Doctor Whooves: CY 20000

by MaxKodan

Wrath of the Moon

Doctor Whooves: CY 20000
Chapter 5:
Wrath of the Moon
Max Kodan

“Alright, now remember, there are still a lot of things we don’t know about The Other. We have to be careful. The situation is very delicate. We can’t let the chance to rescue the ponies slip by.”

“So I can’t punch them?”

“No, Dash, you can’t punch them.”

“Worry not, Rainbow Dash. Simply revel in the looks of sheer, nightmarish terror I shall instill on their faces.”

“Heheh...I think I like this side of you, Princess.”

-----

Atop Canterlot Peak, the crowd of Others had grown. The darkness was still absolute, and the temperature was rapidly dropping. The creatures didn’t mind it in the least. It was as if the cold or heat didn’t even register. Each additional creature that joined them melded into the crowd. The army they were amassing would soon be strong enough to break through the cursed barrier blocking them from their prey. A murmur of excitement began to reverberate through the writhing mass.

Which one noticed first, none of them were entirely sure. However, soon enough the realization spread and the bubbling chatter was reduced to whispered confusion. They could see each other. It was hardly more than faint outlines of pony-like heads, but the vision was unmistakable.

“There!” The one who shouted straightened his back to rise above the crowd, pointing one clawed finger up into the black that was the sky. But he wasn’t pointing at black. He was pointing at a single dot. A single star.

A collective shiver lanced through the spines of each and every creature outside. It was night. From the single star in the sky, the stars spread, appearing as dots, one at a time, but more and more rapidly until the sky was filled with the constellations and planets and galaxies that hadn’t been seen in Equestria for thousands of years.

Even the Other couldn’t deny the beauty of the night. However, every awestruck eye was drawn back to the structure in the center of the pony-made plateau as the sound of stone grinding against stone shattered their silence. Beyond the door was a light brighter than the stars. Squinting, the collective tried to make out the figures silhouetted in the portal. The taller of the ponies stepped forward. Bright white eyes stood out against the shape of her face. Her wings spread behind her and she floated silently into the air. Her horn emitted a dark blue aura. In the sky behind the shack, near the horizon, the full moon appeared suddenly in the sky, so bright that all other lights were negligible. All they could see, burned into their eyes and their minds, was the brilliant disk in the sky and the black shape of the newly risen Princess Luna set dead in the center of it, wings spread wide, eyes alight with rage and trained on the mountaintop.

-----

Once Luna had walked out the door, The Doctor and Rainbow Dash had been more or less ignored. The stallion blinked and frowned. He was used to being the center of attention in these sorts of things. Still, when he craned his neck around to see the scene above him, he shrugged. Luna gently floated down and landed between them, rigid and stern. It seemed that the audience was starting to adjust to the new light levels. The amount of eye rubbing and quiet exclamations was reducing.

“Nice touch,” The Doctor muttered to her.

“That...was...awesome!” Dash squeaked, trying to keep her voice low. Her expression was shifting as she fought to hide her excitement.

There was a slight pause, but a bit of red appeared on Luna’s face. “Er...thank you.” She spoke from the corner of her mouth.

“Right then, brilliant!” The Doctor grinned and stepped out before the Other. “Now let’s get a good, proper look at you!” His eyes swept across the crowd. They were, indeed, solid white. There didn’t seem to be any variation in color between them. Their heads were distinctly pony, if perhaps a little smaller. Their legs were small, their knees bent and their bodies hunched over. Their arms were longer, reaching nearly halfway down their shins, if they were to stand upright. As they were, they needed to keep their elbows bent a little to keep their clawed hands from dragging on the ground.

“Look at you, almost stereotypical.” The Doctor frowned a little, as if in disappointment. “Thought you’d be a little more...ornate, I guess. Ah well, the universe was once threatened by unmarked ping pong balls. Suppose you’re a step up from that. Now then, let’s see. Looks like my hunch was correct.” He chuckled. “You lot, short range psychic link, is it? When you’re close to another one of you, you share feelings, thoughts.” His eyes turned slightly sly, and he gave a mischievous chuckle. “And emotion. Fear, looks like. That worked out against you, looks like.” He waited. “Come on, then! Who wants to speak first, I’ve got some questions.”

