Dr Whooves and the Classical Moon

by Paganbrony

Part Five: Two Hearts Are Better Than One.

Part Five: Two Hearts Are Better Than One.

It wasn’t the horrifying screams or the sound of crunching bone or even the wet sound of blood splashing on surfaces that made the Doctor uncomfortable as he tried to breathe quietly; it was the mare that was crammed in the small cupboard with him that made him blush.

Octavia was pressed almost nose to nose with the Doctor their bodies pressed together in ways that she’d never imagined letting a stallion close enough to try, but as the alternative was somewhat less appealing they both put their awkwardness to the back of their minds.

That was until she scrunched up her eyes swore softly and lent forward pressing her lips against his as she let all pomp and circumstance go out the window kissing him passionately and forcefully.

Despite muffled noises of protest from the Doctor Octavia continued until she ran out breath but before she could start again the Doctor drew her attention as quickly as possible to the sounds coming from the room outside.

The sound of eating had died down followed by what could only be described as the dragging of a large lump of meat across floorboards and out the door only then did they eventually dare to exit the close and stuffy interior of their hiding place.

Ignoring the huge puddle of blood in the middle of the room with the large streaks leading out the door (and incidentally the blood covering every other surface of the room) the Doctor braved the doorway and looking both ways down the corridor outside confirmed the beast was gone.

Before Octavia could even draw the breath to speak the Doctor more than a little flustered by the situation came bounding over to her and chastised her royally.

“Don’t ever do that again you hear me! I’m old enough to be your father… Well actually several times over… But that’s neither here or there… I don’t do the whole… The whole…”

“The whole what Doctor?”

“You know the thing you just did… …In there… I don’t do it you hear! It’s not me… …And certainly not with one like you!”

“And just what does that mean exactly one like me? Are you one of those who like other stallions?”

“I never said that… It’s just I’m old and from far away and you’re… You’re a different species… Sort of…”

The Doctor trailed off again as he realized that last one might need a better explanation…

“I only did it because I thought I was about to DIE! I’ve never kissed a pony before and I was damned if I was going to die without at least experiencing it once… Hold on? Different species wait??? Are you saying you’re something in disguise?”

“Don’t be silly I’m not a Zygon.”

“You’re not a…”

“Um… Best just forget that last part…”

“Gladly… Well Doctor who isn’t a pony, is that the reason you have such a strong heart beat?”

“I’m sorry what?”

Octavia blushed at the memory but straightened up as she motioned with a hoof at the cupboard.

“In there… I could feel your chest against mine… (Octavia was as red as the floor at this point) Your heartbeat was so strong!”

“I have two hearts.”

“Poppycock”

The Doctor drew closer stopping only inches from Octavia who on cue lifted her foreleg and gingerly pressed her hoof against his chest all the while blushing like a school filly despite the absurdity of it all and the urgency of the situation at hoof.

At first Octavia didn’t react but as she placed her hoof on the other side of his chest her eyes widened and she stepped back in shock.”

“You have hearts! Two… I mean… You really have two hearts… W-Who or what are you?”

“Like I said I’m the Doctor, if you come with me I promise I will get you out of here safely.”

“And how do we do that? That thing is still out there?”

“Ah ha well…”

The long pause that followed was deafening in its silence as the Doctor desperately tried to come up with one of his brilliant nothing can possibly go wrong schemes.

“You don’t have clue do you…”

“Nope”

“Great that’s just great, the night before my grand unveiling and I’m stuck in the bowels of this opera house with a giant murderous beast and a pony that’s not a pony but has two hearts and no plan…”

“Pretty much”

Octavia sighed deeply.

“How about we just run for it?”

“Won’t work”

“Why not pray tell?”

Octavia’s sarcastic tone irked the Doctor somewhat.

“Get the guards out of the cupboard and I’ll explain…”

Octavia moved to the other cupboard and tapped on the door before opening it revealing the two guards who awkwardly extricated themselves and waited patiently for the aforementioned explanation.

Since they had heard every word of the other two’s conversation they were both pretty sure it wasn’t in their best interests to say anything that might make the situation any more bizarre than it already was.

Octavia however had a feeling as she tried desperately to ignore the bloody room she was in that the bizarre could be the least of her worries as she once again focused on the strange stallion.

The Doctor took a deep breath and spoke in his most serious tone reserved for only the direst of circumstances as he summed up the situation.

“High Society told us everything we needed to know, this entire backstage area was built with wood from the Everfree forest, now in that wood lives many terrible creatures one kind in particular which goes by the name Timberwolf.”

The guards and Octavia all looked at each other then back to the Doctor before Octavia piped up.”

“Timberwolves are just fairy tales for young foals? They’re myths you tell around a campfire?”

“Do you know why campfires exist?”

Octavia cocked her head to the side.

“I-I…”

The Doctor slowed his speech down and spoke in almost a whisper as he carried on.

“The reason campfires exist is when your ancestors ventured out of their caves they found fire very useful at night to keep warm, to light the way and first and foremost to keep the Timberwolves away.”

“Over the years their numbers dwindled as you got better at hunting them, eventually there remained only a few left, hidden in the shadows, dark energy condensed into wood with a feral mind and a never ending hunger.”

“When they harvested the trees in the Everfree they must have brought back wood tainted with that energy, get enough of that energy in one place and it congregates, pools into one being and then it forms itself a body from the wood or pliable materials around it.”

Spellbound the three ponies listened in complete silence as the Doctor continued on.

“At the moment we can’t escape because the Timberwolf has warped the entire backstage area with its energy, we could run for miles and never find our way out, it’s how they hunt their prey without risk of escape but only an Alpha Timberwolf could manage to affect such a large area at one time.”

“Also it knew we were here, there’s no way it could have missed us in the cupboards, my guess it’s saving us for later…”

The taller of the guards spoke out at that last comment.

“But why did we bother to hide? If it knew we were here?”

“Because like I said it was probably saving us for later, if we had remained in the room in plain sight it would have just killed us right there and then, after all it’s a creature of instinct.”

“Oh…”

“So Doctor how then do we escape if it can keep us going in circles forever?”

“We’re going to capture it, subdue it and then hopefully we can break its hold on the backstage area.”

“So it’s not messing with our minds but the very world around us?”

“That’s the gist of it I’m afraid.”

“Perfect… Well as long as you don’t expect me fight it… I’ll help… What?”

Octavia saw the twitch in the Doctors eye and immediately grew suspicious.

“What exactly are you thinking?”

The Doctor gave her his best most convincing smile before he relented and with a sharp intake of breath while moving his head from side to side told her.

“We’ll need someone to be bait…”

Octavia hung her head.

“Like I said… Perfect, just perfect...”