//------------------------------//
// Stopping Hearts 
// Story: The Doctor Whooves Chronicles Episode 6: Twilight Falls 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: Stopping Hearts


Nymphadora, 1678 C.E.

Marcus shook like he was freezing to death as he approached the ghostly Colonel Ash. "Is...is it really you, Ash?" he asked.
Ash smirked and chuckled softly. "I know you're probably shocked, scared, and confused right now but I swear on my...afterlife that it's really me," he replied.
Marcus reached his paw forward and placed it on one of Ash's shoulders. Blue steam emanated from the spot where they met and Marcus jerked his paw back. "Cold!"
"Sorry. Us dead people aren't exactly known for our warmth."
Derpy could see Marcus's eyes beginning to tear up slightly. "I just...can't...how?!"
"How indeed," said the Doctor as he approached the apparition and examined him.
"The reason behind me coming back is all around you," said Ash as he extended his arms and spun around, wisps of purple dust moving through the air in response.
Derpy looked at the depressing, warped world that surrounded her. "The twilight," she deduced.
Ash pointed at Derpy. "Exactly!" he replied. "The twilight keeps spirits bound to the world of the living. Even those who have been gone for years are starting to return." 
Derpy looked and noticed many ghostly figures beginning to appear from the shadows and move about the surrounding landscape. Just then, she heard a gasp and looked to see that Marcus had rushed forward and grabbed the ghostly Ash in a hug, huge amounts of smoke were emanating from their embrace. "It's...really you!" Marcus exclaimed.
Ash chuckled and patted Marcus on the back. "It's great to see you too, Marcus," he said. "Now you better let go of me before you get frostbite all over your front." Marcus slowly broke away from Ash and took a few steps back towards Sylvia. Ash smiled at the couple. "I see you two have finally been reunited. That makes me very happy." Marcus and Sylvia smiled at each other before looking back at Ash.
Derpy was still in shock that Ash was standing before her and talking. She remembered seeing him die in Marcus's arms and now he was back almost as if he had never died. "Well...it's great to have you back, Colonel," said the Doctor with a warm smile. "So you've come to help us?"
"That's correct, Doctor," Ash replied. "And it looks like I arrived just in time. You should thank Twilight Sparkle for me being here."
"Twilight?!" Derpy asked.
Ash nodded his head. "Yep. Originally, after I died, I was sort of stuck in this weird twilight void. I was stuck watching the twilight world progress around me and I spent my time in that void examining the twilight world and learning more about it. After a while, I eventually felt a pull that brought me into the twilight world. I ended up back in the City Centre and another lost spirit led me to Twilight. That's when she asked me to go out and help bring you to the City Centre." Derpy didn't realize until Ash had finished speaking that she was shaking slightly with worry. "And, don't worry, she's doing surprisingly well. She's done a good job at keeping her sanity and will as well as her strength in holding back the Dusk's magic."
Derpy sighed with relief. "That's good to hear."
"But I don't think she can hold out that much longer. Dusk's going to eventually overpower her protective magic and spread his realm out across the rest of Nymphadora."
"Then you better get us to Lupae before that happens!" said Marcus with a confident pose.
Ash winked. "Count on it." Suddenly, the ghost shimmered a bit and took a few steps back. "Oh man...we better get a move on quickly." He groaned with pain and knelt down on the ground.
"What's wrong?!" Derpy asked.
"Remember what I said about the twilight trapping spirits? The same thing has happened to those who you lost in the crash."
Derpy thought back to the crash, the smell of smoke and the feeling of intense heat still fresh in her mind. "Does...does that mean they're coming back?!" asked the injured Klaus.
"Not in the way you want them to," Ash explained. "I'm one of the few lucky ones to come back with their sanity and minds intact. Your friends...well...take a look." Ash pointed in the direction of the crash. Derpy's eyes focused in that direction and her entire body froze in response to what she saw.
A group of burning, angry Nymphadorians, Ruleonites, and Auranians was making its way towards the survivors. "I agree with Ash. We all best be moving along!" stated the Doctor. Derpy's temporary paralysis was removed when the Doctor grabbed one of her legs. She looked back at the earth pony stallion, nodded and began to follow him. Ash began to walk in the direction of Lupae with Derpy, the Doctor, Marcus, and Sylvia carrying Klaus remaining close behind him.
"Stay close," Ash ordered. "There's many more demons hiding in the twilight ahead."

Twilight groaned as her body collided with the hallway floor. Everything was spinning and an unbelievable amount of pain was emanating from her horn. It felt like her horn had inverted and was now drilling deep into her skull. Shaking. Got to stop shaking! she pleaded in thought. She grabbed onto a nearby tapestry and pulled herself off the ground. Her entire body shook and rattled like she was suffering from multiple muscle spasms. She managed to pull herself up and leaned against the wall to keep her balance. Is...is Dusk breaking through my magic? Is his twilight finally covering the rest of Nymphadora?!
