//------------------------------// // The Doctor Has Arrived // Story: New Beginnings // by Saro0fdemonz //------------------------------// "The what?" Piper asked. "Oh, you mean your daddy's big blue box thingy that i'm not allowed to touch?" Strawberry asked, tilting her head to the side. "Yes Strawberry, that. The TARDIS is how The Doctor ended up here in Equestria and its how we are going to get the answers you are looking for Piper. You'll have to get the others all together. I can take us to the TARDIS but we have to get there without anypony knowing." "Why?" Strawberry asked, pouting a little. "Because we aren't suppose to use the TARDIS, but its the only way. I can't explain any further, please just trust me." Piper nodded. "I trust you Dinky. Though I doubt Amethyst trusts me." "He'll have to eventually Piper, just do your best. I'll get things ready, meet me in the courtyard in an hour." she looked around for a moment. "Don't be late." she said before running off. Piper stood there for a moment, Strawberry nudging him gently. "Hey, she said an hour Piper, we should head back and get the others ready." "huh? Oh yea right. It'll probably take an hour to convince Amethyst anyway...bucking hard headed donkey..." Piper mumbled as they walked back. Twilight sighed silently to herself and shook her head. I can't dwell on this...I need to relax she looked at the shelves around her, her magic lifting several books toward her and snapping them open. She buried herself in the words on the page in front of her, finding peace within the world of books. It seemed just as she was finally content and lost within the story that something began to nip at her ear. At first she did her best to ignore it, but the sensation only grew, the origin of which grew more daring with each passing moment, a long slow drag of its tongue drawing a low moan from the alicorn. "Luna...I'm trying to read..." Twilight mumbled. "Then read dear." the Alicorn replied, grinding the ear between her teeth slowly. "Well...I would...but..." Twilight bit her lip as Luna pulled away from her ear, her breath hot against her neck. "That's really distracting..." "That's the idea Twilight." Luna said with a sly grin. Twilight rolled her eyes and turned, kissing the Alicorn. Their moment ruined by a knock at the door. Twilight sighed, on her back under the Lunar princess. "Maybe if we stay quiet they will go away." Luna said softly, dragging her tongue up Twilight's neck slowly. Another held back moan and another knock. "I don't think they are leaving Luna." The princess sighed, reluctantly pulling away from her wife, giving her a moment to collect herself before answering the door. On the other side stood a pegasus guard, her eyes wide and blank. "Guard, are you alright?" "Oh she'll be fine in a few hours." a voice said, the pony dropping to the ground as a figure peeked its head inside. Luna glared at it, raising her wings. "Oh come now Luna, I thought you of all ponies would be happy to see me. After all I never got to see you last time I was here." Discord grinned as Twilight leapt at him, snapping his claws and halting her progress in mid-air. "Not this time my dear Twilight. Not this time." Celestia hung her head at the sight of The Doctor and Ditzy entering her throne room. "Is it time?" she asked. The Doctor nodded sadly. "Yes, everything has been set in motion. Now we must rely on Dinky and the Elements. By now he will have reached Princess Luna and should arrive here shortly." He said, his voice drowning in the sorrow that pulled on his heart. "I understand if you cannot answer me Doctor, but Will Equestria survive this?" she asked him. "Its up to them now Princess. I was already there before, I cannot check again without crossing my own timeline." Celestia nodded. "Very well. I ask that you two hide for now. I will deal with Discord when he arrives." they nodded, The Doctor placing his hoof against a loose brick in the wall and pushing on it, opening a small passage in which he and Ditzy hid. Moments later the doors flung open, a parade of clouds bouncing across the floor, rain drifting upwards toward the ceiling from them, small fireworks popping in the air as Discord slid into the room, two ponies floating in the air behind him, their bodies wrapped in chains. "Discord...you've returned and you dare to imprison not only my sister but Twilight Sparkle as well?" Celestia asked, showing more bravery than she truly held at that moment. She had known her sister and Twilight would not give up without a fight, but Discord hardly seemed to have been slowed down by them. "Well they refused to come nicely. All I wanted was a nice family reunion. You known Celly you could've invited me to the wedding. These two do make such a lovely little couple, though i'm curious. Who was the naughty mare who cast the forbidden spell?" he asked, rubbing his chin with a claw. None of the ponies had an answer for him. "Hm, nopony knows? I swear its just like when you were children all over again." "You ruined our childhood Discord." Luna spat at him. Twilight on the other hoof said nothing, focusing on prodding the chains that held her with her magic. Discord merely shrugged, snapping his claws once, chains wrapping around Celestia's horn. "What do you want?" Celestia demanded "Me? I just want to talk. Father to Daughter." "...What?" Amethyst