Doctor Whooves: Nightmare in Old Equestria

by sgamer82

Part Three

“So, sister, intruding on Our prerogatives in reality isn’t enough for you? You must force your daylight into Our dreams as well?”

The ponies looked to the source of the voice. The alicorn statue before them.

“Luna?!” Celestia asked.

“And Captain Edge Glimmer, I believed thou my most loyal of servants. Yet you side with Our sister over Us?”

“Princess, that’s not it at all,” Edge Glimmer stammered.

“And thou, Doctor, thine ability to interfere is legendary in Equestria. We will remove thou from this realm tonight.”

“How do you intend to do that, may I ask?” the Doctor asked calmly.

As if in response to the Doctor’s question the shadows once again rose up. Edge Glimmer instinctively brought up his shield. Princess Luna’s voice mocked him.

“Do you forget who We are, Edge Glimmer? What We are? We are the Princess of the Night. Dreams are Our domain!”

Edge Glimmer heard a scream from behind him. He turned to see Princess Celestia being attacked by the blue fog that had been at their hooves this whole time. She was sinking into it as if it were quicksand. The Doctor was struggling to pull her away while being attacked himself. Another sound, a crash, made Edge Glimmer realize that this time his shield was doing very little to hold back the attacking shadows.

The shadows broke through the barrier and surrounded him. They wrapped around him from hoof to horn. The last thing he saw before all went black was Princess Celestia’s horn sinking down into the blue fog, and fog and shadows both consuming the Doctor, as if competing over him.

Edge Glimmer struggled against the dark shadows’ grip. He couldn’t see the horn above his head, nor feel anything around him except the sensation of a downward pull as the shadows fought him. He couldn’t even breathe. He had initially panicked at that until remembering that, as a dream, he didn’t actually need to.

What he did need was a way to break free, and brute force was not enough for the job. On the other hoof, he knew his magic, while above average, was nothing compared to either Princess. He needed something beyond raw power. He needed an advantage.

“Within that tube is but a mere speck of raw, unadulterated sunlight.”

Light! Edge Glimmer realized. Princess Celestia’s Nitrous Nova hadn’t worked because it was explosive. It had worked because it was an explosive made of light.

He focused his power, and the horn he couldn’t see but a moment ago shone with bright white light, rather than his standard nighttime blue. On The surface, it was a mere light spell. A spell any unicorn could do. Edge Glimmer’s twist, however, was that the light perfectly mimicked natural moonlight. The shadows’ constant pull loosened slightly, but not enough to allow a proper escape. His meager light wasn’t enough. Edge Glimmer knew what he had to do, although he saw it as almost sacrilege.

Edge Glimmer cast out his light again. But this time, rather than merely mimic moonlight, Edge Glimmer sought to make true moonlight. It took a few failures before the spell truly cast. Once it did, however, as Edge Glimmer had hoped the shadows retreated further away. Enough that he could feel and move his own body once more. He spread the light to create a sphere around him. This successfully freed him from the grip of the black shadow that had enveloped him.

Once sure it was safe to lower his barrier, Edge Glimmer did so and took stock of his surroundings. The village plaza had changed to a path with dark woods on either side. He did not know if he was still awake or asleep. Regardless, he decided he should move before the shadows returned.

Looking down the path he thought he saw light, and chose that direction. Looking up, he decided he was still in the dream. While it was clearly nighttime above, there was no moon visible. He knew it was approaching full in reality. No moon in the Princess’s own dreams was so unnatural Edge Glimmer decided it was a new moon night. As he got closer to the source of the light he was following started to smell something in the air.

Smoke?! Edge Glimmer wondered. Instinct took over as he charged towards the light he now realized were flames. He soon charged out of the woods and found a path to follow. The path led to a village. A village on fire. Edge Glimmer made for the village. When he reached it he saw the Night Guard was already present.

