A Storm of Chaos: A Doctor Whooves Adventure

by Shotoman

Oncoming

Part 18

Oncoming

The Doctor frowned as he led the two young mares out of the mansion and looked up at the sky. A small garrison of guard pegasi flew overhead and into the heart of the city. From their current position on the outskirts, all the Doctor and his friends could see was smoke billowing from various places in the distance. "That's no good," the Doctor muttered to himself. "No good at all."

"What is it, Doctor?" Derpy asked in concern. "What's going on?"

"I'll be able to explain better in the TARDIS. Come along you two, and make sure to keep a good firm grip on him, Riser."

Dawn Riser rolled her eyes in irritation. "There is no need to remind me of that, Doctor," she grumbled as the Master stirred in her field.

The three ponies dashed across the street where the blue barn was awaiting them, the Master being dragged along none-too-gently by Dawn Riser. As soon as he had the door open, the Doctor dashed to the console, took just a moment to put on the brainy specs, and pounded on the controls, causing several more monitors than usual to descend from the ceiling. He grumbled incomprehensibly as for the next few moments they showed nothing but static. Finally he turned his back to the console and delivered a hard buck to its side, causing all the monitors to spring to life. Whatever self satisfied boast he was about to say was lost at the images shown.

Canterlot was in chaos. Ponies were running every which way, terrified out of their minds. Soldiers were trying--in vain, for the moment--to keep some semblance of order. Fires were breaking out. And the cause of it all... "Changelings?" Derpy asked incredulously as her eyes widened. "Changelings again?"

"Yes, changelings again," the Doctor replied irritably. "Sent out by the Master who knows when, impersonating who knows who, and doing who knows what. Then the Master's influence is suddenly cut off, and they're disconnected from the hive mind. Of course, getting cut off so suddenly will cause them to panic blindly. Their very existence in the city causes the ponies to panic blindly, and here we go loo de loo."

The Doctor suddenly spun from his position at the console, purposefully strode to the Master, still dangling limply in the air, and delivered two hard smacks to his face, surprising both the mares he was with and jarring the Master awake. The other Time Charger blinked groggily, then grinned as he took in his situation. "Hello, Doctor. You know, I had a dream like this once, only there was more..."

"How many?" the Doctor asked, his glare brooking no lip.

The Master merely grinned with a quirked eyebrow. "I'm sorry. What?" He never was one to oblige.

"How many?" the Doctor repeated, the wrath of the Oncoming Storm beginning to enter his voice.

"Oh, you mean the changelings," the Master replied conversationally. "Oh, I'd say, upwards about three hundred. Replaced the heads of several noble houses, some other well-to-do business and land owners whose resources proved useful, but mostly vagrants and the like. I tell you I was shocked, shocked! at how much poverty actually runs rampart in this city. Right under your dear little Celestia's snout. To hear you talk, I'd have thought Equestria to be some nigh perfect utopia."

The Doctor was aware of Dawn Riser's figurative feathers ruffling at his side due to the Master's subtle dig against Celestia's ruling, and was equally aware of the small gasp Derpy made as the implications of 'replaced' ponies hit her--she always was a smart one. Still, he had to ask. Had to know. "And what happened to those you've 'replaced?'"

And the master gave him that grin. That ever so aggravating, condescending grin that seemed constant no matter the regeneration. "Oh, Doctor. What do you think?"

The Doctor glared at the other Time Charger for a moment even as Dawn Riser's voice caught in her throat, before turning back to his console. He had no further words for the Master at the moment. Derpy cast a concerned look at the brouhaha on the monitors before glancing back at the Doctor. "We should do something. We gotta stop this."

The reply was simple, but surprising. "No."

"No?"

The Doctor nodded. "No. What do you think, Riser? Could this on its own be the Master's endgame?"

