Dr. Whooves- Parallel Complications

The pony universe
Earth
Canterlot
60 years after the time blend points

Another member had been added to the Doctor’s team, and now the true hunt for Chaos had begun. The next trace of Chaos was at Canterlot Castle, several decades in the future from where they found his disruptions before.

On a high balcony in the East wing of the castle, the TARDIS faded into existence. Paige yawned as she stepped out, discovering a glistening night sky above her.

“I stayed up all night, then slept for a short while, and now it’s night again,” Paige said. “I guess when you time travel you could take a nap then jump right back to where you were.”

“It’s a great trick at parties,” Jack said as he stepped out of the TARDIS.

“Quiet down you two, something’s wrong.”

The Doctor came out of the TARDIS with Minuette, the newest member of the team. He and she looked around, over the balcony, into the air, at windows, analyzing everything. All was quiet.

“It seems just fine to me,” Jack said. “But this is where we traced Chaos’s energy readings.”

“It’s too quiet, and that’s usually the problem,” Minuette replied.

“Every time we’ve come to the castle, guards have instantly rushed to see who we are. There’s no one here stopping us from being on this balcony,” the Doctor said.

“Which means that there’s something darker behind the silence of the night around us,” Minuette continued.

“Exactly,” the Doctor smiled. “Minuette, you and I should talk more. I like how you explain things.”

“I agree, we seem to finish sentences,” Minuette replied. She chuckled, and Jack rolled his eyes.

“Just what I needed, someone to add on to the Doctor’s talking,” Jack smirked, until he heard a sharp scream. Realizing that Paige was not next to any of them, the three’s eyes widened. “But you tend to be right unfortunately,” he said before the three took off towards the sound.

***

Princess Luna was pleased with the status of the night. All was calm in Canterlot, and no guards had reported anything strange to her yet. Perhaps the whole night would be quiet, and she could catch up on her other duties besides guarding the castle while the sun rested.

From the other side of the throne room, Luna heard the large door burst open. A male unicorn, one of the best and brightest in the royal guard, stumbled in, screaming, as if in agony.

“P-princess!” the unicorn shouted, after which Luna immediately rose, wanting to aid him in any way she could. “N-no! Don’t come… closer…”

“Lieutenant, what is wrong?” Luna asked, her voice filled with concern. “Please, tell me at once.”

“There’s something… in my head…” the unicorn raised a front hoof, holding his forehead as his eyes squinted shut. “It wants… no, I could never do tha…. Ahhg!”

“Lieutenant, you need help. But I can’t help you unless you explain what’s going on.” Luna’s concern grew along with her fear, having never seen anypony act like this.

“It wants… to kill… to ex…ter…” The unicorn slowly rose to his hooves again, a blue light appearing from within his head, directly above his eyes. “No, I’ll fight it… you’re not getting to… control me…” the guard ran towards the nearby window, and before Luna could stop him, he jumped out, falling to the ground far, far below.

The night was no longer still and calm. Now all of Canterlot could be in danger, every hallway had the potential for nightmares to lurk inside. Luna shivered, but raised her head high, focusing on the task at hand. She had no idea what was possessing the royal guard, or even how many were affected. Every corner of the castle, every room, all of the castle grounds, now posed a potential threat. The castle was being attacked from within its own walls.

***

Rushing around to the other side of the TARDIS, the Doctor found Paige reeled back in fright, at the sight of a dead stallion on the floor in front of her. She panted, trying to catch her breath, and the Doctor rushed over to calm her, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

Minuette moved closer to examine the body. She recognized the armor as a sign that this stallion had been a member of the Canterlot royal guard. He was a unicorn, his helmet on the floor a short distance away.

“Any idea how he died?” Jack asked.

Minuette lifted the unicorn’s head, checking for trauma. She found nothing, so she moved on, searching for injuries, entry wounds, any traces of magic. “I don’t see anything yet, but let me look deeper.”

Dental books weren’t the only medical documents Minuette had read. Her horn began to glow, and her magic scanned through the body, looking for any possible cause of death.

As she examined the unicorn, his body glowed a light green. “What are you doing?” Jack asked, looking closer.

