My Ghosts Come Back

by AuthorA97

Donna Blipping Noble. She can feel something coming. Bigger than any of them. The Doctor is more worried about the Time Lady than ever. There's River Song, and Jenny, and so many other people that when Rose shows up Terra isn't even surprised. (Part 5 of Fallen Star Series!)

14. Forest of the Dead

"Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?"

I snatched the squareness gun from a silent River Song. Aiming at the wall, I made another square hole in the wall.

"RETREAT!" I ordered. "I mean it, RETREAT!"

The archeologists and the Doctor started running.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?"

==MGCB==

Twilight used to remember things.

She was sure of it.

In her quiet moments, Twilight remembered an entirely different world than this. She dreamt of being a purple unicorn, with wings. She performed magical deeds. She fought monsters. She had tea with her many friends. Her home was made of crystal, and was full of books.

Twilight knew better than to believe that. She was no princess. She was a human- with pale pink skin and ten fingers and toes. She was a scientist, not a princess. Even more incredulous, Twilight had no friends.

"I had no friends- not real ones. Not before I met you guys. You showed me what friendship should really be."

She sat up in her bed. Twilight wanted to keep her mind her own. She needed to hold onto that memory. Of that familiar voice, of the familiar friend. Then again, she also had work-

Twilight stood at her desk. The desk was stacked with hours worth of work. How had the time passed so quickly? No...wait...had it-

"Hello, Twilight."

Twilight whirled around to him. "Who are you?" She raised her fists up, moving her legs into a battle stance. She realized something was wrong. Something was supposed to be happening. Something pink. Something with wings.

'Pink wings...'

Doctor Moon smiled politely. Polite as always. Twilight remembered it being very calming those first few days. Days? "I'm Doctor Moon."

"Who- what-" Twilight could remember it. Meeting Dr Moon, at the hospital. The many visits over the years to get Twilight integrated into normal society.

"I've been treating you since you came here."

Doctor.

Moon.

The word Moon made her think of blue pony, with a mane like a starry night that moved in an invisible wind. An abandoned castle, necklaces and a tiara all made out of gold.

Nightmare Moon. Luna. Spark of Dusk. Sparkle of Twilight.

"Trust me, Sparkle of Twilight, you'll love the Library!"

Doctor made her think of a man in a box.

Both of them made Twilight remember her best friend.

"Who are you? What am I doing here?" Twilight asked again. Her best friend had to be nearby. As bad as their friendship started, Twilight knew she'd never be abandoned.

The man's head tilted for a moment. His face showed pleasant surprise. "I'm Doctor Moon. You're here because you needed to be."

She winced, in pain. There was a pink flash, and suddenly Twilight couldn't remember why she was arguing with him.

"Oh god. Doctor Moon, I'm so sorry. What's wrong with me?" Twilight laughed to herself. "I didn't know you for a moment."

Doctor Moon had this smile on his face, as if he knew what Twilight was thinking and why. It was why she disliked psychiatrists. "And then you remembered. Shall we go for a walk?"

==MGCB==

The pegasi kept the sky clear-

No

-The sky was clear today.

"No more dreams, then? Terra Stardust and the magical horses, time and space and everything else?" Doctor Moon asked.

Twilight kept staring at the sky. "No. Not that I can remember, anyway."

"Shall we go down to the river?" Doctor Moon offered.

==MGCB==

"You said river, and suddenly we're feeding bread to the ducks." Twilight looked down at the breadcrumbs in her hands.

"We are." Doctor Moon confirmed.

A yellow pegasus, flying beside Twilight. "They can't eat bread, my little ducks. It makes their tummies so upset."

"They can't eat bread. It's not healthy for them." Twilight recalled.

"Which is why we're feeding them seeds." Doctor Moon replied.

Twilight glanced down to her hand. Sure enough, instead of a crumpled bit of bread it was tiny seeds. The kind healthy enough for birds. Twilight wanted to comment...

...she suddenly forgot what to comment about.

==MGCB==

"You need to get back to work soon." Doctor Moon suggested.

Twilight scrunched up her face. "At the library?"

Her old home- the home in a tree-

Raspberry kept it safe when Tirek-

Twilight still worked at the library, sometimes-

"You'll love the Library! I just need you to do one little thing for me-"

"The Library!"

"No, you work at the laboratory." Doctor Moon reminded her.

Twilight forgot all about trees and libraries and that one little thing.

==MGCB==

Twilight heard a knock on her office door. She turned, seeing Doctor Moon standing there.

"Oh, Doctor Moon, did we have an appointment?" Twilight asked.

"No, I've just come to check on your progress." Doctor Moon stood in the door frame. "You've done so much in the past decade, Twilight."

Twilight smiled. "It's not been that much. I've only been here for nine and a half years."

"Can I just say what a pleasure it is to see you fully integrated." Doctor Moon praised her. "Now I must go. You are my second appointment today, and I really must-"

Twilight watched the doctor in her doorway. He started to glitch. The bald man in a three piece suit disappeared. A young ginger woman in a three colored dress appeared instead.

"Like I said, the moon is being a bully!" That shade of pink...Twilight knew it from somewhere-

"Raspberry!" Twilight realized. She could remember her friend. Raspberry Stardust, Terra, whatever! That was her! That was her friend- Twilight would know her anywhere!

Terra turned to her, lowering the screwdriver in her hand. Her eyebrows scrunched up before rising in realization. "Twilight!"

"Help me!" Twilight wanted to get out. This virtual world- it was fake. All of it was fake-

Terra disappeared. Replacing her, the man calling himself Doctor Moon. "Sorry. Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise. Will I never learn?"

"Oh, Raspberry. I saw Raspberry!" Twilight slipped into a fighting stance. Killjoy made sure Twilight learned it. "And I remember what you are!"

"Yes, you did, Twilight. And then, you forgot." Doctor Moon stated.

Twilight straightened up. She smiled at her old psychiatrist. "Doctor Moon. Oh, hello. I actually needed to work on a project. Was there anything you needed?"

Doctor Moon smiled. "No thank you, Twilight. Back to your work."

==MGCB==

The group ran into another large room. The lights were dying out. The moon reflected an orangish light down on us.

"Okay, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre. In the middle of the light, quickly." River instructed. "Don't let your shadows cross."

The Doctor and I pulled out our sonics. The Doctor aimed at the shadows. I aimed at the lights, trying to direct any power to them.

"Terra. Doctor." River prompted.

"We're doing it." The Doctor replied.

"There's no lights here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long." River warned.

"Can you see an exit?" I asked her. "That squareness gun won't last much longer."

"We can't plan an exit without knowing where they are." River argued. "Have you found a live one?"

"Maybe. It's getting harder to tell." The Doctor smacked his sonic. "What's wrong with you? Is yours working?"

"No. I think the advanced shadows broke it." I stated.

"Vashta Nerada can't break the sonics." The Doctor argued.

"We're going to need another biscuit." River held out her hand.

I tossed out a handful of treats. Most were eaten before they hit the ground. The rest fell, but they were in the five second rule. The Vashta Nerada made quick work of them.

"Thanks Terra." River knelt down. "Okay. Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet."

"They won't attack until there's enough of them." The Doctor cautioned. "But they've got our scent now. They're coming."

He stood up, scanning the other shadows. The power refused to divert to the overhead lights. Red warning lights were all we would get. I decided to try redirecting power to those instead.

"Oh, yeah, who are they?" Other Dave whispered to River. "You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust them?"

"He's the Doctor and she's Terra." River took a deep breath, panting herself.

"And who are the Doctor and Terra?" Liz asked, keeping his own voice in a whisper.

"The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive them." River replied.

"You say they're your friend, but they don't even know who you are." Anita pointed out.

"Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust those two to the end of the universe." River replied. "And actually, we've been."

"They don't act like they trust you." Anita panted, taking a lot of big breaths. Now that we'd stopped running, the adrenaline started to fade.

"Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet." River explained.

"But what about her?" Lux asked, annoyed. I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms tighter around my chest. "She doesn't trust you."

River gave me a glance, I glared at her with every bit of anger I could muster. It took a few seconds for her to look away, rightfully looking ashamed.

I went back to scanning the red lights. They brightened by 14%. Doctor Moon's programming kept me from going up any more. The Doctor kept trying to speak in my mind.

River didn't dare look at me as she answered "I broke her heart." She got up, walking towards me.

'Terra. Who is she?'

'Never met her-'

'Stop lying to me.'

