Chapter 57
“I know.” Othello agreed. I walked closer to the outside and looked out. It was definitely Equestria, with the bright pastels and the cheery air, but it was horrifyingly different. The fun houses and the countryside were there, but there were no ponies to be found. We were wedged between two houses in an alleyway, tucked neatly out of sight from the main square. Dark blood was splattered all across the square, even covering a decapitated life-size statue of Princess Celestia. I looked up. A full moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the streets with an eerie glow. The moon. The beautiful, beautiful Equestrian moon. I felt an ache deep in my stomach when I realized how close I was so close to Luna. I was about to walk out into the street when Finder grabbed me by the waistband of my pants and pulled me back. I landed hard on my backside. I was about to yell at Finder when he shushed me.
“Keep quiet,” He whispered. “They’re about to feed.”
“Feed?” I started, but Finder shushed me again. I turned slowly to look when the screaming started. I snapped to attention when the first pony, a yellow mare with orange mane, ran past the alley. I patted the ground to the side of me for the trusty sidearm that Jamal kept with him at nearly all times. I panicked when I didn’t find it. I turned in horror when there were more screams. Two more ponies darted past the Tardis, then a black blur. I blinked again, thinking that I saw something that wasn’t there. Then, another pony ran past the alley, but he connected with the corner of a house and tumbled down into the alleyway. He groaned with pain, clutching his shoulder and trying not to be noticed. I watched like a person would watch a car crash. Suddenly, a gigantic black thing ran past the alley. I froze, feeling helpless in its shadow of the creature. I felt a chill as the shadow came back. Othello gasped next to me, and I shook helplessly. It rounded the corner to the alley where we were hiding, looking for the injured quarry. I couldn’t describe it properly. It wasn’t quite like the spider that attacked me the day I died. It wasn’t quite an Angelic. It was just a monster. It towered nearly six feet, with bright red eyes and a maw lined with fangs. Tendrils of saliva dripped from its mouth and a pointed tongue darted from the ivory. It… It was an abomination. The injured pony, a dark green colt, saw the monster and started to scream. It was loud and blood-curdling, making my hairs stand on end. I broke my eyes from the scene with much difficulty and dashed back further into the Tardis. Othello grabbed my arm and tugged, stopping me in my tracks.
“What are you doing, Edwin?!” He whispered urgently. I shook off his arm and scowled.
“I might only be a human, but goddammit, I’m still a Numbered!” I retorted quietly, looking for Jamal’s revolver. I found it in a chair next to the Console and picked it up. I cocked the hammer as I walked out of the Tardis. I looked the monstrosity in the eyes and leveled the pistol at it. It turned from the pony to me, looking angered. I growled and pulled the trigger. The head of the monster flew back as if it were hit with a bat. I fired all of the rest of the rounds into the beast, screaming in rage as I did so. The monster writhed and fell back, finally landing on the ground with a disproportionate thunk. I threw the gun to the ground and picked up the pony. It shivered helplessly in my arms as I carried him to safety. There was a loud bang behind me, making me stumble. I turned to look and saw another monster, this one with multiple tongues sticking out of its mouth. My eyes widened in crippling fear as I watched it lumber towards me. I tried to run to the opening of the Tardis, but something grabbed my ankle. I fell hard, trying not to crush the pony. I turned back to see that the Creature had one of his tongues wrapped around my ankle. I got the pony out from under me and pushed it to the Tardis. It looked back to me, fear still bright in his eyes.
“Run, dammit! Run!” I shouted while the monster slobbered on my foot. The unicorn blinked his bright green eyes and shook his head with a devious grin. I felt my fear mix with confusion. The pony blinked. Its’ eyes switched from bright greet to a pale yellow.
