Chapter 34
I leaned up to an awkward sitting position, looking at the amazing view outside of the tardis. Luna did not let me go, but continued to hold me. I could feel her hooves tighten slightly.
“He’s so big.” I gasped, trying to stand. Luna held me back.
“Patience, Ed. Let the Doctor talk to him. He’s dangerous when he wants to be.” Luna reasoned, whispering in my ear. The Doctor smiled, noticing my eagerness to see the creature and the appropriateness of Luna’s comment.
“Be back in a few.” The Doctor said, leaping out of the Tardis. I finally noticed where we were. The black landscape, interspersed with glinting white patches, told me where in Equestria I was. Or, as the truth would have it, where in Equestria I wasn’t.
“The binary system of Sigmus.” Marcus said behind me. I turned to see him sitting in a strange chair that I had not noticed before, upholstered with worn beige leather with buttons and switches on the arm rests. I was surprised, and let it show on my face.
“The twin stars of Septimus and Culaan, orbited in turn by twelve nameless planets, only one of which holds life. Or, at least, it held life.” Marcus said, inspecting one of his hooves.
“Which one was inhabited?” I asked. Marcus tilted his hoof so he was looking down the front of his leg instead of the back.
“This one, Sigmus Five, if you could even call it habitation. A few colonies of insects, a few clumps of lichen. It was nothing special, but in few million years it might have evolved into the equuanoid live that you and I are so familiar with.” Marcus explained. I let that little blip of information stew in my head. I was about to open my mouth, but Luna asked the next question.
“What... What happpened to it?” She asked in a strong voice, but it still had hints of her earlier sadness.
“About...” Marcus paused, and tapped a few buttons on the arm rest of his chair. A screen that was usually stationary on the console moved out on a slender metal arm to face Marcus. He leaned forward and squinted as he looked at it. “Two-thousand years ago, there was some kind of planet-wide disaster that destroyed just about everything here. The atmosphere, the soil, and the life. The Doctor has done a few studies himself, and is suspect that there may be a few underground settlements of multi-cellular organisms may remain, but he is doubtful. The Tardis’ own computing banks have little information to offer on the cause of the disaster. That makes me think that it is not extra-planetary in nature, but also due to the hyper-orbital tracking simulations that say that there has been no major collisions with other planets or planetoids, which are the only things that have enough mass to be the cause of such a cataclysm.” Marcus concluded, reaching up with a hoof and gently pushing the screen away from him. It glided gently back to the central console. Marcus turned to me.
“I, for one, am of the opinion that it was-”
“Marcus, that is more than enough.” A heartily offended voice said behind me. I turned and saw the Doctor with an angry look on his face. I twisted my body to look back at Marcus, and saw him looking very sheepish.
“What do you say?” The Doctor asked, in the tone of one scolding their child.
“I’m... I’m very sorry for bypassing the isomorphic nature of your controls and compromising the secrecy of your private studies.” Marcus recited very somberly, but with an air of tediousness, as if this was something that had happened before. The Doctor looked satisfied.
“Good. Let’s hope that this never happens again and that I won’t have to lock my console whenever I leave you alone in it. ” He said sternly. I smiled lightly, but then the Doctor turned down to look at me.
“It’s time for you to see him.” The Doctor said. I gulped, and turned to Luna. She looked encouraging, but I was still rather frightened.
“C-Can Luna come too?” I asked. The Doctor chuckled lightly
“What kind of pony would I be if I said no?” The Doctor said, and gestured to the outside of the Tardis. I got up shakily with Luna’s help, and I looked at her to bolster my confidence.
“What if he doesn’t like me?” I whispered. Luna smiled.
“You’ll do fine, Ed. One step at a time.” She said with a motherly inflection, and we started to walk out of the Tardis. It was mechanical, the way that I walked. Luna by my side was the only thing that kept me from turning tail and running for my life. Luna and I kept walking towards him, and I could feel the warmth radiating off of him in waves like an extremely hot summer day. I looked up in the sky, and I could see the two stars of crimson and cobalt spinning each other into teardrops. They were so far away, nothing like the Equestrian sun.