After a few more seconds, the pain and dizziness faded away and Twilight let out several coughs as she regained control of her body. "Oh Celestia," she groaned as she began to slowly trudge her way down the hallway. She had no real destination in mind. She just needed to keep walking. Away from Dusk. Away from Thea and her fellow undead classmates. She just needed to walk and be alone.
As she made her way around another corner, she felt a strange surge of strength come over her. Her weakness brought upon by the last searing pain had gone and she could walk normally once more. While it felt good to have full stamina once again, Twilight couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. Not by Dusk. Not by Thea. Not even by Ash, who Twilight knew was probably out of the city by this point. No. This was something new.
That's when the sound of chains being dragged along the floor could be heard. Twilight's hairs stood up and she faced the direction from where she had come from. At first she saw nothing but she knew something was approaching her. She started walking backwards and away from the invisible source of the dragging chains. For the first time in a while, Twilight didn't feel safe. Sure, Dusk had an intimidating presence and certainly wasn't a foe to underestimate but she knew that he wasn't going to hurt her...yet. Thea and her classmates had appeared terrifying at first but were really as harmless as flies. All of the truly dangerous apparitions and monsters had resided outside the cold walls of the City Centre. At least that's what Dusk had told Twilight.
Twilight wanted to call out and ask who was stalking her in the shadows but couldn't find the ability to produce a sound. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness in this new hallway, she noticed certain patches of air rippling like the disturbed surface of a pond. Within seconds, the ripples took on a more bipedal shape. Shadows and light bent around the ripples and bounced off in random directions. Footsteps could be heard now and Twilight could feel her body beginning to shake once more.
"Come here," ordered a soft voice from the center of the ripples. "Come here, spark of twilight." This is what gave Twilight the strength to turn around and run as fast as she could down the hallway. She could hear the raspy, whisper-prone voice of the ripples calling out to her as she made her escape.
She turned around another bend and made it halfway down the hallway before glancing back. WHAT?! she thought in horror as she saw the ripples merely a few feet behind her. How did it catch up to me so fast?! It didn't even make a sound! Twilight's heart was pounding and her breathing was quick. Her body started to ache again and her muscles pleaded for a respite.
Twilight turned around another corner. Her eyes fell on a door just ahead. It wasn't like the other doors in the City Centre, which tended to be metal or iron. This was a wooden door covered in strange markings. It looked more like a door that belonged in an ancient castle from the days of Star-Swirl the Bearded. Twilight couldn't explain it but something drew her towards this door. This door would save her. It would hold all the answers. It was the key to finding safety. Taking a gamble, she raced towards the door and flung it open with her magic. The door slammed shut behind her as soon as she passed through the threshold.
The room was pitch black and Twilight hastily tried to illuminate her horn. Strangely enough, no light came forth. She tried as hard as she could to produce a simple illumination spell but her horn failed her at every attempt. It was only after her sixth attempt to light her horn that she noticed something odd about this room other than its darkness. The air smelled of burnt toast and felt like a prison of static electricity. Every hair on her body raised up and she almost gagged as the thick scent of burnt toast reached the back of her throat. "What's in this room?" Twilight asked with a cough.
"A gateway...to your salvation," replied a familiar voice that made Twilight freeze up.
No! It's in here! she realized in thought. Suddenly, a fiery light appeared in the center of the room. Twilight couldn't make out anything about the room for standing right in front of her was a tall, shadowy figure. Twilight was able to identify that the figure standing in front of her was a Nymphadorian and it didn't take much longer for her to notice the long dagger held in one of its paws. Before Twilight even had a chance to widen her eyes or gasp, the dagger was plunged deep into her chest.

The Doctor couldn't help but find his curiosity about Dusk's twilight increasing with every new revelation. Scorpion abominations. Bringing the dead back to the world of the living. I wonder what else this realm has in store for us, the Doctor thought as he made sure to keep close to Derpy. He noticed that her body was shaking ever so slightly. The Doctor's ears fell. He could only imagine what it must be like for, such an innocent pegasus, to witness the horrors she's seen. Such is the nature of war. It takes our innocence and rips it away. Just then, Derpy turned towards the Doctor and they met eye-to-eye. He expected to see fear etched into her face but, instead, he saw a warm and abnormally cute smile that made his hearts explode...twice. Look at her. Putting on a brave face. She's probably trying to keep me from worrying about her. Sadly, it's not working. The Doctor smiled back at Derpy and she gave him a quick nod before looking forward.
