“Ugh.” Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day. She had woken up with a migraine and the way her head was pounding was making it impossible to study. To make matters worse, the painkillers she had taken earlier weren’t helping at all.
“That it,” she decided, “I’m using magic.” Her horn glowed and she felt her headache subside, replacing it with a drained feeling. She gave a sigh of relief.
“I should have done that sooner.” she decided, “I’d rather feel drained than be in pain. Huh, that rhymed.” Now that the head-splitting pain was gone, she turned her attention back to her books.
Twilight read for a few more minutes before the door to the basement slammed opened. Turning her head she saw Spike enter the main floor of the library, carrying something in his claws.
“Hay Twi,” asked Spike as he held out something for Twilight to see, “What’s this?”
“That’s my old fob watch,” Twilight replied with disinterest. “I haven’t seen this in years. Where did you find it?”
“It was in one of the boxes down stairs. I was cleaning the place up, like you asked, and it fell out of the box I was moving. It looked cool so I kept it out.”
“Yes, it is.” Twilight levitated the watch out of the dragon’s grip and examined it closer. “I have always found the designs on it interesting. It is a very good piece of craftsmanship.”
“Where did you get it?” asked spike.
“I’ve always had it,” replied Twilight. She turned around and put the watch on a nearby shelf. “I guess my parents gave it to me?”
“You guess?”
“Yeh,” sighed Twilight as she stared at the watch. “Mom and Dad told me that I had it on me when the orphanage found m…”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Spike. “You’re adopted?!”
“Yes,” said Twilight, turning around, a look of confusion adorning her face. “Didn’t I tell you that already?”
“No.”
“…Oh.” Twilight paused. An uncomfortable silence began building between them. Right before Spike was about to break the silence, she continued. “Ok. Well, now you know. I’m adopted. Shining is too.”
“You’re both adopted?!”
“Yes. As it turns out, Mom is infertile.”
“Dang, that’s rough,” said Spike, a look of sympathy on his face. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Twilight waved her hoof dismissingly. “They came to terms with it a long time ago.”
“That’s good,” said Spike. “Still, you look a lot like you mother. I never would have guessed you weren’t related.”
“Ya, we do look alike,” mused Twilight. “They were so surprised by the simularities that when they adopted me they got the doctors to give me a DNA test to see if I was some long lost niece they never knew about.”
“Wow, that’s pretty neat.” Turning his attention back to the watch behind Twilight he asked, “But to get us back on topic, why haven’t I ever seen you use that watch?”
“It’s broken,” said Twilight. “It has been for as long as I can remember. To tell you the truth, I’ve never really thought much about it before.”
“Did you ever think about getting it fi…?”
Spike was cut off as the front door slammed open. Rarity walked in yelling, “Twilight, Spike! Are you there?”
“R-R-R-Rarity.” Spike’s eyes glazed over at the sight of his crush, his cheeks turning red.
“Twilight, there you are darling.” said Rarity. Twilight could immediately tell by the grin Rarity was giving her that she wanted something.
“Hi Rarity,” began Twilight, “How are you doing?”
“Oh, I am doing just fine. But I'm afraid to say that I've come to ask a favor of you.”
“Anything you want, Rarity.” said Spike as he continued to stare dreamily at his crush. Rolling her eyes at her assistance’s behavior, Twilight turned her attention back to Rarity.
“Sure Rarity. What do you need?”
“Well,” began Rarity, “I just need to take Spikey-Wikey off of your hands for a few hours. You see I am all out of emeralds and I need his help to get more so that I can finish up my new project.”
“Please Twilight!” begged Spike as he threw himself in front of her. “Can I go? PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlea…”
“Alright, alright,” said Twilight, interrupting his pleading, “You can go.”
“Thank you, Twilight!” beamed Spike.
“I’ll have him back in a few hours. You won’t need to worry about a thing.” reassured Rarity.
“Alright.” Twilight watched as the pair left the library and then turned her attention back to the shelf. Once again picking up the old gold watch she studied the complex design on the front.
Shaking her head, Twilight set the fob watch back on the shelf and left the room. The beating was getting louder. Now that she thought about it, the beating always seemed to get louder when she was close to it. She had never really thought about it before. Then again, it was almost as if the watch wasn’t even there. She had that since she was a small filly, yet looking back, she could hardly remember it at all. It had always been with her, yet at the same time it never was.
“Stupid drums,” she said to herself. She had been hearing that beat for her entire life. It had its ups and downs, but it always seemed to get worse when she was near that watch. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t believe that it never occurred to her before that they could be related.
“That watch.” Twilight turned around and looked back into the room where the watch sat. Slowly, she walked back into the room and approached the broken fob watch.
‘The Time War… The Doctor… Tardis… The Drums… Can you hear them Doctor… We will burn together… Use my name, Doctor… BumBumBumBum… I will never stop…The Drums, the Drums, the never ending drumbeat… You’re too late Doctor... I am going to kill you… I AM THE MASTER!’