Dawn Riser shook her head to clear her thoughts before answering. "I would not know. As I am sure you've already deduced, the last few months are nothing but a haze with small bouts of near lucidity. I would not know his plans even if he told them to me, which I highly doubt."

"You know, it is rude to talk about someone like they're not in the room..." the Master interrupted.

Ignoring him, the Doctor continued. "Yes, I am aware of that, but you are one of the personally selected students of the Princess, and that means, among other things, that you are clever. What does your not-inconsiderable brain tell you?"

Dawn Riser scrunched her face in concentration as she looked over the images on the screens. "No, I do not believe it could be. Horrible as it all is, the Guard is more than capable of routing a group of blind, panicking changelings, in numbers far greater than what the Master has rallied. True recovery after the fact would take some time, but heirs will ascend, businesses will reopen, and life will go on. This seems less the grand stroke of a master plan and more a petty child having a tantrum over losing a game."

"Still in the room." Thud! "Ow!"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "On its own this seem almost... anticlimactic. But what if we were to place it alongside everything else he's done since his arrival? What else has he been doing?"

Dawn Riser nodded in thought. "Well, the first thing he did was attempt to impersonate you."

"Yes, and your dear Little Celestia saw right through that act," the Master remarked with a grin. "Makes one wonder about the nature of your 'relationship' with her that she knows you that well."

The Doctor placed a calming hoof on Dawn Riser's shoulder as she bristled at the insinuation. "Ignore him. But good. Very good. Though he failed at his initial goal there, he did plant seeds of doubt, small though they were, for when I did inevitably come calling. What else?"

"Before I was... taken," Dawn Riser continued, "he had gained a bit of a reputation as a rabble rouser. He'd even gained a small following. Nothing too worrying, but a few disenfranchised ponies who thought that the time had come for a change."

"He made all of Canterlot scared," Derpy chimed in.

"Good. What else?"

"He turned me against my Princess and mentor," Dawn said, venom dripping from her voice.

"He launched an attack on the palace to try and get ponies scared of the Princess's power," Derpy said.

"Good, good. What else?"

An sudden recollection dawned in Riser's mind. "He took advantage of the greed of many of the noble houses, promised them power, then betrayed them."

"Hmmm..." A pattern was beginning to emerge. Distrust, greed, fear, paranoia, discontent, and now, blind panic. All these negative emotions, it was as if... "He's manipulating the field," the Doctor muttered with wide eyes.

"He's manipulating the what now?" Derpy asked.

"Equestria's magical field," the Doctor replied. "I know I've already explained it to you before."

Derpy cleared her throat and assumed a lecturing pose, eyes closed and sitting up straight. "Though its exact limits and nature are impossible for science to fully determine, magic is still a fundamental force in the universe. All planets have a magical field as surely as they have a gravitational field. Unicorn magic comes from their direct link to this field, but earth ponies, pegasus ponies, and all other creatures have their own unique ties to it as well. Equestria has an unusually potent one, which makes it kind of rare in the universe."

"Excellent, full marks," the Doctor praised even as Dawn Riser's jaw dropped slightly. "But there's more to Equestria's magical field than mere power. It's also somewhat empathic. The land itself will change in accordance to the overall mindset of its inhabitants."

"You are speaking of the Balance of Harmony," Dawn Riser realized.

"Yes! Just like the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. Well, y'know, historical inaccuracies notwithstanding. Princess Platinum in particular must roll in her grave every year it runs. She was a lovely pony, you know. Loved Clover the Clever like a sister and could easily have borne the Element of Generosity had she not predated it. It was her court that was..." Derpy smacked him upside the head. "But I'm rambling! Am I rambling? I'm rambling, aren't I? The point is that, due to Equestria's unique magical field, the state of the world itself is directly tied to you ponies, and griffons, and what have you."

Dawn Riser nodded. "Yes, that is one of the principle reasons the Princess preaches friendship, love, and tolerance. The greater the overall harmony of the land, the easier it is for the pegasi to control the weather, the more bountiful the crops are, and the further the dangerous creatures withdraw into the wild places such as the Everfree Forest."

