The Fantastic Adventures of Doctor Whooves: Hourglass

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven

Chapter One

Chapter One
In which we start at the beginning.... before going back to the even earlier beginning, and the Doctor goes to get some soup

In a dusty room, amid piles of half built and broken machines, sat a young unicorn, tapping away at her computer, and wearing small smile on her face.

She did not have a name; those who had cared for her first had never bothered to give her one, and the names she had been given at each of her foster homes had been quickly left behind, along with the foster home itself, as she slipped out of each one in the dead of night. She didn't need a title anyways. She had returned to her first home, the empty one, and names are useless when it's just you.

The unicorn typed in a few more lines of code and looked at it critically, smile growing just a hair. She was so close to success she could taste it. After days of trial and error, spell casting and code writing, she was certain that this time she had finally gotten it perfect. It had taken months of research, countless hours searching the equinet for every scrap of information she could get, her eyes peeled for the smallest mention or reference. If she hadn't stumbled upon the jackpot that was Canterlot's private security files, she would probably still be fruitlessly scrounging for facts, making no progress.

The device itself had taken even longer to create, and she shuddered remembering all those days she had spent digging through the dark, abandoned parts of the facility in search of scrap metal. Just like the bare bones of many a failed prototype in her workroom, picked clean for their useful parts, it was a testament to how badly she wanted this. Only one of her early creations went untouched, and it lay nearby on her desk, gleaming metallic in the low light. She had often been tempted to cannibalize it for it's parts and wires, of which she was often in very short supply, but could never quite bring herself to do so. It was stupid, really, but the thing was sentimental to her, it had earned her the cutie mark that she displayed proudly to this day: an hourglass.

With a final keystroke, she set the program into affect, and let her own magic flow through her horn to the machine as well. She quickly found what she was looking for, reaching out to it with her mind and wrapping the spell around it, her device served as an anchor, pulling it towards that moment and place in time.

With an odd noise, it began to materialize, fading in and out and becoming clearer and more definite with every passing second. The unicorn allowed the smile on her face to spread to an excited grin, and shook her light and dark blue bangs out of her eyes. Soon that machine, that wonderful, brilliant machine, would be hers.

The doors opened and a brown stallion stepped out. His mane stuck up in all directions, his eyes were a bright, light blue, he wore a pair of dark blue saddlebags,and...oddly enough....was carrying an old fashioned soup tureen by it's handle in his mouth.
He stopped dead, eyes flicking about curiously
"This isn't the library...."

Earlier...

Twilight lay at the open door of the TARDIS looking out to what lay beyond. Her hooves, delicately crossed, hung over the precipice into emptiness, and on her face was an expression of pure, wondering happiness. Her violet eyes were lit with it, and her mouth was shaped in something between a little 'o' of awe and a smile of joy.
The spaceship was sitting in a cloud of dust and debris left over by a comet, and all around her the tiny particles entered the atmosphere of her planet and began to glow like tiny, burning stars. It was amazing.

"Alright....I admit it" She said slowly, never taking her eyes from the fantastic display "Meteor showers do look better from up here"

Behind her the Doctor gave a snort "Well of course" he shook his head "And to think that you wanted to sit outside with a boring old telescope"

Twilight chuckled, rolling her eyes "For your information, my telescope is awesome, but.....you were right." She turned her gaze back to the myriad streaks of light "...It's incredible"

"Please," the Doctor joked "I'm always right. Shouldn't you know that by now? It's already been a couple of months since I first crashed out of the sky...Trail mix?"

He held out a small bag of assorted nuts and dried fruits to Twilight.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow "Did you get those from my saddlebag?"

The Doctor nodded

"And..." Twilight said snarkily "You do realize that you could always...oh, I don't know....Get some of the food that's in your own saddlebags?"

The Doctor waved her off with a hoof "Pshhhh.... Where's the fun in that? It's much more fun to see how long it takes you to notice that I've taken some from yours. It was a record this time, twenty whole minutes! I even tried chewing really loudly. Finally I just gave up and offered you some...you really need to work on your observation skills"

"Well I was kind of distracted" Twilight gestured a hoof to the meteor shower

"Excuses, excuses. Life is full of distractions! What if I was stealing valuble objects instead of non-perishable snacks? You'd certainly be in trouble then....Granola bar?"

Twilight turned to look at the Doctor, who was holding the oat bar and wearing a cheeky grin.

Twilight blinked, tilting her head to the side "Wait... you took that just now? Just during our conversation? I....what....How?"

The Doctor burst out laughing "Actually this is from my saddlebags, but the look on your face was hilarious."

Twilight rolled her eyes, but couldn't help chuckling slightly, snagging the granola bar with her magic and muching on it
"Don't mind if I do"

"Oi!"

"You offered." Twilight just responded matter-of-factly, smirking

She swished her tail back and forth absently, then returned her gaze to the brilliant show of streaking lights. Despite the fact that the Doctor had taken her to different places in space many times, she believed that she would never tire of seeing the raw beauty of it. Even during her youth, she had been enraptured by the stars. From the age of five or six, she had constantly begged her brother to take her out to stargaze with his telescope, and when denied (despite the fact her parents didn't want her leaving the house without supervision) she would usually just use her already growing magical skills to aid her in sneaking out to go look at the night sky herself, Celestia darn the consequences!

Just as bookish as a filly as she was now, Twilight had spent most of her time furiously studying astronomy before she discovered her calling in magic....unfortunately, her constant reading didn't earn her many friends. That, along with the fact that she almost constantly carried her stuffed doll Smarty Pants around with her, had made her one of the most teased students in her magic kindergarten class.

Despite that, the fact that she could now see those same stars she had loved so much as a filly up close was more than a dream come true.

Eventually though, she felt herself beginning to yawn, and slowly got up, stretching like a cat.

"Ready to head home?" the Doctor asked as Twilight reluctantly closed the TARDIS doors and returned to the console "Big day tomorrow after all. Ready to explore that planet I was telling you about?"

Twilight grinned "Sure"
"Ooh! That reminds me!" her energetic friend disappeared, only to return a moment later and toss a long, multicolored scarf at her "Dress warm. Did I mention it's nearly entirely covered in ice?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling "Sounds fun." she attempted to put the oversized scarf around her neck. She somehow managed to get it tangled around her horn and front two legs, subsequently running into the TARDIS console while trying to free herself and ending up upside down on the floor, hopelessly tangled within the evil winter accessory.

The Doctor looked down at her, wearing an amused expression
"Spatial awareness, Sparky?"

"You're hilarious" Twilight deadpanned back. Closing her eyes, she teleported herself out of her woolen fetters and got to her feet, wisely choosing to fold the long scarf with her magic and place it on her on her back rather than attempt to put it on. "Now can you take me home?"

After the Doctor dropped her off, Twilight trotted into the Library "Hey Spike!" she called "I'm home!"

At her call, Spike bounded down the stairs, carrying a small stack of books. They wobbled precariously "Twilight! Did you see the meteor shower?"

Twilight nodded "Beautiful, wasn't it?"
The little dragon nodded, and she looked at him appraisingly, narrowing her eyes slightly "And you had dinner, right? Something other than gemstones?"

"Sandwiches" Spike said "There are some extra on the table if you want some"

"Cucumber and daisy?" Twilight asked, ears perking up.

"Of course!" Spike grinned

Twilight smiled, ruffling the spines on the top of Spike's head affectionately "What would I do without you?"

"Well..." Spike looked thoughtful "You would have to do both of our chores instead of just yours, so the bookshelves would get really dusty, Peewee would throw a fit because I'm the only one he lets feed him, you'd probably get a lot less writing done because you would have to go out to get quills every time you ran out instead of sending me, and you may or may not starve depending on if you still know how to cook."

"I was asking hypothetically" Twilight muttered "and I can still cook!"

"Ramen noodles don't cou-" Spike trailed off as he saw Twilight's death glare "I mean...kidding!"

Twilight trotted into the kitchen and sat down at the table, taking a bite of her dinner. She closed her eyes, savoring every bite. She was glad Spike had taken cooking duty when they had divided up the chores between them....he was good at it.

As she polished off the last of the sandwich, she felt a small tickle in her throat. The unicorn levitated over a glass of water and took a sip.....still there.

Twilight knew exactly what this was. The Sparkle family curse. She wouldn't believe it if she hadn't experienced it dozens of times, but invariably any time she, her brother, or her mom got even the slightest case of the sniffles or scratchy throat it would invariably develop overnight into a full blown, taps-running head cold. Twilight sighed....Pony feathers.

The next morning, the Doctor trotted into the library, decked out in a hat and green earmuffs and whistling cheerfully. Then he stopped.
"What the blazes happened to you?" he muttered slowly

The aforementioned unicorn looked up from the cocoon of blanket she was wrapped in and set down her mug of Earl Grey.

"The Sparkle family hit and run head cold" Twilight said casually, and then sneezed. There really wasn't much more explanation today.

"Sooo.....I'm guessing exploring an ice covered planet would be a no for today then?"

Twilight's expression was answer enough, and, despite the fact that she wasn't in top form due to illness, still managed to pack a good amount of snark.

The Doctor gave a little sniff, looking indignant "Well what am I supposed to do when you're all indisposed and such? Very inconsiderate of you...." Despite having had some time to become more acquainted with the pony world, it was still a lot harder travelling around it without someone along who was familiar with the customs and working of it.

Twilight began to speak, but was interrupted interrupted.
"Oh no. I've already read all of the books in your library....Twice"

She shut her mouth again, stumped. She made a thoughtful noise, wracking her brains. It was in her best interest to come up with something for the Doctor to occupy himself with, after all....Celestia knows what trouble he might into otherwise. Hmmm.....she had wanted some soup earlier.....

"Well, there is one thing-" she said, coughing.

"Ooh! Do tell!" the hyperactive stallion perked up, cutting her off once more "Do you have two shadows? Did you spot a sinister looking statue of an angel? Ooh! Ooh! Is your cold actually caused by an alien parasite that is feeding on your life force as we speak?......Come to think of it, those would all be really really bad things....Exciting though!"

Twilight rolled her eyes "Eager much?....Celestia, I think Pinkie Pie is starting to rub off on you" She gave a little wince at the thought, then sneezed again, pulling the blankets closer around her "I was just going to ask if you could get me some soup"

"Soup?.....Really?" the Doctor deadpanned.

"Please?"

"Well I don't really-" The Doctor paused, trailing off "Oh, no. No. You are not using the puppy dog eyes on me! You stop that right now. No. Bad. Bad, Sparky"

Twilight continued her baleful gaze, adding a slight pout.

"That won't work on me, Twilight Sparkle. You might as well give it up"

"Pretty please?" Twilight asked.

The Doctor hesitated.

"Pretty please with a sugar cube on top?"

"Gah! Fine, okay, I'll get your soup!" he gave an annoyed little huff, muttering "...Curse you ponies and your gigantic, adorable eyes...."

Twilight smiled, clapping her forehooves together "Thank you so much! Normally I would just ask Spike" she explained apologetically, snuffling slightly "but he's hanging out with Sweetie Belle, and I really don't want my house burned down by the Cutie Mark Crusaders Soup Makers"

"Isn't the library fireproofed? Fire-breathing dragon in the house and all?"

"They'd find a way. Trust me"

The Doctor chuckled "It's fine, Sparky" he looked thoughtful "Now for the soup....any particular time period you have in mind?

"....You do realize that you could just pick some up from Golden Harvest around the block?"

"Oh, no." the Doctor said "If you wanted plain old boring soup, you should have asked somebody else..... So?"

Twilight looked thoughtful, taking a contemplative sip of her tea "......Surprise me"

"Can do!" The Doctor grinned, giving a mock salute and heading out the back door.

Author's Note

Sorry if it's a bit of a slow start, but I didn't want to rush it. Next chapter will start really getting into the story, Pinkie swear.

Chapter Two

In which a temperamental filly is dubbed a name, and there are some things you can't fix with soup

Picking up the tureen of soup in his mouth, the Doctor trotted TARDIS doors. Despite his lack of interest at first, it had actually been a fun trip....Turns out the Reindeer up north during the Pre-Classical Period were very particular about following specific traditions when it came to soup, and apparently getting creative and popping in a few extra herbs to liven up the flavour was, well... a tiny bit highly frowned upon. The Doctor grinned in a Devil-May-Care manner. It had been a long time since he had ran that fast through that much snow. There was no denying the Reindeer soup had been a bust however, so he had opted for a much less dangerous broth from a Cafe run by a family of Seaponies in an underwater city about six hundred years in the future from Twilight's time.

......And to think she had wanted soup made by some pony down the block.

Trotting out the door in a jovial fashion, the Doctor looked around, then stopped.

Instead of the back alley behind the Books and Branches library, he was was met with a dingy room, dimly lit by a computer monitor. All around, on tables and the ground, lay twisted half-finished metal devices and various tools. A quick examination of the walls and what he could see of the adjoining rooms showed what appeared to be a disused lab.

In front of the computer, sitting on an ill-made chair that looked like it had been hurriedly put together, sat a pony.

The Doctor cocked his head curiously "This isn't the library...."

"No. No it isn't" the pony replied smoothly. It's voice was high pitched, female definitely, but also young.
"That's because I brought you here. You and your TARDIS"

The pony stood up. She was small, much smaller than Twilight, and her eyes were large and steel blue.

"How do you know about the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked slowly, setting the soup tureen down.

The filly must have been only a little older than Applebloom and her friends, but the smile she wore was starkly out of place on her youthful features. It was much too knowing, much too smug, much too jaded and cold to belong on someone that young.

"You'd be surprised what you can find by looking up pony in a blue box" she said coolly "I understand more about you than you know....Doctor"

The Doctor blinked, then began to laugh. Something about the classic evil mastermind smile shrunk down to kid-sized was hilarious. Like being attacked by a cuddly baby bear instead of a not so cuddly fully grown one "That's cute" he finally said, still chuckling slightly. He sniffed the air. From what he could tell, it was roughly 1350 Celestial Era, roughly three hundred forty eight years ahead of Twilight's time, give or take a few months. Judging from the one on the filly's desk, ponies must have invented computers of some sort. Fascinating. He would have to tell Twilight about it...She would probably like Google.

The filly balked, clearly having imagined a different reaction. Probably one of shock, maybe a little fear, the Doctor hypothesized. She quickly regained her composure however, brushing a strand of her short-cropped light and dark blue mane out of her eyes testily.

"Don't you want to know why I brought you here?"

The Doctor just chuckled....There it was again, "brought". Right.

"Maybe later" he dismissed "What's your name?"

The exchange obviously wasn't going the way the filly expected it. She made a series of flustered little huffing noises before she actually spoke "I don't have a one" she finally snorted defensively, trying to maintain face.

The Doctor grinned, perking up "Well we're going to have to fix that, aren't we? Hmmmmm...." He looked critically at the filly, before his eyes lit up and he said cheerfully "Colgate! You look like a Colgate!

Colgate now just looked confused "Foalgate? Like the toothpaste?"

The Doctor laughed "Foalgate? Pfffhhhh-Ha ha ha! That's brilliant!- But no, it's Colgate, with a C" he chuckled, shaking his head "Foalgate....honestly! You ponies and your ever-present horse puns. The other day my friend told me I needed to work on my Mane-ers. Mane-ers!"

Like a switch being turned, Colgate's expression flipped from baffled, to positively cheesed-off.

"SHUT UP!" She spat furiously "Shut up, shut up, shut up! For Luna's sake shut your mouth for one second and listen!"

"Touchy..." the Doctor muttered, he was tempted to just hop in the TARDIS and leave the unpleasant kid to her anger issues but his curiosity swayed him. Reluctantly, he shut up.

After a few moments of silence the filly began to speak

"I'm smarter than you think" she hissed "I know about you. I know you're not from this universe, I know you travel through time and space, I know about the TARDIS and I know how it all works too. You aren't here by accident Doctor, I called you and your machine here."

The Doctor snorted, quickly breaking the whole Shut-Up-And-Listen thing "Called? Like a dog or something? She isn't just some dumb machine, she's alive"

"I know that, idiot. That doesn't mean it's impossible to manipulate" Colgate gave her hoof a pretentious little wave, gesturing to the computer and the odd device build around it, a confusing mass of wires and parts "I opened up partial access to the time vortex, using machine served as an anchoring point, and created a small time tunnel to take you off course."

She smiled patronizingly, as if talking to a very dull child. The Doctor half suspected she was going to pat him on the head. Despite the indignity, he was more concerned about the time corridor.....the last time he had encountered one, it was being used by the Daleks.

"It was simple really" Colgate continued smugly "A modified time spell served to open the connection to the vortex, and a spell of my own creation served to make the tunnel....Am I going too fast for you?"

Now that threw the Doctor. He wasn't an expert on magic, but he had learned a lot from Twilight, especially on time magic, which he had been extremely curious about. Time spells were finicky things, subject to catastrophic disasters if not performed correctly, and very difficult to cast. The only pony as of Twilight's time who had been able to successfully create even the simplest time travel spell...much less a stable wormhole making one, was Starswirl the Bearded.

".....You shouldn't be able to do that kind of magic" he said slowly, concern growing. When he had first learned about time spells, he had been relieved to learn that there wasn't much opportunity for even the most gifted spell casters to go mucking about the time stream. The fact that there was now an unfriendly, and possibly unstable filly who had the ability to do just that was...unsurprisingly...troubling.

"You're right" Colgate gave a self-satisfied smile "I shouldn't. Especially considering the average unicorn these days can't even cast a simple levitation spell."

"Whot?"

Colgate uttered a short, bark-like laugh "You didn't know? Magic has been disappearing for years now, or at least the kind unicorns used to wield. The only reason I have even a drop of magic is that I was specifically engineered for it, part of an elite group of test-tube foals created for the goal of bringing the unicorn race back to it's former glory. I was one of the last ones created by the group of scientists who used to occupy this lab before Luna came and arrested them all for 'unethical experimentation'...." She shrugged "Real shame too. They were almost onto something, I was the first they were able to create with real potent magical abilities, but I lack the ability to do any magic outside my talent field. Can't even make my horn glow unless I'm actively casting a time spell. Pity, a few more tries probably would have done it"
"But weren't they 'unethically experimenting' on you? I mean, come on, they didn't even give you a name. Heck...they didn't even bother to give you a number"

Colgate looked indifferent "Better than the names my foster homes gave me...I swear to Luna... I mean, Minuette? Really?" She said the name with an air of repulsion, making a face. "I supported their cause though, trying to make unicorns strong once more. After all, the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must. You probably recognize that line from the peloponysian war during the great winter, being a history buff and all. The unicorns gave that little nugget of wisdom to the earth ponies before they began to use their magic to force the earth ponies to pay them tribute in food."

She gave a wicked little smirk that the Doctor didn't like one bit. This wasn't good. Potentially disastrous time travel spells in the hands...or hooves...of a malicious juvenile with possible sociopaths tendencies are never good thing. Slowly, he began to back towards the TARDIS, grabbing the tureen as he went. He would go get Twilight, and investigate this later.

"Leaving so soon?"

Without a reply, the Doctor hopped into the TARDIS and shut the door.
Colgate just smiled. She would let him go, it didn't really matter anyways. Now that she had caught him once, she could do it again. She smiled wider as an idea came to her, it was not a nice smile.

As the box began to de-materialize, she reached out her magic towards it. It was a small spell.... just a little modification to give the Doctor something to think about.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS outside of the library, and trotted hurriedly up to the door, shivering slightly in the chilly wind. It was oddly cold for September, the Doctor noted, which was strange. Ponyville usually stayed warm well into late October....Shrugging, he trotted to the door, turning the handle. Locked. The Doctor gave a little snort....that was odd. Considering that it was well hidden, and that Ponyville's crime rate was zero percent, Twilight usually just left the back door unlocked for him. He considered briefly just using the Sonic Screwdriver to open it, but that seemed a mite rude.

He knocked on the door "Twilight....Twilight...Twilight."

There was a short pause, and a clatter of hooves from the other side of of the entrance. Twilight pulled the door open, a slightly peeved expression on her face "I'm coming! No need to- " She cut off sharply, an expression of surprise crossing over her face.

The Doctor's brows furrowed, and he set down the soup tureen "You alright, Sparky? You look like you've seen a ghost, or an alien for that matter....you'd be surprised how often people mistake them for ghosts...." he paused "Why are you wearing a dress?"

From inside, a voice called out, Rarity's "Twilight, you ready? We should probably get going if we want to get to Canterlot on time"

Twilight turned to look back into the library, calling back "Go ahead! I-I'll catch up in a second"

"Come on, Twi!" another voice said, this time Rainbow Dash's "What's the hold up? I-"

The pegasus trotted up behind Twilight and then stopped as she spotted him, eyes widening slightly. She was wearing a dress too....strange.

"Uhhhh....agree!..." she continued quickly, "you can catch up to us later...uh...Come on girls! Let's go!"

Twilight continued to look behind her as her friends were herded out the door by Rainbow, then, as it closed, she turned to face him "You know" she said slowly "When I asked you to surprise me, I didn't mean to disappear off the face of Equestria for three months"

The Doctor paused for a long time, then he picked up the tureen ".....Soup?"

Chapter Three

Chapter Three
In which Twilight is rather unhappy with the Doctor, and a curious document is discovered

"You do realize that I got over my cold a long time ago, right?" Twilight deadpanned

"Shame..." the Doctor joked "I was all ready to use the 'a little horse' pun. Geddit? Because you're a pony?"

Twilight didn't look amused.

"Oh come on" The Doctor coaxed "It's really good soup. Made by seaponies"

Twilight sighed "Fine." she turned to walk into the library.

"So what exactly did you tell your friends to explain my absence? Because Dash seemed a little freaked out" the Doctor trotted inside the library after her, face curious.

"I said you had went back to Trottingham for an indeterminate length of time." Twilight replied simply, words blunt. Her left ear gave an irritated little flick.

Behind her, the Doctor winced. She was ticked, alright. He fell back a few steps, choosing to keep a careful distance. There were few things in the universe that gave him paused, but an angry Twilight was definitely one of them.

It was a bit of an awkward affair as they sat down at the table in stony silence. It was still laid out from Twilight's get together with her friends, complete with a pitcher of water, a crumb covered sandwich platter, and a half empty plate of Jammy Dodgers.

The Doctor reached out to grab one, but then spotted Twilight's expression; "take one." it seemed to say "I dare you"
He quickly put his hoof down.

They stayed there for a little while, in a strange sort of unspoken contest. The Doctor tapped his hooves absently on the floor..... The dead air stretched even longer.

Without breaking eye contact, the Doctor reached for the pitcher on the table and poured himself a glass of water.

Without breaking eye contact, Twilight reached out and knocked it over.

The Doctor blinked, looking from Twilight, then to to the spilled water, then back to Twilight "You seem angry" he said finally.

At that the cloying silence broke like a brittle twig, and Twilight with it, bristling like at angry cat.
"You think?" She snapped "One up my friends just up and disappeared for months! What the hay was that, Doctor?! And then you just come waltzing back in like it's nothing, while I've been out of my head thinking something terrible had happened! I thought you had gotten yourself killed! Or trapped in another time! Or crashed the TARDIS!"

