Doctor Whooves: Mark Of The Mara

Chapters

In The Beginning
Bass and Treble
Picking Up the Pieces.
Hearing Voices
Seeing Ghosts
The Mark
What Do You Want?
Endless Forms Most Beautiful
How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

In The Beginning

He'd had it. He was done. He wasn't staying here to be mistreated anymore. This was where he got off.

He had considered them all friends, he had been there for them, he had been the only sane thing in Ponyville. And they kept calling him useless. Kept "keeping him out of trouble." He was a dragon. He deserved better than this. They thought they were so entitled but they didn't deserve anything. They didn't deserve his help. They didn't deserve his kindness. The only thing they deserved was-

He stopped himself. That wasn't fair. That's not what he actually thought. He was better than that. It had been a long and very eventful day. He had a headache. He was tired. He was...

He was hungry!

Yeah! That was it! He was starving. He had been running around doing every single menial errand anypony had for him! That kind of work can build up an appetite.

As luck would have it he had found the perfect meal. A ruby the size of a Baseball was just lying on the ground outside of Octavia Melody's house. He had wondered if he should return it. Find the owner. But due to the fact that it was just lying in the dirt in the middle of somepony's garden, it couldn't be that important to them. And after the day he had? Screw it. Finders keepers.

He took out his dinner and looked at it lovingly.

His dinner began to glisten.

His dinner began to sparkle.

And then his dinner began to sing.

"Tell me, who's that writin'?
John the Revelator.
Who's that writin'?
John the Revelator
Tell me who's that writin'?
John the Revelator.
Wrote the book of the seven seals."

He wasn't used to his dinner singing to him at the best of times... so this was quite unprecedented. He cleared his throat and said the only thing he could say under the circumstances. "I beg your pardon?"

A hissing laughter filled the room. "Oh it's nothing," the voice said. "Just an old song I happen to like. Not about anything you'd know... nothing you'd even be concerned about. Just some poor sap who, like so many others, tried closer to god. Honestly? I think it's a waste of time."

"Wh-who are you?" The dragon asked. "What do you want?"

"Oh my... What a coincidence!" the voice hissed, delighted. "That's exactly the question I was going to ask you. What do you want?"

The Dragon blinked. "What?"

"What do you want?"

"I'm..." the Dragon shook his head. "I don't understand what you're asking.

A hissing laughter filled the room. "How many times have I asked that simple question? And how many times have I been met with a blank stare?

"I honestly don't know what some people don't understand? I can deliver exactly any promise I make. But I'll only take the good ones. Beyond what you need, beyond what you'd like, beyond what you think is right, there is something that you want. Something that frustrates you to the point of insanity when you're alone because you don't have it yet. Something that the rules, or society, or maybe even your own morality have kept you from having. That makes you mad, but you're too polite to say anything

"You're not doing yourself any favors by burying that feeling, kid.

"Trust me. Instead of trying not to want something... I offer an alternative. Getting it. Whatever it is, I can give it to you, exactly as you ask for it. I can take away the guilt of thinking about it. The frustration of it being so far out of your reach. I can make it not your fantasy, but your reality. Simple. Clean. Easy...

"So again, I'm going to ask...

"What do you want?"

He was shorter.

That's all Applejack could think as they hurtled toward their next destination. The TARDIS lurching from direction to direction as if the vehicle itself was drunk. She didn't think about herself, or her friends who had all gone through an ordeal beyond discription. She didn't think about the fact that they were headed straight for parts unknown. She didn't even think about the mysterious stallion who materialized into existence next to her. All she could think about was the Doctor.

The Doctor had warned Applejack that this was going to happen. When Time Lord regeneration took hold almost everything changed. His mane turned from brown to a deep orange. His coat turned from a dark chestnut to an eggshell. And finally, and most disturbing of all, he was shorter.

"Where are we going?!" asked Twilight frantically.

"You heard him!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "He said he had no idea!"

"Well, great!" Twilight yelled.

"It'll be fine!" the new stallion shouted, seeming to have to strain out every word. "Just hang on!"

Applejack turned her attention to the new stallion. He said his name was Blue, which was curious because there wasn't a stitch of blue on him. He had a dark grey coat. His mane started out green and then seemed to fade into a reddish orange. The most curious things about his appearance however where his eyes and his left foreleg.

His eyes were blue. At least... They were most of the time. Every so often they would flash a deep blood red. Every time they did, as impossible as it sounded, the snake tattoo that had wrapped around his left arm would seem to slither.

There was a loud CRASH as the TARDIS landed.

"We've hit ground!" the new Doctor exclaimed. "Excellent! Alright everypony, come with me! I'm sure I have wonderful things to show you!"

The Doctor marched straight for the door.

"Hey!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Hold on a minute! You can't go anywhere!"

"You might get hurt!" cried Sweetie Belle.

"You still don't know how your knew hooves work!" Scootaloo added.

"He seems alright to me...," Spike added.

"Not now, Spike," Applejack said. "Doctor, just lie down. We don't even know where we are right now..."

"That's the point, girl!" the Doctor said loudly. "We'll never find out if we don't look!"

And the Doctor marched right out the TARDIS door.

When the rest of the group followed the Doctor, they saw the last thing that anypony expected to see.

"Wait...," Rainbow Dash said slowly. "This is-"

"Ponyville," Blue finished. "About a week after you guys left."

"Really?" This Doctor seemed far louder than the last one. "Well, that's boring isn't it! Alright everyone, back in the TARDIS. I can do it better this time, I promise!"

Applejack caught him before he could go back into the time machine. "Whoa there, Braniac. You ain't goin' anywhere until you've had a lie down. We need to get back to-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Blue's screaming cut her off as he buckled to the floor.

"Well, there he goes again," the Doctor said frankly.

"Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked frantically.

His eyes opened. They had changed from their normal Sky Blue to a deep red. "Good to see you again, Doctor," he said in a hissing voice.

"Morton!" the Doctor exclaimed cheerfully. "Morty... Mordecai... Mittens? Mara, that's it! Hello! I can't say I'm happy to see you. Though, being a psychic entity crated from man's worst traits, I'm sure you're used to that. Listen, why not simply be a sport and let the poor boy go? He has his whole life to live and filling it with you is simply bad form..."

"He's a good home for me," the entity the Doctor called "Mara" replied. "So much despair... So much rage..."

"I know," the Doctor sighed. "Kids these days. But still, the boy seems to know me, I'd like to find out why. So go on. Shove off. We have to talk."

At that moment Blue's head jerked back and his eyes shut. When they opened they were their normal sky blue.

"I don't suppose the dirty great snake actually listened?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"Not quite," Blue strained. "I can hold it back for now, but eventually..."

"What the hoof is goin' on around here?" Applejack asked frantically.

"We have a much bigger problem then that, Tegan!" the Doctor said, running his Sonic Screwdriver over Applejack.

"What's that?" Applejack asked nervously.

"As of right now," the Doctor said, checking the readings on his Screwdriver. "There are four of you."

And with that the Doctor collapsed on his face.

AJ rolled her eyes. "Come on, get him up. We'll take him to sugar cube corner."

"NO!" Blue shouted. "Club PON-3!"

"What?" Applejack asked. "But Pinkie's place is closer..."

"Just trust me!" Blue said. Not willing to question this new addition to the group, Applejack helped the Doctor in the direction of the nightclub.

Bass and Treble

Octavia walked into her roomate's workplace, livid as she had ever been. "Vinyl!" she shouted. "Vinyl Scratch I am going to kill you!"

"They're right here!" Vinyl Scratch said, expecting this reaction. "Stop panicking..."

"Where is my sheet music?!" Octavia Melody shouted, obviously not listening to her roommate.

"Your sheets are right here," Vinyl said calmly, handing Octavia her sheet music. "We switched this morning. I have yours, you have mine."

Octavia calmed herself slowly. "I'm...," she breathed. "I'm sorry.... I just... This recital coming up has got me absolutely mental. I just can't seem to focus..."

"It's not the first time you performed live," Vinyl said reassuringly.

"Yes, but this is the first time it's been my music," Octavia explained. "If they don't like the composition of any other piece I'm performing it's not my fault, I'm just the Cello player. Now, however, I'm the composer. If they think my composition is garbage, that's it. It's over. My career is finished."

Vinyl sighed. "Look, I can't pretend I know what I'm talking about when it comes to your stuff... But it sounds pretty to me! Not my thing... at all, but still really pretty. It sounds a hell of a lot better than a lot of the other stuff I've seen you performing. So, in my opinion, if they don't like you, I don't like them. You have nothing to be ashamed of, okay?"

Octavia and Vinyl wrapped each other in a tight hug. "Thank you," said Octavia. "It means a lot."

"I'm glad to hear it," Vinyl said. "Now, where are my sheets?"

Octavia stared at her blankly for a moment. "Oh, sweet Celestia..." she smacked her head. "I forgot them at home."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "It's cool, I'll get them..."

'I'm really sorry..."

"I said it's cool, I've got the time, I'll just head home."

"It's the stress," Octavia sat down on the floor. "It's got me mad. I swear, I don't think I can take one more surprise today..."

Then a few things happened all at once.

The door flung open to reveal Twilight, Applejack and their friends scrambling quickly into the studio. AJ and Rainbow Dash were helping an older stallion along. With them were AJ's sister and her friends. Behind them was a young stallion that Octavia didn't recognize.

"Quick Vi!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Our alien friend needs help!!"

With that, Octavia began to feel very dizzy.

It took them a few hours to explain everything that had happened. The Doctor. The Lynchpins. The Master. The Key to Time. The regeneration. Octavia had buried her face in her hooves about halfway through. Vinyl on the other hand seemed to take it fairly well.

"So the evil flying salt shakers," Vinyl started. "Princess Cadence's wedding, all hell breaking loose a week ago, this all happened because of the old guy?"

"Pretty much," Applejack nodded.

