//------------------------------// // Parting Words // Story: The Lonely Gods of Equestria // by The Diplomat //------------------------------// Now what could I give them tonight...the Clover constellation? No, I made that one a week ago. How about the Unicorn's Stride? I haven't done that one in a while. But...bleh. Bleh indeed. That was the thought that always came back after two hours of trying to focus on her work. An idea came, and then it went, and bleh returned. Luna dragged her hooves down her face, trying to figure out the exact reason why she couldn't focus. That stallion, the Doctor. Whenever she tried to think of a constellation, she would just go back to thinking about him and how he fell down from the stars. Why, how, where, who and what were questions that seemed to constantly float around him and whenever she tried to grasp them they faded like smoke, only to return instantly. No results, no progress, and therefore she felt like...bleh. Oh confound it all, I'll just throw together a random set of stars up there, it's not like anyone actually watches them! Wait, no, that's not true. I guess I'll go with the Unicorn's Stride. Actually, I think I set that one up the night he arri- Gah, heavens above! Her forehead met the desk of her room with a loud thunk, making scrolls fly up around her. She knew she looked ridiculous, especially with one of them dangling off her horn, but at least there was no one there to see her in such a state. Always there, never completely grasped. He's almost like- "This is neat stuff!" "WOAH!" Luna promptly fell off her chair while the Doctor looked down at a scroll on her desk. She scrambled up, quickly composing herself before she snatched the scroll he was watching and stuffing it, along with the others, into the desk's drawers. After locking them up, she frowned at him. The already wide grin on his face grew a bit. "How did you get in here? These are my private chambers!" "I know, I was surprised too! Your guards let me in when I asked; apparently you and your sister granted me unlimited access within the castle. Right?" "But I didn't- " Luna stopped herself, and slowly facehoofed. She could almost hear her sister whispering 'gotcha' in her ear. "Very well...why didn't you knock?" "I did, but when I came in your head met the desk. Anyway, what's with these constellations? They look great!" "That's not important!" shouted Luna, cheeks reddening slightly, "what are you even doing here?!" "I wanted to talk about the incident that occurred earlier today," replied the Doctor, looking at her with a calm expression. At this, Luna promptly shut her mouth. She had to tread carefully now. "I see...what part in particular?" "The part where you spoke to my mind. Not a lot of people can do that." "So you did hear me! I was wondering why you stared at me like that." "Yeah, I did. This big brain of mine picks up stuff from time to time, although I didn't exactly expect to hear anyone else here." They stood there for a few seconds, the Doctor simply looking at her while Luna felt - for some odd reason - slightly embarrassed. He finally broke the silence. "You don't want me to leave, do you?" Luna's eyes widened greatly, and she stammered in an attempt to counter his statement before giving up, and sitting back down with a hoof rubbing her forehead. "Of course I don't want you to leave, Doctor. I mean...look at you: you literally fell from the sky, looking like one the strangest creatures I've met in my long, long life, inside a box that's impossibly large, and then proceeded - shortly after awakening from a small coma, might I add - to blow up and become an Earth pony. And then I had you wipe my memory for an apparently good reason, and now you just waltz in here like nothing's wrong even though your ship boomed out of existence and I can't figure you out and quite frankly you drive me crazy!" While she was ranting on, she had risen back up and was quickly invaded his personal space until his back was against the doors. He blinked a few times, then waggled his eyebrows. "Don't worry, I have that effect on a lot of people." Princess Luna gawked at him, her face slowly reddening before she flashed out of existence and reappeared on her bed, yelling into a pillow while hitting the covers with her hooves. The Doctor watched, amused, until she calmed down. He then walked over to her and sat on the bed next to her. "Feeling better?" "..Much," came the muffled reply. She rolled over, and looked up into his warm blue eyes before sighing and turning her gaze to the ceiling. "Do you really want to know why, apart from the fact that it would be wrong to keep you in here? It's because I needed someone like you. Celestia and I were actually talking about our...status as princesses on the night you arrived. The truth is I felt lonely, and unappreciated. So many years gone by, and the only ones remaining by my side are her and - unfortunately - Discord. While I love her very, very much, she remains my older sister. I wanted a friend. "And now you're here. You are mad, and a bit rude, but I just feel so right in your presence. I haven't felt this comfortable with someone in eons, and I thought I could get a new, true friend after so long. And you were just going to go away? Of course I didn't want you to leave." When she turned to look at him, he was simply staring at the ceiling, apparently content with listening to her. When he realized she wanted a reply, he rolled over to look into her own eyes and gave her a tired smile. "Well...I'm not leaving now. At least, I'm not leaving this planet. The truth is I'm stuck here and I have no idea where my ship's gone. The only option I have have left is to go out there and explore. If it's not out here, then...I guess this is more about self-exploration than anything else, but I still need to leave. Although..." He gently took one of her hooves into his own, and she silently held her breath in anticipation. