The Rising Night

by Sixes_And_Sevens

Evening Falling

The Doctor trotted through the woods, being careful not to go too fast, lest their pursuer get lost in the underbrush. They smiled at the faint sound of crunching dirt coming from behind them. The young mare probably thought she was being sneaky. She had fallen too far behind, once or twice, and the Doctor had had to start kicking up leaves or whistling to get her back on the scent. It had taken some doing not to reply “gesundheit” whenever she tried stifling a sneeze. Still, they were in the home stretch now. They could already see the TARDIS on the horizon, only a few meters more… “Doctor!” an angry voice roared from behind him.

The Time Lord turned to see a very angry looking Celestia glaring at him. “Where is she? What hast thou done with Luna?” she roared.

“My dear mare, I’m afraid I’ve not seen your sister since I left the two of you picking berries,” they replied mildly.

Celestia snorted. “Oh, aye, I’m sure,” she said.

They made a motion over their chest. “Cross my hearts, hope to cry, lead a camel through a needle’s eye.” Then they paused, putting hoof to chin. “Is that how that saying goes? I’m quite sure I’ve heard it another way…”

“Doctor! Give me back my sister!”

They held up their hooves placatingly. “As I’ve said, I haven’t seen your sister. Here, come with me. We can discuss this all over a nice cup of tea…”

Celestia charged, horn lowered, and the Doctor briefly reflected that, for all its magical prowess, a horn is more or less a pointy stick attached to a pony’s head. They leapt out of the way just in time, as Celestia’s momentum carried her crashing onwards through the TARDIS doors. The Doctor settled back down to the ground, breathing heavily. “Well,” they gasped, “I’m certainly glad I didn’t die like that. Simply being stabbed, just outside my ship? Terrible way to go…”

Celestia staggered out of the box, eyes wide. “What sorcery is this?” she demanded. “This box— ‘tis bigger on th’ interior!”

“Is it really?” the Doctor asked mildly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Luna tumbled out of the hedges. “What? Bigger inside than out?”

“Luna!” Celestia gasped. “What— where— Ye be in a lot o’ trouble, Missy!”

“Uh-oh,” Luna said, a sheepish grin spreading over her face.

“Yes, well. Let’s discuss this inside, shall we? It looks like it’s going to rain,” the Doctor observed, glancing around at the darkening shadows.

Celestia scowled, but then sighed. “Thou are no going to leave us alone ‘til we do, art thou.”

“No.”

“Yay!” Luna cried. “We get t’ see a magic box! We get t’ see a magic box!”

“It’s not magic,” the Doctor corrected, “merely dimensionally transcendental engineering, far beyond the capabilities…” They took in the blank stares of the two sisters. “Well, never mind that now,” they sighed. “Just come in. I’ll fetch some cake out of the kitchens.”

***

The interior of the TARDIS was quite beautiful, like a gothic cathedron by way of steampunk. Luna stared up in faint awe at the soaring metal arches and intricate carvings on the walls. “Coo,” she said at last, “It’s not ‘alf fancy…”

Celestia was still staring around, warring with her own emotions. She didn’t trust the Doctor in the slightest. On the other hoof, he had a box which was bigger on the inside, and did, admittedly, look rather like a time machine, whatever that was meant to be. It certainly hadn’t been here last week. Besides, the Doctor had yet to attack them, or harm them in any way. He had, in fact, just left them here with the firm instruction not to touch any of the controls before bustling off to where the kitchens presumably were. Besides, he had promised them cake. Celestia had never had cake before, but she had seen it… Oh, she had seen it…

“Here we are,” the Doctor said, appearing in the open doorway, a sizable dessert sat on his back. It was slightly flat and crooked, as though it had been knocked about. “Sorry about the mess. I had to rescue this from the court of Marie Antoinette, just before the revolution began. It was a bit of a risk, but well worth it. Just look at it.”

