"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.