The guard burst through the doors of the castle. "Your Highness!" he exclaimed, out of breath. "This pony-"
"Is a Pegasus." she finished for him.
"Yes." he said, regaining his composure. "You know what we have to do. It's the law."
"Even if she's not from our borders?" she asked.
"It's what the law states."
"True. I guess we have no choice." she said, walking down to us.
I don't have time for this. I thought as I prepped myself for flight. I wasn't really a great fighter, but I was getting really good at flying. I'm still not nearly as good as the other Pegasi back home, but I was learning fast.
"Except for the fact that she is on a diplomatic mission for me that could save all of our lives." she said cooly. "Miss Derpy, if you'll come with me." she said.
"Huh?" I said aloud, unintentionally.
"I believe you wanted to see our Doctor on..." she trailed off, looking at the guard, "classified information."
"Yes, yes. Of course." I said quickly, catching on.
"Thank you, Fredrick. You're dismissed." she said.
"Your Highness, one more thing." he said, taking off his helmet. "It happened again. By the fountain. His colts went in and almost found our guy."
She sighed. "That's the fifth time this month. Tell him that he needs to be more careful in what he does."
The guard gave her a salute. "Yes, your Highness." He looked to me with a and gave a slight bow. "Ma'am." I couldn't help but blush a little. He was actually very handsome now that I looked at him. His fire red mane covered his eyes. They were the color of the oceans back at Equestria and his coat was a beautiful green.
The Queen gave a light laugh. "Stop with the flirting and return to your post." He gave another salute, put his helmet on, and ran out the door. "Don't mind him. He's a flirt with everypony. But he does his job better than anyone."
"So you know about George?" I asked as she led me through a door in the back.
"Yes. I found out after a failed assassination attempt a few months back."
"I was at the market when they came in. The pony they were talking to told me about what was happening. Can't the Council do something about him? I mean, if you know he was behind the attempt, isn't that enough evidence against him?" I pointed out.
"I don't know how it works where you're from, but here, the Council needs physical evidence on them. Hoof prints, a part of the mane, basically anything that came from the pony themselves." she explained.
"But couldn't that be faked?" I asked.
"Yes, but we also have to have four ponies who can verify where that pony was during the incident, which quiet frankly with everypony staying in their homes as of late is very easy to get." she said.
"Oh." I said.
"Besides, it wouldn't have mattered. There was nothing left behind from the assassin, even if I did send the report in to the Council." she explained.
"Wait, you didn't report it?" I asked, shocked. "Why not?"
"Well, because he's my brother." she said solemnly, stopping at a black door. "Your friend is inside helping us figure something out." she said as she opened the door.
As I walked in I saw a group of ponies huddled around a table discussing something. I looked around the room for the Doctor and saw him leaning over a basin with a glowing liquid. I ran over to him, glad to see that he hadn't been hit by George's ponies. "Doctor!" I exclaimed. He didn't look up at me. He was too enveloped in the basin. I put a hoof on his shoulder. "Doctor?"
"I wouldn't bother him." a low voice said behind me, making me jump. "He's staring into the Gora."
"What's that?" I asked, worried.
"It shows a hidden secret about a pony of your choosing. It's only allowed to be used in dire situations since it takes a great toll on whoever gazes into it." he explained.
"Then why is he doing it?" I exclaimed.
"He's the only one who's been able to look into it for more than a minute without going mad. Most only last 10 seconds. But not him. He's been at it for the last half hour." he said, walking back to the table.
"What exactly are you guys looking for?" I asked, following him.
He looked up to the Queen, who nodded. "A weakness in George's forces. The Queen and military abide by seperate laws. It's a way to make sure that both don't have all the power, sort of like a balance system." he explained.
"I still don't understand how the Council can see all that's going on and not do anything." I said.
"That's because they only hold power sentence and they need physical evidence that can be shown in a trial, which George has been kind enough to not leave around. They can't do anything because he's too diligent and thorough when he acts." a pony with a long scar down his left eye said.
"Why now though? If there's been 100 years of peace, why end it? What exactly happened?" I asked.
"My brother has always been a bit power hungry and a sore loser. He always tried his hardest to be the best at everything when we were younger and when he was beaten at something, he made life hell for the other." the Queen explained.
