A rainforest.
The Doctor had a rainforest inside his TARDIS.
A portion of a rainforest, along with countless other things, crammed into what seemed like a tiny blue box.
Twilight Sparkle made a mental note. There was nothing that could amaze her more than this. She stared around the huge expanse with awe, marveling the rushing waterfalls and blooming plantlife.
"Why does he even have this here?" Rainbow Dash thought aloud, flying between the trees that neared the roof of the room.
"The Rainforest Room. For getting back in touch with nature," Twilight read off a nearby sign. "You know, I don't think he's been here in ages. He's always too busy messing with stuff back in the console room."
“Girls, we’re getting a little sidetracked here,” Rarity piped up, “While I agree this is quite astonishing, we haven’t much time.” She turned to Twilight. “Where do the directions lead us next?”
The lavender unicorn frowned. “They lead us right here,” she told them, “To the sign. Strange.” She thought for a second, before noticing something. One of the corners of the sign was hanging off. “Maybe there’s something beneath.” Using her magic, she lifted the front panel of the sign away, revealing a hastily written note. It looked like it had been written recently.
Everypony gathered around Twilight as she inspected the newfound note, reading it over and over.
“Come on, Twi,” Applejack finally said, “What does it say?”
“It seems to be some sort of riddle, even a quotation perhaps,” the studious unicorn explained, “All it says is ‘As above, so below. As within, so without. Create your life through your thoughts.’”
The room fell into silence, only broken by the squarks of the artificial (or, perhaps not, Twilight noted) wildlife above the tree canopy, as everypony tried to decipher the meaning of the strange riddle.
“Well what the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack exclaimed finally, frustrated. “We’re got less than two hours to sort this mess out, and now he’s guiding us with this mumbo-jumbo?”
“It’s not ‘mumbo-jumbo’ Applejack,” Rarity told her, “It’s a riddle. He’s testing us.” She paused for a second. “Again.”
“Think of it like a puzzle!” Pinkie Pie said to them. “You never know, it might make things a little clearer.”
“As above, so below...” Rainbow muttered, thinking. “Maybe we have to look for another clue beneath something, like the tallest tree around here?”
“Maybe you’re right,” Twilight agreed. “‘As above, so below.’” Maybe we should find the tallest tree, and search the base of it.”
This was easier said than done, however, as the artificial rainforest was surprisingly expansive. There were multiple clearings and babbling streams that ran through the open expanse, and finding the tallest tree proved to be quite difficult. Realising this, Twilight assigned Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to fly above the canopy to help the search.
It was very efficient, as, within a few minutes, the two pegasi had returned the rest of the group, pointing them in the right direction. The tree was not too far away, so they reached it relatively quickly. That only left the problem of finding the next clue.
They all searched the base of the tree and its surrounding area, but they found nothing. Only an abundance of flora and wildlife, but nothing concerning another clue in their quest. Stumped, Twilight referred back to the riddle.
“‘As above, so below. As within, so without...’” she muttered to herself, still looking around the base of the tree for anything important. “‘As within, so without...’ Wait a minute.” She suddenly got an idea, as if a proverbial lightbulb had clicked inside her head. She approached the tree and started to tap on the bark, listening to the sound that the clopping of her hooves created.
*Tap Tap*
No, there’s nothing there, she thought, circling the base of the large tree. She chose another part of the bark and leant in close, her hoof caressing the wood, looking for any unusual crevices.
*Tap Tap Tap*
Wait, that sounded different. She tapped the wood again.
*Tap Tap Tap*
There was definitely something different about this particular section. She felt along the bark, and found the outline of a small crevice, about half a meter in diameter. “Girls,” she called out to the others, “Come and look at this, I think I’ve found something.”
“What is it Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, eager to find a way to end the ordeal she and her friends had found themselves in.
“This part of the wood is hollow,” the unicorn explained, her horn lighting up with magic. The wood groaned as it was enveloped in a purple aura, before being yanked free from the rest of the tree. Sure enough, there was a moderately sized cubby hole that lay within. Peering inside, Twilight found some sort of futuristic device. A few lights blinked and it emitted a soft beeping sound.
"What do you think it is?" Pinkie Pie asked, admiring the strange object.
Rainbow Dash found herself equally interested in the device, inspecting it closely as it beeped and flashed. "What does it do?" she wondered.
"I don't know," Rarity muttered, "But perhaps the last part of the riddle will give us some sort of clue." She turned to Twilight, who was still examining the futuristic object. "What was the last part of the riddle, dear?"
