Canterlot Academy, 10 years ago...

Canterlot Academy senior Blueblood was depressed. He'd overheard his so-called fillyfriend bragging to her gal pals of having Blueblood as her coltfriend. She'd gone as far as to say, 'I have that royal dunce eating out of my hoof'.

Needless to say, Blueblood was heartbroken.

At the moment however, he was with his alchemy class partner, a freshmane named Terra, assigned to a project together. But Blueblood was too busy feeling sorry for himself to lift a hoof to help.

"...me that beaker of quicksilver? Blueblood? Blueblood!"

"WHA!? Uh- What's..." Blueblood snapped out of his funk and looked to see Terra giving him a confused look. "Come again?"

"I asked you to pass me that beaker of quicksilver!" Terra pointed to it.

At first, it would seem strange for a senior and a fresh to be working on the same assignment together. But Terra had surprised his teachers with his knowledge and expertise in Alchemy that he was promoted to Advanced Alchemy and other relating classes. Not to mention the fact Terra was an earth pony, which made his knowledge of magical theory even more impressive.

"Oh, uh, here," Blueblood sighed as he levitated the beaker to Terra, and resumed his moping, propping his head up with his chin on his hoof.

Terra gave his upperclassmane a concerned look. They weren't exactly friends but any decent pony could see that this young stallion was going through some heartache.

"Er.... trouble in paradise?" Terra smiled weakly, hoping it wasn't a sore subject.

"You could say that..." Blueblood said with light bitterness in his tone. "I swear to Faust, is it too much to ask for a sincere relationship?! That whorse... I'm going to make her regret the day she met me!"

"Whoa, Blueblood, hold on!" Terra said in concern, "Don't stoop to the level of those who wrong you, it just makes you as bad as them."

"Am I supposed to let them just walk all over me?! I don't think so!" Blueblood furrowed his brows. "I am just so tired of others pretending to be my friends and then turning out to be anything but!

"It seems the only person one can really rely on in this world is himself!"

Blueblood didn't see, but Terra became crestfallen upon hearing him say those words, turning back to the alchemy project as he hid his hurt.
"Let's... just get this assignment done with. I wanna get a good grade in this class."

Present Day...

"BLARGH!!!"

Something large, wet, and covered in white fur plopped unceremoniously onto a thick woolen rug spread over the stone floor, groaning.

"Ugh! He stinks! What did you eat before swallowing him?!"
"Eh, the usual..."
"So what're we gonna do now, genius?! Why didn't we just take him back to the surface and leave him out there?"
"He's here for a reason and I want to know what it is... Leaving him outside doesn't guarantee he won't come back."
"I guess that makes sense... Sorry, big guy, it's just... I'm worried for you, but it's also because this guy..."
"You know him?"
"You could say that..."
"I know that look. What happened between you two?"
"Never mind, what are we gonna do when he wakes up?"

Blueblood was in fact waking up at that moment, mostly due to the incessant chatter going on. Also because he found himself a tad chilly from being wet with... something he'd rather not think about. But it was also because he couldn't believe he was alive!

Wasn't I just swallowed alive...?! He thought as he kept still, laying prone on this oddly comfortable rug. And is that really...!

Although he kept mostly still, Blueblood had ever so slightly angled his head to get a look at who was talking and what he saw.

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there, my little pony..." spoke a GIANT of a pony with a plum purple coat and alabaster white mane that extended along his spine and went halfway along a LONG and THICK tail, the latter half of which was wrapped around the yellow earth pony as he was held up above the face of the behemoth, who looked upon the tiny pony (in comparison) with sensuous golden eyes. The pony's massive size and tail, aside, the most unusual trait he had was actually a pair of gray ram-like horns extending out from his head.

Blueblood had never seen a pony like this! He was bigger than even his aunt and uncle, both in height and mass! He wore a silver regalia studded with amethysts, with matching bands on his fetlocks, and was bulging with muscle while his barrel was thick and plump, indicating a stallion with an appetite. His plush and ample flanks bore a cutie-mark of a jeweled amethyst.

It was in that moment Blueblood realized, This is the monster that ate me!! But why did he... oh no!

"TERRA!!!" Blueblood screamed as he leapt to his hooves, startling Terra and the giant pony.

The situation worsened as Blueblood made his sword appear in hoof, and in response the giant pony's tail released Terra, causing him to yelp as he was unceremoniously dropped, and the tuft of hair at the end of the giant pony 's tail seemed to go taut and gave off a strange shimmer under the light coming from the crystals in the chamber's walls. Blueblood raised his sword above his head, only for the giant pony's tail to lash out and whip the sword right out of Blueblood's magical grasp, leaving him stunned and frozen in terror as he thought, He could've taken off my head...!

