Alicorn's Crown Chapter 2
The TARDIS whurred and buzzed, this way and due that way. The Doctor scurried to lift this lever, and press that button, and steer it to the left and to the right. Penny just struggled to stay on her hooves.
"Where are we going?!" She shouted above the sounds of the strange craft.
"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure." he responded back.
She looked at him flabbergasted, "I just ran off with a complete fool!"
"Not a complete fool, but close."
The TARDIS bounced slightly and came to a complete stop. The Doctor slowly let go of the console, approached the doors, and opened them. He stepped outside, then quickly popped back in. Adventure on his face.
"You're going to love this!" He said, holding the TARDIS door open wide for her.
Penny Dreadful gingerly stepped outside, her eyes opening up wide to take in the sites around her.
Stallions were dressed up in saddles of expensive leathers and trimmed in the finest laces and taffeta. Mares trotted from shop to shop in long dressings of silks in reds, golds, and sapphire blues. Their manes and tails were done up in fancy curls and ringlets.
The Doctor stepped up beside the gaping Penny.
"Where are we?" she asked slowly.
"Canterlot. 1814." The Doctor answered.
"Are you serious?!" she inquired, breathlessly.
He nodded, "Know what year this is?"
Penny thought carefully, pulling a blank.
"This is the year Princess Celestia renewed her leadership vows."
She blushed lightly, "Oh. Yeah."
"Do you want to see it?" he asked, nudging her.
"Oh yes! Of course!" her face lit up.
"The get dressed. Wardrobe is down the hall."
Penny returned a moment later in a simple dark green dress, her mane put up in a long ponytail.
The grinned wide, offering his foreleg, "This way, my dear."
They maneuvered trough bust streets, shouldering their way through crowded streets. They shoved fancy ponies aside as they strode toward the pearled gates of Canterlot Castle.
A guardspony stepped up to stop them.
"Halt!" he commanded, "Nopony is allowed beyond this point."
The Doctor flashed a booklet at the guardspony, "Alright, you may enter."
A few feet away, Penny leaned in close to the Doctor and asked quietly, "What was that that you flashed him?"
The Doctor flashed her a coy grin, "Psychic paper/ It'll get you into any where you want."
The duo strolled toward the large, gracious castle. Guardsponies stepped aside to let them through the doors.
Large tapestries hung up on the wall, depicting famous moments from Equestria's past. Murmurs were heard form one corridor, hushed whispers bounced off the smooth marbled walls.
"I wonder whats going on..." Penny absently mumbled.
"Probably servants preparing for the big day. C'mon, we've got the best seats in the house."
~ ~ ~
"Princess," the young servant maid ushered, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
The cream white alicorn nodded.
"Nothing can stop today. Nothing at all." The princess said, shaking out her long, rainbow pastel mane, which waved as if there was an unfelt breeze.
The servant maid stepped closer, her lavender eyes eerily dark, "I wouldn't count on that."
~ ~ ~
A muffled scream echoed off the walls. Penny's ear perked up.
"Doctor, did you hear that?"
He nodded, slowly walking toward the hallway with the still-echoing scream.
Penny Dreadful stood close behind him as he walked slowly down the hallway. The Doctor stopped at a door that was slightly ajar.
"Do you think that's safe?" Penny chastised as he pushed the door open.
"Safe? Definitely not. Exciting? Oh yes."
The door was caught. The Doctor slipped his skinny frame through the small leeway the door provided.
"Oh no..." Penny heard him mutter.
"Doctor? Doctor what's wrong?"
The door was shut, shuffling noises were heard behind it, and it was opened again. His face was somber. Penny looked past him and into the room.
The door had been blocked by the body of the princess. Her long mane and tail were splayed all over, scarily still. Her white body looked hollow and grey.
"Princess Celestia! Penny flung herself to her princess' side, cradling her head softly in her hooves.
The princess slowly opened her eyes. They were a dull, lifeless, bland colour.
"What happened?" the unicorn asked.
"A Nightling is in the kingdom." she panted out, "It took my crown, I'm powerless without it."
Her eyes rolled back and her eyelids closed slowly. Penny lowered the royal head down carefully.
"Doctor..."
He looked away from the window.
"Will she...?"
"No, she'll be tired for a bit, but she won't die. She'll live. Help me get her into the bed."
~ ~ ~
Doctor and Penny walked along the corridors, alert for any odd sounds.
"What are Nightlings?"
"Nightlings," he began, "were an ancient species of pony. While others had gone on and evolved into what you are today, they just...refused."
Penny nodded, "What did they do to the princess?"
"Just drained a little of her energy. They're like leeches."
"Can somepony refuse to just...evolve?"
He nodded, Penny paused, her eyes unreadable.
"What are you?"
"I'm a Time Lord."
"Are there others like you?"
"There were. At one time, long ago. I'm the only one now." His eyes were dark, haunted. Sad.
"What happened?" Penny nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, feeling his warmth.
"There was a war, the Time Wars."
Penny pulled away, her ears perked.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" The Doctor asked, straining to hear.
"A scratching, like hooves against a chalk board."
