Searching for Six Ponies (And Discord if I Feel Like It)

by Coltsguy

Working Out Some Wrinkles

“No. Just no. I am not listening to this. This is not how this is going down.”

“What is he talking about?” asked the Doctor.

“He does not quite recognize you as the way you are,” Celestia explained. “To him, you are also supposed to be a human.”

“Ah, yes, he’s probably seen an alternate dimensional version of me. That would make sense.”

“So,” I began with an audible annoyance in my voice. “Which version of the Doctor are you? There is a great deal to choose from. Are you a native of Gallopfrey or Gallifrey? Which regeneration cycle are you on? Is this your native dimension or are you also from another dimension? Did you used to be human? Lastly, would you mind if I saw your TARDIS? I’ve always wanted to see one up close,” I finished with much less annoyance and much more fanboyish glee.

“My, he is quite knowledgeable. To answer your questions, I’m from the planet Gallifrey. I’m on my tenth regeneration cycle. I’m not native to this dimension. I used to be human. And I suppose you can see my TARDIS, but no touching!”

“Sweet, the David Tennant version. That’s my favorite Doctor. The eleventh doctor might be pretty cool, but you always prefer the version you see first in my opinion.”

“What!?! Eleventh? There is an eleventh Doctor?”

“Yeah, there is. I don’t know if telling you about him would mess up timelines or not since it’s a different dimension or not. That’s not really important now, though.”

“Yes, yes. That isn’t why we’re here. Or should I say that isn’t why you are here. It might be why I am here. Who really knows? Maybe you know.”

“I might know, but I don’t know if I really know what you want to know. You know?”

The Doctor chuckled a little.

“I also know I’d like to get up now.”

“Oh! Yes. Right.”

He backed up out of my face and that allowed me to get to my feet.

“We were getting worried about you Seth,” said Celestia. “It has been over three days since you went into the second rift.”

“Three days you say?”

“Yes. I assume that it was much longer for you?”

“The opposite was true this time. It seems that none of the dimensions I’ve been to are temporally aligned. The first one I went to had time move more quickly than here. The second one had time more slowly than here. None of them seem to align properly.”

“So how long were you there this time?”

I looked at my watch.

“A few hours, I think. I’m surprised at how little I’m looking at my watch lately. I used to do it a great deal more often.”

“Hmm, yes. I see,” said the Doctor.

“Oh I do not like the sound of that,” I said. “That sounds like a ‘don’t worry, you’ve got something, but I’ll fix it if you don’t panic’ kind of thing. Please don’t tell me I’ve contracted some space illness that fries my perception of time!”

“What? Noooo. You don’t have anything like that. I’ve barely even seen you and you definitely don’t have any of those symptoms anyway.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” I said. “I better get moving to the next rift then. I need to get them back as soon as I can.”

“But Seth,” Fluttershy started in an oddly strong voice, “you said you have been up for over a day now. You should get some rest.”

“Every second I’m here, it takes that much more time for me to bring them back. That temporal offset means that potentially for every hour I’m here, one month could be passing there. I’ve seen a time dilation room where one day on the outside meant an entire year passed on the inside. Could you imagine how they might feel if I took an entire year to save them? Could you imagine how spending a year away from everything you know would make you feel?”

I was going to continue asking her questions, but the look on her face made me stop. She could clearly understand what I was saying already without having me continue on. However, that look suddenly changed and I was unprepared for what was next.

“What about you, Seth? I know that they could be patient and wait for somepony to come to their rescue, but they can only be rescued by you. What would happen if you burned yourself out? If you did that, then at the very least it would take a lot longer for them to be rescued. I’m sure that they will understand why it took so long. You need to rest.”

Normally, I would have taken her advice. Unfortunately, I dug into my trench instead of listening to her.

“I can’t wait. I have to get them out of there. What if they’re stuck somewhere even less pleasant than the places that you two have been? For all I know, they could be stuck in Silent Hill or be on board the Ishimura or in Raccoon City.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad,” said Fluttershy.

“There are no actual raccoons in Raccoon City. All there are in Raccoon City are flesh-eating zombies.”

Upon saying that, all the color drained from Fluttershy’s face. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the zombie part. Too late for that, I guess.

"Sorry, but it illustrates my point. I'm being introduced to the multiverse face first and I don't know if they went somewhere like that or somewhere nice like, say, Pokemon or the like. Heh, that would be kind of funny. Fluttershy; master Pokemon trainer."

