Doctor Whoof: Battle Royalby MuleicousChapters(Part 1) Pure Chance and Pain(Part 2) Cloaks and Side Characters(Part 3) Rules, Rosters, and Revelations (Part 4) The Gryphon and the Socialite(Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak Trixie(Part 5) Battles and Espionage(Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak Trixie, pt. 2(Part 1) Pure Chance and PainPure Chance and Pain “Oh no no no no no no no!” Rarity’s voice cried out from her Carousel Boutique. The alabaster unicorn raced around her workshop, tossing thread and mannequins every which way as she frantically searched for something. “It must be here, it simply must! Oh!” After tossing her cash register clear out the window, Rarity finally sat on her fainting couch to rest. She panted softly, no used to such physical activity, that was Applejack’s forte. “Now... Calm down Rarity,” the fashionista said under her breath, “just try to remember what you did with it. Let’s see... Last week there was that party Pinkie had for Octavia becoming the opening act for Sapphire Shores, then there was the Appleloosa incident with The Doctor and Apple Bloom, and before that the Crystal Kingdom escapade. No... no no, no, I didn’t wear it to anything recently, so that must mean...” Rarity paused as her eyes widened, then she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Down the street a bit, Sweetie Belle and the CMC’s were playing a nice game of hoofball, taking a break from their usual day of searching every activity they could think of to get their Cutie Marks. Sweetie rushed past Scootaloo, kicking the ball quickly as she darted around Twist and Dinky Hooves (who the three friends asked to play with them), and even getting around Pipsqueak to score a quick goal. “Yes!” the small white unicorn cheered, the other foals congratulating her just as a high pitched scream erupted in the lane. “What the heck was that?” Apple Bloom asked, leaving her post as the CMC’s goalie. Sweetie Belle sighed and turned to her friends, “I gotta go guys, I think Rarity needs some help again.” The other foals groaned, then said their goodbyes to Sweetie before she rushed down the street as fast as she could. The fillie slowed down as she reached the door to her house, mostly because of the large metal cash register sitting around the broken glass near the door. Sweetie walked into a scene of pure chaos: thread on the ceiling like it was streamers, mannequins fallen in all sorts of positions (one, oddly enough, was sitting up with Opal in its lap), a broken window, and her sister sobbing on the fainting couch in the middle of it all. “Rarity! Are you ok? What happened?!” Rarity looked up from her crying session at her little sister, “Oh Sweetie, it’s just so horrible! I... I can’t even say it!” “Did The Rani escape from jail?” The little unicorn asked. “No...” “Did Discord or Blackspine come back from the time vortex?” “N...No...” her older sister replied. “Did Spike turn into a giant dragon and attack half the town again?” Sweetie continued to ask, her head whipping around to try and catch sight of anything about to jump out at them. “Worse!” Rarity sat up, tear streaming down her face, “I... I forgot to pick up my new dress from the designer in Canterlot!” Rarity fell on her stomach this time, sobbing with her hooves covering her face. Sweetie just stared at her big sister, a mix of annoyance and relief on her face. The smaller unicorn rubbed her older sister’s back with a hoof and sighed, then a question springed to her mind. “Why don’t you just go to the shop and get it? the marshmallow colored foal asked. “I... I...” Rarity stopped sobbing and sat up again, a dumbfounded look swooped into her eyes as she face hoofed, “I didn’t even think of that. Oh Sweetie Belle!” Rarity jumped off the couch and embraced her sister in their usual hug, “What would I do without you?” “Cry on the couch saying that everything is the worst possible thing?” Sweetie asked sarcastically as she hugged Rarity back. Suddenly, the foal felt herself fall as the older unicorn dropped her. “My dear,” the fashionista said as she brushed her coat free of the small bit of dirt Sweetie transferred over from hers, “what in heavens name where you doing before you came home?” “Um... Playing Hoofie.” “Hoofsy! Sweetie, aren’t you a little young for that?” Rarity started to say, her tone just a little bit condescending, “You aren’t even old enough to date, let alone be playing silly games like that. I just hope it isn’t with anypony unsavory...” “Hoofball, Rarity, I was playing hoofball.” Sweetie said, blushing and eyeing her sister angrily. “Oh... Well that’s just fine.” Rarity smiled, unaware of her little sister staring daggers at her. “Now get a bath and then pack, you’ll be staying with Apple Bloom while I head off to Canterlot.” “Really?!” Sweetie’s face lit up as she raced upstairs to get washed up. Rarity giggled, it was always easy to get Sweetie to hurry as long as you mentioned one of her friends... Or ice cream. Either way, it gave the fashion conscious pony time to pack for the long trip ahead of her. “After all,” she said to herself, “one does not simply got to Canterlot for a day or two. Oh goodness no, I’ll be staying a week.” As Rarity finished her though, a beam fell from the ceiling and landed on the reception deck near the front of the store. “That should be enough time for Big Macintosh to repair the shop... again.” Rarity said with a nervous laugh. *** The purple maned unicorn smiled as she laid on the train bench, soon she’d be in the greatest city in all of Equestria. All her affairs were in order: Opal was at Fluttershy’s enjoying the free range she had in the yellow pegasus’ house, Sweetie Belle was at Sweet Apple Acres playing with Apple Bloom, the boutique was going to be renovated by Big Mac and a few carpenter ponies that Rarity had hired, and who knows, maybe she’d pop by the palace and see the princess. Rarity closed her eyes sighed, looking forward to a quick nap before her journey began. Then she heard a very familiar voice. “Hello miss Rarity!” The Doctor said, settling on the bench across from the fashionista. Next to the brown colt was the familiar wall-eyed mailmare, Derpy, and a small pinkish-grey coated unicorn filly. “Oh my, well if this isn’t a surprise.” Rarity replied, “It’s nice to see you again Doctor, hello Derpy,” the designer pony’s eyes then settled on the tiny foal, “and who’s this?” “That’s my daughter, Dinky,” Derpy said, a proud smile on her face as her hugged her little muffin close, “I’m surprised you’ve never seen her before, she plays with Sweetie and her friends all the time. She told me that they were playing hoofball this morning, when Sweetie had to go home. Something about a loud cat yelling or something...” Rarity blushed, “Oh, um... yes, Opal got her tail stuck under a mannequin stand and made a mess of my shop.” The white unicorn smiled as she lied through her teeth, “So, why are you two heading to Canterlot?” “We’re going to see the princess” the voice of Twilight Sparkle replied as she walked down the aisle and sat next to her fashionista friend, “The tournament’s this week too, so they’re staying to watch me compete.” “Oh Twilight, you’re in the tournament this year? I must’ve forgotten.” Rarity said, apologizing and hugging her friend, “Now I have even more reason to stay the week in Canterlot.” Twilight smiled, then opened her mouth to start to say something before being interrupted by The Doctor. “I was actually wondering, what exactly is this tournament you’re in Twilight?” *** “The Battle Royal Tournament,” Princess Luna said, pacing the training room she had set up in the southern tower of Canterlot Castle, “held every year between the Summer Sun Celebration and the holiday now known as Nightmare Night. Each year, a few members of the Equestrian Royal Family come together to pit their students against each other in combat.” The princess of the night sat on one of the various mats placed in the training room by her loyal Night Guards, and faced a figure cloaked in shadow, “Spells are put in place to keep the fighters from getting injured, but not from getting knocked out. Apparently, since my... absence from Equestria, Tia- I mean my sister, has won every tournament for the past three hundred years.” “And you think that we can win this year?” the figure in the dark asked. “Yes, my sister’s usual combatant, Shining Armor, will not be fighting this year.” Luna’s eyes looked at the figure across from her, a twinge of excitement in them, “I’ve been training you in secret since I met you in the Everfree Forest just for this tournament. Celestia has no idea that I have a student of my own, who is just as powerful as Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s student laughed coldly at the mention of the Bearer of the Element of Magic’s name, “I take it you still haven’t forgiven her for... what happened.” “No,” The Great and Powerful Trixie said, stepping out from the shadows, “Trixie will never forgive that little mule Twilight for embarrassing her in Ponyville two years ago, and thanks to you, master, I will humiliate her just as she did us!” Luna smiled, she had hoped that her own faithful student would be able to get over her grudge against Twilight, but this could possibly be the chance she needed to win the tournament this year. Suddenly, a sharp pain drilled into Luna’s skull, as if a mole had burrowed its way into her mind. The princess of the night screamed out in pure red hot pain as she fell to the floor, her student rushing to her side and holding her up. “Master! Master Luna, are you ok? Shall Trixie get the guards?” the light blue unicorn’s eyes were filled with panic, her teacher had had headaches on and off this past month but it was never like this. Slowly, Luna felt the pain in her mind leave as she stood on her own two feet once more, “I’m... I’m fine my student...” But the dark blue alicorn knew this was a lie, something was trying to get inside her head. Something familiar, familiar and dark. (Part 2) Cloaks and Side CharactersCloaks and Side Characters As the train slowly pulled into the Canterlot Station, The Doctor couldn’t help but worry about what was going to come after he stepped onto the platform. So far, Zecora’s premonition of the trails set out for The Doctor had all come true. Fighting The Rani and her Purple Fear spewing Mare-Do-Well TARDIS and outsmarting the cloaked figure and her army of metallic grey Cyberponys was hard enough, but this next trial was going to take place in the most populated city in Equestria. There was more life at risk now than before, and The Doctor was scared stiff to face it. Oddly enough, he wasn’t afraid at all before he, Derpy, and Dinky had met Twilight the Ponyville Station a few hours ago. He didn’t even think this trip up to the capital city of the ponies was going to turn into a trial, just a quick two day trip to drop off Dinky at her father’s for the week long holiday. The time colt even suggested taking the TARDIS before the lavender unicorn he had saved the life of before busted in, panting from running and asked the group to come root for her at this odd tournament. Even then it didn’t seem strange, then they all met Rarity on the train. “Why would we all be on the same train, going to the same place, at the same time?” The Doctor asked himself out loud. “What?” Derpy asked, looking at her best friend. “Hmm? Oh, nothing Derpy. Just thinking out loud about... Fish.” The grey pegasus cocked her eyebrow at the strange brown colt, “Fish?” “Yes, fish...” The Doctor replied, “I’m wondering if they can talk here like you ponies can.” Derpy laughed at the thought, “Now that’s just silly! Talking fish... That’s like eating a unicorn sandwich.” The mailmare walked onto the platform, leaving her companion shaking his head clear of the thought of telling Derpy about Britains eating horses. As the group stepped out of the train, the bright lights of Canterlot greeted them cheerfully. The residences of the Canterlot Elite shined in the dark night, the night clubs boomed with the various wubs coming from the dubstep playing DJs, and in the distance Canterlot Castle stood on the mountain side, a beacon to the rest of Equestria. Rarity’s eyes glowed as she viewed the tiny diamonds of light shining in front of her, and she failed to notice another familiar face as it regally walked up to her. “Miss Rarity, is that you?” Fancy Pants asked, smiling under his expertly kept moustache. His voice made Rarity jump a foot into the air, literally. She turned as she glided down, her smile threatening to rip off her face. “Fancy Pants!” the fashionista cried as she hugged the tall unicorn. “Its been so long, how are you?” The light blue maned unicorn hugged his admirer back, he became accustomed to her affection from her last few visits to his home city, “Very good, actually, you remember Fleur, correct?” The colt stepped aside to reveal his companion, Fleur du Lis. The tall, slim unicorn bowed her head to Rarity, but her eyes were filled with loathing at the little dressmaker. Fancy then turned his head to see the others behind Rarity, “Ah, I remember you, young lady.” The suave colt said as his eyes rested on Twilight, “The rest of you must be Rarity’s friends as well, I’m guessing you’re all heading towards the castle as well?” “Oh, but of course.” Rarity answered for the group, “Our first stop is always the castle, got to have our audience with the princess’ now don’t we?” The alabaster mare laughed, hoping her Canterlot friend would join in. “Indeed.” Fancy Pants said, cortling along with his Ponyville friend, “Why don’t you ride with us, we have a carriage waiting just outside the station.” “Oh how simply marvelous Fancy, you really do think of everything.” the fashionista said, following the taller colt. Behind her, the rest of the Ponyville ponies followed, Dinky looking up at Twilight with confusion in her little eyes. “Who’s that guy?” she asked. “Oh, just a friend of Rarity’s.” Twilight answered, she never really kept up with the exploits of Fancy Pants, “He’s also a Duke in the Equestrian Royal Family.” “Oh... What’s a Duke do?” Dinky asked again. Fancy Pants turned his head to the side as he walked, “Not much, little filly. Not much at all.” *** As the coach left the steps of Canterlot Castle, The Doctor entered the foyer for the third time since his arrival in Equestria. It was as huge as ever, but at the top of the grand staircase was a sight he was not used to, a pink alicorn standing next to a large white unicorn in blue guard’s armor. The time colt was just about to ask who these two ponies were, when he saw Twilight bolt past him in a flash of lavender. “Cadence!” she yelled as the pink alicorn ran to her as well, then the two stopped at the bottom of the stairs and did something so strange that even The Doctor didn’t understand it. “Sunshine, sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” the two said, doing a strange dance to the little rhyme. “Is... Is that normal?” The Doctor asked, the spectacle almost making him speechless. “For Twily and Cadence it is.” The white colt said as he descended the staircase, “I’m guessing you’re...” “The Doctor, just The Doctor.” the time colt said, his hoof extended to shake the armored pony in front of him. “Ah, so you’re the one who saved my sister?” he replied as he shook the brown colt’s hoof, “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Shining Armor, Twilight’s big brother. And this,” Shining said, turning to look at the alicorn, “Is my wife, Cadence.” “Hi, I’m Dinky.” the sound of the little unicorn’s voice echoed as she interrupted the conversation, “And this is my mama, Dit-um, I mean Derpy.” “Muffin, don’t be rude.” Derpy scrolled her daughter. “No, no, it’s fine.” Shining gave Dinky a little nuggie in her blonde mane, “Twily was a little like that when she was a filly too.” “Shining...” Twilight blushed as she gave her brother an annoyed look. “Oh, like it isn’t true Twilight.” Cadence said, smiling at the pony she used to foalsit. This just made Twilight smile back, just as Princess Celestia entered the foyer. “Good, you’re all here.” Celestia said, “Please, everypony follow me to the dining hall. It’s time to announce who’s competing in the tournament this year.” *** The dining hall was lined with servants, all holding large silver domes that held a trap of food on their heads. The table in the middle was long enough to sit a few ponies, but for now it only had the ponies from Ponyville, Fancy Pants and Fleur, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Celestia. The sun princess sat at the head of the table, the seat to her left was empty, but The Doctor could assume that is where Princess Luna was going to sit. “Twilight,” Derpy began to ask the unicorn sitting next to her, “I’ve been meaning to ask, where’s Spike?” “Oh, he’s helping Big Macintosh with fixing up-” “I HAVE TO POWDER MY NOSE!” Rarity yelled awkwardly, then excused herself from the table. “... Ok?” Twilight said as she watched her friend leave the large dining room. “Anyway, Spike’s helping Big Mac with-” Suddenly, the doors to the hall burst open and the thundering of trumpets filled the air. A bespeckled, weak looking unicorn ran forward, clutching a scroll with her magic before stopping and unrolling it. “Hear ye, hear ye.” she began, “Presenting, his most royal majesty, the Prince of the Western Islands, the Champion of the Waves, Prince Augustus Blueblood!” Slowly, another tall, white unicorn walked into the hall. His long blonde mane blowing in the breeze made by his own servants, and a bright red rose popped against his white formal jacket. “Hello Aunty Celestia, pleasure to see you again.” Blueblood said, his eyes closed as he spoke in a regal tone. “Ah...yes. Nice to see you too Augustus.” Princess Celestia said back, “I thought you were busy with royal business in the Gryphon Kingdom.” “Oh, I was Aunty, but when I realized that it was time for the grand tournament once more I rushed back here as quick as I could.” “I see...” Celestia looked at Cadence, then Twilight. Both ponies gave her a look that basically said ‘he’s your great great great nephew, we aren’t saying anything.’ “And, I’m to assume you have a student.” “Of course,” Blueblood responded, then he stepped to the side and cleared his throat, “May I introduce a representative from the Gryphon Kingdom, and my personal student... Gilda Lightfeather.” From behind Blueblood came a large, furry animal, half lion and half eagle. Gilda looked at the ponies gathered around the dining table and scoffed, asking herself how she got into this boring gig. The prince said that all she’d have to do is kick a couple of unicorn plots, and she basically jumped at the chance to do that. After all, these pathetic dewbs where some of the same ponies that laughed at her when she visited Rainbow Dash in Ponyville... Gilda shook her head, it didn’t matter anyway. Dash wasn’t here and there was no point in worrying about that... that loser anyway. “Princess,” Fancy Pants said, “I’m guessing there’s no rule against how long a student has to study under their teacher...” “Unfortunately no, Duke Fancy Pants.” Princess Celestia sipped her tea, eyeing Blueblood’s obvious attempt at trying to make a name for himself by going against the norm, “However, I think Luna, Mi Amore, and I will vote on the matter after the tournament is over.” Fancy Pants and Cadence nodded at this, while Blueblood and Gilda took their seats at the end of the table opposite to Celestia. The Doctor turned to Twilight, a curious look on his face, “I don’t really know a lot about physiology in this dimension, but does she stand a chance against unicorn magic?” Twilight nodded, “It depends on how fast she can move. It takes a lot of concentration to use spells on creatures or things heavier than an average sized pony, and I know gryphons are at least fifty pounds heavier than most ponies. And they’re faster than most too.” “Most?” The time colt asked. “Well, a normal pegasus has about 10 wing power units behind their flight, gryphons usually have maybe 12.” Twilight explained, “But pegasi like Rainbow Dash or The Wonderbolts have at least 15 w.p.u.” The Doctor nodded, then turned his gaze to Princess Celestia. “Princess, I was wondering where The Rani is? The last I saw, General Stormbreaker was transferring her to a prison here in Canterlot... Or at least that’s what he told me.” “No need to worry Doctor,” The sun princess said, finishing off her tea, “General Stormbreaker is one of the most capable soldiers in my army. You can even ask Prince Shining Armor if you wish, he is the Captain of the Equestrian Guard.” Twilight’s brother nodded, swallowing a mouthful of dandelion salad. “Stormbreaker was the colt who trained me when I first entered the Royal Guard, I would trust that him with my life.” *** “I’ve lost my patience with all this.” Stormbreaker yelled, gritting his teeth hard. “Where is she?” “Patience Stormy,” The Rani replied, an amused smile crossing her lips at how frustrated the general was. “I’m sure our little friend will be here shortly.” Stormbreaker growled a bit, but closed his eyes to try and calm down. He had always loved the sounds of the Canterlot Dungeons, from the rattling of chains to the sound of the wind whistling through the walls. To the general, it was as if this room was the one room in the castle meant for him. Just then, the heavy wooden door leading to the dungeons opened with a creek, then closed just as fast. Finally, the pony the two had been waiting for finally entered. The cloaked mare quickly descended the long stone staircase to the depths of the castle, her alabaster hooves showed clear as day in the dank dungeons. “I’m happy to see you two are here.” The cloaked figure said, “Let’s get down to business.” *** Celestia’s servants had already begun to place out the desert, the princess’ favorite chocolate cake, when the doors to the dining room opened once more. This time, it was Luna standing at the entrance of the large hall. “You’re a bit late, sister.” Celestia said, a kind smile shining through the room, “Had a long night?” “No older sister, I was just getting my student ready.” Luna said triumpatly, as if she had already won the tournament. “Student? I didn’t know you were training anypony.” the sun princess replied. “Well, I had kept it a secret from all but my night guards. I’ve been training her for about two years now,” the princess of the night turned her gaze on Twilight, “and I believe your student knows mine very well.” Suddenly, the dining hall was filled with a flash of bright purple magic as a light blue pony appeared a few feet in front of Princess Luna. The unicorn was clad in a tall, pointed, purple wizard’s hat along with a purple cape, both covered in stars and moons. The unicorn’s Cutie Mark was a crescent moon with a magician’s magic wand in front of it. There was only one pony with that kind of Cutie Mark that Twilight knew of... And the lavender unicorn was not happy. “Trixie.” the Bearer of Magic said. Trixie Lulamoon smiled cockily at her rival, “It’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you, Twilight Sparkle. And it is Trixie who will take this tournament’s trophy, not you.” (Part 3) Rules, Rosters, and Revelations (Part 3) Rules, Rosters, and Revelations Rules, Rosters, and Revelations The silence in the room was palpable as Trixie and Luna took their seats, the lunar princess sitting next to her sister and Trixie sitting next to her teacher. Unfortunately for Twilight, this meant that the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie was staring at her from across the table the entire time, just scowling at her as the lavender pony tried to enjoy the last bites of her salad. Soon, Rarity rejoined the party, her mane looking very shiny and luxurious. The alabaster unicorn smiled as she glanced over at Fancy Pants, but then that smile faded once Rarity caught sight of Prince Blueblood. “Doctor... Oh Doctor,” the fashionista tried to say quietly; however, the time colt was too busy trying to figure out how he could eat and hold a fork in his mouth at the same time. “DOCTOR!” “What? Who?” the brown colt finally came out of his ponderings and noticed Rarity glaring at him, “Oh, yes Rarity?” “Switch seats with me, si vous plait.” “Why? That nice Prince champ is sitting right over there.” The Doctor nodded his head over towards Blueblood, “I thought you always wanted to end up with a prince.” Rarity gritted her teeth, “Not. This. One.” she growled under her breath. The Doctor took the hint and stood, Rarity quickly taking the spot between Derpy and Twilight as the time colt sat next to Dinky and the blonde boneheaded Blueblood. “Well that was a little rude.” the time traveler said to himself. “Indeed,” Blueblood responded, “I believe Miss Rarity may still have a bug up her dress over what happened the last time her path crossed over mine.” “It was that bad?” “Oh, worse than you could imagine mister...” the prince paused, trying to match a name to The Doctor’s face. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if I know you.” “I’m The Doctor.” the brown colt responded, extending a hoof that Blueblood wouldn’t dream of touching in three million years. However, the pampered prince’s eyes did light up at the mention of his new acquaintance's name. “The Doctor? As in Doctor Whooves, the colt who defeated Discord?!” Blueblood smiled, “Well my my my, I never thought I’d meet such an illustrious hero. I’ve been following all your exploits via field reports from General Stormbreaker.” “Oh, now there’s no need to be so... You get field reports from Torchwhoof?” The Doctor cocked an eyebrow, “How did you manage that?” “How? Oh that’s simple heir Doctor,” the prince leaned in close and whispered, “I’m the true head of Torchwhoof. Stormbreaker just does the dirty work for me.” Blueblood then burst into laughter, his snobbish voice slowly dwindling on Fancy Pant’s nerve (who was sitting right across from the spoiled brat). “Blueblood!” the Duke of Canterlot said loudly as he stood from the table, “Exactly how much wine did you have before ‘gracing’ us with your presence?” “Far less than I should’ve had, Fancy.” the drunk royal responded, “After all, I have to deal with your incessant nagging all week now, don’t I?” The blue maned stallion slammed his hooves on the table, startling everyone sitting close to him. “If I had my way...” “You don’t Fancy,” the voice of Princess Celestia interrupted the angry unicorn, “This is my castle, and I’m sorry to say that Blueblood is a guest, just as you are. I will not have my guests fighting amongst themselves. If you wish to fight, enter the tournament yourselves. If not, then save the insults for tomorrow.” The two stallions still glared at each other for the longest time, up until Fancy and Fleur decided to head to their room and get some sleep. Soon after, Blueblood hiccuped that he was tired and started up the stairs as well, laughing about what Fancy Pants would’ve finished his last sentence with (his favorite was ‘If I had my way, all the servants would be dressed as different types of fish.’) None of this seemed to phase Twilight Sparkle, he eyes were still trained on her rival intently. Trixie, of course, returned the glare she was receiving from the lavender unicorn, but she decided to up the ante. The magician unicorn’s magic quickly picked out the ripest apple on the table and brought it to her, then Trixie picked up a knife in her teeth and sliced in as accurately as she could. Slowly, the apple began to take shape until it was obviously in the shape of Twilight’s head, and then Trixie floated the sculpture over to her mouth and bite a huge chunk out of the apple-Twilight’s head. “And I thought I had issues.” Gilda said to herself, watching the entire staring match between the two students unfold. The gryphon yawned and her gaze shifted down, where it met the yellow eyes of the filly across the table from her. “Yes kid, what do ya want?” “You’re big...” Dinky answered, shifting her body to try and see around the large bird. “Yeah and you’re a pipsqueak.” Gilda huffed, then saw who the tiny filly was sitting next to. “Hey... Aren’t you Ditzy Doo?” One of Derpy’s eyes looked down at the mention of her old name; however, the other stayed looking at the face from her past. “Yeah... Hi Gilda.” “Ditzy Dork it is you!” the gruff gryphon laughed a bit and reached across the table to punch the mailmare in the shoulder, “How’ve you been? I haven't see your googly eyes since Flight Camp! Is this little punk your sister or cousin or what?” “Sh...She’s my daughter.” the grey mare replied, still trying to look at the floor with both eyes. This made Gilda burst in a fit of laughing, “Really?! Some stallion was dumb enough to knock you up, then he left you?” The Doctor jolted up and glared at the rude half bird, half lion. “I... I left him.” Derpy said as quietly as she could. “Oh my god! That’s even better!” the gryphon continued to laugh hysterically, until finally The Doctor and Princess Celestia stood in anger. “That’s enough!” they both shouted, glaring at the rude bird. “Don’t you ever make fun of my friend! Do you understand?!” The Doctor yelled, his face would’ve been a deep red if not for his brown fur, “She’s obviously twice the pony you could ever be!” Derpy blushed as her best friend stood there, defending her while Dinky snuggled up to her mother half asleep. Soon, the grey pegasus realized that Celestia was standing beside her with a guard. “This is Rightwing,” the princess said, smiling reassuringly, “he’ll take you and your little one to your room.” “Thank you Princess.” Derpy said with a smile as she leaned down and let Dinky climb onto her back, so she could carry her up to the soft warm bed that the castle was ready to provide. The princess of the day smiled as they left, “As I said to Fancy Pants and Blueblood, there will be no fighting or insults outside of the arena.” the white alicorn turned to face Gilda, “Is that clear?” “Yeah... Whatever.” the gryphon replied. “Good, now let’s move on to the matter of the tournament’s roster.” *** The room went silent as Celestia engulfed the dining table with her magical aura, teleporting it to a different part of the castle as Luna and Princess Cadence’s horns began to glow. Soon, the sun princess’ horn grew a bright white color, and a small stone slab in the floor began to rise slowly. The slab glowed a reddish brown hue, and the sounds similar to potato chips being crushed in a bag echoed from it. Suddenly, the rock burst open, revealing four green and black runes. “These runes,” Princess Celestia began, “where enchanted by the greatest sorcerer in all the history of Equestria, Starswirl the Bearded. My teacher, my sister’s teacher, and our parent’s greatest ally, Starswirl predicted the coming of Discord long before our family had even heard the creature’s name. It was Starswirl who started the Battle Royal tournament, as a way for students of the royal family to show what they had learned over the years. Celestia sighed, closing her eyes tightly as if she was afraid of some monster popping out of the floor before her. “It was thousands of years ago, that the Spirit of Chaos interrupted the tournament and brought a dictatorship upon this land. He was, however, redeemed through the actions of another.” The Doctor nodded and remembered back to the first week he had arrived in Equestria, and how he had fought Discord and his follower, how he banished Discord’s follower to the Time Vortex, and how Discord had sacrificed himself to ensure he wouldn’t get out. “Now,” Celestia continued, “each of the students will pick a rune at random from this bag.” Luna’s horn shone brighter and transferred a small, plain blue bag out of thin air for the runes. One by one, Twilight, Trixie, and Gilda stepped forward to take a rune from the bag. After, Cadence stepped forward and touched her horn to each of the pebble like stones, a small orb of light radiating off them and joined the crystal princess’ own magical glow. Soon, after all four runes had been accounted for, the small orbs blasted into the air, a streak of pink following each. They formed lines, stars, vortex’s and galaxies as the moved along the ceiling, until finally they stopped and a small piece of paper floated down from the marble roof. “Well,” Rarity said, “that was a bit anti-climatic.” Twilight pushed her friend lightly and shushed her, the lavender unicorn cocked her head as she felt just how grimey her fashion conscious friend’s coat was. “Rarity, what exactly were you doing in the restroom?” Twilight asked. “Oh, just freshening up darling. Nothing more.” the Element of Generosity said with a smile. “It is decided.” Luna called out, “The tournament begins tomorrow with Gilda Lightfeather facing Fleur du Lis. I suggest you all get some rest tonight, for tomorrow one of you will move on while the other fights the preliminary match.” “Preliminary?” The Doctor asked. “Yes,” Twilight explained, “Starswirl wanted to not only test the students of the royal family, but he also wanted to show the duality of magic, light and dark. So, he made two rosters. First a match would be fought to see was the strongest, then the two students would be matched against somepony with skills that matched up to theirs.” “Very good, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia smiled with pride at Twilight. “Yes, but that was when only unicorns were allowed in the tournament,” Trixie butted in, “with pegasi and earth ponies the rules changed a bit. Now the first match is based on the skills the judge sees the combatants use during the match. So a physically strong pegasus or earth pony would be matched up to a magically strong unicorn.” “Brilliantly stated Student Trixie.” Princess Luna said, smiling just as Celestia did. The magician pony then looked at her lavender rival and smiled contently. “Anypony who has studied the rules and laws of the Battle Royal would’ve know that. Right Sparkle?” The Great and Powerful Trixie said coldly. Twilight just turned and headed for the door, she didn’t want to embarass her teacher. Plus,Twilight thought, Trixie will her her just deserts soon. *** As the group of ponies, alicorns, and a gryphon headed into the main hall, The Doctor stopped as he noticed a grand tapestry hanging along the wall. The time colt hadn’t noticed it before, which was odd since he made a note to take in all the scenery he could in this land of colorful pastel ponies. The tapestry was a bright royal red color, with a golden border that seemed to be literally sewn with gold. On the silk wall hanging was a scene depicting a climatic battle between two alicorns, a white one and a dark blue one, in a large arena. “I’m guessing you noticed the new addition to the castle walls... Doctor.” a deep, gruff voice said from behind the time colt. It was a voice The Doctor had come to get used to hearing, even if it meant a very unpleasant few minutes. “Hello Stormbreaker, out for a nightly stroll?” “I’m doing my rounds,” the figurehead of Torchwhoof explained, “after what happened in Appleloosa, Princess Celestia decided to keep me close by most of the time.” “Well, in that case you can answer my question.” The Doctor pointed a hoof at the tapestry before him, “What is this showing?” “That is the first round of the very first Battle Royal tournament, the fight between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. As you can see,” the general said, stepping closer to the beautiful work of art and placing a hoof on the farthest edge of the arena in it. “the match was being judged by their teacher, Starswirl.” As The Doctor examined the sewn together depiction of the ancient wizard pony, his eyes winded. Starswirl was a large, grey stallion with a long white beard. His mane was a frosty snow white as well, and he wore a pointed, dark blue wizards cap and a long flowing cape that had a map of the constellation sewn on it. However, what The Doctor was most surprised at was Starswirl the Bearded’s cutie mark. An hour glass, half full on both sides, laid sideways on the old stallion’s flank. The strange brown colt knew what this meant, before he was only suspicious of the possibility, but now he knew it was true. Time Lords had been to Equestria before, and The Doctor had to find out why. (Part 4) The Gryphon and the SocialiteThe Gryphon and The Socialite Princess Celestia Beambright slowly made her way to the balcony, her multicolored mane flowing and swirling on its own accord as she took her place next to her sister. Luna had been up most of the night, as usual, but this night the princess of the night seemed more awake then she usually did. The older of the alicorn sisters smiled, “You had a good night, I assume.” “Yes,” Luna answered, her eyes still focused on her moon slowly sinking into the ocean of a sky, “sister... I’m sorry for not telling you about Trixie.” “It’s fine Lulu, I’m sure