Chapter 8: The Two Doctors
Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.
A soft whizzing sound reverberated from underneath a tile in the corner of the shower room before it was pushed upwards.
The Doctor pulled himself out of the secret passageway and leaned against the wall a couple feet away. Clockwork and Colgate were close behind him with Derpy taking up the rear by flying out of the hole and landing next to a row of showers.
"Well that was a good climb," the Doctor said as he took several deep breaths. He then patted his chest. "Good for the hearts."
"Speak for yourself," Clockwork stated with a quick cough. The air around them smelled heavily of dust and old cleaning products. Grime-covered soap and hardened shampoo littered the floors of the showers and old, dusty towels either hung weakly from various racks or were dumped on the ground.
"At least we're inside the castle and everypony's in one piece," said Colgate. "Now all we need to do is find the others and deactivate the shields surrounding the city."
"Sounds simple enough," the Doctor commented.
"Yeah but, when it comes to traveling with you, nothing is simple," said Derpy.
The Doctor gave a wide smile and wrapped a foreleg around Derpy. He gave a proud expression and patted the pegasus on the back. "You see, you two?" He nodded at Colgate and Clockwork. "This mare is going places." Derpy blushed a little as the Doctor took his foreleg away and began to approach the exit. "Come along, ponies! We have some friends to save and a shield to deactivate with only an evil, alternate version of myself and an army of magic-proof Cybermen standing in our way!" The Doctor turned away and continued to march forward.
"I love that stallion," Derpy said with a giggle. The pegasus froze when she saw Colgate smirking at her and Clockwork coughing awkwardly. "Admire. That's what I mean. I admire him. I don't love him. That would be crazy! I mean he's a bizarre, strange, smart, charming, amazing, handsome alien from another dimension! I'm just a pegasus! No feelings for him whatsoever! I mean I do have feelings for him. I care about him and all...but not like care care. Just...just...I'm going to be quiet now." Derpy let out a cute groan as she hid her face behind her hooves.
Colgate patted Derpy on the shoulder and beckoned her along. "Come on, Derpy. We don't want to get separated from the stallion you admire," teased the unicorn with a smirk.
Derpy blushed again. Clockwork then wrapped a foreleg around her and started to walk alongside her after Colgate and the Doctor. "Let's hope we find the others quickly," he said. "Who knows what types of danger lie in this castle aside from Discord Whooves and his Cybermen?"
Twi waved her wand and conjured a shield just in time as the murderous Pinkie Pie brought both the saw and the knife down towards her. The shield cracked a bit due to Twi's confusion and horror in response to the whole situation. What had that monster done to her friend? It wasn't enough for him to turn her brother and two of her friends into Cybermen. He had to go and completely warp the sanity of one of her other friends until she became a sadistic sociopath.
Twi backed away as the shield broke and Pinkie dashed towards her once more. Twi shot a spell at her and ran towards the other side of the room. Pinkie dodged and continued her pursuit.
"Keep on running, Twiley! I haven't had fun like this in a long time!" teased Pinkie.
Twi felt a new wave of rage race through her. "Nobody calls me that except for my BROTHER!" she snapped before sending a green spell straight at her attacker. The spell collided with Pinkie's right leg and caused several, deep cuts to appear.
"Dark magic, Twilight?! Got more of a dangerous edge now? I LOVE IT!" Pinkie jumped forward at a speed Twi wasn't prepared for and slashed her free hand with the knife.
Twi gasped with pain and sent another spell at Pinkie. This time, she hit Pinkie straight in the chest. Pinkie came to a stop and bent over before suddenly emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor.
"Hey!" snapped Pinkie as she straightened up. "I'm the only person who should be causing vomiting in this castle!" Pinkie ran at Twi again with her weapons at the ready.
Twi dodged the attack and sent another magical blast at Pinkie. She missed this time. Pinkie quickly turned around and dashed towards her for another attack.
