A group of Gallopfreyan technicians continued to operate on a series of computer banks. While they were not Time Lords themselves, they still understood how to operate the chronological technology. On the main computer screen was the image of The Fourth Doctor and Colgate floating in the Time Eddy.
Borusa took the head technician off to the side. "Is there anything you can do to retrieve them?"
"Nothing, my Lord President." he replied. "With the present energy drain, it is beyond our resources."
"Use whatever spare energy you have to stabilise that portion of the vortex. If nothing else it may give the other four Doctors more time." Borusa commanded.
The technician saluted and went back to work.
The Castellan walked into the room. "My Lord, is there any word from The Master?"
Borusa shook his head.
Meanwhile with The Second Doctor...
As Two and Captain Armor continued their journey across the treacherous plains of the Death Zone, a thought occured to The Doctor. "I wonder, could Rassilon himself have brought us here?"
This caught the Captain off-guard. "I thought you said that the tower was his tomb. How could he have brought us here if he's dead?"
"Rassilon is supposed to be dead, yes, but he's also incredibly powerful." Two explained. "For all I know, he's watching us right this very moment."
"And would that be a problem?" Shining asked.
"You said you remember Omega, correct?" Two questioned.
"Well, yeah." Shining said. "But you said that Rassilon was the good one."
"Compared to Omega, he's the good one." Two clarified.
"Compared to Omega, anypony's the good one." Shining joked.
"Exactly." Two said. "The official Time Lord history is not necessarily accurate. It's entirely possible that Rassilon was just as bad, if not worse. There were rumors that the other elder Time Lords sealed Rassilon away for his cruelty."
"And now he's awake?" Shining asked.
"And we're playing the Game of Rassilon at this very moment." Two answered gravely.
"I assume we aren't exactly expected to win." Shining replied.
"No." Two said.
"Well, when has that ever stopped us?" the Captain asked.
Meanwhile in the TARDIS...
Caramel walked over to Five. "Even if you do actually reach this Tower, what are you going to do?"
"I intend to deactivate the forcefield," Five explained, "once I do that, we'll be able to free the TARDIS, and then we can get to the bottom of this."
"I'm coming with you." Bon Bon declared.
While Five nodded, One looked concerned. "I think it would be in your best interest to stay here with me." One said.
Bon Bon was just about done with this old fogey. "I'm going with him."
Five returned to damage control. "Yes, Bon Bon, you're coming with me." He turned to his younger self. "Now, once I deactivate the force-field, I'm counting on you to bring the TARDIS around."
"Not a problem, young colt." he replied.
"Can I go too, Grandpa?" Susan asked.
Five and One replied at the same time, but were a tad contradictory. "Certainly!/Of course not!"
Five quickly turned to One. "I'm the oldest, so I say she comes with me."
"Yay!" Susan yelled.
She flipped a switch on the console, and the doors opened properly for the first time. The three left immediately, and the door slammed shut behind them. One gave a flat glare to the door.
"Kids." Caramel said.
"Tell me about it." One replied.
Meanwhile with The Third Doctor...
Twilight and Three were climbing a high slope. While Three was clearly over the moon about this newfound excapade, Twilight was not built for climbing directly up the side of a mountain.
"I thought you said were going to the Tower." Twilight complained.
"We are, there's an entrance at the top!" Three shouted back. Scientific advisor though he may have been, he was a member of the Royal Guard, and he had a great appreciation for physical activity.
"But isn't there an easier way?" she asked.
"Easier, yes! Quite as fun, not in the slightest!" he answered.
"Ugh." she moaned. She turned her head. "Doctor, look."
Three, ignoring pretty much everything they teach you when you start rock-climbing, looked down. Fortunately it was in his best interest. Below them was a large platoon of ponies. From their distance the average observer would call them normal earth ponies with silver armor. However, these two were hardly the average observer.
"Cyberponies." Three whispered, so as not to draw attention to themselves. "The Master must have brought others into the Death Zone with us."
While Twilight was still willing to give The Master the benefit of the doubt, she also knew how dangerous the Cyberponies were. She took a breath, and the two continued their ascent.
Meanwhile in the TARDIS...
As Caramel and One waited for Five to reach the tower, they enjoyed some of the cookies that Bon Bon had made. One had to admit, they were pretty good.
"So how long do you think it will take for The Doctor to reach the Tower?" Caramel asked.
One shot him a dirty look and moved over to the console.
"Fine." Caramel replied. "How long until The Other Doctor reaches the Tower?"
"Well it depends on if something tries to stop him. They called it the Death Zone for a reason, after all." One answered. Suddenly, one of the devices on the console began to blink. "My word, two more traces!"
Caramel rushed over. "Two more Time Lords?"
"Two more Doctors." One clarified. "That makes four."
"But if my Doctor's the fifth, doesn't that mean one of them is missing?"
"Yes." One responded. "I wonder what happened."
Meanwhile with The Second Doctor...
"Oooohhhhh, he who to Rassilon's Tower goes, must choose below." Two sang. "No, no, no. That's not it." He started to mutter the lyrices under his breath. "Who unto Rassilon's Tower goes, must choose above, between, below..."
"Doctor," Shining interjected, "please stop."
"You're not exactly cheerful for a birthday boy." Two replied. "I was trying to recall an old Gallopfreyan nursery rhyme. It supposedly contains a clue on how to enter the Tower.
