//------------------------------// // Part 28: London, Earth, the Solar System! // Story: Once a Time Lord... Well, actually still that, but now a Pony as well... // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// The TARDIS “Oh for Celestia’s Sake!” Rainbow muttered as she once again, found herself lost in the TARDIS’ massive library. “Seriously? I mean, seriously?” the pegasus shouted out in frustration, meandering about another corridor throwing her wings up in the air in frustration getting massive flashbacks to the Changeling Hives under Roam. “...Just add some sort of insect and those odd sea creatures and the whole shebang would be complete really…” she muttered. She still honestly wondered what those three creatures exactly were, and even if she had a sneaking suspicion why Flash and his fellow legionnaires had chained them up under Roam, she was still pretty curious as to what they were. Something did tell her however, she’d probably find out in time, and she’d probably be regretting it when she did. “Right bitch, that yellow one. Wanted to punch her in the face, really.” Rainbow thought to herself. Row upon row of books was in front of her and to be honest, she wondered if this was Twilight’s personal form of heaven, or in Rainbow’s case her idea of hell. “Twilight, you’d probably orgasm if you stumbled into this place wouldn’t you? Seriously, right there on the spot!” Chuckling at the image that thought conjured up, Rainbow continued on. Picking up a bottle of some odd liquid that read Encyclopedia Gallifreya before shrugging and continuing on. Sounded a bit boring for her tastes, and anyways what was alcohol doing in a library anyways? What, did the Doctor drink on the job? ...Certainly would have explained some of his behavior at times. “Hey Doc, you there?” Rainbow called out. “Come on, speak up!” “Yes, yes, Rainbow. I hear you loud and clear!” The Doctor called out while fiddling around with the controls on the TARDIS’s console. “Just realigning the temporal and special vectors. We don’t want to end up in the wrong place or the wrong time now, do we?” “Oh, like that’s never happened before!” Twilight called from somewhere nearby. “I seem to remember you throwing us into some time five thousand years in the future where Ponykind became all digitized! Including us, for that matter!” “One-off incident, one-off! I promise!” the Doctor laughed nervously. Rainbow could just imagine Twilight rolling her eyes in disbelief. Inwardly, Rainbow arguably felt rather jealous of Twilight. Apparently, the lucky bookworm had been traveling with this partially fantastic madman in a box for longer than she thought and was experiencing all kinds of stuff while she was stuck in dullsville. AKA Ponyville. Sure, Ponyville had its charms, but how could it possibly compare to all of Time and Space when you had that at your hooves at the simple press of a button or throw of a switch? “Anyways, don’t you think I could have a map, or some signs, or just anything that could tell me where I am right now?” Rainbow groaned. “I mean, I know it’s bigger on the inside, but surely, you don’t need all this stuff, right?” “Of course I need all this stuff! I mean, what’s the point in traveling all of time and space if you don’t get to write down what you see?” the Doctor asked in reply. “Besides, you think I became this smart by default? What, did I just pop out of the womb and have a big brain?” he asked sarcastically. “No, no, no. I mean, I’m completely LOST, doc. I need some directions,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Like, seriously, I’ve been in this library a hundred times now!” “Okay, first door on the left, then you take a right, and then another right, and then another left!” the Doctor called out. “Should bring you right back here. Simple as that!” Rainbow just darted out of the library, and when she did, she saw seven different corridors surrounding her position. Three on the left, three on the right, and a lone one in the center. She took one glance at the multitude of doors and said, “Which left?!” “Oh har har Doctor, very funny. Turn left, he says! Which friggin’ left!?!” Rainbow ranted to herself. The TARDIS groaned underneath her hooves, and if Rainbow honestly didn’t know better, that groaning sounded like laughter or maybe a giggle. But that was impossible, right? The TARDIS wasn’t alive, despite whenever she saw the Doctor calling it ‘Old Girl’ and such and at times she was half tempted to crack a joke about the two needing to be alone whenever she saw the odd pony stroke its console with a hoof in a loving manner. “Anyways…” the pegasus mumbled as she just picked a door at random and walked through it. Next thing she knew, she was letting out a sharp yelp as she was sent spiraling into a pool the size of your average hoofball field with a loud splash. “And to think, I didn’t even bring my swimsuit!” Rainbow thought, her eyes narrowed in a very unamused manner. “Ugh, this is going to ruin my feathers, going to have to ask for a good solid preening from somepony. Oh, that’s going to be so