Chapter 83: Escape from Canterlot

Her existence was an embodiment of disgust.

A Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

She did not know how much time she spent in that shallow pool of muck, that was the only place she ever knew because, for her, time had no meaning.

She was a dead worm inside of a rotten fruit, a mass of dead flesh without a purpose. She knew not of time, or how time worked. She knew not of thought, for what would she think of? 

She knew not of life beyond that shallow pool. She knew not of life as a true living creature.

Until It came along.

A creature that was loved by all, A creature that did not understand the gift she had, A creature that did not love anything other than itself.

The Creature did not greet her out of any kindness in its heart, for its heart was as empty and cold as a desolate tundra. It merely wished to showcase to those lowly masses how beautiful it could be, for even it would show pity to a dead worm inside a rotten fruit.

The sight of it was both Beautiful and Disgusting, for in those moments it was the first thing she ever saw.

And in those moments she swore eternal fealty to that loveless creature who was loved by all, yet Unable to love.

And in those moments, when the mass of dead flesh promised to follow it, shadow it, learn from it, Her form changed to resemble it.

"What a hideous creature you are," It told her, Its long legs pulling her newborn form out from the muck of the pool she never left, Its white limbs glistening as if made by crystals, the dark muck of the pool sliding cleanly off as if in fear of harming Its beauty.

Its words weren't said to be hurtful, for they were the truth. Everything It said was the truth. It was beautiful. It was perfect.

The people loved It. She loved It. The world itself loved It. Even It loved It. And a creature like It, so loved by all, would be unable to lie.

No. She was disgusting to the core, She loved It so much she could see what the others couldn't. She saw the truth behind It.

They were both the same, two disgusting beings, rotten to the core. Alas, where she was Disgusting on the outside, It was disgusting on the inside.

Perhaps that's what the Butterfly saw. Did the Butterfly also see through Its facade of perfection? Or is she once more overthinking?

The thought mattered not to her. It was loved by all, so She would need to be loved as well.

And so she served, following in Its hoof steps, copying the truth behind Its mannerism.

If It was a perfect lie, then she would become the disgusting truth that mirrored It.

And yet, once the Butterfly exposed Its truth to the world, It denied his words, for everything It said became the truth.

It said she was a hideous creature, so she became the most hideous creature It could imagine.

It said the butterfly was a traitor, so the butterfly usurped her.

However, she remembered, from the faintest corners of her disgusting mind, a brief moment.

A moment so fragile, barely more than a second, as the butterfly prepared to destroy all It ever worked for.

She remembered It doing something so unbelievable, so ludicrous, she could not have imagined ever doing so herself.

As Its long and slender horn touched the crib of a newborn girl, moments before sending her away with Its perfect magic, It showed love.

It loved a creature that was not It, even for the briefest of moments, before the Butterfly arrived and exacted his traitorous plan. Finally putting an end to everything It ever stood for.

No. Not everything. It still had her, and the baby It loved for but the briefest of moments.

So she left, searching for where the baby disappeared, for outside of It, the baby was the only thing It has ever loved.

She toppled kingdoms in search of the girl, Working exactly how It would have worked should It have shown Its true colors.

She was the disgusting truth that mirrored Its perfect lie. And to fulfill her purpose, her promise to It, to herself, she must find that baby.

And yet, perhaps she already found her? And perhaps because of all that happened in her search for the girl, she finally understood that brief flash of love from It.

Yes, she finally understood what It did, what It truly was, and with this understanding, she could finally become the disgusting truth that mirrored Its perfect lie.

A real mirror, not the pale imitation she always had. A disgusting Copy.

No. She was not yet ready, only once the girl was hers would she be able to face It and tell It everything.

She was a Dead Worm inside of a Rotten Fruit.

But perhaps she already understood what It was.

"I think I'm in love with Prince Blueblood..."

With these hideous thoughts in her disgusting head, Queen Chrysalis woke up.

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"You, Take Starlight Glimmer to the hospital now! And you, I want a perimeter search of the entire castle, I want every single possible entrance or exit those fucks could take closed yesterday! And you, Show the Yak's to the rooms they'll be staying in tonight! You, Bring our guests the best food and drink we have! Bow your head and like their hooves for forgiveness if it would make them happy, NOW!!!" The moment the group landed in one of the gardens of Canterlot Castle, Prince Blueblood wasted no time in catching Starlight's unconscious form before it could hit the ground, yelling orders at the surrounding guards.

"You can rest now," He whispered to the Unicorn mare, "You've done well," He gently passed her off to the guard he ordered to take her to the hospital before he started marching towards the castle, followed by Prince Rutherford and the rest of the guards.

"Will things be fine, Blueblood?" Rutherford asked as he walked a step behind the Unicorn prince.

"Of course they will, Who do you take me for?" Blueblood stated, eliciting a chuckle from the leader of the Yaks.

"Hah, good answer!"

The guards that stood at the door to the castle took one look at his face before they opened the door for him, letting him pass into the castle without slowing down his march.

He burst into the throne room, only to scowl as he found it empty.

"You!" He called to a nearby guard, "Where's Celestia?"

"You mean where's Princess Celestia-" The guard froze under the frigid glare from the prince.

"Answer the question or you're fired," He said simply, not even bothering to raise his voice as he glared at the guard.

"She's at the Ballroom! Please don't fire me!" The guard cried as his knees buckled under him, forcing the poor stallion to use his spear as a walking stick to keep himself standing. But the prince was already on the move.

He ignored the stares and whispers of the servants and the guards as he moved with a single-minded focus toward the ballroom.

With a flick of his horn, he sent his bag to his room, it only served to slow him down.

