Coco Pommel has a very important order to fulfill. She is making some very important costumes for a play. It's huge honor and opportunity for her first real job to be working for a theater. These costumes have to be perfect or at least complete by the time the play starts. It would be even better if the actors had time to rehearse in them before the play times begin.
The stress and excitement made her stay up late still working on the costumes when she heard something strange outside her window. Peeking outside Coco doesn't see anything at first, but there is definitely some movement in the night sky, especially these few strange stars. One of them seems to be coming closer, but upon closer inspection, it's not a star but a huge box flying straight at her with a light on top of it.
"A falling star would be better, you can wish on stars," sighed Coco, "oh well, back to work for me."
In the last second Coco snapped out of her sleep deprived insanity and dodged the object crashing through her window.
There are no words, this glorified magic wardrobe just flew through a wall and destroyed the dress Coco was working on. The big blue box thing seems to be standing up properly according to the words "Police Public Call Box" right above its doors.
This situation makes no sense for Coco, maybe it's a dream. Just as she thought that, the doors opened and a gray mare peaked out. She had a yellow mane and very unfocused eyes that seemed to look in both directions at once, they might be looking at Coco but that's hard to tell. What captured Coco's attention was a white shirt mare was wearing that had two question marks on its collar.
Coco stared at the mare expecting an explanation for what is happening in the middle of her workroom. The mare stared into space for a strangely long amount of time. Ignoring Coco, she disappeared back inside the box.
"Hey!" cried out Coco and ran inside the box.
Inside of the smaller box was a spacious white room decorated with white circles. In the center stood a a very sciency looking console unit. The unit had buttons, screens, switches and levers; plus there was a weird moving pillar in the center of all that. This console is probably what's keeping the unicorn magic that makes the inside bigger then the outside, thought to herself Coco. She also noticed a door open, from the other side came sounds of the mysterious pony running around making a mess and doing typical mysterious pony stuff, that is to say, no idea what she's doing in there.
The pony finally appeared and spoke with relief, "She's safe... am I?"
"Excuse me?" said Coco, trying to get the mare's attention.
Suddenly the mare gazed at Coco very intently and started circling the console unit. "Who are you?" she said.
Trying not to get trapped by the mare, Coco started circling the console as well. "I live here. Well, not here but out there. The place you... crushed into?" she noticed more features of the mare. She had a hourglass cutiemark and a hump under her shirt.
The mare's unfocused gaze began to focus on Coco and both eyes slowly started to look right at her, "How did you get inside the TARDIS?"
"The door was open?" said Coco, starting to sound less sure. Maybe she made a mistake and the mysterious mare should have been left alone?
"I know who you are and what you're doing here," said the strange mare with more emphasis on some words more then others, "You're a spy and you broke in here."
"What?"
"It's your perfect chance, to kill me right after regeneration," said the mare as Coco noticed herself being right next to the exit, "But you've failed, and this mistake will be your last!"
The crazy pony lounged at Coco as she tried to dodge. Coco somehow made it and ran outside the TARDIS. She left the room also, and slammed the door behind her. She then ran down the hallway and grabbed the stick she keeps next to her front door. With the stick at the ready she peeked inside the room where all the madness was happening. She saw the crazy mare completely destroying some sort of red flower by biting it and bashing it against everything while growling and taking down the rest of the workshop with it. Coco checked the back of her head and noticed that her favorite hairpin is missing.
Fueled with righteous anger, Coco ran into the room and started assaulting the mare with a stick. This made the crazy pony stop and even... start crying?
"H-how can you be so mean?" she asked with tears in her eyes.
Coco became even more confused and just then she heard ringing and banging on her door. This thing is the last thing she wants anyone to see. A crying pony in the midst of all the destruction in the middle of her room. She ran to the front door again to see who it is.
"What is it?" sing-songfully said Coco trying to hide the fact that there's anything weird going on here.
"Coco, are you alright? What are these noises? Open up!" said the voice from behind the door.
"All is fine so don't worry about anything. Go awa-ay!" No one would buy tha-at.
"Coco, open up!" tried the voice again.
