I walked through Canterlot with Blueblood. I was in my usual hoodie, the hood raised to protect me from the drizzle. But my backside definitely isn't protected... I’ve gotta get me some pants.

As it turned out, Blueblood had a pair of saddlebags. He’d put them down next to the wall before knocking on my door. So, I had to grab mine as well.

There's also something bulky in one of his saddlebags. Looks heavy, too. What could it be?

"There's something I want to explore." Blueblood spoke. "Something really cool! We’ll have to get a train there, though."

"What is it?" I asked.

"A whole castle!" he answered with a wide grin. "A huge, abandoned castle! We could find a whole lotta stuff there!"

Abandoned castle... Hm, I think it's the one...

"In the Everfree Forest?" I asked.

"Yep, that’s the one." he nodded. "Don't worry, I know a path that will lead us through the forest, straight to the castle. It's an underground tunnel, and its exit is somewhere near Ponyville."

Ponyville... That village full of insanity? Oh, well...

An hour later.

We arrived in Ponyville. And something's happening here again. A race of some kind? Each day here seems to have something different and surprising going on.

Anyway, we're not here for that. Gotta find that tunnel.

I remember one day when I was in Russia. I discovered an abandoned nuclear shelter. There was a rather low and narrow tunnel that led inside. Now I know that it was a backdoor of sorts. Anyway, after I got into the shelter, I found out that the Russians really prepared for war. There were a lot of crates with gas masks, medicine, bandages, filters, that kind of stuff. I couldn't resist, and took a few gas masks with me. They looked silly, and made me look like an elephant with a really short trunk.

Interesting, I wonder what we'll find in the castle? Magical stuff? Weapons? Armour? Books? Based on video games, I know that all dungeons have treasure hidden inside. An abandoned castle is just a type of dungeon, right?

Damn, I have no idea what level is required to explore the castle. I'm level two or three at max. Or, if years of life are levels, mine is eight. Or eighteen? I have no idea.

Huh, treating it like a game is funny. Wait, didn't I treat everything like a game when I was young? Hm, maybe having another childhood isn't so bad after all.

We arrived at a small hill with a lone tree on its crest. Hm, I never noticed that before. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention?

"It must be around here." Blueblood gestured for me to follow.

We walked up to the tree and started looking around.

"There must be a hatch somewhere, maybe covered by grass." he added.

Well, time to start searching. This looks really promising.

***

After about ten minutes of searching, I found the hatch. It was old and almost fell apart when I opened it.

"Blueblood, over here!" I said, and soon he was by my side.

"Great, you found it!" he smiled. "Let's go! It's adventure time!"

Hopefully I won't regret it.

Maybe I will. There's absolutely no light down here!

Hm, maybe I can use my horn to light the way? Huh, that's an idea.

I used magic to make my horn glow. It's like a flashlight mounted to my head. Bright enough to see about ten meters ahead. Huh, not bad.

"I guess I won't have to use any lanterns." Blueblood said, his voice echoing through the tunnel. "They're not nearly as bright as your horn."

Hm, they don't have flashlights? Well, maybe they don't need them because unicorns can use their own horns.

Alright, time to go. The tunnel is made of gray brick and has wooden beams that support the ceiling. The tunnel itself is rather low. If I was an adult, I'd have had to keep my head low to not bump into the support beams.

It's empty here. Like, nothing at all. Just this plain tunnel, some cobweb and spiders, nothing interesting. I hope there's more than this in the castle.

...

...

We walked in absolute silence, hearing only the echoing of our hoofsteps. From my gaming experience, there must be something scary either in front of us or behind us.

...

Nothing behind. That’s a good thing, but being here makes me nervous. Good thing I'm not alone. Otherwise, I'd have already shit my pants. If I had any, that is. Should've taken something with me for defense. A knife, a club, something like that. Well, my horn is maybe sharp enough to be used as a stabbing tool, but, uh, if it gets stuck, I'm dead.

Yeah...

...

The silence is really uncomfortable. It's like something's waiting for us.

I used my magic to send a ball of light straight forward. It lit the way, and disappeared far into the distance, meaning we still had a long way to walk. At least absolutely no one was there.

"Why’d you do that?" Blueblood asked me.

"Just checking for monsters." I replied.

"I hadn’t thought of that." he blinked. "It’s a good thing you did."

We continued to walk. I feel we're getting close to the end of this dull tunnel.

But I can't shake off the feeling that there's something... watching us. Maybe it's just my imagination, but, I suppose, if magic exists, monsters could exist too. Being extra careful won't hurt. I don't want my head bitten off.

