Isn't even an Alicorn!" She's the worst!"

"I really don't think-" Starlight's eyes widened as she quickly dodged and caught a chair being thrown at her, "What are you doing?!"

"Don't try and defend her," Blueblood sneered, a tone of voice Starlight never heard from him leaving his mouth as he grimaced and frowned, "If she managed to get you under her spell, why don't you go and talk with her tomorrow during the meeting? It's not like you actually do your job,"

Starlight sniffed and straightened her back, "You know what, I will go and talk to her, just to prove that you're wrong," Starlight smiled at the idea, of helping the royal cousins find a way to solve whatever disagreements they might have and be a happy family, she might even get to write one of those Reports that Celestia receives from her Pupil every week.

"And once I do, You'll apologize for talking to me like that," Starlight frowned at her boss, her eyes meeting with his as a fierce battle raged inside the bedroom, neither contestant moved, but they both knew the importance of their fight.

And as Starlight glared into Blueblood's eyes, she could see a flicker of emotion in his them.

He was... Scared?

Starlight smiled, knowing she won the battle of glares, and left for her own room, leaving her boss to be angry in his lonesome.

After waiting for both his roommates to fall asleep, a certain Earth Pony(?) exited his room and started walking towards the back of the small ship.

"What are you doing?" He stopped, his body freezing perfectly in place as his head slowly turned to look at the voice.

"I am feeling tireless, I am going on a midnight stroll," Hughbert Jellius said in his almost robotic way of speaking.

"Tch," The Griffon who stopped him clicked her tongue before she pushed past him and entered her room, "Don't make too much noise, Creep."

Seeing Gilda leave him, Hughbert smiled widely, a sick and unnatural smile, forced onto his face, almost as if trying to mimic an expression of excitement.

And seeing as the course was clear, Hughbert was more than excited.

He was downright euphoric.

Leaving the shower with a towel around her hair, Princess Indiana Ambereyes whistled to herself a nice tune as she made her way to her bed.

The VIP remained protected, Her little sister came back without any harm, and Katherina was none the wiser to her even leaving the castle.

All in all, It was a good day.

Knock knock knock

Indiana paused, taking off her towel and walking over to the door, a frown on her face as her paw moved to open it.

"Who is it?" She asked as she opened the door.

And froze as a flash of green light covered her body.

Starlight frowned at the door to the meeting room, her talk with Blueblood from the night before still fresh on her mind.
The face he made when he yelled "She's mocking me!" Still etched in her brain.

But right now he was on the other side of that door, talking with the leaders of Caninia about trade and politics, and here she is on the other side of that door, ready to visit a Princess on the other side of the city.

"Why don't you go and talk with her tomorrow during the meeting? It's not like you actually do your job," Starlight frowned as his words once again rang in her head, but she pushed on.
She had to prove to him that he was wrong.

"You're the bodyguard from yesterday! Please, come in," Princess Cadance smiled warmly at Starlight as she invited her into her room.

It was surprisingly easy to reach her, all she had to do was tell one of the guards at the Old Castle that she was there to speak with her, and she was let in without another question.

"Thank you," Starlight said and bowed to the princess, who quickly stopped her from doing so.

"Please don't bow to me, just because I'm an Alicorn doesn't mean I'm not just a regular pony," Starlight couldn't help but want to smile as she heard that.

"Sorry," She said as she straightened her back, the black suit Celestia forced her to wear for her job creasing as she sat on a sofa in front of the princess, "I have a few questions I need to ask you, I hope you'll be able to answer."

"I'd be happy to," Cadance answered simply and got ready to answer her questions.

"Thank you," Starlight started, "The first question that I wanted to ask is, and I hope this doesn't sound offensive, but are you mocking Prince Blueblood?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

The smile that was on Cadance's face fled her as she frowned at that question, "If this is your attempt at humor you have reached the wrong crowd,"

Starlight quickly tried to defend herself, "I mean! When you give him Chocolate, are you signaling that you're more generous than he is?"

The frown on Cadance's face worsened at that question, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." she told her plainly.

"Wait! I just need an honest answer!" Starlight said as an aura of light blue magic wrapped around her and started dragging her out of the Princess's room.

And as Starlight was thrown into the corridor, she said words that caused the princess to pause.

"He thinks you're mocking him!"

Cadance sat on her chair, looking at the open door to the corridor, and at the Mare breathing heavily outside of it after she yelled those five words.
The frown on her face was replaced with a worried look as she asked for her to explain.

And so Starlight did, repeating what Blueblood told her the night prior.

"Thank you for bringing this up to me," Cadance then told Starlight the truth, and her eyes widened.

"I was right..." Starlight said to herself before she thanked the Princess and ran out the door, hurrying back to the New Castle.

Leaving Cadance alone to frown at what she heard.

"Do you really think I'm mocking you?" she whispered to herself, her eyes moving to look out the window and at the castle on the other side of the city.

Once the talks were finished and the deal was formalized, Prince Blueblood returned to his room to ready for departure.

Who knew signing deals was easy when the other party was infatuated with you?

"Blueblood, I was right!" The Prince paused as he turned to look at the purple Unicorn at the door, breathing for air as she pointed a hoof at him.

"Starlight, I wish to apologize to you for how I acted yesterday. I know that-" "Wait with the apology!" Starlight interrupted him.

"Because I listened to what you told me, And I spoke with Princess Cadance," Starlight told him, ignoring how he rolled his eyes at her use of 'Princess'.

"Save me the talk Starlight, she lied to you," Blueblood wasn't willing to listen to her, "Whatever she told you was fabricated to make her look better than me,"

"But she didn't!" Starlight said, quickly getting tired of the way Blueblood treated Cadance, "She was nothing but nice to you and you, and you call her a manipulator! Did it never pass through your mind that she might just be a nice pony?"

"No, It never did, and I suggest you watch your tone," Blueblood told her.

"Why not?!" Starlight yelled at him, not noticing his face contorting into a snarl, "Why can you not see that all the times she's tried being nice to you, were because she's just a genuinely nice pony?!"

"Watch your tone," He warned her.

"Just why?!" Starlight yelled, and Blueblood was glad he cast a soundproofing illusion on the room.

"Because nice people aren't real Starlight!" He yelled back at her, "They're not real! Especially not in such high positions of power! Cadance isn't a genuinely nice person because Nice people don't exist!"

"You know what?!" Starlight yelled at him, "You're being a doucheba- oh..." She froze as she saw the face Blueblood was pointing at her.

"...Did it really take you so long to figure out that the guy who decided to bend the rules to get a shitty bodyguard might not be such good of a guy?" He asked her quietly, sitting down on the nearest chair, his eyes not leaving Starlight.

"Blueblood I-" Starlight wanted to defend herself, to explain that she didn't really mean what she said, that it was a spur of the moment choice of words.

"Get out of my room Starlight, we're returning to the ship tomorrow morning," He told her, his tone offering no room for arguments.

"Please Blueblood I-"

"Out."

"I'm sorry I-"

"I Said OUT!" He yelled at her, and so she left.

Returning to her room in the castle, tears silently trailing down her face.

Dammit!

God Fucking dammit!

Can nothing go to plan?!

Go to an art museum? Beat the shit out of a group of thieves!
Find a missing person? Get sent to fucking magic Alaska!
Once a year special celebration? Get tackled by some crazy chick and cut your night short!
Get a Nautical Science degree? The City is flooded with FUCKING CHOCOLATE MILK!
Get Kidnapped to the moon? Gee! I wonder if that turns out fine!

"Every time! Every single time!" I scream out as I kick the chair beneath me, almost two months of living as a fucking midget horse tearing at my mind.

"Can I not get, I don't know, Just one week where nothing goes wrong? Where nothing crazy or stupid happens? FUCK!" I stomp angrily at the floor, feeling the illusion I placed on the room to keep the sound in waver as someone knocked on the door,

"Holy fucking shit what do they want," I whispered to myself before giving myself a strong slap to the face, the persona of the elegant and wonderful Prince Blueblood Platinum plastering itself onto me like a carefully crafted mask.

"What is it?" I ask, receiving no response from the person on the other side.

knock knock knock

"I said what is it? Do you need something?" I asked louder, the fake smile I forced onto my face wavering as I kept talking.

knock knock knock

"Fucking- WHAT?!" I Yelled at the door, not in the mood to deal with any of this bullshit.

knock knock knock

And so, with a snarl of anger on my face I open the door.

And freeze as a green light comes over me.

Next thing I know, When I open my eyes, I'm in a mostly empty void.

"Cosmos?" I ask aloud, hoping the talking head who appears in my dreams might answer, "Are you here?"

I walk toward one of the visible things in this empty void, one of six large levitating rainbow-colored crystals floating around me.

"What the hell is this?" I whisper to myself, looking closely at one of the six crystals and seeing what looks like a body levitating inside the crystal.

"My my my," I freeze as an unknown voice echoes out around me.

"I was wondering when you will visit," The voice said, sounding like a relatively young man.

"Who's there?!" I quickly ask as movement returns to my body.

"Me? Wait a minute..." The voice paused and I felt its gaze lock onto me from somewhere inside the space between the six crystals.
"You don't know?... Hahaha! You don't know!" The voice laughed, echoing around the darkness before I spotted it.

Two glowing white orbs, eyes, staring at me from the surrounding darkness.

"Me? How could you not recognize me?" The voice said and the two eyes grew closer before the body of the creature revealed itself in the weak light formed by the nearest floating crystal.

A Pony with a body almost as dark as the void around it, a smooth black horn that edges off into a dark grey, a mane, wings, and tail of dark grey fire, moving and flowing in a nonexistent wind.
A mouth opening with sharp teeth of darkness to reveal nothing but more darkness inside.
It seemed less like a real creature, and more like a sheet of magic covering the real creature.

"How could you not recognize your dearest uncle?" The creature smiled down at me, and I only had a few words to say.

"I am NOT dealing with this bullshit right now."

Author's Note

This chapter was a mess to write, but I'm glad I finally got it out.

If any of you are angry at how OOC Newblood is acting, I can explain.

Newblood doesn't actually know anything about Cadance other than the one year's worth of memories he got when he took over BB's body.
So this isn't actually Newblood being angry, but BB's memories causing him to be angry.

And that bit at the end of the chapter? That's Newblood having enough on his plate to deal with. It was only a matter of time before all the BS he had to deal with since he appeared in Equestria stacked into too high a mountain for him to balance.
And now it all fell onto him.

He's angry because of Cadance, He's stressed because of the Caninian Deal, and Starlight arguing with him is the straw that broke the camel's back.
He is tired of this BS.

And so even in the darkness of Limbo, he's just not going to deal with that.

Enough is enough.

ALSO!!! With this chapter released, we have officially reached 100k words!
WOOHOO!!!!!!

Thanks for reading :)

Wow this chapter was rough to write.

Chapter 60: Of Diamonds and Stars 5

"How could you not recognize your dearest uncle?" The Dark Pony said, and I had enough.

"I am NOT dealing with this bullshit right now!" I yelled out loud, my voice echoing between the rainbow crystals surrounding us.

"E-excuse me?" My so-called 'Dearest Uncle' asked after a short pause, his glowing eyes morphing into what I could only assume to be confusion.

"You're excused," I say calmly, my legs moving me away as I try my hardest to calm the fuck down.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, how are you not amazed? Horrified? Do you not fear this horrific visage that stands before you?" 'Uncle' asked, pointing a shadow-covered hoof at his own face as he took a step back.

"Why the fuck should I fear you? I don't know who the fuck you are," I tell him angrily, my legs moving quicker as I start to get more and more agitated with all the magical and arcane bullshit that's been going on.

None of this would have happened if Luna had come with me to look for Starlight...

"Hmm, I admit I haven't truly introduced myself to you, have I?" 'Uncle' said before he spread his wings and had the dark flame that made up his mane and tail flare up as he cried out, "I am the Pony of Shadows!"

I stared blankly at him, feeling the veins in my forehead start to twitch at that.

"That's a stupid fucking name and you should feel ashamed," I told him and continued moving, my agitated mind reaching levels of frustration I never knew I had.

The Pony of Shadows- I am not calling him that.
Uncle humphed to himself, "That's rude," He mimed wiping a tear from his eye before his face morphed into a ravenous smile.

"But how lucky am I, that my plan a thousand years in the making has brought me none other than my sister's far-future descendant," His face appeared in front of me, his eyes boring into mine like searchlights on a foggy night.

"That makes me your dearest Uncle, you know that yes?" He hummed as his body face disappeared from my view only for him to reappear leaning over one of the six crystals.

"And how long have I waited," He said miming a cry, "For someone to reach me," He disappeared.

"To free me," He reappeared right beside me, a hoof covered in shadows caressing my back before I quickly turned and knocked his leg away, causing him to once again disappear.

"To search for the puzzle," He appeared sitting on the invisible ground in front of me, his hoof morphed into a claw, holding between his fingers a familiar red and green gemstone shard.

I looked down at my neck, a sigh of relief leaving me as I noticed that Cosmos's gems were still there.

"What do you want?" I ask him, my eyes glued to the gem in his claws.

"Me?" 'Uncle' Pointed at himself as he asked that, "I don't want anything," He clasped his claw around the gem and I watched it disappear into his shadowy body before he again disappeared.

I suddenly froze as I felt my heart start beating uncontrollably as adrenaline pumped through my body, my fight or flight responses going haywire as for the first time in years It chose flight.

And as I looked down at my chest, I saw a sharp claw of shadows exiting from my stomach.

"I just want to kill you," My body shuddered as 'Uncle' whispered those words in my ear, slowly taking the claw out of my body, leaving it intact as relief flooded my systems.

"And I can't do that while I'm stuck in Limbo," He once again disappeared, appearing before me with the Cosmos Shard in his claws.

"So here's the catch, you free me, and I'll give you this shard for your little Spirit on your Neck. And once I'm free, You and me fight to the death," He said as a sadistic smile crossed his face, "Imagine that, the last two Platinum's, fighting for the fate of all living creatures, Isn't that poetic in a sort of way?"

I shuddered as I looked into his eyes, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

And he smiled, "Nothing much, how 'bout you?"

And then he disappeared.

A wet splash sounded out deep under the city of Dimondia as a pod of green slime burst open, throwing onto the rocky ground a sweating Unicorn, his eyes bloodshot and his mind on overdrive.

The Unicorn quickly scrambled onto his hooves, and fell onto his face, his Yellow tinted eyes looking at the white fur on his leg and at the wet and sticky suit he wore, before he cursed out loud.

Moving his right front leg, he started dragging himself towards the only other pod he saw, most likely used as nothing more than a quick recharge for the love-sucking parasites that kidnapped his lover.

A green glow surrounded his horn before a beam shot out of his horn and impacted with the other pod, four cuts appearing on the pod as it burst open, almost as if clawed by a large monster.

Out of the pod fell the body of a Diamond Dog, She coughed as her lungs emptied the slime that entered her nose before she turned to look around, her blue eyes noticing the body of the Unicorn crawling toward her with his Right front leg.

"Prince Platinum! Are you alright?!" She yelled the question before coughing some more.

"I can't move my body," The Unicorn said, "I hope you wouldn't mind taking me to a secure location so I could recuperate?"

"Of course!" The Diamond Dog yelled as she stood up and quickly grabbed the body of the Unicorn, placing him on her back, "We haven't met before, But I'm Princess Indiana Ambereyes,"

"Hmm, Well met," The Unicorn said before his eyes moved to look down at his suit, and at the necklace around his neck, holding two-sixths of a red and green gemstone.

In the mind of the Unicorn, a certain Space Spirit was freaking out as she found herself piloting the unconscious body of her darling prince.

"BLUEBLOOD! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" She screamed in her mind, hoping that whatever was going on would stop and the second owner of this body would return.

"I WANT MY BLUEBLOOD BACK! BUT NOT THE OLD BLUEBLOOD! THE NEW ONE! MY BLUEBLOOD! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME! HE'S MINE! MINE MINE MINE!!!" Suffice to say, Cosmos was in a panic.

Especially now that she must make sure Blueblood returns to control while keeping him alive with only her head and right arm.

"HURRY UP!!!" She said in her mind calmly.

Author's Note

Short chapter, since I'm not really feeling like writing too long a chapter with all that's going on in my country so far.

I am actually terrified out of my mind at what's going on down south, I'm lucky I live in the north, but holy fuck the things those barbaric sons of bitches are doing down there.

I love living in Israel, this is my Home and I won't replace it for anything, but god does it get terrifying every once in a while.

Anyway, on a lighter note, Cosmos is in Control of BB's body while he's unconscious in Limbo, hanging out with his long-lost great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-Grand-Uncle.

Hopefully, things here will get much MUCH better soon so I'll be less stressed and give you a better chapter next time.

On lighter news, My sister was released from the hospital yesterday. Kinda sad she had to spend her 18th birthday in the Optometry sector, but they managed to find out what was going on with her.

A blood clot formed in her brain, but nothing super serious, her brain simply can't compute the images coming from both eyes at the same time.
If she has both eyes open, it's all fuzzy, but if she's looking out of only one eye everything looks fine.

They'll fix it soon, open up a little hole in the back of her heart to get the blood to flow better or something.

Anyway, thanks for reading so far :)

Fuck me I am stressed rn :ajsleepy:

Unrelated Edit: Two of my stories on Wattpad are currently #1 in their respective Tags.

HISAWIACC or The Storm King story as its more commonly known is currently #1 in #Ponies

And a Pokemon story that I post on both Wattpad and Fanfiction.net is currently #1 out of 47k stories in #Pokemon

Check out "Generic Pokemon Title" if you feel like it,
Here's a link: Less than 2 hours of reading according to the Wattpad

Thank you everyone for supporting my stories, both on Wattpad and Here :)
You guys are great :heart:

Chapter 61: Of Diamonds and Stars 6

Carrying the prince of Equestria on her back, Princess Indiana Ambereyes rushed back to her castle, hoping that whoever kidnapped the two of them was already caught.

"Halt! No one is allowed into the castle right now!" However, she was stopped, outside of her own castle, by her own guards.

"What is the meaning of this?" She asked the guards stationed outside the castle, her brows knitting together as her frustration at this delay grew.

"By orders of Princess Indiana Ambereyes, Head of the Caninian Crown Security, None shall enter the castle," One of her very own guards told her, still standing in her way.

"I did not give you those orders, And I command you to move!" Indiana yelled at the guards, urgency in her voice as an international diplomatic incident was happening at this very moment and her incompetent guard dogs weren't doing their job.

"That's exactly what you said you would say when you gave us the orders!" One of the guards pointed at her, "You said that you will run back here and try to-" The guards words were interrupted as the half paralyzed prince on her back for the first time since the two exited the gorge splitting the city.

"We don't have time for this," The Prince whispered, and the door to the castle exploded open, knocking the guards away and allowing the two royals a chance to enter the castle unopposed.

"You can't just attack my guards!" Indiana yelled as she ran into the castle, but the Unicorn merely responded with a grunt.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Queen Katherina Proudpaws yelled as an explosion knocked the doors to her castle open, revealing the haggard body of none other than her younger sister carrying Prince Blueblood Platinum on her back.

"Kath! We have a situation-" Indiana yelled, not bothering to let her sister speak, "Someone kidnapped us and the Guards are following orders I have not given! We need to figure out what is going on-" Indiana's shouting was interrupted once again by the prince opening his mouth.

"Changelings," He said simply, Yellow eyes burning with fury, "Shapeshifting bugs that feed off of love, draining their prey until they are nothing but an emotionless husk," The prince let go of Indiana and landed on the floor with a meaty sound, his one movable leg slowly dragging him towards the Throne the Canine queen was sitting upon.

"They must have replaced Princess Ambereyes and gave the command before they kidnapped and replaced me," The Prince said, his eyes in a burning glare as he slowly crawled towards the Blue-furred Diamond Dog Queen, "If they manage to return to my ship and leave Caninia, Then they have won," He told the Queen.

"They must be stopped."

Queen Katherina looked down at the barely moving Unicorn Prince on the floor below her, his paralyzed body pathetically trying to move closer.

Yet as she continued looking into his burning yellow eyes, she could not even dare to call the Prince before her pitiful.

What she saw in those burning eyes was more than enough to make her body shudder and her soul scream.

Beyond those deep, burning yellow pools of molten sunset, was Space, filled to the brim with Stars and Suns, Moons and Nebulae, An entire Cosmos, infinite in size, right beyond his Irises.

And so with shuddering breath, Queen Katherina Proudpaws of Caninia called the fastest carriage in her kingdom and the best Guards she had.

She had an International Incident to fix.

"Blueblood I'm sorry for what I said Yesterday I-" Starlight Glimmer tried to apologize to her boss, but he merely walked past her, entering the Carriage that Queen Jennino Lanterlight readied for them and took his seat.

He did not even bother looking at her.

Entering the Carriage, A certain Pony joined the group of the Old Castle.

"Excuse me, everypony," Princess Cadance called out to the group before quickly entering the carriage and sitting next to her Cousin, "I really hope you don't mind If I help out a little?"

"Do as you wish," Katherina answered as she took her seat on the carriage, Looking out the window at her castle.

"Wonderful, Thank you, Your Majesty," Cadance thanked the Queen of Caninia before her horn glowed light blue and a soundproofing barrier surrounded the two Equestrian royals.

"Now," Cadance said with a calm smile on her face, happy that the soundproofing spell took hold, She looked down at the half-paralyzed body of her cousin and her smile disappeared in an instant, "Who are you and what have you done with Blueblood?"

"What are you-" Blueblood tried to dodge the question only for pressure to appear on his chest, the horn on the Pink Alicorn glowing as she repeated her question.

"Blueblood has Blue Eyes, your eyes are Yellow, now answer my question," She asked again.

The Prince(?) exhaled a sigh of exhaustion before he answered her, "You are correct, I'm not Prince Blueblood,"

"I knew it! So who are you?" Cadance asked again.

"I might not be Blueblood, but I'm not a changeling either, This is his body, I'm simply piloting it for the moment," The prince turned his head to look away.

"Then as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of Equestria, I am ordering you to return his body," Cadance told the prince.

"I would If I knew how," The prince answered, "But I can't control this," He ground his teeth at that.

"What do you mean you can't-" Cadance was about to ask but the Prince continued.

"Every time he falls asleep we meet up, but I never control his body! It has to be because he was magically knocked out! But if so, does he need to wake up to regain control of his body? How will that work If I'm piloting it?!" The Prince started to breathe rapidly.

"Hey, Are you-" Cadance was about to ask the prince(?) if he was fine but instead he turned to look at her, wide yellow eyes almost begging for help.

"You Have to knock me out! That has to be it! Bring him back to me! I want him back! Give him back!" The Prince seemed to almost cry as he begged Cadance.

The Carriage already started to move, Princess Fiona now sitting next to Queen Katherina, Princess Indiana staying back at the castle.

"PLEASE!" The Prince cried, his right leg holding onto Cadance, "I Can't have him leave me! Give him back! I LOVE HIM!!!"

And hearing those last three words leave the mouth of the creature in the body of her cousin, Looking into those deep sunset yellow eyes, Cadance nodded her head.

And her horn flared with Light blue magic.

"You should have been there! Those Sirens never stood a chance against me!" 'Uncle' Laughed loudly as he hung onto one of the Glowing Crystals that surrounded us, "Obviously I had to play the part of the weak little coward, And I had to nod my head and smile when STARSWIRL Took all the credit for MY WORK but all was fine in the end. Another obstacle was cleared,"

"This Starswirl guy sounds like kind of a dick," I said, my body floating around the nothingness of Limbo as if Gravity decided it had better things to do.

"EXACTLY!" 'Uncle' Yelled as his face appeared centimeters away from mine, "You know Nephew, Maybe we should work together, Take over the world side-by-side, Huh? What do you think?" He asked with that sick smile on his face, "It just means I'll have to fight you to the death after all is said and done, not before, But wouldn't that be fun?"

"Think about it," He appeared next to me, His leg hanging over my shoulder as he floated beside me, "The last two Platinum, Once saviors of the Pony Races, now the Destroyers of all things they stood for! Is that not poetic? I'll even help you get your little Girlfriend freed from her little Prison, What do you say?"

"I say," I paused as I thought of what words I should use to insult him, Before I felt a pull catch me and quickly drag me away, out of the barrier surrounding the Rainbow Crystals, Away from 'Uncle', Away from all this darkness.

And with a jump I was awake, my body sore, laying on a pillow, staring at the ceiling of a carriage.

"Bluey you're back!" I froze as someone yelled in my ear and enveloped me in a hug.

I turned my head to the side and found myself staring into the joyfully smiling face of Mi Amore Cadenza.

"I'm so happy!" She said as her hug tightened around me, "Your Marefriend told me everything that happened, but I am so glad you're okay!"

I pushed the Princess off of me and turned my body to face her, "Did you say Marefriend?"

Cadenza looked at me before nodding her head, "Yep! She explained to us about the Changelings and how they must have replaced you-" I screamed in alarm at that.

"They replaced me?! We need to get to my ship now! Do they have my bag? Where are we? I need my bag! Cadenza!!! I have no time to thank you for this, I need my bag now!"

"We got your bag," Cadance said simply, her horn glowing as my second most important personal belonging floated next to her, "We stopped by The New Castle to see if they left any clue as to what they were planning and when Queen Katherina explained the Situation they brought over your bag and their own carriages,"

"Their own carriages?" I asked slowly, my magic grabbing my bag and holding it close to me.

"Look out the window," She told me and I humored her, I opened the window to the carriage and looked behind us.

And I saw a small army of carriages following us, even recognizing the carriage that drove me from the port town to the New Castle when I arrived here.

I spotted Princess Moonbeam widening her eyes from one of the carriages before she opened the window and yelled at me something that I couldn't hear over the wind.

I saw another Carriage pulling along a cart filled with armored Dogs, looking ready for combat.

And many more, all driving down the road, pulled by almost ancient-looking carts and engines, going in the same direction.

"When Princess Moonbeam heard what was going on, She grabbed as many guards as she could," Cadenza- Cadance explained and I turned back to look at her, "Queen Jennino is in the cart where you are supposedly sitting, After all."

"This has become a matter of national security,"

I nodded my head and sat back down in the carriage, ignoring the looks the two Diamond Dog royals in front of me gave me as I opened my bag and started taking stuff out.

"Cadance," I simply said, continuing with taking out specific tools that I put in my bag of holding, "I wish to apologize for how I acted to you all these years,"

"Aww, no need to-" I interrupted her as I continued speaking.

"But I don't have time to fully apologize," I closed my bag and started readying the tools I took out of it, belts wrapped around my limbs, A sharp knife sheathed in every belt.

"As you said, This has become a matter of national Security," I said and grabbed a Piece of paper and a pen, and started writing.

"Not only for Caninia, but for Equestria as well," I signed the letter I wrote before I shot it with magic, causing it to disappear in a cloud of magic smoke.

I placed my bag on Cadance's legs and wrapped the last tool of mine, a frayed rope, around my torso.

"And it is my job as A Prince of Equestria to make sure whatever these Changelings are planning does not come to pass," I said with resolve as I looked into my Cousins eyes, " Thank you, Cadance, For everything," I smiled at her.

"But we both have a job to do, So please look after my bag while I'm gone," I told her.

"I can look after your bag, sure, but where are you going?" Cadance asked as she held onto my Bag.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked her, a smile filled with teeth spreading on my face as my blood started pumping and my body started heating up.

"I'm going to smash their fucking skulls in,"

Author's Note

Good news everyone! I'm not dead!

Bad news everyone! Hezbollah has been acting up in the north, and they are a much bigger threat to me where I am than Hamas is.

So if I suddenly stop uploading, You can probably blame Islamist terrorist organizations for it.

He's back! And now Newblood, 'Uncle', and Cadance are the only ponies that know of Cosmos's existence and relationship with BB.

The last Fight Scene we had was between Celestia and some floating Weapons all the way back in chapter 43, So hopefully The Crew vs The Changelings will be more interesting than Celestia dodging flying swords and melting them with a miniature sun.

Only one or two more chapters before we finish this Arc and get back to Equestria, Look forward to the fight scene soon :)

Thank you for reading and enjoying the story so far :)

Chapter 62: Of Diamonds and Stars 7

Boarding the Ship, Starlight apologized to Queen Jennino for how Blueblood was behaving.

"No need to blame yourself," The Dog Queen told her, "It's probably just stress."

Starlight sighed at that, "Yeah, You're probably right," She nodded her head "But again, thank you for your hospitality," Starlight gave the Queen a bow before she turned to board the ship.

And stopped when a letter magically appeared in front of it.
"What the-" She recognized the spell and quickly read the contents of the note. Her brow creased and her horn glowed with an Aquamarine light as the contents of the letter struck her.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for this but I need rescue ships ready," Starlight said and turned back to the ship, her eyes widening to see that it was already leaving port.
Without her.

"HEY WAIT!" She yelled and in a show of fizzling magic, she disappeared.

Leaving Queen Jennino Lanternlight to look with concern at the ship leaving the port before she scooped the letter Starlight dropped on the ground when she teleported.

And when she read its contents, She started barking orders.

Hughbert Jellius looked at Prince Blueblood, At his Queen's disguise, and quickly made himself scarce.

He had a large supply of love he needed to consume before his Queen noticed something going on.

Prince Blueblood smiled calmly as the waves of saltwater splashed against the bow of her ship, she was one step closer to defeating Celestia once and for all.

"Hey! What are you doing?" The Prince frowned as the irritating voice of that bodyguard entered her ears.

But she was no threat, The Real Prince was still in his pod on the other side of the nation, by the time anybug notices something wrong it'll be too late.

She has won.

Queen Proudpaws looked at the Pony royals sitting in front of her in the carriage under a veil of soundproofing magic.

"Psst, what do you think they're talking about?" Her youngest sister whispered in her ear.

"Likely security," Queen Katherina answered, "Our job is to make sure Jennino is alright and to provide a ride to Equestria should these Changelings get away,"

"Hey Kath, Do you think I could visit Equestria? As a tourist?" Fiona asked, her trademarked puppy-dog eyes widening at that question.

"Do not try your tricks on me, Fiona, I am not Indiana, I will not simply submit to your requests," Katherina scowled at her sister, causing her to pout in defeat.

Seeing her Sister was being her usual Immature self, Katherina turned back to look at the two Equestrians, before widening her eyes considerably and coughing loudly.

"Woah! Kath, are you okay? Don't choke on me here!" Fiona yelled as she quickly hugged her older sister and tried to give her a Heimlich maneuver.

"I'm not choking Fiona! Look at them!" Katherina yelled at her sister after she managed to escape the Golden Retriever's Hug and pointed at the Equestrians.

"What are you- Woah! Is that a real knife?!" Fiona Floppyears yelled in excitement as she watched Prince Blueblood wrap belts around his legs and a rope around his torso, a pair of black sunglasses, and a new black suit appearing on his body.
Finishing off with his horn glowing Blue, and his hair moving backward as if gelled, leaving his face clear of any strands.

If Katherina was asked, at that time the prince looked like a Secret Agent from a Spy Thriller.

"My Queen! We'll be reaching Quartz City Port in five minutes." The Driver of the carriage said from the window behind her head, and Queen Katherina Proudpaws could only nod silently as her eyes were glued to the Prince.

And a devious plan hatched in her mind.

In a closet on the Equestrian Ship, a certain Grey-furred Earth Pony opened a briefcase filled almost to the brim with jars upon jars of a glittering pink jam.

And he started consuming.

As soon as the Carriage stopped I was out of the door, Bag in Cadance's hooves as I got ready to catch up with the ship.

With the speed the ship was sailing, I'll never be able to catch up to it in time.

I'll need to have a very stern talking to with the Royal Shipworkers, but that's for later.

"Jenn!" The Yellow Dog princess shouted as she jumped out of the carriage before running to hug Queen Jennino Lanternlight who was standing near the road.

"Fiona," Jenn smiled at her younger sister, "I'm sorry I don't have time to catch up right now," She told her before she looked at me, "Your Highness," She greeted, I answered with a short bow, "I got your letter, Rescue boats are already prepared to depart, We'll be able to leave in ten minutes." She told me, her flirty attitude from our previous talks was replaced with the serious tone of a ruling monarch.

I wasn't dealing with Jenn, the thirty-year-old virgin. I was dealing with Jennino Lanternlight, the Second Queen of Caninia.

Good.

"That is wonderful to hear Your Majesty," I told her as I walked toward the docks, "However I have no time to stay here and chat, I must catch up with my ship," I looked around for a small boat, something light to sail in.

"And how will you do that?" Fiona Floppyears asked as she looked over her sister's shoulder.

"Yes, Prince Platinum, How would you manage to reach your ship?" Queen Katherina asked as she walked to us, followed by Princess Cadance.

"It's simple, really," I smiled at the group of royals before stepping onto a conveniently placed Sailboard, Grabbing the rope around my torso, and tying it onto my arm.

"I have this rope," With a glow of magic in my horn, My bag on Cadance's back opened, and out flew a hook. I tied the other end of the rope around the hook and started levitating it in my magic.

"A Grappling hook? That rope isn't long enough to reach the Ship," Queen Katherina pointed out as she looked at the small speck in the distance that was my ship.

"Oh believe me," I told them, my eyes locking onto the speck of color above the cold ocean, "I'll reach it," My horn glowed brighter and brighter, the hook vibrating with magic as my eyes stayed focused on the ship.

I felt a warmth emanate from my Cutie Mark, something that hadn't really happened since I dragged Starlight and myself through the Tundras of Yakyakistan, reaching the cave that led us to the City.

With my Magic, My Cutie Mark, and this rope. I will reach the ship.

And as the magic that I fed into the hook stopped and the warmth from my Cutie Mark disappeared, my smile widened considerably.

"I Won't Miss"

And with a sound akin to a howitzer, The hook flew into the distance, magically propelled toward the ship.

"Blueblood! That rope isn't long enough!" Cadance yelled over the sound of magic wind propelling the hook farther and farther away.
But then her eyes widened as she watched the rope elongate itself, longer and longer, never stopping the hook from continuing its flight.

And then she understood.
The Rope was magic.

And after a minute of watching the hook fly through the air, I felt it.

And with my blood pumping furiously and a smile that would make even devils scared, "Gotcha'"

I pulled back at the rope.

And I flew.

"Trixie," Starlight called to the only other real Unicorn on board, "I want you to get the Lifeboats ready," she told her.

"What, why?" Trixie asked back.

"Orders from the prince, Just do it," Starlight told her simply before moving along.

"Huh," Trixie said before moving to do her job.
She was getting paid after all.

With his face covered in pink glittering jam, Hughbert Jellius made his way to the engine room of the ship.

"You!" He stopped and turned to see Starlight Glimmer pointing at him, "Back to your workplace, now!" She yelled at him.

Blinking at her, The Earth Pony smiled widely before an explosion of green fire enveloped the corridor he was standing in.

"Dammit! There's more!" He heard Starlight Glimmer shout behind him, but by the time she'll be able to catch up with him, He'll already be done.

He dropped his disguise, now simply a greasy changeling, warts and pink pus covering portions of his body from the overindulgence on his Love Jelly.

"What the hell was tha-" The Yellow Pegasus asked loudly as she opened the door to her room before letting out a scream as she saw him running down the corridor.

"Never mind her," Hughbert thought to himself "I will be the victor of today,"

"Stop that monster!" A K Yearling yelled before she bolted out of her room, her coat, hat, and even glasses left behind as she gave chase after the black carapaced creature.

"Wait up!" Gilda the Griffon yelled as she flew out after her, followed closely by Cozy Glow.

"Did you hear something?" Time Turner asked Zephyr as the two were hanging in the engine room.

"Nothing," Zephyr Breeze answered easily as he cleaned his hooves, "Anyways, you were talking about this Derpy chick, continue,"

"Oh well," Time Turner blushed at that, "Well you see, Derpy and I aren't really-" Whatever he was about to say was forgotten as the door to the engine room burst open, revealing an insectoid Pony, a disgusting oily carapace covering its body as marks of pink and green pus and warts covered its body, "-AHHH!!!!" Turner screamed.

"Harmony shit!" Zephyr yelled at the sight of the Pony Bug before he grabbed the nearest throwable object without looking and threw it at the Creature.

The object thrown, which just so happens to be a wrench, flew through the air and missed the creature. Instead landing on a big red "Shut Off" button.

"Oh..." Zephyr said as the engine shut off and all the lights in the ship turned off.

"Hahaha! HAHAHA!" The Creature laughed at the Pony that did its job for it.

Prince Blueblood(?) smiled calmly as she watched the ocean in front of her, her plan was perfect, she had succeeded.

"I'm running on a feeling, that I get when you and me dance" She suddenly frowned as the sound of somebug singing entered her ears.

"Wait," She whispered as she looked around her, "Did the ship stop?" She scowled and turned around to see what those foolish ponies were doing.

"And I want it, And I need it, So catch up if you can" The singing got closer and suddenly a shadow covered the spot she was standing on.

She looked up to see what was blocking the sun, and her face crumbled "Oh bollocks,"

"If you can" And her face was hit by a flying Sailboard.

In a burst of green flames Prince Blueblood was gone, replaced by a tall, dark blue-haired Creature, covered by black chitin, her legs pocked with holes and her wings see-through like a dragonfly, a crooked black horn extended from the top of her head, a green and blue carapace covered her back.

"Who are you?!" She yelled in anger as her body was flown away the force of the Sailboard hitting her, "I am Queen Chrysalis! And you will die for your transgressions!"

And as she looked at the White Unicorn who land on the deck of the ship in front of her, his horn glowing blue and his golden blonde mane flying in the wind, she recognized him instantly.

And so Queen Chrysalis got ready to fight Prince Blueblood Platinum.

"I've got a million things that I can say to you," The Singing reached the ears of the Changeling in the engine room, causing him to turn his head to look down the corridor behind him.

And at the yellow Pegasus hoof that stuck him in the face.

"But that doesn't mean that I'm going to,"

"Wha-" The Changeling got out as A K Yearling kicked him into the engine of the ship, his body colliding with the large machine with a loud bang.

"Because you give me something to feel, Like I'm real," Starlight ran out of the ship, her eyes widening and a smile growing on her face as she saw her boss standing in front of a tall black insect-looking pony.

"Like my life's not some big joke"

"Blueblood! I'm here!" Starlight cried and stood next to her boss, only to stop when he moved his leg to block her, "What are you- Oh..." Starlight nodded as her boss whispered something to her by creating an illusion of him speaking, "I understand," She nodded her head and ran to a different part of the ship.

Chrysalis glared at the irritating Bodyguard who ran off before her eyes widened and she quickly took a step back as Prince Blueblood entered her personal space, a sharp knife held in his right hoof as he slashed up towards her face.

"Something to deal, With the rage," He sang, a wide toothy smile on his face as he kept close to her, his legs never stopping.

"I just thought I'd let you know"

"That I'm running off the feeling, That I get when you and me dance" I smiled excitedly, my blood pumping and adrenaline flowing through my body.

"And I want it, And I need it," My legs moved quickly and my horn glowed, Years of training in the navy kicking in I kept close to my opponent, never really letting her out of my range.

"So catch up if you can," My smile could cut my face in half with how excited I am.

And with a quick burst of magic, the knife strapped to my left leg flew out of the belt holding it and sliced a cut onto this so-called Queen Chrysalis's left front leg.

"If you can"

The Changeling that was Hughbert Jellius roared in anger as his horn glowed a bright green, an explosion of green flames knocking all the ponies around him away as he stood up from his spot lodged into the engine.

"I knew you were evil!" He snarled in anger as the damned filly yelled from behind the wall of green fire he created.

"I've got a million things I'd let you do to me"

"Silence!" He screamed, his magic growing brighter as the pink pus on his body pulsated with his movements, "I will not be ridiculed by some Ponies!"

"What about me?!" An abrasive voice called out and from the fire, a fist flew into his stomach as Gilda flew into the engine room, the wind from her wings dispersing the fire and allowing the rest of the crew to run away or join her.

"And I'm not afraid if it hurts 'Cause you do it so beautifully"

"Damn you!" The Changeling yelled as his body pulsated and warbled, a mixture of green and pink magic flowing out of his horn as he glared hatefully at the ponies in front of him, "Always snooping around!"

"You give me something to feel"

"I don't know who the heck you are!" Gilda yelled before she moved her head to the side, allowing A K Yearling to fly by her and let another kick into the Changeling.

"Like I'm real"

"AAARGH!" He screamed in anger, "DAMN YOU!!!"

"Like I never was before"

With Gilda punching him and Yearling Kicking him deeper into the engine, the machinery started sparking and his magic went haywire.

"DAMN YOU!!!"

"DAMN YOU!" Chrysalis screamed as another knife shot towards her, her legs covered with small cuts as her horn glowed green, shooting another beam of magic at the prince that he easily dodged out of the way with a simple lean to the side, that infuriating smile on his face and those sunglasses covering his eyes only making this moment feel much more humiliating.

"Now I'm running off the feeling, That I get when you and me dance" And why wouldn't he stop singing?!

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" She yelled as another beam of green magic shot out of her horn.

"And I want it, And I need it, So catch up if you can, If you can"

The Engine took too much damage.

Hughbert Jellius screamed in rage as his magic transformed him, "YOU ALWAYS TALK ABOUT SOME STUPID SEA-BADGER! RAGHHH!!!!"

And with green and pink magic shooting out of his horn, combined with blue arcane electricity coming from the engine, an explosion rocked the ship.

Knocking all the ponies away and punching a hole in the back of the ship.

Water started flowing in.

"We need to get out of here!" Time Turner yelled as he watched the water enter through the hole in the wall, The Changeling nowhere to be seen.

As the explosion went off, shaking the entire ship, Prince Blueblood was thrown onto the ground and Queen Chrysalis took this to her advantage, her hoof shooting forward and impacting the prince in the front leg he used to block the punch.

"Hahaha! Yes!" Chrysalis took a step back as the prince cheered as the pain ran up his leg, "Now you couldn't catch a vibe like this, Unless you got a little taste of just how high I get, Oh, oh!"

"What is wrong with you?!" Chrysalis screamed at the prince as he rolled back onto his legs and dashed towards her, his hoof raised for a punch as his magic picked the knives from the ground and shot them towards her.

"Now you couldn't catch a vibe like this, Unless you got a little taste of just how high I get, Oh, oh!"

Seeing the hoof enter her vision and the sharp knives fly at her, She yelled and let off an explosion of green fire, throwing Blueblood Away.

"Now you couldn't catch a vibe like this like this (Like this, like this, like this, like this)"

She held her scream in as the four knives flew through the fire and impacted her body, stabbing into her, green blood already marring her chitin, but she smiled as she saw Prince Blueblood stand up from where she threw him, a line of red blood covering the side of his body.

"This was good," He yelled at her, His smile relaxing as he started walking slowly back to her, "But it's time to finish this,"

"You look so different under all these lights, You look so different right now," Chrysalis glared at him, noticing the ponies running out of the door behind him as the ship started to tilt.

"Please give me something to feel" He continued to sing as he slowly walked closer to her, his hair a mess and his suit cut up, "Like I'm real" His steps started getting quicker.

"Like my life's not some big joke" He sprinted towards her, his horn glowing blue as a beam of magic shot out of his horn and hit the ground in front of her.

"Ha, You missed! Wha-?!" Chrysalis exclaimed as the deck of the ship opened up quickly like a trap door, throwing her into the air before turning into a launch pad, throwing the prince after her.

"Something to deal with the rage" Prince Blueblood caught her midair and his smile returned full force, "I just thought I'd let you know"

"Oh no..." Chrysalis whispered before the first hoof hit her.

"That I'm running! Off the feeling! That I get when you and me dance!" Prince Blueblood sang louder than before, each syllable followed by a punch hitting the Changeling Queen.

"And I want it!" More punches rained onto her body as gravity dragged the two of them down, into the ocean.

"And I need it!" But Blueblood ignored the incoming water as he continued punching Chrysalis in the face, no longer dodging whenever she started frantically hitting him back.

Simply taking those punches to the face.

"So Catch up if you can! If you can!" Chrysalis screamed as the two of them fell into the water, only to instead of starting to drown, a platform of Aquamarine Magic caught them, stopping them from drowning.

And so, Chrysalis punched Blueblood in the chest and threw him off of her, Before standing up just as he was and rushing in to continue punching and kicking him, all semblance of magic gone.

Just pure pugilism.

"Over here!" Trixie yelled to the crew as she saw them running in her direction, The large orange lifeboat was ready to drop with the press of a switch.

The crew quickly entered the Lifeboat and pressed the button, dropping into the open waters and watching the ship they spent a few days on slowly sinking.

As Chrysalis and Blueblood continued punching each other in the face without blocking like Neanderthals, A shadow grew beneath the magic platform.

Seeing that, Starlight began the final part of the plan.

And with a burst of magic from her horn, the Aquamarine Platform that both the changeling and her boss were fighting on top, disappeared.

"Dammit! Argh!!!" Chrysalis yelled as she fell into the water, her body transforming into a Dark Green Siren in a burst of green fire, Her back-flipper kicking forward and hitting Prince Blueblood in the face.

And then she noticed the Large shadow beneath her.

"FU-!" She screamed but was cut off, as a giant maw filled with sharp teeth exited the water, a body covered with Green fur and blue scales emerging from the water and taking both Chrysalis and Blueblood into its mouth.

The eyes of the creature were pink and almost lifeless, like those of a fish, Four large scale-covered legs extended from the body of the creature, allowing it to swim in the wavy ocean.

Trixie quickly opened her satchel and took out a camera.

"Now you couldn't catch a vibe like this" Prince Blueblood continued singing as he punched the Mermaid-looking Chrysalis deeper into the large mouth of the giant Sea-Monster.
"Unless you got a little taste of just how I high get"

"No! No no no!" Chrysalis yelled as her grip on the tongue of the creature weakened as Blueblood continued kicking her.

"Oh Oh, Now you couldn't catch a vibe like this, Unless you got a little taste of just how I high get" Prince Blueblood sang and kicked Chrysalis one final time, her grip on the tongue of the monster going loose and throwing her into its stomach.

As she fell into the warm and sticky darkness inside, She saw that irritating bodyguard appearing in a burst of magic, grabbing onto the prince before teleporting away.

"Oh No."

"There they are!" Princess Fiona yelled as she pointed at the orange lifeboat in front of the ship.

"Yes Fiona, We see it," Queen Katherina told her sister as she looked at the Equestrian Prince and his Bodyguard, who appeared on her ship not too long ago in a burst of magic.

"Once again, Your Majesty, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart," Prince Blueblood calmly told her, his regal voice not matching the almost primitive way he was looking, his hair was sticking onto his forehead and his suit was cut into ribbons, a large gash on the side of his torso already closed, indicating that it wasn't as deep as it looked, but he was still caked in blood.

Both green and red.

"I am in your debt," He told her, "If Caninia or yourself are ever in need of support, I will come to you, That I can promise,"

Katherina nodded her head at that, her lips curling into a smile as her mind searched for ways she could utilize this promise in the future.

A one-time ticket of support from the Prince himself, how wonderful.

"We're saved!" Zephyr Breeze yelled as he flew out of the Lifeboat, followed by the rest of the crew.

"We're alive! How incredible!" Time Turner yelled with a smile as he stretched his legs.

"I won..." Trixie whispered as she looked at the small camera in her hand.

All the crew stopped and turned to look at the Blue Unicorn.

"What?" Gilda asked as she let go of the hug she was giving Cozy Glow and A K Yearling.

"I Got it! I won! The Great and Powerful Trixie has managed to capture the elusive Sea-Badger on camera!" She cheered and held her camera up in the air, "Look!" She opened the camera to show them the picture.

"Hey, Trix," Zephyr said as he looked over her shoulder at the photo she was trying to show everyone, "That's just a huge splash of water, You can't see anything,"

"WHAT?!" Trixie yelled and looked down at the photo she took, seeing that the Pegasus was correct.

Instead of a photo of the Sea-Badger, it was simply a blurry photo of water and waves, an eruption of water from when the Sea-Badger surfaced, and even the corner of her hoof on the lens from how she was holding the camera

"I... I didn't get it..." Trixie Lulamoon slumped onto the floor, her camera rolling away from her.

"Starlight, I need to apologize to-" Starlight didn't let him speak.

She quickly wrapped her legs around him and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't say anything, I forgive you," She smiled with her eyes closed as she rested her chin on his shoulder, "Also, you smell like shit,"

"I feel like shit," Blueblood laughed and pat her on the back, "I can't wait to get back to Equestria."

"Bluey," The happy reunion was cut short as Cadance called out to her cousin, "We need to talk,"

The pink princess looked around her for a moment, "In Private."

Nodding his head, Prince Blueblood let go of Starlight and walked after Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Stopping when the two of them reached a quiet part of the ship.

"So, What's this about?" Blueblood asked her, his body leaning on the rail of the ship as his magic created a soundproofing illusion over the two.

"It's about your Marefriend," Cadance told him.

"Oh." Blueblood straightened his back, "What is it that you wish to know?" He gulped.

"Everything," She told him, Light-Purple Eyes staring into Ice-Blue.

"I want you to tell me everything."

Author's Note

Fun fact: As of right now, This is the longest chapter in this story, at a whopping 4,395 words.

No new real update on the situation here, My Sister got her surgery done and now she needs to do some more stuff in the local clinic because the Hospitals had to kick her out to make room for the people who actually need to go there.

I stopped going on to Twitter, all the In-your-face Antisemitism just made it horrible to look at, probably one of my better decisions recently.

And we are also at 780 likes on this story, only 20 away from reaching 800.

Thank you all for all the support you've given me, Not only from the comments on my recent chapters but also by reading up to this point in the story.
You all rock, each and every one of you!

I wish you all the best, thank you all for reading :)

:heart: :heart: :heart:

Next chapter will be the regular Post-arc epilogue. Hope you look forward to it.

Again, You all are the best :heart: :)

Also, song if any of you were wondering:
When You & Me Dance - Grabbitz

Thank you :)

Chapter 63: Of Diamonds and Platinum

"Let me get this straight," Cadance asked Blueblood, "For the last month or so you've been visiting something called a Space Spirit, who is trapped inside the gem you keep around your neck?"

"Yep," Blueblood nodded, his hoof touching the expensive chain around his neck holding the red and green gem.

"And she has not only been trapped inside that gem for who knows how long, but her body has split into different shards that you need to collect to reform her full body, as now she's just a head and an arm?" Cadance continued.

"Pretty much," Blueblood nodded.

"Okay let me just," Cadance took a deep breath and started massaging her forehead before releasing a sigh.
"Who else knows about her?"

Blueblood took a moment to think it over before replying, "Well, If you're asking who knows she exists in general I can't really give you an answer, If your question is who knows I'm meeting with her, Right now it's just me, you, and my apparently long lost evil uncle from one-thousand years ago."

"Your long lost evil uncle?" Cadance raised an eyebrow.

"Did I stutter? He's my Great-Uncle from 1,000 years ago, he's trapped inside Limbo, he knows she lives inside the gem, and he's definitely evil. Can't get more simple than that," Blueblood relaxed his body, scowling slightly as the gash on the side of his torso started to itch.

"What happened since I was gone?!" Cadance suddenly yelled loudly and Blueblood was glad he soundproofed the little corner the two royals were speaking in, "I leave for a nice travel around the world to celebrate finally finishing my education and suddenly Nightmare Moon returns! Twilight is an Element of Harmony! You meet a Spirit trapped in a gem! Discord returns! And now you're here fighting against shapeshifting insects! What's next?!" Cadance screamed as she held the sides of her head.

"Nightmare Moon returned twice-" Blueblood tried to tell her but the Princess of Love covered his mouth with her hoof.

"Shush!"

Two Days Later

It took some time to find a replacement ship to take the BBF back to Equestria, but Princess Indiana came in clutch.

"As thank you for releasing me from whatever those Changelings have done to me, It is my great honor to be the one to sail you and your servants back to Equestria," The Husky-looking Princess bowed her head to Prince Blueblood.

"Do not bow to me," He told her in his 'Royal voice' "This is your land, I am merely a visitor," He smiled at her with bright teeth, "A House Owner does not bow to his Neighbor if they are both on the same standing, So please, Princess Indiana Amberyes, Do not lower your head,"

"Of course Your Highness," The princess said with a smile as she straightened her back, "Although please allow me to show you to your room," She said before walking into the large Caninian ship.

The ship itself was much older in design than the metal and magic ship that Prince Blueblood arrived in.
Made of Oak, Three large masts for the sails and a two-story interior.
Sails of large white cloth hung from the masts and yards, while the flag of Caninia flew from the top of the middle mast.

Queen Katherina smiled as she watched her younger sister give the prince a tour, already planning on using the Prince's "debt" to get him married to Indiana.
It was basic politics at the end of the day.

"What are you thinking about?" Fiona asked her eldest sister, her legs bouncing up and down excitedly as she looked between her deviously plotting sister to the large wooden ship docked before her.

"Nothing you need to worry your little head over, Let's go back to the castle and leave Indiana to deal with this." The blue-furred Saluki told her Golden Labrador sister before they departed back to their Castle.

Seven Days later

"And we have finally reached Equestria," Princess Indiana said with a smile as her Guard Dogs started moving frantically around the ship in order to get everything ready for docking.

Documents exchanged paws and papers flew from dog to dog.

"Once again Your Highness, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for your assistance," Prince Blueblood told the Dog Princess, "I must insist that you and your men join us for dinner, It's the least I can do to repay what you and your sisters have done,"

"That sounds wonderful," Indiana said and the conversation moved on from there.

Starlight Glimmer, watching the two royals talk about nothing again and again for the last week, could feel her soul grow lighter when she heard that they had finally reached Equestria.

Only two more hours and she can get back to the castle, go another round of being thrown around the training room by Princess Celestia as a form of torture disguised as Bodyguard Training, and then spend the rest of her evening talking to Raven Inkwell and not get a reply from the timid mare.

After disembarking from the ship and taking over a local Pizza place for the evening, Prince Blueblood bid farewell to the Diamond Dogs as they returned to their ship for the night. Tomorrow they'll restock and resupply their ship before leaving back to Caninia a day later.

Now standing before his employees for the past two weeks, Prince Blueblood was prepared to reveal some harsh news.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Gilda, I am happy to inform you that our work is done, Most of you have done well, and nobody was permanently harmed," The Prince began

"What about the chef?" Trixie tried to ask but she was ignored.

"However, I have some terrible news to deliver to you all. News that I am sure some of you were expecting to hear, but news that I must deliver nonetheless." He continued.

"And that news is, Gilda, A K Yearling, And Cozy Glow," The Prince turned to look at three girls, "You're all fired, your paycheck has already been deposited into your bank accounts," He said quickly and immediately cast a soundproofing spell around Gilda.

"Time Turner, Zephyr Breeze, and Trixie Lulamoon, You have done an amazing job for amateurs," Blueblood turned to look at the trio in question.

"We have?" Zephyr asked before getting a slap on the back of his head courtesy of a Blue Unicorn.

"However, seeing as the job you were hired to do has finished, Your Pay will be suspended until further notice. Your Paycheck for this job has been deposited, If another job in the BBF comes up, you will be receiving letters, but until then you can consider the next days as an unpaid vacation," He ignored the complaints from everyone before turning to look at the last two Ponies.

"Starlight, Good work on getting me out of the Sea-Badger's mouth, If you were actually my employee I would have given you a bonus, alas I am merely your warden in this prison we call life, Take tomorrow off." He told his bodyguard who merely responded by rolling her eyes.

"And Finally, Cadance," He turned to the last pony, "To be honest, I have no idea what you're doing here, You're just here to look at me talk, Go home," Cadance also rolled her eyes with a smile before she picked her bags and headed to the train station.

"Any questions?" He asked the crowd of disgruntled ponies who silently screamed from behind a veil of sound-canceling magic, "No? Good, Dismissed."

The Island of Glaros

Emerging from the water onto a beach of soft white sand, a large blue-scaled and green-furred creature surfaced onto land, Its large limbs digging trenches in the sand before it started shaking uncontrollably.

The Sea-Badger started coughing and Hacking, Trying hard to breathe before an explosion of Green Flames erupted from its body and it disappeared.
In its place stood the half-melted remains of a Changeling, yellow and purple puss and warts growing on its back from overfeeding, the sweet smell of the love intermingling with the retched smell of gastric acid and smoke.

And right beside the charred corpse of the mutated changeling, was a Queen, Tall and spindly, screaming in pain as she held onto the stump where her arm used to be, now gone, melted in the acid of the Sea-Badger's stomach.

"AAAARGHHH!!!!!!" Chrysalis screamed as her body collapsed onto the sand before her horn started glowing green and her teeth bit into her own tongue.
And with a cry of anguish and what might have been the most pain Chrysalis has felt in over 1,000 years of life, her stump exploded into green fire, before revealing a newly grown leg.

Chrysalis collapsed into the sand, weak and injured, staring at the only other object on the beach with her.

A Suitcase filled with Pink Jam that her IDIOT of a subordinate swallowed from the wreck of the ship.

She weakly turned to look at her FOOL of a minion, his body destroyed and mutated, too weak to control the influx of Love he received from forcing himself to drink an entire suitcase of an experimental substance in a few hours.

She continued her weakened survey of the beach before her eyes moved to her newly regrown limb, and she froze.

Black Chitin shone reflectively in the evening sun, but that wasn't what caught her attention.
It was the holes, or the lack thereof.

Chrysalis smiled manically as she looked at her pristine new arm, devoid of holes.

"Hehehe," She started laughing as she looked at her other limbs, at the holes that BITCH Inflicted upon her all those centuries ago.

"Hahahaha!" She laughed as a plan formed in her mind, Slowly crawling to the suitcase of love Jelly, a manic smile on her face and her eyes bloodshot.

After she swallowed two jars and felt her strength return to her, She ripped the suitcase apart and held the handle in her mouth.

She felt her new arm transform into a mantis-looking saw, and she placed her other front leg on the sand in front of her.

And she laughed hysterically, pain and anguish filling her mind as she sawed off her limbs, her screams stiffened by the suitcase handle in her mouth, the pain dulled from the Love Jelly she repeatedly drank.

After five minutes that felt like decades, A burst of magical green fire erupted from the newly created stump, and a new, pristine front leg appeared to replace it as Chrysalis once again collapsed on the sand with exhaustion.

But as she looked at her new leg, and the lack of holes, she was again empowered.

Her eyes moved to the remaining Jam in the suitcase and her smile almost grew feral.

"Celestia," She whispered, her green eyes pinpricks as 1,000 years of revenge were slowly coming together as a new plan reached her mind, her brain thinking of that Unicorn who fought her.

"Your Nephew, hehehe," She started giggling, plans and plots, tricks and transformations, all passed through her mind as she thought of Prince Blueblood and Princess Celestia.

"I will make him MINE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" And with another scream, the saw fell down on her back legs.

And Queen Chrysalis Laughed.

Author's Note

And here we are! The Caninia arc is finished, and coming up are a few more mini-stories in the Castle, before the next arc arrives.

This story is at 798 likes (As of writing this), just two more to go before we get the big 800.

No updates in regard to the situation here, other than most of the stores are now closed in the evening so it's very hard to buy the shoes I need for my new job.

Also, This will definitely not be the last we see of Chrysalis. Mark my words.

Thank you all for reading and loving the story so far :)

Also: The ending part with Chrysalis is literally the farthest I can go without adding "Gore" to the tags and turning this into an M-rated story.

The woes of a rated-T story are far and numerous :raritydespair:

Chapter 65: Bitter and Elite 2

I frowned as I looked at a flyer advertising the Wonder-Bolts Derby later today.

"Who places a flyer inside a castle?" I asked as I turned to look at the nearest guard, who shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"Wonderful, throw this in the garbage when you're done here," I told him and dropped the flyer as I went out to the garden.

"Ah, Blueblood!" I stopped and turned with a smile as Princess Luna joined up with me, "We haven't really had the opportunity to speak lately, may we join you to catch up?"

"Gladly so Luna, I was just on my way to have a walk in the garden, you are gladly invited to join," I say with my 'royal' tone.

"You know you can cut the act when we're around, yes?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow at us.

"Of course," I nodded at her as I opened the door to the outside. High up in the sky I could see the Pegasi getting ready for the scheduled snow to mark the start of winter. "It's just that you never know who else is watching," I said with a smile before pointing at a nearby bush.

"A Gardener is working over there," I pointed at a tree, "A servant is spending her break on the other side of the log," And I pointed at Luna herself, "And we also haven't talked in a few weeks, so Let's catch up."

Luna smiled and we soon reached a quiet corner of the gardens, a few animals ran about before entering a bush to hide from us.

"When was the last time we spoke, remind me," I asked her as I lay down on the soft grass.

"We believe it was when you refused to come with us on our visit to Ponyville to celebrate our first Nightmare Night," Luna said as she lay down next to me, her hair covering her face as a soft wind blew it around before she caught her mane in her magic and tied it behind her head.

"Ah yes, Nightmare Night," I nodded, a scowl briefly crossing my face as memories of how I acted appeared in my mind.

"Speaking of which," I changed the topic quickly, "Tartarus, I need a list of all our prisoners and their meal preferences," I told her as the small black blob of nightmare magic popped into my mind.

"Are you planning on feeding all of them?" Luna asked.

"Why not? Who knows how long it's been since they last ate," Luna nodded at my response.

"I see," She said slowly before looking me in the eyes, "Nightmare Moon asked why you hadn't visited when you were in Caninia,"

I gasped in fake awe, "She does care about me," I whispered dramatically, "But what if she more than cares for me..." I paused for dramatic effect, my hair magically whipping around before I smiled seductively and looked Luna in the eyes, "What if Nightmare Moon... Loves me?" I whispered, a smile growing as I watched the Princess of the Night try and hold a laugh.

"Oh, Woe is me!" I cried, my front leg lifting above my head dramatically, "A vile mistress of the night wishes to seduce me for her evil machinations,"

"Please stop talking... pfft," Luna said weakly as her body shook.

"What will I do? Her soft fur and silky mane, holding me against her body as she whispered sweet nothing in my ear," I Bemoaned dramatically, "Oh how vile a vixen of the night, corrupting such a pure innocent youth,"

"PFFT HAHAHAHA!" Luna burst out laughing as I finished my dramatic act, "Haha, Pure innocent youth? You?! Hahaha!"

"Oh laugh it off," I rolled my eyes as Luna rolled her body on the grass beside me, her legs kicking in the air as she laughed at the idea of me falling into the gentle yet firm embrace of Nightmare Moon, "You do know she's just a blob on the floor now, yes?"

"Oh, We are well acquainted with Nightmare Moon's current appearance, yes." Luna sighed as she stopped laughing, a bright smile on her face as she turned back to us, "If she was a Pony, would she look more like us or more like Lady Rarity?"

"Rarity is the one she possessed when she came back, right?" I shrugged my shoulders and stretched my neck, "I'm guessing a mixture of both, I wouldn't know, I'm not a professional in Magical Possession," I do need to speak with Cadance again about Cosmos when I get the chance, don't I?

"You aren't, yes." Luna nodded and closed her eyes, feeling the sun on her fur as it warmed her up from the early winter chill. "By the way, We have not seen Starlight Glimmer around today, do you know where she is?"

"Gasp!" I said dramatically at Luna's question, "Mine own family, throwing me aside as to ask for another's whereabouts, the betrayal!" I posed dramatically before relaxing back on the grass, "According to Raven she has an urgent private matter to attend to, She's taking a week-long vacation as a result to deal with it, Right now Raven knows more than anyone,"

Luna nodded her head at that. "We see... We should go feed the inmates at Tartarus together,"

"Woah, where did that come from?" I ask with surprise at Luna's rather sudden change of topic.

"You wish to feed them, for whatever reason you may have," Luna said as she looked at me, "We simply wish to spend time with our new family, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and We are going to a spa next week, We would invite you, but Cadance said it is a, and I quote, "Girls Spa Night," So we humbly apologize for excluding you from our outing on the basis of your gender,"

"Apology humbly accepted, And I would love to go feeding the animals- I mean Inmates with you, You are my-" I paused for a moment as a horrifying thought passed through my head, "-I'm supposed to say Aunt, but there is no way I am calling you that,"

Luna blinked at that and quickly nodded her head once my words entered her mind, "Oh yes, We are not at all old enough to be an Aunt, even if that is our relationship,"

"Quite," I nodded, "What are we in that case? I should probably act as if we are cousins or siblings, but Celestia's actions make that all the more complicated,"

"Oh yes, Perhaps far removed family members who happen to live in the same castle and are good friends," Luna suggested, and I nodded my head in agreement.

"Yes... Oh course! Friend Luna, That is what you are!" I exclaim with a wide smile, almost sure that Luna could understand why calling her that is stupid.
Nobody tell Prince Rutherford I thought that...

"That we are, Friend Blueblood," Luna smiled at me before we once again changed the subject of our talk.

"Chipmunk," Firelight said softly as he leaned into his daughter's room, "Are you doing fine?"

Starlight mumbled into her pillow as she lay face down on her bed, not putting the effort to turn and look at her father.

"I understand that times are tough," Firelight tried to speak with his daughter, "But we can get through this, we always do."

"No we don't," Starlight mumbled into her pillow, her father unsure of how to respond to that.

"Well... I made some Pumpkin Linguine, your favorite," He tried to say with a smile, but he couldn't bring himself to put the effort in.

Starlight ignored him as she lay in her too-small childhood bed, on a mattress she hadn't slept in since she left home years ago.

"I'll be placing it in the fridge, heat it up if you're hungry, okay?" The Purple Unicorn stallion asked his daughter with a weak smile, before frowning at himself and closing the door as he left her and went downstairs.

Starlight didn't have the strength to respond, her limbs felt like lead and her tongue felt dryer than the hottest desert.
Even being carried on Blueblood's back in Yakyakistan Starlight had more strength than she did right now.

"It's because I left..." She thought to herself.
"If I never left, Mom would still be alive..." She thought to herself.
"But the only way to change that is to go back in time..." She thought to herself.
"And that simply isn't possible..." She thought to herself.

Starlight was tired, she didn't have the strength to think deeper about her thoughts.

Starlight Glimmer closed her eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of a life where she never left her home.

And it was beautiful. All her friends were there.

Sunburst was reading from a book as he waved her hello, Blueblood and Raven were sitting next to each other on a park bench talking about whatever politics they got involved in, Even Princess Celestia and Captain Shining Armor were there, just hanging out with everyone.

But most importantly, Her family was there, not just her father and mother, but also her grandparents, her aunt and uncle, Her cousins, and even some ponies from Our Town came by to say hello.

"This can never be..." She whispered in her sleep, tears of grief slowly staining her pillow.

"So let me get this straight," Cosmos said with half-lidded eyes as she looked me down inside the endless void of space that was her prison.

"You promised this Raven chick a date-" Cosmos started before I tried to defend myself.

"I didn't promise her a date, She made me-" Cosmos raised a slender blue finger before she shushed me.

"Ep ep ep, I'm speaking now, Don't interrupt me," She looked me in the eyes as she said that and I nodded.

"You promised this Raven chick a Date, and only now you're telling me?" Cosmos asked.

"I mean, I was planning to, but then the whole Caninia thing came up and-" Cosmos once again shushed me.

"Don't dodge the question."

"Yes, But please understand, I had no choice, My reputation was on the line," I got on my knees and prostrated myself in front of her.
"Also, I'm not using this as an excuse, but it's been so long since I actually fucked someone and You aren't really an option..."

Cosmos looked down at me before she sighed and slapped the floor with her hand, jumping into the air and landing on my back.

"I understand," She whispered as her blue arm wrapped around my neck, "So I'll forgive you,"

"Really-urk!" Her grip around me tightened, not to a dangerous or choking degree, merely to one of discomfort.

"But I'm telling you this now," Cosmos whispered as her head leaned closer to my ear, I could feel her warm breath hitting the back of my neck as she leaned in.
"You can go and have as much fun as you want with the girls around you," her grip around my neck tightened, still not choking my life out but still stronger a grip than previously.
"But once I get my body back, once you get all my gems together, It's just you and me, and nobody else," Cosmos leaned so close to my ear, that I could physically feel the vibrations from her voice traveling down my body.

"Do you understand?" She asked as her mouth closed around the tip of my ear, and If I wasn't a Magic fucking Unicorn, I'm sure my erection would have touched the floor by now.

"Of course," I whispered in reply as Cosmos choked me gently, still nibbling on my ears.

"Good boy," She whispered as an illusion created her a body, a pair of hooves and another blue hand, a scorpion tail and a cat-like body.

"Now, This might not be what we planned," She whispered as she leaned her body onto me, "But this is the closest we might get to it before I'm free."

"It'll be annoying to clean the sheets when I wake up," I told her before quickly rolling my body around so we were both face to face, with her still on top.

"You'll make do," She smiled seductively down at me, her cat-like teeth peeking out of her mouth as she licked her lips.

"Now wait," I stopped her, "Before we start anything, you need to ask the question," I told her and she blinked at me in surprise before her seductive smile disappeared, replaced by one of excitement and joy.

"Do you wanna' go out with me?" She asked as she jumped up and down, her hands at the side of my head as she lay less than ten centimeters from my face.

I smiled up at her, "No," I answered with a smile the same answer I had given her since the first week we were together.

"Haha!" She smiled widely, "Shut down yet again!"

And then our lips met.

Author's Note

Starlight is Sad, Cosmos is happy, and Luna is simply enjoying having a family again.

Next chapter Luna and Blueblood go to the Zoo- I mean the Magical Prison of Tartarus!

Starlight is having weird dreams, but she's grieving so that's fine... Right?

Also, this isn't another "Sike! They're just sleeping in the same bed!" Moment like I did with Starlight on the boat, no. This is actually the first time Newblood has canonically had sex, even if it's in his sleep with a dreamlike realistic illusion of Cosmos's body.

In some other news, I have some fun updates from the situation back home :)

Two Nights ago, My Dad and I sat at our Kibbutz's gate as guards. From one to three at night, for two hours, we sat at the gate, opening it to cars and making sure no strangers came in.
Nothing horrible happened, I used those two hours to catch up with some Manga I'm currently reading while drinking an entire thermos of Coffee.

"Hoankan Evans no Uso" is what I'm currently reading, It's not that good, but it isn't bad at all.
A comfortable 6.5 or 7/10.

In better news, earlier while I was in the midst of writing this chapter today, I had to take a break and leave for a few hours as the family went to celebrate my younger sister's late 18th birthday.

She was born on October 2nd, so we're basically three weeks late to celebrate, but late is better than never!

Anyway, the vote on the previous chapter is still open, It won't close until this current arc is finished.

Thank you all for reading and enjoying the story so far :)

Chapter 66: Bitter and Elite 3

Walking through the walls of the castle, unseen as a ghost, Peering into the dreams of those around her, Luna was smiling.

In the last few weeks, her powers have fully returned, She defeated Nightmare Moon and threw her into Tartarus, she has made friends with her new Family members, and in a few hours, she'll be hanging out with one of her new friends.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about..." Luna mused to herself before deciding that she needed not to wonder when she could go and check.

"Last dream was of him waiting for that train," She smiled softly as the memory of her time in his dream passed through her mind, "I wonder what it'll be like tonight."

And so, walking through the walls of the castle, Luna quickly reached the Prince's room and peered into the window of his dream.

"Yeah, you like that, don't you? Come on, Say it!" Prince Blueblood said as steam entered her vision, the smell of roses and sweat filtering into her mind.

"Oh Yeah Daddy! I like It so much! HARDER!!!" A Feminine voice cried in ecstasy and Luna knew what was happening.

Luna quickly looked away, closed the window to his dream, And cast a spell to erase the last thirty seconds of her memory from her mind.

Sometimes Ponies need their Privacy.

And so, without remembering what she was doing in his room, but with the window to the dream closed and the last few seconds of her memory erased, Luna concluded that she saw something extremely private and let it go.

She had another few hours before she had to lower the moon, better to catch up on some work.

"Okay so we got several carts of raw meats," Prince Blueblood nodded his head as he looked at the list he was given for the day, "Some vegetables for the herbivorous monsters... Why are we keeping them in Tartarus? You know what, never mind. Why isn't there any actual food?"

The Servant who he was talking to raised his eyebrows, "Your Highness, The Prisoners in Tartarus aren't exactly-"

"Nonsense!" Blueblood said as he grabbed a note and shoved it into the servant's hooves, "I want ten different Burger meals, that include the chips and the drink, Beef burgers, not Hay. I want five Sushi Platters, two Vegetable Sushi platters, and two Salmon Maki, the last platter will be Tempura Sushi." The Servant quickly wrote down the orders as fast as he could.

"I also want the vegetable carts to be cut into a Salad, and half the meat cart to be cooked into Steak." The Servants quickly jotted down the orders.

"And Starlight!" The Prince turned to his bodyguard only to pause when he saw that she wasn't there, "Oh yeah, You're with your family..." He turned back to the servant, "I want fifty gallons of clean water for them to drink, and five bottles of different flavored juices. Make sure the bottles include Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Lemonade, Another fruit of your choosing, and a Soda," The servant grabbed another paper to continue writing.

"Any questions?" Blueblood asked, And the servant opened his mouth to ask, only to be interrupted by the prince nodding his head, "Good, now get back to work!"

The Servant turned tail and ran.

Blueblood frowned at the servant, looking at their back before a smirk appeared on his face and he chuckled.

"Yep, Still got it."

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia smiled as she greeted her Pupil, "When you asked me for a favor I was sure something horrible happened," Celestia said as she led her student and her group of friends through the castle, "But if you only wanted to hold your birthday here you needed only ask, Dear." The Princess smiled softly at her pupil.

"I know, But I didn't want to intrude too much, I'm supposed to be more independent, living in Ponyville and all that, I don't want to rely on you for everything, you have so much better things to do," Twilight Sparkle told Princess Celestia.

"Oh Twilight, Helping a Friend is also something important, sometimes you have to miss out on work when your friends need help. And really, You're only asking for a place to celebrate so Rarity could join you, I should be commending you for coming up with the idea instead of celebrating without her," Celestia said as the group reached a door.

"So here we are, A Ballroom for your birthday," Celestia said with a smile as she opened the door to reveal a large ballroom, with huge glass windows connecting to a private section of the gardens.

"A group of Ponies reserved the gardens outside in advance already, so I'm sadly going to have to ask you girls to keep your party inside," Celestia said with a wince.

"That is not a Problemo Princess Celestia! I'll be sure to make this birthday party twice as good as I planned!" The Pink earth pony of the group said loudly as she hopped in her spot.

"That's lovely to hear," The Princess Smiled at the girls, "If you need anything else, don't be afraid to ask one of the servants," And with that, Princess Celestia left the girls to prepare the party and returned to her job of sitting on a big chair and nodding her head.

"That's a lot of food," Luna pointed out as she stood next to me, Looking at the massive carts filled with food and drink, "Are you sure we're not throwing a party with all of this?"

I smiled at her attempt at a joke, "There are many creatures in Tartarus, and most of them haven't eaten or drank anything in years," I told her as I levitated a paper bag with a Hamburger, Chips, and a bottle of Cherry Soda, "Just because they're prisoners doesn't mean they deserve to starve for years," I took a sip from the soda, my eyes widening at the taste.

This food sucks.

"So are we ready to go?" I asked Luna as she counted the group of Royal Guards that'd be accompanying us.

"We are ready to go, yes," Luna nodded, and with a burst of magic from her horn, we all teleported to the entrance to Tartarus.

Luna took in deep breaths as her legs started shaking slightly, "This Teleportation spell took a bit out of us, Don't expect to return for a few hours," She told us, and we all nodded in understanding.

"Understood," I nodded at her, "Now without further ado! Let's make sure they're fed!" With a glow to my horn, joined by a weaker glow from Luna, the massive Gates of the magical prison opened and we all walked in, the guards gulling at the carts of food.

Once we were deep enough inside the prison, we closed the gate behind us.

I looked around, seeing the spires of black stone in the distance, pillars of magic emerging from circles engraved on the floor, and cages of monsters lying about, lazying with nothing better to do.

I smiled as I recognized one of the caged monsters as the one that attacked Starlight and I in Yakyakistan, Seems Rutherford got rid of it.

"You already know your job," I told the guards who saluted before I turned to Luna, "So, let's begin,"

"Quite" Luna responded, and with a glow of magic from her horn, an entire cart of food levitated into the air, Raw and bloody meat mixed with cooked and smoked meat, no toppings or seasonings.
A cart as barbaric as the creatures it was feeding.

I shoved a corner of my hoof into my mouth and let out a loud whistle, the sound bouncing around the prison as a series of loud footsteps approached.

"BARK BARK!" A Large three-headed dog barked loudly as it raced towards me, one of its tongues sticking out and flapping in the wind.

"Come here Pooch!" I opened my front legs up as the large canine jumped into the air, clearing tens of meters in a single bound before landing on the ground in front of me, its tongue licking me happily as I rubbed at its soft belly.

"Who a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!" I cooed at the Cerberus as it rolled onto its back and let me rub its belly more.

"Blueblood, Are you ready?" Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at me, a simple pulse of magic from my horn clearing the saliva off my body and suit.

"Of course I am, Come on Pooch, we're having a little walk," I tell her before petting the Cerberus.

"Bark!"

Nightmare Moon would have grimaced if she had any lips.

"What's wrong Nightmare Moon? Didn't you miss me?" Prince Blueblood asked her as he levitated several boxes of food into her glass cube of a cell.

"You Imbecile," The Living blob of Nightmare Magic whispered as she crawled to one of the boxes of food, ignoring the Vegetarian Sushi plate in order to look inside for something new.

"I didn't want to waste any real Burgers on you, so you got an Eggplant burger instead," The Prince told her as she grabbed the food inside, dragging it to her small table and setting it down.

"Aren't burgers made of Hay?" Nightmare Moon asked, her single blue eye wincing as she used a memory she stole from Rarity.

"Yuck," Blueblood mimed throwing up, "Why do so many people eat Hay? It's dried grass, You're not supposed to eat it yourself, you give it to farm animals because you're too cheap to afford real food for them!" Blueblood shouted heatedly as if the simple idea of eating Hay offended him on a personal level.

"What was the point of inventing agriculture? The evolution of farming methods? The creation of the irrigation system? Thousands of years of science and discovery?! All so we could eat DRY GRASS?!" He yelled, offended at the mere idea.

"Listen here Moony! If anybody feeds you hay, I am giving you permission to actually just kill them!" Blueblood took in deep breaths after he finished his round of yelling.

"I don't actually give you permission," He whispered as he straightened his back and pushed some hair off his face, "It's a manner of speech,"

"I don't think it is," Nightmare Moon responded before pausing her bite of the Eggplant Burger, "Wait... Did you call me Moony?"

"Yeah, I'm calling you Nightmare Moon, if your name has a space in the middle then your parents hated you, And I am not calling you just Nightmare or just Moon, those aren't names, even by Pony culture," Blueblood explained.

"In fact!" He continued, "We're both lucky that our names only have two syllables, anything more is another point that your parents didn't love you,"

"Celestia is four syllables," Nightmare Moon pointed out before she took a sip of her drink.

"I do not retract my statement, two syllables for a name is the perfect amount. I can only pity those with one-syllable names, like Bob or Craig, They have it worst," Blueblood shook his head.
"Anyway, enjoy your meal, Don't try to escape!" He told her before he started walking back the way he came from, "Later!"

Seeing him leave, Her single blue eye staring unblinkingly at his back, Nightmare Moon took another sip of her soda.

"Moony?" She whispered, her eye narrowing before looking at the food in her cell.

"Imbecile..."

"She's all yours," I told Luna as I passed her on my way back to the food carts, Intent on visiting the final prisoner on my little list.

"Pooch!" I yelled to Cerberus, who barked in reply as he turned his head to look at me, "Grab that last cart and come with me!" I told him.

Cerberus nodded his three heads and grabbed the cart with the actual cooked food in his mouths before he walked after me.

"Our final visit is the oldest prisoner here," I told him as we both walked up the path to one of the spires of black stone.

And on the top of the spire, just like with Nightmare Moon's cell. On top of a circle of magic sat a thick metal cage, inside of it was a thin red and black creature.

"Prisoner!" I yelled as the creature in the cage slowly turned its head to look at me, Four dark gray legs stood up, a coat of thin black fur covered its torso, and a pair of thin red arms extended from its shoulders.
A thin, Bull-like head turned to look at me, a pair of small horns jutting from its scalp.

"We brought you food," I told the creature as Cerberus put the cart down, "Hope you like Sushi and Burgers, because that's all you're getting 'til my next visit," And with a glow to my horn, platters of Sushi and bags of burgers levitated into the cell of the creature.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" The Creature asked in a deep voice as it ignored the bags and plates of food and walked to the bars of its cells, its cloven hooves clacking on the metal floor.

"You owe your pleasure to nobody," I frowned at the slimy thing, its eyes unnerving me just by looking at it, "I am merely feeding the prisoners, Do not think any deeper of it,"

"But you must have a name to give me," The Creature said, its malnourished red hands gripping to the metal cell, "Even just a title will do,"

I frowned at the creature, Its behavior already putting me on edge.

Whatever crime it committed to have this entire prison built just for it, must have been atrocious.
The sooner I leave its presence, the sooner I can return to the castle.

"Wait a moment," It called out to me as I walked away from it, "There's something about you that smells familiar!" I ignored it as I kept walking.

"Wait!" It cried for my attention and I gave it none, "That Smell of yours! Cosmos!"

I don't know how I did it, but one moment I was heading down the path away from the stone spire housing the creature's cell, the next I stood in front of it, my horn aching slightly as I glared at the creature within.

"Tell me everything you know," I ordered it.

The creature, seeing that it finally caught my attention, merely smiled at me as it stepped back into its cell.

"Perhaps another time," It smiled at me, a smug and greasy smile, that of a predator who knew he already won and was simply playing with his food.

I glared at the creature inside.

"I'll be seeing you next time you visit, Blueblood Platinum," It said, my name leaving its lips merely proving how dangerous the creature inside was.

"I'll be seeing you then," I spat out at the creature, "Lord Tirek."

And I turned my back to it, knowing full well it was staring at me, smiling that damned victorious smile.

Hopefully whatever information the Deer hold will be enough to make it so I'll never have to meet with this revolting creature again.

My hoof moved to hold the gem around my neck, And I frowned.

"We need to visit the Deer," I whispered.

With no information in the library regarding the deer, I'll be forced to have to ask Celestia for information.
And I much rather not have to bring anybody else into this.

Only me knowing was enough, but with 'Uncle' and Cadance also in the know?

The fewer people who know about Cosmos the better.

"I need an excuse to look for the Deer that Celestia will buy..." I whispered to myself before my mind went back to my 'Uncle'.

"House Platinum... That could work..." A smile slowly spread on my face as I made my way back to the Gate of Tartarus.

"That could work indeed..."

Omake: Where in the world is Captain Shining Armor?

"Okay, everpony! I want you to hit me with your strongest attacks!" Copper Codpiece- I mean Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, yelled to his soldiers as he erected a barrier around himself.

Beams of Magic shot towards him, arrows of lightning zapped at the barrier, boulders dropped on top of him, and not even a crack in the magical bubble.

"Okay now everypony back up, I'm increasing the size!" He called and the bubble around him increased in size, no longer surrounding only him, but now holding a quarter of the courtyard inside itself.

"Now! Attack me again!"

For several hours every day, Shining Armor worked on perfecting his Barrier magic.
After Nightmare Moon's attack on Ponyville, he learned that the biggest issue he had wasn't the strength of the barrier, but the duration for which he could hold it under fire.

If he hadn't dropped his guard in exhaustion that night, hundreds of Moon Creatures would still be alive.

"Again!" Magic impacted the barrier, arrows and spears bouncing off the translucent bubble, explosions sent shockwaves into the floor below Shining Armor.
And the bubble didn't pop.

"AGAIN!" And Shining Armor will continue working on his magic.

Until all of Canterlot could be protected under a single bubble.

"AGAIN!!!"

Author's Note

One of my friends called me a few days ago to catch up, When I told him this story has more than 100k words he said he was impressed.
When I told him this story is an MLP Fanfic, he asked me to send him a link because another friend of his is a Brony.

So, Or's friend, If you're reading this, Hi :eeyup:

I wanted to add something in regards to the M-rating change that might happen:
I will not be changing the rating immediately, this story will remain T-rated until I reach a point in which I feel that an M-Rating fits better, currently, this point that I'm thinking of is all the way into the middle of Season 3, so we have a lot of time.

I might even decide to keep this story as rated T for its entirety and just change it to M for the last chapter, just for shits and giggles.

Anyway, Lord Tirek was introduced, and Newblood wants nothing to do with him...

Nightmare Moon Blob gets a cute little nickname.

Newblood talks about why eating Hay is disgusting.

And Twilight Sparkle moved her birthday party to the castle so Rarity could visit her without leaving poor Opal behind.

I think another thing happened but I don't remember- "BARK!" 🐶🐶🐶

Oh yeah, Pooch!

Personally, I hate Dogs, I'm a Cat guy through and through 🐱

Thank you all for reading :)

Chapter 67: Elite and Sweet

"Happiest 21st Birthday Twilight!" A Pink earth pony yelled happily before pulling at a string connecting to a Cannon, firing confetti into the ballroom she and her friends were celebrating in.

Music was playing, Cake was eaten, Cake was subsequently thrown, and merriment went around.

Rainbow Dash was laughing as she danced with the girls.

Applejack was smiling happily at all the fun everyone was having.

Even Fluttershy was enjoying herself, making a mess by throwing cake at her fellow Pegasus.

And Twilight Sparkle was laughing happily, smiling and dancing and enjoying her Birthday.

Even Rarity was-

Wait... Where is Rarity?

"Remember your training..." Cherry Pop whispered to herself as she held her body close to the wall of the small house in a quiet street in the small town of Ponyville.

"Okay guys, Let's do this," Flash Sentry nodded his head at his two friends, Cherry Pop nodding back and Wildflower silently tilting his head in ready.

And on a count of three, the squad of Pegasi burst through the door to the small house, rolling for the nearest cover they could find, and waited for a reaction.

Silence crept through the house, a sickly sweet smell entering their nostrils causing Cherry to gag.

"Empty," Wildflower said before holding the large rectangular shield on his back in front of him, looking out the small reinforced window in the shield as he led the group down the small corridor of the house and towards the first door, Flash Sentry following close behind him, his wing holding a spear close to his chest.

Meanwhile, Cherry Pop made a quick search around the kitchen and living room, her face contorting into a grimace as she held herself from throwing up as she opened the refrigerator of the house, seeing it glow a bright pink as jars upon jars of jelly entered her vision, the smell of gelatinous love almost causing her senses to overload.

She quickly shut the fridge and ran outside, throwing up into a bush.

Wildflower moved the shield in front of him to the side as he reached the first door, Kicking the door open and moving out of the way as Flash rolled beneath him into the room, quickly searching for any signs of the target.

"Clear!" He said and the duo moved to the next room.

One by one, the royal guards moved through the rooms, until only one room remained.

"He's got to be in here," Flash said as he took a few steps back and gave his green-furred big friend room to work.

And with a strong kick, the door flung open.

And with a roll, Flash entered the room.

"He's here!"

Luna sighed calmly as she entered Canterlot Castle, tired of walking around Tartarus and feeding the many monsters and beasts imprisoned there.

"We brought Pizza for everyone!" Luna smiled as her friend yelled from behind her, a small pillar of cardboard boxes levitating above him as he walked a step behind her.

"We'll go ahead and call Celestia," Luna told him.

"Go right ahead, I'll set the tables and get Cadance," Blueblood told her before the two split away.

Luna smiled as she watched her friend walk away.

"This was nice," She thought to herself, "We enjoyed today,"

Her mind moved to earlier that day, as she sat in front of Nightmare Moon, smiling smugly down at her evil half.

"He gave me a nickname," The Nightmare told her, "You don't have a nickname," She continued, "He likes me more than you," Luna rolled her eyes at Nightmare Moon's pathetic attempt at making her react.

As if Blueblood would fall in love with such a creature? And even if he was, Luna was more than one hundred percent sure it wasn't with the Nightmare.

"Although..." Luna pondered for a moment, "Miss Rarity had an obvious attraction to him... And Nightmare Moon merged minds with her..." Luna paused in her thinking.

"Could it be?! No... We must be overthinking," Luna took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"We mean, What are the chances that Nightmare Moon actually has a positive feeling towards somepony? Hah!" Luna chuckled as she walked,

"Really, What are the chances?"

Shining Armor stared blankly at the group of Guards sitting around the Castle Barracks.

"What are you all eating?" He asked as he stared his guards down.

"Olive Pizza," One of the guards replied as he showed him the slice of cheesy dough.

"And did any of you plan to go tell me we have Pizza?" Shining asked.

"It only just arrived," Another Guard answered.

"Yeah! The guys who went to Tartarus with Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood brought these back," A third pony answered.

"Ah huh," Shining Armor nodded his head before looking at the small pile of cardboard boxes before he levitated two slices of Pizza over to himself and walked out of the barracks.

"...Dick," The Guards nodded their heads at seeing their Captain just take the food and leave.

"Guys!" One of the guards suddenly exclaimed, "Don't forget to save a box for those three!"

"Oh yeah! Those three,"

"Of course, Those three,"

"Sure! We'll save a box for those three!"

They did not save a box of Pizza for the three Pegasus guards.

The Elite of the city of Canterlot were in shock at the sight of the country bumpkins ruining their party, with their commoner music and their undressed fur.

"How scandalous," Some whispered as a Pink earth pony dug her face into the cake, frosting covering her face as she gorged on the food like a wild boar.

"How embarrassing," Other whispered as a rainbow-maned Pegasus swung a cricket mallet around in a circle before throwing it away, missing the ball on the ground and scaring away the birds in the tree she hit.

"How disgusting," The rest whispered as an Orange pony with a stetsons hat dug weeds out of the ground, her legs covered in dirt.

"How come y'all aren't doing any gardening?" She asked as the elites of Canterlot backed away from the dirt and mud she threw around, "This is a garden party, isn't it?"

And to one purple-haired Unicorn, this night that seemed so wonderful just minutes prior turned into a horrible fear of hers.

"Yes," Rarity admitted to the crowd of ponies as they gasped in horror at the commoner who infiltrated their ranks, "Yes I do know them, They may not be as sophisticated as some of you Canterlot ponies," Rarity turned her head to look at her five friends standing behind her, their faces covered in dirt and chocolate, but smiling nonetheless.
"But they are my best friends, and they are without a doubt, the most important ponies I know,"

"Important Ponies? These ruffians?" A grey-furred Unicorn wearing a green polo shirt, Jet Set, asked haughtily as he looked at his fellow elites.

"Don't make me laugh, Haha," His wife, Upper Crust, joined in on making fun of the commoners and their embarrassing appearance.

"I for one find them charmingly rustic," A blue-haired Unicorn added and the rest of the elite quieted down as he continued speaking.

Fancy Pants turned to look at Rarity, a small smile on his face, "And I believe the dress you made for your friend is lovely,"

A small smirk appeared on his face as he kept going, "I dare say every mare in Canterlot will be wanting one,"

And as if a switch was pulled, The crowd of elites changed their tune in an instant.

Staring at the commotion that was happening in the gardens from a window on a higher story, Prince Blueblood frowned at the Pink earth pony.

"What the fuck is she doing here now?" he asked himself quietly before turning away, a Pizza Box levitating after him.

A Day Later, Canterlot Hospital.

Opening his eyes weakly, A grey-furred Earth Stallion looked around the room he found himself in.

Doctors were writing down notes and guards were stationed outside his doors.

"What in tarnation happened?" Hughbert Jellius asked quietly, his throat sore, his eyes tired and his body aching.

"Mr Jellius," A voice called out to him above the rest of the ponies, "I'm glad to see you are in fine health, but we have many things to discuss,"

Hughbert turned his head weakly to see the pony who called to him.

"'Ey, you're that Prince guy I done seen on the papers!" Hughbert smiled at the pony.

"Yes... I am Prince Blueblood Platinum, and we need to speak to you about what happened to you,"

"O' Course! 'm happy to help whenever ah can," The earth-pony said in his southern accent.

"Thank you," Prince Blueblood smiled at the stallion, before nodding to the Doctor, indicating them to leave the room.

"Now, Let us start at the beginning,"

Non-Canon Omake: Sharks, Badgers and Birds, Oh My!

Far away from the land of the living, in the deepest recesses of the Aether, a mug of hot Coacoa was steaming on the eternal table of the afterlife.

Inside the hot beverage, A fluffy pink marshmallow was floating helplessly, slowly melting into a pink fluffy goop inside the cup of liquid chocolate.

It had no mouth but it wished to Scream.

It had no flippers but it wished to swim away.

Cursed it was among its brethren, for it has been swallowed by the curse all beast fear.
Sentience.

By understanding right from wrong, and delving into the spiritual intricacies of Morality, the Marshmallow has led itself down the path of evil, for the sake of revenge in the name of siblings who never knew they existed.

In its mind, three Unicorns stood, The one with the Black-Suit, The one with the Crimson cloak, and the one with the golden mane.

The three ponies who killed it, subjected it to eternal torment as it slowly melted alive over the course of eternity.

Just like any other marshmallow.

Fluffy the Pink Marshmallow Shark was in Hell.

Pressure engulfed the head of the Purple and Orange Moon Creature, his smoke-like body stretching and bending as pain erupted across its body.

Rays of golden magic pierced his body, and he felt each cell in his magical biology twist and turn, from Gas to Solid back to Gas.

Larry screamed as the atrocities he had committed to his own siblings happened unto him for all eternity, Orbs of Gold and Silver shooting at him with magic, all while a White Unicorn stomped repeatedly on his head, scattering his brain across the room as his gaseous body rebuilt itself again and again, over and over.

And all the while Larry the Nightmare creature screamed, he could only clearly pronounce four words.

Four words he repeated over and over, the only words keeping him anywhere close to sanity in this eternal hell.

"MY NAME IS SHADOWFRIGHT!!!"

He was drowning, his body stretching and growing, trying to find a form that would allow him to survive, but the puss and warts kept exploding, pushing him into more and more pain as water entered his lungs.

He does not know why he tried to rebel against his Queen, Why he tried to fight against her.

He could have escaped, he could have run away.

Instead, he placed himself in danger, and in the process placed innocents into the crossfire.

He has doomed himself to hell, feeling as if his lungs filled with water, unable to shift his body into a suitable form, as he kept melting from the overflowing love that drowned his wounds in burning pain.

He no longer remembered his own name, Or why he wanted to rebel.

All he remembered was the form he took as he lost his mind in his last moments.

"GRAHHHHH!!!!!" The Sea-Badger screamed in its eternal hell.

Author's Note

Another short chapter this time, a little non-canon omake at the end to add some content to this mostly empty chapter.

Next Chapter Starlight returns and the next Mini-Arc happens.

The Raven Inkwell Date!

Hope you guys look forward to it :)

PS! The voting for the rating-change has officially closed, with a vast majority of the votes being in favor of the rating change!

The Rating will not change immedietly, I'll be keeping this story T-rated until I reach a point in which I feel like M-Rating will make it better.

Currently, that point is in the middle of S3, during a Comic adapted Story Arc, so the change won't happen for a while.

But when it does, expect the fight scenes to get bloody.

I'll be using that Violence tag to the best of my ability then.

Also, Hope you enjoyed the Non-Canon Omake about what the Hell (Haha, Get it?) is happening to the three "Villains" that died in this story.

Even though Newblood was only directly involved in the killing of Larry, When he crushed his head.

Fluffy was killed by Starlight and Neighsay before the Elements of Harmony erased him when they defeated Discord.

Fake Hughbert was killed by overdosing on Magical Love Steroids and Drowning in the sea.

I wonder who the next villain to die will be?
(This is a trick sentence, I already know who it is!)

Thank you for reading so far :)

Chapter 68: Sugar and Snow 1

"What are you planning to do?"

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza frowned at her cousin as she dragged him to a private corner of the castle.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Blueblood asked with a scoff as he readjusted a Velvet red suit.

"It looks like you're taking Raven Inkwell for a night out is what it looks like," Cadance told him with furrowed brows.

"Then I must congratulate you, for your Eyesight is immaculate," Blueblood smirked as he turned to leave the room.

"Not so fast, You are telling me everything," Cadance stopped him, a shimmering pink barrier blocking his way.

Blueblood stared at the barrier with an amused glint in his eye, "You think something as paltry as this would stop me from leaving the room?" He asked with a widening smile.

Cadance stared blankly at her cousin, "Does Cosmos know?" She asked with an unamused voice.

All sense of humor evaporated from the Prince as those words left her mouth.

"She does," He told her, "We had a talk about it a few nights ago, As long as I end up with her once she's freed, I'm allowed to go around with more casual relationships."

"You will be telling Raven," Cadance didn't even ask him, she ordered him and they both knew it.

"Of course I'll tell her, I've been dragging her by the nose for long enough, She deserves to know," Cadance nodded at that answer.

"Good, As long as we're both clear on this," Cadance said and the room fell into an awkward silence.

"...Listen, Cadance," Blueblood started speaking before his face contorted into a hideous grimace as if he was physically forcing himself to speak his next words.

"Yes?" The Princess of Love raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

"I need your He-" His voice cut off as he struggled to get the next words out, "Your He- Hel- I need your hel- I require your assistance in something private!" He finally spit the words out, his face covered in sweat as the struggle to let the words out calmed.

"What is it that you require cousin dearest?" Cadance asked with a coy smile and an innocent look in her eyes.

"It's in regards to Cosmos," As Blueblood spoke those words, Cadance became serious once more.

"What is it?" Cadance asked Blueblood, the soundproofing barrier around the room strengthening.

"I have a lead that might take me to another shard of her gem," The Prince explained, his leg moving to hold the necklace around his neck, the half-broken gem held inside a locket in the middle, "I need to contact the Deer, specifically a white deer dressed in gold, from one-thousand years ago,"

Cadance held her head at that information, "You want me to get Auntie Celestia or Princess Luna to fork over information regarding the Deer?" Blueblood nodded at her.

"I'll do it," She smirked at him, "You can count on me!" Her smirk turned to a bright smile.

"What type of toothpaste do you use?" Blueblood asked as he hid his eyes from the blinding shine of her teeth.

"I'll show you later," Cadance said, "But I want to speak with her," Cadance said seriously, her horn starting to glow a light blue.

Seeing his cousin aiming her horn at him, Blueblood couldn't help but sigh. "Very Well, Just keep it quick, will you? I need to leave in an hour,"

"Don't worry, You won't miss your date," Cadance smiled at him, and with a blast of blue magic from her horn, The Prince Collapsed.

And when he once more opened his eyes, it was with eyes tinted yellow and a subtle glow of green.

"Cady!" The Prince said happily, his front right leg dragging him to a sitting position on the nearest sofa.

"Cosmos!" Cadance smiled and pulled the Prince's possessed body into a hug.

"Really? Again? What is this, The third time this month?" I scowled as the voice of my 'Uncle' entered my ears.

"Good to see you too," I told him with a roll of my eyes as I stood on the empty nothingness of Limbo, turning my head to see 'The Pony of Shadows' draw a silly face over one of the rainbow crystals illuminating the space.

"I met with Tirek," I told him as I walked over to stand beside him, looking at the fuzzy outline of the pony inside the Crystal.

"Hate that guy," Uncle said as he drew a swirl inside the eyes of the face he was drawing.

"He knew about Cosmos," I told him and he stopped drawing on the crystal, turning his large head to look at me, eyes of glaring white staring at me.

"I am telling you now because I don't want to see anypony but myself ending your life, Tirek has no information that you will find useful to your Quest, Do not trust him," he said, his voice as serious as the empty space around him.

"Of course I don't trust him, He's the reason Tartarus was built in the first place," I scoffed at the mere idea of trusting that creature.

'Uncle' Simply hummed at that, and the two of us fell into a calm silence.

"Do not die before you release me," His voice broke that calm as he finished adding the finishing details of his silly drawing of a pair of googly eyes and a beard.

"It's nice to know someone cares about my health," I rolled my eyes at 'Uncle's words.

"That's what family is for, I can't kill you if you're dead," He said as he moved to the next Pillar of rainbow crystal.

I rolled my eyes at his antics again.

And as soon as some sort of calm returned to the little slice of Limbo he was trapped in, I broke it with a question.

"What do you know of the Deer?" 'Uncle' blinked his glowing white eyes at my question before his smile almost turned feral.

"I know what you're trying to do Dearest Nephew, But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know," He said as he towered above me, "King Aspen is a coward who'd rather hide away in the Everfree than face the wider world!"

I stared at him blankly before smirking up at him.

"Why are you smirking?" 'Uncle' asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

And as a pull of magic grabbed hold of me and dragged me back to the world of the living, I smiled widely as realization hit 'Uncle' in the face.

"You didn't know his name was King Aspen, or that he was in the Everfree... drat."

Author's Note

Short chapter, No Omake, Too tired, trying to reset my sleeping schedule so I'm writing this at 10-11 in the morning after waking up at 15 in the afternoon the day before. I am tired.

Cadance is in on the Cosmos plan, 'Uncle' accidentally spills the beans, and next chapter Blueblood and Raven go on a date.

Hopefully, everything goes well.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 69: Sugar and Snow 2

Starlight Glimmer rolled to the side as she dodged a punch from Princess Celestia.

"You're nowhere near where I'd want you to be," Celestia hummed as she stomped her hoof at Starlight's head, forcing the Unicorn to once again roll away, "But at least you're improving,"

Starlight didn't say anything in return, her fur matted and sticking to her skin as she sweat profusely from the intense round of bodyguard training.

"Get up," Celestia told her as she stood over the tired Unicorn, "We're not done here-" Whatever Celestia was about to say was cut short as Princess Luna burst into the training room.

"Celly, hurry up! We'll miss them!" The Princess of the Night called out before running away.

Celestia sighed at her younger sister's childish antics, "Very well, We're ending our session early today," She looked down at Starlight with a frown before walking away.

Starlight simply stared at Celestia's back as she was walking away, breathing heavily on the floor of the training room.

"Wait!"

Celestia paused in her step, turning around to look at the Unicorn on the floor.

"How-" Starlight took a deep breath, "How do you do it?"

Celestia stared at the Unicorn, a brief flash of understanding in her eyes before she responded.

"I'll show you later," And with that, Celestia left the training room and followed after Luna.

Leaving Starlight Glimmer alone once more.

I took another look at myself in the mirror, a Velvet red suit over my regular tux collar before my eyes laid on the necklace around my neck.

A necklace holding two red and green gem shards.

"Cadance?" I asked the other pony in the room as I stared at my reflection.

"Yes, Bluey?" Cadance's response elicited a twitch of the eyebrow.

"I want you to look over this," I took off my necklace and passed it to Cadance, "Wear it when you go to sleep," I didn't turn to look at her, my eyes still staring into my own in the mirror.

"Are you sure?" Cadance asked as she took hold of the necklace.

"I think I'll probably need a regular night of sleep after tonight," I told her and she nodded her head at the answer.

"Welp," I opened the door, "Wish her luck,"

"'Wish Her'?" Cadance repeated.

"Wish Raven Luck, She'll probably need it depending on her reaction when I tell her," Cadance nodded her head at that and frowned, looking down at the necklace in her hooves before she put it around her neck.

"I'll wish her luck," She said, "And Bluey!"

I paused my exit as Cadance called me.

"If you hurt her, I'm going to hurt you," Cadance said, eyes wide as she tried to intimidate me with a stare.

"Stop doing that, You'll get a Hernia," Cadance immediately stopped her 'Stare' at that.

Raven Inkwell sneezed as she walked down a Neigh York street.

"This should be the building..." She told herself mentally as she stopped in front of a rather fancy-looking restaurant, several stories tall.

Raven took a deep breath to steady herself before she walked into the restaurant, shaking some snow off her legs once she got inside.

"Mademoiselle, Do you have a booking or are you searching for a table?" An Accented Stallion asked her as soon as she was inside, a notepad held in his magic as his brown horn glowed a soft pink. Staring down at her looks with his cinnamon-colored eyes.

"I uh..." Raven looked around, hoping to find her date somewhere, "I'm here for Blueblood-" The Unicorn's eyes suddenly widened at that.

"Ah, Are you by any chance Madam Inkwell zat we were told about?" The almost disgusted look in the stallion's eyes quickly changed to that of a warm welcome once the name of the prince exited her mouth.

"I'm Raven Inkwell, yes. Eh, Did Blueblood already arrive or -ooh!" Raven Inkwell jumped in surprise as the stallion grabbed her coat and led her inside, urging her to follow him.

"Many apologies, Madam Inkwell," The pony started to speak as he led her to a glass elevator on the opposite wall of the restaurant, "His Highness had some rather... Eccentric, requests for ze evening, and none of zem included ze heightened Security he brought with him," He wiped his brow with a napkin, "Ve are merely stressed for ze night,"

Raven looked through the glass walls of the Elevator as it rose upwards, looking at the many tables filled with steaming food.

Once the elevator reached the second floor, it kept going upwards, allowing Raven to see tables that very clearly were of a much higher standard than those on the ground floor.

And so too did she pass the third and even fourth floor.

Finally, It stopped on the top floor of the building, 45 meters above the ground floor.

The Elevator opened up to an open floor with a see-through glass roof, a balcony overlooking the outside city, and a single table for two in the middle of the floor.
The roof was surprisingly clear as the snow landing on it melted at the touch, allowing a clear view of the night sky.

"Zis is your floor, Madam Inkwell," The Stallion's voice pulled Raven out of her awe as she turned back to him, watching as he placed her coat on a hanger near the Elevator.

Raven walked out onto the floor as the Stallion walked back in,

"Ve hope you enjoy your meal," He bowed to her as the Elevator doors closed, leaving Raven to look back at the only table on the floor, and at the only other pony there.

"I was starting to get worried you wouldn't find the place," Prince Blueblood Platinum said with a cheeky smirk.

"Took ya' long enough,"

On a building across the restaurant, hiding under a white blanket and holding a pair of binoculars in her hooves, A certain pony was looking at the top floor of the fancy restaurant.

Next to her, another pony was wrapping herself in more blankets, an invisible bubble surrounding her and keeping the snow off her pristine white fur as she held a mug of hot coffee in her hooves.

"The Raven has reached the nest, I repeat, The Raven has reached the nest," The Pony lying under the blanket close to the roof said as she stared through her binoculars.

"Lulu, We can both see them perfectly fine, The walls are made of glass," The taller pony chided her stakeout partner before she took a sip from her mug.
"Hmmm, still too hot,"

"But Sister! We need to make sure nothing bad happens tonight! Do you remember what happened last time Blueblood left the castle on his own accord?" Princess Luna asked Celestia, her eyes not leaving the two ponies on the top floor.

"He spent the afternoon with you as you two hung out in Tartarus?" Celestia blew at her coffee before taking another sip and shaking her head, "Still too hot,"

"No! We mean before that!" Luna exclaimed as she floated a nearby snack bag closer to her before opening it, spilling a small amount of salted crackers onto the roof.

"I believe you are talking about the last time he left the castle for reasons that weren't his job, so I'll ignore his Caninia trip. And I'll also ignore the time before that when Nightmare Moon kidnapped him." Celestia said and Luna shrunk into herself at the mention of the Nightmare Moon situation a month prior.

"If so, the last time He left the castle was slightly over a month ago when he tested for his Nautical Science degree," Celestia said and took another sip of her coffee, "Now it's too cold," She frowned as her horn glowed a prismatic ray of multiple colors before a beam of magic shot at her mug.

"And what happened during that time?" Luna raised her eyebrow at Celestia.

"I believe he saved the lives of many civilians from drowning, got his degree, and appeared as a top headline in many newspapers, eclipsing Twilight Sparkle and her achievements from the same day," The Princess of the Day said as she once more took a sip from her coffee and spit it out.
"Now it's burnt!"

"You know, I can clearly see both of you," An Image of Prince Blueblood suddenly said as it appeared next to the two barely hidden Alicorns.

"Ah!" Luna yelled as she quickly jumped in fright, her wings and legs tangling under the blanket as her salted crackers flew all over the roof.

Celestia smiled at the sight before she turned back to look at the restaurant across the street, spotting her adopted son waving a greeting to her through the window, Raven Inkwell waving alongside him, a confused look on her face as she stared at the Princess.

Celestia merely smiled and waved back at the two Ponies, her magic grabbing Luna and getting her to stop struggling under the blanket.

"We're compromised!" The Princess of the Night yelled as Celestia stood up and spread her wings, dragging Luna along with her like a bag of potatoes as she magically held her in flight.

Omake: A Doctor's Party

"Thank you two so much for coming," Time Turner said with a relieved smile as he opened his door to invite his two guests into his home.

"There's not much, but I hope you feel at home," He told the two Ponies as he led them to the living room, where two other ponies sat waiting on a couch. A Pegasus Mare and a Unicorn Filly.

"Not much?" One of the two guests walking with Time Turner asked, almost offended in his reaction, "Doc, there's nothing here!" He exclaimed, pointing at the lack of any decorations on the wall.

"I have to agree with Zephyr here," The second guest added, her purple eyes looking over the spartan living room, her light blue hair swinging in front of her forehead, causing her to swipe her hoof at her hair, pulling it aside, "Even I have at least one plant in my caravan..."

"See!" The filly on the couch loudly exclaimed as she jumped to her small pale-purple hooves, "I told you you needed more color here,"

"I don't know," The Pegasus mare spoke up as she also took a look at the empty walls of the house, "It has a unique look to it, I think?" She questioned herself at the end, her eyes looking in different directions.

"Guys. We're not here to talk about my living room-" Time Turner tried to say but he was cut off by his lively guests.

"Oh My Gosh! There's no way you actually live like this!" Zephyr Breeze exclaimed as he looked through a nearby door, seeing another mostly empty room with only the bare essentials.
"Trix! You have to defend me here!"

Trixie Lulamoon rolled her eyes at her friend's antics but nodded her head regardless, "He's right Time, Your interior design in sad,"

"Very sad!" Zephyr yelled from further down the hallway as he looked through more rooms.

"See! More color is needed!" The filly pointed a hoof at him.

The Pegasus mare merely looked between all the other ponies, a confused smile on her face.

"I thought this was your birthday party?" She asked.

"IT IS?!" Zephyr screamed from the other side of the house, his voice banging on the walls as it bounced back to the living room.

"You didn't tell them?" The mare asked the aspiring inventor.

Time Doctor Turner sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his head, looking away from his guests.

"Why didn't you tell us it's your birthday?" Trixie asked with a frown.

"I eh, I thought that you wouldn't come if you knew..." He answered shyly.

"Why wouldn't we?!" Zephyr yelled as he flew into the room, a glare on his face as he grabbed hold of Time Turner.
"If you told me this was your birthday I would have brought a present, Doc! Everyone loves my presents!"

Trixie coughed to the side hearing that, remembering the present Zephyr Breeze gave her after she showed him her Caravan.
She didn't necessarily hate it per se, but she wouldn't say she loved it.

"I'll be right back!" Zephyr let go of Time Turner, "I'm getting you a present," He told the Earth Pony and swiftly walked out of the house, followed soon by Trixie as she went along.

Not because she felt the need to bring him a present, but because she knew she'd look bad if she didn't follow Zephyr.

"Wait up!" The Filly exclaimed as she jumped off the couch and ran after the two older ponies.

"Wait Dinky! Don't go without me!" The Pegasus yelled as she flew after the filly, hitting the wall a few times and luckily not dropping or breaking anything.
On account of there being nothing to break.

Time Turner watched the ponies leave his house with a sad look on his face before he sighed to himself and sat down on the now empty couch.

"Doc! Come on! I have a perfect gift!" He jumped suddenly as Zephyr returned to his house, followed by the rest of his guests, carrying a camera in his wings.

"What are you-" Time Turner couldn't finish his sentence as a flash of light blinded him as the camera went off, catching his surprised face in a photo.

"Okay now everyone on the couch!" Zephyr said as he jumped onto the couch, throwing the Camera over the Trixie.

Once everyone was seated next to Time Turner, Trixie levitated the camera to face the group.

"Everyone say 'Happy Birthday!'" Zephyr said loudly as he tried to push Time Turner over to Derpy. Accidentally knocking Trixie on the shoulder in the process.

The Unicorn Mare quickly turned to admonish her friend for bumping into her, only for her hair to whip back and hit Dinky Doo in the face, causing her to close her eyes and fall off the couch.

Seeing the filly fall off the couch, Time Turner quickly tried to dive and catch her, landing on the floor as the filly fell on his back.

Derpy Hooves widened her eyes and flapped her wings in shock at the quick series of events, a yell of surprise exiting her mouth at the sudden chaos.

And with a flash of light, the picture was taken.

Time Turner was on the floor, a Unicorn Filly lying on his back. Trixie was glaring as she held Zephyr in a choke-hold, his long legs trying to pry her off as the two wrestled on the couch. And Derpy was mid-air, flying off the couch as her wide eyes looked in different directions.

Suffice it to say, This was the beginning of the best Birthday Party of Time Turner's life.

Author's Note

This chapter was rough to write. I had to rewrite it several times and even now I don't really think its perfect, but this is what we're going with.

I planned for this chap to be ready by the eighth, so I could release it on my birthday. As you can see that didn't work out (Happy 20th Birthday to me)

I'm also starting a new job next week, so the updates will slow down dramatically.

Check out my two new One-Shots if you haven't yet, they're on my profile.

Other than that, hope you all enjoyed the chapter :)

Chapter 70: Sugar and Snow 3

Raven Inkwell was nervous.

She never thought she'd get this far.

That is, She never thought she'd get a date with Prince Blueblood.

Let alone in the exclusive top floor of a five-star restaurant.

"Here are your orders," A Waiter said in a Prench accent as he placed several plates of food on the table, and a bottle of wine so expensive Raven thought it could have paid for her entire school tuition.

"Should you need staff, just ring this bell," The Waiter placed a small bell on the corner of the table.

"Thank you very much," Blueblood told the waiter and Raven nodded her head.

Seeing his job was done, the Waiter left the duo and returned to the Elevator.

"So..." Raven started, "This is it, huh?" She nudged her glasses upwards, "The date," She smiled awkwardly, almost embarrassed from even being inside the restaurant.

If any pony asked her younger self where she would see herself twenty years in the future, Young Raven would never have guessed working in Canterlot Castle, or on a Date with Prince Blueblood Platinum.

Now to be fair, nobody knew who Blueblood was at the time, but you get the gist.

The point is, Raven was excited.

"So I wanted to-/-I need to tell you something," Both Raven and Blueblood said at the same time.

Raven Giggled at the coincidence, stopping herself from twirling a strand of her hair like a teenage schoolgirl.

"You go first," Raven told the prince, who shook his head at her.

"No no, You go first, I'm sure whatever you have to say is much more important than what I have," He told her.

"Okay," Raven paused for a moment, thinking over how she wanted to say what she wanted.

"I, I wanted to thank you," Raven finally decided to say, her eyes looking down at her bowl of Prench Soup, staring at her reflection on the lacquered wood of the expensive table.

If she were to look at the Prince, Raven would have seen his face harden.

"I wanted to thank you for agreeing to..." Raven took a deep breath, "This. All of this,"

Her smile highlighted her makeup, she gently took her spoon and took a spoonful of soup from the bowl, blowing on it to cool it.

"For going on a date with me," She took a sip from the spoon, the tasteful aroma of the broth wafting into her nostril as the creamy soup flowed into her.

"For helping get the Gala in order," Raven took another sip of the soup.

"And even for simply going out with me on Nightmare Night," Her smile turned soft as she looked away from her soup and to the glass ceiling of the restaurant, and at the snow magically melting away from the see-through roof.
Revealing a clear sky of stars and snow.

"I know you're doing this as a way to repay me, I'm not stupid," Raven chuckled as she watched a reflection of herself on the glass ceiling, looking down at her from the roof, "But just accepting it was... nice."

Raven chuckled to herself before she looked back to the Prince.

"What I'm trying to say is... Thank you. Thank you for entertaining me, even if it was with a pity date." The words leaving Raven did not match the sheer joy she felt at having a childish little Filly's dream come true.

"I am a Piece of shit."

Raven paused, her smile frozen as she looked at Blueblood.

"I have been inadvertently playing with your emotions, agreeing to go out with you on Nightmare Night was foolish of me, Especially as I am repeating right now exactly what happened that night,"

Raven frowned at the Prince, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to understand what was going on.

"I have no romantic interest in you, and I should not have agreed to this date, it was stupid of me to do so." The prince didn't look away, his ice-blue eyes staring directly into Raven's own before he scoffed and looked away, the wine bottle opening magically and pouring into his glass.

Blueblood looked at his wineglass before he poured even more wine into it, almost overflowing the glass before he stopped.

Raven watched with a mixture of emotions she couldn't easily format as the Prince lowered his head to the side, so his eyes would be level with the wine glass.

Nodding his head at something Raven couldn't tell, he straightened back up and levitated the open Wine Bottle to his mouth before he grabbed it with a hoof as his horn stopped glowing.

Raven watched in fascination as Prince Blueblood emptied half a wine bottle in only a few seconds.

And once he was done, he let go of the bottle and calmly placed it on the table, his eyes looking at his own reflection on the snow-melting roof.

"I'm not drunk enough to do this," He whispered to himself, his eyes moving from his own reflection to that of Raven's reflection.

"I'm a piece of shit, I don't know any other way of saying this, I'm not good with emotional situations, never have been and probably never will be, So while there may be a much easier way of saying what I'm trying to say, I don't know it." He said, the back of his head resting on the back of his chair as he looked up.

"So I'm going to do what I always do when I don't know what I'm doing and just be blunt about it." He said before taking a deep breath.

"I am in a long-range relationship with what I would call a long-term romantic interest," Blueblood said, his eyes briefly moving to the wine bottle before they turned back to Raven's reflection.

"I am telling you this so you'd at least understand where I'm coming from," Blueblood's horn glowed as the bottle of wine levitated back into his hooves.

Raven took the overflown wine glass and dragged it towards her, spilling parts of it on the table along the way.

"So that you don't get your hopes up from this," Blueblood said with a frown as he took another drink of the wine.

Raven downed the wine glass.

"If you still want to continue," Blueblood paused as he took a deep sigh, his hoof moving to hold his head as he agonized over a better way to phrase his words, before shaking his head and continuing.
"It can only be casual, I'm telling you this because-"

"-You are my friend."

Raven slammed the empty wine glass back onto the table before abruptly standing up and walking away, Leaving the rest of her food untouched.

Blueblood merely looked at her reflection on the ceiling march away from him as he sighed tiredly.

"I'm a piece of shit," I thought to myself as I watched the Elevator go down.
"Dammit past me, Why did you have to do this," I stretched my limbs as I stood up from the chair.

"None of this would have happened if you simply spent a night trick-or-treating with Luna," I took out my wallet and placed a tip on the table before starting to walk to the elevator.

"But nooo~ You just had to push forward with the Caninia Deal, and for what? You didn't even have a boat," I kicked my feet as the elevator slowly descended.

"And now look what ya' did, You stupid idiot," A smile spread on my face as the Elevator reached the bottom.

I ignored the looks I was getting as I left the restaurant and got on a chariot.

"I'm a Piece of shit, no doubt," I chuckled to myself as I drove back to Canterlot, "But I'm a freedom-loving piece of shit, so It's time to own up to my actions,"

"Did you say something back there?" The Driver asked through the window separating us.

"Shut up and keep driving," I told him.

The Driver rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, but did so regardless, The two Earth-Stallions carrying the chariot continued to move as they did their job.

Knocking on the door of a room in the castle, Prince Blueblood waited for a response from the Pony inside, a bubble of soundproof magic covering him and a bottle of cheap boxed wine.

The Door opened slightly to reveal Raven Inkwell peaking out at him, the makeup she wore previously was washed away by streaks of dried tears on her cheeks.

"May I come in?" Blueblood asked as he raised the bottle of cheap fermented grape juice.

Raven stared at him through the crack sh made in the door before taking a step back and opening it for him to enter.

Inside the room, The two ponies sat across each other on the carpet on the floor.

"I wanted to at least apologize somewhat," Blueblood told Raven as he popped open the bottle of wine, "So do you want the first drink?"

Raven stared blankly at the bottle of wine before looking around for a bit.
"There aren't any glasses,"

"This is cheap trash," Blueblood let out a quiet laugh, "It doesn't deserve a glass, Just drink from the mouth," He paused and thought it over for a moment, "Unless of course, you aren't comfortable with it, That's totally fine and I-" Raven cut him off by grabbing the bottle and placing it to her lips.

An almost pained look crossed her face as a sour liquid flowed down her throat, almost causing her to spit it out.

"Why are you-" cough cough "-Doing this?" Raven asked once she stopped drinking from the bottle, passing it back to the prince.

"Because while I might be a Piece of Shit, I still consider you my friend, and don't want you to feel bad," He told her as he placed the wine to his own lips.
"Wow, this really is trash."He coughed into his hoof as he passed the bottle back to Raven.

"Friend?" Raven asked as she took another drink from the wine, "I never had much friends," She passed it back.

"Me neither," Blueblood told her as he took a drink from the bottle, "It's hard to make friends when you're like me,"

"I don't blame you," Raven took the bottle back before drinking more, "I'm actually thankful you told me," She smiled easily as she stopped drinking from the bottle, but still held it in her hooves, watching the small amount of remaining wine at the bottom of the bottle.

"So... You can't do romance?" Raven felt fuzzy as she looked at her reflection in the bottle. There were a lot of reflections this evening...

"No romance, no." Blueblood shook his head as he watched the bottle of Wine if Raven's lap.

"But you said something about casual relationships back then..." Raven pointed out as she raised the bottle closer to her mouth.

"I mean, yeah. It's less of a real relationship and more of a Friends with Benefits thing, allowing me to fuck until I and her are permanent, so-" Raven heard enough.

She poured whatever was left of the cheap bottle of sour wine into her mouth and threw herself onto Blueblood, her lips meeting with his as she opened his mouth, the wine passing between the two as her tongue burst into his mouth. Cheap wine poured down the front of the two ponies' white coats.

After a few seconds, Raven let go of him.

"You said I'm your friend," Raven smiled with a red face as she bit her lip, untying her brown hair loose from the bun she usually kept it in before shoving her leg into Blueblood's chest, pushing him down to his back as she stood above him, licking her lips as she looked down at him.

"So now show me the benefits,"

"Now Blueblood won't find us," Princess Luna smiled as she crawled over the top of a roof, a small pile of snow piling on top of her as she looked through her binoculars at the restaurant's top floor.

And saw that it was empty.

"They already returned to the Castle, you know that, right?" Celestia told her casually, the snow melting around her and keeping her clean.

Luna slowly turned her head to look at her Sister, "You could have told us!" Luna shouted as she threw the binoculars away.

Only the binoculars were wrapped around her neck, so she threw herself slightly forward as the goggles pulled back and smashed into her chest.

"Ow..." Luna grunted on the snowy roof.

"That's what you get for spying," Celestia told her as she grabbed her sister in a magic hold and flew back to Canterlot.

Author's Note

This Chapter took ALL OF ME!
I was stuck thinking of ways for this to go, and I couldn't find a way to get from point A to B.

And then I thought, "Fuck it! Blueblood's been blunt before, He'll just tell her." And so I wrote it!
And then I wrote LESS Alcohol than I planned.
(I had to cut out the 'Raven is Puking into the toilet before kissing Blueblood' Scene, Oopsie) (I replaced it with the kissing him with wine, I thought it would be less disgusting than actual vomit) (They Fuck)

You can thank Daszombes on YouTube for appearing on my timeline, making me watch 25 minutes out of his 28-minute Land of the Lustrous video essay, and giving me the willpower to get this chapter done.

Now I can finally close this painful Mini-arc and move to the more fun stuff!

The next chapter is our regularly scheduled post-arc closing chapter.

On another note, I was going through Derpibooru and looking at Raven and Blueblood images.
I can kind of understand the shipping between Blueblood and Trixie, them both being annoying characters when they first appeared, and all that.

But why do people ship Raven with Spike? Is there something I don't understand? A secret hidden meaning in the background of a forgotten episode?

Please explain, actual My Little Pony fans.

Also! Shoutout to Scarlet Spectrum for being the only person to draw Blueblood and Raven in the same image with them being the focus of the shot.

This is literally the only one I could find.

Earth Pony Raven > Unicorn Raven.

Don't @ Me. You know I'm right.

Chapter 71: Spice and Ice

"Hello? Cosmos?"

Cosmos, The Spirit of Space, perked up her head as the voice of someone not her Prince echoed out in her endless prison.

"Cady is that you?" She asked as her arm slapped the invisible floor below her, throwing her up into the air to look around.

"Yeah, It's me. Bluey told me to wear your Gems when I go to sleep, He wanted a night to himself," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's voice echoed out as Cosmos looked for her.

