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?