The sun hung low in the sky, glaring relentlessly at the land below, burning the sky a deep orange. The moon circled confusedly around its still partner, occasionally drifting off into an obscure corner of the sky, but always returning to erratically orbit the merciless sun. The stars in the sky, bright enough to shine during the perpetual day, glowed with a sick green light. The lights writhed as if they were in agony.
The land below shone in their unsteady light. The terrain changed colors constantly, a nauseating wash of every color but the proper ones. The hills were a deep blue, the rivers were a pink so bright it made one’s eyes hurt and the trees were a dull grey. The next minute, the entire landscape changed to look like a normal sky so convincing that any animal on the landscape would freeze with terror, waiting to fall down into space.
Hovering boulders dotted the horizon, floating motionless in mid-air, until a woodland creature moved underneath one of them. The boulder dropped, pulled towards the earth at ferocious speeds. The creature was crushed.
On this bleak landscape lay the remains of a town. The wind tore along the empty streets and down through the roofs that had long since rotted away. The houses looked on, empty windows vacant and devoid of life. Glass littered the streets and rats the size of dogs fought each other for supremacy. The wind howled on.
Over the sound of the wind, another sound could be heard. It was a deep, heavy, echoing sound. Its groan swelled and shrank. In the alleyway between two houses, a blue box materialized, its solid color a contrast against the chromatically changing buildings. The blue box solidified completely, and its occupants stepped out into the world.
The Doctor exited first, followed by Shining Armor, Cadance and Spike. The Doctor looked around, his twice occupied face showing confusion and deep concern. Shining Armor mostly felt confusion.
“Where are we?” he asked. “This can’t be Ponyville. It looks nothing like it.”
Cadance was just as confused. “I’ve never been to Ponyville, so I can’t really add any input.”
“I’ve only heard descriptions of it from Twilight,” Shining Armor admitted.
Spike looked around in slowly growing horror. “No,” he said quietly. “This is Ponyville. There’s Town Hall over there,” he pointed to a decimated heap of rubble at the center of town. “And there’s the Quill and Sofa shop. And that- oh no...” He walked slowly forward, his feet carrying him almost unconsciously. He came to a stop in front of the burnt husk that was all that remained of the Golden Oaks Library. No one spoke. The library was destroyed, with the singed ruin reaching no higher than six feet at most. Charred pages littered the area and burnt covers could be found here and there. Spike bent down and picked up a page. The Art of the To-Do List: Volume One it read. Spike crumpled it in a balled fist. He turned to the others.
“I swear,” he he growled, his eyes burning with rage. ‘If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll-”
“Would you like to finish that declarative statement of vengeance, or should I just kill you now?” spoke a voice from the shadows. “By the way, this is me asking questions first and shooting later, so you’re welcome.”
Instantly, from amid the ruins of the buildings around them, a squad of ponies rose up and surrounded them, each with a glowing wrist weapon pointed at the four. All of the squad wore black bodysuits, keeping their features hidden. Their leader stepped forward.
“State your identities and your business. Remain where you are and do not attempt to use magic, or you will be shot. Understood?”
The Doctor stepped forward. “Perfectly,” he said. “These are my friends Spike, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance,” The tension in the air thickened at the declaration. “Oh, and I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor said in an offhand way. If the tension in the air had thickened before, it solidified now. The leader motioned another pony to him, a pegasus.
“Report back to base,” he said. “Tell the general we have a positive match on Spike, Cadance and Shining Armor, and that we have a possible match on the subject known as The Doctor.” The pegasus gave a short salute and flew off at top speed.
The leader turned back to the group. “The rest of you, we’re on escort duty now. Back to base. Move out.” The leader approached the four friends as the squad formed up. “You four are under our jurisdiction now,” he said. “We will take you to the general, who will decide your fates.” The group set off to the west.
Cadance approached the Doctor. “What’s the plan?” she asked softly. “Do we just go along with them?”
“I was actually hoping for a situation like this,” the Doctor responded. “I held no illusions that we’d come back to find Equestria as we’d left it, although I must say that I didn’t imagine it’d be this bad. At any rate, there seems to be a resistance force here and if we could ally with their leader it could give us a big advantage. So for now, we play along.”
Hours passed as they walked. They had long passed through Whitetail Wood and were crossing a large plain. The members of the squad paused and removed the headpieces to their suits so their faces could be seen. The Doctor decided it was time to get some intel.