embarrassing if I just ask Twilight for it. Mom would be cool doing that for me, but A, she’s not around, and B, I’d have to deal with her… enthusiasm. Joy. You hate me, right life?” she thought as she used a ladder to climb out of the pool and shook her fur clean resembling a dog in some manners. She was, perhaps, needless to say, completely soaked to the bone. “Sounds like somepony found the pool. I’ve been meaning to find that thing for a while now. I always loved that pool. One of the best swimmers on Gallifrey, actually,” the Doctor quipped. “Don’t know why I stopped, though. Strange.” “Your TARDIS hates me Doc,” Rainbow remarked. “It hates me. Lead me right here, and next thing I knew, slipped and fell in like Derpy would! At least she has the excuse of being all cross-eyed! I don’t!” Rainbow ranted, complete with more wing gestures her pride thoroughly wounded. She shouted towards the heavens. “Hey, is this how you thank me for saving the Doctor’s flanks back in Ancient Roam? Because seriously this is one hell of a thank you!” she laughed sardonically. “Well, I wouldn’t say she hates you. She’s just… what’s the word again? Finicky? No, no… Temperamental? No, that’s not it either.” “Spiteful? Bitchy?” Rainbow asked in complete deadpan. “That help? And anyways, keep talking as if your machine’s alive and you might start to believe that!” she snarked. The TARDIS let out an alarm blare, which the Doctor responded with, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! There’s no need for that kind of language, is there?” The TARDIS made several wheezing and groaning sounds in response, sounding almost indignant, possibly whiney. “Like a child, this one…” the Doctor muttered. “What, you need a bottle of milk girl?” he grumbled. Rainbow meanwhile, was laughing her flanks off, on the floor cackling with amusement her earlier indignity forgotten for the moment. This didn’t seem to amuse the TARDIS any more than the Doctor’s own remark/possible threat. And it showed, as when Rainbow Dash left the pool again, the other corridors had vanished, leaving her with just the one, singular path going down to the right. “I swear, this better take me to the control room of this place otherwise I will have words with the idiot who designed this place…” Rainbow muttered. Thankfully, it did, the TARDIS for the meantime suitably quelled by the Doctor’s warning and Rainbow was greeted with a very confused Twilight. “Where… where have you been?” Twilight asked, struggling to contain her laughter remembering a very similar situation back when she first came to Ponyville. “And why… why are you all wet?” “Don’t ask…” Rainbow muttered. “And if you make a joke about me needing to Rainblow dry myself, best friend or no, you’re getting a hoof to the face.” “Oh, don’t mind her,” the Doctor said as he trotted into the room. “The TARDIS and her are just having a little hissy fit. Celestia knows why, but they are.” Twilight blinked out in confusion before wincing remembering that that TARDIS could be awfully temperamental at times if you didn’t show her the proper respect she believed she deserved. Reminded her of Trixie in some ways, only without the boasting and third person manner of speech. “So, what’s our next stop in our little tour of time and space?” Twilight asked. “Well, never said anything about a tour,” the Doctor trailed off before Twilight gave him a look. “Oh, oh not the puppy dog eyes… I hate those.” But Twilight still kept on giving him a look -much to Rainbow’s great amusement- that resembled a kid denied candy. “Fine fine,” the Doctor muttered as he finally gave in and threw a switch. “Ever tell you about Earth? Fantastic place, met some of my best friends there, and had a whole lot of adventures! ...Can’t believe I haven’t taken you yet! Best place in this or any other universe, this! Allons-Y!” he cried out as the TARDIS began wheezing and groaning. Earth: Appearing in an alleyway somewhere in London, all three ponies stepped out onto the streets. “Now, here. Take this,” the Doctor said tossing them devices. “Should make you look like the natives to everyone else’s eyes. On this planet… horses, they don’t talk nor do they have wings, horns or come in bright colors. Frankly, they're rather dull creatures compared to you lot.” “Uh yeah… Doc?” Rainbow asked taking a look around. “I thought Earth was the most fantastic place in the universe. Place looks like a ghost town, starting to freak me out really…” As the Doctor and all the others stepped out onto the streets, they saw exactly what Rainbow meant. The sky was a gray and dull hue of clouds and rain, but that was to be expected with British weather. The streets were barren and empty, with very little trash or junk to be found either. The only sounds around them were the howls of the winds as it tore through the river and streets around them. There wasn’t a car on the road, the shops seemed to have been entirely abandoned, and not even the advertisements’ colour was enough to pierce through the dystopia that Earth had become. “What… what the Hell happened?” the Doctor breathed out. “I know we’re in the right time, the late 2000s at worse, and last I checked Earth wasn’t like… well, this during that time period!” “Sure it’s just not this one city?