Observations and Revelations
Chapter 4
Observations and Revelations
It was interesting the things you thought of when you were running for your life. Near the top of Macintosh's list of thoughts at this particular moment were things like how this was not at all how he'd pictured his day going when he went to bed last night. Or wondering how mad Granny was going to be when she found he wasn't there when she got up...and how bad a tanning she'd give him when she found out he was in Canterlot running from the police! But really the thing that topped the list was this: for a weird, gangly, alien that only moved on two legs, the Doctor sure could run!
No seriously, Mac wasn't a racing stallion by any means, nor would he ever be, but he prided himself on being able to move at a good pace if need be. And a life of farm work had given him pretty good endurance as well, but the Doctor was still managing to keep pace, even as they both managed to stay ahead of the two police stallions. Of course, the latter bit was helped by the packs of panicking pastel ponies that were stirred up at the sight of the Doctor as they went along.
All of a sudden the Doctor turned into another alleyway, and Mac slid on his hooves a moment as he scrambled to turn after him. He followed him through several twists and turns until they finally stopped next to a large dumpster.
"You know," the Doctor said, panting a bit as he rested with his hands on his knees. "When I said 'run,' I sort of...meant back to the TARDIS..."
"Sorry. Ya said 'run,' so...Ah ran..."
"Nevermind," the Doctor told him, "Should've been more specific. But we can still use it as plan B." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a TARDIS key, tossing it to Mac who instinctively caught it in his mouth. "Head back when I draw them off, I'll see you when I've thrown 'em off."
"But-" Macintosh tried to protest.
"No arguing, this was supposed to be your 'fun' trip, and I seriously doubt this is one of those planets where a night in prison counts," he said back. "...At least I'm reasonably sure. Besides, they'll be after the 'alien monster,' not you." He stood back up suddenly, "Ok then, count of three... One..."
"But-"
"Two...
"Doct-"
"Three!" And then he was off. He slid back out into the street. "Say, gentlecolts...gentlestallions? I believe you were looking for me!" He then turned and dashed off out of Macintosh's view. There were shouts and repeated orders to halt, and Mac ducked behind the dumpster as the two police-ponies galloped past the alley. After a few moments, he deemed it safe enough to head back out. On his way back to the TARDIS, Mac found that the Doctor had been quite correct, in that no one paid much attention to him. In fact the snippets of conversation he picked up from ponies he passed were all about how a 'horrible beast' had attacked some poor mare and tried to cut off her horn. Not one mention of a teenage colt accompanying it.
Soon enough he found himself back at the now familiar blue box. Using the key the Doctor had given him, he unlocked the door and slipped inside. He shut the door behind him and pondered what he'd do until the Doctor came back when he made a discovery:
The TARDIS wasn't empty.
The last thing Macintosh saw was a flash of red light, followed by the sensation of his snout making painful contact with the floor before everything went black.
Ditzy and Flower Shine were still making their way through through the tunnels beneath Canterlot. To pass the time, Shine was telling Ditzy why she'd been down here in the first place.
"I knew something was wrong. I like to pay attention to local events, so when I started noticing the patterns, of course I investigated. Disappearances no one seemed to want to talk about, strange goings on...and all involving the sewer system. Yes, I could tell something was up...but Daleks? No, I can say I didn't quite see this coming..." She sighed. "I wish the others had paid attention. Just 'cause I'm the youngest of us, they all see fit to ignore me. You'd think Colgate at least would have known better, but no, they'd all rather sit around and play at happy ponies, and forget about anything remotely like things like the war..."
Ditzy glanced at her oddly. She wasn't sure what the other mare was talking about now.
Flower Shine suddenly seemed to remember she had an audience. "Er...well, never mind that. Nothing you need to worry about, Ditzy."
Ditzy just shrugged. "If usage ten solo," she said with a sigh. Any other day she might have been curious, but given everything that had happened and was still happening, curious just wasn't on the day plan.
Shine noticed her companion's gloomy mood. "Don't worry, my friends will have to get involved now. Daleks...well, they're serious business, especially to us. And I'll do everything in my power to try and make sure you and your father are reunited." She paused, and suddenly it was her turn to look sad. "Trust me, I know what its like to lose those close to you."