"And the old guy is a Space Alien?" Vi continued.

"That's right," Apple Bloom said frankly.

"From another dimension?"

"Kind... of?" Sweetie Bell shrugged.

"Wow," Vinyl said. "Well, at least today won't be boring!"

"Oh, Celestia...," Octavia groaned.

"We're so sorry to barge in on you like this," Fluttershy said meekly. "But the Doctor needed help, and..."

"You six need to go home," Blue said firmly. "Right now. I'm not kidding."

"Now hold on just one pony-pickin' minute here!" Applejack protested. "I ain't goin' anywhere until I know that the Doctor is going to be okay. A friend of mine just went through a real traumatic experience, here! I ain't just gonna leave him!"

"Trust me, the Doctor would want you away from me," Blue insisted. "You're too valuable to lose, and I'm a ticking time bomb right now..."

Vinyl let out a little giggle. "Okay there, babe," she said softly. "There are... one, two, three, eight able bodied ponies here. If you really go completely berserk I'm pretty sure we can take you."

In a split second a blood red magical aura had wrapped itself around Vinyl's neck, lifting her in the air. Blue's eyes had turned from their normal sky blue to an oppressive blood red. Applejack knew that this meant that whatever the strange stallion was holding back was suddenly in the driver's seat. The Mara had taken control.

"Stand. Back. Now." It hissed. "To say I didn't want to hurt you would simply be a lie... I would be too happy to rip each one of you insignificant little specks off the face of this inferior universe! However for your sakes I think we can avoid that..."

Applejack stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"I am every nightmare you've ever had," the Mara hissed. "I am your worst dream come true. I am everything you've ever been afraid of. I am evil as you perceive it. The specter of every horror you have ever faced, or will ever face. I am-"

"The result of a Jekyll and Hyde-esque experiment, the purpose of which was to rid the human mind of all negative traits," came a fussy voice from behind them. "It travels about the universe causing all sorts of trouble and mischief, possessing good people and causing them to do evil. Anything it can't posses it enthralls."

The rest of the room turned to see that the Doctor sitting up on the couch they had lain him down on. "You're..." Applejack started to tear up. "You're alright."

"Good lord, Sarah Jane!" the Doctor said firmly. "I'm always alright!"

Applejack buried her face in her hooves. "Never mind..."

"Now! You!" the Doctor marched over to Blue. "Drop her if you please!"

"I don't take orders from you!" the Mara hissed.

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor said dismissively. "I wasn't talking to you... Uhh... Young lad! I'm sorry, I can't recall your name... Something with B.... Boo?"

Blue's eyes turned back to their normal sky blue. "It...," Blue gasped. "It doesn't talk like that... Why is it talking like that?"

"Never mind that, dear boy," the Doctor grabbed both sides of Blue's head with his hooves and looked headlong into his. "Oh... Oh my word, you have seen more than a few things haven't you? You've seen what it can do to people... You've seen more than someone so young should ever see... It's quite a sad face..."

"Yeah...," Blue was breathing heavily. "I've seen what it can do... So have you, Doctor... You can't let it happen again... You need to kill m-"

Before Blue could finish the sentence the Doctor smacked him on the side of the head. "Don't be stupid," the Doctor scoffed. "It's that attitude the Mara is feeding off of, and you know it! Now stop being so bloody grim and look at me."

The Doctor brought Blues eyes level with him. "Why?" the Doctor asked. "Why are you doing this? Fighting it is obviously killing you, so why are you bothering? What is the reason?"

"Doctor!" Applejack shouted.

"Let him answer!" the Doctor shot back.

"It..." Blue struggled. "It needs to be stopped, or else--"

"Oh come now, young man," the Doctor scolded. "That's the reason I do things and that's only because I ran out of the good reasons some time ago. Because as far as your concerned, the universe can burn under your feet as log as the people you care about won't suffer. And that's good. It means you have a reason to live."

"I'm... I'm willing to die for this...," Blue answered.

"Don't give me something you're willing to die for," the Doctor said angrily. "Ponies have been willing to die for countries, philosophies and to maintain there own idiot pride. All things as common as the dirt under our feet. We all have something we would die for. Now, something to live for... That's hard to find. Everyone has something to die for. Dying is easy. I should know I've done it around twelve times now. Living takes time, patience, and more than a fair bit of pain. You go through it for a reason. Especially when a bloody massive psychic snake has coiled around your brain and it's squeezing ever tighter.

"You don't go through this for something you're willing to die for, Blue. Why are you still alive?"

Blue looked into the Doctor's eyes for what seemed like an eternity. "Blade..."

"Blade?" the Doctor asked. "What's a Blade have to do with anything?"

"She's...," Blue asked. "She's in danger... She's been in so much pain..."

"She's... Oh! She's your girl!" the Doctor let out a wide grin. "Excellent! Now, I need you to keep her in your mind dear boy. Make her the focus of your thoughts."

"So much pain..."

"No! Don't think about the pain," the Doctor clarified. "That's what the Mara needs. Pain and despair and defeat. It's what it feeds off of. You need to keep out that pain. You need to fight it."

"I...," Blue doubled over again.

"Tell me about her," the Doctor demanded. "I want to hear everything. How did you meet?"

"She... She showed me how to get to the subway in Manehattan," Blue choked. "I didn't need the directions I was just..."

"Chatting her up, eh?" the Doctor smiled. "That's good. Keep going. First date."

"Picnic," Blue started to stand more upright. "In the nighttime... Couldn't afford anything else..."

"When did yu know you loved her?" the Doctor asked.

"Right then," Blue said, a little stronger now.

"Good," the Doctor grew a devious grin on his face, as if he new victory was only a matter of time. "Now, keep going down that road. Every happy memory, every sunset, every dinner, every time you made up from a fight. Every kiss. Every gift. Ever single time you thought the world was completely useless and then there she was."

Blue closed his eyes, and then doubled over again. The room seemed to be filled with a massive hissing noise.

"It's fighting back, isn't it, son?" the Doctor said quietly. "That doesn't matter, because now we're going to finish it. I want you to think about all the good times you will have together. I want you to think about holding her again when you get back to her after this is done. Because no matter what it's telling you, that is going to happen. We've moved passed hope and into expectationi. Because this doesn't look like a happy ending. And if it's not a happy ending then the story isn't over yet.

"So think of the happy ending," the Doctor said in defiance. "Because it's going to happen. Because I won't let it not."

"He can't help you," the Mara hissed. This time unable to use Blue's lips.

"Like I told you before..." Blue breathed heavily as he stared into the Doctor's soul. "Shut up, and get thee behind me."

Blue screamed as a giant spectral snake emerged from his back. The snake hissed at several people in the room before whirling round to face Octavia. It seemed to calm down as it simply looked into her eyes. Eventually the serpent dissipated into vapor.

Blue collapsed, unconscious. And the room was left silent. All parties staring at the Doctor.

"Well!" the Doctor smiled. "That's taken care of! Well, at least for the moment. Nyssa? Tegan? Look after Thurlough! I'm going to see where we've landed."

With that, the Doctor sauntered out of the Nightclub, leaving the rest of the ponies with their jaws on the floor.

Author's Note

So... It's been a Year and a half... I owe you guys an explanation.

I have been ignoring this fic for a couple of reasons. Some personal, others not. Let me get the personal one out of the way first.

1. I am using two friends OC's, and those friends are no longer active.

I am beginning to regret saying I would do this. I did feel I owed it to him for editing my Doctor Whooves stuff, but he had VERY specific ideas about his backstory, and where the character fit into the story, and his role in it. It began so that I felt I was walking on eggshells writing the character. Also, it appears he has left the site, so whether I have the right to use the character at ALL comes into question.

Ephraim Blue, Graymayne, if you ever read this, I'm sorry. I need to make some edits and I need to write the story my own way. If that makes you upset, I can Lucas them into having different names. But I need my words to be my own.

Buuuuut truth be told, that is only HALF the reason I stopped. The other half?

2. I grew ROYALLY pissed at the Doctor Who fandom.

There are a couple of factors to this one, the first was how I was treated on several forums after I objected to the prospect of a Female Doctor.

Making myself clear: I object to Time Lords changing gender randomly upon regeneration. In the Classic series, it is often suggested that that cannot happen. The Master doing it makes sense because his Regenerations have always been weird. He's been Skeletor, a puddle of snot, and Eric Roberts. Anything goes with him, and Missy is phenomenal, don't get me wrong.

From a character standpoint, I also object. It lends credence to the false and irritating idea that regeneration transforms you into a different being entirely. It does not, despite the tenth Doctor's bitching ("I don't want to go," FUCK YOU.) It is a belief I have never held, and it drives me up the wall that that is how the new series thinks of it.

These, I feel, are perfectly reasonable objections to the switch. And while I am still against it, I have softened to the idea. Mostly because I have been given counterarguments to both points that I'd be willing to buy.

By "given," I of course mean "thought up by myself," because the majority of fans I have interacted with called me sexist, anti-trans, homophobic, and even racist for some reason. I was cyberbullied off of two forums, and I no longer participate in discussions on the Doctor Whooves group.

BTW, I was also called a fanboy who hated change, which leads me to my second point, MATT SMITH FANGIRLS ARE THE VERY WORST KIND OF PEOPLE.

I... LOVE the Eleventh Doctor. I do. On my favorite Doctors list, he is third behind Four and Nine, and Nostalgia is a huge part of that. But sweet god, he has the worst fanbase this side of Roxas!

Idiot twelve year olds, in Bowties and Fezzes screaming and bitching about how Capaldi is "too old" to play the Doctor (William Hartnell, the FIRST Doctor, still remains the oldest man to play the role. Starting in his late 70's.) . How the Doctor is never this "Grouchy or Pessimistic" (Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor, was an ornery old bastard. And HE never went through a world ending war.) And that the series should have ENDED WHEN MATT SMITH LEFT THE SHOW.