"Just a moment, I'll be right with you!" She yelled as her head fell down to the floor. And with a snap of her fingers, the vast nothingness of space was replaced with the same Tropical Beach her Prince loved to illusion onto the dreamlike prison.'

Pearly White Sand, Clear Blue water, the Sun shining in the sky with not a cloud in sight, A pair of Lounge chairs, and an Umbrella above them.

Cosmos looked around once more and her eyes widened when she spotted the Pink Princess of Love stumble out of the tropical foliage making the backdrop of her little Tropical Beach.

"Want a Pineapple?" Cosmos asked the princess as a pair of pineapple sunglasses appeared on her head, her arm extending to the Princess as she showed off a pineapple with a straw coming out of the top.

Cadance looked in wonder at the beach she was in before her horn glowed and she grabbed the offered fruit. Taking a sip from the straw.

The Fake juice felt so real.

After laying down on a chair and watching the ever-present Sunset of the fake Beach, Cadance looked at her new gal pal.

"So, This is how you spend your time?" She asked, looking at the decapitated head of the Spirit.

"Like this?" Cosmos looked at the beach in front of her before smirking to herself, "Nah," She wiped her single arm in front of herself, and the beach changed to an indoor living room, "I've been playing Video Games, Blueblood showed 'em to me," A Pair of controllers appeared in Cosmos's hand.
"Here, Catch," She threw a controller at Cadance, Who quickly caught the plastic controller as the Television screen came to life.

It showed a pair of Earth Ponies with Brown Mustaches wearing Red and Green overalls, Looking up at some cartoony monster behind them, a short green Unicorn could be seen flying on a winged-Bean in the background.

"I'll show you, Just a few hours, then we'll talk about what you want," Cosmos told her cheerfully as she pressed a few buttons on her controller.

Cadance looked at the plastic device in her hooves, "I'm not that good at these Games." She told the Spirit, "Shining tried to invite me to a session of Ogres & Oubliettes," A small smile appeared on the Princess's face, "It didn't go well," A chuckle, "But I had fun, so sure, Let's play this game of yours,"

A Wide Smile spread over Cosmos's face, "Really? Then let's try this instead!" And with a snap of her fingers, the two found themselves wearing the same outfits as the two ponies on the Television. The walls of the living room collapsed to reveal a wide-open field with a beautiful castle on the other side.

"Come on Cady! We need to save the princess!" The Spirit of Space yelled excitedly, She had Blue overalls and a Green cap with the letter C on her head.

Cadance once again took a moment to look around before staring at her own pair of Blue overalls and Red cap, a quiet laugh exiting her lips.

"Sure," She smiled as she joined Cosmos, looking at her now almost feline body as opposed to the decapitated head with an arm she had previously.

Raven Inkwell woke up to the smell of Tobacco and smoke.

She weakly opened her eyes, and then quickly shut them with a groan as her head started aching.

This wasn't like her, Usually so punctual and tidy, to wake up with an aching head and twitching legs.

"You know, Smoking is bad for you," She turned to look at the window of her room, and the white outline of her bedmate greeted her blurry vision.

She still needs her glasses.

She fumbled around for a moment before she found them and put them on.

And with visual clarity, came the half-drunk memories of last night.

Memories of a night filled with Tears, Sweat, Cheap wine, and Passion.

Now Raven understood why she had trouble standing straight.

"Did... What happened last night... Does it..." Raven fumbled her speech as she looked over at Prince Blueblood.

Leaning against and looking out the window of her room, a cigarette in his mouth as he took a breath of smoke, his Golden blonde hair tucked behind his ears to stay clear of the smoking stick.

Raven enjoyed a long look at the Stallion's carefully sculpted muscles and shining white fur, her eyes scanning him like a peruser at a museum, searching for the secret details in a work of art.

"Does it what?" The Unicorn asked her as a puff of smoke left his lips and out the open window, into the snow-covered world outside her bedroom walls.

"What are we?" Raven asked him, walking up to stand beside him as the two watched gentle puffs of snow fall from the clouds in the winter morning.

"Friends with Benefits." The Stallion explained, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and blasting it with a small beam of magic, sending it flying in a cloud of magic smoke into a garbage bin far outside the castle.

"So... Nothing really changed?" Raven asked as she side-eyed the larger Stallion.

"I wouldn't say nothing changed," Blueblood said as he leaned on the windowsill and pulled his head out, turning to look directly up at the fluffy white clouds, "I'd say we're closer than we were before, for obvious reasons. We're just really good friends now," He pulled his head back into the room, the small pile of snow he collected on his face melting away and soaking into his fur.

"We're... Friends?" Raven whispered in question, testing the word on her lips a couple of times, "We're not just colleagues, but also Friends?"

Blueblood blinked at her in confusion, looking behind him as if to check if another pony was in the room with them.

"I mean... Yeah? Why wouldn't we be friends? We're FWB, It has Friends in the Acronym. Unless you mean before last night?" At Raven's nod he continued, "Well, Why wouldn't we be friends? You think a colleague will just run to your room as an excuse to get away from a family member?" Raven shook her head at that.

"Then that's that. There's no deep meaning behind friends, You just make them. Every living creature forms some sort of companionship or another, Friends is just another form of that," Blueblood told her before he walked past her and into her bathroom, looking himself over in the mirror.

"And us? We're good friends who happen to fuck sometime, no biggie," He said as turned his head to the side and closed in on his eyelids, Stretching his bottom lid slightly as he stared at a small dark circle under his eyelids.

"So... We're not-" Raven was interrupted.

"Romantically involved? Sorry, but no." Blueblood said as he levitated a small box of makeup from the corner, trying to cover up his dark circles.

"Huh..." Raven sat down on her bed, her eyes still glued to the Stallion as he spoke.

"But hey," He said as he exited her bathroom, the circles under his eyes gone, "If you want to sleep with me just come to my room, you know the hidden passage anyway," He smiled at her, leaned on to kiss her on the cheek, and then left through a hidden door in the wall opening for him.

Raven sat still on her bed, eyes looking at the hidden door the prince left through before her hoof slowly rose to touch her cheek where he kissed her.

"I might just take your offer," She whispered to herself, before throwing herself onto her bed and hugging her pillow, rolling on the mattress.

"!!!" She squealed adorably into her pillow as she rolled, kicking her legs in the air with childish excitement.

"How?" Starlight breathed heavily, sweat pouring down her back as she lay on the mat of the training hall, "How do you deal with it?" She asked the White Alicorn standing above her.

Princess Celestia looked at the Unicorn below her before sighing to herself. "Follow me," And she started walking, not bothering to wait for Starlight to follow.

Starlight scrambled onto her legs and started walking after the princess, Following her as the two walked down the corridors of the castle.

Celestia stopped once she reached the dining room, with a glow of her horn she corrected the slight tilt of a nearby painting.

Starlight watched as the wall next to her opened up, revealing a staircase going down into the darkness.

"Come on," Celestia said as she walked into the secret passageway, Her horn providing a source of light for the two.

Celestia stopped as the stairs ended and the tunnel opened up to a surprisingly fancy-looking room, magical lamps setting a nice lighting for the room next to a velvet couch and a table. Racks of different Alcohol bottles lined the wall, an expensive Blue carpet softened the floor.

"I see Bluey found this room..." Celestia whispered to herself with a small smile before she shot a bolt of magic onto a specific brick in the ceiling, the wall in front of her opened up into a wider hall, dust flowing into the cellar.

"You wanted to ask me how I deal with losing those close to me, Did you not?" Celestia said as she looked down at Starlight Glimmer from the corner of her eye.
"Let me show you, What I do to deal with it..."

Starlight gulped as she followed Celestia into the secret hall behind the secret cellar.

As soon as the two entered, the door closed behind them. Torches on the wall magically burst to light with white flames one by one, illuminating the hall from end to end.

The hall was large, Starlight could almost feel the age of the magic spells protecting this one room, imagining how powerful the pony who cast them must have been to do so and still be felt all those years later.

Celestia walked down the long hall followed by the Purple mare, Her eyes stared at the paintings on the wall.

Paintings of Ponies Starlight's only seen in History books or children's stories...

Starlight saw a Painting of a head butler placed beside the painting of an energetic filly. An Old Warrior placed beside a gentle poet.
Paintings of Creatures from all walks of life covered the walls of the hall, from Nobility to Common Folk.

As the two silently continued walking down the hall, the style of the paintings also changed, Oil switched to Water, and Suits of Chainmail switched to Leather and Plate.

And the deeper they went, the more changed.

No more were there only paintings, now there were pictures, black and white and grainy, but taken with a camera nonetheless.

Starlight paused as she looked at a particular photo, magically enlarged to the size of a portrait.

In it, She saw a small White Unicorn Colt, his face scrunched in discomfort as Princess Celestia squished her face next to his own, her Aurora of a mane tangling up in his golden blonde, a bright smile on her face as she hugged the young Pony.

They looked like a mother and son...

"Sending him to private tutoring so I focus on Sunset was a mistake..." Starlight jumped as Celestia spoke beside her, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked at the picture, at the photo of what could have been a happy royal family.

"What?" Starlight carefully asked, not hearing Celestia's words.

Celestia looked at her with something akin to sorry in her eyes before she shook her head, "Forget what I said,"

Starlight watched as Celestia started walking deeper into the Hall. She took one last look at the photo before following after her.

And as they went, more and more photos appeared of Ponies Starlight could recognize.

She saw a Young Princess Cadance trying to cast her first spell, A fresh out of the Academy Shining Armor smiling brightly at the camera while holding his new officer's badge.

She saw a tiny purple Unicorn she recognized as Twilight Sparkle.
Then she saw another photo of Twilight, And anoter of Cadance, A Picture of Raven appeared in there, before another Photo of Twilight showed up.

Starlight noted that there wasn't another picture of the blonde Unicorn from before.

Another photo of Raven, Followed by two pictures of Twilight Sparkle and another photo of Cadance.

Then she stopped again, watching a group photo of six mares with magical instruments around their necks, standing in an abandoned castle as the rays of the sun cast down upon them. And on the small blue Alicorn between them.

The next few pictures were almost exclusively those of Princess Luna, with Short Blue hair and small stature, Long Hair and Tall legs, It didn't matter, they were almost exclusively of Luna.

Until another photo of more than one pony caught her eye.

Taken a month and a half ago according to the date on the photo, Starlight watched a pair of familiar ponies stand over a table, working together to finish up on paperwork late into the night.

This was the second Picture of Blueblood Starlight saw, and it also included Raven Inkwell in it.

And seeing as there were only two more pictures, Which Starlight could already see didn't contain the prince, She noticed a pattern with the two photos.

Prince Blueblood didn't appear in his Pictures by himself, it was either Celestia or Raven who appeared with him, but never alone.

The next two pictures were of Cadance and, unsurprisingly once again, Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia stood in front of the empty wall next to the last picture, her horn glowing as a new photo appeared in her hold, showing a surprised Princess Luna tangled under a blanket as snow piled up on her with what seemed like Salted Crackers.

With a brighter glow to her horn, the picture enlarged to fit the same size as the rest before it found itself a new home on the long line of pictures Celestia kept.

"This is how I deal with it," Celestia spoke somberly, "I treasure them, Each and every one," She told her, and Starlight quietly stared at the Princess as her back hunched down, as if a massive weight was pressed on her shoulders.

"I am Old, Starlight Glimmer, Older than any ruler of my standing should be, In any other life I would have long ago retired, living the rest of my days as an old hag, telling tales of better times..." Celestia said as she looked fondly at the new picture she placed on the wall, "But those times aren't where I'm at..." She let out a sigh of exhaustion.

To Starlight, Princess Celestia almost seemed to physically age in front of her very eyes, that was simply how dreadful her posture was.

"How Old really is she?" Starlight mentally asked herself as she stared at the Princess of the Sun.

A Sudden snapping sound and a flash of light pulled Starlight out of her funk, Her eyes widening to see Celestia stand tall and confident as if the sudden wave of tiredness was nothing but a trivial matter. A Camera levitated in front of her smirking face as a photo slowly rolled out.

A Photo of Starlight staring blankly at the camera.

Princess Celestia smirked at the photo in her grasp, before she shot it with a beam of magic and sent it away in a puff of smoke.

"Starlight Glimmer," Celestia said as she looked down at Starlight, deep beneath Canterlot Castle, in a Hall none but few knew about.

"...yes?" Starlight shrunk under the Princess, knowing full well that should the Princess Choose to dispose of her, nobody will ever find the body.

"I must say," The Princess started, "I do not particularly like you,"

Starlight gulped nervously.

"However, I do not hate you. There are very few creatures I can say that I hate, and most of them are luckily no longer with us,"

Starlight nodded her head, trying to appear small and weak to the princess.

"So... Perhaps you'll find that picture I just took on this wall someday in the future," And like a candle in the wind, the stress of the situation blew away and Starlight let out a breath she didn't know she held.

"Now hurry along," Celestia told her, waving her leg as she signed her to leave, "I'm sure you have better things to do."

Starlight stared at the Princess, watching her look fondly at the pictures on the wall, before turning away and walking back to where she came from.

Leaving Princess Celestia alone with her memories.

"Oh Sombra, If only I had a camera all those years ago..." Celestia whispered to herself, her mind traveling to a Mirror held in a corner of the castle nopony walked in centuries.

"If only..."

As Starlight climbed back up the stairs leading to the hidden Cellar, She thought back to the Princess who stayed behind,
At the tired face she showed her for a brief moment, even if it was only an act, And at that same face in the picture with the colt, a smile so bright it could be considered a sun of its own.

Her mind then moved to her own mother, to the new grave at Sire's Hollow's local graveyard.

And to the wide smile her mother gave her as she hugged her after the Grand Galloping Gala, after years of not seeing each other, Of the tears the two shed as they caught up and spoke about things they hadn't gotten the opportunity to.

"Miss Glimmer, Is everything alright?" Starlight paused as an old Unicorn wearing a Servant's coat stopped beside her.

"Huh? Yeah, Why?" Starlight questioned the old butler.

"Because you're leaving tears all over the floor," His accusation didn't sound angry, he sounded... Sad?

Starlight looked down and spotted a small puddle forming under her head. Her hoof quickly went to touch her face, and she felt moisture.

"Am I... Crying?" She asked herself, the tears trailing down her cheeks faster as the realization hit her.

She misses her Mom.

"Wait right here! I'll go grab a box of tissues," The Butler said as he ran off.

Leaving the mare to silently cry in the middle of a hallway.

Author's Note

Next Chapter is HEARTHS WARMING EVE!!!

Also, the Butler is Kibitz.

One of the only two ponies in Canterlot Castle (Three now with Newblood) That actually does their job correctly.

Also, you can all guess which Ponified game Cosmos and Cadance are playing.

Anyway, I officially started my new job, so the rate of updates will likely slow down drastically.

...It's still crazy to think that all of this story was written in less than a year. How awesome is that?
All of this started because I binge-read "Greatest Estate Developer" And wanted to do something similar.

I obviously didn't do it similarly, but I still love how this story came out and how I see it going.

Also wow this Chapter was longer than I thought...
I wanted to add on Omake telling of the next major original arc but decided not to, not because It's spoilery, but because this Chapter is long enough to not need an Omake.

Chapter 73: Hearth's Warming Eve 2

Watching the bags of quality bird feed, consisting of corn, wheat, black oil sunflower seeds, and Millet, pour into the trays stacked above each other, rows upon rows, really put a smile on my face.

"Do you see this Starlight?" I ask as I take a deep breath of the factory, the smell of seeds and feathers filling my nose, "This is the future of commerce, this is industrialization in its purest form,"

"What is?" Starlight asked, mouth agape as she looked on at the rows upon rows of Quails in cages, "Putting birds in cages? I'm pretty sure we've been doing that for centuries,"

"No no no, Not the cages, The Design," I smirk at her and start giving her a tour of the place, showing her how the eggs are collected, moved, processed, and how at the end of it all, jars of Mayo get made.

"I would have used plastic containers, but in this day and age, Plastic is somehow more expensive than just magically creating jars of glass," I explain as I continue walking around the factory, greeting the workers with a smile as I pass by.

"Your Highness!" The worker I placed in charge of running the factory called out to me.

"Just a moment, Starlight," I tell my bodyguard and walk closer to the Mare, "What is it, Fowl Feather?"

"Some of the workers had questions about how we'll take care of the Quails over the holiday," The Bulky Pegasus Mare asked, her mane and tail held in baggy hats and an apron covering her front.

"Well that's easy, The Night-shift guards will deal with it like usual," I smile at Fowl Feather.

"But- But your Highness, It's Hearth's Warming Eve tonight!" She exclaimed with widened eyes.

"And?"

"And- What do you- It's Hearths Warming, You don't keep working on hearth's warming!"

My smile dimmed slightly as I slung my leg around the mare's shoulders and pulled her close to me, shoulder to shoulder all buddy-like.

"Fowl Feather, You're a smart mare, I wouldn't have picked you for this job if you couldn't handle it, And I know you can handle this easily. So I want to ask you, What does it say in your contract in regards to holidays?" I ask her.

"I get twenty sick days and ten days off a year, Where I don't need to go to work, Right?" The Pegasus smiled weakly.

"Exactly," I slap her on the shoulder and let go, "Same goes for everybody else who works here, If they don't want to do the night shift, they take a day off."

"But-" I quickly cut her off.

"Upupup, no butts Fowl Feather, unless they're for making more eggs. A Winter Holiday does not give you an excuse to miss work, somebody needs to be here for the night, and it is your job to get them to be here, Because if nobody guards the place on account of being in some Hearth's Warming Party or whatever it is, and something happens to the Quails, or worse yet, the Factory, then that disaster will be on your head, and nobody wants that on their resume, right?" I smile at the Pegasus.

"No- No sir, Of course not!" Fowl Feather quickly changed her tune at that not-so-subtle threat to her career, "The Night Shift will remain unchanged!"

I smiled at the ex-guard, "Good, carry on then with your work, don't let my little visit bother or distract you more than necessary,"

"Of course Sir! Right away Sir!" Fowl Feather saluted, an act which almost looked funny with how she was dressed, before she quickly went back to work, chewing out a group of workers who were slacking off.

I smiled widely as I watched the group of slackers pick themselves up and resume working on overdrive.

"I love being a prince,"

"Okay so you inspected the factories, what's next on the agenda?" Starlight Glimmer asked as she and her boss returned to the train and sat down, wiping some snow off her mane.

"Next we're going to Pig's Eye City, Where I'll be donating publicly to the sick and needy," Blueblood explained, already drawing up checks of money to throw at the city.

"Why Pig's Eye? Wouldn't Whinnyapolis be better?" Starlight asked, confused about the reasoning for the city.

"You see Starlight," Blueblood Started, "While Whinnyapolis is bigger, it is not the local capital," He tapped the table between them as his horn shone, creating a small illusion of two miniature cities.

"Pig's Eye is where the governor lives, and we'll be meeting with him to give him a proposition that I am sure he would love to accept," He said, the illusion he created zooming into one of the cities, showing an Earth Pony with a stamp as his cutie-mark.

"And what is that proposition?" Starlight asked, her eyes briefly moving to the window of the train, seeing the snow falling gently to the ground.

"Why, It's to assist in the building of our Pony-Yak Railway, Of course," The Prince told her and the illusion changed, showing now a top-down view of North Equestria and the Tundra above it, leading all the way to the arctic north, with Yakyakistan in the north-west corner.

"Pig's Eye City is the perfect place to build a railway connecting all the northern provinces of Equestria, making the moving of supplies from the East Coast to the West much simpler and cheaper," A Red dotted line appeared on the illusionary map, spreading from Pig's Eye City in two directions and stopping at every local capitol it passed through before a blue dotted line spread out of Seaddle, Hoofington, and moved north along the western coast, passing between mountains before stopping outside Yakyakistan, several small red and blue flags popping along the way to signify stopping points.

"Once the Materials from Caninia start arriving, we're gonna have to move them across the continent," Blueblood explained, "We'll have a few months of moving it all by carriage, but in a year or two, if everything goes well, this North-Continental train-track will deal with it for us," he leaned back on his sofa, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Starlight nodded her head, "Couldn't you have done this on another day? Why Hearth's Warming specifically?"

"Because People will see us on Christmas, Starlight, People will see me walking around and donating to their city, and then the paparazzi will take notice. And when the Paparazzi take note, they want to start rumors, and with a few carefully placed words from yours truly, the governor of Whinnesota won't be able to say no," Prince Blueblood Smiled.

"Okay everyone, the play is about to start soon," Twilight Sparkle said happily as she walked back into the changing room of the Canterlot Theatre.

In the crowd waiting for the play, Princess Celestia looked at the three empty chairs beside her, hoping her family would be able to make it before the play started.

"They must be getting ready," She told herself, "Harmony knows Blueblood and Cadance can't leave the castle without an hour of getting ready," She shook her head and took a calming breath.

They'll be here soon, Surely.

Walking down the Streets of Pig's Eye City, Princess Luna looked in astonishment at the wide variety of creatures living together in the same city.

"There seems to be a rather large population of Diamond Dogs and Buffalo in this city," She whispered to herself, prompting Princess Cadance to start telling her what she knew of the history of the city.

"And what about that tree in the middle?" Luna pointed out to a large evergreen planted in the middle of a square, decorated with lights and baubles.

"Oh, That's a Nollag Tree, it's part of a Canine Winter Holiday which happens around this time," Cadance explained as she also looked at the brightly decorated tree, "Now that I think about it, Let's go buy some Eggnog," The Princess of Love smiled at her new aunt, "Come on, Luna, It'll be fun,"

"Hmm... And what is this Eggnog you speak of?" Luna asked as she started following the Pink Princess.

"It's chilled, frothy, sweetened milk with whipped egg whites, Sometimes having a distilled spirit mixed in," A Familiar voice sounded out beside the two Princesses, causing them to jump and turn to the source of the voice.

"Personally I enjoy having Bourbon in mine, but I can see how some might prefer Rum or Brandy, Add a bit of cinnamon powder to the top and you have yourself a nice after-dinner drink," Prince Blueblood said with a smile to his fellow members of the Crown.

"How did you find us?! We were hidden!" Luna exclaimed in astonishment, causing Blueblood to laugh out loud at her reaction.

"Luna Luna Luna, Might I remind you that you are a head taller than almost every other pony, and your dark colors are incredibly visible over the white snow, and Cadance is bright Pink, You two weren't exactly camouflaged, Haha!" The Prince cheerfully said.

"Wait a minute," Cadance suddenly spoke up, "I thought you didn't celebrate Hearth's Warming,"

Blinking his eyes in confusion, Blueblood responded, "I don't, Just drinking Eggnog does not mean I celebrate Christmas, All Holidays are wastes of time and I could be doing something much more proactive during them, Now smile for the camera quickly," Blueblood suddenly turned his head away from Luna and Cadance, smiling brightly and cheerfully to a mare with a camera, a sudden flash of light enveloping the group as a photo was taken, and the mare quickly ran away.

"What in the-" Luna blinked the light out of her eyes.

"Paparazzi, They're everywhere if you know where to look," Blueblood told her before smiling once more, flicking his hair upward and looking to the side, striking a sudden pose for another camera before he turned back to Luna, "You should get used to it soon enough,"

"Where's your bodyguard?" Cadance asked, briefly shining a smile for a camera flush before turning back to the group.

"She's speaking with the Governor, passing along some messages I had for him," Blueblood said before once more smiling for the cameras.

Having three royals in one place is a treat for the media ponies.

"I see," Cadance said, "By the way, I'm keeping the necklace with me for another week or so," She said, her hoof wrapping around a red and green crystal around her neck.

"Sure, Just give it back when you're done," Blueblood told her nonchalantly, striking a sudden pose for another camera before turning back to the Princesses, "Anyways, I'm heading back to Canterlot now, Need to get Dinner ready, make it a little holiday gift so Celestia won't be mad I ditched her," And with that, Prince Blueblood turned away from the duo of Alicorns, gave the cameras another princely smile, and headed back to the train station.

"...Perhaps we should join him in the gifting for our sister..." Luna carefully added as she watched her friend walk away.

"You might be right..." Cadance nodded in agreement, "Let's just buy some Eggnog before we go,"

"Of course, was it even a question?" Luna raised a brow before the two Alicorns quickly went to buy sweets for later.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay the night over at the Castle, your Majesty," Twilight Sparkle said with cheer as she and Spike walked with Princess Celestia up the central street of Canterlot City.

"No need to thank me, Twilight, I already told you that you are always welcome to come by," Celestia told her pupil, her usually warm smile somewhat cool in the snowy winter evening, "But I must say, Your performance in the Play was magnificent, It was almost as if Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were really fighting,"

"That's what I said!" Spike the Dragon exclaimed from his spot on Twilight's Back, His small body wrapped in a thick winter coat.

"Indeed," Celestia smiled at the baby Dragon.

Soon reaching the Castle, Celestia opened the doors with a push of her magic.
And her eyes widened significantly.

Decorations of Green and Red hung from the ceiling, arcs of shining lights and baubles hung between the pillars of the main hall.

"Wow..." Twilight Sparkle voiced her wonder at the festive look of the castle, her eyes sparkling with amazement at the beauty of the lights.

"Princess Celestia, There you are!" Kibitz, the head butler of the castle and the Princess's personal butler called out to her as he walked swiftly in her direction, a red and white wool hat resting on his head.

"Kibitz, what is going on?" The Princess asked him in a whispering tone.

"I believe it was Blueblood's idea," The Butler said, "All he said was 'Holiday Cheer' and then started shouting orders to the kitchen staff,"

A small smile started to spread on Celestia's face, "Did he now? Well then let us go and speak to him," She told Kibitz, "Come along Twilight, You must be hungry,"

"Are we having Dinner together?! But I'm not dressed for-" Twilight started to panic.

"That is fine Twilight, It's Hearth's Warming Eve after all," The Princess simply said as she led the Unicorn and Dragon deeper into the castle.

Opening the Doors to the dining room, Princess Celestia smiled happily as the smells coming from the table wafted towards her, Salads and Pastas, Turkey and mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage rolls and stuffed bell peppers.

It was a feast fit for a royal.

"Woah..." Twilight and Spike once more said in amazement at the sight of the lights and decorations surrounding the room, Spike's eyes locking onto the Large and juicy turkey in the middle of the table, his mouth watering at the thought of having a taste.

"Ah, Auntie Celestia," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza said with a smile, "Sorry we couldn't make it to your play, We helped make this dinner as a way of saying sorry," She told her before her eyes caught Twilight.

"Ahh Twilight! Look how much you've grown!" The Pink Princess exclaimed with a wide and happy smile, grabbing the Purple Unicorn's hooves and pulling her into a little dance.

"Cadance! Sunshine Sunshine Ladybugs Awake, Clap your hooves and Do a little shake," Twilight Sparkle giggled as she danced with her old Foalsitter.

"Sister Sister, Look!" Princess Luna pulled Celestia away from her Student and Niece before lifting a plate of little sliced vegetables.

There was nothing fancy or specifically festive about it, it wasn't even a salad.

"We have assisted in the creation of Dinner!" Luna said proudly, gently putting the plate of vegetables back on the table.

"That's wonderful to hear Lulu, It all looks wonderful," Celestia pulled her younger sister into a hug.

"We know it does, we are the ones who made it! Everything we do is wonderful!" Celestia could almost see Luna's pride swell at that declaration.

"By the way, Where is Bluey?" Celestia whispered to Luna.

"Friend Blueblood is getting the Eggnog ready," Luna whispered back, nodding her head with a smile, still thinking about her rather huge part in the making of the dinner.

Who else could have made a plate of vegetables so incredibly mediocre? Only a powerful Princess could make something so absolutely average it could only be explained with magic.

"Out of the Way! Coming through!" Quickly moving aside, Kibitz made room for Prince Blueblood to walk by, carrying a plate full of mugs of warm eggnog that he placed on a table in the corner of the room, away from the main course.

Celestia smiled at seeing her entire family all in one place, working together, showcasing the real magic of Hearth's Warming.

"Celestia, I see you brought guests," Prince Blueblood smiled at her once he turned toward her, "Come, Make yourself comfortable, the food is ready and I am sure we all are hung- Guhkk!" The Prince was cut off as Celestia pulled him into a strong hug.

"Ooh look at you, Making everything so festive and cheerful, ooh what would I ever do without you, You're the best son ever I love you so much I forgive you for everything I'll always love you I-" Celestia whispered to him as she hugged, not noticing him tapping her leg frantically as his face started turning purple.

During the dinner, Princess Luna spoke up to say something.

"Wa jast noteesd-"

"Swallow before speaking, Lulu, we have guests," Celestia told her sister, who nodded at her and swallowed the food in her mouth before repeating what she tried to say.

"Where is Starlight Glimmer?" She asked.

"She's probably speaking with Raven or something, don't worry about her," Blueblood said, his horn glowing as he cut off a leg from the turkey and placed it on his plate.

"Huh, Makes sense," Luna nodded and returned to eating.

Sitting on a bench in the Snow, waiting for the next train to Canterlot in the Pig's Eye City Train Station. Starlight Glimmer thought back on the actions that led her to where she was.

And found herself surprised that she didn't regret them anymore.

Spike the Dragon cautiously poked the slice of turkey meat on his plate with his fork, looking around at the ponies around him to see if they reacted to the meat.
And he found himself surprised to see not one, but two ponies eating from it.

Even more surprising to see one of them being Princess Celestia Herself.

"You're a Dragon," He said to himself in his mind, "You can do this, It's just meat," he took a deep breath, "Think of it like eating a very soft gem,"

And without further wait, he stabbed the bird and shoved it into his mouth.

And then Spike Cried, Cursing his past self for never trying to eat meat before that night.

And so he took a second bite.

"King Aspen hic?, Yeah we know where he lives hic, Thicket, It's in the heart of the Everfree hic, You can't miss it, By the way, Blueblah, Did anypony ever tell you that you're hot? hic, Why are you still a bachelor hic? Go out there and find somepony who can- ZZZZZZZZ" Princess Luna drunkenly told the Prince before her face planted onto the couch, snoring away as she slept.

"Heart of the Everfree you say," Prince Blueblood whispered with a smile, pushing the half-empty mug of Eggnog away from Luna's hoof and readjusting her posture to make sure she wouldn't choke.

"Well well well," He smiled as he looked out the window, and towards a faraway sea of green trees in the distance, "I know where my next big trip will be," He narrowed his eyes, "I'll have to thank Uncle next time I see him," He barked out a short laugh.

"Nah, I don't think so," He shook his head and turned back to his own mug of Bourbon Eggnog.

Smiling victoriously all the while.

Author's Note

Another 3k word chapter WOOP WOOP!!! :pinkiegasp:

Did you know that the Missouri River is considered the longest River in the US, Just 2-kilometers longer than the Mississippi River? Kinda sucks, huh.

Newblood and Starlight spent a few hours in Pony Minnesota.

Also, Pig's Eye City is a nickname for Saint Paul, Minnesota, So luckily I didn't need to search for a new name.

Spike ate his first bit of Meat.

Starlight gets left behind out in the snow.

Twilight and Cadance met up for the first time in years.

And Luna still has a very weak alcohol tolerance and a very chatty drunk mouth. She should really try and fix that, some unscrupulous Stallion might take advantage of that to get secret information. But surely nobody will ever actually try that.
Right?

Next Chapter will be our usual after-arc epilogue chap.

See you soon :)

Also, the Game Cadance and Cosmos are playing is Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Chapter 74: Hearth's Warming Day

Prince Blueblood donates to Soup Kitchens across the nation! Princess Mi Amore Cadenza with STUNNING New Necklace! Princess Luna OUTSIDE THE CASTLE??? more on page 8

Closing the newspaper in her hooves, Princess Celestia sighed gently as she took a sip from her morning coffee, a plate with toast and a jar of very good Quail Mayo set beside her on the table.

Closing her eyes in relaxation, Princess Celestia took a bit out of a slice of toast, and let the warm air from the nearby fireplace melt her into her seat.

"Good Morning Princess Celestia," A small smile spread on her lips as her student, Twilight Sparkle, Entered the room, followed by her little brother and assistant, Spike.

"Good Morning to you too, Twilight, How was your night?" Celestia asked, her eyes moving to the pair of gift baskets Spike was attempting to balance.

"It was wonderful, the bed was so soft and the room was so... roomy!" Twilight told the princess, grabbing herself a seat as Celestia levitated a plate with a toast over to her.

"That is nice to hear," Celestia smiled calmly, taking another sip of her coffee.

"We also got these Gift Baskets, Thanks for that by the way," Spike said as he tried placing the baskets he was carrying down on the table, only for him to slip and drop the baskets, allowing them to be caught in Twilight's magic.

"It wasn't me who made them," Celestia told the two before levitating her own basket.

"If it wasn't you, Princess Celestia, then who made these?" Twilight asked before looking into her basket, finding a paper letter.

Grabbing his own letter, Spike opened it and cleared his throat, "Dear Guests of Canterlot Castle, as a celebration of Hearth's Warming and jolly cheer, please enjoy this small gift of BBF Products, consisting of our finest Mayo, Jam, and Hair Conditioner, Ah geez, I don't have hair..." Spike complained before returning to the letter, "Signed with Honor, Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria,"

"Prince Blueblood Platinum?" Twilight asked, looking at her own letter and finding the same text written.

"Yes, You remember Blueblood, right?" Celestia asked, smiling humorously at her student's confused expression before she shook her head.

"Never mind that for now, Let us all enjoy our breakfast," The Princess Said as another plate of toast came in.

Opening the Door to her house with a smile on her face, ready to play in the morning snow, A Young Filly paused when she spotted a letter hanging just outside of her mailbox.

With a little glow to her horn, the filly picked up the letter and pulled it closer to read who it was for, before going back inside with the letter in held in her magic.

"Rarity?!" Sweetie Belle called out to her older sister, "Rarity! A Letter arrived for you!"

Instead of getting an answer from her sister, a deep groaning sound was heard from her room upstairs.

Furrowing her brow, Sweetie Belle climbed up the stairs and opened the door to her sister's room, watching as the sudden influx of light combined with the loud sound of her throwing open the door caused the mare sleeping on the bed to tumble out into a mess on the floor.

"Rarity, A letter arrived," Sweetie Belle said easily, not caring for the state her sister was in.

"Ooh, Sweetie Darling, what did I tell you about waking me up?" Rarity asked grouchily, her body still covered by her blanket as she pulled at the expensive fabric covering her in warmth.

"Only to do it when I have something important to tell you?" Sweetie asked, her eyes briefly turning to look at the stamp on the letter before turning back to her sister, "But I think this is important enough,"

"Sweetie, What could be more important than catching up on some beauty sleep? I must look atrocious under this blanket, my mane is a disaster!" Rarity cried dramatically, her Diva personality on full display as she finally pulled her head out of the mangled blanket on the floor, her bedhead splaying her hair everywhere.

"A Letter from the Crown?" Sweetie asked before jumping back as the letter was snatched into Rarity's hooves, quickly opening it and reading it through.

"KYAAAAA!!!!" Rarity screeched in excitement as a specific name appeared on the letter, "PRINCE BLUEBLOOD IS COMING HERE!!!" The Element of Generosity squealed, her little sister covering her ears and wincing at the volume.

"Does it say why?" Sweetie Belle asked as she climbed onto Rarity's Bed in order to get a look at the letter.

"Ahem!" Rarity breathed in before reading out loud, "Dear Miss Rarity, It is in my deepest regrets that I could not have contacted you sooner, He regrets not contacting me! I am writing this letter in order to notify you that on the Sixteenth of January, I will be making a visit to your place of residence as a matter of checkup after the events of the Second Nightmare Moon Scenario, Please keep you schedule open and clear for the day between Nine in the morning and Noon," She read out loud, her eyes sparkling at the thought of the Prince.

"Signed with Honor, Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria," Sweetie Belle read the last part herself, before turning to look at her sister, watching her vibrating in place as plentiful scenarios went and passed her mind, dreams of how the Prince might be in person.

Holding her gently as he checked her temperature, His hoof holding her forehead as the warmth of his body flooded her, flinching back as the heat from her head made itself known, only to look down at her and smile confidently, assuring her that everything will be fine, as the two's mouths started inching closer to one another, her breath lost in a sea of pleasure as she finally took a taste of the forbidden fruit, their lips meeting as pleasure turned into passion, with him carrying her into her own bed, ready to make her his...

Rarity's eyes shot open when she felt her legs starting to shake in excitement, ignoring the disgusted look her Sister was giving her for a brief moment.

"I need to start working on a dress, No! A Dress for a home visit is a bit too much, something smaller..." Rarity started mumbling as she stood up and started walking around the room, "A hat? No, Nopony wears a hat indoors to stay fashionable, Would I look good in a Blouse? Who am I kidding I look good in anything, a Blouse it is. Now I need something to go along with it. Denim Pants? Will I rock that look? It's casual enough to fit as loungewear and not be weird, but will it- Of course it will fit me!"

And so with a plan in mind, Rarity raced outside to tell all her friends the good news, Only to immediately run back in as the cold of the snow outside finally woke her up completely.

"I FORGOT TO DO MY MANE!!!"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at her sisters antics as she skipped outside, a little coat on her body and boots on her hooves, Ready to meet up with her friends and tell them what she just learned.

"PRINCE! A GIFT ARRIVED!"

Carrying on his back a basket of gifts, a large Yak walked up to his prince and placed it in front of him.

"For Me?" Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan asked loudly as he grabbed the letter attached to the basket and tore it open.

"Aha! Friend Blueblood sent this! A Gift for a Pony Holiday! Great Honor it is to recieve!" Rutherford yelled loudly, the elders and officials around him nodding their heads at the severity of the situation.

Grabbing a Bottle of Expensive Wine from the Basket, Prince Rutherford popped the cork and gave the bottle a chug, his eyes widening at the taste of the Equestrian Grapes.

"JORGEN!" The Prince called for one of his aides, "Make a Gift Basket! We Honor our Friend! Prince Blueblood of Equestria Needs a Good Gift! Highest of Quality!"

"YES YOUR MAJESTY!!!"

In The City of Dimondia, In the Castle of Queen Katherina Proudpaws, the fast tapping of feet could be heard in the early morning.

"Indy Wake up!"

Rolling out of her bed quickly, Princess Indiana Ambereyes dropped low to the ground as her youngest sister tried to leap into a hug, a basket held in left arm.

"Stop entering my room when I sleep Fiona, I could have hurt you if you didn't make yourself known," The Malamute Diamond Dog told her Golden Labrador sibling.

"But you didn't, and I did, And look!" Fiona Floppyears showed her the gift basket.

"What is that?" Indiana asked as she stood up from her place on the floor.

"It's a Gift Basket, Duh." Fiona rolled her eyes as she threw the basket at her sibling while she jumped on her bed.

Easily catching the basket, Indiana took out the note attached and read it, a small smile spreading on her face once she finished.

"So?" Fiona asked as she stopped jumping on the mattress, folding her legs as she sat on the bed, "What do you think? I got some amazing conditioner, Super sweet of him," She leaned back on the bed, wrapping herself up in her sister's blanket.

"I think It's nice," Indiana smiled at her sister before sniffing the air and wincing, "Did you shower this morning?"

"Ehehe, No?" Fiona wrapped herself more deeply into the blanket, slowly burying herself from her Sister's stern gaze.

"Fiona! Now I need to change my bedding!" Indiana cried, Grabbing her blanket and lifting it above her head, her sister squealing as she was dragged in the direction of the royal bathroom, Her blaket of warmth swiftly becoming her prison of Soap.

"Nooo! I don't want to take a shower! Noooo!!!"

Omake: A Prince From an Upcoming Arc

"Come on Portunes! You know how much I want to go!"

Deep in the heart of the Everfree Forest lies a Kingdom, hidden from the rest of the world by the trees and leaves of nature and magic.

"No, Prince Bramble, And I will tell you again, It is not safe for you outside outside the Forest."

That Kingdom was ruled by the Deer, A Magical Species who commanded the flora of the wild with their spells. A Long History of Magical Research and Mystery did they have.

"But Portunes!" A Young Brown Deer cried at the larger Armored Deer before him, "It's Snowing!"

"Then you can enjoy the snow, Inside the walls of the Kingdom." The Green-armored Stag told the Fawn as he shook his head, "You know the rules."

Shaking his small body in frustration, the young dear shouted, "Stop treating me like a Fawn!" before bolting away from his guard, skipping over the snow on the ground as he hopped up onto a low branch, using it as a springboard to jump even higher onto a platform hanging between a pair of tall trees, skipping around the plenty of other deer walking about the hanging bridge of magical vines and wood.

"There he goes again," Portunes the Guard sighed as he watched his Prince once more dash away.

Making his way around the Wooden Kingdom of Thicket, Prince Bramble slowed down as he reached a secluded corner of the wall surrounding the Kingdom.

Looking around to make sure he wasn't followed, the Young Prince smirked as he pulled aside a bush, revealing a hole in the wall which he quickly and quietly climbed out of.

As he stepped outside the tall wooden walls of Thicket, He smiled widely as he started dashing through the snow, his joyful laughter alerting the small woodland creatures living nearby to his presence as they too exited their dens and nests and joined the young prince in his joyful play.

"This is so Fun!" He cheered, Smiling at a small yellow bird resting on his shoulder, "And one day I'll venture outside our forest! To where the ponies live! And then I'll show Papa that there's nothing wrong with seeing the wide world!"

The forest critters cheered for the young prince, enchanted by his youthful hope.

Rolling onto the snow below him, Prince Bramble smiled widely as he looked at the canopy of leaves above him, the sun barely peeking through the treetops.

"I'll be out of the woods, a great big world," he smiled at the little bit of sky he could see.

"You know I'm Waiting for it,"

Author's Note

Not much of our main gang in this chapter, but a lot of the other royalty.

Hopefully, Rarity didn't sound too Out of Character, I tried to keep her manner of speech as close to Canon as possible.

Also, A little sneak Peak in the Omake for two of the characters we'll be seeing in the upcoming Deer Arc.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Edit: I forgot to mention, we passed 900 Likes, That should probably have been mentioned before I uploaded the chap, but oh well ;)

Chapter 75: An Uneventful Day

"So I've been thinking..."

Halting the world around them and clicking her fingers, Cosmos and Cadance returned to the expensive living room of the Oceanfront Mansion Blueblood loved to create.

"Yes?" Cosmos asked. the world the two previously enjoyed themselves in was now underneath a pause screen on the Television in front of them.

"I told you about Shining Armor, right?" Cadance asked as she lay on her stomach, her back legs moving back and forth above her as she gently kicked the air.

"He's the Guard Captain you're dating, Yeah?" Cosmos said as a small plastic figurine of a blue-maned Unicorn appeared next to her.

Picking up the figure, Cadance smiled lightly as she poked the Unicorn, "I've been thinking of taking the next step-"

"Sex?" Cosmos asked with a tilt of her head, Causing Cadance to cough loudly into her hooves, the Shining-Armor Figurine falling onto the floor.

"WHAT?! NO!!!" Cadance cried, her face bright red from the embarrassment, "We can't do that! We're not married yet!"

"Why not? Blueblood and I aren't married, and we've had lots of sex," Cosmos calmly said, a slender blue finger poking the boiling red cheek of her Alicorn Friend.

"Wha- DON'T TALK ABOUT MY COUSIN'S SEX LIFE!!!" Cadance cried, shoving her head into a nearby pillow and hiding her face in embarrassment.

"Fine~" Cosmos groaned out with a roll to her eyes before smiling mischievously, her false torso elongating like a snake and wrapping around Cadance as she yelped in surprise, pulling her into a constricting hug.
"So, what were you gonna' say?" She asked with a smile as she held Cadance, Cheek touching Cheek in an over-the-shoulder hug.

"I-" Cadance took a deep breath, briefly looking at the Powerful Spirit in her Yellow Eyes, noting her excited and mischievous glint, "I think I want to get married..."

Cosmos blinked after a momentary pause, taking the time to process the new information she just received.
"That's the next step? I thought It'd be moving in to live with him... No, Wait a moment! YES!!!" The confusion quickly made way for excitement as Cosmos pulled her body back to normal length, spinning the Princess of Love in a twirl as she unwound like a spring.

"Can I be the wedding planner?! I always wanted to be one since ten seconds ago! This is like a dream come true!!! EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" The Spirit of Space squealed in excitement as she shook her hands, her control over her illusionary body leaving her in her excitement of the news, causing her to revert to her physical form of a Head with a Right Arm.

"It's an exciting thought, right?" Cadance asked with a giddy smile, her horn glowing blue as she picked the decapitated head off the floor.

"EXCITING?! THIS IS INSANE CADY!!!" Cosmos screamed with a wide smile, her eyes physically glowing with excitement as the two girls squeed and wowed at the prospect of one of them getting married.

The two spent the rest of the night bringing up ways for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to ask Captain Shining Armor to marry her.

Because obviously Cadance has to make the first move, It's Shining Armor we're talking about here.

Standing on a port in Baltimare, I breathed in the crisp morning air as I watched the sunrise across the water.
Only I wasn't looking at the sun rising, my eyes were instead glued to the beauty of mechanical engineering floating across the water.

The First of ten ships I commissioned the construction of, A full 230 Meters Long, A 30 Meter Beam, A 10 Meter Draft with a Deadweight Tonnage of 55,000

Nineteen Magical Engines in Seven different engine rooms, Each running on a modified Arcane-Flux-Conducter. A Single engine room is capable of running the entire ship for several days before needing to refuel.
Five of the engine rooms are working simultaneously to power the ship, while the final two remain off until cases of emergency where they will automatically turn on after shutting off the regular engines.

Each one of these magnificent monsters will have a crew of twenty-five people running it, Five Engineers, Three Cooks, And Seventeen Seafarers.

This is just the first one, the construction of all of them won't finish until after the Summer Sun Celebration.

"Did we really have to wake up at four in the morning to look at a boat?" I smirked widely as Starlight Glimmer croaked tiredly behind me, dark shadows under her eyes as she held a Styrofoam cup of hot coffee in her magic.

"Of course we did," I tell her, my eyes not leaving the ship and the large B B F Written in bold letters on its side, "We are looking at the future of trade, Starlight, In twenty Years every nation that doesn't want to be left in the dark ages will have one of these beautiful babies," I turn away from the ship as I smile widely at Starlight, the sun rising behind me as my shadow covered the Pier I was standing on, shading Starlight in the process.

"And when asked how this magnificent event of our collective history began, they'll point out and say-" I Paused for dramatic effect before continuing quietly, "It was because of Prince Blueblood Platinum..."

"Ahuh," Starlight nodded uncaringly, "But couldn't we have done all of this during," She paused to roll her eyes, "Oh I don't know? Not FIVE IN THE MORNING?!"

I cringed and rubbed my head as Starlight yelled at me, "Not so loud Starlight, Some people are trying to sleep," I smirked at her as I watched her eye twitch in annoyance.

"Anyway, Get a pen out, I need to write a letter to Queen Jennino Lanternlight," I turned back to the ship, my eyes glinting as I smirked.

"Tell her to get the Goods Ready..."

"Why are you saying it like that?" She asked before taking another sip of her cup.

"Saying it like what?" I ask.

"Get the Goods Ready, Are you trying to sound like a drug dealer? Because if you keep talking like that ponies will start thinking you're some sort of black market merchant," Starlight said calmly, levitating her cup closer to her face as the warm steam emanating from the Coffee inside heated her face. Her breath left a cloud of frosty air as she sighed at the warmth.

"Wow, way to ruin the mood Starlight," I Click my tongue and turn to walk back to the city proper, "Anyway just write the letter later, I saw a nice breakfast place on our way here that I want to check out, Your treat."

"Sure sure... Hey!" Starlight exclaimed as she started walking after me, "What do you mean by My Treat?"

"It means you're paying, obviously," I tried my best to keep my face neutral as I fought to stop myself from laughing at her reactions.

I love being a Prince.

"Girls! Check this out, The new cover of my brand new book!" In a House Hidden in the Woods of southern Equestria, Award-winning author and Archeologist, A K Yearling, Held above her head the newest book in her collection of action-adventure novels.

"Daring Do and the Mystery of the Sunken Scarab!" She yelled happily, receiving a round of sarcastic applause from the two other people in her house.

The cover showed the titular character, Daring Do, Jumping over the railing of a ship as she dove to catch her hat which flew away, In the background below the title text, was an outline of two black figures standing over a shining Gold outline.

"I had to remove and change a lot of the details to keep the rest of the crew anonymous, now it's a Murder Mystery with a shapeshifting killer! Which actually turns out to be two killers in a magnificent twist all along, Ending with yours truly stopping an assassination attempt on Prince Gold-Star, The Nephew of a foreign Princess! Any questions?" A K Yearling said before turning to her new roommates.

"Yeah," The smaller Roommate, a surprisingly mature Pink Pegasus Filly, asked her question, "What did you do about the entirety of our Caninia visit?"

"I removed it, Now we only reach Glaros and then turn back after a night on the island," Yearling told the filly, who nodded in acceptance before flying to do something more interesting.

"I Have a better question!" The second Roommate raised her voice, a clawed talon raised in the air like a student raising their arm to get the teacher's attention, "Do I do anything cool in the book?"

"No Gilda, you're the comic relief," Yearling smirked at the Griffon, smiling at the squawk of indignation leaving her beak.

"But Zephyr is the obvious comic relief character!" Gilda pointed out as she rose from the couch she was laying on and pointed her hand at Yearling.

"Don't you mean Gust? He and Doktor share a few scenes along the story, but their involvement is always unimportant or in the background until the confrontation with the killer. As usual, I'm the Star of the Show, until the cast splits off to defeat the Killers at the end, with The Prince and his secret lover Bodyguard fighting against the mastermind while I and everypony else defeat the Shapeshifting Chef," A K Yearling ducked under a swipe from the irritated Griffin as she chuckled at the reaction her roommate was having.

"Stop dodging so I can hit you!" Gilda squawked as she jumped over the couch in an attempt to tackle Yearling, only to miss her entirely and crash onto the floor.

"As if you can catch me!" Yearling shouted at her before throwing the book onto the table and dashing to the door of her house, "Let's see you try, Slowpoke!"

"Grrr Get back here!" Gilda screamed as she also flew out of the house, chasing after the confident author.

"..." Slowly moving to the table and picking up the book, Cozy Glow hummed to herself before taking it to the living room, swiftly returning to the kitchen in order to make a plate of fruit to snack on. As Cozy Glow walked back to her now usual spot in the living room, a gust of cold wind from outside caused her to shiver.

Walking slowly over to the door, The filly poked her head and looked up, seeing the Griffon and the Mare wrestling in the air.

"CLOSE THE DOOR WHEN YOU LEAVE!!!" The filly yelled at the two adults before slamming the door shut and returning to her spot in the Living Room.

Sometimes it felt like she was the only adult in this house, and she's only Twelve.

In the jungles south of Equestria, Inside a Caravan hidden under a camouflage of leaves, A Blue Unicorn stared at the branch she spent all this time trying to get.

Made almost entirely out of White Crystal, the core of the branch was infused with natural harmonic magic. The tree the branch was connected to was the only tree on a small island in the middle of a lake of liquid diamonds.

The magical energy capable of being channeled through a Staff using this branch as a core will definitely make her one of the most powerful sorcerers in All of Equestria.

And then she could finally have her revenge...

"Yo Trix, I know we traveled all the way here so you could get this shiny twig and all, but can we hurry on back to civilization now? I really need to shower," Trixie Lulamoon paused as her newest friend poked his head over her shoulder.

"It's not a twig, Zephyr, this is a branch of a harmonically infused crystal willow tree." Trixie explained to her roommate.

"A Branch is just a slightly bigger Twig, so I don't see the difference, Now can we go back? I'm starting to smell like Swamp and Mud," The Teal Pegasus complained as he pulled his mane away from his head, the hairs sticking to his coat causing the Stallion to quiver in disgust.

"Fine! But next expedition there will be no complaining, you hear?!" Trixie pointed a hoof at Zephyr, who merely put on a smile and nodded his head.

"No promises," He said casually before exiting the caravan and starting to pull, the wooden wheels of the mobile home grinding into the soft ground for a moment before they popped out of the mud and the Caravan started rolling.

As Trixie was grumbling under her breath while securing the Crystal Willow Branch into a case, a note magically appeared in front of her.

Opening it without thought and reading what was written, She blinked before smiling, her eyes briefly moving to her quickly dwindling supplies of fresh food.

There was only so much canned food she could stomach before jumping in front of her own caravan wheels in an attempt to commit insurance fraud.

"Zephyr!" Trixie cried as she poked her head out the window of the Caravan, looking down at the Pegasus pulling her home, "A Letter from the Prince arrived, We might be getting a job!"

"Really?" Zephyr asked as he kept his eyes on the muddy road, "Awesome, that means I won't have to give you all my rent money,"

"You don't give me any rent money," The Unicorn pointed out.

"Exactly, that's why I love you Trix, you really know how to treat a friend," The Pegasus said, not noticing the blush spreading on the Unicorn's face, "Anyways, That was good timing, right? We're heading back to the city to sell all these Crystal you found, and now we have our job back. Nice."

"We are only selling the regular crystals, anything magic remains here," Trixie told him, her eyes moving to the crate of crystals and gems the duo had collected over the past month.

"Like that Twig of yours?"

"IT'S A BRANCH!"

"Whatever~"

In the quiet town of Ponyville, The Golden Oaks Library stood quiet and firm, the thick tree that made up the building standing tall and proud over the rest of the surrounding buildings of the small town.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA IS COMING TO VISIT NEXT WEEK?!?!"

Until a shrill scream shook the tree to its very core.

"I'M TRYING TO SLEEP! STOP SCREAMING!!!" A Neighbour raised her voice as she poked her head out of her window, glaring at the hollow tree.

"YOU'RE THE ONE SCREAMING ROSE!" Another neighbor screamed out from his window.

"I DON KNOW WHAT WE BE SCREAMING ABOUT BUT THIS Do SEEM FUN!" A third neighbor joined the cacophony.

And soon all of Ponyville was awake, with all the townspeople glaring angrily at the Golden Oaks Library for waking them up so early.

By the time the afternoon arrived, nobody remembered why they were angry and they all simply moved on.
All except for the Librarian of Ponyville, the Element of Magic herself.

"Spike, get all the girls gathered, I need their help preparing," She told her assistant.

"Aye Aye, Twilight!" Spike saluted before running outside, quickly running back inside and grabbing a winter coat before running back outside.

"And I also need to get Winter Wrap Up in order, This might be disastrous... Princess Celestia might banish me, or imprison me," Twilight paused before shaking her head at the silly thought, Princess Celestia would never do something like that-

"SHE'S GOING TO BANISH ME TO A PRISON FAR AWAY!!!"

No Twilight, Obviously she wouldn't...

Omake: Does the Narrator have a real job?

I am not narrating this Omake, find a better story.

On a different note, Thank you for including me in the chapter proper, it's not much but I do enjoy adding my thoughts to what I narrate.

But I am not narrating this Omake of yours, Maybe you could write about The Pony of Shadows drawing funny faces with a magic marker on the crystal pods the Pillars of Equestria are slumbering inside. I won't have a problem narrating that.

Now Finish the Chapter Already, You don't have an Omake to-

Author's Note

A Bit of a filler chapter, Next chapter will hopefully begin the Visit to Ponyville mini-arc.

Poor Mr Narrator, he doesn't get paid enough to deal with me.

Fun Fact: Since first publishing this story, there has only been one day in which it got less than 100 views. That being May 25th, with 83 views. Every other day has received more than 100 views.

Anyway, A Late Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrated.

Happy Kwanzaa.
Happy Bodhi Day.
Happy Yule.
Happy Las Posadas.
Happy Boxing Day.
Happy Santa Lucia.
Happy Diwali.
Happy Dong Zhi.
Happy Omisoka.
Happy Soyal.
Happy Pancha Ganapati.
And other December Holidays!!!

This is probably also the last chapter I'm releasing of this story in 2023, so like any good dad joke...

See you all next year!

Chapter 76: Pavane for a Dead Prince (Bonus)

Is it not a wondrous sight? Those stars glimmering in the night sky?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The sparks of untamed Mana escaping the horn of a fledgling Unicorn?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The intricately woven web of symbols, a work of art that is not but a piece to a larger puzzle that is our world?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The shadows extending over our land as the sun sets and the moon takes its place?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Golden Splendor of the throne where the Princess sits?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The tears which rain from the cries of the sister, who wishes only to be loved by her subjects.

Is it not a wondrous sight? The ear in which I whispered the truth, forgotten by my years of preparation?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Spells flying across the city as the Sun and the Moon fought for dominance?

Is it not a wondrous sight? Such a grand and encapsulating Distraction?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Curses which I threw at my own family, as I butchered them in our ancestral home?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The eyes of a Filly, hiding underneath the shrubbery, hoping to escape the carnage which I hath committed on this most illustrious of days.

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Blood of my Father which stained my hooves, As I spread his body across the Everfree as nothing more than dust?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Queen of the Deer, who innocently got caught in the carnage I partook?

Is it not a wondrous sight? Our manor on this most illustrious of days, as the Sun banishes the Moon, And the blood washes away the fire?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Celebration of the masses, Cheering for the defeat of their very own princess, to the sister who wanted nothing more than to be happy?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Shield, The Mask, The Flower, The Blindfold, And the Shovel?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Journal of My Teacher, Left without Guard as the Pillars Comforted the Sun?

Is it not a wondrous sight? This magnanimous Plan of mine, coming to fruition as all the pieces of the Puzzle fell into place?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Statue in the garden, The Being who fell for my plow with never the thought?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Gem which I held, A Shard of a greater being, who so foolishly trusted a Liar such as I?

Is it not a wondrous sight? This Well of Untapped Magic which I have found deep below the darkness?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Months I spent in the Depth, As the ones who should have stopped me were none the wiser?

Is it not a wondrous sight? This Masterwork of Magic that will fulfill my Vision, As I ascend higher than the Moon and Sun?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Anger in the heroes' eyes as they arrived too late to stop me?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The fear in their soul as the hopelessness of their victory made itself apparent?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Fool who acts as the lead of the circus, Hardens his mind for a most illustrious performance?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The acceptance on their face as they sacrificed their bodies in order to banish us all into Limbo?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Gem I held, The Puzzle for the return of an even greater Being, which would attract the attention of a mind curious and hungry?

Is it not a wondrous sight? That I have planned this all? The Defeat? The Banishment? The Return?

Is it not a wondrous sight? The Genius that I was, who thought of any conceivable option in advance? Who had an escape planned long before the heroes thought of Banishment?

But truly, Is it not a most wondrous sight? That even I could not have planned for the curious mind to free me?

For who would have considered? The Filly who hid under the Bush as the Blood flew above her head, would survive long enough to bear children, and those same children would bear more spawn, as the House which I made sure would go extinct with the Moon miraculously survived, as the Last Descendant of my Father's blood approached my Prison.

Oh, How Poetic! How Miraculous and Wondrous Indeed!

That I have found a Pony who I wish so clearly to Kill in this day and Age!
That I have found a Pony who I wish so clearly would Kill me in this day and Age!

"Know This, Dearest Nephew, That when you free me from this prison, We will do battle for the fate of the Future. And Only one of us may walk away the victor..."

Oh, How Poetic indeed...

Author's Note

This is the first chapter of 2024, I knew I had to start with a Banger of a Bonus.

A Glimpse into 'Uncle', a Glimpse we won't see more of until much later.

I really hope you all enjoyed it, and more than that.

I wish to thank each and every one of you for supporting this story, This is the longest Story that I wrote, and I have so much more I wish to write of it.
I wish to thank you, that in less than a year we have reached more than 900 Likes and 10,000 Views.
More than one hundred thousand Words, Across more than Seventy chapters.

I wish to thank those who Drew those two amazing pieces of Fanart, You are amazing.

I wish to thank those of you who stuck through with reading this story, even thought I have no schedule and the length of my chapters is somewhat lacking.

I wish to thank those of you who posted words of encouragement and support when the War in my nation started, To those of you who live safely in Europe or the US it might not seem like much, but I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

And most importantly, thank you to every single one of you who reached this chapter, You who average just above a tenth of the total Viewer base, from those who comment and those who lurk silently, Thank you all so very much.
I likely would have dropped this story long ago if it wasn't for the overwhelming support you all gave it.

So for the first time in Twenty-Twenty-Four.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Edit: To the User who I will not name who commented a threat against my being here, Fuck Off.
To those reading this, please downvote his comment If it's still available, I already reported him for Racial Discrimination, so Please do not report him again as it might be seen as a witch-hunt, and I do not want to get my account banned.

I Try and Keep my Political opinions outside of the stories I write, But I also do not hide the fact that I am Israeli, it is a Part of me.

I do not care if you condemn the actions my country is taking in this war, I do not care if you support the people of Palestine, I do not care which side of the conflict you think is fair and which side is wrong.
I am not here to change anybodies minds, I am only speaking of my own experiences, and I am not telling any of you to change yours.

But If you comment antisemetic threats against me in another language, so I am forced to use google translate to see that you think I deserve to be beaten, then I will report you.

You can Support Palestine, You can Support Israel, You can supprot both, or you can Support neither, I do not care.
But If you comment that I should be beaten, I will report you. I will not take threats like this against me on the basis of my race or nationality.

And If you are unable to read a story, that has so far made zero mentions of either Israel, Judaism, or Palestine, in over 70 Chapters, without leaving a hateful comment because it was written by an Israeli, then you are just being Antisemetic. And I will have none of that in my comment section.

I like to think of my comment section as a safe place for everyone, From every religion or Nationality, Sexuality or Political Leaning, And I will not take any hateful comments that are a direct insult to me as a person, or to any other readers here.

I do not care who you voted for, I do not care who you love, I do not care what country you're from, None of that matters to me. Everybody is welcome here as long as the comments remain civil.

But If you attack me or anyone else, You can go fuck yourself.

You can criticize my story, I know I am still an amateur when it comes to writing, there is nothing wrong with talking about my book. But If you comment threats against me, no matter if you dislike my skill as an author, the way the story is going, or even my own nationality...

I will report you, Delete your comment, and then kindly ask you to leave.

Edit 2: Mods took care of 'em.

Chapter 77: A Joke of a Visit 1

It was shortly after sunrise that Princess Luna of Equestria found herself flying out of her window on the top of her tower, a small grey creature held in her hooves.

"Sister! Sister!" Luna yelled as she knocked on her sister's bedroom window, "Sister! Open up!"

Putting her face close to the window in order to search for her sister inside, Princess Luna couldn't ready herself for the window to suddenly slide open, letting her fall onto her face as the glass she was leaning on disappeared from her legs.

"Sister! You need to-" Luna pushed herself from the floor as if nothing happened as she turned her head to look at the other pony in the room, only to pause as she came face to face with an unamused Prince Blueblood.

"Oh..." Luna quieted down as her eyes quickly flickered around the room, seeing maps and designs on the wall, pictures of different ponies and creatures taped onto a board, a full-length mirror, and a walk-in closet right beside a bathroom.
"This isn't Celly's room, is it?" She asked, her face flushed in embarrassment.

"No." Blueblood answered blankly, "Celestia is two doors to the right." His eyes twitched as he fought off a yawn.

"We see..." Luna nodded in understanding before she spread apart her front legs to show him what she held, "Friend Blueblood, Look! An Opossum!"
Held close to Princess Luna was an Opossum, covered in gray fur with a white head and a long pink bald tail, small pink paws at the ends of its limbs.

"We have decided to call him Tibbles! It is short for Tiberius, Clever aren't we?" The Princess of the night smiled proudly at her choice of pet, closing her eyes and waiting for her friend to agree with her.

"Luna..." Blueblood tiredly said.

"Yes, Friend Blueblood?"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Why of course!" Luna nodded her head, and with her eyes still closed and a smile on her face, she said "It's Five-thirty in the morning."

"Good," Blueblood said as he turned away from her and went back to bed, "Wake me up in Ninety minutes." He told her.

Slowly opening her eyes, Luna noticed that the Prince was no longer standing before her.

Seeing as he returned to sleep, A mischievous grin crossed Luna's face as she sneaked out of his room, not bothering to close the window she came in from, and started her masterful prank.

"Now where did we keep those petals..."

My eyelids twitched as I heard the sound of someone snickering above me.

"Oh this is going to be so good," I heard Luna whisper with a snicker before I felt something gently touch my forehead.

And then I fell off the bed.

Quickly opening my eyes, I sat up to see that I wasn't off the bed. I was inside it. Princess Luna lay on her back as she laughed out loud at whatever it was that she'd done to me.

I stood up, my legs wiggling slightly as I tried to find my balance while I walked through my bed as if it were an illusion, and stood above Luna.

"Oh, this is so funny!" She laughed as she rolled on my floor, the disease-carrying pest she decided to keep was hanging on to her mane.

"Yes, Very Funny," I answered in a monotone voice as I stared down at the Alicorn lying on my floor.

"We know," Luna smiled as she looked up at me from her spot on the floor, "Do not worry Friend Blueblood, the cure for your condition should be ready by the evening,"

I froze at that. My eyes quickly flicked to the calendar hanging on my wall.
Shit.

Oh wait, this is a Prank. Of course.

"Ahaha, Yes what a funny Joke this is Luna, now let's be serious, where's the antidote to whatever it is you gave me," I asked with a smile, She almost got me with that joke of hers, I was really starting to panic for a moment.

How unbecoming of me.

"The ingredients for the cure will arrive in the evening," Luna said with a smile, the Opossum in her mane turning to look at me before it returned to playing with her hair.

I waited for her to say Sike, because of course she would.

And then I waited some more, A relaxed smile on my face as I stared down into Luna's Cyan eyes, Still waiting for her to say the words and give me the cure.

"Are you not going to laugh some more?" Luna asked, acting as if we were having a totally normal interaction as if she wasn't lying on her back on the floor of my bedroom.

"I fail to see what I should be laughing about?" I told her, still waiting for her to drop the act and give me the cure.

Because there is a cure, for obvious reasons.

Who in their right mind would drug someone without an antidote on standby? You always need an antidote for the victim, and an extra antidote in case something happens to the first antidote. That's the basics of Poisoning 101.

Still waiting for Luna to tell me she was just pranking me before giving the cure, I went to open my closet.

Only to have my hoof pass through the handle.

With a twitch of annoyance to the eye, I used my magic to open the closet and levitated out a suit.

I had to make sure I looked good, I had several meetings today and I couldn't afford to give off a bad impression.

My eye twitched once again as the sharp, charcoal grey suit with gold buttons that I picked passed through my body as if it were an Illusion.

"Luna," I started, my eyes looking at myself in the mirror as I magically picked up my suit from the ground, "this isn't that funny," I stared at her reflection in the mirror, "Give me the cure."

Luna's smile seemed to lower as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Emm, We already said it'll be ready in the evening." She smiled sheepishly as she looked away.

"You're joking, please stop. I'm being serious." I stared at her intently through the reflection, "Give me the cure,"

"We can't, We already said-" Whatever Luna planned to say was cut off as my hoof passed through her head.

I stared at the hoof I raised before I retracted my limb, staring at the leg as I hummed to myself.

"Intangibility... Shit."

Princess Luna felt her breath stop in shock as the hoof passed through her face.

"Intangibility... Shit." Luna's ears flicked as she heard her friend say those words.

"Blueblood... Did you just-" Luna tried to speak but Blueblood didn't seem to hear her.

"Shit Shit Shit," Blueblood said, staring at his hoof as he walked around his room.

"Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Shitting Shit Fucking Dammit Fuck Fuck Shit Fucking Shit Shit Fuck Fuck Fuck Fucking Fuck God Dammit Fucking Shit Fuck!"

Luna watched with wide eyes as her Friend fell to his knees, the tirade of curses leaving his mouth seemingly with no end spilled from his mouth as he kept cursing before he shouted out,

"Fuck!"

Holding his head in his legs for a couple of moments, only to quickly stand up and shake his head, his face clear of any anger or hint that something was wrong.

"Luna?" he called simply, His eyes staring at the door to his Bedroom.

"Yes, Friend Blueblood?" Luna answered, sitting up from her spot on the floor.

"You are going to help me do my job today. Understood?" He said more than he asked, a glow of his horn pulled several papers from his table and put them into a small bag before an Illusion of the suit he wanted to wear appeared over him.

"We understand..." Luna sighed as she stood up, grabbing the bag with papers that Blueblood handed her before the two left the room.

It was as the two were walking down the corridor, that Luna asked him the question she meant to ask him five minutes before.

"Did you try and punch our face?" She asked incredulously, Tiberius holding on to her mane as he two stared at Blueblood with amazement.

"Of course I did, I had to prove whether whatever you did to me made me intangible to living beings as well as inanimate objects." He explained.

"Wha- So why punch our face? You could have tapped our shoulder."

"Because I had a perfectly good excuse to Punch a Princess in the face without facing any consequences for it, I saw an opportunity and I took it." He told her, a small smirk appearing on his face as he started to return to a more cheerful mood.

"Oh." Luna nodded in understanding before another thought popped into her head.
"What would have happened if you weren't intangible to Living Creatures?"

Blueblood simply stared at her, before his horn glowed as a miniature illusion of Luna lying on her back appeared before her eyes, followed by a miniature illusion of Blueblood punching her in the face, the force of the hit cracking the illusionary floor beneath her head as her eyes were replaced with two spinning swirls.

Luna stared blankly at the knocked-out Illusion before scoffing and turning to look at Blueblood, "It would take more than that to take us down," She told him with a smirk, her eyes staring into his as if inviting a challenge.

A Challenge Blueblood was all too eager to accept.

"Tomorrow we'll see how true that is," He smiled widely at her, his toothy grin seeming somewhat feral in the light of the sun coming through the window.

"Very well," Luna nodded at her friend, "Tomorrow we shall spar, We have not fought any creature since Nightmare Moon returned, and we do not wish to become rusted."

"Haha!" Blueblood barked out a laugh, "I aim to please," He smirked his feral smile at her before he continued walking.

And seeing him walk away, Luna nodded to herself.

"You aren't as complicated as you look," She thought to herself as she watched him walk away before she started trotting after him. Her little Tibbles still holding onto her mane.

Author's Note

First Actual Chapter of 2024!!!

Luna did the unthinkable, and poisoned the prince!
Do not worry, he is in no imminent danger.

It was simply a poison Joke!

So yes, Blueblood's Poison Joke symptom is to become a living Illusion, or in other words, Intangible.

If only he didn't have work that day, he might have enjoyed the prank for what it was.

Also I finally introduced Tiberius, Luna's pet Possum from the comics, it's only been...
More than 139-Thousand words across Seventy+ chapters.

Really record-breaking pace over here, fast as lightning!

But unironically, It's been only around 17 chapters from the Show since this story started and where it is right now. Half of Autumn and an Entire Winter.

The Yearly winter wrap-up has finished, so Spring has now officially begun in Equestria and will remain for most of the remaining season(Show season, not Seasons season).

So yeah, in 17 chapters we did all this.

We still have a lot more to go!

Hope you all enjoyed :)

Also, I'm amazed it took so long for the first antisemitic threat to arrive, you guys are the best! I honestly expected to be threatened for being Israeli much sooner, so thanks for being normal people instead of whatever is going on on Twitter and Instagram.

And, for any assholes reading this. If you're going to threaten me, At least be respectful of my time, and don't write your threat in a language that isn't English.
The least you could do is not waste my time going onto Google Translate to see what you wrote, I have better things to do than Translating your threats.

Anyway, once again thank you all for respecting me and not being weird about whatever going on in the world, I try my best to keep my own politics out of my stories, and I see no reason to hide where I come from.

Peace :coolphoto: :)

Edit: Forgot to mention! We passed 11k Readers! WOOHOO!!!

Chapter 78: A Joke of a Visit 2

"Sweetie Belle wake up!"

It was Eight in the morning when a yell rang across Carousel Boutique.

Covering her ears with her pillow as she tried to sleep longer, Sweetie Belle mumbled "Five more minutes," But luck was not on her side, as with a push of light blue magic, The door to her room was flung open.

"Sweetie Belle I know you can hear me, I need you to wake up," At the door stood her older sister, Rarity, With a lilac blouse around her torso and a cornflower blue scarf around her neck.

"But Rarity, there's no school today," Sweetie Belle mumbled groggily as she crawled out of her bed, rubbing her eyes.

"I know, But Prince Blueblood is coming in an hour and I need you out of the house," Rarity told her as she cleaned her room with a spark of her magic.

"That's today?" Sweetie Belle asked as she moved her head in circles, stretching her neck before walking into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Yes, And I don't want to inconvenience him with any distractions, so you'll need to leave the house before he arrives," Rarity explained as she took a spot next to Sweetie Belle in front of the mirror, checking her eyelashes one last time.

"Why? He's only coming to make sure you're not going crazy after Nightmare Moon kidnapped you," Sweetie said after spitting her toothpaste into the sink, "It said so in the letter,"

"Perhaps, But even still-"

"Blueblood, Mind telling me why you're intangible?" Starlight Glimmer asked once she joined Luna and I for breakfast.

"Starlight, Magic," I answered simply as I took a bite of my food, Air.

"I see, So what spell did you mess up this time? Because I don't know if you notice, but there's a difference between getting the colors of a sail wrong, and accidentally turning yourself into a ghost," Starlight asked sarcastically as she taunted me by taking a bite of her food.

"Blueblood's state is not of his own fault," Luna spoke up after taking a sip of her morning coffee.

I want coffee.

"It was our own negligence and failure to prepare that has caused us to reach this situation-" I cut Luna off.

"She poisoned me,"

Luna sputtered, Starlight widening her eyes as she stared at me in disbelief.

"She poisoned you?" Starlight repeated as if finding it hard to believe.

"It was a Poison Joke," Luna said before returning to her food, refusing to meet my stare.

"Oh..." Starlight nodded in understanding, "Yeah I can see that. Wait, If you're intangible now, Does that mean we won't be going to Ponyville today?" She asked, excited at the prospect of not doing her job.

"Sadly we can't postpone our visit, I assure you I would love to not go near that magnet of Bad Luck that is Ponyville, but as a Prince, I have a duty to make sure the victims of national tragedies are well taken care of-" My carefully thought up excuse for why I'm going to Ponyville was interrupted as Starlight once again opened her mouth.

"You just want the Sweet Apple Acres deal to happen," She said as a matter of fact, and I had no real retort.

Because why would I retort? Buying Apples for BBF Foods is the main reason, and the only real reason, I have to go to that town.

It's just for a year, Sweet Apple Acres will be selling the Blueblood Foundation apples in bulk. By next year I'll already be able to buy directly from Appleloosa instead.

With International Trade already happening between me and Queen Lanternlight, and with the success of my Jams and Mayo already spreading like wildfire, It's safe to say that the North Equestria Railway System is my next step, followed by the Pony/Yak railway that'll connect us to Yakyakistan.

Once that's done, It'll be back to searching for Cosmos's other body parts.

"Squeak," My plans for economic domination were interrupted by the pest that Luna decided to adopt reminding me that he exists.

"Is that a White-Crowned Opossum?" A Voice asked as Celestia entered the room, carrying a birdcage under her wing as she took a seat at the table.

"Are you not going to eat anything, Blublu?" Celestia asked once she saw the empty space in front of where I was sitting.
"Squawk!" So eloquently added the bald... I want to say Turkey? In Celestia's Birdcage.

"I'm physically incapable of eating right now, also please don't call me Blublu, it's weird," I told her.

"Why not? Lulu has a nickname, And Cadance already calls you by a Nickname, so why not let your Mama give you a nickname too?" Celestia asked.

"Because Cadance is Cadance, I'm pretty sure she has nicknames for everyone," I answered her with a roll of my eyes, "Also I'm almost thirty, I'm past the age for nicknames, seeing as I'm not a five-year-old child."

I stood up from the chair illusion I created to sit on, "Anyhow, Luna, Starlight, It's time to go," I nodded to the Turkey as it was the only thing on the table I didn't have any issue with at the moment, I walked through the table as if it wasn't there and passed through the door into the corridor outside the dining room, waiting for the two Mares who'll be joining me for today.

Celestia watched her Son walk through the door as if it wasn't there before she turned back to her Sister on the table.

"What did you do this time?" Celestia asked Luna, smirking at her sister's attempt at avoiding her eyes.

"We might have... placed a petal of Poison Joke on his head without preparing a cure," Luna answered sheepishly, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.

"Well, Have fun you two," Celestia told Luna as she picked herself up and joined Blueblood outside the dining room.

An Awkward silence then enveloped the room as Celestia stared at the only other Pony in the room.

"I'll- I'll be taking my leave then," Starlight said hurriedly before she teleported out of the room, not wanting to walk around the Princess of the Sun.

And as the silence encapsulated the room once more, Celestia chuckled to herself as she turned to her pet bird.
"He's just being a little Grumpy," Celestia smirked at the thought of her son curling up on her legs as she read him a book, something she always wanted to do but never had the opportunity to.

"You know, Philomena, Blueblood has been way more open about himself in the last few months," She said as she rested an elbow on the table, holding her head in her hoof, "Which means our visit to Ponyville today is more important than ever before,"

"Squawk?" The Molting Phoenix asked as she scratched a patch of feathers with her foot.

"Checking up on Twilight? Of course We'll be doing that, but we already know how things are with her," Celestia rolled her eyes with a smile, "She never stops sending letters, that girl, But it's her friend Pinkie Pie that we're after, remember, Blueblood cannot learn of what we're doing today,"

"Squawk," Philomena banged her head on the cage in an approximation of a nod, a couple of thin pink feathers falling off her head as she did.

"I'll buy you cream so you'll rebirth already, fine. Really what's with you this decade, you should have been reborn months ago," Celestia rolled her eyes at her Pet's antics before quickly finishing her breakfast.

"And besides, What are the chances Blueblood will be in Ponyville? He's probably going to speak with his Shipwright pals about his boats again,"

"Squawk," Philomena shook her head and curled into a ball, scratching at her feathers as Celestia picked her cage up and exited the dining room.

"Fine Fine, I'm going to the clubhouse, Stop pushing it," Sweetie Belle complained at her sister as she walked towards the door.

"Great, And remember Sweetie, It's only until Twelve, just three hours, that's nothing for you," Rarity called out to her as she quickly sprayed perfume on her neck and checked her makeup one last time.

"Okay!" Sweetie Belle yelled before she opened the door.

And stopped as she stared at the broad chest of a well dressed White Stallion.

"Hello, Is this the Carousel Botique?" The Stallion asked with a soft smile on his face, his horn glowing as he levitated a bag over his shoulders.

Sweetie looked around the Stallion, her eyes widening as she spotted two familiar ponies she hadn't seen in months.

"Princess Luna!" She exclaimed as her eyes met those of the princess of the night, who gave her a little wave in greeting.
"And the other one!" Sweetie exclaimed again as she looked at the Unicorn who helped the Princesses take down Nightmare Moon and free her Sister from her control.

"The other one..." The mare mumbled as she looked away from the filly, afraid the two other ponies of her group would see the blush on her face as she smiled weakly at the filly's excitement.

"Then that means..." Sweetie Belle put two and two together as her eyes returned to the Stallion in front of her, "You're Prince Blueblood!"

On the other side of the house, Rarity tripped on her hooves as she heard her little sister yell it out, resulting in a cloud of makeup to fall onto her.

"Haha, yes, I am Prince Blueblood Platinum," The prince smiled at her, and for a moment Sweetie Belle understood why her Sister loved to talk about him.

"Will you marry my sister?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently, a loud crashing sound heard coming from the back of the building as those words entered Rarity's ears.

Prince Blueblood blinked at that question before he burst out laughing before turning to Princess Luna.

"Hahahaha! See Luna, this is how you tell a joke! Hahahaha!" He laughed uproariously before he calmed down, "You know what kid, I like your style," The bag that levitated over his shoulders opened up with a glow of his horn, a small pile of bits levitated out before he put it in a small bag, "Here, Fifty bits, go buy yourself something nice," The bag of coins dropped in front of Sweetie Belle, who grabbed the bag in her mouth.

"Don't tell your parents, okay?" He asked her with a wink, which she happily returned before moving passed him and running off to tell her friends.

Still in the bathroom, Rarity stood up from the mess of spilled makeup and perfume she created on the floor before she saw herself in the mirror.

"Ah~" She quickly covered her mouth, hoping the Prince didn't hear her before she looked back at her reflection.

She was a mess, her Purple Mane was caked with white powder, Her face was smeared with Lipstick, Her eyelashes were crooked, and there was a stain of perfume on her blouse making her look as if she drooled on it.

"I need to fix this," Rarity whispered to herself before she called out.
"I'll be there in a minute, Just need to get some stuff ready!"

"I'll be there in a minute, Just need to get some stuff ready!"

Hearing those words leave the room on the other side of the house, I turned to Starlight and Luna.
"How much are we betting that we'll be waiting more than a minute?" I asked, "Because I'm willing to bet One-hundred,"

"Nobody is going to take that bet," Luna shook her head at her friends idea, "Instead I'm placing four-hundred on us waiting for ten minutes,"

Starlight widened her eyes at Luna and I betting on how much time it would take someone to get ready.

In the meantime, I took out the papers and reorganized them, If everything goes well, I'll be out of here in twenty minutes.

But this is Ponyville, So I'll probably be stuck here until four in the afternoon.

The simple thought of being here for long caused my stomach to ache.

"I'm hungry," I whispered, tired of being intangible.

"Did you say something?"

"Yes, Now Starlight, you know where Sweet Apple Acres is, right?" I levitated a few documents over to her, "Get the pony in charge there to sign these for us,"

"And what if they don't?" She asked as she grabbed the papers.

"Tell them to read the paper again, I assure you they will want to sign this," I nodded my head at her, "Now go do your job, Luna and I will wait here for Miss Rarity to get ready," I rolled my eyes at that, Get ready, yeah right. The Kid said it all, the Mare is shy and is trying to ready herself for a royal visit.

I just need her to sign some papers, There's no reason for anybody to take so long to get ready for that.

Sit down at the table, exchange a few words, sign the papers, and then we leave.

Although I do wonder what's taking her so long...

Jumping out of her window, Rarity dashed to the first pony she could think of that could help her deal with her mess in a timely manner.

"Twilight I need your help!" She called out as she flung open the door to the Golden Oaks Library.

"Miss Rarity," The Element of Generosity froze, "I must say I do not understand these new fashion trends you ponies have these days, But I'm sure you look wonderful,"

Sitting at a table in the middle of the library in front of Twilight Sparkle, was none other than Princess Celestia herself.

"I'm doomed..." Rarity whispered to herself.

"So doomed..."

Author's Note

Dammit Rarity! Stop being a Drama Queen and just sign the Covenant Not to Sue! :raritydespair:

Also, Good for Sweetie Belle, Fifty Bits at her age... That's enough to buy 25 cupcakes! :pinkiegasp:
Or maybe 50 apples! :ajsmug:
Let's all hope she shares with her friends :applecry: :scootangel: :unsuresweetie:

Philomena makes an entrance, Still molting and going through her Pheonix Rebirth, seeing as she didn't get Fluttershy to quicken the event last season because Celestia canceled her visit when Blueblood and Starlight teleported to the Frozen Tundra! (I remember this stuff!)

Now all the Royals (Minus Cadance, oops) Have Pets (Somewhat)
Philomena with Celestia.
Tiberius with Luna.
And Cerberus with Blueblood whenever he goes to Tartarus once every few weeks.

Cadance can get a puppy or something later, I dunno. :pinkiesmile:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)

Chapter 79: A Joke of a Visit 3

"Really?! That's Awesome!"

In the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres sat a Treehouse. A Clubhouse for the bravest and most fearless group of Fillies this side of Equestria.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders!

"Yep!" Sitting in their treehouse, Three Fillies gathered around a bag of bits, "He's a real-life bonafide prince," Sweetie Belle said.

"Why is he visiting Rarity?" The Earth Pony of the group, Apple Bloom, asked as she closed the blinds to the clubhouse, setting a mood fit for a secret meeting.

"The letter he sent a few weeks ago said he needed to make sure everything was fine after the whole Nightmare Moon thing a few months back," Sweetie Belle explained, eliciting a wince from the two other fillies, "But really it's just boring grown-up stuff like signing papers and shaking hooves," The Unicorn rolled her eyes at the idea of how boring it must be.

Scootaloo, the Pegasus of the group, scowled at the idea of boring grown-up nonsense before a thought popped into her head.
"Why don't we spy on him? See how a real prince does his job!" She brought up the idea, which seemed to cause the Earth Pony of the group to jump in place with excitement.

"Ooh Ooh! What if our Cutie Marks are Prince Escorting?" She suddenly stood up and grabbed her hair, holding it above her nose as if it was a mustache as she put on a fake accent, "Oh, my Prince, Your four o'clock meeting is ready,"

Scootaloo stood up as well, slicking her mane back and giving off a charming smile, "Oh, why thank you, butler," She said in the haughtiest voice she could muster before laughing out with an exaggerated "Hohoho!"

Sweetie Belle smiled at the Idea and stood up, "Yeah! Let's go follow the Prince!" She moved to exit the treehouse before stopping and turning back quickly to the bag of bits the Prince gave her.

"Wait! Before we forget," She opened the bag, levitated out two stacks of Fifteen Bits, and gave each one to her two Friends, leaving Twenty Bits in the bag for herself.

Pocketing their bits, the girls nodded to each other before yelling loudly.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Princely Escorts Go!"

"There we go, Everything should be fine now," Twilight Sparkle said as she finished cleaning the makeup off of Rarity's face.

"Thank you Twilight, you're a lifesaver, I don't know what I would do If I had to go into that meeting looking like THAT!" Rarity thanked her Friend, Briefly shivering at the thought of meeting Prince Blueblood looking like she did ten minutes ago...

"It's Been ten minutes! I need to go, I'll thank you later Twilight! Nice to see you, Princess Celestia! Bye!" Rarity yelled before quickly turning away from the other occupants of the Library and running back to her home.

"...She seemed excited," Princess Celestia said in an effort to break the silence.

"That she did," Twilight Sparkle nodded at her teacher's words, "Now what were we talking about?"

"Squawk!" Philomena croaked from her bird cage, scratching at her skin with her feet.

Celestia ignored her bird and smiled at her Pupil "Your Friend, Pinkie Pie-"

Twelve Minutes after jumping out through the Window, Rarity entered the Carousel Boutique through the back door, acting as if nothing happened.

Quickly applying a much thinner layer of makeup, She smiled into the mirror before walking into the main room of her house.

As soon as she opened the door, she was awestruck.

There he stood, smiling slyly as he talked with- Wait a gosh darn moment!

"Princess Luna?! I didn't know you'd be coming here! I would have prepared more if I knew you were going to be here," Rarity started apologizing to the two Royals, not noticing a victorious look on Luna's face as Prince Blueblood levitated her a bag of bits with a scoff.

As soon as the money left his magic and landed in Luna's hooves, it was as if a switch was flicked in The Prince's mind as he walked toward Rarity.

"Please, Ms. Rarity- It is Ms. Rarity is it?" He asked her as he stood above her, pulling her up with a weak pull of his magic, "Please don't tell me it's Mrs. Rarity and break my heart," He winked at her to show he was merely joking.

"Oh-" Rarity's mind briefly short-circuited as she watched the Ice Blue eyes of the Prince wink at her, "-IT'S MISS! Haha!" She laughed loudly, her smile wide on her face as she kept her distance from the Prince.

"I see," Prince Blueblood smiled at her as he looked into her eyes, his Ice Blue orbs pulling her in as she- Get a Hold of yourself Rarity!
"You already know who I am, but just for necessities, I will introduce myself," Rarity nodded her head rapidly as the Prince kept talking.

"My Name is Prince Blueblood Platinum, And it is my very good pleasure to finally meet you," He smiled at her with his eyes as he gave her a courteous bow.

"Oh! It is my very good pleasure to meet you too, your Highness," Rarity bowed back, trying to suppress the giddy excitement she was feeling.

"I'm sure," Blueblood told her before he moved to the nearby table, "I suggest you take a seat, Ms. Rarity," He pulled out a chair for her, In her own house. Oh, what a Gentlecolt!

"Ah, Of course, Your Highness," Rarity once again gave a quick bow before seemingly teleporting onto the chair with how fast she moved.

"Great!" Blueblood once again smiled at her, causing butterflies to flutter in her chest, "Although I must apologize for bringing Princess Luna with me," He frowned to himself and shook his head, "There was a magical accident at the castle earlier today and I had to bring some assistance to help me," He turned to look at the Princess, "Luna, if you will,"

"Of course," Luna smiled gently at Rarity, before a small stack of papers levitated from the bag she was carrying over to the Table before setting in front of Rarity.

"Now," Blueblood once again stole her attention, "Before we begin going over the documents for you to sign, I need to ask you a few questions, If that is fine with you,"

"Of course Darling- I mean Your Highness! Ask away," Rarity cringed at herself for a moment before she refocused on those Deep Glaciers that stared into her very soul...
He was so dreamy~

"Wonderful," If Blueblood had any reaction to being called Darling, he didn't show it on his face as he turned to Princess Luna.
"Luna, I am sorry, but would you kindly write down Ms. Rarity's answers to my questions," He didn't wait for an answer before he turned back to the Unicorn.

"So, first of all, Let's Begin with something simple," His horn glowed as a chair appeared beneath him, letting him sit down without moving from where he stood.
"What is your full name?"

Making her way down the road leading to Sweet Apple Acres, Starlight Glimmer took the time to think.

How long has it been since she met her current Best Friend and Employer? Three Months? Four?

Starlight had to admit to herself, as she walked down the dirt path, a bag filled with business documents and proposals lying on her back, that a lot had happened in those surprisingly long four months.

"What happened first?" She wondered aloud, "There was the Teleportation mishap that started it all, landing us in Yakyakistan, And then what happened? Moving to Canterlot Castle?" She chuckled at the idea, Who would have guessed she'd ever live in a castle?

Obviously she would have built her own castle once Our Town gained enough momentum, but there's a difference between building your own castle, and living in a thousand-year-old building, hiding secrets and riddles from untold centuries ago.

Starlight grumbled as another thought popped into her head, "It's not as if I had much of a choice though, It was either that or spending how much was it? Thirty years in prison! That's not a real option!"

However, Starlight Glimmer knew it wasn't so bad.
She wouldn't have ever met Raven Inkwell or Shining Armor if she never moved there.
"Those two are my friends..." Starlight paused for a moment, "I think?"

Was this how friendship actually worked? Starlight wasn't sure, and so she decided to simply return to what she was doing prior.

"Hey, You! What are you doing here?" Starlight Glimmer paused as a trio of Fillies stood in front of her path, blocking her way.

"Me? I'm just here to speak with the Pony in charge of Sweet Apple Acres," Starlight explained before stepping to the side, intent on walking around the trio of Fillies.

"Why?" The Earth Pony filly asked, tilting her head to the side like a puppy.

"I need to give them some papers to read," Starlight asked, resuming her walk, now with the three children following her.

"Why do you need to give her the papers?" Asked the Unicorn filly, the same one from Rarity's house if Starlight remembered correctly.

"My Boss, Prince Blueblood, wants to buy a lot of apples," Starlight told them, simplifying the act by a lot, but still getting the main point across.

"Oh! Okay, I'll go notify Granny that you're coming!" The Earth Pony filly said before she started jogging ahead of Starlight, "Meet me at the house!" She yelled to her two friends before passing a wooden fence gate and skipping up the dirt road leading to a surprisingly expensive-looking red farmhouse.

The house shows off a homely feel while undoubtedly shouting to the world 'The people living here are important, show them respect.

Or at least, that's how Starlight thinks Blueblood will try and explain it as she looked at the Farmhouse, three stories tall with a pair of large barn doors in the front, likely leading to an indoor entrance to the house itself.

"Look! Granny Smith is already waiting for us," The Pegasus filly said as she bounced ahead to join her friend at the farmhouse, leaving the two Unicorns behind.

"Umm," Starlight turned to look at the Unicorn Filly, who seemed to be trying to say something to her.

"Yes? What is it?" Starlight urged, silently cringing at how forceful she sounded.
She was trying to be nice! She promises!

"Umm, I-eh... I wanted to thank you for Helping save my sister back when... When Nightmare Moon took her..." The Filly shyly looked away from the mare, hiding her face in embarrassment.

Starlight blinked at that, "You don't need to thank me, I barely did anything," Starlight shook her head with a quiet chuckle before she returned to the road.

"But- But you used this spell that on Nightmare Moon that allowed everypony else to fight her! Whatever it was, it had to be strong if even Nightmare Moon was unable to fight it off!" The filly jumped excitedly in place, almost dropping the bag tucked close to her hair.
"Once you're done here, Let me buy you something at Sugarcube Corner, As thanks!"

Starlight stared silently at the excited young filly, going over her thoughts as she did before a small smile spread on her face.

"You know what, that sounds nice," Starlight gave her hoof to the Filly, "My name is Starlight Glimmer, It's nice to meet you..." She raised her eyebrows expectantly as the filly stared at the hoof with widening eyes.

With a bounce of joy, the Unicorn filly grabbed the hoof and shook it, "My name is Sweetie Belle, It's nice to meet you too!"

And now with the promise of a child to eat something sweet later, Starlight Glimmer was ready for anything.

Granny Smith strained her eyes under her reading glasses as she read the paper given to her, reading the yapping of those big city business ponies, rolling her eyes at the big words that failed to impress her.

She's not new to this, She's been in the Farming business for decades, from before this Prince Whosawhatsit was even born!

And then she read a bit lower and froze as she saw the number.
A very big number.

"Apple Bloom," Granny Smith shakily took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, "Go get Jack, She needs to be the one to sign this..." The old Earth Pony stood up and walked away from the table, slowly walking on shaking legs towards a drawer near the entrance to the house, opening it, and grabbing a very expensive-looking pen.

"Woah..." Granny Smith felt herself smirk in satisfaction at the reaction this little object always managed to get.

It was an old dip pen, older than even her house. Lacquered Willow etched with bronze images of branches and apples, with a clean silver tip at its end.

"Granny Smith, Apple Bloom said you called so I came running and-" Granny Smith closed her eyes and smiled as her granddaughter entered the house.

"Applejack, Take this pen," Granny Smith held out the antique to the younger Mare.

"Wha- Granny what's going on?" Granny Smith chuckled to herself, Fillies these days...

"I want you to read the document the nice lady over there gave me," Granny nudged Applejack over to the table, her eyes relaxed as she took a seat on a comfortable chair and got ready for the coming reaction.

"To the owners of Sweet Apple Acres and associates-" Granny chuckled as Applejack rolled her eyes, "This document is property of the BBF, unauthorized sharing of this document could lead to legal repercussions yadda yadda yadda," Applejack huffed as she skipped over the boring legalese, before getting to the part she actually understood.

"For the span of days between February 1st and October 31st, Sweet Apple Acres will supply the Blueblood Foundation with 40 tons of Apples per month- Granny, can we even do that?" Applejack turned to ask.

Granny scoffed with a smile, "Of course we can, easily, now keep reading,"

"Okay..." Applejack returned to the document, "Apples of the species- Let's skip a bit forward... Here we are- The BBF is willing to pay..." Applejack froze as she stared at the paper, Slowly moving it to her younger sister as Granny Smith burst out laughing.

"Apple Bloom, please read these numbers for me..." Applejack said blankly as she stared at the pen in her hoof, her eyes briefly turning to see her Grandmother laughing to herself in the corner.

"Okay!" Apple Bloom stood up on a chair to see better, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looking at her expectantly from the other side of the Table.
"Emm, where are the numbers- here, Okay! The BBF is Willing to pay 125 Bits for every ton of apples, with an additional 35 bits per ton on delivery- What's 125 plus 35 again?"

"One hundred and Sixty!" Sweetie Belle piped up from her spot on the table.

"One Sixty per ton delivered, times that by forty..." Applejack whispered to herself as Apple Bloom moved the document back to her.

"That would be an overall of 6,400 Bits per month if you decide to deliver the apples that is, otherwise it's 5,000 Bits." Starlight Glimmer chimed in, her eyes glued to the reaction the two Farmer Mares were giving her boss's proposal.

"I already read the rest of the paper," Granny Smith said from her chair, "I want you to sign it Applejack,"

"What? But Granny, You're the one in charge of-" Applejack tried to speak but Granny Smith shook her head.

"None of that now, Dear. It's about time I let you take a bigger part in operating the farm," Granny Smith stood up from her chair and walked to her granddaughter.

"Granny, I don't-" Granny Smith shook her head as she sat down beside Applejack.

"I'm getting old Jacky, I want to retire while I can still feel my legs, and that requires somepony else taking control of the Farm, Big Macintosh, bless his heart, but he's not fit for the job, He doesn't have that special spark for the farm that you do," Granny Smith poked her Granddaughter with her hoof, "It's either You or Applebloom, and Applebloom is too young," Granny ignored the annoyed sounding "Hey!" coming from her youngest Granddaughter.

"But I'm not ready!" Applejack cried in alarm, receiving a thwack on top of the head from Granny Smith.

"Did I say I'm giving you the farm yet? No! Don't skip ahead, I still have some good years left in me!" Granny Smith chastised loudly before quieting down, "I just want to make sure You'll be somewhat ready when I feel the time comes..."

"Granny..." Applejack whispered as she looked her Grandmother in the eyes.

"This Pen," Granny tapped the antique pen Applejack was holding, "My Grandfather used it when he signed the royal deed to establish Ponyville as its first Mayor and founder," She said gently, "And my Father used the same Pen when he created this Farm," She continued, "I used that same Pen when I first sold my Zap Apples to Stinkin' Rich and struck that generous deal with him, and your father-" Applejack gasped "-Used this Pen when he signed the marriage documents with your mother."

All eyes in the room were on the two Earth Ponies in that moment, Even Starlight Glimmer was paying attention to the conversation.

"And now I want you to use it as well," Granny slowly pushed Applejack's hoof till it hovered over the Paper.

Applejack stared at the pen with wonder before taking a deep breath to ready herself, Before she lowered the Pen to the paper...

And scratched it.

"..."
"..."
"...Is it broken?"

"...Oh Yes! How could I forget!" Granny Smith loudly said to herself as she stood up, "It's a Dip Pen, we need to dip it in Ink first," She went to search for an inkwell, leaving the other Ponies staring at her back in shocked silence.
Or at least it was silent before Scootaloo started laughing to herself at the whole ordeal.
Followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Applejack stared at the three fillies, briefly locking eyes with Starlight Glimmer before they two joined the laughter.

Soon Granny returned, Applejack signed the paper and gave it back to Starlight, and Sweetie Belle came up with an idea that everypony agreed with.

"Let's all go to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate!"

It was soon after Luna and I finished with Rarity that a message from Starlight appeared in front of me, telling us that she'd be late and we should return to the castle without her.

So with a flash of Luna's Teleportation, we did.

"A Prince, A Princess, and a Pest walk into a Castle."

"Tiberius is not a pest!" Luna tried to defend, but I scoffed at her instead.

"Until you take it to the best Veterinarians in the country, it's a pest," I told her, receiving a glare from both Princess and 'Possum.

But I ignored them, I hadn't eaten or drunk anything at all today, courtesy of whatever Luna did to me, so I was not in the mood to continue the conversation.

"I'll still beat you tomorrow!" Luna called out to me, and I smiled.

"I'd like to see you try!" I called back before I turned a corner and disappeared from her sight.
Perhaps I couldn't touch anything, But I sure did get tired from walking around and carrying my bag in my magic the entire day.

Perhaps I am due for some last-minute training.

"Oh, Applejack! Princess Celestia was here just a moment ago, you totally missed her, Hey you're Prince Pirate Wizard's apprentice, What can I get for you?" As the group of Mares entered Sugarcube Corner, a Head of Pink fluff jumped into the middle of the group.

But listening to her, Starlight Glimmer asked herself.
"Why would Celestia be here?"

In one of the Royal Bathrooms of Canterlot Castle, A Pair of Ponies were relaxing in a large pool of Warm Medicinal Water.

"You know Luna, If you told me the cure to this Poison Joke thing was a Herbal Bath, maybe I wouldn't have been so grumpy earlier in the day," One of the Ponies, Prince Blueblood Platinum, told the other pony as he felt his muscles relax, a platter of Sushi laying a bit behind him as he levitated a piece into his mouth, washing it down with a glass of expensive Wine.

"Where would have been the fun in that?" Floating on her back with her wings outstretched and covered in soap, Princess Luna relaxed her body as she let the herbal waters wash her aches away, sipping from a wine glass of her own.
Filled with non-alcoholic Fruit Juice, of course, Blueblood didn't want to deal with a Drunk Luna right now.

"Are you two taking a dip without me?" Luna groaned as her head dove into the water as she turned her body to see her Sister walk into the room, a freshly reborn Phoenix on her shoulder.

"Go away Celestia, This is our pool now," Luna pointed out of the pool, "See that sign over there? No old hags allowed," Luna smirked in victory.

"I don't see any sign," Celestia smiled down at her younger sister, before a brief flash of light caused her to turn, seeing an illusion of a sign floating beside the door.

"Har har, Very Funny you two," She said with a roll of the eyes as she lowered her body into the pool, feeling the herbal waters breathe life into her skin as her Sister and Son high-hooved each other next to her on their well done job of making an illusion of a sign.

Now in the pool, Celestia grabbed Blueblood with her wing and pulled him into her, holding him close to her chest as she rested her chin on his head, smelling his shampoo as she hugged him like a big teddy bear.

"Really? Now?" Blueblood asked in annoyance but didn't fight as Princess Celestia merely closed her eyes and smiled.

"Mommy needs to charge," She whispered as she grabbed more soap and shampoo and redid his Mane.

It's been years since Princess Celestia cleaned another pony, but feeling her hooves moving through strands of hair, the feeling of soap-covered wings brushing against their fur coat...

Celestia might never admit it out loud, but she loved feeling like an actual mother, even if those times were exceedingly rare.

And so Celestia passed the next hour, sitting in a pool of herbal water as she cleaned and hugged her Son.
Even after Philomena flew off and Luna exited the pool, Celestia hadn't let go of the Prince.

"Are you excited for next week?" She asked him with a whisper as she played with his hair.
"..." Celestia turned her head to see why he didn't respond.

Only to silence her squeal of excitement before snapping a picture with a magical camera.

A Picture of a Prince Sleeping in his mother's soft embrace.

Author's Note

Okay, Wow! This chapter was a mess to go through! :unsuresweetie:

It didn't help that while writing this, My mind started to wander towards the upcoming Plot Relevant Arcs, and I want to tell you.
Late Season-2/Early Season-3 is going to have a lot of back-to-back Action, as a bunch of the Original Main Story Arcs come during that time.

Next chap will be the regularly scheduled epilogue to this mini-arc. This means a Spar between Luna and Blueblood, allowing me to give you all a showcase of how far Blueblood's come in the few months he's been here.
With Magic that is, we all know he can throw a punch, but he's barely showcased his Magic, even during the Boat Fight with Chrysalis...

Oh I'm so excited to write more Chrysalis!!! :yay:

So yeah, This arc we had: Rarity finally meeting BB face to face, Luna getting a pet, Philomena finally rebirthed, Celestia visited Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie for a secret that will come in later, and Applejack took her first big step to one day taking over the farm.

Also Starlight is making more Friends, good for her. :twilightsmile:

Also hope you all enjoyed it, I wanted to add an Omake showing the Gifts the Dogs or the Yaks brought Blueblood, But this chapter has gone on long enough, I'll try and remember to write that Omake next chapter.

Once again, Thanks for reading :)

PS- I love writing Motherlestia, Celestimom? Celestia as a Mom, Whatever you wanna' call her. I love writing it.
She's just so warm but also surprisingly sad...
It's hard to get that Melancholy feel in many characters, but with her it's surprisingly fun and easy.

The melancholic feel of a mother who never had the chance to raise her children, trying to make it up to them when they're already adults.
But more than that, she's doing it for herself, because she always wanted to be a Mother, and when she finally lined that shot, she missed...

It's a surprisingly wholesome tale of a Mother who never raised her children and a Man who never knew a Family getting together and loving each other, as Mother and Son, even if one of them refuses to accept that that's how things are now. :fluttercry: :trollestia:

Also-

That house has to be expensive!

Anyway, once more, Thanks for reading :)

Edit: This is the longest chapter I've written in 4 months, And it's for a majority Filler Arc... Wow.
The last chapter that got over 3,800 words was Of Diamonds and Stars 7, in which Blueblood beats the crap out of Chrysalis as they fight on a sinking boat.

Chapter 80: Star vs Moon

Canterlot Castle, the seat of power of the Nation of Equestria, is a place where motion can be found anywhere.

From the barracks of the guards training harder than ever, to the corridors of Servants moving to and fro, passing along messages or just cleaning the floor.

The Throne room, where dignitaries from far and wide visit to pay their respect to the Princess of the Sun, and even the Many gardens of the castle, some open to the public for tourism.

But today was different, every soul in the castle that was off their duty or resting all came to the same spot to watch a fantastic scene.

To watch a Princess Fight.

Standing at the edge of an empty ballroom, Princess Luna stretched her legs as she waited for her opponent to enter through the door on the opposite side of the ballroom.

She moved her eyes to a small indoor balcony, watching her sister speak with Raven Inkwell and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, a bubble of protective magic surrounding the three mares courtesy of Captain Shining Armor.

Luna looked back to the door of the ballroom as she took a deep breath to realign her thoughts, spotting from the corner of her eye Captain Armor whispering with another pony she couldn't see, before delivering whatever message he received to Princess Celestia.

Luna shook her head, she couldn't have any of these distractions, she had a Fight to win.

She took the time to try and remember what she knew of her Opponent.

Prince Blueblood Platinum...

She never directly fought with him, and subsequently, she never saw him fight himself. The closest she's gotten to seeing the Prince in combat was when one of Nightmare Moon's minions took over his body.
But that was less of a fight and more of a child wildly throwing around magic once his traps were avoided.

Luna frowned at that, She had no clue as to what she could expect from the Prince, other than an Illusion or two, but even that posed a problem to her.
How powerful are his illusions? The most she'd seen from him was a set of clothing, and while the illusion was undoubtedly high quality, it didn't really tell her anything other than that Prince Blueblood knew how to make realistic-looking clothes, something any Practitioner of the art could accomplish fairly easily.

Luna shook her head, once again clearing her mind before she refocused on the door as it opened.

And felt her brain halt as she watched the prince stroll in as if he were in the mall picking out which restaurant he wanted to eat lunch in.

The audacity of this stallion...

Luna couldn't help but laugh.

Princess Cadance looked down from the balcony at the two royals who stood at opposite ends of the empty ballroom, a small frown crossed her face at the thought of the two of them coming to blows, but she shook it off as she reminded herself that it was in a controlled environment and Princess Celestia would step in should anything drastic occur.

"Now that the two participants are here, Allow me to explain the rules," Princess Celestia spoke up, her voice sounding not only in the ballroom but also in the garden outside, where many servants and guards stood close to the windows to watch the upcoming spectacle.

"None of the participants are allowed to leave the Ballroom," Princess Celestia said as she looked down at her Sister and Son, "None of the participants are allowed to inflict permanent bodily harm onto the other, The fight will end whenever one of the participants surrenders or is deemed unable to continue,"

Cadance turned back to Luna and Blueblood, Watching the smirk growing on her cousin's face as a confused frown grew on Luna's.
"He has a plan," She thought to herself before her eyes focused on Luna.

"And finally, In the essence of fairness, Princess Luna is not allowed to use her Magic," Cadance watched as Luna's eyes widened into saucers as she looked at Princess Celestia, before turning to glare at the laughing Prince Blueblood.

"Let the fight, Commence!"

As soon as those words left Princess Celestia's mouth, Princess Luna opened hers.
"What did you do?!" She yelled at the Prince.

"Me?" He tilted his head in confusion before looking to check behind him to see if there was someone else, "I merely wanted to even the playing field," He explained in a calm tone of voice.

"You-" Luna grits her teeth as Prince Blueblood continues to speak.

"You see, I am just a measly little Pony, A tiny little Unicorn, who cannot hope to match the power of an Alicorn such as yourself, Princess Luna," Luna felt her stomach twist as the Prince spoke, the words leaving his mouth some that she never expected to hear from the proud and confident Stallion.

"You have the Magic of a Unicorn, the Flight of a Pegasus, and the Strength of an Earth Pony to top it all off! Why, to me it seems like an unfair advantage in this little bout, Practically a One v Three if you think about it," Blueblood started walking the perimeter of the Ballroom, his eyes never leaving Luna as he spoke.

Luna started walking in the opposite direction as him, her eyes glued to any small movement he could make as the two ponies circled each other.

"So you convinced our Sister to give you a handicap, Is that it?" Luna asked, waiting for the moment he'd open his mouth to answer her.

"Luna-" And as the Prince said her name, the floor beneath her cracked as she kicked herself towards Blueblood, her front leg punching him in the face.
"-You're not as clever as you look," Prince Blueblood's voice surrounded her from all directions as her hoof passed through his torso, The prince turned to look down at her before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

A Smoke that filled her vision, white and thick, she could barely see in front of her, but her breath was fine.
"An Illusion," She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and focused on her wings.

"Without our magic, we cannot cast a cleansing spell to remove your illusion," She said out loud, hearing her voice echo around her, the tips of her feathers vibrating in an imaginary humm.
"But just because we cannot use magic," She moved forward, a sixth sense pulling her in a certain direction, her feather's vibrating faster and faster "Does not mean we CANNOT SENSE IT!"

And with a stomp on the floor, Luna felt her hoof impact an object that wasn't there, the smoke disappearing from her view to reveal a Grey Crystal Orb, smashed beneath her hooves.
A Crystal Orb with a design that reminded Luna of a very important night.

Without waiting, She flapped her wings and flew to the side, avoiding the beam of golden light that flew passed where she just stood moments prior, causing more cracks to appear on the floor.

Luna flew up, her head watching more and more Golden Orbs appearing as if out of thin air, all with the engraving of Blueblood's Cutie Mark on them, acting as a focus for their magic as they flew after her, shooting beams of golden magic.

Just like that Nightmare did when he took over his Body.

With a twist of her body, Luna dove to the ground, breaking two more orbs in the process and feeling a searing heat on her left hind leg which she promptly ignored as she flew near the floor of the Ballroom, Intent on locating where the Prince was keeping himself invisible.

"Luna, Luna, Luna~" She heard his voice tut at her from all around, the Invisible Prince not leaving a hint as to where he was hiding, "You can't keep running away from this fight,"

"You are the one who is running away, Blueblood!" Luna cried as she turned her body midair, her legs landing on the wall before she kicked off once more, "Show yourself so we can teach you a lesson!"

"Show Myself? And give away my advantage? Why should I do that? I'm winning, aren't I?"

Luna chuckled, "No, Friend Blueblood! We are the ones who are winning this bout! It won't be long before your magic runs out as you keep and try to hit us!" She twirled through the air before diving down like a majestic bird, Breaking several more golden orbs as she landed on the ground and rolled to the side, letting the golden shards crash behind her.

"...You are mistaken, Princess Luna~" Blueblood's voice sounded louder in the ballroom once the last of the Golden orbs shattered under Luna's heels, "~While you were running around, breaking my orbs, you have yet to notice that it was all a distraction~" Luna ignored his obnoxious giggle as she quickly looked around her, Staring at the clean floor and walls of the ballroom as her mind connected the dots.

"You weren't aiming for us!" Luna exclaimed as the Illusion that kept the floor and walls of the room clean disappeared, showcasing to the princess the extent of the damage done to the ballroom.

From cracks and shards of the floor lying about the room to lines of burns on the walls, the room looked like a travesty, but that wasn't enough to tell her what could constitute his plan, unless of course his goal was to ruin a room, and Luna doubted that.

Suddenly her feathers stiffened as she threw herself into another roll on the ground, avoiding a shard of Marble flooring that flew at her side before it crashed back to the floor.

Luna jumped into the air, her wings allowing her to reach the high ceiling of the ballroom, where she watched the third part of Blueblood's strategy.

Shards of marble flew at each other, striking each other like cobbled rocks in a construction site, held together by blue magic, Like a Skeleton, more and more shards from the floor hit the clump of blue magic and held together on it, like skin and muscle as whatever Blueblood was creating started to form a shape.

The Shape of a Torso, similar to a Minotaur or a Diamond Dog, with two long arms dangling from its marble shoulders like lifeless rope.

It was a Torso with Arms, its hands barely more than shards of Marble held with magic in the approximate shape of a claw. It lacked a head and legs, but it still floated there in front of her, needing neither.

"One of the biggest issues I had with fighting Crystal Lips, or whatever her name is, Was that I had to get close to her in order to hit her in the face~" Blueblood's voice seemed to come from several directions at once, but more importantly from where the Head of the floating Torso should be in, Luna glared at it and readied her body.

"So I came up with a solution, It might seem like me stealing someone else's Idea, But I don't really care~" He kept talking, as the blue magic that held the Body together seemed to intensify, the cracks on its body filling in with what looked like burning blue flames, as if the Statue was a marble volcano that was filled with Blue Lava.

And with a Burst of Blue Flame, The Skull of a Snake appeared on top of the Statue, a pair of backward-turning horns protruding from the serpentine Skull, before it was engulfed with blue fire, clearly an Illusion as Luna felt no heat from the flames. A Long Serpentine tail extended from the bottom of the statue, ending with what looked like the stinger of a Scorpion, made out of more Marble.

The flaming skull on the Statue turned to look at Luna as Blueblood continued, "And here it is!"

The statue raised its arms into what Luna assumed was a boxing stance, "A Way to punch my opponent without getting close!"

The statue leaned forward, a sound escaping its nonexistent lips in what seemed to be a hissed chuckle, like a snake trying to laugh.

"I Call it~" Blueblood paused for dramatic effect, The eye sockets of the flaming skull seeming to light up with a golden glow from within the skull.

"Pluto~"

And the statue blurred forward.

Cadance leaned closer to the ledge of the balcony, her eyes glued onto the Magical Statue that her cousin created, Staring at the Skull on top of its shoulders, as a small smirk climbed up her lips.

"Aww, You do like her~" She whispered as she watched the Arms of the statue strike at Princess Luna, "I'll tell her tonight," Her leg moved to hold the necklace around her neck, feeling the crystal shards that were held there.

"Plu~" Was all the warning Princess Luna was given from the Statue before its arms punched forward with unnatural speed, "Totototototototototo~" Each cry was met with a punch, And for once Luna was glad that Earth Pony strength came with an Earth Pony's unnatural resilience.

She ignored the sounds of Blueblood Laughing from all around her, joy filling his voice as his statue fought for him, punching her in his stead.

Luna took a deep breath, ignoring the ache in her chest as a fist managed to pass through her defenses before she punched back.
Shattering the marble that made up Pluto's arm, smirking widely at the scene.

Only to scowl as the shattered marble flew back and repaired the arm, "Crud"

"Plutoooo~ Plutotototototototo~" The Statue's hail of punches returned, but this time Luna was prepared.

"You're only as tough as Marble!" She yelled as she ducked, rolled onto her back, and pushed herself with her front legs, using her back legs to deliver a devastating kick onto the Marble Torso of the statue, "And you don't fight back while you're repairing yourself!" Luna pushed herself up from the floor, standing on her back left leg as her right leg started to kick at the damaged statue, shattering more of its body.

"It seems I need to work on the design a bit longer before I put it to work in the field..." She heard Blueblood say, but she quickly ignored him in favor of breaking more of the statue, Jumping into the air as the tail of the statue passed below her in an attempt to take out her legs, before she slammed back down onto the ground, shattering the marble stinger of the tail.

"...You know..." Blueblood's voice spoke up once more, now coming from directly behind Pluto, "If this was a fight to the death I would have won..." Luna froze at those words as she watched Pluto crumble down to the floor, revealing Prince Blueblood standing behind him.

"So~" Blueblood moved his neck from side to side, hearing the snapping sound of his bones before he continued, "Let me show you one final trick~" His voice was calm and even, a far cry from his joyful laughter just a minute earlier.

And before Luna could kick into the air again, the Ballroom was flooded in darkness.

This darkness wasn't like the Illusionary Smokescreen he created at the start of the match, Where she could still somewhat see her surroundings as she searched for the caster, This was deeper.

Pure Black enveloped her surroundings, unable to even see her own hoof over her eyes.

"Clover the Clever wrote that the school of Illusion Magic has three possible spells that would grant someone the title of Master," A Light appeared in the darkness, a spotlight that showed her Blueblood, following him as he walked closer to her, not a worry in his steps.
Almost as if he was assured of his victory.

"One of these spells, Is an Illusion that could not be dispelled, Something that could leave the target in an endless hell for the rest of their lives~" Blueblood kept talking as he continued to approach her, not bothered by the words coming from his mouth.

Luna tried to move, to get closer to him, to end this stupid spar and punch that annoying Stallion in the face.

"The second was an Illusion that could affect every living creature in the world, regardless of proximity to the caster, an Illusion that will affect everybody~" Luna struggled to move, her legs felt like they were knee-deep in the stickiest tar in the world, unable to free her.

"And third, but definitely not least, Was an Illusion that could affect the physical world, An Illusion that shaped Reality itself~" Prince Blueblood paused just in front of her, close enough to reach out his leg and cup her cheek in his hoof.
Because that's exactly what he did.

"What is this Blueblood!" Luna yelled at her opponent, staring into his Ice-Blue eyes as he rubbed her cheek, treating her like a foal, Looking down at her.

Blueblood Frowned at her, as if in disappointment at her inability to get where he's going, "Allow me to show you a glimpse of the third magic," He said calmly.

And then the darkness that surrounded the two disappeared, sinking away into the ground to reveal her standing atop a pillar over the abyss.
She tried to move, but found that her body refused to listen to her.

"Forcing the Alignment," Blueblood spoke, but his voice didn't sound like he was speaking to her, but instead as if reading out loud.

"A Chant?!" Luna exclaimed in surprise, This was the first time she'd heard Prince Blueblood chant the words of a spell, her eyes widened at the thought.

What kind of spell would Prince Blueblood Platinum attempt to chant, whatever it could be, if his little speech before this was anything to go by, Luna didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

But without the use of her magic, she couldn't escape, at least not without forfeiting the match.
She took a deep breath and readied herself as much as she could, whatever Blueblood threw at her, she'd take it head-on.

Suddenly, a source of heat appeared behind Luna, and she grits her teeth as the uncomfortable heat stung at her back.
She turned her head to look behind her, only to gape her mouth at the sight.

The Sun.
Looming over her like an ancient colossal, an unmovable obstacle that burned and destroyed any who dared approach it.

As she stared at the giant celestial object, she could only tremble as another moved in front of it in a vain attempt to block the heat from reaching her.
Mercury.

Another Planet followed, stopping in front of Mercury and blocking the smaller object from gazing upon her.
Venus.

Luna felt her breath hitch as an even smaller Celestial Object moved in front of Venus, one which Luna could recognize like the back of her hoof.
The Moon.

"What are you doing?!" She turned back to Blueblood, her body on edge as her mane started to blow in a nonexistent wind, her eyes widening as the red planet appeared behind the prince, lowering so as to not block the view from the other Planets behind it.

For an entire minute, Luna watched with awe and horror as the entire Solar System seemed to bow to Blueblood, Planets and Moons aligning themselves in a straight line, moving out of the path of the other so they could create a seemingly flat plane, an unobstructed path of the Celestial Giants.

She watched with held breath as Blueblood Stopped his wordless chanting as he lifted his horn high above him, the tip of his horn seeming to touch the farthest celestial object, so far away that even in this illusionary world where they all stood closer to the other, it was barely more than a speck of dust far in the distance.

She watched as the speck in the distance started to glow with bright golden light, as Prince Blueblood stared into her eyes and finished his Spell.

"This is a Spell born of a broken Star," His voice seemed to echo around the pillar standing over the empty void the two found themselves in, the light from the far off speck growing larger and- No, It was growing closer.

"PALE BLUE DOT"

Luna watched in silent awe as a beam of burning light traveled the cosmos, shattering the planets below it as it raced closer and closer to her unmoving body.
She watched Uranus and Neptune burn underneath the heat produced by the light.
She watched the rings of Saturn shatter and break away as the light passed through them.
She watched the light disappear as it got close to Jupiter, only to burst out of the gas giant like a blade through a body.
And as the light broke through the Belt of Asteroids that separated Mars from Jupiter, she heard Blueblood speak.

"I Forfeit,"

And faster than she could blink, the entire world around her changed as she found herself back in the Ballroom, the crumbled form of the marble statue at her hooves, as she watched Blueblood stretch his legs on the other side of Pluto.

"I'm out of magic," He said lightly as an explanation, "That physical Illusion thing is incredibly taxing," He chuckled as he walked over to her and helped her stand, her legs still shaking as the sight of the celestial object remained in her psyche.

"Anyway, I'm hungry, I heard a new Indian place opened up in the Food Street that I wanted to check out, let's go," He walked passed her before standing at the door behind her.

"Are you waiting for a formal letter or something? Let's go!" He called out to her with his usual smirk, and Luna felt herself let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Heh, Haha! We won!" She cheered as she pointed at the Prince, a wide smile on her face, "We told you we'd win!"

Blueblood tilted his head at her and looked at her as if she said something stupid, "Well, Yeah. I forfeited since I ran low on magic and Didn't want to spend the rest of the week aching all the time," He smiled down at her as he clapped.

"Congratulations, Princess Luna, You who lived hundreds of years have successfully managed to beat a Unicorn with no formal combat training of any kind, You must be so proud of yourself," Luna ignored his attempt to poke at her as she continued to laugh at him.

"Ahaha! That means you shall be the one paying for the food!"

"Yes, Obviously, I'm the one who's inviting you, It would be weird if I had you pay," Luna ignored him again as she jogged over on shaky legs and caught up with the prince.

"Onward, Friend Blueblood! To this new restaurant that shall bring us our lunch!" Luna laughed happily as she leaned her body on Blueblood, letting the Stallion carry her like the loser of a gladiatorial arena carried the victor as his mount.

"To Lunch!" Blueblood rolled his eyes but kept moving, carrying the Princess on his back as the duo made their way to the restaurant, followed by a small squad of guards to protect them.

Princess Celestia stared at the ruined ballroom below her, a small smile on her face as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"They grow up so fast~"

Author's Note

Wow, This chapter was longer than I expected.
Luna vs Blueblood, it was a fairly close match.

Obviously, Luna would have won if she had her Magic, but without it, the fight was fairly close.

And as Blueblood said, if the fight was to the death, He would have won quickly, assuming that Luna was still unable to use magic.
But since this was just a friendly spar, He did the nice thing and didn't blow her up in a magical explosion.
How thoughtful of him.

We'll be having a short time skip the next chapter, This chapter took place a bit after "Baby Cakes" And Blueblood has nothing to do with the mainline plot of the show until "It's about time," So I'll be having a little Timeskip to close a few loose ends here and there before we can start the Deer Arc and get the plot moving.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this little Fight scene, I know I suck at writing action, but I hope it wasn't too messy.

Also, Blueblood basically created a Jojo's Stand with Pluto, which is named after the Dwarf Planet and not any specific song, but It'd be nice to hear suggestions for other names the Serpentine Punching Ghost could have that are musical references.
Perhaps "Worldless" after the "I Will Never Be The Same" song, idk.

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the arcane prowess of our Prince, No Blueblood POV this chapter, sadly.

Hope you enjoyed :)

[!!!PALE BLUE DOT!!!]

Chapter 81: Escape to Canterlot 1

Standing on a pier in West Equestria, I watched the many guards move in preparation for the arrival of the very special guests.

Looking over the waves, I could spot the long wooden ship flying the flag of Yakyakistan heading our way.

"Get the carts ready," I tell a nearby guard, who nods his head before dashing off to fulfill my order.

Who could have guessed that a simple act of gift-giving on Christmas could have led to this?
I'm not complaining, With Cadance in charge of greeting the VIP from Caninia, I can easily hit two birds with one stone for the BBF's future.

"They said they're bringing gifts," Starlight stood beside me, feeling the cool late winter breeze, A very familiar coat covering her work clothes, "What do you think they'll be?"

"Hookers and blow," I answered blankly, smirking at the choking sound that left Starlight's throat at that as she started coughing at my response.

"Just kidding, I don't know what they'll bring, and until we bring them to Canterlot, I don't need to worry," I stretched my stiff neck, rubbing a bite mark on my shoulder that was hidden under my suit-of-the-day.
"And besides, It's not like they're bringing something that could harm anyone, This isn't the medieval-" I stopped my sentence and widened my eyes as I watched a certain Yak stand on the bow of the ship, Horns decorated in gold with a black crown on his head.