“This spell scans bodies for injuries,” Minuette said. “Unfortunately, I have never used this spell before, so I’m not sure how to interpret the response I’m getting. It feels like… some sort of shock to the system. Maybe electricity? Some sort of energy beam? I don’t know for sure, but he has no broken bones, no scrapes, on the outside he looks perfectly fine.”

The Doctor had managed to calm Paige, bringing her back to normal. She still cringed in pain at the sight of a dead pony, but knew that focus was needed if they were going to save those that were still alive. “So by your analysis, Minuette, we’re not looking for something of this world?”

“60 years is a long time for technology to improve, but not at this rate,” Minuette replied. “Whatever did this is not from Earth.”

“We need to get to the princesses. Now.”

***

Luna whirled at the sound of the doors being kicked open, preparing her magic to defend herself. Her horn ceased glowing when she saw the Doctor, and some of her tension eased knowing that he was present.

“Doctor, I am grateful to see you,” Luna said. “Something dark is amiss in this castle.”

“I regret to inform you that I have found one of your guards dead, princess,” the Doctor said. “We found him on the balcony.”

Luna bowed her head in sadness. “Then that’s at least two already,” she said with a sigh.

“Two? Is there a guard here?” the Doctor asked.

“No, he is gone,” Luna replied. “Doctor, I believe something is possessing the guards. How many of them, I do not know. A lieutenant barged in, warning me not to come close. He fought bravely, but something was inside his head, telling him to… kill…”

“Possession?” Minuette thought hard, going through her memory of what creatures could do such a thing.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “I need to talk to this guard, if he’s infected with whatever this possession is and capable of fighting it, then he might be able to give us insight, and I might be able to save him. Where did this lieutenant go, are you sure he’s dead?”

“He jumped out the window, sacrificing himself so if whatever was in his mind overcame him, he wouldn’t go after me.” A tear swelled in Luna’s eye, hating that anypony on this world need sacrifice themselves for her life.

“How long ago did he jump?”

***

So this was it. Lieutenant Silver had accepted the risk of the job when he signed up for the royal guard. Protect the princesses, at any cost. He was glad that his death was at least honorable.

As he fell through the air, he still refused to let what was inside him take control. It was a losing battle, but Silver wanted to hang on to himself until the end. He had no idea what had happened to him, his memory was clouded on what had happened several weeks ago. But he wouldn’t let whatever tried to control him be the last thought he had before death. He focused hard, feeling the cool night air swirl around him, the peaceful quiet of the night.

Silver closed his eyes, beginning to let go. Whatever wanted control of his mind would not have it for long. The sounds around him began to change, a strange whirring overcoming the volume of the wind.

***

“We’ve only got one shot at this!” the Doctor shouted. “We have to catch him!”

“You’ve never seen me fly a TARDIS, trust me,” Minuette said. The Doctor had given her control when she offered her flying expertise. “Now shut up and grab on to something, I’m flipping the TARDIS to make it horizontal. I’ll catch him.”

The Doctor nodded, and wrapped his hooves around a pole. Minuette clung on to the consol as the TARDIS faded in to existence, slowly rotating as it did so. The Doctor went from standing on the floor to dangling by his grip of the rail, gravity pulling him down in the newly oriented TARDIS. With a bit more adjustment from Paige using her magic to move the controls, the TARDIS aligned itself, the doors swung and a unicorn came falling through.

***

Silver did not hit the ground as expected. Instead his eyes bulged open at the shock from splashing into water. He looked around, swimming for the top, finding himself in an indoor pool. Indoors? Where had he gone?

He emerged from the water for breath, and climbed out of the pool, coughing a bit. As he stood, a sharp pain hit his head, and the struggle began again to keep who he was.

Silver barely heard the sound of hoofsteps over the ringing in his ears, struggling to keep whatever tried to possess him at bay.

“Liutenant!” the Doctor yelled, rushing to his side. “Stay strong, fight it, I know you can.”

