> Homeward Bound > by Lonepone > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Why the Tardis is Blue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The now familiar sound of the Tardis reaches my ears. I drop my game controller, and run out into the yard to see The Doctor. "Hello, Jason. Glad to see you!" He says. "So where did you go this time?" I ask him, eager to hear about his adventures. "Oh, just to the moon, about 1000 years ago. I decided to pick Luna up, and take her for a little sight seeing" "Sounds nice, but wouldn't that effect her today?" "Wonderful point, Jason, but here's how you're wrong. I returned her to the exact time that I picked her up, so she would be mostly unchanged, except a few extra memories" he explains, while smoothing back his mane. "So when can I go on adventures with you?" I ask hopefully. He gives me a pained look. "I would love to have you come" "YES HOH MY GAWD I'M GOING ON THE TARDIS!" I shout. "You didn't let me finish. I would love to have you come on, but you can't" "Why not?" "Just. Just because. I can't let you. The only time you can is when we go home" That sends a flood of mixed emotions through me. "Go. Home? What do you mean, Doctor?" "I think I may have a way to go home. To our rightful dimension" "But, then I'd have to leave Rainbow Dash, and everyone else" "Yes. Jason, we don't belong here. It's odd, I'll admit, this isn't a parrelel dimension, but it isn't our plane of existence" "What if I refuse?" "Lets hope you don't. Trust me, Timelords, even poniefied Timelords, will do what's right no matter the cost. So please, come willingly" "How long until we leave?" "I don't know. I have the basic theory of how we'll do it, but I still have to find a spot were the fabric of this world is weak enough. I have no clue when that'll be" "Fine. So are you going to stay a while, or do you have some other grand adventure to go to on without me?" I ask with a slight edge. "What time is it?" "Time to get a watch. Come on, your an almighty time lord, and yet you need me to tell you the time? It's about noontime. Lunch?" "Yeah sure. You wanna eat out, or you got something cooking?" "Eat out" I walk down our sidewalk, with The Doctor at my side, not sure where exactly we're going, just knowing that we're going. We walk along in silence, until another random idea pops into my head. "So Whooves. The Tardis is infinite, right?" "Yes, why?" "With infinite rooms, right?" "Yes, in fact, I think I saw a room with an Olympic size swimming pool once. But why?" "What if all this" I gesture with one hoof at the sky and the world around us "is just a room in the Tardis?" He thinks for a moment. "It's possible. You know what that means?" He says, giving me another of his manic grins. I return the crazed smile. "We just gotta find the door!" "Of course, it would be easier to do so from inside the Tardis" I look up to see where we are, and I see the Sugar Cube Corner across the street. "Feel like pastries and a sandwich?" I ask my friend. "Hungry already" he replies. I walk through the door propped open, and he follows me through. We seat ourselves in a booth by a window, when a certain bouncy, pink pony takes our orders. "Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner, what you hungry for? OMIGOSH HI!" She shouts when she recognizes us. "Hello Pinky" we say in time. "Hi Jason, Hi Doctor. Ooh, have you gone on any awesome, cool, fun, exciting, intresting adventures? Have you been fighting huge space monsters with mouths the size of Ponyville? Have you"- "Noope, just been sight seeing. And you?" The Doctor says. "We'll, I've just been here taking orders. Speaking of orders, I got an order to take you order. So what'll it be, fellas? The usual, or something special?" "The usual" we both respond. "Alright. I'll be right back with it, and then lets have a little chat!" "Sounds wonderful, Pinkie" I say. She runs back into the kitchen, and comes out almost right away with our orders. A large mug of root beer and a sandwich for me, and a glass of tea and a salad for the Doctor. "So where's Dashie? The five of us haven't really seen her around" Pinkie asks me. "She's off with Vinyl on a tour. She writes, but not as often as I'd like" "I know, us five thought that we'd all be the bestest friends when she got back, but instead she's a completely different pony" her hair loses some of its poof. "I mean" more poof lost. "It just hasn't been the same without her" her hair falls completely flat. I exchange a look with the Doctor. "You know, we should throw them a party when they get back" "OMIGOSH YES!" She jumps straight up into the air, her hair exploding outwards into its usual shape. "So, Doctor, do you have any family? You've never said anything about your past. What deep, dark secrets are inside of you?" She looks at him. "None of my family is here. There... gone. I don't know when I'll see them again" he takes a long drink from his tea. "But the ponies I have met are almost as good as family. Jason, Octavia, Vinyl, Rainbow Dash, you Pinkie, you're all like my family here" "Okidokiloki!" Another group of ponies walk in. A group of two, one of them with a green coat, purple eyes, and neon blue hair. The se exact shade as Vinyl's. The other one