-Chapter 5-
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
FWOOSH!
Fwip!
FWOOSH!
Rainbow Dash dashed through the air, performing another one of her trademarked routines. Smirking at her own awesomeness, she hollered in triumph at finishing the last move in her routine, a double barrel roll and a somersault. Pumping one hoof into the air, she got ready to fly back home for a snack when she heard an odd groaning noise. A dry wheezing emanated from nowhere, and soon she found herself gaping in utter disbelief as a blue box materialized right in front of her... mid-air.
“Wha…?” she stuttered, trying to figure out what was going on. It was just floating there, slightly bobbing up and down, even spinning a little. It continued to make a wheezing thump beat, and she hesitantly flew over to it. Touching it with one hoof, she found it was solid. She flew around it a few times trying to take in all the detail, and she found a set of what looked like doors. Curiosity taking a hold of her and seeing nothing to lose, she knocked on it. Backing away from it, she waited a few seconds. Seeing that nothing was happening,Rainbow began to fly away only to hear a creaking noise from a door opening and she stopped in her tracks.
“Bwah!?” she heard someone say behind her. She froze, trying to put a hoof to where she recognized that voice. Turning around slowly, her eyes pupils dilated and her mouth dropped like an anchor.
Standing in the blue box’s doorway was herself.
“Hubajawhaaa??” was all Rainbow could say. She stared at her look-alike, who had the same look of confusion and disbelief as she did right now. Flicking her eyes behind her imposter, she could see her friends looking at her as well in surprise and their own levels of disbelief.
“Rainbow, that’s enough dawdling,” a voice from behind her doppelganger said. Said copy looked behind her, and back to her, raising a hoof as if to say something. Rainbow-Two then decided against it and trotted backwards, still looking at Rainbow, and the the door closed all on it’s own. The wheezing stopped for a split second, being replaced by a louder and more resonant thump. The box then flashed in and out of reality before fully disappearing, leaving a flabbergasted Rainbow Dash in it’s wake. Rainbow looked around to see if anypony else had seen what she had seen, and then continued to stare at where the blue box had appeared and disappeared.
“Whaaaaaaaaaaat just happened?”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed, somehow donning a fez and a broom. She burst out of the Library at top speed and left two ponies looking at the open door with wonder.
“Do you know how...?” the Doctor began to ask Twilight. Twilight just shook her head.
“I’ve learned not to question it. Pinkie will be Pinkie.”
The Doctor frowned at that. From the short time they’d known each other, he knew that Twilight was very intelligent and would base many things from fact and evidence. But to see her completely accept that Pinkie would just be Pinkie was… Well... unsettling, to say the least.
Pinkie had gone to tell the remaining three mares they needed to come meet up with them later that night. Fluttershy was already upstairs- admittedly still resting- and Spike was watching over her. Speaking of Spike, Twilight called up to him to see what he was up to.
“Zzzt… Huh? What?” was the response Twilight got. Twilight grumbled and shook her head.
“Spike! You were supposed to watch over Fluttershy, not fall asleep.” Twilight rolled her eyes at the lazy reptile.
“I was! I just… had a quick nap, is all,” explained Spike. He made his way down the stairs and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
“Uh-huh,” Twilight said, disbelief and annoyance clearly present in her tone. Spike nervously began to fiddle with his claws as the Doctor looked at the both of them bickering. He snickered, causing the both of them to look at him.
“What?” he asked innocently. Twilight rolled her eyes, and then remembered something. She magically unclasped her saddlebag, pulling out a crisp white envelope. The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
“And what might that be, Ms. Sparkle?” he asked, flicking his eyes to the letter in question.
“It’s a letter from Princess Celestia. I don’t know why but she wanted you to have it.” The Doctor’s eyes widened.
“Nonononono after the whole deal with Queen Elizabeth I am not getting myself entangled with royalty again!” He backed away from Twilight and the letter.
