Through The Looking Lens: Part 2
Earlier
Celestia gazed thoughtfully out of the shattered, fragmented, once coloured window that The Doctor had smashed through, inspecting the small team of unicorn engineers as they worked tirelessly on the side of one of her towers, on the tower in which the Doctor had discovered his spark. Her face, set in an immaculately stony, neutral complexion, perfectly shielded the turmoil that was rolling and pulsing and screaming inside of her as her beloved student recited the events of the last day and how much change, confusion and, to be blunt, excitement it had brought. A few sparks of magic illuminated the tower that Celestia watched, beige to lime green to sea blue swirls of power surging over the marble walls of the spiralling tower to coat its lengths in a wonderful spectrum as the small group of engineers worked tirelessly to obey the wishes and wants of The Doctor, who was currently perched over a map with a small red fez atop his head, a hat that he seemed unable to stop taking little peeks at whilst smiling to himself.
With a calm, calculated but faintly forced voice, Celestia spoke up to her student, attempting to hide the disbelief from her voice.
“So, this is The Doctor, whom is an alien. He arrived in a big metal box, that...plasmavore arrived with him, drained a resident of Ponyville, planned to murder me and then escaped whilst we were told The Doctor's past?”
Twilight nodded fervently, obviously overjoyed that her beloved teacher didn't think of her as crazy.
“To shorten it down yes, Princess, that is exactly what has happened...what is still happening.”
Celestia nodded in a wise gesture, cleverly hiding her confusion, disbelief and fear, dreaded fear, beneath a mask of impartial neutralness before she spoke up again in her regal, flowing voice.
“And his, The Doctor's, plan. Do you know of it?”
So far, throughout the half hour that the small group had managed to discover the disappearance of the plasmavore, The Doctor had proceeded to make his demands, clap in an overzealous way when nearly all of the items were brought to him, especially when his little fez was brought in, an item that had had to be dug up from the past memoirs of the third camel king, Turhumpalifikon. He had immediately jumped on the map, his clear blue but somehow concealing eyes roaming over its lengths and information before he had hopped upwards to stare out of the cracked window, a thoughtful expression on his face, followed by a quick movement as he pulled out the protractor to stare at the night sky through it. Afterwards he had returned to the map, where he had used his compass and a borrowed pencil to sketch out a rough, small circle on a pinpoint location on the map, before he frowned and scribbled it out, returning to look at the night sky.
So far, that gesture had been repeated close to five times, each time The Doctor would draw a circle and each time the circle would get scratched out by feverishly angered hooves. Something would be muttered under breath and then The Doctor would continue his seemingly endless ritual. He had been interrupted on his third walk from the window to the map by the arrival of six unicorns, two holding a rather large bag of sand, clearly straining under its weight as their magic flickered slightly around the bag and four with belts crammed with equipment, looking tired but also somewhat excited to have been personally picked by the princess for what was said to be a very important task. They had been a bit surprised, and peeved, however, when they were directed to the topmost tower by the brown colt who was bouncing around the room, simultaneously telling the two unicorns to drop the sand on the floor, which they did with a loud thud. After the sand had been spread out across a four by three section rectangle on the floor, The Doctor had sent the duo of load-bearing unicorns away and had proceeded to point and command the four unicorns on their task, a task which they did not happily accept but still agreed to with what they had hoped must have been regarded as cheerfulness.
Celestia eyed the pool of sand on the floor, then the technicoloured glow of magic outside of her destroyed window and then at The Doctor as he madly scribbled away at the map before she was greeted with a reply from Twilight.
“I...I don't know princess. I've decided not to question him on it though, the last time I did I didn't quite get the reply I wanted.”
Indeed, Twilight had asked The Doctor what he was planning just as he was drawing a circle on the map, his reply being a frustrated 'Something clever, I'm being clever, I can't be clever with you standing right there'. She had, of course, then moved away from The Doctor as he continued to grumble to himself time and time again. Celestia turned to Twilight, about to voice another question from what seemed like an endless stream of them before she caught the fleeting look of confusion that crossed Twilight's face, instead opting to be the answerer instead of the questioner.
“What is it that bothers you Twilight?”
The little lavender mares ears twitched backwards at the calm, soothing words of her mentor before a meek little voice rose from her.
“O-oh, it's nothing Princess, just some trivial little thing.”
Princess Celestia grinned lightly, her current confused and angered mood not allowing any wider a smile before she spoke up again in the restrained and royal voice that she had grown accustomed to so long ago.
“Oh Twilight, the trivial things are my favourite. Now, what was it you were pondering over?”
Twilight leaned back somewhat before she spoke up in a slightly sheepish voice.
“Oh, I just thought that since Luna-I mean, Princess Luna came back, she'd be taking over rule of the night but then you were on the throne...”
Princess Celestia allowed herself a little giggle at the question that Twilight had obviously been bottling up, experiencing tingles of mirth from the sheer fact that out of every question her student could have asked in this situation, with monsters and aliens and murder, she had asked about her sister. Seizing her giggling fit and locking it away for later, Celestia gazed at Twilight to reply.
“My sister's banishment took a lot out of her and so I volunteered to take two out of every seven nights work from her so she could adjust to her new schedule, read up on the history of Equestria and just generally snooze. She wasn't particularly overjoyed with the idea at first but I think she understands why I offered it to her. She was incredibly worn out, both physically and mentally when she was set free from the Nightmare and it is taking her a while to recuperate.”
“Uh, tell her I wish her a speedy recovery.”
Princess Celestia visibly went red as she struggled to reign in her laughter at the confused, timid but also strangely determined words of her little protégée before she spoke up again in a voice that was honestly and suspiciously burdened with humour.