is slightly smaller, with a dark orange coat, neon yellow hair, and deep green eyes. He's probably a few inches shorter then Vinyl. "Well, I gotta go. Bye!" She trots over to where the two have seated themselves. "Hello Renegade Bass, Harmonous Synth. The usual, or do ya got a craving for something special?" Her voice drifts over to us. We eat in silence for a few moments. "Did you really mean it?" I ask, talking about what he said about me and the others being just like family. "Yes. I fully meant it" he takes another bite, and appears to be thinking. "My family, my entire race is dead" "Get outta here. You can't be the last time lord" "I am. The rest of my kind died out in the last time war against the Daleks. So I have no family. In our dimension, I travelled alone, by myself. I'd occasionally pick up a companion, an assistant, to travel with me, so I wouldn't be as alone, but it never worked. The most common outcome is that they'd die out there with me. The other, more painful outcome, comes from the fact that in near immortal. As my companions grew old and died of age, I would still be there, not a day older, watching the ones I loved wither. But now, I have a good family hear. And, on top of that, I've actually been turned into a pony. I'm no longer a Time Lord, although I can still use the Tardis. I'll age with all of you" I sit in silence for a while, digesting all that he said. "So that's why I can't come with you. I'll probably end up dying" "Yes. Although, as long as there's only one trip, there's something I can show you when we're done" "You mean I'll be able to go on the Tardis? Where we going?" "The end of this world. The ponies and other species on this planet died out for some reason, but then some force tore this planet apart. I'm not sure what, but its quiet a site. You wanna go?" "Yesyesyesyesyes! Yes please!" "Wonderful. Just promise not to die" "I solemnly promise that I shall not die" I say. But it doesn't feel like a promise I'll keep. Rose went away So the Doctor is blue Ask Donna, "Who's the Doctor?" And she'll reply, "Doctor Who?" Sarah Jane, and Martha, And now both the Ponds Had their fun with the Doctor And now they've all gone. So ask me again Why the TARDIS is blue: There's a sad man inside, With both hearts broke in two. > Club P0N35 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I pay for our meals, as Whooves forgot all of his bits. I leave a generous tip for Pinkie on the table, and then we walk out of the cafe. "Good meal" My friend says to me. I nod. "So when would we be leaving?" "Well, seeing as how I have a time machine, I don't think when really matters" "So can we go as soon as we get home?" "I don't see why not" he says. We walk along for a while, a happy silence descending apon us. "So how's you life going?" He asks me out of the blue. "What? Fine, I guess. Just a little lonely" He looks at me as we walk. "How so?" "Well, where to start" silence develops as I think. "My daughter is off running around with Vinyl Scratch, and she hardly ever writes or calls. Octavia is gone alot with her orchestra, playing at different concerts, you're just flat out gone, I never know when you'll be back, if you'll be safe. While you four are off doing things, having experiences, making memories, I've been left in the dust. Alone. I spend my days playing games, listening to music, not experiencing the world, not making memories" The Doctor looks at the ground, and then looks up, before speaking. "All this time, I thought I was protecting you by leaving you behind. Keeping you out of harms way so you can live. But your not really living, are you?" "Nope. I'm just living, but doing nothing more then breathing" "Oh my god that sounds horrible" I nod sadly. "You know what it's like being trapped in your head, no way to vent, stuck with yourself? Your own thoughts turn against you, run rampant. So I've started playing extremely loud music till I can't hear myself think" "I'm sorry" I hear him mutter. "So sorry" I feel the coldness that had developed from all that time trapped with myself rise up. "Sorry? That's all you have to say?" I say harshly. "I. I don't know what else to say" Just as quickly as it rose, it sinks back down. "Sorry. Just a little upset" "I know, and you have every right to be. I know what this calls for! Adventure! Quickly, into the Tardis!" He starts running, and I give chase. We arrive in our yard panting. "Well, that was fun" he says. "You feel like visiting Vinyl and Rainbow Dash?" "Yeah. Lets see how they're doing" he unlocks the door of the blue phone box sitting oddly in the yard, and walks in. I follow him. No matter how many times I'm in here, it always amazes me how such a big ship can fit in a little police box. Tardis makes its usual sound as we move out of this area and go to wherever Dashie and Vinyl are, except it sounds a little off, almost sick. I'm not the only one who notices it. "She doesn't sound too good. Sounds almost like, indigestion? She's been sucking up all the ambient magic in this place, and it sounds like she sucked up a little bit of bad magic" the noise returns to normal. "There we go. Just gotta work it outta your system, eh?" He affectionately slaps the Tardis. "So where we going?" "Tardis