The Timepony’s Journal

by Penny_Shavins109

Chapter 5 The Next Step

It was cold, dark, and damp with no hope in sight. The Doctor, Susan, Spark, and Berry were all trapped inside of a cave thousands of years from home and in the middle of a possible war. It was unlikely that they'd be able to escape this time. Berry trotted back and forth anxiously as they all sat dormant.

"I thought you were getting us out of this..." Berry sighed helplessly.

"Stay calm, there's a way out. I'll make sure of it." the Doctor replied in a calm tone.

"How can you be so calm? We're stuck here in an ancient cave in an ancient time, far, far away from home. I'm scared out of my wits and yet... you're still just sitting there completely complacent. I know you've been through a lot and you're from another world, but this can't be a normal day for you."

The Doctor both looked and felt ashamed. He wasn't entirely ready for this just yet. His judgment had been blinded before and he hadn't thought of what came next when receiving what he wanted. He was truly unprepared for the universe outside.

"I'm sorry, my foalish actions are what got us into this mess in the first place. The truth is, I'm afraid as well. Fear makes companions of all of us my dear Berry. Yet in the place of fear comes hope. I promised you and myself that I'll find us a way out."

No TARDIS, no scientific gadgets, only his wits and the problem at hoof. He observed the thick pile of packed snow, followed by his surroundings. Picking up two pieces of driftwood, the Doctor began to start a small fire that he held to the icy tundra.

"I won't be able to remove all of the snow, but I can melt it enough to get through. Spark, could you please give this wall a good kick?" he asked after waving a fiery torch around the snow.

The icy wall was already beginning to melt, small droplets of water leaking from the snow and onto the stone floor. With one swift buck, the barrier gave way, creating a gap large enough to crawl through. A grey light shone through as they celebrated their victory. With no time to spare, each of them crawled through the opening before it almost collapsed on the Doctor's tail. The snow was getting worse than before, a complete and blind white out. Pulling out the locater he checked for the ship's location. Unfortunately, the circuits were almost frozen from the elongated cold exposure.

It was too cold for it to function properly, which was rather troublesome in a moment like this. Using a foreleg to shield his view from the blinding cold, the Doctor stared out into the blizzard. A faint yet bright glow was being emitted from not so far away.

"This way!" the Doctor gestured before heading off.

As the TARDIS came into view Berry could've sworn she saw a light blue haze in the distance. Another mystery for another day. Luckily the doors weren't buried too deep so they were still accessible without much digging. The silent click of the TARDIS lock was sweet relief to their ears as they escaped this horrible nightmare.

"Careful, careful. It's still a little steep but you'll be fine." assured the Doctor.

Berry bolted inside, afraid that she'd seen something else of legends. Despite his warning, Berry bolted through the double doors and skidded across the floor. She shivered and clutched her wings like a blanket as they wrapped around her.

"Now dear, what was that all about hmm?"

Berry looked up still shivering and shaking. She began to take a few deep breaths to calm and compose herself before speaking. Once her heart finally slowed down she heavily stuttered out a response.

"I-I could've sworn I-I saw w-windigos. O-out t-there. But that's i-impossible, isn't it?"

"Oh nonsense. They're just a myth from an old foals’ tale." scoffed Spark.

"Wouldn't you be saying the same if I told you of our previous predicament, hmm?"

The Doctor grinned and they all burst out into laughter. With the doors closed and the TARDIS in flight, there was no longer any need to worry. Susan began to help by passing out the hot cocoa and warm blankets to everypony. Once settled, the Doctor began to try and set the coordinates for Foal Hill in 963 AD.

"I'm terribly sorry about the mess I caused. It may be hard to steer the Tardis since the navigation system doesn't work properly." he apologized from across the console.

"Oh don't worry, I suppose we'll get the chance to go home eventually. But in the meantime, keep us out of trouble will you, Doctor? I nearly froze my tail off last time." Spark snickered at his last remark.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't stay safe for long. The big glass cylinder, the time rotor, began to slow into its final descent. The two Time Ponies took last-minute flight checks before literally materializing into the unknown. The scanner presented a dead and charred forest, filled with petrified plants.

"Are you sure that it's safe out there?" Berry questioned when seeing the scanner.