They continued on in silence for a bit after that. Not having any other clues to go on, they were following the flow of the water back to its source, hoping to find a junction with a ponyhole or exit they could use. "Honestly, why didn't I think to grab a map?" Shine muttered to herself at one point.
They'd come to yet another junction when Ditzy heard a familiar noise. "Demotions!"
Flower Shine understood what she really meant: Daleks! "Quick, hide!" she whispered.
Lacking any sort of decent cover in the tunnels, the best the two ponies could do was back into a darker section and press up against the walls, trying to make them selves as small as possible. Shine reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the device Ditzy had seen her with earlier, which she now understood to be some sort of weapon like those the Daleks used.
Soon enough, a pair of Daleks appeared in the other tunnel. Like the two that had been escorting Ditzy, they were moving in single file, with something in between them. Unlike the other two, what they were escorting wasn't ponies. Instead several hovering platforms floated along between them, a great deal of oblong boxes stacked on each. The two ponies eyes widened in horror as they realized that the Daleks were escorting ponies, just not the living kind, as the boxes were coffins. Ditzy glanced at shine questioningly, wondering what these things would want with a bunch of dead ponies, but Shine was watching the Daleks like a hawk, keeping her weapon trained on them until the rear one disappeared through the other end of the junction.
Finally, when she felt it safe enough, she tucked it away in her bag again. "Gold on white...they were gold on white too..."
Ditzy threw her a confused look.
"Daleks identify their functions and ranks by the colors of their casings," she explained. "But I'm not sure what that particular combination means. ...And no, I have no idea what they would want with...corpses, either," she added, answering the unspoken question from earlier. "...Unfortunately, I think we'd better find out."
"...What about friends?" Ditzy asked, managing to speak clearly in her surprise.
"When it comes to Daleks, its always a good idea to know what you're getting into, especially so if you're going to be sending others in as well."
Unable to refute that bit of logic Ditzy just nodded.
"Come on," Shine said, taking the lead. "Stay low and quiet. They can't see much except for whats directly in front of where their eye is pointed...but you'd be surprised at how good their hearing can be..."
The Doctor chuckled to himself as he jogged back towards where he'd left the TARDIS. He'd led the pony police on a merry chase, but had given them the slip in the end. It'd been somewhat fun actually, running from basic police instead of hostile aliens or deadly explosions for once. But he was pretty sure they'd managed to call for some backup and he wasn't interested in getting caught right now. ...Maybe later, when he wanted to see if a night in pony jail really did count as fun or not.
Unfortunately when he finally arrived, he received a rather nasty shock.
The TARDIS wasn't there.
As a Time-Lord, he prided himself on having a rather decent sense of direction, so he was certain he was in the proper place, it was just that the TARDIS...wasn't. Indeed, he could make out the square shape in the alley's dust where it had been sitting, and the lack of drag marks or other disturbances led him to believe the TARDIS had left under its own power. Now not that he doubted the colt's intelligence, but he was fairly certain that Macintosh wouldn't have been able to pilot the ship at all...which meant someone else had done it, and that someone most likely had the colt captive as well.
But who could have done it? Two immediate thoughts came to mind. The unknown person or persons whose attack had resulted In his breach into this universe, for starters. If they'd come through too, it was more than likely they'd want to track him down to finish what they'd started. Then there was also the feeling, the one he'd been having ever since he woke up here. Could it be possible-? No, he squashed that thought quickly. He'd been down that path one too many times, and every time had ended in disappointment and heartbreak, along with a helping of mortal peril.
Either way, with the TARDIS missing, he'd need to lay low for a bit. Despite giving them the slip, he was decently sure the police would still be searching for him. He glanced around and spotted a door a little bit further into the alley. He strolled over while taking out his screwdriver again. A quick buzz on the lock and he was stepping in through what turned out to be the back door of a rather nice pony home. Quietly shutting the door and locking it again, he took a curious look around and was struck by how...humanish the furnishings seemed. Though everything was proportioned for ponies, it struck him a bit odd how many of the items around him wouldn't be out of place in a similar Earth or other humanoid based culture's home. Though he'd seen Macintosh manipulate objects with his mouth, which would account for the long handled pots and pans he could see, he pondered the logic of why an equine civilization would have coffee mugs with handles on the sides just like humans would. Of course, given the ratio of different pony types he'd observed in this city so far, it was likely that this was a unicorn dwelling, meaning they could manipulate the objects with telekinesis. But this just brought up the further question of why they had handles at all. ...However the mugs in question were hanging by said handles on a rack above the sink. ...Maybe he was just overthinking things.
