Doctor Whooves: Night of the ShadowFright

by tropenamer

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Crossover
Length: 14660

Something has taken residence in Ponyville and its snatching young fillies. As suspicion and panic takes hold of the town noone notices the appearance of a strange blue box.

A darkness has taken hold of Ponyville. Foals are disappearing and nopony has any explanation beyond an old nursery rhyme pointing to the legendary Shadowfright. But the Shadowfright is only a story made up to frighten children into behaving. Isn't it? Ditzy Doo isn't so sure and when her daughter becomes one of the missing she, with the help of a strange stallion with an impossible blue box, will face any monster or horror the universe has to offer.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-02 23:58:54 UTC

Prologue

As Celestia's sun set over the horizon and Luna's moon began its nightly journey across the sky, in the rural town of Ponyville, at the end of an ancient cobblestone path leading to the decrepit front steps of a dilapidated old house on a hill, a familiar pair of troublemakers were engaged in an animated conversation:

"You go in," Snips said plainly.

"I'm not goin' in," Snails shook his head. "You go in."

"What's a matter? Ya buk-buk-bu-KAH!?"

"I'm not a frog!"

"Frogs don't cluck!"

"How would you know?"

"'Cause I'm the brains of this outfit."

"Oh yeah? Sez who?"

"Sez your mom!"

"What are you two geniuses arguing about?"

Snips and Snails paused in what was, for the two of them at least, a deep intellectual discussion, to turn towards the approaching Diamond Tiara accompanied as usual by Silver Spoon.

"Are you two dweebs trying to set the record for eating the most paint chips?" Scoffed the younger filly scornfully.

"No," snorted Snips, before murmuring, "We did that last week."

"I won," Snails added proudly. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes while Silver Spoon made a face.

"Right now," continued Snips. "We're playing Dare."

"Shouldn't that be Truth or Dare?" Spoon inquired.

"We already knows everything 'bout each other," explained Snails. "So's the Truth bit gets kinda boring."

"So," Snips interjected excitedly. 'We skipped right to the Dares, which are loads more fun!"

"Facinating," muttered Tiara.

Spoon adjusted her glasses. "So you two were arguing about a stupid dare?"

"Don't encourage them!" gritted the peach filly.

"Well," said Snips. "I dared Snails t' go into Ravensmane House."

"Then I dared Snips to come with me," Snails said.

"Then I double-dared him to go alone."

"Then I triple-dog-dared him t' come with."

"Then...we didn't know any bigger dares than triple-dog, so we just sort of went back and forth until you two showed up."

"Then you asked 'Whut're you two geniuses arguin' about?'" Snails grinned bashfully.  "Shucks, nopony's ever called me a genius b'fore. Right nice of you t' say so Diamond Tiara."

Tiara snorted with disgust and even Snips rolled his eyes.

Silver Spoon looked at the old Ravensmane House. For as long as she could remember it had stood empty, frowning down from its perch atop a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville, rotting like an open wound. It made everypony uncomfortable, but no steps were taken to tear it down or even renovate it. Instead, everypony just steered clear of it. It was just one of those things that everypony had decided, by some silent mutual consensus, that no one would ever speak of.  And so Ravensmane crouched upon its perch, casting its shadow over Ponyville like a thundercloud.

As Silver Spoon looked on she had the chilling sensation that there was somepony inside looking back.

Was that movement in the darkened window?

A fleeting figure whose flight disturbed the tattered curtains?

A shining eye peering through the boarded up shutters?

The grey filly shuddered.

Diamond Tiara gave one of her famous scoffs, "Why would you two idiots dare each other to go inside that smelly old place?"

"Because of..."Snips paused for dramatic effect, before elbowing Snails, prompting him to levitate a shining flashlight benath their chins, "...the Shadowfright!"

Silver Spoon quivered behind Diamond Tiara, who for her part was unaffected by the two older unicorn foals' showmanship, and simply tossed her head indignantly.

"Please! The Shadowfright's just a stupid nursery rhyme parents made up to keep their kids in line. Not that it ever worked on me of course"

"No really!" insisted Snails. "Berry Pinch and Tootsie Flute saw it last week. They've had the jitters sumthin' awful ever since."

"Pfft, they probably just got into Berry's mom's 'cider'. I'm telling you, only babies and dorks like you actually believe in the Shadowfright."

Snips passed Snails a sly look, which after a few moments of blank staring was returned by the gawky unicorn. He didn't know what Snips was up to, but he was certain it would be funny.

"Okay Little Miss Fancy-Britches," the smaller unicorn challenged. "Why don't you go into the House?"

Diamond Tiara blanched a little before she drew herself back up to her characteristic haughtiness.

"Why should I?"

"Winner of Dare gets two bits," Snails cajoled.

"Two measly bits? Ha! Do you two even know who my daddy is? I wipe my nose with two bits. Come Silver Spoon, let's leave these paupers to their childish games." Tiara turned on her hoof and began trotting away, a relieved Silver Spoon in tow.

"Alright," shrugged Snips. "If you're too chicken..."

The younger filly stopped short.  True, Snips and Snails were a couple of idiots, but they were still older foals. What's worse, they were older foals with big mouths. Their word carried weight in the Ponyville Schoolyard. If they declared her a chicken she'd be a laughing stock.

And that dratted Applebloom would never let me live it down... she thought nastily.

"Alright," Tiara declared, tratting resolutely back up the cobblestone path that led to the front porch of Ravensmane. "We'll do it!"

"You will?" asked a stunned Snails at the same time Silver Spoon squeaked in horror, "We will!?"

"Yes," repeated Tiara, giving her friend a very pointed look. "We will. But only to prove that there's no such thing as a Shadowfright."

"Alright then!" Snips declared, spitting into his hoof and extending it towards the two fillies who, after a moment's hesitation, each gingerly shook in turn.

"Fine," huffed Tiara, wiping her hoof on the ground. "We'll meet back here tomorrow after school."

"Ah," Snips smiled wickedly. "But the Shadowfright only comes out...at night."

"Yeah," Snails chimed in eagerly. "An' it's almost nighttime now."

The two fillies looked up and, sure enough, the last light of the setting sun was sinking beyond the Everfree Forest and the moon was waxing in the eastern sky.

"Why do you think we brought the flashlights?"

Tiara growled. "Whatever, the sooner we get this over with, the better." She promptly snatched a flashlight and marched up the front steps to the old house's entrance. She paused and glanced over her shoulder. Silver Spoon was sitting on her haunches quivering like a leaf.

"Get moving Spoon!" demanded Tiara, as she pushed open the heavy double doors with a creak. "I haven't got all night."

With a barely suppressed whimper, Silver Spoon followed her friend into the gloom within the foyer, huddling close to what little light comfort the illumination of Tiara's flashlight provided.

The gleam of the flashlight fell on peeling wallpaper, ancient furniture draped in cobwebs, moldy and faded paintings of long departed ponies that appeared to gaze down imperiously at the intruders.

"What a dump," Tiara scoffed. "This'll be a snap. We'll show those two dweebs that the upper crust knows no fear...Brrr! Did it suddenly get cold here or is it just me?"

Spoon didn't answer. Her heart raced and each breath hung in the air like a fine mist and she shuddered. Out of the corner of her eye the shadows seemed to creep closer.  The cobwebs appeared to form long reaching arms and grasping fingers. The ponies in the portraits seemed follow her with their lifeless painted eyes.

There was a dull thud behind them and with twin gasps Tiara and Spoon whirled around to find that Snips and Snails had followed them inside and slammed the doors behind them.

"Eh, my bad," smirked Snails.

"Didn't mean ta scare ya," Snips grinned, nonchalantly switching on his flashlight.

The fillies gave the unicorns a dirty look before continuing their exploration. Spoon tried not to look up at the paintings. There was something...unnerving about them. Wrong even. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but every time her gaze was unwillingly drawn to a portrait she could swear they were watching her.

Then she heard it, a long, low groan.

With an exasperated sigh, Spoon whirled on the two unicorns. "Would you guys cut it out already? She demanded. "You're being totally immature!"

"B-buh-but..."Snips stammered unintelligibly while Snails finished with a tremulous, "We duh-didn't do n-nuh-nuthin'."

Another groan sounded. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Snips whipped the flashlight all about, the dilapidated chandelier above caught the gleam dully. The billowing ghostly white curtains flanking the boarded up windows which filtered in moon shadows contributed to the eeriness of Ravensmane. Finally, the light settled upon the stairs, a decrepit moldering structure that wouldn't support their weight, let alone that of a storybook monster.

It's just a story like Tiara said, Spoon assured herself. There's nothing in this stupid old house but dust and bats and spiders and...just don't think about it! Just don't think about icky bats or creepy spiders or...

Then came yet another maddening creak.

"T-T-Tiara," stammered Silver Spoon. "I've had enough, I wanna go home."

There came no answer.

"T-T-Tiara?"

The bespectacled filly spun around to find an empty hallway. She looked back and forth but it appeared completely deserted. She shot an accusing look at Snips and Snails but they appeared as baffled and disconcerted as she felt. Her eyes fell upon a door, left ajar just a crack.

"Tiara?" she ventured.

There came no reply.

She took a few tentative steps towards the door, the unicorns following nervously behind.

"T-T-Tiara?" Spoon whispered.

Closer and closer she came. She could reach out and touch the tarnished knob now but still she hesitated. Her mind raced with unnumbered nightmarish possibilities of what could lay within, each one worse than the last. Biting her lower lip she reached for the handle and pushed the door open to reveal...a dingy closet, containing nothing but a few ragged clothes on wire hangers and empty hat boxes.  The trio gave startled yelps as a colony of moths, disturbed by the sudden brightness of Snail's flashlight, swarmed out from collars and sleeves and fluttered off into the shadows.