"'Create your life through your thoughts'," the librarian answered, not taking her eyes of the device. "But what could that mean?"
Another silence echoed through the forest as the six mares pondered this. They looked around, looking for something that might give them another clue. Unfortunately, they came up with nothing, and were forced to decipher the last part of the riddle.
“Hmm,” Pinkie murmured, shattering the deafening silence, inspecting the device for a fourth time, “‘Create your life through your thoughts’. Maybe we all have to think of what we want, and it’ll be given to us!”
“That’s ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Not to mention impossible!”
“Really Rainbow? We’ve spent the last two weeks in a blue box travelling around the universe, and you’re questioning what’s possible?” Applejack scolded her friend.
“Everypony, be quiet!” Twilight told them, raising her voice. “Maybe Pinkie’s right, and besides, I don’t see anyone else coming up with any ideas!” Everyone went silent, but Applejack and Dash still glared at each other.
“Right,” Twilight continued, “Let’s think. What is it that we want?”
“To get to the engine room, and help The Doctor,” Fluttershy answered.
“Exactly.”
“So what are y’all saying?” Applejack asked, “That if we all think of the engine room, we’ll magically teleport there, or something?”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, it’s worth a shot.” She closed her eyes. “Alright everypony. Close your eyes. Focus only on travelling to the backup engines; block out any other thoughts.
Her friends nodded and squeezed their eyes shut, focusing only on The Doctor and their destination. After a few seconds of silence, the strange machine built into the tree began to beep more rapidly. Undeterred, the six friends continued to channel their thoughts, refusing to be distracted as a high-pitched whine started to emanate from the device.
After what seemed like an age, the mechanical whining reached a near unbearable amount of noise. In a flash of light, the six mares disappeared, leaving the artificial rainforest empty once more.
***
He would have twiddled his thumbs, if he had any.
But instead The Doctor was forced to be content with just sitting by himself in the expanse of nothingness that was the heart of his ship, hopelessly waiting for the TARDIS to drift into the supernova. Discord had left a while ago, to "have some fun with his friends", as he put it.
In fact, the only hope the time lord had left now was his friends. As much as he hated to admit it, everything was on their shoulders.
He never meant for them to get endangered like this. It was foolish of him, in hindsight, to bring them along in the first place. Their race was decidedly primitive, and unused to the kind of dangers they were sure to encounter in the far reaches of the universe. Granted, the past two weeks had been a lot of fun, but that was because he had deliberately taken them to some of the more peaceful planets, to get them used to the concept of interstellar travel.
He just didn’t know what to do anymore. He had exhausted all of his options. The fabled time lord was utterly helpless in his situation. He was starting to feel a bit drowsy, as if his body just wanted to shut down. He happily obliged, and, as he drifted off into sleep, he thought he heard the faint voice of a certain lavender mare.
“He’s here! Girls, we made it!”
He ignored it, though, and embraced the warmth of unconsciousness. He settled down as a distant memory began to play before his eyes.
***
The time lord slowly came to, his eyes fluttering open as a metallic voice boomed throughout the room.
“Auto-destruct in two minutes.”
He jerked awake as he realised the gravity of the situation, and tried to stand up, only to fall back down again. His attention turned to his hand, which was chained to a pillar by a set of handcuffs. Confused, he turned his head towards a large chair in the centre of the room. Sitting in it was a middle-aged woman, her long bushy hair bouncing off her spacesuit, connecting an assortment of wires. The Doctor recognised her immediately. The woman from his future. River Song.
“Oh, no, no! What are you doing, that’s my job!” he cried out.
“What, I’m not allowed to have a career, I suppose?” she answered innocently, still connecting the variety of cables.
“Why am I handcuffed?” he asked her, “Why do you even have handcuffs?”
“Spoilers,” she answered smugly.
“This is not a joke. Stop this now!” he told her angrily, “This is going to kill you! I’ll have a chance, but you don’t have any!”
“You wouldn’t have a chance and neither do I!” she snapped harshly. The Doctor recoiled slightly. “I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download,” the professor explained, referring to the innocent souls trapped within the ancient library’s computers.
“River, please, no!” The time lord pleaded, tears streaming down his face.
"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die," she continued, "All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here." She smiled weakly as he looked on in vain. "The last time I saw you, you turned up on my doorstep with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers." Still smiling gently, River sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, what a night that was. The towers sang, and you cried."