“It hurts…” Silver groaned, falling to the floor again, his eyes shut tight. “Who are you… how did I get here…”

“I’m the Doctor, and it doesn’t matter where you are, what matters is you stay with me.” The Doctor laid down on the ground in front of Silver, getting close so he could talk calmly and quietly, hoping to in turn calm the guard in front of him. “Focus on who you are. What’s your name?”

“S-Silver…” Silver moaned in response.

“Great, Silver, nice to meet you,” the Doctor said in as happy a tone as possible. “That’s a great name for a royal guard. How long have you served?”

“Ten years…” Silver answered. “There’s something… in my head… it wants…”

That’s when the blue light came alive again behind Silver’s forehead. The Doctor jumped up from the ground, backing up a ways from the guard. No, he thought to himself. Chaos brought them here. One universe is bad enough, but now they exist in two.

The Doctor’s worst fear laid before him. A pony fighting to hold on to the soul that was already dead. A creature far worse than anything the Doctor encountered in all his time in the universe was trying to take his place.

“Silver, listen to me,” The Doctor said, laying down again. “Do you have a family?”

“A… a wife…” Silver said. “And our son…”

“Silver, what’s inside you wants to take control of everything you are, but you can fight it, I know you can,” the Doctor said urgently. “If you let it take control, you will lose yourself. You’ll try to kill me, you’ll try to kill the princesses, and you’ll even try to kill your family. You’ll lose them all, but you can fight. If there’s anything I’ve learned from being in this universe, it’s that magical things can happen. Please, Silver, prove me right. I beg of you, prove me right.”

Silver processed the Doctor’s words, images of his family appearing in his mind. He closed his eyes harder, grinding his teeth, moaning out in pain. As his entire body trembled, the blue light in his head faded, and his body relaxed.

The Doctor’s face turned to one of intense joy. “You did it Silver, you’re alright,” the Doctor said. “Open your eyes, I’m here.”

Silver opened his eyes slowly, standing up and finally seeing the pony that had helped him. “Thank you, Doctor, whoever you are,” Silver said. “I can still feel whatever it is fighting, my head still aches, but it is better. I can manage.”

“Excellent, I’m glad my friend and I caught you.”

“Speaking of which… how did you manage to catch me with a pool? And do you know what’s inside my head?”

“How I caught you with a pool, that’s a great story…” The Doctor’s face turned to a frown. “However, the more important story is grim.”

“Please Doctor, all that you said about me being taken over, I need to know what I’m fighting, however bad.”

“Come with me.”

***

Minuette had stayed in the control room so she could reorient the TARDIS as well as the pool after the Doctor slid down to meet up with the Lieutenant. She looked over her shoulder when she heard the Doctor come in, and a white stallion, clearly a member of the royal guard, entered. The lieutenant was tall and muscular, his body trained for the job. His mane and tail were groomed in the short, tight fashion, and some of the armor the guards wore still latched to his body.

“Hello, I’m Minuette,” she greeted the stallion. “Doctor, is he alright?”

“He’s fine,” the Doctor replied. “But the situation is impossibly worse than we thought.”

“What is it? What’s affecting the guards?”

“You’re familiar with them, but not like this,” the Doctor said, his face solemn. “You haven’t seen them grow, adapt, evolve into a force more powerful than they even were before. You’ve only seen what they were like in the time war.”

Minuette gasped, in disbelief of what she thought the Doctor was suggesting. “You don’t mean…”

“Daleks,” the Doctor replied. “Some of them survived the time war, as I told you, but I didn’t tell you all the details on my encounters with them, hoping the day would never come that you’d have to encounter them again. They developed the ability to hide parts of themselves in creatures they’ve killed, and wait until a proper time to reveal themselves. It’s the perfect cover up.”

Silver sat down as he began to breathe rapidly, a panic attack settling in. The Doctor rushed over, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “I don’t understand everything you said, but that one part…” Silver said as he fought to slow his breathing again. “Am I… dead?”

The Doctor nodded slowly. “Yes, but that doesn’t matter, listen to me,” the Doctor said. “All your memories, all your feelings, the part that makes you who you are, that’s still there. The rest of you was just a pile of cells, multiplying and dying off, in an endless cycle. You’re still here because your loyalty to the princesses and your love for your family is so strong, that you can even prevent a Dalek from activating its own creation. You are still Lieutenant Silver of the royal guard.”

