Doctor Whooves Episode 13: Clockwork and the Doctor

by Doctor Perseus

A Library in Space

Chapter 5: A Library in Space

Home of Twilight Sparkle, Orbit of Q, Clockwork System, Space, Autumn, 1002 C.E.

Derpy opened her eyes to find the Doctor lying on top of her. He was much heavier than she had originally thought. She guessed that it was probably due to all of the muffins she had been feeding him but she had no time to guess how the Doctor weighed so much for he was currently crushing her lungs. She pushed the unconscious Doctor off her chest and sat up. Her body ached with mildly annoying pains and her ears rang something fierce. Everything was quiet. It was completely silent in the library. Derpy looked to see that Twilight, Spike, and Bright Eyes were still unconscious. Derpy walked over to Spike to see if he was still wounded. The wound had mysteriously disappeared but a scar had been left behind on his chest and back. Derpy sighed with relief at the realization that there was now a high possibility that the dragon was okay. She then realized that Clockwork was nowhere to be seen.

"Clockwork?" she asked as she looked around the library. Her eyes then turned over to the basement door. It was open. Derpy knew what hid away within Twilight's basement so she quickly made her way downstairs. She was still unsure about whether or not Clockwork was completely trustworthy as she had only known him for a few minutes before his eyes glowed white and she blacked out. She made it down into the basement to find Clockwork standing in front of the TARDIS. He stroked his hoof up and down the wooden surface of the front doors. "Clockwork?"

Clockwork turned around, surprised by Derpy's sudden appearance, and then sighed heavily.

"Oh...it's you," he said with a weak smile. "Derpy, was it?"

"Yes." Derpy awkwardly took a few steps closer to Clockwork. "What are you doing down here?"

"I don't know. When I came to I felt this force telling me to come down here." He looked at the TARDIS and smiled. "So, this is it. This is the real deal."

"Hmm?"

"This is the actual TARDIS. I've dreamt about this for such a long time."

"You've dreamt of the TARDIS?"

"Yes. I'm sure the Doctor didn't have enough time to explain things to you as we were preoccupied with other things."

"Obviously."

"I guess the best way to say this is that I am, in a way, an alternate version of the Doctor."

"You two definitely look alike. Only you look younger."

"Yes. I'm nineteen years old right now. Your Doctor looks like he's in his thirties or something."

"So...are you a Time Lord too?"

"No. I'm an earth pony. I guess I should elaborate a bit more. I'm the Doctor if he were born as an earth pony in Equestria. No Time Lord knowledge. No TARDIS. Just a simple stallion with a love for clocks...and for a beautiful mare." Derpy quickly put two and two together.

"Twilight?"

"Yes. In my dimension, Twilight was my wife."

"Was your wife?" Derpy then remembered diamond Twilight's claim of being Clockwork's dead wife. "She...she's dead, isn't she?"

"Yes. She was murdered through the act of a terrible tyrant by the name of Sombra." A shiver went down Clockwork's spine at the mention of the name.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Clockwork suddenly became cold. He glared at Derpy for a moment before taking a deep breath and calming down. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be cold and blunt. I've just heard that one time too many." He sat down and leaned back against the TARDIS. Derpy walked forward and sat down next to him. The stallion sitting next to her certainly wasn't the Doctor but he had a similar aura to him. Like the Doctor, his eyes were deep with guilt and sadness, most of which was probably forcibly hidden away. "I've been sad for a long time. After my Twilight passed, I didn't really have the urge to carry on. I loved her with a passion...and then she was gone. There was still so much that I wanted to do with her."

Derpy placed one of her hooves on one of Clockwork's hooves. He turned and looked at her. Their eyes met. Derpy felt sad looking deep into the stallion's eyes. They didn't look as old as the Doctor's, but they looked just as guilty.

"I can't say I know what you're going through but the Doctor might." Clockwork shook his head.

"Maybe, but he's not one to go to for things like this."

"Why not?"

"I may be a dimensional duplicate of your Doctor but we're not really the same pony. He's lived through a lot of tragedies in his life. Hell, he lived through the Time War."

"Time War?" Derpy recalled the Doctor mentioning it once before but he had never gone into much detail.

"The closest I've gotten to feeling how he feels is when I became him in my dreams. I've had dreams of the Doctor's life: traveling around in the TARDIS with you, Twilight, and the others. I used to think that they were just silly dreams: visions of a life that some part of me desired. But, now, I see that it was all real in some form or another. And after meeting the Doctor in the flesh, I can honestly say that he's not one to go to for consolation. He's already lived through enough sadness and loss in his life. He's desynthesized."

"What are you saying? That he's heartless?"

"No. I'm just saying that he's too used to it all to give a damn anymore." Derpy shook her head.