“But she insisted you have it! Here, take it,” said Twilight, and Twilight wouldn’t have it so she took matters into her own hooves and stuffed the letter into his face. The Doctor sputtered, grabbing the letter from off his face and looked at it in his hooves. He then looked at Twilight with a playful look of loathing and opened the door to the TARDIS.
“Fine, I’ll open it. Also, what time was it that you ponies were going to meet back here again?”
“Around midnight,” Twilight replied. The Doctor nodded, and stepped into the TARDIS.
“I’ll see you then!” He shouted from the console. He then flicked a switch, shutting the doors. THUMP! Went the TARDIS, and a mysterious wind picked up around Twilight and Spike as the TARDIS dematerialized. Soon, the wind stopped and the TARDIS was gone. Sighing, Twilight looked to the stairs.
“I guess we’ll have to take the long way ‘round,” muttered Twilight. She and Spike began walking up the stairs to wake Fluttershy.
Later that night…
“Twilight, Ah don’t understand why y’all have brought us here,” Applejack said, looking at Twilight expectantly for answers.
“Yes, yes, all in due time AJ,” Twilight thought aloud. “I just wanted you to meet this new pony I’ve come to know. He helped save Fluttershy-” She smiled at Fluttershy, “-And helped establish peace between ponies and aliens. He also fixed up the Library!”
“There were aliens?” Rainbow cried, throwing her hooves into the air. “How could I have missed out on that?”
“My, your Library looks brand new! It’s as if nothing ever happened! Darling, do tell how such a feat had been accomplished in so little time,” Rarity said. Twilight looked nervously at them.
“Well, that’s just it. I... I just don’t know,” Twilight said as she frowned. Still not wanting to think about it, she was glad to feel a slight breeze pick up in the Library.
“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack began, “What’s up with this here wind? All o’ yer windows are closed and it’s not a windy day.” The vworping of the TARDIS could be heard slowly gaining in strength.
“Wait a minute…” Dash breathed, widening her eyes at the recognition of that noise. She then went full on slack-jawed once again when the TARDIS began to materialize, fading in and out into existence. “But- but- but- wha?” was all Rainbow could say as the TARDIS began to become more solid and visible.
“Squee!” Pinkie could be heard as she smiled at the sight of the blue box. The light at the top still flashing as it finally thumped signifying it’s full rematerialization.
“T-Twilight? H-how did it re a-appear?” Fluttershy stuttered, hiding behind Pinkie Pie. The latter still smiling expectantly at the box. As if on cue, the door opened with a signature squeak and the Doctor stuck half of his body out, gripping the other door with a hoof.
“Elementary, my dear Fluttershy! This-” He then rubbed his hoof on the wood of the police box, “-is the TARDIS. How do you do, I’m the Doctor!” He proceeded to shake the hoof of everypony that was still staring dumbfounded at the impossible box.
Applejack was the first to recover, looking at the Doctor with those same wide eyes. She gulped and tipped her hat at the Doctor. “Howdy.” She then continued to stare at the box, occasionally flicking her eyes at the Doctor.
“I- I- I- wha?” Rarity blundered, raising a hoof and taking a half-step back from the box. She smiled nervously as the Doctor shook her hoof, but kept her eyes on the box as well.
“Hello again, Doctor,” Fluttershy said, twirling her pink mane and accepting a hug. The Doctor smiled at Fluttershy all the same, and Fluttershy smiled back. Rainbow was last to respond.
Rainbow Dash was doing a very good impersonation (or would it be im-pony-nation? of a fish, opening and closing her mouth while looking at the Doctor and the TARDIS. She stuck her hoof out at the TARDIS, apparently having lost the ability to talk. Rarity and Applejack both snapped out of it, realizing that Rainbow was taking this a bit hard.
“R-Rainbow? What’s wrong darling?” Rarity gently asked the poor mare, placing a hoof on Rainbow.
“Ya okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack joined, casting a worried look at Dash.
“...Huh?...” was all Dash could say, as she faced Rarity and Applejack with a distant look. Her eyes then rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the ground unconscious. Fluttershy gasped and rushed to aid her polychromatic friend.
