Zero Room

by FiveyWhooves

Madpony With a Box

The Doctor panicked.

"Are you sure I didn't leave it in the console room?!" he shouted.

"Yep! It's not here!"

"It didn't roll on the floor, did it?!"

"No!"

"It wasn't in the library?!"

"No! Are you sure you don't already have it with you?!"

"Okay that was one time!"

Running frantically towards the main door, the time-pony had in hopes that he would find his most important piece of technology in which he had misplaced earlier. The Doctor knew that it was somewhere in his ship, the Time And Relative Dimension In Space, or TARDIS, where he lived and traveled in to all sorts of places. He only wished that he hadn't left his special item in one of those places.

The Doctor snapped open the doors to the TARDIS and searched around the outside, a small exterior that resembled that of a blue, 1950's London Police Box, enveloped in the vast expanse of space. He reached in the small door on the side where an old telephone sat, but he had no luck. Quickly the Doctor shut the door and reentered the interior of the TARDIS, a piece of Timelord technology, which was a certain size on the outside but infinite on the inside. The pony rushed back to the console in the middle of the room.

"Gah, it's got to be somewhere, Ditzy!" he said in a frustrated tone to his companion, Ditzy Doo. She had been in the TARDIS the entire time, talking to him as he had blitzed around the room. Ditzy was just a simple grey mare, blonde, straight hair falling over her golden, crossed eyes. She stood at the other side of the console room, feathered wings folded over her sides, and slowly approached the Doctor.

"Look, I'm sure if we retraced our steps, we'd find your Sonic Screwdriver," she told the Doctor.

"Alright, that's a start," replied the stallion as he pushed his chestnut mane back. "Where have we gone recently?"

"Well, we just came from Equestria 750 years ago," stated Ditzy.

"Ah yes, and before that, the moons of Gutharn," continued the Doctor.

"And then there was the planet of Androzani Major."

"But I don't remember even using my Sonic in any of those places," he said. "Haven't had the need for it."

"Then...where could it be?" asked his companion.

"I don't know," the Doctor gittered. He pulled at his rustic green tie, which stood out fiercely against his tannish coat. Groaning, the Doctor trotted around the TARDIS.

"Ooh! I think I remember!" Ditzy exclaimed.

"What?! You do?!"

"Yeah! Do you remember last week when we were at my house sorting that terribly huge pile of mail for Ponyville?"

"Yes, come to think of it, I do," pondered the Doctor. "But what has that got to do with anything?"

"All the places we went to after we sorted that mail, you never used your Sonic Screwdriver," said Ditzy. "Maybe you left it at my house?"

"Maybe," paused the Doctor. His cerulean eyes suddenly lit up. "Ah, yes, actually, nevermind! I do remember taking my Sonic out for a minute--if you remember there was that terrible address we couldn't read and I used it for that--so yes! That makes sense! Must have left it on your living room table! Or-or-"

"I get it, Doctor," laughed Ditzy, slowing his speech to a halt. "Why don't we just go back and check?"

"Right!" noted the time-pony. With a skip and a push of a few switches and buttons, the Doctor then pulled back a lever. The middle piece of the TARDIS console bobbed up and down as the ship started to a wheezing whir.

"Back to Ponyville!" exclaimed the Doctor cheerfully as he and Ditzy flew through time and space.

* * *

"No, I will not do it," firmly stated the Xeraphin.

"But you will," growled his evil conscience. "We have already agreed to the pact!"

"No!"

"You must! Our purpose will be served!"

"This is not our purpose!"

"I will not tolerate this prison any longer! We will serve him!"

"Never! Never!"

The moral Xeraphin fought his corrupted conscience, feeling the dark one's stare through his soul. He, as the representative of his species, could not let himself fall to such low actions his immoral self wished for. However, slowly and painfully, he was fading away, being driven from his own mind. He was about to leave, the evil Xeraphin taking over his head, when suddenly, through an echo in time, words were whispered in his being:
To whom are gracious and are kind,
A state of peace will come to mind.
Darkness twists upon its doom,
And sick are healed in the Zero Room.

Something then changed, something odd. As if the fabric of reality was being puppeted.

And the goodness prevailed.

* * *

The Doctor snatched his Sonic Screwdriver off of Ditzy's living room table.

"Ha! You beauty!" he said happily. "I am never letting you out of my sight again!" The Doctor then stuffed the Screwdriver in his pocket, safe and sound. From across the room, Ditzy poked her head out of the TARDIS that had just materialized in her house moments prior. She rolled her eyes and grinned at the Doctor's childish personality, then glanced around the room. It was dark and quiet.

"Doctor, what day is this?" she asked. The Doctor looked around the room at clocks, calendars, the windows.

"Looks like we've landed the same day we left last week," he said, "only a few hours later. It's about...eh...two in the morning? Yep! Definitely two hours past!"

"It feels like it," Ditzy yawned. The Doctor thought for a second before looking back at his companion.

"You know, we've had a very busy week," he said. "Why don't you take a day off, you know, get a good night's rest, wake up whenever you'd like, spend time with your daughters." Ditzy nodded sleepily.

"I think that's a good idea," she said. "I'm sure they'd be happy to see you too. And even if they saw me...just hours ago...I'd be glad to see them." She trotted slowly across the room. "Welp, I'm hitting the hay. Goodnight, Doctor."

"Night, Ditzy," he replied. He watched as she disappeared down the hallway to her room before he walked over and plopped himself on the couch. Even though his physical self only needed an hour's worth of rest, he was glad to get off his hooves for a while.

Sitting on the sofa, the Doctor pulled out his newly found Sonic and tinkered with it in his hooves, keeping his thoughts collected in his head. He was glad to take a day off, and like Ditzy, was glad to see her daughters as well. There was Amethyst Star, the oldest, and also the responsible one, and then there was Dinky Doo, the adorable filly who was always striving to be as great as her mother. Both were adopted, however they always considered Ditzy more like their real mother, since she was so caring and loving towards them. The two girls always protected Ditzy from humiliation for her crossed eyes, were always helpful in Ditzy's life...overall they were wonderful ponies.

The Doctor always wondered where he fit into the picture of Ditzy and her daughters. Sometimes he mentally considered himself almost a "fatherly" figure, but only to himself. He was always afraid to cross that line. Yes, sure, he cared for Ditzy and her family however he didn't know for sure how Amethyst and Dinky thought of him as a "dad". Being a father and even grandfather before, the Doctor certainly had it in his nature to play that kind of role, but of course, it was always a toss-up subject.

He buzzed and flashed his Screwdriver, staring at the blue light of the Sonic. The Doctor always thought of that specific thought, but many things filled his mind. He was nine centuries old, and with so much life behind him, memories always lay ahead of him. One of the things that sparked in his mind was his dimension, the real dimension that he had come from.

The Doctor remembered when he was a real Timelord, human in appearance, and would travel like was currently, only with people from planet Earth, and sometimes, others. He was traveling alone when he came to Ponyville that sudden day in his timeline, the day he somehow turned into a pony and met Ditzy...

But that was long ago. At least months, years, he didn't know. It was hard for the Doctor to keep track of time when he was always manipulating it.

Putting the Sonic away, the Doctor closed his eyes and listened to the quietness of the night. It was wonderful, especially in the small town of Ponyville. He took a deep breath. His life had been so turbulent in the past. Times like this moment had a special place in the Doctor's mind. He enjoyed every once of relaxation he got.

The Doctor's ear twitched. A surprising sound was breaking through the silence of the night. He opened his eyes halfway.

"Now what on earth could that be?" the Doctor muttered to himself. The noise that was gradually getting louder sounded very unique, like nothing Ponyville would contain. He sat up.

"Now that sounds like..." The sound cut though the darkness. It was all too familiar, groaning, pushing through.

The blood from the Doctor's face drained."

"The TARDIS," he whispered forcefully. The Doctor glanced at his TARDIS just across the room. It wasn't moving nor materializing anywhere. That was odd. However, the engine sound of the Doctor's TARDIS kept prevailing.

"Where is that coming from?!" he said nervously and as quietly as he could muster. The Doctor scurried around the living room, moving his ears around, trying to find the location of the sound. His hearing drew him to the window, where he finally heard the landing sound of the TARDIS. When he pulled back the curtains, a startling object sat in front of him, just twenty feet away from Ditzy's house. All logic was muddled in the Doctor's mind.

"My...my TARDIS?!" blurted the Doctor. Instantly he rushed for the door to the outside, however, still kept quiet. There was no use in waking Ditzy or the others. They didn't need to get involved when rest was more important.

The Doctor trotted to the strange TARDIS after closing the door. He didn't know what to think.

"This isn't possible," said a baffled Doctor to himself. "My TARDIS can't...be here!" He came a couple feet away from the police box before stopping to inspect it. He circled around the blue thing.

"This is certainly my TARDIS," he said in disbelief. "However...the exterior is a bit outdated...the top lights faded and the windows a but foggy...but it is certainly it." He came back around to the doors and stood, facing the front.

"Could it be possible that one of my other selves is in there?" he said pensively. The Doctor, being a Timelord, had the ability to regenerate whenever approached by death. He was currently at his tenth incarnation (or eleventh, but that's a whole other argument), and meeting his past selves wasn't new to him. The Doctor simply grinned.

"Ah, I bet that's it," he said proudly to himself. "This must be one of them...er, or me...obviously since this is my TARDIS." Relieved and confident in his explanation, the Doctor reached in his pocket and pulled out his TARDIS key, one of only two existing (Ditzy owned the other). The key would work if it was truly his TARDIS, and if it was, he was sure whichever one of his past incarnations was inside would understand his motion to enter. After all, it was himself.

The Doctor stuck the key in the door and turned it, opening the TARDIS door. He then stepped inside. Expecting the interior to bring back floods of memories, the Doctor was puzzled when he found himself walking into blackness. He walked in a little further.

"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone here? Is the Doctor in?" There wasn't a reply. A sinking feeling hit the Doctor. This was more than odd. This was unusual. A shuffling sound came from the other-side of the darkness.

"Who's there?" he stated. "Are you the Doctor? Is he here?" Instead, a faint and eerie laugh rose from the pitch.

"Who are you?" commanded the Doctor. "What's going on? What are you doing with this TARDIS?" A click sounded, and the doors of the TARDIS slammed shut. The Doctor finally knew something was wrong and rushed backwards, searching for the door again. But he couldn't find it. The darkness was too great.

"Let me out!" shouted the Doctor. The laugh came from the black again, only this time it was closer. The Doctor felt sweat running down his head. He didn't know what to think, so many possibilities ran through his mind on what could've been happening.

"Who are you?!" he ended up repeating. He stood still and stiff in the dark, waiting for a response. Then, he felt a chilling breath hit his ear, and a voice that was all too familiar whispered like a rattling snake with a strange delight.

"A madman, my dear Doctor."

Author's Note:

Ah yes, already have gotten the question on why the title is "MadPONY" yet the stranger at the end says "MadMAN." If you know who that stranger is, it will make sense. If you don't, it will soon in time.

Comments

[Inthretis]

This story isn't really that bad. It's okay, has some minor grammatical errors, but nothing too bad.

One problem with your writing, however, is your usage of Time Lord and Time-Pony. For your story, you should always stick to one, as it is a proper noun. That being said, Time Lord is always spelled as two words, and Time-Pony should be capitalized.

Also, madman and madpony are two separate things, you should choose one and stick to it.

Other than that, this story is pretty decent. Sets something up, a little mystery, and a villain that I don't think has been used in the Doctor Whooves genre yet. Keep it up.