CHAPTER ELEVEN: Tenebris Venit
“...I did it again,” whispered Celestia, Princess, Steward of the Sun, Bringer of Light, and Ruler of All Equestria. She'd lost control again, and this time she didn't think she could justify it. Yes, the cultists were very bad little ponies, and yes, they had done very bad things, but did that merit banishing them to the Sun? After three thousand years of life, her ability to rationalize controversial actions was second to none, but she honestly didn't think she could do it, this time.
In her time, she had done horrible things to other living beings. The Alicorn Wars were a living nightmare of endless strife, mortal ponies, griffons, gnolls (often referred to as Diamond Dogs) and other creatures pitted against each other like toy soldiers in the bedroom of children who were not only powerful, but uncomprehending of the damage that power could do. She herself had inspired more than one 'holy crusade' against an alicorn who had decided to make a play for absolute power. Even knowing what she did now, that it wasn't some congenital insanity, didn't make it easier to live with and coupled with her recent battle with Luna, she found her heart heavier than ever. She'd tried to rise above all of it, to guide her little ponies into an age of compassion and tolerance, and for the last score and seven years, she thought she had done well despite the occasional setback. Now... now she wasn't so sure. She looked up at the Doctor and repeated, “I did it again, Doctor. I didn't want to, but--”
“But you did it again, eh?” interrupted the strange pony who had so recently come into her life and turned parts of it sideways, his tone laced with a mixture of barely-controlled fury and … pity? “Did what again, Celestia? Is this the first time you've thrown people into the Sun, Princess, or do you make a habit of it? Or perhaps a hobby? 'Oh, I'm bored, I think I'll find some ponies that annoy me and use them for stellar firewood!'” The chestnut stallion leaned down, looking her right in the eyes, “You have a responsibility to be better than that, Celestia,” he murmured into the empty silence surrounding her. Even Bastion, who normally would leap to her defense without hesitation, was but quietly watching. “As does anyone who has the kind of power that we do. I might not have a fancy bone sticking out of my forehead but I know the left-hand path. I've even taken some steps down it, and I've always hesitated just before crossing that final line, save for once... and even then, Time Itself gave me a second chance, one that I didn't deserve.” He straightened up, looking down upon the prostrated princess and murmured, “I pity you, because now you know, for certain, what it's like to step over that line. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't like, even some things that hurt ourselves or others. Terrible things that we have to live with and sleep with and shoulder on our backs every moment of every day thereafter, but there is a line, and you stepped right over it.” His expression softened somewhat as he continued, “That's something that no one should ever have to do, nor is it ever necessary, not even for the 'greater good,' and once you realize that you've stepped across that line, you lose a piece of yourself on the other side, even if you come back over it. That's a lesson that no one should ever have to learn, in an ideal world, and I'm sorry you had to do it like this, but... I'm disappointed in you for crossing it in the first place.”
Something inside Celestia snapped at his words, and she slowly rose to her hooves, fixing him with a stare. “And just who are you to judge me, Doctor? I sent fourteen ponies to the Sun, not to die, but as banishment. You sent entire races to eternal torment and damnation, if what you say is true!”
“I had no choice! You did!”
“They killed my subjects, and for all I know desecrated my brother's corpse!”
“Let's see, hmm, I think 'end the universe, exist as thought beings and erase all of time' sort of trumps that, don't you?”
Bastion sighed into his hoof and rubbed his snout, frowning as his eyes started to cross under his eyelids when the Princess and the Time Lord started trading insults. They fight like an old married couple. He opened his eyes again and looked at the four still-occupied altars, where a mare, a stallion, and their two foals were staring pop-eyed at the royal spectacle. Gesturing to his guards to get them untied, he murmured to the dark-purple, blonde-maned stallion, “My apologies, Ser...?”
