Time Fracture
“You are 'The Doctor', correct?”
A light blue pony, with a similarly coloured mane, looked across the desk at the brown stallion. He had expected a little more from this legendary “Time Pony” but if the rumours were true, he wouldn't care in the slightest about appearance. After entering the building he had been surprised to find the stallion reclining on a couch and half-asleep. But in an instant, he had been up and rearing to go – eagerly requesting him to sit down.
“Some may call me that; others call me Whooves. The Doctor is fine, but who are you? Why are you here?” said The Doctor, his interest piqued by the new face.
The Doctor hadn't been expecting any visitors. Derpy was away and he generally didn't converse with other ponies. He preferred the peace and quiet, and was enjoying his vacation in Ponyville. But then this unfamiliar unicorn in his flashy suit turns up. A suit that almost surpassed his own. He had to know more.
“I prefer a pseudonym, such as yourself, actually. Call me...Xenos,” Xenos said whilst straightening his tie. “I am a resident of Canterlot and I have travelled to Ponyville in desire of your alleged abilities. Are the rumours true?”
Xenos finished his speech and recoiled slightly, having finally let loose the words he had practised many times. They were out in the open now; the game was only just beginning.
The Doctor paused, rolling his eye over Xenos, searching for intent. An unusual request as others, after hearing the tales, had usually left him alone, afraid to interfere with the raw flux of Time.
But this “Xenos” wanted something. He wanted it desperately and Whooves had no objection against hearing him out.
“Potentially. Tell me,” Whooves said, licking his lips and smelling adventure, “why would you require such a thing?”
This is it. No turning back.
“I would like to travel back in time; to a specific point in Equestrian History. Educational and Historical reasons only,” Xenos replied, the words falling a little too quickly out of his mouth. This bit had been the most rehearsed after all. The lie had to be upheld and this was the pivotal moment in the request. He had to act innocent and his words had to be appear truthful.
The Doctor leaned back a little, thinking things over. He had been expecting something slightly more exciting than that. Like an impending apocalypse on a distant planet, or that the Daleks had finally found a way to breach this land. Although, then again, that probably wouldn't work out all too well. Still, he could not accept the Canterlot pony's request.
“Sorry, but I cannot help you here,” he said bluntly. Time travel was a potentially dangerous thing and he was not allowing rides through it for no apparent reason. He could remember all too clearly what happened the last time.
Xenos started quivering, his vibrating limbs tapping lightly against the hard wood. He ran a hoof through his shiny, luminous hair and muttered something the other pony could not make out. The Doctor then gave him a concerning look, and was about to give a heartfelt apology, before Xenos spoke again:
“Please,” he began, his voice fragile, “you've got to help me.” He cleared his throat and dispelled the negative vibes, hiding them behind his relaxed complexion once more. He had expected his offer to be declined, but it still hit him emotionally. However, Xenos had come prepared.
Plan B.
“Please, I know it doesn't seem like much, but I am desperate to go there. I know this is a big thing to ask but I even brought something to help the cause,” Xenos said, bringing out a bloated sack of Bits and placing it on the table.
He slid it forward towards The Doctor who politely declined and pushed it to one side.
“I don't accept payment.” It wasn't that this currency meant nothing to him (as nearly all currencies did), but he simply didn't think it was ethical.
“Oh,” Xenos muttered, visibly disappointed.
Now what? He looked glumly down at the ground: his speech had run its course. He'd thought that it would be easy to reach an agreement for such a harmless request.
The Doctor studied him again, analysing the face which no longer made an attempt to hide its true feelings. It couldn't just be educational purposes, surely? There was something there; something the Doctor wished to know more of. Better go see what that is, eh?
“However, I have changed my mind. There's nothing wrong with a bit of education, right?”
The Doctor suddenly jumped to his hooves and a broad grin stretched across his face. Xenos was taken aback by the sudden shift in tone and it took a moment for it to sink it. As soon as it did, he made no attempt to hide his elation, and did not question the change in thought.
The Doctor had changed his mind partially because he was bored. You'd think that would be impossible, being a time lord and all, but it wasn't. He loved adventure and although this necessarily wouldn't be one, it would serve well as a good stop-gap to past the time whilst waiting for Derpy's return.
