Chapter Three
In which Twilight is rather unhappy with the Doctor, and a curious document is discovered
"You do realize that I got over my cold a long time ago, right?" Twilight deadpanned
"Shame..." the Doctor joked "I was all ready to use the 'a little horse' pun. Geddit? Because you're a pony?"
Twilight didn't look amused.
"Oh come on" The Doctor coaxed "It's really good soup. Made by seaponies"
Twilight sighed "Fine." she turned to walk into the library.
"So what exactly did you tell your friends to explain my absence? Because Dash seemed a little freaked out" the Doctor trotted inside the library after her, face curious.
"I said you had went back to Trottingham for an indeterminate length of time." Twilight replied simply, words blunt. Her left ear gave an irritated little flick.
Behind her, the Doctor winced. She was ticked, alright. He fell back a few steps, choosing to keep a careful distance. There were few things in the universe that gave him paused, but an angry Twilight was definitely one of them.
It was a bit of an awkward affair as they sat down at the table in stony silence. It was still laid out from Twilight's get together with her friends, complete with a pitcher of water, a crumb covered sandwich platter, and a half empty plate of Jammy Dodgers.
The Doctor reached out to grab one, but then spotted Twilight's expression; "take one." it seemed to say "I dare you"
He quickly put his hoof down.
They stayed there for a little while, in a strange sort of unspoken contest. The Doctor tapped his hooves absently on the floor..... The dead air stretched even longer.
Without breaking eye contact, the Doctor reached for the pitcher on the table and poured himself a glass of water.
Without breaking eye contact, Twilight reached out and knocked it over.
The Doctor blinked, looking from Twilight, then to to the spilled water, then back to Twilight "You seem angry" he said finally.
At that the cloying silence broke like a brittle twig, and Twilight with it, bristling like at angry cat.
"You think?" She snapped "One up my friends just up and disappeared for months! What the hay was that, Doctor?! And then you just come waltzing back in like it's nothing, while I've been out of my head thinking something terrible had happened! I thought you had gotten yourself killed! Or trapped in another time! Or crashed the TARDIS!"
She gave her hooves a little flail, and then smacked them down on the table again.
"For all I knew you could have been captured by aliens or stranded on some distant moon or-" she faltered "....or just.....left"
She deflated at that last word, seemingly having released all her anger.
The Doctor looked genuinely concerned "Sparky, I-" he began, but was cut off by I sudden hug.
"I'm glad you're okay"
"Oh!" the Doctor blinked, surprised "Uh...alright?"
"What happened?" Twilight asked, all curiosity now.
"I haven't the slightest idea" The Doctor said, before looking thoughtful "Well actually no. I do have a hypothesis. Well, more of a hunch really.... Or maybe a theory. No...no that's not right either. An inference perhaps?"
Twilight made a little circular motion with her hooves "Go on"
The Doctor blinked "What?...Oh, certainly! It's a bit of a long story though..."
It took roughly half a bowl of soup (for Twilight) and fourteen Jammy Dodgers (for the Doctor) to explain the surprise meeting with Colgate, and her worrying proficiency with time spells.
"That's... not good" Twilight said slowly, after the story was done.
The Doctor nodded "If there's one thing this universe doesn't need, it's somebody mucking about the timestream irresponsibly"
"Well..." Twilight made a noncommittal gesture "The argument could be made that you aren't so responsible yourself"
"Lies." the Doctor huffed
"Come on. Last time we visited the cakes, you nearly dropped baby Pound on his head."
"Nearly." the brown stallion countered "He never actually hit the ground"
"Only because he can fly!" Twilight rebuffed
"Well he was fine in the end.." The Doctor pouted "Plus, I do not Muck About the timestream. I interact with time in a much more dignified manner, thank you very much"
Twilight rolled her eyes "If you say so."
"Anyways..." The Doctor said pointedly, giving an affronted little sniff "Seeing as you aren't all sickly anymore, I was thinking we could go and investigate"
Twilight grinned "Visiting a possibly dangerous filly living inside a disused science lab about three hundred and fifty years from now?" She paused in mock thoughtfulness "I'll go get my saddlebags"
She quickly trotted up the stairs, grabbing her light blue bags, snagging the TARDIS key on it's chain from her jewelry box and stowing it it in a pocket, before hoisting them over her shoulder before trotting back downstairs. On her way to the door, she paused and levitated a few granola bars and a couple of fruits into her saddlebags as well. Celestia knew she would need extra snacks with the Doctor along.