She gave her hooves a little flail, and then smacked them down on the table again.
"For all I knew you could have been captured by aliens or stranded on some distant moon or-" she faltered "....or just.....left"

She deflated at that last word, seemingly having released all her anger.

The Doctor looked genuinely concerned "Sparky, I-" he began, but was cut off by I sudden hug.

"I'm glad you're okay"

"Oh!" the Doctor blinked, surprised "Uh...alright?"

"What happened?" Twilight asked, all curiosity now.

"I haven't the slightest idea" The Doctor said, before looking thoughtful "Well actually no. I do have a hypothesis. Well, more of a hunch really.... Or maybe a theory. No...no that's not right either. An inference perhaps?"

Twilight made a little circular motion with her hooves "Go on"

The Doctor blinked "What?...Oh, certainly! It's a bit of a long story though..."

It took roughly half a bowl of soup (for Twilight) and fourteen Jammy Dodgers (for the Doctor) to explain the surprise meeting with Colgate, and her worrying proficiency with time spells.

"That's... not good" Twilight said slowly, after the story was done.

The Doctor nodded "If there's one thing this universe doesn't need, it's somebody mucking about the timestream irresponsibly"

"Well..." Twilight made a noncommittal gesture "The argument could be made that you aren't so responsible yourself"

"Lies." the Doctor huffed

"Come on. Last time we visited the cakes, you nearly dropped baby Pound on his head."

"Nearly." the brown stallion countered "He never actually hit the ground"

"Only because he can fly!" Twilight rebuffed

"Well he was fine in the end.." The Doctor pouted "Plus, I do not Muck About the timestream. I interact with time in a much more dignified manner, thank you very much"

Twilight rolled her eyes "If you say so."

"Anyways..." The Doctor said pointedly, giving an affronted little sniff "Seeing as you aren't all sickly anymore, I was thinking we could go and investigate"

Twilight grinned "Visiting a possibly dangerous filly living inside a disused science lab about three hundred and fifty years from now?" She paused in mock thoughtfulness "I'll go get my saddlebags"

She quickly trotted up the stairs, grabbing her light blue bags, snagging the TARDIS key on it's chain from her jewelry box and stowing it it in a pocket, before hoisting them over her shoulder before trotting back downstairs. On her way to the door, she paused and levitated a few granola bars and a couple of fruits into her saddlebags as well. Celestia knew she would need extra snacks with the Doctor along.

Said stallion was already waiting by the library's back door, flicking his tail absently. "Are you ready to go?" he asked brightly as Twilight approached.

The unicorn nodded "Just one more thing..." she said, a sly grin on her face.

The Doctor leaned in curiously.

"CEST' PARTI!" Twilight shouted, with a volume that would have given the CMC a run for their money. Then she galloped out the door, laughing.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes and shook his head, following her out the door towards the TARDIS.
Inside the blue box, the Doctor trotted towards the console and began adjusting the various levers and dials, then he paused, turning to Twilight.
"So...Why are you wearing a dress again?"

Twilight chuckled "Me and my friends were invited to the Winter Celebration in Canterlot, and with Rarity around, dressing up is kind of unavoidable" her attire was poofy, with a color scheme of reds and oranges, and a frilly collar and sleeves. She gave a little twirl "How does it look?"

"It's...um...Nice?" the Doctor said carefully.

"It's horrible isn't it?"

"well..." the Doctor tilted his head, squinting at it "Yes. Yes it is"

Twilight gave a resigned sigh "Thought so. Unfortunately, it's the only one I have at the moment...the other ones are still at the cleaners from when the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to help Spike with his chores. It was a kind sentiment, but I can't exactly appreciate the ink spilled all over my two favorite dresses....and a bunch of my books...and the essay I was writing...and Spike"

The Doctor let out a snort of laughter "How did they manage that?" he asked incredulously.

Twilight made face "From my understanding it had something to do with Scootaloo, and a bet that she couldn't carry all those new pots of ink down the stairs"

Chuckling, the Doctor just shook his head "They're so charming until they rush in and start damaging property"

"Yeah" Twilight deadpanned "Just adorable"

The Doctor threw a final switch, and there was a little noise, he looked up trotting over to the doors and motioning for Twilight to follow "Well, come along, Sparky. Let's talk to Colgate"

As the purple unicorn trotted out of the TARDIS after him she immediately began looking around the room with curiosity, taking in all the strange contraptions with interest.

Then a voice sounded from nearby, high and smug "I knew you would be back"

Twilight glanced down to see a blue filly looking up at her, wearing an arrogant smirk. Unbidden, a little chuckle of laughter escaped from her, and then another, she gave her muzzle an amused little wrinkle, before finally saying "That's cute"

"I know, right?" the Doctor agreed.

"It's like the evil mastermind smile but....tinier" Twilight gushed.

Colgate glared "Are you done?"

The Doctor held up a hoof "No, no, one more thing. Doesn't her mane look like toothpaste?"

Twilight glanced back to the filly and blinked "Oh my gosh it does!...like someone just squeezed a tube onto her head."

Colgate looked unamused "Now are you done?"

The Doctor nodded "Yes, I think so." then, after a beat, he made a little waving motion with is hoof "Go on with your motive rant or whatever"

Colgate rolled her eyes "Please" She said "I'm above motive rants."

Twilight meanwhile, was gaping in awe at the computer. "This is fantastic!" she breathed "What is it? How do you power it? How does it work?"

Colgate smiled "Pity you didn't bring her with you the first time Doctor. With her along, you're like the annoying dynamic duo" She turned to Twilight, speaking slowly and patronizingly "That's a com-put-er, it's powered by elec-tricity"

"Electricity?" Twilight asked, too curious to be offended "But in my time they hadn't found a way to generate it cleanly or efficiently enough to power this kind of machine..."

"The pegasai figured out how to harvest it from clouds." Colgate replied casually "Quick, easy, and harmless to the environment."

"That's amazing"

"Hay, you can see what this lab achieved by mixing magic and technology" Colgate seemed to enjoy showing off, and pulled a set of strange objects from nearby "Watch this"

She attracted the things to her back, and immediately they began to squirm and writhe, forming themselves into the likeness of a pair of wings. They even changed color to match her coat. Grinning, the filly gave them a flap and lifted into the air.
"I...wha....that....it's impossible!" Twilight squeaked
"It's simple enough" Colgate brushed off "All you need to do is harvest the magic from a couple of pegasai and integrate it with the machinery" She took the wings off and tossed them at Twilight "Take 'em as a souvenir for all I care"

Twilight went a little pale "....h-harvest?"

Colgate smirked "Harvest."

"You know..." Twilight said slowly, looking horrified "maybe you should keep the wing-"

"TAKE THEM!" Colgate spat, cool derision morphing to sudden rage.

Eyes wide, Twilight quickly stowed the wings in her saddlebags and turned back to the computer. Her brows furrowed worriedly....The Doctor had been right. This was not the kind of pony that should be messing with time.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was doing some looking about of his own, while Colgate was distracted with Twilight. Sonic Screwdriver in hoof, he examined many of the half finished inventions scattered about with interest, looking to see what sort of technology they used.

He was interrupted by Twilight's voice "Doctor? I think you should see this..."

Pulled up on the computer was an intricate diagram, pages long and full of pictures and notes written in a tiny, precise, hoof. It was instantly recognizable. It was he main control room of the TARDIS.

There were elaborate drawings of the console, from multiple views and angles, accompanied by extensive notes speculating on what the controls did and how they worked. There were several pictures of the outside of the TARDIS, exact down to the words on the little sign on the front. There was an outline of the Sonic Screwdriver, and and a very long paragraph on different uses, up to and including 'chicken mind control device'. (The Doctor chuckled...he would have to try that some time.) There were even detailed sketches of Twilight and himself, along with a few other ponies that he didn't recognize.

Turning slowly towards Colgate, the Doctor asked "Did you do all this?"
The blue filly opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted.

"No" Twilight said softly "This is Princess Celestia's hoofwriting"
"....Whot."

Colgate laughed "I'm not the only one keeping tabs on you, Doctor!" she sang.

"What do you want?" The Doctor asked Colgate slowly, voice dangerously quiet.

"Oh, that's easy" Colgate breezed "I want the TARDIS"

Behind her Twilight gave a little snort "What, do you think he's just going to hand you the keys or something?"

Colgate just chuckled "I already have the key" trotting over to the TARDIS door she unlocked it, stepping inside "You really should be more observant Doctor. Honestly...Picking your saddlebags while you were busy poking fun at my mane was just too easy"

Simultaneously, the Doctor and Twilight's heads both gave a bemused tilt to the left, and with a wink, the filly shut the door.

There was about a minute of pause where both stood there, blinking, and then Twilight's mind snapped into gear. She began to hurriedly dug through her saddlebags.

"I still have my key" she said breathlessly "If we hurry we can get in there before she has the chance to take off" after what seemed like an eternity of searching, she snatched her key up victoriously and rushed to the TARDIS.

"Sparky" the Doctor said, following after her "I highly doubt that she'll be able to pilot the-"

"Eep!" Twilight, who had been in the process of unlocking the door, gave a little squeak as the box rose about a foot in the air, wobbling and weaving from side to side. Still attempting to get the key in the latch, she clung tighter to the side of the box as it gave a little shudder and rose higher still.

With a little shout of triumph, Twilight managed to open the door, and attempted to scramble in, hindered by the constant motion of the TARDIS. Finally, she managed to get mostly inside, and shouted looked back out behind her. They were a good distance off the ground now, but not too far up yet.

"Come on!" She shouted to the Doctor "You can make it if you jump"

Backing up, and taking a few steps running start, the Doctor leaped up to the TARDIS. Managing to get his two forelegs inside the door and pull himself the rest of the way up.

The TARDIS shuddered and jerked once more, still rising, and both ponies had to cling on for dear life to avoid getting thrown out.
"At this rate" Twilight wheezed "we're going to hit the-"

There was the crunch of breaking concrete and brick, interrupting her. Chunks of drywall and cinderblocks rained down around them.

"-ceiling." The Doctor finished. His heart went out to his poor TARDIS. Flying like this wasn't good for her, not good at all. The Doctor once more attempted to climb fully inside the box, but was once more thwarted by it's erratic tilting.

"Woohoo!" Colgate shouted, pumping a hoof in exhiliration
. Now sunlight flooded into the TARDIS as it flew up even higher. Twilight looked down to see a growing expanse of forest sprawling out beneath them. She clung on for dear life as the TARDIS shook once more. If only they could close the doors behind them, but that would mean temporarily letting go of their vital hoofholds, and risking getting thrown out into the abyss.

Slowly, the Doctor let go, wobbling precariously on the unstable floor. Carefully, he reached out towards the door, looking dangerously unsteady. Almost there....

A jolt ran through the blue box, and the Doctor lost his footing, stumbling towards the edge. With a little squeak of horror, Twilight dove and managed to catch his hoof.

"It's okay" she said breathlessly "You're okay, it's- Eeek!"

as the TARDIS tilted yet again, and she slid almost completely out the door, clinging to the frame with one hoof, and the Doctor with the other. She had just enough time to see Colgate turn and give her a sick little smirk before her hoof slipped, and they were falling.

Chapter Four

Chapter Four
In which a photograph is not found, an old friend is met, and bananas are discussed

As soon as Colgate stepped into the TARDIS, she had a plan.

Trying to avoid looking at the console (Seeing past or future versions of herself always made her nauseous) she focused her magic and slipped through the time stream. She materialized again in the past, same location, just around forty minutes before hand, right after the Doctor and his friend had exited the TARDIS. She swayed slightly, disorientated, then forced herself to focus. She had a mission to accomplish.

Pulling out the folded papers she had tucked behind her ear, Colgate quickly looked over both them, and the console, locating all the strange levers and dials and buttons she would need.

The papers were the printed out versions of the diagrams she had found in the Canterlot Security files, supplemented by copious amounts of her own hoof written notes, and the information she had found on the Equinet. She could already tell that she was going to be doing a whole lot of manic running about while flying the thing, the controls were scattered all around as if it were meant to be flied by multiple ponies. Along with that, some of the controls themselves were a little....unique, one even consisting of what appeared to be a duct taped coat hanger. Colgate didn't mind too awfully though, she was used to working with her own inventions after all, most of which were considerably more ramshackle.

After a frustratingly long search, she finally located the last switch in the sprawl of lights and buttons, and could start the next phase of preparation. Going again to the important controls, she began to set them to where she would need them for her later departure. Unfortunately, she couldn't actually depart yet, seeing as that would prevent her past self from ever entering the TARDIS and start a nasty time paradox, but she could be ready.

As she adjusted the final dial, Colgate noticed something and chuckled to herself. Apparently, the Doctor left the brakes on when he flew. Going over to the switch, she flipped it off.

Colgate allowed herself a proud little grin. She was ready, and if her sense of time was accurate (which it almost always was) then her past self would arrive in......
Creeak

Colgate's ears flicked as the sound of the TARDIS door opening met them, and she sneaked a glance behind her to make sure that it was her past self, and not the Doctor or his annoying unicorn pal. As she caught sight of the dual toned mane and hourglass Cutie Mark, her stomach gave a familiar flip.

Colgate looked away quickly, fighting back the urge to vomit. That was her alright.
After giving herself a few seconds for the queasiness to wear off, Colgate ran quickly about the console, making the final preparations for flight. She only had a few minutes at most before the Doctor would come charging in after her.

Throwing the final lever, she grinned triumphantly.

A grin which quickly slipped off her face when the TARDIS gave a lurch into the air instead of traveling through time. Colgate's eyes widened. She must have made a mistake.Trying again, she was still only able to make the box rise further into the air.Colgate flipped through her papers frantically, then put an angry hoof to her face. What an idiot! In her hurry she had forgotten a switch!

Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, TARDIS door creaked open and that blasted purple unicorn pulled herself inside, the Doctor close behind. Panic ripped through Colgate's mind. She couldn't travel through time now! They might be carried through with her, and who knows what might happen then....No. She was going to have to shake them off.

With a grin, Colgate jerked upward on the lever as hard as she could, and the TARDIS roared skyward , blasting straight through the concrete ceiling of the laboratory.

An exhilarated whoop of joy escaped Colgate's lips, followed laughter. She was never going back to that Celestia forsaken place ever again.

Looking back at her unwanted passengers, Colgate saw that the Doctor was trying to close the doors so they wouldn't fall out. She smirked, then adjusted the controls, making the TARDIS jerk violently. That smirk was quickly replaced by a scowl as she saw that his friend had caught him at the last second. Colgate growled in annoyance, that pony was really getting on her nerves.

With a snarl, she threw another lever, and the TARDIS began to tilt erratically. Colgate saw the panic on the unicorn's face as she began to slide towards empty air.

Colgate gave her little smile as she fell, then chuckled. Good riddance! After a few seconds, she flicked the stabilizer switch, then trotted over and closed the doors.

With that taken care of, she turned her attention back to the TARDIS. It really was beautiful. The most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Trotting over, she quickly pressed the button she had missed, reset all the dials and switches to their proper place, and then threw the main lever, giggling with mad abandon as the ship flew threw time.

As she trotted out of the TARDIS and into it's new destination, she made to grab the small clipping of a newspaper picture she always kept with her, but found that it was missing. It was still imprinted firmly in her memory, so she just thought of the picture instead, a look of contempt passing over her face

Pushing open the blue doors, she murmured quietly "I'm coming for you.....and by Celestia, oh, by Celestia I'm going to make you pay for what you did"

Then she stepped into the past

As Twilight watched the TARDIS de-materialize above her, a small, bemused part of her mind wondered fuzzily if the blue box wasn't making it's usual noise, or if she just couldn't hear it because the air was whipping past her face so fast.
The other parts of Twilight's mind were divided roughly equally between the tasks of screaming as loudly as she could, and desperately trying to formulate a plan.

Teleportation was ruled out immediately. She was unfamiliar with the landscape and couldn't get a clear view of any sort of destination spinning about in the air as she was. So were the mechanical wings that were stored in her saddlebags, she didn't know how to work them, and there was only one pair, not enough for both her and the Doctor. Plus she had no idea how she could get them from her bag while falling. So there was only one option left. Brace for impact.

Focusing her magic as well as she could under the circumstances, Twilight lit her horn to form a shield spell.

Leaves and wood whipped past her face. They had hit the canopy of the forest.

The magenta bubble fizzled in and out of existence, as Twilight tried to concentrate her magic, a feat made harder by the fact she was being pummeled by branches.

Then Twilight saw something, some thing that might just save their lives, a sparkling band of silver, twisting through the forest below them, a river.

With sheer force of will, she pumped all the magic she could into the shield spell, and waited for splashdown. It just might be enough.

As they plunged into the water, the weak shield splintered.

Twilight was immediately doused in icy river-water, and slammed into the muck at the bottom of the river a second later. The impact was jarring, but the deep water and shield had absorbed the brunt of the blow. She popped her head above the water, gasping her air, eyes flicking around. A second later, the Doctor lifted his head as well, sputtering. He had a hoof pressed to the side of his head, and was wincing.

"Are you all right?" Twilight shouted, over the rushing water. The current was fairly strong, and pulling them swiftly along down the river.

"I'm fine" the Doctor called back, eyes unfocused "Just took a bit of a knock to the head...."

He trailed off, head sinking back under the water, and Twilight cursed under her breath, stroking as quickly as she could over to him.

Reaching the brown stallion, she hoisted him above the water, and quickly cursed again. Unconscious. Brilliant, just brilliant. Towing him along beside her and trying to keep his head above water, Twilight attempted to paddle to the bank. It was useless, the current was too strong, and the edges of the river there looked dangerous, swirling menacingly. So did the river ahead, but there was nothing she could do, just let herself be pushed ever closer.

Twilight stretched out her hooves, trying to touch the bottom of the river, but that too was futile, it was still too deep.
She was reminded of the awful log ride her parents and brother had always forced her to go on at the Canterlot amusement park. How the log would climb up to the drop sickeningly slowly, before meandering around a curve even more sluggishly, and all the while Twilight could see the rushing drop in front of them. The awful lethargic pace of the ride drawing out the wait until she had nothing to do but obsess over how horrible the drop would feel, and the utter feeling of helplessness as they moved closer to it achingly slowly, until she just wanted to scream and jump out of the log and get away as as fast as she could, but she couldn't. She was trapped.

So Twilight watched as they approached the treacherous part of the river and were plunged headlong into the whitewater. She found herself being tossed about by the current, paddling frantically to avoid rapids and sharp rocks. Her head went under as they were tossed about by a particularly nasty stretch, and Twilight just managed to pull it back up, spluttering. She looked up, then quickly closed her eyes, wincing as she was hurtled by the current towards a group of large boulders.

Then she felt herself being lifted up into the air, picked up by the scruff of the neck like a kitten.

She opened an eye to see a large purple serpent looking curiously at her, orange mustache bobbing up and down quizzically. In the other hand it held the Doctor.

Twilight blinked at it, cocking her head like a confused puppy.

The serpent however was staring at her intently, deep in thought, then he shook his head, making an exasperated noise.

"Oh, I know that I've seen you before somewhere!" He huffed "I know, it's so awfully rude of me...but I can't seem to remember where!"

"Ohmygosh!" Twilight said, as recognition hit her "You're the serpent who's mustache Rarity fixed!"

That meant they must be in the Everfree. She knew where they were now! That was certainly a start.

"I remember that!" gushed the serpent "That was a while ago, wasn't it? My, you hardly look a day older!"

Twilight chuckled to herself at that. It had been a lot longer ago for him than for her. " Nice to see you again! I'm Twilight Sparkle

The serpent smiled widely, and placed her and the Doctor on the ground, giving a little bow "Steven Magnet"

"It's very nice to meet you Steven, and thank you for pulling us from the river" Twilight said warmly, before looking to the Doctor, brows furrowing.

"Oh, you're very welcome" Steven said, before stopping as he saw her worried expression "Is your friend okay?"

"I don't know...." Twilight said with concern.

Steven Magnet drew himself to his full height "Well, allow me to see to him while you get yourself dried off. You must be freezing!"

It was then Twilight realized that she was still soaking wet, and shivering violently. She shook her head, and focused her magic in a warming spell. She usually used it for heating tea, but it would work just fine for drying her fur, dress and saddlebags too. No need for case of ponymonia on top of everything else. After drying off the Doctor as well, she rummaged briefly through her saddlebags, making sure everything was alright and thanking Celestia that she had the presence of mind to put a waterproofing spell on them shortly after they were given to her.

When she looked back to Steven, the purple serpent had his ear-fin pressed against the Doctor, an expression of confusion on his face.

"Miss Twilight?" he said slowly "I think there's something wrong with his heartbeat"

Twilight held back a laugh "Don't worry" she said "That's normal for him"

A chuckle escaped her as she remembered how freaked out she had been when she first discovered her friend had two hearts....The Doctor had decided to challenge her claim that nothing could surprise her anymore after over two years of being friends with Pinkie. Needless to say, he won.

"Are you sure?" Steven magnet continued, ear still pressed to the Doctor "You know...I'm no Doctor, but that seems pretty-"

"You called?"

"AHHH!" Steven yelped in surprise, flailing away from the suddenly-conscious pony.

The Doctor looked up curiously, then spotted the giant purple serpent looming above him "AHHH!"

The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they both screamed again in unison.

Twilight facehoofed.

Slowly, she said "Doctor, this is Steven Magnet. Steven Magnet, this is the Doctor" She cut the serpant off as he opened his mouth "Just the Doctor"
She looked to both of them "You can stop screaming now"

Twilight then paused "Wait...I could have woken you up just by saying your name?! That would have been nice to know while we were careening down the river!"

The Doctor however, was paying her no heed

"Steven Magnet?" he said said slowly, reaching into his saddlebags and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He held it up and used it to scan the bright purple reptile.

"Yes" Steven replied "Nice to meet you and-ooh! That tickles!"

The Doctor looked at the screwdriver, a grin spreading on his face "So you're some kind of river serpent? Fantastic!" he paused, looking curious "What do you eat? If you don't mind mind me asking, that is"

"River rocks, usually" Steven said amiably "We River Serpents are similar to our cousins the Dragons in that aspect, eating a great deal of stones and minerals...unfortunately, being as rare in rivers as they are fabulous, we don't get to dine on gemstones very often"

"River rocks!" The Doctor chuckled "That's just brilliant! You really are quite amazing, aren't you"

"Oh, well that's quite flattering of you" Steven Magnet tittered.

"Oh, it's nothing" the Doctor said affably "It's been very nice chatting with-"

"You know...." Steven said, twirling his mustache "I am available any time"

The Doctor blinked "Wellll, as I was saying...It's been just lovely chatting with you. Pleasure meeting you and all that, but me and Twilight have to get going."

"Oh..." Steven Magnet looked slightly dejected "Well it was very nice taking to you"

"You as well" the Doctor replied

There was a long pause, before, with a resigned air, the purple serpant dipped it's head into the water and swam away along the river.

After about a minute, the Doctor exclaimed to Twilight incredulously "That is the second bloody time I've been hit on by a River Serpant!"

Twilight blinked "You've been hit one before?"

"It's a long story"

"Oookay then" Twilight said "Back to the issue at hoof. Colgate. TARDIS-snatching. I assume you have a plan?"

