The Doctor recalls his time in Equestria before his meeting of clara in Victorian London.
The whole reason why he gave up helping people go back to his time there. In Equestria he will face new dangers and new allies as he tries to save Gaia from ending up like Galifrey.
"Tell me Doctor why is it you changed? Why is it you stayed in the world of Equestria for so long?" The man known as the Traveler asked when the Doctor looked at him. "You could have left at any time once your TARDIS repaired herself. Why is it that you are now so...dark? So Isolated?”
"Well." the Doctor replied. "If you must know I lost who I was in a sense. I had allowed myself become something I’m not. I had become a man that I regret to call the Doctor." At this point the 11th Doctor's TARDIS let out a whirring sound as the center console continued to spin.
"Doctor none of what happened was your fault you know that right?" The traveler asked. "Right?!" The Doctor didn't give him a response. “Doctor don’t blame yourself for what happened. You weren't in your right mind at the time. Neither you nor that version of the Master could fix what had happened to him…
Earth: approx. 2013A.D.: London: England
…”River they were your parents...I’m sorry.” The Doctor said to River as she piloted the TARDIS.
”It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters!”
“What matters is this Doctor. Don’t travel alone.”
“Travel with me then.”
Riversong looked at him and gave a sad smile. “Whenever and wherever you want. But not all the time. One psychopath per TARDIS, don't you think? Okay. This book I've got to write. Melody Malone. I presume I send it to Amy to get it published?”
“Yes...yes.” replied the Doctor.
“I'll tell her to write an afterword. For you. Maybe you'll listen to her.”
Once the Doctor had dropped off Riversong he ran back to the picnic basket and read Amelia’s afterword note in the back of the book.
“Ok then that’s what I’ll do!” Yelled the Doctor happily. He ran back inside the TARDIS and started messing with the controls.
“Little Amelia here I come!” The Doctor pulled down the main switch and the TARDIS was set in motion. Out in the Graveyard all was silent as the fog started to roll and swirl around the tombstones the only sound being of that what the wind was making blowing through the trees. From the shadows stepped forth a cloaked young man, the fog and wind whipped around him as he approached the tombstone that read In Loving memory of Rory and Amy Williams. The teenager bent down and put the flowers down on the ground in front of the grave.
“My dearest apologies to the two of you I’m sure the Doctor is very sad about your deaths...there was nothing even I could do.” The teenager said as he lifted himself up from the ground. “I tried to save you so that the Doctor wouldn’t have to go through what he is about to.” Just then a middle aged man walked up but was careful not to touch the boy.
“You know that this had to happen. Otherwise the Doctor wouldn’t be the Doctor we know now.”
“I don’t like being lectured by my older counterpart.”
“I’m not here to lecture you. I’m here to pay my respects...”
As the TARDIS started to take off in the time vortex the Doctor looked around his now empty console room. “Well…”He said. “At least this time I don’t have some woman in her wedding dress popping out of nowhere.” Suddenly the TARDIS let out a sickening screeching sound as if someone had raked an ax blade down a piano wire, the whole room lurched sideways as the Doctor fell backwards. The Screeching sound continued as the TARDIS bounced all over the place as a gap in the Time Vortex seemed to be sucking the TARDIS up and out into the Void. Inside the TARDIS the lights were flickering and the center console started smoking as sparks flew everywhere. All the while the Doctor was trying his best to get back up, one of the monitors started flashing and it read: dimension temporal shift in progress.
“That’s not good!” Yelled the Doctor. “That’s very not good!”
Gaia: approx. 1004 C.E.: Equestria: Ponyville
“Wait a minute, where's my throne?!” Discord proclaimed as he looked around for his seat.
“I don't think you're quite there yet.” Replied Fluttershy as she patted him on the back.
“Yes, well, I suppose not.” Discord chuckled. Later that day after everyone had walked around the new castle...in Ponyville...the main six returned to their own homes. It was nearly sunset when Discord was looking out the window of Fluttershy’s cottage. The sky had changed from a pastel blue to a mixture of bright yellow and pink, as the sun had not started setting yet. Out in Ponyville the clouds were in their proper place and everything was in order.
“Oh Discord dinner is almost ready!” Fluttershy yelled from inside the kitchen. ”The oatmeal just needs a few more minutes. Do you mind setting the table?” Distracted Discord snapped his fingers and a pool table with square queue balls flashed into being. Angel from across the room chipped loudly to catch Discords attention.
“What do you want flea brain?” Asked Discord as he looked over to the bunny. Angel pointed at the table and Discord realized his mistake. “Oh wrong table.” He snapped his fingers again and the dining room table fixed itself accordingly.
“Thank you!” Fluttershy yelled once again from the kitchen as she turned the stove off. The two had sat down for oatmeal and cucumber sandwiches (handmade from scratch this time by Discord as an apology) and talked about the new castle that Twilightsparkle now had. Fluttershy forgave Discord for his actions, and Discord actually was genuine in his apology to Fluttershy. It was Sunset by this point when storm clouds suddenly started to appear above Canterlot City. Discord’s body did its wiggly shiver thing.
“Well that’s not good.” He said.
“What's not good?” replied Fluttershy.
“Those clouds in the distance...they're wrong…”
“What do you mean Discord?”
“What I mean is that those clouds aren't from Equestria. I can’t tell what's creating them. Maybe this is some sort of Tyrek’s doing.”
“Maybe you should go to Canterlot and find out?” Suggested Fluttershy as she flew over to him.
“Indeed I will Fluttershy. Stay indoors for now. I’ll be back as soon as I find out what's happening.” With that Discord teleported to Canterlot. The once beautiful sunset in Ponyville, had now begun to turn a sickly shade of orange-green as the spontaneous storm grew more violent.
Gaia: approx. 1004: Canterlot Royal Castle Town
The day had been a stressful one for Celestia. First they had to deal with the whole Tyrek escapade then they had to restore order in Canterlot. She then had to summon an emergency meeting with the Griffin and the Changeling Kingdom. Afterwards she had to try to calm the Diamond Dog society in the village near the entrance of the Canterlot Mines that were at the moment not listening to the “stupid tall pony who don’t know what’s up” not to mention that they were moving everything they had into the mines to prepare for the end of the world, today had been a very bad day for her. Just when she had the sun setting finally so that she could take a long nights rest she was very unhappy when out of nowhere an unscheduled storm started to take place.
“Oh my aching head. Will somepony please explain to me why it’s about to storm outside?” Just as she said this a bolt of lightning flashed and the thunder crashed shaking the still discorded mosaic windows. As soon as this happened Luna burst through the doors trotting as fast as she could.
“Sister!” Luna screamed.
“What is wrong Luna!?”
“Sister! This storm is causing mass hysteria amongst the masses! Already the whole of Canterlot is in pure chaos!” Celestia took a moment to take in what Luna said and decided it had to be Discords doing.
“Luna I want you to help me find Discord and…” Before she could finish her sentence Discord flashed into the room. “Discord! What is it that you have done!?” She yelled immediately upon his appearance.
“Dear Celestia you wound me. I may have screwed up earlier today but that doesn’t mean I would do THIS! No I’m here to ask you what is going on with this freakish weather here in Canterlot.” Discord defended as he snapped his fingers and poofed Luna into her throne as he did so he took the chance to poof into appearance his old throne in front of them to sit in. “So tell me girls?” He continued. “What’s going on with the world?” Celestia was almost baffled by his seriousness. She could not tell If he was about to break into laughter or perhaps snap his fingers and make everything go away and say that it was all a bad joke.
“Well Discord I thought this had to be your doing” Celestia replied.
“Oh just because this storm is bringing about all sorts of chaos its suddenly my fault?”
“No that’s not it. It’s because this storm feels unnatural”
“I have to agree with you on this one Celestia. I don’t like this storm at all either. It feels as though it has…other worldly qualities to it.” Just then there was a blinding flash and a booming sound. The boom blew out the windows, however the booming sound was different from the thunder. It was almost like as if someone broke the sound barrier, then faded in a sound, a sound that filled Luna with despair. For she recognized the sound, it was the sound of a wheezing piano wire but it was distorted, as if the sound itself was in pain. All three looked into the sky as a fireball flew through the sky and towards the castle. “Tia!” Discord yelled as he flashed over towards them and put up a multicolored purple barrier. The fireball crashed through the roof and sent chunks and boulders of the stone everywhere. When the resulting blast ended the three looked into the dust. Luna was trying frantically to see. Celestia was wondering why, and Discord had no Idea what to do.
“Discord…*cough*…you haven’t called me Tia since I was little.” Said Celestia not knowing what really to do at the moment accept check herself to make sure she was alright.
“It is Him! He is here!” Luna screamed.
“What are you saying? Who is here Luna?” Asked Celestia.
“The Doctor!” Luna cried out! Through the dust Luna could see the white light of the sign above the door flickering out. “And he is in need of help!”
The TARDIS was crossing through the void in what looked like a whirlpool of vortex energy as it was being sucked into the other universe. These whirlpools of time energy have always existed with Time lords of Gallifrey’s knowledge. They however only saw them as holes in the Vortex and tried to seal them up. This is how the Doctor fell through into Pete’s world, and how the world of Anti-matter was able to exists inside of a black hole. The only real problem was that travel between worlds was always meant to happen, by plugging up the “Tunnels” the Time lords actually made the walls of reality weaker. But that’s a different story for another time. The inside of the TARDIS at this point was on fire in most places and a horrible screaming sound was being emitted from the center console. The entire room sounded as if it was being shaken apart. The Doctor meanwhile was starting to change.
“Am I…regenerating!?” Yelled the Doctor as he looked at his hands as they started to morph. “AHHHH! UHG! GAHH! Oh this hurts more than, AHHH, the time I died from all of that radiation I absorbed for! AHHHHHHH!”
Just then the Doctor heard a loud booming sound and the TARDIS shook super violently as the windows blew out and the center console blacked out. Leaving the inside of the TARDIS lit only by the fires around the room. Through the clouds of time energy the TARDIS fell out of the sky like a flaming meteor. Down and down it went towards a castle located on the side of a mountain.
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle town
Luna galloped towards the TARDIS and frantically tried prying the doors open. “Doctor! Doctor can you hear me!” She yelled. Meanwhile Celestia and Discord had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Doctor! Answer me!” Luna was trying to pry the doors open and was looking through the broken windows. Without warning the TARDIS screeched and the doors fell open and Luna quickly jumped into the flaming machine.
“Luna!” screamed Celestia.
There was nothing but silence as she stood there, her heart was thumping inside of her as if her entire chest had become one massive organ. Only after the drumming had died down in Celestia’s ears could she hear a cooing sound coming from the strange wreckage. To her it looked like a blue box, however she somehow knew it was more than that. She couldn’t remember where she had seen it from though. It was new yet familiar, soon a sad sound started up from the machine. It sounded like a Gong but it wasn’t quite the same sound. It repeated over and over again as if it was a distress call of some wounded animal. “Luna?” she called out quietly. Discord all the while was staring at the box with a look of what some would describe later as regret. Smoke was billowing out of the open doors and up into the air when the sky began to clear. When all was still, Luna suddenly emerged from the blue box carrying an unconscious brown pelted stallion.
“I found him in the library’s swimming pool, the TARDIS must have known this sort of thing would happen a lot during this regeneration.” Luna proclaimed.
