//------------------------------// // Part 18: The Sound of Distant Drumming // Story: Once a Time Lord... Well, actually still that, but now a Pony as well... // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle: There was a change in the air, that much was certain. Nopony could quite place their hooves on what it was, but they knew something had happened. Perhaps it was Princess Luna’s return to the throne, or maybe it was something else. Like I said, nobody could really tell. The Doctor, he hadn’t been seen in a long while, (Not since the Slendermane incident anyways, and even that was known or even cared about by few, considering how low concern Ponyville was to most, and how most mainly dismissed the Slendermane as a small town legend designed to delve up tourism like the Mothmare incident some odd sixty years ago.) Prince Blueblood and a few others had even begun to suspect he’d left Equus entirely for other worlds. After all, what was one small blue ball compared to the rest of the universe? “Not like we need him around every time the smallest threat shows itself to Equestria, anyways,” Blueblood had scoffed during one session of the Day Court, where the daily problems -Large or small- were resolved. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. In reality, it usually devolved into squabbling with very little of note actually getting done. “We can handle ourselves, and take care of our own matters!” “An example of the classic belief of Unicorn superiority,” Fancy Pants, another of Canterlot’s nobles had rebutted. “The return of Nightmare Moon, and our dear Princess being sent to the sun has shown us otherwise. Need I remind you, it was with the help of six young mares, -only two of which were unicorns I might add- that Celestia was returned to us. So, would you kindly, take your tribalist and speciesist ways and shove them up your arse?” He told the arrogant young Prince. Sometimes he wondered how that pony was related to Celestia at times, he showed absolutely none of her kindness or wisdom. “E-Excuse me?” Blueblood sputtered out. “Speciest? H-How dare you! I’m hardly what you call… speciesist!” he argued back, spitting out the word like it was something vile and unsanitary. “Really?” Fancy asked, lifting an eyebrow. “I’d like to remind you what speciest exactly means, at least from what I remember when I looked it up in a dictionary. It goes, and correct me if I’m wrong and forgive me if I sound cold and clinical here: a belief of ponies that all other species of animals are inferior and may therefore be used for equestrian benefit without regard to the suffering inflicted.” Is that not correct?” he asked, looking around the room. A few unicorns caught his eye and shied away in shame, like Chancellor Neighsay -Another pony Fancy often questioned as to why Celestia kept him around, as he often showed disgust for anything non-pony, griffons top at that list- and Blueblood. Blueblood, as Fancy noted, didn’t seem to be arguing against his (Fancy’s) accusations of being a tribalist. Fancy voiced this. “And while we’re on the subject, why not go into your tribalist demeanor, Blueblood, or should I call you Snowfall Frost? As you and the North Wind would get along so well…” Fancy drawled. Blueblood’s jaw dropped at that. “How dare you!?!” Blueblood roared out, his horn actually crackling with magical energy at that. “I’m hardly the same pony as the one known as Snowfall Frost who believed that nobody should be happy, and actually conspired to bring about the end of Hearth’s Warming and completely remove it’s meaning of when the three tribes finally came together, almost letting the Windigos return to our world after millennia!” he shouted back, defending his position, and his honor. “...And yet you suck the joy out of the room whenever you enter, just like Snowfall did..” another noble muttered from somewhere nearby. Blueblood, if he heard that, paid it no mind. “Okay, yes, I admit, you’re far-flung from the unicorn known as Snowfall Frost, but my point remains. We unicorns are not superior to any one race,” Fancy replied, looking rather ashamed of himself. “But we cannot believe that for a moment, that there are some threats that we can handle ourselves. The Doctor, and the Elements of Harmony have proven that.” “Bah!” Neighsay snapped. “Please, I don’t see why we have to rely on an alien and six children when we’re perfectly qualified to deal with whatever comes our way. We won out against the griffons, did we not? The greatest threat to Equestria in modern times?” “Yes, we won, but just barely,” Blueblood corrected, beating Fancy to the punch. “Both sides were on their last legs, as it were, and Celestia actually had to negotiate a peace treaty with commander Gruff in order for both lands to survive! We didn’t win by bloodshed, but by making alliances.” “So what?” Neighsay scoffed. “You’re saying we have to make nice with every enemy that comes our way? Never heard such horseshite in my entire life!” Celestia, who was present during all of this, simply sighed to herself and groaned saying nothing knowing it would be fruitless to get involved in this entire debacle by this point. Instead, she cast a personal silencing spell around herself, so she wouldn’t have to hear anything more said. Not like there was anything worth hearing by this point anyhow. Her annoyance and stress hadn’t gone unnoticed. In the shadows of the room, going unnoticed, Princess Luna shook her head and sighed to herself. “I see some things haven’t changed from 1,000 years ago, the nobles are still squabbling over the smallest things. I really