The Lonely Gods of Equestria

by The Diplomat

A Peculiar Discussion

After Princess Luna stepped out of the bubble, she realized that she was smack dab in the middle of a burning forest. All around her, enormous trees were alight with flames, eating at the bark and the branches. When she turned around to flee the bubble had vanished, leaving her stranded in a fiery grave. She looked around, scared but determined to get herself out of this conundrum alive, before she saw that she had been wrong. The forest was not burning, and everything was fine.

She looked up to see that the trees went high into the sky, so high that she had to crane her neck to the fullest to try and see the top branches reaching out for the heavens. The trees themselves were orange, with thick trunks and long, sturdy branches, casting great big shadows around her. At the end of those branches were beautiful, thin silver leaves, which sparkled with a ghostly light. She saw that somewhere, high above, there had to be a sun lighting up the place and giving it this haunting beauty.

Slowly, the wind started picking up and leaves started falling from their branches. They fell slowly, like snow during a quiet winter night. She could only stare, transfixed by such beauty. One leaf actually landed on her muzzle, and a quick sneeze made it fall to the floor. When she looked down she had a little jump, as the grass beneath her hooves, which had a thin layer of frost on it, was as red as the richest of wines.

That small jump made her more aware of her surroundings, and she suddenly felt very small before these mighty trees. Where could she be, to see such extraordinary and fantastic sights? She had seen peculiar dreams before, but never like this one. She had to be in his dream, it was the only possible answer.

That's when the sound of music reached her ears, and she realized that the trees themselves were chanting. All along their branches, holes of different shapes and sizes created delicate sounds, like a mare softly singing with the wind flowing through them and out of different holes, giving the whole place a feeling of tranquillity and eeriness.
As the wind got stronger, deep noises from the trees went high and low, which reminded her of violins and organs being played in tandem. Then, every time a leaf broke off from its branch, she could hear a single piano note ring out in the forest. It all went together perfectly, and she felt strangely sad and hollow while hearing this, but she found it beautiful nonetheless. It was a haunting beauty.

Then, as if they had a consciousness of their own, some leaves formed a cloud which floated in front of her, then flew towards a beaten path to her right. Both cautious and curious, she followed them. As she walked through the great forest, looking all around her to capture as much of this beauty as she could, she heard another melody flowing throughout the woods.

"Is that...a flute? It is. Curiouser and curiouser..."

She followed the silver cloud for a little while before the forest opened up to a tall hill, covered with icy red grass which gently swayed in the wind. The cloud suddenly flew ahead of her and vanished over the top. With an excitement and a fascination which she had rarely felt before, she rushed up the hill, and her jaw dropped at the sight before her.

She was standing over a massive valley, with vast fields of red and white grass which stretched out for miles and miles. Above her, a wide orange sky which seemed to stand impossibly high was cloudless, and a large white sun glowed dimly. Beneath that sun the valley was encircled by two massive black mountains, which wore brilliant white caps of the purest snow there was. What really made her catch her breath though was what stood in the distance, a beautiful object which made the whole area look like two giant hands holding an orb.

Said object was a humongous glass ball, which shone under the white sun and contained tall bronze spires in its centre. It appeared to be a city, as she could make out some smaller structures which surrounded the central spires and small dots that could be seen flying about within the glass dome. The view she was given was surreal, it brought a few tears to her eyes, it opened her mind to a whole new realm of possibilities, and yet it felt strangely familiar. And yet, in front of such a sight, words failed her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

But the person next to her summed it up quite well.

Luna gave a small shriek of surprise, and was ready to obliterate whatever had sneaked up on her until she found the source of this realm, and she gave a pause. The blue wardrobe was there, looking much better than when she and her sister had found it, but the individual that stood next to it was something new.

Another minautor-like creature was sitting next to her, propping his back against his contraption and watching the scenery. He had a large mop of black hair on his head, and his face was somewhat wrinkled. He wore dark turquoise, square-patterned pants with a light blue button shirt. His ensemble was completed with a navy-blue bow-tie, a large black coat with a red napkin in the front pocket, and he held a recorder in his hands.