My sonic stopped buzzing. I tucked it back in my pocket, going over to the Doctor's side. River paused in her walk. She redirected herself towards us.

'It's none of your business.'

'If it involves my friend, I think that makes it my business.'

'Even if I knew her, which I refuse to acknowledge, I wouldn't tell you what happened.'

'She hurt you.'

'I'm not telling you. Ever. Get used to it.' I stressed to him. "River. Come join the Krusty Krab. Something is messing with my spatula."

"Did you try the red settings?" River asked.

"Does SpongeBob live in a pineapple under the sea?" I snapped.

"Her sonic doesn't have a red setting." The Doctor argued.

"Doctor. Butt out." I told him.

"Well, use the dampers." River instructed me.

I huffed. If these two we're gonna argue and flirt, I was going to get work done. My sonic pointed up at the sky.

The moon would be the best point of access. Not only did I need to find Donna, but I needed proof of that other person. Twilight Sparkle.

"It doesn't have dampers." The Doctor glared up at her.

River steeled herself. "Then she adds them, one day." River held up her sonic to prove it.

The Doctor yanked it out from her hands. "So, some time in the future, I just give you her screwdriver."

"Yeah."

"Why would I do that?" The Doctor asked, stern and suspicious.

"I didn't pluck it from her cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about." River replied.

"And I know that because...?"

River gave me a pleading look. I pointedly ignored her. The moon wasn't being fair.

"Listen to me." River spoke to the Doctor. "You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now. Be like Terra and just shut it down."

"Yeah it's really easy!" I encouraged him. Checking the sonic, I saw the moon ignored me still.

"Less emotional? I'm not emotional." The Doctor lied terribly.

I tsked. "Bless, there's so much to work with."

"There are six people in this room still alive. Focus on that. Great Story, you're hard work young." She turned to me. "How are you putting up with it?"

Ignoring her blatant emotional manipulation to be relatable, I avoided looking at her. "I'm not."

"Young? Who are you?" The Doctor scolded.

I snapped the sonic closed. "Enough!"

The Doctor and River shut up, startling into quiet.

"Doctor. This is between me and the person I do not know. Professor Song, practice what you preach. You are just as emotional as he is." River opened her mouth. "Don't deny it. You have been a mess ever since he didn't know your name."

River's eyes widened. "Doctor, one day I'm going to be someone that you and Terra trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry."

River stepped forward. She whispered in his ear. I tilted my head, putting on a face of annoyed confusion. Like, wow, just gonna blatantly ignore my demand to work. Yep. That's very River.

The Doctor gawked.

River moved back. "Are we good?"

The Doctor was shell shocked.

"Hey Doc Brown!" I called out. The Doctor startled out of it. "You two good?"

The Doctor forced his mouth shut, swallowing. He stared at River. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good. Back to work." I held my sonic to the sky. "So I think I've got-"

"Terra. Are we good?" River asked.

"For now, I will pretend I like you." That was all I could give her. Even that took every part of my being. River made a displeased face. "What, that's not enough for you?"

"I'm sorry. But please, let me explain-"

I rolled my eyes. Gah! Already breaking my word. What a shame. "Doctor. What is breaking our sonics? It's not a deadlock, we would've noticed by now."

The Doctor kept gawking at River.

Annoyed, I stomped over. As he stared at the archeologist, I pulled his ear. He yelled in pain.

"What did you do that for?!"

"Sonic. Broken. Fix!"

"Alright! Alright." He held out his sonic. I took back River's, tossing it over to her. The Doctor looked at our sonics. "Our sonics...very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough."

"Except deadlocks and wood." I nodded. "And Donna."

"Right." The Doctor clicked the sonic upright. He looked at his readings. "Her hairdryer has quite a wallop. I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed? Come on! What's new? What's different?"

"It got dark." I pointed up at the moon with my sonic.

The Doctor frowned. "Terra. It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark."

I blinked. "Why does it have a moon?"

"Come again?"

"It's an automated planet, right? It has no real water. Why does it need a moon?" I asked. "Isn't that weird? Also why does the moon have a signal?"

The Doctor turned to Lux. "Moon rise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?"

"It's not real. It was built as part of the Library." Lux answered. "It's just a Doctor Moon."

"What's a Doctor Moon?" The Doctor asked.

"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet." Lux answered.

"It has a signal." I wiggled my sonic. "I've been trying to connect with it. It's being a bully."

"Nonono, not just that." The Doctor held his sonic to his ear. He raised it to the moon. "It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the Doctor Moon. Or, possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal is definitely coming from the Doctor Moon."

I held up my sonic. It buzzed- pink light glowing. "Like I said, the moon is being a bully!"

Two holograms appeared. One of Donna, one of the face from the Node.

Twilight!

"Terra!" River warned.

The Doctor looked down. "Donna!"

"Raspberry!" The other woman gasped.

"Twilight!" I shouted, remembering River's name for her.

Her eyes widened. Recognition. She remembered me for just a moment.

"Help me-" She shouted.

The image cut off.

"That was them. Those were your friends!" River went to my side. "Can you get them back? What was that?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength." The Doctor kept waving his sonic at the sky.

But I saw her.

Twilight Sparkle.

She looked like a bookworm, but with a lot more purple.

"Argh, I'm being blocked. Terra?"

"Nothing." I grumbled.

"Who was that?" The Doctor asked. "You said her name."

"River told me about her. My free spoiler." I replied. As it was technically true, he could just shut up about it. "Apparently she likes libraries. We only thought she was here-"

"Are you pretending not to know her too?" The Doctor asked.

"No, for Twilight it's genuine. With River, it's spite." I admitted. The Doctor's expression was irritating. He narrowed his eyes at me, frustrated and bothered. "Are you confused by it too?"

"Yes. What happened-"

Though I broke my word, I would keep it now. River needed an example of non-emotional behavior. If I had to be a role model, then I would step up. "-a century ago to make Twilight and Donna holograms protected by the moon bully? And wearing different clothes, because that wasn't what Donna was wearing earlier. Do you think the little girl is like that too?"

"I don't know." The Doctor huffed. 'Did River really break your heart?'

I ignored the twinge of pain in my chest. 'I don't know her.'

'Wow I can see it. You really are bad at lying about her.'

'Whatever.'

'What did she do to you? I've never seen you like this.'

'What? Wanna know so you can forgive her too?'

"Professor?" Anita spoke up.

River tried her sonic on the moon. It did nothing. "Just a moment."

"It's important. I have two shadows." Anita revealed.

I went for her helmet. Holding it, I tinted the visor. Everyone stiffened. They back away from Anita.

"Okay. Helmets on, everyone." River ordered. "Terra, I can-"

"I've got it." I raised it above Anita's head. "Let's see how merciful he is today, eh?"

"It didn't do Proper Dave any good." Anita told me.

"Just hold it together." I slotted the helmet in place.

"Holding it together." Anita snorted, sniffling. "I'm only crying. I'm about to die. It's not an overreaction."

River inhaled shapely. "Oh God, they've got inside."

"Nonono. Terra just tinted the visor." The Doctor assured River. "Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone."

"Do you think they can be fooled like that?" River asked.

I turned round to her, Behind her, hiding in the shadows, stood Dave. I bumped the Doctor's arm. They're a swarm of shadows, they aren't very bright. And if you were fooled, they'll be too."

River rolled her eyes at the joke.

The Doctor looked over. He spotted the spaceman. 'Terra, did you find an exit?'

'There's a display of shelves that lead to a path.'

'Good, good. The one to the right?'

'To the right.'

'Also good.'

"Can you still see in there?" Other Dave asked.

"Just about." Anita replied.

"Just, just, just stay back. Professor, a quick word, please." The Doctor knelt down. I joined him down there.

River watched us, confused. "What?"

"Down here." The Doctor nodded her down.

River knelt down. "What is it?"

"Look, you said there are six people still alive in this room." The Doctor reminded her.

"Yeah, so?"

"Why are there seven?" I asked.

River looked back. At her sharp move, the others looked too. They spotted the silent Proper Dave spacesuit.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" The swarm spoke.

"Run!" The Doctor and I shouted. I dashed to the safe path out. The others followed in a bee line.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" The swarm shouted as they chased us.

==MGCB==

Twilight put aside more of her work. Should she have made Doctor Moon tea? No, he said he had another appointment. No, he said Twilight was his second appointment. Probably Mrs Angelo.

Twilight looked out the window of her office. She hoped to spot Doctor Moon. Instead, she saw a woman all in black.