"Go back to bed! Are you trying to wake the whole building! I still have a lot of work to do! Argh!" yelled Coco at the door and went back to check on the mare.
Coco peaked in the room and saw the pony calmly admiring one of the unfinished designs. Feeling being watched, the pony loudly exclaimed: "Yuck!"
"Please just go away..." said Coco on the verge of breaking down herself.
The pony looked at Coco and started to cry again. I'm the one who should be crying, thought to herself Coco. She walked up to the mare. "P-please don't cry." that didn't help. "Would you like some snacks?" the mare looked up and nodded. "Okay! Don't move!"
Coco ran back to the hallway, grabbed a new less favorite hairpin from the hats and bows closet, and went to the kitchen. After a few moments Coco came back with some milk and muffins. She gave them to the mare who promptly started stuffing her face.
With the last muffin was gone, the pony's pupils dilated and she dropped the empty glass of milk. As the pony stared into distance, or even infinity, Coco contemplated upon where her life was going.
"I know what I must do now," spoke the pony.
Coco watched helplessly as the pony ran back inside of its crazy box and started pressing buttons. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the most important thing," said the pony and stopped, "They call me The Doctor."
Clearly aiming for the big switch with a red ball on it, her hoof missed and she bashed a few buttons right next to it. Keeping the eye contact through the still open doors, The Doctor and the TARDIS started sliding towards the big hole in the wall while loudly leaving big scratches on Coco's floor. With full confidence intact, while taking another big chunk of the wall with them, The Doctor and the TARDIS fell ten stories down and bounced off the building across the street and continued falling towards the few onlookers down bellow. Coco stood quietly in what used to be her workshop while listening to distant screams of ponies and pounding on her door.
The room is a mess, pieces of rock, glass, and such are scattered all over the floor. The wall is missing and so are few of her things. This must be a dream, and if it's not, then this is the perfect time to finally faint from exhaustion.
Author's Note
INTRODUCING DERPY HOOVES AS THE SIXTH DOCTOR
And Coco as the pony equivalent of Peri
Out of the darkness comes a voice.
"Abnormal energy signature detected. This might be our chance. Find it!"
The strange voice disappeared and forgotten, in Commander Lang's mind.
Last night was a mess, some lunatic with a "box" went on a rampage and disappeared. Commander Lang collected statements from various witnesses who were on the scene, one of them even talked to the culprit. Most of them heard the object crash into Miss Coco Pommel's apartment then they saw it be pushed out of the apartment onto the ponies down bellow. Miss Coco Pommel says that it was not pushed but it moved on its own. If that thing actually hit somepony, then we would have a problem, but it disappeared before it hit the ground.
Miss Coco says that the "box" was operated by a strange gray mare who might be a pegasus. For her own good, that pegasus should show herself or else someone else would have to pay for the damages, and it's possible to build a case around what we have now. But if that other pony does exist, then it would probably never show up again. This is not a good situation for Miss Coco.
"Find it!
But then, it doesn't hurt to look harder.
After the TARDIS hit another building, the Doctor finally closed the doors and dematerialized. The TARDIS disappeared in front of the ponies it was about to crush into, and appeared in front of a bakery. She tried to run in, but the doors were closed. The time being around 4 or 5 AM, the Doctor ran screaming back into the TARDIS and used it to travel 4 hours into the future. In the morning the bakery finally opened and the Doctor went in.
From outside the bakery didn't stand out much, but it had a bagel shaped logo reading "Bagel's Bagels" on its sole window. Aside from that, it looked exactly like the other shops it was neighboring with. Inside was just the counter with the actual working part of the bakery behind it. The whole place was boring, two other two walls were white and empty. The floor was light-brown with line pattern on it. The place looked like it opened for its very first time this morning. The cashier was servicing a small line of unsuspecting ponies.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed the Doctor at the top of her lungs. So loud that the fancy bagel logo vibrated and everyone inside tried to duck for cover. "Excuse me."
The Doctor went back outside, got into her TARDIS, and traveled ten minutes into the past. She entered the bakery to try again.
"All the muffins! Give them to me!" she slammed her hooves on the counter.
