//------------------------------// // Prologue - A Chaotic Rebirth // Story: The Rhythm of Insanity // by rpp4d2 //------------------------------// And so he fell, straight from the sky. The man in brown suit fell, breaking the roof of the Naismith Mansion, the shards of glass sinking into his skin, as he bleeded on the floor. Those injuries were far too great for any human to stand. But he was no human, he was a timelord, the fall itself could have killed anyone else, but he wasn't anyone else, he was The Doctor. He held in his hand a small, dark gray object. An object he never thought he would hold again in his life. A gun. He tried pointing it at the man in front of him, but the pain was far too great, and he simply lost strenght. The Lord President of the Timelords, dressed in red and gold, known as Rassilon, smiled, and adressed the two timelords in front of him. 'My Lord Doctor...' He said to the man in brown suit. '...and Lord Master...' He said to the man in the black hoodie. 'We are gathered for the end.' 'Listen to me... You can't.' The Doctor struggled to get up, but failed. 'It's a fitting paradox, that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child.' Rassilon said. 'Oh, he's not saving you... Don't you realise what he's doing?' The Doctor asked, still too injured to rise to his feet. 'Hey! No! Hey! That's Mine!' Hushed the Master. 'Look around you,' The Master said, now adressing the timelord president. 'I've transplanted myself into evey single human being, but who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single timelord.' He smiled maniacally. 'Oh, yes, Mr. President, sir, standing there all noble and resplandant, and decrepit. Think how much better you're gonna look... AS ME!' The mad timelord said. Rassilon barely reacted, simply pulling out his gauntlet, known as the Hand of Omega, as it shone a blue-ish glow, and every single Master on earth, save for the original, turned into their original human counterparts. 'No! No! No! Stop it! No! No! No! No!' He shouted in disbelief. Yet another plan fooled. 'On your knees, mankind' Said Rassilon to all humans present in the room. All obeyed, as Rassilon gave his determined look. 'Oh, that's fine, that's good! Because you said salvation! I still saved you! Don't forget that!' The Master tried in desperation to convince the high council. 'The approach begins.' Rassilon said. 'Approach of what?' Asked the Master. 'Something is returning, don't you ever listen?!' The Doctor said through clenched teeth. 'That was the prophecy, not someone, something!' The timelord on the floor said. 'What is it?' Asked the Master. 'They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey!' The Doctor said, as he stared into the Master's eyes. 'Right here, right now!' All emergency warnings were set. Every human in the room fleeing from the chaos. The gigantic red planet, bigger than Earth itself floating just above everyone. All they could do was stand and watch, without hope of survival, seeing that if such a planet fell, Earth would be entirely destroyed. The Master finally realised what the Doctor meant. Gallifrey was returning. 'Haha... I... I did this... I GOT THE CREDIT! I'm on your side!' The Master said, with an unsure smile. The chaos continued, more and more people escaping, one lonely man entering the room, saving a scientist trapped in a booth. The people in the towns fleeing their homes, unsure of what to do. Chaos and confusion everywhere, as a timelord started to speak. 'But... this is fantastic, isn't it? The timelords restored!' The Master proudly said. 'You weren't there.' Retorted the Doctor. 'In the final days of the war, you never saw what was born... But if the timelock's broken then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degratations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King, with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The war turning to hell! And that's what you opened... Right above the Earth... Hell is descending!' The Doctor finished. 'My kind of world.' The Master said, without a second thought. 'Just listen!' The Doctor insisted. 'Because even the timelords can't survive that!' He stated. 'We will initiate the final sanction,' Started rassilon' the end of time will come, at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart!' Rassilon said, confidently. 'That's suicide.' The Master commented. 'We will ascend...' Said Rassilon, extending his arms.'... to becoming creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, of cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be.' Rassilon finished. 