Berry was fixated on the image, eyes glimpsing with slight fear. Spark trotted up to her side and nodded in agreement. True it was rather interesting to him in another place and another time, but there was so little to expect. They all knew their history last time but it barely helped at all, wandering into the unknown is even worse.

"Not to worry. Susan, could you please do the readings for me? They're on your side of the console and I'm not sure if I should take my eyes off the system over here."

"Will do, grandfather. Normal air by Equestrian standards but a little bit heavier in oxygen, gravity just about the same. Radiation is normal too, which is pretty good for a random location."

But once she took her eyes off of the console the radiation meter slowly rose into the dangerous area marked in red. Flicking the door switch, the Doctor stuck his muzzle out first. It was fairly quiet and a swift breeze was blowing through. No signs of life just yet, but it was possible. With reassurance, they each trotted out one by one onto the soft alien soil. The air had a thick and slightly metallic taste to it as the readings before indicated.

Small leaves of ash were strewn across the ground, carried away by the wind. All life had been sucked from the ground below and left no room for anything new to grow. Everything seemed like a dead echo, even the trees barely stood on their own withering roots. The whole forest had nothing but an eerie presence. It was as if something, someone, was watching them.

Then Susan spotted it, the last flower blooming on the ground. Its deep lavender hues highly contrasted with everything around it. It was the last bit of life being carefully brushed by Susan's hooves.

"Wow, I had no idea such a beautiful thing could grow here," Spark said, causing a small jump in surprise out of Susan.

"That's the thing about the universe, it's full of surprises." she marveled.

Suddenly Berry yelped in surprise, Spark accidentally stepping on the flower as he rushed to help. Susan soon followed behind now feeling sad about the flower's destruction. Berry was face to face with a large lizard-like creature. Its eyes bulged out of its face in alarm due to an old unknown catastrophe. Spark accidentally tripped on a log and came smashing directly into the actual stone beast.

"Dear colt, are you alright?" the Doctor asked, offering a helping hoof.

"No worries, that weird statue is more hollow than it looks."

"I'm afraid that's no statue. Whatever struck this forest so long ago petrified everything in its path. This pile of rubble was once a living creature, too."

In the corner of his eye, something sparkled towards the Doctor as if it was calling him. Turning and looking through the dead brush he could see shiny chrome buildings that stretched on for miles. A silver city that may contain wonders of which to be discovered. It struck a note on his curiosity, pushing him to explore.

"Would you look at that, a city made of metal!" he stated excitedly.

"Now Doctor, remember what you said about galloping off into danger? Besides, it doesn't look like anypony is in there. No alien creatures roaming the streets, not a sound anywhere."

The Doctor looked back at the city disappointed. He wasn't wrong, but why did it at least seem so empty? Had something wiped them out like the forest or did they merely have no reason to go outside? He had too many questions and too little answers, but he had a promise to keep. Sighing, he turned around and headed back towards the TARDIS.

After stepping inside he had a terrible idea. While his companions weren't looking he removed a side panned from the console from underneath the console and took out a small component. It was a cylindrical flask full of a silvery fluid, pure Mercury. Pressing the controls that would usually set the TARDIS in motion, the Doctor waited as the ship merely sputtered for a second before the fault indicator flashed.

"Is everything alright grandfather?"

"No my dear, it appears that the ship is out of Mercury. The fluid link needs to be replaced."

"Don't you have any spares kept away somewhere?" Berry asked in concern.

"I'm afraid we don't. The city might have some if we're lucky."

"Do we really have to?" Spark asked.

"I'm afraid we have no choice at the moment. It is our best option at this time."

The Doctor smiled behind their backs before opening the doors once again. The trek to the city felt long and treacherous, the perspective of time stretching as they struggled. In truth, the walk had only lasted about twenty minutes. Out of breath and slightly wheezing, the Doctor sat down on the city's edge and wiped some sweat with a hanky.

"Are you alright grandfather? You're looking a little pale and faint."

"Yes, I'm quite alright. I'm just a little tired, is all. I might not be as quick as I thought."

"Now that you mention it, I feel a little sick and winded too." Spark trailed on from behind.

Wiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead, Spark looked over at Berry who seemed to be sharing the feeling. There were three doors in front of them, one to the left, one to the right, and one in the center. Having no way to tell where they lead didn't help at all. As they had never seen a horror movie, they decided to split up to cover more ground. Berry took the left, Spark took the right, and the Doctor and Susan took the middle.

