The Deadly Arcadeby IanpiersonjdavisChaptersClosing TimeField Trip8-BitA Good Man Goes to WarMotherGame OverStone ColdThe Parting of the WaysThe GameA New Nightmare Begins...Closing Time“Pew! Pew! Take that! Stupid Dragon!” Button Mash was sitting on wooden stool at the Ponyville arcade known as ‘The HUB’ playing ‘Alicorn Assault’ where you played as Princess Celestia and you had to defend Equestria from attacks by Dragons, Griffons, Shadowbolts, and various other airborne threats by shooting magical horn lasers. This was his last Bit and he was only on Level 12, sweat poured from his brow as his tongue stuck out of his mouth as he re-reached the boss for the ninth consecutive time. Button’s mother had to grocery shopping and various other errands to run, when he remembered that he had left his Joy Boy at home-he wanted to go back to get it, but his mother refused insisting that he needed more social interaction with others if he was ever going to get anywhere in life. He had to kill the Necro Dragon this time, it was his last chance and the fate of all Equestria rested squarely on his shoulders. Reluctantly after begging and pleading from her son, as well as being fully aware that if she didn’t indulge him at least a little he would moan and groan the whole time about how he was bored and nag her about when they could go home so he could get back to his videogames, she gave him twenty Bits with the assumption that it would keep him busy for a few hours-and even if it didn’t, his unhealthy obsession would probably drive him to beg for change from other kids his age at the arcade. The 8-Bit behemoth released a fire ball from its mouth, which split into five as he tried to maneuver Celestia to fly upwards in order to avoid the attack, unfortunately he flew a little too high as the fire ball in the arc above it clipped her wing, causing the character to flash red before plummeting to the ground as the red pixilated words ‘GAME OVER’ mocked him from the black screen. Button reached down for another Bit before remembering that he’d just used up the last of his coins and let out an exasperated groan before slouching forward in defeat until his head slammed down onto the console. “Ow.” It wasn’t until this point that he realized how tired he was…his eyes were burning from staring at nothing but, a screen filled with bright colors and flashing lights in an otherwise dark environment. There wouldn’t be any harm in resting his eyes for just a few minutes…would there? “Hey, hey, kid!” A female voice faintly echoed through his mind as it returned him to the world of consciousness. “Mmmh, Mom?” he mumbled groggily. “I’m not read to go to school yet, just two more hours…” Button’s eyes slowly opened to see the manager of the arcade; Light Gun, she was a young mare in her early twenties with a pale yellow coat and a blue mane tied back in a ponytail and wearing a white shirt with a sleeveless blue vest and ID card which hung around her neck for newcomers to the arcade. “No,” she laughed before her voice returned to her normal, gentle tone. “Sorry, sweetie I didn’t want to wake you, but the arcade’s closing now and I’d kinda like to go home.” He liked her, she was always nice to him and sometimes gave him tips and hints whenever he was stuck on a particular game, since she’d mastered them all before she got bored with them and had the epiphany to open up an arcade instead of throwing her old games out. Wait…closing? “It’s nine-thirty already!?” he shrieked, alarm bells going off in his head. “Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?” Button got up from his stool and began heading for the exit, he couldn’t believe he’d slept so long and his mom would be so mad…actually, come to think of it shouldn’t she have come back to pick him up a few hours ago? He hoped nothing happened to her. “Oomph!” Before he could contemplate the possibilities that may have caused this situation, his train of thought was interrupted as he bumped into someone, knocking him to the floor. “Oh, sorry about that.” The voice had an accent to it and Button briefly wondered if the stallion before him was from Canterlot, he was wearing a blue suit with a red necktie and a brown overcoat. “No, I’m sorry…” Button replied adjusting his beanie propeller. “I was…distracted. Wait, what are you doing here anyway? The arcade’s closing.” “I’m investigating.” “Investigating what?” he asked, wondering if this guy was some kind of super detective. “Something about this place doesn’t feel right…” the stallion replied, examining the room. “Do you want to help me search for clues?” “Sorry mister, I’d like too but, I’ve gotta find my mom-she should’ve been here to pick me up hours ago…” “Well, why don’t we team up and search together?” he suggested. “Perhaps whatever is going on here and her absence are somehow connected?” Button mulled it over and he had to admit that teaming up would make a lost of sense and make searching much quicker and more effective like in those games where you play a war commander and you delegated tasks to your troops and the more of them you sent together, the more effective they were as a team. “You’ve got a deal, mister.” “Brilliant!” he exclaimed, happily. “What’s your name, by the way?” “Button Mash!” he replied, enthusiastically. “Solving a mystery-this is gonna be so cool! Just like the ‘Doctor Standton’ games!” “I’m The Doctor.” “Doctor Who?” “Just ‘The Doctor’.” “Why?” “Because that’s what they call me.” “Who?” “People in general.” “Why?” Button repeated. “Well, because I-look, they just do, alright?” “Okay…” he conceded, still very confused. “But, my mom isn’t going to be too happy about me talking to a complete stranger and solving mysterious with him.” “I’m not a stranger-I just told you who I am!” “You told me you were a doctor, that’s not your name-that’s an occupation.” He pointed out. The Doctor slapped a hoof to his face in exasperation. “Look, time is probably of the essence, so we should probably start searching for clues now; Allons-y!” Field Trip“So seriously, is ‘The Doctor’ like a gamertag or something?” The Doctor didn’t seem to hear him as he pulled a silver instrument with a blue node at the tip out of his coat with his teeth before pressing a button on the side causing it to light up and emit an alien whirring sound as he waved it around the room. “Oh, cool!” Button exclaimed hopping in placing excitedly. “Is that some kind of alien probe you won from a tournament or something?” “It’s a Thonic Thcrewdrivuh.” He replied through clenched teeth, trying to answer the young colt’s inquiries while keeping the Screwdriver steady between his teeth. “Wow, that’s a pretty fancy name they gave for a flashlight…” Button commented. “So where did you get it from?” “I built it.” The Doctor replied matter-of-factly. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to hold it with your hoof? I mean, wouldn’t that hurt your teeth after a while with pressing down on something so hard like that? I played the new ‘Pony Kombat’ game last week and it’s really fun, but the ‘Kombos’ are super hard to pull off…especially the ‘Brutalities’ and the final boss was super cheap so it took me three whole days to beat him and I never thought my hooves would stop hurting, but it was totally worth it when I told all my friends at school and Sweetie Belle was so impressed…” The Doctor stopped walking and took the Screwdriver out of his mouth. “Button, video games can be fun and a good way to relieve stress after a bad day, but there’s more to life than pixels on a screen.” “Most new games on home consoles are cel-shaded.” Button replied, coolly. “Look, you’re missing the point-all of the adventures you have in your games, fighting aliens, monsters, and giant robots-all of the far off places you can travel to in space and time, what if you could really experience all of this things in real life?” “You sound like my Mom.” He deadpanned. “What if I told you that there was a way that I could let experience all of those things?” “Yeah, right….” Button cocked an eyebrow. “Wait a minute, how did you know something was wrong before you even got here?” “I’m a Time Lord-I can feel these things in my bones.” “And I’m just supposed to forget about finding my Mom and whatever is going on around this arcade just to go with you somewhere?” The colt challenged. “No.” The Doctor walked over to a wall between to of the arcade machines. “Do you see this wall?” “Yeah?” The Doctor gave a few heavy knocks on it. “It’s a fake but, it’s reinforced to keep people from stumbling through it which can only mean one of two things; either it was designed by someone very intelligent to build something like this and keep it hidden from the owner or a very powerful unicorn.” “So you can’t get through it?” asked Button, disappointed. “Not with the Sonic.” He replied, “But, there is another way…” “What’s that?” The Doctor merely looked at him and smiled. “Follow me.” As they left the arcade, Button’s anxiety grew as he realized that not only was it dark out, but Luna’s full moon was already high in the night sky bathing the streets of Ponyvillle with its silvery glow. They turned to an alley between the arcade and the garage mechanic one of Sweetie Belle’s friends went to on occasion to get her scooter fixed. Before them stood a wooden blue box with double door with a window pane on each and some kind of light on top of it, above the doors read; ‘POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX’, below the pane on the left door had a note which read; POLICE TELEPHONE FREE FOR USE OF PUBLIC ADVICE & ASSISTANCE OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY OFFICERS & CARS RESPON TO ALL CALLS PULL TO OPEN And on the right was a large sticker with a symbol he didn’t recognize with words circling around it which read; ST. JOHN AMBULANCE. It was easily the strangest thing Button had ever seen in his short life (and being a resident of Ponyville, that was saying a lot.) He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he had seen and been in an outhouse at Sweet Apple Acres during cider season when he had severely overestimated the strength of his bladder after chugging down the sweet nectar of the Apple family’s labor-it was not a pleasant experience-it stunk worse than anything he ever could have imagined and the dry summer heat had only made the stench worse. Maybe this was a special kind of outhouse from the Griffon Kingdom or something and The Doctor just considered it ‘special’ because it was foreign. “Like it?” he asked, leaning up against it with a toothy grin. “It’s an outhouse.” “WHAT!?” The Doctor asked, completely flabbergasted by this response. “It’s a small wooden box with doors on it with enough room to fit one, maybe two ponies inside it-it’s an outhouse…and I’ve had a bad experience with outhouses.” He replied, sitting back on his flank and crossing his arms. “I swear you and Applejack…” He sighed before pushing the right door open to reveal a large room with a Coral desktop and what appeared to be a large tube in the center fill with what appeared to be some type of blue-green liquid or energy surrounded by a control panel covered in various buttons, knobs, gauges, and levers as well as what appeared to be some kind of bell with a small wooden mallet connected to it with a cord. “It’s…” Button began as he stumbled inside, completely mesmerized by what he saw. “Yes?” The Doctor pressed expectantly, waiting for his favorite comment from new visitors inside the TARDIS. “Not an outhouse…” Once again, The Doctor slapped a hoof to his face in exasperation. “No,” he replied. “This is called a ‘TARDIS’ which is an acronym for ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space’, it is my home, time machine, ship and my ‘Sexy’ constant companion.” “What?” asked the confused eight year-old. “Never mind.” He sighed. “So who took my Mom?” asked Button. “And why?” “That,” The Doctor replied, operating one of the TARDIS’ levers. “Is what we are going to find out.” The machine seemed to come to life as there was a sound which Button could only imagine what a key scraping against piano wire must have sounded like before there was the sound of a deafening thud. “W-what happened?” he asked, as he desperately tried to stand with the jelly feeling in his legs fighting him. “We’ve arrived.” “Arrived where?” “On the other side of the wall.” He then noticed Button struggling. “Don’t worry about that, it’s very common for the first trip-especially among smaller passengers-just give it a few minutes and that jelly feeling should go away.” “But, uh…Doctor? How did we get on the other side of the wall?” He stopped to look at him. “What part of ‘spaceship time machine’ did you not understand?” 