The three foals puffed a collective sigh; Snails even gave a nervous chuckle as Silver Spoon shut the door, only to be confronted by the Shadowfright.

Spoon fell backwards with a shriek as the pale, billowing apparition loomed over her, bathing everything in its sickly pale glow. Snips and Snails scrambled away, dropping their flashlight and babbling incoherently, they disappeared into the darkness. The specter laughed as Silver Spoon continued screaming. Then Diamond Tiara removed the sheet with a wicked flashlight illumined grin and fell into giggling fits that lasted long after Silver Spoon regained her composure and glared at her friend.

"That wasn't funny Tiara!" Spoon pouted.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" mocked Tiara. "And those two losers? Priceless! 'Help me! Help me! The Shadowfright's got me! Mommy!'"

"I'm serious Tiara," insisted Spoon. "I don't like it here! It's dank and smelly and creepy and I wanna go home!"

"Fine you big baby," Tiara snorted. "Let's go find Snips and Snails and collect our winnings>"

"I thought you didn't care about the two bits."

"I don't. I just want to rub it in their stupid faces."

Spoon practically pressed herself against her friend, trying to stay as close to the light as possible. The surrounding darkness seemed more palpable, more solid somehow. Worse, those paintings appeared to be moving now, their occupants straining against the canvas, trying to escape their frames, trying to reach for her.  But the grey filly just squeezed her eyes shut against the disturbing visions and let Tiara lead the way to the sitting room.

"Snails," she called irritably. "Snips. Get over yourselves, it was just a prank."

There was no answer. Spoon cracked open an eye. The only occupants in the room appeared to be themselves, the cloth-covered couch and easy chairs, a coffee table conquered long ago by dust and cobwebs and yet another painting. She didn't want to but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't make it out too well in the gloom, but she peered at the painting, and the more she stared the more it looked like a terrified Snips and Snails calling for help.

"Tiara," she whispered. "That painting..."

"I know," snorted Tiara. "Tacky isn't it?"

"But it looks just like..."

"Oh don't tell me you're buying into this Shadowfright nonsense too..."

The spoiled heiress trailed off when she noticed Silver Spoon staring at something behind her with an expression of stark terror.

"Oh please," Tiara rolled her eyes derisively. "Like I'm going to fall for the old there's-something-behind-you trick."

Spoon took a few backward steps away, never moving her eyes from the thing behind Tiara.

Curiosity overcoming her suspicions, Tiara slowly turned to face a writhing mass of shadows that filled the room, swallowing the meager glow of the her flashlight, draining it until it flickered and went dead. Its glowing purple eyes gleaming in the gloom, it fixed its gaze upon the horrified fillies. Diamond Tiara didn't even have time to scream before she was engulfed in tendrils of blackness and vanished.

The last thing Silver Spoon remembered, she was running for the entrance as fast as her legs could carry her. She lunged through the double doors, leaped over the porch steps and dashed down the cobblestone path towards the blessed lights of Ponyville.

Even after she cleared Ravensmane's property line she didn't stop running until she reached her house. Her parents demanded to know where she had been so long after dark but their interrogations died on their lips when their daughter broke down sobbing. They had the servants fix her some warm milk, wrapped her in a warm blanket, and had the nanny put her to bed where she fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming of a terrible all-consuming shadow with piercing purple orbs pursuing her through a grey haze, all the while the portraits of Ravensmane's lost intruders, most prominently Snips, Snails, and Diamond Tiara, recited the old rhyme in a mocking sing-song voice:

Shadowfright

Come at night

Gonna eat you in one bite.

Tucked in tight

Turn out the light

Hide away from Shadowfright.

Part One

Morning in Ponyville shimmered and shined, as Ditzy Doo opened the window to the second story apartment she rented with her daughter. The blonde pegasus took a deep breath of morning air and sighed contentedly, flapping her grey wings in anticipation of a brand new day. She just loved the morning; the crisp morning air, the sight of sunrise, and the feeling of newness and promise that always came with it. But today seemed extra special; she knew for absolute certain that some thing wonderful was going to happen today.

Ditzy fluttered past the still sleeping form of her little unicorn filly, Dinky Doo, in the bed next to hers, careful not to disturb her, and promptly crashed into the wall. Her depth perception had always been a bit out of whack and this, combined with her distracted nature, often led to accidents such as this. Dazed but otherwise unhurt, Ditzy shook it off, and glanced at her daughter, who merely murmured and rolled over sleepily. Dizty giggled lightly at her own clumsiness and carefully flapped through the door, humming a happy tune to herself. Upon reaching the downstairs kitchen, she was greeted by her friend and landlady Carrot Top, the morning paper under her foreleg, curlers in her auburn mane, and a batch of coffee percolating.

"Well," greeted Carrot Top gruffly, pouring herself a fresh cuppa. "You're bubbly as ever this morning." She wasn't a morning pony. "Somethin' good goin' on?"

"Just have a good feeling about today, that's all," Ditzy grinned as she trotted to the pantry to get a bowl and muffin ingredients. She always woke Dinky up for school with a fresh batch of muffins.

"Let's see, she muttered to herself. "Eggs, milk, salt, hay-seeds, oats..."

Carrot tuned her out as she sat down at the table, opened the morning edition of Equestria Daily and gulped down her coffee with a grimace. She absently skimmed through the front page headline, set the comics section aside for Dinky when she woke up, attentively studied the gossip column, snorted at the proposed weather schedule for the week, and skipped the sports page altogether. Her green eyes went wide when she reached the local news section and saw the headline.  "Oh my heavens!"

"Something wrong?" asked Ditzy, as she mixed the ingredients in her bowl.

"Filthy Rich's little girl's gone missin'!"

"How awful," replied Ditzy, carefully pouring the batter in a muffin tray just as the oven finished preheating. "I think she's in Dinky's class."

"It says here, she's disappeared along with two other foals and the last pony to see them was little Silver Spoon."

Ditzy set the timer on the oven and somberly sat down next to Carrot Top. "Poor little filly," she said sadly. Then she brightened. "Well, I'm sure they're all right. They'll turn up eventually."

"How can you still be so chipper?" her friend demanded. "Ain't you the least bit concerned?"

"Well of course I am, silly," said Ditzy plainly. "But I believe in maintaining a positive attitude, no matter what the circumstances. Sure I feel bad for those foals, and their poor worried parents, but, moaning and crying won't help them any. Is anything being done?"

"Well," Carrot flipped through the pages. "It says here that Filthy Rich has offered a reward, and the Apples are organizin' a search party..."

"There you are then," Ditzy grinned. "With Applejack on the job, those foals are as good as found."

"Ditzy," declared Carrot Top gravely. "You of all ponies should be taking this more seriously. Suppose somepony - or something - is out there snatchin' kids. Suppose it nabs one of us next? Or Dinky?"

Ditzy's jovial smile vanished at the thought of her daughter in danger, and her golden eyes took on a dangerous sheen. "I won't let that happen," she gritted her teeth resolutely. "Not to my Muffin!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ditz," Carrot spoke gently, folding up the newspaper. It's just that I worry about you two. I know it's been a struggle ever since what happened to Fixit..." she trailed off, knowing that she was broaching a dangerous topic. Ditzy hung her head.

An uncomfortable silence stretched on until the house was filled with the smell of baking muffins.

"I smell muffins!" cried little Dinky Doo as she happily trotted down the steps. "'Mornin' Mama!"

"Good morning Muffin!" Ditzy smiled warmly as she enveloped her filly in her wings and rubbed muzzles with her beloved daughter. "And how's mommy's little trotter doing today?"

"Cut it out Mama," Dinky protested, halfheartedly suppressing a grin. "I'm not a baby. 'Morning Auntie Carrot!"

Carrot smiled, hastily hiding the distressing headline. A sweet little filly like Dinky didn't need to see such things. "'Mornin' yourself, kiddo. You want me to read you the Sillies?"

"I can read 'em on my own Auntie," said Dinky proudly puffing out her chest before shyly adding, "But, you can read 'em with me if you want to."

"Well, you drive a hard bargain kiddo, but you've got yourself a deal."

As Dinky read the comics with Carrot Top helping her with the more difficult words, Ditzy sighed and looked out the window. The morning that had seemed so magical before was now marred by the news of Diamond Tiara's disappearance. Though she tried to show a brave face, she was terrified that something might happen to her daughter. She couldn't bear it if she lost her too...

"Mama? Mama!"

"Hmm?" Ditzy shook herself from her reverie and noticed that the kitchen was full of smoke.

"Ditz, your muffins are burning!"

After an extra-crispy breakfast, Dinky retrieved her saddlebag and declared, "Well, I'm off to school. Bye Mama, bye Auntie Carrot."

"Wait up Muffin," called Ditzy hastily donning her mailbag and fluttering after her foal. "Why don't I fly you to school today?"

"Oh," said Dinky hesitantly. "That's okay Mama. I can get there on my own."

"Nonsense," said Ditzy. "A mother should fly her filly to school every once and a while. Gives me a chance to show off my mane girl to all my home-mares...um...yo."

Dinky rolled her eyes at her mother's atrocious grasp of modern slang. "B-but the post office is on the other side of town," the little filly reminded her mother, with mounting desperation. "You don't want to be late. Again."

Ditzy smiled in that argument invalidating way. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I'm sure Mr. Delivery will understand when I tell him my little trotter needed a lift to school."

