//------------------------------// // The Doctor's Plan // Story: Doctor Whooves: Silence Will Fall // by LightOfTriumph //------------------------------// All Tartarus had broken loose. Rainbow had to get to Twilight, she needed to warn her. Tank was safe at the very least, but her house was gone. There was nothing left but a few scattered clouds. Dash had gone looking for Pinkie when he trouble had started. The Cakes had come home to find Sugarcube Corner in ruins, the two babies crying over their missing sitter. Pinkie was a bit flaky, but she never would have left the babies alone. She had gone to investigate when they hit the streets of Ponyville. Six foot metal demons. Mannequins that walked and talked. Statues that seemed to want to catch ponies and drag them away somewhere. And them.... They were back. They were back and they were right behind her, keeping pace with her flight. They were almost as fast as she was. She wasn't far enough away. She could still hear them. "Seek! Locate!" She was running out of energy. She had to land soon. But she couldn't land. She had seen these things in action before. They were killers. "Seek! Locate! Seek! Locate!" No use. She was out of power. She had to land. She found a nearby cloud and sat down. She turned around to see that the three behind her had caught up. She turned again to find that one had risen behind her. She was surrounded. It was over. "EXTERMINAAA-" "Hold on!" came a voice from above Rainbow Dash. A red eyed changeling landed next to her on the cloud. "Now, mates. I know that's your favorite word, but this one I need alive. Feel free to exterminate all of the idiots below, but not the five I've collected here. Otherwise you all came here for nothing, understand?" The monster paused. "I obey. "Good," the red eyed Changeling turned to Dash. "I'm sorry about all of that. As efficient as Daleks are they are a bit trigger happy and more than a little paranoid. Ask Gallifrey, they'll tell you..." "Who are you?" Dash asked sharply. "Do you work for Chrysalis? What's your relationship with these things? And what do you want with me and my friends?!" "Whoa!" the Changeling stepped back. "Lots of questions at once there. I'll try to answer them in order. I'm the Master, and soon I'll be yours. No. Me and the Daleks go way back. And the six of you are key to finding a cosmic artifact of almost limitless power and destruction that, in the hands of my employer, will throw the cosmos into a never ending age of darkness and destruction with me at the head of it all." Rainbows jaw dropped. "Oh, that face...," the Master smiled. "You expected me to be cryptic, weren't you? Normally I would be, but we're pressed for time. You see, I have an appointment with Princess Twilight, and I had a splendid idea. Since she is so bent on everyone make friends... "I thought she would like to meet all of mine" It took a moment for the ponies to right themselves after being lain prone by the shockwave. The Preacher looked up to the sky, seemingly basking in his victory. "It is done," the Silent hissed. "No more Doctor. No more interference. This universe will soon me washed away in nothingness. You will not reach Trenzalore, for the fall of the Eleventh is here. When the question is asked, silence will fall." Applejack couldn't believe it. The Doctor was gone. Erased from history. The Crusaders broke down in tears. "Say you're goodbyes, my congregation," the Preacher sighed. "You have earned that for helping me in this great deed. You have saved so many realities at the cost of your own. So take the little time you have left to say goodbye to the ones you love." Applejack didn't know what to say or who to say it to. The Doctor had a plan, he had to.... "Well...," Silver Smith took off his hat. "Never thought I'd go out like this..." "Oh?" Sweet was obviously scared, but masking it as best she could. "How'd you think you were gonna go out?" Silver Smith thought for a moment. "I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "In my bed, at an obscenely old age... Surrounded by you and our kids." Sweet smiled back at Silver. "Little apple orchard somewhere. Away from here." That caught Applejack's attention. Apple Orchard? "I could do that," Silver smiled. "I'd still like to, if by some miracle we make it outta this." A tear trickled down Sweet's cheek. "Took you long enough to ask, you damn fool..." She leaned on Silver's shoulder. "I love you, Sweet Apple," Silver said softly. "Wait a minute!" Applejack ran over to the couple. "Silver Smith? Sweet Apple?!" The two looked confused at having to confirm their names. "Yes?" "Granny... Smith... Apple." She couldn't believe it. It was so obvious. She must have seen pictures of Granny Smith's parents over a thousand times growing up, but in those they were older. Silver was a little heavier, Sweet had tied her hair back. But it was them. It was right in front of her. And if she missed something that obvious... What else was she missing? Something clicked in AJ's mind. A gleeful grin spread across her face. She kissed her two great grandparents on the cheek. "I believe in you two!" She said happily. "I believe in that orchard too... I think it's been your destiny to go and start growin'! You two had better find someplace with better land then here... Somewhere near Canterlot! Maybe the Princess can help y'all find a homestead. Meantime I got some business." She turned to the altar. "Oh Preacher Man?" The Preacher turned to face AJ. "What is it, my child?" he asked kindly. "Something to confess before the end?" "Nope!" Applejack said cheerfully. "Just a question! If the Doctor never existed, how can I remember him?" The Preacher was stunned. "What?" "How can I remember someone that was never there?" Applejack asked again. "I remember him pretty clearly. Skinny. Nerdy. Always stealin' my hat. I've got him pretty clear in my mind. By the look of the state their in, so do the fillies! Matter of fact, he's a Lynchpin, ain't he?" Eleven perked up. "She's right," he said spinning to face the Preacher. "You can kill me, but erasing me from a universes timeline is another thing entirely. Without a Doctor, a universe can't exist. If the Doctor never was, neither would Equestria. As you can see, Equestria's still here. If I'm not mistake, and I'm usually not, so is the Equestrian Doctor. Maybe not in this timezone but in this reality." "Discord!" Applejack called. "Start lookin'!" "On it," said Discord. He closed his eyes and focused. "Why?" the Preacher asked. "Why do this? Is he trying to run from me." "Not out of the question," Eleven smiled. "I have run before. But I don't think so. I think he was testing out a theory, and he was right. The paradox of trying to erase one of the Lynchpins of the Multiverse has forced the crack slightly shut." The Preacher looked behind him to see that he was right. The Crack was thinner then it previously was. "No..." "Found him!" said Discord. "Well then what are you waiting for!" Eleven asked. "Bring him in! I don't think he wants to miss the next part!" Discord snapped his fingers and there was a flash outside the church door. "Sis are you sure?" asked Apple Bloom. "Just 'cause I remember him you think he's still out there? Of course I remember! Who could forget the Doctor?" The Doors of the church burst open. "You know, that's a bloody good question." Everyone turned and gasped at the sight of the stallion they saw die not moments ago. He had been erased from reality, and yet he was there... "Sweetie Belle?" he asked. "I'm feeling a bit naked..." Sweetie Belle tossed him his clothes which he caught in his mouth. He began to slip on his black dress shirt. "Doctor who...," he sighed. "What a bloody stupid question. I mean that. Who is the Doctor? I'll tell you right now. He's a Time Lord. A husband. A grandfather. The face of evil on one planet, that's a story I should tell you four at some point." He finished buttoning his shirt and threw on his waistcoat. "A veteran of the last great Time War. The savior of the Thals. A man who has witnessed the birth of the greatest threat the universe had ever faced. And a Lynchpin of the Multiverse. So 'Doctor who?' is a question that has been answered time and time again. My question is, and it better not be answered with silence..." He put his Ascot around his neck and began to tie it. "With all of these things that he has done, with all of the accolades he can call himself, with all the names he's had over the centuries, who could possibly..." The Doctor tightened his Ascot. "Forget the Doctor?"