//------------------------------// // CH2: Diagnosis // Story: The Day of the Doctor // by Spirit Shift //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon towered over the light grey stallion, leering down at him with an expression of pure malice. “Did you think I would stay banished forever, you fool?!” she bellowed. Tirek grinned in amusement. “So that was your plan?” Twilight reeled back in shock and fear. She looked back and forth between Nightmare Moon and Luna herself, frantically trying to figure out what was going on. “Prin--” Before she could say anything, Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof and silently shook her head. Aside from a slight glare, Celestia hadn't moved or reacted to the sight of three of her greatest enemies. Glancing over at Luna once again, Twilight noticed that she too, had remained stoic despite the situation. The Doctor’s ear twitched as he glanced between the three enemies. “Tirek? Chrysalis? Nightmare Moon? You three are working together now? Is this a thing now? Enemies working together? I mean with the Pandorica I guess it was special but now?” Chrysalis chuckled and took a few steps forward. “Right you are, Princess.” “Oi, I haven't regenerated into a mare! Well not yet anyway,” he muttered. Nightmare Moon’s eyes turned white and thunder rumbled through the building. “The stars have freed me and now I’ve returned to take my rightful place!” The Doctor grinned.“Well with Tirek sitting on the throne there I’m not sure if--” Chrysalis grinned in return and took a few steps towards him, forcing the Doctor to take a few back. “This place has more love than any place I’ve ever encountered. My changelings and I will be able to devour so much of it!” This line threw the Doctor for a loop. “What?” he asked looking between the three. “Psst, Doctor!” Glancing to the side he saw Princess Luna waving a hoof at him, signalling him to come over to where they were. He looked at them in confusion for a few seconds longer, wondering why they were so calm. Usually everyone besides him would be panicking right about now. His ear twitched once more as turned to look at the villains before it finally hit him. “Oh. Ohhh! So that’s it then is it?” Breaking out in a wide smile he quickly ran over to meet with the others. Twilight inched closer as he approached. “Doctor, I don’t understand. What’s happening?” whispered Twilight. The Doctor shushed her. “Keep watching.” Over in the middle of the throne room, none of the villains seemed to realize that the Doctor had even moved. They were all still addressing an empty space. “How does it feel?” asked Tirek. Horns glowing, he summoned three glowing yellow orbs. Each one contained an image of a pony race. “Knowing soon that every pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony will bow to my will.” All at once he smashed the orbs. “And that there is nothing you can do to stop it!” Meanwhile, Chrysalis, having made her way back to the throne and now standing in front of Tirek, was laughing evilly. “He may not be my husband, but he’s under my complete control!” Twilight continued to look on in complete bafflement. “That’s the same thing Chrysalis said about Shining Armor,” she whispered. “Exactly,” the Doctor whispered back. Nightmare Moon’s horn flared. “Now let’s see how you do sealed within the sun, sister dear!” Even though she had her horn flared, nothing happened. Instead she disappeared altogether. Tirek himself disappeared in a similar fashion. His horns flared and he raised his arm triumphantly. “Give my regards to Cerberus,” he hissed before vanishing. Chrysalis was still going on about her plans. By this point she had flown into the air dramatically. “...and then, all of Equestria!” Suddenly she glanced backward at some invisible enemy. Luna nudged the Doctor. “This is when Celestia comes in and get’s her flank handed to her.” While the Doctor chuckled Celestia’s face grew slightly warmer. “I underestimated her.” After glaring at her sister she returned to the scene of Chrysalis acting out her side of the battle. Finally, she stopped and the changeling glanced down at her own hooves in awe. “It seems that feeding on Shining Armor’s love has made me even more powerful than Celestia!” Then, just like the other two, she vanished, leaving the throne room quiet once more. Celestia looked around before finally stepping forward and turning to face the others. “It is as you can see, Doctor. This is our problem. Things like this have been happening all over Equestria. Phantom images of our most feared enemies have been reappearing, scaring the populous greatly. We cannot interact with them as far as I have seen. Although I’ve had recent reports stating otherwise. What do you make of it?” The Doctor opened his mouth but to his surprise somepony else beat him to it. “Well obviously the future has seeped into the present and it seems that the past has as well.” The Doctor glanced past Celestia to see an exact version of himself looking back at them. He turned to his side, apparently address an invisible pony. “Correct, Twilight. That is us, though I’d wager that I’m still the only visible one.” The current Twilight stared in awe, her ear twitching slightly. “Wait, can he see us?” Her Doctor opened his mouth to answer but the other Doctor answered first. “No, I can’t see you, Twilight. But I remember you asking that. I also remember making that face,” he gestured to his double’s disapproving and annoyed look, “and by this point I’m remembering that this must