Cranks and Bubbles

by guppygirl

Chapter Six: When You're Gone

When he was sure that she wouldn’t bolt, the Doctor released his grip on Derpy’s tail. She didn’t speak, continuing to stare ahead at the empty air where the hole in time had been.
“Derpy…”
Her ear flickered slightly at the sound of her nickname, but she didn’t otherwise move. Then, suddenly, she sat down, continuing to stare ahead of her as she processed the disappearance of her friend.
The Doctor approached, sitting down beside her. “Derpy- no. Ditzy Doo, I am so very sorry. I swear to you, I had no idea it would be this risky.”
Derpy didn’t answer. Her mane was hanging in her face - he couldn’t see her eyes.

He placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Look, I know how hard this is. I’ve lost companions before. It never does get any easier.” He took a deep breath. “But I-”
Suddenly, Derpy was on her hooves again. Turning, she brushed past the Doctor and headed straight for the doors of the TARDIS, a determined look in her eyes.
“Derpy, where are you going?” the Doctor questioned, standing to follow as she entered the TARDIS. She grabbed the book she and Tick Tock had brought with them, propping it against the console and quickly flipping through the pages. “I think it was page 38…” she muttered. Suddenly she beckoned him over, indicating the page. “Here, take a look at this.”
The Doctor looked over her shoulder. “‘Star Swirl the Bearded’?”
“He was a very powerful unicorn magician,” Derpy explained. “When you told Tick Tock and I to go visit Ponyville while you fixed the TARDIS, we wanted to find some way to help, so we stopped by the library to get a book about the history of time magic.”
“And you found a story of a great unicorn magician who tried to cast a time-related spell and wound up losing control! Oh, Derpy, that’s brilliant!” The Doctor beamed at the gray mare beside him, and she smiled. “Thank you, Doctor.”
The Doctor shot another quick glance at the page - his version of examining the story closely. “Looks like we’re due for a trip to the past. Canterlot, seventh year of Celestia’s reign, here we come!” He twisted a knob, and the TARDIS took off.
“Wait!” Derpy cried, grabbing the edge of the console and hanging on for dear life. “How do we know what day to go to?”
“Why, my dear companion, haven’t you noticed?” The Doctor gave her a crazed grin. “The TARDIS always takes us to exactly when we’re needed!”

*o*o*o*o*

Derpy exited the parked TARDIS to find that the Doctor’s predictions were true. Magical energy was flashing from the top of one of the towers in Celestia’s castle, and she could faintly see a blue glow akin to the one that she’d spotted inside the Time Vortex just before it sucked Tick Tock in and closed.
Tick Tock. With any luck, he’d be here, having come out on the other side of the spell unharmed. She assumed he’d be alive.
She hoped he’d be alive.
The Doctor had already run off, and was now talking to one of the royal guards. “Oh come on, I already showed you my credentials, what more do you want?” she heard him demanding as she trotted over. “I need to get to the top of that tower!”
“Apologies, sir,” the guard answered stoutly, “but we cannot allow you to get any closer to that tower than you already have. It is too dangerous for anypony to approach!”
“But I-” the Doctor began to protest.
Derpy answered loudly over him. “Thank you for your assistance, sir.” Taking the Doctor by the foreleg, she dragged him away.
The Doctor spluttered. “Wha- but- Derpy, you can’t be serious! We can’t just ignore that!”
“Of course not, Doctor!” Derpy hissed, checking back over her shoulder. Once she and the Doctor were a safe distance away, she turned back to him. “Okay, so we need an alternate plan of how to get to the top.”
“I’d suggest sneaking in, but there are guards posted right at the doors,” the Doctor agreed. “Especially with two of us trying to get in, it won’t be easy.”
“You can send messages to the psychic paper, right?” Derpy asked suddenly.
Startled by the sudden change of topic, the Doctor blinked. “Erm- yes. Why?”
Derpy smiled. “Just trust me. We can both easily sneak in. Now, I just need a distraction…”

