Chapter 66: Bitter and Elite 3

Walking through the walls of the castle, unseen as a ghost, Peering into the dreams of those around her, Luna was smiling.

In the last few weeks, her powers have fully returned, She defeated Nightmare Moon and threw her into Tartarus, she has made friends with her new Family members, and in a few hours, she'll be hanging out with one of her new friends.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about..." Luna mused to herself before deciding that she needed not to wonder when she could go and check.

"Last dream was of him waiting for that train," She smiled softly as the memory of her time in his dream passed through her mind, "I wonder what it'll be like tonight."

And so, walking through the walls of the castle, Luna quickly reached the Prince's room and peered into the window of his dream.

"Yeah, you like that, don't you? Come on, Say it!" Prince Blueblood said as steam entered her vision, the smell of roses and sweat filtering into her mind.

"Oh Yeah Daddy! I like It so much! HARDER!!!" A Feminine voice cried in ecstasy and Luna knew what was happening.

Luna quickly looked away, closed the window to his dream, And cast a spell to erase the last thirty seconds of her memory from her mind.

Sometimes Ponies need their Privacy.

And so, without remembering what she was doing in his room, but with the window to the dream closed and the last few seconds of her memory erased, Luna concluded that she saw something extremely private and let it go.

She had another few hours before she had to lower the moon, better to catch up on some work.

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"Okay so we got several carts of raw meats," Prince Blueblood nodded his head as he looked at the list he was given for the day, "Some vegetables for the herbivorous monsters... Why are we keeping them in Tartarus? You know what, never mind. Why isn't there any actual food?"

The Servant who he was talking to raised his eyebrows, "Your Highness, The Prisoners in Tartarus aren't exactly-"

"Nonsense!" Blueblood said as he grabbed a note and shoved it into the servant's hooves, "I want ten different Burger meals, that include the chips and the drink, Beef burgers, not Hay. I want five Sushi Platters, two Vegetable Sushi platters, and two Salmon Maki, the last platter will be Tempura Sushi." The Servant quickly wrote down the orders as fast as he could.

"I also want the vegetable carts to be cut into a Salad, and half the meat cart to be cooked into Steak." The Servants quickly jotted down the orders.

"And Starlight!" The Prince turned to his bodyguard only to pause when he saw that she wasn't there, "Oh yeah, You're with your family..." He turned back to the servant, "I want fifty gallons of clean water for them to drink, and five bottles of different flavored juices. Make sure the bottles include Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Lemonade, Another fruit of your choosing, and a Soda," The servant grabbed another paper to continue writing.

"Any questions?" Blueblood asked, And the servant opened his mouth to ask, only to be interrupted by the prince nodding his head, "Good, now get back to work!"

The Servant turned tail and ran.

Blueblood frowned at the servant, looking at their back before a smirk appeared on his face and he chuckled.

"Yep, Still got it."

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"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia smiled as she greeted her Pupil, "When you asked me for a favor I was sure something horrible happened," Celestia said as she led her student and her group of friends through the castle, "But if you only wanted to hold your birthday here you needed only ask, Dear." The Princess smiled softly at her pupil.

"I know, But I didn't want to intrude too much, I'm supposed to be more independent, living in Ponyville and all that, I don't want to rely on you for everything, you have so much better things to do," Twilight Sparkle told Princess Celestia.

"Oh Twilight, Helping a Friend is also something important, sometimes you have to miss out on work when your friends need help. And really, You're only asking for a place to celebrate so Rarity could join you, I should be commending you for coming up with the idea instead of celebrating without her," Celestia said as the group reached a door.

"So here we are, A Ballroom for your birthday," Celestia said with a smile as she opened the door to reveal a large ballroom, with huge glass windows connecting to a private section of the gardens.

"A group of Ponies reserved the gardens outside in advance already, so I'm sadly going to have to ask you girls to keep your party inside," Celestia said with a wince.

"That is not a Problemo Princess Celestia! I'll be sure to make this birthday party twice as good as I planned!" The Pink earth pony of the group said loudly as she hopped in her spot.

"That's lovely to hear," The Princess Smiled at the girls, "If you need anything else, don't be afraid to ask one of the servants," And with that, Princess Celestia left the girls to prepare the party and returned to her job of sitting on a big chair and nodding her head.

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"That's a lot of food," Luna pointed out as she stood next to me, Looking at the massive carts filled with food and drink, "Are you sure we're not throwing a party with all of this?"

I smiled at her attempt at a joke, "There are many creatures in Tartarus, and most of them haven't eaten or drank anything in years," I told her as I levitated a paper bag with a Hamburger, Chips, and a bottle of Cherry Soda, "Just because they're prisoners doesn't mean they deserve to starve for years," I took a sip from the soda, my eyes widening at the taste.