8-BitOnce they stepped outside of the TARIDS, Button immediately noticed that the room on the other side of the wall was much darker and larger than the arcade reminiscent to that of a nightmare he once had after Scootaloo told him a ghost story about some kind of special Pegasus factory. The Doctor took notice of this and reassured the young colt. “Don’t worry, stick with me and you’ll be safe, so long as you don’t wander off…bad things always happen when people wander off…” His train of thought was interrupted as an ear-piercing screech filled the air as they looked up to see a griffon with grey battle armor diving towards them swinging a flail. “GET DOWN!” The Doctor shouted as he dove to the side, pushing Button out of the way. The spiked ball crashed into the ground, creating a large crater in the dark tiled floor. He quickly pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver before turning around and aiming it at the creature as it once again flew towards them when it froze in mid-flight. “Hey, that’s Gryfor the Crusher!” Button announced excitedly. “Who?” “He’s the first boss in ‘Alicorn Assault’!” The Doctor gave the colt a quizzical look before stepping towards what was apparently ‘Gryfor’ to scan it with his Screwdriver. “What are you doing?” “Imaginative name for a video game character,” The Doctor deadpanned before the blue node at the tip once again lit up with the same whirring sound as before when he waved it over the griffon; “My Screwdriver should only work like this on electronics or those powered by magic.” “So it’s not real?” Button asked curiously. “Well, yes and no.” The Doctor replied gesturing to the crater that the flail had made. “He’s definitely dangerous, but he’s also not living-at least not in the sense that you and me are.” “So he’s a zombie!?” The colt shrieked with fear and a twinge of excitement. “No.” He replied, examining the readings on his Screwdriver. While he was relieved to hear this, Button was also just the slightest bit disappointed to hear the news. “It’s-” “A series of small machines, magically powered to form an intricate synthetic life form.” A female voice explained. They both looked up to see a familiar young mare emerging from a passage that led up from underground. “Nano-technology, right.” The Doctor confirmed watching Light approach them. “Or, Nanites to be more specific.” He added to button. “Light!” Button exclaimed excitedly before stopping. “Wait…how did you get here?” “There’s a secret passage my friends and I would always run through to play when we were kids back when this was my granddad’s shop before we renovated the place in my office.” Button turned back to The Doctor with his mouth agape. “You told me there was no other way to get in here!” he shouted. “Yes…well, just because I know about that at the time doesn’t mean I was lying to you.” He countered. “Then why couldn’t your magic flashlight find it?” he asked suspiciously. “He probably just wanted to show off that fancy blue box of his.” Light commented smirking. “The trapdoor must have been made of wood!” he replied defensively, looking to Light for confirmation. “My Screwdriver doesn’t work on wood!” “Yeah, right.” Button scoffed. “You’re a big liar.” The Doctor pulled Light over to the side out of earshot from Button. “Do you have and idea what’s going on here or who’s behind this?” “Yes, there was an employee that worked her named Eight-Bit we were friends since we were kids, so when I spruced the place up and found that I couldn’t take on everything myself I gave him first dibs on a job opening I had repairing the arcade machines, he was a genius when it came to building and fixing electronics but….” “But, what?” “But, he became a little too obsessed with these games talking about actually placing someone in a game.” “Virtual reality?” “No, he said real games with real stakes-pain, hunger, thirst, death-all of it was real, of course at that point I realized he had gone of the deep end and fired him, he had more that a few choice words for me which I won’t repeat in front of Button along with a few death threats before he was arrested for disturbing the peace and after a full psychiatric evaluation-it turned out he really was insane-I hadn’t heard of anything from him since then.” “What did he look like?” “The last time I saw him? Very bony, with dark circles around his eyes…I think he was also an insomniac, so he never really complained when something would break down at odd hours of the night over the weekend, he’s a unicorn-so he’s got a horn obviously-made kick-starting the machines easy, since all it took with him was a single magical spark. He’s eyes are grey and his coat is a pale yellow and he has a greasy black mane that would always be curtained over his face on one side or another…he also had a large amount of stubble on his chin, no matter how many times I asked him to shave.” “Other than that did have any disciplinary problems, causing disruptions at school or at work, inability or unwillingness to follow directions, issues with authority-those kind of things?” Light put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Well, now that you mention it…he never really said or did anything to anyone before that, but he was always giving customers dirty looks, we had other friends when we were younger but as we grew up, we sort of just…drifted apart.” “Have you had any issues of harassment with him?” “Well, I-” she stopped before giving him a look. “Just what does that have to do with anything?” “Everything, I want to know exactly who and what were dealing with before we head any further and I don’t want any nasty surprises or have you or that little boy’s life put at risk and why he decided to abduct that poor boy’s mother-now, please answer the question.” She averted her gaze. “Yes, two weeks before I fired him I caught him stalking me.” “Why didn’t you fire him on the spot?” “Because I gave him a warning, telling him that if I ever caught him doing it again that would be the end of his employment and our friendship.” “Did you tell the authorities when they arrested him?” “OF COURSE NOT!” she shouted, causing Button to glance back at them before returning to his inspection of the dark floor. “Sorry.” she sighed, running a hoof through her mane. “They could tell I was hiding something, but for whatever reason they decided to leave it alone-I guess they realized it had to be something really embarrassing to keep my mouth shut through hours of interrogation.” “I don’t understand, why would anyone think any less of you for being stalked?” “Because I work at an arcade parents trust me and believe in my moral character enough that they’re willing to leave their children alone with me to watch over while they run errands or work late…if they found out I was being stalked, they would start second-guessing me; thinking that I’m fooling around with colts when I’m supposed to be looking after their children or even in front of them-” “Light,” The Doctor put a hoof on her shoulder. “Take a deep breath, relax. I promise I will never tell anyone your secret without your consent.” “How do I know you’re trustworthy?” she asked, suspiciously. “You’re just going to have to take that on faith, but I’ll have you know that I myself have many secrets; including one which I plan on taking to the grave.” Any doubts she may have had at that point evaporated once she heard his solemn tome and saw the deadly seriousness in his tone. “Okay…” “HEY! GUYS! I FOUND MY JOY BOY!” Button exclaimed, waving the portable gaming console in the air to show the two adults. “Button, where did you find this?” asked The Doctor. Button pointed to the floor. “Right there, in my Mom’s purse!” he stopped cold. “But, I thought I left it at home…” His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of static as a holographic image appeared matching Eight-Bits description, only he was wearing a filthy, shredded straight-jacket with the Cutie Mark of a few black, brown, red, orange, and yellow pixels on his flank, his tail was as greasy as his mane, his fore hooves where concealed in the loosened sleeves of the jacket, dragging along the floor as he walked, and his hind hooves were chipped, cracked, and covered in filth. Despite this being just a holographic projection, The Doctor could swear that he could smell grime on this guy (wherever he was) just from where they were standing. “Well, well, well, it’s about time your miniscule brains started to figure things out.” He commented, condescendingly. “And this boy managed reach level twelve?” he shook his head while chuckling darkly. “Hard to believe a twerp like this is my intellectual equal…” the one visible eye that was un-curtained by his mane glanced towards The Doctor and Light before cryptically adding; “Almost.” “Eight-” Light began before The Doctor cut her off by stepping in front of her. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN THIS BOYS MOTHER? AND WHY HAVEN’T YOU COME DOWN HERE YOURSELF?” he shouted furiously. “Simple enough; ‘Alicorn Assault’ is the greatest, toughest arcade game currently in existence, no one has ever beaten in the game, not creator and not the original beta testers, I myself have worked tediously, day and night after Light’s rejection to achieve the goal that would make me a legend-but, once I was fired, arrested, and banned from the arcade for my revolutionary ideals, I had hoped to complete my Augmented Reality masterpiece, confident that none would reach level thirteen before I finished my magnum opus…but, then this little brat came along!” he snarled, with spittle flying from his mouth. “So that’s what this is all about?” The Doctor demanded. “You’re going to abduct a young boy’s mother to lure him into this room so you can kill him, so he can’t what-beat your high score?” “Of course not, there’s more to it than that.” He growled. “Then by all means; enlighten us.” “I designed this Augmented Reality room, but it hasn’t been properly tested.” “Then why don’t you do it yourself and leave innocent people out of this?” “I’m trying to tell you it’s not that simple!” he replied, with his voice rising in volume. “I created it and I know all of the Ins and Outs, it would be no challenge for me to play, but I need to see if the setup is correct for the uninitiated, for someone to challenge my intellect in a winner-take-all battle for supremacy…but, it has to be fair so there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I’m the superior gamer!” “We’re not playing your twisted game.” The Doctor replied, venomously. “If you don’t the boy’s mother dies.” He stated simply. “How do can we even be sure you still have her? How can we even be sure she’s still alive? Or even if she was ever here at all and you just stole her purse along with Button’s GameBoy?” Button was about to correct him about the name being ‘Joy Boy’, but Light wisely slapped a hoof over his mouth and shook her head when he looked up at her curiously. “You will play my game. You will play by my rules. Or she will die!” A Good Man Goes to War“I think we’re going to need some cover.” Light commented as she stared up at the gargantuan reptile with her mouth agape. “Yes, sir!” The Sontaran acknowledged as a panel on the ground before him flipped up, the tile forming a shield for him to duck under in case of retaliation from hostile forces. “There’s no way we can take that thing down!” Button shouted, anxiously. “Calm down, girl!” Came the Sontaran’s response. “Mark my words; we will kill this filthy reptile or die trying.” “For the glory of the Sontaran Empire!” he shouted pridefully, raising his rifle before taking aim and firing at one of the Hydra’s five heads, which easily dodged the blast thanks to its serpentine neck. He tried again several more times only to receive the same result. “Blasted creature!” The Sontaran swore. “Remain immobile, so that I may destroy you!” The Cyberman was marching toward the creature, but slowly-ever so slowly… “Can’t you move any faster?” Button complained. “Request Acknowledged,” It replied, kneeling down and pressing its fist into the tile it was on. “Upgrade in progress…” The Zygon moved towards the Hydra, only to be caught up in one of its many mouths, it released a strange raspy-whisper of a scream as its sharp teeth dug into the Zygon’s torso as it let out a cry of agony after feeling sharps pricks on its gums and tongue, drop the saliva-covered creature to the ground. Before any of them could ask The Doctor what was going on, a few welts were visibly beginning to swell up in the creature’s mouth as its other heads joined in its shrieking chorus before falling forward, crushing the Zygon beneath its large body. “WHAT!?” An outraged Eight exclaimed. “What’s going on? I demand you tell me the meaning of this! You’re cheating! You must be!” “Actually, I’m not.” The Doctor replied, calmly. “Zygon’s possess barbs in their palms, which once injected into something else’s flesh can stun, maim, or even kill them…it’s just a part of their anatomy.” “But, you’ve lost your creature in the process!” Eight shouted. “True,” he conceded. “But, so have you-we have two creatures remaining on our side of the field-you on the other hand, are completely defenseless.” “Not yet.” He snarled as Queen Chrysalis appeared on the board along with a mass of Changelings. “Hey, that’s cheating!” Button exclaimed. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” The Doctor commented as the Sontaran began blasting Changelings left and right with relative is. “Ha! This isn’t war-This is sport!” he exclaimed joyfully. Despite the deaths of their comrades, the Changelings continued to charge forward. Before it can reach Button’s upgrading Cyberman one is hit by a green blast. “EXTERMINATE!” A trio of other Changelings follow suit, only to be struck down by the Dalek in quick succession. At this point the Cyberman stood up. “Upgrade Complete.” It then aimed the blaster mounted on it wrist at the several remaining Changelings before deleting the rogue elements. “Only one left!” Button smirked confidently, looking towards the holographic Queen Chrysalis. “Yeah, we’ve got him on the ropes now!” Light added. “Right, Doctor? Doctor…?” He was gone. MotherIn the midst of the chaos on the battlefield distracting everyone from the Dalek he had summoned, The Doctor had taken the opportunity to slip away and finally begin his search for the boy’s mother. A quick scan with the Sonic Screwdriver confirmed his suspicion that there were in fact multiple secret passages through this bizarre structure coming and going in every direction with random dead ends and false entrances-it was a rat’s maze. ‘Much like Eight’s mind.’ he thought to himself. He lifted another floor panel and climbed into the tunnel it had been hiding, feeling like he was trying to squeeze himself into one of those tubes some fast food places had for kids to play in. The thought occurred to him that he could call out for her before realizing that he didn’t even know her name and lamented the fact that such information could have been invaluable had he thought to collect it beforehand. “Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.” He commented before feeling disheartened at the fact that no one else was around to hear it, much less appreciate the reference. As he pulled out his Screwdriver once again, he was able to lock onto the similarities between Button and his mother’s genetic codes thanks to his foresight to link him into the TARDIS telepathic circuit earlier-it would also make navigating this maze much less of a chore. The irony of his greatest nemesis being his greatest asset to buy time in this situation wasn’t lost on him either, the Dalek’s militaristic nature and unforgiving brutality would also ensure the kids’ safety for a while. Every duct he crawled through seemed to have a different color, as he reached a series of orange ones he began to wonder whether or not they were color-coded to help Eight get around when he was venturing through them. He examined the readings on his Screwdriver once again and was shocked to discover that the signal for the genetic code he had been tracking was now directly below him. The section of the duct he was in lurched along with his stomach as his heart leapt in his chest once it collapsed to the level below and kicking up a large dust cloud. As a result he let out a shocked gasp at this point, dust particles began floating into The Doctor’s oral cavity, sending him into a coughing fit as his lungs tried to expel the foreign objects forcing their way down his windpipe. Once the issue had been resolved, he noticed that coughs were still coming from another source that sounded a bit more feminine. He turned his head to see a tan mare with a light brown tail and mane, she also had the peculiar Cutie Mark of a pink heart with a bottle of baby formula over it-perhaps it had something to do with pediatrics? “Oh, hello.” Once the dust had cleared and she had finished hacking and wheezing, she removed the back of her hoof from her mouth and her eyes which had been squeezed shut, slowly opened up to reveal a pair of beautiful bright blue eyes. “Are you Button’s mother?” “I…yes, but who are you?” “Ah,” he stood up and held out his hoof for her to shake. “I’m The Doctor and I’ve come here to rescue you.” “Thanks but, I already broke out of the room that strange stallion had locked me in-WAIT!