I see some light at the end of the tunnel. An exit? I hope so.

***

A few minutes later we reached the end of the tunnel, where we found another hatch. We climbed up the stairs and appeared in a room. It was dull, having only a small window and some wooden poles. A broom closet?

We opened the only door the room had and entered into a huge hall. Wow, it looks majestic, even in ruins. Well... not exactly in ruins. As for me, I don't see any cracks in the stone. Most of the windows I see are shattered, though, and there's a huge hole in the ceiling.

Looks creepy, seems empty. Like all abandoned building I’ve come across. This one is in far better condition, though. Marauders haven’t touched it, it would seem.

"Tread carefully." Blueblood told me. "I read that there are many traps in here."

Oh, damn. I wouldn't want to fall into a spiky pit. Ow...

Alright... The hall is empty, as far as I can see. No thin strings, no pressure plates, nothing. Maybe I'm wrong. Traps aren't meant to be seen.

***

It felt like a whole hour passed before we reached the end of the hall. We were walking very carefully, and, fortunately, didn't trigger any traps. Maybe we're too light or lucky or both.

But it's really exciting to think about what we'll find here. So far I've seen a few tapestries with Celestia and Luna depicted on them. I doubt I want to take that.

I saw Blueblood opening one of his saddlebags with his mouth. He retrieved something that looked like an old camera.

"Hey," he addressed me after putting the camera down. "Can you take some photos? You don't really have problems with that. I still can't levitate anything."

I nodded, then grabbed the camera. Uh, I'm sure it doesn't work all too different from other cameras I've had.

Well, the focus is rather good. I pressed the button, and the camera took a photo. Yep, it's as simple as I expected.

"Alright, let's go find something!" Blueblood told me, and then proceeded to enter another hall. This one is more ruined. Maybe a fight happened here? There are lots of chunks lying around. Also, the hall seems to be a throne... room. Are big halls with thrones called rooms? Hm, maybe it's a throne hall. Doesn't sound quite right, oh well...

I took a photo of it nevertheless. It's still rather interesting to see everything in such good condition. It’s as if the weather didn't affect it in the slightest. The place just looks old and not properly cared for. That is, it would if there were fewer chunks of stone lying around. Interesting, was there a battle long ago, after which the castle was abandoned? I never quite studied that... Maybe I should.

Hm, how soft are the seats on the thrones now? I bet they're as hard as rock.

I walked up the stairs to the moon throne and took a seat. Huh, surprisingly comfortable, although too big for me. Gotta grow up.

"Hey!" Blueblood laughed. "You look great! Wait there, I'll find something for you."

And he took off into one of the halls. Great, now I'm alone. The first rule of exploring abandoned buildings — never separate. Well, I better stay here until he returns. Otherwise, we'd be searching for each other forever.

Hm, maybe that is what becoming a prince would be like. Wearing a crown, sitting on a comfortable throne, listening to people coming here to tell me about their great, or not so great, problems... I can imagine a whole crowd of ponies standing down there, looking at me.

Ugh... That would be very uncomfortable. It's like performing on a stage, but if you fuck up — it will be remembered for generations. No, I don't want to be known as bad prince. I don't want to be known as a prince at all. It’s not for me.

Alright, it seems Blueblood's returning. I can hear his steps. Well, I assumed they're his. Seems so.

"Look!" he appeared from another entrance. How the hell? "I found something really cool!"

What is it? It looks like a small crown... A tiara, maybe? It has two spikes either side of a central, longer one. A polished sapphire sits in the center, sparkling in the dim light. The tiara looks like it's made of silver. And hey, it’s in pristine condition!

Blueblood walked up to me and handed me the tiara.

"Wear your hood and put this crown-like thingy on your head. It'll make a great photo!" he told me, taking the camera.

I put on the tiara, which was rather wide for me. To make it fit a bit better, I placed it so that my horn was behind it. Maybe that's not how I'm supposed to wear it, but I don't care.

Well, at least a handful of photos will be our reward for exploring this castle. Hm, if they had social networks, I'd use the one Blueblood's taking as my avatar. It’d look good, right?

Author's Notes:

I decided to divide this chapter into two. I've not much time because preparations for college take a lot. I made sure you have something in case I'm too busy to write.

Also, spend a couple of hours doing the artwork. I just thought I'd like to do something nice. What is your opinion of it?

And if any of you would like to use that throne as a background for your work, I'll be happy to share. It's a pain in the ass doing something like that (I hate backgrounds, they take a LOT of time), and I think sharing those works would be great and helpful for others.

However, I can't provide it right now. The app I use for drawing decided to be a dick and not export anything into anything but .png