“Luna? Just what is going on? Who is this stallion?” Celestia asked as her curiosity peaked. In all of her centuries of living she had never seen such a thing happen, or had she? Everything about what was going on was so strange so…foreign yet it felt like Déjà vu. Why did it all feel like it had happened before? Discord let the force field down as Luna approached.
“Sister this stallion needs our protection. I’m afraid he will be very confused when he wakes up, that is, if he isn’t babbling about how ponies are…cool.” Luna said as she looked up at her sister.
“Luna? You seem to know about what is going on.” Celestia stated trying to recompose herself. “Would you care to enlighten me on just what is that box and who this stallion is?
Luna carefully placed the unconscious pony onto the ground after cleaning aside some of the rubble and asked; “Do you not remember the blue box from all those years ago sister?”
Celestia thought deeply as to where she may have seen this box before or even where she had heard any of the strange sounds coming from it. “Luna I do not remember such a bizarre thing. I feel like I should but there are a lot of things lately that I cannot quite put my hoof on.”
“I think I could help you with that.” Discord responded for the now stumped Luna. “I don’t necessarily remember him but I have seen that blue box before. It was there at the fall of my reign when the two of you used the Elements of Harmony to turn me into stone.”
“But just what does this all mean Discord?” Celestia was now becoming a little cross.
“It means my sister things are about to get very complicated” Luna interrupted as she started to carry the ponied Doctor.
“Why is everypony being so damn cryptic!?” Celestia yelled out of frustration. She noticed the queer looks the other two were giving her. “I am sorry that was a bit out of…character for me to say. It’s just the two of you seem to know more than I do about our current situation we are in. I do not like being left in the dark.
“In due time sister I will explain everything I know.” Luna continued to trot out of the ruined throne room.
Luna had let the night fall and the moon rise. The part of the castle that held the throne room was still smoldering. Luna was watching as her older sister was instructing a patrol of diamond dogs to help clear the ruble away from the castle so that repairs could be made. Meanwhile Discord had gone off back to Ponyville to make sure that everything was in decent order (according to his standards). Tonight’s events had already worn out the centuries old mare. Celestia and Luna are seemingly immortal, this however is not a true statement. Though the sisters have been around for…well nobody seems to know, they are not immortal. They do age, just not normally. For example Celestia one thousand years ago was around 20 years old in appearance while her younger sister Luna was 16 in appearance. Now they are closer to 30 and 27 years old in appearance. The fact being Luna was stressed out and her older sister being roughly 300 years older was even more stressed than she was. All she wanted to do was go to sleep. Celestia was instructing the diamond dogs where to take the rubble out of the castle, and they were being difficult about it. They were arguing and getting into fights with each other and just being down right uncooperative.
“Big princess tell us to take it out of the East entrance.” Yelled Scraggle. Scraggle Coalclaw is one of the commanding diamond dogs of the Canterlot workforce in service of the Royal Canterlot Castle.
“No she say Weast entrance!” Argued Cobble Stonemason. Cobble was one of Scraggle’s many subordinates, and unlike Scraggle, had little to no education in the Equestrian schools. Diamond dogs originally immigrated from across the ocean in 904C.E looking for work in the mining industry. They came from the country state of Diamant (Dutch for Diamond) which was located in the Griffin Empire now known today as the Griffin Kingdom due to the different states breaking off from the empire after the Second World War. However putting that aside the diamond dogs also have a cast system. The ones who are intelligent (the ones who have the potential to learn) and those who just aren’t very smart no matter what they do. Scraggle was one who had the potential to learn…Cobble wasn’t as fortunate. He was the breed who just wasn’t born with the right stock to really learn anything.
“There no such thing as weast, It goes north, south, east, west! Scraggle was losing his nerve. Out of everydog he could personally work with, he got stuck with his least favorite. Celestia was fed up with the arguing and stepped into the fray.
“I don’t care where you take it out anymore! Just get it done! She yelled uncharacteristically again. The entire team of diamond dogs all turned around and stared at her with looks of complete terror as if they expected to be burnt to a crisp. Celestia thought to herself that she should probably let other ponies see her frustrated or angry more often. Though it is less lady like, it does happen, and she would rather not have ponies become scared every time she did.
Canterlot was still alive with ponies. The daytime shops had closed and the streetlamps were lit, creating a warm orange glow in the Castletown. Ale houses had opened their taverns and Cider stalls had gone up at the street corners. Now this isn’t to say that the inhabitants of Canterlot frequented these stalls. The Cider stalls mostly consisted of non-alcoholic beverages, now on the other hand, Ale houses were indeed your conventional taverns. Luna had landed in town square and was walking around. She noticed that even with the huge scare at the beginning of the evening, everypony was carrying out their lives as usual. There was one stall in particular that she was looking for. In town tonight was supposed to be arriving a traveling Griffin who sells many bazar and rare history books and scrolls from their kingdom. Sure for a high price, but extremely worth it I you are needing to search for evidence of a certain “mad stallion in a blue box”.
There were ponies all over to the left and right of him. Oh how he hated the smell of ponies. They were small and inferior to him. As a Griffin he could easily snatch up a few and devour them without anypony noticing. Claud was waiting for a valuable client, Princess Luna. In all his years of selling maps he was glad that he was finally being recognized by somepony famous. Now if only the Griffins could recognize him too. Claud was listening to two ponies’ arguing.
“I don’t believe you!” Said the pony on the left. “I don’t think the Wonderbolts were testing a new formation!
“Yeah but think about it though! It was nothing we have never seen before. Plus what else could it have been!?” Argued the pony on the right.
“Well if you ask me it was the Princesses. They were doing something secret and it got out of hand.
“You always think it’s a conspiracy.”
“But what if I’m right? We would never know. Hey, here’s a thought. Do you think it has anything to do with the recent disappearances lately?
“I’m not sure, maybe? For all we know the ponies disappearing could have just traveled to Ponyville without telling anypony.
Claud could recall that quite recently there had been many ponies that had gone missing. Within the course of a month since the first case a total of thirteen ponies had just vanished without a trace. Claud was standing in an alleyway just a few feet from the ponies. He had been so tuned into the conversation the two were having that he didn’t notice the tall figure standing behind him. When he saw the shadow pass over him he figured it was Luna.
“You know Princess I am not a bad Griffin, you don’t have to sneak around when buying a few documents from me.” He turned around to look at the Princess…
“NIEN! WAS IST DAS!” Claud yelled.
…then a hand from behind him touched his shoulder and a loud whisking sound rang out into the alley way. The two ponies who were close by heard the scream followed by the whisking sound coming from the alleyway next to them. They went to investigate and found nothing there, just a large traveling cart full of books and various scrolls. On the ground lay a single giant Griffin feather.
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle town
Luna was in the middle of town square. She was looking around for the Griffin, he was supposed to be set up in one of the alleyways. The night was alive with ponies having a good time as she searched for the historian merchant. Alley after alley she looked for him. But he wasn’t able to be found anywhere. It had been an hour since she had begun searching but to no avail…he wasn’t here.
“I could have sworn he said on the night of Thursday.” She said irritably. “Why isn’t he here? Could he have been delayed?”
Luna was standing near a group of ponies who, at this point, were staring at her. Not because she was the Princess, but because she looked a little distraught. See Luna ever since her return actually became more of a “Princess of the Ponies”. Meaning she got more involved with her subjects than her sister ever did, and the population of Canterlot enjoyed it. She would walk around town at night greeting her subjects, personally maintaining order (alongside her Royal Night Guard of course), and even partook in buying lovely and mysterious trinkets she would find at the nighttime shops. Anyways the group were staring at Luna and two of the ponies walked over to her.
“Princess? What’s wrong? Said the Left pony.
“Are you ok? Asked the right pony.
Luna almost had a fit of laughter as she looked at their cutie marks. The pony on the right had a giant R and a wrench on his flank and the one on the left had a giant L and several bolts falling. “First just what would your names be my little ponies?”
“My name’s Leftyloosey and his is Rightytighty.” Answered Leftylossey.
“Yeah we’re inventors from Manehattan. Mostly we just fix stuff but on the side we try to come up with ways to invent things to run off of Solar power or our latest invention, the D/C to A/C converters.” Said Rightytighty.
“That sounds very interesting. As to what’s troubling me, I’m looking for a certain merchant he sells history books and scrolls. He’s a big Griffin and….” Luna was cut off by Leftyloosey.
“Oh we might know a thing or two about that.” Interrupted Leftyloosey.
“My brother and I were standing here awhile ago and we were talking about…well hold on, hey Princess about what happened around sunset, was any of that your…” Rightytighty was stopped by his brother.
“Stay on topic Righty!”
“Oh right! Well we heard this noise from the alley way, and we went to check on it, and we found a cart that matches that description, but all we found was this one giant griffin feather.”
“Could you show me where exactly you found it?” Asked Luna.
“Sure!” The two brothers replied in unison. They lead Luna to the alleyway where Claud’s cart was located. Not a single other pony, or creature for that matter, was around. Luna approached the cart and it read “Claud’s mysterious books of history”.
“This is where we found the feather.” Said Leftyloosey. “It was right here next to the cart.” He pointed at the ground next to the wheel.
Luna could feel something strange in the area. It felt like a sort of disturbance. She looked around and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just a few broken bottles here and there amongst the other stalls. Not finding anything really suspicious Luna dismissed the brothers and went through the cart looking for a few books. Finding some that peaked her interest she took them and after searching through the ledger, paid the appropriate price. Luna had been looking for legends or myths that surrounded a blue box or “The Physician”. She came to realize that these stories were the Doctor’s past, and future here on Gaia. Once she stepped out from the alley way a breeze had picked up. It was a cool light breeze. The Fall season was just around the corner.
Back at the Royal Castle, the team of diamond dogs had finished clearing the area. The TARDIS was still in the center of the “room”. Celestia had the team move the wreckage and put it on its base. There was no smoke coming out of the windows and the gong noise had gone away. It had been about two hours since the incident and already the exterior of the machine looked new.
“What strange box are you?” she asked it. The TARDIS made a light phasing “Wreeww” sound as if in reply. Inside she could hear light sounds of metal creaking and scraping together. “Is it repairing itself?” she thought out loud. Celestia made her way through the castle to her sister’s room. She walked past the guards and stood next to the bed where the Doctor lay. He seemed to be having a bit of a nightmare. He was twitching and muttering strange names like “Rory” and “Amy”. Celestia decided she wanted answers so she tried waking him up.
The Doctor was running. Faster than he ever did, from what he didn’t know, but he knew he had to run. He could remember that he had crashed, something had gone terribly wrong with the TARDIS. What he couldn’t remember was why suddenly he was running. He had been running what felt like for decades. He decided at one point to stop and face whatever it was he was running from. As he did he could here it…tap tap tap tap…tap tap tap tap, followed by laughter. A truly frightening laugh, it was then he would turn back around and continue running. Just when he thought he couldn’t run any longer he heard a voice.
“Sir?” The female voice called out. “Young Stallion wake up I demand to know who you are!”
The Doctor opened his eyes. “Doctor. My name is the Doctor.” He said. His vision was blurry until he focused on a pastel colored mare standing above him. Once he did he sat up in shock and pointed a hoof at her “Wait did you just ask that!?” Then he stared at his hoof. “Is that my hoof!? Marvelous!” He looked up and down his new body, and then started touching himself all over the place. “Eyes, ears, nose well snout that is, hair, more of a mane rather, and ha! A tail never had one of those before, and must I say rather cool if I do say so myself…”
“Um Mr.Doctor. I need to know…” The Doctor interrupted her.
