//------------------------------// // Chapter 97: It's About Time 4 // Story: Trash of the Royal Castle // by Netap //------------------------------// 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!!!!!"