It was a very impressive cake, three tiers high and decorated with pillars made of sculpted sugar and roses made of marzipan. “Celly?” Luna whispered, “Thou art drooling.”

Celestia quickly composed herself once more. The Doctor appeared not to have noticed, merely placing the platter on a table. He gestured for the two alicorns to sit down beside him. Luna did so eagerly, Celestia more warily.

“I’ll be mother, shall I?” he suggested, reaching for the knife, but Celestia snatched it away.

“No, no,” she said, “I insist.”

The Doctor shrugged and sat back. “Now,” they said as Celestia began to cut the first slice, “I trust you heard the noises last night?”

“Aye,” Luna replied. “Celly thought they must be a nightmare.”

“Hm. An interrresting choice of words, but I’m afraid not. What you heard last night was the sound of death itself.”

Celestia froze, staring up at the Doctor. “I beg yer pardon?”

The Doctor’s eyes were cold now, and far away. “Murrrder,” he rolled. “The killing of a pair of innocent stallions.” They stared hard first at Celestia, then at Luna, both of whom sat petrified in their seats. “There were no witnesses. You were the closest.”

“Art thou accusing us of murder?” Celestia demanded, fearful.

The Doctor smiled, like sunlight after rain. “No. No, I don’t think either of you are quite the sort. Anyway, what would be your motive? No, I am here to ascertain what you know of last evening’s events. Did you see anything unusual? Hear anything out of the ordinary?”

“No,” said Celestia firmly.

“Well…” Luna began.

“No,” Celestia repeated, all but shouting. “Luna, we are leaving.”

“But—” Whatever Luna had to say was lost as her sister dragged her from the table and out of the TARDIS. The Doctor made no move to stop them, merely peering after them with sadness in their blue eyes.

“Be safe!” they warned after the retreating alicorns, but not quite loud enough to hear. They considered the lateness of the day and the darkness of the sky and sighed. “Best, perhaps, to stay here for the night,” they mused. “Yes, better not rrrisk rrracing against the sun.” They nodded, and then turned back to the recently cut cake. “Back into stasis for you, I suppose.”

***

Night was falling in the little village. In light of the recent deaths, everypony had closed up shop early, including the local bar. The town drunk, Honey Mead was idly waiting just outside the doors, just waiting for it to open again. It was nice to enjoy the passing parade of townsponies, even if tonight was much quieter than usual. He hadn’t seen but a few passersby for the last hour, and most seemed in too much of a hurry to stop and chat. The older stallion was slumped against the bench in boredom. He brightened slightly when he saw another pony trotting toward him. “Ar’noon,” he slurred. “Noice e’ennin ferrit.”

Chancellor Barley Corn glared at the elder stallion. “Hast thou no place else to be, thou pickled sot?”

Mead smiled, showing all of his remaining teeth. “Sure Oi does. Inside. An' Oi'll be here bright'n'early tomorrer when th' barman opens 'er up, dontchaknow…”

Barley glared pure iron at the other. “Disgusting,” he snarled, turning away and storming off. Mead watched him go, chuckling slightly. Th’ councilor never relaxed, that was his trouble. Never rested, never stopped t’ eat the flowers… Lost in his reverie, Mead nearly missed the shadowy figure walking by. “Luvverly e’en’in, innit?” he greeted. The figure stopped and turned toward him.

How good of you to notice.

Mead paused for a moment. There seemed something terribly strange about this stranger. “‘Ere, whatchoo doin’ out this way, eh? What brings ye t’ see ol’ ‘Oney Mead, hm?”

I was looking said the stranger for a drink. But a bite will do quite nicely as well.

As the stranger’s mouth opened up impossibly wide, Honey Mead realized what had struck him as so odd. He looked exactly like Councilor Barley. But then, everything else was blood and screams.

Comments

[SunflowerSwirl]

There are many answers to a question, and I enjoyed your take on young Celestia's remark on the Tardis.

[Sixes_And_Sevens]

9649306
Another great catch. Thanks for the tip!