“…and my chin! Blimey still huge!” He proclaimed as he tried getting out of the bed he fell. He got back up and wobbled a little “That’s going to take some getting used to. The concept of having my center of gravity on all four um...hooves…is a bit wonky.”
“Doctor!” Celestia yelled. “Just who are you, and what are you doing here!”
“Well I’m actually not quite sure, but dare I say miss ponies are cool! As to your question of who I am. I’m a Time Lord. I would tell you more but first I must ask are you peaceful?” The Doctor asked this suddenly becoming suspicious of the mare in front of him.
“My name is Celestia. I am the Co-ruler of Equestria and princess to the throne of Gaia. I am of no threat to you Doctor unless you are a threat to me or my subjects.”
“I can assure you Your Highness that I am of no threat to you.” Replied the Doctor as he clumsily knelt onto one hoof. Out of nowhere his chest started hurting and it felt like a fire was welling up in his chest. “Ah! Cough cough! Ack!” He cringed and started holding his chest.
“Doctor!? What’s wrong!?”
“I don’t…know!” Just then he coughed out a puff of golden smoke and it packed itself together and formed a small golden key. A short Vreooor sound was heard by the two of them.
“How did you…” Celestia asked?
“Good question. But this means my TARDIS is ready.”
“Your TARDIS?” She asked turning her head slightly.
“Yes. She’s big, blue and borrowed. Well depending on who you’re asking, stolen, in which case brings up another question on who stole who.” The Doctor rambled for a little bit in this fashion as he trotted over to Luna’s wardrobe and started sifting through it. Celestia scowled at this action and teleported the Doctor back over to her and levitated him into the air.
“And just what do you think gives you the right to have the audacity to go through another princesses clothing!? She yelled. As she did she noticed he was holding up a red bowtie and a white neck collar. “Wait? Why do you have those?” She asked.
“Bowties…are…cool?” The Doctor said sheepishly.
“No. What I meant was why did my sister have those in her wardrobe?” She was walking towards the open wardrobe when she heard a screeching sound. Unlike last time though this one didn’t sound painful. It sounded more impatient than anything. “That’s the TARDIS isn’t it?” Celestia asked as she walked over to Luna’s balcony facing the new courtyard. She looked down and saw its lights glowing brightly through the ruined roof.
The Doctor after brushing his hair to the side as best he could with hooves walked over to look with her. He was finishing the bowtie when he stopped to look over the edge at the TARDIS. “In my fourteen-hundred years of living I don’t think she’s ever been this excited to explore.” He said as he looked down at the glowing windows of the TARDIS.
“You keep calling her a she. Is it alive? But then how is that possible?” Asked Celestia.
“The TARDIS is a sentient machine. Meaning she is a machine with a living soul and a heart of an infinite Sun. And she’s await’n.” Explained the Doctor.
The two walked down and into the exposed throne room. The Doctor looked across the room and smiled. Something about the TARDIS seemed brighter, more…relaxed. It was if the TARDIS dared even for a second to take a deep breath and enjoy itself. Celestia was walking alongside the Doctor when sudden realization hit her. Did this Stallion whom she barely knew just say he was fourteen-hundred years old?
“Doctor. Stop.” She commanded.
“Yes? What is it you want now? Sorry for being rude but a word of the wise you should really treat your guests better.” The Doctor replied in a snide like tone.
“Doctor you said that you had been alive for more than a thousand years?”
“Yes. Unless there’s the good chance I’m lying. In which case neither of us know how old I actually am. You know despite my current situation and how upside-down everything is, I just feel too happy right now to care, and I really just want to see what my sexy time machine has in store for me this time.” He told her as flat out as he could without sounding prideful.
Celestia found this…refreshing. Nopony for what had to be eons dared treat her as an equal, not even her sister. This stallion who fell out of the sky must be from another world. This was something she had never experienced before. This excitement was something she had never felt before, however she needed answers.
“Doctor I demand you tell me just what is going on here.”
“If you look inside you will see everything you need to know.” He pointed at the TARDIS at clapped his hooves. The TARDIS doors opened at the sound and green light came out of the doorway as he trotted in. Celestia reluctantly followed after him and stopped at the entrance. She felt something wrong. She felt like something was behind her and was approaching fast. Just when the feeling was at its strongest she whipped around and was staring straight into the eyes of a screaming statue.
“AH! What is this thing!? The Celestial Mare screamed. The Doctor turned around and when he saw what she was screaming at he instantly went into a panic.
“Don’t blink! Celeste or Tia whatever your name was. Slowly back into the TARDIS and close the doors! Whatever you do don’t blink! The Doctor was almost hysterical. Celestia had backed into the TARDIS far enough where he could get past her and stand in front of the Weeping Angel. “I don’t know how or why you followed me into this world but rest assured I will truly die before I let your hands touch the inside of my TARDIS!” with that he slammed the doors shut and turned to face, not the proud ruler of Equestria, but a shaking mare who had just been scared to death.
“Wha…what was that thing?” Celestia asked being reduced to a panicked wreck.
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle: TARDIS
Celestia stared at the pony in front of her. The happy go lucky Doctor she was beginning to get to know (much to her annoyance) suddenly vanished, and what stood before her was a stallion hardened by war and grief. It was the first time she actually looked into his eyes, and for the first time since he had awakened, she could see loss. He had lost everything. In his eyes were hundreds of years of loneliness, sorrow, and knowledge. Secrets, secrets that must never be told even to himself lest the ghosts of his past were to overhear him. Celestia stood in silence as The Doctor walked over to what looked like some sort of metal glowing tree. She watched him fumble with a few switches and the rest of the room lit up with a green glow and circular lights shown down on her from the top of the celling. She mentally noted the room was inside the blue box and that by what had to be magic was bigger on the inside.
The Doctor was in a bad mood. He didn’t expect that in this new world, the troubles of his own would follow him through the void. He looked around the new desktop the TARDIS came up with. Despite the lights it was darker inside the main console room than its previous design. Perhaps the TARDIS was reflecting his and its own loss of Amy and Rory. He looked up and down the center console, no more up and down things, he thought to himself. In fact this whole desktop looked rather advanced compared to his others he had over the years.
“Doctor?” Celestia asked. “I’ll ask again…who are you?” This time when Celestia asked she wasn’t asking whom she thought was a lunatic, she was asking a lonely elder. The Doctor looking up at her for the first time in what felt like forever since they retreated into the TARDIS, sighed.
“My name is The Doctor. I’m a Time Lord from Gallifrey. I travel through time and space, sometimes with companions, sometimes not. I have lived for over a thousand years and have had many faces. I’m called the oncoming storm by some cultures and I am the last of my kind. I’m not even from the same universe as you are, as you most probably saw I crashed out of the sky.” The Doctor walked over to her and leaned on the hand rail at the top of the ramp. “I have lost so much. Sometimes I wonder why I help anymore. I never win, I just get one victory only to have the loved ones around me be destroyed by another enemy more powerful than the last.”
“I am sorry to hear of your hardships Doctor. It has been a long time since I have met another pony who I could consider an equal without them have been an old villain I once fought.” She looked around the TARDIS again. “You seem to be a good stallion. I would like to know how you met my sister Luna? Celestia asked.
“I don’t know your sister yet. Time travel can be tricky. The order of events never really happen as they should. For instance I could have been somebody’s lifelong friend before I even knew they existed.” He explained.
“Oh I see.” She said without really knowing what he meant.
A screen on the TARDIS console flashed and a warning bell went off. At the same time the TARDIS started rocking back and forth. The Doctor climbed up as best he could to see what it said. The screen read “Proximity Warning” in the background it showed the TARDIS surrounded by four weeping angels just before the screen went out.
“What’s happening!?” Celestia yelled.
“The angels are trying to get in. It seems I pissed off the one at the door and it called for back-up.” The Doctor replied as he started messing with the controls. He stopped at one lever. “I wasn’t wanting to do this yet but I guess we have to jump into the time vortex. I have no idea where we’ll land.” He pulled the lever and the lights on the top of the mechanism started to spin only to grind to a abrupt halt and the main lever sparked. Forcing itself to reset back into an upright position despite the Doctor’s best efforts to keep it down.
“That didn’t sound good!” A panicked Celestia said. At this point in the face of this new danger she had put on her brave façade she would use even when the battle wasn’t looking good.
“They’ve gotten smart. They’re using their power to bend time around the TARDIS keeping it grounded.” The Doctor was running out of options. The only thing they could do was just sit there until the weeping angels gave up…that might not ever happen as long as the TARIDS stood in one piece. The TARDIS shook and shook for a few minutes as he and Celestia tried coming up with a new plan when suddenly the TARDIS stopped shaking all together as they heard what sounded like a laser connecting with stone followed by exploding rubble. The Doctor checked the monitor but to no avail, the screen was still out.
“Is it over?” Asked a hopeful Celestia.
“I’m not sure what just happened.” Replied the Doctor. They sat there quietly for a second only to hear a loud knock. Tap tap tap tap…tap tap tap tap. The Doctors hearts stood still. The knock was repeated. Tap tap tap tap…tap tap tap tap. His hearts then plummeted into his stomach as he recognized the beat.
“Hello in there! I don’t mean to alarm you but uh…I know you’re a Time Lord. Now don’t be scared, The creepy statues are gone. I blasted them with my screwdriver. Weird yes I know, screwdriver, how does that work. Duh obviously because its laser in nature.” The voice yelled through doors. The Doctor and Celestia were absolutely speechless. They didn’t know if they should even acknowledge the fact that there were ponies inside. “Listen I’m a Time Lord too! You don’t have to be afraid I wasn’t a part of the war.” At the mention of a war the Doctor was deadly curious as to who it was, maybe it wasn’t who he thought, he hoped against hope that it was just another Time Lord with a knack for rhythm. The Doctor broke the silence the two had been keeping.
“You mention a war? What war may I ask are you referring to?” He asked.
“Hahaha! What war he asks!? The Last Great Time War of course.
“Ah yes. That “Time War”. Stupid me, of course that’s the war you were referring to.” The Doctor cut to the chase. “Tell me! What is your name!?” The Doctor yelled through the doors. He…if he still had them…was crossing his fingers hoping to God it wasn’t the Time Lord he was thinking of.
“My name? Well that’s a secret. But to most other Time Lords I’m known as The Master or the child of dreams. Really it depends on who you ask. May I ask your name now? Or better yet can you come out? I won’t bite. Again I wasn’t a part of the war. Please. It’s been a very long time since I last saw another Time Lord.” The Doctor felt his insides become water and his legs turn into jelly. Celestia watched as all the color drained form his face.
“Doctor you look sick.” Said Celestia. She was concerned he was about to faint. The Doctor regained his composer.
“Hold on I’m coming out” He yelled again. He then turned towards Celestia and whispered. “The second he tries anything suspicious run back into my TARDIS as fast as you can and shut the doors.”
“What do you take me for? A foal? I can and have fought my fair share of battles Doctor. Whoever this is, unless they have powerful magic, I don’t need to worry” Celestia replied tartly. She stared at the Doctor as he decided not to argue and headed for the door with her in tow. The nerve of him thinking of her as some defenseless mare. Then again, she thought, it was a little flattering to have a stallion worry about her.