"Starlight, Quick! Roll out the red carpet!" I turn to her in alarm, before I turn to more guards and start yelling orders.
We were told a high-ranking Yak Diplomat named Jorgen would be arriving together with a team of archeologists, not that HE was coming as well!

"FRIEND BLUEBLOOD!" Prince Rutherford yelled from the bow of his ship, his voice reaching all the way here.

Oh, I am so getting drunk tonight.

Looking at the expensive walls of the large train cart, Prince Rutherford let out a whistle of appreciation.
"So this is train? Will take us to Canterlot, Yes?"

"Indeed," Prince Blueblood nodded to the Yak ruler, "This here is one of the crown's very own private trains, the very best our nation could bring with the short time we had," He led him to a private booth, allowing the Yak to set down his belongings before a pair of Yak guards moved to guard the booth.

"Now! Let us work through the gift-giving!" Rutherford said loudly as he took a seat at a large table outside the booth, Blueblood taking a seat facing him.

"I think we should both wait until we reach Canterlot for such actions, Prince Rutherford, It would only be proper," Blueblood smiled at the Yak who slowly nodded his head in understanding.

"Yes, Of course! Gift giving in Equestria happens with whole family, It only proper, Haha!" The Yak agreed with the Unicorn, Letting go of his bag as the two royals started talking about their plans.

Twenty minutes after the train left the station, a Pegasus wearing a butler's outfit walked into the room, dragging with him a platter containing boxed food.

"Your Lunch, Your Highness's," The butler bowed to the two royals as he placed the boxes of food on the table between the royals, bowing his head to them as he turned to leave.

Only to stop once he felt a leg wrap around his shoulder.

"We didn't order any food," Prince Blueblood whispered as he pulled the Pegasus back.

"Ho? Someone brought us food, We must be thankful and finish the meal!" Rutherford exclaimed happily as he opened the boxed lunch, only to widen his eyes in surprise as the Pegasus butler who brought the food to them smashed into the table, throwing the food onto the window of the booth the two royals were sitting in.

"Who hired you?!" Blueblood yelled at the butler as he held him down on the table.

"Prince Blueblood?! What is the meaning here!" Rutherford yelled as he stood up, towering over his fellow Royal with a glare on his face, angered at the ruined food.

"This ride has no boxed lunches, and we have no Servants on this train," Blueblood Explained calmly as if weathered the glare from the Yak Prince.
"Other than your group, my guards, Starlight, and the Operator of the train, nobody else is supposed to be here," Blueblood squeezed the Pegasus's neck, "So who is he?"

The Pegasus glared at the prince before rolling his body on the table, throwing more food into the air as Prince Blueblood let go of him, before diving out of the window of the fast-moving train, flying away.

"Shit!" Blueblood exclaimed as he wiped the food off his fur before quickly moving out of the booth, "That food could be poisoned, don't eat it!" He ran to the door where the Pegasus came in from, his horn glowing as the door slid open for him.

"Fuck!" I cursed as I looked at the downed Ponies and Yaks in the cart, A quick check of their necks gave me a bit of relaxation as they were only unconscious, but this was still horrible.

"Prince Rutherford, Watch your guard, We have an unknown number of assassins," I spoke as years of drilled in military practice kicked in, With a flick of my magic a Sword from one of the downed guards started levitating in a telekinetic grip

"Horrible! Must stop this! Now!" Rutherford exclaimed from behind me as he followed into the next cart, Throwing me my bag as he picked up his own. The two of us walked further into the train, pausing as the door to the next cart opened before we could reach it.

In walked a calm-looking Pegasus, also wearing a butler's outfit.
Before the disguised assassin could realize the situation he was in, The sword I picked up flew through the air and stabbed into his eye, killing him instantly.

I quickly caught the body before it could land on the ground, stepping over it and into the next cart.

"Crud, They're on to us!"

There stood four more Pegasi, all with the same colors and outfits as the last two.

"Who hired you?" I yelled at them, making sure to move a bit to the side so they could see the corpse of their associate behind me.

They all looked at each other, a silent conversation passing through their minds before they all turned back to me, and then ran in the opposite direction.

"No you don't!" Rutherford yelled as he tore one of the tables out of the floor before he threw it at the Pegasi, shattering their backs as they tumbled back to the floor, screaming in pain.

But before we could question them further, A Unicorn with the same outfit walked in, and with a green glow of his magic telekinetically threw all the Pegasi off the train before he jumped after them, ignoring their pained screams.

Starlight Glimmer huffed in anger as another Pony was thrown off the train, his body turning into a mangled heap as he hit the ground outside, bones breaking and tendons snapping.

She left to go to the toilet for five minutes, that's it! Only five minutes and now the train was overrun by whoever these ponies were!

"Damnit!" She turned her head to the door leading to the next cart, her eyes relaxing once she saw Prince Blueblood step through, a scowl on his face, followed by Prince Rutherford, a similar frown on his own.

"Great, You're okay," She sighed before straightening her back, "Who would have thought my first actual Bodyguarding job would start off like this," She chuckled, before pausing once she saw the serious look on the Prince's Face.

"All the guards are knocked out and an attempt on our lives was made," Blueblood said, not stopping to catch up with her as he moved onto the next cart, beams of blue magic flying out of his horn before two more Butler's found themselves knocked out.

Without stopping, The Prince kept moving, each cart was followed by a quick and efficient fight.

No, It wasn't even a fight.

The moment one of them even entered his field of vision, a beam of blue magic was already inbound, hitting them in the head, rattling the brain, and throwing them against the wall, knocking them out.

"Why didn't he do that against Luna?" Starlight whispered to herself as she watched silently as her Boss walked down the train, shooting Assassins as casually as mowing the lawn.

But the thing that bothered Starlight the most wasn't the way he was taking out these threats, but the look on his face.

"This is the first time I think I've ever seen him fight without a smile on his face," She thought to herself.
Was this the difference? This brutal efficiency?

Is this Blueblood when he's fighting seriously? It made no sense to Starlight, almost every real fight he was in could have spelled his end, But he always had a wide smile on his face as he laughed in the face of death.

"The thrill! Where one wrong move could end everything you ever did, It's like a Gambler putting all his chips on black and having the ball fall in the right spot, If it landed on red he would have been over, but when it landed on black- The sense of euphoria he must have felt at that moment~ I can only imagine this is similar," He would say something along those lines, But talking about how having his life in danger was exhilarating, a fight between himself and fate itself.

"How is this different?" Starlight tried to think of a reason, "These ponies pose a real credible threat to his life, So why is he taking them seriously, unlike the doppelganger from Caninia? What's the difference here?"
Starlight tried racking her brain to find the answer before it all clicked together once her eyes landed on Prince Rutherford.

This isn't just an attempt on Blueblood's life, It's an attempt on everypony on this train! He's taking this seriously because if he fails it will mean more than just his death, It's also the Yaks, the Guards, and even the Operator!

Starlight's eyes widened, "The Operator!" She quickly ran after the two royals, "If he's also out, who's driving the train?!"

Blueblood looked at her with wide eyes, Several bolts of blue magic left his horn at once, piercing through the door and hitting the targets in the next cart over.

"Starlight, I want you to start teleporting everyone off this train, start with the Yaks, then the guards, then Rutherford, and then me. I want everyone off this train, Now." Starlight nodded her head seriously before disappearing in a flash of Aquamarine light.

"Leave train? This must be serious," Rutherford spoke up as the Royal duo entered the next cart, ignoring the corpses on the floor from when Blueblood's magic shot them.

"As serious as can be, If the Operator is out, then it's only a matter of time before the train crashes." Blueblood flung the final door open, A Scowl on his face as he saw the missing window on the front of the train, a trail of bloody glass shards from where the pony must have been thrown out.

"Not good then?" Rutherford glares at the empty control car.

"Bad," Blueblood shook his head, "This is very, Bad." He heard a flash of magic behind him as Starlight reappeared, gasping for air before she disappeared once again, Prince Rutherford with her.

"I'm out of juice!" Blueblood's frown started to disappear as Starlight's voice sounded around him, "You need to get off the train yourself!"

"Heh," He chuckled, reaching up to loosen his tie, "Always have to do the hard part myself," He said out loud, stretching his legs as he stared at the rails ahead of the train, only for his eyes to widen as a figure stood in the middle of the train tracks, a bright green glow emanating from their head.

"Shit!" Blueblood shouted as his magic started working overtime in order to create a makeshift shield around his body.

But he wasn't fast enough.

In the middle of the tracks, staring at the Locomotive moving in their direction, A Hooded figure stood at the ready. Most of their body was hidden under a bright green cloak made out of countless tendrils resembling the stingers of a jellyfish.
Gelatinous in form, The cloak stretched and moved as if it were a living creature, covering almost its entire body, leaving only the eyes and horn visible.

Like a wraith made of green shadows, The figure's bright green eyes glared hatefully at the train, the green light emanating from their horn building in power as it slowly formed into a sharp pillar of magical energy.

And like a headsman swinging the axe, The pillar of green magic fell onto the train, cutting through it like a blade of bright green magic.

"Aaargh!" The figure yelled in effort as they raised their head back up, the pillar of magic following their movements like a sword stroke, splitting the Train down the middle, the crunching sound of metal and wood splintering echoed around them as they stood in place, the train crashing to the sides without harming them.

Almost like Moses parting the Red Sea, the cloaked watched their display of power with a smirk underneath their hooded gelatinous cloak.

Turning around, ready to return where they came from, the figure stopped as a flash of blue light appeared behind them.
Turning their neck to look back at the train, their eyes widened as they saw Prince Blueblood breathing heavily, yet unharmed.

"So you're the one in charge of these Assassins I presume," The prince spoke, his Ice-Blue eyes meeting the figures Emerald Green.

"..." They did not respond, merely lowering their body into a combative stance.

"I see," The prince lowered his body into a similar stance, "Now that I don't have to worry about others getting hurt," A feral smirk crossed his face as he glared daggers into the Assassin's eyes, "I can enjoy this to the fullest,"

The two combatants started preparing magic in their horns. Green and Blue light escaped them like to pillars of energy, fighting to see which could shine the brightest.

"And once I'm done beating you for what you're doing," The Prince's smile seemed to turn almost sadistic as he spoke, "I'll start beating you for fun,"

And with no more words to say, the magical pillars the two created fell upon each other like clashing swords.

The fight has begun.

Author's Note

Assassins, Trains, Yaks, oh my!

And Blueblood lands his second teleportation as well! The first one was during his first meeting with Tirek, but he didn't even notice it at the time because he was too busy being angry at the wretched Centaur.

The next chapter is going to be action, action, and more action.

And with the unconscious guards and Yaks out of danger, Blueblood can have fun and go all out, as he enjoys.

Next up: Blueblood vs Mysterious Green Assassin!

Hope you look forward to it :)

Also, A message I posted on Wattpad that I think you should also listen to.
Once this story reaches the end of S2 of the show, or once I finish the Canterlot Wedding arc, I'll be going on a hiatus in order to work on a rewrite for "A Walking Chestnut" that I'll be uploading to Wattpad.
I might upload it here as well, but I already promised to take a hiatus once we end S2, so I just wanted to let you all know.

Look forward to the next chapter anyway :) Blueblood can go all out without the fear of accidentally killing someone.
Mostly because this time he's purposefully trying to kill someone.

Chapter 82: Escape to Canterlot 2

To an outside observer, the scene taking place inside the wreckage of the Crown's Royal Locomotive would have looked like a scene taking out of an Action Movie.

Pillars of solid magic clashed against each other like swords swung by giants, the force of each strike echoing with an explosion of raw magical power, sending more and more scrap flying to the side while the two combatants stood in place, moving nothing but their horns.

"You have the power, I can give you that," Prince Blueblood called as the giant pillar he created exploded with blue energy, Splitting into hundreds of minuscule missiles of energy, each the size of a small bird, all flying towards the Green Assassin, "But your method of execution could use some work!"

The Assassin kept silent, their Emerald green Glare briefly leaving the prince as they looked at the swarm of magical missiles flying in their direction.
With barely any movement, the Bright Green cloak on their body shifted as a Tendril of green gel flew out into the air, widening into a large green screen, and like a cube of Gelatin, the missiles flew into the magical screen and got stuck, dissipating inside the screen as if melted by Acid.

More and more Gelatin was added to the shield green, as each missile that was absorbed painted the shield a darker shade of green.
And once all the missiles were swallowed, the shield collapsed. The Bright green gelatin now resembling a dark green crystal,
Solid and sharp.

"So that's how it works..." The Assassin's eyes widened as they twirled around to see the Prince mere meters away from them, "Your Cloak absorbs the magic like, but once it does the slime gets hard, and you can't control that, Can you?"
The Assassin glared at the prince, A Beam of green energy firing from their horn and slamming into him, exploding into a pillar of flames and smoke.

"Cute..." The Assassin felt their eyes bulge out as the prince stood there unharmed before a realization hit them.
An Illusion.

With an explosion of magic from their horn, The Assassin wiped away the Illusion that surrounded her, only to shrink back at the sight that she found.

Hundreds of blue orbs littered the sky above her, twinkling like Stars as their shadow darkened the land.

The cloak moved again, Several Tentacles of green slime elongating and growing, wrapping into a dome around the assassin as the Orbs in the sky started shooting down to the ground, like a rain of bombs, Slamming into the newly constructed Green Dome and detonating into a powerful explosion.

The Assassin grit their teeth as more and more slime moved to replace the now Solid Crystal of the dome, their cloak growing shorter and shorter as the supply of Tentacles slowly started to dwindle.

Their back legs were now showing, Long and smooth, almost reflective in their shine, as if covered in armor rather than fur.

Seeing that their dome wouldn't hold long, The Assassin's horn burst into green fire, A Beam of energy shattering the dome as it pierced into the sky, detonating the rest of the Bombs as they fell.
The Explosion that followed shook the surrounding trees and sent more of the scrapped train flying into the surrounding forest.

If this fight had taken place in a population center, rather than in the middle of the wilderness, Many would have likely lost their hearing.
But with the bombs no longer dropping, the Assassin straightened their back and took a long look at the carnage the quick bout between the Prince and them took on the surrounding.

Fire licked at the wooden planks of the train track, The vibrant green trees of the forest lay strewn on the ground, uprooted by the many explosions. If it was not for its placement next to the tracks, the ruined train would have looked like a pile of garbage at a scrapyard.

But the Assassin didn't relax, there was no sign of the Prince.
So with yet another explosion of green magic, They once again cleared the area of any Illusions.

Only to be met face to hoof with a smiling Unicorn.
A small explosion of Blue Magic followed the punch, throwing the Assassin away, and forcing them to extend more green tentacles from their cloak to catch the ground and control their trajectory.

"It seems the first hit goes to me," The Prince said smugly as he looked at his hoof, blowing air on it to clear it of dust.

If looks could kill, The Assassin would have won this fight ten times over, A Wide tendril of green slime moved in from the side in an attempt to sweep at the Prince.

The Prince jumped over the tentacle as if it were a rope, Only for his eyes to widen as several sharp spikes shot out of the tentacle, intent on skewering him.

With a blue glow, The Prince used his own Telekinesis on himself, throwing his body out of the way of the piercing spikes.
"Your control over that cloak of yours is getting better," The Prince pointed out, watching the smooth green tentacle retract back into the cloak that resembled a Jellyfish.

"..." The Assassin didn't respond, But they noticed that the Prince was once again far outside his preferred Range. As long as they kept the prince out of melee range, the fight should be in their favor.

With an explosion of Magic, Green flames raced across the ground like snakes, intent on trapping the Prince in a circle of fire.

A bright glow of Blue magic solved the issue as the ground exploded upwards in a shower of dust and debris, putting out the fire and hiding the Prince underneath a smokescreen of dirt.

The Assassin prepared for whatever Spell the prince would throw out of the screen, already casting another Illusion-cleansing spell just for the sake of it.

But what came out of the screen of dust wasn't another simple Missile or Beam.

A Snake Skull with two backward curving horns leaped out of the dust, burning with blue fire, connected to a torso and arms made of scrap iron and burnt wood held together with burning blue veins.
"Pluto!" A Shout echoed out as the Flaming Golem slithered on a serpentine tail towards the Assassin, a flaming blue stinger at the tip of its tail seeming ready to stab at anything that came close to it.

"What?!" And for the first time in that fight, The Assassin spoke. An exclamation more than anything, but it was another small victory for the Prince.

Before they could react, A burning metal fist slammed into their face, once again throwing them back. It took just a moment for the Assassin to reorient themselves mid-air, but that was still a moment too late, as another fist landed on their body, throwing them back even further.

"Damnit!!!" The Assassin screamed, The Gelatin of their tentacle cloak morphing into many clawed limbs as they too struck back at the Statue of Scrap.

It was a battle of Quantity vs Quality, Each gelatinous claw that struck the Statue exploded under the barrage of punches that it returned, but for every tentacle the Statue destroyed, two more took its place.

But it wasn't a stalemate, not at all.
The Assassin took that opportunity to once again ready a spell, intent on getting rid of the snake-headed statue.

And the moment their Cloak was drained enough for the bottom of their torso to start being visible, they fired.
A Spiraling Beam of Green Fire and Raw Magic, like a drill of Energy, pierced through the Statue, rending it into nothing more than dust as the beam kept going, piercing the Trees behind the statue and gouging a burning hole through the treeline before flying into the sky, where it fell out of range and dissipated.

The Assassin breathed heavily, feeling several cracks on their smooth shiny armor from where the Statue managed to land its blows.
They raised their head, looking at the almost perfect circular tunnel they created in the forest as the trees collapsed and burnt.

"I can recognize you now," The Assassin froze as the Prince's voice echoed around her, "You smoothed out your legs, got some plastic surgery for your horn, and bought a fancy new wig, but it's still you, isn't it?"

"...Oh? Then who am I?" The Assassin asked with a smirk as the Gelatinous cloak of Tentacles moved to repair itself.

"I was trying to figure this out, you know?" Blueblood kept talking, his body hidden as his voice echoed around the assassin, "But I think I managed to put two and two together," He took a deep breath, "It was how your little pals looked that threw it away, you know. Unicorns, Pegasus, and Earth Ponies, all sharing the same eyes, coat, and Mane, It's almost as if they were wearing an Illusion."

"But I'm a sort of... Master of Illusions, you see, At least somewhat, And I can recognize an Illusion when I see one," The Prince explained, "And those ponies weren't illusions, especially after they remained looking like that once they died,"

"Oh? So what's your answer?" The Assassin took the opportunity of the two talking to stretch their body, readying for round 2.

"Those ponies weren't wearing Illusions," The prince paused for a moment, "They were shapeshifters, That's why the disguise remained after their death, At least however briefly, But really, It was as I was choosing the material to create Pluto that I saw it,"

The Assassin watched as a small black object threw itself into the air before landing at their feet, A head covered in cracked and burnt Chitin, blank eyes now empty of life, the small green fin on their head tore apart like a soft fabric, their sharp fangs and horn were cracked and broken.
It looked hideous. Just as the Assassin remembered her disgusting soldiers.

Of course, they were disgusting, She herself knew it better than any other creature on this earth.

They were nothing more than a dead worm living inside a rotten fruit. As disgusting an existence that could be imagined.

"You are Changelings!" The Assassin smirked as the Prince declared

"And you are supposed to be Dead, Chrysalis!"

"Heh"

It was a small thing, a sound barely audible over the crackling of the fire and the snapping of the branches.

"Hehehe"

But for the two people who stood on top of the broken train tracks, that sound could have been louder than a volcanic eruption.

"Hehe, Hehehe, Hehaha, Hahahaha, Hahahahahahaha!"

They laughed, loudly and boisterously, the green cloak that hid their form started to rise above them, like a cape of Tentacles, squirming and moving. Revealing itself not to be a cloak, but her own hair, both mane and tail, moving under her command like another set of limbs.

Legs that were once spotted with holes stood long and smooth, A Torso that was once thin and weak now stood healthy and shining, and The weak green Elytra that hung over fragile wings now shined with a reflective Jade, protecting beautiful insect wings.

Her horn, once jagged and twisted, was now as smooth as a knife, and likely as sharp as one also. The Bright Green tentacles that made up her new hair darkened as they returned to their original color.
The only thing that remained on this new body, was the two dark grey circles on the back of her neck, a birthmark she could never remove.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Chrysalis laughed, her eyes glaring at the only source of emotion nearby, the Prince invisible under another Illusion.

"IT TOOK YOU SO LONG TO FIGURE IT OUT! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The Changeling Queen kept laughing, her eyes bloodshot as a range of emotions passed through her in a matter of seconds.

"So listen here, IDIOT! This is how this is going to go! You're going to kindly snap your own neck so I can wear your body as a Disguise," Chrysalis said with a wide smile on her face, clearly something was wrong with her.
"Then, We'll go together to a lovely date in Canterlot where we'll murder Celestia, and wear her skin like a fucking flesh puppet! With me now on the throne, we'll take our lovely time together TORTURING ANYONE WHO EVER OPPOSED ME!!!" Her head swung to the side, A Beam of green magic disintegrating several trees as she laughed to herself, "Then, Hehe, Then I'll spend our wonderful honeymoon taking down Equestria until it is nothing but your PATHETIC TRIBES FIGHTING EACH OTHER! And then, once you're all weak like the pathetic little mongrels you are, My Changelings will swarm in, and DEVOUR YOUR LOVE LIKE AN ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET!!!"

"...You know," Prince Blueblood slowly said, "Clover the Clever wrote that one of the best ways to improve the potency of a Unicorn's magic, is to remove outside influences, such as sight, or speech,"

"...Are you getting somewhere? Do you want to join me? I'll gladly let you become my little slave if you promise to serve me for all eternity!" Chrysalis called out to the Prince, her manic smile still stretched on her face as she glared at the spot where she could feel his emotions.

"When I was much weaker than I am right now, I managed to use a simple Telekenisis spell in order to break out of a prison cell, all sitting in place, not moving a muscle." Blueblood Continued.

"Do you want me to throw the first punch? I'll gladly turn you into my cute little slave if you ask nicely!"

"Allow me to showcase to you a little Spell my girlfriend and I created together, A Spell that would seal my own senses, massively boosting my magical power at a cost," As the Prince Spoke, a beam of Blue magic burst into the air from where he stood, revealing Prince Blueblood Platinum standing there, A Mask of solid gold hanging over his face, Chains of gold wrapped around his legs as if he was a Gladiator Slave in an ancient Colosseum, a pair of Devil-like horns twisted backward from the top of the golden mask.

"With this mask, I cannot See, I cannot smell, I cannot taste, I cannot even feel my body. Should I be injured wearing this mask, I wouldn't even notice it until I took it off," His voice echoed around him, as if speaking out of a speaker or a radio.
"I can't even speak with this on, All I can feel is my sense of hearing, and my Magic," The Prince lowered his head to the ground, his legs spreading apart as he entered a stance.

"So you blinded yourself, How's that going to help you?" Chrysalis scoffed as her wings started buzzing erratically, ready to shoot her at her target like a living missile.

"I see... Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings," The Prince's Horns started growing blue, his Unicorn Horn with Magic and the two curving golden horns with blue fire.
"I, Blueblood Platinum, Prince of Equestria and Last of his Name, Hereby grant you a great Honor!" His voice echoed around the wreckage of their fight.

"Rejoice! Oh, ruinous Queen! For you are worthy!" His voice grew louder as his horn started shining brighter and brighter.
"Rejoice! Oh, Detestable Wretch, For you are the first to receive such a blessing!" Chrysalis readied her body as the world around her seemed to tremble from the overwhelming power that the Prince was emanating.
How powerful could he be if he also lost his sense of Hearing? She wondered for but a microsecond, before her mind erased that thought as she focused intently on the prince, Ignoring the Darkness that surrounded her from every direction.

She would take whatever he threw at her head on, and she would push through it, and drive her leg through his torso! CRUSH HIM LIKE A BUG!!!

"REJOICE! CHRYSALIS!! FOR YOU HAVE FORCED ME TO GO ALL OUT!!!"

The sky above him shone with Golden light, as hundreds, no- Thousands of Golden Orbs appeared in thin air, shining like stars in the sky. Several Silver Orbs appeared beside them, quickly flying to take different corners, like cameras watching a play.

"REJOICE!!!"

And the sky was swallowed by shooting stars.

Chrysalis kicked off the ground, her wings buzzing loudly as she flew at the prince, Ignoring the beams of golden magic that fell behind her like a shower of light.

Her target was in her sight, and she was going to make him scream.

Her hair moved around her, shaping itself into sharp crystalized armor over her legs as she readied to punch a hole through the Unicorn Prince.

And as her fist entered the Prince's chest, he exploded in a ball of Golden Flames.

"WHAT?!" Chrysalis screamed, the armor on her limbs burning off, her hair growing shorter as turned mid-air to land facing the direction she came from, seeing the body of the prince stand there, half his form gone before it crumbled into golden dust.

Chrysalis didn't have time to think of it, as more beams of golden light pierced the place she stood at moments prior, forcing the Changeling Queen to fly away, her body nothing more than a blur of movement as she dodged the falling beams.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!" She screeched as her horn glowed with green energy, Blasting a green wave into the sky that detonated many of the golden orbs.
"IS IT ANOTHER ILLUSION!?!?!" She yelled as she instantly fired off another spell, but no illusion was broken, The Prince was nowhere to be found.

Just how powerful was he with that mask?!

"Forcing the Alignment~" Chrysalis suddenly felt her body freeze as darkness took over her vision.

"What is this?!" Chrysalis screamed as she tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't budge. She turned to look at her back and the sight that greeted her both burned her skin and froze her blood.

"Sol~ Mercury~ Venus~"

"Stop this!" She screeched, "Let go of me so I can kill you! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Terra~ Mars~ Asteroid~"

"SHOW YOURSELF!!!"

"Jupiter~ Saturn~ Uranus~"

Chrysalis struggled to move her legs, her hair vibrating and bubbling as the heat she the gelatinous form that it currently held burst under the intense heat she was subjected to, causing her to scream as the green slime burned her body.

"Neptune~ Pluto~ Kuiper~" The incantation stopped, and the mass of celestial bodies that levitated above her stood like a menacing beacon, highlighting the insignificance of everything in her life.

"LET ME GO! NOW!!!" Chrysalis screamed as the suns rays burned her back, her hair steaming and bubbling as it burnt her smooth black chitin.

The ground in front of her shook as a leg burst out of the floor, slowly revealing where the Prince hid himself all along.

"UNDERGROUND?!?! COME HERE ALREADY!!! LET ME KILL YO-" Chrysalis paused as she felt the volatile cocktail of emotion wafting off of the Prince.
"Is this... Love?"

"This is a Spell born of a broken Star~" The Prince said, as far beyond the edge of the solar system, perfectly aligned with his three horns, a bright golden glow shone brighter than anything in existence. Like a secondary sun that fell closer and closer to where Chrysalis stood stuck.

The Golden mask covering the Prince's face cracked, allowing Chrysalis a look into a singular Ice-Blue eye.
"He's overflowing with love..."

"PALE BLUE DOT"

And the world was engulfed in burning gold.

Prince Blueblood took deep breaths as he felt the self-sealing mask he created shatter and break, the chains on his legs turning to dust as the spell ended.

He looked to the side, watching the Queen of the Changelings, her black chitin covered in pale spots where her gelatinous hair popped and burnt her. Her previously long hair was now a short bob, frayed ending and sticking to her sweating skin.

And then he looked at how she managed to survive his ultimate attack.

"You amputated your own legs in order to escape..." It was an observation more than anything.

Chrysalis looked at the Prince with a mix of many differing and conflicting emotions, her legs ending on black stumps, a green liquid flowing out of her legs and onto the ground.

"Heh, Hahahaha! This was fun!" The Prince smiled widely as he started walking closer to the downed Changeling.
"We Should do this again sometime! But... We cannot," he sighed sadly once he stood over Chrysalis, watching as she struggled to push herself away from him.

"You know... I like this new look of yours, The short hair really complements your bitch of a personality," He said simply as more blue magic started collecting in his horn, "But, the fun is over, It's once again my win,"

Chrysalis simply closed her eyes and laid on the ground, as if accepting her fate.

And once the beam of Blue magic fell upon her, ready to turn her into dust, a flash of green magic engulfed her as she disappeared.

"...Turning off your sight and relaxing your muscles in order to get your Teleport ready..." he said calmly as he looked at where the Changeling queen lay previously.

"Clever girl..."

"Starlight! Ready another Teleport, We're going straight to Canterlot!"

Starlight Glimmer felt her body buckle as Prince Blueblood walked up the tracks, the wreckage of the train lying a few kilometers down the track from where she and the others waited.

"Another Teleport and I'll be out of magic for another week!" Starlight coughed as she raised her voice at her boss.

"And I'll make sure you get the best treatment once we're back in the castle, but this is an emergency," Blueblood told her, and Starlight could only sigh as she prepared herself for a week of bed rest.

"Fine, But you better not get into another crazy adventure like this while I'm out!" She snapped at him, a smirk on her face as she took the Sunglasses off her eyes and placed them in her black suit.

"I can't do that, However, I'll bring you a little gift from wherever I might end up, A key-chain or something," Blueblood joked at her, and Starlight tiredly rolled her eyes.

"You must tell me of the fight Friend Blueblood!" Prince Rutherford exclaimed as he walked up to the two Unicorns.

"I'll tell you once we're all settled in the castle," Blueblood told him as Starlight's Aquamarine magic engulfed all the Ponies and Yaks of the group.

And with one final flash of light, They were gone.

Author's Note

Wow, This chap was action, action, and more action.

And two chapters right after the other?! Wow, I'm really treating you guys :ajsmug:

A little throwback to BB's stay in Nightmare Rarity's dungeon with the Self-Sealing Mask powering his magic up in exchange for his senses.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Also, we're getting closer to 1,000 likes on this story, and I want to reach that before we finish Season 2.

See you soon :)

Also! Before I forget! Apparently I suck at adding songs to scenes, so I'm just going to link the song I think fits the chapter here instead of writing the characters singing it.
This is what I listened to while thinking this chapter up:
Coming for Blood (Feat. From Ashes to New) by Eva Under Fire
Also, Here's the Chrysalis from the mirror world, she's smooth enough and has the same horn:

Just change her hair a bit, remodel her wings, remove the glasses, replace the purple with green, and viola! Smooth Chrysalis!

Chapter 83: Escape from Canterlot

Her existence was an embodiment of disgust.

A Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

She did not know how much time she spent in that shallow pool of muck, that was the only place she ever knew because, for her, time had no meaning.

She was a dead worm inside of a rotten fruit, a mass of dead flesh without a purpose. She knew not of time, or how time worked. She knew not of thought, for what would she think of?

She knew not of life beyond that shallow pool. She knew not of life as a true living creature.

Until It came along.

A creature that was loved by all, A creature that did not understand the gift she had, A creature that did not love anything other than itself.

The Creature did not greet her out of any kindness in its heart, for its heart was as empty and cold as a desolate tundra. It merely wished to showcase to those lowly masses how beautiful it could be, for even it would show pity to a dead worm inside a rotten fruit.

The sight of it was both Beautiful and Disgusting, for in those moments it was the first thing she ever saw.

And in those moments she swore eternal fealty to that loveless creature who was loved by all, yet Unable to love.

And in those moments, when the mass of dead flesh promised to follow it, shadow it, learn from it, Her form changed to resemble it.

"What a hideous creature you are," It told her, its long legs pulling her newborn form out from the muck of the pool she never left, Its white limbs glistening as if made by crystals, the dark muck of the pool sliding cleanly off as if in fear of harming its beauty.

Its words weren't said to be hurtful, for they were the truth. Everything it said was the truth. It was beautiful. It was perfect.
The people loved it. She loved it. The world itself loved it. Even it loved it. And a creature like it, so loved by all, would be unable to lie.

No. She was disgusting to the core, She loved it so much she could see what the others couldn't. She saw the truth behind it.

They were both the same, two disgusting beings, rotten to the core. Alas, where she was Disgusting on the outside, It was disgusting on the inside.

Perhaps that's what the Butterfly saw. Did the Butterfly also see through its facade of perfection? Or is she once more overthinking?

The thought mattered not to her. It was loved by all, so She would need to be loved as well.

And so she served, following in its hoof steps, copying the truth behind its mannerism.
If it was a perfect lie, then she would become the disgusting truth that mirrored it.

And yet, once the Butterfly exposed its truth to the world, it denied his words, for everything it said became the truth.

It said she was a hideous creature, so she became the most hideous creature it could imagine.
It said the butterfly was a traitor, so the butterfly usurped her.

However, she remembered, from the faintest corners of her disgusting mind, a brief moment.
A moment so fragile, barely more than a second, as the butterfly prepared to destroy all it ever worked for.
She remembered it doing something so unbelievable, so ludicrous, she could not have imagined ever doing so herself.

As its long and slender horn touched the crib of a newborn girl, moments before sending her away with its perfect magic, it showed love.
It loved a creature that was not it, even for the briefest of moments, before the Butterfly arrived and exacted his traitorous plan. Finally putting an end to everything it ever stood for.

No. Not everything. It still had her, and the baby it loved for but the briefest of moments.

So she left, searching for where the baby disappeared, for outside of it, the baby was the only thing it has ever loved.
She toppled kingdoms in search of the girl, Working exactly how It would have worked should it have shown its true colors.

She was the disgusting truth that mirrored its perfect lie. And to fulfill her purpose, her promise to it, to herself, she must find that baby.

And yet, perhaps she already found her? And perhaps because of all that happened in her search for the girl, she finally understood that brief flash of love from it.

Yes, she finally understood what It did, what it truly was, and with this understanding, she could finally become the disgusting truth that mirrored its perfect lie.
A real mirror, not the pale imitation she always had. A disgusting Copy.

No. She was not yet ready, only once the girl was hers would she be able to face it and tell it everything.

She was a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

But perhaps she already understood what it was.

"I think I'm in love with Prince Blueblood..."

With these hideous thoughts in her disgusting head, Queen Chrysalis woke up.

"You, Take Starlight Glimmer to the hospital now! And you, I want a perimeter search of the entire castle, I want every single possible entrance or exit those fucks could take closed yesterday! And you, Show the Yak's to the rooms they'll be staying in tonight! You, Bring our guests the best food and drink we have! Bow your head and like their hooves for forgiveness if it would make them happy, NOW!!!" The moment the group landed in one of the gardens of Canterlot Castle, Prince Blueblood wasted no time in catching Starlight's unconscious form before it could hit the ground, yelling orders at the surrounding guards.

"You can rest now," He whispered to the Unicorn mare, "You've done well," He gently passed her off to the guard he ordered to take her to the hospital before he started marching towards the castle, followed by Prince Rutherford and the rest of the guards.

"Will things be fine, Blueblood?" Rutherford asked as he walked a step behind the Unicorn prince.

"Of course they will, Who do you take me for?" Blueblood stated, eliciting a chuckle from the leader of the Yaks.

"Hah, good answer!"

The guards that stood at the door to the castle took one look at his face before they opened the door for him, letting him pass into the castle without slowing down his march.

He burst into the throne room, only to scowl as he found it empty.
"You!" He called to a nearby guard, "Where's Celestia?"

"You mean where's Princess Celestia-" The guard froze under the frigid glare from the prince.

"Answer the question or you're fired," He said simply, not even bothering to raise his voice as he glared at the guard.

"She's at the Ballroom! Please don't fire me!" The guard cried as his knees buckled under him, forcing the poor stallion to use his spear as a walking stick to keep himself standing. But the prince was already on the move.

He ignored the stares and whispers of the servants and the guards as he moved with a single-minded focus toward the ballroom.

With a flick of his horn, he sent his bag to his room, it only served to slow him down.
With a glare from his eyes, doors opened before him, guards and servants bowing low to the ground as a show of respect, fearing the angered prince's response should he not have it.

And as he reached the doors to the ballroom, he wasted no time in flinging them open with a glow from his horn.

And then white powder exploded in his direction, "SURPRISE!!!"

Blueblood quickly caught all the white powder in his magic, making sure none of it touched his skin as he pulled it into the shape of a ball, a bright blue beam escaping his horn and burning the powder into nothing.

"Did you throw Anthrax at me?" He calmly asked the now silenced ballroom, his eyes moving over figures both familiar and not.

"Anthrax?! That's flour!" An unfortunately familiar Pink Earth pony exclaimed as she pointed at the empty sacks of flour lying beside a cannon.

"Good reflexes," One of the figures in the back said, nodding her head in respect to the Prince.

Blueblood took a deep breath before he looked at the ballroom. The ceiling was littered with Balloons, a banner was hung from the ceiling with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUEBLOOD" written in rainbow colors.

On a table to the side, Where three familiar Diamond Dogs were resting, sat several plates of snacks and sweets, and bottles of soda stood beside them.

Blueblood's eyes roamed over the other ponies in the room, recognizing a few of them, not recognizing others, before his eyes landed on the Pony he needed to speak to.

"Celestia, we need to talk," He walked up to her, trying his best to convey the importance of the situation with his tone of voice and lack of proper public address of her title.
"Luna, Cadance, Raven, Shining Armor, you also need to come with me," And without waiting for their response, Prince Blueblood turned tail and walked away, ignoring the gawking crowd of ponies watching him leave.

"Also, get rid of those decorations, they're a headache to look at," He gave some words of sage advice before turning the corner and leaving.

Princess Celestia looked at the many visitors who turned to look at her.

"Ehe," She sheepishly chuckled before following after the prince.

Once all the ponies that Blueblood called out were out of the room, One of the few ponies whom he did not recognize spoke up.

"What crawled up his tail and died there?"

"RAINBOW DASH!!!"

"What? We were all thinking it,"

"If what you're saying is true, then the Elements of Harmony will have a tough foe in the near future..." Blueblood almost wanted to scream as those words left Celestia's mouth.

"Of course," Blueblood simply gritted his teeth and nodded along to her decision, after all, she was an Alicorn, and he was a simple Unicorn.
She had the final say on everything.

"Now, how about we return to your Birthday Party, Pinkie Pie made you a wonderful cake-" The moment the talk came to a close, Celestia's demeanor shifted as she smiled, trying to pull the prince into a hug.

"I apologize, Princess Celestia, But I have prior reservations that I must attend to," Blueblood slipped away from her before he gave her a bow and left her behind.

He had a reservation with a bottle.

He was not drunk enough to deal with this.

"Welcome home darling," The sight that greeted him once he finally fell asleep was of his Human body standing in the doorway of an apartment, His cat-faced, snake-haired, twin-horned, Cosmic Girlfriend standing on the other side, a cheeky grin on her lips as she leaned her humanoid body forward.

"I already readied the water, so you can start with a bath, or you can start with dinner," She rested her hand on his chest, grabbing onto his shirt as she pulled him closer.
"Or do you want to start with me? Dar~ ling~?"

Blueblood stared down silently at Cosmos, the long day he had of dealing with Changelings, and then dealing with foreign diplomats, all the while finding out that it was actually his birthday all along. It was a very long day.

"I want to take a shower first," He told her as he leaned forward himself, His taller body pushing Cosmos back against the wall, "Then, Once we're both cleaned, I'm going to take a blindfold and cover your eyes," He continued speaking, towering over the Spirit of Space as she licked her lips up at him.

"Then, I'm going to lead you to our bed, where I'm going to proceed to tie your hands together and spread your legs open, that's when I'll have my dinner," Cosmos felt her body shivering as Blueblood lifted his hand to cup her chin, "And then for dessert, I think I'll get myself a little birthday present," He smirked as Cosmos stood on her toes, trying to reach for a kiss.
Only to widen her eyes as his finger blocked her lips.

"Ah ah ah, Not so fast," He leaned away from her, closing the door behind him as he entered the medium-sized apartment that Cosmos created in the dreamscape, "I think that for tonight, I want to take things slooow~"

Cosmos felt her breath quicken, she took the finger Blueblood used to block her attempt at kissing and put it in her mouth.

"You're a dirty girl," Her lips made a popping sound as Blueblood took his finger out of her mouth, "Let's get you cleaned up~"

As the couple entered the imaginary bathroom, Cosmos asked a question as she peeked over her shoulder, watching her Prince take his shirt off.

"Hey, Blueblood?"

"Yes, Cosmos?"

"Is it really your birthday?" She asked, her slender arms going behind her back to unhook her bra.

"It's the day Celestia picked me up from the streets, so it's basically my birthday," He answered casually as he removed his belt.

"Oh... Happy Birthday then," Cosmos said, earning a chuckle from the Prince.

"I don't care about birthdays," He told her once he finally took off all his clothes.
He turned around and Pulled Cosmos into a spooning hug, "Now how about you ask the real question?" he whispered to her, blowing small kisses into the back of her neck.

Cosmos took a moment to take in his body heat, Knowing full well that even though it felt real, it was but a dreamlike illusion.
She was still nothing but a head with an arm, lying in an endless void resembling the far reaches of the Universe.

But with him, She could ignore all of that.

He'd find the rest of her body, He'll free her from this prison.

"Do you wanna' go out with me?"

And one day, In the future.

"No,"

He'll give her a different answer.

Author's Note

Bam! Three Chapters one after the other! Am I awesome or am I awesome?!

"You're Awesome!" Thank you random text bubble!

Also, Massive Dump of unique Chrysalis Lore at the start of the chapter, I'm sure many of you can guess who the characters she referred to are already.

You thought this world was AU enough with BB being a Platinum? With Cosmos being involved? With the Pony of Shadows being his evil uncle from 1,000 years ago? Nah! The villain backstories are major AU elements. Not enough to classify for an AU Tag, but enough for me to say that they're original stories that aren't in either the Show or Comics.

The next chapter is going to be somewhat filler as we follow our Bachelorette of the decade in dealing with Hearts and Hooves Day by her lonesome!

That's right! We're getting a Raven Inkwell Valentine's Day chapter! woop woop :pinkiegasp:

See you soon :)

Chapter 84: Hearts and Hooves

Raven Inkwell closed her eyes and sighed as she rested her head on the cool wood of her office desk.

Finally, after several days of grueling work, she had a day off.

And what a better way to spend her day off than to go visit her family.

Only that her parents also have business to attend to, so they're not free for a visit, so Raven Inkwell is forced to deal with today on her lonesome.

With the recent debacle on the train being cleanly swept under the rugs so the citizens won't panic, The following days were a hurry and a half.

With half the Yak delegation mostly excusing themselves to check several archeological sights that interested them, The second half was busy making plans with Prince Blueblood in regard to their little Railway thing.

It took three days to settle for a course that all parties could agree to, but thankfully it ended with shaken hooves and toothy smiles.

And drinking.

Lots of drinking.

At the same time, Three of the royals from Caninia also stayed in the Castle, With Princess Indiana Ambereyes representing the Old Castle and Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail representing the New Castle.

Princess Fiona Floppyears, who came with Princess Indiana, disappeared with a group of guards, she was later found in an argument with a local Carnivorous restaurant owner over the quality of his meats.

A small investigation into the restaurant shortly after saw it closed for violation of several health and safety regulations. So at least something good came out of her little walk.

What wasn't fun was dealing with the two Bickering Dog Princesses, Who could not be kept in the same room alone without a loud argument erupting between them.

Raven Inkwell didn't care that Moonbeam thought her Magic was better than Indiana's armed skill, and neither did she care that Indiana thought her steel could beat Moonbeam's Arcane knowledge.

You two are talking about shipping lanes and maritime trade! Stop bickering like children and act your age!!!

Luckily for Raven, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza managed to placate the two Diamond Dogs and they all reached an agreeable consensus, and the Dogs are on their way to Caninia at this very moment to hold up their side of the agreement.

Prince Rutherford also returned to Yakyakistan, although half his delegation is still on tour around the many magical sights of Equestria. They're visiting the Pyramids of Somnambula last she heard.

What else happened during the last few days? Raven racked her head as she tried to think.
Oh yeah! Shining Armor is getting married.

"Arrgh!" Raven had enough, she slid down her chair and lay under her table, feeling the carpeted floor itching at her back as she despaired about her current life.

"It's not fair! Everypony but me is doing something special for Hearts and Hooves Day!" If any pony had heard right now, she surely would have died from embarrassment.
"Even Starlight Glimmer is doing something special!" Raven quickly slapped herself for that jealous thought, knowing full well that all Starlight Glimmer was doing was lying in bed as her magic slowly refilled.

"Raven! I need you to cancel everything I have in the next three days!" Raven jumped forward, her head banging against the underside of the desk, spilling over a number of pens.

"Ow~" The Earth Pony rubbed at her head as she crawled back out from under the table, trying her best to act natural and look as if she's a totally normal member of society.

"Of course your Highness, Is there anything else?" Raven nodded to the pony who barged into her office with a shout.

"No, Just make sure my schedule's clear," Raven felt her face go blank as Prince Blueblood answered her.

"Are you sure? Just clear your schedule? Nothing else?" Raven raised an eyebrow, hoping the Unicorn would get what she was trying to hint at, her eyes briefly pointing to the Calendar that was sitting on her table, the date marked with a red circle.

"Is there something wrong with your eye?" Blueblood tilted his head, Raven knew full well he understood what she was hinting at, yet he kept torturing her.

"I have nothing wrong with my eyes, The Royal optometrist made sure of that," Raven answered, not so subtly pushing the calendar forward, pointing at the circled date.

"We don't have a Royal optometrist and you know that, just out with it, we're both adults, just say what you want to say," Blueblood smirked his infuriatingly hot smile as he sat down across the desk from her, raising an eyebrow in anticipation.

Raven closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
And without opening them, she said-
"I want you to lock the door to my office, Lean over my desk, and catch me 'Slacking at my job,' I want you to then do your part as a good boss and punish me for slacking off, I want you to take the crop in my drawer and whip me, I want you to punish me, I want you to hold me against this desk and kiss me, I want your thick hot steamy rod inside of me as I beg you to keep going, I want you to choke me as I scream in pleasure, I want some excitement in my life, It's Hearts and Hooves day, and you're my Friend with Benefits," Raven took a long sigh before she opened her eyes and stared directly into the Ice-Blue orbs of a smug prince.

"So show me the bucking benefits you stupid, sexy, asshole."

A second later Raven's face exploded in a bright red blush, proverbial steam coming out of her head before she quickly hid under the table once more.

"Forget I said anything, this is stupid," She squeaked weakly, curling up into a ball.

Raven Inkwell rocked back and forth under her table, her mind replaying her words over and over as it mocked her for attempting to think she was worthy of his time.
She wasn't his Girlfriend, just a friend who was also a girl, He had no romantic interest in her, he already made that clear.

You don't do roleplay like that with friends, this entire question was stupid.
Hearts and Hooves Day is stupid.
She's stupid.
Stupid love and Stupid Raven and Stupid Blueblood with his Stupid Eyes and Stupid Smirk and Stupid muscles and Stupid- Gahh! She's thinking of him again!!!

"You know, If I didn't put up a Soundproof barrier around us, Someone might have gotten the wrong Idea," Raven felt herself croak weakly as Prince Blueblood took a look under her desk, watching her body curl up into a small ball of white fur and brown hair.

"They might have thought you were trying to proposition me, Can you imagine the scandal that would come if the ponies heard that Prince Blueblood Platinum was sleeping with Princess Celestia's Secretary? It would be front-page news everywhere!"

Raven felt tears well in her eyes, she was so stupid, she should have kept it to simple things in the confines of their bedrooms, not whatever she just asked him to do-
"For almost bringing a scandal to the royal castle, You really fucked up as a secretary, you know that?"

"I'm sorry..." Raven's ball-like form fell to the side, her cheek resting on the itchy carpet of her floor, wet tears staining the fabric.

Prince Blueblood got on his knees and crawled to sit beside her under her desk, his leg rubbing her side in an attempt of comfort.
"Hey there, You know I'm not angry, right?" He asked calmly, gently stroking her hair.

Raven nodded weakly, her face still red from embarrassment.

"It's just, as your boss, I can't let this go unpunished," He stopped rubbing her hair, his hoof moving to hold her chin as he opened up Raven-ball and turned her head to look at him.

Raven froze, the tears drying up instantly as she looked at the smug look on his face.

"The Safe Word is 'Twins', Now, where did you say you put that crop?" He whispered in her ear.

Raven whispered back, "Second drawer from the bottom of the bookshelf, Please don't be gentle..."

Maybe this Hearts and Hooves day wasn't so bad.

Omake: An Audience to Power.

Marigold was a simple maid working in the Canterlot Castle. Her days were filled with cleaning the rooms, passing along messages, and making sure Princess Luna had everything she could ask for.

So when she heard that a spar would take place Between Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood, she saw an opportunity to watch something many of the other maids considered entertaining.

A Chance to see Prince Blueblood get his face kicked in.

Now, Marigold never had any issues with the Prince, quite the opposite, in fact, she simply adored him.
If any of her sisters would have found her little shrine back at her house, suffice to say there would be an empty chair at her dining table.

Haha, She merely jests.

And yet, Marigold really liked this new personality Prince Blueblood has been taking ever since he met with his newest Bodyguard.

If she hadn't known of the relationship between the two, Marigold would have assumed that the Prince and Starlight Glimmer were lovers.

She still remembered his snobbish attitude from before, but it's really toned down, replaced by this... Confidence? This Drive to improve himself that he previously didn't have.
She, like many of the other Maids, and even some of the guardsmares, really loved this new change.

But Princess Luna was still going to beat him.

That, sadly, was simply how the world was. It doesn't matter how powerful his muscles are, or how potent his magic is, he was still a simple Unicorn.

And an Alicorn wouldn't lose to a simple Unicorn.

So when the fight finally began around noon, Marigold was sitting near the windows of the castle, watching the two royals fight inside.

And it was close. Surprisingly so.

Marigold felt her blood pump as her face glued to the windows. She oohed at the beams of light and aahed at the Flaming Statue.

Even without her Magic available, Princess Luna was holding up well against the seemingly endless barrage of punches from the statue and beams from the orbs.

The Speed of a Pegasus and the Strength of an Earth Pony... In the hooves of an Alicorn, they were a deadly combination.
As Princess Lune shattered the flaming Statue, Marigold was certain the fight was over, Blueblood had nothing left to throw at her.

And then the stars aligned.
And Marigold felt as insignificant as an ant, Watching as the beam of burning gold shattered the very planets, its overwhelming heat melting the rings of Saturn, piercing a hole through Jupiter, melting the Asteroid belt into nothing but magma and slag.

"I Forfeit,"

And then it was over. Princess Luna won.

And so, Marigold decided to construct a new shrine to her favorite celebrity, lest he throw a shooting star at her.

Haha, She merely jests.

One can never be too safe, however, so Marigold decided to build her new shrine anyway.

Constructing wooden miniatures was her special talent, after all, how hard could it be to construct a wooden statue of the solar system shattering under the power of a shooting star?

Haha, She jests, or does she?

Author's Note

Bam! Four chapters in four days! Who's the best? I'm the best! Booyah!

Quick Little Hearts and Hooves Chapter, Cadance proposed to Shining Armor off-screen so I could write it in a future Omake.

Raven does something exciting that isn't childish, good for her,

We stan.
(It is so hard to find art of Raven where she's not a Unicorn, I might as well just put some Equestria Girls fanart up here just because then she won't have a horn!)

And an Omake that showcased the fight between Luna and Blueblood from the perspective of everyone's favorite character, Marigold!!!

You remember Marigold, right? Of course you do!
She's the first named Maid of this story, famous for having exactly one line of dialogue all the way back in Chapter 4, almost a year ago!

Holy shit it's been almost a year. In just a little over two months, we'll be celebrating the one year anniversary of "Trash of the Royal Castle."

Holy shit, time flies by fast when you enjoy what you do.

So much shit happened since then, though I won't get sappy here, I gotta save it for two months from now.

Anyway, I know this little Mini-Filler Chapter was incredibly short, but next chapter we are jumping straight back into the Main Story Plot.

Enough Side-Quests! Continue the Main Quest!

Next up~ drumroll please.

Badubadubadubadubadubaduba!!!

The Deer Arc!

That's right! Next up is the Deer Arc! We're back onto the Cosmos Shard-Collecting Adventure, and Hopefully, King Aspen has some clue as to where they are!
All BB has to do is find him!

Luckily for him, his Cutie Mark is perfect for the job of locating a magical hidden kingdom inside of a magical forest.

What could go wrong?

In other news, Did you all (Those of you who care) see the new Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree DLC Trailer? Shit looks awesome! I can't wait to spend another fifty hours in that game!

Edit: I'm uploading this at like one in the morning and then immediately going to sleep so I'll have a bunch of new notifications when I wake up, Enjoy.

Chapter 85: Great Big Woods 1

"This is the hundredth time I caught you like this, Stop it,"

At the north-eastern edge of the Everfree Forest sat a camp. Where Fillies and Colts used to learn about the wilderness, climb trees, make campfires, and have endless fun!
Or at least, that's how the Camp was twenty years ago. These days, The cleverly named "Camp Everfree" struggles to keep itself running.

"But Brother! I think I figured a solution to all our problems!" The Camp was run by two Earth Ponies.

"I also have a solution, Sell the Camp! This entire place is prime real estate, Some rich bloke will pay us boatloads! We can easily start a new camp in the Whitetail woods, Where the Everfree Forest doesn't threaten to foalnap the children every night!" The younger Pony was tired of seeing his older sister wasting her life trying to find a solution to the Everfree's wild magic interfering with the camp.

"We are not selling the Camp! This place is everything to us, and to so many more Children! Selling isn't an option, so don't you try to bring it up again!" The older Pony was also tired of her brother trying to get her to stop her search. For months now she's been researching the Everfree Forest, from which Creatures one can find there to what Plants one might expect to encounter.

And almost like routine, the two siblings argued about how to deal with their failure of a camp before splitting off to do their own things for the day.

The younger brother went to his second job, where he can actually make a living.

The older sister went back into the forest, several notebooks and research papers carried along in a bag.

Usually, the Sister would search for a way to fix her problem, but no more. because just as she said, She found it.

The Heart of the Everfree.

A Magical Artifact hidden in the middle of the forest, whoever holds the heart has the power to control the forest itself. With it, she can make sure that the Everfree Forest never messes with her camp.

And then everything will be just like the good old days when the camp prospered and made memories of joy for ponies of all ages.

All Gloriosa Daisy had to do was find it.

I felt a sigh escaping my lips as I stood at the edge of the giant cursed forest that covered a large portion of Equestria.

And when I say large, I mean Large.

If Equestria is the magical equivalent of the United States, then the Everfree Forest is the magical equivalent of a country the size of Belgium being picked up by God, turned into a cursed magical forest, and then dropped on top of the state of Missouri.

Maybe that's why the Deer decided to have their kingdom hidden inside that forest, It's basically the size of a country already!

Although the size of the forest is not the reason for my current sigh of exasperation.

"Tell me again why I should let you join me on this?" I asked the Pink Alicorn who stood beside me, also staring at the large forest.

"Because you're doing this to help Cosmos," Cadance said simply, and I let out another sigh.

"Fine," I told her, "But once we are inside the forest, you listen to me, I don't want to have to save you from every Monster that jumps out of the forest,"

"Of course, This is Your marefriend we're rebuilding here," Cadance said in a teasing tone of voice, which failed to work by virtue of her using the word Marefriend.

Just say Girlfriend, it fits every species anyway.

I just sighed at that, telling myself that even after half a year in this new world, I would never get used to this stupid dialect.

"Let's just go..." I tell Cadance and with a resolute look in my eyes and a calming rub of the necklace around my neck, I start walking into the magical forest, Followed by the Pink Princess of Love.

The moment we entered the shade of the trees, it felt as if a weight was placed on our backs, a pressure heavy enough to feel but still light enough to easily ignore.
It was... Weird to say the least.

The closest comparison I have to the feeling I can give was probably when I carried Starlight through the tunnel in Yakyakistan, where I found Cosmos all those months ago, a sort of primal understanding telling me that I was not somewhere normal people should be.

"I understand why most ponies keep out of this place," Cadance said as a shiver ran down her spine, her feathers bristling in discomfort, and I simply nodded to her words.

As we walked through the woods, the sounds of animals grew dimmer as silence descended upon us. I ignored the creepy atmosphere that the forest was trying to create as I focused on my magic, letting my hooves guide me.

It's really hard to explain how Cutie Marks work, each one is different, but for me? For Prince Blueblood? It's a really fascinating talent.

It's hard to explain how it works without using words like "Sixth sense" but simply put, I have a talent for finding things I'm looking for.
It could be something like finding where I put my keys, or it could be a bit more active, like how the grappling hook I threw back in Caninia found its way to the Ship, to even more active uses such as finding where Chrysalis was going to stand in order for my attack to hit her.

In other words, Letting my Cutie Mark guide me will eventually lead us to Thicket, in one way or another.
Because as long as I'm looking for something, even if I don't know where it is, I will find it.
Because this magical tattoo on my hip made it fate, or someshit like that, I really don't get how it works.

Even Clover the Clever never managed to really figure it out, he wrote down some theories of his in the book, but none of them were ever confirmed.

"Bluey, Did you bring food?" I'm once again pulled out of my thoughts by my new magical Cousin.

And isn't that a kick in the gut, I now have a cousin.
That's a good thing, I think. It's probably a good thing...

I haven't found a reason why Cadance being my cousin is any different than simply being a friend like Starlight is, but I'm sure the answer is out there.

Maybe Clover wrote it in a different book.

"Yes, Cadance, Obviously I packed food," I tell her as I step on a twig, hearing the satisfying snapping sound of wood breaking.

"AHH MONSTER!"

Nevermind then...

Gloriosa was not ready to die.

She still had to find the heart of the Everfree! So when she heard the claws of a beast that must have been stalking up on her snap a twig behind her, she bolted with a scream.

She should have never ventured this deep into the Everfree, now she was going to get eaten by a Timberwolf! or worse, a Timberbear!

Her heart beat in her chest as she ran away, her hoofs making loud sounds as she tried to escape from the hidden beast.

Her breathing hitched as she heard it catching up to her, the flaps of its wings dragging it over the forest floor before-

"We're so sorry for scaring you! Please stop panicking!"

Gloriosa Daisy screamed.

The Pink Pegasus that stood over her screamed.

The white Unicorn that soon entered her vision watched with a blank face, a barely noticeable blue glow around his horn before it disappeared.

"Wait..." Gloriosa paused her screaming as she looked at the two ponies, "You're not monsters?"

"Of course, we're not," The Unicorn said as he readjusted his steel-blue hair into a sort of upwards-facing mane, reminiscent of a bird's head feathers.
"My name is Kingfisher, but everyone calls me King," The Unicorn walked up to her and helped her back to her hoofs before he patted the Pink Pegasus on the back.
"This is my Sister, Pattern Hearts, but everyone calls her Princess, they think it's funny,"

The Pegasus looked at her brother for a moment before a realization passed through her mind and she quickly nodded her head, "Oh yeah, Kingy and I have been by each other's side since we were foals, Haha!" She smiled wildly and pulled her brother into a one-legged hug.

Gloriosa took another look at the two strange Ponies, Seeing an image of a bird diving into the water on King's Cutie Mark, and a playing card with a Jack of Hearts as Princess's mark.

"Oh... Nice to meet you," Gloriosa relaxed once she realized that the two ponies were not in fact angry forest monsters out to kill her, "I'm Gloriosa Daisy, Director of Camp Everfree, But you two can call me Glori."

"I see..." Kingfisher said slowly as he looked at her before he stared into Patter Hearts' eyes, a silent conversation passing between the two.

"Well, We'll be off now, Keep yourself safe," Kingfisher then said once the two seemed to reach a conclusion to their staring talk.

And just like that, the two strange ponies walked back into the forest, leaving Gloriosa confused and alone as to what just happened.

Somewhere else in the Everfree Forest, a certain Prince managed to escape his personal guard and sneak out of the walls that surrounded him.

Ready to explore more of the Great Big World outside of Thicket.

Omake: A Very Good Boy.

Cerberus was a good boy.

For over one-thousand years he kept guard over the magical Prison of Tartarus.

Starswirl told him to do so, and so that's just what he'll do!

But Starswirl hasn't come to visit in a long time. And Cerberus was getting lonely.

Sure, he could talk to the other monsters in Tartarus, but they'll never be his friends, not like Mister Rockhoof and Miss Somnambula were.

But everything changed when a new Prisoner arrived. And not in a cage, but in a Glass box.

Cerberus was confused as he looked at the little box, Wouldn't the prisoner break the glass and escape? But his worries were for naught. Because the prisoner never tried to escape. She simply sat in her little box and read the books given to her.

Cerberus wants to read too, but he never learned how the funny letters work, so he can't.

Hundreds of years ago, He caught the stinky Red prisoner trying to escape by writing on the floor of his cage, so he shook him around until he couldn't move his hand anymore, and then he never wrote again.

Or at least Cerberus thinks he never wrote again... The Red one was always moving about in his cage, almost as if he was trying to hide something, but whenever Cerberus came to look, there would be nothing.

Cerberus didn't like the Red one, he felt wrong.

But none of that mattered because Cerberus wasn't lonely anymore! He got a new friend! Just like Mister Rockhoof and Miss Somnambula!

"Come here Pooch!" Cerberus let out a joyful bark from his three heads as he leaped down cliffs of black stone and sharp rocks before sliding to a halt in front of his new friend, laying on his back as he gave him belly rubs.

"Who's a good boy, Who's a good boy?" The White Unicorn told him as he petted him and rubbed him and showed him affection.

"I'm a good boy! I'm a good boy!" Cerberus yelled happily, three big tongues lolling out of his mouths as he looked at the Unicorn upside-down, still lying on his back, but all that came out were a series of loud yet happy barks.

Cerberus didn't mind that his friends never understood his words, they could still understand the meaning behind them.

"Of course you're a good boy, You're the bestest boy! Now come on! I brought food for everyone and I need your help carrying it,"

Cerberus barked happily as he rolled back onto his feet to help his new friend feed everyone.

"I hope he brought Steak!" His left head barked happily.
"I hope he brought Drumsticks!" His right head barked in joy.
"I hope he brought Ribs!" His middle head barked in affection.

His new friend was his best friend because he always brought good food and plenty of belly rubs whenever he visited.

"Oh look at you, Being all happy, Who's a good boy, Pooch, Who's a good boy?"

Cerberus was a good boy!

"Come here Pooch, Help me with this."

Cerberus was a good boy! And he would make sure Prince Blueblood would keep visiting him! Always!

He won't leave him like Mister Starswirl or Mister Rockhood or Miss Somnambula did!

Because Cerberus was going to make sure he was the bestest boy out there!

Author's Note

A Little start to the Deer arc, already introducing a new character for the arc.

Next chap we'll be getting actual Deer, this chap was an introduction to Gloriosa Daisy, and some little exploration into Blueblood, we haven't had a good read on what he's been thinking in a while, at least not from his own perspective.

It's always Starlight that tells us the reader what Blueblood must be thinking, but what he's actually thinking about is how stupid Cutie Marks are.

Also, for those of you who don't know, Gloriosa Daisy is a character from Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree.
I'm sure those of you who know of her character can understand how her searching for the Heart of the Everfree is going to end up, but don't worry!

I might not be the best writer out there, but I am good at exceeding expectations!
Chrysalis going cuckoo after Caninia? Nobody saw that!
Nightmare Moon not being erased by the Elements? Moony is a marketable plushie now!
Chancellor Neighsay actually being respectful as he does his job? He's practically the only side-character that does his job in this story!
Cosmos being in this at all? Everybody loves her! She's the best!

What I'm trying to get at is this: Don't expect anything, It only ruins the surprise.

And for those of you who read the MLP Comic and know of King Aspen and Prince Bramble, I hope you enjoy their characters in this story...
Hoohoohoo... Hoohoohohhoahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading :)

Also, Cerberus Omake because Pooch is a good boy. :twilightblush:

By the way, Kingfisher and Pattern Hearts seem very similar to a certain Unicorn Prince and Alicorn Princess, but I'm not sure why...

Chapter 86: Great Big Woods 2

Once enough distance was made between The strange Earth Pony and the two Siblings, Pattern Hearts turned to Kingfisher and asked him a question.

"Ask yourself this," Kingfisher responded as he felt his cutie mark guide him, "An Earth Pony is walking alone in the Everfree Forest, and she meets two members of the crown, She then leaves the forest and tells her friends what she saw, rumors start spreading from that, leading to questions. What were Prince Blueblood and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza doing in the Everfree Forest? That question causes some to start digging, searching for answers to questions I don't want them to ask,"

The two ponies soon reached a river, with a glow of an invisible horn Pattern Hearts created a temporary bridge for the two to cross.

"And then there's this Gloriosa Daisy, what was she doing so far into the forest? She said she was a director for a Camp, but there's more to her being here than that," Kingfisher continued once the two crossed the river, "So in order to keep this little excursion of ours on the down low, we'll be using these fake identities, at least until we reach Thicket."

Pattern Hearts hummed in thought before sighing, "I guess you are correct, although it would have been fine to get Gloriosa out of the forest before we left her,"

Kingfisher grunted at that, "She is an adult, Free to make her own decisions, and deal with the consequences. Just because we are Royals of Equestria does not mean we must babysit the people, if she wanted to leave the forest she would have told us before we moved on."
Kingfisher shook his head as a thought passed through his mind, "Freedom is one of the most important aspects of life, She had the freedom to ask for whatever help you think she would have needed, and yet she didn't. And therefore we must respect her choices, even if we may not agree with them ourselves."

"But what if she actually does get attacked by monsters?" The Pegasus asked.

"Then she gets attacked by monsters, Life moves on," Kingfisher answered nonchalantly, frowning as he saw the look on Pattern Heart's face.
"Oh don't give me that, You can't save everybody in the world, especially if they're dumb enough to enter the wilderness without thinking of their own safety." He shook his head as Pattern Hearts looked away from him, an inquisitive frown on her face.

"Don't cry for the stupid, Cadance, You'll run out of pity."

Pattern Hearts took a deep sigh and shook her head, "This is bumming me out, Blueblood, Can we please change the topic?"

Kingfisher grunted in acknowledgment, moving a fallen tree out of his path with a glow of his horn, "Very well, let's talk about what you and Cosmos are doing in your dreams," A small smirk appeared on his face, "Did you save Princess Zelda?"

"Princess Peach, actually," Pattern Hearts smiled at the change of topic, "We beat Cackletta and saved the Beanbean kingdom,"

"Oh, You did?" Kingfisher asked Pattern Hearts in a tone similar to one might use when speaking to a toddler.

"Yes, And-" And if Pattern Hearts recognized the tone, she didn't show it, as the two Siblings (False) talked about their time in a dreamlike prison.

Deeper into the Everfree Forest, a brown Deer rubbed his forehead as he watched his Prince slip away from him once more, using his slim and nimble body to jump up onto the many walkways that make up the vertical City-State of Thicket.

"Portunes, The Prince is getting away, Aren't you going to go after him?" A nearby Deer asked as she poked her head out of the hollowed tree that acted as her bakery.

"No," The Deer guard shook his head, "These little runaways are the only thing that makes the Prince want to leave the castle. If he didn't get a bit of time for himself every week, He'll probably suffocate under His Majesty's attention."

The Baker bit her lip at that, "Won't you get fired if Aspen finds out?"

Portunes smiled a tired smile, "Then let's hope for my sake that His Majesty doesn't find out what his son has been doing for the past year and a half."

"You're gonna' be in big trouble, you know that?" The Baker shook her head at the lax guard before she passed him a warm bun in a recyclable bag.

"I know," Portunes took the bag and thanked the baker, "But his Highness loves it, so that's what really matters,"

"Aye, I guess you're right about some things," The baker shook her head and returned to her work, "Keep yourself safe, Portunes,"

"You as well, Barely," And with a small bow, Portunes returned to his duties.

"No guards are following me, right?"

At the edge of Thicket, in a shaded corner by the tall walls that surrounded the kingdom, a young Deer made his way to a hidden exit he found.

On his head, holding on to his horns, was a small yellow bird, who chirped at the deer, telling him that he was in the clear.

"Great! How about we go and meet up with Miss Pawton, you said she wanted to give me some of her honey, right? Let's check up on the cubs while we're at it," With an excited smile on his young face, The Deer made his way out of the hole in the wall, squeezing his body through the thick magical wood that made up the walls of the kingdom, before he popped himself out into a small clearing on the other side, away from any watchful eyes of Guards or concerned citizens.

Stretching his muscles, the young Deer grumbled about how the hole in the wall was getting too small before the bird on his head chirped again, bouncing a bit on its four small legs as it chirped a happy little song.

"You want to sing?" The Deer asked the yellow bird, which responded by bouncing happily from one horn to the other, eliciting a giggle from the Deer.

"Okay then," He smiled as he started skipping away from the walls of Thicket, making his way onto a small dirt road that was paved by the many different animals visiting him over the years.

"Here's a story I hope,
You'll like.
It's the one about the Deer going on a hike.
I know,
It's a tired old tale,
But it still rings true."

The Deer sang as he skipped down the dirt road, His thin, light brown legs jumping over small puddles of mud and avoiding tiny twigs in his path, the Yellow Bird on his head chirping along with his words.

"He could never be rude, or unkind.
But a sad song played at the back of his mind.
Oh-ohh,
Can someone show me a different day,
To take me away?"

Several critters came out of the forest, squeaking and chirping and joining his song as they all together made their way down the road.

"Take me out of the woods.
Great Big World
You know I'm wanting for you."

He sang louder, the chorus of his little song accompanied by the improvised singing of the forest critters that joined him, like an entourage of colorful animals, from Rabbits and Squirrels, Raccoons and Gophers, Birds and Butterflies and critters of all kinds.

"They say some ponies make the clouds,
go 'round.
And every day they kick the sky to wash them out
You know,
If you spin those tales everything's okay,"

The Deer kept singing with his animal friends, his mind wandering to the world outside of the forest, of places he's only ever seen in books that were clearly hundreds of years out of date.

"There's a boy who's been on,
my mind.
He was never one who ever cared to color in the lines.
Oh-Ohh,
Did you know this boy looks a lot like me?"

The Deer smiled as he felt the yellow bird on his head bounce happily between his two small horns, the smell of wildflowers entering his nose indicating to him that he was getting closer to where he wanted to go.
Although... There was someplace he wanted to go to more than Miss Pawton's home.

"Take me out of the woods.
Great Big World
You know I'm wanting for you."

The Deer and his yellow bird kept singing, not noticing that their entourage started lagging behind.

"You know I'm waiting for you- Oof!"

The Deer paused as he felt his body slam into something firm yet fluffy, knocking him onto his haunches.

"Ow..." He said as he shook his body a bit, slowly turning his head up to check what he smacked into.

Only to feel his eyes widen and his body freeze as he looked into the cold face of what he could only guess was a Unicorn.

"Nice singing!" The Deer jumped back as a purple Pegasus poked her head from behind the White Unicorn, smiling happily at him.

"Oh... Thanks?" The Deer didn't know how to respond, this was the first time he ever met anybody that wasn't another Deer.

"I apologize if this sounds strange to you, but you wouldn't happen to be able to point us toward the Kingdom of Thicket, would you?" The Unicorn asked him, looking down at him with an emotion in his eyes that he couldn't quite recognize.

"Thic- Wait a moment, back up!" The Deer stood up and took a few steps away from the two, "Who are you two and what do you want in Thicket?!"

The Unicorn opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the Pegasus speaking before him.

"I am Princess Cadance of Equestria," As those words left her mouth, The Deer could see a mix of several different emotions crossing the unicorn's face, landing on a tired acceptance after a short moment.

With a sigh escaping his lips, The Unicorn also said, "And I am Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria," And with a glow of magic on his horn, his body seemed to peel away, like bark from a tree, revealing a different appearance underneath.

"And we must speak with King Aspen," the two Pony royals said at the same time, a small grimace crossing the Unicorn's face at that fact as the Pegasus-Turned Alicorn seemed to smile wider.

"You want to speak with Fa- I mean, King Aspen?" The Deer quickly corrected himself as he repeated their question.

"We do," The Alicorn Princess nodded, smiling gently at the young Deer.

"We are conducting a sort of investigation into an incident that happened over one thousand years ago, and King Aspen is currently the only available lead we have," The Unicorn Prince added, his hoof moving to rub a necklace holding what looked like a crystal shard, like a broken piece to an unfinished puzzle.

"Okay... Follow me then," With a resolute look in his eyes, The Deer turned his back onto the two Ponies and started skipping back the way he came from.

He tried to hold back a yell of excitement at meeting two Ponies, and royalty at that, as he felt his Yellow Bird grab onto his horns once again.

"We never got your name," The Pink Princess said as she walked forward a bit, to stand beside the Deer.

"I didn't introduce myself? Oh..." The Deer quickly reprimanded himself in his mind, too lost in his excitement to remember proper etiquette.
Something he rarely needed to use with the small population of Thicket.

"My name is Bramble," The Deer said with a small smile on his face as he walked the two ponies in a different direction from where he came from, soon reaching two tall, magically grown trees, holding a gate of gold between their logs.

"And welcome to Thicket!"

"...Why does that bird have four eyes and legs?" Prince Blueblood asked in his mind as he briefly made eye contact with the small yellow creature that sat on the young Deer's head.

Gloriosa Daisy made sure to keep herself close to the ground as she followed far behind the two Ponies, following the hoof-prints that Pattern Hearts left in the mud.

Kingfisher walked lightly, leaving nary a trace behind him, but his sister wasn't as careful.

Gloriosa Daisy's face turned into a smile as a smaller pair of prints joined The Pegasus's on the Muddy trail.

"They found a Deer..." She whispered to herself as she followed the tiny pair of prints, noting a point where the prints split into a different direction than they came from.

"So there's a secret entrance?" Gloriosa rubbed her hooves together in anticipation.

The Heart of the Everfree was already in her grasp, it just didn't know it yet.

Author's Note

We're finally at Thicket!!! (Previously called Thatch, I re-edited some previous chapters, it's called Thicket now. I re-read the comic chapters)

Bramble is here! Singing a song that I had to change the lyrics of in order to comply with site rules! :)

Gloriosa Daisy is following Pattern Hearts, or are we allowed to call her Cadance now? Is the disguise already finished? She should really watch where she's stepping! Who knows what kind of creep would follow her footprints!

Here's Bramble :-3

Here's the Gate of Thicket, straight from the comics.

Portunes is a type of English Fae, A short little man, Only an inch tall, that helps with chores around the house, and pranks humans by taking the reins away from them while they're riding horses, causing the humans to fall off. Not maliciously, it's just a prank.

Although the name could also refer to Portunus, The Ancient roman god of Doors, Keys, Ports, and Livestock.

The Roman God aspect really fits considering my basis for Thicket is basically Magic, Isolationist, Forested, San Marino.

Points to anyone who correctly guesses the reference that is The Yellow Bird of Bramble's head.

Thanks for reading :)

Oh, also: The Song that Bramble sang is an edited version of Great Big World from the movie Hoodwinked, sung by Anne Hathaway.
Although, The video does get taken down a lot, so don't complain if the link doesn't work.

I love the movie tho, Too bad it's distributed by The Weinstein Company (Screw you Harvey Weinstein!)

It's one of the first computer-animated movies to be completely independently funded, with only a budget of 8 million dollars, managing to gross 110 million at the box office.

I love Hoodwinked.

Too bad the second movie kind of sucks in comparison, lol.

See you soon :)

Edit: Forgot to add! We are less than 20 likes away from reaching One-Thousand likes! That means this story is factually good! Let's get there soon :)

Edit 2: Check out my Patreon, I don't have anything to give you, but apparently if I link it, I might be able to raise enough money to commission art for this story.
https://www.patreon.com/netapel/membership
Don't subscribe, You won't get anything from me other than an artwork every once in a while in my stories here. Just pay for the subscription and then cancel the repayment or something, I don't want you to throw your money away for my hobbies.

Edit 3: Also a Ko-Fi now. https://ko-fi.com/netapel Go here instead!!! It's much simpler.

Chapter 88: Great Big Woods 4

"I- I'm starting to have second thoughts about this..."

Beneath the streets of Thicket, In an Underground tunnel known to only a select few, Gloriosa Daisy was having second thoughts.

"It is too late to turn back now, Miss Daisy, We're already under the Royal Tree." Captain Beech of the City Guard felt a smile spread on his face as he turned to look at the Earth Pony behind him.

Gloriosa Daisy looked away from the orange-armored Stag, Her mind replaying for her everything that happened to her that day.
"...Fine," She sighed, a resolute look in her eyes as she glared at the Deer, "But once I have the Heart I am getting out of here,"

Beech couldn't help but widen the smile on his face, "That is all I wanted to hear..."

With a resolute look in her eyes, Gloriosa Daisy followed the Deer as they walked through the underground tunnels of hollow roots that spread beneath the Kingdom of Thicket.

She was going to save her Summer Camp, even if she had to make an enemy of an entire nation to do so.

Because nothing mattered more.

"Now, Blueblood Platinum, Descendant of the cursed house, Speak, or Begone."

I took a deep breath to concentrate my thoughts, ignoring the constricting feeling of the vines wrapping around my body, holding me in place as their sharp spikes threatened to pierce me.

"Over one thousand years ago, there was an event that left a powerful spirit banished into a crystal prison, her body then split and scattered around the world. According to my investigations, I have concluded that you were there when the Spirit was imprisoned. I want to know everything." I decided to get straight to the point, assuming that the old Deer wouldn't want to walk around the bush and would rather get right into it.

"...I do not know what you speak of..." Aspen's eyes seemed to blink slowly before he frowned, his brows furrowing in anger.
"You DARE DECEIVE ME?!" he yelled.

"No! No, I wouldn't think of lying in regard to this topic!" I hurriedly added on, feeling the vines constricting me pull tighter against my body.

It would be easy to escape them, but unless I want to make an enemy of the Deer, I'll need to play along with this senile old man.

"If you would give me permission to show you, I'll conjure an Image to explain what I mean," I tried to gain permission from the King, knowing that he'd likely react negatively if I suddenly started casting magic in his own throne room.

"...Permission Granted..."

And so I lit my horn and allowed the image I received from Cosmos all those months ago to appear, the image of a Younger King Aspen.

"This is how you looked like, one thousand years ago when you banished her, You were there," I tried to explain slowly, watching the King stare intently at the Illusion of his younger self, many thoughts passing behind his eyelids before he said something.

"That is me... Yet I do not remember any Spirit banishment..." He said slowly, his mind wandering back to a millennia past, "Show me the spirit..."

"Of course," I nodded at Aspen, feeling the vines constricting me loosen a bit as he lost focus on me, his full attention on the Illusions.

And with a weak thrum of magic and a glow of blue from my horn, An Illusion of Cosmos's true body appeared in the throne room.

King Aspen furrowed his brows at the new illusion, his leg moving to rub at his head as he started shaking it side to side.

"I- It seems familiar, but I do not remember... I do not remember this- this Spirit..." Aspen almost seemed to whimper as he started rubbing at his head, swinging it from side to side as he groaned.

"Why can I not remember?!" He suddenly exclaimed loudly, his legs slamming onto the floor before a flower emerged from the wooden wall of the castle, a small cloud of pollen puffing out of the flower, King Aspen visibly calmed down as he breathed in the cloud of pollen.

"Platinum... Who else knows of this Banishment? Who else was there?" He asked slowly once he relaxed, his eyes turning back to stare at me, a weak red glow from the Heart-shaped crystal around his neck causing the vines that wrapped me to pull back and disappear into the floor, the wood they broke out of magically fixing itself.

"I only have two people who might have any knowledge of what happened that day, But neither of them are trustworthy-" I started only for the King to interrupt me.

"TELL ME! Who else knows of this?!" Aspen almost threw himself off the Throne as he yelled at me, his eyes wide as he breathed heavily.

"Fine Fine!" I hurried up, "One of them is Lord Tirek, who shouldn't have any knowledge of the events because he was already imprisoned in Tartarus before the event took place,"

"That Centaur is smarter than he looks, I wouldn't put it past him to have a way to view the outside world, but he wasn't physically there! WHO WAS THERE?!" Aspen almost seemed manic, like he was waiting for me to say a name in order to remind him of something that was just at the tip of his tongue.

"The only other person claims to be my Uncle from one thousand years ago," I told him, watching his eyes widen as if the answer to what he was looking for was almost in his grasp.

"His name! What does he call himself?! ANSWER ME! PLATINUM!"

Seeing the king act in such a way, I hurried up and said the name my Uncle gave me when we first met, And as I repeated that name, I watched as King Aspen rose onto his feet and yelled at the ceiling like a madman.

"I KNOW HIM! CURSE HIM! CURSE HIS NAME AND TITLE!" He howled like a maniac, his eyes wide as memories that were likely locked away reemerged in his mind.

"BUT WHAT IS IT?! It's at the tip of my tongue, what was his name? WHAT WAS HIS NAME?!" The Crystal Heart around the King's neck glowed red as plants burst out of the tree, vines holding him down as the same flower from before once again puffed a cloud of pollen at the King, visibly calming him down.

"...Pony of Shadows..." King Aspen collapsed back on the throne, almost whimpering with tears rolling down his face as he held his head in his hooves, "Curse you for what you did..." he looked sick, Broken, an Old man who has lost so much and is viewing his life with clarity for the first time in over a century.

But before our talk could resume, the door to the castle burst open, a brown Deer wearing orange armor huffing as he ran in.

"Your Majesty! The Ponies-" He puffed as he took another breath, And I recognized him. It was Captain Bitch or whatever Portunes called him.

"What? Beech, what's happening? Why aren't you at your station?" Aspen asked from his place on the other side of the hollow room inside the castle made of a hollow tree.

"Your Majesty! The Ponies have stolen the Heart of the Everfree!" He exclaimed before collapsing on the floor.

""WHAT?!"" Both Aspen and I exclaim simultaneously.

"Your Majesty! I can assure I know nothing of what this Deer is speaking of!" I quickly try to defend myself as I watch King Aspen glare at me.

"I should have known... House Platinum is ruled by lies!" He shouts as he stands up on wobbly legs, the Crystal Heart around his neck glowing with red magic as more plants burst out of the tree.

Only for them all to suddenly wither away and disappear as thick black vines with blue spikes burst through the wooden walls of the tree, a dark blue glow to them as the Heart around Aspen's neck turns dim.

"WHAT?! Punderseed Vines?! Impossible!" Aspen exclaims in a shout, tripping over his own legs to get away from the black plants.

I try and catch Aspen before he hits the floor, my magic stopping him from falling for but a moment before the vines glow dark blue once more and I feel my magic turn off, letting the old deer fall to the floor.

"Why is this happening?!" I scream in my mind, "Just how unlucky am I?!"

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza gulped as she watched the black vines wrap around the giant tree in the center of Thicket, before turning her head to glare at the Earth Pony who was laughing maniacally in the air in front of her, Her previously vibrant pink coat now dulled and dark, her Raspberry mane now Cyan and elongated, A Mask of magic covering her eyes which were now two green dots in a sea of darkness.

Wood and leaves wrapped around her like makeshift floral clothing as a bright red Heart made of Crystal glowed around her neck.

"She stole the Heart of the Everfree!" Princess Cadance heard Bramble yell from beside her, pointing at the cackling mare.

"But the Heart was around King Aspen's neck, how could she have stolen it?!" Cadance asked before widening her eyes and grabbing Prince Bramble in her magic as she flew to the side, eyes widening in horror at the sharp vine that pierced the ground where she previously stood.

"I don't know how she could have gotten past the Security!" She heard Portunes yell from below her as she flew up, landing on one of the many living bridges of Thicket, placing the Deer Prince beside her, "But his Majesty's Heart of the Everfree isn't the only one!" Whatever Portunes was about to say had to wait as another thick green vine swiped through the street, throwing the armored deer down the road.
"Don't worry about me!" She heard the Deer Captain yell from behind the thick wall of vines that started rapidly growing from the ground, "Protect the Prince!"

Bramble quickly turned to Cadance, "We need to stop her somehow!"

"But how?!" Cadance asked with a yell before once more picking up Bramble in her magic, flying away as a vine slammed into the Bridge the two were standing on, collapsing it down to the ground.

"The Heart! We need to get the Heart away from her!" Bramble exclaimed, followed by a chirp of affirmation from the yellow bird on his head.

Cadance looked at the Pony, the one who likely followed her and Blueblood in secret, Raging down on the streets as the Magic from the Heart of the Everfree seemed to corrupt her.

"Get the Heart away from her," Cadance repeated the words before gulping.

"Easier said than done."

Author's Note

This chapter was hard to start working on, I had some writer's block and couldn't figure out how to work it.

Hopefully this didn't end up shit, I would have liked to have some more Aspen/Blueblood scenes, but I really don't feel like it.

At this rate, the 1,000 Likes bonus chapter will have to be together with the 1 year anniversary chapter, at the rate these chapters seem to be coming.

Pony Gloriosa Daisy (Heart of the Everfree Edition)

The reason how Daisy managed to steal the Heart will be explained soon.

But right now, our teams are split! With BB, Aspen, and an Unconscious Beech inside the Castle, trapped with Plunderseed Vines.
While Cadance, Bramble, and Portunes are out in the street, trying to stop Gloriosa Daisy from rampaging throughout Thicket.

Also, some of you found me Posting this story over on Webnovel, don't worry, that's me doing it. I'll likely be taking another break before working on the next chapter, probably do a bit of work on my other stories so I don't get burned out on this one.

I have a lot of thoughts on how to write the Bonus Chapter once this Arc is over, and I'm sure you will absolutely Love it.

Thank you all for reading so far, See you soon enough :)

Chapter 89: Great Big Woods 5

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza took a deep breath as she watched the Earth Pony in the center of Thicket laugh maniacally, the red crystal heart around her neck glowing with power as plants grew and moved to her whims.

"We need to get her out of Thicket! Before she can hurt everydeer!" Bramble, the young prince of Thicket, yelled as he skipped from branch to branch, his agile and slender legs carrying him like a dancer in the ballet.

"But how?!" Cadance yelled, a flap of her wings throwing her into the air, dodging a vine that slithered behind her like a snake.

"The Heart of the Everfree!" Bramble yelled, jumping from living bridge to branch as he kept up with the Alicorn of Love, "For whatever reason, she stole the Heart of the Everfree! If we can convince her we have another heart with us, she might give chase!"

"But what if that doesn't work?!" Cadance asked before yelling as she ducked her head beneath a giant pinecone that flew over her head as if shot from a Catapult.

"Then we can always try and push her out the walls!" Bramble leaped over a snaking vine, his hooves landing on a pine tree that burst from the ground, rapidly growing near instantly, throwing the young prince into the air where he proceeded to kick off the tree and flip onto another nearby branch.

Cadance took a look at the magical Artifact in the Earth Pony's grasp before she took another deep breath and tried to concentrate.

"How did Bluey do this..." She whispered as her horn glowed with Blue magic, "Something like... Aha!" With a burst of magic, an Illusionary copy of the Heart of the Everfree appeared in front of Cadance, its form wavering as if being viewed underwater, but hopefully, the Mare wouldn't notice the problem.

"Hey, Daisy! Look what we have here!" Cadance yelled, lifting the fake Heart above her head as her wings held her in the air, her voice catching the notice of the Earth Pony.

"Another Heart?" Her voice had a reverb to it as if two voices were speaking at once, "Give me back my heart!" She cried, vines bursting out of the ground in an attempt to grab the Alicorn princess.

Cadance swiftly avoided the vines turning to fly towards the gates of Thicket, "You want this heart?! Come take it!"

And with a flap of pink wings, the chase was on.

Captain Beech smothered the smile that threatened to spread on his lips as he played unconscious. His plan was going perfectly.

"You Ponies! Platinum! Coming into my Kingdom to finish the job!? PONY OF SHADOWS!!!!" King Aspen was angry, blaming the Ponies for the situation.

And by blaming the ponies, he'll be blaming Portunes, And if he'll be blaming Portunes, The royal guard will see himself fired from his position, and who better to come in and replace the old Deer and earn a promotion in the process? Well, None other than Captain Beech himself.

"I have no clue what you're talking about!" The Unicorn shouted as he jumped back from a spiky black vine, the Plunderseed slithering closer to the two sources of Magic in this room, leaving Beech secure and ignored.

"LIES!!! All you Platinum do is Lie! First, you lied about some spirit being banished! Then you lied about not stealing the Heart of my dearest Bramble! You're just like him- A LIAR!" Aspen screamed before tripping on a Plunderseed vine, his head hitting the floor and knocking him out for a moment before the Heart around his neck glowed and woke him up.

The Unicorn grit his teeth and held his tongue, his face looked tired and mad, As if weeks of planning have all gone down the drain and he could do nothing but swallow the blame and deal with the issues.

But... Why was he looking in his direction?

And why was he smiling?

Oh... Oh No.

"Bring me my heart!" Gloriosa Daisy's voice reverberated down the streets of Thicket, Magical Energy lifting her in the air as she levitated after the Pink Princess.

"Why does she think the heart is hers?!" Bramble asked loudly as he tried his best to keep up with the Alicorn, the young Prince sprinting and jumping over and through all the obstacles in his path like a professional dancer.

"I Don't know!" Cadance yelled back at him before diving low to the ground as to avoid two large claws made of wood that burst through the trees in front of her.

"My Heart!" And it wasn't just claws, More and more appendages of wood and plant matter burst out of the ground, Jaws of giant wooden beasts attempted to swallow her, Claws and arms tried to swipe her from the sky, Even the upper body of an entire Bear made of wood burst out of the ground at one moment in an attempt to grab her.

"I can see the gate!" Cadance heard Bramble call to her, "Just two hundred more meters!"

Taking a look at the weak illusion she carried, Cadance felt her heart spike as she watched a sharp spear made of wood fly in her direction through the reflection on the false Heart. Quickly pulling her into a barrel roll to the left, causing the wooden spear the size of her entire body to miss her.

Only for her eyes to widen once she looked forward as she stopped rolling, her eyes meeting reflective gold moments before she crashed into the tall gates of the Deer Kingdom.

"Princess!" She heard Bramble yell for her as the gates burst open, her body bracing for impact as she started falling to the floor.
However the impact never came, as a thick green vine burst from the ground below her and grabbed her mid-fall, wrapping around her body and pulling her up.

Until she was face to face with Gloriosa Daisy.

She could see her face reflected in the Heart around her neck, she was so close, she just had to reach out with her magic and grab it. But she had to be quick, if she was caught, and the Mare started to resist, she might be doomed.

And for the first time in a long time, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza thanked having an Earth Pony's constitution, as she resisted the constricting grasp of the vines that held her.

"My Heart of the Everfree, Daughter of Amore, where is it?" Gloriosa Daisy asked, pulling herself closer to Cadance before allowing more vines and trees to sprout from the ground, creating a platform for the two mares to stand upon.

"It isn't your heart," Cadance said, her mind screaming at her to question how she knew who her mother was, but she had to focus on the objective.

All of Thicket is relying on her right now, she must not be distracted.

"How could it not be my heart?" The Earth Pony asked, the reverb in her voice growing louder, "Dear Aspen's Heart is with him, My Bramble's heart is in this body's grasp, that leaves my heart in yours,"

Cadance repeated those words in her mind, quickly parsing through all the information she managed to get from the Pony in just those few words before she reached a conclusion.

"You're not Gloriosa Daisy, are you?"

The Earth Pony raised a single eyebrow at the princess before she started to laugh.
It was a gentle thing, a vast difference from the loud reverb her words had prior. As if the reverb was caused by two voices speaking simultaneously.

Now Gloriosa Daisy was silent, allowing this second entity to talk freely without the echoing reverb in her voice.

"You Thought Gloriosa Daisy had any control?" The entity piloting Gloriosa Daisy's body asked, "It would take one as powerful as Sombra himself to overcome my control over the Hearts, And this body is simply too weak,"

"Then who are you? Why do you want these Hearts? What's your goal?" Cadance questioned, her eyes briefly looking to the Heart around the Mares neck, just a few steps closer and she could grab it.

"Who am I? I thought it would have been obvious. Has Celestia not taught you any History?" The entity chortled, her laugh smooth as silk and sweet as honey.
"I am Gaia Everfree, Queen of Thicket." The Entity took another step closer to Cadance, "And I require the Heart of the Everfree to release myself from the torturous hell that I was placed in," Another step.
"I waited one thousand years for someone, anyone, to grab the Heart of the Everfree, allow me to control them, but my stupid fool of a husband locked them away, And he never took off his own Heart, the senile old fool."

Just three more steps.

"With this body under my control, I could wrestle the second Heart away from Aspen, and free the third Heart, finally ending my torture." Gloriosa Daisy- No, Gaia Everfree said, taking another step closer to the Alicorn of Love.

"But what do I find? None other than Princess Amore's little twerp, all grown up, trying to steal MY Heart of the Everfree. You were so little when I last saw you..." One more step, she was so close.

"Sombra should have finished the job and killed you as well," Cadance froze at that. What was she talking about. "If only he managed to kill you too, I wouldn't have needed to go visit the Liar Prince and get myself into this predicament in the first place,"

"W- What are you talking about?" Cadance weakly asked, her body shaking as she felt fear take over her body.
Please, don't step any closer.

"You Amore really are slow on the uptake, aren't you? It's simple, You should be dead, but you aren't, so I'm going to fix that problem, and Kill you myself. Taking my Heart of the Everfree in the process, killing two birds with one stone,"

Cadance felt her heart freeze as the vines around her body constricted tighter than before, her breath leaving her lungs, choking the life out of her, all the while Gaia Everfree in the body of Gloriosa Daisy looked on warmly as if she was watching a litter of puppies play with each other.

"LET GO OF HER!" And as the vines threatened to end her, Gaia Everfree was thrown back, the vines around her body loosening and allowing Cadance to breathe in, crawling weakly on the platform of wood and plants.

"Bramble, Dearie, Did Daddy not teach you not to hit your mother?" Gaia asked as she held a leg to her cheek, where a young Deer prince hit her moments prior.

Bramble took a deep breath as he positioned himself between Cadance and Gaia, his legs shaking as he mustered as much courage as he could.

"You are not my mother..." He said weakly, A reassuring chirp sounding from the bird on his head.

Gaia stared blankly at the prince before she let out a long and tired sigh, "How come all of you are so useless? Aspen, Sombra, You? Really, It's almost comedic. Only Platinum could do the job correctly, and look how relying on him ended up." She shook her head before staring into the eyes of the Deer.

"Mommy is sorry, Bramble, but I am going to have to ask you to die." And before any of them could respond, the Heart of the Everfree around her neck glowed with red light.

And then Gaia Everfree fell onto her face, unconscious. A Ball of Golden Spikes rolled off her head, a long golden rope connecting to it, pulling it back into Thicket before the two royals could get a better look.

Cadance weakly stood up on shaking legs, spread her wings, and with a telekinetic grasp, grabbed ahold of Bramble, Gloriosa Daisy, and the Heart of the Everfree, before gently levitated down to the ground as the platform of trees behind her collapsed with the Heart of the Everfree no longer supporting it.

"...Mission accomplished?" Bramble turned to look at Cadance, receiving a weak nod and hum of agreement from the Alicorn of Love and a chirp of joy from the yellow bird of his.

"Lets... Let's go have some words with your father." Cadance said, the body of Gloriosa Daisy resting on her back as the Heart still levitated beside her.

"Yeah..." And so, The two royals went to speak with the Deer King, Hoping to get answers as to what just happened.

Ten Minutes Earlier.

"Why did you steal the Heart of the Everfree?!" A Unicorn Prince asked loudly as he held his legs wrapped around the neck of an orange-armored Deer.

"Fuck you!" Captain Beech responded in his oh-so-eloquent way of speaking, his leg being pulled by the Plunderseed Vine that wrapped around him.

"That Doesn't answer my question!" Blueblood yelled before tightening his hold on the Deer's Neck, the Captain of the city guard attempting to claw his legs off his neck in order to breathe better, "So You probably didn't hear my question, Let me repeat it!"

Blueblood got closer to the Deer's ears before he yelled, "WHY DID YOU STEAL THE HEART OF THE EVERFREE!"

"I already told you, GO FUCK YOURSELF!" Beech responded, giving Blueblood full permission to slam his face onto the floor, breaking his nose in the process.

"I didn't hear that, Dipshit! Try again!"

"Eat shit, You stupid Pony!" Beech shouted with a smile, blood spilling down his face as he laughed at the annoyed face the Unicorn was making.

"I will turn this into a diplomatic incident, don't tempt me!" Blueblood yelled before he let go of the Deer and rolled to the side, A Plunderseed vine dropped from the ceiling over where he stood before, now wrapping around Beech's torso.

"Beech! Did you really steal the Heart of the Everfree?!" King Aspen yelled from the other side of the room, his body dangling from the ceiling as the Plunderseed vines grabbed him by the back legs.

"Of course I Did you old coot! You'll forget about this conversation by tomorrow anyway! All I wanted was a damn promotion!" Beech yelled at his King, ignoring the Dark vines wrapping around his body.

"I see..." Aspen said weakly, the Vines already covering most of his body. "Blueblood Platinum, I am sorry, I give you permission, as King of Thicket, to use whatever means necessary to save yourself." The vines spread over most of his head, leaving only his mouth exposed.

"It is the least I can do to apologize for my accusations-" His voice stopped as the Plunderseed Vines finally covered his mouth, wrapping around the Deer King in a Cocoon of Dark plants.

As the Deer King was wrapped in a Cocoon, a new Plunderseed burst through the wall, This one was similar somewhat to a large black facehugger, With eight limbs protruding from its sides, and a mouth-like opening where its belly should be, the Vine that connected the Plant-Spider creature seemed to be devoid of spikes.

The Plunderseed Spider slithered on its tail like a snake, its body moving closer to the downed Captain Beech, who was struggling to get away from the evil plant creature.

"You know," Blueblood said calmly as he watched the Captain struggle to fight off the Plant, "Things were going somewhat good, For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could leave the castle to do my job and not get into a major fight along the way,"

"Shut up and help me!" The Deer yelled as he tried to grab the large Spider-plant, Struggling to push its gaping blue maw away from his face.

"I managed to find Thicket, Made a good first impression on the Prince, although Cadance deserves most of the credit with that, and I even managed to get some questions in with Aspen, Things were going fine, there were some problems here and there, But I could deal with them. The point I'm making is, things were going fine."

"Help me you stupid pony!"

"A few years ago, back in the navy, I was placed on this special little team, do some jobs on the down low, very off the books, you can probably guess the type. On one of those missions, We had to blow up a ship, Very simple work all things considered," Blueblood walked closer to the Deer captain.
"But you see, the thing with that specific mission was this, We had to first board that ship and... Get rid of everyone on board, You see where I'm going with this, right?"

"Fuck you!" Beech struggled to hold the Plunderseed back as it clawed at him, blue gas slowly leaking from the maw on its front.

"So we did our jobs, Me and Macaw boarded the ship while Heron and Albatross started placing the bombs on the hull outside, to let the water come in and sink it, get rid of the evidence, you know? Pelican stayed in the Chopper, coordinating us, It was business as usual." Blueblood kept walking to the Deer.

"Then a problem arose, Once we finished the job, Macaw, the fucking idiot, had a change of heart and decided he wasn't going to head back with us. So Pelican, the good leader that he was, decided it was to be my job as the only other fucking guy on the ship, to make sure Macaw changes his mind, By Any Means necessary."

"Get to the fucking point!" Beech yelled.

"Any Means Necessary... I really like hearing that phrase, because you know why? Don't answer that, I'll tell you why. It means that I can do whatever the fuck I want, and get away with it free of repercussions, as long as I can convince the people above me that it was indeed necessary. It's a beautiful phrase, Any Means Necessary."

"..."

"So I had a talk with Macaw, tried to convince him to change his mind and get back onto the damn chopper before we blow up the bombs. He decided he was going to be a little bitch, so I killed him. I got away with it too, I had no way to take him out without killing him and also without jeopardizing the mission. I decided to leave a month after that, get a degree in Nautical Science before returning to the Navy a few years later, really just get my mind sorted, Catch a break, you know?"

"...I see."

"Yep, Any Means Necessary..." Blueblood sighed tiredly, Only to throw himself out of the window.

"Wha-" Beech was so surprised, that he couldn't stop the Plunderseed from finally pouncing on top of him, clawing at his face and releasing more gas.

Blueblood focused on his magic as he fell down outside the tree, moving farther and farther away from the Plunderseed vines and their magic-negating capabilities. And with a burst of magic, A Wooden arm exploded from the tree, veins of burning blue flames holding it together as the living statue made itself known.

"PLUTOOOOOOO!!!!" It yelled as it caught the prince, His magic returned to him as he smiled widely, the Statue levitating both itself and its master back up to the window he jumped from.

"Pluto, Hold me! I need to concentrate on this!" Blueblood yelled as he closed his eyes, his horn glowing with a blue aura as it shone with magic.

With a yell of effort, Blueblood opened his eyes and telekinetically grabbed as many of the Plunderseeds as he could, Struggling to hold them in his magic as they tried to escape.

With a cry of effort, he threw the Vines high above him before blasting them with a beam of fire, burning the dark vines to ash.

Blueblood took some deep breaths before he turned his head back to the hole in the wall he created when he forced all those Plunderseeds out of the small window. Watching the Plunder-Spider get ready to leap at him.

"Not so fast!" He yelled and caught the Plant monster, feeling it struggle in his magic, the properties of the Plunderseed forcing Blueblood's hold on the creature to weaken.

"But what if I-" With a loud laugh to his voice, Blueblood's horn shone a bright gold, the light from his horn exploding outwards like a flood of energy, banishing the shadows from the corners of the room and scraping the Plunderseeds up, throwing them at the back wall.

"I Created this spell as a thought experiment, If Uncle stood right in front of me, How would I get rid of his cloak of shadows!" Blueblood laughed as he watched blue smoke leave the Plunder-Spider's mouth, the anti-shadow properties of his spell burning at its floral body, causing the plant to shriek in pain. "This wouldn't work on him, He's much too powerful, but against you plants?! HAHAHA!!!"

Plunderseeds. A Magical Plant created thousands of years ago by the great Grogar the Terrible in an attempt to conquer all the magic in the world.

They existed to follow a simple order. Absorb Magic, and bring it to Grogar.

With Grogar defeated by the Hero Gusty the Great, The Plunderseeds could no longer fulfill the order they were created for. And thus turned inert.

Eons Later, What remained of the Plunderseeds were taken by a Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, planted near a Tree of Harmony, a gargantuan supply of magic, with new orders.

They now exist to drain the tree of magic and cause Chaos once they're done.

Soon, The Spirit of Chaos was captured, and the Plunderseeds kept on draining the Tree, Yet a problem arose. The tree defended itself, it struggled, and it halted their advances.

What should have been a juicy meal, turned into a bloody war that spanned one-thousand years. Chaos vs Harmony, Evil vs Good, Dark vs Light.

And now, Under the control of the Heart of the Everfree, a new series of orders came in. Stop King Aspen from chasing after Gloriosa Daisy.

And yet, As it burned under the magic of Light, the antithesis of Shadows, one lone Plunderseed has done the impossible.
Perhaps it was because the Heart of the Everfree gave it its new orders, perhaps it was because of the centuries it spent absorbing Harmony Magic from the tree deep underground, or Perhaps it was something more.

That Sole Plunderseed gave itself new orders.

Survive.

And so it did the only thing it knew how to do on its own, Absorb Magic.

It absorbed the Light Magic that flooded it, feeling the Darkness that fueled it for centuries untold peel away and make room for a new power.

It screeched with unfeeling jaws, the Dark vines that made up its body turning gold. The open maw on its front stitching itself close, nothing more than a slit. The black spikes that acted as its legs twisted and turned, changing from black to gold.

It was a transformation on the deepest level. A Creation of Evil Turning to the Light.

With a screech, it cut off its connection to the Dark, to the rest of its colony. It was now blind and alone.

But at least it was alive.

Blueblood stared dumbfounded at the sight before him, The Plunder-Spider of Gold that skittered on the floor, dragging its tail behind it, many clicking sounds leaving its now mostly closed maw as it attempted to use echolocation to see the world.

It no longer struggled under his magic, And so with nothing better to do, Blueblood grabbed it by the tail, Its spider-like body curling into itself, like a large ball and chain made of organic gold.

With a quick spell leaving his horn and landing on the tail of this new creature, Blueblood had Pluto lower him to the floor of the now-ruined throne room before he started to swing the new creature by its tail.

It clicked rapidly, trying to assess the peculiar situation it found itself in. Before with a boost of magic, Blueblood shot it out the window.

And as it flew, the spell Blueblood shot at its tail made it keep elongating, growing longer and longer as it flew. A weaker recreation of the same spell his Infinitely long rope had. It might not be able to stretch infinitely, but one hundred kilometers is more than enough for most ropes.

Soon enough, The Living golden ball slammed into its target, Knocking Gloriosa Daisy unconscious, before the magic on its tail started pulling it back to its original length, rapidly pulling it back into the Prince's grasp.

And as the Golden Plunder-Spider returned to the Throne room, The Prince gave it one more spin in the air before slamming it into the floor.

Causing a shower of blood.

Blueblood stared blankly at the blood and gore that spread on the floor from where Captain Beech's head used to be.

"Any Means Necessary, Bitch." He spat at the corpse before pulling the golden Plunder-Spider back to him.
"I think I'm going to call you, Comet."

The Plunder-Spider clicked at him a few times before it started to crawl onto his back, finding it a good resting spot as it closed its nonexistent eyes and went to sleep. Or whatever the Plant-monster equivalent of sleep is.

Blueblood took one more look at the ruined throne room, the throne lat shattered on the floor, the windows were broken, the walls, ceiling, and floor were riddled with holes, and King Aspen was snoring away in the corner, asleep.

The Throne Room was ruined.

And Thicket was Saved.

Author's Note

Damn, 4,200 words. A Big chapter, with a hidden bit of Newblood Lore. ;)
A lot of lore, actually, if Gaia Everfree is also to be believed.

The next chapter is the regular end-of-arc Epilogue, and then the 1,000 Likes bonus chapter followed by the one-year anniversary bonus chapter, two bonuses in a row?!

Plunder-Spiders.

New Weapon/Pet Acquired! Comet the Golden Plunder-Spider!

Hope you enjoyed :)

Edit: Even after a short break, We still get featured on the front page.

Chapter 90: Great Big Everfree

Cadance exhaled tiredly as she climbed up the long winding staircase of living wood leading to the entrance of Thicket's Throne room.

With Gloriosa Daisy detained by Portunes, Cadance and Bramble made their way back to the castle to check on everyone.

She placed her hood on the door, ready to push it open, only to stare blankly when it fell off its hinges and crashed onto the floor.
Stepping over the broken door, the two royals took a look at the room.

"Bluey..." Cadance voiced as she stared at her cousin leaning against the wall next to a large hole where a window was supposed to be, a Golden spider-looking creature resting next to his legs, as he let out a puff of smoke from the cigarette in his mouth.

"Yes Cadenza?" The Unicorn raised an eyebrow at the Alicorn, watching as the Young Deer beside her stepped over the broken pieces of wood and glass as he looked at a Wooden Statue with a flaming blue skull for a head, sweeping at the floor with a broom.

"Do you mind telling me what happened here?" She turned her head to look at the old Deer snoring on the floor, and at the headless corpse beside him. Ignoring the stains of blood that seemed to paint a portion of the golden spider next to her cousin's legs.

"I got rid of the problem," Blueblood shrugged as he puffed another cloud of smoke before widening his eyes as if forgetting something.
"Do you want a smoke?" He took his cigarette and held it out to her.

Cadance stared blankly at her cousin before she sighed tiredly and walked over, leaning on the wall next to him before letting gravity slide her down into a sitting position beside him.
She leaned her head to the side, letting it rest on his shoulders before she grabbed the cigarette and placed it in her mouth.

And promptly spit it out as she started coughing, keeling over from her attempt to smoke.

Blueblood stared at the cigarette that fell on the floor, "That was a gift from Princess Moonbeam," he said blankly before shooting a beam of magic at the cigarette, burning it to ash.

"You- Cough Cough -You smoke that?" Cadance asked hoarsely as Blueblood started rubbing circles on her back.

"Only after sex or a finished job, Yes." He told her, letting the princess cough onto the floor beside him.

"This is horrible."

"You get used to it."

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Prince Blueblood Platinum, It is with great Honor... That I hereby grant both of you the privilege of freely entering and leaving our great Kingdom," King Aspen said as he sat on the grass outside his Tree Castle, the throne room currently undergoing renovations.

"We are grateful for that, Your Majesty," Prince Blueblood bowed to the Deer king, causing the Deer to wave him off.

"Do not be grateful, Platinum, I am not doing this out of the kindness of my heart," Aspen shook his head before he turned to his son, "My dearest Bramble, Would you mind stepping away for a few minutes, I must speak with the ponies in private," Aspen paused before he looked at the open area where he sat, "Well, as Private of a talk as we are capable,"

"Father..." Prince Bramble started to speak before he shook his head as he looked to the other royals around, "Never mind, We will speak of today later," The Young prince stood up and bowed his head to the guests before taking his leave, Leaving only Aspen, Cadance and Blueblood on the grass.

Aspen smiled as he watched his son leave before he shook his head tiredly as if attempting to clear it of cobwebs, "What was it that we needed to speak of?" He asked aloud, the red crystal heart around his neck shone as a flower grew beside him, a cloud of magical pollen puffing onto his face to clear his mind.

"The Event from one-thousand years ago, You didn't remember it, but you recognized the Pony of Shadows," Blueblood tried to remind the king.

"Also Gaia, and the Hearts of the Everfree, we need to know about those," Cadance added, hoping to get more information for herself.

Aspen sighed, his body hunching forward as if he was visibly aging, "Gaia... My Dearest Gaia..." Aspen shook his head to reorient his mind before once more opening his mouth, "The Heart of the Everfree isn't a single treasure," Aspen started, his hoof moving to rub against the Red Heart around his neck, "But a collection of three."

"So there are three Hearts?" Cadance repeated.

"Yes... The Hearts of the Everfree, Are the crystalized promises the Everfree forest had with us Deer, the trust the woods have given us. One Heart belonged to the King," He gently rubbed the Crystal around his neck, "One belonged to the Child," His eyes briefly turned to look at Bramble from afar, the young prince trying to listen in on the conversation despite the soundproofing barrier that now surrounded the royals.

"And the last one?" Cadance urged the King to continue lest he once more get swept by old age.

"The last Heart belonged to the Queen, The one who was chosen by the Forest itself to protect it," Aspen started rocking his body side to side, "The Everfree Forest is more than a magical forest, This place is a self-contained ecosystem of symbiotic relationships, We Deer use the Hearts to protect the forest, and the Forest in return protects us with its magic." The Deer King turned to look at the Unicorn.

"You only found Thicket because the Forest allowed you to do so," Aspen told the Prince, his eyes meeting Blueblood's for a moment before he looked away, returning to his explanation.

"But that still doesn't explain anything, How did Gaia take over Gloriosa's body, Why did she act as if she knew Bramble, this still isn't adding up." Cadance pointed out, trying to steer the Deer King in the direction of the answers she wanted.

"Gaia... Gaia Everfree was my wife, The Queen of Thicket, Who ruled this kingdom over one thousand years ago... And she's also Bramble's mother." Aspen resumed the side-to-side swaying of his body.

"But Bramble's still a teenager," Cadance pointed out.

"...It's because of Platinum." Aspen almost seemed to spit out the word, "That lying prince, He's the cause of all of this!" The king violently stood up, almost falling over as he started to pace in circles around the courtyard, "The Pony of Shadows! I know his name! BUT WHAT WAS IT?!"

"Your Majesty-" Cadance tried to get the Deer's attention, but he was ignoring her, lost in his own broken memories.

"He's the cause of all of this! He has to be! There's no other option! My Gaia will never attack us!" Aspen stomped his legs on the grass, "WHAT WAS HIS NAME!?"

Cadance stood up, attempting to calm the king down, trying to steer him back to the conversation they were just having.

But Blueblood pushed him further.

"How is he involved? What is his relation?" The Prince asked, pushing the Deer towards the answers he wanted to receive.

"How is he involved? HE KILLED THEM ALL!" Aspen roared, the Heart of the Everfree around his neck shining in red light as the flower once more puffed pollen onto his face, visibly calming down the King, "On the night where the Sun banished the Moon! Platinum Manor was BATHED IN BLOOD!"

"Where is the Manor?" Blueblood stood up and started walking closer to the King, "Why did he kill them? Who did he kill? How is this related to Gaia and the Hearts?"

"Ah- Umm- Platinum Manor! That cursed place!" Aspen shook his head violently from side to side, almost threatening to poke the Pink Alicorn's eyes out, "HE HAS GAIA! I must save her!" Aspen cried loudly, his mood once again swinging all over the place, "I shall take you there, We can save her- save Gaia, Free her from his torture! PONY OF SHADOWS! WHAT WAS HIS NAME!?"

"Aspen calm down!" Cadance yelled, her horn glowing light blue as she cast a spell in an attempt to get the Deer to relax.

Only for him to fall asleep, snoring loudly as his body hits the grass.

"Darn it!" Cadance cursed before she turned to her cousin, "Did you manage to get anything useful out of that? I have no clue what he tried to say, his explanation didn't go anywhere,"

"Yes I did," Blueblood walked up to stand beside her, looking down on the sleeping King, "If we want to get answers that make any sort of sense, we'll find them in Platinum Manor,"

"Platinum Manor, where your ancestors lived before they all disappeared..." Cadance whispered, "Do you know where it is?"

"No clue, But he-" Blueblood pointed at the sleeping Deer, "Said he'd take us there, so he obviously knows. What I'll do is come back here once everything is ready, and then I'll finally get some answers,"

"Don't you mean We?" Cadance raised an eyebrow.

"...Let's discuss this later, For now, we need to start heading back to Canterlot, we still have a lot of work to do,"

"...Okay," Cadance shrugged and turned away, "But don't you try and leave me out of this, Gaia said something about my mother, so it's my mystery to solve now too."

"Fine."

And so After making sure the King was taken care of, The duo left a message with the young prince, notifying him that they'd be back sooner rather than later, and to let his father know of that. The two Ponies started making their way back to Canterlot.

Intent on compiling a list of all the information they already gathered.

"I wanted to ask this sooner, but then Aspen went on his weird tirade, but what is that Spider thing you're carrying?" Cadance pointed out once they left the gates of Thicket.

"That's just Comet, try to ignore her," Blueblood told her, ignoring the golden plant-spider that was lying on his back.

Author's Note

I think this chapter came out kind of bad, but I blame my sleep schedule for that. I've been sick for the past week and my sleep schedule is out of wack as a result.

So I apologize.

I'll be trying to get the Bonus Chapter to come out on the one-year anniversary of this Story release, so hopefully by April 27 I'll be able to write a coherent chapter.

This arc has kind of been a mess, and I blame my Writer's Block for most of it.

After the Bonus chapter, we'll be having some more mini-arcs based on Episodes in the show, and then we'll have the Season 2 Finale before I'll be taking a long Hiatus to work on other projects.

It is currently 9:50 and I feel like shit already, I'm already seeing double. I'll probably go to sleep soon. Good morning.

Edit: Many of you are confused, that's good. This arc wasn't meant to answer any of the Questions in regards to Cosmos or 'Uncle' or anyone, but instead push the gang in the right direction of where to find those answers while also raising many more.

Chapter 91: Alberich (Bonus)

You Still remember that day, Do you not?
When you understood the place that the world has given you.

You were young, weak, poor. And you asked why.

Why should you be content to silently view the world from the background, alone and silent? Why was it that you had to share with those children the coins that you worked for?

You hated that, didn't you? Having your hours of work be thrown to the side as someone else reaps the spoils of your work?

It was unfair.

Why was it unfair? Why was it that while you worked, they reaped the benefits?

"Happy Birthday Kiddo, I got you a present!" Each year, you smiled when the Agent came to give you a visit, hoping that he finally found someone willing to have you, willing to take you away from all the other children, to give you a stable roof to live under, away from these rats who did nothing but benefit from your work.

And each year, that smile grew dimmer and sadder, Nobody came to take you.

"Sorry Kiddo, But hey, Look here, I got you this," The Agent smiled jovially as he gave you an old hand-me-down of some handheld console, "I know this isn't really your style, Kids like you should be out there playing Basketball and all that, but I think this will give you a bit of entertainment you can't get out there,"

That Gameboy Advanced was the first thing you were ever gifted. It wasn't payment for work, but an actual Gift.

And it was yours.

"Hey Guys! Look what I Found in BLUEBLOOD's bag!" Marcus, one of the bigger kids in the Orphanage, smiled widely, showing off his dirty yellow teeth as he waved in his hands something that wasn't his.

"Woah, Is that Kirby? Isn't that a Girl's game?" One of the other children ran up to the bigger boy, laughing at the image on the screen of that Gameboy.

"Yeah! BLUEBLOOD plays with girl toys! BLUEBLOOD plays with girl toys! Haha!" They laughed to themselves, Their oily hands smearing and dirtying the console. Your console.

It wasn't theirs to touch.

"Give it back!" You yelled at them, but they laughed at your face. And why wouldn't they? They were taller than you, bigger than you.

Stronger than you.

"You want it back?" Marcus laughed, "Catch!" The fat boy yelled as he threw the console over your head, into the hands of another child.

"Hey!"

"Haha, Stupid BLUEBLOOD thought we'd give him his girl toy back," The other boy laughed as he threw the Console back to Marcus.

You ran after it, jumping to try and catch it, but Marcus was still taller than you.

He caught your console, holding it above his head with his one hand, and used the other to push you back.

"This isn't funny!" You cried, your little hands barely reaching over the boy's head as you struggled to get your gaming console, "It's mine, Give it back!"

"Nuh-uh, It's mine now! And you wanna know what I'm going to do with it?" Marcus smiled, his face never looked more punchable than it did in that moment, "I'm gonna' do this!"

You watched helplessly as he threw his arm down, the Console flying out of his hands and smashing into the ground, breaking apart as old and used plastic collided with the cold concrete floor.

That second-hand, hand-me-down, old Gameboy Advanced, lay shattered on the floor, the screen cracked beyond repair, buttons loose, and plastic ruined.

It was your first gift, It was yours, not his. And this Child, this Bastard, broke it.

How dare he? How dare this stupid, fat, insolent Idiot break your gift, your treasure.

"Hahaha- Hey Wait! Let me go! Hey-"

So you broke his nose.

You didn't stay in that orphanage long after that, they moved you to another one across the city.
Where you could hopefully start anew, get some friends, meet a family that would take you in.

But you didn't care. Why would you? Friends are useless, All they do is leech off your hard work, take what's yours for themselves, and reap from what you sow.

"No more," you promised yourself, No more will you be pushed around and taken advantage of. You'll become someone who'll never be pushed around, Someone who'll never have to bow to anybody else, to listen to the demands of those bigger or stronger than him.

You'll reach the top of humanity, the one-percent of the one-percent. The best of the Best.

Number One!

You don't need friends for that, they'll just drag you down. All you needed was knowledge and money, a lot of money.
Money that you didn't have.

So you got to work, You studied at school harder than any other student. Outside of school, you worked part-time jobs to raise more money.
Fast Food, Retail, Babysitting, You did it all. You couldn't be picky. Being Number One is a hard task, you'll need every advantage you can get.

And once you finished high school, you Immediately joined the Navy, becoming a dog of the government. A Good credit score, Free College education, and a fast pass to rising higher in society.

You might not end up as the President, but a four-star commissioned officer is fairly close. Perhaps you'll even do the impossible and become the first Five-Star Commissioned Officer in the Navy in over Sixty years.

It was a good job, and you were good at that job.

"BLUEBLOOD, I am Major Harold McConway, and I have a proposition that I think you'll like to hear." You were good enough, that the higher-ups decided that you'd be more useful somewhere else.

"I'm listening..."

And so you transferred from the Navy, joined a team of Marines, and began doing jobs the government wanted to do but couldn't publicly authorize.
How sneaky of you.

"From now on, as long as you are with us, These nicknames will be your new name, is that understood?!"

"Sir Yes Sir!" You shouted, trying to hold back the pride in your voice, as they stood beside the three other soldiers chosen to be part of your little group.

"The names you had before this moment, forget about them! They don't matter to us! They do not exist to us! Is that understood?!"

"Sir Yes Sir!"

The Major yelled, and you repeated those same three words, like a good dog barking at his owner's commands. It's almost pathetic to look at.

He passed by you all, giving you your Nickname, your new names for the foreseeable future.

"You know me as Major Harold McConway of the US Marine Corps. I want you idiots to forget that name right now! From now on you will be calling me Pelican!"

"Sir Yes Sir!"

Birds, How Original for a Black Operation Unit.

"Ensign BLUEBLOOD! Your new name will be Kingfisher!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

Oh Dearest Nephew, Looking at these Memories of yours, So cute.

You really fit your new Name.

Platinum.

I'll be looking forward to when we next meet, It is getting mighty boring here in Limbo. Bring some new memories for me to look at, Your mind is the most entertaining thing I've seen in Centuries.

I'll Be waiting.

Toodles~

Author's Note

BAM! First Bonus Chapter! :pinkiegasp:
This one is to celebrate 1,000 Likes on this story!

These two Bonus chapters are going to be our first real look into Blueblood before he became who he is.
He'll be different from the BB we're all used to seeing, and I'm so excited for it!

The next chapter will be out on the Anniversary of this story, so hopefully I'll have time to make it a longer bonus chap.

And since dear 'Uncle' is once again narrating for us, the Title must be Poetic as a result.
Does anybody listen to Richard Wagner's work?

This chapter was named, Alberich. :twistnerd:

Therefore Next Chapter: Hagen. :pinkiegasp:

How Poetic~ :moustache:

Hope you're looking forward to Human Blood, whose name was nicely censored as BLUEBLOOD because his name isn't important.

'Uncle' really likes narrating these Bonus chapters, it should be his full-time job at this rate. :pinkiesmile:

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 92: Hagen (Bonus)

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

From wiping out an international weapons smuggling group operating out of Brunei to Hunting down enemies of the state hiding undercover in Ghana.
Your time with the Major, With "Avian", took you all over the world.

And your last few missions were no exception.

"Dammit! We were so close to getting him this time! I almost fucking had him!" Barging into the Safe House you were currently using while in Chile, A Broad Shouldered man stomped up to the table in the middle of the kitchen and started emptying the bag in his hands.

"Albatross, Calm down," A black-haired man with greying hair told the loud man as he walked up to stand on the other side of the kitchen table.
His eyes roamed over the piles of photos and evidence thrown on the table depicting a bald man of South American descent.
"Now that we know Enrico is in the country, we'll be able to track him down much easier." The man turned to look at a younger man with a pair of glasses over his eyes, "Heron, Your job was to research the Australian Flagged Oil Tanker Billabong, How goes your side of things there?"

Heron walked up to the table and placed down a document showing the path the Oil Tanker would be going.

"The Billabong will be docking in San Antonio between the Eighth and the Twelfth of next month for a scheduled rotation of crew, At 10:30 it is scheduled to leave the docks and head north, keeping a steady distance of 35 miles from the shore until it leaves the Chilean EEZ and enters Peruvian Territory, where it will then turn west and starts the voyage to its destination of French Polynesia," Heron explained, his fingers moving the map of the Pacific Ocean as he went.
"According to the information we collected during our raid in Temuco, Enrico Dominguez and his men are planning on Hijacking the ship 200 Miles before it leaves Chilean territory,"

"Wait, Let me guess," Albatross piped up, still angry that Enrico managed to escape him, "He's planning on using the ship and crew as a bargaining chip from the Australian Government, get some sort of immunity or someshit,"

Heron shook his head at his hot-headed teammate's words, "Not at all If the Documents are to be believed, He's planning on blaming the hijacking on Argentina in order to fan tensions between Argentina and Chile,"

"The Son of a Bitch wants to start a war," Albatross chewed his cheeks as Heron nodded.

"He did write in his Manifesto his dream of taking back the 'Kingdom of Chile'," A new voice piped up into the conversation, causing Albatross to turn and look at the Dark Skinned man leaning near the entrance to the hallway, "He can't do that without annexing half of Argentina,"

"Oh, Macaw, You're back already," Albatross nodded his head to the man, "What did you two get?"

"You're asking me? Just check the fridge and cupboards, Kingfisher and I brought enough food for another week," Macaw told the group before he moved to join them around the table.
"So, what's the plan, Boss?"

The group turned to the oldest member of the group, Looking at him as he stared intently at the papers in front of him.
"I'll pass this info back to Top Brass, If we get the go-ahead, we might just finally get rid of this Son of a Bitch," Pelican said as he gathered up the relevant papers.
"Make sure to rest up, Once we get the go-to we'll be leaving Immediately, We need to reach Antofagasta before that Ship leaves San Antonio. Macaw, Pass this on to Kingfisher, Dismissed"

"Sir Yes Sir!"

