Paging The Doctor

by Camlio

Chapter 3: Every rule has a loophole.

Ah good day, my friends it seems to be that time again. Time for more MLP/DW, I would like to again point out that with the exception of The Seeker and the new race of 'Who Monster' introduced in this chapter that none of the characters contained after this disclaimer are mine and are the property of their respective owners. Well without further ado, Onwards and Upwards!

Chapter 3: Every rule has a loophole.

It had been three days since the Doctor had spoken with the replacement time-lord known as the Seeker, and was forced to make a decision that would break his two hearts no matter what he chose. If he stayed he risked the safety of his new friends and the lands they called home. As he would need to keep his Tardis active until the Seeker had made it back to the 'Other' universe and that was a problem. As even on the lowest possible output to complete the task, could allow some kind of creature who wished the Doctor harm to track him and begin destroying the new world he began to call home.

Twilight Sparkle had given The Seeker her spare room in the library at the Doctor's request. She had hoped that by the week's end she could have prepared mentally for whatever the Doctor had decided. She knew it was impossible but, she didn't want to believe it. Her attempt to calm the storm in her heart was suddenly stopped by a knock at the door of her bedroom. *Knock-Knock-Knock* It was a knock similar to the way the Doctor entered the Tardis and therefore had become a secret code of sorts for anypony that wanted to speak about the Doctor with Twilight.

"Come in, it's open." Was all she could manage to say her heart sagging in her chest knowing that whoever was at her door was going to ask something about the Doctor or 'Clockwork' as they had dubbed him in an attempt to make him seem more normal. What she didn't expect however was 8 set of eyes entering her room. Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, The Doctor, and The Seeker had all entered her room at once. Upon seeing this, her heart sank further into her chest as the near crying expressions of all her friends including the Seeker and Doctor told her what she feared to hear the most.

"Twilight, I'm afraid I'll be leaving soon and I won't be returning for quite some time." The Doctor's voice was trembling with sadness as he said these words, he looked as he had cried for hours and had no sleep since he had spoken with the Seeker three days ago. Twilight looked as though her heart had just shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Upon seeing this the Doctor walked over to her and pulled her into a gentle hug with tears running down his face. Aside from the Mail-mare Ditzy Doo, Twilight was the Doctor's best friend and Traveling companion he had in this universe. He had told Ditzy about the events that had taken place and she became inconsolable for two days, until he said that if he didn't go he would put more than her at risk. Which he never wanted to do in the first place, he never wanted anything to happen to the beautiful land he had called home for the past year or to the wonderful friends he had met there.

"Doctor..." Twilight said sadly at which the Doctor looked at her. She could see he had never wanted to leave but, he had no choice. He didn't want them hurt and she understood that. After all when the Rani had tracked the Doctor down and nearly destroyed Equestria while gravely injuring her and her friends, he vowed to never use the Tardis again if it meant that his new friends would get hurt like that again. "Mr. Seeker, please isn't there another way?" She said to the new time-colt who's mane had become a vibrant silver. As his eyes had taken on two different colors, one red, one green. She had figured that this new form was a result of his body preparing for the task of taking the Doctor's place in this universe.

"Miss Twilight... there is a way but, the cost is great and it would involve a great deal of suffering to some." She looked at the stallion who had said these things in a tone like he knew he shouldn't say them, like he had broken some unseen rule. The Doctor turned to The Seeker knowing what he meant shocked that he would have ever mentioned it. "Good lord Seeker! I know you haven't been a time-lord for long, but you realize what that would do to you correct?!" The Doctor's voice one of general concern knowing the loophole of which he spoke. At this the Seeker just nodded not scared, but sad his eyes had begun to water as he prepared to speak.

"Yes Doctor I know, it would cost me this and the life after to preform the task. Unless you were to give one life up in exchange as well, but I wouldn't let you do that even if you attempted to force me as you would forget the friends you had made." With this all the ponies in the room gasped at the Seeker's words save the Doctor who was racking his brain to find a way to stop the novice time-lord from proceeding with this plan. Of which he could find none and hang his head in defeat.

The Seeker's Tardis outside of Ponyville. The last day of the Doctor's week.
"Right, the preparations are in order. Are you really sure you want to do this? It could backfire horribly." The Doctor said with a concerned voice, recalling The Seeker's speech to the others in the room revealing the way the loophole in the law worked.

Flashback to the event's of two nights ago begins.