-where’s my SON!?-I swear, if he hurts my baby…” “He’s fine, the last time I checked he was with the owner of the arcade.” “Light?” she sighed. “Well, that’s a relief…she’s a good kid, responsible too-she reminds me of myself at her age.” “Yeah, but we should still hurry-we’ve managed to distract him by playing one of his twisted games-so I could sneak away and find you.” He replied. Button’s mother looked up at the large gap in the ventilation shaft that The Doctor had fallen through. “Give me a boost up.” She instructed. He picked her up and lifted her above him as she got a grip on the section of the vent he originally came through. She then grabbed his hooves and with some effort managed to pull him up. With two of them in there, the feeling of claustrophobia had increased even more. Although, given the fact that stallions were typically much larger than mares he found it quite impressive that she was able to pull him up so easily by her self given how petite and slender her body was in comparison. “Which way leads back?” she asked. “Hang on.” The Doctor once again pulled out his Screwdriver. “We take a left, a right, another left, and then there should be a secret floor panel directly above us that can be removed that should lead us back to the others…it would have been nice to know that earlier.” He muttered. “How do you know this?” she asked as she began crawling forward. “It’s my Sonic Screwdriver, I have it linked to my TARDIS in case of emergencies where we end up being separated.” He replied. “Your what?” “Never mind, I’ll explain later.” He lamented the fact that he didn’t have the foresight to be crawling in front as it became increasingly difficult not to stare at the flank in front of him. “Stupid male hormones.” He growled to himself in irritation. “What was that?” she called back to him. “Uh, nothing! Never mind!” he called back as his face flushed. The sooner this ordeal was over, the better. “So how did you find me, anyway?” “Well, when we were in the TARDIS and I was devising a way for Button and Light to defend themselves and distract Eight, so I could come and search for you, I was able to patch them both into it’s Telepathic Circuit, but at the same time it also analyzed their genetic codes-all I had to do was set my Sonic Screwdriver to scan for the closest proximity of any genetic codes that shared similarities with Button’s.” He explained. “That was pretty smart, but there was a comment you made earlier about the path being much more difficult when you came in…?” “Yes, what about it?” “Well, it seems pretty easy now-why is that?” “If I took an educated guess, I would have to say that this labyrinth is rigged on some sort of preset timer every hour, sections seem to rotate, if nothing else, Eight really seems to enjoy puzzles and mind games-a monument to his own insanity.” “So do you have any idea why he abducted you?” he asked. “Well, I had so many groceries I stopped at the house to drop them off, I had just finished putting all of the perishables in fridge when I found my son’s Joy Boy just lying there on the kitchen floor, which I found odd at the time as I knew for a fact that it wasn’t there earlier…I bent forward to pick it up before someone slapped a cloth over my face…I recognized Eight, shortly before passing out.” She replied. They then turned left. “So I take it that you knew him before all of this happened, then?” “Only in passing, I knew that he worked at the arcade under Light and well…other things.” She added, cautiously. “If you refer to the stalking, Light told me earlier.” “Good, because I don’t think this is about me or my son at all.” “I suspected as much.” The Doctor replied. “Wait, what do you mean?” “Aside from you, as far as I know I was the only who Light has ever told about the issues she was having with Eight-we’re close friends, since Button enjoys playing at the arcade so much.” She explained. They took a right. “So what are you saying?” “Well, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it-and this isn’t about us at all-it’s about Light.” She replied. “The only reason he wanted me was for a bargaining chip and Button was just extra insurance, he wants her.” That was when realization hit The Doctor, it was all obvious in hindsight-he knew something was off earlier-but, he had been so sidetracked with trying to locate and rescue Button’s mother that his mind didn’t piece it together. It made a certain amount of sense within the context of Eight’s insanity; if he still had feelings for Light that he knew would never be reciprocated, he wanted to force her into a relationship with him, but his twisted sense of morality saw the use of a love potion too distasteful and saw using a hostage situation more ethical. This gap in morality and circular logic was definitive proof that this stallion was not mentally well and encouraged him them to crawl faster as they took a final turn left. “That reminds me, I’ve forgot to ask you your name earlier…” “It’s-” A large explosion could be heard coming from above them as they exchanged worried glances before pushing the tile up. Game Over“Doctor?” Light asked, looking around for him before remembering the plan. “Button,” she whispered leaning in next to him. “The Doctor went to look for your mom; we have to distract Eight until he gets back.” Button nodded in agreement. “Kill them.” Eight hissed at the virtual Queen Chrysalis, seething with rage. “KILL THEM ALL!” She began charging emerald green magical energy from the tip of her horn before Button’s Cyberman seemed to vanish. A split-second later, it was behind Chrysalis grabbing her horn and pulling her head back while reaching around her neck; with its one free arm before placing it palm on her throat. The light blue emblem on its chest appeared to glow even brighter as electricity surged through Chrysalis’ body causing her to scream out in agony as she tried to shake it off. “NO!” Eight screamed in frustration. “Eight, why are you really doing this?” Light demanded. “Isn’t obvious?” he shouted. “All of this was something I’ve been working on for you!” “For…me?” She stammered, dumbstruck. “I built this simulation chamber from scratch years ago to help your arcade, to make you rich and famous beyond your wildest dreams!” he replied, as another strand of hair fell over his forehead. While she was deeply impressed and a little bit flattered only one word managed to come out of Light’s mouth; “Why?” “Because I loved you! I…still love you…and I wanted you to be happy and successful so we could be together.” He explained before his soft expression turned dark again. “But then, you caught me following you that night and fired me!” he shouted once again with spit flying from his mouth. Light raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And you believe that abducting this poor boy and his mother would somehow magically change my mind?” she asked. “If I couldn’t convince you to love me through conventional means,” he sighed. “Then I realized that I would have to force you to love me as your soft heart wouldn’t allow innocent people to get hurt on your account.” “What are you talking about?” she exclaimed. “I had no idea what was going on up until now! I just noticed that someone had been screwing around in my office before using the old secret passage to take off! I came here purely by chance to investigate who was vandalizing my workplace!” “A romantic surprise.” Eight grinned madly. “You really are insane.” She spoke in awe as she realized just how much danger they were truly in. The virtual Chrysalis was finally able to buck the Cyberman off of her causing it to fall backwards as it broke in half at the lower section of its torso before she crushed its head beneath one of her hind hooves. She then narrowed his gaze at Button and Light with a sadistic grin before slowly cantering towards them. Light was frozen with fear at the sight of the broken Cyberman and she had heard all about the horrible things that Changelings were capable of. Button on the other hand, was more focused on the Dalek as it pressed its plunger-like manipulator arm against a control panel on the wall, causing the red digits to change at an accelerated rate as Chrysalis advanced on them. “Don’t worry, sir!” The Sontaran stood between Light and Chrysalis defiantly. “I shall crush her skull like a berry and present you with a necklace from its fragmented remains as a trophy!” Chrysalis’ horn then lit up as the Sontaran raised his Rheon Carbine and tried firing at the Changeling but, all that came out was a series of clicks before he examined the barrel to see an eerie green glow. Cracks with a similar glow began spreading across the weapon as the Queen flashed a toothy grin at the confused alien, shortly before the weapon exploded with a blast of bright green magical energy that shone with such intensity, that is had caused both Button and Light to shield their eyes. “W-what happened?” Button stammered as broken pieces of armor and bits of burned Sontaran littered the battlefield. “Technology truly is an amazing, wondrous thing.” Eight chuckled before narrowing his gaze at them. “But, I’m afraid it’s nothing compared to the destructive capabilities of magic.” Light moved Button behind her, protectively. “So, what is it going to be Light?” Eight continued. “You could end all of this senseless violence now, simply by agreeing to become my bride.” He then flashed another psychotic, toothy grin. “Or are you perhaps still under the foolish preconceived notion that this ‘Doctor’ will swoop in at the last minute before any innocent blood can be shed?” Light merely glared back at the stallion with a look utter of disgust. “Alright then, have it your way.” He smirked with a dangerous gleam in his eye. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to kill a child.” Chrysalis lowered her head to aim her horn directly at the two of them as she began charging up another magical blast. The Dalek moved between the two of them to protect them as The Doctor had programmed it to before his departure. “What’s this?” Eight laughed. “Now that’s just sad! You’re last line of defense is a mobilized trash can!” The Dalek then aimed its gunstick at Chrysalis’ horn. “EXTERMINATE!” Both beams collided with each other in a struggle between magical and technological warfare. At that moment a tile on the floor popped open as both The Doctor and Button’s mother crawled out. “WHAT THE HELL!?” Eight screamed once again in another fit of shock and frustration. “WHERE DID SHE COME FROM? I THOUGHT I HAD HER LOCKED IN THE CELLAR!” “ACTIVATE GENESIS ARC!” The Dalek exclaimed as it continued its power struggle with Chrysalis. A ship roughly the size of the Dalek, but slightly taller emerged from the floor behind the Changeling as it opened, releasing another Dalek into the arena. Another appeared before following suit and moving to the opposite side, before the third and final one emerged, stopping behind Chrysalis. The trio simultaneously raised their gunsticks at her. “MAXIMUM EXTERMINATE!” They all exclaimed in unison before firing at her, causing her to howl in agony as the bright flashes of green light exposed her skeletal structure before crumpling to the floor. Stone Cold“NO! T-THAT”S NOT FAIR!” Eight screamed, slumping to the floor. “Y-YOU CHEATED!” “No, we merely played by your rules.” The Doctor replied, authoritatively. “BUTTON!” His mother exclaimed as she ran towards him while The Doctor and Eight watched. “MOM!” he shouted. “You’re okay!” “What did that thing do?” Eight demanded, looking back at The Doctor. “Oh, didn’t I mention?” he replied. “Daleks are geniuses they can cycle through thousands of potential combinations in seconds, making hacking into your system child’s play.” “And what it that thing the others crawled out of?” “It’s a called a ‘Genesis Ark’, we Time Lords devised it to be used as a prison ship during The Last Great Time War-the Daleks named it-not us, by the way. As you’ve probably noticed it also utilizes that same transdimensional technology as my TARDIS, effectively making it bigger on the inside than the outside.” The Doctor explained. “In fact, it can and has carried at least a thousand Daleks.” “Then why…?” Eight began. “Did I program the Dalek to release just three?” The Doctor finished. “Simple, I may have been playing by your rules but I still have a sense of sportsmanship-there are four of us, so I’ve decided that it would be fair to limit it to one Daleks per player; Light, Button, his mother, and myself.” “What are you going to do?” Eight asked timidly, looking at all four Daleks remaining on the field, still completely intact. “Well, you’ve kidnapped a grown mare and created a hostage situation in an attempt to get into a relationship with a mare whom you are obviously obsessed with to a dangerously unhealthy degree.” The Doctor replied. “Besides, it’s you’re game and you have no creatures left on your side of the field-you know what happens next.” Eight squeezed his eyes shut as he whimpered while Button, his mother, and Light all looked to The Doctor, uncertain if he would actually go through with the deadliest aspect required to secure victory in this game. The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at the Daleks before it whirred to life as the blue node at the tip lit up, causing them to dematerialize. Despite himself, Eight’s curiosity compelled him to open his eyes. In the Dalek’s place stood a tall stone statue with feathered wings, the bizarre statue had its clawed hands cupped over its eyes as if it were weeping. “Is that it?” he laughed as relief washed over him. “You’re giving me a lawn ornament?” “Quite the contrary,” The Doctor replied confidently. “This is actually a living creature known as a ‘Weeping Angel’.” Eight gave him a curious look. “As I’ve said earlier; I am not an unsporting man.” The Doctor continued. “And even when playing by your rules, I still find the concept of four Daleks against one man extremely unfair-the name ‘Weeping Angel’ is actually a misnomer as they aren’t weeping at all.” “Then why is it covering its eyes?” Button’s mother asked timidly as she held her son close to her protectively. “They’re Quantum-locked.” He explained casually. “The precise moment that they are observed by another living being they freeze up into stone as a defensive mechanism, however that also means that they can’t bear to look at each other, either earning them the nickname ‘The Lonely Assassins.’” “Doctor…what does that thing do?” Light asked darting between him and the statue uneasily. “They feed off of potential energy, killing their victims ‘mercifully’ by dropping them off somewhere in the past to live out the rest of their lives while the energy of the time and experiences they would have had is effectively fed off of or ‘absorbed’ by the angel.” He replied. “W-what am I supposed to do?” Eight whimpered fearfully as he continued to stare at the stone creature which had appeared to have moved a considerable few feet closer since in the brief second he had glance at The Doctor. Its clawed fingers were reaching towards him with a frozen snarl upon its lips, revealing its sharp fangs. “When confronted by a Weeping Angel, there are only two things that you can do.” Eight’s ears perked up at this. “First, don’t ever let it touch you.” The Doctor replied in a deadly serious tone. “A-and the second?” Eight pressed desperately. “Don’t turn your head, don’t look away, and above all; don’t blink-not even for a second-blink and you’re dead.” Eight gulped before letting out yet another cowardly whimper as his ears flattened against his skull and his heart sped up, his eyes were already bloodshot as they watered and burned. In his peripheral vision he could make out The Doctor and his companions making their way back to the TARDIS. “NO! WAIT!” he called out reaching towards them in a panic. “PLEASE! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!” It was at that moment he realized that as he was begging he had averted his gaze, something that he became painfully aware of as he felt something cold and hard grip his neck in a split-second before the arcade around him disappeared. He then felt very cold and clammy as he could feel energy leaving his life, this thing was draining him like some kind of leech and he immediately regretted the extreme realism he had programmed into the game. Anyone else would have questioned the creature’s ability in this particular format, but he designed the game specifically to tailor to creatures unique abilities to offer him the experience of seeing these creatures end life firsthand. The irony was not lost on him as the last thing he experienced was the sensation that he was falling. The Parting of the Ways“Doctor, you didn’t really let that thing kill him-did you?” Light asked nervously once they re-entered the TARDIS. “Don’t worry,” he replied reassuringly. “He’s still alive-just in another timeline-think of it as a second chance for him to become a better person.” “Okay,” Light leaned against a wall of the TARDIS. “That’s all well and good, but what about this huge freakin’ area behind the arcade?” “Simple, I’ve reprogrammed the whole system to be non-lethal so all you have to do is start making a hole in the wall and install a door and call it an ‘addition to the arcade.’” He replied. “And the labyrinth?” she pressed. “You’ve never heard of laser tag?” he shot back. “Heh, you have an answer for everything-don’t you?” “Just about!” he quipped as he moved towards the TARDIS control panel. Button’s mother had retrieved her purse from the floor of the arcade and Button was playing on his Joy Boy. After ensuring that everyone and their personal belongings were inside, he set the TARDIS coordinates to materialize just outside of the arcade so Light could get some rest and Button and his mother could finally get on their way home. “Doctor, what are you doing now?” Light asked, noticing him fiddling with the control panel. “I’m taking everyone home.” He replied. The TARDIS came to life as it began to dematerialize, leaving the Eight’s secret area behind the arcade completely empty. Glancing back at the others, he couldn’t help but feel a little shocked at how well they were taking everything that had happened in the past few hours. Light was still leaning against a wall of the TARDIS as The Doctor couldn’t help but draw connections between her and the attitudes and personality of other companions he’d had like her in the past. One thing that set her apart from most teens like her that he’d seen in Equestria was that she genuinely cared about Button and worried about him like a big sister, the exact opposite of most others who merely saw the child that they were supposed to be watching as a means to an end. Button’s mother was sifting through her purse, making sure everything was still inside from before Eight stole it now that she knew that her son was safe. Button was playing on his Joy Boy, completely enthralled by the game-seemingly completely unfazed by the events that had transpired earlier. Normally this would have caused some alarm, but he supposed that after living in Ponyville for their entire lives (specifically the past three years) it seemed as though they have gotten use to all of these crises and bizarre events, learning to block them out or forget about them when all is said and done. He had to admit that he was slightly envious, after over nine-hundred years of travel through time and space this was not an ability had had been able to master. Once they had reached their destination, The Doctor snapped back to the present. “Alright, rides over-everybody off!” he announced as Light pushed the door open to as Button’s mother followed her outside, followed by her son who was still distracted by his videogame. It was dark out, with the only illumination coming from the stars above in the cloudless night. Button’s mother turned to him, still wearing what he could have sworn to be a seductive expression with half-lidded bedroom eyes…was this the way she normally looked? Then again, he supposed it didn’t really matter as long as they were all safe and now he could finally get some rest. “Well, I suppose you two will be headed home now-Button…Button’s mother.” He added, remembering that he never asked her name. “Thank you for taking care of my son.” She replied, “Come on sweetie.” taking her son by the hoof and practically dragging him back home as his legs barely moved with him being so caught up on his hoofheld device. He then turned back to Light, seeing her yawn and stretch. “Well, it’s been a real long day…and an even longer night.” She commented, tiredly. “I’d better hit the hay too, the arcade is still open tomorrow at the same time…girl’s gotta make a living after all.” She then took out her keys to unlock the door to the arcade. “Wait, you actually live in here?” The Doctor asked. “Yeah, this place was my grandad’s and the arcade was kinda built around it so I still have a bed, bathroom, kitchen, same things you find in a normal house-it’s just built around the back so it doesn’t distract anyone…it would probably seem out of place if you’re in a room filled with arcade games and claw machines before walking into a kitchen.” She turned to look at The Doctor. “You should probably get some rest, too.” “That’s a good idea,” he replied turning to leave. “Goodnight.” The Game“Let me get this straight…” The Doctor began, massaging the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. “You are threatened by having your high score on some video game-” “Alicorn Assault!” “Right, whatever-to the point where you’ve abducted his mother to lure him here so you can beat him in a video game to prove the superiority of your skills in a room completely isolated from the outside world to the point where you’re willing to kill to prove it-aforementioned room being isolated from the arcade with only one entrance which said young boy, may or may not have ever found, let alone known about the abduction of his mother.” The Doctor continued. Eight’s eye twitched as he glared at The Doctor. “What’s you point?” “My point is that none of this makes any sense, I realize you’re completely mad, but someone who has designed all of this couldn’t possibly be this stupid.” Light gave him a quizzical look. “Doctor, what are you saying?” “I’m saying that Eight-Bit either has some ulterior motive he’s not telling us about, or he’s actually what he seems; just a two-bit wannabe criminal mastermind who has read far too many comic books.” “ENOUGH!” Eight stomped his hoof. “Are you willing to play the game or not?” “W-what are the rules?” Button asked timidly. “There rules are simple.” He replied, grinning sadistically. “I’ll allow all three of you to play against me simultaneously since you two seem to be in the mindset that someone of my tenure battling an eight-year old prodigy alone is ‘unfair’.” “Against all of us?” Light replied, smirking. “Well, well, looks like someone’s gotten cocky from the last time we met-before you couldn’t even beat me in a simple Pong match!” Button looked up quizzically at The Doctor. “What’s Pong?” Eight merely smirked back at her. “We’ll see. The game has an advanced piece of technology which I was able to scavenge which I like to call the ‘Telepathic Circuit’ we summon creatures from our minds-real or fictional-to battle each other.” “Alright, this might actually be pretty fun!” Light commented optimistically. “Yeah!” Button added. “That sounds cool!” “And when one has no creatures remaining; their lives will be terminated by the opposing player’s creatures.” He finished. The positive attitudes of the two gamers disappeared and their faces dropped at this revelation. “B-but, you’ll still let my mom go-right?” Button stammered. “Ha, ha, no.” he chuckled in response. “But, you said-” “I said I’d release her if you win; if I win then that means that all of you die and I know what happens when someone gets between a mother and her child-could you imagine what a mother whose Cutie Mark is a heart and a bottle of formula would do to the murderer of her child?” he asked rhetorically. While Button could only stand there horrified, the two other adults shot him a death glare. “No, I think I’ll just let her rot…unless of course you win-in that case I’ll release the mare-and one of you may be lucky enough to experience the joy a taking a life.” He continued flashing a toothy grin. The Doctor regarded him with a dirty look before gesturing for his two companions to follow him into the TARDIS. “Are you running away?” Eight asked condescendingly. “On the contrary; my associates and I are going to have small group chat somewhere free of prying eyes and any possible bugs.” The Doctor replied. “Are you calling me a cheater?” Eight replied, feigning offense. “Not at all.” The Doctor replied coolly. “I merely implied it.” And with that the three of them entered the TARDIS. “It’s…bigger on the inside!” Light exclaimed in awe upon entry.” “Thank you, Light!” The extremely pleased Doctor replied before turning to Button. “At least someone is willing to humor an old man.” “So what’s the plan?” Light asked. “Yeah,” Button added. “And why are we back in here? “I’ll explain in a moment, but first give me your Game Boy.” “WHAT? NO!” Button shouted, holding the portable gaming device away from The Doctor as if he were a bully on the school playground trying to take a piece of candy from him. “And it’s called a ‘Joy Boy’!” Button corrected in an annoyed tone. The Doctor merely rolled his eyes at this before gesturing for the duo to follow him the lower level of the TARDIS. “Fine, we’ll do this the hard way then.” He replied, pulling a large black wire out of a ceiling console with a small gold prong on the end. “Give me your hoof.” He instructed. “Why? Button asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “I’m going to patch the two of you into the TARDIS telepathic circuit… midway through the game I’ll sneak off and see if I can find and save your mother-that is if he is telling the truth about her still being alive.” He added which earned him a disapproving look from Light. “I-is it gonna hurt?” Button asked timidly, fortunately seeming to be more focused on his anxiety toward the sharp, pointed foreign object The Doctor wanted to put in the bottom of his hoof, rather than the comment of his mother possibly being deceased. “Not one bit.” The Doctor replied confidently as the colt gave held out his hoof as instructed before feeling a sharp prick. “OW!” “See? I lied.” Light was leaning against a wall with her legs crossed in a manner reminiscent of Twilight Sparkle’s friend Applejack. As Button moved aside, massaging his hoof-Light gave The Doctor hers as he repeated the process. “So how will being telepathically linked help us?” she pressed. “For centuries I have traveled through time and space-in all of that time I have seen things more wondrous and horrifying than most people could ever imagine-and they are going to help us get out of this.” He replied, narrowing his gaze at her. Before she could ask The Doctor what he was talking about images of strange creatures began flashing before their eyes. A strange metallic bi-pedal creature with vacant, hollowed out sockets where its eyes should have been-marching toward him. Light saw what appeared to be some form of short potato creature wearing blue armor and a carrying some kind of weapon. They both snapped back to reality as soon as The Doctor pushed the door of the TARDIS open, to see Eight still standing in the exact same spot, still wearing that malicious grin. Appearing before them was a grid of dark red panels, Light stood on the far right of the panel on their side, while The Doctor took the far left, and Button stood between them. “So how exactly does this work?” asked Light, examining the grid before them. “I mean, how are we supposed to get these things on the field? Who goes first?” Eight-Bit’s gaze shifted over to The Doctor. “I think it would only be fair if we let the old man, go first.” The Doctor scoffed at this, “Be careful, with age comes wisdom-and I’ve lived hundreds of you lifetimes.” Appearing before him at this statement was a very odd and obscure creature that neither Button nor Light had seen when being integrated back in the TARDIS. It was a bi-pedal humanoid with suction-cups covering its head, arms, and torso, and deeply inset face. “What the hell is that!?” Light demanded, noting the barbs on the creature’s palms. “It’s a Zygon.” The Doctor replied casually, “Amphibious, metamorphic humanoids from the planet ‘Zygor’.” Button and Light exchanged glances before looking over at Eight, who merely shrugged. Button picked up his Joy Boy to see a character roster on the screen of the creatures that had flashed through his head back on the ship-one in particular caught his eye-it gave him a creepy feeling, but at the same time it looked kind of cool. It was yet another bi-pedal creature that appeared to be completely made up of some type of shiny, silver metallic armor with hollowed-out eye sockets and a glowing blue plate on its torso. “Cool!” Button exclaimed as the creature stood there motionlessly, staring blankly ahead. “That’s it?” Eight asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “A suit of armor?” “Negative.” The machine spoke in its traditional monotone. “We are Cybermen.” It looked directly ahead at the stallion. “You have been designated a ‘rogue element’ by the Cyber Planner-all rogue elements shall be DELETED.” It recited. “Cyber Planner?” Button repeated, looking up at The Doctor. “The leader of the Cybermen,” he explained. “In this case-that means you.” “Awesome!” The closest anyone could come to describing the creature appearing before Light was a baked potato with legs-its features were also deep set with three digits on each hand (two fingers and a thumb)-it was wearing blue combat armor and wielding a Rheon Carbine sidearm. “What-” Button began before The Doctor cut him off. “Sontaran, militaristic clone batch-they live for war and victory takes precedence above all else for them-even their own lives.” “So I chose well then.” Light grinned. “That’s it?” Eight laughed. “A Starfish, a walking, talking suit of armor, and a baked potato with legs? Child’s play!” A five headed creature with snake-like necks leading down to a large dragon-like body and two stubby legs towered above the trio. “It’s…” Button began. “A Hydra…” Light finished as they looked up at it in horror. A New Nightmare Begins...Upon re-entering the TARIDS, The Doctor barely made it to the control panel before passing out as his head slammed against a lever, pushing it upward. When he awoke, birds could be heard chirping as he looked at the monitor showing the area outside. It was daytime now, about mid-day as he noticed a large grassy hill outside merely a few feet from his location. Between them appeared to be an odd hunk of metal that seemed to be damaged in some manner as a chunk of it appeared to be broken and burned. He ran outside to get a closer look at the object. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out his pair of tortoise shell framed glasses and put them on to get a better look at it before examining it. It gave him familiar feeling, a bad feeling… But, it couldn’t possibly be, could it? Pulling out her Screwdriver, the blue node once again lit up as it whirred to life as he scanned it to analyze the objects make-up before examining the readings. He then had to do a double-take, there was no way these reading could have been accurate it just wasn’t possible… To be one hundred percent certain he brought the large chunk of metal to his mouth before touching it with the tip of his tongue. Against all odds, there it was. Picking it up, he ran back to the TARDIS. This was bad, very, very, BAD. Twilight and the others had to be warned; they had to be stopped before production was in full swing. TO BE CONTINUED… The Doctor will return in; “The Scrapyard”
Closing Time“Pew! Pew! Take that! Stupid Dragon!” Button Mash was sitting on wooden stool at the Ponyville arcade known as ‘The HUB’ playing ‘Alicorn Assault’ where you played as Princess Celestia and you had to defend Equestria from attacks by Dragons, Griffons, Shadowbolts, and various other airborne threats by shooting magical horn lasers. This was his last Bit and he was only on Level 12, sweat poured from his brow as his tongue stuck out of his mouth as he re-reached the boss for the ninth consecutive time. Button’s mother had to grocery shopping and various other errands to run, when he remembered that he had left his Joy Boy at home-he wanted to go back to get it, but his mother refused insisting that he needed more social interaction with others if he was ever going to get anywhere in life. He had to kill the Necro Dragon this time, it was his last chance and the fate of all Equestria rested squarely on his shoulders. Reluctantly after begging and pleading from her son, as well as being fully aware that if she didn’t indulge him at least a little he would moan and groan the whole time about how he was bored and nag her about when they could go home so he could get back to his videogames, she gave him twenty Bits with the assumption that it would keep him busy for a few hours-and even if it didn’t, his unhealthy obsession would probably drive him to beg for change from other kids his age at the arcade. The 8-Bit behemoth released a fire ball from its mouth, which split into five as he tried to maneuver Celestia to fly upwards in order to avoid the attack, unfortunately he flew a little too high as the fire ball in the arc above it clipped her wing, causing the character to flash red before plummeting to the ground as the red pixilated words ‘GAME OVER’ mocked him from the black screen. Button reached down for another Bit before remembering that he’d just used up the last of his coins and let out an exasperated groan before slouching forward in defeat until his head slammed down onto the console. “Ow.” It wasn’t until this point that he realized how tired he was…his eyes were burning from staring at nothing but, a screen filled with bright colors and flashing lights in an otherwise dark environment. There wouldn’t be any harm in resting his eyes for just a few minutes…would there? “Hey, hey, kid!” A female voice faintly echoed through his mind as it returned him to the world of consciousness. “Mmmh, Mom?” he mumbled groggily. “I’m not read to go to school yet, just two more hours…” Button’s eyes slowly opened to see the manager of the arcade; Light Gun, she was a young mare in her early twenties with a pale yellow coat and a blue mane tied back in a ponytail and wearing a white shirt with a sleeveless blue vest and ID card which hung around her neck for newcomers to the arcade. “No,” she laughed before her voice returned to her normal, gentle tone. “Sorry, sweetie I didn’t want to wake you, but the arcade’s closing now and I’d kinda like to go home.” He liked her, she was always nice to him and sometimes gave him tips and hints whenever he was stuck on a particular game, since she’d mastered them all before she got bored with them and had the epiphany to open up an arcade instead of throwing her old games out. Wait…closing? “It’s nine-thirty already!?” he shrieked, alarm bells going off in his head. “Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?” Button got up from his stool and began heading for the exit, he couldn’t believe he’d slept so long and his mom would be so mad…actually, come to think of it shouldn’t she have come back to pick him up a few hours ago? He hoped nothing happened to her. “Oomph!” Before he could contemplate the possibilities that may have caused this situation, his train of thought was interrupted as he bumped into someone, knocking him to the floor. “Oh, sorry about that.” The voice had an accent to it and Button briefly wondered if the stallion before him was from Canterlot, he was wearing a blue suit with a red necktie and a brown overcoat. “No, I’m sorry…” Button replied adjusting his beanie propeller. “I was…distracted. Wait, what are you doing here anyway? The arcade’s closing.” “I’m investigating.” “Investigating what?” he asked, wondering if this guy was some kind of super detective. “Something about this place doesn’t feel right…” the stallion replied, examining the room. “Do you want to help me search for clues?” “Sorry mister, I’d like too but, I’ve gotta find my mom-she should’ve been here to pick me up hours ago…” “Well, why don’t we team up and search together?” he suggested. “Perhaps whatever is going on here and her absence are somehow connected?” Button mulled it over and he had to admit that teaming up would make a lost of sense and make searching much quicker and more effective like in those games where you play a war commander and you delegated tasks to your troops and the more of them you sent together, the more effective they were as a team. “You’ve got a deal, mister.” “Brilliant!” he exclaimed, happily. “What’s your name, by the way?” “Button Mash!” he replied, enthusiastically. “Solving a mystery-this is gonna be so cool! Just like the ‘Doctor Standton’ games!” “I’m The Doctor.” “Doctor Who?” “Just ‘The Doctor’.” “Why?” “Because that’s what they call me.” “Who?” “People in general.” “Why?” Button repeated. “Well, because I-look, they just do, alright?” “Okay…” he conceded, still very confused. “But, my mom isn’t going to be too happy about me talking to a complete stranger and solving mysterious with him.” “I’m not a stranger-I just told you who I am!” “You told me you were a doctor, that’s not your name-that’s an occupation.” He pointed out. The Doctor slapped a hoof to his face in exasperation. “Look, time is probably of the essence, so we should probably start searching for clues now; Allons-y!”
Field Trip“So seriously, is ‘The Doctor’ like a gamertag or something?” The Doctor didn’t seem to hear him as he pulled a silver instrument with a blue node at the tip out of his coat with his teeth before pressing a button on the side causing it to light up and emit an alien whirring sound as he waved it around the room. “Oh, cool!” Button exclaimed hopping in placing excitedly. “Is that some kind of alien probe you won from a tournament or something?” “It’s a Thonic Thcrewdrivuh.” He replied through clenched teeth, trying to answer the young colt’s inquiries while keeping the Screwdriver steady between his teeth. “Wow, that’s a pretty fancy name they gave for a flashlight…” Button commented. “So where did you get it from?” “I built it.” The Doctor replied matter-of-factly. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to hold it with your hoof? I mean, wouldn’t that hurt your teeth after a while with pressing down on something so hard like that? I played the new ‘Pony Kombat’ game last week and it’s really fun, but the ‘Kombos’ are super hard to pull off…especially the ‘Brutalities’ and the final boss was super cheap so it took me three whole days to beat him and I never thought my hooves would stop hurting, but it was totally worth it when I told all my friends at school and Sweetie Belle was so impressed…” The Doctor stopped walking and took the Screwdriver out of his mouth. “Button, video games can be fun and a good way to relieve stress after a bad day, but there’s more to life than pixels on a screen.” “Most new games on home consoles are cel-shaded.” Button replied, coolly. “Look, you’re missing the point-all of the adventures you have in your games, fighting aliens, monsters, and giant robots-all of the far off places you can travel to in space and time, what if you could really experience all of this things in real life?” “You sound like my Mom.” He deadpanned. “What if I told you that there was a way that I could let experience all of those things?” “Yeah, right….” Button cocked an eyebrow. “Wait a minute, how did you know something was wrong before you even got here?” “I’m a Time Lord-I can feel these things in my bones.” “And I’m just supposed to forget about finding my Mom and whatever is going on around this arcade just to go with you somewhere?” The colt challenged. “No.” The Doctor walked over to a wall between to of the arcade machines. “Do you see this wall?” “Yeah?” The Doctor gave a few heavy knocks on it. “It’s a fake but, it’s reinforced to keep people from stumbling through it which can only mean one of two things; either it was designed by someone very intelligent to build something like this and keep it hidden from the owner or a very powerful unicorn.” “So you can’t get through it?” asked Button, disappointed. “Not with the Sonic.” He replied, “But, there is another way…” “What’s that?” The Doctor merely looked at him and smiled. “Follow me.” As they left the arcade, Button’s anxiety grew as he realized that not only was it dark out, but Luna’s full moon was already high in the night sky bathing the streets of Ponyvillle with its silvery glow. They turned to an alley between the arcade and the garage mechanic one of Sweetie Belle’s friends went to on occasion to get her scooter fixed. Before them stood a wooden blue box with double door with a window pane on each and some kind of light on top of it, above the doors read; ‘POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX’, below the pane on the left door had a note which read; POLICE TELEPHONE FREE FOR USE OF PUBLIC ADVICE & ASSISTANCE OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY OFFICERS & CARS RESPON TO ALL CALLS PULL TO OPEN And on the right was a large sticker with a symbol he didn’t recognize with words circling around it which read; ST. JOHN AMBULANCE. It was easily the strangest thing Button had ever seen in his short life (and being a resident of Ponyville, that was saying a lot.) He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he had seen and been in an outhouse at Sweet Apple Acres during cider season when he had severely overestimated the strength of his bladder after chugging down the sweet nectar of the Apple family’s labor-it was not a pleasant experience-it stunk worse than anything he ever could have imagined and the dry summer heat had only made the stench worse. Maybe this was a special kind of outhouse from the Griffon Kingdom or something and The Doctor just considered it ‘special’ because it was foreign. “Like it?” he asked, leaning up against it with a toothy grin. “It’s an outhouse.” “WHAT!?” The Doctor asked, completely flabbergasted by this response. “It’s a small wooden box with doors on it with enough room to fit one, maybe two ponies inside it-it’s an outhouse…and I’ve had a bad experience with outhouses.” He replied, sitting back on his flank and crossing his arms. “I swear you and Applejack…” He sighed before pushing the right door open to reveal a large room with a Coral desktop and what appeared to be a large tube in the center fill with what appeared to be some type of blue-green liquid or energy surrounded by a control panel covered in various buttons, knobs, gauges, and levers as well as what appeared to be some kind of bell with a small wooden mallet connected to it with a cord. “It’s…” Button began as he stumbled inside, completely mesmerized by what he saw. “Yes?” The Doctor pressed expectantly, waiting for his favorite comment from new visitors inside the TARDIS. “Not an outhouse…” Once again, The Doctor slapped a hoof to his face in exasperation. “No,” he replied. “This is called a ‘TARDIS’ which is an acronym for ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space’, it is my home, time machine, ship and my ‘Sexy’ constant companion.” “What?” asked the confused eight year-old. “Never mind.” He sighed. “So who took my Mom?” asked Button. “And why?” “That,” The Doctor replied, operating one of the TARDIS’ levers. “Is what we are going to find out.” The machine seemed to come to life as there was a sound which Button could only imagine what a key scraping against piano wire must have sounded like before there was the sound of a deafening thud. “W-what happened?” he asked, as he desperately tried to stand with the jelly feeling in his legs fighting him. “We’ve arrived.” “Arrived where?” “On the other side of the wall.” He then noticed Button struggling. “Don’t worry about that, it’s very common for the first trip-especially among smaller passengers-just give it a few minutes and that jelly feeling should go away.” “But, uh…Doctor? How did we get on the other side of the wall?” He stopped to look at him. “What part of ‘spaceship time machine’ did you not understand?”
