"Hmmm..." Rarity's eyes scanned the sketch laid upon the coffee table before her as her husband, Blueblood, sat beside her, looking anxious. "It truly does look ideal, Blueblood, and I think I would indeed prefer this than tearing down some of the boutique's walls.

"Adding to Carousel Boutique would... well, it wouldn't work for the image of my business."

"I'm glad you like it, love," Blueblood smiled in relief as he gestured to the sketch he'd drawn. It was of a new house, two-and-a-half stables tall, with a total of five bedrooms, including the master bedroom, a sizable kitchen next to the dining room to one side and the lounge to another, a private study for himself, a room where Rarity could dedicate some of her own work for the boutique, a basement, and plenty more.
"What's more, we could have it constructed right next to the boutique, if you like."

"But are you sure we can afford this, Blueblood?" Rarity gave her hubby a concerned look, "I know you're quite wealthy an' all, but it is still considerably expensive to have a house constructed. Would it not be more sensible to just buy a house?"

"Perhaps. But Rarity," Blueblood got up and then knelt down in front of his wife, looking up warmly at those gorgeous sapphire blue eyes before saying, "Think of this house as our dream home! We'll plan it out fully, have it designed to suit our needs as perfectly as we can, and then, one day... it'll house not just you and I, but also our family."

Rarity smiled lovingly at her prince before meeting his lips with her own. True, she wasn't ready to become a mother yet, but still the notion appealed to her. Especially the idea of designing clothes for her own little filly or colt she could dress up in the prettiest dresses or snazziest suits. It was however a little concerning.

Still, the timing felt a tad inconvenient.

The day after tomorrow, she was planning to open her next branch boutique, this one in Manehatten's Saddle Row, in order to expand her business. She'd spoken to a Mr. Stripes in order to purchase a unit to set up shop, and her friends were all coming along to help get things started. She'd considered inviting Blueblood along but it seemed he was busy with his own projects lately, along with matters relating to his company, New Heights Avionics.

Regardless, hashing out the details of this dream home proposal of his would be something to look forward to once she'd settled her business in Manehatten.

They were on the verge of getting busy... when Blueblood gasped and parted his lips from hers and he looked down. She did too, and they saw his cutie-mark lighting up and flashing and they both knew what that meant.

"Huh?!" Blueblood gaped at the Map in confusion as well as some disappointment. His cutie-mark was floating over Canterlot.

"We... take it you were expecting somewhere else?" asked Midnight as he, Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst, and Spike were all present.

Sighing somewhat in aggravation, Blueblood responded, "You could say that... I suppose if any place has a problem in need of a knight, it would be Canterlot."

"Actually..." All eyes turned to Sunburst, who was eyeing the map and Blueblood's mark, "if you give it a more careful look, I don't think the map wants you to go to Canterlot."

They leaned in for a closer look and saw that sunburst was right. Blueblood's mark was actually floating adjacent of Canterlot, over towards the opposite side of Mt. Canterhorn. Specifically, it was right above its base.

"The... base of Mt. Canterhorn?" Blueblood was perplexed. "Why would the map send me there? Nothing really around there except wilderness and gritty landscape."

"Except the old abandoned crystal mine shaft!" Again, eyes turned, this time towards Spike who was looking in a book, titled 'Mount Canterhorn: A History'.

"Oh, that's right! There is a mine at the foot of Mt. Canterhorn," Twilight peered over Spike's shoulder to give the pages a look. Her memory refreshed, she recounted, "Over a thousand years ago, around the beginning of the rule of Two Sisters, a vein of precious crystal was discovered at the base of what would later be named Mt. Canterhorn.

"So a mine was set up in order to dig for those crystals in order to acquire needed wealth to build up the nascent nation of Equestria!"

"But then, after Princess Celestia was forced to banished Princess Luna after she became Nightmare Moon," spoke up Sunburst, "Princess Celestia decided to move the royal capitol from the Everfree to Mt. Canterhorn.

"The mining however endangered the construction of the future city of Canterlot, so the mine was closed forever."

"So, if I understand correctly," Blueblood raised a brow, "the only place of interest around the base of Mt. Canterhorn... is an abandoned mine."

The alicorns, their pupils, and their dragon assistant shared looks before looking to Blueblood and all shrugging.