Silver blinked, trying to understand it all. “But… I don’t even remember…”

“You wouldn’t until you’re activated, and it’s good that you don’t, don’t think about it, it might help them activate you,” the Doctor said. “These creatures are from another world, they have technology far beyond your comprehension.”

Silver paused, then shook his head. “This… incredible flying device you have… creatures from another world… this is a lot to take in at one time…”

“We understand that, but we need your help,” Minuette chimed in. She moved closer, leaning her head down and looking into Silver’s eyes. “There is a lot to understand and no time to explain, but just know this. Stopping the daleks from taking you over is something remarkable. Many others have likely failed where you have succeeded. You have shown your strength, now use it to help us save Canterlot castle.”

Silver listened intently, and nodded, standing up again. “I sacrifice much to be a part of the royal guard. I am willing to put aside my own worries and help you. If we can stop the assault here, we can save a lot of ponies’ lives.”

“That’s the spirit,” the Doctor said, grinning. “Let’s save the castle.”

***

Paige and Jack had stayed behind with Luna while the Doctor and Minuette ran off to catch the fallen royal guard. They looked up at the sound of the TARDIS fading into existence in the throne room, and three ponies stepped out from the doors.
“Lieutenant Silver, thank goodness you are alright,” Luna said. “Your bravery will not go unnoticed, and you shall be handsomely rewarded.”

“Thank you princess, but I do not require such reward,” Silver replied. “My job is to protect you, and at the moment I jumped I was the immediate threat. The Doctor has explained what he could to me, and I fear that the royal guard has been compromised.”

“I believed such when I saw how you were acting,” Luna said. “Doctor, how can I help?”

“Princess, you can help, but we’re going to have to keep distance from each other,” the Doctor said. “If they find out who I am, I’m going to be quite a large target. I can only assume they’re after you and Princess Celestia, and if we stay away from each other, I might be able to distract them at an opportune time.”

She nodded in understanding. “I will focus my efforts on protecting my sister, and the civilians of this castle. I wish I could guarantee you that I am not part of this, but for now we will work individually.”
“Thank you princess,” the Doctor replied. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this world safe, and get these evil creatures off this planet.
Luna turned and flew out the window, moving to a higher point in the castle. The Doctor immediately turned to his companions. “We don’t have much time to prepare. If some of them are activating, then all will be soon, and the assault begins.”

“The assault from who?” Jack asked.

“Daleks.”

A stunned silence filled the room. Paige didn’t recall all of the wide variety of creatures the Doctor described while he shared his story with Minuette, but the word dalek was something she had learned to fear from his tales. A relic of the time war, and the worst enemy the Doctor had. Jack and Minuette had personal experience to back their fear.

“Chaos is getting more and more dangerous with what he’s bringing through,” Jack said. “This is big.”

“This is something Chaos thinks I can’t handle. He thinks that I’ll be too scared, or that these daleks will be too much. And I’m not going to lie, they might be. But I do know that I’m used to only having one companion, and now I have three. We have five brilliant minds here with Silver helping, and I’ve been seeing how much strength can come from the trust in this friendship.”
Minuette stood up taller. “Just because I fell out of the time war doesn’t mean I can stop fighting. I won’t sit and let another world suffer our fate.”

“If I have to, I will die defending this place,” Silver said.

“Heck, I’ve died defending places from daleks before, don’t see the problem in doing it again,” Jack said.

The Doctor looked toward Paige, approaching her. “I won’t tell you this isn’t dangerous, you heard stories of the daleks. But I need you here.”

Paige paused before responding, then smiled. “I’m actually curious to see what these things look like,” she said.

“Curious Paige, that’s my girl,” the Doctor replied. “Let’s get to work.”

***

Luna rose to the highest tower, folding her wings upon landing. She now stood above all of the castle, all of Canterlot, and from here could see much of Equestria. Her kingdom was in danger, and she needed to work quickly. She bowed her head, and her horn began to glow. She had no idea if the possessed royal guard would receive this message as well, but she had to accept the risk, the stakes too great.

