Dr. Whooves- Parallel Complications

Not only was the Doctor reuniting with old friends, but soon Martha would too. In the universe the Doctor finds himself in now, a calm had come, but the storm was only just beginning.

***

The Doctor’s Universe

Colonel Hutchinson decided not to argue with Martha, and Martha was on her way to the lab. Upon entering she walked straight to the dimension cannon, beginning to mess with the controls.

“Dr. Jones, what exactly do you intend to do?” Dr. Presnell asked.

“Get help from people who will have more information than us,” Martha replied. After changing a few more settings, the machine began to hum loudly, and she grabbed a yellow button to put around her neck.

“Dr. Jones, if you’re going to jump, we’re confident you get there but we know for a fact you won’t be able to come back. We haven’t been able to figure that out yet.”

“Don’t worry, the people I’m visiting can get me back,” Martha said, and pressed the button, disappearing into thin air.

***

The Pony Universe

The Doctor’s jaw dropped, and he raised a hoof. Not only was it impossible for River to be standing in front of her, but she recognized him? Had she seen him like this before? “How did… you know it’s me?” he asked.

“Of course I know. Despite not knowing why you look like that, your face is unmistakable,” River replied, resting her rifle on her shoulder. “Every time I show up to say hello, your face is a unique mixture of confusion, excitement, fear, relief, anxiety, and just a hint of arousal.” She winked.

“Nice gun,” Jack commented, smiling. “You sure know how to shoot it.”

“Oh, I don’t know that face as well as I know you, Doctor, but I do know that voice. So this is where you’ve been, Jack?”

The Doctor had secretly hoped the fact that Jack and River met was a lie.

“Yeah, you know, being a pony sounded fun, a little vacation from the archaeology work,” Jack replied. “But, before we talk more, who’s with you?”

The second figure that had stepped out of the ship came from around the other side, rifle still at the ready. “Everything’s clear,” she said.

The Doctor’s jaw dropped again. “Samantha!” he shouted in excitement, his face bursting into a smile.

Samantha’s first thought was confusion. The creatures that had been fighting off cybermen were all ponies. And now one just talked. But even though the voice was different, the eyes… what she’d heard River say… “Doctor?”

The Doctor ran up, and Samantha smiled widely, knowing now that it was him. She knelt down on one knee and the Doctor threw himself into a hug with her, wrapping his hooves around her neck.

The two held each other for a moment, then split apart, and the Doctor placed his hooves back on the ground. “How long has it been for you?” the Doctor asked.

“A couple months,” Samantha replied.

“It’s been longer than that for me… I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I’m just glad to see that you’re alive!” she exclaimed in delight. “But… you’re kind of a…”

“It’s a long story, one that just got even more confusing because you didn’t turn into a talking pony the moment you got here,” he replied.

“Let’s tell the story when we’re not fighting for our lives, then,” Samantha said, chuckling.

“Everyone, this is Samantha, the one I traveled with up until just before arriving here,” the Doctor said as he turned back around to his pony companions. “And I’ve also told you stories about River Song. This is her.”

River gave a smile and wave. “Nice to meet you. I’ve never met talking ponies, but I’ve met stranger creatures.”

“Now River, you personally know Jack, and Samantha, you at least know of him,” the Doctor continued. “He’s that one there. This is Paige. She’s been traveling with me for a while, has a fantastic curiosity for new things and is brilliant on top of that.”

“Sounds like a good companion,” River said as Paige blushed. “And who might you be? You seem to have the same little tattoo that the Doctor has.”

“That’s Minuette,” the Doctor said, taking a deep breath. “She’s a… time lord.”

Samantha and River gasped. “Doctor…” Samantha began, at a loss for words.

“I’m no longer the only time lord,” the Doctor breathed.

River knew what another time lord meant to the Doctor. She felt incredibly happy for him albeit confused as to Minuette’s origin. “You have a name?” she asked, surprised.

“It’s not my real name,” Minuette answered. “But I found myself in a new life, so I decided to take on a new title.”

“Fair enough, nice to meet you as well,” River said. “Well Doctor, I quite like you as a pony. If you intend to stay like that I just might have to buy a saddle.”

“Get in line,” Jack said. The Doctor buried his face in his hoof. He really wished these two had never met.

