Four days have passed since I charged the large crystal with my life element, and so far it's holding together.

I've slept in Celestia's bed the first two nights, then went to Luna's on the third and fourth night. Though the plan now is to all sleep together, but just use the other's room each night.

On the third morning Luna and I had a little bath time fun together. Although it got awkward when Celestia walked in on us as Luna forgot to lower the moon, which got Celestia looking for her... we quickly got ourselves cleaned, dressed, moon lowered and then we went to check on the life crystals... Though Celestia has been giving me flustered looks since then.

The smaller crystals are now self-sustaining, although one did go out and crack. Crystal Clear found the problem and added more braces to the smaller ones and now they function perfectly.

Blueblood has gone through his personal guard and got rid of those being paid to work for the Imposter... Who along with the assassin and four fake guards, are still in the Dungeon chained up... and surprisingly are being force fed with Thraxx's life wand. It seems the life energy forces itself inside their bodies, acting with its intended purpose to heal the body. So keeping them alive and healthy is no longer an issue. Even the four fake guards are starting to wonder if staying with their Queen is a good idea or not.

Thraxx though, is now head of Blueblood's personal guard, much to the disapproval of the nobles, but Blueblood just smirked at them and then laughed in their faces, calling them petty, childish, and racist.

Celestia has also taken a liking to Shella. She plays with her whenever she has time to spare and I think she allows Shella in the Throne Room just to spite the nobles, although the middle and lower class citizens that came for advice smile at the happy changeling girl.

---

I wake up and stretch. I notice Luna is at the balcony and lowering the moon. I just sit up and watch as she floats and glows. Once she finished, she walks back in and notices me awake. "Good morning, Adrian," she says.

"Good morning. So today's the day we go over to Fancy's place for tea right?" I ask.

"Correct. We shall wash ourselves, get breakfast, check on the crystals and then head out to Sir Fancy Pants' home once we locate our nephew," she replies.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you want to use the bathroom first?" I ask her.

"Nay it will be quicker if we go together," she says with a smile.

"Alright." I say and follow her in.

We wash each other thoroughly, I think she really likes me washing her hair and tail for her. Once done, we get dressed in our own fancy clothes. I wear the suit I wore on my date with Celestia, I've had it repaired since then, while Luna wears her matching dress from the Gala. I also equip my sword as well, but leave my stave behind, Luna can always teleport it to me should I need it.

We head down to the Dining Hall hand in hand. The maids and guards bow to us along the way. When we arrive, two guards open the doors for us and we thank them. I see Celestia at her seat with Blueblood to her left and Fleur Lily next to him. Luna sits to Celestia's Right and I sit next to Luna.

"Good morning, auntie Luna, sir Adrian," Blueblood greets us.

"Hello, Blueblood. You and Fleur are looking much better, how's Thraxx doing?" I reply and ask.

"Very much so, and Thraxx says he's never felt better," he replies.

I smile and turn to Celestia who is still looking at me with a slight blush, it's rather cute to see. "Good morning, Tia," I say to her.

"Good morning, Adrian. Did you sleep well?" she asks.

"Very, so what do you have planned for today?" I ask.

"Court will start within an hour, then I shall head to my office and continue with my search to find a way into Aries Peak easily and stealthily," she tells me.

"Why not just postpone court and join us for some tea with Fancy Pants? You could use a nice break," I say.

She hums in thought. "I could use some time to relax. Since Blueblood's return, the nobility have been demanding I punish him for his sudden lack in manners, respect, and insulting them... which I shall not do. Luna and I will also later go through the laws and see what needs removing, added, or edited," she tells me.

"That's good. No offence, but you've let these nobles have far too much power to allow them to become as they are today," I tell her.

"And I agree with you, I let them get out of control... We will have to change that, and it won't be easy," she replies. "Hopefully, with Blueblood back, he and the few other decent noble families left can help set the others straight," she says.

The doors open and Shella comes in, I notice Fleur Lily smile and runs over to her as the two children have become friends over the last four days.

"Hi, Shella!" Fleur says.

"Hi, Lily! You wanna go play in the Gardens?" Shella asks her.

"Sure!" Fleur replies and runs over to Blueblood. "Can I go?" she asks him.

