//------------------------------// // XVI- The Return // Story: Imperium et Imperator // by Emperor Gerald I //------------------------------// Twilight had insisted that only she should go to Canterlot to talk to Princess Celestia, but her friends had been equally insistent on accompanying her. In the end Twilight had conceded that they could come, although it would only be her that would talk to the Princess. After boarding the train the mares sat down in a car that was unoccupied. "Do ya'll think Princess Celestia will let Gerald come back to Ponyville again?" Applejack asked Twilight as she took her seat beside Pinkie Pie. "It all depends what she has found out about Gerald, Applejack." Rarity shook her head. "Do you really think that she could have found anything out about Gerald that she would consider dangerous?" Twilight frowned. "I don't know Rarity. All I know is that we really don't know Gerald all that well, and if the Princess has reason to be suspicious of him there must be something wrong." "So why are we going to Canterlot then, dearie? If Gerald is... dangerous, why would you want to help him?" "I know Gerald better than the Princess does, I can attempt to bring a more balanced view of his actions during his time in Equestria." Pinkie Pie shifted in her seat. Why did Celestia take away her new BFF? Gerald didn't do anything wrong! "Hey, Twilight? Why did Princess Celestia take Gerald away?" "I don't really know exactly Pinkie, but if what the Princess said is true, he is commanding a Dark Army from the time of Nightmare Moon." Rainbow Dash flew up from her seat. "Why would Gerald do that?" Twilight frowned, she had been wondering the same thing for the past few days. "I can only speculate, but unfortunately the most likely reason is that Gerald is not who he says he is." Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. "What do you mean by that, Twilight?" "I think Gerald might not be from another universe like he said. He was found near the Everfree forest. It seems possible, even likely, that he was actually searching through the Everfree forest for the Dark Army when he was injured. It would explain why he knows all of our names, if he was searching through the forest when we defeated Nightmare Moon." "That would make sense..." Fluttershy said quietly. Pinkie Pie was crying softly. "What's wrong sugarcube?" asked Applejack, placing her hoof gently on Pinkie Pie's back. Pinkie Pie sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I thought Gerald was my friend." "It’s okay Pinkie, he was nice to all of us... we can't even be certain he did anything wrong." Twilight reassured her. "It is possible this is all a big misunderstanding, right Twilight?" Pinkie Pie smiled at Twilight. "I certainly hope it is, Pinkie." The train screeched to a halt in a cloud of steam. "Canterlot Station!" cried the conductor. Twilight and her friends disembarked the train. After retrieving their possessions from the train, they headed toward the Castle. As the mares approached the Castle gates, Rarity looked toward Twilight. "Do you think that the Princess will let us see Gerald?" "I hope so! Do you think he is lonely?" Pinkie Pie bounded up between Rarity and Twilight. "I don't know girls, just let me go and talk to Princess Celestia and then we might be able to visit Gerald." The guards recognized Twilight, due to the time she had spent living in the castle as Celestia's student, and allowed her and her friends to enter. Twilight turned to the group. "Okay, I am going to talk to Celestia about this, you mares stay outside for now, okay?" "Gotcha!" Applejack walked toward Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder "And good luck." As Twilight entered the large doors into the inner areas of the castle, she felt quite nervous. She hoped that Celestia would not be offended by her intrusion into her business with Gerald. Twilight had been very hesitant to make this trip, but she recognized the same "spark" of friendship with Gerald that she had felt when she had first met her other friends. She felt obliged to take some time to figure out what was happening to him, he had not seemed very pleased when Celestia had ordered him to join her in Canterlot. Twilight approached one of the guards. "Would you know where the Princess is right now? I need to speak with her." "Her royal highness is in the throne room right now." "Thank you." Twilight steeled herself and began walking toward the throne room. When she arrived Princess Celestia was reading some dispatches. "Hello Twilight." Celestia looked up from the dispatches with a smile on her face. "Hello Princess." Twilight bowed. "I have come here to advocate on Gerald's behalf." Celestia raised a brow as she arose from her