"WHOA! Whoa-whoa!" Terra quickly got up and stood between them, holding his hooves towards both of them. "Let's all just relax before somepony does something they regret!"

"I think I already am regretting this..." grumbled the giant pony as he glared at Blueblood, still stupefied with fear.

"Well, you did swallow him alive," Terra pointed out as he went over to give a gentle shake to Blueblood. "Are you okay, Blueblood? Say something!"

"Wha- Ya- Guh- Ze- A jye- A hyoo- Enorma-" Blueblood blathered until SLAP. He shook off his confusion while grimacing from his aching cheek before giving Terra a deadpan, "Thanks..." and then clearing his throat.

"What. In the name. Of the Holy Mother of Equestria... IS GOING ON HERE?!?!" Blueblood shouted at the top of his lungs, his scream echoing so loudly that Terra covered Blueblood's mouth and gave him a sharp SHHHHHHH.

"Well, Blueblood, allow me to introduce Praetura Amethyst," Terra said while giving the giant pony a reverent look and speaking with a little majestic flair, the pony called Praetura smiling as he puffed out his mighty chest (and sucked in his paunchy gut) while giving a regal pose.
"Lord of Subterra and also... my coltfriend."

"Come again?" Blueblood responded dryly and a skeptical raise of his brow.

"I was thinking of renaming it... Enterra," Praetura chuckled as he lowered his massive head and playfully nuzzled up to Terra in a flirty way.

"Stop it...!" Terra blushed as he pushed the giant of a pony off but he couldn't help smiling.

Clearing his throat and standing at the full of his height (which was absolutely massive, from Blueblood's perspective, He's even bigger than Sombra!) Praetura explained, "As you will have noticed, I am not your average pony.

"I am... a Geo Pony."

"Geo Pony?" echoed Blueblood, having never heard of such a thing. "Are you related to earth ponies?"

"Them as well as crystal ponies," nodded Praetura. "Ours is a long and complicated story of how we came to be, as a new kind of pony, as our own culture, and how we came to live here, deep underground beneath Mt. Canterhorn."

"Well... you'll understand if I find this a little hard to swal- !!" Blueblood's eyes popped wide as he remembered, "Wait a minute- YOU SWALLOWED ME!!"

"I only did that because at the time I thought you were hurting my Terra!" Praetura said, sounding like a petulant colt as he grabbed Terra and hugged him to his face like a favorite plush toy.
"But then, he cleared it all up and I brought you here to my private residence to... let you out.

"Right now, the only outsider allowed in Subterra is Terra, and if you'd been seen it would have caused a big fuss."

"Uh-huh..." Blueblood eyed Praetura with renewed suspicion.

"Look, Blueblood, I get that what Praetura did was..." Terra hesitated while giving Praetura a regarding look before egg-shelling, "unusual..."

"That's putting it lightly," Blueblood crossed his forelegs.

"But the Geo Ponies are still ponies!" Terra insisted, "I've spent time with them, walked among them, learned about them! So if Praetura wants to trust you with the secret of his people and their culture, don't you think that's saying something?"

Terra and Praetura both gave Blueblood hopeful smiles, which chipped at his emotional armor, causing him to sigh, "Alright, fine... Where do we start?"

"Right through here," Praetura touched a stone wall, and the moment he did so, the stone literally rippled as though it were liquid while an opening formed, revealing a stone balcony. Praetura led Blueblood out, Terra standing on the massive pony's back, and Blueblood eyed the balcony, which was much too high for him to see over.
He gave Praetura a raised brow, and the Geo Pony said, "Oh! Sorry."

Praetura touched the balcony, and Blueblood was surprised at how it lowered downwards, as though the stony material was receding into itself. It lowered enough the Blueblood could rear up onto his hind legs to peer over the balcony (making him feel like a colt) and marvel in utter awe!

Before him... was a VAST underground chamber, the walls and ceilings aglow with glowing clusters of crystal and phosphorous mushrooms in various colors of greens, blues, purples, a few yellows and oranges. Besides the clusters, the ceiling was speckled with flecks of faint yet shimmering crystal. But it was the community below that was the real marvel. There were stone houses that appeared to have been molded out of clay and then solidified into solid rock, some built into the walls themselves, with a few stairways leading up to higher levels.