"Sure, just make sure you stay with Thraxx," he replies.

"Okay!" she says and runs out the room with Thraxx right behind them. I didn't notice him standing by the door, he's wearing Blueblood's guard armour with the life wand on his left hip.

We finish breakfast and Luna speaks up. "Nephew, we shall check on the life crystals quickly and meet thee by the Throne Room doors when we art done," Luna tells Blueblood.

"Very well. I'm looking forward to seeing Sir Fancy Pants again, hopefully I can mend the damage that impostor caused," he replies.

Luna and I leave the Dining Hall after saying our goodbyes. We then make our way to the Magic and Research Academy by carriage and greet Crystal Clear.

"Greetings, Crystal Clear. How are the life crystals faring?" Luna asks.

"Hello, Princess. They're doing great, still fully charged and self-sustaining," Crystal replies. "Oh, hi Adrian!" she says and waves at me.

"Hello, Crystal. Do you think they're ready to go then?" I ask her.

"I believe so. Thraxx and Shella can feed from them without draining them at all, but we'll have to see how many changelings it would take to deplete them," she replies.

"Is it possible to make pocket sized versions of these for like personal use?" I ask.

"No. I've tried smaller crystals, but they just shatter from the pressure. These are the smallest ones we can use like this," she says pointing to the four remaining life crystals.

"Oh... oh well. These hopefully are good enough," I reply.

"We thank thee for thy hard work. We shall prepare the airships tomorrow for a trip to the Hive and bring any changelings that want a better life back with us. We can house them in the many guest rooms in the castle while we find a place to build them a village or town of their own," Luna says.

"Thank you, Princess. If there is anything else you need, please just ask," Crystal replies and bows.

We say goodbye and head back to the Throne Room where we meet up with Celestia and Blueblood. "So how did it go with the nobles?" I ask.

"Oh they were very unhappy, demanding to know why aunt Celestia cancelled court and why is the 'monkey' more important?" Blueblood replies with a roll of his eyes.

I chuckle. "Huh... I wonder what they would have said if I was actually there... most likely nothing, considering what I did after they insulted Luna, me, and to an extent, Celestia right in front of me," I say.

"So I've heard. Though I must say it may come back to bite you in the rump later," Blueblood says.

"Okay, enough idle talk. Sir Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis are expecting us soon and I think it best to not make them wait. Besides, I hear Fleur makes a rather delicious tea," Luna says.

We head out to the courtyard and enter a carriage. We go along the streets and arrive at a rather modest sized house. A two floor home that looks like it might have eight or ten rooms, and a nice sized Garden with statues and hedges.

The carriage pulls up the pathway and stops near the doors. I help Luna and Celestia out and we all walk up to the doors where I pull the cord to the left making bells ring out.

The doors open to reveal an elderly man with tan fur and greying black hair, he also has a curly moustache. He looks like some kind of servant or butler.

Once the door fully opens he looks us over. "Greetings your Majesties. Sir Fancy Pants is expecting you in the lounge, please follow me," he says and escorts us through the house.

The halls are decorated with landscape paintings and fancy looking drapes over the windows, vases with flowers stand on small tables along the way.

The butler opens a door to a room with three couches in front of a fireplace, a short table stands between them with assorted food and drinks.

"Princess Celestia! I didn't know you would attend as well," Fancy says happily surprised.

"Yes, well. Adrian convinced me to take the day off to relax, so here I am," she says and gives me a light kiss on my left cheek.

"That is good, a happy Princess means a happy kingdom, and I see the rumours of our fair knight asking you to court him are true," he replies.

Fancy Pants and his wife are sitting on the left couch. Celestia, Luna, and I sit on the right couch while Blueblood sits on the middle one.

"So tell me, why is Prince Blueblood with you as well?" Fancy says with a slightly unfriendly tone.

Blueblood was about to speak but Celestia cuts him off. "Blueblood was foalnapped in Manehatten during the meeting of the nobles there months ago. A Changeling took his place and has been abusing his position until four days ago when he was caught. Did you notice the fleet leaving the Castle?" she tells and asks Fancy.

