Five entered into the main council room, and much to his shock, it was completely empty. He turned to a guard in the nearby hall. "I thought the Lord President would be in here."
"He was." the Guard replied.
"Well, inform Chancellor Flavia he's gone missing, will you?"
"Certainly, Doctor." The Guard left.
Five walked over to the Transmat platform. Nothing about the device indicated that it had been used recently. As such, he began to search the walls for hidden doors. No luck on that front, either.
Meanwhile with The Third Doctor...
Now within the Tower's walls, Three and Twilight found themselves walking down a series of staircases. Twilight mentioned something about deja vu, but Three decided not to question it.
A far more pressing issue was that Twilight had stopped moving. "Miss Sparkle, what's wrong?"
"Doctor, I can't move."
Three tilted his head. "What do you mean 'can't move'?"
"It feels like something is pushing me backward."
Suddenly it clicked. "Rassilon. His influence is trying to keep us from reaching the burial room." Three deduced. "Just rest for a moment. I'll figure this out."
"Be careful, Doctor." Twilight warned.
"Of course."
Three made his way through the corridors of the Tower. Dark, neverending corridors always held a place in his hearts. No matter what he got himself into, he knew he'd find himself making his way down a hallway at some point.
As he searched for a device that could be responsible for paralyzing his compatriot, he heard a sound. It was somepony's voice.
"Doctor? Are you there? Please help..."
Three, being a gentlecolt, rushed toward the voice, and the source of the voice shocked him.
It was a pegasus mare, blonde, and with a cutie mark that was a series of bubbles.
In spite of all of this, it was the eyes that gave her away.
"Miss Hooves!"
Derpy turned to see her old friend. "Doctor, I knew you'd be here!"
"How'd you get here?"
"I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me." Derpy said.
Three smiled at the sight of his former assistant. "Well, never mind that now. I need you to help me find a way to free my friend, Miss Sparkle."
Derpy strangely grew nervous. "Doctor, I don't think we've got time to do that."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Well, you know, your other selves are in danger." she replied. "We can't afford to wait."
This shook Three to his core. "My other selves?"
"Yeah, you know, the old one and the funny one." Derpy elaborated.
"But I never said anything about my other selves." Three said.
Derpy gulped. "Well I- umm..."
"Why would you assume my other selves were involved?" Three asked. "I've had no reason to believe they were involved."
Derpy began to sweat. "I-I, umm..."
"Miss Hooves," Three began, "how is Dinky?"
"Who?" Derpy asked.
Three's eyes widened. "You're not Miss Hooves. You can't be." He ran in the other direction. As such, he was spared the traumatizing sight of seeing Derpy disintegrate into black smoke.
Three ran right back to Twilight. "Miss Sparkle! Miss Sparkle!"
She remained where she was before. "Doctor, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes." Three said, breathing heavily. "Just, there was a... a phantom."
Twilight tilted her head. She put her hoof on Three's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Three swallowed his feelings and shook his head. "No. Come along. I... you seem to be free of paralysis."
Twilight looked on Three with judgement, but still walked alongside him, deeper into the castle.
Meanwhile with The First Doctor...
After successfully getting past the 'Pi' trap, One and Bon Bon continued their journey.
"Doctor," Bon Bon asked, "do you feel something weird in the air?"
"A sense of fear and foreboding?" One offered.
"Yes."
One chuckled to himself. "My dear, it is simply Rassilon's will trying to force us back. Simply ignore it, as I do."
"How can you ignore this?" Bon Bon wondered. "Even if there wasn't something like that around, this place would still freak anypony out."
"Maybe so, my dear." One said, smiling. "However, I've found that there is very little one should actively fear at my age. Dingy architechture hardly qualifies."
It was in this moment that Bon Bon saw something in One she hadn't prior. He was showing the caring side Susan advocated. This was the stallion who loved his granddaughter, and now, here he was, caring about Bon Bon as if she were his own.
For a moment, she saw a flicker of her Doctor in him.
She smiled and kept along.
Little did they realize somepony else was following them.
Meanwhile with The Second Doctor...
At this point, Two and Shining were going up stairs. Shining muttered something about knowing how his sister feels, but Two didn't worry about it.
"Doctor, I'm starting to feel sick." Shining said.
"You're feeling Rassilon's influence upon you." Two corrected. "A touch of nausea is only reasonable."
"Doctor!"
Two and Shining traded looks, and started running up the stairs to find the source of the noise. As they reached the doorway at the top of the stairs, they saw a butter-colored pegasus. However, this pony was not an animal caretaker.
He was a soldier.