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she couldn't be bothered to care. "...You can still come see me in my dreams, right?" he concluded, giving her a warm smile. "..If you'll allow me," she replied, with a shy smile. "Of course." And with that, he patted her hoof once and rose from the bed. He was about to walk out when she called his name in a soft voice. He turned to see her watching him with half-lidded eyes, clutching the bedsheets around her chest. "Would you like to stay with me for a moment, Doctor? It's been quite a while since I've enjoyed some company during the night." The Doctor simply stared, and the more his face reddened, the louder she laughed. She then got up, and walked over to the desk to pull out the same scrolls she had previously locked away. "Not in that way, but don't worry. I have that effect on some people as well. Now would you like to join me so that I may tell you about the constellations I was working on?" He took a moment to reply. "I, um..yes, I suppose I can stay tonight...to keep you entertained. No wait, I mean..stars! Yes, sure!" As he awkwardly shuffled over to her side, she shook her head in amusement while hiding her smirk. He might have made her feel like a young mare again with his wit, but she could play that game just as well. She felt as though she was going to have quite a lot of fun with this silly stallion. ************ After two days of preparations and a few goodbyes, along with some apologies, the Doctor was ready to go. He stood outside the gates of the castle, watching the sun rise over the mountain that held the town of Canterlot - Ha! - and lighting this side of the world. He watched as golden crops and rich fields of all sorts of colors were caught in the wave of pinkish light, all the way over there, where mountains in the far distance marked a natural barrier from another part of the world. It seems I have quite a lot of work ahead of me... "Beautiful, isn't it?" The Doctor turned to face the two sisters, who were walking down a flight of stairs to see him off. Celestia held in her magical hold a pair of saddlebags, while Luna held a white box with purple stripes in hers. Celestia stepped forward first, and set the bags down before his hooves. "You'll find in these saddlebags a few choice items: some currency; a map of Equestria; and some food, as well as other items that might be useful in time. Also, you might find these bags to be quite peculiar." When she motioned for him to open, he flipped one open with his muzzle and stuck a hoof in to find that they were, in fact... "Bigger on the inside! Look at that! That's amazing, I've never seen this kind of stuff outside the TARDIS; how did you manage that?!" "Oh Doctor, this kind of magic has been around for quite a while. A friend of mine, in the old days, engineered this spell a few centuries ago - although I'm not exactly sure when," said Celestia, looking off in the distance with a smile. "Strange, I'd thought he'd be more surprised..." mumbled Luna, before stepping forward as well. "I- We, I mean! Also wanted to give you this." She deposited the box in front of him and opened the lid so that he could see its contents. On a pure white coat, a red waistcoat and a matching red tie were slightly covered by an equally white shirt. "Oh, wow...thank you! I mean, I can't even...how can I repay- " "No, no, no, Doctor. This is a gift from us to you, and we won't have you paying for it. Now hold still, we wish to see if this works..." With a flick of her horn, the clothes popped out of existence and onto the Doctor's person. Before he could speak, she held a hoof up to his face. "Wait for it..." After a few seconds, the coat's color faded into brown. It felt solid but not too heavy, and not too warm nor too thin, and he was grateful for the deep front, side, and inside pockets. He gawked at it, spinning on himself a few times to fully absorb all these new things that were being thrown at him. Luna clapped her hooves with a laugh while Celestia laughed quietly, before speaking up. "It seems it was a success. We commissioned this coat from a friend of ours in a nearby town, and I have to say she did an amazing job considering the short amount of time we had to push on her. We'll have to thank her properly," she added, turning to look at Luna and motioning for her to talk to him, which she slowly did. "Does it please you?" she asked, with