After blinking a few times, she examined her new surroundings. This time, it was completely unfamiliar to her. She was inside a dimly lit hallway of gray walls and metal bars. Was this a prison? Why was she in a prison?
“Tick tock, goes the clock,” from one end of the hallway, she heard someone singing. As if a child was singing a nursery rhyme. “And what then shall we see? Tick tock, until the day, that thou shalt marry me.”
She went towards the voice. Noting along the way that in the limited light through the bars, there was nopony in the cells.
“Tick tock, goes the clock, he cradled and he rocked her. Tick tock goes the clock, even for the Doctor.” The singing grew louder as she drew closer. But every step, it’s as if the voice was somehow multiplying.
“Tick tock, goes the clock, he cradled and he rocked her. Tick tock goes the clock, ‘til River kills the Doctor.”
What? Killed the Doctor? What does that suppose to mean?
“Tick tock goes the clock;” the voices now sang louder than ever, “he gave all he could give her. Tick tock goes the clock, now prison waits for River.”
The singing stopped when she reached a particular cell. Sure enough, there was River. But right away, she noticed two very odd things. For one, the door to the cell was open. And River was covered in marks that looked like black lines. There were many of them that covered most of her forelegs and even her neck.
“Luna, get in here!” River called out to which Luna obeyed.
“River? What’s wrong?” Luna asked.
“Just keep looking at me, sweetie. And whatever you do, do not turn around.”
“Why?” she asked trying to look behind her.
“Luna!” But it was too late, behind her she saw them. They were very tall, standing only on their hind legs in mostly black. Their forelegs had what looked like fleshy claws that were pale. But worst yet was their heads. Large, egg-shaped and very pale. Their eyes were black and sunken and she wasn’t sure if they even have a mouth for there was nothing but wrinkles from what she could see. And to make it all worse, there were hundreds of them crowded in the hallway. How did she not see them coming in?
“Now you’ve done it. Luna, whatever you do, do not look away.” River said.
“Why?”
“The moment you look away, you will forget they’re even there.”
“Who are they? What do they want?”
“The Silence. And they’ve come back for me to finish the job.”
“What are you talking about?”
“River!” One of the slender creatures said. “Why is the Doctor still alive?”
“River,” Luna interjected, “don’t listen to them! This isn’t real!”
“What?”
“Why haven’t you killed the Doctor?” they asked.
“You’re having a nightmare River. These things aren’t real! This place isn’t real! You need to wake up!”
“But it seems so real.”
“It’s not, I can prove it! But first, how do you defeat them?”
“Well, a gun would be nice right-” River was caught off when she looked down at what was in her new hooves; it was a gun. “Luna, sweetie, I really need for you to cover your eyes.”
“Why?”
“I’m about to start a massacre.” Luna did as she was told and put both hooves over her eyes. What followed before she was pulled out of the dream was a series of very loud popping noises that made her jump every time. But when things grew quiet, she uncovered her eyes to find a white star that was growing smaller until it disappeared.
There was one more dream to go, and given all the stories that River told her about the Doctor, she wondered what kind of nightmare was in store.
She reached out to touch the last red star.
-*-
All around her, there was a great wailing that seemed to be coming from everywhere. Voices upon voices crying out in agony, desperation, and fear over one pony. Doctor. They were all crying out Doctor.
Luna opened up her eyes to find the pony in question at a panel full of buttons and switches. Upon many screens showed many creatures in a wide range of sizes, colors, and species that she had never seen before; all of whom were crying out for help.
In this dream, she noted that the Doctor was alone. There was no companion to assist him or to calm him through the stress of trying to deal with a titanic amount of problems at the same time.
“Um, Doctor, are you alright?” Luna asked.
“No!” He said as wildly went after one button after another. “They need me! They all need me!”
There was one cry after another, that no matter what he did, things got worse and worse. The screens got more disturbing by the second. She saw fire and blood, the likes of which that she’d never seen; not even in her own nightmares.
Among the voices, there was one voice that caught the Doctor’s attention. It sounded female and sounded like a young adult. “Grandfather!” she cried out, “You promised! You promised you would come back! Why did you abandon me?!”
“Susan.” Was all the Doctor said before he collapsed onto the ground. Luna trod closer to him, “Um, Doctor, can I help you?”
“There’s too many. There’s far too many of them. I don’t know what to do.”
She lay down next to him, giving him a nuzzle. “But, how can I help you? If there’s anypony who needs help right now, it’s you.”
“I could have saved them. I could have saved them all. I’ve made so many promises to so many. I can’t keep them all. And I’ve lost so many for doing that.”
Luna was silent for a good while until she spoke up: “You know, my sister had told my mother that once. She said that in life, one will make promises that are too many and too great to carry out. But giving up isn’t the first step. The fact that you’re still even trying is in a way of keeping a promise. You do with what you have, with what you can do right now. And from what River has told me, you’ve always kept your promises in the end.”
The Doctor stared at her for a moment before giving her a quick hug, “Thank you, Luna. Even an old Time Lord like myself needs to be reminded a few things now and then. So now!” He leaped up and head straight towards the control panel. “Come on now sweetheart, we have a few things we need to do. ALLONS Y!”
Luna was pulled out of the dream. She saw the final white star shrinking into nothing. She sighed in relief. They were safe.
She then used a spell to make her way back home.