Inside of Canterlot Castle, sitting at her desk, Raven Inkwell was wishing she could take a break.
With the wedding just another week away, Raven has been stuck with managing most of the nation while Celestia was busy smiling on her throne as if nothing was bothering her.
Raven knew otherwise, of course, Princess Celestia is a horrible actress. Perhaps that's why so many ponies love her, she wears her heart on her sleeve, so you always know what she's thinking, and those thoughts are always positive.
Sadly that also means that whenever she's not feeling so positive, it makes her hard to approach, the citizens not wanting to get on the nerves of their Princess.
Luckily, that means that not many ponies visit her court, which makes Raven's job much easier.
Unfortunately, that also means that Celestia gets much less work done, and Raven needs to pick up the pace to keep everything running.
"Hey, Raven? Are you busy in there? I know you are but... I need to talk," Raven looked up from her paperwork, checked the time on the clock on the wall, took ten seconds to make her desk look more presentable, drank the last few milliliters of coffee in her mug, scrunched her face once she noticed it had gone cold, coughed into her hoof, brushed her hair a bit, adjusted her glasses, sat straight in her chair, tried to see if she forgot anything, decided that if she forgot it then it must not be that important, and spoke up.
"Open- I mean, Come in," Raven said once she made herself presentable.
Raven watched the door open as Starlight Glimmer walked in, looking somehow more tired than she was.
"Raven, your-" Starlight motioned with her hoof to her neck, "Your tie thingie is hanging loose,"
Raven looked down at her neck, finally noticing what she failed to remember mere moments prior.
She quickly turned her chair around in order to hide it, took her tie off, and turned back to watch Starlight as if nothing had happened.
If she doesn't acknowledge it, then that means it never happened.
"Hello Starlight," Raven said with a smile, trying her best to look prim and proper as the Secretary of Princess Celestia, "What can I help you with?"
"Please say go out for Brunch, wait, no, it's the afternoon, Please say go out for Supper, I need an excuse to stretch my legs" Raven begged in her mind, wishing Starlight Glimmer would say those magical words.
"I need to talk to you about Blueblood," Starlight said as she took the seat on the other side of Raven's desk.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Raven's mind screamed at her, "Did she figure out we were sleeping together? Does she not want me to be doing that? Why? Does she want Blueblood to herself? I can't let that happen! We'll no longer be friends with benefits, we'll just be regular friends! But what about Blueblood's mysterious long-distance lover? Does Starlight know about her? And what about-" On the outside, Raven looked calm and collected, like a proper secretary. But on the inside, Raven was reliving her teenage years.
"What about Blueblood?" Raven asked with a smile, ready to listen to her best friend.
Her best friend she only knew for less than a year...
Who is also a criminal on special parole and also the bodyguard of her lover...
Never mind the fact that the reason she's her best friend is that Raven's friend list can be counted with the number of Princesses Equestria has...
Raven concluded in her mind that she needed to make more friends, only for another part of her mind to immediately follow by telling her that she doesn't need new friends because making friends requires talking to other ponies about subjects that do not relate to her work, and that means being proactive, and she'd much rather not do that at all ever for the rest of her life.
"Do you think he's disappointed in me?" Starlight asked, and Raven had to turn her focus back to the Unicorn in front of her.
"Why do you think he's disappointed in you?" Raven asked, trying her best to look as if she wasn't thinking of something else entirely less than a minute ago.
"Well, He hasn't been speaking to me, and whenever I try to enter his room he locks the door and tells me to leave him alone," Starlight started to speak, "He locks the door sometimes, sure, but never when I'm trying to enter, it's usually when he's working on some stupid BBF project and wants some privacy, but he always explains that as well, now he's just... Distant."
Raven's mind whirled trying to think of a reason, "Maybe he's still angry after that assassination attempt, and he's been working out in his room alone, and doesn't want anyone to see him?" Raven brought up the idea, her mind imagining the Prince, his body shaking and covered in sweat, as he did one-hoofed pushups, the other front leg held behind his back, his face set in a look of fiery determination, only for the hidden door behind his closet to accidentally pull open, Her body tumbling out into his room, Blueblood stops his pushups and stands up to turn his body and look at her, using a nearby towel to wipe the sweat off his face as he scowls at her, frustrated that this moment of silent privacy was interrupted by her clumsy entrance.
"Hehe, oops?" She chuckled, squirming under his gaze as he scoffed at her, turning away as if she wasn't worth the effort of admonishing.
"I'll be leaving then, sorry for interrupting..." She said as she turned back to the hidden door, ready to leave the Prince to his own machinations, only for her leg to be caught in a telekinetic grip.
"Who said you have permission to leave?" He asked her, a subtle tone of frustration in his voice, his chest heaving from the intense workout making his breath come out heavily as he used his magic to drag her closer to him.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Raven tried to explain herself quickly only for her mouth to close, a telekinetic grip forcing it shut as her body was lifted off the ground, held up by her hind legs, as her face got dragged closer to the glaring visage of Prince Blueblood.
