//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Trash of the Royal Castle // by Netap //------------------------------// 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.