//------------------------------//
// The Twilight King 
// Story: The Doctor Whooves Chronicles Episode 5: Prisoners of War 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 8: The Twilight King


Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.

Derpy could tell that Twilight was beginning to experience an extreme amount of pain as soon as they entered the tomb. Random, weak sparks of magic shot off Twilight's horn and her eyes began to quickly become watery and bloodshot. Her face began to take on a green hue and her breathing became quick and raspy. Derpy tightened her grip on the unicorn's foreleg in order to help her have a bit more balance. As she helped Twilight walk, Derpy took a quick look at the interior of the tomb.
A simple hallway stood immediately beyond the entrance doors to the tomb. The walls were plain white with torches hanging from said walls. The fire in the torches changed between white, purple, orange, and yellow and the flickering lights of the torches shimmered off a collection of crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. The sweet aroma still lingered in the air and it made Derpy feel like she had just dunked her head into a vat of melted sugar.
Derpy took a quick glance back at President Targaryen and the group of soldiers. The President still kept his smug grin intact and refused to give any other expression aside from that. A majority of the soldiers appeared cool, calm, and detached from all emotions. However, a select few of the soldiers looked a bit uneasy about the plan that was being set into motion. Derpy could tell that these select few were probably questioning if what they were doing was actually right. Of course, Derpy would immediately protest and say that it was wrong; but it was clear that President Targaryen was calling the shots for this and these soldiers, no matter how doubtful, were still willing to follow his orders to the end.
The group eventually reached the end of the hallway, which opened up into a huge and surprisingly beautiful room. Two, large fountains stood on opposite sides of the room from each other and rose up towards the ceiling. One of the fountains spewed out a spray of violet water while the other let out a mist of light blue water. Each fountain had a small pond beneath it and both ponds were filled with the heads of large, white and yellow flowers. Derpy quickly understood that it was from the flower heads in the ponds where the sugary aroma came from. A yellow haze rose up from the center of the flower heads and dispersed into the air. President Targaryen stepped forward and took in a deep breath. "I always do enjoy the smell of the alpenglow lilies," he said as he approached one of the ponds and took in a deep breath of the sweet air. "This is the only place on Nymphadora where these flowers grow year-round, you know."
For a tomb, this place actually...looks really nice, Derpy thought as she looked at the colored fountains, alpenglow lilies, and giant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling high above. Her attention was then drawn to a large door at the other end of the room. The door was dark purple with the pictures of two, dark eyes embedded in the center. President Targaryen began to approach the door as he extended his claw that had the glowing ring forward. He raised his claw up towards the ceiling and the tomb began to shake slightly. Twilight groaned and fell to her knees. "Twilight!" Derpy gasped as she knelt down to help her friend. "Twilight?!"
"There's...powerful...magic...here. Extremely...powerful...dark...magic," Twilight said as a random series of magical sparks shot out of her horn and dispersed into the air. Derpy looked up to see a small hole opening up in the ceiling. A white light emanated from the hole and something began to descend down towards President Targaryen. It wasn't until the President caught the item in his claw that Derpy was able to see what it was: a white staff with a bright, light blue gem at the very tip. The gem on the staff began to glow as brightly as the ring on the President's finger and the invisible, melancholy chorus of the tomb proceeded to sing again.
"This is it, Twilight Sparkle," chuckled the President as he presented the staff to Derpy and Twilight. "The Staff of the Dawn. This was the weapon used by the Dawn to seal away the Twilight King all those centuries ago; and today it shall act as my way of controlling the helpful beast that lies beyond this door." Twilight was now bent over onto the floor and wheezing heavily. Random sparks of magic were continuing to pour out of her horn.
"Twilight? Twilight?!" cried Derpy. She looked fearfully at the pained unicorn before turning towards the President angrily. "What's going on with her?!"
A greedy smile appeared on President Targaryen's face. "The Twilight King is calling to his spark. He's calling for the energy needed to awaken him to come forth." The President then turned his attention back towards the purple door with the eyes. "Let's not keep him waiting any longer."