I have.... NO words for that last one. Okay, that's not fair. I can spare two. FUCK. YOU.

There was no respect for the Classic Series anymore. Every fan complaining that it was "too much to watch." And it breaks my heart.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to drop the titles of Seven serials. One for each Classic Doctor. If you consider yourself a Doctor Who fan, I URGE you to check these out. Here we go.

1st Doctor- Daleks: The second ever serial of Doctor Who. And guess who showed up early! I recommend this one, not just for the first appearance of the Daleks, but for you all to see that the Doctor wasn't always as selfless and magnanimous as he is now. I see a lot of Hartnell in Peter Capaldi.

2nd Doctor- War Games: A little of the mystery of who the Doctor is i revealed in the introduction of Gallifrey and the Time Lords. Troughton at his funniest and can prove to New Who fans that the Time Lords were NEVER as nice as the Tenth Doctor liked to think.

3rd Doctor-Terror of the Autons: This episode is a must see for fans of The Master. The character was created not to rival The Doctor, but to rival John Pertwee. Roger Del Gato's chemistry with the Third Doctor is nothing short of breathtaking.

4th Doctor-Genesis of the Daleks If I need to explain WHY you need to watch this damn episode, you are stupid. Go watch it.

5th Doctor-Earthshock: You want the episode that makes every dramatic moment in New Who mean something? Right here. Because some stayed behind. Some were left behind. And a few... A VERY few...

6th Doctor-The Two Doctors: The only team up I'm suggesting, but I can't help it. The Sixth Doctor at his best, without some cocaine fueled idiot ruining the character. Colin Baker had a rocky tenure as the doctor.

7th Doctor-Remembrance of the Daleks While Genesis is considered the first shot of the Time War by most of the fanbase, I hold "Remembrance" is how it escalated as fast as it did. The Daleks trying to get a weapon to kill the Time Lords. This is how it began.

Please Rate and Comment.

Picking Up the Pieces.

The quiet in the nightclub did not last very long.

About a minute after the Doctor left Vinyl Scratch chimed in with a hearty "What in Tartarus was that?!" After that it all collapsed into bickering and chaos. Twilight tried to send Spike home, but Spike violently protested. Rarity promptly fainted, with Pinkie Pie catching her. Octavia was hyperventilating. Vinyl was trying to get information from Rainbow Dash, but she was in the dark just like Vinyl. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were plotting something. And Applejack...

Appklejack spent some time trying to catch her breath. She tried to clear her mind of the noise but the room just kept getting louder and louder. "Could everyone please be quiet for a minute?" AJ said. She may as well have been talking to a brick wall.

"Please," AJ said, a little more desperate this time. "Could I just have a little quiet?"

The room responded only by getting louder.

"EVERYPONY SHUT UP!!!"

With that, the room immediately fell silent. Applejack isn't usually the one to lose her temper.

"Look," AJ said, breathing heavily. "I know it's been a week since the business with The Master and the Key to Time, but for me it's only been an hour. I watched my farm burn down, some stallion bursts into the Tardis and starts hissin' like a rattler, one of my best friends completely changes his face and don't seem to recognize me. And now he's wanderin' around Celestial knows where! So I need quiet! Just for a few seconds... I need quiet."

The room stayed quiet as Applejack caught her breath.

With one more deep breath Applejack spoke again. "Twilight, you and the girls need to go back home. In case the Master comes back, we need this place protected. With that... Mara thing here its become all the more needed."

"But AJ-" Rainbow Dash started to protest.

"You're right," Twilight interrupted. Spike growled but was hushed. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Applejack lied. "Someone needs to find the Doctor."

"We'll go," Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both smiled.

"I'll make sure they stay out of trouble," Vinyl reassured Applejack. "I want to know the crazy old coot a little better anyhow."

"And Timeboy over there," AJ pointed at Blue. "Somepony needs to look after him, make sure he stays out of trouble."

"I can watch him," Octavia said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going home," Applejack sighed, and got up to leave. "I need to assess the damage. See if we can rebuild."

Applejack silently left the room.

It was damaged. Dying. And that wasn't fair.

It had come so close. So close to soaking in enough misery and hate that he could take a real physical form again. Be something tangible, instead of this abstract construct he was. It was in the middle of so much misery, so much hurt, and so much death that it almost felt hedonistic. Decadent, even. It was paradise.

And then the Doctor. And then the Doctor came just like last time and ruined everything.

It needed to save itself. It could suspend itself again. Become the ruby... But no. No, it didn't want that. It needed a host, Some idiot life form with enough negative energy to let it heal. But this place was so happy... so sickeningly happy... It not only felt the sting of content, but relief. It needed something... Anything.

And then he felt it. Nerves. Confusion. It would have to do. It followed the trail back to it's source. When it found it... It smiled.

This one. This one had always looked at it with more fear than the others had. This one had always looked at it like it knew. It didn't make sense at the time, but now it did. Now it knew why this one hated it so much.

Now all that was left was to ask the question.

Applejack slowly walked back home. Wondering where her life would go from here, if it would go anywhere.

The Doctor had told her that she was going to have to stay behind. She couldn't do that. Not now. She didn't really understand Time Lord regeneration, but it sounded terrifying. To nearly die, to have your brain implanted in a new body, and then not to know which parts of you were at the forefront of your mind? No. No one should go through that alone.

But she had to consider Ponyville. She had a job to do here. It wasn't just safeguarding the elements, it was the farm.

The farm. Applejack hadn't really considered it until now. That horrible image of the Master standing in front of her burning orchard. Everything her family worked for up in ashes. The horrible red eyed monster staring through her soul. What did it look like now? How long would it take to fix?

And then she saw it as she turned the corner.

Every tree in the orchard was healthy. Greener than she had ever seen it. Thousands of trees bearing thousands of apples. All waiting for the harvest. At the back of the Orchard, the farmhouse. The beautiful rose red barn standing in defiance of everything that had gone wrong.

Applejack stood there, awestruck. She could barely hear her brother calling out for her.

"AJ!" Big Mac called up from the bottom of the hill. "AJ, you're back!"

"Big Mac..." She brushed a tear from her eyes. "Did you do all this?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," Mac smiled. "One minute the orchard is up in flames. When we get back to it we've got one of the biggest harvests we've ever had. I don't know what that Doctor of yours did, but thank him for me will you?"

"Yeah." Tears were streaming down AJ's face now. "Yeah I will..."

"Wish you could stick around," Mac smiled. "Kind of a big harvest to take care of by myself. Caramel helps where he can, but nopony bucks like an apple. Not sure I can get the whole crop down in time."

Applejack smiled softly. The message was clear. She knew what she had to do. "Thank you Braniac," she smiled softly. "For everything."

Octavia looked over the sleeping Blue, and sighed.

There were several ways this day could have gone. She could have practiced her music in the anticipation of her coming performance. She could have continued composing new pieces for the day. She could have knocked the day off and spent it reading with a little piece and quiet. She could have spent the day with Vinyl, despite the cavernous gulf between their personalities, it was always enjoyable.

She thought she had considered every possibility. She was wrong.

Whoever this "Doctor" was, he seemed important. So important that whatever it was that caused all that trouble last week seemed to revolve entirely around him. He knew the Changeling who called itself "Master." He knew about this strange Pony that was sleeping on her friends sofa. He knew all of this, and Octavia knew nothing. It was frustrating.

She longed for life to be like it was this morning. When all she had to worry about was her music. Now everything had changed, It wasn't fair.

Then a question entered Octavia's mind. At first the question seemed innocent. It was asked of her and by her, in some form or another, every day. You heard this question everywhere. Shops. Restaurants. Even at musical performances on Occasion. But when it was being asked in the way that it was here, there was somehow a very sinister nature to it. As if the answer that you gave reflected who you really were. It seemed like the riskiest question in the world right now.

It came from Octavia's head.

And she wasn't asking the Question.

"What do you want?"

The Doctor was still very hazy. But not nearly as hazy as he was letting on.

Regeneration was always a rough prospect on the body, but it felt a little easier this time. Maybe because it was the first time this body had regenerated, maybe it was because the White Guardian made it easier on him. In any case, his head was clearing up remarkably fast.

He still didn't know who this new persona really was. He definitely had a sense of humor, thanks to this little prank he was playing at his friends expense. He definitely was a little bit kind, because he regretted playing those jokes. He wasn't easily phased, due to the fact that he had just met up with a very old enemy that he was fairly sure had melted into glowing goo in front of him and that barely made him blink. Or was he simply cold-hearted? That was a possibility.

He was also the kind of man to sit in a pub and try to work this out, apparently. As stated, he was still very hazy. So he wasn't sure how he managed to get into Ponyville's Hollow Leg Tavern, where the tea in front of him came from, and how he managed to pay for it. But there it was, and it was rather delicious.

"Who the hoof are you?" came a gruff voice from next to his booth.

He looked up at the stallion who had asked the question. "You know," the Doctor said. "I'm not actually sure! I think I might be the sort of Pony who finds that rather exciting! I suppose that means I'm rather mad. I haven't been mad in quite some time. Well... To be fair I've never been mad. You see I'm actually two people, it's rather complex actually. We both certainly have our fair share of troubles...

"But I know one thing..." the Doctor suddenly got very quiet. "I'm the sort of Pony that gets very very cross... I know it's not easy to get me cross... Which is good because you don't want me cross at you, even for a moment. Because I won't be satisfied with simply causing you harm, I won't cease until I have destroyed you. I'll never kill you... But I'll make you wish you were dead. It's a bit unnerving... I can't let myself get too cross, too often... Me being cross is quite scary I'm learning."

The large stallion beside the booth gave the Doctor a terrified look. "Okay," he said quietly. "I will just find another booth."

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor looked around the room to realize that the entire bar had gone quiet. "Oh! Forgive me, I was just thinking out loud. I'm not cross! Well, I am quite cross, but not at any of you! You can have the booth, I was just...

