Silence

by Taranasauruso_o

Chapter 3

[3]

“D-Ditzy?” the Doctor stammered, staring at the mailpony with disbelief.

“Doctor?” Ditzy asked.

The mail bag that hung around her shoulders slowly slid off of her body and to the floor. The Doctor just stood there, his eyes and mouth still open in shock.

“D-d-ditzy?” He asked again. He took a hesitant step in Ditzy’s direction. “B-but-”

Ditzy just stood there, her mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out. Finally, she managed to construct a sentence, “Is it really, you?” The Doctor took another step forward, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. He nodded, not sure of what to say.

“It’s really me.”

Ditzy took a step back, the tears now falling freely down her face. “N-no, no it can’t be,” Ditzy said, her voice beginning to rise. Ditzy took another step back, and then turned and ran out the door. The Doctor stood in the doorway, his face covered in tear streaks, his eyes red and puffy.

“Ditzy,” he whispered after the pony, but Ditzy had already taken to the sky.

“D-Doctor?” asked a confused Rarity. She walked up and stood next to him, following his gaze to outside the door.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, still sitting in the lounge.

“I... she... we,” the Doctor said, stumbling over his words. He turned to face Rarity, his
lower lip trembling. He couldn’t hold on any longer, and let the tide of emotion that he had been holding back flood out. He leaned on Rarity, his face on her shoulder, the tears wetting her coat.

“Shh, there there. It’s going to be all right,” Rarity, unsure of what to do, lifted up a hoof to pat the crying stallion on his back. “Whats wrong?”

In response, the Doctor just cried, his chest heaving as he let out heavy sobs. Rarity, still patting the Doctor’s back, looked towards Twilight. “Help me,” she mouthed silently.

“Uh, Doctor? Why don’t you come into the lounge and tell us about it.”

The Doctor sniffled, disengaging himself from Rarity’s embrace.

“Uh, s-sorry about that,” the Doctor said, motioning towards her coat.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself over it,” Rarity shrugged off the matter, instead placing her right hoof over his shoulder and leading him into the lounge. “Nothing a trip to the spa can’t clean off.” Rarity lead the Doctor towards a chair and gesturing for him to sit. He fell back into the seat and sighed, his eyes still red and puffy from crying.

“Now, what happened between you and Ditzy?” Rarity asked, laying on the couch next to the Doctor.

“I-I...” The Doctor’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. “Ditzy, Ditzy used to, to... travel with me.”

“From place to place?”

“No, through time and space,” the Doctor smiled slightly at his rhyming, then let his face fall. “She was my companion, and I hers. We spent years together, and we grew on each other. Although she never said it, I could tell she felt something more than just friendship for me. And, although I didn’t realize it, I felt the same way about her. I decided to take her somewhere, to tell her about my feelings. So I took her to the Medusa Cascade.”

“The Medusa Cascade?” Twilight cocked her head to the side slightly. “What’s that?”

“It’s a rift in time and space, always a second ahead from the rest of the universe. Because raw time energy flows through a crack in the dimensions, the most wonderful colours dance in the sky. It was one of the only places I hadn’t told her about. My little secret, I called it.” The Doctor wore a small smile on his face, a faraway look in his eyes. “But, when we arrived, the time crack began to grow larger, sending more time energy through, and snaring the TARDIS in its web. We were sucked inside the time vortex, trapped for over two years. In that time we were separated, and, although I knew how to escape, I couldn’t leave without Ditzy.”

“I spent the entirety of my time there looking for her. But, when I found her, it was too late. We had born witness to the whole of time itself, her and I. But, unlike me, Ditzy’s brain could not handle the sheer amount of knowledge that came with that information, and it sent her over the edge and into insanity. When I found her, she was babbling on about the time war, about Sontarins and other alien races. We escaped from the cascade, but at a heavy cost. The only way to save Ditzy from insanity was to suppress her memories of our time together. I left only the day we met, as a reminder to her that she still had a friend.”

“She lost her memories, but I lost something more. I lost my friend, my companion, the last pony that I could trust. I spent the next three years wandering the stars, alone. I never want to take that risk again, I don’t want to lose another friend.” By the time the Doctor had finished, he had begun to cry again, only softly, but still crying. He leaned over towards Rarity, and rested his head against her back. Rarity stiffened at the sudden touch, but relaxed and lowered her shoulders.

