Coming to terms

by The Infinity Doctor

Secrets Revealed

The stallion had returned with his wife, both of them trotting into the room as I sat on the couch, waiting with Lotus.

"Who are you?" the mare asked, sitting with the stallion.
"Do you not recognize me?" Lotus replied.
"No...I'm afraid not..."
"I'm not surprised...the last time we met, my coat was blue"

The mare peered at Lotus, as if attempting to connect the dots to some complicated puzzle. It took her brain a few minutes to turn over, before her eyes widened in surprise.

"N-no...it...you can't be...it's not...possible..."
The mare stood, then embraced Lotus in a tight hug, Lotus herself returning it.

"Can somepony tell me just what the buck is going on here?" the stallion asked, watching in confusion.

I cocked an eyebrow.

"And just who the heck are you?" he asked, his head swiveling to me.
"Zero, pleasure to meet you" I said, turning back to the mare and Lotus.
Lotus's mother was weeping tears of joy into Lotus' mane, despite Lotus appearing to be a bit larger than Big Macintosh.

The stallion was still puzzled, his brain having not yet made the connection.

"Tinker, this is her-" his wife choked "-this is really her"
"I-I- don't...I-I-I-"

I rolled my eyes and reached for the stallion, dragging him across the floor as he let out a squeal of surprise.

The three of them hugged, each of them holding each other as they did so. I subconsciously wiped a tear from my eye as I watched them.

"Z-Zero..." Lotus' mother said, looking up "Th-thank you so much for bringing our daughter back to us..."
"No problem" I said, waving dismissively.
"Mother..." Lotus said, her parents still hugging her "I should tell you now...I won't be staying..."
"Wh-wh-why? You just came back!" her mother cried.
"I know...and I will spend time with you...but...I feel that the jungle is my proper home now, I wouldn't fit in here anymore"

I stood up, and began to leave the room, the stallion saw me, and cocked an eyebrow.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Family affair, I've got no place in it- I'll just be up on the roof" I called back, closing the door behind me.

I hiked up the stairs, my hooves clopping against the wood as I went, not stopping until I reached the roof. I sat down, my back against the Tardis, as the beautiful day continued around me, the clean, blue sky and cotton-ball clouds hanging above, as the sounds of the city rose from below.

I looked up boredly, and by chance, caught the lamp on the roof of the Tardis glowing, as it did before takeoff. I shot up and scrambled inside, clumsily slamming the door shut as I crossed the threshold and stumbled into the Tardis. My mind was churning as my thoughts turned to Lotus, who had probably assumed that I'd just left her there, and why the Tardis had just decided to go off on its own.

"Irdis- Irdis!" I shouted, running up to the console, almost tripping over the small filly "What the hell's going on?!"
"I don't know! I can't even keep a lock on the time period!" she replied, appearing on the scanner "It's like something's pulling us through the Time Vortex!"
"Where to?!" I shouted over the roar.
"No idea!" she shouted back "Hold on tight!"

I made a grab for the filly, and held her under my arm as I gripped the console for dear life, afraid of what was happening, and what would happen.

The entire room rattled and shook violently as I felt us come to a stop. I still gripped the console, my eyes screwed shut as I waited for something to explode. One of my eyes opened a crack, and I shakily let go of the console, setting the filly on the floor as I slumped onto the floor. I took a deep breath as I stood, and inspected the damage, it didn't look too bad, most of the damage should be relatively easy to fix.

"Irdis?" I called.

No response.

I looked up at the scanner, found her image gone, and pushed it away.

'Might as well find out where we are...' I thought looking around the room.

A number of knobs came free of the console, the panel itself sparking and sputtering as the knobs clattered to the floor.

I sighed, and spotted the filly waiting.

"Oh no you don't" I said, picking her up "You stay right here, I have no idea what's out there, and whatever it is, it can't be good"

She pouted adorably- her lip quivering as her large eyes bored into me.

"No" I stated.
"Pf"
"Stay here, and don't touch anything"

I turned, and walked to the doors of the Tardis- I prepared my Screwdriver as I pushed one of the doors, peeking out.

