Shining Armor found himself counting quite a few blessings at the moment. The first was that whatever was causing his little sister to revert back to a unicorn wasn’t affecting his wife. The second was that there were relatively few non-crystal ponies visiting the Empire at the moment, even with the preparations being made for the Equestria Games, with their numbers in the low dozens. The third was that the weather, at least for the moment, was peaceful, with clear skies and barely any clouds in the distance. The fourth was that there were ponies at hoof who knew a thing or two to help them out at the moment.
Royal Pin in particular seemed pleased at the arrangement as he turned to the unicorn who’d helped to set it up. “I must say, Sunburst, this is a rather impressive setup.”
The goateed stallion adjusted his glasses as his gaze swept over their work. “Thanks, but there’s no telling how long it will hold out.” Those gathered around them, all residents of the Crystal Empire who had settled there following its banishment by King Sombra or visiting tourists of one sort or another, were standing in what was normally a park. Surrounding them in all directions was a domed barrier projected from a hastily-crafted device in the center, meant to amplify and strengthen shield spells. “We had to put this together in a hurry, after all.”
Cadance smiled as she gave the device a fresh charge with her magic. “It’s still better than nothing, Sunburst. Thank you both for your efforts.”
The stallion gave a small nod at the princess’s praise, though his expression remained nervous. “Don’t thank me too much, ma’am. We still have no idea what caused the city to vanish, or how to reverse it. And I don’t want to find out how well this can last if a blizzard hits.”
“We’ll cross those bridges when we get to them.” Shining Armor did his best to sound confident as he continued, “And right now, ponies are already working to solve the problem. We just need to have faith and keep calm.”
Silent agreement held, and even as he did his best to keep a straight face and remind himself that his immediate situation was the greater concern, the stallion found his thoughts going elsewhere, especially as he turned to one of the guards. He hadn’t told Flash Sentry that Twilight was afflicted by this too, both because he figured there was a good chance Flash already suspected it and because he didn’t want to risk distracting one of the few guardsponies who’d not get whisked away. Regardless, the longer this lasted, the longer all of them were in danger.
Just like they taught at the academy, though. One problem at a time.
-
Lyra stumbled as she was forced into a makeshift cell and the door slammed shut behind her. Clara caught her by the shoulders and helped to steady her. “Easy, easy, I’ve got ya. It’s alright.” The time traveler noticed the faraway expression on the transformed pony’s face. “Lyra, steady, it’s alright, you just…”
“Hands.” Lyra raised her arms to examine her new anatomy, then idly flexed her fingers. They were still of similar color to her coat, for whatever reason, but nonetheless, they were hands.
“Yeah, new body, kinda frightening, not blaming you for freaking out.”
Lyra laughed. “Clara, thinking about this is keeping me from freaking out.” She turned to the young woman and smiled. “I’ve wondered for years what it would be like to have these, ever since I first read legends about humans. This is amazing.” She chuckled nervously and admitted, “And I’ve got something to think about that doesn’t involve being imprisoned.”
“Glad that you have a distraction.” Attention turned back to Moondancer as she stood arms crossed and scowling. “Not all of us are thrilled about getting our bodies changed against our will, though.”
That deflated Lyra’s enthusiasm. “Sorry.”
The scowl faded. “Me too.” She glanced over her new form, the baggy sweater now joined by flat-heeled shoes, a loose skirt that hung to just above her knees and black leggings, then inspected one hand. “Whatever they did to us must’ve somehow involved that metamorphic spell Twilight showed us earlier. Even generated clothing.”
“Consider me glad for that.” Heads turned to Quiver as he leaned against one wall and explained, “For some reason, I think it’d be really awkward if the three of us were naked.” For his part, Quiver wore blue jeans, a green shirt and a brown jacket, and boots on his feet completed the look.
Clara giggled. “Depends on who you’re talking to, mate.”
Lyra did her best to stifle her own giggles as she moved on from her hands to her attire. Dark green, slightly baggy shorts that ended just below her knees, a short-sleeved magenta shirt, and salmon-colored shoes adorned her feet. She had to stifle a few more giggles as she realized that both herself and Moondancer were a few inches taller than Clara, and opted against bringing it up. Though that seemed to be common, as all three transformed ponies were taller as humans than the actual human…and humanoid.
That brought attention back to the Doctor as Quiver turned to the Time Lord and prodded, “Alright Doctor, spill.”
That seemed to snap the traveler out of his trance. “Sorry, what?”
“You know something about those two, the Master and that Rani woman. Lyra’s keeping from freaking out by enjoying her newfound form, Moondancer’s getting justifiably angry, and I’m just trying to figure out what our next move is. That’ll go easier if you fill us in on what you know about them.”
The Doctor gave him an enigmatic look. “What makes you think I know anything about them?”
“Because you recognized their voices. And I saw surprise on your face, as if you weren’t expecting to see them.” Quiver’s tone was grave as he amended, “And that surprise wasn’t pleasant.”
“No. It wasn’t.” The Time Lord frowned as he continued, “But it can’t be them. Maybe the Rani, but…”
“Okay, Doctor, right now isn’t the time.” Clara turned to her friend and prodded, “You might not think they’re who they say they are, but they do. And right now, they’re up to something.”