“Yeah!” Dash joined in, pacing past The Doctor, her wings extended with her newfound confidence. “Some threat you are. The big scary Other! Pfah, buncha wimps!” She crowed, looking one right in the face. Its eyes were a pale gray color, like the rest of those that had gathered in front of them. They stared blankly. They seemed to be literally paralyzed. “Come on you scardy-cats! Somepony say something!” She stepped closer staring her chosen Other down.

“DO NOT CALL US THAT!” The other next to the one she was watching shouted so suddenly and so loudly that Dash leapt back into the air, floating several feet off of the ground. Her tail and mane seemed a bit more frazzled than a moment earlier. The vocal Other emerged from the crowd, visibly shaken, but still standing tall before the trio of ponies. “Do not address us so insultingly!”

The Doctor latched on quickly,. Luna stood behind, her eyes still glowing, still exuding the pure power she possessed and lording it over the Other, just to keep them in line. She was watching everything closely, sitting on a hair trigger, prepared to do whatever needed to be done to protect her fellows.

“Call you what?” The alien stallion lowered his head and eyed their new negotiator. Whether it was the one that had addressed him as he fell back into Luna’s resting place, he wasn’t sure.

“She refers to us as ‘pony’. To be compared to such pitiful vermin is an affront to our dignity! We will wipe the pony scourge off the face of our beautiful planet! We will retake our rightful place as rulers! We will-” As the Other spoke, he seemed to grow more and more fearful. The Doctor cut him off.

“Now, I suggest you watch what you say.” He shot a glance over his shoulder, shaking his head to Luna. She was visibly trembling, and the glow in her eyes, previously feigned, was now brighter and far more sincere. At his signal, she took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. “Right now, we’re the ones with the power. We’re the ones in control. I can tell, you’ve taken all the bravery you can muster between the lot of you and focussed it on this one, poor soul. And look, he’s still terrified.” He nodded to Dash, who was still floating in the air. She fluttered down and landed next to him, restoring her confidence. She glowered now, however, instead of bragging.

The Other stood in silence for a moment. Its eyes relaxed. For the first time, it appeared to take in The Doctor and his companion fully. Every eye shifted to them, every Other giving them a once over from a different angle. “You...” It contemplated. “You are familiar. But not familiar. We recognise you, but we have never seen you.” It squinted at Dash. “You exist from another time, but it is impossible for you to be here.” Without waiting for a reply, it shot its look to The Doctor. “And you. You exist within our memories, but you are clouded, Shrouded by something, as if you were never there at all. We know only two things of you. You are called The Doctor, and...” It paused, as if not quite sure how to process the next bit. “You are not a pony.”

“No, I’m not.” The Doctor fired back. “But I happen to like them quite a bit, which brings me to the crux of our argument.” He straightened his neck and dropped his shoulders back. “Up until now, we have been very kind. The Princess back there could wipe out the lot of you with hardly a passing wink. But we want something from you, and we’re willing to talk. We know about you, we know about where you go in the sunlight. And more importantly, we know about the ponies.” Technically, a bluff. However, if they were wrong then this whole talk was pointless anyway.

The Other hissed slightly. He seemed to be more comfortable being the vessel for the group’s conversation now. “Then tell us what you want, so that we can deny you.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Dash growled and lowered her head, glaring.

“You must be new to this whole negotiating thing. You know full well what we want.” The Doctor ignored Dash’s frustration, keeping his steady, practiced stare on the white creature. “The ponies. The ponies you took when you attacked Canterlot 5000 Equestrian years ago. We want them back. Every single one.”

There was a pause. “And in return?”

Dash seemed a bit taken aback by their sudden turn. The Doctor, however, pressed on. “Well firstly, I’ll ensure that this rightly agitated demigod behind me doesn’t deconstruct you one molecule at a time.” As if to accentuate his point, Luna sent out a pulse of magical energy, which caused everyone atop the mountain to shiver as if an electric shock had passed through them. “Ooh, she’s good...”

“A threat, Doctor?”