As suddenly as it started, the light stopped. A lavender mare stood in the center of the room, a smirk adorning her face. She casually tossed the watch she was levitating onto a nearby table.
“It’s good to be back!” she exclaimed as she turned to leave the room. “I cannot believe how long I was an, ugh, pony.” She shivered in disgust. The mere thought of how long that she was forced to be one of those creatures made her skin crawl. She could deal with being a mare, gender switches sometimes happens in regenerations, but to be a mere pony for twenty years! Yes, the Master felt disgusted. She felt a great deal of comfort feeling both of her hearts once again. They were beating in sync to the pounding of the drums in her head.
“Now, what to do next? Oh, I know,” The Master turned left and descended the stairs to the library’s basement. Once there, she began to pull out seemingly random objects from all over the cluttered lab.
“Really, this is going to be too easy.” Walking over to a table, she began disassembling many of the gathered components. “While she still makes my skin crawl, ‘Twilight Sparkle’ has gotten herself into a rather good position. The student of Princess Celestia.” Flipping down a wielding mask, she preceded to weld several parts together.
“Although I still think that her studies were pointless at best and moronic at wost. I mean the ‘magic of friendship’ really? I can’t believe she wasted her academic mind on something so stupid. Still, the magical abilities of this regeneration surpass that of any of my previous ones.” Carefully inserting the power core into her device, she charged it using her magic and then welded the hatch shut.
“Still, I’m going to have to find the Doctor. Or more likely, I’m going to have to make him come to me.” After adding the neutronic energy converter, she began to shape the focusing lens. “Either way, it is going to take a while. But that’s ok, because I’ve got a few princesses to overthrow and a world to conquer.” Turning her full attention to her work, the Master began calibrating the emitters and installing the magical biometric security feature.
“Aaaand done!” She examined her work, taking in the detail. “It’s not like my old ‘tissue compression eliminator’ but honestly, shrinking ponies to death was getting old. So I think a laser screwdriver will do just nicely.” The Master stopped her musings as she heard the front door slam open and then closed.
“Twilight! I’m back!” The Master smiled the dragon’s return.
“Lets see if I can get the fax machine to work for his new and improved Master willingly,” she said to herself. “If not, well its been a while since I last hypnotized somepony. I could use the practice.”
“Twilight? Are you there?”
“Spike! Get down here! I need you for something!” The Master didn’t even try to hide her smirk as the unwitting dragon descended the stairs.
==========+=========
Inside her room in Canterlot Castle, Celestia shivered as a feeling of dread wash over her. It worried her immensely, for the last time she felt like this was the very moment that Discord broke free from his prison.
“Not again,” she thought. “Every time something terrible happens.” She thought of when she had felt it right before her sister turned. “That was the last time I ever ignored those feelings.” Her train of thought was broken when her sister, Luna, barged into her room, a look of worry adorning her face.
“Sister!” exclaimed Luna. “Has thou felt that We have felt?” Celestia took in her sister’s appearance. She appeared distraught. As she looked into her eyes, she could even detect faint traces of…fear?
“Sister?” Luna’s voice broke Celestia from her trance. Regaining her composure, she replied to her sister’s question.
“Yes Luna. I have.”
“It doth feels as if an old enemy hath returned.”
“Luna, you’re speaking in old Equish again.” Luna’s eye twitched in annoyance at being corrected. Celestia had always found that reaction to be funny.
“Now is not the time for this, dearest sister.” Her annoyance was clearly visible in her voice.
“Agreed.” Celestia stopped talking as the intense feeling of dread returned for a moment before once again dying down to a feeling of unease. She glanced over to her sister to see that she had felt it as well.
“Tia?”
“Yes Luna?”
“Something bad is going to happen soon.” The look of worry on Luna’s face did little to ease the nerves of her older sister. “Our ‘feelings’ have never been wrong before so we know that something is coming. I must ask: Do you know what it is?”
“No, I do not.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Celestia paused at this question. Turning away from her sister, she walked over to her writing desk.
“We’ll do what we can do,” Celestia replied as she pulled out a blank piece of parchment. “Watch the night Luna. We will put the guards on alert. I shall also contact the Elements of Harmony.”
“The Elements, sister?”
“Yes.” Noting the curiosity on her sister’s face she continued. “The Elements have a tendency to get mixed up in the middle of things. They are going to get involved anyway, so we should at least prepare them.”
“Ah,” said Luna. “That makes sense.”
“Besides,” continued Celestia. “My faithful student has proven herself quite capable of dealing with threats. And on top of this, she is a genius. If anypony can discover what it is we face and find a way to defeat it, it is her.”