The Doctor opened up the doors slowly expecting to be shot the moment he did. To his relief he wasn’t. Behind him followed Celestia who to his curiosity was seeming to be trying her best not to…blush? This Princess, the one who seemed to be the kind of mare who was always in control of herself, was surprising him more and more as this whole ordeal progressed. He then drew his attention to the sharply dressed stallion in front of him. The Master was wearing a purple coat with a sliver collar around the neck and he had a black goatee with a black shortly cut mane.
“Hello there!” The Master took the Doctor by the hoof and firmly shook it. “And Just who might you be?”
“Well…Master…I’m…The Doctor.” As soon as the Doctor introduced himself the Master’s eyes opened really wide, he then slowly let the doctors hoof down.
“The…Doctor? As in The Oncoming storm Doctor? That Doctor? My Doctor!?” The Master asked as he stood back with what looked like complete shock. No it wasn’t shock, it looked more like fear to the Doctor.
“Yes…my name is the Doctor.” He was beginning to be weirded out by the Master’s reaction. As the Master held up his laser screwdriver the Doctor quickly got in front of Celestia.
“H…how did you escape the Time War? More importantly how are you alive?!” the Master continued to ask.
“I’m not quite sure how the events of the Time War happened here in this universe. But I’m not from here. I’m from a parallel universe.” The Doctor frowned. “Why are you here? Why would you be surprised to see the Doctor from your world?”
“To be frank you went nuts! The Time Lords placed a link in my head, a constant drumming sound. Anyways I figured out a way to end the war without killing our entire race. Using the link in my head, and a white point star, I used the Heart of my TARDIS to pull them out of the time lock. Then you showed up Doctor, my childhood friend, corrupted by the war you took control of my machine and were going to bring back the Time Lords, only to make them shower you with praise and gifts. Saying how YOU saved them and YOU won the war. You wanted them to make you the president as you had been several times before in your previous generations. However that wasn’t their plan. They were going to perform the ‘Final Sanction’ and destroy the universe and time itself. I…I was going to end it. I held my laser screwdriver to my head but before I could kill myself to cut the link, you put a hoof on my shoulder and told me to move. Without warning and before they could react you pulled out your plasma gun and fired at Rassilon and then my machine causing the link to be cut, Gallifrey fell back into the Time War.”
The Master and the Doctor continued talking back and forth as Celestia stood behind them. She had begun to become bored. Through hundreds of years of court meetings with other dignitaries though she stood there looking like she was intently listening. Reality was she was daydreaming about the old days when she called herself Queen. There had been a huge war campaign against her and the changelings. She was fond of this war because it was one of the only times she…she…why can’t she remember!? Celestia shifted on her hooves as she thought hard about the war. Suddenly the details were all fuzzy. She could remember it was between her kingdom and the changeling kingdom but other than that. She tried to remember…she was the General, the year had been 301C.E…her favorite moment was when her and her commander, who also was an Alicorn, were fighting side by…no…no he wasn’t…it wasn’t her commander it was…Luna? No it couldn’t be, wait no now it was Nightmaremoon fighting along side her…but how could. A sharp pain then filled her head as she buckled down to the ground. “Ahhhha!” She screamed.
“…and then a Dalek popped up out of nowhere and shot me. Lets just say I had vanity issues at the time so as I began to regenerate I poured it into a severed hand of mine..” Celestia’s scream broke the Doctor off from his story. Turning around and trotting over to her, the Doctor knelt down beside the mare. “Celestia what’s wrong!?” She was gripping her head and her face was contorted in pain.
“I don’t know Doctor! My head, it hurts so bad…and my memories…their…their…AHAHGA!” She screamed in pure agony before fainting. The Doctor looking at her with terror in his eyes, had no idea what was happening to her.
The Master had no Idea what was happening to Celestia at first. The Doctor was panicking and was trying to wake the fallen mare up. Watching the Doctor in such a frenzy made the Master realize that the Time Lord in front of him was in no way, shape, or form the same Doctor that he knew.
“Come on Celestia! Can you hear me!” The Doctor yelled in a hysterical state. The Master remembered that this was deadly close to the symptoms of the art of the Meta-crisis. “Celestia please answer me!” The Doctor continued to yell.
“Doctor! Doctor get a hold on yourself!” He was becoming a little frightful. “She’s merely fainted is all.” The Master went over to Celestia and pulled out his screwdriver to scan her. The results came back negative for the Meta-crisis but on the flip side of the good news the scan detected a temporal disturbance. Something about her past was beginning to change. However since she has been alive for over a millennia the event was effecting her terribly. The Master needed to get Celestia to a safe place.
“Doctor we need…” Feeling something was wrong the Master looked up and froze in fear. Standing right in front of him were four more Weeping Angels. Two had been heading their way and the other two were observing the Doctor’s TARDIS. “Doctor!”
The Doctor looked up to see the Weeping Angels. “No! Not again! Why must there always be something!” Rising up from where he was. “Listen you lot, because that’s all you’re able to do right now! I am tired of you! Tired of you trying to get my TARDIS! Tired of you taking what’s precious from me! Do you know what you are! You are nothing! Nothing! You will never be loved! You will never be comforted! And! You will never earn my mercy!” His pelt gains a slight grey color before returning to its original brown.
The Master began to get a little nervous. This side of the Doctor had the strikingly close similarity to his Doctor. “Doctor we have to get to my TARDIS. It’s the only safe place from these things.”
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle: Inner Halls
The Doctor’s hearts were racing as he and the Master carried the princess on their backs. Behind them they could hear the stone of the Weeping Angels scraping against the white Marble floors. Further and further they went into the Castle. The Master seeming to know exactly where he was going, turned from left to right and left into different corridors.
“Where are all the guards!?” The Doctor panted as they ran.
“The Night Guard don’t patrol the halls at night. Waste of effort. They patrol the Castle walls.” The Master explained as they ran. They were nearing the grain storage when the Master stopped them in front of an old door.
“Oh brilliant! Fantastic Idea! We need your TARDIS and you stop us in front of a closet door. Sorry to be a downer but Stone can break through wood!” The Doctor ranted before the Master opened the door leading them inside. It was indeed the Master’s TARDIS. The inside looked white and very retro compared to the Doctor’s current TARDIS desktop. The center console being very small. “Oh. Never mind…I forgot that you probably had a functioning chameleon circuit.”
“Keep up will you Doctor.” The Master had him help with putting Celestia in a bed and trotted back to the main room. Flipping a switch the monitor on the wall near the ceiling turned on and in front of the door were the Weeping Angels. “Hahahahahahaha. Foolish statues. Can’t surround something that’s part of a wall now can you!” Trotting back to the console he flipped a few more switches and the familiar sound of a TARDIS rang out loudly throughout the castle.
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle: Outer Walls
Luna was trotting up to the castle walls. The Night Guard were walking along the top making sure nopony tried anything stupid. The night felt eerie. The winds had picked up and the same energy she felt from the alley hung heavily in the air. DiamondDogs were still walking around the courtyard. Some had been loafing around while the others were waiting to leave. Scraggle Coalclaw was rounding up his workers. Looking over to Luna he approached her and bowed.
“Princess Luna. We have finished the cleaning up of rubble from roof. We were wondering where Big Princess had gone.” Scraggle looked either annoyed or worried. Luna couldn’t really tell. DiamondDogs always had this furrowed brow expression on their face.
“I do not know as to where my sister has gone. Maybe she has left your dismissal to me.” Luna wasn’t liking the way all the Diamond dogs were still around. Her sister should’ve let them leave a while ago. “You are dismissed. You and your subordinates. Take care Scraggle Coalclaw.” Luna watched him salute and walk back over to the large group. He began barking orders in broken Dutch and the other DiamondDogs lined up and marched out of the courtyard. A few of the Night Guard closed the gates behind the group of workers. Her Elites marched up quickly to her. The ‘elites’ were two Night Guard ponies who had later been banished by Celestia to the moon as well for their undivided loyalties to their princess of the night 1000 years ago.
“Your Highness we cannot find your sister anywhere. She left your room with the brown pelted stallion and has since disappeared from the castle. Furthermore some strange statues have been reported by the wall mount crews. One moment they are there, the next they aren’t.” Nightshade relayed to his leader. Luna was concerned. The talk of strange statues reminded her of a time when she and the doctor ran into creatures called Weeping Pegasi.
“Tell me what these creatures looked like?” She asked Nightshade.
“They were reported to look like giant skinny apes with Pegasus wings.” He replied to Luna.
“Skinny Apes?”
“Yes Princess, they looked like giant statues of apes.” Nightshade told her.
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Canterlot Royal Castle: Inner Halls
Luna was galloping through the Castle. She had an icy feeling throughout her chest. If what reports said were true, then that would mean her sister and the Doctor were in danger. She passed her two sentries in front of her bedroom door. Inside the Doctor was gone and her wardrobe was open. Peaking inside she allowed herself a quick smile seeing that the white collar and red bowtie were gone. Going to her balcony she looked down and through the destroyed roof of the throne room below her tower. The rubble was gone and hasty repairs had been made to the floor…however something was missing. The TARDIS should have been there with its glowing lights and blue beauty. Looking around what she could in the room from her spot she couldn’t see it anywhere. The icy feeling in her chest came back with a vengeance. Bursting out of her room the sentries were knocked to the side accidently.
“Tell me who all came through here?” She quickly asked the sentry on the left.
“Your sister Princess Celestia entered your room and shortly left with the pony of interest.” He responded to her. So they were the only ones she concluded.
That’s all she needed to hear. Luna darted through the halls. Turning this way and that, frantically searching for her sister and possibly the Doctor. In the back of her mind she knew they were probably gone by now since the TARDIS was missing. She was nearing the Kitchen when suddenly she could hear it. The sound of the TARDIS vanishing into the time vortex. She teleported. Teleporting to the area she thought it came from, she found herself almost face to face with two Weeping Angels. Both had faces of pure rage. The Doctor and Celestia must have managed to escape them. The Weeping Angels were not what she was expecting. She had never actually seen them before, she only knew them by description from the Doctor. Using her magic she blasted the statues to pieces since the Doctor wasn’t around knowing he wouldn’t have approved. Luna was wondering why they had appeared. What caused them to show up now instead of before? Ponies had been disappearing for a month or so now. Why come out of hiding now? Her guess was because now the Doctor was here. They must have fallen through the void with him and plopped here on Gaia from the time vortex before him.
Nightshade finally had caught up to his Princess. She was looking frantic. He didn’t like it when she was stressed, it was part of his duty to help keep her composed and comfortable.
“My Princess what is the matter! What were those statues? Were they some kind of magical being?” He had asked her though he could already tell what her answer would be as he had watched her destroy them on his way up to her.
“They aren’t necessarily magic but they are indeed powerful creatures.” Luna explained to him.
“Did they capture your sister?” Nightshade’s almost casual approach in his addressing of Luna’s sister was always an issue when Celestia would give him orders. He never viewed her as his Princess, but rather just another authority figure. One of the only reasons he even listened to her orders was because his Princess (Princess Luna) had ordered him to follow her sister’s commands without question.
