//------------------------------//
// The Games Chaos Play 
// Story: Missing In Equestria 
// by VoxelTron 
//------------------------------//

Missing In Equestria
By VoxelTron

Part 7: The Games Chaos Play


The doors on the TARDIS closed once more, with the Doctor still on the wrong side of them, unable to escape back into the universe. At least for a few minutes. 

Although those few minutes later, The Doctor wished he hadn’t used the TARDIS at all, as the Timelord hurried around the gyrating and confusing main console, trying to work out where half of the levers had moved to. 

“I swear you only do this to get back at me for something!” The Doctor shouted into the air, still scampering around the collection of levers, dials and buttons.

A few mocking bell tones rang out at the infuriated Doctor’s folly. Although these were drowned out by the absolute racket that the rest of the TARDIS was making.

The entire interior was shaking like an earthquake, with the raspy noise of the engine howling through the air. Pinkie Pie was strapped into one of the ragged, uncomfortable seats, on the request of the Doctor. He didn’t really want to injure his first companion this early on.

“What happened on Securla was an accident, really! How was I supposed to know it was sentient quicksand?!?”

Unfortunately the TARDIS seemed to disagree, and sent the monitor attached to the central pillar spinning around like a merry-go-round.  The Doctor ducked to miss the out-of-control screen while the machine replied with a few klaxon tones.

“Yes I know! I get it, I’m sorry. Now please, would you fly SAFELY?!?”

Immediately, the racket stopped. The Doctor sighed gratefully, and went to look at the, now motionless, display monitor. 
“Yup, she’s taken us right where we wanted to go. Good, old, dependable girl”

He turned his attention back to Pinkie, who was still trapped in the seat. “You can take that off now, we’ve landed”

Pinkie Pie fidgeted awkwardly with the latch on the belt, until it finally released her from its grasp. “But where are we Doc?”

The Doctor beamed back at the mare “Well, I really don’t know yet, but that’s not the clever bit” The Doctor was on a roll now, the knowing smile plastered across his face “Now my old girl loves showing off. She really can’t help it. Practically instinctive”
A bong of agreement sounded through the console room. 
“So I give her the land of Equestria, The ‘Elements’, whatever they are, and the Pantheon of Discord, and this is where she’s pointing” The Doctor turned to the monitor to check where they were. Although the information was less than helpful.

“Ponyville? We’re in the same place? That can’t be right” 
The Doctor then turned to his newest companion “Pinkie? Was there anything that happened recently that was fairly important?” 
Pinkie Pie shook her head. 
“Hmm, well we’re only 18 months in the past, so whatever happened can’t be too difficult to recall, I’m going to check outside”

The Doctor then cantered over to the exit, swung the door open and stuck his head out of the opening. Unfortunately there was very little to see, as the entire area they landed in was covered in a rich pink mist.

“Wait, Doc. Are you telling me this is a time machine?!?” The Doctor turned back to the TARDIS interior nodding happily in the correct guess of his newest companion. 
“Well I can’t see a thing outside, so you might as well follow”

Before Pinkie got to the door, The Doctor placed a hoof before her, his face returned to a serious appearance. 
“But before we go through here, I’ve got a couple of ground rules for peop- sorry. Ponies that I take with me.”

“One: no interfering with anything unless I say. I honestly have no idea about the cause and effect continuum here, so I’m going to assume everything is a fixed event. Two, if anything happens to me, just get back to the TARDIS and she’ll take you home.”

“Oh yes, that reminds me”

The Doctor cantered back to the console and pressed a few buttons across its surface. A few hums and buzzes were added to the reasonably quiet noises coming from the now idle TARDIS, and the Doctor quickly returned his attention to Pinkie.

“Right. That should do it. I’ve set the home co-ordinates to the library at the exact time we took off. Now where was I?”
“Ah yes! Three. Now this is my most important rule. The one you might just bet your life on. And without a doubt the same rule that has saved thousands of lives.”

“Trust me. I’m the Doctor”

And with Pinkie Pie standing there thoroughly impressed, The Doctor continued out of the door and immediately fell over into a large puddle of chocolate milk.

Discord howled in delight at the Doctor’s ‘trip’. 
“Ohoho! Now what have we here? C’mon out! don’t be shy!” 
He snapped his talons and Pinkie Pie shot out of the TARDIS doors and landed in a nearby hedge. The Doctor had picked himself out of the sweet puddle and was glaring at the apparent antagonist. 
“Now don’t give me that look. I didn’t put that there. I blame the clouds.” Discord said innocently, pointing at the bright pink clouds whizzing around the sky. 
He looked back at the dishevelled, and now trapped, Pinkie Pie “Oh, another element of laughter? What are you? twins? Well, when Celestia makes up a plan she really does commit!” 
Discord then crossed his arms and reappeared sat in his throne. Pinkie Pie pulled herself out of the bush and took her place next to the Doctor. 
“Pinkie who is this? You seem to know more than I do by the way you’re looking.” 
“Humph. This meanie is Discord, Mr Chaos himself. You said we’re in a time machine right? So this must be Discord before he was reformed.”

