//------------------------------// // The Impossible Battle // Story: Wolf at the Door // by Fedora //------------------------------// The two Doctors and all three companions walked through the main square of the village, where there was not a soul in sight. By now, the sounds of yelling and combat on the other side of the forest were easier to hear. “Everyone’s gone out to fight,” the Ninth Doctor said, “But I wonder if some have stayed behind… you know, the weak, elderly, children.” “I would think so…. look!” Derpy said, pointing to a nearby building. The windows were boarded up, and messages were painted onto the boards. They took a moment to look at the buildings, most of which were in a similar condition: reinforced in case the entrenched defenses didn’t stop the enemy. “No entry… Gryphons will be shot on sight… Do not Enter… Bad Wolf… Keep Out…” the Sixth Doctor muttered, reading the painted messages, “They’re protecting themselves against Gryphon invaders it seems.” “That’s wrong,” the Ninth Doctor said, “Totally wrong. It’s too early for another war, that’d be years off.” “Maybe not,” suggested Six. “No, my history’s perfect,” Nine insisted. “Not as infallible as you think, it would seem.” “Doctors,” Medley interrupted, “It’s not worth arguing over. I know history says this event didn’t happen, but it’s happening now and we have to deal with it. Maybe we were all the ones who stopped it all from happening, I don’t know.” “Wait up a sec,” Lyra said, turning back to one of the houses, “That one over there… general store by the look of it… that one says ‘Bad Wolf’ on the side of it.” The Ninth Doctor peered at the boarded-up storefront, and sure enough the words “Bad Wolf” were painted along with the “Keep Out” messages on slabs of plywood. He slowly walked toward the side of the building, running a hoof over the wood. There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about it other than the message itself. The wood boards and paint were both genuine. “Psst! You there!” The Ninth Doctor, being next to the wall, had been noticed by whomever was barricaded within. They spoke through a small gap between boards, where the threshold to a delivery door had once been. “You’re speaking to me?” the Doctor asked in a quiet voice. “Yes, you!” the voice responded, “What are you doing outside? Aren’t you supposed to be on the battlefield?”” “Erm, I sort of just landed by the beach not too far off with a couple of my… er… a couple of my crewmembers. We’re off course, a bit lost if you will,” the Doctor lied, “Could you tell me what’s going on?” From the gap, a greenish eye appeared and looked the Ninth Doctor over from head to hoof. “You’re a pony sailor, but you wear the jacket of a Gryphon Captain? Are you a sympathizer?” “Oh no…” the Doctor quickly said, “I’m just a civilian. Picked the coat up secondhoof, it’s not really important. I’m really interested in what’s going on outside the village. What’s with all the fighting?” “We’re fighting a neighboring village,” the voice replied, “You do know where you are, right?” “Not at all, actually.” “What kind of captain are you, if you can’t even tell where your ship is sailing?” the voice chortled. “I’m just a Doctor, you see. I’m not in charge of the navigations.” “Well,” the voice continued, “Since you're so clueless, I’ll let you in on the facts. This is the border between Prance and Gryphony, and something crossed the border and attacked the village. We think they’re trying to invade and start another war with their newfangled weapons. Our best flyers have been sent to the cities to raise the alarm and get the Army to send reinforcements, while every able-bodied stallion and mare fends off the Gryphons. We’re dug in.” **** The Doctors and companions surveyed the battlefield from the edge of the forest. Stretched out before them were hastily dug trenches in the mud. Every able-bodied pony was in the trench, using Equestrian Army equipment to fight the enemy in the opposite row of trenches. “This doesn’t seem right,” Nine said quietly, “A battle on this scale shouldn’t be happening at this point in history, even if it gets resolved without leading to war. This didn’t happen.” “I find the use of artillery most disconcerting,” Six whispered back, “They may look like a farraginous group of villagers, but they have the equipment and tactics of army regulars from the prior era.” While the two Doctors discussed everything wrong with the picture of the battlefield and made snide remarks