Equestria: A retelling of the story.

by xombiekilla

Chapter Three: A terrible meeting and a terrible plan

"Tia. You do know how dreadful the griffins are known for being. I know that this will not end well for us."

"Never mind that, Sister. Just remember always to be polite. We do not need them to be upset with us." Came an admonishment from Celestia as they both took a deep breath and braced for the worst as they walked in to start the meeting. "Good evening, Chief and Ambassador of Griffonia. We're so pleased to have you here tonight." Celestia and Luna bowed to show their respect even though only the ambassador did, not the Chief.

"Yes. I'm sure you're happy to have me here. So then, let's get down to business. Ambassador Blackwing, will you do the honors?"

"Yes, Chief. We hope to strengthen economic trade and commerce ties between your nation and ours. We feel it's time to take steps toward a stronger bond between us, Princesses."

"Why certainly, Mister Blackwing. And please, call me Celestia. Since we're going to be strong allies, formalities aren't necessary. So then, what is it that you're willing to negotiate?"

"Goods as far as imported meats, treasures, and spices, among other things." The Chief then spoke up. "That and, I suppose, the various commodities from your nation as well. I'm certain that griffons live in Equestria, yes?"

"I'm pretty sure there are, Chief. I suppose it couldn't hurt. In times of war, having good aviary soldiers assisting us would benefit Equestria." Celestia was still a bit wary of the griffon chief but was willing to do anything for her nation; Luna was still indecisive.

"But Tia, how do we know we can trust them? I don't mean that in a disrespectful tone. But we recently had an attack from someone completely foreign to our country."

"I understand your concerns, Luna. But we'll have to take our chances here. It's either that or a possible war we could be facing."

"Yes, Sister. I understand, clearly."

"Are you princesses questioning the trustworthiness of a proud griffon chief?" The Chief suddenly spoke up, angry at both alicorns.

"No, no, we are not. We'd never do that to you. Isn't that right, Luna?" Celestia looked at her sister as she spoke up.

"Yes. That is very much correct, Tia. We'd never think of you as anything short of being trustworthy." Luna fixed her posture and cleared her throat as she addressed the griffon chief.

"Let us hope that is the case now if we got nothing else to discuss. Then we shall take our leave."

"Thank you, princesses, for your time," Blackwing said as he bowed in respect to them.

"Tis not any trouble at all, Fair Ambassador." Luna then left with Celestia after the two griffon officials left the meeting room.

---

"I'll have to consider land with an abundance of minerals greatly. Perhaps a mine shaft will do. Yes. I could easily lift that slice of land into a new Laboratory. Oh, how excellent." The Doctor was looking to expand his reach nationwide, starting with a few empty quarries that could contain valuable minerals for his machines. "The lab, of course, will be built on more stable ground next to the quarry. It should work out nicely."

Then he began to draw his fresh blueprints and built up his first laboratory and warehouse complex neck-deep in Everfree territory. "A good portion of this land can do well with good deforestation. A small acre or two missing would hardly be noticed, right?" The small two-acre cut of land was built next to the quarry as he sent in his robots to excavate and retrieve more minerals and other various gemstones. "How many geodes are in there by any chance, Digger-bot?"

"Calculating results from the most recent excursion: There's approximately forty-seven unchecked and twenty harvested, Doctor." The Digger-bot then opened up its chest compartment, filled to the brim with sparkling gem shards and other various crystals, sparking with collected energy.

"My my, these are charged with latent energy. Marvelous." The Doctor was laughing evilly as he held them into the palms of his hands. "I can feel the energy coursing through these. My next machine may be the best one yet." The Doctor had adopted a sinister look as he devised his next invention.

---

As night fell, Celestia was sitting next to Luna atop their balcony. "Oh? Why, hello there, Sister. Tis a great night, is it not?"

"Indeed it is, Luna. So, doing some stargazing before night court, huh?"

"Yes, I am, Sister. It's a lovely night, you know. Tis be a crime not to enjoy it before my duties."

"I do agree; they look lovely this night. W-What's that over there, Luna? Focus your telescope towards Everfree." Luna does as they both see what looks like a massive tower with searchlights mounted onto the top of the building. "Hmm... It looks like that Doctor is at it again. He's probably scheming right now."

"I give him credit, Tia; the human is well prepared."

"Unfortunately so, Sister," Celestia said as they watched to see what the Doctor could be up to.

---

"Oh yeah! Jammin' to that beat, all right!" The Doctor was listening to a radio while working on his newest mech. "Jammin' to that beat, all night, all right!" A few tweaks here and there and the mech was mainly finished. "There we go. This new baby can use a renewable amount of energy from the plating by smelting those energy-infused geode crystals. It can collect and unleash solar energy to fry them like fish in a skillet."

"I am a genius. Haha! Let's see them use that kind of energy against a mech with an equal amount of that energy and then some. Now for its name, something hot and full of energy. It's shaped like a giant mechanical snapper turtle, so... I got it. The Molten Hot Toasty Tortoise. Perfect!" The mech's eyes then glowed red as it was operational and ready for service.

