//------------------------------// // Chapter 61: Of Diamonds and Stars 6 // Story: Trash of the Royal Castle // by Netap //------------------------------// 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,"