//------------------------------// // Part 16: A Royal Date for a Princess and Wisdom from Beyond the Stars // Story: Once a Time Lord... Well, actually still that, but now a Pony as well... // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle: Celestia's Bedroom Princess Celestia, looked up to and admired all across the lands of Equus, even in nations far from Equestria like the Griffin Kingdom and the Zebra Countries for her great wisdom and beauty. She'd lived over a thousand years, (She'd long forgotten the exact number.) and sometimes, if she was, to be honest, it felt like it at times with all she'd been through. From fighting on the frontlines of many a war to losing her love King Sombra to the darkness and learning he'd enslaved the Crystal Ponies of the now long lost Crystal Empire. Then, as if to twist the knife even further, she found herself having to fight him alongside her sister and being forced to banish him to the depths of the icy north. Of course, then it happened. Losing her sister to the spirit of darkness and fear known as Nightmare Moon, and once again, being forced to banish somepony she loved to a place where they'd likely never return. But to her surprise, her prayers had been answered and Luna had indeed returned to her side, all thanks to the efforts of her prized student and adopted daughter Twilight Sparkle and her five friends that comprised the Elements of Harmony. "Do you really think you can stop me, Twilight Sparkle? You're just a simple unicorn, while I am a goddess! I am the night itself, and I WILL make it last forever!" A pure black pony with a mane of stars and wearing blue armor yelled at her foe. "And don't get me started on those friends of yours. Newsflash for you. Friendship is. A. LIE!" Twilight glared harshly at her foe, while they stood in the ruins of an old and crumbling castle. Nearby, her newfound friends from Ponyville watched in shock and fear. "No, that's not true. Friendship exists and you know, deep down Princess!" She pleaded, but the incarnation of nightmares and the shadows themselves were not willing to listen. "DO NOT CALL ME THAT! I am not Princess Luna, there is only Nightmare Moon!" The being who was once Celestia's sister roared in rage. The shadows themselves seemed to grow colder and darker as if they had minds of their own. But that wasn't possible, was it? Twilight ignored them even as they reached for her and charged at her opponent. Nightmare burst out laughing at the sight. "You seriously think that'll work?" Twilight came closer. Nightmare gaped for a second. "...Wow, guess she is serious." She said, stunned. She readied herself but Twilight didn't attack. Instead, she slid right under the dark Alicorn goddess and to the chest beyond pulling out its contents with her magic. "Here, catch!" With that, Twilight tossed the items known in legend as the Elements of Harmony to her friends. "You want a demonstration of friendship, Nightmare? Here, I've got one JUST for you!" Twilight shouted as the Elements charged up and a golden crown with the final element, Magic appeared on her head. Then, six bright beams of light came out and fired, directing themselves towards the Nightmare spirit... Celestia remembered the joy she had felt when her sister returned. For one thousand years she had been alone, with nopony to be by her side in ruling the lands and helping and guiding the ponies of Equestria in their daily lives when they needed it, or protecting them when enemies threatened the safety of her kingdom and her little ponies that she cared for so much. But now her sister was back, and it seemed she was here to stay forevermore. But Celestia also felt another feeling, a feeling of great guilt. If she had just watched her sister and known what she was feeling, the feelings of jealousy towards the sun and the ponies that bathed in its glory and not loved the night for all it's beauty and the grandness and kindness of its ruler that came along with it that was so harshly and wrongly ignored for her, she might have been able to stop Nightmare Moon from ever consuming her sister. But she never did, and all the blame for Nightmare Moon's actions rested solely on her and her alone. She had never told Luna of her feelings and guilt, and although she dearly wanted to, she could never quite work up the courage to do so. Celestia honestly felt a bit silly and ashamed of herself. Here she was, a pony who was said to be one of the wisest and kindest ponies in the land, and yet she could never work of the bravery to tell her sister all that she felt. Wanting to find something to get her mind off her complicated problems with the relationship between her sister and her, she turned to her latest communication cube from the strange and yet wonderful alien pony from worlds far beyond known as the Doctor. Dear Princess "Well, hello again! It's me again, the Doctor. (And no, I'm still not telling you my real name no matter how many