One Way

by jroddie

22: of Memories and Tears

Chapter 22

Antony stared at me dumbly, trying to understand what I said. I could see his eyes alight with fear as he understood me.

“What will we do, Edwin?” He said breathlessly. I looked around at the assembled ponies, tasting the emotions around me. They all mixed into a strong sense of confusion. Sebastian stood out as the only angry pony, still screaming in frustrated rage. I returned my attention to Antony.

“I suggest that you round up the nearest company of unicorns and go to the throne room.” I said. Antony nodded, starting to walk away from me.

“If Spitfire is as dangerous as you say, I should do exactly that.” He said, turning from me and galloping out of the hall. I closed my eyes and thought of Sebastian. I could hear her screaming before I opened my eyes.

“IF YOU DON’T GET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW EDWIN, I’LL-” Sebastian screamed at me, her neck held high with her eyes closed. I interrupted her by poking her with my hoof.

“You aren’t in much of a position to make threats, Sebastian. I suggest that you keep quiet.” I said sternly. Sebastian looked at me with her large green eyes.

“Or what?” She said, her voice filled with inpetulance.

“Or I’ll kill you right now.” I said. She scoffed.

“No you wouldn’t.” She declared.

“Yes I would. All of these ponies were about to kill you anyways. I would be doing them a favor. It would be simple, too. Your neck isn't as well muscled as a grown pony... It would be easy to snap, like a dry twig.” I threatened. Sebastian gulped loudly.

“Please don’t. I’m only a filly.” She whispered. I sneered and stomped my hooves, making the shards of glass crunch under me. Sebastian flinched. I could feel my legs thrum with energy as I summoned my sword. It hummed lightly, the music of it too high to hear, except for the occasional warble. Sebastian’s wide green eyes were almost big enough to see the sword in. It inched closer to her face, and it appeared in my field of view. It’s long, slender blue length reached out to touch Sebastian under her shaking chin. I could see my own reflection as I looked down at the blade. I looked terrible, with sunken eyes and a frizzy mane. A distracted part of myself thought that I should be getting more sleep.

“You liar. You may be small, but you’re probably older than all of the ponies here combined.” I said through my bared teeth. Sebastian seemed to be shaking as I said this. I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my shoulder.

“You’re bleeding, Edwin.” She whimpered. I looked down, and saw the wound on my shoulder. A small bead of blood was growing in stark contrast to the snow white coat. I looked back up to Sebastian. The sword pushed against her throat. She shrunk away from it, but it only pressed harder.

“What did you do to me?!” I shouted. Sebastian cringed.

“Edwin, stop that at once.” Said a deep voice from behind me. I turned to see the old Colt. The bandages on his head were a pale, pale grey. His hair was shiny and hung limply over his face, as if it had just been washed. All of the ponies behind him were frozen in their respective poses. The old Colt walked up to the two of us. I was still kneeling in front of Sebastian, with the tip of my sword pressed against her throat. The Colt cut an imposing figure, looking down at us with entirely black eyes. I looked him in those black eyes. I immediately regretted it. I had never made direct eye contact with him before, there was just something about him that just drew away from the eyes. I knew that they were black, but this... This was horrific. His eyes were completely black. Not just the iris, but the entire eye. Even the whites, or should I say blacks, were the same color. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, followed by a nervous sweat. This was the creature that the Numbereds had hunted for centuries. This was the creature that killed mercilessly and without reason. This was the creature that went bump in the night. This was the creature that gave us nightmares. This creature was the Ghost that haunted my waking dreams. This creature was fear incarnate. The pale, pale pony looked down at me. A mischievous grin sprouted from the side of his mouth. I was shivering by the time that he decided to speak

“Please stop, Edwin. Enough Ghost blood has been spilled by the Numbereds. I would hate for you to become a hypocrite.” He said in a smooth, smooth voice. It was a voice years, years younger than the pony I met beside the fire. His voice shocked me back to reality. Nothing that caring should belong to a countenance so vile. My teeth began to clatter as the ancient creature continued, turning to Sebastian.

“Sebastian, Edwin. We ghosts are a old, cold husk of our former selves. Once, we were as plentiful in this land as dragons, or even griffons. Now? Ha! Now we are only a footnote in fairy tales, if we are even that lucky. The Angelic horde, which you, Edwin, have been bidden to quell, grows stronger with each passing day. Their coal black masses seek to destroy everything. We Ghosts are protectors of the Controlled dimension, albeit in a roundabout manner. And as protectors, we should protect. They seek to destroy our very construct, our very way of life. This is a certainty if we Ghosts, few though we may be, do nothing to avert this. As I speak, one of the Princesses is being killed by an Angelic. We must combine our resources and recall this dimension to before it was sullied by the Angelic filth. I, for one, w-”

“What did you say?” I asked, rising from the shock of his stare. I slowly rose from my kneeling position to look at the colt. I was a few inches taller than he was, which made me slightly confident in the crazy part of my brain. He looked up to me with a surprised expression on his face.