I heard a chuckle and turned to see it come from Celestia. I'm glad someone appreciated that. I turned back around, right into the Stare. As the familiar uncomfortable feeling came over me, I couldn't help but think as to why she had done a 180 straight from 'horror of zombies' to 'do this or else'.

"I believe Fluttershy is the correct party here," said Celestia. "Remember, if you focus on one thing and only one thing, a dozen different options can pass you by. A good rest and something to eat can only help you out in the future."

With Fluttershy in full stare mode, the only thing I could do was nod slightly to affirm my defeat. With that done, Fluttershy returned to normal and I felt the effects gradually disappear.

"Fine," I mumbled, "I'll get some rest. I did get interrupted while I was eating something in the last place anyway. All I managed was two bites before the Ganggreen Gang descended upon me."

I looked around past the ponies present and tried to see any place to take a rest. There were a few tents set up and I decided to try them out.

"Hey princesses, you haven't been ignoring your duties to stick around here have you?"

"We have left the daily routines of Canterlot to Prince Blueblood," said Celestia.

I gave her a look that pretty much left my impression of what I thought of that.

"I am aware of what he is like and I understand why you and many others think this way. However, he is a capable bureaucrat and has done this many times when I must be away from the castle on business. He may not leave a good impression with his personality. However, I trust him in performing my political duties in my absence. My sister and I can raise and lower the sun and moon from anywhere so that leaves us time to monitor your progress here."

"Alright, but no one tell Rarity this or she might have a conniption fit."

A few nods later and I started heading towards the tents. A quick thought came to mind as I turned back around.

"Oh hey, Doctor, do you think you can try and find a way to get more than just me into these rifts? I'd really like to have some help on these little trips after seeing where I've been the last two times."

"I'll see what I can do, but I don't think I can make it work without knowing exactly how you are able to do it."

"What do you mean by that? I've just been touching the arc of energy and it sends me there."

"Really? That's fascinating!"

"Why is that fascinating? Is it deadly or something?"

"Yes, yes it is! The energy coming from these rifts would kill any organic creature that came into contact with it unless they had some sort of suited protection. You, of course, don't have that at all. That is why it is fascinating!"

"It might just have to do with the fact of who made it. Discord and I kind of combined to create these rifts. They probably just don't affect the caster."

"Oh, if that's the reason that wouldn't be any fun at all now would it?"

"Well, you're the smart one here and I'm not. Sometimes I wish I was smarter, but I don't have the drive, the attention span, nor several other things to..."

"Things to what?"

I barely heard him over the sounds of the gears turning in my head. I realized something important during the start of my rant. Back home, I didn't learn very well as I got into high school. I think it was probably triggered by my parents divorce, but I would never say that to anybody. I honestly think it was just an excuse for me to get lazy. Since then, I went from a GPA of 3.5 to a GPA at the end of my schooling in college of 2.0. I just did not have the drive to learn anymore.

Things are different now. Thanks to Discord giving me a slap to the brain, I had the limited ability to remember things at will. If I combined that with interest in magic and the time to learn all these things, I could potentially figure out magic in a better way.

Let's face it, I only know a bit of magic. I had a few spells which basically meant I had the equivalent of Rarity in the spells department. Sure I had more magic than her, but no variety. If I wanted to be of any use, I needed to get more out of what I had. The problem I had was that I didn't have the time to do so.

"But the Doctor does," I finished out loud.

"What? I do what?"

"Doctor, I need a little help right now. Do you think I can see your TARDIS a little early?"

"And why did you want to see my TARDIS early for? Shouldn't you be getting some rest?"

"I want you to send me back in time a week," I stated bluntly.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Because I was thinking in linear terms. I don't have the time to do things right now, like learn new spells or learn how to wield my magic more efficiently. If I had a week to do so-"

"Then you might have a better handle on it," the Doctor interrupted. "I see where you're going with this."

"I know you don't like doing this, especially considering the fact that I might screw up timelines. However, I know full well the problems that I could have crossing my own timeline and would not do that. Also, I don't plan on going anywhere near any ponies that I've met during the time I was here before. Keep out of sight and don't affect the timeline. Don't try to stop Discord early, don't warn anyone about what's happening. I understand these things. I just need some time to rest up and learn some magic with minimal consequences. Will you help me, please Doctor?"

I looked at him as he mumbled to himself. I knew that he was considering it, but I wasn't sure if he would do it. After all, I only had basic understanding when it came to time theories and it's ilk. Still, I hoped that my speech would be enough to convince him.