have been what it was like for Sparrow when I did it to her during the whole weeping angel incident. But anyway, Doctor you might want to scan this spot here to find out what’s happening.” With that he disappeared. As he was advised the Doctor quickly ran over to where his double was and pulled out his sonic with his mouth. After a few seconds he lifted the screwdriver and flicked up the extension. Whatever he discovered caused his eyes to sparkle in delight. “Quick, over here, all of you. Hurry!” As they were ordered all three alicorns made their way over to form a circle around him. “What is it?” asked Celestia. Luna followed. “Have you found something?” The Doctor spun on his hooves to face her. “I have but I can’t tell you just yet. We have to maintain the timeline or else the world goes boom,” he said, making a blow-y up-y motion with his hooves. Twilight looked around nervously. “But that other Doctor said that he couldn’t see us. How will we know when to start?” The Doctor spun to face her with a large grin. “Excellent question, Twilight. Tell me, what do you hear right now?” He addressed the others. “What do you all hear besides the commotion from outside. Really, I want all of you to close your eyes and listen to what you’ve been ignoring.” He pointed to his still twitching ear. For a second each of them looked at him in confusion, but they had long since learned to trust him. So, in compliance they all closed their eyes and listened. Nothing. Impatient, Twilight opened her eyes and said, “Doc--” Her ear flicked slightly and as she focused she could hear an extremely faint static sound. “What is that?” Celestia and Luna’s ears flicked as well. Celestia opened her eyes as well. “I heard a very faint buzzing noise, Doctor.” “It seems to be growing louder as well,” added Luna. The Doctor clapped his hooves. “Yes, and that is the sound of time being disrupted. As time travelers you can hear it just like me. That sound is going to get louder the worse the distortion gets. And it will be at its loudest when concerning yourself. I'll use it to tell when to turn. So when I give the signal, Twilight I want you to ask your question. Got it? Got it.” Luna took a step forward. “But why is this happening in the first place. Why do we appear in the past?” The Doctor smirked. “Well obviously the future has seeped into the present,” he turned to face the wall that they were formally standing by, ”and it seems that the past has as well.” He discretely flicked his tail toward Twilight. She noticed this and assumed that it was the signal. “Is it happening, is that us?” she said, asking the first thing that came to her head. The Doctor craned his head to look at her. “Correct, Twilight. That is us, though I’d wager that I’m still the only visible one.” “Now this is the part where I ask if you can see us right?” whispered Twilight. The Doctor winked and turned back. “No, I can’t see you, Twilight. But I remember you asking that. I also remember making that face,” he gestured his hoof at thin air, “and by this point I’m remembering that this must have been what it was like for Sparrow when I did it to her. But anyway, Doctor you might want to scan this spot here to find out what’s happening.” He poked at the ground. They waited for a few seconds further before the Doctor turned back to face them. “There, now that that’s done we need to hurry.” Luna looked like she was about to ask something, but the doctor quickly put his hoof up to stop her. “Uup. Before you say anything you need to know that what we just did was extremely dangerous and we can’t go doing that again or we could rupture the already fragile state of time.” He turned to lock his gaze with Celestia. While her’s was one of worry, his was grave. “To answer your questions; yes. Phantom images are appearing, I’m wagering all over the universe.” He took a few steps past her and began pacing around the mares. “It seems that time is being mashed together.” He stopped and pushed his front hooves together. “Think of time and space as a banana, and our current situation as if you're pushing it from both ends…” He raised his eyebrow at his own statement before shaking his head and resuming his pacing. “Actually, it’s nothing like that. Forget the banana. Focus on the fact that if we don’t fix this reality will implode.” He stopped and tapped his muzzle a few times. “Kind of like a banana.” “Doctor,” interrupted Celestia, stopping him before he could go off, “could this be the result of somepony messing with the past. You once told me that altering a fixed point in time would result in this situation.” The Doctor stopped in his trot and turned to face her with a grin. “Oh I’m so glad you brought that up because you're right! Breaking a fixed point in time would result in a similar situation. But not this time. If you look outside, you’ll still see ponies going about their day... Well more like running about their day with the images of villains running around. The point is”-- he flipped his hoof over to check his watch-- “that the clocks are still ticking and time is moving normally.” Luna’s raised a curious brow. “This is... good right?” “Of course,” he chuckled. “I’ve seen what happens when a fixed point is altered. Last time it happened I had to get married to fix it. The time before that I had to die.” Ignoring the mares shocked faces he continued. “But nevermind that, keep the ideas coming. We need to figure this out.” “Well perhaps the answer will come if we wait for another vision of the future!” Luna