"Oh bloody," the Doctor sighed. "Two more traits to add to the list for my new persona. Charismatic and apologetic...

"I'll tell you what, I'll treat you all to another round!"

Author's Note

The Doctor and alcohol. Fresh off a regeneration too! This should be fun!

Please rate and comment! :pinkiehappy:

Hearing Voices

Vinyl and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had spent the better part of an hour looking for the old man, but to no avail.

"We're never going to find him," Sweetie Belle said sadly. "He could have gotten back in the TARDIS and gone on to mars by now!"

"He wouldn't just leave us!" Scootaloo said defensively. "Not without saying goodbye!"

"But he ain't himself," Apple Bloom sighed. "He ain't even the Pony he's become! His head's all scrambled from the Regeneration! He could be lost, or hurt!"

"From what you told me about the old coot, he can take care of himself," Vinyl said. "What's the big deal about this guy, anyway? Okay, I get the whole 'extradimensional alien' thing, but why is everyone acting like he's our only hope."

"He might be..." Sweetie Bell trailed off.

"He's the one who stopped the Daleks a month ago," Apple Bloom said defiantly. "We watched him stop a pointless war. He worked in the background to make sure everything was fixed with Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding! He's the reason we still have a town at all!"

"And now he's sick..." Scootaloo started to sob. "He's sick and he's confused and he needs our help... And we can't..."

Vinyl looked at the three fillies weepinng silently in the middle of the road and realized that the old man was important. At least to them. "Okay, Vi, think," she said, moving her mind from babysitting to helping. "I have just had my mind scrambled and put into a new body. This happened because my archnemisis beat me until I was nearly dead, and this is the only thing I could do to survive. Meanwhile, I just had a big argument with an evil ghost snake. Where would I want to be right now..."

And then it dawned on her. "I'd want to be hammered."

Vinyl had a few questions as she looked through the window of the Hollow Leg Tavern on Old Hollyville Road in Ponyville. Firstly, why had the Doctor entered a bar, and a fairly tough one, and ordered nothing but Earl Grey tea?

Secondly, how did he manage to get what Vinyl knew from experiences running a nightclub, to be fairly mean drunks, to sing in unison? Far from on key, but in unison...

Thirdly, and most pressing; Where did the Doctor get the Concertina?

"Beer beer beer, tiddly, beer beer beer," the Tavern patrons sang joyfully, slurring nearly every word. "Tiddly, beer beer beer."

"Of course, that would be the bit you picked up on quickest, eh chaps?" the Doctor joked. Howls of laughter and grunts of agreement followed. "Let's see if you all can pick up on the rest of the chorus next time around, now listen...

"The Hollow Leg, the Cider Spot,
the Hole in the Wall, as well,
There's one thing you can be sure of,
It's Charlie's beer they sell,
So come on, ye lucky lads,
At Eleven O'Clock ye stop,
For five short seconds,
Remember Charlie Mopps."

The whole bar suddenly fell silent. Then the patrons began counting. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five...

"HEY!

"He must've been an Admiral,
A Sultan or a king,
And to his praises,
We shall always sing,
Look at what he's done for us,
He's filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mopps,
The man who invented beer beer beer, tiddly, beer beer beer, tiddly, beer..."

"How many more verses do you think this song has?" Scootaloo asked in seeming horror.

"I'm too scared to find out." Vinyl handed Apple Bloom her sunglasses. "Take care of my shades. I'm going in."

Vinyl thought carefully about how to go about this. She finally settled on simply walking in, grabbing the Doctors foreleg, and walking out as quickly as possible. She got in alright, but the exit was much slower than desired.

"Aha! If you are not mistaken, you are Miss Vinyl Scratch, I shouldn't wonder?" the Doctor smiled rather broadly. "I'm sorry friends, I'm afraid I must leave you for now!"

There was a groan of disappointment from the patrons.

"I'm sorry, duty calls!" The Doctor smiled. "I'm afraid I have a time stream to save from a gestalt entity made of pure negative intent taking the form of a large angry snake. Mr. Spitshine? How much does my bill come to?"

"Never mind the tab, Doc!" Spitshine said from behind the bar. "Its on the house!"

"Oh, that's quite generous of you, many thanks!" The Doctor said brightly. "Mr. Biceps, I believe this is your Concertina?"

"Bulk Biceps plays the Concertina?" Vinyl asked in bewilderment.

"Keep it!" Bulk said, in a gruff but jolly voice. "You're better at it then I am anyway!"

"If you're sure," The Doctor smiled. "It's been smashing lads. I'll see you again, if I get the opportunity!"

Vinyl hurried him out of the bar to the awaiting Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Doctor!" Apple Bloom said happily. "You're alright!"

"I'm better than alright!" the Doctor shouted. "I'm boisterous! I've never been boisterous before! Listen to my voice... Oh... Oh dear... Not half posh, isn't it? Quite lordly... The kind of voice that would say the word 'boisterous' in place of the word 'loud'. My goodness, I've spent so much time speculating on my personality, I haven't had time to take in the more superficial aspects of my transformation. Girls! How do I look?"

The three fillies considered the Doctor's new appearance.

"Older," Apple Bloom said frankly.

"Shorter," Scootaloo added.

"Ginger!" squeaked Sweetie Belle.

"Yes, ginger," the Doctor looked at his tail in frustration. "I remember ginger. What on earth was I thinking?"

"'Earth?'" Vinyl asked.

"Vacation spot I like!" the Doctor smiled. "As I was asking, you're Vinyl Scratch? I have some questions..."

"I'll start off the Q and A, thank you," Vinyl growled, growing frustrated with the day. "First off, names. Doctor who?"

"Oh let's not start that again," the Doctor sighed. "Simply 'the Doctor,' will do. Well, just 'Doctor' is fine. I suppose the 'The' prefix would only apply if I were to be among other Doctors. Unless of course those Doctors were also me--"

"Second!" Vinyl interrupted, trying to cut through the madness. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Madam," he said, straightening up. "I never indulge... At least I don't think I do. I much prefer my tea..."

"So the ode to Charlie Mopps back there?" Vinyl asked.

"Just because I don't drink does not mean I can't enjoy a good drinking song, dear girl," the Doctor smiled. "I quite like that one actually. Clears my head, helps me think."

"Third," Vinyl said, calming down a little knowing that the crazy old bastard was sober at the very least. "You said that you needed to deal with that snake thing we talked about earlier. You didn't kill it?"

"Oh no!" the Doctor said gleefully. "The Mara is far from dead. Make no mistake Vinyl, we are all still in terrible danger!"

"What?!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders asked in unison.

"That, however, can wait!" the Doctor exclaimed, turning on his heels.

"I don't think it can," Vinyl said loudly.

"Yes it can," the Doctor said, beginning to stride down Ponyville's main road. "Because I need new clothes. But before I get new clothes I have to make sure that I don't have any unfinished business from my last Perso..."

The Doctor trailed off as he looked at the building he was suddenly in front of.

Time Turner's Time Pieces
Get your watch ticking without your wallet getting a kicking!

"Oh," the Doctor said sadly, looking up at the huge structure. "Oh, you aren't fair, aren't you..."

"Who was that?" Octavia said loudly. "Who's talking?"

"As far as I can tell," the cold voice said mockingly. "You're talking to yourself."

Octavia didn't like this. The only other occupant in the room was out cold. But someone was speaking to her. She knew it. She wondered if the day had at last driven her insane, but she knew better. She knew what this was. In defense, she picked up a broom. "I warn you!" Octavia said shakily. "I don't like snakes!"

"Yes," the voice said calmly. "I can feel that. Fear. It's what I needed after that ordeal. And you saw me writhe in agony as that stallion expelled me from his mind... You're confused. Unsure of what's going on. So I ask a question that will cut through all of the fog. What do you want?"

"You out of my bleeding head!" Octavia said immediately.

"Too impermanent," the voice said dismissively. "What did you want before I arrived here? What have you been wanting? Whatever it is, I can give it to you."

"I... I don't want anything from you!" Octavia was starting to waver.

"Be careful," the voice said smugly. "This may be your last chance to get it... And the moment that our friend on the couch begins to stir, I'll have two ponies to make the offer too... His mind is in a daze. I could easily jump back into him again. At that point it won't matter what you want. Not much matters with two hooves wrapped around your throat.

"You're bluffing," Octavia said immediately. "He forced you out. I watched him."

Blue then began to move, and slowly open his eyes.

"Do you really want to test that?" the Mara hissed. "I will ask one more time...

"What do you want?"

Author's Note

No joke, I have been thinking about this specific chapter (specifically the bar scene) since I wrote DW:YANA.

Please Rate and Comment!

Seeing Ghosts

The next half hour was oddly somber.

The Watch shop had fallen into a state of disrepair since Time Turner left. Cobwebs had grown on much of the merchandise, and the storeroom door had been blown out by an invading Dalek. That seemed like ages ago now. It seemed so long ago that he was a normal pony called Time Turner. Orphaned at a young age, spending most of his time alone. He liked to tinker with things. So he learned how to fix watches.

Then all of a sudden, a big blue box appeared in his attic. Then everything changed.

The Doctor wondered if this regeneration erased anything left of the pony called Time Turner. He wondered that for a bit until he looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He remembered the day they came in with a watch they thought he couldn't fix. But he could fix anything. He remembered dying to keep them safe. And then... And then he remembered the Doctor.

Finding his resolve again, the Doctor got to work in a flash. Sweeping, storing, tinkering. Moving through the work like a pony possessed. Within twenty minutes the shop was spotless, and every single piece of merchandise was wound and ticking.

And then the door chimes rang. For the first time in months, the shop had a customer.

"Excuse me?" the excited young mare asked. "You're open? I mean... Are you really open?"

"Oh, um," the Doctor was at a bit of a loss as to what to do in this scenario. "Not necessarily... Um... I'm a friend of the owners. He's... He's moved away and has asked me to sell off the shop for him. Why, my dear? Is there a particular piece that piques your interest?"