He relented with a nod. “The Master and the Rani were Time Lords, same as me. I knew them as children. We all went to school together, in fact – we’d know one another anywhere. Only reason I can’t think of that they wouldn’t recognize me at this point is because of the magic disturbing their senses.”
“Were they old friends?” Moondancer ventured.
“Yes and no, and please, don’t interrupt.” The Doctor kept his hands close, clearly not trying to distract himself. “Not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords. In order to become one, you have to graduate from the Academy, and part of the initiation involves looking into the Untempered Schism. A gap in the fabric of reality. You look into it, and you see the whole of the Time Vortex, the medium that the TARDIS travels through. It’s painful and terrifying, especially for a child of eight years old. Depending on the child, though, they react differently. Some are inspired. Some go mad. And some run away.” He raised a hand and gave a meek smile. “I was in the third group. Haven’t stopped running yet.”
Quiver suspected he already knew the answer, but asked anyway. “And those two?”
“They went mad.” Regret was clear in his voice as he continued, “The Master and the Rani were both brilliant students, geniuses in their own ways. But the Master’s ambition often got the better of him, and the Rani’s biological studies tended to go too far. They both ended up fleeing from Gallifrey in stolen TARDISes and causing trouble, though they went about it in different ways. The Master became obsessed with control and domination, and more than a little obsessed with me. The Rani, meanwhile, parked herself on a planet and started using the local lifeforms as guinea pigs and test subjects for her experiments. The former found me again when I was exiled on Earth, being punished for breaking Time Lord law. Caused all sorts of trouble.”
“And the Rani?”
“We both found her totally by chance.” The Doctor’s expression turned grim as he explained, “The ‘local lifeforms’ I mentioned were fully sapient, same as any of us. Over the course of those experiments, the Rani somehow caused them to become violent and unstable, and robbed them of their ability to sleep. She tried to solve that problem by extracting chemicals from the brains of humans, chemicals that enabled sleep. The Master came across her and tried to use her resources to twist human history for his own ends and dispose of me in the process, but things went wrong for them. So far as I knew, the two had permanently parted company afterwards.”
“Wait, I’m sorry, she extracted chemicals? From human brains?” At the Doctor’s nod, Moondancer asked, “Why do something like that? I mean, your people can travel through time and space. Synthesizing chemicals should be child’s play.”
“She went mad, remember?” Quiver countered. “Crazy folks don’t exactly do sensible things. Besides, she already had a history of experimenting on sapient beings and either didn’t consider the consequences of her actions or didn’t care. What’s a few more guinea pigs?”
The Doctor looked at him uneasily. “You came to that conclusion very quickly.”
Quiver scowled. “I’ve got more than my fair share of experiences with sociopaths.” He shook his head. “Anyway, what makes you think it can’t be them?”
“Well, the Rani’s still on the fence, but the Master hasn’t had that body for a very long time. That body, that face, were both stolen, and it wasn’t the last time he did so. But with the Time War looming, the Time Lords decided it would be a brilliant idea to resurrect him, use him as an asset against the Daleks. He fled to the end of time itself when the Daleks claimed the Cruciform, and hid himself using a chameleon arch among the last of humanity at near the very end of the universe. And even that didn’t stop him from causing trouble, thanks to an idiot showing up and giving him the chance to regain his memories.” The Doctor smiled ruefully for a moment, then finished, “The last I saw him, the Master was skinnier, younger, bleached blond and slinging lightning bolts, about to be trapped on Gallifrey on the last day of the Time War. It’s a coin flip if he gets out of that one, but I’d bet in his favor.”
“And the Rani?”
The Time Lord shrugged. “I never crossed paths with her during the War. Don’t see her getting involved with it, and certainly don’t see her caring about it one way or another.”
“So how did they both get here?” Moondancer looked between the pair of time travelers and asked, “I mean, is it possible you’re encountering them out of order?”
The Time Lord gave a mirthless laugh. “Perfectly possible. For someone like me or them, time isn’t nearly as linear as it is for everyone else, and I’ve done it with both of them before.” The Doctor shook his head. “But I don’t think that’s the case here.”
“Well, let’s put the Master aside.” Quiver crossed his arms and ventured, “Based on what we know, the Rani could very well have found her way onto the refugee ship, and somehow extended her life between then and now. Maybe even creating a facsimile of the Master in the process, one so good that it might as well be the original.”
The Doctor nodded. “That seems the most plausible theory at this point, yes.”
“Good. That makes things easier.” A grim expression settled onto Quiver’s face as he reasoned, “If you’re not encountering them out of order from your perspective, then that means it won’t be your job to drag them back into your world. That means this isn’t part of a predestination paradox. We can end things and make sure they’re ended.”
Lyra turned worried as she listened to her friend. “And that means?”
“We put them down like rabid dogs.”
-
“Intruders locked up,” one of the transformed diamond dogs barked as he returned to his masters with his associates.
“Excellent.” The Master grinned as he turned to his associate. “I must say, my dear Rani, you seemed quite pleased at our having company. I would have thought the diamond dogs under our command would have been enough to sate your scientific curiosity.”