The Seeker had gathered the group outside his Tardis which was in the form of a 50's American police box revealing why he did not share the doctor's accent. He was from a completely different country on the world they knew, from the city of Manhattan, New York. At learning the name, Twilight had asked if he meant Manehattan to which he kindly said no, Remarking that it was close though. Once the group had gathered, this time he made sure Ditzy Doo was present as he felt the Doctor needed her Support. "Grab a seat this is a long story" He had said to the ponies as they approached. He then begun to go into the explanation of the loophole.

"You see, the Parallel Purge effect takes place due to the traversal of a being needed to keep the universe functioning properly into a parallel universe." He began his speech and the group followed his every word, even Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash who were normally to impatient to sit still for any kind of drawn out lecture sat still and listened. As they both wanted to know how the Doctor could stay without risking their lives and feeling uncontrollable regret. "The Purge is to keep to flow of time and space from collapsing in as cleanly a manner as possible seeing as these universes are supposed to stay separate much like trying to place two blue sided magnet parts next to each other." He said as he even brought out two magnetically charge magnets and tried to force them together to prove his point.

Twilight looked shocked at how much more complex the situation was than she originally thought, she had thought the Doctor appearing was just some fated occurrence not a flaw in time and space in the making. "You see when the Doctor was injured before appearing in your world the fact his body was beginning the Time-Lord regeneration cycle while traveling through time and space. This caused a fatal error in the temporal flux matrix which then caused him to crash into your world." he would drag on for several minutes till he had finally come to the fact of what it would cost for the Doctor to stay. "In order to fix the Flux and allow the Purge to stop it requires all current time lords within the universe to have regenerated once. This would cause the flux to revert on itself and spawn copies of those who had left therefore balancing the equation." He said sadly.

Twilight then remembered that the Doctor had told her and her friends that when a Time-Lord dies they begin to regenerate into a new form while only keeping base knowledge much like a deck of trivia cards. It would mean he would forget every-one of them. At this recollection her eyes began to water and she could hear Ditzy had already started bawling. "Isn't there some way to stop it without harming you both?!" Twilight said in a scared and sad tone to which the rest of the group nodded with tears forming in their eyes knowing what the regeneration would mean and how it would cause them to lose a friend at least in spirit.

"Yes there is but, it will be extremely risky and could in fact kill me twice." The Seeker said in a worried tone of voice as he knew that if this didn't work it would cost him nearly everything. When he said this Twilight looked at him with worry, she had barely known him and yet she saw how his determination to help The Doctor stay with his friends even at the risk of his own death had sparked a whirlpool of feelings within her. She didn't know how to react she wanted to hug him and wish him good-luck after he and the Doctor had finished their internal discussion Time-Lord to Time-Lord. She wanted to hug him and never let go but, she couldn't understand why.

Was it because his disregard for his own safety when it came to Friendship being put before himself made her see him in the same light as her mentor the Solar Princess, Celestia? All she managed to say to him was "Be careful" as the Time-lord pair began to work on the method the Seeker spoke of using his Tardis as a conduit for the Elements of Harmony which was much like a power called the Eye of Harmony in his own universe would allow him to invert the flux and stop the collision of the two universes but, as he had to man the controls of his Tardis if it overloaded and caused him to die the fact that dieing again during the regeneration process was theorized to kill even a time-lord for good worried her.

Flashback ends as the group of Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Ditzy came running up the hill The Seeker's Tardis had called home. The Elements of Harmony in tow.

"Ah wonderful, looks like it's time then." The Seeker said with a sheepish smile in an attempt to calm the worried group as they began to summon the element's powers towards the Tardis. He had gone inside alone as the blast would only affect him that way if anything went wrong. Once he had started the Tardis' flight routine the girls released the blast of Harmony as he had said they needed to hit and make contact just before the Black and white checkered box was completely gone. They almost missed the mark as the blast's tail end bounced into thin air before vanishing. This event caused the girls to worry that they had messed up and had destroyed their new friend, while failing the Doctor. These thoughts caused Ditzy to Tackle hug the Doctor with all she had crying her eyes out fearing it would be the last time they would see each other ever.

Twilight hug her head as she heard the sound of trumpets coming from behind them, which caused her to reel around in joy. The Seeker had told Twilight to send a letter to the Princess that would ask her to wait for the Checkered Tardis and to please bring it's occupant with her to Ponyville if it had appeared within Canterlot, and surely enough it did. Her expression turned from joy to sorrow as she noticed the complete and utter lack of the Seeker. She wanted to ask if he was alright but, she feared the worst. What she didn't know is that The Seeker used the Tardis mid-flight to change the letter via his sonic screwdriver to ask the Princess to visit her and tell her that if he did return he would be in the Doctor's Tardis not his own. The Hall of memories to be more precise.

