Celestia had ordered Gerald to return to Canterlot with her, telling his friends that he would be only gone for a little while. Gerald knew exactly why she had ordered him to Canterlot, so she could keep an eye on him. As the train steamed toward the distant Equestrian capitol Gerald was allowed out of the private car by his guards, to eat lunch with the other passengers. As Gerald was using the car usually reserved for royal visitors he would be eating with the other first class passengers. The dinning car was relatively empty, only Gerald, his guards, and a dapper looking mare and stallion shared the room. "Oh, hello there! You must be the princesses guest, the human fellow! Gerald, right?" Gerald nodded. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Fancypants, and this is Fleur de Lis." Gerald gave the mare a bow before taking his seat at the table.
Gerald had noticed the stallion, Fancypants, had three crowns as his cutie mark. "Ah, so Mr.Fancypants, you are a member of the royal family?"
"Unfortunately not, may I ask why you thought so?" Fancypants adjusted his monocle.
"Well you have three crowns adorning you, as well you and Miss Fleur have a different body shape than most ponies, much like the princesses."
"Ah, that is due to proper breeding my dear fellow, from quite prestigious families and whatnot."
Gerald made a mental note, if ponies could be considered more prestigious due to the shape of their bodies, could he be considered superior because he was a human?
"I have heard that humans wear clothing at all times, is that true Gerald?" Fleur asked. Fancypants seemed surprised that his consort had even spoken.
"Indeed it is madam, we humans only remove our clothing to bathe."
"Really? I myself am rarely seen without clothing actually." Fancypants stated derisively.
"Humans must be quite cultured then, I could not imagine a whole society wearing clothes all the time!" Fleur looked to Fancypants. "You really must get me a dress."
Other than the brief meeting with Fancypants and Fleur Gerald was confined to the royal car for the whole of the journey. He knew Celestia, even with the assurance of her most loyal student, was still quite suspicious of him. Gerald seethed with anger. After all his respectful gestures to this monarch, he was still treated with supreme suspicion. If Gerald could not earn Celestia's trust he would simply have to win her favour. To control the monarch of Equestria would be a huge benefit, he already seemed to have one of the ruling sisters sympathy.
As the train halted at the Canterlot station, Gerald rose to join the other passengers who were streaming off of the train. His guards pushed him back toward his seat. "You will remain on the train, by orders of the Princess Celestia." The train suddenly began moving again, continuing onward to the Royal Palace.
Gerald feared that he was being punished for his actions. "If you are going to imprison me, I have done nothing wrong. I can assure you that I will not remain for long!"
"You are not to be imprisoned, you are to be Celestia's honoured guest." one of the guards informed him.
Gerald knew history well enough to know what that meant. He would be housed splendidly and treated well, but in all but name he would be a prisoner. Oh well, at least Gerald finally had a use for his army.
Gerald was greeted in the palace by a large unicorn stallion wearing armour. "I am Captain Shining Armour of the Royal Guard. I think you have met my sister, Twilight?"
"Yes, I have had the pleasure." Gerald stepped from the train, looking in vain for a way that he could escape this palatial prison.
"From what she has told me about you, you will enjoy your time here in Canterlot!" Shining Armour smiled warmly. "You'll be sharing a quarters with Prince Blueblood for the duration of your stay.
"Sharing a quarters with a prince?"
"A prince only in name." Shining Armour sighed. "I would just try to avoid him if I were you. He can be a bit... touchy."
"Very well." Gerald did not much care who he shared his prison with.
Gerald had his belongings carried to his new quarters by a guardsman. Shining Armour accompanied him, showing him the highlights of the palace. "And that's the dining room, you'll be eating with the princesses every night, lucky guy!"
"Grand!" Gerald, for a moment was genuinely pleased, forgetting that the princess he had so respected was now trying to keep him as a prisoner.
"And finally here's your room."
As Shining Armour opened the door, a white unicorn with blond hair ran past him, tears streaming down his face."It is not proper that I share my quarters, I am a prince auntie!"
Celestia was standing in the room on her own, a look of embarrassment upon her face. "Forgive the behaviour of my nephew, he is just a bit upset at the moment. He really will be fine with you sharing the rooms with him. You could probably fit ten more ponies in here and still have ample space."
The rooms were indeed grand, the foyer was covered in mirrors, the doors were plated in silver and the ceiling was gilded with gold. Gerald stood in awe, trying to convince himself that he still wanted to escape this "prison".
"If you require anything, just ask me." Shining Armour said as he and Celestia left the room. "I'll usually be down in the guards barracks."
A short time later Prince Blueblood returned to his quarters. "Gerald!" he screamed as he entered. "I demand your presence!"
Gerald walked into the foyer, he had been reading some of the books Twilight had lent him, and continued doing so as the approached the distressed Prince.
"Gerald, although others may wish to have you galavant around my quarters as if they were your own, you absolutely must remain in your own room, and only use the rooms you need to enter and leave it."
"I have received permission from the Princess Celestia that I can use your rooms as I wish." Gerald turned to the next page of the book he was reading, not even bothering to look up at Blueblood.
"Celestia! It's always about Celestia! Why can I not be a ruler? Am I not of royal blood as well?"