“Things are different here.” Luna said. I looked away from the sky to look at her.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a moon here, orbiting the planet. I can’t control it. It’s independent.” She said with a hushed tone of disbelief.
“Is that a bad thing?” I inquired in the same tone, turning my face but not my eyes toward Luna. She unfurled a wing and hugged me with it, pulling me closer.
“I don’t know. It makes me feel strange.” She said, shivering. I moved closer to her so that our sides were touching, and walked towards the mysterious being.
“You can stop there.” He said in a gigantic rumbling voice, sounding like a rockslide. I shivered, the weight of the voice pressing down on me. Needless to say that Luna and I stopped in our tracks immediately.
“Wh- Who are you?” I asked tentatively. The gigantic creature stirred, lifting his head to look at us.
“I have many names.” He said simply, hiding his head behind his enormous body. I waited for him to elaborate, but he did nothing.
“What should I call you?” I asked, trying to back away from the creature. The beast made a grumble that sounded like laughter.
"Teacher.” He said, not showing his head again. I looked at Luna, and she just shrugged.
“Why would I call you that?” I asked. The thing just chuckled with his rumbling voice.
“The last time I was in Equestria it was respectful to call your teacher by their title. Have things changed so much in the past two days?” He rumbled with a faint sarcastic tone. I was still trying to get away from the creature as fast as my hooves would let me, but Luna would have none of it.
“But- You haven’t taught- Me anything!” I said, trying to make Luna let me go. She was shooting daggers at me, with her hoof wrapped around mine so I could not move away. I suddenly stopped struggling and watched in terror as the creature unfurled itself. I shivered as it’s long, slender neck reached for me. It looked at me with it’s bright red eyes with a slight expression of surprise.
“You... You are like me.” He said, reaching out with a slender white hand to touch me. I stiffened, and Luna squeezed my arm. A long, thin talon came to rest right under my chin. It suddenly turned my head to the left, then to the right, then up, then down. I was deathly afraid of him, and could barely stand to be in such contact with him. He turned his hand so that the palm was facing up.
“May I, Princess?” He asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.
“I don’t own Ed.” She said, The creature smiled, showing row after row of dangerously sharp teeth.
“He might disagree with you about that.” He retorted, turning to me with his brow raised, obviously expecting some kind of answer.
“I’m hers.” I whispered. He immediately curled his neck back, making scary shouting noises into the sky. I tried to run away again, but Luna tightened her grip around my left foreleg.
“He’s only laughing. You don’t have to be so afraid.” She whispered into my ear.
“I can’t help it.” I whispered back, and the creature leveled his head back down to look at me.
“You are afraid of me. Why.” He said. I gulped.
“You are a Dragon, Teacher.” I whispered, my voice shaking. I could feel him lean closer, and I could feel his hot breath on my hair.
“Many things are more dangerous than I, but you do not fear them. Why me?” He inquired further. I gulped again.
“I-”
“Look at me when you answer. I will not tolerate cowardice.” He said sternly, and I slowly looked up at him. His head was only a few feet away from my head.
“I do not like dragons.” I said unsteadily, staring at his chin. The scales pointed down away from the body there, like some strange equivalent of facial hair.
“I am sorry to hear. Let me try to console you by saying that I do not intend on making you a meal.” He said with sincerity. I looked at his outstretched hand, by far much larger than I, and I sheepishly stepped up to it. I tensed my legs on the scaly floor as it was raised into the air, with the head of the dragon following my ascent.
“You are very lucky.” He said. I looked at him in surprise.
“Why?” I asked, not even stopping to be afraid.
“Any normal pony would not stop to agree with me.”
“I’ve never been a normal pony.” I remarked, my speech vitrified. The nameless dragon smiled again.
“She is beautiful, if you happen to be a member of the species.” He explained, with the cool observance of a scientist in regards to an experiment. I blushed and looked down at my hoof. It was a big mistake, because I could feel vertigo set in as I saw the tiny outline of Luna on the ground. I gulped and looked back up at the smiling dragon.
