Bane of Equestria

The young boy's vision was blurred as he woke. He looked down to the bloody mass that had once been known as his legs and then further to his walking stick, broken on the floor, before he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. He looked to where the flash had come from to see a dark equine charging his former friend. Without a thought he let out a cry, "Stop!" The darker form faltered and in turn got knocked back. The kid wasn't given time to react before his vision once more shot to black and all went quiet.

"Congratulations, final five! Heather, Jay, Amber, Mike, Dawn; you guys made it! Only four more challenges to go before one of you is named this season's Total Drama winner!" Chris finishes taking his leave, in turn leaving the kids to relax in the moonlight.

The group sits in silence for a few moments until one decides to break it. "I can't believe you guys voted Leonard off!" screamed Jay. "It was Heather who's been lying to everyone for seven seasons!"

The dark haired girl rolls her eyes. "And who would actually vote for me, Crips? It's not like anyone cares about your opinion."

Being protective, Amber steps in. "Hey, both of you just need to chill. Heather, stop making fun of Jay for being disabled. Jay, stop being mean to the witch."

Mike laughs at the joke before speaking up, "Yeah, it's not her fault she has no friends left."

Jay scoffs in reply, "Yeah, it sort of is..."

Heather stands, grabs one of the flashlights that are still working and proceeds to leave the area. "You know what? I don't need this. I have a challenge to win tomorrow." She walks out, and Dawn follows her, feeling bad about the situation.

"Heather, please." The light blonde girl spoke as she followed the other. "It was all in good fun. Come back with me. I promise they will not bother you," hoping she will join, she looks sincerely at her senior contestant.

Rolling her eyes, Heather shakes her head and speaks in a firm tone. "And? It's not like I care what they say. I just said I wanted to be ready for tomorrow. It didn't bother me or anything." She flips her hair from her face confidently.

"Heather, I know that is not true. I can see it in your aura. It is a soothing, but sad blue."

"My aura is just as black as ever, thank you," she said, glaring at Dawn.

"If that is what you wish the others to believe. But I know how you truly feel, even if you, yourself, refuse to believe it."

"You don't know anything!" Heather spat angrily at Dawn.

"Just return with me," Dawn pleaded. "We would like you to spend the night with us. Even if they do not seem like it, we really do."

Heather rolls her eyes, then nods. "Fine, fine... If it happens again, I'm leaving. Got it?"

"Oh, yes! Let us get back to-" her voice gets cut off by the clanging of machinery. Afterwards, a loud thump is heard, followed by a slight whooshing sound.

Dawn jumps slightly, and Heather yells over the sound. "What the hell is that?!"

The camp suddenly goes quiet, then the obvious tapping of Jay's walking stick is heard from the area they had only just left, and a squeal rips away the curtain of silence.

"Oh my god!" he screams, smiling widely. "Guys! Come here! Do you know what this is?!"

Heather and Dawn run back to the campfire pit, seeing Jay, surrounded by Amber and Mike, staring at what seems to be a blue telephone box.

The rest of the group stare at the blue box, then Heather looks over to Jay. "Well, what is it? Why should we care about some stupid box?" she asks with authority.

"It's..." his grin widens as he speaks, "The TARDIS!"

The door to the TARDIS creaks open just a bit to reveal voices from inside. "Why do I have to go look?" asked the voice of a male.

"It was your brilliant driving that landed us here. You go scope things out," came the order from a female voice.

A sigh was heard. "Fine, I'll go." Finally the door opened and the contestants and the voice were staring at one another.

"A...horse? A blue horse?" asked Heather bewildered.

He pushed through the other three to get to her, "Did you just call me a horse? I am not a horse, okay? I am a pony!"

"The difference..?" Heather retorts, obviously irritated.

Jay speaks up to end the confusion, "Well, ponies are actually small horses. The correct name would be pony, because he is not that big."

"Actually..," the female voice is heard again as a white pony with a light pink mane streaked with sea-foam green highlights and clad in armor exits the TARDIS, "the only horses I know of live in other countries. Most ponies live only in Equestria. By the way, my name's Aurora," the pony finished reaching out her hoof to the invalid.

He respectfully shakes the hoof, giving a gentle smile. "And I'm Jay. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Aurora then turns to the other equine, "Phase."

He perked up at the sound of his name then turned around, "Yes?"

"Go inside and tell everyone it's okay to come out."

"Yes, ma'am," he responded before trotting back into the box.

Just then, Dawn speaks up. "Excuse me, but... What exactly is going on? How did ponies get here? And why?"

"The Doctor!" Jay shouted gleefully, walking a bit closer and tightly gripping his cane for support. "He's how they got here! Oh my god, is he a pony too?! That would be so cool! I can't wait to see-"

The fanboy was interrupted by a smack to the back of his head. Heather yells from directly behind him, "Shut it, Hobbler!"