The long corridors all looked the same, only separated by silver sliding doorways and equally tall arches that divided the hall into several sections. Only occasionally did the doors lead to actual rooms. There were several half-empty storage rooms before they arrived in an advanced science lab. Spark met up with them after turning around and finding nothing useful. The idea of splitting up didn't seem so ideal anymore.

There were still no living creatures to be seen anywhere. It was all too eerie and it was best to get the mercury as fast as they could. But then Spark found a radiation meter, revealing what they'd miss.

"Doctor look at this meter. The radiation is all the way into the red zone!"

"Oh my... I'm truly sorry. For the whole time, we've been susceptible to radiation poisoning."

"Well then let's just grab the mercury, get Berry, and get out of here as quickly as possible!"

"I-I'm sorry but... I've been wronging you this whole time. The Tardis never needed more mercury in the first place.

Before anypony could respond, Berry's scream echoed down the halls. They galloped at full speed towards the source of the scream, only to find an ambush of strange metallic tanks awaiting in the room beyond the arch.

"Move forward." one of the tanks spouted.

As they talked little bulbs in their equine-like ears flashed. They were like lanterns, flickering with every syllable. Their tops looked as if they were a representation of a pony from the neck up. Attached to their bodies were what looked like a sink plunger and a whisk, looking more menacing than they should. Below was a skirt the same white as the rest of their bodies embedded with large aquamarine spheres.

The three ponies obeyed, scared out of their wits by the alien menaces. Spark lagged behind a bit, looking more nervous than the others. Suddenly he made a dash towards the nearest exit. A bright beam shot out of the whisk and struck him, paralyzing his legs.

"My legs, I can't feel my legs!" he cried out in horror.

The Doctor and Susan rushed to help, picking him off the ground. Spark's four limbs hung limp below him, not showing any reaction. It was terrifying to see him like this, but the sight was incomparable to the experience itself.

"Your legs are temporarily paralyzed. This effect is temporary unless you force us to fire again."

The machines' voices sounded distorted and slightly sarcastic with not a sliver of emotion but hate. The three of them were then forced into a smaller chamber containing a sick and nauseous Pegasus.

"Berry!" gasped Spark with delight.

If he could, Spark would've run right up to her and given her a hug. Like the rest of them, she too was pale and sweating from radiation sickness. She looked up at the others carefully so as to not strain her weak body too much. The Doctor's frown merely widened at her misery.

"My dear I'm so sorry... but this is all my fault."

Berry looked up at him confused. He had never put her in this cell or got her captured. That's when he confessed to his crime, explaining how he sabotaged his own ship out of curiosity about what turned out to be their current prison. He'd broken their trust almost the second he'd earned it. Slumping against the wall in shame the Doctor began to waver in and out of consciousness. Once again the mechanical beast returned, wearing an aura of distraction.

"One of you must leave the city. We suspect that there is an anti-radiation drug nearby your original location. It is required to keep you alive for interrogations, therefore one of you must retrieve it."

The four of them looked at each other before realizing there had been something lying around the TARDIS. It didn't seem interesting so none of them investigated. It was likely just a piece of junk that was left behind, but if these machines knew where it was that meant that they'd been watching them ever since they arrived. What else did they know?

Still, the TARDIS had to be miles away. It certainly felt that way on the way over, and that was when their condition was less severe. It could feel like an eternity at this point. Spark's legs were out of action, Berry couldn't use her wings at this point, and the Doctor was fading in and out of consciousness. Susan was the only option, and she knew what she had to do.

"I'll go! I'm the only one in a fit condition to do so."

"No Susan, you can't! There's no telling what's in that forest, I'll try to go instead."

After Spark made his plea he wobbled back onto his legs before immediately falling back down. His face met the floor with an unpleasant thump. He sighed and looked up at her, Berry attempting to tend to him. His eyes were full of hope and worry at the same time.

"Please, just be careful out there. There could be anything out there waiting to hurt you. Just gallop straight to the Tardis and back, every second counts."

She nodded back in confidence, showing that she wouldn't let him down. It was the most tedious time she'd experienced yet. Their condition was deteriorating even further as time dragged on. Each second was a second less of life. How long did they truly have left?