"But-but-but-" the little unicorn strained to find an excuse - any excuse - that would both spare her mother's feelings and get her off her back, but, alas, nothing came to her. Finally the grey pegasus had had enough, "Dinky Doo," she spoke in that authoritative voice that all mother's seem to possess that would brook no argument. "I am flying you to school today and that is final." She stamped her hoof conclusively, declaring the subject closed.

Dinky hung her head in defeat, "Yes Mama."

"Good," said Ditzy, once again all smiles. "Come along Muffin, we don't want to be late.:

Carrot Top watched her friend kneel down outside the door so her dejected daughter could scramble upon her shoulders, and then, once she was settled, lift off towards the schoolhouse in an awkward, lopsided glide, resulting in a bizarre, zigzagging flight pattern, poor Dinky hanging on to dear life. With a resigned shake of her head, Carrot Top muttered into her coffee, "I don't foresee this ending well."

* * *

The schoolyard was filled with foals, and, much to the chagrin of most of the older children, the parents who escorted them. In response to the morning headline, many concerned parents opted to personally see their sons and daughters safely to school, eliciting moans of embarrassment from the foals.

Applebloom, for her part, was thrilled to be driven to school by her older brother Big Macintosh. The quiet stallion was something of a local hero, almost as much as their sister Applejack, and the little farm filly was just ecstatic to be showing him off to her schoolmates.

"Thanks fer th' ride Big Mac," said Applebloom, hopping of her brother's cart.

"Eeyup," rumbled Big Mac with an affectionate wink to his little sister. Apple Bloom smugly noted the other fillies - and more than a few of their mothers - swooning.

"And thanks for letting me ride with you," piped up Sweetie Belle, bouncing after her friend. "Otherwise, my sister might've insisted on an armed escort."

"Aw, c'mon Sweetie Belle," said Applebloom, rolling her eyes. "Nopony's that over...pro...tect...ive..."

The buttercream filly trailed off as she noticed an orange pegasus filly with a bright magenta mane despondently walking her scooter towards them. Scootaloo came to a halt by Big Mac's cart. Three sets of eyes stared at her agog, and three mouths hung open. The grain stem Big Mac was chewing dropped to the ground.

Scootaloo stood before them, with her usual safety gear; a helmet and kneepads, but she also had a pair of thick, fluffy pillows tied to her front and rear with caution tape, and a flashing yellow light had been fastened atop her helmet. She glared at her friends, daring them to comment.

"Scoots," greeted Sweetie Belle after the silence stretched uncomfortably long. "You...uh...you...erm...

Scootaloo's glare darkened.

"I really like your mane..." Sweetie finished lamely.

Applebloom placed a sympathetic hoof on the little pegasus' heavily cushioned shoulder.  "Yer ma made ya wear pillows and an emergency light to school?"

"No," gritted Scootaloo, baring her teeth at a pair of snickering colts. "I had to talk her down to pillows and a light. She wanted to add a siren and floaters to the ensemble."

"Floaters?" asked Sweetie Belle before Applebloom could shush her.

"Don't ask why!" shouted Scootaloo. "My crazy mom's completely paranoid! She actually walked me to school with her megaphone telling everypony to 'make a hole!' 'School-bound filly comin' through!' and, of course, 'move along'!"

"Have a good day a school sweetheart!" called a departing earth-pony mare through a megaphone from across the street.  She had similar coloring to Scootaloo with her magenta mane tied back into a prim bun and a stop sign cutie mark.

Scootaloo smiled weakly and waved back. "Sure thing mother," before turning back to her friends and facehoofing, "Ugh! It's so embarrassing having the safety inspector for a mom!"

"Now, don't be too hard on yer ma," rumbled Big Mac, trying his darnedest not to grin. "She's just worried 'bout you is all."

The aspiring daredevil snorted. "Easy for you to say. My Wings are pinned under these stupid things, I can't even ride my scooter without wobbling all over the place! I just hope Rainbow Dash doesn't see me like this, I'd just die! The humiliation would kill me! I have the most embarrassing mom in all of Ponyville - no, in all of Equestria!"

Applebloom winced and looked towards her brother, who just smiled and shook his head sadly. Applebloom was too young to remember their parents, but Big Macintosh and Applejack still acutely felt the void their passing had left. If Applejack her here instead of busy rounding up some volunteers, she'd probably give Scoots a stern talking-to about minding her mother, but Big Mac was too considerate and obliging in nature for that.

"Seriously," griped Scootaloo, tearing the pillows off with a disgusted snort, "Can anypony's parents be more embarrassing than mine?"

"LOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUTLOOKOUT!"

As if on cue, a grey blur whooshed out of the sky, pirouetted around the surrounding trees, spun around the merry-go-round, catapulted off the teeter-totter, zipped up the slide, made several mid-air loop-de-loops and, finally, collided with the school bell. A loud bong! echoed throughout the schoolyard as a pair of grey shapes tumbled unceremoniously on the school steps. Ditzy landed first, cushioned by her trusty mailbag, with Dinky landing onto her stomach, saddlebags and all, knocking the wind out of her mother with a whoof! Books and papers were scattered everywhere. They both trembled from the vibrations of the bell, their eyes rolling comically.

They whole assemblage of foals laughed uproariously at the spectacle while the assorted parents shook their heads and clicked their tongues. Dinky recovered from the fall first and, after taking stock of her surroundings and surmising the object of the crowd's ridicule, she buried her face in her hooves.

"I didn't expect to get an answer so quickly," muttered Scootalo before receiving an elbow jab from Applebloom. Big Mac, ever the gentlecolt, went to help the disoriented mailmare to her hooves as her daughter scrambled to gather up her lost supplies.

"Sorry," slurred Ditzy, smiling awkwardly at the red stallion with a cross-eyed expression.

"Eeyup," came the standard response, as Big Macintosh recovered her mailbag, which she gratefully took after shaking herself to make her eyes stop spinning.

"Sorry everypony," the blonde pegasus plaintively repeated to the gathered parents and foals. "My bad."

Dinky desperately gathered up her supplies and stuffed them in her saddlebag, hot tears trickling down her burning cheeks as she dashed inside the schoolhouse, brushing pashed Ms. Cheerilee who had opened the doors to investigate the commotion.

"Muffin?" Ditzy called after her daughter. Dinky didn't even glance backwards as the school bell rang to signal the start of class and all the colts and fillies filed into the schoolhouse to begin another day of learning. Big Macintosh gave the mailmare a sympathetic nod before he went to retrieve his cart. Applebloom and her friends gave her worried glances before following the others inside. The parents and guardians whispered amongst themselves as they too left the schoolyard.

Ditzy hung her head sadly as she flapped her wings and took off, taking no notice of the strange blue box by the white fence surrounding the school that had not been there yesterday. The morning that had been so promising seemed so far away now, and the worlds seemed a far less friendly place to be.

"I just don't know what went wrong," she whispered.

* * *

"Fifty-five million years ago, Equestria was a very different place," Cheerilee explained, turning the slide on the projector to depict the image of a vast prehistoric jungle, a smoking volcano looming in the distance, and a winged reptile gliding through the air. "Fossil evidence suggests that our ancestors were much smaller and quicker in order to avoid being gobbled up by the predators that ruled over our lands in those times. In fact, according to paleontological theory..."

Dinky, couldn't focus. Ordinarily she would have been fascinated by Ms. Cheerilee's lecture, but the morning's spectacle still hung over her like a shroud. Most of the other children already found her peculiar. Most fillies her age were concerned with what kind of cutie mark they would have, Dinky was eagerly awaiting the latest Daring Do book. While other girls squeed for the release the newest Sapphire Shores' album, Dinky preferred the classic works of Ludwig von Beathooven. While colts and fillies gasped at the scandalous gossip surrounding Wonderbolt Soarin' Skies and his alleged use of horsepower performance enhancers before flight competitions, Dinky was more or less indifferent to such things, opting to read up on the latest astronomical findings from the Hover Telescope instead. While other kids collected stamps, trading cards, or graphic novels, Dinky collected insects, spores, molds, and fungus. While most foals engaged in sports and other such social activities, Dinky generally found herself on the sidelines watching the others play with a sense of longing.

It wasn't that she was unfriendly, just the opposite. She wanted friends, she wanted to fit in, but she would always do or say something strange that would cause the other foals to ridicule her or ignore her entirely. They just didn't understand her, and frankly she didn't really understand them. She just wasn't certain how to go about making friends. As much as she loved her mother, her many accidents had given her a reputation that blanketed everything she associated with, including Dinky, and fillies like Diamond Tiara and her ilk didn't make things any easier...

"So," whispered Sweetie Belle from the desk in front of Dinky. "Anyone else notice that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon haven't come in today?"

Scootaloo snorted. "Do we care?"

"I heard Tiara's gone missin'," whispered Applebloom.

"For real?" hissed Sweetie Belle.

"Yup," the little farm filly crossed her forelegs over her chest, quite enjoying being the one in the know for a change. "My sister's been up since the crack of dawn rounding up a posse to go search for her."

"Is that why all the grownups are freakin' out?" Scootaloo asked.

"You don't think anything...bad happened to her," inquired Sweetie Belle hesitantly. "Do you."

"From what I've heard, Silver Spoon was the last one to see her," continued Applebloom. "And she ain't said a word since some pony saw her barreling down from that old house on the hill the other night."

"Ravensmane?"

The three fillies turned in their seats to look at her before Dinky realized she had said that aloud.

"Dinky Doo," said Ms. Cheerilee gently, but firmly. "You must remain quiet and attentive during my class. If you have something you wish to say, raise your hoof."