Twilight had work to finish. She ignored the woman. She wanted to work herself into exhaustion-

==MGCB==

-Twilight looked around at her cluttered desk. Piles of work forms and researched information, how had the time flown so fast? She yawned. Okay. She would clean up and then go to bed-

==MGCB==

Twilight sat in her bed. She blinked, thrown at the sharp change again.

No. Wait- it hadn't been sharp. She was just so exhausted, she forgot for a moment. After finishing with work, she drove home. Twilight made herself noodles for dinner. Once she showered and changed, she put herself in bed.

Yes. That's exactly how it happened.

Twilight smiled. She laid herself down, ready to go to sleep.

She heard a letter being dropped.

Twilight sat up. She went to pick it up. On opening it, she saw a clear message in black ink.

-Weird, Raspberry usually writes in color-

"The world is wrong." Twilight read aloud.

-"Twilight, you know you don't have to read it aloud all the time, right? That's how you got in that mess with my parents-"-

Twilight shook her head. Man, she was so tired.

"Meet me at the nearby playpark, two o'clock tomorrow." Twilight read off.

She considered it.

Twilight, ever so curious, decided to go.

==MGCB==

Children were playing nearby.

Twilight watched, tilting her head. The kids were loud and giggling, jumping and running around the playground. Twilight glanced around, looking for parents.

One parent stood around the park. A woman older than Twilight. Her dark red hair was cut into bangs, and left to hang behind her head.

The ginger walked over to Twilight's bench. "Who are you?" The woman asked.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." She introduced. "Was it your note?"

"No. Not your's either?"

Twilight shook her head.

Twilight blinked. Another woman appeared- had been there the whole time- in a long black dress, and a long black veil.

"You!" Twilight replied, gasping.

"I got your note last night." The ginger mother told the woman in black. "The world is wrong. What's that mean?"

"No, you didn't." The woman replied.

"I'm sorry, what?" The ginger mother asked.

"Neither of you got my notes last night. You got them a few seconds ago." The woman told them. "Having decided to come, you suddenly found yourselves arriving. That is how time progresses here, in the manner of a dream. You've suspected that before, haven't you, Donna Noble and Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

"Princess?" Twilight asked. "Who do you think you are?"

"Donna, we met before." The woman explained. "In the library. You were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness."

"Your voice. I recognize it." The ginger- Donna- realized.

"You do?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, she does. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista." The woman revealed.

Twilight had no idea who that was.

==MGCB==

We'd made it to a hallway. "Terra, Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot." The Doctor told us.

"Gonna have a chat with the swarm?" I asked him.

"You can't reason with it!" River told him.

The Doctor held up his hand. "Five minutes."

"Terra, stay with him!" River ordered.

"Don't order me. Other Dave. You do it." I grabbed the man, forcing him to stand in place. "Two minutes, then you make him leave. Alright? I don't care if you have to drag him by the hair. You get him out." Other Dave nodded.

"Doctor, listen to him."

"Got it! Now go!" The Doctor shouted.

River and I ran into the next room. The door slammed behind us.

==MGCB==

"Who are you?" Twilight asked. "Who is Miss Evangelista?"

"Did you know it meant 'bringer of good news'? Wow, I love her. She was so nice-"

Twilight winced, fighting off another headache.

"You've struggled the most out of them all." Evangelista told Twilight. "Doctor Moon visits you often."

"What?" Twilight asked. "No, no it's- It's not."

"He's had to rewrite your life five times." Evangelista noted. "You kept seeing the lie. He had to give you a life that kept you from this playground."

"What lie?" Donna asked.

"The children. Look at the children." Evangelisata instructed.

Twilight did. She saw children playing. Nothing abnormal about it. Just a couple of kids, playing on monkey bars and the swings-

-"How do you even take that many kids to the park?"

"Because, Sparkle of Twilight, it's either that or I build a jungle gym in the backyard. I am apparently banned from building playsets."

"What? Why?"

"I know, right? What six year old wouldn't love a flying pirate ship?"

"Oh I see now."

"See what?"

"Why do you wear that veil?" Donna asked. "If I had a face like yours, I wouldn't hide it."

"You remember my face, then?" Evangelista countered. Donna paused. Twilight recognized that face from the many times she found a conflicting memory. "The memories are all still there. The library, the Doctor, Terra, me. You've just been programmed not to look."

"Terra." Twilight breathed out. The memories came, and stuck around. "Terra she- I know her."

"You did?" Donna asked. "How?"

"She's- well she's my friend." Twilight explained. "She sent me to the library. Said I needed to do something."

"Do what?" Donna asked.

Twilight tried to recall.

"It's a top secret mission, Twilight. You can't tell anyone."

"I understand."

"No, I mean it. You wanted to help, you gotta understand. You can't. Tell. Anyone."

"Okay. What's my mission?"

Terra handed her a manilla folder, covered in blue and yellow glitter and squishy stickers. The stickers spelt out 'Operation Upload'.

"There's a place called the Library. Trust me, Sparkle of Twilight, you'll love the Library!"

"I can't remember." Twilight replied. While it bothered her very deeply to lie to a person she barely knew, it would hurt worse for Raspberry to be upset. Raspberry put so much trust in Twilight. She wouldn't let her friend down, not in this, not again. "Terra did tell me about Miss Evangelista."

"-to my origami swan. River still insists it's a unicorn, but whatever. You're probably gonna meet her."

"Oh, that's good. If she's nice-"

"To me, she's been dead twenty years." Terra stated. Twilight stared, shocked. Terra only smiled. "Don't worry. She's very happy as a ghost. I visit her sometimes for chats."

"She said you died." Twilight backed up from the veiled woman.

"In a way, we're all dead here, Twilight." Evangelista replied. "We are the dead of the library."

"Well, what about the children? The children aren't dead." Donna argued. "My children aren't dead."

"Your children were never alive." Evangelista countered.

Twilight looked back at the playground. The couple of kids running and playing, laughing with each other.

"Don't you say that. Don't you dare say that about my children!" Donna shouted.

"Look at your children. Look at all of them, really look." Evangelista asked.

As Twilight looked, she could see it. She could remember it all at once.

-Doctor Moon assigned her as a teacher. Her whole class, just the same two children on repeat-

-a librarian. The same two kids coming in for reading time, doubled and tripled. Twilight noticed-

-Mayor of town. At a campaign event, Twilight worked with orphans. The same orphans-

-last week. Twilight worked as a lawyer. Her longest one yet. She took a walk in the park. That's when she saw them.

"They're not real. Do you see it now?" Evangelista asked them both. "They're all the same. All the children of this world, the same boy and the same girl, over and over again."

"Stop it. Just stop it. Why are you doing this?" Donna snapped. "Why are you wearing that veil?"

Donna reached up, snatching it off. She and Twilight gasped at the figure before them. Evangelista had been very pretty before. Now her face was twisted and malformed, like a glitched photograph.

==MGCB==

I brought us into the new space. A large, empty room. Anita stood in the light. Lux found a vaguely lit chair, falling into it to catch his breath.

I kept scanning the area, trying to find another shadow. Any form of life would be detected. Any room with books was a threat. The Doctor was back there, learning what I had already figured.

It made sense for them to come from the books.

'Any planet with meat' the Doctor said.

The meat likes to read. The meat brings books wherever they go. Or, they bring trees to help them breathe.

As I scanned, River did too. Both of us were trying to find another Vashta Nerada. The sun had set during our previous escape. I paused searching for life, trying to get more out of the night lights here. The shadows did their best to darken it. Even still, I should be able to get the lights up another 10%.

"Are we going to talk now?" River asked.

I ignored her. The lights slowly brightened.

"I'm assuming that's the reason you left the Doctor behind, and stuck by me." River stated. "To keep him from listening to us."

I checked my sonic. Sure enough, the shadows were fighting extra hard. The lights only went up 5%. I tried again.

"And you believe these two wouldn't say anything about whatever you're about to say." River added. "See, I do know you. I really, really know you, and how you operate-"

"Funny, did you know back then? Because you still did it." I stated. The lights went up another 4%. That's all I would be getting out of them.

"I'm sorry about that." River replied.

"What are you sorry for?" I closed my sonic, turning my attention to her. For the first time today, I let her see it. I let all my real feelings show on my face. The hurt, the rage, the agony. All of it on clear display for her. "Go ahead. Tell me. Explain to me what you think you did wrong."

"I disobeyed." River admitted. "I broke the Plan. I get that you're always bothered when I-"

I laughed. A dark, sinister thing that had Lux and Anita tensing in fear. River was only confused.