“I will Twilight, I-”
The Princess of the Day, ruler of Equestria, Bringer of the Sun and all around wonderful mare was silenced by a loud, booming, smashing sound as the double wooden doors that allowed entry to the throne room rocketed open with a blur of beige magic, slamming into the marble and nearly cracking it, the crashing sound being swiftly followed by a shy cry of 'Sorry!'
A team of four sturdy looking unicorns entered the throne room, each one dripping with sweat and mopping their brows with a hoof as their horns lit up in a continuous blaze of colourful magic, the item they were currently levitating behind them being held in that same sheen of magic, allowing the object to dangle safely above the floor. The four unicorns trotted forward, the beige horned colt looking visibly shamed as his peers continued to shoot him little looks that practically screamed about how unprofessional the door incident was. The Doctor had not even looked up from his scribbling on the map, the loud thud of the door going completely unnoticed by him as he mumbled facts and figures to himself, immersed entirely in his current task. It was only when one of the four unicorns, nearly dragging the glowing object through the air behind them as they stumbled forward, spoke up in a loud and most certainly proud voice that The Doctor actually looked up, a little tinge of annoyance flashing across his features before it was erased by a buzz of excitement.
“Here it is Princess, straight from the Canterlot Observatory Tower.”
With a small crackle, the object the quadruple set of ponies had been levitating was released from its magical field, the large, round lens of the most magnificently monstrously sized telescope in all of Equestria landing on the floor of the throne room with a peeling, metallic screech.
The Doctor instantly bounded up from his workspace to admire the lens with a happy eye, completely missing the looks of surprise and confusion that the set of ponies in the room shot to him, the five other Elements of Harmony just stopping their seventh game of Go Fish to glance quizzically as The Doctor circled the massive astronomical lens. The Doctor frowned slightly, before his head tilted to the side and his eyes began to roam over the edges of the lens. Almost immediately afterwards, he leaned in and gave the metal, and even some of the glass, a long lick that nearly made Rarity faint before he tasted whatever flavoured he had acquired on his tongue, ignoring the look of close revulsion that hung on every face. Seconds later, a cry of 'aha!' burst from his lips and the Doctor turned from the lens and bolted to his workspace, sitting down near the map with a little smushing sound as his rear hit the floor, pencil already in hoof as he began to jot down some other random points on the map.
Whilst The Doctor darted to the lens and then back to his workspace, Celestia took the time to admire the reflective glass that sat solidly on the floor in front of her. The object was around eight metres long, around twice the size of her body laid flat out, its glassy interior completely unblemished and sparkling with the glow of youth, its golden metal rimming flaring to life in the small trickles of light that dazzled around the throne room. The whole thing was, of course, circular in appearance and quite closely resembled an expanded version of a monocle. The whole lens was a beautifully crafted piece of work, elegant and also useful but its appearance and use in this sort of situation was undecipherable by the solar princess. What was the use of a lens in capturing a monster? And so, as a deity who usually got exactly what she wanted, Celestia thought it was her right to ask such a question.
“Doctor, may I ask why you have asked my crew to bring you a lens from one of my precious telescopes? Surely it would simply be easier for us to go searching for this beast and imprison or immobilize it with the magic that we possess?”
The Doctor glanced up for a second and Celestia could have sworn that his eyes were full of scorn that would normally be directed at a foolish filly or foal, before his blue orbs shifted back to the map he was currently scribbling on, his voice rising up lazily and unconsciously as he continued to trace some sort of strange object around different areas of the map.
“That had been my number one plan, yes, to capture and contain the plasmavore using the gift that you unicorns and alicorns already have but it appears that that plan wouldn't have worked. You told me that when you went to, ah, 'obtain' the plasmavore, your magic passed right through it like it was merely a gust of air...
...That got me thinking because if magic works on me, as clearly shown through Twilight's excellent, if slightly nauseating, teleportation spell, then why doesn't it work on the plasmavore and, because I'm a genius, I found out the answer pretty quickly. Or what I believe to be the answer...
...You see, when I arrived here, my body chemistry and atomic anatomy was changed quite impressively and with that change came the ability to experience something that I never thought I would be able to experience. Magic. I can feel a distance tingling under my hooves even now, as of the earth calls to me. I can feel a lifetimes supply of muscle and strength that simply shouldn't be there hiding under my fur. I have been adapted to experience magic and it is wonderful...
...The plasmavore however, has not been adapted. When it arrived here, it arrived with the same genetic structure that it had in the other universe, my universe and in my universe, the idea of magic is a very fickle thing. Its atoms and chemsitry had not been changed or evolved to fit the type that this planet bears and, as such, magic simply refuses to accept the plasmavore's existence. It is not from this world, it is not from this universe and therefore, in the eyes of years upon years of sorcery and spell casting, it simply is not meant to experience magic.”
Celestia blinked in surprise at the influx of knowledge she had just received, opening her mouth to ask an assortment of questions before she realized that The Doctor had sunk back into his own little world, sketching and dragging his pencil along the map once more with a faint scraping noise. She caught Twilight turning to her out of the corner of her eye and before her confused and obviously quizzical student could ask her any question, Celestia had turned to her and shaken her head, followed by a small shrug of her heavenly shoulders, easily signalling that she had no more knowledge towards what The Doctor had said than her little protégée who, of course, picked up on the signs straight away and closed her mouth, questions being forced back down her throat. Inwardly, Celestia's mind was reeling at the news that The Doctor had spouted as easily as deciding on what he might have for dinner.
