Doctor's Shadows

Doctor’s Shadows

Chapter 1: Shadows of Darkness

Shadows washed over Ponyville. Throughout the darkness rang loud noises, shouts, and an occasional screech. How had things gone so wrong? Why has the sun been gone so long? Why hasn’t the moon risen with the darkened sky?

Suddenly a fire bloomed, green, in a spout. As it hit the wooden stick, suspended by a faint glow, a purple mare’s face was illuminated. Tears were streaking down her face, as the light cast by the torch fell upon the mangled body of a familiar, grey pegasus, whose yellow mane had grown damp with what one could only hope was mud. One more victim of this sudden, endless, night.

72 hours ago…

Derpy Hooves was quietly descending on Ponyville. She had been delivering a letter to Rainbow Dash, who had collided with her in the process. After a small scolding from Rainbow for interrupting her latest routine, the letter had been successfully exchanged. Dash had almost forgotten to keep her wings moving when she read it. It was a strange reaction, but Derpy had no time for questioning, today was important. In any case, Dash had quickly flown off, and there was no catching her. This marked the end of Derpy’s work day. The smile that so often graced her face widened as she thought of the day ahead.

Most of Ponyville was gathered around Sweet Apple Acres to marvel at the new renovations the Apple family had managed. Mostly it consisted of a new coat of paint, and a new patch on the roof. Things like that were community achievements in a place like Ponyville, of course. It was the epitome of close community. The friendly atmosphere and sociable people were what made Ponyville great, after all.

Derpy’s left eye lingered on the orchard as she neared the ground, part of her wanting to go have a look. Her right eye might have allowed her a relatively safe landing, had she remembered that she was supposed to do so. She could never rid her mind of that tendency for wandering. It wasn’t too bad, she thought, as she shook her head. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it a few times before. In any case, her head was cleared now, and she had only a small walk towards her home, and the very special somepony who resided within.

He was a doctor, though in what, nopony knew. As far as they pried, he could have a Ph.D. in owning a Ph.D. Interestingly enough, his Ph.D. had never been placed on a wall, as some might do, and he never bragged about or mentioned one. Aside from curious children however, this concerned nopony. He looked quietly at the door, a calm look on his face, as it commonly was. This day was special to him. An anniversary. In honor of the occasion, his home had become an explosion of color and balloons. Pinkie Pie had insisted, of course. Strange how she hadn’t remained, but he was more than a little glad to spend a day alone with his wife. Wife…he remembered when he first encountered her…but those thoughts were of days past. He had no business in the past. Too costly.

Doctor Whooves, as he was commonly called by the townsfolk, had been preparing for this all morning. Though the decorations were all set up by Pinkie, he had been going all over town looking for things to make the day special. He had saved some cider, and was given sweets from Sugarcube Corner by Pinkie Pie. He had also borrowed a book from Twilight Sparkle to read aloud for the both of them. Not to mention the special surprise he had been going back and forth on.

As the wife walked in to encounter her husband, they both gave each other a look of unrivalled happiness.

“Hello, muffin,” he said to her, causing a small blush to cross her face, as it always did. She returned with her own name for him, only reserved for special occasions nowadays.

“Hello, doctor”. He smiled, his mind drifting once again to the past, before it was called back again in remembrance of his plans for the rest of the day. He moved towards the cabinets, grabbing two of the nicest cups from inside, and pushing a small barrel of cider out from the kitchen. He looked over to Derpy with a smile, pouring cider in a cup, and handing it to her.

“Drink up. I’ve got a nice little date planned out. Hate to miss a minute.”

“I can’t wait,” she replied as she took the cup in her hoof.

The day wore on towards the afternoon, and the cider had been steadily drained to its end, and cupcakes and muffins eaten alongside it. The two had been enjoying the Daring Do book, exchanging small stories of their own as they went along. The day seemed perfect. Nothing was left out of place.

Across town, everything had gone wrong. Rainbow Dash saw it before anypony else could. She had received a letter from Twilight telling her that the next few days were going to be some of the worst since the days before Equestria was found, and that a meeting was in order. She trusted her friend enough to know it was worth pushing back her nap for a while. All the same, she wondered what could possibly be so bad. Were dragons invading? No, that would be more obvious. Did every crop in Equestria dry up and die? Nope. Sweet Apple Acres had a big harvest coming up. Did Canterlot explode? Just as the last thought crossed her mind, her view of Canterlot in the distance was suddenly gone. She stopped. Her wings forgot to flap. She began to fall, so shocked that nothing registered with her brain anymore. She saw the ground coming and suddenly everything was dark. She was certain she was dreaming now, knocked out by the fall. Something was tingling around her. It was glowing. Weird dream. Actually, she didn’t think she had been close enough to the ground to be hit by it. Suddenly, the tingling stopped and she did feel the impact.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Dash looked around rapidly, unable to see anything. She could hear panic begin to spread, started by a loud scream from the direction of Sugarcube Corner. The normal instigator of panic in Ponyville it seemed. Green flames lit up a few streetlights, and Spike and Twilight Sparkle ran forward, meeting their now grounded friend.

“Twilight, what happened?” Her voice carried a small level of what could almost be panic, if she would ever let anyone believe it.

“I got a letter from Princess Celestia. She said that Canterlot had been attacked. She didn’t seem to have much time in writing the letter. She only said that the sun and moon were in danger.” Twilight took a breath here, looking towards where Canterlot usually would be. “It looks like we’re too late…”

Sudden screams of panic could be heard outside as the sunlight that was once filling the home vanished as quickly as Derpy could blink. The small candle that had been lit for a ‘more romantic mood’ flickered softly in the darkness. A cry was heard above, and the soft thud of somepony falling could be heard. The shout sent Derpy moving quickly up the stairs, eventually fumbling in the darkness of their second floor.

With Derpy moving upwards, her husband was moving into his own course of action. He peered out the window, as instinct would have it, to see…nothing. A small gathering of streetlights were lit quite a distance away, but he couldn’t make out the gathering beneath them. Pulling his head back in, he could see his wife and daughter making their way down the stairs.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” he mumbled quietly to himself.

“What is it?” he heard Derpy say behind him.

“There isn’t anything in the sky. Sun, moon, all gone. That shouldn’t happen.”

His family stood silent. He could feel them looking at him. A small fire inside him began to burn. Something was going wrong. Something bigger than the other ponies. It had been a while since he felt that fire. Other ponies seemed to take care of any emergencies these days. But the disappearance of the sun and moon? This wasn’t something to ignore. I wonder if Fluttershy is home…

End Ch. 1