//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: The Battle in the Night // Story: Derpy Meets The Doctor // by Heavyhauler75622 //------------------------------// Dinky wandered into the living room, snuggled up to her mom. “Mommy, where’s Mister ‘John’?” “Mister Smith, dear. ‘John’ is his first name. He’s working on his box in the backyard; why do you ask?” “No reason. He’s very nice. Is he going to stay? I like him.” She snuggled closer. “Just for tonight, Muffin. He seems to be a very busy pony. And I think he wants to meet your friend, Princess Luna.” Dinky brightened up. “Oh, Luny likes to meet ponies! A lot of them are inimate…inmmit…” “Intimidated, Muffin?” Derpy asked helpfully. “Yeah, that. Scared of. They’re scared of her. She did things way back when, because everyone liked her sister better, but she changed when Twilight and her friends helped her. She tries so hard now to help everypony, and she’s sad when ponies get scared of her.” She settled back in her mom’s forelegs. “Princess Luny likes you a lot, Mom.” Derpy was surprised. “Me, Muffin?” “Yeah. She’s got admum…aderors…” “Adoration, Dinky?” “No, the other one…ad mi res,” Dinky said as she sounded it out, like her teacher taught her. “Yeah, admires, that’s the word. She admires you. She says if there was another Element of Harmony…” her little face screwed up, remembering. “…like Sincerity, or Hope, I think. If there was an Element like that, you would wear it. I’d be so proud, too.” Derpy hugged the little filly tighter. She loved it when her little girl wanted to be close. Having an Element of Harmony would be nice…but Dinky hugs were better. The Doctor halfheartedly fiddled with his contraption later as the quiet pressed in on him, running the Sonic Screwdriver here and there as he repaired, checked, bypassed, or jerry rigged the equipment. The old girl was still in good shape, but he still felt he let her down by not really re-tooling the more blatant affronts to her instrumentality. Seriously, that bicycle pump had to go… Just for laughs, he had checked the angular momentum of both the sun and moon. And it made absolutely no sense. None. The sun here did pretty much what most smallish main sequence yellow suns did. Normal, ordinary, humdrum. Plodding its way around its galaxy, bored to tears. The moon…hadn’t attended any of the required lectures on Newtonian physics. Not a one. Especially the required reading on conservation of motion. Neither had Equestria proper. They were little foals on swingsets. If somepony didn’t come by and give them a push every once in awhile, they would slow to a stop, dangling their feet. Celestia didn’t raise or set the sun…she spun the world beneath it. Luna had an even more interesting job…his calculations showed the moon should fall out of the sky and crash into Equestria. End. Nothing else. But it didn’t. Both mysteries were extremely fascinating. But he didn’t have the heart to pummel them until they made sense. Somepony else held his attention. As he replaced the cable clamp back on its post for the umpteenth time, he contemplated the mare who apparently assembled a time machine similar to this out of the spotty junk and limited technology of this just past turn of the century era of hers. He got that they didn’t have ground vehicles like most cultures; they were transportation embodied. Who needs smog when you just tossed your bits and bobs into a cart and tugged it around yourself? He stopped, thought about it for a bit. He was part, a small part, yeah, but a part of that culture now. And the one being in his current situation most like him was just yards away. Hiding in here was doing no good at all, anyway. He should be talking to her. Staring for a moment, he came to a decision. He placed the circuitry in neutral, brought the systems down to idle. Time to do some of that talking. “Be back here soon, luv. Have to see a mare about a horse,” he said, as he grabbed his coat, shrugged into it. He stuck the Screwdriver into the pocket, then walked up to the console, ran a loving hoof across the edge of it, then reverently picked up the key and chain that was sitting on it, and gently placed it around his own neck. With a little luck, it wouldn’t stay there. Derpy was well into preparing dinner, cutting up carrots and tearing leafy greens, as Dinky tugged her stepstool in place, washed her fore hooves, then tore around with her magic as she stepped back off, walked around a bit on her rears, snatching up various savories, herbs, spices, and pre-sliced vegetables Derpy prepared earlier with authority. She placed them down into various spots on the counter and near simmering pots, brought the radishes to Mom with a flourish, and then placed her stepstool precisely, as she climbed up on the step before her arranged symphony. Dinky’s apron boldly proclaimed, “I’m the Chef, that’s why!”, a treasured gift from BonBon. The conductor in place, the orchestra raised and readied their instruments as one, as Dinky lifted the baton… Derpy smiled gently as Dinky led the soothing music of cooking, the ingredients swaying in time as she beckoned