//------------------------------//
// 13: of Buttons and Gardens 
// Story: One Way 
// by jroddie 
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Chapter 13

The tardis was a welcome sight, made even better with Luna by my side. I practically pranced up to the door, skipping ahead of her. I pushed it open with a hoof.
“After you, Princess.” I in a snobbish tone. Luna pushed me with one of her forehooves.
“Not all of us are complete prats, Edwin. You of all ponies should know this by now.” She said jokingly. She walked in, her tail swishing behind her. I could smell her as she walked by. She smelled like oranges. I tried to shake the smell out of my head so i could do things like talk and stand and breathe. I walked in the tardis, seeing the Doctor hopping all around his console. I walked up beside Luna, who was watching him with rapt amusement. He was holding a mallet in his mouth, slamming it on a particularly tricky lever. Luna and I stared at him as he slammed the mallet into the console. He slammed it a few more times for good measure, and threw the mallet off to the side. It made a good thump as it landed on a tube. He looked up at his machine, laughing. He looked back at us.
“About time you lot came back inside.” He said. I looked at him, still annoyed.
“We were enjoying the scenery.” I replied, disgruntled. Luna shuffled her hooves beside me... The Doctor smirked.
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” He asked sarcastically. Luna made a soft noise in her throat. I looked at her, feeling warm. I thought about all the times we had together, in the courtyard, meeting her for the first time. I glanced back to the Doctor, who was fiddling with his console. He swore softly under his breath and continued smashing his hooves on the panels. I looked at Luna, who was looking at me. She averted her gaze, her cheeks purple again.
“So, Luna... What was it like?” I asked, truly interested. Her eyes flew up to me, surprised.
“What was what like, Ed?” She asked.
“Dying.” I said bluntly. I knew what it was like to die, but I didn’t know what happened  afterwards. Luna looked sad for a moment, remembering her death.
“It was... Cold, Ed. One moment I was in the tardis, covered in blood. You were standing over me, begging...” She choked on her words, looking away.
“You don’t have to talk about it, Luna. I meant what came after.” I said. She looked back at me, seemingly grateful. 
“There wasn’t much, Ed. Just... Black. No sensation, no light, nothing. Just your thoughts to console you. It was... Unpleasant, to say the least.” She said somberly. There was a large clash on the opposite side of the tardis, startling both of us. I looked over to see the Doctor’s legs sticking out under a pile of tubes and wrenches. Luna giggled a little, and her long horn glowed a iridescent blue. The pile of junk glowed the same color and floated off of him. She blinked her eyes, and the pipes winked out of existence. Her horn stopped glowing. The Doctor looked at her with a bored look on his face.
“I’m going to need those back, you know.” He said matter-of-factly. I laughed once. Luna and the Doctor looked at me. 
“It’s not like they’re your only ones, right? Besides, can we even use them, being ponies and all?” I replied, gesturing to a nearby pile of wrenches. The Doctor sarcastically laughed at me as he rolled over to his hooves. 
“Ha Ha, Edwin. Some of us happen to like our wrenches.” The Doctor replied, walking to the console. I smirked as he pushed a lever with his hoof. The tardis make a whooshy, watery noise for a few seconds, then stopped. The Doctor looked at me.
“Okay, Edwin. You’ve brought us this far. What in the name of Celestia’s horn fungus are we going to do now?” The Doctor asked, his tone incredulous. I looked at Luna, who was looking at me with wide eyes.
“Well, Where are we?” I asked.
“We’re at the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville.
“We need to figure out how to make you,” I said, gesturing at Luna “Look like Nightmare Moon.”
Luna thought about this for a second, closing her eyes in concentration. She was like this for about a minute or two. The Doctor and I shuffled impatiently as we waited for Luna to do something. Time was of the essence now that we were at our destination. 
Luna’s horn glowed with a mystical, erethral blue. Her outline shuddered once, blurring her form. She opened her eyes. Her irises were a sharp teal, and her pupils were slits. I was shocked by this, but had no time to recover from it. Her outline shuddered again, and her mane and tail turned into a wispy cloud of sparkling blue. It was the exact same color as the glow around her horn. She was still for a second, her outline still slightly blurred. She looked down at her hoof, still a deep, midnight blue, and rolled her eyes. Her horn glowed blue again, and her outline blurred. She turned completely black. She opened her eyes. 
“Wow.” The Doctor said. 
“Yeah.” I agreed. Luna was exactly the spitting image of Nightmare Moon. It was almost frightening how much she looked like the dark creature. I thought the illusion was nearly perfect, but the Doctor had other ideas.
“Um, Luna?” He said questioningly. Luna turned her horrible teal eyes to look at him
“Yes?” She replied. Her voice was exactly the same as the regular Luna, which placated me.