"NO! STOP!" cried Twilight as the President took a few steps towards the door. The President turned back to Twilight with a curious smile. Twilight's eyes were beginning to glow and violet tears were rolling down her cheeks. "IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA, THE UNIVERSE, AND ALL THAT'S GOOD, DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR! WHAT'S WAITING BEYOND THAT DOOR IS FAR MORE POWERFUL AND EVIL THAN WHAT YOU CAN EVEN IMAGINE! I CAN FEEL HIS RAGE AND POWER! IF YOU OPEN THAT DOOR, YOU'VE DOOMED EVERYTHING ON YOUR PLANET! PLEASE, DON'T OPEN IT!" The President simply rolled his eyes and continued to approach the door. Twilight continued to scream and beg for him to stop. "PLEASE! STOP! DON'T DO THIS! THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY TO END THIS WAR! ANYTHING WOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS!"
President Targaryen stopped a couple feet away from the door and turned back towards Derpy and Twilight. "There is no other way," he stated with his usual snide grin. "Everything has led to this: the beginning of a new age for Nymphadora with me as its instigator." Derpy could feel her own heart pounding as President Targaryen turned back towards the door and began to raise his claw with the ring. The door began to shake and the sad choir grew even louder.
Just then, something whizzed through the air and missed the President's head by a few centimeters. The President turned away from the door and the door stopped shaking. "I'd stop right there if I were you," ordered a familiar voice. Derpy turned around and her heart did a double somersault of joy. Standing at the entrance of the room was Colonel Ash with his blaster aimed at the President. Standing alongside him were Marcus the deserter and...the Doctor!
"Doctor! You're okay!" cried a happy Derpy.
"Oh yes!" the Doctor replied with a large grin. The President's soldiers immediately turned their blasters on the unexpected trio. With a quick motion, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the blasters. Like a chain reaction, the soldiers' blasters spewed out a cloud of electrical sparks before falling apart like wet paper.
"That was...easy," Marcus commented.
"Yeah, but things are only going to get harder from here on out," stated Colonel Ash as he kept the blaster aimed at the President.
Derpy expected the President to be shocked by this sudden interruption of his plans. Instead, he began clapping his claws with his snide and suave grin still plastered on his face, much to Derpy's annoyance. "Well, well, well. This is truly an...entertaining surprise," chuckled President Targaryen as he took a few steps away from the door. "Colonel Asphodel Rogers, correct?"
"Yeah, the colonel whose base you recently attacked!"
"Yes, so sorry about that. But, the spark simply had to be recovered. Me and the other government officials have been waiting and planning for this moment for quite some time."
"False apologies won't help you out here, Mr. President. Your ordered attack on my base led to many of my men, a good chunk of well-trained and good-hearted Nymphadorian soldiers, losing their lives. Now you're about to unleash an even worse hell on the rest of us!"
The President shook his head like a disappointed parent. "Asphodel, it's stubborn ideals and thoughts like those that led your father to meet his end."
Colonel Ash sent another blast out of the gun that nearly took the President's head off. "Speak about my father like that again and I won't miss your face next time."
"Fine. I won't talk about your late father. So let's talk about you, Asphodel. I must admit that I had such high hopes for you. But it seems that you don't have the same love for and dedication to Nymphadora that I do."
"I think the fact that I'm pointing a gun at the most powerful man on Nymphadora speaks a lot about how much dedication I have for the well-being of our planet. This plan of yours...it just isn't the way."
"It's our only way...and I'm sorry that you're not intelligent enough to realize that." Suddenly, the President rushed towards Derpy and Twilight like a bullet. Just as Derpy put together that he must be one of the few Nymphadorians with super speed, she found herself getting a faceful of shoe. Derpy fell back and cried as pain began to spread out from the spot where President Targaryen's shoe had collided with her face. As Derpy rolled around on the ground in pain, she heard Twilight yell and kick angrily from nearby.
"Derpy! Twilight!" she heard the Doctor yell. "Put Twilight down!"