"Yes ma'am," Dinky blushed. "Sorry ma'am."

"Now, as I was saying, recent archaeological discoveries support the theory that the ruins of Llama Picchu were actually built by a civilization that predates pony-kind by..."

"You know about that mega-creepo house?" demanded Scootaloo, her tiny wings fluttering with excitement. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were also regarding her curiously.

Dinky was taken aback by the sudden attention. "Um...well, I was going to do a report on it for our Ponyville History assignment about a month ago, but asking about it just seemed to make everypony uncomfortable, so I just did it on Sugar Cube Corner..." The grey unicorn gave an involuntary shudder as she remembered the ordeal of interviewing Pinkie Pie. As much as she liked the bubbly pink pony, she had the attention span of a humming bird who had just discovered the power of Auntie Carrot's coffee.

"But, you've actually been up there," the little pegasus pressed. "At the house?"

"Well, yes," Dinky sighed, dropping her gaze. She didn't like thinking about how she went to Ravensmane and who she felt as though the windows were watching her, or how closely the front doors resembled a hungry mouth. "But I never went...inside."

"Do you think maybe it's...haunted?" gulped Sweetie Belle.

"Don't be silly," scoffed Applebloom. "Ain't no such things as ghosts."

"Maybe not," said Scootaloo, a sly gleam coming into her eye. "But maybe we should, investigate, just to be sure."

"Sure to get our cutie marks!" chimed in Applebloom.

"What?" asked Dinky.

"If we go to the house with recording equipment, we could prove that Ravensmane's haunted," Scootaloo grinned.

"And when it turns out it ain't haunted," interjected Applebloom. "'Cause there's no such thing as ghosts, we could still sell the video and make a fortune."

"You're not saying..." began Sweetie Belle before her two friends cheered in unison, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS! YAY!"

"Girls," groaned Cheerilee. "What did I say about cheering in class?"

"Sorry Ms. Cheerilee," murmured Scootaloo and Applebloom amid the giggles of the rest of the children.

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes, the Silurians..."

"Say, Dinky," whispered Applebloom. "Wanna come with?"

"Who?" squeaked Dinky. "Me?"

"We could use another camera-mare," said Scootaloo.

"I-I don't..."

"Pleeeease?" begged Sweetie Belle, batting her eyelashes and pouting in a manner that would have impressed even Rarity.

"I-I-I-"

"Great," smiled Applebloom. "Now that we got that settled, meet us at our tree house tomorrow morning."

Dinky blinked and spent the rest of the day, wondering just what the hay just happened.

* * *

Express Delivery, the postmaster of the Ponyville Branch of the Post Office, glared at his pocket watch and then at his employee.

"Late again Ms. Doo," he growled.

"I know," sighed Ditzy. "I'm sorry."

"That's the second time this week," Mr. Delivery snorted and began pacing. He was a teal colored pegasus with a salt and pepper mane and, as one would expect, an envelope cutie mark. "I understand the difficulties of a mare in your situation raising a child, especially with the this morning's troubling news," sighed Ditzy's employer. "But the Post must be delivered on schedule. A schedule which is carefully planned out from week to week as well as each route assigned to each postpony for optimum efficiency. When one shows up late, the schedule is thrown into chaos and the other carriers have to make up the difference. Do you understand?"

Ditzy nodded numbly.

"Fortunately," sighed the postmaster, rubbing his temples. "Events have conspired to grant you a chance to redeem yourself. Post Haste has called in sick with the flu, you'll have to run his route today in addition to yours."

"Yes sir," said Ditzy, perking up at the prospect of being useful, and saluting smartly.

"Also," continued Mr. Delivery, who was impervious to perkiness. "I'll need you in the sorting room tonight."

Ditzy deflated. "But I thought Zippy was on sorting duty."

"He was," groaned the postmaster, opening a bottle of aspirin. "But he showed up to work without his prescription glasses. It seems they had been shattered."

Ditzy required no further explanation. Without his thick coke-bottle glasses, the aging mail stallion was as blind as a bat. This generally wouldn't be an issue, except he hated the spectacles with a passion. He said they made him look old. And when his coworkers began to insist he wear them with varying degrees of politeness, he began to "lose" them. He had been reassigned to the sorting room in light of the...incident...at Fluttershy's cottage, but even there a Zippy with impaired vision was a danger to himself and everypony around him.

"I put him on sick leave until he gets them repaired," said Mr. Delivery, gulping down several tablets.

"B-but I have to pick up Dinky from school..." protested Ditzy.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to make other arrangements."

"B-but..."

"That will be all Ms. Doo."

* * *

Ditzy rubbed her eyes as she placed the last envelope in its slot in the sorting room.

What a day!

From the moment she woke up it was just one thing going wrong after another. She embarrassed her daughter in front of her classmates, she was late again, and she couldn't even get away long enough to pick Dinky up from school. Luckily, Carrot Top was on Post Haste's route, so she was able to ask her to pick up Dinky and tell her not to wait up for her at dinner.

In a way she was rather relieved. Dinky was likely mad at her. Ditzy had just wanted to be sure her daughter had gotten to school safely and surely there was nothing wrong with that. Dinky was a bright young filly who did very well in her studies. Her mother proudly displayed her report cards on the refrigerator door, but while she maintained a cheerful and upbeat attitude at home, Ditzy was painfully away that it was just a show she put on for her benefit. Dinky was special; clever, curious, and sweet. She was also different, and had a lot of trouble relating to other foals her age which Ditzy knew from first-hoof experience, made life hard. What hurt her most was not just her inability to protect her child from the petty cruelties of the world, but that Dinky felt that she had to hide her sorrows from her, her own mother.

If only Dinky's father were still...

She paused in her musings.

Did she just hear something?

She looked around but as far as she could tell, she was the only pony in the post office. The other mailponies and Mr. Delivery had left an hour ago. Only her and the light bulb hanging from the sorting room ceiling.

"I'm just tired, that's all," Ditzy muttered to herself. "Just hearing things."

Moments later she "heard things" again. A sound like dead leaves. Ditzy looked about her frantically, a growing sense of dread clawing at her chest. The darkened corners of the mailroom seemed to be growing. The shadows behind the stacks of packages and parcels appeared to be reaching for her. Ditzy's breath fogged in the air that was growing colder by the second.

The light bulb flickered and went dead.

A black formlessness loomed over Ditzy, studying her with cold purple eyes.

The pegasus stood transfixed, unable to flee, unable to look away, unable to even scream.

The dark creature reached for her then recoiled as a buzzing whine filled the air and the sorting room was bathed in a soft blue glow.

A stallion appeared next to Ditzy, holding a strange device directed at the horror in the darkness. Their eyes met and he grinned.

"Hello," he greeted brightly. "I'm the Doctor. And you should run."

Part Two

Deputy D.D. Rightly whistled half-heartedly to himself as he made his rounds, or, as he liked to refer to it, walked his beat. A sleepy little town like Ponyville rarely merited a law enforcement squad consisting of more than two deputies who answered to the sheriff. Usually Sheriff Magnum sent Rightly and Deputy Friday to respond to noise complaints - often the result of one of Pinkie Pie's parties getting out of hand - or to reports of juvenile pranksters spray painting rude words and cryptic messages on the sides of public buildings.

"Bad Wolf".

What the hay did that mean?

The Deputy paused in his whistling to sigh. As much as he hated to admit it, Diamond Tiara's disappearance came as something of a relief. Not that he was happy that the filly had disappeared, not at all.  He never wanted anything bad to happen to children ever, not even one as rude and self-involved as the heiress to the Rich Fortune. It was just that he had always wanted to be a proper police stallion ever since he was a foal. He had grown up reading Sherlock Hooves and Ms. Maple and hoped to one day crack a case of his own, perhaps amid the bustle of Fillydelphia or the mean streets of Manehattan.

Naturally he was less than thrilled to be assigned a post in rural Ponyville after graduating from the academy, but he just about yelped for joy at the prospect of a bonafide mystery. He was ready, eyes peeled, ear to the ground, no perpetrator of any foul deed would get the drop on D.D. Rightly.

At least that's what he had thought would happen, but the reality, once again, fell short of his expectations. The Apple Family, long time supporters of the Ponyville Police Department, and friends of Sheriff Magnum - possibly even his in-laws.  There were so many Apples it was difficult to keep track - had organized a search party for the missing kids. A search party which had included Deputy Friday and Sheriff Magnum, and left Rightly to explain to Pinkie Pie that a "search party" was not, in fact, a literal party.

After talking the peppy pony down to three balloons, one bag of streamers, and a "found you" cake, the dejected Deputy was left to mind the office while his colleagues went on the search. He filed files, he copied things requiring copies and he stapled things in need of stapling. When office hours finally came to an end, Rightly went on night patrol, something the Sheriff told him over and over again was not necessary, but the Deputy insisted on doing just the same, which brought him to the dilemma he currently found himself in.

As he was trotting past the schoolyard, he noticed something peculiar.

On closer examination, it appeared to be a large wooden box with windows. He circled it cautiously, inspecting it with his keen, discerning, crime-stopping eye. By the gentle glow of the light at the top of the mysterious crate, he found the inscription:

Police Public Call Barn

It was emblazoned on all sides. On one side, there were a pair of doors with what appeared to be a list of instructions upon them:

Police Telephone

Free for Use of Public

Advice and Assistance Obtainable Immediately

Officers and Carts Respond to Urgent Calls

Pull to Open

After a moment's consideration, he knocked. After politely waiting for an answer he pulled at the doors. When they didn't budge he glanced the instructions again to reaffirm that they were in fact pull doors. He tried pushing and still they wouldn't yield. Finally giving up on gaining access to the strange box, he considered his options. It was clearly police property, as it had the word "police" all over it, though he couldn't recall anything from his academy days that referenced a "police barn" as being part of the procedural inventory. Besides that, it shouldn't be near the schoolyard where some impressionable young foals might play with it.  Law enforcement equipment was not a toy after all.

