//------------------------------// // 45: The Return // Story: One Way // by jroddie //------------------------------// Chapter 45 Celestia sat on her throne, staring at Asperx and I. Mostly me. She glared with an inhuman rage, something that made me shiver a little. She got up. Her slender legs underneath her, she descended from her throne to make her difference in height between normal ponies a little bit more useful. She strode up to me and looked down at me. Asperx did nothing at all. “Second Lieutenant Bladesinger.” She said forcefully. Asperx snapped to attention with an audible clack. “Yes, Your highness!” He barked. I smirked at his complete change in attitude. “Do you know why I asked you to bring Captain Shell to me today?” She inquired with a slightly condescending tone. “I- It is not my place to know why, Your Highness. I only do as told.” Asperx said, grasping for clues about why he was being questioned. Celestia made a long “Oh!” as she turned back to me. “Do you see the differences between the two of you? He only does as he is told, Edwin! He never talks down to his superiors, he never goes over their heads, and he certainly never wakes them up in the dead of night and accosts them!” Celestia shouted at me, her perfect white face shaking with anger. I could feel the temperature rise in the room a little bit, and I know that I had to diffuse this situation before it got out of hand. “Princess, listen, I-” “Don’t Princess me. I have lived for far too long to be lectured by a pony not even a month old, even one of your caliber. I’ll roast you alive right where you stand, and Second Lieutenant Bladesinger won’t even bat an eyelash.” Celestia spat, her angry lavender eyes stabbing at me. I met her gaze, but not angrily. “Prin-” “Just let me speak. You have scheduled an attack on Cloudsdale without my aproval, using my guards under my authority to destroy a city that is under my dominion. Not only that, but I’m fairly sure that your little ‘vacation’ with my sister this weekend is completely stupid and not advisable in the least. I have half a mind to chain you to my throne for the entire weekend and have you show up to the Gala naked.” Celestia nearly shouted. I laughed a little. “That’s what I told Luna. The naked bit, that is.” I joked. Celestia didn’t lighten up, and the heat in the room increased a little bit. I was starting to sweat. I looked over at Asperx. He looked like he was about to faint. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he was panting heavily. His curly blue mane was plastered to his neck. “Princess!” I shouted. Celestia was shocked out of her anger and looked at Asperx. “Oh no.” She said, remembering his low tolerance for heat. She picked him up with magic and rushed out of the room. Her hooves click-clacked quickly as she ran out. “And don’t you dare leave!” She shouted after me as she left the throne room. She closed the door behind her with a loud bang. I slumped down to the floor, the energy in my legs leaving me. I had forgotten the last time that I was asleep, which was happening way too often during my life as a pony. I lied there on the steps of Celestia’s makeshift throne. I sighed. “When will it end?” I whispered to myself. Sometimes I wished that I had just died in that train crash. Sometimes I wished that I had been killed by an Angelic. Sometimes I wished that I could just kill myself. But I couldn’t. I didn’t stay dead because I’m a Numbered. I can’t be killed by an Angelic because I’m a Numbered. I can’t kill myself because I’m a Numbered. My life is no longer my own. I owe my life to the millions upon millions of creatures that inhabit Equestria. I sighed for my lost life of leisure. I closed my eyes slowly and surrendered my mind to the carefree land of dreams. I walked through the lattice archway, with the scent of honeysuckle strong in my nostrils. I didn’t know where I was, but I knew the child. He was playing with a train set underneath a large peach tree. I walked up behind him and knelt down to look over his shoulder. He was making noises with his mouth as the train moved. He picked up a tiny toy car and threw it on the ground, with a loud “Boom!”