“So when can we go?” Xenos asked. His once composed visage was now energetic and eager.
“Right now of course!” It had been a slow day for The Doctor in the stifling heat. But he had no fears that he wouldn't be done and dusted in time for the evening, no doubt. Well, he was a Time Lord after all – he could spend as long as he liked.
“To what time are we going?” Whooves asked.
“Oh, about roughly 1001 years ago,” Xenos said casually, dismissing the date as if it meant nothing to him.
1001 years ago? That seems oddly familiar. But maybe I'm mistaken. It's hard to keep up with the timelines of every world. I might be getting muddled up with Earth, The Doctor thought as he led Xenos towards the back of his house, humming a little tune as he moved.
***
“I thought you were going to, you know–” Xenos' voice dropped to a whisper, “–do your thing.”
“I do many things. Time travelling especially,” Whooves said as he led the pony down the stairs, into his basement.
“But, can't you just cast a magic spell?” Xenos asked. He then noticed, with a touch of nervousness, that The Doctor did not have a horn. “Wait, what are you doing? Who are you?”
The earth pony chuckled slightly, noticing Xenos' suspicious looks at his barren head. “Just trust me, I think you'll like this.”
As they reached the bottom of the stairs they reached a fairly sized room. The walls were grimy and dust had settled across the floor, providing a musty atmosphere. However, the place was completely empty except for a strange, blue object in the centre. It looked oddly out of place: well cleaned and full of mysterious words:
“POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX”
“Don't question it,” Whooves said as Xenos opened his mouth, ready to speak.“This is where the real magic happens.” He smiled and proudly fished a key out of his pocket, before thrusting it the lock with considerable vigour.
The great wooden door swung open and Xenos was beckoned inside. Whooves waited casually by the door for the time to come.
It did.
Xenos staggered back out of the door, gasping. He then took a few laps round the box for good measure before finally opening his mouth to speak:
“Fascinating,” he babbled, “I have never seen magic of this kind before. How-”
“A story for another time,” Hooves cut across. He briskly moved inside the blue box and Xenos cautiously followed suit.
“But, just what is this thing?” Xenos said, carefully stepping over some protruding object as he marvelled at the box's architecture. It was small on the outside but ridiculously big on the inside: A rather elaborate disguise. The walls curved upwards into a dome and there was a number of contraptions on the floor. The technology was nothing like Xenos had ever seen before and, right in the centre of it all, was a tower. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling and there was some weird substance inside – some sort of strange magic. There was an array of levers and buttons at the base but they were flashy and colourful; nothing like the kind you would normally find in Equestria.
If the first thing you told Xenos was that this thing could time travel, he would have most likely believed you. It just seemed so alien.
Was it even Equestrian?
“Just call it the TARDIS. I would explain what that meant but it wouldn't make much sense to you. You okay with this all?” The Doctor called from by the magic tower.
“Honestly? No. But I'll have to make do for now.”
“Good to hear! Now let's get going!”
Xenos just clung to the railing and watched as The Doctor fiddled with a few dials, before bringing a lever sharply down.
“Allons-y!”
***
“Right! Here we are: 1001 years ago!” announced The Doctor proudly after the blue box stopped shuddering. Whooves had yet to visit Equestria's past himself, and was quietly hopeful that something interesting would pop up.
Xenos let go of the rail and gingerly walked over to The Doctor, his legs wobbling.
“Oh, that was a pretty straight forward trip. One of the better ones I've had,” The Doctor said, noticing the disorientated pony.
Xenos mumbled something through the vertigo, and waved his hoof, beckoning to the door. He was keen to know whether this machine had worked or not.
“Calm down, I'm getting there,” Whooves muttered as moved to unlock the door of the TARDIS. “Right, let's see what we have! Oh and before we venture outside, be sure to leave anything from the future back here.”
Xenos nodded and brought out the bag of Bits before placing it on the central hub.
Doctor Whooves flung the doors open and instantly took a hoofstep or two back. They were not in a house like the one they left–understandable as Ponyville may have not been founded then–but it was not the location that bothered The Doctor: it was the sky, and it was as dark as ever.
He double-checked his watch and saw, disbelievingly, that it was definitely the morning. What was going on?