do envy my sister for putting up with this, and not going insane in the process. I probably would have…” she thought to herself. “Here’s hoping the Night Court will be better once it reconvenes at last…” Luna noted that Celestia was without a personal assistant, and had been for about a year now. She vaguely remembered her sister telling her that her last personal assistant, a mare named Raven Inkwell had passed away, although Celestia wasn’t keen, for whatever reason, on saying what exact circumstances under which that had happened. Luna groaned, as the arguments continued to grow more and more heated and sighed as she used to the shadows to travel back to her personal chambers. The Creator knew she definitely didn’t need a headache this early in the morning, and a rest would do her some good before she had to raise the moon and resume her Royal Duties. While her mane was still a light blue, and her full power had yet to return to her, Luna knew that she had to get on task and return to her nightly duties of dream-walking and keeping Equestria safe from what lay in the dark soon. It would be better for her if she was well-rested during that task. As Luna flopped down on her bed, yawned tiredly, and dimmed the lights while pulling the covers up over herself hoping to drift off into the dreamworld’s welcoming arms, she thought to herself: “I hope Celestia can get the help she needs, and soon. She’s overworked enough as it is, and the stupidity of most of the nobles nowadays isn’t helping any with her stress. I hope someone, hopefully, the Doctor returns soon to brighten her days…” The Doctor would return soon, yes, but he wouldn’t be the only Time Lord Equestria was about to play host to… Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight was slowly but surely getting used to the day to day life of living in the small town. It was a definite change from the hustle and bustle of the big city life of Canterlot, that was for sure. Over the three months she’d been in the town, Twilight had noticed a few things. Firstly and foremost, the locals took life at a far slower, relaxed pace than the Nobles of Canterlot did. Maybe it could get a bit dull at times, with no need to wake up at the crack of dawn to go off to attend Celestia’s personal lessons, and so Twilight -As much as she hated to admit it- was starting to let her carefully crafted and regimented schedule slip. Sometimes, she found herself sleeping in till 11:00 in the morning, perhaps even noon. Mind you, she didn’t really mind at times, even if she would never admit it, as this allowed her to loosen up a bit more like Minuette and the rest of her friends back in Canterlot had been begging her to do for years. More hours of sleep in her day, she often woke up far less grumpy and a bit more sociable than she was in Canterlot. Not a lot more sociable, but slightly more. One step at a time. Secondly, she wasn’t saying life in Ponyville was always drop-dead boring. Oh no. There was the incident with the stampede of cattle last week, and soon after a stampede, of all things, bunnies no thanks to an overworked farmpony. (Don’t ask.) Suffice to say, the second stampede had caused quite the drama amongst the owners of the flower shop, with the bunnies eating quite a bit of their stock. Twilight had also heard of a series of child kidnappings happening not that long ago, just a week after she’d arrived in Ponyville and defeated Nightmare Moon. Strangely, they’d ended just two days after they’d started near the Whitetail Woods, and a few arrests had been made in prominent Ponyville citizens for filly and foal abuse. Twilight, of course, had no way of knowing this, but the Slendermane had actually stopped killing those he went after, and instead just left evidence for the Royal Guard that his targets were abusers. Privately, Twilight missed the Doctor, strange as he was, as he did bring a bit of excitement into her otherwise completely studious life. If she had to compare it to anything, she admitted her meeting with the oddball stallion was like a drug. Got her blood racing, heart pumping. She wanted to feel that high again, get embroiled into something strange and intriguing with a little level of danger as well. Maybe, just maybe, that’s why she actually when Nightmare Moon came to call (The actual one this time), she jumped at the opportunity to find the lost Elements of Harmony. Mind you, there was one mare who did seem to bring excitement into everypony’s lives wherever she went. One of the mares she was proud to call one of her best friends, even if she was about as far removed as Twilight’s idea of a good friend as one could imagine. Brash, arrogant and somewhat crude, this mare was almost constantly showing off to the citizens of Ponyville. A bit of a showmare in her own right (Though nowhere near as irritating as an actual showmare which had shown herself in Ponyville not that long ago), she was a curiosity. Coming from a rather prestigious and rather well-off family in Cloudsdale, somehow Rainbow Dash had decided not to live with them, and instead move down to Ponyville instead of all places. Currently, Twilight sat atop a hill, having a glass of a frozen sorbet made from a Blood Orange, specifically one of the Moro variety if the distinct sweet flavor that had a hint of raspberry was any indication. Amongst other things, Twilight had picked up knowledge of various fruits in her books. (Interestingly, the Blood oranges' red pigment anthocyanin could be used as an antioxidant.) Nearby, various other ponies including Rainbow’s childhood friend and fellow Flight Camp graduate