"Ehhhh....no."

Twilight blinked "An idea?"

"Not at the moment"

"Emergency backup Mini-TARDIS?"

"Why the bloody hell would I have one of those? No, sorry, I left the Mini-TARDIS at home. My mistake"
Twilight paused for a very long time, and the Doctor braced himself for the panic fallout. Three...Two...one.....

"The one time...the one. feathering. time. you don't have some half-baked plan, it's when we're stuck in the wrong time!" Twilight stopped the, blinking, as if the full extent of the situation hadn't quite hit her yet "Sweet Celestia we're stuck in the wrong time. WearetrappedinanotherbuckingtimewithouttheTARDIS." She began to hyperventilate "and we have no idea how to get out. Wonderful. Fan-bucking-tastic! Celestia....I don't want to be stuck here. We are going to be stuck here forever and I am never going to see my friends again. This is bad. This is bad, bad, bad, bad-"

The Doctor meanwhile, was looking through Twilight's saddlebags for snacks. He had learned that there was absolutely no point attempting to reason with her in this state. He just had to wait it out.

"Ooh!" he exclaimed happily, grabbing an oblong yellow fruit from the bag "You have a banana in here!" he looked at it curiously "How did it not get bruised?...must be one of the spells you put on the bags, waterproof too! Clever!"
Twilight continued to freak out.

"-Keep it together, Twilight. Keepittogether. We just need a plan. We're stuck in the wrong time in the Everfree forest and we need a plan. Need a plan-"

"You know" the Doctor said, peeling the tropical fruit "I'm really quite fond of bananas. They're so darn versatile. They make good ice cream, they're darn tasty fried, and they are the perfect addition to a chocolate milkshake...not to mention cereal"

"What to do...What to do....."

"You should really convince Applejack to grow bananas..." The Doctor mused, taking a bite "or does she already? I'm not sure. Either way, this banana is fantastic. Why are you pony's so darn good at growing fruits?"

Twilight splashed water on her face "Think, Twilight! Think, think, think, think-"

"Wait....Is this a Gros Michel banana?" the Doctor said excitedly "On earth, they were wiped out....or at least commercially......by Panama disease in the Sixties, but you ponies still have them! That's brilliant! Did you know that Panama disease was actually engineered by aliens who thought that Banana's were earth's dominant sentient life form? Not topo bright those aliens, vicious maybe, but very, very dense."

Twilight whipped around "For the love of Luna would you shut up about that Celestia damned fruit!"

The Doctor looked up and and blinked at her, before singing "I think somebody needs a banana" and pulling another one out of the saddlebags, holding it out to her.

"I do not need a banana." Twilight hissed.

"Oh come off it, they're good for stress. Look at that eye twitch, heaven knows you could use it"

Twilight said nothing, just continuing to give him a glare that would make the sun-goddess herself waver.

Reaching out with the yellow fruit, the Doctor used it to poke Twilight in the nose "Boop!"

Twilight's expression contorted as she gritted her teeth, ears pressed flat against her forehead, before she simply flopped to the the ground in utter defeat "I give up." she said "I don't get it. It's your TARDIS that got stolen, but you're just sitting here chattering on about bananas! Do you even care at all?"

At that, the Doctor began to laugh "Of course I care." he chuckled Do you think I want that filly mucking about my TARDIS? Bloody hell no. I just have to keep calm about it. Can you imagine if you and I panicked at the same time? Total mess."

"Doesn't change the fact that we're stuck here" Twilight muttered

"Oh ye of little faith!" the Doctor scoffed "I know exactly what to do"

"I thought you said you didn't have a plan"

"Thought of one while you were freaking out" the Doctor said "That's when I come up with most of my plans actually....your ranting makes surprisingly good background noise for thinking."

"Gee thanks" Twilight grumbled.

"Don't feel bad" the Doctor chuckled "It's pretty funny actually. You get along just fine when you're in some kind of emergency situation like...oh I don't know, falling from hundreds of feet in the air, or being chased by aliens; but sitting on a riverbank thinking of possible future emergency situations? Complete panic!" he grinned "Better than the other way around though. If you had done that when we were falling out of the TARDIS it definitely wouldn't have been a pretty situation"

Twilight gave a little laugh "I guess you're right about that" she conceded "But what's this plan of yours anyways?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the Doctor said "You'd say that you're good at magic right?"

Twilight nodded slowly.

"Good. Because to follow her, we're going to need to use a time spell"

"Doctor, I only know one time spell, and all it does is take me a week into the past for thirty seconds-" Twilight began to protest, but was cut off.

"I know that, but we're more than three hundred years in the future, there are almost definitely more floating around by now"

"....and we're in the Everfree forest" Twilight continued, eyes lighting up

"that means Ponyville is at the most a couple of miles away so-"

"To the library!" Twilight interjected gleefully ".....well, actually....to the future library!"

The Doctor laughed, shaking his head "Yes, Sparky. To the future library"

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, reviewing her mental map of the parts of the Everfree she had been to, then, biting her lip in concentration, she swiveled about twenty degrees to the right and started off into the forest, calling back "If I remember correctly, Ponyville should be about an hour's trot this way"

"Alrighty then" the Doctor said "but first we need to get you a disguise. We're fairly far into the future, but not far enough for people not to recognize you if you happen to become a prominent historical figure later in your life"

Twilight's eyes lit up "I've got it!" she chirped, and pulled the pair of electric wings out of her bag. As soon as she put them against her fur, they molded themselves to look just like real ones, even adopting her color. Twilight felt a tingle shoot from them all the way down to her spine, and she stretched what felt like brand new muscles experimentally before folding the wings at her sides "Tada! No one would recognize someone from a completely different pony breed"

"Except when they're an alicorn" the Doctor pointed out.

"Oh yeah....Twilight said slowly "That." She moved to take the wings off, before the Doctor held up a hoof for her to stop, digging through his saddlebags.
He pulled out a large red hat and plonked it on her head so it completely covered her horn, smiling triumphantly.

Twilight glanced at her reflection in the river, before saying "A fez? Why in the world would you have a fez in your saddlebags?"

"They're cool"

Still looking at her reflection, Twilight burst out laughing. The Doctor gave her a confused look, which only prompted to laugh harder, collapsing onto the grass by the riverbank in a fit of giggles.

"What?" the Doctor finally said "I don't get it, what's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing" Twilight said, still chuckling "It's just....I didn't realize how much I missed hearing that kind of crazy stuff over the months"

"Well, you still had Pinkie" the Doctor said, grinning.

"True" Twilight conceded "but it just wasn't the same"

With that done, they struck out for Ponyville, and Twilight took the opportunity to lecture the Doctor on Everfree safety "Make sure not to step into any blue flowers, those are poison joke, and Celestia knows we have enough on our plate already without you getting punked by a magic plant. Also, if you hear any chicken noises, for Luna's sake don't look at the source! That's how I ended up as a statue for four hours....stupid Cockatrice......If you asked me, Fluttershy should have- Oof!"

She cut off quickly as she walked face-first into the Doctor, who had stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh, that's brilliant" He gushed, gaze fixed on something ahead of him.

"Just fantastic." Twilight said sarcastically back, voice slightly muffled due to the fact that her face was still smushed against the Doctor's shoulder "but why don't you warn me next time before you sto....ha.........Holy Celestia...."

Lifting her head up, Twilight gazed out at the view in front of her, making a bevy of incoherent little noises.
Sprawled out in front of them, was a city. Buildings rose into the air, most of them a unique mottled green color. Some were plain, others were so whimsically designed that they resembled giant pieces of art, and no two were the same. In front of them was a road, and on it... things...hummed along swiftly and quietly, coming in a variety of shapes and designs.

"But-" Twilight said "but the edge of the Everfree isn't for miles! What happened to the rest of it?"

The Doctor grinned "Just look."

Taking a closer inspection, Twilight saw that the city itself had been built into the forest, and all between the buildings and the roads, the forest continued. Squinting at the green buildings, on them was not decoration as she previously thought, but plants, growing on the sides of them like a living wall. It took her breath away.

"It's.... beautiful" she breathed, a smile forming on her face.

"Isn't it?" the Doctor replied, laughing happily, then he said "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Chapter Five

Chapter Five
In which several interesting characters are met,(including an angry motorist, an unfortunately named unicorn, and a rather librarian) and a clue is found.

In the next thirty seven seconds, the Doctor realized that he probably should have explained the concept of cars to Twilight before they crossed the street.

The Doctor, being city savvy, looked both ways and darted across during a gap between cars. Twilight however, just hopped causally off the curb, gazing up at the buildings with wide eyes and generally being completely oblivious to her surroundings, including the large automobile speeding in her direction.

"Watch out!" the Doctor shouted as a car barreled towards the unwitting unicorn.

Twilight looked up with a yelp, horn sparking underneath her fez as she teleported out of the way and stumbled onto the other side of the street, accidentally bumping into a light pink mare as she did so. She apologised, before turning to the Doctor in shock

"What the heck was that?" Twilight spluttered, flailing her hooves.

"That was a car. They had those where I come from. Are you alright?"

Before Twilight had the chance to answer, the Doctor burst out laughing, looking at something behind her.

"What?" Twilight asked curiously, turning around "What's so funny?"

"I think that pegasus pony who nearly ran you over just flipped us off....with his wing!" the Doctor giggled incredulously "I didn't even know ponies did that!
He paused "....In fact.... I didn't even know pony wings were capable of......oh! Wait a tick! You have wings!" the Doctor's eyes lit up "You should try it!"

Twilight rolled her eyes "Trust me" She grumbled "I'm tempted to"

The Doctor helped her to her hooves "Well, we better continue on our way. No time machine after all, ergo, no time to dally"

They trotted through the city, Twilight gazing with fascination at all the buildings and unfamiliar objects. The sky was overcast, looking like it wanted to rain, and there was a chilly breeze blowing through the streets. Twilight shifted her mechanical wings as they ruffled in the air current. They must have had a transformation spell worked into them somehow, because what had used to be pieces of light plastic adorning the wings felt and looked just like real feathers now they were attached to her sides.

From beside her, the Doctor exclaimed "Ooh! Subway system, perfect! Come along, Sparky!"

"Sub-what!?" was all Twilight had the chance to squawk out before she was grabbed by the hoof and dragged down the stairs into the Ponyville Underground.

The Doctor took half-a second to glance at the subway sign before rushing past it, exclaiming "Brilliant! There's a train leaving in two minutes, we can make it if we're fast!"

Still pulling Twilight along with him, he took out his Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at the automated fare collection gate, which clicked open to allow them past. They descended another flight of stairs, and Twilight was greeted by a rush of ponies and sleek silver trains, all in constant motion.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked the Doctor

"Please" he scoffed back, pulling her through the open door of a train "I'm from London. Therefore I posses a near-physic relationship with the Tube" he sat down on one of the seats

"Whatever you say" Twilight replied, a touch skeptically, before taking the seat beside him and placing her saddlebags next to her her. She pulled her pseudo wings tighter to her sides for warmth. The train was freezing!

Noticing her discomfort, Doctor opened his saddlebags and dug through them, before giving a little exclamation of triumph and pulling a folded brown coat from it's depths. He put it on the shivering unicorn's shoulders "Poor Sparky" he chuckled "first dunked in a river, then walking in the cold, then stuck on a freezing subway....bet you could use a cup of hot tea"

Twilight smiled, slipping her hooves through the sleeves of the offered jacket and bundling it around her "Tell be about it....or you know what sounds amazing?" she laughed "That soup. Where did you say you got it again?"

"A little Seapony town!" the Doctor said brightly " Seaponies are really fascinating actually....They all live in these underwater city domes that regulate the water pressure, and have special bubble-looking helmets to allow them to stay down there without coming up for air. They're mammals you know! Exactly like regular ponies except with fins. It's really quite a nice society, I'll have to take you to visit Aquestria sometime"

"Aquestria?" Twilight asked, eyebrows raising.

"I know, right? As if the puns couldn't get any more ridiculous...." He paused thoughtfully "I was originally going to bring you soup from a reindeer settlement in Siberia....but they got a mite bent out of shape when I made some suggestions on improving the flavor"

Twilight giggled

"I mean I was just trying to be helpful" the Doctor griped "Maybe if they weren't so uptight about their soup it might taste a bit better....."

He trailed off as he saw that Twilight had stopped laughing and was staring wide eyed over his shoulder

"Are you alright Sparky? What's-" he followed her gaze to see a very large Reindeer sitting a couple of seats over, looking unamused.

The Doctor gave a nervous laugh as the train pulled to a stop and the doors opened with a ding, then he grabbed Twilight's hoof, whispered "Run!", and bolted out the door.

Behind them, the Reindeer just shook her head and muttered in a high, cultured accent "Why do I always have to sit next to the strange ones?"

After making it a safe distance from the subway car, the Doctor took another brief glance at the wall map before walking in the direction of another train that would hopefully take them closer to the library.

Twilight followed behind, coat flapping as she walked. It was long, draping almost halfway down her hind legs, and flying out in a cape-like manner as she trotted along. The length must have been purposeful though, because the rest of the coat fit near-perfectly, the sleeves ending neatly just above her hooves. She peered at it curiously. It was a similar shade to the Doctor's mane, with a double row of buttons, a large collar, and pockets on the inside and outside.

"Where did you get this?" she asked inquisitively as they boarded the next train.

"I've had it for a long time" replied the Doctor "Since before I came to your world. When we went through the rift, everything was adapted to the pony universe, apparently including the TARDIS wardrobe. Thought it might come in handy"

"Well, it's certainty useful now- eep!" Twilight yelped as she put a hoof in one of the pockets "....it's bigger on the inside!"

The Doctor grinned "I modified most of my pockets like that for convenience sake."

Twilight looked thoughtful "You know, I'm surprised you don't wear it. It definitely seems your style, and then you wouldn't have to lug around saddlebags"

The grin faltered then, and the Doctor shook his head, looking distant "Oh no, too many memories in that old coat....Besides" he laughed, the familiar wry smile returning "Blue suits me better, brings out my eyes"

Twilight chuckled, and the Doctor said "Anyway, what did I miss while I was gone?"

Twilight looked thoughtful "Not too much....Luna visited for Nightmare Night, Pinkie threw some parties, and the Secretariat Comet passed through the Horse Head Nebula and over Equestria. That was about it."

"Secretariat Comet?"

Twilight nodded "One of the biggest Celestial events in over three thousand years. Unfortunately, I missed it. At the time I was busy saving my friends from Queen Chrysalis after she tried to drain me of my love" She gave a little exclaimation "Ooh! And I almost forgot! A little after that Rarity was possessed by the same evil beings that used to control Luna and subsequently tried to take over Equestria."

".....How do you almost forget that?!" the Doctor exclaimed incredulously.

Twilight shrugged "When you've been saving Equestria almost every other month for over two years, not to mention travelling around with you......."

"Point taken, but we are totally going back to those times as soon as I get my TARDIS back...." the Doctor gave a little snort of annoyance "I can''t believe I missed all the fun!"

"Yeah, saving the world from your evil possessed friends and or crazy queens is a real party" Twilight said sarcastically

"I know, right!" the Doctor chirped brightly

Twilight just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. The train slowed to a stop at the next station.
As the doors opened, she stood up, only to give a yelp of alarm "My saddlebags! They're not here! I must have left them on the other train!"

The Doctor laughed "Don't worry, I've got them"

Twilight looked confused, tilting her head to one side "Where?"

"In my saddlebags" the Doctor replied casually, lifting opening one to reveal her light blue bags resting comfortably in his saddlebag's much larger inside "Convenient, eh?"

Twilight gave a sigh of relief as the Doctor closed the flap back up and trotted out the door of the subway. She followed close behind through the crowded station until they finally emerged into the open air of the city once more.

The Doctor looked around, squinting "If I remember the map right, we need to head that way"

He set off in that direction, and Twilight followed behind as they walked the streets alongside the bustle of ponies going about their daily business. All nudging past the shoulders of two ponies they had no idea were out of the ordinary.

As they passed one of the greenery-cover buildings, Twilight reached out with a hoof and touched it, a smile coming to her face as she felt supple leaves spring back underneath her hooves.

"Brilliant isn't it!" the Doctor said, a bounce in his step as he trotted slightly ahead of her "Just brilliant! You ponies really do think of everything....I mean, the other day, you and your friends were talking about how a great deal of your transportation is done via hot air balloon. Hot air balloons! It's just fantastic!"

"Doctor..." Twilight hissed quietly "Ponies are staring"

The Doctor turned to her, blinking "So? Stare back. Like this, see?"

To give her an example, the Doctor turned to a passing stallion and looked at him so intently that the poor pony had no choice but to scurry away with his tail between his legs and an expression somewhere between confusion and fear on his face.
The Doctor smiled at her "It's easy really"

"Doctor, you don't just stare down random ponies!" Twilight said incredulously

The Doctor paused, a slow grin spreading on his face "I think someone's embarrassed of me" he sang

Seeing the mischievous glint in his eyes, Twilight quickly said "No. No of course not"

"Really?" the Doctor said, grin growing "Even if I did....this?"

He began to walk in the most ridiculous way possible, flailing his hooves in every direction.

Twilight blinked, eyes widening "Okay" she said slowly "It's official. I no longer know you."

"I beg to differ" the Doctor said, still walking in the most spastic way possible and holding back laughter "HEY EVERYPONY!" he said as loudly as he could "THIS MARE IS MY FRIEND!" He gave his hooves an extra little flail, almost falling onto his face in the process.

Twilight walked faster, head down, ears folded to her head, face beet red.

The Doctor followed after her, continuing to walk like Pinkie Pie after five RedPonies and a shot of espresso. Then, suddenly, he stopped, looking around. Slowly, he said "Do you remember what direction the library was"

Twilight facehoofed "I thought you said you knew where you were going!"

"I said I was good with the Tube. Big difference"

"Well we're asking for directions" Twilight snorted "And do try to act normal so we can actually talk to the pony before they run away."

The Doctor made a pouty face, grumbling "Okay, fine."

Twilight scanned the crowd, looking for someone walking nearby who looked like a suitable person to ask for directions. Walking slowly was preferable, that meant that had some time to spare, and cleanliness was also a plus"

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick that one!" the Doctor said excitedly "She's ginger!"

Twilight turned to see a pale pink unicorn with a peachy-orange mane and small glasses perched on her muzzle. She carried a one shouldered saddlebag and was walking at a casual pace, looking up at the buildings with dark brown eyes.

"What does it even matter?" Twilight asked back.

"Ginger. Now. Go"

With a resigned sigh, Twilight trotted up to the mare, putting on her best smile

"I'm sorry to bother you" she said "But my friend and I are new here, and a little lost...would you happen to know where the library is?"

The mare smiled "Sure thing!" she said kindly "I can show you if you want"

A look of relief crossed Twilight's face "Thank you so much" she said, glad to have found somepony willing to help "My name is.....Sparky"

"Frilly Frills" the mare replied, sticking out a hoof to shake.

From behind Twilight, The Doctor spoke up for the first time "F-Frilly Frills?" he squeaked, trying to hold back a laugh.

Twilight turned to give him an annoyed look before Frilly Frills stopped her.

"It's fine" Frilly said, a wry smile on her face "I'm used to it."

As they walked, the Doctor asked curiously "So why were you named that anyways?"

"Well...I got the last name from my dad, Fin Frills....He's a herpetologist, and my parents aren't exactly the most creative....." Frilly shrugged "Long story short, I got saddled with the full name of Frilly Frill Frills and built up a snarky exterior from years of childhood teasing" She paused, looking at the Doctor "and speaking of names....I never did learn yours."

"Oh!" the Doctor said "I'm the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you"

Frilly stopped mid trot, tilting her head to one side, inquisitively "Doctor Who?"

"Just the Doctor"

"Ookay then" Frilly Frills then stopped again, squinting at Twilight "Wait a second...You're that mare who almost got run over by the auto-carriage! I knew you looked familiar, you bumped into me"

Twilight winced "Yeah, that was me"

Frilly turned to look at them, sizing them up. Then, with a bemused laugh she said "Well you guys are quite the odd couple now aren't you?"

Twilight's eyes widened "Oh, no,no,no....we aren't-"

"Relax" Frilly cut her off, chuckling "I didn't mean a literal couple.... it's a figure of speech"

"Ohh..." Twilight said slowly, now looking thourally embarassed.

Frilly Frills smirked back at her, sniggering.

The Doctor meanwhile, looked confused "Wait what now? I zoned out"

"Nothing." Twilight said quickly, as Frilly gave a snort of laughter from behind her.

The Doctor blinked, slowly turning away "Alrighty then...." he said, before muttering under his breath "....All of time and space and I still don't understand females...."

"You know" Frilly said "I actually used to work at the library a couple of years back"

Twilight's eyes lit up "Really?"
They continued to trot along, the sky beginning to drizzle lightly, spattering their coats with little drops of water.

Frilly Frills smiled "Yeah! Then I had to quit when I got accepted into Pranceton... The only reason I'm back right now is because it's winter break"

"Pranceton?" the Doctor giggled "Seriously?"

"What, you from Pennsylmaneia State or something?" Frilly said, looking at him in confusion

"Pennsylmaneia State? Oh that's hilarious!"

The pink mare furrowed her brows, clearly wondering whether the stallion she was having a conversation with was very dumb, very drunk, very crazy, or some combination of all three.

"Just ignore him" Twilight deadpanned.

They continued to walk an the rain, the Doctor sniggering to himself behind them. Then Frilly Frills stopped, smiling proudly "Here we are!"

A smile slowly spread across Twilight's face. It was the library, her library. It was still a tree, and there was still a little sign outside with a book on it, and the door still had a carving of a candle on it, and there was still the little balcony up top, the one she had always sat on to stargaze.

It was exactly the same.

She ran to the door and pushed it open, half expecting to see her friends inside. Rainbow reading a Daring Do book, Fluttershy looking at one of Twilight's extensive nature books, Rarity dong research for her latest fashion project, Applejack taking a break from farm work to stop by and chat, and Pinkie Pie doing...well, whatever Pinkie usually did. The notion was quickly shattered as she stepped inside.

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. The library might have looked the same on the outside, but on the inside, it was like a whole different world.

About twenty feet in front of her was a railing. Below the level she was standing on were five more stories of the library, all underground. There was another level of the library above her as well, covered in chairs and lamps and tables for reading, as well as doors to the balconies where ponies could presumably read as well. All around her, and below her, the walls were covered in books, more than twilight could ever hope to read in a lifetime.

"Nice isn't it?" Frilly chirped from behind her "Biggest collection of books in Equestria"

"Biggest?....but what about the Canterlot Archives?"

"Canterlot Archives is all digital now. The physical scrolls and books were all moved here."

Twilight sat down "Bu- Tha- I- Whaaaaaaaaaa?"

The Doctor entered then, looking in confusion from Frilly to the spluttering Twilight.

"I think I broke her." Frilly said slowly

"You don't say?" The Doctor said sarcastically, as Twilight continued to spout half words and flail her hooves.

"Well, I better get going" Frilly said "Wouldn't want to run into my ol' coworker Dewey" she winced.

