//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Sound of His Name // Story: Time Lord: The Story of Polaris // by Thrawn1800 //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Several Months Later “Gah!” I shouted in pain as Sombra again threw me into the wall of my cell. The ribs that weren’t broken threatened to do so, sending a sharp retort up my spine, which ached. My head ached, and I bled from several places on my head, but especially one of my ears and my nose. “You will help me!” he shouted, the fire in his eyes blazing. “If it takes me another three months, you will help me!” I spit blood out of my mouth. “Never.” I wheezed. We’d followed this same routine the entire time I’d been here. “Well, if you will not,” he said, smiling nastily, “then I will just have to find a better persuasive for you than pain. How about this?” He motioned to the guards, who opened the cell door, and brought somepony in. “If you refuse me again, then she will be the one to fell my anger, not you.” It was Amethyst. I looked between the two, shocked. From what I’d seen, Sombra loved Amethyst. Or at least, he had. She shivered in terror, cringing before Sombra. “You… you don’t need to hurt her.” I said, flattening my ears in defeat. “I’ll… I’ll help you. Let her go.” “Good!” he said, smiling wickedly. “I will let her go, after you’ve done what I want you to do.” The guards forced me upright, and Sombra placed the Crystal Heart in front of me. I knew what he wanted me to do. He’d shouted at me about it for ages. I examined the Heart. He wanted me to try and reverse its magic. He wanted to use the Heart’s power and spread disharmony and darkness throughout Equestria. He wanted me to invert a powerful natural magic. I’d told him, truthfully, that I couldn’t. He’d refused to believe me, and had persisted. I tried to figure out a way to do what he wanted. Amethyst’s safety, and maybe even her life, were on the line. I tried a spell that occurred to me, but it had no effect. “Try again!” he commanded. For hours, I tried everything, anything. Nothing worked. The spells all had no effect, and they only drained me of energy. Finally, I collapsed, unable to do anymore. My entire body was now filled with sharp pains and dull aches, which mixed in a chaotic symphony, robbing me of coherence. I faintly heard the sound of hooves, and Sombra was standing over me. “Disappointing.” he said. “I thought better of you.” He kicked me, adding a sharp note of agony to the pain. “Now she will suffer for your incompetence.” He turned and advanced on Amethyst, who shrank back, terrified tears pouring down her face. “Sombra.” she cried. “Sombra, why are you doing this? Please, stop.” He loomed over her, and raised a hoof to strike. “No! Please!” I begged. “One more! There’s one more I can try!” He turned to me, hoof still raised. “Well?” he asked. “I… I need your help.” He slowly lowered a hoof, and approached me. “What?” I began to explain what I needed. “I… I need you to-” I was interrupted by a loud booming voice. “Sombra!” It commanded. “Show thyself unto us!” I recognized that voice. It was Luna’s! She was using the Royal Canterlot Voice, and she sounded very commanding. “I will return shortly.” said Sombra, looking unfazed. “I have a small matter to attend to, then we will resume.” He walked out, and the guards followed, pulling Amethyst along with them. He soon returned, a triumphant smile on his face. Behind him, in chains, were Luna and Celestia. Their heads were bowed, and their eyes closed. At the sight, tears began to fall from my eyes. Sombra stood before me, dark and terrible. “Now, let us continue.” he said smugly. “What do I need to do?” I looked up, and noticed something odd. Slightly behind Sombra and to my left, a tiny distortion was hovering in the air. I glanced between Sombra and the distortion, then I charged my remaining energy into my horn and blasted the distortion, shouting defiantly. The world blurred, then refocused. Luna and Celestia were gone, and Sombra was leaning against the wall, his neck had a burn on it. I slumped to the floor, completely spent. “Clever.” he growled. “Not everypony can see through my illusions. But you will pay for that. You will pay a thousandfold.” He blasted me, and darkness fell. ___________________________________________ Sombra forced me to experience terrible things. All throughout the illusions, I could never keep track of what was real and what wasn’t. Sombra was skillfully mixing together the two, never again giving me the chance to escape. During one of these experiences, Sombra was forcing me to relive the burning of the house. But this time, there was no Luna to save me. Sombra stood in the flames, laughing, when my surroundings began to flicker. Sombra stopped laughing, and growled. “What are you doing?” he demanded, glaring at me. Everything around me shifted, colors whirling, and then it stopped. I was in the Tardis’s control room. In front of me, the Doctor was holding his sonic screwdriver, his face screwed