“You two make, dare I say it, a cute couple.”
“Thanks.”
“When is the wedding?” He asked. I started to sputter, not expecting such a question,
“Oh, we- That is to say- I mean-” The dragon stopped my stammering by waving one of his hands at me dismissively.
“I assumed. It was ignorant of me, and I should have made sure of the validity of my belief before asking such a forward question. I am sorry.” He explained. I was starting to feel dizzy.
“Please don’t drop me.” I whispered.
“Do not worry. I will do no such thing.” He said formally. “Do you know why you are here?” He inquired.
“No.” I asked. The smile on the deadly face immediately turned into a frown.
“You are here because your instruction on the Flow, its manipulation, and the subtleties of those who use it have been lax. Actually, your instruction has been close to none at all, which is a problem indeed.” He explained.
“And you intend on teaching me?” I asked. He nodded, his great head moving many feet up and down.
“Yes. In Equestria, it was my duty to instruct the neophytes about the Flow, and to make sure that they did not injure themselves. Clearly, in the latter part of my duties, I have been negligent, but in the former part, I hope that I will be successful.” He rumbled eloquently, his voice making my bones shiver.
“What is your name, Teacher?” I asked, already having a sneaking suspicion of what the name may be.
“My name is Alucard. And yours?” He asked. I gulped. I could feel my legs shake lightly. “I will not eat you, if that is what you are so worried about.” He responded quickly, most likely noticing my legs.
“No.” I said. Alucard made a big whumph, exhaling in almost a snort.
“I have a title. I expect to be addressed thus.” He reprimanded sternly.
“No, Teacher.” I said, staring at the odd collection of scales on his chin. He smiled and made a happy vibrating noise that made my teeth feel odd.
“Good. Please, tell me your name.” He said.
“Edwin.” I said, suddenly remembering that he was a dragon. Every clack of his teeth, every snick of his inner eyelid closing, every humid exhalation made me want to run away screaming. My pony instincts were urging, pleading with me to get away from this dangerous predator. My mind knew that he would not kill me, but that did not change the fact that I was struck with a cold sweat, my legs were shaking almost uncontrollably, and my mouth was unusually dry. I gulped, and Alucard sighed. Or, at least the dragon equivalent of a sigh, which was a long rumbling exhale.
“Would you feel any better if I were to place you back on the ground? He asked. I nodded, unable to speak calmly. I felt the artificial air of the Tardis’ air shield fly past me immediately, with the wonderful sensation of a controlled fall accompanying me. A few exhilarating seconds later, I opened my eyes to see the scorched landscape. I jumped off of Alucard’s hand and trotted as fast as I politely could to Luna, who was making a little sculpture out of the blackened sediment of the planet. It was a little hill, and I walked up slowly to see her innocently continue. She did as such for a few minutes, not noticing me. I cleared my throat after a while to get her attention, and her head shot up to look at me. I had the pleasure of watching her face go from blank surprise to caring joy, and my heart leapt in my chest. I walked over to her side wordlessly, edging my way around the tiny hill, and sat down by her side. She was staring at the dragon, so I took my chance to kiss her cheek. She immediately blushed and looked down at her hooves. I edged my hoof over to hers, placing mine around the blue limb. I heard the most unusual sound that sounded like grinding gears, and looked back up at Alucard. He was watching the two of us with a strange fascination. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. He tried again to say something, and was a slight bit more successful the second time.
“Tell me about how the two of you met. I find social relationships to facilitate felicity in myself, and would like to know more about how the two of you came to be if I can truly understand why Edwin wants to learn how to defend his loved ones.” He said, elongating his body so that he was lying supine, with his gigantic head a safe distance away from the two of us. I looked at Luna, and she gestured for me to go first.
“Well, I met Luna,” I said, jostling her playfully, eliciting a small giggle, “My first night in the Royal Estate. She asked me who I was and spent the entire night crying on my shoulder.” I said. Luna raised a hoof to smack me playfully on the chest.
“It wasn’t anywhere near all night! Moonrise was almost four hours before that.” She said smugly. I laughed, turning back to Alucard.