"I don't-"

"You used to be better at lying." I told her. "Come on. You said it earlier, to them. Just say it again. Tell me what you did."

River grimaced. She sighed, shaking her head. Her dirty blonde hair shook in the ponytail. "I'm sorry-"

"Say. The words."

"I broke your heart."

"By doing what?"

"By- by ignoring-"

"~I had a friend, once.~" I began, slipping into a familiar language. River quieted. She knew this language very well. I uploaded it to SASHA's brain, and River remembered it. "~She was an AI. See, when she died, she left an echo. Like with Miss Evangelista, and Proper Dave. Her voice, the same words over and over again. She just kept going for days. They told me to turn off the power, to cut her off. I was mad too. Nobody understood why I was letting a broken record play talk about pennies for two weeks.~"

River breathed in sharply. "~No cents...you made a joke about no cents-~"

"~I think of the two of us, I'm the only one allowed to make jokes about SASHA dying.~" I told her.

River's shoulder drooped, her sonic lowering to aim at the ground. I knelt down on the floor, trying to sonic the floor. The lift to the planet's core was right here. It would need to be loosened for our journey down there.

"~Cause that's what she did. She died. Died, alone and in pain.~"

"~I always regretted it.~"

"~Did you?~" I asked. "~What did you regret? Disobeying my orders, or something more?~"

"~I don't know what you want me to say here. I'm sorry. I've always been sorry about it.~" River explained. "~You and me, you've never said anything about it. You said you forgave me.~"

"~Good for my future self. How does that change the hundred years I spent alone?~" I asked her. "~You were the first person that ever got it.~"

River Song, Melody Pond, whichever one you wanted to be. You had my powers. You went to the same place as me. You lived my life, you understood me in ways nobody else has since.

Even Darcy doesn't understand. Sure, she can get most of it, but she never went through it alone. You did. You got to discover your powers, how they worked, what types of places you wanted to see, what kind of person you become in these other worlds.

You discovered all of it alone. Nobody to teach you. Nobody else like you. It was only you.

You understood. More than Pops or Darcy ever will.

And even knowing all that...you still left.

"~You still left.~" I stated. "~You left me, and all I had to show for it was a voice box that kept talking about pennies and an address that didn't exist.~"

"~You think I meant to leave?~" River asked. "~Did I want to go like that? I swear I didn't. I wanted to stay with you. I tried to find you, after. Terra, please believe me I tried! I searched for weeks, until I nearly turned as obsessive as my mother!~"

That surprised me, I'll admit. Amy was quite obsessed over the Doctor, with the multiple dolls and drawings and cartoons and making Rory dress up as him. River nearly reached that? Did she tell her parents about me, make little dolls to help? Author, that's embarrassing for us both.

"~It was like you didn't exist!~" River said, her voice soft. "~So I did something I'd never done before, I gave up. I convinced myself you didn't exist, and moved on.~" She smiled, in that heartbreaking way that made me give an empathetic smile back. "~Then I found you and the Doctor, two people I had been waiting my whole life for. I felt stupid, you had been all over my mother's walls for my entire childhood. How could I not have seen the obvious when it was right in front of me?~"

I smiled, almost laughing. "~That always was your weakest point. Got it from your parents.~"

River seemed surprised for a second, then broke out into a smile. "~I did, yes.~" She lightly chuckled. "~You should know. When I want to find someone, I find them. It broke my heart when I stopped looking for you.~"

"~It broke mine too.~"

"~I know. I'm sorry that my decision left you alone.~" River admitted.

I took a breath in. For once, it didn't hurt.

"~After- after that. Did you stay in Tremorton for long?~" River asked.

"~Somebody killed my best friend. No, I didn't stay long.~" I scoffed. River's eyes widened. "~Oh come on. Somebody killed my best friend. They hurt you. You think I just let them go? No. I set his house on fire.~"

River's eyes widened. "~That's not your usual method of execution.~"

"~No. But he had a lot of oil, and a lot of glitching parts. A perfect opportunity fell in my lap.~" I grinned that sinister grin again. "~I wasn't gonna waste it. Nobody suspected a thing.~"

"~You did that for me?~" River asked.

I nodded. "~You wanted him gone. I made sure of it.~"

River walked up to me. I tensed on the ground, glaring up in hesitation and fear. River knelt down, pulling me in for a hug.

"~I'm so glad I know you, Morgan.~"

I hugged her back. "~I missed you, Melody. And I can't wait to meet River.~"

She squeezed me tighter.

The pain of the day came back to me. It tried to dig itself back in. My hearts beat and burst at it, unsure what to do next. Earlier, I would've welcomed any pain if it meant keeping River at a distance. Now...now I just wanted to greet an old friend. A friend that I had missed for a century. A friend I was lucky to have in the first place.

River promised a future together. That her and I would be at each other's side. She wouldn't be alone. Neither would I. Her parents still knew about me, and Melody grew up hearing about Terra. Melody grew up to see her friend. That's a future I need to work towards.

I would be there when my friend needed me.

The two of us separated. She wiped her cheeks. I did the same with my own face. River and I laughed at ourselves.

"What a special occasion." I giggled, still clearing away hot tears. "Wish I wore my tophat."

River laughed. "Top hat? You usually wear a beret."

"I do?" I tilted my head. "Huh. Me in a beret...I can see it. I want it."

River laughed. "You don't have it?"

"No. Why? Should I?"

"Yes. By now...well I bet you'll find it soon. You and him, always with the awful headgear."

What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?

It's a fez.

"Hey. Our hats are awesome." I replied. Getting to my feet, I held out my hand. "He'd agree with me."

River took my hand. I pulled her to her feet. "If he were here." River frowned, looking down at her sonic.

"He is." I reminded her. The Doctor may be different, but it was the same man. If anyone understood River's pain now, it was me. And if I understood her, I could help her. "He's right here."

No River I mean it.

He just snuck back in. He's hiding in the level above, panting as he catches his breath. He just played monkey bars with a ledge, he should get a break.

"You explained this to me once, years ago." River recalled. "I understand it now."

I tilted my head.

"It's the feeling of staring at a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them, and it's like they're not quite finished." River explained. "They're not done yet."

"This picture walks and talks." I told her. "And it's trying to talk to you."

"You came when I called, just like you always do." River shook her head. "You came but you were so mad at me. I couldn't tell why. You came, but not my Doctor." She shook her head, trying to fight back another wave of tears.

I reached over, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm not gonna apologize for being a bitch."

River laughed, crying again. "You never do." She wiped her cheek. "Neither would he. You and him, you both get on my nerves. Now my Doctor and Terra, I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And the two of you'd just swagger off back to your TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of their fingers. The Doctor and Terra in the TARDIS. Next stop, everywhere."

"It sounds beautiful." I nodded.

The scenes played in my head. The Eleventh Doctor, commanding the armies around the Pandorica to run away. The army at Demons Run, with Colonel Runaway. The Doctor opened the TARDIS with a click of his fingers. He and River flying around in the TARDIS, bickering about the blue-boringers. The Doctor yelling at River to make the TARDIS blue again. A billion million different moments between them. Because of them.

It would be centuries for me. Centuries away, centuries between. It wouldn't matter. So long as I got to spend those days with them. So I could see the complete picture- be a part of it's creation.

I can't wait to know River Song

River, myself, Twilight, and the other things to come.

"Spoilers." The Doctor scolded.

River whirled around to him. I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"I told you he was up there." I reminded her. "Doctor! I wanna open the TARDIS by snapping."

"Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers." The Doctor told us. It doesn't work like that."

River emboldened herself. "It does for the Doctor and Terra."

The Doctor walked down the stairway. He glared River down. "I am the Doctor."

"Yeah. Some day." River argued. "Be honest. How do you stand him?"

I held up my hands. "Nu-uh. You're not gonna drag me into your married couple fights."

The Doctor turned to me. "How are you?"

"River and I worked it out." I told him. "I did know her. She's an old friend."

The Doctor eyed River. "Yeah?"

"Yeah! Good friends. Good times." I cheered. "~Right, Melody? Good times in the past.~"

"It's still rude to exclude people from the conversation." River reminded me.

I scoffed, clicking my tongue. "~Bitch.~"

"Oi!" River whacked my shoulder. "Language."

"They can't understand it!" I whined, rubbing the part on my arm. The extra mesh of her suit, plus River's own strength made that punch really hurt.

The Doctor went to Anita. "How are you doing?"

"Other Dave?" I prompted.