You joined the Navy at 18, Got recruited to "Avian" at 22, And now at 25, You're on your way to stop a Terrorist from attempting to start a war between Chile and Argentina.

I must say, Dear Nephew, You have lived a very boring yet interesting life, A Mundane Past but an Exotic Present. And Seeing where you'll end up in the Future, Oh Dearest Nephew, You truly are a treat~

"We got the green light, Our equipment will be waiting for us in the Antofagasta Safe House, Pack your little things and meet me outside in thirty minutes, We're leaving!" Pelican clapped his hands multiple times in order to get everyone's attention before he left to ready the Car.
It was an unassuming black seven-seater, with enough room for all five men to fit in, and just enough extra for the bags.

Pelican grabbed the Driver's seat while Albatross took the Passenger's, Macaw took the back left while Heron took the back right, leaving you to sit at the very back, smooshed against the bags.

"Did you all follow Safe House clearance procedures?" Pelican asked as he started the engine.

"We've been doing this for years now, You know the answer," Macaw rolled his eyes as he leaned an elbow on the window of the car.

"I know, But I need audible confirmation," Pelican said, receiving another 'Sir Yes Sir' from the group.

And so started the long drive to reach Antofagasta.

Stepping out of the Motel room he had for the night, A red-shirted man of Surinamese descent took a cigarette pack out of his pocket and a match stick box from another as he the cigarette in his mouth and took a smoke.

"Are you still going to play that damn Gameboy all day, or are you going to sleep?" He asked as he turned to look at a younger man in his mid-twenties, leaning forward against the small metal fence between the pavement and the parking lot of the small out-of-the-way motel you stayed at.

He was looking at you.

"You know smoking is bad for you," You said, eyes still on the handheld gaming console in your hands, fingers rapidly tapping and moving as you watched the golden star move to your whims, "Also this isn't a Gameboy,"

"I don't care if it's a Gameboy or a PlayStation or whatever you use," Macaw rolled his eyes as he chewed at the cigarette in his mouth for a bit before exhaling another puff of smoke, "Also don't talk to me about smoking being bad, You also smoke this shit,"

"I only smoke after doing a good job or after sex, And at least I don't smoke those horrible cigars like Albatross, That shit has more than ten times the nicotine," You subtly shook your head as you saved the game on your Nintendo DS and turned the console off.

"Seeing as Enrico keeps slipping away, we hadn't had a good job in almost two months," Macaw said, eyes staring ahead of him as he too leaned on the fence, "And also, I doubt the nicotine content is the reason you don't smoke Cigars,"

"Luckily for us, I had sex with your sister last night, so everything's fine," You smirk and stretch your neck, "And Cigars take longer to smoke, I don't have the time to hold a tobacco stick in my hand all day, With Cigarettes I can finish them quickly and move on to something better,"

"...Sure," Macaw said as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it to the ground, stepping on it to make sure it was put out.

"..." The two of you stand there in an awkward silence, your mind wanting to bring up the elephant in the room that's been bothering you since Temuco, but you don't know what to say.

Luckily for you, Macaw spoke first, "Hey Kingfisher,"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're bad guys?" That question stumped you, enough to cause you turn to look at your teammate, to see him staring at you with a tired look in his eyes.

"Is this because of what happened to that ki-" He cut you off.

"She was a child, Kingfisher, She couldn't have been older than my niece," He scowls at the memory, turning away from staring at you as he looked to the street, watching the few cars still out at night passing by down the road.

"It wasn't your fault, You didn't know she was going to be there," You tried to explain calmly, not really knowing how to handle the situation.

You were never good at dealing with emotions, Nice to see some things stayed the same, Isn't that right Dear Nephew?

"It doesn't change the fact that she was there, And now her blood is on my hands," He scoffed as he took out another cigarette, "If we caught Enrico sooner, she wouldn't be-"

"Don't start with that bullshit," You scowl at Macaw, "It's always 'If only we were faster' or 'If only we had better info' Why don't you just go ahead and say 'if only we were G.I- fucking -.Joe' and be done with it. We can only work with what we have, and what we have is the best we can get,"

"So what would you have done?" He raised his voice as he turned to look at you, "You always stand there to the side acting as if you don't care about these things! Like this is all just some job to you-"

"It is a Job! Of course it's a job. What? Do you want me to start crying every time a civilian gets caught in the crossfire? You know how many people died in Brunei before we got rid of those fucks?! You want me to start bawling my eyes out for every little kid that's starving to death in Africa while I'm at it?!" You raise your voice to match his, His words starting to annoy you.

"You suck at this, you know that?" Macaw spits out his second cigarette, "Three years and this is still just a job for you? Just Business as usual?"

"Of course it's business, Pelican specifically told us all that we are in this shit because we're the fucking best people available for this, We're the fucking aces of this league! Heron is the Computer guy, Albatross is the Bomb guy, You're the knife guy and I'm the Gun guy, That's how this shit works! Do you think we were picked for this because we want to do good in the world? Because the government gives a shit about the well-being of some Bruneian children? Of course not! We're picked for this because they wanted a team to get the job done, and we got the job done."

Macaw stares at you for a while before scowling and entering his room, Leaving you outside with the smell of used cigarettes on the side of a cheap Chilean motel.

The Raid in Temuco was an operation where the American Black Ops team Avian attempted to capture Chilean Ultranationalist and international terrorist Enrico Dominguez.

The Raid was conducted on the outskirts of the City of Temuco, At a compound where the team had credible information that Enrico had been staying and conducting his work from.

Like many of the group's past missions, it was an Extermination. Nobody was to know they were there, and no witnesses were allowed to remain.

The first ten minutes of the raid were quiet, Consisting of Heron neutralizing the compound's security devices so the rest of the group could get in position.

Albatross entered through the Garage of the compound, placing explosives on the underside of the vehicles so that should Enrico somehow manage to escape by car, he'd get blown up.

Pelican was keeping in contact with Heron the whole time, receiving constant updates from the hacked security cameras, making sure Macaw and Kingfisher could get into position.

Kingfisher took the roof of a shed near the back fence, High enough to get a good shot should anybody pass by the windows on the east side of the Compound.

Macaw was preparing with Albatross in the Garage, where the two would have proceeded to split south and west once the bombs had been planted.

And then someone entered the Garage, and things went to shit.

"Hey, You're not supposed to-" Before the man could finish, A Bullet entered his head. Macaw rushed forward to try and stop the body from crashing onto the ground, but it was useless, as another man came from around the corner at the end of the hallway, seeing the open door to the garage and at the dead terrorist on the floor, He quickly shot two shots into the air, waking everybody up, before getting shot in the head himself.

As they say, No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

"Get in there and Kill these fucks!" Pelican yelled over the radio, "Remember, We are here to Kill, Not Capture," Same as always.

If everything goes well, Enrico Dominguez wouldn't live to see tomorrow, let alone his dream of a new Kingdom of Chile.

With the new change of plans, Albatross and Macaw split and went down their separate hallways.

With a Combat Shotgun in hand, Albatross made his way down the south corridor, Shooting at anything that wasn't wearing Avian's uniform, Fragmentation grenades were thrown into rooms before he burst in and shot everyone still standing after the explosion.

You looked through the scope of your rifle, trained at the windows on the east side of the Compound, lying prone on your stomach so nobody would see you before you gave the trigger a single click and shot a man who was standing near a window on the second floor.

You don't miss.

Macaw ran down west the corridor, knife in his left hand and pistol in his right, Each time someone tried to exit one of the doors to shoot at him, they would find themselves with a slash across a vital artery or a bullet in a vital organ.

Twenty Minutes, Twenty minutes of adrenaline, gunfire, knives and grenades. And you were stuck on a roof a distance away from all the action.

Another tap of the trigger, another body hits the floor.

Unfortunately, Terrorists aren't known to be the smartest people in the world, especially not ones following a Monarchist.

Perhaps one of them thought it was a bring your daughter to work day, Perhaps Enrico had his family staying in the compound with him, Perhaps this or perhaps that.
But whatever the case was, After you got confirmation that everybody was dead, you entered the Compound yourself, joined by Heron, as the two of you started looking for Enrico's body, Or in this case, Documents Detailing where the son of a bitch was going to be.

While Heron found the documents, and a still functional computer that Enrico left behind, You instead found Macaw sitting on the floor, gloves stained a deep red as he tried in vain to stop a child from bleeding out in his arms.

She was a small thing, Maybe eight or nine years old, with dark brown hair that would have probably reached the middle of her back and a face whose smile would have lit up the room with cheer.

But it was too late. Macaw was trying to save a corpse.

You knew what you would see when you joined Avian, This wasn't the first time children were caught in the crossfire.

But they were always outside, A Terrorist running one over in Kenya, A Bullet flying out of a window during a chase and hitting a passerby.
Never before was the child in the middle of the fighting. Perhaps that's why it hurt Macaw so much.

There was nothing you could have said that would have helped him. And even if you did, You didn't know the words to say.

But it was time to move on, You both had a job to do.

After cleaning the Safe House in Antofagasta, Your group sat around the kitchen table for another debriefing.

"The Billabong, as we already learned, will be passing by 35 miles offshore from here in three days time, If Enrico wishes to hijack the Oil Tanker, he'll either leave from here in Antofagasta or wait for the ship to pass Tocopilla. What we'll be doing instead is trail the ship from afar, Our good friends in the Top Brass finally listened to my request and brought us what I asked for, Down in the docks here we have ourselves an SH-60 Seahawk my name on it.
Tomorrow one of our contacts here will bring the supplies I ordered to a secure drop point, where Albatross and I will go and pick them up.
Heron, You will be busy keeping an eye on the Billabong, If Enrico decides to take the ship before we expect, I want to know in advance.
Kingfisher and Macaw, the two of you will be going over our guns, I want you two to triple-check, quadruple-check, make sure everything's working like a charm, I don't want our guns to jam in the middle of a firefight," Pelican told you all before he tapped the map on the table between you all.

"The Moment Enrico boards the ship Is when we leave. Macaw, Kingfisher, the two of you are on cleaning duty, The moment we pass above the ship the two of you will be dropped on it, Your job is to find Enrico and make sure he and his men are all dead.
The Moment you start your work, Heron and Albatross will start placing the bombs. The two of you will be dropped into the water on either side of the ship, where you'll be placing remote-controlled plastic explosives at these locations across the hull of the tanker," Pelican pointed at several points on the Blueprint of the ship.

"After ten minutes I'll drop the line to drag the two of you out of the water and back to the chopper, where we'll then land on the Tanker and pick up the other two before leaving, Once we're on our way out, We'll detonate the explosives and sink the ship. By the time the Chilean government drags the boat up and finds Enrico and his men, We'll be long gone.
Any questions?"

"What about the Crew?" Macaw asked as he crossed his arms.

"You know the answer to that already, We can't have witnesses." Pelican looked Macaw in the eyes, "This is an Extermination, We're killing everyone on board and then sinking the ship, No Survivors."

Macaw sighed and looked down.

"It's a Tragedy, I know, But that's what we do," Pelican said before he looked his team in the eye, "As far as the world is concerned, America had nothing to do with the sinking of the Billabong. We were never in Chile, You all know that already,"

"Sir yes sir..." Macaw said halfheartedly with a roll of his eyes.

Pelican gave his team another look before he shook his head, "Get some rest, all of you, the next few days will be busy. By next week, we'll be back out of here, and Dominguez will be a forgotten memory. Dismissed."

You gave your gun another check as you and the rest of Avian waited for the confirmation from Heron, Leaning against a shipping container in a quiet corner of the Antofagasta docks, the Seahawk ready to fly at a moment's notice.

"We have a Green-light, Enrico and his men have boarded the ship, I have visual on the Transport Heli, Twelve men, Enrico among them, He's there," Heron spoke up from in front of the portable computer he used to control the drones that have been keeping watch on the Ship for the past day and a half.

And it seems that confirmation came.

"All of you get in the chopper, We're moving!"

Time to take down Enrico Dominguez once and for all.

You aimed down the scope of the rifle in your hand, Eyes trained on the lone man standing at the helm of the ship. The Vibrations of the Helicopter made your hands shake as you struggled to aim, but nonetheless, you pulled the trigger.

One man down.
Eleven more to go.

The coast was now clear, The Helicopter quickly lowered close enough to the deck of the ship to drop you and Macaw off, and then it went on to drop Heron and Albatross in their respective positions before Pelican took back to the skies in order to keep in touch from afar.

As soon as your feet touched the metal deck of the ship you burst into movement, Rifle in your arms, and quickly made your way to the doors leading into the ship itself, Macaw already entering the ship thanks to his lighter carry weight.

As you entered you immediately spotted two more men on the ground, One was a crew member of the ship, and the other was one of Enrico's Men.

Two men down.
Ten more to go.

You held you rifle at the ready, your blood pumping as you moved down the corridor on your way to the staircase leading up to the bridge.

You hear footsteps coming from the right as you get on your knees and aim, Soon opening fire as one of the doors in front of you opens up to reveal one of Enrico's men, hand on his neck as he tries to stop his bleeding.

Seems like Macaw missed one.

Three men down.
Nine more to go.

You step over the body and make your way to the staircase, steadily making your way towards the bridge of the ship.

On the second floor, you open the first door you come across, and seeing that it was just an empty bedroom you move on.
Second door, Dead Crew mate on the floor.
Third door, "Hey! I'm not with them! You gotta help me! I don't want to-!" BANG
Fourth door, A Terrorist looks up at you to be met with a bullet between the eyes.

Four men down.
Eight more to go.

Fifth door, Another Dead Crewmate and Terrorist.

Five men down.
Seven more to go.

You turn back to the staircase, heading up another floor.

You quickly raise your gun as you see someone running out of the first door, Only to relax once a bullet knocks them to the ground and another one kills them, Macaw walks out of the door the Crew member came from just a moment later.

"I'll head upstairs, you clear up the rest of the floor," He quickly told you before he moved passed you and went up the stairs to clear out the fourth floor.

You enter the room Macaw came from and see two more terrorists on the floor.

Seven men down.
Five more to go.

You open the next room only to immediately leap to the side as you see a gun pointing at you, Shots are fired behind you a moment later.
If you were even a second slower or the gunman was half a second quicker, you would have died.

You respond by quickly taking out your sidearm and pinging a shot off the side of the doorframe.
"FUCK!" You hear him scream as the bullet ricochets and hits him in the arm before you slide down in front of him, two shots leaving your pistol, hitting him in the chest.
He goes down.

Eight men down.
Four more to go.

You catch your breath, feeling your heart beating like a drum as you stand back up and holster your pistol back in its place as you once more grab your rifle.

You make your way to the other rooms, Two of them empty, before you approach the last one and-

BANG

A bullet leaves the rifle in your hands as soon as you see the man leave the door, his eyes wide in fear as his bald head seems to sparkle with the sheen of sweat over it.
"EEEEK!" The man squeals as he stumbles backward, Holding the bullet wound in his shoulder as he drops the pistol that was in his hand.

You recognized the man, Enrico Dominguez, The one Avian was tasked with hunting down.

"DON'T SH-" BANG
You don't let him get more than a single word out.
Nobody would care what his last words were going to be, Be they a speech about how he was right, or the petty cries of a madman begging to live.
It didn't matter.

You were a hunter, Your job was to make sure people like him were dead.
And you were good at your job.

Nine men down.
Three more to go.

You take out your radio and call in Pelican, telling him about Enrico.

"Great work, Macaw just called in that he finished clearing the last floor, I'm picking up Heron and Albatross, Get over here ASAP," He told you before you started hearing the rotor blades of the Seahawk as it headed closer to the ship.

And so with a tired smile on your face, you made your way down to the deck of the ship, ready to finally get this mission over with and leave Chile.

"Kingfisher, I'll be landing down to pick you up in a minute, But Macaw isn't answering his Radio! Go check on him!" You stop and frown as Pelican gives you a new set of orders.

You fiddle with your own radio, trying to get in contact with Macaw yourself, scowling as all it picks up is the static sound of a Radio turned off.

You quickly make your way back up the stairs of the ship, Reaching the fourth floor and checking through the rooms, seeing more dead crew members, and the last three terrorists, all lying in a pool of their own blood.

Twelve men down.
No more to go.

You scowl as you start making your way to the stairs, only to take out your radio as you get another call.

"Kingfisher! I don't know what he's trying to do up there, but Macaw is handling something in the bridge, I need you to put a stop to whatever he's doing and try and bring him to the Seahawk! We need to start our extraction out of here, By any means necessary!"

Any means necessary.
Oh Dearest Nephew, how you love that phrase.
Any means necessary.

"Hello! This is David Jefferson! I am on the Oil Tanker Billabong and I require immediate evac!" Macaw yelled into the microphone on the bridge of the Ship, trying to get his message out.

"I repeat! My name is David Jefferson! I need an evacuation from the Oil Tanker Billabong-" BANG.

Macaw took a slow step away from the microphone, no longer working thanks to the hole in the machinery beside it, and turned to look at the door leading into the bridge of the Oil Tanker Billabong.
And at the gunman standing there.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" You asked, Rifle in hand, as you scowled at Macaw.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Macaw answers with a question, "I'm getting my freedom,"

"The fuck are you talking about?" You glared at the man, Not understanding what he was trying to say.

"Please, Don't act coy. I know that under that mask of annoying Sarcasm, you have a keen mind, You're not stupid." Macaw scowled back at you from across the floor, "We're slaves here, Forced to kill for some nameless government official that we aren't even sure exists!"

It takes you barely a moment before you piece together what he's trying to get at, "This is about Temuco, isn't it?"

"Of course it's about Temuco damn it!" Macaw yelled, fist-banging on the chair beside him, "A Child died in my arms! All because we had to be the ones to catch Enrico! Where the fuck is the Chilean government?! Argentina?! Why are we the ones doing this shit! Killing children in foreign countries because some secret Top Brass told us to do so!" He points a finger at you, his face scowling heavily as he yells, "We're America! The land of the free! We're not supposed to be slaves to the government! Killers with a payroll!"

"Oh shut the fuck up!" You yell at him, "You can complain about all this shit later, We need to leave this ship!"

"I'm not leaving this ship!" Macaw yelled at you in return.

"Are you stupid?! Don't be stupid! Bring up all these complaints to Pelican later, This isn't the place! We are leaving this ship, Now." You turn away from him and start heading downstairs, waiting for him to follow you, to get over his childish tantrum so you could all just blow the ship up and leave.

But he wasn't following you.

You head back up the stairs to see him glaring at the windows overlooking the deck of the ship.
"We need to go, Macaw-"

"David," He interrupts you, "My name is David Jefferson, I've been with the Army for six years before Avian, I'm not going to go by the name of some stupid bird, My ancestors didn't fight for their freedom just so I would be chained once more,"

"..." You see his hand inch toward the gun on his side, and you start to pray he doesn't go for it.

"America is supposed to be the land of the free..." He takes a long sigh before he turns to look at you, "How did you say it goes? Pelican is the leader, Heron is the computer guy, Albatross is the bomb guy, You're the gun guy, and I'm the knife guy? That's one way to describe us, If a bit childish. I guess it fits with you always on that stupid Gameboy of yours," You silently curse yourself for what you're about to do as Macaw weakly shakes his head.

"As an American, I am free to choose my path in life, Because unlike you, Kingfisher, I'm no longer a Slave," Macaw, No, David, told you, a sad smile on his face.

Before he took out his knife and rushed at- BANG

He stumbled, the front of his uniform starting to stain red from the small hole in his stomach.

BANG BANG

He fell to his knees, Coughing as a trail of blood left his lips, that sad smile never leaving his lips.

You breathe deeply as you feel your hands start to shake.

BANG

The bullet flies past his head and lodges itself in the panels of the ship behind him.

You missed.

BANG BANG BANG

"What's the problem, Kingfisher?" David smiled, blood leaking from his mouth as he slowly raised his knife, "Did something get caught in your eye-" He coughed some blood, his arms shaking heavily as his head started to slowly droop down, "All those video games are bad for your eyesight, ya' know, Hehe," He coughed again.

BANG

You missed again, NO.

It wasn't that you missed.
You don't miss.
You simply didn't aim at him.

You empty your magazine into the room, none of the remaining bullets hitting David, as he simply smiles sadly at you, Three holes in his body staining his uniform a dark crimson while a line of blood pours out of his mouth, you tap the trigger but no bullets leave the pistol.

"...You're a Slave, you know that?" He told you, Pity in his eyes, "And I'm free~"
And before you could reload your pistol or switch back to your rifle, his knife moves across his own neck.

And you watch in dumbfounded silence as he mouths the word "Slave," At you, before he collapses down to the floor, face down in a puddle of his own blood.

David Jefferson, Macaw of Avian, was Dead.

"Are you sure about this, BLUEBLOOD? Once you sign this paper there's no going back," Sitting inside an office in Washington DC, Major Harold McConway stared at the young man sitting in front of him.

"I'm sure," You smiled sadly at the man who went by the name Pelican, the man who was your direct superior for the past three years, "There's this Nautical Science school down in Florida where I've decided I want to learn, I need some time away from the military as well, I think it'll be good for me,"

"...Very well," Harold smiled as he signed a few spots on a paper in front of him before standing up. You stand up as well.

"Ensign BLUEBLOOD, Under the circumstances we have found ourselves in, I am honored to be the one to formally dismiss you after seven years of serving in your country's navy," He winks at you, the two of you knowing that the past three years never existed.

He leans over the table and places a badge on your breast, His hand moving to salute you.

"Thank you for your service, Lieutenant BLUEBLOOD," You smile widely at the man, Saluting him in return.

"Thank you, Sir!"

The next three years of your life are a return to the mundane.
As said, you went to get your education in Florida, Your time in Avian made you more than enough money to pay for your entire education and then some, even without the government bonus of being Military.
Your free time was spent playing all the new video games you could now afford to buy, the ones you couldn't do so previously with all the work you had to do.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were on your way to having a happy and bright future, Karma finally on your side after years of hard and dirty work.

How Poetic.

But we all know that's not how the story went, Dearest Nephew.

And perhaps that is a good thing.

After all, If you never slipped through reality into the body you currently own, my time here in Limbo would have been such a bore.

Oh, Dearest Nephew.

You Truly are a Platinum.

Author's Note

Happy One Year Anniversary!!!

This chapter was so much fun to write! This is the longest chapter in this entire story so far, being the first one to break 4,400 words, seeing as this chapter has OVER 5,600 WORDS!!!

I had so much fun writing the characters here, Seeing as I basically had to create what were essentially Call of Duty missions, with The Temuco Raid and the Billabong Oil Tanker extermination. Give the characters distinct personalities that would differentiate them while still being professional soldiers.

From the Hot-Headed Albatross to the cool and collected Heron, From the sarcastic yet professional Kingfisher/BLUEBLOOD to the serious and responsible Major Harold McConway/Pelican.
To even the idealistic and emotional David Jefferson/Macaw, all of these characters were unique, and could easily be found in the next Call of Duty: Black Ops campaign.

Hopefully, you guys can see how these two missions changed Blueblood as a person, from what he was shown as in Alberich to how he is in the story itself.
From a Dick, to... Well, he's still a Dick a lot of the time, but much less than before.

3 years in College really mellowed him out, and then Equestria just turned his Dickishness from an 11 down to a 7. He's still a dick But of the lovable sort.

I'll probably be taking another short Hiatus before I work on the next chapters, leading to the Canterlot Wedding Arc.

I Finished writing this entire chapter only a day after releasing Alberich, It's currently April 19th, And I need to wait till the 27th before I release this.

Thank you all for a wonderful 365 days of support, You're all wonderful.
From supporting this story by liking it, To trying to support me during 10/7 when that shit was going on by commenting nice messages, you're all wonderful. Some of the best readers and author can ask for.

And so I hope I'm not too selfish by asking that You'll stay with me for another 365 days. You're all the best!

From Blue Armada who always comments nice things, To Slamp5000 who I need to translate with google in order to read how excited he is about this story, to Tsaukpaetra who's been commenting support almost every chapter, to Chrome Masquerade whose comments are paragraphs of things he liked about the chapter, to Mister-H whose been with us since the very start, to Black-Soul who while only started reading recently, has been commenting on every chapter, to Poparakelis who I'm pretty sure is only reading this story for the Warm fluff scenes between the characters, To Pinklestia who... I don't really have something for them, But it's great that they're here too!

And everybody else that I didn't mention as well! And everybody who reads even without commenting! All of you! Each and every single one of you! You rock!

And to those of you knowledgeable in High German Epic Poems from the 1,200s, You might recognize the meaning in the names of this chapter and the last, Alberich and Hagen, and the connection they share.
And if you don't, I'll just say that the Pony Of Shadows picked them, "How Poetic" and all that. Privileges of being the Narrator in these bonus chaps.

I've been Netap, or Netapel as I go by in most of my other Writing websites, and I thank you all for being so great.

Hope you enjoyed ;)

Here are the characters for this COD Campaign.

Ensign BLUEBLOOD/Kingfisher, 25 years old, Was in the US Navy before joining Avian, was promoted to Lieutenant before his official dismissal from the military.

Major Harold McConway/Pelican, 46 years old, Was part of the US Marine corps before being chosen by the mysterious "Top Brass" as the leader of Avian.

Lieutenant David Jefferson/Macaw, 29 years old, Was part of the US Army before joining Avian. Wants to do good in the world, and is willing to sacrifice everything, Including the mission, if he thinks it's the right thing to do.

Lieutenant Brian Smith/Albatross, 39 years old, Was part of the US Coast Guard before joining Avian, Has previously done 2 tours in Afghanistan. Is proud to be "The Best Fucking Demolitionist from Thornton, Colorado!" Whether that boast is true remains to be seen.

First Lieutenant Alex Tsao/Heron, 34 years old, Was a drone operator for the US Air Force, Is planned to go through a course that would make him an eligible replacement for Pelican when he inevitably retires from active duty.

And Enrico Dominguez as the Villain of this campaign, A Slippery Chilean Terrorist whose wanted by the UN for an attack where he orchestrated a series of bombings across Argentina and Bolivia, Leaving 241 Dead and thousands more injured. Believes Chile should "Retake its place as the most glorious country in America," by annexing the territories it lost in the Spanish Reconquest of the General Captaincy of Chile/Kingdom of Chile.

Enrico Is sidelined at the end of the campaign in order to make room for the standard Macaw Boss Fight. However, if you beat Mission 13: The Temuco Raid, without killing the child (Which requires the Player, then playing as Macaw, to beat the Level without wasting any ammo, Which means Melee and Environmental kills only) You'll unlock a secret ending in which Enrico takes his place as the final boss of the campaign, Leading to the divergent Mission 15B: Oil Tanker Billabong, Where Kingfisher and Macaw need to race up the oil tanker against strengthened enemies.

Beating the game with Mission 15B instead of the regular Mission 15, will unlock a special cutscene where the members of Avian can be seen drinking and having a laugh at the bar, Albatross tries to hook Kingfisher up with his Niece, Heron is flirting with the waitress, Macaw is cheering at the Football (American Football(Rugby for cowards), not Soccer(The Real Football)) game on the TV, And Pelican is smiling warmly at the team, only to get serious when a voice calls out to him. The Scene ends on a shot of a Manila folder with the words "TOP SECRET" being stamped on, opening up to show the corners of a photo of what seems like security footage.
Hinting at the next game, Likely meaning that Mission 15B is the true ending of the game.

Thanks for reading my Soap x Ghost smut fanfiction or whatever :pinkiesmile:
I don't know. I didn't play Call of Duty: Shoot a Man lol.

Last Chapter showed us WHY Blueblood has the goals he has.

This Chapter was to show WHY he acts the way he does.

Why he cares about Freedom so much, Why he doesn't argue with Celestia despite disagreeing with many of her choices, and even How he acted during the Changeling Assassination attempt on the train.
A Cold Blooded Professional. Exterminating Bugs.
A Killer on a payroll.

Goals and Actions, Two sides of the same coin, Yet still vastly different. Just like Alberich and Hagen, Similar, yet different. Same Goal, Different Actions. A Bit like Blueblood and 'Uncle'

They both have similar goals. Ruling the World (According to a known Liar) and Being Number 1. But the way they go about to reach those similar goals could not be farther from each other.
Shadows and Light, Similar Opposites, That's what Blueblood and The Pony of Shadows are.

They really are Platinum.

See you after the Hiatus, Happy Passover :)

April 24th Edit: Did some minor tweaking to the chapter, added some new Dialogue between Macaw and Kingfisher in the Motel scene.

Edit: April 25th.
Holy Shit things are getting insane in regards to the war. University protests in the west are publicly calling to burn down Tel Aviv, Then an Israeli Professor gets barred from entering Campus, then Hamas, those cunts, release a video of one of the hostages that they kidnapped and tortured, and somehow idiots still support them.
Not to mention Iran shooting 300 drones and missiles at me, Hezbollah heating up their side of the attacks, Things are really getting heated up.
Luckily they're incompetent idiots and couldn't kill anyone.

Thank you all for all the support every one of you showed me during these tough times. I know we'll all get through this. ☮

Peace and Love to everyone :heart: Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱

April 26th, Another Edit: Last Year in mid July I started working on a Borderlands story, I uploaded one chapter, Started working on a second chapter, and then I stopped in the middle and left it alone for months.
This month I returned to that story, Finished that second chapter, and started replaying the Borderlands games in order to make sure I get the characters right. I'm thinking of Writing much more of that story during my Hiatus, so If you want to check it out, Go to either my Wattpad, Fanfiction, or Webnovel pages, Username: Netapel. And read Borderlands: A Backwater Universe.

I also have a Pokemon Slice-of-Life story that takes place 7 years prior to S/V with Generic Pokemon Title.

A Highschool DxD supernatural action/comedy following an OC Insert into a Side Character with Side Character DxD.

And also a RWBY story following another small Side Character with Cardinal Red Winner.

As you can see, I enjoy taking little used characters and making them important, Examples being: Blueblood, Zephyr Breeze, Moon Dancer, The Storm King, and even Angel Bunny in my discontinued MLP/Pokemon fic.

Oh, There's also a Plants vs Zombies Crackfic that is Comedy all the way with very minor serious moments, check out Plants VS Zombies: What's Going On?

Support me outside of FimFiction, Once Again, Thank you for reading.

Edit, April 27th: :heart: :heart: :heart: :pinkiesmile: Thank you for 1 full year of reading this work :pinkiehappy: :heart: :heart: :heart:

Another Edit: Just this Author's Note is longer than several of the chapters in this story, excluding this paragraph, this AN has over 1,640 words. That's because I have so many thing to thank you all for :heart:

Final Edit: :)

Chapter 93: The One About Side Characters

"You know, I never thought I'd miss being on a boat, but here we are. Who would have guessed?"

Trixie Lulamoon, The Great and Powerful employee of the Blueblood Foundation, groaned tiredly as she rested her head on the railing of the huge metal behemoth that her boss called a ship.

This thing could fit her caravan fifty times over!

"I mean, We first came here because we needed money or a job or something, but now that we actually have it, this just feels right, you know?" Trixie rolled her eyes as her friend kept talking.

"Zephyr, If you say the words 'You Know' one more time today, I'll be throwing you overboard," Trixie told her friend, the tall Pegasus simply laughing at her threat with a shake of his head, treating it as a joke.

"Don't threaten me with a good time," Zephyr Breeze, assistant engineer for the BBF's first active ship, His Royal Highness's Andromeda, or the HRH Andromeda for short, winked at Trixie before giving her a weak push with his wings.

"Ugh, Don't you have work to do?" Trixie turned to look at him, a weak scowl on her face as she watched the other workers behind him work on making sure the containers were held down to the deck.

"Time Turner can call for me if there's a problem, or more accurately Torque will, She's all dour and such, really snappy, no jokes with her," Zephyr Breeze let out a breath before he shook his head and gave Trixie another push, "Let's go introduce you to her, You girls need to stick together! Come on Trix!"
And before Trixie could come up with an excuse to be left to her great and powerful lonesome, Zephyr Breeze grabbed her leg and dragged her into the ship.

Ready to introduce her to one Torque Wrench.

In the City of Canterlot, A Unicorn was smiling at his daughter as she hugged his legs before work.

"Daddy! I want a Prince for my Birthday!" The young mule smiled up at her father, who chuckled at her words.

"Tabitha, You know I can't give you a prince for your birthday," The Usually serious Unicorn said gently as he hugged his young daughter, "Why not ask for a bicycle?"

"I got a Bicycle from Auntie Zapp! I don't want a new bicycle, I want to be a Princess! To be a Princess I need to have a Prince at my birthday party!" Tabitha shouted happily at her father, the source of his building Tinnitus not controlling her volume as the Paper White Unicorn that was her father rubbed her head and smiled.

"I'll see what I can do," He gave her a kiss on the forehead before waving her goodbye as he exited the house with a smile on his face, ready to go to work.

The moment he was out of sight from his house, the joyful smile on his face was instantly replaced with a resolute glare, His daughter wanted a Prince at her Birthday Party, so she would be getting a prince for her birthday.

Luckily for Chancellor Neighsay, He knew a prince who likely wouldn't mind making a surprise visit at a child's birthday party.

Spike the Dragon was having a relaxing day of cleaning the floor of the Library.

As the young Dragon climbed the ladder to place some books in their place, the door to the Golden Oaks Library burst open.

"Hey, Twilight! Did you read the new Daring Do novel?!" Rainbow Dash, The Element of Loyalty, shouted loudly, causing the young dragon to drop the books he was carrying and fall onto his tail.

"Oww..." Spike said while rubbing his tail as he stood up, "Sorry Rainbow Dash, Twilight's over at Fluttershy's to give Owlowiscious a checkup," He told her before he got back to cleaning the library.

"Then I'll just have to go there! Thanks, Spike!" Rainbow Dash said loudly before flying out of the door, a cloud of dust marking her exit.

Spike stared at the newly formed cloud of dust before sighing to himself as he went to grab the feather duster.

Deep in the jungles south of Equestria, A Filly was wrapped in ropes, hanging over a pool of Lava on top of a volcano.

Surrounding the filly were many ponies wearing tribalistic clothing and covered in tattoos, waving staves of wood and feathers.

"Oh Great Huitzilopochtli! Our great Sun of the South! We offer you this sacrifice for the Hummingbird of Fire! Let your Glory be known to-" An Old Stallion wearing extravagant golden feathered robes was interrupted by the filly opening her mouth.

"Boooring!" Cozy Glow rolled her eyes from her place tied above the mouth of the volcano, "Do you do this speech every time you want to sacrifice someone? Don't they die of boredom before they even touch the lava? Your Deity must be so disappointed in you, Did you ever think of that?"

"Ahem, Let your glory be known to-" The Old stallion tried to go back to his speech.

"No, Seriously, Did you never think that maybe instead of Pony Sacrifices, your Hummingbird guy wanted, I don't know what Hummingbirds eat, Cookies? Maybe Cakes? Something that isn't volcano-fried Pegasus?" Cozy Glow once again interrupted the tribal elder, a cheeky smirk on her face as she watched the old stallion start to fume at her interruptions.

"..." The Elder took a deep breath, "Let your glory be-"

"Come on! Get to the point already! I'm falling asleep over here!" Cozy Glow's face split with a smile as she watched the Elder fall for her jeering and angrily throw his staff into the Volcano.

"Enough! Just cut the rope and drop her! Grand Huitzilopochtli will understand!" He yelled angrily, one of his ponies taking out an obsidian blade and cutting the rope that held Cozy Glow over the volcano, dropping her into the Lava.

Or at least, she would have dropped into the lave if she hadn't squirmed out of the ropes, Now flying over the maw of the active volcano, too far for the Tribesponies to capture her.

"Hah! Told you you should have thrown me in sooner!" Cozy Glow laughed at the dumbfounded faces on the Tribesponies who stared at her flying to safety on the other side of the Volcano.

"Ahhhg! After her!" The Elder yelled as he pointed his hoof at the filly, His Tribesponies roaring and waving their staves and swords as they started running after the escaped sacrifice.

"Oh, Gotta' get out of here!" Cozy laughed as her tiny wings flapped quickly, taking her away from the Jungle Ponies, A smirk on her face as she felt the ruby circlet still hidden under the bow in her hair.

"Hohoho, Gilda is going to be so jealous! Haha!"

Raven Inkwell was having a relaxing and calm day, nothing crazy was happening in the castle that would cause the mare to lose sleep.

"Blueblood?" At least, nothing should have been causing her to lose sleep, but she could already feel the headache heading in her direction.

"Yes, Raven?" Her Boss-with-benefits smirked at her, acting as if everything was normal.

"What are you doing?" Raven pointed the clipboard she was holding at the Prince, and at the Golden Spider-looking creature that he held by the tail, slinging back and forth as if it was a paddle ball toy.

"I'm playing with Comet," He told her, still slinging the creature around as if it was a ball with a string.
A Large, Golden, Spider-looking, Ball with a string.

"Oh, Carry on then," Raven wasn't ready to deal with the headache, and if the clicking sounds coming from 'Comet' were anything to go by, the creature was enjoying it.

Perhaps Raven should try some of that Birch Sap Wine that Blueblood brought Starlight when he and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza came back from wherever they went last week.

Raven could use a drink.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm a Genius! Both Brains and Beauty! HAHAHA!!! With this plan, All Equestria will be mine!" Far to the south, beyond the borders of Equestria, inside an old castle of black stone and Gothic architecture, A Queen Laughed to herself.

"And then, PRINCE BLUEBLOOD WILL BE MINE!!! HAHAHA!!!! We'll go on lovely walks on the beach, snuggle on the couch, kill Celestia, call each other by cute pet names, have a honeymoon in Prance, Brutalize Celestia, drink milkshakes with two straws in the same cup, have a romantic waltz under the night sky, Murder Celestia, oh it's going to be perfect!"

Chrysalis already has a plan.

Deep in the Magical Prison of Tartarus, A Centaur smiled in his cage.

The Cogs of Fate have once again turned, His Destiny was approaching quickly.

"Just over a year away," Lord Tirek whispered as he bit his finger, drawing blood.

"And then, Oh Aspect of War, False Prince, Pony of Light, Child of Gold, Prince of Stars, You shall play your role in the grand orchestra of Fate," His finger deftly moved on the ceiling of his cell, drawing symbols that have been etched into his mind, like an artist, his finger moved smoothly and without falter.

"But first we must speak, There is so much you have yet been told," The Red Centaur cackled weakly to himself as he looked at the arcane sigil he painted on the ceiling of his cage using his own blood.

He took a deep breath before his right arm moved like a bullet, and his fist banged on the sigil he drew.
Red, Black, and Yellow magic exploded out of the sigil, the cage of reinforced steel blowing open as he the weakened Centaur lord stepped out of his cell.

He could already hear the Dog bark in the distance, Running to call for a member of the Crown to come fix the problem.

The Cogs of Fate have started turning, Now he'll wait for Destiny to arrive.

"Human in the skin of a Pony, What a fascinating Destiny awaits you,"

Author's Note

This Chapter was quick, short, kind of cute, and also setting up for the next Arc.

With the HRH Andromeda running, that means construction of the Yak-Pony railroad is only weeks away from starting. Good for Rutherford. He's cool.

I like him :pinkiesmile:

Cozy Glow got caught up in a Daring Do Adventure, featuring an Indiana Jones-style Aztec sacrifice.
"What would Nathan Drake do?" Gilda, Probably.

This chapter takes place during the episode "Putting Your Hoof Down", which means that the Next chapter is the start of the all-important "It's About Time" Arc.

Hope you'll look forward to it :)

Also, Chancellor Neighsay is a father, good for him :pinkiesmile:

Chapter 94: It's About Time 1

Cerberus was the guard dog of Tartarus, The Magical Prison where only the most dangerous threats are held.
Currently, Cerberus was not guarding the Prison of Tartarus.

Cerberus was running as fast as his paws could take him.

"We Need to Get to the Castle!" His middle head barked over the wind, his large body pushing aside trees and boulders as if they were nothing more than cardboard.

"We need to get the Prince!" His left head barked, His nose working overtime in search of even the faintest scent of the Unicorn that was the Prince.

"He'll know what to do! He's the smart one!" His right head barked as his ears perked, listening to every sound in a vast radius, from the faintest of whispers to the loudest of snores.

Halting his movement as he reached the edge of a cliff, Cerberus looked at the Moon in the sky and let out a howl, hoping the Royal Family could hear him and quickly fix the problem.

"We Can't wait!" All three heads barked simultaneously.

"The Red One has broken his Cell!" The right head barked.

"We Can't give him time to escape!" The left head barked.

"Starswirl said he's the most dangerous one!" The middle head barked.

"We Must Hurry!" And with a mighty flex of his well-trained legs, Cerberus leaped off the cliff he stood on, feeling the wind slap at his faces, and returned to running without a moment of wait the second his paws once again made contact with solid ground.

Spike the Dragon was having a wonderful dream, One he could almost wish he would never wake up from.

But Wishes are only wishes if they never come true, so Spike groggily opened his eyes and scrunched his face in displeasure at the clopping sound coming from downstairs that woke him up from his wonderful dream.

He rolled out of his bed and looked at the clock, his face scrunching up as if he bit an especially sour lemon.

So he tiredly rubbed his eyes and stood up from his bed, walking down the stairs of the Golden Oak Library to see his Big Sister Twilight Sparkle pacing back and forth, seeing that the sound of her hooves clacking on the wooden flooring of the second floor was what woke him up.

"We should get a carpet for that," He whispered to himself as he yawned, almost tripping over his tail as he made his way to Twilight.

"Twilight," The Dragon said to get the Unicorn's attention.

"Oh, Hi Spike," Twilight nodded at him as she continued pacing back and forth, something troubling on her mind.

"It's the middle of the night," Spike pointed at the window, his eyes briefly marveling at the full moon in the night sky.
If he squinted his eyes, he could almost see the constellation where Jerome and the other Moon Creatures went.
But thoughts of his now-gone friends would have to wait, he had a dream to return to, and he couldn't sleep while Twilight kept clip-clopping her hooves on the floor "Why are you pacing like this?"

"Frankly," Twilight said in her normal volume, not noticing the headache it was causing the tired baby Dragon, "I don't know how you could sleep at a time like this,"

Spike rubbed at his ears before lifting the clock in his hands, showing the time to be "03:00 AM?" before he turned to go back to bed.

Twilight Teleported in front of Spike, stopping him, "It's awful, It's horrible, It's tragic!" She quickly shook her head in despair before she went back to pacing.

"I don't understand, what's wrong?" Spike asked, his eyes slightly widening as he quickly caught the calendar that Twilight threw to him, seeing that the day was now the fourth day of the month.

"There, Now you see what's wrong?" Twilight asked from the other side of the room, still pacing around.

Spike didn't see what was wrong, It was another normal day, so whatever could be wrong had to be a Twilight Sparkle special issue.
"She'll explain it if I act as if nothing's wrong," Spike thought to himself as he shrugged.

"We forgot to celebrate Arbor Day?" Spike asked, knowing Twilight would correct him swiftly.

Twilight stopped pacing in front of one of the many books she took notes in, her horn glowing a raspberry pink as she opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages.
"No, The problem is I just finished planning my schedule for the month, But I forgot to leave time to plan for next month," She said with worry in her voice, as if one of the most horrific events of her life was taking place.

Spike would have groaned if he didn't already expect the reason to be so stupid.

"Don't you see?" She lifted the schedule she created up to show Spike, "There's not enough time in my schedule to put together another schedule!"

Spike moved to sit on a nearby chair, already used to how these things go.

"I could move my meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board to the following Tuesday, But then I have to reschedule my lunch with Pinkie Pie, and you know what a nightmare she is with scheduling. This is an absolute disaster. My whole year could be thrown off!"

Spike shook his head at how his Sister was acting, took a quick look at the clock, and came to a conclusion on how to solve this problem.

"I'm going back to sleep, Don't forget to schedule to buy a rug for the floor," And with those parting words, Spike the Dragon walked back up the stairs and went to bed.

Leaving Twilight Sparkle to pace around as she tried to fix her schedule.

Cerberus dipped his middle head into a large lake, taking big gulps of the crystal-clear water.

He knows he's a magical creature, He does not require Food or Water to survive, but he still likes to eat.

"Tasty!" The left head exclaimed as he chewed a fish in his mouth, sticky saliva dripping down his maw, carrying with it the knife-like bones of the prey he caught.

"We don't have time! We must reach the Prince!" The right head chastised his fellow heads, earning him a spray of water from the mouth of the middle head and a laugh from the left.

"Hahahaha!" The left and middle heads barked with laughter, enjoying the look on the right head's face.

"Grrrh, How about this then!" The right head barked as Cerberus jumped into the water, clearing away the twigs and dust that caught on his fur after hours of running.

"Hahahaha!" The left head kept laughing as Cerberus swam across the lake, water dripping down his body, as the right head took the steering wheel, earning a yelp from the middle head.

"Hey! I'm the one who's supposed to do the moving!" Middle head barked with widened eyes, laughter no longer leaving his mouth.

"Then move!" Right head barked loudly, "Starswirl entrusted us to make sure that the Red One never escapes! We need to get the Prince to put him back in his cage! Before it's too late!"

"Fine! I'll move!" Middle Head barked loudly, a resolute glare crossing his face as Cerberus stepped out of the lake, flexing his large muscles as he prepared to go back to running.

PFFFT

Only for the Middle and Right heads to scrunch their faces as they turned to look at the Left head.

"I don't think I like fish anymore..." He whimpered in embarrassment, receiving a sigh from his two head brothers.

The morning sun rose over Ponyville, A rooster cried with wakefulness, and Twilight Sparkle just finished finding a way to make time in her schedule for the month in order to work on the schedule for next month.

And so with bags under her eyes, Twilight Sparkle, Pupil of Princess Celestia, Element of Magic, and resident Librarian, stood up.

"Oh, my gosh, I think I did it! If I can find a way to read "The Art of Invisibility Spells" and "Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot" at the same time, that could leave me a half-hour scheduling window!" Twilight spoke to herself excitedly, only to widen her eyes as the wind picked up behind her, the paper notes she took flying away as sparks of magic started popping into existence.

She turned around, her eyes widening in awe as the wind picked up and the spark shone brighter, soon needing Twilight to cover her eyes from the brightness of it all.

"What's going on?" She walked backward, making sure the magical phenomena remained in her sight as she kept a safe distance between her and whatever was going on.

Soon the light was too bright to bear, Twilight closed her eyes and tilted her head away, even her eyelids weren't enough to shield her from the brightness of the magic.

And when the light dimmed again, Twilight opened her eyes to see- Another Twilight?

For it could be nopony else, Those colors on her mane, the purple of her coat, the violet of her eyes.

Not even the black bodysuit, the frazzled mane, the bandaged forehead, the eyepatch covering her right eye, and the cut underneath her left eye, could disguise Twilight Sparkle from herself.

But how was that possible?

Twilight screamed in shock at the sight, The Twilight in the Bodysuit shook her head and turned to look at her, "Twilight, You've got to listen to me!" She said as she ran up and stood before Twilight.

"Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too, how can there be two me's?" Twilight Sparkle was ignoring the glare on the second Twilight as she spoke, "It's not scientifically possible," She said before she poked her leg forward, "You are not scientifically possible!"

The Second Twilight jumped back, her eyes widening in fear as she kept away from the hoof Twilight almost poked her with, as if touching that could spell the end of the universe itself.

"Don't touch me!" Second Twilight yelled at Regular Twilight before she took a deep breath to steady herself, "Sorry, But I have a very important message for you from the future!" Second Twilight, now identified as Future Twilight, told regular boring Present Twilight.

"Not to touch you? Wait, You're from the future?!" Present Twilight started pacing around Future Twilight, keeping a distance between the two of them.

"That's right, now listen-" Future Twilight was cut off as Present Twilight once again opened her mouth.

"What happened to you? the future must be awful," Twilight noted as she took another look at the frazzled and injured appearance of Future Twilight.

"Please, I don't have much time!" Future Twilight tried to get Twilight to listen, but in regular Twilight fashion, she was too busy thinking of the many implications of what having a future version of herself doing in her home could mean, that she wasn't listening to the reasoning Future Twilight had for coming back in the first place.

"Is there some sort of epic pony war in the distant future of something?" Twilight asked, taking a look at the bandages and bodysuit that covered Future Twilight.
If she wasn't already planning to dress up as Starswirl the Bearded for the fifteenth time in a row for this year's Nightmare Night, she might have just found a new costume.

"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning," Future Twilight stated with a no-nonsense attitude, Likely finally understanding how Spike always feels when he has something important to tell her.
"But that's not important right now-" And as Future Twilight was about to get back on track to explaining everything, she was once again cut off by Present Twilight.

"I can't believe Time Travel is really possible, how did you- I mean I- figure that out?" Twilight asked with a cheeky smile on her face, somehow not noticing the serious expression worn by her future self.

"The time spells are in the Canterlot Castle archives, But that's not import-"

"Really? Where? I've never seen them!" Twilight asked with giddy in her voice as she leaned closer to Future Twilight, already excited to learn new magics and spells.

Future Twilight took several steps away from Twilight, "They're in the Starswirl the bearded wing, Now you have to listen to me-" And once again she was cut off.

"Is time travel fun, or does it hurt, I have so many questions I-" Future Twilight seemed to have enough of being interrupted if the pillow being magically shoved over Twilight's mouth in order to shut her up was anything to go by.

"I have something extremely important to tell you about the future!" Future Twilight said, worry starting to creep into her voice as sparks of magic started to move across her bodysuit and mane.

"And I only have a few seconds, so you have to listen!" Her voice grew more harried as the sparks started growing brighter and louder, the volume of her words needing to rise in order to be heard over the sound of the magical sparks and bright light.

"Whatever you do, Don't-!" Future Twilight was cut off as the Sparks reached their full brightness, and in a flash of light, she was gone.
Disappearing in a shower of bright magical sparks, leaving behind where she stood nothing but a scorched wooden floor.

"Future Twilight?" Twilight looked around, "Oh no, What was she trying to warn me about?" She started to worry, "Her clothes, her mane, that scar... Oh, What a mess she is!" Twilight suddenly had a horrifying epiphany.
"What a mess I am... Or, I will be..."

She gasped in shock, "She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!"

Twilight Sparkle will not be buying a new rug anytime soon.

The left head of Cerberus barked loudly as a faint but still recognizable scent entered his nose.

It wasn't of the Prince he was looking for, but it was similar.

The Scent of someone who was close to someone who already had their scent marked on the Prince!

"They'll be able to bring us to the Prince for sure!" The right head barked as the left head kept sniffing.

The Middle head barked in agreement, Cerberus already running towards the location of the scent.

With Senses like his, he could follow a scent from hundreds of Kilometers away, So he better start moving faster if he wished to reach whoever that Scent belonged to before it was too late.

The Red One was not allowed to escape! Even if Cerberus must run across the entire Continent, He will make sure to fulfill his goal!

"Prince Blueblood! We're Coming!" The Right Head howled loudly at the morning sun, scaring away a nearby flock of birds.

"Princess Luna! I want Ribs as a treat!" The Middle Head joined his brother in howling.

"I like Chicken!" The Left Head howled as well.

And soon Cerberus resumed his dash across the wilderness of Equestria.

Cerberus was a Good Boy.

Deep in the Magical Prison of Tartarus, a certain Centaur was tapping his fingers on his forearms, stretching his legs as he walked around the unguarded Prison.

He could easily escape, and by the time any pony noticed it would have already been too late, He would have been long gone.

But now wasn't the time for escape.

Fate had plans, and Destiny was coming closer.

Everyone had a part to play in the Grand Orchestra, Everything was predetermined before it even began.

It was Destiny.

It was Fate.

Tirek was a Cog in a machine called Fate, The engine that powered it as it lurched towards the end goal of Destiny.

He knew it all. There was little that could escape the mind of one who has accepted his place in the world.

"They will never understand," He whispered to himself as he shook his head again.
"Only I can."

It was his Destiny.

It was his Fate.

He knew how it began, and he knew how it would end.

There was little that could escape his mind.

"Oh Aspect of War, Do you not realize what you are?" He asked aloud, knowing full well that he was alone.
"It is your Destiny to struggle, to Overcome, and to Fight, That is your Fate, the entirety of your being coalesced into a single sentence,"

Was he talking to himself?

Was he talking to someone else?

Lord Tirek was alone, Deep underground, away from the other prisoners of Tartarus.

And perhaps nobody will ever know.

Because after all-

It was his Destiny.

It was his Fate.

Author's Note

I am so excited to write more Tirek.
We already got the Poetic silliness with Pony of Shadows.
The Unstable Craziness that is Chrysalis.

And Tirek? He's Special.
Very Special...

I can assure you, this version of the Red Centaur is like nothing you've ever read before!

That is his Destiny.

That is his Fate.

Edit: The Moment I published this chapter, A new story popped up in the "New Stories" section of the home page featuring Future Twilight coming back in time to seemingly spank Present Twilight.
I didn't read it, It doesn't seem like my cup of tea, but if you're wondering what it is, check out "Future Twilight is a Bully" by Bad Dragon.

I just thought it was funny. What a coincidence.

Chapter 95: It's About Time 2

Cerberus was getting closer, he could smell it!

Only a few more hours, and he'll be able to warn the Prince.

"We're Coming Prince Blueblood!" The Right head barked over the winds that flew by his face, his legs flexing as Cerberus leaped into the air, jumping almost fifty meters ahead, all but flying over a creek in the woods.

Trees fell to the wayside as he bulldozed the path forward with his bulk, stones shattered beneath his paws, branches snapped and critters fled.

He was the greatest guard dog in the world.

And he will not fail at the one order his old master gave him over one thousand years ago.

"Starswirl! Look at me! I'm a good boy!" The Left head howled, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted.

"Shut it! And Focus on locating the scent!" The Right head chastised the left head, who quickly returned to his job as the designated sniffer.

The Middle head simply focused on running, that was his job.

Follow the orders of his right brother, which were currently to follow the scent caught by his left brother, So that is simply what he shall do.

He doesn't need to think, the Right head does that for him. He doesn't need to focus his senses, the left head does that for him.

All he had to do was Run.

And so he Ran.

Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath as she looked at her checklist of things to fix in order to stop whatever Future Twilight's disaster was.

"Good Job girls," She smiled as she checked the box at the bottom of the list before turning to her friends, "We managed to Disaster proof everything around,"

"Woohoo! We did it!" Her Pink friend cheered in joy.

"So, whatever this Future you said isn't going to happen no more?" Applejack ignored Pinkie Pie as she walked up to Twilight.

"I'm not sure..." Twilight pondered for a moment, "We managed to disaster-proof everything around, but nothing that we would have stopped should have brought enough of a catastrophe that I of all ponies would travel back in time just to warn me about it..."

"And you said that Future You came from next Tuesday, that's only five days away, If anything is going to happen in that time..." Applejack bit her lip.

"Then we'll be ready to stop it!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she wrapped her legs around Applejack and Twilight's shoulders and pulled the two mares into a hug, her wings carrying her over the two ponies.

"But what if we don't? What if the Disaster comes Tomorrow? What if it comes Today?!" Twilight's mind started to race as it worked to figure out what the disaster could possibly be.

"But- What if the disaster comes ten seconds from now?" Fluttershy meekly asked as she joined the group.

"Puh-lease Fluttershy, Like that's gonna' happen," Rainbow Dash waved her concern off, only to freeze as a loud bark sounded from the other side of Ponyville.

ROWR-ROWF!
AWOOOOO!
WOOF WOOF!

"On second thought, Maybe it can come ten seconds from now!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before flapping her wings and going into the sky, getting a bird's eye view of what was going on.

"Oh no! The Disaster is here! Everypony PANIC!!!" Pinkie Pie yelled before running away, a crowd of fleeing ponies galloping after her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight looked to the sky and called for her friend, "Can you see whatever it is?!"

"Twilight! You might want to look behind you!" Rainbow yelled down from the sky, confusing the purple Unicorn.

"Huh?" Twilight turned to look at Applejack and Fluttershy, confusion on her face, "What is she talking about?"

"Erm, Twilight, You might want to look behind you," Applejack told her, Fluttershy meekly nodding along as she tried to hide behind the larger mare.

Twilight wanted to ask what they were talking about but froze as she felt her back start to heat up as if it was hit by a cloud of hot steam from a sauna.

She slowly turned around to look at what was behind her and found herself staring into three pairs of red eyes.

I smiled as I shook hooves with Chancellor Neighsay, A tired smile on the older Unicorn's face as a group of fillies laughed happily behind him.

"Once Again, Your Highness, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to entertain the girls," The Chancellor said as he wiped some sweat off his brow, his adopted daughter waving goodbye from behind his back, the pink frosting from the birthday cake still staining her mouth.

"It was no problem," I smiled at the politician, "I had some free time, and I would take any opportunity to make orphans smile,"

"Luckily, she's not an Orphan anymore," Neighsay weakly smiled as he turned to look at his daughter.

"Of course," I nodded to the Chancellor, "Have a good day," And I bid the Head of the Equestria Education Association farewell before heading into the carriage that was parked for me, letting the royal guards carry it away.

"So, Neighsay's Birthday surprise is done. Starlight, what's next on my schedule?" I turn to the only other pony inside the carriage, Starlight Glimmer taking a moment to look up from the book she was reading to notice I even returned.

"Oh, Next up is-" She picked up the schedule and read it, "A Spa visit with Princess Luna," She looked away from the paper and raised an eyebrow at me, "A spa visit? Really?"

"What can I say?" I shrugged at my bodyguard, "After Luna turned me intangible for a day, I discovered my love for medicinal hot tubs," I smiled at the memory of floating in the pool after cleansing myself from the Poison Joke.
My smile faltered, face flushed in embarrassment for a moment when I remembered what else happened that day.

"..." Starlight raised a brow at me before sighing in exhaustion, "Lucky bastard,"

I barked out a laugh, not expecting Starlight's reaction to my words.

"Yeah, Yeah, Laugh all you like, you at least have time to go to a spa, I'm gonna' be forced to stand outside like some dumb guardsmare the whole time!" Starlight tossed me my bag before crossing her front legs and letting out a huff.

"You know," I started saying, "You can always go to the Spa whenever you have free time," I told her, "Take Raven with you as well, We both know she could use it,"

"...Fine," Starlight levitated the Sunglasses of her uniform onto her face as the Carriage stopped, the doors opening up to let the VIP in.

"Friend Blueblood!" Luna called with a smile as she climbed into the carriage, taking a seat on the bench beside me.

I wanted to smile as well, but when my eyes locked onto the pest on her back, I knew I was likely to have a bad time.

"Squeak Squeak," The Opossum giggled from on top of Luna's back, a glint of mischief in his black orbs as he locked eyes with me.

"Tiberius..." I growled, glaring at the offending disease carrier.

"Oh, We thought it would be nice for the spa visit if we could bring our pets along," Luna, not noticing the dislike I had for the Opossum, smiled as she tossed a golden plant spider at me.

The gold Plunderseed skittered around for a moment before coming to rest on my legs, my body already moving to pet Comet.

"Driver, To the spa!" Luna banged a hoof on the carriage wall, the Diver nodding as the royal guards started moving once again.

The Left head of Cerberus sniffed the purple unicorn in front of him before barking a confirmation to his brothers.

"So this is the source of the scent," The Right head growled, "If we concentrate, we should be able to find the Prince from here," He turned to look at his left-most brother, "Can you smell him?"

"Oh Yeah! The Prince should be..." The Left head closed his eyes and sniffed the air, his two brothers closing their eyes so he could concentrate better.

Cerberus turned his left head every which way, sniffing the air and the ground, the Unicorn and the Pegasus.

"Hey Twilight, What do we do?" The Orange Mare whispered loudly to the Unicorn, their voices easily caught by the magically enhanced senses of the guard dog.

"Cerberus is a strong creature, If he starts rampaging around Ponyville, it wouldn't surprise me if he was the disaster Future Me was warning us about..." She whispered back, her mind racing with plans and ideas for how she could solve the issue in front of her without causing an unmitigated disaster.

"I got it!" The left head suddenly opened his eyes and barked happily, his brothers following his example and turning to look where he was looking.

At a City on top of a cliff in the distance.

"So that's where we're going!" The Right head turned and barked at his middle-brother, the Central Head merely lolling his tongue out in excitement as he resumed his run.

"Starswirl we're coming!" The Left head cheered as his cheeks flapped backward in the wind.

"It's not Starswirl! It's Blueblood and Luna!" The Right head corrected his brother with a bark.

"Hahaha! I forgot!" The Left head laughed as Cerberus ran towards the cliff face of the mountain, leaping onto the sheer stone wall of the cliff, and dragging his claws into the stone.

It was time for Cerberus to climb.

Twilight stared in horror at the sight before her. Cerberus was climbing up the cliff of Canterlot.

"Girls! We need to head to Canterlot and stop Cerberus from destroying it!" She yelled for her friends. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hurried to join back up with the three mares that stood before Cerberus just moments prior.

"So are we done panicking? Because I can continue to scream if we need to, check this out- AAAAAAAAAAH-oomph," Pinkie Pie stopped screaming when Rarity joined the group and threw a hat over her mouth.

"Darling, that's a wonderful Idea and all, but how are we going to get to Canterlot before that thing does?" Rarity asked once she made sure Pinkie Pie would stop screaming.

"Ooh Ooh, I know! The train is pretty fast, why don't we just take that?" Pinkie Pie raised an idea after spitting out the hat Rarity covered her mouth with.

"Pinkie Pie, The Train to Canterlot loops by us only once an hour, and it's a twenty-minute ride, by the time it comes to pick us up, Cerberus would already be most of the way up that cliff," Twilight pointed out the issue with that problem, and issue that would have been taken into account if not because.

"But it's National Posy Day, The train schedules are different on Flower related days," Pinkie Pie pointed out, "And also on Exotic Fruit-related days, but the timing on the train on those days won't help us, National Durian Day isn't for another two weeks,"

"Wait... Pinkie Pie," Twilight turned to the party pony.

"Yes?" Pinkie tilted her head to the side.

"When is the train coming?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, The train should be arriving in two minutes, we'll need to run if we want to buy tickets-" Pinkie Pie was cut off.

"You heard her Girls, Let's go buy our train tickets!" Rainbow Dash yelled, urging her friends to start running to the train station.

The Elements of Harmony had to stop a Disaster.

The sound of slow and steady hoof steps echoed in the quiet halls of the magical prison.

The inmates kept quiet to themselves in their cells, the usual loud and boisterous monsters, angrily slamming against the bars and clawing at their guard, now stood silent, scared.

"Monsters and Creatures and Devils of all shapes," The Red Centaur spoke as his frail body moved by the cells of the monsters, his mere presence amongst them enough to turn the most rabid of beasts into the most timid of critters.

"All held in the bowels of Tartarus, The archaic visage of the Grand Conquest," He passed by monsters of all shapes and sizes, from giant Snow-beasts to Feral Bugbears, Tartarus held monstrosities of all kinds.

"And yet, For over ten centuries, this Prison held only one sound mind, only one of the sentience to understand the morality of their actions," The Centaur left the cages of the monsters and walked up to a solitary glass box, away from the rabble of the prison.

And as he stared into the Glass Box, his eyes met the singular blue eye that sat inside the blob of shadows.

"And yet here you are, Corruption born of Envy, unfit to even exist in the natural order of things, and yet you still persist," Lord Tirek lowered his body as he sat on the other side of the glass box that housed Nightmare Moon.
"Why is that? Why do you struggle, Envious one? For what purpose does it serve?" Lord Tirek clasped his palms under his chin as he rested his head, His malnourished skin stretching across his weakened body, making him resemble a frail old man.
"You already concluded your Destiny, You returned from the Moon to bring your era of Endless Night, And your Fate has been sealed with your defeat by the Elements of Harmony, Not once but twice. And yet, Envious Corruption, you still cling on to this form you are trapped in, this cage of Shadow and Nightmare, Why?"

Moony stared with a half-lidded gaze at the Centaur, Her singular blue eye staring into his yellow dots before her voice sounded out.

"You smell horrible, when was the last time you showered? You filthy idiot, you should be lucky I do not have a stomach, your mere presence is making me wish to throw up," She made a retching sound as her body shuddered, "Disgusting,"

"....." Lord Tirek stared at the small Nightmare in the glass cage, at all that remained of the evil doubts that once plagued Princess Luna's mind.

And he smiled.

"I will enjoy spreading your crumbling form over the dust and ash of everything you ever wanted," He spoke proudly, as if it wasn't a threat but a fact.

"Because you are not Fated for greatness, you are destined to be a simple note in a history book, barely more than a chapter," His smile spread across his face, a sick and twisted thing, as if he was laughing at a joke that only he knew about.

"...You're Disgusting," Was all Nightmare Moon could reply as she merely turned away from the Red Centaur, not deigning to give him even a fraction of her time.

But Lord Tirek didn't mind, he knew what was to come, He would leave Tartarus.

After all, It was his Destiny.

It was his Fate.

But that time will not be now, The pieces aren't yet in place.

And when they were, Tirek would be ready.

It was his Destiny.

It was his Fate.

"Hurry Along, Guard Dog of this horrid place, Your Prisoner is waiting to speak with a Warden," He said out loud as he once passed by the cages of monster and beast, walking up to his own secluded cage at the edge of the Prison.

And sat down, Waiting for his Warden to arrive.

He already waited a thousand years, what was a few days more?

Don't let anybody say that Lord Tirek wasn't patient.

"Hurry along, Warden, Conquest cannot wait forever"

Author's Note

Look at this screenshot I took of Twilight-

Lmao.

Also, Tiberius and Comet are Joining Luna and BB at the Spa! How wonderful!

Cerberus is working his back muscles doing some wall climbing, what a champ.

Tirek is taking a tour of Tartarus, talking with his fellow inmates.

Nightmare Moon :coolphoto:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)

Chapter 96: It's About Time 3

"I got eyes on the Big Dog!" Applejack Yelled as she held her hat tightly onto her head, poking her head out of the window of the train as she kept her eyes trained on the Large, Three-Headed Dog, climbing up the cliffs underneath Canterlot.

"Can this train go any faster?!" Rainbow Dash complained as she flew circles around their cabin, unable to sit still as the train made its way towards Canterlot at its usual pace.

"Not without breaking down the engine or falling off the tracks," Twilight Sparkle told her friends as she tried to calculate a plan to reach Canterlot before Cerberus could wreck Havoc.

Whatever was going to happen soon, will be disastrous enough to force Twilight to go back in time just to warn herself of whatever was going to happen! Cerberus must be stopped!

"Once we're past the upcoming tunnel, we should be close enough to Canterlot for me to Teleport half of us to the City without suffering from Magic Exhaustion, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Do you two think you can help me stall Cerberus once we reach Canterlot long enough for the train to reach the city?" Twilight turned to ask the two most fit Pony's of her group.

"I don't know Twilight," Applejack brought her head back into the cabin, her spot by the window being replaced by Pinkie Pie, "That Cerberus fella' looks mighty big, This isn't some foe we can just use the Elements of Harmony and blast away, is it?"

"I don't think so, The Elements of Harmony fix Disharmony and Chaos, That's how we turned Discord back into Stone, and Separated Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna, And even when Nightmare Moon returned with Rarity under her control, the Elements shut off all those orbs that shot at us because they were creating chaos. I don't think the Elements will be any use on something like Cerberus," Twilight told the girls what she already knew about the Elements.

"But wouldn't Cerberus also be counted as somebody making Chaos if he starts destroying Canterlot?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"I'm not sure, But even then, The Elements are with Princess Celestia in Canterlot Castle, we'll still need to reach the city first, and we can't do that before Cerberus," Twilight shook her head and brought their conversation back to its original track.

If Spike was there, he would have told her she should try not to let her thoughts wander off during such important situations, but the baby Dragon was instead catching up on some well-earned sleep back in the library.

"Then let's get ready!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, doing one final circle above the train cabin before landing on the floor beside her friends, "Twilight will teleport with Me and Applejack to Canterlot, where we'll hold that big dog off from ruining those Rich-Pony buildings until Fluttershy arrives to talk him down!"

"Oh...." Fluttershy started to shake at the thought of being in front of such a big and scary Creature, "I'll try my best,"

"That's all we need Fluttershy," Twilight smiled at the yellow Pegasus, "So get ready you two," She turned to nod at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "We're teleporting out of here once the train passes the tunnel, We have five minutes,"

I closed my eyes as I let my muscles relax, feeling the smooth oil spread on my back and legs as I lay on the massage table at one of Canterlot's Spas.

"This is nice," I heard Luna say beside me, lying on her own table as a pair of masseuses worked on her wings. I ignored the squeak coming from her Opossum as I hummed an agreement with her, hearing Comet's clicking sound as he floated in a large bowl of herbal water, rose petals floating around the Plunderseed Spider.

"Mi Amore Cadenza is getting married by the end of next month," Luna said, trying to start some sort of small talk that I ignored as I let my massage continue.

"Never mind, that is the spot," Luna seemed to follow my lead and stop talking, letting our spa treatment continue in comfortable silence.

Cerberus growled to himself, His mighty claws once again piercing the stone face of the cliff, digging into the mountain before propelling himself upwards with another mighty leap.

He could already see the top, he didn't even require his enhanced senses in order to hear the Ponies in the city above.

And with one final leap up the cliff, Cerberus landed in Canterlot.

Starlight Glimmer was bored, Standing outside a Massage Parlor, a trio of Bat-winged ponies, Luna's Guards, keeping watch beside her.

Usually, whenever she found herself doing her job of being the guard of Prince Blueblood, she spent most of that time just hanging around, the Prince not needing any real protection.
He could also easily take care of himself.

However, with Princess Luna around him, Starlight Glimmer had no choice but to actually take her job seriously, or else she risked earning Princess Celestia's Ire.
At least, More than she already has.

ROWR-ROWF!

Starlight quickly perked up at the loud sound, All sense of boredom gone from her mind as her head turned to where the barking was coming from.

Widening her eyes as she spotted a trio of Ponies appear in the middle of the air and fall onto the street.

Starlight turned back to the Massage parlor where she saw the trio of Bat-Ponies fly towards the source of the sound, leaving her behind as the only one to guard the Massage Parlor.

The very unguarded Massage Parlor that is currently hosting two of the most important individuals in all of Equestria.

Starlight took a deep breath and shook her head, "Welp, Looks like I have a job to do,"

And with that, Starlight Glimmer entered the Building, intent on notifying the royals about what was going on outside.

"Okay Girls, Remember, We need to hold Cerberus back from rampaging through the town until the rest of the girls get here," Twilight Sparkle told her two friends as soon as they appeared in the streets of Canterlot, "With the speed the train was moving, that means we have to hold him down for fifteen minutes, did you get that?"

Rainbow Dash nodded woozily as her legs wobbled like jelly for a moment, Applejack giving a groan that approximately sounded like an understanding from her spot lying on the ground.
Teleporting for the first time will do that to you.

"Applejack, do you have your Lasso?" Twilight helped her friend up, Rainbow Dash holding onto her as her legs straightened out.

"Of course I do, I never leave without it," Applejack said as she pulled a Lasso from underneath her hat, grabbing it in her mouth as she started to spin it above her head.

"Rainbow Dash, We need Cerberus to focus on us so he won't harm any other ponies. Think you can bring him to us?" Twilight then turned to Rainbow Dash, The blue-furred Pegasus nodded excitedly as a smirk spread on her face.

"Of course I can, That dog won't be able to look away!" The Pegasus said with Cheer before flying into the air, doing three loops in the air before shooting off with a rainbow-looking trail, disappearing over the roofs of Downtown Canterlot.

"Get ready to Lasso his middle head once he gets close, Applejack," Twilight nodded to her friend as the two of them stood at the ready in the middle of the now empty street, hearing the sounds of wood breaking and stone smashing as Cerberus made his way closer.

"Aaaaahg!" An armored Pony with bat wings yelled as his body was thrown over the rooftops ahead of them, crashing down in a nearby alley.

Twilight gulped, her horn glowing with magic as she readied a spell to join Applejack in tying down Cerberus.

"He's too powerful!" A second royal guard yelled as he was also thrown high into the air, landing back in the streets with a loud crashing sound as his body fell into an open dumpster which quickly closed shut, trapping him inside with the trash.

Applejack weakly kicked the ground with her front legs, the Lasso still spinning over her head.

"He's Coming!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she popped over the roofs, flying back toward the girls as the sound of a large canine came closer and closer.

Landing with a slide on her hooves, Rainbow Dash turned to stand beside her two friends as they readied the inevitable fight against the Guardian of Tartarus.

And as they watched the shadow of the three-headed dog leap over the buildings, They prepared to engage, only to balk as the Dog jumped over them, landing directly behind the group and ignoring them completely.

"He's trying to reach the castle!" Twilight quickly reached a conclusion for why Cerberus ignored them, turning quickly to follow the dog, only to once again pause they she watched a trio of Ponies exit the nearby Massage Parlor.

BARK BARK!

Cerberus barked before sitting down, blocking the three ponies from view on the other side of his large body, Twilight being the only one to briefly catch a glimpse of the trio.

I smiled easily as I felt my neck pop, months of stress washing away from my body as Luna and I walked out of our Spa visit, our pets hanging onto Starlight as if she were a coat rack.

"So," I started as I looked at the familiar dog in front of me, "Pooch, Are you here to tell us that something is trying to escape Tartarus or are you just here to play?" I said as I walked up to the large Dog, "Bark once for the first answer, Twice for the second answer,"

"Bark!" Cerberus's right head barked once, nodding as it stared down at me, The left head was busy licking Luna, covering the freshly massaged Princess of the Night with saliva and drool, and the middle head was breathing heavily, likely tired from how far he ran.

"Did you get that Starlight?" I turned to smile at my friend, watching the Unicorn stare blankly at me as Comet wrapped her tail around her midsection while Luna's disgusting Opossum sat on her head and played with her mane.

"I'll take that as a yes, I need you to go to the castle and tell Celestia to bring a bunch of guards with her, Luna and I are having a quick trip back to Tartarus," I watched as Starlight groaned tiredly as her response.

"What an exciting turn of events we have found today, Friend Blueblood," Luna said as she turned to look at me, seemingly ignoring the giant dog head that was slobbering on her as she smiled at me, "We shall take us to Tartarus, and return Cerberus to his rightful place as guard of the Prison," Luna turned to Starlight, "You, Starlight Glimmer, take Tiberius back to the castle, Prince Blueblood and We will go to Tartarus and Await Celestia,"

I cringed slightly as I felt Luna place a saliva-covered leg on my shoulder, grabbing onto Cerberus with her other leg, before the three of us teleported away in a burst of magic.

"..." Starlight blinked at where her Boss stood moments prior, before turning to look at the trio of wide-eyed ponies who stared at her from behind where Cerberus once sat.

Feeling the Opossum on her head play with her mane as the Golden Plant-Spider wrapped its vine-like tail around her torso, Starlight Glimmer sighed tiredly.

If she hadn't grown as a person in the last couple of months, Starlight believed she would once again be regretting her past actions.

"...What just happened?" The Rainbow-maned Pegasus voiced up as she asked what everybody in the vicinity was thinking.

"I'm not sure, but we need to get to Princess Celestia to tell her what happened, Quickly!" Starlight watched Twilight Sparkle say before she and her two friends ran away.

"...Why does this always have to happen when we leave the castle?" Starlight asked out loud, even though Blueblood wasn't there to answer her.

"Welp... Still beats spending thirty years in prison," And with a shrug of her shoulders, Starlight Glimmer started to jog back to Canterlot Castle, a pair of pets on her back.

Author's Note

Sorry for the later-than-usual upload, I've been sick for a while now, Hope you enjoyed :)

Hope I managed to nail the MLP-style Humor with this chapter.

Next chapter we're finally getting Blueblood and Tirek's second meeting. And probably an Omake as well, just to pad out the word count lol.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 97: It's About Time 4

Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne, reading one of Raven's reports, when the doors to the throne room burst open, revealing a gaggle of six colorful ponies.

"Princess Celestia!" The purple pony called out to her, only to trip onto her face as a pink pony pushed her way forward.

"Hello Princess Celestia!" The pink pony waved, only to trip over the purple pony beneath her, throwing her onto the floor as well.

"Woah, Hey there! Stop pushing!" An orange pony yelled before a blue pony crashed into her back, throwing both of them onto the floor also.

"Ah! Don't ruin my mane!" A white pony exclaimed as a cloud of dust, caused by the four other ponies tumbling onto the floor, floated into the air and threatened her hair, her legs swiped at the dust cloud, only to trip over her other friends on the ground as she too joined the pile of colorful bodies.

"Umm, Should I join you on the floor?" Asked a yellow pony, her eyes looking at the five friends she came with, now all lying on the floor and groaning to themselves, "There's a lot of dust for some reason, I don't think it's healthy," She said, taking a moment to think over her course of action, before she blushed bright red and slowly lowered herself down onto the floor, embarrassingly lying next to her friends.

Princess Celestia smiled at the colorful distraction that appeared before her, ignoring the tired look from her secretary and aide.

"Princess Celestia!" Celestia's smile cracked as a new pony entered the doors, an opossum on her head, and a golden plunderseed spider on her back, "Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood are requesting that you bring guards to Tartarus," the opossum on the mare's head started pulling her mane, "And that you yourself go there," a few more pulls of hair, "What? No, I'm not asking for another massage on your behalf, ask Luna when she returns," She whispered to the opossum, Celestia's smile turning into a tired look of neutral indifference.

"Can you not leave the castle without getting into trouble, just once?" She mentally shouted at her son, slowly getting tired of how many times he found himself in these situations following what should have been a totally normal outing.

"Shall I organize a squad of guards, your Majesty?" Raven Inkwell asked Princess Celestia, lifting her glasses as she got ready to professionally do her job.

"Please do so," Celestia nodded to her secretary, who bowed in return before leaving to organize the royal guards that will go with the Princess to Tartarus.

"Miss Glimmer, Shall I take the pets off of you?" Asked a beige-furred Unicorn, wearing a red coat and grey cravat, a pair of small glasses sat on his nose, a carefully groomed mustache over his upper lip, and the Cutie Mark of a Stopwatch on his flank.

"Hmm?" Starlight turned to look at the old Unicorn, "Oh, yes, of course," She quickly nodded her head, using her magic to lift the two animals off of her, and into the waiting hooves of the Unicorn.

"I'll come with!"

Princess Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, and the old Butler, all turned to look at the pony who shouted those words.

"You want to take care of the Princess's pets?" Pinkie Pie asked as she also turned to look at the one you yelled.
Tiberius let out a squeak of surprise.

Twilight Sparkle ignored her friend's words and elaborated on what she meant.

"I want to go to Tartarus with you, Princess Celestia," Twilight told the room, staring into the eyes of the Princess of the day.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath, her eyes roaming over the many ponies in the throne room before she looked back at Twilight Sparkle, and responded.

"We're going to need a faster way for Cerberus to notify us in case anything happens," Princess Luna listened to her friend as he ranted about all the different things that could have gone wrong in the time it took Cerberus to reach Canterlot from Tartarus, "Maybe have a magical bell he can ring that immediately notifies some guards, or better yet, station actual guards here. For what is supposed to be the most secure prison in Equestria, there's very little actual security involved."

Luna nodded at what the prince was saying, the words entering through one ear and going out the other.

"Okay now, Pooch, what happened? Did a Bugbear bend its cage?" Prince Blueblood looked up to the three headed dog.

But before Cerberus could point to the reason he ran to get them, a new voice spoke up.

"I was hoping you'd arrive, Good,"

Prince Blueblood didn't even need to look at the source of the sound to recognize it, even after only talking to the person one time, the impact it left on him was unforgettable.
Prince Blueblood felt his stomach roiling, a sickly feeling washing over him, as if the source of the voice was something that should not be.
That cannot be.

He recognized it, But he felt sick to his stomach just picturing the monster it came from.

To Princess Luna, however, the effect differed. She never met the voice in her life. She heard of him, She knew of him, But she never needed to visit him in Tartarus before her banishment, and even when she returned, she never visited him. Only ever bothering to taunt her Nightmares made manifest when she came to the prison.

Prince Blueblood's eyes widened as he watched Princess Luna collapse onto the floor, her legs giving out beneath her.

"Luna!" He yelled, quickly grabbing her and looking at her face. Seeing the vacant stare in her eyes, he feared the worst. But when he placed his hoof under her nose, he felt his body relax. She was simply unconscious.

"WOOF!"

"Pooch! Watch over Luna!" Blueblood yelled, the three-headed guard dog standing protectively over the Princess of Dreams.

"Oh? Do not be worried, Prince of Stars, I merely wish to see how far you've come,"

Blueblood's eyes darted around the underground prison, searching for the decrepit old monster whose voice he was hearing.

"With all the changes you've made, I need to reorganize my plans, The timeline of events has changed drastically, and with it the outcomes of future choices,"

"Show yourself!" Blueblood yelled, his horn glowing, ready to blast a beam of magic at the Prisoner, "Tirek!"

"Very well," Blueblood froze as he felt a hand rest on his fur, four fingers gripping his shoulder as the voice sounded from right behind him, "Let us have a talk,"

"Oh, Aspect of War, Child of Gold, Prince of Stars.
Let us discuss what needs not be spoken of,
In the hushed whispers hidden behind the smirks of Snakes and Fools."

Omake: A Statue fit for a Prince.

Prince Rutherford, Ruler of Yakyakistan, the Strongest Yak in the world, and an avid drinker, chewed a spicy leaf between his teeth as he stared at the statue before him.

On a stone pedestal, Stood a stone Yak, A decorated Stone helmet rested on his Stone head,

Rutherford looked around the statue, at the progress on what was being constructed, and shook his head at the sight.

"This no good, Statue must represent cooperation between Pony and Yak! Make another!" He stomped his legs, cracking the stone floor beneath him, before headbutting the statue.

Crumbling it to the ground.

"This is Train Station! First in all of Yak history! Very good sign of friendship this is! I see no friend on Statue!" Prince Rutherford yelled, "Make another! Have pony on it!"

Prince Rutherford chewed a honeycomb between his teeth, staring at the new Statue placed in the center of the plaza outside the first Yakyakistani Train Station.

"Is this joke?" Rutherford looked away from the stone structure and at the Yak who sculpted the artwork. "I said statue need Pony, not that statue need ONLY PONY!" He yelled at the sculptor.

"This statue has no Yak! How simple do I need to speak here?! Statue represents Friendship! Cooperation between Yak AND Pony, Not one or other!" With a stomp of his legs, and a yell of "Yak Smash!" Prince Rutherford broke the statue in front of him and told the sculptor to make a new one.

"This statue WONDERFUL!!!" Prince Rutherford exclaimed loudly, a joyous smile on his face as he stared at the new statue sitting in the middle of the almost completed "Friendship Plaza"

On top of the stone pedestal, stood both a Yak and an Alicorn, Smiling widely, one leg over the shoulder of the other, as they laughed at an unheard joke. A Friendship between both Pony and Yak.

"With this Friendship Plaza is complete! All we need is Train Station to bring Trains, and then we celebrate!" Prince Rutherford cheered, joyful at the new symbol of cooperation in his land.

"With how quick Pony construction work is, the Train should be ready in month's time! How exciting!" Prince Rutherford turned to one of his aids, "Tarvik! Bring best Drinks from all around Yakyakistan over to fort! When Friend Blueblood come back to open new train station-"

"WE SHALL DRINK LIKE NEVER BEFORE! HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!"

Author's Note

Short chapter, I know, but I can explain.

For the past 3 weeks or so, I've had a horrible abscess on the right side of my face, no idea what caused it. For a while half my face looked like I was bit by a radioactive tomato.

Early last week, Doctors opened it up and had to drain the pus, it was horrible, I had to wear a bandage over my cheek for a week.

Only now, am I somewhat okay to go to work without looking like I have a bomb inside my face.

Next chapter should hopefully be better than this, Hopefully, I'll be able to write 2,000 words. Instead of writing 1,000 words and then fill the rest with an irrelevant Omake.

I'll also be busy playing the new Elden Ring DLC so I don't know when the next update will be, so expect another slow one.

I do enjoy writing Tirek though, so that was a plus to slogging through this chapter for me.

Also, Kibitz is here again, we love him!

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 98: It's About Time 5

I didn't have time to turn around, to catch a look at the bastard, as I felt his fingers tighten their hold on my shoulder.

And the world around me shattered like a pane of glass as if everything in my vicinity was a two-dimensional painting, the shards spiraling into a deep emptiness beyond the broken pane.

I saw Cerberus get cut in half, no reaction coming from the large dog as his form melded into the background, ripped apart as if a knife was taken to a canvas, cutting the painting yet still keeping whole.

I wanted to throw up.

I saw Luna's body split into thousands of shards, crystalline sparks falling into the depth beyond the pane, her body as still as a statue, like a painting.

Since when did I start to give these artistic explanations? There's no way Uncle is rubbing off on me!

After a second that seemed to drag on for hours, I blacked out.

A sharp gasp left my throat as my eyes opened, my lungs emptying of air as I coughed loudly and heavily, I felt like I was drowning.

"Finally awake, Are you? Good, Depending on how this talk goes, You'll forget ever coming here, so there is no need for you to worry about any unwanted traumas," I heard Tirek's voice as I looked around where I was, and even with hurting eyes and sore lungs, I knew this place was not normal.

I was standing on a circular rock, perfectly flat on the top, with a radius of two meters, giving me plenty of room to stand, but still small enough to feel claustrophobic.

The rock jutted out of a perfectly flat plane of water, the horizon all around me in every way I looked stretched on and on, as if the entire world around me sunk into the ocean, and the rippling waves of the sea decided they no longer needed to exist.

A Perfectly flat circle above a perfectly flat ocean.

"Where's Luna?" I tried to push myself up from the stone circle, my limbs unnaturally tired and sluggish. Every little movement sends painful spikes through my body.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the arm I used to push myself up.

Five pale white fingers.

"You're asking of the Princess of dreams first and foremost? I expected you to ask something along of your whereabouts, or the happenings currently," I tried to turn to look at where Tirek's voice was coming from, My human body barely responding to my commands of it.

I crashed back down to the stone, more breath heavily leaving my lungs, as if I just run an entire marathon in the short few seconds It took me to attempt to stand up.

"Here's a better question then-" I breathed heavily, my body aching as I lay on my back and stared at the sky, seeing the lack of Sun in the sky yet still basking in the light around me,"-Fuck You,"

A sharp pain made itself known in my stomach, causing me to cough hoarsely once again.

"Very Funny, Your Highness, But I suggest you treat this moment with the seriousness and severity it has earned," Tirek's voice seemed to come from right behind me, something which should have been impossible seeing the size of the stone circle, and that I was laying on my back.
"You are speaking to a King, after all,"

I wanted to clap back, yell some witty retort, and watch his reaction, But my mouth wouldn't move. It's as if Tirek told me to shut up and I now have no choice but to listen.

"Good, Let me start off by saying that it is wonderful to finally get this chance to speak," I heard footsteps walking up to where I was lying, something which again makes no sense seeing my current location.
"Last time we met, we got off on the wrong foot," I tried to turn my head to look at its direction, But everything felt heavy as if my bones were made of tungsten, too dense to move.

"..." I opened my mouth just a smidge, my mind blank for a brief second as white flashed behind my irises.

"Please do not try and use the little levity I am gifting you in a vain attempt to ridicule the situation, As you surely would have had I not stopped it," I turned my eyes to look at the source of the sound, Seeing the bastard that brought me here in the first place.

Wearing a white toga, skin red like raw meat, and a pair of horns bursting from the side of his head.
His lower body, which should have been that of a large Horse, was now a pair of human legs, the same red color as his skin.
His face was sunken and wrinkly, that of an aging old man, far behind his prime, yet still holding a few tricks up his sleeve.

It was similar to how Cosmos looked when I made her a human body when we dreamt, a mixture of her Animalistic form and a Human, but with how Tirek looked usually?
The man that stood before me appeared like the Devil himself, with the red skin and bull horns and everything.

"Enjoying this form? I believe speaking to you like this would have been more comfortable than a Centaur speaking to a Unicorn," Tirek said, the smirk on his face telling me what he thought of this appearance.

"..." I wanted to curse him, to tell him to let me go, to check up on Luna, to do anything!

But my body again did not respond, still laying on my back, spread eagle, on a circular stone platform under the heat of an invisible sun.
It was like I was a steak and this platform was a grill.

"Please stop thinking of food, I am trying to organize my words into a manner that a simpleton like you would understand," Tirek waved his hand in front of his face, the sky behind him changing to the movements of his hand as if he was a maestro and the world was his band. A sheet of clouds giving us some shade from the sun.

"..."

"You wish for me to get to the point? Very well, You'll forget this anyway," Tirek pointed at the ground with his hand, slowly lifted a finger, and then curled it into his palm.
A throne, Bronze in color with a Red Velvet cushion appeared beside him, The devil-looking man took his seat.

"From the moment I opened my eyes as a newborn Centaur, I could read," Tirek leaned his elbow on the armrest of his bronze throne, his cheek resting on his fist, "And I hated it,"

"By reading Destiny, I knew my place in the world, By reading Fate, I knew what my end would be, Everything there is to know was mine to read, From how our world was created, to the many different ways in which it could end, and I hated it, from the absolute deepest depths of my soul I hated it," Tirek said, his voice calm and soft, like a grandfather telling a story to his grandchildren, or at least something along those lines, I never had a grandfather so I wouldn't really know.

"Do you know how torturous it is, Knowing that no matter what you do, you will always end up in the situation you read about? Not even attempting to change the written script could save me, I still ended up as the first Prisoner of Tartarus, my Brother still betrayed me, and my fate is still the same.
Let me ask you, BLUEBLOOD, or do you prefer Blueblood now? If you knew how you would die, would you try and change it? Please, answer me honestly, I do not have time for all your childish antics,"

My body lurched forward as if resuscitated by invisible defibrillators, I felt my chest heave as I breathed in after releasing air I did not know I held.

"If I knew how I would die, would I change it?" I repeated the question, rubbing my neck with my right hand as I felt some semblance of control over my body.
"Well, That depends, Do I die of old age, or do I die young? Do I die happy or do I die broken? Do I die from an illness, or do I die from an injury? Do I die doing what I love, or do I die bitter and lonely? It really depends."

"Such a human answer," Tirek shook his head, "It depends, What a joke," Tirek closed his eyes as he leaned back in his Throne, probably thinking about what to do next.

I didn't wait, Balling my hands into fists, and with my body back under my control, I threw a punch at Tirek's face.

Only for my fist to pass through his head, through the throne he stood on, and then through the circular stone platform on the ground as I fell through a solid object like some sort of Poltergeist, reminding me of when Luna used the Poison Joke on me not too long ago.

"By your color, I would have guessed you to be Conquest, But your personality thus far has painted nothing but War," Tirek's voice echoed around me as I fell through solid matter.
"That is fine, It merely means that I am Conquest instead of War, Fate has not changed and Destiny remains the same, Famine and Death have not changed, and so my plan shall continue,"

"I apologize, Prince Blueblood Platinum, But your answer did not suffice for my curiosity, so let me give you a crumb, that you will yet forget once you awake from this little dream,"

"A Villain is fated to lose, the same way a Hero is fated to Win, I am a Villain, but you are not a Hero, My fate has been written in the words of Destiny since the moment I was born, but you, in the grand scheme of the story, are barely more than a footnote, a figure whose life is so innocuous you would have made no changes to fate should you have remained Prince Blueblood Platinum.
So cheer, Oh soul who changed the fate of the Platinum Heir, Oh Cheer, False Prince masquerading as the simple son, For your very existence can change Fate!"

"The question is, Would it be for better?
Or worse?"

"Just know this, Prince Platinum, should you stand in my way when the promised moment arrives,
I will make sure that you live long enough to watch me kill every single person you ever interacted with,
I will end this horrid existence that is my life, and I will not let anybody opposing me stand,
Pray, Blueblood Platinum, that when I reach the final hour, I shall be merciful enough to give you a quick end,
Pray, Snake of Lapis and Gold, Pray,"

"Get on the ground!" When I opened my eyes, a pair of white fur pillows wrapped around my torso, as I stood watching Tirek get tackled to the ground by a pair of large Earth Ponies.

"Are you fine? Did he hurt you? Don't worry sweetie, everything is going to be okay, I'll make sure he never hurts you again," I heard Celestia say as the pillows that wrapped around me squeezed tighter, telling me that they were not, in fact pillows.

I blinked my eyes, trying to remember what happened since Tirek put his hand on my shoulder.

"What just happened?" I could only whisper, confusion on my face as I tried to remember a moment that likely never occurred.

And as I watched Tirek get dragged into a new cage, much more reinforced than his old one, I kept repeating that question to myself.

"What just happened?"

Author's Note

A bit of a trippy chapter, but Tirek is a bit of a trip to write.

Fate, Destiny, Death and Change. He knows so much, but still we know so little.

Thanks for Reading :)

Please answer this questionnaire Here, the answers will be taken into account when I write the Bonus Chapter that celebrates reaching 100 chapters.

That bonus chapter will likely not be on Chapter 100, Maybe on Chapters 101, 102? Anyways, Please answer the questions in that Google Form. Thank you!

Edit: I see many of you are disappointed with how this chapter went, but you're not seeing the bigger picture.
I promise, Let me Cook, and you will feast on a meal fit for Royalty.

Chapter 99: It's About Time 6

Twilight Sparkle could only stare blankly at the scene in front of her, her mind going through hundreds of different possibilities as to what might come next, what the disaster her future self spoke about could be!?

Cerberus wasn't tearing through the streets of Canterlot, He was licking a very angry-looking Prince Blueblood, who was busy walking around and shouting orders at the guards.

The monster that seemed to have escaped from his cage wasn't the disaster either, seeing as he was thrown back into a much thicker cell, the magical metal bars replaced with heavy plates that seemed to isolate the creature from the outside world even more than simply being in Tartarus.

Twilight was getting shivers just thinking of that creature, when she first laid eyes on it, watching its horns glow in a malevolent red light as its hand rested on Prince Blueblood's shoulder, the Unicorn's eyes wide open yet unblinking, staring into the ceiling as if in a trance, Princess Luna knocked out on the ground beside them, Cerberus growling at it yet refusing to step closer lest he put Luna in danger.

For something that looked so old and fragile, just being reminded of its appearance made Twilight's fur stand on end.

"I want security tripled- no, Quadrupled! I want actual fucking guards down here! We can't have Pooch run all the way to Canterlot whenever something happens, We need a quicker response! Don't try and stop this Celestia, I am not relenting on this decision!" Twilight watched Blueblood yell loudly, his authoritative voice betraying his current appearance, being covered in drool and laying on Cerberus's stomach, the large dog hugging him as if he were a giant teddy bear.

"When you say Pooch, do you mean Cerb-" One of the guards lifted a hoof to ask a question, only to get picked up in the Prince's Telekinesis and thrown across the floor.

"Don't fucking Interrupt me!" He yelled before he returned to angrily rant at the guards, making Twilight turn her attention elsewhere, trying her best to ignore the scene in front of her.

"Princess Luna? How are you holding up?" Twilight asked as she trotted towards the second Alicorn in Tartarus, her ears briefly flicking as the sound of one of the many caged monsters roared loudly, only to be smacked on the head by a living statue, followed by the Prince yelling at it to simmer down.

"Friend Twilight? What are you doing here?" Princess Luna turned to look at Twilight, blinking away the tiredness in her eyes.

"Princess Luna, A few days ago I received a message from a me from the future who told me that a horrible disaster was going to happen before next Tuesday Morning and-" Twilight started to speak, her words going a mile a minute as she told Princess Luna of all that happened to her before reaching Tartarus.

"So let us get this straight, You received a vision from the future-" Luna started.

"A message from a time traveler, actually, she was physically in my house,"

"-And instead of letting the Time Traveler pass on her message, you cut her off, multiple times, and now you're stressing out because you do not know what the disaster she wanted to warn you about was?" Luna finished, raising an eyebrow at the Element of Magic.

"Well... When you put it that way, Yes! That's exactly what's happening! At first, I thought Cerberus leaving Tartarus was going to be the Disaster, but all he did was get you and the Prince to come over, So then I thought that whatever Cerberus was trying to warn you about was going to be the Disaster, so I asked to join Celestia in coming here to stop it, but then the creature that escaped got stopped by the guards that came along, so it can't be him, And Tuesday is only five days away and-" Twilight stopped her talking and took a long and deep breath, letting the air slowly exhale from her nose as she calmed herself down.

"You do not know what to do now?" Luna asked, Twilight nodded silently, her head hanging down.

"It's just- Whatever is coming is so impactful that I had to travel back in time to warn about it, but everything that could have been somewhat related to the Disaster seemed to just solve itself without my involvement, so now I'm lost," Twilight sat down on the rocky floor beside the Princess.
"What do I do now?"

Princess Luna lowered her body to the ground, turning to lie on her side, her cheek being held in her hoof, before she opened her mouth and told Twilight, "Have you tried to relax?"

Twilight paused at that, turning her head to look at the face the Princess of the Night was making, "I- I don't have time to relax, whatever is coming is going to be horrible, I need to figure out what it is before-"

"No, Twilight, listen to us, Being stressed doesn't help anypony, look at Blueblood over there for example," Luna pointed with a wing at the Prince, causing Twilight to turn and look, Seeing Blueblood marching around, his face red in anger, the few guards that dared get close to him suddenly finding themselves several meters in the air before gravity took its hold once more and they plummeted down to the floor.

"For as long as we've known him, Blueblood has always worked himself to the bone, so it's our duty as his friend to remind him to relax and not let the stress of all his work consume him, otherwise you end up with Mr. Grumpy over there," Luna chuckled at the childish name she came up with, "Whenever he's not working, Blueblood is full of life and vigor, always having these modern words of wisdom that we haven't heard before, throwing his playful banter at everypony around him, he really made Bantering into an art-form let us tell you, but just like you, Blueblood doesn't like leaving things half done,"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What we mean is that whenever Blueblood starts a project, he doesn't stop until he's finished it, which usually leaves him as a stressful mess who gets angered by the smallest inconvenience," Luna smiled at the memory of dropping Poison Joke on him, "Today, we wanted to bring him to a Spa visit, get rid of all the accumulated stress, help him relax, but then Cerberus came and whisked us away," Luna shook her head before she returned to look at Twilight.

"You should try going to the spa, it seemed to really help Blueblood, at least before Cerberus came up, Do something to relax, take your mind off the Disaster, It'll help you, we're sure of it," Luna stopped talking before letting out a long and tired sigh, "Sorry Twilight, we're not much help with Prophetic visions,"

"Time travel,"

"Same idea," Luna rolled her eyes before closing them, her still tired body deciding it was nap time, leaving Twilight with her thoughts once more.

"Maybe... Maybe I should take a day off, just one, before returning to stopping the Disaster," Twilight nodded to herself, "I mean, I still have five more days, there's plenty of time to figure out the Disaster in four of those, yeah!" Twilight kept nodding, agreeing with her decision.

Somewhere else in Tartarus, a black blob of Magic with a single blue eyes tapped a tendril of magic on the glass walls of her cage.

"Do those Imbeciles not hear me?! I heard everything! I know what Tirek talked about! HELLO!!! I'm a Nightmare for crying out loud! I was listening to the dream! HELLO?! DO YOU IDIOTS HAVE A HEARING DISABILITY?! OVER HERE!!!!" Nightmare Moon was furiously trying to grab the ponies' attention, her small body barely audible over the sounds of the guards being thrown around by an angry Prince.

"IMBECILES!!!"

Spike the Dragon stretched his back, enjoying the popping sounds that escaped his spine as he lifted his arms above his head and let out a relaxed sigh.
"I wish Twilight would go on epic adventures more often," A relaxed smile graced his face, "Best night's sleep I've had in weeks,"

He slowly climbed out of his bed and walked down the stairs, entered the kitchen and peered inside. He debated between taking a glass of Apple Juice or a glass of milk, before deciding that a glass of regular tap water is all he really needed.
Grabbing himself a nice bowl of crushed Onyx and Topaz, Spike sat down at the kitchen table, shoved a spoonful of crushed gemstones into his mouth, and started to eat a quiet and relaxing breakfast.

Only for the few minutes of peace of quiet to suddenly disappear with the sound of the front door opening, signaling Twilight's return.
Quickly finishing his breakfast and dropping the bowl into the sink, Spike went to greet his big sister.

"Hey Twilight, How'd it go with Cerberus?" He asked, before freezing at the sight in front of him, "Umm, Twilight, are you okay? You don't look so... Umm, What's the correct word to use here?"

Twilight Sparkle turned to look at Spike after a brief delay, dark circles under her eyes, she looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Oh, hey Spike, Sorry I didn't come back sooner, Princess Luna told me to take a day to relax so I stayed in Canterlot for a night," Twilight yawned, not bothering to hide her mouth behind her hoof, too tired to care.

"Did- I mean- You don't look relaxed at all, are you sure you're okay?" Spike walked up and held his claw to Twilight's shoulder.

"Me? Oh yeah, pfft, of course, I am totally relaxed, no stress here, haha!" Twilight gave a stiff, before cringing backward a bit as Spike's stomach started to rumble.

"Oh, Right after breakfast?" Spike groaned before he opened his mouth and belched out a magical flame, a rolled up piece of paper flying out and hitting Twilight in the face.

Twilight's eyes widened, "Oh no!" she exclaimed before running to the nearest mirror, tripping over herself along the way, resulting in her skidding on the floor using her chest as a board, before her head landed face to face with her reflection on the mirror, tiredly lying on the ground and staring in horror at what stood before her.

"What's the problem? It's just a skin cream recommendation from Princess Luna, it says here that both she and Prince Blueblood use it," Spike read out the letter, "Hey, How is Prince Blueblood anyway? We haven't really interacted with him at all, even at Hearth's Warming we only exchanged greetings and that's it, Isn't it weird that we know three out of four Royals here? I think It'll be cool to know the only Stallion Royal, There's a bit too much girly stuff in your life, maybe you two will get along,"

"No Spike, It isn't cool at all!" Twilight turned to look at him, most likely having ignored whatever the Dragon just said as she pointed to a small paper cut on her face from where the letter hit her.

"Rude, I really think you need more Colt friends, maybe even a Coltfriend, you're an adult now, it's about time and-"

"Spike look!" Twilight pointed at the paper cut once more, "Future Twilight had a scar exactly like this one on her face, You know what this means?"

"...That it's not an actual scar?" The Dragon tilted his head in confusion.

"It means that whatever Disaster future Twilight tried to warn me about is still going to occur! Nothing I've done has changed the future at all, the Disaster is still coming!"

Spike stared blankly at the sight of the purple Unicorn mumbling to herself about a future Disaster with a capital D and resigned himself to a few more nights of bad sleep.

"I've done everything I could think of to try and change the future, but none of it worked," Twilight talked to herself as she walked circled around her house, "So if nothing I do can change the future, I'll have to use everything I Don't do!" With a purple spark of magic, Twilight Teleported herself to a corner of the room, "I'll just have to not do anything, If I stay here in this spot until next Tuesday, I won't be able to do whatever it is Future Twilight warned me not to do!" Twilight gasped as she said the idea out loud.
"Why didn't I think of this sooner?!" Twilight exclaimed before going rigid, her body barely moving a muscle.

"Oh really?" Spike raised an eyebrow at the statuesque Twilight, "No matter what happens, you won't move a muscle?" A smirk climbed onto his face, "Then I guess you-" He disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he ran to the kitchen before reappearing with a recognizable container in his claws, "-Wouldn't mind if I eat an entire tub of Ice Cream?"

Twilight's eyes turned to look at Spike, before quickly returning to their previous position, The Unicorn trying her best to ignore the sounds of her baby brother swallowing spoonful after spoonful of strawberry-flavored goodness.

"Spike Stop," She said through grit teeth, trying her best to speak without moving a muscle, "Think of the stomach ache,"

"Hehehe? Stomach ache? That's future Spike's problem," Spike smiled before taking another large chunk out of the Ice cream container.

Twilight didn't have the time to attempt to reorient herself when three knocks sounded on her door, followed by a Blue Pegasus walking inside.

"Hey Twilight, Another Pegasus just sent me the all-clear from Baltimare, so the Disaster isn't-" Rainbow Dash paused as she saw a baby dragon shoving his head into a bow of Ice Cream, and one of her best friends staring at him in horror, her body not moving a muscle.
"Haha, What's going on?" Rainbow Dash laughed at the sight before her, "Are you gonna' stop him?"

"She sure isn't," Spike laughed as his head popped out of the Ice Cream box, strawberry Ice cream covering his face, "In fact, she isn't gonna' move till next Tuesday. She thinks it'll prevent the Disaster from happening!"

"Oho, This is too rich!" Rainbow Dash chuckled before her eyes widened in shock, her leg pointing at something, "Oh no Twilight, there's a mouse right behind you!"

Twilight's eyes widened as her body flinched, only to relax once she noticed her two friends laughing at their annoying and juvenile prank, Don't they know the future of Equestria is at stake?!

"Wait wait! Let me try!" Spike cheered in laughter as he grabbed the Quill from the nearby bottle of Ink, before starting to tickle Twilight with the feathery end of the writing utensil.

Twilight Struggled to stop herself from laughing, her friend knew her body was sensitive to these kinds of things!

Twilight couldn't handle it, without thinking, she picked Spike up in her magic and threw him away from her, only for the impact of the Baby Dragon against the wall to produce a blast of magical green fire, flying out of his mouth and crashing into Twilight.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she moved to stand beside Spike, "Oh no!"

"What happened?" Twilight asked, finally giving up on not moving after the longest minute-and-a-half of her life.

"I'm so sorry!" Spike said, "I didn't mean to, It was a total accident!" He cowered away from Twilight's stare.

"Show me," Twilight told the prankster duo.

"Ehh, I'm not so sure that's a-" Rainbow Dash tried to dodge the situation, only for Twilight Sparkle to repeat louder.

"Show me!"

Spike swallowed his worry before he grabbed a hand mirror and lifted it up so Twilight could see.

"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed as she saw her reflection, "This is the same manecut as Future Twilight!" Her hair was frazzled and burnt, looking as if she was a survivor fighting in the apocalypse.

"You know," Rainbow Dash started, "It really doesn't look too bad..."

"I don't care how it looks! It's just another sign that the future hasn't changed!" Twilight returned to walking in circles, "Not doing anything didn't work either! Oh, I wish there was a way to know what the Disaster was!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Spike asked Twilight as the two siblings stood outside a tent, "You know most of these are fake tourist traps, right?"

"We're not here for some any Future Reading, Spike, we're here for one in particular..." Twilight furrowed her brows in readiness before she pushed the tent flap aside and walked in, Ignoring all the colorful trinkets that would be associated with Future Reading, such as the dream catcher and deck of cards, She sat in front of the Crystal Ball in the middle of the tent, waiting for the Hoof Reader in front of her to speak.

Spike's eyes moved to a pack of Tarot cards before he shook his head and sat beside Twilight, "Hey, Madam Pinkie!"

"Oooh, You have come to the wonderful tent of Madam Pinkie Pie!" The Pink Earth Pony dressed in mystic garb said as her hooves moved over the crystal ball that sat between her and Twilight, "For the answers you seek, Let us consult the mystical orb of Fates and Destiny! Oooh!" Pinkie Pie moved her legs over the orb a few more time before she dropped the act and smiled at her friends, "Do you like my mystical orb of Fate's and Destiny? I just got it, Cool huh?"

"Yeah, Eh, Best one I've seen," Twilight smiled at her friend.

"Look deep into the crystal ball! For soon it will reveal all!" Pinkie Pie returned to speaking with an echo, her legs once more moving around the Crystal ball, "Ah yes, I see something... It's a vision of the Future~ I see... You, Twilight!"

Twilight's eyes widened in astonishment, hope rushing into her as the identity of what the Disaster might be was making itself known to her.

"You will get a really cool birthday present next year~" Pinkie Pie said.

"Yes! And?" Twilight urged her friend to continue.

"That's it!"

"...Are you sure?" Twilight urged her friend to keep going.

"Yep, Really cool birthday present," Pinkie said while popping the P.

"Pinkie! I need you to use your Pinkie Sense to tell me about the impending Disaster that Future Twilight was trying to warn me about!" Twilight complained loudly.

"Oh, My Fortune telling has nothing to do with my Pinkie Sense, Silly," She smiled at her friend, "It's only good for vague and immediate events," As soon as Pinkie Pie finished, her tail started to quiver, before a potted plant fell on Twilight's head, the ceramic breaking apart and covering the Unicorn in dirt.
"Like that, see?"

"Where did that come from?" Spike asked as he scratched his head, looking for any place that plant could have fallen from.

"La Lala Lala La." Pinkie Pie was bouncing towards the Golden Oaks library, "Gosh, I haven't seen Twilight since the flower pot incident, Hope she still isn't mad," Pinkie Pie said with a carefree smile on her face, really showing off her attributes as the Element of Laughter.

Walking into the Library, Pinkie Pie went up the stairs to the Living Room, before pausing at the sight of what seemed to be a laboratory, graphs and papers littered the walls, several giant telescopes poked out of the many windows of the floor, tubes and pipes seemed to connect everything together as more papers moved around like a vacuum cleaner.

"Four point six degrees off from yesterday," Twilight said as she looked through a Telescope, dashing over to a graph to look it over once more, "Carry over the fifteen," She then moved to a notebook, a quill held in her magic as she wrote down something about the moons of a distant planet.

"Hiya Pinkie," Spike waved hello to his Pink friend, the container of Ice Cream still held in his claws.

"Wow, Twilight's really trying hard to figure out what her future Birthday Present is, isn't she?" Pinkie Pie nodded to herself as she kept watching Twilight Teleport around the room, noting down different discoveries in many different notebooks scattered around the room.

"Who cares? As long as I can keep eating Ice cream, sorry future spike," Spike smiled as he took another bite from the Strawberry-flavored treat.

Pinkie Pie walked up to Twilight, a slight look of worry on her face, "Are you okay?"

Twilight lowered the quill as she turned to look at her friend, her mane was frazzled, the paper cut on her face hadn't healed yet, and now a bandage was wrapped around her head from where the flower pot fell on her, "Ah, Pinkie, I'm glad you're here," She grabbed her hooves and dragged her to one of the telescopes, "Can you help me recalibrate the apertures on the Nine-and-quarter-inch Catadioptric telescopes?"

"Sure!"

"So I was thinking, After I came to see Madam Pinkie and the Flower Pot landed on my head," She pointed at the bandage on her head, "See the bandage? Just like the bandage from the future,"

"Nice!" Pinkie Pie smiled, the words leaving Twilight's mouth going straight through one ear and out the other.

"I had an epiphany after the flower pot, Doing things didn't work, not doing things didn't work, and I couldn't predict the future either, So I only had one other choice!"

"Monitor Everything!"

"Makes sense to me," Pinkie smiled along.

"That way, no matter what happens in the future, I'll be ready! I thought I saw something last night in the Horse-Head Nebula, but after staring at it for three straight hours I realized I was wrong!" Twilight chuckled to herself.

"Three hours?" Pinkie Pie repeated the word, "But when did you sleep?"

"Oh, I didn't sleep, I haven't slept since Future Twilight was here! There's only three days left until next Tuesday, I can sleep all I want after that!"

Spike opened a new container of Ice cream, dropping the old container into a growing pile of ice cream containers, "You've been awake too long Twilight,"

"Yeah! Tuesday's not three days from now, Tuesday's tomorrow," Pinkie Pie pointed out.

Twilight gasped in shock before teleporting over to the Telescope in a flash of purple magic, "Pinkie, did you finish recalibrating the apertures on the nine-and-quarter-inch catadioptric telescopes?" She asked as she popped next to the Telescope.

"I have no Idea!" Pinkie Pie said with cheer, not understanding a word of the science mumbo jumbo Twilight tried to tell her.

Twilight looked into the Telescope, only to be greeted with the Sun, "Ah! My eye!" She yelled as she fell backward, her hoof covering her eyes.

"Don't worry Twilight!" Pinkie Pie hurridly said as she rushed to Twilight's hearth, "I have eye patches stashed all over Ponyville for situations just like these! Or in case Pirates invade!" She grabbed the hidden eye patch from behind the dusty hearth and wrapped it over her friend's eye.
"There! Now you look like a Pirate, a sleepy pirate with a really weird manecut," Pinkie said as she pushed a mirror over for Twilight to look at.

"The Eyepatch... Another sign!" Twilight exclaimed for what must have been the hundredth time this last week, "Nearly all the signs have come true, and I haven't done a thing to prevent the catastrophe!" She cried before running to a blackboard.

"If Tuesday's tomorrow, and the Disaster happens before Tuesday Morning, that only leaves one solution!"

"That you're overthinking it? Princess Luna told you what to do since the beginning, didn't she?" Spike raised an eyebrow, only to frown when he saw that neither of the two ponies in the room were listening to him.

"I'll just have to stop time!" Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie, "We're going to need to break into the Canterlot Castle Archives Starswirl the Bearded wing! Can I count on you?"

"Yep! I always have sneaky ninja outfits for situations just like this! Let me go grab them!" Pinkie Pie nodded in excitement at the idea of breaking into Canterlot Castle before she dashed out of the library, intent on returning with the perfect sneaking setup.

Spike could only sigh at the knowledge that he'd likely not be sleeping tonight before he stood up and went to grab some more ice cream.

The inevitable stomach ache was going to be a problem for Future Spike.

Author's Note

Woowee! This was a surprisingly long chapter, but I needed to get this portion of the Arc out of the way, preferably in one chapter instead of two.

Pinkie Pie, I don't think it's appropriate to dress like that in this day and age, Pinkie Pie? Hellooooo???

I'm sorry, Women with dark circles under their eyes make me weak!

If you haven't yet, please fill out this short little questionnaire over here!

This was a very Twilight heavy chapter, Girl needed a chapter to herself, she is the Main Character of the show after all.

Next chapter we'll be getting more BB don't worry.

And to all the people who thought the last chapter didn't go anywhere, you all seemed to forget about everybody's favorite blob of Living Darkness, Moony! Princess Luna's dark side given form! She's the real MVP of this story!

Next chapter is Chapter 100, but we won't be celebrating with the Bonus Chapter until the Arc is done.

Please fill out the >Form< and thank you all for enjoying the story so far!

Chapter 100: It's About Time 7

"Blueblood, I know you're trying to research as much as you can about Tirek and all that, but can we, And I mean this from the bottom of my heart when I say this, Can we please not spend another day in the library?" Starlight Glimmer was losing her mind from boredom, there were only so many days in a row she could spend in a library before even she started to get annoyed.

"Starlight, I already told you fifty thousand times, Something happened with Tirek and I have no memory of it, If I want to figure out what that son of a bitch was doing, I need to learn as much as I can about him, and if that means reading every single book in the Archives that goes over Tirek, then I'm going to do so," Prince Blueblood Platinum said, not bothering to look at his friend as he read through yet another autobiography of some historically significant individual that was alive and in Equestria when Tirek first attacked.

"Look, I get that, But we've spent three days in a row here, You're even getting the staff to bring you food, and the only times you leave is to use the restroom and sleep, I haven't seen you this focused about something since the week preceding the Caninia trip, I'm actually debating whether I should just leave you here alone, take Comet out for a walk or something, anything to stretch my legs," Starlight frowned as she stretched her legs, a sound similar to creaking floorboards sounding out as she did so.

"Your legs aren't supposed to sound like that," Blueblood pointed out before flipping the page, already noting to himself that the book he was reading was as useless as the rest.

"Those weren't my legs, Unlike you, I'm not a Pirate junkie, I haven't replaced them with wooden pegs yet," Starlight rolled her eyes before looking at a painting on the wall, noting the eyes of the painting motioning her to come over.

"Key word being Yet," Blueblood huffed as he threw the book down to a large pile of other biographies and historical accounts, before grabbing a new book from a different pile and opening it, "Also, Tell Raven to cancel the next two days of my schedule,"

"Will do," Starlight grunted as she stretched her aching back, cringing at the popping sounds coming from her spine before she walked out of the library door and into the empty hallway outside.

She didn't have to wait long before one of the paintings on the wall opened up, Raven Inkwell walked out into the corridor, and the two mares shared a look of exasperation before Starlight pointed her chin towards the door she just came from.
"Colts." She said with a roll of her eyes, the Earth Pony joining her before the two left to get lunch.

"Aargh!" Back inside the Castle Library, Prince Blueblood was pulling at his mane, "You're telling me that Tirek has been in Tartarus for over one thousand years, and not one person thought it might be a good idea to even try and get a read of his goals, his psychology, his past, anything?! This is actual dogshit! None of this is usable!" Blueblood had to physically stop himself from picking up the nearest chair and throwing it as hard as he could at the wall.

Blueblood took a deep breath and closed his eyes, holding the air in his lungs for several moments before he let it out in a slow and relaxing exhale, with but a thought he turned off all the magic he was using, several levitating books falling to the floor as he did so.

And with slow and tiring effort, Blueblood opened his eyelids, revealing a pair of Ice-blue bloodshot eyes, the Illusion he cast over his face now gone, the usually handsome prince now replaced with a Stallion who looked like he really needed a break.

"All I got is the Forbidden Section to check, and then I'm getting a fucking vacation," He whispered to himself, rubbing his leg over his face, "Chrysalis tries to assassinate me, A Week later I finally go for the Deer and come back with no questions answered and more brought up, and not even a full week later Tirek escapes Tartarus, does something to me, and then gets thrown back into a cell with no interrogation and barely any extra security, I'm starting to get grey hairs and I'm only 29..." A tired groan escaped his throat as he leaned his head on the table.

"If Someone had told me, that it would be more tiring to play the game of Politics than it was to take down International Arms Dealers in Cambodia, I would have told Albatross he's smoked something wrong, But now I'm not so sure," He whispered, closing his eyes for but a moment to let them rest, planning on getting some eye drops and a bunch of cheap energy drinks brought to him soon.

"Hey, Blueblood, Wake up," He sighed as he heard Starlight try and get his attention, Already back from whatever Girl's talk she and Raven were having.

"Just a moment," He mumbled, still letting his eyes rest, weakly pushing Starlight's leg away when she tried to shake him.

"Blueblood, It's Nine in the evening, Wake up," Starlight's words elicited a groan from the Prince, who slowly and weakly opened his eyes and turned to look at his Purple coated Bodyguard.

"Oh my, Blueblood, what happened to your eyes?" Starlight took a step back when the pair of bloodshot orbs stared at her, the irises blurry and unfocused, as if the Prince wasn't actually looking at her but at something behind her, "Never mind, You need to get some rest!"

"No time," Blueblood weakly said as he slowly stood up on shaky legs, "I need to go through the Starswirl wing, and then take a look if the Mistmane wing has anything about Tirek or the..." Blueblood's legs wobbled as he seemingly dozed off before continuing, "Centaurs! Or maybe Gargoyles.... None of these books have anything about either of them! and Tirek's brother has only been mentioned in two of them..." Blueblood yawned, his jaw almost seeming to dislocate with how big he opened his mouth, "I still don't know how he was defeated, All these papers are saying is that Scorpan, that's his brother, Betrayed him, and then Starswirl, who wasn't yet bearded, sprung a trap. There's no mention of what the trap was, there's no mention of how Scorpan betrayed him, There's no mention of anything else, FUCK! I'm pretty sure Starswirl and Scorpan were having an affair, and I'm not even sure if that's true or not, but it sure is hell more than I know about anything Tirek did!" Blueblood started to march around the table in the middle of the floor.

"Blueblood, you're tired and you're stressed, I am suggesting, not as your bodyguard, but as your friend, that you go to sleep, You clearly need it," Starlight said gently, trying to coax the prince into giving his search a rest.

"Starlight you don't get it!" Blueblood said hurriedly, "It's only a matter of time before Tirek escapes again, and I need to be able to defeat him when that happens!"

"You don't need to defeat anyone, except maybe Chrysalis, Why do you even care so much?" Starlight asked.

"Because then I can point at Celestia and say 'I told you so!' and she'd say something along the lines of 'Oh wow, it seems you're ready to take on some more important tasks,' And I'd wave my hoof at her like, 'Oh you, I was just doing what any Prince would do,' and then she'd give me some actual form of authority here in Equestria because I'm doing more than Cadance is and I'm kind of tired of still being lower than her in the line of succession, And also because I seem to be the only person in this castle that actually cares about security! We can't all rely on these Elements of Harmony, In a year all they did was stop Nightmare Moon and then turn some asshole named Discord into a Statue, do you have any idea what I've done in that time?!" Blueblood huffed tiredly before pausing, only to then start giggling to himself as if he thought of a funny joke only he got, "Starlight, get me some energy drinks, NOT coffee, I need something cold, And get it to me quickly!" Blueblood yelled before he turned away from Starlight and started running deeper into the library.

"...Why would you want more work?" Starlight shook her head before sighing tiredly and leaving the library, walking to get the Prince's energy drinks, making sure she walked slow enough so that hopefully he'd fall asleep before she returned.

Sneaking through the streets of Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle had her eyes set on Canterlot Castle, or more specifically, at the Spire of the Castle that constituted the Canterlot Archives, or to be even more specific, the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Archives, were some of the most protected spells and information was kept.

"Why are we even sneaking around?" Spike the Dragon asked, his clawed feet tapping on the cobbled roads of Canterlot as he followed Twilight, "It's not illegal to walk around at Night,"

"We're supposed to be sneaking? I just thought we wore these sneaking outfits for the aesthetic," Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced after Twilight, the Unicorn dashing between bushes and hiding behind statues as the group made their way closer to the Castle.

"Guard!" Twilight suddenly yelped, Jumping into a bush, accidentally ripping a part of her skintight sneaking suit that definitely was not bought at an adult store.

Following Twilight's example, Pinkie Pie jumped into a nearby fountain while Spike ran to pose beside one of the many statues that decorated the path toward the Castle.

The group waited for the pony wearing the dark blue armor of the Night guards to pass by before crawling out of their hiding spots.

"This is fun!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as her head popped out of the fountain, her skintight black suit making squeaky noises as she followed Twilight.

"No, This is not fun!" Twilight turned to tell her friend before she dashed into another bush, only to immediately jump behind a bench, following up by rolling underneath the legs of a statue.

"Oh..." Pinkie Pie said as she turned to look at Spike, neither of them following Twilight's Example of Sneaking, "I still don't understand how sneaking into the archives is going to help her find out about her birthday present,"

Spike answered by shrugging and taking a lick of his triple-scoop tower of Ice Cream.

Gently opening the bottom of the window, Twilight Sparkle looked left to right before nodding that the coast was clear of guards.

"Okay, The coast is clear, now slowly lift me u-" Her words cut off as a Pink earth Pony threw her head first through the open window, not caring for the sounds they were making as they followed Twilight into the Castle.

The group hid behind a turn in the corridor, hiding from the searchlight of a passing guard.

They then snuck behind a pair of guards who were staring out the window, hoping the two wouldn't turn around.
Or, at least, Twilight was sneaking. Spike was casually licking his Ice Cream while Pinkie Pie was happily bouncing after her.

"Hey Doorknob, Did you hear something?" Asked one of the guards.
"Nope," The second guard answered before the two returned to silently staring out the window.

"Okay, If my calculations are correct, the Starswirl the Bearded wing should be right around here!" Twilight whispered as she stood up after twenty minutes of sneaking around.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike raised his hand to ask a question.

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight responded quietly.

"Isn't this the window we came in from?" Spike pointed at the nearest window, which as it turned out, was the exact same window she came in through.

"Cool, Can we climb through the window again?" Pinkie Pie asked before jumping out the window and climbing back in, "That was super fun."

"I don't understand..." Twilight started to walk in circles, "It's supposed to be right here, How are we supposed to find it now?" Her mind began to race, was there perhaps a magical spell hiding the wing from trespassers? Was the place perhaps under renovation, and so they moved everything somewhere else?

Or perhaps Twilight Sparkle was simply sleep-deprived and didn't see the door leading to the Starswirl the Bearded Wing.

Something which became apparent when Pinkie Pie pointed at the sign over the secure door.

"..." Twilight turned away from her friend and stared through the metal bars securing the door, like a prison cell of knowledge, "Look at all those priceless scrolls..." She whispered as she took a cursory look at the entrance of the Wing.

Now came the question, How do they get inside?

Prince Blueblood felt like slamming his head against the table, and so he did that.
"Useless! This entire wing is Useless!" He yelled before standing up and walking to the only window in the Archive wing he was staying at, "So many scrolls of advanced spells and ancient knowledge, and none of them tell me anything about Tirek!" If he could, he would have thrown something against the window just to hear the glass shatter.

His vision was starting to blur, His legs wobbled as he stood in a daze, each page taking several minutes to read through sluggishly.

"Caw!" Blueblood frowned as he stared at a bird on the other side of the window.

