Confessions of an Immortal Time Lord

One Thousand Years of Solitude (Part 5)

***

I lied, guys. I positively hated sleeping on the sofa. To begin with, it was small, hard and uncomfortable. Moreover, it was strange not to feel Celestia by my side. I had got used to her presence and, of course, I missed her dearly.

Just when I managed to get a few hours of uneasy, an ear-breaking, ground-shaking cry woke me up inside.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP DOCTOR! IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY!" Luna exclaimed as she hopped on her bed (on my bed, mind you!) and then started shaking me.

"The sea ponies! They're here! SAVE YOURSELVES!" I yelled as I jerked up in bed (on the sofa. Not bed. The bucking sofa.) and looked towards the source of the sound. "Oh, hi Luna."

The blue mare cocked her eyebrow but chuckled as I waved at her friendly.

"What are we going to do?" Luna wondered, not stopping her bouncy route about the TARDIS.

"How about breakfast?" I suggested hopefully, feeling utterly hungry.

"How about jogging?" Luna suggested instead.

"But of course!" I said in fake enthusiasm. "Right after a good English break-"

"Let's go!" Luna cheered and grabbed me in her magical grip.

I sighed. I was getting used to being levitated. Really, guys, you can get used to anything.

There went my breakfast...

***

"Come on, Doctor! One more lap!" Luna insisted.

"I... can't... Just... leave... me... here..." I managed to let out before I fell on the ground, covering my head with my hooves. "My... hooves... so... tired..."

"Oh, come on!" the blue mare whined. "I thought you were more enduring!" she said disapprovingly as she looked onto my exhausted body.

"I'm enduring only in the bedroom," I muttered under my breath, trying to get up.

"What was it?" Luna wondered innocently.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all!" I protested, finally gathering my strength to rise from the rocky surface. "Let's get back to TARDIS, shall we?" I suggested.

Luna silently nodded and we made our way towards the blue box, interrupted only by my stumbling upon occasional rocks.

"I've been wondering," Luna began carefully.

My ears jerked up.

"If this time-spaceship of yours can travel through time and space..." She gulped. "Maybe... just maybe it can help me... help us get out of here?" she asked. "The Moon, I mean."

I slapped my forehoof against my forehead.

"But of course!" I yelled and then mumbled some technical stuff you guys wouldn't like to know. "Sure, I've an idea how to get out of here!" I exclaimed and looked and the alicorn with admiration.

"It's strange that I haven't thought of it before," I admitted. "What a big brain you must have inside this cute little head of yours!" I complimented Luna.

"It's not the size of the brain but the wits that matter," she replied with a blush. "Besides..." She smiled. "I'm sure you have some big things as well, if Tia is to be believed..." she continued, drawing circles with a hoof. It's kinda hard on a rocky surface, mind it!

I knew she couldn't keep it to herself, I groaned mentally. "You're stepping on a dangerous and slippery ground, Luna," I said aloud in a scolding tone.

"Isn't that what I've always been good at?" Luna said with a mischievous smile.

"It so is," I grunted disapprovingly. Still, I couldn't be angry at the filly... mare. I always keep forgetting.

As soon as we reached the TARDIS, Luna opened the door impatiently and ran in.

"How..." I was shocked. "How did you manage to open the door?" I asked, gasping.

"Um... Turned the knob?" Luna replied, unimpressed.

I shook my head. Ancient Time Lords' magic is a fake, guys. Believe me. If any immortal alicorn princess can open it, what's the point of the enchantment?

Anyway, before Luna could press all the buttons in sight, I considered a pre-emptive strike. I pushed the blue mare away from the control board and pressed a few buttons.

Luna watched me with awe. I sighed.

"Now I need you to help me," I said, while Luna erupted with an ear-shattering cheer. "Pull this lever when I tell you."

Yes, I know I lied. I could've pulled it myself. But the girl was so desperate to help!

As Luna took her place near the lever, breathing with feeling of achievement, I counted to ten to build the tension and then yelled, "PRESS!"

And so she pressed.

Nothing happened. Luna looked at me with wide eyes.

"What's wrong, Doctor? I pressed the lever, as you said." Her eyes were becoming teary.

"Hmm... Try pulling it again..." I suggested, not sure what to do.

"Pull it or press it?" the blue mare specified.

"Pull, of course! Have you actually pressed it instead?" I wondered and facehoofed.

"Hey, you were the one who told me to 'PRESS!'," she parried, imitating my intonation perfectly.

"Shall we argue or shall we pull the lever and leave this place?" I replied, avoiding the argument.

Luna grunted and pulled the lever. A bright flash lit the telephone box from the inside. I smiled, for I knew what that meant.

"Allons-y, Luna! Hold tight, 'cause-" I began but a sudden pop noise interrupted me.

My vigour faded as fast as it had appeared. Luna, on the other hoof, couldn't see what was wrong so she held tight, just as I'd ordered her.

I sighed.

"Anything wrong?" the blue mare asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

I shook my head.

"The barrier, Luna. Celestia had established a powerful magical barrier that's preventing us from space-travelling..."

The alicorn hung her head low.

"But you managed to get here somehow!" she reasoned, teary-eyed and desperate.

"Tia must have created the barrier after I had left..." I mused, rubbing my chin, gears in my head beginning to reel.

"You left her?" Luna gasped. "I thought you loved her!" she exclaimed.

"I couldn't put up with the fact that she had banished you to the Moon," I replied simply, not paying attention to the effect it caused.

And I should have, for something in Luna's head changed that moment - something that brought her closer to me and - I have to admit - brought me closer to her as well.