"Not coming. Sorry." The Doctor answered. I nodded.

They would all be okay. Soon.

They would get to live in the data cloud. That's fucking awesome.

I'd wanna live in a data cloud, if CAL could handle my mind.

"Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?" Anita asked.

"I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference." The Doctor reasoned.

"It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again." Anita replied.

"Sorry for that." I walked up to the spacesuit. "Did you want anything? As the person that did this, I feel obligated to help."

"To old age would be nice." Anita replied. "Anything you can do?"

"I'm doing my best to get you there." There would be a setting for that in the data cloud, yes? If not, I would ask CAL to give Anita one.

"Doctor." The Doctor straightened up. "When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far. I could do with a word like that. What did she say? Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me."

The Doctor and I looked at each other.

"Safe." I said.

"Oh." The Doctor said.

"What?" Anita asked.

"Safe. You don't say saved. Nobody says saved." The Doctor explained. He squinted at me, thoughts racing. "You say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?"

"4023 saved people saved. No survivors." I stated.

"Terra, Doctor?" River asked.

"Who say saved?!" I countered. "Crazy people, that's who! Like us! But normies like Anita say 'safe'!"

"You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!" The Doctor explained.

River just stared. Just like her dad, it's adorable.

==MGCB==

"What happened to your face?" Donna asked.

"Transcription errors. Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself." Evangelista explained.

"Where are we? Why are the children all the same?" Donna asked.

Evangelista ignored the children. She kept her attention on Donna and Twilight. "The same pattern over and over. It saves an awful lot of space."

"Space?" Twilight asked.

"Cyberspace."

A chill went up Twilight's spine.

==MGCB==

The Doctor explained how the Vashta Nerada arrived on the Library.

"The books."

"They came from the- what?" The Doctor asked.

"Well they come from trees, don't they? But there aren't any trees. Except the books. So they came from the books."

"..."

"Wait, did you not know?"

"Anyway."

He pulled up an image of the planet on the nearby comm unit. A few button pushes showed a brightly lit planet. As the planet spun, all of a sudden the light exploded out

"See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge." The Doctor explained. "All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out."

"It tried to teleport four thousand twenty three people?" River asked.

"Tried? Did you read the report?" I asked her. "4023 saved. It pulled them all out at once. Only once they got there, the computer couldn't put them anywhere. The whole planet was infested with a million million carnivores. 4023 people, nowhere to go. Stuck up in the cloud."

"So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"

River smiled, realizing it. "It saved them."

The Doctor pulled out a marker. He drew a large circle on the table. "The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book."

"And as a computer with extra space, it did the only thing it could think of." I took the marker, drawing a smaller circle in the big planet circle. "It saved them-"

"-to the hard drive." The Doctor and I finished.

==MGCB==

"Your physical selves are stored in the Library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or the library requires." Evangelista explained.

"The library?" Donna paused. She glared, mad. "If my face ends up on one of those statues-"

"Status? The Nodes?" Twilight asked. "Wait- those were real faces?!"

"You remember the statues?" Evangelista prompted them.

Twilight did. She asked one for information about the biography section. They directed her towards it. Not long after, the shadows attacked and Twilight couldn't remember any more. "So this isn't my real body? Neither of these are our real bodies?"

"What?! But I've been dieting!"

"What you see around you, this entire world is nothing more than virtual reality." Evangelista explained.

"That explains us." Twilight nodded. "But what about you? I don't know what you looked like before, but you can't have looked this way before."

"I had no choice." Evangelista told her. "You both teleported. You're perfect reproductions. I was just a data ghost caught in the Wi-Fi and automatically uploaded."

"And it made you clever?" Donna asked.

"We're only strings of numbers in here. I think a decimal point may have shifted in my IQ. But my face has been the bigger advantage. I have the two qualities you require to see absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved." Evangelista stated.

"No." Twilight shook her head. She walked up to Evangelista, putting her hands on the woman's shoulder. "You were loved."

"Did you know it meant 'bringer of good news'?" Terra smiled, fondly. "Wow, I love her. She was so nice to my origami swan. River still insists it's a unicorn, but whatever. You're probably gonna meet her."

"Oh, that's good. If she's nice-"

"To me, she's been dead twenty years." Terra stated. Twilight stared, shocked. Terra only smiled. "Don't worry. She's very happy as a ghost. I visit her sometimes for chats."

"Yeah. Terra really liked you." Donna nodded. She could see it in flashes. Remembering one moment and instantly forgetting. "

Evangelista kept her face under her veil.

"You called this a virtual reality, and we were teleported in. Whose reality is it?" Twilight asked. Terra explained the rules of her people well enough. Twilight understood that even in a created reality, the source was always a specific person.

"Who are you again?" Donna asked.

"Me?" Twilight asked. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"She is Terra Stardust's best friend." Evangelista stated. Twilight blinked. "We have her biography."

"She has a biography?" Twilight gawked. "No- no. Later. I will research that later."

"You're her friend? Like River?" Donna asked Twilight.

River

Twilight remembered River too

"Is Terra here?" Twilight asked. "She came?"

"She is in the Library." Evangelista answered. "She and the Doctor are searching for the data core."

"Is that where we were teleported to?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. Though it is hard to see everything in the data core, even for me, but there is a word. Just one word. Cal."

Twilight heard a scream. She looked over at the playground. A small girl fell on the ground by the swings, holding her leg.

"Mummy, my knee!" The girl cried out.

Donna ran off to her daughter's side. "Oh! Oh, look at that knee. Oh, look at that silly old knee!"

Twilight ran to her side. "Is she okay?"

Donna nodded. "It's a scrape. Nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of love and a bandaid!"

"She's not real." The woman in black reminded them, pleading with them to understand. "They're fictions. I'm sorry, but now that you understand that, you won't be able to keep a hold. They are sustained only by your belief."

Donna glared at the stranger. "You don't know. You don't have children."

"Neither do you." Evangelista countered.

Twilight winced. Her head hurt. It really, really hurt. She could hardly think. What was she doing in the park again?

"Donna, for your own sake, let them go!" Evangelista pleaded. "Twilight, you understand. You've broken free before. Please! We need you!"

==MGCB==

An alarm went off. I leapt away from the table, looking up at the blaring lights.

Right on time.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Lux asked.

"We know too much." I told him. I narrowed my eyes at Lux, pretending to come to a realization. "Or...we told them too much."

"Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes."

==MGCB==

Twilight looked at her work desk.

The sky was red.

Twilight could remember the conversation. She could feel her memories being toyed with- somebody trying to rewrite them.

Please! We need you!

"Twilight, please, you're the only one that can do this."

"No. No, you can send your other friends."

"Who else would love the Library like you do?" Terra asked.

Twilight shook her head.

"Who else can solve my friendship problem?" Terra tried instead.

And it succeeded.

Twilight's eyes flashed.

She looked out at the red sky. Twilight thought about her friend. She needed to hold onto that.

"Come on, Raspberry." Twilight braced herself. "Get me out of here."

==MGCB==

"What's maximum erasure?" River asked.

"Probably when things get erased. By maximum." I snarked.

"Oh shut it!"

"No. No, it's all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal." Lux assured us.

"No it won't." I walked over to the logo on the floor. Doctor Moon would try to save CAL and the 4024 lives. If the autodestruct is enabled, then the computer can't contain them anymore. It's overheated."

"She's right." The Doctor smacked the console. "The console stopped responding."

"All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience."

"We need to stop this. We've got to save Cal." Lux insisted.

The Doctor "What is it? What is Cal?"

"Or who." I stated. Lux tensed. "It's a who, isn't it? We never did find out about that little girl."

Lux swallowed.

The Doctor walked up to him. "Tell me you didn't."

"We won't know until we see the main computer in the core." I reminded him.

"Bit of a problem with that. It's at the core." The Doctor waved his arms. "Do you see a lift anywhere?"

"Yes actually." I cheered.

River pointed her sonic at the logo on the floor. The lift opened. A large, glowing tunnel that clearly led only one direction. Down.

I frowned. "Let me have fun."

River smiled. "No." She stepped up to it. "Come on. Let's go. It's a gravity platform. We'll be fine."

The Doctor stood at her side. "I bet I like you."

River grinned. "Oh, you do."

"Author forbid." I leapt into the platform. "Get me out of here!"

River's laugh followed me all the way down.

==MGCB==

Twilight's workplace started to shiver and shake. Books toppled to the ground. Beakers and test tubes shattered.

None of it was real anyway.