“Twilight Sparkle is a great mare.” Her curiosity satisfied, Luna turned to leave. “We shall contact our Royal Intelligence Agency. Hopefully we shall be able to find out what, or who, has returned. We shall return to thou when We have learned more.”
“You are using old Equish again.”
“Good bye, dear sister.” With that Luna left the room, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts.
“I have faith in all of us,” she said as she turned back to the letter. “Especially you, my faithful student. You have never let me down when I have truly needed you.” She attached her seal to the scroll and sent it. Knowing that Twilight was now aware of the situation, she turned to leave the room. There was still much to do and the task was a difficult one. She had to prepare to face an unknown threat that she knew was coming, but didn’t know when, where, or how it would materialize. At the same time she had to keep up the appearance that nothing was wrong. Yes, it was going to be difficult indeed.
“Whatever this threat is,” she stated with confidence. “At the very least, I can count on the ponies closest to me to stand with me against it.”
“Coming Twilight!” The Master turned to face Spike as he descended the stairs, the smirk still on her face.
“I’m here. What do you need me to do Twilight?” Spike looked at his surrogate mother. His expecting expression quickly morphed into a worried one as he got a good look at her. “Uh, Twilight? Are you ok?”
“Oh, I have never felt better.” Her smile grew, further unnerving Spike. “I need you to write a check list.”
“Alright Twilight!” Spike ran to the storage closet, relieved at the change of subject. He returned moments later, scroll and quill in hand. He prepared himself to make the checklist. “”All right, I’m ready. Go ahead Twilight.”
“All right,” she said, clearing her throat. “Title it ‘My Master plan (Abridged version)’.” She paused as the dragon scribbled down the Title.
“Got it. Go ahead”
“1) Remember who I really am. 2) Think of basic plan. 3) Create weapon. 4) Make sure assistant is on my side. 5) Keep up appearances. 6) Locate my TARDIS. 7) Take over Equestria. 8) Take over World. 9) Defeat the Doctor. 10) Take over the Universe.”
“Did you get all of that?” the Master questioned the stunned dragon. “Oh, and check off the first three things.”
“Wha… but… I…” Spike stared at his friend in shock. He found himself once again taking in Twilight’s appearance. She mostly looked normal. Her face still had on that creepy grin. However, unlike the maniacal smile she had on during the ‘want it, need it’ incident, it was a more calm, smug grim. He continued to look her over until stopping at her flank, gasping in surprise. “Twilight! Y-Your cutie mark!”
The Master turned her head and glanced at her cutie mark. It was still the starburst that she had before, but there was a difference. In the center of the starburst was the image of a drum being played with two drumsticks. The smile remained as she saw the familiar marking. “No matter how many times I regenerate that drum set remains.” With a sigh of delight she rubbed her hoof over the mark. “I missed you so much.”
“Tw-Twilight?” By now, Spike was sufficiently freaked out. Twilight Sparkle; the mare that was his boss, friend, and the closest thing he had for a mother; was acting like a completely different pony. It was scaring Spike, both for her sanity and his own wellbeing. He jumped when the mare violently turned her head to face him, a look of anger on her face.
“MY NAME IS NOT TWILIGHT!” The mare’s outburst caused Spike to fall backwards. He looked up in fear as Twilight walked forward until she was standing directly over him. Her teeth were clenched in anger as she stared him in the eyes. Slowly the look of anger melted from her face and was replaced by an eager grin. Stepping away from the still shaking dragon, she used her telekinesis to lift him onto her back. Spike, still in shock, did not try to resist her. She then turned and ascended the stairs leading out of the basement. “I think that I need to bring you up to speed about a few things.”
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
The Master walked into the study, closing the door behind her. Placing Spike on the ground, she turned and walked to the table where she had thrown the watch that morning. “You know, I have you to thank for this. Even though the perception filter was greatly weakened, I still never would have been able to see past it without you, if for no other reason than that I had lost it. If you hadn’t found that thing in that mess we call a basement, I don’t think I would have ever gotten back to my old self.” Picking up the watch, she turned back to Spike. “And for that, I thank you.”
“I-I don’t understand. What happened to you?”
“Well, you see,” began the Master. “Twilight Sparkle isn’t real.”
“What?” Spike was even more confused than he was before. Was she trying to say that she only existed in his head?! That he had made her up? No, that couldn’t be right. Everyone else saw her, so she couldn’t be made up. But if that wasn’t it, then what could she mean? Still confused, he said the first thing that came to his head. “But you’re right there. You have to be real.”
“Let me rephrase that in a way that you will understand,” said Twilight with a look of amusement on her face. “Twilight Sparkle was a disguise that was created to protect me from a horror beyond your comprehension. It was a disguise so perfect that even I forgot that it was a disguise. It was so perfect that I forgot who I truly was.”
Spike let the information sink in, and soon he realized what this mare was trying to say. “But if you’re not Twilight, then who are you?” Once again a grin formed of the mare’s face. She looked directly in his eyes as she eagerly spoke in a harsh whisper. Her voice was filled with an age old pride.
