Chapter 106: Time Off 4
"Mom! Come on hurry up! Prince Blueblood said he was going to tell an amazing super awesome story!" Clean Squeak smiled gently as her son pulled her toward a corner of one of the leisure rooms of the ship, past the ball pit and indoor swimming pool, and towards a corner filled with pillows and bean bags, where a gaggle of other colts and fillies sat around, their parents joining them at a distance to keep watch.
Clean Squeak sat down on one of the many pillows, Pip squeezing his way through the other children so he could sit at the front, and watched as Prince Blueblood walked to a big bean bag positioned to face the crowd, and sat down.
"Okay, I did not expect to see so many of you actually coming here," The Prince said as his eyes roamed the crowd of children and parents.
"Are you really a prince?" A Filly in the crowd asked while raising her hoof as if she was sitting in a lecture, "You don't have wings,"
"Yeah! I thought to be a Prince you need to be an Alicorn!" Another colt exclaimed, also raising his hoof like a student in a classroom, "How are you a prince?"
Clean Squeak watched the prince plaster a smile over his face as he answered the two children, "I'm a Prince because my mother was a Princess, You don't need to be an Alicorn to be royalty, Prince Haakim of Saddle Arabia is an earth pony, But he's still a prince, because his parents were royalty,"
"Where is Saddle Arabia? I never heard of it!" Another child yelled, receiving nods and sounds of agreement from the other children.
Clean Squeak chuckled quietly at the tired face the prince was making before his horn started glowing with magic and a map of the entire known world appeared above him.
"I wanted to start by simply asking what kind of story you want, but instead I'll start off with a quick geography lesson," Prince Blueblood told the crowd as he pointed at the large map, "Who here can tell me where Equestria is?"
"Ohh ohh! I know that!" Pip Squeak raised his hoof, shaking it around to get the Prince's attention, "It's over there!" He pointed at a landmass on the map.
"Correct," Blueblood smiled before the map above him glowed, a small image of Princess Celestia surrounded by a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and an Earth Pony appearing over where Equestria was.
What followed was roughly twenty minutes or so of the Prince pointing out different nations on the map and talking about the many different species that live there.
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Starlight Glimmer was tapping her leg on the floor, a lax look on her face as she watched Comet scurry her way from across the room toward the Prince, the Plunderseed's almost alien appearance causing the children to jump in fright as she passed by them before climbing onto the bean bag Blueblood sat on and curling like a ball, the Prince's hoof slowly petting the plant monster as he continued giving his impromptu geopolitical lesson to the children as if the appearance of the magic canceling monster was another everyday aspect of life.
Now that she thinks about it, Comet is one of the less unusual things that happened recently.
Sure, the plant creature just sort of showed up with Blueblood after he and Princess Cadance returned from dealing with "Private Business," Whatever that means.
But much weirder stuff happened.
The entire Nightmare Moon fiasco is a great example of that.
Or even that time he had to drag her unconscious body through the Yakyakistani Wilderness, that also happened.
And for the record, Blueblood will not be getting his coat back, she slept in it and used it as a blanket in the freezing cold, It was hers now.
Starlight Glimmer chuckled at the thought, only to perk up as the Intercom of the ship started buzzing.
"Dear Passengers, this is your captain speaking, we are currently being boarded by pirates," The crowd started murmuring, "Do not worry, our security team is taking care of the issue as we speak, please remain calm and stay where you are. Thank you again for choosing Ocean Gem for your cruise," and with another buzz, the intercom turned off.
"We're getting hijacked by pirates?!" One of the children screamed in a panic before running to his parents.
"Awesome! A real-life pirate hijacking!" Another colt yelled before pumping his hoof in the air in cheer.
"Mommy, are we going to be fine?" A filly asked her mother as she was pulled into a hug.
"Everybody calm down," Blueblood clapped his hooves together in order to get everypony's attention, Starlight could already feel the smile start to spread on her face in excitement for this current adventure she and her friend were going to have.
"Security has everything under control, and as long as we're in this room no pirate will be able to get close to you, you are safe-" Blueblood's speech was cut off as the intercom system turned back on.
"Dear Passengers, this is your captain speaking, I am going to black out from the stress of the situation," The captain said in his regular calm tone as he spoke over the radio, "Our security forces have been defeated and we have been officially hijacked by these pirates. I am going to knock myself out in a blind panic now. Thank you once again for picking Ocean Gem for your Cruise of choice. We have a no refund policy." And with that, the Intercom turned off once more.
Silence hanged in the room as the children and their parents looked at the speakers near the ceiling as if waiting for them to turn back on and tell them that it was just a prank.
Starlight Glimmer, however, was busy doing something else.
"Starlight, I see that look on your face, Don't you dare say it," Blueblood warned her, raising an eyebrow at her as if challenging her to disobey him.
"I'm gonna' say it," Starlight said as a dopey smile spread on her face, her eyes locking into those of her best friend and employer.
"I will cut your pay, I am serious here," Blueblood stood up, Comet quickly climbing up his legs in order to wrap around him like a bag.
"I-" Starlight started speaking, deliberately going slow in order to milk her enjoyment of this moment for as long as she could.
"Don't you dare!" Blueblood started walking towards her.
"Told you so~" Starlight glimmer smiled innocently, enjoying the yell escaping the Prince's mouth as he picked up Comet by the tail and swung the Plunderseed into the floor as if she was a ball on a chain.
"Starlight..." Blueblood said tiredly, his Ice-blue eyes glaring into her purple.
"Yes Blueblood?" Starlight asked innocently.
"Go get rid of the pirates."
"Let's go then," Starlight picked herself up with a smile, intent on enjoying the moment when she and her boss were going to beat up some pirates.
If anyone had told her a year ago that she would find joy in bringing physical pain onto those who wronged her, she would have called them an idiot for stating the obvious.
But she never expected to have the joy of it come not from the act of inflicting violence, but from the company she did so with.
"Your mission is to reach the bridge of this ship without teleporting there, and take down as many pirates as you can along the way," Blueblood told her as Starlight started walking towards the door to the room, a pep in her step and a smile on her face.
"You're talking as if you're not joining me," Starlight pointed out as she reached the door, only to turn back and see that Blueblood did not move from his position on the other side of the room.
"Starlight, I'm on vacation right now," Blueblood said in a matter of fact tone of voice, "You'll be doing this on your own,"
"Wait a moment-" Starlight turned to point at him, "I can't just take down an entire pirate crew on my own!"
"You don't need to," Blueblood said as Comet climbed back onto his back, "Just reach the bridge, I'll take care of things after that," A soft smile crept on his lips as his horn started shining with a blue light.
Starlight felt her body lift from the ground as an aura of magic picked her up.
"Hey! Wait a moment, let's talk about this!" She started to yell.
Instead of listening to her, Blueblood opened the door to the room and tossed her out.
"I would tell you good luck, but I know you can take care of yourself," She heard his voice echo around her, "Now go kick some ass," A pair of silver orbs appeared beside her for a moment before disappearing under an invisibility illusion.
"And try not to make them bleed too much, we have children watching,"
"You're going to broadcast this to the crowd in there, aren't you?" Starlight asked as she picked herself up from the floor.
"Of course I am, Give us a good show, yeah?" Starlight could practically hear the smugness in his voice at that time.
"Aye aye captain~" She rolled her eyes and started moving.
She had a mission to accomplish, and some pirates to take down.