Chapter 38
Elkai and his ensemble trotted down the alley while I leaned on the edge of the fountain. I was gasping, trying to get up to my hooves. My foreleg was draped over the edge of the fountain, the tip of the hoof submerged in the pooling rainbows. I was suddenly struck by an idea, and I raised my unoccupied hoof to point at the ghastly trio, walking down the cloudy street. I felt my rage, my anger, my unadulterated hatred for the Angelics, and I flung it from my hoof. I expected the force of the bolt to fry the Angelics into little pony-shaped charcoal briquettes. That didn’t happen. Instead, the lightning crackled down my bones, out of my hoof, and right at the trio of Angelics. I felt satisfied as the streak of energy was pointed right at Elkai. At the last moment, the Pink angelic with the blue mane jumped in front of it, waving her hooves in circles. I felt slightly annoyed as the smear of white rocketed towards her, but I had no complaints. An Angelic was an Angelic, either way. They all deserved to die. Only a few feet away from the lightning, the pink Angelic planted both forehooves down on the ground and flung one of her hooves up, as if she was backhanding the bolt. There was an overwhelming surge of magic from her, and the lightning flew up and away from the trio. My eyes grew wide and my mouth hung open. Angelics shouldn’t be able to do that. Angelics shouldn’t need to be able to do that. The pink Angelic was panting heavily, and her foreleg that deflected the lightning was bleeding profusely. Elkai paused his walking and turned to face me. He smiled grimly as he walked up to her, his pale blue tail swishing. He raised a hoof to her foreleg that was still raised in the air, dripping blood. He touched it, and the pink Angelic lowered it tentatively.
“Calm, Ka’aal.” He cooed. Ka’aal, the pink Angelic with the blue mane, visibly calmed. Her dark black eyes cringed as she sat down and cradled her injured limb in agony. I scrunched up my face in disgust at the show of affection. Angelics are sub-equine. They have no need for emotion. It serves them no purpose. Ka’aal started to flap her wings and then rose into the air. Elkai stared back at me with visible hatred.
“If it were up to me, Five, I would gut you like a mortal right where you stand. Leave Cloudsdale immediately before I begin to wonder how you taste.” Elkai said, and then spread his wings. The wordless green pegasus accompanying them did so as well, and all three of them rocketed into the sky. I shook. Fear, anger, hopelessness. All of them found sanctuary in my mind. I shook as I crawled through a street in Cloudsdale. My legs were weak. My frame trembled. I finally couldn’t stand being in Cloudsdale anymore, and I plunged my hooves into the cloudy ground. I pried open the clouds, and I could see the green grass, shadowed by night. The day was longer in Cloudsdale, being so high up. I thought nothing, but leaned forward though the hole in the clouds.
Tumbling.
Head over heels
Ass over teakettle
I fell down to the ground, rolling and falling though the blistering wind. I tumbled through the crisp air, laden with the dregs of daytime heat. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to fall. Blissful. A dark part of my mind didn’t want to fly out of my fall. It wanted to tumble down to the ground. It wanted to lie on the soft plains, broken and bleeding, while my unconscious mind floated away. It wanted to leave Equestria in more capable hooves. But not mine. I was still human. My mind was not Numbered. My body was. It was strong, nigh invincible. It could do so much. It could do things that my old body could only dream of. It could control anything I wished it to, with only the blink of an eye. If only they gave me a mind to match.
I was just weak, skinny, pale Edwin Shell, stuck in a body that could destroy continents. I couldn’t handle it. It was strange. I know this body, and it is mine. The glorious Numbered form, crafted out of raw energy from the Threads of power. It could climb mountains. It could turn mountains into billions of tiny pebbles. It could even make mountains, if I really wanted to. But I didn’t. I wanted a nice little house by a river in the middle of the forest. I wanted a peach tree. I wanted a nice wool rug in the middle of my living room. I wanted to curl up with Luna in front of the fireplace during cold winter nights. I opened my eyes.
The ground was so close, and getting closer every passing second. I could easily just plummet to my death, leaving another Five to replace me when they summoned a new Numbered. But I couldn’t. I reached for my magic and pulled out of my dive in a smooth curve. I flew past trees, and aimed myself towards the distant Royal Palace. I felt the sharp boom as my flight became infinitely faster.
Luna was lying on her rug as I walked in. She had her official attire on. Shoes, tiara, and all. She had her hooves eagerly placed flat on the rug, staring at the door intently. She brightened up as she saw me, a gleeful smile on her face.
“Ed! You’re back!” She said happily. I didn’t smile back, but rushed into the room and layed down next to her.
“Luna.” I whispered, nuzzling against her neck. She seemed somewhat startled, and started to push me away with her hooves. She held me at leg’s length, staring like she was trying to divine something from me.