tracked them to Manehatten, in a club. We're gonna set down in an alley next to it, and walk in. From there I have no clue what will happen" "Sounds fun" "And here we are. Right out those doors" he geustured to said doors. "You first" I walk out of the wooden doors, and step into the city lights. "Hold on a moment, it was day when we left. Now it's night" "Ah well, we only shifted a few hours. In fact, it was only 11 hours" I roll my eyes, and then walk onto the main street. I can instantly pick out which building to go to, as there's only one on this entire block with neon lights, and loud modulated bass seeping through the walls onto the dark sidewalks bordering it. The two of us cross the street, and stop in front of the bouncer. He's a large grey pony. Tall, and not too happy looking. "I.D.s, or your not getting in" I look at the Doctor. Neither of us have our wallets on us. He all of a sudden pulls a blank slip of paper out of his collar, flashes it to the bouncer, and then puts it back in his collar. "My opologies, sirs, right this way. Would you two care for a VIP section to be set up?" What the hell did the bouncer see on that paper? "Yes, we would love that. By the way, who would be DJing tonight?" Whooves says. The bouncer does a double take. "You don't know? DJ Pon3 and DJ D4sh!" "Oh, yes, I remember now. Thank you" "No prob. Right this way" He leads us to a slightly large booth on the second floor, overlooking the dance floor. "Yo, Wubs, take care of these two, K?" The bouncer shouts into te crowd "Ya sure!" Is shouted back. "Have fun" the bouncer says, then walks back to the door. A blue pony with vibrant red hair walks up to us "You two bruhs need anyding?" "Um, yes, hard cider for me" I say. "I'll have the same" Whooves says. "Alright, I'll be back" he walks back down to the bar, then returns with our drinks. I look at the Doctor, and he looks at me. "Physic Paper" he explains. "It shows people what I want them to see. I'm not sure what it was, but it worked" I nod. I take in the ambiance. The extremely loud, pounding bass is the first recognizable thing, almost making the entire building vibrate. And the how dark it is. There's no lights, except for a few lights in our round booth, and the neons, and one industrial light up on the DJ podium, where the hair of both Vinyl and Dashie stock out brightly. And then the voices of everypony here, so loud it almost blocks out the wubs. I see our man walking by, and so I try and get his attention. "HEY, WUBS!" I shout, trying to be heard over the noise. He hears me, and walks over to our booth. "What can I get ya bruhs? Already drank all yo booze?" He says with a slight smile. "Well, no, but I could use another hard cider. But before you go, I was wondering if the two DJs could pay us a visit at some point?" "Well, only one can come up at a time. Hoo yoo want?" "Bring up the Rainbow haired one" "Alrite! I see you like them yung ones, right?" He saws with a dirty smile. "No, it's not like that" "Alrite, wateva ya say, bruh. Hoo shud I say iz callin her?" "An old friend" "Ah, I see. Wanna stay hiddn, like a spy, rite? Wateva not mah biz. Shell be up soon, wit yur cider" "Thanks" I say. He walks down, up onto the podium, tells something to Dash, while gesturing to our booth. She looks up, but I'm well hidden in the shadows. He hands her a glass bottle of cider, and she walks off up to our booth. "Here's your cider, mister. Who are you, and why do you want me?" She asks curiously. "Hello Dashie" I say, stepping into the light. "High dad!" She says hugging me. "Welcome to club P0N135 > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Welcome to club P0N135, dad. What are you doing here?" My daughter asks me, almost like she doesn't want me here. "Well, I just thought I'd drop in and say hi!" I say, putting on a smile. "Well, hi" she says. "Anything else?" "What, don't want your old man around you when you're playing in some bad-ass club?" "Well, yeah. I've got friends here. I've got a rep" The coldness surfaces again. "I see. I'm guessing that's why you haven't made any contact?" "I've been busy, sorry" she says defensively. "Doing what?" "Well, traveling to different clubs, going to raves, that kinda stuff" "Do you even miss me?" "Course I do. You're my dad" I nod, and push down my coldness. Now isn't the time. "So where you guys staying at?" "Just a hotel. So how did you get here?" "Tardis travel with the doctor. So you need anything? Want to talk to him?" "Yea" she walks past me and looks at him. "Thank you" I exchange a look with him. He's just as confused as I am. "For what, exactly?" She gives him a look. "For saving us at Vinyls when those two strange ponies and Derpy came" "I haven't done that yet. Tell me exactly what happened" he commands. "Well, the memory's are kinda hazy. You and dad were there, and that this other pony blew up the wall. And Lyra almost died about a year ago" she explains. I look at the Doctor, and he looks at me. "To the Tardis!" We both shout in unison. We run out the front doors, our drinks forgotten, and rush into the blue police box. It's never our tears, That reveal our fears. Never the cries of the desperate, From which we try to seperate: Those who are in true pain, And those who use it