Okay, so that could have gone better.
The three Kaygawans they’d encountered near the TARDIS had been spies. Upon meeting the three ponies, they immediately assumed that the TARDIS was some kind of newly developed superweapon to be used in the fight against them. Unwilling to listen when the Doctor attempted to explain, they’d decided to take them all into custody.
“You can’t do this!” the Doctor shouted angrily through the bars of the cell they were being kept in. “We have nothing to do with any of this! We wanted to help!”
The guards simply ignored the Doctor’s yelling, instead choosing to walk away, leaving only one guard behind to watch the door.
With a frustrated grunt, the Doctor slammed a hoof into the bars. “Horse apples!”
Derpy sat quietly further back, watching with a forlorn expression. She hadn’t wanted to consider that she might be wrong, but it looked like she didn’t have a choice.
“Still think we can find a peaceful solution?”
Tick Tock’s voice wasn’t harsh, but the mare still flinched slightly. She sighed. “No…”
Tick Tock sat down beside her, watching the Doctor as he tried to get the guard’s attention. “Unfortunately, this isn’t Ponyville. There might be fighting ahead, and there’s nothing we could do to avoid it.”
Derpy nodded, gaze on the ground. Then, glancing at the unicorn from under her mane, she asked quietly, “Hey… are you all right?”
“Me?” Tick Tock blinked, startled. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You seem… different,” Derpy explained. “Ever since we came to Yoskuatera, you’ve been quiet.”
Tick Tock’s gaze seemed to harden and soften all at once, in an odd way that she’d never seen before. “It’s because of the fighting,” he answered, and her eyes widened. His voice lacked the usual warmth it held when he spoke to her, sounding almost mechanical now, like it wasn’t really coming from him. “If you’ve ever been in a war, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since the last fight you were in - the soldier’s mindset you were taught is always just below the surface.”
“Yikes,” Derpy commented quietly. Tick Tock didn’t react, gaze far away. She wasn’t even sure he’d heard her.
“Prisoner.” Both ponies raised their heads at a new voice. One of the aliens who had captured them - the one with the gold coat - stood outside their cell, staring the Doctor straight in the face with a cold expression. “What do you want?”
The Doctor surged against the bars of the cell, face dark with anger. “I want you to listen to me! We’re not Yoskuateran soldiers!”
“An interesting claim,” said the pony-thing, in a voice that implied he didn’t find it very interesting at all. “Can you prove it?”
“Yes!” the Doctor snapped. “The TARDIS isn’t a weapon, it’s a ship! It’s my ship - the one we used to get to this planet! We’re not here to fight, we’re here to help make peace! And if you’d let me go back to my TARDIS, I could show you-”
“And risk you lying to us?” the creature asked, raising an eyebrow. “Come now, ‘Doctor’. You must know that that would be a dumb idea. We have no guarantee you’re telling the truth about the device - you could just want to destroy us with it!”
The Doctor groaned. “Oh, you are just so suspicious of everypony!”
“I wouldn’t recommend continuing to argue, Doctor,” Tick Tock interrupted. “It’s clear that this… being isn’t going to listen.”
“Yes, listen to the smart pony,” the gold-coated stallion said, voice patronizing. “Quit wasting everybody’s time.” With that, he turned and trotted away down the hall.
The Doctor ground his teeth. “Why, these-”
“I thought you said the Kaygawans were nice, Doctor,” Derpy piped up, a look of confusion on her face.
“In my universe, they were,” the Doctor answered bitterly, shooting one last glare over his shoulder at the guard as he turned to face them. “Looks like things are different here.”
Tick Tock rose to his hooves, jerking his head to beckon the Doctor closer. Lowering his voice, he began to speak rapidly. “There is only one guard at the door to the cell, and two war-trained ponies in the room. If you can use the sonic screwdriver to spring the lock on the door, I believe we could take him.”
The Doctor sighed. “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to violence… but I suppose we have no other choice.”
“We’re on another planet, with no idea of where they’ve taken the TARDIS,” Derpy pointed out in a whisper. “How do we get out of here?”