The Rani briefly flicked her gaze towards the named creatures. “It may have escaped your notice, but the diamond dogs hardly appear any different now than they did before our devices activated. The intruders have merely confirmed that our metamorphic devices work as intended. The only purpose they have now is to ensure that we are able to fine-tune it so that only the two of us are influenced by it.” She flexed her fingers. “That I’ve had to spend so long contending without proper hands is frustrating beyond compare. Having them back is welcome, especially given that not a single creature in this world with such capacity actually possesses the intelligence to aid us.”
“Regardless, perhaps there’s another use for our guests?”
She eyed her associate. “You would waste our time with such an indulgence.”
“Such indulgences are hardly a waste of time, and there might even be the chance that they’ll appreciate what we’ve accomplished.”
She scoffed. “You just want the chance to gloat.” She shook her head. “Very well then, pick one or two and bring them out here. Who knows, perhaps you might be proven correct.”
The Master grinned, then turned to the diamond dogs. “Bring two of our guests here. Choose at your leisure.” The lead dog nodded and led his fellows back to the holding cell. “Regardless of whether or not they can appreciate our efforts, I doubt there’s very much they can do about them.”
-
“Quiver!” Before anyone else could protest, Lyra immediately stepped up and exclaimed, “You can’t seriously be saying that we should kill them!”
The transformed stallion seemed disinclined towards changing his stance. “You make it sound like we have a choice.”
“Murder is never a choice.” The Doctor’s stance was equal to Quiver’s as he countered, “And that’s what you’re arguing for. Murder.”
“Horseshit. There’s a vast difference between taking a life for a sick thrill and doing it to defend yourself or others, and from the sounds of things, this is the latter. Now you can make all the arguments you like about these two not being who you think they are, but regardless, these two think they’re the Master and the Rani, and their actions are causing panic and putting lives in danger. Right now, the five of us are the only ones in a position to do anything about it.”
“And your first option is to kill them?”
“You said it yourself, Doctor. These two have each taken lives, and done far worse. I can’t justify letting them walk away, not after all the damage they’ve done.”
“You think you have the right to be their judge, jury and executioner then? That you have it in you to kill them? End their lives?” The Time Lord locked eyes with the transformed stallion, and despite being two inches shorter, he seemed to be the one who was most intimidating. “I’ll tell you right now, taking a choice like that isn’t something you can walk away from. It changes you, permanently. Now tell me with a straight face that you really think you have it in you to kill someone.”
It was a tense moment, with neither backing down. Finally, however, Quiver answered. “I think everyone has it in them to kill someone. Doesn’t mean I want to.” He shook his head and continued, “But look at it from my perspective, Doctor. I spent ages being tormented and bullied by a sadistic mare who made it her life’s goal to make my life miserable simply because she knew she could get away with it, and up until very recently, she did exactly that. Those sorts of ponies don’t stop just because they get bored, and Equestria’s been threatened by those sorts more times in the last eighteen months than anypony’s happy to count. Nightmare Moon threatened eternal night and rule under her tyrannical hooves. Discord promised chaos and an abolishment of the basic laws of reality. The changelings under Queen Chrysalis were going to treat us as little better than livestock. King Sombra’s return almost damned the Crystal Empire and all of Equestria to despair and Maker knows what else. From the way things sound, the Master and the Rani aren’t much different.”
“And your solution to all of them is just kill them all and let whatever higher powers exist sort it all out?”
Quiver snorted. “Please, I know better. The right call was made with Nightmare Moon, and I hope to whatever forces are listening that the same can be said for Discord. I’ve had assurances that Sombra won’t be a danger anytime soon, and I’m trying my best not to be cynical about it. Read too many comic books. As for the changelings, well, I don’t support genocide, but I’d be fine with regime change.”
“That’s not a phrase I’m particularly fond of.”
“And you have every right to not be, but it doesn’t change the fact that under their current leadership, the changelings are a danger to Equestria. They might be less of one right now that Queen Chrysalis and most of her horde might be locked away, but it doesn’t change the fact that there’s a good chance they’ll get loose and come back for a third round before everything’s said and done. They did plenty of damage the last two times, and even more in the past under her leadership. As long as she’s in charge, they’re a threat to Equestria and its citizens.” He turned to Lyra and Moondancer. “Back me up here, you two. You were both in Canterlot when they invaded.”
Moondancer shrugged. “Shut-in, remember? I didn’t even find out about the invasion until I read about it in the paper the next day. Not that there was much to go on about it.”
Quiver looked as if he wanted to grumble over that, but restrained himself as he turned to his friend. “Fine, but what about you Lyra? You were a bridesmare for Princess Cadance, that put you right at ground zero.”
Lyra shook her head. “It was nothing.”
That got Clara curious as her gaze darted between Quiver and Lyra. “Wait, sorry, what?”
“It was nothing,” the mare countered, though her face hinted otherwise.
The stallion scoffed. “Nothing my plot. Chrysalis captured and replaced Cadance in the leadup to the wedding. She used herself as a mole to weaken Canterlot’s defenses. It’s only because Twilight was suspicious and Chrysalis was too arrogant that the whole thing was stopped, and even then, it was a near thing. My marefriend and my cousin were both there taking part in the defense, and I get shivers just thinking about how they described it. Hundreds, maybe thousands of changelings dropping from the sky, hissing and snarling and ensnaring everypony in sight in goop before they could be cocooned like Princess Celestia was to be saved for feasting upon later.”
