As the Tardis began to look like an impacting meteor from the sheer speed it was building up, the Doctor scurried around the circular console and pressed a slew of different buttons.
He mumbled something about ”reversing the polarity of the neutron flow”, and his panicked expression went from the buttons to the luminous pillar in the middle of the console, which functioned as the ship's motor. It was working like a piston at break neck speed.
He stared down at the buttons again, and saw that everything was in order.
With a determined look, he reached into his saddlebag, which was now on the floor.
He fished out his sonic screwdriver and held it steady in his right hoof, before pointing it to a lever with a blue handle on the opposite side of the console.
It pulled itself down and everything stopped for a second.
Then, seconds from impact, the Tardis spiralled violently down headfirst into a nearby snowpile.
”Thank Celestia we're alive!” Ditzy coughed as she bucked the doors open and the pair tumbled out on the snow-covered ground.
”Yes indeed!” Doctor Whooves added, coughing as well.
”She taught me how to hold things properly in my hooves. We indirectly owe her our lives!”
But before the mailmare could voice her opinion on that, they were surrounded by ponies of all shapes and sizes, but with one thing in common: The hostile looks upon their faces.
”You have tresspassed on our superiour's grounds. You will come quietly.” a dark grey pegasus hovering a few feet over the ground said.
”Fine then. Take us to your leader.” his equal of the adventurers said.
They both went giggling through the forcefield aided by the unicorns lowering it and escorted by the enemy mob.
* * *
The group quickly reached their final destination, a circular room with stairs leading up to the study, all carved in ice.
Doctor Whooves' saddlebags were thrown to the side. He looked disinterested at it for a moment, waiting for the leader of this whole scheme to appear at the stairs, the only passageway other than the way they got in.
He didn't get to wait long; a cloaked figure soon appeared, trotting out of the study and to the top of the stairs where it stood waiting.
”Theta Sigma,” the voice declared, as if greeting an old friend.
”How nice of you to finally show up.”
Doctor Whooves' eyes widened, and his voice was barely audible: ”That name …. Impossible!”
It then raised to a shout.
”You died! In my arms!”
”Tonight?” the voice snarled mockingly.
His robes were encased in icy blue magic, and thrown carelessly into one of the candlelights by the stairs.
The unicorn had a short, dirty blonde mane and tail, an icy blue coat, a winged hourglass with a jewel-encrusted crown above it as a Cutie Mark, and a crazy, but confident look in the golden eyes and the broadest of mocking grins on his muzzle.
”The Master!” the Doctor yelled, like he was scolding a naughty foal for breaking out of the playpen.
”But how did you ….”
”Get ressurected? Oh, I shall tell you. You've always been a clever man, but I really doubt you could figure this out.”
The Master pointed to his left at a pedestal, upon which rested a golden rectangular object.
”See that? That is the Hand of Omega. Or, rather, Hoof of Omega now. You see, my coven of loyal subjects” he spat out the word with outmost contempt, ”intercepted its course you so cleverly put it on to Gallifrey, our home world. I have high-ranking followers everywhere, so it was easy to keep it hidden, should the need arise. And 50 years later, it did. I was ressurected by its power, but something malfunctioned in it, sending every alien present on Earth at the time to this place, stuck in pony bodies.
My followers may look like ponies, but they were humanoid aliens back on Earth.
That guy over there is from Raxacoricofallapatorius.”
He pointed to an overweight dark pegasus whom stared blankly into space until he noticed the attention he was getting, upon which he took on a stern expression instead.
”Which brings me to you!” the Gallopfreyian pony turned his attention solely to the Doctor with a triumphant grin.
”You were between worlds and times at that moment, weren't you? And I even know what you were about to do. Fate brought you here as well, by stealing a piece of your Tardis. And that same fate brought it to me!”
Out from the study he levitated a tiny mechanical object encased in his icy blue magic, and the insane pony brought it to a halt beside his face, bobbing ever so slightly.
”And with their combined power, I shall take over both universes!” he bellowed while grinning.
”That's insane!” the Doctor gasped. ”In this world, they called me the child of chaos, but they should've called you that instead! And you know you won't succeed, not on my watch!”
”Our watch!” Ditzy Doo suddenly yelled, stepping up besides him, her wings flaring.