Said stallion was already waiting by the library's back door, flicking his tail absently. "Are you ready to go?" he asked brightly as Twilight approached.
The unicorn nodded "Just one more thing..." she said, a sly grin on her face.
The Doctor leaned in curiously.
"CEST' PARTI!" Twilight shouted, with a volume that would have given the CMC a run for their money. Then she galloped out the door, laughing.
The Doctor just rolled his eyes and shook his head, following her out the door towards the TARDIS.
Inside the blue box, the Doctor trotted towards the console and began adjusting the various levers and dials, then he paused, turning to Twilight.
"So...Why are you wearing a dress again?"
Twilight chuckled "Me and my friends were invited to the Winter Celebration in Canterlot, and with Rarity around, dressing up is kind of unavoidable" her attire was poofy, with a color scheme of reds and oranges, and a frilly collar and sleeves. She gave a little twirl "How does it look?"
"It's...um...Nice?" the Doctor said carefully.
"It's horrible isn't it?"
"well..." the Doctor tilted his head, squinting at it "Yes. Yes it is"
Twilight gave a resigned sigh "Thought so. Unfortunately, it's the only one I have at the moment...the other ones are still at the cleaners from when the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to help Spike with his chores. It was a kind sentiment, but I can't exactly appreciate the ink spilled all over my two favorite dresses....and a bunch of my books...and the essay I was writing...and Spike"
The Doctor let out a snort of laughter "How did they manage that?" he asked incredulously.
Twilight made face "From my understanding it had something to do with Scootaloo, and a bet that she couldn't carry all those new pots of ink down the stairs"
Chuckling, the Doctor just shook his head "They're so charming until they rush in and start damaging property"
"Yeah" Twilight deadpanned "Just adorable"
The Doctor threw a final switch, and there was a little noise, he looked up trotting over to the doors and motioning for Twilight to follow "Well, come along, Sparky. Let's talk to Colgate"
As the purple unicorn trotted out of the TARDIS after him she immediately began looking around the room with curiosity, taking in all the strange contraptions with interest.
Then a voice sounded from nearby, high and smug "I knew you would be back"
Twilight glanced down to see a blue filly looking up at her, wearing an arrogant smirk. Unbidden, a little chuckle of laughter escaped from her, and then another, she gave her muzzle an amused little wrinkle, before finally saying "That's cute"
"I know, right?" the Doctor agreed.
"It's like the evil mastermind smile but....tinier" Twilight gushed.
Colgate glared "Are you done?"
The Doctor held up a hoof "No, no, one more thing. Doesn't her mane look like toothpaste?"
Twilight glanced back to the filly and blinked "Oh my gosh it does!...like someone just squeezed a tube onto her head."
Colgate looked unamused "Now are you done?"
The Doctor nodded "Yes, I think so." then, after a beat, he made a little waving motion with is hoof "Go on with your motive rant or whatever"
Colgate rolled her eyes "Please" She said "I'm above motive rants."
Twilight meanwhile, was gaping in awe at the computer. "This is fantastic!" she breathed "What is it? How do you power it? How does it work?"
Colgate smiled "Pity you didn't bring her with you the first time Doctor. With her along, you're like the annoying dynamic duo" She turned to Twilight, speaking slowly and patronizingly "That's a com-put-er, it's powered by elec-tricity"
"Electricity?" Twilight asked, too curious to be offended "But in my time they hadn't found a way to generate it cleanly or efficiently enough to power this kind of machine..."
"The pegasai figured out how to harvest it from clouds." Colgate replied casually "Quick, easy, and harmless to the environment."
"That's amazing"
"Hay, you can see what this lab achieved by mixing magic and technology" Colgate seemed to enjoy showing off, and pulled a set of strange objects from nearby "Watch this"
She attracted the things to her back, and immediately they began to squirm and writhe, forming themselves into the likeness of a pair of wings. They even changed color to match her coat. Grinning, the filly gave them a flap and lifted into the air.
"I...wha....that....it's impossible!" Twilight squeaked
"It's simple enough" Colgate brushed off "All you need to do is harvest the magic from a couple of pegasai and integrate it with the machinery" She took the wings off and tossed them at Twilight "Take 'em as a souvenir for all I care"
Twilight went a little pale "....h-harvest?"
Colgate smirked "Harvest."
"You know..." Twilight said slowly, looking horrified "maybe you should keep the wing-"
"TAKE THEM!" Colgate spat, cool derision morphing to sudden rage.