"You're wrong, Clockwork." Just then, a scream emanated from upstairs.

"Twilight!" Derpy and Clockwork then raced up the stairs.

Twilight was standing in front of the now open front door. The Doctor and Bright Eyes were slowly waking up but Spike was still unconscious.

"What hit me?" Bright Eyes groaned.

"The same thing that hit me," the Doctor replied as he rubbed his temple.

"DOCTOR!" Twilight cried as she stepped away from the door.

"Yes? What is it?"

"We...we're...we're...we-"

"Spit it out already!"

"WE'RE IN SPACE!" Derpy and Clockwork froze in place. Bright Eyes gasped.

"In space?" Derpy asked in shock.

"How is that possible?" Clockwork asked.

"Look for yourselves!" Twilight said as she pointed at the front door. The Doctor, Derpy, and Clockwork raced to the front door and looked outside. There was no Ponyville outside. There was only an endless abyss of stars spreading out on all sides. A large, blue planet could be seen hovering beneath them.

"We're in a library that's floating in space," said the Doctor. A wide smile appeared on his face. "Well that's new!"

Grounds of the Home of Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Autumn, 1002 C.E.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity raced as fast as they could towards the spot where the library was, or used to be. Rarity gasped as they arrived at the scene. Rainbow had been right. The library was completely gone. All that remained was a single crater in the snow. Everything had been taken. Not even the basement had been left behind.

"How?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know!" Rainbow replied. Once the snow started to die down, I headed out to the library to see if any new Daring Doo books had come in and I found this!"

"Maybe Twilight was practicing a new spell and she sent the entire library away?" Pinkie Pie guessed.

"I don't think Twilight would ever test magic out on her precious library."

"This looks an awful lot like something Discord would do," said Rarity.

"Yes, but there's one problem with that theory. Discord's still a statue!"

"Well, maybe he broke loose. I'd say that we should check with the Princess on this matter."

"Okay, let's go ask Spike to send a letter to the Princess then. Oh wait, Spike's gone with the library!"

"No need to be a smart mouth, Rainbow Dash. But what do you think has happened?"

"How do I know? I wasn't here when it happened!"

"It must have happened during the storm. Did you notice anything weird happening during the storm?"

"No. I was taking a nap."

"Figures."

"Ooh! I saw something!" Pinkie chirped as she raised her hoof and jumped up and down.

"You did?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well don't keep it to yourself! Tell us!" Rarity demanded.

"I saw two Derpys walking through the snow and then Twilight attacked them!" Pinkie replied. Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other and then back at Pinkie.

"Come again?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I was looking out my bedroom window and I noticed two Derpys walking by. One of them was dressed in a coat and the other was dressed as a mailpony. Then Twilight appeared out of nowhere. She was sparkling like a diamond and she had really green eyes. Then she attacked them."

"Derpy clones and evil Twilights?"

"That's what I saw!"

"I'm lost," said Rarity. Suddenly, the crater began to shake and vibrate slightly. A ghostly image of the library appeared before them. It then disappeared a second later. "What...what on earth is going on here?!"

"Interesting things," replied a familiar voice. Pinkie gasped. Rainbow and Rarity turned around. Standing a few feet away from them was Twilight, only she was sparkling like a diamond, had smoke coming out of her horn, and had glowing green eyes.

"See! I told you!" said Pinkie.

"This isn't the time to rub it in, Pinkie Pie," said Rainbow. Diamond Twilight shook her head in disappointment.

"Pity. My husband has run away from me. No worry. I can find him. But, before I do, I might as well have some fun first," cackled diamond Twilight. Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie took a few steps back as snow began to circle around diamond Twilight like a twister.

Home of Twilight Sparkle, Orbit of Q, Clockwork System, Space, Autumn, 1002 C.E.

The Doctor yelped as a hoof hit him in the back of the head.

"Oi! What was that for?!" he asked.

"Why are you so happy about this?!" Twilight snapped.

"Because it's brilliant! We're in a library floating in outer space! We should be dead now but we're not! I highly doubt the TARDIS has anything to do with this." He turned towards Clockwork and patted him on the shoulder. "It must be you then! Oh, brilliant work there old chum!"

"Can you please start making sense?" Clockwork asked. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Well...that's a bit complicated."

"Try me. We have plenty of time. We're in a library in space."

"True. Anyway, during the mayhem that was happening earlier, I began putting the pieces together. Your temporary slip from sanity, the rifts, the diamond Twilight, the voice, Twilight's death, and everything else and...I made a gamble."

"A gamble?"

"Yeah, a gamble. I went for the most likely possibility to the cause of everything that was happening and it turned out that I was right! Oh I'm so good that I scare myself sometimes!"

"Can you please explain to us about what this gamble of yours was?" Twilight asked as she examined the unconscious Spike on the sofa.