Twi sighed with hurt betrayal as she dodged another attack. She needed to end this fight quickly so she could get the others out of there and find the rest of her team. It pained her to even have to fight Pinkie of all people. But he was responsible for this; and she needed to get past the damaged Pinkie if she wished to make him pay for his crimes.
Suddenly, Pinkie caught Twi off guard and shoved her hard. Twi flew across the room and slammed into the wall. Twi quickly pulled herself together as Pinkie raced towards her. In the passage of one suspenseful second, Twi aimed her wand straight at Pinkie and fired another shot. A white blast of magic collided with Pinkie's face and sent her flying across the room, slamming into the wall, and falling onto the floor.
Pinkie groaned and rocked her head back and forth but couldn't seem to get up. "I can't move!" she gasped. "Twilight! That's not fair! That's not fair at all!"
Twi stood up and approached Pinkie. She aimed her wand at the butcher knife lying next to Pinkie and fired a red blast of magic at it. The knife disintegrated. She then did the same thing to the saw before kneeling next to her paralyzed friend. "The effects will wear off in a little bit," she said. Guilt, sadness, and extreme fury built up within her as she stared down at her now-homicidal friend. "A part of me wants to kill you right now, Pinkie. Prevent you from hurting others because it seems that you're most likely well beyond help by this point. Discord Whooves has screwed your mind up too badly for a recovery, it appears." Twi wiped her eyes as tears began to form. She shook her head. "But I can't. Too many people have died already." She turned towards the Cybermen that were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor. "Enough people that I love have been hurt or killed already." She returned her gaze to Pinkie. "I can't make myself responsible for the death of someone else I care for."
Pinkie squinted her face into a pout. "I'm disappointed, Twilight. I thought you had grown up and become dark due to you using those awesome spells of yours," Pinkie stated. "But I guess you're still soft. Bummer."
Twi couldn't bear to hear any more of Pinkie's warped statements. "Shut up, Pinkie Pie." Twi let a few tears fall and shook her head before punching Pinkie hard in the face, knocking her out and giving her a black eye. "Just shut up."
Twi slowly stood up and turned her attention to Matilda and Daring Do, who were still bound to the wall. With a few waves of her wand, the chains crumbled to dust and the two mares fell to the ground. They were a bit weak but very much alive.
"It sure feels good to be free again," Daring stated with relieved breaths.
"Don't go and consider us free yet. We've still got a full castle to get through," said Matilda. She then slowly trudged over towards a cabinet in a far corner of the room and opened it. She reached inside and tossed three objects in Daring's direction: a dark olivine vest, a whip, and a tan pith hat with a dark olive band. Daring smiled as she caught the items and proceeded to put them on. Matilda reached into the cabinet a final time; retrieved a small, red purse; pulled out a wide, pink, brimmed hat with a feather sticking from it; and placed the hat on her head. Once she closed the cabinet, Matilda turned her attention to Twi. "Thank you, Twilight...and I'm sorry." Twi glanced down at Pinkie before turning back to Matilda. "We better go and find the Doctor then."
"Wait," said Twi just as Matilda and Daring began to make their way towards the room's exit.
"For what?" Daring asked.
Twi turned back towards the Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor Cybermen. "I'm not leaving you here," she stated before waving her wand a few times and reducing their bonds to dust.
The three Cybermen slowly stepped away from the wall. They looked at each other awkwardly before turning to Twi and approaching her. "WHY?!" asked Shining Armor.
More tears began to roll down Twi's face. "Do you even need to ask?" Twi stepped towards her brother and friends. "You're still Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Your bodies may be gone but you still have your emotions, memories, hearts, and souls. I can see all three of you behind these horrible bodies you've been trapped in. There might be a way to cure you. Though, I'm not sure as of now. But I'm not going to leave any of you behind. You may be Cybermen but I can tell that, inside, you're still the brother and friends that I love. So, together, let's make that stallion in the stupid bow tie pay for what he's done!"
Applejack stepped forward. "I'M WITH YA TILL THE VERY END, SUGARCUBE!" she exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash stepped forward and cheered, "LET'S GIVE HIM HELL!"