'You see now?' The Doctor looked at the Master. 'That's what they were planning, in the final days of the war. I had to stop them.' Said the Doctor. 'Then... Take me with you, Lord President.' The Master extended his arms. 'Let me ascend into glory!' He kneeled in front of Rassilon. 'You are diseased. Be it a disease of our own making... No more...' Rassilon said, as he prepared the Hand of Omega for one more attack. Suddenly a clicking sound could be heard. All timelords looked at the Doctor, standing on his feet, holding a gun at the Lord President. He had his finger on the trigger, and wasn't seeming to hesistate. 'Choose your enemy well. We are many, the Master is but one.' Said Rassilon. 'But he's the President! Kill him and Gallifrey could be yours!' Argued the Master. But his argument seemed pointless, as the Doctor turned around, and pointed his gun at the mad timelord. 'He is to blame, not me!' The Master seemed despaired. A few seconds passed, but the Doctor still pointed the gun at the Master. 'Oh. The link is inside my head, kill me... the link gets broken, they go back...' Said the Master, in understanding. A few more seconds passed, and the gun still didn't fire a shot. 'You never would, you coward.' Said the Master, clenching his teeth. A few seconds later, still, the trigger wasn't pressed. 'Go on then, do it!' Said the Master. A few more seconds went by, as the Doctor was caressing the trigger, and the Master almost imperceptably shook his head in fear. Finally, the Doctor turned around again, and pointed his gun at Rassilon. 'Exactly! It's not just me, it's him! He's the link, kill him!' Said the Master. 'The final act of your life is murder, but of which one of us?' Asked Rassilon. As a few more seconds passed, unnoticed by everyone else in the room, one of the timelords alongside Rassilon uncovered her face. Everyone, except The Doctor. After seeing this, he knew he just couldn't kill, not in front of his own mother, so he turned again, seemingly pointing the at the Master. The Master simply sighed, as he waited for the Doctor to fire. 'Get out of the way.' Was all the timelord with the gun said. Smiling, the Master jumped to the left, as the Doctor shot the computer behind him, as it exploded sending fire to part of the room. 'The link is broken! Back into the Time War, Rassilon! Back into hell!' The Doctor shouted above the sound of explosions. 'Gallifrey falls!' A voice could be heard saying, seemingly out of nowhere. 'Gallifrey falls!' It repeated. 'You die with me, Doctor!' Shouted Rassilon, in anger. 'I know.' The Doctor said. As Rassilon pointed the Hand of Omega, the Doctor prepared to his death. 'Get out of the way.' Someone said behind him. As the Doctor looked in surprise, the Master used his energy beams, made out of his own life force, and shot Rassilon. 'YOU DID THIS TO ME! ALL OF MY LIFE!' The Master said, and shot Rassilon again. 'YOU MADE ME!' He shouted, and shot again. 'ONE!' And he shot again. 'TWO!' And he shot again. 'THREE!' And he shot again. 'FOUR!' And he shot one last time. Rassilon then knelt in pain, as the entire room had so much light in it, nothing could be seen. Meanwhile, as suddenly as it appeared, Gallifrey was leaving the Earth sky, going back into the timelock, into the ends of existance. ... THE MASTER'S P.O.V. Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. Again. Again. Again. Again. Endlessly, aimlessly, tirelessly. I am no stranger to death. I am no stranger to pain. I am no stranger to madness. I am no stranger to power. I have lived long enough, and seen so much, it could kill me or drive me mad. Though, personally, I chose the latter. Though... Will it ever end? Will it ever stop? I know I'm dying. Why can't I just die already? Why must this pain last? What is any of this for? Is it worth it? Was it ever worth it? Can I finally have some peace? The drums... I can still hear them... Banging in my mind. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four... Over, and over, and over, and over. I thought I would get rid of them, but... EVEN NOW! I CAN HEAR THEM! THEY JUST DON'T STOP! ENOUGH ALREADY!!! Rassilon, you old fool. Thought you could do that to me, and get away with it? Poison my life, without suffering my wrath? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You really are stupider than I thought. I am getting bored of this... of this void, of this emptiness. I want to go back. Not even to my world, just... to any world. Prehaps another world would be better. I could start anew. I could be reborn. I could be better... Prehaps... Now I could finally do my plans, and without the Doctor's meddling... I could make my own T.A.R.D.I.S. again, scheme a plan, and RULE A GALAXY! ENSLAVE AN ENTIRE SPECIES! I COULD BE IMMORTAL, INVINCIBLE, UNSTOPPABLE! I COULD BECOME A GOD! I COULD BE THE MOST FEARSOME FORCE IN THE WHOLE WIDE UNIVERSE, AND NOBODY WOULD STOP ME!! Is it what I really want though? ... WHO CARES! IT'S FUNNIER THAT WAY! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha! 'Oh? What do we have here? What are you? I have never seen something like you before...' asked a voice from the deep. 'Who is there? Show yourself!' I commanded. Suddenly, a huge draconequus-like being appeared before me. It seemed like an amalgamation of just about everything. It had a goatee, some horns, a long and slim body, with a reptilian claw, an avian claw, a tail. It was an unsymmetrical mess. My kind of creature. 'My identity doesn't really matter right now. Hey, you seem upset about something. Are you dead aswell? Neat! Prehaps, I could help you, bring you back to life, get you out of this limbo, but first...' It started. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how this works. "Hey, I need something in return, so, shake my hand, and I'll give you what you want at a price so big, you wonder why would anyone makes a deal with me, I am an obvious walking, talkind deathtrap!" ' I said. 'Hold it there, Mr. Smartypants, I can't just let you go around here doing whatever you please. You are in my realm now, so... ' I started walking towards it, and extended my hand. 'What are you doing?' It asked. But it was too late, I had touched it's body. 'You seem to emanate a telepathic field, can you read minds? That's funny, that would make us two.' I started looking at it's memories, and spoke out loud a little of what I saw. 'So, Discord. It seems a few thousand years ago you were imprisioned by... two pony sisters? And transformed into a rock by six shining gems? And you dare call yourself a god of chaos?!' I inquired. 'And what about you?' It asked, surprise tangible in it's voice. 'Read my mind, and find out.' I said. I removed most of my psychic barriers, and allowed the creature get inside my mind. It started reading some of my memories, just the most recent ones starting from the Time War. The day I ran away, the end of the universe, Professor Yana, the Master Reborn, Harold Saxon, the Toclafane, Lucy, the return of Rassilon, my vengeance... It jumped out of my mind in less than three seconds. I could see it lying before me, with eyes wide in terror. They got wider and wider, the more I approached. 'Lucky you. Seems like you haven't absorved enough of me to kill you. Had I allowed you some more memories, and let you in there a little more time, prehaps your head would have been set on fire.' I said. I started talking a little more to it. Seeing it's expression of horror and confusion made it seem quite... cute. 'Now, you know who I am. Makes things easier. Now, how about a deal? I could get you out of this place, and I will do so, if you get me out first. Here is so boring, your world seems quite cheerful and fun. I'd like to go there. In return, I'll get you out of here as soon as possible, or as soon as I want to, depends if you behave. So, do we have a deal?' I extended my hand. It seemed afraid at first, but then it extended it's claw to me, and shook my hand. 'Deal.' It said. Wow, it must be really in despair, trusting me like that, or it just judges itself powerful enough to stand as equals to me. The creature made a little light on one of it's claws, as the light became bigger, and bigger. I could feel light engulfing my body, all that life, all that sensations. This was going to be my great new start! ... I woke up as a pony. I suddenly regret all my life decisions... Looking at myself, I could see I was now blue, a kind of gray-ish blue. I had hooves, and appearantly, my clothes were still there, only pony sized and shaped. The main problem, though, was learning how to walk. I was far more difficult than expected, as I couldn't properly stand on four members, and move them all efficiently. Eventually, though, I finally learned how to do it, if I didn't know myself, I'd say I was born a pony, no creature in the world could ever tell the difference. 'Excuse me sir, but why are you trotting in such and awkward fashion?' Someone behind me asked. I. Give. Up. I took a look behind me, and saw a yellow pony, with a pink mane. She seemed a litle startled by my presence. 