“A promise.” Dash scowled, scraping her hoof across the stone.

“Both.” He frowned. “I wasn’t done. Aside from that, I’ll also find you a planet. A planet just for you to call your own. The ponies have just as much of a right to be here as you do, and they’ve already put the work into it. I can find you a fresh world to call your own. A world with no daytime, a world that you can live on without being sent back to that dimension.”

“What!?” The shocked voices of Dash and Luna, who spoke for the first time since the door opened, chorused. They both shot looks at The Doctor. Rainbow Dash continued, and Luna simply let her speak, returning to her stoic glare over the crowd. “You’re going to let them go? No, you’re going to HELP them?”

He stared straight on, frowning. “Yes, I am. You’d be upset too if you got sent to another dimension every time the sun rose. If they go to another planet, you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you, and everyp-” He paused at the glare from the Other. “Everyone can live on. No problems, no hate, no war, no nothing.” He flicked his eyes over to the rainbow-maned mare. The incredulous look in her eyes told him she wasn’t pleased. “I’m the negotiator, I set the terms. We are not murderers. If we can solve this peacefully, we will. Understand?”

“Doctor, I don’t know if...”

“This is how I work, Miss Dash.” He gazed at her the same way he’d been looking at the Other just moments before. She narrowed her eyes at him, but scoffed and looked away.

“Very well. Now,” he said, turning back to the mass in front of him, “How about it? No one gets hurt, everyone’s happy, yes?”

The Other bowed its head, and it seemed to be thinking hard. More likely, it was conversing with the entire group. A large chunk of the race, all pondering the same point. Debating pros and cons with psychic links between themselves. The strongest and most numerous opinions would win out.

After nearly a minute of thought, the Other raised its head. It brought a clawed hand in front of its face, and the entire group mimicked the motion. They concentrated, and a light hum emanated from the Others’ throats. Luna lowered her horn and pointed at them, and Dash hunkered down, planting her back legs firmly. The Doctor’s muscles tightened, but he remained still.

There was a brief moment of confusion, where the humming suddenly grew intense, and then cut off. After that, the sounds of exclamations and confused babble filled the air. For a moment, the trio of ponies were confused. The Other were making no further movement. Their arms had fallen to their sides again. Their mouths weren’t moving. Finally, a cry from Luna turned Dash and The Doctor around. There, behind them, stood a huge crowd of very confused, very agitated ponies.

Luna’s eyes had dimmed back to their normal blue hue as she looked over the group. The memories arose of the countless that had been taken the day of the attack as if it had only been yesterday, and a tear formed itself in her eye. They were all back. High class nobles, tourists, construction workers, waitresses, chefs, guards, and so many others now stood atop the mountain. Several heads poked out of the doorway to the stone altar. Foals were bouncing happily around as if nothing had happened, and babies cried for their mothers, who quickly scooped them up and tended to them.

“What’s going on?”

“How did I get here?”

“Wasn’t there an attack, and-”

“Is that Princess Luna?”

Dispersed within the gentle rumbling of speech in the crowd were several utterances of shock as some of the ponies remembered the circumstances that caused their initial distress. Several surprised cries emerged as the Other were seen. The Doctor and Dash, standing side by side some distance away, both looked surprised at the turn of events. Luna had dropped her threatening demeanor and instead stood with a wide smile plastered on her face. She bit back more tears and, for lack of any other way to show her emotion, she began to laugh.

“Huh, guess your way did work after all,” Dash commented. She gave The Doctor a stiff punch in the shoulder, and he wobbled a little where he stood.

“It worked?” He queried, attempting to comprehend. “Really? They’re accepting? They never accept! This is...” Unheard of? Unbelievable? A variety of words filled The Doctor’s head. This was the gambit, nay, the real offer he’d posed dozens, if not hundreds of times. Every single time it had been shot down. After all, he only ever needed to offer it to exceedingly corrupt species or group, and they tended to be so malign that they turned it down as a joke, thinking they’d won. This time, however, was apparently different. It was... “Brilliant!” He cried.