He approached the squad leader, a stallion with a black coat and a short dark red mane. He was young, younger than Shining Armor, but he had hard face that made him out to be older. “So,” the Doctor began. “Why are all the soldiers removing their masks?” The pony looked up and considered the question.
“We’re approaching the base. The sentries are ordered to shoot anything unidentified on sight. If they can see us, they won’t shoot.” The squad began moving again. The Doctor stayed with the leader, continuing his inquiry.
“And who might you be, commander?”
“Colonel Firestorm,” said the pony shortly.
“Hmm. You look a little young to be a colonel. How old are you?” questioned the Doctor.
“Twenty-one.”
“Well then Colonel,” the Doctor asked. “What exactly are you a Colonel in?”
“The army of the United Pony Nation,” said Firestorm, starting to warm up to the questions.
“What exactly is the United Pony Nation then?”
Firestorm stared at the Doctor. “You’re not from around here, are you?” he stated more than asked.
“Not for a while, no.” replied the Doctor. “Not for the last twenty five years.”
“Twenty five years...” repeated Firestorm. “Interesting. About the time this nightmare began, so I’ve been told. Well, the United Pony Nation is the three races of ponies united and dedicated to helping one another survive, and eventually to terminate the reign of the tyrant Discord. That’s his tower over there.” Firestorm pointed to a silhouette in the distance, a lone tower that stood miles off.
“Really? And you built your base this close to it?” asked the Doctor, skeptical.
Firestorm shook his head. “Of course not. The tower moves around. It never stays in one place for more than a week or so. It’s close to us at the moment. We’re nearly at the base.”
The Doctor gazed around at the scenery, shaking his head. “It’s hard to take in, the damage Discord’s caused to Equestria.”
Firestorm started. He looked at the Doctor and gave a little chuckle.
“What’s the joke?” asked the Doctor.
“Nothing. It’s just been a very long time since I’ve heard anypony call this place Equestria.” replied Firestorm.
“What do you call it then?”
“Tartarus.”
About an hour or so later, they stopped in the middle of a field. Grass covered trap doors opened up around them and ponies aimed out of them, wielding more of the curious wrist weapons.
“Identify.” commanded one of them.
“Colonel Firestorm.” spoke the colonel, staring straight ahead. Several seconds passed.
“Identity confirmed,” spoke the pony. A massive trap door slowly raised itself out of the landscape, revealing a wide staircase leading into a dimly lit underground cavern. The party descended. As they went deeper underground, the only light came from several bare bulbs set into the walls, casting a weak electrical glow on the group.
“Anachronistic electricity, Keep Out sentries, aggressive stares - has someone been peeking at my Christmas list ?” remarked the Doctor, grinning.
As they walked, they passed and were passed by ponies going in various directions. All of them wore grim, purposeful looks on their faces. Some of them carried supplies, papers or other important bundles. None of them, except for the sentries and their own group were wearing the wrist weapons, the Doctor noted.
As they passed the ponies, the four noticed that some of the ponies would act strangely when they saw the group. Some would stare open mouthed, some would drop what they were holding, and others would even burst into tears. Only about half of the ponies did this though. The other half showed no spark of interest and kept on walking.
Eventually they came to a stop in front of a steel gray door, above which a red light shone. The four friends gladly sat on the ground, weary from their walk.
“You will be taken in to see the General,” Firestorm barked. “If it turns out you are our enemies, well then... Then would be the time for shooting.” He gave the group a grim grin.
“But, you know, no pressure.” He stepped up to the steel door and knocked in a specific pattern.
Knock-knock-knock-knock
He paused.
Knock-knock-knock-knock
Another pause.
Knock-knock-knock-knock
The Doctor stood bolt upright in an instant. “No,” he breathed softly, eyes wide in disbelief. “It can’t be.” The light above the door turned green and the door opened. Firestorm led them into the General’s office. It was simple, yet spacious, completely undecorated, save for a desk and several filing cabinets.
Behind the desk, in a simple folding chair, sat a unicorn. He had a light orange coat with a messy sand-colored mane and a tail cut short. He wore a black jacket and his cutie mark was a pocket watch with both hands pointing to twelve. He looked up at the Doctor with a grin filled with a thousand years worth of cunning.
“Hello, Doctor.” he said. “It’s been a while.”
