Chapter 17
When Dew Doe woke up, she was pretty much convinced she was dreaming. As her blurry, sleepy vision became clearer, it was greeted by the sleeping form of Private Iceland. The dark gray unicorn was still sound asleep, snoring and drooling into the pillow. The pegasus rose up slightly as she admired the view with a slight giggle.
I’m going to hate waking up...that is just too adorable, she thought and scooted closer. Carefully the mare reached up with a hoof, wanting to touch the tip of the stallion’s muzzle. I could just snuggle that face all day if he would let me.
Her hoof stopped just inches away from touching Private. Dew frowned and started to look around. This was the guest chamber that the stallion had been assigned to. The pegasus pulled her hoof back and examined it for a second.
I’m not dreaming. Dew Doe looked down at her chest and started poking at it hard with her hoof. She stopped when feeling sore after few seconds. Then finally the memories of last night washed over her.
Dew’s eyes opened wider as the realization dawned on her. She looked at Private again who still hadn’t woken up. The mare could well imagine what his reaction would be. Dew cringed. This was going to be awkward. On the plus side, a long time fantasy of hers had come true. On the negative side, it had been induced by mind control.
Speaking of which, why am I in control? What is the bastard up to now? Dew looked around, almost fearing that Sombra was somewhere lurking and watching. Oh no, Foxy and the Doctor!
Right, calm down, look on the bright side. At least it wasn’t Sombra. Private is probably going to panic, so somepony needs to be the calm one in this. Hey, maybe Private won’t even remember this and I can just pretend this all just happened in my… Dew Doe tensed up when seeing that Private was stirring and held down her breath.
Private yawned wide, making various more grunting noises before his eyes blinked open. Slowly he rose up in the bed, squinting his eyes as he looked around. He muttered something before his eyes landed on Dew Doe. His eyes opened wider and wider, dashing the mare’s hopes that he didn’t remember last night.
“Okay, Private. Don’t panic,” Dew Doe spoke in the calm soothing voice she would often use on the troubled foals she met during her social service work. Private was tensing up and his mouth and eyes were twitching.
“Look, yes we did have sex…” the mare fell silent when Private screamed and fell backwards and tumbled right out of bed, tangled in the blanket. Dew cringed and crawled quickly over to the edge and peeked over. At least the stallion had stopped screaming and was rubbing his sore head which he had bumped against the crystal floor. “Are you okay?”
Private didn’t respond. After taking the moment to nurse his sore spot, the stallion quickly began rising up and untangling himself from the blanket. Dew watched, not sure what really to say next, accidentally letting slip: “If it’s any consolation, you were very good.”
The unicorn stopped his work and looked at the mare. He didn’t look very calm; Dew was pretty sure he was very much on verge of another panic attack. She grinned innocently, hoping her little flub wouldn’t set him off again.
“Private, I don’t think any lesser of you. We were under mind control and if it had to be anypony, I would rather it be you than King Sombra,” she said, noting that Private did seem to calm down a little when she noted the mind control. Then she assumed a more serious expression. “But we really need to delay this discussion. We need to find out what happened to Foxy and the Doctor.”
Mentioning those two names did seem to bring Private back into focus. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while finishing untangling himself. Then he nodded, realizing that they had bigger things to worry about.
Dew jumped off the bed and started towards the entrance. Private followed, though the mare did note that he was actively not looking at her. “But you were still very good,” she said causing the stallion to actually give her a glare. The mare couldn’t help but giggle. Leave it to Private Iceland to actually be indignant over that kind of compliment.
The giggle died in her throat when the door to the room opened and into the entrance stepped King Sombra. The two ponies immediately froze in their spots, wondering and dreading what the Dark King wanted with them.
“Ah good, the two of you are already awake,” he said with a nod. “Report to the throne room in ten minutes. I suggest that you not be late.”
With that the king turned around and left. Dew looked at Private who was just as confused.
“We better check on Foxy,” the mare said and rushed over to the entrance. Both ponies peeked out, but Sombra was already gone. Since the coast was relatively clear, with only guards around, Dew and Private hurried over to the chamber assigned to the mares.