Several ponies had screamed upon seeing the Other, but that was to be expected. Once they could get the situation under control, everything could end without conflict, if not downright peacefully. “Now, now, settle down!” He attempted to shout over the crowd. “It’s all right! We’re all friends here!” The crowd did not quiet down. Instead, more looks of terror swept across the group. Several ponies pointed, but upon inspecting their surroundings they found nowhere to run, which as far as The Doctor was concerned, was perfectly fine.

“...Doctor?”

It was Rainbow Dash. He smiled. “Yes, right! Now then, let’s get down to-” As he spoke, he turned around. Rainbow Dash had already seen them, and when The Doctor saw what she did, both of his hearts sank to the ground. “...No.”

While the vocal Other still stood stern on the ground, the rest had stood straight up, straightening their backs and staring at the sky. Their eyes had whited out, and their mouths hung open, though no sound escaped. The Other on the ground frowned and slowly began to stand up as well.

“We no longer need the ponies taken then. To sustain them would be a waste.” He fully straightened, and ever so slowly, he began to raise his head, just as the rest had. “They will be destroyed along with you!”

The Doctor hung his head, then raised it once more. “We don’t have to do this.” It was his last attempt. “The ponies, I can take THEM to another planet instead! How about that? Everypony lives!”

“Doctor!” Rainbow Dash glared back at him.

The other hissed out a laugh as his eyes slowly faded to white. “No, Doctor. Everypony dies!”

Dash clicked her tongue and ran over to her associate, still glaring at him. Instead of an ‘I told you so’, she shelved her pride for just a moment. “What are they doing now?” She asked.

“It’s a psychic echo.” The Doctor spoke quietly after a moment. “Each of them are sending a signal to all the rest. They’re forming a huge web of psychic power, and they’re going to materialize it as energy very soon.” He didn’t sound worried, just defeated. He turned his eyes to the side and looked at Luna. “Princess...”

The alicorn was shaken out of her joy when she heard her title. She remembered their position and registered what was happening. She swung around wordlessly, her eyes again shining bright. She lowered her horn at them and prepared herself. The Doctor turned away, shaking his head.

“They’ll be using a focus. One Other will be holding the psychic net together.” Everything was out of his hooves now, and he showed it. He sat himself down, shaking his head sadly. “If you can detect that one and hit him hardest, the whole thing will crumble.”

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was getting angrier and angrier at The Doctor. She didn’t fear the outcome, she had complete confidence in Luna’s power. Instead, she focussed her emotions on The Doctor, whose attitude was truly starting to get to her.

The Others’ psychic power formed a large white ball over their heads and, after only a second, fired it in an enormous beam of energy straight at the trio. Luna scowled and quickly met the blast with her own. Every single pony watched in awe as the two struggled, save for two. One chestnut earth stallion stared dejectedly at the ground, away from the spectacle. One cyan pegasus mare stood, trying to find the right words with which to berate him. Both looked up only a little when the Princess spoke.

“They are...powerful. I have located the ‘focus’ of which you spoke, but I cannot target it without risking their breaking through.” The Doctor straightened a little. They were that strong? He looked at the fight, his head snapping back and forth, looking between the two. The Others didn’t seem to be tiring a bit, but Luna was hunkered down in order to keep on her hooves.

“They’re...what?” He stood slightly shocked for a moment. “Hold on, I’ll give you a boost with the...” He patted his side and groaned “Sonic...right.” He scoffed and swung around wildly, trying to find out how to help. “I...can’t do anything!” He called, his eyes going a bit wide with his worry.

Rainbow Dash lifted her head when she heard of the Princesses distress. For a moment, she watched The Doctor scurry about. Then, she decided on the best way to tell him to man up. “Doctor...Shut up.” She didn’t bother to watch his expression. She turned away from him and squinted at the mass of attacking Other. One of them stood out front. Its pose was slightly different, it stood apart from the crowd. Since it was the only thing she could think of, Dash immediately took off and charged, flapping her wings hard. She grabbed the thing’s leg and dragged it down, separating it from the pack. It didn’t change its expression or move in the least. The more she looked at it, the angrier she got. “Get out of my country!” She hauled her front leg back.