for gain. Rather, it's he who fakes a smile, That has thought for a long while: About his life and, His all consuming strife. It's never the tears that measure his pain, But it is the constant smile he feigns. > Reconciliation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So how does this work?" I ask, gazing in wonder at the inside of the Tardis. "It moves through time and space, much like how a you can move through space when you walk. Time And Relative Position In Space. T.A.R.D.I.S. They were grown on the Timelord home planet. She's the last of her kind, just like me" he explains. "But how do you get to the right time and spot?" "Watch. We're going to one year back, to Vinyl's and Octavia's then current residence, correct?" I nod. "Then off we go!" He shouts, moving around the console bank, which is in the middle of the main room, with a central pillar in the middle. He pulls levers, works cranks, hits buttons, and I even think I saw him hitting something with a hammer at one point. As he works, he talks me through how the whole thing gets to where it needs to go. "Now, I can trust you with this, right? You aren't going to go off without me?" I salute with my right forehoof. "Yes sir!" "Good. And we should have arrived. And while we are in the correct general area, we may be a few blocks off, or"- he steps out of the Tardis with me -"we may be inside the very room we need to be in" I look at the scene around me. Four ponies, two stallions and two mares, who must have been deep in discussion, are now staring at this mysterious blue telephone box, and the two ponies who came out of it, that just appeared."Octavia, what just happened? Who are these strange ponies? And what the buck is that?" A lime green pony with a lyre cutie mark asks. The Doctor immediately starts talking. "Well, miss, I am the Doctor, and this is my new assistant, Mr. Dash. Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch should be here soon" "It's not miss, it's Lyra, please. And Doctor? What are you a doctor of? "Alrighty, then Lyra it is. And I'm not a doctor of anything, I'm just. The Doctor" he says, finishing with his trademark grin. "But that makes no-" Lyra is cut off by Octavia. "You said that Vinyl Scratch is coming back? And Rainbow Dash? But I thought she was dead. Doctor, what's going on?" "Climatic events are ahead. I can't say more, not without braking something. And anyways, could you all introduce yourselves? I am the Doctor. Don't bother asking 'doctor who' or 'doctor what', it's just. The Doctor. And this is my new assistant, Jason, A.K.A Mr. Dash, Rainbow Dash's father. All righty, now it's your turns" Octavia introduces her group. "I'm Octavia. This is Lyra Heartstrings" she gestures at the lime green pony, who has a white and green stripe mane, a lyre for a cutie mark, and golden eyes. "She's my cousin. This is Renegade Bass " she hoofs at the larger of the two stallions. He’s big, slightly larger than I am. He’s a pegasus. He is a dark green, and his mane is purple, with the tips died a neon blue. It’s spiked forward, so that it almost hangs over one of his eyes (which are a really bright blue), but its brushed away from the other side of his head, so I can see the expensive pair of headphones hanging around his neck.His cutie mark is a subwoofer. He nods at us. "And his little brother, Harmonious Synth" he's a smaller stallion, maybe a few inches shorter than I am. He’s a dark orange, a slightly uncommon color. His mane is medium length, and he doesn't have it styled or anything it’s just a plain bright yellow, with the tips dyed green. He looks around the room, and his eyes are a dazzling emerald green. His cutie mark is of a speaker. "And that's my crew. We've been looking for Vinyl Scratch. I kicked her out two weeks ago when she was still using drugs. I don't want her back in the house, I'm just really worried. I checked with the manager of the club she works at, she said she gave her some bits, she stayed for a while with Bass and Synth, and then one day she just left for a walk, and didn't come back. And so the four of us have been looking for her" The Doctor looks at Octavia. "Are you sure you don't want her back?" "I miss her, Doctor, I really do. It's just... She's got to get that this is serious. And this is the only way I can get her to realize that" "Oh, trust me. I think she'll be done with it. What she'll need when she comes back is a hug, and a welcome back. Maybe scold her a little, but not too much, alright?" She looks at him, when the doorbell rings. "Go. That's her" he says. She brakes eye contact, then runs down the staires. I sit down on a sofa, and the doctor sits next to me. > Judging Interest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jason steps into the Tardis, looking around in amazement. "No matter how many times I come in here, it is always mind blowing" The Doctor looks at him with a smile. "Over 900 years, and I still love it. Where to?" "Could I visit Vinyl one last time before we head home?" "Sure. You still remember my beginners lesson to flying?" "Sure do" Jason say. The two of them walk up to the console, and start hitting buttons seemingly at random. The central pillar moves up and down with the customary vworping sound...