Twilight held onto that belief.

==MGCB==

"Autodestruct in fifteen minutes."

I landed, making room for the others. I started running towards the control units. The Doctor ran behind me.

I ignored the giant glowing ball of fire above my head.

"The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it." The Doctor realized.

"Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer. We're running out of time." River reminded him.

"SO GET RUNNING!" I shouted back at them.

Inside, I could hear the echoes of Charlotte's voice. She called out to us.

"Help me. Please, help me."

"I've got you, sugar!" I went up to the many control panels.

"What's that?" Anita asked.

"Was that a child?" River asked me.

"Yes. It could only have been a child." I stepped away from them. "Okay. Computers. Computers run by a big laptop. These are too small and all they are doing is reporting on what they take and if they are connected-"

I pointed at a nearby cord. Then when I found it I traced along to an entrance.

"There!"

Lux stepped between it and me.

I glared at him. "This is not the day to get in front of me."

Lux shook his head.

"Terra, we need to wake up the computer. It's in sleep mode."

"It's not going to work. Doctor Moon would've tried that first." I told him, still glaring at Lux.

"Doctor, these readings-"

"I know. You'd think it was dreaming."

I pushed him aside. Lux struggled, but he moved in the end.

"Oh I bet she is."

The door opened. I stomped past Lux.

"Terra!" The Doctor called out.

I walked into the room.

A Node stood in the middle. A face standing out from it. A familiar, small face.

"You are dreaming." I said, walking up to Charlotte. "Aren't you? We saw it. You were in your living room, with your dad, dreaming about the Library, and every book inside. Oh you poor sweet summer child."

The others followed me.

"Help me. Please help me." Charlotte pleaded in robotic monotone. "Please help me. Please help me."

"Oh, my God." River gasped.

I walked closer to her. My hand reached up, holding her face.

"It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer." The shadows realized, using Anita's voice. Because during the fall I saw it. She only had one shadow. Her green lights were blinking. Now I'm in a rush.

"She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is Cal." Lux revealed.

"Cal is a child?!" The Doctor shouted. He rounded on Lux, furious and in a rage. "A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!"

"Because she's family!" Lux shouted back.

"CAL doesn't stand for computer automated library." I mused.

"Charlotte Abigail Lux." Lux confirmed. He slowly walked over to join my side. "My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a Doctor Moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."

"I should've given you my swan." I told Charlotte. "The patent wasn't what he was protecting. It was you. Oh, and you've been a brave girl."

"This is only a half life, of course." Lux stated. He reached up to hold the Node's shoulder. Charlotte blinked down at us- looking only more lost. "But it's for ever."

"Until the shadows." I stated.

"The shadows." The Node's eyes widened. "I have to. I have to save. Have to save."

"And she did." I smiled up at her. "This brave little girl saved 4023 people. She pulled them into her dream, kept them safe and sound. It's hurting her, and she still did it."

"Then why didn't she tell us?" The shadows asked.

I snorted. "If you had 4023 people in your head, could you keep your head on straight?"

"No wonder she's forgotten. It must be like being, well, us." The Doctor reasoned.

"So what do we do?" River asked.

"Autodestruct in ten minutes."

I looked back at the Doctor. He ignored me, rushing off back into the computer room. I chased after him.

"Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core." The Doctor explained. "The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer."

"But we can make it work because-"

"I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space." The Doctor stated.

"Back up- what are we doing?" I turned to him, confused. "That would kill you. No regeneration. You'd just be dead."

"Yeah, it's easy to criticize." The Doctor dismissed. He went about grabbing various cords and wires. He started twisting them together.

"It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate." River agreed.

"Oh now you sound like Terra." The Doctor replied. "She should know better."

"Excus- I should-" I turned around to River. "~Can you kill him? Please? The next one was smart, right?~"

"I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing." The Doctor assured us.

"Liar!" River and I told him.

"I'm right, this works. Shut up." River and I both gawked at him. "Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as you're here, shut up."

"Oh! I hate you sometimes." River stomped off.

"I know!" The Doctor called back.

"Mister Lux, Anita, with me. Terra, if he dies, I'll kill him!" River promised.

"Thanks!" I waved her off, cheery.

Lux did leave. Anita stayed behind. I started helping the Doctor with his suicide plan.

Knowing well and good who it would actually kill.

And now, I'm starting to feel bad.

Except wait. I sent Twilight here. I let her come. There was a mission for her- there wouldn't have been anything else bringing her here.

I hope I can help you, River Song.

"What about the Vashta Nerada?" The shadows asked, using Anita's voice still.

"These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away." The Doctor offered. He glared up at me. I held up the wires, and made a point to show myself using my sonic on them. "The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content."

"So you think they're just going to let us go?" The shadows asked.

"Best offer they're going to get." The Doctor bargained.

Anita "You're going to make 'em an offer?"

"Offer is a nice way of saying a command." I reasoned. I dropped the wires, glaring at the spacesuit. "Because we aren't giving them any other option."

"Why not?" The shadows asked.

"Because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all." The Doctor stated. He glared at the spacesuit, visibly fuming. "You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her."

I used my sonic on her helmet. The visor brightened. It revealed a clean skull.

"So you don't get a choice. You don't get an offer. You get one choice." I stepped forward. "Let these people go."

"How long have you known?" The shadows asked.

"We counted the shadows. You only have one now." The Doctor answered. "She's nearly gone. Be kind."

"These are our forests. We are not kind." The shadows replied.

"These are our friends. We are done being kind." I countered.

"We're giving you back your forests, but you are giving us them. You are letting them go." The Doctor ordered.

"These are our forests. They are our meat." The shadows ordered. They held out their arm.

Shadows began moving up on the ground.

I met their vacant stare.

"Don't play games with us. You just killed someone we liked. That is not a safe place to stand." The Doctor warned.

The shadows continued to move.

"I'm the Doctor, that's Terra, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look us up." The Doctor ordered.

The shadows paused.

I tilted my head at them. My sinister smile came back. Sure, the Doctor would get rid of these people in a day. There was nothing saying I couldn't come back later to get rid of the rest. We were condemning them to hell. A century starving, with only slim pickings to sustain them. Now we'd let them die out slowly.

To the Doctor, this probably seemed a mercy.

To me, it was. They would die easy and without pain.

That's not good enough.

I would come back, and make sure every last shadow was gone.

They would get no kindness from me.

They were going to kill my friend.

I don't let that go.

"You have one day." The shadows promised. The suit collapsed.

I tucked my sonic back into my dress.

River rushed back in. She gawked at her dead colleague. "Oh, Anita."

"She's been dead awhile. Don't know exactly." I walked over to River. She looked up at me. I looked her in the eyes.

"I told you to go!" The Doctor reminded us.

"Lux can manage without me, but you can't." River stated.

The Doctor turned.

I punched him.

He fell, outcold.

"Terra, when does he wake?" River prompted.

"Autodestruct in two minutes." I answered.

"Then we don't have long." River started messing with wires. I went to a console, typing away. "Terra."

"It's not me. It's gotta be you." I stated, ignoring her again.

"Morgan." I paused, waiting for her to talk. "If this becomes a double cross-"

"You dying is canon. You've already stated I have a future, so I won't die here."

"But I do."

"Yes."

"So he's always known. And you have too."

"I already lost you once. What's another death, right?"

"Morgan." River grabbed my shoulder.

"If you punch me-"

River pulled me in for a hug.

I returned it. Fighting back the urge to cry.

"We have seven minutes. And centuries left for hugs."

"Not for me." River sniffled. "So I'm allowed a hug."

"Yeah."

==MGCB==

"Are those my sister's handcuffs?"

"She always gets the best ones." River winked. "The Doctor never complained."

I made a face, turning away from them. Her, in a large chair hooked up to the computer. Him, unconscious and handcuffed to a metal pipe. "Oh Author no. No, I didn't need to hear that."

"You used to work sex crimes." River reminded me.

"And you are the poster child of why you should always wear protection."

"Are you saying handcuffs aren't protection?"

"Not the way you use them!"

"I recall a very long lecture from you once, about Gerald's Game and getting a safety lecture about proper handcuff play."

"Because- because that movie did it stupid!" I argued. "So shut up!"

River laughed. It became sad, as she looked up at the large countdown.

It made me sad too. "You two and countdowns. And handcuffs. I hate knowing this much about your dating life."

River placed a metal hat on her head. I walked over, connecting the wires to the main computer.

"Auto Destruct in two minutes."

I kept working.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job." The Doctor scolded.