Dew swung the door open and ran inside, stopping short when seeing only Emerald. The crystal pony was busy cleaning the room and looked over when the pegasus and the unicorn barreled inside.
“Emerald, where is Foxy?” Dew asked in alarm when seeing no sign of her sister.
“I-I don’t know, miss. I assumed both of you were already up when I came here to clean,” the servant said and bowed her head.
“If Sombra wants us in the throne room, she must be there,” Private noted. Dew Doe nodded and the two immediately ran back out of the room, leaving a confused and somewhat bewildered Emerald behind.
Apple Core yawned as she finally woke up. Glancing around, the mare saw she was still in the room before the dungeon. Nearby the Doctor sat and was working on a small device. The earth pony sat up, stretching her sore limbs.
“How did it go?” he asked without even looking up from his work.
“I am not sure partner; I think I saw her. I heard her voice calling my name. I saw the faint outline of an alicorn. I shouted your message, but whether it got through I couldn’t say,” the mare said and sighed.
“Hmm, she must still be practicing dreamwalking. Hopefully she caught your message. We’re running out of time and options,” the Doctor said.
“And what if she didn’t?” Apple Core wondered.
“I don’t know,” the time pony shook his head.
They were both startled when the door to the room swung open and before they could even think about standing up, King Sombra entered with three guards marching in after him. The dark unicorn stopped short and glanced in their direction. His brow went up, then he put a hoof tiredly on his face.
“Why do I even bother trying to put him there!” he growled mostly to himself.
“I’m starting to think that spending the night here was not our brightest idea,” Apple Core whispered to the time pony as the guards began approaching them.
“Yeah, well, they can’t all be winners,” the Doctor whispered back. He arched his brow when the king told his guards to halt.
“So not just the Doctor but the spy as well. This just remarkable - wait a minute.” King Sombra fell silent as he examined Apple Core who was still in the armor but without her helmet. “You are the guard I saw with Foxy Stripes.”
“I think he just realized you fooled him,” the Doctor whispered and cringed.
Red magic aura suddenly enveloped the mare and the armor disintegrated. Apple Core braced herself, expecting to be torn asunder, but to her surprise the magic disappeared. Instead the aura was now around the Doctor, which destroyed his makeshift crystal helmet.
“You two are very fortunate that I am bound by a deal right now, or I would gladly be dragging both of you to my torture chamber!” Sombra growled. “I figure Foxy must view the spy as a friend!”
What? The Doctor frowned when hearing this, but then seemed to realize. Oh no… Foxy didn’t make a deal with him did she?
The time pony didn’t really get a chance to think further on this. Smoke was sprouting from Sombra’s body, forming tendrils that grabbed both him and Apple Core. Then the king extended his shadow to the guards and suddenly everyone was transported to the throne room. At that same moment, Dew Doe and Private came running in in their search for Foxy.
“Doctor!” Dew Doe rushed over to the time pony and grabbed him in a hug, Private rushed over as well, but kept eyeing out for Foxy Stripes. Apple Core glanced at the two warily, but could see no sign of their previous hostility from yesterday.
Then much to everybody’s surprise, Amber Waves materialized right in front of them, along with Emerald, Rubinstein and an older Crystal Mare. Now all eyes went to King Sombra who was muttering to himself and actually tapping his hooves lightly on the floor like he was counting.
“No, I do believe those are all the ones she’s interacted with,” he grunted before looking at confused group of ponies before him.
“W-what is going on?” Amber asked bewildered, barely noticing when Rubinstein and Emerald blinked as if waking up from a bad dream, spotted her and grabbed her in a tight hug. The old mare joined in as well.
“Wait she didn’t interact with Amber. Better not take any chances. She did interact with her family,” Sombra ignored the group and kept talking to himself.
“Doctor… what is going on?” Apple Core glanced at the Doctor who was frowning.
“He is covering his bases,” the time pony responded. “He’s made a Crystal Deal with Foxy Stripes.”
“What?” Dew and Private looked at him, shocked and startled.
“Perceptive of you, Doctor. I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less,” King Sombra grunted as he turned his head to a door further in the throne room. He used his magic to open it. “You can come out now!”