Her hoof connected sharply. She’d hit it so hard that it not only fell out of its trance, but skidded across the ground, grinding to a halt mere centimeters from the edge of the sheer cliff. Before it could show its surprise, Luna saw her opportunity. With a cry so mighty it was heard even to the remaining ponies that cowered in caves across Equestria, she gave one final push. The white energy dissipated immediately, and the midnight blue magic washed over the entire gang of Other.

What came next was difficult to explain. It felt like an explosion, shaking the mountain, thumping in the chests of the ponies watching. It looked like an aurora, blue energy dancing across the sky in all directions, reflecting in the eyes of the citizens of Equestria and the long lost ponies of Canterlot. It sounded like music, a tone nopony could recreate, echoing off the furthest mountains and filling the ears and hearts of all those who heard it.

When the aurora faded, the Other were gone. Even the one who Dash had pulled away from the rest had vanished. Only one pony seemed to have been watching them rather than the lights. The Doctor’s shoulders sunk back, and when asked about what he’d seen, he refused to comment. He only stood in silence as Luna lay down to relax and the rest of the ponies cheered.

Rainbow Dash stomped up to him indignantly. “What was that?” She gave him another good whack on the head. “You looked like a headless chicken! I thought you were good at this stuff!” The Doctor didn’t respond, though he winced at the knock he received. Dash just rolled her eyes and sighed.

Luna’s eyes widened a little bit as her mind gained its processes back. “Celestia!” She called suddenly. Everypony looked up as her horn glowed and, an instant later, they all stood on the ground in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle.

-----

Celestia was weak, but recovering. The ponies of Canterlot wandered about the city for a short time, but then regathered at the castle gates. The town was in such shambles that they didn’t know what to do. However, it did seem like the class walls had been broken a little. Being 5000 years out of place seemed to force a bond on the returning ponies. Waitresses were talking to some particularly richly dressed ponies. Layponies were chatting up the elite. It was truly a beautiful sight.

The Doctor didn’t see any of it, though. Shortly after reappearing in the city, he’d begun wandering back towards the museum. Dash caught up to him and followed alongside, though she refused to say anything. They reached the door of the large, marble building only to find that it was still locked. They both sat and waited patiently for something to happen.

“...What happened up there?” Dash looked at The Doctor. She had gotten over her anger. Having remembered everything he’d gone through quelled her rage, and she had begun to understand why he wanted to save the Other. However, knowing of the things he faced, what he was capable of, and what he’d likely done in the past made it that much harder to fully grasp his sudden depression. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I couldn’t save them.”

“Yeah, no duh, and that does kind of bite, but I know for a fact you’ve done worse.”

“Doesn’t make it easier.”

“Oh, snap out of it!”

“Dash, please. Don’t be-”

“Don’t be what?”

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. “I just thought it could be different here. This universe has so many things that have changed from mine. There’s just so much...good. I thought that maybe, for once, I could save them. I could save everyone.” He shook his head. “It’s just...a bit of a let down, I suppose.”

“A bit?” The pegasus quirked an eyebrow. “Doctor, you haven’t smiled since the mountaintop. Being ‘a bit’ let down doesn’t even cover it. We won!” His expression didn’t change, and she groaned in exasperation. “...I thought you were cool.”

“What?” The Doctor tilted his head to the side skeptically, as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard it right. “What do you mean by that?”

“You were always cool! You took on those plastic things back in Ponyville like they were no big deal! You were running for your life from a crazy, deadly, laser firing robot and you were laughing! We took a walk through the destroyed capital city of my home country, and we were having fun! And then we win, and you get all mopey on me?” She’d lifted off the ground unconsciously and was now crossing her front legs over her chest. She’d been floating closer to him as she spoke.

“Er...well, you see...”

“Doc, you saved ponies that no one even knew were alive! You figured out everything, you’re a hoofing hero! So buck up already and stop acting like such a wimp!” She gave him a solid punch to the shoulder.

“Ow!” He winced, then shot her a glare. “You know...The day ended.”

Dash was a bit taken aback. “What?”

“The day ended. You said I would be “Doc” for the rest of the day. The day ended a while ago, and you kept calling me Doc. You did it again just now!”