Shining Armor stepped forward and slowly stroked Twi's face with his metal hand. "TWILEY!" he cried before wrapping her up in a hug. "YOU'RE THE BEST SISTER ANY MAN OR CYBERMAN COULD ASK FOR! LET'S GET THAT STALLION! FOR CADANCE! FOR EVERYONE HE'S HURT!"
Twi and her Cyberman brother broke apart their hug. Everyone and everypony then turned towards the exit.
"Let's give him hell," Twi snarled. She then readied her wand and led the others out of the room.
The Doctor was beginning to grow tired of the long, tall, dark, empty hallways. True, he wasn't keen on running across too many obstacles but he definitely found it odd that the center of Discord Whooves's operations was left so unguarded.
"Anypony else a but unnerved by how empty this place is?" the Doctor finally asked as they turned around another corner.
"Maybe all of the Cybermen are out in the city," Clockwork guessed.
"Or maybe Discord Whooves thinks he doesn't need the protection 24/7," said Colgate.
"I'm still nervous, though," Derpy said with a gulp.
"Join the club," Clockwork said with a chuckle. "It's scary because, when I think about it, we hardly know anything about Discord Whooves."
"Heh. You're right," Colgate agreed nervously. "We only know his name, that he's an alternate version of the Doctor, that he's responsible for the rifts, and that he has a massive army under his control. We don't know his motives, his backstory, his end game. Nothing else. Heck, none of us have ever even met him face-to-face. Only caught glimpses of him here and there through camera footage and pictures."
"A stallion who draws so much attention to himself yet prefers to stay out of the spotlight. Curious," the Doctor stated.
The group came to a stop at another intersection of hallways to rest. "So which should we focus on accomplishing first? Turning off the shields or saving the others?" Clockwork asked.
"I say we deactivate the shields first," Colgate answered. "That way we can get our armies in here and they can fend off the Cybermen while we search for our friends and take care of Discord Whooves."
"Any ideas on where to find the shields then?" Derpy asked.
"My guess is that they would be kept in an important part of the castle," Colgate replied. "A central area that inspires the spreading out of energy."
"The throne room, perhaps?" the Doctor suggested.
"Sounds like a good place to start," Clockwork agreed.
Just then, the sound of soft footsteps broke the silence around them. "Something's coming!" Colgate hissed.
The four ponies dived behind a nearby flower desk just before a shadowy figure appeared from the adjacent hallway. It was humanoid in form and it took a few seconds before the ponies realized they recognized who it was.
"Donna?!" Derpy gasped before jumping out from behind the desk and approaching her. The Doctor, Colgate, and Clockwork followed close behind.
Donna turned towards them. She looked like she had just woken up and had a very glassy look in her eyes. She walked almost like a zombie and her arms dangled back and forth like pieces of rope. "Doctor," she muttered in a soft, weak voice. "Twilight. Spike. Help. Discord. Whooves. Intruders. Cybermen. Help. Found. You. Found. You. Come. Here. Help. Now." She then collapsed onto the floor in front of the ponies.
"Donna?!" Derpy gasped again as she raced to her friend's side and held her head. As soon as Derpy made physical contact with her, Donna's eyes shot open as she proceeded to give out a loud and incredibly inhuman shriek. The ponies were taken off guard as, suddenly, a crowd of Cybermen appeared out of thin air and surrounded them. Derpy's eyes went wide as Donna looked up at her with a disturbing smile before melting into a puddle of fleshy liquid. "DONNA?!"
Derpy screamed in horror as the Doctor pulled her away from the puddle. "It wasn't Donna, Derpy! It was a trick!" he said.
"YOU WILL COME WITH US OR BE DESTROYED!" ordered the Cybermen.
Clockwork reached into one of his pockets, pulled out a blaster of sorts, pointed it at one of the Cybermen, and said, "Not a chance, you-"
"Stop!" the Doctor ordered as he pushed Clockwork's blaster down. Clockwork gave the Doctor a confused stare as the Time Lord stepped forward. "We will come with you. Take us to Discord Whooves!" The Doctor turned back to his three companions and winked.