“Anyway…” Samantha chimed in. “Doctor, regardless of what’s happened to you, we’re in the middle of a cyberman fleet. Where’s your TARDIS?”

“Our guess is cargo bay 1,” the Doctor replied. “We need to move before more cybermen arrive here. We can’t take down an entire ship of modern cybermen alone, hell, we’d be dead by now if they weren’t scared of their inability to upgrade.”

“I can set my ship to self destruct,” River said. “But the question is, how do we save the planet below? Blowing up my ship will only destroy the ship we’re on right now.”

“I don’t know… even with you two here to help me now, this force is too strong…” The Doctor knew how to bluff a plan, but that would only delay the cybermen, he needed a way to destroy them.

“We’ll let’s start with this ship,” River said. “Figure out the rest later.”

River turned to go into her ship, and everyone followed. When River stepped in, however, she noticed a blinking light on communication. “Someone’s trying to reach us,” she said.

Samantha moved to the communications console and turned on the channel. A female voice came through. “This is the Equestrian Union, broadcasting on an open channel. Does anyone read?”

The Doctor waved at Samantha to let him talk. He moved up and pushed a button to start sending communication two ways. “Hello, this is the Doctor, and the Equestrian Union is in great danger. You need to-“

“Slow down, Doctor, that’s just the voice I wanted to hear,” the female voice replied. “This is Admiral Ruby, commander of sector 5 of this galaxy. I’m down on a planet right now with a good number of unidentified alien ships in orbit, and they’re not friendly. I take it since you’re here you’re helping the fight?”

“Yes I am, I’m doing everything I can- Captain Ruby? Well, now Admiral Ruby? That’s you?”

“Yes, Doctor, I got promoted. Thanks for your letter, by the way, but since you’re here I can give you a little more than just my thoughts. These creatures have started to teleport planetside and are attacking cities. I’ve got ground forces scrambling and holding them back, and a dozen of the fleet’s finest ships five minutes out at maximum warp.”

“Ruby, you’re a lifesaver!” the Doctor shouted, jumping for joy. Paige smiled widely too while everyone else felt slight confusion, not knowing who this voice was.

“But Ruby, listen to me,” the Doctor went on. “The only reason you’re even capable of fighting them right now is because they’re slightly wounded. The program they use to analyze and adapt to weaponry is malfunctioning, but they’re repairing it as we speak. If they finish, the only way to stop them will be to blow up the planet you stand on. We have to destroy them before they become unbeatable.”

“Oh good, I didn’t think they were hard enough with their super speed, super strength, and weaponry twice as advanced as ours,” Ruby said sarcastically. “We’re taking heavy hits down here, but we’ll hold them off and defend this planet. Anything else?”

“Yes, I’m on one of the cyber ships, please have your vessels on approach avoid shooting it, this one is being handled,” the Doctor told her.

“Which ship are you on?”

“You don’t know who I am, but I’m a friend of the Doctor’s,” River said, approaching the mic. “Just tell them not to shoot the one with a giant gaping hole in it.”

“Whoever you are, good going,” Ruby replied. “Doctor, I don’t know if this is the fight Paige’s letter spoke of or if there is more to come, but regardless, good luck, and know you are in our thoughts. Daniel and Luke’s thoughts too. Admiral Ruby out.”

The transmission cut off, and River moved to immediately begin the self destruct procedures for the ship.

“I’ll set the timers for 15 minutes,” River said. “That should be all the time we need to get to the TARDIS and get off of this ship.”

“ALERT. UNIDENTIFIED VESSELS ON APPROACH. ACCELERATE REPAIR OPERATIONS.” Everyone in the little ship jumped as a periodic alarm noise began going off in the bay after the loud voice chimed in.

“And it’s likely the only time we have before these cybermen become unbeatable,” River added. “Let’s move.”

“Could I get a bigger gun before we leave?” Jack asked.

“Do you have fingers?”

“Good point.”

***

Another Universe
Earth
UNIT Headquarters

Martha staggered as the flash of light around her eyes faded, and she found herself in a similar, yet different location from where she had been. She opened her eyes to find multiple scientists staring at her, ready to sound an alarm.

“My name is Doctor Martha Jones, I work for UNIT in a parallel universe,” she said, holding her hands up to show she held no weaponry. “I mean no harm, I’m just looking for information. I know this universe is more advanced than mine. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with the parallel universes.”