Derpy clutched the spot where the President had kicked her and looked to see that the President had now taken Twilight hostage. He was holding her against his body with a knife brought up next to her neck. "Anybody moves and we'll all see what Twilight Sparkle's neck looks like on the inside!" cackled the President. His suave grin was now replaced by the smile of a psychopath.
"You're insane!" snapped Marcus.
"No! You're the one who's insane! You all are!"
I think I liked the annoying President Targaryen better, thought Derpy as she stood up.
"Are you okay, Derpy?!" she heard the Doctor ask from behind her.
"I'm fine!" Derpy called back. "My face just hurts a bit."
"Yeah. Sorry about that, dearie," chuckled the President. "But we all have to make sacrifices, now don't we?!"
"Please! Don't do this! You can't control him!" Twilight pleaded.
"Shut up, spark!" Twilight yelped as the knife came closer to her neck. "Just play your part and everything will be just fine!" Derpy looked back at the Doctor, Colonel Ash, and Marcus. She then turned back towards Twilight and the President. "Wakey wakey, Mr. Twilight King! It's time to wake up!" The President continued to laugh as he waved his glowing ring in front of the door. A cloud of dust swirled into the air as the door lurched open. Derpy gulped as tentacles of purple smoke began to emanate through the crack in the opening door.
Twilight was squirming something fierce and more sparks of magic were pouring from her horn. Her eyes began to glow brighter while the purple mist proceeded to waft over to her. "Come...here...my...spark," chuckled a dark voice from beyond the door.
"No! Get away! Get away from me!" cried Twilight. "Ah! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
Derpy felt the hair in her mane blow against her face as the door flung open and nearly fell off its massive, metal hinges. Derpy gulped as a massive blob of purple smoke poured through the door. A pair of angry, black eyes peered out towards them. "Oh my stars," Derpy heard one of the soldiers say.
The creature within the smoke began to laugh as it bore down on Twilight and the President. The President pointed the Staff of the Dawn at the smoke. The ring on his finger and the gem on the staff continued to glow brightly. "Here's your spark, Twilight King! You can finally return...but you obey me and the government of Nymphadora now!" the President yelled. 
Twilight screamed as one of the purple tentacles grabbed her and pulled her from the President's grasp. A surge of magical energy coursed throughout the purple cloud. The tomb shook vigorously and the sad choir began to scream rather than sing. The eyes within the cloud of smoke disappeared and, a moment later, a tall figure emerged from the cloud. He was a gigantic creature covered from head to toe in thick, black armor with a gold and purple cape stretching down to his feet. Derpy gasped as she saw the struggling, but incredibly weak, Twilight held tightly in one of his arms. "I am Dusk, the King of the Twilight," stated the armored creature as it stared out at the witnesses of his revival. King Dusk turned his attention towards the President, who was waving the Staff of the Dawn at him, and knocked both the staff and the ring from his grasp. Derpy saw the staff and the ring fly through the air and land a couple feet away from the Doctor. Derpy turned back to see King Dusk pull out a massive, black and purple sword. President Targaryen's psychotic smile was quickly replaced by a look of sheer horror. "And I obey...NOTHING!" With a swing of the sword, the President's head soared through the air and fell into one of the ponds. His body disintegrated into a cloud of dust while his head was pulled underwater by the alpenglow lilies, which were now being brought to life by King Dusk's powerful magic.
"Derpy! Get back!" cried the Doctor. Derpy gulped as King Dusk towered over her.
"A pegasus," chuckled the Twilight King. "I shall enjoy you...immensely."
A blast of energy suddenly struck King Dusk in his armored face. It didn't do much damage but it did make him stumble around a bit. "Run, Derpy!" ordered Colonel Ash. Derpy took this chance to take to the air. She flew away from King Dusk and landed right in front of the Doctor. She then couldn't resist the urge give him a huge hug.
"You're okay! I'm so glad you're alright!" Derpy exclaimed.
"I'm glad about that too, Derpy, but can we do the hugging after we defeat the revived evil Twilight King?" the Doctor asked with a warm and friendly smile. Derpy backed away and nodded.
"Let the unicorn go, Dusk!" ordered Colonel Ash.