asked. "Look, we've got less than an hour to meet up with Dinky and get to the TARDIS." "And we are just going to leave without saying anything to anypony when they need us most. Do you really intend to do that Piper? Is that what our Loyalty is meant to be? Abandoning our family and friends?!" Amethyst yelled at him. "We aren't abandoning them Amy, we're just gonna get some answers." Strawberry said quietly, sitting between them. "Amethyst, it wouldn't hurt to at least find out what all of this is about." Emerald said, placing a claw against his shoulder. He glanced at her then at Piper. "Alright fine. But we're just gonna get some answers then come right back." they all nodded, Piper sticking his head out the door to make sure nopony was around. "Alright its clear." Amethyst pushed past him, followed by the others, all of them making their way to the Courtyard. As they continued to walk things seemed...odd. By now they should have passed at least a guard or two. Strawberry hiccuped, her left ear flapping back and forth, her eyes wide. She threw her hooves around the ponies and pulled them around a corner quickly "Strawberry what the ha.." she put a hoof over Amethyst's mouth as a cotton candy cloud drifted by, several guards stuck to it as it made its way down the hallway. The zebra stared in horror at the scene as did Emerald. "i...Its just like the dream..." Emerald said quietly. "What dream?" Piper asked. "Me and Emy kept having these weird dreams and this is one of them. I think something really bad is happening..." her right ear twitched. "Scratch that, something really really really bad is happening." Piper nodded, peeking down a hall. "What are you doing?!" Amethyst asked in a hushed whisper. "We gotta get to Dinky. She must have known this was gonna happen." Piper took to the air, flapping his wings almost silently as he drifted down the hall, nodding to them. As they turned the next corner several figures stepped forward, their heads turned upside down and goat horns growing from their chins. Emerald gasped. "T...those are..d...Discords minions!" Amethyst placed his claw against the stone wall, the stone peeling away and forming around his arms, forming long blades along his elbows. "Time for that training to pay off." he said, tossing a hoofblade to Piper. The two nodded to one another and charged forward, their weapons raised. It didn't take long for Discords clouds to find the ponies hiding within the palace. One by one they were snatched up in the sticky prisons and dragged to the Embodiment of Chaos, each in turn glaring at him. "Now how in th' hay did ya'll get out of that stone?!" Applejack demanded. "While I would like to say I merely broke free, I have to say I had a bit of help. You might remember him pretty well." Discord said, pressing a claw against Riku's nose. The Alicorn reacted by biting down on the finger, only to have it explode in his mouth. Riku coughed and spit out a tooth, Discord grinning as his finger popped back into place. "So rude." Discord mumbled, hovering in the air and crossing his legs as he relaxed, his paw behind his head. Shades appeared on his eyes, a hole opening in the Palace ceiling to let in a bit of moonlight, though it was only mid-day. "I really did miss our quality time together Celestia. I do hope you don't try to escape." Discord rested a claw against Twilight's' throat. "You know how I can get." Luna glared daggers at him, the edges of her mane tinged red as she let her anger get the better of her. Discord flashed a toothy grin and turned to his other prisoners. "You know, I thought you all would put up a better fight with your little Elements This wasn't any fun at all." he pouted, crossing his arms. Rainbow Dash only smiled at him. "And what are you so happy about?" He asked. The pegasus only shrugged, keeping the smile on her face. "Oh nothin. Just know somethin you don't I guess." "and what would that be?" he asked, placing a claw under her chin. "That as soon as I get out of this, i'm gonna kick your ponycasso ass to the moon." she said with a grin. Sunburst gasped as she saw one of the clouds dragging her parents down a hall, Piper quickly pulling her back before she could zip after them. Rainbow smiled as she caught sight of them. "Get out of here" she mouthed to them. Piper nodded, tears shining in Sunburst's eyes. "Ah'll come back fer you" the teary eyed pegasus mouthed back. Rainbow nodded, though she continued to struggle against the cloud as it drug her away. "We've got to get to Dinky." "We can't just abandon our parents" Amethyst said angrily. Emerald bit her lip. "Amy is right. We can't just leave them. We have to do something" "What are we going to do exactly?" Nova asked. Strawberry poked Emeralds element. "We've got these thingies" Emerald blinked, looking down at the Element that clung to her. Ever since the Elements had bound themselves to them they had been unable to remove them. Emeralds mind began to race as she looked at the Element of Magic. "That's it..." she mumbled. "We have to go help them. We've got to stop Discord!" Dinky sighed and bit her lip as she stood by the TARDIS. she had already gone too far by bringing it here. "Where are they?" she asked herself, looking at a watch strapped to her hoof. She sighed. If they weren't here now then it meant one of two things. One they had