Chapter 4: The Invader
The Moon of Gaia, 2000 C.E.
Derpy was quick to follow the Doctor and Luna as they made their way through the lobby and out into an indoor courtyard. There were a few ponies out but not that many.
"Where are we going?" Derpy asked.
"The communication tower. I need to inform my sister of what's happening," Luna replied.
It won't help, Derpy thought. She could feel her body grow slightly colder. Something wasn't right. Something wasn't right...with her. She wanted to tell the Doctor and Luna but something held her back. She wasn't entirely sure what it was but it was definitely powerful. They walked through a series of hallways before coming to what looked like an underground train station.
"A subway," stated the Doctor.
"This is our only way into the communication tower," said Luna.
"But you're an alicorn. Couldn't you just teleport there or something?" Derpy asked. Luna giggled.
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But the major sections of Moonbase One, the communication tower included, have special devices inside them to prevent anypony from teleporting inside. It's like that to help stop intruders, robbers, the like." A guard bowed and stepped aside to allow Luna, Derpy, and the Doctor onto the subway. The subway was certainly unlike any train Derpy had seen in her own time. It looked so clean, sleek, and futuristic. The trio made their way to the front of the subway and sat down. Nopony else was in the car with them. Derpy looked around for any sign of an engineer or a conductor.
"Where's the engineer?" Derpy asked.
"Our subway trains don't need engineers. They move on their own," Luna replied. Derpy heard a loud hiss as the doors of the subway train closed. The train began moving forward as a pre-recorded voice came on over the speakers.
"Thank you for using MO Expressway. Our next stop is the communication tower," stated the voice. As the train picked up speed and began roaring down the tracks, Derpy felt another wave of cold wash over her.
Three minutes of tense silence rolled by as the subway train rolled down the tracks. Tunnel lights and graffiti markings soared by the exterior of the windows. As the train rolled down the tracks, the Doctor thought about the current situation.
This enemy of Luna's must be incredibly patient. I don't like it when the enemy is patient. This she must have a plan then. I'm not keen on finding out what this plan is but I'll do my best to help Luna defeat her enemy before this plan falls into place, the Doctor thought. He looked across the aisle to where Derpy was sitting. She didn't appear to be as shaken up as she had previously. He felt a bit proud of her. She was being fairly brave for somepony in a situation like this. She also had held her own quite well back during the Nightmare Moon fiasco. She could make a good companion. No! Don't think like that! I'm not going to ruin another life! So many have had to pay so much for coming across me: Rose, Donna, Martha, Harriet, Astrid, Adelaide, Jack, Mickey, Adric, River, Susan...the list goes on. I have to end this before it begins!
"You okay, Doctor?" Derpy asked. The Doctor cleared his throat, smiled, and nodded his head.
"Don't worry yourself, Ms. Hooves," he replied. "I'm fine."
"That's good." Suddenly, Derpy's face became practically emotionless. The words she proceeded to say sounded nearly robotic. "Because things are going to get dangerous quite fast." Before the Doctor could question her, a series of sparks shot up from in front of the train. The car shook violently for a few seconds and the lights flickered. A powerful chill swept through the train car. Luna stood up and her eyes proceeded to glow pure white.
"Show yourself, Demon!" Luna ordered. The lights shut off and the Doctor heard Derpy scream.
"DOCTOR!" she cried.
"Derpy?!" the Doctor asked as he jumped from his seat and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. The lights shot back on for a few seconds. The Doctor gasped. Standing at the end of the car was a horrific beast. It was difficult for the Doctor to find words to describe the creature. It looked like a female alicorn at first glance but, upon closer inspection, it appeared that the creature was constantly changing shape. Its body looked to be constructed out of solid smoke. Long, slimy tentacles oozing with an acidic toxin extended from its body. Its mouth was wide and dripping with white pus and its eyes were an icy blue. The Doctor looked around but could see no sign of Derpy. "Derpy?! Derpy, where are you?!"
The creature lunged for the Doctor and Luna. The lights went out. Something strong and cold smashed into the Doctor's body. The Doctor rolled along the ground and came to a stop underneath a collection of seats. His Sonic Screwdriver flew out of his hoof and rolled over to the other side of the car. He could hear the sound of Luna ramming her body into the body of the creature. Suddenly, a small white light appeared underneath the seats on the other side of the car. The Doctor noticed that the light was coming from his Sonic Screwdriver.
"White flashlight mode. That's new," the Doctor stated. His eyes followed the trail of light to the outline of Derpy huddled underneath the car seats on the other side of the car. "Derpy!" Derpy looked at the Doctor. The lights flickered on and off and Derpy disappeared. "DERPY?!" The lights flickered again and Derpy reappeared. The lights flickered and Derpy proceeded to disappear again. This cycle repeated over ten times as Luna and the deadly her fought violently in the center of the car. Suddenly, a loud metallic snap emanated from the back of the car. One of the Doctor's hearts stopped. Their car was now technically disconnected from the rest of the train behind them.