The pegasi guards were bringing rain clouds to douse the flames. Unicorns were walking through with their horns alight, scanning for ponies in need of rescue. There were two groups of earth ponies, one looking over survivors of whatever had befallen the village. The second looking over the bodies of those who hadn’t made it through.

Edge Glimmer noted grimly that the latter group of ponies seemed larger. He also noticed that not one of the guards was paying him the least amount of attention. They behaved as if he was not even there. As he looked around he saw signs of feathers and particular weapons.

Griffin raid, Edge Glimmer realized. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. A griffin raid on a new moon?

Edge Glimmer realized he did know this place. He started towards the group of earth ponies and the survivors of the attack. There were only a very few ponies in that group, most of them children their parents had likely hidden from danger. Edge Glimmer’s heart skipped a beat as he saw exactly what he was looking for. Or rather who he was looking for.

A dark blue unicorn filly was walking in a tight circle. The little girl looked terrified at everything around her.

“Meanderly...” He said, recognizing the filly. She had shared the tale only a few times. Being the most traumatic moment of her life, however, Edge Glimmer had committed it to memory after the first.

The griffin raid, carried out in the dead of night, Edge Glimmer remembered, the Night Guard coming just too late. The only survivors children and elderly. And finally...

Edge Glimmer looked up and saw his Princess in the sky. She landed near the survivors and questioned the officer watching over them. He already knew what the discussion would entail. Griffins raided the settlement in the middle of the night, using the new moon to avoid what few ponies would have been keeping watch for exactly that sort of attack. Then he saw the little filly approached the Princess of the Night.

“P-Princess...” she said, “I w-wanted to ask...”

The guard seemed ready to shoo the girl away, but Princess Luna held her hoof to stop him.

“Speak, child,” the Princess replied.

“Has anypony seen my Momma? Or Poppa? Or my big sister?”

The Princess looked to her guard, who shook his head sadly.

“We are sorry, child... but We fear only the ponies here made it through the attack.”

“What?” Meanderly asked. “B-but... but they said everything would be... you’re lying!”

Such an outburst would normally rouse the Princess of the Night’s temper, but Luna understood what drove it and let it pass.

“We do not speak lies, filly,” she told Meanderly. “Only the ponies here survived the attack. The only condolence We can offer is thou are alive because thy family did all they could to protect thee.”

Edge Glimmer remembered how Meanderly had described looking into the Princess’s eyes and seeing only the truth. The filly before him began to sob uncontrollably. The Princess, never very good in such situations, didn’t react at first. Then she turned to her guard.

“Lieutenant, let us arrange for these ponies transport and rooms in Whinnychester. There is room enough and they shall be comfortable while we make arrangements.”

The guard saluted and began giving the correct orders.

“Our little pony, what is thy name?”

“M... Meanderly, Your Majesty.”

“Meanderly. We shall honor your loved ones’ sacrifice. We can not say what will happen just yet, but until then thou and everypony here shall be welcome in Whinnychester Castle. You will be protected and safe.”

Edge Glimmer turned away. He knew what followed. The survivors of the town were taken to Whinnychester, eventually relocated to another village that had needed some extra help to get through a big harvest. All but a few, who had remained in the castle and were hired on as servants. Meanderly was one such pony, becoming a serving girl and, eventually, Luna’s personal hoofmaiden as she reached adulthood.

As he turned to leave this dream of a memory, everything around him froze and transformed into a dull grey. Even the crackling flames were still. Edge Glimmer looked around and saw only one thing that still had color.

Princess Luna.

She was dressed in the armor the statue he had seen previously had worn.

She had fangs.

Her eyes were wrong.

She was looking right at him.

“Do you see, Our Captain?” she said to him. “Do you see what our night has become? A place in which the weak are preyed upon. A den of evil. One which must be purged.”

Princess Celestia had found herself deposited on the top chamber of one of Whinnychester’s towers. The night shadow that had engulfed her had simply carried her here and left. Celestia knew she still slept because she was still in her younger “Ace” body. She looked around, and saw her sister standing at the end of the balcony, looking down on the small town below. Celestia walked over and looked herself, and saw ponies rushing to get indoors now that night had fallen.

