//------------------------------// // The Last of the Time Ponies // Story: Doctor Whoof and the Elements of Discord // by Trickquestion //------------------------------// Chapter 3 The Master, having just cheated death yet again, wisely decided to use the first few moments of his new life to ignore every mare in the room and engage in witty banter with his arch-foe. "Ah, Doctor, what a how good to see you again. I knew you'd show up uninvited to my little re-birthday party." The Master began, drawing out his words in the steady pace of a refined intellectual, in contrast with the Doctor's manic rambling. Pinkie Pie was about to respond to the "re-birthday party" bit, but the Doctor raised a hoof to silence her as he began to talk, locking eyes with his arch-foe. "Trapped inside the TARDIS after Luna turned the tables on you, you'd have ample time to work out a solution, but how did you get the showmare to help you?" The Doctor muttered, half asking the Master, half asking himself. "You psychic influence would have had to be magnified to overcome the Time Vortex's ionization bubble." "An accurate hypothesis as always, Doctor. After I... miscalculated in my efforts to appropriate the Moon Princess's powers and created Nightmare Moon, my TARDIS was bonded to her, leaving me able to communicate only with Luna herself, and after a 1000 years of that foal, no one at all." The Master explained. "However, about three months ago, the forces that separated me from Luna and shattered my TARDIS along the fifth-demonsional support thread faded. I was able to bounce the psychic wave from piece to piece, using the shattered Time Vortex as a wormhole and amplifier. I then had the good fortune to form a link with this mare, her mind full of hatred and hunger for revenge." It was then that Twilight put two and two together. "Discord escaped three months ago! His corrupting of the Elements let the Master escape!" "And then you strung this washout along, pulling her strings, just another of your pawns." The Doctor stated with disdain. "Nonsense Doctor. Trixie and I are partners in this venture, and after this day, she will be far from washed up." The Master replied while shooting his companion a smile. He also took the time to subtly grab his Tissue Compressor Eliminator. While it was clear the Doctor wanted to continue this back and forth exchange, one pony's patience was at an end. "Alright bub, let's see how smooth you sound with a hoof in your face!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Her flank kicking instincts had been triggered, and in a flash Dash was charging towards the renegade Time Pony. The Master instantly readied his Compressor, and sent a blast right at the rainbow blur. Luckily for the Element of Loyalty, the Doctor managed to grab Rainbow by the tail, pulling her to the ground and out of the laser's path. The Master and Trixie took the opportunity to flee into his clock, which had split apart to reveal an inside bigger then the outside. The Doctor released Rainbow's tail just as the TARDIS's door closed, and the clock began to vanish, becoming transparent and hard to see. De-materialization was completed just as the Doctor leapt into the recently vacated space, his enemy slipping through his hooves by just a fraction of a second. The Doctor stared ahead into empty air for a second, then hung his head, eyes closed, rueing his failure. He then turned to the Mane Six. "So, I'm guessing I've got some explaining to do?" The Mane Six nodded confirmatively. "I thought I did." The Master and Trixie now now stood inside a comfortably spacious white room in the shape of hexagon. The walls were studded with half sphere lights, and a control consel was in the center of the room. "Well, now that we are safely within the Time Vortex, I believe we should move ahead with the next stage of my plan." "First things first, 'Master'. Trixie has upheld her end of our bargain, and now Trixie demands the power she was promised!" The azure unicorn spoke up.T "Ah yes, of course Trixie, of course. You'll get what's coming to you." The Master spoke while opening a drawer on the control consel and removing an object similar to the Compressor, but with a glowing red light on the end. After securing it in his mouth, the Master activated the device while pointing it at various spots on the floor. The Laser Screwdriver made a harsh buzzing noise. After a few seconds of this, a floor panel slid back, and a golden glow wafted out into the air. The Master stood back, an expectant look on his face. "Well? Where is Trixie's power?" The Master simply pointed down the hole. Slowly becoming skeptical, Trixie trotted over and looked in. What she saw took her breath away. Beneath the floor panel were six orbs of golden light. The light they produced was a sickly, deathly kind of yellow, however, lacking a sort of glittering spark. The light began to enshroud Trixie as a feeling of power enraptured the unicorn. Her mane began to flutter on its own accord as pure power ripped through her veins. "Oh yes! Trixie can feel the magic! After a minute or so of this, The Master quickly slid the floor panel back in place, blocking the energy flow. "That is quite enough of that, Miss Trixie. Any longer and you would have been reduced to ions and stardust." He stated in a rather unconcerned tone. "How do you feel?" "Trixie is practically bursting with power! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall easily crush that insolent foal Twilight Sparkle and her meddling friends with this power!" The unicorn gushed. "Actually Trixie, revenge may have to wait. As a matter of fact, I believe we should first focus on rebuilding your magic career." Spoke the Master as a malicious smile spread across his face, foreshadowing some wicked plan relating to the stage magician's career. Back at Twilight's house, the bearers of the Elements have The Doctor strapped to a chair and wired to the machine previously used to test the Pinkie Sense, now converted into a polygraph. Already suspicious of the so called 'Agent of the Princess', the Mane Six grew further suspicious when The Doctor's advice seemed to help The Master (which it had, as the Harmony blast had only repaired his decaying form), the way Doctor and Master knew each other so well, and how the Doctor could speak of such ancient events like they occurred yesterday. When the Doctor attempted to put to rest their concerns with another flash of psychic paper, it backfired spectacularly when Applejack saw it for what it was: A blank piece of paper. Which lead us to the present situation. "OK, mental note, psychic paper does not work on the bio-repositories for semi-sentient crystaline abstract intelligences." The Doctor muttered to himself while checking his restraints. "Still, I've been tied up in worse spots. Pleasent lot of captors at least." He then leaned in towards Rarity and Fluttershy, who were checking the wires. "Easy on the eyes." Fluttershy turned bright pink and slinked away, horribly embarrassed, while Rarity appeared rather flattered. "Intelligent AND charming. Quite the combination." The unicorn's friends all gave her a look, causing Rarity to get ahold of herself, huff up, and walk away. "Oh well. Not like charm can get me out of every predicament." "Alright mister, stop giving us horseapples and tell us yer' story." Applejack began. "Even though the Princess said she was coming straight here to get the Elements, Canterlot is still a ways away, so why don't you pass the time wit a little story?" "Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning." The Doctor began. "It all started a long time in the past, or is it in the future. I don't rightly know, what with the Wibbly-Wobbly Timey Whimey and all that... A/N: OK, so I realized I should probably explain some of the Doctor Who parts to you non-Whovians. First off, the Master is an evil Time Lord out to conquer the universe and the Doctor's arch-enemy, the Moriarty to his Sherlock. I'm going for the more collected, suave Master as done by Roger Delgado, for if I based him on the John Simm version we'd get a Discord re-run. Basically, if Discord is evil chaos, the Master is evil order, driven only to force all reality to bend to his will, a universe in perfect lockstep, every action dictated by him. Psychic paper is blank paper that shows whatever you want it to show and never fails to convince readers (that's the psychic part). It isn't perfect though, and had been broken by a big enough lie (The Doctor wanted it to be an ID that acknowledged him as a "Mature and Responsible Adult.") Since a big enough lie could break it, I figured so could the opposite. Thus, upon closer examination, an already suspicious Element of Honesty Applejack saw through it. The bit with the Elements is a reference to the classic serial The Deadly Assassin. In that, the Master is on his last regeneration, and it shows, as his body has become a rotted, shambling, burnt husk. He seeks to use the Eye of Harmony to repair his body and gain more regenerations. Since the Eye of Harmony could heal him, why couldn't the Elements? Which is why he had Trixie kill Derpy, in order to bring the Doctor who would bring the Elements. Finally, Derpy's now dead husband being named Neighy was a joke based on recent Doctor Who companion Rory. Get it? Roar-y, Neigh-y? It's lame, I know. Anyways, I hope that makes things clear, and I appreciate your feedback. Hope you've enjoyed so far!