The sky was overcast tonight of all nights, and Luna could barely make out the dim moon hiding behind the clouds above her. Her eyes went to the clock resting above the fireplace. It was broken, but that did not stop her ears from detecting a ticking noise that slowly grew in volume.
It was finally happening. Celestia had been forced to leave Canterlot when tensions with the dragons had caused a small crisis in Manehattan. She had left without warning, leaving Luna's side for the first time in her life.
Luna's guards had put up a valiant effort, but it was all for naught. All their prowess in battle was rendered useless against their lone attacker. Small cuts and gashes from their weapons had revealed bits and pieces hiding under its clothes. It hinted at a machine that was more complex than Luna had ever seen.
The Doctor had warned her that nothing would stop her relentless pursuer. The unconscious bodies of her guards lying unmoving on the floor was the first time that the realization truly struck Luna. You were right, it cannot be stopped. I need you, Doctor!
The mysterious pony had been careful to avoid injuring her. After its business with her guards was complete, it slowly turned to her, its menacing robotic voice echoing out from underneath the patchwork mask.
"It is time, princess. You will come with me." It forcefully pulled her along, forcing Luna to walk quickly with the machine lest she fall. They made their way through the quiet halls, stepping over many of the castle's unmoving protectors. Luna found herself at the throne room, and was ushered inside.
The pony pushed her towards the throne, where a dark round portal had formed beside it. As Luna neared the makeshift opening, an alicorn slightly larger than herself stepped through. Her body was black as night, and covered in light blue armor. She looked around the empty room, before her eyes settled on Luna. She smiled triumphantly.
"I have returned! And Celestia will pay for what she has done to me!"
"W-Who are you?" The alicorn turned to Luna after hearing her question.
"I am your destiny. Your past and your future," she declared.
"I... am Nightmare Moon."
"How appropriate. If my foalhood nightmares can return, rest assured," Luna sneered, unafraid. She knew she had to delay this nemesis who had haunted her entire life, for both her savior and herself. "So can yours."
"Don't worry, Luna," Nightmare Moon chuckled evilly as she hoof along the underside of Luna's chin. Luna felt the hoof push her head up until she was staring directly at Nightmare Moon. "I look forward to the Doctor watching my victory, and his failure. He will soon learn what happens to ponies who try to manipulate my life! You-"
The sound of the secret passageway opening again interrupted her mid-rant. The black alicorn nodded to her silent servant. Luna and her captor watched as the Doctor pushed through a door hidden behind the throne. He was stopped by the emotionless pony, holding a magical weapon that pointed straight towards his neck.
"Welcome, 'Doctor'," the pony gloated. "I was wondering when you would arrive."
"Nightmare Moon," the Doctor announced. "You can't do this."
"Whatever do you mean, Doctor?" Nightmare Moon asked. Nightmare Moon's horn glowed and a dark light surrounded Luna, holding her in place. She struggled to break free, but accomplished nothing. "I have already won!"
"It doesn't work like that, Nightmare," the Doctor warned. "You can't just overlap your own time-stream and think nothing will happen."
"I have spent years to accomplish this! Perfecting a spell that would lead me to her when she was unguarded, and helpless. Celestia is too far away to stop my return this time!" The maniacal alicorn laughed mightily, enjoying the moment. "Soon I shall be queen of Equestria!" she announced. "Who are you to try and keep me from my birthright?"
"I'm the lord of time." The Doctor's words cut her victory short. Luna was confused as well. What could he possibly do by himself? Canterlot would be defenseless against such a powerful pony.
"How shall you try to stop me? You knew this would happen! ALL THIS TIME!" Nightmare Moon roared. She huffed angrily, before noticeably calming down. "But so did I," she continued.
"You left me to my fate, knowing Celestia would defeat me." Her words slowly gained momentum as her voice grew. "But I reject my destiny!! If you could stop me, you would have done it already!"
"Look at her, Moon." As the Doctor gestured slowly at Luna, she saw him carefully step towards the two of them. Luna's eyes were losing focus as the dark pony towering above lowered her head. Their eyes met, and Luna saw a beautiful pair of dark blue eyes staring solemnly towards her. The reflection in them looked so... familiar. She winced from the pain that suddenly sprouted in the back of her head. "What do you see?"