A creature, who didn't obey the laws of magic? It seemed impossible, improbable and yet there was that same little nagging feeling in the back of her head, that same little nagging feeling that said that she should trust The Doctor's words, the same little nagging feeling that told her that she had heard his voice before, so long ago. Her thoughts were interrupted before she could get into the full swing of a memory reconstruction, before she could try and find out why this Doctor was so familiar by the colt himself, who leapt up off of the ground like a stallion possessed, his loud voice fizzing with excitement.
“Oh, now we are in business!”
Beside her, Celestia saw Twilight jump, spooked out of her own mental river of questions that desperately needed answers by the cry of The Doctor, a selection of cards exploding from out of the hooves of Rarity as she too bolted from her seat on the floor, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow remaining surprisingly calm, as if they had gotten used to it. Celestia's regal voice cut through the startled atmosphere like a knife.
“And what sort of business are we in?”
The Doctor flashed a rather wide, rather toothy grin.
“Why, the business of catching monsters of course.”
The Doctor grabbed the map in his hoof, clutching it to his chest like it was the most precious, valuable thing on the face of the planet as he trotted towards Celestia, signalling with a nodding of his head for the other Elements of Harmony to join them, their card game now abandoned as they stood up and stretched to discover what all the fuss was about. The Doctor reached Celestia and sat down right in front of her, tapping the ground to say that she and the others should do the same, a small, fleeting look of confusion crossing Celestia's face before she knelt down to gaze at The Doctor, the Elements of Harmony doing likewise. The brown colt cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner before he started to speak.
“Well, thank you all for coming here today, it's a great pleasure to have the lovely Princess Cele-”
“Get on with it Doctor.”
“Right, yes. You see, after my magical capture plan was revoked quite suddenly, I had to start thinking again. I am quite good at that. Anyway, after I caught a glimpse of that rather large, rather exaggerated telescope, it came to me. Sunlight. The one thing that all plasmavore's hate, the one thing that burns them up like their magnesium in heat of over 600C, hehe...”
The only laughter was from Twilight, who ceased her giggling in embarrassment when she realized that all heads had turned to her.
“Well, thanks Twilight. Yes, sunlight, the greatest weapon against a plasmavore except for the little fact that I highly doubt the sunlight alone would be enough to stop the plasmavore from horribly murdering me. Rage and vengeance is a real booster. And so, I began to think that we needed something to boost the suns rays, to really get the full force of that burning ball of gas across...
...That, Celestia, is where the lens comes into play. A reflector lens, from the largest telescope in the country, positioned correctly would be able to perfectly bounce and direct the suns rays to a certain area, causing heat and light and radiation that should be spread out in many directions to focus on a specific area. An area which I hope the plasmavore will be at...
...Here's the part that's a tad more tricky and by tricky I mean deadly. You see, for the sun to have its wanted effect on the plasmavore the host body of the plasmavore must be removed. For the plan to work, the real body of the plasmavore must stand within the sunlight, not the false ones it has claimed. And that's where it gets deadly...
...The only logical way I can think of to lure the plasmavore out of its skin, logic not exactly being my forte, is to give it a nice, plump juicy meal and, voilà, here I am. The plasmavore will want its revenge, it will hunger for it and I very much think that it will cloud its senses. It won't be satisfied with killing me using any body other then its own. So, I'm going to go into the city, alone, and I'm going to find the plasmavore and lead it to a specific spot and this, Celestia, is where you come in...
...I've searched the skies, triangulated and interpreted the exact location that would be entirely suitable and entirely efficient at stopping the plasmavores little spree and it appears to be a place called Meeting Market. As leader of this city and this country, I'm sure you know of its whereabouts? Good, I thought so. On the map,”
The Doctor signalled with a flick of his hoof to the map, making all eyes turn to it to see a mess of scribble and a single, perfectly drawn, tiny circle spiralling around a small place named Meeting Market.
“I have marked the location and, I'd quite like you to make sure I'm not going to die. The reason I struggled to find a suitable spot is because I needed to know the angle of depression and the angle of elevation of both the sun and the lens in retrospect with each other so that I could coordinate the pinpoint accuracy of the suns reflected rays. Didn't quite get that? Hmm, how about, I had to find the right place in the sky so the bad thing will go away? Yep, works for all ages!...
…There is a point in the sky, between that star,” a gesture from The Doctor's hoof out of the window, “ and that star in which the lens must be securely held by, what I hope to be, your immensely strong magic Celestia. The lens, levitating in the sky via your abilities, will perfectly reflect the suns rays to the Meeting Market, causing the plasmavore to experience such tremendous agony that it won't be able to do anything but curl into a ball and maybe suck its thumb. If it has thumbs...
...You'll have to raise the sun early of course, at around four o'clock if my estimations about my arrival at Meeting Market is correct. Then it's just a matter of calling your guards and informing the citizens of your town that the early rising of the sun is nothing more than a small fluke.”
Celestia frowned deeply at The Doctor's plan, already feeling the weight of responsibility and the life of somepony nestling into her heart and hooves. Still, she had to ask her main question before it became too late to ask it.
“The plasmavore...will the sun...will the sun kill it?”
The Doctor frowned slightly and, for a split seconds, Celestia could see the rolling, consuming sadness and resolute anger behind those now so very, very old eyes.
“It shouldn't if everything works out the way it should. It...it may happen though.”
Celestia nodded dazedly before an incredibly important question flashed to her mind, one that made the mares around her flinch as her head turned sharply to meet The Doctor's eyes.
“If it lives Doctor, what do we do with it?”
The Doctor grinned in a cocky way, all evidence of his eternal sadness now gone and barren from his face.
“That, my dear, is the second part off my absolutely, startlingly, baffling, brilliant plan. Your observation tower is no longer an observation tower right, not after I took the lens out of the telescope?”