This food sucks.

"So are we ready to go?" I asked Luna as she counted the group of Royal Guards that'd be accompanying us.

"We are ready to go, yes," Luna nodded, and with a burst of magic from her horn, we all teleported to the entrance to Tartarus.

Luna took in deep breaths as her legs started shaking slightly, "This Teleportation spell took a bit out of us, Don't expect to return for a few hours," She told us, and we all nodded in understanding.

"Understood," I nodded at her, "Now without further ado! Let's make sure they're fed!" With a glow to my horn, joined by a weaker glow from Luna, the massive Gates of the magical prison opened and we all walked in, the guards gulling at the carts of food.

Once we were deep enough inside the prison, we closed the gate behind us.

I looked around, seeing the spires of black stone in the distance, pillars of magic emerging from circles engraved on the floor, and cages of monsters lying about, lazying with nothing better to do.

I smiled as I recognized one of the caged monsters as the one that attacked Starlight and I in Yakyakistan, Seems Rutherford got rid of it.

"You already know your job," I told the guards who saluted before I turned to Luna, "So, let's begin,"

"Quite" Luna responded, and with a glow of magic from her horn, an entire cart of food levitated into the air, Raw and bloody meat mixed with cooked and smoked meat, no toppings or seasonings.

A cart as barbaric as the creatures it was feeding.

I shoved a corner of my hoof into my mouth and let out a loud whistle, the sound bouncing around the prison as a series of loud footsteps approached.

"BARK BARK!" A Large three-headed dog barked loudly as it raced towards me, one of its tongues sticking out and flapping in the wind.

"Come here Pooch!" I opened my front legs up as the large canine jumped into the air, clearing tens of meters in a single bound before landing on the ground in front of me, its tongue licking me happily as I rubbed at its soft belly.

"Who a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!" I cooed at the Cerberus as it rolled onto its back and let me rub its belly more.

"Blueblood, Are you ready?" Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at me, a simple pulse of magic from my horn clearing the saliva off my body and suit.

"Of course I am, Come on Pooch, we're having a little walk," I tell her before petting the Cerberus.

"Bark!"

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Nightmare Moon would have grimaced if she had any lips.

"What's wrong Nightmare Moon? Didn't you miss me?" Prince Blueblood asked her as he levitated several boxes of food into her glass cube of a cell.

"You Imbecile," The Living blob of Nightmare Magic whispered as she crawled to one of the boxes of food, ignoring the Vegetarian Sushi plate in order to look inside for something new.

"I didn't want to waste any real Burgers on you, so you got an Eggplant burger instead," The Prince told her as she grabbed the food inside, dragging it to her small table and setting it down.

"Aren't burgers made of Hay?" Nightmare Moon asked, her single blue eye wincing as she used a memory she stole from Rarity.

"Yuck," Blueblood mimed throwing up, "Why do so many people eat Hay? It's dried grass, You're not supposed to eat it yourself, you give it to farm animals because you're too cheap to afford real food for them!" Blueblood shouted heatedly as if the simple idea of eating Hay offended him on a personal level.

"What was the point of inventing agriculture? The evolution of farming methods? The creation of the irrigation system? Thousands of years of science and discovery?! All so we could eat DRY GRASS?!" He yelled, offended at the mere idea.

"Listen here Moony! If anybody feeds you hay, I am giving you permission to actually just kill them!" Blueblood took in deep breaths after he finished his round of yelling.

"I don't actually give you permission," He whispered as he straightened his back and pushed some hair off his face, "It's a manner of speech,"

"I don't think it is," Nightmare Moon responded before pausing her bite of the Eggplant Burger, "Wait... Did you call me Moony?"

"Yeah, I'm not calling you Nightmare Moon, if your name has a space in the middle then your parents hated you, And I am not calling you just Nightmare or just Moon, those aren't names, even by Pony culture," Blueblood explained.

"In fact!" He continued, "We're both lucky that our names only have two syllables, anything more is another point that your parents didn't love you,"

"Celestia is four syllables," Nightmare Moon pointed out before she took a sip of her drink.

"I do not retract my statement, two syllables for a name is the perfect amount. I can only pity those with one-syllable names, like Bob or Craig, They have it worst," Blueblood shook his head.

"Anyway, enjoy your meal, Don't try to escape!" He told her before he started walking back the way he came from, "Later!"

Seeing him leave, Her single blue eye staring unblinkingly at his back, Nightmare Moon took another sip of her soda.

"Moony?" She whispered, her eye narrowing before looking at the food in her cell.

