Zero Room

"You heard me," stated the flight attendant. "I quit." To prove her point, she crossed her arms. Captain Stapely, the commercial flight pilot that the flight attendant currently was no longer employed to, scratched his head.

"I-I know, I heard," he replied. "It's just that...you haven't even started your job...and now you want to quit?"

"That's right," confirmed the attendant. A young girl dressed in velvet came up behind the woman and grabbed at her shoulder.

"But Tegan," she said, a confused look in her pale blue eyes, "isn't this what you've always wanted? Isn't this what we've been trying to get back to for months, just so that you can commence your job at last?" Tegan Jovanka listened to the girl's persuasion, but shook her head.

"I thought that's what I wanted," she said. "But...I think I've changed my mind." She looked behind the girl, Nyssa, and looked at a man standing there, his hands pushing back his trenchcoat and in his pockets. He too, was also confused.

"I want to stay with you, Doctor."

* * *

Ditzy Doo scrambled back through her door later that morning out of breath. She met her two daughters, who were sitting in the living room playing a game of checkers.

"Any luck, Momma?" asked Dinky, still remaining hopeful. The worn-down pegasus shook her head.

"No," Ditzy panted. "He didn't happen to come back?"

"Nope," said Amethyst, moving one of the board pieces. "You sure he hasn't just...left somewhere, mom?"

"He wouldn't just leave," said Ditzy. "It isn't like him to get walk out. And besides, his TARDIS is still here." She glanced over at the sleeping police box.

"Maybe the note on his box-ship means something, Momma," spoke Dinky, looking up from the game that was becoming slightly frustrating for her. Ditzy's ears perked.

"Note?" she questioned.

"It's nothing really, mom," said Amethyst before motioning her sister to hurry up with the next move. "It's just some weird word on the back, probably alien." The teen turned back to the game, watching Dinky put a red checker down. Ditzy turned her attention to the TARDIS, and she briskly trotted around the blue box. It was when she happened upon the back that she saw the grey, odd word.

"Hm..." Ditzy said aloud.

"Do you know what it says?" asked Dinky, neglecting the game and an annoyed Amethyst.

"That's the thing...I don't," said Ditzy, turning her head. "I haven't seen anything like this. I mean, strange stuff has appeared on the TARDIS before, but this is almost too strange."

"I think it's nothing to worry about," said Amethyst from across the room, who was clearly uninterested in the conversation or even listening to it.

"Never say nothing, the Doctor always says," Ditzy replied. "Something even this unimportant could be really huge, Amy. Think about it, what if this was some special message..." Suddenly, Ditzy Doo paused, her mouth slightly ajar.

"What is it, Momma?" asked Dinky.

"I think I might know why this is here," the pegasus stated. "It must be...a message."

"That's what I said!" Dinky cheered. "Doctor must have put it there!"

"Or not," said Ditzy. "It may or may not even be from the Doctor, but it still could be a message." Ditzy walked around the TARDIS, scrutinizing every inch of it. Dinky followed curiously at her hooves.

"The TARDIS is a time machine, and knowing the Doctor, his timeline could change at any moment. It could be possible this could be a message from the past...or maybe even the future!"

"So what does it mean?" asked Dinky.

"I...don't really know."

"Do you think it might be the reason the Doctor's gone?" asked Amethyst, picking up a little talk in the situation.

"Maybe," said Ditzy. "Maybe."

* * *

It was about half past one. Dinky and Amethyst were sitting at the kitchen table with hay sandwiches. Ditzy was in the living room adjacent to the kitchen, pacing the floor, occasionally stopping to look out the window or at the TARDIS, expecting at any moment the Doctor may appear.

"Momma, come eat with us!" called Dinky from the kitchen. Ditzy briefly stopped before walking tensely into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, muffin," the stressed mother apologized. "It's just that I'm worried that the Doctor could be in serious trouble."

"Isn't he always in trouble?" muttered Amethyst. "I can't believed you're surprised."

"Now Amy..."

"What?" retorted the young mare. "It's true, you know."

"Well," Ditzy sighed, "I can only hope for the moment. I just wish that I could do something to help him." With the comment, Ditzy, started pacing in the kitchen.

"Doctor will come back though," Dinky reassured in pure mind. "He always comes back."

"That's right, he does," Ditzy beamed. She patted Dinky's head.

However, for the next few minutes, the kitchen was silent, with nothing but the sound of chewing and Dinky occasionally humming filling the air. The three ate lunch together, Ditzy finally coming to the table to sit down, and each of them kept to their own thoughts, Ditzy hoping, Amethyst caring less, and Dinky certain of her beliefs the Doctor would return.

That was when they were alerted by a surprising commotion from outside. Ditzy instantly dropped her sandwich as the noise penetrated through the air.

"Momma, what is that?" Dinky asked in a confused manner. Even Amethyst stopped, befuddled. They stopped their actions instantly and focused their senses on the strange sound. It was obviously getting closer, but it was the manner of it that was odd.

Ditzy recognized it vaguely.

"It's...the TARDIS!" she exclaimed. However, when the three ponies glanced at the blue box in the living room, it sat patiently, not disappearing or going anywhere.

"Momma, why is it getting closer?" trembled Dinky, sliding off her chair and reaching for her mother.

"I don't know," said Ditzy. "The TARDIS is right here!"

"Does the TARDIS always sound...injured?" asked Amethyst, also gaining a hint of concern in her tone. She was right. The oncoming groaning sound of the TARDIS sounded abnormal, like it was suffering, almost screaming.

"It sounds like when the TARDIS has to commence it's emergency landing operation," Ditzy concluded. The faint echo grew quickly to a roar. The TARDIS sound almost sounded like it was coming straight for the house. Immediately the young girls were scared, Ditzy shot with a dose of adrenaline.

"Momma!" Dinky cried.

"Mom, what do we do?!" Amethyst tried to shout over the blasting din.

"GET DOWN!" Ditzy screamed at her children. Using her wings, the protective mother covered Amethyst and Dinky's faces as she shoved them under the kitchen table. A millisecond after, the ceiling collapsed in the kitchen, debris scattering all over the floor. The crash of some large, mysterious object that broke the roof acted quickly, landing to the kitchen floor with a THRASH! Ditzy dared to peek when it was mostly over, and found that her kids were okay, her kitchen, not so much.

Ditzy pulled the wings carefully back from the fillies' heads and ventured out from under the table, Amethyst and Dinky sticking close behind her. Bits of wood and straw fell from above, loosely clinging onto what used to be the ceiling. The gaping hole in the roof wasn't what caused alarm amongst the three ponies.

"Momma..." started Dinky. Ditzy was baffled.

"Oh my..."

However, Amethyst put it most correctly.

"What the Greek Pillar?!"