“It’s likely that they’re currently running tests on the TARDIS, trying to determine its nature,” Tick Tock answered. “After all, they didn’t seem to believe us that it’s not a weapon.”
“Then we’ll have to find a way to get it back,” the Doctor answered. “The doors are pretty sturdy - if we run, we can probably make it in before they can launch an attack at us.”
Derpy gave a small, worried look to Tick Tock. Would he be able to run fast enough? His face betrayed no nervousness, only that frightening determination.
“The testing room for weapons should be on the other side of the complex,” he said. “It’s unlikely they would put such a dangerous room so close to the prisoners.”
“Then is everypony ready?” the Doctor asked. Tick Tock gave a firm nod, and Derpy gave a more uncertain version of the same. The Doctor gave them a grim look. “Avante.”
He whirled, yanking the screwdriver out of his pocket and turning it on it one fluid motion. With a loud click, the door popped open, startling the unicorn outside of the door. “Hey-”
Before he could say another word, a burst of green energy threw him into the opposite wall. With a thud and a grunt, he slid to the floor, dazed.
“Hurry!” Tick Tock shouted back over his shoulder. Immediately, the two stallions pounded out the door, rushing past the crumpled form of the guard. Derpy followed in the air, whispering a quick “Sorry!” to the poor alien.
“We don’t have much time,” the Doctor said quickly as they rushed down the corridor. “That guard’s going to recover, and he’s going to sound the alarm. We’ve got to get there before they realize we’re out!”
Tick Tock nodded, but Derpy was distracted. Something odd had caught her eye, and she stopped to watch.
The gold-coated pony from before was standing outside a door at the end of a side hallway. He looked rather shifty, glancing from side to side as if making sure nopony was watching. Thankfully, he didn’t spot her before ducking into the room.
Derpy hesitated. The Doctor had said their time was limited, and nothing had ever gone well before when she wandered off. But there was something suspicious about that pony, and she couldn’t ignore it.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” she whispered, and darted down the side corridor.
*o*o*o*o*
She cracked open the door just slightly, peering through. The pony-like thing was sitting at a desk, muttering to himself as he wrote something on a piece of parchment. His movements were harsh and erratic - he probably had terrible penmanship. She strained to hear what he was saying.
“...three are nothing but a huge spanner in the works… here for peace… better find a way…”
Suddenly, with a snap, the end of his quill broke off. Cursing loudly, he threw down the feathery tool and stalked through a door in the back of the room.
Heart thudding loudly in her chest, Derpy pushed the door open further. She edged into the room, landing nervously beside the desk and lifting one of the pieces of parchment. Her eyes widened.
“Is somepony there?”
She barely managed to stop herself from screaming. She darted into the air and back into the hall, vanishing from the room with the document just before the pony - Flinar, according to the writing - saw her.
*o*o*o*o*
Derpy felt like she could barely breathe. What if he noticed that she’d stolen the parchment? What if he found her before Tick Tock or the Doctor did? What if -
“Derpy!”
She nearly jumped out of her fur when a stallion’s voice called her nickname. Thankfully, it was a familiar one, if unexpected. She turned with a smile that quickly froze.
Sure enough, the voice belonged to the Doctor, and he and Tick Tock were running towards her. However, the look on Tick Tock’s face was anything but happy to see her.
He stopped a few hooves from her. “What were you doing?’ he demanded, voice harsh. Derpy flinched away, ears pinned back, as he continued angrily, “We’re in an unfamiliar surrounding, with limited time - what in Tartarus made you think wandering off like that was a good idea? You-”
“That’s enough, Tick Tock,” the Doctor interrupted sharply. Tick Tock’s expression shifted into one of surprise as he glanced at the Doctor, and with a shake of his mane, he fell silent.
The Doctor turned his stern blue gaze on Derpy… and pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re all right,” he murmured into her ear. “Please don’t wander off like that, I was worried.”
Derpy nodded, giving him a gentle squeeze back. “I’m sorry, Doctor.” Pulling back, she added, “But I found-”
An earsplitting alarm wailed suddenly, catching all three ponies by surprise. With a muttered curse, Tick Tock whirled to look at the Doctor. “Looks like escaping unnoticed is out. What now?”
