Twilight gasped, while the rest of the group shifted uneasily. Nobody had ever spoken so disrespectfully of the Princess before, especially while she's present.
Twilight started hyperventilating, this was bad. Really bad. Princess Celestia would banish Sheldon to the moon, and probably her too! She would cease her studies and be cast out from society. She would live the rest of her life as a lonely hermit. She should have known better. She had been solely responsible for Sheldon since she found him. She had nobody to blame but herself.
"P-princess... I-I'm so sorry, I told him to be on his best behavior, I did! I promise, please, please don't punish him... It's my fault. I should have taught him better," wailed Twilight, desperately.
Celestia merely chuckled. "It's quite alright, my student."
Twilight gulped and bit her lip. "Y-you're not going to send me b-back to magic kindergarten?"
Celestia's chuckle turned into a full blown laugh, which was shortly joined by her sister and the rest of Twilight's pony friends.
"Magic kindergarten? My faithful student, what ever has possessed you to think such a ridiculous thing?"
"I..." began Twilight. "I don't know, sorry Princess," she blushed and grinned sheepishly. She quietly sighed and released a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"You have nothing to apologize for Twilight. Tell me, how was the journey? You arrived much later than I expected, I hope there wasn't any trouble," Celestia inquired.
"There were a few... issues with Sheldon, nothing major though! We just lost track of time..."
"Issues?" Celestia repeated. She directed her gaze towards Sheldon, who had been surprisingly quiet during the conversation.
Sheldon noticed the white horse staring at him and gave an honest answer.
"Nothing happened, I just really didn't wanna come."
Twilight had been subtly motioning Sheldon to shut up but she proved unsuccessful as Sheldon continued his rant.
"If it was up to me, I wouldn't even be here right now. I was unfairly shoehorned into this by my mother, but against my better judgement, I agreed, because a crowd of rowdy, hipster punks were rebelling against society outside my temporary residence, and it was making me feel uncomfortable."
The room fell silent. Everyone in the room was once again, glancing at Sheldon. Even the Princesses were at a loss for words.
"I was expecting applause but I suppose stunned silence is equally appropriate," proclaimed Sheldon.
Twilight whimpered. He's not just making himself look bad in front of the Princesses. He's making her look bad in front of the Princesses. This has to end.
"Sheldon! Please for the love of Celestia, start using your brain and think before you talk!"
Celestia smirked. She always found it amusing when ponies would use her name in different contexts, good or bad.
"Think before I talk?" Sheldon began. "I'll have you know that my sharply-worded comments on Yelp.com recently took down a muffin store."
"What does that even mean!?" argued Twilight.
"It means I-"
"SILENCE!"
Sheldon and Twilight immediately shut up and turned around, along with everyone else, to the source of the overwhelming voice. Unsurprisingly, Princess Luna stood firmly upon the ground, sternly watching the previously arguing pair.
"THY HAST COME HERE BECAUSE WE NEED HELP. FIGHTING AMONGST THY SELVES BENEFITS NOPONY."
Twilight was shaking and her legs were starting to feel numb. She had just gotten scolded by the Princess. The Princess!
She's going to get banished from Equestria, she knows it.
Applejack noticed tears welling up in the corner of Twilight's eyes, and gently wrapped a hoof around her side and pulled her close.
With no one daring to question the Princess, Sheldon cleared his throat and addressed the odd Shakespearean blue horse.
"If you hadn't so rudely, interrupted me earlier. You'd have been less ignorant to the fact that, I, wasn't arguing. I was rationalizing, it's a completely different word, which completely justifies my behavior and renders your dispute, null and void, which by way I'd like to point out, is complet-"
"SILENCE!"
Sheldon was about to retort but decided against it. That was one angry horse, and he recalled a program on the Discovery Channel about angry horses, and the powerful kicks they are capable of when provoked. He wasn't sure if it applied to talking imaginary horses, but it's best to be safe.
"WE TAKE GREAT DISPLEASURE IN WATCHING OUR SUBJECTS QUARREL OVER SUCH INSIGNIFICANT AFFAIRS, THERE ARE EVENTS TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW, FAR BEYOND BOTH OF YOU. A GREAT DARKNESS LOOMS OVER THE HORIZON AND WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER!"