---

The following day rolled by, and Luna had just finished her nightly duties as Celestia began to wake up. "Good Morning, Luna. Tired, huh?"

"Yeah, Tia. I had to help out a very demanding nightmare last night, and right after, I had night court, too."

"Sounds stressful. You look like you could sleep for ages."

"Believe me; I probably could. I have a question for thee before I retire, though."

"And that would be?"

"Does Blueblood know that nighttime is typically meant for sleeping?"

"That bad, huh?" Luna's look at Celestia told her everything she needed to know.

"I'm going to lower my moon so you can raise your sun, Sister."

"Right, you do that then. Um, have a good sleep, Dear sister."

"Yes, Tia. Of course, I shall." As Luna walked to the balcony to lower her moon, Celestia paused for thought; what was that Doctor planning? This was bothering her.

"I hope Twilight and her friends would be available on such short notice. I did not expect the Doctor to work on his vengeance so fast."

---

"Are the preparations set for the robot's launch?" The Doctor was running some final checks on his new tortoise machine as it was curled up in its metallic shell, for now, deactivated.

"Yes, Doctor. Final tests have been performed, and the machine is clear for deployment."

"Excellent! This is wonderful news. I'll make sure that I'm successful this time."

"With confidence and glory for the Bruner Empire, Doctor." The supercomputer said to Dr. Bruner.

"So, where did they come from exactly?"

"Two cities, Doctor: Ponyville and Canterlot."

"I see. So Canterlot, is that castle hanging off of that mountain then?"

"Affirmative, Doctor." The Doctor grinned.

"Then, that'll be the first place I hit today." The Doctor cackled as he pressed the switch to turn his new machine on. "Come along then, Toasty Tortoise. We've got some pulled pony flambé to make."

---

"I need to send a message over to Twilight. I have a terrible feeling that something bad is coming our way." Celestia then made her letter, put the emergency seal over it, and sent it to Twilight's home. "What's that in the distance? Oh no, it's him." Celestia then walked out onto her balcony to speak to the Doctor. "Doctor Bruner, you're not welcome here in Canterlot. Leave at once!"

"Ah, yes. This is your home, eh? It's pretty nice, if not a bit too bright on the eyes."

"This is your last warning, Doctor. Leave now, or I will call the guards."

"Go ahead and try it, Your Highness. It'll be funny to see them lit on fire."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh? Do you want to be the one who finds that out the hard way? Bring those elements to me. Now! I have a score to settle with them."

"It was hilarious to see Rainbow giving you free flying lessons, Doctor."

"The nerve of them and you for rubbing that in my face. I was careless last time. I never fully understood your abilities. That was rectified, of course."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? Take a look at this beauty, then. I call it the Molten Hot Toasty Tortoise." It beeped at attention, ready for its first order. "How's about I sweeten the pot for you then? Bring those elements to me, or I'll send Mr. Tortoise on a fiery rampage."

"And bring harm to my little ponies?! You will do no such thing." With some reluctance, she caved. "Very well then, you win. I'll make sure the elements are here."

"I'm not known much for my patience; tell them to hurry up!"

---

"A letter from Celestia?! It's got the emergency seal on it, too. Not good." Twilight opened the letter without delay and read it, "It says that there's something terrible headed toward Canterlot, and our help is needed. Doctor Bruner is back. Oh no. My family is at Canterlot, Spike. We have to go there."

"I'll get everyone gathered up then. It looks like this guy never learned his lesson from last time."

"Well, I guess he needs to be taught another one then. Let's go, Spike!" Twilight and Spike then made haste to gather her friends as they made their way to Canterlot.

---

"So then, the Doc's back again, huh? Didn't we destroy his machine yesterday or something?"

"Yes, Rainbow, and please take this more seriously. My mom, dad, and big brother are in Canterlot now."

"Oh, don't worry, Twilight. I'm pumped and ready to launch that guy into orbit again."

"My word, doesn't that ruffian know when to quit? We already defeated him, and now he's back for more."

"Looks that way, Rarity. Shucks, we beat him before; we can do it again."

"Oh yeah. I'm so with you girls all the way!" Pinkie hopped and bounded with them with glee.

"We cannot let him get away with this. I-It's scary, but it's our job to be Equestria's defenders. And with my friends with me, I think we can do this." Fluttershy suddenly had a look of confidence on her.

"Yeah, you preach it, Fluttershy! I know you're still mad about yesterday. I can't blame you for that." Rainbow said as she comforted the butter pegasus.

"I-I am Rainbow. That tree nearly landed on me. I could have died right then and there." Fluttershy shuddered as she had to recall that awful memory.

"There's the train; it's about to depart for Canterlot. We must hurry," Twilight said as everyone boarded the train and headed to Canterlot to stop Doctor Bruner from destroying it.