The Doctor gave Tick Tock an odd look. “What kind of spells do you know?”
*o*o*o*o*
The doors clanged open, and immediately there was the sound of arrows flying into the air. A green shield enveloped the intruders, stopping the arrows in their flight paths. “Move!” yelled the Earth pony, and the three immediately charged forward. Anypony standing in their path found themselves pushed back by the green bubble surrounding the three. As soon as they reached the TARDIS, the shape immediately shifted, becoming a slanted plane that left them open to attack. Tick Tock and the Doctor stood by these, fending off attacks from the enemies without, while Derpy fumbled with the lock to open up the TARDIS.
“Hurry, Derpy!” the Doctor shouted as he bucked one straight in the face.
“Um… um…” Derpy stammered nervously, nearly dropping the key. Finally, she was able to fit it into the lock, opening the door. “Got it!” She darted inside, followed quickly by the two stallions. Almost as soon as the doors closed, they took to the safety of the time vortex, leaving the Kaygawan soldiers behind, confused.
“Whew!” The Doctor gave a relieved sigh as the ship stabilized in the vortex. “That was a close one!” Turning to the pegasus mare beside him, he continued, “Now the, Derpy, there was something you wanted to tell me?”
“O-Oh yeah!” Derpy blinked, startled. She’d nearly forgotten! Reaching under her wing, she produced the sheets of paper she’d been hiding there. “I found this, on the desk of that gold-coated unicorn who caught us.”
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. “That guy wasn’t very nice,” he observed.
Tick Tock rolled his eyes as he joined the group, eyes on the papers over Derpy’s shoulder. Almost imperceptibly, they widened. “This is-”
The Doctor’s smile faded in the half-second it took for him to read the document. “Orders to deploy some ‘special’ cargo over Yoskuatera,” he murmured.
Tick Tock pointed with a hoof at a mark near the bottom of the page. “This looks like a royal seal of some kind,” he commented. “Do you think this ‘Flinar’ is some kind of royal advisor?”
“He could be,” the Doctor admitted. “If so -”
“But look!” Derpy interrupted, pointing to the signature below the seal. “Doesn’t this look kind of odd? Tick Tock, you, at least, must see it!”
“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked, confused, but the light of understanding had sparked in the other stallion’s green gaze.
“It’s a perception filter,” he announced. “That signature is in the same handwriting as the rest of the document.”
The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Which means the Kaygawan monarch isn’t the one who launched this war! It’s all a setup by Flinar!”
“We’ve got to tell everypony,” Derpy spoke up, determined. “Maybe they’ll stop fighting!”
The Doctor nodded, grinning. “You’re absolutely brilliant, Ditzy!”
“I must agree,” Tick Tock broke in. “I apologize for not having believed you earlier.”
Derpy shook her head. “No, it’s fine,” she quickly reassured the stallion. “I understand.”
“Well, come on, you two, there’s no time to waste!” the Doctor declared. “We’d better high-tail it back to Yoskuatera and show them what we’ve found!” He leapt onto his hind hooves, forelegs on the console, and Derpy and Tick Tock braced themselves for yet another bumpy landing.
*o*o*o*o*
The three ponies had expected to exit the TARDIS and have to find their way back to the Yoskuateran base, trekking all the way across the forest and following a half-remembered path.
What they did not expect was to open the door and find themselves in the middle of a tense stand-off between both sides. But, you know, the universe is funny that way.
The Doctor swung open the TARDIS doors at the edge of the clearing to discover a set of Kaygawan warriors and a set of Yoskuateran soldiers staring one another down.
“The only way you could have known about those visitors would be to send spies to Yoskuatera!” Ocean Wave spat at the Kaygawans.
One Kaygawan that none of the three recognized snorted, shooting back with a “As if you’re any better! Explain how they managed to escape without interference with your troops on our homeworld!”
Ocean Wave sneered. “And yet, ‘King’ Connak, you don’t deny having sent a group here to steal our technology!” Hefting a sword skyward, he cried out, “This ends no-”
“Wait!”
Both sides, as well as the watchers, froze as a gray mare darted between both sides. “Stop and listen to me for a moment!”
Ocean Wave gaped. “Ditzy Doo? But-”
“You see?” Flinar demanded in his annoying nasal voice. “The mare is already back on this world - and doubtless, this is true of her friends, as well!”
“We got out on our own,” Derpy shot back. “And in a second here, you’re going to be the one losing credibility!”
Flinar kept a cool expression on his face, but his ears tilted back slightly, betraying his nerves. “Why, whatever do you mean, filly?”
Glaring, Derpy produced the papers she’d stolen from his desk. “I have definitive proof that Flinar is responsible for this entire war!”
Gasps and whispers broke out all around the clearing. Flinar sputtered. “But- that’s- preposterous!”
“It’s true!” the Doctor interrupted, almost bouncing into the clearing beside her. “These documents ordering the airborne delivery of some parcels to Yoskuatera contain a forged signature, disguised by a perception filter!”
A green field of magic tugged the paper from Derpy’s hoof, carrying it over to the Kaygawan king. “Take a look, King Connak,” Tick Tock said, joining his friends on the field. “Do you have any recollection of seeing such a paper?”
Connak blinked, taking the paper in his own magic and carefully studying the writing. “I never approved this…”
“Sir!” Flinar broke in, expression panicked. “They’re lying, Your Highness! I would never betray the crown!”
“That’s not true!” shouted a voice from the Kaygawan side. The crowd parted to reveal a dark gray mare, drilling Flinar with her red glare. “I was the captain of that ship! And I thought the timing was odd, and did a little research myself - you’ve been planning this since you were first promoted to Royal Advisor!”
Accusing stares from all around turned on Flinar as Connak asked gravely, “Flinar, is this true?”
“Uh…” Flinar’s eyes were wide in an expression of fear. They flicked away from his king’s, landing on Derpy as she stood beside her friends. Immediately, it shifted into a look of fury. “This is your fault!” Teeth bared in a snarl, he sprang at Derpy, who screamed and tried to scramble back.
He was trying to hurt Derpy.
What kind of monster-?
Monster.
Monsters don’t think. Monsters can’t be reasoned with. Monsters won’t stop until you or they are dead.
He would kill Derpy.
Tick Tock was never an expert with spears - he’d always preferred the crossbow, but like a fool, he’d left it behind - but he knew that the stick had a good heft. The end was sharp. All it would take was the right amount of force.
He pulled back and let it fly.
The stick hit Flinar dead between the eyes. With scarcely a sound, he collapsed, the stick snapping in half as it hit the ground. Green liquid sprayed from his brow - it took Tick Tock a second to realize that it was blood.
For a second, no one spoke, shocked. Then the Doctor rounded on Tick Tock, anger burning in his blue eyes. “What the hay were you thinking?!”
Tick Tock regarded the Doctor coolly. “What?”
The expression wasn’t a defensive one. Tick Tock wasn’t trying to justify what he’d done. He just didn’t seem to realize what the Doctor was upset over.
“That is not how we do things,” the Doctor hissed. He looked as though he would continue, but a whimper caught both stallion’s attention. Derpy was frozen in an expression of shock, eyes fixed on the crumpled body on the floor. Green blood speckled her entire front.
“Ditzy…” the Doctor murmured, reaching out a hoof. She automatically flinched away from the touch, head turning towards them.
When her gaze fell on Tick Tock, it was filled with fear.
Without another sound, she turned and sprinted back into the TARDIS.
The Doctor muttered something angrily under his breath. Flatly, he told Tick Tock, “Get in the TARDIS. I’ll see what I can do to smooth things over with these ponies.” Then, his face morphed into that mask he always wore of everything being okay, and he trotted over to the whispering, stunned ponies, calling out to them in a friendly, high-pitched voice.
Tick Tock, meanwhile, was frozen to the spot. One thought was one his mind: Derpy.
The first pony to show him kindness in many, many years.
The one who never minded having to explain even the most basic things about friendship.
The mare who had just looked at him as though he was the most terrifying sight in the universe.
Had he ruined everything?