//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Doctor Hooves: To Whom Gods Pray // by M1ghtypen //------------------------------// Ditzy loved watching the Doctor work. He was constantly moving, so wildly energetic that he could hardly focus on one thing for more than a few seconds. He would flutter about the TARDIS, fetching equipment or fiddling with controls haphazardly as though he wasn’t actually paying any attention to what he was doing. Ditzy had stopped questioning his methods long ago; the Doctor never scolded her for it, but in the end she always felt silly for doubting him. The TARDIS was equipped with innumerable sensory devices, and what those could not accomplish a strange piece of machinery hidden in a forgotten corner could usually do. Right now such things weren’t necessary. The Doctor had been working at the control console for the last half hour, running through calculations that made Ditzy’s head spin whenever she so much as looked at them. “He’s got a very strange shopping list,” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “Did you notice?” “Notice what?” Ditzy asked. “The missing equipment.” The Doctor ran a hoof through his chaotic mane. “Firstly, he took a bio-damper. That’s all well and good, since it could hide his genetic structure from Celestia. I don’t know what he’s planning but having an angry goddess show up on his doorstep is probably not a part of it. The rest of it gets a bit odd.” Ditzy squinted at the view screen. “Is that a Dalek ray gun?” she asked. “No! It isn’t a ray gun. Calling it a ray gun is like…like calling my sonic screwdriver a sonic probe. It’s just undignified.” The Doctor huffed, sounding slightly offended. “It is from a Dalek, though. It’s a schematic detailing Dalek weaponry. That’s some of the most dangerous technology in the universe.” He tapped a few keys on the console and the image changed. “That’s a spaceship!” The Doctor nodded. “Dalek weapons make sense if he’s planning something violent, and the Master is never not planning something violent. He also took Sontaran ship designs and clone feed formulas.” “Who are they?” Ditzy asked. “The Sontarans? Nobody. Just a bunch of angry clones that like shooting things.” The Doctor scrunched up his muzzle thoughtfully, a habit he’d picked up from his companion. “I can understand why he’d want the ship designs; Sontaran ships are flashier than anything the Daleks ever build. Shock and aw and all that. What does he want with clone feed, though?” “What else did he take?” The Doctor pulled up a list written in a language that Ditzy couldn’t read. The lines of concentric circles, each overlapping beautifully like cogs in a machine, told her that this was the language of the Time Lords. Normally Ditzy had no trouble with languages she didn’t understand. The TARDIS projected a telepathic field that could translate most of the five billion languages in the universe instantly, but for some reason Gallopfreyan took ages to translate properly. She didn’t mind; like most things the Doctor showed her, his language was strangely beautiful in its complexity. “The Master made off with plenty of data on Celestia and her sister,” the Doctor said, snapping her out of her trance. “He also took some Cyberpony armor. That’s what confuses me the most. Dalek technology makes the Cyberponies look like they were built with Lego bricks, so why would he bother with it?” He punched a few keys and the list disappeared, replaced by the calculations he’d been working on. “Scratch that,” the Doctor continued. “I like Legos. Legos are fun. Wouldn’t want to compare anything so harmless to a Cyberpony. Sorry, I’m rambling. You know how I like a good ramble.” He went back to his calculations, scribbling notes to himself in a nearby notebook. “Wherever the Master is, it’s a safe bet that he’s got Chrysalis with him. If I can track her runoff magic then I can follow her right to him.” He smiled confidently. “I know, I know. I’m clever.” “And yet you still wear that tie.” “I like this tie!” The Doctor examined the green tie he’d taken a liking to. “This tie is cool.” He went back to his work as Ditzy pulled out a paperback novel she’d found in her new room. After a while she looked up from the book to find the Doctor miserably toying with the controls. “Are you alright?” “Fine.” The Doctor held his head in his hooves and blew a raspberry. “I’ve just got a headache. This is going to take a while, so you might as well get some rest.” “Are you sure?” Ditzy asked. “I could keep you company.” “No.” The Doctor got back to work, one hoof tapping the console distractedly and an irritated frown on his face. “You don’t have to do that. I can manage.” Ditzy took her book and trotted up the spiral stairs leading to the rest of the TARDIS. She wondered how far she’d have to walk before she found her bedroom; the distance seemed just a bit different every time. That was part of the fun of living in the TARDIS. A strange sound caught her attention as she reached the top of the stairs. From her vantage point high above the TARDIS’s central room Ditzy could see her friend still at work. He was staring at the notebook he’d been writing in and absently tapping his hoof while he thought. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. The Doctor stopped and stared at his hoof. His eyes widened as he realized what he’d been doing, and he looked around to see if anypony had been watching. Ditzy quickly ducked out of sight before he noticed her. ***** Morning came to the TARDIS in the only way it could: subjectively. There wasn’t actually any way of knowing what time it was in Equestria until they materialized. After a healthy breakfast and a less healthy helping of muffins in one of the TARDIS’s several kitchens Ditzy went to check in with the Doctor. He hadn’t slept, but she was used to seeing him wrapped up in a project. He often went without sleep if he was too busy to remember how tired he was. “Any progress?” she asked cheerfully. “No!” the Doctor grumbled sourly. “I don’t understand how something as powerful as Chrysalis doesn’t show up on the sensors. She’s not quite on Celestia’s level, but I should still be able to pick up something. It’s like her magic isn’t all there anymore. Something either damaged it or drained it so much that not even the TARDIS can pick up on it.” “How could something like that happen?” Ditzy asked. “Celestia’s magic wasn’t damaged when she was beaten at the wedding. Shouldn’t this be the same way?” “No, because Chrysalis isn’t that powerful. She was once a lesser alicorn, but true immortality like Celestia’s and Luna’s is extremely rare.” His eyes seemed to glaze over, either from fatigue or some long-hidden memory that he was revisiting. “Just goes to show that the universe can still be merciful.” The Doctor shook his head as though trying to dislodge whatever unpleasant thoughts had just taken root. “Right, so she isn’t a goddess. She isn’t even close to being immortal. Celestia’s magic is so strong that it’s practically a law of the universe, like gravity or time itself. It goes deeper than just moving really heavy things. Chrysalis is no different from a very powerful unicorn; her magic can be drained or her ability to channel it can be disrupted. She’s either exhausted or badly injured.” Ditzy glanced at his notebook and saw mad scribbles everywhere. There were so many circled stacked on top of one another that she couldn’t tell one from another, and each of them was so incredibly detailed that it played tricks on her mind and made her feel a little sick. Whatever the Doctor had been trying to do was very, very complicated. “What do we do now?” She asked. “There’s someone that might be able to help us,” the Doctor said. “I’ll be honest; I don’t like the idea of going to her for help. She deals with all sorts of strange powers that even Time Lords have trouble understanding.” “Then how does she control them?” The Doctor chuckled dryly. “I don’t think she does. It’s more like she’s asking very politely.” He tossed his notebook carelessly aside and began clamoring around the TARDIS’s control station, smashing buttons and flipping switched seemingly at random. “One of my oldest and dearest friends, this mare is. I say she’s old, but really it’s me that’s old. She thinks she saw me last month but for me it’s been almost fifty years. Time travel is a funny thing.” He began pumping something on the console that looked suspiciously like a bicycle pump. “She and I, we…um, traveled together for a while. Great mare to have with you in a spot! She thought up crazy solutions almost as well as I did.” He chuckled at some unknown memory. “Oh, she was such a bad mare!” “In what way?” Ditzy asked hesitantly. The Doctor paused in his work. “Oh, that…that was out loud, then. She was always…in trouble. She wandered off a lot.” He quickly busied himself again, trying not to look at Ditzy as he blushed. Jealousy flared inside her and she struggled to smother it. “As I was saying, she can probably help us. Hang on, Ditzy!” The TARDIS began to rock and shake violently as it set off toward its destination. The landing was even more jarring than the flight, and Ditzy tried not to think about how poor the Doctor’s flying had suddenly become.“Here we are!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Have you ever been to the Everfree Forest? It’s very dangerous, especially at night. You’d have to be crazy to wander around out there in the dark.” Ditzy and the Doctor shared a look. Neither spoke, but both rushed for the door at the exact same instant. “I win!” Ditzy cried triumphantly as she threw the door open. “Oh. Wow.” Outside the TARDIS was a building that resembled nothing Ditzy had ever seen before. It had been built into the trunk of a living tree that seemed to lurch out of the ground like a zombie in a cheesy horror movie. Bottles filled with strange liquid hung from the branches and tribal masks glared threateningly at her from among the roots. The door sat flush with the tree’s bark. It flew open violently, nearly flying off the hinges as a zebra mare charged out to greet them. “Doctor!” She cried, “Dear friend of mine! What has brought you here this time? Wait a moment. Something is out of place…ah! You’ve gone and changed your face!” Ditzy gave the Doctor a questioning look. “Yes,” he whispered. “She does, in fact, talk like that all the time.” ***** Ditzy had met many zebras in her travels, but none of them spoke in rhyme. Zecora, the strange zebra that lived in the Everfree Forest, sat and waited patiently while the Doctor explained their situation in great technical detail. It was so technical, in fact, that Ditzy couldn’t understand a word of it. While they spoke she examined Zecora’s home. Zecora’s hut reminded Ditzy of