"YES! YOU WILL COME WITH US TO SEE THE MASTER!" the Cybermen ordered before beginning to lead the ponies down the hallway.
"You have a plan, right?" Derpy whispered to the Doctor as she, Colgate, and Clockwork walked close to him.
"Don't worry," the Doctor replied. "I'm improvising it as we speak."
"Am I the only one who isn't encouraged by that?" Clockwork whispered to Colgate.
"No," Colgate deadpanned.
The Canterlot Castle throne room didn't look as different as the Doctor had expected it to. The only real differences it had when compared to the one back in pony Equestria were that the stained glass windows had humans in them instead of ponies, there was a giant rift and shield generator sitting right in the middle of the room, and a darker version of himself sat on the throne instead of Princess Celestia.
The Doctor instantly took a disliking to his alternate self. His mane was even messier than the Doctor's was, the smug grin on his face made the Doctor want to punch him, and the bright red bowtie around his neck that clashed greatly with his dark gray color scheme almost caused the Rarity inside the Doctor to come out. Almost.
The Doctor tensed up as he looked next to the throne and saw a large cage guarded by a group of Cyber-gorillas. Inside the cage was the real Donna Noble along with an unconscious Twilight and Spike. Donna looked incredibly worried when she met the Doctor's eyes. However, the Doctor was just thankful that she was still alive and not a puddle of flesh in the middle of a hallway.
The Cybermen brought the four ponies to a halt just a few yards away from the foot of the throne. Discord Whooves stepped off his throne and slowly approached the Doctor. The Doctor took a few steps forward. None of the Cybermen stopped him from doing so.
The two Doctors stared straight into each other's eyes, their faces mere centimeters apart. For everybody and everypony else in the room, it was a pretty strange sight. Both Doctors had a similar body structure (save for the wings on Discord Whooves's part) and face but everything else was completely different. Their manes, their color schemes, their choice of wardrobe, and even their eyes.
Looking into Discord Whooves's eyes, the Doctor could tell that they looked older than his. They had seen more than him. Darker events had passed by those eyes than his. And yet, there was also a tint of familiarity. Just underneath the dark exterior of his double, the Doctor could see himself staring right back at him.
"Brilliant," said the two Doctors simultaneously. "Allons-y. I hate pears. Bananas are good. Fantastic. Would you like a jelly baby? Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Jamie McCrimmon, Donna Noble, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Twilight Sparkle, Adric, Jo Grant, Derpy Hooves!" They fell silent for a moment.
"This would actually be quite amazing if you weren't, ya know, a sadistic tyrant who sunk an entire land into chaos within a year," the Doctor stated bluntly.
Discord Whooves chuckled as he examined the four ponies in front of him. "Well, well, well. I must admit that this has been quite an interesting day," he commented. "First I see unicorn Twilight and Donna again and now I get to finally meet the leaders of that annoying little rebellion group, see Derpy again, and meet another version of myself. Now all I need is a big red button to make all of my troubles go away and this day will have been...well...absolutely fantastic!"
"We just said that catchphrase!"
"I know but that doesn't mean I can't say it again."
"Fair enough."
"So I assume you've been brought to this world to stop me."
"That was the plan, yeah."
"Well, I hate to disappoint you...wait, no I don't. I'm happy to disappoint you because it's not happening."
"It would be quite ironic to tell you of all ponies to not underestimate me."
"Oh I don't intend to underestimate you, Doctor."
"Nor shall I you, Discord Whooves."
Discord Whooves laughed. "Such a fitting name, isn't it? Discord Whooves. So much more...exotic than just Doctor. People throughout this world just started referring to me by that name and I figured what the hell? So I adopted it." He turned towards Colgate. "Rumor has it that it all started with you. Colgate, is it?" Colgate remained silent. Discord Whooves turned his attention to Clockwork. "Another alternate version of me, I assume." Clockwork remained silent as Discord Whooves laughed in his face. "Oh this is brilliant! We're like triplets, the three of us!"