After a moment’s silence, a scientist stood up from his chair. “Dr. Jones, we are happy to help. We actually were just about to send two people to your universe to exchange information, but perhaps you could tell them yourself.”

Martha turned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Two people walked towards her. The first, a shorter female, with long blond hair. The second, a tall male, his hair spiked and stylish, with a blue suit and converse shoes.

“Rose,” Martha said, simply nodding her head.

“Martha,” Rose replied.

“Doctor?”

“Metacrisis one. Hello.”

“Right. Of course.” Martha shook her head, realizing her mistake. The man in front of her couldn’t be the Doctor she knew, but for a moment she thought he’d come back. This was the one that stayed with Rose, to learn how to live when not fighting a war, and to fulfill the love that the real Doctor could not.

“The Doctor. Is he alright?” Rose asked.

“He’s… fine,” Martha replied. “It’s a bit hard to explain. He’s in another parallel universe right now.”

“So the scale of the damage is as I suspected,” the Doctor replied. He turned, placing a hand on his chin. “Whatever’s happening is affecting countless universes.”

“I don’t understand, what is?”

“We’re looking at the possible end of all things.”

Martha froze. “What?”

“Listen, there’s not much time and you’ll likely be needed in your universe,” the Doctor said. “What we can show you is something that this universe’s UNIT has been working on.”

The Doctor, Rose, and Martha all walked across the spacious lab room, moving towards an array of computer screens that displayed various readings and energy levels.

“Thanks to this universe being ahead of yours, and the fact that it has me, we’ve been able to take extensive measurements on the fluctuations your universe is likely also experiencing,” the Doctor explained.

“That’s what we’ve been struggling with,” Martha said.

“Something large is happening within the void, something that I can’t even explain,” the Doctor continued. “But the fabric of space and time is tearing more and more. And it’s predicted that this will happen.”

The Doctor leaned down and pressed a view keys to pull up a simulated view of Earth in Space. A distance away from the Earth, a blue light appeared, then expanded lengthwise. The light then spread out to form a thin oval, in which no stars could be seen.

“When this occurs, all of reality will begin to collapse and fall into the void. Nothing will exist anymore,” the Doctor said.

“What can we do to stop it?”

“I don’t know.” The Doctor shut down the display, standing upright again. “Right now I’m just putting faith in the hope that the real Doctor is coming up with a plan.”

Martha did a double take after those words. “Why does this feel… familiar…” She couldn’t put her finger on it but the wording that the Doctor chose sparked some sort of reaction in her. She shook her head, leaving it for later. “I appreciate the information, but as you said my universe may need me,” she said. “I could use an upgrade on my universe jumper if you don’t mind, we haven’t figured out return trips yet.”

“If you hear any more from the Doctor, please, get in contact with us,” Rose said. The Doctor called over a scientist to have a look at Martha’s device.

“I will,” Martha replied. She looked down for a moment. “I hope he’s alright.”

***

The Pony Universe

Everyone took a deep breath as they approached the door leading to what would hopefully be the next cargo bay. The alarm had subsided but the red light still flashed periodically, staining the colors of the room. River looked towards the Doctor, seeing the focus in his eyes, mixed with fear. She couldn’t say she didn’t feel the same; there was no time for the Doctor to explain anything that was going on. All she knew was the amount of temporal storms increased recently.

Thanks to River arriving, everyone had escaped hell for a short time, and had a moment to breathe. But the Doctor knew hell awaited on the other side of that door, and would already be here if there wasn’t a gaping hole in the cybership.

“Don’t stop moving, don’t stop shooting,” the Doctor said. “The moment we hesitate we’ll be gone. With how many cybermen we’ve destroyed they’ll assign more priority to us.”

“Good thing they don’t know there’s two more guns joining in on the party,” River said, smiling. “Let’s go.”

Samantha slammed down on the control to open the door, and River pulled out a surprise her jacket hid. As soon as the large sliding doors cracked open she rolled a grenade through the slit, and by the time cybermen closest to the door could see any targets they were blown away from the blast. She followed it up with taking the lead into the next room, immediately shooting down three more cybermen before she was forced to take cover.