"Are you kidding?!" The ice-blue mare was hurrying around the room, taking in each clock with awe. "All of it! I've never met Time Turner, but I want to shake his hoof! His craftsmanship is breathtaking! I have been making watches all my life, and I don't think I can even compare with this!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You're a watchmaker, eh?" he smiled. "I wonder, Miss...?"

"Minuette," the Mare replied.

"Minuette," the Doctor replied. "Might I be shown an example of your work?"

"Uh..." Minuette was caught off guard by the question. "I... I suppose... I made the watch I'm wearing now..."

"If I may?" Minuette removed her watch and handed it to the Doctor. "Hmm... It certainly runs quite well. A bit simplistic, but there's nothing wrong with that... Shows the calendar day... Tell me, have you any desire to ply your trade in return for monetary reward?"

Minuette looked slack-jawed at the Doctor.

"I think he means 'Do you want to sell your watches for money?'" Vinyl clarified.

"Oh, yes!" Minuette said happily. "All my life! I've been saving up ever since I left university. I'm almost halfway there now."

"How much have you saved thus far?" the Doctor asked.

"About 3,400 bits," Minuette replied.

"Keep it," the Doctor smiled. "You'll need it when business gets slow. And that is all too often, I assure you."

"I'm... I'm sorry?" Minuette asked.

"I would think my implication was quite clear, dear girl." The Doctor turned to face her. "I- Er- Time Turner, wanted me to make sure this shop fell into the right hooves. And I do believe I have found them."

It took Minuette a moment to catch on. When she did haer jaw dropped. "Me? But... But I can't afford-"

"You certainly can,' the Doctor replied, as he slipped on Minuette's wristwatch. "If you don't mind dear, I will be keeping this exquisite watch. That will do for payment, I'm sure Turner won't mind. As a matter of fact I'm quite positive. I would think that he would trust a watchmakers judgement."

"You're a watchmaker too?" Minuette asked.

"Oh yes," the Doctor smiled, turning to face the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "I may not be anything special, but the one thing I know how to do is mend a watch."

The fillies smiled. That phrase sounded all too familiar.

"I... I don't know what to say," Minuette said, as she started to tear up. "Thank you."

"Thank you, dear girl," the Doctor said, as he, Vinyl, and the Crusaders left the store. "You've laid to rest a few ghosts."

As they were walking out, Apple Bloom wrapped the Doctor in a tight hug.

"Oh? What's this for?" the Doctor asked.

"You weren't lyin'," Apple Bloom said tearfully. "You look and sound completely different, but it's still you. You're still our Doctor."

The Doctor gave the fillies a soft smile. "Where did you think I was going?" he asked. "This is just a new coat of paint on the same model. Now... I think it's time the three of you went home."

"But Doctor-" Scootaloo began to protest.

"You have your own lives to lead," the Doctor said quietly. "No time for a silly old man and his magic box. But before you go, let me thank you."

"For what?" asked Sweetie Belle.

The Doctor looked at his hourglass cutie mark. "I was lost before I met you three," he explained. "I had no idea what this mark on my flank meant or why it was here... Now I know. I discovered who I really was thanks to you three. A different kind of crusade, you might say..."

The three fillies smiled, but they were starting to tear up. "Do you really want us to go?" Apple Bloom asked.

"No," the Doctor answered. "But you need to."

There was one final hug, and the fillies turned to leave. There walk started almost like a funeral procession, but it picked up a little after Scootaloo began to sing aloud. "He must have been an admiral a sultan or a king..."

"And to his praises, we shall always sing!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"Look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer!" Apple Bloom continued the chorus.

"Lord bless Charlie Mopps, the man who invented beer, beer, beer, tiddly, beer..." The three fillies kept singing "The Man Who Invented Beer" until they were out of sight.

"That was hard for you," Vinyl asked. "Wasn't it?"

"It reminded me a little too much of the first time I had to let someone go," the Doctor smiled. "She wasn't really much older than they are... She was much wiser than me, as well."

Vinyl put her hoof on the Doctor's shoulder, but the Doctor pulled away quickly.

"No time for sentiment now!" the Doctor said loudly. "Much work to be done! Important issues to address."

"Stopping horrible ghost snake thing?" Vinyl asked hopefully.

"Of course, but first..." The Doctor smiled rather wide this time.

"I do think I shall need a new coat."

Applejack had made up her mind. She had to tell the Doctor she was staying behind. She knew the Doctor needed somepony to look after him, but after what happened to Sweet Apple Acres, it couldn't be her. Not anymore. This was a heavy burden to lay on him after the hell regeneration must take on a Time Lord, but she had no choice. This was all she could think about...

And then she opened the door to Club PON-3.

Octavia and Blue were standing on opposite ends of the room. Octavia was holding a lamp getting ready to swing it. Blue was breathing heavily and rubbing his neck.

"It's the Mara!" they both said in unison.

"It didn't leave him after all!" Octavia shouted.

"Octy, for Celestia's sake fight it!" Blue shouted back.

"What the hoof is going on here?!" Applejack tried to cut into the confusion.

"Applejack," Blue said calmly. "I know you have no reason to trust me... But I swear. I woke up with Octavia's hooves wrapped around my throat. She's not in control of herself right now, I've been where she is and it is a scary place."

"Come off it!" Octavia said. "The minute you woke up you leaped across the room and started swinging at me with this bloody thing! It's only with luck that I managed to wrench it away from you!"

"Look at my forelegs!" Blue held up both of his front legs. "No tattoo. It's gone!"

Applejack nodded. "It ain't on her, either."

"Yes, but you trust her," Blue said. "The mark is like a... It's like a natural defense mechanism that our brains use to track it! The Mara doesn't mark its hosts skin. You're eyes do that because you sense danger! If you don't find someone a threat, if you trust them, and you don't know where it is you won't see the tattoo!"

"Or, the much simpler solution," Octavia snarled. "The Mara can hide it's mark if it wants to!"

"Applejack, please," Blue said.

Applejack stopped cold. The Mara was still here. It was in one of these two ponies. But which one?

It looks like she, and perhaps the Doctor, still had work to do.

Author's Note

Next up, the BEST part of any regeneration episode, the Doctor's new outfit! :pinkiehappy:

Oh... And something about an evil ghost snake. :derpytongue2:

Please Rate and Comment! :rainbowkiss:

The Mark

Rarity had come through once again.

A white button down shirt, a black long tailed blazer, and a shoelace tie. The clasp of which bore a white question mark on it's opal stone.

"It's missing something...," Rarity frowned.

"A point to all of this?" Vinyl asked despairingly.

"The top looks a bit bare..." Rarity's head suddenly snapped up. "Hold on! I've got it!"

Rarity ran into the back room, and the Doctor smiled. "Now," he said to Vinyl. "Keep going. Tell me everything."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "I've told you everything already," she sighed. "Octy put me up after my parents kicked me out. We've been living together ever since. I honestly couldn't ask for a better best friend."

"Is that all it is?" the Doctor asked. "Friendship? There's nothing... else?

"Not sure how that's your business," Vinyl said incredulously.

"I am sorry to pry," the Doctor said. "But as I said before, it is urgent. I must know everything."

Vinyl paused. "No," she said frankly. "Me and Octy would die for each other, that's a given. We grew up together, and she's been like a sister to me since I was a filly. But that's all. When it comes to that side of things, she's not my type, and Octy don't swing that way. Fairly certain Octy don't swing at all."

"And you?" the Doctor asked without thinking.

"I swing in all directions," Vinyl winked. "But trust me, Doctor, you ain't coming close."

"Oh, never say never, Vinyl Scratch," Rarity said, emerging from the backroom of Carousel Boutique, carrying a bowler hat.. "Give this one time and he may surprise you. Here you are, Doctor."

The Doctor took bowler from Rarity, and for the first time in this new life, he looked in the mirror.

The first thing he noticed was the eyes. They had the look of a man much older than this body technically was. They had bags under them. The mane was alright. While he had always longed for ginger hair, he didn't like the color as much in this persona. But it was passable. There were beginning to be lines around his mouth as well. He estimated his new body was around mid forties when it came to Pony aging.

Alright, he was vain, but he was onto himself. Mid fifties.

He then caught himself smiling. Smiling was good. Especially the smile he gave. He looked at the smile that appeared on his face and realied what it was. A notification. A bell. An indicator light. Whatever was baking inside his brain was done now. Ready to be served.

He put the bowler on his head, and looked at himself. He was done. All cooked. His mind had cleared and his instincts were sharp as a tack. There was nothing in the world that could stop him now. He was prepared. He was calm. He was confident. He was focused.

He was the Doctor.

"Vinyl," the Doctor called with authority. "I will need you to procure Octavia's cello and meet me at the nightclub! If I am correct, your friend and that poor boy are still in grave danger. A wounded snake is more likely to bite."

"Her cello?" Vinyl asked. "Why do you need-"

"I shall need more than that, dear girl!" he continued. "I need something VInyl composed. Something happy, or connected with a good memory. You said you also got her the bow she uses?"

"Yeah," Vinyl said. "Like... years ago. Hearthswarming gift."

"I shall need that as well!" The Doctor turned to exit the shop.

"Wait!" Rarity called after him. "You're just going to set off?"

"Deepest pardons, dear Rarity," the Doctor smiled. "But I have a planet to save!!" The Doctor and Vinyl then left in a rush.

"Could you at least pay for the suit?" Rarity asked after a moment.

Applejack looked at Blue and Octavia incredulously. "Alright," she asked. "What should I do here? Let's say I could tell which one of you was possessed. What do y'all expect me to do about it?"

The room suddenly got quiet.