up in concentration. “Polaris!” he said. “Don’t worry! Celestia and Luna are coming.” “How can I trust you?!” I demanded, shouting at him. “How do I know you’re not another illusion?!” He walked right up to me and leaned in very close. “Remember what happened, off the coast of France?” he asked. I blushed. “Y-Yes.” I stammered. “And?” “Did you ever tell anyone else?” “Yes.” I said. “Luna.” “And no one else?” “No one.” He moved closer and touched my shoulder. “We’ll be there soon. I promise.” The Doctor and the Tardis faded away, replaced by my cell, and Sombra. He charged me and knocked me over, pinning me to the ground. “What just happened?!” he demanded, yelling in my ear. When I remained silent, he struck me across the face, causing my nose to bleed harder. “TELL ME!” he roared, the entire room resonating with his voice. “N… no.” I gasped. “I… I won’t.” He bellowed, and threw me across the room. I slammed into the wall, and felt another rib give way. I screamed in agony. The pain finally overcame me, and blackness fell again. Not Sombra’s, but true unconsciousness. It swallowed me, and I knew no more. ___________________________________________ Light. Faint, silvery light. It penetrated my eyelids. I opened my eyes. The moon was clearly visible through the window high above. I laid where I’d fallen. My body was so sore now, I felt like one big bruise. I stayed where I was, too tired to move. I watched the stars. I remembered the Doctor’s message. We’ll be there soon. I promise. I hope he meant it. I couldn’t take any more. In front of my eyes, the moon flared, and I saw two figures silhouetted against it. They were Alicorns. It must be Luna and Celestia. They’d come. I heard Celestia call for Sombra, asking him to surrender. I heard Sombra’s defiant reply. I laid still, listening. I heard the battle commence. Two Alicorn Princesses versus demented unicorn shadow-king. Then I heard the most comforting sound I’d heard in ages. The Tardis began to materialize in front of me, blowing the dust on the floor away from itself. It solidified, and the doors opened. A tall brown stallion with a dark brown mane stood in front of me. “Doctor?” I asked. He looked different. I hadn’t noticed the change during his message, but he looked different. “That’s me!” he said, running over to me. He lifted me onto his back, and started carrying me into the Tardis. “Let’s get out of here!” Inside the Tardis, he set me gently on the floor, then ran over to the controls and began piloting us away. The Tardis rumbled and whooshed, the sound was so friendly, and it felt like a lullaby. I began to drift off. The Doctor smiled at me. “Go ahead.” he said. “Sleep.” So I did. ___________________________________________ When I opened my eyes, I was in my room on the Tardis. The bed was familiar and comforting. I closed my eyes again, wanting desperately to fall back asleep. My body still hurt, though not nearly as much as before. Now it was a tolerable ache instead of an intolerable one. I wondered how I’d gotten there. The Doctor must have carried me. I reopened my eyes and turned my head to look at the bookcase. On it were mementos of my travels with the Doctor. A polished stone orb from the planet Bregedion, a small tree sapling, sprouted from an acorn from the Great Oak of Barcelona (the planet, not the city). On a chair next to the bed was a jacket. The Doctor always kept it around. When I’d tried to ask him about it, he’d changed the subject. I relaxed back into my pillows, and drifted back into a light sleep. When I woke again, the Doctor was in the chair next to my bed. He was asleep, which was something you rarely saw. His head was leaning onto his chest. Beside him, on the bedside table, some weird metal parts were scattered on the surface. He’d stayed with me. When I woke up for good, the Doctor was awake. He was fiddling with something I couldn’t see. He looked up at me and smiled widely. “Finally awake are we?” he said. “Yes.” I said. “What happened?” “Well, Luna and Celestia took care of Sombra.” “So… why am I here?” “So that I can take care of you.” “What do you mean? Take care of me? How? Why?” “When I spoke to you, Sombra had been messing around in your head, right?” “Yes. And?” “Well, he caused some severe damage, and not just to your body.” He pointed at my chest, which I now saw to be wrapped in white bandages. “I thought it would be best to keep you in here for a while. Just so I could help.” It was there for only a fleeting moment, but I caught it. Guilt. He felt guilty. “Doctor,” I said, “there’s something else. What aren’t you telling me?” He looked away from me. Then he looked back, he wasn’t smiling. “When you saved Luna, and the Tardis healed you… I… I ran away. I left. I shouldn’t have done that. If I’d stayed with you, like I should have, this wouldn’t have happened!” Angry tears splashed down from his face. The Doctor was crying? What could be causing this? He had a look of self-loathing on his face. “Doctor, I left you, not the other way