"Were you the one playing the flute...Doctor?"

"This is actually called a recorder, but yes; yes, that was me. Do you know how to play it?"

"Not personally, but I do enjoy listening to some of my subjects' performances. I enjoyed yours as well, and how you made the trees sing."

"I see...Oh wait, that was not my work, actually. What you heard is the Choir of the Gargantrees, and you are quite lucky to have heard it. I thought I had forgotten their chanting, but I am glad to see it's still in here," he said, tapping his skull with an index and giving a small smile. "Beautiful things, the Gargantrees. This recorder was actually carved out of one of them."

"But trees cannot sing."

"Well, these do," he replied with a grin.

They both fell silent, staring at the landscape below them.

"I was in the markets of the Lower Districts when I sensed your appearance, and I very rarely get visitors in my mind. I figured you must have strong psychic abilities, so I sent a signal of sorts for you and here we are. What do you think."

"It's...magnificent."

"It is, isn't it? This is my home world, and I'm glad to see you enjoy it," he said, while standing up and walking down the hill. He then turned to her, and made a hand gesture to follow him. She was still weary of him, but she walked with him nonetheless.

"What you're looking at is the Citadel of the Time Lords, located between the Mountains of Solace and Solitude of the Continent of Wild Endeavour. Not far from here are the Wastelands, and North of here you will find the Crevasse of Memories that Will Be. It's quite the sight, but you'll want to keep your distances from there for now. And if you look to the...South, or maybe South-East? Anyway, there you will find the Lune Forest, on the Continent of Absolute Beauty. I can't wait to show you that, the names are rather fitting," he finished, with a big smile on his face.

She turned towards that fabled place, seeing that the sky had gone light blue on the horizon and that it was getting darker.

"...Why are you telling me all this?"

"Like I said, visitors are so rare here and I do love this place; so I take the chance to show it to anyone who comes by. Now I have to ask you a very important question...would you like a Jelly Baby?”

She turned around and jumped back, gasping at the man who now towered over her.

He wore a large dark red coat with pale blue pants, a beige square-patterned vest, and a very long scarf which went from his feet to his neck, where it wrapped up in a large bundle. Atop of his wild and curly hair was a hat, and a wide grin split his face beneath big round eyes and a strong nose. He was handing her a white paper bag, filled with small, colourful gelatinous creatures.

“...Doctor? Is that you?”

“It would appear so. Now, Jelly Baby or no Jelly Baby?”

“Enough with the sugary infants! What is this madness?!”

“Oh calm down, everything is fine. He felt a bit nostalgic is all, so he went back to the TARDIS. You can go see him if you want to,” he said, pointing over his shoulder.

Luna took a step aside, and saw the little man from earlier sitting against his TARDIS, playing the recorder. He stared at the city, looking contemplative and slightly upset. Luna was befuddled for a moment, then glared up at the smiling, giant Doctor.

“How are you doing this, who are you both, and what are you?!”

“You like to shout a lot, don't you? To answer your question, I am a Time Lord. This planet is called Gallifrey. I am him, he is me, and we are all together in my little world.”

“We are not the same person, you big buffoon! That scarf is so big it makes you look like a child who raided his father's wardrobe!”

Luna realized they were standing around the blue box once more, yet she didn't recall moving an inch. Standing in front of her were the two 'Time Lords', one of them still staring at the Citadel while the other looked down at his friend with an amused expression.

“Well that recorder makes you look ridiculous.”

“It does not! Not many people can learn how to play this instrument, and those who do have some real talent.”

“Not many people play the recorder, because it is a silly instrument.”

“Enough!”

Luna couldn't stand all this squabbling, and had given the grass below her hooves a strong stomp with her front legs. The two men stared at her, one looking amused and the other looking bored.

“Explain yourselves this instant!”

“Look at what you've done, she's upset now.”

“I gathered as much. She has a bit of a temper though, doesn't she?”

“I like that,” he said, giving a small hoot with his recorder.

“So do I,” added the tall one, doing a very good Cheshire cat impression.

“Will you two fools behave? Honestly, I never thought I would grow to become so rude,” said a new, distinguished voice.