Lights inside the houses began to glow through the windows. She saw the silhouettes of ponies inside their homes through their lit windows. Some were dancing, some were drinking. In the houses with families Celestia could see children being sent to bed by their parents.

“It may not be rrrepresentative of any one place,” the Doctor had said. “It may yet be significant, so keep your eyes open.”

Is this what you meant, Doctor? Celestia thought.

“There you are, Luna,” Celestia heard a voice say. She turned and saw herself, full grown, approaching Luna. Luna turned to face her as well.

“Are you all right to be up and about?” she continued. “The last I heard the healers were still requiring bed rest.”

“I insisted,” Luna replied, foregoing the royal We and traditional speech, as it was just the two of them. The full grown Celestia smiled.

“Never have been one to simply rest in bed, have you, dear sister?”

“Not when there are duties to perform.”

“I can handle a few extra duties while you rest, sister.”

The present Celestia saw her sister tense up. From her vantage point on the balcony, the present Celestia also saw a look of anger cross her sister’s point for a split second. Celestia remembered this conversation. She dreaded where she knew it would head, because she knew that statement was the start of what came next.

“It is not your place to have to handle my affairs,” an edge was creeping into Luna’s voice.

“No,” the memory of Celestia went on, having not yet noticed. “Raising the moon and managing the night are your duties. I’ve only done them in your stead, as you would do for myself and the sun.”

“Hmph. As if you would ever need anypony to stand in your stead, sister.”

This time the younger princess’s tone of voice registered. The memory of Celestia stopped and tilted her head.

“Luna? What’s the matter?”

“Down there. All those ponies...”

“What about them?”

“They flee the night!”

“What?” Celestia was taken aback. “Luna, that’s silly. The ponies aren’t ‘fleeing the night.’”

“Be quiet!” the present Celestia screamed. It was no good. Neither pony acknowledged her presence. “Think before you speak!”

“Then what do you call everypony going to their homes immediately after the moon hath been risen?”

“Everypony going home after a day’s hard work. Relaxing at home with their friends and loved ones.”

“Hmph! ‘Relaxing with friends and loved ones.’ Still the naive optimist, I see. ‘Tis more like ‘drinking and cavorting in all manners disreputable.’ Those families? The children are sent to bed almost immediately! I spend more time with them at night than their families do!

“The night is no longer a place for ‘good’ ponies to live. It has become a place of thieves and rogues. Nay, the ‘good’ ponies of Equestria bask in your daylight. Even those that do like the night... those few who understand its beauty...”

“Luna...” Celestia said sadly. Nopony said anything for a few moments. The present Celestia, watching everything from the side, grew tense.

“Luna, is this about-”

“Meanderly is with foal,” Luna said suddenly.

“Your hoofmaiden?” Celestia asked. “Why that’s wonderful!”

“She intends to leave my service when the child is born... Once again, a pony I thought loyal will leave me.”

“Meanderly will be leaving for a much better reason than-”

“Don’t say his name!” Luna suddenly shouted. Celestia waited a moment before she spoke again.

“Meanderly has a much better reason. What of her husband? You said nothing of him retiring.”

“He intends to remain in my service,” Luna replied. “But for how long, I do not know... How long before he grows to resent the night as so many others do? How long before he realizes that serving the night means foregoing time with a child raised in the day? Eventually he, too, will leave.”

“Luna, you and I both know Edge Glimmer than that,” Celestia reassured her sister. “He’s loved you since he was a colt. His very cutie mark came from his desire to be one of your protectors.”

“Before he found another pony to love,” Luna retorted. “Before he gained somepony else worthy of his protection. You watch Celestia, eventually he will have to choose between his family and his princess, and I will lose.”

“Edge Glimmer would never do that.”

Luna turned away from Celestia in disgust.

“Just leave, sister.”