been captured and all was lost, or two they had gone after Discord and might have been captured. Either way the unicorn had to do something. She took a deep breath and opened the TARDIS. She mumbled to herself as she stepped inside, grabbing a hat the Doctor had given her. A simple brown fedora with a hole cut into it for her horn to fit through. She smiled a little as she placed it atop her head, rubbing her chin with a hoof as she looked at a few levers. She walked around, pulling a few with her magic and pressing a small grey button with her hoof. "Here we go" Discord raised an eyebrow as the throne room doors burst open, an orange pegasus and purple kirin flying toward him with stone weapons. He smacked them away like flies and sighed a little. "You are attacking me with children now Celly? Now that's just disappointing." "PIPER!" Scootaloo screamed as he slammed into the wall. The pegasus shook himself and rolled before he hit the ground, using the dive to throw himself back into the air, kicking Discord upside his head. Discord rubbed his cheek where the pegasi's hooves had hit him. "The brat has talent." he mumbled, grabbing Piper by his wings as one would a fly. The pegasus struggled and glared at him. "Well hello, what do we have here?" Discord poked the Element of Loyalty around Piper's neck with his claw. "Didn't anypony tell you that its wrong to steal from others?" Piper said nothing, kicking and struggling to break free. "HEY!" Honeycrisp yelled. Discord looked down at the pony, raising an eyebrow. "Let.Him.Go." she said slowly, glaring at him. Discord lowered himself so he could stare into her eyes. "And what will you do if I don't little pony?" The mare blinked, her eyes wide as she STARED at him. Discord laughed at The Stare and flicked Honeycrisp across the room with a claw, Sunburst quickly snatching the startled pegasus out of the air before she could collide with the wall. "SUNBURST! GET OUT OF HERE!" Rainbow yelled. The pegasus bit her lip and looked up at Piper who was still struggling to break free. To their surprise Piper flipped himself backwards, the sound of his wings popping out of place echoing throughout the room. Piper ignored the pain and chomped down on Discords paw as hard as he could. "OUCH!" Discord dropped the pegasus and sucked on his thumb. Piper tried to flap his wings, though with them out of place all they could do was stand upright on his back. He rolled and tucked himself into a ball, hoping to lessen the damage he'd take once he hit the ground. "AMETHYST, CATCH HIM!" Nova yelled. The kirin looked up, as if contemplating if he should just let the pegasus fall. After a moment he cursed and threw out his wings, catching Piper just moments before he hit the ground. Discord glared at the group of ponies, his eyes stopping on Nova. "Well well well. This is interesting." Discord shrank to normal size and walked up to the young Alicorn, placing a claw against her horn. "And who might you be?" he asked, though before anypony could react Emerald tackled him. Though the headbutt only managed to knock him back a little. Discord laughed as he looked at them. "I get it now. These are your little brats aren't they?" he asked the previous Elements of Harmony. "Then I guess you won't mind if I have some fun." he said, he snapped his claws, the light fading from the room. Claws reached from the darkness, grabbing hold of wings, hooves and horns. "NO!" Celestia screamed, struggling against the chains that held her to Discord's floating throne. She recognized this darkness. She had seen its horrors many years ago. She had feared it would be Discords first weapon when he had first returned. Though she had been relieved to discover his madness had not completely returned with him and before it could the Elements had already sealed him back within the stone. Now though it seemed Discord was his old self from all those years ago. A ruthless tyrant bent on breaking anypony who stood in his way. Discord turned his demented grin toward her. "What do you think Celly? Should I do it slowly?" the claws pulled on Pipers wings, causing the pony to scream in agony. "Or Quickly?" he asked, the claws qucikly twisting Penny's hoof, the bone snapping. The earth pony gasped in pain and fainted at the sight of her blood. "PENNY!" Hayseed screamed, pulling against the darkness that held her. Discord smiled as he watched the pony make her way to her twin, the claws dragging the limp body away everytime she managed to get close. "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!" Celestia screamed at him, tears in her eyes. "I've only just started Celestia." he cast his eyes over the trapped ponies, finding Applebloom sobbing and Pip fighting against the cloud that held him, his rage shining in his eyes. Scootaloo buzzed her wings but failed to break free and Sweetie Belle's magic refused to work thanks to Discord's entrapment spell on her horn. It seemed only Twilight was unaffected by what they all saw. Discord put a claw to his chin, turning to Nova and back to Twilight for a moment. "Maybe this one." he said to himself, the claw around Nova's horn squeezing slightly. Nova gasped in pain, closing her eyes as the claws dug into her wings. To Discords disappointment there was still no reaction from Twilight, though Luna was in tears. Discord lowered himself in front of