Chapter 2: Return to Nymphadora
Ruleo, 1678 C.E.
Silence seemed to fall as Marcus and Sylvia locked eyes. Derpy couldn't help but smile and squeal slightly as the two lovers slowly approached each other. They came to a stop when a mere two feet of blue grass stood between them. Marcus smiled at his girlfriend. "You look different," he commented with a smirk.
"You don't," Sylvia replied with a quick flick of her tongue. "Still scrawny as ever."
Marcus laughed before reaching forward and pulling Sylvia in, locking himself and her in a long and passionate kiss. Derpy heard the Doctor sigh and she turned to him. "Ah. The sight of reunited love. Nothing quite like it," he said.
"You look like you have experience with that, Doctor," Derpy guessed.
"No. Of course, I don't." Derpy raised an eyebrow and the Doctor's face became slightly flushed. "Okay...maybe." Derpy raised her eyebrow even higher. "Alright! That's enough, Ms. Hooves! Whatever love life I may or may not have had previously is not the concern here! Let us just focus on the matters at hoof!"
"This conversation isn't over, Doctor."
"Oh I know it isn't." The Doctor let out a groan and began to approach the kissing lovers with an annoyed pattern in his trot. Derpy giggled due to her enjoyment of teasing the Doctor before walking after him.
"I've missed you," said Marcus once he and Sylvia had finished their kiss.
"Me too," said Sylvia.
"Hello!" said the Doctor loudly. Marcus and Sylvia jumped a bit before turning to face him.
"Doctor!" Derpy snapped as she slapped one of his forelegs. "Don't interrupt them!"
"Normally, I wouldn't but seeing as we're on a pretty tight schedule-"
"Hold it," said Sylvia. She pointed one of her serpentine fingers at the Doctor. "Are you...the Doctor?"
"Well...yeah. Pretty much. Obviously. Yes, I am the Doctor."
"It's an honor to meet you!" Sylvia gave a salute and the Doctor looked as if he were about to roll his eyes.
"You don't have to salute me. Really...don't...really." Sylvia nodded then reached her hand forward and grabbed one of the Doctor's forehooves in a strong handshake. The Doctor gasped as Sylvia grabbed his hoof. When she took her hand away, the Doctor's hoof looked red and swollen.
"You okay, Doctor?" Derpy asked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," the Doctor replied as he rubbed his hoof. He looked at Sylvia and smirked. "That's quite an impressive amount of strength you've got there."
"Well, war tends to act as a good excuse to work out," Sylvia replied.
"So...this is your militia?" Marcus asked as he looked at Sylvia's band of Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians.
Sylvia looked back at her group and gave a confident and stern yet endearing smile. "Yes. They're all rebels, if you wish to call them that, like myself who found themselves stranded on Auran following the start of the war. We just sort of ran into each other in time."
"And I bet it didn't take long for you to establish yourself as leader."
"In all honesty, it wasn't a difficult decision," stated a female Nymphadorian towards the front of the group with short hair. "Sylvia is the strongest, smartest, and fiercest out of all of us. She has been a great leader."
"It also helps a lot to be allied with an Auranian on Auran during these times...for obvious reasons," said one of the male Ruleonites.
"Hey! What about us then?!" snapped one of the male Auranians as he pointed towards himself and the other Auranians in the group.
"Yes, I'm sure that came in handy quite a lot," said the Doctor quickly as he pushed himself to the forefront. "Hate to be pushy but I think it would be best for us to get out of here before the Ruleonites in this town wake up to see a group of Nymphadorians and Auranians standing in their backyard."
"The Doctor's right. We better get a move on," said Marcus.
"Do you have much luggage?" Sylvia asked.
"Just one suitcase," the Doctor replied. "It's over by the door."
Derpy watched as the Doctor hastily ran back to the house and grabbed a black suitcase of slightly above average size. She knew what lay within: the wedding gown she had worn to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's wedding, the Staff of the Dawn, and President Targaryen's ring. "And that's all?" Sylvia asked.
"That's all," the Doctor replied.
"Not really that much of a need for anything else," Marcus added.
"Very well," said Sylvia before turning her attention back to her militia. "Everyone back on board!"
The others saluted and started boarding the ship. Derpy turned back to the house and saw Mr. Hazel standing in the doorway. He was waving with a kind smile on his face. "Good luck!" he called.
"Thank you for everything!" Derpy called back as she, the Doctor, and Marcus waved farewell to their host. They then quickly turned around and followed Sylvia and her soldiers onto the ship.
Orbit of Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.
Derpy held on tightly as the spaceship finally broke free from Ruleo's gravity field and began to get pulled in by Nymphadora's. Most of the view seen through the front window of the ship was filled by the sight of the contaminated purple planet. "So, do you want us to go ahead and dive into the twilight?" Sylvia asked as she piloted the vessel.
