“Isn't the sky beautiful tonight, Ditzy?”
The grey mare turned her wall-eyed gaze towards the brown stallion. Ditzy smiled as she saw the Doctor standing next to her. His eyes were turned toward the sky, watching the not so distant clouds hanging lazily in the air. The pair had just returned from another trip, and, different from usual, the Doctor had decided not to completely land tonight. Instead, the Doctor had the old police box hover high above Ditzy's hometown of Ponyville. When she had questioned whether anypony would see it, he had babbled on about how the TARDIS makes normal ponies ignore it until she had to tell him to stop.
“Yeah, it is. Thanks for the date, Doctor.”
The old stallion blushed and continued to look at the full moon. “Eheh, don't mention it. You know, I didn’t think this universe would even have a Milliways. Best food in the universe!”
Ditzy felt a cold wind over her spine.
“Yeah, the veggies were delicious, Doctor, though they sure didn't like it...”
“I did say that you should’ve gone with the steak; he was nice enough to recommend the sirloin, after all.”
“Yeah, but to offer his own body like that...” Her face contorted into a grimace as she thought about the morbidly happy bovine, then compared him to the cows that Applejack had on her family's farm. Ditzy, as a mail mare, delivered mail to everyone, and that included the Apple cows. She found them to be great conversationalists...when they weren’t too busy chewing on their cud to do more than take letters. They always sounded so happy with their simple life. They never really cared what happened so long as they had grass to chew. Ditzy would never think they’d offer something like a piece of their body to be eaten willingly.
“Anyway, ponies don't eat meat. I don't know how you can stomach it.”
The Doctor shrugged.
“Ah, well, you know...” He paused, then just gave her a sheepish grin as nothing that could be easily explained came to mind.
The grey mare sighed, then giggled. “Anyway, thanks again,” and deftly placed a kiss on the brown stallions cheek, pulling away to reveal her cheeks to be a lovely shade of red. “Watching the universe collapse was beautiful, and I'd like to stay longer, but...you know...” she glanced down and spotted her quaint cottage, “my little universe is waiting for me now.”
The Doctor looked as red as a tomato, nodding in silent recognition.
“See you later, Doctor!” She hopped outside the TARDIS door,s and, wings spreading open, caught the air and began to glide down, yelling over her shoulder; “And keep safe! You better be back soon!” She stuck her tongue out, then focused on her descent into the town.
The Doctor watched her as she flew down towards the town, admiring how her feathers caught the light of the shining moon. Once she reached ground level, without hitting anything, he smiled and looked back at the moon. “Don't ya worry Ditz, I'll be back.” He then took a few steps back, closing the door of the ship as he turned around.
The sound of the TARDIS echoed into the night as it entered the time stream.
_______________________________________________________________
The crisp night air felt wonderful as Ditzy glided her way around the buildings and light posts of Ponyville. Luckily, the light of the moon and the light from the lamps provided just enough to allow her to see where she was going. She twisted and turned in the streets, doing an occasional barrel roll as she made her way to her small cottage near the edge of town.
With some amount of grace, she landed at her front door. The best way to describe her home would be to call it quaint. Her cottage wasn't particularly big and looked like anypony else’s; a small, two story home that looked to fit only two rooms upstairs. When you live solely on a mailmare's salary and the odd delivery job, you can't live in some place that stands out like an overgrown tree. But, it was comfy enough for three ponies, and that's all that mattered to the young mother.
Like most nights when she returned from a night out with the Doctor, all the lights were out in her home. Her daughters would be sound asleep, snuggled in their beds, dreaming of happy days. She would then tiptoe as quietly as possible, check on them, and leave them a small kiss on the forehead whilst they slept.
“That's strange...Carrot wouldn't leave the door open.”
The front door was open slightly, certain to allow anything that wandered by passage into the cottage. It was definitely unlike Carrot Top to leave it cracked open like this, especially with all the lights off.
Ditzy pushed the door open. The door opened with a creak as the old hinges begged for oil. Gingerly, she stepped into her home and looked around. Nothing looked out of place at first glance, and everything was nice, quiet, and dark. By all rights, everything looked fine in her eyes.
“Something isn't right...” Ditzy remarked. Whenever she had Carrot Top act as foal sitter, the yellow mare would be asleep on couch, bundled in a spare blanket. But when she had looked toward her couch, she could barely see the blanket strewn messily across the back of the old piece of furniture. She trotted towards the light switch on the wall and flicked on the lights. When the lights flickered on, the grey mare let out a horrified gasp.
One of her plants had been kicked to the ground. The rug had a couple nasty tears in it. Her couch was missing a seat and her bookshelf looked like somepony had been tossed into it. Worst of all, as she looked lower, she could see small patches of crimson contrast against the golden hard wood of the floor. Ditzy began to hyperventilate as her pupils dilated. Without a second thought, she ran up the stairway and into her daughters’ room, flinging the door open. Nothing looked touched, the beds were made, and nothing looked out of place. Just to make sure, she flew towards her room; same thing, nothing out of place. Now scared out her mind, she galloped back downstairs and into the kitchen.
She did not think to turn the lights on as she ran into the small kitchen. When she arrived, she smiled, tears forming below her currently normal eyes.
“Dinky! Sparkler!”
The two ponies she saw, one the size of a teeager and the other the size of a small foal, slowly turned. She couldn't make out their features in the dark, but she knew by their silhouettes that they were her precious daughters. Without a second thought, she pulled them into a tight hug.
“Oh, my little muffins! Thank goodness you are okay! I saw the living room, it's a mess! What happened! Did either of you get hurt? Where is Carrot Top? Who-who did this? Oh, nevermind, I'm just so glad you are okay!” she rambled, nuzzling them both.
Something didn't feel right. They didn't return her hug, her nuzzle, or even nod to show that they were listening. Their cheeks felt patchy, like some fur had gone missing.
“Girls?” she asked, as some tears formed in her eyes. Something was wrong; she didn't know what.
The moon, now low enough in the night sky to shine right into her kitchen through the small window over the sink, flooded the room with silver light. The features of her two daughters came into view; they both had patches of fur missing, the bare skin pale white, and some nasty looking holes in the flesh that no longer bled. Dinky was missing an eye and her horn had a jagged tip. Sparkler's entire right cheek was missing, showing her pearly teeth to the world.
Tears flowed freely from Ditzy's face as she jumped away, accidentally to the side of the kitchen without a door, eyes still on her girls. The girls slowly made their way toward her, groaning.
“Girls! What happened?!”
They didn't respond, instead only getting closer.
“Doctor...I need to get the Doctor. He'll fix you,” she lied, mostly to herself, and made to try and dash out of the door. With a swiftness she never knew either of her muffins possessed, they closed in on her, blocking Ditzy's only exit.
“Muffins! Girls!” Dinky and Sparkler bit into her shoulder. “DOCTOR!!!”
Ditzy Doo’s blood curdling screams pierced the walls of her home to join the chorus of cries in Ponyville as Luna's shining moon began its slow descent.
Author's Note
Good Evening, everypony! First, I'd like to say this; Yes, I'm going to pony hell, and I know it. However! I felt it needed to be done.
Thank you for reading, please leave constructive comments, and see you next time.