the interior of the TARDIS in several ways, chief among them its chaotic nature. Strange potions and brews hung everywhere, though why they were suspended above the floor rather than sitting safely on a shelf was a mystery. There were more tribal masks and other knickknacks scattered all over the place, and plants of every shape and color littered the room. Ditzy assumed they were ingredients used to make the vast array of potions. The Doctor had apparently just said something very important because Zecora let out a surprised laugh. “What is this, you need my help? Can you not do this yourself? If your intention is to flatter, you should know by now it will not matter.” “I’m not trying to flatter you,” the Doctor assured her. “Really now, when have you ever known me to share credit with somepony when I don’t have to?” the zebra chuckled. “I need your magic, Zecora. Something about the changeling queen is stopping me from tracking her. I know you can do better.” “Do better I shall for an old comrade. First though, with your companion there are words to be had. Come now my dear, don’t be shy! We must talk in private, away from prying old eyes.” “I don’t pry!” the Doctor said indignantly. “I forcefully investigate. There’s a difference.” Ditzy giggled and followed her new friend outside, shutting the door behind them so that the Doctor wouldn’t hear. “Is something wrong?” Ditzy asked. Zecora sighed and shook her head, striped mane swinging back and forth like the plumage of a strange exotic bird. “The Doctor’s past is sad to know, as his reluctance to discuss it shows. Tell me, what do you know about the pony whose hoof you hold?” Ditzy wasn’t sure if she trusted Zecora yet, but the Doctor trusted her enough to ask for her help. That was good enough. “He comes from the planet Gallopfrey,” she began. “He’s the last of his people. There was a war, and now none of them are left. He doesn’t talk about it much.” “Go on.” “He’s wonderful,” Ditzy continued. “He seems so happy sometimes, but I think deep down he hurts a lot more than he lets on. Whatever happened in the Time War, he feels like it’s his fault. I don’t think that’s fair; I’ve traveled with him for years now, and I’ve seen him do incredible things. He’s saved us all over and over again, but he never asks for anything in return. It’s just what he does, and I lo-” She covered her mouth with a hoof before she could finish. Zecora put a foreleg over her shoulder. “You are not the first to love this colt,” she said. “But he will stay young while you grow old. The Time Lords are a long-lived race, and we mortals could never hope to keep pace.” “He’s worth it,” Ditzy whispered. “I don’t care if I grow old following him. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. With enough time, maybe…maybe I can show him how to love himself again.” Zecora smiled with relief. “Your aim is not only to befriend; you also seek his heart to mend. I wished to do the same as well, and also fell under the Doctor’s spell. My time with him is over and done, but yours, my dear, has just begun. I hope that you can heal his heart, for it would mean mending a work of art.” “I’ll try,” Ditzy promised. “If anypony deserves it, he does.” They walked back inside, and Ditzy was surprised to see Zecora hurrying to dry her eyes before the Doctor noticed her tears. She needn’t have bothered. “Ditzy, look!” the Doctor exclaimed excitedly. “Green flame!” He pointed at the fire below the cauldron taking up the middle of the room. “Changelings use green flame too. Did you learn it from them?” Zecora laughed and began gathering up ingredients from her collection of plants. “I have learned many things from many strange creatures! Each is a wonder with a plethora of features. Thyme, rosewood, and hoperot I’ll combine; soon all this mixture will need is time. For now you may rest with your hooves on the ground. Soon the changeling queen’s magic will be found.” “Why do you talk like that?” Ditzy asked. “Zecora isn’t a normal zebra, the Doctor explained. “She once saw into the heart of the TARDIS. Nothing in the universe was ever meant to have that kind of knowledge.” Zecora paused in her preparations. She looked very uncomfortable at being the center of attention. “It nearly killed her,” the Doctor continued. “I saved her life, but the damage was done. She was never quite the same.” Zecora dumped a pile of red roots into her cauldron. “Occasional glimpses of time I see. What they mean is often a mystery. Past, present, and future sometimes collide right in front of my watchful eye.” The Doctor smiled sadly. “Only a Time Lord should see the world that way. By all rights you should have gone mad by now.” The zebra grinned mischievously. “As I said, I’ve learned many things. There are reasons that I wear these rings. Ditzy and I are not as long-lived as you, but we can be clever even in youth. Your feelings of guilt are strange to me; I regret nothing that I did, you see?” “That sounds reasonable,” the Doctor agreed. “Personally I think you might have done it with a bit more style, but we can’t all be perfect.” Zecora swatted him with her tail as she passed by. ***** Ditzy woke the next morning on Zecora’s bed, thinking that ‘bed’ was an entirely unfair name for what was essentially a layer of hay spread over a wooden plank. She ached everywhere and wondered how in Equestria the zebra could stand to