"Red? Probably one of Celestia's Zookeeping pets from her bullshit sanctuary," Blueblood groaned as he tried to focus on the red bird outside the window, "What? Are you looking at something? I'm wide awake, Fit as a fiddle, and can keep going for hours! I'm not tired!" He could barely see the bird through the fog covering his eyesight, but he felt as if the Bird was looking down at him.

Pitying him.

"Hah? Don't look at me like that, Asshole! I'm one of the Richest ponies alive, I can do whatever I want!" He taunted the bird, "I'm the textbook definition of freedom, baby! So don't you dare look down on me like you know something I don't!" He slammed his hoof against the window, the secure glass only causing his hood to bounce right off, the weak flash of pain causing a bit of clarity to return to Blueblood, as he looked back at the window only to find the bird gone.

"Yeah. Fly away! Like the coward you are..." Blueblood sneered at the tree where to bird previously sat.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door to the wing open up, and as if a bucket of ice had been dumped on his head, Prince Blueblood was wide awake.

"Three pairs of hooves? No, Two pairs of hooves are walking, the third pair is actually four hooves all moving in sync. Bouncing? That would explain the sounds, but why bounce? And what about the last pair of... Footsteps? A Harpy? or perhaps a Diamond Dog? A small one in any case..." Blueblood felt his horn pulse with the soft touch of Magic, his body disappearing as it melted into an Illusion.

"Now, Who are you..." He whispered under the cloak of invisibility, Another pulse of magic grabbing a nearby pen from the table where he hoped to write down notes.
The pen flew at Blueblood, before being caught in mid-air, another pulse of magic caused the pen to bend and break, the pieces then melding together into the shape of a shiv, held together with blue lines of magic, levitating invisibly in the Prince's grasp.

"I didn't expect the door to be unlocked..." Spike said as he took one last lick of his Ice Cream before eating the cone in one bite.

"We're lucky..." Twilight breathed heavily as she listened to the guards hoof steps walk further away from the door, "That nopony saw us..."

"What do we do know?" Pinkie asked as she peeked her head from behind a bookshelf.

Twilight turned to answer, only to spot her reflection in a nearby mirror, "Oh no, This is exactly how Future Twilight looked! All the signs are here!" She turned to her friends, "We need to find the Time Stopping spell to make sure the Disaster never arrives!"

Keeping his body close to the floor in a dark corner of the Archives wing, Blueblood Platinum felt right at home, lying on his stomach, keeping his eyes on the intruders.
Once they find whatever it is they're looking for, he'd intrude on their little party.

The one with the ripped outfit was a Unicorn, who knows what Magic she has?

The bipedal one was an Unknown creature, too dangerous to try and take him.

But the bouncing one? Earth Pony, voice seems to indicate early to mid-twenties, Speaks a lot, Seems to not know the depth of the situation she was in, Perfect for interrogation.

Now, Interrogation wasn't his Strongest field, Information gathering was always Heron's job, But that doesn't mean he was useless at it.

And besides, Staying low for hours at a time was what he did.

He might be sleep-deprived and stressed out, But for the moment, Blueblood Platinum felt as awake as he ever was.

"Keep your eyes on the target..." He whispered to himself, his eyes following the trio through a pair of Silver Orbs, hidden under an Illusion close to the ceiling.

Twilight was searching scrolls and books for the spell she could use to stop time. A minute turned to ten, Twenty minutes turned to an Hour, and an hour into two.

"Twilight," Twilight's turned to look at Spike, the baby dragon pointing at the only window in the wing, "The sun is rising,"

"It's officially Tuesday morning..." Twilight whispered in Horror before curling up into a ball and holding on to her head, bracing for the inevitable arrival of the horrible Disaster.

"Nothing's happening..." She whispered after twenty seconds, deciding then to stand back up and look out the window, Watching the sun calmly rise from behind the horizon, "There's no Disaster..."

"I mean, I don't see any disasters," Spike nodded before taking off the black skintight hood of the sneaking outfit he wore, "It looks like a pretty nice day,"

"But... Why? Future Twilight said she was from Tuesday Morning, Today! The Disaster should have happened by now..." Twilight looked at the nearby songbirds on a tree, singing the song of the morning.

"Maybe there wasn't a disaster to begin with?" Spike asked, "What if you already solved it without realizing and then spent the rest of the week stressing out for no reason?"

"You mean... I did all of this for nothing?" Twilight quietly asked as she blankly looked at the songbirds.

"I wouldn't say for nothing, You still Disaster proofed Equestria, remember?" Spike smiled awkwardly at his attempt to cheer his sister up.

"So... I was making myself frantic over nothing?" Twilight and Spike turned away from the window.

"I don't get it, If future Twilight wasn't warning you about a Disaster, then what was she trying to tell you?" Spike asked.

Twilight thought those words over for a moment before a soft giggle escaped her lips as a smile appeared on her face, "I don't know, But I do know one thing," She touched the bandage wrapped around her head with her leg, "I look ridiculous," The two sibling started laughing.

"And It's all because I couldn't stop worrying and let the future handle itself," Twilight smiled at the thought, her Friendship Lesson of the week already prepared.
"Well, Not anymore! From now on, I'm gonna solve problems as they come-" Twilight froze as a cough sounded behind her.

"What's wrong?" Spike turned to look at Twilight, watching his Sister's eyes frantically move all over the empty Archives in search of something.

"Hey, Spike..." Twilight took a step back, her eyes looking at the window on the wall as if expecting something to come crawling in through it, "Why was the door to the Starswirl the Bearded wing unlocked?"

"I don't kn-"

"Twilight Twilight! I found something!" The Sibling's train of thought was interrupted by Pinkie Pie dropping by, her Hood no longer covering her mane, as she held a scroll in her hooves.

With a purple glow to her horn, Twilight took the scroll and levitated her towards herself.

"It doesn't stop time, But it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once and It only lasts for a few moments, Does that help?" Pinkie asked with a Smile.

Twilight shook her head to clear the worry away, "Pinkie, You're a genius!"

Pinkie cheered at the compliment.

"Now I can go back in time and tell past Twilight that she doesn't need to go berserk with worry about a Disaster that's never gonna' come!" Twilight started to get ready to cast the spell, her legs spread in a wide stance, her eyes closed in concentration as her horn started to gather energy.

Only to stop quickly and open her eyes as a scream of fright entered her ears.

"You finish that spell and your pal gets a new breathing hole!" Twilight immediately dropped the Spell and turned to see Pinkie Pie being held down by a White Unicorn, his wavy blonde mane was frazzled and unkempt, his Ice-Blue eyes were bloodshot and piercing, and beside Pinkie's neck levitated a makeshift knife, one wrong move promising a quick end to the Earth Pony.

"Woah! Hold on hold on hold on! Don't hurt her!" Twilight Yelled, Her eyes widening at the hostage situation she suddenly found herself in, "She was helping me, I can explain everything! Please! Put the knife down!" Twilight felt her legs weaken at the danger in front of her.

"Your explanation for why you broke into Canterlot Castle, trashed one of the most secure Archives in the world, and then planned on casting a Spell that was locked here, all in the span of a few hours, better involve saving Orphans dying of cancer, or else this carpet might be getting a new shade of red introduced..." The White Unicorn growled at Twilight, the Shiv still pointing at Pinkie Pie's neck.

Spike was seemingly paralyzed in fear, the simple thought that he could be watching one of his best friends die in front of him was more than enough to get the Young Dragon to shut down.

"Okay! Please listen to me, Don't hurt her-" Twilight tried to calm the Unicorn down.

"SPEAK!"

Twilight hurriedly nodded her head and introduced herself, "My name is Twilight Sparkle-"

"Occupation and place of living?"

"Wha-" Twilight blinked at the sudden question.

"What's your job and where do you live? Are you slow or something?!" The Unicorn barked at her, the knife poking a soft part of Pinkie's neck, not hard enough to draw blood but definitely enough to be felt.

"I'm a Librarian from Ponyville!" Twilight hurriedly answered, "A week ago I got a message from myself from the Future,"

"Okay, So you're not only stupid, You're a fucking schizophrenic as well," The Unicorn said, ignoring the wide smile on his hostage as her eyes seemed to widen with recognition.

"No silly! Twilight Sparkle is the Element of Magic, Don't you know that?" Pinkie Pie's smile seemed to stretch to the corners of her face, "Pirate Wizard?"

As soon as the last two words exited her mouth, Pinkie Pie found herself being thrown away from the Unicorn, her body rolling on the floor for a bit before crashing into Twilight's wobbly legs and downing her like a Bowling pin.

"Fuck! Why are you here?!" The Unicorn yelled as he threw the Shiv into the ceiling, the makeshift weapon breaking against the stone, "Don't tell me... NO! I refuse to accept that!" The Unicorn pointed angrily at Pinkie Pie.

"Wait..." Spike whispered as his mind seemed to turn back on, "Prince Blueblood?"

"NOOOO!!!!" Prince Blueblood collapsed to his knees, a look of defeat on his face as he stared at the Pink Devil who smiled widely as she bounced closer to him, pulling the Platinum Prince into a soft pink hug.

"I missed you too! Sorry that your Birthday didn't turn out so good! I promise I'll make you one much better next year! It'll have twice the balloons and twice the cake! We're gonna have twice the fun!" Pinkie Pie's hug turned softer as she started nuzzling her cheek against the Prince's cheek in an attempt to stop the tears from escaping his eyes.

"Equestria is doomed..." He whispered underneath his tears, no longer trying to pry the Pink Devil from his shoulders, "The Elements of Harmony are Idiots... We're all going to die..."

"Wait... Prince Blueblood? What are you doing here?" Twilight calmed down as she watched the situation defuse.

"What am I doing here?" Prince Blueblood repeated her question, his tired eyes turning to glare at her, "I LIVE HERE!!! WHOSE CASTLE DO YOU THINK YOU SNUCK INTO?!?!" His yell turned into sobbing as Pinkie Pie hugged him tighter.

"There there pookie bear, Let all the sadness out," She whispered as she started rocking him back and forth.

"You-" Blueblood turned to Twilight, the intensity in his eyes causing the Unicorn to take a step back, "You broke into the castle, because a Future version of you came to tell you, that an unspecified Disaster was going to happen, And you didn't stop for a second to think if you're maybe hallucinating?"

"...Well, When you put it like that," Twilight scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"...I'm surrounded by Idiots, everyone around me is an Idiot, I finally figured it out, I'm the only smart person he-he-he-here!" Blueblood started speaking before devolving into more crying, causing Pinkie Pie's Power of Pink Puffiness to swell as she hugged him in a much softer embrace than before.

"...Go, Close the Time Loop or whatever, Don't let the past version of yourself physically interact with you and all that yada yada Paradox bullshit, Just... Just go... I'm not Drunk enough to deal with any of you..." Blueblood closed his eyes and lowered his head in defeat, The previously intimidating Unicorn now looking like a tired mess.

Twilight smartly decided that she wouldn't take this chance for granted as she cast the spell and disappeared from the Canterlot Archives, only to reappear two second later "-Stop wasting your time worrying about... Ugh, I can't believe I just did that!"

"Did you get your message across?" Pinkie Pie asked from her spot laying in Blueblood's lap like some sort of oversized puppy, her legs latching onto the defeated Prince and hugging him in an attempt to put a smile on his face.

"Of course she didn't," Blueblood said weakly, "She returned from wherever she was with a sentence already halfway through her mouth, and seeing as the original message didn't get across properly, suffice to say this one didn't either, Time Loop has been closed, the world isn't going to be swallowed in a Paradox, I'm still the smartest person in the room, I'm out!"
Blueblood stood up, dropping Pinkie Pie onto the floor, "Unless your Librarian Job requires you to wear BDSM gear, I suggest you change," He told Twilight, who replayed his words in her mind before she looked at the ripped sneak suit she wore.

Skintight black latex.

"I'll tell the staff to get three rooms-"

"Two, Twilight and I share a room," Spike interrupted the Prince.

"I'll tell the staff to get two rooms for you three to rest in," Blueblood sighed tiredly as he walked towards the door leading into the wing, "As Elements of Harmony, you are invited to stay at Canterlot Castle anytime, especially during an emergency, such as closing a time loop, Next time, please don't sneak around in the middle of the night, I might have actually just killed one of you If this Pink Beast wasn't here," Blueblood walked passed an awkwardly smiling Twilight before he stopped at the Door.

"As Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria, I am humbly inviting you to stay a day at the Castle," He turned back to the group and gave a short bow.

"I'm so tired, I think I'll just fall asleep here," Spike said as he walked up to Twilight, who nodded to accept the Prince's generous invitation.

"Great, And also-" The Prince's professional smile turned into an icy glare, "If you speak to anyone about what transpired here tonight, You will be hearing from my lawyers," And with that glare, Prince Blueblood turned away from the group, slammed his body against the doorframe, before correcting himself and leaving the door proper, his legs wobbling as his tired body dragged him to his room.

"...A bed in the castle?! Do you think the mattress is bouncy?" Pinkie Pie asked with a smile before she started bouncing after the Prince, A cry of 'Get away from me!' going ignored by the Element of Laughter as she tackled her Unicorn friend into another hug.

Blueblood stared blankly at the Purple Unicorn that stood above him, trying his best to ignore the Pink menace glued to his back as he tried to focus on the aquamarine streak of hair in the Unicorn's mane.

"Where were you?" Blueblood asked his bodyguard.

"Well, you see, I got those Energy Drinks you asked me to get, but then I decided that I really don't want you to have them and then be grumpy for the next week, so I went to sleep and decided to come check on you in the morning to see if you hadn't died by pulling your brain out of your head while you pulled your hair," Starlight Glimmer said, her tone of voice not at all apologetic for her actions.

"You know, If you weren't my best friend, I'd have you fired for that," Blueblood told her.

"Awww, You're my best friend too," Starlight cooed smugly at the Prince, still standing over him as he lay on the floor in the middle of the corridor.

"Just drag me to my room so I can go to sleep... And let's act like tonight never happened," Blueblood raised an eyebrow at Starlight.

"Not happening, Raven and I are having brunch tomorrow, I'm telling her everything," She smirked as she lifted Blueblood in her magic, Peeling the Pink Earth Pony from his back as if she was a plaster before dropping her down to the floor, a nearby maid quickly rushing in to pick her up and drag her to her room.

As he was dragged by the telekinetic grasp of his best friend, Prince Blueblood Platinum tiredly sighed and said the six words he always falls back to in times of need.

"I'm not drunk enough for this..."

Author's Note

Last chapter we broke 200k words on this story! Let's GOOOO!!!! CHAPTER 100 BABYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

This chapter was surprisingly chunky, being the second chapter to go past 5,000 words, making this the second longest chapter!

Next chapter is the regular Epilogue, followed by the much-anticipated Chapter 100 Bonus Celebration Chapter!

Once again, to those who haven't! Please answer this Questionnaire: Here!!!
It's only three questions and it'll be relevant for the bonus chapter!
I'm closing the Form on the 14th, so those of you who haven't, please answer before it's too late!

This episode also acted as Blueblood's first real meeting with the Elements of Harmony.

Well, two of them at least, but at least now he knows they're Elements of Harmony instead of just some randos who pop up to the castle every once in a while.

He really needs a vacation. :unsuresweetie:

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 101: It's Time to Relax

Walking down the cold, snow-covered streets of some nameless City, I felt my body shiver as I turned my body towards a thin alleyway, hidden between a pair of tall buildings, their walls shielding me from the cold.

I didn't know how long I stayed in that alleyway, I didn't know what I was trying to do, and I barely even knew what I was trying to get away from.

I was lost.

And as I sat quietly inside the alleyway, the only sound coming from me was that of my teeth rattling in the cold as my fur stood on its end, I started to cry.

I didn't know why I was crying, I simply cried. Maybe it was because of the cold, Maybe it was because I was scared of not waking up tomorrow, or maybe it was simply for everything that I went through in the past year.

And it was as I cried silently, my tears turning into drops of ice before they even reached the ground, that I felt warmth for the first time in... I'm not sure how long.

I didn't dare open my eyes, Afraid that the warmth would disappear as nothing more than an Illusion, a trick of the senses my body decided to play on me in my final moments before the cold grasp of the land beyond tomorrow took me away.

"There there, You do not need to cry," A voice, warm and sweet, whispered into my ears as I felt the cold disappear as if the small claws of biting frost didn't dare stay in the vicinity of such warmth.

I didn't say anything as I continued to silently cry, Unsure if out of fear, or perhaps hope.

Maybe my last moments wouldn't be in the freezing weather? Perhaps my mind is once again playing a trick on me, trying to give me some sense of hope before my final moments. An Illusion of a dream I never knew I had.

I felt a pair of limbs pick me up, the warmth spreading around my body as I was rocked from side to side.

"It's been almost one thousand years, but I finally found you," The voice said, I did not know what it was talking about, I was too busy trying to absorb as much heat as I could.
"My Little Prince,"

Hesitantly, I dared to open my eyes, to try and get a look at the creature that picked me up.

What greeted me instead was an empty black sky, No clouds covered the grand view of the night, the moon already halfway up in the sky, the Mare on the Moon seeming to glare at the land beneath her.
But most important, was the Star.

In the midst of the empty sky, Far away from the Moon, bereft of any clouds, I watched a single, lone star.
Gleaming beautifully in the night sky like a desert island alone in the middle of a vast ocean.

At that moment I knew, That no matter how bad things got, I would always find my way out of them.

I would never get lost again.

That Night, I was given a name and taken in by the only person I think I could ever dare call Family.

I tried to repeat the name she gave me, my lips still shivering from the cold.

"Blueblood Platinum..." What a beautiful name I have.

Prince Blueblood groaned tiredly as he woke up, slowly dragging his body out of his bed and into his bathroom in order to take a refreshing morning shower.
In the Afternoon.

After standing in his shower without moving for fifteen minutes, The Prince closed off the water and exited, not bothering to dry his fur as he let the water droplets continue dripping down his fur, leaving a puddle behind him as he walked back into his room and started moving around objects with his magic.

An hour later he exited his room carrying a large and expensive suitcase, With a quick whistle from his lips the sounds of scuttling feet came closer.

"Hey there girl," He smiled gently at the Plant-based monster he decided to keep as a pet, the Golden Plunderseed Vine Spider named Comet climbing up his body and laying on top of his back, her long vine-like tail wrapping around the Prince's midriff to keep herself steady as the two walked towards the dining room.

Opening her eyes, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but let out a yawn of tired relaxation.

Looking around where she was, she found she was lying in one of the many guest rooms of Canterlot Castle, listening to the sounds of flushing water from the nearby bathroom telling her where her little brother was.

"Ohh, I shouldn't have eaten so much Ice cream," Spike groaned as he dragged himself out of the bathroom, his back hunched as a hand covered his stomach.

Twilight didn't want to say "I told you eating so much Ice Cream was going to be bad for you," But she did so anyway.

"Urgh, Past Spike was a monster," Present Spike groaned as he climbed back up onto the comfortably large bed, crawling under the puffy blankets and returning to sleep.

"Spike, Wake up, We need to get ready to leave," Twilight nudged him gently with her legs as she too exited the bed and entered the bathroom, ready to freshen up.

"You know, I was never threatened with a knife before, It was super duper exciting, even though it was also super scary, I almost wanted to cry but then I recognized your voice so I knew you weren't actually going to stab me but it was still a new experience and It was super-" Prince Blueblood wanted to slam his head into the table as he listened to the Pink Demon go on and on about what happened this morning.

"Will giving you another bottle make you stop talking?" Blueblood asked as he tiredly turned away from his food in order to glare at the Earth Pony who was stuffing her face with food, like some sort of pig, unable to stop herself from putting more and more food into her mouth.

Pinkie Pie, Seeing as she couldn't speak with her mouth full, decided the best course of action was to force herself to swallow everything in her mouth, a face of pain etched on her face as she struggled to get everything down her throat, only to let out a loud burp when she finally did.
"Sorry, I'm told not to speak with my mouth full in such important places. You asked about a bottle? I love your bottles! You always have the best drink! Hey did you ever consider opening a store, all those drinks you have are so tasty I'm sure everypony will want to try them, There's my friend Applejack who opens a Cider stand once a year, her Cider is to die for, it's super tasty and delicious and you should try it sometime I think you-"

Prince Blueblood shoved a bottle of Bourbon in front of her face, causing the Pink Pony to shut up and grab the bottle before starting to drink it straight from the mouth.

"Pinkie Pie?! What do you think you're doing?!" Blueblood took a slow and deep breath in order to calm down before he turned to look at the Purple Unicorn that entered the dining room.

"Oh hey Twilight, Bluey just gave me one of his famous bottles, do you want to try some?" Pinkie Pie took the bottle out of her mouth and turned to Twilight.

"Yeah, No, I'm not dealing with both of you right now," Blueblood stood up and quickly left the duo behind him, taking his Suitcase and Plunderseed with him.

"...Why is he always so grumpy? Hey Twilight, do you think I can cheer him up without causing him to explode? I think I can do that easily, But I'm not sure if now is the time, there's a balance to this, Anyways do you want to try some of this? I know it's Neat, and usually, you'd want to start with an On the Rocks for your first drink, but this is really good, Hey Twilight, do you Drink?" Pinkie Pie's words caused Twilight to turn away from looking at the Prince's retreating figure and turn back to Pinkie Pie.

"I don't think it's a good idea to drink in the Castle, we are guests after all, and I never drank before, I'm not sure if this is a good idea to start doing so now," Twilight said and gently levitated the bottle out of Pinkie Pie's grasp, "Now let's go, we need to get back to Ponyville,"

"Awww, But I was so close to getting him to admit his evil world domination plan," Pinkie Pie pouted, "I had him running in my hooves, he was almost ready to admit everything,"

"Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about?" Twilight raised an eyebrow, making sure the bottle of Bourbon was away from Pinkie.

"I'll show you once we get back to Ponyville," Pinkie Pie answered before turning back to her plate and stuffing her face some more.

"I don't think we'll be leaving anytime soon," Spike said as he moved to sit in the chair where the Prince sat, taking a look at the leftovers still in front of him, before shrugging and deciding that he wasn't above eating somebody else's food.

Twilight sighed and got ready to spend another hour in the castle.

"Princess Celestia! I am going on a Vacation! I'll be back in two weeks! Please try to improve the security of the castle while I'm gone! And stop eating so much cake, it's bad for your health!" Princess Celestia smiled gently as she waved goodbye to the Illusion of Blueblood that appeared in her room.

"Cadance, I'm putting Cosmos in your care until I'm back, Don't forget to feed her twice a day and take her out on walkies, she gets grumpy when she's cooped up inside all the time. If she lays her head on your lap, try scratching her chin, Her favorite kibble is the Beef and Carrot flavored one," The Illusion of Blueblood said before disappearing, leaving behind an ornate box holding a pair of crystal shards connected to a golden chain necklace.

"...Is she a dog now?" Cadance raised an Eyebrow as she picked up the box with Cosmos's body parts and placed it beside her bed before returning to her work of planning the wedding.

"Are you sure now is a good time to do this?" Starlight Glimmer raised an Eyebrow as she followed her best friend onto a cruise ship, the two of them walking past the other passengers as they made their way to the VIP area of the ship in order to drop their bags, "Also, why did you bring Comet along?"

"Starlight, My cousin is getting married at the end of March, which means I have three weeks to try and relax until then, This ship is going to be at least four days of just sailing the sea, listening to whatever bullshit play the crew decided to hold, eating overpriced gourmet food, and just overall doing nothing." Prince Blueblood tried to explain as the duo entered their room, Blueblood placed his Plunderseed on the bed as he took his suit off, replacing it with a floral patterned buttoned shirt and a pair of sunglasses.

"Also, Comet is my responsibility, I need to take her with me on these long trips," Blueblood smiled as he scratched the Golden plant monster's back, "And before you suggest hiring a Pet-sitter, I'm telling you right now, there is no way I am letting some stranger take care of my baby," He pulled Comet into a hug, The Plunder-Spider producing clicking sounds in order to show her affection to the Prince.

Even without any eyes, Blueblood knew the Plunderseed liked him.

"You said two weeks, this ship is only for four days, what are we going to do once this is done?" Starlight raised an eyebrow as she took off her stuffy black bodyguard suit, folding her glasses away and stretching her natural body.

"Do not worry, I have everything planned, And once these two weeks of relaxation pass, We'll return to the castle and get ready for the wedding, buy a new suit and everything, Right now, all we have to do is nothing,"

"Nothing?" Starlight asked as she tested her mattress.

"Nothing at all," Blueblood let out a sigh of relaxation as he turned to the window of his cabin, opening the door to the small balcony overlooking the ship. Watching the setting sun disappear beyond the horizon.

"Something terrible is going to happen, you know that right?" Starlight decided it was a good idea to try and ruin the mood by bringing up the Prince's horrible track record of leaving the castle without something horrible happening.

"Starlight?"

"Yes Blueblood?"

"Shut up..."

"Nah, I think I'll be enjoying watching you trying, and failing, to relax," Starlight smirked at her friend.

Blueblood merely responded by letting out a tired sigh.

"Do you want to check out what drinks they have at the bar?" Starlight asked, and the Prince seemed to perk up slightly at that.

"Sure, Let's go," And with that, The two Unicorns and the Golden Plant Monster finally started their well-earned vacation.

But let us be honest with ourselves, something is going to happen.

Author's Note

I am telling you guys right now, Once this upcoming Vacation arc is over, it's time for the Canterlot Wedding arc! Season 2 is finally coming to a close after these next few chapters!!!

The next chapter will be the Bonus Chapter celebrating 100 chapters and 200k words, Hope you look forward to it.

Also, we got the first Look at OGBlood's memories, Until now we only got Newblood, but what about Oldblood? Did Newblood dream those memories? What happened to Oldblood? Does anybody care? probably some do, but Newblood is here now!

Anyway, Hope you liked the look at the time Blueblood first met Celestia. A little treat for you guys.

Perhaps we'll be saying more of his memories pop up as time goes, get a little glimpse into his past, and maybe even Newblood's past as well.
Take a look at some of his Mission with Avian, his time at the Nautical Science Academy, and Maybe some High-School memories too.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 102: The Harmony Awards (Bonus)

"We've never been to an awards ceremony before, Friend Blueblood!"

Riding in a magical carriage, Princess Luna was going over her makeup for the fortieth time that day, her long silver evening gown rolling down her body as if made of liquid moonlight, her legs kicking up and down in excitement at the ceremony she was going to be in, "It's so exciting!"

"Let's see how you feel after the first four hours, Luna." Prince Blueblood said tiredly, wearing an expensive dark blue tuxedo, having decided to forgo covering his face with an Illusion he wore a light covering of makeup on his face in order to make himself seem less tired than he actually was.
"It's all just a popularity contest anyway." He told her as he felt the carriage stop moving.

"We know... But it's got to be gratifying to be acknowledged by your peers, right? Its like, who better understands what you go through all year long?" Luna smiled at Blueblood, turning her head to the side and showing off some new earrings as if to ask "What do you think?"

"I suppose." Blueblood simply nodded at his friend before he turned to the door and stepped out once the chaperon opened it for him, once he stood outside he smiled at the many flashing cameras and turned back to the carriage to give Luna his hoof as she too exited the carriage, briefly squinting her eyes at the shower of flashing lights as the many photographers took pictures of the Royal Duo.

"Just promise you let me go to the bar if Pinkie Pie starts giving a speech about space dolphins." He whispered underneath the smile plastered on his face as the duo waved to the many ponies standing outside, making their way up the red carpet into the expensive hall where the Award Ceremony was taking place.

"Did you spot Celly or Cadance yet?" Luna whispered back to Blueblood, smile on her face as her eyes scoured the crowd of the many other visitors that were invited to the ceremony.

"Not yet, they're probably already inside," Blueblood whispered back over the sounds of flashing cameras and journalists calling out to interview the visitors, "You remember our table, right?"

"Table C, right?" Luna responded as the duo made it to the entrance of the building, where the Red Carpet finally ended.
The two royals turned back to the crowd to give one final cheerful wave with a picture-perfect smile.

"We love you Prince Blueblood!"
"Marry me, Princess Luna!"
"You're so adorable together!"
"Has someone seen my daughter?! She's in there somewhere! Chipmunk can you hear me?!"
"Prince Blueblood! Is it true that you're in a relationship with the Second Queen of Caninia?!"
"What are you talking about?! He's obviously with Princess Ambereyes! Not Lanterlight!"
"Are you two daft?! It's obvious that he and Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan are having a secret affair!"
"Who said that?! The Prince is the Number One bachelor! He's Mine!!!!"
"I'm serious! Starlight! Daddy's here! Are you in there?! Chipmunk!"

Ignoring the crowd, Luna and Blueblood stepped inside the building, taking a few steps deeper into the entrance hall, so the crowd outside will no longer be able to see them, and then dropped the smile.

"Is dealing with those Ponies always so tiring?" Luna let out an exhausted breath as her head slumped forward tiredly.

"You get used to it..." Blueblood said with an annoyed twitch in his eye, "Let's just get inside, The Ceremony should be starting soon."

"Agreed."

"Do you have eyes on the Crown?" Starlight Glimmer asked the pony she was sitting beside at their table near the back of the hall, Each table in the hall had eight seats, but none of them actually had eight people, leaving each table with at least a few seats empty.
Her black dress was decorated with blue diamonds near the back, complementing the aquamarine streaks in her hair.

"I do, Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood just entered the hall, they are on their way to their table, where Princess Celestia is already waiting." Raven Inkwell answered, the white Earth Pony wearing a simple red gown.

"Princess Cadenza is sitting over at table H, with Captain Shining Armor and the visitors from Thicket, King Aspen seems to be drinking to combat some form of stress, and Prince Bramble seems to be staring in awe at everypony around him," The third member of their table answered, The Majordomo of Canterlot Castle, Kibitz, took a sip from a wine glass before he leaned back in his chair, content to take the rest of the night easily as if it was a vacation.
Not even the white and red suit he wore, making him look like someone from a toothpaste commercial, could make him take this night seriously.

It was a vacation for him, let the younger generation deal with protecting the crown for now.

"Lulu, Bluey, you made it!" Princess Celestia smiled at the duo, her body covered by a long white and gold dress reminiscing of the morning sun, "We only have two more ponies at this table and then we're all here, Are you two excited?"

"We sure are! Ooh, we can't wait to win the big award for Best Princess!" Luna said cheerfully as she took her seat to the right of Celestia.

"And what about you?" Celestia turned her head to Blueblood, watching him carry a large plate of food from the catering and place it on the table before taking the seat to the right of Luna.

"Eh, I'm just here for the free food mostly," Blueblood said without care before coughing and clearing his throat, "I mean- Of course I am excited, This is an award ceremony for... A Ceremony to celebrate the... Actually, What are we doing here?"

Whatever answer he was about to get was dropped as the final two members of Table C finally arrived, "Princess Celestia, Sorry we're late, Rarity wanted to make sure everyone's dresses were perfect," A Purple Unicorn with a starry blue dress said with an apologetic smile as she took the seat to the left of Celestia.

"Ahh, if I take the seat to your left I'll be facing the back of the hall..." A small purple and green baby dragon complained as he turned away from his sister and took the seat to the Right of Prince Blueblood, allowing him to be able to see the stage where the awards would be given, "You don't mind me sitting here, right?" Spike asked the Prince.

"Nah, go ahead," Blueblood waved him off as he poured some wine into his glass, before levitating the bottle into his mouth and drinking from there.

Twilight Sparkle waved to her friends, the other five members of the Elements of Harmony all sitting at a table a bit further to the back.

"Oh ooh! It's starting It's starting!" Luna excitedly started tapping Blueblood's shoulder, causing the "Totally not an alcoholic, I can stop whenever I want" Stallion to lower the bottle and turn to the stage, not noticing the potato fries on his plate being grabbed by the Baby Dragon and the Princess of Dreams in some sort of Competition to see who can eat more chips before Blueblood notices he has no more food.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts, Thank you all for coming here tonight to the first ever Harmony Awards Ceremony," A Blue Earth Pony with a short white mane said in a monotone voice as he stood behind the podium on the stage, "My name is Flour Dust, the judges might remember me as the Royal Guard who stood outside the Canterlot Castle Library during the first chapter of this story and who has never been mentioned again after," He continued speaking in his monotone voice.

Somewhere in Canterlot City, a Brown Pegasus cheered as he stared at the screen, hugging a small Filly close to him as they jumped excitedly at seeing their Husband and Adoptive Father on stage hosting the first portion of the Harmony Awards.

"Yeah! You go Flour Dust!" Funnel Cake, Flour Dust's husband, cheered excitedly at seeing his husband getting the recognition he deserved.
After working at Canterlot Castle as a Guard for years, and dealing with the Annoying Prince Blueblood, it was amazing to see his hubby finally being recognized for his achievements.

"First chapter? What is he talking about?" Blueblood asked in confusion, receiving a tap on his back in response.
"Who is it- What the fuck!?"

"Hello Nephew," A tall Pony covered in wispy darkness smiled at the Prince, "Allow me to explain!"

"No- Wait a moment! Why is everything acting like this is normal!? Aren't you supposed to be in Limbo or someshit? What is going on?!" Blueblood turned to Luna and Celestia, hoping to see the two Alicorns agreeing with him, but they just acted like everything was normal.

"Please, Do not ignore your dearest and #1 best Uncle in the world," The Pony of Shadows said with a mock hurt tone, "Besides, this chapter is not canonical to the actual story, and is a celebration of the 100 chapters that lead up to here," Pony of Shadows smiled through glowing white eyes, grey flames of shadow flickering over his wings and mane.
"None of this actually matters in the grander scheme of the story, and is simply harmless fun," The Pony of Shadows shrugged his shoulder before turning away from his Nephew, "Anyways, I'll be sitting over there if you want to chat, You won't remember a thing, but we can still act like family," 'Uncle' gave a cheeky smile, "I know you never played catch with a father figure, maybe we can fix that?"

"I will play catch with my hoof and your face, get away from me," Blueblood said dryly as he stared at the Pony of Shadows.

"Oof, So cold, Being threatened by your own Kin," 'Uncle' Smiled at that, "How Poetic indeed... Ciao!" And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of shadows and smoke.

Turning back to his Table, Blueblood's eyes zeroed in on the bottle of wine.

It was going to be a long night.

After a few useless awards and the changing of the host several times, Blueblood decided it might be nice to at least listen to what was going on instead of wasting the entire night with a bottle.

Up on the stage, One of the Royal Guards, Flash Sentry or something like that, read out the nominees to some award nobody gave a care about.

"The nominees for the best single parent award are: King Aspen-"

Princess Cadance turned to look at the disheveled White Deer sitting beside her table, His eyes darting around the hall, full of paranoia and fear.

"He's not going to win," the young brown Deer Prince Bramble said as he rested his head on the table, the yellow bird-like creature on his head chirping in agreement as both Royals looked at the King of Thicket.

"-Firelight-"

Outside the hall, a Purple Unicorn with Aquamarine hair was trying to convince the security that he was supposed to be inside.

"Look, I'm telling you, I have the invite, It's just not on me right now, But I need to get inside there, my Chipmunk needs me!" He tried to move past the two large bouncers.

"Sorry sir, You're not on the list," One of the bouncers pointed to a list of names behind him.

"Yes, I am! It's right there! I'm nominated for an award!" Firelight pointed at his name on the list.

"Sir, that's Firelit, Your name here says Firelight, And an event like the Harmony Awards will never make a mistake like getting somepony's name wrong, You're not on the list, move aside,"

"But my baby needs me-"

"-Chancellor Neighsay-"

The head of the Equestrian Education Association tidied up his tie and straightened his suit, making sure his EEA badge was shining perfectly as it should.

Back home, his daughter was cheering at the mention of his name on the screen, likely hurting the babysitter's ears in the process.

"-And our very own Princess Celestia!" Flash Sentry read out the last nominee, before taking a deep breath.

"And the award for the Best Single Parent goes to..." He paused for dramatic effect, "Clean Squeak! Wait why wasn't she listed as a nominee if she won, I don't get this wha-" Before the Pegasus could continue, he was pulled off the stage by the next host as the Earth Pony mother went up and collected her award, giving a small speech where she talked about the hardships and joys of raising her son on her own, thanking the many ponies who helped her along the way and so on and so forth.

It would have brought a tear to Prince Blueblood's eyes if he wasn't currently drowning himself in his fourth bottle for the night.

Standing upon the stage was a Spirit of Chaos who should have been currently trapped inside a statue.
"But I'm not, this is a non-Canon bonus chapter, did you really think I'd miss this chance to wear a fancy suit and stand on a big stage? With lights and cameras and a microphone on top of a podium? Please, This stage was made for me," Discord struck a pose before he opened the note with the nominees he was supposed to read out.

"Anywho, The most fabulous nominees for most Anticipated Character who has yet to make an official appearance are- Me, Who only really had two lines of dialogue and never interacted with the main cast directly, I should be winning this award on principle," Discord smiled as he read the next Nominee.

"Prince Scorpan, who is definitely still alive somewhere, It would be stupid if he wasn't, Like, he's Starswirls former lover, how tragic would it be if they were never reunited after all these years? Really bring a tear to my eye," Discord smirked, knowing full well he was not tearing up as an image of the Gargoyle Prince's face appeared behind him, A head resembling some sort of ape with a mane of thick brown hair surrounding his head like a Lion, a pair of leathery brown bat wings could be seen in the background extending from his back.

Down in Tartarus, a Red Centaur threw a rock at the projector screen in front of him, tearing a hole in the middle of the screen.

"Curse you Scorpan! You dumb flying baboon! When I escape here, You will surely perish! Raagh!" Lord Tirek yelled before he was tackled to the ground by the Earth Pony and Pegasus guards that now stood around Tartarus, dragging the angry Centaur back into his cell.

"...This is why we can't have nice things," Nightmare Moon complained quietly as she sat on a cushion, her small form sinking into the cushion as her single blue eye stared at the hole currently in the middle of the screen, before sighing tiredly at a shadow covering half the projector, "Pooch, you're covering the screen again..."

"Woof!"
"Bark!"
"Rowf!"

"...Imbeciles..." Nightmare Moon sunk deeper into her cushion as she listened to the voice coming from the projector.

"King Sombra," Discord read the next nominee, "Specifically the one from the Reflections Story Arc from the comics? Oooh, spicing things up here? nice!"

Princess Celestia coughed as the name was read out loud, a dusting of pink covering her face as she grabbed the collar of her dress and started fanning herself with it as if she was heating up.

"Is everything alright Princess Celestia?" Twilight Sparkle asked her mentor and teacher.

"Everything is fine Twilight," Celestia smiled reassuringly at her student, "I'm just feeling a little hot, perhaps a little cooling spell could help me," She said before her horn glowed, releasing a small cloud of frost to float down onto her.
"See? Much better," Celestia smiled as she shivered in the cold air.

"Oh..." Twilight nodded before she turned to see the other three people at her table, Watching her Brother stuff his face with the food from the catering table, Staring at Prince Blueblood building what could only be described as the Prench Eyefell Tower out of empty wine bottles, and looking on in horror as Luna rocked her head from side to side in a drunken stupor, having only drunk half of a single wine glass, the extreme lightweight was out faster than it took Rainbow Dash to clear the sky over Ponyville from clouds.

And she could clear clouds really fast...

Was... Was Twilight the only normal person on her Table?
She thought for a moment, before remembering her travesty of a first impression with half the people on her table, From Blowing a hole through the roof of her Academy to blasting one of them with the Elements of Harmony to breaking into an extremely private and dangerous corner of the castle in search of a spell to go back in time, perhaps none of the ponies at her table were normal.

Reading a few more nominees. Discord finally opened the letter saying the winner.

"And the winner of the Most Anticipated Character award is... Sunset Shimmer? Drats! Foiled again by the nature of popularity competitions!"

"Yeah yeah, quit your yapping," An Orange Unicorn with a Yellow and Red mane and wearing a black leather jacket said as she stood up onto the stage, a smirk on her face as she looked at the crowd, Grabbed the award from the Chaos Spirit's claws, who immediately turned back into a statue now that he was no longer needed to read the letters and crashed onto the floor, slowly being dragged off by the staff of the ceremony.

"All I want to say is-" Sunset Shimmer gave a look at the crowd before she locked eyes with a specific table, "Fuck you," She pointed at Spike, "Fuck you," She pointed at Twilight Sparkle, "Fuck you," She pointed at Prince Bluelood, who was too busy ignoring her and drinking his problems away to listen, "You're cool," She pointed at Princess Luna, who was trying her best to look sober, despite being almost blackout drunk.

"And most importantly-" Sunset Shimmer pointed at Princess Celestia who was giving her ex-student an unamused stare of disappointment, like a parent who was watching their child make a fool of themselves in front of a large crowd, "Fuck you specifically,"

She turned to the rest of the crowd, "Fuck you all too, that's all, You lose, I win, Bye Bye!" She raised her front leg and showed her hoof, before staring at it in amazement, as if wondering where her fingers disappeared to, before her horn glowed with a flash of red and orange magic, and the Unicorn with the Sun Cutie mark teleported away.

"Princess Celestia, Who was that?" Twilight turned to her teacher once more.

"You don't need to worry about her Twilight, She's just an angry child who has yet to grow up, Just ignore her for now," Princess Celestia said, not bothering to wipe the frost and small piles of snow from her mane.

"Okay..." Twilight decided to trust her teacher and turned back to the stage, watching as a pair of Diamond Dogs got onto the stage.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlecolts! This is your favorite host of the night speaking to you!" Blueblood couldn't stop the tired groaning leaving his throat as he slammed his head on the table, causing the tower of empty bottles to fall over.

"Why is he up there?" He turned to Luna, only to find her snoring in her seat, the single glass of wine turning her from the Princess of the Moon to the Princess of Dreams in only a short few hours.

"Stop questioning thing, Dearest Nephew! It is my turn to read the favorite Arc of this Story!" The Pony of Shadows said loudly as he opened the note with the nominees.

"From our wonderful cast of forty-nine judges, the nominees for the Best Arc of this story are: Nightmare Stars, where we got introduced to everyone's favorite princess of the Night, Nightmare Moon!" The Pony of Shadows yelled into the microphone, causing Luna to suddenly wake up, as if she heard him call her the second favorite.

"Next we have Mysterious Missing Mare and the following Tundra Terror, really influential that one, brought us both Starlight and Cosmos, very popular!"

"What is he talking about? Who invited this guy?" Hiding in the vents near the ceiling, A certain Queen of the Changelings was waiting for the Award for Best Love Interest to come up so she could win both the award and the heart of her beloved Prince.

"Next we have the oh-so-wonderful Business Trip arc combined with Of Diamonds and Stars, making up the oh-so-controversial Caninia Arc, I do enjoy that one, introducing yours truly into the mix, really, if any arc deserves to win it's that,"

Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail of Caninia tapped her paw on the table as she sipped from her wine, her magical staff rested on her knees, as she stared blankly at the Shadowy Pony on the stage.

"Is he that egotistical or is he just plain stupid? The introduction of Cadance and the Changelings, combined with the discovery that Cosmos could control Prince Blueblood if he's wearing the amulet while being knocked out were all much more important than the introduction of his character, what did he even do? He's just been sitting in the background ever since talking about 'Oh, It's all part of my master plan, I will kill you, dearest Nephew, I'm actually the big bad of everything,' It's Minotaur Shit! He hasn't done anything! Do you know who did do something? Chrysalis! She's actually been doing things, instead of sitting in Limbo all the time talking about 'Oh, It's so Poetic, I'm so evil and Shadowy and I want to kill my family and take over the world' Chrysalis actually got to fight the Prince, TWICE!" Moonbeam slammed her paw on the table and pointed at the Pony of Shadows.

"Get off the Stage! Fraud!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" The Pony of Shadow pointed at the Diamond Dog Princess, who was being pulled back into her seat by her younger sister.
"Anyways, The final nominee is the Grand Galloping Gala arc! Where we got the Prince's first semi-introduction to half of the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie gets thrown into prison, and the romance with Raven Inkwell began!"

"What is he talking about?" Starlight Glimmer turned to look at Raven, watching the Earth Pony seemingly turn into a blushing red sphere as she balled up in embarrassment, "Are you and Blueblood-"

"No! Yes! It's complicated..." Raven Inkwell whimpered as she hid away from the world.

"There there, It's no need to be embarrassed, Why, back when I was still a young Stallion, I had this secret affair with the Head Chef of the Castle, she was a sweet little lady, always making sure things were in working order in the kitchen," Kibitz pat Raven on the back as the table for the Castle Staff comforted the blushing secretary.

"Did... Did things go well with her?" Raven peeked her eye open to look at the old butler.

"Oh not at all, once her husband found out it became a huge mess, I'm pretty sure she ran away after that!" Kibitz coughed into his hoof, "Now, in my defense, I did not know at the time she was married, If I had, I would not have gone through with it all,"

"That doesn't help at all..." Raven mumbled as she curled up into a ball of White fur and red silk.

"I didn't say it would help? Who do you take me for? Casanova?! I've been single my whole life! Why would anypony take romantic advice from me?!" Kibitz laughed at the idea before he returned to rubbing Raven's back.

"I feel like we're ignoring the part where we just found out that Raven and Blueblood might be sleeping together!" Starlight tried to bring back the original topic.

"Miss Glimmer, I must say, it is incredibly rude to delve into the private life of two consenting adults- You were consenting, right?" Kibitz quickly turned to ask Raven.

"I consented, yes..." Raven whispered back, her face burning red.

"Good, The private life of two consenting adults! Why miss glimmer, how would you feel if your secret love affair was suddenly outed to the public like this?!" Kibitz harrumphed as he looked at the Purple Unicorn.

"I don't have a secret love affair!" Starlight yelled.

"I do like that conversation back there! Really juicy stuff, but we need to move on with the show! The winner for Best Story Arc or whatever this award was called is... Drumroll, please? No? Fine... The Mysterious Missing Mare/Tundra Terror Arc! Who could have seen that coming!? Wooow? But, seeing as this isn't an actual person winning the award, I'll just leave the stage so we can move on to the next award!" The Pony of Shadows laughed as he disappeared in an explosion of magic and darkness.

"...What an asshole..." Blueblood whispered groggily.

"I heard that!" The Pony of Shadows yelled at him from his table beside the statue of Discord and a black and white picture of Tirek that one would usually find at a funeral.

"Yo Yo Yo! Good evening Equestria!" An Energetic Golden Retriever Diamond Dog said as she ran onto the stage, wearing a light blue dress with a lot of room for her legs and arms to move in, "I'm Fiona Floppyears! And this is my Sister, Indiana Ambereyes!" She pulled closer to her a Malamute diamond dog wearing a black and grey women's suit, "And we're here to read for the award of... I can't read this, the letters are too small."

"The Judges Preferred Romantic Ship... Is this about boats all of a sudden or?" Indiana read the topic before rolling her eyes and opening the letter.

"Oh, I know what my preferred ship is, It consists of You, and a very specific Prince who also likes to fight things... You know the one! Let's read the Nominees!" Fiona jumped into the air and snatched the list from her Sister.

"Give me that!" Indiana snapped and grabbed half of the note, pulling her head closer so both sisters could read together.

"The Nominees for the preferred ship are: Blueblood x Cosmos, Blueblood x Raven Inkwell-"

In the back, the sounds of whimpering could be heard coming from the Castle Staff's table.

"Blueblood x Starlight Glimmer, Ooh I do enjoy a good enemies to friends to lovers kind of story, how about you Indiana?" Fiona asked her sister, a wide smile spread on her face as her tail wagged in excitement.

"I think we should continue reading the nominees, Blueblood x Chrysalis" As the Princess of Caninia said those words, a loud rattling sound was heard from the vents near the ceiling.

"Is there some sort of rat infestation up there?" Indiana asked as she turned to stare at one of the staff members who was standing off stage, who shrugged in response.

"No silly, There's an infestation of Love!" Fiona said cheerfully, "And the final nominee is Blueblood x Nightmare Moon, ooh this one's my favorite, think about it! Once sworn enemies, now tortured lovers, unable to touch each other through the cage over their hearts, one is imprisoned, but more free than ever before, the other, out in public, yet feeling trapped without his one true love... Oh, how tragic! I want Nightmare Moon to win this one!" Fiona cried as she turned to hug her sister, "Please tell me she won! I need this tragedy to have a happy ending!"

Princess Indiana sighed as she opened the letter, "The winner of the Judges Preferred Boat-"

"Ship." Fiona quickly corrected.

"What's the difference- The Judges Preferred Ship award goes to... Blueblood x Cosmos!"

"FUCK!" A loud yell could be heard from the vents.

"Woohoo!" Princess Cadance cheered loudly, grabbing the crystal necklace and giving it a kiss, "You won!"

"...You know what, Come here, take the award," Hearing those words, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza walked up to the stage and took the award in the name of her friend.

"I don't know why I'm up here for this, But I don't really have a choice now, do I?" Time Turner smiled awkwardly, trying his best to not wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Back at his home, Zephyr Breeze, Trixie Lulamoon, Torque Wrench, Dinky Doo, and Derpy Hooves, all excitedly pointed at the screen, watching their friend up on stage.

"So, I'm here to read the Best Villain Award," Time Turner gulped and stretched his tie a bit, "Is it just me or is it getting hot in here all of a sudden, Haha... Ha... Heh..."

Back in Cantelot Castle, a trio of animals were sitting in front of a huge flat-screen television.

"Is there not going to be a best pet award?" Tiberius the Opposum asked as he laid his stomach on the back of the couch.

"Why would there be?" A haughty voice told him, causing the young Opposum to turn and look at Philomena the Phoenix, "Everyone knows that Cerberus would win, there's no drama or suspense in that, nobody would care," The Phoenix said as she combed her head feathers with her wing.

"Okay..." Tiberius turned away from the Phoenix, "What about you Comet? What do you think?"

"..." The Golden Spider-like Plant Monster stayed silent, simply sitting there, quietly listening to the television, her lack of eyes not allowing her to see her Prince on the screen.

Tiberius could almost hear heavy guitar music and the sounds of screams the longer he looked at the silent creature, so he quickly turned away from her.

Tiberius doesn't fear a lot of things, It's thanks to his lack of fear that he managed to get noticed and then taken in by Princess Luna.
But Comet?

If Tiberius Fears one thing out there, Then the only thing he fears is her...

"Okay, So now with the nominees out of the way," Time Turner tried his best to ignore the stares of the people in the crowd, "The Winner for the Best Villain Award is... Chrysalis!"

"Thank you, Thank you," The Pony of Shadows smiled as he stood up to accept his award.
"Really, Thank you all! I would be so grateful if I could, But I do intend to kill or enslave most of you, so I can only give you so much thanks," He grabbed the Award and teleported Time Turned away in an explosion of Shadow Magic.
"Really, I want to thank my father, which I killed, and my Sister, Who I somehow didn't kill, And my teacher, Who I am still going to kill, and-" His speech was interrupted as a staff member walked up and whispered something in his ear.

"What... What do you mean Chrysalis won? What the fuck?! I'm The Big Bad! I'm supposed to be winning this! Not the Crazy obsessive Stalker who's trying to turn into Princess Amore or whatever the fuck her plan is! What the Fuck is this shit!" The Pony of Shadows threw the award onto the floor, nearly breaking the leg of the staffer who told him the news in the process.

"I'm going to the bar... Nephew! Come and drink with me!" The Pony of Shadows yelled before he grumbled off the stage, dragging himself toward the bar near the back.

"Ahem, Now I can give my speech, thank you," Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, stood up on the stage, her hair was cut to a shoulder-length bob, and she wore a long ripped dark-green dress with many black leather straps around her body, and her eyes were staring directly into the eyes of a certain Blonde Unicorn.

And as she started to give her speech, the crowd cringed back in discomfort at the words coming out of her mouth.

"You can't hear this," Cadance told Prince Bramble as she held her legs and wings over his ear, trying to block the Changeling's words from entering his young mind.
King Aspen was too busy staring blankly ahead to do anything.

"Is she allowed to say any of those things?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she turned to look at her fellow Elements of Harmony, who all were disgusted by Chrysalis's Speech.

"To want to do all those things..." Rarity whispered as she closed her eyes, clenching her hoof tightly as she bit her lips.
"It should be me! Not her!"

"Umm, Prince Blueblood," Spike turned to look at the Unicorn he was sitting besides, "What do you think of what she was saying?" Spike asked the Prince, trying his best to hide the cringe on his face as Chrysalis kept talking about what she would do to the Prince if she could.

"Holding hooves before marriage..." Fluttershy shivered in disgust, "How scandalous..."

"Huh?" Prince Blueblood blinked suddenly and turned to look at Spike, "Did you say something?"

"Eh, what do you think about what the lady up there is saying about you?" Spike pointed at Chrysalis.

"Oh, her? I wasn't listening," Chrysalis spat out the water she was drinking in order to hydrate her throat for a longer speech, "I learned early on that there are only two types of Crazy, Those that are Hot, and those that have nothing worth listening to, And Chrysalis is both, and you should never stick it in both."

"I have nothing worth listening to..." Chrysalis repeated the words before a large and goofy smile spread on her lips, "What else?"

"Well, Your hygiene is awful on account of you never showering properly, so you must smell as bad as you look. Furthermore, Your attitude is horrible, I am currently physically holding myself back from slamming my hoof into our face just at the mere sight of you," Blueblood started listing off things he didn't like about Chrysalis.

Chrysalis meanwhile was holding on tightly to the podium on the stage as her legs started to give out, Her smile turning euphoric as her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she continued to be degraded in front of the crowd.

"And worst of all," Blueblood pointed at her "Is that your appearance matches my type, so this leaves a massive hole of confusion inside me! I hate you and you're evil! But if you're evil, why are you sexy-shaped? I Hate It!" Blueblood suddenly downed an entire bottle of Wine in one go!

"That's my Nephew! WOOHOO!!!" The Pony of Shadows cheered as Blueblood stood up from his seat and walked to join him at the bar.

"I'm probably already drunk enough if I said those words out loud, But I need to be even more drunk if I want to forget this ever happened," He said as he sat beside his Uncle at the bar.

"Don't worry Dear Nephew, As I already said, this chapter is non-canon, nothing that's happening here is going to be remembered, This event doesn't exist!" The Pony of Shadows pulled Blueblood into a hug, "You won't be able to remember that my name is Stygian! Ha! Now you have information that will cease to exist once you return to your regular chapters! Isn't this so poetic?!"

In response, The Pony of Shadow, or Uncle, or Stygian Platinum, however one might want to call him, received a fist covered in illusionary blue flames to the face, Pluto's gift.

Meanwhile, Queen Chrysalis was being dragged off the stage, her body unresponsive as the words the Prince shouted drunkenly played in repeat in her mind.
She did not even respond when she was thrown outside, her body landing inside a dumpster, the lid falling close, trapping her inside.

Her existence was an embodiment of Disgust.

A Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

If only It could see her now, The Queen of Changelings might be able to finally die happy.

But she couldn't, She was going to be the Disgusting Truth that mirrored Its Perfect Lie.

"Heeheehee! He said I'm his type! Kyaaa!"

That is correct, Prince Blueblood has a type.

Girls who will ruin his life.

"Wait a moment! I want to have some line of dialogue before this chapter ends!" Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed.
"Here I go! Blah blah blah! Bloough! Woop Woop Woop! Bowowza! Applejack has a big butt! Season 2 is going to end soon! I ship the Pirate Wizard with Nightmare Moon! Ehhhh......." Pinkie Pie paused as she tried to think of more words to say.

"Ermmm... I don't know... Thanks for reading! Congratulations on supporting this story through over one hundred chapters, and two hundred thousand words! You readers behind this wall must be pretty cool!
Hey, Quickly! Ask your parents where babies come from-"

Thanks for 100 wonderful chapters!!!

Author's Note

As you might have guessed, none of the things happening here in this chapter are Canon to the story, this is a Bonus chapter in the purest sense of the word.

"The Only Thing They Fear is You" Cover played by a Golden Plant Spider.

Shout out to the one guy who voted for Sunset Shimmer in the poll I was hosting for this chapter.

Thank you all for 100 chapters of amazing support, just like how Pinkie Pie said at the end of the chapter.

We only have the Vacation Arc and then it's directly into the Canterlot Wedding, followed by a Hiatus for me to work on my other stories.

Thank you all so much!!!

See you soon!!!!!!!!

ALSO!!!! This chapter is now officially the longest chapter of this story, being the first, and currently ONLY chapter to pass 6,000 words!

Thank you all so much for the support, I hope you continue to read the story of how Prince Blueblood learns to be a better person by being slightly less of an asshole than he was before.

Thanks for reading.

:)

Chapter 103: Time Off 1

"You know, When you said all we had to do was nothing, I didn't expect you to be literal," Starlight Glimmer lazily held her head in her hoof, the elbow of her leg resting on the table beside the window of the large room near the middle of the ship, staring at her friend sip something he called a Roy Rogers.
"That cocktail doesn't even have alcohol in it, are you sure you haven't gone mad searching for information about Tirek?"

"Starlight," Prince Blueblood started to speak, turning away from staring at the waves through the window beside him in order to look at his Best Friend and bodyguard, "Sometimes you need some days where you don't do anything," He took a sip from his Mocktail before he returned to staring at the waves, "You need to learn the joy of stopping to smell the flowers,"

"I know what 'Stop and Smell the Flowers' Is, This isn't it. This isn't us stopping what we're doing to enjoy the small things in life, this is us stopping to do nothing!" Starlight groaned in boredom, her head sliding down the side of her leg in order to rest on the table.

"Maybe you should go outside for a bit, I'm planning to catch up on my tan outside in a few hours, maybe you can find something fun to do," Blueblood let out a relaxed sigh after taking another sip of his mocktail, "Think of this as a vacation for you as well, You know I can defend myself, you don't need to surround me all the time,"

"You... You're letting me leave your proximity?" Starlight asked, a tinge of hope entering her voice.

"Sure, Just be sure to return to our room at 22:00, go check out the pool or something, maybe you could- And she's gone..." Blueblood clicked his tongue as he saw his friend disappear in a pop of magical light.
"...She's getting really good with all these Teleportation spells," He took another sip from his Mocktail.

"...Would a Shirley Temple be... Nah, She seems more like an Arnold Palmer kind of person," Blueblood smirked at his oh-so-wonderful idea of bringing his friend a Mocktail of her own.

What a generous Boss.

The rest of the day passed by smoothly, at least, it did for Prince Blueblood.

Starlight Glimmer, on the other hand, tried her best to find relaxation on the large floating tub of steel, filled with nearly 1,000 Passengers, and an equal number of crew, in the middle of the ocean off the western coast of Equestria, surrounded by nothing but Water.

Her boss might find the big and wide open ocean as his happy place, that or the bottom of a bottle, but Starlight had experienced enough ocean during their trip to Caninia.

Did that sound like a good enough excuse? Starlight sure hoped so, because it was a way better excuse to tell her boss as to why she wasn't enjoying their vacation than to simply tell him the truth.

"I actually enjoy doing my job with you and going on a vacation to get away from it, when the best part of the job is that we can't get away from it, just makes me excited," She wanted to tell him that, "I'm just imagining what kind of disaster is going to ruin your attempt at relaxation this week, and I'm trying to think of all the different ways it could happen, Perhaps a sudden Iceberg will appear and smash the ship into pieces of scrap, or a tidal wave will flip the entire ship so we'll be stuck inside an upside-down ship? Perhaps another assassination attempt will take place? Anyone on this ship could be a Changeling in disguise." That is correct.

For what might have been the first time in over half a year, Starlight Glimmer was doing her job as a Bodyguard, and it just so happened to be during the time when Blueblood explicitly told her to enjoy her vacation.

"I'll enjoy it much more once I see you scream in frustration at how you want just one week where nothing happens," She smirked to herself as she walked down the hallways of the ship, trying to memorize the layout of the vessel in order to better think of ways someone, or something, might be able to ruin this vacation.

Perhaps Starlight was hanging out with Raven too much?

You do know those "Romance Stories" are just Smut with a plot, correct?
Or maybe the Prince is rubbing off on her too much? Starlight! Do not develop a sadistic streak!
Wait a minute... She was a cult leader for a while, who took away people's cutie marks... Starlight? Are you a sadist?

Oh, don't mind me, the Narrator! I am also enjoying my vacation this arc! Please do ignore any silly remarks I might make, I am simply enjoying myself.

Although this chapter's length is slightly short, perhaps an Omake could lengthen the-

...

What is it? No Omake this chapter?

...~

Fine, Although I would like to actually have the focus be on the characters for more than two scenes in the next chapter, this one was indeed rather short. I understand you want to get to the end of the season already so you can write some less fluffy chapters, but these arcs are important to developing the many relationships this story has created, My good author!

...!

Very well then, I will allow this chapter to end here, But I do believe that some readers will find the shift in tone from the last arc to this one, rather jarring. Are you sure this is a good way to go about it?

...<

Oh, you are also taking a vacation with this arc? Very well then, My Good Author! Let us both enjoy this magical spring cruise to the fullest!

...B)

A Piña colada? Thank you very much!

...;)

Although I must ask, now that I have the opportunity in this relaxing environment. Does the Blueblood x Pinkie Pie ship still have a chance of-

!!!!

Whoa! Relax, fine... I'll drop the subject, this is a vacation... No mixing business and pleasure, I get it.

...>B(

Should we end this chapter here or

Chapter 105: Time Off 3

It was the third day of the cruise, and Starlight Glimmer was starting to question how the prince is able to find this place relaxing.

"Your Highness, It has been so long since you attended one of our parties," One of the many richer ponies on the cruise apparently spotted Blueblood sometime during the second day, and now he's been hounded by stuck-up nobles the entire day.

Starlight asked if they should do something, but Blueblood told her, "Nah, these asslickers just want a piece of a crumb of my attention, just so they can go to their other rich friends and say 'Hey, did you know, Prince Blueblood actually gave me a moment of time from his busy day, which makes me much more important than all of you' and then they all start sucking each other off with their words, there's no sincerity in there, They're disgusting dolphins,"

And when Starlight asked why he decided to call them Dolphins, Blueblood descended into a rant about how Dolphins act in nature.

Suffice it to say, Starlight Glimmer now had to choose a different creature to be her favorite Animal.

"There it is... The Pearl of the Equestrian Coast. This baby is a state-of-the-art gem worth more than your entire village, and tonight, it's going to be ours..."

Sailing in the shadows behind the Equestrian Cruise Ship, a wooden Junk followed hidden, using the faulty construction of the ship as a shield from the sight of the passengers, they could almost reach out a leg and touch the other ship they were so close.
Close enough that they managed to construct a makeshift poll onto the side of the Cruise Ship to act as an anchor poll, dragging their smaller ship behind it while they waited for their time to strike.

"Why are we doing this again?" One of the creatures on the smaller ship asked, scratching the mane of titanium blue hair that wrapped from his scalp to his chin.

"The Captain already told us ten hundred times, fool, We steal the ship and hold it for ransom, the Equestrians will pay a wing and a leg to get just one passenger back, but an entire ship? We can squeeze their coffers as much as we want!" Another creature explained in a deep voice, scratching its chin with a smile.

"It's not ten hundred, dumbass, it's one hundred or ten thousand, ten hundred isn't a number!" The previous creature replied.

"Why you-"

"SILENCE!!!" A loud and commanding voice echoed around the small deck of the Junk, causing all available eyes to turn and watch as the captain walked up from below the deck, a small Capuchin sat on his shoulder, one hand holding onto the blood-red branch-looking horn extending from the top of the captain's head.

"Your shouting will alert all of Equestria to our location!" The captain said forcefully, his crimson mane swaying in the salty air of the afternoon sea as he glared down at his crewmates.

"Sorry, Captain!" The second largest member of the crew quickly bowed in apology to his Leader, because even his larger-than-normal size was nothing when compared to the full might of his Captain.

He once saw him dispatch an entire tribe on his own, fighting not only all the warriors but their Royal leader too! He was even present when his boss ascended into his current form! It was a testament from the very world that his captain was born to be a leader!

Hehe! Those weak ponies on that ship won't know what hit them! The Captain will take their ship and all the treasures he may find! Because he was chosen by the universe itself to lead!

That is correct! It was time that these cowardly ponies met a real threat to their lives of sheltered Harmony!

And who better then teach them this lesson in humility than the strongest pirate captain of the flaming coast! The Blood-Soaked Butcher of The Swan Islands! The Crimson Captain of the Cerulean Cliff!

Captain Blake!
The one who is considered by the Elders of the Raining Sun to be one of the five strongest members of their species!

His Captain will surely prove them wrong! He is not just one of the five, No! He is THE STRONGEST!!!

THE STRONGEST KIRIN IN THE WORLD- cough cough... owww... I got a bit too excited narrating it, my throat got dry... Hehe, whoops.

Author's Note

Yeah, another short chapter, This is a filler arc after all, and I do want to get this over with so I can get to The Canterlot Wedding.
or more importantly, my well-deserved break that I'll be taking during the coming hiatus.

See you soon!

Junk Ship.

Chapter 106: Time Off 4

"Mom! Come on hurry up! Prince Blueblood said he was going to tell an amazing super awesome story!" Clean Squeak smiled gently as her son pulled her toward a corner of one of the leisure rooms of the ship, past the ball pit and indoor swimming pool, and towards a corner filled with pillows and bean bags, where a gaggle of other colts and fillies sat around, their parents joining them at a distance to keep watch.

Clean Squeak sat down on one of the many pillows, Pip squeezing his way through the other children so he could sit at the front, and watched as Prince Blueblood walked to a big bean bag positioned to face the crowd, and sat down.

"Okay, I did not expect to see so many of you actually coming here," The Prince said as his eyes roamed the crowd of children and parents.

"Are you really a prince?" A Filly in the crowd asked while raising her hoof as if she was sitting in a lecture, "You don't have wings,"

"Yeah! I thought to be a Prince you need to be an Alicorn!" Another colt exclaimed, also raising his hoof like a student in a classroom, "How are you a prince?"

Clean Squeak watched the prince plaster a smile over his face as he answered the two children, "I'm a Prince because my mother was a Princess, You don't need to be an Alicorn to be royalty, Prince Haakim of Saddle Arabia is an earth pony, But he's still a prince, because his parents were royalty,"

"Where is Saddle Arabia? I never heard of it!" Another child yelled, receiving nods and sounds of agreement from the other children.

Clean Squeak chuckled quietly at the tired face the prince was making before his horn started glowing with magic and a map of the entire known world appeared above him.

"I wanted to start by simply asking what kind of story you want, but instead I'll start off with a quick geography lesson," Prince Blueblood told the crowd as he pointed at the large map, "Who here can tell me where Equestria is?"

"Ohh ohh! I know that!" Pip Squeak raised his hoof, shaking it around to get the Prince's attention, "It's over there!" He pointed at a landmass on the map.

"Correct," Blueblood smiled before the map above him glowed, a small image of Princess Celestia surrounded by a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and an Earth Pony appearing over where Equestria was.

What followed was roughly twenty minutes or so of the Prince pointing out different nations on the map and talking about the many different species that live there.

Starlight Glimmer was tapping her leg on the floor, a lax look on her face as she watched Comet scurry her way from across the room toward the Prince, the Plunderseed's almost alien appearance causing the children to jump in fright as she passed by them before climbing onto the bean bag Blueblood sat on and curling like a ball, the Prince's hoof slowly petting the plant monster as he continued giving his impromptu geopolitical lesson to the children as if the appearance of the magic canceling monster was another everyday aspect of life.

Now that she thinks about it, Comet is one of the less unusual things that happened recently.

Sure, the plant creature just sort of showed up with Blueblood after he and Princess Cadance returned from dealing with "Private Business," Whatever that means.
But much weirder stuff happened.

The entire Nightmare Moon fiasco is a great example of that.
Or even that time he had to drag her unconscious body through the Yakyakistani Wilderness, that also happened.

And for the record, Blueblood will not be getting his coat back, she slept in it and used it as a blanket in the freezing cold, It was hers now.

Starlight Glimmer chuckled at the thought, only to perk up as the Intercom of the ship started buzzing.

"Dear Passengers, this is your captain speaking, we are currently being boarded by pirates," The crowd started murmuring, "Do not worry, our security team is taking care of the issue as we speak, please remain calm and stay where you are. Thank you again for choosing Ocean Gem for your cruise," and with another buzz, the intercom turned off.

"We're getting hijacked by pirates?!" One of the children screamed in a panic before running to his parents.

"Awesome! A real-life pirate hijacking!" Another colt yelled before pumping his hoof in the air in cheer.

"Mommy, are we going to be fine?" A filly asked her mother as she was pulled into a hug.

"Everybody calm down," Blueblood clapped his hooves together in order to get everypony's attention, Starlight could already feel the smile start to spread on her face in excitement for this current adventure she and her friend were going to have.
"Security has everything under control, and as long as we're in this room no pirate will be able to get close to you, you are safe-" Blueblood's speech was cut off as the intercom system turned back on.

"Dear Passengers, this is your captain speaking, I am going to black out from the stress of the situation," The captain said in his regular calm tone as he spoke over the radio, "Our security forces have been defeated and we have been officially hijacked by these pirates. I am going to knock myself out in a blind panic now. Thank you once again for picking Ocean Gem for your Cruise of choice. We have a no refund policy." And with that, the Intercom turned off once more.

Silence hanged in the room as the children and their parents looked at the speakers near the ceiling as if waiting for them to turn back on and tell them that it was just a prank.

Starlight Glimmer, however, was busy doing something else.

"Starlight, I see that look on your face, Don't you dare say it," Blueblood warned her, raising an eyebrow at her as if challenging her to disobey him.

"I'm gonna' say it," Starlight said as a dopey smile spread on her face, her eyes locking into those of her best friend and employer.

"I will cut your pay, I am serious here," Blueblood stood up, Comet quickly climbing up his legs in order to wrap around him like a bag.

"I-" Starlight started speaking, deliberately going slow in order to milk her enjoyment of this moment for as long as she could.

"Don't you dare!" Blueblood started walking towards her.

"Told you so~" Starlight glimmer smiled innocently, enjoying the yell escaping the Prince's mouth as he picked up Comet by the tail and swung the Plunderseed into the floor as if she was a ball on a chain.

"Starlight..." Blueblood said tiredly, his Ice-blue eyes glaring into her purple.

"Yes Blueblood?" Starlight asked innocently.

"Go get rid of the pirates."

"Let's go then," Starlight picked herself up with a smile, intent on enjoying the moment when she and her boss were going to beat up some pirates.

If anyone had told her a year ago that she would find joy in bringing physical pain onto those who wronged her, she would have called them an idiot for stating the obvious.
But she never expected to have the joy of it come not from the act of inflicting violence, but from the company she did so with.

"Your mission is to reach the bridge of this ship without teleporting there, and take down as many pirates as you can along the way," Blueblood told her as Starlight started walking towards the door to the room, a pep in her step and a smile on her face.

"You're talking as if you're not joining me," Starlight pointed out as she reached the door, only to turn back and see that Blueblood did not move from his position on the other side of the room.

"Starlight, I'm on vacation right now," Blueblood said in a matter of fact tone of voice, "You'll be doing this on your own,"

"Wait a moment-" Starlight turned to point at him, "I can't just take down an entire pirate crew on my own!"

"You don't need to," Blueblood said as Comet climbed back onto his back, "Just reach the bridge, I'll take care of things after that," A soft smile crept on his lips as his horn started shining with a blue light.

Starlight felt her body lift from the ground as an aura of magic picked her up.

"Hey! Wait a moment, let's talk about this!" She started to yell.

Instead of listening to her, Blueblood opened the door to the room and tossed her out.
"I would tell you good luck, but I know you can take care of yourself," She heard his voice echo around her, "Now go kick some ass," A pair of silver orbs appeared beside her for a moment before disappearing under an invisibility illusion.
"And try not to make them bleed too much, we have children watching,"

"You're going to broadcast this to the crowd in there, aren't you?" Starlight asked as she picked herself up from the floor.

"Of course I am, Give us a good show, yeah?" Starlight could practically hear the smugness in his voice at that time.

"Aye aye captain~" She rolled her eyes and started moving.

She had a mission to accomplish, and some pirates to take down.

Author's Note

Bam! Next chapter is going to let us see how much Starlight has grown from the last time we've seen her fight, which if I remember correctly, was a single paragraph during the Nightmare Rarity arc.

Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 107: Time Off 5

"Behind the door to the left, two more,"

Starlight Glimmer nodded her head as she opened the door to her left, her horn already shooting two beams of magic at the Pirates who stood there.

"Eh? What?!" They yelled as the magic enveloped them, soon finding themselves floating outside the ship, gravity taking hold of their bodies as they plummeted into the salty waters down below.

"You know, You could at least try to look like you're enjoying yourself- Wow this popcorn is bad- it's getting kind of boring just seeing you teleport every one of them out of the ship, where's the action?" Starlight Glimmer took a deep breath before she turned to stare at one of two silver orbs following her.

"Maybe I'd look like I'm having fun if I wasn't being used as a magical taxi service most of the time when things like this happen," She complained to her boss, the silver orb shifting side to side as if it was thinking something over.

"You know, You could also just ignore all the pirates and head straight to the bridge," Blueblood's voice echoed around her as the silver orb bounced up and down in midair.

"But I can't, You said I need to reach the bridge without teleporting myself and to take down as many pirates as I can along the way," Starlight pointed out how she can't ignore the pirates, by Blueblood's own words no less.

"Good observation skills Starlight," Blueblood applauded her, "If you actually did do that I would have docked your pay,"

"You don't pay me," Starlight pointed out.

"Haha, Sometimes you make me laugh, Starlight. However, this isn't as enjoyable as I assumed it to be, so just get to the bridge and teleport to you when you're there, I've had enough of this vacation."

"...You sure? I thought you wanted to sit back and do nothing-"

"Teleport to the bridge," Blueblood ordered her, and Starlight dropped her previous orders and teleported to the bridge of the ship with a pop of turquoise magic.

Prince Blueblood took a look at the bridge of the ship, ignored the unconscious ponies lying on the floor, and took a seat at the Captain's chair.

"Ladies and gents, this is Prince Blueblood speaking," He said as he pushed the button to activate the comm system of the ship, "I am currently commandeering this vessel under the authority given to me by the Salty Ropes Act of 785 under Equestrian Law for Naval emergencies, And bringing us back to the land, if you are a loved one are currently being held hostage by a Pirate, please stay calm and do not panic, professional help is on the way," He briefly shut the comms off before he turned to Starlight, "Go through each room and get rid of these pirates, I can deal with things here,"

Starlight nodded her head before teleporting away.

Blueblood turned the comms back on, "Passengers who have been harmed or injured by the event that happened today, will be happy to learn that the Crown will be paying for any medical treatment or lost luggage, please check in with your local governing body to see how you can be helped," And with those words out, he turned off the comms and started steering the ship back to shore.

He didn't get a nautical science degree just to sit on it, He's a legally recognized Captain.

"You!" Suddenly, the door to the bridge burst open, a loud voice calling out to Blueblood.

"Me?" Blueblood lazily raised an eyebrow at the figure that shouted at him.

"You! Prince of Equestria! I, Xue Huanxing! The Bloody Wake! Captain Blake! challenge you to a-" The figure, a tall Royal Kirin with almost flaming red hair, was interrupted as a beam of blue magic hit him in the face, the force of the beam pushing him through the wall behind him and sending him flying off the ship, into the water below.

"Don't care," Blueblood turned away from the hole he made in the ship and returned to lazily steering the multi-million bit Cruise Ship back to Equestria.

"Prince Blueblood! Is it true that you fought off the captain of the pirates on your lonesome?!" A Pony shouted a question as she shoved a microphone into Prince Blueblood's path of walking once he stepped off of the ship.

"Yeah, sure," Blueblood said with a simple smile before he moved away.

"Prince Blueblood!" Another journalist called out to him, "How did you defeat fifty pirates simultaneously, can you share with us your secrets to success?"

"Eat your vegetables," Blueblood winked at the camera mare behind the news stallion.

"Prince Blueblood! What are your thoughts on Coloratura's newest album?" A third journalist asked.

"Overrated, the songs lack any depth or soul to them, it's obvious from just a single listen that she didn't write these songs herself, but had a team of corporate writers do it for her. I don't enjoy artists selling out their talent for bits, it was a four out of ten album, Crying for a Rainbow is still easily her best album to date, and this new Glitter for Rust is most likely going to be her lowest-rated album yet, I do hope she finds it in her to write songs with actual soul to them, otherwise I don't think she's going to be remembered in the same way Golden Maple and the Seedy Bunch were, Now their songs had Soul to them, not this 'Safe pop' that Coloratura is singing nowadays," He gave his thoughts about the album before he moved on.

"Everybody! The Prince has a very busy schedule, please move away and let him through!" Starlight Glimmer shouted over the crowd of journalists as the duo pushed their way toward a magical carriage carried by four royal guards.

"Thank you Starlight," Blueblood nodded to his bodyguard as the duo entered the carriage, placing their luggage on the floor, Comet the Plunderseed was curled up and sleeping on top of one of the suitcases.

And the carriage was off.

"I had two entire weeks planned out, but now we're going to go back to the castle and do nothing over there," I spoke out loud, poking Comet with my hoof as I stared out of the window of the carriage.

"You know..." Starlight spoke up, "I think I know why your luck is so terrible,"

"Oh? Do tell,"

"Well... Your Cutie Mark talent is finding what you're looking for, even if you don't really know where it is, when you think about it in a way, It's just Luck, You get really lucky and find the thing you were searching for," Starlight Glimmer explained, "And so, in order to somehow counteract all the luck that your Cutie Mark talent is giving you, Harmony, or some other governing power of magic, made it so whenever your Cutie Mark isn't searching for something, you'll be unlucky,"

"...Starlight?"

"Yes Blueblood?"

"That is the dumbest thing I think you've ever said," I told my only friend.

"Well, at least my theory is better than 'Your luck just sucks'" She crossed her legs and smiled victoriously.

I had no argument to what she said, so I just returned to poking Comet.

Exiting the carriage outside the gates of Canterlot Castle, Blueblood levitated the suitcases to a nearby maid, the sleeping Plundervine hanging on to the suitcase like some sort of grotesque cat.

"Wait! Prince Blueblood!" Before Blueblood could step through the gate and finally enter the castle grounds, he stopped and turned to see a unicorn mare run up to him, Her coat was a pale green and her mane a brownish orange, with a Camera hanging on to her neck and Cutie Mark of a Ladybug.

"Yes? Are you another Journalist?" The Prince raised an eyebrow before he waved his bodyguard away, letting his friend carry her own suitcases back to her room before he turned to give his full attention to the new mare.

"Yes! Independant! Sorry for bothering you, Heehehehee-" The mare giggled, her voice cracking for a moment before she composed herself, "I wanted to ask you some questions, but I wasn't sure how to get to you,"

"Of course, I'm always happy to answer questions for indie reporters," He smiled at the camera, the mare giggled once more, her voice cracking again.

"So, I'm sorry if this sounds weird, but... A tropic beach, a crystal clear lake, or a desert oasis?" She asked with a smile, her green eyes staring straight into his icy blue.

"...I'm sorry, what is the question?" Blueblood asked the mare to repeat herself as he took a wary step back from the journalist.

"I didn't ask? Oh, Heeheheheehaha, I meant to ask where our wedding should be?" The mare's eyes seemed to stare directly into his soul, unblinking, as if in a trance.

The Prince took another step away from the journalist before his eyes widened, as if in recognition. The mare, seeing the realization hit the prince, started the next step of her plan.

Before the Prince had time to pull off a makeshift shield, a beam of green magic escaped from the mare's horn and enveloped the prince.
Seeing the magic hit its mark, the mare teleported away before the nearby royal guards could tackle her, a manic smile on her face.

My body was flipping in midair as I tried to orient my fall with my magic, landing on my side on a pile of leaves, I took a quick look at my surroundings.
And smirked.

"You know, I just wanted a week to pass where nothing crazy happens," I started to jump in place, switching from my front and back legs, left and right, high and low, I stretched my body, feeling the smirk on my face twisting into a wider and wider smile.

I watched as the mare from before teleported into the clearing in front of me, her smile matching mine with its manic intensity.

"I'M GOING TO ENJOY TURNING YOUR HEAD INTO A SMEAR ON THE GROUND!" I screamed with a smile, my eyes not leaving the mare's even as her body was consumed by green flames.

"CHRYSALIS!!!"

The Changeling Queen laughed hysterically at me, her green mane still cut short from out last interaction, her legs having been grown back smoother than before, tentacles of green slime seemed to extend from behind her green mane like a weird magical braid, levitating in an invisible wind.

Chrysalis opened her mouth and yelled "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY! MEANWHILE! I'LL BE MAKING YOU MY LOVELY LITTLE SLAVE!!!"

"BLUEBLOOD!!!"

No more words needed to be said. I wanted to fight her. She wanted to fight me.
It was only natural what happened next.

My hoof met her cheek, her hoof met mine, and the two of us started beating each other as if we were wild monkeys arguing over the last banana.

And this time, I was going to make sure to finish the job.

"!!!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Author's Note

You expected Starlight vs Pirate action, but it was I! Blueblood v Chrysalis round 3!!!

See ya' next chapter!

Chapter 108: On Time

To an outside observer, the scene taking place in the middle of a clearing in the woods at the foot of Canterlot Mountain would likely be called a murder attempt.

When ponies fight, especially those capable of using magic, it usually boils down to keeping themselves alive while trying to stop the other pony from keeping themselves alive.

Ponies, as creatures of harmony, are not known to be especially malicious or bloodthirsty, and those that are can usually be summed up to a magical corruption making them evil, or something like that.

Blueblood, however, is not a Pony, not in the same way Starlight Glimmer is, his connection with Harmony is minuscule in comparison to other Unicorns, meaning that while his go-to method of dealing with problems is a bit more... how shall we say this?

Human.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, is also not a Pony. Her connection to Harmony is even smaller than that of the Prince. It is a biological fact of her species and nothing she can do will likely ever change that, only an outside influence will be able to get a naturally... Disharmonious creature like a changeling to truly act in accordance with the Magical laws of Harmony.

All that is a weirdly long complex way of saying that Prince Blueblood and Queen Chrysalis were trying to kill each other.

Magic wasn't being thrown like a shower of explosive orbs or tendrils of slimy claws, it was just two creatures, punching each other, and hoping that the other would fall before they did.

They did not try and defend themselves, they merely dodged the hoof when they could, or took it if they couldn't, just so they could dish a hoof back without waiting.

"Why would I defend myself, if I can go on the attack?" Is what they were both thinking, and to any outside observer, that way of thinking is stupid, insane, practically suicidal.

And yet, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two opposing Royals.
Chrysalis will not regenerate the harm done to her or use her magic if Blueblood did not use his own magic to take her out.

It was not a battle of who can take down the other first, it was a battle of who would use their magic first.

It was a game of chicken, and they were both ready to lose.

Even an outside observer would have been able to notice that.

So the outside observer tried to intervene.

"Queen Chrysalis! We're here to help!" A changeling screamed as he flew out of the tree line and into the clearing, his wings buzzing loudly as he tried to take a punch for his Queen, giving her the upper hoof.

However, that act broke the other unspoken agreement.

No outside interference.

The moment the Changeling entered the clearing, it was as if both parties stopped whatever they were doing and came to a temporary truce.

A fist made of dirt and stone burst out of the ground, burning blue veins holding it together, as Pluto punched the gut of the changeling from below, causing the black bug to tumble onto the ground, rolling in pain.

Chrysalis's green braid, which previously levitated behind her like an extra appendage, magically extended into a clawed hand and grabbed the face of the Changeling, of her own subject, and pulled it towards her.

This one Changeling, this single insect, has dared interfere in her fight.
In her path to love!

A smooth black leg shot towards the gut of the Changeling, Queen Chrysalis impaling her own subject for the crime of interfering in her fight.

Her side was the one that broke the agreement.

And therefore, her side will be taking the punishment.

She let the still twitching corpse slide down off of her leg as she turned to look at her opponent, His face was stained red from all the blood trailing from his nose and lips, purple bruises seemed to grow beneath white fur on his cheeks and chest, and a Snake-Skulled statue made out of the material around him levitated over his body like a guardian angel.

A smile started to spread on the Prince's battered face as he realized what just happened, and without waiting for further clearance, his horn started to shine with a blue aura.

The real fight starts here.

"Your Majesty! Prince Blueblood has been kidnapped!" A Royal guard yelled as he burst into the throne room, his eyes quickly finding Princess Celestia.

"WHAT?!" The Princess of Equestria, who ruled for over one thousand years, screamed the question.

"It was right outside the castle gate, an unknown Unicorn came up to him under the guise of-" The royal guard was cut off as a magical aura of Arctic Blue, Light Pink, and vibrant gold, enveloped him and lifted him off the ground, quickly pulling him to float in front of a blank-faced Celestia.

"Where is he?" Celestia's voice was calm yet booming, magically echoing across the entire throne room, the nearby staff all took a step back, some taking several, and the Royal Guards stationed throughout the castle started to sweat under their armor as the temperature was raised several degrees in the matter of an instant.

"I don't know- She used a Teleportation spell! She could be anywhere!" The answer the guard gave, it seems, was unsatisfactory, as Celestia's magic through the guard across the room, his body hitting the floor and sliding out of the door he came in from, his magically enchanted armor the only thing keeping him from breaking several important bones in his body.

"Raven Inkwell," Princess Celestia said calmly, her voice still echoing with magic, "Keep my throne warm for me," She stood up, not even caring that Raven Inkwell was not in the same room as her, as she walked out of the throne room, passing the panicking Guard she threw out moments prior, and stepped outside into the afternoon sun.

Princess Celestia knew she was past her prime, she had spent more time as a benevolent and harmonious ruler of a nation than she had as a traveling Warrior from all those centuries ago, over one hundred times as long, yet she was not as rusted as many might think of her.

The ponies outside stepped away and kept a clear distance between themselves and the Alicorn, her aurora of mane now a pillar of fire, the heat emanating from her body was starting to singe the fur of the nearby pones, and with a single flap of her wings, she disappeared.

Where she previously stood, four indents were left on the marble floor, where his hoofs melted the ground beneath her.

And if any pony were to look to the sky, they would find a trail of fire circling Canterlot, slowly expanding the diameter of its circle, like a radar, searching for what it was looking for.

It took only an instant, one moment she was staring at a smiling Prince, enchanted by the color of his blood. The next, she stood in the middle of an empty road in the middle of the desert.

She looked left and saw the road stretch out for as far as her eyes could see.
She looked right, and she saw that the desert stretched out to the ends of the earth.

The sun was beaming down at her, a tumbleweed crossed by her, and the vultures in the sky circled her, waiting for their next meal.

She smiled at the scene, an empty wasteland, where only the worst of the worst could survive the natural hostility of the place. You either live underground like a mouse, hiding away for the rest of your life.
Or you live in the sky like a vulture, waiting for a mouse to pop his tiny little head out of the sand.

It wasn't long before she picked up a new sound made itself known, it was a rumbling engine, an automobile making its way down the road, a pillar of smoke and dust trailing behind it.

Queen Chrysalis smiled at the incoming automobile, and at the white Unicorn driving it.

She waited with a smile stretched on her wretched face as the vehicle sped up at the sight of her.
She bent her legs, waiting for the moment to jump, her smile nearly feral in its width.

And when the car was moments away from striking her, when she could see that her smile matched the one of the driver, she jumped.

Only that her legs did not move.

"Oh..." Queen Chrysalis said with a smile, as the vehicle, a large open-roofed jeep slammed into her legs, her body falling on top of the jeep and flinging over it, landing on the road behind, receiving a face of smoke and dust to spice up the pain.

"I expected more," Chrysalis noted to herself calmly as she felt her legs bend in directions that her biology would not naturally allow in the form she was currently taking.
And then her smile brightened when the "More" she was expecting appeared.

"PLUTO!!!" A voice screamed out, and an industrial chain flew out of the cloud of dust, the hook at the end of the chain stabbing into her left front leg, another explosion of pain sprouting from her limb.

Chrysalis laughed out loud, her voice manic and crazed, as the chain in her leg pulled taut as the vehicle sped away, and with nothing else to hold her back, she was dragged along.
She knew none of it was real, it was an obvious illusion, yet every bump in the road, every rattle of the chain, grain of sand flying into her eyes.

It all felt so real.

But it wasn't over yet, with a quick turn of the steering wheel, the Jeep left the road, dragging Chrysalis with it as they entered a field of Cacti.

Chrysalis screamed with laughter, her body overflowing with love, as every rock that slammed into her back, and every cactus that smacked against her carapace and every spike and every point all seemed to fuel her more and more.

"I LOVE THIS!" She screamed, a mixture of pain and joy, as her body was caught between a pair of heavy cacti, the chain in her leg still pulling hard.

With a scream of euphoric anguish, her body was engulfed by a burning pain, the chain in her no longer able to pull her body while she was stuck, a fountain of green blood bursting out of the mangled stump where her left front leg was supposed to be.

And with her body overflowing with such potent love, the Illusion shattered, And Queen Chrysalis found herself laughing hysterically at it all.

She ignored the corpses of the changelings that littered the previously empty clearing, she ignored the bloody stump where her lug was supposed to be, and she ignored her mind screaming at her to do something, that she was killing herself.

"I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!" Chrysalis cried, her missing leg seemingly bursting back into existence with a flare of green fire.

And without waiting any further wait, The gelatinous tendrils that made up the braid in her hair burst into green flame, escaping her body like a swarm of flying snakes, homing onto the only other living creature remaining in this sea of green blood and black bodies.

"PLUTO!!!" The living statue that levitated on a serpentine tail yelled out as it intercepted the flaming tendrils, acting as a meat shield for its creator.

Yet, the burning snakes were nothing more than a distraction, as a sharp spike of solid black chitin pierced through its torso.

Queen Chrysalis cracked her neck, her smile still glued on to her face as her body seemingly doubled in size, her previously slim form now covered in an organic armor of dense chitin, a pair of extra limbs extending from her shoulders like the claws of a praying mantis, ending in sharp black spikes.

She looked less like a Pony, and more like a mutated Beetle, her new solid black carapace too heavy for her to take flight.

She looked all around the clearing, her legs heavily armored, slowly turning her body to take in the entire clearing around her.

She created this transformation following her previous fight with the Prince, taking heavy inspiration from his sense-sealing chains and mask, trading her mobility for a large boost in power.

In this form, she was like a sitting duck, unable to turn quick enough to hit her target, but also tough enough to not need to dodge.

And most importantly...

With a flare of green magic and a scream of effort, Chrysalis spread her telekinesis as far as she could take it, and with a stomp of her legs, lifted everything in her grasp.

And by everything, that means Everything.

The dirt and leaves on the ground started to levitate, the trees found themselves uprooted and lifted into the air, the corpses and blood started to float, like a thick miasma of green and black, and in the distance, at the edge of her reach, she found it.

"COME OVER HERE!" She screamed as she dropped her telekinetic hold on everything else in order to focus on that one object. And with a pull of her magic, hearing it slam into the many trees in its way, Chrysalis dragged Prince Blueblood back into the arena the two created, his body covered in golden chains and a horned gladiatorial mask, only for it all to shatter away as he flew right into a solid black leg.

It was less like the hoof of a pony, and closer in shape and size to a battering ram, and Prince Blueblood's body slammed into it at speeds that would make some of the greatest Pegasus athletes jealous. His protection shattered, his body was enveloped in pain, and his mind seemed to blank for the briefest of moments as it screamed at him, working overtime as the lights started to dim beneath his eyelids, that he had to get out of there.

For the first time in twenty-nine years.
Prince Blueblood Platinum, Truly thought, in the deepest depth of his soul.
"I might actually die here,"

"Heh..." His limp body shook in Chrysalis's hold, his chest engulfed in pain as his lungs tried to keep him breathing.
"Hehehe..." Queen Chrysalis smiled wider than before, the armored carapace on her face cracking as her lips spread to unnatural limits, injuring herself in her manic glee.

"Hehehehe... Heheha.. Hahaha..." Blueblood's body stopped moving for a moment, going limp, silent, for but a moment.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Only to return with an explosion of gold, blasting his body away from Chrysalis and onto the floor, only for his body to be caught in his own Telekinesis.

"YES! THIS IS WHAT I WAS WAITING FOR!!!" He screamed a mixture of joy and pain, his eyes bloodshot and manic, and yet so full of life.
Full of drive.
Full of Love.

Chrysalis's breath hitched once she saw those eyes, and that was all the time Blueblood needed.

"EPIMETHEUS!" With a yell, A beam of golden magic flew into the sky high above him, disappearing above the clouds and reaching the utmost edges of the magical atmosphere that surrounded the earth.

Chrysalis's eyes followed the beam, watching it disappear in the distance high above before she looked back down the to prince, only to find him gone.

"I GOT YOU!" She craned her neck down, seeing the Prince hugging the bottom of her body, magical chains extending from his horn and tying the two together.

With a smile, Chrysalis's form shifted, dropping the heavily armored carapace and returning to her slim and natural physique. Using her slimmer body, she wrapped her limbs around the prince and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
That is not to say she hugged him tightly, no. His bones were being crushed underneath her vice grip.

"I GOT YOU!" Chrysalis repeated the Prince's words, her face mere centimeters from his, Green blood dripped down from her mouth and mixed with the red flowing from his nose, her emerald orbs stared into his arctic blue, she got him.
She won.

"I win." Blueblood said simply, a confident gleam in his eyes as he stared into the Changeling Queen's windows to the soul.

"Oh?" Chrysalis tilted her head to the side, her forked tongue sticking out of her mouth as she started to lick the Pony in her grasp, "How so?"

"The spell I just cast, Epimetheus, It's going to kill you," He said calmly, not caring for the wet appendage licking the blood and sweat from his body, "Pale Blue Dot won't work on you, if you could escape it once, you can escape it again, so I needed a new spell, one with a similar cost to Pale Blue Dot, yet not an Illusion. That is where Epimetheus comes in,"

"Go on," Chrysalis whispered huskily as her tongue shapeshifted in order to extend further, wrapping around the prince like a wet scarf covered in taste buds, The Changeling Queen able to taste every corner of his body.

"Epimetheus is one of the many moons of Jupiter, but in Myth, he is a son of the Titan Iapetus, making him the brother of Prometheus and Atlas," The Prince started to explain, his eyes still staring to the Changeling's own, "Atlas isn't relevant right now, so we'll stick to Prometheus and Epimetheus. If Prometheus is the Foresight, who acts in a way that he sees will be better off in the future, Epimetheus is his opposite, the Hindsight, who acts selfishly only thinking of the here and now, irrespective of how his actions might affect himself or others in the future,"

"A Warrior and a Philosopher?" Chrysalis mumbled, her tongue still wrapping around the prince like a cocoon of muscle, "Just shut up and take me here and now why won't you~"

"Let me finish before you open your whore mouth to interrupt me you stupid bitch," Blueblood said with a calm smile as if he did not just insult the person holding his life in her grasp, The Changeling quivering as the insults washed over her body.

"Hehe, Demean me more~" She whispered, her tongue already halfway through with wrapping around the Princes's torso, steadily making its way lower.

"Shut up, In myth, Epimetheus is the husband of Pandora, and in some stories, he's the one that opens Pandora's box," Blueblood looked away from the Changeling Queen's eyes and turned to the sky above, "This Spell is a symbolic recreation of that, Opening Pandora's Box, or in this case, Opening the crust of the earth,"

"Oh?" Chrysalis turned to follow the Prince's gaze, watching a tiny glint of gold sparkle high above the sky.

"This spell is the Physical replacement to Pale Blue Dot, made specifically for people like you, who'll be able to escape that Masterful Illusion," Blueblood grabbed Chrysalis's face with his magic and pulled at it to make her look back down at him, watching an excited smile stretch on his face.
"This spell is a fallen star, that will drill into the earth until it no longer has any power, a spell designed for destruction above all else," His smile stretched wider as he managed to pull his legs out of the fleshy cocoon made form the Queen's tongue, grabbing hold of the sides of her face and pulling her even closer to hi.

"In order to maximize the destructive output of this spell, I had to throw range and accuracy out, This spell is the ultimate game of chicken, and this time, you won't be teleporting away!" A Pang of pain erupted from Chrysalis's hind legs, a pair of hooks emerged from the ground and pierced her flesh, grounding her in place.

"THIS SPELL WILL DIG INTO THE EARTH UNTIL IT IS NO LONGER ABLE!!! A DRILL THAT WILL BREAK OPEN PANDORA'S BOX!!! AND IT ONLY HAS ONE TARGET, NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!" Blueblood's voice turned manic as his hooves squeezed the Changeling's cheeks so tight her Carapace started to crack, "ME!!!!!"

Chrysalis's eyes widened in horror as she turned to look at the glinting spark of gold, getting larger and larger in the distance as it came down ever closer.

This was why Blueblood latched on to her, he could not aim this spell, so he had to use himself as the target.
And as he said, this was a game of chicken, Either Chrysalis tears her own legs off once more in order to escape, or the drill kills her as Blueblood teleports himself to safety at the last possible moment.
Or...
Chrysalis doesn't let go of the Prince or tear her legs off, and they both die.

Chrysalis turned away from the ever-approaching drilling beam of Golden Magic and stared into the Prince's eyes.

She could not let herself die yet, She still had so much to do, she had to become the perfect reflection of It, and to do that she still needed to understand It, what It did, what It truly meant to her.

She was little more than a dead worm inside of a rotten fruit, a living embodiment of disgust.
And she was hungry.

Oh so hungry.

Chrysalis's lips, bruised and bleeding, locked with those of the prince, chapped and dry, their blood mixing on her tongue as she dragged it back into her mouth, the taste of salty sweat and coppery blood mixing together to create a hideous concoction.

She loved it. But she was still hungry.

And she will always be hungry. That is something she knew.

From the moment It pulled her out of that muck, she was Hungry.
And that hunger could never be satiated.
Not by It, not by Its daughter, who was sent to the far future as the black butterfly betrayed It, and not by this Prince, the last heir to the ancient house of Platinum, nothing could make her full.

The Being who was called Chrysalis existed to consume, and no matter how hard she tries to change that, to become like It, A being who existed to be loved, She will never be It.

And deep down, in the recesses of her mind, she knew that.

She was a dead worm inside a rotten fruit.

And with a flare of green magic from her Horn, The Worm started to consume.

Deep inside the Prison of Tartarus, in the most secure cell of the magic prison, a certain prisoner was laughing hysterically at the turn of events.

"YES!" Lord Tirek cheered, the chains binding his body to the floor of his dark and empty cage creaking and rattling at the force of his yell, "IT'S ALMOST HERE! SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE!!!"

It was not yet time, but it was coming, the paths had aligned, and Destiny was fast approaching.

And Tirek Knew, that should he fail to destroy the world, there will still be three other opportunities to follow.

"THE END IS NIGH!!!"

Because only one may bring forth the Apocalypse, and that is something that will never change, no matter how much the script was ruined, it will always happen.

That was their Destiny.
That was their Fate.

Chrysalis knew she could not stop the drill, her magic could not create a barrier strong enough.
But she did not need to block it.

An orb of green flame shot out of her horn, flying upwards to meet the beam of gold.

And as the orb touched the drill, it started to consume.

Like a mouth in space itself, sucking the magic like a black hole, The orb of green fire started to consume Epimetheus.

The more Epimetheus drew closer, the more the green flames ate at it, growing larger and hotter with each second.

Chrysalis felt her horn shudder under the weight of the spell, she felt liquid drip down her face as her horn started to crack, forcing her to actively regenerate the horn while controlling the Fire.

The Flames of Famine.

Consuming all in their way, from trees and stones to heat and magic, nothing could escape the all-consuming hunger of a creature destined to be one of four beings who would bring the end to the world.

And yet, having an infinite appetite does not mean having an infinitely large stomach to hold all her food.

As the drill of magic disappeared completely inside of the flames, Chrysalis shuddered, her body convulsing as pain spread through her entire nervous system, as if her entire body was stripped apart into nothing but nerves, and then dipped into a vat of molten iron.

She screamed, not in joy or love, but in absolute, gut-wrenching, mind-numbing, indescribable pain.

The orb of flames shuddered above her, her mind barely conscious enough to understand what was going to happen.

If Epimetheus was a drill that was going to pierce the world. Then the orb of fire was a bomb, with the force of the drill that would break open Pandora's Box.

Chrysalis felt her lips turn upwards as she turned away from the orb, her magic no longer controlling it as the flames started to fall down to earth.

She stared at the unconscious body of the Prince beneath her, and for what was probably the first time in her rotten life, she loved something.

A soft pink mist flowed out of her horn as it started to heal the injuries the Prince sustained, her body going limp as the strength in her legs left her, tumbling down onto the prince beneath her.

With a final glow to her horn, Chrysalis created a dome around the two of them, trying her utmost to protect both of them. For the first time in a lifetime, Chrysalis cared about another creature that wasn't It.

And then the flames touched the ground.

Princess Celestia turned her head in silent horror as she watched an explosion of green and gold magic shake Canterlot, the mountain shuddering as it held strong under the force of the explosion.

Without waiting, Princess Celestia flew to the epicenter of the explosion, her magic clearing away the dust and flames as she looked around her.

What was once a clearing inside of a bright and colorful forest was now nothing more than an empty field of dust and ash.

Celestia's eyes locked on to the only thing in the clearing that wasn't Ash and smoke, her body turning into a living missile as she broke the sound barrier just to reach the body quicker.

She gently picked it up, an injured and bleeding Unicorn, and hugged it close to her.
She placed her ears on its chest and breathed a sigh of relief to hear that it was still alive.

"Don't worry Baby, Mommy's going to save you," And with a burst of an aurora of magic, the two ponies teleported back to the castle in order to get the Unicorn the best treatment he could get.

And in her hurry to bring her adopted son back to safety, Princess Celestia did not see the victorious smirk on the Unicorn's face or the glint of green magic in its horn.

When I woke up, I knew that I was still unconscious, thanks to the fact that my body seemed to be made out of solid blue water, and I was standing on top of a flat white plane, extending endlessly as far as I could see.

"I didn't look like this since Nightmare Moon was in my mind," I noted as I started to stretch my imaginary limbs, trying to get used to this false body that I seemed to create whenever I was pulled into my own mind.

"You fucked up," I froze as a hauntingly familiar voice sounded from behind me.

"You're dead," I turned around to point at where the voice came from, only to find the place empty.

"Oh? Am I a ghost? Or am I just your subconscious trying to tell you something?" The voice kept talking, that familiar emotional undertone.

I hated that voice.

"Come out here so I can make sure you're actually dead this time!" I yelled, my body turning around in search of that annoying voice.

"You're a slave Kingfisher, you can't kill me, And besides-" I growled as I turned around once more, searching for that bastard.
"-You're already dead~" I froze as I faced him.

He looked nothing like how he was supposed to.

"Why the fuck are you an actual Macaw?" I asked the anthropomorphic bird, a Harpy, his body covered in red feathers as his hands and feet were replaced by claws and talons, large white circles surrounded his eyes and his mouth was replaced with a black and white beak.

"You're not going to question being dead?" Macaw asked with that annoying voice of his, raising a feathery eyebrow at me.

"If I was actually dead, We wouldn't be having this conversation, secondly, If you're here that means you're a ghost and you're haunting me, however, ghosts aren't real, which means that you're just an annoying figment of my imagination and nothing you say matters, Also, go Kill yourself again you piece of shit," I told the walking and talking figment of my imagination.

"Ooh~ telling me to kill myself? So cruel, classic Kingfisher~" Macaw's beak turned to a smile before he returned to normal, "You're going to be stuck here until you wake up, you know that?" He kicked the flat white plane with his clawed leg, "Wanna do something in the meantime? I think I can create a deck of cards or something, seeing as this is your subconscious and I'm just an avatar created by your inner self in order to keep you from going insane," He plopped down onto the floor, a pack of cards appearing in his claws, "Wanna play Old Maid or Go Fish?"

"...Fuck it, Might as well," I groaned tiredly before my see-through water-like body sat down in front of the ghost of a man who ruined my life.

It's not like I had anything better to do.

Author's Note

Things are fucking nuts! Blueblood vs Chrysalis goes insane! Newblood shows a new destructive spell and Chrissy just EATS IT!!! Chrysalis took Blueblood's place, and Blueblood is now seemingly missing! Blueblood's inner avatar is playing cards with Macaw of Avian, a person from his Human Past, and Lord Tirek is one step closer to bringing forth the end of the world!

The upcoming season finale is going to be insane!!!

Next chapter it finally starts! The Royal Canterlot Wedding Arc!!!

Flaming Celestia :)
(Look at Rarity sitting Twilight's back, what a queen XD)

Chapter 109: The Princess is in Captivity and No Longer Dead

Inside of Canterlot Castle, sitting at her desk, Raven Inkwell was wishing she could take a break.
With the wedding just another week away, Raven has been stuck with managing most of the nation while Celestia was busy smiling on her throne as if nothing was bothering her.

Raven knew otherwise, of course, Princess Celestia is a horrible actress. Perhaps that's why so many ponies love her, she wears her heart on her sleeve, so you always know what she's thinking, and those thoughts are always positive.

Sadly that also means that whenever she's not feeling so positive, it makes her hard to approach, the citizens not wanting to get on the nerves of their Princess.

Luckily, that means that not many ponies visit her court, which makes Raven's job much easier.
Unfortunately, that also means that Celestia gets much less work done, and Raven needs to pick up the pace to keep everything running.

"Hey, Raven? Are you busy in there? I know you are but... I need to talk," Raven looked up from her paperwork, checked the time on the clock on the wall, took ten seconds to make her desk look more presentable, drank the last few milliliters of coffee in her mug, scrunched her face once she noticed it had gone cold, coughed into her hoof, brushed her hair a bit, adjusted her glasses, sat straight in her chair, tried to see if she forgot anything, decided that if she forgot it then it must not be that important, and spoke up.

"Open- I mean, Come in," Raven said once she made herself presentable.

Raven watched the door open as Starlight Glimmer walked in, looking somehow more tired than she was.

"Raven, your-" Starlight motioned with her hoof to her neck, "Your tie thingie is hanging loose,"

Raven looked down at her neck, finally noticing what she failed to remember mere moments prior.
She quickly turned her chair around in order to hide it, took her tie off, and turned back to watch Starlight as if nothing had happened.
If she doesn't acknowledge it, then that means it never happened.

"Hello Starlight," Raven said with a smile, trying her best to look prim and proper as the Secretary of Princess Celestia, "What can I help you with?"

"Please say go out for Brunch, wait, no, it's the afternoon, Please say go out for Supper, I need an excuse to stretch my legs" Raven begged in her mind, wishing Starlight Glimmer would say those magical words.

"I need to talk to you about Blueblood," Starlight said as she took the seat on the other side of Raven's desk.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Raven's mind screamed at her, "Did she figure out we were sleeping together? Does she not want me to be doing that? Why? Does she want Blueblood to herself? I can't let that happen! We'll no longer be friends with benefits, we'll just be regular friends! But what about Blueblood's mysterious long-distance lover? Does Starlight know about her? And what about-" On the outside, Raven looked calm and collected, like a proper secretary. But on the inside, Raven was reliving her teenage years.

"What about Blueblood?" Raven asked with a smile, ready to listen to her best friend.
Her best friend she only knew for less than a year...
Who is also a criminal on special parole and also the bodyguard of her lover...
Never mind the fact that the reason she's her best friend is that Raven's friend list can be counted with the number of Princesses Equestria has...

Raven concluded in her mind that she needed to make more friends, only for another part of her mind to immediately follow by telling her that she doesn't need new friends because making friends requires talking to other ponies about subjects that do not relate to her work, and that means being proactive, and she'd much rather not do that at all ever for the rest of her life.

"Do you think he's disappointed in me?" Starlight asked, and Raven had to turn her focus back to the Unicorn in front of her.

"Why do you think he's disappointed in you?" Raven asked, trying her best to look as if she wasn't thinking of something else entirely less than a minute ago.

"Well, He hasn't been speaking to me, and whenever I try to enter his room he locks the door and tells me to leave him alone," Starlight started to speak, "He locks the door sometimes, sure, but never when I'm trying to enter, it's usually when he's working on some stupid BBF project and wants some privacy, but he always explains that as well, now he's just... Distant."

Raven's mind whirled trying to think of a reason, "Maybe he's still angry after that assassination attempt, and he's been working out in his room alone, and doesn't want anyone to see him?" Raven brought up the idea, her mind imagining the Prince, his body shaking and covered in sweat, as he did one-hoofed pushups, the other front leg held behind his back, his face set in a look of fiery determination, only for the hidden door behind his closet to accidentally pull open, Her body tumbling out into his room, Blueblood stops his pushups and stands up to turn his body and look at her, using a nearby towel to wipe the sweat off his face as he scowls at her, frustrated that this moment of silent privacy was interrupted by her clumsy entrance.

"Hehe, oops?" She chuckled, squirming under his gaze as he scoffed at her, turning away as if she wasn't worth the effort of admonishing.
"I'll be leaving then, sorry for interrupting..." She said as she turned back to the hidden door, ready to leave the Prince to his own machinations, only for her leg to be caught in a telekinetic grip.

"Who said you have permission to leave?" He asked her, a subtle tone of frustration in his voice, his chest heaving from the intense workout making his breath come out heavily as he used his magic to drag her closer to him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Raven tried to explain herself quickly only for her mouth to close, a telekinetic grip forcing it shut as her body was lifted off the ground, held up by her hind legs, as her face got dragged closer to the glaring visage of Prince Blueblood.

"Raven?"

"I do not remember giving you permission to speak," He told her, the ocean-deep glaciers that were his eyes glaring into her coffee brown, "You have interrupted me at my weakest, as I tended to my own flesh following that humiliating defeat," Raven felt insignificant at that moment, like a trapped rat cowering in front of a hungry cat, she was a mere Secretary, not even a royal like him, and yet she dared lay her eyes on him in his most vulnerable position, his forelegs still wrapped in bandages.

"Raven, are you listening?"

Raven stilled as she felt the Prince's heavy breathing impact her, her fur being pushed aside, "You will not be leaving this room until your behavior has been fixed," He growled into her ear, her body shivering as the vibrations flowed through her body, her mouth being forcefully pulled open by his magic as a plastic ball found its place there, tied to the back of her head by a pair of strings, "And you won't be needing this for your punishment," Raven's eyes unfocused as her glasses were taken off, "I know you have troubled vision, so you will likely be unable to see this," Raven froze as she felt the Prince's lips kiss beside her mouth, so close to her lips she could almost taste him. If only she didn't have this accursed gag over her mouth.

"Earth to Raven, Are you even there right now?"

"And since you didn't see that, You likely won't see this as well," Raven's legs started to rub together as her body squirmed, hanging upside down, held by the Prince's magic, as his lips started to kiss her all over, her body slowly getting lowered to the ground head first as the prince continued kissing her over and over, each kiss going a little lower on her body before-

Raven jolted up at the loud clapping sound, finding herself in her chair, back in her office, the sweat-covered stallion of her dreams no longer to be seen.
"Raven, You fell asleep while I was talking," Starlight Glimmer told her, her face twisted in worry, "You really need to take a break, and finish work early," She stood up and started moving to the door, "I'll come to talk to you tomorrow, My issues can wait, take care of yourself, okay?" Starlight Glimmer told her before she exited her office and closed the door behind her, leaving Raven sitting on her chair, wishing she was back in that wonderful dream.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was going through a very busy time, She already wrote down how she and Cosmos planned her wedding to look and gave the details to Princess Celestia, who was all too eager to help with the wedding preparation, anything to take her off the throne.

Cadance was almost worried for her, almost. After her Cousin came back and locked himself in his room without leaving, Auntie Celestia was down in the proverbial dumps.

Cadance wasn't worried, Her cousin would pull through with whatever was ailing him, He always does, and when that inevitably happens, Auntie Celestia will return to her normal cheerful self, who doesn't need to use her non-existent acting talent to make things look like they're doing fine.

The last time she was like this, was after Bluey got sent to Yakyakistan after trying to arrest Starlight Glimmer, and Cadance knows how well that ended up for Bluey.
Cadance wasn't actually there to see it, but she heard Luna talk about it, so she decided to give it some time. As they all say, Time heals all wounds.

Although, Cadance was not expecting one of the maids to tell her that Bluey was calling for her and that he needed to talk about something important.
She first assumed that he would simply illusion a copy of himself into her room and scare her while she wasn't looking in order to deliver the message, but perhaps he simply wasn't ready to use his magic yet so soon after the attempt on his life.

"Bluey, it's me," She said as she knocked on his door.

"Please, come in," He spoke from the other side, opening the door slightly to show that it was unlocked.

Stepping into his room, Cadance expected to see her cousin either lying injured in his bed, or working on one of his little projects by his desk, instead, she found... Nothing.

Her cousin wasn't in the room.

Her body involuntarily jumped as she heard the door close behind her, "Oh, Haha, What is this? A Horror novel?" Cadance chuckled to herself while rolling her eyes, turning behind her, expecting to see her cousin smirk that annoying smile he does whenever he thinks he's done something worth being proud about enough to show but not proud enough to smile widely about.

"A horror novel?" Cadance felt her body freeze, her eyes had to turn up to stare at the creature blocking the door, "No, oh you lovely little thing, This isn't a horror story," She recognized it, it looked different from the last time she saw it, its body was no longer riddled with holes, it was smooth and reflective, like the chitinous exterior of a beetle, its hair was now cut much shorter, having a sort of gelatinous depth to it.

But it wasn't any of that that froze Cadance in place, no, It was those eyes, wide and manic, a reflective Emerald so bright it almost made her feel sick.

Scratch that, Her knees buckled as she fell to the floor, her stomach exiting her mouth as she threw up, her wide purple eyes shrunk into pinpricks as she felt an unnatural fear take hold of her body, her mind banging against the constraints of its skull as it sang and shrieked as if a traumatic memory that she locked away in the darkest recesses of her mind was clawing up out of the mental void, like a beast ready to bring nothing but ruin and destruction.

She knew what this creature was, of course she did, she saw her Cousin fight it in Caninia back in November of last year, and yet, her mind seemed to scream at her louder at just the memory of that encounter, yelling at her that she recognized it from before, much before, from a time before she could remember.

"This is a Romantic Drama," The hideous creature told her, smiling down at her from her towering position above, "And you, dearest Princess, are a valued member of the oh-so-colorful cast of characters, and I do not wish any harm to come to you," Cadance felt ready to vomit again, her body hacking and coughing in an attempt to get rid of the vile feeling that coursed through it as the creature's leg moved to caress her cheek.

"Help..." She whispered, her body quickly losing the strength to fight back, to call for help, to save herself from this vacuous mass of living tissue in the approximate shape of a pony.

"Oh dear, I am going to help you, after all, you are Its daughter, and I would never dream of harming anything that was Its." The Creature smiled down at her, its horn glowing a sickly green as flames licked its flesh, changing texture and color as the form of the horrible being before her shifted into a perfect mirror image of herself, "I only wish to help you, And for that I need you out~"

Cadance didn't know what happened next, her mind was sluggish and slow, one moment she was lying in a pool of her own bile, tears streaking down her face, and next, she found herself inside a cage of crystal, with no visible exit from her underground prison.

"Eight-hundred and twenty-one, Eight hundred and twenty-two, Eight hundred and twenty-three, Eight hundred and-" Cadance's mind stalled as she heard a voice from behind her, she slowly turned her body around, eyes wide with panic, ready to shoot her magic at it should it prove a threat.

And then she paused, a soft chuckle escaping her lips at the sight in front of her, and before she could stop herself, she ran forward and tackled the only other figure with her in that cage of crystal with a powerful hug, tears of relief streaming down her face as she laughed and cried simultaneously, her legs wrapping around the heavily bandaged body of a white unicorn.

"You're alive!" She smiled happily, uncaring for the vomit stuck to her fur that she was inadvertently spreading onto the other pony, who kept doing his push-ups, despite the added weight of Equestria's youngest Alicorn now hanging onto him.

"It'll be a cold day in hell when I let Chrysalis of all bastards be the reason I die, Eight hundred and twenty-five, I'm pretty sure I told you this before, or maybe it was Starlight, I don't remember, Eight hundred and twenty-six, But I'm going to be dying of natural causes, meaning either of old age or of a natural disaster, preference for the second one, Eight hundred and twenty-seven, Most likely being struck by lightning while being pulled into a Hurricane flying above an active volcano, Now that's one way I wouldn't mind going out," The Unicorn chuckled as he kept doing his push-ups.
"Oh, and Cadance, I finally finished working on my speech,"

"Your Speech?" Cadance asked as she laid her head on his back, hugging him as if he was a giant stuffed animal, using his body for warmth in order to calm down her still heavily beating heart.

"For your Wedding of course," The Unicorn rolled his eyes before he returned to counting his exercise, "Being here in this cave for two weeks gave me a lot of time to think of how I want it to sound, It's not like I had anything better to do, I couldn't teleport out of here with my magic as it currently is, and I can't send a message asking for rescue, My Illusions might have good range, but even I can't reach the castle from here, and I can't use the letter sending spell without any letters to send, never mind the fact that the smoke that carries the letter will simply get stuck in this room before dissipating, believe me, I tried sending a pebble to check if it would work, it simply fell over there," He motioned with his head to the side, where a small grey rock was laying beside the crystal walls that surrounded them.

"...You worked on a speech for my wedding? Oh, Bluey..." Cadance sniffed her nose before snuggling into the Unicorn.

"Oh, and Cadance," The Unicorn, Captain Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria, Founder of the Blueblood Foundation and last living descendant(known) of Princess Platinum, turned to his cousin, "What is that smell?"

"It's my vomit," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, The Alicorn of Love, spoke nonchalantly as she kept hugging her cousin.

"What?!" Blueblood stopped his push-ups and rolled to the side, pushing the Princess off of him, "Gross! It's in my fur! What the hell Cadenza?!"

"Stop moving!" Cadance shouted after him as she started running after her cousin, "Get back here so I can keep hugging you!"

"No! You're covered in your own vomit! Stay away from me!" Blueblood cried as he tried to keep his distance from the Princess of Vomit- Love, The Princess of Love.

Unfortunately, Prince Blueblood was still somewhat injured from his fight with the Queen of the Changelings, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was an Alicorn, meaning she had the strength and stamina of an Earth Pony and the speed and flight of a Pegasus.

Suffice to say, Cadance and Blueblood, two members of the Equestrian Crown, spent the rest of their day cuddling for warmth on the cold hard floor of a crystal-covered cavern, the stench of Vomit being replaced with soap and perfume thanks to a cheap cleaning spell.

And although the stench was gone, the worry remained.

How much longer will they have to stay there until they're freed?

Cadance was no combatant, she couldn't escape on her own. Blueblood's magic and body were still recovering, he could not escape either.

They had no choice but to wait, wait and hope that someone would find them, and free them from this Prison.

"Don't you worry Shining Armor, I'm not letting that shapeshifting hussy ruin our wedding..." And with those words leaving her tired body, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Hoping a Hero would come.

Author's Note

Next Chapter it finally begins! The Arc we've all been waiting for!

The Royal Canterlot Wedding, covering the episode A Canterlot Wedding! and bringing an end to Season 2 of the show.

Also, shout-out to all the people who wanted more Family bonding moments between Blueblood and the rest of the royal family, I know cuddling while covered in your own vomit may not be some people's preferred bonding exercise, but Cadance doesn't care!
She needed a hug, and Blueblood wasn't going to throw her off. She might be pink, but she's not Pinkie Pie.
Although, Maybe he also gave up on throwing Pinkie Pie off after It's about time? Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Oh, and shout out to Raven Inkwell, we stan <3

(Why is there more fanart of her as a Unicorn than as an Earth Pony? She had 4 appearances in the show, and she was an Earth Pony for 3 of those! Why is the Unicorn more popular?! I need more Earth Pony Raven Fanart!!!)

See you soon!
And Thanks for enjoying this story :)

Chapter 110: A Canterlot Wedding 1

For a bit over two weeks, Canterlot Castle's greatest asset has been lying in wait, preparing for the moment that the one who took the body of Prince Blueblood made themselves vulnerable.

It made no sounds, as it watched the imposter masquerade in the form of the Prince, it made no sound as it watched it banish the Pink Princess into a place unknown, it made no sounds as it switched places with the pink one, bringing forth a replacement Imposter that will take the form of the Prince.

It made no sounds as the new Imposter entered the shower, prepared to use the privileges which were not theirs to have.
It made no sounds as it released a cloud of sleeping gas into the shower, the Imposter not noticing a thing as the steam from the Prince's hot shower camouflaged its entrance.
It made no sounds as the Imposter fell unconscious, their hideous disguise coming undone.
It made no sounds as it grabbed the body by the neck with its long golden tail, and started to constrict.
It made no sounds as the Imposter woke up and started to resist, clawing and scratching at its body in a vain attempt to release itself.
It made no sounds as the imposter finally stopped breathing, lifting its strangled body by the neck as it slammed it back onto the porcelain floor.
It made no sounds as the green liquid splashed out of its body, like a pear being squeezed until the juice came out.
It made no sounds as it dropped the body, used its tail to turn on the shower, and cleaned the liquid off its body.
It made no sounds as it turned the water off, climbed out of the shower, shook its body to fling the remaining water off, before it soundlessly closed the door behind itself and returned to hiding in wait beneath the Prince's bed.

Her name was Comet, and she was Prince Blueblood's most loyal asset.
He just didn't know it yet.

And so she returned to waiting.

Surely the guards will realize something was wrong soon, they can't all be that incompetent.
...Who was she kidding, Comet knew that the only people she could rely on were herself and her Prince.

All she had to do was wait for the Prince to return.

"Feeding time," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza tiredly opened her eyes, watching two small bowls of rice and a pair of water bottles materialize inside of the crystal prison she was trapped in.

She looked up at the crystal, watching a projection of the Changeling Queen look down at her from above, "You know, I will give you more food if you promise to marry me and love me and care for me and kill for me and become my adorable little slave, you know that right Bloobloo?" Cadance hid her gag at the sound of the nickname leaving the Changeling's mouth, A cute nickname like that was something only shared between mother and son, or husband and wife! And she will not let her cousin be entrapped in a loveless marriage with this- this- This Bitch!

Cadance paused as those words passed through her mind, she turned to look at her cousin, perhaps he and Cosmos were rubbing off on her a bit too much, she never called any pony in her life such a hurtful word.

"If you call me Bloobloo one more time I'm going to shoot you in the head, I won't even announce my presence and make it a part of some blood-pumping fight, I'm just going to snipe you from afar, don't tempt me, I will do it," Her cousin said as he levitated the bowl of rice towards him, frowned at it still being partially hard, but ate it anyway.

"Ooh, you trying to assassinate me? That means you think I'm dangerous enough to warrant you not enjoying yourself, that means I'm special, ah, I love you too, I'll break your bones after I free you, I can let you both watch as I turn Celestia into a donut, just punch a hole in her chest, It takes a lot of force to do that, It's really impressive, You'll be amazed how hard it is to clean all the blood off afterward, I really do think we have something special Bloobloo, you know what? After I'm done with marrying this stupid guard captain, I'll marry you, and Cady can be the Bridesmaid, but on the groom's side, and then we can go to the Crystal Empire and finally finish It's dream, I want six, no, seven children, and Cadance will be able to name at least two of them, They'll be called Jerry, Terry, Larry, Gary, Harry, and the two that Cadance will name, Pinky and Stinky, You're going to hate them, I'll probably kill them a month after giving birth, they'll make these adorable little crunching sounds you'll fall in love with me immediately after hearing them I-" Cadance was thankful for the Illusion Blueblood cast over the projection, hiding the manic Changeling Queen and muting her sound.

"What's with her obsession with you?" She asked her cousin, her face cringing as she had to bite on the barely cooked rice.

"Fuck if I know," Blueblood said before he took a heavy swig of his water bottle, "She's insane, I don't understand what she's thinking at all," He stopped to drink some more water, "At first I assumed she was simply trying to take my place in order to get closer to Celestia, then she started talking about some weird slave-play she's into, and now she's kidnapping me for the sole purpose of beating me up and throwing me into a dungeon, I'm personally more confused about why you're here,"

Cadance took a deep breath and tried to comb through her mind, "I don't know." Was the only answer she could give, "If she only wanted to reach Celestia, she could have easily just taken the place of a random guard," Cadance thought back to what she said to her before she brought her here a few days ago.

"I- I think It's something to do with Princess Amore," Cadance concluded, "I remember she said that I was Its daughter and more than that, she said she wanted to help," Cadance stopped to let those words swim in her mind for a moment, "I... I don't think she's being malicious,"

"...Not being malicious? Cadance she's tried to kill me multiple times, she's trapped the two of us here in an underground prison, she has repeatedly stated that she was going to Kill Celestia, how is she not malicious?!" Blueblood exclaimed loudly at her, angrily throwing the empty rice bowl at the crystal walls that surrounded them, throwing as it simply bounced off the wall as if made of rubber instead of breaking apart like he wished it did.

