"Injustice is the rule, but I want justice. Suffering is the rule, but I want to end it. Despair accords with reality, but I insist on hope. I don't accept it because it is unacceptable."

-The Eighth Doctor

“I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes, and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”

-The Eleventh Doctor

+}{+

The aftermath of the invasion from the Cyberponies had all of Geneva in mourning. The list of dead was more than half the entire area's population. Combined with the knowledge that some of them had been taken away to be turned into "Cybermen," you had a population in complete despair. It was even worse, considering what had happened with Berlin, Islamabad, Algiers, Chicago, and Kwangju. Entire populations completely genocided to the last child or disappeared to be turned into metal monsters. The world was in a state of total fear and paranoia as riots and chaos happened all over. Some finally couldn't take it anymore. First ponies, then cyborgs, then alien nazi's. It was like sanity had collapsed, and the world's end was here. Various local and national governments collapsed or were forced into extreme measures to keep order.

Major-General Highmore felt like he was losing his sanity as he put a cigarette to his lips. He wasn't supposed to smoke on the job but damn the rules in this case. He had just gotten the worst report of it all. The U.N. council was gone. All the world's leaders or representatives were captured by the Cyberponies and taken away. Based on what the Doctor told him about cyberization, they were as good as dead. So far, the only people he knew were those he trusted, and the new leaders of each nation were coming into power to reestablish some form of order if they could.

There were mixed orders, chaos, and utter confusion in a world that had thought the Equestrians were terrible enough. Now, they had to deal with new threats. One of which, if the Doctor was telling the truth, was Satan incarnate. He could only hope the God version would come at this point.

The Doctor was doing what he did best, and that was healing what he could; all his companions were doing so. Major-General Highmore was too busy looking over everything from his room and needing a minute to gather himself. He looked at the ruins and wondered if this really was the twilight of mankind. After all these centuries of achievement, they were now dealing with a threat they couldn't deal with usually. Fighting each other now seemed pointless as nations were doing what they could for each other to the point that North Korea and South Korea had become united again. Politicians no longer cared about themselves and were focused on ensuring their people could survive. Companies realized money was useless in the threat of annihilation and offered whatever was needed.

But the big fear was that maybe this wasn't enough. The Daleks, Cyberponies, and this Black Guardian were much more advanced and powerful.

But Major-General Highmore knew humanity. Humans are a stubborn species. They would not give up. It would be over only when the last man died.

"...How are you holding up?" He turned around and saw Princess Flurry Heart looking at him with eyes no child should ever have.

"...I need a drink," He admitted.

"Wish I was old enough to have one," Flurry Heart joked, but her tone had no humor. The two stood next to each other in silence for some time. "I am sorry for your losses."

"As I am for yours," Major-General Highmore stated honestly. The word reached them of all of the attacks Equestria had suffered, and they were just as bad. So much so that Princess Luna had no choice but to order all significant cities and towns to be emptied and for all ponies to flee into the wilds. In the face of survival, material objects seemed to matter little anymore. "I've lost good men in this chaos."

"...I have lost my entire family to this insanity," Princess Flurry Heart whimpered. "My mother, father, Aunt Twilight, grandparents, Aunt Celestia, and even Uncle Spike. And now I lost my people. The Crystal Empire is gone...all of it gone..."

He looked at her and saw her doing her best to stay strong. But it was clear that there was no princess or leader. Just a little girl who lost everything she loved. Kneeling before her, Major-General Highmore slowly wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder.

As she sobbed and wailed like a child, Major-General Highmore closed his eyes and knew at last that the Doctor was right.

It was time to do the impossible for the greater good of both their races.

It was time for an alliance with old foes.

It was time to end this war once and for all.

+}{+

There were many things that Princess Luna found terrific and fantastic about this new age she woke up to after being stuck on the moon for the past thousand years, but the greatest would always be coffee in her mind. It was the only thing keeping her going at this point. Finishing another cup, she tossed it away and looked over a long list of growing reports, needs, and messages from all their forces. With the threat of aliens attacking their homes, the division between the ponies festering for so long was now obsolete. Princess Luna clarified on a public broadcast to all Equestrians that her sister and all the other alicorns, but she and Princess Flurry Heart, were dead. She hid nothing from her people in telling them of the threat they faced and the lie that had been used to deceive them all. And she clarified that they had to work together or else they would all die.

Needless to say, nopony was willing to argue at this point.

Canterlot was not the only city attacked. The Crystal Empire was gone. There was not a soul left in the frozen wasteland. Luna didn't even bother thinking of the death toll as it was pointless. Knowing there was no chance of defending against these evil creatures, she ordered all significant cities and towns to evacuate and head for shelter in the wilds, mountains, forests, jungles, and deserts. At least there was a chance of survival if they worked together. The cities held no defenses. Not against creatures that could be fully resistant to magic.