All eyes went to the chamber door. It took a little while, but eventually Foxy Stripes hesitantly walked out. Her head hung down and she had clearly been crying. Dew Doe let go of the Doctor and rushed over to her sister, Private following right behind her.
“Is everything alright? What happened, what did he do to you?” the blue pegasus began asking as she grabbed her sister in a tight hug.
“She has negotiated your release.” It was King Sombra who answered. Everyone but Foxy looked at him. “She asked me to release her sister and their friends. In turn, she is mine.”
“Foxy, no!” the Doctor gasped when hearing this. Apple Core’s jaw dropped and the crystal ponies in front of them looked just as surprised.
“What? No, Foxy, why would you do that!?” Dew grabbed Foxy in a tighter hug, not wanting to let go. The maroon pony just hung her head lower, but didn’t say a word.
“You have a minute to say your goodbyes, then you are leaving this castle,” King Sombra declared and just chuckled at the glares he was receiving. “Private and Amber, I release you from our deal, Dew Doe and the rest of you, I release you from my service. Doctor and the spy, you are also free to go.”
“You monster! I’m not leaving my sister here with you!” Dew Doe shouted and held even tighter onto Foxy.
“Sombra, I can’t allow you to do this!” the Doctor growled and stepped closer.
“Oh Doctor, don’t you realize? It’s already done. My releasing all of you seals the deal. Foxy is mine no matter what you attempt to do,” the king laughed.
“She has a daughter; you can’t just tear her away from her daughter!” Dew Doe screamed, wanting so much to fly over and beat that smug grin off the dark pony. Private was glaring as well, but he knew he could do even less against the king. The collars disappeared off him, Dew Doe and Amber.
“Your minute is up,” Sombra said casually.
“Please… take care of her… I’m sorry,” Foxy Stripes finally whispered and looked at her sister and Private. “I’m sorry…”
“No, Foxy,” Dew Doe suddenly realized that she was fading away from the room. King Sombra was transporting everyone but Foxy out of the castle. “NO!”
The whole group appeared outside, near the tower. Dew Doe fell back as she was no longer holding onto Foxy. The pegasus cried and rose up, intending to fly right back. Private barely managed to grab a hold on her, as he had noticed that there were more heavily armed guards around than usual.
“No, we can’t leave her in there!” Dew Doe cried and tried to break free.
“We have no choice Dew Doe! But we aren’t abandoning her. We just need to go to the Princesses and get them to help us,” the Doctor said as he walked over. He put a hoof on the pegasus’s back. “I promise we will get her out of there.”
Dew Doe sniffed and looked at the time pony, then she started crying and buried her head in Private’s chest. The unicorn hugged her, but said nothing, not feeling any words would really comfort the mare right now.
Apple Core in the meantime spoke with the crystal ponies that had just been released. Amber and her family then quickly disappeared towards the city and the earth mare walked over to the others.
“Uh, the crystal ponies are going to stay in the Empire. They feel they can’t abandon the friends they have here,” she reported.
“Very well, but we need to get moving,” the Doctor said, then his eyes opened wide when spotting the TARDIS nearby. Wow he really is letting us go. Oh Foxy, you brave fool. Don’t worry, we are coming for you as well.
“Alright, Sombra might just have given us the edge without realizing it. Everybody onboard,” the time pony ordered and rushed over to the ship.
Private had to support Dew Doe who was still crying, occasionally glancing towards the dark tower looming over them. Apple Core came last, hesitating when seeing the three ponies go into what looked like a blue box with strange letters on them.
“How in Tartarus will it help going in…” Apple Core’s words died in her mouth when seeing the interior.
“No time to explain, we need to hurry to the Princesses!” the Doctor said and pulled the mare inside and closed the door.
Without further word, the Doctor rushed over to the consoles, allowing Private to comfort Dew Doe in one corner. Apple Core followed him, looking around wide-eyed and slack jawed. The time pony was in such a rush that he didn’t even enjoy the moment of someone being bewildered by the fact that his ship was bigger on the inside.
“Alright I think I…” the Doctor fell silent as he looked at one of the screens.
“What, what’s wrong?” Appel Core asked.
“The memory lock,” the time pony whispered, still staring at the screen.
“The what now?” the mare frowned in confusion.
