Cranks and Bubbles

by guppygirl

Chapter Five: Loose Threads in the Fabric of Spacetime

Author's Note:

So I start my senior year of high school in two days... I'll be trying to stick to my usual update schedule, but a few chapters may need to go up temporarily illustration-free. (Side note - does anyone actually care for the illustrations?) At any rate, please enjoy the chapter!

“Doctor, what’s happening?” Derpy cried out, falling against the metal railing. A shot of pain coursed through her wing - while it had mostly recovered from the Cyberponies’ abuse, the muscles were still a bit sore. She quickly wrapped her forelegs around the railing as the floor bucked beneath her.
“We’ve hit a bit of turbulence!” the Doctor shouted back, desperately pressing buttons and twisting handles in a desperate attempt to bring the machine back under control. “Can you get over here? I could use some help!”
“I-I’ll try!” Derpy braced herself before finally letting go of the metal. Finding her balance was an odd, tricky thing to do when the floor moved like a boat caught in a hurricane. Ordinarily, she would have flown so as not to have to worry about it, but right now that wasn’t an option.
She heard a muffled bang from the back of the TARDIS. One of Tick Tock’s newest inventions must have fallen from the shaking. She hoped it hadn’t fallen on him.
“Derpy, quickly!” the Doctor yelled as a low groan filled the air - the ship was in bad shape.
Derpy crouched, keeping her center of gravity low as she swiftly crawled towards the TARDIS console. She nearly overbalanced once or twice, but finally, she made it to the console.
“Quick, hold down that button there!” The Doctor pointed to a large orange button, and Derpy reared onto her hind hooves to grab the console. Just as she got onto her back legs, however, a shower of sparks fell from overhead, and she flinched back, feeling herself losing her balance. With a yelp, she flared her wings. A small jolt of pain flashed through her side, but she managed to regain her balance and grabbed onto the console, pressing the orange button down.
“Can you reach the blue levers?” the Doctor called from the other side of the machine.
Derpy whipped her head around, searching desperately for the levers in question. Spotting them, she stretched her free foreleg as far as it would go and just barely managed to tip the levers into the “on” position.
Just as quickly as the bumping had begun, it suddenly ceased, leaving the TARDIS stiller than it had ever been before, at least as far as Derpy remembered.
“Phew!” The Doctor heaved a sigh of relief. “It was a close one, but it looks like we finally made it through the turbulence!”
Tick Tock stumbled into the main room. There appeared to be a few singed spots on his coat, Derpy noticed. He was also still not used to being in any kind of a moving vehicle at all, and the jostling had clearly left the stallion shaken.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“We hit some turbulence,” the Doctor explained, still pressing buttons and flipping switches. “It’s pretty rare, but it does happen. That one seemed pretty severe, though… I’m going to land here someplace familiar - just outside Ponyville should do - and try to figure out what caused that.” He slammed a lever home, and with a bit more shaking, the familiar sound of the TARDIS landing started up.
The Doctor smiled at Derpy and Tick Tock. “While I’m working, why don’t you visit Ponyville? It’s been a while since we could really just stop to sightsee some place, and I’m sure you’d like to visit your friends again, Derpy.”
Derpy smiled, recognizing the Doctor’s attempts to shoo his companions away so he could privately work with the TARDIS’ circuits - having Tick Tock watching over his shoulder always made him nervous - and agreed. “I think that’s a good idea.” She pushed open the blue doors and beckoned Tick Tock with her. For once, rather than trying to convince the Doctor to let him help, the unicorn was almost too eager to leave the vessel, following her without complaint as she exited.

*o*o*o*o*

“So I wonder when, exactly, we are,” Tick Tock commented as they reached Ponyville proper.
Derpy shrugged. “Hard to say, exactly. I’d guess at most a year since I left - doesn’t look like they’ve done Spring Wrap-Up yet, and the library’s still standing, so…”
“Spring Wrap-Up?” Tick Tock shot her a puzzled look.
Derpy nodded, smiling at the ginger stallion. “Yup! Ponyville was founded by Earth ponies, so as tradition, we manually change the season every winter, rather than using magic!”
“But… how do you deal with the weather?” Tick Tock questioned.
Derpy giggled. “Eheh… yeah, that’s the one exception. Earth ponies can’t exactly do anything about the clouds…”
“I see.” Tick Tock resumed looking ahead as he walked. “So this is your hometown - is there anything you’d like to do before we leave again?”
“Well, obviously, I still wanna do something to help the Doctor, even if we can’t help with the TARDIS,” Derpy pointed out. “I say we stop by the library and see if Twilight has any books on time - we might turn up some useful information.”
“Twilight?” Tick Tock asked.
“Twilight Sparkle, yup!” Derpy shot him a smile. “She’s a really smart unicorn - I bet you’ll like her!” More quietly, she muttered, “I just wish I’d gotten to know her better in this universe.”
Tick Tock blinked. “What?”
“Nothing.” The smile on Derpy’s face was all-too-innocent as she looked at the ginger unicorn. Then, with a giggle, she started trotting faster, making a beeline for the Golden Oak Library. “Come on!”

