Missing In Equestria

by VoxelTron

Sadness In The Sugar Cube

Missing In Equestria
By VoxelTron

Part 6: Sadness In The Sugar Cube

It had been three weeks since the “Shadow” incident, and Twilight was more scared than ever of the strange stallion currently living in her home.

The letter she got back from Princess Celestia didn’t help either, but at least she promised to make a visit to Ponyville soon, her main priority to meet this “visitor”, although Twilight couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right, the princess knew something that Twilight clearly wasn’t meant to know, and she didn’t like it.

The Doctor, on the other hand was taking this all in his stride; a new face, new world and all the joys of exploration. However, Twilight decided the best thing to do for his own safety was to pair him up with Spike for the week, much to both of the parties’ disappointment.
“Ugh… tell me again why Twilight got me stuck with you” The Doctor grumbled to the baby dragon now riding on his back.
Spike hopped off of his back and continued ahead of the Doctor “Believe me it wasn’t my idea, but we can’t do anything about it till tomorrow. That’s when the princesses are coming to Ponyville. C’mon we need to get to Sugar Cube Corner”.

The Doctor didn’t like the idea of meeting the apparent royalty of this world. Far too many times he has been chased by royal guards back to his TARDIS, without so much as a word from him to the queen or king involved. Put that unlucky streak with the fact that these rulers are alicorns, the most powerful magic users in Equestria, he didn’t see his chances of survival particularly high. And with the TARDIS still refusing him entry after an entire fortnight, he couldn’t see himself taking shelter in the one place he called home either.

He shuddered at the thought of what they could possibly do to him. Spike noticed this and put a claw on the Doctor’s leg
“They’re not gonna do anything bad to you, they just want to know who you are, and besides, I’ve never known Princess Celestia do anything bad to anypony who ends up in front of her”
The Doctor looked down at the purple reptile “That’s the problem buddy; I’ve had many faces, many lives. Not all of them were particularly nice ones, and who’s to say I haven’t been here before, I might have done something completely horrible in the past”
Spike looked up in to Stallions solemn face and smiled “C’mon Doc, try to lay off the angst for a while. Twilight’s already looked through the entirety of Equestrian history for a mention of your name, and not once has it come up, so trust us, you’ve not been here before” The Doctor finally smiled, much to the dragon’s relief “Your right Spike, Guess I’ve been far too harsh on myself. Well then, Sugar Cube Corner. I’ll race you, last one there buys”
“But you’ve got no bits Doc!”
“Heh, best I don’t lose then!”
The two of them then flashed off, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. Little did they know someone else was also trailing them, with great interest in the newcomer.

Twilight was once again, walking through the market, when a commotion outside Sugar Cube Corner caught her attention. Outside the bakery she noticed two familiar faces were nosily arguing about the results of their recent competition. The Doctor was jumping up and down happily, while Spike on the other hand was on his back, sulking: “Ha-ha! Victory to the Timelord!”
“Oh C’mon Doc it was hardly fair, and anyway you got far longer legs than me” The Doctor turn to face the grumpy reptile on his back.
“Hey, just because I’m not the one that had to pay out, doesn’t mean you have to have a go at me, weren’t you telling me not five minutes ago to buck up?”

Twilight chuckled to herself; it had been years since she’d seen anyone other than herself take care of Spike like that. Maybe this Doctor wasn’t as frightening as she thought.
"Hi fellas, staying out of trouble?” The unicorn greeted the two cheerfully.
“Right as rain Twilight, I think we may have found Equestria’s fastest pony” The Doctor exclaimed, rather proudly.
“Don’t let Rainbow hear you say that, the last time anyone challenged her, they were thoroughly disappointed” the voice on the Doctor’s back replied.
Twilight sniggered “Right then, I’m heading back to the Library, you coming?”
The Doctor then ushered Spike off his back "You two go on ahead, I’m gonna take in a bit of the scenery here”
“Fine then, just don’t go getting into trouble, I’ll see you back at the Library” And with that, both Twilight and Spike turned tail and walked off.

The Doctor sighed contently, and sat down in one of the chair outside the bakery. Looking around, he could see a world true alive with colour and peace. Three fillies sped past, one on a scooter, which made the Doctor smile inside, each one brainstorming ideas about how to get their Cutie Mark. Across the street a mint green unicorn was happily exchanging jokes with another cream coloured mare, who was in complete hysterics. The Doctor closed his eyes to listen to the wonder of the scene. But he frowned: something was off, there was something else interfering in the background. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

What could he hear behind the busyness of the street? What was wrong with this picture…?
It couldn’t be….
Was someone crying?