“The reason why I decided to go out and investigate. The reason I… it isn’t a memory lock, it’s a time lock.” The Doctor froze and suddenly began working on the consoles like mad.
“Doctor, what is going on?” Apple Core demanded to know, getting a little tired of the lack of answers right now.
“You know the legend of Tambelon?” the Doctor asked as he worked.
“Yeah sure, the demon kingdom vanished after Lord Grogar was defeated in battle,” Apple Core shrugged.
“The Dark Pony Empire was in loose contact with Tambelon before it vanished. King Sombra is from the royal court of the Empire. He would know the legend as well and I think he is a little inspired by it,” the time pony looked up at Apple Core. “This time lock is inactive, upon activation, it will envelope the entire Crystal Empire - freeze it out of time and space. I thought this was a memory lock at first because it seemed to conceal data about this date, but no, it’s a time lock. It just acts like a memory lock.”
“What in the hay are you talking about?” Apple Core asked, not really understanding a thing.
“King Sombra has been capturing time ponies like me, torturing them and learning their skills and capabilities. That’s how he could put up the spell that dulls my mind. That’s how he’s prepared to vanish the entire Crystal Empire if he’s defeated,” The Doctor froze as the realization hit him. “We have to go to the Princesses and hope they haven’t gotten our message. They can’t use the Elements of Harmony!”
“What?” Apple Core couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but before she could protest any further the Tardis suddenly lifted up roughly, throwing everybody around.
“What the…” The Doctor barely managed to hold onto the consoles. He quickly pushed a button that activated a screen that showed him the outside. The time pony blinked when seeing King Sombra standing outside, his horn glowing, using his magic to lift the TARDIS up.
“Hold on! I think he’s going to throw us!” The Doctor shouted when seeing Sombra change into smoke and shadow while still holding the TARDIS in his magic, rising higher and higher up from the ground. Then with a mighty shove, the Dark King threw the ship away, sending it flying out of the city.
There was little the passengers could do. Private had barely managed to grab a hold onto a nearby railing with his magic and clutched Dew Doe with his legs. Apple Core had been thrown off the control center and landed on a wall and was stuck there while the TARDIS was in free fall.
“Brace for impact!” the Doctor shouted just as the TARDIS landed harshly on the ground, sending snow and frozen dirt all over the place and sending the ponies flying around the interior.
The Doctor climbed back up to the control center and hit a button that righted the ship. Apple Core landed with a thud on the floor and Private and Dew untangled from each other as the unicorn had lost his previous grip.
“Right… guess Sombra was in hurry to get rid of us,” the Doctor said. Glancing at the screen he could still see outside and saw that they were still within view of the Crystal Empire.
“What were you saying about the Crystal Empire vanishing?” Dew Doe asked, still looking worried and concerned.
“I think King Sombra has been preparing for the possibility of defeat. The time lock will make the entire empire vanish if he… oh no…” the Doctor’s eyes opened wide when he saw two flying shapes fly swiftly towards the city.
“No, no, no, no, no!” He ran to the door and jumped outside with the others following him. “That was the Princesses. We’re too late!”
“What?” Dew and Private shouted as they came up behind him, followed by Apple Core.
The Doctor didn’t respond; he was watching the city in the distance. Already they could see a battle commencing. Smoke rose up from the city, no doubt King Sombra. They could see large black crystal columns rise in quick succession as if trying to strike something.
Two flickers of light indicated where flying combatants battled the smoke and the crystal pillars. Magic shot from them, striking the darkness. More crystals rose as the battle raged on, nearly hitting what the distant audience could only assume were the Princesses.
No, the time pony felt numb when suddenly seeing lights gather together and were suddenly enveloped by a big ball of light. From it sprouted a rainbow that shot right through everything King Sombra was throwing at the Princesses. The beam struck something on a crystal pillar and the ponies could hear a distant howl of rage.
Something was thrown into the distance and again the eerie howling could be heard. The Doctor and the others had to avert their eyes the split second after as suddenly the entire city was bathed in bright light. When they could see again the empire was gone.
“W-wh…wha…. Foxy…?” Dew shook as she stared towards where the large crystal city had once stood.
“I’m sorry…” the Doctor whispered and lowered his head.