"As a rule, I would say no, but this seems very important and you seem to know what you are doing. Well, that and I want to study this little coin a bit more."

I looked on as he somehow held up the coin that was around my neck. When the hell did get that from me? Better yet, how did he get that off of me without me noticing? There's no clasp on that. It has to come off from over my head. How would I not have seen that in my field of vision?

I quickly levitated the coin out of his grasp and back into my hand.

"Normally, I would let you study all you want. Normally. However, Discord gave me that coin with the warning not to let it out of my sight. This coin has saved me twice at least. I'm not exactly keeping count. I'd rather it not be out of my possession if at all possible."

"Oh come now, I don't think that having it away from you for awhile will be that bad."

"You're welcome to examine it while I'm around. The last time that was away from me being examined, Ponyville became Humanville."

"Uh, beggin yer pardon there sugarcube, but that there was yer own fault," interjected Applejack.

"Applejack, I didn't want him knowing that. It doesn't matter. I still don't want the coin away from my person or out of my sight."

"Oh, alright. You've twisted my leg long enough."

Twisted his leg?

"Let's head over to the TARDIS."

"Celestia, Luna, you're coming too."

"What?" asked Luna.

"Well, there isn't anyone else unless I somehow get Shining Armor to come along with me. You two are the most magically proficient beings around. Who better to teach me than you two?"

"We are needed to raise and lower the sun and moon," protested Luna.

"And you already will have for the past week. Duh," I finished with a little bad humor.

"Why should we train thou in the art of magic?"

"To help save the Elements of Harmony. Other than random acts of chaos, I can teleport, levitate, shield, use magic beams, and turn invisible. I know my magic recharges through acts of chaos, but I have no idea if it will give out on me at any point. I would rather be able to stop anyone from harming the girls without having to fight some epic battle. Plus, I ended up in Japan on the first try. I think I at least need to learn a translation spell. I don't think the TARDIS can help me across dimensions that way. If I can't understand anyone, how can I hope to have them help me or even help them if I need to?"

That last part seems to have given everyone some food for thought. I should have just led with that. The more I know, the more I can help. It's too bad I can't seem to articulate that point well enough out loud.

"But you can articulate it in your head," said Celestia. "Knowing that you will use the magic we teach you in order to help others is the greatest concern I have. I believe that you can do this. I will accompany you. What will you do, Luna?"

"We, I mean I, shall accompany you as well."

"Thank you both very much," I said with a grateful tone.

"It will not be as simple as you think it will, Seth," said Celestia. "In order to do what you ask of us in the time you propose will be difficult. Twilight Sparkle is a prodigy and she already knows the symbols required to read spells. Learning the symbols for spells requires the basic understanding that all unicorns learn over the course of several years. Years that we do not have. That does not even include the problem that you do not know the basic cursive Equestrian that most books are written in. We can teach you how to translate vocal languages, however we cannot teach translations of written languages. We may end up having to resort to drastic measures to make this work."

I did not like the sound of drastic measures. I don't think the term drastic measures forebodes anything good in the history of ever. Still, it was for the sake of the girls. Easy isn't something I expected for this in the first place. Sure there was that moment in the last place I was in, but that came crashing down rather quickly. I doubt that I was a match for Him and Mojo even with the Powerpuff Girls with me. I did not want to take the chance of them using my chaos magic against the Powerpuff Girls. I doubt I could live with knowing that I had helped hurt them. No, I needed to do this.

I put up a brave front and continued on.

"Well, why are we still standing here? We need to get moving. All of us. Let's go."

I turned back around and started walking again.

"The TARDIS is that way," said the Doctor while pointing off to my right.

"Right. I was headed that way. I was just going to take the long way. Avanti!"

I continued off to the sounds of laughter coming from several ponies. I had magic training to do. Sure, it sounds like it would be fun.

I was prepared for things to be everything other than fun.

Comments

[Lucien Chance]

AHH!

YOU TOOK MY IDEA AND THEN NEGLECTED TO TELL ME THAT YOU MADE IT A NEW STORY! GRR! GROWL!

[Coltsguy]

2160734 I said I was going to. I even tried to let you know I was doing it.

*looks through messages*

Oh wait... It's not there.

[Lucien Chance]

2162900
*Shakes head in disapproval*

[PotatoManato]

Eh, ain't a fan of the doc.

[Dusty Tome]

2162900 The 10th Doctor says "Allons-Y!" I'm not sure if it was a typo or on purpose, just thought i would speak it aloud sir.