you had a good reason.” Celestia extended her wings and placed one over her little sister’s shoulders. “How’s your head?” “It was fine tonight, wait, how did you know?” the dark blue alicorn turned to face her older sibling. Celestia just smiled at this. “One of your guards told me you’ve been having migraines recently...” the sun princess’ voice trailed off, “I remember the last time you had headaches this bad, and I was hoping that-” “I’m fine Tia.” Luna said quickly, a sharp glare entering her gaze.” No need to get ready to banish me again.” “Luna...” Celestia said sadly, her eyes filling with hurt, “You know I only did what I had to for the good of Equestria.” Luna stayed silent for the longest time, staring at the large, empty rock in the sky that was her home for the past one thousand years. A tear rolled down the younger alicorn’s cheek, and she gritted her teeth tightly as her mind was hit by the now familiar sharp pains. The princess of the night fell to the ground, her hooves pushing onto her temples as she screamed, “Stop it! Please just stop!!!” “Oh dear gods!” Celestia picked her sister up with her magic, the white aura surrounding her sister as she rushed into the castle. “I need a doctor! Somepony! Help!” *** The Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver buzzed as it analyzed the winged and horned pony on the bed. Worry seeped from every pore of Celestia’s face as she watched, unsure of what the strange time traveler was doing. As the older princess paced back and forth, her sister’s student looked as if she was on the verge of tears. Trixie did as The Doctor had told her to moments before, ‘stay back, give her air’, but she couldn’t take it anymore. The light blue unicorn rushed to her teacher’s side and held her hoof, sobbing like a filly who was watching her grandmother die before them. “M... Master Luna, please be ok...” the tearful and desperate Trixie said, gasping as she paused to breathe, “I... I can’t lose you! Please!” The unicorn bit her lip to hold back a scream of sorrow, shaking as her weeping took over her body. The Doctor walked over to the white maned pony and pat her on the back, smiling slightly. “She’ll be fine.” the time pony explained, “She just needs some rest.” Trixie smiled at the brown colt and wrapped her front legs around him, hugging him as if her where her best friend. “Th...Thank you Doctor! Thank you...” the illusionist let go of him and turned back to her mentor, just sitting and waiting for any signs of waking. The Doctor turned to exit the room, then looked over at the older princess and nodded, signaling for her to follow him. Outside the room, The Doctor sighed and cracked his neck, the Screwdriver in the ribbon of his bowtie. “How long has she been getting these?” the time pony asked Celestia. The princess shook her head, “I don’t know. I’ve only learned about it recently this week. For all I know, she’s been holding them back and hiding them for months.” The white alicorn sighed and looked towards the door to her younger sister’s room, “The last time she had migraines like this... Was over one thousand years ago, before she became Nightmare Moon.” “Twilight told me about that once.” The Doctor said, a hoof to his chin as he pondered, “Do you think that this could all just be a warning? That Luna’s body is changing again, and that Nightmare Moon is returning?” “No!” Celestia yelled, glaring at the smaller earth pony before her, “I... I’m sorry. It’s just that... Luna would never change like that again. It was a willing transformation, so that she could gain more power and become stronger than me. But now,” the white princess looked out the window, closing her eyes once she saw her sun rising slowly over the horizon, “Luna wouldn’t want to become that monster again... Come, it’s breakfast time.” As the two ponies trotted out of the hall, another figure slowly slid behind them, and stopped in front of the door to Princess Luna’s room. The alabaster mare smiled evilly as she listened to the sounds of a pony crying for her loved one on the other side of the door, but she failed to notice the grey pegasus approaching her from behind. “Hey Rarity, you ok?” Derpy asked, her daughter trotting next to her to keep up. The unicorn turned and smiled as she normally would, “Oh, of course darling! Just admiring the beautiful decor of the palace.” Rarity’s eyes twinkled like stars as she seemed to smile a little too hard, “What I wouldn’t give to stay here all the time.” “Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” the blonde mailmare said, her eyes looking in separate directions at the brilliantly decorated hallway, “but I think I like my house in Ponyville a little more. You comin’ to breakfast? I hear the princess usually gets the best donuts in town... Not that that matters.” The pegasus looked away, her walleyes narrowing a bit to where she looked angry and confused at the same time. “I’ll be down in two shakes dear, I just have some business to take care of first.” The fashionista said, and with that Derpy and Dinky left the hallway, completely unaware that their friend had her own plans. *** Breakfast passed much quicker than dinner the night before, mostly due to the fact that Prince Blueblood had decided to take his meal in his room, to combat the claws that were raking his hungover brain. Fancy Pants laughed at this, seeing his ‘old friends’ student would be joining them alone, and most likely be fighting without her mentor’s aid. The Duke knew that put the gryphon at a disadvantage, since a good portion of the matches in the past had been beaten by teacher and student working together. However, the socialite and his beautiful student didn’t let it sway them too much. They had a tournament to win after all. As the sun got higher in the sky, many of the citizens of Canterlot flocked to the Royal Stadium to watch the Battle Royal’s first round. Celestia had made the tournament a public event after the first return of Discord, to show her subject that they shouldn’t fear and that their princess’ would protect them by training the best they could find. As The Doctor and Derpy shuffled into the personal box for friends and family, they spotted some familiar faces in the crowd. Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, Sapphire Shores, Hoity Toity, and even Rainbow Dash (who was sitting between Spitfire and Soarin). As Princess Celestia flew onto the field, the crowd went completely silent. The white alicorn’s horn grew bright, and her white magical aura seemed to surround her throat. “Ponies of Equestria!” the princess said, her voice amplified by her spell, “I am happy to see you all here, enjoying the four hundredth Battle Royal Tournament!” The ponies in the stands began to cheer loudly, stamping their hooves in unison. “So that’s how you ponies clap.” The Doctor said before he was quickly shushed by his companion. “I, however, must apologize for the absence of my sister-” “NO NEED DEAR SISTER! Luna’s voice called out as she teleported onto the field, her Royal Canterlot Voice outshining her older sibling’s spell, “I AM HAPPY TO SEE SO MANY PONIES HERE TODAY, IT MEANS MORE TO MY SISTER AND I THAN MOST OF YOU KNOW! SO, WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!” The crowd’s cheers echoed loudly, some cries seeming to reach the valley where Ponyville stood below. “How are you feeling?” Celestia asked her sister as they flew to the royal box. “Better than before.” was all Luna said in response. On the field, two unicron guards stood before two large stone towers. Fancy Pants and Fleur approached one of the guards, Fleur descending to the field while her teacher levitated himself onto the top of the tower to watch the field. Gilda hovered down to the battlefield alone, if the gryphon was worried she didn’t show it. The two students then walked to the middle of the field, staring each other down as they bowed. “You will pay for your teacher’s words, Madame Lightfeather.” the slim unicorn said in a thick French accent. “Go lick a salt lick.” Gilda replied, and the bell rang. The fight was on. *** Gilda brandished her claws and lunged at Fleur, screaming an eagle’s cry as she wrapped her talons around the posh pony’s neck. Fleur quickly kicked the gryphon right in the beak, freeing her from her opponent’s grasp. The speed and ferocity of the attack caught the model off guard, but only for a moment. “Remember what we practiced Fleur!” Fancy Pant’s yelled from his podium, his student nodding in return as she just seemed to stand in one spot with her eyes closed. Gilda chuckled at this, “Yeah, that’s a great idea!” The lion-eagle hybrid extended her wings and used them to blast herself straight at her enemy; however, just as her beak was about to dig into Fleur du Lis’ neck, Gilda was stopped in mid air. Slowly, the gryphon’s eyes adjusted to see a very light pink barrier in front of her, holding her beak in place. “Looks like my Spectrum Spell got the better of you, oui?” the skinny pony said as she whipped her head in a slashing motion, sending Gilda flying with a huge blast of nearly invisible pink magic. The angry gryphon hit the wall of the arena with a crash, but she slowly stood and laughed. “You really think a little stone wall is going to knock me out?” Gilda extended her wings once more, but this time took off into the air. With each flap, her wings kicked up dirt and dust on the entire arena, including the stands. Thankfully, it wasn’t harmful to anypony (no matter when Hotiy Totiy said about his mane and clothes), but it did have the effect Gilda was hoping for. As she hovered in the air, the gryphon could see a huge circle of dirt around the small, pink and white dot she assumed to be Fleur du Lis. Once more, Gilda extended her claws and dived straight down at her opponent. The long legged unicorn looked up and quickly tried to turn her shield spell into a bubble spell, but she wasn’t fast enough. The enraged Gilda flew right past the enclosing barrier and dug her nails deep into Fleur’s head... Or so she thought. As her enemy felt her claws dig into something, the pink maned pony pulled back and let Gilda tare at her personal aura shield spell. The socialite mare then aimed her horn straight at the offending creature, and and let loose a easily visible blast of magic at the gryphon’s stomach, knocking the air out of her. Fleur du Lis smiled, thinking that this would cause Gilda to fall to the ground and give her time to deliver a knockout kick right between the gryphon’s eyes. However, Gilda didn’t even flinch as the beam hit her, and instead of falling the now furious gryphon warrior punched the frail unicorn mare in the side of her head. A whistle sounded as the official raced onto the field. The black coated, white maned pegasus referee then turned to the crowd and called out, “This match goes to Gilda Lightfeather, via knockout!” (Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak TrixieThe Pathetic and Weak Trixie Trixie snuggled into the large bed Luna had given her, today had been a good day for her. Not only did she size up her opponent for her first match, but she knew that Twilight was in for a rough fight with Fleur. Gilda only won because the model pony’s magical abilities were more defence based, while the gryphon could literally smash through most of the long legged mare’s shields. Twilight would have a tougher time, since she wasn’t half as physically strong as that feathered blow hard Gilda. Trixie scoffed at the idea of her possibly losing to such a rash gryphon. “That bird isn’t even fit enough to like my hooves.” the magician said to herself, “Twilight on the other hoof...” Trixie knew Twilight was going to fight her by the end of this tournament, it was only a question of how soon. The light blue unicorn stared up at her ceiling, a bored look on her face as she went over every bit of what Luna told her on Twilight. How she specialty is magic, just like Twilights, how her aura seemed special, just like Twilight, and worst of all... How she didn’t have any friends, just like Twilight did before Ponyville. “Ponyville...” Trixie said with an edge in her voice. The town that shunned her after that lavender show-off humiliated her. It was all Twilight’s fault! All of it! It all started that night, the night of the Ursa Major... *** One year ago... Trixie ran as fast as her hooves could take her, she wanted to get as much distance between her and the town of Ponyville as possible. The illusionist pony didn’t know anything about the forest surrounding the town, but what she did know is that an angry mob of ponies would find her if she stayed out in the open like this. So, Trixie made a beeline straight for the thick grove of trees on the outskirts of town. The unicorn began to pant, still running even after she could no longer see the lights of the town behind her shoulder. Suddenly, Trixie felt something catch her front hooves, and was sent flying head over heels down a large hill and right into a mucky, frog infested swap. “My Celestia’s beard!” Trixie cried, shaking her head to try and get the larger clumps of mud out of her mane, “This is just... Disgusting!” Slowly, she was able to walk out of the bog, but not without getting covered from head to tail in a thick coat of black mud. Trixie was used to filth, living out of a caravan and not seeing an inn for days on end had trained her to ignore any smell that would come off with a nice long shower, but this was a different kind of dirty. The white maned unicorn could already feel bits of muck begin to crust on her tail, and to her that was too much. “I need to find a river.” she thought out loud, dropping the use of her name since there was no longer a crowd around. Soon, the mud caked pony found a small, clear stream that lead into the marsh and began washing as much of the gunk off her. “Hello there strange new friend, did the frog in the bog you offend?” a deeply accented voice said from behind Trixie. The unicorn turned to see a black and white striped horse with its mane cut into a mohawk. Trixie had, of course, seen many zebra on her travels around Equestria, so this stranger came as no surprise. “Not exactly,” Trixie began, “you see I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, was just ridiculed by some of the ponies in the town nearby.” “Hmmm... Ponies from Ponyville harassed you, you say? That is something you do not hear everyday.” “And why do you say that?” Trixie asked, rinsing her hooves off in the clean water. “Well you see,” Zecoura explained. “I have many friends there. They tolerate those and truly do care. So, as you can tell, it is hard for me to think of you well, if all you have are lies to sell.” “Lies!” the blue unicorn cried, “Trixie never lies! And don’t you dare call me a liar you... Zebra!” Zecoura scowled at the angry pony in front of her. It was true that the ponies of Ponyville had feared her at one time, but she had forgiven them for it. This unicorn, however, was just a rude little girl. Suddenly, Zecoura saw things flash before her eyes as quick as lightning. A castle, an arena, and Twilight Sparkle on the ground... Kneeling to the blue unicorn that had just been so rude to her. “You...” the shaman said, pointing her hoof at the obnoxious magician in front of her, “A day will come, when the revenge you seek, will bury all of your dreams. But you will win, as many have, in the place where many have the most means. Under her wing the night will take you, but why is still a mystery. You will fight Twilight Sparkle, Great and Powerful Trixie.” “Twilight Sparkle...” the shocked Trixie repeated, a small smile crossing her lips, “Trixie will beat that little mule in her own game you say?” All Zecoura could do was nod, the visions always sapped her energy. The zebra shaman turned and trotted back to her hut, staggering a bit and wishing somepony would help her. However, the only pony there was The Great and Powerful Trixie, and she would help no pony that night. What she couldn’t see was that somepony was helping her, keeping the stars bright as the blue unicorn found a cave to keep her sheltered for the night. “Sleep well... My soon to be student.” Princess Luna said quietly as she watched Trixie Lulamoon lay down and close her eyes. *** Slowly, the sun peeked in through the curtains of Trixie’s room, waking up the magician. She smiled as she felt the soft silk of the sheets on her, the fluffiness of the pillow under her head, and ,most importantly of all, the fact that her own private shower was waiting for her just across the room. A new day had arrived... It was her turn to fight the gryphon. (Part 5) Battles and EspionageBattles and Espionage The shouts and cheers of almost two-thousand ponies filled the air as the second round of the Battle Royal was announced to begin shortly, but The Doctor’s mind was still on the tapestry he saw on his first night staying in Canterlot Castle. The image of Starswirl the Bearded’s cutie mark never left the time colt’s mind, and every day more and more questions seemed to find their way into his head. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. “Twilight,” The Doctor asked the lavender unicorn, who was trotting next to him on his way to the arena, “do you know anything about Starswirl the Bearded?” The Element of Magic laughed, a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked at her friend, “Are you kidding me? I know everything about Starswirl! He created over two hundred spells, including the amniomorphic spell. Not to mention he has his own wing in the Canterlot Library, and he was the mentor of one of the founders of Equestria.” “I thought he mentored the princesses?” the time colt asked. “He did, a lot of Starswirl’s spells were based around time.” Twilight closed her eyes as she went into (what Spike would call) full-bookworm mode, “I remember one spell of his that I used to go back in time two minutes so I wouldn’t miss my first day as Princess Celestia’s personal student, then there was one time where I went a little overboard during the week and made a sort of fixed point in time...” the lavender unicorn looked over at her companion, only to see his mouth gaping at the mention of a magical pony making a fixed point in time and say she only went ‘a little overboard’, “I’ll tell you about it later. Anyway, a lot of scholars think that Starswirl was able to conjure up a spell that allowed him to travel anywhere in time permanently. That’s the only way most ponies can explain such a long life for a normal unicorn.” “I’m not sure how normal he was...” The Doctor said under his breath, “Where’s the library exactly?” “Oh, it’s actually just down the road a bit. It’s a big white marble building like the castle, you can’t miss it.” “Thanks Twilight, bye!” and with that the brown colt galloped out of the stadium, and thundered down the road. Twilight sighed, half wishing she could join the strange, bow-tie wearing colt, but she knew that she needed to stay. As the student of Celestia took her seat next to her mentor, Twilight’s eyes focused on the battlefield before her. More importantly, they focused on the image of The great and Powerful Trixie entering the arena, with a smirk on her face as she prepared to fight the hulking gryphon before her. *** The Doctor’s hoofbeats slowed as he made his way to the giant, sprawling marble building that Twilight described. The entrance to the maze like library was extremely ornate, with the flag of Equestria carved and painted into the stone above the archway with great detail. The archway itself seemed to be made of gold, and the doors where a very thick mahogany with images of Celestia and Luna carved into them. The time colt pushed his way through the doors and trotted along the halls, his head swiveling right and left as he searched for the Starswirl the Bearded wing. As he passed the few guards that were positioned here instead of the arena, he nodded to them, not even considering that they might know the location of the wing. The Doctor didn’t want a word of him being here getting to anypony, he had been very cautious of anypony he didn’t know since the incident in Appleloosa. For now, the brown colt felt he could find what he was looking for on his own. That is, until he found he had made a complete circle around the library and back to the entrance. The Doctor’s eyes grew wide,and he galloped around the library as his eyes darted to the different wings of the massive building. “Cover the Clever, King Beambright, Admiral Typhoon,” the time colt said the wing’s names out loud as he rounded the corner, only to see the two wooden doors to Canterlot once more, “do I have to use some kind of magic, or something? Where the hell is the bloody Starswirl wing!” “Hey, buddy.” one of the golden clad guards called out, “It’s a library, that means be quiet. Also, look behind ya, stupid Trottingham ponies...” The Doctor turned and saw a room with a large hourglass under a skylight, the sign on the archway read ‘Starswirl the Bearded wing’. The time pony then stared at the sign in disbelief, then he slapped his forehead with his hoof before trotting into the book and scroll filled room. *** Twilight’s eyes widened as she watched the match begin. Luna and the now sober Prince Blueblood took their positions on the two stone podiums as their students stared each other down. Trixie, as cocky as ever, just smiled at the circling Gilda, the gryphon’s claws extended and looking even sharper than they did the day before. However, this didn’t seem to concern the light blue unicorn, as she let loose a harmless, yet bright, flash from her horn but remained motionless. Gilda reeled back for a moment, the flash of bright mauve magic burning her eyes slightly. She was quick to recover though, and growled as she eyed the illusionist pony. “You’re dead meat, you little bitch!” the now furious gryphon screeched as she lunged at her opponent, talons bared as she sliced right through the air. Even as the angry enemy neared, Trixie was motionless almost as if... Twilight gasped, then whispered to herself, “It’s a spell.” just as Gilda’s claws ripped right through Trixie’s clone, causing her mirage spell to evaporate like water. The stunned eagle-lion hybrid turned quickly, keeping her back to the wall as she searched the arena for the now missing Trixie. “Stay on guard Gilda!” Blueblood yelled from the top of his stone tower, “The little minx is using a cloaking spell. You can find her!” Luna just kept looking as the center of the arena, nodding her head as she let loose a little half smile. She could see her student making her way to the opposite end of the stadium, the horn on the invisible and cunning unicorn’s horn shining bright. “Where are you, ya little jerk?” Gilda called out, still scanning the flat battle arena with her eyes, “Aren’t you mare enough to fight me one-on-one?” “This doesn’t have anything to do with Trixie being ‘mare enough’ to do anything, you brute.” the voice of The G&P Trixie echoed in response, “Battles like this are won with brains, and you couldn’t beat an ameba in a game of tic-tac-toe. So, what chance do you have against...” the white maned unicorn slowly reappeared, a sort of wave uncovering her body from the cloaking spell, “The Great and Powerful Trixie?!” “Shut up, show off!!!” the gryphon screamed as she flew straight as Trixie, rearing back so that she could attack the smirking unicorn with both her claws and talons. “You wana smile? I’ll rip a huge smile right in your belly!” *** “This is amazing!” The Doctor called out, then covered his mouth as one of the guards quickly shushed him. “All these spells and theories, this Starswirl must’ve been one of the most knowledgeable ponies in this dimension's history. I... I just can’t believe it.” However, in the back of The Doctor’s mind a question still burned, a question that he knew must have an answer somewhere in Canterlot. “What was this guy? Could it be that he was a...” “‘Scuse me gents, I need to finish cleanin’ the library ‘fore the fight’s done.” an old, crogetty voice said softly, “Ya’ mind guardin’ the place outside for a while?” “No problem Mr. Greenhooves, we’ll be out of you mane in a bit.” one of the armor covered guards replied as he, and his companions, made their way out of the maze of a building. As soon as the mahogany doors slammed shut, a grey-brown colt with a large green hat and blue vest entered the Starswirl the Bearded wing and smiled at The Doctor. The time colt couldn’t see a cutie mark on the old groundskeeper, but to him it really didn’t matter. “Sorry, I’ll get out of here for you.” The Doctor said, quickly putting a few of the scrolls he had gotten out back. “No need Son of Gallifrey,” Greenhooves said, his voice now deep with a slight accent, “I know what you’re seeking.” The Doctor paused, then stared right at the older pony, “How do you know what I am?” he asked. “Simple,” the earth pony replied before he closed his eyes. Suddenly, a flash of golden light filled the room as Mr. Greenhooves became enveloped in a shining light, so bright that the time pony couldn’t look directly at it. The light seemed to grow dim thought, and soon it seemed to mold the older earth pony into a unicorn. After a few moments, The Doctor looked back at where Mr.Greenhooves stood, but in the groundskeeper’s place was a grey unicorn with a frosty, snow white beard and mane. One the unicorn’s head stood an ornate wizard’s hat, and on his back was a cape, decorated with a map of various Equestrian constellations. “I am like you.” The Doctor’s jaw hit the floor as he wondered at the new unicorn in front of him, the time colt’s eyes went to the old colt’s flank to see what he already knew was there. An hourglass cutie mark, with moving sand. “Starswirl the Bearded.” the brown colt said. “Starswirl... I haven’t heard that name in a millennia.” the ancient enchanter replied, “However, I do know of you Doctor. I am surprised to see a Time Lord out of our old universe. Tell me, how did you manage the journey?” *** The battle seemed to have gone on for a week already, and it had fallen into a pattern very quickly. Gilda would attack, and Trixie would dodge the attack and force Gilda to use up valuable energy looking for her, then the unicorn would mock the gryphon, and Gilda would attack. If Prince Blueblood were worried about his student losing steam he didn’t show it, all he did was keep telling Gilda to attack when the time was right and to end it quickly. Princess Luna didn’t say anything, all she did was nod and smile. It was as if she was talking to her student telepathically, which was impossible due to the various wards preventing that. “It must be some kind of signal,” Twilight said as she kept a watchful eye on the battle, “but what does it mean?” “I’m not sure Twilight,” Celestia said suddenly, making Twilight nearly jump out of her seat. The sun princess saw this and smiled, “forgot I was here huh?” “Maybe a little.” the lavender unicorn said with a blush and a smile. Her mentor smiled back, then turned back to the match, “When our time comes to battle my sister and her student, we’ll need to be careful.” Meanwhile on the field, Gilda had begun to sweat from the effort of trying to catch Trixie. The gryphon began to pant from pure exhaustion, and her movements slowed to a near crawl. “Now’s the time to attack.” Luna said out loud, “Trixie, now!” “Yes master!” Trixie responded, revealing herself and blasting Gilda with enough magical force to knock her into the stands. However, before the now losing gryphon could get close to the various ponies watching, she hit the field’s inner barrier which knocked her out cold. Twilight didn’t even need to hear the official's ruling, she knew Trixie had won the match, and she knew that she needed to beat Fleur. *** “A very interesting story Doctor.” Starswirl said as The Doctor finished up telling the older time colt how he arrived in Equestria, and his trials within it. “It seems that you’re nearly ready to go back to your dimension.” “I am,” the brown colt replied, “it’s just that... I like it here. It’s relatively peaceful and the ponies here are amazing creatures, like the humans back on my Earth. I know I’ll have to go back, but why can’t I stay here more often? It should be easy now that my TARDIS is repaired. I can adjust it with the princess’ help so that it can cross over easier.” Starswirl’s smile turned into a worried frown almost instantly, “Doctor... Do you know why I’m here in Equestria and not in our own dimension?” The Doctor shook his head. “My TARDIS was destroyed by a monster, a monster that you have faced already and defeated.” The young time colt pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Discord.” “Yes, and while he has changed over the centuries of imprisonment, I am still stuck in this land of ponies. It has begun to... drain me. I fear I do not have long for this plain, so I am warning you Son of Gallifrey...” the elder pony turned towards The Doctor, holding the brown colt’s face in his hooves, “You may return, but you cannot live here.” With that, Starswirl was once more cloaked in the bright golden light and transformed back into the form of Mr.Greenhooves. “Heed my warning.” he said, then he left The Doctor pondering in the massive, book filled room, alone once more. And once more, The Doctor felt that he was the last of the Time Lords. (Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak Trixie, pt. 2The Pathetic and Weak Trixie, pt.2 Princess Luna smiled as her horn shined in the dark of her night, it’s magic aiding her in raising the moon as it did every night. The pale, bright orb that had been her home for about one thousand years stood like a silent guardian in the sky, watching and waiting for something to happen so it could strike. Luna giggled at this idea, the moon as her personal bodyguard, how droll. The princess of the night turned from the sky, about to head in for her nightly duties in the royal court, when she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes met those of her older sister, and Celestia didn’t seem to be happy. “What happened earlier today Lulu?” the sun princess asked, making Luna cringe at her sister’s use of that old pet name, “You pass out, nearly on the verge of death, then you’re suddenly better? Not to mention keeping your student a secret to the entire royal court. I want answers.” Luna glared at her older sister, “I thought you had all the answers sister.” The smaller alicorn moved past her older sibling quickly, as if she were being followed by Discord himself, “After all, you’re the one who knew what was best for me all those years ago, correct?” “Luna...” the white princess’ voice sounded ragged and hurt, but she still followed her sister and covered her with a wing, “I’m just worried about you. These headaches, we both know that they aren’t natural. Maybe... Maybe we should stop the tournament-” “NO! I will not let you be better than me in this! Not like everything else!” the dark blue alicorn cried as she pushed her sister’s wing off of her in a rough motion. “You’re acting like a child!” “I am a child! I was frozen on the moon for over one thousand years! Don’t you remember Celestia?! YOU PUT ME THERE!” Princess Celestia opened her mouth, as if to scream back at her younger sister, then she stopped herself and took a deep breath. Poised as ever, Celestia looked down at her sister, “It is clear that you are not fit to do your duties as a princess of this nobel kingdom of Equestria. Until the tournament is over, I will be raising and lowering the moon and taking over your duties at night.” “WHAT?!” Luna yelled, a tear falling from her eye as her sister turned into the tyrant that the guards joked about her being. “Sleep well.” and with that the princess of the day teleported away, leaving her sister crying in rage where she stood, unaware that another mare’s eyes were watching her with glee. *** One year ago... It had been weeks since Trixie Lulamoon had seen another pony. The light blue unicorn’s hooves grew tired as she walked ever deeper into the Everfree Forest, the trees seemed to be laughing at the illusionist pony’s attempts to find the road that had lead her to Ponyville in the first place. All the while, Trixie felt as if she was being watched, yet every time she looked over her shoulder nopony was there to greet her. “I must be losing my mind.” The Great and Powerful Trixie thought out loud, “Why would anypony come to this place, aside from wanting to be alone.” However, the trees soon seemed to open, and ahead was a clearing with a large, crumbling stone fortress in the middle of it all. Quickly, the purple caped pony charged to the large, wooden doors of the massive ruin. As her small, pained hooves slowly opened them, the doors gave a slight creak, as if it had been eons since they were last properly opened. The inside of the formerly great castle was decrypted and dusty, but even Trixie could see that the foyer of the fortress was once a great gathering place. Soon, the name of the ruin came to the little blue unicorn’s lips. “Everfree Castle.” the impressed and amazed Trixie said out loud. “Indeed.” a voice from the shadows called. A tall, dark blue alicorn stepped into the light, her mane flowing in the wind and shining like the stars. Trixie quickly bowed, honored by the appearance of one of the two most powerful beings in Equestria. “P... Princess Luna, why are you here?” the unicorn asked. The princess of the night only smiled as she teleported her and her new student out of the large decaying castle. *** Six months ago... “You did what?!” Luna yelled, glaring at her student. The princess of the night had known that Trixie was gone from the palace, but she could never had guess where she had gone. “I... I’m sorry master.” Trixie Lulamoon said, cringing at her mentor’s complete anger. She had never seen Princess Luna so enraged, in fact she had never seen Luna enraged at all. “I didn’t know that the amulet corrupted the wearer’s soul. Please don’t throw me out!” The scared and worried Trixie fell to the ground, her forehooves wrapping around her teacher’s as she sobbed like a foal. Luna looked down at her student, a frown still encasing her lips. “It will not be so easy to forgive you Trixie,” the princess of the moon replied, “but... I cannot stay mad at you. But you must know, training is not a way to get everything you want fast, and as you’ve seen the short cuts can be disastrous.” Princess Luna opened the small chest that the shaman zebra Zecora had given her earlier that day. Inside was the fabled and infamous Alicorn Amulet, a relic that Discord himself had made to try and counteract the power of the Elements of Harmony. Just by looking at it, the dark blue alicorn could see the black magic oozing off of the trinket. Luna quickly slammed the lid down and pushed the chest away, motioning for her night guards to take it. “I need to know that you will not do anything like that again.” Trixie stood, her face stained with tears. “I... I give you my word Master Luna.” “Good. Then let’s proceed to tonight’s training.” *** Luna smiled as she recalled the memories of the past year, all the good time she had with her new student. Many of the night guards actually became bold enough to comment to the princess that she seemed... Happier. Suddenly, Luna fell to the ground, much like Trixie did that night she confessed to going to Curio’s Mystic’s Shop; however, the cause of this was another of her mind splitting headaches. Slowly, the princess of the night tired to stand, but each time she fell to the hard stone floor. As her vision blurred, Luna couldn’t help but smile as the fuzzy shape of a light blue unicorn rushed up to her. “Master!” Trixie shouted, lifting Luna with her magic as the princess drifted off to a restful, yet pained sleep. *** “Master...” The cloaked, alabaster pony bowed to the strange creature that had teleported into the dungeons. “It has been too long.” “Silence,” the creature said, his voice booming in the stone and metal room, “have the preparations been made?” Next to the cloaked pony, General Stormbreaker bowed, “Yes sir, nopony suspects a thing. The Rani is in place, as are all the pony pawns... Including Princess Luna.” “Thank you Stormbreaker, you’ve been a good ally in all of this,” the creature clicked his hooves together, then turned back to his cloaked lackey. “What of my old friend, The Doctor?” The female pony paused, looking to the ground as she tried to answer, “You see... Master... T...The Doctor is... We’ve lost him.” “Lost... Him? LOST HIM!?!?” the roars from the cloaked one’s master seemed to shake the dungeon, rattling chains and breaking cage doors off their hinges, “You pathetic little insect! Do you know how perfect of a victory I would have if you knew where he was?! I could have killed him right now! I could’ve broken his neck while he was sleeping, but no! You... I am holding you responsible for this, you damn insect, you... will kill The Doctor.”