“And miss out on a fight like this?” The pony said in a rich, smooth contralto. I blinked, stupefied by the out-of-character voice for the male pony. I watched with growing surprise as the pony exploded in a puff of shimmering golden dust. I turned away from the cloud to the monster that was now reeling me in. I could see a bit of ragged meat stuck between two of his fangs. The thought of where it came from made my stomach roil. The gold dust settled around me. I turned back to look back to where the green unicorn was. He wasn’t there anymore. I looked up at the pony that was there now, confusion replaced with a frightening excitement. The pony blinked, her eyes turning a bright white. I covered my head and quickly turned away from the blinding light, hearing the world turn completely silent for only a moment. A warm liquid splattered onto my body, and I tried not to think too hard about what it was. I looked back to my ensnared leg and shook off the now-ownerless tongue. I stood up and looked at the pony, now standing level with her.
“It’s been a while.” She said, cocky. I smiled.
“How did you know?”
“It’s an eighth sense.” She said, her golden mane sparkling dimly in the moonlight. She looked up to the rooftops. “Gespard, Marcus!” She shouted. I turned to look and watched two pegasi appear on a rooftop. “Take them to the sword!” She ordered, and the two ponies fluttered down on feathery wings and ran into the Tardis. I looked to Evangeline, grasping at straws.
“They’ll explain everything. Just go where they tell you to go.” She promised. I hesitated, but finally turned to the Tardis. I walked through the double doors and my fears tackled me. I was in a stranger’s land in a stranger’s body. Magic surrounded and permeated this place, making my skill with the Tardis shockingly inferior to magic users that could bend space-time without Galifreyan technology. I shivered and shakily walked to a command chair. I placed a hand to my forehead and sighed deeply. I was just a hopeless human, stuck in a world never meant for me. I felt a cold apathy seep over me as I watched Finder and the two other ponies talk to each other. My first encounter almost ended with me dying, and I can’t use the only weapon I’ve brought with me. Things were shaping up to be something that I was not qualified to deal with, and I’d only been there for a few minutes. I slowly turned to look at Othello. His forehead glistened with a sheen of sweat and his round wire glasses were fogged up. His brown eyes speared me to my chair. I knew he was thinking the exact same thing I was. We were out of our element. We should leave saving the world to those who can actually hold their own in battle. I gulped.
“Gespard,” I gasped out. The orange pegasus stopped talking to Finder and turned to me, completely enraptured.
“It really is you.” He whispered, adoration in his eyes. I nodded wearily, gesturing to the console.
“Tell me where we need to go.”
“The Vault.”
“The vault?” I tried to sound confused, but the energy was just not there. The orange pony nodded.
“The throne room will be fine.” He sighed. I frowned.
“Can you guys just turn back into regular ponies?” I ventured. Marcus turned to me, disguised as a red pegasus.
“No. We can’t remove our guise until we’re in the Royal Estate.” He explained. I shivered.
“Tardis, go to the Throne room.” I asked, not remembering that the Tardis wouldn’t accept voice commands from me anymore. I got up shakily and put in the commands manually. I looked up at the pillar, regret strong in my stomach. I felt something come to rest on my shoulder. I looked and saw Othello.
“Edwin, what’s wrong?” He whispered. I shook my head and turned back to the Console.
“We shouldn’t have come.” I sighed out. Othello grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. He had a rough scowl on his face and a finger pointed at me.
“You’re the one that wanted to come here. You’re the one that took the initiative, doing God only knows what to get the Tardis. You’re the one that saved that pony. You didn’t have to.
“I had to.”
“That’s exactly what I mean! You take it so damn personally! In your mind, there isn’t any other choice! You can’t just let them go and let nature take its course!” He shouted. I felt anger replace regret in my gut. I grabbed Othello by his black sweater and shook him.
“When we became Numbereds the choice was made for us! We can’t just decide anymore! But look at us!” I finished, letting Othello go and gesturing for him to look at me. “We’re humans! We’re not equipped to deal with this! When we were ponies, we had bodies that were made for this fight! We had bodies that could tear through mountains! We had bodies that could bring the dead back to life! We had bodies that could literally do whatever we wanted to do! But look at us now!” I shouted at him. “We’re just perfectly normal humans. Look at them!” I pointed to Marcus, Gespard, and Finder. “They’re the ones that should be fighting for a free Equestria. Not us. I would. I would in a heartbeat. But I can’t. I just can’t.” I sighed. Othello just stood there, stupefied. The trio of ponies stood there openmouthed. I frowned. Finder stepped forward, his dark purple eyes wary under the light grey mane.