However he was uncertain just what the protocol for something like this was.

Was he to regard it was a traffic violation?

Negligence?

Gross misuse of police equipment?

And who was he supposed to cite anyway? The only ones who should have access to said police equipment would be the Sheriff, himself and Deputy Friday.

At last, reaching a decision he rummaged through his standard issue saddle bad producing a rope and a harness. After tying the bonds as tight as he could he attached the ends to the harness around his shoulders and pulled. After wobbling for a few moments, the strange box came crashing on it side and the Deputy dragged it in the direction of the Sheriff's Office, huffing and puffing all the way. Sheriff Magnum would know how to deal with this, D.D. Rightly assured himself as he strained at the ropes. And until he's done with the search party, this box'll be staying in the impound lot.

He grunted against the ropes. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that the crate was pulling back.

* * *

The shadow warped and writhed in the soft glow of the strange stallion's whirring device.  Whorls of blackness swirled and slithered all across the sorting room, upsetting crates and packages, sending letters flying from their slots and ruining a night's work for Ditzy who for her part could only stare dumbly at her would-be rescuer, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

He had a light brown coat with an untidy dark brown mane giving him the overall impression of scruffiness.  He had an hourglass cutiemark emblazoned upon his flank, though for the life of her, Ditzy couldn't fathom what sort of talent that indicated.

The stallion who called himself the Doctor glanced over his shoulder, locking eyes with the blonde Mare, and said in a North Trottingham accent, "I really am a Doctor you know."

Ditzy could only blink in confusion so he continued, "And as a physician, I strongly recommend - for your continued good health, physical or otherwise - being anywhere except here at the moment."

"Wh-wh-wh-" was all the gray pegasus could manage as the Doctor went on, "Because my sonic screwdriver is not having the desired effect on this creature. In fact..." the blue light began to dim as the shadow stretched and tightened into something vaguely equine.  At last the "sonic screwdriver" flickered and died.

"I daresay it's enjoying it," finished the Doctor with a gulp.

Violet orbs snapped open and fixed themselves on the ponies and tendrils of darkness snapped from its form to clutch at them.  With a yelp Ditzy flapped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the grasping appendage.  But no sooner had she dodged than another slammed into her side, pinning her to the wall.  In a blur of motion a shadowy whipcord encircled her wings and the creature was before her, almost muzzle to muzzle and Ditzy flinched from that stony purple gaze.  Gazing into those orbs was like staring into a gaping black hole in existence, a great mouth that devoured all light, joy and color from creation leaving it bleak and meaningless.  She tore herself from that unbearable empty gaze with a whimper.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was crouched next to the vending machine, pointing his strange rod at the coin slot to no effect. He then began knocking it against his hoof muttering "Come on! Come on!"

If Ditzy weren't so petrified with terror at the time, she might have shouted at the weird, stupid pony that now was certainly not the time to be thinking about snacks.  Suddenly the odd device sputtered to life and with a whoop the Doctor pointing the glowing bulb at the coin slot again and the machine began to shake.

There came a loud shpow! noise and the creature recoiled from Ditzy to investigate the two bit coin embedded into the wall by its head - or at least the appendage where it kept its eyes.  There came more shpows! and a barrage of coins pelted the monster as it hissed in annoyance.  It also had the added effect of releasing Ditzy from its grasp as it attempted to shield itself from the penny projectiles with its shadowy limbs.

Ditzy's head whipped around the sorting room until she spied the Doctor gesturing her urgently with one hoof as the other busied itself with the weird whirring mechanism pointed at the door, the blue light flickering and sputtering like a drowning candle flame.

Her wings were bruised and her side ached, but Ditsy was otherwise unhurt and flapped and galloped towards the strange stallion at full speed.  The Doctor knocked the rod against his hoof again, tut-tutting with frustration and pointed it back at the door which obligingly clicked.  Immediately the two ponies pushed through, entering the reception area of Ponyville Post Office, slamming the door shut behind them.  Ditzy struggled to catch her breath while the Doctor bolted the with a whiz and a click of his device.

Beyond the door, the shadow beast shrieked as coins continued to pelt it.

"Well now, that was new," said the Doctor mater-of-factly, as though he were discussing some interesting new plant and not some nightmare-spawned abomination. "Love new things. Even if they do try to kill me. Not important now."

Ditzy's head was spinning.  One moment she was sorting the mail and the next she's being attacked by some wraith-like monster only to be rescued by some mad Trottish pony with a flashy noise-maker who was treating the entire situation like a mildly hectic day at the office. Was this how poor Screwloose felt before she began eating dog biscuits and had to take a "mandatory extended leave of absence"?

Suddenly the Doctor placed both hooves on her shoulders, prompting her to meet that cobalt blue gaze.  It was then that Ditzy was struck by how strange they were.  They weren't empty and lifeless like the monster in the sorting room, just the opposite.  In fact she had never seen eyes so full of life, joy, and wonder.  But there was something else there too.  A deep, abiding sadness and incomprehensible loss.  They were eyes that were far, far too old and weary to be peering from that youthful face.  She couldn't explain why or how but she implicitly knew, like she knew the sun would rise tomorrow morning, that she could trust this mad, strange stallion with her life.

"I need you to listen very, very carefully," he said levelly. He waited expectantly before Ditzy finally nodded. The shpow! noises in the sorting room were becoming less and less frequent.  "Does this building have a back-up generator in case the power goes out?"

"Y-yeah," answered Ditzy. "We keep it in the storage room. In the cellar."

The Doctor clopped his hooves together and wrung them with glee.  The paltry light gleaming through the cracks of the sorting room door became blocked by something dark. "Alright, here's the situation. The good news is, we're not dealing with Vasta Nerada. If we were, we'd've been reduced to skeletal remains by now. The bad news: I have absolutely no idea what we're dealing with. Some sort of umbraform as the shadow itself seems to possess mass and...not important right now. What is important, is light. Light is the answer. Somehow. Haven't worked out how. But it's afraid of it, and, at the same time, it's drawn to it. So, I'm going to need lots and lots of it."

He held up the strange rod. "It drained it before, but hopefully it still has enough juice left to make tempting bait. Now, I'm afraid in order for this plan to work, I'm going to need your help."

Ditzy gave an involuntary squeak. "M-m-me?"

"I'm the distraction, so that means, you'll have to activate the generator. I know I'm asking a lot from someone I just met - nice to meet you by the way, always lovely meeting new ponies - but at the moment I'm not exactly rich with options."

Blackness oozed from beneath the sorting room door, and the mail slots along the wall rattled as shadowy feelers slithered through probing for prey.

The Doctor gave Ditzy another grin and a wink, "Best get a move on." and he trotted toward the bleeding darkness.

"Wait!" called Ditzy and the Doctor twisted his head around to give a somewhat vexed expression, as though he were a put-upon caretaker dealing with a particularly dense child. So many questions vied for prominence in Ditzy's head: what was going on? Where in Tartarus did this...thing come from? What the hay was a Vasta Ner-whatsis? Did Dinky Doo eat supper and go to bed on time? But the question she wound up asking was an exasperated, "Who are you?"

"Well, I've told you," said the stallion. "I'm the Doctor. And you are?"

Because she couldn't think of what else to do she answered, "Derpy...Ditzy Doo."

The Doctor smiled warmly, "Nice to meet you Derpy Dizty Doo."

Before she could correct him, the creature, nearly half-formed, shrieked to find its quarry so close at hoof.

"Run for your life!"

Ditzy turned and ran, trying her best to block out the shrieks of the shadow beast, drowning out the pitiful whine of the weird mechanism of the Doctor's, she tried to stay focused on the objective the strange pony had given her, the backup generator.  She shoved open the cellar door and almost tumbled down the steps in her haste.  A cry of anguish pierced her ears and she wasn't sure whether it came from the Doctor or the creature, but it spurred her frantic search.  The cellar hadn't been cleaned in years, stacks of moldy stacks of unused boxes and piles of discarded papers were strewn everywhere, Ditzy couldn't even see the floor!

Actually she couldn't see much of anything. She tried working the light switch before remembering that the power had been knocked out which was why she was fumbling in the dark in the first place. She tripped over boxes, slipped on a stack of paper and stubbed her hoof on something hard eliciting a stream of expletives she hadn't uttered since Dinky was born.

Fortunately luck had finally smiled on her as she had, in fact stubbed her hoof on the backup generator.  It was a rusty old turbine that hadn't seen use in decades. The little window on the side revealed that the tiny thundercloud contained within had become withered from disuse, its color a washed-out chalk, with barely a spark to it at all.  For a brief panicked moment, she wondered if it was still working but the sounds of the struggle upstairs strengthened her resolve.  She turned lifted her hind leg and kicked.  The generator shook and wheezed before falling silent again, the sickly storm cloud quivering pitifully.  A loud shriek echoed into the basement.  Ditzy kicked again.

* * *

The Doctor artfully dodged another shadow whip, doing cartwheels and laughing gleefully as the monster hissed in annoyance, sprouting more and more wicked appendages.

"Almost had me there old chap," teased the stallion.  "Don't give up! Give us another go!"