“Well, actually, there are still many teles-”
“It's no longer an observation tower, right?”
Celestia sighed before she nodded, willing to hear why The Doctor would want to snatch her astronomy tower away from her.
“Oh good, then I can use it for my lovely purposes. You see, what's a good castle without a dungeon?”
“We have a dungeon Doctor, it's just below the throne room.”
“Well, you can never have too much of a good thing and underground dungeons are overdone anyway. You see, if we were to lock the plasmavore underground, it would be able to gain sufficient strength to tear the bars apart and kill every guard In its path after the first, oh, lets say, week...
...But let's say that the prison we use is somewhere that can easily be filled with sunlight. Let's say that the prison we use has a wonder view of the whole of the Equestrian countryside. Let's say that the prison we use has a night-light powerful enough to rival the sun. That, Celestia, is the sort of prison I want...
...Of course, the sun alone wouldn't be enough to keep the plasmavore contained indefinitely, oh no, we'd need something to boost the radiation even more and that is where the sand comes into play because what happens to sand when you heat it to unbelievable temperatures?”
Fluttershy meekly raised her hoof.
“Uh, it turns to glass?”
“Yes, no, sort of. It's a much more complex method than that but I'm sure magic can help speed up the little conversion.”
Celestia spoke up next, her voice laced with what could have been the beginnings of true understanding.
“What...what are you proposing?”
“I propose we build the plasmavore the perfect prison. I propose we allow it to suffer for all of the damage it has done to both your world and so many more. I propose we do to it what it set out to do to me and you, Celestia, you are going to help me.”
It wasn't a question, it was a demand.
“But enough chit-chat, I'll devise all of the details of the prison when I return because , judging by the moon, I'd say I have about an hour left to find the plasmavore in order to hit my deadline and I do so love to do that...
...Be in the right place, at the right time Celestia. Get that lens into the sky, raise the sun so that its bottom just touches the horizon and then watch the magic unfurl. This is going to work, I just know it...
Anyway, I must be off, you girls can, eh, go back to your card game if you want, this will all be over soon enough. Farewell, goodbye, geronimo and what-not.”
The Doctor rose from his position on the floor, content with his explanation and content with the idea that his life was safe in the hooves of the solar ruler. He got halfway to the door undeterred before Twilight's voice reached his ears, filled with concern that nearly made his hearts stop, her voice sounding so caring, so comforting, so much like...
“Please, please, please don't die Doctor.”
The Doctor paused for a split second, a look of regret and sorrow crossing across his face as memories sprang to mind before it melted away to be replaced by a neutral face and a neutral voice.
“It's not in my list of things to do Twilight.”
And with that the brown colt from the stars was gone, leaving the Elements of Harmony to wonder if they would ever seem him again, leaving Twilight to stare despairingly but also trustingly at the double wooden doors and leaving Celestia to wonder how in the name of sanity she was supposed to find the exact area in the sky that The Doctor had gestured to. It was only then, as she glanced down at the map, that she saw the smudging of something on the curled corner of it, something sketched onto its back and, with a gentle hoof, Celestia turned the map over.
The night sky, the clear night sky, twinkling with stars, observed from a perfect zenith, was drawn carefully and immaculately on its back, each little twinkling ball of light dotted down, the moon hanging in the dark abyss, even a few meteors fizzing past and there, a few inches to the right of the moon, circled by the pencil and scribed with a smiley face, was a single position marked in the night sky.
“Clever colt.” Celestia muttered.
[.]
The Doctor glanced up at the clear morning sky, the sun shining brightly and vividly as it hung contently overhead, hundreds of roused ponies only now opening their windows to exclaim what a curious sensation it was to have the sun rise a few hours early. Dimly, The Doctor could swear he could see the metallic glint of the telescope lens in the sky before a sheet of white cloud floated past, obscuring his vision and making him turn back to the streets to focus on the matter at hoof.
The plasmavore had been standing in Meeting Market mere moments ago, ready to kill The Doctor and plunge Equestria into a state of anarchy. In fact, it had nearly succeeded, mainly due to the fact that Celestia's positioning of the lens had been a minute inch off, a flaw that was easily fixed but also could easily have been disastrous. After the plasmavore had been struck by the full force of the reflected radiation pouring from the sun, its body had gone into a fit of sorts, in which all that could be distinguishable was screaming, an endless, wailing scream that The Doctor would keep with him for the rest of his long life before the plasmavore had given up and slumped to the ground, entirely unconscious but writhing about on the ground, obviously still feeling the terrible burning sensation through its darkened, broken sleep.
After the plasmavore had been rendered immobile and as weak as a new born kitten, the thundering of hooves had alerted The Doctor to the appearance of five armour wearing, spear weilding, stoic faced royal guards, each one glittering with a golden tinge in the sun and each one drawn to The Doctor's location by what they had described as 'The single most horrible sound in Equestria'. Of course, despite rigorous training in remaining expressionless and impartial, the scene that had enveloped before them, a brown colt trying to heave a limp, white, squishy looking creature down the street, was enough to shatter their training and leave them slack-jawed. The Doctor had taken advantage of their stunned state to proclaim that he had most certainly never seen this creature before and that they should most certainly take it to be studied by the princess, an idea which the guards practically leaped upon. The part they did not leap upon, however, was the task of dragging the slobbering, unconscious alien from Meeting Market to Canterlot Castle but they did it anyway, for they were royal guards, bred to show no weakness. That didn't stop them nearly heaving as a rather large pool of drool splattered out of the plasmavores mouth to pool around their hooves.