a small voice. He turned to her, and gave her an honest and wide smile. "'We' love it! I felt useless without pockets!" With a roll of her eyes and an amused smile, Luna continued. "I've been meditating on the issue, and I have to ask you...did I act on my...curiosity, for your ship?" "..You did," said the Doctor with a raised eyebrow, the tiniest shade of grey crawling up his coat. "I see, and that's why I can't...of course," she sighed, looking aside. "Am I still forgiven?" He stood still for a few seconds, before slowly pulling her in for a hug. "Always and completely, Luna." With a shaky sigh of relief, she returned the hug. The coat he wore melted from brown to dark blue, and its default color only returned after they broke apart. Celestia cleared her throat and walked up to him. "I'm sure you've gathered by now that the coat will change colors depending on some things, such as emotions or proximity to certain environments or persons. I doubted you would like a single color for your new apparel, so we thought of this. Anyway, I believe it's time for you to be on your way," she concluded, resting a forehoof on his shoulder. "Travel safely, my friend, and never hesitate to drop by." He placed his hoof on her own, and looked up to her with moist eyes. "I will, for both of you. Thank you very, very much." But before he fully turned to start his journey, he faced her once more and asked her, with some uncertainty, a question she was very rarely asked. "I've been talking to Luna, and I've been feeling to ask...are you lonely, sometimes?" She blinked slowly, twice, before running a hoof through her hair while she watched the great mountain above them. "From time to time...but I've learned to deal with it, and ever since I have my sister back I find myself forgetting it more and more often. But to answer your question, Doctor, I do...sometimes...feel quite lonely." She sighed deeply, then faced him with a smile so familiarly worn it made his chest hurt. "But that's a discussion we can have some other time. I suggest you avoid delaying your departure any further." He looked at her for a few seconds, then nodded and walked away. Celestia returned to her sister's side, and they hugged each others side, watching the small but powerful being trotting down the road into the town, which was already starting to fill up with early birds. They felt a tad empty after he left, but they knew, deep down in their minds, that he would return to them; and Celestia knew he would return before he knew it. ************ The Doctor walked through the town, heading for the train station the sisters had told him of. He took his time though, looking around to quickly study the ponies around him, some customs and habits, and the town's layout. As he noticed that there were a lot less inhabitants than he expected, he heard a low but deep laugh coming from one of his chest pockets. "Ah, mon ami, l'amour is in ze air!" From that pocket jumped out a small version of Discord, who was wearing a white shirt with horizontal black stripes and a red beret while munching on a baguette. This little fiend landed on the Doctor's shoulder, and rested his back against the stallion's neck while holding his hands together. "What are you talking about, Discord?" asked the Doctor, his coat slowly turning dark grey. "Oh please, it reeks like Prench cheese. L'amewr between you and the little princess? Ha!" laughed the draconequus, spreading the stinky, milky cheese on a slice of bread. He then snapped his fingers, and popped up on top of the Doctor's head. "There's none of that. We're just friends." "Yes, yes, of course you are, either way," groaned Discord, rubbing his forehead with his talon,"it looks like you're off to start your big old adventure? Are you nervous, excited, both? Or hungry, maybe sick? Whose shirts do you wear?! The public has a right to know!" At this point the Doctor had stopped, and was looking at the little creature - whom had summoned a pair of glasses, a loose tie and microphone from thin air - with annoyance written all over his face. He rubbed the side of his face, sighed, and decided to humor him. "Why are you here, and what do you want, Discord?" "That's an excellent question, my strange friend," muttered Discord, holding his chin in his hand," what are any of us doing anywhere? What is our purpose in life? Heavy stuff we're dealing with here. But in all seriousness, I've decided to join you on your little quest." "...Really?" asked the Doctor, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, really!" he shouted, growing to his regular size and grabbing the stallion in a side-hug. "It'll be our own road movie! I can see it now: explosions, plots, romance, and adventure all over! I mean how could I leave my bestest new buddy in the world all alone, with no one by his side? And, in all honesty..." The Doctor looked up to see Discord staring far away, with unfocused eyes and a tired expression on his face. "I feel as though you're the only person who really understands me. So now, I have a true friend with whom I can break free of the prison that is loneliness and- PWAHAHAHA! I CAN'T DO IT!" Discord took flight, holding