8-BitOnce they stepped outside of the TARIDS, Button immediately noticed that the room on the other side of the wall was much darker and larger than the arcade reminiscent to that of a nightmare he once had after Scootaloo told him a ghost story about some kind of special Pegasus factory. The Doctor took notice of this and reassured the young colt. “Don’t worry, stick with me and you’ll be safe, so long as you don’t wander off…bad things always happen when people wander off…” His train of thought was interrupted as an ear-piercing screech filled the air as they looked up to see a griffon with grey battle armor diving towards them swinging a flail. “GET DOWN!” The Doctor shouted as he dove to the side, pushing Button out of the way. The spiked ball crashed into the ground, creating a large crater in the dark tiled floor. He quickly pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver before turning around and aiming it at the creature as it once again flew towards them when it froze in mid-flight. “Hey, that’s Gryfor the Crusher!” Button announced excitedly. “Who?” “He’s the first boss in ‘Alicorn Assault’!” The Doctor gave the colt a quizzical look before stepping towards what was apparently ‘Gryfor’ to scan it with his Screwdriver. “What are you doing?” “Imaginative name for a video game character,” The Doctor deadpanned before the blue node at the tip once again lit up with the same whirring sound as before when he waved it over the griffon; “My Screwdriver should only work like this on electronics or those powered by magic.” “So it’s not real?” Button asked curiously. “Well, yes and no.” The Doctor replied gesturing to the crater that the flail had made. “He’s definitely dangerous, but he’s also not living-at least not in the sense that you and me are.” “So he’s a zombie!?” The colt shrieked with fear and a twinge of excitement. “No.” He replied, examining the readings on his Screwdriver. While he was relieved to hear this, Button was also just the slightest bit disappointed to hear the news. “It’s-” “A series of small machines, magically powered to form an intricate synthetic life form.” A female voice explained. They both looked up to see a familiar young mare emerging from a passage that led up from underground. “Nano-technology, right.” The Doctor confirmed watching Light approach them. “Or, Nanites to be more specific.” He added to button. “Light!” Button exclaimed excitedly before stopping. “Wait…how did you get here?” “There’s a secret passage my friends and I would always run through to play when we were kids back when this was my granddad’s shop before we renovated the place in my office.” Button turned back to The Doctor with his mouth agape. “You told me there was no other way to get in here!” he shouted. “Yes…well, just because I know about that at the time doesn’t mean I was lying to you.” He countered. “Then why couldn’t your magic flashlight find it?” he asked suspiciously. “He probably just wanted to show off that fancy blue box of his.” Light commented smirking. “The trapdoor must have been made of wood!” he replied defensively, looking to Light for confirmation. “My Screwdriver doesn’t work on wood!” “Yeah, right.” Button scoffed. “You’re a big liar.” The Doctor pulled Light over to the side out of earshot from Button. “Do you have and idea what’s going on here or who’s behind this?” “Yes, there was an employee that worked her named Eight-Bit we were friends since we were kids, so when I spruced the place up and found that I couldn’t take on everything myself I gave him first dibs on a job opening I had repairing the arcade machines, he was a genius when it came to building and fixing electronics but….” “But, what?” “But, he became a little too obsessed with these games talking about actually placing someone in a game.” “Virtual reality?” “No, he said real games with real stakes-pain, hunger, thirst, death-all of it was real, of course at that point I realized he had gone of the deep end and fired him, he had more that a few choice words for me which I won’t repeat in front of Button along with a few death threats before he was arrested for disturbing the peace and after a full psychiatric evaluation-it turned out he really was insane-I hadn’t heard of anything from him since then.” “What did he look like?” “The last time I saw him? Very bony, with dark circles around his eyes…I think he was also an insomniac, so he never really complained when something would break down at odd hours of the night over the weekend, he’s a unicorn-so he’s got a horn obviously-made kick-starting the machines easy, since all it took with him was a single magical spark. He’s eyes are grey and his coat is a pale yellow and he has a greasy black mane that would always be curtained over his face on one side or another…he also had a large amount of stubble on his chin, no matter how many times I asked him to shave.” “Other than that did have any disciplinary problems, causing disruptions at school or at work, inability or unwillingness to follow directions, issues with authority-those kind of things?” Light put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Well, now that you mention it…he never really said or did anything to anyone before that, but he was always giving customers dirty looks, we had other friends when we were younger but as we grew up, we sort of just…drifted apart.” “Have you had any issues of harassment with him?” “Well, I-” she stopped before giving him a look. “Just what does that have to do with anything?” “Everything, I want to know exactly who and what were dealing with before we head any further and I don’t want any nasty surprises or have you or that little boy’s life put at risk and why he decided to abduct that poor boy’s mother-now, please answer the question.” She averted her gaze. “Yes, two weeks before I fired him I caught him stalking me.” “Why didn’t you fire him on the spot?” “Because I gave him a warning, telling him that if I ever caught him doing it again that would be the end of his employment and our friendship.” “Did you tell the authorities when they arrested him?” “OF COURSE NOT!” she shouted, causing Button to glance back at them before returning to his inspection of the dark floor. “Sorry.” she sighed, running a hoof through her mane. “They could tell I was hiding something, but for whatever reason they decided to leave it alone-I guess they realized it had to be something really embarrassing to keep my mouth shut through hours of interrogation.” “I don’t understand, why would anyone think any less of you for being stalked?” “Because I work at an arcade parents trust me and believe in my moral character enough that they’re willing to leave their children alone with me to watch over while they run errands or work late…if they found out I was being stalked, they would start second-guessing me; thinking that I’m fooling around with colts when I’m supposed to be looking after their children or even in front of them-” “Light,” The Doctor put a hoof on her shoulder. “Take a deep breath, relax. I promise I will never tell anyone your secret without your consent.” “How do I know you’re trustworthy?” she asked, suspiciously. “You’re just going to have to take that on faith, but I’ll have you know that I myself have many secrets; including one which I plan on taking to the grave.” Any doubts she may have had at that point evaporated once she heard his solemn tome and saw the deadly seriousness in his tone. “Okay…” “HEY! GUYS! I FOUND MY JOY BOY!” Button exclaimed, waving the portable gaming console in the air to show the two adults. “Button, where did you find this?” asked The Doctor. Button pointed to the floor. “Right there, in my Mom’s purse!” he stopped cold. “But, I thought I left it at home…” His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of static as a holographic image appeared matching Eight-Bits description, only he was wearing a filthy, shredded straight-jacket with the Cutie Mark of a few black, brown, red, orange, and yellow pixels on his flank, his tail was as greasy as his mane, his fore hooves where concealed in the loosened sleeves of the jacket, dragging along the floor as he walked, and his hind hooves were chipped, cracked, and covered in filth. Despite this being just a holographic projection, The Doctor could swear that he could smell grime on this guy (wherever he was) just from where they were standing. “Well, well, well, it’s about time your miniscule brains started to figure things out.” He commented, condescendingly. “And this boy managed reach level twelve?” he shook his head while chuckling darkly. “Hard to believe a twerp like this is my intellectual equal…” the one visible eye that was un-curtained by his mane glanced towards The Doctor and Light before cryptically adding; “Almost.” “Eight-” Light began before The Doctor cut her off by stepping in front of her. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN THIS BOYS MOTHER? AND WHY HAVEN’T YOU COME DOWN HERE YOURSELF?” he shouted furiously. “Simple enough; ‘Alicorn Assault’ is the greatest, toughest arcade game currently in existence, no one has ever beaten in the game, not creator and not the original beta testers, I myself have worked tediously, day and night after Light’s rejection to achieve the goal that would make me a legend-but, once I was fired, arrested, and banned from the arcade for my revolutionary ideals, I had hoped to complete my Augmented Reality masterpiece, confident that none would reach level thirteen before I finished my magnum opus…but, then this little brat came along!” he snarled, with spittle flying from his mouth. “So that’s what this is all about?” The Doctor demanded. “You’re going to abduct a young boy’s mother to lure him into this room so you can kill him, so he can’t what-beat your high score?” “Of course not, there’s more to it than that.” He growled. “Then by all means; enlighten us.” “I designed this Augmented Reality room, but it hasn’t been properly tested.” “Then why don’t you do it yourself and leave innocent people out of this?” “I’m trying to tell you it’s not that simple!” he replied, with his voice rising in volume. “I created it and I know all of the Ins and Outs, it would be no challenge for me to play, but I need to see if the setup is correct for the uninitiated, for someone to challenge my intellect in a winner-take-all battle for supremacy…but, it has to be fair so there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that I’m the superior gamer!” “We’re not playing your twisted game.” The Doctor replied, venomously. “If you don’t the boy’s mother dies.” He stated simply. “How do can we even be sure you still have her? How can we even be sure she’s still alive? Or even if she was ever here at all and you just stole her purse along with Button’s GameBoy?” Button was about to correct him about the name being ‘Joy Boy’, but Light wisely slapped a hoof over his mouth and shook her head when he looked up at her curiously. “You will play my game. You will play by my rules. Or she will die!”
A Good Man Goes to War“I think we’re going to need some cover.” Light commented as she stared up at the gargantuan reptile with her mouth agape. “Yes, sir!” The Sontaran acknowledged as a panel on the ground before him flipped up, the tile forming a shield for him to duck under in case of retaliation from hostile forces. “There’s no way we can take that thing down!” Button shouted, anxiously. “Calm down, girl!” Came the Sontaran’s response. “Mark my words; we will kill this filthy reptile or die trying.” “For the glory of the Sontaran Empire!” he shouted pridefully, raising his rifle before taking aim and firing at one of the Hydra’s five heads, which easily dodged the blast thanks to its serpentine neck. He tried again several more times only to receive the same result. “Blasted creature!” The Sontaran swore. “Remain immobile, so that I may destroy you!” The Cyberman was marching toward the creature, but slowly-ever so slowly… “Can’t you move any faster?” Button complained. “Request Acknowledged,” It replied, kneeling down and pressing its fist into the tile it was on. “Upgrade in progress…” The Zygon moved towards the Hydra, only to be caught up in one of its many mouths, it released a strange raspy-whisper of a scream as its sharp teeth dug into the Zygon’s torso as it let out a cry of agony after feeling sharps pricks on its gums and tongue, drop the saliva-covered creature to the ground. Before any of them could ask The Doctor what was going on, a few welts were visibly beginning to swell up in the creature’s mouth as its other heads joined in its shrieking chorus before falling forward, crushing the Zygon beneath its large body. “WHAT!?” An outraged Eight exclaimed. “What’s going on? I demand you tell me the meaning of this! You’re cheating! You must be!” “Actually, I’m not.” The Doctor replied, calmly. “Zygon’s possess barbs in their palms, which once injected into something else’s flesh can stun, maim, or even kill them…it’s just a part of their anatomy.” “But, you’ve lost your creature in the process!” Eight shouted. “True,” he conceded. “But, so have you-we have two creatures remaining on our side of the field-you on the other hand, are completely defenseless.” “Not yet.” He snarled as Queen Chrysalis appeared on the board along with a mass of Changelings. “Hey, that’s cheating!” Button exclaimed. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” The Doctor commented as the Sontaran began blasting Changelings left and right with relative is. “Ha! This isn’t war-This is sport!” he exclaimed joyfully. Despite the deaths of their comrades, the Changelings continued to charge forward. Before it can reach Button’s upgrading Cyberman one is hit by a green blast. “EXTERMINATE!” A trio of other Changelings follow suit, only to be struck down by the Dalek in quick succession. At this point the Cyberman stood up. “Upgrade Complete.” It then aimed the blaster mounted on it wrist at the several remaining Changelings before deleting the rogue elements. “Only one left!” Button smirked confidently, looking towards the holographic Queen Chrysalis. “Yeah, we’ve got him on the ropes now!” Light added. “Right, Doctor? Doctor…?” He was gone.
