//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Dreamers of the Day // Story: Doctor Whooves: Discord and Time // by Gherkin //------------------------------// The atmosphere around Twilight Sparkle was amazing. Of course it was amazing, it was her brother’s wedding night. She remembered it vividly. And now it was replaying itself all around her, down to every last detail. Everything she remembered about the wedding reception, which, for her, had taken place about a month ago, was unfolding before her very eyes. Unsure of what to do, she meandered through the partying crowd towards the drinks stand. She reached the small table and poured herself a glass of punch. Leaning back, she gazed around, trying to think of a plan. Maybe I’m stuck in some sort of time loop, she thought, But it’s probably another of Discord’s mind games. Problem is, how do I escape it? She pondered on these thoughts for a moment, watching as the party continued. Pinkie Pie was still bouncing around excitedly on the stage, next to the DJ. What was her name again? Twilight wondered, her mind trailing off topic, Vinyl Scratch, I think. Yes, I remember. Always making a racket back in Ponyville with her “sick beats”, as she calls them. “Brilliant wedding, eh?” came an accented male voice from beside her, “I love weddings. Drinks all around!” Twilight turned to face the eccentric sounding stallion. He was dressed up rather lavishly in a long black blazer and matching top hat, complimented with a pearly white bow tie fastened around his neck. He brushed his long brown mane out of his face and smiled at her. “But honestly,” he continued, “I only came for the dancing.” Well, I certainly don’t remember this. “Doctor?” she stammered, blinking to make sure he was real, “What are you doing here? I don’t remember you being here!” “What am I doing here?” The Doctor chuckled. “Is there something in that punch, Twilight? You invited me here!” “Wait, I did what?” The time lord poured himself a glass of punch and sniffed it suspiciously. “Don’t you remember? You sent me a telepathic message, via my psychic paper, inviting me to your big brother’s wedding. You told me you’d just prevented a changeling invasion, if I’m not mistaken.” Twilight shook her head, trying to figure out whether he was some sort of hallucination or something similar. “Doctor, I need your help,” she pleaded. He put down the glass of punch and looked over to her, concerned. “Why, what’s wrong?” “I don’t really know,” she admitted, “The last thing I remember is being in the TARDIS, looking for you in the emergency engines.” The Doctor chuckled. “Why would I be down there? Haven’t had to go down there in years!” “Because Discord took over your machine!” she shouted, gaining a few strange looks from some nearby partygoers. “He knocked you out and seized control of the TARDIS! And now, if we don’t find you and restart the engines, we’re all going to die!” She grabbed and shook him for emphasis. The time lord stared at her for a second, before pushing her off and smiling. “Twilight, I think the stress of that whole 'invasion' thing has gone to your head. This is your brother’s wedding! The TARDIS is parked in the courtyard safe and sound, and, if I remember correctly, Discord is still encased in stone.” Twilight grunted in frustration. “I’m being serious! I remember my brother’s wedding, it was over a month ago! I’m telling you, this is one of Discord’s mind games, and I need your help to escape it!” The Doctor chuckled again. “Oh, Twilight, what part of ‘encased in stone’ do you not understand?” He sighed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and congratulate the new Mister and Misses Cadenza." He smiled and trotted off toward the newlyweds. "That's not even how it works!" Twilight shouted angrily, watching him walk away in disbelief. She could gave sworn she heard him call out "Yes it is!" but she was too confused to notice. Well, what am I supposed to do now? “Why would he do that?” she thought out loud solemnly, downing a glass of punch. “The Doctor always listens to our problems, even if they seem silly.” She shook her head. “No. If this is one of Discord’s games, then that means that The Doctor here is just a projection of his mind as well. I can’t let him distract me. I have to focus.” She trotted around the garden that the party was taking place in, trying to formulate a plan. Okay, maybe I should do exactly what I did last time, she thought. Okay, I’d better go say goodbye to my big brother. The reception was drawing to a close, and the crowds were cheering as Shining Armor and Princess Cadance made their way to the royal carriage. The lavender unicorn trotted over to them as they smiled and waved at the crowd. "Twilight!" The captain of