“A great many things, Edwin. Now, if we depart for the Overworld now, we can-” He was cut off again, but this time by the tip of my sword pressing up into his throat.

“You said something of a Princess.” I remarked coldly. He swallowed once, but said nothing. I growled and pushed the sword slightly higher.

“My patience will only go so far, Colt, before I get curious as to the color of your blood. Speak!” I shouted. The colt swallowed, and then cleared his voice. To his credit, he was remarkably composed for being so close to death.

“The Princesses, both of them, were set upon by Angelics. The recent death of the First has brought them all out of hiding and their hosts, throughout the castle and most of the surrounding countryside ponies are returning to themselves. Two fairly large groups of them have attacked the Princesses. Celestia, a master of the offensive art, disposed of them quite easily, or is doing so as we speak... Princess Luna, on the other hoof...” The colt trailed off, his large black eyes crinkling as he lit up with a grin. I felt somewhat sick to my stomach, and my injured shoulder throbbed, as if it was getting much worse. I grimaced in pain. The Colt turned to me, somewhat surprised.

“Ah. I seemed to have forgotten... You resurrected her.” He said softly.

“He did what?!” Sebastian squealed. I was busy grimacing in pain to respond, but the Colt turned to look down at Sebastian.

“I believe, if memory serves me correctly, that Edwin summoned Princess Luna’s soul from the Void after she died in some sort of accident or another... And if what is happening to Edwin is any sign, the Princess is fighting a losing battle. We must return to the Overworld if you would like to breathe for very much longer.” He said. I fought against the pain, which came slowly because of the frozen state of time.

“No... I must go to her!” I said through clenched teeth, blood running down my right foreleg. I tried to walk forward, only to stumble drunkenly. I flopped on for a few seconds, drunkenly swaying. I fell down on a fairly glass-free patch of ground. My thigh landed on some small shards of glass, enough to make me gasp with the pain. I heard the Colt walk up behind me

“The last time we reset was back when we had Cleo, and I don’t think that she is about to show up anytime soon. Is Edwin strong enough?” Sebastian asked in a tinkling voice. The colt tapped his hoof twice on the stone floor, and I felt the floor buckle under me

“Maybe. We probably can’t wait for him to get stronger, if he isn’t. If one of us dies, we all do. Each of us are intertwined by the strands of magic most dark. Get up from there, Sebastian. You look completely silly.” The colt remarked.

“Manticore venom, you idiot. I have a good three hours before I can use magic again.” Sebastian retorted. I opened my eyes to see myself on a raised stone table. I looked up with one of my eyes to see the Colt standing over me.

“Edwin, we must return to the Overworld. You will die if you stay here much longer, and we need you desperately. We need a minimum of three Ghosts to return Equestria to the beginning. Now, If we would g-” The Colt was cut off by the strangest noise. It struck a familiar chord in my memory, and the discordant music of it rang through my mind. I looked ahead, trying to see what was making the noise. A large blue box faded slowly into existence.

“Doctor...” I whispered, finding myself suddenly weak.

“Damn that Doctor! Sebastian, we need to go!” The Colt shouted to Sebastian. I could hear her struggling against her ropes. I looked forward to the blue box, fully solidified and tangible. One of the doors creaked slowly open, revealing a small brown pony with dark chestnut hair.

“Edwin, come on, we need to...” The Doctor said, but then stopped talking as he saw the ponies that were just outside of his door. His mouth hung open slightly, and he was silent for a while. Each Ghost, Sebastian, the Colt, and I were staring at him. For a torturous few minutes, nothing happened.

“Doctor? What’s happening?” Said a strong, feminine voice from inside the tardis.

“Glass him.” The Doctor whispered so quietly that I was sure that I was the only pony that heard him.

“What?” The feminine voice said again. The Doctor turned back into the tardis

“GLASS HIM, EVE!” The Doctor screamed. He ran back into the tardis, leaving the door open. There was a odd noise, like paper shuffling over a grate. A second later, Evangeline sprung out of the door. She landed right in front of the colt, nearly hoof to hoof. She was glowing brilliantly, practically blinding me with her stored sunlight. Evangeline was so tall, nearly as tall as Celestia, so she towered over the Colt. She stared down at the pony with brilliantly glowing white eyes. He stared back up at her with his horrifyingly black ones.

“Columnus, you soulless bastard. How many times have I killed you?” Evangeline spat down at the pony. He growled. Something budged under his bandage.