"Hrm. We got only three left." replied the cashier lady.
Such insolence made the Doctor want to turn inside-out. She made a screaming motion without any voice coming out and calmed down.
"I will be back... In an hour! You will have the muffins!" she made it out the door "Be warned..."
The Doctor went back into the TARDIS once again and set coordinates one hour into the future.
Returning to the bakery, the Doctor jumped on the counter and struck a pose. "The muffins..."
"What is wrong with you?" genuinely worried cashier asked.
The Doctor slammed a credit card on the counter. "All the muffins... and you will never see me again."
The card reads: "Coco Pommel"
Using the card, she paid for the muffins and expertly copied Coco's signature that she saw on one of Coco's designs. The machine asked for the PIN number which she entered. Good children shouldn't ask where she got that.
Satisfied with the amount of muffins stuffing the muffin bag, the Doctor ripped off the dirty shirt she was wearing and threw it on the counter. "Tell your people, I'm back. Oh, hey! I'm a pegasus!"
In excitement the Doctor tried to fly out, but accidentally one sole muffin fell out of the bag. She saw it happen, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't have enough control over her body and had to helplessly watch it fall onto the floor. There was no chance that the floor was clean, and so the muffin was lost.
"No. No! Don't do this to me now. I need you!" No amount of begging or pleading could bring the muffin back from the uncleanliness at this point. With one option in mind, the Doctor grabbed the muffin and shimmied out the door backwards as the bakery patrons stared in confusion.
Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor carefully put the muffin bag on the floor and dove under the console unit with the damaged muffin. She removed a panel, jammed the muffin inside, and closed it back up. Relieved and with everything in place, it's time to go.
Pressing many-many buttons, she ran around the console unit. The excitement faded and she caught herself before pressing another button. Looking around she saw a bunch of things that weren't hers: a mannequin with an unfinished costume, pretty cloths, a chair, rocks, and of course the credit card.
"Perhaps; I was a little unfair with Coco. After all; if someone grabs someone else's wall rocks, they would get mad. Hmm." The Doctor kept being distracted by the pretty cloths mostly. Combining them with the unfinished costume she got an idea.
They broke down the door and found Coco laying on the floor amidst all the chaos. Empty shelves with their contents scattered around Coco with some rocks thrown in. Oh, and a wall was missing.
She was questioned about what happened and was taken to detention. She didn't care why they would keep her there so long after questioning, and if she did care, she probably would have went with it.
When she was allowed to go home, it was 5 in the evening. The sun was still up but it might as well be the next day. The apartment is destroyed and no one would let her stay there. She was going home just to get her stuff and then she would need to find another place to spend the night. One day of hard work was wasted and another spent in a police station. There is no time left to start over, the time was completely stolen by the Doctor.
Out of the many other ponies on the street, she stood out as the most depressed looking one. She was walking with her face so down that she could practically touch the ground with it. After wandering for some time, she found a bench and sat down on it. She let the time pass some more and lied down to rest as the sun started to set.
I just wanted to make something of myself, become a tailor, make dresses, but I can't do it. Suri said she'd help me but she only used me. I just worked and worked, and she only helped herself. She showed me the cruelty of the fashion world, everypony for themselves.
We were in a competition, we took advantage of a pony named Rarity and used her fabric. Well, I didn't want to, but I still made the dresses. Without her amazing fabric, Rarity had to make a new clothes line and she did, and she won. Too bad for her, she left to find her friends before she knew she won. Suri wanted to use this chance to trick Rarity into forfeiting her win and take the first place. I felt bad because Rarity is a good pony who cares for her friends. Suri wasn't a good friend of employer, so I told Rarity.
Rarity showed me that it doesn't have to be everypony for themselves and what generosity can do. Suri wanted to win and have everything for herself while Rarity helped everypony and they helped her back. I was the only one who helped Suri, but now I quit. After I helped Rarity, she helped me get a new job. Thinks were looking up and my new work didn't make me feel guilty because I wasn't hurting anypony. But I guess that doesn't matter, since that didn't stop somepony from hurting me.