“But-”

“GO!” she yelled, with the full royal voice behind the demand. “I tire of your naivete.”

The present Celestia watched her past self hang her head sadly and walk away, not entirely sure what had gone wrong.

“No, wait!” Celestia yelled to herself. “Don’t leave! This isn’t the time to give Luna her space! She needs you!”

“Do I?”

Both Celestias froze. The past Celestia, the chamber, and everything in it turned completely grey and stopped. The present Celestia stopped because she knew that voice wasn’t directed at her past self.

It was directed at her.

Celestia turned around and saw what she had believed a mere memory or dream vision of her younger sister looking right at her.

“Do I truly need you, sister? Am I so weak in your eyes?"

For the Doctor escape from the shadows had been simple. The two forces within Luna had both come after him, and had begun to fight one another for him. From there it had been a simple matter of simply shifting to another part of the dreamscape.

What surrounded him now was the throne room of Whinnychester Castle. It was empty, but he would soon be changing that.

He did not know yet what had become of Celestia and Edge Glimmer. He had seen them both abducted, she by the brighter, blue-colored shadows, he by the darker and more sinister feeling.

Much as he wanted to go to them, however, the Doctor had something that had to be done first. Something which would be far easier to accomplish alone and without the other two asking questions. Something which would be far easier to accomplish without witnesses.

What the Doctor was about to do did not... quite... break the First Law of Time. It did skirt its very edges. Better that there be no chance of it ever reaching the Time Lords’ ears.

The Doctor closed his eyes, and concentrated. He focused on his previous encounters with the Princesses. Those times past he had met them here in Whinnychester. There had not been very many, as Whinnychester was only a temporary capital, used during the years following Discord’s rule in which Canterlot was being rebuilt. That left him a specific area of time and memory to search. Around him images of both Luna and Celestia, guards, nobles, servants and even the decor of the room flickered and shifted so rapidly it was impossible for the naked eye to follow.

He focused initially on times he had met Luna in his previous incarnations. Through this, the Doctor learned what feelings and memories Luna associated with him. He needed that information because what he sought was not information on his past encounters with the Princess of the Night.

He needed to see what the future held.

The First Law of Time forbade crossing through one’s own timestream. Foreknowledge of the future could be horrendously dangerous in anypony’s hooves, let alone a Time Lord’s. This was not the Doctor’s timestream, however. This was a realm of dreams and memory. A place influenced by memory and imagination as much as by time. This in mind, he focused only on the barest traces of Luna’s memory of faces the Doctor has not had yet. He saw a stallion with long curls, followed by one with a buzz cut mane. A pony in a suit and tie followed, but all their meetings with the Princess were too far back, taking place in Old Canterlot. He needed something closer, more recent. If his intuition was right, this would all trace back to...

“There you are!” the Doctor proclaimed.

Immediately, around the Doctor the the image of the Whinnychester throne room filled with greater detail. It was evening, and the Doctor saw a half-moon shining outside the window. On the throne sat Princess Luna, one of her hoofmaidens, a dark blue unicorn, at her side. They looked down upon three ponies. None of them looked like the Doctor as he did now, but he knew which one he was.

Regeneration, the ability to be essentially reborn as an entirely new pony, was a trademark among the Time Lords. There were, naturally, ways for a Time Lord to recognize one another that did not rely on appearance. Because of that, while he obviously would not yet know the orange pegasus nor the pinto earth pony, the Doctor immediately recognized himself despite the difference in appearance. This regeneration was especially young looking. He also noticed that this version of himself was a pegasus pony, wings coming out through slits in a tweed jacket. The Doctor grimaced, the last time he’d been a pegasus he had been particularly... flighty. He’d never fully understood afterward why he’d needed such a long scarf back then. The Doctor couldn’t quite decide if the bowtie this version had was an improvement or not.

As if on cue, the Doctor’s future self adjusted the bow tie with his hoof.

“Bowties are cool,” he said.