The group of them, six ponies and one twitching alien, were currently nearing the wide, golden gates of Canterlot Castle and the clear look of relief on the faces of the guards was enough to let The Doctor know that the plasmavore was perhaps a rather cruel burden to put on them. Literally it was on them, well, on two of them at least, stretched across their backs like a content cat. The Doctor heaved a sigh of infinite happiness as he strode through the great gates, the five royal guards directly behind him, his hooves crunching up on the gravel path that led to the immaculate wooden doors that had, only recently, been forced apart by murderous intent.
Suddenly, seconds before The Doctor reached the large doors, the plasmavore let out a deep growling rumble before its limbs tensed and its head rolled upwards from where it lay on the two stallions, the shock forcing the duo of colts to unload their cargo quite spectacularly on the floor, a muffled grunt of pain echoing out as the five guards retreated and the brown colt stepped forward. For a few seconds all was silent apart from the crunch of The Doctor's hooves on the gravel before a pained, sickening, monstrous laugh tore through the air, rising up from where the plasmavore had fallen. Through gales of insane laughter, the plasmavore began to speak.
“I-I-I knew it would be you Doctor, I always knew.”
The Doctor paused slightly, head tilted before he spoke up in a cautious but intrigued voice.
“What about me?”
The plasmavore continued to laugh but it sounded forced, so very forced, and The Doctor could swear there were tears in its large, bulbous eyes.
“I always knew you'd-you'd kill me!”
The Doctor backed away as the plasmavore continued to laugh and laugh and laugh, signalling for the royal guards to pick it up again, which they did apprehensively. It was still laughing when they deposited it in front of Princess Celestia seconds later, the solar ruler and the six mares that stood beside her looking at the plasmavore with shock and then turning their confused gazes on The Doctor who merely shrugged. The Doctor rotated his hoof at Celestia, prompting her to begin the speech that he knew she had to state so she could justify her actions. Celestia nodded shakily before she cleared her throat and began to speak in a loud voice over the sobbing laughter of the plasmavore.
“You stand...lay in front of me, plasmavore, accused of murder, thievery, uh, galactic crimes and attempted murder. Is this true, are you guilt?”
The plasmavore howled with maddening laughter as it spoke up in a jittery, tear soaked voice.
“T-true, but it was- it was just too much fun!”
Celestia paled at the reply of the monster before her, casting an almost frightened look at The Doctor before she spoke up again in that endlessly calm voice of hers.
“You have accepted the guilt behind your crimes and as the highest form of power in this land, it is my task to bring the full force of justice down upon you. I hereby sentence you to a lifetimes imprisonment and a lifetime of...of pain for the sins you have committed.”
The Doctor saw Celestia stumble over her words, knowing that she had to state them, knowing that she had to make sure that she knew exactly what she was doing and why, reinforcing the idea that this was for the best, that this was the most potent and civil thing to do for a murderer and a thief and still the plasmavore laughed and laughed and laughed, its clawed hands reaching around its stomach as it belched out monstrous giggles, tears now freely running down its face. Celestia stepped away from the creature as two of her golden armoured royal guards stepped into view and dragged the chuckling plasmavore so that it rested in the centre of the sand pile, The Doctor's eyebrows rising slightly as he realised that Celestia understood what he meant to do and had briefed her guards on what they must accomplish. The regal voice of Celestia, now tinted with worry, reached The Doctor's ears.
“What happened to it?”
The Doctor gazed at the plasmavore almost pityingly as it lay on the bed of sand, its mouth wide open in what looked like a scream as laughter burst forth, its beastly face a horrid mess of tears and madness.
“It broke.”
Celestia flinched at The Doctor's icy tones but allowed herself a little nod, believing, or at least, hoping to believe that the plasmavore got what it deserved and nothing more. She very nearly leapt out of her millennia old skin as The Doctor suddenly whirled away from her to face the still giggling plasmavore, who was currently spread eagled in a none to dignifying pose across the bed of gleaming yellow sand, eyes staring vacantly at the high ceiling, mouth open wide, body laying stock still apart from the occasional convulse of a white limb. The Doctor attempted to speak up over the roaring cascade that was the plasmavore.
“The sand you ar-”
“Bahahahaaaha!”
“The-”
“Hahahhahhahahahhaaa!”
“The san...The sand-”
“Ahaahahaha-”
“Be quiet!”
For once The Doctor's calm façade broke and utter fury poured from his mouth, his eyes suddenly blazing to life in an ugly way, his face twisting into a mask of both anger and regret, instantly silencing the plasmavore who physically shrank in fear at that voice before The Doctor reeled himself back in, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opened them again seconds later, his face had shifted to a cold and neutral form, no sign of any emotion lacing his face as he began to speak up again.
“Thank you. Now, as I was saying, the sand you are currently laying on comes all the way from the Bahoofmas, or so the bag containing it said. It's an incredibly rich sand, not that crummy, cruddy stuff that people buy to make their home pool look 'real' and 'just like the seaside'. It is also used in glass making.”
As The Doctor continued to speak, his voice became more and more layered with emotions, the most prominent being a childish, almost gloating voice whilst the most effective and also most difficult to pick out was the lightest tones of hidden sorrow in his voice.
“Quite interesting, glass making really. Nearly everyon-everypony thinks its just about getting some sand and heating it up until it forms glass which is completely unrealistic. Sadly, I can't prove how barbarically unrealistic it actually is, well, not today at least, since Celestia here is going to make turning sand to glass look as easy as turning a light on with a screwdriver.”
“Eh, mah screwdrivah can't turn lights on Doctah.”