*o*o*o*o*

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air. Immediately, all four of the present guards’ heads whipped around to see where the noise had come from. Then they all shared a glance. One looked at a friend and jerked his head, and the two departed to investigate, leaving the other two behind.
Two ponies still guarding the entrance. There went that option.
Derpy opened her wings, tentatively stretching the injured one. It still twinged, very sore. Flying on it now would only aggravate it further. Ordinarily, she’d have stayed ground-bound for at least another day or two.
Too bad she didn’t have that option.
She waited until one of the guards, patrolling the grounds, rounded the tower and disappeared from sight. Then she took to the air. Her wing protested, but she ignored it, steadily climbing higher. Once she was high enough in the air, she could approach the tower - the guard at the door was not watching overhead. She could get in unseen.
One league in the air. Two. Once she reached four, she’d head in.
A sudden gust of wind blew, pressing her wing in an uncomfortable way. She bit back a squeal of pain and bobbed in place, nearly falling from the air before catching herself.
Had she given herself away?
She risked a glance to the ground and was relieved to see the guard still totally oblivious. Good. She just had to hurry before his friend came back.
Three leagues. Four. She stopped flapping her wings, spreading them wide to soar, and darted forward.
“Hey, you! Halt!”
Too little, too late. She was already in.

*o*o*o*o*

Okay, so she might not have been fully prepared for what she’d find inside.
The bearded blue unicorn was standing in the middle of the room. A strong wind was blowing, items in the room being blown around. His horn was glowing with a pale blue energy, and all around him, holes just like the one they’d seen in the Everfree Forest were rapidly opening and closing, only to be replaced by new ones. The stallion seemed to be forcing the wounds to close just as soon as they opened - how much magic would that take? Apparently, entirely too much - Star Swirl’s legs were beginning to shake with the effort of keeping the spell from destroying his surroundings.

He spotted her. “What are you doing here?!” he shouted. “It’s not safe!”
His concentration had only slipped for a second as he spoke to her, but it was enough time for a massive tear to appear. He immediately redoubled his efforts, forcing the cavernous maw closed once more.
“I’m here to help!” Derpy shouted back.
Star Swirl was already shaking his head. “It’s too dangerous! I cannot allow a pony such as yourself to place herself in such danger!”
As he bravely combatted the out-of-control spell, Derpy desperately raised a hoof, eyes fixed upon the perception tape she’d attached to the side of her foreleg. Any time now, Doctor!
“Look out!”
Derpy glanced up just in time to see a book sailing towards her head. With a scream, she dropped to the floor, and it shot by with an audible whoosh. She didn’t know how much longer she could stay up in the tower without being maimed.
She checked her hoof one more time… and was relieved to see words appearing. Open the door!
Had he snuck past the guard? What kind of distraction had he orchestrated?
Derpy stood, ignoring the strong breeze buffeting her. Immeasurable time on the TARDIS had given her balance skills she’d never thought possible, and as she swiftly made her way across the room, the only thought on her mind was to watch for flying inkwells.
“What are you doing?!” Star Swirl shouted as she reached the door. Grabbing the handle with both hooves, she hauled it open to find the guard who’d been patrolling before in the stairs. “Halt, intruder!”
“Oh, horseapples,” Derpy cursed.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cried, “Coming through!” The Doctor sprinted up the stairs, pushing past the guard and darting into the room. Before the guard even had time to speak, he’d already slammed the door shut once more.
Turning, the Doctor gave his trademark bizarre grin to the befuddled stallion within. “Hello! You must be Star Swirl. I’m the Doctor, but-”
“Doctor Who?!” spluttered Star Swirl, his momentary confusion distracting him and allowing an even larger hole to appear.
“None of that, now.” The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver and gave it a short buzz, and the hole immediately unraveled and disappeared. While Star Swirl glanced behind him, surprised, the Doctor began fiddling with the screwdriver. “Now, I believe Tick Tock told me that magic produced different sounds depending on the aptitude of the caster, so-”
“Watch out, Doctor!” Derpy tackled the brown Earth pony as, with a groan, the wooden desk itself was picked up by the wind and flung across the room. The screwdriver flew from the Doctor’s grip, landing on the other side of tower and rolling to a stop.
“My sonic!” The Doctor clambered to his hooves, breaking into a run. The breeze, meanwhile, began rolling the sonic screwdriver again, this time closer and closer to the edge of the tower. Derpy took off, following him.
The screwdriver had just rolled off the edge when the Doctor snagged the device from midair. “Gotcha!”
The wind blew strongly against him, buffeting him, and suddenly he found himself tipping forward, losing his grip on the cobblestone floor. Just before he lost his balance too far to recover it, something tugged him back, and he twisted his head to see Derpy grabbing his tail in her teeth and pulling him back. A grin spread across his face. “Thanks for the assist, Derpy!”
Derpy smiled as she spat out the end of his tail. “Just returning the favor!”
The Doctor turned back to face Star Swirl, who had now thoroughly given up on them and returned his full attention to fighting the spell. The Earth pony cocked an ear, listening intently to the sound of the other stallion’s magic before fiddling with his screwdriver. “Cover your ears,” he advised Derpy, who quickly did so.
A mechanical whirr filled the air, just one pitch above Star Swirl’s magic. The resulting dissonance was jarring, and Derpy was glad to have the sound muffled, at least for her.
More importantly, the blue aura surrounding Star Swirl’s horn began to flicker in response. The Doctor upped the volume a bit more, and with a flash, the magic ceased. Immediately, with no source of energy to power themselves with, the rips in time closed off - this time, for good.
“What?” Star Swirl gasped, staring, first at the sky, then at the Doctor. “But- how-”
“Oh, simple, really,” the Doctor answered in that cocksure way that sometimes bothered Derpy. “As I’m sure a studied mage of yourself is already aware, magic has an auditory component, which is why it generates a sound. Create a strong enough dissonance, and both will eventually counter one another out. That can help you win magic duels, too, by the way.” The Doctor winked. “Know how to pick your battles, friend.”
Star Swirl only stared, too flabbergasted to speak.
“Um, Star Swirl, sir?” Derpy broke in. When the stallion’s violet eyes flicked over to her, she continued, “I-It’s just, well… do you know what happened to anything that fell into those holes? One of our friends got sucked inside one, and…”
A regretful expression crossed the unicorn’s face. “I am sorry, my little pony, but I am afraid I cannot help you there. The spell was intended to allow a pony to travel through time, but I had no control over where they appeared, or what destination they led to.”
“But he’s out there?” Derpy asked, a hope kindling inside her.
Star Swirl nodded. “Yes - this ‘friend’ you spoke of should be alive and well, wherever and whenever he is.”
Derpy turned to the Doctor to find him already shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Derpy, but there’s no way to tell where he might have wound up. We might not be able to find him.”
“What about the time on Each-Uisge?” Derpy demanded. “You were able to use me as the anchor point to bring the TARDIS back, weren’t you?”
The Doctor sighed. “That was a long stretch as it was, and you’ve been traveling with me a lot longer than-” Suddenly, he stopped, eyes wide. “But wait… maybe if I… yes, I’d just have to… Oh, Ditzy Doo, you are on a roll today!” Grabbing Derpy by the cheeks, he tilted her head down and popped a kiss between her ears, much to her surprise. “A-Ah!”
Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing all four guards standing in the crowded stairway outside the tower room.
“And now, I think it would be best if we took our leave,” the Doctor said quickly, holding his screwdriver aloft once more. Three quick buzzes, and the sound Derpy had grown to love surrounded them, a breeze stirring up the pages nearby again. Swinging the doors of his favorite blue box open, the Doctor waved goodbye to the stunned ponies outside. “Avante!”