He shined his screwdriver at the creature's violet eyes and it cried out in an unnerving mixture of pain, ecstasy, and rage.  While the Doctor was putting on a strong front he wasn't certain how much longer he could carry on like this.  The creature had already grazed his flank with icy cold talons.  The scratches burned like the artic winds of Fridjeria, and he could feel the coldness spreading throughout his blood stream indicating some form of toxin.  His unique immune system told him that the dose wasn't fatal, however his body's recovery was sapping much needed energy at a most inopportune time, namely when he needed that same energy to avoid being killed by a horror from beyond the stars.

And to make matters worse, his sonic screwdriver, the one thing keeping the monster at bay, was rapidly fading.  His only hope lay with that blonde pegasus.  He had the uncharitable thought that she might have abandoned him, but he quickly dismissed the notion. Through his long years he prided himself on being an excellent judge of character and Miss Derpy Ditzy Doo did not strike him as the type to abandon somepony in need.  And as the shadow beast reared up for another volley of attacks the Doctor's need seemed greater than ever.

Just then the lights hummed to life and the beast shrieked and the Doctor grinned.  "Miss Doo," he whispered.  "You're beautiful!"

He raised his trusty sonic screwdriver overhead and it buzzed weakly before finally expiring with an anguished squawk, but it had done its job.  The lights of the Post Office grew in brightness and intensity, the Doctor shielded his eyes from the illumination, peering at his antagonist beneath raised foreleg.  The shadow beast howled in agony as it shrank from the brightness, its form fading from inky black to misty gray, loosing shape and substance beneath the onslaught of light.  With a final pitiful hiss at the Doctor it began to slither away.

"On no you don't," growled the Doctor, moving to pursue.  Then the lights burst, showing him with sparks and broken glass.  Stupid, stupid old fool, the Doctor chastised himself.  Got overexcited and forgot to calibrate the electrical output and overloaded the lights!  Blinking the spots from his eyes, he frantically scanned the newly darkened Post Office for his quarry but to no avail.  It had escaped!  "Blast!" swore the brown stallion, running his hooves through his mane.  "I'm off my game. This sort of thing never happened with I had...No, no. Best not think like that. Alone is better. Alone is safer. For you and everypony else...is something burning?"  That was when he smelled the smoke and noticed the flickering orange glow.

He whirled around to find that the cellar door was being licked greedily by flames.  That same cellar door he had sent Miss Doo down in search of the back up generator.

"No," whispered the Doctor.

* * *

Ditzy coughed as she inhaled more smoke.  The generator groaned and sputtered after her second buck, and for a few terrifying seconds Ditzy feared that it might explode.  But then the basement light snapped on and the anguished screech of the shadowbeast above banished her fears and she gave a gleeful cry of victory.  The Doctor had beaten the monster, and she had helped!  That was the most amazing thing of all!  She had helped!

Then the light burst in a shower of sparks, and the ancient stacks of forgotten bureaucratic refuse caught them.

Tiny flames licked at the edges of several dry pages of back logs, crinkling and blackening them, gleefully spreading to the rest of the boxes and envelopes and other kindling.  Almost before Ditzy registered what was happening, the whole cellar had turned into an inferno.  The low ceiling rendered her wings useless in the limited maneuverability the stacks of flaming paperwork offered, and the fire was blocking her way to the stairs.  Giving way to instinctual fear, she backed away from the greedy flames into a corner, using her wings to shield her mouth and nostrils from the acrid smoke.  But she knew that the flames were eating up all the oxygen and sooner or later she would asphyxiate on the fumes.

She coughed again.

Dinky would be all alone.

She'd be left without both her parents.

The world wasn't always kind, Dinky shouldn't have to face it alone.

She wouldn't face it alone!

Ditzy would not allow that!

Steeling herself against what she was about to do, her head swimming slightly, she folded her wings as tightly against her body as she could manage and charged into the flames at full gallop.  She gritted her teeth against the burning, feeling her hide crackle and her feathers disintegrate as she urged her legs to carry her just a bit further.  She was almost to the stairs.  The flames were already busily devouring the steps as well.

No time for hesitation.

No time for second thoughts.

Her daughter was waiting for her.

She shook herself, hoping to dispel some of the flames and she rushed up the stairs, each step protesting with a creak and a groan.  Then with a sickening snap! one of her hind hooves fell through one of the weakened boards.  With a pained cry she fell forward.  The smoke was growing thick and the fire was spreading.  She coughed as she lungs filled with the acrid fumes and her vision began to blur.  She pulled at her trapped hoof but it held fast.  What was it her old kindergarten teacher had told her on fire safety awareness day?  About using the stairs during a fire?

The steps behind her started to crumble.

Oh, that's right. Don't.

Looks like I've messed up again, Ditzy thought ruefully.  The choking miasma was making her head fuzzy.  It was getting hard to focus and her eyes were watering so much it was becoming difficult to see.  I'm so, so sorry Dinky, my poor baby.

"Miss Doo!" somepony called.

"Fix-it?" slurred Ditzy.

"Derpy!" came the voice again.  "Answer me!"

It wasn't Fix-it then. He'd never call her Derpy.  Ditzy had always hated that nickname.  She couldn't say why she had introduced herself by it when she met the Doctor.  He probably thought she was a complete featherhead.  She hoped he was alright.  He seemed like a nice colt.  Kind of nutty though.  Lonely too.

"C'mon Miss Doo!" the voice was straining now and she had the sensation that she was being pulled upwards at an angle.  "Just a few more steps!"

Dinky was probably asleep right now.  Ditzy must remember to kiss her goodnight and tuck her in when she got home.

"Made it!" huffed the voice.  "We made it. You're a lot heavier than you look you know."

Heavy?  Heavy?! She ought to buck him into next week for making a comment like that to a mare.  She tried to tell him so too but all that came out was, "Atta...ukk yuu...inna...nezzwii..."

"We'll take it from here sir," came a new voice.  Ditzy was lifted up and placed on what felt like a cushion with wheels.

"She's inhaled a lot of smoke," said the voice that called her fat.  "She needs oxygen.  She's suffered a few minor burns, but if you treat them right away..."

"Don't worry sir," new voice cut him off.  "We know what we're doing. Your girlfriend's in good hands."

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend," insensitive voice stated simply.

"Nob...is...girfree..." Ditzy agreed intelligently, as something was placed over her muzzle.  Someone instructed her to breath deeply and she obeyed.  Gradually her thoughts became less and less jumbled and she realized that she was on a paramedic gurney and she had been given an oxygen mask.  She sat up, despite the protestations of the medic, causing her to hiss a sharp intake of break as her burns tingled and stung and her head to briefly swim again, but she was able to take in the scene surrounding her.

The Ponyville Fire Brigade had arrived and were busily putting out the fire.  Almost half the building had been devastated.  The bricks were crumbling, the letterboxes were warped by heat, and she didn't even want to consider what the sorting room and cellar might look like.  She scanned the faces of the firefighters, paramedics, and spectators who had gotten out of bed to see what the fuss was about.  No evil shadow monster.  No mysterious Doctor with his noisy nightlight.  Nothing to prove that Derpy the Wonder Klutz was not in any way to blame for the fire.

"Mister Delivery is going to kill me," she moaned.

Part Four

Diamond Tiara woke to a dark misty haze.  Blearily she peered around to get her bearings but as far as she could see there was nothing but fog and shadow.  She dashed in one direction but found no exit or even any change in scenery.  Then she galloped in the direction she came until she was panting for breath, but her environment was as formless and unchanging as ever.  She couldn't even determine for certain if she was where she started.

"Alright," she scoffed at the shadows.  "Knock it off. You had your laugh, now let me out of here."

After a mental count of three, she shouted. "I said, let me out! I haven't got all day!"

She waited with her nose in the air but, again, there was no response.

"Do you know who my daddy is?" she demanded.  She kept her voice steady, but truthfully she was beginning to worry.  As the daughter of the wealthiest and most respected entrepreneur in Ponyville, she was accustomed to promptly being given what she wanted.  The only exceptions were Ms. Cheerillee, whom she was certain her father was enamored with (gag!), and that trio of losers with their hick ringleader.

"O-okay Applebloom," stammered Tiara shakily, trying to keep an eye on every direction at once.  "You had your fun. You an your Blank Flank Brigade finally put one over on me! Bravo! I'm genuinely impressed. Really. So, let me out already."

She hesitated a moment before venturing, "...please?"

She was answered only with silence.

Never had the filly experience such awful silence.  Not even on the darkest scariest night did she feel so utterly exposed and vulnerable. And even then she was at least safe in her bed with her goose down sheets, satin pillows and plush gecko that not even Silver Spoon knew about to curl up with.  And where outrageously expensive material possessions failed, she could always find her father in his study, where he would smile at her, have the servants bring her hot cocoa and read her the revenue return reports until she nodded off to sleep.

But here there were no goose down sheets, no satin pillow, no gecko, no hot cocoa, no servants, no daddy.

She was alone.

With nothing to do, Diamond Tiara chose a direction and began walking.  The mist and shadows surrounding her shifted and flowed about, making it impossible to tell if she was making any progress at all.  There didn't even appear to be any ground beneath her hooves.  She immediately dismissed this line of thought, fearing that the act of realizing there was no ground would cause her to plummet to her doom, like in those inane cartoons Pinkie Pie enjoys.

So childish!

Tiara whirled around.  She was certain she had heard something, a whisper in the surrounding haze.

After a few moments of scrutiny, she began walking again albeit a bit more cautiously.

Such an airhead!