“So, is that why Ditzy’s eyes are slightly off? And why she speaks slightly differently to us?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I suppressed a lot of knowledge in her mind, and there were... side effects. The ‘wonky’ eyes and strange speech were some of the more serious ones, along with short term memory loss.” The Doctor stopped talking, and lay there in silence. “But... the effects aren't permanent, and soon, Ditzy will resurface again. I can suppress the memories for a short time, but, there’s nothing more I can d-do,” He finished his sentence with a sob, breaking down into crying once again.

“There there,” Rarity said, attempting to comfort the weeping stallion. She turned to Twilight and asked, “Twilight, would you be a dear and make us some tea?”

“Uh, yes, of course Rarity.” Twilight stood from where she had been laying and headed off towards the kitchen.

The Doctor lifted his head from Rarity’s back with a sigh “Well, no use crying while she’s still out there. Ditzy saw my face, she recognized me. That’s going to trigger a lot of memories, so we have little time to find her and fix this mess.” He stood up onto all fours and turned towards the hallway. “Come along Rarity.”

“But, what about my nightmares?” Rarity whined, not content with doing just anything that the Doctor demanded.

“Ah yes, those,” the Doctor paused for a moment, trying to choose the right words to say. “I think that we had better find Ditzy first, before she hurts herself. That knowledge is dangerous stuff.”

“Fine,” Rarity huffed, folding her two front hooves over each other and pouting her lip in frustration. “But we better go soon, I don’t want any scary monsters coming after me.”

“Monsters? What makes you think there’ll be monsters?” Twilight asked as she re-entered the room, a tray of drinks floating just in front of her.

“Oh, well. There’s the fact that this... this thing managed to turn my sister into a creepy monster with no eyes Twilight,” Rarity retorted, her bottom lip managing to poke out even further.

“Ah, sorry Rarity. I didn’t mean it like th-”

“No Twilight, I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.” Rarity gave Twilight an apologetic look.

“Hey, that’s okay Rarity. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“So,” the Doctor said, interrupting the two friends. “We going to go find Ditzy now?”

“Yes,” Twilight and Rarity replied in unison. The Doctor turned towards the door and headed outside. He marched forward until he was directly outside the house, before stopping. He turned to the two mares with a questioning look.

“So, any idea where she is?”

****

“Ditzy, wait!”

“Ugh! That’s the fifth time she’s run away. Doesn’t she ever get tired?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t really talked to her.” Rarity gave Twilight an unimpressed look, her eyes clearly shooting daggers. The Doctor slumped past the pair, his shoulders sagging in a soft sigh.

“Just face it,” he whispered, dejected. “We’ll never catch her.” Both Rarity’s and Twilight’s looks instantly changed to ones of guilt, suddenly realizing the kind of pain that their mutual friend was going through.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Twilight wandered up to the Doctor, placing a reassuring hoof on his low shoulders. “We’ll get her, eventually.”

“No, no we won’t. She’s made up her mind, and she ain’t gonna stop running ‘til whatever it is she’s running from is far behind. And that ‘thing’ happens to be me.” The Doctor straightened up, lifting himself up to his full height. “But, we’ve more important things to worry about, like your house. When did you get it? It seems awfully familiar.”

Rarity’s mind did a back flip at the sudden change of emotion. “Uh, I brought when I moved out of my parent’s house, about five years ago. Why?”

The Doctor smiled, “Oh, no reason, just a passing thought. Now, shall we go take a closer look at your boutique?” The Doctor swiveled on his hooves, not even waiting for an answer, and took off in the direction of Rarity's house.

"Uh," Twilight mumbled, turning to face Rarity. "What... just happened?"

Rarity stared in the direction of the retreating Doctor. "I'm... not sure."

The Doctor stopped, twirling around to face the others. "Well?" he asked, smiling. "Are you coming?"

“B-but what about Derp-” Rarity caught herself mid-word, stumbling over the pet-name. “Er, I mean Ditzy?! You can’t just leave her.” Rarity and Twilight skidded to a halt beside the Doctor, who seemed to be standing very still.

“Listen to me,” he breathed through clenched teeth, his eyes boring holes into Rarity’s mind. “I have crossed endless time and space, seen the seven moons of Alcorax, climbed to the summit of the famous Weatherbree mountain, fought with Windigoes, dined with DISCORD!” The Doctor paused for a moment, his face red with rage. “I think, that one mare, can wait for me!”

Rarity leaned back, her hair ruffled from the air that had rushed from the Doctor’s lungs. He whirled again, stalking off down the gravel path, kicking clumps of dirt upwards from beneath his hooves.