As the regal white alicorn relayed the message to the sobbing Twilight Sparkle she could hardly believe it, the Princess even showed the letter to twilight to prove it. It read "Dear Solar Princess, I am a novice Time-Lord known as The Seeker and I have used the power of my Tardis to alter this letter, it will only change if I make the trip successfully and prevent the flux that would cause your world and my own to collapse into each other causing them both to be destroyed in the process. As the sweet Unicorn Twilight Sparkle would no doubt be worried that I had not returned, I beseech you to go to her side and bring her this letter as proof of the message. If her or her friends wishes to find me, It will be possible that I manage to get myself re-located within the Doctor's Hall of Memories within his Tardis as I must eject mine back into the other universe. This is the way to prevent the flux from returning. Please let Miss Sparkle know that I'm sorry for all the worry I've caused her within the week I've known her. As the fact of this letter's appearance may be only due to the safety of your world and my own sacrifice so I pray for the best and hope she is well. Sincerely, The Seeker."

As she read the letter aloud Twilight was unsure of how she felt. He had saved her world and the Doctor's while allowing him to stay without risk, but it was possible she may never see him again and she needed to find out. "Princess I need to go to the Doctor's house right away, please excuse me." She said with a bow to excuse herself then ran towards the Doctor's house.

---------------------------

The Doctor's House, the hall of memories.
Twilight had rushed into the room at full speed with the Doctor and Ditzy following close behind her. Her heart sank as she saw the room devoid of life. "I'm sorry Twilight..." Ditzy said as she walked over and placed a hoof on her shoulder. The fact that the first truly noble time-lord he had encountered save himself had seemingly made the ultimate sacrifice for him and his friends caused the Doctor's emotional dam to break and he joined Ditzy and Twilight as they had already begun to cry.

"What's up with all the noise? Ouch, My head feels like a train just crashed into me." A voice had called out from behind one of the cases in the room and Twilight quickly ran to investigate it. The Doctor and Ditzy watched as her eyes lit up with an extreme amount of joy. "What's over there Twilight?" The Doctor said as she managed to pull the half-asleep Time-lord from his spot behind the case. At these events The Doctor smiled. "Bloody fantastic! Absolutely brilliant! Your alive and that's just amazing seeing the odds were not in your favor." He said as he noticed something in The Seeker's hoof it appeared to be a small plush of Twilight made to go onto his sonic screwdriver's key-chain.

"Well I had some help..." he said gently before falling back asleep. Twilight noticed the key-chain and smiled as she had given it to him the night he asked her to write the letter as a good-luck charm.

And so the new Time-Lord known as the Seeker became a resident of Ponyville. He received his official Time-Lord certification along with a new gadget and Time-Lord name soon after, he was from then on known as The Shield due to his willingness to put himself at risk for no better reason then to protect somepony else. The gadget he received was a strange sword with a red handle and a blade of blue light called the Chrono Cutter. Which was a much more offensive version of the sonic screwdriver as it was meant to be used in unison with it when battling the aliens that would react to the Tardis' Presence. This alone caused the Doctor to gain the confidence to get the Tardis up and running again. As if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He then returned to his traveling way's accompanied by the ever faithful Ditzy Doo and her Daughters, Dinky and Sparkler. The Shield had left under orders from the Princess to Travel the world and gain as much knowledge as he could.

"A year had past and the new Time-Lord became somewhat of a legend, a Crimson colored pony with Silver hair and strange eyes, who wielded a sword with a purple grip that spewed blue flames from the blade. The blade had a small plush pony attached to the hilt he claimed was for good luck. He was known to some as the Crimson Knight due to his unwavering sense of justice and willingness to defend the weak. News soon reached Twilight that the Crimson Knight was seen heading towards Ponyville. When she heard this she couldn't help but, smile. But as for what happened... I won't say, that would spoil the surprise & I detest spoilers."

The Narrator was shown to be the Doctor staring at the screen with his trademark grin. He waved as the screen faded with him shouting "That's a story for another time... Onwards and Upwards!"

*Doctor whooves ending theme plays. (Sounds like the DW/MLP-FIM themes combined.)*

Hoped you liked this little dive into my creative side, If you have an idea for the Next story go ahead and let me know.

Comments

[taokami]

The Shield is oddly reminiscent of Ragna the bloodedge huh... interesting