the Royal Guard called out, noticing his sister approaching. "None of this would have been possible without you, little sis." He embraced her in a tight hug. "Love ya, Twily." She chuckled nervously and returned the gesture. "Love you too, B.B.B.F.F." She leaned in close, whispering into his ear. "Can I talk to you privately for a second?" He looked at her, concerned. "Sure, what about?" he asked. Twilight sighed. "I'm in trouble. It's really complicated, and I don't know if I can explain it to you properly." She hung her head. "But you're the only one I can turn to." "Twilight, tell me what's wrong," he said to her, a stern tone in his voice. "It's a long story," she admitted, "But I think Discord may have been set loose again." Shining Armor chuckled. "Twilight, I think the stress of the last few days has gone to your head. Everything's fine, okay?" He patted her head affectionately. "Look, I really gotta get going, but I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he climbed into the carriage with his wife, leaving his sister incredibly confused and frustrated. "Why won't anypony listen to what I have to say?" she moaned. She considered talking to her friends, but she had a sneaking suspicion that they would have the same reaction everyone else had. Oh my dear Twilight, have you not figured it out yet? A gleefully sinister voice echoed through her head. "What the..." she murmured to herself, before suddenly realizing. "Discord!" Yes, hello. Did you miss me? "What do you want?" she demanded, having found a quiet spot in the castle gardens. "How do I escape this trick if yours?" There's nothing you can do, he answered simply, Only your friends can wake you up. Granted, it shouldn't be too hard, but still, it probably delayed you a bit. The unicorn shook her head. "But why my brother's wedding?" You will keep reliving the same memory until you wake up, he told her, I chose this memory because I was feeling, shall we say, generous. Better to be stuck in an endless loop of a fond memory than, shall we say, a parasprite invasion, eh? "You're not going to get away with this, Discord," Twilight said defiantly, "Now get out of my head!" The dragonequus sighed. Fine, have it your way. Twilight just sat there, completely helpless. Discord said only my friends can wake me up, but how are they going to do that? It wasn't like she could communicate with them in any way. Her friends here were just memories, fueled by Discord's twisted magic. She sat back, defeated. “Great, it’s not like it could get any worse,” she moaned. A few minutes later, after she realized she had exhausted all of her options, she felt a large rumbling. It was slowly becoming larger and more prominent, to the point that even the ground had started to shake. Strangely, no one around her paid any attention to it. In fact, it was as if they were oblivious to any sort of disturbance whatsoever. She glanced around, trying to locate the source of the problem. All around her, there was no difference. Ponies were drinking and partying, completely oblivious. It wasn’t until she looked up towards the stars in the night sky did she find what was disturbing her. “I just had to say it, didn’t I?” Hurtling towards her, seemingly from the clouds themselves, was a rushing tsunami of water. Not just a torrent of rain, but a huge wave, crashing toward the ground. It was impossible to escape, and no one around her had noticed it yet. Realizing it was hopeless, she sat back and resigned to her fate. She closed her eyes just as the torrent hit her. “Gah!” Twilight spluttered and sat up, wiping her eyes and glancing around. She was in the TARDIS’ hallways, and Rarity was standing over her, levitating an empty bucket with her magic. “Wha... what happened?” the studious unicorn managed to say, looking up at her friend. “You passed out, dear,” Rarity explained, “Luckily, the swimming pool was just around the corner. I shouldn’t need to explain the rest.” She held out a hoof and helped her friend up. “Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight said, hugging the dressmaker. Rarity smiled. “Don’t mention it. Now, we’d better press on, we’ve lost some time.” Twilight nodded in agreement. They pressed on down the hexagonal hallways, searching for a route to the backup engines. Every corridor looked the same, and they found themselves losing their bearings as they trotted around in what seemed like circles. “Ugh, this isn’t helping,” Twilight moaned about ten minutes later, after they still hadn’t progressed, “How are we supposed to find this place?” “Maybe it was a different route back at the swimming pool,” Rarity wondered, “Speaking of which, who puts a swimming pool in a library?” “You’re getting off topic.” “Yes, sorry.” Twilight