”Oh, you're the companion to our lonely traveller here, eh? Funny, that, I didn't notice you at all before now. Come now, Doctor, a blonde, again? If it's not a blonde girl, it's some redhead from a backwater village!”
”HEY!” yelled said blonde offended.
”Pfft, it's better than all your beards!” Doctor Whooves said defensively.
”And what will you even do once you've ”conquered” the multiverses? Date Barry Allen?” he continued mockingly.
The alien unicorn started laughing out loud in an unrestrained albeit psychotic way.
It sounded as cold as his magic looked.
He finally concluded the fit with a series of shaking giggles which led into his next sentence.
”Ohhohohoho, I don't have to kill you to complete my goal, but it'll just feel good to shut you up!”
With bloodshot eyes, he broke off three icicles, hanging by the study entrance, and flung them at the Doctor, who ducked and rolled to his side to his saddlebags, and grabbed his sonic screwdriver.
Ditzy, meanwhile, was bucking the henchponies that launched themselves at her, but due to her clumsiness, she ended up outright sitting on a couple of them.
The two Gallopfreyians were rolling around exchanging blows, and the Master was gaining the upper hand. Doctor Whooves set his sonic screwdriver on the most earsplitting setting of sonic emissions and pressed.
Suddenly, there was a deafening ringing and a blinding flash of light filled the entire cave, follwed by a silent but violent explosion.
The Master and his coven were whisked away in clouds of colourful smoke that looked vaguely pony shaped, the Master's grin echoing through the cave.
Ditzy Doo got up mid-stance, dazed, and picked the exchausted Doctor up to his hooves.
”But …. what happend? Where did they go?” she panted.
Doctor Whooves pointed at the empty pedestal.
”I must have made it explode, sending all the aliens, even James I hope, back to Earth.”
”What about yourself?”
”The trans-flux warp conductor hasn't been reinstalled into the TARDIS yet. If she isn't ready, I'm not ready either. We've shared a mental link for years now.”
”Are they gone for good? The Master and your friend?”
Doctor Whooves suddenly looked worried.
”I don't know, young one. He has the most cunning knack for showing up where he's least expected.
Like here for example.”
”Well, let's hope it's somewhere else next time. Come on, let's go inform the Princesses! I'm sure they'll love to know that their land is safe.”
The colt picked up the gizmo and the half-charred robe of his opponent, and followed the pegasus after casting one last glance inside.
* * *
The Doctor decided to reunite the Tardis with it's stolen part at once, so after some tinkering he plotted a course to Canterlot castle, where the heroes told their Princesses everything they'd heard and that they were safe.
The sisters went to the corner and stood whispering, (”Quite un-royal of them, don't you think?” the Doctor mused.) and then declared in unison that a galla would be thrown in their honour 7 days from this, a Saturday.
Ditzy Doo put the days to good use, making Doctor Whooves her companion for a change, and showed him all of the three cities: Ponyville, Canterlot, and with Twilight's help, Cloudsdale.
The day for the banquet arrived, and it was a huge success.
Everypony was there, from all the three cities, even the friends that Doctor Whooves and Ditzy now shared.
Despite the old colt's more than awkward dancing (wether it was because he was unaware of Equestrian style dancing or just that he was unaccoustomed to his four legs is unknown) everypony was having fun, until the alien in his finest suit left his seat and went out into the starry night to his Tardis, which was positioned on the lawn outside the hall.
He opened the Tardis door when Ditzy Doo, in her finest light grey dress, golden tiara and green earrings, planted a hoof on his shoulder.
”Is it time for you to go?” she asked concerned.
”I'm afraid so. I must go now. My planet needs me.”
”But why? Why can't you stay here?!” she asked while tearing up.
”You already have an abundance of ponies to help. Earth only has me. I'm the King of Sacrifice and Bearer of Justice. It is my burden to bear.”
She nodded sadly. She understood.
He put a hoof to her cheek to wipe away her tears and pulled her head into a tender kiss, their tears mixing.
Breaking away, he looked at her one final time with hundreds of years of sorrow in his eyes.
Then he closed the door, and with the sound of a bellows, he disappeared from the cool night and the palace grounds.
The pegasus in the white gala dress and tiara looked up into the starry sky, hopeful that they would meet again someday.