A long screeching sound echoed down the corridor, like someone was dragging knife blades down glass. A deep black pony-shaped object stood at the end, with an equally black, and extremely long mane and tail. Instead of hooves, the creature's lanky legs ended in points, like it walked on daggers. it had no eyes. A deadly horn rose from its forehead, it had to be at least a foot and a half long.
"Nightling." Doctor muttered, "Be as quiet as possible. They're blind, but they're far from deaf."
Doctor and Penny edged forward, keeping their hoof falls as quiet as they could. The Nightling walked near them, its pointy legs scratching along the polished floors, leaving scratch marks. It raised its blind face and sniffed the air. They both froze.
"I can sssmell you." it cooed almost motherly, "A sssimple pony and a...Time Lord."
Penny Dreadful looked at the Doctor Wide Eyed. He merely cocked his head.
"How, exactly, do you know what a Time Lord smells like?"
The Nightling grinned. "You ssstink hasss been all over the world sssince the dawn of time."
The Nightling stepped closer. The Doctor moved to block Penny from the creature.
"What is it that you want? Why are you in Canterlor?"
"To feed, of courssse. Everypony isss here, ssso many livesss, ssso much food. Ssso many poniesss here to sssee Celessstia fail."
"You leave her alone!" Penny yelled, stepping out from behind the Doctor.
The creature grinned wider. "Oh, my. A feisssty one. You'll be fun to drain the life out of."
She narrowed her eyes, taking defiant steps toward the monster.
"You'll see. When Princess Celestia wakes up, she'll send you back to where you came from!"
"It'sss ssso cute," the Nightling chuckled," how you sssimple poniesss put ssso much trussst in her, not knowing how weak ssshe really isss."
Penny glowered, her petite grey frame shaking with anger. This was her princess, the pony who assured all of Equestria was safe everyday. She wasn't going to let the Nightling talk about her that way. The Doctor put a hoof around her shoulders.
"Calm down, its trying to get you worked up. Easier to feed that way. It has nothing over Celestia's head."
"Oh, sssilly Time Lord. How sssimple you think." The Nightling held up Celestia's crown, a glowing gold against oily black."Every pony knowsss Celessstia isss powerlesss without her crown."
Penny shrugged out of his grip and went charging towards the Nightling. Its maniacal laughter echoed. A few metres away, she leaned back on her hind legs and flung herself at it. Right as she made impact, the Nightling faded out, leaving Penny to collide with a wall, bloodying her nose. The Doctor trotted up to her, wrapped a hoof around her shoulders, and pressed her sore snout against his side.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt."
She looked up at him, her grey face already bruising, "It's not your fault. I acted harshly.It's my fault I got hurt."
"C'mon, let's get you back to the TARDIS and bandage you up."
~ ~ ~
The Doctor applied one last bandage. Her snout had begun bruising badly by the time they had gotten back to the TARDIS. He gave her another sad look, "I'm so sorry..."
"It's fine," she sighed, "We need to go find that crown."
He nodded, "Is your nose feeling better?"
She waved his question away and strode toward the doors.
"Hold on one second."
Penny turned to face him.
"You'll need this." he held up two keys on strings, "They're keys with a bit of TARDIS material. My TARDIS is designed to blend in. Ponies can walk right past, register it, but deem it unimportant. Won't even bother giving it a second glance. Timey wimey stuff."
Penny nodded and slipped the key around her neck. "So what's the plan?"
"The plan," he slipped on his as well, "is to not get noticed."
The Doctor and Penny shoved their way into the crowd of the castle court yard. Everypony was gathered around waiting for their ruler to raise the sun and moon together, to note that she would, once again, rule over them (this was before Luna was allowed to return to Earth, so Celestia still raised the moon).
"Doctor, I don't see how standing in this crowd helps..." she grumbled, avoiding bumping her snout into unaware ponies.
"Nightlings can take the form of whoever's item they have possession over. It has her crown, so it'll take her form." he explained.
She looked confused, "But why take that? Her crown is virtually useless, unless you're part of the Royal Family..."
"Princess Celestia is adored, correct? Ponies who are adored are often swarmed. Nightlings eat..."
"Energy!" she exclaimed, "Oh, how could I have been so blind! It's going to absorb their energy!"
The Doctor began to reply, but the sound of trumpets cut him off.
"Welcome, residents of Equestria," a solar guard announced, "your faithful leader, Princess Celestia, will be here to, once again, renew her vows to continue to rule and protect you."
As the guard finished, the creamy white alicorn, with the pastel mane, marched across the walk way that connected the palace to a pillar, where she would raise the two presiding celestial bodies together.
Colts and fillies ran up to get a closer look and a hug from their beautiful princess.
"She's a fake!" Penny yelled, stopping the little ponies in their tracks.
Every set of eyes turned to look at her.
"That princess is a fake! It's a Nightling in disguise! It took the real Princess Celestia's crown and assumed her identity!" Penny continued on.
"Traitor!" one pony called out, "Try her for treason for speaking such nonsense about our princess!"
She looked to the Doctor for assistance.
"Doctor, what do we do?!"
"The only thing we can do-run!"
