//------------------------------// // The Four Beat // Story: Soren The Alicorn Part 2: The Effects Of War // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// "Who exactly is the Master?" Soren asked the Doctor. "He's a Time Lord like me, except he's evil. For example, in the past, the Master actually transformed every single human on a planet into him. Imagine that: six billion Time Lord look-alikes." "He sounds incredibly dangerous. At least you managed to stop him." "In this universe, he's a little harder to fight. He seems to know this world better than I do, and that's bad. I've even seen him use magic, and he's an earth pony! If the Master is indeed coming here, we need to find a way to stop him and fast." "How can we tell if he will even show up?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Maybe Soren simply had a nightmare." "Come now, Miss Sparkle. We both know that cannot be entirely true. Soren is one of those ponies that never has a normal dream and you know it. The Master is coming. I don't know why or when, but-" The Doctor's eyes widened and then focused. "Maybe...just maybe..." the Doctor said quietly as he began to think of something. "Doctor?" "Maybe we don't have to wait for the Master to show up. Maybe we can bring him to us. Soren, how many times have you seen the Master in your dreams?" "Three times by now," he answered. "Why?" "Just getting every bit of information that I can. So he's been doing this for awhile. I wonder..." The Doctor walked a few steps away from Twilight and Soren. "Yes! I think I have a plan. I have no idea if it will work, but it's a start. Twilight, Soren, meet me at the edge of town near the Everfree Forest in one hour." Soren and Twilight both arced an eyebrow at the stallion who wasn't telling them the plan for some reason. "If you say so, Doctor," Soren said. "I'm going to go hang out with Rainbow Dash then. I'll see you both in one hour." The Doctor and Twilight waved to their friend as he walked out the front door. "So why aren't you telling us your plan?" Twilight asked. "I just can't tell Soren the plan. If I do, the strategy will fail. This is what we are going to do..." ------------ "So there's another Time Lord in town, huh?" Rainbow Dash said. Her and Soren were relaxing at the lake near Ponyville. For the past hour, the new couple were laying down under the shade of a tree. "Why can't the Doctor handle him? He sounds pretty dangerous, and you have been looking for deathmatches recently, Soren." "I do what I have to, and we can handle it. If the Doctor fought the Master alone, I'm not sure he would make it out. He said the Master is more powerful in this universe. That's why he needs to be stopped as soon as possible." Soren paused and stood up. "I have to go meet up with Twilight and the Doctor." "Is there anything I can do to help?" The way Soren looked at her told her the answer. --------------- Soren was flying towards the fields between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. The winds were picking up, causing him to have to fight against them just to gain distance. Luckily it didn't tire him out. It only took a few more minutes for the alicorn to see his two friends looking at the sky, wondering why he was a few minutes late. Landing on the ground, Soren walked over to Twilight and the Doctor. "So are going to tell us this plan of yours, Doctor?" Soren asked. The Doctor didn't say anything at first; he simply walked up to Soren. "I'm so sorry," he said. "You're probably gonna hate me for this." The Doctor then put both of his hooves on Soren's head and head-butted him, knocking him unconscious. As he was unconscious, Soren had a short dream. He was standing on nothingness as he looked at the pony in front of him; it was the Master. The blue stallion still had that smirk on his face, same as in Soren's previous dream. "Are you ready?" the Master asked. "I'm on my way." "You don't even know where I am!" Soren retorted. "Did you ever wonder why I'm in your dreams?" Soren nodded. "Didn't the Doctor tell you I had certain 'abilities?'" "He said you knew how to use magic without a horn." "Exactly..." Before Soren could piece everything together, the dream faded from him. Opening his eyes to direct sunlight, Soren groaned and shielded his eyes. He stood up and rubbed his eyes a little more before looking around. He immediately saw that him and his friends never moved. Soren frowned as he looked at the Doctor. "What did you do that for?!" he yelled at the Time Lord. Twilight took a step back, but the Doctor remained where he was. "I didn't want to risk the Master reading your mind during your dream; that's why he has appeared in so many of them. We needed time to make some final adjustments for the plan. If you knew what the strategy was, so would the Master. I already said I was sorry for doing that. Can we put that behind us and prepare ourselves?" It didn't take Soren long to realize that the Doctor was right. If they lost the only advantage they had against the Master, who knows what would happen? Twilight stepped closer to her friends. "It's time to set up the last portion." "Right. Soren, I need you to shoot a beam of energy into the air. While you do that, I'll begin to lure the Master here. Twilight, I need you on crowd control; make sure no one tries to figure out what we are doing. If things start to get hectic, we need you over here." Both Twilight and Soren nodded. Readying his magic, Soren looked to the sky. He still felt left out since he was the only one who didn't know the plan, but he knew it was necessary. When he shot a beam of energy into the sky, Soren thought of something else. 'Things become normal; something else is around the corner,' he scoffed to himself. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor pointed it at the beam and activated it. The beam instantly became brighter, and a vibrant thumping began. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP Soren felt every pulse vibrate through his body. The longer the spell went on, the more the pulsing hurt Soren's head. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP "Hang in there, Soren!" The Doctor stopped using his sonic screwdriver and stood there. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP "Any second now. Soren, I'll be nearby. I'm going to check to see if Twilight is having any problems. Don't worry, everything is going according to plan." The stallion then trotted off towards Ponyville. Soren watched him run towards the various bushes and trees scattered around the open fields. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP 'This is beginning to bug me now,' Soren complained. He heard a zap nearby, so he looked in the direction of the sound. Soren dropped his spell when he saw who appeared out of nowhere. "Hello, alicorn," the Master greeted. Soren was honestly unnerved that the Master was so calm about this. "I can tell you don't trust my attitude about this; you're reaction says it all. Am I wrong?" "No," Soren replied. "I hope you know I have backup." "Of course you do. No pony in their right mind would fight me alone if they knew the things I am capable of. So just where is the Doctor and his...'companion?'" "I'm right here." The Master didn't move his head; he just glanced in the direction where the third voice came from. Soren saw the Doctor walking towards him and the Master. "I see you haven't changed at all." "But I see you have," the blue Time Lord replied. "It's strange: You're no longer a coward, but you're not quite the hero you used to be. I can see it in you." "I don't care anymore, Master, or do you still prefer 'Koschei?'" Soren saw the Master flinch slightly. "Normally that would irritate me, but not today. Today is when I finally end this little 'feud' of ours." "I don't know how you plan on doing that, especially after my first move. Now!" A magical aura appeared from thin air and began circling the Master. Seconds passed by, and a cage made of pure magic surrounded him. The Master examined his prison and looked back at Soren and the Doctor. He began to chuckle. It started quiet but began growing in volume. "HAHAHAHA! Is that the best you can do?! Put me in a little cage? Hahaha. Did you honestly think I wouldn't expect something like this? I'm disappointed in you, old friend." "What are you talking about?" "It's simply really," the Master began while closing his eyes. "I'm not who you think I am." His voice changed, and he opened his eyes. His eyes were no longer a golden color; now his irises were various shades of green. The Doctor and Soren were beyond confused. Things became more strange when the Master began to transform. Green fire enveloped him and hid him from sight. The fire then exploded outward in a burst of smoke, destroying the magical cage in the process. When the smoke subsided, the Doctor and Soren saw that someone was impersonating the Master; it was Queen Chrysalis. The changeling queen grinned confidently and laughed maniacally. "Wait...What?!" Soren exclaimed. "Why are you of all ponies here? Where's the Master?" "First of all, I am not a filthy pony. Second of all, the Master is taking care of that unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, as we speak." "If harms her, I swear I'll-" "You'll what?! Hurt me, destroy me? You're all talk, Doctor," a new voice interrupted. The voice had a lot of distaste when it said 'Doctor.' The brown stallion looked to his right and saw the Master with Twilight slung onto his back. The Master walked up to Chrysalis and stood by her. "You...You teamed up with queen of the changelings?!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Oh yes. We have been partners for quite awhile now, and do you know what we realized?" Soren and the Doctor remained silent. The Master sighed. "You two are no fun. Anyway, Chrysalis and I realized that we could help each other take what we want. I simply want to end you, Doctor, whereas Chrysalis wants the Elements of Harmony." "HA! Good luck with that!" Soren boasted. "If you think I'm just going to sit by and watch you two wreak havoc on my home, you have another thing coming." "Such determination from an alicorn who faints at the clap of my hooves." "Try me," Soren growled. "Very well. Chrysalis, if you would be so kind." The queen nodded and whistled. Silent seconds passed by before something happened. One by one, changelings appeared and formed a circle around Soren, the Doctor, the Master, Chrysalis, and an unconscious Twilight. There were at least ten changelings that formed that circle. "Got any ideas, Doctor?" Soren whispered. "I think the plan is obvious." "You two shut up!" Chrysalis demanded. "Now, my children!" Every single changeling opened its mouth and gave an ear-piercing sound towards Soren and the Doctor. The sound hurt the two so much that they couldn't do anything but cringe in pain. It didn't take long for them to fall to the ground. The changelings took this opportunity to pin them down on their backs. After walking over to them, Queen Chrysalis put a triumphant hoof on the Doctor's chest and stared at him. The Master walked over as well and moved Twilight near Soren and the Doctor. They saw that Twilight's horn was singed and that she was not waking up anytime soon. The Doctor was furious, but issued no threats. He knew they were heavily outnumbered. Now it was the Master's turn to put his hoof on Soren's stomach. Staring coldly at the alicorn, he chuckled. "You two didn't even put up a fight," he gloated. "Some Guardian you turned out to be, alicorn. You're a disgrace to your kind!" Soren turned his head a bit. Looking past the Master, Soren smiled. "Hey, Master, do you how fast a pegasus can go after doing a Sonic Rainboom?" "Very fast, but is now really the time to be asking pointless questi-" BOOM! "You're screwed," Soren said as he grinned. The Master towards the noise and, for one second, saw a rainbow blur right before it slammed into him, sending him into Chrysalis. The two enemies were launched a great distance away from Soren and the Doctor. The two stallions brushed themselves off, and soon after, Rainbow Dash landed in front of them. "I told you that I could help," she said to Soren. "Never said you couldn't. Doctor, try to wake up Twilight. Rainbow Dash and I will try to end this." "It won't matter if she can't use her magic," the Doctor explained. "Look at her horn. It's singed; that means the Master did something to her magic." "Fine fine...Look out!" Everypony flopped to the ground and avoided a laser beam shot from the Master's laser screwdriver. "You annoying, little equines!" he shouted. "Chrysalis, use the sonic circle again!" Chrysalis nodded and issued the command to her changelings. Soren, Rainbow Dash, and the Doctor looked worried as the circle of changelings, which didn't take long to form, opened their mouths once more.