//------------------------------// // VI- Meeting Royalty // Story: Imperium et Imperator // by Emperor Gerald I //------------------------------// Gerald stood, mouth agape, wondering what he should do next. Should he admit to killing the Princesse's pet? It was an accident, in a way. If he had known that the Phoenix was the property of the Princess, or anyone else for that matter, he would not have shot it. His mind whizzed with the possibilities, should he lie, run, fight, or admit to his crime? By now they were all staring at him. 'Come on Gerald, you have to say something, anything!' he thought to himself. "Gerald? Are you felling unwell?" asked the Princess. "I am-m quite well your majesty" Gerald replied, not noticing that he was the only one still bowing before the Princess. "You may arise Gerald." Celestia said. "Thank you your majesty." said Gerald, wiping the perspiration that was building upon his forehead. Twilight leaned over to Celestia "I think he is a little nervous dealing with royalty Princess" she whispered. Celestia nodded. She walked over to Gerald's side. Gerald was now trembling, wondering if the Princess knew what he had done, and was about to signal her guards to apprehend him. To his astonishment, she brought her hoof up to his shoulder. "It is okay Gerald." Celestia said kindly "you can speak to me just like you would anypony else." A wave of relief swept over Gerald. The Princess did not know. He could simply claim to have no knowledge of the matter. "Thank you your majesty, I was worried I would do something improper!" Gerald quickly replied. "You do not have to worry about that Gerald." Celestia smiled, then continued, "I am sorry to hear about the circumstances under which you arrived in my kingdom, but I believe you will find it comfortable here for the time being." "Thank you your majesty. I have found your kingdom to be extremely welcoming." Gerald replied, looking nervously at the bush that the wounded Phoenix had taken refuge within. "Very good, I knew I could rely on my little ponies to be kind to any new visitors here!" the Princess nodded to Fluttershy, whom blushed and hid her face behind her hooves. "There is much I wish to speak to you about Gerald, but first we must find Philomena." Celestia ordered the royal guards to begin searching the skies around the farm. "Gerald, Applejack, Big Mcintosh, and I will search the orchard Princess." said Twilight. "Thank you very much for offering your assistance, my faithful student, I am certain with us all working together we shall find Philomena in no time!" replied the Princess, spreading her great wings as she took to the skies. As the ponies dispersed around the farm and nearby forrest, Gerald remained where he was, looking around the bushes where he knew the bird was hidden. After he was certain that nopony was watching he pulled the branches of the bush apart. There lay Philomena, in a small pool of blood. Gerald decided that the best course of action was simply to bury the bird's corpse before it could be found. He pulled his hunting knife from his belt and began to scratch a hole in the ground. Within a few minutes he had a hole that he believed would suffice. As he reached down to grab the bird it let out a weak chirp. Gerald could not do it. He could not kill this poor creature. He had done it so many times before, without feeling anything, but now he could not do it. He rummaged through his backpack to find the first-aid kit that he had brought hunting with him. He lay it beside Philomena and got to work. He noticed that Philomena had only been struck by one pellet, that had gone through her wing and into her chest. He applied a gauze bandage to the hole in her chest, which seemed to be the source of most of the bleeding. As Gerald began to stand up noticed there was somepony approaching from behind. He turned to see the Princess. "Gerald, might I ask why you went directly to this bush instead of searching like the others?" Celestia asked calmly. "I saw movement, your highness. And the better news is I have located your animal!" Gerald replied hastily. "Philomena?" Celestia called to her Phoenix as she walked past Gerald. "She is wounded your majesty." said Gerald, pointing to the bandage on the bird's chest that was already darkening with blood. "Oh my... my poor Philomena." Celestia brought her horn down towards Philomena and, closing her eyes, cast a spell. The bandages fell off, leaving no trace of the wound beneath. "Gerald, thank you for helping Philomena, but I sense that there is something you are not telling me." said Celestia, holding Philomena to her cheek. "What is there to tell your highness?" Gerald lied. "Do you know anything about those loud noises we heard on our way here Gerald?" asked Celestia. "Indeed, I do I happen to have a device here that makes a