(Part 1) Pure Chance and PainPure Chance and Pain “Oh no no no no no no no!” Rarity’s voice cried out from her Carousel Boutique. The alabaster unicorn raced around her workshop, tossing thread and mannequins every which way as she frantically searched for something. “It must be here, it simply must! Oh!” After tossing her cash register clear out the window, Rarity finally sat on her fainting couch to rest. She panted softly, no used to such physical activity, that was Applejack’s forte. “Now... Calm down Rarity,” the fashionista said under her breath, “just try to remember what you did with it. Let’s see... Last week there was that party Pinkie had for Octavia becoming the opening act for Sapphire Shores, then there was the Appleloosa incident with The Doctor and Apple Bloom, and before that the Crystal Kingdom escapade. No... no no, no, I didn’t wear it to anything recently, so that must mean...” Rarity paused as her eyes widened, then she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Down the street a bit, Sweetie Belle and the CMC’s were playing a nice game of hoofball, taking a break from their usual day of searching every activity they could think of to get their Cutie Marks. Sweetie rushed past Scootaloo, kicking the ball quickly as she darted around Twist and Dinky Hooves (who the three friends asked to play with them), and even getting around Pipsqueak to score a quick goal. “Yes!” the small white unicorn cheered, the other foals congratulating her just as a high pitched scream erupted in the lane. “What the heck was that?” Apple Bloom asked, leaving her post as the CMC’s goalie. Sweetie Belle sighed and turned to her friends, “I gotta go guys, I think Rarity needs some help again.” The other foals groaned, then said their goodbyes to Sweetie before she rushed down the street as fast as she could. The fillie slowed down as she reached the door to her house, mostly because of the large metal cash register sitting around the broken glass near the door. Sweetie walked into a scene of pure chaos: thread on the ceiling like it was streamers, mannequins fallen in all sorts of positions (one, oddly enough, was sitting up with Opal in its lap), a broken window, and her sister sobbing on the fainting couch in the middle of it all. “Rarity! Are you ok? What happened?!” Rarity looked up from her crying session at her little sister, “Oh Sweetie, it’s just so horrible! I... I can’t even say it!” “Did The Rani escape from jail?” The little unicorn asked. “No...” “Did Discord or Blackspine come back from the time vortex?” “N...No...” her older sister replied. “Did Spike turn into a giant dragon and attack half the town again?” Sweetie continued to ask, her head whipping around to try and catch sight of anything about to jump out at them. “Worse!” Rarity sat up, tear streaming down her face, “I... I forgot to pick up my new dress from the designer in Canterlot!” Rarity fell on her stomach this time, sobbing with her hooves covering her face. Sweetie just stared at her big sister, a mix of annoyance and relief on her face. The smaller unicorn rubbed her older sister’s back with a hoof and sighed, then a question springed to her mind. “Why don’t you just go to the shop and get it? the marshmallow colored foal asked. “I... I...” Rarity stopped sobbing and sat up again, a dumbfounded look swooped into her eyes as she face hoofed, “I didn’t even think of that. Oh Sweetie Belle!” Rarity jumped off the couch and embraced her sister in their usual hug, “What would I do without you?” “Cry on the couch saying that everything is the worst possible thing?” Sweetie asked sarcastically as she hugged Rarity back. Suddenly, the foal felt herself fall as the older unicorn dropped her. “My dear,” the fashionista said as she brushed her coat free of the small bit of dirt Sweetie transferred over from hers, “what in heavens name where you doing before you came home?” “Um... Playing Hoofie.” “Hoofsy! Sweetie, aren’t you a little young for that?” Rarity started to say, her tone just a little bit condescending, “You aren’t even old enough to date, let alone be playing silly games like that. I just hope it isn’t with anypony unsavory...” “Hoofball, Rarity, I was playing hoofball.” Sweetie said, blushing and eyeing her sister angrily. “Oh... Well that’s just fine.” Rarity smiled, unaware of her little sister staring daggers at her. “Now get a bath and then pack, you’ll be staying with Apple Bloom while I head off to Canterlot.” “Really?!” Sweetie’s face lit up as she raced upstairs to get washed up. Rarity giggled, it was always easy to get Sweetie to hurry as long as you mentioned one of her friends... Or ice cream. Either way, it gave the fashion conscious pony time to pack for the long trip ahead of her. “After all,” she said to herself, “one does not simply got to Canterlot for a day or two. Oh goodness no, I’ll be staying a week.” As Rarity finished her though, a beam fell from the ceiling and landed on the reception deck near the front of the store. “That should be enough time for Big Macintosh to repair the shop... again.” Rarity said with a nervous laugh. *** The purple maned unicorn smiled as she laid on the train bench, soon she’d be in the greatest city in all of Equestria. All her affairs were in order: Opal was at Fluttershy’s enjoying the free range she had in the yellow pegasus’ house, Sweetie Belle was at Sweet Apple Acres playing with Apple Bloom, the boutique was going to be renovated by Big Mac and a few carpenter ponies that Rarity had hired, and who knows, maybe she’d pop by the palace and see the princess. Rarity closed her eyes sighed, looking forward to a quick nap before her journey began. Then she heard a very familiar voice. “Hello miss Rarity!” The Doctor said, settling on the bench across from the fashionista. Next to the brown colt was the familiar wall-eyed mailmare, Derpy, and a small pinkish-grey coated unicorn filly. “Oh my, well if this isn’t a surprise.” Rarity replied, “It’s nice to see you again Doctor, hello Derpy,” the designer pony’s eyes then settled on the tiny foal, “and who’s this?” “That’s my daughter, Dinky,” Derpy said, a proud smile on her face as her hugged her little muffin close, “I’m surprised you’ve never seen her before, she plays with Sweetie and her friends all the time. She told me that they were playing hoofball this morning, when Sweetie had to go home. Something about a loud cat yelling or something...” Rarity blushed, “Oh, um... yes, Opal got her tail stuck under a mannequin stand and made a mess of my shop.” The white unicorn smiled as she lied through her teeth, “So, why are you two heading to Canterlot?” “We’re going to see the princess” the voice of Twilight Sparkle replied as she walked down the aisle and sat next to her fashionista friend, “The tournament’s this week too, so they’re staying to watch me compete.” “Oh Twilight, you’re in the tournament this year? I must’ve forgotten.” Rarity said, apologizing and hugging her friend, “Now I have even more reason to stay the week in Canterlot.” Twilight smiled, then opened her mouth to start to say something before being interrupted by The Doctor. “I was actually wondering, what exactly is this tournament you’re in Twilight?” *** “The Battle Royal Tournament,” Princess Luna said, pacing the training room she had set up in the southern tower of Canterlot Castle, “held every year between the Summer Sun Celebration and the holiday now known as Nightmare Night. Each year, a few members of the Equestrian Royal Family come together to pit their students against each other in combat.” The princess of the night sat on one of the various mats placed in the training room by her loyal Night Guards, and faced a figure cloaked in shadow, “Spells are put in place to keep the fighters from getting injured, but not from getting knocked out. Apparently, since my... absence from Equestria, Tia- I mean my sister, has won every tournament for the past three hundred years.” “And you think that we can win this year?” the figure in the dark asked. “Yes, my sister’s usual combatant, Shining Armor, will not be fighting this year.” Luna’s eyes looked at the figure across from her, a twinge of excitement in them, “I’ve been training you in secret since I met you in the Everfree Forest just for this tournament. Celestia has no idea that I have a student of my own, who is just as powerful as Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s student laughed coldly at the mention of the Bearer of the Element of Magic’s name, “I take it you still haven’t forgiven her for... what happened.” “No,” The Great and Powerful Trixie said, stepping out from the shadows, “Trixie will never forgive that little mule Twilight for embarrassing her in Ponyville two years ago, and thanks to you, master, I will humiliate her just as she did us!” Luna smiled, she had hoped that her own faithful student would be able to get over her grudge against Twilight, but this could possibly be the chance she needed to win the tournament this year. Suddenly, a sharp pain drilled into Luna’s skull, as if a mole had burrowed its way into her mind. The princess of the night screamed out in pure red hot pain as she fell to the floor, her student rushing to her side and holding her up. “Master! Master Luna, are you ok? Shall Trixie get the guards?” the light blue unicorn’s eyes were filled with panic, her teacher had had headaches on and off this past month but it was never like this. Slowly, Luna felt the pain in her mind leave as she stood on her own two feet once more, “I’m... I’m fine my student...” But the dark blue alicorn knew this was a lie, something was trying to get inside her head. Something familiar, familiar and dark.
(Part 2) Cloaks and Side CharactersCloaks and Side Characters As the train slowly pulled into the Canterlot Station, The Doctor couldn’t help but worry about what was going to come after he stepped onto the platform. So far, Zecora’s premonition of the trails set out for The Doctor had all come true. Fighting The Rani and her Purple Fear spewing Mare-Do-Well TARDIS and outsmarting the cloaked figure and her army of metallic grey Cyberponys was hard enough, but this next trial was going to take place in the most populated city in Equestria. There was more life at risk now than before, and The Doctor was scared stiff to face it. Oddly enough, he wasn’t afraid at all before he, Derpy, and Dinky had met Twilight the Ponyville Station a few hours ago. He didn’t even think this trip up to the capital city of the ponies was going to turn into a trial, just a quick two day trip to drop off Dinky at her father’s for the week long holiday. The time colt even suggested taking the TARDIS before the lavender unicorn he had saved the life of before busted in, panting from running and asked the group to come root for her at this odd tournament. Even then it didn’t seem strange, then they all met Rarity on the train. “Why would we all be on the same train, going to the same place, at the same time?” The Doctor asked himself out loud. “What?” Derpy asked, looking at her best friend. “Hmm? Oh, nothing Derpy. Just thinking out loud about... Fish.” The grey pegasus cocked her eyebrow at the strange brown colt, “Fish?” “Yes, fish...” The Doctor replied, “I’m wondering if they can talk here like you ponies can.” Derpy laughed at the thought, “Now that’s just silly! Talking fish... That’s like eating a unicorn sandwich.” The mailmare walked onto the platform, leaving her companion shaking his head clear of the thought of telling Derpy about Britains eating horses. As the group stepped out of the train, the bright lights of Canterlot greeted them cheerfully. The residences of the Canterlot Elite shined in the dark night, the night clubs boomed with the various wubs coming from the dubstep playing DJs, and in the distance Canterlot Castle stood on the mountain side, a beacon to the rest of Equestria. Rarity’s eyes glowed as she viewed the tiny diamonds of light shining in front of her, and she failed to notice another familiar face as it regally walked up to her. “Miss Rarity, is that you?” Fancy Pants asked, smiling under his expertly kept moustache. His voice made Rarity jump a foot into the air, literally. She turned as she glided down, her smile threatening to rip off her face. “Fancy Pants!” the fashionista cried as she hugged the tall unicorn. “Its been so long, how are you?” The light blue maned unicorn hugged his admirer back, he became accustomed to her affection from her last few visits to his home city, “Very good, actually, you remember Fleur, correct?” The colt stepped aside to reveal his companion, Fleur du Lis. The tall, slim unicorn bowed her head to Rarity, but her eyes were filled with loathing at the little dressmaker. Fancy then turned his head to see the others behind Rarity, “Ah, I remember you, young lady.” The suave colt said as his eyes rested on Twilight, “The rest of you must be Rarity’s friends as well, I’m guessing you’re all heading towards the castle as well?” “Oh, but of course.” Rarity answered for the group, “Our first stop is always the castle, got to have our audience with the princess’ now don’t we?” The alabaster mare laughed, hoping her Canterlot friend would join in. “Indeed.” Fancy Pants said, cortling along with his Ponyville friend, “Why don’t you ride with us, we have a carriage waiting just outside the station.” “Oh how simply marvelous Fancy, you really do think of everything.” the fashionista said, following the taller colt. Behind her, the rest of the Ponyville ponies followed, Dinky looking up at Twilight with confusion in her little eyes. “Who’s that guy?” she asked. “Oh, just a friend of Rarity’s.” Twilight answered, she never really kept up with the exploits of Fancy Pants, “He’s also a Duke in the Equestrian Royal Family.” “Oh... What’s a Duke do?” Dinky asked again. Fancy Pants turned his head to the side as he walked, “Not much, little filly. Not much at all.” *** As the coach left the steps of Canterlot Castle, The Doctor entered the foyer for the third time since his arrival in Equestria. It was as huge as ever, but at the top of the grand staircase was a sight he was not used to, a pink alicorn standing next to a large white unicorn in blue guard’s armor. The time colt was just about to ask who these two ponies were, when he saw Twilight bolt past him in a flash of lavender. “Cadence!” she yelled as the pink alicorn ran to her as well, then the two stopped at the bottom of the stairs and did something so strange that even The Doctor didn’t understand it. “Sunshine, sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” the two said, doing a strange dance to the little rhyme. “Is... Is that normal?” The Doctor asked, the spectacle almost making him speechless. “For Twily and Cadence it is.” The white colt said as he descended the staircase, “I’m guessing you’re...” “The Doctor, just The Doctor.” the time colt said, his hoof extended to shake the armored pony in front of him. “Ah, so you’re the one who saved my sister?” he replied as he shook the brown colt’s hoof, “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Shining Armor, Twilight’s big brother. And this,” Shining said, turning to look at the alicorn, “Is my wife, Cadence.” “Hi, I’m Dinky.” the sound of the little unicorn’s voice echoed as she interrupted the conversation, “And this is my mama, Dit-um, I mean Derpy.” “Muffin, don’t be rude.” Derpy scrolled her daughter. “No, no, it’s fine.” Shining gave Dinky a little nuggie in her blonde mane, “Twily was a little like that when she was a filly too.” “Shining...” Twilight blushed as she gave her brother an annoyed look. “Oh, like it isn’t true Twilight.” Cadence said, smiling at the pony she used to foalsit. This just made Twilight smile back, just as Princess Celestia entered the foyer. “Good, you’re all here.” Celestia said, “Please, everypony follow me to the dining hall. It’s time to announce who’s competing in the tournament this year.” *** The dining hall was lined with servants, all holding large silver domes that held a trap of food on their heads. The table in the middle was long enough to sit a few ponies, but for now it only had the ponies from Ponyville, Fancy Pants and Fleur, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Celestia. The sun princess sat at the head of the table, the seat to her left was empty, but The Doctor could assume that is where Princess Luna was going to sit. “Twilight,” Derpy began to ask the unicorn sitting next to her, “I’ve been meaning to ask, where’s Spike?” “Oh, he’s helping Big Macintosh with fixing up-” “I HAVE TO POWDER MY NOSE!” Rarity yelled awkwardly, then excused herself from the table. “... Ok?” Twilight said as she watched her friend leave the large dining room. “Anyway, Spike’s helping Big Mac with-” Suddenly, the doors to the hall burst open and the thundering of trumpets filled the air. A bespeckled, weak looking unicorn ran forward, clutching a scroll with her magic before stopping and unrolling it. “Hear ye, hear ye.” she began, “Presenting, his most royal majesty, the Prince of the Western Islands, the Champion of the Waves, Prince Augustus Blueblood!” Slowly, another tall, white unicorn walked into the hall. His long blonde mane blowing in the breeze made by his own servants, and a bright red rose popped against his white formal jacket. “Hello Aunty Celestia, pleasure to see you again.” Blueblood said, his eyes closed as he spoke in a regal tone. “Ah...yes. Nice to see you too Augustus.” Princess Celestia said back, “I thought you were busy with royal business in the Gryphon Kingdom.” “Oh, I was Aunty, but when I realized that it was time for the grand tournament once more I rushed back here as quick as I could.” “I see...” Celestia looked at Cadence, then Twilight. Both ponies gave her a look that basically said ‘he’s your great great great nephew, we aren’t saying anything.’ “And, I’m to assume you have a student.” “Of course,” Blueblood responded, then he stepped to the side and cleared his throat, “May I introduce a representative from the Gryphon Kingdom, and my personal student... Gilda Lightfeather.” From behind Blueblood came a large, furry animal, half lion and half eagle. Gilda looked at the ponies gathered around the dining table and scoffed, asking herself how she got into this boring gig. The prince said that all she’d have to do is kick a couple of unicorn plots, and she basically jumped at the chance to do that. After all, these pathetic dewbs where some of the same ponies that laughed at her when she visited Rainbow Dash in Ponyville... Gilda shook her head, it didn’t matter anyway. Dash wasn’t here and there was no point in worrying about that... that loser anyway. “Princess,” Fancy Pants said, “I’m guessing there’s no rule against how long a student has to study under their teacher...” “Unfortunately no, Duke Fancy Pants.” Princess Celestia sipped her tea, eyeing Blueblood’s obvious attempt at trying to make a name for himself by going against the norm, “However, I think Luna, Mi Amore, and I will vote on the matter after the tournament is over.” Fancy Pants and Cadence nodded at this, while Blueblood and Gilda took their seats at the end of the table opposite to Celestia. The Doctor turned to Twilight, a curious look on his face, “I don’t really know a lot about physiology in this dimension, but does she stand a chance against unicorn magic?” Twilight nodded, “It depends on how fast she can move. It takes a lot of concentration to use spells on creatures or things heavier than an average sized pony, and I know gryphons are at least fifty pounds heavier than most ponies. And they’re faster than most too.” “Most?” The time colt asked. “Well, a normal pegasus has about 10 wing power units behind their flight, gryphons usually have maybe 12.” Twilight explained, “But pegasi like Rainbow Dash or The Wonderbolts have at least 15 w.p.u.” The Doctor nodded, then turned his gaze to Princess Celestia. “Princess, I was wondering where The Rani is? The last I saw, General Stormbreaker was transferring her to a prison here in Canterlot... Or at least that’s what he told me.” “No need to worry Doctor,” The sun princess said, finishing off her tea, “General Stormbreaker is one of the most capable soldiers in my army. You can even ask Prince Shining Armor if you wish, he is the Captain of the Equestrian Guard.” Twilight’s brother nodded, swallowing a mouthful of dandelion salad. “Stormbreaker was the colt who trained me when I first entered the Royal Guard, I would trust that him with my life.” *** “I’ve lost my patience with all this.” Stormbreaker yelled, gritting his teeth hard. “Where is she?” “Patience Stormy,” The Rani replied, an amused smile crossing her lips at how frustrated the general was. “I’m sure our little friend will be here shortly.” Stormbreaker growled a bit, but closed his eyes to try and calm down. He had always loved the sounds of the Canterlot Dungeons, from the rattling of chains to the sound of the wind whistling through the walls. To the general, it was as if this room was the one room in the castle meant for him. Just then, the heavy wooden door leading to the dungeons opened with a creek, then closed just as fast. Finally, the pony the two had been waiting for finally entered. The cloaked mare quickly descended the long stone staircase to the depths of the castle, her alabaster hooves showed clear as day in the dank dungeons. “I’m happy to see you two are here.” The cloaked figure said, “Let’s get down to business.” *** Celestia’s servants had already begun to place out the desert, the princess’ favorite chocolate cake, when the doors to the dining room opened once more. This time, it was Luna standing at the entrance of the large hall. “You’re a bit late, sister.” Celestia said, a kind smile shining through the room, “Had a long night?” “No older sister, I was just getting my student ready.” Luna said triumpatly, as if she had already won the tournament. “Student? I didn’t know you were training anypony.” the sun princess replied. “Well, I had kept it a secret from all but my night guards. I’ve been training her for about two years now,” the princess of the night turned her gaze on Twilight, “and I believe your student knows mine very well.” Suddenly, the dining hall was filled with a flash of bright purple magic as a light blue pony appeared a few feet in front of Princess Luna. The unicorn was clad in a tall, pointed, purple wizard’s hat along with a purple cape, both covered in stars and moons. The unicorn’s Cutie Mark was a crescent moon with a magician’s magic wand in front of it. There was only one pony with that kind of Cutie Mark that Twilight knew of... And the lavender unicorn was not happy. “Trixie.” the Bearer of Magic said. Trixie Lulamoon smiled cockily at her rival, “It’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you, Twilight Sparkle. And it is Trixie who will take this tournament’s trophy, not you.”