“I am the Master.”
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
The Master looked up from the scroll in front of her and glanced at the dragon still silently sitting in the center of the room, digesting what she had told him. Right after her little reveal, the Princess decided that now was a good time to send her a mail. Still, it was best to let Spike fully comprehend the situation before she sprung the next part on him. The part where he would help her achieve her goal of domination, willingly or not.
Turning her attention back to the scroll in front of her, she used her magic to break the seal and unroll it. She then began reading what the soon to be ex-princess had to say.
==== My Faithfull Student;
Something has happened. I need you and your friends, the fellow Elements of Harmony, to come to Canterlot at your earliest convenience. I will explain more when you arrive.
Your Teacher: Princess Celestia ====
“Well that was short.” The Master turned the page over to see if there was anything else. Finding nothing, she tossed the paper to the table and started pacing the room. “So, the old hag needs the Elements. This will be interesting. It also gives me the perfect opportunity to start the next step of my real plan.” She suddenly stopped her pacing as a look of disgust came over her face. “But that also means that I am going to have to pretend to be, ugh, Twilight Sparkle again. On top of that I’m going to have to work with her ‘friends’.” Shaking her head, she then let out a sigh. “O well. I guess sacrifices are going to have to be made.” Her external monolog was then interrupted by a voice.
“No.”
“Come again?” The Master turned to look at Spike. She had almost forgotten that he was still there.
“I’m not going to let you take over Equestria.” Spike had stood up and he gave the Master a defiant look.
“You really aren’t thinking this through are you?” Spike looked confused at the Master’s question. The Master simply looked bored.
“…What do you mean?”
“I mean that you aren’t thinking about the future. You think that by standing up to me will make you a hero or something, but the truth is that it won’t make a difference. In the end you will have accomplished nothing.” The Master looked spike in the eyes. She slowly started to circle around him.
“On the other hand, if you were to join me, you could make a difference.”
“What do you mean?” Spike’s voice was filled with confusion. The Master stopped right in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Well the first thing is that you could easily get Rarity.” Ignoring the flustered stuttering of the dragon, she continued. “She has always planned to marry a prince, and with me in charge you would become one.” That gave the dragon a pause. A real chance to be with the one he loves. A chance to be true royalty.
“You would also be able to protect the ones you care about and that is on top of everything you desire.” As Spike looked into the Master’s deep eyes, he felt the resistance he put up slipping away. She was offering him anything he could ever want. Why was he even trying to stop her in the first place? As the Master’s eyes continued to pierce into his soul, he heard a voice in the back of his head telling him to listen to the Master. The Master…is always right. He should…help her.
“I am the Master and you will obey me.” The Master continued to stare into Spike’s soul with her unending gaze.
“…Yes. I will do…as you say, Master.” The Master’s grin widened at that. Her hypnotizing skills were still excellent, and she had just obtained her first tool.
“It looks like I can check off number four from the check list.” She turned to leave the room. Stopping at the door way, she yelled back over her shoulder. “Spike, get us packed for Canterlot. I have to go tell our ‘friends’ that the princess needs us.”
“Of course. We’ll be ready to go by the time you get back.” With that the Master left the library, plans already forming in her head.
Alarms blazed as two ponies ran down a tight corridor, lights flashing all around them. Over a PA system a harsh synthesized voice cried out warnings.
“EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! SIXTY SECONDS TO SELF-DESTRUCT!”
“Doctor! We’re running out of time!” yelled the pegasus.
“Just keep running! We’re almost there!” yelled the earth pony.
The pair turned the corner, and there at the end of the hallway was an out of place blue box. Upon seeing it, the two ponies sped up.
“THIRTY SECONDS TO SELF-DESTRUCT! ALL DALEKS ARE TO INITIATE EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!”
Throwing open the door, the two ponies ran inside. The pegasus slammed the door shut behind them, as the Doctor ran to the controls in the center of the machine.
“Now would be a very good time to leave, Doctor!”
“All ready on it, Ditzy!” The Doctor began to furiously press buttons. The TARDIS slowly vanished, barely escaping the destruction of the ship around them. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that was a close one.”
“You said it.” Ditzy tiredly walked over and collapsed next to him. “I vote that next time we get off the ship before we blow it up.”
“Heh, deal.” Picking himself up, the Doctor started manipulating the various buttons, switches, and other such devices that control the TARDIS. “Well we’ve just saved the First Great Intergalactic Equestrian Empire from the Daleks. So where do you want to go next?”
“Lets go somewhere where we don’t have to save the Universe, run for our lives, or make difficult moral decisions on problems that were solely caused by the greed/fear/stupidity of certain ponies. After these last few months, I badly need a vacation.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his head, remembering the many incidents that his companion was referring to. Now that he thought about it, those seemed to happen often. Much more often than he liked, or even thought possible. Looking at his exhausted companion, who was currently sprawled out on the floor with her eyes closed, he decided that it would be as good a time as any for them to get some good old R&R.
