//------------------------------// // In The Beginning // Story: Doctor Whooves: Mark Of The Mara // by LightOfTriumph //------------------------------// He'd had it. He was done. He wasn't staying here to be mistreated anymore. This was where he got off. He had considered them all friends, he had been there for them, he had been the only sane thing in Ponyville. And they kept calling him useless. Kept "keeping him out of trouble." He was a dragon. He deserved better than this. They thought they were so entitled but they didn't deserve anything. They didn't deserve his help. They didn't deserve his kindness. The only thing they deserved was- He stopped himself. That wasn't fair. That's not what he actually thought. He was better than that. It had been a long and very eventful day. He had a headache. He was tired. He was... He was hungry! Yeah! That was it! He was starving. He had been running around doing every single menial errand anypony had for him! That kind of work can build up an appetite. As luck would have it he had found the perfect meal. A ruby the size of a Baseball was just lying on the ground outside of Octavia Melody's house. He had wondered if he should return it. Find the owner. But due to the fact that it was just lying in the dirt in the middle of somepony's garden, it couldn't be that important to them. And after the day he had? Screw it. Finders keepers. He took out his dinner and looked at it lovingly. His dinner began to glisten. His dinner began to sparkle. And then his dinner began to sing. "Tell me, who's that writin'? John the Revelator. Who's that writin'? John the Revelator Tell me who's that writin'? John the Revelator. Wrote the book of the seven seals." He wasn't used to his dinner singing to him at the best of times... so this was quite unprecedented. He cleared his throat and said the only thing he could say under the circumstances. "I beg your pardon?" A hissing laughter filled the room. "Oh it's nothing," the voice said. "Just an old song I happen to like. Not about anything you'd know... nothing you'd even be concerned about. Just some poor sap who, like so many others, tried closer to god. Honestly? I think it's a waste of time." "Wh-who are you?" The dragon asked. "What do you want?" "Oh my... What a coincidence!" the voice hissed, delighted. "That's exactly the question I was going to ask you. What do you want?" The Dragon blinked. "What?" "What do you want?" "I'm..." the Dragon shook his head. "I don't understand what you're asking. A hissing laughter filled the room. "How many times have I asked that simple question? And how many times have I been met with a blank stare? "I honestly don't know what some people don't understand? I can deliver exactly any promise I make. But I'll only take the good ones. Beyond what you need, beyond what you'd like, beyond what you think is right, there is something that you want. Something that frustrates you to the point of insanity when you're alone because you don't have it yet. Something that the rules, or society, or maybe even your own morality have kept you from having. That makes you mad, but you're too polite to say anything "You're not doing yourself any favors by burying that feeling, kid. "Trust me. Instead of trying not to want something... I offer an alternative. Getting it. Whatever it is, I can give it to you, exactly as you ask for it. I can take away the guilt of thinking about it. The frustration of it being so far out of your reach. I can make it not your fantasy, but your reality. Simple. Clean. Easy... "So again, I'm going to ask... "What do you want?" He was shorter. That's all Applejack could think as they hurtled toward their next destination. The TARDIS lurching from direction to direction as if the vehicle itself was drunk. She didn't think about herself, or her friends who had all gone through an ordeal beyond discription. She didn't think about the fact that they were headed straight for parts unknown. She didn't even think about the mysterious stallion who materialized into existence next to her. All she could think about was the Doctor. The Doctor had warned Applejack that this was going to happen. When Time Lord regeneration took hold almost everything changed. His mane turned from brown to a deep orange. His coat turned from a dark chestnut to an eggshell. And finally, and most disturbing of all, he was shorter. "Where are we going?!" asked Twilight frantically. "You heard him!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "He said he had no idea!" "Well, great!" Twilight yelled. "It'll be fine!" the new stallion shouted, seeming to have to strain out every word. "Just hang on!" Applejack turned her attention to the new stallion. He said his name was Blue, which was curious because there wasn't a stitch of blue on him. He had a dark grey coat. His mane started out green and then seemed to fade into a reddish orange. The most curious things about his appearance however where his eyes and his left foreleg. His eyes were blue. At least... They were most of the time. Every so often they would flash a deep blood red. Every time they did, as impossible as it sounded, the snake tattoo that had wrapped around his left arm would seem to slither. There was a loud CRASH as the TARDIS landed. "We've hit ground!" the new Doctor exclaimed. "Excellent! Alright everypony, come with me! I'm sure I have wonderful things to show you!" The Doctor marched straight for the door. "Hey!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Hold on a minute! You can't go anywhere!" "You might get hurt!" cried Sweetie Belle. "You still don't know how your knew hooves work!" Scootaloo added. "He seems alright to me...," Spike added. "Not now, Spike," Applejack said. "Doctor, just lie down. We don't even know where we are right now..." "That's the point, girl!" the Doctor said loudly. "We'll never find out if we don't look!" And the Doctor marched right out the TARDIS door. When the rest of the group followed the Doctor, they saw the last thing that anypony expected to see. "Wait...," Rainbow Dash said slowly. "This is-" "Ponyville," Blue finished. "About a week after you guys left." "Really?" This Doctor seemed far louder than the last one. "Well, that's boring isn't it! Alright everyone, back in the TARDIS. I can do it better this time, I promise!" Applejack caught him before he could go back into the time machine. "Whoa there, Braniac. You ain't goin' anywhere until you've had a lie down. We need to get back to-" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Blue's screaming cut her off as he buckled to the floor. "Well, there he goes again," the Doctor said frankly. "Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked frantically. His eyes opened. They had changed from their normal Sky Blue to a deep red. "Good to see you again, Doctor," he said in a hissing voice. "Morton!" the Doctor exclaimed cheerfully. "Morty... Mordecai... Mittens? Mara, that's it! Hello! I can't say I'm happy to see you. Though, being a psychic entity crated from man's worst traits, I'm sure you're used to that. Listen, why not simply be a sport and let the poor boy go? He has his whole life to live and filling it with you is simply bad form..." "He's a good home for me," the entity the Doctor called "Mara" replied. "So much despair... So much rage..." "I know," the Doctor sighed. "Kids these days. But still, the boy seems to know me, I'd like to find out why. So go on. Shove off. We have to talk." At that moment Blue's head jerked back and his eyes shut. When they opened they were their normal sky blue. "I don't suppose the dirty great snake actually listened?" the Doctor asked hopefully. "Not quite," Blue strained. "I can hold it back for now, but eventually..." "What the hoof is goin' on around here?" Applejack asked frantically. "We have a much bigger problem then that, Tegan!" the Doctor said, running his Sonic Screwdriver over Applejack. "What's that?" Applejack asked nervously. "As of right now," the Doctor said, checking the readings on his Screwdriver. "There are four of you." And with that the Doctor collapsed on his face. AJ rolled her eyes. "Come on, get him up. We'll take him to sugar cube corner." "NO!" Blue shouted. "Club PON-3!" "What?" Applejack asked. "But Pinkie's place is closer..." "Just trust me!" Blue said. Not willing to question this new addition to the group, Applejack helped the Doctor in the direction of the nightclub.