She whirled around to find a new man, looking at the two other men with a frown on his wrinkled face. He had short, combed-back white hair above his large forehead. He wore dark grey pants with another square pattern, and a pale yellow vest could be seen beneath a black coat that stopped at his knees.

“I suppose we've had our fun for now, my little friend,” he said, pocketing the sweets after popping one in his mouth.

“I agree, you big numpty. A good joke shouldn't go on for too long. We'll be in the TARDIS if you need us,” added the musician, storing his recorder in one of his coat pockets.

Luna was staring at the ludicrous men, wondering how deep their pockets went. They entered the blue box, the taller Time Lord holding the door for his companion. When Luna tried to look inside the jester shot her a fierce glare which made her step back, next to her 'saviour'. The door creaked shut, and a small click sealed it. They both gave a breath in relief, thankful that peace had returned to this beautiful field.

“I apologize for those two imbeciles. I know they annoy me as well,” said the old man, turning to face her.

“That's quite alright, Doctor. They remind me of my sister, in a bizarre way. But I would like to ask you a question, and I hope that you have the good sense to answer me honestly, unlike those two. What is all this?”

He looked at her - noticing she was smaller than him by a head or so - gave a small humph and grabbed his vest around the chest area.

“My answers will be as honest as I'll allow them to be. For now, I suppose I can tell you that those two were me, or will be me depending on when you are. As a Time Lord, I have the ability to regenerate when my life is nearing its end. I do not want to go into details, but I will tell you that it is a biological process akin to that of a caterpillar's metamorphosis, albeit much faster. It takes over my entire being, from my mind to every cell in my body. I retain only my memories, while everything else changes in one way or another.”

“But if you are the same person, why do you not see each other as such? You seem to consider them as...you, while they see each other as different people.”

He gave a small sigh, and placed a hand on the TARDIS.

“It depends on the new 'me' and their personality, but it also depends on their memories. The tall one was what you could call my fourth incarnation, while the smaller chap was my second form. Fourth has some memories that have made him somewhat distant from the others, even though we all share the same memories. We do here, at least, while these conflicting personalities have caused some difficulties in the real world.”

“What makes you think this is not real?”

“Because I know it is, and don't you dare make me think this is anything more than a fantasy,” he snapped, giving her a mean look.

“Well none of you seem to know I am a Princess, and that I deserve more respect than this.”

“Bah! You think being a princess makes you superior to me? I have faced emperors and rulers of entire galaxies and they were as misguided as you were!”

“I do not claim to be superior, but I am saying that as a Princess, I am a pony amongst others and deserve some common decency and a minimum of politeness! And you claim that I call myself superior, with your 'Time Lord' title?”

He looked down at her, as she met his gaze with her hooves planted firmly on the ground. They remained silent for a few seconds, before he chuckled and clasped his hands together.

“Time Lords are a species, but I digress. You're absolutely right, how rude of me. I apologize, Princess Luna, I was slightly angered by how curious you were and I lashed out. It's a nasty habit, but I am trying to get rid of it. Can you forgive me?”

“...Of course I can, and I apologize if I was being too intrusive. And I know you said it upset you, but why is curiosity such a bad thing? Does it happen often around you?”

“Curiosity is never a bad thing, but when it comes to who I am? Yes, and it happens more often than I'd like. But to answer your question, people have a tendency to ask me a lot of questions about myself, and sometimes that leads to unpleasant conclusions. And I have rarely been questioned this much about my identity in my own mind.”

She seemed slightly embarrassed by this, which was not something many people could make her feel, but he gave her a warm smile.

“But you were right: your ability to enter my subconscious was no reason for me to speak to you in such a way. Instead, I find myself rather curious about your powers. Are they related to your appearance?”

“You are correct. Just like my sister, my powers go further than the common unicorn or pegasus. However, unlike her, I am able to travel through the dreams of those in our realm and visit them. Right now, I am standing in my room seemingly asleep. My presence here is purely spiritual.”

“I see. Well then, Princess, I would love for us to have a pleasant conversation.”

“I concur. Should we step into your wardrobe?”

