//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Me, My Assistant, and My Tardis : 1 // by Magic Wand //------------------------------// "Just take that long path there," the guard said pointing at a long, winding, dirt path that stretch out of view." It will lead you around the Ever-free forest and into Dodge Junction. Good luck to you, sir." "Thanks," the Doctor said nodding at the guard before crossing the wooden bridge and starting down the dirt path. He trotted down the path slowly. The dust rose up lightly behind his hooves. No one else was out on the path, seeing as no one would be needing or wanting to travel to the castle. The path never seemed to end, and it took an hour to get all the way to Dodge Junction. When he made it to the town he was surprised by the size of it. It was nothing like the big, stone castle he had seen before. There were a few houses, and a number of shops, some just tables under tarps. The sun was out and there were few clouds in the sky, it was the perfect day. Yet, very few ponies were out, and those who were seemed very nervous. "Hello, my name's the Doctor and I was just wondering, why there aren't many of you out here." He asked, walking up to a yellow, blue maned pony. The pony tilted his head to the side as he looked at the Doctor."How could you not know?! Just look around, it's all right in front of ya. Why do ya think we's set up all them tarps. Someone came by and started bursting down all our houses. Ya'll don't need to worry now though, she ran of into them woods. Ever pony was really worried, some haven't come out yet." "Oh, er... right I'm sure ever... pony was scared. Um, thanks for the help dear chap. If you'll excuse me." The Doctor said, turning and walking away from the strange farm pony. He continued through the town, seeing small houses and ever so often a tarp or two. Sometimes he would catch ponies staring at him, but he didn't know why. Maybe it was his clothes, as for most of the ponies didn't seem to have anything on. He found a few of the castle decrees tacked on some of the trees through the town. Besides the restriction of the castle notice there was two more that he kept finding. One was to report any suspicious, new, or snooping ponies. Okay, that would explain why they were staring at him, they were deciding who would turn him in first. He started to stick more to the side streets after reading that decree. The less attention he attracted, the better. He certainly wouldn't be wanting to pull out his sonic screwdriver, encase any pony saw him. The other decree was that for the princesses to be able to get well and open up the castle to visitors again, then they would have to stop making rainbows. Celestia, who was the the one who usually that usually produced them would not be able to anymore. It would now fall to the Pegasus ponies, along with the rest of their weather duties. So, it turned out this world's weather and celestial bodies were moved by the ponies and not by the rotation of the planet. The Doctor reminded himself to look into that later. "Oh my darling, where in Equastria did you get that outfit? It's simply divine." A young mare asked him, seeming to carry a air of regality about her. "Oh, um... I don't actually remember I'm afraid." The doctor replied, quizzical for why this mare would be talking to him. She had a light purple coat, but not as light as Twilight. Even after the disaster, he could tell she acted confident and held her head high. Her mane was a dark blue, and no one seemed to want to bother her. Unlike most of the other ponies in town, she was wearing a small ensemble. It consisted of a small white skirt and a pink scarf. She didn't act like he was any stranger than all the other stallions in town, which surprised him. Even though she wore a skirt, he could still make out the mark she had. It was of a small notebook with a pen in the middle of scrawling something across the pad. "A disappointment to say the least, but I suppose it's more of a stallion's outfit." she said with a cluck of her tongue. "Would you mind if I asked you what's on your flank?" The Doctor asked, trying to change the subject. "Oh, of course. Name's Quick Write, journalist. I write for the Equestria Daily, running since year 102 to today, 350. Quite a pretty penny it pays, too." She answer in quick precision. "Yeeeeaaaah, but what's it called? See cause that's the thing I don't know." "Well, a cutie mark of course. How could you not know? I mean everyone has one, even you do. No pony has the same cutie mark though." She said , turning her head to gaze at his flank." I assume you make clocks or hourglasses judging by yours." "What!?" The doctor exclaimed, turning in circles to get a look at his own flank. There, was an hourglass with sand running through it right on his flank." What, but that's brilliant! Absolutely fantastic." The doctor said losing himself in his thoughts,' Oh right, sorry. Um... no. No. I dabble in time in general actually." he explained to the mare." Now if you'll excuse me," He said backing away from the purple mare. He walked back the way he came, looking at all the ponies. Sure enough all of the adults had those marks on both sides of their flanks. The only ones who didn't seem to have the were young fillies and colts. He had reached the path that lead to the castle. He was deciding what to do, when he heard a few screams of panic from the town. He ran back into town and saw what they had screamed about immediately. The Doctor peered down the road to see a wagon barreling strait towards him. He leaped out of the way, narrowly missing the wheels. His breathing was ragged and a small puff of yellow smoke escaped from his lips. He stood with his chest heaving and his legs spread far apart for a few seconds before bolting after the wagon. It kicked up dirt in his face and made the Doctor cough. No matter how fast he ran he couldn't gain on the wagon, but he was able to keep it in his sights. As he ran, his coat flapped behind him and his mane gathered dust. They ended up back at the castle and the wagon stopped when it reached the bridge. The two stallions who had been pulling the wagon had clipped off their harnesses and were resting off to the side. A Mare helped them lay down, and was making sure they had enough to drink. The doors in the back were open and a blue unicorn was being dragged out. One guard held on to the end of a "leash" that was teethed to the mare's neck. While another had his horn aglow and seemed to have covered the mare's horn in a way so that she couldn't used magic. Her teeth were bared and she pulled against them with all her might. Unfortunately, the guards were far stronger and her fight didn't stop them from making progress towards the door. She had a mane of dark blue and white that seemed to rest on top of each other instead of blending. Her coat was the color of the sky and her eyes were the color of a clear ocean. But right now here eyes flashed with fear and rage and looked more like a choppy sea, at the height of the storm. She knew she was losing the battle and looked around desperately for someone, anyone who could save her. Then she saw what no one else had seen, a stallion had followed them here. He's brown overcoat gave him away immediately and she knew who he was. She started to charge her horn, for she knew she only had one chance to reach him. When enough energy had pooled up, she fired as hard as she could at him. The guard's magic wasn't much of a match and it broke his shield as soon as she had released the bolt. The blast of blue magic hit the Doctor strait on his side, throwing him off his feet. He hit the ground with a sickening thud and another small breath of smoke slipped from his lips. He stood up shakily and got on all fours, before the horse who had been tending the winded pony could get to him. "Are you alright?!" The mare asked touching his shoulder lightly."you really should lay down, before you collapse." "Fine. Just..." he trailed off to stare at the spot where the blue unicorn had been. By now, her flank had disappeared inside the castle. "No burn marks." she stated, still looking at him in worry. "Do you know who that was? Why was she being pulled into the castle like that?"The doctor asked, still staring at the castle doors. "No idea. In fact, no one knows who she is. She just walked into Dodge junction yesterday and started going crazy. She walked into town, lit her horn up, and started making houses burst into flames. They finally got reinforcements and caught her, after she had ran back into the Ever-free forest. It happened just a few hours ago." The mare stated matter o-factly. She tilted her head at him,"Are you sure your fine, you should be worse off than this?" "Absolutely, now if you'll excuse me." The doctor walked a few paces away and began to rummage through his coat. Finally his hoof found purchase on the item. He lifted it out and on to the ground. There, in front of him sat a small black leather booklet. He flipped it open, and there inside was his psychic paper. But instead of the normal small, white paper there was a message. It was scrawled across in blue ink and was in cursive. He quickly read the message. It said: If you want to find the Tardis, Then help me.