around.” I said, trying to help. “It’s not your fault.” “But it is!” he said. “What happened is my fault! I could’ve stopped it from happening!” “But that’s not your place. You can’t decide what happens to who. You’re not perfect. None of us are!” He looked down. When he spoke again, his voice was subdued. “I know. I learned that before. The hard way.” When he looked back up at me, his cheery smile had returned. “I have something for you!” he said. “Food?” I asked hopefully. He laughed. “No, no. Better!” He lifted up a silver sonic screwdriver. “I want you to have this.” he said, holding it out to me. I looked at him, shocked. “You… you want to give me your sonic screwdriver?” This screwdriver’s emitter tip was blue. I recognized it. It was an older one, and I knew how much it meant to him. “Yes. But it’s not mine now, it’s yours.” He took my hoof in one hand, and using the other, placed the screwdriver in it. He let go. “Besides,” he said, lifting his screwdriver, “I’ve still got this one.” I stared at him, lost for words. “T-Thank you.” I stammered. “It’s nothing. Now come on, food!” he said, hopping off of the chair and walking over to the door. I climbed out of my bed and followed him, placing the sonic screwdriver behind an ear. ___________________________________________ The Doctor and I managed to find food, which, as previously mentioned, wasn’t the Tardis’s strong suit. But it was food, so I ate ravenously. Sombra had restricted my food to an absolute minimum. The thought of him made me shiver. His eyes again stared in to mine, and I heard his laugh in my head. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “That’s why you’re here.” The Doctor said, putting a comforting hoof on my shoulder. “So I can help you.” He kept his hoof there for a minute, then withdrew it. I finished eating, then I turned to the Doctor. “I need a better place for this.” I said, pointing at the sonic screwdriver. “Be right back.” he said. He ran out into the hallway. He returned shortly, carrying something small in his mouth. “Here you go.” he said, placing it on a console. It was a white collar, and next to it, a green bow tie. “How do these help?” I asked. “Hold still.” he said. He put the collar around my neck, then the bow tie, which he showed me how to tie properly. It looked pretty good once he’d finished. I’d never thought about wearing something like this. “And… now what?” I asked, still confused. “And now-” he said, removing the sonic screwdriver from behind my ear. He pulled the collar open, and dropped the screwdriver in. I expected to hear it clatter against the floor, but instead, it just disappeared. “-this.” “Where’d it go?” I asked. “That snazzy looking collar-” he said, straightening and tightening the bow tie, ”-has a pocket dimension. You can just reach in-“ he demonstrated “-and pull it out.” In his hoof was the screwdriver. “Cool.” I said, trying it for myself. It didn’t weigh anything, and I didn’t have to carry it. “Thanks.” “You’re welcome.” ___________________________________________ For the next few weeks, the Doctor and I stayed in the Tardis. I spent a great deal of time sleeping, trying to recuperate from Sombra’s tender ministrations. Several times, I had a panic attack when something didn’t seem to fit into reality properly. The Doctor was always beside me in a heartbeat, one of his heartbeats. He reassured me that everything was fine, helping me to calm down. I was grateful that he was so willing to help me. I told him this once, but he just smiled, and said, “That’s what a friend does.” Eventually, the Doctor decided it was time for us to return. “You’ll be fine now, I think.” he said. “So, off we go.” As he flew the Tardis, I sat on one of the seats, feeling nervous. “How long have we been gone?” I asked. “You know, for them?” “About three weeks.” he said. “As long as it’s felt like it’s been.” When we landed, the Doctor walked over to me. “Come on.” he said, smiling. “It’ll be fine. I’m with you.” We walked to the doors, and he pushed them open. We were in the throne room, in the castle in Everfree. Celestia, Luna, Starswirl, Blue, and May Breeze were all waiting. I looked back at the Doctor, fear rising in my throat again. He nodded reassuringly. I swallowed, and stepped out of the Tardis. The Doctor closed the doors, then we walked forward slowly. May Breeze couldn’t seem to contain herself. She ran forward and hugged me. I jerked back, flattening my ears. All of my subconscious alarm bells were going off. She pulled away, looking at me concerned. “Polaris?” she said. “What’s wrong? What is it?” I walked back slowly, but I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I stopped and turned to look at the Doctor. “You’re fine.” he said. “Nopony here is going to hurt you.” I turned and looked back at May Breeze. She looked a little hurt, but she seemed more concerned about me. Though my ears stayed put, I managed to smile a little. “Sorry.” I said. I sat and opened up my forelegs. She hesitated momentarily, then walked