Clara looked at him in shock. “They’re cannibals?”
Quiver shook his head. “No, they feed on love, not flesh. But from what I’ve read, their feeding process tends to lead to the death of their livestock.” He turned back to Lyra and asked, “How can you just dismiss that?”
“It was nothing.” Lyra’s expression started to glaze over, though her eyes twitched as though something was amiss deep in her subconscious and her tone of voice was going flat. “It was nothing.”
Both Quiver and Moondancer started to turn worried, but the Doctor was the first to act as he strode up to Lyra and asked, “Lyra, what do you remember about that wedding?”
The mare was visibly trembling now. “It was… I…”
The Time Lord frowned. “I’m sorry.” He then put his hands to the sides of her face, fingers spread apart, and locked eyes with her. “I’m so sorry.”
“It was… it… I…” The trembles had gone into a full-on seizure as Lyra finally screamed out, then collapsed forward onto the Doctor. He staggered back as Quiver and Clara moved to help, and the pair gently got Lyra away from him and helped her to the ground. She was, mercifully, unconscious, but her breathing was heavy.
“What happened?” Quiver turned to the Time Lord and asked, “What’s wrong with her?”
“Someone’s been messing around in her head.” The Doctor was grim as he explained, “Some form of hypnosis, most likely. Between everything she’s going through, the Master giving her the hairy eyeball, the shift in her internal chemistry due to the metamorphosis and you jogging her memories, it must’ve caused her conditioning to break down. She’ll wake up in a little bit, but it might take her a while to recover.”
“No kidding.” Moondancer approached her unconscious friend. “Who did this, though? Mental manipulation spells are illegal in Equestria, and you’d have to be fairly gifted to pull it off. Somewhere around Twilight’s level.”
“Or they had a device or artifact that let them do it.” Quiver then turned back to the Doctor and asked, “Wait, why would the Master have a part in Lyra’s memory getting jogged?”
“Time Lords have certain abilities that most species lack, what you’d call psychic powers. Some are stronger than others, and the Master’s got a particular gift for hypnosis.”
“And memories can be recovered with hypnosis, supposedly.” The stallion raised an eyebrow. “And you?”
The shorter man then reached up, gently grasped Quiver’s head by the sides, then gently brought their foreheads together. Images and thoughts flashed through the stallion’s mind, glimpses of entire lifetimes within the span of microseconds before contact ended. “That’s about the extent. I’ve got to touch them, but once that’s done, watch out.”
Quiver shook his head as he took deep breaths to collect himself. “Sweet Maker. You know what you’re talking about.” Any further discussion on the subject paused as he heard footfalls from outside their cell. “Incoming.”
Their hulking guards approached and opened the cell door, with one pointing to Quiver and Moondancer. “Those two! Get them!” Neither opted to resist as they were forcibly led outside, and the door was shut behind them.
Clara looked up at her friend from her place at Lyra’s side. “What do you suppose that was about?”
“Don’t know yet.” The Doctor scowled and pulled his sonic screwdriver from his jacket. “But I’m going to find out. Clara, you look after Lyra.” The cell door was unlocked and he exited the cell. “I’ll be back with Quiver and Moondancer.”
He closed the door behind him as Clara idly noted, “Holding you to that, mate.”
-
The march was long and slow, and the silence that went with it uncomfortable. Quiver decided to take a chance and hope the guards would tolerate polite conversation. “Regretting coming along?”
“A little, yes.” Moondancer bowed her head as she admitted, “I don’t know what’s scaring me most right now. You showing a ruthless streak, Lyra having had her memories messed with, or this whole thing we’ve gotten into.”
“If it helps, I’m scared by all of that too.”
“It doesn’t. At least, not that much.” She looked at him and asked, “You okay? After what happened back there?”
“Yeah, still kinda processing what happened, but I’m good.” As they reached the heavy metal door leading to wherever they’d been presented to the diamond dogs’ masters earlier, Quiver amended, “But something tells me that’s going to change in a second.”
The door slowly opened before them, and the diamond dogs ushered the pair inside. The two were promptly greeted by their hosts as the Master looked upon them. His gaze reminded Quiver of expressions he’d seen all too often on Primrose Thorn, like a cat toying with its prey. “My dear guests, how wonderful for you to join us.”
It took everything Quiver had to restrain himself from snarking that they hardly had a choice in the matter. He opted instead to make himself seem as unthreatening as possible, and play dumb. “What’s going on here? Who in Celestia’s name are the two of you?”
“Beings of far greater understanding of the universe and its mysteries than even your precious Celestia could hope to be, I assure you.” He gestured upwards as lights flashed on to reveal the chamber they were in was far larger than they’d previously thought, and was home to a structure the scale of which they’d rarely seen. “Tell me, what do you make of this?”
Despite the scale, the two transformed ponies swiftly realized what they were looking at. It was a gigantic mechanical globe, cast in metal and with two more smaller spheres linked to the larger by mechanized arms. The two smaller spheres appeared bare of any sort of adornment, though perhaps they were too far away to clearly make it out. The central larger sphere, however, was adorned by segments that looked as though they were meant to shift about in a pattern, with markings that brought to mind arrows lining them at points going both up and down their edges. And within the structure were assorted mechanisms, all still and silent.