“What are you all doing falling unconscious? We haven’t even gotten inside the TARDIS yet!” the Doctor huffed, clearly annoyed. Twilight glared at the Doctor causing him to flinch. “Alright, alright! Let’s get her in the TARDIS and we can figure it all out from there. How does that sound?” Twilight nodded, and the Doctor stepped back inside.
“Alright girls, this is where it gets complicated,” said Twilight ominously. She patiently waited for Applejack to hoist Rainbow onto her back, and they all entered the TARDIS.
“Well then, first thing first.” The Doctor rubbed his hooves together as he sat down on a small couch near the control panels. “Fluttershy, over there is the medkit-” he pointed a hoof to where a box with a red cross was present, “-and take your time to take it all in.” He finished with a smile.
Fluttershy gulped, looking around at the interior of the TARDIS, and quietly took the medkit, before quickly fussing over Rainbow Dash. Applejack’s mouth had dropped as she walked into the TARDIS. She quickly laid Rainbow off her back so Fluttershy could better take care of her, and she took her hat off putting it to just below her neck and held it there. Rarity’s eyes sparkled and yet she was also amazed at how much bigger it was on the inside.
“It’s… bigger on the inside.” Rarity whispered.
“Yepperoony!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around the whole room. The Doctor smiled at all of their reactions.
“Fantastic, ain’t it?” he said with a grin. With a click of his hooves, the doors to the TARDIS closed. Applejack recovered once more, and put her hat back onto her head.
“So, it’s bigger on the inside?” Applejack asked. The Doctor nodded in confirmation.
“And it can disappear and reappear?” She inquired once more, and the Doctor shrugged.
“To put it simply, yes, but that’s not all it can do,” he started. Rainbow began stirring and groaned as the Doctor was explaining. She woke up just in time to hear him say “...it also travels in time and space! After all, TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.”
“It… It can travel in time?” Rainbow Dash groaned, holding her head and taking in her surroundings as she returned to consciousness. The Doctor smiled at Rainbow and began to circle the console.
“Why yes, Rainbow. It can travel in time. Let me show you.” He stopped at a monitor and looked expectantly at Rainbow. “Where were you earlier this afternoon?”
“I- Hmm…” Rainbow put a hoof to her muzzle, trying to remember where she was. Her face contorting in remembrance, she told the Doctor, “I was doing my Super-Awesome-Incredibly-Amazing routine over the path to Applejack’s… And then I saw myself after this blue box of yours appeared in front of me during the middle of my routine! I don’t understand. How-?” Rainbow said, but stopped when she saw the raised eyebrows from her friends and the look the Doctor gave her.
“Looks like we must complete the paradox… Alright,” muttered the Doctor, confirming his suspicions. Nodding to himself, he thrust a switch down. “Yippee kayay!” He shouted as the TARDIS shook, thumping, wheezing and groaning. Forgetting she had wings, Rainbow clung for dear life onto the railings present beside the TARDIS doors. There were mixed reactions to the sudden shaking from the others as well. Rarity did the same as Rainbow, clinging to a railing. Fluttershy had jumped at the sudden movement and shut her eyes, only to open them and realize she was flying instinctively. Giving a sigh, she clung to the medkit she had more tightly. Applejack dropped to the floor, putting two hooves above her head to protect it, as well as to keep her hat on. Twilight just stood stock still grounding herself with a small adhesion spell. Pinkie bounced as if the shaking floor was a trampoline. The roundels pulsated a wide array of color, the time rotor moved up and down with each color ball pulsing it’s own color, and the discs in the ceiling rotated. Just as quickly as it started, the shaking and wheezing stopped. The Doctor could be seen checking the monitor, shaking his head and muttering to himself. “Nope, still not feeling it,” he said, referring to what he had said just after he flipped the switch at the start of the paragraph.
“Well then, here we are!” the Doctor said, and then they heard three knocks. The five mares (excluding Pinkie of course) looked at the Doctor with confusion. The Doctor just smiled, flipping a switch. “Turn around, Rainbow.”