“Twice. What brings you to disgrace this palace?”

“I could ask you the same question, Columnus. The Princesses actually welcome my kind into their campus. As a good guest, I should see you out.” Evangeline seethed.

“Ah, My sunny Evangeline. I would like to see you try. The sweet Equestrian air beckons, always calling me back from my well-earned grave.” The Colt said with a slightly warmer tone, but still drenched in contempt for the towering mare.

“I’ll make sure that you won’t be ruining that perfectly good air for much longer.” Evangeline said. The Colt laughed mockingly.

“Good luck. We Ghosts are a hardy species.” The Colt said. Evangeline smiled out of the side of her mouth

“Well, you do know what they say, Columnus.” Eve retorted, her voice growing more amused.

“What?” The colt Columnus asked.

“Third time’s a charm.” She said, and her eyes changed to bright red. The world flashed silently to a brilliantly blinding pale red. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I could see all of the ponies start to move again. Evangeline was no longer glowing, but a dull, glinting gold. Her lower neck was splattered with crimson. The only thing that I could bring my focus to was the jet black three on her flank. Evangeline turned to me.

“Come on, Edwin. We have to go.” She said, and did not wait for me to move. I felt myself hoisted with magic, and hurled into the tardis. The brilliant colors of the Equestrian populace flew past me blurred. I crashed into something soft that made my neck pop, then dropped onto something equally soft. My eyes closed while the bustling and worries of consciousness ran amok about me.

“What do you mean, it was Columnus? I thought we had dealt with him already.” Said a angry male voice.

“Gespard, the very fact that I’ve had to kill him twice means that he is more than just an average Ghost.” replied what I assume to be Evangeline. There was silence in the tardis.

“What do we do, Eve?” asked a calm male voice, different from the last.

“We must save the Princesses. Without them, Equestria will fall into most certain ruin.”

“What should we do?” The second voice asked again, still slightly impatient. Nothing spoke for a few minutes. The only thing that could be heard was the tardis, making it’s regular noises. One of the ponies coughed.

“Well, while you three decide, I need to get the tardis out of the Palace. Princess Celestia would not be too fond of me allowing you to kill a Ghost in her estate.” He said. My eyes were closed, but I could hear him jump up onto his console to push his buttons and pull his switches.

“Where are we going?” Evangeline asked. The clacking and clicking continued as the Doctor spoke.

“A favorite thinking place of mine. There is an unoccupied planet in the adjacent star system from Equestria, and I am going about 800 years into the past. I usually go into the future, but I’m not now in case the Princess actually...” His voice trailed off awkwardly.

“Yes.” Gespard replied awkwardly.

“Well, this will gives you two the chance to heal Edwin, and figure out wether you want to take him back to the timeline he occupied. Literally speaking, you have all of the time in the world. If you lot don’t mind, I’ll think that I’ll step out for a moment.” He said, hopping down from the console. His hooves made a clacking noise on the metal grate as he walked off of the platform that held the console. The door creaked open, then closed shut with a solid bang. Evangeline huffed.

“Marcus?” She asked tentatively. I heard a slight shuffling on the opposite end of the tardis.

“Yes, Eve?” He replied. I had not heard him talk much before, and I was shocked by how much he sounded like Othello. His voice lacked a certain inflection, a certain timbre that differed him from the crimson stallion just enough to be recognized as a different voice.

“Please heal Edwin. I am tired from killing Columnus, and you are much better at the art of healing magics than Gespard or I are.” She said, sounding exhausted. I heard a pony getting to his hooves, and walking closer to me.

“Is there any dirt outside?” Marcus asked, his strong voice making me shiver.

“No, I checked. It’s completely barren out there. Not even any natural air, the Doctor just expanded the sheild.” replied Gespard. Marcus tutted.

“A pity. This would have gone so much faster.” Marcus said sadly. “Edwin? Can you hear me?” He added, his clarion voice ringing through the tardis. I moaned.

“Good. Can you speak at all, Edwin?” Marcus inquired in the same clear voice. I lifted my head and put it back down on the soft surface. I was far too tired and weak to do anything other than groan, and Marcus understood my halfhearted no.

“Edwin, I will be speaking aloud my observations so to make sure that you understand your injuries. You seem to be bleeding rather profusely from the shoulder, with a small amount of bone protruding from the wound.” Marcus finished and placed a warm hoof right above my shoulder, right where my neck and shoulder met. I felt warmness spreading from his hoof, not unlike the feeling of a numb appendage submerged in warm water.