“This is no wardrobe, and no you may not. I do not want to appear secretive, but you and your sister – as well as anyone, really – are forbidden from entering the TARDIS without my express permission,” he said, with a deep frown.

Suddenly, the reality around them started to blur, and they both noticed that the hill around them was slowly fading away. Everywhere they looked the world went gray, the grass stopped moving along with the wind, and the horizon became dark.

"It seems as though you are waking up, Doctor. I suppose this is goodbye, then," she said, feeling strangely hollow after saying that.

"For now, yes, but you can always come back. Are you in any danger of fading out of existence right now?"

"No, since I am still anchored to the Dreamscape I will return there once you wake up."

"I see. Well then, Princess Luna, I shall see you next time. Perhaps we could visit the Lune Forest on your next visit," he said, giving a small bow.

"That would be very nice," she said, giving him a smile along with a bow of her own.

"May I ask one last thing of you? Such as releasing me from my cell?"

She fidgeted for a second, then gave him an apologetic look. The hill around them was gone, and all that was left was the TARDIS, standing in a circle of red grass around them in contrast with the darkness that had engulfed the imaginary realm.

"I'm afraid not, Doctor. You seem to be a reasonable individual, but I cannot say the same for your...current persona. But I will give it some thought, and maybe visit you in your cell if I can find the time to do so."

"Oh, they're always like that in the beginning, confused and grumpy. I know I was. Nevertheless, I understand your judgement. I look forward to your next visit," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Goodbye, Doctor."

And with that, he winked out of existence and she was left standing in the vast blue space that was the Dreamscape. She sighed, shaking her head before turning around and roaming her realm. She felt that this Doctor was going to be an interesting character to deal with.

"He may not be an alicorn, but still. Close enough," she said, skipping away with a giggle towards the next glowing bubble.

************

The Doctor woke up, gave a big yawn and licked his lips. He pondered upon his strange dream, and decided that he rather liked this Luna pony. A bit emotional, but she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. He stared at his hoof, twisting it around to get a feel of the movement with a remorseful expression on his face. With a sigh he got up, looked around his cell, and smiled before trotting around.

If I'm going to be staying her for a bit, I might as well get comfortable.

He walked around for a bit, going in circles in order to get used to these hooves, until the door started opening. When it did, a guard entered his cell while carrying a tray of food in his mouth. He looked at the Doctor with a stoic face, while the Doctor smiled at him, before he set the tray on the pedestal and turned to leave.

"Hold on for a bit, please?" asked the prisoner.

The guard seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, before turning around and giving the Doctor a stern look.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's no fun eating alone, and I thought you might want to join me, if you're not too busy that is."

"...I'm under strict orders from her Majesties not to interact with you unless it is strictly necessary," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I can respect that. But the princesses aren't here, now are they?" replied the Doctor, grinning like an idiot.

The guard's mouth seemed to twitch for a second, and it took him a moment to sit next to the tray while the Doctor climbed up on his pedestal and extended a hoof.

"I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

The guard stared at the hoof, before picking up an apple and chewing it slowly.

"Covert Shield."

"Nice to meet you, Covert Shield," said the Doctor, before he plucked another apple from the tray with his mouth and clumsily munched on it, making the guard chuckle for a second.

Author's Note:

I know you're getting exposition up the hole here, but I have wanted to write this for a long time :)
The Choir of the Gargantrees sounded, in my mind, like this.

Also, I left a little clue as to what song the Second Doctor was playing. Kudos to those who find it ;)

Comments

[Kaijutsu]

I love the idea of all his old incarnations bouncing around in his head. No idea why. Maybe because every Doctor is brilliant and I'm glad to see them survive in some way.
Anyway, I wish Luna and the Doctor had stumbled upon the topic immortality and watching loved ones pass. Luna's "not an alicorn" comment feels really out of left field and I feel that this common ground would have made for a great base for the princess's affection.

[The Diplomat]

3766724 Good point, but I'm one step ahead of you, that'll come up eventually. I just wanted them to have a quick meeting of sorts.

[Higherbeach]

I finally got around to reading more of this! So well done, and psychologically, so well founded. Kudos on your ability good sir.