"Raven?"
"I do not remember giving you permission to speak," He told her, the ocean-deep glaciers that were his eyes glaring into her coffee brown, "You have interrupted me at my weakest, as I tended to my own flesh following that humiliating defeat," Raven felt insignificant at that moment, like a trapped rat cowering in front of a hungry cat, she was a mere Secretary, not even a royal like him, and yet she dared lay her eyes on him in his most vulnerable position, his forelegs still wrapped in bandages.
"Raven, are you listening?"
Raven stilled as she felt the Prince's heavy breathing impact her, her fur being pushed aside, "You will not be leaving this room until your behavior has been fixed," He growled into her ear, her body shivering as the vibrations flowed through her body, her mouth being forcefully pulled open by his magic as a plastic ball found its place there, tied to the back of her head by a pair of strings, "And you won't be needing this for your punishment," Raven's eyes unfocused as her glasses were taken off, "I know you have troubled vision, so you will likely be unable to see this," Raven froze as she felt the Prince's lips kiss beside her mouth, so close to her lips she could almost taste him. If only she didn't have this accursed gag over her mouth.
"Earth to Raven, Are you even there right now?"
"And since you didn't see that, You likely won't see this as well," Raven's legs started to rub together as her body squirmed, hanging upside down, held by the Prince's magic, as his lips started to kiss her all over, her body slowly getting lowered to the ground head first as the prince continued kissing her over and over, each kiss going a little lower on her body before-
Raven jolted up at the loud clapping sound, finding herself in her chair, back in her office, the sweat-covered stallion of her dreams no longer to be seen.
"Raven, You fell asleep while I was talking," Starlight Glimmer told her, her face twisted in worry, "You really need to take a break, and finish work early," She stood up and started moving to the door, "I'll come to talk to you tomorrow, My issues can wait, take care of yourself, okay?" Starlight Glimmer told her before she exited her office and closed the door behind her, leaving Raven sitting on her chair, wishing she was back in that wonderful dream.
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Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was going through a very busy time, She already wrote down how she and Cosmos planned her wedding to look and gave the details to Princess Celestia, who was all too eager to help with the wedding preparation, anything to take her off the throne.
Cadance was almost worried for her, almost. After her Cousin came back and locked himself in his room without leaving, Auntie Celestia was down in the proverbial dumps.
Cadance wasn't worried, Her cousin would pull through with whatever was ailing him, He always does, and when that inevitably happens, Auntie Celestia will return to her normal cheerful self, who doesn't need to use her non-existent acting talent to make things look like they're doing fine.
The last time she was like this, was after Bluey got sent to Yakyakistan after trying to arrest Starlight Glimmer, and Cadance knows how well that ended up for Bluey.
Cadance wasn't actually there to see it, but she heard Luna talk about it, so she decided to give it some time. As they all say, Time heals all wounds.
Although, Cadance was not expecting one of the maids to tell her that Bluey was calling for her and that he needed to talk about something important.
She first assumed that he would simply illusion a copy of himself into her room and scare her while she wasn't looking in order to deliver the message, but perhaps he simply wasn't ready to use his magic yet so soon after the attempt on his life.
"Bluey, it's me," She said as she knocked on his door.
"Please, come in," He spoke from the other side, opening the door slightly to show that it was unlocked.
Stepping into his room, Cadance expected to see her cousin either lying injured in his bed, or working on one of his little projects by his desk, instead, she found... Nothing.
Her cousin wasn't in the room.
Her body involuntarily jumped as she heard the door close behind her, "Oh, Haha, What is this? A Horror novel?" Cadance chuckled to herself while rolling her eyes, turning behind her, expecting to see her cousin smirk that annoying smile he does whenever he thinks he's done something worth being proud about enough to show but not proud enough to smile widely about.
"A horror novel?" Cadance felt her body freeze, her eyes had to turn up to stare at the creature blocking the door, "No, oh you lovely little thing, This isn't a horror story," She recognized it, it looked different from the last time she saw it, its body was no longer riddled with holes, it was smooth and reflective, like the chitinous exterior of a beetle, its hair was now cut much shorter, having a sort of gelatinous depth to it.
But it wasn't any of that that froze Cadance in place, no, It was those eyes, wide and manic, a reflective Emerald so bright it almost made her feel sick.
Scratch that, Her knees buckled as she fell to the floor, her stomach exiting her mouth as she threw up, her wide purple eyes shrunk into pinpricks as she felt an unnatural fear take hold of her body, her mind banging against the constraints of its skull as it sang and shrieked as if a traumatic memory that she locked away in the darkest recesses of her mind was clawing up out of the mental void, like a beast ready to bring nothing but ruin and destruction.
She knew what this creature was, of course she did, she saw her Cousin fight it in Caninia back in November of last year, and yet, her mind seemed to scream at her louder at just the memory of that encounter, yelling at her that she recognized it from before, much before, from a time before she could remember.