He almost loses his balance at the hit, but holds his own and watches a light brown pony with an hourglass image on each side walk from the box.

"Alright, alright!" the pony said, his voice sporting a deep British accent. "What's all this, then?"

Recognizing the voice, Jay loses his grip on his walking stick, falling fully onto his stomach. "Oh my god!"

"Are you alright, there..?" asked the pony, reaching a hoof down. He notices the boy's dark blue hair, giving a light smile as he speaks fairly quickly. "I do enjoy your hair, by the way. I've always been interested in changing my hair. What do you feel about ginger? Hm..."

Accepting the hoof, Jay is lifted to his feet.

His cane is lifted by Amber, and handed back to him. "Careful there, blue bird..."

"Thank you. Both of you..." said Jay, referring to both Amber and the pony.

"Not a problem at all. I do believe introductions are in order?" continued the pony, now speaking faster than before. "I'm The Doctor. My companions here are Aurora, Phase and Princess Luna."

The armored pony bows respectfully. The one sporting a navy blue coat nods at the mention of his name. Lastly, as if on cue, a regal, dark blue pony with a starry mane and both a horn and wings exits the police box.

"I am to assume these are the humans my sister spoke of..?" Luna inquired, looking at the group of five.

"Your sister..?" inquired Dawn, looking slightly confused at them.

"We were sent on a mission by Princess Celestia, as a trial to see how humans would fare in our land of Equestria," The Doctor explains. "You are..?"

The blue haired teen, sporting a grey hooded sweatshirt and a worn pair of jeans looks at the Princess with honorable respect. "I'm Jay, your majesty..." he began, looking at the four behind him. "And this is Amber, Dawn, Mike and Heather..."

In order, the teens shared glances with Luna.

Mike speaks up first. "You said we were going to your land?"

With a nod, Aurora looks at the darker male teen. "You will be watched closely, to keep track of your intentions. But yes, you five have been chosen to accompany us in Equestria."

"Why us..?" asked Jay inquiringly.

"You five seem to be very diverse, and were all in one spot. It was for nothing more than convenience," came the reply.

"Lazy..." said Heather, scoffing at Aurora.

Jay lifts his walking stick high into the air, knocking the girl in the back of the head. "Be nice, Heather."

"I apologize for her... She's quite an inconvenience," added Mike.

"Be happy for your innocence of the knowledge of our world," spoke Aurora as he turned to face Heather. "Otherwise...let's just say it's not exactly safe to insult a noble, much less royalty."

"As if I care if you're royalty," exclaimed Heather with a growl.

Aurora trots forward, looking the girl in the eyes and growls.

Luna outstretches her wing to stop the assertive pony, shaking her head. "Calm, Aurora. Control your emotions."

Taking a semi-controlled breath, Aurora turns away and walks back into the TARDIS.

Dawn steps forward, nodding. "You as well, Heather. Do not anger them. I sense they mean no harm, so neither should you."

Heather shakes her head, sighing. "So, what now?" she began, sarcasm reaching her words . "The magic horses have come to save the day, or whatever... So when do we leave?"

Phase narrows his eyes and growls at the girl. "We. Are. NOT. Horses."

"Yes. You. Are." came the reply. "Now shut up, before I get violent."

"Come now. There's no need for violence," the Doctor interrupted.

Heather turns around to look at her fellow contestants and sparks the question, "So, who here exactly trusts them?"

In reply three of the remaining four nonchalantly raise their hands. Jay, however, looked past Heather to the remaining three equines. "What exactly are we to expect if we go with you?"

The Doctor smirks in reply, "Come with us and find out."

Jay gives a light grin, and proceeds to walk into the TARDIS followed immediately by Phase.

Princess Luna walks in as well, "If anyone would like a tour, come with me."

Mike, Amber and Dawn follow the three before them, leaving Heather outside.

The Doctor looks at the girl, shaking his head. "Are you coming? If not, we'll just find someone else."

She sighs, and walks into the blue box. "I better not regret this..."

"Trust me, you won't," the Doctor spoke as he followed her in and closed the door.

Luna motions around the room, attempting to explain the sights, when the Doctor walks in. "Oh, there's somepony who can explain this better!" she yelled happily.

The Doctor nods with a chuckle before walking to the center of the room. "Well, here you have the mainframe. This baby helps me control the entire thing. Around it are--"

Mike interjects, sounding surprised. "It's a lot bigger on the inside, isn't it?"

The Doctor sighs, shaking his head. "No, no it's not. It's just smaller on the outside."

"But..." starts Dawn inquiringly. "Doesn't that make it bigger on the inside?"