very loud noise." Gerald replied. "Interesting..." Celestia paused, looking toward the sky "forgive my inquisitiveness Gerald, I just felt as if you had something you wanted to tell me. Now let us get everypony back here so we may return to our intended task." Within a quarter of an hour all of the ponies whom had been searching for Philomena had returned. The Princess asked if Gerald and the others would like to join her in the farmhouse. "Let me just put away the farmin' equipment, and I'll be back in a jiff!" said Applejack, hurrying back into the orchard. "Gerald, might I ask you a few questions?" asked Celestia, seating herself at the table. "Of course, your majesty." Gerald replied. "These questions will be somewhat... personal in nature, is that acceptable Gerald?" "Of course!" Gerald, taken aback by this request forgot to add his customary "your majesty" or "your highness". "Excellent, now, my first question is quite simple, what age are you Gerald?" "Twenty" Gerald replied. "That is good, you are the same age as the ponies you have begun to associate yourself with." Celestia replied. "Next," Celestia continued, "I want to know a bit more about you Gerald, what are you interested in?" "Interested in? I enjoy... history, politics, and the military." "The military?" Celestia smiled, "Upon that topic, did you know that Twilight's elder brother is the commander of my Royal Guard?" "I did not your majesty." Gerald replied. "He is not with us today, as we flew from Canterlot, and Shining Armour cannot fly." Celestia explained. "Do you have any family Gerald?" "Why of course your majesty! I have a mother, father, a brother, my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins..." Gerald's voice faded off as he wondered if he would ever see them again. It seemed that the Princess read Gerald's mind "I promise you, you will see them again Gerald." Celestia said gently. "Thank you... Celestia" replied Gerald. "Twilight, I have a private question for Gerald, would you and your friends mind leaving for a moment?" "Of course we wouldn't, Princess." Twilight said, leading Fluttershy and Applejack out of the room. "Gerald, I have a very difficult question for you, may I ask it?" Celestia's face became more serious. "Very well your highness." Gerald responded, wondering what kind of question the Princess would ask. "Why did you hurt Philomena?" Gerald froze. He was done for, Celestia would throw him into prison for the rest of his days. Gerald wished that he loaded his gun, so he could at least try to fight his way out. Celestia, sensing Gerald's panic, spoke again "I am not going to hurt you Gerald. I just want to know why." Gerald looked down at the floor for a long time before responding "I thought she was a wild bird." he finally said. "A wild bird? They can't hurt you Gerald!" interjected Fluttershy, who had overheard Gerald's comment from the other room. "They're really friendly actually! One even helped me save you!" "I know." Gerald responded, "Where I come from, we hunt wild birds." "Hunt?" Fluttershy asked. "Why do you... hunt them?" asked Celestia "The birds where I am from, they cannot think cohesively!" Gerald attempted to explain. "You see, they are not intelligent, like the ones you have here!" "It is okay Gerald, I said before we are not here to hurt you, I just want to understand why you hurt her." Celestia said calmly. "It is quite difficult to explain, but where I am from we... hurt birds, wild birds... for sport?" Gerald knew that this did not sound good. "I would never had harmed any bird here, not like the ones you are describing!" Gerald added hastily. "So you will not harm any animals here again?" asked Celestia. "Yes your highness." Gerald responded. "Very well Gerald, I trust you to keep your word." Celestia said. "Now, I think I have achieved what I have came here for, to judge wether or not it would be safe for you to live amongst some of my most precious little ponies, my friends, the Elements of Harmony." "Your highness is much too kind." said Gerald, bowing his head slightly. "I most certainly do not have to worry about your manners!" Celesita laughed. "I must be going now, I have my duties to attend to." Celestia rose to leave, but turned once more to Gerald "While you are staying here I ask you to try to follow the example of your new friends, you could learn much from them." The ponies waved to the Princess and her guard as they left the farmstead to return to Canterlot. "Well, that was quite somethin'!" said Applejack, "the princess must think you are really important Gerald!" "Indeed" Gerald replied. "Well, no time to waste, lets get back to the harvest!" Applejack said excitedly. "Can we help?" asked Fluttershy and Twilight together. "Sounds great!" said Applejack "Many hooves make light work! That's what Grannie Apple always says!"