//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 - The Dude and The Doctor // Story: The End of Time // by Leondude //------------------------------// The vessel Whooves and Derpy stowed away on made its way to what appeared to be a prison. And as it did so, it rematerialized not as the shiny cylindrical shape it was, but rather something that looked like a police box. Whooves then exited the police box as he observed his surroundings. The sky looked like there was going to be rain and the ground was dark and mossy. The wall of the buildings were also a rather dull white. He was then approached by a pony in bright white armour and helmet that had a fish-like shape to it and an unusual visor. "G'day, mate. Welcome to the Sanctum of Containment," the pony in white greeted Whooves. "What brings you to this multidimensional prison?" "Excuse me, sir, but do you know a way back to Equestria?" Whooves asked. "Sure, it's in the room with all the mirrors. But I must warn you, there has been a riot and most, if not all, of the prisoners have escaped." The pony then handed Whooves what looked to be a gun. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." "I'd rather not. I don't use guns."  Whooves then turned towards Derpy.  "Muffins, stay inside that contraption where it is safe. Oh, and for the love of Celestia, don't press any more buttons." "Will do, Doc!" Derpy said with a salute. Whooves then made his way into the prison. The floors had a checkerboard tile pattern, but the tiles were all dirty and mouldy, and the walls were still the dull white they were on the outside but with an extra sprinkling of mould here and there. Everything also reeked faintly of urine and faecal matter. Most of the cells were empty, their steel doors being left open for half of them. The other half of the cells Whooves observed had their doors sealed shut, as if the prisoners who escaped were courteous enough to close the doors after them. Whooves spent most of the walk looking over his shoulder in a worry, and then he heard what sounded like a guitar lick followed by a violin. Whooves then took a few steps back and noticed a red unicorn with a messy dark red mane and tail sitting on a stool. He was also using a laptop that was resting on a wooden desk. The unicorn then noticed Whooves' presence and turned towards him. "Hello there," the unicorn said while giving Whooves a cheery smile. “Hello to you, pony...” Whooves said, eyeing him warily. After that awkward meeting, they walked down the corridor to make their way to the mirror room. "You've got to help me, sir," Whooves said, "There's this megalomaniacal time-travelling unicorn by the name of Kronos and he wants to collect seven talking space seals called the Seals of the Planets!" "Ooh, well, that sounds like fun but I think I'll just stick with serving my sentence," the unicorn replied. "How did you get thrown in prison anyway?" Whooves asked. "I may have had a one-sided crush on Fleur Dis Lee and maybe stalked her,” the unicorn said, “She may have filed a restraining order against me and I may have used an illegal mind-control spell to live out my sexual fantasies." The unicorn then laughed nervously as Whooves gives him a mortified look. They then stopped in their tracks when an alarm started blaring and a group of ponies in white armour made their way down using some ziplines. "Gentlecolts," Whooves said, addressing the armoured ponies. "On your knees," one of them said, pointing a gun at him. "Don't bother," the unicorn said to Whooves, "They've been bribed by this Sith Lord called Décortiquer into keeping me here. Chances are they probably use that money to bet on each-other in hoof wrestling contests. But on the bright side, it gives me something fun to do." The unicorn cracked his neck and let out a low chuckle before punching one of the armoured ponies in the face and pushing another one off the platform they were on. He then used one of their guns to shoot some more of them dead before charging at another one and snapping his neck. The unicorn felt a telekinetic pull that sent him falling down one of the lower levels, where he was face to face with a robotic pony. The robot pony charged at him and started choking him. The unicorn tried to fight back but was repeatedly bitch-slapped by the robot pony. That was enough to trigger a burning sensation in the unicorn, one he was eager to share with the robot pony and the armoured ponies that accompanied it. He released himself from the robot pony's grasp with a magical explosion before violently killing the other armoured ponies, laughing dementedly as he did so. He then stopped his carnage when he noticed Whooves looking on in horror. "Great wickering stallions!" Whooves cried out. "Yeah, I may have a sadistic side to me." They then made their way to the mirror room, where Whooves could make his way back to Equestria. "Well, it's been fun but I better get going. Allons-y," Whooves said. But as Whooves made his way to the mirror, he and the unicorn heard mechanical laughter behind them. "Going somewhere?" the mechanical voice said. The unicorn and Whooves looked at where the voice came from. They were face-to-face with a white unicorn wearing a skull-like mask made of metal and a grey cloak. The masked unicorn also had purple eyes and a spiky mane. "We meet again, Décortiquer," the red unicorn addressed the white one.  Décortiquer then pulled out a cylindrical device which emitted a blade that appeared to be made entirely of light. "Indeed we do, Lion Dude," Décortiquer said to the red unicorn. "Wait a minute, did he say your name was Lion Dude?" Whooves asked Lion. "Indeed he did," Lion said, "I must say Muffins is a big fan of your work! Although personally, I think your earlier works needed a bit of improvement. Too much emphasis on random gags and fourth-wall breaking." Décortiquer gave Lion Dude an odd look. "Oh yeah," Lion Dude said to Décortiquer, "Before the whole Fleur Dis Lee incident and before I crossed paths with you, I used to be a writer that specialized in comedy. Though I did make exceptions to my usual comedic style of writing, like that post-apocalyptic alternate history that was written during the time King Sombra returned and nearly mind-controlled everypony." "Now that one, I liked," Whooves said. "Thank you," Lion Dude replied. Décortiquer started to grow impatient and lifted Whooves up in order to throw him into the mirror back into Equestria, only for him to get unceremoniously swallowed up by what appeared to be a monster made of bread. And following pursuit of the bread monster was Derpy. Whooves quickly fell back onto the floor. "Blast it all, Muffins! I told you to wait in the contraption we hijacked!" "Yeah, but I was getting worried, so I came here to find you. And I made a new friend along the way."  Derpy pointed towards a pegasus that looked like a stallion version of her but in a red soldier's uniform getting chucked about by the bread monster's tentacles, with the stallion laughing as the monster did so. "I TELEPORTED BREEEEEEAAAAAD!!!!" the stallion loudly announced as he was chucked about some more by the bread monster. "Well," Lion Dude said with a shrug, "the DJ PON-3 festivals were fun, but now I’m paying for it."