“That’s an orrery,” Moondancer breathed. “A gigantic, broken down orrery.”
“Very perceptive.” The Rani’s voice was deadpan and lacking in praise as she continued, “Perhaps you were correct, and they might actually be able to appreciate what we’ve discovered about the foundations of their world.”
“Indeed.” The Master regarded them once more and asked, “Tell me, what do you know of your world’s creation myths?”
Quiver feigned nervousness, which wasn’t as difficult as it appeared, as he answered. “Well, the details vary from culture to culture, but the basics are the same. It’s said that in the beginning, the Maker came across a lifeless world, then shaped it to Their whims and populated it with life. As a sign of trust in Their creations, the Maker granted onto them the power to control the natural forces of their world. The order’s different from culture to culture, but all of them agree upon whom got what. The griffons gained control of the high winds, the dragons over the forces of the earth, and so on until control over the sun and moon fell to the ancient unicorn tribes.”
The Rani laughed. “Primitives. Always so eager to attribute things they cannot grasp to the whims of some self-crafted deity.” She turned her full attention to them and explained, “No god crafted this fascinating piece of technology, I can assure you of that.”
“What do you…?” Were Quiver of more of a theological bent, he would be far more offended. Now, however, was not the time to debate theology. All pretense of playing dumb was forgotten as he asked, “Moondancer, how’s your knowledge of geology?”
“I don’t think now’s really the time…”
“Humor me.”
The transformed unicorn cleared her throat and summed up as best she could. “All the evidence suggests that our world is something like four and a half billion years old, but there’s also evidence suggesting that somewhere in the distant past, something like three to four million years ago, something happened on a global scale. Nopony knows exactly what, but evidence suggests that there was widespread devastation, followed by a strengthening of the thaumic field.” An expression of awestruck terror grew on her face as she realized, “Before that, it was practically nonexistent.”
“That widespread devastation you speak of was likely caused by the very same beings which created this fantastic device and crafted your world into what it is now.” The Master gestured to one corner of the chamber, where sat an ornate wardrobe with its doors open and a multitude of cords and wires trailing out to the machinery scattered throughout the chamber. “We’ve seen it with our own eyes.”
“It’s an experiment worthy of the Founders of Gallifrey themselves.” The Rani’s voice was tinged with awe as she recounted, “This system, in other realities, is hardly remarkable. Four rocky planets, four gas giants, a multitude of asteroids and moons and smaller worlds and so forth. In our reality, two worlds in that system were able to support life. One was limited, and later devastated. The other produced so many creatures, many of which never reached their fullest potential. In this one, only one world produced life, and their actions led to it taking on the appearances that it has done. They reshaped this world, reshaped this very solar system, even went so far as to use its sun and most of the other bodies for fuel and materials, to craft it as it is now. One planet, orbited by two thaumic constructs, and set up in such a manner that it doesn’t even require something around which to orbit.” She grinned as she admitted, “Such isn’t even my field, and I can only guess at what they sought to achieve, and yet I find it impressive.”
“And the machine you see before you was crafted in order to maintain all of the functions necessary to continue supporting life as you know it.” The bearded Time Lord grinned as he turned to them and said, “Life which has ultimately led to the two of you.” He turned back to it and added, “Until it began to break down, somewhere around six thousand years ago.”
Moondancer looked up at the machine, nearly trembling in terror. “That can’t be.”
“Can it?” Quiver turned to her as he reasoned, “We know our solar system is atypical. We know that creatures and races in our world manipulate the natural forces around us. We just got an explanation for why things are the way they are, one that fits everything we know and falls in line with the creation myths.” He let out a puff of air and added, “This is going to cause a stir once it gets out, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, but these two could be lying.”
“Oh, I agree, they could be. Everybody lies, for one reason or another. But what reason do they have to lie about this? What would they gain?”
The Master let out a low chuckle. “Your friend is most perceptive, young mare, most perceptive indeed. And he’s quite correct. The Rani is a scientist, devoted to the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and falsehoods are anathema to her. And as for myself, while I make use of lies, I see no reason to employ them now.”
Moondancer scowled at her inability to contest that logic. “Fine, but that leaves three big questions. Who did all of this, why, and where did they go?”
“Well, three to four million years, we’re probably never going to get answers to those questions.” Quiver’s attention turned back to their hosts. “But what do the two of you get for poking into all of this?”
“Freedom.” The Rani turned to them, all trace of her earlier awe gone as she explained, “For a thousand years, I have been forced to live on this primitive, backwards world, surrounded by insipid creatures such as yourselves. As much as I find myself intrigued by the possibilities presented by this world and its advances into thaumic research, as well as all of the unique creatures that have emerged as a result, I refuse to spend the remainder of my existence here. I intend to return from whence I came, and thanks to those who created this device, I have the capacity.”
“But how?” Moondancer looked from one Time Lord to another as she continued, “This thing broke down, and there’s no guarantee that you could find the materials to repair it.”