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?"

"If you start that argument, I am walking out of here." I warned her.

"Not exactly a down side." River winked at me. I sneered.

"Why am I handcuffed?" The Doctor asked. "Terra, did you give her your handcuffs?"

"Why?!"

"Then why does she have handcuffs?"

"Spoilers." River replied.

Disgusting, vile, flirts.

"This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is going to kill you!" The Doctor warned. "Terra, come on! Show some sense!"

"I have. She remembers us, we don't remember her. We have a future. She doesn't. There's nothing I can do." I said.

"I'd have a chance, she doesn't have any." The Doctor argued with me.

"Neither of you wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I!" River argued.

The Doctor wilted. 'Terra PLEASE!'

'Sorry, Doc, but she beat me to it.' I told him. 'I tried, but River was faster. I think I taught her too well.'

"I'm timing it for the end of the countdown." River explained. "There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download."

"River, please. No." The Doctor shook his head.

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here." River mused. "I can't even be mad."

"You really can't." I held up a wire for her.

She took it. "The last time I saw you, the real you. The proper you-"

"Ahem." I cleared my throat.

River looked at me, tears in her eyes. "The future you. You both turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit, and Terra wore a new dress. You hated it." She laughed. "You both took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you cried." River recalled. "You both cried. I've never seen you cry, Terra, not like that."

"Auto Destruct in one minute."

"You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time." River explained. "My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue. Terra's the gift giver. She loves it- and you love that she loves it." She sighed, looking up at the countdown. "There's nothing you can do."

"You can let me do this." The Doctor offered.

"If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you." River reminded him.

"Time can be rewritten." The Doctor argued.

River glared. "Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare!"

I remembered them again. The many, many days and times of River and the Doctor.

The Flesh and Stone two parter

The Pandorica two parter

Flirting about the black box

Flirting about flying the box and how the Doctor can tell the weather just from taking a breath

Flirting about marking the oldest cliff face in history

Flirting about how River hates his fez

Running around America for three months

Trusting the Doctor to catch her- in the pool that her mother told her about as a child

The pool in the library

The pond in the library

Melody Pond in the library-

I dropped the cords. "Sorry. S-sorry I-" Moffat, you son of a bitch.

"Terra, it's okay. It's okay." River reassured me. She reached a hand out. She squeezed my arm. "It's not over for you. You'll see me again- both of you will. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run."

"It won't be the same." I replied.

River squeezed my arm again.

"River, you know my name." The Doctor revealed.

Married on top of a pyramid

Your parents watching from the side

You, wearing an eyepatch

Him, with longer hair

Him in a metal suit of himself

"Auto Destruct in ten-"

"Take care of him for me?" River asked.

"Someone has to." I looked away from her.

"You whispered my name in my ear." The Doctor admitted.

"Nine, eight, seven-"

"There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could." The Doctor pleaded.

I stepped away, turning to face River Song.

Brave, amazing, wonderful River Song. Covered in wires and holding the final plug in her hands. She looked at the Doctor. Blue eyes watering, flowing freely onto her face.

My hearts broke with her.

River "Hush, now."

COMPUTER Four, three

River "Spoilers."

"Two, one

For the second time in my life, I watched Melody Pond die.

==MGCB==

The sky opened.

Twilight knew.

She was going home.

==MGCB==

She found herself on the Library floor, where she had been before. Biographies.

Twilight had one mission, and one mission left.

Find Raspberry.

==MGCB==

I walked up to the Doctor. Wordlessly, I let him out of the cuffs. He only stared at the remains of River, lost and afraid.

"The cuffs were mine." I tucked the cuffs away. The cuffs belonged to Darcy, but they were mine first. She always stole mine from my police jobs. "River likes to borrow them."

The Doctor jerked his hands from mine.

I braced myself. The Doctor wasn't one to make movements like that without anger to follow.

"You let her die." He accused me.

He was right to do so. "She asked." I answered. "I'm really bad at telling her no. She was always pushy, even as a kid. Why, I remember one time-"

"How did you know her?" The Doctor asked. "What was she like?"

I was fully aware that my words would be remembered. That as more and more of her life became known to the Doctor, he would compare it to the story I gave here and now. I wouldn't be allowed to be contradictory.

But I didn't want to think about it. I thought about the future already, for hours and hours.

How did I know her? I knew Melody Pond, the girl that ended up in my robot suit. A girl with powers like me. A girl that died, and apparently missed me ever since.

In Let's Kill Hitler, how will she react to my future self? Will I just tell her I was her old friend, or does she figure it out? How does she react once she knows? Can I even change anything, if she did decide?

She said we were friends in the future, that I let bygones be bygones. Did she? Had she held a grudge, did she forgive me?

How did her parents react to all of it?

Oh my Author, I would be there when her parents died.

I started crying. It was hard to stop, now. River's smile stayed in my brain. Melody's final words pounded around up there. "She-She's my-my f-friend." I fell to the floor, silently crying. "She- she was- is- River-"

"Alright, it's alright." The Doctor pulled me up to him. I kept sobbing, pressing my face against his coat. "It-"

"No!" I pushed myself off of him. There wasn't time for grief. I slapped my own face. We needed to find Donna, and then use the sonic to bring River life. "No we- no!" I ran back towards the gravity platform.

"Terra!"

==MGCB==

Upstairs, people began to come and go via the teleports. Donna watched them, a frown on her face.

We found her kicking a console. She tried to find her man, the husband from the virtual world. Instead she struggled with the tech and tried kicking it.

I made it to her first. It took one quick buzz from the sonic to get it working again. Donna went to work.

The Doctor came then. I kept a black face, forcing myself to shut down. There wasn't time to break down.

The Doctor still had her sonic.

River needed that.

I needed that.

I needed River to be okay.

But anytime I started to ask, my hearts broke all over again.

"Please be patient. Only three can teleport at a time. Do not state your intended destination until you arrive in your designated slot."

Donna frowned. She walked over to us, looking dejected.

"Any luck?" The Doctor asked.

Donna sighed. She put herself beside me, lowering her head to my shoulder. "There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day. I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?"

"Maybe, maybe not." I replied.

"I made up the perfect man." Donna said. "Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"

"Charlotte had to clone kids. I doubt she made the same version of a man over and over again." I told her. "I think you met the perfect man for you."

"You think so?" Donna asked.

I nodded. "You said he had a stutter. Maybe his full name wasn't Lee."

"Yeah." Donna smiled. "What about the two of you, are you alright?"

"We're always alright." The Doctor replied.

I only smiled.

"Is alright special Time Lord code for really not alright at all?" Donna wondered.

"Why're you asking?" I asked.

"Because I'm alright, too." Donna replied.

I reached my arm around her back, giving her a squeeze.

It reminded me of the last time I hugged River. Down in the planet core. Her last hug.

And centuries left for hugs.

"Come on." The Doctor suggested.

==MGCB==

He walked us back to the balcony from earlier.

"Do you have it?" The Doctor asked.

I swallowed. Under his eye, I pulled out River's blue diary. The book felt so heavy in my hand's.

"This is her diary." I admitted. "I broke Rule 69. Nobody touches it but River."

"We could take a peek at it." The Doctor told me. "You could see it, what happened to your friend."

I bit my lip. That's what I wanted. I wanted it so badly. To know River, to be her friend again, to be welcomed and trusted in her life again.

But I wanted it to be real. To be her friend, I would have to earn it.

"Give me her sonic." I stated.

The Doctor scrunched up his face. "Terra-"

"It was mine first. Give it." I repeated, stern.

The Doctor reached in his pocket.

"RASPBERRY!"

The three of us turned back. The loud shout startled us, more than us responding to the call.

"Wait, I know that voice." Donna said.

She does? But wait, that means-

A young woman stomped at the top of the stairs. College aged, blue haired, and dressed in a blue button up, a dark purple skirt and boots. She could only had been one person.

"Twilight?" I asked.

Her eyes had a bit of pink to them. She stormed down the stairs to me. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Okay?" I replied, calling back. I turned to Donna. Angry footsteps were coming from down the hall. "Hey did you ever see her-"

Twilight Sparkle appeared just to slap me in the face.

Yep. This is my best friend.

Only my best friend has the balls to slap me in the face, and not expect repercussions.

I turned back to see her. She was glaring at me- on edge to a snarl. Her purple eyes held a fire. Her cheeks were becoming red too.

And me, being a complete asshole in a cupcake wrapper, had only one thing to say to her. To Twilight, my future self's friend.