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, sure it looks like a dump and all, but how do you know the rest of the planet’s like this?” “Did you get the time wrong, Doctor? Are we in… 2038 or something?” Twilight asked, lifting a hoof. “Trust me, the TARDIS has never steered me wrong before!” the Doctor replied, and Twilight gave him a flat look. “Okay, point taken. But I know for a fact 2038? Paradise, one of the best times to be in Britain actually! Something… something in the timestream must have changed, but what? Something resulted in this… well, whatever this is!” Suddenly, he was slapped soundly across the face by a red-haired woman, looking as furious as her hair color. “I’ll tell you what happened, Doctor! YOU weren’t here!” the angry woman screamed, the Doctor rubbing his cheek in pain as he struggled to remember where exactly he’d seen her face before. Then the penny dropped as he remembered a woman in a wedding dress. “Wait, Donna? Is that you?” the Doctor gaped. “What… what happened around here? Seriously, London… Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s…” “A dump!” Rainbow interjected. “...Well, one can tell you’re getting younger,” Donna said sardonically as she eyed both Rainbow and Twilight. “Your companions, they’re getting younger and prettier.” “...Wait, she’s a former companion of yours?” Twilight asked. “How come you never mentioned her?” “Yes, how come?” Donna asked, eying the Doctor critically. “W-Well to be fair,” the Doctor stammered out knowing perfectly well of Donna’s quick temper. Always with the redheads, he mused to himself. “It was for only one adventure, and you didn’t exactly want to stick around with me afterwards.” “But seriously,” Twilight continued. “The Doctor went on about this place, made it sound like a lot of fun, and right now it’s… Well, what Rainbow said. What happened?” “I wish I knew, Twilight. I really wish that I did. I literally just arrived back, Donna. Another one of those weird trips through time and space, as it were,” he said. “Not to mention, TARDIS had a bit of a row with Rainbow here, so it was a struggle trying to break them up on the way.” “What, you a walking LGBT rights poster?” Donna joked weakly noting Rainbow’s appearance and chosen name. “But I’ll tell you what happened. Adipose happened,” she sighed. “Big blooming spaceship over the sky, made my grandad’s day, right before everyone turned into these little creatures of fat. 60 Million people, dead like that. God only knows what the rest of the world’s like.” “No… But that doesn’t make any sense! Or maybe it does but I don’t believe that it does because something’s wrong with my head…” Then, on the spot, he had a spastic fit, viciously scratching his head with his hands to see if his theory held any water. “Oh, come on, you stupid brain! What’s wrong with me?!” “Simple answer? You weren’t here to save everyone’s arses,” Donna snapped back. “Some group called Torchwood tried to deal with the incident in lieu of you not being around, you idiotic layabout of a spaceman, but all of them got killed in the process and this guy called Jack got taken, hostage.” “They got Jack?” He seemed a tad disappointed about that, but it quickly bubbled up with his hands tightening into knuckles and wrinkles forming on his forehead. “THEY GOT JACK?!” He bellowed so loudly that it even caused Donna to flinch slightly. “...And I thought he hated him,” Twilight murmured, having heard the Doctor mumble about how annoying this ‘Captain’ was. “What was the exact date, Donna?” the Doctor asked, shaking her slightly. “What was the exact date this all happened?” “I still remember it, we all do. April 5, 2008.” Donna said, backing away from the Doctor in fear, not for the first time as she was reminded just how scary he could be, and why he needed companions to hold him back. In hindsight, she deeply regretted leaving him there on that darkened street, he needed people like her. Normal people to tell him when it was time to stop. “Well, time to fix what I broke, what I broke,” the Doctor said heading back to the TARDIS. “Don’t you worry Donna, if I succeed you’ll remember none of this. This timeline, it’ll cease to exist.” “For me Doctor, that’s a mercy…” Donna mumbled. “So, the Doctor’s in…” the Last of the Time Lords growled out as he threw a switch on his console, both Rainbow and Twilight galloping inside the time machine before it vanished. “Good luck… Doctor.” Donna whispered. Equestria: Canterlot “This is an odd predicament, isn’t it?” Spoke a dark blue coated, blonde-maned figure as he gazed up a certain massive white mare, inside his living room. He wore a pale black suit and sat on a sofa with Princess Celestia looking down on. “The timeline’s advancing and yet… it’s fractured. What do you make of it, your highness?” “I’m not amused,” Celestia stated flatly as she glared at him. “Whatever tricks you have up your