Tales of the Abyss: Hymns of Equestria

by Genis94

The Wheels Begin Turning

Asch wasn't sure what to think of this "Doctor" pony. He had a peculiar way about him, like something that was beyond believing, but it simply felt true. During their whole walk he kept talking about these strange adventures when he was a still a "Biped Time Lord", involving Daleks, Weeping Angels, and all manner of strange creatures.

"So then I told the Beast 'There's your freedom! Free to die! You're going into that black hole and I'm riding with you!'" The Doctor heartily said as they continued their walk to the local factory.

"So you threw the entire planet into the black hole?" Asch asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Oh yes, but the funny thing is: the seismic activity from the planet caused part of the cell roof to collapse. And wouldn't you know it, there's the TARDIS!" The Doctor finished with a laugh. "So I used it to escape with Ida, and grabbed the rocket before it could go falling into the black hole. I traded Ida for Rose, and we went back to Earth..." He trailed off.

Something about him seemed off. His usual chipper attitude was replaced by a solemn silence as he reflected on the memories of the past.

Derpy seemed hesitant to speak, though she asked anyway. "You still miss her, don't you?"

The Doctor let out a sad sigh. "It's my curse. Danger and death follow me everywhere, and even though I know that... the pain is always there. No matter how many I save or what good I do, I can never head back to that one moment and change it for myself." He paused and a smile spread across his face. "But there's always new experiences around the corner. New planets to see, new species to befriend. It's all just brilliant! And I know she's still out there looking up to the stars, wondering what new adventures could be waiting. Plus, there's always new friends to meet, like Miss Hooves, here."

Derpy blushed. "Aww, you're just saying that."

"Oh don't be so modest. You've been a brilliant assistant. And I trust your friend, Asch. So as long as I'm here, I'm going to do everything in my power to help stop this 'Van' character. Because if he's threatening innocent lives, then I'm going to be there to stop him. I'm the Doctor, and I'm going to help you stop this man!" He triumphantly bellowed.

There was something that was bugging Asch ever since he had met the Doctor. "So where is it?"

"What?"

"Where's this 'TARDIS' you keep mentioning?"

"Ohhh. Right. Funny story about that, I was landing the TARDIS just a few days ago and I was just a bit off on my positioning. Well, about 3 kilometers and 2 days off, but the point is: I accidentally landed it in Princess Celestia's water closet."

Derpy blushed at the thought. "W-what?!"

"Oh don't worry, she wasn't using the toilet, just having a bath. Anyway, she confiscated the TARDIS for a month as punishment."

Asch gave a small chuckle. "So after all those stories, you've had your vehicle taken from you in such a humiliating way?"

"Oi! I don't really want to get on Celestia's bad side. Last time I got on a female monarch's bad side, she had her guards chase me out of the Globe Theater." The Doctor flashed a confident grin. "But don't worry, the TARDIS has activated security subroutine: Banana."

Asch gave him a deadpanned look. "Banana? Really?"

"Hey, banana's are good. High in potassium. I always bring one to a party. And since Celestia has a bit of a fondness for them, I named the subroutine for her taking the TARDIS: Banana. The TARDIS is currently burrowing it's way out of the magic field she trapped it in, and back into the Time Vortex. Once it's in there, it will lock onto the coordinates of my Sonic Screwdriver. Glad she didn't take that."

As they were making their way to the factory, Asch heard a small voice in his head. It felt like a telepathic thought whose remark seemed to anger Asch.

Derpy and the Doctor stopped once they noticed Asch had paused in the street.

"What's wrong?" Derpy asked.

"I'm not sure, but... I feel the urge to punch Luke." He responded.

"Oh, well that's no good. And the factory is here by the way." The Doctor piped in.

Asch got back into his stride and pulled at the front gate.

"Damn, locked." He muttered.

Asch backed up and readied himself to kick down the door. The Doctor dashed in front of him and waved his hooves frantically.

"Wait! Now, let's just think about this for a moment. There's a city guard patrolling the street just over there, and I don't think he'd listen to our explanation for too long. Not to mention this is a very nice gate and it would be a shame to break it."

"Then how do you propose we get in?" Asch huffed in annoyance.

The Doctor reached into his collar and pulled out a silver device with a blue light at the tip. Placing it in his mouth, it began emitting a strange noise as the light turned on. He pointed it at the lock of the gate and soon there was a metallic click.

"There we are. Nobody had to have their door kicked in today." The Doctor happily said.

With a small huff, Asch opened the gate and entered the factory.

"This... This can't be!" He blurted.

Derpy and the Doctor rushed inside to see what was the matter.

"What's wrong?" Derpy asked.

"There's absolutely nothing here! How the hell could this have happened?!" He cursed, his voice echoing off the walls of the empty factory.

The Doctor began inspecting the room curiously. "No signs of struggle, no residual energy from a matter transfer, so it's not Cyber-Ponies..." The Doctor began sniffing the air. "Oh, that smell! I feel like I'm going to vomit!"

Derpy began sniffing the air herself. "I don't smell anything."

"Are you sure you aren't just losing what little sanity you have left?" Ash added.

"Time Lord nose. Much different than either of yours. I can smell all sorts of strange things, like magic, smells fruity fresh. But this is fowl! There's only two scents in the whole universe that make my stomach turn like this: pears, and changelings."

Derpy gasped in horror. "Changelings?! What are they doing here?!"

"Changelings?" Asch asked incredulously.

"They're really evil bug ponies from the Badlands. They can look like anypony else and feed off of love." Derpy explained

"But the thing is, their transformation is only physical. They still have access to their magic and flight, but they also have difficulty masking their personalities. And the worst thing is that stench!" The Doctor added.

"So the changelings are working with Van... Just what are they planning...?" Asch wondered. "I'd better tell Luke. We need to plan our next move."

A light enveloped Asch as he reached out to contact his replica.

"Can you hear me, replica?"

"Yeah. There's no sign of Van in Baltimare." Luke answered.

"We found nothing in our factory."

"Great. Now we don't have any leads as to where Van is. What are we supposed to do-?"

"No, you don't understand. We found nothing in our factory."

Luke went silent for a moment. "Do you have any idea where he took the parts?"

"No signs of a struggle. It's almost like they were taken willingly."

The Doctor smacked his forehead. "Of course! The changelings must have taken a from to trick the workers into taking the parts wherever they wanted!"

"Well, we know that Van would need a massive power supply if he wanted to replicate the planet." Asch reasoned.

"Like magic from unicorns. And the most powerful magic we've seen came from..." Luke trailed off.

Asch tensed up in a rage. "We need to get to Canterlot, now! That bastard isn't getting away with this!"

Comments

[Dirty Bit]

Love how the Doctor references 'The Impossible Planet' and the one episode where he meets William Shakespeare with Martha

Keep up the good work! I've yet to post chapters myself.