Twilight, looking into her eyes and finding them blank. "Well this is interesting." "NOW!" Twilight screamed. Discord jumped a little in surprise as a grey pegasus slammed into his chin from below. A brown stallion leapt from her back and drove a hoof into Discord's eye. The stunned god of chaos covered his face in his claw and paw, the darkness in the room seeping away. The Doctor landed on Discord's claw, watching as it opened enough for him to see his eye. "Hello again Discord." "You again?" Discord growled, snatching up the Doctor in his paw. He struggled to get free of the massive paw but it was useless. The Doctor smiled and whistled, Ditzy flying back around to slam into Discord's cheek. Though she only collided with his raised claw. "It seems you have a friend." Discord slammed Ditzy into the wall, chains wrapping around her throat and tying her to the wall. More wrapped around her hooves, a fireplace appearing underneath her. "I needed something to put on my mantle. thank you." The Doctor glared at him. "Let her go Discord, she's not the one you want! I'm the one who you want, just leave them be!" he yelled. "Oh poor deluded Doctor. I could care less about your involvement in all of this." He turned back to the ponies on the ground who were slow to recover from the darkness that had held them. "I think i'll finish them now." "NO!" Luna screamed as he reached for Nova. Though a blue box appearing out of thin air stopped his claw in its tracks. Out of it stepped a unicorn wearing a brown Fedora. "DINKY!" Ditzy yelled. She looked up to see her mother strapped to the wall. "MOM!" "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" The Doctor yelled. "ENOUGH!" Discord yelled, reaching for Dinky. A sword flew from the darkness down the hall, slamming into Discords claw. From the shadows walked Chrome mist. The old commander smiled a little. "Come on now. I thought you were all knights." he said to them. The ponies said nothing as he walked past them. He nodded to Dinky and spread his wings which held more blades. "In the ancient war, my Ancestor wore this armor and carried these blades when he fought against you. In his memory I will defend these ponies from your tyranny." Discord broke into laughter, holding his sides. Chrome flapped his wings, kicking off the ground and zipping toward Discord with more speed than one would think such an old stallion could have. Again and again he slashed with the wingblades, only a blur of armor and wings. Discord flung the Doctor away, using his claw and paw to try to snatch Chrome out of the air. The Doctor hit the ground with a horrible thud. Dinky rushed to his side. "NO! Remember what I told you! GO!" He yelled, rolling onto his side. "But...y..you and mom...a..and..." "GO DINKY!" he yelled. a scream filled the air, drawing their attention back to Discord. Chrome Mist panted heavily as he hit the ground, a blade stuck in his side. "COMMANDER!" Piper struggled to his hooves, managing to crawl to him. The stallion grinned a little. "k..kid...get outta here..." He removed his helmet, pushing it into the pegasi's hooves. Rolling onto his side he managed to slip out of the harness that held his hoofblade. "Take these...get to yer friends...and get outta here..." "We can't leave you!" "This is my role kid..." Piper lowered his head, gasping as Dinky grabbed him, pulling him away as Discords claw slammed down on the old commander. Everything seemed to stop for him. He didn't even notice as Amethyst scooped up Penny, the others being pulled into the TARDIS. Dinky turned back to her mother and father. "We'll come back for you!" she yelled, slamming the door shut and rushing over to the controls, quickly slamming her hoof down on the closest button. "H...he's gone..." Piper said softly, still holding the helmet and hoofblade. Dinky placed a hoof on his shoulder. "He knew what he had to do Piper...we all have something we have to do and nopony said we have to like it. And trust me...we aren't going to." She turned to Amethyst as he lowered Penny to the ground. Dinky reached into her saddlebags, pulling out the Doctors sonic device. It whirred quietly for a moment only to be tucked back into the bag. "Emerald, can you heal her?" she asked. the Kirin nodded, her horns glowing for a moment. Dinky held the hoof in place as Emeralds magic reconnected the bones. "Good, now Piper." he raised his head, gasping as Dinky pinned him to the ground on his stomach. "Sorry about this." she said, quickly snatching his wings in her magic and pulling on them, snapping them back into place. Piper barely felt the pain. He was too focused on what had just happened. "Our parents...The commander...they are dead aren't they?" he asked Dinky softly. "No...he'll keep them alive as an example to the rest of Equestria. Should anypony attempt to dethrone him he will begin executing them." Dinky said, turning to the door of the TARDIS. "You can't go back out there! He'll kill us!" Sunburst said. Dinky smiled a little. "He isn't out there right now." "Are you nuts!? Of course he is still out there!" Dinky opened the door, everypony staring in shock. Instead of seeing Discord and the throne room, they now saw a wasteland, dark clouds rested high in the sky hiding any sunlight that may have shone that day. "H...how?" Nova asked. "Welcome to Equestria. Ten thousand years ago."