"Not yet," the Doctor said suddenly.
"Where do you want us to go first then?"
"I think I know," said Marcus. Marcus looked at Sylvia and the two of them shared a nod of acknowledgement.
"Just go to these coordinates," said the Doctor as he gave Sylvia a paper with some scribbles on it that Derpy didn't even bother trying to understand.
"On it," said Sylvia before she aimed the ship in the direction of the half of Nymphadora which remained free from King Dusk's grasp. "I'm gonna try and find a safe area to get through. I'm sure there's a few leftover offensive satellites flying about."
Everypony and everyone on the ship settled in as Sylvia comfortably flew the ship through Nymphadora's orbit, scanning for a safe area to begin the descent. For a few seconds, Derpy couldn't help but temporarily listen in to a conversation that Marcus began having with Sylvia. "I hope you know that I tried to get to you," Marcus whispered.
"I know," Sylvia whispered back. "There were moments where I thought you were...you know...but I always knew that, no matter what, you would be trying to get to me...as I was trying to get to you."
"Ash helped at one point too."
"I remember reading about that in your message." Sylvia placed one of her hands on one of Marcus's claws. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah. Me too."
"It's not nice to listen in," whispered the Doctor from behind.
Derpy turned around and sighed. "Sorry, Doctor," she said.
The Doctor smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "It's alright. No huge amount of damage done."
Derpy glanced out the window before turning back to the Doctor. "Do you think the TARDIS has been safe all this time?"
"I would hope so. We left it in the middle of the wilderness on the side of Nymphadora that wasn't covered in twilight. Not to mention that it's a second out of sync and nopony can see it. I'm sure it's fine. Might be a bit lonely though."
Derpy giggled. "I bet it misses us a lot."
"Well, hopefully it won't have to wait that much longer to see us again."
The ship slanted a bit and Derpy looked to see that Sylvia was flying down towards Nymphadora. "Hang on! It's going to be bumpy!" she warned. Derpy found herself simultaneously grabbing onto both the wall and the Doctor as the spaceship began its passage through Nymphadora's atmosphere. Everything started trembling and shaking and a fiery, orange light appeared outside the ship's front window. A loud, continuous boom similar to that of a lion's roar coursed through the air. The walls of the ship grew warm and became much more difficult to cling to. Yet, Derpy continued to hold on. At one point, the ship tilted back slightly and Derpy fell into the Doctor, her muzzle burying into his shoulder. She froze and didn't dare look up to see the Doctor's reaction. However, she knew that he could probably see her face growing as red as a fresh apple from Sweet Apple Acres right about now. Through the sound of the fiery roar, she could almost swear that she could hear the Doctor awkwardly chuckling.
Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.
After what felt like hours of endurance, the spaceship finally touched down on the surface of Nymphadora. Sylvia brought the ship to a surprisingly smooth stop and the Doctor kindly separated his shoulder from Derpy's shaking muzzle. "You okay?" he asked as he stared into her golden, inverted eyes. Her face was abnormally red and an expression of embarrassed horror was all she appeared to be able to give. The Doctor smiled at her. "A simple nod or shake will do." Derpy gave a hasty nod before backing away.
Sylvia stood up and armed herself with an Auranian blaster. She handed one to Marcus as well. "Everybody stay alert! This may be the quote-unquote safe half of Nymphadora but we still don't know what could be waiting for us out there," Sylvia stated. The other soldiers nodded before the hatch door opened and the ponies, Nymphadorians, Auranians, and Ruleonites took their exit.
It was nighttime and the air was refreshingly cool. The light blue grass decorated the landscape and the surrounding area itself had the appearance of a rocky, bumpy valley; with somewhat steep hills rising up on the bordering sides of the curved landscape of irregular blue grass patches. Sylvia's head quickly turned every which way, her eyes looking as if they desperately wished to latch onto something. "Looking for the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked with a chuckle.
"Where is it? I thought you were taking us to where it was," said Sylvia.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "I did." He activated the screwdriver and the TARDIS appeared out of thin air a few feet away. "There it is!"
Marcus and Sylvia slowly approached the blue box and pressed their hands against it. "It's almost how I pictured it."
"Glad I didn't disappoint." The Doctor took a few steps towards the TARDIS. "Now we have our ride to the heart of the twilight."
Before the Doctor could open the TARDIS. One of the Ruleonite soldiers gasped. "Sylvia!" he said.
"What is it?" Sylvia asked.
"I...I can't move!"
"What?"
"Hey! I can't move either!" said one of the Nymphadorians.
"Me neither!" exclaimed one of the Auranians.