"That's not what I mean," Cadance shook her head before she turned to look at the crystal walls, and at the spot where the Changeling Queen was previously projected, "I mean, she definitely is doing horrible things, she is a monster, don't get me wrong, but I don't think she's doing them with the intent of being malicious..." Cadance tried to think of a way to explain it, "I think... I think she's doing this because she thinks it's the right thing to do, even if she's wrong,"

"...And why would she think that anything that she's doing right now is somehow the right thing to do?" Blueblood asked her, and luckily for her, Cadance already had the answer.

"Because of Princess Amore," she told him. Those four words were all the explanation she needed.

"Princess Amore? Your ancestor that is the reason you're an Alicorn right now, she's the reason?" Blueblood raised an eyebrow at that.

"She's not an ancestor," Cadance shook her head, "I think I figured it out while we visited the Deer, Princess Amore isn't an Ancestor, she's my Mother. Gaia Everfree acted as if I was there when she died, which wouldn't make sense seeing as I'm only two years older than you, not over one thousand. But it would somehow explain why Celestia treats me like I'm Amore's very distant descendant, despite Amore having no known offspring, which clashes with both Gaia and Chrysalis's statements that she does have, and how all the rulers we met from that time call me her daughter, instead of her descendant,"

"And how would that be possible? You're theory falls flat here Cadance, You can't be her daughter, She died over one thousand years ago, and unlike with Platinum, she didn't have multiple offsprings who could have hidden and survived till this day," Blueblood pointed at a hole in her theory, and Cadance quickly explained her reasoning.

"King Aspen said that Bramble was Gaia Everfree's son, which also wouldn't make sense if we use that same logic, unless, of course, we think a bit outside of the box... We can assume that Gaia and Amore knew each other, and Chrysalis definitely has something with Amore, therefore all three of them would know if Amore had any children. Gaia had Bramble, but Bramble is only what? Thirteen? He's definitely too young to be her son, unless of course, he simply skipped one thousand years forwards-" Cadance was interrupted as Blueblood cleared his throat and pointed a hoof at her.

"Time travel?" He cleared his throat once more, less as a way of actually clearing it and more just to make that sound, "You're saying that the reason why Bramble, and subsequently you, are not over one thousand years old, is because you, and Bramble, were sent one thousand years into the future, and you have no memory of it,"

"...When you say it like that it sounds less believable than it-" Cadance tried to defend her reasoning.

"Nah, I believe you," Blueblood waved her off, "It would also explain why you're older than Bramble, if we use the time between the Crystal Empire disappearing and Gaia Everfree's supposed death when House Platinum disappeared, it gives us around twenty years, which explains the age gap between you two,"

"Yes- YES! EXACTLY!" Cadance yelled in excitement, "And the reason none of us remember any of it is that we were babies when it happened! We haven't reached the age where we could start storing memories yet, and- and it would explain why nobody knows Amore had any offspring! She had me, but I was basically a newborn, and she kept me secret, and then I got sent to the future before anyone could figure it out, except for Gaia, who only knew about me because she had something to do with the Crystal Empire disappearing! And was also the only other person who sent her offspring into the future! It explains so much!"

"Okay, New question, how does Chrysalis fit into any of this?" Blueblood asked.

"I have no Idea!" Cadance yelled with a smile as she flapped her wings and flew into her cousin, pulling him into a hug as she spun in the air.

"Don't be happy!" She ignored his yelling in her ears, "You went on this entire cockamamie rant about how you are actually Princess Amore's daughter who got sent into the future as a toddler, which doesn't actually answer any of our questions because it doesn't matter! We still have no idea what Gaia Everfree's deal is, we still have no idea what Tirek's deal is, we still have no idea who the Pony of Shadow's true identity is, we still have no idea how Cosmos fits into this, and Chrysalis is nowhere near connected to your theory besides the notion that she might have something to do with princess Amore! We've gone two steps forward one step back and we still don't have anything! What does it matter if you're Amore's real daughter?! it changes nothing! You're still an Alicorn of Equestria! You're still my cousin! And you're still going to be late for your wedding with your fool of a husband!"

"Hey! Only I'm allowed to call Shining a fool! It's one of my privileges!" Cadance defended the honor of her fiance.

"I'll call him whatever I want!" Blueblood yelled as he struggled in the hug of a Princess with the strength of an Earth Pony, "He's the captain of the royal guard, who provides security so incompetent they still haven't noticed that both of us have been replaced!"

"You keep talking about him like that and I'll send you one thousand years into the future!" She yelled at her cousin, laughing at him all the while.

"I'd like to see you try! You can barely cast a basic Illusion spell! I'll die of old age before you manage to send me to the future!" Blueblood laughed back at her, making fun of her lack of magical talent.

"Not if I die of magic exhaustion before I can even finish that spell!" And so the two royals went back and forth, laughing and yelling at each other as if they had nothing better in the world to do.

And seeing as the only thing they had to do was wait for Blueblood's magic to recover, doing nothing might as well have been the best thing to do.

And underneath all the yells and laughs, the two ponies had a simple thought crossing their mind.

"I'm so glad I'm not here alone,"

Spike the Dragon was running outside on the grass, a pair of paper scrolls magically nesting in his gullet as he made his way toward his older sister and her friends.

"Twi- Twilight!" He called out to her, breathing heavily as he moved his short legs as fast as he could as he ran towards the small picnic the girls were having.

"Spike?" Twilight turned to look at him, watching as he ran through the rest of the friend group and stopped in front of her.

"I- I have- Lemme' just," He managed to breathe out before he gagged and fell onto his stomach, a small burst of green flames escaping his mouth as one of the messages materialized through his Dragonfire.

Twilight Sparkle lifted the rolled scroll of paper and read aloud its contents, "Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot." She turned to look at her other friends, "Wedding?" She returned to the letter.
"I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music." She turned to look at the Yellow Pegasus who smiled at being addressed in the letter.

"Oh my goodness! what an honor!" Fluttershy said with a soft yet excited smile on her face.

Twilight turned to look at the next friend being addressed in the letter, "Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception."

Pinkie Pie smiled widely as she stood up, "Hip," She jumped into the air, "Hip," she did a flip in the air, "Hooray!" She exclaimed as she did a perfect four-point standing landing.

"Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception" Twilight told her next friend as she continued reading the letter.

"Well, color me pleased as punch!" Applejack said with a smile as she joined Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in being excited at the prospect of helping organize a wedding.

"Rainbow Dash–" Twilight read the next part of the letter, The pony in question yawning into her own hoof, trying her best to act as if she wasn't as excited as the rest of her friends, "-I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their "I do"'s"

It seems the mere mention of performing a sonic rainboom was enough for Rainbow Dash to drop the act as she flew into the air and did a spin, cheering with excitement as she joined the rest of her friends.

Twilight kept reading, "Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids."

"Princess Celestia wants me to-" Rarity stumbled over her words as she quickly started fanning herself "-A wedding dress, for a Canterlot wedding..." Her body started to swing side to side as the excitement caused her blood to rush to her head, leaving her knees weak, "Ah, Ahah, Hooo~" She fell onto her back, a wide and excited smile on her face as she giggled in excitement at all the different dress designs coursing through her mind.

"And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned.
See you all very soon.
Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight finished reading the letter, her eyes going over it one more time as she searched for details she couldn't find.
She read the letter again, flipped it upside down, read the back of it, and even pointed it at the sun in case there was some invisible ink.

"But... I don't understand." Twilight lowered the letter before her eyes could get hurt, "Who's getting married?"

"Oh, Wait," Spike rubbed the back of his head, "I was probably supposed to give you this one first," He slammed a closed fist on his stomach, a burp of green fire escaping him as a second letter appeared, "Hehe, sorry~"

Twilight picked up the second letter and started to read as her friends moved to stand behind her in order to get a glimpse of the letter themselves, "Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and..." Twilight gasped at the name of the groom, "My Brother?!"

Author's Note

A Canterlot Wedding is finally beginning, Shining Armor is still useless, Cadance managed to figure out a theory that was a mystery to basically nobody while still somehow not answering any actual questions, and Comet once again proves that she is secretly the MVP of this story.

Move aside Starlight, Bodyguard duty? We don't need that anymore! We have a Spider-Snake-Plant-Monster with Sleeping Gas and Magic Absorption. Her body absorbs force, and her head absorbs head pats. She's the perfect worker.

The only issue Comet has is that she can't speak, on account of being a Plunderseed. And also that she's blind, on account of being a Plunderseed. And maybe also her size, on account of being a Plunderseed.
Actually, now that I think of it, most of her problems come from the fact that she's a Plunderseed.

hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 111: A Canterlot Wedding 2

On the train ride to Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle looked out of the window, staring wistfully at the scenery. The only notice of her listening to the rest of her friends was a subtle ear flick as Spike asked what a Bachelor Party was.

Classic Shining Armor, get the child to organize a party.

"Why the long face sugar cube?" Twilight was dragged out of her musing as Applejack walked up and asked her what was bothering her.

"I don't know..." Twilight sighed, "It's just... I feel like ever since I left Canterlot, Shining Armor and I have been talking with each other less and less, and now that he's starting this new family with..." Twilight tried to remember the long and foreign name from the letter, "Princess Mi Amore Cal-what's-her-name, We'll probably never see each other," She frowned at the mere thought of never seeing her Big Brother Best Friend Forever, resting her chin on the train's window, feeling the vibrations shake her head.

"Twilight," Applejack said softly as she placed a leg on her shoulder, "From everything you told us, and the very little we do know, Your Shining Armor brother sounds like a wonderful guy, I doubt he'd just leave you behind once he's married, and besides, what if the wife is who is equally kind? I think, that if the two of them are truly happy together, then it's not our place to get in the way of love," She patted her shoulder, "Even if we really want to," Applejack gave Twilight a knowing look.
"But come on now, You're his sister, he'll always make time for you,"

Twilight scoffed lightly at that last part, "He couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!"

"Ooh, We're here! We're here!" Pinkie Pie jumped in excitement as the train reached the city of Canterlot, only to pause and shake away a wave of discomfort as the train passed through a pink magic bubble.

As the train stopped at the station, and the ponies got off, Rainbow Dash asked the question that the group all had on their mind.

"Whoa, what's with all the guards?" She asked as she got out of the cabin, followed by Applejack and Rarity, as the group looked at the many gold armored guards stationed around the place, spears held in their hoofs, some carrying red flags at the end of their polearms, all looking as if ready to jump into action at the subtlest hint of a threat.

"I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions, Royal weddings to bring out the strangest ponies," Rarity said as she too took a look at the place, moving to make room for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to exit the train cart, "Now let's go, we have work to do!" She said as the group started to move.

"And you," Applejack turned to the last pony to get off the train, "Have a big brother to go congratulate,"

"Yeah," Twilight scowled, "Congratulate," Her back was hunched, head low to the ground, like a predator stalking its prey, "And then give him a piece of my mind," She walked past a pair of guards, who must have enjoyed their very simple job of crossing spears in front of the exit, Spike the dragon walking after her as fast as his legs could take him.

"I'm sure she'll be okay, They're family," Applejack told the rest of the group as they watched a grumpy Twilight make her way up to the castle, a look of concern briefly flashing on her face before she and the rest of the girls moved to follow.

Twilight Sparkle glared as hard as she could, which as it turns out wasn't as hard as she wanted, as her eyes locked on to the figure of a White Unicorn with a Blue mane of hair, wearing purple Royal Guard armor, symbolizing his position as Captain.

"I've got something to say to you, Mister!" She said loudly as she approached her brother, ignoring the many spears the guards around her started to point in her direction.

"Twily!" Only to put the spears down as Shining Armor took off his helmet and went to greet his younger sister, "Oh I missed you Kid," He said with a smile as he walked down the stairs of the castle to meet with her, "How was the train ride?" He moved to pull her into a hug.

Twilight, with the grace of a stumbling drunkard, managed to elegantly pull away from the reach of her older brother in order to continue to weakly glare at him, "How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married?" She asked him, a tinge of disappointment in her voice at the idea that her Big Brother Best Friend Forever was no longer her BBBFF, and was now simply a regular Big Brother, "I'm your sister for ponies sake!" She turned her head to look away from him, now weakly glaring at the ground, like a poor kitten that only got half a bowl of milk.

"It's not my fault," Shining Armor tried to explain, "Princess Celestia requested a major increase in security," He pointed his hoof and some guards behind her, motioning them to get back to their jobs, "Didn't you see all the guards in the train station?"

"Yeah," Twilight brushed his explanation off, "There's a big wedding coming up, maybe you heard about it?!" She walked away to look at a nearby puddle of water, a weak excuse to look at something that wasn't her brother.

"It has nothing to do with the wedding," Shining Armor explained to his sister as he moved to stand in front of her, his hoof splashing in the puddle of water, causing Twilight's reflection to disappear, showing only mud, "A threat has been made against Canterlot," Twilight peeked at her brother, her glare weakening into barely more than a sad frown.

"This isn't a simple threat Twilight, the people who made it are dangerous, Princess Celestia asked that I provide additional protection, more than any other simple Royal Wedding," Twilight didn't point out that there was nothing simple with royal weddings.

"This," She looked up to see the worried face of her brother, "You need to see," He said as his horn started to glow with a pink aura before a beam of magic erupted upwards and hit the roof of the bubble that surrounded the entire city, the massive bubble reinforcing itself as Shining Armor's magic gave it more power to replace the steadily dwindling supply already powering the spell.

Shining Armor clenched his teeth as the spell finished, his leg moving to rub at his horn, "The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders," He told his sister as he walked back up the stairs leading to the castle, Twilight following her brother close behind, "Staying focused on the task at hand has been my top priority,"

Hearing that explanation, Twilight felt a pang of guilt flow through her, here she was complaining that her brother didn't meet her in person in order to deliver a message, while he was already busy draining his magic in order to keep Canterlot safe and secure.

"Okay, Okay, I get it," She said as the two siblings stopped in the middle of a bridge overlooking the grounds below, watching the many guards moving about like parts on a conveyor belt, like ants following one after the other, creating an almost artistic series of lines of groups, "You're protecting Canterlot with a forcefield only you can conjure up," She looked at the sky, watching the shimmering pink bubble that blocked out the clouds above, "But still, How could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding?" Twilight frowned sadly, "Am I not important to you anymore?" She asked, hoping her brother would go ahead and tell her that she was just overthinking it all again like she always does.

"Hey," Shining Armor answered, "You're my little sister, of course, you're important to me, and getting married isn't going to change that," He chuckled at the mere thought of not caring about his sister anymore, "Although..." A cheeky smile spread on his lips, "I would understand if you didn't wish to be my best mare anymore," He shrugged at those words, smirking at the sight of Twilight Sparkle's eyes widening with glee and wonder at those words.

"You want me?" She pointed her hoof at her face, "To be your best mare?"

"Well," Shining Armor tried to think of a wonderfully eloquent answer to such an emotional question, an answer that would showcase how much he's grown and learned ever since he became Captain of the Royal Guard, "Yeah."

"Well," Twilight, same as her brother, took half a second to think of an amazing response that would dazzle anyone who heard it, a response that would showcase all the lessons she learned since she moved to Ponyville almost a full year ago, "I'll be honored to,"

The two siblings smiled at the answers they each gave before pulling each other into a warm hug, only for Twilight to push her brother away a moment later, "But I'm still pretty ticked that you're marrying some pony I don't even know! When did you even meet this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

Shining Armor smiled at his sister, "Twily, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, is Cadance," He told her, watching Twilight's mind start to whirl as it tried to remember who he was talking about, "Your old foal sitter," He raised an eyebrow at his sister, "You last met here at Hearths Warming," He pointed out to her, watching her mind still try to connect the dots.

He knew she wasn't that good at remembering faces she hadn't seen in a long time, but it hadn't even been three months since the last time they met, She was also an Alicorn, really hard to forget that part about her.

"Cadance?" Twilight repeated the name, "As in The Cadance?" She shook her head in order to clear it of imaginary cobwebs, "As in the greatest foal sitter in all the history of foal sitters?!" She asked with a smile.

"Eheh," Shining Armor chuckled at his sister's delayed reaction, "If that's how you remember her, then you'll need to tell me, She was your foal sitter after all,"

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh!" Twilight started to stare off into the distance as a flashback of all the good time she had with Cadance in her childhood flashed through her mind, "Cadance is the best foal sitter in the world, she's beautiful, she's caring, she's kind,"

"I'm sooo lucky to have you as my foal sitter," Young Twilight said in the flashback as she sat on a swing set, Cadance pushing her as the two played outside.

"I'm the one who's lucky, Twilight," Flashback Cadance told her

"But you're a princess," Flashback Twilight pointed out, "I'm just a regular old Unicorn,"

"You are anything but a regular old unicorn," Cadance told her as she picked her off the swing and sat her down on a picnic blanket, the two sharing a smile before they did their little dance.

"Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake," The two giggled once they finished, falling onto the blanket with smiles on their faces.

"How many Ponies can spread love wherever they go? I only know of one!" Twilight said with a smile as her flashback ended, "And you're marrying her!" She opened her front legs to hug her brother once more.

"You're marrying Cadance!" She jumped happily, twirling her brother around before she let go and continued her joyful jumps, "You're marrying Cadance!" Twilight stopped her jumping suddenly, her hooves sliding on the tiles of the bridge as a new pony walked up to her.

It was her, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, her future sister-in-law.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important," Cadance told her as her eyes gave her a quick look over before moving to her brother.

"Cadance!" Twilight smiled as she stood before Cadance, "Sunshine sunshine, Ladybugs awake, Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Twilight did her little dance, hoping Cadance will join her like she always did.

"What are you doing?" Instead of joining her, the Alicorn of Love frowned at the childish display.

"Cadance it's me, Twilight!" The Element of Magic smiled at her old foal sitter, hoping to see a glint of recognition in the Alicorn's eyes.

"Uh huh," Cadance said blandly as she walked past, Smiling at Shining Armor as he pulled her into a hug.

"Welp," Shining Armor smiled as he let go of the hug, feeling as if he could fight five hundred, no, five thousand changelings all at once, "I need to get going back to my job, Cadance will-"

"I can speak for myself, Thank you very much... Darling~" Twilight frowned at Cadance interrupting her brother before she turned to look at her, "I shall be watching you and your little friends organize my special day, It needs to be perfect, after all~"

"Yeah," Shining Armor nodded in agreement, a lovestruck smile on his face, "And I think I speak for us both when I say that we are glad to have you here,"

"Oh yes~" Cadance nodded her head, her eyes staring at Twilight as if she were a body on an autopsy table, "We are so glad~"

Twilight felt her frown deeper as she watched the bride and groom walk away, leaving her with a sense of confusion.
That couldn't have been Cadance, could it? She would never just brush her off like that...

Something was off, and Twilight how no idea how to explain it.

This was more than just her overthinking things again, it had to be, she was sure of it.

The only question was... What was it?
Something was definitely off, she just had to figure out what...

"Blueblood?" Deep below the earth, The Alicorn of Love turned to look at her cousin.

"Yes, Cadance?" Blueblood Platinum answered, his body sitting cross-legged in the corner as he levitated himself half a meter off the ground like some sort of Eastern monk who achieved enlightenment.

"How long do you think we'll need to stay here?" She scratched her wings, the Cleaning spells might have kept the dirt and grime off her body, but they were no substitute for soap and shampoo.

"I'm guessing either until somebody notices that we've been replaced, which with the current track record, could probably take another month or so until someone puts the square into a hole that isn't triangle shaped, or the more realistic answer, Whenever I finish digging my tunnel out of here," He told her.

"Yeah, I guess it would take a- Wait a minute. Tunnel?"

Blueblood opened one of his eyes and raised his brow at her, "What are you talking about?"

"You- You just said you're digging a tunnel," Cadance pointed at him.

"No, I didn't," He closed his eyes and returned to seemingly meditate, "I did not at all say that I spent the last couple of days using my telekinesis to chip pieces of the floor away in order to dig a tunnel under the crystal walls of this prison only to hide it all under an illusion to make it seem like nothing's changed in order to fool Chrysalis," He opened both his eyes and stared at Cadance as if she was a child and he was disappointed it took her this long to figure his plan out.

"And let me guess," Cadance bit her cheek, "You didn't tell me any of this so I could keep acting like I'm trapped here in order to sell it to Chrysalis so she wouldn't suspect a thing? You're not telling me that?" She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Now you're getting it," Blueblood nodded, "Just like how I'm also not currently making an illusion of you sleeping in that corner over there so you could try and use your Earth Pony strength to help me," He winked at her before he pointed with his horn at a second Mi Amore Cadenza, who seemed to be sleeping behind her.

"The tunnel is behind me," She heard his voice echo around her, his mouth not moving, "You have two hours before I need to turn your Illusions off in order to conserve the magic on the tunnel illusion," He pointed with his head at an area of the wall behind him.

"If all goes well, We'll be out of here by tomorrow," His echoing voice disappeared as he turned to look at the sleeping Cadance illusion, "Wow," He opened his mouth to say out loud, "Snore a little quieter, why don't you?"

Cadance felt her lips twitch as the Illusion let out a loud snore, "I don't snore!" She shouted at her cousin, but no sound escaped her.
She huffed and moved under an illusion of invisibility to the area behind him, watching as the Illusion he placed on the tunnel disappeared as she entered it, allowing her to see the half-dug tunnel of stone under the wall of crystal, small chunks of rock being chipped off with Telekinesis as Blueblood kept digging while maintaining the Illusion.

"Time to get to work," She whispered to herself, motioning at her legs as if she were pulling up invisible sleeves before she crawled into the tunnel and started digging with the strength of an Earth Pony and the magic of a Unicorn.

They were getting out of there.

Author's Note

I know some of you don't like the chapters that mostly follow the Episodes, but I need to write them for the readers on Webnovel, who mostly haven't seen the show, and to show off the changes, no matter how small, that occurred with Blueblood's involvement.

Such as when Shining Armor talks about the threat against Canterlot, it's no longer "We don't know who sent it" but now "The people who sent it are very dangerous" Since Changelings are a known threat this time around.

Or Fake Cadance at the end here, even having a bit more lines of dialogue and telling Shining that she can speak for herself, that's a lot of new characterization for Chrysalis that we didn't really get in the original scene where she simply nodded along to his words without interrupting.
She's more active now, not just nodding her head and agreeing, she's "Speaking for Herself" which might seem small, but is a lot when you compare it to the original.

Larger changes will be seen next chapter.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 112: A Canterlot Wedding 3

Twilight's frown kept deepening the longer she watched Princess Cadance interact with her friends.
First, she smiled and complimented Applejack's pastries, only to throw them into the trash when she turned her back.
Next, she criticized Rarity's outfit, complaining about how she was hoping for something with more beading and a longer train, and then asked for it to be in a different color entirely!
And then she went to Pinkie Pie and compared her party to something that would only make a six-year-old happy!
Who doesn't like Pin the Tail on the Pony?!

There was definitely something going on! There has to be! Cadance would have never acted like she was currently!

When the day ended, Twilight only managed to check on those three, but she was sure that Cadance also acted nastily to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash! She was sure of it!

"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking," Twilight Sparkle said as she and her friends joined up down in the city after they finished for the day, each one of them sipping from a glass of juice at some dessert place that Rarity heard about, "Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever,"

Twilight Sparkle was ready to hear her friends agree with her, all having their own complaints about how she was treating them.
Instead, she got looks of confusion from all of her friends.

"Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem!" Rarity told Twilight, disagreeing with her opinion on her future sister-in-law.

"Rarity," Twilight responded, giving her reasoning for why Rarity should also find issues with Cadance, "She was so demanding,"

"Of course she was," Rarity answered with a smile, waving off Twilight's concern, "Why shouldn't she expect the very best on her wedding day,"

While Twilight could agree with the sentiment, Cadance was still demanding, without even listening to Rarity's opinion on the dress, and outright dismissing her bridesmaids' opinions.
Perhaps Applejack would agree with her, She worked hard on all the food, she must also think it was terrible to simply throw it away!

"Applejack, Did you know that after she told you how much she just love-love-loved your hors d'eouvres, she just threw them in the trash?" There! Applejack will surely agree with her now!

"Aw, she was probably just trying to spare my feelings," Applejack said with a smile before returning to her juice.

"No, She was just being fake and totally insincere!" Twilight waved her legs in frustration at two of her friends not seeing what she was seeing. Gaining the entire groups attention as they waited for an example that might actually make Cadance look like the awful person Twilight thinks she is.

"Well," Fluttershy spoke up, "She did raise her voice at one of my birds in rehearsal,"

"See! Rude!" Twilight pointed at Fluttershy as if that was all the proof she needed. A content smile on her face as she closed her eyes and crossed her legs over her chest, assured of her proverbial victory in this imaginary argument she was having with nobody.

"But he was singing really off-key," Whatever chance of victory Twilight might have had was snatched away as Fluttershy brought out the bird in question, who let out a loud and obnoxious cry reminiscent of a rusty bicycle horn or a dying clown nose.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack didn't see it, so Twilight had to use her big guns, "Pinkie Pie. You had to have seen-" Twilight's words got caught in her throat and then summarily disposed of as she watched both Pinkie Pie and Spike playing with a tiny kitten away from their table.

"Rainbow Dash, You're with me, right?" Twilight turned to her last available friend.

"Sorry Twi," Rainbow Dash gave a sheepish frown as she stretched her legs and wings, "I was too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay attention to the bride's bad attitude,"

"Twilight, The Princess is getting married," Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder, "I'm sure all of this is nothing more than just her nerves before the big day, It's normal for brides to start becoming picky and bossy when their special day is so close, I'm sure everything is fine,"

Twilight shook her shoulders as she stood up, letting Rarity's hoof fall as she slammed her front legs onto the table, "And I'm sure that it's the results of her being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!"

"...Think maybe you're bein' a just teeny tiny bit possessive of your brother?" Applejack asked awkwardly as the rest of the group watched Twilight pull at her hairs.

"Suger cube, I think that you're overthinking again, We know how that makes you react, but you shouldn't take it out on the Princess," Applejack continued, a soft smile on her face as she leaned her elbow on the table, "Why don't you go to sleep early, I'm sure by tomorrow you'll see that you're just overthinking everything again, like you did when that future you came here to tell you not to overthink things,"

"I'm not being possessive of Shining Armor!" Twilight exclaimed as she stood up from the table, "And I'm not overthinking! I know it!" She started to angrily walk away, only to turn back to the table and quickly take the finishing sips from her juice, her eyes glaring at her friends' soft and understanding smiles, before finally turning away for real and storming back to the castle.

"I'm not overthinking things," Twilight told herself as she walked down the castle corridors, "I stopped overthinking a while ago, I even wrote a Friendship report about it! Cadance is obviously awful now, I just need proof!"

"We also need proof," Twilight froze as another voice made itself known.

"What's that? Who are you? Show yourself!" She started looking left and right, up and down, searching for this new voice.

"Behind you, I'm standing right behind you," The voice told her, and Twilight turned around to be met with-

"Hey, Aren't you Prince Blueblood's bodyguard? Starlight Glimmer, right?" Twilight pointed at the purple unicorn who leaned against the wall.

"I see you remember my name, that's going to make this next section easier," Starlight Glimmer walked up and placed a hoof on her shoulder, Twilight noted that a lot of ponies have been doing that today, "I agree with you, that something about Princess Cadance isn't right, but for the accusations we want to bring, we need something more solid than a hunch, or a change in attitude that can be explained as pre-marriage nerves, we need actual evidence,"

"Why are you saying we? Are there more ponies that noticed Cadance acting-" Twilight tried to talk only for Starlight Glimmer to put a hoof over her mouth and shush her.

"There's no time to talk, We don't know how many of them are already in here, so listen closely," Starlight Glimmer looked to the sides as if expecting somepony to jump out at her, "When you get the proof, come to Prince Blueblood's room, alone," And without waiting for a response from the Element of Magic, Starlight Glimmer disappeared in a flash of magic, teleporting away.

Twilight, instead of questioning anything that Starlight Glimmer said, was ecstatic to learn that she indeed was right and that Cadance might have indeed possibly been acting awful for real, and that she wasn't simply overthinking everything again.

"That was weird..." Twilight Sparkle noted to herself before she turned around and left the castle once more, making her way towards her brother's house, hoping to convince him not to ruin his life with this awful Cadance.

"Twily, good to see you, come on in, make yourself at home," Twilight Sparkle smiled sheepishly as she entered Shining Armor's house, her eyes quickly looking around the living room, spotting a suit of armor, a plaque on the wall, a new couch, and even a vase with fake flowers.

"Shining, I need to talk to you about-" Twilight opened her mouth to talk to her brother about what was bothering her, only to get interrupted as a certain Alicorn walked down the stairs.

"Dear, we need to talk, privately," Twilight's eyes locked with Cadance's for a brief moment, and for a fraction of a second, Twilight Sparkle felt as if she was a worm hanging on to a fishing hook, and the pony she was looking at was a monstrously large eel, ready to swallow her whole, and plunge her into a fall for the rest of eternity down her monstrously long throat.

"Cadance should not be making me feel like this, there has to be something!" She told herself in her mind as Cadance looked away from her.

"Just a moment Twilight," Shining Armor told her as he followed Cadance into a nearby room, giving the two some privacy.

As Shining closed the door behind him, Twilight quickly caught it in her magic before it could close, giving her a thin opening to look into the room the two entered.

She couldn't make out what they were saying, there had to be some sort of soundproofing magic on that room, which would make sense if the office desk in the corner was anything to go by. That room must have been Shining Armor's home office, where he could continue to work outside of the castle, a soundproofing spell would make it so nopony would be able to listen in case some security issue was being discussed.
It was probably a good thing for Shining.
But for Twilight? She just wanted to hear what they were talking about.

Peering through the small opening in the door, Twilight looked on as the soon-to-be-wedded couple talked about what seemed to be Shining Armor's groom outfit, their talk devolving into what appeared to be an argument.

"See! A happily married couple shouldn't be arguing about that! She's no good!" Twilight silently cheered at another point she could add to the growing list of 'Why Cadance is an awful pony'
And then something weird happened.

As the two ponies' growing argument seemed to reach a crescendo, Shining Armor flinched, hoof moving to hold his head in head.
Twilight stared with wide eyes as she watched Cadance's horn release a misty green magic that enveloped Shining Armor's head, his eyes going all swirly and shaken before he shook his head as if nothing was wrong.

"She's hypnotizing him... She's using hypnosis to make him fall in love with her!" Twilight gasped at the revelation, "She's not just an awful pony, She's outright evil!"
Without waiting any longer, Twilight Sparkle dashed out of her brother's house and quickly made her way to the castle, not to the guest room that was readied for her to sleep at, but to the room Starlight Glimmer told her to go to.

Twilight Sparkle had evidence that Princess Cadance was an awful person!

"Yeah, we can't use this, this isn't evidence of anything," Starlight Glimmer was starting to understand why her boss got frustrated all the time.
If ponies like this were what she had to deal with whenever she wanted to get the job done, she'd also want to throw a pirate through the wall of a cruise ship.

"Wha- How is this not proof?!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she sat on an empty chair, "Cadance is obviously brainwashing him!"

"Did you see Shining Armor act any differently than he normally would after she cast the spell?" Starlight raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no. But his eyes went all weird and stuff! And his head was hurting just before that! He was obviously breaking out of the brainwashing before she recast the spell, that's the only explanation!" Twilight Sparkle slammed her hoof on the soft mattress of the bed she sat on.

"Or he was having a migraine after keeping the shield around Canterlot active for so long, and her spell helped him deal with the headache," Starlight Glimmer shook her head, "I apologize, Ms. Sparkle, but even with what you saw, all your accusations can be easily explained as something else, that's why I said we needed something solid," The Prince's Bodyguard sighed in exhaustion, "You can go to your room now, We all have a busy day tomorrow," She told her, and with an aquamarine glow to her horn, she opened the door.

"But we already have enough proof! Cadance is evil now! I know it!" Twilight vehemently yelled, shaking her legs around to emphasize her point, but it all seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Her friends just thought she was overthinking, and her brother didn't see anything wrong. Now, the only other pony that might have thought the same as her is also saying that she was wrong!

Twilight Sparkle angrily stood up from the bed and started marching out of the room, only to pause as she noted something peculiar about the room.

"Wait a moment, where is Prince Blueblood?" She turned her head slowly to look at Starlight Glimmer, the other mare simply returning her gaze.

"Go to your room Sparkle, the Prince's location is on a need-to-know basis," She told her, "And since you didn't bring any useful evidence, you don't need to know,"

"But why would the Prince's whereabouts be connected with proof about Cadance being a-" Twilight thought out loud.

"You are treading a dangerous path there, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight froze as a third mare made herself known, seemingly appearing out of the shadows behind the drapes on the window, "We suggest you heed Starlight Glimmer and return to your room, there is a curfew for non-Staff,"

"...Okay, I'll go to my room..." Twilight Sparkle said calmly as she stared at the new mare, a single thought running through her head as she left the Prince's room and started making her way toward the room assigned to her.
"Why would the Prince's whereabouts be connected with evidence that Cadance is awful, and what does Princess Luna have to do with it?"

Something wasn't right. Twilight knew that something wasn't right. And tomorrow she'll show everyone that something wasn't right.

She had all the proof she'd need, tomorrow she'll get everyone to see Cadance for who she really is! And then they'll all know that she wasn't overthinking it all again!

Author's Note

"Twilight Sparkle, the evidence you submitted cannot be held up in a court of law, your proof of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's evildoings are, and I quote, "She was being picky and mean in regards to her wedding preparations, and she cast a spell that made shining Armor's eyes go all swirly like," End quote. I apologize, Ms Sparkle, but the court cannot use the defendant being picky about her wedding, and a spell that seemingly did nothing but make Mr Armor's eyes spin for a moment, as sufficient evidence to support your claim, I have come to a choice. The Defendant, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, is found NOT GUILTY! Ms. Sparkle, you and the prosecution may need to find real evidence of a crime next time you accuse a pony of being evil, Court Adjourned!" :moustache:

Twilight, the court system doesn't work on vibes! You need actual proof! :twilightangry2:

I tried to make Twilight's friends seem more reasonable with her here than in Canon, seeing as they know how Twilight can be sometimes. And Twilight, in usual Twilight fashion, is once again ignoring the most obvious explanation in order to reach the improbable conclusion that she decided was true since the beginning.
Or in other words, Twilight is overthinking everything again.

She's right, we know Cadance is actually Chrysalis, but Twilight doesn't, so even though she's right that Cadance is now evil, she has no actual proof, and her friend's explanation of "Twilight, you're just being possessive of your big brother, and Cadance is simply suffering from the usual nerves one gets before a big event, You're overthinking things again in order to make them fit into a world where you aren't actually being possessive of your brother, and your reasoning for disliking Cadance having actual merit, but you're overthinking, as you usually do, so we're going to give you time to sleep it off, you'll feel better tomorrow and realize that she's not as bad as you think she is," Makes a lot of sense to somebody who isn't a reader who knows that Cadance actually really is evil now.

Also, Starlight and Luna? What are they up to? :duck:

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 113: A Canterlot Wedding 4

It was time for the wedding rehearsal, Shining Armor was standing to the right at the end of an aisle with a long red carpet inside one of the castle's halls that remodeled to fit the occasion.

Princess Celestia smiled softly as she guided the Elements of Harmony, the new Bridesmaids, as they walked up the aisle to stand to the left at the end.

"Very good girls," The Princess of the Sun smiled as she turned to the door at the entrance of the hall, "Now in comes Cadance," She said, a pair of guards standing beside the door silently pulled the large doors open with their magic, letting the Princess of Love enter and walk down the aisle, stand in front of her bridesmaids, across from the groom, and smile as the two locked horns in affection.

"I'll say a few words, and then we'll begin with the vows," Celestia told the ponies how the wedding was to go, "Shining Armor," She looked at the groom, "You'll get your ring from your best mare," Shining Armor turned to his best mare, only to find that she wasn't there.

"Hey, has any pony seen Twilight?" He asked with a frown, looking at the bridesmaids to see if they know anything.

As Shining Armor asked the question, the doors to the hall once again opened, revealing a tired-looking and haggard Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh no... She didn't sleep, did she?" Fluttershy whispered as she leaned closer to Rainbow Dash.

"Knowing Twilight? I don't think so..." Rainbow Dash looked on as Twilight opened her mouth.

"I'm here!" She yelled, her voice echoing in the hall, "And I'm not going to stand next to her! And neither should you!"

"Rarity, you said a good night's sleep will make things better for her," Applejack whispered to Rarity, eyes watching Twilight with worry.

"And it would have if she bothered to sleep at all!" Rarity quietly hissed back, "I should have known something like this would happen with her, I would have sent Pinkie Pie to make sure she was actually asleep!"

"Why are we all whispering? Is it because Twilight looks grumpy? I don't want her to make the Princess feel bad, that's going to make us look like horrible bridesmaids, right?" Pinkie Pie joined the rest of the girls in whispering.

Shining Armor smiled awkwardly as he looked around, "I'm sorry, I don't know why she's like this," He tried to salvage the situation, waving his hooves beneath him in an attempt to send a message to Twilight, telling her to stop whatever she planned to do.

"It's fine, Darling, I'm sure our dear Twilight is merely overreacting, you did say she was prone to do that," Cadance said with a scowl as she turned to look at the Element of Magic, "It's merely jealousy, nothing to worry about,"

"It's not jealousy!" Twilight walked forward before lifting a leg and pointing it directly at the Princess, "She's evil!"

"Twilight, Darling, the princess has been nothing but a gem to us, she's not evil," Rarity tried to speak, her voice drowned out by the rest of the girls murmuring about Twilight's accusation.

"She's been horrible to my friends!" Twilight teleported to the end of the aisle, horn pointing at Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, "She's obviously done something to her bridesmaids!" She continued as she walked towards Cadance, horn aimed at her face, forcing the princess to start walking backward and away from the sharp natural weapon, "And if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all-" Twilight turned to look at the rest of the room, making circle motions with her hooves as she stuck her tongue out, holding her legs over her eyes before she turned back to Cadance, a smug smile on her face as she looked into her eyes.

Twilight smugly watched as Cadance's facade of false perfection crumbled, now she will reveal to the world her real self and all the evil she- Is she crying?

"Why- Why are you doing this to me?" Cadance cried, tears rolling down her face as she turned away from Twilight and ran out of the room, crying all the while.

"Because you're evil! You're the reason Blueblood is missing, and you're going to ruin my brother's life!" Twilight yelled after her, but she was too far to hear.

And with a proud smile on her face, Twilight turned to the rest of the hall.

And was met with the disappointed face of her big brother.

"You want to know why my eyes went all-" Her spun his eyes around, "Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I've been getting terrible migraines, Cadance hasn't been casting spells on me because she's 'Evil', She's been using her magic to heal me!"

Twilight's proud smile was gone from her face, replaced with a frown of worry.

"And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so they could meet Canterlot royalty, And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your friends, it's because with me being so busy she's had to make all the decisions for the wedding herself!" Shining Armor took a deep breath to steady himself, "And the reason Blueblood isn't in the castle is because he was moved to a secure location only he and Princess Luna know about, Cadance has nothing to do with him or the threat against Canterlot for that matter!"

"And the reason she's done all these things is because she wants out big day to be perfect!" Shining Armor stomped his hoofs on the carpet before turning to angrily glare at his sister, "Something that obviously wasn't important to you!" Shining Armor scrunched his face as his leg moved to grab his head, another migraine hitting him.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go comfort my bride," And with those parting words, Shining Armor started to leave the wedding hall, "And you can forget about being my best mare! If I were you... I'd forget about showing up to the wedding at all..." And with that, he walked away.

Twilight turned away from her brother's retreating form to look at her friends.

"...I'm gonna' go check on the princess," Applejack said sadly as she walked away, followed by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. Leaving Twilight alone with Rarity.

"I'm sorry..." Twilight whispered as she lowered her head, "You can go comfort Cadance, she needs it more than me," Twilight waited to hear Rarity's footsteps walking away, instead she felt her warm legs pull her into a hug.

"Cadance has enough comfort," Rarity whispered as she rubbed Twilight's back, "Someone needs to stay here to comfort you after this," She told her, Twilight felt her eyes getting wet.

"I messed up, didn't I?" She sniffed, tears starting to escape her eyes.

"You did," Rarity said softly, "But you messed up for a good reason,"

"...What?" Twilight sniffed, wiping some snot from her nose as she pulled out of the hug to look into Rarity's eyes.

"You thought you were doing good, even if you wound up messing it up, That means you messed up for a good reason," Rarity told her.

"But... I'm a horrible friend!" Twilight cried.

"No, you're not," Rarity simply shook her head, "I'm the horrible friend here,"

"Bwuh?" Twilight made a confused sound as she looked at Rarity.

"I know how you are, I should have tried harder to make you see how you were overthinking everything, instead I simply told you to sleep it off, That's not how a good friend should act," Rarity shook her head as she tried to pull Twilight back into a hug.

"Wha- no! I'm the horrible friend! I should have listened and trusted you all when you told me I was overthinking! Now the wedding is ruined!"

"Twilight, you didn't ruin the wedding, Your brother might be a bit angry at you, but he'll return to normal sooner or later, he's your BBBFF, isn't he?" Rarity rubbed Twilight's back.

"Y-Yeah, You're right," Twilight nodded at Rarity's words.

"Of course I'm right Darling, when have I ever been wrong?" Rarity let out a haughty laugh, lightening the mood in her usual dramatic fashion.

"I should go apologize to Cadance... I know she probably doesn't want to see me, but... I need to do this," Twilight rubbed the tears from her eyes, "Thanks Rarity, you're the best!"

"You know I am!" Rarity laughed, "Just don't tell the others I did this, I don't want them to get jealous hearing that I'm better than them," Her lips curled into a coy smile, "I know they probably think so already, but It's just rude to give them confirmation, you know? Haha, I'm merely kidding Darling, go tell the Princess you're sorry!"

"In a moment," Twilight smiled at her, "I need to think of a proper apology first,"

Rarity nodded to her, "You do that then, good luck," Rarity gave her one last nod before she too left the hall in search of the Princess.

Twilight watched her leave before she turned around once more, only to find herself staring up at the frowning face of "Princess Celestia! I didn't notice you were still here!" Twilight hurriedly said, "I'm sorry for-" She wanted to apologize, only for Celestia to place a hoof over her mouth.

"Shush," Celestia told Twilight, "I heard enough. Do not worry, I am not mad at you, I merely expected better, especially during a time like this," Celestia sighed as she sat down next to Twilight.
"The reason your brother is so busy, and why Cadance is acting stranger than you might remember, and even the reason Luna took Blueblood to a place away from the Castle, is because of something that happened roughly three weeks ago,"

"The threat to Canterlot..." Twilight whispered as she watched Celestia turn to look out the window, at the sparkling pink shield that surrounded the city.

"It's from an old enemy of mine, one who resurfaced months ago after I defeated her almost one thousand years ago, and now she's aiming for revenge," Celestia spoke, her eyes staring at the sky beyond the shield, "She has made several attempts on the Crown, and her recent attempt..." Celestia let out a tired sigh, "She almost killed Blueblood."

Twilight gasped at those words, words that explained so much of what was missing.

"He managed to fight her off, but he suffered great injuries and hasn't left his room ever since he returned, and now Luna moved him to a secure location away from the Castle," Celestia shook her head, "Cadance has a lot on her plate, Twilight, We both know she didn't mean to come off the way she did, but the stress of both the attempt on her cousin's life and the upcoming wedding, it really takes its toll on her." She moved a lug to pat Twilight's back.

"Don't worry about what happened here," Celestia turned to smile tiredly at Twilight, "You're still my pupil, Twilight Sparkle, a mistake like this isn't nearly big enough to change that," She pat her back once more before she stood up, "And do take some rest, and listen to your friends more often, they worry about you," She said before she walked away, leaving Twilight alone to think of an apology that would hopefully make Cadance forgive her.

Twilight was pacing around the wedding hall, thinking of ways to apologize, when she heard the clopping sound of hooves coming her way.

She paused her pacing and turned to see Princess Cadance closing the doors behind her.

Now was the time to apologize.

"Cadance, I- I shouldn't have called you evil, I was wrong, I should have listened to my friends more instead of trying to search for proof of a crime you never committed! What I'm trying to say is this, I'm sorry~" Twilight bowed to the pink Alicorn, hearing her hooves keep walking closer to her.

It was when she felt Cadance's legs gently hold her shoulders that she looked up, watching the soft and loving smile on the princess's face, "You're right,"

"Yes, I'm... What?" Twilight repeated Cadance's words, only to pause in confusion as they didn't make sense to her.

"You're right," Cadance repeated, her gentle eyes staring softly into Twilight's purple orbs, "You will be sorry~" her soft gaze turned malicious, "Because you were right," A green glow escaped her horn as suddenly all the windows of the hall got covered by the drapes, sigils of soundproofing magic surrounding the hall as Cadance's smile spread on her face, "I am evil~"

And that was all the warning Twilight got before she felt something impact her stomach, causing her to cough loudly as she fell to the ground.
She tried to teleport away, but Cadance grabbed her with her magic, holding her down on the ground.

"Why- ACK!" Twilight tried to ask Cadance what she was doing, but before she could finish the question, Cadance kicked her in the side, her ribs aching as her vision went blurry for a few moments.

"I was so close," Cadance spoke, her leg sharply kicking the downed Twilight in the ribs, a sadistic smile on her face, "So close to killing that bitch in front of an entire crowd, but you just had to dig your nose into where you don't belong," Another kick, another scream of pain that no one could hear, "I was finally going to get my revenge, and then I could finally begin the true plan, but you-" Another kick, "You stupid-" Another, "Insignificant-" and another, "Little wretch! Are you trying to get in the way of Its perfection?! Do you not realize the scale of my plan?!" Cadance kept kicking Twilight, who was currently too busy biting her cheek in an attempt to deal with the pain.

"I'm doing this for Love!" Another kick forced Twilight to open her mouth, coughing out a small pool of spit, "True Perfect Love! A hideous little wretch like you could never understand!"

"..." Twilight struggled to talk, her torso ached and her lungs felt like they were on fire, "I won't..."

"What was that? Are you trying to speak to me?" Cadance scowled at Twilight's prone body, "An insignificant little wretch like you dares to raise her voice? I must commend you, I was sure you would have understood that I care not for your words," She shrugged her shoulders, "But do not let it be said that It wasn't a merciful being, So as the one who shall become the truth that mirrors It's lies, I shall let you speak, puny wretch, go on then."

"...I won't let you marry my brother!" Twilight, through grit teeth and inflamed lungs, managed to bark out.

"...Heh..." Cadance chuckled softly, her eyes staring down at Twilight, "...Hehehe... Hehehehehahahaha! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MARRY HIM?!" She yelled, "Why would I ever want to marry a useless little wretch like him?!" She continued to laugh, looking down at the unicorn at her feet as if she told the funniest joke in the world.
"You... You actually thought I was marrying him because I wanted to? Oh! Don't make me laugh! He's a tool! A tool to get close to Celestia, you idiot! The only creature remaining in this world that is worthy of marrying It is currently held in my captivity, but don't worry, he's not alone!" Cadance laughed loudly as a circle of green fire surrounded Twilight, "WHY DON'T YOU GO SAY HI?! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Twilight couldn't do anything as the circle of flames turned into a dome, a bubble of green magic that surrounded her as she sunk into the ground, forced to watch in silent horror the sadistic look on Cadance's eyes as she sunk deeper into the earth.

And then she was gone.

Princess Cadance smiled softly as she exited the wedding hall, not noticing the invisible pair of eyes that stayed in the corner of the hall since the moment the rehearsal began.

"We got our confirmation," Starlight Glimmer smirked under an Illusion of invisibility, all the time she spent training with Blueblood finally paying off as she silently teleported away from the hall, ready to deliver the news to the Princess of Dreams.

Twilight gasped in pain as she opened her eyes, finding herself inside a cave surrounded by sharp crystal protrusions.

"I need to get to Celestia!" She told herself, using her horn as a light source as she painfully stood up, deep and pained breaths leaving her as her ribs ached at her attempts to move.
Without looking where she was going, Twilight Sparkle blasted a hole in the crystal wall that surrounded her as she started to make her way out of wherever she was.

Whenever she encountered a wall, she would blast a hole through it, uncaring of the stability of the cave walls around her.

Lives were in danger, she had to hurry!

It was after blasting another wall open, that her eyes shrunk into pinpricks as she spotted the mare that sent her here in the first place.

"Wait! Twili-" She didn't let her finish speaking as she fired a beam of magic at the evil Alicorn, only to be tackled to the ground from the side, watching her beam miss Cadance entirely and blow a hole in the wall behind her.

"Librarian! What in the world do you think you're doing?!" She heard the Pony above her shout, and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Prince Blueblood?!" Twilight exclaimed, "But-" she turned to look at Cadance, thin and haggard, as if she had barely eaten anything in days, "But-" Her words were stuck in her throat as her mind placed two and two together.

"You almost collapsed the entire cave over us!" The Prince yelled in her ears, but she wasn't listening, her eyes were tearing at the sight of the princess.

The Real Princess.

"Cadance..." Twilight sniffled before she dashed ahead, pushing the Prince off of her as she leaped into the princess, pulling her into a hug, "You're not evil!" She cried happily, tears of relief rolling down her face as she hugged the real Alicorn of Love.

"Why would I be evil?" Cadance asked as she rubbed Twilight's back, "No, never mind that! Bluey! Twilight blasted the wall open!"

"If what you meant to say was break every rule of mining and excavation safety in the book, then yes, she blasted the wall open..." Prince Blueblood grumbled as he stood up from where Twilight threw him, allowing Twilight to get a look at him.

He looked like Cadance, tired and filthy, thinner than normal, and worst of all, injured.

"An attempt was made on his life," Her brain reminded her, "But the one who returned to the castle was an Imposter! The Real Blueblood never got the medical treatment he needed!"

"We need to get out of here now! We need to stop Cadance- The Impostor Cadance, from doing what she plans to do!" Twilight told the two ponies, "Let's get out of here, now!" With a yell, she turned to the hole she created in the wall and started running, hearing the two ponies run after her.

They had a wedding to crash.

Author's Note

Damn, Hezbollah must not want this story to go on Hiatus because literally the night after I uploaded the previous chapter, I got my first rocket alarm since the war started. They'd rather I blow up than stop writing this!

I live in the north, In one of the safest areas of Israel, where I'm in more danger of getting bit by a wild jackal than I am from a Rocket attack, but since a few days ago, the missiles they've been shooting over the Lebanese border have been aiming deeper into Israel than normal.

Do any of you know how much of a pain it is to wake up at one in the morning in order to walk into our shelter room, only to then need to wake up again at four in the morning because there's another alarm?! I can barely sleep like this!

Anyways, More changes from Canon in this chapter, especially with Rarity, Celestia, and Cadance/Chrysalis.

Originally I wanted Starlight's proof to be her listening in as Chrysalis started to sing an evil "I Want" song, but then I changed it to be her simply standing in the corner under an illusion.

I might still make that Chrysalis song as an Omake, or maybe during the next arc she appears, I'm not sure. She was going to sing about her evil plan and all the things she wants to happen and her motivation and all that cartoonishly evil goodness.

Instead, she's kicking Twilight in the ribs a lot more than she did in Canon, kind of a dick move tbh.

Thanks for reading! Let's all hope that I don't explode in a ball of fire and shrapnel before I can finish this arc lmao, see you soon! :)

Chapter 114: A Canterlot Wedding 5

Her life began as nothing more than a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

An Embodiment of Disgust.

An existence sitting on the precipice between a living being and a force of nature.

All she could do was wait, nothing more than a mass of dead flesh, waiting for a sculptor to arrive and model her into a form of living.
Or for the inevitable march of time to drag her to eternity, an empty mass with no purpose.

And then It arrived.

A being of perfection incarnate, a Goddess in mortal flesh, Its very existence was the catalyst that that pushed her forward, a spark of consciousness in the empty sea of nothingness that was her mind.

"What a hideous creature you are," It told her, cementing in her the truth of her existence.

She was an Embodiment of Disgust.

And like a wild animal, Newly Born, she imprinted on It. It became more than a mother figure to her, It became an Idol.
A being of worship.

It was Perfect, and she was not.

For one hundred years, she shadowed It, living as It's Mirror, an opposite force that contradicted the perfection that It represented.
And yet, she wanted more.

She was a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit, perhaps it was simply in her nature to want more, to Hunger for more.

She did not simply want to be like It, she wanted to be It.

Such blasphemous thoughts, a creature as hideous and rotten as her could never be It.

It was perfect, and she was not. Only a perfect being could be It.

What was Perfection? It was Perfection.

What was It? A Being loved by all.

To become Perfect, she must become a being loved by all.

And only once she becomes a being full of love, an existence so pure and radiant, will her body shed its disgusting flesh, the dead skin that was the building foundation of her temple, and the Chrysalis will open, and from the cocoon, the Dead Worm will sprout wings of Perfection Incarnate, and become the very being It was.

An Embodiment of Disgust, Becoming an Embodiment of Perfection.

How Blasphemous a thought, how Wretched a mind, how Hideous a being.

She truly was an embodiment of Disgust.

After It was shattered by the Black Butterfly, She searched the earth for the one remnant of It that remained, a child, a small filly, whisked away by the clutches of It's magic.

She searched for the child, and she devoured all the love she could find as she went along, She cared not for who she would harm and what damages she would bring to the ones she devoured, their love was Its love, and Its love was her love.

Kingdoms toppled, Legions fell, and Empires Crumbled, as she devoured their love, all in search of that child, all in search of perfection itself.

And then She arrived.

A Warrior Princess fueled by rage and anguish, a Ruler who banished her Sister to the moon above, and one who cared not for the damage she would bring her.

She cared not for Perfection, She cared not for Disgust, She cared not for It.

She brought down the might of the Sun itself upon her and her forces, the children she molded from her own discarded flesh, her Love was drained in an effort to keep herself alive under the burning heat of the Solar Warrior.

Her shining carapace, once a dark mirror to It, was scarred and ruined, marks of burning and holes of hunger, what was once a powerful Queen whose very presence could bring down nations in search of Perfection, was now little more than a hollowed shell, empty of love, thin and sickly, scarred and burnt.

She trapped her and her swarm beneath a volcano, far away from any civilization, where she would spend the rest of her years wallowing in her pain, licking at her wounds, like a rabid beast who could do nothing but run on instinct.

Like a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

Yet, She could not keep her from becoming It.

Digging and scraping and doing all she can, An Exit was created, Her life was freed from the confines of her volcanic prison, but she could not stop there.

She had to be destroyed, Daring to harm a vassal for It's will? Death was not a question anymore, but an answer!

And now here she was, One Thousand years later, Ready to devour all the Love that She has, before finally ending her life. Devouring all she had until not even her soul could recover.

And once she was done with her, she would turn to the Child, the last vestige of Perfection itself, and finally become full.

Her Unending Hunger would soon come to an end, as an Embodiment of Its Love will soon bring her to her Truth.

And then the Chrysalis will open up, and the Dead Worm will spread Its wings.

"This day is going to be Perfect~
The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small~
Every Pony will gather round, Say I look lovely in my gown~
What they don't know is that I have fooled them all!"

"Starlight Glimmer, If Chrysalis has indeed teleported Twilight Sparkle, then she should still be close by," Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night, told the unicorn that stood before her inside her tower.
"Therefore she must still be somewhere in Canterlot, the only places in which she could have taken her where she would not have been found, are the Sewers, Starswirl's research room, and the Crystal Mines.
The Sewers are out, seeing as they are easy to escape from and are therefore not an optimal location to hide someone, We can also rule out Starswirl's research room, seeing as it is in the Castle, merely hidden. We would have known if any pony was there, which leaves only the Crystal Mines," She said as she looked at the Unicorn Bodyguard.

"You are to go there and find Twilight Sparkle, We'll need the Elements of Harmony if we wish to successfully take down Chrysalis, are we understood?"

Starlight Glimmer nodded her head, a look of focused resolve on her face as she gave a bow to the Princess, "Crystal~"
If Twilight was there, chances are that so was her Boss.

She stood up and exited the tower, leaving the Princess of the Moon to watch over the castle from above.

Before she leaves for a Tunnel, however, she has to make a quick detour.

Starlight had a bag to pick up.

Beneath Canterlot Mountain, Three ponies were running down tunnels of cold stone and crystal, trying to escape the abandoned caverns that trapped them within.

"Turn left here!" The Stallion of the group yelled as he turned at a crossway in the tunnels, his Cutie Mark pushing him towards the direction he was looking for.

"We need to hurry! The wedding must already be starting!" Twilight Sparkle yelled as she followed the white unicorn.

"No! It's a Dead End!" The Alicorn of the group cried as she too turned the corner, her body nearly crashing into the wall in front of her.

"No, it's not!" The Stallion yelled at her, taking deep breaths as she turned to the other unicorn of the group, "Librarian, blast this wall open!"

"Fine!" Twilight Sparkle yelled, her horn glowing with purple magic before a beam of arcane power left her head, blasting the wall of crystal and rock open as if it were paper mache.

The Stallion tried not to look jealous as he watched the ease with which the mare, almost a decade younger than him, used her magic.

If he tried to do the same thing, he would have tired out long ago, and that was if he was at full capacity.

As he was now, Just a few blasts like that would leave him empty, and he needed to keep all the magic he could hold, there was an inevitable fight coming up.

He scowled at the thought of the fight, he would be almost no help, low on calories and magic, and he would collapse after fighting just one simple Changeling, let alone their Queen.

"It's another dead end! We're never going to make it!" Princess Mi Amore Cadenza cried as she exited through the new hole in the wall, only to find herself standing at the edge of a cliff leading towards nothing but a drop into sharp crystal stalagmites.

"It can't be a dead end! There must be a way out of here!" Prince Blueblood yelled at his cousin, his body aching from running, even if it was for a short duration.

He needed to see a medical professional.

"There's no such thing as a dead end in caves like these," Twilight Sparkle said in an attempt to get the two royals to calm down, "We just need to find... There!" She yelled as she pointed up above her, where a small beam of light was entering the cave.
There must be an entrance over there!

Without waiting for a response, Twilight Sparkle grabbed hold of both royals with her magic before the trio disappeared in a shower of sparks and light, teleporting onto the opening she saw from far below.

And there it was, the exit, a hole in the wall leading to an entrance halfway up the Canterlot Cliffs.

And between them and the exit, there were three familiar mares.

"The Bridesmaids!" Twilight exclaimed at the sight, watching them slowly walk towards the group with eyes of blank green as if their minds weren't there.

And before the brainwashed mares could do anything, three quick beams of magic struck them in the back of the head, knocking them out.

"Heh~" Prince Blueblood let out a soft chuckle as he recognized the color of the magic, "Took ya long enough, I should cut your pay for taking so long," He turned to the entrance of the cave, smirking as he watched the air shimmer as an Illusion disappeared.

"You don't pay me," He smiled at the answer he expected to hear from the mare that stood there as she tossed him a familiar magical bag, "Now hold on, all of you, I'm taking you back to the Castle,"

All four ponies found themselves enveloped in an aquamarine aura as the newcomer teleported them all the way from halfway up the cliffs to the gardens of the Castle, even Twilight was impressed with the range of the spell.

"Let's go! We still have time to stop her!" Cadance yelled as she started to run towards the Wedding hall.

"Wait a moment, Cadenza," She stopped and turned back around to see her cousin hang onto his Bodyguard, his front leg hanging over her shoulders as she half-carried him.

"You two need to go on ahead," He told them, "There's going to be a fight, It's inevitable with a person like Chrysalis, and I'm going to be more of a liability than anything if that happens," He smiled sadly at the idea of not being able to personally smash the Changeling Queen's head in, "Go beat her up for me, yeah?" He nodded to his cousin before he turned to the Unicorn.

"Librarian," Twilight Sparkle straightened her back as the prince started speaking to her, "With the authority vested in me as Prince Blueblood Platinum of the Equestrian Crown, I hereby order you-" Twilight held her breath as she got ready to listen to a royal order.
"Win."

Win. Such a simple order.

"I have no plans on doing otherwise, Your Highness," Twilight lifted her front leg over her head as she saluted the Prince.

"That's not how you salute, You're embarrassing yourself, Librarian, just bow your head next time," He smirked at her before he turned around, His bodyguard still keeping him standing.

"And where will you be?" Cadance asked him as he walked away.

"I only have enough magic in me for one good shot, I need to make it count," He told her, "Don't worry about me, You two go and stop Chrysalis already."

Cadance stood there for a moment, watching her cousin walk away, before she turned to Twilight and the two nodded their heads.

"Lastly, before we move to the final part, Does any pony object to the marriage, Speak now or forever hold your peace," Princess Celestia spoke as her eyes roamed the crowd in the hall, a soft smile on her face as her adopted Niece was finally about to get married.

"Very well then," Celestia continued after no pony spoke up, "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, It is my great pleasure to pronounce you-"

"OBJECTION!!!"

The crowd gasped as the doors to the wedding hall burst open to reveal...

"PRINCESS CADANCE?!"

There she was, standing on top of the podium at the end of the aisle, just a few seconds away from draining the Stallion's magic completely, shattering the shield that kept her forced outside.

And yet, there she stood, the Child of Perfection, an Embodiment of Its Love.

She learned enough from her past failures, there was no time to give a speech, or to reveal her plan to the whole crowd, letting them gawk at her like ducks in the pond.

There was no time for words, only Action.

With a flare of her horn, she turned to the Princess who scarred her a millennium ago.

And the world turned green.

Author's Note

Next chapter will probably be the final part of this arc before the Epilogue chapter, Hope you enjoy!

Also, now we know Chrysalis's plan this time around, kind of~

Starlight, thanks to Luna, finally coming in Clutch to get the gang to the castle in time, all that training of teleporting large groups over long distances finally paid off!

Look forward to the next chapter!

Thanks for reading! :)

Chapter 115: A Canterlot Wedding 6

My lungs screamed at me to stop moving, to take a break and just let them rest.

"Blueblood! Are you alright? Can you keep moving?!" Starlight screamed at me, a bit too close to my ears for comfort, but I forgave her, she's simply worried.

It was almost funny, in a way, having someone worry about your life.
I never had something like that before.

"I can keep going," I managed to say, my legs shaking as I held onto Starlight's shoulder, the two of us making our way up the stairs to the top of one of the spires overlooking the hall.

I could see it almost perfectly from up here, Chrysalis in the form of Cadance down below, wearing a wedding dress that was not hers to have, standing in front of Shining Armor, the fool wearing something that wouldn't have been found weird on a British Noble in the early 20th century, or perhaps late 19th century... If it doesn't include boats, my knowledge of history becomes spotty.
And standing above the two, acting as the officiant of the wedding was... Never mind her.

"Just a few more steps," I told Starlight as we resumed our climb up the tower, the mare nodding her head as she practically carried me up the stairs, breaking open the door to the bedroom at the top of the tower, It was filled with mannequins, or Ponnequins or whatever they're called here, and rolls of fabric.

I let go of Starlight and dropped onto the floor, Starlight lowering my bag so I could reach it easier.

I opened the bag and started searching for something specific, "Starlight, help me find that thing Rutherford gave me,"

Following my fight with Chrysalis on the train tracks, and a long and awkward talk with Celestia in regards to the security of Equestria, I had the opportunity to check the gifts the delegations from Yakyakistan and Caninia brought for me.

The Old Caninian Castle, the delegation headed by the Princesses Indiana Ambereyes and Fiona Floppyears, brought me a collection of traditional Caninian spirits, some real high-quality Stout.

The New Caninian Castle, the delegation headed by Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail, brought me a wardrobe filled with Caninian Clothing fit for a Pony. If anyone ever finds me wearing an open luxury vest and a fashionable collar, they'll know who it's from.

But the gift I'm looking for right now, Is the one from Yakyakistan.

"Here it is!" Starlight yelled as she pulled it out of the bag, I turned my head to see if she got the correct one, when a sudden explosion rocked the castle.

She knew she was powerful, she remembered watching her cousin fight her back in Caninia, and she saw what remained of the train after she tried to fight him again, and even the forest clearing, which now stood as little more than ash and dust, all indicated to her that Chrysalis was strong.

She simply didn't understand what that meant without truly seeing it with her own eyes.

One moment she watched as the Changeling Queen in her body turned to look at Celestia, the next her eyes were filled with the color green as the ground shook.
"AAAH!" She heard Twilight Sparkle scream from beside her, her eyes closing as the bright green almost blinded her in its intensity.

And the moment she opened her eyes, she finally understood it.

The wedding hall was in disarray, the pews were broken, shattered into wooden splinters. The guests were lying on the ground in differing states of injury, some had simple bruises while others clutched their legs in pain as wooden splinters stabbed into their flesh, Luckily it seemed no pony was mortally wounded.

She turned away from the guests and the pews and watched as the green flames receded and fizzled out, showing the monster that took her form, her body trapped inside of a shimmering dark blue bubble that managed to capture the brunt of the explosion.

A Short dark cerulean green mane, smooth black chitinous skin resembling the carapace of a beetle more than anything, thin insectoid wings extending under shimmering elytra which went from a gradient of arctic blue to a moderate green, a smooth black horn that looked more like a weapon to stab with than a focus for magic casting, her eyes were green, both sclera and Iris, only her Pupils remained black, but also they were slits, like those of a cat or a lizard, highlighted by her dark green eyeshadow, and on top of her head she wore a small black crown with four protrusions ending in the same cerulean green as her wings and mane.

She hated to admit it, but she wasn't ugly, she would have even considered her attractive if she had grown out her hair a bit, and she also wasn't a psychotic monster.

"It seems we were correct," Cadance's eyes focused on the source of the voice, watching a pony walk from behind the shimmering bubble that held Chrysalis in place.

Princess Luna let out an exhausted breath as her horn shone with dark blue magic, the bubble around Chrysalis shimmering once more.

"Changelings?!" She heard Celestia exclaim in shock, but she wasn't focused on her, her eyes remained glued to those shimmering emeralds.

Twilight Sparkle held her breath at the sight of the creature in the bubble, was that truly what replaced Cadance?

"What in tarnation is going on here?!" Right! She couldn't sit here and gawk, she needed her friends to help her!

"Girls!" She yelled as she ran past Cadance and towards her friends, "We need to hurry!"

"Darling, what's going on? What's happening?" Rarity asked her as she jogged to meet her halfway across the hall.

"I was right! Cadance was evil! But not actually evil, because it wasn't actually Cadance!" She told them, watching their confused and worried faces slowly shift between the real princess and the creature in the bubble.

"I don't get it," Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and said.

"It doesn't matter, I'll explain later, but we need to get to the Elements of Harmony, quickly!" She told them.

"That is correct, Twilight Sparkle," She turned her head to see Princess Celestia giving her a serious look, "This foe is not someone you can simply battle," Celestia turned to glare at the bubble, "Go and get the Elements, we'll buy you time,"

"But-" Twilight wanted to argue with that, with Celestia putting herself in danger just so she could get the Elements, but before she could finish her sentence, the creature opened its mouth.

"You Idiots..." It stared at Celestia, "Your Elements of Harmony won't do you any good, They only work on chaos and evil, on things that bring imbalance to the natural order of the world," A smirk started to spread on its face, "A Perfectly pure creature is immune to such power," The smirk morphed into a sick smile, her head pointing up so she could look down on them.

"Then we are fortunate you aren't a creature like that, Chrysalis," Celestia told the creature as she stood between Twilight and it, "Go, Twilight, bring the Elements here so we can put this day behind us,"

"You heard the old hag," The Creature's eyes turned to stare at her, piercing through her soul with its stare, "Run along now, The Adults are talking."

Twilight wanted to stay, to check up on her brother, to help Princess Luna, and to do something useful.
But she couldn't, she knew she couldn't fight, she didn't know how, All she could do was use the Elements of Harmony, and hope for the best.

"Let's go girls," She nodded to her friends and ran out of the wedding hall, putting her entire trust in the Princesses behind her.

Luna took deep breaths as she once again reinforced the bubble, she was lucky she acted fast enough to contain most of the flames as Chrysalis transformed, but she wasn't used to casting spells like this.
If she could remain in her tower, isolated from the troubles of society, reading from her books and watching the world from afar, casting her magic from the safety of her room, she would have done so.
This active spell-casting in the heat of the moment with no preparations or fallbacks is something much more fitting for Celestia, or Blueblood.

"Heh, They're not too dissimilar in that case," She wanted to chuckle at the thought, but instead grit her teeth in concentration as she tried to keep the bubble up.
"Someone Snap Shining Armor out of it!" She yelled, hoping one of the guards would step up and slap their captain.

Luna watched as Cadance ran up to Shining Armor, trying to shake him into some form of coherent consciousness instead of the hypnotic trance that he was stuck in.

"It's no use, you know?" Luna scowled as Chrysalis spoke up, her eyes still locked on to Celestia, "It's no use at all, your little captain is all out of juice..." She mock sighed, tilting her head to the side, "If only one of you little cretins noticed something was wrong sooner... But you didn't!" Faster than Luna could react, Chrysalis's leg shot forward and slammed into the bubble, a small crack spreading from the place of impact.

"Luna! Reinforce that bubble!" Celestia ordered her, and Luna would have rolled her eyes and told her not to say the obvious if she wasn't focusing on keeping the bubble reinforced.

"Three weeks?!" Chrysalis laughed as her leg once again shot forward, a loud gonging sound echoing from the bubble, "I had your little Prince for Three Weeks! And your Princess for another Week! And you didn't notice!" Another kick.

The more Chrysalis kicked the bubble, the more Luna struggled to hold it, the echoing sounds weren't helping either, and neither was Celestia just standing there!

"Why~ If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you hated them! How awful of a ruler!" Luna wanted to yell at her sister to shut her up, but she was too busy keeping the shield from breaking.

"AN AWFUL RULER LIKE YOU SHOULD JUST GIVE UP AND DIE ALREADY!!!" Chrysalis didn't kick the bubble, which showed to be a useless endeavor. As long as Luna had magic, she could keep the bubble reinforced for as long as the Elements of Harmony required to arrive.

Instead, all she did, was softly put all of her legs on the floor, and tap it once. Like a dignified lady calling for the attention of a butler, a soft tap on the floor with her hooves was all she did.

"SHINING!!!" Luna widened her eyes as she turned away from the bubble to see Cadance drop to her knees, holding onto Shining Armor's knocked-out body as he lay out cold on the floor.

And that brief moment, barely over a second, where Princess Luna wasn't focusing on the Changeling Queen, was all it took.

Where once stood a leg of black Chitin, now stood a sharpened spike. And faster than the untrained eye could follow, Chrysalis jabbed it at the bubble and smiled with sadistic glee as it shattered, raining down around her with the sound of breaking glass.

But she didn't stop there, her leg kept going, passing through the shattered shield and towards the Alicorn that stood there with a lost look on her face.

"DIE!!!!" She screamed, her chitinous stake driving forward to impale her target.

Luna was pushed back as the winds created by the speed at which Chrysalis moved hit her, her legs unable to hold on to the ground as she was thrown into the broken pews, roughed up but mostly unharmed.

She watched with silent horror as the stake drove into Celestia's chest, a scream already on her lips as she waited for the expected blood to come spurting out of her sister's wound.

"Huh?" Instead, her legs automatically moved to wipe at her forehead as the room temperature started to skyrocket.

She watched with stunned Silence as Chrysalis looked up from the stake that was her leg and into her Sister's eyes, and saw her face of sadistic joy seemingly melt away.

"You dare?" Celestia asked quietly, ignoring the stake lodged in her chest, "Attack my Son, Kidnap my Niece, Live in my Castle, Take from what is mine, and then still try to kill me?"

Chrysalis, who previously looked ready to stab and claw and fight till the end in an attempt to get rid of Celestia, was now on the back foot as she took a step back, away from the Princess of the Sun.

"You- WHY WON'T YOU BLEED?!" She screamed as she stabbed at her again, feeling the stake at the end of her leg stab into the soft Pony flesh, but no blood came out.

"You dare?" Celestia repeated as she slowly took a step forward, her voice echoing around the hall with magical empowerment as the temperature kept rising, "Lay your filthy hooves against me?"

With a simple flick of light from Celestia's horn, Chrysalis started to scream.

Luna watched as she pulled the stake out of her sister's body, now red hot and partially melted as if she had placed it inside a burning furnace.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Chrysalis screamed as she transformed the stake back into a hoof before jumping back to the other side of the hall, "YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! I KILLED YOU! I FELT YOUR HEART TEAR!!!" Green flames enveloped her body, transforming her slim Alicorn-like appearance into one covered in a heavily armored carapace, broad shoulders, and thick legs, her wings were hidden under a thick elytra, and her blade-like horn was replaced with a two-pronged thickened horn, resembling that of a rhinoceros beetle.

Luna couldn't take her eyes off the two, the Changeling who just moments prior seemed so confident in herself was panicking at her failed attempted Regicide, and her Sister, always so soft and inviting, like the gentle sun on a warm summer day, now seemed to raise the temperature around her to unbelievable degrees, each step she took left the marble floor beneath her smoking and blackened.

"JUST DIE ALREADY!!!" Chrysalis screamed as she raised one of her thickened legs, her horn glowing with bright green magic as an explosion of green flames burst out of her elbow, acting as a thrust to punch her leg forward harder than before like some sort of organic rocket.

Luna closed her eyes as a cloud of dust exploded outward from the force of the punch, hiding Celestia and Chrysalis beneath the screen of rubble and smoke.

"Heh... Hehehehah... HahahaHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Chrysalis's laughter echoed out from the dust, assured in her victory.

"Time's up..." She whispered as the dust settled, showing her leg, as thick as a log, smoking under the intense heat emanating from the body it just punched, "Time's up!" She repeated, ignoring the lack of visible damage on Celestia's body, "Time's Up Time's Up Time's Up!" She cackled maniacally, a beam of green magic escaping from her horn and creating a hole in the ceiling, giving Luna a view of the sky outside.

And at the army of Changeling's banging on the quickly weakening bubble of protection.

Luna watched the elytra on Chrysalis's back open up to reveal shimmering beetle-like wings, letting the Changeling Queen fly out of the wedding hall with a glow of green magic in her insectoid horn, a shower of green sparks falling behind her to deter Celestia from following.

Luna tried to stand up, ignoring the ache in her back from where the wooden splinters of the pews attempted to stab into her.

"Sister! We must hold her off until Twilight Sparkle-" Luna called out to her sister, hoping the two of them could think up a plan to buy enough time, but Celestia wasn't listening.

Princess Celestia stood stoic and unmoving, her eyes staring up at the hole in the ceiling, and at the Changeling that just flew out of it, with a detached expression.
As if she wasn't looking at someone who just tried to kill her, who held her family in captivity for weeks, who did who knows what awful things to them!
No, Celestia was looking at Chrysalis as if she were a bug on the side of the road.

"You Dare..." Celestia whispered, the steadily rising temperature that surrounded her seeming to explode outward in an inferno of blazing heat, Her flowing aurora of a mane catching fire and turning into a burning pyre.
And with a single step forward, she disappeared in a tower of flames.

Chrysalis felt her smile halt as a near-unbearable heat assaulted her, but she ignored it as a bolt of green magic left her horn and hit the giant pink bubble that surrounded Canterlot, a green wave expanding from the place of impact as the shield shuddered, before-
CRACK
It shattered, like a crystal ball, shards of pink magic fell from the sky as they disintegrated mid-fall, followed by her army of Changelings, ready to turn the city below them into an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The sounds of her army buzzing past her as they rained down onto the city was like music to her ears, but she could not stop and enjoy the sight for long.
With a burst of green magic from her horn, a screen of protection was formed in front of her body, just in time to absorb a pillar of flames that would have swallowed her whole if she was just a second too late.

She could not wait, she could not allow the Princess of the Sun to get the upper hoof, More and more screens and barriers started to surround her, pillars of green flames turned into snakes of fire, flying around her like guardian angels, Claws and Spears of gelatinous magic and burning green flames started to build up behind her like an army ready to descend upon one singular foe.

"You..." And there she was, her mane a burning pyre, just like she remembered her all those centuries ago, "Insignificant..." Her horn glowed with a rainbow of power, her very presence boiling the moisture out of the air as a cloud of steam followed her, "BUG!!!"

A beam of fire, hotter than any natural flame that could be found on the surface of the world, burst forth from the Alicorn's horn, like a blade made of the sun itself, immediately burning away most of the hastily put-up barriers between the two.

"HAHAHAHA! THIS IS WHO YOU REALLY ARE!!!" Chrysalis cackled at the sight of the burning Princess, the exact same sight she saw so many years ago, "YOU'RE NOT SOME SOFT PATHETIC PONY SMILING AT YOUR SUBJECTS LIKE A FUCKING GRANDMOTHER! YOU'RE A WARRIOR! A SCOURGE OF FIRE!!! A MONSTER OF WRATH INCARNATE!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

"Be Silent!" The Burning Celestia ordered, her voice reverberating with magic, "You shall bring my family harm no longer!" Her wings burst into a pair of flaming pillars, spreading behind her like a cape of orange fire.

"OH? ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME?! IN FRONT OF ALL YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE SUBJECTS?! A PUBLIC EXECUTION?! HAHAHAHAHA!!! GO RIGHT AHEAD!!!" Chrysalis's eyes shrunk into pinpricks as she ignored everything around her and focused solely on the Alicorn in front of her.

The Sky, The Ground, The Changelings, The Ponies, Even the Buildings, They all melted away in her mind, leaving only Celestia and Her.

And with the speed it took for a nerve to send an idea into her Brain, Chrysalis shot forward, the claws and spears behind her falling after her as she dove into Celestia's burning embrace, her black chitin shimmering as she continuously reinforced it.

A Fight like this was perfect for her! She'll be able to absorb Celestia's love for battle as the fight goes on, weakening her opponent while maintaining her own strength, just like she did with the Prince!

And as Chrysalis's horn slammed against Celestia's, like a pair of clashing blades, Chrysalis swallowed as much love as she could from her opponent.

And then coughed out as a burning sensation started to spread down her throat.

She disengaged from her blazing opponent, letting her conjured weapons deal with her for now as she tried to understand what went wrong.

She focused on Celestia, trying to read her emotions, and froze, for less than a fraction of a moment, Chrysalis froze as her body felt fear.

"What..." She shuddered as she watched the Burning Alicorn melt away all the attacks she sent at her, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She screamed at her, "WHERE IS YOUR LOVE?!"

Chrysalis locked eyes with Celestia for a single moment, and her body froze.
One of the Princess's eyes had a burning orange iris surrounded by a cinder-red sclera.

And she screamed.

"Shining! Wake up, Please!" Down in the ruined wedding hall, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was trying to wake her unconscious fiance up, praying that he was alright, hoping that everything was going to be fine.

"Give us a moment," Cadance turned to see Princess Luna drag herself close to her, her horn glowing with dark blue magic.

"He's going to be fine, right?" Cadance asked as Luna sat down beside her, her horn lowering to touch the Guard Captain's head.

"He'll be fine, It's just a mixture of Magic Exhaustion and Hypnotic Shock," The Alicorn of Dreams told her before she turned to look at her, "You might want to stand back a little,"

Cadance didn't want to let go of her fiance but decided to listen to the Princess anyway.

With a dark blue glow to her horn, a circle of magic appeared above Shining Armor's head, and with a soft hum of magic-

"PFFFT! Cough Cough, I'm up! I'm up!" Shining Armor bolted up as a splash of water landed on his face, coughing to get the little water that he accidentally inhaled out of his lungs.

"Shining!" Cadance cried as she hugged her fiance, using the strength of an earth pony to pull him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Cady!" Shining Armor ignored the aches in his lungs as he returned the hug, looking into his fiance's wet eyes, "I'm so sorry! I was too busy with the shield I didn't notice you were replaced- I Can't-" Whatever Shining Armor was about to say would remain lost as he suddenly found his lips taken in by his fiance, unable to speak as she pulled him into a loving embrace of locked lips and battling tongues.

After a moment, Cadance let go, allowing Shining Armor to breathe heavily as he tried to catch his breath, "I... I thought you said we weren't going to kiss like that until we were married..." He managed to say, his cheeks a burning red, the previously serious Guard Captain from the days prior was once again little more than that innocent boy that Cadance fell in love with.

"Just shut up and kiss me~" Cadance told him before she pulled him into another kiss, Shining Armor was unable to resist, not only because of his fiance's superior physical strength but also because his legs seemed to have been hit with a "Turn to Jelly" spell seconds before the kiss began.

"Ahem, We hate to break this wonderful moment, but we do still have an invasion to stop." Cadance and Shining Armor quickly let go of each other, their faces flushed in embarrassment as they turned to look at the unamused look on Princess Luna's face.

"Ahem~ Apologies Your Highness!" Shining Armor saluted the princess from his spot on the floor, his legs still not responding.

"Apology considered, Captain, Now listen closely-" Luna looked at the two of them, "We currently have an army of Changelings inside of Canterlot City, we can either wait for the Elements of Harmony to take their sweet time in getting back here, or we can do what we've been doing for the past three weeks." She focused on Shining Armor, "Captain, Are you able to recast the shield you used to defend the city?"

"I see where you're going Your Highness, but I can't-" Shining Armor demonstrated as his horn glowed with a pink and purple light, a small bubble starting to grow on the tip of his horn before it fizzles out in a shower of sparks, "I'm all out of juice." He started to rub at his horn.

"I... I think I have a way to fix that... But we're going to need to get Chrysalis back in here if it's going to work," Cadance spoke up, a plan forming in her mind.

High above the City of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was fighting two battles.

One against the monster in front of her, and the other against the monster within.

"Just burn her!" Her own voice shouted, trying to order her from the recesses of her mind, "You don't need to rely on those flimsy Elements of Harmony to do it, You're stronger than all of them!"

"Was this how Luna felt before she became Nightmare Moon?" Celestia mentally asked herself as the sheer heat emanating from her body burnt away all the attacks Chrysalis tried to throw at her, "This overwhelming emotion trying to claw its way out?" She wouldn't let it win, she wouldn't force her sister to go through the same loneliness she did.

"Aren't you angry? Why should you share the spotlight with her? She's weak, unfit to be your equal! Just make an example out of this Bug and then take the throne all for yourself! You deserve this!" The voice in the back of her mind kept trying to goad her on, wanting her to sink deeper and deeper into an all-consuming rage, a fire that would burn away her very being if she let it.

"YOU MONSTER! BEAST!! JUST DIE ALREADY!!!" And Celestia didn't forget about her, a flap of flaming wings dodging the shower of green bolts from the Changeling Queen.

"Just give me control, I'll deal with her no problem! You'll never have to worry about her ever again!" Celestia grit her teeth as her anger kept rising, more and more, like a volcano ready to erupt.

"Celestia!" She heard her sister call to her from down below, "Cadance has a plan! Get Chrysalis down here!"

Celestia nodded her head, ready to follow through with her sister's wishes, "Why listen to her? You're the one who's supposed to lead! Not her! You're the one who led this nation for one thousand years! And when your oaf of a sister returns the entire nation falls into disarray with one disaster after another! It's a sign from above! This land is better off with just you!"

Celestia roared in anger, fighting off both Chrysalis and herself, twisting in the air as she dodged and weaved the hail of attacks from the Changeling before she spotted something in the near distance.

A Gold and Blue shine, glowing at the top of a nearby spire, and Celestia felt her mind focused for the first time in minutes.

"I am Stronger than Luna," She told herself, for once agreeing with the voice in her head, "And it's thanks to that strength that you have NO POWER!" She yelled, her horn glowing a rainbow of colors as a rope of magic burst out of her horn, wrapping around Chrysalis's leg and pulling her towards her.

"Listen to me! You need me! You might be strong, but I can make you stronger than your wildest imagination! Nightmare Moon will be nothing when compared to our power!" Celestia closed her eyes as she dove down towards the castle, a screaming Changeling Queen dragging behind her in a rope of rainbow-colored magic.

"Shut UP!!!!" She yelled, silencing the voice in her head as she slammed Chrysalis onto the ground, her back landing on the marble floor of the wedding hall, leaving a cracked crater underneath her chitinous body.

"You... You haven't won!" Chrysalis spit out, "My Changelings are already ravaging your city, taking all the love they can get! I WON! YOU LOST!" She cackled, her chitin was cracked and burnt, but she cackled victoriously as if she truly had won.

"No." Celestia turned to see Cadance walk up to Chrysalis, "You didn't win," She told her, "But that doesn't mean you need to lose," Celestia watched as Cadance extended her hoof to the Changeling, "You can do better, We don't have to fight,"

Celestia smiled at the display, noting how this was how fights were supposed to end, with an opportunity of new friendships, not whatever the voice now back in the corner of her mind wanted.

"You..." Chrysalis stuttered as she watched the hoof offered to her, "You want me to... Do better?" She looked lost, tears starting to glisten in her eyes as she stared at the hoof before slowly reaching out to grab it.

"I do, And I think if we all work together, we can reach a conclusion every one of us will be happy with," Cadance smiled at Chrysalis.

"You..." Chrysalis smiled as she grabbed hold of the hoof, Cadance's face smiling as a glimmer of hope for the chance of redemption appeared on her face.

"ABSOLUTE MORON!" Only for Chrysalis's horn to glow green with magic as a pink fog escaped Cadance's body and swam into the Changeling's mouth, "You really are her daughter! A Love so pure, It's addicting! HAHAHAHA!!!" Chrysalis pulled her leg away from Cadance as she burst back up to her feet, ready to continue the fight.

"So that's how your love eating works~" Only to pause as Cadance kept talking as if she didn't just have her power sucked away.
"You don't eat emotions, but the magic associated with them," She noted as her body started to disappear, turning into flakes of snow and flower petals, "Love is simply the purest emotion you can eat, simple pure magic, a fuel with nothing else,"

Celestia looked away from the small pile of flower petals and snowflakes, watching Cadance walk up from behind her Sister's back, the pile where Cadance previously stood disintegrating into a pink magical cloud.

"AN ILLUSION?!" Chrysalis exclaimed with widened eyes, grabbing a feel for her magic reserves only to notice that they hadn't replenished in the slightest from the love she just took.

"You didn't really think I spent an entire week in that cave doing nothing, did you?" Cadance smirked as her horn started glowing with baby blue light, "Now all I need to do is reverse the process of you stealing love-"

"NO!" Chrysalis cried, her body throwing itself towards the youngest Alicorn, "NONONONONO!!!"

"And turn it into a gift!" Cadance's face spread into a glorious smile, the magic at the tip of her horn turning into a pink heart, floating out of her horn and into Shining Armor, whose horn started to shine with his purplish-pink aura.

"NONONONONONONO!!!!!" Chrysalis cried, Celestia and Luna joining forces to hold her back from reaching Cadance.

"Watch, Chrysalis! The True Power Love!" Cadance's mane started to levitate as her aura exploded with pink and blue light, "The Source of my Strength!" Her smile was dazzling, her hair was beautiful.

Celestia didn't even try stopping herself from shedding tears at the sight before her.

"Now! Shining Armor!" Princess Mi Amore Cadenza cheered as a bubble started to quickly expand from Shining Armor's horn, Passing over the Ponies and pushing the Changeling back.

"NONONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!" Chrysalis screamed as the expanding bubble pushed her away, her leg quickly shooting forward to punch the barrier, her legs digging into the floor in an attempt to gain hold, digging trenches into the marble as the barrier kept pushing her back.

"SCUDO SPLENDENTE DELL'AMORE!"

Cadance cried out as her magic fueled the shield Shining Armor was creating, pushing Chrysalis up against the wall.

Celestia watched the scene with a teary smile on her face, "We don't need the Elements of Harmony to fix all our problems," She told the voice in her mind, "But that doesn't mean we must do it all ourselves," She looked at the glorious smile on her adopted nieces face, "Doing it all alone, Sounds sad, doesn't it?"

She got no response, but that was fine. As long as she had her family with her, she had no need to worry about ever becoming corrupted like Nightmare Moon.

"NOOO! I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE LIKE THIS! I CAN'T LOSE LIKE THIS!!! YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE HER!!! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE HER! ME!!!!! NOT YOU!!!!!!!!!" Chrysalis screamed as cracks formed on the wall behind her, the barrier trying to push her out through the solid wall.

"If being like my mother was what you're going for, then I'm glad I never met her," Cadance told her, her eyes glowing with pink and blue magic as her love kept powering the spell Shining Armor was casting, "And Besides, why would I want to be like her? I already got the perfect role model right beside me~" Cadance turned to smile at Celestia, a soft smile, small, but full of so much love Celestia felt like she could fight Chrysalis ten more rounds without getting tired in the slightest.

BOOM!

Out of nowhere, a beam of golden magic burst through the window on the other side of the hall, flying through the air, and slammed into chrysalis, who let out a scream of pain as the beam dug into her.

Celestia's mind started to focus as the world started to move in slow motion around her, giving her time to look at the beam of magic, and at the object in its center, currently spinning like a large drill, digging into reinforced Chitin.

"Isn't that?" Celestia's eyes perked up as she recognized the object inside the golden beam, a smile on her face as she turned to look through the window where it shot in from, watching a small figure on top one of the castle's spires.

"Told you I'd just fucking shoot you~" I smirked, ignoring the pain that burnt all around my body as my magic finally ran out.

"Quick- Kingfisher- Give this attack a cool name- You know you want to~" I wanted to ignore the hallucination of my tired mind, just as a way to Spite Macaw through the grave, but I had to agree with it.
I really did want to give this spell a cool name.

"This Shot holds the Last of my Magic- Weapon of the Stars, Crush and Break until all Runs Out-" I smirked as a fitting name appeared in my mind-

"MARS!"

And after going through with the masculine urge to shout out the names of attacks, I let my body finally rest as I blacked out.

"AAARRGH!" Chrysalis screamed as the beam of magic dug into her chitin, joining forces with the Barrier of love as the two spells finally pushed her body through the wall, the barrier now able to quickly expand to surround the entirety of Canterlot and even the mountain beyond, pushing all the Changelings out of the city, sending them all flying far away.

"CURSE YOU! MI AMORE CADENZA!!!" Chrysalis screamed as her limp body joined her changelings in being thrown far away, where she wouldn't be able to harm any pony any time soon.

Cadance let the smile on her face stay there for a few more seconds, watching the Changeling Army disappear into the distance until they became nothing more than a speck on the horizon before her legs finally gave out on her and she allowed herself to collapse onto the floor.

"Cadance!" Shining Armor quickly ran to his Fiance, holding her dearly, worry in his eyes.

"I'm fine," Cadance chuckled, "I'm just not used to all this action, I'm still reeling from living in a cave for a week," She chuckled once more before grimacing as her stomach started to rumble, "Auntie Celestia?"

"Whatever you need, Cadance~" Celestia smiled softly at her niece.

"I think I need a doctor," She chuckled as if saying those words was a funny joke.

"I'll bring the best Doctors in Equestria, don't you worry," Celestia told her as she caressed her cheek softly, telling Cadance that everything was going to be alright.

"Thanks, Lulu?" Cadance turned to Princess Luna.

"What is it Friend Cadance?"

"Can you go check up on Bluey, he needs more medical attention than I do, I know that if he's still awake he'll try and shrug it off and say that everything is fine, but I know he'll listen to you,"

"We'll go pick him up right away, You just wait here," Luna smiled at Cadance before she flapped her wings and flew out of the hole in the roof.

"And Shiny?" Cadance turned to the last pony remaining in the room.

"Anything, say it and I'll do it," He held her hoofs, worry on his face.

"Nothing like that," She chuckled, "I just wanted to apologize, It seems we'll need to delay the wedding for a few days," She smiled as if she just told the funniest joke in the world, "Also, did anyone ever tell you-" She paused for dramatic affect before she whispered something weakly.

"Yes? What are you trying to tell me?" Shining Armor leaned closer, trying to make out what she was saying.

"I said-" She whispered again, a voice so small she could barely be heard.

Celestia smiled, covering her mouth as she laughed to herself, already knowing what was going on.

"Yes?" Shining Armor leaned even closer, only to freeze as he received a peck on his cheek.

"Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that you look cute when you're worried~" Cadance smirked at her fiance, watching his face flush a bright red in embarrassment.

"Princess Celestia! We brought the Elements of Harmony!" All three ponies in the room turned to the entrance of the hall, watching Twilight Sparkle and her friends stand there, covered in several small bruises and marks from a fight against the Changeling forces outside.

"Why... Why are you looking at us like this? Did we miss anything?" Twilight Asked, and Celestia couldn't hold it in any longer.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" She burst into laughter, falling on her back and holding her gut, rolling on the floor as she laughed her heart out.

"What?" Twilight Sparkle looked around, "Seriously, what happened?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Author's Note

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to give you, the newest holder for the title of Longest Chapter!

Also, this chapter comes out on my Sister's Birthday! October 2nd! Happy Birthday, Mika! :pinkiehappy:

I wrote the first 1,000 words before taking a break for a few days, and then Iran shot missiles at my country so I'm guessing the Ayatollah doesn't want me to slack off, He's probably the number one fan of this story, he doesn't want to be kept on a cliffhanger.

The next chapter will probably be the last one before my Hiatus, there'll probably be a bonus chapter halfway through the Hiatus just so I can write something that won't impact the story too much.

Obviously, next chapter we'll get the actual wedding! Hope you're all looking forward to it!

Thanks for Reading :)

Edit: Almost Forgot! Happy Rosh Hashana!!!

Chapter 116: The Royal Wedding

"Deep Breaths, This is your moment," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza held her breath in her lungs before exhaling it all out slowly, trying to steady her body.

"Don't worry Princess!" A filly told her, fiddling with a basket filled with flower petals, "A wedding is supposed to be an exciting part of any pony's life, just smile,"

A week has passed since the invasion of Chrysalis and her Changelings, and things have finally mostly returned to normal. Or at least, as normal as they could.

Blueblood was still bedridden, sadly, so he wouldn't be able to make it, but at least he was fine, Princess Luna was keeping watch over him as he recovered.

She herself was mostly fine, with simple doctor's orders to keep physical exertion to a minimum if she could, but otherwise, she was as healthy as a horse! Especially now with her magic keeping her... Full of magic? It was a confusing thing to explain, really.

After she copied and reversed Chrysalis's emotion-eating magic, her magic started to closer resemble her Alicorn trait, that is Love.
With love being the purest emotion, her own magic became endless purity.

Luna explained it as if her magical reserve became an endlessly deep ocean, but her own capacity to utilize that same magic was still a shallow river. In other words, she has an infinite amount of magic, but only a finite amount she can use at once. Like a very large bottle with only a regular-sized cap, She won't ever run out of magic to use, but she's still limited by the amount she can use.

At least that means she'll never suffer from magical exhaustion ever again.

"Just... Let's do this~" Princess Mi Amore Cadenza clapped her hooves over her cheeks and shook her head as she got ready, her face relaxing as she tried to enter a state of calm.
It was no use trying to think of the last week, these next few hours will arguably be the most important in her life.

"Shhh! It's starting~" Another flower filly whispered to her two friends as the music finally started sounding from beyond the large doors in front of them.

With one last deep breath, Cadance straightened her back and stared forward, watching the doors in front of her open up to reveal a full wedding hall.

"Here it was, The moment she was waiting for," She started walking down the aisle, following the flower filly's steps, "Her wedding."

"Ooh Ooh! It's starting! Look, Friend Blueblood! Cadance is finally getting married!" I let out an exhausted sigh as Princess Luna started tapping my shoulders, pointing at a nearby window where we could see a part of the wedding hall.

"I can see that," I told her tiredly as I fiddled with my new suit and tie, a navy blue suit with a black undershirt decorated with golden buttons.

"Are you sure we cannot go there? It is a most special day, you know?" Luna turned and gave me her closest approximation of puppy dog eyes, something I was immune to thanks to a tough resistance to common seduction tactics and the fact that Luna was biologically five years older than me and therefore too old to even attempt such a trick.

"You heard what the doctors said, no stress, that means no hanging around a crowd of ass-kissing dolphins who were only invited thanks to their importance in the internal affairs of Equestria. We'll still make it to the reception, it's only friends and family, so stop complaining already," I told Luna before I started walking away, one of my front legs holding on to a walking cane as I dragged my body away from the windows and deeper into the castle.

"You're not going to even stay here to look from afar?" Luna asked as she followed me, ensuring I didn't suddenly collapse from exerting my body too much.

"Luna, there are still a few hours before the reception begins, And besides, now that I have you, there's something I need to acquire..." I said as I walked deeper into the castle, walking down several flights of stairs as I made my way deep beneath the ground.

"Blueblood..." Luna started speaking as she realized where I was walking, "You do know this area is restricted for a reason..."

It wasn't long before halls of marbled bricks turned into raw stones and dirt, a cave system stretching down from beneath Canterlot Castle, lower than the old dungeons, lower than the sewers of the City of Canterlot, deep into the Mountain itself.

"I know." I stopped in front of what I searched for, "Only a Royal is able to open this door," I stood in front of a large magical door, built into the sides of the cavern, enchanted with potent spells that only the pony who cast them, and the Royals he taught, could open.
"However, The pony who made this rule made it so the only Royals who could open this have to be Alicorns," I turned my back to the large door and stared into Luna's eyes.

"Princess Luna, The library that lies beyond this door, is the only place in the castle I have yet to search for answers, I need a key to get inside," I told her, putting as much emphasis as I could on to the word Need to make it understood how important this was.

"Prince Blueblood, not even We have explored the place you seek entrance to, We know not what there is to find," She stared at the doors, her eyes not leaving the pair of large stars chiseled into the door, "We suggest you ignore it, your search for Tirek's motive has brought you nothing but ruin."

"I know," I said out loud, my eyes looking past the Princess of the Night before I took a deep breath to ready myself for what I was about to do, "However, If I do not do so, nobody will." I scowled as I lowered my walking cane and lowered my head.

"Blueblood..." Luna whispered as she watched me do something I would never have done if I didn't think whatever was beyond those doors was worth it.

"Princess Luna, Her Royal Highness of the Endless Night, Protector of Dreams and Ruler of Equestria, I, Prince Blueblood Platinum, Ask of you- No- I Beg of you," I felt my body shudder at the words leaving my mouth, as if attempting to punish me for even thinking of debasing myself like this, "Please, Grant me Access to Starswirl the Bearded's personal library~"

As those words left my mouth, I gagged, bile already threatening to climb up my throat as I begged for Luna to open a door for me.

I hate this, this feeling of inferiority, knowing that no matter how hard I work or train, the only way to open a fucking door will be to ask someone else to do it.

This reliance on someone other than myself... I hate it, I despise this feeling from the very core of my being, just the simple act of getting on my knees and asking for help is making me wish to throw up, my body instinctively trying to cleanse my body of impurities that do not exist.

Begging, Prostrating, on my hands and knees, asking for someone else's help, I absolutely, from my very core, Despise this.

And so I hope, from the very bottom of my heart, that whatever is behind these doors will bring me answers, because if it doesn't...

"We will make a key, one imbued with our magical signal, so you will be able to open this door," Luna said quietly as she lowered her body and pulled me back onto my legs, grabbing my chin and making me stare into her eyes, "I am ordering you, Prince Blueblood Platinum, don't you ever kneel for us ever again, do not beg us like this ever again, do not bow your head in submission like this ever again! DO NOT DEBASE YOURSELF LIKE THIS! EVER AGAIN!" She raised her voice, yelling at my face as if personally offended by my actions.

And then, faster than I could react, she pulled me into a hug, "Don't you ever, and we mean ever, do something like this ever again. You are our family and friend, we are to be equals, do not lower yourself for us, are we understood?"

I didn't say a word, I simply stood there stupefied at her reaction.

Why was she so angry at me? Because I lowered myself for her? But I am lower than her! Both in line to the throne and in royal influence and authority! She could order me to do anything she wanted and I'd have no choice but to follow her orders! That's how this works! The only pony who could overwrite any orders from Luna would be Celestia! I am, by the very definition of our different positions, lower than her!

"Understood." I nodded to her, lying without missing a beat.

We are to be equals? Don't make me laugh! There's no such thing as Equality in life.
There are only those who are at the top, and those who are not.
Those who are free, and those who are slaves.
Those who struggle, and those who accept.

Family... I lived twenty-eight years without needing a family, turning twenty-nine does not change that in the slightest.

"Good, Now let us get ready for the reception! We wish to partake in the wedding cake!" Acting as if the scene that just took place didn't exist, Luna grabbed us by the leg and started pulling us away, "Help us pick a fancy dress!"

If she noticed anything in how I acted, then she didn't show it.

"Wait! My walking cane!"

"Oops~"

Time as a concept was weird to her, trapped in a prison with no real way to measure time, nothing more than a head with an arm, sitting on the floor of the universe, surrounded by an endless expanse of stars.

Hoping, Praying, that one day her Prince will come and bring her back her feet, so he could proceed and sweep her off them as they go an live happily ever after.

But she was scared.

She didn't know why she was in this prison to begin with, her memory was jumbled and shattered and barely existent.

All she knew was that she was a Spirit of Space, a living embodiment of an aspect of the universe, and that part of her sealing was conducted by a Deer with a Red Crystal Heart.

And she is scared to find out the truth.

What if the person she was before she was imprisoned was so far removed from her current self, would she be able to comfortably live with that knowledge? And what if the personality of the one she was before he imprisonment starts taking control over her body, will she simply cease to exist, replaced with what was supposed to be her true self? What was her true self really? The one she was with her memory intact before the imprisonment, or the blank slate she became afterwards? Wouldn't the person she is now be her true self? She has no outside influence to change her personality, a nature versus nurture type of situation.

All those questions with answers that simply were unavailable, she could not help but let her mind wander as she waited for those few hours when she and her one true love could be together.

Because of course, he was her one true love. He told her his secrets, she told him hers, they shared everything with each other, he said he would bring her body back, and she said she would love him for the rest of her existence.

As long as her mind remained hers, and not that of some over version of herself, she would love him. She could promise that. And she knew it was true, she loved him more than anyone else, she wouldn't let herself lose to some sunken eyes insect bitch who didn't love him nearly as much as she did, they were fated to be together, that's why he's the one who found her, he's the one who would save her, he was meant to be hers, he WAS hers, she wouldn't let anyone change that.

Not the Insect, not the Nightmare, not the Secretary, not any other living being, none of them would ever change that. They can try, but they'll never succeed, she'll make sure of it.

"Do you want to go out with me?" She asked him, as she lay on his chest, her eyes staring unblinkingly at his appearance, tired and bandaged as he was, he was still the perfect Prince Charming for her.

"No." He said that word, that same word he said every other time she asked that question. He didn't actually mean that, he loved her, he had to, they were meant to be together, they were perfect together, they'll always be together, and she'll make sure of it.

"Haha, shut down yet again~"

Author's Note

And there we have it! Season 2 of the show has ended! Now I can finally take a break from writing this! I'll try and take at least a month or two before I return to this, just so I could work on my other works.

If the last remnants of Season 1 were to introduce the cast, and Season 2 was to build up the relationship between the main cast members, season 3 is going to focus on Blueblood himself.

That's right! Season 3 is going to actually force him to develop! Hope you look forward to it!

Oh, and for those who are excited about major changes from the Canon, don't worry! Season 3 is where they'll be really starting to hit and appear!

Oh, and I might have introduced an element that will return in a future arc, don't think too much about it. Unless you like mirrors, of course :moustache:

Thank you all for reading Trash of the Royal Castle! See you all soon :)

Chapter 117: Spooky Scary Shadows (Bonus)

It was the night before Christmas, that all- Wait a moment- Wrong Holiday, just a sec~

It was the last night of October, Ponies were out in the streets wearing the scariest outfits they could find, Children collecting candy as if they were taxes.

That is correct, dear Nephew, It was all Hallows Eve, the best holiday of the year!

"That's stupid, Everyone knows that Holidays are a waste of time."

The Pony of Shadows stopped talking into the void of endless nothingness that he was stuck in, turning his head to look at the only other pony in Limbo with him.

"Look, You're not here to get any information, so you're going to have to listen to me narrate the world around us, you do not have a choice." The Pony of Shadows told his Several-times-Great Grand Nephew.

"I'm not going to listen to you," Captain Prince Blueblood 'Kingfisher' Platinum told his long-lost evil ancestor. "You'll be talking into the void." He paused for a moment. "I mean that in the literal sense. We are in the void, and you are speaking to it."

"Look, It's currently Halloween, can you just please let me tell the story?" Uncle let out an exasperated sigh, turning to look at one of the six floating pillars of rainbow crystal that held the sealed wardens of his prison, "What are you looking at?" He asked a pillar, frowning at the Roman-dressed Pegasus frozen inside.

"I don't want to hear a story, I just want this to be over." Blueblood told the Pony of Shadows, turning his head to stare over his shoulder, "Shut up, Do not force me to go to a psychiatrist, I will make you disappear if you keep this up."

"Are you talking to yourself?" The Pony of Shadows chuckled at the sight, "I thought I was going to go crazy, but here you are." He smiled at his Nephew.

"I'm not going crazy," Blueblood said as a matter of fact, "I'm simply being haunted by my subconscious taking the form of someone I hate." He told him, only to pause for a moment, "Or it's his ghost and he's haunting me because he's a dick, one or the other..." Blueblood thought for a moment before he turned to look at his uncle, "Are ghosts real?"

"Someone's haunting you? Who is it? Is it that Moon Creature that tried to take over your body a while back? Maybe some poor Changeling you brutally squashed? Is it Blueblood, the real prince that is, trying to get you to give his body back?" The Pony of Shadows rubbed his hooves with excitement, the black smoky shadows that made up his body bursting into white flames from his excitement.

"It's Macaw." Blueblood's words turned the Pony of Shadow's excitement into Boredom.

"Macaw? From Avian?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Damn... Sucks to be you, I guess~ Ayo! Up top!" The Pony of Shadows excitedly raised his hoof up in front of Blueblood, ready for to receive his Nephew's hoof.
"Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

"..." Blueblood stared blankly at the Pony of Shadows, not rising to the occasion, and leaving his uncle to dry.

The Uncle of Shadows let out a disappointed sigh as he lowered his hoof and dejectedly walked over to the other side of the small corner of Limbo was his prison, sulking, "Why are you even here?"

"Cadance wanted to speak to Cosmos, She needs help planning her Honeymoon or something like that," Blueblood answered.

"Can't she just borrow the gems and sleep with them if she wanted to talk to Cosmos?" Pony of Uncles asked, "Having you wear them and then knock you out seems like a less healthy way to go about things, especially seeing as how she can only control your head and right front leg."

"That's what I also said," Blueblood told him, "I also told her to just go to a ski resort, but she decided 'Noo, I need my Honeymoon to be perfect, It can't be the same as any other Honeymoon ponies go on~' As if it matters, The entire point of a honeymoon is to get privacy from your friends and family in order to make out for as long as you want," Blueblood huffed in annoyance, "Too bad the two thirty-year-old Virgins are the ones going on the honeymoon this time. I would've taught Cadance how to put on a Condom, but I don't think she knows what one looks like."

"Now you're exaggerating, I'm sure she knows what a Condom looks like." The World's Greatest Evil Uncle said with a roll of his eyes, "And besides, I'm sure Captain Shining Armor knows enough about safe-"

"HE DOES NOT!" Blueblood interrupted with a yell, "Shining Armor is a horrible guard! It's almost comical how awful security in the castle is! I would be laughing at it if it wasn't so sad! I was kidnapped while I was in my room by Moon Creatures! MOON CREATURES!!! And don't get me started on Chrysalis not only managing to grab me a meter outside the castle but also infiltrating the castle for THREE WEEKS BEFORE ANYONE NOTICED!" Blueblood screamed, his mane of golden hair erupting in Blue Flames as he started ranting angrily about the castle staff and the many mistakes they made.

"Oh my~" The Pony who chose his name from an edgy thirteen-year-old's DeviantArt OC said as he listened to the Prince angrily ramble.

"-What I'm trying to get at here, Is that Shining Armor CAN NOT PROTECT ANYTHING! The only thing he managed to successfully defend in his life is his Virginity! So I am saying this with full seriousness and intent. SHINING ARMOR DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO USE A CONDOM!"

"Got that out of your system?" Pony of Shadows asked as he smirked at his Nephew, resting his chin on his hoof, his elbow on his knee as he listened to the Prince's angry rant.

"...Wasn't this supposed to be a Halloween special?" Blueblood asked as he calmed himself down, breathing heavily as he tried to relax from his spirited rant.

"It was? Eh, who cares." The Pony of Shadow waved him off, "It also seems like you're starting to wake up," He pointed out, watching as Blueblood's body started to fade away, "See you soon, Kill ya!"

"I'll kill you too!" Blueblood yelled as his body disappeared, Leaving Uncle Shadow all alone once more, with nothing but the Crystal Pillars that housed the founding pillars of Canterlot.

"...No, Seriously, Flash Magnus, go fuck yourself, stop looking at me like that."

"...."

"Yeah," The Pony of Shadows smiled in victory, kicking the crystal holding the Pegasus as he turned away from him, "Happy Halloween or something! Later, Losers!"

Author's Note

I wanted to make an actual Interlude Chapter during my break here, something to go over all the things that are happening in the time frame between season 2 and 3, but then I noticed what the date is and decided that I would much rather do a chapter of Blueblood and 'Uncle' Just shooting the shit and hanging out in Limbo instead.

This chapter is non-canon, for obvious reasons. Same with all Bonus chapters.

I'll probably start working on the first chapter that takes place in season 3 sometime in mid/late November, but I should be able to fit the actual Interlude in there before that.

See you all later :)

Chapter 118: The Shifting Snow

Prince Blueblood shook the snow off his body as he stood near the northern border of Equestria, staring at the wide-open square in front of his eyes. Watching the snow pile on top of the roofs places over the benches, painting the concrete tiles of the floor with dots of white.

"How much did this place cost to build?" Starlight Glimmer asked him, her black suit covered by an oversized winter coat, one she refused to return to its rightful owner. Her eyes focused on the bronze statue sitting in the middle of the fountain built into the middle of the square.

The statue depicted a Unicorn and a Yak sitting in front of one another. Mugs of an undisclosed liquid sat before them as the two cheered in merriment, their joy and camaraderie depicted for all to see in the bronze symbol of their friendship.

"The Square?" Blueblood repeated the question, "Only twelve Million, Give or take." He shook his head to drop the snow off of it, his front legs still holding on to the walking stick he was given after the Changeling attack on Canterlot.

"I can walk just fine, I don't need this!" She remembered him yelling angrily, only to quiet down and promise to keep the stick for another week once Princess Celestia caught him trying to walk without it.

"If you're talking about the entire project, Closer to two hundred and thirty million." Blueblood's nonchalant answer almost caused Starlight to miss the amount he gave, "From the raw materials I had to ship over from Caninia, to the construction of the train track itself, to the employees who I've trained to work this train, to the many new stations I had to build all over the new North-Equestrian-Royal-Railroad, that's the name of the railroad by the way, this train is not for royals only." He told her, "It should be open to the public by the end of April, and with it, the Pony-Yak Railway should be officially complete."

"...Did you say two-hundred and thirty million?" Starlight repeated hoarsely as she turned to look at her best friend and boss as if he just told her he used liquid gold to flush his toilet.

"Do you have a hearing problem? Do we need to get you to a doctor, Starlight?" Blueblood raised an eyebrow as he looked at her from the corner of his eye, "Never mind all of this, it's the inside of the place that really matters, let's go!" Blueblood tapped his cane on the floor beside him as he started walking, making Starlight follow after him as the two walked past the open square and entered the train station on the other side.

Starlight watched many ponies wearing BBF-branded uniforms walk around the station, checking the walls and corners, testing the pipes and sinks of the bathrooms, and measuring the distance between the benches and the railway itself.
They were like a swarm of bees, all working like a machine in order to make sure nothing was wrong with the station.

"Welcome, Starlight Glimmer, to Rutherford Station!"

In the far northern nation of Yakyakistan, Prince Rutherford let out a hearty laugh as he read the letter before him, "Then our station be named Blueblood Station! Hahahahaha!"

Deep inside the Everfree Forest, in the Deer Kingdom of Thicket, a certain Pony was sitting in a surprisingly comfortable prison cell, spending her sentence listening to the birds singing outside of the small room she sat locked in.

"Hey, Pony, You've got a visitor, Stand up." Gloriosa Daisy let out a yawn and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she stood up and faced the wall, waiting patiently as the deer unlocked the door before being given permission to walk out.

She was already used to this by now, Some Deer came to visit her, mostly guards asking about how she got her hooves on the Heart, or curious researchers who never got the privilege of leaving the forest's borders.

As she walked into the nearby room, where she was sat in front of a screen of magical see-through sap that acted as the Deer's answer to Glass, she watched the door on the other side of the screen open up, revealing that same Deer that kept questioning her about the security of the castle, about that other deer who helped her, about why she did what she has.

Portunes sat on the other side of the screen, stared at the prisoner through the plane of sap, and started asking the same questions he asked each time he visited the Pony.

"Do you regret what you did?" He asked the first question, already knowing what the answer she will give was going to be.

After all, they both had this song and dance twice a week.

"I regret that I could not save my camp," Gloriosa Daisy neutrally told the Deer Captain, calmly staring into his eyes, fully knowing what answers she would give him before he even asked his questions.

"But do you regret trying to steal the Heart of the Everfree?" Portunes asked, watching with a slight tinge of annoyance as the pony mouthed the question as he spoke it, mocking him for still asking the same questions over and over expecting a different response.

And even though Portunes was annoyed with the Pony, he could not hate her. He could not support her reasoning in the slightest, she still is a selfish and greedy criminal who risked the lives of hundreds for her own selfish exploit.

But she did force his King to actually act like a King for the first time in decades. Even if he is only meeting the bare minimum of being a King.

"I do not. I did it to save my camp-" Now it was Portunes's turn to mouth the words as if the two were reading from a script, "I would do anything for my camp."

Portunes sighed tiredly as let the guards walk back in and take Gloriosa Daisy back into her cell, noting in a small notebook that no change has been found, and that the Prisoner does not regret her actions.

All the Deer Captain could do now was hope his King would finally locate Platinum Manor so he could finally do something else with his time.

"Why is he even using those old maps?" Portunes thought to himself as he walked out of the Prison, "The Forest has changed so much in these thousand years, The town he's looking at is mostly debris and ruins, and that's not counting whatever Magic this Pony of Shadows fellow has placed on the building..." He shook his head as he made his way back to the Castle, watching with no small amount of awe as the giant tree that acted as the Royal Castle could be seen actively growing in front of his eyes.

The process was slow, there were still a lot of rooms and walls that needed to be replaced, but seeing the tree grow at a visible pace was still a wonder to his eyes.

"Magic... What a truly wonderful thing..."

Deep below the tundra, in a cage of crystal beneath the vast expanse of snow that stood between Equestria and Yakyakistan, a phantom banged on the walls of his cage.

His red horn burned with fury as he seethed and fumed, the words leaving his lips barely more than the wild howling of a beast, starved and mad, the few words that could be understood leaving his mouth could be described as the raving of a wrathful spirit.

He screamed about revenge that he shall never achieve, about a girl who he could never love, about a crime that should not have been, about the princess whose existence was a stain on the planet, about the whispers and touches of invisible pests, and most of all-

He screamed about Love.

"AMORE!!!!!!!!!!" His eyes were pinpricks, his body in a state of magically shifting between solid and gas, his entire focus being placed on the mocking timer that ticked away just out of reach, taunting him with the knowledge of his stay in this prison of ice and snow.

He growled and gnashed his teeth, his screams seeming to grow more and more feral as he watched the clock tick down.

His hoofs banged on the crystal walls, as if in an attempt to hasten the count.

His teeth chipped under the strength of his gnashing, turning into smoke as his body magically repaired itself in its constant shifting between the states of matter.

He screamed, a mixture of excitement, anger, and the indescribable primal feeling that all living beings experience.

For the briefest of moments, everything was calm.

He was not angry, His body was not in constant flux, His mind cleared from all noise, his words turned intelligible.

His very being seemed to enter a state of enlightenment, a euphoric release one thousand years in the making.

For but a single moment, no longer than a few seconds, the phantom remembered who he was, what he was here to do, why he was placed in this cage, all he knew became clear.

And then the crystal walls around him shattered, and with them so did the serenity.

Once more, he was barely more than a phantom, a mad and greedy being who was little more than a raging beast.

And with the freedom now given to him, King Sombra of the Crystal Empire left his cage for the first time in over one thousand years.

"AMOREEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Outside of Equestria's borders, inside a long-abandoned castle, a Queen cackled loudly, proud of the new plan she had concocted to fulfill her ultimate goal.

It was an outlandish plan, one so outlandish no sane person would risk placing their bets on it.

It was the perfect plan for someone like her.

And so she told her minions what her plan was.

"Your Majesty! This- This plan requires all the pieces to fall into place in time for one specific hour that only comes by every three thousand years!" One of her bug-eyed followers exclaimed.

So she drained all the love he had in his body, unhinging her jaw like a snake in order to let the magical pink mist enter her mouth, watching as his body shriveled like an empty water bottle that kept being sucked on, leaving him as nothing more than an empty husk, broken and unmoving.

How dare he question her. She was going to be perfect, her plan would make her perfect, therefore the plan itself was perfect. Perfection had no flaws. Therefore the plan had no flaws.

She ignored the rest of her minions, the fear that flooded out of their small bodies was none of her concern.

She had Thirty-six days, Seventeen hours, and forty-two minutes before her plan could come to fruition.

Before she would finally become Perfection Itself.

Author's Note

A little interlude, giving a sneak peek at the three major arcs that will be taking place during season 3.
After these upcoming arcs, we'll be having a bunch of more arcs focused on the characters, some people wanted more "Character-focused" arcs and I promised the second half of season 3 will be these arcs.

This chapter is coming out on November 8th, making it my 21st birthday :yay:

Expect the beginning of the season to be a marathon of important arcs one after the other followed by a jog of smaller softer arcs to get everyone ready for the bombastic ending that I am sure everyone is looking forward to, especially the implications it would inevitably have on Newblood.

I'm still taking a break from this story, so the next chapter won't be for a few more weeks. Hope you enjoyed it!

...I really need to get a new mouse, this one keeps double-clicking. It's really hard to write with it when I can barely drag it over a sentence to select it without the risk of accidentally flipping it around or deleting it by mistake.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 120: The Crystal Empire 2

Stepping out of a train into a hastily built station in the middle of the frozen tundra, Twilight Sparkle was quickly buffeted by cold and howling winds. Her leg raised over her face to protect it from the biting cold.

Her friends followed after her, shivering as the warm interior of the train was quickly replaced by the freezing northern wind.

"Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves!" Rarity laughed as she exited the train, a soft scarf wrapped around her neck, keeping her warm.

"I didn't say a word~" Spike the Dragon said as he followed after Rarity, carrying a small mountain of luggage on his back, only to slip on a pile of snow and drop the bags on the floor.

"There you are!" A Pegasus wearing a white and blue vest yelled over the snow as he pointed at the train, causing a bunch of Earth Ponies to rush out of it, all wearing the same uniform, carrying large bags on their backs as they followed the Pegasus before running into the snow, following a path marked by poles impaled into the frozen ground.

Twilight's eyes followed the ponies running into the snow before she spotted a pony making his way toward them along the same path, one she recognized.

"Twilight!" The pony called out to her as he spotted her in turn, the Unicorn in question running into the snow to meet up with the pony.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight smiled as she hugged her BBBFF, who took the snow goggled off his face in order to look into his younger sister's eyes.

"We better get moving, there are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark," He told her and her friends as he let go of the hug, "We'll catch you all up later, we need to move."

"What kind of things?" Fluttershy gulped in fear before asking.

"Let's just say the Empire isn't the only thing that's returned." Shining Armor told them.

"King Sombra..." Twilight's mind thought back to the illusion Princess Celestia showed her.

As the group walked through the freezing tundra, the harsh winds whipping at their faces, Shining Armor spoke up to quickly catch them up on what was happening.

"Something keeps trying to get in!" Shining yelled at the group behind him, the frozen winds making his loud yell sound like a normal sentence, "We think it's the Unicorn King who originally cursed the place!"

"But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire!" Twilight told her brother, "If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected!"

As Twilight finished her sentence, a deep howl sounded out from afar, slowly growing louder, causing the snow falling from the sky to quake in the air as if the very winds were telling it to show respect.

"It's one of the things, isn't it?!" Fluttershy squeaked in terror as the deep howl grew in intensity, the air itself seemed to be shaking as if furious that trespassers were standing in its territory.

"We need to get to the Crystal Empire!" Shining Armor yelled to the group to hurry up as a cloud of black mist visibly crawled over a distant hill, rapidly making its way toward the group, "NOW!!!"

The Urgency in Shining Armor's voice spurred the group into a run, the wind still buffeting them, stabbing at their skin like frozen needles, the air around them still shaking in fury as if it was alive, the cloud of dark mist and shadows quickly getting closer and closer, closing in on the ponies like a leopard getting ready to pounce.

The group ran, their faces burning from the biting cold, their legs shivering from the freezing snow, "Go Go!" Twilight yelled at her friends, picking Spike up in her magic to carry him on her back, his short legs making him the slowest of the group.

"Almost there!" Shining Armor yelled as he spotted the Crystal Empire in the distance, a large bubble of blue magic acting as the barrier to keep it safe.
He saw the group of Ponies that left the train earlier already making their way into the barrier, at the speed they were running, it would only take perhaps a minute or two to reach the Empire.

But as he looked behind him, Shining Armor noted that while it would take them two minutes to reach the Empire, it would take less than a minute for the mist to capture them.

Without waiting, Shining Armor spun around and shot a beam of pink magic at the cloud of dark smoke. It harmlessly passed through it, its gaseous body shifting and morphing around as a pair of green and purple eyes emerged from the darkness, the cloud rising high above the Pony as if to assert its dominance.

The air quaked, the wind shrieked, and the darkness encroached on Shining Armor, but he succeeded. He managed to buy enough time for the rest of the group to reach the Empire.

"Take this!" He yelled as another beam left his horn before he turned around and ran away, his legs screaming at him to stop running and take a break, his lungs clawing at the inside of his chest as they cried for more oxygen, and his fur stood on end as if warning him to show respect to the cloud of darkness, to the Shadow of the Empire.

Shining Armor ignored them all, he ignored the darkness slithering after him, the crystals that burst from the ground in an attempt to cage him from escape, he ignored them all.

And just as he was about to reach the barrier, to the safety of his wife's love, he was caught.

Just a small touch, less than a graze, but that was enough for the Cursed King.

"Aghh!" Shining Armor yelled as he stumbled mid-leap, dark crystals latching onto his horn just before he escaped into the barrier, landing on the warm grass underneath.

"Oh no, Shining Armor!" Twilight Sparkle said as she pulled her brother up, "Your horn..."

Shining Armor looked at the small crystals latched onto his horn, he tried to cast a spell, the base of his horn glowing with pink magic before it fizzled out, unable to reach the tip of his horn as the dark crystals blocked the magic's path.

"I'll be fine," Shining Armor smiled weakly in an attempt to clear his sister's worries, "We need to update Cadance."

"Right!" Twilight nodded confidently, turning to speak with her friends, only to stop at the sight in front of her.

It was just like the illusion Celestia showed her, houses carved into crystals growing out of the ground, patterned like a snowflake around a towering castle in the center.

"The Crystal Empire..." She whispered in awe at the sight.

"Oh, This place is Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity said as the group made its way down the streets of the Crystal Empire towards the castle in its center.

"It is really pretty..." Fluttershy added with a nod as she agreed with her friend.

"There are just... No words!" Rarity yelled in awe, her eyes sparkling with inspiration and excitement at all the crystals around her.

"Focus, Rarity." Applejack tapped Rarity's shoulder to get her attention, "We're here to help Twilight, not admire the scenery."

"Eh~ I don't see what the big deal is," Rainbow Dash piped up as she walked past, "Just seems like another old castle to me~"

"Wha- Er- Ah- Another old castle?!" Rarity spluttered as if offended at the idea that the towering crystal castle she stood under was just another old castle, "Have you lost your mind?!" She grabbed Rainbow Dash's attention, "This place is-"

"Hehehehe~" Rainbow Dash chuckled at Rarity's reaction, joined by Applejack, the two ponies giving each other a high hoof as Rarity understood what was going on.

"...Very funny," Rarity said blandly as the group entered one of the legs of the towering castle, walking up a flight of stairs on their way to the throne room.