"So you enjoyed the Library?"

"You-" Twilight growled. "-what were you thinking?!"

"That you must enjoy libraries." I answered. "Did you? You stayed here so long."

Twilight yelled out in rage. She facepalmed with both hands. It made me smile. Slapped me, got furious with me, got annoyed with me? Oh she is ticking all of my best friend boxes.

River probably loved you too.

"So that's a yes?" I asked. Something welled up inside of me. The urge to cry at the thought of her name. It got crushed down hard and fast. Couldn't cry meeting a new person now, could I? "Good for you!"

"Do you have any idea what I have been through?!"

"No but I-"

"I was put into a virtual reality!" Twilight told me. "A whole fake reality not just once! Multiple times! Because you told me the future of what was gonna happen, so I kept remembering, and Doctor Moon kept rewriting my history to make it fit in that virtual world!"

I nodded. "Yes. Very bad. You are very brave-"

"I will hit you again!" Twilight snapped. "You and River! Where is she? I meant to hit her too! What was she even doing here? What, did you not trust me to do it on my own? You said I was the best one for the job. Were you- were-" Twilight stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes."

Twilight gave me a look. It unnerved me. I'd never seen that look, except on Darcy and River's faces. They widened though, in an expression of heartbreaking realization. "You were crying."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were." Twilight replied. "Are you okay? Is something wrong with-"

"Mission. You said mission." The Doctor pointed out.

Twilight straightened up. "Who are you?"

"That's the Doctor. What was your mission?" I asked her.

"That's the Doctor?" Twilight gawked at the Time Lord. "He looks-"

"Twilight. I am upset." I held out my arms. A curious idea formed in my head. "Give me a hug."

Twilight looked confused. Still, she walked up to me. "Are you sure-"

"Before I change my mind?"

Twilight hugged me.

In the hug, I checked her back skirt pocket.

Sure enough, there was something in there.

"AHA!" I leapt back from the hug. In my hand, a large translucent blue disk. If it had what I thought, Future Me is a genius. "Doctor! Sonic!"

The Doctor tossed River's sonic to me.

"Why would I give her a gift? All of my gifts come with the benefit of being useful!" I stated. "Even this diary helped her keep track of her life. That's always been a huge thing with her. So. Why give her a sonic screwdriver, when she's not used them or wanted them for as long as I've known her? Why would I send Twilight, when River was already here with gifts?"

"Why?" The Doctor asked. His eyes widened. "Oh, you don't think-"

"She said we had centuries together. Centuries to think about her death-"

"-and all we gave her was a screwdriver." I agreed. "And Twilight, with her added gift?"

I pushed the sonic open. It revealed a small, green lit neural relay.

Donna gasped.

"Oh you are good." The Doctor praised. "We are very good!"

"What have you done?" Twilight asked.

"SAVED HER!" I dashed away.

I would save you

No more cents for you and me.

This time, I would save you.

And your family too.

Nobody dies today.

Not a single Pond will die today.

==MGCB==

Back in the planet's core, Charlotte smiled at me.

Cackling, I pushed the sonic into a neural port. The disk was pushed into an open slot.

I looked up at the little girl. "Take care of them for me?"

Charlotte nodded.

==MGCB==

Back upstairs, I walked towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor waited with me.

Her diary was still in my arms.

He held up his hand. With a click of his fingers, the TARDIS door swung open.

That's all River. Showing the Doctor all the real ways to handle the TARDIS. I, at least, open the door out the way.

I walked up to him, my arms clasped over the book. My lips were starting to quiver. Soon, my eyes were blurry with tears.

The Doctor nodded, pretending that her understood my pain. Nobody could understand this pain. Nobody ever would-

Twilight knew River

Twilight just found out River died here.

"Twilight..." I was starting to cry. I walked right up to her, my eyes looking down. I could see my hair fall over my face, dark ginger and flat. "I need a hug." I whimpered.

The woman didn't move. She held her arms out, expression open and promising kindness. My eyes were watering as I walked up to her.

"I need to go to the Haven." I told them.

Twilight nodded.

It was that silent cry, where you just can't stop because the hurt is too big.

Twilight just held me, carefully rocking me. She didn't tighten her arms around my back, or move them. She kept them still with the skill of someone that's hugged me before. It made me cry harder.

==MGCB==

River looked at her clothes. Instead of her space suit, she wore white robes. They were soft, like silk.

Two people walked up to her. A man, and a little girl.

Charlotte. Doctor Moon.

"It's okay, you're safe. You'll always be safe here." Charlotte explained. "The Doctor and Terra fixed the data core. This is a good place now. But I was worried you might be lonely, so I brought you some friends. Aren't I a clever girl?"

"Aren't we all?" Came the unmistakable voice of Miss Evangelista.

River turned. Evangelista was there, dressed in white. The Daves and Anita came as well. All of them dressed in white. All of them smiling, and alive.

"Oh, for the storyline's sake." River laughed, shaking her head. "She just can't do it, can she? That girl. That maddening girl. She just can't give in."

The archeologist made a move towards her team, only to find a pair of arms wrapping around her back.

"Giving in is for QUITTERS!" A familiar voice scolded.

River gasped. She glared at the head beside her. Morgan Stardust grinned to show off her smug smile. Her black hair framed her face. "I am going to kill you."

"You know, you're really gung-ho for genocide, for a person that wants to kill Hitler."

"Stop comparing me to Hitler!"

"You turned blonde haired and blue eyed after meeting a man notorious for believing that made you a god." Terra snorted. "I'm never dropping that."

River rolled her eyes. She glared again at Terra. Terra backed away from the hug, slipping her hands into her jeans. "Did you kill yourself to get here, you idiot?"

"My therapist told me to stop doing that." Morgan said. "So I just made a copy of my mind." River stared. "You thought I would have sent you here for all of eternity without your family? Oh, dearie, you're delusional too. I don't know what he sees in you."

Morgan looped her arm around River. She dragged the archeologist towards a nearby house. River hadn't noticed it before. A large, beautiful mansion that looked far too big to house just the River and her team.

"I'm insane but not so insane I send Twilight Sparkle to a death Library. Pfft." Morgan scoffed, giggling. She dropped into a more serious face. "Not without making her a carrier pigeon."

River should have known. Morgan would never send Twilight to a place where she would die. The people were saved, whole and complete, and then Twilight would go home. Twilight would be very upset about being used as a carrier pigeon.

"She carried a disk that held multiple memory compilations of your family." Morgan revealed. River gawked. "All of that ohana. Every member of your family. They're all here."

"All of them?" River asked. "You got every single one of their brain imprints?"

Morgan nodded. "They volunteered."

River laughed. That was very much like her family. River wasn't one for crying, but her cheeks felt a bit wet.

"They all wanted you to have a good life." Morgan promised. "And they wanted it with you."

River pulled Morgan in for another hug. The Reality Traveler yelped, falling like a dead fish in River's arms.

"We should get going." Terra told her. River kept squeezing. "Your dad said he was gonna tell all of these guys about the time you stole a bus."

"Borrowed it, sweetheart." River laughed, tearful.

"Borrowing implies you were going to return it. You crashed it into a wall." Morgan argued.

"Details." River dismissed. She and Terra laughed. "Thank you, old friend."

Morgan hummed. "Anything for you, Melody."

==MGCB==

Charlotte and the kids closed their eyes. River volunteered to read them a bedtime story. All of them wanted to know about how River came to this place, to hear her side of it. Their mother only told them so much. Morgan stepped in, but River asked to be the one to share. Morgan agreed, gladly.

She closed her copy of her diary. "Everybody lives." River kissed the young children on the heads. "Sweet dreams, everyone."

"Oi! River, get down here!" Her mother's voice floated in from the hall. "The Doctor's telling them about Byzantium, and I can't shut him up!"

River laughed softly. Whatever was she going to do with that puppy of a man?

"Put down the sword, Darcy! Killing him won't stop it!"

Oh dear, she should hurry.

==MGCB==

AN: So...here it is! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I've been working hard on it. Sure, its got a lot of plotholes and the like, but I like the overall story. There's gonna be another chapter- a not-quite third part. It's more like an epilogue. It'll take place in the Haven with the Doctor and Terra having a very important conversation.

But like...I really really liked this. Please tell me what y'all thought of it- in the comments. I wanna know what parts you liked, and what parts I need to work on. Thank you all so much!

(Yes I meant to intentionally publish this on Doctor Who day...shhhhh)

Thanks to SerahSanguine for following and favoriting!