“Well, she comes to me the next day apologizing, and I guilt her into taking me out on a date. She later came to call it-”
“Take your Numbered to work day.” We said in synchrony. I said it with a humorous air, while she said it tiredly, with a happy sigh at the end. I smiled. looking at her. She looked back at me with a lazily happy gaze. We stared at each other for a while, and were interrupted by a low rumbling growl. I turned to look at Alucard, with closed eyes, a smile on his face, and wisps of smoke curling out of his nostrils. He sat like that for a little bit, but then he opened his large red eyes at looked at Luna.
“And what of you, Princess?” He inquired with his throaty rumble. Luna seemed rather shocked that he would ask that question.
“What of me?” She questioned. He made a wheezy exhalation that could be passed as a laugh.
“Tell me how you met Edwin. I am quite sure that your account will differ slightly from his.” Alucard reasoned, and there was a slightly strange logic to his words. Luna smiled.
“My first time meeting Edwin was extremely different from his first time meeting me.” Luna said, her tone hinting of a story withheld.
“Oh?” Alucard asked, his eyes perking slightly. I smiled, already knowing the story.
“Yes. You see, I met Edwin during my period of banishment on the moon. I-”
“Princess, how could that possibly be?” Alucard asked shyly. Luna made an amused humph.
“The Doctor is a strange pony, even to you.” Luna reasoned, and Alucard’s sharp smile seemed to grow even wider, an I gluped.
“Quite right, quite right. Please, continue.” He said, and Luna did exactly that.
“I must impress upon you how extremely lonely and hard life was on the moon. No air other than what I could make with magic made it a struggle to survive, and sleep was almost always a luxury. I was watching odd weather forming in northern Equestria when the Doctor showed up for one of his regular visits...” Luna trailed off, her gaze listing to the side. There was an incomprehensible emotion behind those eyes that made me frown. It was like the sadness upon discovery that you could not solve a puzzle that you put a considerable amount of time into. She swallowed, and then plunged back into her exposition.
“How I treasured those visits, Alucard. They were the only thing keeping me sane in an entire world of grey and dust. That wondrous Doctor with his amazing Tardis. He would tell me stories, amazing stories that would make the coat shiver right off of your back... It was a joy when he came to me. I loved his visits. It reminded me of my childhood, when Tia and I would awake to find the blue box out in the fields... But this visit, this visit was very different. You see, he brought a pony with him. A colt. He was a tall pony, with amazing white fur and jet black mane. He was strong. He had power, I could smell it in him. He was very different. He flew with no wings, he made magic where there was none. He looked me in the eyes and told me that he was taking me home.” She said, her voice growing excited. I was so enraptured by her narration that I had stopped watching Alucard’s reaction and was staring at Luna. She was so happy.
“He colthandled the Doctor into letting me into the big blue box. It was my first time inside of the box, and I was so excited. They even had a couch! I missed couches so much on the moon. They are so comfortable! We shared popcorn and laughed while I was waiting to go home. I couldn’t wait to go back home and tell Tia how sorry I was. All I wanted was for her to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. But...” She said, her enraptured joy suddenly marred by a strange fear. I was confused for a moment, but the bottom dropped out of my stomach when I remembered.
“The last thing that I could remember happening was the Doctor shouting something. Then it was just all pain. I hurt so much. Everything was so cold. I could see him, the amazing white colt, standing over me and screaming for me to live. He was so sad and I was so tired. I finally closed my eyes.” She said, hunched over and covering herself with her wing. I got up and walked over to her side and snaked my strong white legs around her. She immediately relaxed, and shuffled her wing so that I was protected by it too.
“I remember waking up. He was lying next to me, barely breathing. It was a grassy glade that I remember from being alive the first time. I thought that it was the afterlife for a while, but then I saw the Doctor. He told me everything that happened, everything that that strong colt did, everything. I saw him like he was. He would do and did everything that was in his power to protect me from anything that wished me harm. He even snagged me from the cold clutches of Death to save me.” She said, rising again to her full height.
“From that point on, I knew that he was the one for me.” She concluded.