“The Master,” growled the Doctor, his eyes as hard as steel. “I want answers. Fast. How did you get here?” The Master laughed. Spike noticed that his hoof absently tapped out a four beat pattern on the table. He seemed unaware of it.
“How quick to the point. You haven’t changed at all since we last met, have you?” The Doctor’s glare didn’t waver. “Very well then,” said the Master, bemused. “Colonel Firestorm, you may go.” The colonel saluted and left the room. The Master turned back to his guests. “I assume you recall our last meeting?”
“You were riding the planet Gallifrey down into the center of the Time War. It was Time-locked. Inescapable.”
“So it was,” agreed the Master. “However, moving a planet like Gallifrey back and forth in time and space put a lot of strain on the fabric between dimensions. As the planet fell, reality splintered, and I fell through the cracks. As it happens, that crack led me here, about fifteen years ago.”
“So what then?” asked the Doctor. “Enslavement? World domination?”
The Master laughed again. “Ever the Doctor. You were always so quick to think the worst of me.”
“You can’t deny that you’ve earned my animosity many times over,” the Doctor retorted.
“True,” admitted the Master.”But my plans aren’t nearly so grandiose this time. Revenge is all I’m after. When I first arrived here, I was human. The space between dimensions had healed my body so that I was no longer dying. I even kept my lightning powers.” Sparks flew from the tip of his horn as proof.
“But not a day after I landed, I was attacked by the homo sapien zoo reject known as Discord.” The Master’s faced burned with anger. “He turned me into this repulsive form and left, cackling all the while.” The beat he tapped out grew louder.
“So you’re using these ponies as pawns in your fight against Discord,” the Doctor growled.
The Master rolled his eyes.”Don’t be so dramatic. I haven’t enslaved these ponies, they joined me willingly, recognizing my superior military experience. They help me get my revenge and in turn, I free them of an evil tyrant. It’s very symbiotic. That’s not to say I couldn’t take them over if I wanted to,” he added.
“But now that you’re here, everything’s changed,” he continued. “Our plans can be put into place much faster. In exchange for a small fee of course,” he said slyly.
“What do you want?” The Doctor asked, unsurprised.
“All I want is transportation out of here,” said the Master. “Let these ponies have their tea parties and cake, I just want to get back to my proper universe in my proper body. Do we have a deal?” He extended his hoof.
The Doctor stared at him for a long moment. “Deal,” he said, shaking the hoof. “But if you betray us, or do anything else to harm this world, I promise you, you will quickly get acquainted with the real Tartarus.”
The Master grinned. “Come now Doctor, why on Earth would I ever betray you?”
“We aren’t on Earth,” said the Doctor. The Master grinned even wider. “So, what is your plan?” asked the Doctor.
“We plan to stage an assault on Discord sometime in the near future,” the Master said. “We can either wait until we have enough pony power to overwhelm Discord ourselves, or we can try and locate certain artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony.”
“I’m familiar with them.” replied the Doctor.
“Good,” said the Master. “We think we know their location, but every squad we’ve sent there has failed to return. We don’t know what’s guarding them, but it appears to be formidable.”
“Sounds like a job for a Doctor. I’ll look into it. Just one question.”
“What?” asked the Master.
“How are you, as a group, still alive? Discord should have dealt with you by now.” The Doctor stated openly.
“Because honestly... we’re worthless!” The Master laughed, a tiny manic gleam in his eyes. “Without those Elements of Harmony, we’re nothing. But we still keep fighting. I keep these troops filled with determination, because that’s all they have left. No hope, no joy, just determination and revenge. It’s been 25 years of torture for them. They’ve given up hope that the Elements of Harmony or their princesses would ever come back to save them. I’m sure it led to some rather interesting reactions as you came to see me. From the ones who born in the days before Discord, of course.”
“I noticed that,” said the Doctor. “I was surprised we weren’t mobbed by crying ponies on our way down here.”
The Master smiled. “I’ve trained them well. The mission before all else. He pressed a button on his desk and Firestorm came in from outside. “Get the coordinates for the Elements and four gem guns for our newest recruits,” the Master ordered. Firestorm saluted and turned to leave. “Oh, and good job today, Firestorm,” the Master added, almost as an afterthought. The Doctor caught the look on his face at the remark. It went past respect, almost into protectiveness. Firestorm gave a small smile and left the room.