MotherIn the midst of the chaos on the battlefield distracting everyone from the Dalek he had summoned, The Doctor had taken the opportunity to slip away and finally begin his search for the boy’s mother. A quick scan with the Sonic Screwdriver confirmed his suspicion that there were in fact multiple secret passages through this bizarre structure coming and going in every direction with random dead ends and false entrances-it was a rat’s maze. ‘Much like Eight’s mind.’ he thought to himself. He lifted another floor panel and climbed into the tunnel it had been hiding, feeling like he was trying to squeeze himself into one of those tubes some fast food places had for kids to play in. The thought occurred to him that he could call out for her before realizing that he didn’t even know her name and lamented the fact that such information could have been invaluable had he thought to collect it beforehand. “Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.” He commented before feeling disheartened at the fact that no one else was around to hear it, much less appreciate the reference. As he pulled out his Screwdriver once again, he was able to lock onto the similarities between Button and his mother’s genetic codes thanks to his foresight to link him into the TARDIS telepathic circuit earlier-it would also make navigating this maze much less of a chore. The irony of his greatest nemesis being his greatest asset to buy time in this situation wasn’t lost on him either, the Dalek’s militaristic nature and unforgiving brutality would also ensure the kids’ safety for a while. Every duct he crawled through seemed to have a different color, as he reached a series of orange ones he began to wonder whether or not they were color-coded to help Eight get around when he was venturing through them. He examined the readings on his Screwdriver once again and was shocked to discover that the signal for the genetic code he had been tracking was now directly below him. The section of the duct he was in lurched along with his stomach as his heart leapt in his chest once it collapsed to the level below and kicking up a large dust cloud. As a result he let out a shocked gasp at this point, dust particles began floating into The Doctor’s oral cavity, sending him into a coughing fit as his lungs tried to expel the foreign objects forcing their way down his windpipe. Once the issue had been resolved, he noticed that coughs were still coming from another source that sounded a bit more feminine. He turned his head to see a tan mare with a light brown tail and mane, she also had the peculiar Cutie Mark of a pink heart with a bottle of baby formula over it-perhaps it had something to do with pediatrics? “Oh, hello.” Once the dust had cleared and she had finished hacking and wheezing, she removed the back of her hoof from her mouth and her eyes which had been squeezed shut, slowly opened up to reveal a pair of beautiful bright blue eyes. “Are you Button’s mother?” “I…yes, but who are you?” “Ah,” he stood up and held out his hoof for her to shake. “I’m The Doctor and I’ve come here to rescue you.” “Thanks but, I already broke out of the room that strange stallion had locked me in-WAIT!-where’s my SON!?-I swear, if he hurts my baby…” “He’s fine, the last time I checked he was with the owner of the arcade.” “Light?” she sighed. “Well, that’s a relief…she’s a good kid, responsible too-she reminds me of myself at her age.” “Yeah, but we should still hurry-we’ve managed to distract him by playing one of his twisted games-so I could sneak away and find you.” He replied. Button’s mother looked up at the large gap in the ventilation shaft that The Doctor had fallen through. “Give me a boost up.” She instructed. He picked her up and lifted her above him as she got a grip on the section of the vent he originally came through. She then grabbed his hooves and with some effort managed to pull him up. With two of them in there, the feeling of claustrophobia had increased even more. Although, given the fact that stallions were typically much larger than mares he found it quite impressive that she was able to pull him up so easily by her self given how petite and slender her body was in comparison. “Which way leads back?” she asked. “Hang on.” The Doctor once again pulled out his Screwdriver. “We take a left, a right, another left, and then there should be a secret floor panel directly above us that can be removed that should lead us back to the others…it would have been nice to know that earlier.” He muttered. “How do you know this?” she asked as she began crawling forward. “It’s my Sonic Screwdriver, I have it linked to my TARDIS in case of emergencies where we end up being separated.” He replied. “Your what?” “Never mind, I’ll explain later.” He lamented the fact that he didn’t have the foresight to be crawling in front as it became increasingly difficult not to stare at the flank in front of him. “Stupid male hormones.” He growled to himself in irritation. “What was that?” she called back to him. “Uh, nothing! Never mind!” he called back as his face flushed. The sooner this ordeal was over, the better. “So how did you find me, anyway?” “Well, when we were in the TARDIS and I was devising a way for Button and Light to defend themselves and distract Eight, so I could come and search for you, I was able to patch them both into it’s Telepathic Circuit, but at the same time it also analyzed their genetic codes-all I had to do was set my Sonic Screwdriver to scan for the closest proximity of any genetic codes that shared similarities with Button’s.” He explained. “That was pretty smart, but there was a comment you made earlier about the path being much more difficult when you came in…?” “Yes, what about it?” “Well, it seems pretty easy now-why is that?” “If I took an educated guess, I would have to say that this labyrinth is rigged on some sort of preset timer every hour, sections seem to rotate, if nothing else, Eight really seems to enjoy puzzles and mind games-a monument to his own insanity.” “So do you have any idea why he abducted you?” he asked. “Well, I had so many groceries I stopped at the house to drop them off, I had just finished putting all of the perishables in fridge when I found my son’s Joy Boy just lying there on the kitchen floor, which I found odd at the time as I knew for a fact that it wasn’t there earlier…I bent forward to pick it up before someone slapped a cloth over my face…I recognized Eight, shortly before passing out.” She replied. They then turned left. “So I take it that you knew him before all of this happened, then?” “Only in passing, I knew that he worked at the arcade under Light and well…other things.” She added, cautiously. “If you refer to the stalking, Light told me earlier.” “Good, because I don’t think this is about me or my son at all.” “I suspected as much.” The Doctor replied. “Wait, what do you mean?” “Aside from you, as far as I know I was the only who Light has ever told about the issues she was having with Eight-we’re close friends, since Button enjoys playing at the arcade so much.” She explained. They took a right. “So what are you saying?” “Well, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it-and this isn’t about us at all-it’s about Light.” She replied. “The only reason he wanted me was for a bargaining chip and Button was just extra insurance, he wants her.” That was when realization hit The Doctor, it was all obvious in hindsight-he knew something was off earlier-but, he had been so sidetracked with trying to locate and rescue Button’s mother that his mind didn’t piece it together. It made a certain amount of sense within the context of Eight’s insanity; if he still had feelings for Light that he knew would never be reciprocated, he wanted to force her into a relationship with him, but his twisted sense of morality saw the use of a love potion too distasteful and saw using a hostage situation more ethical. This gap in morality and circular logic was definitive proof that this stallion was not mentally well and encouraged him them to crawl faster as they took a final turn left. “That reminds me, I’ve forgot to ask you your name earlier…” “It’s-” A large explosion could be heard coming from above them as they exchanged worried glances before pushing the tile up.
Game Over“Doctor?” Light asked, looking around for him before remembering the plan. “Button,” she whispered leaning in next to him. “The Doctor went to look for your mom; we have to distract Eight until he gets back.” Button nodded in agreement. “Kill them.” Eight hissed at the virtual Queen Chrysalis, seething with rage. “KILL THEM ALL!” She began charging emerald green magical energy from the tip of her horn before Button’s Cyberman seemed to vanish. A split-second later, it was behind Chrysalis grabbing her horn and pulling her head back while reaching around her neck; with its one free arm before placing it palm on her throat. The light blue emblem on its chest appeared to glow even brighter as electricity surged through Chrysalis’ body causing her to scream out in agony as she tried to shake it off. “NO!” Eight screamed in frustration. “Eight, why are you really doing this?” Light demanded. “Isn’t obvious?” he shouted. “All of this was something I’ve been working on for you!” “For…me?” She stammered, dumbstruck. “I built this simulation chamber from scratch years ago to help your arcade, to make you rich and famous beyond your wildest dreams!” he replied, as another strand of hair fell over his forehead. While she was deeply impressed and a little bit flattered only one word managed to come out of Light’s mouth; “Why?” “Because I loved you! I…still love you…and I wanted you to be happy and successful so we could be together.” He explained before his soft expression turned dark again. “But then, you caught me following you that night and fired me!” he shouted once again with spit flying from his mouth. Light raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And you believe that abducting this poor boy and his mother would somehow magically change my mind?” she asked. “If I couldn’t convince you to love me through conventional means,” he sighed. “Then I realized that I would have to force you to love me as your soft heart wouldn’t allow innocent people to get hurt on your account.” “What are you talking about?” she exclaimed. “I had no idea what was going on up until now! I just noticed that someone had been screwing around in my office before using the old secret passage to take off! I came here purely by chance to investigate who was vandalizing my workplace!” “A romantic surprise.” Eight grinned madly. “You really are insane.” She spoke in awe as she realized just how much danger they were truly in. The virtual Chrysalis was finally able to buck the Cyberman off of her causing it to fall backwards as it broke in half at the lower section of its torso before she crushed its head beneath one of her hind hooves. She then narrowed his gaze at Button and Light with a sadistic grin before slowly cantering towards them. Light was frozen with fear at the sight of the broken Cyberman and she had heard all about the horrible things that Changelings were capable of. Button on the other hand, was more focused on the Dalek as it pressed its plunger-like manipulator arm against a control panel on the wall, causing the red digits to change at an accelerated rate as Chrysalis advanced on them. “Don’t worry, sir!” The Sontaran stood between Light and Chrysalis defiantly. “I shall crush her skull like a berry and present you with a necklace from its fragmented remains as a trophy!” Chrysalis’ horn then lit up as the Sontaran raised his Rheon Carbine and tried firing at the Changeling but, all that came out was a series of clicks before he examined the barrel to see an eerie green glow. Cracks with a similar glow began spreading across the weapon as the Queen flashed a toothy grin at the confused alien, shortly before the weapon exploded with a blast of bright green magical energy that shone with such intensity, that is had caused both Button and Light to shield their eyes. “W-what happened?” Button stammered as broken pieces of armor and bits of burned Sontaran littered the battlefield. “Technology truly is an amazing, wondrous thing.” Eight chuckled before narrowing his gaze at them. “But, I’m afraid it’s nothing compared to the destructive capabilities of magic.” Light moved Button behind her, protectively. “So, what is it going to be Light?” Eight continued. “You could end all of this senseless violence now, simply by agreeing to become my bride.” He then flashed another psychotic, toothy grin. “Or are you perhaps still under the foolish preconceived notion that this ‘Doctor’ will swoop in at the last minute before any innocent blood can be shed?” Light merely glared back at the stallion with a look utter of disgust. “Alright then, have it your way.” He smirked with a dangerous gleam in his eye. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to kill a child.” Chrysalis lowered her head to aim her horn directly at the two of them as she began charging up another magical blast. The Dalek moved between the two of them to protect them as The Doctor had programmed it to before his departure. “What’s this?” Eight laughed. “Now that’s just sad! You’re last line of defense is a mobilized trash can!” The Dalek then aimed its gunstick at Chrysalis’ horn. “EXTERMINATE!” Both beams collided with each other in a struggle between magical and technological warfare. At that moment a tile on the floor popped open as both The Doctor and Button’s mother crawled out. “WHAT THE HELL!?” Eight screamed once again in another fit of shock and frustration. “WHERE DID SHE COME FROM? I THOUGHT I HAD HER LOCKED IN THE CELLAR!” “ACTIVATE GENESIS ARC!” The Dalek exclaimed as it continued its power struggle with Chrysalis. A ship roughly the size of the Dalek, but slightly taller emerged from the floor behind the Changeling as it opened, releasing another Dalek into the arena. Another appeared before following suit and moving to the opposite side, before the third and final one emerged, stopping behind Chrysalis. The trio simultaneously raised their gunsticks at her. “MAXIMUM EXTERMINATE!” They all exclaimed in unison before firing at her, causing her to howl in agony as the bright flashes of green light exposed her skeletal structure before crumpling to the floor.
Stone Cold“NO! T-THAT”S NOT FAIR!” Eight screamed, slumping to the floor. “Y-YOU CHEATED!” “No, we merely played by your rules.” The Doctor replied, authoritatively. “BUTTON!” His mother exclaimed as she ran towards him while The Doctor and Eight watched. “MOM!” he shouted. “You’re okay!” “What did that thing do?” Eight demanded, looking back at The Doctor. “Oh, didn’t I mention?” he replied. “Daleks are geniuses they can cycle through thousands of potential combinations in seconds, making hacking into your system child’s play.” “And what it that thing the others crawled out of?” “It’s a called a ‘Genesis Ark’, we Time Lords devised it to be used as a prison ship during The Last Great Time War-the Daleks named it-not us, by the way. As you’ve probably noticed it also utilizes that same transdimensional technology as my TARDIS, effectively making it bigger on the inside than the outside.” The Doctor explained. “In fact, it can and has carried at least a thousand Daleks.” “Then why…?” Eight began. “Did I program the Dalek to release just three?” The Doctor finished. “Simple, I may have been playing by your rules but I still have a sense of sportsmanship-there are four of us, so I’ve decided that it would be fair to limit it to one Daleks per player; Light, Button, his mother, and myself.” “What are you going to do?” Eight asked timidly, looking at all four Daleks remaining on the field, still completely intact. “Well, you’ve kidnapped a grown mare and created a hostage situation in an attempt to get into a relationship with a mare whom you are obviously obsessed with to a dangerously unhealthy degree.” The Doctor replied. “Besides, it’s you’re game and you have no creatures left on your side of the field-you know what happens next.” Eight squeezed his eyes shut as he whimpered while Button, his mother, and Light all looked to The Doctor, uncertain if he would actually go through with the deadliest aspect required to secure victory in this game. The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at the Daleks before it whirred to life as the blue node at the tip lit up, causing them to dematerialize. Despite himself, Eight’s curiosity compelled him to open his eyes. In the Dalek’s place stood a tall stone statue with feathered wings, the bizarre statue had its clawed hands cupped over its eyes as if it were weeping. “Is that it?” he laughed as relief washed over him. “You’re giving me a lawn ornament?” “Quite the contrary,” The Doctor replied confidently. “This is actually a living creature known as a ‘Weeping Angel’.” Eight gave him a curious look. “As I’ve said earlier; I am not an unsporting man.” The Doctor continued. “And even when playing by your rules, I still find the concept of four Daleks against one man extremely unfair-the name ‘Weeping Angel’ is actually a misnomer as they aren’t weeping at all.” “Then why is it covering its eyes?” Button’s mother asked timidly as she held her son close to her protectively. “They’re Quantum-locked.” He explained casually. “The precise moment that they are observed by another living being they freeze up into stone as a defensive mechanism, however that also means that they can’t bear to look at each other, either earning them the nickname ‘The Lonely Assassins.’” “Doctor…what does that thing do?” Light asked darting between him and the statue uneasily. “They feed off of potential energy, killing their victims ‘mercifully’ by dropping them off somewhere in the past to live out the rest of their lives while the energy of the time and experiences they would have had is effectively fed off of or ‘absorbed’ by the angel.” He replied. “W-what am I supposed to do?” Eight whimpered fearfully as he continued to stare at the stone creature which had appeared to have moved a considerable few feet closer since in the brief second he had glance at The Doctor. Its clawed fingers were reaching towards him with a frozen snarl upon its lips, revealing its sharp fangs. “When confronted by a Weeping Angel, there are only two things that you can do.” Eight’s ears perked up at this. “First, don’t ever let it touch you.” The Doctor replied in a deadly serious tone. “A-and the second?” Eight pressed desperately. “Don’t turn your head, don’t look away, and above all; don’t blink-not even for a second-blink and you’re dead.” Eight gulped before letting out yet another cowardly whimper as his ears flattened against his skull and his heart sped up, his eyes were already bloodshot as they watered and burned. In his peripheral vision he could make out The Doctor and his companions making their way back to the TARDIS. “NO! WAIT!” he called out reaching towards them in a panic. “PLEASE! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!” It was at that moment he realized that as he was begging he had averted his gaze, something that he became painfully aware of as he felt something cold and hard grip his neck in a split-second before the arcade around him disappeared. He then felt very cold and clammy as he could feel energy leaving his life, this thing was draining him like some kind of leech and he immediately regretted the extreme realism he had programmed into the game. Anyone else would have questioned the creature’s ability in this particular format, but he designed the game specifically to tailor to creatures unique abilities to offer him the experience of seeing these creatures end life firsthand. The irony was not lost on him as the last thing he experienced was the sensation that he was falling.