The Doctor appeared and ruined everything. She crashed through my wall and ruined the costumes I was working on. I failed, I can never finish them all in time. If I can't finish this one job then no one will want to hire me anymore, because I'm a failure.
I could ask Rarity but she lives so far away and has her own work. I think we are friends, but I wish I had more friends. Maybe it's payback, if I was nicer before then maybe I had friends like hers that could help me, but so far the ponies I've met has been Suries and Doctors. I wish there were more Rarities in the world. Heh, maybe good ponies are a rarity.
Just then as she was thinking that, the wind picked up. There was a sound, a weird screeching-vrooming sound. Right next to her appeared that big blue box. I briefly became transparent as it struggled to come into existence, then with a sound like "DOOM" the screeching and the wind stopped.
It's doors opened and out came the most monstrous looking patchwork coat anypony has ever seen. It's hard to believe that anypony would wear that so it was easier for Coco's brain to process the coat but not the one wearing it. It was the Doctor, she stood on her hind legs and did a twirl to show off the whole thing.
It was a red frock coat with green thrown in there for some reason. Individual lapels were colored yellow and pink. Underneath, there was hiding a dark brown knitted waistcoat. Out of its pockets peeked out a neon-green watch chain. The "questionable" shirt was also underneath the waistcoat and around her neck she wore a blue polka-dot cravat. In her right hoof she balanced a colorful umbrella that she leaned on after doing the twirl. It was clearly the same gray mare with the hourglass cutiemark and this time her wings were visible.
"Do you like it? I tried to make something that you would make."
Coco's mind retrieved deep within her consciousness where she was safe from this madness. Her words found a way to reach her mouth and she spoke:
"...it used to be a dress."
"Really?!" the Doctor reacted in shock and disbelief "Doesn't matter now, it's not the plan anymore. Initially, I wanted to help you complete whatever you were trying to do there. To save time, I'm just going to pay you for damages."
Using the umbrella, she dragged a hefty red bag from inside the TARDIS and handed it to Coco.
"It's gold dust! Be happy, you're rich. Personally I don't really care about the money situation. Wherever I go, I'm expected to pay for things with something different. Even that bag has to be shaped into coins until it can be used for currency. Speaking of, I borrowed your card but that bag should be enough to pay off these muffins. Mmm, muffins."
Coco stared at the gold bag guessing what the Doctor was thinking.
The Doctor found a shop window and used it as a mirror to admire her own appearance.
"Ooh, so that's how it is. I think I'll keep the coat. But more importantly, look at all that! Do you have any idea how long it takes to uncurl all that hair? Or maybe that's how it was when I regenerated... The eyes! So googly-moogly!" she practically squished her face against the glass to take a better look, then took a few steps back to look at her full form.
"She’s all just harmony and wonder, higher than passions and the world, she rests, with her sweet shyness, under her beauty’s ritual abode; she looks around herself in silence: there’re no contenders here, no friends, our beauties’ circle, pale and blend, fades out in her dazzling brightness."
That made Coco turn her head.
"Well, now you can thank me." turned the Doctor her smug expression to Coco.
"For what!" angrily snapped back to reality Coco.
"I saved you, of course."
"From what!"
The Doctor visibly grew tired of the yelling.
"From the brain-eating parasite that was on your head." she tried to explain calmly.
Coco jumped up from the bench she was sitting on, run up to the Doctor, and turned her head. "This, brain-eating parasite?"
The slight pause made it sound like she could either be referring to the Doctor, or her hairpin.
"That's a hairpin..." said the Doctor, worrying about Coco's mental health.
"It is! You crashed! Through my wall! Destroying the most important order of my life! Ruining my life! Then you come back with "money" and expect me to just forget about this!? I want an apology! But more then that! ..."
The Doctor was barely listening. In the distance, there were ponies wearing golden armor running in their direction. The Doctor's instinct just kicked in.
"Yes. OK. I'm The Doctor. Goodbye." she ran to the TARDIS.
Coco's eyes followed the Doctor, then she saw the guards.