The Doctor glanced back to see that the ghostly echoes of their lost soldiers were now off in the distance. He noticed Sylvia was looking back at them as well. The stallion and the Auranian met eye-to-eye before turning forward to keep following their glowing guide.
Marcus and Ash were caught up in a conversation being spoken at such low levels that no one else in the group could hear their words. The Doctor didn't care. His mission wasn't to hear what those two old friends were talking about. His mission was to stop Dusk and rescue Twilight Sparkle and the rest of Nymphadora.
Twilight Sparkle. The Doctor smiled upon thinking about the lavender unicorn. Such a strong mare. Standing up against an alien tyrant and keeping a wall of twilight at bay. The Doctor couldn't help thinking back to that moment when that unexpected best mare had stumbled into the TARDIS. I'm going to get you back to that wedding, Twilight Sparkle.
"Hold it!" Ash ordered suddenly. Everyone came to a halt.
"What is it?" groaned Klaus.
"We're nearing the city."
The Doctor looked. He had been in a mental haze for so long that he hadn't realized that they were now merely a mile or so away from the exterior wall of Lupae. How long had they been walking? A few minutes? A few hours? A day? There was no feeling of the progression of time in the twilight. Everything felt still and static. Forever trapped in a single second of the day. No way forward and no way back.
"And that's good...right?" Derpy asked.
"Yes and no," Ash replied. "Good 'cause we're close to the city. Bad 'cause...well...them."
Ash pointed at the stretch of land that lay between them and the opening in the city wall. The Doctor and the others looked. Spread throughout the landscape were clusters of armored soldiers wielding massive blades. The blades were dark and rusted and their armor was sharp and chipped, allowing a few segments of rotted, gray skin to be seen.
"What are those things?" Sylvia asked.
"Soldiers and guards for the city turned into deadly warriors and bloodthirsty fighters," Ash explained. "They won't go for me since I'm a spirit but they'll tear the rest of you to pieces."
Derpy gulped. "Great. Just what we needed," she said with a shrill tone.
Sylvia pulled out one of her blasters. "I can take care of this," she said.
"I wouldn't use that here, if I were you," Ash warned. "You use that and you're gonna attract the attention of every monster in the city. No offense, but I doubt you'd be able to take on over a million monsters." Sylvia frowned before storing her blaster away.
"Is there a way for us to get past them without fighting?" Klaus asked.
"Lucky for you, there is a way to sneak past them," Ash replied. "These particular creatures are blind and have to rely on their hearing and sense of vibrations in order to hunt their prey. Now, I know you're probably considering the possibility that you could just walk past them at the same pace as them and not be caught; and I'm sorry to say that you'd be wrong because-"
"They can sense our heartbeats," the Doctor deduced.
"Right! So, basically, the only way to sneak past them would be to stop your hearts."
The Doctor exchanged glances with his fellow, living companions. "Uh...that's not really an effective way to sneak past them," said Marcus. "You're basically saying that we have to die in order to not die."
Ash began to smile. "Actually, there is a way for you to stop your hearts and live," informed the ghost.
"How?" asked Sylvia with a raised eyebrow.
Ash pointed to himself. "Me. I can stop all of your hearts while still keeping you alive."
"How is that even possible?" Klaus asked.
Ash waved his paws, which gave off a ghostly steam. "It's one of those things that comes with being a sane ghost," he replied. "Now, in order for this to work properly, I need you all to link up and each of you focus on something strong. A powerful memory. A strong desire. An important objective. Something that will keep you connected to life and to your body."
The Doctor and the others exchanged another series of stares. "Well if this is our only way of getting into the city in one piece, might as well," said Marcus as he grabbed one of Sylvia's hands.
The Doctor turned to Derpy and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright. I promise," he said.
Derpy smiled at him. "I know. As long as we're a team, I'm sure we can do anything," she replied confidently.
The Doctor took the lead of the link with Derpy grabbing onto his tail with her mouth, Marcus grabbing onto her tail, and Sylvia holding onto Marcus's hand while still helping the injured Klaus walk. Ash approached the Doctor and extended his hand forward. "Everyone got their strong thoughts ready?" he asked. Everyone nodded. At first, the Doctor had thought about his current objective: saving Twilight and Nymphadora. However, his focus quickly changed to his past, something he usually didn't tend to like looking back into all that much. His memories honed in on the faces of those he had traveled with throughout his many lives: Susan, Jamie, Jo, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Peri, Ace, Lucie, Rose, Donna, and everybody else. All of their faces appearing before him all at once. He had to keep going. For himself. For these two universes. For them. "Here we go then." Steam poured from Ash's ghostly paw as he pressed it against the Doctor's chest. Everybody in the group gasped. The Doctor felt his body freeze. The world became gray and a hard, final breath escaped his lungs as both of his hearts ground to a halt.