The group of ponies exchanged worried glances, between one and other. This must be the reason behind the sudden, spontaneous trip to Canterlot on such short notice. There must be a threat to Equestria, and the Elements of Harmony are needed once more. But there's still one crucial, missing piece of the puzzle... How is Sheldon, involved in all of this?
"Okay, there seems to be a misunderstanding here..." Sheldon began. "I'm not one of your 'subjects'. I didn't really think it required explanation, but I guess I've been proven wrong. In case my bodily features and intelligence didn't give it away, I'm not a horse, and I don't answer to you."
Princess Luna was about to reply, but Celestia spoke up, instead.
"As long as you reside in my land, you are one of my many subjects. With all the benefits and responsibilities that comes with it."
"Unbelievable..." muttered Sheldon, under his breath. "Here I always thought if I were enslaved, it would be by an advanced alien species from another planet, not some hotsie-totsie fictional unicorn that lives inside my head."
Celestia eyed Sheldon quizzically, she found herself deeply intrigued by the physicist's last few words. Does he not believe this is real? Perhaps he refuses to come to terms with what seems unnatural or even not possible from his own world, is he truly forcing himself to believe this is a realm of fantasy?
Regardless of it's irrelevance to the matter at hand, Celestia decided to pursue it. "Dr Sheldon Cooper, may I ask as to what you meant by 'living inside your head'?"
Sheldon completely blanked Celestia out and began to rant once more. "You know what? I'm not your 'subject', each of you are my subjects. I'm not relinquishing the jurisdiction of my subconscious mind, to random multicolored equines!"
Twilight's face was bright red. Some of it was from embarrassment, some of it was from anger. Who does he think he is, to just waltz right into the throne room and start making demands of the Princesses? She expected the worst before she even brought Sheldon to meet the two reigning rulers, but this...
She could have never imagined how bad this was going to get. This entire meeting was a disaster.
"Sheldon! Be quiet! You DO NOT be rude and disrespectful towards the Princesses, and you most certainly DO NOT make demands!"
Sheldon ignored Twilight and continued his rant. "I hereby dub this land, Sheldonopolis! And in doing so, comes the founding of, The Church of Sheldon! Each of you will be required to attend the services every Sunday. There will be cake and sandwiches, and comfortable leather chairs."
Princess Luna was staring daggers, directly at Sheldon, while her sister remained calm and unfazed by the physicist's outburst.
"Is all that understood? I am your ruler! Now, your king is thirsty. I command you to fetch him a hot beverage," ordered Sheldon.
Much to her sister's surprise, and pretty much everyone else in the room; Celestia used her magic to create a small mug of tea and levitated it over to Sheldon.
Sheldon held the mug close to his face and examined it thoroughly. "Loose, not bagged?"
"Yes," answered Celestia, calmly.
"Steeped three minutes?"
"Yes."
" Two-percent milk?"
"Yes."
"Warmed separately?"
"Yes."
"One teaspoon sugar?"
"Yes."
"Raw sugar?"
"Yes."
"Wow, well done," praised Sheldon. "Not many people get it right first time, I'm impressed."
Sheldon held the mug to his mouth and took a long sip. "Mmm... this tea is certainly up to my standard of satisfactory. Did you know tea originated from Northeast India and Southwest China? It became widely popular during the Tang Dynasty, where it was spread to Korea and..."
Sheldon trailed off. He had become very, very tired all of a sudden. He looked down towards the tea, then back towards Celestia, the realization suddenly dawned upon him.
"Y-you... drugged the tea... " he muttered, his legs becoming wobbly and his eyes unable to focus.
Celestia simply wore her usual calm, unreadable expression.
"Don't t-think this is over horse... you've chosen to tangle with a superior intellect you can’t defeat. If it's war you w-want... then it's war you will have!"
Soon after Sheldon finished his eyes rolled to the back of his head; he dropped the mug and collapsed on the floor.
Twilight and her friends stared at the Princess in bewilderment. They had never seen her do anything like that before!
Even Princess Luna gazed at her sister cautiously.
Noticing everyone staring at her, Princess Celestia decided an explanation was in order. "I'm sorry you had to see that my little ponies. Me and my sister called you here because Equestria is indeed in peril, and the Elements are needed once more. Don't worry about Dr Sheldon Cooper, I gave him a very weak magical pacifier; it's harmless and he will be fully conscious and awake within the next few minutes."
Twilight gave a light sigh of relief. She couldn't deny Sheldon absolutely had that coming, but he didn't deserve to die and she wouldn't be able to believe her mentor was capable of murder. There's nothing wrong with incapacitation spells though, she'd studied a few herself and it was a welcome brake to not hear Sheldon's voice, yapping on about something every two minutes.
"Anyway, let me enlighten you on our situation," began Celestia. "Discord as escaped, and he's fled to the Mazorak Caves, up North."
"Mazorak Caves?" Twilight questioned. "I don't remember that in any of my studies..."
"You wouldn't have. Their located in the corner of the Zaros region, Griffin territory," Celestia responded."We don't know how deep the caves go but we do know one thing. Buried somewhere in the caves, is the Ghorrock amulet."
"Ghorrock amulet?" Rarity inquired. "I do simply, love ancient amulets!"
"You won't love this particular amulet," admitted Celestia. "It was buried thousands of years ago for it's own protection, it's an amulet of untold power. Pure, dark chaos, seeps through it's very core, and it's wielder gains access to all of it. The amulet's master gains the ability to corrupt anypony or anything pure, and bring forth their worst fears and inner-demons."
"But... didn't Discord do something similar to this before?" objected Twilight.
"Not to this extent, my student. If Discord utilizes the amulet's power against you, you may never return to your true self. You would be forced to live a life of darkness, forever."
If Twilight and her friends didn't look scared before, they sure did now. Fluttershy was practically shaking, and was close to tears.
"But... how do we fight it? If we aren't ourselves, we can't use the Elements," Twilight fretted.
"That is true my student, that's why you won't be undertaking this task alone," Celestia gestured towards the unconscious physicist on the floor.
"Sheldon? Forgive me Princess, but... how is Sheldon going to help us? He would only slow us down," reasoned Twilight.
"The amulet is very powerful, very powerful indeed. But, it has one fatal flaw. It cannot corrupt, what it believes is already corrupted."
"I'm sorry Princess, I don't follow?" admitted Twilight.
"I figured as much, let me explain. Dr Sheldon Cooper here is, well... For lack of a better term, a stubborn, obsessive, narcissist. Sheldon is a great many things, many of them negative, but at his core he is pure. He has all the chaotic features, but yet. He's not evil. Thus, the amulet cannot affect him. That's why it must be Sheldon, who ultimately destroys the amulet, and allows you girls, to use the Elements of Harmony."
Twilight's eyes shot open at the realization. Of course, it all made sense now. Sheldon must have been summoned to aid Celestia. To assist her and her friends in finally defeating Discord, and to bring Harmony once again to Equestria.
Her mentor needed her, and she knew what to do. She wouldn't disappoint her.
"I understand Princess, you can count on us!"
"Yeah!" everyone beamed enthusiastically, apart from Fluttershy, who was still shaking anxiously.
"I expected nothing less," Celestia smiled.
The attention of everyone in the room was then directed to an unexpected whining, emitting from a slowly awakening physicist.
"Looks like our guest is waking up," Celestia jested. "You girls go get ready, I'll bring Sheldon up to speed."
"Of course, Princess!" assured Twilight. "Come on girls, let's go!" she announced, as she and her friends galloped out of the room.
* * *
"And that's why we need you, Dr Sheldon Cooper. Only you can destroy the sacred amulet, and stop Discord!"
"Uh huh, Sure, sure. Epic quest right? Are you sure you don't want me to stop by Mordor and destroy the One Ring while I'm there, as well? I could do that too," replied Sheldon.
"DR SHELDON COOPER, THY AGREED TO THIS. WE BROUGHT THOU INTO OUR WORLD AND WE EXPECT THY TO HELP US!"
"Well... As you know, the essence of diplomacy is compromise. With that in mind, I propose the following: I will not do any of the things you just said... and you will find a way to be okay with that."
"Dr Sheldon Cooper, please listen to reason. The sooner we resolve this crisis, the sooner you can return to your own world," Celestia insisted.
Sheldon pondered this for a moment. He knew he was unconscious, although the severity of his injury was unknown to him. Who knows how long he's going to be imprisoned in this fantasy land? He's going to get bored sooner or later, it would help to at least have something to do. Who knows? It might be fun! Epic quests are fun in video games and movies, why wouldn't they be fun here?
He took in a deep breath, before giving the answer both sisters had been eagerly awaiting.
"Fine..."