Sighing again, Blueblood unenthusiastically declared, "Tally ho..."

As he turned to leave, Midnight said, "You got your sword?"

"Yes, it's quite easy to keep track of it since I carry it inside my body," Blueblood responded, making his knightly sword appear in his hoof and then reabsorb it as it turned back into formless energy.
"I just hope whatever is down there, it better be worth it."

Blueblood took the Slipstream and piloted it to a private landing zone at New Heights Avionics headquarters. He declined an invite to see his business partner, Jet Set, as he was not here on business or pleasure. Which was why he hadn't flown to Canterlot Castle either.

If I'm going to risk my neck exploring some dusty old abandoned mines, I'm not going unprepared, he thought as he ventured through the streets of Canterlot. Thankfully, Blueblood had learned distracter spells in order to divert unwanted attention from himself, thus he wasn't mobbed by tourists, lesser nobleponies, or anyone else. He didn't need that kind of incessant attention.

He visited a sporting goods store, where he got useful tips on cave spelunking, as well as purchase the right kind of equipment and tools.

After packing his purchases into his saddlebags, Blueblood exited the store as he thought, Now... I suppose I can just fly the Slipstream down to the base of the mountain, but would it be a good idea to get a gui-

"OOF!!/OW!!!"

Blueblood rubbed his sore shoulder when he heard a growling groan and looked to see a unicorn stallion, not quite his equal in physical fitness, but close, rubbing his sore fetlock. This stallion had a shining golden coat, his wavy mane white with a golden hue, he wore a snazzy blazer with a jeweled stickpin, his cutie-mark looked like a golden barrel with a big black drop over it, and when he opened his eyes Blueblood saw they were vivid green that soon turned red with anger.

"Why don't you watch where you're going you...! Well, well! As I live and breath. Prince Blueblood! Heh, not much of a prince these days, ever since you sallied off to Goddess knows where to marry some... huh, I can't even remember the tramp's name or where you went."

Blueblood furrowed his brows but kept a firm rein on his temper, as much as this cretin was testing it.

"My wife is named Rarity, and we live in Ponyville," he responded with the faintest terseness in his tone.

"Ah yes," the snobbish unicorn made a show of taking a sniff and then scrunching his nose, "I thought you smelled of the boonies..."

Blueblood gave the blowhard a flat look of disinterest and responded in deadpan, "Who are you, again?"

"Wha- ?! I- I beg your pardon!" the jerk got his nickers in a twist, "You know very well who I am! Glam Gold, Head of House Petra, owner and CEO of Petra Oil Refinery, and Canterlot candidate for Equestrian Councilor of Energy & Resources!"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Blueblood replied in the same deadpan as he moved to leave, only for Glam Gold to bar his path.

"Now, hold on, Blueblood, ol' boy," Glam Gold started making with the insincere niceties as he threw a foreleg around Blueblood's withers. "Mayhaps we got off on the wrong hoof, here. We both said something we regret, but such boorish talk shouldn't come between old pals...!"

"I don't recall ever being 'old pals' with yo-" Blueblood tried to say, only for Glam Gold to cut him off.

"So! Let's let bygones be bygones, and perhaps we could catch up! Like... what brings a classy stud like you back to the City of the Unicorns? Away from the missus, from the comforts of home?"

"I don't see how any of that is your business," Blueblood magicked Glam Gold's foreleg off of his person. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Blueblood trotted off, resuming a familiar stance of his nose in the air. But this time, the pony he was doing it to utterly deserved it. But Glam Gold wouldn't be deterred so easily. Whatever you're here for, Blueblood, I intend to find out...

Rather than trudge a long way down the mountainside himself, Blueblood rode the Slipstream down to the base of Mt. Canterhorn.

"Now, all I need to do is circle the base of the mountain until I see the mine entrance," Blueblood had piloted the airship to a reasonable altitude and set the controls to autopilot on a set-course. He stood at the port bow with binoculars floating over his eyes to give the mountainside a better look.
"Eventually, I should find it... ah-ha! Wait a minute..."

Blueblood had indeed found the mine entrance, located on the southeastern face of the mountain's base. It was about a stable tall and two wagons wide, and there was a sign boarded above the entrance that read 'Danger, keep out'.