With a glare from his eyes, doors opened before him, guards and servants bowing low to the ground as a show of respect, fearing the angered prince's response should he not have it.

And as he reached the doors to the ballroom, he wasted no time in flinging them open with a glow from his horn.

And then white powder exploded in his direction, "SURPRISE!!!"

Blueblood quickly caught all the white powder in his magic, making sure none of it touched his skin as he pulled it into the shape of a ball, a bright blue beam escaping his horn and burning the powder into nothing.

"Did you throw Anthrax at me?" He calmly asked the now silenced ballroom, his eyes moving over figures both familiar and not.

"Anthrax?! That's flour!" An unfortunately familiar Pink Earth pony exclaimed as she pointed at the empty sacks of flour lying beside a cannon.

"Good reflexes," One of the figures in the back said, nodding her head in respect to the Prince.

Blueblood took a deep breath before he looked at the ballroom. The ceiling was littered with Balloons, a banner was hung from the ceiling with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUEBLOOD" written in rainbow colors.

On a table to the side, Where three familiar Diamond Dogs were resting, sat several plates of snacks and sweets, and bottles of soda stood beside them.

Blueblood's eyes roamed over the other ponies in the room, recognizing a few of them, not recognizing others, before his eyes landed on the Pony he needed to speak to.

"Celestia, we need to talk," He walked up to her, trying his best to convey the importance of the situation with his tone of voice and lack of proper public address of her title.

"Luna, Cadance, Raven, Shining Armor, you also need to come with me," And without waiting for their response, Prince Blueblood turned tail and walked away, ignoring the gawking crowd of ponies watching him leave.

"Also, get rid of those decorations, they're a headache to look at," He gave some words of sage advice before turning the corner and leaving.

Princess Celestia looked at the many visitors who turned to look at her.

"Ehe," She sheepishly chuckled before following after the prince.

Once all the ponies that Blueblood called out were out of the room, One of the few ponies whom he did not recognize spoke up.

"What crawled up his tail and died there?"

"RAINBOW DASH!!!"

"What? We were all thinking it,"

---------------------------------

"If what you're saying is true, then the Elements of Harmony will have a tough foe in the near future..." Blueblood almost wanted to scream as those words left Celestia's mouth.

"Of course," Blueblood simply gritted his teeth and nodded along to her decision, after all, she was an Alicorn, and he was a simple Unicorn.

She had the final say on everything.

"Now, how about we return to your Birthday Party, Pinkie Pie made you a wonderful cake-" The moment the talk came to a close, Celestia's demeanor shifted as she smiled, trying to pull the prince into a hug.

"I apologize, Princess Celestia, But I have prior reservations that I must attend to," Blueblood slipped away from her before he gave her a bow and left her behind.

He had a reservation with a bottle.

He was not drunk enough to deal with this.

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"Welcome home darling," The sight that greeted him once he finally fell asleep was of his Human body standing in the doorway of an apartment, His cat-faced, snake-haired, twin-horned, Cosmic Girlfriend standing on the other side, a cheeky grin on her lips as she leaned her humanoid body forward.

"I already readied the water, so you can start with a bath, or you can start with dinner," She rested her hand on his chest, grabbing onto his shirt as she pulled him closer.

"Or do you want to start with me? Dar~ ling~?"

Blueblood stared down silently at Cosmos, the long day he had of dealing with Changelings, and then dealing with foreign diplomats, all the while finding out that it was actually his birthday all along. It was a very long day.

"I want to take a shower first," He told her as he leaned forward himself, His taller body pushing Cosmos back against the wall, "Then, Once we're both cleaned, I'm going to take a blindfold and cover your eyes," He continued speaking, towering over the Spirit of Space as she licked her lips up at him.

"Then, I'm going to lead you to our bed, where I'm going to proceed to tie your hands together and spread your legs open, that's when I'll have my dinner," Cosmos felt her body shivering as Blueblood lifted his hand to cup her chin, "And then for dessert, I think I'll get myself a little birthday present," He smirked as Cosmos stood on her toes, trying to reach for a kiss.

Only to widen her eyes as his finger blocked her lips.

"Ah ah ah, Not so fast," He leaned away from her, closing the door behind him as he entered the medium-sized apartment that Cosmos created in the dreamscape, "I think that for tonight, I want to take things slooow~"

Cosmos felt her breath quicken, she took the finger Blueblood used to block her attempt at kissing and put it in her mouth.

"You're a dirty girl," Her lips made a popping sound as Blueblood took his finger out of her mouth, "Let's get you cleaned up~"

As the couple entered the imaginary bathroom, Cosmos asked a question as she peeked over her shoulder, watching her Prince take his shirt off.

"Hey, Blueblood?"

"Yes, Cosmos?"

"Is it really your birthday?" She asked, her slender arms going behind her back to unhook her bra.

"It's the day Celestia picked me up from the streets, so it's basically my birthday," He answered casually as he removed his belt.

"Oh... Happy Birthday then," Cosmos said, earning a chuckle from the Prince.

"I don't care about birthdays," He told her once he finally took off all his clothes.

He turned around and Pulled Cosmos into a spooning hug, "Now how about you ask the real question?" he whispered to her, blowing small kisses into the back of her neck.

Cosmos took a moment to take in his body heat, Knowing full well that even though it felt real, it was but a dreamlike illusion.

She was still nothing but a head with an arm, lying in an endless void resembling the far reaches of the Universe.

But with him, She could ignore all of that.

He'd find the rest of her body, He'll free her from this prison.

"Do you wanna' go out with me?"

And one day, In the future.

"No,"

He'll give her a different answer.