“Well, mine most certainly can! And it makes this great little noise, it's like 'Wuwuwuwuwu'...Aaaaaanyway, me and Celestia have devised a rather cunning solution to the problem of what to do with you plasmavore. I've always wanted to say something like this, Celestia, deploy the solution!”
Celestia blinked before she spoke up in an incredibly confused and almost foalishly embarrassed voice.
“Uh, I don't remember you telling me about any solution Doctor...”
The Doctor's eyes widened considerably before he frowned and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'I knew I forgot something'. The brown colt from the stars trotted over to Celestia quickly and, with an act that would have left royal guards gaping in amazement, physically pulled her head down to whisper in her ear quietly, the six multicoloured mares that he had brought with him now forced to lean in to try and hear what The Doctor was saying, the group only catching the word 'prism', confused looks being shared by all as Celestia jerkily nodded and the pair split apart.
The Doctor trotted forward, Celestia behind him before he spoke up and stepped to the side, the solar deity now in full view of the silent, watchful plasmavore.
“Let's try this again then. Celestia, deploy the solution!”
Almost immediately Celestia's horn began to throb a dark orange colour an d the sand around the plasamvore began to hum softly, thrumming and wriggling beneath it as it looked down in obvious fright, its eyes wide and dark as it began to attempt to scramble away before it was stopped by the voice of The Doctor.
“If you don't move, it won't hurt you. If you do, well, I can't really make any promise. Twilight, what happens if someone or something starts to thrash about in molten sand?”
Twilight blinked.
“Bad things?”
The Doctor turned back to the plasmavore with a serious expression on his face before it melted away to be replaced by a cocky, childish grin that would have made Pinkie proud.
“See, bad things would happen.”
The plasmavore ceased its movements, instead opting to look at Celestia who had her eyes closed, her horn now strobing more violently as the sand beneath the plasmavore began to pulse more and more rapidly until it seemed as if waves had taken the form of sand, buffeting and nearly knocking the plasmavore up into the air. The sand had gained a peculiar orange tinge to it, glowing an incredibly hot orange colour that didn't seem to affect the plasmavore. The plasmavore, scourge of over seventy worlds, bane of royalty everywhere, eater of names and devourer of skin let out a particularly girlish whimper as the sand thrashed about below it. Twilight leaned in closer to get a better look at the magical display that was unfolding in front of her, her friends actually backing away from the sight as if they were frightened the sand may leap and gobble them up, before Twilight to leapt back as Celestia's eyes opened wide, yellow magic pulsing in their depths as all Tartarus broke loose.
The orange sand exploded upwards, creating a cascade of concealing particles that swirled and danced around the now hidden form of the plasmavore, sealing it away from view. The sand rippled and buckled as it rose higher before the gathered audience of six mares each let out simultaneous squeals as the sand began to shrink downwards, its advance no longer going up but rather going outwards in what appeared to be two separate straight lines, one towards the wooden doors, one towards the group of watching bystanders. The heavy sound of scraping filled everyponies ears before a single screech echoed across the throne room, followed by a vivid and unbelievably bright bolt of orange light that flared to life from the advancing sand, making everypony present turn away and shut their eyes to block out the light. The heavy sound of a thud and then a light tinkling of what sounded like glass reached everyponies ears as the light died down and they all turned to look at what had occurred mere inches before them, gasping in shock and surprise at the sight.
In the centre of the throne room, where there had once sat nothing but a pile of sand, now stood a long, slender, glass triangular prism that extended for seven metres and which rose five metres high, its sparkling, glittering surface nearly distracting the gathered ponies from the resident which had managed to find itself inside the the make-shift prism. Inside stood a rather baffled and shocked plasmavore, its black eyes as wide as they could go, its mouth open as it reached out to gingerly touch the glass, its claws making a scratching noise before it began to rain hammer blows of strength onto the glass, heavy, shaking thudding emerging from the glass before The Doctor stepped forward and began to speak, making the plasmavore stop and glare silently at him.
“That was astounding, absolutely astounding! Oh gosh, look at me, I feel like I'm growing my very first TARDIS. Excellently, efficiently, beautifully, fantastically done Celestia, I see you made sure to instigate that little hardening spell in there.”
Celestia nodded, looking a bit dazed, her eyes now their normal colour, her horn now white, no longer flowing with ethereal power.
“Umm...Doctor, I-I thought you said m-magic didn't do anything to the...the pla-the plas- the alien?”
“I did say that, however, this magic isn't linked to the plasmavore. This hardening spell, which I really hoped you ponies had and, what do you know, you did, affects the glass, not the plasmavore and so the plasmavore experiences no magical effects, therefore not rendering magic obsolete...
...Anyway, I suppose it's time to reveal my little idea to the whole group, isn't it? You see, I knew that if the plasmavore was kept underground then eventually it would regain enough strength to break through that glass so I had to devise another method of imprisonment. First, I needed to harness a weakness I knew it had, sunlight. Second, I needed to find a way to make that weakness an Achilles Heel, something which the plasmavore would be rendered powerless over. Thirdly, I needed to find a way to keep it locked up for good and, I'm quite chuffed to say this, I have managed to accomplish all of these things...
...The first part was sorted, sunlight being the formidable weapon to use against the plasmavore, I just needed to make it more potent. So I thought to myself, 'Doctor, you're a smart fella, what can you do to strengthen the sun's power?' And then it hit me. The lens we used to capture the plasmavore was the snowball to create the avalanche. If the use of reflected sunlight worked so well against it, then why should we abandon that strategical advantage and try and find some new way of imprisonment? The answer: we shouldn't...