A river ran through the middle of the community, providing water that glowed with mystical minerals, and all around were gigantic ponies very much like Praetura! The same thick and long tails, manes running down their spines and halfway along those tails, and similar ram-horns, some larger or smaller, some broken, some with gems embedded into them. Some wore crystal jewelry of sorts while some seemed to be on patrol, wearing helmets and carrying spears tipped with crystal spearheads, and he noticed some rolling forms, which confused him, until they stopped rolling and revealed themselves to be the same kind of pony populating this subterranean setting.

"...Incredible!" Blueblood wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when Terra and Praetura mentioned Subterra being an underground community, but this was far more than he'd expected of anything it might be! "This- This is large enough to be a village!"

"There's more to Subterra than you see here," Praetura chuckled, "We have tunnels and more chambers further out and deeper down, all interconnected, some serving specific purposes. This area here is, how would you call it... something like a town square?"

"It's bigger than this?! How many Geo Ponies are there?" Blueblood gawked at Praetura, who gave Terra a reluctant look.

Terra gave him an encouraging nod, so Praetura replied, "Not as many as you think. Due to how we live, we have to keep a strict limit to our population, part of it because of our limited resources, the other to lower the chances of us being discovered."

"And that's exactly why you gotta take a chance, big guy," Terra spoke up, giving his big beau an encouraging look. "The Geo Ponies have lived underground for far too long, and despite the measures you take, it's no longer sustainable down here.

"Your resources are running out and you can't nor should you prevent the other Geo Ponies from having their foals together. You have to take the first step and find a way to meet with the rulers of Equestria diplomatically."

"I know, Terra, but can I really risk exposing my people like that...?" Praetura sighed morosely, already knowing the answer to his own question.

"Then why did you bring Blueblood here?" Terra pointed out, "And don't say, because you thought he was hurting me!"

"Praetura...?" Blueblood gave the massive pony a confused look, and Praetura took a deep breath.

"Prince Blueblood... I know we've only just met. Under... unusual circumstances," Praetura grimaced before calming himself. "But please understand, the Geo Ponies' history is... not a happy one. Our forefathers were seen as monsters and beasts, because of our bigger sizes, our appearance, our abilities. It's why we chose to live underground, where the Pony Tribes of Earth Pony, Pegasus and Unicorn would never find us.

"We've made attempts to assimilate into Equestria before, but they always ended badly. Lives were lost... It's why I'm reluctant to risk exposing my people in this day and age, where communications are so much more advanced, capable of reaching coast to coast so quickly. If we come to the surface and reveal ourselves, there will be no turning back."

It was in that moment Blueblood knew, This is why I'm here! To help these ponies join the ponies of Equestria as they should have gotten the chance to.

Blueblood took a deep breath of his own before responding, "Praetura... I understand and appreciate your concerns regarding this decision. I am sorry to say that ponies have had a history of ostracizing other beings, even other ponies, purely for the simple reason of being different.

"But if you will give me the chance, I promise to do everything in my power to help you, to make sure you are heard and judged for who you are, not what others see you as. Because you and your people deserve to walk under the sun instead of under the dirt! To breathe fresh air, to experience the world above instead of hiding yourselves away down here.

"I can't promise it will be seamless or without incident. There's going to be mistakes, but you have to keep trying so the Geo Ponies can be a part of Equestria as they were always meant to be."

Praetura looked at Blueblood with surprised awe. This white unicorn prince, who looked like he could be a selfish snob who cared for no one but himself was anything but. He was truly noble and had the passion and sincerity of a true leader.

"We-he-hell, Blue!" Terra piped in, looking at Blueblood with great admiration, "You're hardly the same guy who used to practice his swordplay on the castle topiary!"

Blueblood gave Terra a confused look, Swordplay? Castle topiary...

Then... his memory stirred.

Canterlot Castle Gardens, 6 years ago...

"Huh! Ho! Hee... yah!" Blueblood swung his practice sword around in his magical grasp, practicing his swordplay in the Castle Gardens. Specifically, around the topiary. His aunt wouldn't like it if he damaged the sculpted hedges, but they provided a decent cover to give him a sense of privacy.

After allowing his skills to get rusty, Blueblood's old sword instructor, General Firestorm, had instructed him to spend at least one hour a day practicing his swordwork for an entire month. He could still recall those fond memories of first learning the way of the sword back when he was a colt. They were among his most cherished memories after he lost his parents and his Aunt Celestia took him in. But he'd discontinued honing his skills during his adolescence, so now it was back to square one, and Firestorm had ordered him to re-familiarize himself with the basics.