It was ironic. A thousand years ago, Luna dreamed of being Equestria's sole ruler. Well, she got her wish. Only she lost so much in return. A princess of a broken and ruined nation that is barely holding itself together.

"Coffee?"

She turned around and saw Discord holding another large cup in both hands. The Spirit of Chaos looked like he had aged a hundred years and barely made any jokes now. He was drained not just from using so much magic to help teleport the entire population of Canterlot but also from the events in the last twenty-four hours that affected him. If what Discord told her was right, he, too, was an alien from another planet. One that was wiped out by the Daleks. She wondered if that was their fate as well?

Accepting the miracle drink without hesitation, Luna sipped and sighed. "Morale?"

"Bad."

"I figured," Luna sighed as she tossed the papers away and sat on a chair. "There is only one way this ends."

"Considering how bad the humans apparently had it with their attacks, I can't imagine they won't agree to work together," Discord snorted as he drank his coffee. "It's our own shot anyway."

"From foes who tried to eliminate each other to allies in the threat of a greater annihilation. Fate is ironic indeed," Luna muttered as she rubbed her forehead. "Is there really no way out of this?"

"No," Discord said plainly. "We're fucked one way or another. Might as well go down fighting."

"... How's Rainbow Dash's wing?"

"They had to take it off to save her," Discord sighed. "She wasn't happy about it, but they promised a metal wing as a replacement. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity are doing their best to help her deal with this. As is Jolt Bolt."

"Jolt Bolt?" Luna asked curiously.

"Royal Guard who saved her life. He refuses to leave her side and Rainbow Dash is okay with it," Discord sighed. "Honestly, we all need friends in these dark times."

Luna nodded before turning outside her window to see her ponies moving with as much strength as they could, but there was a hollow silence as they did so. "I failed them. No, we all failed them. My sister and I. Twilight. Cadence. We failed them all. They looked to us to lead them, protect them. We were like gods to them. And yet we led them to ruin. How could they even look to me for leadership at this point?"

"Because you are all they have," Discord pointed out. "They got nothing else left to turn to."

"...I can't lead after this," Luna lowered her head. "Things can't be what they were before. It all has to change."

"Yes, but let's worry about that after we win," Discord pointed out as he drank some more coffee.

"You really think we can still come out of this alive?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, we have one thing that gives us an advantage."

"What's that?"

"A Doctor."

***

“There! Done all I can,” The Doctor said as he removed his surgeon mask. “Just keep him sedated for the next two hours, and he’ll be fine. Legless, but alive.”

“Thank you, Doctor. We’ll take it from here,” The Head Surgeon said as she started finishing things up. Leaving the operating room, The Doctor sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brows and looked at himself dressed in an actual doctor’s outfit. “I wonder how Grace, Martha, and Rory would react if they saw me in this?”

He shrugged and wandered around the hospital briefly to clear his head when he saw Lyra nearby looking for him. “There you are. I was wondering where you were.”

“Well, I decided the best thing to do was be my namesake and help out with the wounded,” The Doctor said with a shrug.

“I didn’t know you could perform surgery on humans,” Lyra said as she tilted her head. “How did you learn how to do it?”

“Read a few books about it in a library when I first arrived here,” The Doctor said as they walked together.

“And that’s enough?”

“For me, it is,” He said with a smile before frowning. “How are you holding up?”

“Honestly? I think I’m getting used to this,” Lyra chuckled darkly. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Try doing it for thousands of years like I do. If you ever get the moment where you just want to cry, then let it out. Trust me. It will be better in the long run,” The Doctor said as he looked at the many halls of wounded, dying, and scared humans. “It’s sad, isn’t it? So many lifeforms exist in various realities like this one, and we all keep slaughtering each other, not realizing that in moments like this, we’re the same deep down. Hurt. Scared. Confused. And wanting the pain to stop.”

“...I guess that saying about how we’re all human in the end has more than one meaning,” Lyra whispered.

“Yes, Pony or Human or insane alien traveling in a blue box. We’re all the same deep down,” The Doctor agreed before he gave a soft smile. “But it’s not just the bad things.”

He motioned Lyra to follow him. They walked for a while until they got to the children’s wing. He pushed open a door and saw many little children gather to listen to a storyteller. A particular cross-eyed storyteller.

“...And then that’s when it started raining muffins! Everyone in Ponyville looked at me, and all I could do was say, my bad!” Derpy finished her tale, which had all the kids laughing.

“That’s so funny, Ms. Hooves!”

“How did you manage to make muffins flood an entire house?!”

“I want a muffin now!”

“Tell us another story!”

“Okay! This is how I accidentally ended up in Griffinstone on a delivery to Baltimare!” Derpy said as she began the tale.