stopped for a second, trying to remember what she had read on the console monitor. “You know, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to follow Discord’s instructions after all. Maybe it’s a big riddle, like last time.” Her friend furrowed her brow, thinking. “Perhaps. It’s worth a shot at least, but I still don’t trust it.” She turned around and followed Twilight, the librarian following the directions in her head. “But how are we going to tell the others to meet us there?” “It’s simple,” Twilight explained, “A few days ago The Doctor explained to me how his species’ telepathy worked, so I tried to replicate it best I could.” Her horned started to glow. “With a bit of luck, I can send everyone else and psychic message.” “Hmm, convenient,” Rarity commented, impressed. “Right,” Twilight said, leading the way down the corridor. “Let’s go.” *** “Ooh, this place gives me the creeps.” Rainbow Dash sighed. Why she volunteered to go with Pinkie Pie, she’d never know. They’d been walking around in no particular direction for almost an hour, and the stress was starting to get to her. They were running out of time, and they needed to find The Doctor fast. It was as if there was a proverbial sword hanging over her head, ready to drop at any moment. Pinkie’s ridiculous and obvious comments weren’t exactly helping. “I know, Pinkie Pie, you’ve said that three times now.” The party pony giggled slightly. “Oh, woops, sorry. I tend to repeat myself when I get a little nervous.” “You repeat yourself all the time anyway.” Rainbow Dash sighed. When she agreed to travel with the mysterious Doctor, she hadn’t expected this. He had promised them the stars. Mythical and alien planets to explore alongside him. Granted, he had delivered all of that over the past two weeks, but he never mentioned anything about spending hours traipsing through the inner workings of his machine. How she longed to be out in the open air, soaring above the clouds without a care in the world. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she missed being in Equestria. She missed being at home. Things had been quiet for a few minutes now, which was strange, to say the least. Pinkie Pie was always talking, and the absence of her bubbly voice was worrying. The cyan pegasus turned around to check on her friend, only to find her laying on the ground a few meters away, shuddering. “Hey, Pinkie, you okay?” There was no response. “C’mon Pinkie, stop messing around!” Dash called out, a little more worried this time. The pink pony still didn’t answer. Rainbow rushed to her friend’s side, concerned. “Pinkie! Come on, what’s wrong with you?” She rolled Pinkie onto her back, revealing that she appeared to be asleep. She was writhing and shuddering, and was muttering something incoherent. “Wake up!” Dash shouted, prodding her friend. “Come on!” She shook Pinkie, but she still didn’t stir. She was about to look around for something to help when she was crippled by a sudden migraine. Hello, everypony. The voice of Twilight Sparkle seemed to talk to Rainbow Dash from within her own mind. Don’t ask me how I’m talking to you, I’ll explain later. Just retrace your steps and meet us back at the intersection. We’re going to go with Plan B. Dash’s rear legs gave way, and she collapsed onto her haunches out of exhaustion. “What am I going to do now?” she wondered aloud, glancing over to Pinkie, who was subconsciously muttering something about pudding. Better go meet with Twilight and the others, she thought, Even if it means dragging Pinkie along with me. Seeing no other alternative, she took to the air, picking Pinkie up by her front hooves and dragging her back down along the corridor. It took her longer than she expected to find her way back to the intersection where they had split up. She was sure she’d made a few wrong turns somewhere, but, eventually, she saw a glimmer of orange and yellow in front of her. “Hey, Applejack!” she called out, but the country mare did not respond. “Applejack, over here!” Still, Applejack remained with her back to the pegasus. Dash flew over to the earth pony, still carrying Pinkie Pie in her hooves. Just as she got close, the farmpony disappeared around a corner without a word. Confused, Dash followed, calling out to her friend. She rounded the corner only to find that Applejack had disappeared, nowhere to be found. “What the hay is going on here?” she whispered to herself, the steady beating of her wings the only sound above the soft hum of the impossible machine she was in. She shook her head and tried to focus. “Come on Dash. You can’t let Discord distract you.” She turned around, only to find that the corridor behind her had changed completely. She almost dropped the party pony in shock, but