“Completely, no, but materials enough have been found to accomplish our goals, materials that I have sought out and guided others to provide for us from locations all over your world.” The Master grinned as he recalled, “Specially treated and enchanted metals, with the last one being the golden centerpiece of the Seal of the Nahual in Maretonia.”
“And with that last bit of materials, we have everything we need.” The Rani turned back to her console and explained, “Our proper forms restored to us, the metamorphic effects of this thaumic field undone with your changes and those of our diamond dog associates an unforeseen side effect. Very soon, we shall escape back to our reality of origin.”
Quiver narrowed his eyes. “Doing that could take a lot of energy. Where are you going to get the power from?”
“From two identically-charged reservoirs of thaumic energy, the artificial sun and moon which your pretentious princesses utilize.” The Rani took on a cold look as she explained, “Once they are drained, we shall have more than enough energy to tear our way out of this reality and back into ours through the Void using my capsule.”
The transformed stallion took on a dangerous tone. “And where does that leave us?”
“Optimistically, your sun and moon will be drained completely. Realistically, they will destabilize.”
“So either way, you condemn us to death.”
The scientist scoffed. “A long-abandoned experiment, forgotten by its creators and ignored by the greater cosmos. The only reason your world has yet to be harvested or devastated is sheer chance. I fail to see why I should be concerned.”
“And thus we are sacrificed on the altar of scientific pursuit so that you may return to your home reality and regain your proper place in the cosmos.” Quiver broke out with a sardonic grin. “An execution of the right of the superior species.”
“Indeed.”
The grin vanished. “Horseshit.”
-
Lyra softly groaned, and Clara helped to support her as she regained consciousness. “Easy there. You alright?”
“Ask me that again after my head stops throbbing.” The transformed unicorn rubbed her left temple, then turned to the girl at her side. “Where’d everyone go?”
“Your two friends got dragged off so the bad guys could gloat. At least, that’s what I think’s happening. The Doctor snuck off to follow them. Knowing him, he’ll probably pull their tails out of the fire once things go crazy. After that, they’ll come back for us.” She gave an apologetic grin. “Guess we’re both missin’ out on how things end.”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “Story of my life.” Another low moan and she continued, “And after what just happened, maybe that’s for the best.” She turned to the girl at her side and asked, “Don’t suppose you’ve ever just discovered some freaky secret about yourself out of the blue?”
“Once. If it helps, your secret was a surprise to all of us.” She shrugged. “The Doctor kept mine from me for a while. Wasn’t happy when he finally spilled.”
“Did it involve him playing with your memories?”
“Actually, it involved me saving his life God knows how many times and making sure the universe didn’t get destroyed. Long, crazy story, and I’m glad I have people I can talk with about it.”
“I don’t know if I’m that lucky. The last time I tried to talk with somepony about something important, a big blue box fell out of the sky.” Lyra frowned. “Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s the Doctor who should be apologizing to you. Man’s a lousy driver.” Clara then grinned and asked, “So what was it you were wanting to talk about with Quiver? Don’t tell me you were about to confess something to him.”
“Yeah, but not what you’re thinking.” The unicorn laughed. “I know exactly two ponies who are in relationships, and one of them just kinda fell into hers. Quiver, though? His is the one closest to where mine is, except his is official and mine…”
“Not official yet?”
“Yeah. We’ve known each other since we were foals. I’m even living with her and her niece now, have been for over a year. She’s my best friend, and I don’t want to ruin that.” She raised an eyebrow. “And no reaction to me using feminine pronouns?”
“Lyra, I don’t judge a girl for being into other girls. If Quiver didn’t have a girlfriend, he’d probably be disappointed though.”
The transformed unicorn smirked. “Not too much. I go both ways.”
“And he knows?”
She shrugged. “About my preferences? Don’t know. About me and Bon-Bon, though? Practically the whole town knows about us, so why wouldn’t he? The only thing keeping me from elaborating with him is, well…” Lyra frowned. “Eh, you can probably guess. Still, I want to talk with someone about it, and he’s the best one I can go to for advice. Bad enough I’m afraid of hurting one friendship, I don’t want to hurt two before this is all over.” She shook her head. “Talking about it, I sound way too scared than I should be, but…”
“But some things are scarier than they should be.” Clara offered a hand. “Want some advice?” The offer was accepted, and she continued, “When me and the Doctor first met, after that first crazy adventure, he took me out traveling. But it was on my terms, not his. Once a week, we’d go somewhere. Sometimes it was where he intended, sometimes not so much. Some of that was him standing back, trying to figure me out, but a lot of it? Me bein’ a control freak. I’m tryin’ to loosen up on that, but it’s hard not having a handle on things. Scary too. But sometimes, you have to take a chance, or you might miss something great.” She then gave an encouraging smile and added, “And something tells me you don’t have to worry about Quiver letting you down. If he can talk to the Doctor like that, he can probably handle what you’ve got to share with him.”
Lyra smiled. “Thanks.” She then grinned. “So, that bit about you not judging.”
Clara gave an enigmatic smile, and left it at that.
-
The Rani turned to face the transformed equine before her. “Do you honestly feel that you can pass judgment on me?”
“Anyone with a functioning moral compass can pass judgment on you, lady. I’m just the only one here mouthy enough to give it a try.”