The Doctor shakes his head, speaking louder. "That's beside the point... Anyway, as I was saying, there are these structure things that look like art sculptures! They're the only thing in this room that isn't bronze! Isn't that delightful? Or actually they might be. Maybe it's just the glowy green thing in the middle of the mainframe shining on them...hmm... Now, on the walls, there are these hexagon indents. inside those, there are circle things! What are the circle things, you may ask? I don't know, but god do I love them. Oh, and there's a whole other floor underneath, but that has a ton of wires and stuff down there... and a hatch... don't touch the hatch."

Jay looks around the room in awe, taking in his surroundings. "This is amazing..." he mumbled to himself.

Luna looks at the group, chuckling. "If anyone wants to be shown around, come with me. But no going off by yourselves!"

The Doctor watched as both Jay and Mike walked to take Luna up on her offer. He then turned his attention to Amber and Dawn, who are sitting next to each other. "So, what do you think of my companions?" he asked.

Heather began to walk to another door, using the Doctor's lack of attention to her advantage.

Dawn spoke up, smiling lightly. "Oh, I enjoy the presence of the Princess. She's so regal."

"And I really like it when Aurora is around..." Amber added, smiling. "You know? I've never been so attracted to a mare before."

The Doctor looked at her awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Erm... About that... She is a he... A colt."

Amber tilted her head. "Are you sure? I mean, her look, and her voice, and..."

"Absolutely sure. Trust me, yes. He may look like a girl. He may sound like a girl. But he definitely has something... down there..." He lowered his head, embarrassed at the clarification.

Amber silently gags, pouting. "Ew. Men." Dawn lightly chuckles at this.

"So," the Doctor continues, "What about your group? Tell me about your friends."

"Well," Amber began, smirking lightly. "Jay is your average fanboy. He's smart, and yet, not very bright. Heather is your average queen bee. She gets what she wants, when she wants it. If not, there'll be hell to pay."

The Doctor listens intently, nodding as he plays with the TARDIS' controls.

"And then," said Dawn, picking up where Amber left off. "Mike... He is sweet. Sort of quirky, but I guess that just adds to his personality... Well, at least this one..."

Curious, the Doctor looks at her. "'This one...?'"

Amber nods, elaborating a bit. "So, in total, there are five, besides Mike. Chester is, to put it kindly, old, in every sense of the word. Svetlana is a gymnast, and the only female of the group. Agile to no extent. Vito is someone you should look after. He tries to be tough, and sometimes is, but he usually just gets himself into trouble. Manitoba is very... adventurous. He'll do anything to be able to go on his own, and explore. Each of them have their own triggers, but I won't go into that."

The Doctor looks up into the air, mumbling to himself. "One... two... three... four? You said five." He gradually began to get louder as he spoke, not to anyone in particular. "Okay, let me see here. She said five... but she explained four. That was four, right?! She spoke of a Chester... Svetlana, Vito and Manitoba. That's only four! Five doesn't equal four. So..." he looked at the two, more so to Dawn. "Who wasn't mentioned?"

Dawn looked to the ground, sighing. "Mal..." she said, looking back up at the pony.

He looked at her in confusion, before Amber spoke up to clarify. "Mal. He was a personality that was not shown until a bit later. We don't speak of him much, but just know that he's not someone you'd want to mess with. He'll do anything to cause destruction..."

Her voice trailed off into near silence, and the Doctor nodded in understanding. "I see... Fun stuff!"

He turned his attention away from them, returning to the controls of the TARDIS.

"So," Amber asked, smirking lightly. "What about you? You seem to have an odd crew."

"Well... is there anyone specific you wish to know about?" The Doctor asked in reply.

"Aurora..." Amber said quietly, looking up and speaking in general. "I'd still like to get to know he- Er... Him."

"Is there really much to tell? He's a guard. A soldier. Tolerable... but still a soldier. He protects the princesses. I mean he leads Celestia's guard now, but that's about it. Not much else to know I don't think. Speaking of guard, there is a princess on board as you know. Princess Luna, princess of the night. Ironic, because if you know any Spanish, her name is literally 'moon'. She's very gentle, however, at times she is more serious than her sister. Those times are few and far between... and sometimes not fun," he gets quiet for a moment. "Those were dark times... Anyway, Phase. He's a timelord like me. The difference? He is actually from the universe we are heading to. If you noticed, like Aurora, he is a pegasus... yet, he is a terrible flyer... like, can't fly at all. He's also clumsy, but he has his moments. That's about everyo-... Oh, yeah! Perhaps I should mention him. I mean, he is on board with us. He's just in a different room. Do you two want to know about him?" the Doctor finally stopped talking, waiting for an answer.

In the walkway of the center of the TARDIS sits a changeling staring up at the near infinite energy source. He appears as most of his race does: equine in stature, yet more bug-like. Body a dark grey, holes in legs, insect wings, fangs, eyes a gradient from light blue to a white pupil, the smallest tuft of what can be seen as a mane and tail, and a horn to top his head.

