Doctor Whooves: Mark Of The Mara

by LightOfTriumph

The Mark

Rarity had come through once again.

A white button down shirt, a black long tailed blazer, and a shoelace tie. The clasp of which bore a white question mark on it's opal stone.

"It's missing something...," Rarity frowned.

"A point to all of this?" Vinyl asked despairingly.

"The top looks a bit bare..." Rarity's head suddenly snapped up. "Hold on! I've got it!"

Rarity ran into the back room, and the Doctor smiled. "Now," he said to Vinyl. "Keep going. Tell me everything."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "I've told you everything already," she sighed. "Octy put me up after my parents kicked me out. We've been living together ever since. I honestly couldn't ask for a better best friend."

"Is that all it is?" the Doctor asked. "Friendship? There's nothing... else?

"Not sure how that's your business," Vinyl said incredulously.

"I am sorry to pry," the Doctor said. "But as I said before, it is urgent. I must know everything."

Vinyl paused. "No," she said frankly. "Me and Octy would die for each other, that's a given. We grew up together, and she's been like a sister to me since I was a filly. But that's all. When it comes to that side of things, she's not my type, and Octy don't swing that way. Fairly certain Octy don't swing at all."

"And you?" the Doctor asked without thinking.

"I swing in all directions," Vinyl winked. "But trust me, Doctor, you ain't coming close."

"Oh, never say never, Vinyl Scratch," Rarity said, emerging from the backroom of Carousel Boutique, carrying a bowler hat.. "Give this one time and he may surprise you. Here you are, Doctor."

The Doctor took bowler from Rarity, and for the first time in this new life, he looked in the mirror.

The first thing he noticed was the eyes. They had the look of a man much older than this body technically was. They had bags under them. The mane was alright. While he had always longed for ginger hair, he didn't like the color as much in this persona. But it was passable. There were beginning to be lines around his mouth as well. He estimated his new body was around mid forties when it came to Pony aging.

Alright, he was vain, but he was onto himself. Mid fifties.

He then caught himself smiling. Smiling was good. Especially the smile he gave. He looked at the smile that appeared on his face and realied what it was. A notification. A bell. An indicator light. Whatever was baking inside his brain was done now. Ready to be served.

He put the bowler on his head, and looked at himself. He was done. All cooked. His mind had cleared and his instincts were sharp as a tack. There was nothing in the world that could stop him now. He was prepared. He was calm. He was confident. He was focused.

He was the Doctor.

"Vinyl," the Doctor called with authority. "I will need you to procure Octavia's cello and meet me at the nightclub! If I am correct, your friend and that poor boy are still in grave danger. A wounded snake is more likely to bite."

"Her cello?" Vinyl asked. "Why do you need-"

"I shall need more than that, dear girl!" he continued. "I need something VInyl composed. Something happy, or connected with a good memory. You said you also got her the bow she uses?"

"Yeah," Vinyl said. "Like... years ago. Hearthswarming gift."

"I shall need that as well!" The Doctor turned to exit the shop.

"Wait!" Rarity called after him. "You're just going to set off?"

"Deepest pardons, dear Rarity," the Doctor smiled. "But I have a planet to save!!" The Doctor and Vinyl then left in a rush.

"Could you at least pay for the suit?" Rarity asked after a moment.

---

Applejack looked at Blue and Octavia incredulously. "Alright," she asked. "What should I do here? Let's say I could tell which one of you was possessed. What do y'all expect me to do about it?"

The room suddenly got quiet.

"I ain't killin' either of you," Applejack said frankly. "And I ain't gonna let either of you leave. I can't do what the Doctor did earlier, and I don't know what I'm dealin' with here. So here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna sit here. Nopony's leavin'. Nopony is gonna talk. We're all just gonna sit here in silence for a little while. When the Doctor gets back, then we'll talk. In the meantime, get comfortable."

There was an awkward moment of tension followed by a silent agreement. Then came the quiet. The hour of pitch black quiet. All three ponies stared daggers at each other. No one spoke. No one dared break the seemingly judgemental silence.

And then something did.

"A long time ago, way back in history...

"What the heck is that?" Applejack asked.

"When all you had to drink was nothing but cups of tea,"

Blue leaned his head back and smiled. "He's back. Took him long enough."

"Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps,"

"Who's back?" Octavia asked.

"In the unlikely scenario that that's Octavia talking," Blue said smugly. "It's how we're going to get you out of this."

"And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops!"

"That sounds like--"

Applejack was cut off when the door swung wide open and a stallion began to dance into the middle of the nightclub. It took AJ a couple of seconds to recognize it as the revived Doctor. Decked out in a new suit with a very happy grin on his face, singing merrily away.

"He must have been an Admiral,
A sultan or a King!
And to his praises,
We shall always sing!
Look what he has done for us,
He's filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops,
The man who invented beer, beer, beer, tiddly, beer, beer, beer..."

"Doctor!" Applejack exclaimed.

"AJ!" the Doctor called back. "I want to tell you a story!"

"You recognize me?" Applejack asked.

"How could I not?" the Doctor smiled. "The mare who would sacrifice her own life to save her sister, her friends and a relative stranger? The mare who braved a skyscraper full of Cybermen? Who bucked the Master clean across Canterlot? Who spoke truth to break the Silence in Dodge Junction? Final piece of the Key to Time? It would take a bigger old fool than even I was in order to forget a remarkable pony like yourself!"

Applejack blushed.

"Now, a more pressing question," the Doctor said. "Do you recognize me?"

Applejack smiled and looked the Doctor up and down. "Same fashion sense," she smiled. "Nice new duds, by the way. You were aware things got more than a little outta hand?"

"It was important," the Doctor said indignantly. "My counterpart's tenth persona saved the world for the first time in his bloody pajamas. I have a reputation to keep up!"

"A little more stuck up," Applejack smiled. "Or at least it's a little more obvious... Same brain... Same sad eyes... Yeah, it's you." AJ wrapped the Doctor in a tight hug. "Welcome back, Brainiac!"

"Oh, it's good to be back!" The Doctor returned the hug and quickly separated. "Now, I'm assuming you can't see the Mark?"

"No," Applejack answered. "But why not?"

The Doctor only gave her a sly grin before addressing the room. "I am terribly sorry I'm late," the Doctor smiled. "You see, Time Lord Regeneration is a bit like reorganizing your desk. Necessary, often essential, but it will take some time to remember where you put everything. I did a little rummaging, made sure everything was there. And it was... Even the things I would quite prefer to be rid of. My Faustian greed, my truly frightening rage, and the very limited hatred I hold for some of the things that grow from the darker corner of reality. They're small, but they're there. You can't expel them. Although, once upon a time, the people of the planet Manussa tried..."

"Is this relevant?" Octavia asked.

"Extremely," the Doctor said. "You see, the people of Manussa wanted to be rid of their darker desires. Coming to the conclusion that those urges, like all brain activity, was essentially data, they created a massive computer to take the evil out of the brain and simply store it on a hard drive. It couldn't be deleted, so it simply sat there. In the computer. Growing in size. Growing in density.

"Growing angry.

"Emotions aren't just data. Data can't think. Data can't plan. Most importantly, data can't talk. Which is what this did. Every time someone plugged themselves in to get the evil pulped out of them, it would whisper sinister little questions. Over the course of centuries it planted seeds of evil in those who tried to make themselves good. Soon, the data ceased to be data. Soon it became a monster.

"A monster made of pure negative energy. A monster that needed to feed off fear to survive. Soon wars began. Political intrigue. Slanders. Murders. More bloodshed. More hatred. More and more Manussans grew more and more terrified. Eventually it gained enough power to take on a physical form.

"And one poor little girl was afraid of snakes.

"It was like the genesis of life on any planet you would find. The evil of mankind acted as the primordial ooze, and the Mara was the first sorry, squinting, tiktaalik to crawl out from the muck. But it isn't life. Not in the true sense. It is merely a great mass of everything wrong with the soul. It's an abomination..."

The Doctor turned to Octavia. "Which is why you must fight it, Miss Melody. I know it seems like it's so big it's crushing your mind under it. But it's weak now, and you are so much stronger."

Octavia closed her eyes and smiled. "How long have you known?" she asked quietly.

"I saw the Mark on you when I walked in," the Doctor said. "When you're about, I don't trust anyone. How have you been able to possess people who were actively fighting you?"

"Good question. You see, much like the first sorry, squinting, tiktaalik that crawled from the muck..."

Octavia's left hoof shot out and grabbed the Doctor's throat. Applejack could now see the black snake tattoo wrapped around it tightly. Octavia's eyes opened to reveal them changed. Now burning red with the pupils nothing but black slits.

"I evolved," hissed the Mara.

Author's Note:

I am very proud of that ending.

How do you strangle someone with a single hoof?

Oh, shut up.

Please rate and comment!

Comments

[Danbrixton]

How do you strangle someone with a single hoof?

she could always hit his throat, then use the small window of surprise to wrap a leg around his neck. just as action packed, though about half a second longer to do.

[Ephraim Blue]

How do you strangle someone with a hoof?

[LightOfTriumph]

7628454 For what?

[cultpony]

Thanks alot!

[gamexpert1990]

I like your choice of a bowler hat.