Paige couldn’t describe the emotions inside her the moment she stepped into the next room, starting a battle again. She couldn’t think; there wasn’t time to. She moved, she shot out, she hid. Her mind had no attachment to what she was doing, she only thought of the Doctor as she dashed behind a crate.

Minuette and the Doctor came next, and Minuette managed to hit a cyberman up on a high rise similar to the one in the previous room. As the cyberman fell, she noticed a large “2” on the wall, and pointed it out to the Doctor. She didn’t have to say a word, the Doctor merely nodded in response, analyzing the threat level in the room. At least cybermen liked basic organizational designs. If this was the layout of two cargo bays, number 1 would surely be the next room.

All anyone could hear was the sound of blasts whizzing back and forth. Lean out, shoot, duck behind crates, repeat. At the same time all had to watch for the cybermen looming above them, who had a much better view. River had been right; the cybermen weren’t expecting two more weapons that were also more powerful, which kept them from pushing their assault forward. River pushed their attack forward, leading the way. She ducked behind a crate again as several shots came her way.

“Jack, get behind me!” River shouted, a plan forming in her mind.

“Where is this going?” Jack shouted back.

“Any other time Jack, I’d laugh!”

Jack did as told, moving behind River. Most of the ground floor of the bay was actually clear, and if just a few more cybermen dropped, the only ones left would be the ones on the high rise.

“I need cover fire, Jack,” River said.

“You got it, just say when.”

The Doctor caught sight of three cybermen that weren’t firing. They were looking at River, waiting for her to move somewhere more open. The Doctor quickly ran over to where Samantha stood. “Samantha, those three there, aim at them!” the Doctor commanded.

Samantha didn’t ask questions, she took aim. River began to move out as the Doctor activated his screwdriver. Jack began giving River cover fire as she pushed forward. Samantha’s weapon began to shake. The cybermen above took aim.

“Fire, Samantha!”

Samantha unleashed a blast supercharged by the Doctor temporarily modifying the weapon with the sonic screwdriver. The blast took out all three cybermen, and left a black, smoking mark on the wall behind them.

River successfully took out all but one cyberman on the ground floor with her advance, but noticed the extra loud blast. Now seeing the vantage point the vaporized cybermen aimed from, she turned back and nodded in thanks.

“Doctor and Samantha, together again!” Samantha shouted, reaching down a hand. The Doctor gladly slapped it with his hoof, but soon afterwards the two came out from cover, no longer hearing any shots.

“They just… stopped,” Paige said, lowering her blaster hoof and looking around. All the remaining cybermen weren’t moving, their arms had dropped to their sides. Faint sounds of blasts coming from outside the ship entered the now quiet room. Admiral Ruby was fulfilling her promise.

“INTERNAL SYSTEMS REPAIR COMPLETE. CALCULATING RANDOM FREQUENCY OF SONIC DEVICES AND POWER OF OTHER WEAPONRY,” a cyberman-like voice bellowed throughout the room.

The Doctors eyes widened. These were modern cybermen, and the only think keeping himself and everyone else alive thus far was their fear of damage, since they couldn’t upgrade. They just lost the only advantage they had.

“UPGRADE IN PROGRESS.” There were still 10 cybermen in the room, though at this stage one would be enough of a threat. The cybermen’s bodies rumbled, their systems upgrading themselves. Even River’s weapons would now be useless.

Time seemed to slow down for the Doctor. He knew he was pushing off the ground with his hooves, but it felt like an eternity for just one leg to lift. “Run!” He knew he shouted the word, but he didn’t even hear himself say it.

Everything continued to move slowly in the Doctor’s eyes as he moved forward. River sprinted for the switch, opening the door to another cargo bay. Inside were more cybermen, all upgrading, preparing to be unbeatable. And at the end of the bay: a tall, thin, blue box.

Samantha moved through first, then River, Jack, Paige, the Doctor, and Minuette. River snapped her fingers as she ran, opening the TARDIS doors. The Doctor had programmed the doors to respond to River as well. The cybermen still shook and ticked, but only seconds were left.

Samantha threw herself into the TARDIS, grabbing on to the door to make sure it stayed open. “Go!” she shouted, urging everyone to move.

One by one, the others jumped inside, moving out of the way then looking back through the doors for those behind them.

The only two left were the Doctor and Minuette. River looked around from inside the TARDIS, seeing the cybermen begin to move. “Hurry!”