“A vacation it is then!” The Doctor began to think of vacation spots. “Judging by the way you look, I’m guessing that you want to go somewhere that doesn’t require much physical activity.”
“That would be nice,” grunted Ditzy from her spot on the floor.
“O, I know! How about Razzican-six. You’d love it there. The entire planet is one big resort. They have every vacation activity known to the galaxy! Anything you want, the razzicarians will get it for you.”
“Anything?” Ditzy had at this point picked herself off the floor, and was listening intently to the Doctor’s words.
“Anything.”
“Even a, um…” She trailed off as she tried to think of something. “A… twelve foot tall muffin?”
“Yes! That’s an easy one. Come on, I know you can think of something better than that.”
“O-Ok. How about a… pandorian full body massage? While you’re under water, and watching a movie at the same time?”
“Of course!”
“I-I made that up.” Ditzy stared at the Doctor in disbelief.
“That’s not made up. I’ve had one of those before. They’re quite good.” Ditzy stared at the Doctor for a few more moments before shaking her head.
“Alright then, lets go!” The Doctor smiled at his companion’s enthusiasm. Keying in the destination, the TARDIS gave its signature ‘wurr’ as it slowly faded out of sight.
“What?!” The Master searched for the voice that had broken her out of her trance, and found that it belonged to Rainbow Dash. She forced on a smile and turned her attention the annoying mare. “I’m sorry, I spaced out. What was it?”
“We’re here.” The Master looked out the window of the train and saw that the train had indeed arrived in Canterlot.
“Would ya’ll hurry it up? The Princess said she needed to see us as soon as she could.” The Master nodded in agreement with the farmer, eager to get this done as soon as possible. At that, the group departed the train and headed to the castle.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
“Your Majesty!” Princess Celestia looked up from her work, just now noticing the guard who had entered.
“Yes sergeant?”
“Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony have arrived, and they are requesting an audience with you.” Celestia gave out a sigh of relief, pleased that they were here.
“Send in Twilight Sparkle.”
“At once, your Majesty!” The Guard gave a salute and then left the chamber to retrieve the pony in question. Celestia was glad that her student had been able to respond so quickly. Running the country left little time to investigate the mysterious threat herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the doors opening. She turned towards the open doors as they let in the subject of said thoughts.
“Princess, your letter said you needed to see me about something important.”
“I do Twilight.” Nodding her head towards a nearby sitting cushion she continued. “Please, take a seat. This will take a while.” Waiting for Twilight to take her seat, the Princess took a deep breath and began her long explanation about the situation and what she needed her to do.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
The Master browsed a shelf in the Canterlot archives. It had been over an hour since her meeting with Celestia had finished. After the meeting had ended, the Master told the other elements the abridged version of Celestia’s, mostly useless, speech. Not that there was much to tell anyway. The only thing that she really found interesting was that the Princesses were apparently psychic. After figuring out that they weren’t needed right now they all left to do their own things. After her ‘friends’ had dispersed, she had immediately headed for the Castle archives. Hopefully, the knowledge she needed to accomplish her goals were buried somewhere within them.
“That’s not how that happened at all!” Throwing the inaccurate history book over her shoulder, she grabbed the next book on the shelf. “Wrong! Wrong! WRONG! Who wrote these pieces of garbage?” Looking back at what she had already read, she sighed. In the past forty-five minutes she had read seven hundred and twenty eight books, and almost every historical account was wrong in some way, shape, or form. It was driving her crazy. She vowed that when she ruled the world she would kill all the writers for their incompetence.
“Oh come on! Clover the Clever was born in 904 B.B. not 900 B.B. How could anyone mess that up?” She threw the book onto the pile like the rest of the garbage that dared call itself literature. Picking up the next book, she continued her rant. “At least they… Hay, I did that, not her! Ugh, I hate it when ponies steal credit for my accomplishments! If that lying hack wasn’t already dead I would kill h…!”
Suddenly, she stopped flipping through the pages of the book she was on. She stared at the page for a minute, taking in its words. Slowly a cruel smile creped onto her face and she uttered the word she had been dying to say since she had got there.
“Perfect.”
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Within one of the many unused guestrooms in Canterlot Castle, a blue box slowly faded into existence. The doors of the TARDIS swung open and two ponies jumped out. The Doctor turned to his tired friend and, with great enthusiasm, announced their arrival.
“Welcome to…” The Doctor stopped himself as he took in his surroundings. He Looked out of the balcony onto the city below. “Wait a minute. This isn’t Razzican-six.”
“Doctor,” Ditzy groaned as she brought her hoof up to her face in exasperation. “Not again.”