sleeve, I’m not going to fall for it anymore, Master.” “Oh, so you do acknowledge me! But you know as well as I do something’s wrong. One timeline, where you burned that nasty little bitch Queen Arthropod to a crisp and became a temporary tyrant, and one… where you didn’t. Funny, innit? The effects of traveling in the TARDIS, and I know you have, considering how infatuated you and the Doctor are with each other. Sorta jealous here!” he chortled. “Keep talking, cur. You only add to the sins crawling on your back,” Celestia turned the other cheek at him. “I refuse to believe any word that floats out of your mouth; including the one where I became that nightmare demon!” “Ah, but you remember your actions do you not? Burning that sweet, sweet creature to a crisp, making an example out of her! You relishing in your own power, and lust for revenge against the world that took your sister from you! You and your sister, as much as you like to deny it, you’re a lot more alike than you think!” the Master remarked in a snide, mocking tone. Celestia just fired a bolt of magic at him, flipping the chair over and ejecting him into the nearby fireplace, where soot and dust filled his face. She breathed heavily as she grit her teeth, then looked down at her hooves; which began to tremble before her. She shook in horror, realizing just how close she was to killing the Master on the spot. “See, there it is! I know you’ve still got some of… Oh, what’s her name… Daybreaker, that’s it! I know you’ve still got some of Daybreaker in you waiting to be let out. All it just takes? One bad day!” the Master mocked. One must wonder what was going through his head because there was every chance if Celestia did go Daybreaker she would turn him into a crisp before he even had a chance to regenerate into his next body whatever that may have been. Could have been a mare for all he knew. A mare with two heads! “No… No, no, no, no! This isn’t me...” Celestia’s confidence and demeanor immediately vanished. She found herself scurrying back against the wall, like an insect in a way as the Master stood back up, dusted himself off and approached her. “The fear in your eyes, the sheer power you command, the lineage you have as the Royal Princess of Equestria, the Sol Invictus! Not as a queen, but as a lower sovereign without someone stronger than herself in the lineage. And here you are, cowering at your own powers! Why, I bet not even your own sister could match you if you had your way.” He finally came up to her face and tenderly grabbed her chin with a hoof. “Deep down, you’re still a monster. I’m still a monster too. We all are. It all depends on how much of a brutal monster you wish to be, now that you know the truth.” “You know, you really talk too much,” Blueblood said as he walked into the room, zapping the Master’s mouth shut with a beam of arctic-blue magic. “Maybe this house is too nice for you, maybe I should just toss you in a dungeon!” He walked over to his aunt, and helped her up. “You alright Auntie?” “Yes… Yes, I’m fine…” Celestia whispered. “I have to ask, what were you thinking going in here alone and trying to talk to him?” Blueblood asked. “He’s a master alright. A master of getting inside your head! Your sister, she specifically asked me to keep you from going over here for these exact reasons!” he chided gently. “I… I wanted to try and understand him, figure out what makes him tick. How he and the Doctor could have been friends once…” Celestia whispered. “Instead, he managed to-” “Turn the tables on you?” Blueblood murmured. “Yeah, he has a tendency to do that,” he muttered out in shame, remembering his own conversation with the Master. Walking in another room out of earshot with his aunt, Blueblood turned to Celestia. “Listen, I don’t know what sort of lover’s spat you and the Doctor got into, but you two, whenever he shows up again, need to forgive and forget. Honestly, you going to the Master, just so you could have a Time King or whatever they call themselves for Faust’s sake to chat with over tea and scones is going much too far!” he stated. “Much too far!” “You’re probably right nephew…” Celestia sighed. “I’m just… Well, I feel violated the Doctor got inside my head, made me trust him. Just like-” “The Master did?” Blueblood asked as he stared his aunt down before giving her a flat look. “Pardon my Prench auntie, but you’re a bucking idiot!” “Blueblood-” Celestia started before being cut off. “No, don’t you Blueblood me!” Blueblood snapped back. “There’s a crucial difference between the Master and the Doctor. Yes, they’re both probably insane, but unlike the Master, Canterlot actually owes their lives to the Doctor after that whole mad statue incident, which you still won’t tell me about! Who do you think I’d trust, a madman who likes to play mind games, or somepony who saved my life. Think on that!” With that, he turned on his hooves and left the building leaving Celestia to feel as if she’d been scolded like a child, and what’s worse… Blueblood was absolutely right. She was being an idiot. She just needed someone to tell her that.