Imperium et Imperator

by Emperor Gerald I

V- Avis est Mortuus

The next morning Applejack went to get Gerald out of bed to join the family for breakfast.

"Good mornin!" said Applejack as she entered Gerald's room, "Did ya'll get a good nights sleep?"

"Fairly good, the bed was slightly too small." Gerald yawned.

"Well its time to get up and at it!" said, Applejack placing a towel on Gerald's bed.

"What is this for?" said Gerald.

"A nice mornin bath!" said Applejack, "the bathroom is just down the hallway."

After Gerald had bathed he went downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast. As he walked into the kitchen he caught sight of Applejack talking to her sister.

"...and so he will be staying with us for awhile, got it Applebloom?"

"Yes big sis." Applebloom responded between mouthfuls of cereal.

Applejack looked up at Gerald and smiled "So this is the newest "member" of our family Applebloom!" she said, pointing her hoof at Gerald.

Applebloom stared at Gerald "You didn't mention that he wasn't a pony Applejack..." Applebloom said.

"Well Applebloom, that shouldn't really be important, the important thing is tha-"

"I cant wait to show him to all my friends! Can I call him my brother? Does he go to school with me? Does he have his cutie mark yet?" Applebloom spouted excitedly.

"Whoa there Applebloom, you can call him your brother if you want, he is not going to school with you, and you can ask him about his cutiemark AFTER school." said Applejack, passing Applebloom her kitbag.

"Aw, well... see ya later Gerald." said Applebloom, grabbing her kitbag.

After Applebloom had left and Gerald had finished his breakfast Applejack assigned Gerald a job to do for the day.

"Well, considerin that you are probably still not a hundred percent after having your head bonked, I think you should do something fairly easy... hows about you pick up the apples we miss while bucking? You can take a break whenever you need one."

"Very well." responded Gerald unenthusiastically.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" said Applejack, heading toward the apple orchard.

Gerald would have to admit, it was mildly entertaining watching Applejack and Big Mcintosh work with such skill, but soon he was falling behind. By the time they had completed a few hundred trees Gerald was exhausted, he was not used to this much physical labour.

"I shall be taking leave of my task for some time!" Gerald called to Applejack.

"What?!" Applejack called back.

"I'll be taking a break!" Gerald replied.

"Oh, okay, me and Big Mcintosh will be takin' this load back to the farmhouse!"

Gerald walked slowly to the edge of the orchard. He could not believe this. He, a well educated young man with great ambitions was doomed to labour on a farm for the next five years, like he was some bloody peasant! He sighed and looked toward the sky, it was a sunny, cloudless day, but to Gerald, that only meant that his job would be much harder in the intense heat. Just then Gerald heard something, it was the call of a bird. Garrett was the one whom knew birds by the sounds they made, but even to Gerald this bird sounded different than any other. He returned his eyes skyward and, shielding his eyes from the intense sun, he saw it. It was the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. It was a large orange and red bird, and its feathers made it look as if it had just shot forth from the sun itself. Gerald tried to figure out if this bird existed on earth, and then it came to him, this bird was not supposed to exist at all. It was a Phoenix. Gerald's befuddled mind knew only one thing, he must posses this beautiful creature, he imagined how it would look, stuffed above his hearth, suspended for eternity in all its majesty. He ran toward the farmhouse to grab his shotgun, hoping, praying, that the bird would remain in the area while he was gone. To Gerald's surprise, the bird seemed to follow him! He was certain it would fly away when he entered the farmhouse, and when he returned to the deck it seemed that it had done so. But Gerald spotted it again, flying about a kilometre from the boundary of the farm. Gerald's exhaustion was completely forgotten as he strode quickly but deliberately toward his prey, hoping that it would not notice him. Once again to his surprise, the bird took no note of him, it seemed to be distracted by something happening in the nearby forrest. As Gerald got within range he dropped to one knee. He knew it was rare, near impossible to hit a bird in full flight, he had only shot them while they were taking off, and it was not likely he would have a chance to reload his muzzleloading weapon. However, as he always liked to tell Garrett, his black-powder shotgun was larger than a standard 12 gauge, and he had two shots. "Stay still old boy..." he muttered to the bird. The Phoenix seemed to hover, caught in a gust of wind, and Gerald saw his chance. BLAM!BLAM! in his excitement, Gerald had pulled the trigger too hard, and fired both barrels simultaneously. Gerald held his breath as he waited for the smoke to clear... "Huzzah!" he shouted. There, in the field just a few metres in front of him lay the Phoenix.

As Gerald calmed down and started walking toward his trophy he realized that he probably should have told Applejack and Big Mcintosh before he went blasting away with his gun, who knows what they thought just happened. Gerald stooped over, only then realized how bloody big this thing was. Gerald leaned down and noticed the bird was staring at him, breathing heavily, with blood dripping from it's beak. "Poor fellow..." he muttered, reversing his gun to give the beast mercy, but as he did, it jumped up and began to limp toward some nearby bushes. As Gerald approached them he noticed a voice calling from behind him.

"Gerald! GERALD!"

Gerald turned around, it was Twilight and Fluttershy. "Gerald! What was that loud noise? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, indeed, I am fine!" Gerald assured Twilight.

Gerald was about to inform Twilight what the noise was, when from the bend in the road he saw a large group of ponies wearing armour approaching.

"Why are there soldiers with you?" asked Gerald.

"They aren't with us," Twilight explained, "they are with the Princess."

"T-the Princess?" stammered Gerald.

Applejack and Big Mcintosh had come running from the field to see what the noise was.

"What the hay is goin' on here?" asked Applejack, sprinting up to Gerald.

"The Princess has come to welcome Gerald to Equestria!" said Twilight happily.

The soldiers whom were approaching suddenly separated, and out of their midst walked Princess Celestia herself. Twilight and the others went to their knees and Gerald quickly followed suit.

"Greetings Gerald, welcome to Equestria." said Celestia, apparently unphased by the recent gunshots.

"Thank you, your majesty." replied Gerald in a reverent tone.

Celestia smiled. "I am here to greet you to Equestria, and begin the process of taking you home." Celestia then scanned the skyline. "But first I must find Philomena, she was got slightly ahead of us, have you seen her Gerald?"

Gerald tried to recall any pony he knew of with the name Philomena. "Forgive me your majesty, I have not seen Philomena." he responded.

"Very well, you will know it when you see her, she is coloured quite vibrantly." Celestia said as she scanned the skyline again, "where could my little Phoenix have gone off too?"

Gerald froze in terror "Did you just say "Phoenix" your majesty?" he squeaked.

"Indeed I did Gerald, is something wrong?"

Author's Note:

A much shorter chapter than the last, but I found it prudent to end the chapter on a "cliffhanger". I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than Gerald did.

As always compliments, comments, and critiques are appreciated.

-Emperor Gerald I

Comments

[Clicker]

Yes, yes please more.

[Emperor Gerald I]

5387185

More shall come in time my friend. The next chapter is already in the works!

-Emperor Gerald I

[Emperor Gerald I]

5392677

I would say so, as I am a monarchist! Monarchist is more of a respect for the monarchy, like the Queen of Britain for example. Gerald is somewhat like this, he has a deep respect for those whom hold the title of Queen, King, Princess, Prince, etc.

[xluferx]

I liked the way of thought from Gerald because it was pretty realistic, good work

[Nameless cow]

Aw shit...

[eternal nothingness]

oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh boy

gerald run. GERALD RUN!!!!!!! RUN YOU FOOL!