The TARDIS can fly, crash through buildings, and become invisible. If the Doctor makes it back inside, then she will be gone. If the guards catch her, she will have to pay. Pay for everything, for crimes against fabulousity and who knows what else she did. This is the only chance to catch her. This is it! No more Miss Nice Coco!
Coco tackled the Doctor, but they were both inside the TARDIS then. With Coco still grabbing her, the Doctor crawled to the console unit and flipped the red switch-lever, making the doors close.
The Doctor got up. "What are you doing?" she yelled, deeply outraged.
Coco shoved the Doctor as hard as she could. "Stopping you from ruining any more lives!"
"I don't understand what do you keep yelling about!" the Doctor raised her voice even more.
"I'm saying that I hate you!" barked Coco.
"H-hate me?"
The words didn't make sense and the thought that someone could hate The Doctor never crossed the Doctor's mind. Being the most beautiful and smart pony in the universe, this must be a mistake. This pony here must be thinking of her previous regenerations, but that's still a little harsh.
After surviving near-death, The Doctor regenerates into a new appearance and personality. From the Doctor's perspective, the opinion on each regeneration varies and this one is the best one, yet. Maybe Coco met a future Doctor who couldn't live up to standard of the 6th incarnation. Shame really, but getting this one must be like winning the lottery for the first time.
Being deep in thought, the Doctor didn't notice Coco flip the switch that opens the doors. As the doors opened, Commander Land ran inside the TARDIS. He was a great white unicorn in golden guard armor. He used his unicorn magic to detain the Doctor and he levitated her outside the TARDIS. To Coco's surprise, she was also grabbed by another unicorn and was carried outside outside. She wanted say something, but as soon as she exited the TARDIS her thoughts left her and she couldn't move.
The Doctor was trying to fight back and when she left the TARDIS she saw that she was not on the street anymore. Using magic or some other way, the TARDIS was transported to a big room with lavish interior. It was dark and cold, the floor was stone like in a castle. The walls were paved with decorated wooden panels and where there supposed to be windows, there were red curtains that stretched up to the high ceiling that was impossible to see. There were tables with candles on them that barely lit up the room. The room stretched out like a hallway and along each wall there were unicorn guards and also Coco who was copying them in attention. In the end of the hallway there was darkness.
Commander Lang put down the Doctor and joined the other unicorns next to the Doctor. Suddenly, she felt a horrible head-splitting pain and the room grew darker. She held on and heard a voice coming from the darkness.
"You have an amazing resistance, Doctor. Since you're still with us, you wouldn't mind me taking your spacecraft for me?"
The Doctor couldn't speak, the pain was so horrible that the voice was the only thing she could feel the presence of. Everything else in the room was disappearing into darkness. She couldn't tell if she was standing on the floor or floating, she felt like she was going blind and loosing the feeling in her own body. The pain was the only real thing now, and the voice was trying to come inside the Doctor's mind. Like a bulldozer pushing through the pain, the voice entered the Doctor's head through her skull.
"If you could just," CRUSH "help me out," CRUSH "you could be my pilot and fly me," SCREECH
With each word spoked, it felt like the voice got closer and closer, but the source was unseen. Trying to collect all of her willpower, the Doctor pushed back. The room became brighter and more detailed. In the end of the hallway there was something. It looked like a big blob or a slug creature sitting on a throne. It was still too dark to see everything, but it had arms and a flat face. Its big round eyes looked directly at the Doctor.
"Don't... take... the... ship!" forced herself to say the Doctor.
"I will" declared the creature.
Every unicorn's horn in the room started to glow and a magical aura enveloped the creature. By magic, it started to float towards the TARDIS and the Doctor.
Suspecting mind control, the Doctor turned to the Commander Lang and shook him.
"Look at it!" there was no reaction from the unicorn.
"LOOK AT IT!"
The throne room in Canterlot Castle was brightly lit with the light coming from the many stained glass windows. The long red carpet in the middle of the room led to the great golden throne on which Princess Celestia resided surrounded by banners. She was reading some very important scrolls in silence as the guards in the room stood in attention.