"Indeed you are, but Celestia is the reigning monarch."
"Why can't it be me?" Blueblood whined.
"Good question my Prince. Why does Celestia have power over you? You and her hold the same title."
"I don't know!"
Gerald smiled at Blueblood. "You Equestrians really have to make clear who controls this nation and why."
"Celestia has no better claim than I do!" Blueblood stormed off into his bedroom.
"Quite true, Celestia really does have no legal claim to the throne, other than the fact that she already possesses it..." Gerald looked off into space, thinking of the consequences of this negated claim. Anypony could legitimize a legal claim to the throne if they could find some precedent for doing so. He must really bring this up with Celestia, he could create her some documents that would give her a legal right to the throne.
"Sister, are you certain that bringing Gerald here was a wise decision?" Although Luna was happy that her friend Gerald had been invited to the palace where she could meet him in person, but she felt that her sister had other reasons for bringing him here.
"I simply cannot trust him until he proves himself more loyal. First he tries to kill Philomena and the next thing I know he is summoning the Dark Army?" Celestia shook her head. "I could tell my most faithful student was even hesitant about trusting him. She and her friends did the proper thing accepting Gerald as one of them, but I doubt they truly had befriended him in such a short time. Sister you know best of all ponies that what lies in the core of somepony's soul can be hidden, for good or for bad."
Luna thought back to when Celestia had banished her to the moon. She vaguely recalled Celestia begging her to submit peacefully. When Nightmare Moon had refused Celestia did not kill her. She knew that through all the hate and greed that there could still be some good at the core. Could it really be the opposite with Gerald?
"I shall watch over him sister" Luna surprised Celestia by saying this, since Luna's return from the moon she had been reluctant to speak to anypony less Celestia herself. Yet Celestia also recalled the kindness Gerald had shown toward her sister, whereas other ponies had shown only fear. "Luna, you must understand, it will be very difficult to judge Gerald's true self. He might not even realize the malice that lies within him. Are you certain that you are up to the task?"
Luna nodded. "And if I do find malice at the core of his being, he and I shall overcome it. I, with your help defeated Nightmare Moon who was a much more fearsome enemy than Gerald could ever be."
"Use caution my sister, do not underestimate the evil that can lie within even the gentlest of ponies."
As Luna and Celestia prepared to attend the royal dinner, a guard knocked upon the door to the throne room. "Mr. Wellesley wishes to speak with your royal highnesses. He says it is quite urgent."
Celestia and Luna looked to each other, each wondering what Gerald could want. "Allow him in." Celestia said at last.
The doors burst open and Gerald stumbled into the throne room, carrying a large book on Equestrian law, one on Equestrian history, and a large scroll. A guard came behind carrying a quill and inkwell. "My princesses, forgive my interruption, but I have noticed something quite distressing. Your law system as it is currently written had a very major flaw. You currently have no more legal claim to ruling this realm than Prince Blueblood!"
"This has never before been an issue." Celestia looked over Gerald's shoulder at the scroll he was unraveling on a nearby table.
"Indeed, but it very soon could be. Living even for a moment with the Prince Blueblood has revealed to me that he would most willingly use this fault in your law system to discredit your royal highnesses rule. Thankfully I have already taken the liberty to prepare a draft of a simple law that would alleviate this problem significantly."
Celestia and Luna looked at the scroll. It read:
In the year 1345 of the reign of the two Princesses the following law shall be enforced. The Princesses Luna and Celestia, having been ordained by the will of the great Starswirl the Bearded after the joining of the three kingdoms of Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies, shall from this event gain precedence over all others in the order of succession in the Principality of Equestria. Heirs to the Principality of Equestria shall be selected by unanimous decision of the two Princesses, being the legitimate heirs to the thrones of the three kingdoms.
Hereby signed by their Royal Highnesses:
-Princess Celestia________________________
-Princess Luna___________________________
Ex Voluntate Imperatoris
"It seems... quite simple." Celestia noted.
"Is that really all that is required?" Luna looked to Gerald.
"Indeed it tis!" Gerald smiled. "Well that and the signature of your royal highnesses."
Luna picked up a quill with her magic. Celestia plucked it from the air. "We shall read this over in more detail before making it official law Gerald, thank you for your assistance."
Gerald felt hurt that the Princesses did not immediately accept his proposal, but completely understood that a law this important required review. "Always my pleasure to serve." Gerald bowed to the Princesses and left them again.
"Is there something wrong with this document sister?" Luna asked Celestia as soon as Gerald had left.
Celestia looked closely at the document, reading it very carefully. "It seems to be a sound piece of legislation... but I wonder as to Gerald's motives."
"Dear sister, must you always look for the worst in Gerald? You always were able to see the best in me."
Celestia reluctantly picked up the quill, dipped it in the ink and after a moments hesitation, signed the scroll.
"There we are my dear sister. I have placed my trust in Gerald, and your judgement of him."
Luna picked up the quill and signed the scroll just below Celestia's signature. "If you still are distressed, I am certain we could have somepony else review it."
Having signed the document, the two Princesses headed for the dining room, they were already running late for dinner.