Rarity, eyes still open wide in fright, took a step backwards. “I... I-”

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, her face full of concern.

“I’m fine, my dear, just a little shocked, that’s all.” Rarity said, turning to face Twilight. “Should we follow him?”

“Probably.”

“Are we going to?”

“Do we have to?”

A loud crash resonated from behind the pair, followed by a loud “I’m fine, don’t worry!”

“Yes,” they both said in unison.

****

The Doctor and his companions stopped outside of the Carousel Boutique, both the Doctor and Twilight eyeing the building with caution. Rarity, on the other hand, waltzed straight passed them, and up to the front door. A small jangle, followed by a metallic flash, and she disappeared behind the door. A few moments passed, before she stuck her head back outside.

“Are you two coming?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Twilight looked the brightly lit boutique up and down.

“Of course it is, I’ve lived here for over three years, it’s not as if I have an alien living in my house, is it?”

The Doctor smiled sheepishly, before looking away. “Well,” he began, rubbing the back off his head with a hoof. “My house is technically inside yours, which means that I technically live inside your house. And… well.” He stopped, casting his eyes upwards.

“You’re not saying,” Rarity began, her eyes widening in shock. Her jaw dropped. The Doctor smiled his trademark smile again, still trying to avert his eyes from Rarity’s gaze.

“But… that means that… and you’re a-“ Rarity continued to stutter out her sentence, her words becoming less and less understandable.

Twilight looked back and forth between her two friends, a lost look clouding her expression. “What, what? He’s a what?” Twilight asked, still glancing back between the Doctor and Rarity.

“An… an… an-“

“An alien,” said the Doctor, moving to stand in front of the flustered Rarity.

Twilight’s reaction was much less dramatic than Rarity’s. “Oh.”

The Doctor seemed to stand still for a moment, a stunned look on his face. “What, that’s it? Just, ‘Oh’?”

Twilight smiled again. “Well, I thought that was fairly obvious.” She seemed to shrug the matter off, stepping forward.

“Obvious?!” The Doctor spun around, trying to keep up with Twilight, who was attempting to calm Rarity down. “How?”

“Well, you act differently, for one.” Twilight poked Rarity, noticing the way her friend’s expression did not change. “And you have that weird little metal thing, which is obviously far too advanced for us ponies.” She poked Rarity’s cheek again, watching as her open mouth jiggled slightly from the impact. Rarity didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, and you have two hearts.”

“Wait, how can you know about that?” The Doctor spun Twilight around, as if demanding an answer.

Twilight blushed slightly, averting her eyes from his gaze. “Well, you were new and… um.” Twilight’s sentence trailed off. “Look, I was just curious, okay?”

“But, not even some of the most advanced scanner ponies in the world can detect my second heart.”

“Yes, well, I’m not ‘most ponies’.” Twilight said, moving the Doctor aside with her hoof. “Now, can you help me out with Rarity? She seems to be frozen.”

“Oh, that’s just a normal reaction. After all, finding out that you know an alien can be big news.” The Doctor walked over to stand on the Right of Rarity. “Help me lift her inside, will you?”

****

A few long minutes later, and Twilight and the Doctor had managed to carry Rarity into her house and set her down on her couch. Twilight had since departed into the kitchen to make some herbal tea for Rarity, while the Doctor had busied himself by playing with his small metal device.

“What is that thing?” Twilight reappeared in the lounge doorway, a tray of drinks in tow.

The Doctor smiled, before holding up the object in the flat of his hoof. “This,” he began, lifting his head high. “Is a sonic screwdriver. One of the most advanced pieces of technology in the universe.”

“O-kay,” Twilight paused, placing the tray down gently. “But was does it do?”

“Well, what doesn’t it do? It does almost anything your mind can think of, within certain limitations, of course.”

“Limitations like what?” Twilight sat herself down next to the frozen Rarity, pulling one of the cups up with her magic.

“Like, it can’t turn into an elephant, for instance,” the Doctor huffed, and turned back to pressing buttons on his device.