"When our parents declared that I would be the one who would take their place, George lost it. He's never gotten over it. I appointed him as General of our military as a way to hopefully appease his hunger for power, but alas, that was not what happened." she continued. "I fear he may try to destroy the peace we've tried so hard to keep."
"Which is why we need as much help as we can." the deep voiced pony said.
"Grell here is one of the few military generals who is still completely loyal to me." the Queen said.
"I took an oath to protect you and your people. The other 'soldiers' have broken that oath by allowing George to continue in his plight." he said.
"But they're just following orders, which is the second part of that oath, Grell." she said calmly.
"Your orders are the only ones which we should follow. Your voice is higher than his." he replied.
"And I know how to stop him." I heard the Doctor say next to me.
"Doctor!" I exclaimed happily. He looked troubled though, like something was tearing him apart on the inside. "Are you alright?" I asked.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine." he said quietly.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I wanted to ask him, but Grell spoke before me. "What did you see in the Gora?" he asked.
"Well I saw a lot of things. You were wrong about the Gora showing you weaknesses in the pony of your choosing. It actually shows their strengths, and one of his strengths is his ability to persuade others to join his cause." the Doctor explained.
"But for the past 100 years it's always shown weaknesses." Grell said.
"Yes, well, it didn't show me that. Maybe it's different from pony to pony but I'm telling you I saw his strengths. What we need to do is expose the lies he's been spreading around and expose him. After that we need to hit his weak spots and move on from there."
"What weak spots?" I asked. "If you only saw his strengths, how do you know where he's weakest?"
The Doctor looked to the ponies in the room. "Anything?" he asked.
"Well, we do know that some of the soldiers are apprehensive to obey George's orders, but getting close to them without a loyal member of his being around is difficult." Grell said.
"Well find a way to do so. Because you're going to need all the help you can get." the Doctor said.
"And why's that?" Grell said with a glare.
"Because he has allies that you couldn't hope to defeat." the Doctor replied sternly.
"What allies?"
The Doctor looked to me. "A race of vile creatures that were destroyed long ago. No matter how many times they are killed, they keep coming back."
"Who?" the Queen asked.
"The Daleks." I said. It wasn't the first time I've met up with them, but I still got scared when I heard they were the ones helping George.
"What's a Dalek?" Grell asked.
"A creature devoid of all emotion. They are relentless in killing and are very clever." I said.
"But they are also arrogant!" the Doctor said with a sudden jump in energy. "A Dalek only looks out for itself and believes it is the ultimate being in the Universe. Until they met me." he said.
"What do you mean? Have you met these Daleks before?" Grell asked.
"Oh yes. And I killed them. All of them."
"Then how are they here now?" the Queen asked.
"Because they survived somehow."
"How?" she asked again.
"I don't know, but some did. That's all that matters." he said.
Grell began laughing. "These ponies don't know what they're talking about. Dalek's not having emotions? Please."
"And how would you know? Have you met one, stared them in the eye and seen a single hint of emotion?" the Doctor said.
"Yes." he replied sternly.
"Grell." the Queen warned.
"What? What does he have to say?" the Doctor asked.
"Nothing." the Queen replied.
"With all due respect your Highness, if he's going to help us, then he needs to know what a Dalek really is." he said, turning to a pony at his left. "Go get him."
The pony ran out of the room quickly. "You have a Dalek here?" the Doctor asked, shocked. "Are you mad?! You're going to get everypony in this place killed!" he exclaimed.
"You really don't know anything about Daleks do you?" he said, tauntingly.
"I know more than anyone else in this room. I fought them, killed them and my race, and stopped them from destroying the Universe countless times!" he shouted.
"Then you would know that they are not war mongering or emotionless!" Grell shouted back.
"Quiet! Both of you!" the Queen ordered. "I don't know who you have met, Doctor, to think that Daleks are as you say, but the Dalek we know is not how you describe."
The door behind her opened and I gasped at the pony who I saw walk in. "You wanted my presence, sir?" he asked.
"Yes. Thanks for coming." Grell said. He looked to us. "Doctor, meet our Dalek. Fredrick, meet our 'Doctor.'"