Princess Celestia put away the scroll she was reading and with the force from her great majestic white wings, she took flight. The guards bowed their heads as she made her away along the long red carpet. Her progression was interrupted by the doors at the end of the room exploding.
The guards ran in front of Princess Celestia and surrounded the doors. Among the door debris stood a strangely dressed gray pegasus with crooked eyes. The pegasus outstretched its hoof and shouted:
"STOP!"
Her voice was so loud that the whole room shook. The other guards fainted from it but Commander Lang kept standing. He shot a beam of magic at the pegasus but she deflected it with her body and without showing any signs of being hurt, leapt right up to Commander Lang's face.
"Look at it!"
With the mare being so close to Commander Lang's face, he decided to headbutt her, which was also useless as she didn't even react. With her eyes out of focus but still on Commander Land, she said:
"Turn your head."
Somewhere in his peripheral vision, Commander Lang could see Princess Celestia moving very slowly in the air. Even with intruder still in the room, the princess was moving toward the door, completely ignoring what was happening around her.
He finally turned his head to look at her, "Princess, what are you doing?"
"I said, turn your HEAD!"
Grabbing Commander Lang's face, the Doctor made him face the slug creature.
"One more thing..."
The Doctor pressed her forehead to Commander Lang's head and concentrated. Inside Commander Lang's mind, the image of Princess Celestia began to change. Her eyes turned black and her face gotten flatter. Out of the top of her head came out two antennae. Her mane disappeared and her body squished into a blob, leaving only a face that now looked at him. The blob's neck elongated and its face stretched towards Commander Lang's face. Before it could touch him, Commander Lang screamed and with using all of his strength he shot a beam of magic right at the creature's face.
As the creature got shot, the magic disappeared and it fell on the ground. The unicorns collapsed and the Doctor felt relief from the force that was scratching up the inside of her skull. The room stopped looking like a room and it became a dark cavern, the only source of light was the light coming from the open TARDIS doors. The Doctor looked around and she saw Coco still standing perfectly still. She grabbed her and dragged her back inside the TARDIS.
Inside the TARDIS Coco came back to her senses, the Doctor spoke first:
"That was unpleasant...are you alright?"
Coco nodded.
The Doctor walked around the console unit pressing many buttons and switches as Coco watched intently. Very soon, the Doctor opened the doors and outside looked like the Coco's half-destroyed apartment.
The Doctor stepped out and looked through the hole in the wall. It was already dark, there were no stars in the sky. There were ponies walking down the street somewhere bellow and behind many windows there was light. Somewhere down bellow the city there was a cavern with a giant dead slug in it, from space.
"I wonder, that creature wasn't from around here. I've never seen it anywhere in Equestria, it was probably from somewhere out there," the Doctor gestured to the sky, "Somewhere where snails, slugs, and gastropods herding among the fields of grass, looking for that one special muffin... I don't feel so good."
"Jaconda, and I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself." Coco snuck up behind the Doctor and pushed her.
The Doctor panicked as she fell onto the street bellow, but soon remembered that she was now a pegasus and used her wings to catch herself before hitting the ground.
Looking down she saw every pony that was on the street look up, and they all spoke:
"I am Mestor"
Doctor Dilemma Part Three
"Head... Hurts... Bad..."
Ponies swarmed the streets bellow the Doctor, and more then half of them had glowing horns. They started blasting her, she crashed herself through the nearest glass window to avoid them. Inside there was an earth pony who lunged at the Doctor as soon as he saw her. The Doctor grabbed a nearby lamp and smashed it into the stallion's face, with that as a distraction, she ran through the apartment and into the floor's hallway. The floor was filled with ponies who were leaving their apartments and the stallion from before was right behind her.
Staying close to the ceiling, she flew to the stairway door and went in. There she heard doors opening on every floor, there was enough space for her to fly straight up between all the stairs and she launched herself up as fast as it was possible, ignoring ponies who were standing on the stairs trying to shoot her or grab her in mid-flight.
On the very top she went through the door leading to the roof. Once on the rooftop she ran to the ledge of the building. Directly bellow her, who knows how many floors down, is her TARDIS. If she makes it there, she will be safe.