"You know..." I rubbed my chin so fervently that one could be afraid I would make a hole in it. "TARDIS is a time-spaceship so..." I clapped my hooves in a victorious motion. "We can travel to the day the barrier fades - a thousand years from now on! Better, a thousand and one year..." I mumbled, lost in thought, while I pulled and pushed some levers and pressed some buttons all around the place.

"Wouldn't it be easier to travel a few days to the past?" Luna wondered aloud.

"Hold tight, Luna, this time for sure!" I yelled and pressed a large green button.

A familiar flash filled the room, but this time accompanied by a shattering shake, as though the earth (or the Moon, for that matter) had just split.

"Whoa!" Luna cried, falling. Fortunately, onto me.

Ouch. Mental note: alicorns are heavy.

"Allons-y!" I shouted, throwing my hoof in the air.

"Why do you use this phrase? You're not French, you know?" Luna wondered.

"No, I'm not," I shrugged. "Still-"

The landing saved me from further explanations. With a loud thump, my faithful blue box landed somewhere.

As I opened the door, I saw it to be Canterlot's main square. It was crowded with ponies laughing and waving to each other. To my surprise, most of them even hadn't noticed the appearance of the TARDIS.

"After you," I said with a smile and let a shocked Luna out.

She looked around, astonished.

"Wow... It's beautiful! What is this town?" she asked me slowly, still looking around.

"Canterlot. A newly-built city," I replied, looking around as well. "And it looks like we're just in time." I smiled.

"GREETINGS, MY LOYAL SUBJECTS!" a voice echoed from the distance. Luna and I looked at the source of the sound in unison. On a large balcony of a magnificent castle stood a blue alicorn, her figure outstanding, her voice royal and majestic.

"That's... me?.." Luna whispered.

I nodded.

"See, everything will be fine. You'll rule Equestria one day," I assured her. "And you'll have a lot of colts after you!" I winked at her and nudged her playfully.

Luna gulped and sniffed.

"I need only one..." she whispered, loud enough for me to hear, looking at me lovingly.

I coughed and looked away in embarrassment.

"Luna, I'm afraid we must leave..." I began carefully.

"What? Why?" the little alicorn demanded. "I don't want to leave!" she stomped her hoof on the ground, immediately luring attention of a few ponies standing around us.

"Luna, come on." I grabbed her by the hoof and almost pushed her inside the box. "Such time-travelling could cause some disastrous repercussions!" I tried to reason the mare.

Luna huffed, visibly offended.

"Disastrous repercussions..." she said. "Like what?"

"Like the end of our Universe," I answered plainly.

Luna sighed and laid her head on her hooves.

"Look, Luna..." I approached her and hugged her. Luna's eyes went wide due to such a show of affection. "You've just seen the future. You know that everything would turn out well, right?" I asked and kept the mare in my embrace.

She returned it and nodded, swallowing tears.

"Will I... Will I meet it again?" she asked, looking into my eyes. "The Nightmare, I mean."

I sighed but decided not to lie.

"Yes. In a thousand years," I replied, making Luna shiver. "But you will overcome it. The magic of friendship will overcome everything," I assured her, although I wasn't entirely sure in the last statement myself.

"Will you be there for me, Doctor?" Luna asked hopefully, drilling my soul through pleading gaze fixed on my eyes.

"I will," I said firmly, looking at her seriously. "I will stand right by your side."

"Thank you..." she whispered. "It's all I need to know."

***

Hello. This is The Doctor. The Doctor from the present, I mean. I'm just about to end this chapter in my life, although I'm pretty sure I will never be able to end it this easily.

It isn't hard to guess what happened next.

Luna kissed me. At first, I was shocked but then decided that the world was enough of a crazy place for that to happen. We travelled in my TARDIS back to the Moon, a thousand and one year back. We talked. We laughed. We opened a bottle of finest wine. We got drunk. We slid under the covers of my cosy bed...

When Luna was fast asleep, I stood up and opened the door. Fresh air made me sober at once. I closed my eyes, contemplating the situation. I took my sonic screwdriver and charged it - I was too tired to cast magic myself. It was ready to perform only two spells - a basic one and a complicated one. Two was all I needed.

I levitated the unicorn, who shifted uneasily in her sleep, and took her outside. I laid her on one of the rocks. I took away the blanket, making her shiver.

"Doctor..." she mumbled.

I felt a tear crawl down my face. Still, to keep future from changing, I had to make sure the events would flow in the way they would have flown if I hadn't arrived at the Moon in the first place.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

One complicated spell.

I shut my eyes tight and pressed the button.

A bright flash erupted from the screwdriver.

I opened my eyes.

Luna was still lying on the rock; though now she was shifting uneasily.

"No, Tia, no, please..." she begged in her sleep.

I let out a heavy sigh.

The spell worked. Her memory was wiped clean of the recent events. She wouldn't remember my appearing on the Moon.

I wanted to approach her and kiss - at least on the forehead - but I knew it was too late. I couldn't leave any more signs of my presence here.

I entered my TARDIS, not looking back, leaving Luna behind, leaving her to suffer from loneliness.

One thousand years of loneliness.

***

Next on the Confessions!

A new story arc - When the Time Lords Broke Free!

~~~

"Where in Equestria am I?"

"Equestria? Just who are you, falling from the sky like that and asking about the country that ceased to exist long ago?"

~~~

"Isn't life-saving something ponies do for free?"

"Not in this world, Doctor."

***

Author's note.

Well, that concludes this story arc. A new one is on the way!

Please comment and rate. RATE, okay?!

Peace.