"I ain't killin' either of you," Applejack said frankly. "And I ain't gonna let either of you leave. I can't do what the Doctor did earlier, and I don't know what I'm dealin' with here. So here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna sit here. Nopony's leavin'. Nopony is gonna talk. We're all just gonna sit here in silence for a little while. When the Doctor gets back, then we'll talk. In the meantime, get comfortable."

There was an awkward moment of tension followed by a silent agreement. Then came the quiet. The hour of pitch black quiet. All three ponies stared daggers at each other. No one spoke. No one dared break the seemingly judgemental silence.

And then something did.

"A long time ago, way back in history...

"What the heck is that?" Applejack asked.

"When all you had to drink was nothing but cups of tea,"

Blue leaned his head back and smiled. "He's back. Took him long enough."

"Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps,"

"Who's back?" Octavia asked.

"In the unlikely scenario that that's Octavia talking," Blue said smugly. "It's how we're going to get you out of this."

"And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops!"

"That sounds like--"

Applejack was cut off when the door swung wide open and a stallion began to dance into the middle of the nightclub. It took AJ a couple of seconds to recognize it as the revived Doctor. Decked out in a new suit with a very happy grin on his face, singing merrily away.

"He must have been an Admiral,
A sultan or a King!
And to his praises,
We shall always sing!
Look what he has done for us,
He's filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops,
The man who invented beer, beer, beer, tiddly, beer, beer, beer..."

"Doctor!" Applejack exclaimed.

"AJ!" the Doctor called back. "I want to tell you a story!"

"You recognize me?" Applejack asked.

"How could I not?" the Doctor smiled. "The mare who would sacrifice her own life to save her sister, her friends and a relative stranger? The mare who braved a skyscraper full of Cybermen? Who bucked the Master clean across Canterlot? Who spoke truth to break the Silence in Dodge Junction? Final piece of the Key to Time? It would take a bigger old fool than even I was in order to forget a remarkable pony like yourself!"

Applejack blushed.

"Now, a more pressing question," the Doctor said. "Do you recognize me?"

Applejack smiled and looked the Doctor up and down. "Same fashion sense," she smiled. "Nice new duds, by the way. You were aware things got more than a little outta hand?"

"It was important," the Doctor said indignantly. "My counterpart's tenth persona saved the world for the first time in his bloody pajamas. I have a reputation to keep up!"

"A little more stuck up," Applejack smiled. "Or at least it's a little more obvious... Same brain... Same sad eyes... Yeah, it's you." AJ wrapped the Doctor in a tight hug. "Welcome back, Brainiac!"

"Oh, it's good to be back!" The Doctor returned the hug and quickly separated. "Now, I'm assuming you can't see the Mark?"

"No," Applejack answered. "But why not?"

The Doctor only gave her a sly grin before addressing the room. "I am terribly sorry I'm late," the Doctor smiled. "You see, Time Lord Regeneration is a bit like reorganizing your desk. Necessary, often essential, but it will take some time to remember where you put everything. I did a little rummaging, made sure everything was there. And it was... Even the things I would quite prefer to be rid of. My Faustian greed, my truly frightening rage, and the very limited hatred I hold for some of the things that grow from the darker corner of reality. They're small, but they're there. You can't expel them. Although, once upon a time, the people of the planet Manussa tried..."

"Is this relevant?" Octavia asked.

"Extremely," the Doctor said. "You see, the people of Manussa wanted to be rid of their darker desires. Coming to the conclusion that those urges, like all brain activity, was essentially data, they created a massive computer to take the evil out of the brain and simply store it on a hard drive. It couldn't be deleted, so it simply sat there. In the computer. Growing in size. Growing in density.

"Growing angry.

"Emotions aren't just data. Data can't think. Data can't plan. Most importantly, data can't talk. Which is what this did. Every time someone plugged themselves in to get the evil pulped out of them, it would whisper sinister little questions. Over the course of centuries it planted seeds of evil in those who tried to make themselves good. Soon, the data ceased to be data. Soon it became a monster.

"A monster made of pure negative energy. A monster that needed to feed off fear to survive. Soon wars began. Political intrigue. Slanders. Murders. More bloodshed. More hatred. More and more Manussans grew more and more terrified. Eventually it gained enough power to take on a physical form.

"And one poor little girl was afraid of snakes.

"It was like the genesis of life on any planet you would find. The evil of mankind acted as the primordial ooze, and the Mara was the first sorry, squinting, tiktaalik to crawl out from the muck. But it isn't life. Not in the true sense. It is merely a great mass of everything wrong with the soul. It's an abomination..."

The Doctor turned to Octavia. "Which is why you must fight it, Miss Melody. I know it seems like it's so big it's crushing your mind under it. But it's weak now, and you are so much stronger."

Octavia closed her eyes and smiled. "How long have you known?" she asked quietly.

"I saw the Mark on you when I walked in," the Doctor said. "When you're about, I don't trust anyone. How have you been able to possess people who were actively fighting you?"

"Good question. You see, much like the first sorry, squinting, tiktaalik that crawled from the muck..."

Octavia's left hoof shot out and grabbed the Doctor's throat. Applejack could now see the black snake tattoo wrapped around it tightly. Octavia's eyes opened to reveal them changed. Now burning red with the pupils nothing but black slits.

"I evolved," hissed the Mara.

Author's Note

I am very proud of that ending.

How do you strangle someone with a single hoof?

Oh, shut up.

Please rate and comment!

What Do You Want?

Applejack had never heard the Mara laugh before this moment. She hoped never to hear it again.

The awful hissing laughter filled the whole room. It crawled up her skin. She felt it could peel the paint off the walls. Looking at the grin on Octavia's face, Applejack was afraid it would.

Then the Mara began to talk, but not like it had talked before. It's overbearing lordly demeanor was replaced by a fairly normal sounding voice. "Thank you," it hissed. "Thank you for coming back to talk. These people... There idea of evil is so... Elitist. Evil can only belong to the dictators. The Dark Lords. That's just not true, and it's a little unfair.

"No, evil is leaving someone bleeding on the street because you're late for work. Evil is taking a dollar out of the donation plate because you'll put it to better use than they will. Evil is making your excuses as to why you didn't help that old lady up the stairs when you could. Evil is that voice in everybody's head that says 'Screw your family, and your friends. Screw what's right and wrong. What do you want?"

" I don't represent the despot, I represent the guy who's job it is to keep accurate count of the despot's atrocities, and then report it to him every morning. And he does it with a smile.

"Evil isn't showing off," the Mara hissed. "Evil is passive. Evil is commonplace. Evil is mundane. And you know that Doctor. That means I can finally be myself around you. Thank you..."

The Mara dropped the Doctor and walked around in Octavia's body. Seemingly breaking it in. "Christ had twelve apostles," it sang mockingly. "Three he led away... You know? This body has a nice set of legs omn her... Just like the last Made who took me in."

Blue growled.

"Have I stuck a nerve?" the Mara asked. "All right, I'll start with you. What do you want? No... No I've been inside your head. I know what you want. I've seen it. You hate the fact that I don't have a body yet... You want me to succeed... All because you just want to take a swing at me... I'm right here. Go for it. What are you worrying about? Hurting a pony you only met a few weeks ago? Hell, in her head you haven't met yet. So what exactly are you waiting for?'

"Don't do it," Applejack said calmly.

"You, on the other hand," the Mara turned on Applejack "Are much harder to pin down... The country girl, raised on the farm... But you've travelled through time, I can smell it on you... And you're...." The Mara looked Applejack up and down, as if sizing up a meal. "Tired. You went with him because you thought he needed someone to talk to... But you never wanted to go... Oh, that's cold... So what about you? What do you want? If it's something as mundane as just staying here, that's easily given... Just finish what I started and strangle the Doctor. That way you won't have to worry about him being lonely."

"Applejack," Blue said cautiously. "Don't-"

"Wasn't gonna," Applejack said immediately.

"This one, the one I'm in right now," the Mara hissed. "She wants to be famous. She wants to make her sainted mother proud. I can, and will, give that to her. Because I owe her. She let me use this... Really very decent body. I always like brains more than body, but I could have done worse."

"Tegan Jovenka," the Doctor coughed, slowly rising to his feet.

"What?" the Mara hissed.

"I was going to say that you're first mistake was not killing me when you had the chance," the Doctor answered, regaining his composure very quickly. "Then I remembered that you didn't die when I forced you out hours ago. However, entering that brave young man's mind was also a mistake, because he knew exactly what you were and struggled to keep you contained. Then I realized that before that you had to have done something to upset the boy. But none of that was your first mistake... Would you like to know what that was?"

"Answer my question first," the Mara used Octavia's lips to smile. "What do you want?"

"Don't you ever get tired of saying that?" the Doctor sighed.

"I get tired of not getting an answer," the Mara snapped back. "But I don't think I need one from you... Because a while ago you got something. You got hope... Something you thought was lost turned out to be only misplaced. You've been looking and searching for so long... But it's here, Doctor. It's been here the whole time... So say it... Tell me what you want?"

"Your first mistake was entering the mind of a young human named Tegan Jovenka," said the Doctor, growing obviously furious. "A remarkable young lady that left me in the most heartbreaking way possible. I have had friends be forced to forget me. I watched my granddaughter grow up. I have even seen far too many of them die. But never have I been told that traveling with me 'stopped being fun...'"

"I can give it to you," the Mara hissed. "It's so close now..."

"That was you," the Doctor said. "She was never the same after you slithered into her mind. You sucked the joy of the universe out of her. We departed on bad terms, and I was only able to make it up to her at the end of her life. You made the journey sad, and for that I am going to make you pay quite dearly."

"I'm getting tired of asking you over and over again Doctor," the Mara hissed violently. "What do you want?"

"I want..." The Doctor seemed to be filled with a righteous fury... that completely dissipated when he checked his wristwatch. "Vinyl to arrive. Honestly girl, how long does it take to fetch a Cello?"

At that moment, the doors swung open, revealing a panting, exhausted, Vinyl Scratch levitating a cello case. "I'm here," she panted. "Damn this thing is heavy."