“You’re a little bit short for Midnight, aren’t you?” He said awkwardly. Luna looked down at her hooves.
“You’re right.” She said. Her horn glowed once more. Her legs and neck grew, seemingly stretching. She towered over me when she was done. I admired the dangerous beauty of her.
“You clean up alright, kid.” The Doctor said sarcastically. Luna giggled once under her breath. I grinned at her. She looked down at me.
“I can never thank you enough, Edwin.” She said, looking down at me with wide teal eyes.
“You never need to, Luna.” I replied. She leaned down to my face. The faintest smell of oranges wafted down to me as I could feel my chest tighten. 
“I think that I do, Edwin. You have more than earned it.” She whispered in my ear. I gulped as her flowing blue hair tickled my cheek. She slowly drew her head away, her black coat glistening in the low light of the tardis. She locked eyes with me, her slitted pupils half hidden under lazy lids. Her head inched toward me ever so slightly. I closed my eyes as she met my lips. She tasted slightly sweet, like a fresh fruit. Her lips were soft and tender. Even though this was amazing, I could only think how far I had come. Only a week ago I was making a costume for comic con, And now I was kissing royalty in the tardis. She pulled away. The Doctor looked at us and sighed.
“Okay, time to get you out of here. We have a schedule to keep, you know.” The Doctor said as he pushed Luna out of the door. I caught a sad glance from Luna as she was forced out of the tardis.
“This isn’t goodbye, Luna. I promise. I love you.” I said seriously as the doctor butted his head against Luna’s knee. Luna visibly relaxed and allowed herself to be pushed out of the tardis. The door closed with a loud thump. The Doctor fell over, his lungs heaving.

“I’m never... Taking you... With me... AGAIN!” the Doctor shouted through strained lungs.
I laughed. He looked up at me with angry eyes.
“Please, Doctor! It wasn’t that bad looking back, now was it?” I said, joking with him.
“Luna died and you murdered me.” He said bluntly. The laughter died in my throat.
“But... It all ended well, didn’t it?” I asked, disappointed. The Doctor looked at me and laughed once, his voice harsh.
“It may have been a romp through the park for you, Edwin, But for me? It was the longest ten years of my life. I’ve had enough adventure to fill a stocking.” the Doctor complained. 
“A stocking?!” I said, taken completely unaware. The laughter bubbled back up in my throat.
The Doctor rolled around on the ground, trying to right himself. This made me laugh even harder, craning my neck down because I was gasping for breath. I was wheezing by the time the Doctor got to his hooves. 
“You alright, Ed?” The Doctor asked in an unsure tone. I wiggled one of my forehooves at him and fell over, still wheezing. I rolled around on the ground, unable to contain my mirth. The Doctor paid me no attention as he pushed and pulled on his levers and buttons. I gasped for breath on the floor. The Doctor looked at me incredulously.
“You done?” He asked. I was done. I wiggled a hoof at him again for him to continue. He snorted once. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I heard the swishy, slooshy noise of the tardis moving. I rolled over onto my hooves. The Doctor was looking at me from the opposite side of his console. 
“We are outside of Antony’s cottage, about two hours after I displaced you to go see Luna on the moon. He would be happy to teach you about summoning blades now, I think.” The Doctor said, glancing at me with passive eyes. I looked at him long and hard.
“Why are you mad at me, Doctor?” I asked. He turned to me with anger in his eyes. It was frightening, truly. His gaze bared my very soul out for all to see. I was defenseless against it.
“She knew me since she was a filly. She grew up with me by her side. Even when her own sister left her for naught on the moon, I was still there for her. It broke my heart that i could not save her from her torment in her grey prison, but I have sworn to not interfere for fear of altering the timeline. But, you, Edwin. You.” The Doctor exclaimed with fire in his eyes. I shrank from his gaze, the space between us offering me no protection. He rounded the edge of his console, slowly advancing to me. I was curled up on the ground shivering, unable to break eye contact.
“You show up and expect everything to go all hunky-dory, ‘Let’s save Luna’, be back home in time for tea! Do you really think that I haven’t thought about doing that a million times already?! I didn’t do it because it was dangerous! What could have happened DID happen! And you think that it was hard to watch her die? I watched her die, then I died, and then I had to bury her!” He shouted at me, advancing towards me hoof by hoof. I shuddered, remembering her blood gushing from her broken body. I whimpered as the Doctor approached even closer to me.
“You know nothing of life, Edwin. Yet you are given such gifts. Gifts of power, gifts of grace. You were barely alive in your original existence, and have barely lived in this one. I feel sorry for you, Edwin. Forced into a life where you must fight, fight for a cause in which you barely know, let alone believe in.” He whispered at me, craning his neck down. I stared back at him, covered in a cold sweat. The Doctor looked at me again, his upper lip curling slightly at one corner. It wasn’t like he was smiling, but like he was sneering.