*o*o*o*o*

Derpy knocked on the front door of the tree-building. After a moment, the door swung open, a small purple dragon holding the handle. “Hi, Ditzy Doo!” he said cheerfully when he spotted her. “Who’s your new friend?”
“Oh!” Derpy had almost forgotten that only Carrot Top and her parents knew who the stallion was. “This is Tick Tock. He’s visiting from out-of-town!”
“Good to meet you, Tick Tock!” Spike nodded, and Tick Tock returned the gesture with a somewhat bemused look. “Hang on, I’ll go get Twilight. Come on in!” He left the door open and walked deeper into the library.
“She lives with a dragon?” Tick Tock quietly asked Derpy as they entered. “I thought Jot was the only dragon who lived with ponies.”
Derpy shrugged. “Well, before I started travelling with the Doctor, I thought the same of Spike.”
Suddenly, quick hoofsteps sounded on the stairs. “Sorry, Ditzy - I was a bit wrapped up in a really good book.” Upon reaching the ground floor, she turned to them with a smile. “You must be Tick Tock! Spike mentioned Derpy had brought an out-of-town friend.”
Tick Tock blinked, startled. “A-Are you… an alicorn?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly, fluffing her wings. “Heh, yeah. It’s a… pretty new development.”
Derpy cut in before Tick Tock could speak again. “You’ll have to excuse him - he’s from pretty far away, and they don’t usually get news promptly.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, curious. “Where are you from.”
“Nei-” Tick Tock caught himself. “Fort Neighers.”
“Really?” Twilight repeated, giving him an intrigued look. “All the way out in the swamp? That sounds dangerous.”
“Says the pony who lives right next to the Everfree Forest,” Derpy pointed out.
Twilight laughed. “You got me there. So, did you two need something?”
“Oh, yes!” Derpy exclaimed, suddenly remembering why they were there. “We were hoping you might have a book on time.”
“Time?” Twilight arched an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty broad topic. Do you mean time magic, the history of the study of time…?”
“O-Oh, um…” Derpy stammered, unsure of how to answer.
Tick Tock took over. “I think if you had any books about the history and development of time magic - beginning research and early time spells - it would be immensely helpful.”
“I see.” Twilight trotted over to a bookshelf, eyes scanning the titles as she asked, “So are you a clockworker? Time spells are pretty complex, so I’m guessing if you’re trying to learn about them, you need them for your line of work, and the gears would go with that.”
“Oh, no,” Tick Tock quickly explained. “I actually already know a fair bit about time spells, including how to cast a few. Mostly, I’m just interested in learning the historical component.”
“You can cast time spells?” Twilight shot him an impressed look as she used her magic to retrieve a book from her shelf. “Wow. You must be a pretty powerful spellcaster.”
Tick Tock shook his head. “Not particularly. I spent almost a year learning how to do it, and it was still a pretty basic spell.”
Twilight nodded, heading back over and offering the stallion the floating book. “Well, this should help you. The History of Time-Based Magic, by Jasmine Flower. Try to have it back within two weeks, all right?”
Tick Tock nodded as the magical aura surrounding the book shifted from pink to green. “We will. Thank you for your help, Your Highness.”
Twilight giggled nervously, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. “Please - Twilight is just fine.”
“I see,” Tick Tock responded, voice kind. “Well… thank you, Twilight.”
Derpy pushed the door open and held it for her friend, as his magic was otherwise occupied. She caught herself frowning as she stopped to wave goodbye to Twilight, and briefly wondered - why did she feel jealous?

*o*o*o*o*

Once outside the library, Derpy headed over to a bench near the main thoroughfare. Tick Tock watched silently as she climbed up on the bench before following suit. He settled the book between them, flipping open the cover. “So, any idea what, exactly, we’re looking for, here?”
“Well, to make that kind of turbulence in the TARDIS, it has to be a pretty powerful spell…” Derpy murmured, flipping a few pages aimlessly. “Only question is, who would’ve lived that would be powerful enough to do that?”
“Or who will live…” Tick Tock murmured.
Derpy glanced up, ears flicking back. “W-What?”
“Might be a unicorn in the future from now,” Tick Tock pointed out. “Who’s to say that the spell didn’t go backwards?”
“O-Oh.” Derpy seemed to almost visibly deflate. “I hadn’t thought of that…”
“Wait.” Tick Tock suddenly flipped to the back of the book, eyes running quickly down the index. Then, just as abruptly, he started flipping pages ahead again.
“What are you-” Derpy started to ask.
“There.” Tick Tock stopped turning the pages, pointing with his hoof to a specific passage.
“Huh?” Derpy leaned over to read.
In the seventh year of Celestia’s reign, her royal advisor, Star Swirl the Bearded, began research into the field of time magic, hoping to find a way to stop Discord’s reign from occurring before he could ever take control.
“Bad idea,” Derpy muttered. She’d suggested the same to the Doctor once, only to learn that the time in question was very much a fixed point, and nothing could be done.
Star Swirl’s first attempt at creating a time-travel spell was very unstable and began to create holes throughout all of time. He eventually managed to kill the spell and destroyed all of his research in order to prevent such an occurrence repeating itself. The story is only known as a cautionary tale to the curious magical experimenter, to justify time magic’s status as a forbidden kind.
“Forbidden?” Twilight hadn’t seemed to mind that Tick Tock knew how to cast them - but then again, she might have been thinking more about the educational aspect than the practical. Derpy glanced up at Tick Tock to find that he had been reading the book over her head, and their faces were only inches apart.

