Confessions of an Immortal Time Lord

Bad Moon (Part 3)

***

The Sun was bathing in its warmth in the sky, the critters were moving to and fro, getting under the two ponies' hooves when they reached Fluttershy's cottage. Singing could be heard from miles around: not only a pony's voice but also the tenors of colibri and baritones of other birds who were accompanying their soloist.

Twilight felt her heart melt in the majestic, yet soothing sounds of the performance. The best thing about it was that the birds were singing willingly, not performing but simply enjoying themselves. The lavender unicorn thought she could listen to it forever.

The Doctor, however, didn't share her opinion. He smiled, whispering to Twilight: "She surely can sing," and knocked at the door loudly.

The voices momentarily ceased, and only a constrained shriek from the inside interrupted the silence.

The Time Lord shrugged and knocked again, this time more fiercely.

Twilight frowned. She had met Fluttershy before and she knew exactly why it would have been better if the noisy and energetic brown earth pony did not accompany her.

"We have no time! Wouldn't. You. Just. OPEN!" He gritted through his teeth as he kept banging the door.

Silence endured. Twilight sighed. The Doctor's face expressed anger, irritation and annoyance. After what seemed like a minute (A minute and twenty seconds! Twenty! - Your Time Lord) the door slowly opened and the two ponies could see a yellow pegasus standing in the doorway. On her head was a steel pot and she was holding a frying pan as a weapon.

"D-d-don't come c-c-closer," the pegasus whispered. "I-I-I am armed t-to the teeth!" She finished a bit louder. (When the narrator says 'a bit louder', he means that Fluttershy's voice increased in volume from a veeeeery quiet whisper to a veeeery quiet whisper - T.L.)

The Doctor raised a brow. Then he chuckled. The pegasus immediately hid behind the door, sticking out only her 'weapon'.

Twilight groaned. "Fluttershy, it's me, Twilight," she cooed as she slowly reached the door.

Fluttershy put out her head for a second. Then a small smile appeared on her face. "Twilight!" She almost exclaimed, now fully leaving the doorway, still glaring suspiciously at the brown earth pony. "Is this stallion... with you?" She cautiously asked.

Twilight sighed again. "I wish he weren't..." The unicorn grumbled under her breath. "Oh yes, he is... a friend of mine, actually," she said aloud.

The shy pegasus took a step towards the grinning earth pony. Then another one. Then her attitude unpredictably changed and she suddenly ran towards him, almost knocking him down, pulling him towards the cottage.

"What?" Twilight raised her brow.

"What the..." The Doctor tried to break free in vain.

"Poor dear... All these scars and bruises... I will tend to you, don't worry!" Fluttershy cooed, raising her voice. "Oh, I would love to see the thing that did it to you!" She finished, building some courage. "If... if it is okay with them" she muttered, ashamed of her sudden outburst.

"Heh... Heh..." Twilight scratched the back of her head with a guilty look. "Well, It would be better if you didn't" She faked a smile.

The Time Lord managed to resist the urge to yell: It's her, Fluttershy! It's that bad lavender pony that did it! and submissively let the animal caretaker bring him in. He heard Twilight's voice coming through constrained giggles: "Well, I think you two will come to an agreement! I'm off to see Applejack! She's Honesty, right?"

"Right..." whispered The Doctor, well knowing that Twilight had already left.

Fluttershy blinked in surprise. "What agreement?" She asked with such a cute and simple expression that the brown pony, in spite of himself, thought the matter to wait until a better moment.

He smiled and lightly shrugged. "We'll talk about it later," he said, looking around. The interior of Fluttershy's cottage was simply amazing: clean, shiny furniture brought pleasure to one's eyes, while the noble lamps lost their stiffness at the sight of plain cushions and almost invisible curtains, which seemed to not cover the light but to increase its intensity instead. The most shoking sight, however, was that the cottage was full of animals, who were sitting, lying and standing everywhere - what surprised The Doctor was that they were living there in order, silent and obedient. She must be really good with animals, he thought.