Rainbow slowly turned to see a blue coated mare with a rainbow tail about to fly off. Knowing exactly who it was, there was only one thing she could say.
“Bwah!?”
The rainbow maned mare she was looking at slowly turned around, and she saw herself staring at, well, herself. The Rainbow she had met earlier during her routine was herself from the flipping future. She then heard her past self say “Hubajawhaaa??”, and she knew what came next.
“Rainbow, that’s enough dawdling,” said the Doctor. Rainbow raised a hoof in the same manner as what she saw in the past, now knowing what she was going to say. Just then, she got a feeling she shouldn’t do anything more, so she didn’t. She slowly backed away and the Doctor flipped a switch. The door closed once again.
“...Who was that? She looked exactly like Rainbow!” Applejack questioned, pointing a hoof at the door and turning her head at the Doctor. He didn’t respond, quickly flipping a lever and they were off once more. This time however, without the shaking.
“That was Rainbow’s past self, interacting with her future self,” he finally said, stopping his erratic movements around the TARDIS console. He turned to face the mare in question, but addressed everypony present. “As soon as she fainted upon seeing my box, I had my suspicions. She then confirmed them once she mentioned seeing herself.”
“I’m… sorry not all of us seem to understand,” said Rarity, who smiled sheepishly. Everypony except the Doctor, Pinkie and Twilight nodded in agreement. Twilight piped up to answer.
“Rainbow meeting her future self created a paradox. By meeting herself in the past, Rainbow essentially changed her own timeline. That Rainbow would then eventually go on to meet the Doctor, time travel to her own past, and meet herself in the first place.”
“Uhh, come again?” Rainbow asked not understanding a word Twilight had said.
“Wibbly wobbly timey wimey!” Pinkie cried, jumping for the door. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst, and then dodged as Pinkie flew at the doors of the TARDIS. Luckily for her, the Doctor opened the door just in time for her to tumble out into open space.
“Careful, Pinkie!” the Doctor shouted, smiling at her eagerness. Pinkie’s momentum had almost divided by half as she left the doors of the TARDIS and stopped altogether just a few feet away from the doors themselves. She then began making a swimming motion as she suddenly seemed to have donned some snorkeling gear. The Doctor walked up to the other door and opened it as well. Grabbing a rope and tying to himself railing, he himself jumped out of the TARDIS.
“Woo hoo hooo!” He shouted, laughing as he and Pinkie did a few twirls in their zero-G environment. The remaining five ponies crowded around the door, looking at the sight laid out before them. For those few ponies that were able to behold such an event, it was the birth of a star inside a nebula. They watched with awe as materials were being sucked into a spinning ball of mass. It kept sucking things in, growing in size and glowing brighter and brighter the more it took in. Just as though it couldn’t take any more, the glowing ball of mass gave off a wave of energy, expelling excess material not needed. What now lay before them, was a newborn star.
“That was… Oh my…” was all Rarity could say, having just viewed the inception of a celestial body. Even Celestia couldn’t say she had witnessed such an event, Rarity had thought. Oh, if she only knew. Twilight on the other hand was scribbling notes so fast her paper was beginning to smoke.
“Must. Record. Observations!” she muttered to herself, not fully letting herself enjoy the sight. Applejack had taken her hat off once again, the image of a star forge being burned into her memory. She did not want to forget such an amazing view.
“By the stars…” Applejack had said. Oh, the irony. Fluttershy was meekly smiling behind her mane, just wanting to enjoy being beside all of her friends as they all witnessed the nebula create more and more shiny stars to add to the night sky. Rainbow stared wide-eyed at the sight, slack jawed and limp as she subconsciously continued to flap her wings to get a better view.
“Whoa…: was all Rainbow could say.
Pinkie and the Doctor were now relaxing on a pair of beach chairs. Both had sunglasses on and had a tanning sheet to add to the effect.
“I’ll say Pinkie, I have a knack for this kind of stuff just as much as you do!”