Some of it was coming back to him while the rest eluded his muscle memory despite brushing up and reading the book the general had given him to study. Part of Blueblood admonished himself for neglecting his martial skills, but another part made excuses regarding his studies and devotion to preparing to take over his late father's company. It had been a lonely life ever since his breakup with his first girlfriend. Although his cousin (more like a sister) Cadance had encouraged him to keep trying, all of Blueblood's romantic pursuits had ended badly. They turned out to be insincere for one reason or another, and the fact other ponies tried befriending him only because they wanted to exploit him for their own gain made it worse.

Truly, the only ponies he could really count on were his Aunt Celestia, Cadance, his friend Shining Armor, his classmate Twilight Sparkle, and his father's trusted board of directors who were all waiting for him to be ready to take the helm of New Heights Avionics. Besides his studies, Blueblood had devoted a fair amount of his time and effort to thinking up and innovating new technologies, not just for his company but for the Equestrian scientific community. He had plenty of intriguing theories and ideas and how he yearned to work on making them a reality in order to trial and error before arriving at the perfected models.

But for now, he was determined to brush up on his skills as a swordsmane. His pride and his honor demanded it.

He took a stance, remembering a specific form, eyed his target (a topiary shaped like a rearing earth pony), and took a deep breath, remembering Firestorm's words, which he whispered to himself, "Patience yields focus..."

He held is sword upright in front of his face, his eyes looking past the wooden blade, focusing on his target. He lowered his front half just a bit, pulled back his left forehoof, extended his right, shifted weight onto his right hind hoof... he took a deep breath and then lunged-

"Your form is off!"

Huh?! The distracting critique threw Blueblood off. His focus wavered, causing him to drop his practice sword, and his stumble caused him to cry out in alarm as he tumbled head over hooves and then-

*CRASHPLINT*

"Ouch... Sorry!"

Blueblood groaned in response as he heard hooffalls rush to his side, and somepony helped him onto his hooves as he winced at the smarting pain in the left side of his barrel.

"Ooh, bit of a bruise you got there," said the voice of that untimely interruption, "but it doesn't seem like anything's broken, a nice rest, take it easy, you'll be good to go in no time."

"Ugh! Who are- !!" Blueblood's eyes finally looked at the pony and he recognized him, "...Terra?"

"Oh hey! You remember me!" Terra smiled brightly. "It's only been a few years, but even so! Great so see you again, Blue!"

Blueblood found himself... at a loss. He remembered Terra, a classmate back in Canterlot Academy, but he'd only known him for about a year as he'd graduated his senior year while Terra had just completed his year as a freshmane.

Taking a calming breath, trying to ignore the throbbing ache in his side, Blueblood gave Terra a flat look, "What are you doing here? You're on castle grounds, and if you're not permitted to be here-"

"Relax! I'm fine, see?" Terra reached into one of the saddle bags he was wearing and pulled out a folded laminated paper that had the royal seal on it. "I've got a pass! See, I'm here to apprentice under my dad, the Royal Smith? I graduated the academy not too long ago, wasn't sure of what to do next, so I asked my dad to teach me what he knows! He arranged it with the princess so, here we are.

"I asked about you because I wanted to see you again, maybe we could catch up! Sorry to have interrupted you like that, didn't mean for that to happen."

Sighing as he rolled his eyes without Terra noticing, Blueblood responded, "Well, it's nice to see you, Terra. But I'd like to return to my practicing, if you don't mind..."

"Oh that's fine, Blue," Terra seemed to miss the strain of impatience in Blueblood's tone, "I should get going or else my dad will have my ass for being late my first lesson in the forge. Let's catch up later, maybe we can even work on swordplay together. See ya!"

As Terra hurried off, Blueblood sighed in relief to be alone again and returned to his practice.... but then recalled the form he was doing and Terra's (albeit untimely) pointing out that it had been wrong. He searched his memory and realized Terra had been right, and got the right stance before getting back into it.

The Present Moment...

A twinge of regret for his behavior at that time washed over Blueblood before he suggested, "So then, let me go and speak with my aunts and uncle, the Royal Sisters and Prince Sombra. They are benevolent, fair and wise. If I speak directly to them about you and the Geo Ponies, they will surely be glad to arrange a meeting with you to talk out the greater details in introducing yourselves to Equestria.

"My Aunt Celestia would even grant you some land where you could build a new community on the surface, if that's what you'd like."

"Blueblood... if this works out, I and the Geo Ponies will forever be grateful," Praetura smiled, sounding hopeful.

"If? You mean 'when' you big meathead!" Terra chuckled while giving Praetura a playful smack. "Are those horns screwed on just right?"

"Heh, watch it you, unless you want to be my next snack," Praetura glared playfully at Terra when he noticed the alarmed look on Blueblood. "Oh! Don't worry, Geo Ponies are... well, let's say we sometimes use our stomachs like storage spaces. Or holding cells... We don't eat-eat other ponies, not at all! Though we can eat meat... Y'know what, I'll just stop talking and let you be on your way.