Fluttershy took initiative, taking The Doctor by surprise. "I'll make you a nice teeny-weeny bath with foam and aroma flowers to soothe your wounds!" She continued cooing, like one of her birds.

"I wouldn't call them 'wounds'..." The earth pony began but Fluttershy was already on her way to the bathroom.

The Doctor smiled and followed her.

***

So warm... Mmm... I loooove these bubbles! Haven't had such a nice bath in... Screw it - I have NEVER had such a nice bath! If only It could last forever... forever...

Fluttershy coughed.

All that is needed to make it complete is a yellow rubber duck...

Fluttershy coughed one more time, a bit louder.

The water's getting colder... How long have I been there? Oh my gosh!

The Doctor snapped out of his dreamy thoughts, looking at Fluttershy with wide eyes. The pegasus seemed to shrink under his gaze.

"I just wanted to ask your name..." she squeaked, blushing for no reason. "I'm Fluttershy but you... know it already..." Her voice dropped to a whisper.

The brown earth pony gave her a reassuring smile, leaving the tub and drying himself with a towel.

"I'm The Doctor," he said, going out of the bathroom.

The yellow mare followed him, her face shining with a huge smile.

She almost leapt at him, wrapping her hooves around his neck. "Finally! Finally!" She happily yelled. While the Time Lord was trying to come to his senses, she trotted towards a small sofa, where a rabbit was lying.

"Angeeeeel!" She sang. "I've found you a doctor!"

The rabbit turned his face towards The Doctor and screwed up his eyes. He shook his head in such a manner that could identified as a definite 'No'.

"He will help your paw!" Fluttershy tried to reason the stubborn white ball of fur.

Angel stuck out his tongue.

"Angel. Bunny. You don't want me to use it, do you? Do you?" The once meek pegasus drew closer, her face almost touching Angel's.

However, the rabbit seemed to be experienced in such affairs and simply shook his head again, now in a 'Oh? Really?' manner.

The Doctor finally regained his composure and, with a brand smile (The Charming And Disabling Time Lord's Smile [TM] - nice name, don't you think? - T.L.), approached the rabbit, gently pushing Fluttershy aside. He winked at her.

"Some men's business here, Fluttershy. Could you... get us some tea or something?" He asked.

The yellow pegasus nodded. "Okay... But please don't argue or fight, okay?" She pleaded, looking more at her bunny than at the brown pony.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, we are going to be most... friendly..." The Doctor gave the white rabbit a glare and was met with the same glare from him.

The animal caretaker hesitantly left the room.

The Time Lord carefully bent over the sofa, his lips in a few millimeters from Angel's ears.

The rabbit snorted but he couldn't move his limbs: the pain in the paw was too severe.

The Doctor began whispering into Angel's ear: "You know, once I met an alien who refused to register according to the Shadow proclamation... Let's say... his future was most... miserable."

The rabbit shrugged, rising his brow. His expression was saying: 'So what? How does it affect me?'

The brown pony gave the rabbit a pat on the back. "I am a Time Lord, bunny. And I know exactly where you come from," he said, nodding his head.

Angel's pupils widened to the size of saucers. He furiously shook his head whick could be translated as 'You must be kidding me! It's impossible! You are a mere earth pony!'

"It is so," The Doctor answered to his gestures. "Look." And so his cutie mark glowed and the room around them started to shimmer.

Suddenly, Fluttershy appeared before them, in the exact position she was in before going to the kitchen.

She nodded. "Okay... But please don't argue or fight, okay?" She pleaded, looking more at her bunny than at the brown pony.

And Angel Bunny thought his eyes couldn't go any wider...

After Fluttershy went to the kitchen again, Angel began shivering. He looked up at the Doctor, shaking from fear.

The Time Lord smiled. "Proved it to you?" He asked. "Or do you need more proof?" He threatened the poor fur ball.

Angel shook his head and gulped.