"I knew this thing was big... but powered by a literal sun. Or I suppose a star would be more accurate. Still... how did they get it in he-," the changeling stopped and looked to his left. "What was that?" The door to his left started to open and on instinct he changed. A green fire shot up around him, morphing his body into more of a stature of Luna's, however, taller and still male. His coat became a tinge darker fading to black. Like the alicorn, he had both a horn and wings. The wings, however, were more akin to that of a bat's. He now also has a full mane and tail, which are both a deep raspberry, streaked midnight blue throughout.

He stares as the door fully opens to reveal Heather. She looks around the room, spotting the equine in the middle. "Who are you..?" she asks, an irritated tone in her voice. "Another dumb horse?"

The other began to speak in objection, but then decided against it. He quietly nodded. "Pony, not horse... But yes. And you are..?"

"Did I say you could ask questions?!" came the response. "What are you even doing, sitting in an empty room?!"

Confused, the disguised changeling looks around. He looks up at the star above his head, then back at her. "Empty room?"

"What are you even looking at?" she asked demandingly.

He took a light breath, smirking as he looked around the room, realizing that the TARDIS is masking the contents from her. "You know what? You're right... This room is kind of pointless, isn't it? How about we go somewhere else? Get out of this boring, plain room..."

Rolling her eyes, Heather walks past the changeling, to the door behind him. She opens the door, and the equine follows after.

In the next room, there are rows upon rows of books. The changeling looks around in awe at the view, walking up and down the aisles.

He then walks into the centre of the room, and his eyes go wide. A large pool sits in the area, clear water rippling throughout.

Heather walks with him, narrowing her eyes. "What are you looking at?!"

The equine simply smirked before running and jumping into the pool, splashing Heather. She gasped, looking at him in anger and yelling, "You little shi-" She was interrupted by her own thoughts. "Wait... This is a library. Right? And there's a pool..?"

The disguised changeling looks at her, tilting his head and speaking in a mocking tone. "Yeah, so? Don't libraries in your world have pools?"

"No..?" she answered, irritated.

From behind a row of books, two other voices are heard. They get closer, before their owners are shown. Phase and Aurora. They see Heather, and both become seemingly angrier.

"Of all of them to show up here, it had to be her?" asked Phase.

"Better question:" Aurora started, turning his attention to the point of interest, "if you're here, where is your guide? Luna? The Doctor?"

"Myself." she plainly stated in response, rolling her eyes. "And what are you two doing here?"

"Leaving you, so we can calm down," they answered in unison.

From the pool, the 'colt' laughs. The attention of the two other ponies shifted from Heather to him.

Phase's mouth opened slightly, looking at him in amazed confusion. "B-But... What?! I watched you... Die! How..?"

Aurora lifts his right fore-hoof and covers his face with it. He sighs and begins to speak. "Phase... Yes. He is dead. But you do realize we have a friend who can change into anypony he pleases... Right?"

Phase looks down in embarrassment, nodding. "Oh, right... Wait, so then that's..?"

"Jay..." Aurora said quietly as the colt in the pool turned back into his original form.

Heather looks at him in disgust. "Jay? What kind of stupid name is that? And... What is that thing? A bug pony?"

Jay looks at the human in disgust, flies from the pool and hovers right above her. "I am a changeling. Not just some bug pony! And I'll have you know I was named by Scorpia himself!"

She rolls her eyes. "Now I have to deal with two Jays? Great... A know-it-all and a pest..."

The changeling's ears lay against his head as his hooves touched the ground. "I am not a pest... And another Jay?"

Interrupting the small spat, Aurora walks between the two. "You'll get to meet him soon enough. Oh, and ignore her," he gestured to Heather, "She's just an instigator. Causing problems is what she does."

Immediately, Heather spoke up. "Excuse me? I call it as I see it. And, trust me... the other Jay isn't someone worth seeing."

"Like anything means much coming from you," Aurora replied simply.

"Everything means a lot when it comes from me," Heather said with a smirk. "But you? You're just a horse. You don't have any say in what I do."

Phase growled and Aurora gestured to him to calm. She then turns to where the changeling would be, but much to her surprise, he was gone.

The three look at the puff of smoke left in his place, and Phase looked in awe. "Woah... wait. What... what just happened?!"

In an instant, Aurora was on top of Heather, growling. "What did you do to him?! Humans and your damne-"

And just like that, the guard pony was gone as well. Followed by Phase and Heather simultaneously.

Back in the main room, everyone stands in front of the Doctor. He grinned, looking around. "Thank you, sexy," he said with a chuckle, before looking back to the nine. "Now that you're all here, I have a little announcement. We have landed!"

Slowly, he opened the door, grinning while he spoke, "Welcome... to Equestria!"