(Part 3) Rules, Rosters, and Revelations (Part 3) Rules, Rosters, and Revelations Rules, Rosters, and Revelations The silence in the room was palpable as Trixie and Luna took their seats, the lunar princess sitting next to her sister and Trixie sitting next to her teacher. Unfortunately for Twilight, this meant that the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie was staring at her from across the table the entire time, just scowling at her as the lavender pony tried to enjoy the last bites of her salad. Soon, Rarity rejoined the party, her mane looking very shiny and luxurious. The alabaster unicorn smiled as she glanced over at Fancy Pants, but then that smile faded once Rarity caught sight of Prince Blueblood. “Doctor... Oh Doctor,” the fashionista tried to say quietly; however, the time colt was too busy trying to figure out how he could eat and hold a fork in his mouth at the same time. “DOCTOR!” “What? Who?” the brown colt finally came out of his ponderings and noticed Rarity glaring at him, “Oh, yes Rarity?” “Switch seats with me, si vous plait.” “Why? That nice Prince champ is sitting right over there.” The Doctor nodded his head over towards Blueblood, “I thought you always wanted to end up with a prince.” Rarity gritted her teeth, “Not. This. One.” she growled under her breath. The Doctor took the hint and stood, Rarity quickly taking the spot between Derpy and Twilight as the time colt sat next to Dinky and the blonde boneheaded Blueblood. “Well that was a little rude.” the time traveler said to himself. “Indeed,” Blueblood responded, “I believe Miss Rarity may still have a bug up her dress over what happened the last time her path crossed over mine.” “It was that bad?” “Oh, worse than you could imagine mister...” the prince paused, trying to match a name to The Doctor’s face. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if I know you.” “I’m The Doctor.” the brown colt responded, extending a hoof that Blueblood wouldn’t dream of touching in three million years. However, the pampered prince’s eyes did light up at the mention of his new acquaintance's name. “The Doctor? As in Doctor Whooves, the colt who defeated Discord?!” Blueblood smiled, “Well my my my, I never thought I’d meet such an illustrious hero. I’ve been following all your exploits via field reports from General Stormbreaker.” “Oh, now there’s no need to be so... You get field reports from Torchwhoof?” The Doctor cocked an eyebrow, “How did you manage that?” “How? Oh that’s simple heir Doctor,” the prince leaned in close and whispered, “I’m the true head of Torchwhoof. Stormbreaker just does the dirty work for me.” Blueblood then burst into laughter, his snobbish voice slowly dwindling on Fancy Pant’s nerve (who was sitting right across from the spoiled brat). “Blueblood!” the Duke of Canterlot said loudly as he stood from the table, “Exactly how much wine did you have before ‘gracing’ us with your presence?” “Far less than I should’ve had, Fancy.” the drunk royal responded, “After all, I have to deal with your incessant nagging all week now, don’t I?” The blue maned stallion slammed his hooves on the table, startling everyone sitting close to him. “If I had my way...” “You don’t Fancy,” the voice of Princess Celestia interrupted the angry unicorn, “This is my castle, and I’m sorry to say that Blueblood is a guest, just as you are. I will not have my guests fighting amongst themselves. If you wish to fight, enter the tournament yourselves. If not, then save the insults for tomorrow.” The two stallions still glared at each other for the longest time, up until Fancy and Fleur decided to head to their room and get some sleep. Soon after, Blueblood hiccuped that he was tired and started up the stairs as well, laughing about what Fancy Pants would’ve finished his last sentence with (his favorite was ‘If I had my way, all the servants would be dressed as different types of fish.’) None of this seemed to phase Twilight Sparkle, he eyes were still trained on her rival intently. Trixie, of course, returned the glare she was receiving from the lavender unicorn, but she decided to up the ante. The magician unicorn’s magic quickly picked out the ripest apple on the table and brought it to her, then Trixie picked up a knife in her teeth and sliced in as accurately as she could. Slowly, the apple began to take shape until it was obviously in the shape of Twilight’s head, and then Trixie floated the sculpture over to her mouth and bite a huge chunk out of the apple-Twilight’s head. “And I thought I had issues.” Gilda said to herself, watching the entire staring match between the two students unfold. The gryphon yawned and her gaze shifted down, where it met the yellow eyes of the filly across the table from her. “Yes kid, what do ya want?” “You’re big...” Dinky answered, shifting her body to try and see around the large bird. “Yeah and you’re a pipsqueak.” Gilda huffed, then saw who the tiny filly was sitting next to. “Hey... Aren’t you Ditzy Doo?” One of Derpy’s eyes looked down at the mention of her old name; however, the other stayed looking at the face from her past. “Yeah... Hi Gilda.” “Ditzy Dork it is you!” the gruff gryphon laughed a bit and reached across the table to punch the mailmare in the shoulder, “How’ve you been? I haven't see your googly eyes since Flight Camp! Is this little punk your sister or cousin or what?” “Sh...She’s my daughter.” the grey mare replied, still trying to look at the floor with both eyes. This made Gilda burst in a fit of laughing, “Really?! Some stallion was dumb enough to knock you up, then he left you?” The Doctor jolted up and glared at the rude half bird, half lion. “I... I left him.” Derpy said as quietly as she could. “Oh my god! That’s even better!” the gryphon continued to laugh hysterically, until finally The Doctor and Princess Celestia stood in anger. “That’s enough!” they both shouted, glaring at the rude bird. “Don’t you ever make fun of my friend! Do you understand?!” The Doctor yelled, his face would’ve been a deep red if not for his brown fur, “She’s obviously twice the pony you could ever be!” Derpy blushed as her best friend stood there, defending her while Dinky snuggled up to her mother half asleep. Soon, the grey pegasus realized that Celestia was standing beside her with a guard. “This is Rightwing,” the princess said, smiling reassuringly, “he’ll take you and your little one to your room.” “Thank you Princess.” Derpy said with a smile as she leaned down and let Dinky climb onto her back, so she could carry her up to the soft warm bed that the castle was ready to provide. The princess of the day smiled as they left, “As I said to Fancy Pants and Blueblood, there will be no fighting or insults outside of the arena.” the white alicorn turned to face Gilda, “Is that clear?” “Yeah... Whatever.” the gryphon replied. “Good, now let’s move on to the matter of the tournament’s roster.” *** The room went silent as Celestia engulfed the dining table with her magical aura, teleporting it to a different part of the castle as Luna and Princess Cadence’s horns began to glow. Soon, the sun princess’ horn grew a bright white color, and a small stone slab in the floor began to rise slowly. The slab glowed a reddish brown hue, and the sounds similar to potato chips being crushed in a bag echoed from it. Suddenly, the rock burst open, revealing four green and black runes. “These runes,” Princess Celestia began, “where enchanted by the greatest sorcerer in all the history of Equestria, Starswirl the Bearded. My teacher, my sister’s teacher, and our parent’s greatest ally, Starswirl predicted the coming of Discord long before our family had even heard the creature’s name. It was Starswirl who started the Battle Royal tournament, as a way for students of the royal family to show what they had learned over the years. Celestia sighed, closing her eyes tightly as if she was afraid of some monster popping out of the floor before her. “It was thousands of years ago, that the Spirit of Chaos interrupted the tournament and brought a dictatorship upon this land. He was, however, redeemed through the actions of another.” The Doctor nodded and remembered back to the first week he had arrived in Equestria, and how he had fought Discord and his follower, how he banished Discord’s follower to the Time Vortex, and how Discord had sacrificed himself to ensure he wouldn’t get out. “Now,” Celestia continued, “each of the students will pick a rune at random from this bag.” Luna’s horn shone brighter and transferred a small, plain blue bag out of thin air for the runes. One by one, Twilight, Trixie, and Gilda stepped forward to take a rune from the bag. After, Cadence stepped forward and touched her horn to each of the pebble like stones, a small orb of light radiating off them and joined the crystal princess’ own magical glow. Soon, after all four runes had been accounted for, the small orbs blasted into the air, a streak of pink following each. They formed lines, stars, vortex’s and galaxies as the moved along the ceiling, until finally they stopped and a small piece of paper floated down from the marble roof. “Well,” Rarity said, “that was a bit anti-climatic.” Twilight pushed her friend lightly and shushed her, the lavender unicorn cocked her head as she felt just how grimey her fashion conscious friend’s coat was. “Rarity, what exactly were you doing in the restroom?” Twilight asked. “Oh, just freshening up darling. Nothing more.” the Element of Generosity said with a smile. “It is decided.” Luna called out, “The tournament begins tomorrow with Gilda Lightfeather facing Fleur du Lis. I suggest you all get some rest tonight, for tomorrow one of you will move on while the other fights the preliminary match.” “Preliminary?” The Doctor asked. “Yes,” Twilight explained, “Starswirl wanted to not only test the students of the royal family, but he also wanted to show the duality of magic, light and dark. So, he made two rosters. First a match would be fought to see was the strongest, then the two students would be matched against somepony with skills that matched up to theirs.” “Very good, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia smiled with pride at Twilight. “Yes, but that was when only unicorns were allowed in the tournament,” Trixie butted in, “with pegasi and earth ponies the rules changed a bit. Now the first match is based on the skills the judge sees the combatants use during the match. So a physically strong pegasus or earth pony would be matched up to a magically strong unicorn.” “Brilliantly stated Student Trixie.” Princess Luna said, smiling just as Celestia did. The magician pony then looked at her lavender rival and smiled contently. “Anypony who has studied the rules and laws of the Battle Royal would’ve know that. Right Sparkle?” The Great and Powerful Trixie said coldly. Twilight just turned and headed for the door, she didn’t want to embarass her teacher. Plus,Twilight thought, Trixie will her her just deserts soon. *** As the group of ponies, alicorns, and a gryphon headed into the main hall, The Doctor stopped as he noticed a grand tapestry hanging along the wall. The time colt hadn’t noticed it before, which was odd since he made a note to take in all the scenery he could in this land of colorful pastel ponies. The tapestry was a bright royal red color, with a golden border that seemed to be literally sewn with gold. On the silk wall hanging was a scene depicting a climatic battle between two alicorns, a white one and a dark blue one, in a large arena. “I’m guessing you noticed the new addition to the castle walls... Doctor.” a deep, gruff voice said from behind the time colt. It was a voice The Doctor had come to get used to hearing, even if it meant a very unpleasant few minutes. “Hello Stormbreaker, out for a nightly stroll?” “I’m doing my rounds,” the figurehead of Torchwhoof explained, “after what happened in Appleloosa, Princess Celestia decided to keep me close by most of the time.” “Well, in that case you can answer my question.” The Doctor pointed a hoof at the tapestry before him, “What is this showing?” “That is the first round of the very first Battle Royal tournament, the fight between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. As you can see,” the general said, stepping closer to the beautiful work of art and placing a hoof on the farthest edge of the arena in it. “the match was being judged by their teacher, Starswirl.” As The Doctor examined the sewn together depiction of the ancient wizard pony, his eyes winded. Starswirl was a large, grey stallion with a long white beard. His mane was a frosty snow white as well, and he wore a pointed, dark blue wizards cap and a long flowing cape that had a map of the constellation sewn on it. However, what The Doctor was most surprised at was Starswirl the Bearded’s cutie mark. An hour glass, half full on both sides, laid sideways on the old stallion’s flank. The strange brown colt knew what this meant, before he was only suspicious of the possibility, but now he knew it was true. Time Lords had been to Equestria before, and The Doctor had to find out why.
