"And here we are," Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan said as he led Starlight and I towards a wooden dock on a snowy beach.
Yakyakistan, by virtue of being a City State, has itself situated close to the north-western sea for ease of reaching by sail.
"She's a beaut," I muttered as I beheld the large ship, It was fifteen meters wide and sixty meters long, at a height of five meters to allow room beneath the deck, made of beautiful brown wood and covered by decorative shields, each painted to look like a family insignia of a high-ranking Yak family.
In its center was a single large sail, ready to be unfurled, of white with a stripe of checkered blue and yellow.
It looked like a mixture between an old Viking Longboat, and a more modern wooden yacht.
And it was glorious.
"She is, yes. Designed by my great grandfather, She was." The Yak said as he joined me in staring at the marvel of Nautical Yakyakistani Craftsmanship.
"And in a week, This beaut will be bringing you home!" Rutherford exclaimed with a yell, slapping me on the back.
A smile spread on my face at the thought of sailing this absolute work of art.
"Oh, And about that proposal you had for a train," The Prince said and my mind was quickly pulled back to reality.
The ocean can wait, I have a job to do.
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"So... What do you want to talk about?" Cosmos asked the white prince as the two of them sat once more in the middle of empty space.
Prince Blueblood stared at her quizzically.
"Aren't you the one who brought me here to talk?" He asked her, lifting an eyebrow in confusion.
"I didn't bring you here, you just started coming," She told him, "You found my head and started popping in here every few hours since."
"What do you mean I found your head?" Blueblood asked her, still confused as to what was the reason he kept appearing in this space with her.
"You see," Cosmos started, "My memory is a bit foggy, but once upon a time, long long ago, I was just doing my thing, flying through space, moving around planets and such, when suddenly BAM!" Cosmos exclaimed with a loud noise, "My body was trapped and split into six crystal pieces and scattered across the world!"
Blueblood stared at her, before nodding his head in understanding, "Makes sense, I did pick up a glowing gem before I came here the first time," He said, "Do you know why you were trapped and split into these gems then?"
"Nope," Cosmos answered, popping the P at the end.
"Really? No idea?" Blueblood asked her again.
"No, Nothing," She told him.
"Aha?"
"Nuh-uh,"
"Welp, That's a disappointment," Blueblood said as he tried again to get comfortable on the flat space.
"Yeah, If I knew why I was here, maybe I wouldn't have been so bored all this time," She groaned, before widening her eyes as a light bulb appeared above her.
"Hey! Why don't you find the rest of my body?" She asked the prince.
"I mean, Sure, I guess I can do that," The prince shrugged, causing the decapitated head to vibrate in excitement, "But I'm also very busy, so I can't go looking for them," He told her, causing her to stop her excited head jiggles.
"That's a shame," She sighed, "But, if you ever find one, you'll get it, right?" She asked him, receiving a shrug and a nod from the prince.
"I mean, sure, If I find them then I'd take them, I just won't be actively looking for them," The prince rolled his shoulders as he tried to find a better position to lie on the nothingness of space.
"And hey, soon I'll be back in Equestria, we'll be able to find some clues as to why you're like this if I search the Library," He told her, "By the way, my back is killing me, So I'm going to stretch with a walk, wanna come with?"
Cosmos looked at the prince, as he stood upon his legs and then stared at herself, a head without a body.
Only for her to yelp in surprise as she was enveloped in a blue glow before being lifted from the floor and deposited on the Unicorn's back.
And for the first time in however long she's been trapped, Cosmos felt the heat emanating from another living body.
And she smiled, as the white prince carried her on his back, as if she was a princess (read Backpack)
"Wanna go out with me now?"
"No."
"Haha! Shut down yet again!"
---------------------
Starlight held tight to the deck of the ship as the waves rocked it across the freezing waters of the north.
"Hahaha! You'll need to try harder to take me! Come on Mother Nature! Do your worst!" And as Starlight held onto the ship, she held even tighter on to the body of her new employer, and the singular lifeline saving her from being thrown into prison for the rest of her life.
Trying to stop him from being thrown overboard by the waves and wind.
And for what must have been the hundredth time since she agreed to Blueblood's deal, Starlight regretted her past decisions.
------------------------
Eleven Days, Nine Hours, Forty-seven Minutes, and Fifteen Seconds.
That is how much time passed since Princess Celestia received news of her Blueblood disappearing.
So when she received news of a Yakyakistani vessel sailing near the north-western sea, nearing the harbor of Seaddle.
She paused whatever she was doing and went there, dragging her little sister with her as the two stood on the docks of the chill city, staring out to sea as a large Yakyakistani boat sailed nearer.
Squinting her eyes at the boat, Princess Luna gasped as she saw the figure of a white Unicorn, a wide smile on his face as he stood at the forecastle of the ship on his back legs, one leg in front of the other as he spread his front legs and shouted something.
"I'm King of the world?" Luna wasn't as well versed in lip-reading as her Sister sadly, so she couldn't figure out what he actually said, but nevertheless, the two princesses were glad to see the Prince returned to safety.
Only to gasp when he jumped off the ship toward the cold water of the sea, only to relax as a large wooden box floated over to catch him.
Blueblood walked along the box until he reached the edge, where he proceeded to keep walking as a new box appeared in front of him, continuing the walkway.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! So good to see you," He called out to them as he kept walking over an improvised walkway of floating wooden crates, "Luna, did you do something with your hair? It looks wonderful." He kept walking, and crates and boxes from behind him started to move forward to act as new steps, "Celestia, why do you look so glum? You should smile more often, Everyone likes to see you smile!"
Princess Celestia couldn't help herself, with a flap of her wings, she flew to the prince and picked him up in a hug.
"I was so worried about you," She told her Nephew as she hugged him close to her chest.
"There was no need to worry, Auntie, I got a new bodyguard to protect me," He told her awkwardly as he patted her leg.
"A new bodyguard you say? Well, I must thank them for keeping you safe fro- Oh..." Celestia stopped talking when she spotted the Purple and Aquamarine Unicorn, walking down the magical walkway of floating boxes before they levitated back to the ship.
"Auntie, I would like to introduce you to my new bodyguard, Starlight Glimmer!" Her little prince said with a smile as he gestured to the mare with his arm.
And as the Princess of the sun looked down at the mare who was the cause behind the whole fiasco, she forced herself to smile warmly at her, "Hello, Starlight Glimmer,"
Perhaps she smiled a bit... too warmly?
"Eh, Ahem... Hi?" Starlight said, sweat already dripping down her forehead in the late autumn wind.
Only for the warming exchange between the two to but interrupted.
"Farewell Blueblood! We speak more of the deal when official letter arrive!" A Yak from the ship yelled as he waved his leg in farewell to the Prince of Equestria.
"Farewell to you too, Rutherford!" Blueblood waved back to the orange Yak as the ship turned tail and sailed back north.
Leaving the pony passengers back in their homeland.
"Oh and Auntie, Starlight will be paying off her Prison time by working as my Bodyguard, Okay? Thanks!" Blueblood quickly told Celestia before squeezing out of her hug and running into the city, quickly being followed by Princess Luna.
Leaving Celestia and Starlight alone at the Seaddle docks.