"Though it won't be hard to point out the black sheep of the family," Clockwork stated.
Discord Whooves gave a fake expression of being offended. He then took a few steps back in the direction of the throne. "So," he continued. "What exactly was your big plan, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Top secret, that is. Sorry," the Doctor replied with a wink and click of his tongue.
"But how can it be secret if I already know what it is?"
"Then why did you ask?" asked a confused Derpy.
Discord Whooves laughed hard in Derpy's direction. "Oh. Poor, little, simpleminded Derpy Hooves. Always too slow to catch the point," he teased. The Doctor stepped in between Derpy and Discord Whooves. "I just wanted to see what you would say. I already know what you were planning. You have your armies at the ready and were coming in here to turn my shields off so they could come in and attempt to take back the city."
"The people of this world are stronger than they were when you first appeared and took everything away from them!" Colgate snapped. "They're more than prepared to take on your Cybermen."
"Let them do it then," scoffed Discord Whooves. "What I want is already within reach. I no longer need this city."
Colgate and Clockwork exchanged confused glances. "What's that supposed to mean?" Clockwork asked.
"Really?" Discord Whooves asked with a bored look. "You two are the supposed brave and intelligent leaders of that poor excuse of a resistance and you can't even understand when I'm saying that I'm done?"
"Done?" Colgate asked.
"Just like that?" Clockwork asked.
"Just like that," Discord Whooves agreed with a shoulder shrug.
"No. Not just like that," the Doctor interrupted. "There's been a huge game changer. Something that's taken your original plan and turned it on its head." Discord Whooves gave an impressed smirk, silently beckoning the Doctor to continue. "And that's me, isn't it? You weren't expecting another version of yourself to show up."
Discord Whooves was quiet for a few seconds. "I have to admit that I'd be a bit disappointed if you didn't catch on," he responded. "I can see that I've found myself a pretty good opponent."
"That you have, Discord Whooves. That you have." The Doctor stepped forward. "Not to sound too egotistical but there's nothing else in this world you should be fearing more than me right about now."
"I fear nothing, Doctor. I've been through that stage. I'm done fearing what all the universes in the multiverse have to throw at me. I'm ready to start taking control." Discord Whooves took a few steps towards the Doctor. "But you were right about the game changer. I knew things had taken an interesting turn when a unicorn Twilight, a dragon Spike, and Donna Noble all came tumbling out of the Crystal Chambers." He glanced back in the direction of the cage. "That's when I suspected something new had entered the playing field. So I hastily put together a clone of our dear Donna and sent it to lure out any potential oddities. And it found you, Doctor."
"So why exactly is the Doctor a game changer?" Colgate asked.
Discord Whooves walked past the ponies and approached the massive rift generator in the center of the room. "I'm sure you know what this is, Colgate," he said.
"A rift generator."
"Correct. I've been trying to perfect it for quite some time. Trying to find my way to a world where I can obtain what I want, while having some fun along the way of course."
"What could be so important for you to do all of this?!" Derpy snapped suddenly. The Doctor calmed her down by placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"I think your Doctor can answer that," Discord Whooves replied with a glare.
The Doctor was silent for several seconds as he shared an intense exchange of stares with his dark double. "The TARDIS. You want a TARDIS," he replied before giving a disappointed shake. "I can only imagine what you did to make your TARDIS give up on you and die."
Discord Whooves's face became surprisingly stern. "Well, my past is none of your concern." He adjusted his bow tie and stretched his wings before approaching the Doctor once again. "So where is it? Where's the TARDIS?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Sorry, can't let you have it. You've done enough damage without a TARDIS. When it comes to having a TARDIS, there's no second chances."
"I expected that response." Discord Whooves flew up into the air and landed next to the cage holding Donna, Twilight, and Spike. "I could easily hold these friends of yours ransome and force you to tell me where your TARDIS is right now."
Derpy, Colgate, and Clockwork instantly tensed up. "You leave them alone!" Derpy shouted.