"Excellent!" the Doctor smiled. "I assume that the bow is inside, and her sheet music is that stack of pages on the turntables?"

"Yeah," said Vinyl, handing the case over to the Doctor and staring at Octavia. "Is my BFF possessed by a killer snake monster now?"

"I'm afraid so," the Doctor said, dragging the Cello case over to the turntables.

"We're fixing that right?" Vinyl asked.

"In just a moment," the Doctor smiled as he set up the sheet music in a way that he could read without using his hands. "Mara, could you do me the favor of leaping upon me, clutching my throat, and telling me everything I love is doomed?"

The Mara seemed to try, but fail. As Octavia's legs were unwilling to move at the Mara's command. "What?" it hissed. "This can't be... Why can't I...?"

"Dude," Blue laughed. "How many times is this gonna happen before you learn that he is always thinking."

"Doctor," Applejack smiled. "How long has this been in the works?"

"Since the Mara stared at Octavia whilst exiting Blue," the Doctor smiled. "I knew the poor dear would be possessed then, so I had Vinyl fetch a few things for me."

The Mara shot the Doctor a horrified look.

"Oh dear," the Doctor said sadly. "Did you think I didn't have a plan?"

Author's Note

I do so love writing super intense arguments.

You spent the majority of this chapter ripping of Babylon 5.

If Star Trek was allowed to do that for a whole series, I can do it for one characters catchphrase.

Please rate and comment!

Endless Forms Most Beautiful

"Octavia!" the Doctor said happily as he sifted through Octavia's sheet music. "If you can hear me stamp your hoof once!"

Octavia did against the Mara's will. "Stop it!" the Mara hissed. "You gave me control of this body, and I intend to keep it! There is no way I'm giving up now!"

"Oh, surely not," the Doctor smiled. "That would take the presence of mind to know when to quit, something you, with your primitive reptile brain, have never been able to grasp... No, that wasn't fair. I just threw Silurians and Ice Warriors under the bus with you..."

"You think I'm going to let you just keep mocking me like this?!" the Mara shot back.

"Yes," said the Doctor matter-of-factly. "Octavia, dear, haven't you written anything a little less gloomy? This is all very beautiful work but I need something upbeat if I am going to fully get you out of this in any sensible amount of time. Oh, one tap for yes, two taps for no."

Octavia's hoof tapped once. The Mara hissed in anger.

"Ah, lovely," the Doctor said. "When you're ready, give me the title. Shouldn't be long until you get control of your mouth again, in the meantime we will all have a round table discussion with the talking belt."

"Oh, wow," Blue smiled. "This is priceless."

"Now, young man," the Doctor said sternly. "I do not condone taking abject pleasure in the suffering of others."

"Neither do I," Blue said defensively. "That being said, when the subject of the schadenfreude is a being who exists on torment, and has been harming you and the ones you care about..."

"It's hard to control, yes," the Doctor frowned. "That baser instinct to smile when crushing your enemies... How very Sontaran of me. I must keep watch on that."

"You haven't won yet!" the Mara screamed.

"Yes I have," the Doctor said immediately. "The moment Ms. Scratch came through the door with that cello."

"Yeah, about me," Vinyl said shakily. "What do I do? How do I get Octy out of this? I don't wanna see her get hurt!"

"Start there," Applejack said, catching on. "Start there and keep going."

"Give miss Applejack a round of applause!" the Doctor said happily. "Positive emotional energy to combat being of negative psychic responses. Normally it would take much more than this to harm you, but you've obviously been weakened significantly over the past ohhh... Twenty-Four hours. Am I right young man?"

"Twelve," Blue corrected.

"That must have taken an enormous boost of positive energy to weaken the Mara in such a short time," the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"A thing happened," Blue said awkwardly. "I took care of it... Modesty forbids me to say it was that good- This is getting weird, back to Vinyl."

"My friend is in pain!" Vinyl protested. "You're saying I can fix it, but I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do!"

"You've already done it," the Doctor said quietly. "You stepping in this room has given Octavia the will to fight back. That's what you've always done for each other. I heard those stories. Being enemies in kindergarten thanks to different tastes in music. You standing up to bullies that picked on her for her accent. Her taking you in when you had no where else to go."

"You want me to kill an alien snake monster," Vinyl asked angrily. "With the power of friendship?"

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, Sugarcube," Applejack said smugly.

"What would life be like without her in it," Blue said. "Think."

"I literally can't imagine that," Vinyl snapped back. "I won't. Simply put, in my head that's an impossibility. She's been there for me so often that... Look, she's family. She is the only pony in the world I consider family. She's been so great all my life that I owe her that same kindness."

"You never owed me anything," came the correct voice from Octavia's body.

"Octavia?!" Blue said.

"No!!" the Mara hissed. "No get bac-"

"You get the hell out of my friend!!" Vinyl shrieked.

"Temper, Ms. Scratch," the Doctor smiled. "Catch more flies with honey, remember. We were getting farther the other way."

Vinyl looked at the Doctor, then back at Octavia. She finally understood what she had to do. "Octy," she said to her friend. "I don't say this often enough... But every memory that's worth having includes you. If it weren't for you, I probably would have burned out in a drug fueled haze a long time ago. You set me straight without making me boring. And even though I make fun of you sometimes, I love what I hear of your music! I may not get it, but it really does sound so beautiful to me. You are the one pony I can genuinely say I look up to."

"She can't hear y--" The Mara's neck craned. "Yes I can," Octavia said. "And if you think I'm ever going to let you live that down, Vinyl Scratch, you're delusional!"

"Would expect nothing less, you Trottingham Troll!" Vinyl let out a huge grin. "You back for good?"

Octavia's neck craned again, her eyes glowed a bright red and she let out a monstrous hissing noise. She then craned her neck again. "Not quite," she breathed heavily. "Endless Forms Most Beautiful."

"A quote by Charles Darwin?" the Doctor asked.

"My happy song," Octavia strained. "It's called 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful.'"

The Doctor searched through the sheet music until he found what he was looking for. "Ah, yes," the Doctor smiled. "Could you put our friend back on, I'd like to talk to him."

Octavia's neck craned again. "Do you think a little music is going to stop me?!" the Mara hissed.

"Haven't you been listening?" said the Doctor as he set himself up around the Cello. "You've already lost."

"I doubt that," the Mara shot back.

"Then why are we still talking?" The Doctor began to play. "See, that's the thing... If you had full control over that body, you;d be wrapping those hooves around my throat right now. But you're not. And you won't. Because you were right. Evil is mundane. It's everywhere. Matter of fact, one might call it common.... Oh dear me, I have become an upper-class twit, haven't I?"

"That's a change?" Applejack asked.

"Hush, you," the Doctor frowned. "Good, however, is exceptional. It takes time and energy. And quite a fair bit of thought. Listen to this piece..." The Doctor continued playing Octavia's music. "I'm doing the bit for the strings, but there are other parts... Bits for guitars, drums, it even calls for some electronic elements later in the work... It all comes together in a sort of..."

"Harmony," Applejack finished.

"Quite," the Doctor smiled. "This piece seems to be an ode to music itself... Blending classical sensibilities with electronic techniques... I wonder where she got that idea." He winked knowingly at Vinyl.

"Oh, Octy," Vinyl was tearing up. "Wow... Just..."

"I think I understand the title," the Doctor smiled, as he continued playing. "Its a quote. Said about life on earth, but it works for music as well. 'From so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.' Good man, Charles. A bit obsessed with his finches..."

"What does this have to do with anything?!" the Mara hissed.

"'Most beautiful, and most wonderful,'" the Doctor repeated. "That man posed the hypothesis that we all struggled for survival. So much death, and so much pain. All life crawled screaming from the muck... But still, he saw life as a beautiful thing. That takes a spirit that is truly inspiring. The made you're squatting in has that same spirit. And that's why, in a few measures, she's going to beat you."

"PLEASE!!" the Mara spat. "Despite what you told the green maned idiot, there is no such THING as a happy ending. I am the voice in EVERYPONY'S head! I am the natural end to all things! At the end of it all I. ALWAYS. WIN!!! Whatever you think you've got..."

"What I've got," the Doctor sighed, placing the bow to the side. "Is something you don't know..."

"What?!" The Mara snapped. "What do you think I don't know?!"

"I'm rubbish with a Cello," the Doctor smiled. "Octavia!!!" The Doctor spun the cello over to where the Mara was standing...

And Octavia deftly caught.

The Doctor walked calmly over and placed the bow in Octavia's hoof. "I believe this is yours, dear lady."

"Thank you, Doctor." Octavia then began to play. With the hooves and skill of an expert music filled the nightclub until it was all anypony could hear. This music meant so much more than just a piece she would perform. She was playing for Vinyl, and Applejack, and the Doctor, even that poor stallion Blue. She did what music did best.

She lifted spirits.

The mark on her left foreleg faded rapidly, and the Spectral form of the Mara rose out of her back. "This isn't the end, Time Lord!!" The Mar seemed to writhe in pain. "I'll keep coming back!! Always! You haven't seen the last of me yet!!!"

The Mara began to laugh.

Then the Mara began to sing.

"Christ rose on easter morning,
Mary and Martha came down to see,
He said "Go tell My desciple.
To meet me in Galilee..."

And then the Mara dissipated. Gone from the room.

Shortly afterward, Octavia collapsed

Author's Note

One more chapter. Got a LOOT of stuff to wrap up!

Please rate and comment!

How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth

And so, the Mara began to die.

It was bluffing when it mocked the Doctor. It had no plan. There was no "Galilee." It was over... This was the end.

It moved throughout Ponyville, looking for someone, anyone to take him. But no dice. This place was like poison to it. Every pony was so sickeningly happy. No one would take him. No one would listen. The game was over, the Doctor had won. After all that struggle, the Doctor had won.