The Doctor opened his eyes, and tried to pinpoint the source of the problem. Eventually he found the desperate tears came from the door behind the bakery. The Doctor braced himself and opened the wooden door slowly, as to not disturb the distraught pony inside. What he saw was a bubble-gum pink pony sat looking towards the wall, in the middle of what seemed to be a party. There was a large banner hanging on the wall opposite, with writing that was completely illegible, with a Cutie Mark that seemed familiar to the stallion, but he wasn’t sure why. Streamers of many colours covered the floor, and in the corner was the biggest, most decorated cake the Doctor had ever seen. The Doctor knew this was Pinkie Pie, the embodiment of Laughter, but the scene in front of him didn’t fit Twilight’s vivid and highly exciting description of the “Ultimate Party Pony”. The bright, cotton-candy mane was sleek and straight, covering the tear-stained, bloodshot eyes of the mare; her entire physique seemed deflated, her frame of mind sucking the joy out of the room around her. The contrast between the earth pony’s surroundings and herself was almost sickening; clearly something needed to be done. The Doctor sneaked into the room, and took shelter underneath a cloth covered table. On the table, The Doctor noted, were many richly embellished envelopes.

Invitations perhaps? But then why would they all have the same name on them?
Just as that train of thought was taking the Doctor somewhere else, the pink pony started to sing, the notes hanging in the air uncomfortably:

“I just wanted to make you open your eyes, and you might have been in for a pleasant surprise, I wanted you to stay here by my side, I’m a party of one and I need you tonight.
I just wanted to make you finally see, that not being with you is torturing me, but finally I know what has happened to me. And now I can say that the party has just ended…”

Pinkie Pie then slumped to the ground, the tears she had been holding back; now free to flow down her face, formed unsightly puddles on the wooden floor. The Doctor, still hidden in his hiding place then realised what he needed to do. He got out from under the table, and slowly walked behind the weeping pony.
“You know Miss Pie…” The Doctor began. Immediately the pink baker jumped up, with venom in her eyes.
“Wha…What are you doing in here?!?” the mare spat out, her words heavy with spite, the Doctor ignored the hostility and continued:
“I’ve seen many worlds, much heartbreak, and far too much tragedy and death. But do you want to know the one thing that kept me going through the many centuries I’ve lived? It’s the fact that there’s always a reason to smile, what’s your reason?”

Pinkie Pie was speechless. This complete stranger, whom she had never seen before, was attempting to cheer her up?
The Doctor closed his eyes and smiled at the mare, holding out his hoof for her to take.
BANG!
The Doctor was sent flying across the room landing with a great splat into the side of the cake. The last thing that the Doctor saw before he blacked out was Pinkie Pie racing out the back door, wielding what seemed to be a sky-blue cannon…

It took the Doctor a good ten minutes to come to.
“Urgh… where the heck did she get a cannon from?" The Doctor groaned to no-one in particular. Funnily enough a voice replied
”Oh that’s Pinkie’s Party Cannon, I don’t think she ever leaves home without it”
The Doctor jumped up with a start knowing that someone else was in the room. Turning around to see the face of the violet mare that he’d been living with for the past month. She smiled, clearly unaware of the events that had happened, to be fair it did look like she had just stumbled in on another welcome party, but upon noting the concerned face the Doctor was showing slight concern of her own
“Say Doctor, are you ok? Did something happen?”
“Yes, something bad definitely did happen. We need to find Pinkie Pie, but where’d she run off to?”
Twilight face became confused. “What? you didn’t ask her where she went? I just saw her going off to Sweet Apple Acres…”
The Doctor jumped straight past the unaware unicorn, and swung open the door
“get there as soon as possible, bring Pinkie’s friends, I believe she may need them”
And with those parting words, he bounded off into the street, leaving a very puzzled unicorn in his wake.

The path to Sweet Apple Acres was a lengthy, rarely used track that was only used for access to the orchard itself. Perfect for keeping out of ponies’ ways then, the Doctor thought. He looked forward to the apple farm on the horizon and sighed. According to all the history books in Twilight’s library, Sweet Apple Acres was where the foundations of Ponyville were made, and the family running the place, amusingly called the Apples, were as loyal to Ponyville as anyone. Breaking his train of thought was a slight buzzing noise coming from behind his left ear, the ear where he kept his sonic screwdriver. This meant that the TARDIS was ready. He could use it both to get out of here and find Pinkie Pie at the same time! The Doctor whooped in joy, and cantered off towards the farm in the distance.