"I see my chance in her! Celestia will never suspect what her own sister plans. I will have to hide my actions more discreetly this time. But when I finally usher an endless night upon all of Equestria, it will be too late for Celestia to stop me!"
She could sense the deep well of magic slowly being focused around her captor's horn. It cast a small protective bubble around them as the headache grew. She began to see visions of war, jealousy, hate, and destruction as the horn neared her face. She heard the Doctor's screwdriver sound off. She saw him slowly move towards them out of the corner of her eye.
"You do this, and you'll cease to exist, Moon," he warned. "Think about it. If you change her, then your very past will be destroyed."
"No! I do not believe you, Doctor!" She spat out as he stepped closer. He shrugged off the powerful magic surrounding the two of them. "S-Stay away from me! "
"Moon," he spoke soothingly, ignoring her warning. "If you try to replace her, then you'll lose most of who you are. Just doing this much is enough to drive anypony mad." Luna felt the stream of information pause as Nightmare Moon stood there, fighting to control herself.
As the Doctor lightly separated the unresisting pony from Luna, the unbearable headache drumming a beat into her skull slowly faded. The glowing horn slowly lost its brilliance, and the pony turned away from her prisoner to plea with the Doctor.
"Doctor, save me one last time. Save me from myself." The Doctor laid a hoof along her shoulder, pulling her close.
"I can do many things. But even I can't fix this." He hugged the dark alicorn closely as he spoke. His hoof patted the back of her neck reassuringly. "You have to go back. I am so, so sorry."
"I could never blame you, Doctor," the black and blue pony sobbed into his inviting shoulder. He stood somberly as the tears streamed from her eyes.
"Hurry, Moon. The longer you stay here, the more damage you will cause. I'll be right behind you."
"Thank you, Doctor." Nightmare Moon placed a hoof along the Doctor's cheek. Luna tried to remember unsuccessfully where she had seen that motion before. After a short pause, the alicorn walked back through the portal she had appeared from without another word. Her pony servant jumped through soon after, and the portal closed behind it, leaving only the Doctor and Luna alone in the throne room.
"Doctor?" He turned to Luna as her eyes began drooping, her energy spent from the stress her head felt.
"You'll be fine, Luna. This was all just a crazy dream," the Doctor spoke soothingly. "You'll wake up soon, and you'll never see me again."
"Really?" His face became melancholc for a brief instant, then he smiled. Luna fought to stay awake as she saw him nod his head slowly.
"Trust me. I'm the Doctor."
She felt her head move by itself, mirroring his actions. If there was one thing in life she knew, it was that the Doctor was never wrong. But why did she feel deep down in the back of her mind, in some small corner of her thoughts where a mad voice whispered to her, that he was wrong? Did he truly mean what he said?
She shook her head angrily. NO! He would never betray her like that!
Her eyes fluttered as she felt weariness wash over her. She felt her body slowly fall to the floor as the Doctor closed the door behind him, never looking back. Perhaps this was all just a dream.
Luna woke up to see her sister standing by her bedside. She looked more worried than Luna could ever remember. Luna watched her sister clasped her hooves around her in a tight hug.
"I warned you, Luna," Celestia quietly cried into her shoulder. "The Doctor is not what you think he is." Luna returned the hug.
"I know what he did, sister," she said reassuringly. "He saved me." But a quiet voice reminded Luna of who had attacked her. Was it truly over?
Luna quickly recovered from the attack, but as the years passed she slowly realized that her mind was... different somehow. Her dreams themselves had gained a new direction, one of madness and destruction. She confided the new revelation in her sister, but she was hopeful that it would pass.
As time passed, the sight of Celestia soon brought ugly thoughts to her mind about war and destruction. She began to take note that the ponies worshiping her sister's yellow sun more than the beautiful night she brought to Equestria. She turned away, pushing away her anger at their ignorance. It should not trouble me so much, but deep down, it does.
Her thoughts returned to the Doctor one night after a particularly brutal idea came to her. What if I decided not to lower the moon? Only for a few days, of course... The thought scared her more than anything else that came before it. She quickly remembered why it was wrong, but felt her reasoning fall apart as the voice in her head argued even louder, drowning out her pathetic excuses.
Luna quickly pulled out a quill and sat at her desk. She tried to focus on writing the letter in her mind before she forgot it as well. I am running out time, Doctor.