“What’s gotten into you, Ed?” She asked playfully. The smile faded from her face when she saw the look on mine.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, raising a hoof to my face. She held it there. The cold metal was far from soothing, but I appreciated the gesture. There was so much going on im my mind right now, but I couldn’t worry Luna overly much by telling her before I needed to.
“I promise I’ll tell you. We need to go talk to Tia. Is she still awake?” I asked calmly.
“Probably not.”
“Then we’ll wake her. This is extremely important, Luna.” I said. She frowned, clearly not pleased with my explanation. “Trust me.” I added. Her brow visibly softened.
“Let’s go, then.” She said softly, and rose.
“Tia?” Luna ventured quietly, pushing open the door with a tiny protest. She walked in, and then I followed her. I had to duck immediately due to the ornate vase flying at my head. It smashed into tiny porcelain splinters against the wall behind me. One of them slashed across my cheek. I gasped and held a hoof up to the now bleeding wound. I pulsed out a bit of magic, and the wound sealed up immediately. Luna glanced at me aplogetically.
“She’s an angry sleeper.” She whispered. I scowled.
“She’s about to be an angry waker” I mumbled, and I ran up to her bed. It was a strange thing, but not out of place. A gigantic four-poster bed with a canopy of gossamer fabrics. The colors were not strange; Goldens and reds that I would come to expect from someone of her stature. It was more like that the bed was too immaculate to be slept in, like it shouldn’t have a pony in it. But, the one pony that could pull it off was actually in the bed right now, snoozing softly. I walked up to her bed stiffly, and jumped up.
“Ed!” Luna whispered angrily, but I didn’t pay attention. I stared at the carefree, sleeping mare beneath me. Her hair was much less active when she slept. I smiled somewhat ironically as I prepared to wake her.
“Hey!” I shouted at her, making her flinch in her sleep. I stood over and watched her eyes flick under her pale white lids, and she finally opened them, revealing her purple irises. She looked around her in sleepy shock, and then finally looked up at me. For a breif, fleeting moment, she looked deathly afraid. But that passed immediately and was replaced with slight worry and surprise. I felt my scowl become more pronounced as I contemplated what I was going to say to her.
“Edwin? What are you-” The Princess began to ask, but
“Quiet.” I said, slightly irritated. I continued; “Have you been to Cloudsdale recently, Princess?” I inquired with a slight hint of anger. The Princess, looking slightly disheveled, only blinked at me. I leaned down to glare at her intensely.
“If you had, you would have burned it from the sky. A haven for violent Angelics, and in my opinion, home to some of the most dangerous specimens that the species has to offer. One of them constrained me with magic and another deflected a raw bolt of lightning with her bare hooves.” I explained. The Princess gulped with wide eyes, but said nothing.
“I am going to tell you what I am going to do, and you are going to stay quiet. I am going to poll all of the Lieutenants in the guard companies to see which Pegasi wish to volunteer for a siege on Cloudsdale. I will also poll for a team of skilled Unicorns. They will stay on the ground near Cloudsdale with Gespard and Marcus. These Unicorns will maintain protective enchantments on the Pegasi. These pegasi shall accompany Evangeline and myself in an attack on Cloudsdale in the middle of the day. The Doctor shall provide communication devices for all of the ponies involved, and shall park his tardis directly under Cloudsdale for the duration of the attack.” I explained, taking time to pronounce my words perfectly so no unintended meaning could be derived from them. The Princess looked extremely shocked.
“W-Why are you telling me?” She wondered quietly.
“Because you will be monitoring out mission. If at any time it goes awry, or if it even looks like the Angelics are going to win, you are going to destroy the city from the air. The lives of the ponies that will be there is a price that I am willing to pay to save the rest of Equestria.” I reasoned. Celestia blanched, averting her gaze from me.
“Just have Evangeline do it.” She whispered morosely. I was shaking my head before she even finished.
“No. She would be more than capable of it, but she may already be dead by the time that I need Cloudsdale destroyed. You are also infinitely more powerful than she is.” I retorted. Celestia shook her head this time.
“I may have been a few thousand years ago, but not now. The light flows from her, Edwin.” The now stricken Princess remarked.
“Even if it were true, I couldn’t have a Princess in the fray. Too dangerous. Celestia.” I said, trying to look her in the eyes. I stared at her until she looked back at me
“I... I need you. You could tell me no. It isn’t as if this would be of any benefit to you. Surely the thought of killing your own subjects is repulsive. But, sometimes, the sacrifices of the few are necessary for the safety of the many.”
“Why don’t you just have me fry the city without the pegasi in it?” The Princess asked. I had my answer ready immedately.