He carefully left the kitchen and entered what appeared to be a nice looking sitting room. He noted that everything was quiet. Good, most likely no one home, and with a bit of luck, he could wait here a bit until the authorities will have given up their searching, or at least moved on from this area. He sat down on a comfy looking couch (idly adding to his musings above that it had a back rest for whatever reason). He'd barely been sitting for a minute when he heard a small gasp and his head shot up, spotting a small sea-green foal standing at the base of a staircase. The small, matching horn that protruded from her white and slightly paler sea-green mane marked her as a unicorn, confirming, at least in part, his earlier suspicions.
The Doctor quickly raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Please, don't be afraid...I promise I'm not here to hurt you...or to steal anything. I apologize for coming in uninvited, I just needed a place to rest a tish, and it didn't look like anyone was here."
Luckily, this seemed to placate the foal, and fear faded, to be quickly replaced with curiosity. "What's wrong with your hooves?" she, at least it sounded like a she, asked.
The Doctor looked down at his feet. "No, no," she corrected, pointing a hoof at his hands. "Your forehooves. ...They're all weird"
"Oh! Well, they're not hooves. They're hands. Called that because they're handy."
"What're they for?" she asked, now trotting over to him.
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, all sorts of things. I can catch things, write, make pictures. ...In fact, you should have seen some of things I did with the last ones I had."
"You had more?"
"Oh yes, I'm special like that."
She hesitated a moment, then climbed up to lay on the couch beside him. She was quiet for a moment as she just looked at him oddly. "You sit funny."
"You sit funny," the Doctor shot back. "I'll have you know this is perfectly normal for me."
"But you're doing it all wrong!" the filly protested.
"Really? Well what's the point of having a back on your couch if you don't use it?" he pointed out.
The foal looked like she'd never considered this before. She started shifting around and after a few moments had managed to position herself so that she was laying belly up with her back and head resting against the back of the couch, in a position that looked almost humanoid...but very odd on a pony.
"Now that looks uncomfortable," the Doctor commented.
"I dunno...I think its kinda nice..." There was another short silence before she came up with another question. "So what are you anyway?"
"That's easy, I'm a Time-Lord."
"Time-Lord? ...So does that mean you're in charge of time like the Princess is in charge of the sun?"
Princess in charge of the sun? The Doctor filed this information away before answering. "No...I'm not in charge of time. Time takes care of itself. ...I do watch over it a bit though. But no...no one person should be in charge of time..." He said it in a soft voice that sounded almost...sad. "...So, what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Lyra."
"A pleasure Lyra, I'm the Doctor. So, where's your family?"
"They went out to get stuff for our Summer Sun Celebration party. Its not for a few weeks, but Mom likes to get the decorations early."
"And they just left you by yourself?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Lyra looked cross at this. "I'm old enough!"
"Right, course you are, what was I thinking," he said apologetically. "Well, Lyra, thanks for letting me stay for a bit."
"That's ok, I like you," she said, smiling up at him.
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."
Luck was with the two, as they managed to pursue the Daleks without drawing attention to themselves. Still, it wasn't easy, and they practically jumped at every shadowy tunnel they passed, expecting more Daleks to pop out of them and put an end to everything. But fortune was most definitely on their side for once. The Daleks led them to some sort of large underground room. Strange looking metal and lights were placed all around and there were many, many more Daleks all over the place.
"SHIPMENT FOR TRANSPORT HAS ARRIVED!" the leader of the two they had been following announced as they and their cargo came to a halt.
"TRANSPORT DUE TO ARRIVE IN 40 RELS! CLEAR TRANSPORT AREA!" responded another Dalek that was near one of the pulsing panels on the walls.
"I OBEY!"
Ditzy glanced at Flower Shine, but she only shrugged back in response to the unspoken question. She wasn't sure what was going on. The implications of a transport were troubling, especially sine there didn't seem to be any way for one to enter. A quick glance at the ceiling showed it to be solid stonework like the rest of the tunnels. However the Dalek had said that the transport would be arriving...so that ruled out any form of teleportation like a transmat.