Looking at the city ahead of her she saw pegasi, one by one taking to the sky. She followed them with her eyes, and high above her she saw a gigantic swarm of pegasi almost completely covering the sky. They all came together and like a tidal wave crashed down towards the Doctor.
The Doctor leapt from the roof onto the adjacent building. The unicorns below were still firing their horns at her and so she crashed through another window. She ran through a room after room, kicking down doors, trying to get to the other side of the building. Then she felt the ground shake.
On the outside, the pegasi swarm changed direction from the apartment building it was targeting and crashed into the side of the building the Doctor was now in. Some crushed through the windows cutting themselves up and other crushed into the wall, the pegasi behind them kept pushing forward and squishing into already hurt ponies. The unicorns on the ground blasted the base of the building, with the force of the unicorns and pegasi, the building started to tilt.
When the Doctor made it through to the other side, the top of the building hit the building right next to it and glass rained from all the windows on top of her. She flew across the street into another building, as the other building crashed onto it. The top floors took most of the damage as the rest of the rubble fell on the ground, blocking the way she came in.
The Doctor hidden on one of the lower floors felt the ground shake even harder, and then everything was dark. One side of the building was completely totaled and the windows that weren't broken were covered by debris. Thanks to that, the Doctor was now in a completely dark room, but the other side of the building was fine so anyone could enter it from that side. There might even be other ponies nearby, but that's hard to tell in the dark and silence.
The Doctor's head hurt a little, she was a little bruised and felt little cuts on her head and face. The coat was big and sturdy enough to cover most of her body and protect her from most of the glass. She didn't feel the bruises going away, so the regeneration was complete and she was stuck like this.
"Feeling tired, yet, Doctor?" said the voices in the dark.
"Nah, I had worse, but maybe you can get me some water?" replied the Doctor.
"I can't figure out how to fly your ship and I don't think it would be easy to explain. It would be easier for us both is you just surrendered your mind to me."
"Maybe if you asked nicely, I would have helped you. If this is your attempt at asking me, then at least use the word, "Please"
"Don't mock me, Doctor. I have the whole city of Manehattan under my control."
"Then what's stopping you? Come and get me, I'm right here! And what happened with me flying you home, I can still do that if you agree to pay for the consequences of your actions."
"There will be no consequences-"
"There will be so! Your slimy trail is all over this mess, and if no one will punish you, then I will. I am The Doctor, a time-lord, I am the president of The High Council of Galligrey, if you think you can run then you have another thing coming!"
"You're going to use your fancy connections on me?"
"No, I will find you, and then you will wish I didn't."
"In any case, this whole mess is all your fault! When you attacked me, I had to retaliate. This destruction you caused, could have been averted."
Thinking back, Mestor used a very impressive form of mind control to get what he wanted. With that much power he could take anything he wanted and no one could get in his way, until now. That stunt with the pegasi was probably his attempt at reestablishing his power. He would never talk to someone who is weaker then he is. Is he afraid?
"How many died, Mestor?"
"I don't have time for this. Die, Doctor!"
The unicorns outside moved the rubble out of the way with their magic. The room the Doctor was in received some light. There were hoofsteps approaching from somewhere inside the building and the unicorns from the outside will soon be here.
"Die? Didn't you want me alive just now?"
"I will get what I want, while you sit still."
There were five ponies from whom the voices came. They entered the room and circled the Doctor. Three of them jumped, and the Doctor dodged. Two others tried, but their attempt was as useless and a lot less vicious then the ponies from the outside. Some of them were unicorns but they didn't try to use magic.
The Doctor avoided them and went outside through the path the unicorns cleared. They moved the rubble and turned what's left of the half-destroyed building to its side. All the unicorns were collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Some pegasi could be seen among the debris and some also fainted around where they all tried to ram the building the Doctor was in. Because of the dust, it was hard to see who was a corpse and who wasn't.
A pegasus fell right next to the Doctor and she looked up to see a big group of pegasi trying to stay in the air. Some were trying to hover in place, but they were loosing altitude as their wing flapping became irregular. Some just glided in circles, conserving energy. They all just looked tired and eventually would give up and fall right in front of the Doctor's eyes. She tried to catch a few, but there were just too many and she wasn't fast enough. The city lights lit up the whole scene of the falling pegasi.