But it was the actual wagon parked outside it that piqued Blueblood's interest.

"This mine seems to be more popular than I thought," he murmured to himself before going back to pilot the ship down.

After touching down, disembarking and mooring the Slipstream to keep it from drifting away, Blueblood approached the mine entrance and gave the parked wagon a closer look. It wasn't brand new but it certainly wasn't ancient. Peering inside, he saw it was empty, but looking around he saw fresh hoofprints and they led into the mine entrance, where some of the boards had been removed to allow an average-sized pony a way in.

"What interest could somepony have in this old mine...? he mused to himself. "Well, granted, there are probably some deposits or untapped veins of crystals in there, but still."

Blueblood stood before the mine for a good long minute before taking a deep breath and saying, "Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

He used his magic to tear away some more boards to make the way in wider. He wasn't in the mood to stoop or shimmy his way in. Blueblood was bigger than the average stallion but only because he took pride in his physical fitness and had spent years building up a slender yet sturdy frame that was the picture of superior unicorn physique. His friend and brother-in-law, Shining Armor, would agree.

Due to it still being around midday, the light of the sun didn't reach very far into the mine. Thankfully, Blueblood was a unicorn and lit up his horn as needed. Illumination was a parlor trick any unicorn foal could learn when starting out in learning magic.

The walls of the mines were craggly and flecked with trace elements of crystal. Not enough to be considered valuable, but Blueblood figured whatever crystals had been around this tunnel were dug up and collected centuries ago.

As the light behind him dimmed and the darkness deepened with every step, Blueblood noticed it was getting damp and cold.

Good thing I brought along my jacket, he thought when his ears perked at a distant sound and he froze mid-step. What was that?!

Blueblood dimmed his horn light while hiding behind a nearby boulder. From further in, he noticed a distant light that seemed to be getting brighter, which correlated with the unmistakable sounds of hoofsteps. Along with...

Whistling?

It was a merry kind of a whistling tune.

Wait... I recognize that melody, Blueblood thought as he kept low, That's 'I Whistle a Happy Tune'.

It was easy to tell the light came from a flashlight with the way it's beam pierced through the darkness and bobbed in tune with the whistling. Most likely perched on a head.

As the source of the light came closer and the whistling grew even closer, it became more clear who it belonged to.

A golden yellow earth pony about average height dressed in nothing but a royal purple hoodie and neon green hardhat. He had a curly brown mane stuffed under his headgear and a short and curly tail to match. He carried an oversized picnic basket on his back with saddle bags at both of his sides.

His eyes were closed and the stallion had the happiest look on his muzzle as he perkily pranced along without a care in the world. The sway in his (admittedly wide) hips brought attention to his ordinary anvil cutie mark.

Huh... now this guys seems familiar but I can't put my horn on it, Blueblood thought to himself.

But then the yellow earth pony began to prance Blueblood by, and for some reason he loudly 'ahem'd, alarming the pony and causing him to yelp as he tripped over his own hooves and fell flat on his muzzle.

"Oh, sorry about that, lemme help you," Blueblood stepped out and helped the stallion onto his haunches as he rubbed his poor snoot and blinked the dust out of his eyes. Blueblood levitated the stallion's hardhat off, causing his brown curly mane to POOMF out in volume, as Blueblood set the lit helmet to the side.

"Ack! You're lucky I didn't break my nose, you big...!" the stallion's vision cleared up and his eyes widened to dinner plates when he saw, "Prince Blueblood?!"

"I'm not surprised you know me," Blueblood gave the pony another look-over and noticed apart from the mining helmet he lacked mining equipment, unless there was something in those saddle bags. "But I can't help but feel I know you as well..."

"Huh! Why would you remember me?! I mean, we were just classmates back in Canterlot Academy," the pony harrumphed.

"Oh! So we schooled together?" Blueblood gave the stallion a closer look, and got a look of umbrage in return. "I... gather we weren't bosom buddies?"

"Just buzz off! I kinda doubt this is the kind of place royalty would congregate," the stallion finally stood up and gave a challenging stamp of his forehoof.

"Not the kind of place I think anypony would congregate," Blueblood raised a suspicious brow. "This is an abandoned mine, after all, so what brings you here?"