“Well, this isn’t where we were trying to go, but we might as well look around while we’re here.” The Doctor turned from the balcony and headed for the door of the Guestroom they had hijacked. As he walked to the door he turned to his companion, and found her laying on the king sized bed. “Are you coming, Ditzy?”
“No,” his exhausted companion mumbled from here place on the unbelievably soft bed. “I haven’t slept for three days. So I’m just gonna stay here.” A loud yawn escaped her mouth as she snuggled up under the silk blankets. Seeing that his companion wasn’t coming, the Doctor headed for the door. “Oh well. I’ll just have a look around myself. Good night Ditzy.”
"Go nigh.” Seeing that his companion was already completely out of it, the Doctor quietly closed the door and began his investigation.
“Oh Ditzy,” thought the Doctor. “I really drive her ragged a lot, don’t I? I have to remember that these ponies aren’t Time-Ponies. They can’t keep up with us.” Pausing at an intersection, he decided to take a right. “As soon as I take care of whatever brought the TARDIS here, I’m taking her on that vacation.”
Pausing at another intersection he thought for a moment. “But I guess the real question is, why DID the TARDIS bring us here?” the Doctor softly asked to himself. “This appears to be Canterlot Castle, late-industrial period.” Glancing at a painting of Princess Luna on the wall her continued. “Probably right after the return of Luna from her banishment.” Continuing straight down the hallway, the Doctor continued to verbally gather his thoughts. “Isn’t that when Ditzy’s from? Hay, she could go check up on things at home while we’re here. She’d like that.”
“Halt! Who are you, and how did you get in here?!” The unexpected voice snapped the Doctor out of his thoughts. A guard was standing in front of him. He did not look happy to see him.
“Sorry, lost in thought. What did you say?” The stallion in front of him appeared to grow even more irritated by his question.
“I told you to state your name, intentions, and how you were able to get in here. This area is off limits to tourists.”
“Oh, that makes sense. What, with this being the Canterlot Castle VIP guestrooms and all. Wouldn’t want somepony just waltzing up and stealing something from somepony important now would we?”
“Sir, don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Oh yes, sorry. I’m the Doctor!”
“Doctor who?”
“No, just the Doctor.” The guard continued to stare with a look of neutral suspicion. After a moment, he continued.
“Alright ‘Doctor.’ Why don’t you tell me how you managed to get in here.”
“Oh I just hopped through the time vortex. Well, actually it’s a lot more complicated than that. You see, time isn’t a… Oh, never mind. It’s a lot of complicated wibbly-wobbly timey-wimy stuff. Really, I’m just passing through. You see, I was on my TARDIS, which stands for ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.’ It’s my time machine/spacecraft/ect. Wait a moment, where was I? Oh yes. I was on my TARDIS with my companion Ditzy; she’s a pegasus. We had just saved your future, you’re welcome by the way, and so we were going to this resort planet called Razzican six for some much needed rest. Lovely place, have you ever been there? Oh wait, of course you haven’t. I’m getting off topic again. Ok, we were going to Razzican six when suddenly we arrived here instead. I’m trying to find out what caused us to end up here.”
“…Sir? Are you ok?” The guard nervously looked around him, realizing that he was alone with a crazy pony. A crazy pony who had somehow broken into a heavily guarded section of the castle.
“Oh I’m doing great! Thank you for asking.”
“You need to come with me.”
“Ok, lead the way.”
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
“You know, when I asked you to lead on, I didn’t expect you to lead me here.” The Doctor was sitting in a cell. The guard that brought him there was standing outside. “Though, I probably should have expected it.”
“Now you just stay here while I go find out where you came from.” The guard turned to leave, happy to get away from the incessant ramblings of the insane pony within the cell.
“Can’t promise anything!” yelled the Doctor at the guard’s retreating form, earning him a few annoyed grunts in return. The guard exited the dungeons, the door clanging shut behind him.
“Well that was a setback.” The Doctor reached back and pulled out his sonic screwdriver and set to work on the cell’s lock. “Not that anything can keep me in for long.” The lock clicked open. “There,” said the Doctor as he walked out of the now unlocked cell. “Now lets get back to business.”
Pushing open the door at the end of the hall, the Doctor found another guard. Thankfully for the Doctor, this one was sleeping on the job.
“I forgot how lax security was during this period, not that I’m complaining.” The Doctor quietly slipped by the napping guard and exited the castle dungeons.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, the Master exited the archives. Her saddlebags were filled with books. Walking past the guards, she headed to her old room.
“I can’t believe that I ever used to take so many of the things those books say as fact.” Some of the ponies she passed noticed her muttering under her breath, but they didn’t think too much about it. They were used to the eccentricities of Celestia’s personal student. Muttering angrily under her breath was rather tame compared to most of the incidents the obsessive unicorn got involved it.
“It is nice to know the truth again. Then again, it’s nice to no longer be one of these mortal equines.”