“Xenos, umm, what did you want to see again?” The Doctor asked. Maybe it was some natural phenomenon that occurred back in this time. A solar eclipse, perhaps?
But Xenos was already cantering towards the door. The Doctor sidestepped, not wanting them to collide, before calling out:
“Hey, where are you going!”
Xenos ignored him and made his way for what looked like a forest in the distance. The Doctor took a few steps out and got a proper view of where he was. It was all unusually dark but, perhaps even stranger so, the sky over the forest was constantly being punctured with thunder. The Doctor racked his brains and tried making sense of the situation.
Ponyville definitely hadn't been founded yet. That happened later when Celestia descends to this land.
Celestia! Now I know why this date seemed overly familiar!
The Doctor started to panic. He weighed up his options and wondered whether he should follow Xenos into the forest or not. The night was clearly a result of Luna refusing to lower the Moon. The light over the forest must be due to that being where the ancient castle of the Sisters was situated.
But was it moral to intervene and perhaps alter history? For just one pony...
Oh, how had I forgotten this date?!
What do I do?
***
Xenos charged along the forest path, searching for the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. He had spent quite some time researching the history of Equestria and its exact location, but was too afraid to actually find the thing before.
Thankfully, this had been a time where monsters weren't allowed to roam as freely in the forest and this made his journey a lot easier.
He skipped over the roots of trees and and hopped over a small stream – one that he knew became a large river in the present day. If his memory didn't serve him well, the flashes above the castle almost certainly would. Their magnitude and frequency had started to increase as emotions surged in the castle.
He had to hurry.
Reaching a rickety bridge, he paused for a moment, taking in the magnificence of the castle, before rushing along and up to the gate.
Unfortunately, there was an abundance of Royal Guards patrolling the area; mostly around the main gate. Xenos crept slowly around the side, concealed in the bushes. When he had made up some distance and was out of sight, he dashed from the foliage and up to the window of the hall. Peering through, he saw a room full of colour and in the centre, the Elements of Harmony themselves. From what he could see through the clouded-over window, there were no guards inside. He assumed they weren't allowed to come too close to the powerful artifacts.
Lowering his head and raising his horn, he fired a simple bolt of energy at the pane of glass. It shattered instantly, the sound lost in the thunder above. Xenos waited for the broken glass to settle before clambering inside the chamber.
And there they were: The Elements of Harmony. Now this was the bit he hadn't be able to plan. Just how do you use these?
Xenos took a step forward, providing his mind the proof he was making progress. However, a fierce cry pierced the air and he jumped a metre high in shock. Although there was nopony in the room, he could hear the voices of two, amplified by the hall somehow.
“Luna if you'd just see reason! They adore your night; it is simply not practical to sleep in the day!” a familiar voice loudly exclaimed. Xenos felt himself growing hotter as hate-filled blood pumped round his body, energising his hooves. He took a few more steps forward, eager to complete his mission.
Another voice rang round the hall. This time less familiar, but also distorted: “Oh really, sister? I can sleep whenever I want. Your subjects choose to follow your ways and neglect my night!
“They are not my subjects. They are ours, and they love us equally!”
“That's not the impression I'm getting. If they won't embrace the night then I'll make it embrace them!”
“Please sister, I beg of you, lower the moon!”
“NO!”
Xenos heard a the sound of a scream and it filled him with glee. For a moment, he forgot about The Elements – the scream was enough. Perhaps Luna would succeed anyway, without his help? No, he knew how history unfolded and he was here to change that. Celestia would never hurt him and his family again.
At last he reached the Elements and felt the power emanating from them. They knew that the connection between Celestia and Luna was being torn apart. Xenos ran his hoof over the stone, circular base and pondered what to do:
What do I do? Is there a way to harness their power? No, probably not.
Manipulate them? Again, unlikely.
How about deactivating them. Surely I can manage that?
Xenos raised his horn again and prepared another bolt of magic; he had no idea what spell would help the cause.
His decision-making was abruptly brought to a halt as the castle began to shake vigorously. Power surged round the area, the blinding rays of light arcing wildly off the walls.
Am I too late?
The light culminated at the opposite end of the room and a figure emerged from the glowing rip in space and matter.
Princess Celestia stood before Xenos. She paused for a moment, surprised that a pony had made it into this room. Even more so that he was not in uniform, and was standing alarmingly close to the Elements of Harmony.