She blinked. Where had THAT come from? “Well, you called me “Miss Dash” on the mountain! I told you not to do that!”

“And I told you I’m The Doctor, not “Doc”. So yes, MISS Dash, I’ll call you whatever I please!”

“Oh, don’t even start that stuff, ‘Doc!’”

“Or perhaps ‘Miss Rainbow’ would be better. I dunno. Miss Rainbow? Miss Dash? Which do you think?”

The two glared at each other for a short time. Finally, they both burst out laughing. Dash lowered herself to the ground and rolled over. The Doctor stumbled back and leaned against the doorframe. As his shoulder pressed against one of the stones, they heard a light Chuk, followed by the soft ringing of metal hitting stone. They both fell silent and looked down. A sizable key lay on the ground, and upon inspection they saw that there was a compartment in the side of the frame that had opened up. A hidden key to the museum door. Presumably in case the curator got locked out. After a few moments more of staring at the key, they continued their laughing fit, which lasted for several more minutes before either could properly catch their breath.

The door opened easily with the key. They pushed inside and began slowly walking through the halls. “Now,” The Doctor said, back to his old peppy self once more, “We need to find the museum exhibit of museums. Oh, that slays me every time.” He chuckled, shaking his head, then turned towards the directory. “Let’s see...Ah, there it is!” He grinned and started walking past the little shop that had marked their exit last time. “4 lefts, a right, and a left.” He nodded to himself and smiled at Dash. “Shall we?”

She laughed. “You’re weird. Let’s just go.” Two steps down the hallway, and a familiar face, or lack thereof as the case was. Dash stopped in her tracks and flushed a little. This thing had the bad habit of appearing right in front of her without making a sound. “Oh, it’s YOU.”

The android bobbed a little in its flight, then stabilized. “I’m sorry, the museum is currently closed. Please exit the building and return during normal business hours. The library has been closed for...nine. Nine. Nine. Nine. Nine. Nine. Nine. Nine.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “We are SO not playing this game right now, you bucket of bolts!”

The Doctor walked up next to her and held up the key they’d gotten, shouting over the endless string of nines. “No no, it’s ok, see? We have a key. We’re meant to be here! We’re the...er...new curators, here to open the museum at last!”

The security droid paused for a moment. “I have no record of a change in employment, nor in an expected opening schedule. Commencing DNA scan now.” It stared at them for a few moments before it spoke up again. “DNA scan complete. Repeat offenders detected. Bypassing normal ejection protocol. Commencing ejection now.” Its head split open again, revealing the long laser barrel and pointing it straight at them.

“Well, that didn’t work. Off we go again!” The Doctor laughed, preparing to turn and make a beeline for the door. He was interrupted, however, by a familiar voice.

“Command three-seven-six, override security protocol.” The droid stopped and processed the order, then hid the weapon away inside its head again. Luna paced evenly through the door. “Add these two subjects, “The Doctor” and “Rainbow Dash” to the list of approved ponies. Level 5 security clearance.” She smiled lightly at the pair and winked.

The droid bobbed once more in its flight. “Security clearance update complete. The Doctor and Rainbow Dash now logged at level 5. Hello, Lady Luna. It has been some time since you have visited. Welcome back to the Canterlot Museum. Is there anything I can do for you?” It sounded much more pleasant than when it was attempting to murder them, that was for sure.

“No, thank you. I can take it from here.” She nodded, dismissing the droid.

“...Laser cannons?” The Doctor turned and quirked an eyebrow. “Laser cannons on a security droid in a museum?”

Luna chuckled. “This is the newest building in Equestria, and its security is second to none. There are some very valuable artifacts housed here, and we wanted to ensure its safety and upkeep no matter what. It is completely self contained, which is why it looks so new.” She shrugged. “The laser cannons...that was ‘Tia’s idea. Shortly after the attack on Canterlot. I think she knew you would be landing here, and she wanted to ensure it was safe for you. I wish she’d told me then, so I could have added you to the list sooner.”

The pair laughed openly. Dash piped up. “Don’t worry about it! It was kinda fun running from it. Life with this lug over here is pretty exciting overall, even if he can be a stick in the mud sometimes.” She stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yes, well, thanks for that, Princess. But we best be on our way.”