"Dewey?" the Doctor asked curiously

Frilly Frills gave a wry smirk "Trust me, you'll get it when you meet him" then she gave a little wave goodbye and trotted out the door, wondering what her friends would think of her strange little adventure.

The Doctor trotted up to Twilight, poking her in the shoulder. "Hello? Earth to Sparky?"

Slowly, still looking out past the railing to the other floors Twilight said "Sweet Celestia the library is gigantic..."

The Doctor blinked, before shaking his head and muttering "Brilliant. She's in shock..."

He grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled her upright, leading her along as she stared at everything in complete stultification.

According to the information map by the door, it appeared the front desk was on the bottom floor, where the main entrance of the library connected it to an underground network of shops, restaurants, and even what appeared to be a large housing complex.

Still guiding the stunned Twilight, the Doctor began trotting down the stairs, finally reaching the bottom floor. He walked up to the front desk, only to find nobody there.

Twilight meanwhile, was looking around her with wide eyes, all around her were ponies trotting around, browsing through the shelves, or sitting in front of things like the one Colgate had. What had she called it? A computer.

"Hello there!"

She glanced to the side to find a dark green face mere centimeters from hers, and yelped, leaping backwards.

The Doctor turned around to look at her curiously, only to see another pony there too,

"Sorry, sorry!" exclaimed the green pony, he was a Pegasus around her age, with a mustard yellow mane that was just a tad too long, and gigantic round glasses that made his violet look unsettlingly large. "My name is Dewey Decimal, library information head! Do you need help finding anything?"

"We're researching time travel spells" Twilight said quickly "Would you know where we could get information on those?"
Twilight noticed in the time in had taken to ask the question, Dewey had once again moved uncomfortably close to her. She shuffled a little to the right in an effort to maintain her personal space.

"Well..." Dewey said slowly, once again moving much to close for Twilight's liking "There are some books on it that might be helpful, but you'll probably have some better luck on the computer"

"Computer?" Twilight asked nervously. Books were good. She knew how to work books. Computers, not so much.

"Don't worry, the library has plenty of them free for the public to use, here let me show you"

They followed after him,Dewey diligently staying as close to Twilight as possible, despite her efforts against it. Her ear flicked in irritation, this pony was starting to creep her out. Plus he didn't smell too nice either.

They got to the computers, and Dewey trotted up to one, pulling out the chair for her and motioning for her to sit "Here you are!"

He then proceeded to grab another chair, sit in it, and scoot it as close to her as possible, never taking his eyes off her face.

Twilight glanced uneasily from him back to the computer screen. She didn't know how to work computers! She knew nothing about computers,and the library was huge, and- dear sweet Celestia his eyes were staring straight into her soul. Twilight had never considered staring to be a form of assault until that moment. She scrunched up her shoulders closer around her as if attempting to curl up into a little ball. There was a little squeak as Dewey scooted his chair even closer. Twilight's eye twitched. Another squeak. She was almost falling off her chair in an attempt to lean away from him.

"Has anyone over told you how hot you are?"
It was only thanks to the timely intervention of the Doctor that the poor, hapless stallion wasn't sent flying across the library by a levitation spell.

"Excuse me" the Doctor said smoothly "But if you could kindly distance yourself from my friend. You see, she has a phobia of male ponies. We've gotten her to the point to where she can be in the same room, but any sort of close proximity terrifies the poor thing. See?" he pointed to Twilight, who was looking as if she greatly wanted to punch the green pegasus, ears folded flat against her head and right eye twitching "Paralyzed with fear."

Dewey raised an eyebrow "Do you think I'm stupid?" he said.

The Doctor was very tempted to give him an answer (Yes), but let him continue anyway.

"I mean really..." Dewey scoffed "She was talking to me earlier just fine"

"Well she probably didn't recognize you were a stallion" the Doctor countered "Easy mistake to make really. Took me a few minutes to realize myself"

Dewey snorted, looking affronted "Bull! She's fine with you and you're a stalli-" he was quickly cut of by a hoof being pressed against his mouth

"Well don't go telling her that!" the Doctor hissed angrily to him "What are you trying to do, ruin years of therapy? As far as she's concerned, my name is Clockwork Blossom. Now shoo!"

".....Wait what?" Dewey said slowly

"Go on! Shoo!"

Looking startled and confused, Dewey trotted away in the direction of his desk, before stopping halfway to chat up and unfortunate unicorn mare.

The Doctor and Twilight exchanged glances. As soon as he was out of earshot they both burst out laughing

"Clockwork Blossom?" Twilight wheezed between laughs "Seriously?"

"Oi! You try lying on the spot! I had already dug myself in, so I had to roll with it" the Doctor defended, chuckling. "Good God the look on his face was hilarious..."

"You didn't have to be quite so mean" Twilight scolded.

The Doctor snorted "Please, that was much more merciful than anything you would have done to him if I hadn't stepped in"

"That is not true!" Twilight protested.

"Oh come on, Sparky. I saw that look in your eyes" the Doctor grinned "If it wasn't for me that stallion probably would have lost half his teeth today"

There was a pause, and then both Twilight and the Doctor burst out laughing once more.

"Here, I'll go see what books I can find." the Doctor said, after their giggles had finally subsided You stay here and see if you have any luck on the computer"

As he trotted off, Twilight turned to look a the screen. She still didn't know how to use a computer....but, how hard could it be? Suddenly, the monitor flickered out, going black. Twilight's eyes widened. She had broken it!

Running over, to where the Doctor was looking through shelves, she grabbed his hoof and dragged him over to the computer, looking panicked
"FIX IT! FIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFIXIT!"

Slowly, the Doctor reached out a hoof and jiggled the mouse. The screen blinked back to life.

"Ohhhhh...." Twilight said slowly

The Doctor face hoofed "Why don't you let me handle the computer, Sparky"

A little more than an hour later, Twilight gave a little cry of triumph holding up a book into the air with her magic. "I Found something!"

She was in the middle of a self made book fort, surrounded by stacks of time-travel books all piled high around her. The Doctor got up from the computer and trotted over to her, weaving between the book piles.

"Here it is!" Twilight said happily "This spell allows you to travel forwards or backwards through time, and stay at that date for up to seventy two hours"

"Wow!" the Doctor blinked "That sounds perfect!"

"Well....almost perfect" Twilight said as she read further, ears drooping slightly "This takes an incredible amount of magic...Maybe one of the Princesses could do it on the spot, but I would need days of setting up spell stabilizing and power amplifying runes, and even then I wouldn't be able to get very far. Plus we have no idea where Colgate went anyways!"

The Doctor winced, sighing. Then his eyes brightened "Wait a tick!" he said a grin spreading on his face "Maybe not!"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Colgate doesn't fly the TARDIS well!" the Doctor said jubilantly, as if that was the answer to everything.

"So?" Twilight asked "Plus, you don't exactly fly it well either, considering all the times you've accidentally crashed it into the library"

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed "I am an excellent driver, and not just with the TARDIS either. I parallel parked a train once!"

"A train?" Twilight exclaimed incredulously

"Not important right now" the Doctor said briskly "Back to the matter at hand. You see...unlike me....Colgate isn't experienced at flying the TARDIS. So instead of slipping through the time stream, she more....Punches her way right through. Now those "holes" in space-time would heal in a couple of days, but for now....."

"They're like open gateways..." Twilight said slowly "easy to go through"

"And they'll take us straight to Colgate" the Doctor grinned.

"That's great!" Twilight beamed and gave her mechanical wings an excited flap, making the coat she was wearing fly out like a cape before fluttering down back around her.

Something else fluttered down too from where it had been trapped between the wing's feathers, and Twilight bent down to pick it up.

It was a scrap of newspaper, just part of a picture and a name, with numbers scrawled on it in red pen. The picture was of a young unicorn around her age, with a light bulb cutie mark, smiling like he had just won the lottery. The name below the picture was Bright Idea.

She looked at the numbers. They appeared to be in the same hoofwriting she had seen on all the sticky-notes on Colgate's desk, so Colgate had probably written them. They read 2-22-1318, a date.

"Doctor..." She said slowly "Who's Bright Idea?"

The Doctor shrugged "I haven't the slightest." he glanced towards the computer "Although..."

Twilight watched curiously over his shoulder as he typed in the name, pressed search, and clicked the first article. She didn't think she would ever forget the picture that appeared as the page popped up. It was the same stallion, but older. His horn was shattered, run through with cracks as if it had been taken apart and glued back together again, and on his back were something similar to the mechanized wings Twilight wore. They seemed rougher though, a first design perhaps, and were half metal, half feather. Instead of a smile, he wore a crazed snarl on his face.
He was being dragged away in hoof-cuffs.

Slowly, Twilight began to read the article aloud in a hushed whisper.

"Bright Idea was the president of the Resurrect Program, and a pioneer in magic splicing and artificial magic technologies. His main project, Resurrect, was founded after a grant from Celestia received in the year 1318, on February 23. In it's early days, it went on to do ground breaking studies into the science and possible causes behind the dwindling of unicorn magic, achieving excellent results and becoming highly praised for it's innovative and informative work. However, as the years went on, the projects became more and more secretive, and with that, it's founder grew steadily more reclusive. The project and it's laboratory were shut down for good in the year 1346, after a mare that had been part of the project escaped. She was found terrified in the middle of the Everfree, and was taken straight to the Princess. Hours later, Bright Idea was arrested, and the laboratory was shut down forever. Nearly fifty workers, along with nine young foals were rescued from it. All had been altered in some way, and all were held against their will, with the exception of his accomplices, who had actually encouraged and helped with the awful experiments and were arrested alongside bright light"

After that there another picture, one of a cream colored unicorn mare with a light green mane. She was staring straight at the camera, and the small smile on her face looked like it was taking all her will to muster. Where her horn should have been, instead was a mass of metal and wires, all fused to her head. Her eyes looked haunted

"What follows" Twilight read softly "Is a quote from Green Leaf, the mare who first escaped:
I came there when I was eighteen, a young scientist, elated for the opportunity to work with the esteemed program. It was perfect then, rising ever higher and closer to accomplishing it's goal of bringing back unicorn magic. A roller coaster that only went up. Then, the cure, the thing that all the research had said could work, had to work, failed. Bright Idea.....Bright Idea was always so determined, he never gave up, and he didn't. He just kept working."

Twilight's voice wavered as she read the next part
"One day, a couple of months after the project's only, and biggest failure, he came to me. He told me that he found something, found something new, but he could only try it on a pony. He asked me if I would be willing to do it for him....I said yes. He was my friend, I trusted him. I woke up with my horn gone, and this in it's place. I screamed at him, I told him he was insane and that this was terrible and he couldn't do this. He just laughed, and said that he had done me a favor. I wasn't allowed to leave after that, I could only stay, watching as everything turned upside down. It got worse from there. He became obsessed with accomplishing his goal, going to even more extreme measures. He shattered his own horn to see how it worked and put it back together again, he took Pegasai and Earth Ponies and harvested their magic to refine into something unicorns could use, leaving them robbed of their abilities to fly and connect with the earth. He took foals and experimented with them, trying to engineer what he called a perfect unicorn. That laboratory was a place of nightmares, and I'm glad it's gone. For good."

Twilight stared at the screen sadly for a few moments after she finished reading, before turning to the Doctor. He too was looking at the screen, brows furrowed as he thought, then something flickered in the his eyes, the spark of a connection being made.

"February Twenty Second, Eighteen Thirteen...." he said slowly "That's the day before Bright Idea received the grant..."

Both Twilight and the Doctor were silent for a while, considering the implications.

"Do you think she's going to try to stop him from getting the grant?" Twilight asked

"No..." the Doctor said slowly, flipping the scrap of newspaper over so Twilight could see the words "HE WILL PAY" scrawled out in angry lettering on it's back "I think she's going to do much worse than that"

Author's Note

A note on the time and dates used in the chapter:
All these years are measured in the Celestial Era, or the years after Nightmare Moon was banished. Twilight's current time is about 1002 C.E :)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six
In which Colgate is very rude to a stranger and the subject of black holes is discussed

Colgate made it only ten feet down the bustling street in Canterlot before she decided there were much, much too many ponies milling about for her liking. She looked around, giving a small sigh.

If she was right, she should be around thirty two years in her past, but the architecture looked quite a bit older than that. She would have to make sure she was in the right time.

She trotted up to the nearest mare, grabbing her hoof and pulling her to the side of the street "You there" she barked "What date is it?"

"It's Wednesday...." the mare said slowly, brows furrowing "....You seem a bit young to be wandering around the city on your own. Where's your mother?"

"Date!" Colgate spat "Not day, date! What are you deaf?"

The mare blinked in surprise, before her expression turned to concern "Sweetie" She said softly, soothingly "It's okay, just calm down. Now do you know where you parents are?"

"Oh, shut up." Colgate said contemptuously, rolling her eyes "I'm thirteen, not some foal. If I was looking for my parents I certainly wouldn't need your help finding them."

"Now sweetie, I just want to hel-"

"And you can stop using that 'reserved only for lower life forms' voice too. If anything I should be using that voice on you, and trust me, 'lower life form' would be a compliment. Now would you stop blathering on about where my mother is and give me the Celestia-damned date?!"

The mare hesitated. This filly was obviously unstable....she looked over briefly to her friend who had been walking with her, widening her eyes at her and trying to silently convey her message. Her friend nodded and cantered off, and the mare turned back to blue filly, who was looking impatient. If she could just keep her occupied long enough...

"Well?" Colgate spat impatiently.

"Alright..." The mare said slowly, carefully "The month is February..."

"Yes..." Colgate said, making a little 'go on' motion with her hoof.

"It's the Twenty Second...."

"And the year?" Colgate rolled her eyes, Luna this mare was tedious....

"988 C.E."

Colgate blinked "WHAT?"

The mare's brows furrowed "Is there something wrong?"

Colgate's face contorted in rage as she hissed venemously "That stupid, feathering, blue, pile of SCRAP METAL!"
She stomped off back in the direction she came from, muttering explatives under her breath.

"Wait!" the mare called "You need to stay here-"

"Oh buck off!" Colgate growled in return, trotting in the direction of the TARDIS.

That was when the royal guards rounded the corner, beside them was the mare from earlier, pointing straight at her. Colgate's eyes widened. Those stallions were big....and worst of all, they had unknowingly cut off her path to the TARDIS.
The guards advanced.

Colgate ran.

Nearby, Twilight Sparkle was pulling herself to her hooves, shaking her head to clear the remnants of the time spell from her mind. It had been an easy enough matter to get from the library to someplace she could preform the time travel spell without arousing suspiscion, and now they should be near the same area and time as Colgate. Beside her, the Doctor stood up, wincing.

"No offense" he said "But I like traveling in the TARDIS better"

"Hey!" Twilight huffed "It was my first try....besides, you're only a little singed, and it's not like I crashed into any large objects..... unlike somepony I know"

The Doctor just stuck his tongue out at her in response, and Twilight chuckled rolling her eyes. They trotted out into the busy Canterlot main street, looking about.

"Alrighty then..." the Doctor said looking about "The path we followed wasn't quite precise, but we should be very close, both distance wise....I'd say she's almost certainly within this district of the city....and time wise too. I would be surprised if we were any we were any more than half an hour behind her...though I suppose we could be ahead of her too. Wouldn't that be odd? Anyway, back on track. We need to keep our eyes peeled, chances are she's very close."

They followed the flow of ponies, looking closely for any hint of the blue filly. The Doctor glanced to Twilight, who was looking pensive, biting her lip lightly, brows slightly furrowed.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Twilight looked up "Yeah....there's something I don't quite get. If what Colgate's planning to do would alter the past, then wouldn't we have seen the effects the minute she left in the TARDIS? Wouldn't the fact that we didn't see any effects be proof that she didn't achieve her goal?"

"Well..." the Doctor said "That's a bit difficult to say. You see, time is a bit of a finicky thing. I think the problem is that you're thinking about it too linearly, like the timeline is a single piece of string, when in reality it's more of a gigantic bundle of yarn. Like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey- Oof!"

The Doctor's extremely technical description of time was cut off abruptly as he bumped into a candy colored unicorn, hard. "Oh!" he exclaimed"So sorry!"

"It....it's fine" the mare said quickly. She looked younger than Twilight, fifteen if the Doctor had to place a guess, and was looking about the square in a panic, every frantic motion of her head causing her tricolored mane, tied back into a practical pony-tail, to bob about like a ship in high seas. She looked on the verge of tears.

The Doctor's brow furrowed "Are you alright?"

The young mare opened her mouth to answer, before closing it and simply breaking down sobbing instead.

The Doctor stepped back, startled. He winced and shifted back an forth uncomfortably on his hooves, unsure what to do.

"I'm sorry!" the mare sniffled, still crying "It's not you...it's just....I was foalsitting a filly, and I was taking her home from the park but she wandered off and I lost her in the crowd and I don't know where she is.......her parents are going to kill me!" violet eyes full of panic, the mare gave another choked little sob.

"I'm sure that you'll find her" the Doctor said comfortingly "What does she look like? Together we'll probably have a better chance of spotting her."

The mare gave a weak smile "Well, she's amythyst colored, with a blue mane. No cutie mark yet. A tiny bit shorter than average....I still don't know how she can be so fast on those little legs. You'd think she was a pegasus" the mare smiled fondly "Oh! And she'll be carrying around a doll. Light grey with a dark grey mane, and very, very worn. Celestia knows she loves the thing, it used to be her brother's, she'll barely let me take it to wash....That filly is as obsinate as a mule sometimes"
The mare was obviously fond of her lost charge, and talking about the filly seemed to calm her down a little.

"Alright..." the Doctor said, slowly, calmly "Now can you think of anyplace she might have gone? You said she was stubborn....Was there anyplace that she had wanted go but couldn't? She might have gone back it when she slipped off"

A thoughful look passed over the mare's face "Well, she wanted to go look at a birds nest in one of the trees....she's been watching it for weeks now. Keeps a little journal of observations on it even though she's barely learned to write....but we didn't have time to go there today. Maybe she went there...."

"See?" the Doctor smiled kindly "There's a start. Here, let me just grab my friend and we'll go see if we can find her...."
He trailed off, looking around. Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be found....that was strange. The Doctor couldn't think of a reason she would have wandered off except for spotting Colgate, and surely she would have let him know. Where could she have gotten off too-

"Your mane is really fluffy mister!" Chirped a cheerful voice from near his hooves, interrupting his train of thought.

The Doctor looked down, eyes widening. Standing in front of him was a very young Twilight Sparkle, complete with unadorned flank and a grey pony doll, almost bigger than her, barely held aloft next to her by a tiny pink aura, matching that of her horn. She gave him a gap toothed smile.

Glancing quickly back to the mare, the Doctor now noticed that, along with her horn, the older unicorn also had wings, tinted slightly purple at the tips and ruffled slightly from her stress. That had to mean she was Cadence, Twilight's old foal sitter and current sister-in-law....

The Doctor gave a little blink of surprise.....well then.

"Twilight!" Cadence gasped, rushing over to the young Twilight "I was so worried!" She wrapped one of her wings around the filly in a hug.

Twilight, meanwhile, was busy chattering away at the Doctor "Your mane looks like a catepillar!" she peeped brightly, smiling happily. The Doctor gave a small smile, chuckling. Typical little kid talk.....

"A larval tiger moth to be exact!....Or possibly a southern flannel caterpillar!"

....Or...well...Typical little Twilight Sparkle talk.

"-Don't you even run away like that again!" Cadence continued lecturing

"-Or Arctiidae if you want to refer to it by it's scientific name! I can spell Arctiidae: A-R-C-T-I-I-"

"Twilight Sparkle!" Cadence's motherly tone grew slightly sharper "Are you even listening to me?"

"What Cadie?" Twilight asked, before saying matter-of-factly "Oh....nope. I was talking to the stallion with the funny mane"

Cadence gave a little eye roll and ruffled Twilight's tiny bangs fondly, before looking up at the Doctor "I'm really sorry to have taken your time, and thank you, thank you so much for helping me find Twily....Although, she more found us now that I think about it" She shook her head and chuckled at Twilight, who was talking about what she had found at the bird nest "Only five and already such a hoofull..."

At that, the little Twilight looked up to the Doctor, eyes brimming with inquisitiveness "What's your name?"

"Time Turner" the Doctor replied quickly.

"Cadie! Cadie, can we teach mister Time Turner the secret hoofshake?"

"Twilight" Cadence said patiently "We have to get home now, your parents are probably worried half to death...."

The smile that Twilight had been wearing through the whole ordeal turned into a pout as she turned the full force of her enormous, pleading lavender eyes on her sitter "B-but.....Please?"

Cadence caved "Alright, Twily. You can teach him the hoof shake"

Twilight gave a quick nod, then pivoted to face the Doctor, expression earnest.

"Alright Mister Turner. This is the Super-Special-Secret-Hoofshake. Me, Cadie, and Miss Smartypants are the only ponies in the whole, entire, world, who know it, and now I am entrusting it to you as thanks for looking after Cadie while me and Miss Smarty Pants went to go take more research notes. This is the highest honor, so guard it with your life! Now repeat after me"

The little unicorn began hopping from hoof to hoof in a little dance, chanting happily "Sunshine! Sunshine!"

She then looked up at the Doctor expectantly.

"Uhh.....Sunshine.Sunshine" he repeated.

"With the moves too!"

Chuckling, the Doctor crouched down and did the same little hopping dance as Twilight "Sunshine. Sunshine."
Nodding her approval, Twilight moved on to the next part of the hoofshake "Ladybugs awake!"

"Ladybugs awake" the Doctor parroted.

"Clap your hooves...." Twilight continued, face still dead serious.

"Clap you hooves...."

"And do a little shake!" little Twilight finished happily, waggling her rear in the air.

"Do I have to do the movement for that one?" the Doctor said slowly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and the Doctor sighed. Cadence gave an apologetic little shrug.

"...and do a little shake" the Doctor mimicked, grudgingly shaking his flank. He then stood up looking rather chagrinned, and trying to muster whatever dignity he had left. It was quickly forgotten though as the little Twilight threw her forelegs around his front leg in a hug and beamed at him so joyfully that he couldn't help but smile back.

With that done, Cadence gave a little wave of goodbye, and another thanks before leading Twilight away, the young unicorn talking happily to her the whole while. The Doctor watched them go, a small grin on his face. Once they were a safe distance away, he called "Sparky you can come out now!"

From out of a side alley, the nineteen year-old Twilight stepped out, mechanical wings fluffed uncertainly, and eyes wide.

"Sorry about that" she said "I saw Cadence and I knew that the younger me would probably be with her, and I didn't really know what the rules on meeting your past selves were, and I didn't want to cause a paradox or anything, so I figured I had better hide just in case...." she furrowed her brows "Why are you laughing?"

The Doctor chuckled "It's just funny hearing you talk about paradoxes and stuff right after your younger self told me my mane looks like a caterpillar..." he grinned "Bit of a strange disconnect"

"I told you your mane looks like a caterpillar?"

The Doctor nodded as they began to once again walk down the Canterlot street "You also taught me your Super-Special-Secret-Hoofshake" he smirked "You know....Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Twilight's face turned an interesting shade of red.