his sides and pointing at the stallion while laughing hysterically and floating in mid-air. "Goodness gracious, that was too perfect! Can you believe some people actually feed this kind of garbage to others, and that those others eat it up like candy?! It's madness! Delicious, beautiful, hysterical madness!" The Doctor looked unamused by the spirit's antics, and looked around to find that no pony around them was paying them any attention. "Before you ask, I set up a spell so that we could have this little chat in private; and while I might not really be joining you I did want to have a few words," said Discord, sitting on a red sofa that had risen from the ground behind him. "I maintain that you are very worthy of my time, little pony, and as such I will probably pop by every now and then. Or maybe not. Who knows? Either way, you've got a long road ahead of you, so have fun!" The spirit snapped his fingers, and was about to swan dive into a chocolate bucket when the Doctor called for him to wait, resulting in his body to freeze in mid-air. "Yes, what is it now? I've got places to make and people to mess with, so tick tock," he huffed, crossing his arms. "Who are you, really? Because I've read about you recently and while there are many theories, I can't seem to get any clear information on you. And quite frankly, I can't figure out your game here, and that doesn't amuse me at all," replied the Doctor, walking right up to the draconequus. "You can't seem to get a fix on me, eh? How about that..." With a dark chuckle, he slowly floated down to his feet and snapped his fingers. With a thundering snap the entire area, perhaps even the entire world, came to a standstill. Every pony froze, the birds stood perfectly still, and everything was silent except for the sinister laughing that echoed in the air. He looked unusually tall, making him lean down quite a bit to look at the Doctor - who was starting to feel nervous - dead in the eyes. "You want to know who I am? What I am? What tricks I have up my sleeves and what runs around in this beautiful head of mine? Well I don't, really." The Doctor blinked, caught off-guard by this strange twist of events, which prompted Discord to continue. "I've been around the block quite a bit, you know. In fact, I've been around hundreds of thousands of blocks; I've seen just about everything this world and some others have to offer and watched from above many, many beings desperately looking for a meaning in life and reading books about self-discovery and getting in touch with yourself. And watching them inspired me, because it was so, very...very pathetic and dull. I know who I am, but not what nor why, when, how and where I came to be - heck, I don't even know exactly what I'm doing at times - and quite frankly, I don't feel the need to find out. I have no idea if I'm immortal, so I try not to waste any of the time I may or may not have. And besides, who wants to live forever anyway?" "I am forever untamed, powerful, and at the top of my chaotic game, so why I should waste even the smallest amount of time to figure out things while I could be having fun? My goal in life is to do whatever I want, and I'll be damned if I have to be tied down by anything or anyone, even myself. Long story short: I am who I am right in front in front of you, and what games I play are my business. The real question is, what do you think about me?" While the Doctor thought of an answer, Discord suddenly pulled out a heart-shaped watch from his chest. "Oh and would you look at that? It clearly says on this contraption that I'm bored. Now you go on and do your soul searching thing and I'll do my thing, alright? Alright!" And after throwing the grotesque watch down his hatch, Discord jumped into a blinding white circle of light that had emerged from above him. His talon reached out, and the Doctor his voice for the last time in quite a while. "And do try to have some fun! Ciao!" He snapped his fingers, which zipped back into the shrinking hole in the surface of reality, and the area came back to life. The ponies resumed their walks, some of them glancing at the strange looking stallion who was staring in the air at nothing, and the sun continued its journey across the sky. The Doctor then shook his head, noticing that he could see his breath in the air. It seemed that in all the time he had spent here, he just realized that the world had moved on unhindered, and that the colder seasons were approaching. He rolled his shoulders, enjoying the feel of clothes and bags dancing along his back, and smiled a little. "Alright then, world. Here comes the Doctor." While he resumed his walk out of the town, he didn't notice that the show the spirit had put on was a hollow act, as he was simply watching him from a nearby cloud. He felt strangely empty, watching the curious creature leave, and felt the disturbingly strong need to visit Fluttershy. He then frowned, and a growl rose up his throat. "Friendship, they said...oh, give me a break already." He then clapped his hands once and vanished with a loud snap, and the ponies on the ground jumped a little, as if a large door had been violently slammed shut nearby.