"Pansy!" Two announced.
Sure enough, it was the famous pegasus, as well as Two's closest compatriot. True to his name, he was trembling and hiding his eyes. He opened one and saw the two stallions. "Doctor! Captain!"
"Pansy, old friend, how'd you get here?" Two asked.
"Probably the same way we got here." Shining figured.
Pansy got back up. "Doctor, there's a forcefield keeping me here. They told me if either of us touch it, it'll kill me."
Two's mind went into overdrive. "Don't worry, Pansy, I'll figure out something." He turned to the Captain. "Captain Armor, you're the forcefield expert!"
"Well, yeah," Shining replied, "but I can't take down ones that I'm not projecting."
"Doctor, don't worry about me." Pansy said. "Just find another way around, I'll be fine."
Two blinked. "You're not Pansy."
"What do you mean, Doctor?" Shining asked.
"Don't forget, Captain, that Pansy was trained by Commander Hurricane." Two reminded him. "As such, loyalty was drilled into his mind from day one. My entire time traveling with him, he absolutely refused to leave anypony behind. He'd never tell me to leave him to die."
Two walked straight through Pansy, who dissapated into smoke. Two shuddered. "Forgive me." he whispered.
"Doctor?" Shining said, concerned for his friend.
"It's nothing, Captain. We're almost there."
Meanwhile with The Fifth Doctor...
As Five continued to search the High Council room, he happened upon a portrait of Rassilon reading from a strange book. Next to it was a familiar musical instrument.
"The Harp of Rassilon?" Five questioned. "Now we're just getting silly."
Five plucked one of the strings on the harp, and in addition to the musical note, he heard a click.
"Ah, a sonic key!" Five declared. "And me without my screwdriver. Well, if I'm to find Borusa, I suppose I'll need to carry a tune."
Meanwhile in Rassilon's Tomb...
The legends, rumors, and history about Rassilon were all highly contradictory to one another. Some called him a construction worker, creating the technology that allowed for the Time Lords' mastery over Time and Space.
Some called him a political leader first and foremost. He wrote The Ancient and Worshipful Law of Gallopfrey almost entirely by himself and set up the system of the Lord President and his High Council.
Others went so far as to consider him a God. This was common on planets with alicorn rulers, but with Rassilon it was a tad more justified. He had complete knowledge over time, and could manipulate it easily with a thought. Couple this with his immortality, and it is difficult to argue he wasn't a God.
However, the rumors persisted that he was a horrible tyrant and a monster. The disappearance of the other alicorn, Omega, into the antimatter dimension fueled the rumor mill of Gallopfrey for generations upon generations. The Doctor's encounters with Omega only served to stoke the fire even more.
In spite of all of this, one thing was universal about Rassilon, no matter what your thoughts on him were.
Everypony agreed that he was a bit of a narcissist.
If the dozens of items that bore his name didn't give it away, his mausoleum more or less clinched it. The coffin in the center of the room bore his seal on all sides. The walls of the room had large statues of alicorns carrying pots of flame jutting out of them. And a mysterious obelisk was just off to the side of the metal box. On the other walls, strange computer banks littered the area.
One and Bon Bon easily agreed it was one of the tackier rooms they'd been in over the course of the past few years.
As One began his analysis of the obelisk, he heard somepony enter the room. "Ah, there you are, dear fellow." he said, "What kept you?"
It was Three with Twilight in tow. "What kept me?" Three asked. "What complete and utter arrogance on your part."
"I deserve to be arrogant, I've only been in The Death Zone a few hours and I got to Rassilon's crypt first. I win, dear boy." One countered.
Three fumed. "Well, we better get to work."
Twilight walked over to Bon Bon. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." she introduced.
"Bon Bon." the candy-colored mare replied, shaking the bookworm's hoof.
"I knew that the Doctor could change his face," Twilight said, "but I didn't know they could meet each other."
"Apparently they shouldn't." Bon Bon explained. "They said it's bad for time, but I think it's just because he can't stand somepony with an ego as big as his."
Twilight laughed at this. "You've traveled with him for a while now, haven't you?"
"Yep. Doctor," Bon Bon said, turning to One, "didn't you say there was another one somewhere in the Death Zone?"
As if on cue, the Cosmic Hobo himself walked into the room. "Quite so, my dear, and I'm doing just fine, thank you for asking."
"Oh joy, him." Three muttered.
"Oh, because I'm so excited to see you too, you old scarecrow." Two shot back.
"Scarecrow? This coming from the pony who wore a coat of imitation furs? Didn't think about the ramifications there, did you?" Three asked.