King Dusk glared at the Colonel angrily through his helmet as he prepared a fiery magic ball in his free claw. "Did you really expect him to listen to you?" asked Marcus.
"No but it was worth a shot." Colonel Ash shot a blast from his gun just as King Dusk sent the magic ball flying. The two attacks collided and sent a shower of fiery sparks through the air. The President's soldiers scattered to avoid the falling sparks.
"Stupid children," scoffed King Dusk. "You must be taught manners." The Twilight King clenched his fist as pieces of rubble began to levitate into the air.
Marcus tapped Colonel Ash on the soldier and beckoned him to hand over the blaster. "May I?" asked Marcus.
"Certainly," replied the Colonel as he handed the blaster over to Marcus. The debris then soared through the air towards them. Most of the soldiers were instantly taken out by the attacking debris while a few managed to escape the room and quickly make their way out of the tomb. The Doctor pushed Derpy behind him and began taking out some of the debris with his sonic screwdriver while Marcus handled the blaster. From behind the Doctor, Derpy could see Marcus jumping around and blasting as much debris as he could. In fact, if she weren't mistaken, he appeared to be almost having fun. Then she heard it. "MARCUS! LOOK OUT!"
Derpy watched as Colonel Ash ran towards Marcus. She looked up and saw something small and shiny zooming through the air at incredible speeds. Marcus froze with surprise and, due to this, Colonel Ash quickly knocked him aside. As he did, the shiny object flew straight into Colonel Ash. The Colonel was knocked back and a spray of a familiar red liquid flew out from his body. Derpy gasped in horror as the Colonel came to a stop a few feet away from her and the Doctor. President Targaryen's knife, which had previously been used to hold Twilight hostage, was now lodged deep into his chest...right around his heart. The barrage of debris stopped for some reason as Marcus ran towards the Colonel's side. Derpy looked in shock at the terrible scene before her while the Doctor ran to Colonel Ash's side.
"Ash! Ash! Come on, Man, say something!" pleaded Marcus, whom Derpy hadn't expected to get so emotional.
The injured Ash looked up at Marcus with a depressing smile on my face. "I guess...that was a stupid move," he choked.
"You're damn right it was!"
Ash gave a weak smile and grabbed one of Marcus's claws. "Hey, Marcus. Sorry...about what happened...when you were...taken prisoner. I wish...you could have made it back...to see her again."
"It wasn't your fault!"
Derpy looked to see that King Dusk wasn't even attempting to attack them. He was just standing there...watching them. "You...looked like you were...having fun," said Ash.
"I was being careless! I...I shouldn't have been having fun in this situation!" Marcus argued with a guilty face.
"But you were...and I'm happy. You've missed being in...the line of fire. Don't feel bad...about enjoying those...few seconds."
"This shouldn't happen, Ash! You're so young!"
"Hey...I'm just a sixteen year old colonel. You, Marcus, are going to be much more helpful to the Doctor."
"No! Ash! Stay with us!"
Ash raised his head up. He quickly glanced at Derpy, the Doctor, and Marcus before saying, "See you guys...on the other side of the curtain. I'll...be waiting...to assist you." And, with that, Colonel Ash gave his last breath. His eyes became foggy and his body limp. A few tears began to roll down Marcus's face as he grasped the Colonel tightly in his arms.
Derpy's ears perked up as a cold laugh started to reverberate through the air. She turned to see that none other than King Dusk himself was laughing. "You see, this is what happens to stupid children," chuckled the Twilight King. Derpy could tell that Marcus wanted to say something back but he didn't have the strength. "Now, I think I'll take care of the rest of you."
"NO!" screamed a familiar voice. A powerful purple light exploded from one of King Dusk's arms. Derpy watched as the weakened Twilight began to levitate into the air.
"What? You think you can stop me, lovely Twilight?" King Dusk chuckled as he grabbed onto one of Twilight's legs.
"No...I know that you plan to begin spreading the twilight over this planet and I can't stop you from starting...but what I can do is hinder you as well as prevent you from hurting my friends!" A blast of magical energy flew from Twilight's body and began to collide with King Dusk.