Imagine my surprise, when I found a gun in my face- and not just any gun.

"We have been expecting you" the dalek stated.

---

"Why are you here?" I asked, walking as I was positioned between two daleks, one in front, and one in the back "This isn't your universe"

The daleks didn't respond, only leading on as we walked.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked "There aren't nearly enough of you to even exterminate a dwarf planet"

The two daleks stopped, and I found myself staring into the eye of a red dalek, whereas the other two were gold.

"Can I assume you're the head of this little catastrophy?" I asked.

"Body parts have nothing to do with it" the red dalek stated "we have brought you here"

"Ah, so you're the ones behind that- nice work by the way, how'd you do it?"

"I will never divulge" Red replied "we...need...you..."

"Really- you need me? Whatever for?" I asked, genuinely curious as to why they'd need me, compared to the Doctor.

"We are stranded here" Red stated.

"I can see that...pity, now you don't have a chance to exterminate any races- must suck for you"

"We only strive to exterminate one"

"Oh, and who would that be?"

"The Predator"

"Ah, so you do know the Doctor is here"

"Affirmative"

"How exactly do you plan to do that, though? There are only like, what? Four of you? Good luck with that- you're going to need a lot more daleks, and a lot more firepower if you want to kill the Doctor"

"Affirmative, that is why we have you"

"I don't follow"

"Your entire existence belongs to us"

"What?" I asked.

"We have created you, for the sole purpose of exterminating the one known as 'The Doctor'"

"Exactly how much damage did the Void do to you? I'm not your creation, I'm a living, breathing, person"

"Incorrect, you are Experiment #571"

"I'm Zero- I was a human, before I was turned into this" I said, gesturing to myself.

"Tell me...if you really were like the Predator, you would take a companion"

"That's just how I travel"

"Incorrect" Red said again "You only have one purpose- exterminate the Predator"

"No" I stated firmly.

"Your choice matters little, at one time or another, your eventual path will lead to your one purpose"

I began breathing heavily, my hearts hammering away as I considered the possibility- yes, there was a chance they were lying, but at the same time...anything could be possible...

"At last, you realize your role"

"No..."

"EXPLAIN!" Red roared.

"I will never...and I repeat...never ever...not in a million years...not in my entire lifetime...kill the Doctor"

"That is what you think"

"Shut up!" I spat.
I removed my Screwdriver, and shoved it into the plating of the red dalek, and activated it- it whirred before the top blew off, landing harshly a few feet away as I continued to use the Screwdriver.

"Self-destruct sequence activated" a robotic voice from somewhere inside the dalek stated.
I then turned and used the screwdriver on the other three daleks in the room, preventing them from moving.

"I am immobile!" one of them stated.

I ran back to the Tardis, hoping that I was going to get inside before the dalek exploded. My hooves struck the metal flooring as I ran, clearing about a foot at a time as I went. I found the Tardis, and scrambled inside, firmly locking the door behind me. I looked down, and saw the filly, waiting just in front of the stairs, giving me a look that asked 'What happened?'.

Her response was a loud explosion that came from outside, rocking the Tardis as I flinched.

"Everything's fine" I said, a fake smile on my face "I'd say it's about time to get out of here...don't you?"

She nodded eagerly, completely oblivious to what had happened outside, and not caring to find out what it was, based on the context of the situation.

Author's Note:

Ah, so Zero isn't here randomly...interesting...
Hope you enjoyed it

Comments

[cyanblur]

Cool, love the suspense. Also, could you draw or give me a description of what lotus looks like? I can't picture her. Thanks, keep up the good work.

[The Infinity Doctor]

4441261 Sorry, I don't have a pic. Lotus' appearance will change though, that's all I'm revealing.

[ZerOAimi]

Personally,from when the TARDIS landed in Fillydephia to u stating,

I hiked up the stairs, my hooves clopping against the wood as I went, not stopping until I reached the roof. I sat down, my back against the Tardis, as the beautiful day continued around me, the clean, blue sky and cotton-ball clouds hanging above, as the sounds of the city rose from below.

I thought it was night.It would get the mood right for the Family reunion-y stuff.