"Doctor...Doctor...it's so cold!" the Doctor heard Derpy cry out from somewhere in the darkness. "I'm so cold!" The Doctor heard Luna give off a loud groan. Something heavy, which the Doctor assumed was the creature, flew through the air and smashed into the front of the train car. There was a loud explosion as the entire front of the car fell apart and was pulled underneath the train. Powerful gusts of wind produced by air suction rolled and smashed their way through the car. The Doctor stood up and stared out down the tracks ahead of them. A track intersection was coming up with one track appearing to lead deep underground.
"Luna! Can you stop this train?!" asked the Doctor. Luna's horn glowed but the glow quickly faded. Through the flickering lights of the tunnel, the Doctor could see that Luna was pretty badly beaten.
"I...I don't have the strength," Luna coughed. The Doctor looked around for anything. He made his way over to his Sonic Screwdriver. As he reached under the seat to grab it, he noticed Derpy standing at the end of the car. Her eyes looked glassy and waves of cold were emanating from her body.
"Derpy?"
"We're going down," said Derpy in a cold, robotic voice. Suddenly, something flew up from the tracks in between the car they were in and the car behind them and stopped the rest of the train in its tracks. The Doctor could hear the sounds of surprised and scared passengers as their car careened towards the splitting tracks. The car leaned dangerously as it turned down the track that led deep underground. The Doctor pointed the Sonic Screwdriver forward and activated it. Hot sparks soared up from the wheels and into the car. The Doctor could feel his coat burning from the heat. The car gave off several groans and shrieks but it eventually came to a solid halt. As the adrenaline rush began to die down, the Doctor felt himself grow incredibly tired. He fell over onto his back and lost consciousness.
Derpy awoke to find herself lying on the train tracks. She didn't know how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the train car and feeling a cold gust. Now she was lying on train tracks in a somewhat dark tunnel a few yards from a subway train car with its front blown off. Through the darkness, she could make out the shadowy outlines of Luna and the Doctor lying on the floor in the car.
"What...what happened?" Derpy asked.
We happened, replied a voice from within Derpy's mind. Derpy's breathing became hoarse and heavy. She felt her eyes widen and her heartbeat increase. The voice she heard wasn't one of her own confused thoughts. This was a separate entity all together.
"Who...who said that?"
I did.
"Well, who are you?"
The Queen.
"The Queen?"
Yes. The true Queen of the Moon. Your precious Princess Luna may have self proclaimed herself as the ruler of my domain but she is wrong. She has always been wrong.
"You...you're her, aren't you?" Derpy heard a cold laugh echo through the hallways of her subconscious.
Yes. Does that frighten you?
Derpy gulped and tensely replied, "Yes. It does." Another cold laugh came in response.
Good. But you have no need to fear me, Derpy Hooves. You, as of the current moment, are a valuable asset to me.
Derpy sure didn't like the sound of this. "Why do you need me?!" she asked.
My last skirmish with Luna left me quite...weak, replied the Queen. I fell asleep and woke up nearly 1000 years later. I woke up to discover a colony on my Moon. A colony of pathetic creatures who loved and respected my enemy and her troublesome sister. At first, I wished to destroy the base known as Moonbase One and kill all who lived there. But then I came up with a plan. I knew Luna would return one day. It was inevitable. I decided to hide away and wait. I'm very good at waiting, you know. Finally, Luna returned. I made my way towards the base but discovered that the combined powers of Luna and Celestia along with their advanced technologies were enough to keep my physical body out of the base. But...heh...they couldn't hold back my spiritual body. I scanned the base with my mind to find the perfect link, the perfect host. That's when I found you, Derpy Hooves. An innocent pegasus with a lot to think about but with hardly any way to organize said thoughts. A pegasus completely annoyed, enchanted, and intrigued by an odd stallion. A pegasus who was trusted intensely by my enemy: Luna. It took a lot of my energy but I was finally able to break in and attach to my target.
"Wait...does that mean that-"
Yes. I'm inside you, Derpy Hooves. Our minds are one.
"No! Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Derpy began slapping herself and shaking her head vigorously. The Queen simply laughed at her.
Oh, Derpy. That's not going to get me out of you. I'm not leaving...not until Princess Luna is dead.
"No! I won't let you hurt the Princess!"
I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this matter. I'm the master in this relationship. You're the puppet. I've waited too long for this opportunity and I'm not going to let a puppet stand in my way.
Derpy gasped as she felt her body begin moving on its own. She tried to fight the Queen's influence but couldn't. It was then that Derpy noticed that she was clutching something in her hoof: a large piece of broken glass from one of the train car's windows.
Now, be a good puppet and stab Princess Luna to death for me, the Queen ordered with a chuckle. Derpy groaned as her body was forced to walk towards the train car. And this Doctor seems to be a problem so I better have you kill him as well. Derpy tried to fight the Queen's influence but it was too strong. She felt another chill reverberate through her body as she approached Princess Luna and the Doctor: the ponies she had no choice but to kill.