...So, I asked Celestia hear for some sand in order to construct a prison of glass for the plasmavore, a triangular prism but that's not all I asked. That hardening spell, that was a little side effect I wanted but the main point of the glass prism prison, heh, that's pretty fun to say, was to reflect the sunlight in like a lens. I asked Celestia if she could put a reflective spell on the glass, to which she replied she could and bingo we were in business. A fully operational, reflective, Achilles Heel of a prison. We just needed one more thing, a means to make sure that the plasmavore could not break free in the future, and I believe we have the solution to that already...
...The astronomy tower, or ex-astronomy tower now, is the perfect place to store the plasmavore. Large open viewing platforms that allow sunlight in at all times, the single, tallest structure in this castle and, and, the perfect cover story. We leave a telescope up there, we can just say that it is still the old astronomy tower, that way Celestia does not have to fabricate some bizarre story explaining why she had to erect a new tower and why it has so many windows. The plasmavore can be stored in the astronomy tower, the ponies can remain under the ruse that it still is the astronomy tower and, at night, we seal up the windows with big curtains or something relatively fluffy and concealing before one of the two princesses creates a small but potent UV ball of light to keep the plasmavore at bay...
...Two days, a new body, no screwdriver, no TARDIS and a murderous alien on the prowl, I think I have really, really, really outdone myself this time!”
“How do we get it up to the astronomy tower like that?”
The Doctor blinked before he scowled in a childish fashion.
“You always have to ruin my big, incredibly humble speeches don't you Twilight? I thought the answer would be obvious, we teleport it! Not the plasmavore, the glass prism prison. Using teleportation magic on the glass prism prison will make it move, the glass prism prison's structure won't allow any magical residue to seep in so when the glass prism prison teleports, the spell won't be cancelled by the plasmavore and since the plasmavore is in the belly of the glass prism pri-”
“Stop saying glass prism prison!”
“I, ah, ok. Since the plasmavore is in the belly of the prison, it shall to be teleported, proving that in an offhoof way, magic can work on it. How to explain it...Aha! Let's say that I am allergic to pears right, one touch will make me all bubbly and purple and just generally disgusting buuut if I were to wear gloves and then handle the pears, I'd be completely ok.”
The hissing voice of the plasmavore reached The Doctor's ears.
“Are you comparing me to a pear!?”
“Yes, now quiet, pears don't talk. So, everypony is clear that the plasmavore is the pear, the prison is the glove and magic is the hoof right? Good, I thought so. Oh wait, those aren't agreeing faces are they, those are confused faces, I always get those mixed up. Look, how about this, just trust me ok? Just trust me, this is going to work.”
Slowly, but then with more gusto, several heads began to nod in unison before a quite chorus of 'I trust you' was expelled forth into the throne room, The Doctor turning to Celestia as the cascade of partial applause died down.
“Now Celestia, if you would do the honours of sending the plasmavore far away from here, preferably where I can't hear it talk.”
Celestia swallowed her apprehension before nodding, her horn glowing again with a faint orange light, the sunset aura flowing around the glass prism prison like water, lifting it up into the air where the nervous looking plasmavore was exposed to both the shocked expressions of the ponies and also some of the sunlight that filtered through the cracked window before it and the prison vanished with a loud pop and a flash of orange magic.
The first shattering cry of pain reached The Doctor's ears as the plasmavore was subjected to the full force of the reflected sunlight in the astronomy tower, his ears flipping backwards and his mouth forming into a grimace, the ponies around him doing the same as The Doctor spoke up in a sheepish voice.
“Perhaps I didn't think of everything.”
[.]
“It didn't have to be this way you know.”
The journey and climb to the top of the astronomy tower had certainly been an arduous one considering the small fact that stairs were among one of the few things that The Doctor feared in his new equine body. The constant screaming of pain had been enough to push him on though, along with Princess Celestia, the six Elements of Harmony staying behind, the noise becoming nearly too much to bear for them. When he had reached the large, golden, inscribed door which led to the room the plasmavore was being kept in, The Doctor had first requested that Celestia make sure that no sound could be heard from the inside, just to block out that horrible, wailing screaming sound. His second request had been a rather peculiar one but one that Celestia had still agreed to, mainly for the fact that she wasn't sure that she could persuade The Doctor to not do what he wished. And so, with a confused but accepting mind, Celestia allowed him to see the plasmavore alone.
“It always had to be this way, Doctor.”
A few of the heavy curtains that surrounded the windows of the astronomy tower were now tightly sealed, allowing only a single stream of sunlight to invade the dark recesses of the tower room, making sure that the plasmavore remained disabled but with enough strength to talk.
The Doctor frowned, moving out of the shadowed area of the tower to trot around the prism, a look of sorrow and regret sweeping across his face.
“Why? Why does it always, always have to be this way?”
“Because villains do not get along.”
The Doctor paused in his trot to stare at the plasmavore.
“I'm not...I'm not a villain!”
“How many have you killed Doctor? How many planets have you left weeping? I could only dare to dream of that power, of that fear and yet you wield it like you would a plastic sword, carelessly and aimlessly.”
“I don't wield fear, I don't wield power!”
“Cities burn at your command, whole armies run in fear as soon as even the merest mention of your name is heard, if that is not fear then I have lived my life blindly, Doctor.”
The last word was practically spat by the plasmavore, as if it aimed to rid itself of the plague. By now The Doctor had stopped moving, instead remaining standing directly in front of the plasmavore, a thin glass pane separating them.
“I...I do those things because I have to, because someone has to or the universe would dissolve into anarchy and chaos.”
“And what, pray tell, is wrong with anarchy Doctor?”
“Anarchy leads to hate and death and everything that I stand against, plasmavore.”
“Call me Mercy, Doctor, it's what they all say before I snuff the life from them.”