“It looks like you have some glass in your lower back...” Marcus said, trailing off. He places another hoof lower, near my kidneys. The same odd, warm sensation spread through me. Marcus did this for the next hour or so, trying to fix me. His voice, later joined by Evangeline’s soft snoring, was the only thing that could be heard in the tardis. I was soon walking around. I occupied myself by floating aimlessly in the tardis while Marcus and Gespard were trying to figure out what to do next. I heard a knock at the tardis door. I looked to the front of the wonderous machine to see the Doctor standing in the doorway. I paused in my floating while he tried to muster something to say.

“Could... Could you join me out here, Ed?” The light brown pony asked. I said nothing but floated right out of the gigantic interior of the blue box out into the unknown planet. I sailed out into the air, passing the Doctor in the doorway, only to come to a screeching halt in midair. The two suns in the sky, or should I say lack of, Were spinning each other into teardrops, feeding on themselves. They were two huge, brilliant points of crimson and cobalt in the vast, vast cosmos. I looked down to the ground. A blanket of dark, black ash coated the ground, interspersed occasionally by a shiny, glinting patch. I hovered down to one, and tapped my hoof against it. It made a solid sounding clank.

“The product of a vengeful heart...” I whispered to myself. I landed on the barren planet, throwing up a miniature black cloud. I looked around me, and my gaze finally fell upon the tardis. Such an odd think to the ignorant eye, but to a pony that knew, it was a beacon of hope shining in the bleakest circumstances. The Doctor leaned against his only possession, his eyes closed. I did not walk towards him, leaving the considerable gap between us like an entire pony.

“Is he really dead.” The Doctor asked, his voice carrying no inflection or hint of a question.

“Yes.” I replied, feeling the sadness wash over me. The Doctor raised a hoof up to rub his eye.

“I knew him ever since I dropped into Equestria, before I was a pony. He was not the first pony that I met, but he was the first one to call me human. We talked, and I discovered the oddest interdimensional adaptation ever. Not only did Equestria summon bodies to defend herself, but she summoned their souls from an entirely different dimension.” He said, looking down at a small patch of glass. He shook his head in amazement, swimming through his memories.

“You were a human? In Equestria?” I said in dull surprise. The Doctor chuckled humorlessly, and then looked up to the stars.

“Yes, for a little while. Othello and I thought it to be fun to annoy a dragon. Needless to say that both of us almost died. I was about to regenerate by the time that Othello got me to the tardis. When I woke up, I was a pony. That was that.” He said, telling the story like one would tell the weather. A glistening, sparkling tear bubbled up to his eye.

“You knew him very well.” I commented. The Doctor, with his head still held aloft, nodded.

“For his entire life, ever since he was a young foal of ninety. He aged, which was something that none of the other Numbereds did. He was the first, and he was summoned to Equestria as a child, a small one. I even asked the Princesses, and he has been around as long as they were, if not longer.” He said, still staring at the suns. I turned to look over my shoulder to look at them. The teardrop stars spun slowly, trying their hardest to consume the other, but their own attempts were what kept them from reaching their goals. This hefty thought branched off into an inquiry to myself. I could find no answer, so I asked the Doctor.

“Do you think that the Angelics will ever be gone for good?” I asked. The Doctor shrugged.

“Not sure. Never did think to look and find out. Speaking of which, Edwin...” The Doctor remarked, piquing my attention.

“Where do you want to go? Being as this is ‘your show’, so to speak, I think that it is only polite to ask you. Gespard, Eve, and Marcus may decide on what they want to do, but only you can decide what you want to do. She is yours, you know.” The Doctor spoke bluntly.

“Take me to where she was attacked, Doctor. We need to save her, and I’ll literally die if she does. We need to save her.” I said. The Doctor nodded.

“Well, Edwin, let’s go. Unless you care to enjoy the scenery of Sigmus Five for much longer.” The Doctor added, gesturing to a nearby patch of glass. I thought about this for a moment, before I replied with a smile.

“Equestria is my home, Doctor. Take me there.”

Comments

[Meta Knight]

♫♥I look forward to reading what happens next in your story♥♪

[dastrdlyW]

I was wondering the same thing. It says this is a crossover. From what series? Doctor Who, I imagine?

[dastrdlyW]

Any other series'?

[SteampunkBrony]

Well, that was a good read. Keep up the good work.

[jroddie]

19889 Angelics, Numbereds, and Ghosts are characters entirely of my own devising. I put crossover at the top because of Doctor Whooves, even though he is not the main character. In this story, the Doctor is around 3000 years old compared to the 900 years old in the TV show.

What ever you do don't touch your past self you will cause a time paradox

[DragonxFlutter]

Can't wait for the next chapter....

[Shadow-Dancer]

Finally ED is not being an idiot and how did Luna and him fall in love suddenly I lost that by chapter ten.