She regarded him for a moment. “Morality. You make it sound absolute, to hold all life as equal. When one is seeking a higher understanding, what does morality matter?”
“To a sociopath like you, it only matters as far as it’s useful to you.” Quiver’s glare could freeze a pool of water at twenty paces as he regarded the Time Lord before him. “I’ve dealt with people like you for a good chunk of my life, convinced that because they had something that I didn’t, they were better. Wealth, power, authority, knowledge, doesn’t matter. They were wrong, and it didn’t justify how they treated others. You want to talk to me about advancing science? Our understanding of the universe? Doing so is meant to end or ease suffering, not increase it, and your actions would mean the deaths of countless lives across this planet.”
“A colony of insects infests your home. Do you allow it to continue?”
“Lousy analogy, considering you’re the one doing the infesting. And that’s ignoring your obvious bias.” Quiver looked up at the structure before him and said, “You want to tell me this was created by some alien race who reshaped our world. Fine. Those of strong faith are going to be shaken by this, but me? I’ll tell you right now, this doesn’t disprove the Maker’s existence.” He smirked and added, “If anything, me and my friends being here means somepony on the other side doesn’t approve of what you’re doing. Because not only can we stop you, we will.”
The Master chuckled. “It’s almost impressive how he’s inclined towards defiance. And also a little familiar.” As Quiver turned his attention on him, the Time Lord continued, “You are facing powers far beyond your ken, stallion, and the more you challenge them…”
The Master soon found his monologue silenced as Quiver landed a powerful right cross to his face. Quiver took a second to regard his fist, surprised that he knew how to deliver such a blow, but didn’t feel too bad about the results. “You’re hardly much better, fella. Willing accomplice and all that. Don’t push me.”
The Time Lord’s response was to give a dark chuckle. “Oh, you overestimate yourself.” He then sharply turned his head to reveal his eyes were now yellow, his pupil’s like those of a cat and fangs emerging from his mouth. “I am far more dangerous than…”
Quiver punched him again, this time a jab that knocked the wind out of the man. It was swiftly followed by two swift strikes that left the Master sprawled on the ground, gasping for air. “Got thestrals in my family tree. Do better.” He heard snickering from nearby, and caught sight of the transformed diamond dogs as they tried to stifle their enjoyment, and a thought occurred to him as he turned his attention back to the Rani. “Now that it’s crossed my mind, how are you keeping them under your thumb? I don’t see any fancy devices on them, no signs of surgery, so implants are unlikely.” He turned back to them and continued, “Chemicals and hypnosis seem unlikely too, so…” A thought struck him, and he realized, “Moondancer, you heard that high-pitched sound on the way in, right? Almost like a whistle?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t been hearing it since…” The transformed unicorn brought a hand to her ear. “Since we were transformed.”
Quiver grinned and turned to the diamond dogs. “Makes me wonder why you’re still here. Hearing range for a pony isn’t that different from a diamond dog’s, so if we can’t hear it…”
Quiver had been told by his friends of their encounters with diamond dogs, with special attention made to Rarity’s case, and it was clear that the ones they encountered weren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. While he had no way of knowing the fullest extent of these dogs’ collective intelligence, he could tell that the wheels were turning in their heads, and sure enough…
“Dogs, run!” As the rest of his pack fled, the lead dog called, “Thanks, pony! Bosses jerks!”
The Rani looked at him with an expression that mixed intrigue and annoyance. “You are alarmingly perceptive. I’d be impressed if it wasn’t an annoyance.”
“What can I say, I try to practice my critical thinking skills, and I’ve gotten a lot of practice lately. And practice makes perfect.”
“Indeed.” The Rani then moved to her console and keyed in new commands. Before Quiver or Moondancer could move to stop her, the pair were transformed back into ponies and struck numb. The Rani and the Master, however, retained their native forms. “It hardly matters that you deduced how I was controlling the diamond dog pack. They were hardly of any use at this point anyway, and they cannot run very far.”
The numb feeling was fading faster than it had before as Quiver regained his footing. “Forgetting something, miss.”
Before the Rani could retort, Moondancer fired a beam of magic from her horn. It was a weak one, certainly not strong enough to do serious damage, but enough to knock the Time Lord off her feet. The beam, however, passed right through her as though it were nothing, and the Rani smirked. “You aren’t the only one with the odd surprise, pony. It’s almost a shame that I can’t take you with me, as you would make an excellent test subject.”
“You’re hardly making it sound appealing, Ushas.”
The Rani’s attention suddenly shot towards the chamber entrance as another intruder entered. “Impossible. How…?!”
“How am I still bipedal?” He took a second to adjust his bowtie. “Well, you’ll get there in a minute.”
“No, that name. How can you possibly…?!”
“You’ll get there in a minute too.” He stepped forward at a confident swagger as he elaborated, “Anyway, back to my previous point. You look at them, you don’t see people, you see data to be quantified, subjects to be examined. You might recognize that they have names, but only so far as it’s useful to you. The little things, the important things, go right by you. That’s what you get for spending all your time in the laboratory and not enough of it dealing with other people. As far as you’re concerned, things like love and pleasure are little more than chemical interactions, and something as simple as faith is little more than a fairy story.”
The Rani gave him a scornful look. “I suppose next you’re going to attempt to sell me on the existence of the divine?”
“Hardly. Just saying that your attitude puts you beneath them, rather than above them. I’m hardly a believer, but that doesn’t stop me from having faith in something greater than myself.” He gestured to the device and explained, “The existence of this device doesn’t disprove the existence of the divine. It just proves that you don’t have much in the way of imagination, unlike Quiver here.” He turned to the stallion and added, “Seriously, well done mate.”
As Quiver smiled, the Master sat up and groaned, “And what precisely has he done?”
“Aside from knock you around, he had the good sense to pay attention.” He then turned back to the Rani and continued, “And of course, the really funny thing about all of this is that, unlike the last few times we’ve crossed paths with each other, I recognized the two of you immediately, but you didn’t return the favor. I’ll admit, though, I hard time believing what I was seeing at first, until I figured it out.” He pulled a device from his pocket and activated it with a flick of his wrist. “The Master had enough chances to fool around in Time Lord archives, and he likely needed your help to stabilize his condition. And in return, you got a few choice bits of information, as well as some odds and ends. Genetic samples, brain patterns, things like that.”
Moondancer looked at the Master as the realization hit her. “He’s a clone! That explains it!”
“You make it sound as though this were a terrible existence.” Still in pain from his brief fight with Quiver, the Master had nonetheless recovered enough to recount, “From what the Rani has told me, frightening things were on the horizon. I’m actually quite grateful for her help in my escape from what was to come, and don’t envy my ‘brother’ his position.”
“The Time War, you mean.” That got more of the Rani’s attention as the intruder elaborated, “The original Master actually did fight in the War, even if he only ended up making things worse before he ran away and hid, but you Rani? You ran. You decided the Time Lords would fall to the Daleks, so why waste time preventing the inevitable?”
“And what do you know of it?”
“I was there.” He waved his sonic screwdriver and noted, “Clever thing, this. Didn’t have it with me for a long time. Would’ve been useful, but I was in a phase, trying to challenge myself. Anyway, took me a while, but I remembered eventually. I fought on the front lines, did what I could to save lives. And that’s exactly what I did. I ended the Time War. I saved Gallifrey. Because I had faith, and hope. I was never cruel nor cowardly. I never gave up, and I never gave in. I was able to do it because in the end, that’s the man I am.”
Realization finally struck, and the Rani managed a mirthless smirk. “Doctor.”
“Exactly.” Another wave of the sonic, and the consoles around the Rani sparked and lost power, and the Rani herself vanished.
The Master then chuckled. “You figured it out then, Doctor. Everything.”
“Almost everything. Don’t go anywhere, we’ll be right back.” He gestured for Quiver and Moondancer to follow him towards the wardrobe, and the three stepped inside to find themselves within another impressive structure, similar to the inside of Time Turner’s TARDIS but with decidedly different aesthetics. “That version of the Rani the two of you saw was a hologram, a projection of light and energy. The real her should be…” He led them towards a pair of doors, and opened them with his sonic. “Ah.”
Inside, the three found an array of devices surrounding what resembled a hospital bed. Resting inside it was a withered, aged woman, decayed and looking impossibly old. Quiver scowled. “The Rani, I presume.”
“Possibly the real one, possibly a clone of herself that she made to throw everyone off. Probably won’t know for sure for a long time yet to come.” The Doctor scanned the area and explained, “Time dams. Meant to slow her aging to almost imperceptible levels. Can’t last forever, of course, and probably drawing power from her own TARDIS. It’s why she needed that device out there to help – her TARDIS is so low on power now, it needed the jumpstart.” He looked at the decrepit form and noted, “Still not very good at your job, eh Ushas?”
Moondancer looked up at him curiously. “Why do you keep calling her that?”
“It’s her birth name. She chose to call herself ‘the Rani’ after her banishment. Hates it when I call her that.” He frowned. “That’s something the three of us have in common. We all prefer the names we chose for ourselves, rather than the ones we were given.”
Quiver gave the Time Lord a raised eyebrow. “You aren’t them, Doctor.”
“No, but I’ve come close a few times.” One more use of his sonic, and the Doctor led them away. “I’ve shut off the power going to the time dams. They’ll last a little while longer, but they’ll eventually shut down. Even back in her proper body, she still can’t regenerate, so once what little’s left goes…”
“Old age will catch up to her. That’s the end of that.” Quiver looked to the Time Lord and asked, “But what about the Master? What’s stopping him from continuing where the Rani left off?”
“Well she’s got to have some way of keeping him under her control, right?” Moondancer looked back. “Let’s ask him.”
They emerged from the Rani’s TARDIS to find the Master had vanished, seemingly without a trace. Quiver shook his head. “Should’ve seen this coming. How do we track him down?”
“Good question.” The Doctor flicked his sonic once more and noted, “These caves are endless, and he probably knows them better than we do. Might be too dangerous to try, anyhow.” He tucked away his device and said, “Let’s go get Clara and Lyra, make sure he can’t use the Rani’s TARDIS for anything more nefarious than shelter, then get the three of you home.”
Quiver wanted to argue, but found himself too exhausted to try. He just hoped that he wouldn’t see either of them again.