The stallion uhhh'd for a moment until he responded, "What else would I be here for? To mine, obviously!"

"Oh? Then I suppose you have proper mining equipment in those saddlebags and a permit?" Blueblood asked with rising suspicion.

"Of... course," the stallion grimaced, and Blueblood knew he was lying, even as the stallion unstrapepd his saddlebags and made a show of looking through them. "Huh... I, uh, I guess I must've dropped my permit somewhere in here, heheh."

"Alright, let's cut the horseapples!" Blueblood was losing his patience, "You're no miner! You have that mining helmet, but obviously it's just to light your way through the dark. If you were truly a miner, you'd be filthy and dusty, and have a shovel or pick axe, neither of which could fit into those bags.

"So why don't you stop insulting my intelligence and let me see what you're really doing here!"

"No, wait!" The stallion protested but Blueblood had already levitated the saddlebags towards himself and peered in. To his surprise, he saw raw and uncut gems, crystals and geodes! The smallest were the size of pebbles, the largest the size of coconuts.

Blueblood gave the pony an even more suspicious look, "Now I know for sure you're up to something! Where did you get these? And don't tell me you mined them because I've already figured out you're nothing of the sort.

"Did somepony give you these or sell them to you?"

"GIVE THOSE BACK!!" the stallion shouted, his voice echoing off the walls in both directions as he suddenly tackled Blueblood, much to his utter surprise.

The two stallions tussled and roughhoused, unaware that they were stumbling and rolling down an incline, sending them deeper into the tunnel.

"Ow! Geddoff me!"
"You started it!"
"Well I'll finish it, you thug!"
"Ouch! No biting!"

Finally, the two stallions found themselves in a vast chamber though they didn't notice because of how dark it was. But that didn't stop their skirmish from echoing loudly around them. So loudly that neither of them heard the heavy hoofsteps.

Finally, Blueblood managed to kick the stallion off of himself and groan in vexation, "Alright, that's it! I would have preferred to settle this within reason, but when I drag you out of here I'll have you charged with unprovoked assault!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I'll charge you with..." the stallion's ears perked as he heard a soft yet distinct growl, and realized it was coming from behind Blueblood. "No, wait!"

"Oh don't even try it! But if you stand down, I might show some..." Blueblood stopped talking as he heard something heavy drag along the ground behind him and felt a warm puff of breath on his mane.

Specifically on top of his head.

The breathing grew louder and growlier, and Blueblood gulped nervously as he looked up just in time to see a large mouthful of sharp teeth and a fat pink tongue come down and engulf him! He let out a terrified muffled cry as the mouth and tongue adjusted him. He tried to muster a spell, but couldn't concentrate! Especially as the mouth and tongue seemed to somehow get him out of his coat and saddlebags, which were spat out while he remained trapped inside the mouth, which then rose up and Blueblood let out another muffled scream of terror as he realized he was sliding down towards the back of a throat!

He struggled to resist, but the slobbery confines were too restrictive, and before he knew it, Blueblood vanished in a mighty GULP. Followed by a loud BELCH and satisfied 'ahh'.

It didn't take long for Blueblood to slide into what felt like a slimy sac, and he quickly realized, I'm in a stomach!!!

Blueblood tried to thrash about, to give this beast such a bellyache it'd spit him back up. but nothing doing. The stomach was closing in around him, forcing Blueblood to curl up and pant, and he realized he was finding it harder to breathe.

As the air grew thinner, Blueblood found himself feeling woozy and unable to think clearly. But his ear was pressed up against a stomach wall, and he heard voices, especially a deep one that reverberated around him.

"Terra, are you alright?"
"Praetura! What did you just do?!"
"I protected you! He was threatening you and I heard you two fighting."
"I appreciate that, but you don't even realize who you've just swallowed!!"
"We'll settle this soon enough. Come on..."

Blueblood heard no more as he began to black out. But the last thing he thought as well as uttered was a single word that resonated with familiarity.

"Terra..."

This arc is dedicated to my friend, Secretly Yordle whose OCs Terra and Praetura make their debut in my story

Glam Gold's name was inspired by the Ducktales villain Glomgold, and his cutie-mark is similar to this picture but envision the barrel as golden instead of black while the oil drop is still black