"Oh, come on!" the Doctor said brightly "Don't be embarrassed. It's a honor! After all.....you, me, Cadie, and Miss Smarty Pants are the only ponies in the whole entire world who know it. I think you even said something about guarding it with my life"

"Doctor!" Twilight snapped.

"Oh, alright, alright. I'll stop" the Doctor relented "It was pretty adorable though. You don't remember it at all?"

Twilight thought hard "Nope....but then again, I don't remember much from when I was that young"

"Who knows" The Doctor sniggered "maybe you imprinted on me like a baby bird and that's the reason why you put up with all my antics"

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"You know, I thought you had said you weren't very social as a filly Sparky..." The Doctor continued looking thoughtful "You were certainly very talkative with me and Cadence"

"I was fine talking to adults, or older ponies like Cadence and Shining" Twilight explained "It was just other fillies and colts I didn't like....or more like they didn't like me"

The Doctor tilted his head "How so?"

"Well..." Twilight said slowly "I think I came across as a bit of a know at all. I mean, It's not like I was trying to rub my knowledge in anyone's face or anything, I just liked learning, but that didn't change the fact that I liked talking about science and literature and history and all the other filly's and colts....didn't. I was kind of ostracized." She shrugged "Eventually I just gave up, all getting upset about it did was earn me the nickname 'Crylight Sparkle', so I just read my books and told myself that I didn't need friends"

"Crylight Sparkle?" the Doctor shook his head "Well isn't that typical of little kids. They always go for the insulting nicknames..."

Twilight's shoulder's slumped "Actually....that was when I was fifteen. Moondancer got the whole school to call me that for over a year" she sighed "and that was just what they said to my face."

The Doctor paused for a moment "What did you say that pony's name was again?"

Twilight blinked "Moondancer, why?"

"Oh nothing..." the Doctor sang innocently, before smirking at her "Just for my mental list of ponies to chuck into black holes at the nearest possible opportunity"

"Doctor!" Twilight yelped, looking shocked.

"Oh relax, Sparky. I'm only teasing" The Doctor grinned "Besides, it made you feel better didn't it?"

Twilight gave a chuckle, a small smile tugging at her lips "Maybe a little" she conceded, before giggling "Out of curiosity, how would you go about that anyways? Is there some sort of formal address or something?"

The Doctor burst out laughing, before saying, in a mock official tone "Miss Moondancer,would you please step into the blue box for immediate black hole depositation? Thank you" he looked to Twilight "Too pompous? Still, better than what the TARDIS manual got, I just opened the doors and threw as hard as I could"

Twilight guffawed, exclaiming incredulously "You threw the TARDIS manual into a black hole?"

"What?" the Doctor said defensively "I disagreed with it"

Twilight facehoofed, before looking thoughtful "Well, maybe that's a good thing. Wouldn't want Colgate getting her hooves on it after all."

"Maybe....but in all honestly it probably would have hindered more than it helped. I'm telling you, the thing was rubbish"

"If you say so" Twilight grinned, giving the Doctor a playful nudge with her shoulder "But dropping it in a black hole still seems like overkill"

"Oi!" the Doctor said defensivly "I tried getting rid of it other ways, but it would always just reappear. In the most inconvenient places too! One time I took a nap, and next thing I knew It was lying open on my face!"

So you're saying Moondancer, the petty high school mean-mare, is on the same level as the face-attacking book that won't go away?"
The Doctor shrugged "Well I could always write her a sternly worded letter if the black hole isn't your style. Tsk-Tsk, shame on you, etcetera"
"It would be pretty hilarious to see the look on her face reading an admonishing letter from an alien time traveler, but I'll have to decline." Twilight laughed "Besides, as far as school jerks spectrum goes, she definitely wasn't bad as some others I know of. Did you know that poor Flutters was called "Butt-Turd-Shy" during her entire four years in flight school?"

The Doctor blinked "Poor Fluttershy..."

"I know right?" Twilight said "But she had Rainbow Dash to help her out though, so that made it a little better"
The unicorn chuckled darkly "Trust me, when you messed with Fluttershy and Dash was around, you would get much worse than being chucked into a black hol-"

Twilight cut off sharply as a small flash of blue shot past them, heading in the opposite direction, followed by many, much larger flashes of white and gold. She blinked "Was that just..."

"Colgate being chased by about twenty royal guards?" the Doctor finished

"So I'm not going crazy...." Twilight said slowly, then "What do we do now?"

"Follow them of course!" the Doctor said brightly, galloping after them "Tally ho, Sparky!"

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven
In which horrible tasting cakes are briefly discussed, and the Doctor is sold fruit against his will

They galloped after the guards, quickly catching up with them. Now that they were closer, Twilight could see it was definitely Colgate in front of them, running as fast as she could.

Twilight tapped the nearest guard on the beefy shoulder, cantering alongside him.
"Why are you chasing after a filly?" she asked, that might shed more light on why Colgate was there.

Not breaking stride, the guard said "She's unstable. Approached a mare threateningly, asking about what date it was, and tried to evade detainment by two other guards, knocking over a produce stall and injuring an old mare in the process. She also grabbed another filly and tried to use her as an equine shield against their mild stunning spells, and then threw her at the guards when that didn't work. That was when backup was called in. We're not trying to hurt her, but right now we have to stop her, she's volatile and a danger to herself and others"

Twilight's eyes widened slightly, that sounded like Colgate alright.

Still galloping, she looked in front of her and picked a point ahead of Colgate, focusing on it in her mind's eye. Her horn glowed, and with a pop and a brief whiff of ozone she disappeared and reappeared in the she had picked. Directly in front of her, galloping hard, Colgate looked up. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks at she slowed to a shocked stop.

With her magic, Twilight delicately lifted the shocked filly off the ground by the scruff of her neck, like a kitten. Colgate stared at her, before finally spitting "You!?"

"Hello!"

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" Colgate screamed, face contorting angrily.

Twilight rolled her eyes "Nice to see you too-"

That was when twenty royal guards tackled her. Twilight fell roughly to the ground, loosing her magical grip on Colgate, who got to her hooves quickly and darted away.

"Where is the filly!"

Twilight face-hoofed "Well, she was right here" she snapped "But now she's over there, running away as fast as she can"

"You let her escape?" the guard shouted angrily.

"I had her just fine until you tackled me!" Twilight bristled "Now come on! We're about to loose her"

She ran in the direction that she filly had gone, only to be greeted by a dead-end back alley, a blue box, and a familiar sound.

Fading in and out slowly, the TARDIS disappeared, leaving Twilight standing alone in the alley, mane ruffling in the wind generated by the blue box's departure. She gave a little huff of annoyance, ears folding back. Royal guards cantered up behind her, looking confused, with the Doctor close behind. He trotted to Twilight's side

"Where is the child?" one of the guards asked "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" The Doctor snapped "What's going on is that you failed a simple training operation, spectacularly so, in fact"

"No offense intended sir" One of the guards spoke up "but what do you know of this?"

"What do I know of this?" The Doctor drew himself up "Do you know who I am?"

She reached into the side pocket of the Doctor's saddlebags and pulled out a little wallet and it's blank piece of paper inside, holding it up for the guards to see.

There was a long pause, in which all of the guards slowly cocked their heads to the side in confusion.

""Doctor..." Twilight said quietly "I don't think that's psychic paper..."

The Doctor blinked, before quickly opening another pocket, taking out another little wallet, and showing that paper to the guards.

Their expressions immediately went from confused, to startled. They all stood up straighter and gave a salute.

"Thank you" the Doctor said, recovering from the stumble with the un-psychic paper and going straight back into his acting."This was a surprise training operation, one I have to say you all failed miserably at. Not only were you not able to capture an unarmed filly, but when my friend stepped in at my request to see how you would handle the threat once it was captured...since you couldn't seem to do so yourselves...you even managed to release the apprehended perp. You will all be lucky if you still have your jobs by the end of today. Now get back to your posts before I decide that your commanding officer should hear about this!"

The guards all hurriedly saluted her once more and scurried quickly away.

Twilight gave an annoyed huff as they left "I can't believe they tackled me! I had Colgate completely under control, but no. That would be too easy. Cue incompetent guards." she glowered, muttering sourly "I'm going to have a word with Shining about the quality of their training programs when I get back"

"Ah, but where's the fun when it's too easy?" the Doctor said brightly.

Twilight's mouth quirked up into a little smile "That was some pretty good acting on your part back there"

The Doctor grinned "Why thank you....though I did have a bit of a stumble with my fake identification"

"Why in the world would you keep regular paper in the pocket next to the slightly psychic paper anyways?"

"Pinkie Pie" the Doctor said, looking peeved "She hid about twenty fake papers all over my saddlebags as a prank. I keep finding them at the most inconvenient times"

Twilight laughed "That sounds like Pinkie alright..."

"I'm still trying to think of a way to get back at her..." the Doctor chuckled "I was thinking of bringing her one of those cakes from Tecri 13"

A grin spread across Twilight's face "The cakes that look fantastic but taste like mushed up cabbage soaked in vinegar and left out to sit for a week?"

"Those are the ones!"

Twilight chuckled darkly "I can only imagine the look on her face...We'd have to get her an actual cake afterward to make up for it though. That taste is a real nasty surprise, as we both know from experience"

"Choking that cake down while wearing a pleasant face was probably one of the most difficult things I've ever done." The Doctor laughed "If it hadn't been for the fact that refusing the emperor's food would have gotten us executed...."

Twilight burst into a little fit of giggles "And when he asked us how it tasted...I swear to Celestia, I don't know how you kept a straight face when you told him how delicious it was"

The Doctor smirked "I would say it was probably the fifty laser guns pointed at our heads throughout the entire dinner....great motivation for good acting"

Twilight chuckled, before suddenly stopping, brows furrowing slightly "Wait a second....If you ran into a younger me...then we would have to be around the year 990...Why in the world would she want come here?"

"She didn't. Or at least, I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" Twilight cocked her head

"Well, you've seen firsthand how the TARDIS can be a bit...difficult...when it comes to pinpointing precise times or locations...It will be double more so for Colgate...plus, I daresay the TARDIS probably isn't too fond of her, so she'll make even more trouble"

"So you're saying it might take a while for her to get where she wants to go....thats good right?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Yes and no, good, because we have more time to catch up with her. Bad because, her mucking about during all these different time periods probably isn't good at all, she could cause all sorts of trouble"

Twilight nodded, brows furrowed thoughtfully, then she looked up and said "Well, what are we waiting for?"
With that, she lit up her horn and they were off.

They reappeared with a flash in very recognizable side street. Twilight blinked "We're in Ponyville!"

She trotted out of the side street into the Ponyville square, squinting in the bright sunshine. She trotted over to the newspony stand and peered and the date. She then canter back over to the Doctor "She got the wrong time again. This is about half a year after I first moved to Ponyville. Good news is that she won't be trying to change anything on purpose, bad news is that we'll have to be careful. If I run into my past self....."

They began to walk through the square, Twilight keeping her head low so she would be less likely to be noticed. She scanned the crowd, looking for any spot of telltale blue. Where was that filly, she had to be nearby....maybe the Doctor had better luck.

She turned to speak to her brown friend, only to find he was nowhere to be found.

She looked around, panic flashing in her eyes, before she spotted him, trotting briskly towards her with an apple in his mouth.

"You went to buy an apple?!" Twilight snapped

"Not on purposth" The Doctor said, voice muffled by the fruit in his mouth "I wath wailaid by ahlbloom"
He took a bite of the apple "Isn't half bad though. AJ certainly knows her stuff."

Twilight's brows furrowed "You talked to Applebloom!" she squawked "But she didn't recognize you when you first met her! Now-"

"Don't worry Sparky" the Doctor said "I faked an accent, and I'm pretty sure she was too occupied with getting her cutie mark to even notice me except to forcibly sell me fruit"

Twilight looked relieved "Alright, that's a relief...Seen any sign of Colgate?"

The Doctor shook his head "No, not ye-"

He cut off sharply, whirling around as a sound came from one of the side streets.

As they turned to look at the direction of the sound, there was a loud thunk, and then a creak as a small pony opened the doors poked her head out from the TARDIS, eyes falling on the two ponies on the other side of the square, staring right at her. There was an instant of pause, then the blue doors slammed shut faster than Twilight could have believed possible.
The Doctor and Twilight galloped after her, skidding into the back alley and running towards the already dematerializing TARDIS. Twilight, tensed her muscles, gave one final leap for the blue box, and was rewarded only by smacking into the back wall of the alley.

Seconds later, the Doctor galloped up behind her "She's gone off again?"

Twilight nodded, breath coming hard from her sprint.

"Then we go after her" The Doctor grinned "Tally ho!"

Twilight nodded again, smiling slightly. Then lit up her horn there was a sharp popping noise, and both her and the Doctor disappeared, following on Colgate's tail.

Twilight shook her head as they reappeared, quickly assessing the situation. They were in Ponyville again. Alright. She trotted purposefully into the square, once again going up to the newspaper stand and squinting at the date.

She then trotted back to the Doctor "Alright. We're in Ponyville again, around two years after I moved here, so we'll still have to keep a watch out for my past self and friends"

They trotted out into the square and began to walk around, looking around the area vigilantly. It was midday, with hardly a cloud in the sky, and there were a great number of ponies outside enjoying the warm weather. Twilight would have taken her coat off if not for the fact that the dress she was wearing underneath, all torn up from being caught on branches in her fall earlier, probably would have attracted some attention, something she definitely didn't want at the moment. She did however remove her fez, and put it back into the Doctor's saddlebags, large red hats weren't exactly conducive to stealth either.

She rubbed her muzzle, wincing as her hoof came to the spot where she had smacked it on the wall diving for the TARDIS "If I had only been a couple of seconds earlier...." she muttered.

"Well, it's probably for the best" the Doctor said "Clinging to the TARDIS while it traveled through the time vortex wouldn't have been pleasant...I mean, Jack did it, but he was, well, Jack"

Twilight cocked her head "Jack?"

"Well, Captain Jack to be specific, good friend of mine, he hung on to the side of the TARDIS like that as it traveled all the way to the end of the universe....But then, he could survive anything."

"So he was just very lucky then?"

"Not lucky, immortal. He could literally survive anything. Getting shot, electrocuted, stabbed, trampled....you name it."

Twilight gave a surprised little laugh, eyes widening "Well... he certainly sounds like an interesting character...I would have liked to meet him"

"Oh, I daresay he would have liked to meet you too" the Doctor chuckled "Jack was quite the flirt."

Twilight sniggered "Do you always meet such strange people on your adventures"

"You tend to make a friend or two when you're running about, saving the world....Along with quite a few enemies"

"Quite a few?" Twilight snorted quietly "If that's not the understatement of the century..."

Then she trailed off as she saw a flash of movement in her peripheral vision, it's source one of the nearby side streets. Narrowing her eyes, she slunk closer to the gap between the shops, peering inside. Slowly, she trotted in, looking around curiously.

As she made her way further into the gap between the buildings, coming to a dead end Colgate trotted casually into her view, emerging behind a recycling bin sitting herself comfortably around twenty hooflengths ahead of her. She smirked, lifting a hoof and giving it a little wave

"Hello there. I thought we could have a little chat" Colgate steepled her hooves in a businesslike manner "I have a proposal for you"

Meanwhile, unaware of Twilight's disappearance, the Doctor trotted into Ponyville square, sidling carefully out of the was as he spotted Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, the former with a ridiculous amount of balloons tied to her, and the latter weighed down by several weighty looking bags of party supplies

As the Doctor watched, the bags of brightly colored favors and confetti poppers exploded outward. Fluttershy fell to the ground with a surprised squeak as a shower of party materials fell to earth around her, followed shortly by Twilight Sparkle, face partially obscured by a pair of groucho glasses. She immediately sprang to her hooves and hopped up onto the railing of a nearby bridge, saying loudly "Listen everypony, I have something really important to say!"

A surprised laugh escaped from the Doctor s he looked to Twilight in confusion. What in the world was she doing? Was she trying to create some sort of distraction? She could have at least had the decency to give him a heads up first...
The other ponies nearby laughed too, and Twilight reacted with annoyance, removing the glasses and chucking them too the side "This is no laughing matter! We have a crisis on our hooves"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed even further before he put two and two together, eyes widening slightly. The Twilight in front of him was Twilight from the past, her mane was a little shorter for one, and she had come from the side, whereas she had been behind him before.

"I've been visited by myself from the future!"

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle at that....That was definitely Twilight from the past alright. He couldn't stay to watch though, Twilight had never met him before he crashed into Sugarcube Corner, and he had to make sure it stayed that way.
Slowly, he began backing away from the crowd as Past-Twilight and her friends talked, but was interrupted by an cry of "Everypony else, it's time to disaster proof Equestria!"

Trotting through the group of ponies she had gathered, Twilight had begun to assign tasks to each pony, making her way slowly closer to the Doctor.

Looking behind him, the brown time pony found his escape route blocked by a sizable group of other ponies, all apparently eager to be part of the excitement.

Thinking quickly as Twilight approached, the Doctor snatched up a stray pair of groucho glasses that had been left on the ground from the party explosion and threw them onto his face right as a purple hoof tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me sir, I-"

"LOOK, AN IMMINENT DISASTER!" the Doctor cried, pointing over Past-Twilight's shoulder.

The unicorn whipped around, and the Doctor galloped past her and away from the crowd.

Twilight took a step forward.

"Oh sit down!" Colgate snapped, smile dropping and then returning as the filly said silkily "I just want to talk with you. That's all.....Oh, and don't try anything clever with your magic either, the TARDIS shields are up now, so it won't work"
"Alright" Twilight said slowly, sitting down "We'll talk. If we can come to a reasonable solution I would much prefer that to chasing you around.... I want to help you, honestly, I do."

Colgate gave a little snort of laughter, putting a hoof to her mouth."You little liar...." she chuckled quietly, muscles in her hooves tensing as her mouth curved into an odd, not-quite smile.

Twilight cocked her head "What?"

"Nothing" Colgate replied breezily "I knew talking to you would be a good decision though, of you and the Doctor, you seemed like you were the most cooperative."

Twilight's brows furrowed "I'm sure the Doctor would have been just as willing to tal-"

"And by cooperative" the filly continued, interrupting "I mean less intelligent....But I think that's already been established enough, so let's get to the point"

She crossed her forehooves delicately, smirking "I know that there's another key to the TARDIS, and I want it. My terms are simple. Give it to me, and I'll take you back to your home time." Colgate looked at Twilight pointedly "Just you, mind you, not the Doctor. Unfortunate, I know, but he's a security risk, too unpredictable. You two surprised me, following me like you did, and I dislike surprises. You see, this way I have all my bases covered, the Doctor would be stranded in this time period, and I would have the only keys to the TARDIS"

"What about me?" Twilight asked "aren't you worried I would just follow you?"

Colgate shrugged, looking thoughtful "I suppose I could throw together a quick magic suppressor from the parts in those wings you're wearing......" she sneered "Oh, don't look so horrified, it would decay after a week or two. Just long enough for whatever traces left by the TARDIS that you're following to dissipate. Now toss over the key so we can get going."
"No"

The smile evaporated from Colgate's face quicker than Twilight would have thought possible.
"You idiot" the little filly seethed "I should have known, you stupid self-rightous-" She cut off with a snarl, shouting "I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU! I was trying to repay....So I didn't have to-" her face suddenly went void, wiped clean of any emotions as she cut off mid sentence "Very well. You've made your choice. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Twilight said"Colgate, you can't do this. If you're planning on doing what I think you're doing, then you would make a paradox that could rip a hole in space-time"

"I know" Colgate said smoothly "I would destroy the world, effectively killing millions along with myself, and that is wrong and morally outrageous. There's only one problem with your argument"
The filly looked straight at Twilight, eyes cold, pitiless "I. Don't. Care."

"We're going to stop you Colgate" Twilight said quietly.
"Oh really?" Colgate laughed, emotions once again shifting drastically, as she giggled like someone had just told a hilarious joke "Ohhhh really?"
Her face darkened, mouth twisting into a snarl "You're an idiot." she hissed " I would tell you to go lick a power socket except for the fact that you probably wouldn't have the IQ to do it right. You just won't give up will you, you just won't take a hint, you ignorant, senseless, naive little imbecile!.....and you think that you can catch me"
Twilight raised her eyebrow "Considering you're backed against a wall in a side street?....Yeah"

Colgate grinned madly "Oh yes? Didn't I ever tell you what other setting I figured out on the TARDIS?" she backed up, pushing open two imperceptible doors to reveal a metal, yellow-lit interior "Invisibility"

Twilight immediately made to grab her with her magic, but the aura of magenta energy just slid off from around the filly, like water from a raincoat.

The doors shut, and once again the time machine in the back of the alley was undetectable to the eye. There came a familiar sound, and Twilight galloped towards the back of the alley, only to be met with nothing.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight
In which Doctor meets a workout trainer from the greatest depths of Tartarus, and Colgate does a very, very stupid thing

Colgate growled at the infernal machine in front of her, angrily kicking a lever with her back. Turning on the stablizers on had stopped the Celestia forsaken thing from lurching about like an inebriated three-legged pony, but that still left the issue of trying to pilot with only four hooves. She was spread out in front of the console, her back left leg stretched as far as it could go to hold down a lever, left and right forehooves pushing buttons, and repeatedly whacking a panel on the console with a large mallot respectively, and the remaining leg trying desperately to keep her upright. Around her horn was a roll of Duct-tape which she had been forced to use several times to keep parts from flying everywhere.

Finally she felt the ship land with a heavy thunk and slowly pushed herself into a normal standing position. Trotting to the TARDIS doors, she blew a small, slow stream of air through pursed lips. She had to have gotten it right this time. She had to.

After all, once she got to her destination, nothing else would matter. The stupid unicorn might have refused her deal...but she didn't really need they key anyways, she had just been trying to-

Colgate shook her head, the edges of her mouth tightening. It didn't matter anyways.

Reaching out a hoof, she pushed the doorway, squinting her eyes shut in anticipation before mentally chastising herself for her foalishess and opening them to see...Coulds.

A city of clouds to be precise.

A vicious snarl escaped from Colgate's lips. What the hay had she done this time? This wasn't working....Why wasn't this working?

Then, an idea sparked in her head, and a sly smile spread across her face.She had been dealing with the wrong pony this whole time...trying to barter with the lavender imbecile, when the pony she really needed to be concerning herself with was the Doctor.

Well no more. Lighting her horn, she focused on her shoulders, beads of sweat gathering at her forehead. A pair of wings flickered into being, nestled against her shoulder blades. They were electronic of course, and had been travelling with her the whole time, albeit a second out of sync with time. The spell was taxing to initiate or end...though not too hard to maintain, but the conveinience outweighed the strain. One never knew when they would need a pair of wings.

She stepped off onto the cloud, relishing the springy feel of it under her hooves. She probably could have walked on them without the wings...the amalgamation of different magics altered refined to make her own being composed mostly of pegasus type, but being in a cloud city filled with winged ponies, it would serve her well to blend.

With a flap, she took off, flying towards Cloudsdale. She and the Doctor were going to have a chat.

Around the same time, Twilight and the Doctor appeared with a flash of light on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. It had been pretty easy to find the Doctor after Colgate had fled. Maybe a little unfortunately so, Twilight thought, putting a hoof to her sore shoulder. She had literally ran into him not three steps into the main plaza. The purple unicorn made a wry expression. She really needed to stop bumping into things.