“It is nice to see you again Miss Sparkle.” The Master ignored the guard that was holding the door open for her and walked through the open doors into the residential area of the castle. The guard that had opened the door watched her pass with a look of confusion. “She always says hello to me.”
“Oh get over it,” said the guard on the other side of the doorway. “She’s just in one of those moods.”
Turning a corner, the Master was soon out of earshot of the guards. “Didn’t say hello? The fact that he would get upset over that is pathetic.” Pausing at a large common room, she looked at the various ponies lounging around. “Then again, most of these ponies are pathetic.” Entering the room, she made a beeline to the door on the other side, ignoring the friendly greetings from the various ponies who live in the residential wing.
Tuning out the world around her, the Master reviewed her next step. While the list that she had made her tool write had simply been a joke to reveal who she was to the dragon, one of the steps, specifically the one where she found her lost TARDIS, was an essential part of her plans. It was the main reason for her little trip to the archives. She didn’t know where her TARDIS had hidden itself, but she hoped that she could find clues in the archives.
“Ok, think. I stole a TARDIS to escape the hell that was the Last Great Time War. I then used the onboard Chameleon Arch to change myself into a pony to keep t-them from finding me.” Shaking her head, she forced the terrifying memories of the war back. The last thing she wanted to do now was to remember what her home had become. After regaining her composure, she continued.
“Then, the TARDIS dumped me off at the West Canterlot Orphanage, and hid itself somewhere, with no way for me to find it.” By then the Master was gritting her teeth, her rage barely contained. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t done anything to make sure that she could find that blasted machine when she regained her memories. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Chameleon Arch used up one of her regenerations to turn her into a filly. Granted she was delighted with how much power she now had, but that wasn’t the point!
“Hello Twilight!” yelled a brown stallion as he ran past the fuming mare.
“Hello Doctor.” Yes, that wasn’t the point. The point was tha…wait…. “Doctor!?”
The Master spun around and starred in shock at the retreating earth pony. She continued to stare as a trio of guards raced passed her after him. It took her a few moments after they had turned the corner before her brain started working again.
“No No No NO!” she yelled as she began running towards her room. “What is HE doing here!? I haven’t done anything yet! I am not ready for him to get involved!”
Coming up to the staircase to the next level, she paused. “Wait a second. I can teleport! Why am I running!?”
The Master’s horn glowed with magical energy and she disappeared, only to reappear in her room three floors up. Throwing her books on the table she began to pace around the room. “Alright, think think think! He doesn’t know that you’re the Master, if his reaction towards me is anything to go by. That means that he still believes that I’m Twilight Sparkle. That’s good… But what is he doing here!? He never comes here!”
She suddenly stopped pacing as a realization came to her. “If he is here, then that means that his TARDIS is close by.” A cruel smile slowly formed as she thought of the implications. “I am going to have to work quickly. I still have a great deal of things to take care of, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
She walked over to the door, a plan quickly forming in her head. “I can’t reveal myself to him yet. I still have too much to do.” Pausing at the door, she checked to make sure her laser screwdriver was securely hidden on her person before throwing off her saddlebags.
“If he’s here, then that means that he’s here for whatever that ‘mysterious threat’ that Celestia was going on about is. That pony would do anything to help anyone. Thankfully for me, dealing with it should keep him here for a while.” Thinking of a location, here horn lit up as she prepared to teleport again. “That’s still not a lot of time, but I’ve always been good at improvising.” Her horn was glowing brightly; magic was beginning to leak out as the spell fully charged. “I’m going to have to find out what he knows soon, but first, I have a few ‘tools’ to acquire.”
“Quick, he went this way!” The Doctor waited as his pursuers ran past the closet he had hidden himself in. Opening the door, he caught the tail ends of the guards as they disappeared around the corner.
“I just can’t ever get a break, can I?” Stepping out from his hiding place, he took a look around to get his bearings.
“I’m at the kitchens,” he noted. “So that means that I need to go… wait. Where am I going?” It had just occurred to the Doctor that, as usual, he didn’t have a plan. He had just been wondering around, hopping that he wound run into whatever it was that made the TARDIS stop here. He probably should go talk to Celestia. If anyone knew anything, then it would be her. And at this time of day he would probably find her in the throne room. Now with a plan, the Doctor set off to find the Princess of the Day… and in doing so collided with the Princess of the Night.
“Oofff!” yelled the Doctor as he tumbled backwards. He looked up at Luna, who appeared to be staring at him in shock and disbelief. “Terribly sorry, Princess. I wasn’t watching where…”
“The Doctor,” Luna interrupted his hasty apology. The malice dripping from her voice startled the Doctor.
“Um, what?” He nervously looked up at her face, and instead of seeing the carefree Princess she had been the last time he had seen her, three hundred years in the future, he saw her displaying a look of pure burning hatred. Specifically, hatred that was being directed at him.