times your sister bribes you with cake. Yes, I know about your little... obsession. Not exactly like it's the best-kept secret in Equestria after all.) Annnnyyyways, where was I? Ah yes, telling you what I've been up to. Been a few stars to the right and to a place they call Never Land. Met the oddest denizens, fillies, and colts who never seem to grow up, led by this pony dressed like Robin Hoof and his lovely, if not a tad bit grumpy companion (Somepony been taking cues from me it seems.) Breezy named Tinker Belle. "OH! Before I forget, met your favorite author J. R. R. Tolkien and somehow convinced him to sign a copy of his Lord of the Rings novels. Actually, convinced wasn't the right word. He was, and I'm quoting directly here, "Would really be honored to sign a copy of my novels for the Princess of the Sun." "Huh, imagine that. I thought it would be harder to get you an anniversary present of our first meeting one year ago exactly. I always seemingly have the worst luck with timing, irony huh? Anyways, you should be seeing me and your signed trio of books whenever I decided to show up for my next visit." Hopefully seeing you soon, the Doctor Celestia smiled, the letters from the Doctor she got always cheered her up and got her mind off her worries, no matter how big or small they may be. They made her feel like a normal pony, away from the burdens of the crown, if only for a little while. Part of her, if only privately, wanted to see the Doctor and get to know him better, get closer to him, and not just meet him when things went to crap as the ponies nowadays liked to say. The Doctor was very wise, seemingly as wise as her and somehow always seemed to know the right things to say to cheer somepony up when they needed it, and she had to admit she was one of those ponies who sometimes found herself needing that very same advice at times, especially now with her feelings of guilt towards Luna and how to deal with them best and work up the courage and fortitude to talk to her about them. Suddenly, just as the Solar Princess was finally getting up out of her bed, groaning to herself in a reminder of the surely tiring day of dealing with nobles and paperwork ahead of her she heard a very familiar and very welcomed groaning sound. VWOOP! VWOOP! VWOOP! There, appearing in front of her on her personal balcony was the fantastical machine known as the TARDIS, and stepping out of it was the Doctor dressed in a nice suit with a package in one of his hooves signed "To my biggest fan". Celestia's jaw dropped in shock. She certainly hadn't been expecting the Doctor in her bedroom, especially this early in the morning. She hadn't even raised the sun yet for crying out loud! "And here I thought you weren't supposed to be in somepony's bedchambers until the third date." Celestia teased in a flirty manner, her surprise soon replaced with joy upon seeing her best friend. "Weeeeellll...." The Doctor admitted, scratching his head with a hoof after setting the package down on Celestia's bedside table. "I DID say I'd try and show up soon didn't I?" Celestia chuckled to herself as she used her magic to levitate her royal regalia onto herself, and use a comb on her unkept bedhead mane at the same time as well, everything being enveloped in a golden glow of her magical aura. "That you did Doctor, that you did," She conceded. "So what are you here for, besides a delivery from across time?" She inquired, one tired eyebrow raised in curiosity as she stepped out onto the balcony to begin her daily duties of raising the sun. The Doctor watched in awe as the sun slowly rose over the horizon, casting a golden glow over the city of Canterlot. All across the city, ponies yawned as they too, like their Princess began to get ready to start their day. The stars slowly faded from the sky and the night at first became purple-colored, before rapidly changing from dark blue to a light blue color as it changed to daylight. The Doctor smiled, he never got tired of seeing this sight. Every day, he awoke a few minutes before Celestia ever did just to see the sun rise over Equestria, no matter what time he was in or where he was. This was one of the ways that truly showed the magnificent power of the Royal Princess of the Sun and just why ponies thought of her as a goddess of incredible power and beauty. "Came to ask you on a date. Thought it was about time we got to know each other better outside of... Y'know, world-threatening madness and chaos," The Doctor commented lightly and Celestia's head whirled around to face him in shock, a rare showing of emotion to anypony outside her sister or Twilight. It was part of Celestia's nature to keep her emotions closely guarded, just to spare herself any more pain. "I must admit, the idea of a date with you Doctor does sound... enticing," The Princess of the Sun remarked as she entertained the idea of a date with the Doctor. She had to admit, she had ideas of dating somepony, especially