"Wow" the Doctor began as the bubble of magical energy around them began to dissipate "Would you look at tha-AAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

As soon as the last sparks of magenta energy cleared from around them, the Doctor's hooves plunged straight through the cloud beneath them, and it was only Twilight reaching out and grabbing his hooves at the last second that kept him from falling to earth far below.

Frantically, she cast the cloud walking spell on him, and he clambered to his feet. Eyes wide with surprise "What the blazes-"

"Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds" Twilight wheezed, heart still beating fast from the rush of adrenaline caused by seeing her friend almost plunge to his death "....you scream like a girl"

Choosing to ignore the last statement, the Doctor asked curiously "How are you still on the clouds then?"

Twilight spread her mechanical wings in reply, causing her coat to flutter off. It was a warm day anyways, so she caught it in her magic, rolled it up, and placed it in the Doctor's saddlebags. She supposed she could have used her own...but, it wasn't like she really needed them, and she didn't exactly miss having to carry them around on her back.

She was about to set off towards the city when the Doctor stopped her, pointing to her horn "Unless I'm mistaken" he said, smirking "Alicorns aren't exactly common"

Rolling her eyes, Twilight lit up her horn and pulled the fez from their bags before placing it on her head once more "Happy now?"

"I'm not the one who was about to become the new alicorn princess" the Doctor mumbled back, fighting a grin.

Twilight huffed at him, before suddenly cocking her head, and then bursting into a fit of giggles at the way the Doctor was walking. Apparently unaccustomed to the feel of clouds beneath his hooves, he was lifting his legs up awkwardly high with each stride, looking like Opalescence when Rarity had put booties on her paws. Twilight raised an eyebrow at him "Having some difficulties?"

"I've never walked on clouds before, it's a bit off-putting" The Doctor grumbled said defensively, then gave an exuberant bounce on the fluffy material, and grinned at her "It is, however, pretty fun"

Twilight rolled her eyes, stifling a smile, as they walked "You know, I've never thought about this before, but...how did you end up with the TARDIS anyways? Was it assigned to you or something?" She chuckled to herself "Did you buy it at some sort of TARDIS dealership?"

"Well....funny story...You see, when I first saw the TARDIS, she was in a museum. I...sort of... borrowed her"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, smirking "You mean stole?"

The Doctor paused "Yeah, that was the word I was looking for"

Twilight let out an incredulous laugh covering her mouth with a hoof "You actually stole it?" she exclaimed through chuckles, eyes wide "That could get you thrown in jail!"

"Psshhhhhh..." The Doctor waved a hoof "I've spent over seventy four years in jail, it's not that bad.......Lump sum, mind you" The Doctor added seeing the look on twilight face "You know, two hours here, forty minutes there, thirty seconds somewhere else..."

"Thirty three seconds? Really?"

"You'd be surprised what you can do with a toilet plunger and the element of surprise" the Doctor flashed her a smile as they made their way into the main square of Cloudsdale.

There were a surprising amount of ponies all bustling about, a lot of them seeming to be heading in the direction of the stadium. Ponies selling flags, banners and the like lined the sides of the square...it looked almost as if there were some sort of sporting event going on...

Then Twilight spotted them, out of the corner of her eye, a pair of vibrant butterfly wings. She stopped dead, then grabbed the Doctor and dragged him into the shadow of one of the sales pony's booths.

"Oi!" The Doctor huffed indignantly "What on earth was that for?"

"Shh!" Twilight snapped "Look." She pointed to the other side of the square"

"Is that Rarity with butterfly wings?"

Twilight nodded

"Along with all of your other friends?"

Twilight nodded again

The Doctor put a hoof to his chin "That..." he said slowly "That might pose a problem"

"Yeah..." Twilight said slowly.

Then something darted in front of their vision, a blue filly, heading towards the stadium

"It's Colgate!" Twilight whispered excitedly.

"I see her" the Doctor nodded "We should follow her, we'll just need to be careful not to bump into your-"

"Are you going to buy something?"

Twilight looked up to see the large Pegasus stallion running the booth they were hiding behind scowling at them.

"Uhh...Just going on our way!" the Doctor said quickly, and he and Twilight scuttled back into the square.

"Well, no time to waste" Twilight said "To the stadium!"

They walked up to the mare managing the stadium, an older pegasus, who smiled at them kindly.

"Excuse me" the Doctor said "Have you seen a filly go this way? Blue, about yea high, hourglass cutie mark?"

The mare put a hoof to her face thoughtfully "Why yes, not two minutes ago. Went right through there" the mare pointed a hoof through the door, before beaming at them "My grandfoals are almost that age, they can be such a hoof full can't they?"

Twilight couldn't help it, giving a wry chuckle. She and the Doctor exchanged glances "Tell me about it..." she gave the pegasus a smile as she walked through the stadium "Thank you!"

"No problem, dearie. Good luck finding you daughter!"

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise and there was a painful pause before she composed herself, giving an awkward laugh which turned into a cough ".....uh....Yeah!....Daughter!...... Anywaysgottagobye!"

She began to walk swiftly into the stadium, the Doctor following close behind.

Once they were out of earshot, the Doctor burst out with laughter.

"Daughter?!" Twilight squawked, red-faced.

"You really didn't think she wouldn't assume that?" The Doctor said incredulously through snickers.

"Well I guess-" the purple unicorn stammered "But just- I don't- With you- It-was- Stop laughing!" She swatted the Doctor on the shoulder as he began another fit of guffawing.

"Oi! Ow! No hitting!" The Doctor, said fending her off "Fine, fine. I'll stop"

Twilight narrowed her eyes at him

"Promise" he said, as they continued into the building.

Satisfied, Twilight turned away.

"That was real smooth though...." The Doctor muttered, sniggering.

"So help me, I will turn you into a pear"

“You wouldn't!”

They turned the corner, still bickering playfully, before stopping as they came to an intersection, two corridors branching off from the main, one with a booth where contestants were getting their numbers, and the other leading to seating for spectators.

The Doctor and Twilight exchanged glances.

“She probably went to the seating” The Doctor said quietly “After all, you kind of have to be a pegasus to be a contestant”

Twilight nodded but then paused, looking at the mare manning the check-in table, who was seemingly engrossed in the card house she was building, and wearing an expression of the utmost boredom

“On the other hoof...” Twilight muttered quietly back “Do you really think she would be that hard to sneak past?”

“True” The Doctor nodded his head “I think we’re going to have to split up- You take contestants, I’ll take spectators-”

Twilight cut him off, shaking her head “Rainbow Dash is competing, she’ll recognize me for sure...I may have wings, but my mane and cutie mark are still the same!”

“Alright, here, give me your wings”

Twilight nodded, casting a quick cloud-walking spell on herself before removing her wings. They turned instantly back to their original state of wire and clear plastic feathers, before turning to a light brown as the Doctor placed them on his shoulders.

In exchange, Twilight took his saddlebags, nestling them onto her back.

Nodding at each other, they turned around....and saw the mare at the checkout booth staring at both of them, slack jawed.

The Doctor looked to her and put a hoof to his mouth “Shh! You didn’t see anything.” before trotting past her and grabbing a number with a wink.

The mare’s eyes flicked from him to Twilight and back again as she open and closed her mouth like a stranded fish.

Twilight gave her a nervous smile in return, laughing awkwardly before scurrying as fast as she could up the stairs towards the seating.

The Doctor walked into the contestant prep room, looking around curiously. There were a great deal of pegasai, ranging in age from about as old as Colgate to maybe a tad older than Twilight...of course, that was as far as he could tell, he wasn't exactly the best at estimating pony age. Aside from the drastic changes is color palette, their faces all looked pretty similar to him.....Their moods seemed to differ as much as their ages, some the epitome of confidence, some looking distinctly nervous, and some just out right panicking, like that rainbow one in the corn- oh....The Doctor winced at the state of Rainbow Dash, who was glancing about frantically while running her hooves through her mane and giving little chokes of manic, panicked laughter. At least he wouldn't have to worry about her remembering him...she seemed pretty caught up in her own issues.

The Doctor glanced at the schedule taped to the wall. Still thirty minutes until the first performer would be set to go on. He had plenty of time to find Colgate if she was in the area-

"Hey hey hey, everypony!"

A lime green stallion clad in sweatbands trotted in bouncily, grinning exuberantly "I'm Workout Wing here to lead the warm-up exercises!"

There was a small commotion as those new to the competition exchanged confused glances, and those who had competed before exchanged heaving, long suffering sighs.

"Now get in line young fliers! Remember, you've got to warm up before you get down!....You too young mare, warming up is an important part of acrobatic flying, and is integral to make sure nopony hurts themselve-oh....oh...um....you know what, you can just carry on with what you're doing"

Seeing the crazed look in Rainbow Dash's eyes as she sat in the corner taking hyperventilating breaths, Workout wisely backed down, flashing a smile and quickly scooting away

The Doctor reluctantly got in line next to a yellow and purple mare, who looked deeply unhappy

"He forces us to do this awful warm up exercise every single year" She griped to the mare on the other side of her angrily, flicking her ears in annoyance "I swear, if it wouldn't get me instantly disqualified, I would kick him square in the mug"

The Doctor was annoyed, but for a different reason...How was he going to sneak off and look for Colgate now?

"Time for wing circles!" Workout Wing cheered, spreading his wings and holding them so they were parallel to the ground "Everypony, wings to the side. Just like me!"

The Doctor did as told, lifting his wings outward as he glanced around. There was no way he could slip away to look around in the halls on the other side of the room without having to cut through the crowd and surely attract somepony's attention. He wondered why Colgate had even left the TARDIS after landing in Cloudsdale, wouldn't she have seen right away that this wasn't the place she was looking for...the thought lingered, nagging, in his mind..,..

"Now, forward!" the garishly colored stallion up front ordered cheerfully, moving his wings forward in little circular motions. Then, to the Doctor's dismay, began to sing "Repeat after me Bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum bum bum bum!"

"Bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum bum bum bum...." Droned the crowd back enthusiastically

"I love wing circles!"

"I love wing circles..."

"They are really fun!"

"They are really fun..."

"And when I like to do them!"

"And when I like do do them...."

"I like to do a ton! YEAH! Bum...Bum...Bum...Bum...Bum...Bum...Bum Bum Bum Bum-"

Five minutes in Doctor could definitely sentamentalize with the purple pegasai's distaste for this coach...plus moving your wings in little circles for an extended period of time didn't half burn...

"Now, backwards!" Workout Wing shouted gleefully, reversing the direction of his rotations.

There was audible groan from the crowd, and several whimpers, but the lime green taskmaster had no mercy.

"Bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum bum bum bum!"

"Bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum...bum bum bum bum...."

"I Love wing circles!"

"I love wing circles..."

"They are the best!"

"They are the best...."

"And when you do them often!"

"And when you do them often..."

"Can we please get to rest?" whimpered the pegasus beside the Doctor.

"NO!" Workout wing snapped angrily, before putting his exuberant smile back on "Now we have to do Rain Catchers! Now flip your wings over like you're catching rain, and then flip them back like you're dropping them down...now repeat after me...Rain, Drops...Rain, Drops...Rain, Drops-"

Then, from the corner of the room, there was a loud, indignant squawk, as if a cat's tail had been stepped, and the rough puffing noise of a kick landing on a cloud, like someone jumping down as hard as they could on a mattress. The Doctor looked over to see Cogate being dragged roughly over by a light orange mare wearing a pink shirt, glasses, and a head mic.

"Get off of me you cretin!" the filly shouted, squirming roughly.

Workout Wing, however, looked aghast "What is the meaning of this? This is a very important training exercise and cannot be interrupted!"

"We found this one screwing around in the back room, what did you want me to do with her?" the orange mare snapped back, narrowly avoiding a buck to the teeth by her wriggling prisoner. She pushed her snout roughly into Workout Wing's, demanding an answer.

The lime stallion thought for a minute, before his eyes lit up "I know! Put her in the warm up group so she can do the exercise with us!"

"Trust me, it's punishment enough" piped up a red stallion from nearby.

Workout Wing shot a glare at him, attention momentarily distracted, and the Doctor slowly began to scoot toward's Colgate as quickly as he could without attracting any attention. Unfortunately, he attracted Colgate's attention quickly enough, and smirking she raised a hoof.

"Excuse me, mister! I think this stallion is trying to sneak out of warm up excercise..."

Every pony in the room turned on him...save Rainbow Dash, who was still in the corner.

"No...." the Doctor said slowly, trying to think up an excuse. This event, from what he had heard from Twilight, was pretty important, and he couldn't afford to create a ruckus and change things up "I......had to use the restroom" Poor excuse really...but it would have to do.

"The Stallion's room is that way-" said the orange mare flatly, pointing behind him.

"Well I didn't know that" the Doctor retorted back

"Look kid, I'll show you where it is" the orange mare said, rolling her eyes "Follow me"

"I really don't think that's necessary...." the Doctor said slowly...bang went the plan of sneaking back around to get Colgate while everypony was distracted once again.

"Nonsense" the mare deadpanned, looking the epitome of unenthused, turning and beginning to walk.

Growling in frustration under his breath, the Doctor followed behind. feeling Colgate's smug grin bore into the back of his head all the way to the door.

After one turn and a hallway, they entered a door, and the mare sat down "Well?"

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor walked in, waited exactly thirty seconds, and then dashed back out "Okaywe'redoneherelet'sgo"

The orange mare could barely keep up as he ran back to the room for the contestants, skidding inside to see....Workout Wing nursing a black eye, and Colgate nowhere to be found. Figured. He walked over to the little table where they had an assortment of food, and grabbed some hay, chewing on it while looking very annoyed.

"Okay, contestant number one, you're up!" the orange mare barked through her microphone "Okay...Number two, let's go"

There was a long pause

"Come on, come on, I ain't got all day!"

The Doctor was poked in the shoulder, and he glanced up to see Rainbow Dash "She's talking to you!"

He doubted rainbow would remember, but disguised his voice all the same, looking at his number in surprise "Oh, uhhh...I guess that's me!"

He trotted out the curtain's as he'd been instructed and took of into the air before remembering....He had no idea how to fly...

Twilight sat on the cloud seats of the arena, scanning the crowd with diminishing hope. She couldn't see Colgate anywhere around, which probably meant she was in the contestants area with the Doctor....it had been a while though, hopefully he had gotten the chance to....to....

Her train of thought was quickly derailed as she saw the Doctor burst through the curtain, wings flailing wildly as he struggled to remain upright. Losing all semblance of control, he pinwheeled head over hooves at least six times before righting himself, spotting her, giving a wave...and crashing straight into a cloud pillar, sending a puff of fluffy white out from his impact.

Twilight winced and looked away, then shook her head, chuckling and went to go get up. Best meet with the Doctor out where the contestants exited so they could get going as quickly as possible, if Colgate was acting on trend then she was probably already long gone. With a stretch of her legs she trotted into hall leading out of the cloudesium, cloud doors swinging gently shut behind hr, muffling the din of the crowd and bright sunshine.

Her ears twitched, and Twilight looked up, brows furrowing. Something wasn't right. Just as her horn began to glow, there was the sound of a mallet being swung, and the world went black.

The Doctor trotted over to where he had spotted Twilight, shaking the last bits of cloud-stuffs out of his mane, smirking to himself. He definitely wasn't winning best in show with that performance. He would have to tell Twilight about his little adventure backstage, she would doubtless enjoy hearing about it.

Then, smile sliding off of his face, he slowed to a halt. There was the TARDIS, right in front of him, framed against the white clouds and pale sky. He stepped towards it, and reached out a hoof to push the door... it swung effortlessly open. Brows furrowed, the Doctor stepped inside.

"Hello, Doctor!" sang a familiar, snide voice "Look...I know I've been a little uncooperative of late, but I'm really hoping you'll still be willing to work with me....after all, it's in your friend's best interest....."

Colgate stood leaning against the TARDIS console, a large mallet cradled in her hooves, one of her hind legs was planted comfortably on the floor, and the other was resting firmly on the horn of a unicorn who was Duct-taped roughly onto the floor

"Doctor! Don't do it! It's not worth it-" Colgate gently increased the pressure of her hoof on the horn and Twilight quickly cut off with a yelp.

She looked squarely at the Doctor as he began to step forward "I wouldn't try anything, you attempt any funny business-"

"Yes, yes" the Doctor said, glaring at her "Typical villain monologue... 'act smart and I kill your friend' and all that rubbish"

"Kill her? And loose my bargaining chip?" Colgate scoffed "Oh no. I have something else in mind... If I chose too, I could stomp clean through her horn right now. I feel any buildup of heat that mean's she's casting a spell, snap! If I see you step even an inch towards me or the control panel, snap!" Colgate chuckled "You know considering how your little friend here loves to use her magic, I wouldn't be surprised if she preferred death....oh, do stop crying, Sparky....that is what you call her, right?...it's really unbecoming of a mare your age"

Twilight whimpered quietly.

"you see" Colgate continued, eyes shining "unicorn horns are delicate things, rather brittle unfortunately...but that's not the thing about their anatomy that's really interesting. The really great part is that the insides of unicorn horns are like the insides of teeth....Except instead of just being full of nerve endings, they're chock full of magic recepters too the things you need to channel arcane energy...But I'm sure the lesson on horn composition is boring you, the point I'm getting at is that...they don't grow back. Shattered horns can be repaired somewhat, but once you damage the pulp, there's no more magic use ever again" she winced "and and all those little nerve endings too....You should have heard the screams when Doctor Bright would operate...it was not a pretty thing to hear" she paused "or to look at for that matter...blood everywhere"

The whole time she went on describing it, Twilight's eyes went wider and wider, hooves scrabbling on the floor as well as they could with the Duct-tape all over them as she choked back heaving sobs. The Doctor had seen Twilight scared before, but until then, he had never seen her terrified. She made eye contact with him, just for a moment "I'm so sorry.....I'm so sorry, Doctor..."

"And what" The Doctor said slowly, looking levelly at Colgate "Will you do if I decide not to take this deal of yours?"

"Oh!" Colgate smiled widely at him "Then I kill her"

Author's Note

For anyone wondering what the tune for the "wing circles" it's the baseline for the Veggie Tales theme Song.
Inspired by 'arm circles' the most god-awful exercise we had to do in band camp....and yes...we sung the song.
It was a close tie between that and Hello, my name is Joe

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine
In which Colgate turns briefly into a fruit, and Twilight tells of a Psychopath

There was a ferocious pause. Twilight could feel it pressing all around her as she desperately tried to calm her rapid panicked breaths. The doctor glanced at her, just a brief flick of the eyes. Then narrowed his eyes at Colgate, saying levelly "what then, do you propose?"

"Oh I'm glad you decided to be cooperative" Colgate's voice sounded sweetly from above twilight "it's pretty simple, really. You take me to when and where I want to go...and I let your pretty little friend live"

Twilight blinked the last of the tears from her eyes. Then took a deep breath. No matter what the consequences would be for her... Colgate couldn't do what she was planning to do. Not ever.

She made eye contact with the doctor, gaze firm, and in a voice as steady as she could muster said "It's not worth it. Whatever happens to me, it's not worth it."

"I said shut up!" Colgate screeched "You're always playing the hero, the martyr. But it's all just talk! Can you do anything but talk?" She laughed "I almost hope the doctor listens to you because when you're dead, you will have finally, for the first time in your wretched little life, shut your tireless, idiotic mouth!"

She heaved the Mallet all her might, and it connected, with Twilight's side with a crack, and then swung again, and a third time. Shot of agony through jolted her ribs, and Twilight's eyes widening with the pain, a yelp escaping from her throat, sides bare and unprotected since Colgate had thrown her saddlebags off into a corner earlier. She felt some of the tape securing her detach from the floor as she curled up into a defensive ball, tears streaming from her eyes as she braced for the next blow to come...
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you..." Twilight looked up, to see the Doctor's eyes flashing furiously. Suddenly he no longer quite looked like the pony she knew. He looked far older, far stranger, and far, far more dangerous. Despite the fact that she knew he was her friend, and defending her, she couldn't help feel a small shiver run down her spine looking at that gaze.

And then doctor was speaking, in a voice she had never heard from him before, "you know, Colgate...." he said slowly " All this time I thought you were supposed to be smart"

"I am." replied Colgate, unflinchingly.

"Oh really?" said the doctor, voice growing louder with each word, barely controlled fury on his face "because, if you have any sort of self-preservation instinct at all.....what you did, what you did just there. Hurting. My. Friend. was a very, very, stupid thing to do."

Twilight could almost hear the smirk in Colgate's voice "You don't scare me" she said slowly "I know all about you, remember? Now unless you want me to continue hurting your friends.... back off!" the final shouted words were accompanied by another swing of the mallet and Twilight gave a little cry of pain as it once again connected with her ribs with a crack.

"You know all about me? Is that so?" the Doctor spat, raising an eyebrow "Well how about this? I'm the Doctor. I've lived for more than a thousand years, and in that time I have seen more than any normal person's mind could even begin to comprehend. The spinning of the earth under your feet. The farthest reaches of the universe and the end of time. The very fabric of space. I have seen planets just like this die in fiery blazes, and the death throws of stars, I have seen entire galaxies collapse and have witnessed the destruction of countless civilizations. I can see the flux and shift of time. And you...... And you, in your arrogance, presume to know me?"

"you think you are the only one who can see the turn of the universe, Timelord?" Colgate screamed back, laughing "I've stared straight into the into the time vortex, right into the heart of time and space. I've seen it since I was a foal, I close my eyes and I can see it swirling in my head..." she laughed "Do you have any idea how exhilarating it was when I built the time corridor to bring you to the lab? How it felt to reach into that raw, un-tempered power, and bend it to my will? And with the TARDIS, oh with the TARDIS I could do anything.... bend the universe to my will! Rewrite time itself!"

The doctor laughed, not his usual laugh, but rough, short, barking. More resembling a snarl than a chortle. "If I had a nickel for all the thousand times I've heard that... You're all obsessed with being gods, the lot of you. Look at me, Colgate. Ask yourself if you really want this...none of the others made the right choice, but-" he laughed again, mirthlessly "hey, that's them right?" the doctor shook his head looking at the filly "because you're not the first, oh no. You aren't the first..... Or the cleverest, or even the most creative" he looked Colgate straight in the eye "I have fought against Daleks. Cybermen. Sontarans. Weeping angels. The Silence. monstrosities bred in the vilest depths of the universe and bent on destroying everything in their path. All of them smarter and greater numbered and stronger than you, and like with you, the only thing standing in their way was me"

He paused, slowly narrowing his eyes.

"I'll let you draw your own conclusions on how that worked out for them"

There was a very long silence.

"I..." Colgate started slowly "I..."

But Colgate was going to say, however none of them would ever know, for at that moment a tremendous crack rent the air, splitting through the room like a knife. Twilight's eyes shot wide open, pupils shrinking, the shock and sudden wave of magical energy from the rainboom combining with her fear and pain and igniting like black powder. She gave a cry, a surge of magic crashing through her body, and then the world went white.

