Doctor Who and the Voice of the Shadow

by spartiecat

Chapter 11

The Doctor was first to awaken. He rubbed his eyes and squinted hard as he tried to focus. He could not see exactly where he was.

“I’ve returned you to where I found you” said a voice in The Doctor’s mind. It was Sceadugenga, and he sounded calmer and more contrite than the voice he heard in the cave.

“The library…” The Doctor muttered as he regained his focus.

He stood up and looked around. His companions, Twilight, Spike, and the rest of her friends were there as well. Three other ponies The Doctor did not know lay in a corner along with Sweetie Belle. He suspected the blue pegasus and pink earth pony were the same ones they had found in the cages.

The Doctor turned to the shadow hovering above him. “What of my friends? Will they be all right?”

“Those who I took along with you into the cave should be awakening momentarily. As for the others, they should be well in a few days”. Sceadugenga’s tone was indifferent, as if he had plenty of experience and kidnapping had become routine.

“What of the others you’ve hurt? And your rabbit master?” The Doctor asked, as he knelt down to check on Zoe and Jamie, who remained motionless.

“I have restored Sweetie Belle’s voice. She will recover as the others will. The rest of those that were taken have been returned to their own towns and villages. They will all recover in due time, none the wiser for their ordeal”.

The shadow swirled around the room in silence. The Doctor tried to nudge Twilight awake. He waited until she started to stir. He turned and stared intently at Sceadugenga. “And what of your master? What has become of Angel?” His tone was stern and forceful.

Sceadugenga drifted closer to The Doctor. “You’re wondering if I’ve exacted vengeance for his deception”.

“And you’re avoiding the question”, The Doctor snapped back.

The shadow laughed. “Yes Doctor, I am. But the truth is, I’ve stripped him of the stolen voice. I’ve also learned a valuable lesson about trust.”

“Where are we?” asked Twilight groggily. The Doctor lifted Twilight onto her feet as the others began to awaken.

“We’re back at the library, my dear”, said The Doctor, “everyone is safe and accounted for.”

“What is THAT doing here?” shouted Twilight when she saw the large black mass hovering above them in the room.

“Now now dear, calm down”, said The Doctor as he patted Twilight on the head. “It’s not a threat anymore.”

Twilight eyed Sceadugenga with a mixture of suspicion and contempt.

The Doctor stood up and adjusted his coat. He turned to Sceadugenga, “now, where were we? Ah yes. Where is your former master? Where is Angel?”

The mention of the name caused Fluttershy to jolt awake. “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” she said to herself as she started to run around frantically, looking for her pet.

“The rabbit is imprisoned on the upper level” said Sceadugenga to The Doctor.

The Doctor stopped Fluttershy in her tracks. “Fluttershy, Angel is upstairs”. She knocked The Doctor over and did not notice the shadow creature as she rushed past.

A few moments later, she walked down the stairs. She was carrying on her back a small cage of the same dimensions as the one ponies were trapped inside in the cave. Angel bunny struggled in the cage momentarily, before sitting down. He furrowed his brow and crossed his forelimbs in frustration.

Fluttershy‘s tone was one of disappointment instead of anger. She knew her pet had orchestrated a horrible plan and was behind the entire ordeal, but she could not stay mad. “Oh Angel, I can’t leave you alone for a second, can I?”

The Doctor smiled at the sight. He was glad the bunny would be given another chance. For all the evil in his plan, The Doctor was as impressed by the ambition of it as he was horrified by its audacity.

“So, what will you do now?” asked The Doctor as he turned back to Sceadugenga. The creature was gone. The Doctor closed his eyes and asked again within his mind. “What will you do now, shadow goer?”

“Return to the forest”, the creature said wistfully within The Doctor’s mind. “I had deliberately starved myself to further the plan. You were right when you said I feed off love and affection. My actions only inspired fear. My priority now is to feed. Farewell Doctor.”

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked around. The others were now awake and surrounded Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, who remained unconscious.

“Doctor?” asked Jamie. “Do we go after the creature now?”

Applejack turned around. “I second that. That varmint ain’t gonna get away with this!”

“Now now my dear Applejack” said The Doctor. “You’re not going to catch it. It’s gone back to the woods, and has abandoned any machinations of conquest.”