Fluttershy watched Rainbow go through a series of loop-de-loops. Mind you, Twilight’s attention was all on the multicolored maned mare, not on anybody else. She could vaguely imagine going off on a grand adventure with this mare, having the distinct feeling Rainbow would be the type to enjoy such a thing. “Hmm, wonder if I should introduce Rainbow to the Daring Do series at some point? Who knows, she might love it…” Twilight mused, taking another small bite of her sorbet. “Twilight dear,” Rarity’s voice came from nearby as she trotted up. “Might it be that I catch your eyes… fixated?” she asked, the fashionista noting the frankly rather bookish mare keeping an eye on Rainbow’s every move, every trick. “Didn’t think she was your type…” “S-She’s not my type!” Twilight sputtered out. “I’m… I’m just interested in the sheer prowess and skill it requires maintaining some of those tricks, j-just like everyone else!” “Whatever you say, dearie…” Rarity trailed off, not believing her friend for a moment. She knew a crush when she saw it, and Twilight was nursing one on Rainbow hard. Rarity chuckled slightly to herself, guess that old saying was true, opposites did indeed attract. ...Of course, by that logic, Rarity thought, she’d wind up falling for a certain hard-working member of the Apple Clan. And not the big stallion she always saw pulling a plow. “Well, if that happens, at least Sweetie Belle will get another sister…” Rarity chuckled to herself, remembering how her younger sister had quickly struck up a friendship with the youngest member of the Apple Clan, alongside a young pegasus filly named Scootaloo. Together, the three had named themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and despite getting into all sorts of trouble and mishaps (Usually ending up covered in tree sap) she had to admit their tenacity was endearing. “Okay, that’s all for now, ladies and gents!” Rainbow said as she flew down to the hill the small crowd had gathered on, and tucked her wings into her sides as she skidded to a halt. The crowd let out an audible groan as it dispersed. “They seemed to be enjoying themselves…” Fluttershy said meekly. “Flutters, first rule with having a captive audience… Always leaving them wanting more.” Rainbow replied, booping her friend on the nose with a hoof. “I… I guess that makes sense…” Fluttershy murmured. Next thing anyone heard was a loud explosion that sent birds scattering from the treetops, which bent in the wind like they were in a great storm. The earth itself shook as well. That was the sheer force of what had just occurred. In the middle of the nearby Everfree forest, sat a blond-maned, blue-furred unicorn stallion with a blood red hourglass as a Cutie Mark. Groaning as he sat up, he mumbled words under his breath. A series of faces appeared in his mind, a handsome man and a dark-skinned woman. He let out a small growl, remembering the last time they’d met. The false immortal, and the companion. “What? What's so funny? “A gun.” “What about it?” “A gun in four parts?” “Yes, and I destroyed it.” “A gun in four parts scattered across the world? I mean, come on, did you really believe that?” “What do you mean?” “As if I would ask her to kill.” The Doctor had scoffed. “Oh well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her.” “But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun, so she'd get me here at the right time.” “Oh, but you're still going to die.” “Don't you want to know what I was doing, travelling the world?” “Tell me.” “I told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor.” “Faith and hope? Is that all?” “No, because I gave them an instruction, just as the Doctor said. I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time.” “Nothing will happen. Is that your weapon? Prayer?” “Right across the world, in word, just one thought at one moment but with fifteen satellites.” “What?” “The Archangel Network.” the false immortal muttered. “A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is Doctor.” The pony growled at the memory, reciting it word for word, before mumbling: “...You're like a pet to him. You think that's an insult, but do you not love your dogs and cats? Sometimes more than your own kind, right? I mean it's not the same as a creature of equal intelligence, but it stops you from getting lonely, right? They can get away with way more than a loved one or friend. your love for them is a lot more... unconditional... Am I right? that's where you are with him? Me... I'm the boyfriend who wants even half the attention my soulmate gives to his fuzzy widdle companion. I look sideways at the one stealing away the attention with a burning hatred because I know... I know if it's me.... or... this thing... I'm out the door in a heartbeat. And that’s what I always will be to you…” The stallion snarled. “Well, the shoe’s on the other foot now Doctor,” he growled out. “Everything you love, I’ll just take it all away from you, so the only thing you have left is… me. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.” His horn crackled with energy, and the Master noticed a strange surge of newfound power filling his body. He smirked, at last, he had the power to do it. Do whatever he desired. First things first though, he had to find the Doctor. And for that, he needed to know where the Doctor was, and who his current companions where. He always had them. He’d play the nice little pony for now, and then… Well, that’s when the fun began. “What’s that phrase he loves so much?” the Master asked as he began to take slow, careful steps getting used to his new form. “Oh right… Allons-Y!”