The Doctor stood in front of Discord, placing himself between the insane draconequus and Pinkie 
“I would assume then by the way that Ponyville’s been turned upside down, you would be the spirit of chaos?” 
A firework went off behind Discord’s throne and he happily jumped into the air 
“And we have a winner! Lord of chaos, Discord at your service.” The Draconequus then performed a small bow.

“Now I must admit.” Discord began “I would have thought little Celestia would have got rid of all knowledge of me. She always likes protecting her ponies like that, now doesn’t she?” 
He then looked at the Doctor with a menacing smile “But you. You know all about me, I can tell.” 

This was in fact, true, as the TARDIS had given him a lot of information on the current situation while he changed the home co-ordinates.

“So, Mr. Mysterious, how ‘bout a game?” 
“What did you have in mind?” The Doctor replied uncertainly. 
“A game of riddles, if you can get more right than me, you win. But if I win, I keep the mare.”

The Doctor looked down at the ground in deep thought, weighing his options up. “Ok, I’ll play, on one condition, if I win, you answer all my questions.” 
The Doctor put his hoof up for a shake and Discord grasped it with vigour “Deal!”

As soon as Discord struck the deal, the ground began to shake. Cracks appeared in the surface of the checkered surface around the stallion and draconequus, and the earth they were all standing on blasted out of the ground like a rocket, sending Pinkie Pie flying again. 
The Doctor jumped to grab her and missed, 
“PINKIE!!” he screamed as the party mare plummeted out of sight over the edge.  
The ground rose higher and higher, until the stage was set. Both now stood on a humungous pillar of rock that towered over any mountain in Equis.

Discord gave a courteous gesture towards the Timelord. “The challenger goes first, just because I’m the lord of chaos doesn’t mean I don’t have manners.” 
“Okay.” The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment to clear his head, the thoughts dancing around creating a riddle, until he finally grasped one and produced: 

“My first is in horse but not in pony." 
"My second is in coyote but not in jackal." 
"My third is in shrew and also in vole." 
“My fourth is in panda but not in bear.”
“My last is in baboon but not in monkey.” 
“What am I?”

It took a few seconds for any reaction from the draconequus, who immediately burst out laughing. 
“Ohohohohoho!” He wiped more tears from his eyes. “My dear sir that was far too easy, the answer is a Hyena, I would have expected something a little more difficult. Now, it’s my turn.” 
He snapped his talons and disappeared in a flash. He quickly reappeared sat back in his throne. 

“Tomorrow I will never see." 
"though I have no wings I fly free." 
"Of what I’m made very few may know."
"I am but a container for a rainbow.”

The Doctor smirked slightly. “You know you really shouldn’t give clues to riddles. The answer is a cloud. Although I am fascinated how you managed to make cotton-candy clouds and chocolate rain, by all standards they’re meteorologically impossible.” 
“But onto the task at hand.” The Doctor quickly added before beginning his second challange. 

“I can be half without getting thinner."
"I can shine with no fire."
"I can be hidden but never taken."
"I can stay dry while moving oceans.”

Discord went to reply, but quickly stopped himself. Cursing under his breath he continued muttering theories. 
This continued for a few minutes until the Doctor broke the concerning silence. “I’m not wasting any more time, give me an answer now, or I win.” 
Discord shot the stallion a venomous look. “I might be courteous to my challengers, but I believe you didn’t set a time limit. And anyway the answer is the Moon. I always forget that Celestia had that little, bratty sister. Although, Nightmare was a whole other filly” The Draconequus chuckled to himself.
“And it’s my turn again. And get ready for this one, because it’s a whopper”

“I wasn't born a horse, and I never fly."
"Yet sometimes I still soar, right into the sky."
"I often contain breath, and yet I never die."
"Sometimes I am torn, but I never sigh."
"Often, with ambition, I aspire, and go till I can go no higher."
"Then, like many ponies, so great, I sink into a low state."
"What am I?”