The Doctor watched him go. “He’s been twisted,” he remarked.
“They all have.” said the Master harshly. “Most of them were born into this war. It’s all they know.”
“Not much of a war when the other side doesn’t even have to fight,” quipped the Doctor. “Speaking of which, what are gem guns? Are they those wrist weapons?”
The Master nodded. “Magic filled wrist crystals that allow any pony to fire lasers like a unicorn. The magic only lasts a few hours, so they’re only to be used when they’re needed.”
“And I suppose you’re responsible for the out of place electricity?”
The Master shrugged. “Why should I plot in the dark?” Firestorm returned shortly with the weapons and a map to the suspected location of the Elements. The Doctor looked at the map and snorted with laughter.
“I could’ve told you the Elements were there.” he said. He showed the map to the others. “This is the same spot where we laid the ambush for Discord all those years ago.”
“I had a feeling you were mixed up in that mess,” said the Master. “Rumors of your name float behind every big event around here. Business as usual, I suppose.”
“Right,” said the Doctor decisively. “Time to get to work. Cadance, I want you to come with me to get the Elements. Spike and Shining Armor, you stay here and assess the resistance’s resources, to report them to me when I get back.” The Master seated himself at his desk once more and the group left them room.
“That’s not all I want you to do,” he continued to Shining and Spike once they were a good ways down the corridor. “Keep an eye on the Master. Let me know what he might be planning. Something’s different about him and I can’t afford to let him run around here unobserved. Find out if the ponies here are really with him willingly or if there’s some form of coercion going on.” He tossed two of the gem guns to Spike and Shining armor, who strapped them to their wrists.
“Got it,” the two said.
“Good,” finished the Doctor and he walked down the corridor, Cadance in tow. He tossed her weapon to her and she equipped it. He equipped his, but left it turned off. He wouldn’t dare touch it unless he had to.
“Can you really trust that guy?” asked Cadance as they left the base behind. “The Master, I mean. I don’t know too much about him, I never got to that point in the show, but he seems like a real piece of work.”
“I was just about to ask the same thing,” seconded David from the Doctor’s mind. “I know even less about the show than Cadance does. I’m kind of just staying out of the way until I find something I know. Besides, you’re better at this negotiation stuff.”
“Oh, I trust the Master as far as I can throw him. Which is to say, not at all. But if there’s one thing you can count on with the Master, it’s his thirst for revenge. That’s what I’m banking on,” the Doctor replied to them both.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s kind of a long story,” the Doctor deflected.
“We have a pretty long walk,” Cadance noted.
“I suppose.” He paused, trying to think of how to explain. “The Master didn’t start out insane.” he began. “He didn’t even start out evil. He was a Timelord, like me. We were friends, once. Then, as part of Timelord initiation, when he was eight he was taken to stare into the Heart of Time. It’s a grueling experience. It was there that Rassilon, leader of the Timelords, implanted a link in the Master’s mind, one that would later allow Rassilon to escape imprisonment. It was a drumbeat, a repeating pattern of four drumbeats that sounded in his head every waking moment of his thousand year life. It drove him insane.”
“That’s... horrid,” Cadance managed to say. The continued along, the bleak landscape providing the perfect setting.
“Indeed,” continued the Doctor. “Later, Rassilon tried to use the link to escape the Time lock and bring our home planet Gallifrey with him. The bloodiest and most horrific war in the history of the universe, the Time War, raged on Gallifrey. Millions died every day, in ways more barbaric than you could possibly imagine, but that meant nothing to Rassilon. He planned to destroy Time itself, thus ending the universe, but allowing him to ascend beyond it. I stopped him.” The Doctor continued as though unable to stop until the poisonous tale was recounted in full.
“The universe was saved. Everyone was saved. Even the Master was saved. Rassilon was falling back into the Time Lock not five feet away. But the Master crossed that distance. He crossed the threshold, rode a dying planet down into Time’s version of an inescapable Hell, all to take revenge on the man who’d ruined his life.” The look on the Doctor’s face was pure bitterness, as though he himself, not the universe, had been rejected. “It wasn’t enough to send Rassilon to Hell, he had to personally escort him there.”
“So... What do you think the Master’s plans are?” Cadance asked after a while.
The Doctor sighed. “I honestly don’t know. From the looks of it, the drumbeats are still plaguing him, and worse than ever.”
