Dr. Hooves and the Broken Box

by Lyichir

Chapter Ten: Change of Heart

Written Script lit up the room they were standing in with his horn. Sure enough, it was massive compared to the tiny box they had entered. And directly in front of them were two Doctors standing there, facing each other.

“It’s the Changeling!” said the Doctor nearest them. “It’s trying to fool you! Written Script, remember the plan.”

The other Doctor just chuckled. “Changeling, eh? Is that what you things are called?” He walked over to where his mirror self was standing. “And you even came up with a plan! That is just. Too. Cute.”

Written Script looked at the two Doctors. The one who had brought them there was obviously the real one, right? But if that were the case, why didn’t the other one seem scared, or worried?

The first Doctor sneered. “I somehow expected you’d figure out how to escape.”

“You did, did you?” The second Doctor glanced at the other ponies in the room. “Is that why you put together a posse of ponies? Thought my escape would jeopardize the plan?”

The first Doctor looked nervously back at Written Script. “You’ve got to deal with him. Now. We may not get another chance.”

Written Script didn’t move. He didn’t know whom to trust, but he knew that it would cost them all if he made the wrong decision.

The second Doctor laughed again. “You know, I never was much for plans. I prefer to improvise.” He vaulted over a guardrail onto a higher platform.

The first Doctor scowled. “You have to have a plan. You can’t have just sat here and dawdled after you escaped. You’re smarter than that.”

“Are you sure?” The other Doctor walked along a catwalk leading down to the lower level. “I don’t know if I’m all that smart. When you followed me in there, I told you everything. Everything about me, everything about this box… I even told you the names of the friends I had made in this world. And sure enough, you brought them here.”

Carrot Top couldn’t tell what was going on anymore. What did that other Doctor mean about “this world”? What was this mysterious box they were standing in, anyway?

“I told you that!” the first Doctor insisted. He was trying to head his twin off at the end of the catwalk. The other Doctor wasn’t having it. He vaulted clear over his doppelganger, and started advancing. The tables had turned.

“In that case,” said the second Doctor, “there’s a clear way to tell which of us is the real deal, isn’t there?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied the first Doctor. He was retreating, backing up as they circled higher and higher.

If Derpy had any suspicions about either Doctor, she wasn’t showing it. She was concentrating. Each of her eyes focused on a different Doctor, moving independently as the two Doctors performed their elaborate dance.

“Assuming one of us told the other everything they know about these ponies standing here,” said the second Doctor confidently, “It should follow that if there’s something they didn’t tell the other, then only the real Dr. Hooves would know.” The Doctors reached the highest point on the catwalk, and the first Doctor, the one who had led all the other ponies there, jumped down to escape his double.

“So here’s my challenge, Dr. Hooves. You know everyone here, don’t you?” The second Doctor followed his twin off the catwalk and down to the floor below. The Doctors were now facing each other again, on opposite sides of the room. The Doctor who had made the plan, and had led the other ponies there, stood to the right of the company of ponies. To their left stood the other Doctor, the one who had been left behind in the box, although none of the other ponies there were sure yet if that meant he was friend or foe.

“So if you know these other ponies, if you are truly the real Doctor, then you would know something very special about one of these ponies. Derpy Hooves.” He looked over at the grey mare, her eyes fixed on the two ponies who called themselves Dr. Hooves. “The best friend I’ve made in this new world. Tell me, Doctor,” he asked, in a low voice, “What does Derpy’s cutie mark mean?”

“It… it means…” stammered the first Doctor. “It means… that she’s a good flier... but addled. A bit airheaded. Her destiny is to live through the help of others… her friends.”

The second Doctor flashed a nervous grin. Derpy’s eyes narrowed.

“A decent guess,” admitted the second Doctor. “A decent guess for someone who hardly knows her. Not as a friend.” He looked into Derpy’s eyes. “Her cutie mark means she’s resilient. She bounces back from difficulty. She can adapt to whatever role she’s needed in. Whatever happens to her, she keeps a positive attitude." The second Doctor gave Derpy a knowing smile. "Because that’s what her friends need from her.”

Derpy closed her eyes. Tears reflected off the sides of her face as she flapped her wings and slowly hovered over to the Doctor on the left.

“You can’t be serious!” protested the other Doctor, the one who still stood alone. “You can’t—I’m the one who told you about the Changeling! I’m the one who rescued Scootaloo!”

“You knew about the changeling because you were one,” said the Doctor standing with Derpy. “You knew about Scootaloo, which I assume is the name of the little filly you disguised yourself as, because you captured her, just like you tried to do with me. I was stuck here with nothing but my wits, and my memories.” He picked up a short rod in his jaws, and it began to whir and glow. “And my screwdriver.”

The second Doctor—the confident one, now, the one who had gone into this without a plan—looked over at the orange-maned pony. “Golden Harvest,” he said. “I still don’t know exactly what makes you tick. I’ve tried to get to know you, but you’ve shut me out every time we’ve talked. And I don’t know what he’s—“ He motioned toward his double. “—told you. I hope you can trust me.”

Golden Harvest looked around at the jungle of steel and wires they had found themselves in. No one had told her anything about a place like this in the middle of Ponyville. “I’m not sure I can trust either of you right now,” she said. “But I do know I can trust Derpy.” She walked over to her left, joining her friend.

The Doctor who now stood with a pony at each side of him directed his gaze at Written Script. “I’m afraid we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting,” confessed the Doctor.

“It’s no biggie,” said Written Script, sheepishly.

“Do you trust me?” asked the Doctor.

Written Script looked down at the floor. “To be honest, I thought I trusted the other guy. He seemed so confident from the moment I met him, as he outlined his plan, and I just went along with it.” Written Script walked over to where a crowd of ponies now stood in opposition to the Doctor he had met. “But he never asked me what I thought. He never gave me a choice. And because of that, I think I trust you more.”

The Doctor who was now circled by friends advanced toward his doppelganger. “I think this charade is up,” he said. “You’re outnumbered and alone. I know how that feels.” He extended a hoof to the other Doctor. “What do you want to do now?”

The other Doctor shed a single tear, and burst into a column of green flame. When the fire dissipated, there stood a changeling, almost like the one in the book. But this one was smaller. It was almost closer to the size of little Scootaloo than to any of the ponies who now stared at it accusingly. “I jussst want to go home,” it said in a raspy voice.

The Doctor looked toward the windows of the TARDIS. The light from Written Script’s horn was dimmer now than the light that shone in through the windows. It was morning.

“As much as I hate waiting for anything,” said the Doctor, “it’ll be a little bit longer before the TARDIS can take you home. That’s what you wanted it for, wasn’t it?”

The Changeling nodded.

“You know,” said the Doctor, with a friendly smile, “you could have just asked.”

Author's Note:

Hello, readers! Wasn't that chapter something?

As hard as it was for me to maintain the ambiguity of whether it had been the Changeling or Dr. Hooves who had escaped, it was even harder to continue to differentiate them once they were in the same room, talking to each other. I hope that what confusion remained came across as the same confusion the Doctor's companions (and I think by now they qualify as companions) were feeling at the time.

Now that the battle's won, the story can begin to wind down. But it's not over yet! Stay tuned for the final chapter.

Comments

[Meridian Prime]

Why does this have no comments? It's really good! I love your characterisation of the Doctor so far.