somepony as kind and caring as the Doctor, but the problems of immortality came with the price of you always losing somepony you cared about in the end. But here staring her right in front of her face was a chance, a chance for her to maybe, just maybe find that Special Somepony and not have to pay that awful price in the end. After a few minutes of careful consideration, Celestia finally made up her mind. "Alright Doctor, I accept." Celestia smiled, knowing she could be back to her castle at the very same time she left and nopony not even knowing she was gone, plus withhold off her royal duties for a time, which was the best bit of all of this in her mind. (Dealing with the ones like Blueblood were always a pain in the neck.) "So... Where, or should I mean when shall we go?" The Doctor could only smile. The TARDIS, high above Equus Celestia gazed in awe at the sight in front of her. There she was, sitting in front of the open doors of the TARDIS gazing out at the world of Equus as stars glittered in space and the moon where her sister was once imprisoned orbited it. The closest thing to Celestia ever seeing these stars and galaxies all around her was from a telescope in the Canterlot Royal Observatory, and now here she was seeing it firsthoof. It was a truly beautiful, and awe-inspiring sight to behold. It truly drove home just how fragile, if not wondrous as well, their world was and only deepened Celestia's resolve to protect it from whatever threat may come, and she resolved to be on the front lines of those battles if necessary. "Doctor... I have something to confess," Celestia admitted as the Time Pony's head turned to her in curiosity and concern. He could detect the worry and fear in her voice. Although he didn't know it, Celestia was about to confess all of her worries and doubts that had been plaguing her for months. "I... It's about my sister," Celestia admitted. "You know the story of Nightmare Moon, and how I had to send her there, right there?" She asked, gesturing to the moon. "I... If I had noticed her feelings of jealousy towards me, I might not have made the mistakes I made, and not had to have been alone for all of those painful years. I... I might have had someone to hold me back, someone to stop me from becoming... Daybreaker," she whispered to herself, remembering the awful screams of those burned alive in the former Queen Arthropod's hive. "Doctor..." She continued. "For those first few years, I had nightmares, nightmares of Luna coming back and blaming me, rightfully so I might add for what I did to her. She... She killed me over and over just as vengeance for my sins. I was so afraid... terrified even that these things I saw might come true. I was ashamed as well, for fearing my own sister! Ashamed, Doctor! Can you imagine?" Celestia said, tears streaming down her face. "I... I've been where you are Princess. I've done things I've never been proud of, and will probably haunt me forever. My homeworld... If you could have ever seen it during the last days of the Time War, impossible things coming out of the woodwork left and right, my own government, corrupt and decadent plotting to bring Gallifrey to Earth just to save themselves, all the while the Daleks ravaging the planet. Finally... It... It became too much. It became too much for me. I... I had to destroy my own homeworld. I... I had no choice," The Doctor replied sadly, remembering his time when he dropped the name of the Doctor and went to war, something he swore never to do. Even now, he remembered those very words. "Doctor no more." "By Faust..." Celestia whispered, only now realizing how similar she and the Doctor were as they bared their souls together. "Take my advice Princess, secrets destroy relationships. Tell your sister about your guilt and how you feel... Wait, sorry, that came out wrong. Rassilion above, I sound like Jack!" The Doctor realized in horror before he quickly got things back to a more... mature line of conversation. Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Who's this... Jack?" she asked, not sure if she really wanted to know. "Oh, he'll get around to you eventually..." the Doctor muttered to himself, a headache beginning to form. "Anyways, you get my meaning, Faust awful as I was at giving it," The Doctor said to Celestia and she understood immediately. "Yeah, I think I do..." Celestia smiled, her worries gone and her confidence in herself restored. Then a question came to her. "Hey Doctor, can we do this again sometime?" She asked and the Doctor could only smile in response. Later that day, just as Luna was beginning to raise the moon, Celestia approached her. The Lunar Princess noticed her sister's expression. "Sister, does thou have something to talk about?" She asked in concern. Celestia took a deep breath before answering. "Yes Lulu, we do. There are some... things I must confess." Celestia said, and steeled herself for the long conversation to come...