My dear Doctor,
The path has never seemed more slow, and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Celestia tells that me you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to my sister. I have seen the world inside your head, and know that all things are possible. Hurry though, my love, a voice grows louder and louder in my head, and I have grown so tired of fighting it. Godspeed, my lonely angel.
After the letter was finished, Luna ran to Celestia.
"Sister. If the Doctor should arrive... I want you to give him this." Luna revealed her letter, and offered it to Celestia on her hoof.
"Of course, Luna," her sister quietly said, shocked by her morbid expression. She grabbed the parchment with her magic, and sadly embraced her sister. "Do not lose hope. I am sure you will recover."
But she never did.
All those years, wasted! She angrily kicked at her makeshift servant, sending it tumbling to the ground. Its head was caved in by the force she had applied to her hooves. Nothing a couple years couldn't fix. The sound of a door opening reminded her again of what had gone wrong in her moment of triumph. She didn't even bother to face him as she spat out her words.
"Oh. It's you, Doctor. Here to enjoy your victory?" He quietly walked towards her. As she whirled around to face him, her eyes locked onto a big blue box she had never seen before. Her eyes pulled away from as the Doctor stood in front of her.
"I wasted centuries planning and creating that spell to take me back!" Luna shouted into his face. "I could have returned without Celestia's knowledge, but you stopped me. Well done! And now I must live here for another six hundred years, until I gain the strength to return!" The Doctor calmly withstood her tirade, and as she caught her breath he finally spoke.
"I found your letter." She froze. How long had it been since she wrote that? She shook her head, knowing the answer didn't matter. She slowly sat on her haunches, staring down at the moon. Her moon. The anger quickly escaped her, leaving nothing but the sadness that had gradually accumulated over the years of her prison sentence.
"How cruel are you to have made me take the slow path these four hundred years? Enduring such a bleak existence here by myself, with a simple magical construct as my only companion?" She sadly looked up towards the Doctor, her savior, her destroyer.
"Why didn't you stop me?" He lowered himself onto the ground next to her.
"I had to let you suffer. I am truly sorry for that. But you had to visit yourself, and bring around your own banishment. Time can't always be tampered with so easily." Celestia's words came back to her full force.
"And ponies can? I trusted you. And you LIED to me, Doctor! Am I that large a fool?" The Doctor sadly smiled at her before looking up towards the sky.
"If I had told you the truth, I wouldn't have needed you to trust me." Her eyes followed his, wondering what he could see up there that she had not.
She sat beside him as they both silently stared at Equestria. It looks so beautiful and serene from where we are. I have never really thought about it before, have I?
Her musings were interrupted by the Doctor. He slid a hoof around her shoulder as they continued gazing at the world that continued on because of the pain and loneliness she had received.
"Look... I don't normally offer this to a pony who carries so much darkness within her," he quietly said. "but... I owe it to you." He got up excitedly, and offered a hoof for her to grab. Her attention was diverted from the view she had never enjoyed before as he spoke.
"Come with me." Luna blinked, confused. Did she hear him truly say that? She scoffed at his offer, knocking his hoof away.
"Don't tempt me so, Doctor." She couldn't bear to look at him any longer. She had been the source of so much pain and misery. How dare he suggest that she did not deserve her punishment. "I know what evils I have done."
"So do I," He replied with a growing smile as the idea grew inside him. "You have six hundred years left to waste on this rock. I'll make you a deal: if you come with me, we can stop at any time. I'll even drop you off a day before your return." She wrestled with the offer. Why should she deserve such a generous offer?
"We both want to make a difference. To atone for our past mistakes." He slowly shook his head. "You can't do that here." She stared at his inviting hoof, her mind focused on the possibility. Could she really do some good for once? End this nightmare that had clouded her mind?
"You're right," Luna said. She reached towards him and took hold of his hoof, and her Doctor pulled her up. "Take me with you, Doctor."
"Then come with me," he said with a happy smile. She walked beside him, and they walked to the mysterious big old blue box.
He pushed open the door, and Luna caught her first glimpse of what lay waiting for her to discover. To start, the room was bigger on the inside. It was enormous. It was beautiful. And It was wonderful.
The Doctor laid a hoof around her shoulder and pulled her closer as she stared inside, imagining the possibilities. His words marked the very start of her endless adventures with the Doctor. She would not dare to forget a single moment of them.
"All of time and space, everything that happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?"