The Doctor gave one final push with his hind hooves, but as his body soared in to the TARDIS, he heard a blast from behind him, and a scream followed it.

The Doctor tried to look back, forgetting to watch his landing, and crashed down on the TARDIS floor, going into a roll. He didn’t hesitate when his hooves found grip again, however, and in less than a second was up again and looking out through the doors. What he saw made him gasp.

Minuette had been shot, and was now on the floor of the cargo bay, barely moving.

The Doctor ran towards the doors, but River got in his way. “Doctor, you can’t go back out there. We have to leave-“

“NO!”

The Doctor jumped and hit River in the side, pushing her out of the way. He ran to Minuette, ignoring everything else. There were two crates very close by, and the Doctor quickly pushed Minuette between them, rolling her over.

“Minuette… no, no no no, stay with me,” the Doctor pleaded, putting a hoof on her cheek. Minuette coughed and opened her eyes, and the Doctor grew fearful as he examined her. “Stay with me Minuette… you and me… the two timelords in all the universes… we’ll make it through this…”

Minuette coughed again, looking into the Doctor’s eyes. “I’m sorry Doctor…” she said slowly, her voice fading. “I told you… I used my last regeneration cycle when I came here… it’s time…”

“No…” tears began to run down the Doctor’s cheeks, and he slid his front hooves underneath Minuette, lifting her up slightly, holding her head along his foreleg. “You can make it…”

“I can’t Doctor…” Minuette replied. “That kind of blast… my body won’t recover…”

“I was going to surely die once…” the Doctor said. “There was no way to regenerate. But someone saved me. She used all her remaining regeneration cycles, and that person saved my life… I’m already using regeneration cycles I shouldn’t have, I can save you-“

“No!” Minuette’s voice returned to normal for just a moment as she held up a hoof to protest, before the weakness taking over her body returned. She thought about what she had mulled over in Oliver’s house, and because of it she wouldn’t let him do such a thing. “No Doctor…” she continued, her voice low again. “These universes need you more than they need me… you have to go… but first… there’s something you need to hear…”

The rate of the Doctor’s tears increased, and he sniffed, his eyes beginning to squint. “Please…”

Minuette recalled what she had been told exactly. Now the time came that the Doctor needed to hear it. “I’ve said this to you once before when you needed guidance… but you won’t remember it… I don’t even remember doing it…” she began.

“I know your life must feel like a curse… I can’t imagine the pain you’ve accumulated in your life… so many people dying around you…” Minuette inhaled deeply, holding on long enough to finish. “But you have to understand something… you have to understand this or you will… destroy yourself… and it will get worse than ever. You… are… good. You… are good, Doctor. Regardless… of what happens… your heart… is good.”

Minuette managed to smile before closing her eyes, and her body went limp in the Doctor’s hooves. The Doctor couldn’t hold back anymore, and the tears became accompanied by loud sobs. He hugged Minuette tight, her words ringing in his head.

The Doctor was forced to look up as the ship moved from some sort of blast. He crashed back into reality, and though his sobs ceased, the pain still clearly showed on his face.

He gently laid Minuette back on the floor, but only so he could duck his head underneath her. With some situating and a strong push, he stood up with Minuette’s body draped across his back. He came out from the crates, no longer caring what happened to him, and walked to the TARDIS. He didn’t know how he avoided shots from the cybermen, but he didn’t care, and made it inside.

As soon as he entered, Samantha slammed the door shut. River began piloting the TARDIS, getting it off the cyber ship. Moments later, the ship exploded in a ball of fire, the self destruct unexpected enough to break through the upgrades.

Everything quieted as the TARDIS reached a safe distance from the fight, and the Doctor placed Minuette down, staring at her now closed eyes. There was no more room in his heart for tears, he desperately wanted to cry again but couldn’t bring himself to. Everyone else was circled around the Doctor, a short distance away.

Paige leaned into Jack’s neck, beginning to cry softly, and Jack raised a hoof to comfort her. Samantha just turned away, unable to look. She had only just met this pony, but knowing she was another time lord was enough for her to realize how important she was to the Doctor.

River slowly stepped away from the console, leaning down next to the Doctor and resting a hand on his shoulder. “Doctor… I’m so sorry…” she said, closing her eyes.

“She was the only connection to home I had…” the Doctor whispered, his eyes closing for a long moment as well.