“I am not quite so sure if they did or not. Though considering the look of anger on their faces I would say they failed at whatever it was they were trying to do.” She explained to him. The situation they were in was grim. Wherever her sister had gone this would still mean she was missing. If she didn’t return by dawn to raise the sun then the ponies would become frantic. Luna needed to travel to Ponyville and recruit Twilightsparkle to do it. Not that she would have the strength, but Luna would provide that for her. Luna had never risen the sun. So she was never bestowed the proper spell to do so. She didn’t doubt she could possibly do it, but she didn’t want to risk the whole of Gaia going into panic that the sun rose in an awkward fashion. “Nightshade we must travel to Ponyville tonight, we need to warn Twilightsparkle that she may need to raise the sun in the morning.”
“Yes your majesty! First before we leave may I notify the Night Guard?” He had asked.
“Yes you may. Also wake the earth pony patrol for the Day Guard. Tell them to patrol the castle halls while we are gone.” Luna ordered Nightshade.
Gaia: approx. 1004 C.E: Equestria: Ponyville
While night had fallen, Discord had went around Ponyville checking things and making sure they were in…uhg…order. The disturbance had cleared and the sky was full of stars. Before returning to Fluttershy’s cottage for the night, Discord looked up to the sky once more and stared intently at them. The night sky seemed brighter. The stars weren’t shining more brightly, but it seemed that there was more than usual out tonight. “That’s a very beautiful sky tonight Luna.” He said to himself, complimenting her. “You know if I were given the chance I would make my own constellation and call it ‘Harmony’. Heh heh. Though it would look nothing like the name would entitle.” Discord began to casually stroll through the town back towards Fluttershy’s. He passed by Sugar Cube Corner, then BonBon’s candy shop, Then Octavia’s home, leaving the shops area he came out to the center where Twilight's library once stood, but now where the large tree like castle resides . He stopped in front and looked all the way up to where her room was. Sure enough there was the faint glint of candlelight coming from her balcony window. Shaking his head and chuckling to himself he continued on. His thoughts kept going back to the day the cutie mark crusaders freed him from his stone prison and how he was encased back again. He had come a long way from two years ago. He never thought he would ever be where he was at now in life. Softly smiling to himself he passed Rarity’s Boutique and walked over to Fluttershy’s dwelling. Walking over the bridge, he trekked up the path to her…Door. Suspiciously the lights were off and no candles were lit but the door was slightly open. A sinister feeling wormed its way through Discord’s heart as he was filled with deadly curiosity.
Twilight was going through all the new books she had. Since Tirek had destroyed her Library. She had asked Celestia to send her collection from her old home in Canterlot. Her collection was much larger in the Canterlot library than the one she had in Ponyville. Though now her new castle had a lot of room for books and other learning materials. In fact. Celestia and Luna both gave her permission to study spell books that were previously banned from the young mare. This gave her an even wider selection to study and collect. Tonight was going to be an all nighter once again as she studied a new spell. This particular one was supposed to allow her to create clouds that were immune to Pegasi magic. She had everything set up, and all was quiet in Ponyville, so she had complete focus. Her horn began to glow a bright purple before it began to change to yellow. Puzzled she went cross eyed to stare at her horn. “Well that’s weird. Let’s try again.” She said to herself as she powered up the spell again. Her horn began to glow and change to bright purple before it became yellow. She shook her head and tried again. Concentrating really hard this time, she powered up the magic for the spell and once again it changed to a bright yellow color. “Oh what the heck is wrong with this thing!?” She violently shook her head and tried once more. She powered up her horn. This time when it changed color she ignored it. Fully charging the spell, her horn went from yellow to red and she shot the energy into the center of the room. Once she had opened her eyes she was startled by what she saw. “What in the world!?” Her entire room had turned into a cloud! Carefully moving back to her table, still not used to being able to walk on clouds, she began to read her spell book on how to reverse the spell. While she was nearing the end of the reading, her room suddenly went back to normal and she found herself face to face with two large round yellow eyes. “Ah! Discord What are you doing!” She shrieked.
He had entered the darkened home and found absolutely nobody home, no animals, no Angelbunny, and no Fluttershy. Discord had literally turned the cottage upside down and shook it furiously. Furniture and kitchenware and just about everything in the home was shaken out of the tree. Slamming the tree down he teleported straight into Twilights room and stared her right in the eyes with a look of panic. “Where did she go!”
“Wha-where did who go?” A frightened Twilight asked him.
“My dear Fluttershy! Where could she possibly have gone!? She said that she would be waiting for me when I got back to the cottage. Well guess what!”
“Um…she wasn’t there?” Twilight responded.
“Bingo! She was gone! Along with her animals and even that pest!” He yelled.
“You mean Angel Bunny?” She tried to correct him.
“That’s what I just said Twilight!” Discord had set her down and was pacing back and forth at this point. He couldn’t think straight. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He could feel it. Fluttershy wouldn’t just up and leave. Something was off. Something he was missing. Just then there was a knock on Twilights door. Discord snapped his fingers and Spike immediately flashed into the room. Above Twilight’s bed, Spike floated there right before he fell into the cushions. He was holding an old envelope.
“What do you have there for me Spike?” Discord heard Twilight ask the little dragon as he jumped off of the plush bed and walked over to her. Discord was still pacing back and forth. He had a lot on his mind and these two so far hadn’t helped him.
“I don’t know. It’s a letter designated to you Twilight, but it doesn’t say who from. Derpy dropped it off late this afternoon on her way back to the post office and gave me a paper with specific instructions. The instructions told me not to hand this to you until Discord was in your room.” Spike handed Twilight Sparkle the envelope and took a step back. He was eyeing Discord with suspicion. He didn’t like the way Discord had informally poofed his way into Twilights chamber like this.
Twilight opened the letter and read aloud…
“Dear Twilight. I hope its ok for you to have received this letter this late at night. I really would have hated to have inconvenienced you by sending it this late. But I had to make sure I had already disappeared. I missed all of you very deeply. I even visited Ponyville from time to time just to catch a glance of you all working and having fun. Though I wish I could have seen you some more. I lived a great life despite being displaced by those nasty Weeping Angels. I renamed myself Buttercup and met a huge Griffin named Treasure Ward. He was a lot nicer than Gilda. Speaking of which I watched her parents grow up and move away, funny how when they talked about me being their nanny to Gilda that she grew up the way she did. Anyways, I ended up marrying him and we had a son named Storm. He’s a very prolific athlete now. I lived through so many historical events. It was tough living here in Cloudesdale trying to avoid my younger form, but by then I was already a very old mare. About as old as Granny Smith. You’ll have received this letter sometime after I have died. I think the last time I will get a chance to see you all will be this upcoming Summer Sun Celebration when Luna comes back. I know it’s already happened but good luck defeating Nightmare Moon, Twi. One last thing. Please tell Discord I loved him and to take care of Angel Bunny for me. I made Angel run away with the other animals into the Everfree forest when the scary statues appeared.
Sincerely Forever,
Fluttershy Ward (Shimmer)”
Twilight was confused about what she just read. She had no Idea what this letter was saying. I mean she knew what the words were but she couldn’t figure out why it was written the way it was. Did this mean Fluttershy was on a trip, or was she sick, just what in the Hell did she just read. “Uuuuuh. So yeah that’s what it said.” Twilight mumbled. Completely confused she kind have stood there. Suddenly the letter flashed out of magic and into Discord’s claws.
He was reading the letter over and over again. His heart frozen to a halt. Twilight was trying to piece together what she just read, but he knew. Oh yes…he already knew. Outside, the stars blinked out almost at once. The bright and beautiful night sky turned dark and decrepit as if the life was sucked right out from it. A red glow engulfed the town as thunder beneath the ground began to roar. The entirety of the town became twisted and corrupt. Two Weeping Angels flashed into the center of town and Discord appeared in front of them. They both had their faces covered with their hands. “So?” Discord asked in a very sinister voice. The very air thick with hate as his body radiated his wrath. “You decided to kill Fluttershy of all ponies to choose from. Why? Was it because she lived far from the other villagers? So she was an easy Target?” Darkness began to surround the Angels as he talked. “I know what you are. I know how to make you suffer. I will put you in a dark place and torture you there until the end of time. Maybe then I’ll be satisfied with your punishment.” Summoning his throne he sat down and terrible, blood curdling screams rang out into the town of Ponyville. From the orb of shadows the Weeping Angels were being tortured mercilessly. Once in a while they would stop, as a sick joke he would heal them completely, give them a few seconds of hope, and then begin the process all over again.
Twilight was absolutely terrified of Discord. He never looked like this. Even the descriptions of his reign a thousand years ago, never depicted him as this tremendous. She wondered why he didn’t use this power against Tirek. She figured it was because this was a completely different situation than earlier that day. The town was in chaos. Inhabitants were running around trying to escape this ‘Hell on Gaia’. “Spike write a letter to Celestia and tell her that we need her and Luna to come to our help.” She was watching from her window that was slowly starting to blacken and crack. Spike wrote the letter and sent it, only to find it come back and completely fall to pieces from aging.
“Twilight! It won’t send!” Yelled spike from across the room.
“What!?” She turned around and watched as Spike repeatedly tried to send the letter to Celestia. “Try sending it to Princess Luna!”
“Ok!” Writing the letter one more time he sent it off to Luna and the page stayed gone. “Whew, well it worked that time. I wonder why it wouldn’t go to Princess Celestia.”
“I don’t know Spike. I hope something bad hasn’t happened to her.”
Gaia: approx. 1004C.E: Equestria: Sky Road: The sky above Ponyville
Luna was wondering what was going on to Ponyville as they approached the town. A large barrier had formed and the grass along the edges was smoldering. Landing with Nightshade by her side, the two ponies cautiously walked up with a slow gait. The Barrier pulsed with rage and anguish. For a split second Luna found herself wanting to break into tears. Shaking the feeling off, she put on a brave face for Nightshade. She spread her wings and her horn started to glow. Using her Alicorn magic she easily opened a hole in the barrier. Motioning to her elite, Nightshade stepped inside before her. With the hole closing, the two took a moment to watch. All around them, mass chaos was erupting everywhere. Luna watched in awe as the town continued to twist and turn under the corruption. Buildings were in spirals, flowerbeds blackened and burnt, everypony was grey and fighting each other, save the few who were the elements of harmony. “Come on Nightshade. We must calm Discord down before he decides to take this out on the rest of Equestria.” The two of them were walking towards the middle of the town where the sound of endless torture rang out into the air.
Twilight was terrified. Discord had snapped, and the whole town was paying for it. She could feel the corruption trying to spread to her. As an Element of Harmony she was able to fight off his chaos, but it was starting to affect her. Spike was seemingly unaffected by the corruption and was just fine except for the fact he was scared. From her blackened window she could see her friend Pinkie Pie running towards her castle. Going downstairs Twilight Sparkle found herself getting tackled by a very loud Pinkie.
“Twilight! Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! Do you see what’s going on!?” Pinkie Pie yelled right into Twilights face.
“Yes…Pinkie…I see…what’s…happen…ing. Could you please…get off…of me?” All the air was being pushed out of her lungs as Pinkie practically jumped up and down on her.
“Oh sorry Twi.” Pinkie apologized before jumping off of her friend. “Everypony has gone crazy Twi. They’re attacking each other and fighting and just being big meanies to everyone and everypony.”