throne. "What makes you believe that you need to advocate for Gerald, my faithful student?" "I know that Gerald has done some... suspicious things since he has arrived and I thought that I could bring a more balanced view to the issue." Celestia nodded. "It seems you have already deduced my reason for bringing him here." "That is right your highness, I just wanted you to know that Gerald acted very kindly to everypony and I had no reason to suspect anything until you revealed that he had become involved with the Dark Army." Celestia nodded again. "I shall take this into consideration, Twilight... is there something more you would like to tell me?" "Also Princess, I have that same feeling about Gerald. The same feeling I had when I first met my new friends." "So from your judgement, Gerald has no foul intentions?" "Well, logically I can see how you have come to the conclusion that Gerald might have bad intentions, but my feelings tell me differently. Even though I don't know Gerald very well, I could not see him wanting to hurt anypony." Celestia didn't speak for a long time. She stared at Twilight, trying to judge if she would be suitable for the task she was about to bestow upon her. Finally, she spoke. "Twilight, I have a very difficult task for you." "I shall do my best to complete it, Princess." "Twilight, I want you and your friends to help Gerald. Instil within him the virtues of the Elements of Harmony: Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Honesty..." "And Magic?" Celestia smiled. "Yes my dear student, magic as well. But you first must fully understand magic before you can share it with Gerald." Twilight was confused, didn't she already understand magic? "Very well Princess, I will do my best to help Gerald understand the virtues of the Elements." "Very good Twilight. Gerald can return with you to Ponyville this evening, he only has to speak with me for a moment before he leaves." Celestia motioned for her guards to open the doors to the throne room. "Now go my student, Gerald is in the courtyard, watching your brother train the guard." Twilight's face lit up at the mention of her brother. "Shining? He is here too?" Twilight embraced her mentor and then hurried off to the courtyard. "Attention!" Shining Armour bellowed. The guards stood at attention. Gerald and Shining Armour walked down the long line of guards arrayed before them. "Very impressive, Captain, very impressive indeed." Gerald was duly impressed by both the uniformity and discipline of the guards, but he wondered how they would fair in battle. Shining Armour grinned. "Thank you Gerald, these stallions have been training to be guards pretty much since they were little colts." Gerald stopped in front of one of the soldiers. "Have they ever been in battle Captain?" "Thank Celestia, we haven't been in any major battles at least since I took over the guard." "Do you think they would perform well in battle?" Shining Armour nodded. "Definitely." A guard came walking across the courtyard toward Gerald and Shining Armour. "Sir!" The guard saluted his Captain. "What is it soldier?" "Your sister wishes to see you, sir." "Twily? Here? Now?" Shining Armour looked over the guard's shoulder to see his sister walking across the courtyard toward him. Twilight, seeing her brother, broke into a run. "Shining!" "Twily!" The two siblings embraced. "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to get Gerald, we are going back to Ponyville." Gerald was taken aback by this news. "I am returning to Ponyville?" "That is right!" Twilight let go of her brother and walked up to Gerald. "The Princess told me that you could return to Ponyville with us tonight." Gerald smiled. "Excellent, I shall go and retrieve my things." "Actually, I think the others were looking forward to seeing you. They are just outside the Castle." "Very well then." Gerald nodded to Shining Armour. "Thank you for allowing my to join you in reviewing the guard." "No problem Gerald." Shining Armour turned to the guard. "Dismissed!" Applejack and the others sat outside the Castle gates in a small gazebo, waiting for Twilight to return. "What's taking Twilight so long?" Rainbow Dash tapped her forehoof on the ground impatiently. "She's trying to solve a very complex issue, things like that take time dearie." Rarity explained. "I know, but I want to know what's going on in there!" Rainbow Dash looked up at the gate for what seemed like the thousandth time. She caught sight of Gerald, Twilight, and Shining Armour exiting the castle. "Hey girls, look! Its Gerald and Twilight!" The mares rose from the gazebo and went to greet their friends. "So Twilight, what's the verdict?" Applejack asked as they approached. "Gerald is able to come back to Ponyville with