The Doctor was stumped. Nothing dancing around in his head matched this description. His eyes darted around the scenery for anything that could give him a clue. It couldn’t be clouds again, he told himself. And anything else didn’t fit the riddle either. 
Discord could see that the stallion was stuck, and he smiled to himself, pondering what he could do with two elements of laughter. 
“Well my dear stallion, it seems that you are at the end of your time, so what’s the answer?” 
The Doctor went to open his mouth in at an attempt to stall, but before he could even formulate a valid excuse, a familiar voice replied to Discord. 
“Ooh! I know this one. Isn’t it… Balloons?” 
The Doctor turned to look straight at the pink mare, who looked like she’d been there the whole time. “Wha? Pinkie?!? How did you get up here?!?” The Doctor exclaimed. 
“Don’t tell me you’ve never tried rock climbing before Doc?” 
“But it’s at least a mile up!” 
“Actually” Pinkie began “It’s about 2.7 miles, I had lots of time on my hoofs climbing it, and I just happened to have this tape measure”

The Doctor had given up trying to work out Pinkie Pie and turned back to Discord, who was sat grinning madly in his throne. 
“Ok, now it’s our turn Discord.” The Doctor took a short while to work out another riddle, when it hit him. And he chuckled. 
“Perfect.”
Looking back at Discord with daggers for eyes, the big, dark hero began:

“Something old." 
"Something new."
"Something borrowed"
"Something blue."
"Time is my compass."
"Space is my eyes."
"Every time the door opens,"
"a new place, a new surprise."
"What am I?”

Discord’s grin vanished, the look of shock on his face would’ve paralyzed a cockatrice.
“What?!?” Discord roared angrily “You can’t just makes up riddles! There’s not a pony in this world who could make up a better riddle than me!” 
“Oh but that’s where your wrong Discord” The Doctor smugly replied “You should have known since I arrived that I knew what I was doing. Riddles are simple really. After all, The Time Lords invented riddles. So it’s my game. Do you concede?”

“But…But…But. Urgh…fine, you win.” Discord grumbled lowering his head in defeat. “But before I return my end of the bargain, just one more thing: Your name, so I can chalk it up against the others who have beaten me.” 
Discord snapped his talons and a chalkboard appeared in front of him. 
The words Celestia and Luna were written on the board, along with two other names:
Malice and Ruse. 
The Doctor was rather hesitant, but gave his name anyway. 
“If you really must know, The Doctor” Discord froze on the spot, mid-way between writing. He then turned towards the stallion, and began unusually calmly “Ah so you’ve finally arrived. Well then I won’t keep you, ask your questions and leave. You clearly have much to do.”
“Right” The Doctor began, dismissing the odd behaviour “What is all this element malarkey that I keep hearing about? It’s clearly something quite import-“ 
Before the Doctor could finish Discord burst out laughing “Bwhahahaha! I genuinely thought you came here with valid questions! Hah, just ask that goody-two shoes Twilight Sparkle to help you with that one. You’re staying with her, I presume?”

“Oh…um…Ok. Well I really have one more question: The Pantheon, what has it got to do with this Universe?” 
“Hmmm. Now that I really don’t want to divulge just yet” 
“Hey! We had a deal” 
“Yes, we may have a deal, but I fear now may not be the appropriate time for said information to be divulged. For you see, they are everywhere. In fact, now that I’ve even explained that, they’re already coming for me. So I think it’s best if I pop off now” 
“You can’t just leave!” 
The Draconequus turned back to The Doctor “You know the best part about being the embodiment of chaos: Omnipresence.” 
He then held his claw up and revealed a mirror, in the mirror was another Discord surround by 6 familiar ponies. Each wearing a strange amulet, each one giving of a blinding light. 
“I’ll just pop back into stone for a few years, that’ll put them off my scent, so I bid you adieu, my dear Doctor, until we meet again.” 
“Oh and Pinkie, you’re always my favourite” 
And with those farewell decrees, Discord once again, snapped his claws, Immediately transporting both the Doctor and Pinkie Pie back to the outside of the TARDIS. 
“Well” The Doctor finally began to say “That wasn’t what I was expecting. But I shall need to talk to Twilight immediately.” 
He turned to his newest companion “C’mon Pinkie let’s get out of this madhouse” 
The two of them got back inside the TARDIS and the warping sound of it dematerializing filled the sugar-saturated air until it had vanished, leaving a chaos-stricken street in its wake. 

However, across the hysteria-filled lane, another similar noise was groaning out, a TARDIS had appeared in the same place that the last one had left. The doors unceremoniously burst open, splintering shards of wood across the already debris filled path. Flames and smoke billowed out of the opening, while the Doctor stumbled out of the now ruined doorway as fast as possible. 
“Argh! Missed him again!” 
He then leaped back through the flaming TARDIS doors as the engines began the ever-iconic wheezing, and the second, partially destroyed TARDIS vanished from existence.