“It’s Discord’s doing. He snapped after a certain…letter…but we need to try and calm him down before he does something worse than what has happened to Ponyville. I tried to get into contact with Celestia and Luna but only the letter to Luna went through.” Twilight was looking drained of energy as she lead Pinkie out the door and they headed towards the center of town. “I fear that something terrible has happened to Celestia.”
“Yeah. That would be pretty bad.” Pinkie agreed and looked a little deflated as they approached the source of the screams.
Luna and Nightshade were about a block away from Discord when, suddenly, they were teleported to right next to his throne. Discord was still just sitting there and watching the area of shadow he created before he closed his eyes for a moment before talking to Luna.
“Beautiful isn’t it Luna? The sound of revenge?” Discord slightly opened his eyes and looked sideways at her. She was listening to the screams and turned to look into his eyes as she felt him look at her. They were dull and gray, not a speck of color shone in them. It was if he himself had become ‘Discorded’.
“N-no Discord it is not beautiful. It is horrifying. Whatever has made you do this! Who are you torturing!?” Luna demanded him to answer. As his answer he handed her an envelope and a scroll. She read Fluttershy’s letter and then Twilight’s message she was trying to send to Luna. Discord had intercepted the letter before it could get to Luna so he could hand it to her personally. Luna continued to read as the tortured yelling continued. All around her, the sound of fighting ponies and the destruction of the town filled her with such grief. Finishing the message, she looked up at Discord. He was silently sitting there now. Watching the flames engulf the town and listening to the screaming Weeping Angels inside the dark cloud of shadows, Discord shed a single tear. It slid down his cheek and dripped off his chin, hitting the ground with a loud sizzle. “Discord you must stop this at once. I may not know how you feel right now, but do you really think Fluttershy would have wanted this!?” Luna yelled at the King of Chaos, mostly out of terror of him.
Discord’s anger flared and the Princess of the night took a step back. “Do you think I care what she would have wanted!? She’s gone Luna! Dead and gone! These, these, creatures killed her! Snatched her up and killed her. While I was here in town! Making sure everything was in order! Just for her!” He stood up and loomed above the now cowering Luna. His rage was matched to nothing that had ever lived. “I helped the town for her! I agreed to reformation for her! I tried to catch Tirek for her! She believed in me and I failed her once. In the same day I failed to protect her a second time and now she is gone forever!”
Discord fell to his knees beside Luna and began to sob, just as Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie showed up. Luna wrapped herself around his neck and held him tightly. Jumping into the moment, the two ponies of the Elements of Harmony ran over and hugged Discord as well. Discord’s tears flowed down his cheeks as the three comforted him. The town around them was still deteriorating. “Discord. None of what happened was your fault tonight. Fluttershy lived a good life. You know if she was ever given the chance, she would have told you to do the same…for her sake. Please Discord. Calm yourself and save this town from this horrid state.” Luna asked him through her own set of tears. In a sudden flash of light, the town was returned to normal. The inhabitants though were still fighting, though now paused by the confusion of their town being restored and the night sky back in its proper state.
“The ponies will slowly return to normal.” Discord said, slowly standing up. “Unfortunately, I won’t…not for a long while.”
In the center of town square Luna spotted a pile of stone dust underneath where the dark cloud had been. “Oh Discord…” Was all Luna could say as she wiped her tears away. She turned to Twilight and Pinkie as Discord skulked away in the direction of Fluttersh…no…in the direction of Fluttershy’s old cottage. “I want you two, to follow him home. Make sure he gets settled in and comfort him.”
“Alright Princess Luna, we will.” Twilight replied as a silent Pinkie Pie followed her in tow, heading after Discord.
Nightshade walked up to his leader and asked. “Will you be alright my Princess?”
“Yes Nightshade. I will be fine.” With nothing els much to do here, Luna decided to help the ponies regain order before she went to go ask Twilight to raise the sun for the morning after the later hours of the night. She found herself recalling a war between the Changeling and Equestrian Empires about 700 years ago as she did boring task after boring task. It was magnificent, probably the only time she was proud to be Nightmare Moon…
The TARDIS was whirring softly. The center console was moving up and down and the lights on the console were blinking and buzzing. The Master was fiddling with the controls every now and again. The Doctor had left to check on Celestia a while ago. The Master began to wonder just what on Gaia happened to Celestia. What had caused her to faint like that, and what was changing in her past.
The Master let out a deep sigh and continued to analyze the scan results from his screwdriver. They were confusing at best. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what he discovered. What could be so powerful that it could change Celestia’s history without her being affected until now? A better question he asked himself was, why did it happen now of all times? He began to get rather frustrated.
The Doctor entered into the console room and walked over to the Master. The Master looked up at him. “So what’s the news Doctor?” He asked the other Time Lord.
“She’s sleeping now. Whatever happened has passed. I left her to rest for a bit.” The Doctor replied to him. “Do you have any leads yet?” He asked the Master.
The Master looked back down at the console and flipped a switch. The monitor on the wall came back on and some data popped up onto the screen. “No I do not. The results are very puzzling. I can’t quite make sense of them. Tell me Doctor what do you think?” He asked pointing a hoof towards the monitor.
The Doctor went up to the screen and studied the results. They were indeed unusual. Nothing he had seen before. “Well if I had to guess.” He took a slight pause. “I have no Idea what this says or even means for that matter.” The Doctor straightened his bowtie before turning to The Master. “All I can tell is that it’s some sort of temporal anomaly, other than that not much else.”
The Master stroked his goatee and sighed again. “Well I estimated the point in time that this anomaly first occurred. Would you care to join me in an investigation Doctor?” He asked the Doctor as he began to calibrate the controls.
“Sure why not. Something exciting is bound to happen and I’m just itching to explore.” Despite their current situation the Doctor suddenly seemed very cheery.
“Doctor you sure you’re alright? You don’t have to be you know. Times like this you can show some emotion, maybe cry a little. After all you just lost some loved ones and your enemy seems determined to make sure you don’t forget that.” The Master was referring to the Weeping Angels that had reappeared shortly after his arrival here in this universe.
The Doctor stared at The Master for a moment before making a jest at him. “Yes well I guess I could. Who knows maybe I could put on some rock and roll and listen to a sad drum solo.” He said this to The Master to try and get a rise out of him. He didn’t take the bait. “Look Master. I am trying my best to stay positive. Happy even. Could we please just, forget my problems and focus on our current one?” He asked The Master. Here he was. In a new universe and still he couldn’t enjoy himself as much as he wanted.
“Sure I suppose that would work.” He flipped a few more switches and turned a dial and the TARDIS started to land as it made the familiar wheezing sound of materializing.
Gaia: approx. 394 C.E: Equestria: Border of the Draco Mountains
As soon as they landed, he and The Master approached the doors. The Doctor waited in anticipation as they stood there. Literally anything could be behind that door. He felt his hearts in his chest jump a little. The Master carefully opened the door. This time it slid open and he watched him peer around outside. The Master and The Doctor quietly crept out of the TARDIS and looked around some more. It appeared to them that they were in a huge tent of some kind.
It was dark and the air was heavy with the smell of campfires. From behind them a woman’s voice called out to them.
“The two of you are late. You are three years past your date you said you would arrive.” The Voice said. Both Time Lords turned around in unison when suddenly the whole tent lit up with a radiant glow and they were shocked at the sight. In front of them was Celestia. Though a very different version of her. She was younger looking. No longer did she have a motherly feeling about her, but rather, an atmosphere of sheer power.
The celestial mare had a lithe body and powerful mussels. Everything about her was fresh and warlike. On the side of the tent near her bed, she had a golden suit of armor. At first glance it looked unused, but upon further inspection you could see dents and slash marks that had been buffed and polished out.
Sliding the TARDIS door closed. The Master walked towards the leader. The Doctor followed right behind and smirked when he saw the front of the TARDIS look like a soda machine and read in big letters: MASTER COLA. Apparently the chameleon circuit glitched a little because the rest of The Master’s TARDIS was a huge cabinet of some kind.
“I’m sorry what did you just say?” Asked The Master. “Did you just say that we were late? By how many was it? Three years?!”
Stepping into the conversation the Doctor chided in. “Hold on you were expecting us? Why?” He was eyeing her with suspicion. He didn’t like where this was already heading.
“Yes! You declared to me that by the 91st year of the third century of my reign. You would arrive to help me win the war.” She was stern and got right to the point. Tired and in need of sleep before tomorrow’s battle. Celestia wanted to send them back into their TARDIS and debrief them in the morning.
“Excuse me if I may ask you princess but I don’t…” The Doctor was met with a magical slap to the face. Celestia meanwhile had a smile on her face.
“I told you the next time you called me princess I would slap you Doctor. I am a queen now.” Celestia laughed at his shocked expression.
“Listen you! I don’t know what’s going on but that was uncalled for! I, We”... The Doctor pointed back and forth between him and The Master…“Haven’t even told you we were going to be here yet!”
The Master decided to end this spat quickly and stepped between them. “Look. Your Majesty. We haven’t met your younger version yet. So please fill us in on what is going on and we shall do our best to help.” Celestia guided them over to a large map on top of a makeshift table. The Master noted that the map was of a valley in between a mountain range and a field of plains. The Queen used her magic to highlight the figurines at the bottom of the mountains.
“This is the changeling army. They are using the mountains to send supplies back and forth to each other. Also this allows them to bring in reinforcements without much delay.” She then highlighted the figurines on the opposite side of the valley. “These are our forces. We are able to also freely exchange supplies and refresh our troops.” She looked up at the confused Doctor. “I take it you know nothing about the changelings yet?”
Her guess was as good as gold. The Doctor had no idea what was even going on. Much less what these “Changelings” were. “No. I don’t know anything about them. What are they?”
“They are a race of insect like ponies. They feed on the love of others. Stronger ones of their kind even bewitch their targets and force the love out of them for the rest of their life. Sometimes that can be a matter of…hours.” Celestia cleared her throat at the innuendo and pressed on. “The most barbaric of them merely drain the body of their victims much like a vampire would. In fact we have had reports in the past of vampires joining their ranks to fight against us.”
The Doctor was listening intently to the Queen as the Master watched the two of them. He himself already knew the outcome of this battle. Well, that is before they were forced to come here. Originally Celestia wins the war after four long years of gruesome battle after battle. She manages to push back the changeling forces after defeating the changeling Queen and giving her an ultimatum. However, now that they had arrived to help her. This whole war could end differently. The very fact that he and the Doctor came here means they are now responsible to make sure Celestia wins this war.
“Celestia may I suggest we negotiate with the changeling Queen? After all both side have lost thousands of troops already haven’t they? Surely you and her are ready to come to some sort of agreement?” The Master suggested this as the Doctor looked very unpleased about this whole idea of war.
“Are you suggesting surrender!? Because at this point Master, we will not stop until the changeling army has been wiped out!” Celestia flared with anger at him. “I gave her a chance at the beginning of this war to negotiate a treaty, but she turned down the offer by slaughtering an entire village in a border area of our countries.”
The Doctor sighed and looked up at Celestia. “War is always the final solution isn’t it?”
“Yes Doctor it is. Times of peace is only the calm before the storm.” She said as she turned around and walked back to her bed. “Now will the two of you let me rest? It has been a long day and I must sleep for tomorrow. I will tell you more tomorrow. Just return into your TARDIS for now.” The tent around them darkened as the radiance faded. The Time Lords returned into the TARDIS as Celestia climbed into her makeshift bed.