. I tapped the boy on the shoulder. He turned to me, startled. But not as startled as I was. This boy was clearly a human. Hair on top of his head, ears on the side of his face, and freckles on his cheeks. His eyes were a bright shade of blue. “What’s your name, Mister?” The boy asked, sounding congested. He sniffled. “I’m Edwin. What’s your name?” I asked back. The little boy smiled. “You don’t get to know.” He said with a smirk, and turned back to his train. I smiled, watching the boy play with his train. “What am I going to call you if I don’t know your name?” I asked. The boy turned back to me, his bright red eyes hungry. He lunged at me and bit my throat. I felt his sharp teeth puncture my neck. He tore off a chunk of- “Edwin? Edwin!? Edwin wake up!” a faraway voice said, jostling me with his words. I opened my eyes and skittered away from the sound. I was panting when I could finally look. The Doctor was reaching for me, his hoof reached out to me. I looked past him to see it. “Oh my god, Doctor...” I moaned, slinking back down onto the steps. I could feel the tears welling up inside of me. It walked up behind the Doctor, looking very concerned. I sobbed, trying to escape the thing. “Why is it here, Doctor?” I cried, flinging my hoof at the creature. “‘It’ has a name, you know.” He said in his blase way. The creature edged around the Doctor, his bright red eyes showing sympathy. I sputtered and flung my hooves up to point at it. “D-Don’t come any closer, or I swear to god I’ll kill you!” I shouted at the creature, my voice uneven. The creature paused, his expression hurt. I used my back hooves to edge away from it. “Edwin, get up. You’re a bloody mess.” The Doctor said. I was sobbing too much to make a coherent argument. The Doctor and the thing both started to walk toward me. I pointed one of my hooves at the Doctor. “I’ve killed you once, Doctor. I’ll d-do it again.” I said, scooting backwards still. I sniffled. The Doctor took another step towards me. I grit my teeth and shot out at him. The lightning struck him square in the chest, picking him up and throwing him across the room. He made a sharp crack as he hit the wall. He slid down the wall and onto the floor, collapsing into a limp pile. I stared at him for a moment, completely shocked, until I saw the creature move out of the corner of my eye. I rounded both of my hooves on him, the electricity flowing freely through my bones. There was the occasional crackle, the visible zap of the arcing lightning. The creature seemed pitying. “D-Don’t come any closer.” I managed to say, my voice nearly unintelligible. The creature smiled in gentle way and walked closer. My forelegs started to shake, and I finally scooted up against the wall. I was cornered. My eyes were wide as I watched the gigantic hulk come closer to me. Closer. Closer still. I stared up into its gigantic red eyes. “Don’t touch me. I’ll k-k-kill you.” I stuttered. The red monstrosity laughed. “No, you won’t.” He said in a deep, deep voice. I was shocked out of my fear. I finally recognized it- Him, for what he really was. “You can’t be. There’s no way. It’s not possible.” I whispered, aghast. He smiled again. “You are no stranger to magic. It isn’t impossible.” He said. I shook my head. “No... You can’t be. You’re dead.” I whispered again, looking down at his hooves. “Yet, here I am. Get up and give me a hug, Edwin.” He said again, and I looked up at him. The tears started to flow freely now, but for a reason completely different than fear. I struggled to get up to my hooves, and I stared up at the enormous pony. He smiled his big, awkward grin, and I jumped up to hug him. I cried. “I missed you.” I whispered between sobs. He patted my back with one of his hooves. “I missed you too, Edwin.” He assured. There was a loud creak and a slam of a door. I turned. There was Celestia by herself in the entryway to the throne room, standing in front of the Doctor’s corpse. She was staring at it. She finally managed to drag her eyes away from it and locked on the two of us. Her mouth dropped open. She was trying to make some kind of word, but her speech failed her. He pried my hooves from around his neck and walked over to Celestia. I crumpled up in a heap on the floor. He finally reached her. Celestia stared up at him, utterly speechless. The big pony wrapped his hooves around her neck and started to cry. “I missed you so much.” He sobbed out. Celestia was completely flabbergasted. She was still slackjawed by the time I got to my hooves. She managed to get her hooves between her and the pony and she pushed him away from her. She held him and leg length and looked at him. Tears welled in her eyes when she finally understood. “Othello.” She whispered. “Bloody hell, Edwin. When you kill somepony, you do a really good job of it.” The Doctor said, rolling his neck. I grinned a little bit as we walked down the drab concrete hallway. “Yeah, well...” I said, feeling a little bit guilty. The Doctor chuckled and punched my shoulder playfully. “It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, I got these puppies out of the deal.” The Doctor bragged, flapping his brand new wings. I rolled my eyes. He was going way overboard with the wings. He would even hide things just so he could ‘find’ them for us on a higher shelf. “Somepony really needs to deflate your ego.” I said. The Doctor and I edged around one of the many scholars in this part of the... of the... “What is this place, anyways?” I asked him. The Doctor shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but I can guess.” He said. I gestured for him to do so. “It’s probably a bunker of some kind. You know, like a panic room. After the failed attempt on your life, practically the entire palace must have moved into this place.” The Doctor said, emphasizing his theory with a little flap of his wings. “So what did I miss?” He asked. “Not much. I had to drag you out of there before Celestia stuck her tongue down his throat. You’ve been in bed for a few hours. I’ll bet that they’re still glued together.” I said, slightly disgusted. “Now now, Edwin. Imagine it from her point of view. The only pony that she ever loved, the only pony that can reciprocate her affection, come back from the almost certain grave? What would you do?” The Doctor childed. “I certainly wouldn’t try to lick his tonsils.” I commented snidely. The Doctor laughed. “You’re not really his type, I think.” The Doctor joked. I laughed. The Doctor stopped laughing and halted. I walked on a few feet before I noticed his absence. I looked back to him, slightly concerned. “You okay?” I asked. The Doctor blinked. “I can’t remember where I parked my Tardis.” He said with the utmost seriousness. I laughed once. “You can’t be serious.” I said. The Doctor squinted his eyes. I burst out laughing again. “Sweet Celestia, Doctor, it’s not like you lost it in the parking lot!” I blurted. The Doctor floated up into the air and pressed his hooves to his temples. I howled down below him, rolling on the floor. “Shut up! I’m trying to think!” The Doctor said, and I tried to stay as quiet as I could. I looked up at him with my hooves covering up my ears. A Royal Scholar edged his way past us, not even giving us a passing glance. The Doctor hovered for quite a bit, thinking in the air. “Aha!” The Doctor shouted, rocketing off down the hall. I groaned and followed him, leaping up into the air. The Doctor pushed open the door to the Throne room. “You know that we could have just teleported there.” I reasoned with a whisper. The Doctor shushed me. “I don’t like the taste of your mane.” The Doctor retorted. I reached up with a hoof and pushed some of my mane next to my nose. The smell made me cringe. “Luna deserves a medal.” I said to myself. I looked around the cavernous room. I smiled to myself when I looked at the ceiling. The room was actually a cavern, with stalagtites and stalagmites and everything. It was a huge room, and it was perfectly gaudy enough for a throne room. My eyes finally came to rest on the big blue Tardis, wonderfully out of place on the left side of the room. I rushed up to it, and pushed the door open. The big writhing ball of red and white in the middle of the Tardis was not something that I wanted to interrupt, so I closed the door just a little bit more quietly than I opened it. I looked up at the Doctor. I blinked once. He tilted his head and looked at me like I was tapdancing. “Why didn’t you go in?” He asked, pointing a limp hoof to the Tardis door. “We might want to wait a few hours. Before going in there.” I qualified. The Doctor seemed slightly suspicious. “Are they...” “Yep.” “In my Tardis!?” “Last time I checked.” “And you’re just going to-” “Let it happen.” I finished the Doctor’s sentence for him. He huffed, crossing his forelegs, and promptly forgot to flap his wings and fell right on his ass. “Bollocks. What in Equestria are we going to do for the next few hours?” The Doctor wondered openly. I had a suggestion ready. “Tell me what the hell happened.” I said. The Doctor shook his head. “Not possible. I can’t tell you about your future.” He said bluntly. “Aw, come on!” I whined. The Doctor remained impassive. “Nope.” “You suck, Doctor.” I complained. The Doctor laughed. “Edwin, my boy, you have absolutely no idea.”