Twilight rolled her eyes, before turning back to Rarity. “Now, open your mouth Rarity.” Rarity’s mouth stayed firmly clamped shut. “Rarity,” twilight warned, her voice becoming slightly more threatening. After a moment or two of silence, Rarity’s jaw creaked open a fraction. Twilight smiled, and tilted her friend’s head back. “Now, be careful,” she began, pouring some of the tea into Rarity’s mouth. “This is really h-”

Rarity screamed, letting loose and anguished howl as her face turned beet red. “Hot! Hot hot hot hot hot!” She leaped up from the couch and shot off into the kitchen, a streak of flame trailing in her wake. The hurried sounds of a tap turning, and then Rarity gulping in water filled the room. Twilight and the Doctor turned to look at each other. After a few seconds, the tap turned off, and a rather wet Rarity appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Apologies, my good friends. That was very un-ladylike of me.” She smiled at Twilight, then turned to the Doctor, suddenly frowning. “However, that was a large and unexpected piece of information you gave me, and that reaction was the least I could have done.” The Doctor opened his mouth to apologize, but was cut off by Rarity waving a hoof. “No, what’s done is done. Now, if you’d excuse me, I need to go freshen up,” she said, spinning on the spot. She stalked out of the room, and her loud hoofsteps could be heard echoing through the house as she ascended the steps.

“That went well.” The Doctor smiled, before leaping up from the couch. “Right, so now that Rarity is all feeling better, it’s time to get on and look at this house.”

“The house? What about the house?”

“Well, for starters, it’s too big.” The Doctor raised his hoof, and a beeping filled the room. A small green light emanated from the end of his screwdriver, filling the room with an eerie iridescent glow. “The roof, it’s too high. and there are too many rooms. How many people live here?” The Doctor paused, turning to Twilight.

“Uh, just Rarity and her sister, I think,” Twilight answered. “Why?”

“Two, it’s too big for two,” the Doctor said, turning around. “But why? Why is it?” The Doctor smacked himself in the face. “Ugh! Why can’t I see it? It’s right there in front of me, and yet it’s as if I’m blind.”

Twilight pulled the doctor from his pacing, grasping him by the shoulders “Doctor, see what?”

“Exactly,” he said, his eyes wide. “There is something staring me in the face, and I don’t know what.” He stopped, slowly moving towards the couch. “I need to... I need to,” he trailed off, glancing at the ceiling. His eyes went wide. “What is that?”

Twilight looked up towards the ceiling, then froze. “It looks like.” She paused, scratching her head. “Mold.”

The Doctor leaped up, glasses against the bridge of his nose. “Yes, but not the type of mold you Equestrian’s get. No, this mold is alien, this mold is sentient.” The Doctor took off his glasses, whilst simultaneously placing his screwdriver in the inside coat of his pocket.“I’m not sure what it is,” he said, turning to Twilight. A smile formed on his lips. “Let’s go find out.”

****

Light reflected from the tiles in the bathroom onto Rarity’s face as she dried out her hair. Using her magic, she picked up a towel and used it to scrub all of the water from the tap out from her coat and hair. She then wrapped it around her hair, leaving it to dry out anything that remained.

She still felt slightly light-headed, but that was excusable. After all, she had just been told she had an alien in her house. A good-looking alien in her house. But, she should not have reacted the way she did.

It was so... uncouth.

Rarity reached out with her mind, attempting to reach her magical grasp so she could unwind the towel around her hair, when she stopped. It was gone. It was as if her magical ability had disappeared. The room started to blur as darkness nipped at the edges of her eyes, threatening to take her over. She felt her body grow limp, and she fell sideways onto the floor, her neck limp.

****

Rarity awoke.

Around her, inky darkness swirled, its tendrils flickering and arcing towards her, but never quite reaching her. Nothing else filled the void, just the black, and Rarity. She looked down, and stifled a scream. Below her, flames leaped and licked at her hooves, filling the underneath with a dark red hue.

“What is this place?” she called out, looking up towards the darkness again. “Am I dreaming, is this a dream?” Her voice echoed back from the darkness, the only reply to her desperate calls. Something swirled, and then there was a blinding flash of orange. When Rarity recovered from the effects of the flash, she opened her eyes, and was greeted by a much larger eye, staring into her own.

“Hello.” A loud voice boomed out, husky, and yet clear and commanding. “I am the dream lord. And this.” He gestured around him. “Is your dream.”

Rarity screamed.

****

A/N Hey guys!

So, I was going through my drafts, and I noticed a half finished chapter, which looked strangely like this.

Sorry for taking so long to update, got caught up with stuff.

Anyway, comments, criticism, anything you see.

-Taranasaurus

Comments

[CaptainAwesome]

my god, this is one of the best Doctor Whooves stories ever!

[Taranasauruso_o]

420449
Thanks, I try!

[CaptainAwesome]

420612 You're welcome buddy. :D