"Is he okay?" Bright Eyes asked.

"Yes. The wound has healed itself but he'll be out for a while." Twilight turned back to the Doctor. "Anyway, please continue."

"Gladly. From your reaction, Clockwork, of the male voice that diamond Twilight spoke I was able to deduce that you've heard it before," said the Doctor.

"Yes...in my nightmares," said Clockwork.

"Three guesses as to whose voice that is but I only need one guess because it's so clearly obvious: it's the voice of King Sombra, the murderer of Twilight Sparkle."

"Correct, Doctor."

"But Sombra is dead, and your Twilight is dead."

"Yes."

"So how could they be existing down there in Ponyville, merged into one being of diamond evil?"

"Magic?" Derpy guessed.

"In a way, yes, magic has a factor in this. It's because of you, Clockwork, that diamond Twilight visited Ponyville."

"You're blaming this whole thing on me?" Clockwork asked with a frown.

"No! I'm not blaming anypony. The rifts are to blame and, in turn, the creator of the rifts: the Dark Doctor!"

"Really? That's what you're going to call that evil Doctor that the Princess told us about?" Twilight asked.

"What else am I supposed to call him?!"

"You could call him Rot Cod or something like that."

"Twilight, don't go and pull a Pinkie Pie on me right now, I'm on a roll!"

"Okay."

"Anyway, it's apparent that my darker self is building an inter-dimensional portal of sorts, which is what I've been able to deduce from what you've told me, Clockwork. This portal has created rifts in the fabric of space and time and they've spread out far and wide across this universe and God knows how many other universes. Clockwork, you fell into one of these rifts in a moment of complete depression and loss of hope. You see, the universe is an odd thing and it occasionally has a sense of humor. Sometimes it has a sense of humor as well as some pity. When you fell through that dimensional rift, all of your sadness and all of your fears were collected and scanned. A part of your nightmares was separated from you and made into an actual, physical being. Thus, diamond Twilight was born. A creature made from your deepest desires, nightmares, and depressed thoughts."

"You mean...that diamond Twilight with the Sombra voice...is a part of me?!" Clockwork asked.

"A nightmare brought to life by the odd powers of the universe combined with the side effects a mad doctor's inter-dimensional portal. Brilliant, isn't it?"

"More like terrifying," said Derpy.

"I'm with her on that one," Bright Eyes added.

"Okay, so that other Twilight was a part of Clockwork, but how exactly did we end up in space?!" Twilight asked.

"Ah, well, that's where things get slightly more complicated. You see, Clockwork, as the diamond Twilight is a part of you, the creation of her made you a part of the rift," said the Doctor.

"The rift?" Clockwork asked.

"Yes, the rift. The rift that brought you to our dimension in the first place. You see, I was aiming to just have you send diamond Twilight away as she was a part of you. With her gone, Bright Eyes would return to normal as her state was brought on by the very nightmare that came from you. With the nightmare gone, Bright Eyes returned to normal and the fatal wound in our little dragon friend ceased to be. But, it appears that you went a little overboard and opened a new rift, which sent the entire library, us included, to some part of space." The Doctor took in a huge breath of air. "And from the smell of things, I would say that we're still in our universe at the correct time."

"You can tell what time and universe we're in just by smelling?" Bright Eyes asked.

"Time Lord thing."

"Ah."

"Well, I guess that solves almost everything," said Twilight. "Now there's only one problem." The Doctor turned to face Twilight. "How do we get back to Ponyville?"

"I'll tell you how: we're going to take another gamble!" the Doctor replied with a huge smile. Derpy and Clockwork gulped at the same time.

Comments

[MariusIoannesP]

"Really? That's what you're going to call that evil Doctor that the Princess told us about?" Twilight asked.
"What else am I supposed to call him?!"

How about John Hurt?

[Hekate Sketch]

jeez, this is interesting to read, but it's 11:39 pm and i am tired as hell, i will read .ore when i wake up (usully around noon) goodbye for now!

[Spirit Shift]

2927323
OHHHHNIIICCE ONE!!

"We're in a library that's floating in space," said the Doctor. A wide smile appeared on his face. "Well that's new!"

oh common doc youve been in a hospital on the moon invaded by alien rhinos looking for an old lady

No! I'm not blaming anypony. The rifts are to blame and, in turn, the creator of the rifts: the Dark Doctor!"
"Really? That's what you're going to call that evil Doctor that the Princess told us about?" Twilight asked.
"What else am I supposed to call him?!"
"You could call him Rot Cod or something like that."
"Twilight, don't go and pull a Pinkie Pie on me right now, I'm on a roll!"
"Okay."

So while pinkie and twilight call him Rot Cod, The doc calls him the Dark Doctor
I Call him Zerum Whooves