Dr. Whooves: Equestria Divided

"Ah guess I owe ya that explanation now, huh?"

The Doctor, Ditzy, and two guards were sitting around a table inside a huge battering ram that was being wheeled up front with the other heavy equipment.

The Doctor smiled. "Yes, please, madam."

Applejack sighed, and began.

"It all happened fifteen years ago, more or less. One morning, everything was fine, all of Equestria was happy, and all of that. The next morning, poof! The princesses- that have been governing us for over a thousand years just disappear?"

The Doctor frowned, but said nothing. Ditzy, however, spoke up. "Why did they leave?"

"Nopony knows. Now, Twilight- me and my friends still bein' together and all- decides that the only way to fix this was to become alicorns ourselves. She told me that it would only work with a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony- a whole transferal of essences or something like that. I thought that she was insane, and wasted no time in telling her that. She told me fine, but if I didn't cooperate, she'd brand me as a traitor throughout all of Equestria. I told her fine, believing that she was just bluffing. But then she turns around and actually does it!"

Ditzy gasped. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Applejack said, scowling. "Anyways, she ended up getting Pinkie to do it."

The Doctor spoke up. "Pinkie? You mean Pinkie Pie?"

She turned and glared at the Doctor. "Yes, Pinkie Pie. Now can I finish, or should I even bother?"

The Doctor sat back silently, looking embarrassed.

"Thank you. Now, the spell happeneed, and it had tragic results. It failed miserably. Worse off, Rainbow Dash was horrifically injured on one side of her face and Pinkie was killed!"

Another gasp from Ditzy. "That's horrible!"

"I know. She then came out with all this, unicorns are better than the rest of you and all of that junk, and went back to Canterlot. I tried sending a friend to go talk to her, but I haven't seen her since." She sighed. "Then Twilight, jealous that she didn't have Ponyville, played off of Rainbow's little remaining loyalty... and had her flood Ponyville."

The Doctor paused. "So... that lake we saw... that was Ponyville?"

"Yup. Or what's left of it, anyways."

"Oh, dear."

"Very. And then Rarity came down with some disease and retreated to Manehattan, and Fluttershy cut off contact with us. She's somewhere in the Everfree forest. And we've been fighting ever since."

"Huh... strange. Now what's this Cult of Laughter thing about?"

"Oh... that. Well, apparently, some thieves found Pinkie's coffin and started obsessing over it. They stole it, and ever since, this, 'Cult of Laughter' has been popping up everywhere. We've kept them down over here- mostly- but, other than in the Everfree Forest, most cities have the cult in it, one way or another."

"Hmm... So I'm looking for the biggest and closest Cult presence. And that would be...?"

Apple Bloom stuck her head down the shaft. "Manehattan!"

Applejack sighed. "Apple Bloom, aren't you supposed to be watching the engines?"

"I trust my fellow blacksmiths for ten minutes."

A sudden puff of steam came down from the shaft. Apple Bloom looked worried. "On second thought... hey, wait, guys!" She ducked her head back up.

Applejack sighed. "She's right, anyways. Manehattan. Or it's slums, anyways. I doubt that Rarity would want anything so disgusting inside her precious city walls. Welp, I know where your goin'. Might want to talk to her about gettin' your box back. She might help ya."

The Doctor bowed. "Thank you, Commander. I wish you luck."

She nodded and the door swung open. "We're here!" yelled a blacksmith.

As the Doctor and Ditzy marched on, Ditzy tried to make conversation.

"Hey, Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"Weren't you an earth pony, last I checked?"