“Why are they still going if Rassilon’s plan failed?” asked Cadance.
The Doctor shrugged. “Time. It’s a mess. The bigger question is what his motivation is now. Those drumbeats are a big part of the Master’s life and now there’s no mystery to them. They’re just a simple curse. I know he wants revenge, but what else? Revenge and power? Revenge and glory? Maybe just revenge and a normal life? Perhaps there’s some way to reason with him, some chance for change. Maybe his ties with the resistance...” He trailed off and sighed. “I don’t know.” They both fell silent and walked on.
***********************************************
Back at the base, Spike had just finished relating the same story to Shining Armor. They were standing on a balcony, overlooking a large room filled with bustling ponies, each one going about their business.
“And we’re supposed to be keeping an eye on him!?” cried Shining Armor. “How can we keep an unobserved eye on a pony who’s just as smart as the Doctor and twice as crazy?”
“You can’t,” said the Master behind them. They whirled around to look at him. He approached them with a bemused smile on his face. “The Doctor sent you to spy on me. I know he sent you to spy on me, he knows I know he sent you to spy on me and I know that he knows that I know. The knowing is all part of the game.”
He walked up to stand beside them on the balcony. “It’s a game me and the Doctor have played since childhood, each of us trying to get the upper hand on the other, using the setting at hand to accomplish our purposes. Nothing else matters. If there were no setting, no current crisis, our battle would last forever, a permanent stalemate.”
“You’re wrong,” stated Spike. “The Doctor actually cares what happens here. He’s trying to free Equestria.”
“So am I,” agreed the Master. “But we both are trying to use this crisis to accomplish our own goals as well. He has his weapons and I have mine. He has foolish sentimentality, while I prefer ruthlessness.” He looked at Shining Armor, who was glaring at him icily.
“Don’t get me wrong,” the Master said. “I don’t pretend to think of sentimentality as a weakness in itself. It has its strengths and weaknesses like any weapon. So does ruthlessness. The winner of our game is the one whose weapon works best with the current situation.”
“This is all just a game to you?” spat Shining Armor. “You’d enslave us if you could?”
“In a heartbeat,” agreed the Master emphatically. “I would, and I can if I wanted to. Luckily for you, a willing populace serves my purpose better than an army of drones would, so your people retain their free will. Later, who knows? But as long as I get my revenge, I see no reason to change how things stand.” Spike thought on what he had seen in the office and noticed that the Master was watching Firestorm as he moved through the crowd below.
“And what about Firestorm?” Spike asked. “What would his fate be?” The Master didn’t look at him, but his face turned thoughtful.
When he spoke, it was quietly, as though he wanted the words to exist for as short a time as possible. “If someone else were to profit from my success, were to have a good life, what would I have to do about that?” The next words were even quieter, as though said unknowingly. “I never did have a son. Why shouldn’t I find one here?”
Spike looked at the Master’s face, heavy and weary, almost sad and decided on a course of action. He turned and made his way to a staircase at the back of the balcony. He ran down it, coming out in the large room below his previous spot. Ponies were milling about, attending to their business, without so much as a glance towards one another. Spike’s resolve strengthened.
He ran up to a table containing pots of food, manned by a pony he thought he’d seen in Canterlot once. Apparently she’d seen him, because when the pony noticed him, she let out a gasp and dropped her ladle in surprise. Spike leapt onto the table, grabbed the dropped ladle and a pot lid and started banging them together loudly. The ponies in the room stopped and looked at him, confused. Once he had everyone’s attention, he spoke.
“Ponies of the resistance,” he began. “My name is Spike the Dragon. Some of you might know me from the days before Discord.” Judging from the mutters in the audience, some of them did. “I’m here today to tell you that hope is back.” He looked up at the balcony. The Master’s face was livid with rage. He motioned to a few guards around the room and Spike knew his time was short.
“I want to tell you that not only am I back, but so are Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. You can see him up there on the balcony.” The crowd turned to look at a rather startled and bemused Shining, who waved back nervously. Spike saw the guards rushing at him and hurried his speech. “I’m here to say that hope has returned! Shining Armor and Cadance and I will not stop until Equestria is free! Together, we will win this war!” A guard fired his gem gun. A sizzling ball of blue energy hit Spike in the face and he knew no more.
He awoke to find himself in a dingy grey cell, the door manned by guards who stared ahead impassively. Another figure was in the room.