The Parting of the Ways“Doctor, you didn’t really let that thing kill him-did you?” Light asked nervously once they re-entered the TARDIS. “Don’t worry,” he replied reassuringly. “He’s still alive-just in another timeline-think of it as a second chance for him to become a better person.” “Okay,” Light leaned against a wall of the TARDIS. “That’s all well and good, but what about this huge freakin’ area behind the arcade?” “Simple, I’ve reprogrammed the whole system to be non-lethal so all you have to do is start making a hole in the wall and install a door and call it an ‘addition to the arcade.’” He replied. “And the labyrinth?” she pressed. “You’ve never heard of laser tag?” he shot back. “Heh, you have an answer for everything-don’t you?” “Just about!” he quipped as he moved towards the TARDIS control panel. Button’s mother had retrieved her purse from the floor of the arcade and Button was playing on his Joy Boy. After ensuring that everyone and their personal belongings were inside, he set the TARDIS coordinates to materialize just outside of the arcade so Light could get some rest and Button and his mother could finally get on their way home. “Doctor, what are you doing now?” Light asked, noticing him fiddling with the control panel. “I’m taking everyone home.” He replied. The TARDIS came to life as it began to dematerialize, leaving the Eight’s secret area behind the arcade completely empty. Glancing back at the others, he couldn’t help but feel a little shocked at how well they were taking everything that had happened in the past few hours. Light was still leaning against a wall of the TARDIS as The Doctor couldn’t help but draw connections between her and the attitudes and personality of other companions he’d had like her in the past. One thing that set her apart from most teens like her that he’d seen in Equestria was that she genuinely cared about Button and worried about him like a big sister, the exact opposite of most others who merely saw the child that they were supposed to be watching as a means to an end. Button’s mother was sifting through her purse, making sure everything was still inside from before Eight stole it now that she knew that her son was safe. Button was playing on his Joy Boy, completely enthralled by the game-seemingly completely unfazed by the events that had transpired earlier. Normally this would have caused some alarm, but he supposed that after living in Ponyville for their entire lives (specifically the past three years) it seemed as though they have gotten use to all of these crises and bizarre events, learning to block them out or forget about them when all is said and done. He had to admit that he was slightly envious, after over nine-hundred years of travel through time and space this was not an ability had had been able to master. Once they had reached their destination, The Doctor snapped back to the present. “Alright, rides over-everybody off!” he announced as Light pushed the door open to as Button’s mother followed her outside, followed by her son who was still distracted by his videogame. It was dark out, with the only illumination coming from the stars above in the cloudless night. Button’s mother turned to him, still wearing what he could have sworn to be a seductive expression with half-lidded bedroom eyes…was this the way she normally looked? Then again, he supposed it didn’t really matter as long as they were all safe and now he could finally get some rest. “Well, I suppose you two will be headed home now-Button…Button’s mother.” He added, remembering that he never asked her name. “Thank you for taking care of my son.” She replied, “Come on sweetie.” taking her son by the hoof and practically dragging him back home as his legs barely moved with him being so caught up on his hoofheld device. He then turned back to Light, seeing her yawn and stretch. “Well, it’s been a real long day…and an even longer night.” She commented, tiredly. “I’d better hit the hay too, the arcade is still open tomorrow at the same time…girl’s gotta make a living after all.” She then took out her keys to unlock the door to the arcade. “Wait, you actually live in here?” The Doctor asked. “Yeah, this place was my grandad’s and the arcade was kinda built around it so I still have a bed, bathroom, kitchen, same things you find in a normal house-it’s just built around the back so it doesn’t distract anyone…it would probably seem out of place if you’re in a room filled with arcade games and claw machines before walking into a kitchen.” She turned to look at The Doctor. “You should probably get some rest, too.” “That’s a good idea,” he replied turning to leave. “Goodnight.”
The Game“Let me get this straight…” The Doctor began, massaging the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. “You are threatened by having your high score on some video game-” “Alicorn Assault!” “Right, whatever-to the point where you’ve abducted his mother to lure him here so you can beat him in a video game to prove the superiority of your skills in a room completely isolated from the outside world to the point where you’re willing to kill to prove it-aforementioned room being isolated from the arcade with only one entrance which said young boy, may or may not have ever found, let alone known about the abduction of his mother.” The Doctor continued. Eight’s eye twitched as he glared at The Doctor. “What’s you point?” “My point is that none of this makes any sense, I realize you’re completely mad, but someone who has designed all of this couldn’t possibly be this stupid.” Light gave him a quizzical look. “Doctor, what are you saying?” “I’m saying that Eight-Bit either has some ulterior motive he’s not telling us about, or he’s actually what he seems; just a two-bit wannabe criminal mastermind who has read far too many comic books.” “ENOUGH!” Eight stomped his hoof. “Are you willing to play the game or not?” “W-what are the rules?” Button asked timidly. “There rules are simple.” He replied, grinning sadistically. “I’ll allow all three of you to play against me simultaneously since you two seem to be in the mindset that someone of my tenure battling an eight-year old prodigy alone is ‘unfair’.” “Against all of us?” Light replied, smirking. “Well, well, looks like someone’s gotten cocky from the last time we met-before you couldn’t even beat me in a simple Pong match!” Button looked up quizzically at The Doctor. “What’s Pong?” Eight merely smirked back at her. “We’ll see. The game has an advanced piece of technology which I was able to scavenge which I like to call the ‘Telepathic Circuit’ we summon creatures from our minds-real or fictional-to battle each other.” “Alright, this might actually be pretty fun!” Light commented optimistically. “Yeah!” Button added. “That sounds cool!” “And when one has no creatures remaining; their lives will be terminated by the opposing player’s creatures.” He finished. The positive attitudes of the two gamers disappeared and their faces dropped at this revelation. “B-but, you’ll still let my mom go-right?” Button stammered. “Ha, ha, no.” he chuckled in response. “But, you said-” “I said I’d release her if you win; if I win then that means that all of you die and I know what happens when someone gets between a mother and her child-could you imagine what a mother whose Cutie Mark is a heart and a bottle of formula would do to the murderer of her child?” he asked rhetorically. While Button could only stand there horrified, the two other adults shot him a death glare. “No, I think I’ll just let her rot…unless of course you win-in that case I’ll release the mare-and one of you may be lucky enough to experience the joy a taking a life.” He continued flashing a toothy grin. The Doctor regarded him with a dirty look before gesturing for his two companions to follow him into the TARDIS. “Are you running away?” Eight asked condescendingly. “On the contrary; my associates and I are going to have small group chat somewhere free of prying eyes and any possible bugs.” The Doctor replied. “Are you calling me a cheater?” Eight replied, feigning offense. “Not at all.” The Doctor replied coolly. “I merely implied it.” And with that the three of them entered the TARDIS. “It’s…bigger on the inside!” Light exclaimed in awe upon entry.” “Thank you, Light!” The extremely pleased Doctor replied before turning to Button. “At least someone is willing to humor an old man.” “So what’s the plan?” Light asked. “Yeah,” Button added. “And why are we back in here? “I’ll explain in a moment, but first give me your Game Boy.” “WHAT? NO!” Button shouted, holding the portable gaming device away from The Doctor as if he were a bully on the school playground trying to take a piece of candy from him. “And it’s called a ‘Joy Boy’!” Button corrected in an annoyed tone. The Doctor merely rolled his eyes at this before gesturing for the duo to follow him the lower level of the TARDIS. “Fine, we’ll do this the hard way then.” He replied, pulling a large black wire out of a ceiling console with a small gold prong on the end. “Give me your hoof.” He instructed. “Why? Button asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “I’m going to patch the two of you into the TARDIS telepathic circuit… midway through the game I’ll sneak off and see if I can find and save your mother-that is if he is telling the truth about her still being alive.” He added which earned him a disapproving look from Light. “I-is it gonna hurt?” Button asked timidly, fortunately seeming to be more focused on his anxiety toward the sharp, pointed foreign object The Doctor wanted to put in the bottom of his hoof, rather than the comment of his mother possibly being deceased. “Not one bit.” The Doctor replied confidently as the colt gave held out his hoof as instructed before feeling a sharp prick. “OW!” “See? I lied.” Light was leaning against a wall with her legs crossed in a manner reminiscent of Twilight Sparkle’s friend Applejack. As Button moved aside, massaging his hoof-Light gave The Doctor hers as he repeated the process. “So how will being telepathically linked help us?” she pressed. “For centuries I have traveled through time and space-in all of that time I have seen things more wondrous and horrifying than most people could ever imagine-and they are going to help us get out of this.” He replied, narrowing his gaze at her. Before she could ask The Doctor what he was talking about images of strange creatures began flashing before their eyes. A strange metallic bi-pedal creature with vacant, hollowed out sockets where its eyes should have been-marching toward him. Light saw what appeared to be some form of short potato creature wearing blue armor and a carrying some kind of weapon. They both snapped back to reality as soon as The Doctor pushed the door of the TARDIS open, to see Eight still standing in the exact same spot, still wearing that malicious grin. Appearing before them was a grid of dark red panels, Light stood on the far right of the panel on their side, while The Doctor took the far left, and Button stood between them. “So how exactly does this work?” asked Light, examining the grid before them. “I mean, how are we supposed to get these things on the field? Who goes first?” Eight-Bit’s gaze shifted over to The Doctor. “I think it would only be fair if we let the old man, go first.” The Doctor scoffed at this, “Be careful, with age comes wisdom-and I’ve lived hundreds of you lifetimes.” Appearing before him at this statement was a very odd and obscure creature that neither Button nor Light had seen when being integrated back in the TARDIS. It was a bi-pedal humanoid with suction-cups covering its head, arms, and torso, and deeply inset face. “What the hell is that!?” Light demanded, noting the barbs on the creature’s palms. “It’s a Zygon.” The Doctor replied casually, “Amphibious, metamorphic humanoids from the planet ‘Zygor’.” Button and Light exchanged glances before looking over at Eight, who merely shrugged. Button picked up his Joy Boy to see a character roster on the screen of the creatures that had flashed through his head back on the ship-one in particular caught his eye-it gave him a creepy feeling, but at the same time it looked kind of cool. It was yet another bi-pedal creature that appeared to be completely made up of some type of shiny, silver metallic armor with hollowed-out eye sockets and a glowing blue plate on its torso. “Cool!” Button exclaimed as the creature stood there motionlessly, staring blankly ahead. “That’s it?” Eight asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “A suit of armor?” “Negative.” The machine spoke in its traditional monotone. “We are Cybermen.” It looked directly ahead at the stallion. “You have been designated a ‘rogue element’ by the Cyber Planner-all rogue elements shall be DELETED.” It recited. “Cyber Planner?” Button repeated, looking up at The Doctor. “The leader of the Cybermen,” he explained. “In this case-that means you.” “Awesome!” The closest anyone could come to describing the creature appearing before Light was a baked potato with legs-its features were also deep set with three digits on each hand (two fingers and a thumb)-it was wearing blue combat armor and wielding a Rheon Carbine sidearm. “What-” Button began before The Doctor cut him off. “Sontaran, militaristic clone batch-they live for war and victory takes precedence above all else for them-even their own lives.” “So I chose well then.” Light grinned. “That’s it?” Eight laughed. “A Starfish, a walking, talking suit of armor, and a baked potato with legs? Child’s play!” A five headed creature with snake-like necks leading down to a large dragon-like body and two stubby legs towered above the trio. “It’s…” Button began. “A Hydra…” Light finished as they looked up at it in horror.
A New Nightmare Begins...Upon re-entering the TARIDS, The Doctor barely made it to the control panel before passing out as his head slammed against a lever, pushing it upward. When he awoke, birds could be heard chirping as he looked at the monitor showing the area outside. It was daytime now, about mid-day as he noticed a large grassy hill outside merely a few feet from his location. Between them appeared to be an odd hunk of metal that seemed to be damaged in some manner as a chunk of it appeared to be broken and burned. He ran outside to get a closer look at the object. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out his pair of tortoise shell framed glasses and put them on to get a better look at it before examining it. It gave him familiar feeling, a bad feeling… But, it couldn’t possibly be, could it? Pulling out her Screwdriver, the blue node once again lit up as it whirred to life as he scanned it to analyze the objects make-up before examining the readings. He then had to do a double-take, there was no way these reading could have been accurate it just wasn’t possible… To be one hundred percent certain he brought the large chunk of metal to his mouth before touching it with the tip of his tongue. Against all odds, there it was. Picking it up, he ran back to the TARDIS. This was bad, very, very, BAD. Twilight and the others had to be warned; they had to be stopped before production was in full swing. TO BE CONTINUED… The Doctor will return in; “The Scrapyard”