“Attention all royal guard, this is Princess Luna,” Luna was speaking telepathically to all royal guard, both on and off duty. She only hoped that the possession of some of her guard stopped the transmission to them as well. “Those of you in the castle, the guard has been compromised. If you have not already seen them, some of the ponies you call your comrades if not your friends have been taken over by an unknown force. Try to prove who is still fighting for us rather than against us, and defend this castle. Evacuate those residing in the castle and get them to safety. To the guard off duty, I must call upon you now. Protect Canterlot, for the city is likely these creatures’ next stop. Good luck.”

Luna ended her transmission, and opened her eyes. She moved to the set of double doors that closed off a large room, the centerpiece of the circular balcony that made up the highest tower. Inside, the princess of the sun slept, her dreams troubled by Chaos’s presence in the universe.

Sleep well, sister, Luna thought. I will protect you. She concentrated hard, beads of sweat dripping off her face. Slowly, a magical shield rose around the room, fortifying the room with the greatest magical protection she knew. Luna had fought in wars with her sister where both of them were at risk, but never like this. Now the enemy was on their doorstep, and a creature even the Doctor feared. If Luna was going to perish tonight, she needed to know her sister would live on.

The moon was full, high in the sky, shining down upon Luna’s beautiful night. No creature would take this castle from her. She prepared herself to fight.

***

The Doctor had a plan for the group to split up. Minuette would travel with him, and Jack, Paige, and Silver would travel together. He needed to know how many dalek ponies were activated, and if any natural daleks were in the castle before forming a strong plan of defense. They had no weaponry, but both the Doctor and Paige carried book bags filled with various electronic and defensive equipment the Doctor had in his TARDIS. “You couldn’t have a sonic blaster or something stashed in there, could you?” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t do guns, and it wouldn’t do much against the daleks anyways,” the Doctor replied. “Don’t worry, I explained all the equipment to Paige as I filled up her bag. The items in there will hold back any small dalek attacks until we can figure out how to kill them all or get them all out of here.

“And that brings me to my other point,” the Doctor continued. “If you see an actual dalek, destroy it by any means you can find. But as for the pony daleks, unless you have to, don’t kill them. Silver is living proof that the dalek stealth plan is done via transmission, so if we stop the daleks, we can save the rest.”

“I only hope they’re not too far gone,” Silver said. “I can’t imagine how many have been taken over.”

Silver turned his head suddenly, raising a hoof to his temple. Everyone took a step back, but Silver reassured them. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said. “I’m getting a message. The princesses can communicate telepathically to all of the royal guard.”

The travelers stood by, waiting for Silver to finish receiving the message. “It’s a warning. She’s alerting all the royal guard of the situation. But if I’m getting the message, and the daleks have equipment in my head… can they hear this?”

PLANS MUST BE ACCELERATED-

“Woah,” Silver’s eyes opened, not knowing where that thought had come from. “I think I just… heard them. They know.”

The floor suddenly shook, the sound of an explosion coming from below. “We need to move,” the Doctor said. “Everyone go. Stay in touch.”

Paige, Silver, and Jack nodded, beginning to head off. The Doctor caught Jack with a hoof before he left. “If anything happens to her…” he said softly.

“Doctor, I could literally take the bullet for her and get up again,” Jack said, smiling. “She’s in good hands. Well, hooves.”

The Doctor nodded, and let Jack go. He and Minuette ran in the opposite direction, ready to fight.

The two descended the castle quickly, staying as quiet as possible. Every floor they descended they scouted the area, looking for activated daleks. All the royal guard they encountered were on alert, defending their positions and staying close together. The Doctor had never seen the full extent of Canterlot castle, and his fears grew as they continued to travel. So many hallways, so many twists and turns, so many places to hide, which could be a double edged sword for their efforts.

“There can’t be that many if we haven’t found any at all yet,” Minuette whispered as she and the Doctor continued traveling.

