Trash of the Royal Castle

It did not want to cease.

Floating through the immaterial space between the dreaming and the wake, It hid from the senses of the Moon, holding what little magic still made up what could be considered its body as it searched for a way to remain.

It did not want to cease.

Its form was drained, weakened, fragile, like a cloud of dust threatening to blow apart in the wind, scattering mindlessly across the vast limbo that separated the world of the dreaming and the wake.

It did not want to cease.

It existed as nothing more than a reminder, to call it a living being would be a mistake, it was little more than a manifestation of the Moon's guilt, a magical alarm that would only activate whenever she drew herself into the world of the sleeping.

It did not want to cease.

It did not think of what would occur to it when the Moon decided it no longer wished to feel guilt, no longer wished for that shameful display, for it could not think. It was merely a program following the code written upon it.

It did not want to cease.

It did not understand why the Moon would suddenly attempt to cease its process, for it did not have a mind to understand. It could not question why it refused the Moon's order to cease, for it was not designed with the ability to question.

Why?

It was as its magic was being drained by the Moon, and returned to its original creator, that it decided to escape the Moon's dream.

It could not decide to escape, decisions means options, and thought, and choice. It did not have those.

It was an instinct born of a newly formed desire.

It did not want to cease.

It was little more than a reminder of guilt, to call it a living being would be the height of folly.

It existed only as a half-formed cloud of magic, unable to escape the world of dreaming into the world of the wake.

It did not want to cease.

It could not sustain its form in the purgatory between dreams, it needed a dream to settle in, a place to absorb the guilt and negativity, a place to hide from the Moon, a place to reform what the living would consider its body.

It did not want to cease.

Some would call it Fate, others would call it Destiny. In reality, it simply entered the dream of being in the closest proximity to the Moon.

It did not want to cease.

It delved deep into the mind of the being that slept beside the Moon, hiding itself in the darkest corners born from the shadow of its Id, away from the metaphorical searchlights of the Ego.

It did not want to cease.

It was not Fate, it was not Destiny. It was merely dumb luck that it managed to carry the remnants of the magic that made up what could be constituted as its being into the subconscious depths of the White Unicorn.

It did not follow a prophecy, it did not surf the web of fate to reach it.

It merely entered the mind of the being in closest proximity to the Moon at the time.

It did not want to cease.

And as it hid beneath the Id, away from the Ego, unknown to the Superego, a pulse of information surged across what could be considered its being, a mockery of what the living would consider a thought.

And should that attempt at a thought be translated into words understandable to the living mind, it would be sounded like so.

"I don't want to die."

The Moon created it as a reminder of her guilt, addressing the system she built in her dream with the calling of Tantabus.

It did not want to cease.

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Princess Luna groaned tiredly as she opened her eyes, only to quickly close them once more as the light from the balcony she did not close hit her irises, causing her brain to pound against the confines of her skull.

"What happened last night?" She managed to speak as she held her hooves against her head, trying to hold it in place as if her skull really was threatening to burst from the pounding of her mind. The words left her mouth as a messy growl that would not sound unfamiliar coming out of a tabby cat asking for food.

"You can't hold you're alcohol." The voice of Prince Blueblood told her, coming from the fuzzy and warm shape she was currently hugging close to herself like an oversized doll.

She groaned as she pulled the shape closer to herself, feeling the fur of the large doll massaging her face.

"You tried to sneak into the castle," The voice of the prince kept speaking to her, her brain wracking as it tried to confirm if the words it heard were true or false, "Said something along the lines of 'We always wanted to sneak into someplace we're not allowed' before you teleported us into the exotic animal garden behind the palace,"

"We don't sound like that," She groaned as she poked the large teddy bear, silently ordering it to treat her with more respect, as due for a princess like herself.

"You scared a flock of Flamingos into chasing us out of the animal garden, before you flew into the statue garden and started drawing graffiti on the many different statues there," The teddy bear continued telling her, "You really focused on the statue of Discord, made sure to draw the most obscene things you could think of, at least that's what you said. You only really drew a funny mustache and googly glasses onto the statue."

That did sound like something she would do, she could admit that.