"So in lieu of a map, we have a nursery rhyme." Shining criticized. Shining took his guard duty seriously, and wasn't exactly a fan of how childish The Doctor could get. At least The Third Doctor was serious about his work, even if the two disagreed on methods.
"Quite so Captain." Two said. "Aha!" He pointed to a small entryway in a rock formation.
"Spelunking. Just what I planned to do on my birthday." Shining said.
"You too?"
Meanwhile with The Fifth Doctor...
The group continued their trek through the Death Zone to Rassilon's Tomb. "We're almost there." Five declared, for the third time thus far.
"This is so much fun!" Susan said. She loved her grandfather unconditionally, but this version was a lot more fun than the one she was used to.
Bon Bon was considerably less excited. Her disposition was closer to that of 'tired'. "I'm glad somepony's enjoying themself."
"Doctor!"
The three looked around, and saw a unicorn in the distance.
"The Master." Bon Bon whispered.
"Leave him to me." Five replied. "Keep Susan safe." He walked over to the crimson-coated stallion, who met him halfway via teleportation.
"I realize what I'm about to say will sound ridiculous-" The Master began.
"Nonsense." Five countered. "I try to believe three impossible things before breakfast."
"I mean you no harm." The Master finished.
Five's eyes widened. "I'm listening."
Susan and Bon Bon watched from a safe distance. "Is that guy one of Grandpa's friends?" Susan asked.
"Not in the slightest." Bon Bon replied. This wasn't her first time meeting The Master, and every single time, everypony had been pushed to their physical, mental, and emotional limit. After all, this pony had killed The Fourth Doctor.
"They're talking like they're friends." Susan pointed out.
Bon Bon looked a bit closer. Both stallions were incredibly calm. Normally when The Doctor talked to The Master, he was on edge. Always thinking, always planning. Here, he was moving with the flow. "Which worries me."
What nopony realized was that another party was spying on both groups. It was yet another battalion of Cyberponies. One of the mecha-stallions walked over to another, this one's face being a dark black color, rather than the chrome than covered the entirety of the other Cyberponies' bodies.
"CYBERLEADER. THE-WHITE-EARTH-PONY-STALLION-HAS-BEEN-IDENTIFIED-AS-THE-DOCTOR." it intoned.
The Cyberleader replied with a somewhat deeper tone. "EXCELLENT."
Another Cyberpony approached it. "SHALL-WE-TAKE-THE-PATROL-TO-DESTROY-HIM?"
"NEGATIVE." The Cyberleader responded. "WE-REQUIRE-THE-DOCTOR-TO-PILOT-THE-TARDIS. HIS-ALLIES-ARE-TO-BE-CAPTURED. WHEN-THE-DOCTOR'S-PURPOSE-HAS-BEEN-SERVED-HE-WILL-BE-DELETED. HIS-COMPANIONS-SHALL-THEN-BECOME-LIKE-US."
In the meantime, the two Time Lords were finishing their conversation. "Doctor, I'm asking you to be reasonable." The Master requested.
"I am." Five replied. "I listened."
The Master decided it was time to force the issue. He lifted a cylindrical device from his jacket using his telekinesis. "I'm armed, Doctor. Had I wanted you dead, I would have shot you already."
"Your Tissue Compression Eliminator?" Five asked, somewhat incredulously. "Face facts, Koschei, you'd never use that thing on me. You would never kill me unless you could humiliate first."
The Master returned the device to his jacket. The Doctor knew him all too well. He then lifted a different device. "I also have a Recall Device given to me by the High Council. If I use this, we can return to Gallopfrey, and we can all figure this out together."
"I would prefer if you could give me more positive proof of your intentions." Five told him.
The Master mentally kicked himself. It was hardly his own fault, but this was incredibly inconvenient. "I did have the Seal of the High Council. But your third self took it from me."
"Forgive me if I don't exactly believe you." Five replied.
It was at this point Bon Bon noticed the band of cybernetic soldiers approaching. "Doctor! Cyberponies!" she shouted.
Both Time Lords swung their heads around to see the metal-plated menace. "Bon Bon! Get Susan back to the TARDIS!" Five yelled back. The two mares turned tail and ran. He turned back to the rogue. "Shall we?"
"We shall." he replied.
The two began to run for their lives, but unfortunately, lightning began to strike around The Master again. This bolt got close enough to knock him off his hooves. Five ran over to him, and noticed the Recall Device.
The Cyberponies caught up with the two. "YOU-SHALL-ACCOMPANY-US." one said.
Five nabbed the Recall Device and activated it. "Sorry. Must dash." He then disappeared.
Meanwhile with the High Council...
The scanner began blinking. "Locked on." a technician announced. "Preparing to retrieve The Master."
Borusa, Flavia, and Castellan walked over to the Transmat platform. The device activated it's neon blue glow, and a pony materialized. Much to their surprise however, it was not The Master.
"Quite the welcome wagon." Five said.
Meanwhile with The Master...
A Cyberpony turned to the Cyberleader. "THIS-STALLION-IS-A-TIME-LORD. BUT-HE-IS-NOT-THE-DOCTOR."
The Master rose back to his hooves.
"YOU-WILL-IDENTIFY-OR-YOU-WILL-BE-DELETED." The Cyberleader intoned.
"I am The Master." he replied. However, he did not finish it in his usual manner. "And I am your loyal servant."