And suddenly, as if via a switch, the temperature in the room seemed to drop to a chilling, frosty feel.
“And how many have called for mercy? How many have you laughed at and then murdered? How many have you taken simply because you could?”
“Far less then you.”
“Perhaps, but I have a reason. The universe is my home, every corner of it, every single speck that resides in it and I will fight tooth and claw to keep it spinning, to keep the pattern moving and if-”
“If it means creatures die in the process so that this great wheel can keep spinning, then it is no loss? You are The Doctor, sworn saviour of the universe but I wonder, just for a second, what the universe would think of you if it could speak. The tales it would tell, of fire and ice and rage. Of such destruction. You breed violence, Doctor, you create it like it was your own.”
“That is not what I set out to do.”
“But it is what you have done!”
The Doctor took a single step back from the plasmavore, heat burning in his eyes as he spoke up again.
“Every creature, no matter how evil, no matter how twisted always gets a chance, I always give them a chance. I do not aim to wield fear or power or violence, I do not aim to spread terror but if you speak of my anger and rage and fire then you must hear of my mercy.”
“Your mercy, Doctor, is what gives you the power to kill.”
“...What!?”
“You give every creature a chance and if they don't accept it then you're free to do what you wish. You think the sheer fact that they refuse to accept your chance to repent is a sign that your next act, of murder and violence is justified.”
The Doctor stepped back as the plasmavore continued to growl spiked words at him, its voice rising higher and higher as it continued.
“Your mercy Doctor is what gives creatures like me the nerve and the ability to fight against you, your mercy makes you look weak, your mercy makes you look feeble, so feeble that we think we have you, that we believe that you are no more then a thorn in our side and then, like a trickster, you show your true colours. Mercy, Doctor, is not a tool that you enjoy wielding, you prefer dealing with the threat as quickly and as efficiently as possible and if that means murder, if that means this great wheel of time keeps turning then it is fine, then your actions are justified.”
“You came to this planet and look what it brought the residents! Murder and death, and you will only bring more to them. I saw how you looked Doctor, in the second that I remained conscious as you burnt me using the heavens themselves, I saw the smile and the twinkle in your eyes, the triumph. You live for creatures like me, you live for an excuse to show off that anger and that rage, you live for an excuse to hate.”
The Doctor snorted once before his voice rose up, shaking.
“I did not kill these ponies, you did. I did not bring you here, chance did. I am not responsible fr the atrocities and the travesties you commit.”
“And yet, without my desire for revenge against you Doctor, I would not have been creating The Pandorica. Without my desire for revenge, I would not have hunted you, I would not have killed quite as many. Without my desire for revenge, the filly would have lived.”
“I came here, to see you, for the simple reason to tell you that...that I was sorry.”
“You came here to gloat!”
The Doctor shook his head.
“No, never gloat. You can view me as you wish, a murderer and a destroyer of planets but don't you ever, ever think that I would gloat over something like this. It hurts plasmavore, not physically, but every time I lock something like you up or every time I have to stop something like you it hurts. I keep that pain as a reminder to myself, that no matter what happens, every creature should get a chance. I offered you the chance to come peacefully, I did all I could to help you.”
“You could help me by letting me go. You could help me by letting me kill you!”
The Doctor remained silent as the plasmavore hissed at him, its white appendages slamming time and time against the glass as it shrieked at him before a look of utter sorrow flashed through The Doctor's cold blue eyes, making the plasmavore fall silent as The Doctor spoke two more words, two more simple words.
“I'm sorry.”
The colt from the stars, the self proclaimed killer of his people, turned around and began to trot towards the door, hearing the cry of the plasmavore one more time as it shrieked its final barb towards him, as it stabbed into him again.
“I may be a monster Doctor but at least I admit it.”
The Doctor sighed once to himself as he edged closer to the door, his eyes closed as his hoof swing around to grab the small fabric chain that levered the curtains, tugging down forcefully and allowing sunlight to flood the room, the crying voice of anger now being replaced by the sound of agonized screaming before The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, quickly shutting it behind him to block out that awful noise. Almost immediately he was bombarded by a barrage of questions from Celestia, who had been waiting on the other side of the door, her eyes curious but also sad, as if she could sense that whatever happened inside that room, whatever conversation was born was one of hatred and anger and sadness.
“Doctor, what happened in there? What did it talk about?”
The Doctor remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes dark and impassive before he spoke up in a flat voice.
“The weather.”
“The weather, but that's ridiculo- Wait, where are you going?”
The Doctor had started walking past Celestia as she began her interrogation, his mood clearly screaming that now was not a good time for her needling questions, his black tail swishing as he paused at the top of the stairs, turning his head back as his eyes flashed brightly, his cold, estranged demeanour breaking away to reveal the happiness and joy that The Doctor usually wore for just a second as he spoke up.
“I'm going to go and take care of a few things.”
Celestia frowned.
“But the plasmavore has been captured and contained, what more is there to do?”
“One, I'm going to get my TARDIS back. Two, I'm going to make sure that The Pandorica is sealed away so that it can never be used again. Four, no, three, I'm going to find myself some companions...”
“...And four, I'm going to find the largest breakfast in the whole of Equestria and singlehoofedly devour it.”
A/N: This took such a long time to actually even begin writing. I was on holiday for two weeks and then I wanted to get a new chapter for my other story out and then, whatdoyaknow, Borderlands 2 came out.
I am so, so sorry for taking so long to get this up, my life is a tad chaotic at the moment considering I'm in my final year at school so they're chucking exams at me but the epilogue and the teaser will come out quicker then this chapter did.
Anyway, thanks for waiting. Tell me what you think and constructive criticism is always welcome.