Her fear getting the better of her again, Ditzy's eyes shifted out of alignment briefly, but when they did, she spotted something out of the corner of one. Focusing, she turned to look, then silently alerted Shine to it as well. There was an staircase set against the wall that looked to lead to some sort of walkway overlooking the room. Shine nodded, getting what Ditzy was suggesting. The stairs were close enough that if they stayed quiet, and their luck held, they could get up onto the walkway, both getting a better view of things while getting out of the tunnel in case more Daleks came, or any in the room decided to use it.
Luckily, it did on both counts, and they got into decent positions to observe things just as the Dalek at the wall panel began a countdown.
"TRANSPORT ARRIVAL IN 10 RELS! 9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...TRANSPORT ARRIVING!"
A sudden wind came up out of nowhere, and Ditzy and Flower Shine suddenly heard a noise that was familiar to Shine, but utterly wrong at the same time. A glow came up in the center of the room, and Shine's eyes widened in horror as an object began to take shape within it.
It was made of a dark grey metal, and from above appeared perfectly round, but in between the top and bottom were two inverted corners, each side of which was covered in a panel with a Dalek shaped indention on it. The indention in one of the panels on the left side suddenly slid upwards into nowhere, briefly letting the two mares see a space on the other side, before a Dalek emerged...followed by another, and another. Ditzy's eyes widened in bewilderment as more Daleks than could possibly have fit inside the object emerged one after another.
Shine was equally mystified, but for different reasons. This was beyond bad. If the 'transport' was what she thought it was, Canterlot, no, all of Equestria was in serious trouble. It looked like they were facing a full Dalek invasion that included, at least, one, also at least, partially functional, time-ship!
The first Dalek to emerge from the ship glided over to one of the others that were already present in the landing area. "THE EMPEROR ORDERS YOU TO ESTABLISH CONTACT!"
Shine swore she felt one of her hearts stop. The Dalek Emperor was alive...and here!? Ditzy glanced at her new friend worriedly. She could tell just from how scared Shine looked that whatever was going on here was terrifying her, and that didn't help her any.
The addressed Dalek turned and glided to the middle of the room near the time-ship. "OPEN COMMUNICATION LINK!"
"I OBEY!" said a Dalek from somewhere. There was a flash from overhead, and a large flat image took shape in midair. Ditzy was afraid her eyes would roll out of her sockets if they got any wider. Shine however, nearly let out a sigh of relief as the hologram came into focus. Whatever was on the other end was shrouded in darkness, but if the pair of Daleks flanking it was any indication, it was both too small and the wrong shape to be the Dalek Emperor she was aware of.
"Commander, your report. What is the status of your force?" The voice from the image was deeper, and not as...loud as the normal Dalek voice. Also it almost sounded...less artificial?
"ATTACK FORCE NOW AT FULL BATTLE STRENGTH! WE ARE READY TO COMMENCE THE OPERATION!" the Dalek, apparently the commander of this group responded.
"Excellent, and what is the status of Robo-Equine infiltration of the palace guard?"
"INFILTRATION IS ABOVE OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS! PROBABILITY OF OPERATIONAL SUCCESS: GREATER THAN 96%!"
"Good...inform me when the attack commences. I will wish to be there for its conclusion. Now...what of the security leak I was informed about this morning?"
"PATROL LAMBDA WAS SENT TO SECURE THE EQUINE AFTER RETRIEVAL BY ROBO-EQUINE INFILTRATOR! PATROL LEADER RETURNED AND CONFIRMED CAPTURE, HOWEVER PATROL WAS LATER DISCOVERED DESTROYED! EXAMINATION OF REMAINS SUGGESTS DESTRUCTION BY STAZER WEAPONRY!"
Shine winced at that. But it couldn't be helped. It wasn't like she could have just gone up and bucked the Daleks to death.
"What...are you sure?" The voice sounded disturbed at this revelation.
"ANALYSIS WAS CONCLUSIVE!"
"...This is...unexpected. Be on your guard commander. You are authorized for full extermination until after the operation's completion. But remember, you are not to harm her in any permanent fashion."
"UNDERSTOOD!"
Ok, yes, it was more than time to get out of here. From the sounds of things, the Daleks were planning an attack on the palace...possibly in an attempt to capture Celestia herself! She wasn't sure if they would actually be able to pull THAT off or not, but again, these were Daleks, and she wouldn't put it past them. Now if only-
"One more thing, has there been any sign...of him?"