After spending ten minutes trying to open the thoroughly intricate barn door, he gave up, and finally asked the large, red stallion for assistance, with his only excuse being that the Sonic Screwdriver doesn’t work on wood. He looked upon his marvellous machine with pride, the bluest blue you could imagine. The cracks splintering the wood around the TARDIS had all been healed, as was the missing pane of glass, and the shattered bulb above the box had been replaced with a large, blue, rotating light. The words on the top of the TARDIS had changed as well; they now read “Pony Box” instead of “Police Box”. The Doctor looked at the doors to the TARDIS and smiled.
“What have you got for me this time?”
And with that he flicked his head back and caught his Sonic Screwdriver in his right hoof, pointing it at the doors, he pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
“What? That should’ve worked?”
The Doctor mumbled, once again he tried to open the TARDIS, now pressing his Sonic Screwdriver against the lock on the TARDIS doors. Still nothing. Grumbling to himself, the Doctor finally placed his head against the doors, attempting to hear if anything was going on inside.

The Doctor was struggling to keep his mind on the TARDIS, on one hand, if he could get into the old girl, he could get out of here before the inevitable meeting tomorrow. But before that, Pinkie Pie still needed his help, and he couldn’t just leave her, and it didn’t look like the TARDIS was going to open anytime soon after all. He sighed and turned around to continue search for the mare without his beloved machine, only for the TARDIS doors to fly open, releasing a miasma of black smoke that rapidly hurled itself at the stallion without delay.

The smoke swirled around him like a tornado, trapping the Timelord entirely. The Doctor tried to grab hold of something to stop him from being picked up by the tremendous wind, but the swirling darkness was too strong. The smog seemed to relish in his weakness; gnawing, and biting at his face like a sandstorm. The Doctor tried to cover his eyes and mouth, but the pain caused by the lashing fumes paralysed him completely.

And then almost as quickly as the attack had come, it ceased, leaving the Doctor still coughing in pain on the floor. The Doctor got up slowly still aching from the surprise assault
“Blimey! I was not ready for that.”
The Doctor dusted himself down looking back at his TARDIS
“Now what on earth was it? Some sort of vapour release? Possibly a diffraction deregulator emission, but only type 45 TARDISes have those, what do you suppose…”
The Doctor turned round to find Pinkie Pie on the floor shaking, surrounded by the apparent attacker, with sharp teeth like extrusions emanating from the mass surrounding the mare.
“Now that’s a tad more interesting” The Doctor mumbled.

Noticing that the space surrounding Pinkie was becoming increasing smaller, the Doctor tried his only possible gambit: Talking to the beast.
“Now, wait. Hold on a mo. You can’t just break into the best ship in the universe, that things been locked for nearly a month. I couldn’t even get in.”
The shadow didn’t react, only further reducing the area the earth pony had to cower in.
“Oh c’mon you must be intelligent enough to talk to me! You just snuck into my ship, and believe me, that gets my attention, so just tell me what you want!”
Still no reaction from the gloom, the Doctor quickly studied the shadow, watching it swirl and boil before him. Finally chuckling to himself
“I know what you are; you’re a servant to the Pantheon of Discord. So tell me: Has the Trickster finally caught up with me yet?”
The shadow finally stopped moving and words drifted in the air “We… Not….”

The Doctor, finally realising that this entity clearly hadn’t tried telepathy yet, offered a small bit of advice:
“Whoa, easy. Telepathy’s difficult first time but you’ll get the hang of it”
More words glided through the air “We… Not…Follow you….”
“Well what do you mean?”
“We…Do Not…. Know Timelord….is here….But we know where….we are….”
“Ok, so the Pantheon has knowledge of this place” The Doctor made a mental note of this. “but why come to a broken TARDIS when you know where you are? Can’t you just return?”
“You will give us…Element”
The Doctor scoffed “I’m sorry? Element? Are you now making demands? That won’t work on me” The Doctor warned.
The same words hovered in the air, like a broken record: “Give us… Element”
The Doctor took a step forward “Listen here; I haven’t the faintest idea what these ‘elements’ are, or why you think I have them. But do you want to know what I do know?”
The Doctor frowned “You really shouldn’t have picked my friend as your hostage”
Another message hung in the air:“Give us….element…or element…will die”
“You are in hardly any position to threaten me” The Doctor returned “You forget one thing, something that I haven’t remembered myself until just now, something very secret, something that would make creature like you and your Pantheon quake with fear”
The Doctor leaned forwards toward the murk, “Do you want to know what it is?”