“Just because we can all cry and feel pain doesn’t mean we cannot feel joy and laughter simultaneously,” The Doctor said as he pulled out a particular amulet and saw the light blue gem glowing. He smiled. “Especially when there is always hope.”

Lyra couldn’t help but smile as well as they closed the door. “So you think we can beat the Black Guardian.”

“Yes, we have one chance. And it depends on a few things,” The Doctor answered.

“Such as?” Lyra asked, but before the Doctor could answer, a soldier approached them and saluted.

“Sir, Major-General Highmore wanted me to get you, sir. He’s agreed to an alliance with the remaining Equestrian force.”

The Doctor smiled as he turned to Lyra. “Such as that.”

+}{+

If the tension could be any thicker, you would need a buzzsaw to cut through it. Once both sides had agreed to talk about the concept of allying with each other against The Black Guardian and ending the war, the Doctor decided that the best place to have this talk was in a neutral zone. Mainly The TARDIS.

"...Impressive," Princess Luna said as she looked around the large control room. "And there are more rooms?"

"Yes, including a meeting room where Major-General Highmore is already waiting for us," The Doctor said as he motioned the Princess to join him. With her were three Royal Guards, Discord, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still recovering from the battle but had already blessed the alliance.

Or, as Dash said:

"Just get everything ready so I can kick this Black Guardian's flank to the void from where he came."

They traveled through the long halls, the group mesmerized by how it seemed to go on forever until they made it to a pair of double doors where The Doctor opened them. The meeting room was very spartan. A large wooden table with humans on one side and an empty side for the Equestrians save for Princess Flurry Heart. The Doctor's companions stood to the side, hopeful and nervous.

The moment they saw each other, Princess Luna and Flurry Heart hugged. For a moment, they were not the Alicorn leaders they were trying to be but the last of a broken family torn apart by madness and deceit. Nobody said anything; instead, let them have a moment to themselves.

"I am so sorry, Flurry Heart. For everything," Princess Luna whispered as she nuzzled her cheek. "I wish I had your courage that terrible day."

"I wish I could have done more," Flurry Heart whispered back as she shed tears. "But we can do more later. We...we need to fix this now."

"Indeed," Princess Luna stated as she sat across from the humans, and The Doctor sat between them. "I am Princess Luna. Raise of the Moon and Leader of Equestria."

"I am Major-General Highmore of the United Nations Armed Forces," Highmore nodded.

"Forgive me, but I was under the impression that I would be talking to one of your nation's leaders or a representative of the U.N.?" Princess Luna asked with a slightly confused tilt of her head.

"All of the U.N.'s leadership was taken by the Cyberponies," Major-General Highmore sighed, seeing as there was no point in lying. "With the world's nations trying to restore order in the attack, I have decided to take it upon myself to forge this agreement between us for our survival."

"You are not worried about punishment from your superiors?" Princess Luna asked.

"It won't matter much if we fail and all die to some evil god."

Nodding in respect, Princess Luna continued, "Then let us begin. First, I speak for Equestria, saying that our hostilities are null and void. We were deceived and manipulated into your world to cause a war that cost the lives of billions. Regardless of this deception, we still hold responsibility for it and acknowledge the wrongness in our actions. I know this is a tiny reprieve from the pain and suffering you have undergone because of us, but Equestria will spend as many generations as it takes to earn your forgiveness."

Things were quiet as Major-General Highmore stared at Princess Luna for quite some time. Nobody made a move or said a word until he finally nodded his head. "Very well. I acknowledge that the war is over. While we understand you were deceived, we will demand reparations when this is all over. I do not know what that is, but that will have to wait for another time. Regardless, I am also willing to end this war between us to deal with the bigger crisis."

"Will your fellow military officers and nations agree to this?" Princess Luna asked.

"We'll make them see. After everything that has happened, even the most spiteful of humans will have to agree that we need to work together for our own survival if nothing else," Major-General Highmore stated as the two nodded.

"Very good," The Doctor said with a smile as he clapped his hands before getting serious. "Now, to the real business."

The Doctor got up and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, which caused a panel in the wall to open up and reveal a giant T.V. screen. He turned it on, showing Earth with specific energies surrounding it. "The Black Guardian's plan is a sinister one. He seeks to bring his entire being into this universe to shape it into whatever he desires. To this, he uses the power of entropy and a complex spell ritual that requires a magnitude of death as the fuel source. We know he plans on using the Harmony Canon to do so, and while I might have sabotaged it, I'm sure he'll find a way to fix that and make it worse."

"How much worse?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Probably enough to blow up the planet in one shot."

"Ah, that is worse."

"Wait, if he destroys the planet, won't that also destroy him?" Carrot Top asked.