Blushing, Derpy quickly reared her head back, her vision going spotty as her eyes shifted further out to the sides, as they were apt to do when she was startled. When she focused again, she found Tick Tock’s gaze fixed on the pages, a faint blush showing through his orange fur. “Y-Yes, time magic is a technically forbidden subject, as it can be very dangerous when handled improperly. There’s a reason I spend several months researching before even attempting to cast the spell for my time bomb. Regardless, I think we may have found what we needed.”
“Yeah…” Derpy jumped down from the bench, turning to look back at Tick Tock as he did the same. “Let’s go find the Doctor and show him.”

*o*o*o*o*

“Well, there you two are!” the Doctor exclaimed as his companions re-entered the TARDIS. “I was about to come looking for you!”
“Have you found the source of the problem?” Tick Tock asked, shutting the door behind him.
“I believe so, yes!” The Doctor grinned at his companions. “I’ve set a course to the time and location I’ve isolated, so get ready for takeoff. And be prepared - this might be a bumpy ride.”
“Like it’s usually not?” Tick Tock muttered. Derpy shot the motion-sickness-prone stallion a sympathetic glance as they both got a firm grip on the railing. Then, with an “Avante!”, the Doctor yanked a handle on the console, and the TARDIS began to shake as the familiar sound of time travel filled everypony’s ears.
When the machine stopped moving, as usual, the Doctor was the first on his hooves and headed towards the door. “Come on, let’s go check things out!” He pushed the door open, his companions following him.
As soon as Derpy caught sight of the surroundings, she didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry. She finally settled for a sigh. “Of course we’re in the Everfree Forest.”
“You mentioned this place to Twilight earlier,” Tick Tock said, stepping out of the TARDIS beside her. “Do you find yourselves here often?”
“All the time,” Derpy answered with a shake of her head. “Weird things happen in this place. It’s kinda like the swamp you grew up in - you know, weather changes on its own, plants grow by themselves, et cetera…”
“I see.” Lifting his head, Tick Tock raised an eyebrow. “And I imagine that’s what we’re looking for?”
Ahead of them, apparently in midair, was an enormous… thing. It looked almost like a tear in fabric, except there was nothing around it. Inside this tear, there was an odd sort of throbbing black and blue light, twirling and flashing between both colors in odd intervals. All in all, it was a very unnatural and very frightening sight.
When the Doctor saw this, the joviality drained from his as his eyes widened. “Oh, dear.”
Tick Tock took a few steps closer to the thing, sliding his goggles into place for a better look. “What exactly is this, Doctor?”
“That would be the Time Vortex,” the Doctor said. His voice had dropped at least half an octave, as it only did when he was very serious. “The presence of that gash can only mean one thing: time and space itself is being damaged.”
“I wonder if it has anything to do with Star Swirl,” Derpy murmured.
“With who?” The Doctor didn’t look at her as he asked, instead retrieving his sonic screwdriver from his pocket.
Tick Tock turned, opening his mouth to answer, as the Doctor activated the screwdriver. Almost immediately, a horrendous noise filled the air, like the sound of the universe ripping apart, and a strong wind kicked up in the area, heading straight towards the tear.
“Doctor, what’s going on?” Derpy cried, staggering back with great difficulty. Her instincts were screaming at her to get as far away from that thing as she could as she fixed her wild eyes on the Doctor.
He was struggling to back away, too, just beside her. “My attempts to scan the time-wound may have triggered it to close, taking anything nearby with it.”
“Anything nearby?” Derpy asked. Her eyes widened as the realization struck, and she whipped her head around. “Tick Tock!”
The other pony, much closer to the tear, was braced against the strong wind, attempting to use his magic to hold still. Derpy attempted to race towards him, and he twisted his head around to stare at her, eyes wide with fear. “Stop!”

The urgency in her voice made her freeze, but his concentration was broken. The spell holding him in place flickered out, and with a yelp, Tick Tock was pulled forward, off his hooves, and tumbled into the Time Vortex.
“No!” Derpy screamed. She attempted to lunge forward, only to be abruptly stopped. The Doctor had caught her tail in his teeth and was stopping her from approaching the rip, a clear warning in his eyes. Don’t.
Either way, it was too late. The tear was already shrinking. Finally, with a pop, it collapsed completely in on itself, leaving the two ponies standing in the clearing alone.

Comments

[Cora Zone Unicorn]

NOOOO!!!!!!!! NOT TICK TOCK!!!!!!