Eventually there were no more pegasi left and the Doctor's head stopped hurting. All the mind-controlled ponies the Doctor passed on the street were laying on the ground with their eyes on her. She flew up and went to the Coco's apartment.
The lights were off, but the TARDIS door was open and a light came from inside. The Doctor peeked through the door and saw Coco. She was in front of the console unit, gasping for breath, periodically pressing random buttons to see what works, and when nothing happened she hit the unit. For a moment she gave up, hit the console and put her hooves up to her head. Without seeing her face, the Doctor heard her cry quietly.
The Doctor came in, leaned against a wall and said, "Hello."
Coco jerked away from the console unit, her face and hair was a mess.
"Yes, you! Show me how to fly this! Please! I need help!" Coco screamed at the Doctor, about to start crying again.
"No," said the Doctor.
"Do it! Or else I'll hurt you!" her face briefly lit with realization and she ran out, the Doctor followed.
"I'll Jump!" she stood next to the edge.
"And I'll catch her," said the Doctor.
She looked down over the edge, then at the Doctor; whose face didn't show a speck of emotion.
Coco broke down, hit the floor, and then punched it. Through snot and tears she took a deep breath and let out a wail.
"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?!" she crawled to the Doctor, "You should die, just die!"
Without daring to look into the Doctor's eyes, she started hitting her on the chest, "Die! Die! Die! I hate you!"
The Doctor took it, Coco kept hitting her and crying. The Doctor looked down at Coco and said, "...I'm sorry."
Coco hit her some more and froze, she looked at her hoof and then at the Doctor. She quickly turned around and ran out of the room. The Doctor watched, then went inside the TARDIS.
The TARDIS materialized inside a cavern underneath Manehattan. The doors opened and there was light. The Doctor stepped out and walked to Mestor's body. She looked down at his face and he was still breathing. He had a big bleeding wound all over the side of his face and neck. He pressed his hand to it trying to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop. His breathing was loud and erratic.
"...home ..." he struggled to say as he very slowly bled to death.
The Doctor looked down and said, "Not you."
The breathing stopped and Mestor died. The Doctor turned around and went to his TARDIS.
The room had walls of very light shade of brown. On the floor there was a broken wooden table with a broken red sewing machine, the chair was missing. Other things were scattered all over the room, almost everything she owned was there.
Coco washed her face and fixed her hair, she lay on the floor looking out the giant hole in the wall.
The wind picked up, screeching-vrooming sound, the box appeared. With a "DOOM" sound, the TARDIS materialized and the Doctor stepped out, closing the door behind her.
Coco turned her head away. The Doctor lied down and looked outside.
Without Mestor's control, the city became very loud. Outside there were ponies yelling and sirens were blaring. There was no more building across and there wasn't as much light as before, so more stars were visible.
"Breezy," said the Doctor looked at Coco, expecting a reaction but there was nothing.
She looked back at the stars and said, "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else... there's a pony crying."
Coco kept looking away.
The Doctor stood up and said, "I should have mentioned this earlier, but my spaceship is also a time machine."
No reaction.
The Doctor went on, "If you want, I could leave forever and you won't see me, or you could let me help you. I could give you all the time in the world you want, I could take you anywhere in the universe, and... also, I'm sorry."
There was silence, Coco took her time to think about it and when the Doctor started thinking about leaving she said, "Fine."
"You'll go?" said the excited Doctor.
"I just... don't know what else could possibly go wrong. This is rock bottom for me."
The Doctor pushed the TARDIS door open, stood aside, and gestured for Coco to come in. She sighed and went in.
The Doctor stood there with a grin on her face. The side of her eye caught something on the floor. It was a flower pin, almost like the one Coco wore in her hair but with less petals in it.
The Doctor pinned it to one of her lapels and went inside the TARDIS.
The TARDIS soon dematerialized and they were gone.
Author's Note
Next time: A Tale Of Redwall