Fancy and Fleur looked shocked. "So you're saying we were fooled by a changeling?... Come to think of it... it does make sense considering his sudden change in attitude," he replies and looks at Blueblood. "I am very sorry for ever doubting you my friend... after all these years we've known each other, I should have known something odd was ahoof," Fancy says to Blueblood.

"It's alright, no pony saw it coming. I'm just glad to be back home after those months of Tartarus I spent in that dank Hive, but I guess some good came of it. I met a kind little filly and a trustworthy friend during my stay," he replies.

"I see, well I'm glad you are back, your impostor was doing a terrible job and was rather rude to anypony who didn't follow him or do what he said," Fancy says.

"So I've heard, I've spent the last four days just fixing my personal guard. Now I shall continue my work of bringing the nobility back to its former glory," Blueblood replies to him.

"And I shall do all I can to aid you in that endeavour as I've done before my friend."

We all grabbed a cup of tea and some biscuits during their chat. I take a sip and it's very good, the biscuits taste like cinnamon and are rather good dipped in tea.

"So, how has courting two Princesses been, sir Adrian?" Fleur asks with a sly smile.

I look between Celestia and Luna and smile. "Best time of my life I'd have to say, and I can only hope it'll get better from here on," I reply.

Both Celestia and Luna giggle and lean against me. I put my tea down and wrap an arm around both of them making Fancy and Fleur smile at us.

"I'm happy to hear that, by the way, Princess Celestia, how has your niece been doing?" Fleur asks.

Niece? What niece? "Cadence is doing very well, she is currently with the Cervine, aiding them with a small problem they've been having. She should be back within a week or two," Celestia replies.

"Okay, I'm confused," I say getting their attentions. "You told me when I first met Blueblood... or his impostor, that he was your nephew. So is he your's or Luna's son?" I ask Celestia.

Celestia and Luna look at each other and then giggle. "No, his family did a great service four-hundred and twenty-two years ago that stabilized relations with us and the minotaurs. As such, we gave them royal titles for their aid and have since been advisers to us on noble and international issues," Celestia tells me.

"Okay, that explains one thing, but what about this Cadence? How is she your niece?" I ask.

"She was just a pegasus from Cloudsdale. She found her calling spreading love and helping others with their problems. One particular event caused her to ascended into an alicorn nearly thirty-five years ago. We invited her to stay with us to learn how to control her new magical abilities and about being a Princess," she tells me.

"I see, so she's not blood related?"

"No, it's just that Cadence was seen as royalty since her ascension. So we decided to take her in once her mother passed on," she replies.

"Ah, I can't wait to meet her, she sounds like a nice person," I say.

We chat for another hour, talking about the issue with the nobles and the up coming attempt to get the changelings on our side. Fancy and Fleur said they would aid in funding the foundation of the town for them as well as Blueblood. I will also add some funding with that hoard from the dragon I killed in the Everfree.

"Well, this has certainly been an eventful time. We are both glad you are back with us Blueblood, we thought we lost a friend," Fancy says.

"Do not worry, sir Fancy. I am back to being the stallion you knew before this whole mess started. Shall we make arrangements for another meeting?" Blueblood says.

"We would love to," Fleur replies.

Celestia, Luna, and I say our goodbyes and head back to the Castle. For the rest the day, I spent the next three hours with the Princesses talking with them in the Garden with a picnic spread. Once we finished that, I went back to the Training Grounds and practised my swordsmanship some more with Shining Armour. I stopped only when it was dinner time and joined Celestia and Luna at the Dining Hall where Celestia says she's making progress on finding a way into Aries Peak, but the path she's found is rather dangerous as it is home to some trolls.

Once dinner is done, Celestia tucks Shella into her bed and joins me and Luna in her room.

"So how are we going to approach the Hive tomorrow?" I ask.

"We will take the fleet with a life crystal and Shella to the Hive and bring whoever wishes to join Equestria with us. We will enter with a few guards and if any of their soldiers or guards attack, we shall incapacitate them," Luna replies.

"Sounds good to me," I say.

They both get changed into their nightgowns and we all get into Celestia's bed. Celestia is to my right while Luna to my left, I wrap an arm around each of them and stroke their hair lovingly. "Goodnight," I tell them.

"Goodnight, Adrian," they both reply and we all drift off to sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 29: Welcome to Equestria Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 24 Minutes