*o*o*o*o*

The TARDIS had hardly touched down when Derpy was off like a rocket, streaking past the doors so quickly, the Doctor could have sworn she left a faint fog in her trail. She stood in the middle of the main street, gazing around desperately. The TARDIS had tracked the remnants of the spell, combined with Tick Tock’s signature, and tracked him here and now. The only question was, where in the town was he?
She didn’t spot any familiar figures immediately and quickly approached a townspony. “Excuse me!”
The pony turned, a puzzled but polite expression on her face. “Yes? Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for a friend,” Derpy explained. “He’s an orange unicorn with a red mane, and he always has a pair of green goggles. Have you seen him?”
Recognition lit up the mare’s green eyes. “Oh, yes, I have! Tick Tock, right? He just appeared outside the town without an explanation. I think he’s at the town hall now, trying to get everything sorted out.”
Relief hit Derpy like a tidal wave. He was alive! Somewhere in this town, Tick Tock was alive and safe! “Thank you!” She darted away again, before the mare could answer.
The town hall wasn’t hard to find. After all, it was the largest building in the town, and right smack in the middle. She cantered towards it just in time for the door to open, and a familiar figure to emerge.
“Tick Tock!”
Derpy nearly bowled him over, throwing her forelegs tightly around him. “U-Um, Derpy?” Tick Tock’s voice was muffled - she was hugging him so that his muzzle was buried in her shoulder.
“Tick Tock, I’m so glad we found you!” For once, Derpy didn’t even try to stop the tears in her eyes. He was okay, and so was she.

Comments

[Dragon Eye]

YAY, he is not dead

[CJskyla]

I am flicking through the chapters, looking for a romantic scene, and when I get to one, in the middle of it, I abruptly say: ""NOW KISS!"