Applejack cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow. “Say what now?” She looked at Jamie for an explanation, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“What he means is”, said Zoe, “he has given up the idea of taking over Equestria, and has gone back to his normal life”.

“Oh all right” said Applejack, who was still a bit sceptical about trusting the shadow to keep it’s word.

“And what about our friends?” Twilight asked The Doctor, gesturing toward the four unconscious ponies.

“They will be fine in a few days, and will not have any memory of their time in captivity.” He patted Twilight on the head. “Everything will be fine, my dear. As for Zoe, Jamie, and I. We had better make our exit as well.”

Twilight, Spike, and Applejack followed The Doctor, Zoe, and Jamie back to the TARDIS. Fluttershy opted to stay back at the library and take care of the others.

The road was pitch black and the town was silent. “It must be the middle of the night”, yawned Spike as he sat on Twilight’s back, before falling asleep.

The Doctor rummaged through his pockets, and realized that his flashlight had broken in the cave.

“I got this one” said Twilight confidently as she cast an illumination spell. Her horn started to glow a bright purple and lit the path ahead.

“Are you sure the creature is gone for good?” asked Twilight.

“Not for good. But you needn’t worry about it any more.” said The Doctor.. “It said that Angel’s plan was starving it. You see, it feeds on positive emotion. The fear it was causing to those it took was leaving it without a food source. Because Sceadugenga believed in the cause that Angel claimed to lead, he was deliberately starving itself.”

“So it will go back to feed like the legend says?” asked Zoe.

“Precisely!” said The Doctor, triumphantly.

“Woah there”, said Applejack, “how the heck is this thing gonna feed?”

“It’s all quite harmless”, said The Doctor as he took a deep breath, enjoying the cool night air. “What it does is -”

Zoe launched her explanation, interrupting The Doctor mid-sentence.

“The creature disguises itself as a child, or I suppose a foal, in the case of this world. It seeks out and is taken in by a kind family, and it feeds off the love that is shown toward the child.”

“Yes, quite” murmured The Doctor. He adjusted his coat and frowned grumpily. He did not enjoy being upstaged when trying to show off.

"I'm just glad everyone's going to be okay", said Twilight, turning back to her friends.

The group came to the clearing where she first met The Doctor. She smiled to herself when she saw the TARDIS. It seemed to be that morning she met the strange two-legged creature and his friends. Just then it occurred to Twilight that she was not sure what day it was or how long they had been gone.

The Doctor walked to the door and unlocked the front door of the TARDIS. Applejack and Twilight peered inside, while Spike continued to snore.

Jamie and Zoe shook Twilight’s and Applejack’s hooves before waving goodbye and disappearing inside the ship.

“That’s impossible!” gasped Twilight as she saw The Doctor’s companions inside the ship.

“My dear”, said The Doctor “that’s the least impossible thing about it”. He chuckled to himself and smiled.

"How much room is there?" asked Twilight

“Why not come with us and find out?” said The Doctor.

“W-what? Me?” Twilight was dumbfounded by the question. “What would I do?”

“You’d travel with Jamie, Zoe, and I. Explore the universe, mostly.”

“Go on!” said Applejack, nudging Twilight. “Yer always goin’ on about the stars. Now you get to see ‘em up close”

“I-I couldn’t” stuttered Twilight. “I have my studies, reports to the Princess, my friends, Spike. There is too much I need to do in Ponyville.”

“I completely understand”, said The Doctor. He shook Twilight’s and Applejack’s hoof goodbye, and patted the sleeping Spike on the head.

“Until next time, Twilight Sparkle!” yelled The Doctor as he shut the door to his blue box.

Spike awoke as the wind picked up and the air filled with a mechanical wheezing noise. The noise grew louder and faster as the TARDIS slowly started to turn transparent and vanished completely.

“I got to get goin’” said Applejack. “Glad everyone is safe. I best go back check on the farm. They’re probably worried sick about us.”

Spike climbed on Applejack’s back. “I’m going to my nice warm bed now. Hey AJ, can you swing by the library again?”

Twilight did not hear a word they said. She wondered how she would explain what happened to Princess Celestia. She took a deep breath and looked up at the stars, and asked herself if she had made the right choice.

Comments

[StrigidaeFan]

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... Did I just hear someone?
Nah, must've been my imagination.

(Obligatory Silence joke. Sorry.)