"Oh! Got a backbone, I see?" Discord Whooves asked with a laugh. "That's definitely an improvement from the Derpy I knew. Wouldn't even fight back when I punished her. Had to have her stupid daughter fight her battles." The Doctor drew Derpy in close to him as Discord Whooves continued. "But you didn't let me finish. I said that I could hold these three ransome but I'm not. I've already got what I want from them." Discord Whooves clapped his hooves together and the cage door instantly swung open.
Donna sprung out from inside the cage and ran towards Discord Whooves with her fist ready to drive through his face. The winged Doctor casually flew up into the air out of Donna's range and landed on top of the rift generator. Donna angrily pointed up at him. "Oi! You're lucky you have wings, fly boy!" she snapped.
"Ah. You haven't changed a bit, Donna Noble," Discord Whooves commented with a laugh before turning his attention back to the Doctor. "Continuing on, Doctor, you can have your friends back...for now. I have much bigger plans in store."
"Like what, may I ask?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh you'll just have to wait and see. For now, I'll just let you know that I'm really looking forward to meeting you on the field of battle. One way or another, your TARDIS will become mine."
"I wouldn't count on it, if I were you. She's no cheater."
Discord Whooves gave the biggest grin he could muster. "We shall see, Doctor." Just then, his ears twitched. A second later, he dived off the top of the machine as a blast of purple magic soared through the spot he had been previously. He gave out a loud laugh as he landed perfectly on the floor and turned towards the entrance of the throne room. "And this day just keeps getting better!"
The Doctor, Derpy, Colgate, Clockwork, and Donna all turned towards the throne room entrance as Twi rushed in with her wand at the ready. She was followed close behind by Matilda, Daring Do, and three Cybermen. "DISCORD WHOOVES!" shrieked Twi as she sent a barrage of spells in the dark Doctor's direction. The Cybermen and Cyber-gorillas guarding the Doctor and his companions turned their attention to the attackers and charged.
"STOP OR BE DESTROYED!" ordered the Cybermen.
"Shining Armor! AJ! Rainbow Dash!" Twi called. The three Cybermen behind her raised their arms and fired upon the oncoming Cybermen. All of them made direct hits.
"Wait...who did she just call those Cybermen?!" Colgate asked.
"Duck!" cried the Doctor as he pulled Derpy to the ground just before an oncoming Cyber-gorilla had a chance to smash into them. The Doctor and Derpy quickly got up and ran over towards Donna, who was helping pull the still unconscious Twilight and Spike out of the cage. "Great to see you're still in top shape, Donna!"
"Yeah but I've had better days," she said as she picked up the unconscious Spike.
"I think we've all had better days than today," said Derpy. The pegasus then rushed over to Donna and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay! I'm sorry I dropped you out of the TARDIS!"
"Hey! It's fine! No harm done...sorta," Donna said in reply. "But can we discuss this later?" She pointed over towards the fight between Twi's group and the Cybermen and Cyber-gorillas.
Derpy nodded in agreement. "Later sounds good."
Daring Do leapt over a Cyber-gorilla and kicked it hard in the face with her hind legs. When she hit the ground, she smirked at the oncoming Colgate and Clockwork. "Hey! What took you guys so long?" she asked playfully. "These past few days haven't exactly been that fun."
"You have no right to complain!" snapped Colgate with a smile before taking Daring in a quick hug. "Clockwork and I took the long way around."
Matilda reached into her purse and pulled out a futuristic blaster. "Purse is still full," she said joyfully as she aimed at the attacking Cybermen. "Smile, sweeties." Within seconds, the two Cybermen were lying on the floor with their faces now nothing but melted metal mush.
Two Cyber-gorillas charged towards Twi and the Shining Armor Cyberman. Twi turned towards her big brother. "Just like our monster hunting days, right BBBFF?" she asked as she raised her wand.
"LET'S GET 'EM!" Shining replied as he raised his arm.
Sister and brother fired at the attackers, both landing direct hits. One Cyber-gorilla transformed into a snail while the other had half of its body reduced to dust.