"I need to inform my brother of this development," Praetura stood up, moving his massive frame, as he turned to leave, being careful not to accidentally bat Terra and Blueblood with his tail.

"Your brother?" Blueblood suddenly wondered something, "Uh, how big is your brother compared to you?"

"Just a few inches shorter," Terra spoke up, "Praetura's the biggest Geo Pony alive though his brother, Jade Diamond, is very close second. They're fraternal twins and technically they both lead Subterra, but Praetura's considered the overall leader.

"C'mon, I'll lead you to the surface. With me confirming your words, the Princesses and Prince will find your big reveal more credible."

Praetura paused and looked back in slight concern, so Terra hurried over and gave his beau an encouraging smile, "Everything's gonna be fine. This will work!"

Praetura smiled warmly, "I was never more blessed than the day you came into my life."

The Geo Pony and Earth Pony shared a tender kiss and loving nuzzle before Terra shooed him off and then he said to Blueblood, "So then, shall we?"

Terra and Blueblood didn't go right through the main chamber of Subterra, though they did pass by several Geo Ponies. A few had been alarmed to see Blueblood but Terra had assured them that Blueblood was permitted to be there, with Praetura's blessings and asked those Geo Ponies to spread the word.

The design of the tunnel system, along with the glowing crystals and phosphorous mushrooms, utterly astounded Blueblood with their eerie beauty. It was almost as though he were on an alien planet like those sci-fi novels he'd read or seen in the movies.

But as they continued through the tunnel, saying hellos and how-do-you-dos to every Geo Pony they met, Blueblood soon noticed something. The Geo Pony adults averaged in size, being about the size of that Trouble Shoes pony whose picture had been shown to Blueblood by the Cutie-Mark Crusaders, some were bigger and others smaller, but they were all much bigger than the average pony. The foals however seemed to match the size of regular foals around the Crusaders' age ranges and they either had no horns or their horns had just begun to grow in as little nubs, but the adolescents were certainly larger than the average adult pony, their own horns on their way to growing large and curving.

They all came in colors that likened to gemstones, precious metals, had those long and thick tails and crystalline manes running down their spines. Their cutie-marks often related to gemstones, masonry, shields, mining, but Blueblood soon noticed something missing.

"Terra?" Blueblood spoke to his guide, getting a 'Hmm?' in response before he asked, "Uh... excuse me if this is personal, but... I'm not seeing any mares or fillies around."

"Oh right, I probably should have mentioned that..." Terra cleared his throat, apparently trying to find the right words, before saying, "I-It's a long story. But the simple answer is... because there are none."

"Come again?" Blueblood gave Terra a weird look.

"Yeah, there's... no such thing as a female Geo Pony," Terra clarified, sounding unsure of exactly what to say when he saw the confused look on Blueblood's face. "Yeah, I didn't get it either, the first time Praetura told me. The Geo Ponies are completely male, they... reproduce with... each other."

Blueblood's confusion turned to one of disturbed disbelief, causing Terra to sigh wearily, "Look, do you really wanna hear the Geo Ponies' version of the birds and the bees?"

"...Not particularly, no, but are you serious?" Blueblood maintained the look that matched what he was feeling.

"As serious as the anvil on my ass," Terra chuckled while wiggling his plush flanks, before recomposing himself, "But yeah, dead serious."

Blueblood then regarded the Geo Ponies quite differently... when he noticed a pair of Geo Ponies sitting together under a giant phosphorous mushroom glowing a gentle blue. They were both obviously stallions, nuzzling and cuddling, with one of them wrapping his tail around his mate... and then lowering his head to nose his mate's bulging belly, happily rubbing his nose to it before giving it a lick up its curvature and then sitting up straight to receive a loving lick from his expecting partner, who smiled lovingly at his stallion in response.

Blueblood had nothing against same-sex couples, far from it. But what he was seeing and confirming with his own eyes? Blueblood picked up the pace, rigidly saying, "Let's get a move on!"

Terra peered back and noticed the sight of the expecting fathers, and couldn't help smiling, both in amusement of his old friend's manner and considerate happiness for those future dads, when he wondered, Will that be me and Praetura one day...?

The idea filled him with warm glee as he became thrilled with the idea of starting a family with the stallion of his life. Goddess I'm so damn lucky!

The illustration was done by McShelster and depicts the OCs of Secretly Yordle, Terra and Praetura. It was commissioned by Secret and approved for use as an illustration by McShelster