//------------------------------// // Meeting with Royalty // Story: On the Fields of Trenzalore // by ElderJones //------------------------------// Celestia could hardly believe what she was reading. What was this creature Twilight had found, and what was the "terrible danger" that it believed Equestria now faced? She decided to go to Ponyville immediately, to gain answers to these questions. She left Canterlot in a hurry, bringing plenty of guards with her. It seemed likely that the creature was hostile, and had either taken Twilight hostage or deceived her into thinking that it was friendly. The letter was written in Spike's handwriting, so the creature could even have killed Twilight! Maybe all of Ponyville had been destroyed! Celestia let these thoughts continue as she rode to towards Ponyville. By the time she arrived, she was prepared to use the full extent of her combat magic capabilities and order her soldiers to attack. Therefore, she was incredibly relieved to find that Ponyville was still there upon her arrival. She was still worried, however, and ordered her soldiers to run with her to the library, charging up a powerful combat spell. She slammed open the door, charging in as she did so. She gasped as the creature caught her attention. It was so... strange. The shock caused her to release the spell she was charging, blowing a hole in the ceiling a causing dust a debris to rain down onto her. "P-princess," Twilight stuttered, frightened by her mentor's fury. "WE DEMAND YOU EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO US!" Celestia boomed, using her Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in centuries, and charging up another spell. "Calm down, I mean you no harm," said the Doctor, trying to quell the princess's anger. "YOU SHALL NOT COMMAND US!" roared Celestia. This creature had no right to order her to calm down. The Doctor saw that a different approach was needed. "I'm the Doctor," he said calmly, careful not to make any sudden movements. "I am a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I am entirely unarmed and at your mercy." Celestia calmed down slightly, and her horn stopped glowing. "Search him," she commanded to her soldiers, no longer using her Royal Canterlot Voice. The guards started searching the Doctor, and recovered some items from his pockets: a piece of paper, a doll (it looked like a member of the Doctor's race but had several key differences-perhaps it was a female) and a brick. They also pulled many other items out of his pockets. There was no way that so many items could be contained within the pockets of a tweed jacket. In fact, the room was starting to fill up with miscellanious objects. Then, a much stranger item was found. It was a metal rod with a green crystal on the end. It looked like a weapon of some kind. "What's this?" Celestia asked, starting to think that the Doctor had lied about being unarmed. "That is my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor explained, "it's a tool, not a weapon." "Of course you would want me to think that," Celestia said, with a sudden menacing tone. "No really. It's not what you think!" the Doctor said, panicking. "ENOUGH! WE SHALL NOT BE DECEIVED BY YOU, DOCTOR!" the princess boomed, using her Royal Canterlot Voice again, "GUARDS, GRAB HIM AND BRING HIM TO MY CARRIAGE! HE SHALL BE LOCKED AWAY WHILE WE THINK OF WHAT TO DO WITH HIM!" Twilight tried to reason with the princess. "But Celestia, he says that-" "SILENCE! OR WOULD YOU RATHER JOIN HIM?" There was fire in Celestia's eyes Twilight curled up into a ball, scared out of her mind. This angered the Doctor. "You have no right to act this way." The Doctor said, walking up to Celestia and jabbing a finger at her. "YOU DARE TELL US WHAT OUR RIGHTS ARE!?" Celestia became even more furious. "Yes, yes I do. You may be the ruler of this country, but you have no right to act his way toward your subjects. You have an obligation to rule Equestria justly. If this is how you rule, then you whould be grateful that you havee not been overthrown." "WE RAISE THE SUN! PONIES RELY ON US FOR DAY!" "Really? You actually tell them that?" the Doctor asked, chuckling darkly,"you want their worship so much that you claim to control day and night? That's pathetic." "YOU DARE CALL US PATHETIC!? I AM A GOD! I HAVE LIVED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS! "Well I'm not that young myself." "YOU WILL OBEY US!" "I don't obey tyrants. I'm not coming with you until we reach an agreement." * * * The Doctor winced as he was roughly thrown into the carriage. His hands and feet were tied and he had a gag in his mouth. Celestia had instructed the guards to be as rough as possible, and she had cast a spell which caused his throat to tighten so he was just about able to breath. Any tighter and he would have died in minutes. Twilight was receiving the same treatment, but the guards were a bit less rough with her. Clearly they were sympathetic for her. Her face was covered in tears and she was obviously suffering terribly from the choking spell. At least the Doctor was used to painful and terrifying situations. A jolt ran through the carriage as it lifted into the air. All the Doctor could do now was wait. Wait and think what he was going to do. Maybe it would take his mind off the choking. No, it didn't. But it did give him an idea. Well, if wait and see counts as an idea. He couldn't be sure whether or not he would be executed. He had defied her, and she seemed like the sort who didn't take kindly to that kind of thing. Well, there was no use worrying about it now. Wait, no. Definitely time to worry about it, since he might be able to think up a solution. He couldn't. He was completely stumped.