There was a long pause before the next unworldly response.
“What…Is it?”
The Doctor smiled “I’m The Doctor”
And with that, the Doctor jumped backwards, twirling in mid-air, flung his screwdriver through the open doors of the TARDIS and turned round to face the gaseous mass.
“And the Doctor is in!”

Suddenly the room exploded with noise, causing the shadow to screech and howl in pain, it roiled and swirled violently, forgetting about the helpless mare trapped in its form. The sudden attack gave the Doctor enough time to charge straight towards it and tackle it to the ground. For a gaseous creature, it was surprisingly solid…and incredibly fast at recovering.
“Pinkie! RUN!” The Doctor shouted to the mare, quickly ducking to miss an attempt of the tendrils to skewer him against the wall.

It was an impressive attempt, The Doctor admitted. Unfortunately he failed to realise that his opponent had multiple arms, a factor which made him curse in Old Galifreyan. The first attack glanced the top of his head, but before he could recover, another swung in from the left, smashing into his ribcage; doubling him over, and causing the air to rush out of his lungs.

Outside of having the wind knocked out of him, the Doctor noticed a throbbing pain coming from his head and chest. He could deal with madmen pointing lasers and death beams at him, and he was exceptionally good at running away from attackers. But actually facing them head on? He wasn’t sure when the last time he actually fought with an enemy like this, but he secretly hoped that a pony physique was just as durable as the humanoid equivalent.

His eyes met the gaseous torrent of darkness in front of him. It was still as a statue, waiting to see what the infamous Timelord would attempt.
“Well I was looking forward to a good old-fashioned running montage” The Doctor took a few determined steps towards the gruesome mass.
“But I suppose this’ll have to do…. Geronimo!” on the screaming of his catchphrase, the Doctor flung himself at his target, but before reaching it, twirled around to make his back legs collide with the figure with a sickening crunch. The creature screeched in pain, and returned fire at the stallion.

The Doctor’s dodge was sluggish; he knew this before he even began. And it resulted in three more blows; one to each of his back legs, which buckled under the assault. And another to his chest, which sent more ripples of pain through his torso, sending him spiralling backward through the air and landing with a dull, painful thud. The Doctor made a mental note that pony bodies definitely weren’t as hardy as a Timelords, before collapsing to the ground in a battered heap.

The darkness hissed in applause, as it made its way slowly towards the defeated stallion. The Timelord was still struggling to get up, but his body was having none of it. He had lost. And now was time to face the results of that failure. The mass had finally reached the final resting place of the stallion and was bearing down upon him. The Timelord closed his eyes as he awaited the end…
BANG!!!
The shadow was propelled forwards, crashing into the side of the TARDIS, as is squealed in intense pain, until it finally stopped moving and faint hissing noise filled the silent room. The Doctor looked up in surprise to find the crazy haired party-planner looking over him in concern, with the party cannon by her side still discharging pieces of confetti into the room.
“Heh… never leave home without it, eh Pink?”

Pinkie Pie helped the Doctor up to his hooves, and both looked down on the remnants of the black menace. The smog had completely dissolved leaving behind a brimstone residue, but upon closer inspection also contained a small piece of rolled up parchment. The Doctor picked it up, and placed it behind his ear, without Pinkie Pie noticing. He turned to his saviour with a beaming smile
“Well that wasn’t so bad, was it Miss Pie? Now perhaps now you can tell me the answer to my question I asked you before I was rudely interrupted by your cannon”
Pinkie’s eyes darted left and right, attempting to find a way out of this situation, before finally she sighed in defeat. “My… friends keep me smiling all the time. But they’ve got everything to lose. I.I… mean look at them”
Pinkie’s voice was beginning to rise “All of them have families that love them; they even have futures ahead of them! And what do I have?!”
Pinkie Pie slumped to the ground on the verge of tears. “My life is just one big crude stew… Doctor? What do you do when you’ve got nothing to lose?”
The Doctor considered his answer carefully; the outcome of his reply could very well save this mare from darker depression “Why don’t you come with me, I think I’ve got the perfect answer”
He guided the mare into the TARDIS and the doors closed behind him.