us!" Pinkie Pie jumped up to Gerald and gave him a big hug around the neck. "Woo hoo! You get to come be my best friend again!" Gerald smiled widely, he had really missed these little ponies. "Thank you Pinky Pie. I am quite glad to be returning to Ponyville again." "What are we waiting for? The next train leaves soon!" Rainbow Dash flew toward the station. "Come on!" Twilight motioned toward the ground. "Rainbow Dash, Gerald has to get his things before he leaves, and talk to the Princess." Gerald looked shocked, Twilight hadn't mentioned that the Princess had wanted to speak with him. "Which Princess?" "Princess Celestia, she said she wanted to talk to you before you left." "Very well. Captain, come with me." Gerald waved for Shining Armour to follow him into the castle. Shining Armour jogged up beside Gerald. "Gerald, what do you need me for?" Gerald smiled, although it looked more like a grimace. "You shall see captain, you shall see." Gerald and Shining Armour entered the throne room where Celestia was seated. "Gerald, I have been awaiting you. I assume my student has informed you that you are free to leave?" Gerald bowed. "Yes your highness." Celestia looked past Gerald to Shining Armour. "Captain Armour, Gerald and I shall talk alone." Gerald held out his hand to stop Shining Armour. "Princess, I think that Shining Armour's presence would be beneficial." Celestia shrugged. "Very well Gerald. Do you know why I have summoned you?" "I believe it has something to do with me commanding the Dark Army." Shining Armour's jaw dropped. Gerald was commanding the Dark Army? Nightmare Moon's personal guard? Celestia nodded. "You are correct. I wish you to relinquish command of the Dark Army before I allow you to return to Ponyville." Gerald turned to Shining Armour, who was staring at him, wondering how the hay he had become commander of the Dark Army. "Captain Armour, when you were given command of the guard, did you have to swear an oath of some sort?" "Y-yeah, I did. An oath of allegiance to Equestria or something like that, its been a long time..." Gerald held up his hand, informing Shining that he had said enough. Gerald turned back to the Princess. "I propose that I be allowed to command the Dark Army, if I take a similar oath of allegiance." "How can I be certain that you will keep that oath?" "I shall swear it upon my honour." Celestia sat back in her throne, contemplating Gerald's suggestion. "Very well Gerald, you may keep your army if you swear an oath to me." A smile spread across Gerald's face. "Your highness is most kind. I hope that I do not test your kindness by asking that as well as the army, that I be granted the title 'Imperator'." Celestia rose from her throne, walking gracefully toward Gerald. "You certainly may have this title, but it must be included in the oath." Gerald was awestruck for a moment at how... beautiful he found Celestia. He had doubted it before, but he most definitely found her quite beautiful. He finally realized that she was waiting for him to speak. "O-of course your highness! It would be logical that it would be included in the oath." "Very well Gerald, now take my hoof and repeat after me." Celestia extended her foreleg toward Gerald. Gerald took her hoof in his hand. "I, Gerald solemnly swear." Gerald was overcome by his proximity to the Princess, her eyes were fixed upon his. He managed to repeat:"I, Gerald solemnly swear." "To use the power of my title Imperator, and the power of the Dark Army-" Gerald waved his hands about. "Forgive my interruption your highness, but I do not like the 'evil' sound of the name 'the Dark Army' could we instead call it... the army of the Imperator?" Celestia smiled, "Very well Gerald. To use the power of my title Imperator, and the power of the Army of the Imperator, for the good of Equestria and it's ponies." "To use the power of my title Imperator, and the power of the Army of the Imperator, for the good of Equestria and it's ponies." "I swear allegiance to the rulers of Equestria, the Princesses Luna and Celestia." Gerald cringed, he really hadn't wanted to give away his freedom quite yet. Celestia's staring eyes and soft smile were too hard to resist though. "I swear allegiance to the rulers of Equestria, the Princesses Luna and Celestia." "And will only use the force of the Army of the Imperator with explicit permission from both rulers." Celestia concluded. "And will only use the force of the Army of the Imperator with explicit permission from both rulers." Celestia put her hoof back on the ground. She smiled at Gerald "I am sorry I did not trust you Gerald." "I am sorry that I doubted your kindness and benevolence your highness." Gerald boarded the train back to Ponyville at six o'clock that evening.