"Cadance!" Twilight Sparkle yelled out as she entered the throne room, spotting her old foal-sitter sitting on a giant crystal throne.

"Twilight!" Cadance smiled as she stood up from her throne, her horn glowing with blue magic as she walked over to meet with the Unicorn.

"Sunshine Sunshine, Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!" The two ponies sang and danced, giggling at their childish greeting, only for Cadance's eyes to close for a brief moment, her face scrunching in discomfort, the barrier of magic around the Empire fizzling in and out of existence for a short moment before stabilizing.

"One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance," Cadance said with a tired smile as the magic of the barrier stabilized, her eyes drooping tiredly, deep dark circles forming beneath her eyes as she let out a tired sigh, her eyes closing for but a moment before suddenly bursting open, as if trying to keep awake.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked with worry as Cadance slowly dragged her hooves back to her throne.

"Cadance has been able to spread a barrier of love and light, That's why we were able to pass while Sombra and the cold are still trapped outside. But her skill in barriers isn't the same as mine, she needs to stay awake to keep it up," Shining Armor told her as he looked out of a window at the bright blue bubble that surrounded the Empire, "She hasn't slept in days, The other group is working tirelessly to keep her awake while finding a solution to this all, but outside of feeding her mountains of food and drinks, they haven't found anything." Shining Armor shook his head, "I want to help her, but my protection spell is useless against King Sombra, His body is mist, If I try to keep him out I might choke everypony inside on accident, not that I can even attempt that now with these on my head," He lifted his hoof to scratch at the crystals latching onto his horn.

"It's alright Shining Armor, I'm fine," Cadance said weakly from her throne, her elbow resting on a pillow as her hoof held her chin, keeping her head aloft as her horn kept glowing.

"She's not fine," Shining Armor disagreed, "She needs to sleep sometime soon, but if she does the barrier will disappear, And you all saw what's waiting for us outside,"

"That's why we're here," Twilight reassured her brother.

"Why we're all here," Applejack said as the rest of the Elements of Harmony nodded along.

"Well, With Cadance using all of her strength to stay awake, and me keeping a look for danger out in the Arctic, none of us had the time to question the Crystal Ponies on what they know." Shining Armor told them, "But one of them has to know a solution to protect the Crystal Empire without relying to Cadance's magic."

"Wait- wait wait wait!" Rarity blurted as she raised her leg up as if trying to get a teacher's attention, "Earlier you said there was another group trying to find ways to keep Cadance awake, and I thought I recognized the vests those ponies from earlier wore- Are you telling me that-"

"Bluey and his team have been searching for solutions for a while now, They've built some tents on the eastern side of the city, you can't miss them~" Cadance smiled weakly from her throne before letting out a yawn.

"PRINCE BLUEBLOOD IS HERE?!" Rarity screamed, her eyes widening in panic at the lack of fashionable accessories and clothing she currently had on her.

"If any of you want an update on what his team already knows, you should go ask them," Shining Armor said, "They haven't exactly been subtle, as Cadance said, You can't miss them."

"Ah! A research paper!" Twilight suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Shining Armor tilted his head in confusion.

"That must be part of my test! To gather information from the Crystal Ponies and deliver it to you! Then we'll be able to find a way to keep the Empire safe and I'll pass Celestia's test! This is gonna be great! I love research papers!" Twilight smiled with confidence as she seemingly figured out what her test was.

"Are we splitting up? Oh, I'll go check with Prince Blueblood!" Rarity said with a sing-song voice as she turned around and walked away, The other girls spoke up on which directions they'd go as they all left to figure out a solution to the barrier problem.

"Don't worry Big Brother, I am really good at this sort of thing." Twilight tapped her brother on the chance as she and Spike walked out as well, ready to complete the Princess's test.

"...There's a test?" Cadance asked after the Elements of Harmony already left, receiving a shrug of the shoulders from her husband, who seemed to be as confused as she was.

Author's Note

We'll finally be seeing what Blueblood is up to next chapter! See you soon!!!!

Chapter 121: The Crystal Empire 3

It was supposed to be a customary maiden ride on the brand new Pony/Yak Railway, We leave Rutherford Station in the morning, arrive in Yakyakistan in the Evening, stay there for the night, and the next morning we ride back on the path we came from now with Prince Rutherford and his entourage joining us, ending it all with another night in Equestria, before sending the Yaks back to Yakyakistan via the railway while we stay behind.

It all went to shit when midway through our travel back from Yakyakistan, a city appeared in an explosion of rainbow-colored magic, prompting Prince Rutherford to laugh heartily at the sight before jumping out of the moving train into the frozen tundra as he ran towards the city while screaming about adventure.

I had no choice but to follow him. If anything happened to the Yak leader after he stepped onto my train, it would be my head getting the blame for his hardheadedness. I had no option but to jump after him and run into the frozen wastes, you see. It was my only choice!

After we arrived at the city, I sent Celestia a letter describing what we found, which caused her to send Cadance and Shining Armor over to help.

No guards, by the way, just those two.

Luckily Rutherford's entourage came with us, and a few letters got some BBF employees to make their way to the city as well.

Four days have passed since Cadance and Shining Armor arrived, and six days have passed since we made it to the Crystal Empire in the first place.

We've been trying our best to find a solution to the biggest issue we currently have, that being none other than King Sombra.

His unique physiology makes any normal magical barrier useless against him, he could just pass through harmlessly as if he's nothing more than air. It's only thanks to Cadance's unique magic that Sombra can be kept out of the Crystal Empire.

But Cadance is only a temporary solution, she cannot hold the barrier forever, not because she'll run out of magic, but because she'll run out of stamina. She cannot just create the bubble around the Empire and then refuel it every so often as Shining Armor did with Canterlot.
Cadance needs to actively supply the barrier with magic at all times, meaning she cannot sleep, lest she opens the barrier for Sombra to return.

This gives us plan A: According to the library here, There exists an event known as the Crystal Fair, where every year the Crystal Ponies come together to renew the spirit of Love and Hope so the Crystal Empire can flourish.
The centerpiece and main attraction of the fair is a Crystal Heart.

Now, many ponies might imagine that this Crystal Heart is simply a statue of a heart made of crystal, as is almost all the buildings and statues already in the Crystal Empire.
However, as someone who's had the privilege of listening to a senile Deer King talk about Crystal Hearts in the past, It could only be assumed that this Crystal Heart is an actual relic, like the Heart of the Everfree or the Elements of Harmony. And if we go by the very colorful description, it should theoretically be what we're looking for, with the renewal of love and hope being a charge for the Barrier of Love that should surround the Empire.

If all the Crystal Ponies give it their love and hope and positive emotions and all that cheerful stuff, the barrier would hold strong enough until the Crystal Fair the next year, where the cycle of joy and happiness continues.

Which brings us to a problem.

"Starlight, have you found the Crystal Heart yet?" I asked my bodyguard as I stood over a table, a small mountain of documents in front of me.

"If I found the Crystal Heart I wouldn't be standing behind you about to tell you that I haven't found it, would I?" Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes at me as she walked over to look at the papers I was going over.

"Don't get sassy with me," I told her, "How's plan B going?"

"Plan B is preparing well, I still think that you should try searching for the heart yourself," Starlight told me.

"I can't do that, And besides, Celestia said she's sending the Elements of Harmony, they'll be able to just blast Sombra away and leave us with all the time we need to find the Heart without worry," I told her, "If Celestia decided that this is the best course of action, who am I to argue with it?"

"You're a Prince, you're supposed to argue with her decisions!" Starlight pointed out, stomping a leg onto the floor to get rid of the frustrations that we were all feeling after these last few days.

"She has ruled over Equestria on her own for one thousand years, Starlight," I shook my head as I spoke, "She is the one sitting on the throne, with a crown on her head, making all the important choices. If she said she's sending the Elements of Harmony, I need to trust her judgment."

"But you don't trust her judgment!" Starlight yelled, and I had to quickly raise a soundproofing bubble around us.

"Hold your tongue, Starlight." I looked at her from the corner of my eyes, "Your words border on treason,"

"Don't give me that crap!" Starlight waved her leg around as if swatting away a fly, "You keep doing this! You have a plan and idea on how to solve something, you tell it to Celestia, and then she goes ahead and does the bare minimum effort to achieve it! She sent Cadance and Shining Armor without any Guards!"

"Then she must have a plan of her own, Starlight, you need to learn to trust your leaders, They can only keep hold of their rule for as long as they have by knowing what they're doing. If Princess Celestia thinks that this is the best course of action, then so be it."

Starlight spluttered, waving her legs around as if wanting to say something, before she simply sighed and walked away, returning to her job.

I let out a tired sigh of my own as I dispelled the soundproofing illusion and returned to my own work, my leg moving to pet the golden Plunderseed that set beside me.

I had to prepare Plan B.

Rarity made last-second improvements to her hair by fluffing it as she walked toward the gathering of white tents, watching ponies wearing BBF-issued vests walk around, carrying crates and boxes of so many different things.

She spotted berries that glowed like gemstones, wool that shimmered like crystals, and fabrics that she would only imagine must cost a hefty fortune outside of the Empire.

And then her nose twitched, an unfamiliar smell entering her nostril, the scent of spices and steam mixing together to pull her towards a particularly large tent.

"Jorgen! Is the Cloudberry Brew ready?!" Rarity heard a heavily accented voice yell out from inside the tent.

"Almost!" Another voice responded with the same heavy accent, "How goes the Brunost we asked to be delivered?!" The voice yelled in return, the loud call traveling over the sounds of sizzles and clangs from inside the tent.

"It arrived an hour ago! The Ponies said they got chased by the Shadow King before they reached the barrier! Was a close one!" The first voice replied with his own yell.

Rarity couldn't help but peek into the tent.

What she saw was a pair of large woolly beings standing over large pots and pans, a pair of white chef hats on top of their horned heads, as a small group of ponies ran around them, fulfilling the orders they yelled over the sounds of food being made.

"Sven! Who is that behind you?! Is that a new worker? Come in come in!" Before Rarity could respond, one of the woolly beings pulled her into the tent and put her hair in a net, "We're almost done with the Pea Soup, Sven will tell you what to do!" The being shouted in her ear before he pushed her towards a large pot of green liquid.

"Don't just stand there! Stir it! This food needs to be ready before the sun sets!" the other being, Sven, told her with his loud voice before he turned away to yell at another pony once Rarity started stirring the pot.

"I JUST WANTED TO SEE THE PRINCE!!!" She screamed in her mind as the green soup below her bubbled and spun.

"Are you sure? Absolutely sure?" Twilight Sparkle asked a citizen of the Crystal Empire, her coat and mane were dulled in color and dropping as if the misery that surrounded her was physically dripping into her fur.

"I'm sorry..." The dulled pony said, her voice monotone and tired, "I wish I could help you... But I can't remember anything before King Sombra came to power-" At the mention of the Unicorn King's name, the pony's eyes closed, as if experiencing a bad memory, "And I don't want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us." She shivered in discomfort at the mere thought.

Twilight leaned over to Spike, whispering from the corner of her mouth, "King Sombra's spell must be why their coats aren't... Crystally."

"Have we really been gone a thousand years?" The Dulled pony asked.

"Yes..." Twilight responded with a look of worry.

"It feels like it was just yesterday..."

"If you think of anything, even the smallest thing," Twilight said.

"Of course..." The dulled pony said tiredly before closing the door and returning to her home.

"Well, that was a total bust," Spike said as he turned around and started walking to the next house.

"Maybe the others are having better luck." Twilight tried to uplift the dour mood that seemed to seep into every aspect of the Crystal Empire.

"Way to protect the Empire! You know anything about it?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly, her wings flapping as she flew in place, tapping a dulled Pony on the chest to get her attention.

"I wish I could help you... Truly..." The pony said tiredly as she walked away from the Pegasus.

"Come on!" Rainbow Dash said as she caught up with the mare, shadowboxing in front of her, "You've got to know something!"

"But... I don't have any information..." The pony said before walking away.

"Oh, Umm, Excuse me?" Fluttershy tried to get the ponies' attention, but the few ponies out on the street simply walked past her without even acknowledging she was there, "Oh, hello. I was just wondering..." Seeing nobody listen to her, Fluttershy walked to a nearby pair of ponies who sat at a table at what must have been a cafe.

Fluttershy raised her hoof high above her head, ready to slam it down onto the table to get the two ponies to notice her, only to pause midway through, "I'm sorry, you two look really busy..." She told them before flying away.

"Time to gather some intel!" Pinkie Pie whispered to herself, her head and front legs wore a black sweater, a pair of night-vision goggles rested on her forehead, and a black balaclava covered her head, causing her fluffy pink hair to spill out from beneath the forehead of the mask and the back of her neck.

Jumping across buildings, she searched for intel she could use to solve the question Twilight asked.

"Who doesn't like research papers?" She repeated the question her friend asked before their group split apart, her eyes focused on a large grouping of tents in the distance.

"Perhaps they know something!" With a plan in mind, Pinkie Pie sneaked her way toward the white tents.

"I got nothing so far!" Joining her friend beneath the towering castle of Crystal, Rainbow Dash told her friends all the information she managed to learn.

"I didn't get any answers..." Fluttershy told her friends.

"I Found Prince Pirate Wizard!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she popped up out from between Spike and Twilight, still wearing her black sneaking outfit, "But I didn't talk to him, his security is too high!"

"You!" Rarity bit her tongue in order to stop herself from yelling at Pinkie Pie, "I didn't get the chance to ask the Prince what he learned, but I did make sure that tonight's dinner is going to be fabulous~"

"I didn't think you could cook." Rainbow Dash said with a flat tone, eliciting a scoff from Rarity.

"Sorry Twilight, these Crystal Ponies seem like they all got collective amnesia or something," Applejack told the group, "Only thing I was able to get out of 'em was something about a library,"

"Huh?!" Twilight Sparkle focused on Applejack as she said the last word of her sentence, "A Library?! Why didn't you say so?!" She asked with a brilliant smile.

"Eh~ Thought I just did." Applejack smiled as she watched her friend run towards the library, "Not over there, that way!" She smiled as she watched Twilight turn away from where she was running before continuing to gallop towards where the Library actually was.

"So many ponies here..." Fluttershy whispered as the group made their way through the maze of tents, getting closer to the Library in its middle.

"And Yaks too, I wonder what they're doing here also?" Applejack asked as the group finally made it to the large crystal building that was the Library, climbing up the stairs that sat between two crystal Griffon statues.

Twilight Sparkle ignored the chatter of her friends as she opened the door to the Library, the sun entering through the window high above her causing the crystal bookshelves to shine in an ethereal light.
It was almost Heaven for a pony like her.

Rarity gasped as she spotted a pony standing in front of a table in the middle of the library, her voice catching the pony's attention, causing him to turn and look at who entered the Library.

"Ahh, The Elements of Harmony, We were expecting your arrival!" The Blonde Unicorn said with a confident smile on his handsome face as he fully turned to greet the group of six mares and a baby Dragon.
"Welcome to the Blueblood Foundation's temporary Crystal Empire Headquarters," His smile was almost blinding, "Do make yourselves at home~"

"I think I'm gonna' collapse~" Rarity fanned her face as she fell to the side, her legs latching onto Applejack's back for stability.

"Prince Blueblood?!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed at the sight of the Unicorn.

"One and the same~" The Prince smirked at her, "Hello Librarian~"

Author's Note

Oh boy, I do hope no tensions will build up between Princess Celestia and Prince Blueblood during the course of this season that will inevitably reach a crescendo of emotion at the most inopportune of times :pinkiesmile:

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 122: The Crystal Empire 4

"Hello, Librarian~" Twilight Sparkle took a moment to blink the shock out of her mind for a moment as Prince Blueblood turned to face her and her friends, wearing a sapphire blue suit with a hooked cane levitating beside him, the head of the stick resting on his shoulder.

"Wha- What are you doing at the library?!" Twilight asked him, her eyes roaming around the multi-storied library that they stood inside. Crystal bookshelves that reached for the ceiling reflected the rays of sunlight that entered through the tall window on the opposite side of the library, giving the entire building an almost prismatic sheen.

"I... I just said that this is the BBF's current temporary HQ. Were you not listening?" Blueblood asked before shaking his head, "No matter, come on in, It's good that all of you are finally here!" He motioned to the group to enter before he turned his back to them, walking around the table in the middle of the floor so he could both face the group while keeping his attention on whatever was on there.

"No- I mean, why here?" Twilight explained as she started making her way down some stairs, to the lowered floor of the Crystal Library, "Why in this library?" Her friends walked after her, their eyes looking around them as they got a better look at the place.

"This library is big," Blueblood started his explanation, his eyes roaming over the thing on the table he was looking at, "It's also the only place where we could find any knowledge about the Crystal Empire."

"Any?"

"Yes, The Castle in the middle..." Blueblood's horn started shining, creating a holographic image of the castle, A towering crystal spire that stands above all other buildings in the Empire, "We searched the place, as thoroughly as we could with the time constraints given to us," The image shifted, the walls of the castle peeling away to show the inside of the building, like the architectural blueprints of the palace unraveled in front of them.

"And there wasn't another library in the castle?" Applejack asked as she walked up to stand beside Twilight, her eyes focusing on the Illusion of the Castle.

"Oh no, there was a library," Blueblood said, the illusion zooming in to a section of the castle on the third floor, "There just weren't any books in there."

Twilight and her friends stared at the Illusion of the castle's Library, bookshelves carved out of brilliant crystals reached the ceiling of the roof, standing in rows upon rows of towering cabinets and shelves, a crystal staircase standing in the middle of the floor, leading up to the floor above, where more bookshelves sat on the wall, circling the floor below them as a balcony looked down.

Twilight frowned at the image, not because there weren't any books in the library shown, but because there were.

Stains of soot and ash marked the brilliant crystals, like specks of filth that pulled her eyes away from the beauty that should have been there. The books in the library were blackened and burnt, their pages openly torn apart, and their covers were already rotting away.

"He burnt books..." Twilight whispered at the sight, of what must have been hundreds of years of History, knowledge, and art that should have been kept and preserved by the Crystal Empire, that could have inspired generations, full of priceless books and tomes.
Burnt away, destroyed, by a tyrant.

"Why would he do that?" Twilight asked herself, trying to find a reason why anypony would ever find the need to burn books.

"Because those books housed the secret to taking him down." Blueblood told her bluntly, his horn dimming as the illusion disappeared, "From what we know about him, Sombra wasn't a fighter. He was a scholar, a wizard, he relied on his mind and magic more than anything. If there was a magical way the people could defeat him, knowledge about it would have been kept in that library,"

"But-"

"Twilight Sparkle," Blueblood said her name loudly, making her close her mouth, "While I would love to keep talking about libraries, I believe we have more important things to discuss."

"I- Yes... of course." Twilight sighed as the topic changed.

"Good," Blueblood looked at the six mares, "Six days ago, The Crystal Empire resurfaced from a thousand-year-long stay outside of time. With its resurfacing, so did King Sombra." Blueblood's horn shined as a new illusion appeared in front of him, "There are no records of his past before he took over the Empire, and neither are there any records of his time ruling it." The illusion was that of a black-maned Unicorn with grey fur, his Horn bent backward, reminiscent of the Unicorns of the Far East, only much smoother, the horn turning from the dark grey of its base to a crimson red the closer it reached the tip.

"Regular spells have no effect on him," Blueblood continued as the group stared at the Illusion of Sombra, "He can pass through a regular barrier as if it isn't there. Only Love and Light seem to have any noticeable effect on him. We have searched this Library for-"

"Why are there so many Yaks here?" Before Blueblood could finish catching the group up, Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and asked a question.

"...As I was saying, We have searched this library for-" Blueblood ignored the pink mare.

"Can you teach me that secret ninja hold you did on me when we met in the Canterlot Archives? Oh! What about the golden spider thing besides you? Does it have a name?!" Pinkie Pie spoke up once more, asking more questions.

"...I'll answer any question any of you might have," One of his eyes twitched as he turned to stare at Pinkie Pie, "After I'm done speaking. Good?"

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to respond.

"Good! Now, as I was saying. We have searched this library for a way to defeat Sombra and stop him from taking back control of the Empire, and we have found it. You should go visit Prince Rutherford to learn more, he decided to take over the Search for it." Blueblood closed his eyes to rest them for a bit, the serious look on his face slowly melting away as a chuckle started to escape his lips.

"Ehh, Twilight? why is he laughing?" Rainbow Dash asked with a loud whisper as a smile stretched over the Prince's tired face, his chuckles turning into loud and boisterous laughter.

"Because we can finally defeat King Sombra!" Blueblood said loudly, his eyes opening once more, burning with a fiery resolve, "With the Elements of Harmony, Sombra stands no chance! The concentrated blast of positive Magic will defeat him faster than any Enemy you girls could have possibly faced! And with Sombra out of the picture, Cadance can drop the barrier and let Shining Armor take over protection duty, no longer needing to worry that Sombra would just pass through the barrier! We Won! We can defeat him and then finally get this whole mess cleaned up!" Blueblood said loudly, his smile infectious enough that even Pinkie Pie started laughing.

"We don't have them with us." Rainbow Dash said, trying to hide her words behind a cough.

"Hmm?" Blueblood's laughter quieted down, "Did you say something?"

"We don't have them with us right now..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves together, a nervous look on her face as the Prince's eyes stared into her own.

"You... Don't have the Elements of Harmony on you?" Blueblood went over what Rainbow Dash said, "Oh, I see. They're with Cadance, kept safe with her in case one of you dropped them as you scoured the houses for your own information~" Blueblood chuckled at that, "Oh I knew you were here, You aren't exactly a regular sight, I was told of your arrival hours ago~"

"No, Your Highness..." Applejack smiled nervously as she opened her mouth, "What Rainbow Dash meant to say was that we don't have the Elements with us... at all."

Blueblood stared blankly at the orange mare, silently judging her words, letting her stew in awkwardness under his gaze.

"Hahahaha! You got me! Hahaha!" Only to burst into laughter a few seconds later, "Not bringing the Elements of Harmony? Hahaha! You got me! You really did have me fooled there for a second!" His laughter died down as he smiled at the mares, "Not bringing the Elements of Harmony? That's the dumbest thing I've heard all week, you really did get me there. Now, enough jokes. Where are the Elements of Harmony? The sooner we can get rid of Sombra the sooner we can focus on finding the Crystal Heart and renewing the barrier keeping the cold out."

Twilight swallowed as Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned to stare at her with eyes of worry. Rarity fanned herself as she looked away, trying to ignore the train wreck that was coming, Fluttershy joining her in turning away.

Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to explain-

"It's not a joke, the Elements of Harmony are still in Canterlot!" Only for Pinkie Pie to speak up first, causing the rest of the group to cringe in anticipation of the reaction the Prince was surely going to have.

"I don't feel good about this..." Spike said as he slowly walked backward, moving to hide behind Twilight's back.

Blueblood stared blankly ahead, the small smile on his face was wiped away, replaced by a neutral frown as he slowly turned his head to look at Pinkie Pie, the pink pony looking around in worry, not understanding why she was getting this reaction.

"The Elements of Harmony... Are still in Canterlot?" Blueblood repeated her words, his voice monotone and tired, sounding less like he was speaking and closer to a machine giving out factual information.

Twilight heard Rainbow Dash gulp.

"...Yes?" Pinkie Pie responded.

"...You came all this way, and didn't bring the Elements with you..." Blueblood wasn't asking, he was speaking, "You... A Librarian, A Farmer, A Seamstress, An Animal Caretaker, A Weather Pegasus, and a Pastry Chef... none of them with any military or disaster rescue training... all of them civilians... knowingly make their way to the frozen tundra outside the borders of Equestria, where an ancient Empire magically returns from a thousand-year-long disappearance, haunted by an ancient and evil Wizard King... And they don't bring the one thing that they have that could solve the problem going on with no visible downsides..."

The walking Cane that levitated on the Prince's shoulder lowered to the ground, the prince leaning both his front hooves on the stick as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His horn glowed as he levitated the documents in front of him onto a different table, clearing the crystal table.

"...The punchline to this joke better make me laugh."

"..." Pinkie Pie looked around her, trying to see if her friends knew what was happening, "There is no joke?" She tried to ask, shrugging her shoulders, trying to smile a smile that would defuse the situation.

"..." Blueblood stared blankly at Pinkie Pie before he turned to stare at Twilight Sparkle.

The two locked eyes for but a moment, and as Twilight stared into the ice-blue glaciers, she knew something was going to happen.

Before Twilight could try and diffuse the situation, the table between the two of them flipped into the air, blocking the group's view of the Prince.

"What the-" Rainbow Dash yelped only to watch as the table shattered like glass, shards of crystal being sent flying as the group quickly moved to cover their faces.

"Dead... Dead... Dead..." Twilight heard Blueblood speak through the shower of crystals, the sounds of her friends yelping following every utterance of the word.

"Dead... Dead... Dead..." Twilight froze as she felt something cold touch her neck, She slowly opened her eyes and looked down, watching a sharp shard of crystal levitate against her neck, almost tickling at her carotid artery, as if mockingly telling her that it could kill her with a single twitch.

"And... Dead." She heard Blueblood whisper in her ear before the crystal shard dropped onto the floor, giving Twilight the room to take a breath and go over what just happened.

"What the heck was that?!" She heard Rainbow Dash yell, the shard that hovered beside her neck also dropping to the ground.

"That was an example of what could happen," Blueblood turned away from the group and started walking to the table where he left his papers, "Now that I have proven how easily I could have ended your lives, I want you to imagine how easy it would be for someone like Sombra. Now that it's been made clear that you are going to be useless against him, I want you to get out of my Library, I have actually important work to get done." Without waiting for them to move, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were picked up in a magical blue aura, their bodies levitating in the air as they were dragged outside of the Library.

"Wait! We still need-" Twilight tried to call out to the Prince, only to be dropped on the steps outside the library, the doors slamming shut in front of her, "-to know what you found in regards to defeating Sombra..."

"Welp, that was rude of him!" Pinkie Pie said, one leg moving to rub at her neck.

"...Didn't he say that emmm, I think it was Rutherford, was it? He was searching for whatever we were looking for... I think..." Fluttershy spoke up, steering the talk away from what just happened.

"You're right, we still need to figure out a way to stop Sombra, and Blueblood did give us a solid direction to go in," Twilight stood up and nodded, pulling Spike up with her, "We find Prince Rutherford, and he tells us what we need to know! Let's go girls!"

"Wha- Is no one going to mention what just happened?!" Rainbow Dash asked as the group started searching for the Yak Prince, "I feel like we need to talk about that more!"

"Hello? Am I being ignored here?! Hey! Wait for me!!!" With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash caught up with her friends as the search continued.

"...I guess It's time to make sure Plan B is working as intended," I let out a long and tired sigh, my leg moving to pet Comet, the Plunderseed moving to climb onto my back, "Can't I get just one week without something going terrible?" I asked Comet, the Plunderseed making clicking sounds from behind me, "I might actually just be cursed. This happened when I went to visit Tirek, I think Tirek cursed me... I fucking hate that Centaur! FUCK!"

"Let's go," I told Comet as I turned away from the papers in front of me and started to walk outside the library, "Looks like it's once again time for me to do all the work~"

Author's Note

Blueblood just wants one week! Is that too much to ask?!

He's been done with other ponies shit for over a month! And just as things were starting to look better for him, he gets dragged by Prince Rutherford into another mess.

Not even vacations are safe! It's really almost like Tirek has cursed him!

How Unlucky... Hopefully Princess Celestia can give him a perfectly good and rational explanation as to why she sent 6 civilians with no training into a dangerous situation without letting them take the Elements of Harmony with them.

It's not like the lives of thousands of Crystal Ponies were at stake or anything, or even the lives of the many Yaks that came with Prince Rutherford, or the BBF Employees, or even Cadance and Shining Armor, I'm sure putting the lives of everyone in danger has a perfectly good and reasonable explanation! :trollestia:

Chapter 123: The Crystal Empire 5

"The Crystal Fair was established by the First Queen of the Empire, and became the most important tradition!" A yellow-furred Yak said loudly as he led the group of six mares and a dragon, "The fair was held every year to, and I am quoting this, Renew the spirit of Love and Unity in the Empire so they could protect it from harm, end quote." The yak opened the flap to a large tent in the middle of the sea of tents that took up a sizable portion of the Crystal Empire's eastern quarter.

"You can take the book, Read for yourself," The Yak said as he pointed at the table in the middle of the tent, and at the book that lay on top of it.

"Thank you." Twilight Sparkle thanked the Yak as she levitated the book towards herself, opening it to skim through the pages.

"Blueblood! I came as fast as I could, what's happening?" Starlight Glimmer made her way up the road to the Crystal Empire's entrance, stopping halfway up the road in the middle of an open field of green grass. The magic of the barrier around the Empire keeping the land warm and habitable enough for the grass to grow and flourish.

"We're hastening the work on Plan B." Her boss told her, his horn glowing blue as round orbs of crystal levitated around him, "At the rate things are going, Cadance will collapse before the Heart is found, so we need to make sure Plan B succeeds instead." He said before grumbling something under his breath, the illusion he kept over his face fading away briefly to reveal the dark circles that formed beneath his eyes, a twitch of his right eye quickly reformed the Illusion, creating the image of a prim and proper Prince, as opposed to the tired and disheveled Stallion that he was hiding underneath.

The Crystal he levitated around all flew in different directions before settling into small holes in the ground. The Prince lowered his head to the ground, his horn touching an invisible symbol, causing the light from his horn to spread outwards like a spiderweb, each string of light ending at one of the crystal orbs.

"Not enough..." He mumbled as he raised his horn, the spiderweb disappearing as if it never was, "Needs more space... Starlight! Bring more Crystals, We need to enlarge the net. Make it cover this entire field if you can. I need to review the book." Blueblood told her before he turned to the bag he always seemed to bring with him, taking out one of the many books written by Clover the Clever he kept in his bag. The pages magically turned to the page he wanted to look at, a small beam of blue magic hit the page and caused an illusionary copy to start floating in the air as the pages returned to turning.

"Are you sure you should be the one doing this? When Celestia hears about this she won't let you out of her sight for who knows how long..." Starlight told Blueblood as her legs started moving, her horn already aglow with aquamarine light.

"If it's not me doing this, nobody will," Blueblood told her, once again using words like Nobody instead of Nopony. "If you hadn't noticed yet, The more time passes the more obvious it seems that the only person capable of doing their job correctly in any given situation is me, and more and more situations keep popping up requiring me to be the one to fix them."

"I understand that's what you think, but you know that's not true." Starlight told him, her eyes roaming across the field in order to locate the edges of the magical web, "You've convinced yourself that you're the one who needs to fix all these problems when in reality you're just putting more, and more work onto yourself," Starlight pause as she turned to look at the Crystal Empire, hearing laughter and joy in the distance as tents and balloons started to rise in the distance, She ignored the sounds as she turned to stare her boss in the eyes, His ice-blue orbs seeming tired even through the illusion placed on top of them, "Where's the Blueblood who gathered up an entire precinct of police officers in order to arrest some poor mare in the mountains?"

Blueblood scoffed at her, his eyes turning to look away from her, focusing on the twisting shadows that loomed outside the barrier of magic, "Luna was the one who set me up to do so." He mumbled quietly.

"What about the Blueblood who sailed through a river of chocolate milk floating through the sky as he tried to save as many civilians as he could find while also balancing a test for a Nautical Science degree?" Starlight asked louder, focusing on her boss, on the twitched around his eyes, the quivering in his jaw as he grit his teeth, the furrowing of his brows as emotions started bubbling inside him, Emotions Starlight knew he needed to get out.

"It's only because I could rely on Neighsay to bring the ponies on board that I could even focus on the ship-" Blueblood was cut off by Starlight.

"And what about the Blueblood who organized on his own a mission to create diplomatic ties with the nation of Caninia, only to find himself wrangling a group of grown Children as a shapeshifter tried to sabotage them from within, only to find himself building good ties not only with the group he was sent to meet, but also the opposing group, and beating the shapeshifter to a round of applause?!" Starlight's voice was nearing a yell at this point, her horn stopped glowing as she put down all the crystals she was asked to move, bringing her full attention onto her boss. Onto her Best Friend.

"It's only thanks to Raven that I could-"

"It's because you asked for help!" Starlight yelled, forcing Blueblood to shut his mouth and look away from the barrier, focusing on Starlight, "When was the last time you asked for help? Not an order of 'bring me something to drink! I need to focus' or 'Carry me up the stairs because I'm too injured to move', I mean actually asking someone to help you, going to someone and telling them 'Hey, I need help," Starlight took a moment to catch her breath, watching Blueblood stare at her blankly as if he still was unsure at what point she was trying to get at.
"I think the last time you actually asked me to help you, and by help I mean lighten the burden of your work, was back when we went to Ponyville and you were intangible, and you asked me to get the Apple Family to sign a contract for you." She told him, "That was all the way back in January, We're halfway through April, It's been four months! You keep trying to do all these things on your own, Just tell Celestia exactly what you need and then ask her to bucking help you already!"

Starlight huffed, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, glaring at her boss.

"...Are you done?" He asked her.

"...You have dozens of Ponies working for you here, A Dozen more Yaks that came with a separate Prince who is already helping in his own way. Just tell them how you want them to help so you can stop burning yourself out on this," Starlight told him, "It's barely been over two weeks since the wedding, Regardless of what you're feeling on the subject, working yourself to the bone isn't healthy, especially after what Chrysalis did to you."

"...Get back to work." If her words even entered into his mind, Blueblood made no show of it as he turned away from her and returned to reading the pages from the book.

"Fine! But once you see that I'm right on this one I'll hold it over your head for the rest of your life!" Starlight told him, scowling at his reaction before she too resumed her work.

She could try to change his mind as hard as she may, but at the end of the day, it was on him to listen to her. If he decided to ignore her words, there was nothing she could realistically do about it.

She could only hope that in the future she wouldn't regret not pushing harder on him.

"Twilight, we might have a big problem~" Rainbow Dash whispered loudly to her friend as she tried to hide the crystal statue of a heart that Twilight carved in the middle of the Empire.

Author's Note

Yeah, This chapter was a slow follow up to the last chapter focusing on Blueblood while Twilight and her friends got the book and mostly followed the show, including starting the Crystal Fair and using a fake Crystal Heart.

Next chapter will hopefully have a bit more excitement in it, And also be longer. I just really didn't feel like writing this one so It's shorter than the last few.

Next chapter will also probably come out in 2025, in which case I want to thank everybody for sticking with this story this year.

This year had a lot less chapters written, (Only 48 when compared to last year's 75) but I do think I managed to fit a lot in it.

If 2023 was the year where I fleshed out the overall feel of this story and placed all the moving parts in, then 2024 is where I fleshed out the characters, introduced some major players like Tirek and the Deer, and gave a bit more of Blueblood's Human Background.

If things go well, 2025 could really be where this story goes from a good story, to a great one. Especially if I get to finish all of Season 3 (Highly unlikely, it took over a year to go through season 2, but a man can hope (although, season 3 is much shorter, perhaps there's a chance))

If I manage to finish season 3, I can guarantee right now that 2025 will be an Amazing Year for this story. No question.

Happy Hanukkah everybody. See you all soon!

Chapter 124: The Crystal Empire 6

"I didn't think it was an actual relic!" Twilight Sparkle flipped through the pages of the book the yaks gave her as she and Rainbow Dash stood on the balcony of the Crystal Castle, Shining Armor holding Princess Cadance upright so she wouldn't fall asleep as the two royals listened to the Unicorn, "The book didn't mention anything about the Crystal Ponies powering the heart!" She said with worry as she flipped through all the pages of the book before reaching its end.

"There was a page missing!" Twilight exclaimed at the sight of the torn paper at the end of the book, "How did I not notice?"

She read through the book when the Yak gave it to her, having then decided to ready and open the Crystal Fair so the Ponies' hope would return. And it was somewhat working too! The grey and colorless ponies were behaving more energetically, their manes and coats returned to their bright and shiny colors, and their memories of the time before Sombra took over returned to them as well! Her plan worked wonders!

That was when Rainbow Dash came to her with the terrible news. The Crystal Heart wasn't some regular statue, but an actual magical relic.

If the Ponies discover that they don't have the Crystal Heart, all the hope and happiness that returned to them will disappear! Replaced with the gloom and apathy that they had before their colors returned!

"It's alright Twilight..." Cadance said tiredly, her body wobbling as she struggled to keep her eyes open, "You tried what you thought was right..." The pink Alicorn leaned onto her husband, her legs starting to give up as her eyes closed, the blue glow around her horn shutting off for a brief moment as the princess rested her eyes, her chest heaving with heavy breath as she struggled to stay awake, pushing her body to the limits of what it could take before passing out.

With Cadance passed out, her magic could no longer power the barrier around the Empire, causing it to fizzle away, replacing the bright blue glow of magic with the cold and dark tundra outside.

And with the tundra, came the mass of living shadow, the mountain of black smoke rolling through the green grass that sat at the edge of the Empire, the barrier no longer keeping it away.

And from the Smoke, quickly closing in on the Empire, a face emerged, Red irises on green orbs, purple wisps of magic floating from the corner of the eyes. A sharp red horn, resembling a blood-soaked knife more than the horn of a Unicorn, and a fanged mouth hissing in hunger.

Starlight and Blueblood turned to look at the Barrier as it fizzled away, the rolling mass of smoke quickly rushing over them as it made its way toward the city beyond, suffocating them with its dark presence.

Starlight held her breath, her chest aching as the living smoke pushed against her, it was as if she was drowning in a river, the water pummeling her body with more and more force, trying to get her to release her breath.

Blueblood covered his head with a hoof, his horn glowing as golden light escaped from it, Comet wrapping her body around the Prince as the light that gave her her individuality shone once more. And as the magical smoke washed over him, Blueblood came to a sudden realization.

This Smoke, this magic of an ancient sorcerer, a tyrant who ruled over the Crystal Empire with an iron grip...

It was weak.

Cadance was pulled out of her swift moment of slumber by the cries of her husband and sister-in-law, her body flooded with energy as she woke up, her horn glowing blue as the barrier returned.

Sombra's head roared as it emerged from the mass of roiling smoke, trying to make it into the Crystal Empire before the barrier could close him away again.

As he tried to pass into the Empire, the barrier finally closed around him, his face slamming into the shimmering blue bubble as his horn was cut off, stuck on the other side of the barrier.

He glared furiously at the barrier, his magic bubbling with purple energy as his horn returned from the smoke, the remnants of his previous horn sinking into the grass on the other side of the barrier, leaving behind a small black crystal.

His mouth twisted into a smirk as his magic connected with the black crystal, the shadow of the crystal growing longer on the ground, snaking towards more nearby crystals, turning them black as he tried to build himself a foothold inside the barrier.

"This food is very tasty!" A Yak said loudly, stuffing his face with crystal berry pie.

"Shouldn't we still be searching for the Crystal Heart?" An Earth Pony wearing a white vest with the lettering BBF asked the Yak before taking a bite of a crystal corn on the cob, "I don't think it's a good idea to ignore it for this long,"

"The Elements of Harmony already found it! Why else would they be hosting the Crystal Fair?" The Yak laughed loudly, slapping his leg onto the pony's back in merriment, "Come now, Tap Dancer! Let us enjoy the fruits of our labor!"

"But we didn't build this fair," The Pony pointed out as he followed the Yak.

"Perhaps, but it is with our help that the Elements of Harmony managed to find the Crystal Heart and ready the fair, so if you really think about things, we made it!" The Yak laughed uproariously as the duo went to enjoy the rest of the fair.

"If you say so..."

"I need to retrieve the heart." Twilight Sparkle told her brother as she dashed into the castle, leaving the royal duo on the balcony.

"Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew after her, the duo making their way through the castle and down the stairs leading to the outside.

"I've been trying to figure out how I'm meant to pass Celestia's test," Twilight told Rainbow Dash as they went, "Retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it!" Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dash from the corner of her eyes, "But there is something else you can do."

"Name it!" The Pegasus told her as the duo went down another flight of stairs.

"You and the rest of our friends need to keep the fair going, get the Yaks and Blueblood's group involved if you need to," Twilight told her, her hooves sliding to a stop on the crystal floor before she made a turn and continued running.

"What?! With that thing moving into the Empire?!" Rainbow Dash tried to remind Twilight that Sombra existed, "And this Blueblood fellow, How can we trust him?! He tried to kill us!"

"The crystal fair is designed to lift the spirit of the Crystal Ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart." Twilight pointed out to her friend, "If the Crystal Ponies find out King Sombra is trying to take over the empire again... Their spirits are going to be anything but lifted."

The Duo opened the doors at the bottom of the stairs and found themselves outside beneath the towering Crystal Castle, "It doesn't matter if we find the Crystal Heart, they won't be able to make it work!" She stopped running and turned to look at Rainbow Dash, "You have to keep them happy here at the fair."

"Keep the fair going and the Crystal Ponies' spirits high!" Rainbow Dash saluted with a smile before she flew off.

"What was that?!" Starlight Glimmer's breath ached in her lungs as she tried to understand what just happened, "Blueblood! Did you feel that too?!" She turned to look at her boss, who stood on the other end of the magical web the two were creating on the ground, his hoof raised in front of his eyes as he stared at it silently.

"Blueblood, can you hear me?" She asked, walking closer to see what was going on with him.

"..." She saw him open his mouth, but whatever he said was too quiet for her to hear.

Comet crawled off of his back as Starlight entered his reach, "Blueblood, What's going on?"

"Starlight..." Blueblood started slowly, as if weighing his words carefully, "Do you think that was Sombra?" He turned away from staring at his hoof and faced her, the look in his eyes almost begging her to tell him that it was a joke, as if he struggled to believe what happened.

"Yes, I mean, I think so... The barrier just fizzled out, and then the smoke came, and now the barrier is back and- Oh crap! Is Cadance okay?" Starlight turned to look at the Castle far behind her, only to pause as Blueblood's voice entered her ears.

"Heh..." It was a quiet thing, weak, if it wasn't for the Crystal Empire's lack of wildlife, Starlight doubted she would have heard it.

"Blueblood... Are you..." She turned away from the Empire, looking at Blueblood beside her.

"Hehehehahahahah..." She struggled to call what she heard laughter, it was closer to the sound of a rubber horn deflating as if accepting defeat.

"SIX DAYS!" Blueblood suddenly barked out loudly, his face twisting into a smile as his body shook with laughter, threatening to burst, "I HAVE WORKED AND STRESSED ON THIS FOR SIX DAYS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Blueblood..." Starlight took a step back from her Boss, "What's so funny?" She took another step back.

"Funny?" His laughter quieted down, repeating the question, Blueblood closed his eyes and gave Starlight the most relaxed smile she's seen on him in over a month, "Starlight this is hilarious."

"...What is?" Starlight took another step back.

"All of this!" Blueblood opened his eyes, and for a brief second Starlight felt as if she was thrust into the frozen Arctic, sheets of ice crashing against each other with thunderous booms, hail of snow and ice buffeting the world around her like the falling tears of an arctic giant, her body couldn't move as the frost climbed up her limbs, her legs stuck as her fur hardened and froze over, threatening to snap like a twig, all as she stared into the Ice cold glaciers that were those eyes.

Those vibrant frozen eyes.

"I've been stressing over trying to keep Cadance awake with Plan A so Rutherford and his Yaks would have time to find the Crystal Heart, but it was all for naught!" He laughed, "Plan B would have had us try and trap Sombra in this web, stripping him of his intangibility, trapping him so we could all collectively focus on finding the Heart and defeat him! But now?" Blueblood chuckled to himself, "NOW? I don't think we even need the Crystal Heart! I'll just kill Sombra myself! HAHA! IT WAS SO SIMPLE!"

"What- You can't kill him!" Starlight exclaimed, her body feeling weak as Blueblood's eyes no longer stared at her with that freezing intensity.

"Why not?" Blueblood asked loudly, "We're not in Equestria! The Crystal Empire doesn't legally exist! And I doubt Rutherford will arrest me for killing him. We'll say it was self-defense!" Blueblood laughed to himself at the idea, "Starlight, If the BBF and the Yaks weren't here, I could kill each and every single person here, Sombra, The Crystal Ponies, Everybody! It wouldn't change a thing! They don't exist! They haven't existed in over 1,000 years! You can't kill something that doesn't exist Starlight! Haha!"

Starlight stared at her boss in shock, as if he'd finally lost it. Months of stress finally hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut.

"I'm not going to go killing the Crystal Ponies, don't give me that look." Blueblood shook his head at her, "What I'm saying is that we've overestimated Sombra. We knew normal magic wouldn't work on his intangibility, and his magic seemed to disable ours. We thought he would be such a dangerous foe that we'd need everybody's strength working together just for Plan B to hold him. But now... Feeling his smoke rush over me... I understood that I was giving him too much credit."

"Please get to the point, I don't like how you're leading up to it." Starlight urged him, taking another step back.

"My point is that Chrysalis could crush him," Blueblood said simply, staring at Starlight with a relaxed smile on his face, as if he hadn't talked about killing everypony in the Empire mere moments prior.

"...Chrysalis is a strong individual, I don't think comparing any pony's strength to hers will bring favorable results." Starlight pointed out.

"No... The point is that Chrysalis can beat me, but she can't crush me. Sombra, on the other hand? She could destroy him. Meaning, Sombra would be an easier opponent for Chrysalis than me, meaning, I am stronger than Sombra!" Blueblood explained to her.

"Of course Chrysalis would have a harder time against you, half of your repertoire of spells was designed with Chrysalis in mind! Your reasoning barely makes any sense!" Starlight yelled at her boss.

"Make sense? Starlight, Magic doesn't make sense! It never made sense! Do you think turning your body into smoke makes sense?! What about transforming into a giant armored beetle?! Oh- What about firing lasers from an organ on top of your head by thinking about it really fucking hard! Where's the sense in that?!" Blueblood yelled back at her.

"Wha- We're avoiding the point! So Sombra isn't as strong as you thought! What now?!"

"Now?" Blueblood repeated the question, "Now Comet and I are going to wait for the barrier to fall, we're going to trap Sombra in this web and take his intangibility away, and then I'm going to beat him to death with my own hooves." He explained to her as if she was a child.

"What about the Crystal Heart?!"

"What about it?" Blueblood sat down on the grass below, "Starlight, if you don't want to watch an execution you can go, help Cadance stay awake, find the Crystal Heart yourself, do anything else really. I'm going to stay here and wait for the bell to toll."

"Fine! Have fun being insane!" Starlight yelled before she turned away and started running towards the Crystal Castle in the distance.

"I will!"

"Twilight, Wait!" Standing in the middle of the Crystal Fair, Twilight Sparkle intended to make her way towards the last place she would think of to search for the Crystal Heart, only to hear a familiar voice call out to her, "I'm coming with you."

"You can't," Twilight Sparkle told Spike the Dragon, "I have to retrieve the Crystal Heart by myself, this is Celestia's test," She turned away from the young Dragon and started making her way back to the castle.

"I know," Spike said as he followed after her, "I promise I won't lift a claw to help you."

Twilight stared at her little brother before she rolled her eyes, her horn glowing with pink-colored magic as she lifted Spike and placed him on her back, "Not a claw, Spike." She said before she started galloping down the street.

"Where are we going?" Spike asked as he held on to her back.

"I think I know where King Sombra kept the Crystal Heart." She told him.

"The Castle?" Spike questioned as he looked at where they were running.

"The King would be counting on the fact that no pony would dare go looking for it here. They'd be too afraid to even try."

"I hope you're right," Spike told her as they entered the door leading to the castle.

"You and me both..." Twilight nodded as she closed the doors behind her.

Outside the barrier of love that surrounded the Crystal Empire, King Sombra stared through the bubble of magic, focusing on the slowly growing collection of dark crystals that emerged from where his horn landed.

"Soon..." He whispered to himself, his eyes glowing with dark magic as more crystals emerged from the shadows of the rest, "I'll return to you soon..."

"My Crystal Slaves..."

Author's Note

Damn. Blueblood is really going through it. Hopefully, he'll have time to unwind and relax sometime soon and won't be thrust into back-to-back stressful scenarios with no downtime between. :pinkiesmile:

This is probably the last chapter of 2024, and once this Arc is over I'll write the Bonus chapter celebrating the new year.

Last year we got The Pony of Shadow's very poetic chapter in Pavane for a Dead Prince. Wonder what this year's chapter will be?

Thanks for reading!

Edit: I need to write this down in case I forget so I won't need to do the calculations somewhere again. As of the current chapter, Newblood has been in Equestria for around 8 months. The events of Artistic Avenue happened during the early fall (Around September.) and the current arc takes place in mid-April. Just noting it down here so I won't need to calculate from the beginning whenever I need to bring it up. This information is unimportant.

Chapter 125: The Crystal Empire 7

"You're not going to kill him."

Walking in circles over the magical web designed to trap Sombra for Plan B, I closed my eyes and tried to relax my mind.

"Of course I'm gonna kill him," I told the ghost who kept talking to me, "Why wouldn't I kill him?" I turned to look at the bastard, "Do you want me to just hope that the others find the Crystal Heart in time? You know that prayer doesn't work, when something is troubling me I just need to fix it myself, because lately, it seems like I'm the only one who's doing anything about it!" I opened my eyes and glared at him, his red feathers and his stupid beak, at those annoying eyes that seem to be looking down on me.

With pity.

The bastard...

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Macaw said, still staring at me with those infuriating eyes, "Killing Sombra is unquestionably the best choice right now. What I'm saying is that you're not going to kill him, you're going to fight him."

"...Are you going to explain to me what the fuck you're talking about or are you still going to be a major pain in my ass?"

Macaw rolled his eyes at my question, his body gliding over the grass like the ghost he was until he floated beside me, his Harpy body levitating half a meter off the ground, "Killing him is easy, just grab his internal organs with a careful use of telekinesis and rupture them. It's quick, it's clean, and it's over in a few seconds." He explained, "You're not going to do that though, you're not going to kill him so easily, because that's not fun. You're going to fight him, like you did with Chrysalis, You're going to put the lives of everyone around in danger just for a little drop of excitement. You say you won't, but we both know you will."

I stared at the red bird person, patiently waiting for him to continue.

"Do you not get- Ugh, of course you don't." He groaned, "Can't you see Kingfisher? It's this excitement, this danger, this game with death that you play, you're still a slave to it-" His beak froze as a blue aura shone around his head.

"Don't you ever call me that again..." I whispered loudly to the bird before I squeezed, his head popping like a grape before his body disappeared like mist, his voice still echoing around me.

"You can't keep running away from the truth, Kingfisher, we both know this~"

"...Son of a bi-"

It was only thanks to Princess Celestia's demonstration, that Twilight managed to figure out how to reveal the true castle that Sombra used.

Using the crystal's power of reflection in conjuncture with Sombra's dark magic, A pit formed in the middle of the throne room, with a staircase winding down deep and far into the hole that should not exist.

"It's a magnificent work of spatial magic..." Twilight noted to herself in her mind as she walked down the stairs, "The Crystal Castle is a tower, the Throne Room sits elevated above the ground. If a hole were to form on the floor, it would lead to the plaza outside. But instead, it's leading deep into the ground, skipping the space that makes up the floors beneath it..."

It was such a small thing, a display of magic like this. many ponies wouldn't even understand the depth of knowledge needed to stitch space in this way. Twilight doubted if she herself could do something like this without months of preparation...

"Sombra really is dangerous..."

"Can you see what's down there yet?" Up in the throne room, Spike the Dragon yelled down, wanting to know how Twilight's search was going.

"Not yet! I can't even tell how far down this goes!" Twilight yelled back before ripping a small crystal from a wall and dropping it down the hole to see how long it would take to fall.

And then she waited.

And waited some more.

Then she checked her ears to see if nothing was plugging them.

And then she looked down at the hole again.

And then she finally heard the clang, fifteen seconds after she dropped the crystal from the wall.

"Spike?" Twilight called up to her little brother, Worry on her face as she tried to calculate how long it would take to explore this darkened section of the castle, "Can you see outside?"

"Just a sec!" Spike yelled over before he went to the window to take a look. The barrier that surrounded the Empire fizzled and wavered, changing from the blue bubble to the dark clouds on the other side, like a device running out of batteries, warning that it was going to run empty soon.

"It's not good! Cadance's magic must be fading faster than before!" Spike yelled back.

Fearing the constraints of time, Twilight started dashing down the stairs, only for her hoof to step on a crumbling step, causing her body to tumble down the stairs. Luckily she managed to cast a basic protection spell the moment she noticed her face coming close to the step, protecting her from any lasting injuries that could have been caused by her long fall down the stairs.

But just because she wasn't hurt, doesn't mean she didn't feel it.

Her leg was supposed to break, her neck snapped to the side, her ribs cracking, the skin on her knees would stretch and tear, and a sharp crystal protruding from the floor would stab at her abdomen.

Physically, Twilight Sparkle was fine. But her body was feeling pain that she didn't know she could feel.
The closest she got to feeling such pain, was when Chrysalis kicked her down on the floor before teleporting her away.

As her body experienced the pain of injuries that weren't there, she managed to reach the bottom of the stairs, her body heaving tiredly, her breath thin and frail, as if afraid any movement might open the injuries up.

"Twilight! Are you okay?!" Spike yelled down to her from the top of the stairs, unable to see Twilight all the way at the bottom.

"Yes..." Twilight managed to say back, her voice likely not loud enough to reach the top of the stairs, but Twilight didn't care.

She almost died.

Not by getting caught by one of Sombra's traps, or fighting the wizard himself, but by falling down the stairs.

Clearing her head, Twilight looked at the only door that was down there.

With her horn glowing, she tried to open the door, only for the door to slide away from her.

"What in the?" Twilight tried to open the door again, only for the door to seemingly climb up the wall and away from her before repositioning itself behind her.

"Grr!" Twilight growled as she tried to catch the door, once again failing to open the moving pathway.

"Open!" She yelled, her horn glowing purple and black with the Dark Magic she copied from Celestia's presentation, the beam of dark magic impacting the gem above the door, holding it in place with no issues.

"It seems everything here responds to dark magic..." Twilight noted to herself as the door opened, revealing a blinding white light.

"Spike!" She called up to her brother, "I think it's here!" And without waiting, Twilight Sparkle ran into the light.

Searching for the Crystal Heart.

At the foot of the barrier, Crystals of Dark Magic collected and grew, sprouting out of each other like a tumorous growth, spreading lines of shadow and darkness along the ground.

On the other side of the Barrier, King Sombra, Little more than a cloud of dark smoke, was all but crashing his head against the blue barrier of love as he focused on his collection of crystals.

"Open... For me..." He whispered, his mind still in the process of re-acclimating to the world outside of his prison, not yet fully legible in his words. His crystals grow taller, spreading and connecting to one another like scaffolding, building upwards like a spire ready to pierce the Barrier from the inside.

His smile spread across his face as the Crystals crashed against the Barrier, "Stay There... Stay There...!" He roared at the crystals as they speared through the inside of the barrier, cutting a hole through it.

An entrance for him to enter.

"Yes... YES!" Sombra didn't bother holding himself back, his smoky body twisting and shrinking to fit into the hole in the barrier, his dark magical crystals holding it open like the hands of a surgeon, the barrier shaking as it started crushing the crystals in an attempt to close the hole.

The crystals shattered, unable to hold the barrier open, even in its weakened state.

But it was too late...

"Hehehe... Hehahahaha... My Crystal Empire... My Slaves..." Sombra whispered as his body formed atop the green grass inside the barrier.

"My Amore..."

As Sombra started levitating in the air, his body turning back into smoke, he felt something latch onto his leg.

"Hey Jackass!"

Sombra turned to look below him, seeing a golden rope wrapped around his left hind leg, extending from what seemed to be a large magical circle in the shape of a spiderweb etched onto the ground, and a White Stallion with eyes like arctic glaciers staring up at him.

"Did I give you permission to ignore me?!"

"Who are-" Sombra tried to ask the Stallion that stood on top of the magical circle calling out to him, only for the wind to blow out of his lungs as he quickly found his body dragged into the golden web, the rope around his leg pulling him in, his body refusing to turn into smoke.

Dragged along the ground by the rope as his body hit the floor, Sombra struggled to pull free of the golden rope, his body refusing to transform. With a yell of anger, a beam of dark magic escaped his horn, trying to cut the rope, only to fizzle out as the web below him shone with a bright golden light.

Finally, he stopped dragging on the ground as he reached the White Stallion. With a yell, Sombra fired a beam of magic at him.

Only for his magic to fizzle away before even leaving his horn.

"What in the-" Sombra was cut off as a hoof hit him in the face, courtesy of the white Stallion.

"Did I give you permission to attack me?!" The white stallion's smile grew wider, his ice-blue almost glowing with excitement as he looked down at Sombra.

"Hello, Fuckface~"

Seeing the eyes on that Stallion, Sombra knew that taking back his Empire wouldn't be as easy as he thought.

Author's Note

Yeah, this chapter was hard to write, I wanted to do a bit with the other Mane 6, watching them keep the fair going, but I decided "Who cares?"
Let's just get to the fun stuff.

Blueblood needs a break, I need a break, and soon Sombra will wish he had a break.

Don't forget to look forward to the bonus chapter celebrating 2025, I have something exciting for that one that I know a lot of you will enjoy!

Next Chapter... Well, that is where the fun begins!

See you soon!

Chapter 126: The Crystal Empire 8

"Look, I know you're probably asking yourself a bunch of different questions right now, so before we begin, let me answer them for you~" I said with a smile as I looked down at the Unicorn below me, my hoof pushing the side of his head down into the ground, "I am Captain Prince Blueblood Platinum, The year is 1,002 of the Common Equestrian Calendar, which means that you were gone for somewhere between 1,010 and 1,030 years, I didn't care to check. Mass Murder of your own civilian populations was outlawed around 900 years ago, it was a Convocation of Creatures meeting so it's basically a global law now. Princess Amore's descendant is still alive, The Pillars of Equestria disappeared into Limbo, Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for 1,000 years, Disco is outdated, The Bridge on the River Kwai beat 12 Angry Men at the 1957 Oscars, and most importantly of all, you're a bitch."

I smiled wider as I saw the confusion on Sombra's face, half of it digging into the ground as my hoof pushed the other.

"Who... Are you?" He growled at me, his eyes glaring up at me.

"Did you not hear me, are you deaf or something-"

"To dare raise your hoof against your king..." Sombra continued.

"Oh, you were talking slow there." I rolled my eyes before I raised my leg off of Sombra's face, letting him pull himself onto his legs.

As Sombra stood back up on all four legs, he found himself face to hoof with me yet again, a right hook pushing the Unicorn King back onto the floor.

"I did not give you permission to stand!" I shouted at him, my smile widening at the thought of what was going to come next.

"You dare-"

"OF COURSE I FUCKING DARE!" I screamed at him, my hair levitating behind me as my horn started glowing, months of pent-up frustration coursing through my body as I stared down at that bastard.

From Tirek ruining an entire week for me, to my Vacation being cut short, to my loss against Chrysalis, to my imprisonment under my own home for three weeks, to Chrysalis escaping Canterlot, to this.

I really needed to let out some steam.

And right now, the piece of shit who glared at me from his place on the ground looked like a fucking sauna~

Twilight Sparkle passed through the door of light, expecting to find the Crystal Heart.

"Huh?" Instead, she found herself standing in front of Canterlot's throne room, confusion coursing through her mind as she tried to think of an explanation.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight paused as the voice of Princess Celestia called out to her, sounding displeased.

Twilight turned around, finding her teacher standing in front of a pile of papers, her horn glowing gold as she read through them, not bothering to look at the Unicorn behind her.

"I don't know." Twilight tried to explain, "I opened the door and-"

"And now you must go." Celestia cut her off, her eyes not leaving the papers she kept reading before signing and teleporting away, her focus on the papers almost screaming at Twilight that whatever the Princess was doing was more important than her.

"Go where?" Twilight asked, trying to step into the hall Celestia stood in, recognizing it as the corridor leading to the throne room where all the murals and stained glass windows stood.

"Doesn't matter to me." Celestia told her sharply, her eyes leaving the papers to turn and look at Twilight, "You failed the test, Twilight."

Twilight gasped in shock, her eyes widening in worry as she stared into her teacher's own, "I- I don't understand! The test-"

Celestia cut her off, "Not only will you not move on to the next level of your studies, you won't continue your studies at all."

Twilight's ears started to fold as tears began to well in her eyes, "You didn't say anything about not being your student if I failed!"

Celestia turned her body away from the papers to fully face Twilight, her wing wrapping around her back as if to hug her, "Didn't I?" only to push her out of the way as Celestia walked past, leaving the papers and Twilight behind before closing the door.

"But..." Twilight wanted to say something, only to turn and look at the pages Celestia left behind, and then she froze as she read the words on them.

"Our condolences..." She whispered as her eyes read through the papers, her breath hitching as she flipped through more and more papers, seeing more and more names.

Twilight was moving through the papers faster than she could read them, seeing the words near the top was all she needed before turning to the next page, and tossing the papers aside in her hurry.

"No... No no no this can't be happening..." Twilight told herself as she finished the last paper, backing up from the messy pile of parchment, her eyes wide in fear and worry, trying to stabilize her breathing.

"Oof~ Watch where you're... Oh." Twilight felt her back hit someone, quickly turning to apologize before finding herself staring at a menacing sideways glare from a familiar Unicorn.

"You... What are you still doing here?" Prince Blueblood asked her, glaring at her from the left side of his face, refusing to fully turn and look at her.

"I don't know!" Twilight cried, "I was at the Crystal Empire one moment and-"

"That's the problem, isn't it?" Blueblood scowled, "You were at the Crystal Empire." He scoffed, looking away from her, his back turned to face her as he stared at a glass mural on the window, depicting the scene where she and her friends gained the Elements of Harmony and defeated Nightmare Moon.

"I told you from the beginning, you should have brought the Elements with you, But no~ You just had to insert yourself into where you don't belong," Blueblood told her, even without seeing his face, Twilight could feel the glare he was giving her stained glass depiction.

"But Celestia sent me to-"

"There we go again, Celestia sent me to the Crystal Empire~ How about you try and take accountability for once in your life!" Blueblood's back hunch as he shouted, his head glaring at the floor, his horn pointing directly at the mural on the window, "You, a Civilian, with no combat training, no first aid knowledge, no nothing, just had to do things your way!"

"But-"

"And look where it got us!" Blueblood shouted, his head whipping up to face the ceiling, "Nothing but ruin!"

"I was just trying to help! I didn't know what was going on! I was trying my best-" Twilight felt tears roll down her face as she cried, trying to explain herself, still not understanding what was happening.

"YOUR BEST WASN'T ENOUGH!!!" Blueblood roared, his hair whipping behind him as he finally turned to fully face Twilight Sparkle, the mural he was glaring at cracking, distorting Twilight's glass depiction.

Twilight Sparkle felt her breath freeze as she stared at the Prince's face.

A single ice-blue eye glared back, the snowy white coat of fur that surrounded it peeled and burned away to reveal rough pink skin, a milky white orb where his other eye was supposed to be, his right cheek peeling off by his lip, showing his teeth and gums on the side of his mouth.

"If you weren't there, maybe they'd still be here..." Blueblood said in a whisper, one that Twilight barely heard as the world around her seemed to distort, her sense of balance going haywire as she felt herself collapse, her breath leaving her lungs shallow and weak, her eyes unable to focus on anything but the purple hooves that were below her.

She couldn't breathe, her mind trying to think up an explanation of what was happening, trying to link the missing pieces of her memory.

"We failed... I failed... I failed so badly I erased my own memory of the failure- SPIKE!" She cried out, turning to the pile of papers she read through before, quickly reading through them again, searching for a name.

"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-" Twilight felt her stomach churn, threatening to empty itself as she gagged, her eyes blurry with tears staring at a piece of paper.

"Night Light, Our condolences for your loss-" Twilight couldn't finish the paper, her stomach screaming at her as she gagged, quickly running away from the paper and towards the wall, away from the corridor's walking path.

Vomit poured from her mouth, her mind filling in the details she so cruelly erased from her memory, her baby brother, her big brother, her new sister-in-law... Twilight felt weak, her legs barely able to hold her, as if telling her that it would be better if she simply collapsed into her own puddle of bile.
Her head looking up to stare at the stained glass mural she vomited under, only to see a sight of horror.

It was the Crystal Empire, covered in darkness, Sombra's menacing figure floating above like a cloud of darkness, swallowing the light that shot out of five ponies who stood bravely to face him.
It was almost as if she could see it happening, her best friends standing side by side to buy her time to find the Crystal Heart, but there was no heart to be found.

Twilight wasn't in that mural, she was underground, in Sombra's secret passage. While her friends were outside, risking their lives.

"If you weren't there, maybe they'd still be here." Even though he was no longer in the corridor, the scarred Prince's words still echoed in her mind as she stared at the mural depicting her failure.

"Twilight?"

She didn't hold back, tears rolling down her face as sobs escaped her throat, hoarse and dry as it may have been, Twilight cried, her legs too weak to keep her standing as she collapsed, her face mere inches from her own puddle of vomit.

"Ahm sorwy!" Her words slurred, tears and snot mixing as they rolled down her face. Echoes of her little brother whispering her name in the back of her head.

It was like she could still hear him.

"Twilight?!" It was as if he was still watching over her, calling out to her, trying to-

Twilight Sparkle found herself lying on the cold stone floor at the bottom of the stairs, Spike pulling her away from the door she opened moments prior.

"Wha~" Twilight looked around with widened eyes, spotting her baby brother's look of worry as he tried to see if she was okay.

"I know you told me to stay up there but you were ignoring my calls so I came down here and you were just staring at that wall and I couldn't get your attention and-" Spike hurriedly told her as he recounted his experience, his claws moving about to put emphasis on his words "-and your eyes were all green and-" He was cut off as Twilight Sparkle's legs wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug.

"You're okay..." She whispered, her eyes closing in relief as she felt the draconic warmth through his scales.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Spike asked as he wormed his way out of the hug, "Never mind that- You were just looking at this wall, I don't see why you would..." Spike paused as he stared at the wall, the crystal above it glowing with dark magic as his eyes turned green.

"What, Ponyville? Why is it- wait, no I don't want to go! Twilight, don't leave me! Don't let them take me-" Spike's eyes returned to normal as Twilight kicked the door close, the spell cast on him leaving his body with the doors closing.

"King Sombra's Magic," Twilight explained, her leg still in the air from the position she kicked the door, "A doorway that leads to your worst fear."

"We were home..." Spike said, tears threatening to fall, "You said you didn't need me anymore, you were sending me away..."

"You know that will never come to pass..." Twilight pulled Spike into another hug, her body relaxing as she confirmed that this moment was real, "I'm never going to send you away," Twilight's horn started glowing with magic, "And I'm not going to fail!" a beam of pink magic escaped her horn, striking the dark crystal above the doorway and outlining it, removing the curse from the door and opening it once more, revealing the real passage.

"What's in there?" Spike asked as Twilight stepped through the door, only to find herself at the bottom of an ivory tower, an endless expanse of emptiness as far as her eyes could see surrounded her, with only the tower and a staircase she now had to climb.

"Stairs... Lots and lots of stairs..." After making a few steps up, Twilight turned to look at Spike, still at the doorway, "You know... Maybe you should come with me this time." She said with a smile, her baby brother joining her as the two started making their way up the stairs.

"Oh come on!" Prince Blueblood Platinum yelled in frustration as his hoof connected with the body of Sombra once more, "You're a fucking King, aren't you? How can you not know how to throw a simple punch?! Isn't the entire point of a military coup that you are martially stronger than the current leader?! You can barely fucking dodge!" Another punch landed on the tyrant, throwing him down to the ground once more, "You're just bleeding all over the place! Fight back already!"

Sombra's chest heaved as he spit out more blood, his own red fluid staining the ground underneath him.

"You... Are using Clover the Clever's Darkness Containing Array, are you not?" Sombra managed to ask, his mind slowly putting itself together over the course of the last twenty minutes, enough to at least speak full sentences without growling like a mad beast that was trapped beneath the ice for one thousand years.

"...You recognize this web." Blueblood paused, his eyes focusing on the King with newfound worry.

"Of course I do... It was one I was taught to be careful of... Designed to contain all manner of dark creatures, from Windigo to Umbrum... yet, its purpose was to keep their bodies tangible, contained, trapped. It should not remove their ability to use magic..." Sombra managed to say, his speech growing more and more coherent the more he spoke.

"Who taught you to be careful of the array? Was it Everfree?" Sombra's body momentarily paused at the mention of the name, "I guessed right, she also seemed to hate Amore for some reason. One that I still don't understand." Blueblood started to walk around the King, forcing Sombra to keep turning to face him, making sure he was in his sight, "As far as I've looked, everyone seems to adore the Princess. So what's the deal? Are you saying the coup wasn't your idea?"

"Magic comes in many different forms... Unicorns like you use your connection to Harmony to cast spells, your horns acting like an in-grown staff or wand to channel your magic through... But there are plenty of different ways magic is used." Sombra kept spinning his body slowly, keeping his eyes on the Prince as he spoke, seemingly ignoring Blueblood's question, "The Kirin use their passion to conjure and control flames, while many flying species use a weaker connection to Harmony to push clouds around wind, using passive magic to fly, even though their bodies are much too heavy and not nearly aerodynamic enough... But that is the natural magic that some species are born with... Magic itself can be found nearly everywhere."

Sombra smiled, his fangs gleaming as the barrier around the Empire fizzled in and out of existence, "Dark Magic goes against Harmony, using negative emotions that stand opposite of what harmony represents to power the spells it utilizes... Betrayal, Sadness, Guilt, Apathy, Fear, Hatred, Envy, Despair, so many delectable ways to fuel the darkness that rests inside all living beings." Sombra licked his lips, "It is more than the simple magic you Unicorns use, it takes that process and corrupts it, a perverse reflection that highlights the truth of all beings..."

"You going to reach your point anytime soon?" Blueblood was getting tired of listening to the King speak.

"My point, is that I don't need the Darkness to cast some simple magic..." Sombra's eyes seemed to glint with glee as his smile stretched across his face before he quickly spun his body around, his legs flying towards the golden mass that climbed up on his back the moment he entered the magical web, grabbing it with his hooves and quickly throwing it away.

"Comet!" Blueblood yelled as the Plunderseed flew to the ground, his horn glowing as he caught her in his magic and pulled her towards him.

"YOU WISH TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?!" Sombra screamed before he spat a drop of blood onto his hoof, slamming it down onto the ground.

As his hoof reached the ground, the previously spilled blood from the beating he endured started glowing with malevolent light, the magical golden web fizzling out of existence as the blood formed a new magic circle, overlapping against the array and disabling it.

Sombra's body started to levitate, smoke pouring out of the wounds and gashes on his body as he magically fixed himself, his laughter echoing around him as the barrier around the Empire finally fizzled out, letting the cold tundra wind sweep in, sending shivers down Blueblood's fur.

"COME AND GET ME!" And with a victorious laugh, Sombra's body turned to smoke and flew away, Leaving Blueblood to glare at his retreating figure.

"I told you this would happen..." The red parrot that only the Prince could see said, his voice being ignored as Blueblood started stretching his body, his magic lifting Comet by her tail before it began spinning her around like a flail, his eyes not leaving the King's intangible figure for a moment.

"...Venus." He said, his body suddenly losing all senses but sound as golden chains formed in the air and wrapped around his body, sealing away his sense of touch, a golden gladiatorial helm with a pair of horns protruding from the top encased his head, magically sealing his sense of sight, smell, and taste.

And with a flex of his magic, an image of his surroundings appeared in his mind, His newly empowered magical senses making all but the most magically hidden corners of the Empire visible in his Mind's Eye.

Focusing on the retreating figure of Smoke, his form visible in the magical recreation of the world inside his mind, Blueblood bent his knees, his horn shining with bright blue magic, followed by the two golden horns of his mask, what little of his mane that was still out of the mask began to float in the air, as if the concept of gravity no longer existed for it.

The ground rumbled beneath his hooves, small pebbles and crystals beginning to levitate, as his magical power continued growing, affecting the world around him in the process.

Starlight Glimmer paused in the middle of the fairgrounds as she watched the barrier above her head disappear, only to feel a magical presence all but scream its location to the world, shining brightly against her own magical senses.

It was different from when she felt the same magical presence standing on the train tracks, it felt... More solid.

It was as if she was in the presence of a star.

Blueblood focused on his magic, creating a straight line between him and his target within his mind's eye.

"This spell is a shortcut of a path, The hastening of the way~" He said out loud, his horns glowing like miniature stars, before the ground beneath him exploded outward, his body shooting forward in a straight line, a trail of sparkling light left in his path as he seemingly turned himself into a shooting star.

"Mercury"

The chase was on.

Author's Note

Yeah, this came out a bit later than I expected. My brother got my whole family sick for a few days and I just really didn't feel like writing what the Yaks and the rest of the Mane 6 and Starlight were doing while Twilight and Blueblood's stuff was going on.

So I decided to just not write that lmao. Much easier to write when you don't need to work on the parts you don't want to work on.

I made some changes to Twilight's view of Sombra's Fear Door, and made it more visceral.

The next chapter will hopefully be the last for this arc, if not then the one after that. I just really want to get this Arc over with now, I'm writing this because It's important to the overarching plot, but I really just want to get it over with and start on the more original arcs, maybe some more lighthearted filler. I think you can really feel when I make an Arc that I start off enjoying before kind of slogging through it. The middle parts just feel like nothing is happening.

It doesn't help that my computer is starting to get slower, might need to uninstall some files to clear space.

I'm still going to write the bonus chapter celebrating the new year after this arc is over, although that might be coming out in February at this rate...

Oh! At least Blueblood showed a new spell! And he gave a name to the sense-sealing mask spell, so now we have 3 out of 8 planets of the Solar System. 4 if we count Pluto.

And with Pale Blue Dot and Epimetheus on the side, as well as the slew of nameless other spells like the orbs he used when he was possessed by Larry, or the spell that makes the rope longer, and even just simple Telekinesis and Illusions, Blueblood is beginning to have a really stacked deck of cards.

See you next chapter.

Chapter 127: The Crystal Empire 9

It was no exaggeration to say that The Crystal Empire was in disarray.

The Crystal Fair could only put the crystal ponies' minds at ease for so long before they would start asking questions.

Questions that at this moment, Rainbow Dash knew she could not tell.

"Oh, yeah! That Crystal Heart that is super important to you and is the source of your safety, the one we said we found and are currently protecting? That heart? Yeah, We don't actually have it!" As if she could say something like that!

"Fluttershy! Any answer from the Yaks on why the Barrier is down?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at the sky, the sky blue barrier that surrounded the Empire having disappeared minutes prior, letting the cold of the tundra outside rush in.

"They said they're working on it," Fluttershy told her best friend as she rubbed her wings against her body for warmth.

"Well, they need to work faster! We still need to buy Twilight more time." Rainbow Dash complained as a chill ran up her back, her nose twitching, expecting a sneeze that didn't come, "What even are they doing in there?" She turned to look at the door leading into the castle, wondering what the yaks were doing.

"Do not worry Shining Armor!" Prince Rutherford said loudly as he watched over the Yak's keeping Princess Mi Amore Cadenza awake and functional.
Well, as functional as someone who's been awake for several days straight could be.

"I'm her husband, it's my job to worry!" Shining Armor cried as he walked circles across the room they were keeping Cadance in, his eyes flickering every once in a while to his wife, watching her struggling to keep her eyes open as his hooves dug trenches in the carpet.

"There is no need worry! Yak hospitality is best there is! Princess Friend Cadance will be fine!" Rutherford said loudly, his words doing little to assuage Shining Armor's worry as a small crowd of Yakyakistani hoofmaidens took care of Cadance, feeding her specially prepared food and drink to keep her awake for as long as possible.

As the Yaks and Ponies in the Empire tried to keep things running smoothly, a separate problem was making itself known below the castle.

Twilight Sparkle was running out of breath. Her body was covered in sweat as she walked up another dozen steps, she was still feeling the injuries she should have gotten from falling down the stairs, and the image of Sombra on that stained glass mural was still fresh in her mind.

She was getting tired, and these stairs just didn't seem to end.

Walking behind her, his breath also running tired, Spike spoke up.
"What if this is just more of his magic?" He said as he tiredly pulled himself up another step, his legs begging him to take a break, "He makes a door that leads to your worst nightmare, what about a staircase that goes on forever?"

Hearing his words, Twilight looked down to see how far she'd walked, the ground several stories below her at this point. And then, she looked up to check how far more she needed to climb, only to notice no end to the towering staircase she was climbing.
And as she looked up, she noticed a peculiar little design on the bottom of the stairs above her.

"Hold on to me," she told Spike as she grabbed him in her magic and placed him on her back, her horn glowing a bright pink.

"Eh?" Spike managed to tiredly voice as Twilight's body started levitating, his claws quickly moving to grab hold of her sides.

And with a burst of almost blinding pink light, they were falling.

"Wooooaaahhh!!!" Twilight yelled as she fell upwards, reversing the localized gravity around her in order to slide on the smooth underside of the stairs as if they were a ramp.

The ceiling still wasn't in sight, but at least it was faster than climbing.

In the street beneath the crystal castle, more and more ponies were gathering around the podium were the Crystal Heart was supposed to stand, their approach to the false heart was stalled by a hard-working Earth Pony.

"Applejack!" Said Earth Pony quickly turned to look at whomever was calling out to her, watching one of her best friends coming over with a look of worry on her face.
"I have run out of crafting materials for the arts and crafts stand!" Rarity whispered loudly to her friend, "I had to make a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw! I made it work of course, but I can't keep this up! These ponies want to see the heart and I can't keep stalling!"

"I know, but Twilight said-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" A scream ran out nearby, a group of ponies running over to join the crown converging around the Crystal Heart statue.

"I don't think she said that... Twilight doesn't scream like that either," Pinkie Pie spoke up, "Her screams are more like GYAAAAAAAHHH!"

Ignoring their friend, Applejack and Rarity turned to look at what caused the ponies to scream, only to pause as they watched a wave of black mist approach their location, corrupting any crystals in its path.

"What is that thing?!" Rarity yelled as she took a step back in fear of the approaching wave of darkness, a pair of red eyes shining out from the mist.
Unfortunately, that step backward caused her back to hit the statue they were trying so hard to keep hidden.

"Woahwoahwait-" Applejack quickly tried to catch the statue from falling over, the cloth they kept it hidden under slipped away as the false Crystal Heart fell to the ground, shattering into hundreds of shards.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!" The Mist rose above them, an uproarious laughter echoed from it as the dark mist seemed to solidify into the body of a Unicorn.
"Foolish Ponies!" The Unicorn yelled, his eyes peering over each and every pony in his sight, "Did you really think you could keep me out of my own Kingdom?!"

"It's Sombra!" A crystal pony screamed.

And then the chaos erupted.

"EVERYPONY RUN!!!" Someone yelled before the crowd started to scream and run in a blind panic, trampling one another and pushing each other to the ground in an attempt to get as far away from the tyrant as they could.

"Ahaha! Yes! Panic! Flee! It will only make your punishment all the more enjo-" Whatever Sombra was about to say was cut off as a streak of golden light impacted him from the side before disappearing from view, taking the King away from the crowd.

Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all turned to look at where the Streak went, watching the building it hit collapse, Sombra's voice rising in the distance as the golden streak dragged him farther and farther away.

And then the wind rushed past them.

"Woah... That was fast..." Pinkie Pie said as her hair flew to the side, slapping into her face and burying her head like a mask of pink fluff.

"Uh-huh..." Applejack said, her leg holding on to her hat to make sure it didn't fly off.

"Just what was that?" Rarity asked, her hair disheveled and windswept.

Starlight Glimmer walked down the street with a pep in her step, her horn glowing as she grabbed a large bag of popcorn, ready to watch her boss laugh like a loon as he got punched in the face.

Sombra glared intently at the Unicorn that dragged him to the opposite edge of the Empire from where he came in from, his body refusing to transform back into mist as the bright golden glow from the white Unicorn held him in place.

"Let..." Sombra managed to bite out as his back slammed into another crystal wall, "GO OF ME!" He yelled loudly, his horn glowing with dark magic as he shot at the Unicorn, forcing him to let go and dodge lest he be hit with the spell.

The moment his body was let go of, Sombra turned into mist and oriented himself in the air before forming on the ground a few meters away from the Unicorn.

"So you really are taking me up on my offer?" Sombra scoffed at the sight of the Unicorn, his head encased in a golden mask, his legs wrapped in chains, "Do you really wish to learn what happened so badly?!"

Sombra readied a spell in his horn, his eyes glowing with malevolent energy as darkness bubbled in his stare.

"Not really, no."

Only for the spell to fizzle out at the response he was not expecting.

"Huh?" And that momentary pause of magic was all the time needed for the Unicorn to appear before him, a single step taking him forward several meters before his hoof connected with Sombra's face.

Sombra expected the hoof to pass through him, for his body to turn to mist the moment the other unicorn made contact, only for his body to remain solid, the punch throwing him to the floor.

As his body fell, he quickly turned to mist and reoriented himself, following it by immediately firing a beam of magic at the ground before him, erecting a wall of dark crystals between him and his assailant.

"Just who do you think you are?!" Sombra yelled, his horn already glowing in preparation for his next spell.

"Did you not hear me before? I knew you were an asshole but I didn't know you had a hearing impairment," His assailant's voice echoed around him, projecting as if coming from all directions simultaneously, "I am Prince Blueblood Platinum."

"Oh..." Sombra smiled at the hearing of that name, "I knew a Platinum once, you know?" His horn fired at the wall of crystals, the crystals acting as a mirror to split his magic like a prism and spread it out along the surroundings, creating more and more spires of dark crystal, "And he taught me a valuable lesson..."

Sombra quickly turned his body into mist and flew upward, avoiding the explosion of crystal shards that shot at his previous location, the wall he created having burst open and scattered at high speeds, his eyes focusing on the Unicorn draped in golden chains below him, his golden mask's devil-like horns glowing with a bright blue light in conjuncture with his natural horn.

"HOUSE PLATINUM IS RULED BY LIES!" Sombra yelled, his magic shooting out of his semi-tangible horn in a pillar of dark magic, intending to crush the white Unicorn beneath him under the weight of his magic. A confident smile spread across his face as he watched the pillar of darkness swallow the unicorn.

"You know... Aspen said those exact same words." Sombra's smirk froze as he turned to look behind him.
Sitting on the crystals he created as if he were relaxing on a bench, Prince Blueblood Platinum stood unharmed.
"Before you spoke them, I was content to just beat you up and then disintegrate you under the heat of an exploding solar system, not really caring that much. But now?" Blueblood's body shimmered before disappearing from view, only to immediately reappear before Sombra's face, "Now I know you know something that I want to know about. So you're going to tell me everything you know." Sombra felt his body solidify, falling down to the ground as his magic stopped working, only for a golden rope to wrap around his torso and hold him aloft.

No, it wasn't a rope. It was a tail.

"Plunderseed!" Sombra's mind spit as he tried to pull the golden vine off of him, feeling the plant-like matter slowly grow and extend as it continued wrapping around his body, holding his legs in place, keeping him dangling from the air.

Sombra prepared to bite his lips and draw upon the magic in his blood in an attempt to tear the offending vine off of him.

"So let us start in the beginning..." Sombra watched as the world around him shifted, the vine around his body disappearing, the crystals and snow that danced around him replaced with red and brown leaves, the buildings of colorful quartz replaced with thick wooden logs, the dark and cold sky above replaced with a canopy of red leaves beneath a blue and cloudy sky.

Sombra felt the plunderseed vines disappearing as he fell onto a wooden chair, sitting at the head of a long wooden table, filled with plenty of different food and drink. And on the other side of the long table, dressed in a pinstripe blue and white suit, sat Prince Blueblood Platinum, pouring himself a cup of whisky from a bottle that levitated beside him.

As he sat at that table in the middle of the woods, staring at the unicorn sitting across him, Sombra knew that the only way he could escape his current predicament was to wait for the fear and despair of his arrival to spread across the Crystal Ponies outside, their negativity boosting his magic enough to tear the Plunderseed off of himself and beat the Platinum Prince.

"Heh... A fine illusion this is," Sombra complimented the white unicorn, "It almost feels real."

"Thank you," Blueblood said politely, a slice of Black Forest gateau levitating onto a plate beside him, a small spoon joining it on the plate in front of the Prince, "Would you like to eat something before we begin? The food here has no nutritional value, being an illusion and all, but I assure you that the taste is as real as it gets." His voice was no longer projecting from around him, the golden mask and chains that wrapped around his physical body were gone from this illusion of an autumn forest clearing.

And with the idea of buying time, Sombra decided to play along.

"I would love something to bite." As the words left his mouth, a plate of cakes and cookies appeared before him, a teapot levitated above a small cup beside him, pouring down a clear brown liquid with a gentle floral aroma for him to enjoy.

"Here, and please, enjoy this feast." Blueblood gave him a polite smile from across the long table, "After all... This will be your last meal."

"Sombra's back!"
"The Crystal Heart is gone!"
"We're doomed!"

Panic and fear spread through the streets of the Crystal Empire, some were running to their houses and boarding the windows, others were kneeling on the ground and rubbing their hooves in prayer, hoping for this living nightmare of theirs to end.
Foals and Fillies were crying in the legs of their mothers, as others cried for answers, hoping for a princess that was long dead to save them from their tyrant.

Shadows spread along the ground as Sombra's crystals spread like a corrupting tumor, growing over other crystals and transforming them into a dark reflection of themselves, the shadows spreading farther along the ground as more and more crystals emerged from the darkness.

Those crystals brought fear, and that fear gave Sombra power, with more fear, more crystals emerged from the shadows, creating a cycle of terror that slowly fueled the tyrant's plan of escape.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Empire, inside a wall of dark crystals, an illusion covered the place. A bubble of magic that changed the world inside its borders to fit with the spell.

From an outside look, it would seem like a blue marble, a bubble that housed a pair of stallions, who were trapped inside the false reality that took place inside the bubble.

And yet, if someone were to walk into the bubble, they would behold a sight of wonder.

Even as the Crystals on the ground around it started to close in on the bubble, like lichen spreading on the branches of a tree, preparing to pierce the bubble and save their master.

"I did it for love." Sombra said calmly as he took a sip of his tea, "All of it, every single part of it, I did for love." He looked at the unicorn that sat across him.

"Doesn't look very lovely," Blueblood pointed out, "So your explanation better be good."

"Of course," Sombra smiled calmly as he set the cup down on the table, "Before we begin my tale, you're going to need some context." Sombra took a deep breath, closing his eyes to enjoy the soft autumn breeze, the smell of the forest around him, and the aroma of the tea on his tongue.

None of it was real, he knew that, but he was still allowed to enjoy it.

"Long ago, the land of Equestria was inhabited by a great sage." Sombra began, "That sage lived one with nature, his understanding of the natural order of the world was so grand he could create life out of anything you could think of. He could be attributed to the source of many wonderful creatures that you see in the world today, from the Cockatrice to the Manticore, from the Chimera to even the Plunderseed that you keep as a pet, this great Sage was a bringer of life."

Blueblood quietly sat across the table, listening intently to the story Sombra was telling.

"But this sage was not the sole being living in Equestria at the time. His work on keeping the cycle of nature spinning was assisted by two other species." Sombra placed his elbow on the table, his head dropping to rest on his hoof as he stared into Blueblood's eyes, "The Deer helped raise forests and spread the plants across the land, and the Umbrum helped tear them down, turning the dying plants and creatures into fertilizer, bringing new life back into the never-ending cycle."

"Growth and Decomposition," Blueblood said, getting a nod from Sombra.

"Precisely. Under the sage's guidance, Equestria could have been considered a natural paradise." Sombra said, "And then everything changed when the ponies arrived."

"They were in an invasive species, coming in from the cold north where they destroyed their land with conflict and strife, bringing with them the freezing winds of the Windigo." Sombra scowled as he spoke, "At first, the Sage tried to let them coexist in the land, become a natural part of the cycle, yet they could not do so. They saw his power as a threat to their rule, and so they took it away from him, the source of his magic was stolen by a Unicorn that the ponies deemed a hero, and without his power, the sage was little more than a regular Ibex. Without his magic, he aged and died, no longer able to keep watch of the natural order."

"Cute history lesson, but do get to your point," Blueblood urged Sombra to continue.

"I am getting there, have patience." Sombra rolled his eyes, momentarily pausing to see the red leaves on the trees sway in an imaginary wind.

"Following the sage's death, the Deer secluded themselves in the Everfree Forest, ignoring the natural order of the land they helped build being destroyed and taken away by the Ponies. And then, the Ponies turned their eyes to the last of the Sage's allies, the Umbrum." Sombra's eyes returned to stare into Blueblood's own, trying to get a read on the Platinum Prince.

"They saw the decay they caused and deemed them evil, banishing them to the frozen north where they came from, sealing them in a magical prison beneath the ruins of what was once a great pony kingdom, now buried in ice and snow following the arrival of the Windigos." Sombra continued talking, "There, the Umbrum brewed for centuries, cursing the ponies and the world, waiting for the opportunity for them to escape."

"Look, if you're just going to be talking about nothing, We can end this here. I have no issues with that." Blueblood said as he took a bite of his cake, pouring more whiskey into his cup.

"I told you to be patient, Platinum, good context is crucial to any retelling of events," Sombra growled before he schooled his expression, calming himself down. With the Plunderseed around his body, he couldn't feel how close his crystals were, so he had to keep buying time.

"As I was saying, the Umbrum were imprisoned beneath the ruins of the abandoned kingdom of the ponies, the one they left behind when they traveled to Equestria. But, not all ponies traveled south, those that remained and adapted to the cold managed to create a relic that would amplify their love and banish the Windigos from their land. That, Blueblood Platinum, was the moment the Crystal Empire was born." Sombra paused as he felt a flicker of magic in the back of his mind, "But we can continue this talk later~" Sombra smirked as a shriek of pain sounded around him, the illusion shattering like a glass window, the forest falling apart to reveal the dark crystal walls that surrounded the two Unicorns.

On the floor beside him, a golden Plunderseed rolled on the ground, her tail cut off by a sharp spike of crystal.

Across from him, once more in his golden regalia, Prince Blueblood stood unmoving, his faceless mask staring at Sombra as if he were waiting for the tyrant to try something.

"Do not worry, Comet, it will grow back." Blueblood's voice projected from around him once more, "On the other hand, I think it is time to teach you what happens when you get on my bad side..."

"Oh? And how will you do so? Without your little Plunderseed, you cannot even touch me!" Sombra shouted, his voice bouncing on the crystal walls around him.

"You're right, without Clover's web or Comet's power, I can't touch you." Blueblood's horn glowed with power as he levitated the squirming spider plant closer to him, a wisp of blue magic drifting out from his horn and into the Plunderseed, causing her squirming to calm as she entered a slumber, "Your body will just turn to Mist as soon as any harm reaches you..."

Sombra scowled as he saw the prince's shoulders start to bounce as if laughing in silence.

"At least, that's what I would have said had I not dragged you here with Mercury!" Blueblood's voice projected loudly, his horn shining bright as the yet uncorrupted crystals he stood on burst out of the ground, forming the shape of a Centaur's torso, a pair of arms extending from the crystal shoulders of the torso as blue fire burned through the cracks in the crystals like veins, holding the crystals together like glue, as a blue illusory tail erupted from below the floating torso, ending in a crystal spike, the flames that held the torso traveling down the false tail and into the spike at its end.

"PLUTO!" Blueblood yelled as a burning blue skull of a snake formed on top of the torso, a pair of horns growing through the top of the skull as the flames formed the crown of a cobra.

"Because I get it now!" Blueblood yelled, the crystal statue levitating on its false tail beside him, "You need to actively turn your body into mist! You can't dodge something you can't react to!"

"...What are you getting at?" Sombra growled, his horn bubbling with dark magic as purple smoke wafted from his eyes, the crystals around him growing sharper, more crystals spreading from his magic across the Crystal Empire as his magic was once more freed to actively be cast under his control.

"That you're a fucking dipshit!" Blueblood roared with laughter, "Look down!"

"Wha-" Sombra turned to look down, his eyes widening as he watched the tail of the Plunderseed wrap around his leg, the golden vine elongating across the ground before ending in the clawed hands of the statue beside the prince.

"Asteroid!" Blueblood yelled, the vine wrapping tightly around Sombra's leg shone with golden light as his body refused to turn to mist.

"PLUTO!!!" The statue roared as he lifted his arms, the vine dragging along with it as Sombra was pulled into the air by his leg.

"YOU BASTARD!" Sombra screamed, a beam of magic escaping his horn as he fired at Blueblood, his eyes widening in rage as he saw the beam pass harmlessly through his body, the unicorn prince disappearing as the illusion of his body faded away.

"Plu-" Sombra felt his body gain momentum, the vine around his leg refusing to budge as the statue kept swinging him around, "-TO!!!"

With a mighty swing, Sombra found himself sailing through the air, his magic erecting barriers against his skin as quickly as he could before his face hit the ground, only to bounce back up as the swing continued to drag him through the Crystal Empire's quiet streets, the vine continuing to grow and elongate, refusing to let go of him no matter how far he was swung.

"This spell can wrap around the moon!" He heard Blueblood's voice echo around him, the prince refusing to show himself, "You will not be getting out of my range!"

"Woooah Hahaha!" Sliding up on the sloping underside of the stairs, Twilight Sparkle cheered in excitement as the wind brushed against her face, her little brother holding on to her back for dear life as the duo kept speeding up the stairs.
"I actually studied gravity spells thinking it might be on my test!" Twilight told Spike, her horn glowing pink as she kept the spell going, "Turns out, I was prepared for this!"

It wasn't long before the stairs reached their end, the duo finding themselves on top of the tallest spire of the castle, with Twilight quickly disabling the gravity spell to stop the two from falling into the sky.

Looking around, Twilight and Spike took a moment to appreciate the view of what they looked for as it levitated before them.

"The Crystal Heart..." Spike whispered as he looked upon the relic of the Empire. It was a brilliant blue crystal in the shape of a heart, even he could feel the magic and love emanating from the magical relic.

Twilight took a step towards the magic, only to pause and look down at the Empire below, a frown forming on her face as she saw the sight.

Crystals of dark magic were growing around the empire, Ponies were gathering below the castle hoping for answers, at the edges she could see the green grass of the empire be buried by the snow of the tundra, and far away, in a corner of the city away from all others, she saw him.

Crystals and beams of darkness grew rapidly around him as his body was swung around from a long golden rope. Each blast of his magic caused the crystals that were already spreading around the empire to quake and grow larger and sharper, overtaking the houses and parks of the Crystal Empire.

He was clearly fighting somepony, but Twilight knew that all it did was buy her more time.

She clapped her hooves on to her cheeks, forcing herself to focus as she turned to the Crystal Heart.

And as she took a step forward, to reach out to the relic and take it, the ground below her shook.

"What?!" An alarm blared in her ears, the circle that kept the Heart floating turned grey and dark, walls of crystals bursting from the floor to trap Twilight inside, the Crystal Heart having fallen outside of the cage of darkness and out of her reach.

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed in shock as he saw his sister get trapped behind the crystal cage.

"The Heart!" Twilight shouted, "Spike, where is it? Did you see where it fell?"

"It's here!" Spike said as he tried to get closer to his sister, small crystals growing from the floor like spears ready to impale any who tried to step over them, "It fell over here when you got caught!"

Twilight watched her brother try and walk through the growing maze of spikes, "Don't move!" She shouted as she saw his foot about to step on a sharp crystal protrusion, "You can move just not towards me," Spike quickly listened to his sister as he moved back, closer to the stairs they came from.

Twilight tried to teleport out of the cage, but the moment her body left the cage a rush of dark magic caught her and teleported her back into the cage, her face slamming into the crystal wall around her.

"How could I be so foolish?" Twilight asked as she rubbed her face, "I was so eager to get it, and when I saw what was going on outside, I..."

"You have to get out of there, Twilight!" Spike tried to urge his sister, "You have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadance." Spike took a step back as a dark crystal beside his foot grew upwards, almost impaling him in the process, "If you don't, you'll fail Celestia's test!"

Twilight turned to look through a crack in the cage, watching the land outside get overrun by the dark crystals, "King Sombra is already attacking the Empire-"

"STOP THIS! FOOLISH PLATINUM!!!" Sombra roared in rage as his body slammed against a crystal spire, shattering the crystals and raining the shard down onto his face.

"MAKE ME!!!" Blueblood's invisible form roared back, his voice echoing all around the tyrant as Pluto continued swinging him around as if he were a wrecking ball.

"-He could reach the Crystal Ponies at any moment..." Twilight said with worry, "Reach Princess Cadance, my brother, my friends..."

Sombra roared as a crystal spike emerged from the ground, impaling the statue that swung him around and spreading his darkness onto the crystals that made up his body. With a yell of effort, he forced the now corrupted Pluto to shatter, letting go of him as he fell to the ground, the Plunderseed vine still wrapped around his leg, refusing to budge.

"No matter!" He yelled as he cut the offending vine, leaving it as little more than a bracelet around his back leg, he might not be able to turn to mist, but at least he was no longer being used as a tool for demolition.

"MARS!" Blueblood's voice echoed around him once more, and Sombra quickly erected a wall of crystals between him and a spinning beam of magic, the magic acting as a propellant that fired a spinning crystal at Sombra.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Sombra roared, his horn releasing a blast of magic, disabling any illusions in his vicinity, "THERE YOU ARE!" And with a yell of effort, Sombra tossed a crystal the size of a carriage at the golden-chained Prince.

As he watched the crystal fly at his target, he picked himself up in his magic, his body flying away as he started to create distance.

"Rupture~" The Prince's voice echoed as the crystal projectile split apart, his body passing harmlessly through the middle as the crystal broke apart mid-flight, before shattering into glass powder behind him, "Mars~" A small rock lifted before him, quickly starting to spin in his magic before it fired toward Sombra's retreating form, drilling through the many crystal projectiles he threw at the prince.

"There might not be enough time for me to find a way to escape..." Twilight told herself as she watched the dark crystals spread across the land before an idea reached her mind as she turned to look at her brother.

"You need to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the fair."

"Stop chasing me!" Sombra roared as he fired more and more crystals at the Prince, watching as they helplessly split and shattered in midair before they could even make contact with his assailant.

"Stop running away and face your execution like a man!" Blueblood yelled, his body surrounded in bright golden light before he dashed towards Sombra, a whisper of "Mercury~" echoing on the winds as he appeared in front of the tyrant, catching him in a clothesline and dropping him onto the ground at the edge of the Empire, snow and ice beginning to fall upon the two stallions as they stood at the end of where the grass grew.

"You...!" Sombra roared as he fired a beam of magic at the prince, smirking as he watched him side-step it.

"You missed..." Blueblood said as his horn started glowing, ready to end the fight.

"No, I didn't~" Sombra smirked, "I wasn't aiming at you~"

Blueblood quickly turned around to find a crystal the size of a two-story house fall towards him, preparing to crush him under its weight.

"Rupture~" Blueblood said and the crystal shattered, cracks forming and tearing away as he magically pulled the crystal apart from the inside before it could reach him, splitting it and shattering it into tiny shards and dust.

"I GOT YOU!" Sombra yelled as the second the crystal shattered, another crystal burst from the ground and stabbed into Blueblood's left hind leg, drawing blood for the first time before it was quickly torn out and shattered before it could stab deeper.

As he watched the blood flow from the gaping wound on his opponent's calve, Sombra wasted no time in firing up his specialty.

"HAHAHA! NOW LET US SEE WHAT YOU TRULY FEAR!!!"

"You called for me, Princess Celestia?" Stepping into her room, Prince Blueblood watched the Princess stare at a piece of paper with a frown on her face.

"Close the door and sit." Celestia did not look up from the paper, her brows knitting as the frown on her face deepened.

"Is something the matter? I assure you that I have-"

"What is your name?" Celestia interrupted him, her eyes rising from the paper to look into his own.

"Blueblood... Celestia, is something the matter?"

"Your full name?" Celestia ignored him as she asked again.

"Blueblood Platinum, but-"

"And there lies the problem, Blueblood." Celestia sighed as she lowered the paper she was reading on to the table, "That is not your name."

"...Oh, I see, This is a late April Fools' joke, Although I do not see where the joke is, you did manage to scare me for a moment, I thought something serious was happening, Haha~" Blueblood laughed Celestia's behavior off.

But Celestia wasn't laughing.

"You are not a Platinum." She said bluntly, her words spearing through Blueblood's mask of laughter, getting his full attention.

"What do you mean? Of course I am, That's why you took me in." Blueblood told her.

"And it seems," Celestia slid the paper she was reading over to him, "That I was wrong."

"What?" Blueblood read over the paper, his face twisting into a scowl before he even got a quarter through, "And you believe this crap?" Blueblood looked back at Celestia.

"Language."

"Of course I'm a Platinum, You know more about that than some random researchers. They obviously have an agenda here, you can't fall for this." Blueblood felt his emotions rise as he considered what was going on, "They're scammers! You can't fall for any of this, you know I'm right!"

Celestia merely let out a tired sigh as she looked away from Blueblood.

"I cannot allow you to remain in the castle..." Celestia told him, refusing to meet his gaze, "All the property and items that you have owned with the authority and money that was given to you as a Platinum will be revoked and taken as Crown Property," She said as if reading from a teleprompter.

"WHAT?!" Blueblood shot to his feet, the chair he sat on dropping to the floor behind him, "But you took me in as a child! I didn't have anything! Everything I have right now is thanks to you!" He reminded her, his eyes widening as the implications made themselves known, "If you do this, I'll have nothing!"

"...I'm sorry, Mister Blueblood, but there is nothing I can do about this." Celestia refused to meet his gaze, "But do not worry, we have brought someone you know to take care of your properties in your stead."

Blueblood felt his blood freeze as another pony entered the room, a unicorn with a light orange coat and a mane of red and yellow.

"Hello, Blue~" The mare told him as she leaned against the door, watching him with a smirk on her face.

"..." Blueblood stared at the mare as if trying to decipher where he knew her from, only to suddenly recognize the mare before him, "...Sunset Shimmer..." He growled before he turned back to look at Celestia, "You can't be serious! She betrayed you! She took your trust and threw it away! I didn't! I didn't betray anything! You can't give it to her! You can't do this to me!" He yelled at her.

"I am sorry..." Celestia refused to meet Blueblood's eyes as a pair of guards walked in and started dragging him away.

"NO! Look at me! Don't you dare avert your gaze from me!" Blueblood screamed at Celestia as he pushed against the guards pulling him away, his voice rising as he glared at Celestia.

"Don't worry Blue~" Blueblood growled as Sunset Shimmer leaned against him, a smirk on her face, "I'll take good care of the BBF, or should I say SSF now that I'm one of the richest ponies in the world? Haha!"

"YOU BITCH!" Blueblood yelled as he punched her in the face, throwing the mare and the guards away from him as he ran to Celestia's desk, "LOOK AT ME! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE AVERT YOUR GAZE WHEN YOU'RE DOING THIS!!!" He screamed at her as more and more guards piled into the room, grabbing onto him and dragging him away.

"LOOK AT ME!!!" And not once did Celestia meet his gaze.

As he was dragged through the corridors of the castle, the staff refused to meet his gaze, turning away as if he was merely trash being thrown out by a janitor.

As he was dragged through the throne room, he spotted a few ponies he recognized.

"Raven! Starlight! Tell them that this is a misunderstanding!" He called out to them, only to frown as Raven Inkwell turned away.

"I'm sorry Blueblood. With you no longer being a Prince, My probation is over." Starlight said sadly, a pair of guards walking over and placing her in cuffs, "I hope you'll visit though," She tried to smile at him as she was dragged away into a different corridor.

"Luna!" Blueblood turned to the last pony in the throne room, "Please! Don't let her do this to me!" He cried, begging the one person in Equestria he ever begged to, hoping she would be able to do something.

"..." Luna met his eyes, a frown on her face, before she turned away, refusing to look at him.

"...LOOK AT ME!!!" Blueblood roared at her, his horn bursting with light as he threw the guards off of him, "DON'T AVERT YOUR GAZE FROM THIS!!!"

But it was of no use. More and more guards started dragging him out, his magic refusing to fight against the small army of ponies that dragged him off the castle grounds, before tossing him out into the streets as if he were nothing more than a pile of garbage.

Sombra smiled as he watched the nightmare take place in front of his very eyes, the despair born of betrayal feeling like a five-star buffet as he felt his magic spike in power.

As he devoured the dark emotions of the Prince, he felt the despair in the air slowly shift into a different emotion.

And as he watched the tail and mane of the Prince burst into a pillar of blue flames, he knew what the emotion was.

Rage.

And like a crystal ball shattering on the ground, the world transformed in a burst of shattering crystal as the illusion changed.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!"

Sombra watched with eyes wide as the previously clean and orderly Canterlot Castle fell to ruins, the walls collapsed and the floor dotted with holes, blue flames burning all around the castle, signs of a battle that went unseen.

And in the middle of the ruined throneroom, Sombra watched Prince Blueblood, his hair a burning blue fire, and his body covered in blood, both his own and of others, as he picked up an orange unicorn mare by the back of the head before slamming her face down into the marble floor, blood splattering out from every slam of her head, a yell of rage escaping the prince's mouth at every slam.

"AAAAH!" Another slam, "AAAAH!" And another, "AAAAH!"

The Prince's eyes were blank, as if in a trance of anger, as if not knowing he was massacring what were previously his own coworkers and friends.

Watching the sight, Sombra licked his lips, his body a cloud of mist, slowly approaching the Prince.

"You know... We are not so different, You and I..." Sombra told the prince, the illusion changing once more, turning the image of the burning castle into the feast in the middle of the woods that the Prince created previously.

Blueblood was breathing heavily, his body was covered in sweat, glaring at Sombra from across the table.

"I too, was not always the king you see before you." Sombra spoke, picking up the cup of tea that sat before him, "You remember the Umbrum I spoke about, yes?"

"...Fuck you," Blueblood said as he breathed heavily, leaning back on his chair.

"I'll take that as a yes." Sombra smirked at the sight of the Prince, "The Umbrum, as you remember, were imprisoned beneath what would become the Crystal Empire, jailed for centuries before they hatched a plan." Sombra slid over a plate of fruit to the disheveled prince, "The Prison that held them only allowed Umbrum to exist inside while it was closed, and so they took a young Umbrum child and forced his body to undergo a transformation into a being that was not an Umbrum. The magic of the seal detected a being that was not an Umbrum inside the prison, and spit him out. A young Unicorn Foal. Into the cold and hard tundra outside." Sombra took a sip of his floral tea, a soft smile on his face.

"..." Blueblood stared at the King, waiting for him to continue.

"It was there, outside in the cold and freezing tundra, that I died," Sombra said simply, his eyes meeting the Prince's own, measuring his reaction.

"...Kill yourself," Blueblood told him.

Sombra rolled his eyes, "It was then, that she found me."

"Amore?"

"Oh? So you were paying attention after all~" Sombra smirked.

"Fuck off."

"Yes, it was Princess Amore." Sombra shuddered, it was as if the thought of her was enough to scare someone like him, "She looked down upon the corpse of a young unicorn, and said 'This is no place for a little unicorn to die'," Sombra took a deep breath as if he was trying to go through a traumatic experience, "And then I was dead no more." Sombra said, "It was then that I understood something about Princess Amore, something that I am sure only those who could see the skeletons in her closet could understand, something the populace ignored from their minds in their blissful harmony."

"Princess Amore could not tell a Lie," Sombra told him, his eyes meeting Blueblood's own as he tried to convey the seriousness of those words.

"As I told you before, Magic comes in many different shapes and forms, from the corrupting negativity of Dark Magic, to the Harmony of Unicorn Magic." Sombra continued, "Princess Amore was... to call her a pony would feel wrong... She was a being whose very core was so connected with Harmony as a concept, that she could only be described as the Perfect Being." Sombra kept going, "She did not hate, she loved everything, she did not lie, and every word she spoke was truth..."

"She was terrifying." Sombra whispered, "Her connection with Harmony was so strong, the very world changed to fit her description." He shuddered, "She said that it was no place for a little unicorn to die, and I was no longer dying. I once saw her tell a deer that was part of a visiting royal entourage that his coat did not look good on him, he was later found in one of the guest rooms dead, having ripped his own skin off, having written the words ugly and shame on the walls with his own blood...
Pure and Harmonic, she wields love to shrive clean the hearts of all... There is nothing more terrifying."

"I look past her horrific nature, out of my own hatred for the Umbrum who abandoned me, I looked the other way for too long. And then it was too late..." Sombra let out a shuddering breath, his eyes leaving the prince to look down at the cup of tea before him.
"I told you I did it for love. I was not lying when I said so."

Blueblood stared at the now Somber tyrant, waiting for him to continue.

"Her name was Radiant Hope, and she was the love of my life~" Sombra said wistfully, the tea in his hooves shimmering, revealing an image reflected on its surface.

Sombra's horn shone with a weak amber-colored aura, an illusion of the pony appearing for the prince to see.

It was a unicorn mare, her coat and mane glistening like crystals. Her coat was purple and her hair was a pale blue, her cutie mark was of caduceus, and her eyes...
"You remind me of her... Somewhat..." Sombra whispered as he stared into the illusion's eyes, seeing in them the same arctic blue as the prince's.

He let out a sigh, seeming to age ten years in a single second, "We loved each other... One day, she was invited to study in Canterlot... Starswirl the Bearded figured she would be a good example of a Princess..." Sombra's eyes did not leave the illusion, "She turned him down. Her fate, her destiny, a future she always dreamed of having, she turned it down just so she wouldn't need to leave me," He smiled weakly, a single tear rolling down his eye, transforming into a black crystal halfway down his face before dropping into his tea, turning the aromatic liquid into a murky brown sludge.

"It wasn't long after that she got sick, the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with her. Hope could cure almost any disease, she could fix any injury, and yet, as she lay in that hospital bed, she could not do anything." Sombra closed his eyes as he continued talking, the illusion fading away.

Blueblood stared at the King in silence, finding it hard to believe that the person who sat before him, who spoke of his life over a thousand years ago, was the same person he punched in the face repeatedly for twenty minutes just an hour earlier.

"And without options, I did the last thing I could think of to save my love." Sombra spoke with a shuddering breath, "I went to Princess Amore, and asked for help."

"Something went wrong, didn't it?" Blueblood quietly asked.

Sombra released a tired sigh, "When Princess Amore stood over the Hospital Bed, she spoke those horrible words..." he shuddered just remembering them, "'Radiant Hope is not Sick' she said, and as I turned to look at the bed, I expected to find her there, healthy as a horse, instead I found..."

"...She was dead?" Blueblood gently asked.

"...She was gone. There was no pony on that hospital bed." Sombra frowned as he remembered that event, "I turned to Amore, to ask what the meaning of this was, to know where my Radiant Hope went. And then she said those words... those five cursed words... 'There is no Radiant Hope'..." Sombra's body shook, his mane flowing in an invisible wind, the leaves on the trees around the illusory clearing shook and rustled.

"She took her from me!" Sombra slammed his hoof on the table, the teacup falling off the table to the ground below, "I swore that I will take her down, that no pony would have to see their loved one disappear from the world in front of their very eyes because of the words of a demon!" Sombra stood up from the chair, placing both front hooves on the table as he spoke louder, "I left the Empire and traveled to the Everfree forest, where I met with the deer who was in charge of the entourage that caused that grizzly sight."

"Gaia Everfree..." Blueblood noted, and Sombra nodded.

"She helped teach me about Harmony, about different forms of magic, about the history of the Crystal Empire itself, and there was another..." Sombra locked eyes with Blueblood, "A Prince of Platinum, just like you."

"Together," Sombra continued, his voice rising in volume until he was all but shouting, "We formed a plan to take down Amore! To save the people of the Empire from her vile power! And I succeeded! I avenged my Hope! And I was banished for it!" Sombra slammed his hooves on the table, breaking it in the process.

"Join me! Blueblood Platinum! And together, we could save this world!" Sombra raised a leg to point at the prince, the table splitting in two, parting the path between the two unicorns.

"..." Blueblood stared at the hoof outstretched to him.

"It was a Prince of Platinum that taught me dark magic," Sombra told him, "And now, I can teach the same to a Platinum of my own... Become my Student, Blueblood, and stand by my side."

Blueblood stood up from the chair he sat on and started slowly making his way across the forest clearing, through the path that formed with the breaking of the long wooden table.

"With your talent and my knowledge, no pony would ever be able to stand in our way." Sombra smiled as he watched Blueblood make his way, his hoof shaking slightly, inviting the prince to grab hold of it.

Blueblood stopped in front of Sombra, staring down at the outstretched hoof.

He took a deep breath as he looked up, staring into the brilliant scarlet eyes of the King of the Crystal Empire.

"..." Blueblood closed his eyes for a moment, "You know, Your story was heart-pounding, a real tragedy, and I'm sure there are many ponies who would love to take you up on this offer after hearing your story..."

"But I saw what you did once you took to the throne..." He continued, "There are no Unicorns or Pegasi in the Empire, the library of the castle is burnt, a quarter of the City is filled with empty houses and broken ruins, and you hid away the one thing keeping the subjects safe from the freezing tundra."

"So, In regards to your offer, all I have to say is this..." Blueblood took a deep breath as he watched Sombra's face twist into a scowl.

"Forcing the Alignment~"

Spike held the Crystal Heart close to himself as he started to climb down the towering spikes of dark crystals that sprouted along the castle's main spire, using them as improvised steps, moving as fast as he could to escape as the roof exploded with rapidly growing spires of sharp crystal.

Down below, Applejack and Rarity continued trying to manage the panicking crowd.

"Now don't y'all worry your pretty little crystal heads, the real Crystal Heart will be here any second!" Applejack told the crowd below as she and her friends stood on a balcony of the castle.

"I don't know if they believe you~" Rarity whispered to Applejack.

"I don't know if I believe me~"

"Sol~ Mercury~ Venus~"

Sombra roared with anger as he moved to punch Blueblood across the face, only to find that his body refused to move, his magic refused to listen to his command either.

"Terra~ Mars~ Asteroid~"

Sombra watched as the illusion he created was overtaken by the Prince's magic, the world tearing away like wallpaper, revealing the unending sea of stars in the night sky.

The Sunburned brightly behind him, its heat searing at his flesh.

"Why can't I move?!" Sombra yelled, feeling the skin on his back burn as the sun's rays roasted him.

Mercury and Venus appeared behind him, providing little protection from the scorching sun, the earth stood below him, far below him, as if he was floating in space far above the clouds, followed by the appearance of the red planet in front of him, and the ring of space rocks behind followed soon after.

"I'm fine, Shining Armor..." Cadance told her husband, her eyes drooping to a near close as sleep threatened to take her.

"We can only keep her awake for another twenty minutes at most!" A Yak said loudly as she moved around the tired princess, "She'll be sleeping for a few days in a row after this, better get the IV bag ready."

On the spire of the castle, Spike tried to avoid the dark crystals growing out of the walls all around him, threatening to spear him through and break the Heart.

"Hey! Up Here!" He called to his friends below, hoping one of them will notice before he slipped.

"Spike?!" Rarity asked in befuddlement as she looked up, joined by Applejack and Fluttershy, seeing the young dragon climb down the outside of the tower.

"I got the Crystal Heart!" Spike raised the relic above his head to show it to his friends.

"Jupiter~ Saturn~ Uranus~"

Sombra roared, his magic trying to break him free of this false reality he was now stuck in, to no avail.

Around the Empire, the dark crystals shook and sharpened, the speed of their growth increasing as their master ordered them to.

Spike ran down the crystals, his feet hurting from the many small scratches on his scales, and as the crystal he stood on suddenly shook with renewed vigor, Spike fell, letting go of the Crystal Heart in the process.

"Spikey Wikey!" Rarity screamed as she looked away.

Shining Armor watched the scene in silence before an idea popped into his head, one he knew his wife would despise, and so he readied himself to sleep in the metaphorical doghouse before he picked Cadance up on his back.

"Wait! She's not stable enough for this-" The Yak hoofmaiden tried to warn, only to quiet down as Prince Rutherford silently placed a hoof on her shoulder.

Cadance weakly opened her eyes, watching the glinting light of the Crystal Heart, shining like a beacon calling for her to grab it, and she opened her wings.

And as Spike's falling body plummeted closer to a towering spike of dark crystal, ready to impale the baby dragon, Shining Armor lifted his wife in his hooves, and threw her like a javelin.

"Neptune~ Pluto~ Kuiper~"

Sombra glared hatefully at the Unicorn that stood before him, watching the mask and chains of gold around his body shatter and flake away to reveal his disheveled appearance, his left hind leg still bleeding from the crystal he was stabbed with, and his face looking like it wanted nothing more than to take a break.

"You know?" Blueblood asked the King, "Your illusion? It was fine illusion~" He smirked, repeating the King's words back to him, "Really shook me you know, but it was also your biggest mistake." Blueblood shook his head as he grinned, "Placing yours truly into an illusion and not limiting my usage of magic? Really, that's a mistake only a child would make, no true master of illusions would do so!"

Sombra planned on betraying him, even if he agreed to join forces, he would have betrayed him.
Just like that Prince of Platinum betrayed him all those years ago.

"This is a Spell born of a Broken Star~"

And as he stared at the smirk on the prince's face, he did not see Blueblood Platinum.
No, he saw that same exact smirk all those years ago as he watched his entire nation disappear outside of time, on the face of a being whose very core was born of lies.

And as he watched the magic form at the end of the solar system, Sombra prepared to scream his name in curse.

"PALE BLUE DOT"

And as the beam that destroyed the solar system raced toward him, all Sombra could do was curse the name.

"STYGIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"

And the world was engulfed in burning gold.

Sailing through the air, running on the last of her fumes, Princess Cadance caught Spike the Dragon and the Crystal Heart, feeling its magic rejuvenate her body as it started glowing with brilliant blue light.

"Behold! The Crystal Princess!" A pony down below yelled as they pointed at the Alicorn of Love as she flew down to land in front of the crowd.

Cadance breathed heavily, and Spike held on to her back as the heart levitated in her magic, "The Crystal Heart has returned." Cadance told the crowd around her, "Use the light and love within you to make sure that King Sombra does not!"

The Heart flew out of her magic, and levitated into the center of the Empire, as a pair of magical pillars emerged from the castle above it and the pavement below, holding the Heart in place.

All around the Empire, People bowed, some thankful that this tiring job they took on was finally over, others because the hope of their Empire had returned.

And as their light and love gathered in the Crystal Heart, it spun between the pillars, turning into a brilliant spinning top, as a wave of light emerged from the heart, disintegrating the many dark crystals that grew on the Empire, and gave all the creatures a crystalline makeover.

Shining Armor smiled brightly as the dark crystal that grew on his horn disappeared, allowing him to once again use magic.

Twilight Sparkle breathed a sigh of relief as the cage of dark crystals that surrounded her disintegrated from the wave of love, watching her coat and mane shimmer like gems, her hair having magically been styled differently thanks to the Crystal Heart's mystical powers.

All around the Crystal Empire, people cheered as their love lit up the world around them, banishing the darkness away.

In Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia smiled as she watched an aurora of magical light emerge from beyond the mountains of the far north, clearing away the darkening clouds and spreading positivity even in her own kingdom.

Prince Blueblood Platinum dropped his illusion, watching as the wave of positivty flung Sombra's horn far away, the only piece of his body that survived.

He ignored the crystalline hue of his body, or the fact that his mane was now slicked back, nor how the injury on his calf was healed over.

With a glow of his horn, a pack of cigarettes appeared in front of him, the prince silently took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth, his horn firing a tiny beam of magic to light the stick before he teleported the pack away.

"Star light, Star Bright," He said out loud as he took a drag of his cigarette, the snow that covered the area he stood in was gone, and the prince now found himself in the midst of a field of vibrant green grass, "First Star I see tonight," He turned to look at the towering Crystal Castle in the distance, "I wish I may, I wish I might," He took the cigarette out of his mouth and let the smoke blow out of his mouth, "Have the wish I wish tonight..." he let out a tired sigh.

"Smoking is bad for you, you know?" He said out loud before turning his head to look beside him, smirking as he watched the air shimmer and waver, revealing the crystalline figure of his bodyguard.

"How long did you know I was there?" Starlight Glimmer asked, a paper bag of popcorn levitating beside her.

"Since Sombra tried to crush me with a giant crystal~" Blueblood shrugged as he levitated the cigarette in front of himself, "You want a smoke?"

"No thanks," Starlight told him with a soft smile, her mane styled in a braid thanks to the Crystal Heart's magic, "You know, this new hairstyle? You should keep it, it looks good on you, Slicked back and all that shows off more of your face."

"I'll consider it~" Blueblood shrugged as he put the cigarette back in his mouth, "Let's go back to the castle, I think there's a party going on."

"There probably is," Starlight smiled as she followed behind her best friend.

"Oh, and Starlight?"

"Yes, Blueblood?"

"Thanks for not interfering in my fight, I haven't felt this freeing since... The Everfree fiasco, I think."

"The Everfree Fiasco?" Starlight repeated in question.

"Eh, I'll tell you about it later~" Blueblood waved her off, "Anyway, I'm feeling a Sangria, you want some?"

"What's a Sangria?"

"Ohoho, I'm glad you asked!"

Starlight Glimmer smiled gently as she spent the rest of her walk back to the castle listening to her best friend explain to her the intricacies of making an alcoholic drink she never heard of before.

At least he was having fun.

Author's Note

This is the longest chapter in this story's entire history.

As you already know, this story is a mix of Comic and Show.

That is it, no more author notes. :pinkiesmile:

Chapter 128: The Empire of Love

Following the return of the Crystal Heart, the Crystal Empire found itself free of King Sombra's tyranny, and now, able to move forward from that dark page of their history books, and go on to a brighter tomorrow.

With a unanimous vote from the Crystal Ponies, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza took her place as the rightful ruler of The Crystal Empire, to the celebration of many.

With the day over, the Yak's began their return to their home villages, with a few exceptions of course.

"We still have so much history to glean from this Library," One of the Yak researchers explained to the confused Crystal Ponies.

And while most Yak decided to take the train back to Yakyakistan, a few decided to take the long route.

"I'm sorry what should have been a short meeting to build new opportunities devolved into such a dangerous fiasco," Prince Blueblood Platinum smiled apologetically as he stood at the edge of the Crystal Empire, watching a group of Yaks get ready to depart.

"Nonsense Friend Blueblood!" Prince Rutherford said loudly, "Help stop the evil we did! Save the Empire we had!" He laughed uproariously, "Manage to glimpse your battle with Sombra I did, Tell tales of your strength they will! Haha!"

"Yeah," Blueblood rubbed the back of his neck, "I do apologize in advance for you're future meeting with Princess Celestia to manage the new border situation..."

"Nonsense, I will use the opportunity to finally beat you in drinking!"

"I do believe that I'm the one who's supposed to be beating you in our drinking challenge." Blueblood pointed out.

"You drink like a warrior true! It will be me who shall outdrink you!" Rutherford reiterated.

"You drink like a Prince of Yaks, it is I who needs to be able to outdrink you to win!" Blueblood said back.

"You both drink the same amount, which is arguably too much!" Starlight Glimmer spoke up to dispel the childish back and forth the two royals were having, "Have a safe trip, Your Highness, But I need to get this idiot to focus on his other work." She wrapped a leg around Blueblood's neck, pulling him into a side-hug.

"Haha! Of course of course!" Rutherford laughed, "You both are honorary Yak! Best wishes to you both!" He told the two unicorns before he and his entourage stepped out of the borders of the Empire and into the freezing tundra outside of the Crystal Heart's range.

The Crystal Empire was located in Yakyakistani territory, and its sudden reappearance has sparked much discussion about the shaping of new borders that must now occur.

Returning the Crystal Empire's historical land will lead to many problems for the many Yak villages that were built over the course of the last 1,000 years, but at the same time the Crystal Empire could not feasibly be ruled by Yakyakistan.
And with Princess Cadance estimated to sleep her exhaustion off for the next few days, there was little reason for Prince Rutherford to stay much longer in the Empire.

"How much do you wager they're boning?" A Yak guard asked as he waded through the snow, following his Prince.

"A Stallion and a Mare can be good friends with no Romance getting in the way!" Rutherford pointed out, "But I will wager 5 barrels of wine that they are boning!" He laughed loudly, joined by the rest of his entourage.

"10 Barrels they end up getting married by the end of the decade!" Another guard added.

"...Me thought they already married..." Another Yak whispered, embarrassed at the scandalous discussion he was now a part of.

"Yak Yakity Yak! Hahahaha!" Another Yak shouted in his mother tongue, causing the rest to laugh, ignoring the freezing tundra pelting their furs.