The Doctor was quiet. He didn’t feel like talking. Here he was, having to fight another war he didn’t want to be a part of. He looked up at the Master and watched him recalibrate the chameleon circuit. A soft vroom sound rang out and he exterior of the TARDIS turned into a small rectangular tent. It was then he realized something. He realized that the current Master he was with right now was like him. He went around time and space saving lives. While his ”parallel” version of himself was more like the Master from his own universe. He decided to ask the Master a question. “Master? Have you ever wanted to control the universe?”
The Master looked up from the center console, thought for moment, then looked back down. “Yes. However in my travels I learned something. Being able to go anywhere throughout time and space. Do anything. See anyone. The ability to just simply enjoy the beauties and mysteries of the universe. Well that’s ownership enough. Wouldn’t you agree Doctor?” The Master asked as he flipped a few switches.
“Yes. It is.” Was all the Doctor said as he left the main room to check on Princess Celestia. He smiled softly, recalling he had once told his version of The Master something similar.
Gaia: approx. 394 C.E: Equestria: Border of the Draco Mountains:
Tent of the Queen Changeling
Queen Hissandra was watching the enemies from across the valley. Damn Equestrians she thought. They never give up. All she wanted was to expand her Empire. Was that so much to ask for? She was rubbing her temples. Her migraine had worsened from the crippling defeat today. She lost an entire platoon of warriors to the celestial forces. Neither her, nor her army could take this much longer. Stepping back into her tent she went and looked into the mirror, as she did she rubbed her eyes. Staring at herself in the reflection she was the exact incarnation of Queen Chrysalis. She sighed said aloud to herself. “We will win this war. My country depends on it!” With that the mirror shattered with a green glow. The upcoming battle will be one to change this war…
Gaia: approx. 394 C.E: Equestria: Border of the Draco Mountains
Queen Celestia found it difficult to sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed as she desperately tried to doze off. No matter what she did, she couldn’t get comfortable. Celestia ended up turning and staring at the Master’s TARDIS. She wanted to believe that the two Time Lords could help win this war for them, but her faith in their ability dwindled after their late arrival. This war had gone on long enough. Equestria would never be the same after this. That much Celestia knew in her heart as her thoughts longingly went towards her Alicorn commander. What she wanted most was to be at home in her castle with him as her King, but she knew that would never happen. Not as long as this war raged across the plains.
The breeze outside blew peacefully. Creating a soft rustling sound throughout the grass. Celestia focused on the beautiful music it was making. To hear the grass in such a way washed her mind with a serene feeling. She reached out her senses and listened to her army relaxing while others slept. The night watch were patrolling the camp and a few soldiers were playing at dice, well into the late night. For what seemed like hours of lying there awake, was only a brief moment. She never imagined herself to ever have trouble sleeping. That changed however once her traitorous sister lead an uprising against her. For the last four hundred years, Queen Celestia had never had a full night’s sleep. Whenever she did eventually sleep, It always felt a part of her was missing, unguarded even. Staring up at the celling of her tent, Celestia’s vision slowly became hazed, and then, she finally drifted off to sleep. Her thoughts filled with the music of the wind across the plains.
Gaia: approx. 394 C.E: Equestria: Border of the Draco Mountains: The Master’s TARDIS
She was fighting. Princess Celestia was battling changeling after changeling. They wouldn’t stop advancing towards her. Slashing and stabbing, she was struggling to keep up with them. Her armor was already badly damaged and a few pieces had completely fallen off. She didn’t remember why, but she knew she had to keep advancing forward. The changeling forces were formidable, unless they were killed they would continue fighting until their last breath. “Damn it!” She yelled as yet another changeling horn lance slashed her side. Her head was throbbing and her body felt as if it would fail her at any moment. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by another wave of changeling soldiers, she felt another presence beside her. It was a presence of raw strength.
Filled with new found hope, Princess Celestia fought with all she had. Her new ally fighting just as hard to beat back the changelings, however, as she turned to see just who was helping her win, her vision faded. All she could see was a black mass of haze. Princess Celestia couldn’t tell who was helping her. That’s when her head filled with a searing pain and she blacked out. She floated in the Darkness for quite some time. Nothing. Not a sound could be heard. Until however after what felt like an eternity she heard a whisper. It was very faint, but as she focused on it, the whisper became harsh yet still she couldn’t understand it. Princess Celestia began to plead with the voice in the blackness. “Please. I must know as to what you are trying to say. I yearn to speak with you.”
“………” The harsh whisper wasn’t clear enough for her to understand what it was saying.
“I beg of you. Please speak to me. I am terrified and alone. Answer me this at least. Will I ever return home?” Celestia pleaded with the whispers again.
“Blazing sun and Nightmare moon. You should know, his death is soon.” The whispers answered her.
“Blazing Sun? Nightmare Moon? What are you talking about? Who’s death is soon!?” She demanded. The whispers only repeated themselves over and over. Each time they sounded more menacing than the last. “Please stop no more!” Princess Celestia attempted to cover her ears and closed her eyes, but the whispers only grew louder. She had never felt more terrified in her life. The voices were now practically yelling, in the fetal position Celestia screamed “Enough!” As she did so she opened her eyes and found herself in some sort of dimly lit room. In the corner, The Doctor stood there watching her with a singed bowtie and an amused look on his muzzle.
The Doctor had tried helping her while she slept. That didn’t go so well for him as he had hoped. The monarch shot a flare in defense at him when he tried to wake her up in her frantic state. With her wide awake and in a state of alarm, he decided to try and calm her down by being casual. “Hello Sunshine. Bad dreams?” He asked the princess. Giving him a glare that could melt him, the mare nodded.
“Yes. It was a terrible dream. I am not used to nightmares like that anymore. Usually Luna comes in to help me with my dream.” She replied to him looking down and defeated.
“Luna? Oh that’s right your sister. This sort of thing happen often then?” He asked her, completely unaware of just what she meant. He thought Luna physically would wake her sister up whenever she had bad dreams.
“No not anymore at least. When Luna became the guardian of the night again, the nightmares were heavily subdued. Even so, a pony occasionally has a nightmare and Luna must enter the dreams to help them conquer their fear.” She explained to the Time Lord.
“Wait she does what?” What Celestia explained to him was bizarre. “Are you saying she literally enters dreams and then takes over?”
“Yes Doctor that is exactly what she does.” Princess Celestia confirmed.
“Now that is cool. Having a nightmare and suddenly a knight in shining armor strolls in and rescues you literally in your dreams. That’s very cool. I must say Celestia you ponies never cease to surprise me.” He said to her. He was enjoying the fact that in this new universe he was constantly learning.
“I am glad you find that…cool. I would hate for my world to suddenly seem boring to a visitor such as you.” Celestia responded to his remarks.
The Doctor looked around the room for a moment before he decided to start this next conversation. He figured it wouldn’t end well. “Celestia. What do you remember of the war in the year 391?” The Doctor asked Celestia. Already he noticed a look of surprise on her face as he asked.
“Why do you ask? No. First let me ask. How do you know about it?” Celestia filled with suspicion . How in all of Equestria did The Doctor know about a war that happened almost six hundred years ago?
“Well to put it simply, we are in the war right now.” He explained their current situation in a straightforward manner because really there was no way to sugar coat it.
“We are what!?” Celestia yelled at the top of her lungs. Furious now at this new information, she stood right above The Doctor and got right into his face. “You are telling me that you went back in time and brought me to this dark hour of my history without my permission? Even more, as I was unconscious!” The Doctor could feel the room heat up with her sudden anger.
“We didn’t have much choice in the matter. You, I, and The Master were being chased by Weeping Angels. The only course of action was to escape into his TARDIS. The only thing we could think of doing afterwards was going to the point in time where your history was being modified. We wanted to help you Celestia.” He explained to her as best he could. Looking into her eyes, he could see the fires within them lower into smoldering coals as she calmed down.
“Doctor do you realize that we are all in grave danger. This war is much worse compared to the one I had fought against my sister. There will be thousands of casualties…on both sides of the conflict.” Turing around, she slowly returned to the bed she was in. “Doctor. This war was unjust in every way…”
“Yes we already know. You, or rather, your younger self has already told us, The Changelings slaughtered an entire equestrian village as they started to take equestrian land.” Celestia looked across the room at him with a look of shame and regret. “What’s that face for?” He asked with growing concern.
“That’s only part of what happened. D…Doctor when you look at me, what do you see?” She asked him as she looked down.
“Well. I see a leader, who wants to be like a mother for all who need one. I see a mare who may have done things she regrets but…none the less she has worked hard to atone for her misdeeds.” He studied how she had reacted to hearing how this war started and had gone off of that. To his surprise Celestia went from almost about to cry, to full of bitterness and a look of self-hate.
“Doctor I must have only told you part of the story because I wanted you to help me in this fight. I will tell you right now that what you know is only a half-truth. The reason why Queen Hissandra sent a group to slaughter a small village of mine…(She takes a deep breath)…Is because she came to me for help. Her homeland kingdom was beginning to starve. A massive drought had ravished the area and she needed a way to feed her kingdom. She wanted farmland here in Equestria, only the long stretch of land along the Draco mountains beside the river that runs through part of the area before branching out and heading towards the sea…I refused the plea. Instead I…began to send troops into the mountains to take part of her kingdom to expand my own. I was so selfish. She came to me in peace and asked personally that I stop this invasion. She practically begged me to stop. Again I refused her and began imprisoning her subjects. She came to me with an ultimatum, either I let her people go and pull out my forces, or she would have to take drastic actions. Once again I ignored her, so she sent that patrol to slaughter the village along the border to make her point. It was then I declared war against her…”
The Doctor was speechless. Here Celestia was explaining what had happened and it sounded far worse than her younger self explained. Infact, He could go as far as saying Queen Celestia had lied to him and The Master. Turning around in fury he stormed out of the room and towards the main console room. Behind, he could hear Celestia following him.
“Doctor! Doctor what are you going to do!? Doctor wait!” She called out to him. She couldn’t use her magic to stop him because her head still felt fuzzy and unlike when was in a panic, she had no adrenaline running through her. Instead she felt slow and sluggish.
The Doctor was furious. Ignoring Celestia calling out to him he skulked right past The Master and out the TARDIS doors. Before Celestia could follow, The Master stopped her by flicking a switch and closing them from the console. “And where do you think you’re going? You can’t leave the TARDIS right now. Too much danger of a paradox.”
“I need to know what he’s doing!” She practically yelled at him.
“Look I don’t know what happened between you two, but I must insist. It’s too risky to let you out of here when you’re not even ten feet away from the door outside!” The master explained.
“Are you saying we’re in my tent?!...”
Unable to hear the two talking anymore as he rounded the TARDIS, he went right up to the Queen and pushed the mare to wake her up. “Get up!” The Doctor demanded. Queen Celestia being almost pushed out of her bed, sat up quickly and was slightly confused before realizing she had been pushed by The Doctor.
“What in the Hell are you doing!?” Queen Celestia yelled back at him, already charging up her magic for an attack.