about one another, Derpy and Lyra conferred with Medley from behind the trunk of a nearby oak tree. “Does your Doctor always do that?” Lyra asked, “He sounds like he enjoys throwing in words nopony understands.” Medley giggled. “He thinks it makes him sound… how does he describe it… ‘like a true cosmopolitan, possessing infinite tact and finesse’.” she said, “Though I wouldn't want to trade for your Doctor. He acts like a hotheaded war hero.” Derpy laughed out loud, perhaps a bit too loud. Both Doctors snapped their heads around, and Six made a violent shushing gesture with his hoof. “No Derpy, this isn’t 1678, this is the 2500’s” Lyra imitated in a whisper, “It isn’t even Equestria, it’s Tersurus! Don't you know, this is the planet at it's height of intergalactic mud wrestling! Fantastic!” “When are you two from?” Medley asked, pushing her goggles down from on top of her forehead and letting them hang loosely around her neck. “1999,” Derpy replied, “You?” “1989,” Medley said, “Wow… only ten years apart. I’ll be 27 in your time, assuming I don’t get stranded on some planet and turned into an alien queen.” “I think I’ve seen your face before,” said Derpy, “Just in passing… you smile at me a lot. Now that I think of it, it’s probably because…” “Because I’ve known that you were eventually going to meet the Ninth Doctor, yes.” finished Medley, “I’ll have to remember to do that now that you told me.” The Doctors motioned for each of the companions to join them by the bushes on the edge of the forest. “What’d you find, Doc?” Derpy asked. The Sixth Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Doc?” he muttered, “My dear Derpy Hooves, my name is not ‘Doc’, and I’d prefer if you refrain from calling me that.” Nine parted the bushes again, giving them a line of sight to the battlefield. The tide was mostly unchanged from the earlier stalemate. “I’m guessing that a rogue time agent came back to the 1930’s, and started all this,” the Ninth Doctor quietly said, “That’s the most likely scenario.” The Sixth Doctor’s mouth turned up at the corners, and he regarded the three companions in turn. “What my future self has failed to mention is the possibility of other scenarios,” he suggested, “For instance, this could be a parallel world where events are out of sync with your established history, or this could conceivably be another world that just happens to share very specific things with yours.” “That’s ridiculous,” Lyra and the Ninth Doctor said in unison. “Not any more so than a planet where works of fiction come to life!” asserted Six, standing up suddenly, “Worlds where trees are made of words!” “Come off it, this isn’t the Land of Fiction,” Nine interrupted. “Maybe not,” Six said, “But I think it is possible that the battle you’re watching just doesn’t exist at all!” At that very moment the battlefield, trenches, and weapons of war faded from existence and left an empty field untouched by the horrors of war. The distant throbbing of mortars and artillery ceased, and the world seemed very quiet. Derpy’s mouth sagged open, and the Ninth Doctor just stared with widened eyes and a sharp brow. Even the Sixth Doctor himself was taken aback by the effect of his phrase. “It’s not the land of fiction, I can tell you that,” he slowly said, “But I believe that all that we saw earlier was a fabrication. A manipulation of reality using elements of your Earth history.” Nine nodded in agreement. Somewhere not far from the edge of the woods, the grassy field split open. A column of dark smoke coiled up from the new hole in the earth, and was dispersed by a wayward gust of wind. This caught the eye of the Ninth Doctor, who quickly stood up. The others watched him curiously, and followed him out of the treeline and toward the edge of the newly formed hole in the ground. Upon closer inspection, they could see that it was rather large, and cut deep into the soil in the shape of an elongated rectangle. From one edge, stone steps led downwards into the darkness and what appeared to be a tunnel. “I don’t like this, Doctor.” Derpy whispered to her Doctor, “It looks like something out of a bad dream.” “I don’t like the look of it either, Derpy.” the Ninth Doctor said, “But if what I’m being led to believe is true, then something wants us to go down here.” “What for?” Medley called to him, “To kill us?” The Ninth Doctor shook his head. “No, they could have done that much earlier. I think someone or something wants… or maybe needs…. us. Let’s take a look around.”