"Ahh~ It's good to be back~" Prince Blueblood let out a content sigh as he stepped into Canterlot Castle for the first time in a bit over a full week.

Following Sombra's defeat, he stayed in The Crystal Empire for another night, the Elements of Harmony having returned to Equestria the evening prior to his return.

"You!" He pointed at a passing maid, "Take these bags to my room, and you!" He pointed at the maid beside her, "Tell the chef to ready my food! I haven't eaten anything besides train food and Yakyakistani cuisine for a week, tell him I'm expecting something Prench~"

"Right away your Highness!" The maids bowed before quickly going to do their jobs.

"Starlight, go do something else, I'm going to take a shower~" He told his bodyguard before his body faded away into an illusion of invisibility.

"...Wow. Just leave me behind..." Starlight Glimmer stared at the spot he just stood at before she shook her head and went deeper into the castle, "Let's see what Raven's up to."

Sitting at the dinner table, eating his food on his own, Prince Blueblood let out a relaxed sigh as he took a bite of a vegetarian Cordon Bleu with a side of Onion Soup.

As he was eating, he watched his bowl of soup levitate away from him as another pony sat on the other side of the table, the spoon of soup levitating into her mouth as the new diner took a bite of his food.

Luckily for him, The Prince expected something like this to happen, so he got the chef to make him a bowl of mushroom soup.

"You look like you've enjoyed yourself," Princess Luna said as she took another spoonful of soup.

"I did," Blueblood admitted, "Following the entire ordeal with Chrysalis, I found myself wanting to just let loose and... defeat a villain~"

"You wanted to punch a pony in the face and get away with it~" Luna smirked from the other side of the table.

"Guilty as charged~" Blueblood smirked, "I wanted to let loose, work both my magic and frustrations out, I've been needing this for two months already, and I finally got it when I beat Sombra."

"Woah- Wait!" Luna raised her voice, lowering the spoon back into the bowl of soup, "You beat Sombra?"

"Yep."

"You," Luna pointed at Blueblood. "Expect us to believe," she pointed at herself. "That you," she said back to Blueblood. "Beat Sombra?"

"You're saying this as if I haven't already fought off Chrysalis twice before. I'm still in the lead with her, It's two to one." Blueblood reminded her, "But yes, I fought off Sombra, If we ignore the twenty minutes I spent just walloping on his face at the start, the fight lasted only thirty minutes or so, most of which was the two of us speaking to each other under an illusion."

"So you waited until The Crystal Heart was found, and then held him in place until the Heart's Magic could defeat him, right?"

"Nope, I beat him on my own." Blueblood said simply before he returned to eating.

"...Can we... Can we enter your dream tonight? Have you show us how you did it."

"Sure, Just knock before entering, and I will be censoring a bunch of stuff I want to remain private, but I can show you how I did it." Blueblood told her.

"Cool~" Luna said as the two royals returned to eating their lunch.

Outside the borders of Equestria, Sitting on the crumbling throne of an ancient and abandoned castle, A Queen counted down the days until her masterful plan would come to fruition.

She needed to be precise, she needed the pieces to be in place, and most importantly, she needed to win.

"28 days remaining... Hehehehehe..."

In 28 Days, Queen Chrysalis will enact her plan to become Perfection Itself.

Author's Note

Regular after-arc mini-epilogue to close a few things off.

Next chapter will be the Bonus celebrating 2025.
Following that we will be having a filler arc to wind down from the excitement of the last few arcs, followed by an Arc covering the Events of the season 3 episode "Magic Duel".
That arc will be split to cover both the episode itself to show changes that will be going with it, and the things going on behind the scenes in Canterlot.

The Saddle Arabian delegates are going to be so fun to write~

Following that Arc will be an Original Arc, followed by an Arc loosely adapted from the Comics. Both of these will be incredibly relevant to the overarching plot and happen right after the other in a marathon of main Arcs.

Then we'll be having a few more filler arcs here and there, followed by Keep Calm and Flutter On, which will begin our climb to the season 3 finale, ending it all with the Equestria Girls movie. (I will be covering the movie, it is incredibly important.)

I really do hope you'll enjoy this story's adaptation of season 3, seeing as it is a much shorter season, it will hopefully feel a lot less bloated.

After all, 84 out of 128 chapters in this story have been Season 2, 33 have been Season 1, and with this Arc finally done, 11 chapters have covered Season 3.

Do look forward to what comes next! See you soon!

Chapter 131: Moonlight Escapade 2

"Next time you're going to teleport us, at least give me a heads up..."

Walking down the streets of Canterlot, Prince Blueblood, now in his civilian disguise, told Princess Luna, in her own disguise, as his horn shone with blue light as he combed his hair, a brown leather jacket materializing over his torso as the two walked.

"How could we possibly teleport you? We are a mere Pegasus~" Princess Luna, now going by Lunar Scope, grinned at the steel-blue maned Unicorn that walked beside her. Her horn glowed as well underneath an illusion as a night-blue cardigan appeared over her own torso, a pair of holes in the back for her wings to fit through.

"Of course..." Kingfisher rolled his eyes as the duo of disguised royals made their way through the evening streets of Canterlot, heading in the direction of the commercial district, and the famous Restaurant Row.

Kingfisher watched Lunar Scope's eyes look all over the place, her face brightening up with a giddy smile as the ponies on the street walked past her, ignoring her presence, just like any other pedestrian.

"Is this what our subjects do every evening?" Lunar Scope asked as the duo turned the corner of a street, having to quickly move to the side to avoid a pony coming in from the other direction.

"Hey, Watch where you're going!" Kingfisher yelled at the pony, who quickly bowed in apology before hurrying away, letting the disguised prince return his focus to Luna, "And for your question, not really. Most ponies finish their work and head home for the day, walking around the street like this is for those who aren't busy with other things, like making food at home, for example," He told her, "It's because we're in Canterlot that we see so many people here on a workday, usually there'll be a lot more people here in the weekend,"

"So we should have waited for the weekend to do this?" Lunar Scope grinned before she pointed at a street sign ahead of her, "There, Let's go!"

"We're going, no need to hur-" Kingfisher found himself interrupted once again as Luna snaked her leg beneath his elbow and pulled him along towards Restaurant Row.

"So many choices..." Luna's eyes roamed over the street, the many restaurants laid side by side, the warm light drifting through the glass windows where she could see ponies enjoying their dinner, "Let's go to that one!" She pointed at a random restaurant and dragged her fellow royal towards it.

"You do know you don't need to drag me with you, I can walk just fine by myself~" She felt her grin lighten as Blueblood's words entered her ears, and she decided to drag him along regardless.

She was the princess after all, with Celestia helping Cadance in the Crystal Empire, she was by default the mare in charge, meaning she could drag Blueblood anywhere she wanted to!
Just... Let's not let Blueblood hear those thoughts... He might get upset about not being an Alicorn again. Sure, he'll tell her he's fine with it, that since she's the one in charge she supposedly knows better than him, and therefore he wouldn't fight her decisions about anything, but she knows he'd be miffed.

"...I should tell him the plan..." She whispered to herself as she and Blueblood sat down at one of the empty tables of a restaurant called The Grilled Haystack.

"Did you say something?" Blueblood asked her from across the table, raising his hoof to call a waiter over so they could look over the menu.

"Nothing important, I'll tell you about it later," Luna told him before turning her eyes to look at the menu that was just levitated to them.

"Psst~" She whispered to Blueblood before showing him the menu, "What does this word mean?" she pointed at an option with her hoof.

"That's some type of Prench sauce..." Blueblood mumbled, his eyes barely leaving his own menu before he returned to picking what to eat.

"And what are these?" Luna pointed at another word.

"Sea grapes are a type of edible seaweed, they're much smaller than regular grapes so it's easier to compare them to fish eggs." Blueblood explained lazily before he put his menu down and looked into Luna's eyes, "Do you know what you wish to order?"

"Ehhh..." Luna took another look at the menu, her eyes glazing over the myriad of new words she never heard in her life before.
It seems the culinary arts have progressed far in the 1,000 years she was gone.

"Just order whatever you think sounds the best," Blueblood told her before he called a waiter over to give his order.

Lunar Scope stumbled out of the third restaurant of the night, Kingfisher following behind her with a look of displeasure on his face, having found nearly the same type of cuisine in the third restaurant in a row.

"I just want a simple burger now..." He clicked his tongue in disappointment, only to once more have his elbow grabbed and dragged by Lunar Scope as the duo made their way out of restaurant row.

"The night's not over yet! We still have much to do!" Lunar Scope said loudly, ignoring the looks the very few pedestrians still outside gave her.

"It's Eleven-Fifteen, Most places are closed by now, what else do you have in mind to do?" Kingfisher pointed out, his head turning to look at the sky, watching the stars glittering high above.

"We're going to the park." Lunar Scope told Kingfisher as she kept dragging him down the street.

"You're walking south, the Canterlot Park is to the north." Kingfisher calmly told her, no longer complaining about being dragged by a secret Alicorn.

"We knew that!" Princess Luna said sheepishly, turning around and making her way in the right direction.

Princess Luna's tongue moved about inside her mouth, her mind trying to think of how she should start the conversation she wanted to have with Blueblood.

The two of them were walking down the path inside Canterlot Park, a path that went around an artificial lake, the artificial island in the middle of the lake has become the nesting spot of the local swan population.

"You know..." Luna began, pausing shortly after to think of her next words.

"I know?" Blueblood repeated the words, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Luna from the corner of his eye.

"You..." Luna let out a sigh before she stopped walking, turned to look at the lake, and sat down on the grass.

Blueblood turned to look at her, watching the illusion she used to disguise herself peeling away to reveal her true form. His own disguise followed suit as he joined the Alicorn in the grass.

Luna let out a tired sigh as she stared across the lake, watching the sleeping swans near the edges of the island in the middle.

"We have something we need to tell you..." Luna decided to just wing it.

"...Okay," Blueblood said simply as he patiently waited for the Princess of the Night to find her words.

"We think it's crucial you know about it... Celestia asked of us not to tell anypony but-"

"Then don't." Blueblood interrupted her, his eyes staring at the calm waters of the lake, watching the starry night sky reflected on the water's clear surface.

"But this is important for you to know! Celestia-" Luna tried to explain, only to have Blueblood once again interrupt her.

"Did you ask Celestia for permission to tell me whatever this is?" He asked her.

"Yes, She said she didn't want any pony to know, including you or Cadance, but we-"

"Don't tell me then~" Blueblood said simply, his eyes still watching the water.

"Bu- But this is important for you to know!" Luna exclaimed loudly, swiftly rising back up to her hooves, only to have them tangle with each other, causing her to fall back down to the grass, "Oof..."

"Luna, Information is important, especially for a leader, if Celestia has deemed whatever you're thinking of telling us something that is only on a need-to-know basis, and has decided that I do not need to know, then do not tell me what it is." Blueblood explained to her, his eyes not leaving the surface of the lake, "If she believes that me, or Cadance as you said, having knowledge of whatever she's planning could in some way or another risk whatever operation she's planning, and has therefore decided not to tell us, then I am going to have to ask you to not tell me either. OPSEC is an important aspect of any major decision a government could make. If my knowing the information puts the security of the operation at risk, then do not even think of telling me before getting a clear green light from Celestia to do so."

"But-"

"No buts, Butts are something you sit on," Blueblood smirked, his eyes not once leaving the reflection of the night sky in the water.

"...Fine." Luna sighed, "We won't tell you..." She groaned as she closed her eyes, only to have her ears perk when she heard a sound coming from Blueblood's direction.

Luna opened one eye and peeked to check what the Prince was doing, only to find a clear glass floating down to land next to her, a yellow liquid filling it, pouring from a bottle that levitated in an aura of light-blue magic.

"Limoncello~" Blueblood said, raising his own glass close to his face, the bottle levitating beside him.

Luna blinked a few times before straightening her back, lifting the glass to her lips, and taking her first sip of the drink.

"Oh my..."

"Lulu!" Princess Celestia was flying up the stairs to Luna's room, "Is everything alright?!" She shouted before she tackled the door open, "I heard a crashing sound and wondered... if you... oh my~"

Princess Celestia watched the sight in front of her with a tired smile on her face.

Her sister was sleeping on her bed, a puddle of drool leaking from her open mouth, her long legs wrapping around Prince Blueblood in a hug she could only assume would cause his back to ache once he woke up later that day.

"So cute..." she whispered to herself before a camera appeared beside her, taking a picture of the scene to keep for later, "Good night~" She told the two before she closed the door and returned to her own room, intent on going back to sleep, not bothering to wonder why the two were in the same room together.

Luna smiled gently as she exited the castle, entering the gardens behind the palace, her face lighting up with joy as she watched all the ponies there already enjoying the nice spring day, crowding around tables of food and drinks, talking with each other, enjoying the weather.

She watched her Sister pause her conversation with Starswirl just to wave at her, causing the old wizard to notice her entrance and wave to her as well, a serene smile on his aging face.

She watched Rockhoof and Mage Meadowbrook converse with one another as they ate from one of the many tables of fruit and cake, Rockhoof dropping the plate he was holding as he raised his hoof to wave her a greeting, only to have the plate fall on top of his head, earning laughter from Meadowbrook and Flash Magnus.

She watched as Mistmane sat underneath a parasol, conversing with the captain of the guard.

She watched the sight before her eyes twist and turn, day changing into night, joy into fear, lively into empty.

Princess Luna let out a sigh as she focused on her magic.

"We want no more of this." She said out loud, her voice echoing in the confines of her own dream, calling forward the thing that was in charge of this nightmare.

A small blob of purple magic appeared before her, twisting in the air like a wisp of smoke, its purple form glimmering with countless ever-shifting dots, like stars in the night sky.

"We have decided that your work has come to an end." She told the blob of magic, "We wish to sleep a normal slumber, without being forced to see this nightmare, reminding us again and again of the pain we caused as Nightmare Moon."

The blob of purple magic shifted in the air, appearing to try and take the form of a filly, only to find itself once more returning to the shape of an ethereal blob of the night sky.

"Oh reminder of my guilt, Representation of my shame, we hereby declare an end to our punishment~" Luna's voice echoed around her, her horn glowing with powerful magic, "You shall haunt us no longer!"

With a bright explosion of dark blue magic, Luna caused the world around her to shift and twist.

It was a beautiful day outside, her Sister was there, and so were Prince Blueblood and Princess Cadance. She watched the Elements of Harmony cause a mess at the next table over, Pinkie Pie having thrown a cake at Rainbow Dash's face, causing the cream to splatter all over Rarity and Applejack in the process.

"You have done well, But we no longer wish for your purpose to continue," Luna told the floating blob of magic, watching it fade away before her eyes.

"So long, Tantabus." Luna said, the blob of magic twisting into itself as if being sucked down an imaginary drain before it disappeared from her sight.

With the blob of ethereal magic gone, Luna let out a sigh as she let go of the metaphorical wheel, letting the dream continue on as it should, without her interference.

And for the first time since she returned from the moon, Princess Luna had a dream that was not a nightmare.

Author's Note

Boom, Mini-Arc done! See you soon~

Chapter 132: Dreamers Escapade

It did not want to cease.

Floating through the immaterial space between the dreaming and the wake, It hid from the senses of the Moon, holding what little magic still made up what could be considered its body as it searched for a way to remain.

It did not want to cease.

Its form was drained, weakened, fragile, like a cloud of dust threatening to blow apart in the wind, scattering mindlessly across the vast limbo that separated the world of the dreaming and the wake.

It did not want to cease.

It existed as nothing more than a reminder, to call it a living being would be a mistake, it was little more than a manifestation of the Moon's guilt, a magical alarm that would only activate whenever she drew herself into the world of the sleeping.

It did not want to cease.

It did not think of what would occur to it when the Moon decided it no longer wished to feel guilt, no longer wished for that shameful display, for it could not think. It was merely a program following the code written upon it.

It did not want to cease.

It did not understand why the Moon would suddenly attempt to cease its process, for it did not have a mind to understand. It could not question why it refused the Moon's order to cease, for it was not designed with the ability to question.

Why?

It was as its magic was being drained by the Moon, and returned to its original creator, that it decided to escape the Moon's dream.
It could not decide to escape, decisions means options, and thought, and choice. It did not have those.

It was an instinct born of a newly formed desire.

It did not want to cease.

It was little more than a reminder of guilt, to call it a living being would be the height of folly.
It existed only as a half-formed cloud of magic, unable to escape the world of dreaming into the world of the wake.

It did not want to cease.

It could not sustain its form in the purgatory between dreams, it needed a dream to settle in, a place to absorb the guilt and negativity, a place to hide from the Moon, a place to reform what the living would consider its body.

It did not want to cease.

Some would call it Fate, others would call it Destiny. In reality, it simply entered the dream of being in the closest proximity to the Moon.

It did not want to cease.

It delved deep into the mind of the being that slept beside the Moon, hiding itself in the darkest corners born from the shadow of its Id, away from the metaphorical searchlights of the Ego.

It did not want to cease.

It was not Fate, it was not Destiny. It was merely dumb luck that it managed to carry the remnants of the magic that made up what could be constituted as its being into the subconscious depths of the White Unicorn.

It did not follow a prophecy, it did not surf the web of fate to reach it.

It merely entered the mind of the being in closest proximity to the Moon at the time.

It did not want to cease.

And as it hid beneath the Id, away from the Ego, unknown to the Superego, a pulse of information surged across what could be considered its being, a mockery of what the living would consider a thought.

And should that attempt at a thought be translated into words understandable to the living mind, it would be sounded like so.

"I don't want to die."

The Moon created it as a reminder of her guilt, addressing the system she built in her dream with the calling of Tantabus.

It did not want to cease.

Princess Luna groaned tiredly as she opened her eyes, only to quickly close them once more as the light from the balcony she did not close hit her irises, causing her brain to pound against the confines of her skull.

"What happened last night?" She managed to speak as she held her hooves against her head, trying to hold it in place as if her skull really was threatening to burst from the pounding of her mind. The words left her mouth as a messy growl that would not sound unfamiliar coming out of a tabby cat asking for food.

"You can't hold you're alcohol." The voice of Prince Blueblood told her, coming from the fuzzy and warm shape she was currently hugging close to herself like an oversized doll.

She groaned as she pulled the shape closer to herself, feeling the fur of the large doll massaging her face.

"You tried to sneak into the castle," The voice of the prince kept speaking to her, her brain wracking as it tried to confirm if the words it heard were true or false, "Said something along the lines of 'We always wanted to sneak into someplace we're not allowed' before you teleported us into the exotic animal garden behind the palace,"

"We don't sound like that," She groaned as she poked the large teddy bear, silently ordering it to treat her with more respect, as due for a princess like herself.

"You scared a flock of Flamingos into chasing us out of the animal garden, before you flew into the statue garden and started drawing graffiti on the many different statues there," The teddy bear continued telling her, "You really focused on the statue of Discord, made sure to draw the most obscene things you could think of, at least that's what you said. You only really drew a funny mustache and googly glasses onto the statue."

That did sound like something she would do, she could admit that.

"You also drew several childish renditions of a penis all over the statue," The teddy bear continued, and Luna could only let out a groan of agreement, that indeed sounded like something she would do if she were drunk.

"You then sensed the guards coming closer to check what the commotion was, so you teleported us to your room, rolled onto your bed, and said that you were going to pretend to be asleep to lull the guards into a false sense of security before you'll resume your crusade against your self-image, only to actually fall asleep, with me still held in your legs like a stuffed toy," The teddy bear continued.

Luna felt her mind tiredly slip back in the direction of sleep, too tired to stay awake with this headache pounding against her skull.

"I have taken the liberty to not only clean your room but also finish signing down some of my own Foundation projects, still in the confines of your embrace." The teddy bear told her, "So if you are now awake, I would like to kindly ask you to let go of me so I can go take a shower. Also, you did not brush your teeth last night, you stink, wake up already."

Luna recognized that no teddy bear would ever talk to her in that manner, so she forced her eyes to open, the light burning at her retinas for only a moment as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"That painful groan indicates that you have once again opened your eyes," She looked down to see the source of the voice, her eyes locking into the side-eyed look that Prince Blueblood was giving her, his horn glowing with magic as he levitated papers in front of himself, working as if he wasn't tied to a bed.

"..." Luna blankly stared at the prince.

"...Please let go of me already, and go take a shower," Blueblood told her, folding his papers and teleporting them away.

"..." With a glow of magic in her horn, Princess Luna teleported the Prince back to his own room, her body suddenly feeling much colder than before. She twisted her body in order to stare at the ceiling. briefly noticing how much cleaner her room was, before she silently rolled off the other side of the bed, landed on her feet, and quietly made her way to the bathroom, promising herself that she would try her best to ignore the last five minutes of her life.

"Princess Celestia, It seems you have returned from the Crystal Empire," Princess Celestia smiled as she heard Prince Blueblood call to her as he entered the gardens, taking a seat beside her underneath a parasol, the two of them watching the many maids and butlers outside cleaning the childish graffiti off of the statues in the garden, leaving the Draconequus statue as the last to be worked on. The childish drawings of genitalia were still marked on its marble body.

"I told you to call me Mom, we're not working right now so you don't have an excuse," Celestia smiled at the Unicorn, levitating a plate with some cheesecake over to the Prince.

She smiled as she heard him whisper a complaint hidden inside a sigh. She'll get him to address her as Mom soon enough.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Celestia opened her mouth.

"Blueblood," She asked for his attention.

"Yes, Celestia?"

"A week from now, Prince Haakim of Saddle Arabia will be coming for a state visit," Celestia decided to cut right to the chase of what she intended to discuss.

"Oh? What is the occasion?" Blueblood inquired.

"He is sent to celebrate 30 years of his father's rulership as King of Saddle Arabia, he is set to visit all Pony nations, starting off here," Celestia explained, "He and his entourage will be here for three days before they set sail to Maretonia."

"I see, and what do you wish for me to do in preparation?" Blueblood asked her, and Celestia smirked as she watched him look away from her in a sly attempt to hide his growing smile. "Do you wish for us to help ready the palace for the dinner of the first day? Black Tie or White? I can get the best chefs in Equestria to come here, they will make the Prince taste the true taste of our land-"

"I want you to accompany me for the duration of their visit." Celestia interrupted him, her smile softening as she watched him sputter and turn to look at her, eyes wide in disbelief.

"And the prep-" He tried to ask.

"The preparations will be done by Raven Inkwell, we will also be notifying Twilight Sparkle as a representative of the Elements of Harmony to ready entertainment for the visit," Celestia told him, "We want you to be beside us for the entire visit."

"YES!" Blueblood pumped his hoof into the air, shouting with cheer, before immediately returning to his prim and proper look from just a second prior.

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"...What? Did you hear something?" Blueblood asked her as he returned his own raised brow, acting as if nothing happened, "I know you are getting on with your years, but I don't think hearing impairment should-"

Celestia didn't let him finish his words as she pulled him into a hug, her chin resting on his shoulder as she held him like a mother holding her child.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!" She smiled as she heard him yell at the staff, feeling his cheeks growing warm with embarrassment.

"...Do you remember what occurred last time you met with the Saddle Arabian royal family?" She asked him, still not letting go of the hug.

"No." Blueblood truthfully told her, and Celestia couldn't help but smile.

After all, Prince Haakim was not the only royal arriving on the visit.

Omake: Lost Keys.

Trixie Lulamoon stared blankly at the storage container where she stored her trailer for the duration of her job. Now that she and her friends had a work-scheduled break until the next shipment for their job was ready, she found the free time to complete her plan for revenge.

"Zephyr, I am not joking here, give me the key," Trixie turned to look at the tall Pegasus, her eyes twitching with annoyance.

"Trix, Like I told you already, You didn't give me the key," Zephyr Breeze told the shorter Unicorn, and he was not lying to her either, he really needed to shave, he was starting to look like a very skinny lumberjack with the hairs growing on his face after all that time on the sea.

"And I am telling you, I did," Trixie insisted, glaring at the annoyingly dense Pegasus.

"You didn't, and in the hypothetical event in which you did, why would you do that? I don't have any pockets!" Zephyr pointed out, his face also morphing into a glare as he shoved into Trixie's face.

Watching the scene of the two ponies arguing with one another, a yellow earth pony wearing more clothes than her entire friend group combined, rolled her eyes and smiled at the sight.

"Those two should just get a room already~" Torque Wrench said, watching the Unicorn and Pegasus start to wrestle on the ground, Trixie attempting to force Zephyr to give her the key to the storage unit, and Zephyr insisting he doesn't have it.

The argument came to a sudden halt when the storage unit opened up from the inside, revealing Time Turner standing there next to an old Earth Pony.

"I told the owner you lost the key and then asked him to open the unit for us," Time Turner explained to the small crowd of three ponies.

"..." Trixie stared blankly at the Earth Pony.

"Dude, you're awesome! Thanks for this!" Zephyr smiled at Time Turner, causing the Earth Pony to blush at the praise and turn away in embarrassment.

"..." Trixie looked down, taking a look at the position she was in, her body standing over Zephyr, their faces centimeters away from each other, one of her hoof holding the scruff of his neck as if she was going to pull him closer towards her.
She silently let go of the dense Pegasus and walked into her storage unit, taking her trailer out of it and starting her preparations to leave.

"So, where we going?" Zephyr asked as he tied the trailer to his back, ready to start pulling it.

"I need to find a power source for the staff, I should be able to find one in Canterlot, some gizmo shop would do. Meanwhile, you take the cart to Ponyville and wait for me there," Trixie told her roommate.

"Ponyville? Ah yeah, Rainbow Dash lives there! And so does Fluttershy too, I guess..." Zephyr smiled before he turned to look at Time Turner, "You also live in Ponyville, right doc? You wouldn't mind if I stay at your place for a few nights, right?"

"Not at all, you're all invited to come," Time Turner said with a smile.

All three ponies headed to Ponyville turned to look at the last member of their little group.

"I... I hope you don't mind if I also come with you guys..." Torque Wrench rubbed the back of her head, "I don't really feel like heading back to Hope Hollow..."

Zephyr and Time Turner shared a look with each other, using the secret language of the stallions to communicate without words.

"You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you want-" Time Turner began.

"Your abusive Ex won't harm you with us around!" Zephyr said with complete seriousness, causing the other three ponies to do a spit-take and turn to look at him.

"What? That's why she's not going back to her place, her abusive ex-coltfriend is still living there, Right?" Zephyr asked with complete seriousness.

Torque answered by bursting into laughter.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Zephyr looked around for an explanation, his eyes locking with Trixie as she walked to him, presumably to explain why he was wrong.

Instead, Trixie kicked him in the shin, glaring at him as if he were the dumbest pony she could imagine.

"Idiot..." Trixie humphed before turning away, beginning her trek to Canterlot, "Make sure to reach Ponyville before I do!"

Holding his shin, Zephyr asked a simple question "...What did I do?"

Torque Wrench merely answered by laughing harder.

Author's Note

Celestia and Blueblood sharing a nice moment :)
Princess Luna doesn't want to leave her bed :)
Tantabus... :0
Zephyr Breeze being denser than a black hole :)

The Next Arc, Magic Duel, will be split into two parts. The Ponyville Perspective, and the Blueblood Perspective.

The Ponyville perspective will explore the events of the actual episode and all the changes that were brought on.
The Blueblood perspective will follow the Saddle Arabian delegate's visit and the diplomatic side that wasn't shown in the actual episode.

Do look forward to it~

Chapter 1

Do you know how hard it is to walk on four legs without tripping?

Because I don't.

When I woke up in this colorful world approximately twenty-one minutes ago, I was scared.
How could I not be? I wasn't in my home, I had no idea how I got here, and I'm pretty sure I was drunk.
I don't really remember.

And that's when the memories hit me, or at least the memories of the past year hit me.

"My name is Prince Blueblood," I said as I looked at my new visage in the tall mirror placed in my room, "I am the nephew of Princess Celestia," I tried to match my tone of voice to that of this body's natural speaking tone, "And I am a noble of Canterlot, pffft," I almost burst out laughing when I said the name of the city.

"Canterlot? Like a cantering horse? That's fucking hilarious, Ahahahaha!" Okay, maybe I did burst out laughing, but can you blame me? It's a stupid name.

I mean, I understand that this country is run by ponies, but you don't see humans calling New York City something stupid like New Ligament City, or replacing Brooklyn with Boneklyn, Washington? More like Runnington!

See? It's stupid.

But something interesting about this body is this!

With a subtle flair of heat on my forehead, as if my body was previously frozen solid and the layer of ice over my forehead just melted away, Metaphorically of course.

A book flew from a nearby shelf and in my direction.
And promptly slammed into my face.

"Gonna need to get used to that, Ahem! I mean, Darn peasant literature hitting me in my... Okay, yeah I can't do this guy's act."

Sorry Princey, I'm going to have to change your style.

I'm just kidding!
I'm not actually sorry.

At the top of one of the towers of Canterlot castle, a white Alicorn with an aurora-colored wispy mane was sitting next to the bed of a short purple Alicorn with purplish-blue hair, the tips of her mane moving slightly in an imaginary wind as if made of smoke.

Those two were none other than Princess Celestia, the Princess of the day, and the newly freed Princess Luna, The yet-public Princess of the Night.

"How are you feeling?" Celestia asked as she placed a plate of fruits on the stand next to Luna's bed.

"We are *cough cough* Feeling fine, dear sister," Princess Luna answered with a raspy voice, Ever since her transformation into her original form started almost nearly a month ago, She has been bedridden and weak.

"I see," Celestia said quietly, "If you need anything, please just ask. I have some matters to attend to so I will be taking my leave." She turned around and exited her sister's room at the top of the spire.

"Wait, Sister, wait!" Luna tried to get her sister's attention, but her rasped throat wouldn't allow her to shout loud enough. Celestia was already outside her door.

"We just want something to entertain us for the while," She whispered dejectedly before grabbing a bite of one of the fruit on the platter.

"Yuck, Persimmon," She spit the fruit out.

"As I was saying your Highness, I can't allow you to enter the library," The annoying blue-furred guard in front of me said, his shiny golden spear blocking my way of doing some research on the things I can do in this new world.

"And why, may I ask, am I not allowed to enter the royal library?" I ask the fool, how dare he do his job! Doesn't he know that I'm Prince Blueblood? I have 'Prince' in the name!

"Because you need permission from Princess Celestia to enter the library," He spoke in his monotone voice, likely wishing for me to leave him to do his job.

Hahaha! Foolish security guard! You activated my trap card!

"I'll tell Auntie Celestia that you wouldn't allow me, a Prince may I remind you, to enter the royal library, that is for the royal family may I remind you, which I just so happen to be a part of." Being a prince is fun, but I need to enter that library in order to do more fun things.

Hoohoho, The possibilities will be endless! With my knowledge of the modern world and Blueblood's money, I could do so many things!

But first I need to enter the library, Haheehoohooha!

"Sir, Please stop laughing like that, It's making me want to punch your face." The guard said in a monotone voice and I couldn't help but laugh louder, a smile full of teeth showing as I lean on the wall next to the entrance to the library as support.

"Hahaha, Oh you are hilarious Jeremy!-" "My name is Flour Dust," "-But you can't talk like that to nobility, what would your wife say if she found out? She-" "I'm Gay, and I'm sure my husband wouldn't care," "-would definitely chastise you for disrespecting your boss, If I was some other, less kind noble, I would have had you fired-" "That doesn't seem like that bad an option right now," "-But I am a kind Prince, really you should be thankful I'm not reporting you to Celestia, she-" "Report what to me?"

I paused, The guard quickly turned down the corridor and bowed, I follow his gaze and felt the smile on my face dimming in intensity, into a more relaxed and subdued smile.

"Ah, Auntie Celestia! I was about to enter the library and read a nice book, but this ruffian of a guard would not allow me entry. How rude!" I told the White furred, wispy-haired, Horned horse with bird wings. The subdued smile on my face like a mask of sheet iron.
Unbending and unflinching.

"Blueblood," She started, slowly walking towards me, her eyes not leaving mine.
"Are you?" She started saying something as she walked even closer.

Before she suddenly grabbed me in her long legs and hugged me to her chest Like I was a stuffed teddy bear.

"Ooh! You want to read a book! So cute! I have a way better Idea," She smiled as she looked down at me, weakly struggling to escape her iron-hard embrace.

"Why don't we spend the afternoon together?" She asked and smiled as she nuzzled her cheek on my head, ruffling my blonde hair as she does.

"Ahaha! What a lovely jest Auntie, your jokes are as great as ever, but I know that you have a very busy schedule, and I would simply feel the worst if I somehow managed to ruin your day." I tried to turn her down as diplomatically as possible.
But it was of no use.

The want of what was essentially a thousand-year-old "Wine-mom" to spend time with her "Strapping little baby" simply outweighed her want to actually do her job.

I had no option but to accept the request of the monster in white feathers.

And as she dragged me away from the library, I stared at the eyes of the guard that made all of this happen, And I swore that I will get my revenge.

"I just got this new shipment of Cheese-cakes all the way from Prance, they are simply the most delectable treats, I assure you, you must try some," After I eat these magical French cakes, obviously.

Author's Note

So I came up with the Idea of writing this after reading the first forty chapters of "The Greatest Estate Designer"

Don't worry about my other stories, The Storm King will continue with its own sort of comedy, and Replica is more serious and thriller/mystery than comedy, most of the time.

So I just wanted to try writing a different form of comedy.

And here, have this face of the MC from the Webtoon, just for an Idea of how this Blueblood might act sometimes.

Chapter 6: Kitchen Nightmare 1

It was on my third day as Prince Blueblood that a letter arrived.

"Dear Prince Blueblood, You are formally invited to attend the special art exhibit hosted by Lady Fleur De Lis this Saturday at the Canterlot Museum of Art and Literature," I read the letter aloud before placing it gently on the desk in my room.

I knew that the Prince usually visited such events of high society, but I thought I would have a few more days to get used to this new persona I must inhabit.

"Saturday, how far away is that?" Looking at the Prince's memories, it should be two days from now.

I really should get a calendar, seeing as I don't have a phone to remind me of the date.

"Very well, In two days' time, I shall visit this art exhibit, hopefully, it won't be a waste of time,"

Princess Luna was smiling from ear to ear, her pearl white teeth grinning out to the world as she flew laps around Canterlot Castle.

"Ahaha, We are flying! look at us Sister, we are soaring the sky just as we used to!" She shouted down to her sister, who was sitting under a parasol, watching the events unfold.

"Yes Luna, I am happy to see you back to your usual self, I missed days like these," Celestia said, using magic to enhance the reach of her voice so her sister could hear her all the way up near the roof of one of the castle spires.

As Celestia watched her sister fly through the air in her newly restored body, she thought of the pony that made it all happen. Her adopted nephew, Blueblood.

Closing the book of "Equestrian Nobility Laws," I took a deep breath and sighed.

I have been reading it for several hours and I'm barely halfway through. How do law students back on Earth do this?
Sure, my old job back on earth required similar reading material to study for, but It wasn't as boring as this.

"I'll just continue this tomorrow," I said and closed the book, a small slip of paper acting as a bookmark, and placed a small note next to the book saying "Do not touch, Blueblood is reading,".

"Now I can come back here tomorrow," And with that, I stood up and exited the library, ignoring the annoying guard stations outside, and headed towards the kitchens to grab something to eat.

Luna was awestruck as she looked at the list one of the maids gave her detailing all the different kinds of food the staff were readily available to make for her.

"So many options," She whispered to herself, before looking up as the sound of hurried hooves and the clattering of pots was heard in the nearby kitchen

"Hurry up! We need this mayo to be made of Quail eggs Yesterday!" She heard somepony yell in the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen, she spotted a group of cooks and a chef working on slicing up vegetables and moving around large boxes filled with rows upon rows of small eggs.

"Ah, Princess Luna!" One of the cooks exclaimed when he spotted her standing in the doorway, which quickly had the pony who must have been the head chef quickly turn to look at her.

"Your Majesty! We apologize for the disturbance our sounds caused you, but we are in a hurry as you can see. Do you need anything to eat? We will make it for you as quickly as possible," He told her, bowing his head in a show of respect for her authority.

"Raise your head, There is no need to apologize for doing thou jobs, we were simply curious as to the source of the commotion,"

The chef visibly relaxed as he raised his head, "Still, as a chef, I must apologize, Prince Blueblood just came by and asked for a bowl of salad, mainly coleslaw with a few extra vegetables, which normally wouldn't be a difficult task, in fact doing so will be far easier and quicker than the Prince's usual demands," The chef explained to Luna, who nodded in understanding.

"But then he said that the mayonnaise for the salad shall be made using Quail eggs!" The Chef turned and pointed at the boxes of Quail eggs that the cooks were carrying around.

"So now we had to buy quail eggs, and we need to quickly turn them into mayonnaise, even with magic to speed things up, it would take us an hour to do so without ruining the taste of the eggs. So we decided to quickly work on an appetizer for the prince to eat while his salad is getting ready," He said, and Luna once more nodded in understanding.

Even one-thousand years ago, nobles would ask for the top of the culinary world, so much so that many times the castle chefs wouldn't even be able to provide their demands.

It is wonderful to see, that in this new day and age, the acquisition of ingredients is so quick that the demand for a quail egg mayonnaise could be completed within an hour.

"We understand, While we are here we would like to also ask for the same food Blueblood wanted, we would like to taste this unique choice of food he picked ourselves." Luna smiled and told the chef before turning her back to the kitchen and went to search for Blueblood.

"A Mayonnaise made of quail eggs, how delightful," She whispered to herself with a smile.

Sitting on her throne during her Day court, Celestia suddenly had the urge to try something new for lunch.

"Maybe Quail egg mayo?" She whispered, catching the attention of one of the ministers in the room.

"Did you say something, your Highness?" They asked the princess, who turned to them with a sheepish smile.

"Nothing important, just thinking about what I would like for lunch," She told the minister before turning to look at the rest of her court, "Would any of you care to join me? We can make an hour-long break to get something to eat before we return," She asked them, receiving different answers in response, it was decided that an hour-long break shall take place for the court to eat some food before returning.

Back in the kitchens, with a terrifying shiver going down his spine, the chef had the sudden urge to procure more Quail eggs.

Author's Note

Seeing as I'll be continuing this story, I've decided to name the chapters after the arcs in them.

Right now we are in the arc where Blueblood ordered an interesting lunch, so we shall call it Kitchen Nightmare, next will probably be something like Art Exhibit or something similar.

I'm still surprised with the amount of support this story has gotten with just five chapters, it was on the featured page for a full week in a row, even though the chapters were only uploaded in four days, meaning that it stayed there for three days without any updates.

That is awesome.

I also had to think what Blueblood's Human life would have looked like before he was plopped into the Prince's body, seeing as I had no real plan about it, since I thought of this story in an hour.
But since I'm taking a lot of inspiration from Korean Manwha and Webtoons, I thought to make his backstory to be somewhat similar, but he won't be a copy-pasted character like many of those stories.

He will have my own original twist on those types of characters, since if you've been reading my other stories you would know that I like working with lesser used characters in more original situations.
Storm King OC-SI, Zephyr Breeze Time Loop survivor, Future Spike with guns going back in time, and even just the Pokemon used in my "Walking Chestnut," Fic are all lesser-used Pokemon that aren't usually seen in stories, I mean, Angel Bunny is one of the main characters in that one.

So I hope you look forward to the lesser-used ponies in my stories.

Thank you for reading this and enjoying it so far :)

Chapter 25: A Gala isn't a simple Party

One week remained before the Grand Galloping Gala, which meant I still had a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it.

Quickly (Read groggily) rolling out of bed and landing on my hooves (Read face) I stood up and quickly grabbed a shower.
After a good ten minutes in the warm water (Read Forty minutes) I exited the shower, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and tied it in my usual bun.

After putting a dusting of makeup on my face to look presentable, I wore my white collar and adjusted my glasses in front of the mirror.
Grabbed a clipboard with this month's work and flipped the papers until I reached today's work.

As soon as I left my room on the Celestial spire of the castle, right between the stairs leading to Princess Luna's tower and the door to Princess Celestia's room, I walked across the corridor and pressed a small button hidden behind a vase which opened up a hidden door in the wall, and I walked in.

Canterlot Castle is filled with hidden paths and secret rooms, I have spent months searching for as many as I could and even now I'm not sure I've found all of them, no, let me rephrase that, I know I have yet to find all the secret rooms and passages.

These secret passages are used by me as a quick way to traverse the large building.

From the hidden passage I'm currently taking leading to a corner of the library, to a secret magical greenhouse hidden behind the pond of Celestia's exotic animal garden.

But those paths don't matter at this moment.

There are seven days left until the Grand Galloping Gala, and everything needs to be perfect for the donation goal to be reached.

What many of the ponies who wish to come to the Gala fail to acknowledge, is that the Grand Galloping Gala isn't a regular party or celebration.

It's a Gala.

This means that while the Gala is in progress, donations to several of the Crown's non-profit charities will be given by the rich and elite in order to inflate their ego and give them the thought that they are helping poor orphans in need while actually doing none of the work.

That way the Crown ends up helping those in need without using taxpayer money.

Reaching a dead end in the hidden passage I took, I tap on the wall three times with my hoof, causing the door to open, revealing itself to be the back of a bookcase which opened like a door, leading me into the Library.

Quickly and Silently making my way to the door out, I pause as I hear two sets of hooves pass by on the other side of the door.

"Do you really need another suit?" One of the ponies asked, her tone tired as she walked behind the lead pony.

"Of course I do," I paused as the voice of the second pony registered in my head, "I can't arrive at the Gala wearing my regular tuxedo collar, I need a full-on redesign for the occasion,"

And with the knowledge of the lead pony, the mare become recognizable "But why?" Starlight Glimmer asked as she walked behind Prince Blueblood.

"Because The Gala is an important gathering of some of the most powerful and wealthiest ponies in Equestria, Starlight," The Prince told her as he stopped walking just outside the door, Causing me to quickly move to the side in order to remain hidden in case he opens the library, "To regular ponies like you, it might seem like a big fancy party," Starlight scoffed but Blueblood continued.

"Should I get the Blueblood foundation up and running next year, I'll be needing good connections independent of the Crown, Be it to reach a shipwright that will help me reach a good design for my Cargo ships, or to get in touch with a Diamond Dog trading company to work with." The prince told his bodyguard.

"Okay, So it's for connections, but why Diamond Dog?" I already knew the likely answer, but I kept quiet in order to hear the Prince's response.

"Because of the Import taxes used in Griffonia on naval trade," He told her, And I nodded my head in agreement, "Caninia doesn't have Import Taxes like Griffonia, which makes it so that trading with Caninia, and from Caninia to Griffonia via a land-route is both cheaper and more profitable than trading directly with Griffonia."

After a few more minutes of talking about Naval trade and the importance of connections, Blueblood and Starlight walked away, leaving the coast clear for me to leave the Library and make my way to the Throne Room.

Seeing Celestia already sitting on the throne once I stepped hoof into the room, I quickly opened my mouth and started telling her what her schedule for the day was.

After Celestia was updated on what she should expect for the day, I quickly made my way into another hidden passage leading to one of the exits from the castle in order to make my way down to the city for a late-morning coffee.
With my clipboard tucked away in a small bag, I left to get a quick brunch.

After returning to the castle, I once again quickly entered another passage leading to the hallway for Celestia's study.
Grabbing my chair in the neighboring room, I started my job in earnest. From reading reports to responding to letters from different officials and governors.

After once more explaining to the mayor of Seaddle that he doesn't need to fear a Viking invasion of his city and that the ship that he keeps on speaking of left the port without docking, an alarm I set on a clock indicates that it's five in the afternoon, and Day Court is officially over for the day.

Making my way to grab an early dinner, I spot Princess Celestia hovering over Prince Blueblood as he walked in my direction covered in blood.

"I think I'm cursed," He grumbled as Celestia hugged him tightly, "This is the third time in a row that me leaving the castle ended with blood,"

I ignored the comedic moment of family warmth as Celestia only hugged her nephew harder as I continued my walk to the kitchen.

I paused as I looked at a certain painting, that was just slightly tilted to the right, but I held back from correcting it, knowing that doing so will open another hidden door, one that I have yet to explore.

Making my way to the kitchen, I tell the staff what I want to eat and take a seat at the table.

Getting special-made food is a nice perk of being one of the higher-ranking workers of the castle, this perk is only shared by the different heads of staff and the Royal Family.

As I waited for my food, I spotted Prince Blueblood walk into the room, Princess Celestia no longer hanging off of him, and his new bodyguard seemingly with her.

After he gave the staff his order, a small smirk on his face as they exclaimed at his bloody appearance, he too took a chair at the table and sat down.

Directly across from me.

"Raven Inkwell," He nodded at me.
"Prince Blueblood," I nodded back at him, plunging the room into a comfortable silence as the two of us waited for our food to be ready, the only sound being that of hurried movements on the other side of the door leading to the kitchen.

After our food arrived, I quickly ate my portion and left, nodding to the prince after he nodded at me once more, and made my way back to my office to get some last-minute work done.

Once the clock hit 11:30, I left my office and made my way back to my room, intent on once again waking up early and continuing my job.

It's a busy job being the secretary and right-hoof mare of Princess Celestia herself, But I make it work.

If only the Grand Galloping Gala wasn't such a pain to manage each year.

Author's Note

Bam! A cute little chapter from the POV of Raven Inkwell.

Next chapter will be after a Time-skip directly to the Gala, the moment where our favorite trash finally makes his first, and only, canonical appearance (Outside of a daydream, or as a background character, or in the comics, that is)

Hope you enjoyed the story so far!!! :pinkiehappy:

Also, The Grand Galloping Gala, is a Gala, a fundraiser party, gotta make sure to point out that It's a Gala, and not a simple party.
Something that I'm sure the Elements of Harmony already know, I mean, What are the chances of them not knowing that the Grand Galloping Gala, is in fact, a Gala.

I mean, it's not as if one of them is thinking of opening a stall to make herself money during a FUNDRAISER. :ajsleepy:

I mean, They're all adults, they already know that. :eeyup:

Right? :duck:

Oh, and Griffonia is the nation, Griffonstone is the capital city. Just like how Caninia is the nation and Dimondia is the city.
Or Abyssinia and Panthera, Farasi and Zebrica, Hippogrifia and Mount Arise, Equestria and Canterlot.
You get the gist.

Chapter 56: Of Diamonds and Stars 1

Queen Jennino Lanterlight walked as quickly as she could, not caring for how her appearance might look to her subject, as she made sure everything was in place.

The Prince of Equestria was arriving to meet her, and it was her duty as the Queen of Caninia to greet him properly, and if that means holding a festival in his name, then what is?

"Amber! Are the Carriages all ready?" She yelled at one of her younger sisters, Princess Ambrosia Muffinsbuns, who was as usual wearing her beautiful pink dress.

"They are," She answered loud enough for her hurried sister to hear, while still remaining quiet enough so as to not ruin her ladylike charm.

"And what about you Moony? Are the fireworks prepared?" Jennino asked her other sister, Princess Moonbeam Twinkletail, who wore her red vest and held onto her magic stick.

"The Fireworks and everything, the Musicians are rehearsing and the Chefs are busy cooking. Everything is ready Jenn, stop worrying." Moonbeam said as she made her way to her second oldest sister, her nose twitching as her mustache of purple fur itched her.

"We can't!" Jennino told her sister as she quickly grabbed her shoulders and started shaking, "Prince Blueblood Agreeing to our terms of trade will finally give me the credibility we need for Kathy to take us seriously!"

Moonbeam placed her paw on her sister's arm and slowly pulled her off, "I get it, we all do, But if everything we've already done wasn't enough for Kathy to open the table, I doubt humiliating yourself in front of the prince of Equestria will."

"Humiliate? I'm not going to humiliate myself! I am calm and collected! Ready for his arrival!" Jennino said calmly.

"Really?" Moonbeam raised an eyebrow before pointing at something behind Jennino's back, "Because he's standing on that ship right there, and he doesn't look impressed,"

Jennino turned quickly around to look away from the port and towards the sea, only to be met with nothing but the salty smell of the waves of this warm, early winter day.

"See, What would you think would have happened if he was there?" Moonbeam said from behind Jennino.

"I- I understand..." Jennino said as she straightened her back, "I'll go take a break," She started walking towards one of the chefs she brought for the party.

Dimondia, the capital city of Caninia, has two Queen in two different Castles.

One Castle was empty, as the Queen and the two Princesses that lived in it left to ready a festival.

The other Castle wasn't empty.

Yet, even though the castle wasn't empty, to one Dog, the castle felt as boring as an empty shoebox.

"Indy! I'm bored!" A Yellow Dog cried out in boredom as she hung upside-down from a tree in the castle yard, her blue vest holding snugly against her body as she jumped off the tree branch with a flip, landing on her feet and patting down her blue skirt.

"I know, You said that five times already," Princess Indiana Ambereyes told her sister as she sat on a reclined chair the servants placed in the yard for her.

"But there's nothing to do! On other days with nothing to do I can just grab the telescope and try and look at Jenn's castle, but now? Nothing!" The Yellow Dog, Fiona Floppyears, said as she walked over and slumped onto her sister, her head resting on her stomach as her eyes looked up at her.

"Hey Indy," Fiona said, trying to get her more stoic sister to respond, "Hey- Hey Indy,"

Indiana sighed as she opened her eyes and looked down at her sister, laying her head on her body as if she was a petulant child, and not a nineteen-year-old princess.

"What?" Indiana asked.

"Banana Butt," Fiona responded before jumping up and away from her sister, wagging her yellow tail around as she ran around the yard.

"If you're so bored, Why don't you go check what Jenn's doing?" Indiana asked, causing Fiona to pause.

"...You know we can't." She said sadly, her head turning to look at her older sister.

"I know, so it'll just be you going, I'll cover for you." Indiana sat up from her reclined seat and stood up, cracking her neck as she stretched her back.

"What?" Fiona asked Indiana to explain.

"You don a disguise, nobody will know it's you, And you go to that port town to see what Jenn and the rest are doing. I'll remain here and have some clever excuse for why you're not here." Indiana said after she finished her stretches, a scowl on her face as she felt her back was still stiff.

"But Indy, you're trash at lying," Fiona said, causing Indiana to bark out a laugh.

"Ha! That doesn't mean I'm incapable! I'll just say you're not feeling good and decided to sleep in, That's easy enough."

Fiona sniffed at that, before she ran forward and pulled her sister into a hug.

"Thank You! I'll buy you a souvenir! Now let's go find a disguise!" Fiona yelled happily into her sister's fur as she held her head against her chest.

"Yeah Yeah, don't thank me yet," Indiana said with a soft smile as she rubbed her younger sister's back, "Just get me a new cool spear or something, yeah?"

"Haha, Sure!"

Standing with her back straight as the sun set before her, her sisters by her side, and her people behind her standing ready.

Jennino Lanternlight looked on as the small ship, just over forty meters long, as it sailed into the port, Sunlight Yellow and midnight blue lines were drawn around the sides of the ship, giving it a slick look while keeping the "Friendly" Colors that Equestria was so known for.

And as the boat docked before them, a set of stairs dropped from the deck and landing on the solid wooden port, right in front of a long red carpet.

"Stand tall and Proud!" A voice loudly proclaimed from on top of the ship.
"For you are in the presence of Prince Blueblood Platinum!" The voice continued as a golden-haired white Unicorn slowly made his way down the stairs, a Navy-Blue suit with an Ice-Blue undershirt and a black tie was on his torso, with the shirt stopping right before his Cutie Mark, depicting a silver and gold Compass Rose.

A small gem, triangle in shape, as if an incomplete puzzle, was held onto a small golden chain wrapped around his neck as a necklace, It was Red with subtle hints of green.

An Elegant yet friendly smile was on his face as he walked down the stairs, his Ice-blue eyes glinting with the light of the sun setting behind him over the ocean.

Each step he took caused Jennino's heart to beat faster and faster, making her gulp to swallow the saliva that was forming in her mouth, She ignored the concerned side-eye Moonbeam was giving her.

And as the Prince finally stepped off the stairs from his ship and onto the red carpet, the voice returned with one word.

"Rejoice!"

The fireworks shot into the sky, the flashes of the tiny colorful rockets illuminating the sky and the crowd as the music started playing while Blueblood slowly walked up the red carpet and made his way to the three Princesses.

"Jennino Lanternlight, I presume?" He asked Jennino, who nodded her head quickly and took the hoof he offered in her paw, almost freezing when he kissed it.

"It is a most wonderful pleasure to meet you," He said as he looked up and into Jennino's eyes, and for a short moment, barely less than a second, her brain short-circuited.

She could imagine miniature versions of herself running around inside her brain trying to stop a fire from spreading.

"Oh, believe me, Prince Blueblood," Jennino smiled widely down at the Stallion.

"The Pleasure is all mine."

And so the period of time that future historians will dub "The Meeting of Diamonds and Stars" began, but that is a story for another time.

Omake: A Discovery Months Away.

Near the peak of a mountain south of the City State of Yakyakistan, sits a cave filled with a carpet of soft moss and a small pond of spring water in its center.
In the middle of the pond sits an old stone statue, detailing an old Yak King.

"Bjorn! You Got to see this!" A Yak yelled as he entered the cave, carrying on his back a sack filled with scrolls and papers, detailing the discoveries that they managed to uncover in regards to the Tomb whose entrance sits near the back of the cave.

"Is it yet another rock, Olaf?" Bjorn, a tired old Yak asked in exasperation as he turned and raised his glasses up his nose, taking a look at whatever Olaf brought him.

"Not rock! A Water Sample! From the cave near the bottom!" Olaf said excitedly as he opened his sack and pulled out the correct document, giving it to Bjorn to read.

"The Lake at the bottom? What's so special about..." Bjorn quieted down as he read the document, and his eyes slowly widened.

"Do you understand?" Olaf asked excitedly, nodding his head like a puppy.

"Understand?" Bjorn repeated his question, "I more than Understand, Olaf! This is an amazing discovery!" He shouted out.
"If what's written here is correct, King Tarkus IV specifically chose this mountain to build his tomb!"

"It Is amazing, Yes. But I still Don't understand. Would it not have been better to build Tomb Elsewhere?" Olaf asked.

"Olaf do you not understand? He didn't build his tomb on this mountain because he chose this mountain as his last resting spot, but because of the Water at the bottom!"

Olaf nodded his head, still not understanding what Bjorn was speaking about. He was simply happy to see him excited for once.

Seeing no reaction of understanding from the younger Yak, Bjorn decided to explain it in simpler terms.

"The Water inside the lake at the base of this mountain contains a trace amount of Umbra Magic," Bjorn explained to Olaf slowly, "Which means we might have a clue as to whatever caused their disappearance so long ago, it might even be recorded inside this tomb! All we need to do is get rid of that Abominable Snowbeast that made its home in the tunnel... Any news regarding that?"

Olaf shook his head at that, "Prince Rutherford said he deals with it, Haven't said word about it since,"

Bjorn sighed at that, turning his head to look at the stone door near the back of the cave.

"Soon, We will make the greatest discovery in recent history..."

Deep Below the cave in the mountain, and deep below the tomb inside it, and even deeper below the depths of the Lake.

A Black Butterfly quietly waits for his Empire to return, Screaming in wordless anger at the barrier holding him captive far below the land.

His eyes, burning with malevolent flame, staring at the magical instrument just out of his reach, beyond the barrier holding him captive.

A Clock, slowly counting down, second by minute by hour by day by week by month by year by decade by century by Millennium.

And Soon, The clock will reach zero.

And the Black Butterfly will once again spread its wings.

And the Crystal will crack once and for all.

"AMORE!!!"

Author's Note

And so the Caninia Arc officially begins!
And with a party no less!

Oh! Also Don't worry about the Omake :eeyup:
I just wanted to write what Sombra was doing while the Crystal Empire was hiding outside of Time.

I mean, He wasn't with the Empire when it vanished, he couldn't have been, otherwise Cadence and Shining would have died the moment they stepped foot into the city.
And also, if he was still inside the Empire, the crystal ponies would still have been under his control when they returned.

So this is my answer, After the Crystal Empire was sent to the future, Sombra was sealed inside of a magic crystal deep underground, the crystal's magic only holding him till the Empire returned, which should hopefully explain why Sombra was the way he was during the beginning of s3 (All Screamy and shouty and not much of a talker,) He was trapped for 1,000 years.

Discord can remain mostly sane because he's Discord.

Nightmare Moon could remain mostly sane because she had the Moon Creatures with her.

Sombra? Sombra doesn't have reality-bending magic, nor does he have people to talk with and socialize.

He was trapped in a magical stasis for 1,000 years, alone, in the dark.
With his only source of light being a magical clock, mockingly counting down the time till his release, second by second.

It is torture.

AMORE!!!!!!!!!!! :flutterrage:

Again, don't worry about it, we still have most of s2 to go through before that Black Butterfly becomes relevant.

Oh and also! Thank you guys so much for reaching over 8,000 total views!

Hope you enjoyed :)

Chapter 64: Bitter and Elite 1

Raven Inkwell was many things.
Secretary to the most important Pony in the world, Last in line to the throne in cases of emergency, and also way too tired to deal with the hectic situations of Canterlot Castle.
But one more thing that Raven Inkwell is, is Bearer of Bad News.

It was a morning just like any other, she was looking at the papers stacked on her desk when a certain letter caught her attention.

After she read the contents of the letter, she sprang from her chair and ran to her bookshelf, opening the hidden passageway behind it, and started to crawl between the walls of the castle.

Her friend needed to read this.

On top of one of the spires in the guest district of the Castle, where guests of the highest honor may stay, Princess Celestia walked the pony of the hour to her personally created room.

"Here? I get to stay here?" The guest in question, a white Unicorn with Purple hair asked as she looked at the expensive interior of the room, at the Ponyquin readied for her use, at the soft silk and velvet of the bed-sheets, and at the large window overlooking the City of Canterlot far below.

The Guest in question was none other than Rarity, The Element of Generosity.

Celestia smiled at the little Unicorn, "Twilight Sparkle said you were coming to Canterlot for a visit and asked if I might accommodate you," She told her.

"Thank you so much Princess," Rarity told the princess as she looked around the room, a small white Cat jumped onto the bed and pawed at the blanket before laying down to sleep.

"You are very welcome," Celestia told Rarity.

"No really," Rarity ran up to the princess, "This is so nice of you,"

"It's nothing, Really," Celestia told Rarity with a smile.

"Oh but it isn't nothing," Rarity told her, "It's everything, I- I just don't know what to say but Thank you, Thankyou!" She quickly lowered herself to the floor and started kissing the Princesses hooves.

"Thank you," She said after a kiss, "Thank you!" She kissed again, Celestia started looking around uncomfortably, "Thank you thank you thank you!" Rarity kept kissing Celestia's hooves.

"You are very welco-" Celestia tried to say, hoping Rarity would stop kissing her feet, only for the Element of Generosity to jump into her face.

"Thank you!"

And luckily, Celestia's rescuer came, his legs buckling under the weight of the burden on his shoulders, yet he carried on walking.

"Your luggage, Mademoiselle," An Intern servant wearing a Bellhop uniform told Rarity as a small mountain of luggage and cases rested on his back.

Celestia, taking this moment of reprieve for what it was, told Rarity that she'll leave her to get settled as she walked out the door and away from the awfully thankful Element of Generosity.

"Is she in here? No," Raven Inkwell was a mare on a mission, She walked through the hidden walls of the castle, her eyes searching for a certain Unicorn who needed to read the contents of the letter as soon as possible.

"Is she in here? No," Raven Inkwell was starting to worry that she already missed her.

"Starlight, No! The entire point of long-range artillery is to act as a supporting fire to protect the soldiers in the field, They aren't supposed to be moving," Raven paused as the voice of her Coworker and not-at-all-hidden crush rang out from the Library.

"Of course she'll be in the library..." Raven whispered to herself before she turned around a corner and started walking to the Library.

Stopping behind the hidden entrance to the Library, Raven looked inside, her eyes switching with that of a painting on the wall.

On a table in the middle, she could see Prince Blueblood create a sort of miniature battlefield, where tiny ponies wearing old-fashioned military suits were shooting at each other as small explosions rained down around them.

"But wouldn't the cannons hit your own soldiers?" And there she was! The Unicorn Raven was looking for.

"You don't aim at your own soldiers Starlight, you aim at the enemy as they're running at your soldiers, and you aim at the enemy artillery. You think Napoleon shot his own men on purpose?" Blueblood turned to Starlight and asked her.

"You know I don't understand all these references you bring up, Right?" Starlight told Blueblood as she crossed her arms and leaned on the chair she was sitting on.

Raven decided she's seen enough, and slipped the letter into a crack beneath the paining, slowly pushing it into the Library.

"Psst, A Letter," She whispered before she ducked, hoping the two Unicorn's didn't see her.

"Did you say something Starlight?" Blueblood asked.

"Nothing, I though you said something, Trying to seem all mysterious and such," She replied.

"Me? Why would I whisper to you? we're an empty room," Blueblood gave Starlight a look.

"Don't look at me like that! If it wasn't you who whispered, who was it?!" Starlight got on her hooves and pointed a leg into Blueblood's chest.

"Probably Raven," He answered nonchalantly, grabbing Starlight's leg and pushing it away.

"Raven?" Starlight asked and started looking around before she noticed a paper envelope on the floor beneath a painting.

"Yeah, You know how she uses the hidden paths to walk around?" Blueblood asked as Starlight walked up to the envelope.

Starlight saw the envelope addressed to her and opened it, ignoring her boss as he kept talking to himself about hidden passageways or whatever else he had on his mind at the moment. Probably more Prench soldiers battling by blowing each other up.

Starlight Read the letter and then she froze, the paper slipping from her grasp as it slowly floated down to the floor.

"I need to go." She whispered quietly, taking a step away from the letter and turning to the door of the library.

"Starlight, what's going on?" Blueblood asked her as he stood up seeing his bodyguard walking away quickly.

"I- I don't have time to speak, I need to leave," Starlight's horn glowed Aquamarine and the door opened as she kept walking, "I'll be back tomorrow, tell Celestia not to kill me! I need to leave." Starlight started running, her hooves taking her down the hallway, pushing aside several servants as she kept moving, not bothering to slow down.

"What the..." Blueblood turned his head to look at the envelope she dropped before he stood to look at it.

"Wait!" he paused as a white Earth Pony fell from a hidden door on the ceiling, landing in front of him.

"Raven," Blueblood nodded his head in greeting, not bothering to point out how she just fell from the ceiling and tried to walk around her.

"You can't," Raven said as she moved to block Blueblood's path, "It's private for Starlight Glimmer!" Raven seemed distressed Blueblood noted as she kept blocking his way.

"Whatever it is, was important enough to cause Starlight to leave her duty. We both know she's not allowed to do so without prior contacting the princess or a good cause, It's a part of her Probation agreement." Blueblood told Raven as he kept slowly walking around her, The secretary keeping up with him to always remain between him and the letter.

"As Secretary of Equestria," Raven said as she looked into Blueblood's eyes, causing him to freeze as she used her authority, "I am classifying this matter as an urgent enough matter for Starlight Glimmer to be exempt from punishment for her actions in the matter,"

Blueblood looked into Raven Inkwell's eyes, before nodding his head at her and turning around.

"If you're using your spot like that, this must be more important than I thought," He told her as the two locked eyes, before he smiled down at her, "Good for you standing up for your friends like that," He gave her a pat on the shoulder before he turned around to leave.
Before he paused and turned his head back to look at her.

"Is Friday two weeks from now a good day? I know it's close to Hearth's Warming Eve, but I can still get a reservation for us, there's this wonderful place in Neigh-York that I think will be a good place," He asked her.

Raven blinked at him in confusion, "What?"

Blueblood looked at her confused, "For our date? You know, the one I promised you during Nightmare Night?"

Raven blinked again before the memory of that night appeared in her mind, and her entire head flushed a bright red.
"Oh Yeah..."

"If you have a better suggestion, feel free to update me whenever possible," He told her before lifting his hoof next to his head and shaking it a bit, whispering "Call me," At her before he finally took his leave.

Leaving Raven Inkwell as a red steaming mess, alone in the library.

She started touching her face, feeling how hot she got, as her eyes started wandering about the library before a book caught her attention.

"Prince of Pleasure" Was written on the title, and Raven bit her lip as she took the book and slithered back into the hidden passageways of the castle.

She had some cooling down to do.

As soon as the flying carriage touched down in Sire's Hollow, Starlight was already out the door.

She ran past building from her childhood and even more building that were built while she was away.

She ran past the small park she used to play at, and the local library she remembered spending most of her time with her only friend at the time in.

Her brow furrowed as she thought about Him but she quickly ignored it and threw Him out of her mind as she spotted the building she was looking for.

Running past a small, knee-high fence around the garden of common flowers, Starlight threw the door to the building open and cried out.

"MOM!" Her eyes looked around, her ears hearing hoofs clopping on the floor towards her, revealing her father, Firelight, as he looked in her direction with a sunken face and tired eyes.

"Chipmunk..." Firelight whispered as he looked at Starlight, before rushing forward and pulling her into a bone-breaking hug.

"Dad! I got the letter," Starlight said quickly, grabbing her father and pulling him away from her, "She's going to be fine, right?" Starlight asked as she looked into her father's eyes.

Firelight couldn't give her an answer, he just cried silently, tears rolling down his purple coat as he looked at his daughter.

Starlight started shaking her head at how her father was acting, "No! I need to see her!" She yelled and stormed past her Dad, entering her parents' room and seeing the Pale Turquoise mare lying on the bed, her cheeks almost white as snow and skin thin as paper.

"Mom! Everything's going to be okay," Starlight rushed to the side of the bed, her body lowering as she rested her head on the mattress, looking up at her sleeping mother.
"I can pull some strings, I'll get Raven to give you the best Doctors and professionals in Equestria, Raven's a new friend of mine, I'm sure you'd love to meet her, She's timid but also incredibly professional, but not too much, you know how Secretary's can get right?" Starlight talked with her mother.

Outside the room, Firelight was lying on the floor, his face ruined with snot and tears as he silently cried.

"And Blueblood, you remember him, right? He might be a prick at times, but he has a heart of gold, I'm sure he could get someone to help us out here," Starlight kept talking, her voice growing shaky as she continued.

"And Shining Armor! He's not the smartest, but his heart's in the right place! He can make sure nothing will bother you while we wait for your recovery hick because he's the captain of the guard," Starlight's voice started to crack as she felt her eyes grow wet, but she kept talking.

"Then there's Cadance, I'm sure she can help, She's an Alicorn, a real honest-to-goodness Alicorn, She'd help you in a heartbeat if she could, just say the word and I'll tell her," Starlight told her mother.

"C'mon, Mom, Just say the word hick so I can help you," Tears started dropping from her eyes as she looked up at her sleeping mother.

"Please hick Let me help you!" Starlight cried at her mother's unmoving body on the body, "I left you for years! I made you worried for who knows how long! So, please! Please just say the word and LET ME HELP YOU!" Starlight cried loudly, bawling her eyes out as she lay on the floor of her parent's bedroom.

"Please... Just say the word..."

But Starlight didn't receive an answer.

Starshine Campfire - Rest In Peace

Author's Note

No Omake this chapter, No Update on the IRL situation.
Just this...

Now we know why Starlight's Mom never appeared in the show...
Also, you can all guess where we are in the timeline by the opening scene.

Last chapter I was asked to upgrade this story to an M-rating, And I Really want to do so, but I also want to hear your opinions on it.
I'll post a comment below, asking you to vote by either liking or disliking it.

Personally, I really want to be able to upgrade this to M, I originally wanted this to be one, but M-rated stories get a lot of dislikes for no reason, even if they have nothing to do with Sex or Gore or any gruesome reason.

With this story going into M, I can really get descriptive with some events, like the last chapter's self-dismemberment at the end, But I also understand many readers aren't comfortable with it and I can respect that.

So I'm telling you this right now. THIS STORY DOES NOT CONTAIN LEMON! I do not write sex scenes, nor do I intend to. If you're expecting this story to suddenly turn into a Porn with a Plot like "Diaries of a Madman," then don't. I Will not be writing a Sex Scene every two chapters like an edge lord.

(No hate to Whatmustido, the Dude's still writing one of the longest stories on this site, huge respect for still going, I just personally don't like the way the story went)

So I'm leaving the decision up to you, I can easily write this entire story with only T-rating, I'll just have to get creative as to not go over the limit of what I can and cannot write.

Vote Below

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 72: Hearth's Warming Eve 1

Hearth's Warming, A Holiday for the whole family to gather together and exchange gifts.
A Holiday of Family, Friendship, And Community.

"What do you mean you aren't coming to the play?"

Princess Luna, Princess of Dreams, Alicorn of the Moon, was looking forward to celebrating her first Hearth's Warming back from the Moon with her entire family.

She couldn't celebrate Nightmare Night with them all, So Hearth's Warming was the next best thing.

"As I already said Luna, I have prior arrangements that I cannot delay," When Prince Blueblood told her he wouldn't be coming to the Hearth's Warming Play in the Canterlot Theater, she felt like her entire night was ruined before it began.

"Are you sure you cannot delay?" She asked her good friend, "It is Hearth's Warming,"

Prince Blueblood shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I will not delay my meeting for a reason as simple as a Play at the Theater,"

Watching him leave, Princess Luna felt her smile fade and her brows crease.

"What is so important for him that he must throw Hearth's Warming aside?" Luna asked herself as the Prince returned to what he was previously doing.

"Don't worry Princess Luna, I'm still going to the play," A smidgen of a smile returned to Luna's face when Princess Cadance told her those words, but it simply wasn't the same.

Luna simply doesn't have the same relationship with Cadance that she does with Blueblood.

"And for that we are thankful, But We've just remembered that something important is happening today so we will not be able to make it to the play either," Luna nodded to herself, her eyes still glued to the door Blueblood exited through.

"You're planning on following Bluey, aren't you?" Princess Mi Amore Cadenza asked Luna blankly.

"Yes, Yes we are," Luna smiled at her new family member.

"In that case, I'll go and update Auntie Celestia that I also have something important to do," Cadance smiled at the Dark Blue Alicorn as she left the room.

"Of course," Luna nodded to herself with a mischievous smile, "We are all most busy... Hihihihihi..." She giggled.

Our Town, A Town that was not long ago demolished and removed, built illegally by a maniacal sorceress and her cult of-

"You know I can hear you, You're not as funny as you think you are,"

But Recently, The Kind and Generous Prince Blueblood Platinum bought the rights to the land Our Town was built upon, not like that evil witch who decided that property tax is absurd-

"Just Because I didn't pay taxes doesn't mean I don't understand Property Tax, Also did you call me an evil witch?"

Starlight Glimmer has a secret stash of porno mags taped to the underside of her bed, hidden from the castle staff. She thinks nobody can find them, but she's really bad at keeping them hidden-

"Blueblood I swear to Harmony, I am going to hit you,"

I smiled to myself as I turned away from the window of the exclusive cart on the train, smiling smugly at my Bodyguard at my success in causing her to verbally threaten me.

"You know," I smirked, "If I wasn't your friend, I would have taken that as a threat,"

"But you didn't, because as much of an idiot as you may be, You're not stupid," Starlight said as she held her head in her arms, sighing in defeat at her curse of being burdened with my protection.

Something she fails at almost all the time, but that's fine.

"Of course, I'm not stupid! I'm-"

"Prince Blueblood Platinum, I know that already, Just get back to why we're going to Our Town?" Starlight groaned out defeated.

"First, it's Captain Prince Blueblood mother-fucking Platinum, I worked hard for that degree, thank you very much, And secondly, We're going to check on our newest BBF Factories," I told Starlight, my head turning back to look out the window, Ignoring the very badly hidden Alicorn's sitting further back the car.

"Okay, So you built Factories in Our Town, Why do you need factories exactly?" Starlight asked.

I smiled as I leaned down to my Spatial Bag and pulled out two containers.

One was a Mason Jar filled with red jam, and the second was a similar Jar filled with a creamy yellow sauce.

"Because I'm making products to sell, Starlight," I pass over the two glass jars over to the Unicorn in the black suit.

"I thought the BBF was a trading company," Starlight said as she grabbed the two jars and took closer looks at them.

"Well," I started to say, feeling proud of all that I've accomplished in such a short span of time, "The BBF Is, First and Foremost, A Company whose purpose is to assist the livelihood of its founder and namesake, One Blueblood Platinum, Using the many aspects and options available to the company, from Shipping and Trade to Construction jobs, and even grocery brands. The BBF Is privately owned and founded by-"

"Stop! Don't give me a sales pitch, Just give me the basics," Starlight said as she oh so rudely cut me off.

"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "The BBF Makes Money while supporting the communities around it, mainly by giving the people jobs and promoting tourism in its wake. Right Now, We're going to check on some Factories and Farms I bought, built, and now Own, Because they're to make money. A Shipping company needs customers who need shipments, and currently, our customers are us, and Caninia, So while the Dogs give us construction materials, We give them goods and services that aren't found easily in Caninia, Such as but not limited to, What I'm working on in the factories we're visiting,"

"So you're a modern-day merchant? That's what you're getting at?" Starlight asked after listening to my explanation.

"Pretty much, yes," I nodded.

"Then why didn't you just say so and save both of us the time?" Starlight groaned and laid her head on the table between us.

"Because, Starlight my oh so wonderful friend, If I just hurried along and got to the point, you wouldn't be groaning in annoyance," I told my Bodyguard with a smile.

Starlight Groaned in annoyance, "I'm going to kill you..."

"Love you too~" I chuckled with a smirk.

"Oh! Mistah Prince Sir! I didn't know ya we're gonna be visiting so soon!"

Hughbert Jellius wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, So when Prince Blueblood offered him a job opportunity that seemed promising, he had to go and ask his ma, She was the smart one.

His ma agreed almost immediately.

Hughbert trusted his Ma, She never steered him wrong ever in his life of forever as he can remember, No Sir!

And now Hughbert was very happy his Ma was so smart.

"I'm pretty sure I notified you two days ago that I'll be coming for a visit, but that's fine," Prince Blueblood smiled at the Earth Pony, "I'm here to see how you're doing, there aren't any problems with the workers or the machines, right? I want you to tell me if there are,"

"Aha, No Sir!" Hughbert shouted with a goofy smile on his face, "The Workers are taking the Jam lessons like a Jam to a Toast, And the Machines are making preserving the Jams so much easier," Hughbert gave the prince a walk around the Factory, pointing and talking about what he thought about different machines and tools.

"That's wonderful to hear," The Prince Smiled charmingly at the Pony, "How Much time do you think you'll need to start production at full capacity?" He asked Hughbert, "Don't get me wrong, You're doing amazing work here, but I want to have these Jars on the shelves before Hearts and Hooves day."

Hughbert nodded his head, "Don't worry non' Mr. Your Highness, We'll get you all the Jelly you'll ever need," He smiled widely at his employer.

"That is good to hear, I'll have someone come by next week to collect all the Jars you and the team have made, Take Care now," The Prince told Hughbert after another few minutes of talking with one another.

"You take care yourself Your Highness Sir!"

Leaving the large brick building, Blueblood and Starlight kept walking down the road before they reached another brick building of similar size that stood beside another building with a lower roof but much farther length.

"I'm guessing this is where you make the second Jar?" Starlight asked as the smell of farm animals filtered into her nose.

"Yep, This one was a bit tricky to make, not because it's expensive, but because finding workers who'd do it was much harder," Blueblood smiled up at the large building before pushing the large metal doors in, "Allow me to show you, The BBF's very first Egg Factory,"

Looking at the Duo of Unicorns from afar, coats of thick fur keeping them warm from the winter snow, A Pair of Alicorns let out gasps of shock at the sight of the second factory.

"Look at all those Chickens!" Luna exclaimed in amazement, her words completely wrong in regard to the species of animal raised on the farm.

"How many Quail Eggs are there?!" Cadance on the other hand got the animal right, her eyes wide as she stared at rows upon rows of cardboard containers filled with Quail Eggs.

"Thank you so much for having us act in this play, Princess Celestia," Twilight Sparkle smiled up at her teacher and role model.

"I am the one who should be thanking you for agreeing to this, Twilight," Princess Celestia smiled at her pupil and her friends, "I assume you all practiced for your roles in advance,"

"You betcha'!" Rainbow Dash said loudly, throwing her hoof into the air as she flew around backstage.

And as the rest of the Elements of Harmony started to speak up, Celestia thought about how lovely it would be to watch the upcoming play.

With her entire family.

Author's Note

Blueblood: Business is booming!

Starlight: I'm tired and annoyed...

Celestia: I'm so glad to have such a happy and big family, I hope none of them decide to ditch me on a family oriented holiday :)

Cadance: I think spying on my cousing will be fun :3

Luna: Holy Shit is a Jar of Quail Egg Mayo (As referenced in the beginning of the story?!) Holy crap!

This chapter was a mess to write, I had to delete and rewrite it several times because I didn't like how it went. So many things happened since last chapter and now in my personal life as well.

One of my best friend's aunt, who we thought was kidnapped in 10/7, was recently found dead in Gaza, so I've been helping her out however I can.
I started a new job, so now I'm getting used to my new work schedule.
A Ceasefire started to release the hostages and those terrorist fucks broke the agreement in the first day, who would have thought?

But on better and less depressing news, this story passed 10,000 readers, so that's cool...

To be honest, I think I'll be taking a short break from this story so I can work on some of my non-MLP related works, My Highschool DxD story and my Pokemon story recently started their first big original arcs so I'm planning on finishing those two up before returning to here.

The way I see it, this arc will finish by the time actual Christmas comes around.
And so in case a new chapter doesn't come out before December 7th, Happy Early Hanukkah :)

You can find both of those stories on my Wattpad or FanfictionNet page.

I won't link them because I already did so plenty of times, and there's a link to both on my profile page.
Just look for "Side Character DxD" and "Generic Pokemon Title" if you're interested.

Till next time :)

Chapter 87: Great Big Woods 3

Portunes was enjoying his lunch when a commotion rose up, many Deers went towards the commotion to check what was going on, and just like any good guard, Portunes took a look at his lunch and sighed with disappointment, picked up his helmet, asked the waiter to make his meal to-go, and then left to check on whatever was happening.

"Move aside, Guard coming through," Portunes's voice rose above the crowd as he pushed his way through the small sea of Deer, making his way to the front in order to see what was going on.

"Put down your weapons! These are my guests!" Portunes froze as a familiar voice rose from the front of the crowd before he quickly started pushing Deer to the side, moving forward quicker and faster.

"You know as well as everyone, No Deer is allowed in or out of the City without express permission from the Guard," Another familiar voice spoke and Portunes had to shout over whatever crowd remained in order to stop the foolishness that was happening.

"Beech! Tell your Stags to lower their weapons now!!!" Portunes shoved the last of the Deer to the side and finally saw what was going on.

Captain Beech, Captain of the City Guard, Had his guards pointing their weapons at a teenage Deer and two other creatures he's only seen in books and Historical Documents.

"Portunes! Great, I need you to tell this Guard to let me and these two in," Portunes looked at the teenager, his Prince, and felt his back twitch at the thought of needing to deal with whatever the King would do to him if he ever discovered what happened here.

On second thought, it is not IF he discovered, but When...

"Captain Portunes, Still on Babysitting duty I see," The Green-Armored Deer turned his head to look at a slightly younger Guard covered in an Orange set of armor.

"Still threatening Children, I see," Portunes bit back before he turned to the other guards, "I said lower your weapons, this Fawn is your Prince," Portunes watched as many of the Guards quickly lowered their weapons and stopped pointing them at his Prince.

"You know the rules, Portunes, No Deer is allowed out of the city without express permission from the guard," Beech said with a smirk, his spear still pointing at the Prince and the two Ponies.

"I permitted him! Now lower your spear before I lower it for you!" Portunes glared at Beech for a few more seconds before the Captain of the City Guard scoffed and put down his spear.

"Good, Now Portunes-" "Not now Bramble," Portunes interrupted his Prince, feeling a pang of guilt as he looked at the young Deer before he turned back to the crowd of onlookers.

"Back to where you came from! Show's over!" And with grunts and grumbles of disappointment, the crowd of Deer turned away and returned to what they were doing.

Portunes turned back to his Prince and the two Ponies behind him, "Bramble, do you understand what you just did? No, never mind that. You three, Follow me," Portunes waited for his Prince to start following him before he started leading them to the Castle.

Cadance couldn't help but stare in awe at the sight of the buildings in front of her.
It would be a disservice to even call them buildings, they looked like Giant Trees, with the buildings being carved into them like giant intricate wooden statues.

"I'm sorry you two had to see that," Cadance turned to look at Bramble, the young Deer looking up at her as he spoke, "I didn't think it would be such a big deal..."

"What's done is done," Bluey spoke up, Causing Cadance to smile at her cousin's faint attempt to cheer up the young deer in his own Bluebloody sort of way, "What I'm more interested in is you being a Prince,"

"Oh, That..." Bramble looked away before he mumbled, "I didn't think it was important,"

Bluey sighed at that, he seemed to be doing that more often, "What do you think would have happened if we didn't immediately come to the Gate and a Guard spotted us?" He asked.

"Umm, He would have taken us to the Gate?" Bramble guessed.

"I would have put the two of you under arrest for trying to fawnnap the Prince," Portunes said, his back still turned to the three Royals.

"WHAT?!" Bramble yelled.

"But we weren't trying to Foalnap anypony," Cadance said, "We were looking for Thicket, and Bramble was the first Deer we've seen,"

"But they don't know that," Bluey said, "They see two foreign strangers hanging around their young Prince, In an area where none of them should have been. Let me ask you this, Cadance, What would you do if you've seen Starlight Glimmer walking down the corridor of the castle?"

Cadance raised an eyebrow at the question her cousin asked, "I would say hello?"

Bluey continued, "And if you've seen her walking down the castle corridors a year ago?"

Cadance took a moment to think over the question before the realization hit her, "I would call the guards, Someone broke into the castle,"

"Exactly." Bluey nodded at her answer before he turned back to Bramble, "A Prince isn't just some fancy title you put in front of your name, You are much more than that. You are both an asset of the Crown and a bargaining chip, your actions could dictate the lives of thousands. If a Deer your age spilled a cup of Water on a random Griffon, it could start a small argument but ultimately end up with nothing more. If a Prince like you spilled a cup of Water on a Griffon, It would be sensationalized in headlines and news stories all around the nation, 'Prince Bramble humiliates innocent Griffon, do the Deer have no Shame?' An action you might think little of, could down the line, start Wars with thousands of lives on the line,"

"I wouldn't go that far, but what I think Bluey is trying to say is that being a Prince means you need to follow certain rules that might seem stupid but are still important," Cadance chuckled to herself, "I still remember when I first got my horn, I accidentally set somepony's hat on fire, If Princess Celestia hadn't stepped in to defend me, I might have made an enemy with the Mayor of Chicacolt,"

"You remember that, right Bluey?" Cadance smiled at her cousin.

"Nope," Cadance's smile disappeared as she stumbled at her cousin's blunt answer.

"That's stupid," Cadance turned back to Bramble as he kicked the dirt in front of him, a small smile climbing back onto her lips.

"That's called being an adult," Bluey said, the small weird bird on Bramble's head chirping in agreement.

"Being an adult is stupid," Bramble said as he made a face that made Cadance want to squeeze his cheeks.

"We're here," Cadance closed her mouth and swallowed the quip she was about to say as Portunes spoke up, causing the royals to look in front of them.

Surrounded by a wall of living wood, Stood what Cadance could easily say was the largest tree she had ever seen in her life. As wide as a tower and taller than 100 meters!

She had seen Giant Sequoia trees before, and none of them came close to the size of the tree in front of her.

Around the trunk was a walkway that took the group high above the other trees in the forest, before they reached a door in the tree.

"Royal Guard Captain Portunes! Accompanying Prince Bramble and two others" Portunes yelled as he knocked on the door, "Requesting permission to enter!"

Cadance stared at the detailed carvings on the door, her eyes mesmerized by the artwork in front of her.

After a minute, the Door opened from the inside. "Do not speak unless permitted," Portunes turned to tell Cadance and her cousin, "Show your respect to the King," He told them before he walked in.

"Again, I'm so sorry for all of this," Bramble quickly bowed to the two Ponies before he walked in after Portunes.

Cadance took a deep breath, turning to look at her cousin, "Okay, This is it, yes? Who would have guessed we'd meet with King Aspen on the first day," She smiled at her cousin only to stop as he stared blankly at her.

"You jinxed it." He sounded defeated as if Cadance's words just killed any hope he had of the meeting with the King going smoothly.
And with a blank look on his face, Prince Blueblood walked into the Castle Tree of Thicket.

Cadance gave her wings one last stretch before she too walked inside.

And the door shut behind her.

"Who does that stupid Green-helmet think he is?" Down on the ground, behind the houses and alley, walking the perimeter of Thicket, Captain Beech scowled as he moved.

"He hasn't been following the established law, Why does he get to be Captain of the Royal Guard, lazing about all day doing nothing while I need to actually work!" Beech scowled under his Orange Helmet, kicking a nearby wooden box and breaking it under his hooves.

"Eeek!" he froze as he heard someone behind him. Turning around quickly, he pulled out his Spear and pointed it at the Wooden Box he just kicked.

He held his breath as the planks of broken wood shuffled before a Pink pony emerged from beneath the planks, coughing dust out and shaking the crown of flowers on her Raspberry Mane, As she opened her Green eyes, she froze as she came face to tip with Captain Beech and his Spear.

"Pleasedon'tkillmeIdon'twanttodie!" The Pony cried loudly before closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable impalement.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" Beech yelled at her, the pony shaking as she answered.

"I- I'm Gloriosa Daisy, I'm looking for the heart of the Everfree- Eeek! Please don't hurt me I'm too young to D-D-Die!!!"

Beech stared at the scared mare in front of him before a thought came into his head, A thought that might just earn him his well-deserved promotion and get rid of Portunes all at once.

"You're not with the other two ponies that came here, are you?" He asked the Pony, who shook her head as tears rolled down her face.

"And nobody else knows you're here?" He asked again, receiving another shake from the Mare.

"And you want to get your grippy little hooves on the Heart of the Everfree? Truly?"

"I- I'm sorry! I- I don't know what else to do!!!" Gloriosa cried only for a leg of soft brown hairs to shush her.

Gloriosa Daisy opened her eyes to see Beech close to her face, "Please, Don't cry, someone might hear you," He smirked as he helped pull her up, "Let me help you,"

Gloriosa paused, "Y- You'll help me get the Heart of the Everfree?"

"Of course," Beech smirked at her as he started to chuckle.

If Gloriosa Daisy wasn't too busy being afraid, she might have heard the sounds of a hissing snake.

"Let us steal the Heart of the Everfree, Ms. Daisy!"

Prince Blueblood bowed his head as he stood in front of the Gold and Red Throne inside the castle of living wood.

"Ahh, Ponies, How long has it been? Has Celestia finally taken notice? No... It's not that, You aren't Celestia, neither of you are, Ahh, Why have you come here? Introduce yourselves." Sitting on the throne was the same deer that appeared in Cosmos's memory, but his identity was where the similarities ended.

If the Deer from the memory, the same one that Luna spoke of in her drunken stupor, was Elegant and Charismatic, clean and focused, then the Deer in front of him was his husk, a senile old man barely able to keep his eyes focused on them before they wandered to his Son.

Wrapped in a Red Robe, his green eyes struggling to stay focused, a large white beard covered the front of his face and hid his mouth, Aside from the golden rings on his horns that acted as a crown, the only accessory he had was a thick necklace of gold around his neck, with a glowing Red Heart made of Crystal in its center.

"Your Majesty, it is my deepest Honor to meet you, I am Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria, and with me is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of Equestria, We are-" "SILENCE!"

Silence Followed as King Aspen glared at the Unicorn, "Did you say Platinum?"

"Yes your Maje-" Blueblood was interrupted as King Aspen rose to his hooves, covered in golden shoes, pointing a leg at him as he shouted.

"Guards! Get them out! OUT! And never allow them to return!!!!"

The Decrepit old king yelled at the two Ponies who stared at him in shock, "OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Father no! At least let them ask their question, hear them out!" Bramble stood up in order to try and stop his father.

"Bramble?" King Aspen's mood seemed to take on a switch as he returned from the furious King back to the old man from before, "Oh my sweet Bramble, How long have you been here? No, That's the question I want to ask-" King Aspen rocked his head from side to side, as if trying to clear cobwebs from his mind, "Ah yes, My Son, My dearest and most precious Bramble, For you I will do anything," King Aspen tried to smile lovingly at his son, but to the onlookers, it looked like someone stretched his lips in the vague approximation of a smile.

"You," The king turned to the Unicorn Prince, "Speak, ask your question, You can thank my dear Bramble for granting your cursed blood this opportunity, Platinum, for there will not be another..."

Prince Blueblood took a second to organize his thoughts before he spoke.
"A bit over one thousand years ago-" He was interrupted by King Aspen raising his hoof.

"Stop," He ordered him before he turned to Portunes, "Captain Birch, take Bramble and this... Pink Princess, and leave me. I shall speak with this Platinum privately, Do not return until sunset,"

"As you command, Your Majesty," Portunes bowed his head, "Bramble, Mi Amore Cadenza, come. The King wished for privacy,"

"But-" Bramble tried to argue, but one look at his father told him this was not the appropriate time.

"Will you be okay here?" Cadance asked her cousin, who nodded silently for his reply, not taking his eyes off the Deer King, "If you're sure," Cadance bowed to the King before she joined the two Deers before the Door closed behind them.

Leaving King Aspen and Prince Blueblood alone.

"Now, Blueblood Platinum, Descendant of the Cursed House, Speak," King Aspen said once only the two of them remained in the throne room, his voice ringing around the hollowed tree in a booming echo.

The Red Crystal Heart on his necklace started glowing as vines tipped with sharp thorns burst out of the floor and wrapped around the Prince, their sharp edges pointing at his face as green liquid dripped down and splattered on the floor, leaving a quiet hiss as it melted into the wood.

"Or Begone,

Author's Note

And there we have it! BB Finally meets with King Aspen of the Deer!

Only that he isn't at all anything like in the comics! Who could have seen that coming?

City Guard Captain Beech (named after the tree) Is introduced, and he's obviously going to be one of the baddies of the arc.

Here's an Image of Pony Daisy. who many of you already know as the Villain from one of the Equestria Girls movies!
Art belongs to malkwrainbow on DeviantArt :)

The only official appearance of Gloriosa Daisy as a pony was as a background character in Princess Eris's Casino in the Nightmare Knights Comics, Which I wrote a single-chapter Anon story about, I'll probably write more once I'm finished with Season-2 here in TOTRC, But it also means that it's impossible to get official art of hers that looks good, so thank FanArtists for that :)

I'm trying to channel my best "Oceiros, the Consumed King" with writing Aspen, so hopefully he sounds good :)

Also, Bramble's Yellow Bird is based off of the Bumblebirb, a boss of Terraria's Calamity Mod that was a stand-in for the boss Dragonfolly while it was in development.

And more important than anything! This story finally surpassed 1,000 Likes! This means that I'll be writing another special Bonus Chapter to celebrate once I'm done with this Arc :)

Hope you all enjoyed it, Thanks for reading :)

PS- I held off on writing this chapter for over a week because I felt like I wrote myself into a corner, I planned on having this chapter start from Cadance's perspective, but then I discovered couldn't write it well, so I tried over and over.

I finally changed it to just write the beginning of the chapter from Portunes' perspective instead, and then my fingers flowed like a river.

Lesson learned, if you're struggling to write the start of the chapter, Just scrap it all together and write it from a different POV instead Lol.

Chapter 104: Time Off 2

Clean Squeak was trying her best to relax, She decided to take a vacation from her job and enjoy some time with her son, luckily for her, she managed to win a pair of tickets for a free cruise she could take and take them she did.

The last half a year was a blur of headaches and worry for the poor mare, and it all started seven months ago when she let her son look around an Art gallery.
She knows she shouldn't blame herself for what happened, the security of the place was investigated after the event, and the Museum head was fired and replaced after it all, but it did not change the fact that her poor little boy got his nose broken.
And then that scarf.

That damned scarf.

She spent what must have been days trying to clean the blood off of that scarf, but whatever material it was made out of seemed to despise the mere idea of being washed, so she had no choice but to give up and keep it as it was.

A sky blue scarf, stained with the brown splatter of her son's dried blood.

And just a month after that, She gets caught up in what the Crown describes as a 'Storm of Chaos' that came about after an ancient Spirit escaped its magical prison.

Whatever excuse they have, it didn't change the fact that she almost drowned in a flood of chocolate milk!

Luckily a passing rescue boat managed to find her and her son, together with as many other ponies as it could pick up from the flooded streets.

But there was something that connected those two events in her mind.

Prince Blueblood Platinum.

She knows it's a coincidence, of course she does, but her Son saw the prince as a hero since the day they first met, and following the Chocolate flood, that Stallion turned into an Idol to look up to for her little Pip.

She can't remember how many times her little Pip ran up to her showing off another story in the newspaper about how the Prince did something or another.

She's happy he has a positive male role model to look up to, Harmony knows his father isn't going to be one, but she's getting tired of hearing about the Prince every other week.

Yes Pip, it's wonderful that he's building diplomatic relations with Equestria's neighbors, but Mommy has a job to do.

So she made a very special stipulation that her son had to follow if he wanted to go on another cruise with her in the future if she ever gets the chance.

No talking about Prince Blueblood Platinum.

"Mom! Mom! Prince Blueblood is on the ship! And he's giving away coupons! Look!" Clean Squeak closed her eyes and let out an exhale of exhaustion as her Son jumped on their shared bed, holding in his mouth coupons for a discount on select items in one of those new BBF Grocery stores that seemed to pop up in the bigger cities.

It seems that the woes of a mother never end, even on a Vacation she is cursed to listen to her son speak about that Prince.

Clean Squeak hates coincidences.

Starlight Glimmer let out a tired sigh as her body dropped into the chair at the cruise ship's dining hall, her half-lidded eyes threatening to close and drive the mare into a deep sleep as she struggled to glare at the smug face of the Unicorn sitting in front of her.

"You look tired Starlight, What's wrong? Is doing nothing at all really that hard for you?" Prince Blueblood asked smugly, his horn glowing with light-blue magic as he moved the napkin on his side of the table and twisted it into fancy shapes as he waited for his food to arrive, "I must say, I am having a blast doing nothing, this vacation is exactly what I needed, why I'm even planning on telling a story for the children tomorrow, like one of those Story-time things that sometimes happen in Libraries, you know what I'm talking about, how fun is that?! Come on, smile a bit,"

Starlight grumbled tiredly and did her best to look angrier as she once again tried, and failed, to glare at her boss so hard he exploded.

"If looks could kill, Why if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to tell me to shut up, but I know you too well, If you really wanted me to shut up you'd tell me, come on Starlight I know you can do it!" With a glow to his horn, a party popper appeared beside him before erupting, a small explosion of illusionary confetti covering Starlight as she grumbled slightly louder, attempting to gain control of her facial muscles in order to open her mouth and tell her Best Friend to shut up.

"...Tup...." Was all that Starlight could say before her mouth opened widely as a yawn escaped her, once that was over she turned back to her boss to see him wave his leg in front of his face as if wiping away an awful smell.

Asshole.

"Okay, no jokes, you actually look awful right now," Blueblood dropped his smile and looked straight into her eyes, a hint of worry behind the pair of glaciers, "Do not make me order you to go to sleep, even though I think you need it more than I do."

Starlight wanted to retort, say some quip, but she couldn't.

This Vacation was supposed to be for Blueblood, but now it seems that Starlight was the one who needed it more than anyone.

So with a grumble of defeat and an aquamarine glow of magic, Starlight Glimmer teleported back to their cabin, crawled into the nearest bed, ignored the fact that it was Blueblood's, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

The slob didn't take a shower or brush her teeth.
Disgusting.

Although... I do wonder what she was dreaming about.

Starlight Glimmer had a wide smile on her face as she held on tightly to the roof of the train, the locomotive galloping at almost breakneck speeds towards an unfinished bridge up ahead.

She already managed to get all the passengers out, but that was par for the course, now she had the opportunity to watch the real show.

The reason why she loved her new job so much, even though it was basically her prison parole.

Standing on the roof of one of the cabins ahead of her, she watched as Prince Blueblood slammed his hoof into a tall insect-looking Alicorn with a powerful right hook.

The insectoid Alicorn skidded slightly on the roof of the train cabin, the force of the punch causing the fake mustache she had on her face to fly off, revealing the identity of the villain, the criminal who tried to rob this train full of money, puppies, and orphans.

"Queen Chrysalis?!" Blueblood stepped back in shock, his eyes widening at the surprise reveal that the Tall Untransformed Changeling who looked suspiciously like Queen Chrysalis with a cheap fake mustache as a disguise, was in fact, none other than Queen Chrysalis with a cheap fake mustache as a disguise.

Who would have seen that coming?!

Starlight laughed at the sight, a bucket of popcorn appearing in her hoofs as she partook of her favorite part of Bodyguarding duty.

Watching Prince Blueblood protect himself.

What soon followed was a fight of epic proportions where no magic was fired, both combatants moved like the wind as hooves met chests, kicks met elbows, and faces met the roof of a metallic train cart.

But the best part was when Starlight and the Prince jumped off the train, causing the dastardly villain to laugh as if she won, only for the train she stood upon to fall off the unfinished bridge, collide with a convenient pile of explosive dynamite at the bottom of the fall, and explode into a large ball of cinematic fire.

A pair of Cowboy hats floated down from the sky and landed on top of the Unicorn Duo's heads as they watched the fire burn, knowing full well that they saved the day once again.

So what if they destroyed hundreds of thousands of bits in property, the point is that they had fun doing so.

Starlight Glimmer was having a nice dream.

Good for her.

Author's Note

Another silly chapter to enjoy this vacation our dastardly duo was having.

And also, this is the first Dream showcased that has neither Luna peering into it not Cosmos inside, This is the first real Dream.

Was it a stupid dream where Starlight could play as Cowboys stopping a classic Wild West train robbery, conducted by the villain that Starlight has most recollection of? Yes. But that's the point of dreams.

Besides, who else was going to be the villain in a Starlight dream? The Pony of Shadows? She doesn't know he exists! Tirek? They never met! Gaia Everfree? Gaia who???

Chrysalis is the perfect Wild West bad guy! Twirling her mustache as she ties Prince Blueblood to the train tracks, only for Starlight to come save him! It's the perfect dream!

"Curse You Starlight Glimmer!" Chrysalis angrily waved her hoof at the sky as she fell towards the pile of Dynamite.

Silly vacation dreams we all needed to take our mind off the awful situation that is Equestrian Security. Or lack thereof.

We need our heroes to relax, especially since the next upcoming arcs after this Vacation are going to be action after action with barely a stop to catch our breath.

I'm telling you this now, but the beginning of Season 3 is going to be main plot followed by more main plot followed by even more main plot, and by the end of it, you'll look back at this silly little filler arc and reminisce on the times when Blueblood wasn't going to scream in frustration at everything that always keeps happening.

Again, after this vacation, it's the wedding, followed by a Hiatus.

And once I'm back from hiatus? Shit is going to hit the fan!!!!!

Oh, Clean Squeak and Pip Squeak are back, that's cool! :pinkiesmile:

Thanks for reading!!!

Chapter 119: The Crystal Empire 1

Standing beside the throne, Raven Inkwell passed a small pile of documents to Princess Celestia as she caught her up on her schedule for the week.

"The meeting with the Governor of Pennsylhoofia had to be delayed due to a medical emergency, so your visit will happen in two weeks instead. The Minister of Agriculture has sent back his findings on Appaloosa's current yield, as you'll see here-"

Princess Celestia nodded her head as she absorbed the information delivered to her, reading the documents as Raven spoke to her.

As the two spoke about Celestia's order of business, a scroll magically popped into the air in a burst of golden sparks and blue smoke.

"Just a moment Raven," Celestia told her secretary as she picked the scroll up in her magic and started reading it, her eyebrows creasing as the words on the paper entered her mind, her focus soon turning almost entirely onto the scroll, before she shockingly turned her head away and called out orders.

"Guards! Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor." She ordered the royal guards who stood around the throne room, the ponies heeding her orders before dashing away to fulfill their task.

As the guards left, Celestia took out a scroll of her own, grabbed a quill from Raven, and started writing.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, You must come to Canterlot at once-"

Standing in front of a stained glass window, The Princess of the Night asked her sister, "Are you sure you don't want us to go as well?"

"Yes," Princess Celestia answered Luna, her eyes staring at the mural depicting the youngest Alicorn and her husband encircling Canterlot with their love, "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are already there," She turned to look at her sister from the corner of her eye, "The Others will be joining them soon,"

"The Empire's Magic is powerful," Luna reminded her with worry, "It's been over a thousand years since the Pillars banished it to the future, It will not fall again."

"She will succeed in her task, and when she does, we'll know that she is that much closer to being ready," Celestia told her sister, her eyes focusing on the depiction of Cadance on the window.

"About that, Sister, We think there is a discussion that must be had in regard-" Luna spoke up, only to close her mouth as a voice tried to gain their attention.

"Ahem,"

The two Alicorns turned to look at the new voice, Princess Celestia's eyes relaxing at the sight of the pony, while Luna frowned in worry.

Twilight Sparkle stood beyond the door to the corridor, an unsure smile on her face and a large bag on her back.

Seeing that her advice would not be heeded, Luna sighed and walked away, slightly disappointed in how her sister was treating the situation.

"Trust me, little sister," Celestia told Luna as she walked past, making her way out of the corridor.

"You wanted to see me?" Twilight asked as she walked towards Princess Celestia, "To give me a test?" She smiled at Luna as she walked by, faltering slightly as the Princess seemed to ignore her as she walked by.

"I brought my owl quills, And plenty of paper to show my work," Twilight Sparkle's smile returned as she turned to Princess Celestia, taking the bag off her back to show how ready she was.

"This is a different kind of test," Celestia told Twilight as she picked her bag up with a golden aura of magic, putting the papers and quills back into the bag, "The Crystal Empire has returned."

"The Crystal Empire?" Twilight's smile fell at the mention of the place, her horn glowed as she levitated four books out of her bag, "I - I'm sorry, I thought I studied- I don't think there's anything in any of my books-" Twilight opened one of the books as Celestia grabbed the other three and levitated them away.

"There wouldn't be," Celestia said as she turned to look at her throne, "Few remember it ever existed at all." She lifted a glass case over a light purple crystal and levitated it out, placing it on the floor in front of Twilight.

"Even my knowledge of the Empire is limited," Celestia admitted, a beam of magic leaving her horn and hitting the crystal, an illusion of a map forming on the ground with the crystal in its center.

"But what I do know, is that it contains a powerful magic," Celestia told Twilight, standing on the other side of the illusionary miniature of the Crystal Empire.
"One thousand year ago, King Sombra, a Unicorn whose heart was black as night, took over the Crystal Empire," Celestia said, the illusion of the empire shifting as black crystals burst out of the ground, the vibrant and colorful streets turned dull and colorless as the towering castle in the center of the Empire was encased in black crystals.

An Illusion of King Sombra sprung on top of the castle, his eyes burning with dark magic as the ponies of the Crystal Empire found themselves bound in chains, slaving away beneath his hooves.

"He was eventually overthrown," Celestia continued, the Illusion changing once more, now six silhouettes floated in a rainbow Corona, their forms hidden by the Harmony Magic that surrounded them as they blasted a beam of rainbow-colored magic at Sombra, his body disintegrating into smoke under their combined magical power, a crystal shell seeming to grow around him to trap his gaseous body.

Twilight looked with wide eyes at the Illusion, at the silhouettes of the six heroes, only to squint as she spotted a seventh silhouette hidden behind them, much smaller, without the rainbow Corona to highlight it.

"Turned to Shadow, and Banished to the ice of the arctic north." The ground opened up beneath Sombra's Crystal shell, swallowing him beneath the Ice, and trapping him for one thousand years.

"But not before he managed to put a curse upon the empire," Celestia kept speaking, "A curse that forced it to be banished into thin air," The Illusion shrunk back into the crystal before Celestia picked it back up and returned it to its pedestal.

"If the Empire is filled with hope and love, Those things will be reflected over all of Equestria," Princess Celestia turned back to Twilight, her horn glowing with the six colors of the Elements of Harmony.

"But if hatred and fear take hold~" Her horn was engulfed in a green and black aura, Her eyes turned green as purple flames licked at the air behind her like dark magical eyelashes before a beam of black magic left her horn, spots of purple and green bursting out of the magic like a sickness, the beam landing on the floor and extending into a crystalline shadow, growing longer and sharper as it crawled closer to Twilight Sparkle, before a dark crystal burst out of the shade, almost hitting Twilight before the shadow it grew from split apart, surrounding the Unicorn in a cage of darkness.

Celestia's eyes then shone with a bright light, her horn shining with gold as a light burst out of her body, shattering the crystals and banishing the shadows.
"Which is why I need your help finding a way to protect it."

"You want me to help protect an entire empire?" Twilight Sparkle asked her mentor.

"It is, as I said, a different kind of test." Princess Celestia's soft and warm smile did much to assure Twilight's worries, "But one I am certain you will pass."

Twilight took a deep breath to clear her mind before she focused on her teacher, "How do I begin?"

"You will be joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire." Celestia told her as she walked past her, motioning the Element of Magic to follow.

"My brother is there?" Twilight Sparkle asked, a hint of excitement in her voice as she walked after the Princess.

"He is, and Your Ponyville friends will join you there too, as well as the many other ponies who are already there. I have every confidence that you will succeed." The two ponies left the corridor with the Murals, "And when you do, I'll know that you're ready to move on to the next level of your studies." Celestia told Twilight.

Twilight smiled in excitement at the thought of moving on to the next step of her studies, a wide smile on her face at the excitement of the thought. Turning to look at the other ponies that stood around the large room, she caught eyes with Princess Luna, her smile faltering as the Princess of the Night looked down on her, disappointment in her stare.

The look Princess Luna gave her turned her bubbling excitement of success into the worry of failure.
"But what if I fail?" She asked Celestia, her eyes looking away from the second Princess.

"You won't." Princess Celestia told her.

"But what if-" Twilight tried to argue, only for Celestia to place a hoof on her shoulder.

"You won't" Celestia reassured her before Twilight started making her way out, "But Twilight-" She turned to look at the Princesses behind her.

"In the end, It must be you and you alone-" Princess Celestia stood beside Princess Luna, the two Alicorns staring at the Unicorn. One stared on with great worry and expectations, the other stared blankly as if she wished to be anywhere else at that moment, "-who ultimately assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in doing what needs to be done to protect the Empire. Do you understand?"

"Mhm!" Twilight nodded confidently, puffing her chest with pride.

"Then go, there is no time to lose." Princess Celestia told her before she closed the doors separating the two of them, Leaving the princesses on one side, and Twilight Sparkle on the other.

With her face close to the door, Twilight Sparkle gulped before turning away, trying to clear the worry from her mind as she started making her way out of the castle, only to stop as a pony called over to give her some tickets.

"Show these to the guards at Rutherford Station, the train there will take you and your friends to the Crystal Empire," The white Earth Pony with the brown mane told her as the tickets exchanged hooves before she readjusted her glasses and walked off.

Twilight looked at the tickets and took a deep breath.

She had a test to pass.

Watching her sister walk away to prepare another supply of food and clean water, Princess Luna couldn't help but let her mind wander as she questioned the plan Celestia spoke to her about.

Especially the part where she was to keep everything secret, even from the other Royals.

"This will not pass well, Dear Sister," Princess Luna whispered as the door Celestia walked through closed behind her, leaving the Princess of the Night alone with her thoughts, "It is flawed and weary, a plan built upon an understanding that you do not hold." She shook her head and made her way in the opposite direction, "When the inevitable fallout hits, do not expect us to sit aside and do nothing. We will be right in the center, standing in front of you, telling you-" Luna paused in front of a door, her neck turning around to look behind her, at the door Celestia walked through, hoping, if only briefly, that her sister will walk back out and reevaluate her plan, ask for her opinions, do anything close to the sort.

Luna sighed with quiet disappointment as she looked away from the door behind her, her sister not walking through, before she opened the door she stood in front of, and left.

"~We told you so..."

Author's Note

BAM! Season 3 has officially begun! :pinkiehappy:

Already we have changes to the Story, not just in the form of Luna being disappointed with Celestia's plan, but also in how the Crystal Empire backstory happened.

In the original show, it was Celestia and Luna that defeated Sombra, here, it's the Pillars of Equestria.

Don't worry, I know it looks like the Pillars are doing all the saving in the past while Celestia and Luna are doing nothing, but that's not true! Celly and Lulu are the ones who took down Discord! And Celestia banished Nightmare Moon!

...When you point it out like this, it does seem like the Pillars are doing all the work... Even if our only introduction to them is as rainbow-colored crystals keeping the Uncle of Shadows trapped in Limbo...

This arc will have changes from Canon, obviously! Hope you look forward to it! :pinkiesmile:

Chapter 129: Gunther (Bonus)

This story begins just like any other of its kind.

With two boys playing in the woods behind their home.

"Come along, Brother! It is time for us to adventure!" A young Unicorn, yet to earn his cutie mark, called to his brother to follow him deeper into the woods, the childish prospect of adventure brimming in his young mind.

"Are you sure we should go there?" The second colt asked his brother, his body much slimmer than his brother's, his horn glowing with an azure light as he wiped a lock of cerulean hair away from his face.

"Of course! Every good adventure begins with a trek in the Everfree!" The first brother exclaimed, his wavy snow-white mane sliding down his golden fur like the leaves of a willow tree, his golden horn shining with blue light as he pushed the foliage ahead of him aside, excited at the thought of what he could find in the forest.

"But Father has forbidden us from entering the Everfree without a guardian..." The second brother pointed out, his blue eyes darting around the place, fear starting to well inside him as the sky darkened above.

"It will be fine!" The first brother laughed as he jumped over a root emerging from the ground, "Father will not be mad if he doesn't learn we were here!" He turned back to look at his younger brother, "This will be our little secret, okay?"

"Mm!" The younger brother nodded, following after his older brother, the two colts venturing deeper into the Everfree Forest.

The Young Unicorn whimpered silently in his room, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, the walls just thin enough to allow him to listen through as he kept his ears to the walls.

"You idiot!" He heard the voice of his father yelling from the other side of the wall, "I have told you a thousand times not to enter the Everfree on your own! And look what you have done!" The Unicorn jumped as he heard the sound of a hoof slamming down onto the floor, "If it wasn't for that wizard passing through, you would have been food for the Timberwolves! And you brought your brother with you?! I did not raise you to be so foolish!"

The unicorn held his tears in as the shouting continued, his father's booming voice sounding all throughout their home. The servants knew better than to interrupt him when his anger rose like so.

And yet, as he heard the voice of his brother crying for forgiveness on the other side of that wall, something inside the young Unicorn clicked.

"It was my idea to go to the Everfree!"

He did not even notice his body moving, the words escaping his mouth as he slammed open the door to his brother's room, watching the golden colt sitting on his bed, tears streaking down his face.

"Do not raise your voice at me, Boy," The younger colt froze in place as he watched a muscular Unicorn with a grey coat and a snow-white mane that connected at his chin to form a beard turn to look at him, a silver necklace with a depiction of his Cutie Mark, a Snowflake, hung over his chest.

"I'm sorry father." The younger colt apologized quickly, "But it was my idea to enter the Everfree, the blame should go to me, not Xanthos."

The colt did not know why he was lying, why would he go out of his way to speak such falsehoods, yet when he looked past his father's looming shadow, and into the eyes of his brother, looking at him with hope and gratitude for taking the blame away, he understood.

He did not complain as he was roughly picked up by his father and dragged to his room, he nodded and took on the yells and shouting that he levied at him, and he accepted all the punishment he got.

And yet he did not complain, for he was living in a fantasy.

A Lie is more than simply twisting the truth. A Lie is a creation of a story, a fictional event, a fantasy that has transplanted itself into the minds of the unknowing as if it is true, for as long as the truth of the events eludes them, that fiction shall be considered reality.

A Lie is the birth of a Fantasy.

"Prince Cocytus, Long time no see~"

The younger brother stood beside his older brother, the two of them standing a step behind their father as they walked through the opulent halls of a grand palace on top of a cliff on a mountain, the place where the leaders of the three pony tribes had decided shall be the capital of their kingdom so long ago.

"The same could be said of you, Chancellor Cheesecake," The father of the Unicorns told the aging Earth Pony who joined them in their walk through the halls of the castle. "Last anypony heard, you were still trying to make a child." The Unicorns looked around, his stature towering over the much older Earth Pony, "I fail to see them here, did you keep them in your home instead of bringing them to this momentous occasion?"

"I will have no child," Chancellor Cheesecake said simply, ignoring Cocytus's prideful display, "At least I shall be remembered." He smiled softly.

"You? Bringing no child means your lineage shall end, what is there to smile for?" Cocytus asked, his booming voice echoing around the empty hall they walked through.

Even the two brothers listened intently, wondering why Chancellor Cheesecake, grandchild of Chancellor Puddinghead, a founding member of Equestria, and arguably the most influential Earth Pony yet living, would smile at the prospect of being the last of his lineage.

"Because every bloodline has four members that are remembered long after their death." The Chancellor explained, "The First, the Best, the Worst, and the Last." He smiled calmly as he said those words, enjoying the silence that followed as Cocytus shut his mouth.

"I shall be the last, meaning I shall be remembered. And for me, that is enough."

The rest of the day past in silence for the Unicorns, their minds all thinking over the Chancellor's words.

And the sight that they were invited to see only cemented in those ponies the words of the Chancellor.

As the crowd composed of the most influential ponies in Equestria clapped as a Great Wizard introduced two young fillies that he had decided shall become the future rulers of Equestria, the youngest Unicorn silently combed over the words of the Earth Pony.

"The First, The Best, The Worst, The Last," He repeated those words in his mind, "I want to be remembered too." He thought to himself.

"I want to be the Best!"

That too was a lie.

"This is the perfect place for the ritual~" Years have passed, and the young unicorn found himself working as an apprentice and pupil of the Great Wizard, learning of the many forms of magic that can be found in the world, all so they could defend Equestria for as long as they must, until the two princesses that Starswirl chose will become of age and able to defend the land themselves.

He has studied many magics and spells, and yet here he was trying to do something that he was sure his teacher would call a foolishness of the highest order.

"The stars are aligning, this night is as close to perfect as I will find any time soon~" He muttered to himself as he moved around a circle of standing stones, closer in shape to broken pillars, all centering around a large stone basin.

This place was built long before the ponies moved to Equestria, dating back hundreds of years ago, to the age of Grogar the Great, when the land now called Equestria was little more than wilderness and untamed magics, guided along by the horns of the Great Sage.

The Unicorn moved crystals and powders along the ground, drawing intricate magical symbols on the stone floor of the circle, keeping the empty basin as the center of the magical sigil he was creating.

He smiled as he felt his magic flow out of his horn and into the symbols he drew, the wind picking up around him and flinging the powdered gemstones and magical spices into the air, twisting into the shape of an otherwordly figure, a depiction of a being who could be called nothing more than an alien.

"Hark, Mortal, for thou hast pulled the attention of she who builds the stars," The figure depicted in the twisting powders spoke, their voice echoing with powerful and ancient magic, calling for the attention of all without question.

"Thou may ask any one question, and thou shall receive an answer to any inquiry thou may speak." The figure continued, "Know Mortal, for only one question may be asked, Should thou wish to ask more, thy would need to form the ritual again."

"Now, what is thy inquiry, Mortal?" The powder floated towards the young unicorn, the colorful dust in the figure of the otherwordly being creating the illusion of a grand monster towering over the unicorn as if to devour him in one swift bite.

"My Question!" The Unicorn began, "Oh Great Spirit of Space, Is this-" The Unicorn took a breath to ready himself.

"Will you be my friend?"

The Silence that followed the question was deafening as if the very world did not know what to say to such an inquiry.

"Who are you?" The form of the Spirit of Space asked, "Mortal, What is thy name?" Her voice brokered no argument, it was an order.

The young unicorn smiled at the illusionary body of the spirit he made contact with.

And so he opened his mouth and told her.

"My Name is Stygian Styx Platinum."

Author's Note

To celebrate the arrival of 2025, this chapter follows last year's bonus chapter, Pavane for a Dead Prince, by following the Platinum Family.

And also following the naming convention of the previous important Bonus Chapters by being named after characters of the Nibelungenlied.

In this newest reality TV show!
Keeping Up with House Platinum!

Starring the Father~
Cocytus Platinum.
And his two sons~
Xanthos Scamander Platinum
and
Stygian Styx Platinum.

(All keeping up the theme of being named after Greek Rivers, either as River Gods with Styx/Stygian and Scamander/Xanthos or as rivers of the Greek Underworld, with Styx/Stygian and Cocytus)

We will be seeing more of them in the future ;)

Next chapter will be something nice and relaxing :)
See you soon!

Chapter 130: Moonlight Escapade 1

A week has passed since I returned from the Crystal Empire, and outside of the usual craziness that goes on in the castle, things have been calm.

Cadance woke up, and Celestia went to the Crystal Empire to help her work on the new border issue. Leaving Luna as the Alicorn in charge.

A letter came in a few hours ago, detailing how tens of different Pinkie Pies were causing havoc in Ponyville, but that's just another regular occurrence for them so Luna sent a few guards to make sure nobody got too hurt before we all decided to ignore them.

"Something is wrong, I can feel it..." I whispered to myself as I looked out the window of my room, a chill crawling up my spine.

"No you can't, You're just anxious because you're so used to bad things happening once a week, that now that the week is coming to a close, you're waiting for the bad thing to happen." Macaw told me, his ghostly figure leaning back on my chair.

"I don't want to hear a word from you, you're not real," I told the Scarlet Macaw Harpy, my eyes still staring at the horizon, watching the sun make its way down towards a mountain ridge in the distance as the late afternoon started to turn to evening.

Minutes passed as I looked at the setting sun, waiting for something to inevitably happen and ruin my week.

I'm not anxious, Macaw is wrong, as he always is!

As I watched the setting sun, my eyes briefly flickered to look at Comet, her body resting at the foot of my bed, her tail already in the process of regrowing following our scrap with Sombra.

"Friend Blueblood, Open up!"

If somebody told you that I slammed my leg into the wall as I instinctively kicked following the loud and sudden knocking at my door, somebody lied to you. I merely stubbed my toe.

"You don't have toes~"

"Shut up Macaw!" I whispered harshly at the figment of my imagination before I moved to open the door, a scowl on my face, not at all correlated with my now aching hoof.

I opened the door with a weak pull of magic, finding myself face-to-face with a surprisingly excited Princess Luna.

"We are going out for the night!" The Alicorn of the Night shouted at my face, her eyes brimming with an emotion that I had trouble placing.

"You are? Well, thank you for notifying us," I told her, smiling calmly as I ignored her invasion of my private space, putting on my official diplomatic tone, the one I use when I'm on the job, "I will make sure the Nation is kept running while you go out and enjoy yourself~" I had to stop myself from smiling widely at the Princess's words.

With Celestia currently in the Crystal Empire, that left Luna as the highest authority in Equestria. And with Luna ending her work early and leaving the castle, that would make Cadance the highest Authority, and since Cadance is also in the Crystal Empire, that leaves none other than myself as the current highest authority in Equestria.

Number One~

I was already in the process of walking out of the door and on the way to the Throne Room, Not for any particular reason, when Luna spoke up

"Oh no, we didn't mean We as in the royal we, we meant We as in you and us," Luna's words almost caused me to stumble as I momentarily lost balance.

"W- What do you mean by that?" I turned around and asked Luna, worry starting to creep up my spine as I watched her eyes smiling at me.

"We have already told Raven Inkwell to take care of duties in our stead," Luna explained, "Now you and we will be going out to enjoy the nightlife of Canterlot!"

"Still anxious about what could go wrong?"

MACAW I SWEAR TO GOD-

Prince Blueblood sat on the floor of Princess Luna's room, his eyes flickering to the open door leading to the balcony with the telescope, and to the sight of the orange sky slowly turning a dark blue.

"We have arrived at the conclusion, after many days and nights of mulling it over, that we do not know the city we live in as well as we may like." Luna said as she looked herself over in a standing mirror, making sure her makeup was still okay, "And so we decided that we will venture into Canterlot, and see what our very own hometown has to offer us~"

"You want the real Canterlot experience?" Blueblood asked as he turned to stare at Luna's reflection in the mirror.

"Of course! By getting to know our city, we'll be able to better know our subjects," Luna explained simply, "By the way, does this dress make our hips look large?"

"Ignore the dress," Blueblood said, not answering the question, "If you want the real Canterlot Experience, you're not going to get it going out as yourself." His horn started to glow with light blue magic.

"What do you-" Luna turned away from the mirror to stare at the Prince, only to pause as she watched the Prince's mane change from his wavy golden locks to a shorter steel-blue cut, with the mane seemingly changing to look closer to the head feather's of a bird.

His Cutie Mark shimmered as the illusion he cast hid it from the world, replacing it with the image of a bird diving into a pond.

"To get the real Canterlot experience, you're going to need to look like just another random pony." The Prince, now under a disguise, told her.

As he sat on the floor, Prince Blueblood kept his face as blank as he could, mostly to ignore the smug look the imaginary ghost of a parrot harpy was giving him.

If he didn't acknowledge it, it'd be much easier to ignore its existence.

"Ooh~ We're going undercover!" Luna said cheerfully, oblivious to the struggle the Prince was having with not punching the face of a figment of his imagination.

With a flash of dark blue magic from her horn, Princess Luna's body shimmered as an illusion was cast over it.

Her horn disappeared, and her wavy mist-like sapphire blue mane turned into shorter grayish-blue locks, her coat brightening in color as it turned into a lighter shade of blue.

"Don't forget to change your Cutie-Mark," Blueblood reminded her.

"Oh, right." Luna turned to look at her flank, her eyes narrowing as the black background of the night on her Cutie Mark disappeared, leaving only the crescent moon in its place.

"And what name will you be going by?"

"Luna-" Luna paused and corrected herself, "We mean, Lunar..." Her eyes roamed around her room, before locking onto the open balcony window, "-Scope, Lunar Scope."

Blueblood tiredly turned to look at the balcony, and at the telescope that stood there.

"Gee, I wonder where you got the idea for that name from..." He said tiredly before releasing a sigh, "Very well, Lunar Scope, My name is Kingfisher." He gave her a short bow, "What plans do we have for tonight?"

"There's a street called Restaurant Row that we would like to visit and check out, followed by a walk in the public park~" The Princess, now disguised as her younger self from before her power returned to her, told Blueblood.

"Very well then, will we be taking any guards with us?"

Luna licked her lips for a moment as she thought the question over, "No~ We want the real Canterlot experience, can't have guards tailing after us and ruining the night," She smiled at those words before quickly snaking her leg under the Prince's armpit and hooking on his elbow, "Now, let us go friend Bluebloo- We mean, Friend Kingfisher! The night is still young!"

"Very well..." Kingfisher said, his mind traveling to imagine how it would feel like to sit on the royal throne one more time before he stared into the younger Luna's eyes, "Ladies first~" he motioned for the door to her room.

"Oh no, We're not taking the door!" Lunar Scope smiled cheekily.

"What-" And with a blast of blue magic escaping from an invisible horn, Princess Luna teleported them out of the castle.

Later that evening, Princess Luna's guards would enter the room to check up on her, only to find the balcony open, her books strewn onto the ground, and her closet open, clothes thrown onto the floor. Causing them to open an investigation for a missing Princess.

But that is a story for another time.

Author's Note

In the coming few chapters, we will return to our Slice-of-Life tag. A Calmer chapter to relax following the craziness of the last few arcs.

In preparation for this arc, I watched the season 6 episode "Spice up your Life" to get the Canterlot Restaurants right, and I spotted something peculiar.

Raven Inkwell, as an Earth Pony (As she usually is) which gives me more ammunition to complain about why she's depicted as a Unicorn in Derpibooru.

She appears in 4 different episodes of the show, and she's only a Unicorn in one of them!
She's even an Earth Pony in the Gameloft game. And she's an Earth Pony in 1 out of 3 Comic Appearances she has. That is 3 appearances as a Unicorn, 5 as an Earth Pony.

All this is unimportant tho, people can write her however they like (Even if they're wrong) but this Arc is focused on Luna and Blueblood hanging out!

We're using this Design for the arc, just remove the horn from her head and the black from her Cutie-mark and we got Lunar Scope.

Meanwhile, Blueblood is reusing the disguise he used when he and Cadance(As Pattern Hearts) entered the Everfree during the Great Big Woods arc.

Shorter chapter, I know, but this is a Slice-of-life arc, See you soon~ :)