"Imbecile..."

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"She's all yours," I told Luna as I passed her on my way back to the food carts, Intent on visiting the final prisoner on my little list.

"Pooch!" I yelled to Cerberus, who barked in reply as he turned his head to look at me, "Grab that last cart and come with me!" I told him.

Cerberus nodded his three heads and grabbed the cart with the actual cooked food in his mouths before he walked after me.

"Our final visit is the oldest prisoner here," I told him as we both walked up the path to one of the spires of black stone.

And on the top of the spire, just like with Nightmare Moon's cell. On top of a circle of magic sat a thick metal cage, inside of it was a thin red and black creature.

"Prisoner!" I yelled as the creature in the cage slowly turned its head to look at me, Four dark gray legs stood up, a coat of thin black fur covered its torso, and a pair of thin red arms extended from its shoulders.

A thin, Bull-like head turned to look at me, a pair of small horns jutting from its scalp.

"We brought you food," I told the creature as Cerberus put the cart down, "Hope you like Sushi and Burgers, because that's all you're getting 'til my next visit," And with a glow to my horn, platters of Sushi and bags of burgers levitated into the cell of the creature.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" The Creature asked in a deep voice as it ignored the bags and plates of food and walked to the bars of its cage, its cloven hooves clacking on the metal floor.

"You owe your pleasure to nobody," I frowned at the slimy thing, its eyes unnerving me just by looking at it, "I am merely feeding the prisoners, Do not think any deeper of it,"

"But you must have a name to give me," The Creature said, its malnourished red hands gripping to the metal cell, "Even just a title will do,"

I frowned at the creature, Its behavior already putting me on edge.

Whatever crime it committed to have this entire prison built just for it, must have been atrocious.

The sooner I leave its presence, the sooner I can return to the castle.

"Wait a moment," It called out to me as I walked away from it, "There's something about you that smells familiar!" I ignored it as I kept walking.

"Wait!" It cried for my attention and I gave it none, "That Smell of yours! Cosmos!"

I don't know how I did it, but one moment I was heading down the path away from the stone spire housing the creature's cell, the next I stood in front of it, my horn aching slightly as I glared at the creature within.

"Tell me everything you know," I ordered it.

The creature, seeing that it finally caught my attention, merely smiled at me as it stepped back into its cell.

"Perhaps another time," It smiled at me, a smug and greasy smile, that of a predator who knew he already won and was simply playing with his food.

I glared at the creature inside.

"I'll be seeing you next time you visit, Blueblood Platinum," It said, my name leaving its lips merely proving how dangerous the creature inside was.

"I'll be seeing you then," I spat out at the creature, "Lord Tirek."

And I turned my back to it, knowing full well it was staring at me, smiling that damned victorious smile.

Hopefully whatever information the Deer hold will be enough to make it so I'll never have to meet with this revolting creature again.

My hoof moved to hold the gem around my neck, And I frowned.

"We need to visit the Deer," I whispered.

With no information in the library regarding the deer, I'll be forced to have to ask Celestia for information.

And I much rather not have to bring anybody else into this.

Only me knowing was enough, but with 'Uncle' and Cadance also in the know?

The fewer people who know about Cosmos the better.

"I need an excuse to look for the Deer that Celestia will buy..." I whispered to myself before my mind went back to my 'Uncle'.

"House Platinum... That could work..." A smile slowly spread on my face as I made my way back to the Gate of Tartarus.

"That could work indeed..."

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Omake: Where in the world is Captain Shining Armor?

"Okay, everpony! I want you to hit me with your strongest attacks!" Copper Codpiece- I mean Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, yelled to his soldiers as he erected a barrier around himself.

Beams of Magic shot towards him, arrows of lightning zapped at the barrier, boulders dropped on top of him, and not even a crack in the magical bubble.

"Okay now everypony back up, I'm increasing the size!" He called and the bubble around him increased in size, no longer surrounding only him, but now holding a quarter of the courtyard inside itself.

"Now! Attack me again!"

For several hours every day, Shining Armor worked on perfecting his Barrier magic.

After Nightmare Moon's attack on Ponyville, he learned that the biggest issue he had wasn't the strength of the barrier, but the duration for which he could hold it under fire.

If he hadn't dropped his guard in exhaustion that night, hundreds of Moon Creatures would still be alive.

"Again!" Magic impacted the barrier, arrows and spears bouncing off the translucent bubble, explosions sent shockwaves into the floor below Shining Armor.

And the bubble didn't pop.

"AGAIN!" And Shining Armor will continue working on his magic.

Until all of Canterlot could be protected under a single bubble.

"AGAIN!!!"