She galloped forwards to the pony and the Elements. “You there, step aside, this place is too dangerous!”
Xenos didn't move. If he couldn't remove the Elements from the equation, he had to at least delay Celestia. Xenos turned around to face the onrushing Alicorn and launched the bolt of pure energy had been storing at her instead.
On almost any other moment in time and space, Celestia would have easily deflected the magic burst. But her concentration was purely on the Elements, and she had not expected the pony to turn against her.
The short blue beam hit her straight in the face and she reeled back, her eyes wide with shock. Celestia hit the ground hard; her hooves clanged against the hard floor. She looked up at the suited unicorn a few metres away. A tear rolled down her white cheek.
“Why?” Celestia asked, unsure of the response she would get.
Xenos finally looked down upon at the pony he hated most. “So you won't ruin my life.”
Celestia shook her head in disbelief – Why would I do such a thing?
“I love all my subjects. I promise that I will never hurt you, just step aside, please.”
But Xenos had seen the future and knew exactly what Celestia would do. At least, he thought he did. For his own intervention in such a crucial point in time, was causing reality to reshape itself, and alter the future.
“No, I'd rather have your sister rule this land. So that you will never have to hurt me,” Xenos said. He was in no position to throw away everything he had done to get this far.
Another ball of energy appeared at the back of hall before a similar figure made its way through.
Celestia turned to the figure before looking quickly back at the pony. “Please, you can't let this happen.”
Xenos was in awe at the new arrival and took no note of Celestia's request.
“Oh, Celestia. Did you really think you could hide from me?” the voice called.
Luna emerged from the light, grinning mercifully. Her once blue skin was now half-shaded black and one eye had become catlike and wide. Also, one wing was now greatly deformed and larger than the other. The corruption was near completion.
“Please,” Celestia repeated, her face full of fear, “you have to let me use The Elements.” She felt powerless and was petrified by the terror of her warped sister.
“Oh, is that your plan now, sweet sister? How so very kind of you,” Luna said, advancing on Celestia. Her voice now carried a more arrogant vibe and was significantly lower. “You were going to get rid of me? That's it isn't it!? Get rid of little Luna! Who needs her anyway?!”
In response to her own question, the transformation into Nightmare Moon completed itself with the blackness fully covering her fur. Now with a fully black coat, she fashioned a helmet out of pure darkness, and placed it on her head.
“Luna?” Celestia stammered.
“Luna is gone now. And you will follow suit!” screeched Nightmare Moon, her horn glowing vibrantly.
Celestia turned around and took one last look at the unicorn who had prevented her from using The Elements.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “For whatever I have done or will do.”
Xenos looked at her blankly and prepared one final quip. But Nightmare Moon got there first and unleashed all her power upon the Princess, enraged by her “betrayal.” The mist enveloped the Princess, relinquishing a scream from her lips, before her cries and body vanished into the night. The palace again rumbled; this time with such a magnitude, that cracks ripped through the ground and each window pane burst. Bits of rubble fell from the ceiling as reality struggled to cope with the huge upset of order. Eventually, it decided on a solution, and the world became still once more.
Xenos wondered briefly what had happened to Celestia; whether Nightmare Moon possessed the power to seal her in the Sun or not. Whatever her fate, he did not care. He turned to other alicorn and bowed gently, submitting his services to the Princess.
But Nightmare Moon wasn't having any of it.
“Who are you?” she demanded, her tone accusing.
“I am a pony who has come to pledge his allegiance to yourself, your highness.” In all honesty, Xenos was hoping to flee back to the magic box at the next available opportunity. His work here was done and with any hope, his life would be fixed back in the present.
Nightmare Moon however, was not satisfied. “Did you assist her?” she said, her temper flaring.
“No!” began Xenos incredulously. “I assisted you! Not her!”
“You dare doubt my power? I did not require any assistance, I assure you!”
Xenos was beginning to grow wary of the monster he had helped create. This hadn't how he had imagined things would go down. Also, he knew perfectly well that Nightmare Moon would not have won without his help.