“Black Amish Apple, Cap'n, and I thank ye kindly fer cuttin' us loose. This be me wife, Ambrosia, and our colt and filly, Belmac and Pixie Apple.” Black Amish rubbed his hooves and winced a bit as he sat up. “Ye kin call me B.A. if'n ya like, Cap'n. 'Tis a terrible business happened here today, just terrible. I don't have any idea what those ponies were about, but...” BA glanced at the bloodied altars with their grisly burdens, “I can tell you that they were right set 'pon it.”
Bastion nodded, replying, “We're not entirely sure what this was all about either. Some sort of ritual meant to either bring back Nightmare Moon or strike at the Princess Herself, by my best guess.”
Black Amish shuddered at the mention of the Nightmare. “Either one o'those would be a right awful thing t'occur by my reckon, Cap'n, an' while I'm sad for those who are lost, I can't tell ye how happy I am that you an' your troops arrived in the nick of time to save me an' mine – An' with the Princess in tow, no less!” He paused for a moment, and leaned in close to whisper, “Although I can't deny that seein' her in full wrath weren't somethin' to make my heart shiver.”
Bastion coughed quietly, remarking, “Yes, well... she takes the safety of her subjects very seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously for her own good, sometimes.” Sighing a bit, “I really wish she hadn't come, to be honest. I dread the possible consequences from what just happened here.”
The farm pony nodded soberly. “Still, 'tis a good thing you've done tonight, even if you couldn't save all of us. The Apple clan will consider ye friend from here on, Cap'n.” As his wife and children were released by the other guards, they swarmed over him in a hug, then reluctantly let go as Bastion's corpsmare approached to check them for injuries. B.A. tilted his head at the alicorn and the Time Lord, whose argument had gotten even more strident, and inquired, “No disrespectin' meant t'her Royalness an' her friend there, but who stuck th' tree branches 'twixt their flanks?”
Chuckling softly, Bastion shook his head, “You should hear her at budget meetings. Unfortunately, my friend, I can't talk about it. Royal business, you understand.”
The plum earth pony straightened his shoulders and saluted the captain. “Ayup, I do. Master Sergeant Black Amish Apple, 3rd Battalion o' Her Majesty's Infantry, retired, sir.” At Bastion's querulous look, he shrugged, “I did me twenty an' got out t'look after th' Sweet Apple Farm when me dam an' sire passed it to me 'pon their deaths. Been here ever since, makin' a good life for me an'--” He broke off as the strange brown pony got in his personal space, clicking and humming some sort of strange device over him. “Pardon ser, but what in th' name of Celestia's unshorn fetlocks are ye doin'?”
“...I shaved today!”
BA lightly rapped the Doctor on the snout with a hoof, making the Time Lord yelp. “Ah din' have time for games, youngster. What mean you about my family? After today's events, I be in no mood for shenanigans.”
Rubbing his nose, the Doctor nodded slowly. “Quite right, quite right. Mister... Apple, was it? Mr. Apple, someone in your family, at some point in time, is going to do something very very important, and when the time comes, they're going to need to listen to what I have to say.” He grabbed B.A. by both shoulders, coming almost nose-to-nose with the farmer. “Tell your family to keep this secret and safe through the generations: Listen to the Doctor in the blue box.”
Seeming almost hypnotized if a bit perplexed, Black Amish nodded slowly. “Listen to the Doctor in the blue box.”
“Good.” He grinned at the farmer in his usual infectious manner and added, “And trust me, whoever he or she is, they are going to be brilliant!” He turned back to Celestia. “And as for you, Princess, I trust we've settled things?”
“...I still don't know what the hay a wah-full iron is, nor how you plan to spank me with it.”
“Not right now, there are foals present. Speaking of which, Bastion, you might want to escort the Apples out of here for the time being, because unless I'm very mistaken, the eclipse is happening in about two and a half minutes, and I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. If the castle explodes, there's no way we'll all get away if we're rushing out the door, so do be a good chap and get the important ponies to safety, eh?”
Bastion blinked at the Time Lord until the Doctor mimed checking an invisible watch on his hoof and said, “One minute fifty-three,” then gestured to two of his unicorns. “Teleportation is approved for this. Get the civilians and the rest of the contingent out of here. B.A, I'll catch up with you at the farm later.”