(Part 4) The Gryphon and the SocialiteThe Gryphon and The Socialite Princess Celestia Beambright slowly made her way to the balcony, her multicolored mane flowing and swirling on its own accord as she took her place next to her sister. Luna had been up most of the night, as usual, but this night the princess of the night seemed more awake then she usually did. The older of the alicorn sisters smiled, “You had a good night, I assume.” “Yes,” Luna answered, her eyes still focused on her moon slowly sinking into the ocean of a sky, “sister... I’m sorry for not telling you about Trixie.” “It’s fine Lulu, I’m sure you had a good reason.” Celestia extended her wings and placed one over her little sister’s shoulders. “How’s your head?” “It was fine tonight, wait, how did you know?” the dark blue alicorn turned to face her older sibling. Celestia just smiled at this. “One of your guards told me you’ve been having migraines recently...” the sun princess’ voice trailed off, “I remember the last time you had headaches this bad, and I was hoping that-” “I’m fine Tia.” Luna said quickly, a sharp glare entering her gaze.” No need to get ready to banish me again.” “Luna...” Celestia said sadly, her eyes filling with hurt, “You know I only did what I had to for the good of Equestria.” Luna stayed silent for the longest time, staring at the large, empty rock in the sky that was her home for the past one thousand years. A tear rolled down the younger alicorn’s cheek, and she gritted her teeth tightly as her mind was hit by the now familiar sharp pains. The princess of the night fell to the ground, her hooves pushing onto her temples as she screamed, “Stop it! Please just stop!!!” “Oh dear gods!” Celestia picked her sister up with her magic, the white aura surrounding her sister as she rushed into the castle. “I need a doctor! Somepony! Help!” *** The Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver buzzed as it analyzed the winged and horned pony on the bed. Worry seeped from every pore of Celestia’s face as she watched, unsure of what the strange time traveler was doing. As the older princess paced back and forth, her sister’s student looked as if she was on the verge of tears. Trixie did as The Doctor had told her to moments before, ‘stay back, give her air’, but she couldn’t take it anymore. The light blue unicorn rushed to her teacher’s side and held her hoof, sobbing like a filly who was watching her grandmother die before them. “M... Master Luna, please be ok...” the tearful and desperate Trixie said, gasping as she paused to breathe, “I... I can’t lose you! Please!” The unicorn bit her lip to hold back a scream of sorrow, shaking as her weeping took over her body. The Doctor walked over to the white maned pony and pat her on the back, smiling slightly. “She’ll be fine.” the time pony explained, “She just needs some rest.” Trixie smiled at the brown colt and wrapped her front legs around him, hugging him as if her where her best friend. “Th...Thank you Doctor! Thank you...” the illusionist let go of him and turned back to her mentor, just sitting and waiting for any signs of waking. The Doctor turned to exit the room, then looked over at the older princess and nodded, signaling for her to follow him. Outside the room, The Doctor sighed and cracked his neck, the Screwdriver in the ribbon of his bowtie. “How long has she been getting these?” the time pony asked Celestia. The princess shook her head, “I don’t know. I’ve only learned about it recently this week. For all I know, she’s been holding them back and hiding them for months.” The white alicorn sighed and looked towards the door to her younger sister’s room, “The last time she had migraines like this... Was over one thousand years ago, before she became Nightmare Moon.” “Twilight told me about that once.” The Doctor said, a hoof to his chin as he pondered, “Do you think that this could all just be a warning? That Luna’s body is changing again, and that Nightmare Moon is returning?” “No!” Celestia yelled, glaring at the smaller earth pony before her, “I... I’m sorry. It’s just that... Luna would never change like that again. It was a willing transformation, so that she could gain more power and become stronger than me. But now,” the white princess looked out the window, closing her eyes once she saw her sun rising slowly over the horizon, “Luna wouldn’t want to become that monster again... Come, it’s breakfast time.” As the two ponies trotted out of the hall, another figure slowly slid behind them, and stopped in front of the door to Princess Luna’s room. The alabaster mare smiled evilly as she listened to the sounds of a pony crying for her loved one on the other side of the door, but she failed to notice the grey pegasus approaching her from behind. “Hey Rarity, you ok?” Derpy asked, her daughter trotting next to her to keep up. The unicorn turned and smiled as she normally would, “Oh, of course darling! Just admiring the beautiful decor of the palace.” Rarity’s eyes twinkled like stars as she seemed to smile a little too hard, “What I wouldn’t give to stay here all the time.” “Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” the blonde mailmare said, her eyes looking in separate directions at the brilliantly decorated hallway, “but I think I like my house in Ponyville a little more. You comin’ to breakfast? I hear the princess usually gets the best donuts in town... Not that that matters.” The pegasus looked away, her walleyes narrowing a bit to where she looked angry and confused at the same time. “I’ll be down in two shakes dear, I just have some business to take care of first.” The fashionista said, and with that Derpy and Dinky left the hallway, completely unaware that their friend had her own plans. *** Breakfast passed much quicker than dinner the night before, mostly due to the fact that Prince Blueblood had decided to take his meal in his room, to combat the claws that were raking his hungover brain. Fancy Pants laughed at this, seeing his ‘old friends’ student would be joining them alone, and most likely be fighting without her mentor’s aid. The Duke knew that put the gryphon at a disadvantage, since a good portion of the matches in the past had been beaten by teacher and student working together. However, the socialite and his beautiful student didn’t let it sway them too much. They had a tournament to win after all. As the sun got higher in the sky, many of the citizens of Canterlot flocked to the Royal Stadium to watch the Battle Royal’s first round. Celestia had made the tournament a public event after the first return of Discord, to show her subject that they shouldn’t fear and that their princess’ would protect them by training the best they could find. As The Doctor and Derpy shuffled into the personal box for friends and family, they spotted some familiar faces in the crowd. Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, Sapphire Shores, Hoity Toity, and even Rainbow Dash (who was sitting between Spitfire and Soarin). As Princess Celestia flew onto the field, the crowd went completely silent. The white alicorn’s horn grew bright, and her white magical aura seemed to surround her throat. “Ponies of Equestria!” the princess said, her voice amplified by her spell, “I am happy to see you all here, enjoying the four hundredth Battle Royal Tournament!” The ponies in the stands began to cheer loudly, stamping their hooves in unison. “So that’s how you ponies clap.” The Doctor said before he was quickly shushed by his companion. “I, however, must apologize for the absence of my sister-” “NO NEED DEAR SISTER! Luna’s voice called out as she teleported onto the field, her Royal Canterlot Voice outshining her older sibling’s spell, “I AM HAPPY TO SEE SO MANY PONIES HERE TODAY, IT MEANS MORE TO MY SISTER AND I THAN MOST OF YOU KNOW! SO, WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!” The crowd’s cheers echoed loudly, some cries seeming to reach the valley where Ponyville stood below. “How are you feeling?” Celestia asked her sister as they flew to the royal box. “Better than before.” was all Luna said in response. On the field, two unicron guards stood before two large stone towers. Fancy Pants and Fleur approached one of the guards, Fleur descending to the field while her teacher levitated himself onto the top of the tower to watch the field. Gilda hovered down to the battlefield alone, if the gryphon was worried she didn’t show it. The two students then walked to the middle of the field, staring each other down as they bowed. “You will pay for your teacher’s words, Madame Lightfeather.” the slim unicorn said in a thick French accent. “Go lick a salt lick.” Gilda replied, and the bell rang. The fight was on. *** Gilda brandished her claws and lunged at Fleur, screaming an eagle’s cry as she wrapped her talons around the posh pony’s neck. Fleur quickly kicked the gryphon right in the beak, freeing her from her opponent’s grasp. The speed and ferocity of the attack caught the model off guard, but only for a moment. “Remember what we practiced Fleur!” Fancy Pant’s yelled from his podium, his student nodding in return as she just seemed to stand in one spot with her eyes closed. Gilda chuckled at this, “Yeah, that’s a great idea!” The lion-eagle hybrid extended her wings and used them to blast herself straight at her enemy; however, just as her beak was about to dig into Fleur du Lis’ neck, Gilda was stopped in mid air. Slowly, the gryphon’s eyes adjusted to see a very light pink barrier in front of her, holding her beak in place. “Looks like my Spectrum Spell got the better of you, oui?” the skinny pony said as she whipped her head in a slashing motion, sending Gilda flying with a huge blast of nearly invisible pink magic. The angry gryphon hit the wall of the arena with a crash, but she slowly stood and laughed. “You really think a little stone wall is going to knock me out?” Gilda extended her wings once more, but this time took off into the air. With each flap, her wings kicked up dirt and dust on the entire arena, including the stands. Thankfully, it wasn’t harmful to anypony (no matter when Hotiy Totiy said about his mane and clothes), but it did have the effect Gilda was hoping for. As she hovered in the air, the gryphon could see a huge circle of dirt around the small, pink and white dot she assumed to be Fleur du Lis. Once more, Gilda extended her claws and dived straight down at her opponent. The long legged unicorn looked up and quickly tried to turn her shield spell into a bubble spell, but she wasn’t fast enough. The enraged Gilda flew right past the enclosing barrier and dug her nails deep into Fleur’s head... Or so she thought. As her enemy felt her claws dig into something, the pink maned pony pulled back and let Gilda tare at her personal aura shield spell. The socialite mare then aimed her horn straight at the offending creature, and and let loose a easily visible blast of magic at the gryphon’s stomach, knocking the air out of her. Fleur du Lis smiled, thinking that this would cause Gilda to fall to the ground and give her time to deliver a knockout kick right between the gryphon’s eyes. However, Gilda didn’t even flinch as the beam hit her, and instead of falling the now furious gryphon warrior punched the frail unicorn mare in the side of her head. A whistle sounded as the official raced onto the field. The black coated, white maned pegasus referee then turned to the crowd and called out, “This match goes to Gilda Lightfeather, via knockout!”
(Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak TrixieThe Pathetic and Weak Trixie Trixie snuggled into the large bed Luna had given her, today had been a good day for her. Not only did she size up her opponent for her first match, but she knew that Twilight was in for a rough fight with Fleur. Gilda only won because the model pony’s magical abilities were more defence based, while the gryphon could literally smash through most of the long legged mare’s shields. Twilight would have a tougher time, since she wasn’t half as physically strong as that feathered blow hard Gilda. Trixie scoffed at the idea of her possibly losing to such a rash gryphon. “That bird isn’t even fit enough to like my hooves.” the magician said to herself, “Twilight on the other hoof...” Trixie knew Twilight was going to fight her by the end of this tournament, it was only a question of how soon. The light blue unicorn stared up at her ceiling, a bored look on her face as she went over every bit of what Luna told her on Twilight. How she specialty is magic, just like Twilights, how her aura seemed special, just like Twilight, and worst of all... How she didn’t have any friends, just like Twilight did before Ponyville. “Ponyville...” Trixie said with an edge in her voice. The town that shunned her after that lavender show-off humiliated her. It was all Twilight’s fault! All of it! It all started that night, the night of the Ursa Major... *** One year ago... Trixie ran as fast as her hooves could take her, she wanted to get as much distance between her and the town of Ponyville as possible. The illusionist pony didn’t know anything about the forest surrounding the town, but what she did know is that an angry mob of ponies would find her if she stayed out in the open like this. So, Trixie made a beeline straight for the thick grove of trees on the outskirts of town. The unicorn began to pant, still running even after she could no longer see the lights of the town behind her shoulder. Suddenly, Trixie felt something catch her front hooves, and was sent flying head over heels down a large hill and right into a mucky, frog infested swap. “My Celestia’s beard!” Trixie cried, shaking her head to try and get the larger clumps of mud out of her mane, “This is just... Disgusting!” Slowly, she was able to walk out of the bog, but not without getting covered from head to tail in a thick coat of black mud. Trixie was used to filth, living out of a caravan and not seeing an inn for days on end had trained her to ignore any smell that would come off with a nice long shower, but this was a different kind of dirty. The white maned unicorn could already feel bits of muck begin to crust on her tail, and to her that was too much. “I need to find a river.” she thought out loud, dropping the use of her name since there was no longer a crowd around. Soon, the mud caked pony found a small, clear stream that lead into the marsh and began washing as much of the gunk off her. “Hello there strange new friend, did the frog in the bog you offend?” a deeply accented voice said from behind Trixie. The unicorn turned to see a black and white striped horse with its mane cut into a mohawk. Trixie had, of course, seen many zebra on her travels around Equestria, so this stranger came as no surprise. “Not exactly,” Trixie began, “you see I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, was just ridiculed by some of the ponies in the town nearby.” “Hmmm... Ponies from Ponyville harassed you, you say? That is something you do not hear everyday.” “And why do you say that?” Trixie asked, rinsing her hooves off in the clean water. “Well you see,” Zecoura explained. “I have many friends there. They tolerate those and truly do care. So, as you can tell, it is hard for me to think of you well, if all you have are lies to sell.” “Lies!” the blue unicorn cried, “Trixie never lies! And don’t you dare call me a liar you... Zebra!” Zecoura scowled at the angry pony in front of her. It was true that the ponies of Ponyville had feared her at one time, but she had forgiven them for it. This unicorn, however, was just a rude little girl. Suddenly, Zecoura saw things flash before her eyes as quick as lightning. A castle, an arena, and Twilight Sparkle on the ground... Kneeling to the blue unicorn that had just been so rude to her. “You...” the shaman said, pointing her hoof at the obnoxious magician in front of her, “A day will come, when the revenge you seek, will bury all of your dreams. But you will win, as many have, in the place where many have the most means. Under her wing the night will take you, but why is still a mystery. You will fight Twilight Sparkle, Great and Powerful Trixie.” “Twilight Sparkle...” the shocked Trixie repeated, a small smile crossing her lips, “Trixie will beat that little mule in her own game you say?” All Zecoura could do was nod, the visions always sapped her energy. The zebra shaman turned and trotted back to her hut, staggering a bit and wishing somepony would help her. However, the only pony there was The Great and Powerful Trixie, and she would help no pony that night. What she couldn’t see was that somepony was helping her, keeping the stars bright as the blue unicorn found a cave to keep her sheltered for the night. “Sleep well... My soon to be student.” Princess Luna said quietly as she watched Trixie Lulamoon lay down and close her eyes. *** Slowly, the sun peeked in through the curtains of Trixie’s room, waking up the magician. She smiled as she felt the soft silk of the sheets on her, the fluffiness of the pillow under her head, and ,most importantly of all, the fact that her own private shower was waiting for her just across the room. A new day had arrived... It was her turn to fight the gryphon.