“I could ask you the same thing Queen of the Hill! Why didn’t you tell me what really happened!? What!? Did you think I wouldn’t help you out in this damn war! Well if that’s your guess, then you were absolutely right! You lied to me Celestia! Only told me what you wanted me to hear so that I would agree to help you. Do you realize your actions have cost thousands of lives! This whole war could have been avoided if you had just been sympathetic towards a nation in need! But no, instead what do you do!? You wage war on it and then lie about it straight to my face! There is one thing Celestia! One thing you must never ever do, and that is lie to me when I am wanting to help! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just fly away in the TARDIS and let you deal with this on your own!” Staring into her eyes, The Doctor was shooting a look that would make a Dalek run away.
“Doctor I did what I…” Before she could finish The Doctor interrupted her.
“Did what you had to? Don’t give me that excuse! You did it out of greed and a desire for more power! Here a world leader came to you for help. Begging for you to save her people. Instead you turned around and began invading! You are nothing more than a tyrant! You want my help Celestia!? Then here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to have a meeting with Queen Hissandra, sign a treaty, and help rebuild her nation. I will be damned if I fight in a battle alongside a power hungry mare like you!” Letting out all his anger at once, The Doctor’s mane had flopped over part of his face and he flipped it back over to the side before correcting his unraveling bowtie.
Queen Celestia said nothing to him and simply looked down at her bed. A few soldiers came rushing in at the sound of all the yelling, but she dismissed them. Only minutes had gone by and to her it felt like hours as The Doctor stood over the war map in silence. She barely knew him as she only encountered him once or twice before. However she never saw him like this. The way he stood and how he talked down to her just now, made her feel like a filly being scolded by a parent. In another bout of anger he pushed the map off the table and slammed his hoof down with a loud bang before rubbing his face with his hooves.
“I’m getting too old for this.” He sighed as he picked the partly torn map off the grass and unwrinkled it on top of the table. Celestia walked up beside him quietly, still unsure of what to say. Turning to her with tired eyes he continued. “I have been in too many wars for my own good. I’ve seen them all end in misery and destruction. Nothing ever changes. People…er…ponies for that matter always see as their side being the heroes, and the opposition being the bad guys. Neither side is good or bad. Both have their own reasons for the war and both view anyone in their way as the enemy. However Celestia, what you did do was begin a war that was unnecessary. Queen Hissandra was, in all means, justified in her attack. Maybe not in the killing of the ponies who lived there, but most certainly the attack itself against them. I have seen what your country will become. It has its own problems, but it is a peaceful nation who wants to help everyone they can.” About to speak for once, she was however cut off by The Doctor again. “I will help you win this war Queen Celestia. But only because I know your country will have a chance of becoming great someday because of it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even learn something about yourself.” With that he slowly made his way to the front of The Master’s TARDIS. Before he could enter it however she stopped him.
“Doctor wait…” Celestia quietly asked him.
“Yes? What is it now?” He turned around and gave her another tired look.
“Thank you.” She simply said to the Time Lord. He didn’t reply back and closed the tent flap like doors. Sighing with a defeated tone she returned to her bed. She knew she couldn’t sleep after all of that. She had to raise the sun in a few hours. Tomorrow was going to be one Hell of a day.
Gaia: approx. 1004 C.E: Equestria: Ponyville: Town Square
The sun was rising from the horizon as Twilight Sparkle lifted the sun. It was a little shaky at first but the sun finally rose to its proper position in the morning sky. A heavy dew hung in the early dawn air, a thin fog rolled along the ground as Luna tread towards the center of Town Square. The statue on the fountain gleamed as it caught the sunlight. Looking up at it, she still thought back at the events that happened just hours earlier. Discord had been devastated at the death of Fluttershy. The remaining elements of harmony were now over at the cottage mourning over their own loss of their dear friend. The rest of the town didn’t really have an Idea yet of what happened, all they knew was that it had been Discord’s doing.
The TARDIS was nowhere to be found. She searched for it as she helped reorganize the town. More and more Luna worried about where The Doctor was, and more importantly, her older sister Celestia. The Weeping Angles were still a threat, that much she was certain. Discord had only got his hands on two of them last night, Luna herself having destroyed a few of them back at the castle. She kept telling herself that there had to be more of them close by. The ones in Canterlot, and the ones here in Ponyville…”wait”…Luna had thought to herself. Why were the Weeping Angels here in Ponyville? If they had been going after The Doctor and Celestia, then why did they attack Fluttershy’s cottage? As Luna pondered this, she wasn’t watching where she was walking and ran right into a gloom Twilight Sparkle.
“Oof! Oh I am terribly sorry Twilight. I wasn’t really paying attention where I was going. Are you alright?” Luna asked as she helped the young mare back to her hooves.
“Yes Princess Luna. I’m fine…sorta.” Twilight replied to her as she rubbed her horn half-heartedly. “I just can’t believe that Fluttershy is gone.” Twilight’s tail hung low and Luna noticed that her eyes were red from repeated crying.
“She may be gone but at least we know that she had a beautiful life. Remember her Twilight, and she will always be in your heart.” Trying to console the young mare, Luna hugged Twilight in a deep hug before pressing on the next subject. “How is Discord? Is he…ok?”
“Discord won’t speak a word. He won’t even look at us. All night he stayed curled up in her bed and wept. We haven’t found Angel Bunny yet…we hope he’s alright.”
Twilight looked around and sighed. “I’m going to get something to eat Princess. Talk to you later.” She turned and slowly trot over to a small restaurant called Haymasters.
Luna walked around Ponyville for a while longer. The inhabitants had just started doing business as usual for the day. She still found no signs of any other Weeping Angels in the area, convinced that none were hiding here in Ponyville, Luna began to make her way over to the cottage. It was midday and the sun had lazily climbed to the center of the sky. Nearing the cottage, Luna took a moment to look around. To her right, the Everfree forest was a small distance away and the breeze made the trees look as if they were shooing travelers away, to her left, was the cottage, grey and darkened. It was as if all the life had been sucked out of the area. Walking up to the door, Luna knocked on the colorless wood. Answering her was Pinkiepie, still sad, her mane was deflated and she herself looked a little grey.
“Pinkiepie, how are you holding up?” Luna asked as she peered inside the doorway, inside looked as if night had fallen.
“I’ll live…I don’t know how to throw a get well soon party for Discord when I’m needing one too…” Pinkiepie turned around and walked back into the cottage. Luna followed her and noticed that everything, from the living room to upstairs, was blacked out. Walking quietly up the staircase, everything was silent. A dismal atmosphere surrounded her as she approached the door to Fluttershy’s bedroom. Slowly opening the door, Luna stepped inside. Discord was still curled up in the bed. Closing the door behind her, Luna and Discord were alone. She was afraid to speak, for she had no idea what to say to the hurting omnipotent creature.
His first new friend was gone. Taken from him without warning. He began to wonder why he should even still be here. He could go and reign tyranny over the whole of Gaia if he wanted to now. Without the element of kindness…without Fluttershy the elements were…without Fluttershy the…without…He sobbed again. Discord sobbed into Fluttershy’s pillow and started the whole process of hating himself once again. The darkness surrounding them shuddered as his body convulsed when he wept. Luna went over to him and placed a hoof on his back. “Discord she was a great mare. Kind and not a selfish bone in her body. I know you need time to grieve, but Discord please don’t blame yourself of her death. I need your help soon. There are more Weeping Angels out there and they could come back and kill more ponies.” Discord turned to her and just stared not saying a word. “Do you remember when you and my father fought the soulless? The creatures created by the ungoverned magic that had given life to our world? When my mother was killed he wanted to destroy everything, even himself, but you stopped him and told him that no matter what, he must do what she would have wanted. You forced him to take arms and fight the creatures instead of cursing the newly formed land to death, because you knew this world needed a chance at living. When he was struck a fatal blow by the leader of the soulless he told you that this world and his children were your responsibility. The spirit of chaos who was born from the destruction they caused. You are the most ancient creature of our land, so I have no right to be scolding you right now, especially with the loss of our friend Fluttershy, but you need to stand up and fight once again. You must grieve later because we need your help. Without my sister and without the power of the elements, you are the only one who can help me protect Equestria from these creatures. You may have failed against Tirek, but only because you didn’t fight back before it was too late. Now’s the time to act. Now’s the time to avenge Fluttershy and help me save our subjects against this threat.”
Discord didn’t know what to say to Luna. She was right. They needed to take action. He felt a new kind of disappointment in himself for not doing so last night. She told him exactly what he needed to hear. King Solaris and Queen Faust put him in charge of protecting this world after they were gone, and now it was time he took his responsibility again. The whole cottage slowly brightened, the lifeless home became colorful again. Rising out of the bed, Discord got up and stood next to Luna with newfound determination. “So then Luna? Where do we start?”
In the Everfree Forest all was silent while this conversation took place at the cottage. The very moment Discord decided to take action, a single chime of the TARDIS’s Cloister Bell rang, as if calling out for help. Unfortunately the Weeping Angels silenced it and nopony heard it, all the TARDIS could do now was wait for its rescue.
Gaia: approx. 394 C.E: Equestria: Border of the Draco Mountains:
Tent of the Queen Changeling
A heavy dew laid across the plains. The Changeling encampment was already abuzz with the sound of her soldiers preparing for battle. The sun began to rise from the east behind the mountains. Queen Hissandra cursed at the sun as she woke from her sleep. She used to praise Celestia for her beautiful mornings, but not anymore. After all Celestia had done to her and her kingdom, Hissandra would never love the sunrise again. She began to put on her battle armor, the various clamps and leather straps still stiff from lack of use. This confrontation was the first time she had ever fought in an actual war. Her commanders urged her not to join in battle yesterday, so instead of fighting, she was sent to the back of the lines for Spell Support. When she was finished with her armor Hissandra stepped out of her tent. Looking down at her soldiers she scowled as she knew this was a war they could not win. Celestia’s troops were more equipped and heavily trained, most of Hissandra’s soldiers however were rice farmers, salt miners, and monks. Her nation never really needed to go to war, they were masters of disguise who could feed off of love energy, and there was no real reason to train for fighting. A highly decorated changeling came up to her.
“Your Highness, our troops are almost ready to move out.” The changeling was old, he had fought only in one other war, during her father’s reign forty years ago.
“Alright then Shigure, tell them that this will be our Final battle. We wouldn’t survive another day against her forces, we will fight till our last breath. Celestia is our target, all troops are to find and kill her. That will be our only chance at winning this war.” Hissandra commanded her general. He looked at her for one long moment before speaking his peace.
“My Queen, your father was formidable in battle, he never knew defeat. His troops were by far the best our country had to offer, when he won against the Feudal Lords during the civil war he never wanted our country to go to war again. I know times have changed, he never wanted his daughter to have to command a fleet. I am not one to turn from battle your Highness but…” Queen Hissandra cut him off.
“Shigure! We will not surrender and become a slave nation to the Equestrian forces. I tried my best to avoid conflict, but Celestia had other plans, she thought she could take my nation in its desperate time of need. We will not give in without a fight. I owe this to my people. Though we may die today, we die with honor!” Hissandra yelled at her general. Fiery passion and hate spewed with every word. The general bowed before looking up at her once more.
“If only your father were here to see you now. He would be proud of your resolve.” Shigure turned and trotted down the slope back into the encampment. Queen Hissandra looked past her troops and onto the opposite side of the valley where the camp fires of the Equestrian troops were burning.
“If my Father were here Shigure…we would have already won.” Hissandra said with a sigh of sadness.