'Do me a favor... GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!' I shouted. I could hear the pony sobbing behind me as it flied away in fear. Stupid creatures. I decided to explore the place, clear my mind, and prehaps learn how to move on all fours without looking like a complete idiot. While I walked I could hear Discord's voice inside my head. 'Ah, so, how are things going for you, buddy?' He asked. 'I am learning how to walk. What do you want?' I retorted. 'Well, let's talk for a bit, I could give you some valuable information.' He said. 'I have nothing better to do. Speak.' I said. I didn't see his face, but I'd assume he smiled. 'So, basically, there are three main kinds of ponies. Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns.' He said. 'How do I know what kind I am?' I asked. 'Simple. Earth ponies are simply normal ponies. They have bigger physical strenght, stamina and resistance than other ponies.' He said. 'There are the Pegasi. They have wings, which obviously allows them to fly. They aren't as physically strong as earth ponies, but they have the power to control the wheather.' He continued, as I looked at myself and saw my little pair of blue wings standing outside of my clothes. 'There are unicorns, they have horns. They are even weaker physically than earth ponies and pegasi, but that is balanced out with their capacity of magic. Many of them are capable of great things, that would make them one of the stronges kinds of ponies.' He said, as I touched my head and felt a horn aswell. 'What about ponies who have both?' I asked him. 'Why do you ask?' He questioned. 'I want to know what I am.' I said. 'Wait... what?' He seemed incredulous. 'But... That is...' He stutterd. 'Just answer me.' I asked. I could hear him taking a deep breath, which was unecessary, since we were talking telepathically. 'You are an Alicorn, it's basically a fourth kind of pony, it's the rarest kind of them all.' He said. 'What does it do?' I asked. 'It has all the powers of the three other kinds. They are basically the strongest ponies of them all, usually the leaders, their life span is significantly higher than those of normal ponies, and they are usually considered gods among other ponies, being capable of even controlling the sun and the moon.' He said. My smile couln'd have been wider. How fitting, for me of all ponies, to become an alicorn. 'That's good, for a moment, I thought I was a mutant abomination.' I said, a bit sarcastically. 'Anything else I should know?' I asked. 'There are other two alicorns, at least, there were, since last time I was there. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Watching from afar, though, I think Princess Luna had a fight with her sister, and was imprisioned on the moon.' He said. 'Princesses? Any king, or queen?' I asked. 'On Equestria, not really, but...' He started. 'That's a stupid hierarchy, only seconds-in-command, but no actual leader.' I interrupted. 'Princess Celestia is kind of the main leader.' He said. 'But then, why is she not queen?' I was getting more and more confused. 'She prefers the title of princess, since queen sounds a bit "evil".' He answered. I stopped right after hearing this. 'Of all the stupid reasons... That's simply unacceptable! What kind of leader is afraid of power, that is simply cowardness.' I commented. 'Change the subject before I kill somebody.' I said. 'Uh, not sure about where you come from, but here, the correct term is "somepony", just saying, so you won't sound too... weird, if talking to them.' Discord corrected. 'Thanks for the information. Anything else I should know?' I asked. 'Have you looked at your flank?' He asked. 'WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!' I asked back, enraged. 'Well, there are these thing ponies have in their flanks... They call them "cutie marks", they serve to represent a pony's nature, usually, they show their talents, or personality, or attributes. I'd like to know what is yours like.' He said. I decided to take the risk and look at it, and described it to Discord. 'It looks like an hourglass, but it's broken on one side, above it... there's the white point star, and below, a black drum, with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 written on it.' I said. 'What? I've never seen such a detailed cutie mark before.' He said. 'Strange, but it doesn't look like it sums me up as a whole. Do you think if I regenerate I could change my cutie mark aswell?' I asked. 'Prehaps. Anyway, anything else you wanna know?' He asked. 