Before long, the small group of Cybermen and Cyber-gorillas had been taken out. Now, the only villain in the room who remained was Discord Whooves himself.
Throughout the entire confrontation, the Doctor's dark twin had been laughing his rump off next to the rift generator. He had clearly enjoyed the situation of members of his army losing far more than any sane person or pony should have. But, as everyone and everypony could guess by this point, Discord Whooves was not your everyday sane person or pony.
"Brilliant show! Just brilliant!" laughed Discord Whooves as he clapped his forehooves together vigorously.
"Shut up!" Twi ordered.
"Oh. A bit angry now, Twilight Sparkle?"
"Damn right! It's time you paid for what you've done!"
"If I had a penny for every time a member of your army shouted that to me."
Twi aimed her wand straight at Discord Whooves's chest. "I'll blow your hearts out, you piece of crap. You've killed people I care about! You turned my brother and some of my friends into robots! You turned another one of my friends into a murdering psychopath!"
"Ah yes. Pinkie Pie. She's been quite entertaining. Don't worry, she put the bodies of your brother and friends to good use." Discord Whooves licked his lips. "She makes excellent cupcakes." Twi screamed furiously as she shot a blast of red magic at him. He quickly jumped high into the air and landed on top of the rift generator. "Now, I think it's time to take my leave."
"You're not going anywhere!" snarled Colgate.
"Oh I believe I am," Discord Whooves chuckled. "I can finally leave this world. Thanks to your Twilight Sparkle, Doctor, my rift generator is finally ready."
"But...how?" Derpy asked.
Discord Whooves snickered. "I scanned her universal makeup with the machine and now have a solid destination for me and my army to travel to next."
The Doctor's eyes went wide. "No. You can't! Leave that world out of this! Let this be between you and me!" the Doctor shouted.
Discord Whooves shook his head. "I told you that I have bigger plans, Doctor. You're an excellent opponent and it's time for the battle for your TARDIS to begin. Our battlefield shall be the Equestria your pony friends are from."
"No," said Donna as she shook her head. "He can't go there. Look at what he did to this place!" Donna turned to the Doctor. "He can't go there, Doctor!"
"I know he can't," the Doctor said grimly. "But he will. I simply won't hand my TARDIS over to this maniac. If I did, every universe would be vulnerable to him." The Doctor's eyes flashed with a powerful flame as he glared up at Discord Whooves. "You can stop this now, Discord Whooves, but I know you won't. You're going to go through with this. But, before you go, I will say this. The second you step foot in my friends' Equestria, there will be no going back. I will fight for those ponies and every other creature in that world until my last breath! You have opened a door that can't be closed, Discord Whooves. You've started a storm that won't stop until you've fallen!"
"I know what I've started, Doctor," said Discord Whooves. "After all, I'm the oncoming storm as well." Discord Whooves straightened his body and cleared his throat. "Activation code!"
"STOP!" shrieked Twi as she shot a spell up at the pegasus Doctor.
Discord Whooves dodged the spell and smirked. He and the Doctor met eye-to-eye one more time. "No more!"
The Doctor felt as if a hole had been punctured through both of his hearts as the rift generator roared to life. A few seconds later, Discord Whooves disappeared in a cloud of swirling particles. His laugh reverberated throughout the throne room as he vanished.
"Where the hay did he go?!" Daring asked. "For that matter, what the hay just happened?!"
The entire castle suddenly shook around them and the sound of thunder roared from outside. "And now what's going on?!" Derpy asked.
"Move, you lot!" Donna ordered as she ran towards the exit with the still out cold Spike in her arms. "Let's go outside and find out then!" Everybody and everypony agreed with a nod before following Donna outside.
Colgate, Clockwork, and Twi were all filled with absolute terror as they, along with the others, stepped outside onto the balcony. Staring up into the sky, for them it was like being taken back to that horrible day over a year ago.
The dirty clouds of the polluted sky were swirling around and forming a massive vortex. The sky appeared to have been ripped open and, unlike last time, stuff was being drawn into it.