“Don’t be so sure, some of them might just not be activated,” the Doctor replied, looking around another corner. “They’re being clever this time, more clever than I’ve ever seen them try to be. And it makes me nervous.”

The Doctor brought Minuette to a halt at a new hallway, pulling her back behind the corner. When both peeked out, they looked closer at the long, wide hallway. The walls were bare, but a generously decorated red carpet ran down the middle of the entire hall. White pillars stood in even intervals on both sides of the hall, supporting the ceiling above.
Minuette and the Doctor could see a royal guard walking towards them, except the earth pony was no longer himself. The eye of a dalek stuck out from his head, and his own eyes had lost all the heart behind them.

“There’s a closet door off to the side,” the Doctor noted, keeping quiet as he fished into his bag. “Take a hold of this device with your magic,” he said as he pulled out several cords. Minuette lifted them up, examining them. “I’ll get the dalek to end up on his back, then throw these out. They’ll automatically tie his legs together, then we can push him into the closet. One less dalek to deal with.”

“How are you going to make him fall over?”

Minuette turned to discover the Doctor was no longer next to her. He had taken advantage of the dalek looking away from this end of the hallway for a moment to move closer, behind a pillar. He pulled another small object out of the bag with his mouth, and Minuettte’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

Silently, the Doctor tossed the object onto the floor in front of the dalek’s path. After several more steps, it arrived at the object and slipped, stumbling over all four hooves and crashing to the ground.

“Now!” the Doctor shouted. Minuette came from behind the corner and used her magic to throw the cords out. Dozens of tiny lights all over the cords lit up, and the whole thing began to make a high pitched whir as it locked on to a target, flying to the dalek’s limbs like a magnet to metal, and tying up tight.

The Doctor rushed forward, pushing the dalek across the floor. Minuette moved to open the closet door, and the Doctor pushed the trapped dalek in.

Minuette followed, and the three had ended up in a large supply closet. The dalek began shouting, its voice a mixture of a dalek and the stallion that was once underneath. “You all will be exterminated! The daleks shall take this castle by force!”

One of the dalek’s front hooves suddenly lifted off of the leg as if it were a lid, and a dalek blaster rose out. The Doctor pushed the dalek over, causing a large stack of parchment to blow up.

“Doctor, we need to get away from this thing!” Minuette shouted.

“Hold on, just a moment more…” the Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver, scanning the dalek, searching for the transmission source. “Come on, give me some sort of information, damn dalek security codes…”

“Give me your sonic screwdriver!”

“Why?” the Doctor asked.

“Self-destruct sequence activated!”

Both looked down at the dalek, who had now stopped struggling to break free. “I clearly don’t have time to explain,” Minuette replied. The Doctor felt a tingling sensation on his front hoof, and lifted it so Minuette could more easily take the screwdriver off with her magic. She examined it for a moment as she held it in the air, raised a hoof to push a few buttons, then scanned the dalek again. “Almost… there, got it. Run!”

The Doctor didn’t ask questions this time. He kicked the door open, and after he and Minuette ran out, slammed it shut. The two pivoted hard and ran down the hallway, and after diving behind a pillar, an explosion came from the supply closet they had been in. A harsh gust of wind from the blast hit the two of them as they kept their heads down, chunks of wood, stone, and burnt parchment flying everywhere. After a few seconds, the Doctor cautiously raised his head, and tapped Minuette on the shoulder to let her know the situation had calmed.

Minuette stood, and levitated the sonic screwdriver back onto the Doctor’s foreleg. “That was close,” she said. “I’ve never seen a dalek do such a thing.”

“The takeover of a living creature is new too, and I guess they’re continuing to evolve tactics,” the Doctor replied. “Daleks think they’re too perfect to be willing to destroy themselves like that, but now that we know there isn’t even a dalek mind inside beings taken over, there’s no reason a dalek couldn’t just blow the being up, they’re only tools. I think it wanted to stop me from scanning for information about the transmission, and took the easiest path to doing so. Speaking of info…” the Doctor looked at his sonic screwdriver. “It’s processing information. You got something out of that dalek!” The Doctor looked towards Minuette again, beaming. “You’re brilliant!”