"Auto-destruct in one minute." The automated voice echoed around the room.
"You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time for me to come to the library." She motioned to a pair of slender devices and a large, dusty blue book on the floor. "You even gave me your sonic screwdriver. That should have been a clue." She looked on tearfully as The Doctor futilely tried to grasp the device. "There's nothing you can do," she told him.
"Let me do this!" the time lord pleaded, struggling to free himself from his binds.
"If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you."
"Time can be rewritten!" he pleaded desperately.
"Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare," River said to him sternly. "It's okay, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space." She smiled. "You watch us run."
The Doctor hung his head. "River, you know my name," he said, as the countdown entered it's final stage.
"Auto-destruct in ten seconds."
"You whispered my name in my ear," he continued, ignoring it. "There's only one reason I would ever tell someone my name. There was only one time I could."
River placed a metallic circlet on her head, connecting herself the mainframe of the computer as the countdown reached it's final seconds. "Hush now," she whispered, giving him a gentle smile. "Spoilers."
Professor River Song connected the two wires just as the countdown ended. There was a blinding flash of light. The Doctor tried to shield his eyes, but found it too much. He passed out just as a softer, younger voice echoed through the room.
"Four thousand and twenty two saved."
***
There was a soft hum emanating from the centre of the room as The Doctor’s eyes tentatively fluttered open, struggling to take in his surroundings. A warm green glow greeted him as his vision refocused. Glancing around, he found himself in the backup engine room, a smiling purple mare standing over him.
“Ugh...” he groaned, rubbing his head. “What did I miss?”
The lavender unicorn responded by pulling him into a tight embrace. Five other ponies around him shouted with joy and followed suit. “Oh thank Celestia!” Twilight sighed with relief. “When you didn’t wake up, I thought my spell didn’t work.” She hopped off him and adjusted his bow tie, grinning. “Welcome back.”
The old time lord chuckled. “Heh, thanks, Sparkle.” He tousled her hair affectionately.
The sound of Applejack clearing her throat interrupted their reunion. “Um, beggin’ your pardon, but we still got some unfinished business here.” She pointed towards the main console in the room, which had begun to glow.
The Doctor nodded and stepped forward. “Alright, Discord. They’ve done what you asked of them, now stop with your twisted games!” he shouted defiantly.
There was a brief moment of silence, before the console lit up. “Very well, Doctor. It appears that you have bested me. I wouldn’t have a decent reputation if I wasn’t a man of my word, was I?” He sighed. “I will vacate your machine.”
“No, no, no,” the time lord snapped. “Stop for one second. I know your kind. Take us away from the supernova first.”
Discord huffed. “Oh, you got me. Very well, have it your way.”
The room shuddered as the light from the console flickered out. The seven ponies gripped each other tightly as a blue flash of light enveloped them. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as a high-pitched whine deafened her ears.
When she opened them, her eyes were almost blinded by the sudden change of light. They were in the brightly lit console room of the TARDIS. The machine was shuddering violently, and the girls had to find something sturdy to hang on to. The Doctor however, pulled himself to his hooves and made his way towards the computer screen on the console, despite the shaking and sparks flying from the console. He reached it, and examined a message spread across the screen.
“Oh no...” he murmured, his face turning pale, “This is not good. Not good at all.”
Twilight managed to get to her hooves. “What? What is it, Doctor?”
He looked up. “Well, the good news is we’re heading away from the supernova.”
The unicorn gulped. “And the bad news?” she asked wearily.
“We’re heading straight towards a temporal schism,” he explained hurriedly, “A literal hole in the universe.”
“Well, can’t you take us off course?” Rarity asked fearfully, clutching a handrail as the room shook violently.
“I’m trying!” he shouted, dashing around the console, clicking buttons and pulling levers. It only served to set off a multitude of miniature explosions around the room. “Argh, it’s no use!” he cried, clutching the console. “We’re going in, and I can’t stop us.” He glanced around the shaking room, looking on in sadness at the faces of his friends. They bore the look of pure fear. A kind of fear they had never experienced in their lives.
“Girls,” he croaked, suddenly losing his voice. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He looked over to Twilight, who merely nodded, her face wet with tears.
The Doctor clenched his eyes shut and clutched the console even harder as a high-pitched screech filled the room. The shaking reached a critical level, becoming so violent that none of them could even hold onto anything. There was another flash of light, a deafening bang, then nothing.