“I won’t even bother asking why you pulled that boneheaded stunt,” said the Master, who turned to face him. “You wanted to give them hope, didn’t you?” His voice was full of venom.
“I did give them hope,” Spike asserted defiantly. “Something you’ve been depriving them. You should be thanking me. I made your army stronger. I gave them something to die for.”
“I already gave them that!” the Master hissed. His eyes were filled with mad fury. “Do you think that I, a Timelord, would run an army for fifteen years and not think of that?! I had all of them united in their hate against Discord, willing to die for the pony next to them if it meant hastening the end of Discord by even one second. You gave them a weakness. You didn’t give them something to die for, you gave them something to live for!”
“I thought you said hope wasn’t a weakness,” Spike shot back.
“It is here!” the Master slammed his hoof down. “You humans are so naive. You think that the Doctor will come and save you from every problem you’ve ever had. He’s just a Timelord, and Timelords do not equal gods! What happens if he and that princess of yours fail to return? I’ll tell you. Your precious hope will shatter like glass. I’ve sent many of my best ponies to get those elements and not one of them has returned. There’s no guarantee that the Doctor will do any better.” He paced around the room, quivering with rage.
“There’s only so many times that a person can have their hopes crushed before they lose the will to keep fighting.” The Master advanced on Spike, his horn crackling with electricity. He back-hoofed Spike, sending him to the ground and placed a hoof on his chest. He moved closer, until his face was inches from Spike’s.
“”Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” he said quietly. There was a long silence. Spike broke it.
“Because the alarms have gone off.” The Master listened. Faint klaxon horns were sounding. He shot upright.
“Go!” The Master ordered the guards. “See what’s going on.” The guards rushed from the room and the Master followed behind them. Spike left as well. The corridor was dark and the lights were flickering. The sound of screaming filled the air and the room at the end was filled with the dancing orange glow of fire. It illuminated a figure ahead of them. Discord.
One of the guards had already disappeared and the second was charging the draconequus. When he got close, Discord grabbed the guard by the throat and raised him to eye level. He smiled evilly, snapped his claws and the guard disappeared. The Master fired a bolt of lightning from his horn, hitting Discord straight in the chest. He shrieked in pain. Discord recovered from the blow and raised his claw. The Master was surrounded with magic and pulled into the air in front of Discord.
“What a nasty little spell you have there,” he said. “Wait...” he laughed. “I remember you! My little human pony. How nice to see you again!” He stared intently into the Master’s eyes for a few seconds. “And a Timelord to boot!” he finally said. “How interesting. How very, very... interesting.”
“What are you doing here?” asked Spike. “Why are you attacking?”
“I smelled hope,” said Discord simply. “And I thought somepony was having a barbeque. So I came over. It turns out somepony was having a barbeque. Me.” The Master struggled in his trap. Discord glared at Spike. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you. I have a very special place for you.” He snapped his fingers and the world went black.
***********************************************************
The Doctor and Cadance reached the TARDIS sometime later and traipsed inside, worn out from their long walk. They went to the kitchens to find a snack. Neither of them spoke. Finally the Doctor sighed and punched in the coordinates on the TARDIS computer.
“Look,” he said. “Let’s try and put that conversation behind us. “We need to focus on the task at hand if we’re going to succeed.” He flicked a switch.
“I suppose you’re right,” said Cadance as the TARDIS began its journey. When it stopped, the two ponies stepped out into the clearing they had left twenty five years before. This was the one spot of solidarity in an ever changing landscape. The trees and bushes in this section of the forest had all been scarred pitch black, a curse from Discord to scare potential visitors.
The Monoliths stood exactly where they had before, the mixture of stone and machine weathered by moss and passing years. The Elements atop them gleamed as brightly as ever, though.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” said the Doctor. “We have to be on the lookout for Discord’s defenses. They stepped into the circle of pillars. Something rustled in a nearby bush. Cadance turned, raising her gem gun at the ready. A squirrel jumped from from the bush, looked at Cadance, cocked its head to the side and scampered into another nearby shrub.
Cadance lowered her gun and shook her head, annoyed. She turned back to examine a pillar. From that bush shot two beams of green energy. One struck the Doctor, slamming his head against the pillar of Loyalty. He fell to the ground, groaning. The other slammed Cadance side first into the pillar of Magic. Cadance recognized the biting, stinging feel of the magic.
