Silence followed my statement as I myself contemplated my own words.
It was the only thing that made sense. The entire structure only allows its bonded to use magic to manipulate it as an added defense against intruders as well as able to manipulate the space inside of it to help protect its bonded as well. "We will need to look into this further." One of the guards spoke up. "We will need to ensure that the bond will not harm Miss Hooves in anyway."
"Correct." I answered. "But first I believe we should return to Canterlot. Derpy and I should see a proper doctor to see if there are any problems, as well as a few unicorns from the research department. Perhaps my sister as well, I'm not as versed in rituals as she is." I spoke honestly as I slightly puffed out my cheeks. My sister preferred to learn magic that required much more patience and ingenuity while I preferred to be a user of all master of none. I wished to share my own experiences and assist with the development of new magic into our society…
Although I should have a few words with her concerning her current thoughts about Derpy.
"If that is what you believe is best." The captain stated. "I shall send a message ahead with dragon fire. Should I notify them of Miss Hooves status?" I quickly shook my head.
"Not at the moment no. I believe it would be best to get her acquainted with the castle personnel before revealing her to the populace." I answered back. It would be best to ensure that she had supporters among the staff before we reveal her to the full population. Considering her reputation among the nobles of Canterlot it would be best to keep her new status as hidden as possible. Although… "if that is alright with you of course." I turned to Derpy as I spoke this kind of worried for the reaction she would have.
"If… you think its best. But I do still have to talk with my parents… my… parents…" her ears drooped as her eyes widened. "MY JOB!" she then began to rush around the room in a frantic pace as everypony else in the room simply watched her rush around. Some of the guards were giving small chuckles while others were giving her looks of pity as I was simply shocked towards myself.
How could I have forgotten about her job as a Mailmare? Among all this chaos I can't believe I had forgotten all about this one small yet important fact. "Captain please also send a message ahead to notify my secretary Quill Book to set up a meeting with Note Sender as soon as possible…" I sighed as I started to slowly walk over to an extremely worried Derpy. "Derpy."
"What am I going to tell them?! They wouldn't believe-"
"Derpy."
"I'm going to be grounded for life!"
"Derpy…"
"My life is 0ver!" a twitch developed in my right eye as I quickly used magic to grab her and placed her right in front of me. Her ears still down and her eyes even wider as I quickly gave her a kiss on the mouth. After I was done, I could see out of the corner of the shocked looks some of the guards were giving us.
"Are you calm?" I asked with a small chuckle as I looked at an extremely red faced Derpy right in front of me.
"Um… yes?" she stuttered out. I gave her another quick kiss as she simply became even redder.
"Do not worry about your parents…" I gave her in a soothing tone. "We will talk later about bringing your parents to the castle to explain or even meet them at their own home."
"t-thank you your highness." I gave her a look. "I mean C-celestia."
"Anything for you my dear… now then." I turned back to the guards who appeared to of been quite embarrassed about what they just witnessed. "Are the messages sent captain?"
"Yes, your highness. I also requested a research team to look into the surrounding ruins to see if they can find anything about this structure as well as several carriages." I nodded at his good judgement. While this place was never here when the castle was fully built it doesn't mean it wasn't built when the castle was abandoned. A research team normally had two of each race with them all specializing in different fields.
"Excellent suggestion captain. Now then Derpy… could you do what you did earlier and help us get out of here." She tilted her head but nodded as a line almost immediately shot from underneath her towards the hallway. Smiling we all began our journey out of the ruins as I began to talk softly with Derpy. "There is no need to be worried about your parents my dear… which is what I know you are still thinking about." She looked at me with wide eyes before looking away. "They will understand why you haven't talked to them in a while…"
"You're going to tell them?" she then quickly interrupted with fear evident in her eyes. "About what's happening to me?" I gave her a small nod.
"I will be telling Doctor Surge… I know he will keep this information to himself for the time being. To what I know of his character he will not let anyone know and he will let us know if he believes it would be a good idea to notify them due to your own mental health." The fear disappeared from her eyes, but apprehension was still in them… it was understandable. Although I do not remember her ever talking about needing to talk about her parents. She must have been in contact with them fairly recently and chose not to bring it up.
What kind of pony didn't want others to know of the honor that their foal was given such an honor?