“Before you go, Doctor, I must ask you something. I do not pretend to have as clear of a grasp on the flow of time as my sister, so perhaps she knows more than I do, but...” Luna tilted her head. “Those things, those “Other”. They said they remembered you, but they didn’t remember you. What did that mean?”

The Doctor smiled a bit to himself. “Time works in funny ways. I’ve only just met them, and being a time traveller, that means I’ll meet them again, in their past. However, it’s all still in flux. The past seems to be a bit of a muddled mess right now.”

“So then, what my sister said, that you would go back and fix this all before it ever happened, is that true?”

“That’s the plan.”

“So what will happen to us?”

The Doctor shrugged. “For most ponies, they won’t know this entire eventuality happened at all. Their lives will continue on, without the event ever taking place. You and Celestia, on the other hand, may very well remember. You’re much more in tune with time as a whole, even more than you know, Princess.” He nodded. “So you may remember everything. But the pain and suffering that the other ponies went through, the broken families, if we succeed, all of that will never have happened.”

Dash blinked, scrunching her face up. “I...think I get it.”

Luna frowned. “So, the ponies that were only born because of the disaster?”

The Doctor paused. “They’ll likely still be alive, but they’ll be born in a different time, in different ways, in different circumstances. In a world this full of magic, and each life interacts with the universe in a unique way. I’m still trying to figure it out, but the best I can say for sure is that we’ll stop them. We’ll make sure this future doesn’t happen.”

“...Very well, Doctor.” She sighed, looking a bit worn out. “You will not stay with us and help us rebuild? Or at least say goodbye to my sister?”

“I’m not the type to stay in place for too long. Besides, you’ve got a lot of brilliant ponies out there. You’ll be fine, no matter what. We’ll see you again, Princess Luna. Hopefully in happier times.”

A warm smile passed between the three of them. “You know...” The Princess thought. “If you’ve just started travelling, you very likely will see me again soon. Then, perhaps, we’ll have a little fun rather than such serious business. It hardly seems that you got to know me at all.”

“Ah, ah.” The Doctor held up a hoof. “No spoilers now. Being time travellers, we’ll let things come as they come. On we go, then!” He turned and strutted off down the hallway, leaving Rainbow Dash slightly confused. “Come on then, Miss Dash!”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks for everything, Princess.”

“No, thank you, Rainbow Dash. You’ve helped save all of Equestria today.” She smiled. “Keep him in line, will you?”

“Him? No promises.” She chuckled and waved to the Princess before turning and flying after The Doctor. “Stop calling me Miss Dash!”

Comments

[MaxKodan]

Eh, screw it...Print it!

This pretty much wraps us up, but as I work on the next episode, there may be something else coming.

[TTV_KingPhoenixEmbers]

I do believe that this was a very good chapter. I really enjoy the interactions, and the relations to the show. I especially enjoy the relations between the Doctor and Dash, especially the mutually disapproved nicknames. Very well done.

[CookieMonstar]

She smiled.  “Keep in in line, will you?”

him in* I believe is what you're looking for.

On another note: brilliant! Love it.

[QDiddy]

1036558 pretty good, now I have to wait for the next episode. *sigh* O well, odds are it will be so much better than this one. I'm expecting big things Kodan, so far you have done an excellent job in the interactions between the Doctor and Rainbow. I wonder how it will be evolving from there.

[MaxKodan]

Well, The Doctor does have one particular thing in mind that he's been missing since his memories returned.

[Crimson Doom]

Sorry, Doctor. I like it when everyone lives, too.

Another good chapter here as well! We never did figure out what the Others are, but that's okay, you've hinted we'll see them again. I only wish I could have seen Luna's entrance. It would have been all the more impressive in person.

[MaxKodan]

1040201

I've more than hinted. They'll be back, no question. Time travel, man. And yeah, I had to give Luna a big spectacle, or I'd never have been able to write her just standing idly by...

Anyone notice there's no Luna emoticons over there?

[Crimson Doom]

1040216: Yeah, I've noticed. No Discord ones, either. We need some.