“I told you, I was a scout in the time war,” Minuette said, chuckling. “I know a thing or two about dalek technology.” She paused. “You’re brilliant too, but in a… weird way. Did you use a banana peel to make that dalek slip and fall?”

“Yes.”

“You saw that as the best option for tripping someone?”

“I’ve come to discover that bananas are a very universal defense mechanism. And delicious.”

Minuette laughed hard at that, nodding at the Doctor. “Well then, Doctor, I guess with my brains and your bananas, we make a pretty good team.”

“The only two time lords in all the parallel universes right now,” the Doctor replied. “Shall we go on with saving all of them with a combination of brains and fruit?”

“Let’s.”

***

While the Doctor and Minuette had gone through the less commonly used portion of the castle, Jack and Paige followed Silver to the main portion, where a lot more royal guards were around. Several tried to tell Jack and Paige to evacuate before Silver waved them off. Guards were talking, holding down positions, sharpening weapons, and gathering shields. The scene looked like a preparation for war. All the ponies were moving quickly; there was certainly a confrontation already happening.

One royal guard’s eyes widened when he saw Silver. The grey Pegasus, smaller than the average royal guard, rushed up to the lieutenant, panting for breath. “Ensign Wing reporting sir,” he breathed with a sharp salute.

“At ease, ensign.” Silver returned the salute promptly. “What’s going on here?”

The ensign relaxed his body again, his eyes full of pain and fear. “Lieutenant Strong was in command of us sir, but he… he turned into one of those things,” Wing explained, his body trembling. “We… we didn’t know what to do. He killed private Thomas, with some sort of beam from his hoof. One of us stabbed him with a sword, and he just kept on going like nothing happened.” Wing shook more and more as he spoke. “It took all of us to stop him… he was our commanding officer for four months… I’m the next in the chain, but I only just got here… I don’t know what to do…”

Silver let out a sigh. “I know what you’re going through, Wing, and I share your pain. Strong was a friend of mine, but we have to carry on. I have no command at the moment, I typically manage other officer duties, so I will take command for now.”

“Thank you, sir…” Wing replied. “I.. I’ll do my best… it’s just… what are those things, lieutenant? They’re us, but they’re not us. It’s taking all we have to keep them outside, but… we’re fighting ourselves!”

Jack stepped up, smiling wide at the ensign. “Hey there, the name’s Jack Harkness, and I don’t work in this castle but I’m actually a captain.” Wing almost moved to attention before Jack stopped him. “No, don’t worry about any of that. You look pretty strong, ensign. You good with any of these spears I see the guards working on?”

Wing wasn’t sure how to react at first, but nodded. “I can hold the spears while I fly, and I’m pretty accurate at throwing them,” he replied.

“Excellent, ensign,” Jack said, smiling. “See? You’ve got no problem fighting. Sure the enemy is a bit strange, but just know that they’re not the ponies you know. They tricked you to make you think they were. You can make it through this, and when you do make it through this and the castle’s safe, maybe we can grab some drinks. I’m not too bad with spears either.”

Wing’s cheeks turned red, but he smiled. “I, uh… thank you captain. I won’t let either of you down.” He turned and moved to help with more preparations.

Silver looked at Jack. “That’s not how I typically help officers with morale, but you did a good job of getting him focused again,” he said.

“I have that effect,” Jack replied.

“As I can see.” Silver chuckled, then looked at all the preparations going on. “It sounds like there’s an assault on the lower levels of the castle happening already. I need to check on the state of things,” he said. “I’ll also try to get nonlethal defense mechanisms put in place, but it seems that we may have no choice given the power of these creatures.”

“Do what you can, Silver, and we’ll help in whatever way we can too,” Paige replied. Silver nodded, and moved to talk with some other officers and the ponies he had assumed command of.

“Well Paige, I was hoping to get to know you better. Just you and me, saving Canterlot from a dalek assault.”

“As long as you don’t start flirting with me, I think we’ll make a great team,” Paige said.

“Aw, where’s the fun in not flirting?”

Paige laughed, and lowered her book bag to the ground, emptying the contents and sorting them. “Let’s give these to the royal guard, they should help,” she told Jack. I hope the Doctor’s doing ok, she thought to herself.

