Time Lord: The Story of North Star

by Thrawn1800

Chapter 1: Two Hearts and a New Face

Chapter 1

I groaned as my body stretched. I heard the sound of approaching hooves, then the sound of an opening door. I turned my head and opened my eyes. Three mares and a baby dragon had entered the room. One was purple, an alicorn, which surprised me. I’d thought there were only two, Celestia and Luna. Another was cyan, and had a rainbow colored mane. There was also a pink mare, who was smiling widely. And there was the baby dragon. He couldn’t have been older than five, maybe six. I’d met a baby dragon before, but we hadn’t really talked much… or at all. They were all staring at me.

“Who… who are you?” I said, confused. “And… where am I?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” said the purple alicorn, stepping forward. “This is Pinkie Pie.”

She pointed to the pink mare, who was now humming happily to herself. “And this is Rainbow Dash.”

She indicated the cyan and rainbow combo. The mare raised a hoof in greeting.

“And I’m Spike.” The baby dragon, Spike declared. “And… who’re you?”

“I’m Polaris.” I said.

“That’s, ah… an interesting name.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Thanks.”

“As for where you are,” said Twilight, “You’re in Ponyville.

“Where?” I’d never heard that name before. It hadn’t been in any book I’d ever read.

“You don’t know where that is?”

“Um… no.”

“Okay. Well, can you tell us what happened to you? Rainbow Dash here says you were… on fire? What happened? Why aren’t you burnt?”

“What-?”

I stopped. My memories flooded back, and I froze. I remembered what had happened. Then I figured out what must have happened to me. The possibility was absolutely terrifying.

“Can- can I have a mirror?” I asked, desperate to know the truth.

“Why?” asked Twilight.

“Just- please?”

She hesitated, then walked over to a dresser. She opened a drawer, and pulled out a mirror. She came back over, and dropped it into my waiting hooves. An unfamiliar face greeted me. This stallion had a white coat, and a dark blue mane, which was shot through with streaks of a lighter shade. I also didn’t have a horn, I was just a regular earth pony. But what really caught my attention were the eyes. His… no, my eyes, they were a brilliant blue, like ice. Very different from the dark green I had grown used to seeing. They were cold, and they scared me. Tears filled those glacial eyes, fogging my vision.

What I saw before me made it apparent and undeniable what had happened to me. I must have regenerated. But how? I slowly raised my right hoof, and brought it to the left side of my chest. My heart was beating normally. Then, hesitantly, I lowered my hoof and raised the other, bringing it up to the right side of my chest. After a moment, I felt the vibrations of another heart. I had two hearts? But that had to mean-

“Polaris?” Twilight said. “Are you alright?”

“No,” I said, “not Polaris.”

“What? But you said-”

“Polaris is dead.” I said, my voice full of pain, the words tearing through my heart. “My name…”

I thought, trying to find a new name. My old one was too painful. I came up with one, one that wasn’t too different. But it was enough of a change.

“My name,” I said again, this time with conviction, “is North Star.”

“What do you mean? How-?”

I ignored her questions, and pushed myself off the bed. I steadied myself, then picked up my collar and bowtie from the bedside table, putting them on. After I’d put the sonic screwdriver away, I started for the stairs. Twilight got between me and the door. I fixed her with my eyes, telling her to move. She shuddered, then moved out of the way, fear in her eyes. That only broke my heart more. I walked down the stairs, and started my way across the room. A towering pile of books dominated the center. The walls were lined with shelves, so I figured I was in a library. The pink mare, Pinkie Pie, ran in front of me. She didn’t seem at all scared of me.

“But wait!” she said, waving her forelegs up and down. “What about your Welcome to Ponyville party?!”

“What?” I said, stopping. This mare reminded me painfully of Starswirl.

“You’re Welcome to Ponyville party! You’re new to town and that means you must not have any friends and if you don’t have any friends you must be lonely and if you’re lonely you’ll be so sad and if you’re sad-”

Rainbow Dash covered her mouth, while Pinkie continued to talk through her hoof, gesturing wildly with her hooves.

“Please, humor her.” Rainbow Dash said, looking at me pleadingly. “She’ll be unbearable!”

I didn’t want to cause any more trouble, so I took it into consideration. I didn’t know where I was. And since the Doctor had taken me in the Tardis, I couldn’t be sure when I was either. It couldn’t hurt to get to know the local ponies better. It might help me figure things out somehow.

“Fine!” I said, exasperated. “When do you plan on having it?” Rainbow removed her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth, wiping the slobber off of her hoof.

“Tomorrow!” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down happily. Starswirl was definitely no comparison. “I’ve got to go get ready!”

“Wait a minute Pinkie!” said Twilight. “You can just have it here.”

“Thanks Twilight! See ya tomorrow!” She bounced out the library door.