"One time!" Two replied. "One time, that happened!"
"Doctors, please control youselves." Shining said, as he walked into the room.
"Shiny!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Twily!" Shining replied.
The two siblings ran to each other, and shared a familial nuzzle.
"I'm here too," Bon Bon said, "if anypony cares."
"Captain Armor, I must say, it's a pleasure to see you again." Three said.
"Same here, Doctor." Shining returned. Captain Armor wasn't one to play favorites, mind you, but Three was The Doctor he had spent the most time working with.
"Now if you lot will excuse us, we're trying solve an ancient riddle, and I'm certain they'll screw it up without my help." Three boasted.
As The Three Doctors got to work on deciphering the sigils inscribed upon the obelisk, their companions got to doing what companions do best. Joke about The Doctor.
"Typical." Twilight muttered. "Drags you throughout time and space, and once he finally gets to the part that might actually be fun, he refuses to let you get involved."
"Mine's not much better." Bon Bon said.
"The old one?" Twilight asked.
"No, mine's not here. I hope he's okay."
"Don't worry." Shining said. "I've met all The Doctors up to this point, and one thing stays the same in each of his lives. He always figures something out."
Bon Bon smiled.
"He also thinks nopony in the room can keep up with him, so let's see how well three of him work together, shall we?" Shining joked.
As Shining had said, each of The Doctors had gotten to work on deciphering the obelisk, and each of them had learned much of its secrets roughly at the same pace.
"Incredible." Two muttered. "So the legends were true. In all my years, I never would have dreamed..."
"Nor I, but this changes nothing." One interrupted. "The problem at hoof is that we must lower the forcefield, save our fourth and fifth selves, and get everypony home."
"The old codger's right." Three agreed. "This doesn't concern us. Rather, it shouldn't concern us."
"Hold on!" Bon Bon said. "You've dragged us all across the Death Zone, and now you're not even going to explain what the deal is with The Tower?"
"She's got a point, Doctor." Shining pointed out.
"We've earned the right to know." Twilight argued.
"You." One said, pointing to Two. "Tell them."
"Why do I have to-It's Old High Gallopfreyan." Two said, folding almost immediately. "It's the secret language of the Time Lords. Such an old language almost nopony left alive knows how to read it."
All Three Doctors spoke at once. "Fortunately, I do."
"Well what does it say?" Captain Armor asked.
"This is the Tomb of Rassilon," Three recited, "in which Rassilon lies in eternal sleep."
"Anypony who has gotten this far has faced great danger, and shown much courage and determination." Two continued. He turned to smile at the companions. "This next part doesn't make much sense."
"It says 'To lose is to win, and he who wins loses'." Three retorted.
"I know what it says, you old sod." Two shot back. "I'm asking what in the world it's supposed to mean."
"The next bit claims that whosoever wears the Ring of Rassilon upon their hoof shall be given the reward they seek." One interrupted.
"Well, what's the reward?" Twilight asked.
"Immortality." he replied.
"So whoever takes Rassilon's ring will live forever?" Shining asked.
"Yes, my dear colt, that is what immortality means." One explained.
"I know what it means." the Captain deadpanned.
"But that shouldn't be possible." Twilight pointed out.
"Apparently it is." Three said.
"Rassilon was always said to be immortal." Two explained. "Apparently he's more than willing to share."
"Thank you, gentlecolts, that's all I needed to know."
The group turned to see the source of the voice, and sure enough, it was The Master.
"Oh my giddy aunt!" Two exclaimed. "Koschei, is that you?!"
"He's evil now." Three said.
"Oh." Two replied. "For shame."
"I came here as your ally Doctor, and my assistance was spurned. If the High Council shall not give me my reward, I shall take immortality from Rassilon himself."
"Out of the question!" Two exclaimed.
"You're hardly a suitable candidate." One pointed out.
"For anything." Three added.
As the Time Lords squared off, Captain Armor began to sneak around to the other side of the room.
"You don't get to decide that." The Master used his telekinesis to raise his Tissue Compression Eliminator. "I came to save you Doctor, but I will freely admit, the opportunity to kill you three times over is much more satisfying."
He then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around.
"Hi." Shining said. "Remember me?"
There were two hits. Shining hitting The Master, and The Master hitting the floor.
The others just looked on in awe.
Meanwhile in the TARDIS...
Caramel and Susan also continued to observe. The Cyberponies were now hooking the device up to the TARDIS.
"Now what do we do?" Susan asked.
Caramel gulped. "If your Grandpa doesn't deactivate that forcefield, not much of anything."