caught her at the last moment. Letting Pinkie fall to the ground slowly, she hopped back onto her hooves and went to investigate. She quickly reached the T junction. Funny, she thought, I swear this was a four-way crossroads. She looked to her left, then to her right. In both directions, the corridors seemed to go on for miles. She couldn’t see any sort of branching pathways; the hallways just went on until she couldn’t see the end. “Oh, horseapples,” she muttered, trotting back to Pinkie, who was murmuring something about a ‘cupcake party’. “What am I going to do now?” She sat down. “This whole thing is going nowhere.” She cradled her head in her hooves. Her ears perked up at the sound of clopping noise, gradually becoming louder as the source came closer. “Rainbow Dash?” came a familiar Southern drawl, “Is that you? You okay, sugarcube?” Dash hopped up and whirled around. “Applejack?” She stopped, and stepped back, apprehensive. “How do I know you’re real?” the pegasus asked suspiciously. Applejack approached her friend, despite the latter’s glare. Raising a front hoof, she hit Dash lightly across the head. “That real enough for ya?” “Ow!” Dash grunted in pain, “Yeah, fine...” she grumbled, rubbing her forehead. “Where’s Fluttershy? She was with you.” “I’m here,” came a timid voice from behind her. The soft pegasus came into view. She immediately noticed the unconscious Pinkie, and gasped in shock. “What’s wrong with her?” Applejack asked as Fluttershy rushed to her aid. “I don’t know,” Dash admitted, hanging her head. “She just fainted, and I can’t wake her up.” They both looked over to Fluttershy, who was whispering in the pink pony’s ear. “Pinkie? Can you hear me?” There was no response from Pinkie, who had fallen silent. “Pinkie, please wake up,” the pegasus said, raising her voice. Still nothing. Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other, concerned. “PINKIE PIE! YOU WAKE UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” The sudden raise in volume jolted Dash and Applejack, who looked over to their friend. The usually timid pegasus was still standing over Pinkie Pie, a strained look of worry in her eyes. The slumber body of the party pony beneath her began to stir and roll over. Slowly, one of Pinkie’s eyes fluttered open. “Huh?” she mumbled, still half-asleep. “What’s going on?” She would have asked more questions, but she was suddenly scooped up into a tight hug by Fluttershy. Applejack just chuckled as the pegasus fussed over their friend, much to the pink pony’s confusion. “Right,” the farmpony began, once Fluttershy had calmed down to her usual self, “We’d better get moving. The intersection’s just back this way, and I reckon Twilight and Rarity are already there by now.” Her friends nodded in agreement, and they set off on their way. “So, what happened to you, Pinks?” Rainbow Dash asked as they made their way through the winding corridors. “I think it was one of Discord’s evil tricks,” she told her, waving her front hooves in an effort to emphasize her point. “He stuck me in one of my memories. Gummy’s birthday, to be exact.” “But why would he put you into a good memory?” Pinkie giggled. “I dunno. Sure was fun though, but I’m glad to be back with you guys.” They rounded a corner, and their two unicorn friends came into view. ‘Finally!” Twilight groaned, noticing them. “What’s been taking so long?” “We kind of had a bit of a holdup,” Applejack told them, “Pinkie got knocked out somehow by Discord.” The resentment was obvious in her voice. “Strange,” Twilight muttered, “The same thing happened to me. He told me he was just trying to slow us down...” “Then why doesn’t he just knock us all out and be done with it?” Rarity wondered. Fluttershy cringed at the thought. “Because he’s toying with us,” Applejack said. “We can’t be distracted, we have to focus.” “AJ’s right,” the lavender unicorn announced, “We haven’t got much time.” She drew them in closer together in a tight circle. “Now, I’ve thought about this for a while, and it seems to add up. Discord wasn’t trying to deceive us with the directions, he was just going to distract us with those mind games of his. We’ve wasted enough time already, and that’s exactly what he wants.” She trotted towards one of the hallways that branched off from the intersection. “Come on, let’s keep moving.” “Don’t worry,” Applejack told the rest of the group, “Now that we know what we’re doing, there’s no way Discord can stop us.” Positively reinforced by the country mare’s words, the six mares confidently made their way deeper into the bowels of the TARDIS. In the corner of her mind, Applejack could have sworn she heard a gleeful and evil voice murmur something, but she brushed it off as nothing. “Tick-tock, goes the clock...”