“I’d better go too.” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m bushed. See you guys tomorrow.” She followed Pinkie Pie out the door.

I turned to Twilight, who backed away slightly.

“Please, don’t do that.” I said. It made me feel horrible, seeing somepony cringe like that at my presence.

“Sorry.” she relaxed slightly, though she still seemed wary of me.

“Why’d you tell her she could have the party here?” Her offer made no sense to me.

“Well,” she said, “I was going to let you sleep here. Unless you had other plans?”

I blushed. “Um… no, I don’t.”

“Plus, she’s my friend. I wanted to help her out.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“Thank you. Now, you know where the bed is. You go ahead and...” She waved a hoof in the direction of the stairs.

I glanced at them, then back at her. I had other plans.

“It’s your bed. I’m fine, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Well… if you insist-”

“Which I do.” I persisted.

“Okay. I’ll just clean this up real quick.”

She and Spike started clearing away the books, placing them back on the shelves. I hesitated, then walked over and started helping. It didn’t take me long to figure out the way the library was organized. My lack of a horn frustrated me, but I decided that was the least of my problems. Once we’d finished, she turned to me, smiling.

“Thanks North.” she said. “Um… can I call you North?”

“Sure.” I said. It sounded pretty cool.

“You didn’t have to help.”

“It was a way for me to say thank you- for letting me stay here.”

“Well, thank you for helping.” She and Spike started towards the stairs.

Halfway up, she called over her shoulder. “Good night.”

“’Night.” I called back.

I walked over to the couch and climbed onto it. I laid on my side, staring into the fire. As the flames crackled, I thought back. So much had happened, and I tried not to think about my friends. But they persisted. Blue, May Breeze, Starswirl, Celestia… Luna. They all kept coming to the fore of my mind. I cried quietly, the memories were painful. Eventually, I managed to fall asleep.

___________________________________________

Later that night, Twilight was woken by Spike. He was shouting something, but her tired ears weren’t putting the words together right. Finally she was able to make it out.

“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed. “That stallion downstairs, he’s having some sort of fit!”

“What?” she said, restraining a yawn.

“Come on!”

He started dragging her towards the stairs. She got up, and rolled off of the bed onto the ground. She walked over to the landing, from which she heard strange sounds coming from the floor below. She ran downstairs, and into the main room. North was made visible by the light of the dying fire. He was thrashing violently on the couch, his eyes screwed shut. He was mumbling incoherently, and his face was contorted in a grimace of pain. He seemed to be crying. She ran over to him, and tried to wake him up. When she didn’t succeed, she stepped back, watching in panic, unsure of how to proceed.

The library door flew open. She turned, and saw a brown stallion framed in the doorway. He walked towards them, and she tried to stop him.

“Let me by.” he said softly. “I can help him.”

She looked him over, then hesitantly stepped aside. He walked over to North. He reached down and lifted him. The stranger held him upright, and whispered in his ear. North started, and his eyes flew open. He looked up at the stranger, breathing heavily. They were both silent, icy blue eyes meeting darker ones. North closed his eyes, leaning into other. Eventually, North’s breathing slowed, and the stranger laid him down gently. Twilight could see tears glistening on the stallion’s face.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered. Then he stood, and made for the door.

“Who are you?” she asked. “What did you do?”

“I’m a friend.” he said quietly. “But I can’t be there for him all the time. Please, will you keep an eye on him?”

“But-”

“Please?”

“Fine, but-”

“I have to go now. He won’t remember any of this, and it would be best if you didn’t tell him.”

“Why?”

“Because it will only cause him more pain.”

The stranger walked out the door and closed it behind him. He had a look of self-loathing on his face. Twilight stared after him, then turned to North. He was still sleeping quietly, now expressionless and still. She looked over at Spike, who had watched the whole thing from the stairs.

“What just happened?” he asked. “Who was that?”

“I don’t know Spike.” she said. “But I get the feeling there’s more to North than we know.”

“So… now what do we do?”

“Now…” She yawned. “I guess we go back to bed.”

The two of them climbed back up the stairs, then got into their beds. While Spike fell asleep quickly, Twilight lay awake for a long time. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened today. Who was North? And who was that strange stallion? What had he done, and why had he needed to do whatever he’d done? She fell asleep, still pondering these and other questions.

Comments

[MuzaWaza]

Where is the Luna tag! Don't tell me that they won't go snusnu on eachother anymore.

[Bad_Seed_72]

Poor Polaris! I mean, North Star.

Hmm... I guess that brown stallion isn't hanging around Ponyville in this universe? Interesting. I wonder if we'll see more of him?

[damnaion]

hummmm

[starship55]

How is Twilight an alicorn, and still lives in the library, which was destroyed, when she fought Tirek ?