Long, silver trails of dust stretched from the ground and all the way up into the eye of the vortex. Some of the trails started in the city while others stretched from well beyond the horizon.
"He's opened a rift vortex," said Matilda.
"Another one?!" Daring groaned.
"What are all those dust trails?" Derpy asked.
"Everything that Discord Whooves most likely assigned to get sucked up by the rift he's just opened. His armies, weapons, tools, vehicles, you name it," the Doctor explained. "It's all going up into that vortex."
"And traveling to our Equestria," said Colgate.
The city around them shook again as a flash of white passed over them. "What the hell?!" gasped Donna as she nearly dropped the unconscious Spike.
"I think the shields are down!" Clockwork stated.
Just then, the sound of Princess Luna's angry voice started emanating from a communicator in Clockwork's coat. "What the hell's going on?!" she screeched. "I'm getting reports about how the sky has ripped open!"
Clockwork pulled out his communicator. "Yeah. That's pretty much what's happening."
"What the hell did you guys do?!"
The Doctor grabbed the communicator. "Luna! The Doctor speaking. Get all of your armies together as quickly as possible! And I do mean all of them! Every soldier! Every tank! Every plane! Every wand! Every flier! Every whatever else you've got! Tell them to make like the wind and get over to Canterlot as fast as possible!" he ordered. "The war's moving over to another Equestria and it's going to need this Equestria's help if it wishes to survive Discord Whooves!" Luna was silent for a moment. "Look, Luna, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that Discord Whooves is gone so why should you care about an Equestria in an alternate reality. But just look at what Discord Whooves did to your home. Do you wish to just sit by and let that same pain be inflicted upon another world? And, besides, your world will never be truly safe until Discord Whooves is defeated. Please, Luna. We need-"
"Just shut up already, Doctor. I get the picture and I've made up my mind," stated the Princess of the Night bluntly. The Doctor and the rest of his group waited anxiously for her to continue. "I'll have those armies over in Canterlot faster than you can say Nightmare Night. It's time we stopped that SOB once and for all."
The Doctor gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Luna." The line went dead and the Doctor gave the communicator back to Clockwork.
"So what's the plan now?" Derpy asked.
"I'm going to get my TARDIS and then we're going to use Discord Whooves's rift generator to transport the armies here over to your Equestria," the Doctor explained. He looked at the unconscious Twilight slung over Derpy's back. He caressed her face before turning to Derpy and touching her cheek. "I'm not going to let what happened to this world happen to your Equestria." The Doctor stepped to the very front of the group and looked at everyone and everypony before him: Twilight Sparkle, Derpy Hooves, Donna Noble, Spike, Colgate, Clockwork, Twi, Matilda, Daring Do, Cyberman Shining Armor, Cyberman Applejack, and Cyberman Rainbow Dash. "It's going to be a rough, long battle. The most difficult one any of you has probably ever faced. I've faced greater battles and horrors and I will use the lessons I learned from my many mistakes and victories to make sure that Discord Whooves does not win this war."
"And you're not alone," said Colgate. "Don't forget that."
The Doctor chuckled. "I don't plan to."
"Let's show our double who the real Doctor is," said Clockwork as he pointed at the Doctor.
"Let's give him hell," snarled Twi.
"Yeah!" cheered Daring Do. "Give him hell! Give him hell!"
"GIVE HIM HELL! GIVE HIM HELL!" cheered Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
"We're with you all the way," said Derpy with a slight blush.
"Always," Matilda added. She looked at Twilight and Spike. "Even the unconscious ones."
"Let's finish this together like old times, spaceman," said Donna.
The Doctor couldn't help but smile at his allies before turning around and looking up at the rift vortex. You may think you understand, Discord Whooves, but you don't, the Doctor thought as he glared up into the depths of the funnel. His eyes burned like the deepest depths of the Time War as he thought about the looming battle with his dark double waiting for him on the other side of the vortex. You know absolutely nothing about the storm you've just unleashed.
To be continued in Doctor Whooves Episode 21: The Cybermen Invasion of Equestria...