“No,” she panted. “Not you.” A buzzing sound filled the air. From the bush flew Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, her horn glowing with magic. Her eyes, normally green and burning with malice and hate, were now pure white and pupilless, staring ahead blankly. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of her typical malicious snarl, a male voice spoke.
“What a pretty little fly I’ve found in my web,” said Discord. “I’ve had plenty of strong ponies fall into this trap, but never a princess. This must be my lucky day.”
“Discord,” groaned Cadance, unsteadily getting to her hooves. “Why am I not surprised to find that you’re behind this too?”
“Well, well, it seems you can learn after all.” snarked Discord. “I rule here. Absolutely. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”
“What have you done to Chrysalis?” asked Cadance.
“I’ve given her what every changeling dreams of,” he replied. “Absolute power. Sure, the changelings gave me a bit of hassle at first. Something about disturbing the natural order of things. Apparently, absolute chaos means zero love and zero love means no food. Who knew?” Chrysalis shrugged, unconcerned.
“Anyway, I showed them a better option, and now they have all the love they could possibly need. It’s love for me, of course, but it’s still love. And it keeps them smiling. Not that they have much choice in the matter.”
“Why?” asked Cadance. She didn’t know why she was stalling, but if Discord was willing to monologue, she was willing to listen. “Mind control seems like the opposite of your style of things. Way too much uniformity.”
“It’s a necessary evil,” Discord replied, but he made Chrysalis look decidedly bitter. “I have much bigger plans than dinky old Equestria.”
“I don’t know,” said Cadance. “If you ask me, it seems-” She fired. Her wide bore laser slammed directly into Chrysalis. When it cleared, she stood there, unfazed.
“Weren’t you listening?” asked Discord, amused. “She has the power of her entire hive behind her, with as much love as they can hold. Your powers can’t possibly touch her.” Chrysalis picked Cadance up and slammed her against the pillar of Magic again, suspending her with her hooves off the ground. She approached Cadance slowly.
“And now,” Discord said. “I’m going to take you and put you with the rest of your friends. I have special plans for you too, Princess.”
That got Cadance’s attention. Her eyes flared with anger. “My friends? What did you do to my friends!?”
Discord chuckled. “Well, let’s just say that now all your base are belong to me.” He laughed.
Cadance’s mind boiled with anger. She thought of her friends, writhing under Discord’s control. Her anger began to build. The angrier she got, the clearer her memories of her friends became. And the clearer her memories became, the brighter the light above her head grew.
Discord stared at something over her. “What? No! But how?!” he sputtered. Cadance was too furious to care what he was talking about. A beam shot from above her and hit Chrysalis, tossing her away like a rag doll. Cadance dropped to her feet.
“Don’t you dare lay a claw on my friends,” she growled. “Or I swear, I’ll rip you limb from limb.” She turned around to see the Element of Magic glowing brightly atop its pillar. Chrysalis turned to fly away.
“Not so fast!” cried Cadance. She reached out with her mind. Another beam shot from the Element of Magic and wrapped itself around Chrysalis, sinking into her. Discord cried out and there was a loud snapping sound. Chrysalis stood upright, looking around wildly, her green pupils flickering back and forth in confusion. She looked at Cadance.
“Go,” Cadance said. Chrysalis nodded and took to the skies, flying off into the perpetual afternoon. Cadance went over to the Doctor and helped him to his hooves. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Well, that pillar was no pile of pillows, I’ll tell you that,” replied the Doctor. He looked over at the Element of Magic, which was glowing faintly. “Well, fancy that,” he said. “Looks like you’ve been claimed Princess, and as the Element of Magic no less.”
“Claimed? What do you mean?” asked Cadance.
“Well, the Elements of Harmony can be transferred,” he explained. “Just like they switched control from Celestia and Luna to the Mane Six, they can switch control from the Mane Six to anyone, and vice versa I might add. All it takes to control the Elements is a sufficient amount of the Element in question. You’re the Element of Magic, so it must have responded to your feelings about your friends. Now all we have to do is find our other Elements and get a hold of a draconequus victim.”
“It’s not going to be as simple as you think,” Cadance said. She explained what Discord had told her. The Doctor paled.
“We need to get back there and salvage whatever we can of this.” He and Cadance retrieved the remaining Elements from their pillars and entered the TARDIS once more.