"Who's there?" demanded the little pink filly desperately hoping it came off authoritative and not like a panicked squeak. "I know somepony's there so you might as well come out where I can see you!"

Abruptly where there was silence there came a steady steam of whisperings and grumblings and murmurs.  They didn't come from any direction in particular, but seemed to cascade from every which way at once.  Diamond Tiara couldn't decipher them all between the echo of the strange environment she found herself in and the sheer volume of voices speaking all at once.  She only managed to pick up snippets here and there.

...such a loser!

...always so rude!

...can't stand...

Why can't she just...?

...nasty piece of...

...What's her damage?

Tiara glared everywhere at once.

"Oh I get it," she scoffed in annoyance.  "Very cute. Trying show me the error of my ways by making me listen to every nasty remark I've made, every rumor I've spread, every insult, put down, and trash-talk I ever committed to show me how much I've hurt the other foals, hoping I'll learn some life-changing lesson about friendship or some such garbage. Well, bring it on you creepy mist-thing! I'm not going to learn squat! You think I don't know that the things I say hurt? Of course they do, that's why I say them! Because those other kids need to be taught their place and I'm just the girl to..."

Diamond Tiara...

Tiara stopped mid-rant at the mention of her name.  "What?"

...such an awful child.

"What?"

...so mean!

"What?!"

One of the worst students I've ever had drifted the voice of Ms. Cheerilee.

"But...but..."

No denying it sighed her father's voice. She's a hoofful.

"Wait, I..."

Oh no, it's Tiara the Terrible muttered the voice of some colt she sometimes sees on the playground.  Let's get out of here before she notices us enjoying ourselves and decides to ruin it.

Aww, lamented another. She ruins everything!

"How dare..."

Awful, she's just awful! cried Sweetie Belle.  Why can't she just leave us alone?

Because she's awful? offered Scootaloo, dark anger in her voice.

I actually feel kinda bad for her, sighed Applebloom.

"You feel bad for me?!" shrieked Diamond Tiara. Her initial shock and the quick fire succession of all the whispered slurs against her were all that was keeping her growing indignation in check but this, this, was the final straw.  "I'm rich, pretty, have my cutie mark, and popul-" she caught herself before sourly adding the addendum, "-well, clearly not as popular as I thought. But even so, I'm far better off than you, you, you destitute, inbred, backwards, bucktoothed, uneducated, unwashed, blankflanked hick! And you have the gall to feel sorry for me?"

Misty Voice Scootaloo seemed to echo her sentiments, How can you feel bad for *her*?

'Cause we got something she'll never have, said Applebloom.

"Oh yeah?" scoffed Diamond in unison with Scootaloo.  "And what's that?"

Friends like you guys.

"Oh please," snorted the little heiress in disgust. "I have plenty of friends."

Ugh! She's such a pain, but better to be on her good side considering what she does to ponies who aren't.

Not much in the brains department, but pretty and rich are good perks. I just can't get past that personality of hers.

What personality?

...vile little monster!

Stuckup little nag!

If I keep smiling she won't hurt me! If I keep smiling she won't hurt me! If I keep smiling she won't hurt me! If I keep smiling she...

"Okay," she muttered dismally. "So not as many as I thought I did. But still Silver Spoon's waaaay better than any of you three losers!"

She's just so horrid!

Diamond Tiara's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in recognition. "Silver?"

I...I used to tell myself that she's not that bad. That maybe...maybe she's just...I don't know...misunderstood.

"Silver Spoon," Tiara quavered. "Wh-what are you saying?"

She always bosses me around, makes me do things I don't want to do, and never listens to what I have to say. And even when she seems to, she only hears what she wants to hear. At least it's not just me though, that's how she treats everypony. It's like she only keeps me around to make herself feel superior. I'm not her friend, I'm her accessory.

"No," whispered Tiara, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Don't say that."

The voices of all the other ponies didn't affect her beyond minor annoyance. Even the voices of her teacher and father weren't all that hurtful after a few moments of processing. Deep down she always suspected how despised she was by everypony.  Applebloom's pity only served to anger her.  But Silver Spoon...

Silver Spoon was her friend...

I think the only reason I've stuck by her for so long, sighed Silver Spoon, is because I'm afraid of what she might do if I tried to leave.

"Silver Spoon wait!" cried Diamond Tiara. "I'm sorry! If you feel that way, I'll...I'll change. We'll do something you like next time like...like...okay, I, um, don't really know what you like to do. But that's okay! I'll learn along the way, just-just don't leave me okay Silver?"

Silence more palpable than the one preceding the whisper avalanche permeated the misty void.

"Silver," ventured Tiara. "Anypony?"

How long had she been alone in that silence? Hours? Weeks? Years? Centuries? She couldn't guess.  She didn't care to. The silence was deafening and the loneliness was  crushing.

"Please..." she begged the formless mists. She buried her face in her hooves and wept.  "Please, I don't want to be alone."

You're not alone little one, spoke a new voice she didn't recognize.  One that sounded like autumn leaves rustling against a headstone.

Tiara raised her eyes, red and puffy from crying and was confronted with a pair of glowing violet eyes surrounded by whirling blackness.

You'll never be alone again the Shadowfright whispered.

For a second time, darkness embraced Diamond Tiara, and this time, she welcomed it with open forelegs.

Part Three

Ditzy had spent the night at the hospital.

She said it wasn't necessary but Nurse Red Heart insisted that she get bed rest.  The burns were fairly mild but her going on about shadow monsters and colts with magic blue flashlights led the medical pony to the conclusion that her patient had suffered a hallucinogenic episode due to too much smoke inhalation.  So at Ponyville General she stayed.  Fortunately the nurse was kind enough to send word to Carrot Top, informing her of the situation.  Her friend immediately rushed to the Hospital, little Dinky in tow.  Then came the rush of questions and outpouring of concern and Ditzy insisting that she was fine and for the umpteenth time that night, told what happened at the Post Office.

She tactfully omitted the bits about the Doctor and the creature, not only because nopony believed her so far, but because she was beginning to question her recollection of events herself.  So the version she related to her daughter and friend was much shorter and far less exciting than the one she had related to the paramedics and doctors and nurses.

"I just got through sorting the mail when all of a sudden the power went out. I went to check the fuse box and when that didn't work, I tried the back-up generator.  That thing was so old and rusted I guess it overloaded. Next thing I know, everything's on fire."

"How'd you get out Mama?" asked Dinky, her eyes wide.

"A..." Ditzy hesitated.  "A doctor happened to be passing by and saw the fire. He must've heard me calling for help and ran into the building to rescue me."

"What a stallion!" sighed Carrot Top dreamily.  Ditzy and Dinky smiled and rolled their eyes.  Carrot Top was a level-headed no-nonsense type mare, but she was really a school-filly at heart who dreamed of finding some dashing prince to sweep her off her hooves. "You didn't happen to get his address did you? I'd like to ahem thank him properly."

"Sorry Carrot," shrugged Ditzy. "Once the paramedics and the fire brigade showed up he left." Leaving me holding the bag, she added bitterly.

Soon after that, Nurse Red Heart informed them that visiting hours were over, Dinky hugged her mother tightly and followed after Carrot Top, leaving Ditzy alone in the hospital bed.  She tried to sleep but visions of the writhing nightmare of darkness appeared whenever she closed her eyes.  Instead she stared at the ceiling wondering what she was going to do.

Even if the Doctor and the monster were real, she had no way of proving it.  Mr. Delivery would fire her and no doubt sue her for the damages.  Wouldn't be the first time Ditzy had faced unemployment.  Before becoming a mailmare, she had been part of a professional moving crew, until a little...mishap, involving an anvil and a piano and some hapless unicorn's head.  She was let go soon after that incident.  Before that she had tried going into business herself as a muffin salespony.  Her muffins sold well, but unfortunately her little booth couldn't compete with Sugar Cube Corner.  She had to file for bankruptcy soon after.  And before that, well, she was able to be a full-time mom since Fix-it was still...

Ditzy buried her face in her pillow and wept.  It wasn't often she allowed herself tears, she had to stay strong for her daughter's sake, but every so often, when she was alone, and the world gave her those scant moments to withdraw into herself, she opened the floodgates and had a good cry.

She missed him!

She missed him so much!

Dinky couldn't even remember him, she was so small when he passed.

Everything was an uphill struggle just to make ends meet.

She tries her best, and Carrot Top helps where she can but everything always seems to go wrong, from her job to her child she always manages to mess up.  The only things she ever got right was meeting Fix-it and helping the Doctor, and she wasn't even sure the latter was real anymore.

Eventually the tears ceased their flow and her hiccupping sobs subsided. Soon morning would come, she would be released from the hospital to face the world with her head held high and a smile on her face.  She'd start searching for a job and trying to make things right with her daughter.  She would put this whole strange, terrifying night behind her.  But, for now at least, she could allow herself to be weak.

* * *

Meanwhile over by the schoolyard, a brown stallion was glaring in profound annoyance at a square patch of crushed grass where he had left a blue police barn.

* * *

Dinky rummaged under her bed for her old camera.  When she was younger, she had entertained the idea of becoming a famous Hollow Wood director, but then she discovered Log-O's(TM), and in all the miniature model building she forgot all about Plan 10 From Beneath Equestria.  She eventually found it in an old hatbox alongside an old Buckaroo Bea doll, an unfinished poem and some rocks she had thought were interesting when she was going through her geology phase.  The camera was dusty from years of disuse, and the lens was chipped, but it still had good film in it.