"This is a Romantic Drama," The hideous creature told her, smiling down at her from her towering position above, "And you, dearest Princess, are a valued member of the oh-so-colorful cast of characters, and I do not wish any harm to come to you," Cadance felt ready to vomit again, her body hacking and coughing in an attempt to get rid of the vile feeling that coursed through it as the creature's leg moved to caress her cheek.
"Help..." She whispered, her body quickly losing the strength to fight back, to call for help, to save herself from this vacuous mass of living tissue in the approximate shape of a pony.
"Oh dear, I am going to help you, after all, you are Its daughter, and I would never dream of harming anything that was Its." The Creature smiled down at her, its horn glowing a sickly green as flames licked its flesh, changing texture and color as the form of the horrible being before her shifted into a perfect mirror image of herself, "I only wish to help you, And for that I need you out~"
Cadance didn't know what happened next, her mind was sluggish and slow, one moment she was lying in a pool of her own bile, tears streaking down her face, and next, she found herself inside a cage of crystal, with no visible exit from her underground prison.
"Eight-hundred and twenty-one, Eight hundred and twenty-two, Eight hundred and twenty-three, Eight hundred and-" Cadance's mind stalled as she heard a voice from behind her, she slowly turned her body around, eyes wide with panic, ready to shoot her magic at it should it prove a threat.
And then she paused, a soft chuckle escaping her lips at the sight in front of her, and before she could stop herself, she ran forward and tackled the only other figure with her in that cage of crystal with a powerful hug, tears of relief streaming down her face as she laughed and cried simultaneously, her legs wrapping around the heavily bandaged body of a white unicorn.
"You're alive!" She smiled happily, uncaring for the vomit stuck to her fur that she was inadvertently spreading onto the other pony, who kept doing his push-ups, despite the added weight of Equestria's youngest Alicorn now hanging onto him.
"It'll be a cold day in hell when I let Chrysalis of all bastards be the reason I die, Eight hundred and twenty-five, I'm pretty sure I told you this before, or maybe it was Starlight, I don't remember, Eight hundred and twenty-six, But I'm going to be dying of natural causes, meaning either of old age or of a natural disaster, preference for the second one, Eight hundred and twenty-seven, Most likely being struck by lightning while being pulled into a Hurricane flying above an active volcano, Now that's one way I wouldn't mind going out," The Unicorn chuckled as he kept doing his push-ups.
"Oh, and Cadance, I finally finished working on my speech,"
"Your Speech?" Cadance asked as she laid her head on his back, hugging him as if he was a giant stuffed animal, using his body for warmth in order to calm down her still heavily beating heart.
"For your Wedding of course," The Unicorn rolled his eyes before he returned to counting his exercise, "Being here in this cave for two weeks gave me a lot of time to think of how I want it to sound, It's not like I had anything better to do, I couldn't teleport out of here with my magic as it currently is, and I can't send a message asking for rescue, My Illusions might have good range, but even I can't reach the castle from here, and I can't use the letter sending spell without any letters to send, never mind the fact that the smoke that carries the letter will simply get stuck in this room before dissipating, believe me, I tried sending a pebble to check if it would work, it simply fell over there," He motioned with his head to the side, where a small grey rock was laying beside the crystal walls that surrounded them.
"...You worked on a speech for my wedding? Oh, Bluey..." Cadance sniffed her nose before snuggling into the Unicorn.
"Oh, and Cadance," The Unicorn, Captain Prince Blueblood Platinum of Equestria, Founder of the Blueblood Foundation and last living descendant(known) of Princess Platinum, turned to his cousin, "What is that smell?"
"It's my vomit," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, The Alicorn of Love, spoke nonchalantly as she kept hugging her cousin.
"What?!" Blueblood stopped his push-ups and rolled to the side, pushing the Princess off of him, "Gross! It's in my fur! What the hell Cadenza?!"
"Stop moving!" Cadance shouted after him as she started running after her cousin, "Get back here so I can keep hugging you!"
"No! You're covered in your own vomit! Stay away from me!" Blueblood cried as he tried to keep his distance from the Princess of Vomit- Love, The Princess of Love.
Unfortunately, Prince Blueblood was still somewhat injured from his fight with the Queen of the Changelings, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was an Alicorn, meaning she had the strength and stamina of an Earth Pony and the speed and flight of a Pegasus.
Suffice to say, Cadance and Blueblood, two members of the Equestrian Crown, spent the rest of their day cuddling for warmth on the cold hard floor of a crystal-covered cavern, the stench of Vomit being replaced with soap and perfume thanks to a cheap cleaning spell.
And although the stench was gone, the worry remained.
How much longer will they have to stay there until they're freed?
Cadance was no combatant, she couldn't escape on her own. Blueblood's magic and body were still recovering, he could not escape either.
They had no choice but to wait, wait and hope that someone would find them, and free them from this Prison.
"Don't you worry Shining Armor, I'm not letting that shapeshifting hussy ruin our wedding..." And with those words leaving her tired body, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Hoping a Hero would come.