Chapter Text
Princess Luna's eyes began to wander as she travelled through the dream realm, one of her domains.
Curiously, barely any sign of the non-native Doctor's dream, or Loathing's, until late in the night.
Her ears perk, curiosity taking hold at the door in front of her, marked as 'Time Ticker' in a gold placard on the oak finish.
Some sort of mycelial mold seemed to be gathering at the corners of this particular door. Odd, had he been to the Everfree Forest at all? She didn't remember seeing anything regarding him going there...
Slowly, she pressed down on the doorknob with her magic, and opened the door to the dream, then entered.
Her eyes are directed towards him, pointing to his familiar little blue box, and a crowd of ponies running in. He stays behind, shutting the door, saluting in the diminishing open space.
Spores cling to his fur, feathers, fetlocks and mane, puffed out as it is. Undercoat and all. He looks so much scruffier than his usual levels of raggedy, and she's decently certain that she can see areas where ash has been mixed into his fur.
The box warps away, and he's left alone.
Only then does he realize that he's going to die.
A feverish ramble escapes his mouth.
"No, nono- I don't want to die. I don't- Please let me live, please-"
She strolls over to him as he kneels and cowers in fear, tattered wings curling around himself as the whirring grows deafeningly loud and *angry*.
Spores in the air float by as something explodes in a blinding shade of pure white, and she pauses it in time.
Ticker looks up at her, pupils blown wide in abject terror, before realizing who it is.
She switches the background to something more pleasant with a toss of her head. Fluffy clouds, a pleasantly glowing moon, and twinkling stars. The cosmos swirls around them.
"Luna...?" A hoarse voice croaks from behind her.
"Relax, my little timelord. Merely a nightmare."
When did he start looking so vulnerable? His pupils are still wide, but his breathing is slowing down from the border of panic.
She hadn't noticed before, but his face seems flushed.
"You needn't worry. Everyone is beleaguered by nightmares sometimes-"
"Nno." She's cut off by his quiet assertion, before he begins mumbling. "Blasted- temperature's bloomin' high. Tends to cause worse nigh'mares than usual..."
"...Ah, I... see. When did you start having these episodes of high heat-"
"'s not a biological- sex thing." He grunts, squinting at her. "It's my body trying to fight something off."
"And what would that be?"
"..." There's an indistinct grumble from him as he sprawls out on the cloud, gangly limbs going every which way. "Would argue it's psychosomatic, but... you've seen the dull hue of my coat."
"One of Discord's little tricks, I'd assume."
"Not the one from your reality." His ears lower. "...He's actually been relatively kind."
"And your reality's Discord? What of him?"
"Nnh- not the best. An' my body actually has something to fight against, th... that being the spores, and the chunk of mushroom tentacle monster I ate."
She moves to sit next to him.
"Were your wings always like that, Doctor?"
"Like wha'?"
"Tattered, almost."
"...They weren't. I... I dunno what's going on with them. Twiligh' an' the other- other Doc, they're scared this 's gonna kill me. I don't... wanna stress them out further."
"It has a possibility of killing you?"
"I dunno. Tha's the thing. I know that losing these is gonna make... mme so much weaker in regards to actually doing things." He pauses, shivering. "They're useful, y'know? I can't- I can barely get them to move now. They jus' droop open all the time, I could kinda hide it with the coat that Rar... Rarity made, but 's... had to wear my waistcoat over the wings."
"What does it feel like?" Her own brows furrow in concern.
"Numb. I barely- can't feel much in them- I... I dunno why."
There's a faint wheeze from him, and he hides his face in his forelegs as he tries to compose himself.
She uses her hoof to rub his back. The cold touch causes him to jolt, before he all but melts into it, no longer hiding his face, but looking at her with glazed eyes.
"'m not sure if it's my immune system attacking the wings or- or if it's my body cannibalizing them because of... I don't eat much."
"Thy hunger should be sated, Doctor."
"I know, I... know." He pauses again, swallowing. "'m fine- will be fine, I hhave to be..."
"When didst you last eat?"
"...Mmust've... properly, would've been at the party. The... coffee should have kept me going."
"Mm, no wonder why you would dare to take a bite out of a monster's flesh."
"Mmycelial... roast mushrooms... I don't... 'm not gonna be lucid for much longer..."
"Take all the time you need, Doctor."