“I know you don’t want to hear this right now, Doctor…” River continued. “But we have to move on. Although I still don’t know the full extent of what’s happening here, I know that this amount of temporal storm activity, the cybermen being in a parallel universe and having the ability to capture your TARDIS… and there’s something else we need to discuss…”

The Doctor held up a hoof. “I know…” he said. “But first… there’s a safe place in the TARDIS we can put her… please…”

“Of course. I’ll help you.”

***

The Doctor couldn’t shake the dead stare from his eyes. Minuette was locked away safely, and now all were back in the control room, trying to shake the memory away and focus on the moment.

River listened as the Doctor very briefly explained everything that was going on since time was short. Samantha listened as well, and both nodded silently when he was done.

“Now, what did you need to discuss with me?” the Doctor said.

“Back on the cyber ship…” River began slowly. “You didn’t take enough cover…”

“The cybermen had clear shots at you, and even tried to walk right up to you,” Samantha added.

***

15 minutes earlier

River shook her head and stood up after tripping from the Doctor’s push.

“There’s too many out there, he won’t make it!” Samantha cried out.

“We can’t go after him, we’ll die trying!” River replied. She ran to the console, turning the monitor on. Immediately a transmission came through.

“Doctor, are you there?” River recognized the voice as Ruby, the pony from earlier.

“The Doctor isn’t here, what do you need?” River replied quickly.

“Something has changed, the enemies on the ground are still weak, but the ships are no longer sustaining heavy damage, in fact they look like they’re repairing. The ship you pointed out is beginning to harm us, we need to take action.

“Please, we just need a bit more time, the ship will be handled. The Doctor is still on this ship!” She didn’t want to give away, or admit to herself that the Doctor may be dead at this point.

There was a pause on the other end. A blast hit the ship and shook it hard. “Please!” River cried out.

“I have ships pulling back. I’m taking the letter to heart and believing in the Doctor. We’ll keep this fight going as long as we can. You finish the fight that you need to finish.”

“Thank you!” River said, shutting of the comm. She began working controls, holding back the pain of her love likely being dead on the floor. “Please, don’t tell me if he’s dead, just say go. We need to get off this ship before my scout ship self de-“

“Wait…” Paige interrupted. “Look!”

River turned her look to the outside, and what she saw made her jaw drop. The Doctor had taken Minuette behind a crate, but there wasn’t enough cover. However, every time the cybermen shot, nothing hit them. A large, orange, transparent bubble shielded the Doctor’s location. Every shot that hit the bubble fizzed into nothingness.

“What?” River said to herself.

A cyberman zoomed across the bay at ultra-high speed, and stopped at the bubble, attempting to slam its arm down. The cyberman vaporized into thin air.

“How is that possible?” Samantha said.

Soon after, the Doctor came around from behind the crates, his face stern, Minuette on his back, clearly dead. The bubble stayed around him, following him with every step he took.

“But Minuette… isn’t casting any magic…” Paige said.

The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS. As soon as he entered, Samantha slammed the door shut. The bubble disappeared.

***

15 minutes later

“Strange…” the Doctor replied. His mind hid away his torment for a bit, and a look of puzzlement replaced it. This needed to be solved. “How was that possible?”

“Maybe it… was you,” Paige replied. “I mean, you’re not a unicorn, but Celestia has faith in you, and the creator thought you had the ability to defeat Chaos. Maybe…” Paige formulated the end of her thought. “Maybe this has something to do with how you defeat Chaos.”

The Doctor thought hard, realizing the only possible thing was that the shield came from him. But how? He was alone. His friend was dying… his friend…

The Doctor began having flashbacks, his memory putting the puzzle together.

“If you were to amplify the universe energy coursing through you, you could use it to defeat him.”

“How would I do so?”

“That, I cannot tell you,” the alicorn continued.

And even further back…

“I told them about the Doctor,” Martha said. “And I told them to pass it on. To spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor.”

“Faith and hope?” the Master replied. “Is that all?”

“No.”

The Doctor didn’t have a satellite system to tune into this time like in his flashback, when Martha had helped him defeat the Master and destroy the paradox machine, but this time many things were different. The magic in this universe… all of it suddenly began making sense. A spark twinkled in the Doctor’s eye, and he knew what must be done.