(Part 5) Battles and EspionageBattles and Espionage The shouts and cheers of almost two-thousand ponies filled the air as the second round of the Battle Royal was announced to begin shortly, but The Doctor’s mind was still on the tapestry he saw on his first night staying in Canterlot Castle. The image of Starswirl the Bearded’s cutie mark never left the time colt’s mind, and every day more and more questions seemed to find their way into his head. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. “Twilight,” The Doctor asked the lavender unicorn, who was trotting next to him on his way to the arena, “do you know anything about Starswirl the Bearded?” The Element of Magic laughed, a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked at her friend, “Are you kidding me? I know everything about Starswirl! He created over two hundred spells, including the amniomorphic spell. Not to mention he has his own wing in the Canterlot Library, and he was the mentor of one of the founders of Equestria.” “I thought he mentored the princesses?” the time colt asked. “He did, a lot of Starswirl’s spells were based around time.” Twilight closed her eyes as she went into (what Spike would call) full-bookworm mode, “I remember one spell of his that I used to go back in time two minutes so I wouldn’t miss my first day as Princess Celestia’s personal student, then there was one time where I went a little overboard during the week and made a sort of fixed point in time...” the lavender unicorn looked over at her companion, only to see his mouth gaping at the mention of a magical pony making a fixed point in time and say she only went ‘a little overboard’, “I’ll tell you about it later. Anyway, a lot of scholars think that Starswirl was able to conjure up a spell that allowed him to travel anywhere in time permanently. That’s the only way most ponies can explain such a long life for a normal unicorn.” “I’m not sure how normal he was...” The Doctor said under his breath, “Where’s the library exactly?” “Oh, it’s actually just down the road a bit. It’s a big white marble building like the castle, you can’t miss it.” “Thanks Twilight, bye!” and with that the brown colt galloped out of the stadium, and thundered down the road. Twilight sighed, half wishing she could join the strange, bow-tie wearing colt, but she knew that she needed to stay. As the student of Celestia took her seat next to her mentor, Twilight’s eyes focused on the battlefield before her. More importantly, they focused on the image of The great and Powerful Trixie entering the arena, with a smirk on her face as she prepared to fight the hulking gryphon before her. *** The Doctor’s hoofbeats slowed as he made his way to the giant, sprawling marble building that Twilight described. The entrance to the maze like library was extremely ornate, with the flag of Equestria carved and painted into the stone above the archway with great detail. The archway itself seemed to be made of gold, and the doors where a very thick mahogany with images of Celestia and Luna carved into them. The time colt pushed his way through the doors and trotted along the halls, his head swiveling right and left as he searched for the Starswirl the Bearded wing. As he passed the few guards that were positioned here instead of the arena, he nodded to them, not even considering that they might know the location of the wing. The Doctor didn’t want a word of him being here getting to anypony, he had been very cautious of anypony he didn’t know since the incident in Appleloosa. For now, the brown colt felt he could find what he was looking for on his own. That is, until he found he had made a complete circle around the library and back to the entrance. The Doctor’s eyes grew wide,and he galloped around the library as his eyes darted to the different wings of the massive building. “Cover the Clever, King Beambright, Admiral Typhoon,” the time colt said the wing’s names out loud as he rounded the corner, only to see the two wooden doors to Canterlot once more, “do I have to use some kind of magic, or something? Where the hell is the bloody Starswirl wing!” “Hey, buddy.” one of the golden clad guards called out, “It’s a library, that means be quiet. Also, look behind ya, stupid Trottingham ponies...” The Doctor turned and saw a room with a large hourglass under a skylight, the sign on the archway read ‘Starswirl the Bearded wing’. The time pony then stared at the sign in disbelief, then he slapped his forehead with his hoof before trotting into the book and scroll filled room. *** Twilight’s eyes widened as she watched the match begin. Luna and the now sober Prince Blueblood took their positions on the two stone podiums as their students stared each other down. Trixie, as cocky as ever, just smiled at the circling Gilda, the gryphon’s claws extended and looking even sharper than they did the day before. However, this didn’t seem to concern the light blue unicorn, as she let loose a harmless, yet bright, flash from her horn but remained motionless. Gilda reeled back for a moment, the flash of bright mauve magic burning her eyes slightly. She was quick to recover though, and growled as she eyed the illusionist pony. “You’re dead meat, you little bitch!” the now furious gryphon screeched as she lunged at her opponent, talons bared as she sliced right through the air. Even as the angry enemy neared, Trixie was motionless almost as if... Twilight gasped, then whispered to herself, “It’s a spell.” just as Gilda’s claws ripped right through Trixie’s clone, causing her mirage spell to evaporate like water. The stunned eagle-lion hybrid turned quickly, keeping her back to the wall as she searched the arena for the now missing Trixie. “Stay on guard Gilda!” Blueblood yelled from the top of his stone tower, “The little minx is using a cloaking spell. You can find her!” Luna just kept looking as the center of the arena, nodding her head as she let loose a little half smile. She could see her student making her way to the opposite end of the stadium, the horn on the invisible and cunning unicorn’s horn shining bright. “Where are you, ya little jerk?” Gilda called out, still scanning the flat battle arena with her eyes, “Aren’t you mare enough to fight me one-on-one?” “This doesn’t have anything to do with Trixie being ‘mare enough’ to do anything, you brute.” the voice of The G&P Trixie echoed in response, “Battles like this are won with brains, and you couldn’t beat an ameba in a game of tic-tac-toe. So, what chance do you have against...” the white maned unicorn slowly reappeared, a sort of wave uncovering her body from the cloaking spell, “The Great and Powerful Trixie?!” “Shut up, show off!!!” the gryphon screamed as she flew straight as Trixie, rearing back so that she could attack the smirking unicorn with both her claws and talons. “You wana smile? I’ll rip a huge smile right in your belly!” *** “This is amazing!” The Doctor called out, then covered his mouth as one of the guards quickly shushed him. “All these spells and theories, this Starswirl must’ve been one of the most knowledgeable ponies in this dimension's history. I... I just can’t believe it.” However, in the back of The Doctor’s mind a question still burned, a question that he knew must have an answer somewhere in Canterlot. “What was this guy? Could it be that he was a...” “‘Scuse me gents, I need to finish cleanin’ the library ‘fore the fight’s done.” an old, crogetty voice said softly, “Ya’ mind guardin’ the place outside for a while?” “No problem Mr. Greenhooves, we’ll be out of you mane in a bit.” one of the armor covered guards replied as he, and his companions, made their way out of the maze of a building. As soon as the mahogany doors slammed shut, a grey-brown colt with a large green hat and blue vest entered the Starswirl the Bearded wing and smiled at The Doctor. The time colt couldn’t see a cutie mark on the old groundskeeper, but to him it really didn’t matter. “Sorry, I’ll get out of here for you.” The Doctor said, quickly putting a few of the scrolls he had gotten out back. “No need Son of Gallifrey,” Greenhooves said, his voice now deep with a slight accent, “I know what you’re seeking.” The Doctor paused, then stared right at the older pony, “How do you know what I am?” he asked. “Simple,” the earth pony replied before he closed his eyes. Suddenly, a flash of golden light filled the room as Mr. Greenhooves became enveloped in a shining light, so bright that the time pony couldn’t look directly at it. The light seemed to grow dim thought, and soon it seemed to mold the older earth pony into a unicorn. After a few moments, The Doctor looked back at where Mr.Greenhooves stood, but in the groundskeeper’s place was a grey unicorn with a frosty, snow white beard and mane. One the unicorn’s head stood an ornate wizard’s hat, and on his back was a cape, decorated with a map of various Equestrian constellations. “I am like you.” The Doctor’s jaw hit the floor as he wondered at the new unicorn in front of him, the time colt’s eyes went to the old colt’s flank to see what he already knew was there. An hourglass cutie mark, with moving sand. “Starswirl the Bearded.” the brown colt said. “Starswirl... I haven’t heard that name in a millennia.” the ancient enchanter replied, “However, I do know of you Doctor. I am surprised to see a Time Lord out of our old universe. Tell me, how did you manage the journey?” *** The battle seemed to have gone on for a week already, and it had fallen into a pattern very quickly. Gilda would attack, and Trixie would dodge the attack and force Gilda to use up valuable energy looking for her, then the unicorn would mock the gryphon, and Gilda would attack. If Prince Blueblood were worried about his student losing steam he didn’t show it, all he did was keep telling Gilda to attack when the time was right and to end it quickly. Princess Luna didn’t say anything, all she did was nod and smile. It was as if she was talking to her student telepathically, which was impossible due to the various wards preventing that. “It must be some kind of signal,” Twilight said as she kept a watchful eye on the battle, “but what does it mean?” “I’m not sure Twilight,” Celestia said suddenly, making Twilight nearly jump out of her seat. The sun princess saw this and smiled, “forgot I was here huh?” “Maybe a little.” the lavender unicorn said with a blush and a smile. Her mentor smiled back, then turned back to the match, “When our time comes to battle my sister and her student, we’ll need to be careful.” Meanwhile on the field, Gilda had begun to sweat from the effort of trying to catch Trixie. The gryphon began to pant from pure exhaustion, and her movements slowed to a near crawl. “Now’s the time to attack.” Luna said out loud, “Trixie, now!” “Yes master!” Trixie responded, revealing herself and blasting Gilda with enough magical force to knock her into the stands. However, before the now losing gryphon could get close to the various ponies watching, she hit the field’s inner barrier which knocked her out cold. Twilight didn’t even need to hear the official's ruling, she knew Trixie had won the match, and she knew that she needed to beat Fleur. *** “A very interesting story Doctor.” Starswirl said as The Doctor finished up telling the older time colt how he arrived in Equestria, and his trials within it. “It seems that you’re nearly ready to go back to your dimension.” “I am,” the brown colt replied, “it’s just that... I like it here. It’s relatively peaceful and the ponies here are amazing creatures, like the humans back on my Earth. I know I’ll have to go back, but why can’t I stay here more often? It should be easy now that my TARDIS is repaired. I can adjust it with the princess’ help so that it can cross over easier.” Starswirl’s smile turned into a worried frown almost instantly, “Doctor... Do you know why I’m here in Equestria and not in our own dimension?” The Doctor shook his head. “My TARDIS was destroyed by a monster, a monster that you have faced already and defeated.” The young time colt pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Discord.” “Yes, and while he has changed over the centuries of imprisonment, I am still stuck in this land of ponies. It has begun to... drain me. I fear I do not have long for this plain, so I am warning you Son of Gallifrey...” the elder pony turned towards The Doctor, holding the brown colt’s face in his hooves, “You may return, but you cannot live here.” With that, Starswirl was once more cloaked in the bright golden light and transformed back into the form of Mr.Greenhooves. “Heed my warning.” he said, then he left The Doctor pondering in the massive, book filled room, alone once more. And once more, The Doctor felt that he was the last of the Time Lords.
(Bonus Part) The Pathetic and Weak Trixie, pt. 2The Pathetic and Weak Trixie, pt.2 Princess Luna smiled as her horn shined in the dark of her night, it’s magic aiding her in raising the moon as it did every night. The pale, bright orb that had been her home for about one thousand years stood like a silent guardian in the sky, watching and waiting for something to happen so it could strike. Luna giggled at this idea, the moon as her personal bodyguard, how droll. The princess of the night turned from the sky, about to head in for her nightly duties in the royal court, when she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes met those of her older sister, and Celestia didn’t seem to be happy. “What happened earlier today Lulu?” the sun princess asked, making Luna cringe at her sister’s use of that old pet name, “You pass out, nearly on the verge of death, then you’re suddenly better? Not to mention keeping your student a secret to the entire royal court. I want answers.” Luna glared at her older sister, “I thought you had all the answers sister.” The smaller alicorn moved past her older sibling quickly, as if she were being followed by Discord himself, “After all, you’re the one who knew what was best for me all those years ago, correct?” “Luna...” the white princess’ voice sounded ragged and hurt, but she still followed her sister and covered her with a wing, “I’m just worried about you. These headaches, we both know that they aren’t natural. Maybe... Maybe we should stop the tournament-” “NO! I will not let you be better than me in this! Not like everything else!” the dark blue alicorn cried as she pushed her sister’s wing off of her in a rough motion. “You’re acting like a child!” “I am a child! I was frozen on the moon for over one thousand years! Don’t you remember Celestia?! YOU PUT ME THERE!” Princess Celestia opened her mouth, as if to scream back at her younger sister, then she stopped herself and took a deep breath. Poised as ever, Celestia looked down at her sister, “It is clear that you are not fit to do your duties as a princess of this nobel kingdom of Equestria. Until the tournament is over, I will be raising and lowering the moon and taking over your duties at night.” “WHAT?!” Luna yelled, a tear falling from her eye as her sister turned into the tyrant that the guards joked about her being. “Sleep well.” and with that the princess of the day teleported away, leaving her sister crying in rage where she stood, unaware that another mare’s eyes were watching her with glee. *** One year ago... It had been weeks since Trixie Lulamoon had seen another pony. The light blue unicorn’s hooves grew tired as she walked ever deeper into the Everfree Forest, the trees seemed to be laughing at the illusionist pony’s attempts to find the road that had lead her to Ponyville in the first place. All the while, Trixie felt as if she was being watched, yet every time she looked over her shoulder nopony was there to greet her. “I must be losing my mind.” The Great and Powerful Trixie thought out loud, “Why would anypony come to this place, aside from wanting to be alone.” However, the trees soon seemed to open, and ahead was a clearing with a large, crumbling stone fortress in the middle of it all. Quickly, the purple caped pony charged to the large, wooden doors of the massive ruin. As her small, pained hooves slowly opened them, the doors gave a slight creak, as if it had been eons since they were last properly opened. The inside of the formerly great castle was decrypted and dusty, but even Trixie could see that the foyer of the fortress was once a great gathering place. Soon, the name of the ruin came to the little blue unicorn’s lips. “Everfree Castle.” the impressed and amazed Trixie said out loud. “Indeed.” a voice from the shadows called. A tall, dark blue alicorn stepped into the light, her mane flowing in the wind and shining like the stars. Trixie quickly bowed, honored by the appearance of one of the two most powerful beings in Equestria. “P... Princess Luna, why are you here?” the unicorn asked. The princess of the night only smiled as she teleported her and her new student out of the large decaying castle. *** Six months ago... “You did what?!” Luna yelled, glaring at her student. The princess of the night had known that Trixie was gone from the palace, but she could never had guess where she had gone. “I... I’m sorry master.” Trixie Lulamoon said, cringing at her mentor’s complete anger. She had never seen Princess Luna so enraged, in fact she had never seen Luna enraged at all. “I didn’t know that the amulet corrupted the wearer’s soul. Please don’t throw me out!” The scared and worried Trixie fell to the ground, her forehooves wrapping around her teacher’s as she sobbed like a foal. Luna looked down at her student, a frown still encasing her lips. “It will not be so easy to forgive you Trixie,” the princess of the moon replied, “but... I cannot stay mad at you. But you must know, training is not a way to get everything you want fast, and as you’ve seen the short cuts can be disastrous.” Princess Luna opened the small chest that the shaman zebra Zecora had given her earlier that day. Inside was the fabled and infamous Alicorn Amulet, a relic that Discord himself had made to try and counteract the power of the Elements of Harmony. Just by looking at it, the dark blue alicorn could see the black magic oozing off of the trinket. Luna quickly slammed the lid down and pushed the chest away, motioning for her night guards to take it. “I need to know that you will not do anything like that again.” Trixie stood, her face stained with tears. “I... I give you my word Master Luna.” “Good. Then let’s proceed to tonight’s training.” *** Luna smiled as she recalled the memories of the past year, all the good time she had with her new student. Many of the night guards actually became bold enough to comment to the princess that she seemed... Happier. Suddenly, Luna fell to the ground, much like Trixie did that night she confessed to going to Curio’s Mystic’s Shop; however, the cause of this was another of her mind splitting headaches. Slowly, the princess of the night tired to stand, but each time she fell to the hard stone floor. As her vision blurred, Luna couldn’t help but smile as the fuzzy shape of a light blue unicorn rushed up to her. “Master!” Trixie shouted, lifting Luna with her magic as the princess drifted off to a restful, yet pained sleep. *** “Master...” The cloaked, alabaster pony bowed to the strange creature that had teleported into the dungeons. “It has been too long.” “Silence,” the creature said, his voice booming in the stone and metal room, “have the preparations been made?” Next to the cloaked pony, General Stormbreaker bowed, “Yes sir, nopony suspects a thing. The Rani is in place, as are all the pony pawns... Including Princess Luna.” “Thank you Stormbreaker, you’ve been a good ally in all of this,” the creature clicked his hooves together, then turned back to his cloaked lackey. “What of my old friend, The Doctor?” The female pony paused, looking to the ground as she tried to answer, “You see... Master... T...The Doctor is... We’ve lost him.” “Lost... Him? LOST HIM!?!?” the roars from the cloaked one’s master seemed to shake the dungeon, rattling chains and breaking cage doors off their hinges, “You pathetic little insect! Do you know how perfect of a victory I would have if you knew where he was?! I could have killed him right now! I could’ve broken his neck while he was sleeping, but no! You... I am holding you responsible for this, you damn insect, you... will kill The Doctor.”