"Me neither!" gasped another Ruleonite.
The Doctor watched in shocked curiosity as Sylvia's soldiers proceeded to freeze in place like statues. His eyes darted over to Derpy, who was now shaking. "Derpy?" he asked.
"Doctor...I...I'm freezing!" gasped the pegasus as every part of her body grew still. The Doctor heard two gasps and looked back in time to see Marcus and Sylvia freeze up as well. It was only when he turned back to Derpy when he began to feel his own body begin to grow still. His muscles seemed to tighten and prevent any movement of his limbs. His skin started to feel like cement and it became a test just to try and change the expression on his face. As this strange, frightening process took hold of him, a series of figures emerged from the darkness and approached the group of frozen rebels. The Doctor instantly recognized them.
They were the isolated Nymphadorian "indians" whom the Doctor had encountered when he, Derpy, and Twilight had arrived on Nymphadora. Leading them was an intimidating and obviously angry Nymphadorian woman dressed up like a priestess. "Midna...Wolfsbane," the Doctor managed to say before his face hardened.
"Well look who's returned," said Midna Wolfsbane with a despising tone. "The one who brought the spark to Nymphadora." Midna's followers growled upon hearing this. She approached the Doctor and knelt down in front of them. Their eyes met in a long stare of wits, though it wasn't hard for the Doctor to keep staring as he face muscles were paralyzed. Midna stood up and snapped her fingers. "Surround the box and the ship!" Sections of her tribe split off to guard the TARDIS and Sylvia's spaceship. "I have a few questions for the Doctor and his little mixed army to answer."
It took a while for Twilight to regain the courage to return to the library. The thought of sharing existence with the deceased was a concept which both disturbed and frightened her. However, upon thinking back to the young Thea and her fellow students, she didn't feel as frightened of them as she did guilty for running away from them. They may be spirits but they were also just children. Still...that didn't make their backstory or current, ghostly appearances any less gruesome.
Twilight entered the library to find a strong chill in the air, one that hadn't been present previously. She could tell that she wasn't alone. Every hair on her body was standing up and the air felt both thick and filled to the brim with static electricity. They were here. They were there with her. Was it Thea and her friends or somepony else? It was hard to tell. The dead usually tended to give off around the same aura unless they were either really good or really evil.
A wave of both fear and relief came over Twilight when she saw Thea enter her line of sight. She didn't look injured anymore but she still had a ghostly aura. And she was crying. Twilight took a deep breath before approaching the Nymphadorian girl. "Thea?" she asked as she came to a stop.
Thea turned around. She wiped her eyes and smiled at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle...you came back!" she said happily. Through the cracks in her somewhat sobbing voice, Thea flickered back and forth between her normal and ghastly selves.
"I thought Dusk trapped you and your friends in the school."
Thea began to slowly skip around the area. "That didn't last long. Did you want us to remain trapped?"
Twilight smiled sadly at Thea and shook her head. "Honestly...no."
"I was really sad when you ran from me and my friends."
"You frightened me." Twilight figured that it was best not to sugarcoat her reasons for running from Thea.
"Did we look that bad?"
"Let's just say that I prefer you looking the way you do right now."
Thea stopped skipping and smirked at Twilight. "You know what? I like looking this way too. Being all...you know...full of holes and stuff isn't that fun."
Twilight began to feel her eyes tearing up. "I...I'm sorry, Thea. About what happened to you and your friends."
Thea rolled her eyes but continued to smile warmly at Twilight. "I told you earlier, it didn't hurt."
"I know...but you and your friends were too young."
Thea shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. Honestly, I don't think much about what happened that day. I don't really think much about my life when I was alive. Everything's been like a wonderful, slow and fast dream since then. I don't take much notice of a lot of things in the world that's always passing me by. That kinda changed when the twilight fell, however. Then I started noticing things again and paying attention. But...it feels wrong. I know my friends and I aren't supposed to be here and yet here we are. I like to think that we're here for a reason other than the twilight."
"Like what?"
Thea shrugged her shoulders again. "I dunno. Maybe to help you or something?"
"If you could somehow get the Doctor and whatever help he has here, that could prove useful."
Thea scratched her chin for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Sorry. I don't think I can leave this building." Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple. "But maybe the new guy can help!"
Twilight hastily turned all of her attention back to Thea. "New guy?"
"Yeah! He appeared not too long ago and I think he can leave the building. He might be able to get this Doctor of yours here!"
"Where is he then?"
Suddenly, a series of light footsteps echoed through the air and came to a stop a few feet behind Twilight. Thea pointed in this direction and smiled. "Right there," replied the ghost girl.
Twilight turned around and her eyes widened in response to seeing the figure standing before her. "Oh my Celestia," she gasped. "It's you!"