The Doctor felt himself thrown back by the force of a gale and hit the ground, ears ringing. Disorientated, he tried to gather his thoughts. What had just happened? tried to He pushed himself to his hooves, then ducked back to the floor just as fast, narrowly avoiding a mallet flying at high speeds in his direction. Just before it hit the wall, it transformed into a bouquet of flowers, which fell limply to the floor. The doctor looked up, brows furrowed, before his eyes widened in surprise.

Floating in the middle of a cloud of her own magenta energy was Twilight, eyes shining the brightest white, surrounded by a spinning vortex of whatever her magic could get it's swirling tendrils a hold of. A roll of tape floating past his face, turning in quick succession into a terrified rodent, a cactus, a shoe, before swirling out of his sight. Colgate was spinning around in the magic as well, sporting a large mustache, which was quickly snipped off by a pair of scissors, before she transformed a large, unnaturally blue apple, which, true to the form of the pony it had previously been, hit the doctor right in the head. Twilight shuddered within her cocoon of magical energy, limbs twitching, mane and tail flowing as if underwater.

The doctor furrowed his brows..."This..." he muttered to himself "Could be a problem.."

Whatever this was, Twilight definitely didn't seem to be in control of it...Which meant there was probably some outside force at work, a trigger, so to speak.

The TARDIS shook violently and the Doctor nearly lost his balance again, leaning against a wall to steady himself. Whatever was causing this seemed to be affecting his ship too... That meant it was probably some large influx of energy, most likely magical, since it was having an effect of Twilight as well.

The Doctor wracked his brains...this seemed similar to the story Twilight had told him about losing control of her powers during a magic exam, but...He ducked a box of biscuits that was flying in his direction...hearing a story and being stuck in a TARDIS with an out of control unicorn were two very different things. He closed his eyes, what had Twilight said caused it the first time?

"Think, Doctor...think think think...." his eyes shot open "The sonic rainboom!"

That must have been what the noise earlier had been...that meant, if he could get out of it's range....

He scooted towards the console, keeping his head low not to get hit by any flying objects, as well as to avoid the rouge tendrils of magic. He didn't want to be turned into a pear, thank you very much.Finally creeping his way to the controls, he began to press buttons and pull levers in the attempt to get them away from the area. The TARDIS made an angry noise in response that sounded like an annoyed grumble, refusing to move

"Oh, come on, Sexy, work with me here!" The Doctor said, holding another button while turning up a dial. Another rumbling noise rattled from the machine, and then a harsh grinding

"Look, I know it's been a rough day, but I really need you to cooperate right now!"

The Doctor continued to adjust controls without any response except for a sullen grinding noise, like the sound a car that's refused to start. The Sonic Rainboom at such close range was really playing havoc with the controls, and the TARDIS kept jerking and shuddering about erratically, forcing him to cling onto the console to keep from toppling over.

A pair of saddlebags, his own, whipped about in the current of energy, hitting him right in the face. TheDoctor gave a cry of frustration, then paused, closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He glanced to his friend, still in the center of the magical vortex, curled up into a tiny ball, eyes squeezed painfully tight, as waves of energy continued to radiate from her small frame. She looked so scared.

Then he turned back to the console, grabbing a lever in hoof, flipping a row of switches, turning a dial all the way to the max, and putting a mad grin on his face "Buckle up!" He shouted, throwing the lever "It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

With a lurch, the TARDIS came to life, the familiar noise filling the air. The room tilted wildly, and the Doctor gave a whoop of exhilaration, laughing. All around him there was a myriad of thuds, and crashed as the pull of gravity returned to all the myriad items floating about the room.

Hearing this, the Doctor looked behind him, to where a very dazed unicorn was slumped in the middle of the floor, looking up at him in confusion. Brows knitted, Twilight began to pull herself to her hooves, before her eyes widened in pain and she toppled back on to the ground with a yelp.

"Careful, careful, you're hurt" The Doctor called over his shoulder, wrestling to keep their flight under control, as the room continued to rock about wildly... the controls were still acting up, and he furrowed his brow, perplexed. "Just sit tight while I land...I think the TARDIS is still shaking off the effects of the-"

His sentence was cut off with a crash, then a tremendous bone shaking jolt as they reached their destination, apperantly at higher velocities than intended.

The Doctor blinked rubbing his jaw from where his teeth had clicked together painfully "Okay...ow..." he laughed "Well, at least we've landed"

"Please don't tell me you crashed into sugar cube corner again..." Twilight mumbled weakly, lifting her head slightly from the ground to look at him.

"No!" The Doctor said reassuringly "...Well...Maybe...possibly...how about we go find out, shall we?"

He trotted over to Twilight and helped her to her hooves.

"You okay?" he asked her once was finally upright, if wobbling slightly. The unicorn gritted her teeth, eyes squinting shut, but nodded.

Then he turned to look to the corner of the room, where Colgate, still looking a mite unsteady from her experience as an apple, was unsuccessfully trying to sneak further into the TARDIS in the hopes they might leave it without her.

"I see you over there" he said flatly, and the filly froze guiltily in her tracks.

The Doctor looked unamused, pointing a hoof to a spot on the floor next to them, he said "You. Right here. Get!"

He half expected Colgate to make a fuss, but she just walked quietly over. Maybe her experiance being tossed around like a rag doll had made her slightly more complacent....that or she didn't realize that Twilight was most likely drained of nearly all of her magic.

On that thought, he went over to the console and quickly switched off the TARDIS shields. If the filly started making trouble outside, at least now she wouldn't be invulnerable from whatever spells Twi could still manage to conjure up. He also grabbed his saddlebags, which had been tossed to she side, but were otherwise unharmed.

Trotting back to Colgate, he said "Key. Now." After giving it a thorough inspection, he stowed it in the bag, before walking back over to Twilight, who leaned on him gratefully, the effort of staying on her hooves clearly taxing.

They shuffled their way slowly to the door, Colgate still lingering slightly behind.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows "Really?" he motioned at with a hoof to Colgate, eyes cold "After you"

Sighing, she complied, pushing opening the door and taking a step out. Then she stepped back in face white as a sheet, eyes wide.

"no...no...no...no. Please! Please not here, anywhere but here!" she turned to the doctor, pleading, desperate "...I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Just punish me with something else...anything else. Kill me for buck's sake, I don't care!"

The doctor cocked his head in confusion, peering out the cracked open door "what do you mean, out there? Where are we?"

There was a laugh from outside, and the Doctor could see the fur on Colgate's shoulders stand up at the sound of it "why..." the voice said slowly, silkily "You're at the Ressurect Labs... the best research laboratories in Equestria. Now do come out...don't be shy"

A sickly pale red aura locked itself around Colgate's tail, dragging her slowly towards the TARDIS doors

"no! No no no no no!" Colgate screamed, voice breaking, pupils contracted to points.

"I'd suggest you come out too" the voice continued, addressing him "...unless you'd like any harm to come to this pretty young filly, that is."

The doctor had a split second decision to make. Abandon Colgate in this place...this place that she would rather die than return to... The place that he already suspected the name of.

Or risk himself, and possibly twilight. To save a filly who had attempted to kill them numerous times...who had ruthlessly hurt his friend...

Who was just a child.

"Oh, hell..." the doctor muttered quietly, then he turned to twilight, mouthing

"stay here, hide. I'll come and find you"

Then he stepped slowly out of the TARDIS. He was met with at least five barrels pointed towards him, and sighed. He hated guns.

"I'm unarmed" he said, holding up his hooves, and letting his saddlebags slide to the floor beside him....they would be easier to reach that way. The unicorns carrying the guns lowered them slightly, but still looked at him warily, ready to shoot at any sign of rebellion.

Standing in the center of the room was Bright Idea, holding Colgate by the nape of her neck like a kitten with his magic, and smiling coolly at him. His horn, covered in wide cracks, pulsed strangely from the inside, a pale glowing red light surrounding it. On his back, a pair of wings, mechanical and unnatural, spread at strange angles, making him look like some lopsided toy makers creation.

Bright idea looked at both him and Colgate, eyes narrowing.

"So it was just you two in there?" he said calmly, smoothly. In contrast to his appearance, his voice was low and soothing, like someone might use to talk to a sleepy foal, and he wore an affable slight smile on his face.

"Just us" the doctor confirmed.

Bright idea then turned to Colgate "Is that so, filly?" he asked, his tone was neither accusatory nor angry, but Colgate's face contorted In fear under his gaze, and she yelped frantically "No. No. There's a unicorn, his friend, still in there.He's lying."

Bright idea smiled at her "Thank you...I always thought you had the most potential, Number 17." he looked up at the TARDIS, smile growing wider "I suspect I was right too, what with you finding this incredible device and bringing it....and it's owner...to me"

He reached out, stroking the filly on the cheek, and she shuddered, flinching from his touch. Setting her on the ground, he walked over to the blue box, nudging the door open with a hoof

"Hello." he called out "I know you're in there...so why not come out? I know it must be nice in there, but we're going to find you eventually, and I imagine your friend out here would prefer you come out peacefully...we wouldn't want you to get hurt"

There was no response, and the Doctor gave a small smile. Good girl. If these ponies were able to get their hooves on magic like hers...he didn't like to think of what they would do to her. Slowly, very slowly, he reached a hoof up to his saddlebags. If he could get to his sonic screwdriver, he could activate emergency programme one...

Bright Idea turned his head to look at him, smiling as if at a particularly cute child "If you would stop ever so carefully edging your hoof towards your bags, it would be much appreciated. The unicorns you see around you are all excellent guns-ponies, and I would rather not harm my guests" he turned back to the TARDIS, his friendly tone of voice contrasting his words "Now, I hope you understand that being stubborn will only hurt your friend in the end...while I would rather not kill him, I've heard that bullet woulds to the legs are excruciatingly painful, and as for the little filly, well, I've got an earlier version of her lying around already, now don't I? So she's a bit more expendable-"

"Wait!" Twilight's voice came from the TARDIS "Don't hurt them...I'll come out"

Slowly, she slowly hobbled out of the box, teeth gritted, and sat down beside the doctor, wincing.

"there we go..." bright idea smiled "isn't that better now. I'm glad you decided to be reasonable, I would have hate to have had to resort to more extreme means of coaxing you out, or have my guards forcibly remove you...they can be a little rough, and you're such a pretty little thing"

Twilight made no response glaring back at him, and he continued, unfazed.

"Filly" he said, looking at Colgate and walking over to the TARDIS doors. "Can I close these or will they lock?"

"They'll lock." Colgate immediately squeaked back, cowering "The key is in his saddlebags"

A smile spread across his face "Why thank you..." he said, retrieving and pocketing the small metal object. He shut the doors to the blue box and returned to the center of the room, sitting and steepling his front hooves together.

"First of all..." he said, flashing his teeth like a politician "I would just like to say what a pleasure it is to meet the infamous doctor...it really is an honor."

Colgate blinked, eyes widening "you know him?!"

Bright Idea turned towards her still maintaining his amiable expression, corners if his mouth curled up slightly in an easygoing manner, but with brows slightly furrowed, as if in mild displeasure.

"Tsk..." he tutted, looking at her like a school teacher might look at a naughty kindergartner "Interrupting a conversation in very rude you know. I should think I'd have taught you better"

Colgate shrank back, closing her mouth and looking down, and Bright Idea calmly turned back to the Doctor "Like I was saying, one of my employees stumbled upon an extensive report about you in the Canterlot security files...I must say, you and your machine intrigue me greatly. From what the reports say, you yourself appear to possess a particularly intriguing sort of magic, one that seems unique to you, and as for your box" he laughed, shaking his head "if it is really accurate that it can travel back in time...I can only imagine what sort of progress I could make if I could study a unicorn with proper levels of magic..."

The Doctor studied the stallion as he talked, unsure what to make of him. His demeanor was a bit unsettling, what the relaxed voice, the friendly smiles...aside from the casual threats of violence and his rather macabre appearance, one might never suspect that he was anything but a normal pony. That probably was how he had gone undiscovered for so long. The most dangerous insane people, are the ones who appear to be perfectly sane, after all....but the smile it seemed like it might snap at any minute and judging from Colgate's obvious terror of him, he suspected there were a lot more than threats of violence at play here. The Doctor winced inwardly, he really didn't like the look of this one, but the best strategy at the moment was to play nice right back, being outnumbered and surrounded by guns it would definitely not be an opportune time to do anything to break the mask and reveal the crazy underneath.

"...so" Bright Idea finished getting up to walk towards the Doctor "As I said earlier, it is a pleasure to meet you, and I am sincerely sorry for the unpleasantantries earlier, but it was unfortunately necessity to persuade your. Seems like you've got quite the feisty one on your hooves here"

As he spoke, he reached out a hoof, booping Twilight on the nose.

The doctor watched as his friend flinched away, an expression of pure revulsion on her face as she looked up at Bright Idea. The Doctor knew that whatever outrage he was feeling about the things going on in this place, it must be a thousand times worse in her... He had seen the sort of thing that was going on in this laboratory before, after all. It was terrible, yes, it was unspeakably cruel, of course...but it was, unfortunately, not anything new.

For Twilight however, it must have been like a slap in the face, it was a level of sadism and inhumanity that was nowhere near anything she had seen before. Their villains were evil in a different way, simpler, black an white. They did not do things like this...and now the revolution and horror he had seen she had read about the labs in the library was amplified even more in the presence of the pony behind it all. He tried to meet her eyes, to shake his head, but it was too late. Twilight looked Bright Idea straight in the eye, face filled with a righteous anger that had been slowly building since she stepped out of the TARDIS.

"Get away from me..." she hissed, expression dripping with loathing and repulsion and sadness. "you monster."

Bright idea's smile, if anything, grew wider at the comment. "My dear...While I realize I might look a little" he paused "Different...That really is no justification to call me a monster"

Twilight stared straight at him, unflinching "Not that" she said.

This was not going to end well, the Doctor knew it, but somehow he couldn't help but stare as Twilight drew herself up, bristling like an angry.

"You...you...What you have done here, is unspeakable. It violates every equine right, every moral in existence. Any pony with even the tiniest scrap of empathy, would be revolted by what you have done." she spat the words out, eyes furious "You're worse than a monster.You are repellent. You are everything that this world should stand against. I don't know what sort of revolting, soulless creature you are, or what sort of hellhole you crawled your way out of...but...for everything you've done-for Celestia's sake-What you've done to that filly over there!" She pointed a shaking hoof at Colgate, voice raising almost to a scream, before saying quietly, disgustedly "You deserve worse than death"

Bright Idea's grin quirked to one side as she finished, and slowly, he began to laugh. He grabbed her chin, and yanked her gaze to his, smooth voice now tinged with amusement "My, you really are adorable aren't you? Firstly because,seeing as there at five rifles trained on you at this moment, you're really in no position to be impolite, and secondly because...." he leaned in close pressing his muzzle against her's and grinning like he was about to tell the punchline to an incredibly funny joke "You haven't seen anything yet"

That was enough. The Doctor got to his hooves, hackles raising, opened his mouth-

But Colgate beat him to it

"Don't touch her!" she shouted, eyes flashing as she stood up angrily, unfaltering even as Bright Idea slowly turned to look at her.

There was a pause, barely a second....Then the scientist straightened himself, walked casually over to her, grabbed her forleg in his hooves, and, in one smooth motion, broke it.

He smiled affably once again as Colgate fell to the floor, screaming, and shook his head slowly, voice silky once more, padding slinkily around like the paws of a great cat...all the while hiding razor sharp claws "Didn't I tell you not to interrupt?"

Twilight felt numb as Bright Idea barked a few orders and her and the doctor were dragged from the room by gaurds, it was as if her ears were stuffed with cotton. Everything was muffled, like it was a world away. Her eyes wandered around the room, but couldn't focus on anything. Finally they landed on Colgate, lying on the floor. That easily could have been her had the filly not stepped in... But why? Colgate despised her, and not fifteen minutes ago had been making that very clear with the help of a mallet.

Funny, the splitting pain in her side felt distant now, everything did. She barely even noticed as they were set roughly in a small, windowless room, and the door closed behind them.

It was only when the doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out from behind his ear and start testing the door with it that something registered.

"Wait" she said, stirring slightly "you have your sonic?"

The Doctor nodded "Managed to pickpocket it from the guard who was carrying us to the room, he was carrying our saddlebags too, so they could analyze the contents, remember?" he made a face, as he began to turn to look at her "not that it will be any help in getting us out, the door's deadbolt locked- oh... Oh dear..."

Twilight could hear the Doctor cut off uncertainly as she, without quite knowing why, began to sob, covering her face with her hooves. Maybe it was her side, maybe it was being in this horrible place, maybe it was seeing a filly's leg being broken casually right in front of her, but once the tears started, they refused to be stopped.

"Shhhh.....Shhhhh....." The Doctor pulled her into a hug "It's okay, it's all going to be okay. Just take deep breaths. It's all going to be fine."

She buried her face in his shoulder, fur damp with tears of shock, and cried there for a few minutes, thankful for the comfort of a friend's embrace. As her sobs slowly turned to sniffling, the Doctor said gently "Twilight, I'm sorry, but I need to check your side to make sure you aren't to badly hurt, okay?"

Twilight nodded, laying down.

"Alright." the Doctor said "Any pain when I push on the sternum?"

a shot of pain ran through Twilight's side and she nodded again.

"How about while breathing?"

"A little, not to bad" she replied softly

"And any pressure to your side hurts as well, I imagine?"

Another twinge of pain "Very much" Twilight said, gritting her teeth.

The Doctor sat up "Well, I am no expert on equine anatomy, but it seems to be you probably have a broken rib...doesn't seem to bad, probably only one, maybe just a fracture in the cartilage"

Twilight looked thoughtful "Well, it certainly feels like the last time I had one" she agreed "So you're probably right"

"You've had a broken rib before?"

"Yeah..." Twilight said, chuckling lightly as she pushed herself slowly into a sitting position and leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder "My friends and I were kind of thrown against a boulder by an angry dragon when we tried to get it to leave the mountain"

The Doctors eyes widened, glancing to her in surprise "...That sounds...painful...to say the least"

"Well, it wasn't so bad for me... since I was at near the front and kind of cushioned a bit by my friends" she made a wry face "Rainbow Dash got the worst of it, not that you could have told... she just shrugs it off seeing as...well, as utterly reckless at flying as she is, that sort of thing happens to her a lot."

The Doctor laughed "I can imagine" he paused "But you guys trekked down a mountain after that?"

"Unicorn, remember?" Twilight said, tapping her horn with a hoof "I know a couple of healing spells...although..." she closed her eyes, concentrating, but was only able to produce a few feeble sparks "I don't think that's exactly going to work now"

"Hmmm..." the Doctor put a hoof on his chin thoughtfully as he grabbed his Sonic Screwdriver "I think I might have an idea...You know, the science of a cat's purring is really fascinating. You see, cats purr not only when they're happy, but when they're injured, or even dying. Which, doesn't really make much sense, but in actuality, it does!" He grinned "You see, the frequency of a cat's purring, Twenty to One-Forty Hertz, promotes the healing and strengthening of bones. Which is why broken bones in cats heal so much faster" he grinned.

Twilight furrowed her brows thoughtfully "I see where you're going with this, but even then, it would only maginally speed up the healing process..."

"Well, maybe if you just had one cat..." the Doctor said, twirling his Sonic Screwdriver "But at higher concentrations...well...I'd say it's worth a try, wouldn't you?"

"Why not?" Twilight gave a little chuckle "You are a doctor, after all"

The Doctor laughed "That I am, Sparky. Although...maybe a little on the unorthodox side..."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and he amended himself "Well...a lot on the unorthodox side"

After a few seconds of fiddling with the Sonic Screwdriver, the Doctor gave a triumphant exclamation, and a deep thrumming sound filled the room.

"What do you think?" the Doctor said proudly "Relaxing, eh?"

"Definitely" Twilight agreed, before yawning "Maybe a bit too relaxing..."

The Doctor smirked "Well, that and the fact that you been awake for...ahhh..." he made a face, thinking "I'd say about twenty two hours"

Twilight made a sarcastic face "Time sure flies when you're having fun..." she looked off to the side "Though, to tell you the truth, I kind of missed it... I mean, not the whole dying part...but the whole amazing adventure part. It's like, anything in the universe you could possibly imagine, and you've done it."

"Well it's not like you exactly need me for that, Miss Element of Harmony wielder. You've got some stories yourself"

"But you've lived for a over thousand years! That's like...all of my stories to the power of ten!" she paused, blinking "Now that I think about it...what you said to Colgate really was right. It would take a lifetime to learn even a fraction of what you've seen, to really know you....Heck, I've been travelling with you for a while, and I don't even know your favorite color!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, restraining a snarky grin "...blue?"

Twilight made a face "Okay so maybe I did know that one...But still...I mean..." she trailed off, ears folding back "...I hardly know anything about you at all..."

The Doctor turned to look at her, brows furrowed with concern. He knew the look on her face. Every one of his companions had a moment like that, a moment when they realized that, even if they traveled with him all of their lives, they would only be able to exist in a tiny part of his. A mere, fleeting fraction. None of them ever realized how important those fleeting fractions were, though. How they were the ones that made his fantastic adventures worth having.

"Hey." He said, eyes serious "You're my friend. I'd say you know more about me than you think...But you know what? Ask away. What do you want to know?" his mouth quirked into a smile "Though...fair warning...I'm a lot more boring than you might think"

Twilight gave a little laugh, rolling her eyes, before putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, biting her lip as she tried to think of a good question "Alright. I've got one. You said that you weren't from earth, the planet that was like this one...so what was your planet like?"

The Doctor exhaled softly"...My home planet was called Gallifrey. You would have loved to see it, it was...beautiful...All of it. There was a citadel, in a gigantic, shining dome, and the sky was orange. Not an ugly orange though, it was like the color of your friend...Applejack. Like the color of her coat, except all over the heaven. Like one of those really amazing sunsets, but all the time. It didn't have one sun like your world does either, it had two.... Twin stars... There were lots of mountains too. Gigantic mountains, capped with snow, with their lower slopes covered in flowing red grass." a small smile crossed his face "Then there were the trees. They didn't have green leaves though, like the trees you have. Their leaves were silver. Seeing a whole forest was incredible, all of the leaves sparkling in the breeze like the waves of an ocean, and at sunset, it looked like the treetops were on fire..."

Head still resting on his shoulder, and voice drowsy, Twilight asked "Do you miss it?"

The Doctor stiffened slightly in surprise eyes widening. He had never told her about what had happened to Gallifrey. He had never been able to bring himself to. He wanted Twilight to travel with him because she wanted to see the stars, not because she felt obliged to...Not because he was lonely.

The unicorn didn't seem to notice his confusion however, continuing sleepily, eyes closed "I mean...You're in a different universe from it now....I couldn't imagine being that far away from my home"

"Oh..." the Doctor said quietly, relaxing. Of course she didn't know. How could she? For a while, he stayed silent, just listening to his friend's deep, slow breaths, then said softly, so softly it could barely be heard "Yes...Every day"

Twilight made no response, just breathing steadily in and out, a faint smile on her face as she slept. Sighing, the Doctor leaned his head to the side, resting it against her's as he stared down at the white tiles on the floor. "Sweet dreams, Sparky" he murmured, before closing his eyes, listening to the low thrum of the Sonic Screwdriver filling the room like the rumblings of some great, sleeping cat.