There was no option left. It had to crystallize. It had to revert to it's jewel form, otherwise it would evaporate into nothingness. It haad to revert to its gem form and shut off its awareness so it didn't burn out. It knew it might be a thousand generations before it woke up again. As it solidified into the harmless little thing, it cursed the universe that had brought it this low. It cursed the young lovers. The musicians. The Law. The scientist. Most of all, it cursed the Doctor. It slowly began to lose consciousness...

When something picked it up.

This creature wasn't a pony... No, it was something else... Something... Something angry!! Oh, yes, something furious!! Something neglected, disrespected, patronized... Something scorned. Oh, yes... Oh yes... This would do. This would do greatly.

The Mara perked up... Maybe the game wasn't over just yet.

"Okay," Blue said quickly, reaching for his watch. "I've got to get back."

Those words seemed to unfreeze the room. Vinyl immediately went over to check on the unconscious Octavia, and the Doctor and Applejack went over to Blue. "Just a moment, young man," the Doctor said sternly. "I would like to know why exactly you came here, and why exactly you dumped the Mara on us."

"I can't," Blue said breathlessly. "Everything was kind of... Exploding when I left. I need to get back and see if we live. Doctor, do you still have the note I left you?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered. "Its still in my TARDIS. Why?"

"Look on the back of it," Blue explained. "Those are the Time-Space coordinates to where you need to go next. Yes the coordinates are correct. Yes you need to go there. When you get there don't leave until you've figured out what's going on."

"And what exactly is going on?" the Doctor asked.

"Spoilers," Blue answered. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Look... I know it seems like I'm leading you on, but you have to understand... My story is almost over, yours is just beginning.When you get... Where you're going, you're going to find a pony who needs your help. Maybe several... It gets harder from here on out... But don't worry!"

"Yes, yes," the Doctor smiled. "I told you I shouldn't worry."

Blue smiled. "Good luck," Blue smiled. "Not that I think you'll need it."

With a few quick adjustments to his watch, Blue was gone. Leaving the Doctor and Applejack alone with the two musicians.

"Good luck," the Doctor repeated. "I intend on leaving very little to luck."

The next few hours were very calm. Almost serene.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had come back to check on things, and when they were informed of what happened in their absence, their jaw hit the floor. Octavia had woken up to see Vinyl taking care of her, and they had a long discussion that the Doctor couldn't hear. And Ponyville itself was unaffected. Some parts still rebuilding from the Master's attack. The Mara did all that it did almost entirely unnoticed.

The Doctor resolved to head back to the TARDIS as quickly as possible. There was somewhere he needed to go, and some pony waiting for him there. He strode down Main Street in Ponyville, key in hand, and found his beautiful little blue box waiting for him just where he left it. He smiled and went to open the door.

"And where exactly do y'all think you're goin'?" came a thick drawl from behind him.

The Doctor smiled. "You know, its funny," the Doctor smiled. "In each and every persona I've had, one thing has remained consistent." The Doctor turned to face Applejack. "I've never liked goodbyes.'

"Well don't that just suck for you," Applejack smiled. "It's what you do when you're leaving family."

"Family?" the Doctor asked.

"That's right," Applejack nodded.

The Doctor silently laughed, then decided to try something futile. "There's plenty of room in the TARDIS," he said sadly. "One more ride?"

Applejack smiled and shook her head. "You know I can't, Braniac."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, I do," he said sadly. "You're place is here and mine... I don't know if I have one anymore... So we must part. Before we do, I must ask you a question. And it is important that you answer truthfully. Understand?"

"Eeyup," said AJ, impersonating her older brother.

"Did it stop being fun?" The Doctor had a catch in his voice. "The travel... The TARDIS... Me... Did it stop being fun?"

"No," Applejack said softly. "It just stopped bein' practical."

The Doctor closed his eyes, and tipped his head up. "I can live with that."

They both wrapped each other in a tight embrace. "Good luck, Braniac!" Applejack said happily. "And you better come back and visit, you hear?"

"Understood!" the Doctor smiled. "And you! Take care of that sister of yours! She is quite close to getting her cutie mark! Keep an eye on her!"

"You know I will!" Applejack laughed. "One more thing, I left you a little present in there. Don't you think about returning it. You can thank me later!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What you have just said concerns me greatly!" He called to Applejack as she started to gallop away.

"Good!" AJ smiled as she walked away. "See you round, Braniac!"

The Doctor shook his head, and opened the door to his TARDIS.

He was greeted by an image of his former self.

"Hello Doctor!" the hologram said. "A little bit of advice from a younger you!"

The Doctor was confused for a moment, but he soon recalled what he had done. Just before the regeneration, he had left a message for his new self. "Very well, Doctor. Let's hear it."

"Listen," the much younger looking pony said frankly. "Its going to be hard, but you can do it. First things first, don't travel alone. Whereever it is you're going you're going to need help. I know it seems like you don't, but you do."

"I don't doubt it, Doctor." the Doctor sighed. "But I really have no other option at this point, unfortunately."

"Second," the Holo-Doctor said. "Keep track of the little things. Repeated phrases. Things that shouldn't be there. Gut feelings. They always mean something."

The Doctor nodded. "I've kept track of a few things, already actually."

"Finally... urgh..." The Old Doctor seemed to twinge with his regeneration. "Finally... Be careful. That note made me more than a little nervous... I think there are hard times ahead for you, Doctor... I'm sorry."

"No need, old friend," the Doctor smiled. "Hardly your fault."

"I think I hear Applejack coming to," the old Doctor said. "Just remember, you are the Doctor. Keep that in mind and you should be alright."

With that the Hologram shut off. Leaving the Doctor in a contemplative silence.

... And then something broke the silence.

"So that was the old you, huh?" came a familiar casual voice from the Doctor's right. "Dude, I gotta say, you traded down. He was super hot."

"Oh, I don't know," came a familiar Trottingham accent from the Doctor's left. "I think I like the older, more distinguished look."

"AH!!" the Doctor collapsed to the ground, startled by the sudden presence in the room. He looked up to see what that presence was.

"Hiding under the weird table was like," Vinyl said calmly pulling her shades off. "The best idea you've ever had."

"I like to think so," Octavia smiled.

"What the devil are you doing in my TARDIS?!" the Doctor asked, his voice cracking a little.

"We're a present!" Vinyl said happily. "Aren't we adorable! AJ gave us her key."

"We're coming with you," Octavia explained.

"And who, precisely," the Doctor said straightening himself out. "Decided that, eh?"

"We did," Vinyl explained.

"You can't get did of us," Octavia said firmly. "We're coming, and that's that."

"Why?" the Doctor asked, biwildered. "Why would you want to after all you've been through today?"

"That's just it!" Octavia protested. "Today I have had a personification of pure evil in my brain. He saw my thoughts, and more terrifying? I saw his. It made me truly understand what a monster was. More importantly, it was recovering. Recovering from a battle with you. I didn't see much of it's past but I saw that. I want to be a part of that battle when the time comes."

"And I thought what she was doing was dangerous, stupid, and borderline suicidal." Vinyl let out a huge grin. "So naturally, I wanted in."

The Doctor looked at both mares. Then took a deep breath and walked over to the TARDIS console. He found the note Blue left. The one that warned him of his coming regeneration. He looked on the back, and he saw... "Oh," he said to himself. "Oh, that's interesting. Very interesting indeed." He folded the note and put it in his pocket.

"What?" Vinyl asked.

"Look," the Doctor said in a dark serious tone."This won't be like travelling with me normally. Usually I wander. I putter about time and space, I have a general lark, and get myself into trouble. I won't say I never look for trouble, I do. But this is different. I shall be on a mission. To save some pony who needs my help, and stop a multidimensional threat. This journey will be all business. From beginning to end. It is far from certain that we all escape with our lives. Can you handle that?"

"I'm in, old man," Vinyl smiled. "But you better be around to explain stuff. I don't science."

"I understand the risks," Octavia said, straightening up. "And I am ready for them."

"OUTSTANDING!!" the Doctor bellowed, flicking a switch on the TARDIS console. "I must say, I am looking forward to this! A fresh new pair of eyes, and the whole universe waiting for them! The Doctor and the Duet! Next stop, everywhere!"

The TARDIS began to grind and wheeze as it took off.

"Uh, Octy?" asked one half of the Duet. "Did he always have the crazy eyes?"

"Honestly, Vi," answered the other. "I'm looking forward to finding out!"

The Solicitor, and the Barrister were arguing with the Warden.

"This is just wrong!" argued the Warden. "I cannot condone this course of action! You must say something to the judge!"

"Our client is imprisoned for his entire immortal life," the Barrister said sternly. "And you're worrying about the cattle?!"

"They aren't cattle!" the Warden shot back. "Have we learned nothing from our last encounter!"

"Our 'last encounter,' as you put it was with a very notable Time Lord," the Solicitor clarified. "And why are you bringing this concern to us?! We are here to free our client! You are here to make sure he is well cared for."

"With respect, Solicitor," the Warden spat. "I am here to make sure the prisoner remains confined. I will not be lectured to about my job by a few men so untalented at theirs that their precious 'client,' was sent up for an eternity!"

"Gentlemen!" came a booming voice. The Judge entered, backed by the Crown Prosecutor.

The three turned and bowed their heads. "Your honor.

"Do not ever forget the solemn duty you all hold," the Judge continued. "We have existed since the beginning of time. This prison has stood as a monument to the order we bring. We have seen the universes born in chaos, and die the same way. We have seen the Black Guardian spread his evil across reality! We have been there, and in service to the White Guardian, we have kept watch. For in this chaos called reality...

"We are the Law!"

Author's Note

Anyone who makes the Judge Dredd reference gets punched. :ajbemused:

Anyway, that's the first Temptation of a Time Lord out of the way, please stay tuned for the second.

TO BE CONTINUED IN:
DOCTOR WHOOVES:
THE ETERNALS' PRISON.

See you then! Please rate and comment!