“Um, Princess?”
“My immortal nemesis.”
“What?!”
“YE SHALL PAY FOR THY TRANSGRESSIONS AGINST US, FOUL DOCTOR!” screamed the enraged Princess. The intensity of the Royal Canterlot Voice threatening to knock the Doctor back down. She reared back onto her hind legs, wings extended, her eyes glowing with powerful magic as an unnatural wind began to blow in from behind her.
“A-alright then,” nervously said the Doctor as he began to slowly back away from the furious princess. “I’ll just be going then.”
“DO NOT THINK THAT THOU MAY ESCAPE OUR WRATH!”
“Gah!”
====+====
“YE SHALL PAY FOR THY TRANSGRESSIONS AGINST US, FOUL DOCTOR!”
The sound of Luna screams shocked Celestia out of her thoughts.
“Doctor,” she mumbled to herself. “If he’s here, then then he can hel… wait… Oh crap, Luna!”
Jumping up, she raced towards the sound of Luna’s yells, desperate to find the Doctor before her sister can catch him.
“Don’t you dare let her catch you Doctor. I still need you.”
====+====
“YE SHALL PAY FOR THY TRANSGRESSIONS AGINST US, FOUL DOCTOR!”
“Well Luna found him much sooner than I expected.” Without a moment’s pause, the Master knocked on the door leading to her destination.
“Come in!” At the voice’s approval, the Master entered the lavish office. Inside was a Unicorn behind a large mahogany desk, his horn visible above the enormous stacks of paperwork that covered its surface. “Sorry, but I’m pretty busy. So unless it’s important it will have to wait.”
“Blueblood, we need to talk.”
“Twilight?” Blueblood peered around the sight obstructing paperwork. “I didn’t know you were back in Canterlot.”
“I got back earlier today,” said the Master. Her eyes wondered to the large map of Equestria pinned to the wall behind the prince. “I need your help with something.”
“Of course! I could use a break anyway.” Glad for the distraction, Blueblood stepped out from behind his desk. “So what do you need?”
“I need you,” she began. Taking out an old photograph from her bag and handing it to the prince. “To help me find this.” Blueblood looked at the photograph. The image was of low quality and it hurt his eyes to look at it. But he could still make out the blurry image of a large, blue box-like object.
“What is it?”
“That is none of your concern.”
“Ok. Well, did you try looking where this picture was taken?”
“It’s not there.”
“Well, I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’d like to help you, really. But… well,” he began, glancing back to the menacing stack of paperwork behind him. “Even if I did know where to start looking, I don’t really have a lot of time to do much of anything right now. Sorry.”
“Oh I know that.” Grabbing back Blueblood’s attention, she continued. “But, as a member of the royal family you can give me some of the guards to help me look for it.”
“But that would mean even more paperwork,” he whined. “I’m not my Auntie. I can’t just give other people control of guards without going through the proper channels.”
“Oh man up. It’s not that much.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to deal with the bureaucracy.”
“Blueblood…”
“That isn’t the only thing. There’s also the issue of it being a waste of Guard resources. It could be anywhere. So unless you know where to start looking it’s only going to be a wild goose chase.”
“…Blueblood!”
“Yes. Wha-Hugh!” Blueblood felt his breath leave him as his joints lock into place. Twilight was now staring at him, and she did not look pleased. He tried to turn away from the sight, but found himself unable to move at all.
“I need your corporation in this matter Blueblood. Do you understand?” Blueblood felt himself nod. He didn’t know why. Everything was getting so hazy. The longer it lasted, the harder it was to… to t-think.
“Good. Now, there are a few things I need you to do for your new master.”
====+====
“DO NOT LET HIM ESCAPE!” roared the infuriated lunar diarch.
Not risking a glance back, the Doctor continued to run. At some point, Luna’s body-guards had joined the chase, and they had tried to, abet unsuccessfully, box him in. The fact that he was still able to keep one step ahead of them surprised even himself.
“What did I ever do to you?!” he yelled back.
“DO NOT THINK THAT YE CAN CONFUSE US WITH THY PLEAS OF IGNORENCE! THOU KNOW’ST WHAT CRIMES THOU HATH COMMITED! AND FOR IT WE SHALL VANQUISH THEE AND CAST THY SOUL INTO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF TARTARUS!”
“Why am I getting in trouble for something I haven’t even done yet?” The Doctor turned another corner in an attempt to lose his pursuers. The chase then ended abruptly as a door flung open in front of him. He felt a powerful magic grab him and drag him inside, quickly closing the door behind him. Outside, he could hear the frustrated screams of Luna and her guards as they raced past his unexpected hiding spot.
“Well Doctor,” chuckled a very familiar voice behind him. “I see that you’re keeping yourself out of trouble.” Turning around, the Doctor saw the last pony he expected to see.