'Not right now, I'll call you if I have a doubt.' I said. After this, our telepathic conversation ceased, and I continued my stroll around the place. I could see myself getting into a dense forest, it had completely black trees, and scary noises everywhere. There was a constant feeling of something lurking behind. That was a place I'd like to visit more often. I took my time to make a plan of what to do next. From what I've seen in Discord's memories. This planet may be primitive, and with some inconsistent technologies, but prehaps, with what I have here, I could build myself a T.A.R.D.I.S., and with that, the possibilities would be endless. I started chuckling to myself at the idea. But first things first. I needed someone to help me. Even though I'm infinitely smarter than these "ponies", I can't just build a T.A.R.D.I.S. alone, at least, not without taking a few hundred years, and I'd like to see this task done as soon as possible. Prehaps, if there is magic in this world, I could ask some powerful unicorns to help me build a T.A.R.D.I.S. Even better, with magic, it would be much easier to make the circuits, there wouldn't be as much calculations to do. It would cut the time drastically. That's it. I need someone. Eventually, I came close to a river, but, before I could cross it, a huge sea serpent appeared in front of me. It had a huge slim body, with purple scales, it had a blonde hair, and moustache. At first glance it seemed pretty menacing, but upon closer inspection, it looked like one of those stupid "pop singers" from the planet earth. I wouldn't mind it, but now I was in a hurry. I tried passing by it, and leave it behind, but it got in front of me. 'Oh, hello! I am Steven Magnet! Who are you?' It asked me. 'I don't have time for this right now, get out of my way.' I said. 'Whoa there, little fella, no need to be so rude.' It said, getting close to my face. 'I was just wondering what a little pony like you would be doing in such a place, while so many try to avoid it.' It said. 'First of all, as far as I've seen, all ponies around here are a bunch of wimps. I'm trying to get through the river, so just leave me alone.' I said. 'Hey, why are you so upset?' It asked, coming even closer. I didn't answer, instead, I walked beside it, but when I was in the middle of the river, it popped up again. 'Are you lost?' It asked. 'Out. Of. My. WAY!' I shouted, as my horn charged a blue attack, that hit the creature in the face, slicing half of it's moustache. 'Oh, so I guess it worked out...' I mumbled to myself. I crossed the river, and procceeded through the forest, while hearing the creature's sobs behind me. Why is everyone in this universe so sensitive? After about a half hour walking through trees with glowing eyes, and a few creatures, I finally got out of that accursed forest. And then I trotted aimlessly again. This was going to take a while. ... After a few long, boring, seemingly infinite hours, I found a small town, like the one I got out from. While exploring the place, I found a small crowd of ponies circulating a blue pony. Appearantly, she as a unicorn, so I decided to see what was going on. I watched for a while. Appearantly, it was a magic show, which was weird, since magic already exists in this universe. I saw some tricks of the self-proclaimed "most magical pony of all Equestria", including some old cheap tricks even humans could so, like the saw trick, the old escaping trick, things like that. Normally, I would just ignore it, but something made me stay. Trixie seemed to be a bit of a boast, claiming things like "defeating the Ursa Major", seriously, how can you defeat a constellation? I was just about to leave, when I saw one trick. One specific trick. It started off as usual. She called for everyone's attention, and started explaining what she would do next. 'Now, all of you, pay attention! For my next trick, me, The Great and Powerful Trixie, will make this case bigger on the inside!' She said, instantaneously getting my attention. Most ponies were leaving by now, in fact, out of the three ponies still standing, I was the only one paying attention. Upon noticing she had no longer an audience, Trixie simply sighed, as she started to put away her things. I came closer to her. 'Well, aren't you going to finish the trick?' I asked. 'But... who would watch it?' She seemed very upset. 'I would. Do want to talk to someone?' I asked her. 'Yes... I guess. Oh, where are my manners... After so long, I've met someone nice.' She cleared her throat. 'I am the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon.' She extended her hoof. 'Greetings, I am known as the Master, universally.' I said, taking her hoof and shaking it. Not sure yet, but prehaps... This was the start of a very, very interesting journey...