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten
In which a highly deserving lackey is roundly insulted, and the Doctor ponders rather belatedly whether the Shadow Proclaimation exists in the ponyverse

The Doctor scrambled to get the Sonic Screwdriver out of sight as heavy hoof steps neared their door, tucking it behind his ear where his mane would hide it, and thanking his lucky stars for the pony's plodding gait. It would do him no good to get his only tool confiscated.

He listened carefully, ear twitching as he heard a lock disengage.....Then silence. He furrowed his brows, pausing. Maybe they weren't coming to their room after all-

"RISE AND SHINE!" there came the sound of a door slamming open, and Twilight's head nearly knocked against his as she jerked awake, rudely catapulted from her slumber.

The unicorn who had opened the door laughed, catching the door as it rebounded from the wall and smirking at them. He was flanked by a pair of two others, holding rifles "Sorry" he chuckled, without a trace of remorse, "did I startle you?"

Twilight blinked blearily at him, head still fuzzy from sleep. It took her a moment to get her bearings, as all the events from the past twenty two hours came rushing back.

"Doctor Bright would like to talk to you" the stallion in front said, before sniggering, a condescending grin on his face as he gestured to the door "So if you'd stop cuddling with your marefriend and step into the hall please"

Twilight just rolled her eyes,not even bothering to grace that with an answer, before pushing herself to her hooves. Beside her, the Doctor did the same, stretching out the fake mechanical wings attached to his back before getting up as well.

They walked towards the door, warily watching the two rifle muzzles trained on them as the unicorns holding them watched their every move. Though they weren't around in her time, the Doctor had informed Twilight on guns, and she knew what they could do to her if fired. The thought of a device invented for the sole purpose of killing other living things always made her uncomfortable. After all, you don't invent something without a reason, necessity being the mother of creation, and Twilight didn't want to think of what might have caused ponies to need something like that......

Her thoughts were interrupted as she ran into the blocking hoof of the front most stallion. She stepped back, confused.

"Bright Idea just wants the Doctor" the unicorn who had stopped her sneered.

"Well I'm coming too" Twilight said firmly, pulling herself taller and looking him straight in the eyes. As loathe as she was to see Bright Idea again, she was not going to let her friend face off with that nutcase all alone. She knew the Doctor could handle himself on his own, of course, that he was capable and ingenuitive and quick on his hooves, but she also knew that everypony needed someone at their side. She had learned that the moment she heard her friends coming to find her in that tower as she stood against Nightmare Moon.

"No you aren't" the stallion laughed, then leered at her smugly "And what pray tell are you going to do about it, sugarcube?"

He gave her a shove and she stumbled backwards, just managing to stay on her hooves. Her side gave a small throb, not as bad as before, but enough to make her wince slightly. Looking up, she saw the large unicorn chuckling, and the Doctor behind him, jaw tight.

She gave her friend a smile to reassure she was fine, before turning to Bright Idea's lackey, gaze withering. While she saw that there was no way for her to change the situation at the moment, she wasn't going to let the stallion leave with that ugly grin on his face, at the very least. She smirked at him, raising her eyebrows "You know, while it was a noble cause, you probably should have waited until you were dead before donating your brain for scientific study and dissection"

The Doctor barely choked back a snort of laughter as the stallion's face contorted angrily, and he slammed the door shut, clicking the lock back into place before stomping away even louder than he had arrived.

Twilight's smile slowly faded from her face, and she looked around the room, trying to think. She had gotten a good look at the hallway outside the door, so, if she could summon up enough magic, it could be possible for her to teleport out. She counted to three minutes in her head, ear pressed against the door to catch any approaching hoof steps.When she was certain nopony was coming, she closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could.

Her horn lit, glowed brighter, brighter....then sputtered out like a candle in the rain. Twilight sighed, looking out the rest of the room and trying to come up with some sort of plan.

It was completely empty, with cinder-blocked walls, white tiled floor and a flickering fluorescent light on the ceiling. She hadn't stopped to to take a good look at until now, and now that she had, she gave a small shudder, eyes running over several gouging scratches on the walls. It looked like this wasn't the first time that this room had been used as a cage...and judging from the claw marks, it didn't look like for a pony either.

Sighing, Twilight slumped to the ground, staring at cinder-block. Reaching out with a hoof, she absently picked at the crumbling mortar at one of it's corners, trying to think. Then her eyes widened. She mustered her magic, biting her lip, this spell didn't take as much as a teleportation, but she still wasn't sure if she could do it. Taking careful aim, the squinted her eyes shut, and fired a rather weak blast at the loose mortar surrounding the bottom block. She shielded her face at the spray of debris with a hoof, then, brushing the stay shards out of the way, flopped to her belly, picking at the remains of the mortar and wiggling the cinder-block persistently, trying to loosen it further. Finally, she reached in with her magic, just barely managing to wrench it out. Bending down, she peered into the gap she had created hopefully...

Only to see another wall.

"Gah!" Twilight gave a cry of frustration. Picking up one of the broken bits of mortar and throwing it at the wall. Then she stopped, ears twitching. Somepony was unlocking the door.

She doubted they would be returning the Doctor so quickly...in fact, she doubted they planned on returning the Doctor at all. So that meant they were probably coming for her.

She went over to stand by the door, then, focusing hard, she slowly lifted the cinder-block she had dislodged from the wall into the air with her magic, giving a small pant of exertion as she hovered it over the door, in the perfect position to dole out a good concussion to whatever lackey they were sending to grab her. While they were wary of the Doctor, she doubted they would send more than one pony when it was just her.

She gritted her teeth, the block wobbling in the air as the doorknob continued to wriggle. She hadn't had this much trouble levitating something, even as heavy as the cinder-block, since she was a filly...but at the moment even the simplest of magic was taking it's toll. What was taking them so long?

Finally, the door clicked open, but instead of a large stallion, a small form darted in, before quickly slamming the door behind it, breathing hard. Twilight nearly dropped the stone block in surprise, but caught herself, and carefully lowered it to the ground beside her, unable to speak.

The filly turned at the sound of the cinder-block settling on the floor, and locked eyes with Twilight, eyes wide with fear as it began to slowly back away. It was young, the same age or even slightly younger than Applebloom and her friends, with no cutie mark too be seen, and looking up at Twilight with nervous uncertainty, like she was a dangerous animal that might strike at any moment.

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again "....C-colgate?"

The Doctor took stock of the situation. Pros? there were no guns pointing at him, and he had his sonic screwdriver with him. Cons? He was hoofcuffed to a chair in a room with a psychopath.

He'd been in worse.

After circulating a few methods of escape in his mind, he opted to stay and chat for the time being. Before, both when they first left the TARDIS, and in the rooms with the lackeys, they had been surrounded and any glib remarks he could have made would have most assuredly been taken out on Twilight. Here, however, the playing field was a bit more even.

"Hello, Doctor" Bright purred, sounding like a self satisfied cat "You've been a...curiosity...of mine for a while now. I never suspected we would actually meet, but now, well, I would be ever so pleased if you could indulge me in my inquiries."

"Well, I guess I could say the same" the Doctor said "Not about the whole wishing to meet you part, but about the questions, because I have lots, actually. So how about you answer mine and I'll answer yours. No lies."

Bright Idea blinked calmly "I'll go first. Those wings you're wearing, they're fake, aren't they?"

"What makes you so curious?"

"We've been developing mechanical wings recently, and...well, it's always prudent to check out the competition, now isn't it?" He grabbed one of the wings and stretched it out, examining it and chuckling "Now would you look at that...this is model number four...we just developed this last week." he leaned in in the obvious expectation of an explanation.

The Doctor just raised his eyebrows "How odd."

Bright Idea snorted "No need to be coy, good Doctor. I'm trying to treat you fairly as a guest here."

"I wasn't aware it was common practice to cuff guests to chairs"

"you learn something new every day" a smirk formed on Bright's face "But I think I've gleaned enough...so... it's you turn. Ask away"

The Doctor thought for a moment, then settled on a question "Alright. You've made it clear that your goal is to find, or engineer a unicorn with the proper magical levels, but what are you planning to do then?"

"What exactly do you mean?"

"I mean, if said properly magical unicorn turned up, what would you do with it?"

Bright Idea chuckled "Why that's easy...I would eat it in order to gain it's power"

The Doctor's eyes widened.

There was a long, long pause, then Bright burst into raucous laughter. Nearly crying he choked "Oh that was priceless! You should have seen the look on your face..." then, he took a few deep breaths, composed himself, and said "Did you really beleive I would do something that barbaric? No, if we could find a magically powerful unicorn, we would first observe it's powers, see how well it performs, then we would dissect it's horn"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. Judging from Twilight's reaction to Colgate's threats earlier, he doubted most unicorns wouldn't jump at being eaten to avoid that.

"You see" Bright Idea continued "Magic flows in cycles through the environment, spreading through the ground and animals and plants. All ponies collect this, and refine it into a magic specific to their pony type. Unicorns are special, however, in the way they refine it. Instead having a more latent magic, powering flight, or a connection to the earth, unicorn's concentrate their magic and are able to control it consciously. In a healthy unicorn, it would gathered from the environment and concentrated by the magic receptors in the pulp inside of the horn. However, in unicorns today, it's nearly useless. It's power can be intensified somewhat, like with mine, allowing me to do some extremely simple spells, but only marginally. Now do you see why we would want tissue from a working horn?"

The Doctor nodded "So you could gather magic receptors from it."

"Exactly! With a sample of the working cells, we could clone them over and over again, create a limitless supply. Imagine every unicorn, wielding the magic that is it's birthright!...and if it were a particularly strong unicorn, like the mages of old, there would be even more power than that. With experimenting and refining, there could be no limit on how much energy a single unicorn could wield." Bright Idea's eyes sparkled zealously.

The Doctor didn't particularly relish the idea of ponies like Bright running about with magic as strong as Twilight's. There would be no measuring the damage it could do in the wrong hands...er...hooves. He was about to open his mouth to ask another question, was quickly cut off.

"Ah, ah, ah. My turn." Bright Idea leaned close to him, smiling predatorially "Your little unicorn friend....Does she by any chance have magic?"

"No." the Doctor lied. He knew exactly what they would do to Twilight if they found out about what she could do.

"Oh, Doctor....I thought we agreed not to lie to each other"

"...And?"

Bright Idea smiled softly "And a little filly just recently told me all about how talented that feisty little mare of yours is" he paused "It took a surprisingly vexing amount of convincing to get her to part with that information. Your friend must have made an impression for her to be that...resistant."

The Doctor winced slightly, both because whatever Colgate had done to them, she certainly didn't deserve whatever "convincing" Bright Idea was hinting at, and because Twilight was not in more danger.

"Alright" he said softly, narrowing his eyes. A suspicion had been growing throughout their conversation, and now was the time to voice it "My turn. What do you really want the magic for?....because we agreed not to lie to each other.....and you and I both know it's not to restore the unicorn race."

Something unfamiliar flickered across Bright Idea's face, and he paused as if listening to something, before flinching slightly.

"Ahh...." the Doctor said pushing his advantage in the verbal face off "Seems like it's not just you in that head of yours." he leaned forward "Tell me, what happened in that failed experiment of yours? The one that started all these problems....Because you, or should I say, it, didn't want me here to study me, did it? It wanted me here because I'm the only thing that might see it, the only threat to it's goals"

"Shut up!" Bright Idea screeched "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

"I demand parlay in ordinance with Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation! Designate species and show yourself!...The Shadow Proclamation exists in your universe, right? Right."

There was a pause, Bright Idea stopped screaming, slowly lowered his hooves from his head. Then he began to twitch, and shudder violently. A dark fog began seeping from around his eyes, until the whites and green irises were entirely engulfed in shadow. He spoke again then, differently, voice rasping "You cannot stop me this time, Doctor."

"This time?" The Doctor chuckled "Well, revealing the fact that I've already beaten you once isn't the best intimidation method" he narrowed his eyes at the thing in Bright Idea "So, what do you stand to gain from all this? Why go to all this trouble? You wouldn't go through all this just for grins, so why?"

No answer came.

"Alright" the Doctor said "Then you shouldn't mind if I make some inferences of my own, hmmm? You don't seem to have a form of your own, so I take it you're some sort of parasite...or more likely something similar to the great intelligence, right? Right. Question of the hour is, where does the magic come in? Energy source maybe?" He paused, scrutinizing Bright Idea's face "Ohh, it is, isn't it? But there's got to be more than that....Maybe....Maybe you're in a weakened state! Need that influx of magic to gain back your power, maybe even gain back a true form. That's it! That's what you're going to all this trouble for, right?"

"You know nothing!" the thing inside Bright spat "All your clever games will be for naught Doctor. You will be ended!"

The Doctor grinned "Maybe some other time, I'm a mite busy escaping right now" he shook his head, dislodging his sonic screwdriver hidden behind his ear and catching it in his mouth. With a whirring noise and a click, his hoofcuffs slipped off, and he bolted towards the door, calling behind him "Nice chatting with you! Tally ho!"

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve
In which Twilight learns that, while the enemy of her enemy was most definitely not her friend, the earlier version of her enemy just might be, and is fangirled over by a scientist

The young Colgate scooted back into the corner at her words, eyes wide and uncertain "Are...Are you going to hurt me?"

Twilight's eye's softened, brows furrowing with concern as her ears picked up the slight tremor in the filly's words. Slowly, Twilight sat down, then leaned even lower so she was eye to eye with the little pony.

The pair of blue eyes across from her widened. There was a soft whimper.

"Shhh" Twilight said softly "I won't hurt you, I promise"

Young Colgate cocked her head to the side and leaned forward slightly, but her eyes still watched Twilight as if she were a dangerous wild animal, like the purple unicorn might lash out at any moment "Do you mind if I stay here for a little while?" she finally asked softly.

"Of course" Twilight said, before pausing "Though, if you don't mind me asking...why?"

"Oh?" Colgate glanced up at Twilight in surprise before looking quickly back down "Well...I normally hide- er....I normally go to this room when Mister Bright is angry....but...those times it's been empty"

Twilight cocked her head, last she had seen Bright had seemed pretty darn happy....

"You think Bright Idea is angry with you?" Twilight said gently to the filly

Young Colgate nodded, still facing slightly away from Twilight, shoulders hunched defensively "He said if "I couldn't levitate by this week, he would be very, very disappointing" she stopped, then murmured softly "That usually means angry"

A soft noise escaped Twilight's mouth as she stared down at the little filly, eyes filled with pity. Despite what Colgate had put her and the Doctor though, despite the fact that she had been the reason the Doctor had disappeared for so long, despite the lingering pain in her side, seeing that pony before her now, younger and so scared....She felt a twisting, painful sadness in her chest like someone was squeezing her heart, and refused to let go.

Eyes prickling, Twilight slowly stretched out a hoof towards, the young Colgate, wincing as the filly flinched away and the twisting inside her tightened unbearably "Please" she said, voice raw "I want to help you, I really do"

She reached out once more, and this time the filly didn't move away as Twilight gently touched her cheek, eyes watering. She knew the future of this wide eyed little pony, she knew the pain and anger that would slowly fill those indigo orbs.

With an almost desperate suddenness, little Colgate wrapped her hooves around Twilight's neck, trembling as she clung to the small figure of comfort, any comfort, she had been provided with.

Twilight closed her eyes, as she cradled the shaking filly against her.

"I won't let Bright Idea hurt you" she said, filled with sadness, but also with a tinge of anger, and stone cold conviction "Not ever again"

Then something registered in Twilight's mind, and she opened her eyes, lifting her head slightly "Wait...you were able to get into the door..."

Young Colgate nodded "The locks aren't to difficult to pick if you know how..."

A small smile twitched at the corner of Twilight's lips "Do you think you could get it open again?"

The Doctor skidded around the corner, trying to remember the path they had led him down away from the room they were keeping Twilight in. Why did all the corridors always have to look the same in sketchey genetic labratories? Was is some sort of requirement? The convoluted route they had taken him on definitely wasn't helping either....He had to go find Twilight, and he had to figure out how to stop...well...whatever it was that inside Bright Idea.

He spotted a pair of scientists and ducked inside a doorway, pressing himself against a wall as they trotted by. Then, as their hoof steps receded, he relaxed, looking slowly to his other side-

"Ahh!"

"Ahh!" the pony next to him shouted back, dropping the pair of beaker tongs she help in her hoof.

They stared at each other for a few long seconds.

The mare before him was cream in color, with a light minty green mane, but most striking...and somehow familiar... was the metal structure on her forehead in place of her horn.

The Doctor blinked, then gave an exclamation of recognition "Green Leaf!" he cried. The unicorn who had first escaped.

"Yes?" she asked softly "Do..do you need something?"

She glanced back towards her lab station, which lay at the end of the otherwise empty room, presumably abandoned when she went to investigate the strange pony who had slipped into the doorway.

"No" the Doctor said "Well actually yes. Yes and no. Maybe. What year is it?"

"Thirteen forty six"

"Then yes, I need your help" he smiled

The mare's large brown eyes flicked over him uncertainly "Oh...well... alright?" she paused "Who are you exactly?"

"I'm the Doctor, and I'll be needing your assistance"

"Doctor who?"

The Doctor broke out into a grin "Just the Doctor...oh, I love it when ponies say that!" He grabbed her by the hoof and started to pull her into the hallway "Come along, Leafy! No...no...that's terrible....hmm...Greenie! That's better! Come along Greenie!"

"Wait!" Green Leaf said, pulling back. Her face, which had before been friendly, if a little timid, was now suspicious "You...This is just another of Bright Idea's little ploys, isn't it?"

"Wait what?" the Doctor said "Look, I am definitely not helping him, in fact, I'm kind of trying to stop him. Trust me."

Green Leaf snorted bitterly "Trust me. Trust me. Oh sure, what with you acting all charming, with your quirky little Bitish accent. I trusted him once, and look where it got me"

"What reason would he have for setting this up?"

"Unicorn's magic levels increase under stressful situations, and prolonged stress and uncertainty can effect magic as well" Green Leaf said, not meeting the Doctor's gaze, her voice just barely breaking as she finished quickly "He's quite fascinated by the area, and I'm his favorite subject"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed, a look of concern on his face "I'm so sorry"

"No you're not" the unicorn was looking at the floor, breaths quick and shallow "No you're not, I-"

"Green Leaf." the Doctor put a hoof on the mare's shoulder, she looked at him, hesitated "Right now, I have a friend, a unicorn, an actual, bona fide, large amount of magic capable unicorn, locked up all alone in some room, and you probably know better than me that she is going to be in a great, great deal of trouble if I can't get to her before Bright Idea does"

"How can I know you're telling the truth?"

"...Please"

Green Leaf paused for a long time, gaze flicking to the side before returning to his, a spark igniting in her eyes as a look of determination passed onto her face "Alright." she lifted her chin a little higher "What do you need me to do?"

The Doctor grinned "First off, you probably heard about the three ponies taken in last night...crashed through the ceiling in a blue box?"

"Of course...Everypony has!"

"That was me and my friends...er...well, friend and no so much friend. Secondly, I need to get to the room that my friend is in, would you know where that might be?"

Green Leaf blinked, probably wondering what she had gotten herself into, then slowly nodded "Yes...I think so...."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor darted back out into the hallway with Green Leaf trailing behind, still looking slightly apprehensive, but also with a growing air of excitement.

As they reached the intersection, she poked her head out first, checking to make sure nopony was coming.

"Clear?" the Doctor asked

"Clear."

They dashed to the next corner, following Green Leaf's lead, pressing themselves to the wall as an unfamiliar set of hoofbeats neared.

They waited tensely as the other set of steps stopped too, the silence stretching out for several strained seconds. Slowly, the Doctor turned his head to peer carefully around the corner...and bumped snouts with another pony doing the exact same thing.

Both the Doctor and the unknown pony leaped almost a foot into the air, eliciting twin yelps before, at the exact same moment, they registered who exactly they had run facefirst into.

"Doctor!" Twilight Sparkle laughed, throwing her arms around him "Celestia you scared me!"

A chuckle of relief escaped the Doctor, as he grinned, returning the hug "You're just as guilty Miss.Sparky...Sneaking about like some purple pony ninja" he tutted in mock disapproval, but couldn't hold back a smile"It's a relief to see you all in one piece"

Twilight gave a little snigger, feeling a similar sense of weight off her chest seeing the Doctor okay after his surprise exit earlier. Her eyes feel on the mare behind the Doctor...the pony's face was naggingly familiar...With a start, she realized it was Green Leaf, from the article in the library. In the picture her face had been subdued, but now her eyes were wide, body almost quivering with an acute alertness that was at once both edgy, and full of a strange sort of excitement. Twilight could sympathize...the Doctor tended to have that effect on ponies. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow, and smirking teasingly "I see you've already replaced me."

"This is Green Leaf" Twilight could see the Doctor biting back a laugh as he rolled his eyes "Green Leaf, this is my friend, Sparky"

Green Leaf's eyes widened, and she leaned forward, staring with rapt curiosity at Twilight. Now she actually was shaking with excitement "So...You....You can actually do magic...powerful magic? And naturally? No modifications or enhancements or-"

Twilight bit her lip uncomfortably, ears folding backwards slightly, and the Doctor gave a small prod to Green Leaf's shoulder. The pale unicorn flushed sheepishly "Sorry...It's just...Well... It's so fascinating!" she looked down, now her turn to look slightly uncomfortable "It's completely up to you, but....You...Would you mind terribly giving a small demonstration?" her eyes flicked hopefully up to the purple unicorn.

"That's completely fine" Twilight smiled, knowing exactly how Green Leaf felt. Celestia knew how the Doctor put up with her constant questions about just about everything time travel and alien "...I can relate to the feeling of scientific curiosity" then she furrowed her brow "As for a demonstration, I think a can manage a small one" her magic had been steadily waxing, and, while it was nowhere close to normal, Twilight was pretty sure she could manage a small teleportation. Squinting her eyes shut, she focused, and, with a pop, blinked a foot or two to her left.

Green Leaf covered her mouth with her hooves, barely restraining a squeal "Omiluna....That was...That was amazing!" She turned to the Doctor, eyes wide "You, you really were telling the truth...I can't believe it...I..." She furrowed her brows "Wait...not that I'm complaining....but weren't you supposed to be trapped?"

The Doctor held up a hoof "While I'm sure it's an interesting story, we should probably get going...more pressing matters and all"

"Actually" Twilight interjected, ears twitching uneasily. She wasn't exactly sure how this was going to go over "You'll probably want to hear this...You see, I had some help getting out" she turned behind her, to where the young Colgate was hiding behind the corner, eyes wide, tail tucked between her hind legs. Soothingly, Twilight said "Shh...it's okay, you can come out, these are friends" until the filly was finally coaxed into stepping out from behind her and out into the open, albeit with her body still pressed against Twilight's foreleg.

"Hello..." the little Colgate murmured softly as the Doctor and Green Leaf's eyes fell on her.

Twilight looked to the Doctor, biting her lip. He looked up at her, then to Colgate, then to her again.

"Oh..." he said slowly "I see."

Author's Note

Shorty chapter this time around, hope you all enjoy.