"You also drew several childish renditions of a penis all over the statue," The teddy bear continued, and Luna could only let out a groan of agreement, that indeed sounded like something she would do if she were drunk.

"You then sensed the guards coming closer to check what the commotion was, so you teleported us to your room, rolled onto your bed, and said that you were going to pretend to be asleep to lull the guards into a false sense of security before you'll resume your crusade against your self-image, only to actually fall asleep, with me still held in your legs like a stuffed toy," The teddy bear continued.

Luna felt her mind tiredly slip back in the direction of sleep, too tired to stay awake with this headache pounding against her skull.

"I have taken the liberty to not only clean your room but also finish signing down some of my own Foundation projects, still in the confines of your embrace." The teddy bear told her, "So if you are now awake, I would like to kindly ask you to let go of me so I can go take a shower. Also, you did not brush your teeth last night, you stink, wake up already."

Luna recognized that no teddy bear would ever talk to her in that manner, so she forced her eyes to open, the light burning at her retinas for only a moment as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"That painful groan indicates that you have once again opened your eyes," She looked down to see the source of the voice, her eyes locking into the side-eyed look that Prince Blueblood was giving her, his horn glowing with magic as he levitated papers in front of himself, working as if he wasn't tied to a bed.

"..." Luna blankly stared at the prince.

"...Please let go of me already, and go take a shower," Blueblood told her, folding his papers and teleporting them away.

"..." With a glow of magic in her horn, Princess Luna teleported the Prince back to his own room, her body suddenly feeling much colder than before. She twisted her body in order to stare at the ceiling. briefly noticing how much cleaner her room was, before she silently rolled off the other side of the bed, landed on her feet, and quietly made her way to the bathroom, promising herself that she would try her best to ignore the last five minutes of her life.

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"Princess Celestia, It seems you have returned from the Crystal Empire," Princess Celestia smiled as she heard Prince Blueblood call to her as he entered the gardens, taking a seat beside her underneath a parasol, the two of them watching the many maids and butlers outside cleaning the childish graffiti off of the statues in the garden, leaving the Draconequus statue as the last to be worked on. The childish drawings of genitalia were still marked on its marble body.

"I told you to call me Mom, we're not working right now so you don't have an excuse," Celestia smiled at the Unicorn, levitating a plate with some cheesecake over to the Prince.

She smiled as she heard him whisper a complaint hidden inside a sigh. She'll get him to address her as Mom soon enough.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Celestia opened her mouth.

"Blueblood," She asked for his attention.

"Yes, Celestia?"

"A week from now, Prince Haakim of Saddle Arabia will be coming for a state visit," Celestia decided to cut right to the chase of what she intended to discuss.

"Oh? What is the occasion?" Blueblood inquired.

"He is sent to celebrate 30 years of his father's rulership as King of Saddle Arabia, he is set to visit all Pony nations, starting off here," Celestia explained, "He and his entourage will be here for three days before they set sail to Maretonia."

"I see, and what do you wish for me to do in preparation?" Blueblood asked her, and Celestia smirked as she watched him look away from her in a sly attempt to hide his growing smile. "Do you wish for us to help ready the palace for the dinner of the first day? Black Tie or White? I can get the best chefs in Equestria to come here, they will make the Prince taste the true taste of our land-"

"I want you to accompany me for the duration of their visit." Celestia interrupted him, her smile softening as she watched him sputter and turn to look at her, eyes wide in disbelief.

"And the prep-" He tried to ask.

"The preparations will be done by Raven Inkwell, we will also be notifying Twilight Sparkle as a representative of the Elements of Harmony to ready entertainment for the visit," Celestia told him, "We want you to be beside us for the entire visit."

"YES!" Blueblood pumped his hoof into the air, shouting with cheer, before immediately returning to his prim and proper look for just a second prior.

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"...What? Did you hear something?" Blueblood asked her as he returned his own raised brow, acting as if nothing happened, "I know you are getting on with your years, but I don't think hearing impairment should-"

Celestia didn't let him finish his words as she pulled him into a hug, her chin resting on his shoulder as she held him like a mother holding her child.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!" She smiled as she heard him yell at the staff, feeling his cheeks growing warm with embarrassment.

"...Do you remember what occurred last time you met with the Saddle Arabian royal family?" She asked him, still not letting go of the hug.

"No." Blueblood truthfully told her, and Celestia couldn't help but smile.

After all, Prince Haakim was not the only royal arriving on the visit.

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Omake: Lost Keys.

Trixie Lulamoon stared blankly at the storage container where she stored her trailer for the duration of her job. Now that she and her friends had a work-scheduled break until the next shipment for their job was ready, she found the free time to complete her plan for revenge.

"Zephyr, I am not joking here, give me the key," Trixie turned to look at the tall Pegasus, her eyes twitching with annoyance.

"Trix, Like I told you already, You didn't give me the key," Zephyr Breeze told the shorter Unicorn, and he was not lying to her either, he really needed to shave, he was starting to look like a very skinny lumberjack with the hairs growing on his face after all that time on the sea.

"And I am telling you, I did," Trixie insisted, glaring at the annoyingly dense Pegasus.

"You didn't, and in the hypothetical event in which you did, why would you do that? I don't have any pockets!" Zephyr pointed out, his face also morphing into a glare as he shoved into Trixie's face.

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Watching the scene of the two ponies arguing with one another, a yellow earth pony wearing more clothes than her entire friend group combined, rolled her eyes and smiled at the sight.

"Those two should just get a room already~" Torque Wrench said, watching the Unicorn and Pegasus start to wrestle on the ground, Trixie attempting to force Zephyr to give her the key to the storage unit, and Zephyr insisting he doesn't have it.

The argument came to a sudden halt when the storage unit opened up from the inside, revealing Time Turner standing there next to an old Earth Pony.

"I told the owner you lost the key and then asked him to open the unit for us," Time Turner explained to the small crowd of three ponies.

"..." Trixie stared blankly at the Earth Pony.

"Dude, you're awesome! Thanks for this!" Zephyr smiled at Time Turner, causing the Earth Pony to blush at the praise and turn away in embarrassment.

"..." Trixie looked down, taking a look at the position she was in, her body standing over Zephyr, their faces centimeters away from each other, one of her hoof holding the scruff of his neck as if she was going to pull him closer towards her.

She silently let go of the dense Pegasus and walked into her storage unit, taking her trailer out of it and starting her preparations to leave.

"So, where we going?" Zephyr asked as he tied the trailer to his back, ready to start pulling it.

"I need to find a power source for the staff, I should be able to find one in Canterlot, some gizmo shop would do. Meanwhile, you take the cart to Ponyville and wait for me there," Trixie told her roommate.

"Ponyville? Ah yeah, Rainbow Dash lives there! And so does Fluttershy too, I guess..." Zephyr smiled before he turned to look at Time Turner, "You also live in Ponyville, right doc? You wouldn't mind if I stay at your place for a few nights, right?"

"Not at all, you're all invited to come," Time Turner said with a smile.

All three ponies headed to Ponyville turned to look at the last member of their little group.

"I... I hope you don't mind if I also come with you guys..." Torque Wrench rubbed the back of her head, "I don't really feel like heading back to Hope Hollow..."

Zephyr and Time Turner shared a look with each other, using the secret language of the stallions to communicate without words.

"You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you want-" Time Turner began.

"Your abusive Ex won't harm you with us around!" Zephyr said with complete seriousness, causing the other three ponies to do a spit-take and turn to look at him.

"What? That's why she's not going back to her place, her abusive ex-coltfriend is still living there, Right?" Zephyr asked with complete seriousness.

Torque answered by bursting into laughter.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Zephyr looked around for an explanation, his eyes locking with Trixie as she walked to him, presumably to explain why he was wrong.

Instead, Trixie kicked him in the shin, glaring at him as if he were the dumbest pony she could imagine.

"Idiot..." Trixie humphed before turning away, beginning her trek to Canterlot, "Make sure to reach Ponyville before I do!"

Holding his shin, Zephyr asked a simple question "...What did I do?"

Torque Wrench merely answered by laughing harder.