“What… What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to send Othello and Marcus back to Canterlot. Othello… I can’t decide what’s best for you. You can make your own choice. Stay and fight, or come back to Earth with me.” I said to him, feeling slightly sad. “Finder, I’m taking you back to the Composer. Right now, Equestria isn’t your home. And I’m sorry, everyone. I- I just can’t.” I finished. They all were so crestfallen. I felt horrible. It was like someone twisted a dagger in my stomach. I frowned and pushed a few buttons on the console. I returned to my command chair and just waited for the Tardis to finish navigating. Othello and all the ponies stood where they were. They didn’t speak, they didn’t argue. They just stood. I felt like I was making the right decision. All I could do in Equestria as a human was die. I didn't have the ability to fight like the other Numbereds did. I was about to get up and check on the readouts when a huge lurch threw everyone everywhere. I landed on one of the metal floor grates hard, almost knocking me out. I moaned on the grate for a few seconds before I could muster the energy to get up. I clutched my forehead, feeling the blood start to ooze out. I looked around.
“Is everyone alright?” I asked a little bit too loud. I heard a whole lot of moaning, but nobody said yes. I walked around the Console and found Othello, who was lying on his back and clutching his arm.
“I think it’s broken.” He gasped out. I looked at his hand. His thumb was on the wrong side.
“I think it is too. Come on, let’s get you to a hospital.” I tried to say without vomiting. I got one hand under his shoulder and the other around his knees. I swung my foot up on the console and flipped a lever. Inertia chambers slid down from the ceiling, coming to rest on either side. I walked over to one and stuffed Othello in one.
“It really hurts.” He whispered hoarsely. I frowned and held a finger up to Othello. I reached for a black leather bag nearby and rummaged through it.
“You’re lucky he doesn't call himself the Carpenter.” I muttered to myself. I found the container I was looking for, a black cylinder with a silicone cup on top. I held it up to Othello’s nose and squeezed it. He inhaled and relaxed visibly. I put the medicine back in the bag.
“Can I have another puff? Still hurts.” He groaned. I smiled.
“I could, but that would literally kill you. Insanely strong opiates. Let’s just see how one puff works.” I explained. I was about to turn away when I remembered something. “Oh yeah, don’t look at your hand.” I finished, knocking on the chamber. The glass slid down over Othello, silencing his questions. I gave him a wave as he floated up in the chamber. He smiled weakly. I turned away from him to the rest of the Tardis. I looked through the bad again and found something to bandage up my head with.
“Anyone else?” I asked the Tardis at large. There was a slew of half-hearted nos. I smiled and walked out to the Console. I checked the coordinates. I turned to walked out of the door but turned back and grabbed the monitor by its sides, daring it to tell me the second time. Sure enough, the thing had the balls to lie to me again. I frowned and walked out of the door to make sure it was lying to me. It wasn’t.
“Hello Edwin.” The Doctor said. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. I couldn’t say anything for a minute or two. The Doctor smiled. “Come on out, the air shield is expanded.” He said. I walked out into the barren wastes of Sigmus five. I looked at the black ash around me, seeing the occasional glint of glass. I looked up at the sky to see the Septimus and Culaan spinning slowly. I smiled, remembering the first time I saw them. I looked down at the Doctor.
“You’ve known this whole time.” I whispered. He nodded, understanding everything I wanted to say but didn’t.
“Yes. I couldn’t have told you.”
“Do you know what happens now? What happens when we go to Equestria?”
“Yes.” He said, slightly ashamed. His wings fluttered slightly. I frowned.
“Will you help us?”
“Only as much as I’ve helped already. There’s something that I can do, though.” He qualified. He walked around to the side of my Tardis. He gestured for me to follow. I did, and looked to where the Doctor pointed with his hoof.
“Oh my.” I breathed.
“I am the Doctor from the far future. I know how your story ends, Edwin. I could tell you right now. But I won’t. But I do need to tell you that everything will be fine. And there,” The Doctor shook his outstretched hoof, “Is proof.”