"Which could in theory lead to a true, perfect utopia should perfect harmony ever be reached," interrupted the Doctor. "Only theoretical of course--all ponies are flawed in some degree or other, and Little Tia knows better than to push it. Well, there is that one event in 3025, but she can't really be held accountable for her actions when inflicted by Trekkunen Brain Worms, can she?"

"And disharmony leads to windigos," Derpy said, forestalling another tangent.

"Or worse," the Doctor replied. "The opposite theory is also true. Complete disharmony could in theory destroy the whole planet, though that, too, is purely theoretical. Even Discord himself couldn't... couldn't..." the Doctor's eyes widened as a thought came to him. He cast another glance a the monitors to be absolutely sure, and was met with confirmation. The streets were rife with confusion and chaos. "No. No. N, no. No no no. No."

The Master grinned. "You can practically see the light bulb turn on over his head."

The Doctor ignored his old enemy, just as he ignored the limp from his earlier fight, as he once again began the cacophonous process of piloting the TARDIS. The two mares present had to brace themselves to keep from falling over, but the moment passed after only a few seconds, and the Doctor was out the door almost before the vibrating stopped.

"Doctor? What is..." Derpy began as she followed, though her question died as she saw where they had landed. Standing before her, glistening in the almost inappropriately sunny weather, theatrically posed with a huge smile on his face, was the statue of Discord. And in the center of his chest, throbbing in and out of existence like a heartbeat, was a dull red glow.

The Master, still being dragged along by Dawn Riser cackled. "The roads may be different, but the destination is still the same! Everything goes fffft!"

Derpy strode over to the Doctor, who was muttering seeming nonsense under his breath. Not a good sign, that. "Doctor, there is something we can do to stop this? Right?"

"What?" the Doctor asked, snapped from his reverie. "Yes, yes. Of course there is. There always is. I just... don't know what."

Derpy looked back up at the statue again. No cracks had formed yet, though she heard an ominous chuckle that informed her the time wasn't long yet, and could form only one reply. "Aw, horseapples."

Comments

[Jdts7]

haven't actually read this yet but i couldn't help but notice the last sentence for the synopsis

"bring on the Drums"... Would these drums happen to have a 4 beat rhythm, and only be heard by one particular Time Lord?

and now i shall read....

[LittleSallyDigby]

Step one: Load that statue into the TARDIS.

Step two: Run. Preferably at least six months thataway.

[Puzzle Reader]

2271955 I was thinking exactly that.
...But can you imagine the CHAOS Discord could cause with access to all of time and space?!

[LittleSallyDigby]

2302633 Good point.
Amendment: Step zero: check whether removing the statue from Canterlot will be enough to stop Discord waking up. If not, go to plan B.

[Shotoman]

2302648

You all do realize that now I have to come up with some sort of wibbly wobbly reason why the Doctor can't do just that, don't you?

[LittleSallyDigby]

2305476
You could. ("He's already too charged up- moving him now won't keep him from breaking free" springs to mind. As does "are you kidding? The time stream is full of chaos- he'd be out of there in a second if we tried to travel with him", but that might need a second wibbly-wobbly reason to explain why the TARDIS's shielding wouldn't insulate him enough...)

Or you could have him do it.

(Or maybe even walk a razor's edge between the two, with the Doctor and whoever comes with him having to try and "run silent" emotionally to prevent any possible disharmony between them accidentally being the straw that broke the statue open. That sounds cool, actually.)

[Puzzle Reader]

2305476 Yay, we're contributing to your awesome story!
Maybe more pragmatic reasons could be that they don't have the strength to lift the statue, or the TARDIS herself doesn't want him in her? (Okay, that just sounded dirty.)

[DiscordDraconequus]

2305518 I like the second one. It sounds so very… Doctor-y.