His temper snapped. He had put so much effort into this, to help both him and Luna, and this was how she repaid him? “I thought you would be grateful I helped you defeat her!” He had thought that the legends were merely exaggerations, and that Nightmare Moon was just misunderstood. It looked as if he'd been wrong.
“I don't think I like your arrogant attitude, unicorn. I don't know who you are or how you managed to sneak in here but I think I don't want to see your face any longer,” Nightmare Moon said, smirking. Her horn glowed again and the mist reappeared, hovering in front of Xenos.
“But, I helped you...”
The mist began to wrap itself around Xenos. “I'll be the judge of that later. But now, I have to go address my beloved subjects!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed in delight.
A laughing mare of darkness was the last thing Xenos saw before the light blue mist fully obscured his vision, cutting out all his senses.
***
“I think I made the right decision.”
The Doctor walked back to the centre of the TARDIS whilst thinking the matter over. Where he had just been was a crucial moment in time – a vital pivot in Equestria's history. To fiddle with that would have simply been a stupid idea. He just hoped that Xenos' destiny was interwoven with it, and that he had always meant to return to this time.
Perhaps that's why he was so desperate to return to this age?
It left many questions unanswered but The Doctor was in no rush to ponder them. Just getting away from this place as quickly as possible was what he needed to do. He didn't like to boast, but he was an influential figure and for him to join an ancient fray between two great powers would be unwise.
Oh, and throwing the TARDIS into the mix too. Wouldn't want them getting their hooves on that.
“Bit of this, bit of that,” Whooves muttered as he flicked a few switches. “Right now, 1001 years back into the future.”
The TARDIS whirred into life, with that familiar sound, and was off in a flash. The Doctor leaned on the central hub and closed his eyes. With any luck, it would be a pleasant flight home.
After a few a moments, the walls of the time machine began to rumble. The Doctor shrugged it off – it was a common occurrence. In fact, he would be more surprised if there wasn't a little shaking.
The rumbling noise increased. Nothing major. Still pretty common.
The hull ripped open. Wait, what?
A huge shock-wave sent the Time Lord flying back into the curved wall of the TARDIS. Refocussing his eyes, he saw tears of light near the top of the TARDIS. They were waves of pure time energy.
Xenos had more than just “interfered” with the Equestrian timeline: he had torn it apart. Time and Space was struggling to accommodate for this huge switch in paths and the TARDIS was flying through the thick of it.
The Doctor leapt to his hooves and dashed over to the centre to inspect what the problem was. The lights were flashing on and off, the controls unresponsive. It was irrelevant anyway – to stop the TARDIS in the middle of this would probably disintegrate it completely.
The bag of Bits burst open via a ripple of energy and scattered its contents all over the floor. The Doctor raised his hooves over his eyes and was again thrown back by another jolt. He stayed on the floor this time; he had no idea what to do. Fire surged from the broken electronics and The Doctor cowered from the heat, shielding himself with his arms.
The TARDIS continued to boom around him as the walls were bent and twisted out of shape by the surging energy. Whooves just shut his eyes and covered his ears, willing it to end.
For once inside his own machine, he felt powerless.
After many revolutions and vibrations, the TARDIS finally stopped moving. Thankfully, it had ended up upright. The damage however, was catastrophic. Many systems had short-circuited and wires had been shredded. Although the fire had died down, sparks were still spraying from most electrical equipment and the fabric of the hull was still torn wide open. The Doctor was dreading what it looked like on the outside.
He got to his hooves and looked at the mainframe display. It was flickering steadily, but displayed the date he had been hoping to get to. However, the text was hugely distorted and glitched in places.
*knock knock*
The Doctor spun around and stared at the TARDIS door. “Derpy, is that you?” he called.
There was a moment's silence and Whooves took advantage of this to move readily forward.
“Stand back, darling. Let me handle this.” The Doctor heard muffled speaking from beyond the door of the TARDIS. That was definitely not the voice of his loyal companion, Derpy.
“Is there food in there mummy? I can hear it talking...”
The Doctor's blood ran cold and he instinctively took a step back, drawing a little chink of sound from the floor. He moved his hoof out of the way and saw that one of coins Xenos has brought, was beneath it. However, the usual pattern on the Bit was gone. There was now an image imprinted on the gold surface – an image that made the Time Pony's already stuck-up hair stand on end:
Nightmare Moon.