As soon as the Doctor had entered his beloved TARDIS his demeanour changes, he felt like he could do anything at the controls of his amazing time machine as he bounded towards the bright, new central console.
“Yes, I know. It’s bigger on the inside, and no I don’t have the time to explain it.”
He slammed a mallet into the side of the monitor, and smiled at the bewildered mare that was stood smiling widely at the sight in front of her.
He pointed toward the large circular monitor close to the wall “Now, could you turn your attention to that screen Miss Pie?”

Words spewed randomly across the screen, gradually forming, to Pinkie, something that looked like legible sentences, as a picture of stars and galaxies came into view. The Doctor read out the words on the screen to Pinkie, this being due to the fact that the words were in fact in High Galifreyan
“Galactic coordinates, 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2, The constellation of Kasterborous, home to the Shining World of the Seven Systems, or by another name; Gallifrey. The stronghold of the Time Lords of old”
The bright red planet zoomed into view on the screen. “Now Miss Pie, there are many ponies out there that keep asking me where I come from. Do you know what I tell them?”
Pinkie Pie turned back to the Doctor, unsure of where this was going, but before she could reply The Doctor interrupted “Actually it doesn’t matter what I tell them, what’s important is what I tell you”
The Doctor then walked up to the mare sitting in front of the screen, and sat down next to her. “This is where I come from. Another planet, in another galaxy, in another universe, never to see it again. And yes that makes me upset. But not for the reasons you’d expect.”

He turned away from the confused pony. “I’ve been running all my life, running because I daren’t look back. This is probably the longest I’ve stayed in one place. Oh I had friends, but those we’re nothing compared to my enemies.”
The Doctor looked back at the screen, still showing the picture of Gallifrey. “The Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds, Valeyard. These are the names I found myself with. All because of that moment”
His voice trailed off, as his head sunk down. Pinkie Pie sat still for a few minutes, until finally asking “Wh…What happened?”
The Doctor pulled his head up suddenly and stared straight at the pink earth pony. Pinkie Pie didn’t know why, but she could feel herself transfixed on his eyes. His sad old eyes.

The Doctor finally spoke: “There was a war…”
“What? Like the Lunar Rebellion?” Replied Pinkie.
“Oh bigger, much bigger. My people went to war with a race known as the Daleks who’d sworn to eradicate all life. And the prize was the entire universe.”
The Doctor looked back at the screen, the light reflecting of his face, showing the age old lines that covered it. “And we lost. Everyone lost. But only I could stop it. And I did what needed to be done. I’m not just a Time Lord; I’m the last of my race. The last of a legacy, alone in the universe, and do you really think that’s gonna stop me?”

Pinkie Pie was again, lost for words. Sure the pony in front of her was an alien, but he needed someone. Someone to remind him of all the good he causes and fights for.
“Well Doc, I’ll tell you one thing. It seems we’re in the same boat. So why not stick around? We sure could use all the do-hickeys and watch-meh-call-its that you’ve got here.”
“Now Miss Pie, I know the offer sounds tempting. But first I’ve got to get through a visit from the princesses. Now why don’t we give my old girl a little privacy, I don’t think she’s quite finished yet, give her a few minutes and maybe she’ll be fit for flying!”
With that, both of them got to their feet and walked towards the door.

Pinkie Pie exited excitedly, but the Doctor stayed behind for a few seconds, retrieving a pair of goggles that we’re handing up of the coat rack, beside the door, And also to uncover whatever was on that piece of parchment. Unrolling it, and looking at its contents, the Doctor’s face became more, and more worried. He went back to the console, and tacked the note to the side of the overhead monitor. Looking at it once more, he turned and left the TARDIS. The note swayed in the mechanically stimulated breeze. The words on its face, still haunting the Doctor:

Doctor, I know it’s you, and I know where you are. But please, you need to find me. Save me. Save your daughter…

Author's Note:

Good evening again!
Blimey it's been a while, well 19 hours according to Word. 19 hours of typing, streched over about 3 months.
There are allot of different moments in this chapter that i'm particuarly proud of, foremost is the little fight scene, good god, that was fun to write.
All in all, there are allot of different inspirations towards this chapter, can you find them all?
and I apologise now, for any OOC in regards to the pink menace.