sleep on such an unpleasant surface every night. Upon looking around Zecora’s home Ditzy received her answer; Zecora didn’t need to use her bed at all. She seemed perfectly comfortable balanced upside-down on the tip of a long wooden pole, swaying gently back and forth with all her weight supported by her forehead. The Doctor was watching with a bored frown as the cauldron’s contents swirled about. “How is she doing that?” Ditzy asked. “I don’t know,” the Doctor said. “As far as I can tell, she’s just got really good balance. And a hard head, but that isn’t news to anypony.” “Is she asleep?” “What, balanced on her head? I doubt it. She’s just meditating. It’s how she passes the time.” “And you?” Ditzy pressed. “Have you slept?” He rolled his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to straighten his mane. “Do I really look that bad?” Zecora slowly opened an eye to scrutinize the bubbling mixture she was cooking up. She was apparently satisfied with what she saw, because she flipped over and gracefully landed on the floor. “Fantastic!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Let’s get started!” Zecora clamped a hoof over his mouth and slowly shook her head. The Doctor sat on his haunches and crossed his forelegs, looking extremely put off about being hushed. Poor Doctor, Ditzy thought. You don’t like it when you aren’t the one doing the shushing, do you? After sprinkling some green powder into the pot Zecora dipped her hooves into the boiling mixture. She pulled them out, untroubled by the intense heat, and smeared molten green residue across her mouth. Two lines of green were drawn over her closed eyelids before she sat in front of the cauldron and raised her hooves. Green mist swirled out of the brew and encircled the three of them, so thick that Ditzy could hardly see her friends. “Ask us!” Zecora commanded. Her voice was nearly drowned out by a cacophony of others that emanated from all corners of the room. She slowly lowered her hooves and made long, swirling movements that the green fog reacted to. The Doctor cleared his throat importantly. “Um…hello! I’m the Doctor. To whom am I speaking?” Zecora snorted in irritation. When she spoke the echoes of other ponies didn’t speak with her. “You address the spirits of the zebra clans. I convey their wisdom from distant lands. Ask for guidance, my dear Doctor. There is much wisdom they have to offer.” “I am looking for the Master. Where is he?” Zecora shook her head. “They do not obey the Time Lord’s creed. You must ask clearly for the pony you need.” The Doctor leaned forward and whispered into Zecora’s ear. Seeing them so close together made Ditzy uncomfortable, though she knew her feelings were childish. “The name is given, the spell complete. Let this Time Lord and his enemy meet.” The mist solidified into a ghostly image of Canterlot Castle. Zecora’s voice, and the voices of what must have been her ancestors, all spoke in their strange chorus. “In the royal chambers of Celestia’s tower your enemy will sleep secure in his power. Two gods tonight he has laid low. One more may fall if you do not go. The Master’s plan is deep in scope, but in our hearts we still hold hope.” A strange, confused look passed across the Zebra’s face. “W-What is the meaning of this?” The smoke began to change from green to an inky black, and the air grew bitterly cold. Zecora whimpered as the golden rings around her neck were covered in frost. The disembodied voices spoke again, but Zecora did not speak with them. “The shadow comes. Grieve.” The dark mist filling Zecora’s hut flew back into the cauldron and disappeared. The Doctor caught his friend as she collapsed and carried her to the bed. “Thank you,” he said quietly. Ditzy helped him prop Zecora up in something resembling a comfortable position. He examined her briefly before declaring that she was perfectly healthy and just needed some rest. “I’ve never seen magic like that before,” Ditzy said as they left. “What was that bit about a shadow?” “It might be nothing,” the Doctor said dismissively. “Zebra magic isn’t like unicorn magic. Unicorn magic is all about order and precision, while zebra magic focuses more on intentions and emotion. Zecora probably just stumbled across a bad memory, a nightmare she’d forgotten or something.” He looked wistfully up at the night sky and sighed. “Sometimes I wish I could do magic.” Ditzy put a comforting hoof on the Doctor’s shoulder. She’d heard him talk about magic many times before; he was fascinated by it. Time Lords, as far as she could tell, were always earth ponies. They couldn’t use magic directly or fly, though the technology they used more than made up for either shortcoming. Ditzy noticed that her friend was still staring at the moon. “Doctor?” she asked. “Is something wrong?” “Yes,” he whispered. “Something is unbelievably, unimaginably wrong.” ***** UH-OH! That's probably not good! Your Time Lord's malfunctioning! One of my favorite things about the Doctor as a character is that he changes. In the newer seasons he starts out right after something awful happens, and he goes through a grieving process as the show progresses. You don’t usually see that these days. Usually Tommy Testosterone is so busy gunning down the bad guys that he doesn't have time for personal growth. Not that I have anything against a good guy with an arsenal. Those characters can be fun too.