Eyes wide, Twilight quickly stowed the wings in her saddlebags and turned back to the computer. Her brows furrowed worriedly....The Doctor had been right. This was not the kind of pony that should be messing with time.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was doing some looking about of his own, while Colgate was distracted with Twilight. Sonic Screwdriver in hoof, he examined many of the half finished inventions scattered about with interest, looking to see what sort of technology they used.
He was interrupted by Twilight's voice "Doctor? I think you should see this..."
Pulled up on the computer was an intricate diagram, pages long and full of pictures and notes written in a tiny, precise, hoof. It was instantly recognizable. It was he main control room of the TARDIS.
There were elaborate drawings of the console, from multiple views and angles, accompanied by extensive notes speculating on what the controls did and how they worked. There were several pictures of the outside of the TARDIS, exact down to the words on the little sign on the front. There was an outline of the Sonic Screwdriver, and and a very long paragraph on different uses, up to and including 'chicken mind control device'. (The Doctor chuckled...he would have to try that some time.) There were even detailed sketches of Twilight and himself, along with a few other ponies that he didn't recognize.
Turning slowly towards Colgate, the Doctor asked "Did you do all this?"
The blue filly opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted.
"No" Twilight said softly "This is Princess Celestia's hoofwriting"
"....Whot."
Colgate laughed "I'm not the only one keeping tabs on you, Doctor!" she sang.
"What do you want?" The Doctor asked Colgate slowly, voice dangerously quiet.
"Oh, that's easy" Colgate breezed "I want the TARDIS"
Behind her Twilight gave a little snort "What, do you think he's just going to hand you the keys or something?"
Colgate just chuckled "I already have the key" trotting over to the TARDIS door she unlocked it, stepping inside "You really should be more observant Doctor. Honestly...Picking your saddlebags while you were busy poking fun at my mane was just too easy"
Simultaneously, the Doctor and Twilight's heads both gave a bemused tilt to the left, and with a wink, the filly shut the door.
There was about a minute of pause where both stood there, blinking, and then Twilight's mind snapped into gear. She began to hurriedly dug through her saddlebags.
"I still have my key" she said breathlessly "If we hurry we can get in there before she has the chance to take off" after what seemed like an eternity of searching, she snatched her key up victoriously and rushed to the TARDIS.
"Sparky" the Doctor said, following after her "I highly doubt that she'll be able to pilot the-"
"Eep!" Twilight, who had been in the process of unlocking the door, gave a little squeak as the box rose about a foot in the air, wobbling and weaving from side to side. Still attempting to get the key in the latch, she clung tighter to the side of the box as it gave a little shudder and rose higher still.
With a little shout of triumph, Twilight managed to open the door, and attempted to scramble in, hindered by the constant motion of the TARDIS. Finally, she managed to get mostly inside, and shouted looked back out behind her. They were a good distance off the ground now, but not too far up yet.
"Come on!" She shouted to the Doctor "You can make it if you jump"
Backing up, and taking a few steps running start, the Doctor leaped up to the TARDIS. Managing to get his two forelegs inside the door and pull himself the rest of the way up.
The TARDIS shuddered and jerked once more, still rising, and both ponies had to cling on for dear life to avoid getting thrown out.
"At this rate" Twilight wheezed "we're going to hit the-"
There was the crunch of breaking concrete and brick, interrupting her. Chunks of drywall and cinderblocks rained down around them.
"-ceiling." The Doctor finished. His heart went out to his poor TARDIS. Flying like this wasn't good for her, not good at all. The Doctor once more attempted to climb fully inside the box, but was once more thwarted by it's erratic tilting.
"Woohoo!" Colgate shouted, pumping a hoof in exhiliration
. Now sunlight flooded into the TARDIS as it flew up even higher. Twilight looked down to see a growing expanse of forest sprawling out beneath them. She clung on for dear life as the TARDIS shook once more. If only they could close the doors behind them, but that would mean temporarily letting go of their vital hoofholds, and risking getting thrown out into the abyss.
Slowly, the Doctor let go, wobbling precariously on the unstable floor. Carefully, he reached out towards the door, looking dangerously unsteady. Almost there....
A jolt ran through the blue box, and the Doctor lost his footing, stumbling towards the edge. With a little squeak of horror, Twilight dove and managed to catch his hoof.
"It's okay" she said breathlessly "You're okay, it's- Eeek!"
as the TARDIS tilted yet again, and she slid almost completely out the door, clinging to the frame with one hoof, and the Doctor with the other. She had just enough time to see Colgate turn and give her a sick little smirk before her hoof slipped, and they were falling.