They pushed and shoved their way out of the crowd that lurched at them. A few of the solar guards chased after them.
"What are we going to do about the Nightling? How can we stop it?" Penny huffed, keeping pace with the Doctor.
"Sunlight," he answered, "Dd you notice how it refused to move out of the shadows in the hallway? They're incredibly sensitive to sunlight."
The Doctor took a sharp corner and dove into an alley way, Penny messily followed. He pulled her close and put a hoof over top her mouth to quiet her breathing. The mob passed their hiding place.
"I have a plan. I'm going to lure the Nightling out. I have a surplus of energy, so you'll be fine. How well are you with magic?"
"Pretty decent."
"Can you levitate objects?"
"I work in a book store, how do you think those books got on the top shelves?"
"Fantastic!" he said, hugging her close.
~ ~ ~
"Avenging Apologies"
The Nightling marched its way to the pillar. The entire gathering had taken off to find the group that had spoken out against their beloved princess.
"You hungry?" a voice asked, "You have to be starving, seeing as how your lunch plans have been ruined. Where's your family? Don't Nightlings travel in packs?"
The imposter turned its still blind face (even disguised they lack sight).
"My family was killed by that wretched solar princess. She will pay, Time Lord." the Nightling responded in Celestia's voice.
The Doctro shifted weight from hoof to hoof.
"Being the last of my kind, myself, I can relate to how you're feeling. The sadness. The loneliness. The finality. Blood doesn't clean blood, Nightling. Murdering the princess will not solve anything."
"Fool!" The Nightling shouted, "Have you not avenged the deaths of your own kind?! Have you not brought justice to their murderer?!"
He looked at the odd creature with heavy eyes, eyes that held the weight of many lives, "I do. Everyday."
The Nightling grinned and maneuvered it stolen body along the catwalk.
"Oh, Time Lord. You're too much of a saint to harm anypony."
It stretched out the wings and hovered, a yellow haze around the horn.
"You could never bring honour upon your fallen family." The Nightling shot a beam at the Doctor. He rolled to the side, barely missing it. It singed the wall behind him.
"Penny!" He yelled, quickly lunging to his hooves, "Now!"
Penny came galloping from the entrance way to the catwalk, her horn a shimmery red. She focused her magic on the crown atop the hovering Nightling, encasing it in a red sphere. She ground her teeth, trying hard to pull it back to her. She wasn't used to such a distance, The crown started to lift off the creature's head.
"You've got this, Penny! Not much more!" The Doctor cheered.
"You silly mare!" it yelled, sending another beam at Penny, catching her in the chest and sending her crashing into the tower.
"Penny!" he galloped toward her. Her small body curled into itself, making her look even more fragile. He lifted her limp body close, resting her head against his chest.
"Oh, Penny, I'm so so sorry..."
The Nightling landed infront of him. He glared at the creature.
"Perhaps you'll now understand what I mean when I speak of avenging."
"if you're trying to make sympathize with you,trying to make me see things your way, or trying to make me hate you, you're failing." he hugged her body close, "You aren't even worth hatred, you beast."
The Nightling looked down at him with unseeing eyes, "Always playing a saint."
It began charging up another beam. The Doctor wrapped Penny up snuggly in his hooves.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you..."
The Nightling stepped forward, lowering its horn. Suddenly, Penny's horn began glowing its shimmery red again and the crown was ripped from the Nightling's head, ruining its camouflage.
The left over rays from the previous morning's sun blared into its black body, drying it out. Penny held the crown close and snuggled into his chest. He stroked her long mane, shielding her eyes.
The Nightling shriveled up, becoming nothing more than a hollowed out, grey shell. The ponies of Canterlot gathered around again, no longer forming an angry mob. Realisation and apologies filled their eyes.
~ ~ ~
"You Were Fantastic"
Penny approached the sleeping princess- the actual princess- and lowered the crown back onto her head. She opened her magenta eyes and met gazes with Penny. She blushed and quickly bowed.
"Did you stop it?" she asked, encouraging Penny to stand up.
"It was the Doctor who saved us." Penny replied, fidgeting with the bandaged on her chest, "He came up with the plan."
"No, Princess Celestia, it was all Penny. I came up with the plan that got her hurt. She saved Equestria though."
Penny Dreadful blushed deeper and looked at the floor, "I only did as you said..."
He nuzzled her shoulder.
"And you were fantastic."
~ ~ ~
"Luck"
Princess Celestia healed up quickly and managed to renew her vows the very next day. The moon and the sun rose up high in the sky, almost right next to each other. Penny and the Doctor were flopped down in front of the TARDIS doors, watching the celebrations. Fire works popped in the sky, ponies cheered and danced.
"You know what they say?" The Doctor asked, breaking the silence.
"About?"
"Pennies."
"...I'm lost."
"'Find a penny, pick it up, and all day you'll have good luck.'"
She smiled at him, "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying, Miss Penny, will you stay, be my companion, and my luck?"
"You believe in luck?"
"It's all I run on."
"Then, Mr Doctor, it's your lucky day."
They shared one long smile before he opened the doors and followed Penny inside. The TARDIS whirred and whurrled before disappearing, unnoticed.
