"I won't tell Discorded Whooves," was the first thing out of her mouth, as she entered the throne room.
Minuette stood tall, though her expression was one of worry. "But I would like to know... how did it happen?"
Celestia eyed the Time Pony Mare, getting an idea of what she suspected. Looking at her guards, she gently shooed them off... their role was more to keep her company, then truly guard her. So they were used to leaving the Princess side, when she wanted to talk privately with a guest.
Once the guards were gone, Celestia turned to the blue mare, "I take it, you discovered something interesting?"
Minuette gave a sigh. She had just finished her physical of the tot, she'd been asked to mentor... and found... "The tot's Chakra Signature, is a perfect match for The Doctor... yet he is mortal. I would accuse you of shackling a god, like you did Discord. If you weren't between bearers of Harmony, at the moment."
True, there had been other bearers of Harmony, since the royal sisters, but this generation had yet to find anyone worthy.
The jewels, inevitably, stopped working after a while. As whatever Harmony was looking for, in the bearers of the elements, failed to make itself known. It had even happened to Celestia and her sister.
They maintained the gift of Harmony, but the jewels no longer recognized any of them as worthy.
The Sun Princess had visions of the fillies that would one day do so... but it be centuries more before they were even born.
Celestia sighed, before telling the Time Pony Mare of her last encounter with the Doctor... of the Stallions request.
Minuette looked horrified, "You allowed the Doctor to give himself a death sentence!!!"
"The Doctor is millions of billions of years old," Celestia reminded. "He's old enough to have seen the universe itself die, and restart, do you really intend to make him live to see that again?"
Minuette groaned, "So... this is how the Doctor intends to escape the fates... I will honor his wishes... and the universe will be lesser for it."
"Minuette," Celestia worried.
"I mean what I said," Minuette insisted. "I will honor the Doctor's wishes... doesn't mean I have to like it."
Minuette walked back to the Colt, seeing her god stand before her... with all that made him a god, locked away... it was hard to see. But the boy acted like any other child his age.
Even if he was a bit more flirty then most Time Pony apprentices. A very unwanted display, from her new apprentice.
"You will stop that immediately," Minuette spoke sternly.
Getting Clockwork to flinch, and look down. Looking every bit the rejected stallion.
Minuette decided to soften the blow. "With no exaggeration. I'm roughly 10 thousand years your Senior. You're barely out of training pants, to me. Besides, I am your mentor, any relationship, outside a teacher/Student to Parental one, is highly inappropriate."
The Doctor, with the mind of a colt, pouted. "I'm 26, practically an adult!"
"Not yet," Minuette insisted. "And just cuz your allowed to have sex, doesn't mean you should flirt with everything that moves."
Clockwork blushed, running his hoof in a circle on the Floor. Not used to getting scolded, not after so long.
Celestia didn't scold, she didn't speak sternly... she kinda just stared, and the young Stallion felt sufficiently chastised.
Although Minuette did have a point. He really shouldn't be flirting with his Mentor... even if he did have a fantasy about the strict professor, educating him about sex.
Minuette began the start of her first lecture. As Little Clockwork sat at a desk, eagerly listening... wanting to know more about his ponies. It was refreshing.
Most students she taught... were more eager about learning how to use their powers, then the history behind them. Then again, they weren't as old as this colt... nor as ignorant.
Young Clockwork was at apprenticing Age. In fact, he should have started his apprenticeship a year ago. Just finished with college, and focusing on learning the practical side of his trade.
Lord President Whooves had chosen Minuette to be the Colt's Mentor... which was usually something the parents decided, but Discorded was a pushy Stallion...
While Celestia was a well known pushover. So long as request weren't harmful to others, either directly or indirectly, she tended to grant them all.
After all, she had been the bearer of Kindness. Along with Laughter, and Friendship. The powerful magical artifacts, permanently grafting her with powers she still held, to this day.
The colt mostly needed a crash course, in how to control their Tribal magicks. Minuette could not understand, why Celestia neglected the colt's education. He completely skipped over all Racial magic training, which is what all of secondary school was comprised of.
"Time Lords are the Celestial gods over Time and Space," Minuette began. "But like most species of Celestial, they were once mortal. In the universe before our own, Time Lords were the keepers of knowledge and wisdom.
"They were the first species to evolve, and the first to achieve 'Regeneration energy'. Which is a field of magic, used to restructure the body, after death. We use it a bit differently.
"Due to our regeneration energy, blending with Pony Harmony magicks, and our direct ancestry with the Doctor, himself, we can wield it more like magic. Using it to bend time and space, in numerous ways, well also seeing into time, and healing ourselves, or others.
"However, our bodies don't change, like the Time Lords do, when we heal. And while our Regeneration Energy will replenish itself, over the course of an hour, depleting it can kill us, permanently.
"It is our life force, directly connected to our magick. Much like a Changeling's love reserves."
The colt eeped, "Changelings are REAL!!!"
Minuette sighed, "That's a different lesson, let's focus on Regeneration Energy." she tapped the Colt's text book.
The Colt gave a hesitant nod, and listened to the lecture about how their magic worked, for near an hour.
He learned that Time Ponies could only survive death, if they have enough regeneration energy to sustain them. Which meant, in a fight, they had to be careful how much of their racial magicks they used.
For this reason, Time Ponies weren't suited for combat. They were more scholars and inventors, with their magicks over time and space, actually helping them in that.
Like Unicorns, they could levitate things. With their regeneration energy normally replenishing itself, as quickly as it was used, for that particular power... unless they tried lifting more then they could physically carry.
Their psychic powers, such as mind reading and seeing the future, was only a minor drain. Unless they met resistance, or wanted to see in greater detail.
Teleporting took a good amount of energy, but not as much as healing wounds. While being restored from fatal injuries, took the most... and could be destructive to what was around them.
Unlike other races, while magical exhaustion merely caused them to pass out... it would likely kill Time Ponies. In fact, when Tirek invaded Equestria, over 800 years ago... many of the time ponies, whose magic he consumed, died quite violent deaths.
Time Ponies had to be particularly worried, about magic absorption.
Clockwork was already hooked, when they moved into practical work.