slowly back to me. She hugged me again, but this time she was gentler, and I hugged her back. When I let go, she didn’t persist, but backed away. “What happened?” she asked. “I- I don’t want to talk about it right now.” I said. I looked over at Luna. She was hovering behind Celestia, watching me hesitantly. “Luna?” She walked forward, then stopped in front of me. “Can I-?” she asked, hesitant. “Yes,” I said, “but first, I have a question.” “What?” she asked. I leaned in closer. “What happened off the coast of France?” I asked, whispering. She whispered in my ear, blushing brightly. She told me exactly what had happened. She was definitely real. I hugged her tightly, pressing my nose into her shoulder. She wrapped her wings around me, like she had on the train. Eventually, she let go, and I withdrew to stand next to the Doctor. Then Starswirl pounced on me, which made me panic even more. I pushed him off, and rolled back upright, backing away. The Doctor stood between the two of us. “Starswirl,” he said, “can you please try and contain yourself?” “Fine.” said Starswirl, then he paused. “Exactly how long are we talking here?” The Doctor gave him a look that made his opinion very clear, and Starswirl sighed exasperatedly. “Okay, fine, I’ll calm down.” “I’m fine,” I said, laughing. “Just need to get used to him again.” Luna laughed too. I’m sure she understood about Starswirl. “Celestia, how’re you doing?” I asked brightly. “I am well.” she said. “I am glad the Doctor could rescue you. I apologize that we could not help-” she pointed to herself and Luna “-but the Doctor said that it would be best for him to get you.” “I understand. And I’m grateful you listened. I’m afraid I wouldn’t have reacted well if you or Luna had come bursting in.” She nodded, understanding. Celestia was clearly very intelligent, but she maintained a calm, kind demeanor which made it easier to be around her. She put everyone at ease. I was glad, however, that Luna was there to keep her in balance. She would be a very scary dictator, with her understanding of pony’s feelings. “Can I hug you?” asked Starswirl, looking impatient. “Fine.” I said, copying his earlier tone. He approached me slowly (with great difficulty) and hugged me. “I’m glad you are back.” he said, then whispered. “Luna is fun and all, but I need your help with magic.” “Don’t let her hear you say that.” I whispered back, laughing. “Who knows what she’d do to you.” He smiled happily, then made way for Blue. He eyed me nervously, then extended a hoof. I reached out and shook it. Then I pulled him into a quick hug. He tensed, then relaxed. I didn’t draw it out, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. I let him go, then yawning said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.” Starswirl yawned four times louder than I had, then collapsed on the spot. He started snoring loudly. I laughed quietly to myself. Luna picked Starswirl up with her magic, then started out of the room. She stopped and looked back at me. I made to follow her, then stopped, and looked back at the Doctor. “You’ll be fine.” he said. “I’m not leaving. I’ll be right here.” I nodded, then followed Luna out of the room. We took Starswirl to his room, and put him in his bed, then Luna took me to a room I could use. After I’d put the sonic screwdriver and the collar and bowtie on the bedside table, she helped me into bed, then turned to leave. “Luna?” I called. “Yes?” she asked. “Could you stay with me? Until I’m asleep?” She smiled softly and nodded. She levitated a chair, bringing it to rest next to the bed. She sat in it, and I closed my eyes. It didn’t take me very long to fall asleep. ___________________________________________ I woke in a cold sweat. Outside the Tardis, my dreams had been torturous, Sombra making an appearance in all of them. I cried out as someone touched me. I squeezed my eyes shut, curling into a ball. “Don’t! Please, no more! Please!” I shouted in panic. I’d forgotten where I was. “Polaris?” a voice said. The door burst open, and the Doctor rushed in. He ran over and grabbed me, pulling me close. “Listen to me!” he said. “This is real! It’s all real!” I sobbed into his shoulder, emotionally spent. When I looked up, it was to see Luna. She was standing to the side, her head down. She looked at me, upset. “I tried to help.” she said. “But your dreams, they kept me out.” I nodded, unable to speak. The Doctor held me, rocking back and forth. He was mumbling something into my ear. It sounded like a lullaby, but I couldn’t understand it. That was weird, since I’d travelled in the Tardis. Whatever it was, it was working. I began to drift off again. The Doctor was crying again, I could feel the tears on my back. What could make the Doctor act like this? He never cries. What was it that could make him break down like this? Just before I fell asleep, the Doctor whispered another word into my ear. The word resonated with a subtle power. I shuddered, realizing what he’d just said. The Doctor had told me his name.