"Not necessary. The Black Guardian doesn't have a physical form and is mostly connected by his possession of Princess Celestia. So long as he uses that as an anchor between this dimension and ours, he'll never be stopped."

"How do we end his connection? Do we kill Princess Celestia?" Dinky asked, which made a few ponies, including Princess Luna, nervous about the concept.

"It's one way of doing it. Princess Celestia is already dead thanks to the possession; whatever of her remains is probably either gone or so crushed by the power of the Black Guardian that it holds little to no sway over her," The Doctor explained. "Regardless, I do have a plan to cut the connection. The problem is dealing with their defenses."

"Not to mention figuring out where they're going to be hiding," Princess Flurry Heart said with her wings sagging.

"Oh, I already know where they are," The Doctor said, much to their surprise.

"Where?" Major-General Highmore asked

"The only place that has a perfect shot of the Earth from where they can fire the cannon in any location," He said before using his Sonic screwdriver to reveal Earth's neighbor in space. "The moon."

"The moon?" One soldier asked. "B-B-B-But how?! You would need a huge base to-"

The Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to access a satellite near the moon that showed said base. It was Base Obsidian 2.0, but it was improved using a combination of Cyberpony and Dalek-based technology. The others couldn't help but gulp at the size.

"...I guess a Space Force really was a good idea," Major-General Highmore muttered. "Too bad we don't have the means to transport any forces there."

"You don't, but I do," the Doctor said with a smile. The TARDIS can get us, and she has enough room for a strong army to carry."

"That's great, Doctor, but how will we deal with the Cyberponies and Daleks?" Princess Flurry Heart asked.

"Well, we know the Cyberponies are weak against gold," Lyra said, which got stares from the ones who didn't know that. "Yeah, I know. Capitalism saves the day, huh?"

"Earth capitalism specifically," The Doctor said with a smile. "But yes, Earth gold can help us defeat the Cyberponies. The Daleks are a different story."

"How are we going to get around that? Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom was the only thing that worked, but that was temporary," Princess Luna pointed out.

"Exactly," The Doctor said with a smile. "There is one weakness to the Daleks' technology. While it is highly resistant to magic, it's not fully invulnerable. A high dose of concentrated magic, unleashed in a huge wave, can act like an EMP to their systems, causing them to shut down. And we already have access to a wild source of dangerous magic that we can use to do so."

"Which is what?"

"The barrier."

This got everyone's attention.

"How will the barrier be used to defeat the Daleks?" Lyra asked.

"Didn't the Daleks attack inside the barrier anyway?" Flash Sentry pointed out. "It's not like it was fatal to them like to the humans."

"It's not fatal to the Daleks because they were inside their protective armor platforms. Outside of it, I guarantee you that the magic would prove to be fatal to them," The Doctor explained. "But it's not the inside of the barrier that is dangerous to them. It's the actual line of magic where it starts that separates the human land from the Equestrian-controlled areas. Right at that line is wild magic combined with the Elements of Harmony, Dimensional Travel, and several other powerful incarnations of magic that are still in a constant swirling expanding effort until they finally exhaust themselves, and in that case, the barrier would cease to exist. Think of it as a tsunami. Once the shifting of the plates causes a tsunami, it continues until the force exalts itself, stops, and disappears. That's exactly what the barrier is. The expanding energy of the spell used to teleport Equestria to Earth had to unleash the energy it caused and said pure energy is the barrier."

"Wait, wouldn't such a thing normally be like one big bang? Like a clogged drain being cleared and water coming out of it?" Dinky Hooves pointed out. "Or a dam opening up?"

"Oh yes, that's why Twilight's calculations for the spell to transport you all had to be perfect. One wrong calculation and both you and Earth would have blown up into smithereens," The Doctor said with a shrug.

Everyone in that room unconsciously thanked Twilight Sparkle for being so meticulous at that moment.

"Okay, you said you can use the barrier to weaken the Daleks?" Princess Luna asked, getting back on track.

"Yes," The Doctor said before getting serious. "Even with these advantages, the two races are still very dangerous, meaning we'll need to go in heavy, and we'll need to be loud. It will also take me some time to do what I need to gather the barrier energy. I will need Discord's help and the Hadron Collider. Plus, two days to do this."

"We'll use that time to prepare our forces then," Major-General Highmore nodded.

"We only get one shot at this, so we're going to have to do our best," Princess Luna replied as she got up.

The two leaders looked at each other before walking across the table. They stared into each other's eyes before Luna extended a hoof. Major-General Highmore looked at it before taking it and shaking.

The Doctor smiled.

"Well then. Let's get to work."

Author's Note

Yup, we're still going on you guys. And we're nearing the end.

As always, feel free to help out with the TV Tropes page: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheNegotiationsVerse