Houses Of The Holy: Part One
Twilight stood up in a daze. Her meet-n-greet with Rarity's door had momentarily knocked her out, and she was just coming to. She looked around wildly, remembering she had been trying to rescue Phil. Spotting him on the ground, she called out to him.
"Phil! Is Rarity go-oh she's floating...why is she floating?" Phil remained sitting, too stunned to hear her. He seemed to be staring at something, but in Twilight's daze, she couldn't tell what. She attempted to focus her vision on it, but failed.
"Gimme a sec, Phil, I'll be over there just as soon as there isn't two of everything. Ugh, the world is spinning..."
As she sorted out her vision problem, a white object gradually came into view. It got closer and closer to her until she began to make out the white object to be in actuality, a tall pony. A tall pony she was beginning to recognize.
"Do not worry, my faithful student, I've taken care of your friend's little problem. I don't understand this situation completely, but I'm guessing your friend didn't know what the orange flower on the door is supposed to mean."
Twilight's jaw dropped. "P-P-Princess?! W-What are you doing here?"
Princess Celestia stood before Twilight in her golden royal apparel, her beautiful ethereal mane flowing in the wind, because she's worth it. The bright white alicorn giggled at her student's reaction.
"I thought I would come and pick up my student myself for a change. I've brought a chariot with enough room for you and your inter-dimensional friend to ride comfortably. I'm sorry I couldn't give you more warning of my arrival, however this matter required immediate attention. It isn't every day a new species comes to Equestria except on FIMficfion."
As Celestia spoke, Twilight relaxed more and more. Her soothing voice always managed to calm her down after she freaked out from the prospect of meeting her. "Thank you, Princess. It's so nice of you to do this yourself."
"Anything for my student." She glanced over at the human staring at her. "This must be the new species in question, right? I would hate to be so foolish as to not recognize one of my country's existing species."
"Yes Princess, this is Phil. He's from a planet called Earth...kind of a generic name if you ask me..."
Celestia strode over to Phil regally and gave him a pleasant smile. "It's nice to meet you, Phil. My student has told me a little bit about your situation, and I'd like to hear more about it. My name is Celestia, and I'm the princess and ruler of this land. I hope your unexpected visit in Equestria has been at the very least tolerable for you."
Phil didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what was going on in front of him. He didn't even know what was going on with himself! He couldn't move, nor talk. He was too busy basking in the ambience of the pony before him. She was the tallest pony he'd seen since coming here, most likely as tall as himself, but he was unable to tell with his butt firmly planted on the ground. She was completely radiant with both wings and a horn, as well as a pair of amethyst eyes. Her white coat shimmered in the sunlight and if you're reading this, you know the rest.
Phil was paralyzed, but not out of fear. He wasn't the type to pick up on vibes (other than the sexy kind), but even Phil could feel her power just by being close to her. Rather than fear, Phil was paralyzed out of awe. He felt like he was sitting before a deity. There was no doubt; Celestia was best pony.
The Princess looked down at herself, trying to find what Phil was staring at so intently. "Sorry, is there something wrong with my coat? I knew I shouldn't have switched to that "Loreal" shampoo. It's got me nothing but stares since I've started using it."
Phil shook his head, realizing what he was doing. "N-No! There's nothing wrong with it. I was just...out of it...my bad."
She giggled. "That's quite alright, my little po-err...human. You're still in shock from that little incident with The Element of Generosity."
"I'm still here you know," huffed a very irratated floating Rarity.
"Ah, yes." Celestia set her down gently, a fair distance from Phil. "Rarity, I know the circumstances aren't wonderful, but it's nice to see you again. I'm going to need to take Phil for today, so it would be best if you had a nice, cold shower to cool down. Can you do that for me?"
Rarity sighed in disappointment. "Yes, Princess. Please do take care of the dear. I'm not done with him." She licked her lips at Phil and sauntered back to her house.
The Princess chuckled at her display. "She's going to regret saying that later." She turned and walked towards the chariot she had arrived in. Wow, how did Phil not see that earlier? Seems like a hard thing to miss. Celestia motioned to Phil and Twilight. "Are you ready? My guards and I are ready to leave at a moment's notice."
"Guards?" Phil questioned.
Two guards suddenly exited the chariot, wearing gold-plated armour and matching helmets. They stood firm and tall, waiting for an order from their Princess.
Twilight and Phil looked at each other. "Well Phil, are you ready?"
"...Ready for what?"
"Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god were flying! We're actually flying! All those teachers and kids and my parents and therapists said that I'd never fly in a small square object, but I showed them! Take that, logic! And you too, physics!"
Phil, Twilight, and the Princess had departed in the chariot, with the guards flying the chariot, and a confused Fluttershy left on the ground wondering why everypony suddenly left. The three sat in seats facing one another, Twilight and Phil opposite the Princess. Phil had his head out the window, being unable to resist the urge to stare at the ground.
"Phil! Be respectful in front of the Princess and calm down," said Twilight sternly.
"It's okay, Twilight. You know I don't care about such things. Now, Phil, could you please tell me about this power of yours that was supposedly transferred to you by Hayley's Comet?"
Phil gulped and felt his face get hot. Was he actually going to have to explain what his power did to the pony leader of this country? Well, comparatively this was one of the less awkward things he'd been through in his time in Equestria, but that didn't make Phil any more comfortable.
"Well...whenever I come in contact with a good amount of water, my eyes starting glowing. If a mare looks into my eyes while they're glowing, they...uhh...want me...real badly..."
The Princess appeared to be giggling at Phil's struggle of word choice. Was she screwing with him? Did she dare mock the great Phil Phillips? Son of the great but not as great, Bill Phillips? Did she?! Nah, probably not.
"W-Whatever, my power doesn't matter. What matters is where we're going. Nobody told me anything! There was just a scene transition and we ended up in the sky!"
Twilight sighed. "Don't get so worked up, Phil. We're going to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, so Princess Celestia can examine you in further detail and as a result, may be able to rid you of your power."
Phil looked down sheepishly. "Oh...okay..."
The Princess smiled, thinking of examining Phil. She really was there to assist him, but she couldn't help but think up a couple of pranks she might pull...
They arrived at the grounds of an enormous white castle. No, not the one with burgers, an actually castle. Phil gawked at everything there was to see. Castles weren't the most common thing back on Earth. Upon stepping out of the chariot, a guard approached Celestia and whispered something into her ear.
She huffed. "I'm sorry, my student. Could you take Phil for a tour around the castle? I have an important situation to take care of with the mayor of Manehattan."
Twilight gave her mentor an assuring smile. "You can count on me, Princess! Come on Phil, let's look around the castle a bit."
Phil held back a devious grin. "Okay!"
The two tourists went through the nearest doors to the castle, while Celestia walked off towards another set of of doors. Twilight looked around the interior of the castle, wondering where to start first.
"Well, Phil, take your pick. Do you want to go left of ri-...where did you go?" Phil was nowhere to be seen. Twilight's eye twitched uncontrollably for the second time that day. She should probably get that checked out. "This isn't good..."
Phil was sneaking through the corridors of the castle. He didn't want to ditch Twilight, but she was a tour guide, and tour guides were for foreigners and visitors of the African Lion Safari, and he was only one of those. So he ran away while she was looking around. Marvel in awe at the escape plan of the Great Phildini.
After he was sure he was far enough away from Twilight, he began cartwheeled through the halls in joy. He couldn't believe he was in a real life castle! It had towers and guards and a monarch and all! Needed more slaves though. His cartwheels came to an end however, when he reached the end of the corridor with a door to the next corridor blocked off by a guard. The guard's stoic expression made Phil just a little uneasy. He approached the guard.
"Umm, excuse me, can I get through here?"
The guard didn't move.
"Uhh, excuse me?"
The guard didn't move.
"Mr. Guard?"
In a move that shocked everyone, the guard didn't move. Phil starting pouting.
"Oh, so you're like those royal guards from England, eh?" Phil left the guard's visage. Climbing the side of the corridor, he leapt down and landed on the guardpony's back in riding position. The guard whinnied in terror.
"Giddy up, horsie!"
Twilight scourged the castle. She couldn't find where Phil had gotten off to, and she was beginning to have what some would call a nervous breakdown.
"I looked away for a second! WHERE. DID. HE. GO?!"
She found the nearest guard and grabbed his face. "HAVE YOU SEEN A SIX-FOOT BIPEDAL CREATURE?!"
"Bah, Ms. Sparkle, don't hurt me!"
Just as she was about to interrogate the guard further, she heard a large amount of hoofsteps, as well as a shriek. She turned to see a screaming Phil being furiously chased by a herd of angry guardsponies.
"HALT IMMEDIATELY, STRANGE THING!"
"I'M SORRY, OKAY?! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU GUYS DIDN'T LIKE BEING RIDDEN!"
Phil had run into a spot of trouble when he continued to ride the guard even after he had told him to stop. The guard pulled an alarm on the wall and within seconds, a seemingly endless amount of guards had appeared. He'd been running ever since. He ran straight past Twilight in his haste, with the guards following in his wake.
Twilight face-hoofed. "Why does he have to be so stupid?"
Phil reached the end of the hall at top speed, only to have a janitor pony come out of the hallway next to it. Being unable to stop, he crashed right into the janitor mopping the floor. A wet mop the janitor had been carrying flew up in the air and landed on Phil's head. He peaked through the strands of the mop at the guards, assuming he'd been caught, but the guards stopped right in front of him, unmoving.
That's when Phil felt the familiar sensation. The tingling was back. His eyes widened. He was wet and the guards were staring right into his eyes.
"N-No, y-you guys can't...you aren't..."
The guard nearest Phil licked his lips. "Bueno."
"NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!" He jumped to his feet and sprinted down the other hallway with the love struck guard right on his tail. Seeing a door with only a single guard blocking the entrance, he shoved him out of the way and bolted inside the room. He closed the door as fast as he could and locked it.
Phil look deep breaths and gathered his thoughts. His power really did work on every pony that saw his eyes. Suddenly he heard the clanking of metal shoes against floor. He whipped his head around thinking it was another guard, only to see Celestia, as well as another pony snorting in irritation due to Phil's interruption. They had been sitting at a table, but Celestia had gotten up to greet their unexpected guest.
"Phil, is everything alright?" she asked in a concerned tone.
"Ah, Celestia! Sorry, I didn't know you were in here. I was just ru-WAIT, STOP LOOKING AT ME, MY POWER IS ON!"
She recoiled slightly, but Phil's warning came too late. Celestia had already looked right in his eyes.
"U-Umm, Phil, are you sure your power is on? Your eyes are glowing, but I assure you I don't 'want you' as you put it."
Phil could feel his heartbeat again. He had really though for a moment that he had just seduced Celestia, but his powers didn't seem to work on her.
"Phew, thank goodness. Maybe certain ponies are immune to it. Well, sorry for interrupting your meeting, Celestia. Is there another door here? I don't think I can go out the other one."
She pointed Phil towards a door on the other side of the room.
"Thanks, I'm just going to get out of here and keep my eyes closed. Sorry again!"
He left the room and the mayor pony sighed. "About time he left. What a rude chap. Now let's get back to our-"
"I'm sorry, but we'll have to continue this meeting another time."
The mayor pony was appalled. "What?! Why in Equestria would we have to-"
"You heard what I said, Mayor York. This meeting is adjourned." Her tone was very urgent, and the mayor could tell she wasn't fooling around.
"Y-Yes, Celestia. Of course." The mayor pony got up from the table and hastily left through the same door that Phil had. Celestia let out a breath she'd been holding in. Her legs were shaking and white cheeks were stained a bright red.
"M-My, h-he wasn't joking after all. If not for my many years of experience controlling my emotions, I don't think I would've been able to stop myself. This power has to be stopped before somepony sees it who really shouldn't..."
Phil was once again, on the run. It hadn't taken the guardsponies very long to find him, and escaping them this time was a lot harder when you have to partially close your eyes. He'd already crashed into three paintings and he was pretty sure one of those paintings was still on his neck.
Phil's near-blind sprint had led him to a large winding staircase. With the guards straight behind him, he had no choice but to head up, which very well might lead to a dead end. He shot up the stairs and began climbing with all his might. All those times when he didn't take an escalator were really paying off for him.
Nearing the top, Phil was starting to panic. The guards had been keeping up with him, and if he got cornered...well let's not think about that one. The last few steps of the staircase came into view.
"Please, please be something!"
Just beyond the top of the stairs was a large blue door with a crescent moon painted in the middle of it.
"Oh thank the architect of this place!"
Phil swung the door opened and pushed it shut just as the guards reached the top of the stairs. He took a deep breath and collapsed with his back against the door.
"Phew, safe again-"
"Thou won't be safe for long unless we receive a good explanation to keep you so."
Phil turned his head to his threatener to see a tall dark blue pony with a horn. That's where Phil's description of the pony stopped, because that pony's horn was crackling with a distracting amount of blue electricity. He let out an exhausted sigh.
"Out of the pot and into the kettle..."
To be Continued!