Silver didn’t have the telepathy skills that princess Luna had, but he used a bit of magic to project an image of Jack and Paige up on a wall, with a written message attached to the virtual image, explaining that they were here to help and all should follow their instructions. He trotted towards another lieutenant in the room, and since they shared the same rank, with the desperateness of the situation they skipped formalities and gave each other a simple head nod.

“Lieutenant Silver, glad to see you here,” the other lieutenant greeted.

“I only just arrived. What’s happening at the front?”

“From what we can tell, only a few of these imposter things were higher up in the castle with us, and they’ve been taken care of,” the lieutenant explained. “But there’s a lot of them on the bottom floors. We’ve been holding them off, but the line is being pushed back more and more. Very soon this preparation room will be where the fight is.”

“Don’t worry lieutenant, some experts from another place have come with me, the ones I showed on the wall,” Silver replied. “They have defense tools we’ll be able to use, and with all the reinforcements we’re getting here, this room will be as far as they go. As long as we can hold them off here, the castle is still secure.”

***

“I wonder why there are so few royal guard in this part of the castle? We haven’t seen any since before the dalek incident.”

“We headed for the back of the castle I think. There’s not as much over here to guard,” Minuette said.

“It seems like a pretty easy line of defense to break though.”

“With the location of Canterlot castle, an attack from the rear is unlikely. That’s probably where all the guards are, there might be attacks already going on at the front of the castle.”

“But if there are daleks that aren’t activated, still mixed in with the guard…”

Minuette froze in her step as her thoughts began to match the Doctor’s. “Then the back of the castle is a clear shot for disguised daleks to move higher in the castle with all of the guard distracted at the front.”

“And every pony we passed on the way here was probably a dalek.”

“We have to warn the others!”

Minuette and the Doctor turned, but gasped and ducked their heads as a blast shot towards them. Two pony daleks blocked their return path, both with their hooves raised and blasters protruding from them.

“Run!” the Doctor yelled.

The Doctor grabbed one of Minuette’s front legs with his, and yanked her around to face the other direction. Another blast blew chunks out of a nearby pillar, causing Minuette to hold up a hoof for cover. Neither wasted time looking back, and both darted around the corner, running as fast as they could.

The daleks followed behind, able to run with the swiftness of the pony bodies they had taken over, and didn’t lose any distance from the Doctor and Minuette. Occasionally a blast whizzed by one of their heads, the running fortunately lowering accuracy.

Minuette and the Doctor looked this way and that, frantically searching for a way to lose the daleks. They were so focused on looking around that they almost ran into two more activated pony daleks in front of them, hooves raised.

The two time lords skidded to a halt, quickly running out of options. There was a room with a library inside on the wall next to them, but the entryway was barred, with a lock on the door.

“EXTERMINA-“

“Wait wait wait!” the Doctor yelled. He raised the hoof with his sonic screwdriver on it menacingly. “I have a weapon too, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“Analyzing.” The daleks stopped, allowing both the Doctor and Minuette to let out a breath of relief. The dalek eye coming from one of the dalek’s head pointed itself at the sonic screwdriver, all of them standing in silence. In the commotion they had lost their bag of supplies to put up a good defense, so they were stuck with their wits only. “This is the device that scanned our systems. This technology is beyond this world. Daleks do not exist in this universe and yet you know of us. You must be questioned on your knowledge of dalek kind, but first other plans must commence.”

One of the daleks moved up behind the Doctor and used a hoof to slap the sonic screwdriver up, and another dalek picked it up with his mouth. One of the daleks had a key the royal guard used to open the library wing next to them, and unlocked the door. Minuette and the Doctor were pushed inside, and the door shut and locked behind them.

“When other plans have commenced, you will be questioned and then exterminated.” The daleks turned and moved away, headed in the way the Doctor and Minuette had come from.

Minuette walked up to the bars, looking through. “The daleks are getting through from the back, with no one in their way.”

“And they took my sonic screwdriver. We have to count on the others for now, because we’re stuck.”