“What happened?” Apple Core walked few steps forward. “Where is the city?”
“Gone…” The Doctor almost choked on his own words. “Gone…possibly forever, it’s been locked away from both time and space.”
“No! NO! FOXY!” Dew screamed and collapsed to the ground in a crying heap. Private sat down next to her and gathered her up with his forelegs. The stallion was crying as well.
Damn you Sombra! The Doctor thought and grit his teeth, his heart aching when hearing the cries behind him.
Apple Core watched the grieving ponies, feeling a little lost and confused. Then she heard the telltale sound of wings flapping and looked up. Her eyes widened when seeing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna come in for a landing.
“Apple Core!” Celestia said with much relief, but it was short-lived as she looked at the other ponies. “Doctor?”
“What is the matter?” Luna asked as she approached. “Wait, where is Foxy Stripes?”
The Princesses frowned when the Doctor simply pointed towards where the Crystal Empire had been. They glanced back and cringed when realizing what he meant.
“We had intended to ask you about that. Luna got your message when she managed to contact Apple Core in her dream,” Celestia told him. “We saw your vehicle right itself up and assumed all of you were safe, so we went immediately to battle King Sombra.”
“Your message was that the Elements of Harmony would work. Was it not so?” Luna wondered.
“It was… it was,” the Doctor whispered and started to dry his tearstained cheeks. “But…”
The Doctor fell silent again for a moment, then started to recount what had happened - the deal Foxy Stripes had made and how it had set the rest free, then when he was back in the TARDIS how he had learned what defeating Sombra would mean.
“I was going to head you off at the pass, warn you… but…” the time pony couldn’t continue and hung his head.
Luna cringed and looked at her sister, who shared her expression. Then the Princesses walked over to where Private and Dew Doe still sat and cried.
“Please forgive us. We didn’t know,” Luna said as she draped her wing over the two smaller ponies. Then she drew them both in a hug. Celestia bowed her head in front of them, knowing there was little she could say to make up for the tragedy that had just happened.
“She had a daughter, didn’t she?” Celestia whispered gently, reaching with a hoof to dry some of Dew’s tears.
“Yes,” Dew Doe whispered. “She has a birthday soon.”
“Then please, when the Doctor takes you to your proper time, bring her to me and Luna. We will be waiting,” Celestia said and smiled gently.
The Doctor looked back at those words and was suddenly glad that his friends proper time was after Luna had returned from her own exile. He knew he couldn’t say anything about that, however. Time had to flow as it would.
“Then I better bring them back home,” he said and turned around. The time pony looked at his friends, feeling heartbroken for his failure. Luna was helping them go into the TARDIS with Celestia watching. Then he looked at Apple Core.
“Well this is goodbye. See told you, you aren’t worthless,” he said and allowed himself to smile a little.
“I guess so. Look I’m sorry about Foxy. She was obviously a decent sort,” Apple Core said and smiled back. She then walked over to him and gave him a hug.
“She was, she really was,” the Doctor whispered as he returned the gesture. Once they parted, he started towards his ship.
“Doctor?” He looked over at Celestia, who looked more serious now.
“Perhaps it’s better if they don’t travel anymore,” she suggested. Luna was walking out at that time and nodded when hearing what her sister said.
“They were already retired, your Highness. This was just supposed to be one last time before it was official,” the Doctor said. “But don’t worry, this will be the last time.”
Celestia and Luna nodded and watched the time pony enter the TARDIS. Soon after the door closed, it started to make a strange humming sound and began vanishing and appearing at the same time before it was gone completely.
“Your Highnesses?” Apple Core approached the two Princesses. “Who were those ponies?”
“Just old friends, Apple Core,” Celestia said and walked over to the mare. She reached with her wing to hug her agent. “Come, let’s take you home. Your family misses you.”
Luna took one last glance towards where the Empire used to be before Celestia activated a teleportation spell that would take them back to Equestria. The Moon Princess sighed sadly and a single tear crawled down her cheek before she, her sister and the agent were gone in a flash of light.
The northern waste was empty again, ruled only by the snow. Though some say an added sound now haunts the mountains further off, an enraged howl of something evil and sinister. Something that waits for its chance to return.
The End