“All of you, I need you to do something for me,” the Doctor said, any trace of sadness now fading from his face as he became focused on the task at hand, realizing there was a chance. “I want you all to think about me. Don’t ask why, just do it.”

Everyone appeared confused, but agreed, bowing their heads, turning their thoughts to the Doctor. The Doctor turned his thoughts to those around him, remembering all the times they had shared, the good and the bad. Slowly, a gold aura began to form around him. The Doctor felt like his mind had opened up to an entirely new realm of possibilities. With more focus, and a bit of luck, the power that he felt could save everyone. If he made it on time.

The Doctor’s companions opened their eyes when they heard something strange, and all gasped at the golden aura around him. Jack had a similar flashback to the one the Doctor had, and his eyes widened. “Doctor, this is like…”

“It is,” the Doctor replied. The Doctor stopped focusing on thoughts of those around him, and the aura faded once more. “We have a chance.”

The Doctor ran to the console, typing a message as fast as he could. He sent it, and turned back to his companions.

***

New Vender
Planet surface
Emergency command post

Ruby had control over several of the hospital’s computers after entering a secret security code to temporarily transform a medical analysis room into a command console, observing everything and giving out orders as needed. She turned when she saw a message blink up on one of her screens, and read it quickly.

Ruby, this is the Doctor. This was faster than calling you. I have to go, but please, keep thinking of me, it’s more important than you realize. Spread the word. I am fighting to save everyone, but I need everyone to have hope I will succeed. I may never have the chance to explain, but I promise you I can do this.

Ruby wished she understood more of the message, but accepted it. While continuing to give orders to various ships, she began working on an audio message to all service members.

***

The TARDIS

“We can do this,” the Doctor said. His facial expression reflected his newly found determination. As much pain as he felt about Minuette, he took her words to heart, and they were helping more than he thought possible. “We are going to get back into the void, march into this evil being’s domain, and we are going to stop Chaos! Minuette’s death… will not be in vain.”

Everyone else’s confidence soared from the Doctor fueling it. This was the time to defeat Chaos, to finish it all. They all looked at each other for a moment, but were distracted by a sudden beeping coming from the console.

“What’s that?” River asked.

“The tracker that Minuette installed. Something is happening.” The Doctor pulled up the data, and his fear came back. “There’s a massive energy spike at Earth, 21st century. We need to go there now.” The Doctor set a target for a few minutes before the occurrence of the energy spike, and set the TARDIS in motion.

***

Earth
21st century
Planet’s orbit

The TARDIS faded into existence again, and the Doctor immediately began analyzing. “Everything should go back to the way it was if Chaos is defeated, but we can’t know for sure,” the Doctor said. “We have to take precautions and try to stop whatever’s about to happen.”

“What was the duration of the energy spike?” Samantha asked.

“Very short and very large,” the Doctor replied. “Something big is going to happen. I don’t know what he’s sending into this universe.”

The Doctor thought wrong. Nothing was coming into this universe. Something very different was about to happen.

The lights flickered and the entire TARDIS shook hard. The Doctor looked at the monitor again, and saw that they were no longer in the pony universe. They were back in his universe. And the pony Earth had come with them.

The TARDIS continued to shake vigorously, caught between the pony Earth… and the Earth the Doctor knew well. “We’re back in my universe!” the Doctor yelled. “And both Earths are going to collide!”

River made her way to the console, hanging on tightly. “I’m trying to do something… the pull between the two planets is too strong!”

***

The Doctor’s universe
Earth
UNIT Headquarters

Colonel Hutchinson nearly tripped as the entire building shook. “Report!” He yelled. The lights had gone off, and the emergency alarm lights were blinking repeatedly.

“It came out of nowhere, Colonel, it’s another planet! Similar to Earth!” a scientist yelled back. “The planet is 40,000 kilometers away and closing fast! On a collision course with our planet!”

Hutchinson slammed his fist down on a table. “We have no choice. I want project emerald online right now!”

“Sir, we haven’t tested it properly, we don’t know what will happen-“

“It’s our only option. Do it!”

The scientist silenced himself and nodded, sending the order to the lab. The device was so loud, they could hear it from the office they were in. Colonel Hutchinson closed his eyes, waiting for the moment of truth, his thoughts going to his family, just in case the planets collided and these thoughts would be his last.