Doctor Saturn at the Gala Chapter 4

The train headed for Canterlot was fairly quick for a coal-powered steam locomotive.  Probably magic-assisted, Saturn guessed.  He straightened his tie, looking down at the brand new suit.  I must say, that Gear Rack did a pretty good job.  Looking out the window, he could see fireworks exploding over the palace in various colors.  Straining his ears, he swore he could make out some sort of singing coming from the palace’s direction.  Probably just the entertainment, he guessed again.

As the train pulled into the station, Saturn hopped off his seat, mulling over what he was going to say in greeting to the princesses.  Although he knew protocol dictated that he bow low in respect to his monarchs, beyond that, he was at a loss for words.  Trotting up to the palace gates, Saturn could see that the event was already in full swing.  Taking a place at the back of the procession line, he continued to play the scenario out in his head.  Walk up to them, bow, say hello, tell her your name and who you represent, and walk away.  He repeated this scenario to himself several times as the line moved forward.  Eventually, he was a the front of the line.  He was a little taken aback by the pure majesty of the brilliant white alicorn mare with a flowing pastel mane standing in front of him.  Next to her stood a purple unicorn that Saturn recognized as Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s personal student, and one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.  Bowing low to the ground, Saturn managed to stammer, “H-H-Hello, Your Highness.  I-I-I’m Doctor Saturn, r-r-representing the Astronomy Guild.”
Princess Celestia smiled broadly.  “Welcome, Doctor.”  Her voice had an angelic ring to it.  “I’m so glad you could come.  Please, enjoy yourself.”
Saturn nodded and bowed again before letting the next pony in line say hello to the princess.

Stepping into the main ballroom, he saw over a hundred ponies of all shapes and colors mingling with each other.  Saturn stood agape for a moment before regaining his composure.  As he slowly wormed his way to the hors d’oeuvre table, Saturn took in the various conversation.  “I hear that apple shares are going up,” said one pony.
“Did you hear about my latest construction project in Manehattan?” asked another.
Saturn ignored these ponies, uninterested in their conversation topics.  He poured himself a glass of punch and slowly retreated back into the crowd.  A few nobles looked at him with some disdain, but still nodded “hello” at him.  Nodding back, Saturn retreated from what would have most likely been an ugly situation.  His eyes scanned the room for an escape route.  Finally, he saw it:  an entrance to the gardens.

Saturn gratefully filled his lungs with the cool night air.  He noticed several other ponies were outside as well.  He could see a couple of white unicorns standing next to a fountain (the female one looked rather peeved); near some trees, he could see a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane looking about happily as if playing hide-and-seek with a foal.  Saturn ignored these ponies and ventured further into the gardens.  Once he was far enough away from the commotion, Saturn found himself staring up at the night sky.  The Moon was already up, and the stars shone brightly.  Saturn couldn’t help but be taken aback by the pure majesty of the cosmos above him.  “It’s beautiful tonight,” he thought aloud.

“It is indeed,” came a voice from behind.

He spun around, coming face to face with another alicorn mare.  This one had a dark blue coat, and instead of waving with pastel colors, her mane shone and twinkled like the stars above.  Saturn immediately recognized her as Princess Luna, co-ruler and sister to Princess Celestia.  Bowing low, he said, “Your Majesty, forgive my intrusion.  I merely wished to escape from the crowd for a while.”
Looking up, he saw not a stern face, but a warm mother-like smile.  “You need not worry yourself, young stallion.  We were out here doing the same thing.”
Saturn cocked his head.  We?  Who else is with her?  Sensing his confusion, the Night Mare blushed slightly.  “My apologies.  I am still attempting to teach myself from using the Traditional Royal ‘We.’”
Saturn nodded in understanding.  “Apologies are not necessary, Your Highness,” he replied.

The princess’s face returned to its normal color.  “So,” she asked, “who might you be?”
“My name is Doctor Saturn, representing the Astronomy Guild.”
Luna suddenly became a bit flustered.  “Ah, yes, the Astronomy Guild.  Many a night do I have to put up with their fussing about on whether the North Star is in the right place or whether the Big Dipper is out of alignment.”
Saturn shared in her frustration.  “I can assure you, Your Majesty, I am not that type of astronomer.  My goal is to make new discoveries.”
“Such as?”
“Such as discovering new planets orbiting distant stars or discovering traces of extraterrestrial life.”
The princess nodded.  “Worthy and noble goals, indeed,” she said approvingly.  Continuing on, she asked, “Do you have any projects that you are currently working on?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Saturn replied.  “As you may already know, the planet Remus is in opposition tonight, the closest it is going to be for the next several hundred years.  I’ve assigned my assistant to record the data when the planet is at its closest.  I feel we could learn a lot about Remus from this event, especially whether or not the planet is capable of supporting life.”  Although, I wish I could be there myself to see it.
Almost as if she was reading his mind, Princess Luna lips curled into a small grin.  “Would you like me to take you to the astronomy tower to see it for yourself?”
The offer wanted to make Saturn jump up and down for joy like a little schoolfoal.  Fortunately, he kept his excitement in check.  “I would love to, Princess,” he answered.

The Royal Observatory was, to say the least, immense.  Looking around, Saturn could see some of the best equipment ever created in the history of astronomy.  So many things to look at, so many things to say! Saturn thought to himself.  All he could muster up, though, was “Wow.”
Luna chuckled slightly.  “It is impressive, isn’t it?” she inquired.
Looking at her with amazement, Saturn replied, “I’d say ‘impressive’ is an understatement.”
Luna beamed at the compliment, and walked over to a computer terminal.  Her horn shimmered a dark blue as the screen lit up.  As she entered the coordinates for Remus into the computer, Saturn took the time to look around the observatory.  The most obvious object was, of course, the massive telescope in the center of the room, its ever-vigilant eye trained towards the sky.  Saturn could also see some smaller telescopes around the room.  There was also a giant display screen on the wall, but despite that, the observatory--like many other observatories--was fairly empty.

Princess Luna finished entering her data into the computer.  Almost immediately, the giant telescope swiveled around in the direction of its target.  When it stopped moving, Princess Luna pressed a button allowing what the telescope was seeing to appear on the screen.  Saturn stifled a small gasp at the sight.  Directly before the two ponies was a close-up view of the planet Remus in all its glory.  Saturn couldn’t help but feel a little small at the sight of the planet.  Taking a closer look, Saturn’s excitement grew exponentially.  He couldn’t believe what he saw:  the planet was covered with water.

It was at this point that he gave into his temptation and began to dance victoriously around the room.  “YES, YES, YES!” he cried.  “My theories were proven correct!  Remus is capable of life!”
The princess shared in his enthusiasm, yet opted to stay seated.  “Glad I could be of assistance,” she replied.
Barely noting her remark in his excitement, Saturn continued.  “Oh, there’s so much to do!  Papers have to be published, probes have to be launched!”
Suddenly, a hoof stuck itself in his mouth.  Looking at who its owner was, he noticed a chuckling Luna--now standing in front of him--staring at him.  Calming down a bit, Saturn regained his composure.  He cleared his throat.  “Yes, well,” he said calmly, “I guess such things will have to wait until later.”