“Because there are still mortal ponies inside of Cloudsdale. If I could get them out and kill as many Angelics as is possible, we may be able to keep the city. That is the least likely scenario. Before two days have passed, Cloudsdale will be nothing more than a scorch on Equestria. I’ll leave you to think.” I concluded. Celestia turned away from me, looking pensive. I hopped off of her bed, and walked out of the door, starting to feel myself fall apart. I walked past Luna, with a lone tear down her eye and mouth agape. Out of the door. I fell onto the floor, a weeping mess. I cried. I missed home. I wanted to sleep in a normal bed again. I wanted to curl my toes. I wanted to walk on my feet. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. I just ordered the possible deaths of thousands of ponies. I didn’t even bat an eyelash. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I worked my way over to a window. It was raining. Horribly. It was that kind of rain that made you take off work that day. I screamed at the window. Lightning streaked across the sky, painting the landscape with my anger and sadness. I screamed again, and this time the entire wall was ripped out of the palace, leaving the interior bare to the elements outside. The lightning screamed, the thunder roared. I wept. I fell to the ground, and the last thing I could remember was the faint smell of oranges, the feel of a warm hoof, and the screeching of the cold wind
I awoke to the smell of peaches.
“wussit” I mumbled, getting up from my sleep. I reached up to rub my fuzzy eyes. I could feel the warm limb around my neck tighten.
“Don’t get up” Luna said, pulling me back to her. I smiled through my grogginess.
“Luna.” I sighed.
“You lazy wank! 'Bout time you're up.” Something reprimanded. I opened my eyes, and was extremely shocked to see nothing but empty air around me. I gasped, turning around to grab Luna. She smiled as I grasped her with my hooves. there was an entire hallway behind me. I noticed that it was the exact same hallway that I lost consciousness in. Luna must have stayed with me through the rain.
“I love you even more, Luna.” I whispered into her ear.
“It stopped raining after you fell asleep.” She whispered back, understanding my meaning. The noise that reprimanded before apparently manifested itself as the Doctor.
“I heard that you made plans without me.” He remarked bluntly, setting down a silver tea set. I sniffed, and my ears perked up.
“Is that peach tea?” I asked, getting up slightly from Luna’s side.
“It will be if you make me happy. Why would you make plans without me?” He asked.
“You have a vested interest in this war.” I retorted. The Doctor chuckled.
“Noble, if not correct. You’re wrong. I can leave this dimension at any time I please. If Equestria becomes boring, I can just push a button and whiz away to some far away dimension filled with supermodels. Or ice cream. Or ice cream-filled supermodels. Or even supermodel-filled ice cream. You get the idea. I’m only here because I like it here.” He said, rather bluntly.
“Edwin, how many lumps?” The Doctor asked, with a spoonful of sugar balanced in his mouth. It was perched above a steaming hot cup of tea.
“None.” I said, and the Doctor dumped the sugar into my cup. He picked the tray up awkwardly with one of his hooves, and he hobbled over to Luna and I. Luna hovered the two cups of tea off of the tray and offered me one.
“Learn to love change.” The Doctor suggested as I sniffed the sweet tea with distaste. I gulped some of it, and I nearly coughed it back up.
“Sweet Jesus, Doctor! What did you put in this, salt?” I exclaimed.
“Synthetic poly-saccharides, among other things, manufactured by the Tardis. Tastes terrible, I know. But I don’t exactly need to eat. Not only does it give me a few weeks allowance of salt in the guise of sweetener, but also throws in a dash of protein just for fun.” The Doctor said cheerily, but with a completely unhappy visage.
“It’s like eating salted spam.”
“I think that the Tardis is trying to kill me.” He speculated openly
“It might be working.” I said, tossing my tea out of the gaping hole in the hallway.
“Well, you have a lesson with Alucard today. Sugar, Luna?” The Doctor said, gesturing to the small bowl of brownish salt.
“No thank you, Doctor. I’d rather have my blood stay in its liquid form.” She remarked politely.
“Suit yourself. Edwin, we’re going to go get some breakfast and then you’re going to Alucard. Okay?” The Doctor asked.
“Can Luna come?” I qualified.
“If she isn’t busy. Which she is. She has a meeting with her bed that I think that she is rather late for.” The Doctor said. Luna smiled.
“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll see you tonight, Ed. You owe me one.” She said, kissing me on the cheek. She bounded off, skipping down the hallways. I watched her swishing tail flounce its way down the hall, almost longingly, following her firm, blue-
“Edwin?” The Doctor said, waving his brown hoof in front of my face. I was shocked out of my staring. The Doctor paused, and then laughed. He soon finished, and wiped a tear away from his eye.
“Ah, to be young again. And also a Numbered.” The Doctor said, walking back to his Tardis. He opened one of the doors.
“You know what they say, Edwin. Allons-y.” He concluded, and walked into the Tardis.