"Good." The Doctor smiled. "Now, as far as your injury goes..." The hourglass began to glow and, to the rabbit's deepest amazement, the pain vanished in a second. (Exactly one second... What can I say? Accurate Time Lord is accurate! - T.L.)

The brown pony winked. "Feeling better, bunny? Now if you are a dear and are gentle to Fluttershy, I might forget about your... birthplace," He concluded.

The white rabbit simply nodded, almost frozen in awe.

The yellow pegasus interrupted the scene,walking in holding a tray with two cups of tea in her mouth. The Doctor immediately took it from her and put it on the table.

Fluttershy blushed again. "Thank you," she whispered so quietly that no one could hear her.

The Doctor cleared his throat.

"Let's have your tea, shall we? I'll explain the situation to you by the way," he said, and the two ponies sat down at table, one ready to listen, the other eager to tell.

***

Speak of lyrical digressions, and they'll appear. Hello, it's me, your fellow Time Lord.

Today, we are going to talk about a very special field - knowlege. Most ponies believe that knowlege is power, while the others say that ignorance is bliss.

Neither are right.

On one hoof, knowlege may bring you pleasure. The more you learn, the more you open the secrets of the Universe to yourself, the deeper you delve into the Unknown - the more delight it brings to your heart. You think you contribute to the magnificent pillar of scrutiny, rising above the world itself.

You are wrong. You are so wrong.

Everything has been learnt.  Everything is known. There is no new information in the Universe. Though it may be new for you, you won't contribute to anything. Though it may be new for your civilization, it won't contribute to anything.

Then why learn? Why scrutinize the machines that operate your factories and plants, trying to make them work better? Why examine the laws of nature, trying to bend it to your will? Why bother trying?

For the sake of trying, I say.

Before I lead you to the conlusion I am going to make, I will happily answer the question you was probably going to ask: Then how will the Universe develop if all civilizations sit on their flanks doing nothing? Huh? What about it, omnipresent Time Lord?

Remeber what I told you about parallel universes? They work in most stange ways. Imagine you raise your hoof here and somewhere in the parallel universe you (or not you - it's complicated, really) find a way to travel across Time and Space the same instant.

And all of this had already happened by the time you did it. Before you raised your hoof or found a way to travel across Time and Space (whatever you prefer), you have already raised your hoof or found a way to travel across Time and Space. And you are yet to raise your hoof or find a way to travel across Time and Space. At the same time. (By the way, it's my favorite pun so you'll just have to... how do they say? Deal with it.)

Pretty mind-breaking, huh? But that's true. The Universe works in most chaotic ways. It's unpredictable but predictable at the same time. Chaos and Order mess and mix and unite and clash, making the perfect development of the Universe.

Aha! The conclusion! Totally forgot about it, my fault.

Remember when I told you to make peace to make peace? And now I tell you to try to try? You can guess the logical deduction.

Do things to do things.

Do things for the sake of doing things.

To be is to do? Nope. To do is to be? Nope.

To be is to be.

To do is to do.

Think about it.

And what about me? I know everything. Everything that was, is or will be (which is basically the same).

And it never makes me happy. I have nothing to learn. I have nothing to do. All that I will ever do has already been done by me, and I know it. Because I've seen it. I know exactly what I will do tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in ten years, in a hundred years... I'm bound to do it. And if I don't do it, I don't make a change. I simply create another parallel universe that has already been created. By me. And I know it already, too.

I'm not complaining. (Well, maybe a little.) It is a confession. You were given the privilege to be my confessor. Congratulations! However, I pity you when you reach the end of this book...

To the next chapter! Allons-y!

***

Next on the Confessions!

~~~

Magic. Magic... Heh, I love the word. It's so... um... magical?

~~~

In fact, only you ponies call it 'Equestria': according to the Shadow proclamation, it is planet n. 1728304347634. But for the sake of easiness, let's just call it 'Equestria', shall we?

***

Author's note.

I'm so, so sorry for such short chapters. I will probably unite the parts later, when I finish the story arc. As for now, please leave your comments. Feedback is important and constructive criticism is always welcomed.

Peace.