each section to contribute its part. Occasionally, Dinky would hold a particular herb in hoof, as she crushed it slightly between her hooves and sniffed the aroma, mostly nodding sagely to herself, or adding and subtracting an instrument if the smell was too light, or proved too heavy. Dinky’s horn glowed with authority as items combined in the composition, melody and harmony delicately balanced. It was so much fun to watch the little filly exercise such amazing authority over something so pedestrian as ‘food’. Bonny loved working with her, showing her how to use her nose to get just the right balance, to make subtle strings or profound brass, to float woodwind, or keep the beat with drums and rhythm instruments. When they worked at it, teaching and learning, ‘cuisine’ was almost as inadequate a word as ‘food’. It was nourishment for the body, and sustenance for the spirit. ‘John’ walked in right in the middle of the performance, while Derpy was preparing an intricate floret from a radish, the tip of her tongue peeking out of her mouth. He started to say something, just as the incredible smell wafted over him. Oh, dear, he thought to himself. That smells…wonderful!! He sniffed deeply, nostrils flaring, as he regarded the filly leading the music, just as his mouth began to water. Something must be different about these two. One had been an experimental physicist just on the edge of an incredible discovery, and her daughter was a prodigy in cuisine. And would probably turn out to be exceptional in other ways as well. It was madness to allow Derpy to languish so. Tomorrow, after Dinky left. Time for Mum to see the Truth she had glimmers of hope looking for. He sat down, speechless, staring at the little one fixing a grand meal most Princesses would never be served. As it watched, the Sun descended low to the horizon. Almost time… Suddenly, the Sun dropped below the horizon as if pulled under. It broke loose of its camouflage as the entities around it were blinded for the moment by the dark. It managed to raise its appendages high enough to its receptors to help maintain its freedom, as it quickly but carefully moved. There were fleeting moments of stoppage as the various entities began moving in the dark and encountered it, but none stayed and maintained the camouflage. The tiny town it encountered proved hardly any trouble at all. Only one entity was stumbling about, inebriated, and she was headed home, not looking at or paying attention to it. For a fleeting moment, it thought of taking her, but the unusual energies were close by; the huge vortex, the smaller influence, and…the thing that had pushed it along to this place. It decided to wait, and left instead for the more isolated place where the two columns of energy waited, high upon a mountain. Suddenly, it froze. The Moon around this world had suddenly leapt into the sky, scant seconds after the Sun had departed it. The creature had covered several miles in the interim, with its appendages tucked alongside its receptors. But the cooler light in the night made it easier to see. The cat that currently had it frozen into camouflage stared at it intensely, before rousing itself and entering a nearby shop with dresses in the windows. It took advantage of the moment, quickly moving for the mountain, and the castle on the side of it. He pushed back from the table. “My word, that was marvelous! Simply marvelous! And that pie!” “Thank you, sir,” Dinky said shyly. “I like frangipane and pear pie a lot, too.” “Pears? Those were pears?” ‘John’ said incredulously. “You poach them before with a little bit of something called ‘brandy’, not that wine they suggest, sir. Mom says it’s okay, ‘cause the silly stuff in brandy goes away in cooking. But it flavors fruit just perfect. Bonny showed me.” “Pears…” ‘John’ looked at Derpy. “I like her pears. Don’t like anypony elses. She can make pears right,” he said, chuckling. “Sorry, ‘John’, I forgot…” Derpy started to say, as ‘John’ held up a hoof. “Quite all right. I almost talked myself out of a wonderful thing with that. Pears. Aw, that’s brilliant.” Dinky smiled. She liked being called brilliant. Miss Cherilee said that about her, too. “Auntie BonBon says I can make all sorts of things; she showed me how to smell food to cook it. It’s all in the smells, figuring out what smells go together. Then, it’s easy,” Dinky said, as the plates levitated from the table to the sink. She started to get up to get her stepstool. “No, you don’t, clever girl. Your Mum and I will do those. You earned time off with that dinner, you did.” “Really?” she squealed. “I’d never lie to you, Dinky, you charming thing. You worked very hard on dinner. I saw you. You were doing two kinds of magic…the magic with your horn, and the magic with the food. I’m the guest, and I need to earn my keep, too.” He ruffled her mane. “’John’, guests don’t earn their keep…” Derpy started to say. “Rubbish. The two of you have been extraordinary hosts, bringing in a lost traveler and making him feel so at home. Need to get a bit of mine back. Dishes. Good a place to start as any.” He suddenly bolted upright, startling Dinky and Derpy, as he started toward the sink. “Now, then…” He stared at the (to him) rudimentary arrangement of the sink glumly, and his mind locked. “Er, say, could you give me a hoof for a moment, Derpy?” Derpy gave a knowing smile and a wink to Dinky, who giggled. “Coming, ‘John’.” She came up behind, poked a head over his shoulder. “Trouble?” she asked. He leaned towards her, whispering. “Welll…how do you do dishes?” Derpy was surprised. Where did he grow up, not doing dishes? Even bachelors eventually had to wash something, when they ran out of barware for apple ales, cider, and such. How could you not know how to do dishes? Derpy set it up, and then demonstrated, the wash sink with soap, how to rinse, the dip sanitizer, the clean water final rinse, and showed him the drain rack to air dry them. “Ah, got it. Simple.” He dug in on the rest. Derpy sat back down at the table, frowning. Dinky had to work very hard at stuffing down the giggling she had that was working to break free. Derpy looked at her firmly. “Dinky,” she said softly, “…some ponies had others that lived with them to do things like this while they were growing up, and never learned how. Love and Tolerate.” Dinky looked down, dismayed. “Yes, Mom.” She gently lifted the little head back up with a hoof under her chin. “But it is kinda funny, Dinky.” Derpy smiled. Dinky brightened up, smiled back. Derpy looked back at the chestnut pony washing dishes and muttering to himself on occasion. The frown came back. It finally reached the castle, though there was a moment where the Guard thought somepony was on the train tracks. It moved off after the Guard turned to look for assistance, and when he turned back, it was gone. The Guard thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, and didn’t sound the alarm. It had managed to avoid any other observation until it reached the castle. There was a garden nearby, with all sorts of statuary. If it could smile in anticipation, it would have. Statuary made a perfect place to hide. What’s one more statue amongst others? It found an appropriate place amongst the others, and covered its eyes. It would now study the energy around it for a short time, as well as get an understanding of those it would soon use to feed itself. Perhaps the large vortexes close by would be plenty enough to Invoke others. Later that evening, Dinky sat in front of the television, playing a game involving some odd pony with red coveralls jumping down pipes and bucking floating boxes in the sky, as Derpy took ‘John’ upstairs to the spare room. “Bathroom’s just down the hall on the right. Sorry the room’s so utilitarian, I’ve been debating whether to keep it a bedroom, or use it for something else,” she said kindly. “Just fine, Derpy, thank you,” he said, as they started down the stairs. “What are you going to use it for?” he asked. “Haven’t found out yet,” she laughed warmly. “I can’t sew or crochet, and a machine shop wouldn’t fit, besides all the rewiring I’d have to do in there. And there’s no way I’d do any candle making inside the house.” “Oh. Right.” He decided to drop it. “Is that one of those video games Dinky talked about?” he asked as they came off the stairs into the living room. “Yep. Mareio Sisters. There’s another character, Lyugi, which we tease Lyra about because she’s green, too.” John watched a tad, his mind taking in the graphics and thinking about the computational power running it. It wasn’t all that much, but when he regarded just how quickly Equestria was moving technology wise, he goggled a bit. They were moving into a new age very fast. He saw Derpy arranging herself in the reading nook with her magazine…and then saw the personal music player as she put the earbuds in her ears. Amazing. It wasn’t just fast…they were moving at light speed technology wise. And suddenly, his hearts skipped a beat. Some things in the universe only started paying attention to a world only after they reached a certain level of technology. Dread clutched at him. What if they had noticed, too? It wouldn’t just be bad…it was catastrophic. “Derpy, mind if I turn in? Bit tired, long day. All right?” She smiled sweetly at him. ”But of course, ‘John’. Good night. Luna should be by early tomorrow.” She waved a hoof kindly. ‘John’ climbed the stairs, settling himself in the bathroom and behind a locked door for a bit; as he sat down on the toilet lid, head in his forehooves as he thought. The Princesses guarded this world. But even then, they had problems. There was that creature, Discord…Queen Chrysalis…some crusty, moldy King that had an empire of sorts up north, those things frequently popping out of the nearby Everfree forest that he had read about. Even the benevolent had their moments, like Nightmare Moon. The history book hadn’t any information how Nightmare Moon had changed back into Princess Luna, though the lurid byline on the cover of Derpy’s magazine proclaimed it boldly. Obviously she was no longer a threat; seeing how Derpy was allowing Dinky to go with the other children in Luna’s presence, in spite of his seeing a tiny bit of apprehension in her body language. He was going to see about a visit to Canterlot, and a talk with the Princesses. Maybe he could help. He pulled himself from his musings after Dinky had rapped on the door, asking nicely if she could use the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready to go to bed. He was surprised; he’d been in there for almost an hour or more, by his reckoning. After making apologies to the little filly, he went in his room and shut the door. Sleep was fitful, and filled with horrors. All he heard in his terrors was shouted words of “DELETE!” and “EXTERMINATE!” as the sweat broke free from him. Derpy heard the stranger ‘John Smith’ toss and turn in his room from her own bed later that night, the nightmares he mumbled about quietly. Machines. Dangerous, deadly machines. Horrible creatures. They killed, no…murdered, murdered by the thousands. How he warned others about them, how he fought against them. No wonder he wanted the blue boxes for everypony. She also wondered where such things happened in Equestria; she moved news and information herself, and never once heard of such wanton destruction. The sheer anguish of the pony hurt like a living thing, the pain he felt as events ran away from his hooves. Derpy started to cry silently as she felt his misery. “Princess of the Night,” she whispered to the dark.”…please hear my plea. Help the hurting pony under my roof. Take his nightmares away. Please, I beseech you…” Somewhere far away in Canterlot castle, a dark blue pony with a flowing mane, a mark of a crescent moon upon a nebulosity of black upon her flank, felt the impassioned plea. It surprised her Luna had always been the less thought of between the two of them. Celestia brought a great deal to Equestria; sunlight for crops, that cheery feeling at the start and end of a lovely day, those beautiful, though brief sunrises and sunsets. It was the loneliness that had twisted Luna’s spirit into the Nightmare, the isolation as she created loving, soft nights for ponies to sleep, to slumber away their weariness in anticipation of the next day, the jealousy of being invisible. They regarded her, certainly respected her, and most were very kind. It was only after her return, and the friendship of the children and the Equestrian Heroines, the loving acceptance of her sister, that she shook herself free from the emotions that bore the Nightmare. She sometimes felt the need of those that had bad dreams, and she took them away, to the gratitude of those that had borne them. She turned, faced toward the feeling. This was different. Not just bad. The Nightmare was out there, the pain of frightening, suffocating, horrific terror. She knew this one, knew it all too well. And she felt a voice. She was surprised it felt like Derpy. The mailmare never had bad dreams. No matter the mishaps or setbacks, she surmounted them with plucky determination and good humor. She never needed Luna to do anything more than give her the beautiful nights Derpy gazed at lovingly, watching the stars. That was enough for both of them. But tonight…tonight, a plaintive wail of anguish was breaking free from the mare. Luna’s wings snapped open. So did the ones of the Nightwing Guard Threstral who was her personal bodyguard. Without a word, Luna took flight, speeding to the whirlpool of pain, the guard in close formation. They both backwinged and landed at Derpy’s home, just in front on the road. Centuries of isolation had made Luna’s hearing extremely acute; the need of hearing the ponies on the world far below for something close to a kind of companionship had sharpened it. And was astounded to hear it wasn’t Derpy in the grip of the pain. It was another, a visitor. And she couldn’t feel anything from him, though she could certainly hear his torment. “Lionheart, watch the road. Tell me if you see anything unusual. We are quite near Discord. Be on your guard.” “Yes, my Princess,” said the newly minted Brevet Corporal of the Night Guard. He had earned his place with strength and bravery, and took his duty seriously. He crouched in anticipation against attack, the blades on his shoes sliding into readiness with the hiss of steel. Vigilant, he watched as his Princess assessed the situation. Astonishing, she thought as she slowly walked a small circle, feeling out the disturbance. She could hear the stallion quite clearly, the horror of war in his whispered words. Equestria had not been at war like that in her entire substantial lifetime. There were skirmishes and conflict, some she had even stood against, especially the one before she had left…but nothing like this, in this scale. It shocked her. The stallion had been someplace that she never herself had experienced. And she only heard it, not felt it as was usual. Derpy, however, was wide awake, and the cry had come from her, as she listened to the visitor in the next room. Her fright was quite evident as Luna rode wave after wave of despair for the stallion in the nearby room. Luna girded herself for the coming battle. She warded Dinky’s room against the Nightmare and negative emotions, and then reassured the nearby Pegasus emotionally of her presence and her love. She felt the young mother relax, though she was still upset and emotionally fractured. Softly, Luna began to sing. Very few ponies knew that Luna was an incredibly powerful mage in her own right; in some ways more powerful than Celestia herself. Celestia could easily focus her magic without aid, incantation and power bid into reality instantly, but dreams were different. They needed subtlety and charm to turn away from the Nightmare. And this one’s horror went deep into his psyche. As the song formed and the incantation circle invoked, she reached into the Nightmare… And recoiled in terror. What are you, stallion? she thought as images flashed in her mind. Things from beyond horror ran rampant, murdering with wild abandon. Flying metal boxes with…things inside, murdering and murdering all life before them that was not as they were. There were others…metal bipeds with weapons beyond her understanding, herding other bipeds to make more of themselves. Where the flying box things hated everything, the metal bipeds had felt nothing at all. And the odd lumpy ones…wanted to die while killing, in a perverted sense of valor and honor. Distorted things. Ghastly, horrible things. And a human biped that stood against them. The Oncoming Storm. The Predator. The One. Names she knew, but stood for another. She hurriedly reached back into the mind, turned the pain outward from the psyche. The wave crashed against her like an avalanche, trying to subsume her, to find and awaken her own Nightmare as the circle’s form and sigils started to shift. She fought valiantly against it, but it was terrifyingly powerful. Bit by bit, she felt herself slipping. The power was lifting, twisting her in its horrifying grip. “Well, fancy meeting you here,” came a cheeky voice inside her head. She groaned under the effort…“Please…” she whispered in her pain. “Of course, you lovely thing, you. Wasn’t ready for the dreams tonight, distracted, you see. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to endure that. I’ll take it from here,” the voice said, as the wave lifted almost instantly. The distorted incantation circle vanished, as the relief Luna felt collapsed her to her knees. Lionheart saw it, stood in the breach between his Princess and whatever had exhausted her, though he didn’t have a clue what had caused it, nor what he was defending her from. “Princess! Are you all right?” he asked loudly, just as Luna hushed him with a flash of her horn. She dropped the binding from his mouth as he calmed down. She radiated love and security toward the mare in the other bedroom, who was still badly frightened. “We are fine, Guard. We were simply not prepared for the task at hand.” She stood up, getting her legs underneath her, managed to control the quaking they wanted to do. “Lionheart, this task is finished. We shall take a turn around Ponyville, walk the streets for the time being. You have performed well in this matter. We thank you.” Lionheart retracted the fighting blades into his shoes, though his instincts told him he should not only keep them deployed, but look around for anything else he could use to defend his Princess. Large rocks. Sharp sticks. A crude club made from a branch. Anything and everything. Those words gnawed at him. “…We were simply not prepared…” The Princess of Night, not prepared? He had watched her prepare himself! Whatever had her for those few seconds had undone one of the most powerful Alicorns on this planet, twisted her as though her power was a mere trifle, a plaything. He would obey his Princess, but he readied himself to step in within a flash, though such power would destroy him. In that moment, she might escape it…hopefully. Lionheart and Luna walked the road toward the Golden Oak library tree of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Luna for the stress relief of the exercise, Lionheart to keep her safe. Once there, they flew on to the high balcony, to watch over the rest of the night together. She would have Spike send the message to Celestia for her coach and attendants after she lowered the moon in the morning, then she would gather the children. She resisted the temptation to return to Derpy’s immediately and see what had disturbed her so. The anguish and pain had lifted as the entity had said, and she needed the time to think. Derpy has watched the battle from her room, peeking over the sill into the road, and watched as the Princess of the Night had challenged whatever had gripped ‘John’. She had observed, badly frightened, as whatever it was had lifted her into the air, the magic circle distorting, changing, becoming vile somehow, tried to twist and break her just before she fell to her knees in relief when it disappeared. She felt the Alicorn radiate love and confidence that whatever just happened, it was gone, and she should take solace that it was over. However, on her way to the bathroom after the startling battle, she noticed that the wardings on Dinky’s room remained, the deep blue glowing gently in the dark. Derpy didn’t sleep the rest of the night.