“Don’t be silly, it’s only because the author wanted some humor to liven this fic.”
The Doctor merely nodded, before falling off his chair which mysteriously disappeared at the motion. Sputtering, he tried to comprehend what she had just said but could not find anything logical that could possibly connect to what she had said. Shaking his head, he told Pinkie to follow him back to the doors of the TARDIS. Leaning on the door posts of the TARDIS, he looked at them with a glint in his eye.
“Alright ladies, whaddya think?” he asked them, motioning his right foreleg in a sweeping motion at the hues of red and green that stretched out before them as far as the eye could see.
“It’s… absolutely wonderful,” whispered Rarity, stars twinkling in her eyes.
“This here’s a nice view, I'll tell ya that,” Applejack responded.
“It’s really kind of you to bring us here.” Fluttershy gave a small but meaningful and warm smile. Rainbow however, said nothing as she continued to gawk. Looking over from where he was leaning, he saw Twilight still writing notes. Coughing into his hoof and glaring at Twilight, the purple mare smiled sheepishly and stopped.
“If you’re all going to be travelling with me, I’m gonna need to set a few ground rules. So listen closely.” The six mares perked up, with Rainbow snapping out of her space daze, and they all turned their attention to the elephant in the room. Not an actual elephant in the TARDIS room though, just- you know what, never mind.
“Rule number one: No wandering off. We can’t have that. Seriously- don’t.” He waited for this to sink in and he saw the quick nods of everypony. He continued.
“Rule number two: No interfering with established events. Although time is not as fragile as you might believe, the smallest acts in the most obscure places can lead to cataclysmic and universe-ending consequences. You hear?” More nods were shown.
“C! Er, I mean 3: Please try and pick somewhere fun for us to travel to. If it’s a dusty old library or a showy glamorous fashion show, I don’t wanna go.” He could see the frowns that Rarity and Twilight wore but chose to ignore them.
“4, or D! No spreading word of what you have seen or heard to other ponies, alright? Unless you’re absolutely sure they’ve met me before or at least have met me and accompanied me on one of my adventures, you do not reveal anything pertaining your travels. Got it?” They all nodded once more. He turned his attention to Twilight, who was quickly trying to stuff her notes in her saddlebag before she was noticed. Sadly, this was not the case. “Twilight, that means no note taking or anything of the sort. Who knows what other ponies could do with that kind of information. And then what will happen when they question where you got this information, hm?” Twilight took a second to process this, and hung her head in defeat. Sighing, she ripped out the pages she had written notes on and burned them with a flourish of her horn. Nodding in approval, the Doctor moved forward
“Lastly, or very important, 5! Or E. Or the little ‘v’ you see beside a bracket you would see in the footnotes; there’s one thing you need to do. You must do this, for it may very well save your lives if need be.” The six mares went dead silent, the only sound being heard from the star forge surrounding them, and the listened in. “Trust me, I’m the Doctor.” He smiled and then pushed himself away from the TARDIS once again, whooping and shouting. Pinkie giggled and followed suit, allowing herself her own bit of fun. “The whole universe at your hooves! Have some fun!”
The remaining five of the Mane Six stood stock still, processing what it was they were told. What did he mean by-? They couldn’t finish the thought however as they were unceremoniously pushed out of the TARDIS. When they looked behind them to see who or what could’ve done that, they saw the doors of the TARDIS swinging shut before swinging wide open again. They then heard several beeps from the TARDIS, as if agreeing with the Doctor and trying to say “Stop standing and have some fun!” Fluttershy eeped, not being used to zero-G. She curled into a fetal position, before quickly realizing she was fine and released a sigh of anxiety. Rainbow began to do some twirls of her own, Rarity fussed about how bad the zero-G was for her mane, Twilight was grumbling about Rule number 4 but having fun nonetheless, and Applejack hollered, swimming after Pinkie and the Doctor. They were beginning to like this strange pony. And so, it was the end of the beginning.
And the beginning... of the end.