suggested. The Doctor gave her a sad smile and shook his head as he made his way over to her. “Luna, I love your idea, and I love the enthusiasm. I really do." He playfully booped her in the nose and ignored the resulting frown. "But it’s completely wrong. We can’t just wait for the answer. If we do then whatever vision we get will be either a vision of the future of us waiting, or a vision of the past of us having waited.” His smile turned into a frown. “Also we can't follow those visions anyway.” “Oh yeah,” gasped Twilight. “I meant to ask you. Why can’t we watch them?” The Doctor seemed to deflate some, speaking his next sentence slowly and clearly. “Well… think of it this way. Time, by nature is all wibbly. It can be altered in places, but not when it’s established before hoof.” He sighed and turned away from the group to hide his downtrodden look. “For example; if your future was written in a book, and you read that you break your arm somehow… then you have no choice. You either let the events happen or risk fracturing time. It's not possible to change at that point.” Seeming to get his energy back, he swung back around and pointed his hoof at the group. He had a serious look in his eye and his speech picked up speed once more. “Likewise, if you saw a future image of yourself falling on your face then no matter what happens you’re going to end up on your face. Knowing future events turns them into fixed points that cannot be changed.” Clearly upset he took several steps towards the mares, looking each of them in the eye as he did so. “If the static becomes too strong and you see yourself, even for a second, you walk away with your ears covered. Don’t watch the visions and don’t listen. Do. You. Understand?” All of the mares nodded frantically. “Good,” he sighed. Turning back around he began to mutter to himself. “Now we still need to locate the source of the-- Ah, that burns!” The Doctor, feeling a slight burn, hunched over and grabbed his chest.” “Doctor!” The Doctor held his hoof up, motioning them to wait. “I’m fine! I’m alright.” Reaching into his jacket he pulled out the Tardis Key. It was glowing a bright golden color and was warm in his hoof. “Now what are you doing, eh?” he whispered, holding the key to his face. Finally, an idea sprang to mind. “Of course! I can use the TARDIS to track the disruption!” He turned to face the princesses. “I’ll be right back. I'm going to see if the TARDIS knows what's going on.” Without waiting for a response, the Doctor ran back into his large box. Twilight, like a good companion, followed after him. However, before she was able to enter the doors slammed closed. “Doctor, let me in!” she yelled, banging on the door. Suddenly the light atop the TARDIS began lightning up an the machines signature wheezing noise and fading form signaled its activation. “Doctor? Doctor where are you going?” ~~~ On the other side of the door, the Doctor likewise banged on his end of the door. “Twilight?! I’m not the one who closed the door. Can you hear me?” Hearing no response the Doctor turned and ran back over to the console. “What are you doing, old girl?” As if to answer his question, a lever slammed down next to him, activating the engines and beginning the customary shaking. However, this particular set of shaking was not accompanied by wheezing engines, but rather the sound of large gonging bell. “Doctor what’s happening?!” The Doctor’s head snapped up at the mysterious voice. Looking around, he saw nothing but an empty shaking room. Curiously, he also heard the faint sound of hooves slamming against the floor and darting around the TARDIS. “What was…” “What’s all this about? Where are you taking us, eh? Eh?!” “There it is again!” The Doctor noted, running around the console. Whatever the voice was, it sounded soft and sounded far away. “It sounded familiar but I-- Oh! I remember… well… almost!” A particularly nasty shake threw the TARDIS on its side, causing the Doctor to fall over. “I don’t know what’s happening, it’s almost as if something’s dragging us along the wall of the time vortex. Agghhh! I can’t stop it!” Finally, the Doctor’s eyes lit up in realization. “Oh, this is my part!” Giggling madly, the light grey mad-stallion spun around the console, frantically slamming on various buttons and flipping various levers. Slowly the shaking ceased and with one final spin for style, the Doctor slammed his hoof on one particular dial. The mad dance completed, a huge spark shot out from the console and caused the Doctor to flinch back. When he reopened his eyes the TARDIS’ walls had changed from large metallic spires and bookshelves to blank white walls covered in round hole-y things. A familiar voice, male sounding, echoed through the room from the other side of the console. Unlike before, the voice was clear. “Oh, we’ve stopped. That’s convenient.” Another voice, female this time, followed. Though this one sounded a bit dizzy. “Ohhh, Doctor,” she groaned. “What just happened to us.... and what’s with the round thingies?” The male stallion looked at the console curiously while tapping his hoof on the central tube. “I don’t know. Possibly the TARDIS impacted with something within the vortex… but it doesn't seem like we’ve crashed into anything.” “You’re welcome for that by the way!” Both ponies were stunned silence by the sound of a third voice. Slowly, the brown stallion leaned to the side and met the eyes of the light grey one on the other side of the console. Said stallion was smiling widely. “Hello, Doctor!”