"NEGATIVE, NO SIGN OF THE DOCTOR SINCE INITIAL DIMENSIONAL BREACH!"
This time Flower Shine was sure she felt BOTH hearts stop! In fact she nearly let out of shriek of surprise, but Ditzy, already concerned about her reactions, suddenly clamped her hooves over her mouth when she saw what was happening.
"He is here commander...I can feel it... But I am determined to win the prize this time! Do not fail me..."
"I OBEY!"
"As you should." And then the hologram cut off.
It was Shine's turn to go numb as Ditzy practically dragged her from the room. There was another staircase at the back that led further upward. It was a risk, since for all she knew there were a hundred more Daleks at the top, but she knew they couldn't get back down to the tunnels with Shine like this. Ditzy hadn't been sure of half of what was going on, but she got enough of it to know that the Daleks were going to attack the princess, and they had more ponies like her father under their control and already inside the palace. They had to get out of here and find someone; unaffected guards, Shine's friends, even the Princess herself, and warn them before it was too late!
Shine was barely thinking about this right now. 'The Doctor' kept echoing in her thoughts. He was here! A mix of intense joy and bottomless dread rushed through her. After all this time, how would he react? ...In any case it didn't matter, she had to find him, to see him, no matter what it took, even if it meant carving her way through an entire Dalek armada...she would find a way to see him again...
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A/N: And welcome to chapter 4! Mac and the Doctor do a lot of running! Shine has a nervous breakdown while Ditzy finds her nerve! And most importantly, an inkling of the Dalek plot!
Now if you fellow Whovians hadn't guessed two chapters ago who the ultimate villain of this piece will be, I'm sure you'll know by the time you finish here. For the sake of those who haven't figured it out, and for those pure FiM fans who might be reading...SHHHH! Lets keep the suspense please. I know I haven't exactly been working to keep it secret, but no fun spoiling it for those who might want to be surprised.
Also, I'm actually surprised that no one's asked about Flower Shine, as I HAVE been taking care to avoid more than the barest hint of who she might be. Ah well, at least it keeps me from the temptation to give out any too obvious hints outside the story. ...Or maybe I'm not as subtle as I think and anyone with a half decent knowledge of Who has already figured it out.
82892
Yes, this is supposed to be the 11th Doctor, at least as best as my literary abilities can portray him. No one's protesting so far.
"flower" shine, seeing the doctor more than once, weaponry that can kill daleks, dimensional breaches, hmmm it must be Rose its the only logical explanation
but i could be wrong as rose was staying on the alternate dimensional earth with her own custom doctor number #10 that was Time Lord human and idk why she would have left him
83535 oh but the daleks were talking to their emperor and how the hell did the emperor survive i thought he was wiped from existence after Rose looked into time and wiped the Daleks from existence i guess ill have to find out
83651
or maybe river?
83657
Yeah, gonna go ahead and give a free hint while I debunk this one.
Nope, not Rose. She gets to keep living in airship world with her mom, alt-universe dad, brother and Handy. And maybe get to still go space/time hopping in their brand new TARDIS if you believe the deleted scene is cannon or not.
Any pony seen in this story with an hourglass on their butts are definitely time-ponies, and Rose was human. And I mean true, Gallifrey bred, ones, so no, not River either, since she also went out in a blaze of glory during Forest of the Dead.
((Don't anyone feel bad if they don't get it til the reveal. I honestly don't expect anyone but an old school fan to even suspect until its too late anyways. Mwahahahaha....))
I think I know who lets say ther m and r in there somewhere
hmm someone young and will do anything to see the doctor again and woried about his reaction? can it be susan?
83692 yeah then it must be someone that existed before the the time war damn im not that of a old doctor who fan maybe my mother would know or my step father who lived in England because im only a little bit acquainted with the older series doctors, ive sen a few episodes but not all of them
83726 agreed, that is the only one who popped into my mind
Flower Shine is probably Susan... And Davros is there too? At least I think it's Davros...
Now I want to know how the others became ponies, and if the doctor's an anomaly by not becoming one, or if he didn't go through the process of becoming one yet.
Coooooooooooool
great
The awesomeness never stops with you, does it?
Why do I keep thinking things like "River Song" and "Rose Tyler"? Anyone else have similar thoughts?