“Get out of my tardis.” He whispered, turning his back to me. He walked back to his console, and pushed a few buttons.
“But-
“Get out, Edwin Shell! Get out of my tardis!” The Doctor spun around and spat at me. I flinched at the venom in his voice. I flinched. He turned back to his console.
“Doctor-” I started. The Doctor gestured for me to stop without looking away from the console. 
“I may come to forgive you in time. The one thing I have so much of.” The Doctor said. He folded his forelegs and leaned over a control panel. He sighed softly.
“Do you know how infuriating it is to watch someone die?” He asked roughly, turning his head to the side. He was still leaning over the console.
“What?” I asked, finding his question nonsensical.
“I am Immortal, Edwin. I cannot die. Disease, physical trauma, the ravages of time... I am immune to all. I have lived for over three thousand years, Edwin. Celestia and Luna are much older, but they have purpose. A reason to live, Edwin. They are in charge of an entire empire. The lives of millions depend on them doing their job. It’s what keeps them going.” He said, his voice growing somber. I looked at him quizzically, my hoof reaching for the door.
“I have nothing but a blue box. A blue box and all of eternity. It was interesting for the first three centuries... Then the Daleks started a time war.” He said, his voice hitching.
“Both sides were annihilated, driven to extinction. I was the only surviving Time Lord left in the whole of creation. I had nowhere to go, no home to return to. I was... Alone.” He whispered. Tears were dripping on the console. 
“I spent the next six centuries trying to console myself to fate. I explored planets unknown, sights unseen. It did nothing. I started taking people, normal creatures, with me to see sights. I lived vicariously through them, seeing the sights through their eyes. It... Helped.” He gulped. My hoof was hovering, inches from the door.
“They were worse off for it. I watched them die in front of me. Murdered, mostly. They were my only weakness. I may be immortal, but my heart died long ago. The human in that picture... Rose was her name. Rose Tyler. She was my favorite. She made me look at things so differently. I traveled with her for years. We finally came to a point when I couldn’t bear the suspense. She could die at any moment, and there was nothing that I could do to prevent it. I sent her home.” He said, his face soaked with tears of ages past. He broke down, slamming his head down on the console. He wept. He slammed a hoof down hard on the console, snapping off a button. it rolled across the floor, bouncing. It rolled all the way over to my feet. I looked at it. It was big and red. It had an worn and faded yellow exclamation point on it. I was surprised by it, and picked it up with magic. The Doctor was too busy grieving all over the console to notice me slip out of the tardis door. I closed the door silently behind me, and found myself back in front of Antony’s cottage. I sighed deeply, falling on the ground. Unconsciousness doesn’t count as sleep, I decided. The ground was soft, and I was tired. Sleep came quickly, and was a dreamless blessing.

“You’re in my garden, Edwin.” Said a voice. I felt something hard poke my face.
“Merrr...” I said, rolling away from the poking. 
“Edwin, you’re on my carrots now. Get up.” Said the voice, gruffer this time. I neighed and rolled over again. I heard a peircing sound, like music, but it was too harsh,
“You’re scaring Berry, Edwin. I suggest you get up.” I opened my eyes, squinting. What I saw made me open my eyes wider. Antony was staring at me, his teeth bared. His eyes were squinting at me, his large lavender pupils carrying the deadliest of intent. The scar slashing down across his left eye made it all the more threatening. But what caught my attention was not his stare, but the large dagger he had pointing at my face. It’s pommel was adorned with a plum colored gem that sparkled in the sunlight. 
“I suggest you get up Edwin. I will not ask again.” Antony promised. I stared at him, my jaw agape. The dagger floated forward and touched my nose. I scrambled to try and get to my hooves. Antony watched me fumble around, still pointing the dagger at me. I stared at him, scared for my life.
“What in Equestria would make you wake me up like that?!” I shouted at him. He shrugged.
“You were scaring Berry.” He said simply. He looked at his dagger, which floated up to his face. It made a warbling hum. Antony opened his mouth slightly as he looked at it. 
“Huh.” He said.
“What?” I asked, still mad from my rude awakening. Antony was looking at his dagger, lost in thought.
“That gem... Was never there before...” He trailed off. He stared at it for a few minutes more. I coughed. He turned away from it to look at me.
“I take it the Doctor left you here, eh?” He asked.
“Yeah, he did. How did you know?"
“He was just inside for breakfast, wasn’t he?” Antony said sarcastically. “Come on, let’s get you some food.” He said, walking back towards his cottage. I could see what I assumed to be Berry looking at me in the one small window in the cottage. She blushed when She saw me look. 
“That sounds great.” I replied, following Antony into the cottage.