She was on her way to Applebloom's.  By herself. She asked permission. Sort of.  Her mother had returned home earlier that morning.  Her wings were still bandaged and she was advised to refrain from flight for a week or two, but she was otherwise her happy bubbly self...and somewhat stoned on pain meds.  Apparently her chart had gotten mixed up with a patient suffering from horsentary.  Fortunately she was able to find her way home, stumbled up the steps to the room she shared with Dinky and collapsed into her bed.  When Dinky asked if it was oaky to make her way to Sweet Apple Acres, Ditzy gave her consent.  Or rather, she said something down the lines of "Urble burble smulz..."

She felt a pang of guilt, both for deceiving her mother and for leaving her to sleep off the effects of the mistaken medication, but she knew this was something she had to do. For as long as she could remember she was known only as the daughter of the village idiot.  She was tired of the snickering, the mutterings, and the looks that were equal parts pity and contempt.

She knew for certain if she could make friends then maybe ponies wouldn't talk mean about her much.  Maybe, with time, if they could see how normal Dinky was  ponies wouldn't talk mean about her mother.  Ditzy Doo was a good mother, and she was going to prove it...by venturing outside without permission, going to a condemned mansion without supervision, all while the whole town was in an uproar over a missing filly.  Okay so it wasn't a perfect plan but she was committed to it and by Celestia she was going to follow through.

After blowing the dust off the camera, she was on her way to Sweet Apple Acres.  It was on the other side of town, past the boutique run by Sweetie Belle's older sister and beyond the lake that fed the brook which cut through the orchard, but in a small village like Ponyville it was still well within trotting distance.  This still, unfortunately, gave Dinky's mind time to sift through all the possible scenarios where everything could go wrong.  What if she dropped her camera? What if she didn't film right? What if she said something wrong and the Cutie Mark Crusaders hated her?  Or, worst of all, what if her mom showed up?

Before she knew it she was hyperventilating.  She needed to think of something relaxing: clouds: thunder, lightning, Mama bouncing, property damage.  No.  Birds: north in the summer, south in the winter, east when Mama read the map upside down last Winter Wrap-up.  No.  Brook: babbling, cool, water.  Hello, what's this?

Dinky bent down to examine a curious mushroom that had sprouted along the bank of the stream.  It was of an unusual coloring, cherry red with white polka dots.  She loved coming across unusual things such as this.  A shame she hadn't brought one of her sample jars.  After a moment's consideration she decided to film it.  True it wouldn't be a vey exciting film, but at the very least she would be able to examine it later.

After several minutes she got the distinct feeling she was being watched.  She shrugged it off and instead zoomed in on the green caterpillar that had crawled atop the cap of the mushroom and perched there for a spell as though tuckered out from the exertion of the climb.

"Do you see its long nose and chin?" inquired a voice behind her.  With a yelp, dinky dropped the camera and whirled around to face a tall, brown earth pony stallion, with an hourglass cutiemark and a dark unkempt mane.  He took little notice of the startled filly and continued to stare at the insect with a childish grin on his face.

"At least, they look like a nose and chin don't you think? But they're actually two of its legs. You know a caterpillar has got an abundance of legs. It's a wonder they don't stumble all over the place. I mean I've only got the four and I'm constantly tripping over myself."  He blinked his blue eyes before focusing them on Dinky.  "Sorry, got carried away. I ramble. Bad habit of mine. What did you say your name was?"

Dinky glared suspiciously at the stranger. "I didn't."

"Didn't what?" the stallion asked.

"Say my name."

"Well," huffed the brown pony nonplussed.  "I can't very well do that if I don't know your name, now can I?"

The little unicorn's mouth hung open, rendered flabbergasted, but she shook her head and attempted to regain control of the conversation.

"I'm sorry," she said evenly.  "But Mama says I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."  And I've never met anyone as strange as you, she silently added. Then she recalled the time Pinkie Pie randomly broke into song and everypony joined into a fully choreographed musical number that nopony practiced or rehearsed for and nopony ever mentioned again once it was over.  Well, almost anyone.

The strange stallion appeared to give this some thought.  "That's actually very sound advice. Little fillies shouldn't go around talking to strangers. Who knows who they might be? Who knows what they might be? However, I have to wonder, how is it possible to make friends in a world full of strangers?"

Dinky blinked at this.

"What I'm saying is, everypony one meets starts off as a stranger to them until they get to know them, so in order to have friends you have to make friends out of strangers.  That is, unless somepony wants to be a hermit all their life. Come to think of it, that doesn't really work either, as hermits are notorious for being privy to secret knowledge and every hero, adventurer, or inquisitive seventh son of a seventh son would come knocking on their door. That's why it's useful to have a home that moves, though, in my case, it does have the disadvantage of being misplaced at the moment. You haven't seen a blue box by any chance? About this tall? So wide?"

Dinky had nothing to say to this diatribe, so she silently shook her head.

"Drat," muttered the stallion distractedly. "I suppose I'll have to find alternative lodgings for the duration of this investigation. Left my tachyon detector on board the TARDIS too. Right next to the food hydrator. Or was it the thermo-detonator? Always getting those two mixed up I am. Anyway, love to stay and chat about caterpillars and whatnot but I must be going. Ta."

The gray unicorn filly, transfixed throughout the entire spiel, shook her self again and blurted. "Dinky."

The stallion turned. "Beg pardon?"

"My name," she repeated shyly. "It's Dinky."

The stallion grinned brightly. "Very nice to meet you Dinky. I am the Doctor."

"Doctor what?"

"If you like."

In spite of herself, Dinky giggled. "You really are weird."

"Normal is grossly overrated in my opinion," chuckled the Doctor, his blue eyes twinkling merrily.  "Never touch the stuff myself. In any event, best of luck on your caterpillar documentary."

"I wasn't filming the caterpillar. I was filming the mushroom."

"As I said before, 'normal' is overrated."

"I just wanted to get a good look at it so I can study it later," explained Dinky.  She couldn't decide whether or not the Doctor was making fun of her, but she somewhat rankled at the unspoken "weird" comment the stallion may or may not have made at her expense.  "I'm actually going to meet some frie..." she stopped herself before she finished saying "friends".  While the Crusaders were very friendly Dinky wasn't certain if calling them her friends would be presumptuous.  After all, she'd never had any friends before except maybe Mama and Auntie Carrot. And of course her foalsitter, Amethyst.

"Just some fillies I know," Dinky finished hurriedly, avoiding meeting the Doctor's eye.

"Nice fillies?" prompted the stallion.

Dinky gave a noncommittal shrug.

Almost as though sensing her unease, the Doctor smiled warmly. "Don't worry so much," he said softly.  "Friends have a way of finding you in unexpected ways in the most unexpected of places. All you can do is be who you are and hope they'll take you as is. I'll let you in on a little secret though, everypony has their quirks and eccentricities. A lot of them try to hide it for fear of what others might think about them. Did you know that Galloppeo was a huge fan of Clopernicus? Collected everything from signed portraits to busts, supposed hoof clippings, anything he could get his hooves on. Major fancolt. He was absolutely mortified someone might find out. Swore me to secrecy he did..."

The brown stallion stopped short.  "...whoops. Um, forget I said anything. The point is, the very best ones not only embrace their own strange wonderfulness, but celebrate it when they find it in others. After all, can you imagine how dull the world would be if we were all the same? As though we were all rendered from a limited number of templates and slapped with a different paintjob to cover up our sameness? Of course that's just ridiculous."

Dinky finally raised her eyes to meet the Doctor's.  "But...but what if they don't like me?"

The Doctor grinned, fishing out a wallet, "Well, that's their loss then, isn't it? Because I happen to be a certified  judge of character, and yours just so happens to be the very best I've seen today."  He unfolded the wallet and presented a white sheet of paper for the little filly's inspection.

"Lost: one blue box," Dinky read.  "If found, please contact The Doctor. Location: likely running from something eldritch and terrible."

The Doctor hastily folded the paper and put it away. "Sorry, a might bit preoccupied. Interfering with the psychic interface. The point is your a sweet clever girl."

"You only just learned my name," protested the little unicorn. "How can you know if I'm sweet or clever?"

The stallion's grin returned. "Well, cleverness is the sister of curiosity I always say. Most ponies wouldn't give an odd-looking fungus a second thought, and look at you. Filming it for further study. And as for sweet, well, you took time out of your busy day to chat with an old codger like me."

Dinky didn't think he looked all that old, but it was hardly the strangest thing he had said throughout their exchange, and it actually did make her feel a bit better.

"You know Doctor," said Dinky, feeling a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.  "If you need a place to stay, you could rent a room at Auntie Carrot's.  It's just down the street from Sugar Cube Corner."

"Well, Miss Dinky, that seems a capital idea. Thank you for the directions."

"Thank you for the chat," the little filly returned with a smile.  "Hope you find your box."

"Not to worry, she'll turn up," the Doctor chuckled.  "She always does."

They turned and walked in opposite directions.  Then the brown stallion suddenly whirled around and called after Dinky, "Oh, I almost forgot, don't go anywhere without a torch."

"A torch?" repeated Dinky, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"A torch. A lantern. A light."

"Why?" questioned the little unicorn.

"Just promise me," said the Doctor. His jovial tone from before was gone, replaced with a grimness that Dinky had never seen before on a pony's face.  "Bad things wait for careless foals in the dark."

"O-okay," stammered the gray filly. "I promise."

"Good-O!" said the Doctor, clopping his hooves, all smiles once more.  "Now that that's settled off you go, have a lovely time with your friends."

Dinky waved goodbye to the departing Doctor and continued on her way towards the orchards of the Apple Farm, shaking her head in confusion all the way.