The farmer smiled and nodded at bastion as a field of magic surrounded his family and the remaining guards. “Aye, I'll hold ye to that. We'll keep a spot at the table open for ye, Cap'n.” There was a blinding flash of light, then the Apples and their two guards were gone.
“Right, now that that's done, let's see what we're about here, eh?” The Doctor resumed probing the artifact, murmuring absently, “Why here, though, Celestia?”
Cocking an eyebrow as she stepped over to watch the Doctor work, “Pardon?”
“Why here? Yes, this is an important site to you and your family, but everything seems to come back here. Why?”
Eyeing the sky, the princess murmured, “I have no idea. Doctor, the eclipse is happening in less than a minute. Perhaps we should go?” Bastion trotted over and nodded vigorously, “Indeed! Doctor, I must insist for the safety of the Princess--”
“Too late.” murmured the Time Lord as the moon slid directly into place over the setting sun, filling the room with an eerie reddish light. The globe in the center of the ceremonial space started to glow with its own echoing hues and hummed faintly as the trio flinched away from it.
Nothing happened. The Doctor and his companions looked at the globe, looked at each other, then looked back at the globe.
“That's it, then?” asked Bastion, “It's just going to sit there and hum at us?”
“I have absolutely no idea, Captain. This is more of that magic nonsense you Equestrians go on about. Princess, what do you think?” The Doctor blinked at the silence, then looked at Celestia. “Princess?”
Celestia was staring at the globe, transfixed by its glow as an answering light began to shine in her eyes. “I hear them,” she whispered, “I hear them all. They're in such pain, Doctor... I have to help them.” She leaned forward, aiming her horn at the artifact. As the tip of her horn touched it, the globe's glow flowed out over the alicorn mare, enveloping her in a sparking field of magic.
“Oh, why does no one ever listen to me about not touching things?” moaned the Time Lord as he whipped out his screwdriver, pulsing it at the globe a few times and scowling at the results. “A deadlock seal? What?!”
Bastion growled, “So much for your fancy toys, Doctor. Let me demonstrate how we do it in downtown Canterlot!” He lunged forward, flapping his wings to turn around quickly as he planted his forehooves on the floor and bucked his rear legs at the artifact, only to be repelled by a pulse of energy from the globe, sending him flying across the room.
“Yes, I see how they do it in downtown Canterlot now, by not listening to the pony who says 'DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING.' Are you all right, Captain?”
“...That could have gone better.” He slowly got to his hooves, aided by his troops, and walked back over to the Princess, looking at her. Her mouth hanging open in a silent scream, Celestia's eyes were aglow with an unhealthy golden light, like sunspots seen up close, as her mane flickered back and forth between its usual tricolor wave and a frizzy pink mass, her tail following suit. Arcs of power ran down the length of her horn to the tip, leaping across the gap to the globe with an electrical SNAP each time one connected. Similar arcs played between the feathers of her fully extended wings, the appendages quivering with each jolt. Bastion circled the Princess slowly, and asked quietly, “What do we do?”
The Doctor stroked his chin with a hoof, musing, “I'm thinking about it. We can't touch Celestia or the artifact – there's too much energy playing about there. It almost looks like it's trying to suck all the magic out of her, but it has to go somewhere... but where?” The chestnut stallion looked around the room, then paused as his eyes lit on the sarcophagus, which had started glowing as well. “Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no...” As he murmured his litany of denial, the lid started to slide off to the side, a single charcoal hoof pushing it easily, followed by a mane made of gradually brightening flames topping a set of empty eyes that glowed with an unholy, sickly violet un-light, a similar glow coming off the figure's horn and wings as it sat up, lips regenerating to fullness as they peeled back from yellowed teeth in a smile made of pure malice and the nightmares of little foals.
“Hello, Doctor,” said Perdition Blaze, “It's been a long time... A very long time, indeed.”