"You...stupid...unicorn! Stop this...at once!"
"Twilight!" Derpy cried.
"Doctor! Derpy! I'm going to get you and Marcus out of here!" said Twilight.
"We can't leave you here!"
"It's no use now...Dusk is too strong! You can't take him on at this moment!"
"But-"
Derpy felt a hoof fall onto her soldier. She turned to see the Doctor's somber face looking at her. "She's right, Derpy. We must go...for now," he said.
"I'm getting you out of here!" said Twilight. Derpy felt a powerful force wrap around her body. The scene around her began to disappear.
"We'll return, Twilight Sparkle! This isn't the end!" stated the Doctor. "Hey, Dusk!" The Twilight King turned his attention towards the Doctor. "I just want to let you know that I'm the Doctor...and you've made me very angry! You best enjoy your return while it lasts because the oncoming storm is headed in your direction!"
A deep and amused laugh emanated from King Dusk's unseen mouth. "There's a lot of spirit and strength within you, Doctor," he cackled. "I look forward to breaking it."
"We'll come back for you, Twilight!" Derpy cried.
Derpy could see Twilight smiling at them sadly as the scene continued to fade away. "I know you will," echoed Twilight's voice as the Tomb of the Twilight King disappeared and Derpy, the Doctor, and Marcus were flung off to their next location.

Ruleo, 1678 C.E.

The Doctor gave a quick hiccup as the teleportation process finished running its course. It was nighttime now and the large outline of a massive purple planet took up a big portion of the dark sky. The Doctor looked down at his hooves to see the white staff and the ring lying on the ground in front of him. He had managed to grab them prior to Twilight teleporting him and the others away. They could prove to be useful in the future.
The Doctor then turned towards Derpy and Marcus. Both of them appeared...broken. Derpy was still saddened from what had happened to Twilight and Marcus was kneeling down on the ground and acting as if he were still clutching Ash's dead body. "Where...are we, Doctor?" Derpy asked suddenly.
The Doctor looked up at the sky and shrugged his shoulders. "From the look of things, I'd say that we're on one of Nymphadora's moons," the Doctor replied. He quickly examined the area they had arrived at. They were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a market on the outskirts of a town. A small table covered with wrapped food was situated a few feet from where they were standing and an anthropomorphic blue rabbit was lying in a sleeping bag underneath it. "Blue rabbit. I'm guessing that we're on...Ruleo."
Suddenly, a bright light started emanating from Nymphadora. The Doctor, Derpy, and Marcus watched as half the planet was slowly consumed in a large, purple cloud with small shimmers of silver here and there. "Dusk's already getting to work," sighed Marcus.
"But I think Twilight is also getting to work," the Doctor stated with an impressed smile. "The twilight cloud is only covering half of the planet."
"She saved us as well as half of Nymphadora," said Derpy sadly.
"For now," Marcus added. "It won't be long until the entire planet is covered...and then-"
"Auran and Ruleo will be destroyed," the Doctor finished.
"Doctor?" asked Derpy. "Do you think Twilight is...okay?"
The Doctor placed a hoof on Derpy's shoulder. "She's in a terrible situation now, Derpy. But she's not dead," he replied. He looked up towards the night sky. "She's a strong one, that Twilight Sparkle. She's not going to give in so easily, as I'm not going to give up on saving her and the rest of Nymphadora." The Doctor turned away from Nymphadora and turned his attention back to Derpy and Marcus. "We're not going to let Twilight's fate and Ash's death be in vain. Those responsible have probably already been taken care of. So that leaves us with the product of their madness."
"King Dusk," snarled Derpy and Marcus together.
The Doctor stepped forward and extended one of his hooves. "I'm going to save Twilight Sparkle. I'm going to save Nymphadora. I'm going to avenge Ash Rogers."
"We are," added Derpy as she placed her hoof on top of the Doctor's. Marcus gave a small and confident grin as he placed his claw on top of Derpy's hoof.
"Well now," said the Doctor. "It looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us. So let's get started!"

To be continued...